a sermon preached on the occasion of a funeral at gabuly in ireland by a dominican fryer. dominican fryer. 1689 approx. 6 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59276 wing s2641 estc r34238 14153630 ocm 14153630 102126 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59276) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102126) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1069:14) a sermon preached on the occasion of a funeral at gabuly in ireland by a dominican fryer. dominican fryer. 4 p. [s.n.], london : 1689. caption title. imprint from colophon. imperfect: pages stained and with print show-through. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -job x, 10 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, irish -17th century. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2006-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon , preached on the occasion of a funeral at gabuly in ireland . by a dominican fryer . job x. v. x. thou hast poured out like milk , and crudled me as cheese . beloved , you see here what job says of himself , yea job , that holy man ; he compared himself to cheese , yes , he doth you sirs , he doth to cheese like cheese , thou hast curdled me or framed me . you know beloved , there are several sorts of cheese , and several ways of making cheese , which you , and you , and you understand . like cheese , yea , i say , like cheese . you know when cheese is first made , they take their milk and let it stand till there come cream upon it ; if this cream be not put into a clean vessel , or if dust fall into it , or if not handled with clean hands , it will be bad cheese , and stinking cheese . the tryal of good cheese is by tosting ; if you put a piece of cheese to the fire , and if it does not drop , you , and you , and you , will say , 't is bad hungry cheese , and you will not care to eat it ; no , no ; but if it drop 't is a sign 't was made by a good huswife . thou hast crudled me like cheese . the soul of man is cheese , be it good or bad : yea , yea , hearken to this , by good trout , if we believe augustine or st. ambrose too ; and if ever the soul hath works in it , then it is like good cheese , and will , and will drop at the fire of persecution ; it will not burn or stink as that old rogues soul , and that old hogs soul , that is there , and there , and there . thou hast crudled me like cheese . you see what job says is true ; for he was good cheese when all the devils in hell did bark at him and surrounded him , and that where his wife tempted him , and i believe she was handsom too , yet notwithstanding them and hur , she was still good cheese ; he was no dry nor lean cheese , for he dropt , yea , and had grace in him too ; but shew me a man here that is such cheese as he was , any of you all : i desire you , i desire you , st. jerome , st. thomas of acquitaine , st. dominick , st. francis ; those were brave men , not like you a pack of rogues . thou hast formed me like cheese ; but hold , i say , i knew nothing of my preaching on this occasion till last night , and so having not timely notice , am forc'd to speak less methodical , then otherwise i should have done . but let me tell you in short , the fire of hell , is already burning for you if you do not have a care and make your selves good cheese , that hath fat and moisture in it ; if you do not , the devil take you all for knaves and rogues ; and if you do not , you shall never go to purgatory , no by god , you shall not ; and what will you do then ? thou hast crudled me like cheese . last sunday was st. th — day , a day that many souls went ●●t of purgatory , a day that the gates of heaven was opened , a day that such villains as you might have ●hook off the chain of your sin , if you had truly prayed to st. francis , and freely given your alms and charity . but hold , hold i say , instead of that you went to the ale-house , and played at cards , and did swear , and whore , and was drunk : o damn'd rogues ! thou hast crudled me like cheese . nay , more than all this , is an aggravation to this business that lies before on you : the next day being gabuly fair , some of you that i am sure are hear at this time , stole a bridle , a bridle ; i say , you stole . such great villains you are , that you care not from whom you steal ; no , i say , not from whom : nay , thou hadst as lief steal from a gentleman as from a clown . it is true , it is true , it is you , or you , or you , methinks is — rogue . does not he blush ? yes he does . well , i shall find him out before i am much older , yea , and tye him with that bridel my self ; then all shall be beaten : how like a damn'd rogue he will look ? i will take him , and put the bitt in his mouth , and will set the devil on his back , and make him gallop with spur-galled sides to hell. thou hast crudled me like cheese . and now beloved , it is time for me to speak of the dead gentlewoman that lyes before me here , i assure you , she was good cheese , and good fat cheese too ; for many a drop has she sweat in going to mass : she was threescore and seven years old , a good gentlewoman of a good and noble extraction ; she had cows and sheep , and abundance of horses ; she was no poor mellow cheese ; she never stole a bridle , no , she scorned it ; and a vertuous woman she was , that i have known her to go 5 miles to mass in a frosty morning , and a foot too , and yet she had horses many ; she kept a good house , bread and white bread too , good beer and vsquebah ; for many a dram have i had of her : and now let us fall on our knees and pray for her soul , saying , ave maria. finis . london , printed 1689. a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the 13th. day of iune, 1658. intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit, dr. of divinity, and late minister there hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87103 of text r231880 in the english short title catalog (wing h747a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 38 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87103 wing h747a estc r231880 99900032 99900032 133485 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87103) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 133485) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2500:6) a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the 13th. day of iune, 1658. intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit, dr. of divinity, and late minister there hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [2], 23, [1] p. printed, and are to be sold in st. paul's church-yard, london : 1658. attributed to nathaniel hardy by wing (cd-rom edition). reproduction of original in the william andrews clark memorial library. eng hewit, john, 1614-1658 -early works to 1800. bible. -o.t. -isaiah lvii, 1 -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. a87103 r231880 (wing h747a). civilwar no a sermon, preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the 13th. day of iune, 1658. intended for the funeral solemnization of io hardy, nathaniel 1658 7292 4 10 0 0 0 0 19 c the rate of 19 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-08 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon , preached at st. gregories church by st. paul's on sunday the 13th . day of iune , 1658. intended for the funeral solemnization of iohn hewit , dr. of divinity , and late minister there . london , printed , and are to be sold in st. paul's church-yard , 1658. the mourning bush . a funeral sermon upon isaiah 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and mercifull men are taken avvay , none considering that the righteous are taken avvay from the evil to come . the induction . our prophet isaiah in the 22 chapter of this prophecie vers. 12. makes mention of a day wherein the lord of hosts doth call to weeping and to mourning . and beloved , although there is no day wherein we are without sin , and so confequently no day wherein we should be without so now ; yet there are four speciall dayes wherein our lord god expects this duty from us , viz. the day of any heynous wickednesse comitted by our selves or others . the day of any grievious judgement , whether personall or national inflicted . the day wherein the wicked prosper and the ungodly triumph . finally the day wherein any of gods eminent and faithfull servants are snatch't away by death ; it is not many dayes since there was such a day amongst us ; and of such a day my text speaks of ; and the want of a due sence and sorrow , and mourning when such a day comes , is that which the prophet bemoans in the words of my text . the rightous perisheth & no man layeth it to heart , &c. this text is a sorrowfull and dolefull complaint in every part and clause of it , and looketh 2. wayes . 1. upon the good , and bemoans their misery . 2. upon the wicked , and bewailes their obstinacy . it complains of the righteous , that their persons are destroy'd . it complains of the wicked , that their hearts are hardned . the former complaint is purely from grief , the latter is from grief mixt with anger , both are very vehement and fervent . witness the reiteration of the words in both parts . the former in three clauses . the righteous perish . mercifull men are taken away . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . the latter in two clauses , no man laying it to heart , none considering it . in which we may see what an holy passion our holy prophet was in ; and i pray god grant that we may resemble him in grief and sorrow , when we heare both of the righteous , and of the wicked . first of the complaint the prophet makes concerning the godly . the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come ; and this complaint concerning the righteous you have it first propounded , and then mitigated . first ' it s propounded in the two clauses , ( which are for substance and sense one and the same ) the righteous perisheth , and mercifull men are taken away . but withall secondly , the complaint is in the latter part of the verse , leviated & mitigated , where 't is said . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . look upon the matter of the complaint it self as set down in these two clauses . the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . first , where you have set before you both their disposition and their condition . their disposition is very good . their condition is seemingly very bad . their pious disposition . their miserable condition . the characters of the one , viz. their disposition are these two , righteous , and mercifull men . the other viz. their condition is set forth in these two characters , perishing , and taking away . first we will take the character , that sets down their disposition . the righteous and mercifull men , those that the prophet bemoans are said to be righteous and mercifull men . the first word is singular in the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} where interpreters , glossing upon the text , suppose it to be some particular person that the prophet points at , and the glosse understands it of christ himself , whose passion he foresaw , and consequently foretells : and these titles most strictly and fully belong to him who is called the son of righteousnesse , malachy 4. v. 2. all others are but stars of righteousnesse , & their lights borrowed from him : he it is who is compleatly righteous , and of him it was verified , he perished and was taken away , none laying it to heart . but we must not confine it to christ ; for although the first word be singular , the second is plurall . the mercifull men , and men of mercy , which is meant of those righteous ones that were cut off & distroyed by manasses that fill'd ierusalem with bloud . but that you may see how justly these characters belong to those persons ; take them a sunder ; first he call's them righteous and the servants of god . ministers or others may have this name given them in a qualified sense , for there are none righteous , no not one , ( save him that i named even now ) not but that it may belong to them too , for they are righteous , really , interpretatively and comparatively . they are righteous really , in as much as their persons are justified before god , through our lord jesus christ , who is called by the prophet ieremy , the lord our righteousnesse . ierem. 23. v. 6. who is said to cover us with a robe of righteousness isa. 63. who is said by s. paul to be made to us righteousness , and that we are righteousness in him . thus they are righteous because justified , and not onely so , but also because their natures are renewed after the image of god , that is cretaed in righteousnesse and true holinesse , in which respect they are partakers of the divine nature : and also righteous in ordering their lives according to the rule of the word , which all gods servants sets before them , and seek to live according thereunto , that they may give god his due , and men their due ; and thus it is true of the servant ▪ of god , they are righteous really . and interpretatively they are so , for as much as god is pleased to accept them notwithstanding their weaknesses , when abraham was to offer up his son isacak , it is said , he offered his son , in regard he was willing to do it , it was therefore interpretatively so . so the servants of god in as much as they are lovers and followers of god , and strive after righteousnesse , not allowing themselves in any wickednesse , making conscience of all known duties , so that god accepts them as perfectly righteous . and comparatively they are righteous , though not absolutely , yet comparatively in respect of others , as it 's said of those worthies st. ambross speaks of . the righteous if compared with the wicked of the world are worthies , so they are righteous compared with the ungodly . in the foregoing chapter vers. 12. the prophet speaks of certain epicures and others , which say , we will fill our selves with strong drink , and to morrow shall be as this day , and much more aboundant . so in respect of sinners , the servants of god may have the appellation of righteous , and not righteous onely , but merciful men , or as the hebrew hath it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} men of mercy : which may admit of a double construction , whether taken in a passive or active sence ; in a passive sence they are men of mercy : or as the hebrew word will further carrie it men of good will or favour , they are men to whom god bears a singular favour , an especial love ; there is a philanthropie which god hath to all men , and though he hates the work of their hands , yet he loves the work of his own hands : but god here speaks of a favour and good will , which he hath to his servants , and you have it fully and summarily set down in the 24th psalme latter end ; the lord god is a sun and a shield , the lord will give grace and glory , &c. and according to this construction it may be taken : the prophet isaiah speaking of the righteous , how that they are taken away by men of crueltie , intimates though they are hated by the wicked , they are men of love , in respect of god : whilst the world reproches and reviles them , yet god loves them , though they perish and are taken away we must not think that god hates them , they are his favorites . some men think god should not let the wind blow upon his servants : but it is not that of a mother , but a fatherly love , with which god loves his children , nor was benjamin the lesse beloved because the cup was found with him . the righteous they are still men of mercy , yet i rather conceive we ought to take it in the active sence , they are men that love mercy and shew mercy , and to this i encline in regard of that paralell place the 7. micah . 2. the good man is perished from off the earth , &c. so here men of mercy , that is , men that are practisers and lovers of mercy . mercy is a condolencie of others misery , and withall an endeavour to deliver them out of it , so that there is both pittie and bountie , bowels of mercy and works of mercy , thus a righteous man is a mercifull man : the wise man joines them both together prov. 21. and 21. and indeed they never goe asunder : our saviour hath coupled them together , blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness , for they shall be filled , then it followes blessed are the mercifull , &c. the righteous have bowels of mercy , their inwards are troubled at the miserie of others , and hence their heads consult which way they may do them good : the liberal man devises charritable things upon his bed , and their hearts ake for their brethren , they inquire how , what , which way , to do them good , they are stil going out of their doores in mercy , their eyes behold which way they may do acts of mercy , their ears listen to their complaints , and their hands are ready to relieve ; it would be too much time spent to let you see how this spiritual river overflowes , by giving and forgiving , by vouchsafing to our brethren spiritual and corporal almes , that concerne their souls and bodies , by remitting all those injuries they do against us : and thus it is true , they are men of mercy as for the wicked , solomon saith , their very mercies are cruel , when they pretend mercy it is in crueltie , nay they shew mercy that they may be wicked , but the righteous he shews mercy even to his beast , it runnes down even unto them , and hence it is here called mercifull men , or men of mercy : but now look upon the complaint it self , and that sets forth their seeming miserable condition , the one , of perishing . the other , of taking away . the righteous perish , the mercifull men are taken away : the first of these is very strange and hard , especially of the righteous that he is said to perish ; perish is capable of various acceptations . 1. there is a perishing that neither seazes on the righteous nor the wicked . 2. there is a perishing befalls the wicked and not the good . 3. and there is a perishing befalls both the godly and the wicked . 1. there is a perishing that befalls neither the righteous nor the wicked : a perishing of totall destruction and annihilation . the psalmist saith : wicked men are like the beasts that perish . sensuall men are so in their dispositions , but not in their natures : the beast perishing dissolveth into his first being to nothing , and happy were it , if it were so with the wicked , that there were annihilation . 2. and then there is a perishing that befalls the wicked and not the righteous : the memory of the wicked shall not , but it shall not be so with the just ; no dying , no marrying can obliterate their names : but the wicked , their names perish , & which is worse there is a perishing in the soul , and it is that perishing which is opposed to good , to eternall good , the righteous is scarcely saved , it is not almost , they do not perish hereafter , but the wicked perish eternally . but then , 3. there is a perishing that is common to the righteous with the wicked : will you know what it is ? understand it either of the miseries of this life ( as s. paul saith ) if i perish , i perish . whatever hazard we run or fall into , it may be termed a perishing , or chiefly , perishing by death , this is common to all : the prophet michael tels us the good man is perished out of the earth ; that is he dies : when he perisheth it is a relative to perishing in this world , in this present life . so when the righteous die he perisheth , therefore it was that the prophet made use of this word , to let them see what the wicked thought , that the righteous perisheth , it is not so in reallity , and that we might not be troubled at the harshness of the phrase in the first clause . go on to the second , taking away . god hath given most members double ; two hands , two feet , two eyes , two eares , that if one faile the other may supply , & so the spirit of god gives two phrases often in scripture , that if the one be obscure , the other may make it plain so it is here , least the one should be too hard , here is another to explain it , when he saith , perish , he means onely taking away from the society of men , that is ail , as we may very well read the words , the mercifull men are gathered , as the hebrew will carry it , they perish not but rather are gathered to their fathers , as that expression in ecclesiastes , the body goes to the grave , and the soul to heaven , or to him that gave it , it is that they may be gathered to the innumerable company of angels , to the spirits of just men made perfect , to the beatificall vision ; all this is meant in this one expression , taking away . and the summe is , the righteous ones , & the mercifull ones were taken away by death , perished from the earth . and so this is true in respect of a naturall death , the righteous as well as others perish , because of the same nature and constitution , and also the remainders of the same corruptions that are in them ; therefore they must die and perish as well as others , but that which the prophet aimes at is perishing in a violent sense , and the phrase taken away hints as much , they are taken away and cut of ( as ' it s spoken of the messias ) from the land of the living . these candles do not go out of themselves for want of that which should give them life , but are blown out by a violent wind ; and very well it may be so , because of their enemies , david saith ; the wicked watch the righteous , and why do they watch him , but to take advantage to slay him , and this many times befalls the godly ones , and that in great wisdome , even that the glory of gods power may appeare , his power in sustaining and upholding them , when by death he brings them to himself , especially strengthning them in the hour of a violent death , and his power will appear , in raising of their vile bodies , that shall be in the dust : in raising them , when their vile bodies shall be changed and made like the glorious body of christ , & he will have it so that their graces may appear , & that their faith may be more eminent : if god should translate them as he did eliah from earth to heaven , there would be something to appear of glory , but nothing of strength , and therefore that the faith and courage of his servants may appear , he thus takes them away , and chiefly that they may be conformable to christ , and that he may make the members like unto the head , and go , as he did , by a violent death , they must drink of the brook and after lift up their heads , therefore this is a just complaint , the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away . the consideration of this may serve partly to inform , partly to instruct . first to inform us , that there is another world , and day of judgement , that there is a time wherein god will put a difference between the godly and the wicked , between him that swears , and him that fears an oath , between him that serves him , and him that rebells against him : i say there must be a time of retribution ( or he could not be a righteous and mercifull god ) when there must be a recompence to godly men , you see how the righteous perish as well as the wicked , you see the same lot befalls the one , as well as the other , it assures us therefore that there is another day comming , when it will appear that there is a reward to the godly . and it should , secondly instruct all righteous ones that they should make use of this kind of death , for the glory of gods name , and the good of his own brethren . how should all of us magistrates , ministers and people approve our selves in the discharge of our duty , and especially mercifull men by shewing mercy , multiplying mercy , when the mercifull man is taken away , then all is taken away there is no more work , nor almes , nor mercy for us to do in the grave where we are a going . and further it should instruct us , that we should make use of , and make much of the righteous men , that are in the midst of us , because they must perish and be taken from us : these candles must go out , nay they may by a blustering wind be blown out , make use of them while you have them . our saviour bids us , walk in the light while you have the light : so do you , whilst gods righteous servants and ministers are amongst you , make the best use of them you can ( as our saviour said , me you shall not have alwayes with you : so these you shall not have alwayes with you , therefore endeavour to reap all the benefit , and profit from them you can . finally let us not think the worse of them because they are taken away , we are ready to be frighted , because of the trouble that befalls them , but let us remember , that the righteous whatever trouble incompasses them , they are delivered from it by death , nay that taking away of theirs , is a benefit to them , for it is a taking away from the evil to come . and that leads me to the other branch , which mitigateth the complaint in the close of the verse . the righteous are taken away from the evil to come . taken away from the evil to come is a phrase which admits of a double construction , we may understand it of being taken away from the evil to come upon themselves , they are taken away from those future evils that ( if they had continued longer upon earth , ) should have befallen them , thus they are taken away from criminall evils , and poenall evils . 1. from criminall evils they are taken away , and thereby prevented from those sins , they might otherwayes have fallen into , for the righteous are not altogether free from sin , while herebelow ; and therefore it is that they are delivered from that which is a great grief unto them , ever to sin against their father . 2. from poenall evils , from those miseries and troubles that do befall them in this world : many are the afflictions of the righteous , but god delivers them out of all : pain , penurie , aches , sicknesse , &c. and when the righteous is taken away , he is taken away from all these . but that which is the principal meaning of the word is , they are taken away from the evil of the place wherein they live , from the common calamitie that is to seize upon the people : therefore you find in the 26. isa. 20. where the prophet saith come my people , enter thou into thy chambers , and shut thy doors about thee , hide thy self as it were for a little moment untill the indignation be overpast : some understand those little doors and moments , places and chambers , to be meant of the grave , yet there god hides his people , he puts them in the grave where they are quiet : when he intends to send a blustering tempest , and a storm upon the earth . thus god prepares a zoar for lot when he brings destruction upon sodom , and an ark for noah , when he brings a deluge upon the world : so god prepares a grave for the righteous , when he intends to bring evil upon the earth : but this is not alwaies so , for god will somtimes keep them in the midst of trouble , he sets a mark upon their forehead , as in the 9. ezek. 4. and the lord said unto him , go through the midst of the city , through the midst of ierusalem , and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh & that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof . and sometimes god makes them sharers and sufferers in the evils , because they have not mourned for the sinnes of the times and places where they live ; therefore god makes them partakers of the miserie ; but god many times takes them away from the evil to come . thus josiah is taken away from the evil that was to come upon the jews : and st. austin's prayers were heard , god taking him away before hippo was taken , whereof he was bp : and luther was taken out of the world before the desolation came that fell upon germany : thus is gods dealing in the taking away of his servants , and that upon a double account . 1. in regard of themselves . 2. in regard of others . 1. in regard of themselves : that they may not only not see , but also that they may not suffer in the evil that is to come : and this is the very reason why josiah was cut off , that he should not see that general devastation that should come upon his native countrie , and that they may not see the evil , he hath taken them away . 2ly . the chief account why he takes them away , is , that they may not keep of the evil that is to befall any people : for the righteous and mercifull men are the chariots & horsmen of israel , that do defend the places where they live ; the angel told lot he could do nothing against the citie until he was out of it : & you know what god said to moses , let me alone , &c. a good man ( as it were , ) ties gods hands that he cannot bring evil upon a place , one righteous man may do more with god by prayer , then a thousand men by armes : there is a great prevalencie in the prayers of the righteous , and when god will bring evil upon a place , he first takes away the righteous , that they may not keep it off : as when a man will take down a house , he first takes away the pillars and supporters thereof : so when god intends to destroy a people , he remooves the pillars that support them ; god takes away the righteous , as on the one hand they may not see ; so on the other hand they may nor prevent the evils he intends to inflict . to wind up this in a word of use . look on the one hand as there is little cause for the wicked to insult over the righteous when they are taken away , ( rejoyce not over me , o mine enemy ) saith the church ; i say little cause have the wicked to rejoyce for the taking away of the good , because it is a sad presage to the bad . the righteous being taken away , if such things be done to the green tree , what shall be done to the dry : if the righteous scarcely be saved , where shall the wicked appeare ; if that the righteous be taken away from the evil to come , it is that the evil may come upon a place : it is an undeniable consequence if god deal severely with his own : the wicked must exspect his cup to be filled to the full . if these perish for a time , those for ever : therefore let not the wicked triumph , and as there is no reason why the wicked should rejoyce , so no cause why the friends of the righteous should be too much troubled when they perish by what hand soever ? for all the righteous servants of god when they are to be taken away , say to us ( as our saviour said to the woman , weep not for me , ) weep not for us , weep for your selves , and as they are taken away from evil , so they are received unto good ; they are taken from a prison to be seated in a palace ; they are taken from a wildernesse to be transplanted into a garden ; they are taken away from earth and carryed unto heaven ; no reason therfore to weep for them , but for your selves : the evil to come cannot light on them ; but on us ; but let them not be disregarded by us , we are not to be stupid under such a divine providence , least we incurre the sin which the prophet here complaines of : and so i come to the complaint of the prophet against the wicked , bewailing their obstinacie , the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart : & mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come : no man layes it to heart , no man considers it ; the phrases which the prophet makes use of , are very emphatical . the first phrase according to the hebrew is , no man puts it upon his heart ; and the latter , no man doth understand or seriously weigh , or dewly consider : so that one phrase hath reference to the affections , the other to the judgement : no man laies it to heart , so as to affect it , no man considers , it so as to understand it , and these two well agree together , and the one infers the other : that which a man laies to heart , he will consider , if the heart be affected , the understanding will be imployed : a man cannot but revolve that which he is cut and strucken with ; by considering it we lay it to heart : while i muse the fire kindled : there is an affection in the mind toward the object , if it be of delight it brings joy , if sadness it brings sorrow , and these two phrases are very fruitfull exprest here , no man lays it to heart , no man considers it , and observe what the sin is that the prophet charges with , and complaines against : it was not a sin of commission , no , it was a sin of omission ; it was neglect of duty : it is as horrid impiety to omit what god commands us to do , which he forbids ; remember we do provoke god as much by omitting to do good , as by doing those things he hath forbid . many men please themselves pharasaically . when the sinfull neglect of any known duty , being judgement , as soon as the doing of a known sin , i say it is the not doing of our known duty makes us culpable , and that sin here charged on us is not the rejoycing , and triumphing when the godly are taken away , but the not laying it to heart that argues a man to be in the depth of wickedness , to come to sit in the seat of the scorners , to deride at the calamities of the godly , and make their tears his drink , and their ruins his play and sport , this is the depth of wickednesse when men rejoyce at the miseries and ruins of the righteous , but it is not considering , or laying to heart the miseries of the servants of god that is here onely meant , though you will find that a great sin , the not laying to heart their being taken away . one would think it but a a small thing , but you will find it a great sin , not to lay it to heart when the rightous are taken away . for 1. take notice it is the perishing of the righteous . when any man dies , the living will lay it to heart , saith salomon : and shall not the living lay it to heart , when not an ordinary man but a good man , one of the prophets of god and those righteous , mercifull and eminent ones are taken away . shall such stars fall from the firmement , and no eyes behold it ? no heart consider it ? put those altogether , it was the righteous that is perishing : and besides , when we consider , it was not an ordinary but a violent death . when a good man dies naturally , the living will lay it to heart , much more when cut of , when he might have lived longer : and then consider all oportunities of doing good is taken away , and when not an ordinary person , and that not by an ordinary death , perishing , and more then so , taken away , and when this perishing and taking away of the righteous was a prediction that concerned themselves of their ruin , their judgements , was at hand , and ready to overtake and overthrow them , and they not to consider it : & adde to this that this shall be so , and that there should not be a man to consider it , not as if there was none at all ; there were some though , the number be but very small that did bemoan and lay this thing to heart , yet it is usuall in scripture to expresse where there is but a few , as if there was none at all , as in the 53 psal. 3. 5 ierem. 15. because there is but a very few , therefore it is expressed as if there were none at all : there was but a few zealous in regard of the multitude and generally it they did not consider that the righteous perish , and they did not lay it to heart , the mercifull men are tak●n away from the evil to come . i say these things being put together you will find it was noe small sin , and that the prophet hath noe little reason to complain , that they did not lay it to heart , if you consider it in reference , 1. vnto god . 2. vnto them . 3. to our selves . 1. in reference unto god ; this was a great work , and aspeciall work of gods provience , that he was pleased to suffer his righteous ones to p●rish , and be taken away . it is a very great sin not to observe gods dealing ; they are equally bad , when gods word sounds in our eares , his works appears in our eyes , and neither is regarded by us . as the psalmist complains in the 26 psalm . this is great impiety that god should passe by us in a speciall providence , and we not take notice thereof : if not a sparrow fall to the ground without his knowledge , nor a hair of our heads fall to the ground , much lesse our heads , they cannot perish but by a speciall providence : and they should be taken notice of when god intends to take them from us ; and as it impiery against god , so likewise it is a sin against them , it argues that as we want piety , so pity , as purity , so bowels , when those that are our fellow-members , righteous ones especially : nay when in a higher , rank then our selves , ministers or others are in misery , and we are not troubled at their sufferings , this argues we want much pity : they are but glasse eyes that weep not for such a losse , and it is but a woodden leg that is not sensible , what the rest of the members endures . and as it is a sin against them , so likewayes it is an evil against our selves , it argues a stupid mind , a secure heart , and an obdurate spirit that is not moved with such providentiall dispensations against us , especially when it presages judgement and misery to come upon a people , and yet it should not work upon us . all this considered you will find it was a just matter of complaint , which the prophet takes up , the righteous perish , and no man layes it heart , &c. i beseech you in the fear of god , let us learn to practise the contrary , and to lay to heart the miseries , distresses , and perishings of the servants of god ; but especially when they die by a violent death , the sun daily shines and noe man regards it , but when once it is in an eclipse , then every eye will be upon it , neither do men mind the high mountains when standing , but if it chance to fall then every eye consider it , and shall we not take notice of the eclipses of gods faithfull servants , and so lay them to heart by remembring to register the deeds of gods faithfull servants . how , and when taken away , and withall bemoaning , and bewailing both the miseries they suffer , and the calamities we are like to suffer , by reason they are taken away from the evil to come , and by imitating their vertues following their graces , setting before us their exemplary lives , and treading in their steps , so as to prepare for dying , for suffering , in the like or any other kind , that death may not find us unprovided : and if we do live to prepare for the evil to come , judgement is at hand . let us be making our peace with god by repenting of our own , and the sins of the land , that when the evil comes it may not come upon us unprepared , and though we be taken away , we may be but taken to the fruition of glory and happinesse ; and that i may not be guilty of this sin , i here declaime against it . i dare not but stir up my self and you , sadly and veriously stir up you and me to lay to heart this mercifull man of god , this righteous man that hath been lately taken from us , i hope none will envy his character : if we look no further then his death , it was a violent death , but as for the cause of his death it concernes not me , it must be referred to that great day , the day of judgement , i hope without offence to any here , i may look to the manner of his death , the righteous are said to be bold as a lyon , and hath hopes in his death , and what is this but the serene consequence of a well led life , that made him meekly bold , and humbly confident , and chearful at his dissolution : of all acts of mercies none is greater then that of forgiving enemies , which that he did , witnesse those lines , those excellent lines read at his interrment , or those gracious charitable words , and prayers he uttered upon the scaffold , which proclaims him a man full of grace & mercy , i want time , and tongue to go over his life ; and al that knew him will acknowledge this , that the whole course of his life was a constellation of graces and vertues , both as he was a christian , and as he was a minister . this righteous man is now perished , this mercifull man is now taken away . but i trust nay i have some measure , of confidence he is but perished from the earth , taken from us and removed to a better habitation , to enjoy a safer , a more glorious life : and i hope though he be out of sight , yet he is not out of mind , and will not be forgotten , especially by you among whom he hath been a faithfull , and painfull laborour , he having spent his time , strength , and labour for your souls good , therefore do you lay his death to heart . remember how often ▪ you have behold him from his sacred oratory how often you have heard him dropping , nay overflowing with faithfull reproofes , sweet comforts , wholesome admonitious : remember all those savery instructions you have heard from him , remember and practice them , that will be the best way to lay to heart the losse of this viagilant and faithfull minister , and lay to heart your own barrenesse , and unfruitfullnesse that hath provoked god to deprive , and rob you of such a iewell , lay it to heart , that you have been no more bettered , and mended by those saving doctrines ; and not onely you , but all of us lay it to heart , this and all others of gods servants that have been taken from this city , not many years ago , which is a sad persage , that the ruine thereof is at hand , if a timely repentance and amendment of life prevent not ; which is the end of our discourse , that all of us may be brought to a serious repentance , as to lay to heart the perishing and taking away of the righteous ones , so not to murmur , and repine at those that have been the instruments of our losse , but to repent of our sins with grief and sorrow , as the cause thereof by contempt of the word and sacraments , having used all means to provoke god to take them from us . let us for the time to come , so repent , that if it be possible gods wrath may be appeased , his judgements diverted , and those faithfull ones that are yet among us , may be continued , and that more faithfull messengers may be sent into his harvest , which god of his mercy grant , amen . finis . a sermon preach'd at the temple-church, december 30, 1694, upon the sad occasion of the death of our gracious queen by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. 1694 approx. 26 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59887 wing s3358 estc r20741 12564611 ocm 12564611 63307 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59887) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63307) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 703:19) a sermon preach'd at the temple-church, december 30, 1694, upon the sad occasion of the death of our gracious queen by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. the second edition. [4], 27, [1] p. printed for will. rogers ..., london : 1694. half title: the dean of st. pavl's sermon at the temple-church, december 30, 1694. running title: a sermon preach'd at the temple-church. advertisement: p. [1] at end. "and published at the earnest request of several masters of the bench of both societies". reproduction of original in duke university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694 -death and burial. church of england -sermons. bible. -o.t. -psalms xxxix, 9 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the dean of st. pavl's sermon at the temple-church , december 30. 1694. a sermon preach'd at the temple-church , december 30. 1694. upon the sad occasion of the death of our gracious queen . and published at the earnest request of several masters of the bench of both societies . by william sherlock , d. d. dean of st. paul's , master of the temple , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . the second edition . london : printed for will. rogers , at the sun over-against st. dunstan's church in fleetstreet . mdcxciv . xxxix . psalm 9. i was dumb , and opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . this may be thought a very improper text for the feast of our saviour's birth , when our mouths ought to be filled with the praises of god , and sing with the whole quire of angels , glory be to god in the highest , on earth peace , good will towards men . this indeed is that peace , which the world cannot give , and which the world cannot take away ; whatever the external appearances of providence are , here we find a safe retreat , and a never-failing spring of joy : for he that spared not his own son , but delivered him up for us all , how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? who then shall jeparate us from the love of christ ? shall tribulation , or distress , or persecution , or famine , or nakedness , or peril , or sword ? — nay , in all these we are more than conquerors through him that loved us . for i am perswaded , that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature , shall he able to separate us from the love of god , which is in christ jesus our lord , 8. rom. 32 , 35 , 37 , &c. while our minds are warmed with such thoughts as these , we shall be able to bear up under the greatest trials , if not with chearfulness , yet at least with patience and a quiet submission to the will of god. and if ever there were occasion for such comfortable and supporting thoughts , the divine providence has made it too necessary at this time , to bear the loss of an incomparable lady , our most gracious queen ; whose death all good subjects must lament , and i pray god forgive those that do not . such severe providences as these , will teach the greatest and most unbroken minds , to serve the lord with fear , and to rejoice with trembling . but how severe soever providence is in some particular instances , the sense of the divine goodness in the redemption of mankind by the incarnation and death of his own son ; should teach us to be dumb , and not open our mouths , because it is his doings . in speaking to which words , i shall inquire , what may be called the doings of the lord ? 2. what it is to be dumb , and not to open our mouths ? 3. the force of this argument to oblige us to a quiet and patient submission under the greatest sufferings , that it is god's doing . 1. what may be called the doing of the lord ? this may be thought a very needless question ; for are there any events , good or evil , which are not god●s doing ? if we believe a particular providence , we must answer , no ; and yet some things are more peculiarly god's doings , than others are , with respect to this present argument , as god's doing it , is a reason for a quiet and patient submission to the divine will. in many cases men bring ruine and misery upon themselves by their own sin and folly , and then they may thank themselves for it ; but have no reason to complain of providence ; and when they cannot charge providence with their misfortunes , patience it self is not properly a submission to god ; because their sufferings are no more god●s will , than their sin and folly is . if men destroy their estates by profuseness and prodigality , and their bodies by intemperance and lust ; if ill-contracted friendships , indiscreet bargains , or an ungovernable tongue , perplex their affairs , and prove very troublesome or dangerous , all this is owing not merely to providence , but to themselves ; and they must be contented to reap the fruit of their own doings , and to implore the divine goodness and providence to deliver them from the evil consequences of their own sin and folly . whatever evils we suffer , which are not the natural or moral effects of our own sin or folly , they are properly god's doings , as inflicted by god , either for the punishment of our sins , or for the trial and exercise of our virtues , or to serve the wise ends of his providence in the world . those evils which we do not immediately bring upon our selves , god inflicts on us , either by the ministry of wicked and injurious men , or by the disorders of natural causes , or by some seeming casual and fortuitous events ; for the actions of men , the powers of nature , and what we call chance and fortune , are all in the hands of god , and therefore are more or less his doings . but if we may say , that some things are more peculiarly the care of providence , than others , life and death are certainly so ; no man can be born or die , without the particular order and appointment of god : our saviour tells us , not a sparrow falls to the ground without our father , much less men ; and assures his disciples , that all the hairs of their head are numbred ; and their lives are more sacred than their hairs . some men are of opinion , that god has absolutely decreed the certain term and period of every man's life ; but i know no foundation for this , neither in scripture nor reason ; nor does any man believe it , but those who subject all mankind , and all the things of this world , to irreversible necessity and fate , which is the strength of the atheistick hypothesis ; though incautiously espoused by some men , who are so far from being atheists , that i hope they are very good christians . and therefore , i suppose , these christian fatalists , if i may so call them , mean no more than what we all own , that no sparrow , much less a man , falls to the ground without our father ; that god not only foreknows the period of every man's life , and by what means he shall die , but with infinite wisdom and justice , orders and appoints it ; not by an absolute and unconditional decree , but as the wise determination of a free and just providence . and if god have any more concernment for nations and common-wealths , than he has for particular men ( as we , who can attend but a few things at once , and therefore make the matters of greatest importance our more particular care , are apt to conceive ) then the lives and deaths of princes must be more particularly ordered and determined by god ; because nations , it may be many nations and countries , more than their own , are concerned in the consequence of it ; and of the more universal concernment any thing is , the more we are apt to think it belongs to the care of god. for this reason some philosophers have confined the providence of god to the heavens , and heavenly bodies , which have such a universal influence on things below ; or to nations and publick societies , and to the several kinds and species of beings , not to particular men or creatures . and so far they were in the right , that if the divine providence could not equally take care of the whole world , and of every particular creature in it ; it would certainly in the first place take care of the great springs of motion . but though this be no reason for god's peculiar care of one thing more than another , because his all-seeing eye , and almighty arm , can equally take care of all ; yet our saviour has taught us from the worth and value of things , that god will certainly take the more care of them , and in case of any competition give the preference to things of the greatest moment . behold the fowls of the air , for they sow not , neither do they reap , nor gather into barns , yet your heavenly father feedeth them ; are ye not much better than they ? and if god so clothe the grass of the field , which to day is , and to morrow is cast into the oven , shall he not much more clothe you , o ye of little faith ? 6. matth. 26 , 30. where from god's care of mean inferior creatures , the fowls of the air , and the grass of the field , he more strongly concludes his care of men ; and by the same reason from his care of particular men , we may more strongly conclude his care of kingdoms and nations , and therefore of the lives of princes , who are the great ministers of his government and providence , and whose lives or deaths make such a mighty change in the affairs of the world . so that when , or by what means soever princes dye , this is god's doings ; and how severe soever we may feel it , we must be dumb , and not open our mouths , because he has done it ; which is the 2. thing to be explained , what is meant by being dumb , and not opening our mouths . for this seems a very hard saying in the strict literal sense , that we must not complain of our sufferings , when we feel 'em smart : humane nature can't bear this , we must feel our sufferings , and when we feel them , we must complain : to have no sense of what we suffer , is stupidity , not submission ; it is irreverence for the judgments of god , and in some cases the most unpardonable baseness and ingratitude to men. to be unconcerned for the death of our dearest friends , or greatest patrons and benefactors , not to pay natures tribute to their memories in a sigh and a tear ; not to long after them , and send some vain wishes to call them back ; not to preserve their idea fresh in our minds , and to think with some uneasiness of those happy hours which their conversation sweetned ; to part with our friends , as if we suffered nothing by their loss , and were as well without them , is so far from being a virtue , that such a man is uncapable of ever being a friend , and never deserves to have any ; much more then , when we lose a publick friend and benefactor , the greatest of friends and benefactors , which is a good prince . let us briefly consider , what we have lost in the loss of our gracious queen , and try if we can bear the thoughts of it without complaining . she was the glory of her sex , and an ornament to the crown she wore ; made truly great by nature , birth , and education . she had a large and capacious mind , a quick and lively apprehension , and a piercing and solid judgment : she had a strength and firmness of mind beyond her sex , and such a dexterity in managing the greatest affairs , as would have become the greatest and most experienced ministers . never was there greater skill in government with less fondness for it , which she could take up and lay down , with the same equality and indifferency of mind : though , i doubt , i must unsay that ; for she was always grieved at the occasion of taking the government , and as glad to resign it . never was majesty better tempered with easiness and sweetness . she knew how to be familiar , without making her self cheap , and to condescend without meanness she had all the greatness of majesty , with all the vertues of conversation ; and knew very well , what became her table , and what became the council-board . she understood her religion , and loved it , and practised it ; and was the greatest example of the age , of a constant , regular , unaffected devotion , and of all the eminent vertues of a christian life . in the midst of all the great affairs of state , she would rather spare time from her sleep , than from her prayers , where she always appeared with that great composure and seriousness of mind , as if her court had been a nunnery , and she had had nothing else to do in the world. in all the ease and prosperity of fortune she had that tenderness and compassion for those , who suffered , which sufferings themselves cannot teach meaner persons . she was charitable to the utmost of her power , amidst all the expences of war and government , and when a proper object was presented to her , was always pleased , when she could grant their requests , and very uneasie to deny . in short , her greatest and most implacable enemies , ( for vertue it self will meet with enemies in this world ) had no other fault to charge her with , but her throne ; which is the only thing , for which most other princes are valuable . she ascended the throne indeed before she desired it , but was thrust into it , not by an hasty ambition , but to save a sinking church and kingdom : and i hope england will always have reason to say , that an empty throne could never have been filled with a nobler pair . but though the necessary absence of the king , to give check to the progress of a powerful and insulting monarch , engaged her more than she desired in state affairs , yet the promoting of true religion , and the service of the church of england , [ the greatest and best nursery of it , since the apostolick age , ] was her constant and natural care. this her thoughts were full of , and she had formed great and noble designs , had she out-lived the difficulties and expences of war ; and been at leisure to attend the peaceful arts of government . i have reason to say this , from those frequent intimations i have had from our late admirable primate , who had great designs himself to serve the christian religion , and the church of england , in its truest interests ; and had inspired their majesties ; and particularly the queen , who had more leisure for such thoughts , with the same great and pious designs : it may be no church-man ever had , i am sure not more deservedly , a greater interest in his prince's favour ; and the great use he made of it , was to do publick service to reliligion ; and , whatever some men might suspect , to the church of england , though it may be not perfectly in their way : and the greatest fault i know he had , was , that some envious and ambitious men could not bear his greatness , which he himself never courted , nay , which he industriously avoided . before this , all england knew and owned his worth ; and had it been put to the poll , there had been vast odds on his side , that he would have been voted into the see of canterbury ; for no man had ever a clearer and brighter reason , a truer judgment , a more easie and happy expression , nor a more inflexible , fearless honesty : he was a true and hearty friend , and was a true friend where-ever he professed to be so : though he had many enemies at last , he took care to make none . he was obliging to all men ; and though he could not easily part with a friend , he could easily forgive an enemy , as that bundel of libels witnesses , which was found among his other papers , with this inscription : these are libels ; i pray god forgive them ; w i do . but i cannot give you the just character of this great man now ; what i have already said , i confess , is an excursion , which i hope you will pardon to the passion of an old friend ; and learn from two great examples , that neither the greatest innocence , vertue , or merit , can defend , either crowned or mitred heads , from the lash of spiteful and envenomed tongues . but what a loss has religion and church of england , in such a critical time , in the death of such a queen , and such a prelate ! i pray god make up this loss . in a word , that great passion which afflicts and oppresses our good king , gives an unexceptionable testimony to the incomparable worth of our deceased queen : the too severe and visible effects of it , shew , that it is not an ordinary , nor a dissembled passion : nor is it an ordinary thing , for a prince of so great a mind , who can look the most formidable dangers , and death it self , in the face , without fear ; whom all the powers of france cannot make look pale or tremble , to sink and faint , and to feel all the agonies of death in the dying looks of a beloved consort . all story cannot furnish us with many examples of such soft and tender passions , in such a warlike and fearless mind ; and what but a mighty vertue could so charm a prince , as to forget his natural constancy and resolution ? i 'm sure , though we pay very dear for the experiment in the loss of an excellent queen , we have so much the more reason to think our selves happy in a king ; for a due mixture and temperament of such fearless courage and bravery , and such tender passions , is the most perfect composition of an excellent prince . and now it may be , you will tell me , that i have taken great pains to conhute my text , and that i have done it effectually ; for we ought not to be dumb , but may very justly complain of such a loss as this . this i readily grant , that we may complain of such a loss ; but this is no confutation of my text. we may complain , and give ease and vent to our sorrows by such complaints , while we do not complain against god , and accuse him foolishly . to submit to the will of god , which is here exprest by being dumb , and not opening our mouths , does not signifie , not to feel our losses and sufferings , or not to complain of them ; but not to reproach the divine providence , nor to cast off our hope and trust in god. job felt his sufferings , and complained of them in as moving and tragical expressions , as any other man could , and yet is proposed to us , as an example , of admirable patience , because he did not charge god folishly , nor cast off his hope in him . this we never can have any reason for ; for whatever we suffer , it is a wise and merciful providence which inflicts it : but yet mankind are very apt , when they suffer hard things , either to deny a providence , or which is more absurd , and unreasonable , to reproach it ; for if there be a god , he is wise , and good , and merciful , and just , which is the notion all mankind have of god ; and if this god governs the world , all events are ordered with wisdom , justice , and goodness ; and all thinking men , in cool and sober thoughts , will be ashamed to quarrel with such a providence . but yet we are very apt to ask questions , which we cannot easily answer , and then to make our own ignorance an objection against the divine providence . as in the case before us , the sudden and untimely death of an excellent princess , who had strength and vigour of age , which promised a much longer life , and who would certainly have done great good to the world , as long as she had lived ; but is cut off in the vigour and strength of age , and all her thoughts , even all her great and excellent designs of doing good to the world , perish with her ; while tyrants and oppressors live to be the plagues and scourges of mankind . now though we do not know the particular reasons of such providences , yet it is easie to frame some general answers , which may satisfie all the friends of providence . if the objection relates to our selves , who suffer by this loss , there is a very plain answer to it , but a very terrible one ; that god is angry with us , and by the untimely death of an excellent princess , who made it her whole study and design to do us good , threatens his judgments against us , if we do not take care to prevent them by a timely repentance . if the objection relates only to the untimely death of an excellent princess , that the should so suddenly be snatched away from the joys and pleasures of a throne ; this is no objection at all ; at least not an objection fit for christians to make : for can we think , that the greatest and most happy monarch , loses any thing by the exchange , if he be translated from earth to heaven ? that the joys of paradise are not greater than a crown ? our good queen did not think so , who knew what an earthly crown meant , but was willing to part with it for heaven ; who saw death approaching without fear , and prepared to receive its stroke with that calmness and sedateness of mind , as nothing could give but an innocent conscience , and much greater hopes but as for our selves , though we must acknowledge that we have received a very great loss , in the death of an excellent queen , yet we have no reason to quarrel at providence , while god preserves our king to go in and out before us . we had indeed perpetual day ; and no sooner was one sun withdrawn , but another ascended our horizon , with equal lustre and brightness : this was a peculiar happiness which we never had before , and which the necessity of our affairs required now ; but though god has cut us short in this , we have a king still , the terror of france , and the protector of europe ; a king , whom affection as well as blood has naturalized to us ; who loves our nation and our church , which he has once delivered , and god grant he may live long to settle and protect both . we have no reason to fear our enemies , either at home or abroad , while a prince is at the helm , who wants neither counsel nor courage ; especially if we follow that noble example , which the two houses of parliament have set us , to give him such fresh assurances of our fidelity , as may strengthen his hands against his and our enemies abroad , and make him easie and safe at home . to conclude , this is god's doing , and it becomes us to be dumb , and not to open our mouthes , because he has done it : he is the sovereign and unaccountable lord of the world ; who shall say unto him , what dost thou ? life and death are in his hands ; the fates of princes and kingdoms . that he has done it , should be a sufficient reason to us to submit , because though he does things great and wonderful , and beyond our understanding , yet he never does any thing but what is wise and good : this i 'm sure is the most effectual way to turn even the severest judgments into blessings , to reerence god , and to humble our selves under his mighty hand , and to implore his mercy , to repair those breaches he has made upon us . we must not complain of providence ; but we may make our complaints to god , and be the more importunate in our prayers for the preservation of our king. the death of our excellent queen both calls for , and will justifie and recommend such humble importunities ; and the preservation of our king , will , in a great measure , make up this loss to us ; which god of his infinite mercy grant , through our lord jesus christ ; to whom with the father , and the holy ghost , be honour , glory , and power , now and for ever , amen . finis . books lately printed for william rogers . sermons and discourses in four volumes . 8vo . sermons concerning the divinity of our blessed saviour . 8vo . six sermons : 1. of stedfastness in religion . 2. of family-religion . 3 , 4 , 5. of the education of children . 6. of the advantages of an early piety . preached in the church of st. lawrence jury . 8vo . these by his grace john lord arch-bishop of canterbury . a commentary on the five books of moses , with a dissertation concerning the author or writer of the said books , with a general argument to each of them : by richard lord bishop of bath and wells . in a vol. 8vo . a practical discourse concerning death , 8vo . eighth edition , price 3 s. in 12 mo . price 2 s. a practical discourse concerning future judgment . third edition . 8vo . a discourse concerning the divine providence : second edition . 4to . these by the reverend dr. sherlock dean of st. pauls . a defence of dr. sherlock's notion of a trinity in unity , in answer to the animadversions upon his vindication of the doctrine of the holy and ever blessed trinity . 4to . a defence of the dean of st. paul's apology for writing against the socinians , in answer to the antapologist . 4to . a discourse of religion , shewing its truth and reality ; or the suitableness of religion to humane nature . 8vo . a discourse of the resurrection , shewing the import and certainty of it . 8vo . these two by the reverend mr. wilson rector of morly in derbyshire . a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend richard meggot d.d. and late dean of winchester, decemb. 10th, 1692 at twickenham by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. 1693 approx. 28 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59884 wing s3355 estc r11116 12032317 ocm 12032317 52770 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59884) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52770) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 878:18) a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend richard meggot d.d. and late dean of winchester, decemb. 10th, 1692 at twickenham by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. [3], 26, [2] p. printed for w. rogers ..., london : 1693. reproduction of original in huntington library. advertisement: p. [1]-[2] created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng meggott, richard, d. 1692. church of england -sermons. bible. -n.t. -philippians i, 23-24 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend richard meggot d. d. and late dean of winchester , decemb. 10 th . 1692. at twickenham . by william sherlock , d. d. dean of st. pauls , master of the temple , and chaplain in ordinary to their majesties . imprimatur , geo. royse r. r mo . in christo patri ac dom. dom. johanni archiep. cantuar. à sacris domest . decemb. 18. 1692. london : printed for w. rogers at the sun over against st. dunstan's church in fleetsteet . 1693. a sermon preached at the funeral of dr. meggot , decemb. 10. 1692. i phil. 23 , 24. for i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is far better . nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you . st . paul wrote this epistle to philippi from rome , where he was in bonds for the gospel ; but though his body was confined to a prison , his soul , his great divine soul was at liberty to visit the churches he had planted , to advise and counsel and comfort them , to encrease their knowledge , and to confirm their faith , to inflame their zeal , and to spur them forward to more perfect attainments in all piety and vertue . the philippians seem greatly concerned least the progress of the gospel should be hindred by st. paul's imprisonment , and least they and the whole church should be deprived of the labours and ministry of so great an apostle , should this persecution extend to life , as they had reason to fear it would . as for the first , st. paul assures them , that his bonds were for the furtherance of the gospel ; for his imprisonment was taken notice of both in the court and city , which made men curious to know , what that doctrine was , which he preached , and for which he suffered bonds , and this published the gospel more effectually than his preaching could have done , v. 12 , 13 , &c. as for the second , he tells them , he was no farther concerned either about life or death , but that christ might be magnified in his body . if he lived , his life was wholly devoted to the service of christ , and of his church ; if he died , it would be for his own great advantage . to me to live is christ , and to die is gain ; vers . 20 , 21. and this made it a hard choice to him , whether he should desire to live or die : whether he should get rid of his bonds , and make his escape out of a troublesom world into the regions of ease and rest , to reap the fruit of his labours here in the eternal enjoyment of his lord , whom he had so faithfully served ; or whether he should live to encounter with a thousand difficulties and deaths in the service of christ , and of the souls of men. what i should chose i wot not : for i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart and to be with christ , which is far better : nevertheless , to abide in the flesh is more needful for you . was there ever such a dispute as this before , that a man , who was as certain to go to heaven , as he was to die ; who had himself been snatch'd up into the third heavens , and had his mind possest with strong and vigorous and lively idea's of the glories of that place , who had seen and heard such things as could not be expressed ; who saw a crown , a glorious immarcessible crown prepared for him ; i say , that such a man should make any question what he should chose , whether immediately to take possession of this crown and kingdom , or to live longer in this world to suffer bonds and imprisonments , hunger , and cold , and stripes , and all the ill usage , which he had so often met with , for no other reason but still to preach the gospel , and to enlarge the borders of christ's church . what a contempt is this , not only of the little pleasures and satisfactions , but even of all the miseries of life ! what a triumph is this over the world , over all the frowns and terrours of it ! what a triumph is this over self ! such a degree of self-denial as the gospel it self does not command , which is in some sence to deny heaven , to deny all the joys of christ's presence for the sake of doing good ! for it is to delay , to put off heaven , to adjourn his own happiness , that he may live the longer to serve his great master , though with great difficulties and labours . what love was this to his lord ! what love was this to the souls of men ! it is certainly the most perfect imitation of the love of christ , that is possible to man ; christ so loved us as to come down from heaven to live a laborious life , and to die an accursed death for us ; this great apostle so loved his lord , and so loved the souls of men , that he made it his choice to stay some time out of heaven , and to encounter all the miseries and terrours of this life , to serve christ and his church . where is this divine spirit now to be found ! let us , my beloved brethren , who are entrusted also with the care of souls by the great shepherd and bishop of our souls , blush to think how far short we fall of this example : let this inspire us with a flaming love and zeal for the souls of men , for whom christ died , and make us at least contented to deny our selves some of the ease and security and pleasures of life , to serve the church of christ , which he hath purchased with his own blood . but to keep my self within some bounds , i shall briefly discourse on these two heads , which are very proper for this occasion , and very proper to my text. first , the great rewards of faithful pastors and ministers of christ , and how much it is for their advantage to be removed out of this world. st. paul was very sensible of this , which made him desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is far better . secondly , how necessary the lives of such men are to the church , and what a great loss it is , when god removes them out of it . nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you . 1. let us then consider in the first place the great rewards of the faithful ministers of christ , and how much it is for their advantage to depart , and to be with christ. now i do not here intend a comparison between heaven and earth : good god! what different things are these ? and what christian doubts , whether heaven be a happier place than this world ? heaven ! whither no troubles or sorrows can follow us ; no persecuting sword , no persecuting tongue : where we shall be delivered from all the wants , necessities , and infirmities of the body , from hunger and cold and nakedness , from wracking pains and languishing sicknesses ; where there is eternal ease and rest and joy , without labour , without discontents , without quarrels ; where our souls shall be perfected in knowledge and in love ; where we shall dwell in the presence of god , see him as he is , and know him even as we are known ; where we shall dwell with christ , adore his love , behold his glory , and be transformed our selves into the likeness and image of his glory . we have but obscure imperfect conceptions of these things now ; heaven will out-do our highest expectations , as much as the most perfect state of happiness in this world , always falls short of what we expected ; and this is the case of all good men , it is a mighty happy change they make , when they remove from earth to heaven . but there are different degrees of glory in the next world , proportioned not only to our different attainments in vertue , but to those different trusts and services which we have been employed in , and have faithfully discharged here . we read of the reward of a prophet , that he who gives a cup of cold water to a prophet in the name of a prophet , shall have a prophets reward , which must signifie some peculiar reward that shall be bestowed on prophets : we know so little of the other world , that we cannot conceive , what these different rewards shall be : the prophet daniel represents it by an external glory , 12 dan. 3. and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament , and they that turn many to righteousness , as the stars for ever and ever . but our saviour represents this by a different degree of rule and empire , 12 luke 42. 43 , 44. and the lord said , who then is that faithful and wise steward , whom his lord shall make ruler over his houshold , to give them their meat in due season : this is the honourable character of gospel ministers in this world , that they are rulers in god's houshold , to instruct and feed them with the word of life ; and their reward is proportioned to their work ; blessed is that servant , whom his lord , when he cometh shall find so doing . of a truth i say unto you , that he will make him ruler over all that he hath . what this rule signifies in the other world is a mystery to us , especially since we have fancied the other world to be only a state of contemplation , not of action , where we shall have nothing to do but to see god , and to love and to praise him , but no service to do for him ; but we know there are different orders of angels , who are imployed in great trusts and offices , arch-angels , angels , thrones , dominions , principalities and powers , which are names of rule and government , though we know not what their power and authority is nor how they govern ; in like manner our saviour promises his apostles , verily i say unto you , that ye which have followed me in the regeneration , when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory , ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones , judging the twelve tribes of israel , 19 matth. 28. the like we may see in the parable of the pounds and talents ; he who had gained ten pounds had rule over ten cities ; and he who gained five pounds had rule over five cities : for these servants to whom the lord gave these pounds and talents to improve , plainly signifie his stewards , and the ministers of his spiritual kingdom : for no other persons have in so peculiar a manner , this honourable character of the servants of christ throughout the gospel . and if there be order and government among the angels themselves , why should we think that there is nothing like this among glorified saints ? if angels are the ministers of god , there is no reason to think that heaven is a state of meer rest and contemplation , especially when happiness consists in action . and if christ have any ministers of his spiritual kingdom in the next world , it is most reasonable to think , that those shall have the greatest authority , and be employed in the noblest services , who have been his faithful stewards and ministers in this world. for the church on earth and in heaven is the same church , though their state be very different ; and therefore they do not lose their relation to christ , nor their station in his church by removing to heaven . it is a sacerdotal kingdom , our high priest is king , and therefore a priest of jesus , how mean soever this be thought now , will be one of the highest characters in heaven . what the happiness of this is we cannot tell ; but we know that there are no empty titles in heaven , but every degree of dignity there signifies a peculiar degree of happiness , and what an advantageous exchange then is it for a faithful minister of jesus to be removed from earth to heaven . for let us consider what the state of christ's ministers is in this world ; what it was in st. paul ' s days he tells us , 2 cor. 6. 4 — 10. in all things approving our selves as the ministers of god , in much patience , in afflictions , in necessities , in distresses , in stripes , in imprisonments , in tumults , in labours , in watchings , in fasting ; by pureness , by knowledge , by long suffering , by kindnesses , by the holy ghost , by love unfeigned , by the word of truth , by the power of god , by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left ; by honour and dishonour , by evil report and good report , as deceivers and yet true ; as unknown and yet well known ; as dying and behold we live , as chastened and not killed ; as sorrowful , yet always rejoycing ; as poor , yet making many rich ; as having nothing , and yet possessing all things . which describes a most laborious life , a scene of wants , of difficulties , of sufferings ; a perpetual exercise of passive vertues , to reconcile the most appearing contradictions , to live and struggle and contend in this world , and to fetch their comforts and supports from heaven . this indeed is not always the state of the christian church , nor of the ministers of it ; but yet in the greatest external prosperity of the church , the ministers of religion , who discharged their trust with diligence and faithfulness , find many difficulties to encounter . the care of mens souls is itself a mighty trust , and who is sufficient for these things ? consider but the charge st. paul gives to timothy 1 epist. 4. 11 , &c. let no man despise thy youth , but be thou an example of the believers , in word , in conversation , in charity , in spirit , in faith , in purity ; give attendance to reading , to exhortation , to doctrine , neglect not the gift that is in thee , which was given thee by prophesie , by laying on of the hands of the presbytery : meditate upon these things , give thy self wholly to them , that thy profiting may appear to all ; take heed to thy self , and to thy doctrine ; continue in them , for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self , and then that hear thee . here is work enough to employ the whole man , and our utmost care and diligence and prudence ; work for the study , for the closet , for the pulpit , as the same apostle exhorts and charges timothy , to preach the word , to be instant in season , out of season , to reprove , rebuke , exhort , with all long-suffering and doctrine , 2 tim 4. 2. but yet though there be labour and diligence in this , it would be a delightful work , were our labours always blessed with success ; could we rescue the souls of men from the dominion of their lusts , and from the power of the devil , could we turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of satan unto god , but we must often expect to labour all might and catch nothing , we must contend with the lusts and vices of men , must bear their folly , their frowardness , their reproaches , and censures , and injuries , be thought troublesome , pragmatical , and busie-bodies , for our charitable exhortations and reproofs , and watchfulness over their souls . and when the church is at ease and rest from without , how often is it rent and torn in pieces with schisms and heresies ? as st. paul fore-warned timothy , the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine , but after their own lusts , shall they heap to themselves teachers , having itching ears , and they shall turn away their ears from the truth , and be turned unto fables , 3 , 4. ver . and what infinite labours and difficulties does this create to the ministers of the gospel , to heal the breaches of the church , to confute heresies , atheism , infidelity , and to be scorned and persecuted for it with a bitter rage and zeal . that st. paul might well add , but watch thou in all things , endure afflictions , do the work of an evangelist , make full proof of thy ministry , 5 verse . we ought not indeed to be discouraged by such difficulties as these , because our reward will be great in heaven , but it will be a happy day , when our warfare shall be accomplished , when we shall cease from our labours , and our works shall follow us : when we can say with st. paul , i have fought a good fight , i finished my course , i have kept the faith , henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness . 2. thus to die is their gain , nevertheless , it is more needful for the church , that they should abide in the flesh : and a great loss it is to the church , when they die . i need not use many words about this , for the case is plain . the death of every good man who is very useful to the world , in what way soever he be useful , is a very great loss ; for death puts an end to his doing any more good in this world : but as to take care of the souls of men , is to do the greatest good to mankind , because the happiness of our souls is of the greatest concernment to us , so to lose a faithful and a prudent guide must be the greatest loss . we indeed of this church , have great reason to bless god , that he has sent forth so many able and painful labourers into his harvest , that it is not the loss of every good man that can much affect us at ordinary times : for there are great numbers of wise and good men to perpetuate a succession of able and faithful guides : but a st. paul is at any time , and in any age of the church a great loss : nay , men who are much inferiour to st. paul , but yet fitted with peculiar abilities to serve the church at some certain seasons , and in some difficult circumstances , are a very sensible loss at such a time , when their service is most needful . a man of council and conduct , who is fit to sit at the helm , and knows how to steer in a storm , is a great loss , in times of difficulty and trouble , when the church is assaulted on all hands , and it is hard to avoid one mischief or inconvenience without running into another . a man of goodness and temper , who knows how to govern his own passions , and how to soften and manage the passions of other men , is a very sensible loss , when the passions of men are broke loose , and disturb the peace of the church , and even threaten the ruine of it . a man of learning and sound judgment , who can distinguish between truth and errour in all its most artificial and flattering disguises , is a great loss , when old errours are revived , and new ones broached ; when we must dispute over again the very being of a god , the truth of the scriptures , and articles of the christian faith. a man of great diligence and industry , courage and resolution , to defend the truth , to oppose heresies and schisms , to preserve the unity of the church , and the integrity of the christian faith , is a very great loss , when the church is encompassed and assaulted with busie and restless enemies . a man of an exemplary life , and untainted vertue , who shines like a light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation , who maintains the declining honour and repuration of religion and true vertue , is a mighty loss in a profligate age , when men are grown such strangers to the sincere practice of vertue and religion , that they begin to think there is no such thing . but i can go on no farther , the very mentioning of these things brings the fresh idea of our deceased brother to mind , and the afflicting sense of that great loss , which we suffer by his death . it becomes us to reverence and adore the wisdom of the divine providence , even when we cannot understand the reasons of it . we are certain god is never wanting in his care of his church , and yet had we been made judges of this case , we should have thought it a very ill time to have spared him . he was abundantly furnished with all good learning , both for use and ornament ; he was an accomplished scholar , and a well studied divine ; he knew books and read them , and judged of them : he was a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven , who like a housholder could bring forth out of his treasure things new and old , 13 matth. 52. he had carefully perus'd the ancient philosophers , orators and poets , to discover what nature taught , which gave him a truer knowledge and greater value for the excellency and perfection of the gospel-revelation . he had true and clear notions of religion , and he was master of them ; he knew why he believed any thing , and was neither prejudiced nor imposed on by popular opinions ; he was a hearty and zealously assertor of the doctrine , worship , government and discipline of the church of england ; he saw nothing material , which could be changed for the better , which made him jealous of innovations , as not knowing where they would end . he was a friend to all sincere christians , pittied their mistakes , and bore with their frowardness , but did not think that christian charity required him to sacrifice truth , or good order and government to the pretences of peace and unity . he was for several years a very diligent and constant preacher to a numerous auditory , till his own diocesan who knew his worth , and the weakness of his constitution , and was desirous to preserve him for the service of the church , provided this place where we now are , for his ease and health , and retirement ; where he lived many years a constant preacher , though his labours were then divided between his two cures , which did not lessen his preaching , but made the benefit of it the more diffusive . for indeed he was an admirable preacher , not for noise and lungs , but for well digested useful pious discourses , delivered with all that becoming gravity , seriousness , and a commanding elocution , as made them sink deep into the minds of his hearers , and made them hear . this i speak with assurance and confidence in this place , which was so long blessed with his labours , with what fineness of thought , perspicuity and easiness of expression instructing and entertaining images of things , he expounded the doctrines , and inculcated the laws of our saviour ; how plainly he taught , with what vehemence and passion he exhorted , with what tender sharpness he reproved : remember how he used both to please and instruct , to chide and shame you without making you angry , how he has warmed and chaffed your minds into the most pious and serious resolutions , and sent you home from this place wiser and better then you came ; and if you grew cold , and suffered your good resolutions to die again , consider i beseech you , what account you have to give . as he grew in years , it was necessary by degrees to ease his labours , he could not preach so often , but yet continued to preach . and yet had he not preached at all , or much less then he did , he had not ceased to be a very useful pastor to the church ; for he was a man of great experience , and great prudence and fore-sight ; fit for government and counsel ; who knew men and things ; was dexterous in his applications , zealous without passion or peevishness , steady and resolved without violent oppositions , and needless provocations ; who served the church and the truth with little noise , and without making many enemies : and i am sure at such a time as this , there is more need of such men , and a much greater scarcity of them , than of good preachers but he was not only a good preacher and a prudent guide , but a very good man : he preached continually by his life and example : his conversation was innocent , entertaining , and useful ; he was a true sincere friend , very courteous , affable , civil to all men , but never pretend friendship where he had none : he was ready to do all good offices , was liberal , generous , and charitable ; a man of a true publick spirit , who scorned to serve himself to the injury of others , who hated little arts and tricks , mean and servile compliances : he was an open and generous enemy , if we may ever call him an enemy , who never wished , never intended any hurt to any man ; but my meaning is , that when any dispute and quarrel happened , as such things will sometimes happen , he was open and undisguised , any man might know what he disliked , and had no reason to fear any thing worse from him , than what he would tell them . in a word , he was a very good christian , and that made him good in all relations , and that crowned all his other labours ; he took care as st. paul did , lest while he preached to others , he himself should become a cast-away . and now he is gone to rest , and we must all shortly follow him ; god grant that we may all so run our race , and finish our course , that when we depart this life we may rest in him , as our hope in this our brother doth , and may receive that crown of righteousness , which god the righteous judge , will at that day bestow on all his faithful servants , and on all those who love his appearing . finis . books published by the reverend dr. sherlock , dean of st. pauls , master of the temple , and chaplain in ordinary to their majesties . an answer to a discourse , entituled , papists protesting against protestant popery . second edition , 4to . an answer to the amicable accommodation of the differences between the representer and answerer . 4to . a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend b. calamy , d. d. 4to . a vindication of some protestant principles of church-unity and catholick-communion from the charge of agreement with the church of rome . 4to . a preservative against popery ; being some plain directions to unlearned protestants how to dispute with romish priests . in two parts with the vindication , in answer to the cavils of lewis sabran , jesuit . 4to . a discourse concerning the nature , unity , and communion of the catholick church . first part. 4to . a sermon preach'd before the right honourable the lord mayor , and aldermen of the city of london , on sunday nov. 4th . 1688. 4to . a vindication of the doctrine of the holy and ever blessed trinity , and the incarnation of the son of god , &c. the second edition . 4to . the case of the allegiance due to soveraign powers stated and resolved according to scripture , reason , and the principles of the church of england . sixth edition . 4to . a vindication of the case of allegiance due to soveraign powers , &c. 4to . a sermon preach'd at white-hall before the queen , on the 17th of june , 1691. being the fast-day . 4to . a practical discourse concerning death . the fifth edition . 8vo . a practical discourse concerning a future judgment . third edition . 8vo . a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons at st. margarets westminster , january 30th . 1691 / 92 4to . a sermon preached before the queen at whitehall , febr. 12th . 1691 / 92. 4to . the charity of lending without usury , and the true notion of usury stated , in a sermon preach'd before the right hounourable the lord mayor at st. bridget's church , on tuesday in easter-week , 1692. 4to . a sermon preach'd at the temple-church , may 29. 1692. and printed at the desire of the bench-table of the honourable society of the inner temple . 4to . a sermon preached before the queen at white-hall , june 26th . 1692. 4to . printed for w. rogers . peace and rest for the upright being a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend dr. john bryan, sometime minister of trinity in coventry / by that worthy preacher of gods word, mr. nath. wanley ... wanley, nathaniel, 1634-1680. 1681 approx. 28 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67488 wing w707 estc r38419 17359446 ocm 17359446 106452 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a67488) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 106452) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1107:7) peace and rest for the upright being a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend dr. john bryan, sometime minister of trinity in coventry / by that worthy preacher of gods word, mr. nath. wanley ... wanley, nathaniel, 1634-1680. [2], 21 p. printed for john smith ..., london : 1681. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bryan, john, d. 1676. bible. -o.t. -isaiah lvii, 2 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2001-12 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2001-12 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion peace and rest for the upright . being a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend d r. iohn bryan , sometime minister of trinity in coventry , by that worthy preacher of gods word , mr. nath . wanley , master of arts , deceased , and successor to the said doctor in the aforesaid parish . london , printed for iohn smith , bookseller in coventry , 1681. peace and rest for the upright . esaiah 57. verse 2. he shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , each one walking in his uprightness . the life of man is compared in scripture unto sundry things upon different and various accounts in respect of the brevity and shortness of it . st. iames tells us it is a vapour that appears for a little while and soon vanisheth away . and in this respect it may be said of every one of us as virgil once did of his marcellus , god shews him to the world only , and so recalls him . god presents us here a while upon the theatre of the world for to act our parts , and then sends us into the retiring room the grave , the place appointed for all that are living . so short is mans stay in the world , that iob allows him none at all , naked came i into the world , and naked shall i return , saith he . here is coming and returning out , but not a word of tarrying here . the time of life is so inconsiderable , that solomon the wisest of men would grant him none at all . there is a time , saith he , for every thing under the sun , a time to be born , and a time to dye . as if he would have us to understand , that the middle time betwixt our birth and our death ( that is the time of life ) was not to be reckoned upon at all . so that you see not onely every mans life is a vapour , but less in respect of its shortness . but the good and holy man hath his life compared to other things upon other considerations . upon the account of his hardship and perpetual fighting and watching ; his frequent encounter with enemies , and his continual obligation to duty . a good mans life is called a warfare , 2 cor. 10. 4. for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal , but mighty through god to the pulling down of strong holds . and upon the account of his toyl and trouble , weariness and continual travel ; upon the account of his absence from the lord , and his daily tendency to heaven , which is his proper home . so the life of a good man is called a pilgrimage , saith the patriarch iacob , few and evil have been the dayes of the years of the life of my pilgrimage . but as the warriour fights not without a prospect of peace , pax quaeritur bello , peace is the end of war. and as the weary pilgrim doth not travel but in hopes of an after-rest , so god almighty for the encouragement of his soldiers in the fight , and his pilgrim in the journey , he hath set before him ( as in the glass of the promse ) these two most suitable things for him , peace , and rest , for so saith the text , he shall enter into peace , &c. where we have , 1. a promise or priuiledg , they shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , like issachar the son of iacob here they do couch under the double burdens of warr and weariness , of want and weakness ; but peace and rest , these will ease them of all they suffer , supply all they want , recruit them with new additions of strengths , they shall enter into peace , &c. and now i have but named that word peace , methinks i may say as leah concerning her son gad , behold a troop cometh . for under this name are couched all those favours and blessings of god , which have the sweetest significations . all the joyes and beatitudes that are so numerous and full bloomed here , but ripe in heaven . they shall enter into peace , some read it , and so your margin , go in peace , depart the world with serenity and satisfaction , with inward quiet and repose . but , 2. others read it , he shall go into peace , ( that is ) shall be received into heaven where the god of peace is , the righteous man shall be there ; he shall enter into peace , that is to note , it is the priviledg of the soul ( especially ) first , for this is the man , the he ; the soul is the jewel , the body is but the caskinet ; the soul the principal , the other bnt the appurtenance : and they shall rest in their beds , that is the priviledg of the body , ( not soul ) it shall be laid down to repose it self in the grave which jesus christ hath perfumed as in a bed , till such time the morning of the resurrection begin to dawn , and the trump of the arch-angel to sound , then it shall rise from thence and enter into the souls peace . 2. here is a description of the persons to whom these priviledges appertain ; we need not say as the eunuch of queen candace , when he read a passage out of this prophet , of whom spake the prophet this , of himself , or some other man ? for the prophet hath told us , each one walking in his uprightness . whosoever he is that doth deal justly with man , and walks equally , that is , conscientiously , with god , he shall have this priviledg of rest and peace , he shall enter into peace , and rest in his bed . 3. when this priviledg and promise shall be imparted to them ; when shall they be instated and put into the actual possession , and injoyment of this priviledge . it is true , that this is not expressed in the text , but strongly implyed , and is fairly to be taken notice of as the words of the text have relation to the words going before , the righteous perishing , ( that is , dying ) and merciful men taken away , that is by death out of the world. then it is told what death takes them from , they are taken from the evil to come . and here followes in the text what death brings them to , they shall enter into peace . so the intent is this , that as death comes to a good man with a dart in one hand to kill him , and a spade in the other to bury him ; so he brings him flowers that shall be able to keep him sweet , peace for his soul , and rest for his body ; and this is the time he shall be put in injoyment of it . from all the point is this , that when a righteous man dyes , he enters upon the estate of peace and rest. i will only give you two scriptures for this , which two scriptures may be instead of a thousand , psalm 37. verse 37. mark the perfect man , and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace . his end is as his death is , at that time he hath peace . it may be not at the beginning , not in the middle of his life , but at the end . it 's possible that his morning may be cloudy and over-cast ; his sun may suffer an eclipse at noon-day , a darkness may come upon his meridian glory ; but his night , his end , this shall be clear and fair , still and quiet , pleasant and delightful , that 's the first place . the other is in revelat. 14. 13. and i heard a voyce from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , from henceforth , yea saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . they have at death both peace and rest. and now this point will require these things to be spoken to . 1. who or what the righteous is . 2. what peace they shall have and be priviledged with at the time of their death . first , who is the righteous man ? the text saith , he that walks in uprightness . alas , where is he to be found ? a man must have very good eyes to find him out . especially if we consider what is said psal. 53. 1 , 2. there is none that doth good . god looked down from heaven upon the children of men , and saw none righteous , no not one . then farewell priviledge , for where is the person ? to answer this . there is indeed none that are strictly legally righteous , but there is in a larger evangelical sence . none that are righteous in themselves , but in another . we have the righteousness of justification from christ , and of sanctification from christ ; and they are the men that shall enter into peace and rest . those men , i say , that are men of sincerity , though not in perfection . those men that are righteous in the aim and desire of their hearts ; and in comparison of others , righteous by gods acceptation , and by imputation of the righteousness of christ ; these are the persons that shall partake of this priviledg , he shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , &c. but then , 2. what peace and rest shall these men be priviledged with at the time of their death ? there are singular properties of this peace . for , 1. it 's a peace that is unconceiveable . man's eye hath bored the sphears , and hath penetrated into the very depth of the ocean ; it hath searched into the very bowels of the earth , and into the wild bellies of the clouds above ; it hath travelled through all the expanded firmament in all places of the world , and hath rifled the cabinet of nature below , but it could never grasp the nature of this true peace and rest here spoken of : for as to this , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the peace of god. the apostle tells us , it passeth knowledg . the beatitudes of heaven are only known to us as solomon's wisdome was to the queen of sheba , of which she said , behold , i have not heard the tenth part . the glorious inhabitants of heaven , the angels and souls of just men made perfect , these indeed understand more the nature of it than we , because they live in it : yet so , as the apostle discoursing of gods counsel was forced to cry out , rom. 11. 33. oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of god! how unsearchable are his iudgments , and his wayes past finding out ! so do these bright spirits ravish and loose themselves in the depth of contemplation ; the provision he hath made for them in heaven , doth excell even their own admiration . 2. it is a most perfect and a most compleat peace ; great peace have they that love thy law , and nothing shall offend them , saith david . and saith the prophet esay , thou wilt keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on thee , because he trusteth in thee . both these are in this life , that which the psalmist and prophet spake of . oh that great peace , and perfect peace ! and if the gleanings of abiezer be such , what will be the vintage of ephraim ? if this is the righteous man's priviledge here upon earth , much more in heaven ; for it must needs be a perfect peace there , seeing no enemy shall appear in the face of them , all shall be conquered and subdued , overcome , escaped from , for there , there will be a peace from sin. whilst we are alive , the best of men are pulled and pained by sin ; they are under the continual solicitations of the corruption of their own nature . there is a body of death , that by the noysome stench of it we are miserably molested and disquieted , and to that height , that each of them is ready to cry out , oh wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? while they are here , there is a law in the members rebells against the law of the mind . what willingness soever there is in the spirit , they find the flesh is weak . a treacherous party dwells in their very bowels , and is continually undermining those fortifications they vour to raise , and set open and to widen the portals , and to let in our worst enemies ; these sons of zerviah are too hard for us : but when once a holy man cometh to dye , no more shall corruption sollicit , no more have they depraved natures to struggle with ; no weights of sin to weigh us down , no more shall they complain of the hardness of their hearts , their indisposition to holy duties , of the weakness of the flesh , the power of corruption ; no more complaining of the usurping power of sin upon the soul. then , 3. it is a peace and rest from the temptations of sathan . here it is that we are in arena , we wrestle not only with flesh and blood , but with principalities and powers , and spiritual wickednesses in high places . here it is that satan doth desire to have us that he may sift us as wheat , as it was said of the apostle peter . it is not david alone that satan stands up to provoke to that that is evil , but his fiery darts fly fast and thick , his messengers are not only sent to buffet paul , but all the rest of gods people ; but being once in this rest , they are out of the reach of the roaring lion. and they may say of heaven as lamech of his son noah , gen. 5. 29. this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toyl of our hands , because of the ground which the lord hath cursed . so this peace shall save us and keep us in freedom from the temptations of satan . 4. death giveth them peace and rest from the violence of men . read that of heb. 11. 36 , 37. and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings , yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment ; they were stoned , they were sawn asunder , and what not . here you find the footsteps of the world's usage of the saints . but as when ionah was asleep and at rest in the bottom of the ship , the blustring storms and death-threatning tempests were as nothing to him . so it is with these , iob 3. 17. that holy man speaking of the grave , there the wicked ( saith he ) cease from troubling , and there the weary be at rest . in this life it is as solomon observeth , eccles. 4. 1 , 2. so i returned and considered all the oppressions under the sun , and behold the tears of such as were oppressed , and they had no comforter , and on the side of their oppressors there was power , and they had no comforter ; wherefore i praised the dead which are already dead , more than the living which are yet alive . as much as to say , these have escaped , these are sensible of no such matter , but are quiet ; they are at peace and rest. 5. at peace and rest from inward troubles , which a man is liable unto upon sundry occasions in this life ; such as the death and departure of ones best friends , chiefest relations . here you see a great king in the bitterness of his grief crying out , o absolon , my son , my son , would god i had dyed for thee , o absolon my son , my son. in ramah you hear a lamentation and voyce of weeping , rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted , because they are not . here you have mary bewailing lazarus her brother ; and the sons of iacob mourning over their father . but in heaven there is peace and rest ; once there , we shall lose them no more : for then , saith the apostle , we shall ever be with the lord. earth only and hell is the territory of death ; but heaven is the land of the living , and there we shall find them again . and this is something of the nature of that peace which righteous men shall by death be instated in , and made possessors of . i hasten to the improvement of this point , wherein i shall be short . use. if peace and rest is to be our priviledg hereafter , then , 1. it should be our desire here ; so the apostle commandeth , follow peace with all men . such salamanders as delight to live in the fire of contention , these of all other men are most unfit for heaven , for that is a place of peace . 2. let the priviiedges of good men allure us to a resemblance of their persons , and their graces . all men like balaam are ready to cry out , let me dye the death of the righteous , and let my latter end be like his . would fain dye like them , with the same hope , peace , serenity , and quiet of conscience . let my latter end be like his , as balaam said . but such as will dye as they , must also live as they . 3. if death is the time of peace and rest with righteous men , then it is to be understood that the time of life is to be a time of labour and warfare . if so be death is our night to repose in , then sure life should be our day to work in . the best of men have business enough to do before them ; head-strong passions to quell , corruptions to mortifie , grace to grow , a race to run , a battle to fight , therefore let us up and be doing , and set about that that is our work ; and that the rather , because , 1. they rest best that have laboured most . when a man hath ordered his business , and disposed of his affairs as he intended , then he hath charmed and subdued his care , and hath no disquieting thoughts to disturb his repose . the sleep of a labouring man is sweet , saith solomon : so he that busied himself in the work and service of god while he was alive , goes to his rest with the greatest calmness and serenity of soul that may be . 2. we know not how soon we may be called off the stage . for man knowes not his time , eccles. 9. 12. i am old , saith isaac , and know not the day of my death . and as he said when he was old , so may every one say that is youngest , though i am younger , or middle-aged , yet i know not the day of my death . the reason is , because it is gods peculiar reservation ; my times , saith david , are in thy hand . then , 3. our natures are brittle , exceeding brittle , the word of god tells us we are shadows , vapours and flowers , that wither of a sudden . then considering the variety of accidents we are subject to , ioseph had his tomb in his garden , to mind him , that death might possibly meet him in that place of pleasure . a tile from the house , a worm , a hair , a little spittle hath been as fatal to some persons , as if so be a mountain had fallen on their heads . therefore considering these things , it is but reason we set our selves to work , to labour in the time of health , in the time of life . 4. if rest and peace be the priviledg of a righteous man at his death , it shews us , that the death of righteous men they are not to be lamented by us upon their own account . they may seem to call to us from heaven , as christ jesus once did to the women of iudea upon the cross , ye daughters of ierusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves . they are not to be lamented upon their own accounts . they are gone to salem , the city of peace , and why should we mourn for them as they without hope : death is no enemy of theirs , but as noah's dove returned with an olive branch , the emblem of peace , so death brings a good man ( not an olive branch ) but the reality it self , which is far more desireable . as the ark carried the whole church of god to the mountain ararat , ( the name of which signifieth , take away fear ) so death shall waft us to heaven , there where no fear is . it is true , in respect of our selves we ought to follow them with tears , and to have our hearts deeply affected with their removal from us ; and god himself doth blame the stupidity of our hearts , and insensibleness of this people , and such men that can part with such jewels as these with indifferency , without concern , in the verse before the text , the righteous man perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart . this is the great fault . as if he had said , for as to us they are dear losses . for , 1. we loose the benefit of their example for our guide . when a good man is gone , one of the lights of israel is quenched . as david's soldiers reckoned of him , thou shalt go no more with us to battel , lest thou quench the light of israel . of these the apostle saith , amongst whom you shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation . 2. we loose the benefit of their good works for our comfort . a good man is a useful man where he liveth . the poor have the benefit of his alms , and all that converse with him have the benefit of his counsel . for he of all others will not suffer sin to rest upon the soul of his brother ( if he know it ) : so that we loose the benefit of their good works for our comfort . 3. and we loose the benefit of their presence too for our safety , which is not a thing inconsiderable neither . when elijab was ascended into heaven in a chariot of fire , the prophet below cryed , my father the chariots of israel and the horsemen thereof ; as much as to say , his presence was as great a security as an army of chariots and horsemen . these are they that stand in the breach when the judgments of god like a mighty torrent are ready to rush upon us . these are they that like so many aarons hasten with their incense , when any plague is begun with a people ; and that stand betwixt the living and the dead . i have read of philo iudeus , and st. ambrose , that coming to any place and town , if they heard of the death of any able minister or godly person , they would burst out into tears , as considering that place to have lost a considerable part of its defence . you know sodom could not burn as long as lot was in it ; nor hippo be taken as long as st. austin was in it : but still they were a defence to the place where they were . in all these respects we have a considerable loss in the death of this great and good man , whose funeral we now celebrate ; of whom i will say this in short : he was a person of such real worth , as is as hard almost to express as imitate . most of you knew him well , but perhaps few of you better than my self . and in reverence to his memory , to provoke my self and you to an imitation of his exemplary vertue and grace , i shall give you this short account of it . he was a man of uncessant labours , and indefatigable pains ; as god had lent him a strong and able body for many years , so he spared it not at all , but made it serve him in that insatiable thirst and desire he had after humane and divine knowledg . and this diligence of his was crowned with an answerable blessing from above , being arrived in point of ability as another saul higher than his brethren by the head and shoulders ; especially in political and polemical divinity . he was like nehemiah upon the wall , a sword to defend , as well as a trowel to build up . so to this eminency of parts he adjoyned an equal humility , which set a lustre upon the former ; upon all occasions he would own what the hand of providence had raised him up unto . this humility made him even as a weaned child ; a high valuer and applauder of the least good that was in others , when he would own little that was worthy commendation in himself . this humility made him mindless of the place where he sate , and made him willingly condescend to the meanest , when they stood in need of his help . and his charity was such , he denyed that help to none that sought it ; a liberal hand he had , and yet a more liberal heart . the tenth part of his estate for many years he gave to the poor ; and had himself had more , they had not wanted their share . he was the censurer , the condemner of no man. if he saw a naked place , there was no man more ready with the skirt of his garment to cast upon it . he was a censurer of no man for doing what he could not do ; but wherein he differed in circumstantials ; in this his difference , it was his manner and custome still to bewail his own want of light . he was very circumspect and careful in the course of his life to manage it like a true christian . therefore he was constant in christian duties ; for which he usually had his stated times , and then he would admit ( by his good will ) of no interruption . his discourse was a kind of continual preaching ; neither was he less careful of his thoughts than words . his manner was every day to run over a catechisme in greek , mr. herbert's poems , or some other of the liberal sciences : and the reason i remember why he did this , was to keep his thoughts from roving and stragling to worse matters . his patience was remarkable during the time of his affliction , no repining , no murmuring words under his bodily pain , or the restraint he was under . he observed a particular hand of god in his distemper , which ( as he said ) mocked the skill of the physitian , and he chearfully submitted to it , desiring patience might have its perfect work . he was of a grateful spirit for the least office of love or kindness shewed to him , whether in health or sickness ; so that few that came to visit him , parted from him without a thankful acknowledgment of his love to them , and prayers that god would reward them with blessings upon their bodies and souls ; and not only so , but the greatest and worst of his enemies had a share in his prayers . as he was thus eminent for grace , so as the crown of all he wanted not his share of peace . his conscience was quiet , and his evidences for a better life undisturbed . he had that hope which was as an anchor of the soul , sure and steadfast , and enters within the vail . and he doubted not but as he was in a state of grace , so he was within a step of glory . and that when death had done his work , he should yet for all that live for ever . he said of death , that as to him the sting of it was taken away . and truly as it seems so were the terrors of it too . for death came to him not as an armed man , with convulsions , and bitter pangs , as upon many ; but he parted from this world without a sigh or groan , and as one that was falling into a long but sweet sleep . this was the comfortable end of this reverend person ; according to that of the psalmist , mark the perfect man , and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace . peace in death , yea and peace after death too , for so saith my text , he shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , each one walking in his uprightness . finis . the righteous taken away from the evil to come applied to the death of the late excellent queen, in a sermon preach'd at st. martin's church, on sunday, january the twentieth, 1694/5, before the mayor, baliffs, and commonalty of the city of oxford / by white kennett ... kennett, white, 1660-1728. 1695 approx. 40 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47257 wing k303 estc r17585 12866336 ocm 12866336 94735 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47257) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94735) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 985:27) the righteous taken away from the evil to come applied to the death of the late excellent queen, in a sermon preach'd at st. martin's church, on sunday, january the twentieth, 1694/5, before the mayor, baliffs, and commonalty of the city of oxford / by white kennett ... kennett, white, 1660-1728. [2], 31 p. printed by leonard lichfield, for george west ..., oxford : 1695. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694 -sermons. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-03 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the righteous taken away from the evil to come . applied to the death of the late excellent queen , in a sermon preach'd at st. martin's church , on sunday january the twentieth , 1694 / 5. before the mayor , bailiffs , and commonalty of the city of oxford . by white kennett , b. d. one of the lecturers to that corporation . oxford , printed by leonard lichfield , for george west , bookseller , 1695. a sermon , &c. isaiah . chap. lvii . ver. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . the preceding chapter does conclude with a grievous complaint , which the prophet makes , of a loose and careless world : when all persons were either intent upon their profit , or addicted to their pleasure : and seem'd to have little or no concern for any publick calamity that fell upon them . hence in the ninth verse , all ye beasts of the field come to devour : yea , all ye beasts in the forest. that is , the land of israel which god once cared for , the vineyard which he once planted with his own right-hand , it is now so degenerate , and barren of all that is good , that it is only ripe for desolation . therefore , all ye beasts of the field and the forest come and devour it . i. e. let this vineyard be entred and trampled by some forreign nation : let it be profan'd by some strange religion : let heathens come , and take away the place and nation . for alas ! all the inhabitants are secure and stupid : they scarce apprehend the common danger : they take no thought of appeasing the anger of god , or of averting those judgments that hover o're their guilty heads : no! even they whose character and office makes it their especial duty to attend the publick good , they are all wrapt up in vice and ease . ver . 10. his watchmen are blind , they are all ignorant , and so on . some have their soul fill'd up with thoughts and cares how to force trade , and improve their sordid store . ver . 11. they all look to their own way , every one for his gain from his quarter . and while these are drudging to encrease their wealth , there be others equally unconcern'd for national interest , who drown the sense of common safety in riot and excess . ver . 12. come ye , say they , i will fetch wine ; and we will fill our selves with strong drink ; and to morrow shall be as this day , and much more abundant . and thus , between the base avarice of some , and the rude debauchery of others : the nation sleeps on in fatal security , and wants the feeling of her own wounds . if god should now threaten invasions from abroad , and distractions at home ; yet few would apprehend the storm , more few provide against it . if god should take away a righteous prince , and give the deepest cause for a universal grief and lamentation ; yet a covetous and dissolute people would scarce be affected with the infinite loss : for so it follows in the text. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away ; none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . let me ask leave first to explain the words , and then to reflect on the sense and subject of them . first , here is the character of those who are said to perish , and to be taken away . they are the righteous and the merciful : the righteous perisheth , and merciful men are taken away . to be righteous does i think imply a universal goodness , piety , justice , integrity , and most other graces and vertues , that make the perfect and upright soul : therefore our blessed saviour who had no sin nor guile , is call'd the sun of righteousness ; and scarce a higher eulogy could be given of him , than what the centurion deliver'd at his passion , certainly this was a righteous man. and tho' this title cannot be strictly conferr'd on any of us sinners : for in truth , among us there is no one fully righteous , no not one. yet in a qualify'd sence , and with that allowance which religion and language make , those persons who are exemplary for goodness and vertue , they are justly call'd righteous : partly for their own love , and their own practice of all equity , and honesty ; but chiefly for the merits of the holy jesus , by which they are justify'd , or accepted as righteous , in the sight of god : for he is said to cover us with a robe of righteousness , isa. 61.10 . and by st. paul to be made sin ( or a sufferer for sin ) for us , that we might be made the righteousness of god in him. nor are they only call'd righteous , but merciful : the merciful men are taken away . because mercy , pity and compassion , they ought to be alway the temper and practice of righteous persons : therefore the the wise man joins these two vertues to make up the characters of goodness , he that followeth after righteousness and mercy . mercy without righteousness makes a soft and a weak soul , and righteousness without mercy has nothing divine or humane in it : at least , if righteousness alone would create some veneration ; yet it is mercy can alone command the love of mankind : for scarcely for a righteous man will one dye , yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to dye . this in general is the righteous and merciful that perisheth , and is taken away . but interpreters believe the prophet meant some one particular person of eminent vertue and of high degree : perhaps the messiah himself : or perhaps some crowned head in israel , who reign'd a publick blessing , whose righteousness and mercy , so long as he liv'd , did serve to establish his throne , and to exalt his nation . and grotius understands it of the great example of royal vertues josiah , who did alway that which was right in the sight of the lord ; and keeping the noble mean between superstition and profaneness , turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to the left . alas ! that righteous prince , and merciful governour perisheth , and is taken away . the second phrase to be explain'd . to perish cannot be here meant a total destruction , or a return to sleep in nothing ; in which sence the beasts are said to perish . no one of mankind can so perish : for when our mortal bodies drop , our souls must put on immortality ; and while our flesh falls back to dust and ashes , our spirit does return to god who gave it . nor can perishing here mean that eternal perdition , which remains the plague and portion of the wicked , who without doubt shall perish everlastingly : for the righteous shall be sav'd from that dreadful doom , and shall enter into a rest , and peace , and joy for ever and ever . but by perishing is here plainly meant a temporal death , from which no more the righteous than the wicked can be exempted . it being appointed for all ( however great and good ) for all men once to dye . so is the sence of the same phrase , mic. 7.2 . the good man is perished out of the earth : i. e. is dead and gone ; and so is taken away , or remov'd from one world to another : as the messiah by his passion is said to have been taken away and cut off out of the land of the living . so as the prophet might design these words should signify to this effect . some one righteous and merciful soul , whose authority and example countenanc'd vertue , and kept up religion : that great soul , of whom the world was not worthy , has left this ungrateful world , and is gone to seek a better country , and to sit upon a higher throne , where it has receiv'd a crown of righteousness laid up for it , where it reigns in greater glory , and enjoys a kingdom which shall have no end . but tho' the righteous thus perisheth , and the merciful be thus taken away : yet no man layeth it to heart , none considereth . to lay to heart is a hebrew phrase to be deeply affected with concern and sorrow : to mourn and express the affliction and bitterness of our soul : and to be humbled under the severe blow that is struck by the mighty hand of god. then to consider of it : that is , to remember what provocations we have given to the almighty , that he should thus chastise us in his anger : to reflect that we have indeed deserved these and worse things to come upon us : but then to weigh and advise , what course will be most proper to appease an offended god , and to avert those farther judgments , which this one calamity seems to threaten and presage . and one would think all this scene of sorrow musts needs open , when the righteous perisheth , and when the merciful are taken away . it is the instruction of solomon , that after the day of death , there will be a house of mourning : and at the end of any man , the living will lay it to his heart . to die is the debt of nature , paid by departing souls : and to mourn for the dead is as much the debt of nature in those friends that survive . especially if the soul taken away were righteous and merciful , the loss is greater , and the greater sorrow due . more precious is their death in the sight of the lord : and more dear should be their memory among the sons of men. but especially , when 't is probable the prophet meant , not a righteous soul that inspired a common and ordinary mortal : but one advanc'd to grandeur , one in royal dignity and power ; whose greatness did dilate and recommend his goodness ; who shin'd in an higher orb , even as a sun of righteousness , and shed a gracious influence on all below : for such a one to perish , and be took away , must needs spread a darkness and a horrour over the faces and over the hearts of all , that were so lately blest with that auspicious heat and light . the prophet might well expect , that on this sad occasion , every breast should have swell'd and broke in sighs , and from every eye should arise a fountain of tears , when the breath of their nostrils , the anointed of the lord , was taken from them : but he found himself disappointed ; the people had no sense of loss , no impression of grief ; as careless and unconcern'd , as if common humanity had been buried with the dead . this provokes the prophet to upbraid their hardness of heart , their stupidity of soul ; that they should have no common justice to lament the perishing of the righteous ; no bowels left to condole the merciful being taken away . alas ! that the righteous one should perish , and no man should lay it to heart ! and that merciful men should be taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . this phrase does admit of a double sence : either first , for the righteous to be taken away from all personal evil , that by a longer life should come upon themselves : or secondly , the righteous being taken away from some publick evil , that after their departure shall fall upon the people and nation , which they leave behind . it is undoubtedly true in the first , and i am afraid more true in the second sense . first , the righteous and merciful are taken away from all personal and private evils &c. for as the psalmist declares , many are the afflictions of the righteous , and it is only death can deliver them out of all : and sure one great evil , from which they are taken , is to see the wickedness of the age they live in : for righteous persons to observe so much of fraud and oppression , of injury and violence ; for merciful souls to live on , and behold so much spiteful revenge , and so many cruel mercies of the wicked : this must needs move their patience , and tempt their indignation ; as was the sore experience of lot in the midst of sodom , when to be an eye-witness of their scandalous and abominable way of living , he dwelling among them , in seeing and hearing , did vex his righteous soul from day to day . especially good and pious princes , they are more nearly concern'd for the glory of god , and the good of mankind ; and therefore are more deeply affected with the heinous and crying sins of their people . to see that neither their authority can restrain , nor their example reform , the age they live in : in spite of their laws and their own obedience to them , to see vice and villany insult , and reign above their sovereign power ; this must needs be a grief and vexation to their royal spirit : for so holy david was often mourning for the sins of his dissolute subjects : rivers of waters run down mine eyes , because they keep not thy law : i beheld the transgressors , and was grieved , because they kept not thy word . from this ungrateful evil wise and vertuous princes are taken away by death , entring then into a kingdome , where without punishment or reproof all obey : where , tho' there be different orders and degrees , there is no different interest or inclination , nor other passions but those of love and joy. to be thus taken away from personal and private evils may be one sence implied : but i doubt the sence chiefly intended is , their being taken away from some publick evil , or some common calamity , that after their departure shall fall upon the people and nation , which they leave behind . as the just god does provide that righteousness should exalt a nation : so does he resolve that sin shall prove to the destruction of every people . therefore when a whole country declines into profaneness and atheisme , into delighting in their vanity , and glorying in their shame ; then does that god to whom vengeance belongs , begin to shew himself , to vindicate his justice , and exert his power : then does his resentment break forth in those words of the prophet : shall i not visit for these things , saith the lord , and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? but when the day of visitation is appointed , god often calls away the innocent and righteous souls , and hides them from the judgment dropping down : as of old , he prepared a zoar for righteous lot , before the descent of his fiery indignation upon sodom : and an ark was built for noah , before the deluge flow'd in upon the guilty world. so has it been since observ'd , that the good st. augustine departed this life , just before his city hippo was taken and laid wast : and zealous luther is congratulated for being took out of the world a little before the civil wars in germany , and the miseries of that divided country . thus frequently are the righteous taken away from the evil to come . especially , if the text referrs to righteous and merciful princes , they by the singular care of providence seem caught away from some publick calamity , which themselves deserve to escape , and their people deserve to suffer . it was so in the reign of hezekiah , that excellent prince had a perverse people , for whom god had prepared a vial of wrath , but would not pour it down , till his anointed head was laid safe in his sepulchre . wrath was upon judah and jerusalem , but hezekiah humbled himself , so that the wrath of the lord came not upon them in the days of hezekiah : but when he slept with his fathers , then came invasion , and bloud , and captivity . then the lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of assyria , which took manasseh among the thorns , and bound him with fetters , and carried him to babylon . this dispensation of providence was more remarkable in the reign of religious josiah : when the people despis'd the example of the best of princes ; and made the city and country a stage of profaneness , while the court was all devotion : then by the mouth of huldah the prophetess , thus said the lord , behold i will bring evil upon this place , and upon the inhabitants thereof , even all the curses that are written in the book : my wrath shall be poured out upon this place , and shall not be quenched . but the pious prince , he was snatched as a firebrand out of the fire . as for the king of judah , thus saith the lord , because thine heart was tender , and thou didst humble thy self , and rend thy cloaths , and weep before me : behold i will gather thee to thy fathers , and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace ; neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that i will bring upon this place , and upon the inhabitants of the same . and so the reprieve was granted , till his sanctuary was the grave . but then , the first successor was depos'd , and carried into aegypt ; and under the next , god brought upon them the king of the chaldees , who slew the young men with the sword , and had no compassion upon young man or maiden , old man , or him that stooped for age. the records of our own church and nation present us with such an instance of divine mercy in the most pious of our english princes , king edward the confessor ; whom our oldest historians report to have had this vision on his dying bed. two men of religious order and habit appear'd in his chamber , and declar'd themselves the messengers of god , and deliver'd this express to him : your nobility , clergy , and people of england have fill'd up the measure of their iniquities : so that god has bent his bow , and made his arrows ready for them . die you in peace , but within one year , and one day after your decease , strangers shall possess this land , and condemn it to fire and sword. to this message they say the prince return'd : my soul is sore troubled to foresee the affliction of my people ; but sure if they turn from their wickedness , then will god repent , and leave a blessing for them . a like sentence was denounc'd upon the ninevites , and yet suspended on their repentance : nay , the humiliation of wicked ahab diverted the evil from his own days : therefore ( says he ) i will perswade my people to repent , that god may have mercy , and withhold the impending judgment . no , said the two holy men , the heart of this people is hard'ned , and their eyes are blinded ; they cannot see with their eyes , and understand with their heart , and god cannot heal them . depart you in peace , and escape the evil to come . the history proceeds , that the decaying prince recover'd strength to tell this to his attending courtiers ; and that stigand among others ridicul'd the story , and said it was all the dotage and delirium of a dying man : but it prov'd a prophecy , and had a fatal completion ; for within the appointed time , the normans invaded , and conquer'd , and divided the land. thus have i op'ned the text , and familiarly explain'd the several parts of it ; so that it is easy for you to apprehend this to have been the sence of the prophet . in the midst of a wicked and careless generation , some publick calamity , some universal loss may happen , and yet none be much affected with it : even the sharpest affliction may befal a nation , their righteous prince may perish , and their merciful governour be taken away ; and yet the wound reaches to no heart , none betray the concern and sorrow which so sad an accident calls for ; but drive on their little humours and designs with no regard of publick loss , or publick good. when alas ! they ought to consider , that by such a providential chance , they may suffer more than they imagine : for that castle of defense being now remov'd , enemies and destruction may come upon them ; and sad experience may too soon convince , that the righteous was taken away from a fatal evil to come , which had been longer suspended , had the righteous longer liv'd . and now all this i will not apply so near , as every conscience may apply . when righteous princes perish , their ashes are too sacred to be disturb'd by every tongue : and when they seem taken away from an evil to come , yet it is not fit every bold person should portend that evil , or describe the tokens of it : it is more modest to direct you how to bestow one serious thought or two on these branches of the text. first , on the righteous perishing , and the merciful being taken away . secondly , on no man laying it to heart , nor considering what may be the consequence of it . thirdly , on the fatal reason of god's providence in it : the righteous may be taken away from some evil to come . first , let us reflect on the righteous perishing , and the merciful being taken away . let us reflect , i say , that piety and vertue will save our souls , but not our lives : all graces are subject to mortality in this world , and only purchase eternity in that other world. it is true , the prolonging of days in the land wherein they live , is promis'd a reward to the obedient keepers of divine laws ; and so it really proves , by the course of nature , and by the care of providence : by the course of nature , as sobriety , temperance , and all vertue preserve our health , and protract our life : and again , by the care of providence , as god more especially protects his own servants from common dangers , keeps them as the apple of his eye , and hides them under the shadow of his wings , and carries them safe to grey hairs , and a good old-age . but this is not so meant , as if all men's piety were to be a charm against sickness and death : no! not only the bloud-thirsty and deceitful do not live out half their days ; but even the good and vertuous fall often in the prime of their age : and yet by their untimely death they justify the wisdom and mercy of god , in that they more quickly retire to rest , when they are sooner weary of a wicked world ; and particularly are taken away from some ensuing judgment , which they kept off by their exemplary lives , and make room for by their sudden death . this is a just reflection on the death of all righteous and merciful men : but if the prophet understood , as we cannot but understand , the words of some one righteous and merciful prince : then we should farther reflect , that royal bloud will run no longer , than that in the veins of the meanest subject : that a court stands as open to diseases as a cottage : that crowns , and swords , and scepters cannot awe , nor bribe the king of terrors death . i have said ye are gods , but ye shall die like men : for so the haughty heathen monarchs , who affected to be divine , soon prov'd their humanity by being mortal . nay , it has so hapned , that the best princes have generally had the more early translation to heaven . whither because they most despise the vain glories of an earthly crown , and labour to be the more quickly deliver'd from the burden of it : or , whither by their great and good deeds they sooner work out their salvation , and deserve the more speedy admission into the courts of heaven : or , whither their subjects by such a loss may be taught more to value such a blessing : or whither , as the text implies , they stand in the gap , and fence off the destruction of a profligate people , and must be taken out of the way , that god may be avenged on those his enemies . whither for one , or all of these reasons , holy and religious princes are the shortest loan from heaven , soonest call'd in from an ungrateful world. thus the jews lost their good josiah , before he was forty years of age ; and he , whom we english call'd our josiah , was a minor in all but piety and parts : as if rare princes were to be shew'd only to the earth , and then snatcht from it ; to leave their memory more esteem'd , and turn envy into admiration . but let us secondly reflect on no man laying this to heart , nor considering the greatness of such a loss . sorrow for the dead was alway an instinct of nature , and alway a precept of religion ; and therefore alway a custom in civilized countries , that , as solomon expresses it , when man goeth to his long home , the mourners went about the streets . this ceremony is paid to common friends , and to ordinary relations : but when a prince and governour , when a righteous and merciful prince and governour resigns a well-manag'd scepter , and retires into the inner chambers of death ; then is it a national calamity , and calls for a national grief and lamentation . when meek and righteous moses was taken away from the judging of israel , the people wept in the plains of moah , and full thirty days were employ'd in the unintermitted penance of weeping and mourning . when good samuel died , all the israelites were gathered together , and lamented him . when devout josiah fell , they bemoan'd him , and wept sore for him that was gone away , because he should return no more , nor see his native country . so strict and solemn a grief , that it became a proverbial example of mourning : a great mourning as the mourning of hadradrimmon in the valley of megiddo . nay , the want of such condolement god threatens as the most reprobate hardness of heart , which he can possibly inflict on an obstinate people : it is denounc'd as the portion of the wicked , those that remain of him shall be buried in death , and his widows shall not weep : or as the psalmist expresses it , there shall be no widows to make lamentation . and when the prophet jeremy was to represent the desperate and lost condition of the jews , he proposes this as the heaviest judgment : thus saith the lord , enter not into the house of mourning , neither go to lament nor bemoan them ; for i have taken away my peace from this people , saith the lord , even loving-kindness and mercies . and sure men's hearts , like pharoah's , must be doubly-harden'd , by their own perverseness , and by the judgment of god ; before they can resist the torrent of grief , drove down by the death of an excellent prince . sure christian religion must be renounc'd , and common humanity put off , before the decent respects of silence and sorrow can be omitted on such a sad occasion . sure all , that have the bowels of a man , cannot but in meer nature have some pity and regret at the instability of humane greatness ; and to see how little distance there is between a throne and a grave . sure all , that have any love for their sion , any value for their religion , cannot but complain in bitterness of soul , when they lose a king that has been a nursing father , or a queen that has been a nursing mother . and even all that are concern'd only for the interest of the state , must needs commiserate the suffering of it , when the head is laid low that did so wisely guide it : when there 's an end of the sagacity , and courtesy , and clemency , and all the other excellence of spirit , that was fit to fill a throne , and save a nation . sure examples are not wanting how much grief , and grateful respect , has been paid to the ashes of wise and vertuous princes . i might offer one from the known annals of our own nation : maud , the wife of king henry the first , a princess , who by her charity , and affability , and piety , all temper'd with prudence , did so win upon the hearts of all the english people , that when she came to die , the nation was in a perfect tumult of grief and sorrow : they all lamented her , as the most dutiful daughter of the church , and the most affectionate mother of her country : they labour'd to touch her coffin , and to salute her grave : and in all discourse and writing , they scarce ever mention'd her , but with this character , mold the good queen . certainly our reform'd religion must have now improv'd the sense of tenderness and love , above the temper of those who liv'd in a communion of a narrow and persecuting spirit . certainly that disposition , for which we have since invented the name of good-nature , and boast it the propriety of our modern english tongue , must incline us to more soft and compassionate thoughts , than could arise to those our rough and hardy ancestors : and certainly , that very breeding , to which our times so much pretend , must direct us to all those just civilities of duty and respect , which were less paid , and less due , in that ruder age. one would ( i mean ) imagine , that the blessing of a good queen should make a deeper impress upon english hearts ; and the being depriv'd of that blessing should raise warmer resentments of grief , than the like providence did in the remote reign of hen. i. when the normans were transported with conquest , and the saxons were dis-spirited with oppression ; when the insolence of one party , and the indignation of the other , were enough to take away all the better affections of humane nature . it is impossible that nature , education , and religion , when they are all reform'd , should be all less effectual to strike and wound the hearts of a nation , when they have lost a queen equal to the greatest example of past ages . when , without suspicion of flattery , her character shall be drawn for the use of posterity . posterity will not believe , that a great part of her people were indifferent , and unaffected with her death ; and only put on their mourning , as the pharisees did their sackcloth , to appear unto men. at least , posterity will not believe , that some were so insolent , as to ridicule the divine judgment , and make a mock at god's anger , and their own sin. a barbarous indignity , that could have been only tolerable in that emperour , who , amidst the conflagration of his city , was setting musick to the flames : or in that other , who wisht a signal calamity might happen in his reign , to distinguish it from ordinary and unobservable times . the thoughts of such inhumane practice will naturally lead us to the more melancholly reflection . for we are lastly to reflect on the fatal reason of god's providence , in so severe a dispensation . the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . history tells us , the first christians were retreated to pella , before the siege and destruction of jerusalem : or else , perhaps their prayers might have turn'd back the armies of the aliens , and stopt the bloud that was imprecated on the jews , and on their children . indeed god cannot execute a dreadful judgment , while the righteous remain to intercede , and turn aside his stretched out arm. had but ten righteous persons been found upon their knees in sodom , they had quencht the fire and brimstone , before it fell on the polluted city . yes ! righteous and merciful men , they are the chariots and horsemen of israel : they are the guardian angels , and defend the province over which they do preside . the messenger of god told lot , that nothing could be done against the city , while he was within the walls of it : hast thee , escape thither ; for i cannot do any thing till thou be come thither . when the lord was wroth with his inheritance of israel , and resolv'd their iniquity should be upon their own heads ; yet the intercession of moses stopt his drawn sword ; nor could he strike till moses should let him alone . i have seen this people , said the lord , and behold it is a stiff-necked people : now therefore let me alone , that my wrath may wax hot against them , and that i may consume them . so much violence does god himself seem to suffer from the prayers of holy men : and in the most sinful land , it is rather a threat than a decree , that noah , daniel , and job , shall deliver nothing but their own souls . oh! that a people were wise , and would consider this ! who cannot but consider ? that when the walls of a city are broken down , how easy is it for the enemies to enter and destroy ? when the pillars of a temple are took away , how soon must the unsupported fabrick fall ? when the banks are laid low , how naturally will the waters overwhelm the defenceless ground ? even so , when the righteous are taken away , how without resistance must descend the evil to come ? it is true : while we reflect on former mercies , and contemplate our present affairs , we grow sanguine , and presume that all will be safe and happy : but while we take the other prospect of divine justice , and our own provocations of it ; then the light side of the pillar is turn'd round to cloud and darkness , and fearful expectations may remain . what judgment may we expect ? what may we not expect ? shall we choose any one of the three evils , which gad offer'd to david ? shall seven years of famine come upon us in our land ? our bodies hungry and thirsty , and our souls fainting in them ? no! bless , o lord , our victuals with encrease , and satisfy our poor with bread ; and suffer us not to know the want of that plenty we abuse ! shall we flee three months before our enemies , while they pursue us ? shall invasion , and conquest , and slavery , drown us in sweat and bloud ? no! defend us , good lord , from barbarous and insulting foes : give us the undeserved favour of victory abroad , and peace at home ! well , but shall there be three days pestilence in the land ? shall carcasses fall in heaps , and the living be buried among the dead ? yea , rather let us fall into the hand of the lord , for his mercies are great , and let us not fall into the hand of man : but rather , o lord , turn away this plague from us : give us strength and health : give us leave to wait our appointed time , till a natural and gentle change shall come . tho' the hand-writing seems upon the wall ; and the sentence of death be already executed against that just person , who could alone have stopt the determin'd woe : yet , let us turn unto the lord with all our heart , with fasting , and with weeping , and with mourning : let us rend our heart , and not our garment ; and looking upon the evil to come , let us try whither the merciful and gracious lord will repent him of that evil : who knoweth , if he will return , and repent , and leave a blessing behind him ? merciful god ! let it be judgment enough ! that we have lost a princess , whom past ages never did exceed , and future generations shall scarce ever equal ! judgment enough ! that we have lost the benefit of so many prayers of that devout queen , who lov'd no apartment of her palace , so well as her chapel ; and behav'd her-self in it with that zeal and affection , as if she believ'd it the house of god , and the gate of heaven , which is now open'd to her : who made her closet a continued oratory of private devotions : who prosecuted all business , as if she had no leisure to pray ; and yet pray'd so continually , as if she had attended no other business . judgment enough ! that we have lost her who believ'd religion , and adorn'd it ; who understood the constitution of our church , and therefore lov'd it : who honour'd divines for the sake of their profession , and made her preferments the reward of good preaching , and good living . and ( what is not improper to mention within these walls ) lost her , who was a friend to learning , who knew how to chuse books , and to digest them ; and amidst all urgent affairs , could descend to the cares of a library . judgment enough ! that we have lost her , who paid all the obedient duties of a wife , so rare in royal consorts , who , in a less coparcenry than hers , are tempted to bear no equal , at least to acknowledge no superiour . lost her , who was a mistriss affable and humble ; and who , if she had wanted power , could have been perswasive ; whom supreme authority could not make imperious to her servants : who set her maidens an example of domestick industry ; and govern'd her family , as if that had been her only kingdom . lost her ! who could rule a nation , and make her lord seem absent to none , but to her-self : who could do justice without revenge , and shew mercy without weakness , and reign in the hearts of her people . in a word , judgment enough ! to lose her , wherein her quality has lost an ornament , her sex a glory , her nation a blessing , and the world an example . good god ! permit no other judgment to fall upon us : let us the priests , and you the people , weep between the porch and the altar ; and let us say , spare thy people o lord , and give not thy heritage to reproach : be jealous for thy land , and pity thy people , thy distressed people . to thee , o father of mercies , with the son of thy love , and the spirit of consolation , be ascrib'd the kingdom , power , and glory , for ever and ever . amen . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47257-e120 mal. 4.2 luk. 23. ver . 47. ● cor. 5. ver . 21. pro. 21. ver . 21. grot. in loc. 2 king. 22. v. 2. psal. 12. v. 20. eccl. 12. ver . 7. heb. 9. v. 27. is. 53.8 . eccl. 7. ver . 2. ps. 34. ver . 19 2 pet. 2. ver . 8. ps. 119. v. 136.158 . pro. 14. ver . 34. jer. 5.9 . 2 cron. 32.25 , 26. 2 cron. 34.24 . lb. 27 , 28. 2 cron. 36.17 . sim. dunel . sub an . 957. allredus de vit . & mirac . ed. confess . cron. joh. brompton . sub anno. m lx vi. henr. de knighton de event . ang. cap. 14. k. edw. vi. ecl. 12. ver . 5. deu. 34. ver . 8. 1 sam. 25.1 . jer. 22.10 . zech. 12 ver . 11. job . 27. ver . 15. psal. 74. ver . 66. jer. 16. ver . 5. 〈…〉 h●st . w●nt . a●g . 〈…〉 p 2●● . sueton. in vit. ner. cap. ●8 . idem in vit. calig . cap. 31. gen. 18. ver . 32. 2 kin. 2. ver . 12. gen. 19. ver . 22. ex. 32. ver . 9. eze. 14. ver . 14. 2 sam. 24. joel . 2. ver . 15. gen. 28. ver . 17. sinnelesse sorrow for the dead a comfortable sermon, preached at the funerall of mr. iohn moyle, of buckwell, in the countie of kent, esquire, the sixt of ianuarie, 1614 / by thomas iackson, batchelor in diuinitie, and preacher of gods word, at wye in kent. jackson, thomas, d. 1646. 1614 approx. 50 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a04165 stc 14305a estc s2143 23070706 ocm 23070706 26190 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a04165) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 26190) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1796:21) sinnelesse sorrow for the dead a comfortable sermon, preached at the funerall of mr. iohn moyle, of buckwell, in the countie of kent, esquire, the sixt of ianuarie, 1614 / by thomas iackson, batchelor in diuinitie, and preacher of gods word, at wye in kent. jackson, thomas, d. 1646. [4], 26 p. printed by t.s. for roger jackson, and are to be solde at his shop in fleetstreet neere to the conduit, london : 1614. "published by authoritie." signatures: a-b⁸ (last leaf blank). imperfect: faded. reproduction of original in the magdalene college (university of cambridge). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng moyle, john, d. 1614? -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-10 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-10 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion sinnelesse sorrow for the dead . a comfortable sermon . preached at the funerall of mr. iohn moyle , of buck-well , in the countie of kent esquire , the sixt of ianuarie . 1614. by thomas iackson , batchelor in diuinitie , and preacher of gods word , at wye in kent . published by authoritie . london . printed by t. s. for roger iackson , and are to be solde at his shop in fleetestreet neere to the conduit . 1614. to the right vvorshipfull , s● dvdly diggs , knight . thrice worthie sir ; if demosthenes his oration , lost it grace though pronounced by aeschines ; then much more doth reading abate the power of speaking a : yet importunitie of liuing friends , and dutie to the dead ; haue forced me to lay aside the speech and gestures of a liuing man ; that so , ( as farre as in me lieth ) i might by dead letters , both preserue him in liuing name , whom cruell death hath vntimely layed in dust ; and also publish to the world my loue , and losse . yet what a detraction is this from the dead ? that his waightie vertues , and boundlesse perfections , whilst hee liued : should ( now that hee is dead ) be ranged within the narrow compasse of a few lines ; and so easily turned ouer with a few fingers b ? i am bold to commend this my poore seruice to your worships protection , as assured of your sincere loue and affection to him , whose memoriall it still reuiueth : as also , for those rare good gifts of god and nature , wherewith your person is beautified , iustly procuring present admiration , and future expectation . and lastly , as a token of an obseruant and thankfull heart , for so many very honourable and immerited fauours , and incouragements in my ministrie : goe on in your holy zeale to god , noble carriage , and vndaunted resolution , in actions of best and greatest consequence : prosper in that honourablest action vndertaken in the christian world ( for these many yeeres ) the plantation of the church of god , in virg●●●● , and that graciously prouided 〈◊〉 thereof , the barmudas , ( the 〈…〉 and hogs , into which they 〈…〉 . ) the best things are har●est , and meete with greatest crosses ; but all good men , with countenance , person , purse , or prayers , and best wishes , doe further it . balak & balaam shall not hinder it ; and ( when all mens hearts & affections shall be rectified ) god will blesse that small companie , 〈…〉 hoast of god. and whosoeuer shall aduenture life or liuing in so honourable a seruice to god & his countrie , god will honor , ennoble , and eternize their names , that they may be had in euerlasting remembrance . accept this 〈◊〉 of my loue , and small testimonie great desires ; so shall you adde 〈…〉 score , till vse farre passeth 〈…〉 pardon all , i can pay 〈…〉 pray for you and yours , and 〈…〉 . 〈…〉 in all humble dutie and seruice , thomas iackson the testimonie , giuen to m. iohn moyle , at his funerall , ianuarie 6 , 1614. howsoeuer 〈◊〉 neuer erring wisedome 〈…〉 , nothing 〈…〉 iohn the baptist a , the centurion , b and others c ; yet is it freest from 〈…〉 errour for 〈◊〉 who are but of yesterday , and know not what shall be tomorrow , in 〈◊〉 the dead ; the periode and compl●●n●●● of whose dayes , wee have seene expired , and the 〈◊〉 as well discharged as 〈…〉 neither the praiser , can be moued with flattery , nor the praised , with vaine-glory d being perpetually seperate , from sight , hearing , and report : praise the marriner when he ariueth ; the souldier when he triumpheth : and man when hee is dead e . whom , generally to fauour , ( if for no other cause , yet for that they haue led the way vnto vs , f and obtained prioritie in eternitie ; ) is the rule of nature g but to entombe them with amplest praises . whose liues haue beene vertuous and honourable ; and to set vp the lampe of vertue , that it may shine in the house of god , when death hath put out the light of life ; is the rule of religion ; and warranted both by best examples in holy scripture , ( thus did dauid commend abner , h and ionathan : i elishah , eliah k ? and the apostle those worthie saints , whom the world was vnworthie of l : ) and by the practise of the church in all ages . how am i bound then , by a three-fold dutie , viz. 1 to god. 2. to him ; 3. to you , to speake somewhat of the sanctified life , and blessed death of this religious gentleman , ●ow to be ●●erred ? to god for all his gifts we 〈◊〉 thankfulnesse m and what greater thankefulnesse , then to be telling of his goodnesse to vs or others ? so that in speaking of gods gifts vnto him , wee doe in our soules blesse god for him n secondly , as it ought to be the greatest care of the liuing to doe well ; so is it the dutie of the 〈◊〉 to speake well , that , so farre as lieth in vs ) the dead , may pertake in the blessing promised , the righteous shall be had in euerlasting remembrance o ; for which purpose , our blessed sauiour said , wheresoeuer the gospell should be preached , throughout all the world , the good worke of the woman , bestowing the boxe of costly oyntment vpon his head , should be spoken of , for a memoriall of her p yea , i wish that my congue were as the pen of a readie scribe to en●●re his vertues q that both he might pertake in that blessing which alexander pronounced at the toombe of achilles ; happie achilles , that being dead , hast such a trumpeter of thy praise , as homer was r : and i , in that blessing , which naomi pronounced of boaz , blessed be hee of the lord , for he ceaseth not to doe good , to the liuing , and to the dead s . thirdly to you , that ye may know what to imitate , which is the maine vse of the commemoration of the vertuous liues of the godly ; that they may be patternes to them that liue , their very toombes , in their kinde , speaking as abels blood , t walke , as ye haue had vs for examples . a gentleman worshipfully borne ; and accordingly he liued , and well added , to the worth , and wealth , of his house and family . matched , to a vertuous gentlewoman , a right branch of a worshipfull , religious , and fruitfull tree v ; graund-child of a most godly matrone , who ( yet liuing ) hath seene of her children , and childrens children , to the number of two hundred and threescore at least , which doe yeerely encrease , with the encreasings of god. a mary by name x , a mary by choyse , and a mary by condition , for the lord hath dealt very bitterly with her y . by whom hee hath had , an houshold like a flocke of sheepe z ; his table beset with mary sweet children , like oliue branches round about a . of whom i may truly say , ( after these twenty yeeres inward familiarity with him ; ) so sweet and peaceable a natured man b , so sound and zealous a christian ; so sure and faithfull a friend , amongst many thousands , is not to be found . a diligent frequenter of the publicke exercises of religion , a carefull worshipper of god , and sanctifier of his 〈◊〉 , it was but one se●●enth night before he died , when 〈◊〉 with vs in gods worship . hee did b●●re his part in the psalme c , which we sung , with an extraordinarie courage and 〈◊〉 as if with the swanne hee would end his dayes with a song d , which ministred no small comfort to mee ( and others that noted it ) that for one whole yeere and an halfe , hauing beene visited in himselfe and his family , with such exceeding sicknesse , yet he could so sweetly comfort himselfe in god : whereunto wee may adde his daily exercises of reading and prayer with his family . and as was his profession , so was his practise , though hee liued not without sinne , yet without reproofe g , hee kept himselfe vnspotted of the world h : a father , more like then a friend to the poore ; a setled good house-keeper , and euer open-handed in any good cause , as free in charitie , as euer in dutie : humble in prosperitie , patient in aduersitie ; sober in his health , comfortable in his sicknesse , and most blessed in his death ; though but a young man for yeeres , yet long hath he wayted for his change , and daily exercised himselfe in the meditation of mortalitie ; hauing his iestament alwayes readie , and , as occasion serued , renewed ; so that though sicknesse came sodainly , he was prepared , his house set in order , and himselfe free to prepare for god , to whom with much peace and meekenesse , hee resigned his spirit . and as hee liued with much loue , so is he dead with as great lamentation ; the church of god , the common-wealth , the parish , his family , and specially the poore , sustayning great losse ; but what doe i speake of losse , seeing his gaine doth counteruaile the same an hundred fold ? wee haue lost but a man , he hath sound god ; we haue lost a friend , he hath found his sauiour ; wee haue lost his neighbourhood , hee hath found the fellowship of innumerable angels and saints : we haue lost the help of his prayers and purse , counsell and countenance ; but hee hath found the blessednesse of heauen , which all gods people loue and long for , in the fruition whereof wee leaue him for euer and euer . amen . and to speake a word or twaine of this his good seruant * , who in ruths resolution , hath liued , is dead , and shall be buried with his master k . aman in his place worthie of great commendation , and a rare patterne for men of his ranke to looke vpon ; an honest , harmelesse , carefull , willing , diligent and faithfull seruant : i cannot but note vnto you , the good prouidence of god , that no seruice performed by any other , being comparably acceptable to his good master , in his sicknesse and weakenesse ; god was pleased euen extraordinarily to raise him from the gate of death , to attend his master . to the closing of his eyes , which seruice ended , that he should haue a relapse , and in two dayes also end his life . i may say of them both , as dauid did of saul and ionathan , they were louely and pleasant in their liues , and in their death they were not diuided l ; onely this difference , he that in life time often rode before , is now carried after : but now no more as master and man , for in this path there is no difference m ; in golgotha no difference , betwixt that skull which wore the crowne , and that which bore the tankard : all fellow-heires of the same inheritance ; but one kingdome , yet all raigne ; though degrees of glory , yet all haue more then enough , none enuie them that haue more , none disdaine them that haue lesse . in which blessed fellowship , wee leaue them for euer . now let vs come to the text. [ and iesus wept * . ] for three principall respects , haue i chosen this text , before others ▪ with gods assistance , and your wonted christian patience , at this time to speake of . first , because vnto profitable hearing , the remembrance of the text is specially required ; the remembrance whereof , doth necessarily draw on the remembrance of such things , as naturally arising , haue thence beene deliuered . now i dare entrust the weakest memorie of all , in this congregation , with this text , being so short , yea the shortest verse in all the bible ; so that here needeth no adding of line to line , or precept to precept o ; one bare reading will cause so sufficient an impression in the memorie , that i hope if many yeeres hence any one should be demanded , what was our text this day , he or she will readily answere . [ iesus . ] secondly , as it is short , so it is fet ; mourning in feasting , and mirth in fasting agree not ; it is sfit that occasion and matter , theame and time , should accord ; as christ at iacobs well p did speake of the heauenly water ; and from feeding the body with loaues and fishes , 〈◊〉 of the heauenly manna & bread of 〈◊〉 . now , q if houses of sicknesse , be houses of mourning r ; times of dying , times of 〈◊〉 s ; and places of burying , places of weeping s , how fit is it for me to entreate of mourning and weeping , seeing we come from an house of great and long continued sicknesse ? our friend lazarus is dead and we are come to the place of 〈◊〉 ▪ [ iesus wept . ] thirdly ; as it is short and fit , so it containeth very profitable matter , for if it be the greatest perfection of a christian , to gouerne his affections and passions aright ; and the best haue been soyled , and bewrayed their weakenesse herein : either weeping or reioycing ; on such 〈◊〉 or in such manner , or to such ends , as they should not ; how profitable will it be , to direct this great mourning , to a true meane ? which i can not possibly better doe ▪ then by proposing the sinlesse sorrow of our blessed sauiour , vpon a like occasion , lazarus is dead , and iesus wept . wouldest thou then ▪ not sinne in weeping , looke vpon christ , who wept and sinned not : yet if any in passion breake their bounds , let the words of my text procure a charitable excuse ; for euen [ iesus wept . ] when christ was borne , there was much singing and mirth , olde father simeon , he sung ; zach●rishe sung x , marie shee sung ; y and the babe in elizabeths wombe , did spring for ioy z ; yea , the angels of heauen sung a but christ his ministrie , and specially his death were mournfull times , and of much weeping , some in passion ; others in compassion . christ he wept b and the disciples they wept c ; the daughters of ierusalem they wept d yea time sunne put on sackcloth and that wept e ; the temple rent in ●ayle , and that wept f ; yea the crie of the creatures was heard so farre ▪ that the heathen philosopher said , either the 〈…〉 nature 〈…〉 or the world would 〈…〉 g ▪ but i am to speak onely of iesus his sorrow ; [ iesus wept . ] christ and lazarus , mary and martha two men , and two women ; two sisters ; and a brother ; three sinners , and their sauiour : these that had so long loued , & liued together ; and many a time and often feasted & godlily reioyced together , haue now their mirth turned into mourning ; and singing into sighing . lazarus is dead , and christ is absent , his sisters weepe ; the iewes come to comfort them , and they weepe ; when they vnderstand that iesus is comming , martha she runneth to meete him , & saluteth him with words of bitter complaint , lord , if thou hadst beene heere , my brother had not beene dead : no sooner had hee with words of consolation , shut the sluces and flood-gates of her teares , but mary shee commeth and breaketh out into the same words of dolefull complaint , lord , if thou hadst beene here , my brother had not beene dead : the iewes , they weepe . and christ he wept ; the sluces are broken vp againe , as if all should be drowned with a deluge of teares : or at least here were another hadra-drimmon for lazarus ▪ as was for iosuth . wee see then , though wee be neuer so neere or deere vnto christ , yet we may not looke to be exempt from mournfull occasions : nay , iudgement beginneth at gods owne house i ; it is enough that christ weepeth with us . who in the end shall wipe all teares from our eyes k ▪ where as the wieked being forsaken of god , shall weepe and gnash their teeth for euer l . in these three verses , vers . the 34. 35. and 36. we haue foure speakers ; christ asketh a question , ( where haue yee laid him ? ) mary and martha giue answere , as with one mouth , ( lord , come and see . ) the euangelist reporteth his passion , [ iesus wept , ] and the iewes passe their censure thereon , ( loe how he loued him ! ) [ iesus wept . ] as the souldiers that marched after ioab , stood still and wondred at that they saw , so may wee well stand still and wonder at that we heare . what ? doth the sonne of god , who was from all eternitie with his father , as his delight , continually reioycing before him m ; he that was annoynted with the oyle of gladnesse aboue his fellowes n ; hee , who when he went to his passion , would not suffer the daughters of ierusalem to weepe for him o ; he that was sent , by his ministerie , to comfort them that mourned in zyon , and to giue them oyle of ioy for mourning p ; hee that in the end , shall wipe away all teares from the eyes of his children q ; doth hee weepe ? yes indeede , and fit that now he should so doe , that being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and his workes , theandricall , diuinely humane r ; in this great miracle of the raising of lazarus , both this diuinitie , and humanitie , by infallible demonstrations , might be seene s : he commanded lazarus , being foure dayes dead , to come forth ; this was the voyce of diuine maiestie ; but he wept for lazarus , and this was a passion of true humanitie t ; that so , if diuine maiestie feare vs , humane infirmitie may encourage vs : if humane infirmitie doe offend vs ; diuine maiestie may comfort vs : and wee both loue and reuerence our blessed emmanuell v , god with vs. the like we may obserue in other his miracles : as man , he spat on the ground ; as god , with clay , hee made him that was borne blinde to see x ; as man , hee fell on sleepe in the ship ; as god , he rebuked the winde and seas , and they obeyed him y . but first , manhood , and then godhead ; first weakenesse , and then power ; first humilitie , and then maiestie doe appeare ; he first spitteth , and then annointeth , first sleepeth , and then rebuketh ; first weepeth , and commandeth . [ iesus wept . ] amongst all the blessings which god gaue vnto man by creation ; there were principally two which were as the perfection of his happinesse , viz. ioy and life ; or a ioyfull life z . the one ad esse , the other ad bene esse ; without life no ioy , for it is an affection of the liuing ; and without ioy , no life , but a neuer-dying death . but man by sinne pulling vp the flood-gate , hath let in a sea of miserie , and specially those two maine euils , viz. sorrow , and death : or , a sorrowing death . the childe is borne with teares , and many times dyeth before it be borne to liue . but as the garment breedeth the moath which eateth it ; and the tree the worme that consumeth it x : so , sinne bred sorrow and death , and sorrow and death destroy sinne. to her that in godly sorrow washed christs feete with teares , was pronounced , thy sinnes are forgiuen thee y ; and hee that is dead , is freed from sinne z . it was said to adam , sinne and dye a : but to all his children in christ , dye , and cease to sinne . christ came to take away sinne b , and that hee might vtterly destroy it : first , hee weepeth ; and then , hee dyeth , and pronounceth , it is finished . god reconciled , heauen opened , sinne abolished , and death for euer destroyed . it is written of heraclitus , a philosopher of ephesus , that hee continually wept , but democritus of athens , continually laughed , at the fading ioyes and follies of their times c . our blessed sauiour , the prince of all diuine philosophers , is said to haue often wept , but we reade not in all his story , that hee once laughed d . and truely no maruell , for if the wise-man haue giuen his iudgement aright , i haue said of laughter it is madde e : and the sage ethnicke , laughter is an argument of great leuitie f . and another makes it the badge of a foole g : if by conference of scriptures with experience , wee shall seldome or neuer reade or obserue , that any laugh , but it is eyther in folly , or at folly : if the prouerbe hence grew , to call that which is foolish ridiculous h : if a man cannot endure to be laughed at , and the scriptures haue branded it for a kinde of cruell persecution i : if the scriptures so often commaund weeping , but neuer laughing : if lastly , to laughter be threatned a woe , and to weeping be promised a reward k ; how should hee laugh that is wisedome it selfe , l , and in whom , the treasures of wisedome and knowledge are hid m ? by whose example wee are taught , in this world ( which ( as dauid calleth it ) is a vale of teares n ) to looke for no sound or enduring ioy , but continuall occasions of sorrow and mourning . wee doe specially reade , that our sauiour did thrice weepe . first , when he came to ieee lorusalem , and fore-saw the misery thereof , hee wept , and said , o ierusalem , if thou hadst knowne , at the least , in this thy day , those things which belong to thy peace , but now are they hid from thine eyes o ! secondly , now when lazarus was dead , as my text saith , [ iesus wept . ] thirdly , when he prayed , for the apostle saith , hee put vp his prayers and supplications , with strong crying and teares p . whose example teacheth vs when to weepe , viz. first , when eyther with our eyes wee see , or with our mindes fore-see , the miserie , ruine , or desolation , of any kingdome , country , citie , towne , or familie ; and specially , of such places and persons , where , and by whom the great name of god is called vpon , we ought to take it to heart , and , in token of inward griefe , to breake out into teares is no effeminatenesse ( as the ethnicke hath censured it q , ) but an argument of a milde and melting heart r , and warranted by best examples . thus did ieremy lament the desolation of ierusalem , oh that mine head were full of water , and mine eyes a fountaine of teares , that i might weepe day and night for the slaine of the daughters of my people s ! secondly , for the deaths of our friends , and specially , if they were righteous ones , by whose death the church of god hath sustained losse : wherof more anone . thirdly , in our prayers : the prayer of a righteous man auayleth much if it be feruent t . what greater feruencie then that which is testified by vnfaigned teares ? teares ( as an auncient father saith , ) are the blood of the soule , and wine of angels v , which flowing from the wine-presse of an oppressed and bruized spirit , are more forcible with god then all the eloquence and rethoricke in the world x annah , when shee prayed , wept sore , and god gaue her a sonne y . and when god sent a message to king ezekiah , by the hands of the prophet esay , that hee should set his house in an order , for hee should dye , and should not liue , hee turned his face to the wall , and presently dispatched embassadours to heauen ( euen his teares z ) to pray for life ▪ which no sooner appeared , but were graciously heard , the lord sent him word , that hee had seene his teares , and would adde to his dayes , fifteene yeeres a , dauid saith , god hath heard the voyce of my weeping b . the obseruation of which phrase , made a learned man c demaund this question ; what , haue teare , tongues , trow we ? and answereth , that the cloud-cleauing thunder of the almightie , doth not make so roaring a noyse in the eares of man , as our teares doe in the eares of the god of mercy d . and truely no maruell , for euen with man , whose mercies are cruell , the poet said true , that sometimes teares are waightie words e . there were principally three things , which concurred to make christ weep , and so much to increase his sorrow , that if he had beene but meere man , as he was true man f , hee had doubtlesse beene foyled of his passion , as many holy men of god haue beene : viz. 1. the death of lazarus ; 2. the sorrow of his sisters . 3. the miserie of the iewes . somesay that christ wept not for lazarus at all ; for he knew that hee would by and by raise him againe g , as he told his disciples before , lazarus is dead , and i am glad for your sakes , that i was not there , that yee may beleeue * . 2. others hold that he wept for lazarus , not because hee was dead , but that for the glory of god , hee was to raise him againe ; and so bring him , from rest and happinesse , to labour and misery h . and indeed , whereas there are but three places of residence for gods elect : 1. the wombe : 2. the earth : 3. heauen . the second doth not so farre exceede the first , in libertie and comfort ; as the third exceedeth the second , in all true happinesse ; as then , it were a miserable thing ( if it could possibly be put in execution ) for a man to leaue the comfort of this life , and be imprisoned in his mothers wombe ; so , a thousand times more miserable were it for a soule to leaue the vnconceiueable ioyes of heauen , and to be imprisoned in the loathsome dungeon of the body againe : and therefore little did the rich-man know what hee begged , when hee would haue had lazarus to haue left abrahams bosome , and to haue gone to his fathers house i . but i hold it more probable , that as the godly weepe for the death of others , absolutely considering it ; whereas circumstances considered they should rather reioyce , as christ said to his disciples , being full of sorrow to heare of his death , if yee loued mee yee would rather reioyce , because i goe to the father . so , christ , absolutely , and without circumstances considering his death k , ( wept for him ) which thing both the context , and the construction thereof doe proue l . and this circumstance teacheth vs , that it is lawfull to take to heart , and euen to sorrow and weepe for the death of deare friends , and godly persons ; so did the israelires bewayle the death of that good patriarke iacob m . and afterwards for thirtie dayes together did they weepe for that singular prophet moses n : and all iudah and ierusalem so lamented the death of their zealous king iosiah o : that euer after it became a prouerbe , the mourning of hada-drimmon in the valley of megiddo p : great lamentation was made for the death of steuen q : and when paul tolde the christians they should see his face no more , they sell on his necke and wept sore r . which examples of the best , doe condemne both ( as an extreame on the one side ) that stoicall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , with all the degrees of it , as first , not to be moued with their death : which thing god long since reproued by his prophet , the righteous perish , and mercifull men are taken away , and no man considereth it in heart s , but more , all shamelesse reioycing , at the fall of good men , as those that sent gifts one to another , when the holy witnesses of christ were slaine t . secondly , and also that faithlesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and excessiue mourning , as an extreame on the other side : and directeth all christians to the true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v , mourning for the dead , but not as the heathen which haue no hope x . a second concurring occasion , was the sorrow of mary and martha , whom hee so dearely loued : so saith the text , when iesus saw mary weepe , and the iewes also weepe that came with her , he groaned in the spirit y : and truly , nature hath so prouided , that teares beget teares ; and the sight of those that weepe in passion , prouoketh others to weepe in compassion z . and this circumstance teacheth vs , the practise of that christian vertue , which the apostle prescribeth . viz. be ye of like affection one to another : reioyce with them that reioyce and weepe with them that a weepe ▪ is there that simpathie and fellow-feeling in the members of the naturall body , that if one member be honoured , all the rest reioyce with it : if it be hurt all doe suffer with it ; that if the elbow receiue a rappe euen the fingers ends will tingle ? and is there not much more such fellow-feeling in the misticall members of christ ? assuredly , such as are either senselesse of the miseries and afflictions of gods people , as those that the prophet complayned of , did drinke their wine in 〈◊〉 and annoint them●elues with the best 〈…〉 , but were not sory for the afflictions of ioseph b and as it is noted of aha●●●erash and haman , they sit drinking , when the citie of sushan 〈◊〉 in great perplexity : c or that ( more wickedly ) reioyce therein , as the children of edom , who in the day of ierusalem , cryed , downe with it , downe with it , euen to the ground ; d doe fearefully shew themselues to be rotten and dead members , and are neere to a heauy iudgment : as god threatned ashur the rod of his wrath ; i will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of ashur , and his glorious & proud lookes c for as god is a god of mercie , and neuer but with griefe correcteth his children . f so cannot hee endure that ●ay should adde affliction to affliction , by 〈◊〉 ouer his children , being vnder his rodde , but rather condole and compassionate them , as christ did here ; mary and martha wept , the iewes wept , and when christ saw it ( hee wept . ) thirdly , christ fore-saw the miserie of the iewes , g that they would be so farre from belieuing this miracle , and glorifying god , that ( as hereby more hardned ) they would seeke to kill him & lazarus , h and therefore as at another time , hee mourned for the hardnesse of their hearts , i so now hee weepeth for it . ( iesus wept . ) and this circumstance teacheth vs to take to heart , and to mourne for the sinnes of others , as dauid , whose eyes yeelded riuers of water when hee saw men transgresse the commaundements of god. k oh shall wee weepe to see a friend at the point of death , or to heare that his soule is departed for a season , and his bodie dead ? and shall wee not much more mourne that men should bee strangers to the life of god , through the ignorance which is in them ? l oh yee melting and tender-hearted ones of god , mourne for them that continue in sinne , the symptome of a neuer-dying death now , forasmuch as it hath pleased god ( euen of late ) to take away by death many good and mercifull men , excellent members in the church and common-wealth ; and bring great affliction and miserie vpon diuers persons , families , and countries ; by death of friends , famine , fire , invndations of waters and seas : and yet sinne and wickednesse raigne and abound euery where ; it is high time for all gods people to imitate the example of their head ; and to put in practise the counsell of the apostle , sorrow and weepe , let your laughter be turned into mourning , and your ioy into heauinesse m ; least continuing in that reproued sinne , the lord of hoasts did call vnto mourning and weeping , baldnesse and girding with sackcloth , but behold ioy and gladnesse n , &c. wee pull on our selues , the execution of that fearefull doome threatned , i will turne your feasts into mourning , and all your songs into lamentation , and i will bring sackeloth on all loynes , and baldnesse vpon euery head , and i will make it as the mourning of an onely sonne , and the end thereof as a bitter day o . now the ends of christ his weeping come to be considered ( wherewith i wil conclude ) and they are principally these two . viz. first , to shew vs the truth of his humane nature , in that hee had not onely the substance of soule and bodie , with flesh and bones , which a spirit hath not p ; but also the infirmities of both , ( so farre as they were generall and blamelesse q ) as in the body , hanger r , thirst s , wearisomnesse t , &c. and in the soule , sorrow u , and ignorance x of somethings y . well did simeon prophesie by the holy ghost , that christ should be for a signe that should be spoken against z , for euen in the infancie of the church , there did arise foure maine heretickes , viz. arrius denying his deitie ; apollinarius , maiming his humanitie ; nestorius , renting his vnion ; and e●●yches confounding his essentiall proprieties : which foure heretickes and heresies , were condemned by foure auncient generall councils , in soure significant aduerbs . the councill of nice , defined against arius , that christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , truly god : the councill of constantinople , against apollinarius , that hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , perfectly man ; the councill of ephesus against nestorius , that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , indiuisibly one person ; and the councill of calcedon against eutyches ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vnconfoundedly , retaining the proprieties of both natures : and as euill manners , cause good lawes : so these & such like heresies , haue both caused most renowmed councils , and procured most excellent confessions of the christian faith ; and specially ( as an antidote against the poyson of the former heresies , ) that short , but most pithie confession of the emperour iustinian : the word was not changed into flesh , nor flesh into the word , but one in both ; and both in one : not one of his father , and another of his mother ; but one way of his father before the beginning : and another way of his mother , in the end of the world a . the learned auncients also skirmishing with the said apollinarists , and marcionites , manichies , and such as haue denied the truth both of christ his humanitie and actions ; haue ( amongst others ) discharged this arrow against the faces of them , alledging his teares , as an argument of true humanitie b , and not of distrust c . secondly , this sheweth the sweetnesse of christ , his mediation and redemption : in that our redeemer is not a stranger to our nature , but ( as god promised , ) the womans seede d , and seede of abraham e ; so hath hee performed it , in sending his sonne made of a woman f , a true man , like vnto vs in all things , ( except sinne g . oh , this was iacobs comfort on his death-bed , that one wrapped in the tunicle should come h : and iobs comfort , that though hee should dye , and all his life wayted when his change should come ; yet his redeeming kinsman ( for so the word signifieth ) liued i ▪ who is a mercifull and faithfull high priest in things concerning god , who hath felt in his owne soule and body , the manifold straitning passions and perplexities that we feele in our seuerall afflictions , hath ( as it were ) his bowels yearning towards vs ; and though now exalted into glory , yet his compassion towards his poore members on earth is no whit diminished , as k himselfe witnessed from heauen , saul , saul , why persecutest thou me l ? let vs then embrace this sweet sauiour , whom god hath sent into the world , compassed with a cloud of witnesses , that all men may beleeue : and specially with the fore-going of that excellent herauld , and trumpeter m of the blessed iubilie , the baptist ; who went before his face to prepare his wayes , and to alter the state of faith n by preaching the doctrine of repentance , that is , they should not beleeue in one to come , but in him that was already come o ; whom hee pointed out with the finger vnto them p . oh goe wee euer with boldnesse , to his sweet throne of grace q : seeke wee to that physitian , who hath beene sicke of the same disease himselfe : loe we him , that hath shed teares for vs ; loue how he loued vs : yea , that shed his blood , and gaue himselfe for vs r ! oh how he loued vs indeede ! to him that so loued vs , and washed vs from our sinnes in his bloud , and made vs kings and priests vnto god , euen his father , to him i say be glory and dominion for euermore s . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a04165-e120 a habet nescio quid latenti , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnia vox , & in aures discipuli de authoris ore transs●●sa fortius sonat . hier. paul●● . b en , sum quod digitis quinque ; leuatur onus . cornel. apud propert . lib. 4. eleg. 12. matth. 8. 1 chro. 12 22. pro 10. 7. psal . 112. 6. 〈…〉 notes for div a04165-e380 a matth 11. 〈◊〉 . b matth. 8. 10. c iohn 1. 4● d quando , nee 〈◊〉 mo●●t adulatio ; 〈…〉 august . e dicique ; beatus , ante obitum nemo . f tantum quia pre●●sserunt . calcanda semel via lethi , &c. ho●. 1 carm. 28 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h 2 sam. 3. 34 i 2 sam 1. vlt. k 2 kings 2. 12. l heb. 11. ●8 . m psal . 216. 16. n 〈…〉 hier. o pro 10 7. psal . 112. 6. p matth. 26. 1● . q psal . 45. 1. r o 〈…〉 , cui mertuo 〈◊〉 praeco , &c. s ruth 2. 20. t gen. 4. 10. v the daughter of m. robert honnywood esquire , some●●●● of 〈◊〉 in kent ▪ 〈…〉 essex 〈…〉 x mary honny●●●● . y 〈…〉 z 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 b 〈…〉 c 〈…〉 d 〈…〉 g luke 1. 6. sine . quarels , non sine , peccato . august . h iam. 1. ●● . * iohn cooke . k ruth . 1. 16. l 2 sam. 1. 23. m hac , par d●uitibus , pauper egenus erit . maximinianus . * iohn 11. 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . o esay . 28. 11. p ● iohn 4. 13. q iohn 6. 26. r eccles . 7. 4. s eccles . ●● 5. s gen. ●● . ●● . luk. ● . 28. x luk 1. ●8 . y luk. 1. 46. z luk. 1. 41. a luk. 2. 13. b i heb. ● . 7. c m●● . 〈…〉 . d luk. 23. 27. e luk. 23. 15. f luk. 23 15. g 〈◊〉 deus 〈…〉 dissolu●●●r . zach. 12. 11. i 1 pet 4 1● . k reu. 7. 17. l matth. 22. 13. diuision . m pro. 8 30. n psal . 45. 7. o lu. 23. 28. p esay . 61. 3. q esay . 25. 8. r doct. field . of the church , lib. 5. cap. 13. pag. 38. s commode , futuro miraculo praemissae sunt lachrymae , vt infirmitas carnis , diuinae virtuti coniungeretur . mald. t propriae sunt hominis lachrymae ; vita verò , verae vitae est . greg. nys . v esay 7. 14. x iohn 9. 6. y matth. 8. 25. z three-fold state of man , cap. 7. sect . 1. pag. 339. x vt tinea ex ligno nata ipsum consumet lact. de ira dei. cap. 13. y luke 7. 48. z rom 6. 7. a gen. 2. 17. b iohn 1. 29. c sen. lib. de tranquil . vitae . lact. lib. 2. cap. 2. d obseruandum autem , quod fleuisse quidem legitur aliquoties , nunquam autem visisse , ferus in locum . e eccles . 2. 2. f risus leuitatis argumentum . sebast in 3. plat . de rep . g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ridet fatuus . h dij boni , qu●m ridiculosum habemus consulem ▪ cato vticens . ex plut. i gen. 21. 9. gal. 4. 29. k luk. 6. 21. 25 l prou. 8. 12. m col. 2. 3. n psal . 84. 6. in me●●re . o luke 19. 42. p heb. 5. 7. doct. q nihil vìro turpius muliebri fletu . natta de immortal . animae . lib. 1. r 2. chron. 34. 27. s ier. 9. 1. t iames 5. 16. v lachrymae poenitentium , sunt vinum angelorum . bern. sup . cantic . x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cypr. y 1 sam. 1. 10. z mittit legatos , lachrymas cyp. lib. 2. epist . 7. a esay . 38. 5. b psal . 6. 8. c d. plaif . serm. at spittle meane in mourning . pag. 19. d oratio deum lenit ; sed lachyma cogit . ier. in esaiam . e interdum lachrymae pondera v●●i● habent . ouid. de pont. lib. 3. eleg. 1. f si meras homo , vt verus homo . g quomodo fleret cum , quem continuò suscitare vellet . theod. herac. * iohn 11. 15. h a loco requetis , ad locum laboris & miseriae . isid . in graec. cat. i luke 16. 27. k mortem amìcì & sibi chari , absolutè considerauit , & lachrymatos est . toll . in locum . annot . 10. col . 944. l iudaei in hac re non pessum auctores . mald. doct. m gen. 50. 11. n deut. vul . 8. o 2 chron. 35. p zach. 12. 11. q acts 8. 2. r acts 20. 37. 1 vse . s esay 57. 1. t reu. 11. 10. 2 vse . v aret prob . loc . 155. de luctu pro defunctis . pag. 495. x 1 thes . 4. 13. 2. y iohn 11. 33 propter lachrymas mariae amb. lib 2 de poenit cap 7. chris hom. 26 z natura ita com●aralum est , vt ex conspectu 〈…〉 . a rom. 12. 10. b amos 6. 6. c h●s● . 3 vlt. d psal . 137. 7. c esay 10. 12. f esay 1. 4. 5. g fleuit propter iudaeorū infidelitatem . hill. in psal . 68. epiph. in anchorato . h iohn 12. 10. i mat. 3. 5. doct. k psal . 119. 136 l eph. 4. 18. applic. m iam. ●● . n esay 22. 1● . o amos 8. 10. 1. doct. p luk. 24. 39. q m ▪ perk. on the creed . r matth 4. 2. s iohn 19. 28. t iohn 4. 6. u matth 26. 38. x mark 13. 32. y merae priuationis , non prauae dispositionis . z luk. 2. 34. august . de haeres . cap. 49. 55. 91. 92. zanch. de incarnat . lib. 2. cap. 1. doct. hook. eccles polit . lib. 5. sect . 54. pag. 116 last impresi . a nec verbum in carnem nec caro in verbum , mutata est ; sed vtrumque in vno , et vnus in vtr●que est ; non alter ex patre , alter ex matre ; sed aliter ex patre . &c. iustin imperat. ad ioannem 2 papam , tempore . concil . tolet. b lachrymae , sunt reri corpores humores . gu●l● . hem . l. 109. c natur● , 〈◊〉 diffidenti● testes barn. serm. 26. in cantie . 2. doct. d gen. 3. 15. e gen. 22. 18. f gal. 4. 4. g heb. 4. 15. h gen. 49. 10. shil . shiliah . secundae eius tremell . i iob. 19. 25. goel . ruth . 4. 14. sic pet. galat. de occultis . lib. 4. cap. 4. k m. perk , on creed , treat . of incarnat . l acts 9. 4. vse m iubilie , of iobel , a trumpet ; ●eron , de interpret . nom . kerch . heb. concord . 1673 buxt . heb. epit. 334. bab on leuit. pag 202 n fides in aduentu ipsius non erat destruenda , sed solum status eius mutandus , vt quem venturum credebant venisse crederent . toll , in iohan. annot . 46. o acts 19. 4. p iohn 1. 29. q heb. 4. vlt. r gal. 2. 20. s reu. 1. 5. a sermon preached by mr. edmund calamy at aldermanbury, london, aug. 24, 1651 being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed ... also four excellent doctrines and proposition to the presbyterians and others to be by them practiced and meditated upon both morning and evening. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32062 of text r23880 in the english short title catalog (wing c266). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32062 wing c266 estc r23880 07916377 ocm 07916377 40436 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32062) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 40436) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1200:11) a sermon preached by mr. edmund calamy at aldermanbury, london, aug. 24, 1651 being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed ... also four excellent doctrines and proposition to the presbyterians and others to be by them practiced and meditated upon both morning and evening. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 5, [1] p. printed for g. horton, and published by a perfect copy, london : [1651?] reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. eng love, christopher, 1618-1651. bible. -n.t. -acts vii, 60 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. a32062 r23880 (wing c266). civilwar no a sermon preached by mr edmund calamy at aldermanbury london, aug. 24. 1651. being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day followin calamy, edmund 1651 6054 47 5 0 0 0 0 86 d the rate of 86 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-02 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached by mr edmund calamy at aidermanbury london , aug. 24. 1651. being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed . containing these particulars : 1 the person that fell asleep . 2 the speech that he made , when he fell asleep . 3 what he did when he had finished his speech . also , four excellent doctrines , and propositions , to the presbyterians , and others ; to be by them practised and meditated upon both morning and evening . john 11. 11. our friend lazarus sleepeth . psal. 116. 15. precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints . london , printed for g. horton : and published by a perfect copy . mr. loves funeral sermon . act. 7. 60. the latter part . and when he had said this , he fell asleep . these words contain in them the happy closure and upshot of stephens life , wherein we have 3 particulars . 1. the person that fell asleep . 2. the speech that he made , when he fell asleep . 3. what he did when he had finished his speech . 1. we have the person that fell asleep , and that was stephen : he was a man full of faith , and full of the holy ghost , as you may see , act. 6. 5. he was the first martyr that ever suffered for the cause of christ ; hence i might gather this doctrine , viz. obs. that the best of men are subject to violent and unnatural deaths . stephen that was full of the holy ghost , was stoned to death , and iohn the baptist that was full of the holy ghost from the very womb , was beheaded ; peter was crucified , and so was andrew ; isaiah was sawed a sunder ; ieremiah was stoned , and zacharias was slain between the temple and the altar . but i shall passe this . the second part of the text , is the speech that stephen made when he fell asleep , hoc dicto obdermivit , that is , when he had finished his prayer , he fel● asleep . hence observe , obs. that it is an excellent way to close up our lives with prayer . to die praying is a most christian way of dying . they stoned stephen calling upon god . after this manner christ dyed , he prayed , father into thy hands i commend my spirit , and having thus said , he gave up the ghost . this he did that it might be a patern to all christians . prayer is a necessary duty at all times , but especially when we are a dying ; and that for these three reasons . 1. because when we are to die , we have most need of gods help , for then the devil is most busie , and we most weak . 2. because when we are to die , we are to beg the greatest boon of god , that is , that he would receive us into his heavenly kingdom . now prayer is the chief meanes to obtain this mercy , for it is porta caeli , clavis paradisi ; the gate of heaven , a key to let us in paradise . therefore we have great reason to die praying . 3. because when a saint of god is dying , he is then to take his last farewel of prayer . in heaven there is no praying , but all thanksgiving ; there is no need in heaven , therefore no prayer in heaven . now a saint of god , being to take his leave of prayer , when he is to die , therefore it is fit he should die praying . i beseech you remember this pattern in the text , st. stephen died calling upon the lord . let us die praying , as that emperor said , oportet imperatorem stantem mori ; so may i say , oportet christianum mori praecantem , it behoves a christian to die praying . quest . but what was the substance of stephens prayer ? answ. he prayed for himself , and he prayed for his persecutors . 1. he prayed for himself , lord iesus receive my spirit , ver ▪ 59. 2. he prayed for his persecutors , lord lay not this sin to their charge , ver. 60. i will not enter upon this part of the text , for it would swallow up all my time . therefore i shall wave it , and come to the third part , which is that , that ( by gods assistance ) i purpose to speak unto , viz. what stephen did , when he had finished his prayer , when he had this said , he fell asleep , that is , he died . behold here the magnanimity , the piety , and the christian courage of stephen . the people were stoning of him , and gnashing their teeth upon him ; and the good man dies with as much quietness of mind , as if he had died in his bed , he fell asleep , while they were stoning him . while he died he prayed ▪ and while he prayed he died . but what made stephen die thus quietly ? read the 55 verse , and you shall see the reason of it . being full of the holy ghost , he looked up stedfastly into heaven , and saw the glory of god , and jesus standing at the right hand of god . behold ( saith he ) i see the heavens opened , and the son of man standing at the right hand of god , ready to receive his soul , and that made him die with such an ex●●●ordinary quietness of mind : death in scripture , especially the death of gods children , is often compared to a sleep . it is said of david , that he slept with his fathers . and it is said , 1 thes. 4. 13 , i would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep ; that is , concerning them which are dead . and 1 cor. 11. 30. for this cause many are weakly and sick among you , and many sleep ; that is , many die . this expression is a metaphricall expression , and will afford us many rare and precious instructions about death . and therefore ( the grace of god assisting me ▪ ) i desire to spend the rest of the time in the opening of this metaphor . the observation is this . viz. that when a child of god dies , though his death be never so unnatural and violent , yet it is nothing else but a falling asleep : or , the death of a child of god , though stoned to death . though burnt to ashes , though it be never so violent and unnatural , is nothing else but a falling asleep , when he had said this , he fell asleep . somnus est mortis imag● , sleep is the image of death . there are many notable resemblances betwixt sleep and death , some of which i shall speak unto at this time . 1. sleep is common to all men ; there is no man can live without sleep . so it is true of death , death ▪ is common to all , it is appointed for all men once to die : and therefore david said , he was to go the way of all flesh ; statutum est omnibus semel mori , omnibus est calcanda semel ●e thi●ia , all men must sleep the sleep of death , or else be changed , which is a metaphoricall death . 2. as sleep ariseth from the vapours that ascend from the stomack to the head , and tie the senses , and hinder their opperations ; so death came into the world by adam s eating the forbidden fruit , and by the poisonfull vapour of sin , that brought death upon him . and all his posterity . by one man sinne entred into the world , and death by sinne ▪ and so death passsd upon all men , for that all have sinned , rom. 5. 12. had adam never sinned , adam should never have died : but in illo die , said god . in that day thou eatest the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death , sinne brings omnimodam mortem , all kindes of death ; it brings death temporal , death spiritual , and death eternal . now because all men are poisoned with the poison of sine , therefore all men must sleep the sleep of death ; it is sin that hath poisoned all mankind . 3. as a man when he goeth to sleep puts off his clothes , and goeth naked into bed : so it is with us when we come to die ; vve came naked into the world , and we must go naked out of the world ; as we brought nothing with us into the world , so we must carry nothing with us out of the world ; and therefore death in scripture is called nothing else , but an uncloathing of our selves , 2 cor. 5. 4. death to a child of god , is nothing else , but the putting off his cloaths . the body of man is animae {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vestiment●m , it is the souls cloathing ; and death is nothing else but the uncloathing of the soul ; it is just like a man going to bed , and putting off his cloths ; st. peter cals it , the putting off our earthly tabernacle , 2 pet. ● . 14. our bodies are the souls tabernacle , and death is the putting off of this tabernacle . b●loved ▪ when we come to die , we shall be stript naked of three things , 1. we shall be stript naked of all our worldly honour , riches and greatnesse . 2. we shall be stript naked of our bodies . and 3. which is above all , we shall be stript naked of our sins . and that is the happines of a child of god , he shall put off , not only his mortal body , but the body of sin . 4. in the fourth place observe , as no man knoweth the time when he fals asleep , a man fals asleep before he is aware : so no man can tell the certain time when he must die . there is nothing so certain as that we must die , nothing so uncertain as the time when we shall die ; death comes suddenly even as sleep comes upon a man before he is aware . 5. observe , as children and infants , because they do not know the benefit of sleep , are very loth to go to sleep , many times the mother is fain to whip the childe to bed ; even so it is with most of gods people , because they do not study the benefit of death , that death puts an end to all our miseries and sins , and opens a door to let us in unto everlasting happiness , and that we shall never see god or christ before we die ; i say , because gods people do not study the benefit of death , therefore they are like to little children , loth to die , loth to go to bed . and therefore death is called the king of terrors . death is terrible to many of gods children , because they are but infants in grace , and because they do not know the benefit of death . 6. observe , as when a man is fast asleep , he is free from cares , and troubles ; let it thunder ( as it thundred not long since , as you know ) yet a man that is fast asleep , while he is asleep he hears it not ; let the house be on fire , while the man is asleep , he sees it not , neither is he troubled at it . so it is with the death of gods children , when gods children sleep the sleep of death , they are free : from the thunder of this world , they are free from all cares , from all troubles ▪ they go to their grave● as to their beds , and rest in quietness , and are not sensible of any troubles that are in the 〈◊〉 . when a child of god sleeps the sleep of death , he doth not feel , nor is he sensible of any of the cal●mities or sad providences of god upon the earth . 7. when a man goeth to sleep , he goeth to sleep but for a certain time , in the morning he awakes out of sleep . so it is with the sleep of death ; and therefore death is called a sleep , because we must all awake in the morning of the resurrection . we are in the grave , as in our beds and when the trumpet of god , and the voice of the archangel shall sound , we shall all rise out of our grave , as out of our beds . death is but a sleep for a certain time . 8. sleep is a great refreshing to those that are weary and sick , and when the sick man awakes , he is more lively and chearful then he was when he fell asleep ; and therefore sleep is called medicus laborum , redinte gratio virium , recreator corporum , the great physician of the sick body , the redintegration of mans spirits ; the reviver of the weary body . and so it is with death , when gods people awake out of the sleep of death , they shall be made active for god , then ever they were before ; when you lie down in the grave , you lie down with mortal bodies ; it it sown a mortal body , but it shall rise up an immortal body , it is sown in dishonour , but it shall rise up in honour ; it is sown a natural body , but it shall rise up a spiritual body . 9. as in the morning , when we arise out of our beds , we then put on our cloathes . so in the morning of the resurrection , we shall put on a a glorious body , like to the glorious body of jesus christ , we shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality . 10. as no man when he layeth him down to sleep , knoweth the direct time when he shall awake . so no man can tell when the resurrection shall be . they do but couzen you , who say , that the general resurrection shall be such or such a year ; for , as no man can know the minute when he shall awake out of his natural sleep , no more can any man know when we shall arise from the sleep of death . 11. it is a very easie thing to awake a man out of sleep , it is but jogging of him and you will quickly awake him . 12 as when a man ariseth in the morning , though he hath slept many hours ; may , suppose he could sleep 20 years together , yet notwithstanding , when he awakes , these 20 years will seem to be but as one hour unto him . so it will be at the day of judgment , all those that are in their graves , when they awake , it will be tanquam somnus unius horae , but as the sleep of an hour unto them . lastly , and most especially , as sleep seizeth onely upon the body , and the outward senses , but doth not seiz upon the soul , the soul of man is many times most busie , when the man is asleep ; and god hath heretofore revealed most glorious things to his children in dreams , when they have bin asleep ; god appeared unto abraham and many others in dreams , the body sleeps , but the soul awakes ▪ so it is with the sleep of death , the body , that dies , but the soul doth not die . there are some men that are not afraid to teach you , that the soul sleeps as well as the body , and that when the body dies and fals asleep , the soul likewise continues in a dull lethorgy veternoso s●mno correptus , neither capable of joy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . beloved , this is a very uncomfortable , and a very false doctrine . they indeavour to prove it from my text , they say , that stephen when he died fell asleep ; it is true in regard of his body , he fell asleep , but his soul did not fall asleep , that which was stoned fell asleep , which was his body onely ; for when he was stoning , he saw jesus christ standing ready to receive his soul into heaven ▪ lord jesu● saith he ▪ receive my spirit . stephens soul could not be stoned , though his body was stoned . so when jesus christ was crucified , his soul was not crucified ▪ i mean , when his body was killed ▪ his soul was not killed ▪ indeed he did endure torments in his soul , which made him cry out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? but yet his soul did not die . so when stephen died , his soul went to christ . it is true , when a child of god dies the soul goes to sleep ; how is that ? the soul goes to sleep in a scripture-sense , that is , it goes to rest in abrahams bosom ( o blessed sleep ) it goes ●o rest in the imbraces of god , it goes into the arms of its redeemer , it goes to the heavenly paradise , it goes to be alwayes present with the lord . but take heed of that wicked opinion , to say ▪ that the soul sleeps in an anabaptistical sense ; that is , that i● lies in a strange kind of lethargy , neither dead , nor alive ; neither capable of ioy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . though stephens body fell asleep , yet his soul did not fall asleep , but immediatly went unto jesus christ in heaven . thus i have given the explication of the words . now give me leave to make some application of all unto our selves . vse 1 ▪ if the death of gods children be nothing else but a falling asleep , then let this comfort us against the deaths ▪ of our godly friends , though they die unnatural and violent deaths , though they be stoned to d●ath , though they be burnt to ashes ▪ though they be sawn asunder ▪ &c here is a message of rich consolation , which as a minister of christ i hold out unto you this day viz ▪ ●hat the death of a child of god , let it be after what manner soever it will , it is nothing else but a falling asleep ; he goes to his grave ▪ as to his bed ; and therefore our burying places are called 〈◊〉 ▪ dormitoria ▪ our sleeping-houses . a child of god when he lies he lies down in peace , and enter● into his rest ▪ and , as a man , when he is asleep , is free from all the cares and troubles he hath in the day time ; so the people of god , when they are fallen asleep , they are free from all the miseries and calamities , crosses , losses and afflictions that we are troubled withall ; therefore give me leave to say to you , as christ did to the women that followed him to the cross , bewailing and lamenting of him , o daughters of ierusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for your children . so say i , o weep not for those that are dead in the lord , that are fallen asleep in jesus christ , they are at their rests , they do not know the troubles that we are troubled withall , abraham remembers us not ; they are not sensible of our miseries and afflictions , let us weep for our selves , and for the miseries that are coming upon us ; and let us know , that when gods children die , they do but lie in their beds untill the morning of the resurrection , and then they shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality , and their bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . and know one thing more , which is all in all , viz. that when the body of a child of god fals asleep , his soul immediatly goes into the arms of christ , and there lives for ever in the imbraces of jesus christ ; though the body fals asleep , yet the soul is received into abraham's bosom . i beseech you comfort one another with these words . vse 2. let me beseech the people of god that they would look upon death , not as it is presented unto us in nature's looking-glass , but as it is set down in a scripture-dress . nature presents death in a very terrible manner ; and it is true , death is very terrible to a man out of christ ; but to you that are in christ , the sling of death is taken away , death is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep , putting off our clothes , and a going to bed till we awake in the morning of the resurrection . death to a child of god is nothing else but a putting off his earthly tabernacle . a going from an earthly prison into an heavenly palace , a hoising up sail for heaven . the letting of the soul out of prison , as a bird out of the cage , that it may flee to heaven : a change from a temporary hell to an eternal heaven . a going out of egypt into ganaan , and therefore called exodos 2 pet. 1. 15. is not mors hominis , but mors peccati , not the death of the man , but the death of his sins . it is sepultura vitiorum : it is the pilgrims journeys end , the sea-mans haven ; an absence from the body , and a presence with the lord . let all gods people look upon death through scripture spectacles , and consider it as it is sweetly represented in this text ! remember blessed stephen stoned to death , and yet falling asleep . and remember also that excellent saying of austin , that a child of god should be as willing to die as to put off his cloaths , because death is nothing else to him but a sleep , and a departure from misery to everlasting happiness . vse 3. to beseech you all every night when ye go to bed , to remember this text , and especially to remember these four things . first , when you are putting off your cloaths , remember that you must shortly put off your bodies . and secondly , when you go into your beds , remember that it will not be long before you must go down into your graves . and thirdly , when you close your eyes to sleep , remember that it will not be long before death must close your eyes . and fourthly , when you awake in the morning , remember that at the resurrection you must all arise out of the grave , and that the just shal arise to everlasting happiness , but the wicked to everlasting misery . it is a saying of an heathen man , that the whole life of a man should be nothing else but meditatio mortis , but a meditation of death . and it is the saying of moses , deut. 3. 29. o that men were wise that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end . beloved , it is the greatest part of wisdom every day to remember out latter end ; that man is the onely wise man , and happy man in life and death , that is ever mindful of his death . quest . but before i make an end , i must answer one question , viz. whether the death of the wicked be not in scripture compared to a sleep , as well as the death of the godly ? answ. i answer , that wicked men in scripture are said to fall asleep when they die . it is said of idolatrous ieroboam , that he slept with his fathers . of baasha and omri , those wicked kings , that they slept with their fathers . quest . but then the question will be , in what respect is the death of the wicked compared to a sleep ? answ. even as a man which is asleep , sometimes hath no benefit , rest , or ease thereby ; when the sick man awakes he is many times more sick then he was before he went to sleep : some men are much disquieted in their sleeps by hideous and fearful dreams ; nebuchadnezzar when he was asleep , had a most scaring dream , and when he awoke , he was amazed therewith . so it is with a wicked man ; death to a wicked man is a sleep , but it is a terrifying sleep , the soul that goes immediatly to hell , where it is burned with fire that never shall be quenched , and where the worm that never dies is always gnawing upon it . the body , that indeed lies in the grave asleep , but how ? even as a malefactor that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed , but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution : so the wicked man fals asleep in death ; but when he awakes he awakes to everlasting damnation . but now a child of god , when he sleeps the sleep of death , he sleeps in his fathers house ; and when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting happiness . vse 4. and this makes way for the fourth and last use , which is a use of very great consequence . and it is to beseech you all , that you would labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , you may sleep an happy sleep . there is the sleep that the wicked man sleeps when he dies , and there is the sleep that the godly man sleeps when he dies . now i beseech you , labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , your sleep may be an happy sleep unto you , that when you awake in the morning of the resurrection , it may be an awakening unto you . quest . but then the great question will be , how shall i do this ? i shall give you four or five helps for this . 1. if you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then you must labour to sleep in jesus christ . it is said , 1 cor. 15. 18. then they also which are fallen asleep in christ . and 1 thes. 4. 14. if we believe that iesus died and rose again , even so them also which sleep in iesus , will god bring with him . what is it to sleep in jesus ? to sleep in jesus is to die in the faith of jesus christ . 2. to sleep in jesus , is to die with an interest in jesus christ , to die as a member of christ united to him as our head . for you must know , that the dust of a saint is part of that man who is a member of jesus christ , and every believer when he sleeps in the dust , he sleeps in jesus christ , that is , he lies in the grave and his dust is part of christ mistical , and christ as an head will raise it up , and cannot be compleat ●●out it . now then , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , labor to get a real interest in christ , labour to live in christ while you live . and then when you fall asleep , you shall be sure to sleep in jesus . there are many would have christ to receive their soules at death , and that say with dying stephen , lord iesus receive my spirit : but if ever you would have christ to receive your souls when you die , you must be sure to receive him into your souls whilst you live , if ever you would have him to receive you into heaven , you must receive him into your hearts . no man makes a will , but he saith , imprimis , i bequeath my soule unto jesus christ my redeemer but how dost thou know that jesus christ will accept of this legacy ? if thy soul hath not christs image upon it , if it be not regenerated and renewed , jesus christ will never own it ▪ thou maist bequeath it unto christ , but the devil will claim it , if thy soul hath the devills image upon it , if it be a swinish , polluted , unbelieving , unregenerate sou● , thou maist bestow it upon god , but the devil will recover it out of gods hands : pardon this expression , it is not mine , but st. austins . beloved , if ever you would raign with christ when you die , he must reign in you whilst you live : and if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , you must live in jesus that you may sleep in jesus . secondly , in the second place , if ever you would sleep an happy death , then you must take heed of overcharging your selves with worldly cares . a man that is full of oares cannot sleep : therefore when men would sleep , they lay [ as the proverb is ) all their cares under the pillow , o take heed of overmuch carking . thirdly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , you must take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; a man that eats a full supper , will sleep very disquietly , therefore they that sleep quietly use to eat but light suppers ; for when a mans 〈◊〉 is over charged , it takes away his sweet sleep from him . so if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , when you come to die● , o take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; take heed of eating too large a meal of worldly delights , and of creature comforts , these worldly pleasures will make the sleep of death unquiet unto you . oh let no dalilah's lap , deprive you of abrahams bosom . remember that david by bathsheba's imbraces , lost the imbraces of god , i mean , the sense of the imbraces of god , the joy and comfort of them . fourthly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep in death , then labour to work hard from heaven while you live . oh how delightfull is sleep to a weary man ? when a man hath taken pains all the day , as the traveller that hath travelled all the day , or the ploughman that hath been at work all the day , how quietly , how soundly doth he sleep in the night ? o beloved ! if ever you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then labour to work out your salvation with fear and trembling , and give all dilligence to make your calling and election sure . the more you labour for heaven the better , the sweeter will your sleep be when you come to die . and remember this , that as much sleeping in the day time , will hinder a mans sleep at night ; so you that idle away the time of your providing for heaven in this your day , you that sleep away the minute upon which eternity doth depend ▪ oh , you will take a sad sleep when death seizeth upon you , take heed therefore of sleeping whilst you live , that so your sleep in the night of death may be comfortable to you . lastly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , then take heed of the sleep of sinne ; sin in scripture is compared to a sleep , awake thou that sleepest , that is , thou that sinnest . sin is such a sleep as brings the sleep of death . sin brings the first death , and sinn brings the second death ; all miseries whatsoever are the daughters of sinn . if you would sleep an happy sleep , and have an happy awakening at the resurrection , then take heed of the sleep of sinn , awake thou that sleepest , arise from the dead , and iesus christ shall give thee life , 5. 14. so rom. 13. 11 , 12 , 13. with which i will conclude ; and i pray you mark it well , for it was a text that converted saint augustine , knowing the time , beloved , that new it is high time to awake out of sleep , for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed : the night is far spent , the day is at hand , let us therefore cast off the works of darknesse , and let us put on the arm●ur of light ; let us walk honestly as in the day , not in roioting and drunkennesse , not in chamberin● and wantonnesse not in strife and envying , but put you on the lord iesus christ , and make provision for the flesh , to fulfill the lusts thereof . a sermon preached at st. dunstans in the west at the funeral of mrs. anne seile, the 18th of july, 1678 by gilbert burnet. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. 1678 approx. 35 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a30416 wing b5871 estc r13574 12389558 ocm 12389558 60962 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30416) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60962) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 272:3) a sermon preached at st. dunstans in the west at the funeral of mrs. anne seile, the 18th of july, 1678 by gilbert burnet. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. [2], 29 p. printed by mary clark, london : 1678. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng seile, anne, d. 1678. future life -sermons. funeral sermons. 2003-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion memento mori a sermon preached at st. dunstans in the west at the funeral of mrs. anne seile , the 18th of iuly 1678. by gilbert burnet . london , printed by mary clark , 1678. a sermon on ephes. v. 15 , 16. see then that you walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise , redeeming the time , because the days are evil . this text seems very proper on this occasion ; since what is here recommended , agrees very near to the character , which i have had given me , of the person to whom we are now paying the last duties ; but having been a stranger to her my self , and she being much better known to you all , among whom she led her life , i shall say no more of her : but apply my self to the text. this is an exhortation following very naturally upon the preceding discourse ; in which st. paul had been comparing the state of christians under the gospel to light , opposing it to the darkness of the former superstition under heathenism : which was made up of many mysterious riddles , and unaccountable rites and performances , the chief design whereof was rather to darken than enlighten its blind votaries . but the gospel , being a plain and clear direction , how to attain eternal life in the practice of the most excellent rules that ever were delivered ; is therefore fitly as well as frequently in the new testament , compared to light , in which there are no dark secrets ; which must be known only to a few priests : but all is laid open , and made plain to every discreet and diligent reader . and though it contains several things which are dark and mysterious , as in the clearest light places at a great distance seem black , yet the darkness is not in the manner of revelation , which is explicite and plain , but rises from the remoteness of the object , which being at such distance from us , and so far above us , cannot be made so visible to us , as those things that are before us , and lie in our way : about which not only the precepts are plain and express , but the reason of them is so apparent , that like publick high ways , the rule is so plain , that without some art a man cannot be mistaken ; so that if the history of past ages , and the sad prospect of the present did not give us an unanswerable objection to the contrary , one that considers the thing in it self , would hardly think it possible , that a man could be mistaken about it . this being then laid down : the exhortation in the text i have read , does naturally follow . he that walks in the dark , though he stumble often , it is forgiven him , and if he makes but any tolerable progress in his way it is wondered at : but if we should see a man stumbling who walks in full day light , and if he made no considerable progress , we must needs conclude him under some distemper of body or mind : so how justly soever we admire the vertues of the heathens , whose religion tended rather to corrupt than purifie them ; yet it will be an eternal reproach on us , if we who are enlightned by so heavenly a doctrine , do not far outstrip them , both in the exactness of our deportment , and our constant progress in vertue . i shall without any accurate division follow the thread of my text ; and offer from it such considerations , as may be most profitable and suitable to the present o●casion ; and shall consider , first , what is imported in this walking circumspectly , or exactly and accurately . secondly , the character given of such a walk : that it is the consequence of true wisdom , and that the contrary is the greatest folly in the world , not as fools , but as wise . thirdly , that we ought to be making a daily progress in vertue : either making up what we have lost by our former idleness and folly , or cutting off those superfluities of naughtiness which consume so much of our time . redeeming the time . and lastly , the reason given for all this , because the days are evil . to walk circumspectly , according to the true notion of the word , is to live with all possible strictness and accurateness : not affecting a pharisaical sowrness , nor a nicity about some lesser matters . this exactness consists not in a coarse habit , sullen looks , an affectation of odd gestures , or a peevish scrupulosity about little things . these are the arts of hypocrisie , which though a discerning mind see through and despise them , yet have in all ages wrought much on the feeble , and easily deceived multitudes ▪ it is true , a man cannot be religious in good earnest , but let him use what secresie and care soever he can to conceal it , it will shine in his deportment ; and even in the external parts of it , there will appear so much of a composed gravity , tempered with a just mixture of sweetness and good nature , that he will shine as a light in the world . yet there is such a variety of mens humours and dispositions , some being naturally melancholy , others more gay and jovial , that we ought never on the one hand to be taken too much with an outward appearance , how fair soever , nor be on the other hand too apt to censure people for such things in their external behaviour , which do perhaps rise from their natural tempers and dispositions . but to walk circumspectly is a thing of far greater importance . it is in a word , to govern our hearts and inward affections , and our lives and outward actions , by the rule of the gospel . it is not only to be so far good as to live without scandal in the world , nor to quiet the clamours of conscience which may rise upon us after some more notorious sins ; but it imports somewhat beyond all these : that a man should dedicate himself to religion , making it his business ▪ and as the bloud circulates over the whole body , in greater vessels thorough the nobler parts , and in smaller ones even thorough the remotest members ; so the true spirit of christianity runs through a mans whole life , with a due proportion of care and application : not putting his whole strength to lesser matters , and doing the greatest slightly and carelesly , but applying his greatest industry to things of chief concernment , yet so as not to be too remiss in the smallest matters . he therefore that would walk circumspectly must first , lay down to himself a complete scheme of his whole life , that he may form distinct rules to himself , in all the parts of his business , by which he shall govern his life and actions . he that has not thus digested into his thoughts a clear model of what he resolves to be , lives at random , and cannot walk circumspectly : for he knows not what it is . an architect that builds by rule , has a plane or model according to which the house must rise ; and without which all must be irregular , and out of order : if therefore we set about the raising of this spiritual building , we must both lay down a regular frame of it , and cast up the expence of what it rises to . therefore he that will be an accurate christian , must consider himself in all the circumstances of his life : what his station calls him to : how he is obliged to his relations , how he ought to imploy his time , both in his retirement , business , and diversions ; that upon all these he may agree within himself to such rules as shall be the measures of his actions . this scheme being once laid down , we must by frequent thinking so infix it in our memories , that we need not run to any books for our rules , but have them always before our eyes , and by firm and positive resolutions we must engage our selves as deep as we can to the observance of them . secondly , we must frequently compare our lives and actions by the rules thus laid down : and this not only in some transient thoughts , but in deep and serious reflexions . no business can go well on , unless the accounts and progress of it are often ballanced and much considered . if men therefore do so carefully manage their fortunes , that they set off large portions of their time either daily , weekly , or yearly , to examine their accounts : how can it be imagined that a thing of that importance , upon which all the hopes of our eternal state depends , should be so easily transacted ? therefore we ought often to search our hearts , and try our actions , that we may discover if there be any evil way in them . the tradesman does often and anxiously apply his square to the work , left little irregularities which the eye cannot discover , should by an undiscerned progress amount to so notable an errour , as might spoil the whole design . we slip into many habits without reflection ; which as an unsensible motion of dust upon our cloaths , does not stain them so visibly in any one minute , but after a little time do cover and discolour them : so many little things that pass neglected will at length run on to a greater matter in the total sum of them ▪ thirdly , he that walks circumspectly does by an even and steady course avoid extremes on all hands ; he must not allow himself any one fault : for willingly to consent to a small sin makes it a great one . he must therefore keep himself at a distance from sin , by avoiding it in its first beginnings , in which it is easily resisted . nor must he only avoid things in themselves sinful , but every thing that leads out of the way . there are many things which in their own nature are innocent , and therefore fall within our liberty : but if those things by an unlucky hit with our tempers and other circumstances , prove snares to us , then a man who walks accurately must avoid them ; as he who is exactly regular in his diet , does not only consider food as it is wholsom in it self , and pleasant to his taste , but if upon frequent experiments he feels it does not agree with him , he therefore restrains his appetite and rejects it . this rule is so much the more necessary in moral matters , as our souls are of greater importance than our bodies . these are the measures and rules by which he that walks accurately and circumspectly governs himself ; and upon a sober application of these to our selves , we may be able easily to judge , whether we have complied with st. paul's exhortation in my text. do we satisfie our selves in some forms and ceremonies of our religion , and imagine that if we perform these with some care and solemnity , we may live at large all the rest of our time ? are we such strangers to our selves , that we have never so much as considered what our callings and relations oblige us to ? vainly conceiting , that if we pray a little , all is well ? do we often and narrowly review our life that we may discover past errors , and correct them for the future ? count we nothing small that offends god , and blemishes our own integrity ? and do we readily and willingly throw up every thing which proves really a scandal or stumbling to us , even where it is dear as a right eye or a right hand is to us ? if we put those queries to our consciences , and hear what answers they make to them , we may be soon satisfied whether we walk circumspectly or not . i shall not use any other argument to commend this course of life but what is taken from the following words , not as fools , but as wise . the second thing i proposed to speak to . wisdom consists in two things : the first , is to balance things aright , and to judge well of them . the second , is to direct our practice by judgments so well framed . the one is speculative , the other is practical wisdom . now in both these a man that walks circumspectly carries himself as a wise man. no man can judge aright till he has considered all things well . to pronounce rashly is an evident sign of folly . the loose libertines run on headlong , and never stay to think or examine what they do : then resolutions are not the effect of judgment , but rise either from the hurry of passions , the violence of appetite , or the force of some popular customs and habits . men therefore that view things so slightly cannot judge maturely ; but he that walks circumspectly brings all his actions into the light , and tries them by a test that cannot deceive him . i speak now to persons who believe the gospel , and may be supposed upon the present occasion to have something more than ordinary tenderness upon their hearts : and therefore i shall not pursue this further , but certainly as much as things eternal are preferrable to things temporal ▪ as much as the soul is better than the body , and as much as the enjoyment of god is above the possession of a small parcel of this earth ; by so much he makes the better choice who dedicates himself to religion , and supposing those principles are to be acknowledged , certainly it is much the better choice to resolve to walk circumspectly , than to live at the rate of our ordinary christians ▪ for if we believe that god sees , and takes notice of our actions , that he will call us to an account for them , and reward and punish us eternally according to them : then we cannot be too accurate and careful in the ordering of our lives . nor is there any folly in the world equal to this , of thinking that some slight or low form of religion will serve the turn , and that it is needless to strain for high degrees of holiness ; but that god almighty will take any thing off our hands . if a mans life or whole estate be put upon the issue of a trial , the exactest diligence and carefulness is necessary : and remissness then is a crime not to be excused : but of how much greater consequence is eternity , eternity ! rewards are proportioned to the services that are expected : no man is raised to the greatest honours for going on an errand . to expect then eternal life upon some trifling performances , is to conclude that god keeps no proportion between the rewards he offers , and the services he enjoyns . upon all which it may be very reasonably concluded , that he who walks circumspectly gives us this first evidence of his wisdom that he makes the best judgment of things . but wisdom is an empty notion , if it rest in a speculation ; then it is wisdom indeed when it is reduced to practice , and certainly what a man judges fit , ought either to be done by him ; or else he has that within him , which will make his life very uneasie to him . no man has a more uncomfortable life , than he who has good notions of religion , but does not answer them in his actions : for he neither feels the pleasures of sin without controul , nor the joys of a good conscience : but is perpetually rackt between his good principles , and his ill life , so that it is the greatest folly in the world to be religious only by halves . besides , a man who would compound in the matter of religion , and content himself with as low a measure as is possible , evidently discovers that he hath neither true love to god , nor holiness , but is only acted by a base principle of servile fear : which as it perplexes a man inwardly , so it gives him no assurances of gods favour to him ▪ since no man can expect great returns for what is done upon fear . he then that serves god thus , is in danger of losing all his labour ; and if he does not come quite short of his reward , yet he cannot promise himself a full one . it is likewise the easiest , and by consequence the wisest course , to be accurate and circumspect in our religion ; for there is no admitting of sin by measure into our hearts , which is like the breaking in of waters ; give but a passage to a few drops , and they will make way for a whole stream ; and as fire and water cannot be limited by rules in their progress , so it is not possible to restrain our lusts and passions , if we but give way to their first beginnings : but on the other hand , he whose life is of a piece , and does not consent to the commission of any sin , finds the whole work by so much the easier ; for vertue and religion are of a complicated nature ; so that one part strengthens another , and what weakens it in a part pulls down the whole frame . upon the whole matter then it is apparent , that nothing tends so much to quiet a mans mind , to secure his happiness hereafter , and to make his work easie in this life , as to be exactly severe and strict in his whole deportment . and now why do we court the reputation of wisdom so much , and are so heavily offended when we are accounted foolish and unwise ; and yet are guilty of a madness that is far beyond all that can be seen at a bedlam ? to believe eternity , and yet not labour for it ; to acknowledge a god , and yet not serve him with our utmost care ; to profess that we are christians , and yet to live so unlike christ and his gospel , are extravagancies beyond any common madness , and if those fits did return only after long intervals , as they do in lunaticks , it were not so desperate ; but that the fits should be so lasting and constant , and our sober moods only return after long intervals of folly , are sad symptomes that our distempers are past cure . mad men shew their art and skill in some little things about them , and yet are mad men still . so what are all the arts of policy and craft in the world , but like the cunning tricks of madness ? they , they are only truly wise , that consider the author and end of their being aright ; and make that the chief work of their life here , which can secure to them the hopes of an eternal one hereafter . is the art of governing kingdoms , cities , or families , or improving or managing of fortunes to be compared to this , by which a man so governs himself that he has quiet in his own conscience , joyned with assurance of gods favour and protection here , and being with him eternally hereafter ? and yet after all this , how do men glory in their follies , in which they appear as ridiculous to those who discern aright , as those in bedlam , a great part of whose madness does consist in their extravagant gestures and postures , laughing at others , though themselves be a more proper object of it , if tenderness and compassion for them did not over-rule the mirth which their folly is apt to raise ? those who are fools in the severest sense laugh at , and despise the truly religious , who with a far better reason might turn back their contempt upon themselves , if another principle which their religion inspires them with , did not turn it to compassion and pity ; for who can look on such objects without all the meltings of tenderness and good nature . the third thing i proposed to speak to , is the great care and caution with which those who walk circumspectly do measure out and employ their time . redeeming the time ▪ which is capable of a double sense : either first , by redoubling our diligence to make up the time we have lost in our former vanity and folly . when one begins to live exactly , and reflects on his former course of life , he finds so much of his time has been spent to so little purpose , that from the sincere compunction he has of so great a loss , he sets himself forward with all possible industry , to do such services to god in the remaining parts of his life , as may in some sort balance his former irregularities . he that has a long journey to make , and a limited time for it , if he has trifled away a great deal of it , is the more vigilant and busie , and puts on with the greater activity and force : that if it be possible he may repair the faults he formerly committed . when we reflect on the great portions of our time that are already gone , and have been ill applied , if we have any ingenuity in us , we will from a generous sense of our former errours study some way to compensate for what is past , and this will hold more forcibly in those who begin late to be religious ▪ whose youth , strength , and vigour have been employed in the service of their lusts and passions . how will they reckon that the time past ought more than suffice them to have wrought the will of the flesh ? and since they cannot recover what is lost , and redeem it in the strictest sense ; yet they will more vigorously improve the little remainder of time that is before them . to such persons an ordinary measure of holiness is not sufficient ; as one who has long neglected his duty to any superiour , when he returns to himself , expiates what is past with a more punctual obedience and profounder submission . and this is to redeem the time in its first sense . a second sense of it is to rescue and buy it out ( as the word imports ) of their ill hands who have engrost too much of it . many masters have dominion over it ; every one claims his property , and stretches it as far as may be . our bodies claim their share : both in the necessary supplies of decaying nature ; and in providing for those supplies : but beyond these the irregularities of diet , and the vanities of dressing , swallow up a great deal more . the weakness of our minds makes that some diversions are necessary , but modest recreations discreetly used , will not serve turn . many hours must be spent in looking on a defiled stage , where the scenes that are represented are not worse than the impressions they leave on the greatest part of the spectators : and the rest of the day is given up to gaming , which perhaps is continued to the next morning . our friends likewise may claim their share of it , but certainly this ought not to be stretcht so far , as the perpetual receiving and giving of those idle visits , which consume so much time , amounts to . to redeem or buy out our time is to take as much as may be out of the hands of those unjust invaders of it , and to apply it to better and nobler purposes : and to give every one what is their own share , reserving still the best part of it to our selves , and to the noblest part of our selves , our souls . it is a generous piece of kindness and friendship to assist others in their concerns , upon great occasions , when they need our help : but if a man minds only his neighbours affairs , and neglects his own , he is justly censured as a busie body . and what do most of those things amount to , in which we are employed ? one great impertinency runs through our whole life : and if about the greatest part of those affairs in which we toil and labour we put our saviours question to st. peter to our selves , what is that to thee ? we will be to seek for an answer . he then that will turn a manager of this great treasure , time , must reduce his expence , and cut off all the needless waste , he must give his body such refreshments as may both preserve life , and exhilarate his spirits ; and not oppress them with a surcharge of that which will both disorder his body , and clog his mind . and though all the labour of a man is for the belly , yet he must so provide for it , as not to starve his soul ; much less give it into the bargain ; for then he buyes his provisions dear . he must likewise use those diversions which are necessary to keep his body in health , and his mind in temper , but not throw away his time so profusely on them , as if he knew not how to dispose of it otherwise . besides the evaporating the spirits into too much mirth and folly makes us unfit for more sober employments ; as a truant scholar after some days of play , knows not how to turn himself again to his book . it is likewise a very ill evidence of our kindness to our friends to rob them of so much of their time , as the excessive humour of visiting wastes : which whatever people may pretend , about the obligations of civility and kindness , does really flow from this , that they know not how to bestow their time another way . and though many looking on it as a decent way of speaking , complain of these excesses ; yet by their extreme officiousness in them it is visible they are not much troubled at them ; as then he who has out-run himself , and begins to grow more frugal considers the several branches of his expence , and sees what he can cut off from every one of them ; so if we go about to redeem our time , and think to apply it to better purposes , we must see what portions of it we can recover out of the hands of those several consumers of it ; and apply what we can thus gain to nobler exercises , to the serious meditations of vertue and religion : that we may consider how we shall improve our faculties , lay out our talents , and employ our time in such services as may tend to the honour of god , and the good of our neighbours ; and attaining such an inward noble temper of mind , as religion requires , we may walk not only blameless and harmless , but as the sons of god we may shine as lights in the world . and now if we do consider how short our time , and how lasting eternity is ; if we consider how much we have to do , and how small a portion of our time is perhaps before us , which if it be quite wasted , can never be recovered , no not in all eternity ; if we also put to the account the many accidents of sicknesses , and other disorders which waste our time ; we must needs be convinced that it concerns us nearly to husband it as closely and carefully as we can . the reason here given by st. paul , because the days are evil , is next to be considered . evil days in scripture-stile stand either for great afflictions , or publick calamities , or for the declining of a mans age , or the approach of death , but in this place the apostles meaning must either relate to the ill conversation of those among whom they live ; for an evil day , and an evil time by an hebraism stand often for the same thing : or this phrase relates to the afflictions , the scorn , and other miseries the christians lay under , and the more severe persecutions which they had reason speedily to look for . and in all these senses the inference is very just , that because the days are evil we ought to redeem our time . the first sence relates to the corruption of the age , and the great immoralities of which both jews for gentiles were guilty , were a very convincing argument , to perswade christians to consider their ways with more than ordinary carefulness : that they might be upon their guard against the snares of so evil an example ▪ and resist the temptations of vice and sin when it was grown so common , that men were neither ashamed nor afraid of it . it was also the more necessary for christians to look more carefully to themselves , that they might shine as lights in the midst of a wicked generation , and set off the glory of their profession , with a greater advantage , having so black a foil placed near it . and certainly this argument has all possible strength in it , if we apply it to this dissolute age , in which men seem to have lost the shame as well as the sense of sin : and to have delivered themselves up to work wickedness with equal degrees of impudence and greediness . and we ought the rather to look narrowly to our selves , because the vices that have been discovered in some pretenders to piety , seem one of the greatest grounds of those mens confidence , that there is no truth in the things so much talked of . this prejudice is not to be beaten down by any arguments drawn from discourse , but by those undeniable and convincing experiments of a holy life , and vertuous conversation . and when a plague rages so universally that few escape the contagion , we should with the greater strictness look to our selves , that we be not infected . evil communications corrupt good manners . an ordinary diligence will not serve the turn , where the hazard is great , and the danger near . if therefore we either take care of our selves , or be concerned in the honour of our holy profession , we will employ our utmost care both to preserve our selves pure and undefiled , and to free our religion from the blemishes , which the ill-willers of it are apt to cast upon it , for they wait for our halting , and are both industrious to draw us into snares , and censorious enough to cast an imputation on religion , if we do any thing unworthy of it . the second sence of this phrase relates to calamities , and adversities , under which the christians did then groan , and had reason rather to look for an increase than a diminution of them . they who were exposed to the malice of the world had the greater reason to walk with that strictness that might maintain peace and quiet in their consciences ; which alone could balance all the other troubles they lay under ; and the interrupting of which made their lives indeed most miserable and uncomfortable of all other men . they had also the more reason to walk with all possible strictness , since they did not know but the malice of their enemies might very speedily put an end to their days : for to be a christian then was to die daily in its most literal sence . these then who believed eternity , and were every day almost in sight of it , had the greatest reason possible to look to themselves with the strictest caution . it is true we are not under those circumstances ; the profession of our religion is not matter of hazard to us ; we may be securely as religious and vertuous as we will , yet we are still exposed to all those miseries and calamities which naturally follow man in this mortal life . and what is the just support of a man under those trials ? he that can say , with the prophet , unto god , thou art my hope in the evil time , may well with great assurance subsume with david , wherefore should i fear in the days of evil ? when a man is overwhelmed with calamities and troubles , what miserable comforters prove all those other things in which he formerly rejoyced ? they rather increase his trouble , and add to his pain ; those perhaps who are of heavy hearts , may drink till they forget poverty , and remember their misery no more ; but when the fumes of wine are gone , and that fit of frolick mirth is over , their sorrows will return on them with the greater violence . they dare not ask comfort from their own hearts , which are black and defiled ; there being no such terrible companion in misery , as an evil conscience , which will be importunately putting in its accusations at every turn . but on the other hand , that inward peace and joy which a good conscience affords , entertains a man with a continual feast , even in the midst of troubles , and is musick to him over a dinner of herbs . he can look up to god , and look within himself , with much inward joy ; and though all things about him are black and dark , yet those set his thoughts inward more frequently , and with the greater pleasure , to that most agreeable prospect which a good conscience opens to him . this is a sufficient counterpoise to all other weights , that hang about us , and will steadily balance a man though walking on the the most slippery ground , and therefore because the days are evil , we must walk circumspectly , redeeming the time . the last sence of this phrase , is , that by the evil days are meant the approaches of death , so we are commanded to remember our creator in the days of our youth , before the evil days come , after which follows a most poetical description of the decays of old age. when persecutions seem'd near , there was a more visible cause to look on death as approaching : but if we consider how frail we are , and how short a time we have all to live upon the earth , we must acknowledge it most reasonable for us so to number our days as to apply our hearts unto wisdom . this , that is now before our eyes , with the many other spectacles of mortality , which daily occur , together with the decays we feel within our selves , do sufficiently assure us that we must remain here but a very little while : so that there is nothing in this life , in which our days are both few and evil , that is of any great consequence to us , unless it be according to the relation it hath to another state . how can he that is daily thinking of dislodging , be much concerned about the house he is so soon to leave : but if we believe that there is another state , a just judge , and a severe account , then the consideration of the shortness of our life , should engage us with our utmost industry to prepare for that other state , which will soon come on , and never have an end ; since upon the improving of so short a time depend all our hopes of eternity , and if we do now walk circumspectly , and redeem our time , we may assuredly hope that within a very little we shall be delivered from all the frailties and miseries which sin and infirmity keep us under , and shall be admitted into the presence and enjoyment of god , where , ( as we hope this our sister now doth , who after a long vertuous life led according to these rules , having attained almost to the age that in the psalm is called the full age of a man , of threescore years and ten , has now entred into the rest prepared for the people of god , ) we shall for ever rejoyce with all the companies of angels and saints : with whom , that we may eternally rejoyce , let us now , and all the days of our life , offer up to god the father , son , and holy ghost all honour , praise , and glory , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a30416-e130 mat. 4.16.5.14 . joh 1.4 , 5 , 8 , 9.3.19 , 20. 2 cor. 4.4 , 6. eph. 5.8 . 1 pet. 2.9 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . mat. 5.16 . phil. 2.15 . psal. 119.6 , 9 , 30 , 106. luk. 14 . 2● . psal. 119.11 . 15.24 . psal. 139.23 , 24. james 1.10 . psal. 119 . 1●3 . psal. 26.45 . mat. 5.26 ▪ 2 cor. 5.10 . 1 joh. 4.18 . 2 joh. 8. ver . jer. 8.9 . psal. 111.10 . prov. 16.32 . 1 pet. 4.3 . john 21.23 . phil. 2.15 . gal. 1.4 . phil. 2.15 . 1 pet. 2.12 , 15. 1 cor. 15.33 . jer. 20.10 . psal. 37.19 . amos 6.3 . eph. 6.13 . jer. 1● . 17 . psal. 49.5 . prov. 31.6 . prov. 15.15 ▪ eccles. 12.1 . psal. 90.12 . gen. 47.9 . a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benjamin whichcot, d.d. and minister of s. lawrence jewry, london, may 24th, 1683 by john tillotson ... tillotson, john, 1630-1694. 1683 approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a62598 wing t1235 estc r985 12075672 ocm 12075672 53570 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a62598) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53570) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 582:21) a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benjamin whichcot, d.d. and minister of s. lawrence jewry, london, may 24th, 1683 by john tillotson ... tillotson, john, 1630-1694. whichcote, benjamin, 1609-1683. [2], 36 p. : port. printed by m. flesher, for brabazon aylmer ..., and william rogers ..., london : 1683. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-00 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2001-06 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2003-05 spi global rekeyed and resubmitted 2005-03 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-03 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion beniamin whichcot s. s. t. professor a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benjamin whichcot , d. d. and minister of s. lawrence jewry , london , may 24 th , 1683. by john tillotson , d. d. and dean of canterbury . london , printed by m. flesher , for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill , and william rogers , at the sun against s. dunstan's church in fleetstreet , 1683. a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend beniamin whichcot , d.d. may 24 th , 1683. 2 cor. v. 6 . wherefore we are always confident , knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the lord. these words contain one of the chief grounds of encouragement which the christian religion gives us against the fear of death . for our clearer understanding of them it will be requisite to consider the context , looking back as far as the beginning of the chapter : where the apostle pursues the argument of the foregoing chapter ; which was to comfort and encourage christians under their afflictions and sufferings from this consideration , that these did but prepare the way for a greater and more glorious reward ; our light affliction , which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . and suppose the worst , that these sufferings should extend to death , there is comfort for us likewise in this case , ver . 1. of this chapter , for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , &c. if our earthly house of this tabernacle ; he calls our body an earthly house , and that we may not look upon it as a certain abode and fixed habitation , he doth by way of correction of himself add , that it is but a tabernacle or tent which must shortly be taken down : and when it is , we shall have a building of god , a house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . this is a description of our heavenly habitation , in opposition to our earthly house or tabernacle : it is a building of god , not like those houses or tabernacles which men build , and which are liable to decay and dissolution , to be taken down or to fall down of themselves , for such are those houses of clay which we dwell in whose foundations are in the dust , but an habitation prepared by god himself , a house not made with hands ; that which is the immediate work of god being in scripture opposed to that which is made with hands and effected by humane concurrence and by natural means : and being the immediate work of god , as it is excellent , so it is lasting and durable , which no earthly thing is ; eternal in the heavens , that is eternal and heavenly . for in this we groan earnestly ; that is , while we are in this body we groan by reason of the pressures and afflictions of it . desiring to be clothed vpon with our house which is from heaven : if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked . desiring to be clothed upon ; that is , we could wish not to put off these bodies , not to be stripp'd of them by death , but to be of the number of those who at the coming of our lord without the putting off these bodies shall be changed and clothed upon with their house which is from heaven , and without dying be invested with those spiritual and glorious and heavenly bodies which men shall have at the resurrection . this i doubt not is the apostle's meaning in these words ; in which he speaks according to a common opinion among the disciples grounded ( as saint john tells us ) upon a mistake of our saviour's words concerning him , if i will that he tarry till i come : upon which saint john tells us that there went a saying among the brethren that that disciple should not die ; that is , that he should live till christ's coming to judgment , and then be changed ; and consequently that christ would come to judgment before the end of that age. suitably to this common opinion among christians the apostle here says , in this we groan earnestly , desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven , if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked . it hath puzzled interpreters what to make of this passage , and well it might ; for whatever be meant by being clothed , how can they that are clothed be found naked ? but i think it is very clear that our translatours have not attained the true sense of this passage , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is most naturally rendred thus , if so be we shall be found clothed , and not naked : that is , if the coming of christ shall find us in the body and not devested of it : if at christ's coming to judgment we shall be found alive , and not dead . and then the sense of the whole is very clear and current : we are desirous to be clothed upon with our house from heaven ( that is , with our spiritual and immortal bodies ) if so be it shall so happen that at the coming of christ we shall be found alive in these bodies , and not stripp'd of them before by death . and then it follows , for we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burthened ( that is , with the afflictions and pressures of this life ) not that we would be unclothed ( that is , not that we desire by death to be devested of these bodies ) but clothed upon ( that is , if god see it good we had rather be found alive , and changed , and without putting off these bodies have immortality as it were superinduced ) that so mortality might be swallowed up of life . the plain sense is , that he rather desires ( if it may be ) to be of the number of those who shall be found alive at the coming of christ , and have this mortal and corruptible body while they are clothed with it changed into a spiritual and incorruptible body , without the pain and terrour of dying : of which immediate translation into heaven without the painfull divorce of soul and body by death , enoch and elias were examples in the old testament . it follows , ver . 5. now he that hath wrought for us the self same thing is god : that is , it is he who hath fitted and prepared for us this glorious change : who also hath given us the earnest of the spirit . the spirit is frequently in scripture called the witness and seal and earnest of our future happiness and blessed resurrection or change of these vile and earthly bodies into spiritual and heavenly bodies . for as the resurrection of christ from the dead by the power of the holy ghost is the great proof and evidence of immortality , so the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwelling in us is the pledge and earnest of our being made partakers of it . from all which the apostle concludes in the words of the text , therefore we are always confident , that is , we are always of good courage against the fear of death , knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the lord , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which may better be rendred whilst we converse or sojourn in the body , than whilst we are at home ; because the design of the apostle is to shew that the body is not our house but our tabernacle ; and that whilst we are in the body we are not at home , but pilgrims and strangers . and this notion the heathens had of our present life and condition in this world . ex vita discedo ( saith tully ) tanquam ex hospitio non tanquam ex domo ; commorandi enim natura diversorium nobis , non habitandi locum dedit . we go out of this life as it were from an inn , and not from our home ; nature having designed it to us as a place to sojourn but not to dwell in . we are absent from the lord ; that is , we are detained from the blessed sight and enjoyment of god , and kept out of the possession of that happiness which makes heaven . so that the apostle makes an immediate opposition between our continuance in the body , and our blissfull enjoyment of god ; and lays it down for a certain truth , that whilst we remain in the body we are detained from our happiness , and that so soon as ever we leave the body we shall be admitted into it , knowing that whilst we converse in the body we are absent from the lord. and ver . 8. we are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the lord ; intimating that so soon as we quit these bodies we shall be admitted to the blessed sight and enjoyment of god. my design from this text is to draw some usefull corollaries or conclusions from this assertion of the apostle , that whilst we are in these bodies we are detained from our happiness ; and that so soon as ever we depart out of them we shall be admitted to the possession and enjoyment of it . and they are these , 1. this assertion shews us the vanity and falshood of that opinion , or rather dream , concerning the sleep of the soul from the time of death till the general resurrection . this is chiefly grounded upon that frequent metaphor in scripture by which death is resembled to sleep , and those that are dead are said to be fallen asleep . but this metaphor is no where in scripture , that i know of , applied to the soul but to the body resting in the grave in order to its being awakened and raised up at the resurrection . and thus it is frequently used with express reference to the body . dan. 12.2 . many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake . matth. 27.52 . and the graves were opened , and many bodies of saints which slept arose . acts 13.36 . david after he had served his own generation by the will of god fell on sleep , and was laid to his fathers and saw corruption ; which surely can no otherwise be understood than of his body . 1 cor. 15.21 . now is christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept : that is , the resurrection of his body is the earnest and assurance that ours also shall be raised . and ver . 51. we shall not all sleep , but shall all be changed ; where the apostle certainly speaks both of the death and change of these corruptible bodies . 1 thessal . 4.14 . if we believe that jesus died and rose again , even so them also that sleep in jesus shall god bring with him ; that is the bodies of those that died in the lord shall be raised , and accompany him at his coming . so that it is the body which is said in scripture to sleep , and not the soul. for that is utterly inconsistent with the apostle's assertion here in the text , that while we are in the body we are absent from the lord , and that so soon as we depart out of the body we shall be present with the lord. for surely to be with the lord must signifie a state of happiness , which sleep is not , but onely of inactivity : besides , that the apostle's argument would be very flat , and it would be but a cold encouragement against the fear of death , that so soon as we are dead we shall fall asleep and become insensible . but the apostle useth it as an argument why we should be willing to dye as soon as god pleaseth , and the sooner the better , because so soon as we quit these bodies we shall be present with the lord , that is , admitted to the blissfull sight and enjoyment of him ; and while we abide in the body we are detained from our happiness : but if our souls shall sleep as well as our bodies till the general resurrection , it is all one whether we continue in the body or not , as to any happiness we shall enjoy in the mean time ; which is directly contrary to the main scope of the apostle's argument . 2. this assertion of the apostle's doth perfectly conclude against the feigned purgatory of the church of rome ; which supposeth the far greater number of true and faithfull christians , of those who dye in the lord and have obtained eternal redemption by him from hell not to pass immediately into a state of happiness , but to be detained in the suburbs of hell in extremity of torment ( equal to that of hell for degree , though not for duration ) till their souls be purged , and the guilt of temporal punishments , which they are liable to , be some way or other paid off and discharged . they suppose indeed some very few holy persons ( especially those who suffer martyrdom ) to be so perfect at their departure out of the body as to pass immediately into heaven , because they need no purgation : but most christians they suppose to dye so imperfect that they stand in need of being purged ; and according to the degree of their imperfection are to be detain'd a shorter or a longer time in purgatory . but now , besides that there is no text in scripture from whence any such state can probably be concluded ( as is acknowledged by many learned men of the church of rome ) and even that text which they have most insisted upon ( they shall be saved , yet so as by fire ) is given up by them as insufficient to conclude the thing . estius is very glad to get off it , by saying there is nothing in it against purgatory : why ? no body pretends that , but we might reasonably expect that there should be something for it in a text which hath been so often produced and urged by them for the proof of it . i say , besides that there is nothing in scripture for purgatory , there are a great many things against it , and utterly inconsistent with it . in the parable of the rich man and lazarus , which was designed to represent to us the different states of good and bad men in another world , there is not the least intimation of purgatory , but that good men pass immediately into a state of happiness and bad men into a place of torment . and saint john , rev. 14.13 . pronounceth all that dye in the lord happy , because they rest from their labours ; which they cannot be said to do who are in a state of great anguish and torment , as those are supposed to be who are in purgatory . but above all , this reasoning of s. paul is utterly inconsistent with any imagination of such a state . for he encourageth all christians in general against the fear of death from the consideration of that happy state they should immediately pass into , by being admitted into the presence of god ; which surely is not purgatory . we are of good courage ( says he ) and willing rather to be absent from the body : and great reason we should be so , if so soon as we leave the body we are present with the lord. but no man sure would be glad to leave the body to go into a place of exquisite and extreme torment , which they tell us is the case of most christians when they dye . and what can be more unreasonable , than to make the apostle to use an argument to comfort all christians against the fear of death which concerns but very few in comparison ? so that if the apostle's reasoning be good , that while we are in this life we are detained from our happiness , and so soon as we depart this life we pass immediately into it , and therefore death is desirable to all good men : i say , if this reasoning be good , it is very clear that saint paul knew nothing of the doctrine now taught in the church of rome concerning purgatory ; because that is utterly inconsistent with what he expresly asserts in this chapter ; and quite takes away the force of his whole argument . 3. to encourage us against the fear of death . and this is the conclusion which the apostle makes from this consideration . therefore ( says he ) we are of good courage , knowing that whilst we converse in the body we are absent from the lord. there is in us a natural love of life , and a natural horrour and dread of death ; so that our spirits are apt to shrink at the thoughts of the approach of it . but this fear may very much be mitigated and even overruled by reason and the considerations of religion . for death is not so dreadfull in it self , as with regard to the consequences of it : and those will be as we are , comfortable and happy to the good , but dismal and miserable to the wicked . so that the onely true antidote against the fear of death is the hopes of a better life ; and the onely firm ground of these hopes is the mercy of god in jesus christ , upon our due preparation for another world by repentance and a holy life . for the sting of death is sin ; and when that is taken away the terrour and bitterness of death is past : and then death is so far from being dreadfull , that in reason it is extremely desirable ; because it lets us into a better state , such as onely deserves the name of life . hi vivunt qui ex corporum vinculis tanquam è carcere evolaverunt : vestra vero quae dicitur vita , mors est . they truly live ( could a heathen say ) who have made their escape out of this prison of the body ; but that which men commonly call life is rather death than life . to live indeed , is to be well , and to be happy ; and that we shall never be till we are got beyond the grave . 4. this consideration should comfort us under the loss and death of friends , which certainly is one of the greatest grievances and troubles of humane life . for if they be fit for god , and go to him when they dye , they are infinitely happier than it was possible for them to have been in this world : and the trouble of their absence from us is fully balanced by their being present with the lord. for why should we lament the end of that life which we are assured is the beginning of immortality ? one reason of our trouble for the loss of friends is because we loved them : but it is no sign of our love to them to grudge and repine at their happiness . but we hoped to have enjoyed them longer : be it so : yet why should we be troubled that they are happy sooner than we expected ? but they are parted from us , and the thoughts of this is grievous : but yet the consideration of their being parted for a while is not near so sad , as the hopes of a happy meeting again , never to be parted any more , is comfortable and joyfull . so that the greater our love to them was , the less should be our grief for them , when we consider that they are happy , and that they are safe ; past all storms , all the troubles and temptations of this life , and out of the reach of all harm and danger for ever . but though the reason of our duty in this case be very plain , yet the practice of it is very difficult ; and when all is said , natural affection will have its course : and even after our judgment is satisfied , it will require some time to still and quiet our passions . 5. this consideration should wean us from the love of life ; and make us not onely contented but willing and glad to leave this world , whenever it shall please god to call us out of it . this inference the apostle makes , ver . 8. we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. though there were no state of immortality after this life , yet methinks we should not desire to live always in this world . habet natura ( says tully ) ut aliarum rerum , sic vivendi modum : as nature hath set bounds and measures to other things , so likewise to life ; of which men should know when they have enough , and not covet so much of it till they be tyred and cloyed with it . if there were no other inconvenience in long life , this is a great one , that in a long course of time we unavoidably see a great many things which we would not ; our own misfortunes and the calamities of others ; publick confusions and distractions ; the loss of friends and relations ; or which is worse , their misery ; or which is worst of all , their miscarriage : especially , a very infirm and tedious old age is very undesirable : for who would desire to live long uneasie to himself , and troublesome to others ? it is time for us to be willing to dye , when we cannot live with the good will even of our friends : when those who ought to love us best think much that we live so long , and can hardly forbear to give us broad signs that they are weary of our company . in such a case a man would almost be contented to dye out of civility ; and not chuse to make any long stay where he sees that his company is not acceptable . if we think we can be welcome to a better place , and to a more delightfull society , why should we desire to thrust our selves any longer upon an ill-natured world , upon those who have much adoe to refrain from telling us that our room is better than our company ? some indeed have a very happy and vigorous old age , and the taper of life burns clear in them to the last : their understandings are good , their memories and senses tolerable , their humour pleasant and their conversation acceptable , and their relations kind and respectfull to them . but this is a rare felicity , and which seldom happens but to those who have lived wisely and vertuously , and by a religious and regular course of life have preserved some of their best spirits to the last , and have not by vice and extravagance drawn off life to the dregs and left nothing to be enjoyed but infirmities and ill humours , guilt and repentance : but on the contrary have prudently laid up some considerable comforts and supports for themselves against this gloomy day ; having stored their minds with wisedom and knowledge , and taken care to secure to themselves the comfortable reflexions of an usefull and well-spent life , and the favour and loving-kindness of god which is better than life it self . but generally the extremities of old age are very peevish and querulous , and a declining and falling back to the weak and helpless condition of infancy and childhood . and yet less care is commonly taken of aged persons , and less kindness shewed to them than to children : because these are cherished in hopes , the others in despair of their growing better . so that if god see it good it is not desirable to live to try nature , and the kindness and good will of our relations to the utmost . nay there is reason enough why we should be well contented to dye in any age of our life . if we are young , we have tasted the best of it : if in our middle age , we have not onely enjoyed all that is desirable of life , but almost all that is tolerable : if we are old , we are come to the dregs of it , and do but see the same things over and over again , and continually with less pleasure . especially if we consider the happiness from which we are all this while detained . this life is but our infancy and childhood in comparison of the manly pleasures and employments of the other state . and why should we desire to be always children ; and to linger here below to play the fools yet a little longer ? in this sense that high expression of the poet is true — dii celant homines , ut vivere durent , quàm sit dulce mori — the gods conceal from men the sweetness of dying , to make them patient and contented to live . this life is wholly in order to the other . do but make sure to live well , and there is no need of living long . to the purpose of preparation for another world , the best life is the longest . some live a great pace , and by continual diligence and industry in serving god and doing good do really dispatch more of the business of life in a few years , than others do in a whole age ; who go such a santring pace towards heaven , as if they were in no haste to get thither . but if we were always prepared we should rejoyce at the prospect of our end ; as those who have been long tost at sea are overjoyed at the sight of land . i have now done with my text , but have another subject to speak of ; that excellent man in whose place i now stand : whom we all knew ; and whom all that knew him well did highly esteem and reverence . he was born in shropshire of a worthy and ancient family , the 11 th of march , 1609. was the sixth son of his father : and being bred up to learning and very capable of it , was sent to the university of cambridge , and planted there in emanuel college , where he was chosen fellow , and was an excellent tutour and instructour of youth , and bred up many persons of great quality and others , who afterwards proved usefull and eminent ; as many perhaps as any tutour of that time. about the age of four or five and thirty he was made prevost of king's college ; where he was a most vigilant and prudent governour , a great encourager of learning and good order , and by his carefull and wise management of the estate of the college brought it into a very flourishing condition , and left it so . it cannot be denied ( nor am i much concerned to dissemble it ) that here he possess'd another man's place , who by the iniquity of the times was wrongfully ejected ; i mean dr. collins the famous and learned divinity-professour of that university . during whose life ( and he lived many years after ) by the free consent of the college there were two shares out of the common dividend allotted to the prevost , one whereof was constantly paid to dr. collins , as if he had been still prevost . to this dr. whichcot did not onely give his consent ( without which the thing could not have been done ) but was very forward for the doing of it , though hereby he did not onely considerably lessen his own profit , but likewise incurr no small censure and hazard , as the times then were . and left this had not been kindness enough to that worthy person whose place he possessed , in his last will he left to his son , sir john collins , a legacy of one hundred pounds . and as he was not wanting either in respect or real kindness to the rightfull owner , so neither did he stoop to doe any thing unworthy to obtain that place ; for he never took the covenant : and not onely so , but by the particular friendship and interest which he had in some of the chief of the visitours he prevailed to have the greatest part of the fellows of that college exempted from that imposition ; and preserved them in their places by that means . and to the fellows that were ejected by the visitours , he likewise freely consented that their full dividend for that year should be paid them , even after they were ejected . among these was the reverend and ingenious dr. charles mason ; upon whom , after he was ejected , the college did confer a good living which then fell in their gift , with the consent of the prevost , who , knowing him to be a worthy man , was contented to run the hazard of the displeasure of those times . so that i hope none will be hard upon him , that he was contented upon such terms to be in a capacity to doe good in bad times . for , besides his care of the college , he had a very great and good influence upon the university in general . every lord's day in the afternoon , for almost twenty years together , he preached in trinity church , where he had a great number not onely of the young scholars , but of those of greater standing and best repute for learning in the university his constant and attentive auditours : and in those wild and unsettled times contributed more to the forming of the students of that university to a sober sense of religion than any man in that age. after he left cambridge he came to london , and was chosen minister of black-friars , where he continued till the dreadfull fire : and then retired himself to a donative he had at milton near cambridge : where he preached constantly ; and relieved the poor , and had their children taught to reade at his own charge ; and made up differences among the neighbours . here he stayed till , by the promotion of the reverend dr. wilkins , his predecessour in this place , to the bishoprick of chester , he was by his interest and recommendation presented to this church . but during the building of it , upon the invitation of the court of aldermen , in the mayoralty of sir william turner , he preached before that honourable auditory at guild hall chapel every sunday in the afternoon , with great acceptance and approbation , for about the space of seven years . when his church was built , he bestowed his pains here twice a week , where he had the general love and respect of his parish ; and a very considerable and judicious auditory , though not very numerous by reason of the weakness of his voice in his declining age. it pleased god to bless him , as with a plentifull estate , so with a charitable mind : which yet was not so well known to many , because in the disposal of his charity he very much affected secrecy . he frequently bestowed his alms ( as i am informed by those who best knew ) on poor house-keepers disabled by age or sickness to support themselves , thinking those to be the most proper objects of it . he was rather frugal in expense upon himself , that so he might have wherewithall to relieve the necessities of others . and he was not onely charitable in his life , but in a very bountifull manner at his death ; bequeathing in pious and charitable legacies to the value of a thousand pounds . to the library of the university of cambridge fifty pounds : and of king's college one hundred pounds : and of emanuel college twenty pounds : to which college he had been a considerable benefactour before ; having founded there several scholarships to the value of a thousand pounds , out of a charity with the disposal whereof he was entrusted , and which not without great difficulty and pains he at last recovered . to the poor of the several places where his estate lay , and where he had been minister he gave above one hundred pounds . among those who had been his servants , or were so at his death , he disposed in annuities and legacies in money to the value of above three hundred pounds . to other charitable uses and among the poorer of his relations , above three hundred pounds . to every one of his tenants he left a legacy according to the proportion of the estate they held , by way of remembrance of him : and to one of them that was gone much behind he remitted in his will seventy pounds . and as became his great goodness , he was ever a remarkably kind landlord , forgiving his tenants , and always making abatements to them for hard years or any other accidental losses that happened to them . i must not omit the wise provision he made in his will to prevent law-suits among the legatees , by appointing two or three persons of greatest prudence and authority among his relations final arbitratours of all differences that should arise . having given this account of his last will , i come now to the sad part of all : sad , i mean , to us , but happiest to him . a little before easter last he went down to cambridge : where , upon taking a great cold , he fell into a distemper which in a few days put a period to his life . he died in the house of his ancient and most learned friend , dr. cudworth , master of christ's college . during his sickness he had a constant calmness and serenity of mind : and under all his bodily weakness possest his soul in great patience . after the prayers for the visitation of the sick ( which he said were excellent prayers ) had been used , he was put in mind of receiving the sacrament ; to which he answered , that he most readily embraced the proposal : and after he had received it , said to dr. cudworth i heartily thank you for this most christian office ; i thank you for putting me in mind of receiving this sacrament : adding this pious ejaculation , the lord fulfill all his declarations and promises , and pardon all my weaknesses and imperfections . he disclaimed all merit in himself ; and declared that whatever he was , he was through the grace and goodness of god in jesus christ. he expressed likewise great dislike of the principles of separation : and said he was the more desirous to receive the sacrament that he might declare his full communion with the church of christ all the world over . he disclaimed popery , and , as things of near affinity with it , or rather parts of it , all superstition and usurpation upon the consciences of men . he thanked god , that he had no pain in his body , nor disquiet in his mind . towards his last he seemed rather unwilling to be detained any longer in this state ; not for any pains he felt in himself , but for the trouble he gave his friends : saying to one of them who had with great care attended him all along in his sickness , my dear friend , thou hast taken a great deal of pains to uphold a crazy body , but it will not do : i pray thee give me no more cordials ; for why shouldst thou keep me any longer out of that happy state to which i am going . i thank god i hope in his mercy , that it shall be well with me . and herein god was pleased particularly to answer those devout and well-weighed petitions of his which he frequently used in his prayer before sermon , which i shall set down in his own words , and i doubt not those that were his constant hearers do well remember them ; and super add this , o lord , to all the grace and favour which thou hast shewn us all along in life , not to remove us hence but with all advantage for eternity , when we shall be in a due preparation of mind , in a holy constitution of soul , in a perfect renunciation of the guise of this mad and sinfull world , when we shall be intirely resigned up to thee , when we shall have clear acts of faith in god by jesus christ , high and reverential thoughts of thee in our minds , inlarged and inflamed affections towards thee , &c. and whensoever we shall come to leave this world , which will be when thou shalt appoint ( for the issues of life and death are in thy hands ) afford us such a mighty power and presence of thy good spirit that we may have solid consolation in believing , and avoid all consternation of mind , all doubtfulness and uncertainty concerning our everlasting condition , and at length depart in the faith of god's elect , &c. mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . thus you have the short history of the life and death of this eminent person ; whose just character cannot be given in few words , and time will not allow we to use many . to be able to describe him aright it were necessary one should be like him ; for which reason i must content my self with a very imperfect draught of him . i shall not insist upon his exemplary piety and devotion towards god , of which his whole life was one continued testimony . nor will i praise his profound learning , for which he was justly had in so great reputation . the moral improvements of his mind , a godlike temper and disposition ( as he was wont to call it ) he chiefly valued and aspired after ; that universal charity and goodness , which he did continually preach and practise . his conversation was exceeding kind and affable , grave and winning , prudent and profitable . he was slow to declare his judgment , and modest in delivering it . never passionate , never peremptory : so far from imposing upon others , that he was rather apt to yield . and though he had a most profound and well-poized judgment , yet was he of all men i ever knew the most patient to hear others differ from him , and the most easie to be convinced when good reason was offered ; and , which is seldom seen , more apt to be favourable to another man's reason than his own . studious and inquisitive men commonly at such an age ( at forty or fifty at the utmost ) have fixed and settled their judgments in most points , and as it were made their last vnderstanding ; supposing they have thought , or read , or heard what can be said on all sides of things ; and after that , they grow positive and impatient of contradiction , thinking it a disparagement to them to alter their judgment : but our deceased friend was so wise , as to be willing to learn to the last ; knowing that no man can grow wiser without some change of his mind , without gaining some knowledge which he had not , or correcting some errour which he had before . he had attained so perfect a mastery of his passions , that for the latter and greatest part of his life he was hardly ever seen to be transported with anger : and as he was extremely carefull not to provoke any man , so not to be provoked by any ; using to say , if i provoke a man he is the worse for my company , and if i suffer my self to be provoked by him i shall be the worse for his . he very seldom reproved any person in company otherwise than by silence , or some sign of uneasiness , or some very soft and gentle word ; which yet from the respect men generally bore to him did often prove effectual : for he understood humane nature very well , and how to apply himself to it in the most easie and effectual ways . he was a great encourager and kind directour of young divines : and one of the most candid hearers of sermons , i think , that ever was : so that though all men did mightily reverence his judgment , yet no man had reason to fear his censure . he never spake well of himself , nor ill of others : making good that saying of pansa in tully , neminem alterius , qui suae confideret virtuti , invidere ; that no man is apt to envy the worth and vertues of another , that hath any of his own to trust to . in a word , he had all those vertues , and in a high degree , which an excellent temper , great consideration , long care and watchfulness over himself , together with the assistance of god's grace ( which he continually implored , and mightily relied upon ) are apt to produce . particularly he excelled in the vertues of conversation , humanity , and gentleness , and humility , a prudent and peaceable reconciling temper . and god knows we could very ill at this time have spared such a man ; and have lost from among us as it were so much balme for the healing of the nation , which is now so miserably rent and torn by those wounds which we madly give our selves . but since god hath thought good to deprive us of him , let his vertues live in our memory , and his example in our lives . let us endeavour to be what he was , and we shall one day be what he now is , of blessed memory on earth and happy for ever in heaven . and now methinks the consideration of the argument i have been upon , and of that great example that is before us , should raise our minds above this world and fix them upon the glory and happiness of the other . let us then begin heaven here , in the frame and temper of our minds , in our heavenly affections and conversation ; in a due preparation for , and in earnest desires and breathings after that blessed state which we firmly believe and assuredly hope to be one day possessed of : when we shall be removed out of this sink of sin and sorrows into the regions of bliss and immortality : where we shall meet all those worthy and excellent persons who are gone before us , and whose conversation was so delightfull to us in this world ; and will be much more so to us in the other , when the spirits of just men shall be made perfect and shall be quit of all those infirmities which did attend and lessen them in this mortal state : when we shall meet again with our dear brother , and all those good men whom we knew in this world , and with the saints and excellent persons of all ages to enjoy their blessed friendship and society for ever , in the presence of the blessed god where is fulness of joy , and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore . in a firm persuasion of this happy state let us every one of us say with david , and with the same ardency of affection that he did , as the heart panteth after the water brooks , so panteth my soul after thee , o god : my soul thirsteth for god , for the living god ; o when shall i come and appear before god. that so the life which we now live in this world may be a patient continuance in well-doing in a joyfull expectation of the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great god and our saviour jesus christ ; to whom with the father and the holy ghost be all honour and glory , now and for ever . now the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus christ , the great shepherd of the sheep , through the bloud of the everlasting covenant , make us perfect in every good work to doe his will ; working in us always that which is well-pleasing in his sight , through jesus christ , to whom be glory for ever , amen . the end . the doctrine of the bodies fragility: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls. represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, master of christ college in cambridge, who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month. / by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy, b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78767 of text r207348 in the english short title catalog (thomason e814_8). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78767 wing c229 thomason e814_8 estc r207348 99866405 99866405 118677 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78767) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118677) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 124:e814[8]) the doctrine of the bodies fragility: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls. represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, master of christ college in cambridge, who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month. / by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy, b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [4], 19, [1] p. printed for joseph moore over aginst the pump in little-britain, and are to be sold at westminster, and in pauls church-yard, london, : 1655. [i.e. 1654] actual publication date inferred from date in title and thomason annotation. an expanded version was published in 1655 as: the saints transfiguration. annotation on thomason copy: "nouemb: 2d". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -philippians iii, 21 -sermons. funeral sermons -17th century. a78767 r207348 (thomason e814_8). civilwar no the doctrine of the bodies fragility:: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting graciou calamy, edmund 1655 8151 7 30 0 0 0 0 45 d the rate of 45 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-10 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the doctrine of the bodies fragility : with a divine project , discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls . represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ , dr. samuel bolton , master of christ college in cambridge , who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month . by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy , b. d. london , printed for joseph moore over against the pump in little-britain , and are to be sold at westminster , and in pauls church-yard , 1655 ▪ to the christian reader . reader , wee live in such times wherein most men in the world cry out with those the psalmist speaks of in the 4. psalme , who will shew us any good ? inquiring and listening after the pleasures and profits and preferments of the world , spending all their time , and improving all their parts , abilities , and opportunities , for the promoting their temporall interests , and providing for their frail bodies , subject to diseases , infirmities , and corruptions ; and which ere long must be laid down in the dust : and in the mean time neglecting the concernments of their precious and never dying souls ; never valuing , or at least not labouring after the light of gods countenance , which is better then life , and the joyes of his salvation which are unspeakable and glorious ; but preferre their bodies before their souls , greedily pursuing the world , and only minding earthly things , whose end ( as the apostle saies ) will be destruction , both of soul and body , if they still run on without repentance . this sermon was designed to cure part of this evill , and to put a stop to the folly and madnesse of such people , by discovering to them a better way how to advance the interest of their bodies , and to make them happy and glorious , by having their conversations here in heaven , and securing the interest of their souls in the first place . possibly this ensuing discourse was only intended for the edification of that particular congregation where it was delivered , but being there taken from the authors mouth , by the pen of a ready writer , and now exposed to publique view , all good people may partake of the advantages that are therein recorded ; whereat i hope no man ought to be offended . a sermon preached at dr. samuel bolton's funerall . phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself . wee are here met at this time to perform the last office of love for a worthy , reverend , and godly minister of jesus christ , dr. samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridge ; and this text that i have chosen , will afford us many sutable and seasonable considerations for such a meeting : for here you have , first , the condition that the bodies of men ( even the best of men , the saints of god ) are in , in this life , they are vile bodies , the greek is very emphaticall {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , corpus vilitatis , that is , bodies of vilenesse , or a vile body , the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifies abjectam conditionem , a vile and abject condition , such as is the condition of slaves or bondmen . 2. here we have the condition that the bodies of the saints shall be in at the glorious resurrection of the just , then their vile bodies shall be made like to the glorious body of the lord jesus christ , the body of vilenesse shall then be the body of glory . 3. we have h●●e the persons that shall be thus changed at the glorious resurrection , and they are such who have their conversations in heaven ; who shall change our , not every vile body , but our vile body , whose conversations are in heaven , from whence we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . 4. we have the person that shall do all this , and that person is the lord jesus christ . 5. the time when this shall be done , and that is at the great day of judgement , from whence we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ , who at that day when he comes to judge the world , shall change our vile bodies . 6. we have the means by which all this shall be accomplished , and that is , according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself , and therefore able to make this glorious transfiguration and transformation of our bodies . you may perceive by what i have said , that this text is a cabinet of many precious truths : here you have the doctrine of the bodies fragility and vilenesse ; and the doctrine of the bodies immortality and glorification at the resurrection of the just . you have the doctrine of the eternall day of judgement ; you have the doctrine of the main design and end why jesus christ will come to judgement , one chief reason of it is , that he may change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body . my purpose is to pick out two of these jewels to speak to at this time . 1. the condition that the bodies of the saints are in in this life . 2. the condition that the bodies of the saints are in at the great day of judgement . first , i shall speak of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of the body of vilenesse , or , the vile body : and then of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of the body of glory . 1. that the bodies of the saints as long as they are in this life , they are vile bodies . 2. that the lord jesus christ at the day of jugement shall raise up these vile bodies and make them formable to his glorious body . 1. that the bodies of the saints in this life , they are bodies of vilenesse : the holy apostle foresaw how prone men and women would be to be proud of the bodies and pamper their bodies , and spend their time and care about their bodies , even to the neglect of their precious souls , and therefore he is pleased to call our bodies vile bodies : and in 1 cor. 25. 43. there he cals them bodies of dishonour , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , bodies of dishonour , or bodies of vilenesse . object . but you will say , in what respect may the body of a saint be called a vile body ? answ. the bodies of the saints may be said to be vile in regard of his primitive creation , before it was defiled with sin ; for the body of man was made of the dust of the earth , ex pulvere terrae , not made of excellent materials , as silver and gold ; nor of celestial materials , as sun , moon and stars , but of perishing and contemptible materials , the body was made of dust , of clay and muddy dust , ex luto . 2. and more especially since the fall of adam , our bodies are called vile bodies , because subject to vile diseases ; there is no disease so vile , but the body of a saint is subject to it : take the example of job , a man eminent in godlinesse , yet his body full of sores and boyles , from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot ; and he saies of himself in job 7. 5. my flesh is clothed with wormes , and clods of dust , my skin is broken and become loathsome . 3. they may be said to be vile because subject to vile abominations , to vile wickednesses and impieties ; for since the fall , our bodies are become the instruments of iniquity unto iniquity , unto drunkennesse and adultery , to murders , and theeveries , and idolatries , &c. 4. in the best of the saints , their bodies are impediments to their nobler souls , and therefore the body is called vincula animi , the bonds and fetters of the soul , that hinders the soul from , and in heavenly operations . 5. the body may be said to be vile in reference to its finall corruption and dissolution ; for when the soul is separated from the body , then you will all say that the body is a vile putrified rotten stinking carkasse , turning to dust , and eaten up of worms , that saies to corruption , thou art my father , and to the worms , thou art my mother and my sister . 6. the body may be said to be vile in comparison of the precious soul ; for the body ▪ as one saies , is but the worst half of the soul ; it is half , but it is the worst half ; the body is but the cark●sse the shell , the box of the soul , intus est quod homo est , it is the soul of a man that is the man of man ; the soul is like an angell dwelling in the body , as in a house of clay . the soul is not made of the dust , as the body is , but the soul is made of the breath of god , ex ore dei , ( as one saies ) not made of the essence of god , but of the breath of god ; and therefore in that respect , in comparison of the soul , the body may be said to be a vile body . 7. and lastly , the body may be said to be vile in this life , in comparison of what it shall be at the glorious resurrection , for then it shall be a most glorious body conformable unto the glorious body of jesus christ . now for the application of this , let me beseech you sirs , that you would often and often meditate upon this appellation and epithet , that is here given unto our bodies , they are called vile bodies , vile when separated from the soul , vile when united to to the soul , vile before the fall of man , but especially vile since the fall of man ; subject to vile diseases and abominations : and one thing more which i forgot before , and that is , they are vile because subject to be abused by wicked persecutors , and by malicious tyrants , for though a tyrant cannot hurt the soul of a saint , yet he may torment the body ; and therefore in heb. 11. it is said of the holy saints ; that they underwent cruell mockings and scourgings , and bonds and imprisonment , and wandred up and down in sheeps skins and goats skins , being destitute , afflicted and tormented : all which is understood of their bodies , and therefore vile bodies because subject to be abused , and subject to all manner of wickednesses ; but especially vile in comparison of the precious soul , and in respect of what their bodies shall be hereafter . now let this meditation teach us these lessons . 1. let this epithet teach you a lesson of humility ; the bodies you carry about you are vile bodies , let us not then be proud of them : beza translates the words , corpus humilitatis , a body of humility : on purpose it was that god made the body of the lowest elements , that we might not be lifted up with pride of our bodies , but have a mean and low esteem of them ; and hence it is that the body in scripture is compared to things that are very mean and contemptible , as to the grasse of the field , to hay , and dry stubble , as in job 13. 2. to a leaf driven to and fro with the winde : to a rotten thing , and to a garment that is moth-eaten , in the 28 verse of this chapter , it is compared to such mean things , that we might learn to have a mean esteem of our bodies . why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is thy handsome body , but gilded rottennesse ? what are all your riches and honours but heaps of dung and dust ? and god will shortly lay your honour in the dust . every bird makes her nest of that thou are made of ; every beast treads that under feet that thou art made of ; every creeping thing disposeth of that thou art made of ; every blast of winde scatters that which thou art made of ; and why then art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is man but rottennesse and corruption , but worms meat ? i remember what i have once read in a manuscript concerning a stone that was presented to alexander the great , the nature of it was this , that being put into one part of the ballance , it weighed down what ever was put in the other part of it ; but if a little dust were cast upon the stone , then every thing weighed down the stone ; and he that brought the stone being demanded what he meant by it , he answered . oh alexander thou art this stone , thou whilest thou livest , doest weigh down all that are against thee , and treadest down all before thee ; but when thou comest to die , and there is a little dust thrown upon thee , then every man will outweigh you , and then you will be lesse then any man in the world . remember you are but dust , dust you are , and to dust you must return , oh therefore cast dust upon your beauty , cast dust upon your riches , cast dust upon your bodies , and be not proud of your vile bodies . this is one lesson of humility . 2. here is from this epithet , a lesson of mortification , this vile body of ours is subject to be abused by the devill to vile abominations ; and therefore now let us go to jesus christ to get power to mortifie and crucifie this body of flesh , this body of sin that is in us ; for we have a body of sin , and that is it which makes this body of ours to be so vile , therefore i say let us bury our selves in the grave of christ , that so we may draw mortifying graces from the lord jesus christ , that may tend to the subduing of our corruptions , and the lusts of our flesh . excellent is that expression of the apostle in 1 cor. 9. 27. saies he , i keep under my body and bring it into subjection , lest that by any means when i have preached to others i my self should be a cast-away . upon which words , s. augustine hath this saying , if the great ram of the flock ( saies he ) hath need to beat down his body to bring it into subjection , how much more should we tender lambs use all means for the keeping of them under ? the body is called ( jumentum animi ) the beast of the soul , now when this beast begins to kick against the soul , we must labour to subdue it by fasting and prayer . 3. let this epithet teach us a lesson of heavenly courage and fortitude , let us not fear what man can do unto us . let us not fear what the worst of men can do , for they can but kill this vile body ; and therefore saies christ , fear not him that can but kill the body , and after that can do no more , they cannot reach the soul of a saint , they can but hurt the body , and that is a vile body too , subject to a thousand diseases and abominations , and therfore why should we fearwhat vile man can do against us , seeing they can only hurt this vile body , and when they have done all they can , this body in spite of them will rise again , and this vile body will become a most glorious body ? oh let us not make shipwrack of a good conscience , to save this vile body , oh let us not destroy our souls to save this vile carkase in a good cause . 4. in the next place from this epithet of vile body , let us learn this lesson , not to set the servant on horse back , and let the master go a foot ; let us not prefer the handmaid before the mistresse , let us not prefer the box before the jewell , this vile body before our precious and immortall souls . the body is made of dust , and who ever advanced dust ? we use to sweep that away off from our cloathes , and out of our houses ; oh therefore let us not advance our bodies that are but dust ; the body without the soul is but a lump of clay , a rotten carkasse , doe not then preferre it before thy precious soul . it is a sad thing to consider how most people , even those that beleeve the doctrine of the souls immortality , do spend the best of their time , and cares and affections upon these vile bodies , and in the mean time neglect to provide for their eternall souls . give me leave to illustrate this by a similitude , suppose a man should invite a noble man to his house , and only provide provender for the noble mans horses , without any provision at all for himself , only such as his horses feed on , would not this be a course entertainment ? and yet this is the disposition of most people in the world ; the soul is this nobleman , which dwels in this body of clay , as in a poor cottage , and we pamper our bodies , and provide provender for them , but take no care at all of our noble souls , we neglect them , our souls are never the richer for all our worldly wealth , nor are our souls the finer for all our golden clothes . i have read a prayer that i have oftentimes wondred at , and that is the prayer of s. john concerning gaius , in 3 joh. 2. he does there pray , that his body might prosper and be in health , even as his soul prospered ; if we should make such prayers for many of our people , we should rather curse them then pray for them , for if they had no better bodies then they have souls , they would have very leanbodies . you should labour so to live that this prayer might be fit for you , that we might pray that god would prosper your bodies even as your soul prospereth ; let your chief part take up your chiefest care . once more in the fifth place , let us from this epithet learn a lesson of thankfulnesse ; seeing our bodies are bodies of vilenesse , then if god hath formed you into a more handsom or healthful body then other men , if god hath made any of us ex meliore luto , of better earth , if god hath made us golden vessels in regard of our outward condition , if god hath raised any of us from the dust , and set us in high places , especially if god hath made us elect vessels , vessels of mercy in regard of our eternall condition , as i doubt not but there are many such here : oh give god a great deal of glory , and give god all the glory . if god hath made thy vile body an instrument of righteousnesse unto holinesse , if god hath sanctified it and made it a temple fit for the holy ghost to dwell in , then let me speak to you in the language of the holy ghost ; know you not that your bodies are the members of christ ? will you take the members of christ , and make them members of a harlot ? god forbid ▪ know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost , which is in you ? and , if any man defile the temple of god , him will god destroy . will you abuse that body that is the temple of the holy ghost , to sin and iniquity ? god forbid . but i must passe from this point and come to the second , which was , that our worthy and dear brother was very much refreshed withall , and did often repeat in my hearing , and upon that account i made choice of this text at this time . the second observation then is this . that the lord jesus christ shall come down from heaven at the great day of judgement , and shall raise those vile bodies of ours , and shall make them like unto his glorious body . this doctrine is an alablaster box full of precious consolation , it was a great comfort and support to our dear brother , when he was going out of the world ; and oh that it might be a precious cordiall to every one of us when we come to lie upon our death-beds ! i shall here by way of illustration , propound three short questions , and then answer them . quest . 1. what is that change that christ shall make in our vile bodies at the glorious resurrection ? answ. god will not make a substantiall change of our bodies , but only of the quality of them ; the same bodies that are now vile , shall then be glorious ; that look as a piece of wool when it is dyed into a scarlet dye , yet it is the same wool for substance , though it be made more glorious ; so likewise shall our bodies be at the resurrection , they shall be the same bodies , only made more glorious ; mat. 22. they shall be bodies of glorification ; we shall be made equall to the angels , not in regard of essence , but in regard of qualities . chrysostome hath a fine simile to this purpose , ( saies he ) as a goldsmith takes a little gold , and puts it into a refining pot , and melts it , and then out of that gold formes a golden vessell fit to be set before kings : so the lord jesus christ will melt the bodies of his saints by death , and then out of their dead ashes will form a vessell of gold , a glorious body fit to live before god , and sing halelujahs in heaven to all eternity . quest . what kinde of transfiguration or transformation , shall our bodies have at that day ? what is this metamorphosis , this change ? wherein doth it consist ? answ . it is impossible to set out those glorious excellencies that god will bestow upon our bodies at that great and glorious resurrection . augustine hath this expression , saies he , how great the glory of our spirituall bodies shall be at that day , because we have no experience of it , i am afraid it will be rashnesse for any man to speak peremptorily about it . if i had time , there are many places of scripture i would crave leave to open to you concerning this , we shall at that day be made equall to the angels : it is sowen a corruptible body , but raised an incorruptible body : it is sowen in dishonour , it is raised in glory : it is sowen in weaknesse , it is raised in power : it is sowen a naturall body , it is raised a spirituall body , &c. and many other places ; but i shall confine my self to the expression here in the text , these vile bodies of ours shall be made {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , conformable to the glorious body of christ ; and this is enough to set out the excellency of them ; for the body of christ now in heaven certainly is unexpressibly glorious , you have a specification of this in his transfiguration , the face of christ did shine as the sun , in so much that peter was swallowed up with the brightnesse of that glory ; and yet that was but a glimpse of his glory now in heaven , rev. 2. 2. there shall be no need of the sun there , for the lamb shall be the light of heaven . there are many divines of opinion , that the brightnesse that paul saw when he was struck dead off his horse , was the brightnesse of the body of jesus christ ; surely great is the glory of that body , now the bodies of the saints shall be changed into the likenesse of the glorious body of jesus christ . quest . but how shall this be done ? answ. my brethren , with man this is impossible : but with god nothing is impossible : my text tels you how this shall be done , even according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself . the lord jesus christ he is almighty , and therefore he is able to do it ; and let me tell you this , our dear brother did thrice repeat these words , according to his mighty power , his mighty power , even his mighty power , he is able to change this vile body of mine , and make it like unto his glorious body . object . but shall all bodies be made thus glorious ? answ. no , the bodies of the wicked shall rise at the last day , but it shall be to their everlasting shame and ruine and confusion ; the bodies of the wicked shall be immortall , but they shall be immortall fuell to immortall flames ; the bodies of the wicked shall come out of the grave , as the baker did out of prison in egypt , to be executed ; they shall go out of prison to the place of execution ; out of the grave as out of prison to be hung in chains for ever and ever ; the wicked shall rise , but their bodies in stead of being glorious shall be loathsome and abominable . object . but what is the character of those men and women whose bodies shall be made thus glorious at that day ? answ . there is one character of them in the text , if thou art one that hast thy conversation in heaven , then thy body shall be glorious . for our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for a saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , &c. if thou beest a man that mindest earthly things , if thou art an epicure and voluptuous , and given over to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the minde , thy body shall rise , but it shall rise to the resurrection of everlasting condemnation . but you that are heavenly minded , that have your dispositions and conversations in heaven ; then when christ comes from heaven , he shall make your bodies glorious . 2. you that are members of christs mysticall body , christ hath a naturall body , and a mysticall body , all the godly that are true beleevers and really united to christ , they are all members of his mysticall body ; now if thou beest a member of christs mysticall body , thou shalt be made as glorious as christs naturall body . mistake me not , i speak not of the quality , but likenesse , he will make his mysticall body as glorious as his naturall body , therefore it is said in 2 thess. 1. 10. that at the day of judgement , he shall be glorified in his saints , that is , glorified in the glory that his saints shall have at that day ; here christ is glorified by his saints , but there he shall be glorified in his saints , in the glory that the members of his mysticall body shall then have , christ shall have a double glory in heaven , a personall glory ; and a refl●xive glory , the glory of the members of christ , shall be the glory of christ at that day , all you that are true and reall members of christs mysticall body ; your vile body at the great day of christ appearing , shall be made like unto his glorious body . 3. all you that have gracious souls now , you shall have glorified bodies hereafter . it was a rare saying that of bernard , and worthy to be written in letters of gold ( saies he ) christ hath a double coming , he comes now by his ministers to make thy soul glorious , and at the day of judgement he will come in his person to make thy body glorious . this is the great mistake of the world , they spend that time in pampering their bodies , which they should imploy in providing for their souls . this present time is not the time for thy body , this is the time for thy soul wherein thou shouldst labour to get that adorned with grace and holinesse , and then christ will come on purpose from heaven to make thy body glorious hereafter . do not therefore mistake your time , study to get good and gracious souls here , and you shall be sure to have glorious bodies hereafter : and you that defile and pollute your souls , and starve them by living in sin and iniquity , you that have vile souls here , shall be sure to have miserable and wretched bodies hereafter . there are many rare uses that may be made of this point , give me leave to name one of them to you , and that shall be to all you that have gracious souls , i hope i speak to many such this night , whose soules are adorned with the robes of christs righteousnesse , to all you that minde heavenly things , who have your conversations in heaven ; to all you that are members of christs mysticall body ; consider i beseech you what a glorious condition your vile bodies shall be in at the great day of christs appearing , consider it , and that in these two particulars . 1. let this consideration comfort us against the fear of death , and let me say to you as god said to jacob in gen 44. fear not to go down into egypt ( saies god ) for certainly i will bring thee out again . so say i to you that are the saints of god , fear not to go down to the house of rottennesse , fear not to lay down your heads in the grave , for god will certainly bring you out again , and you shall come out a glorious body ; fear not to have this house , this tabernacle of thy body pulled down , for god shall raise it up again , and make of it a glorious structure . 2. let this comfort us against the death of our godly friends ; when a childe of god dies , nothing dies in him totally and finally but sin , his soul doth not die at all , and his body shall be raised again a glorious body , it is sowen in corruption , it is raised in incorruption ; it is sowen in dishonour , it is raised in glory ; it is sowen in weaknesse , it is raised in power ; it is sowen a naturall body , it is raised a spirituall body . this body of ours in the grave is a member of christ , and united to christ , even in the grave ; and this dust of thine is precious , and therefore we are said to die in christ . there is a text that did very much refresh this our brother ( upon his death-bed ) which i never took such special notice of before , and that is in job 21. 33. saies job there , the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto me ; they made their graves in the valleys , and saies job , the mould and clods that fils the grave shall be sweet unto me : the earth shall be sweet to the saints . and then again let this comfort any of christ mysticall body , any of gods children that have deformed bodies , or diseased bodies ; you that are troubled with the stone , gout , dissinesse in the head , that makes you unserviceable to god in your places , and unable to doe what good you would ; here is comfort for you at the glorious resurrection , our vile bodies shall be changed , and all our diseases shall be cured , our stone , and gout , and head-aches , and infirmities shall be cured . and then again , let this comfort us and encourage us to be willing , if god cals us to it , to lose our ears for christs sake , to lose our hands for christs sake , and to lose this vile body if god call us to suffer for him : let us be willing to lose a member for christs sake , for you shall have all restored to you again at the resurrection ; therefore the day of judgement is called the day of restitution of all things , wherein god will repair all our breaches : as in that story in the book of martyrs of the seven children that were put to death ; and one of them , his tongue going to be cut out , comforted his mother in telling her , he should have a better tongue at the resurrection . from the consideration of this , let us be exhorted , and oh that i could speak so that my words might be effectuall , and operative upon all your hearts , let me humbly beseech you to glorifie god in your bodies . oh you that are the saints of god , whose bodies by grace are become the temples of the holy ghost , let me beseech you by the mercies of that god , that hath sanctified your bodies , and made them instruments of his service , that you would yeeld up your bodies , and present them a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable unto god , which is your reasonable service : make your bodies more and more the instruments of righteousnesse unto righteousnesse . and let us that are ministers think of this , let us not think it much to wear out our bodies in gods service , at the day of judgement we shall then have glorious bodies . let us not think we can do god too much service with our bodies , especially when we consider how glorious our bodies shall be at the resurrection , even conformable to the glo●ious body of jesus christ . here is another use i should make of this , which i shall but name to you , and that is a divine project how to make your bodies glorious : if there were such a physician amongst you that could cure all your deformities and diseases , and make your bodies immortall , how would you prize him ? beloved , i have this day told you of such a physician , and that is the lord jesus christ , that shall one day come from heaven , and make our vile bodies like to his glorious body . hearken to me , thou proud dust and ashes , thou that spendest all thy time in decking and adorning thy body with sinfull deckings , consider thy madnesse , that whilest thou takest more care for thy vile body then for thy precious soul , thou doest ruine and destroy both . do but hearken to me , and i will shew you a way how to get glorious bodies and glorious souls too ; labour to get gracious souls here , and you shall be sure to have glorious bodies and souls hereafter ; labour to have your conversations in heaven here , and then at the great day of judgement , jesus christ will let out some of his glory to make you glorious , he shall change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby , he is able to subdue all things to himself . but i must forbear and leave things imperfect , because there is another text that i must speak a little to . it hath pleased god now of late to take away many worthy and godly and learned ministers from amongst us . and certainly my brethren this is a great judgement , and so much the greater , because people are so little sensible of it . and it is not only a great judgement it self , but also a presage of a greater . the jewes had a saying , that it was an ill sign to the world , when the luminaries of heaven were eclipsed . god hath lately eclipsed many luminaries , and put out many glorious lights . i need not put you of this city in minde of dr. gouge , mr. walker , mr. whitaker , mr. gatiker , mr. strong . i need not put those of the university in minde of dr. hill , and now this reverend and worthy minister dr. samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridge . if i should enter into his commendations , i might justly say that which another said in the like case , that there is more fear , lest we should say lesse , then he deserved ; then that we should praise him above his deserts . he was a burning and a shining light in this our israel ; he was an interpreter one of a thousand , a man of excellent ministerial abilities , a workman that needed not to be ashamed , dividing aright the word of truth ; he was one that did not only preach well , but live well ; he was one whose life was an excellent commentary upon his sermons . as nazianzen said of john the baptist , who is called the voyce of the cryer , saies he , john the baptist was ( tota vox , ) all voice in his prudence , all voice in his habit , all voice in his diet , all voice in his dwelling , all voice in his conversation : so was our dear brother all voice ; he was a voice in his life , as well as in his doctrine : and let me tell you , that the life of a minister preacheth as much as his doctrine ; it was a saying that ruffinus hath of gregory nazianzen , which i may apply to this our brother , he not condemning himself by living contrary to what he preached , but he did do those things himself that he taught to others : he had not only dona sanata , but dona salutifera , not only gifts for the good of others , but grace for the good of his own soul . many ministers have rare gifts and parts , but they are like a pearl in a toads head , because their lives give a lye to their doctrines ; but this our brother was one that not only had gifts for the good of others , but grace for the good of his own soul , and that is his greatest commendation , he was an humble saint . there are 4. things , saies luther , that make a minister , prayer , reading , meditation , and temptation ; our christian brother was not only a man of reading , prayer , and meditation , but a man assaulted with many temptations , more i beleeve then many hundreds of ministers are ; he was much assaulted with temptations , and therefore the better able to comfort those that were tempted , with those comforts where withall he was comforted . and let me take the boldnesse to tell you , that he hath left a writing behinde him , wherein he hath recorded all the outgoings of god toward him , and all the experiences of gods shining with the light of his countenance upon him , and also of his withdrawings and hiding his face from him ; both those times when god was at a distance from him , and when he approached nearer to him . he was so zealous in his ministeriall function , that though he was head of a colledge in cambridge , yet notwithstanding for many years together , he preached freely without any salary , at the publique church in that city . and this puts me in minde of what was said in a sermon in print of that reverend and godly man doctor hill , that he preached the gospell without any charges to them that heard him : and so did this our brother for many years ; and for three or four years he was lecturer in this place , where he preached to the great satisfaction of the godly , both here and in many other places of the city , that duly waited upon his ministry . and though he be now dead , yet he still speaks , not only by the holinesse of his life and graciousnesse of his doctrine , but also by the many books that he hath left in print behind him , in which books you may see a fair character of his piety and ministeriall abilities . he was very orthodox and sound in judgement , no spirituall leprosie in his head , witnesse those two books of his , the arraignment of errors , and a vindication of the right of the law , and of the liberties of grace . he was a man of a publique spirit , witnesse that book of his , a work in season to a sinking kingdome . he was very carefull in his sacramentall admission , when he had a place wherein to exercise his ministry ; he was very exact in that particular , witnesse that book of his called the wedding garment . for the time of sicknesse it was long , tedious , and constant ; and yet notwithstanding it pleased god to measure out to him a great deal of patience and consolation ; and it is observable , and may be for the comfort and encouragement of those ministers or people that meet with a great many crosses , and troubles , and temptations in their life times , they do commonly receive the greatest comforts at their death . it pleased god to come in to this our godly brother with a great deal of comfort , in so much , that before he dyed , he said , his heart was as full of comfort as it could hold , and saies he , though the providences of god have been very dark towards me , yet i thank god i have light within me . when i was last with him , he was wonderfull desirous to be dissolved and to be with christ ; and i heard him say , oh this vile carkasse of mine , when will it give way that my soul may get out , and goe to my god ? oh this vile carkasse , when will thou be consumed , that i may goe to my god ? and when he did see any symptomes of death , any thing that did threaten death , which he called the the little crevises at which his soul did peep out , it was the joy of his heart . it was his desire to be buryed without any funerall pomp , which puts me in minde of good pell , when he was a dying , the scholars of the university came to him and asked him whether he would be buried in his scholastick habit or no , saies he , no , i desire to die as an humble christian , not as a doctor , as a humble saint , not as a learned man ; and i trust i shall appear at the great day , not clad with my doctors robes , but with the robes of christs righteousnesse . and this was the desire and the hope of our dear brother , and this text that i have preached on , he did with a great deal of earnestnesse of spirit rejoice in , when he considered of that day when this vile body of his , subject to so many diseases , should be made like to the glorious body of jesus christ ; in whose blessed armes we leave this our dear brother , beseeching god that he would make up this great losse of him , to the church of god in generall , and to the university of cambridge in particular . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a78767e-320 object . answ . vse . lesson 1. lesson 2. lesson 3. lesson 4. lesson 5. 1 cor. 6. 15 , 19. & 3. 17. doct. 2. quest . 1. answ . quest . 2. answ . quest . 3. answ . object . answ . object . answ . ans. 2. answ . 3. vse . rom. 12. 1. vse 2. a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. francis mitchel, who dyed the 19th, and was buried the 24th of july, 1671 lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 1671 approx. 31 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48837 wing l2702a estc r20394 12402700 ocm 12402700 61308 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48837) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61308) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 767:27) a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. francis mitchel, who dyed the 19th, and was buried the 24th of july, 1671 lloyd, william, 1627-1717. [2], 38 p. printed by thomas milbourn for thomas johnson, london : 1671. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mitchel, francis, d. 1671. bible. -o.t. -psalms xxxvii, 37 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of m r. francis mitchel , who dyed the 19th . and was buried the 24th . of iuly , 1671. the memory of the iust is blessed , prov. 10. 7. london , printed by thomas milbourn , for thomas iohnson , 1671. a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. f. m. psal. 37. 37. mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that m'an is peace . this whole psalm was designed , saies the syriack translation , for the resolving of that question , which hath often troubled good men , and somtimes david himself , as he confesseth , psal. 73. 2 , &c. why god , the almighty and most just god , doth not speedily in this life , take vengeance of ungodly and wicked men . whereas , on the other hand , it is often-times seen , that good men are punisht , and chastend , and plagued , as david complain'd that himself was , psal. 73.14 .. and his son solomon observed it in his time , eccl. 8.14 .. there be iust men ( saith he ) to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked . again , there be wicked men , to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous , this is vanity , saith the epicurean , whom solomon there personates ; 't is vanity to make any distinction , or to trouble ones head with it , or to do any thing else , than to eat and drink and be merry , and let things go which way they will. but saies solomon of himself in the last verse of the chapter , i beheld the work of god in it , who orders things as he pleases ; and what he doth we ought to submit to it , and why he doth it , is past our finding out . nor doth david pretend to say , why god doth thus or thus ; we shall know that most distinctly and particularly hereafter . 't is at present sufficient to know , that he doth it , who is a god of infinite , unspeakable , incomprehensible wisdom , who is most just in those things where he seems most remiss ; who is most merciful , even then when he seems most severe , and most rigorous ; who , as st. austin saies , is so good , that he would not suffer any evil to be done , but that he is also so wise , that he can turn that evil to a greater good. if any man be unsatisfied with this reason of gods doings , it is because he himself is unreasonable , as david confesseth he had been when time was , psal. 73.22 . so foolish was i and ignorant , i was as a beast before thee . 't is unreasonable to expect that every thing must be set right within a few years , or else to conclude it will never be . our few years are but as a moment before god. to him a thousand years are but as one day ; yea , they are as nothing in respect of eternity . we shall be wiser if we go into the sanctuary of god , that is , if we consult with divine revelation ; then we shall know what the end of every thing is , and it is a wise mans rule , not to judge of any thing till the end. he that judgeth by a part of any thing , shall often see himself confuted by the end of it . therefore david so much insists upon this , as if he had expresly said ; tell not me of any ones beginning , tell not me how he thrives and prospers in the world , or what crosses he hath in the course of this life . there is no judging of a tree but by his fruit , nor of a ship till you see it in the haven , nor of a man till you have seen his end. mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . but the transgressors shall be destroyed together , the end of the wicked shall be cut off . half this will serve me at this time , for my business is only with the perfect and upright man. i shall shew you who he is , and how we are to observe him , and what we shall find by him ; all this in the words of my text : first , who he is that david speaks of , the perfect and the upright man. i shall speak of these words severally , & then bring them together ; for they signifie one and the same thing ; they are the description of a faithful servant of god. he is exprest by two names , to answer those two words , observe and , behold , which as kimchi conceives , are to be taken distributively . as if david had said , mark every individual servant of god. first observe one , then look upon another , and so throughout the whole number ; you shall find that their end is happy . there is not one of them , but whatsoever his life was , he is happy in his death , the end of that man is peace . it is the opinion of others , that , by thus doubling his words , david meant we should double our care in the observation . as if he had said , mark the just man , and keep a good eye upon him ; you may lose him in a cloud of affliction ; and then you may conclude , that he is gone , that god hath cast him out of his sight , and that he will remember him no more ; but it is no such thing ; if you keep your eye upon him , if you follow him home to the mark , you shall surely find , and you cannot but observe , that the end of that man is peace . the end , may signifie the last part of ones life , or it may signifie another life after death . of one , or both these it is promised , that it shall be peace to the righteous ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only peace , but the perfection of happiness . this was promised to the righteous in this life , according to the letter of the jews law ; but under that was contained a mystical sence , on which they rather depended . they were not so confident of any thing in this world , as they were of a happy and blessed immortality . much less should we christians , to whom god hath much more clearly revealed it , as st. paul saith ( 2 tim. 1. 10. ) he hath brought life and immortality to light by the gospel . i having thus designed the method of my discourse , i shall now consider each part in it's order . we are to speak of the perfect and of the upright man , by which words the iews meant him that lived according to their law. him they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is , perfect , wanting nothing to make him a holy or a righteous man. for their law was perfect , converting souls ; that is , making them like it , which lived according to the rules of it . and therefore , of those gems which the priest wore in his breast-plate , and were called urim and thummim ; that is , lights and perfections : as that which was called urim , or lights , was a pledge from god of his illumination , for the resolving of questions concerning civil affairs , while they were a theocracy , under the government of god ; so the other stone was called thummim , that is , perfections , in token of his perfect knowledge of the law of god ; which ( as st. paul said long after that token had ceast , but perhaps alluding to it , 2 tim. 3. ver . ult . ) was enough to make the man of god , perfect , throughly furnisht to every good work . the word upright in my text , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 straight in the hebrew . now , that is straight which is according to the rule . so that the law of god being considered as the rule of our life , he that walks by this rule , is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a straight , or an upright man. thus all israel was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deut. 33. 5. and in other places ; to signifie not so much what they were , as what they should be ; how they ought to be straight , according to that rule which god had given them . thus balaam speaking by the spirit of god , called that nation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 numb . 23.10 . insomuch that this title in my text , is the very same in effect that our saviour gave to nathanael , john 1. 47. behold ( sayes he ) an israelite indeed , in whom there is no guile . both these words , according to this interpretation , signifie one and the same thing . he is a perfect man , and he is an upright man , that yields a hearty , constant , and uniform obedience to all the known commandements of god. fear god , and keep his commandements , says solomon ; this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole duty of man , as it is in our translation , eccl. 12.13 . nay , according to the hebrew , it is the whole man ; so the septuagint renders it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; so the vulgar latine , this is omnis homo . this is all that a man is to any purpose ; this is the substance and solidity , and life of him ; this is it that makes him a perfect man in holiness here , and in happiness hereafter . this was plainly the sense of these hebrew words in my text : but how these words are to be applied to a christian , i cannot easily shew you , without going higher , and spreading farther , through the whole use of the word perfection in scripture . there is an absolute perfection , which is onely the perfection of god. there is perfection in suo genere , which belongs to every one of his creatures . every creature is said to have perfection of parts , when it hath all things that are necessary and essential to its kind . and yet that which is perfect as to its parts , may be imperfect in degrees , in comparison with others of the same kind . to apply this to the moral and religious sense . in this sense , he is said to be a perfect man , that in all respects conforms himself to the will of god. he is in all points such a man as god made , and such as god would have all men to be . thus adam was perfect before the fall ; he was then free from sin ; he was perfectly such as god made him . but having contracted sin upon himself , and his posterity , there was need of a second adam , to obtain pardon for sin ; and that second adam was our lord iesus christ. by vertue of whose death , which he was to suffer , in the fulness of time , there was prepared for us , even from the beginning of the world , a new way to perfection ; not by living without sin , but by the pardon of sin to all them that conform themselves not exactly , but sincerely , and constantly , as far as they are able , to the reveal'd will of god. but the will of god was reveal'd by several degrees , to them that lived in several ages and dispensations . and perfection was still an uniform obedience to that will of god that was known to them in their age , and under their dispensation . it was thus in the patriarchical church , for above two thousand years before the law was given . they had then little else ( that we know of ) besides oral tradition . but whatsoever they had , they that lived according to it ; they were said to be perfect men ; that is , they were such as god required men to be under that dispensation . thus it is said of noah , gen. 6.9 . that he was perfect in his generation : that is , he observed both the natural law of god , and the divine institutions that then were , though he had not all that was known when the books of moses were written . he lived carefully , according to those rules of life in his time , and therefore is said to have been perfect in his generation . when god afterwards made his special covenant with abraham , and bound it upon him with the seal of circumcision , he prefaced it thus , gen. 17. 1. i am the almighty god , walk before me , and be thou perfect . from thence forward no man could be said to be perfect , i say none that descended out of abrahams loins could be perfect , without the seal of circumcision . for the iewes , when they had once received the written law of god ; then , ( besides their obligation to the natural religion , beside those positive laws to adam , and to noah , and to abraham ; i say , besides all these obligations ) it was required of them , that they should be conformable to the laws of moses . deut. 18.13 . sayes moses , thou shalt be perfect with the lord thy god. 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a great letter ; which the iewes say , is an extraordinary thing , there were but ten such before it in the five books of moses . which implyed , that there was more required to perfection in them , than in the nations from whom they were separated by that law. but , what shall we say to that place in heb. 7. 19. that the law made nothing perfect ? it means , as i have shewed you , perfect without sin , and this perfection was never attained by the law. it can be attain'd no otherwise by fallen man , but by christ , who is reveal'd to us in the gospel and for us , to whom this gospel is reveal'd , we are then said to be perfect , if we live according to the will of god , which is reveal'd to us in the gospel . that is in plain termes , if we are good christians , such as live according to our profession . so theophylact observes , that perfection in the gospel-sense , is no other than christianity it self . and iustin martyr interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be a christian ; that is , to conform our selves to the gospel . which is that acceptable , and that perfect will of god , rom. 12.2 . which is called that perfect law of liberty , james 1. 25. which is able to make us perfect unto every good work , heb. 13.21 . under each of these dispensations , there have been some that have been more perfect than others . and those which have been perfect in the main , those which had enough to bring them to heaven , yet are said to be imperfect in respect of some others that have excelled them in the knowledge of god , and in the practice of religion & vertue . this particularly appears in some instances of the gospel , where comparison is made between the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , between those that were newly converted , and those that were adult , well grounded and confirmed in religion . the first in each of these kinds being in comparison of the other as children in comparison of men : you know children , which are perfect in their kind , having all things essential to a man , are yet imperfect in comparison of them which are at mans estate . 't is the apostle to the hebrews that makes this comparison chap. 5. 2. last verses , and in chap. 6. 1. even so , the children of god are some much inferiour to others , in that imperfect perfection of which we are capable here upon earth . and yet the highest degree of which we are capable upon earth , is imperfection in comparison of the blessed saints in heaven . there is no perfect perfection but in heaven . what we have upon earth , is but a tendency towards it . it begins with a sence of imperfection , it grows somthing with an endeavour after perfection , it grows up to an earnest expectancy , which is the most that st. paul himself did pretend ; though he reckon'd himself among the perfect , as men are in this world ; yet perfection in this world must be with some allowance , as he shews you in the 12 th . verse of the 3 d. chapter to the philippians . not as though i ( sayes he ) had already obtained , or were already made perfect , but i follow after , &c. if st. paul were affraid to say he was perfect , who shall dare to say or think it of himself ? sayes chrysostom . which of us can be perfect as st. paul was ? sayes st. austin . yet he sayes , brethren , i do not think my self to be already perfect ; only , i would be so , i do what i can that i may be so ; i follow after , in hope that i may overtake it , that i may attain to it , that i may be perfect at last , which cannot be here , but in heaven . it cannot be in this life , sayes the apostle ; for here we know but in part , 1 cor. 13. 9. and verse 10. when that which is perfect is come , then that which is in part shall be done away . here we are perfect in christ , sayes the apostle , col. 1. 28. we are so in the imputation of his righteousness , and in gods gracious acceptation through him . but in our selves we are not perfect , but perfecting ; 2 cor. 7. 1. perfecting holiness in the fear of god ; cleansing our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit ; striving against every lust , and being careful not to come under the dominion of any ; warring against the devil , the world , and the flesh ; applying our selves to every duty of religion and vertue ; working daily to repair the decaies of the divine image , and to make up in our selves the lineaments and resemblances of god. this is called the perfecting of the saints , eph. 4. 12. yet we are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; when we come where the original is , when we know as we are known , when we see as we are seen , then we shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made perfect , heb. 12. 23. happy they , who are thus imperfectly perfect upon earth , for , they shall be made perfectly perfect in heaven . their end shall be peace , sayes the psalmist . their end here is in the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies properly somthing to come after ; whether in this life or in the future , that is alwayes to be understood by the connexion . gen. 49. 1. iacob tels his sons what shall happen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the last part of the age of that nation ; there it signifies plainly the last part of this life . it elsewhere plainly signifies the estate of the future life . numb . 23. 10. there says balaam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let my soul go out of this world as the righteous doth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and let my latter end be like his . i should rather interpret it thus ; what is to come after death , may it be with me as it is with him . this seems to me the most literal interpretation . and yet with a iew i should not contend about it . for , though the iews say they had no promises in their law which were expresly of the things of a future life ; yet they freely acknowledg , that even the promises of this life were to be understood as types and shadows of the future . in the promise they say there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; a plain sence belonging to things of this life , and a mystical sence for the things of a future life . to judge how this is to be applyed to the promise in my text , we must first consider the thing that is here promised . 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies , both perfection and peace , and every thing that is good . it signifies every thing that belongs to the perfection of ones being , every thing that belongs to his happiness and well being . among the hebrews their question was , when they asked how one did ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is all well ? their blessing at meeting was , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace be to thee . their blessing at parting , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 go in peace . there is nothing that can be wish'd one for his good , which is not comprehended in the blessing of peace . the first import of it is of corporeal things , because those are first considered in all languages . true it is , that god hath promised his children the enjoyment of all temporal blessings that are sutable to their condition . these temporal blessings are almost wholly insisted upon in the old testament , they are mentioned likewise in the new-testament in many places ; but still with a condition , that is sometimes exprest , but always understood , for the performing of these promises to us . that is , god will give us these temporal blessings , as far as they may consist with our spiritual welfare . and if he give not these temporal things , he will certainly make it up to us , in those better things which are spiritual and eternal . thus the servant of god hath a promise , that his days shall be long upon earth , in the fourth commandement . that he shall die in peace , that is , in his bed ; a quiet and natural death : that he shall see his childrens children , and peace upon israel . these things and many more are comprehended in the blessing of peace . and were so literally fulfilled to many servants of god in the old testament . david saw it plainly fulfilled , in the examples of ioseph , and iob , which were recorded in those scriptures that were extant in his age . and david himself was one more example , according to the literal sense of this promise . but it was not so with the son of david , our lord jesus christ ; with respect to whom , if for no other cause , we are obliged to lay hold on this promise in the spiritual sense . for we know that one may have the blessing of peace , that wants many , or even all of these temporal things ; and it shall be never the worse for him that they are wanting . nay , if things seem quite contrary to this promise ; yet god will not be worse than his word . it is the lord that hath spoken it , and he will make it good , to the perfect and to the upright , that the end of that man shall be peace . and now , suppose any thing to befal that can happen ; we are armed against all cross accidents in the world . ye cannot say nor suppose any thing too hard for gods power ; and if it be in gods power , he will surely make good his promise . what if one be snatch't away in the prime of his years ? what if he be cut off in the field of battel ? what if he leaves a miserable widow and children ? what if he leaves an embroil'd estate behind him ? what if he sees the church of god tottering , and ready to fall after him ? yet , if this be no fault of his , if it be the will and pleasure of god , thus to deal with the perfect and upright man to whom god made this promise in my text ; whatsoever circumstances he dies in , it is certain , that the end of that man is peace . there is one text that proves this , and there needs not a second ; 't is in 2 chron. 34. 28. where god promises iosiah , behold , i will gather thee to they fathers , and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace . this god promised iosiah , you see , not only in the general words of my text , but also in an express and particular revelation from heaven . and yet will you see how god performed with him ? it lies before you in the history of iosias ; he dyed in all those sad circumstances that i mentioned . he was cropt off in the prime , and flower of his age ; he dyed a bloody death in the field of battel ; he left a desolate widow , and poor infants behind him ; and a bleeding state , a tottering church , a ruining kingdom ; what can be said more ? only this ; that if god said true , iosiah dyed in peace . but we are sure god is true . therefore to die in peace , we are sure , is somthing else than what the world would imagine . when god sayes , the end of that man is peace ; he means not that he shall die in his bed , he means not that he shall dye in a good old age , he means not that he shall have his wife and children about him , he means not that he shall leave sion in peace , and ierusalem in prosperity . he means none of those things which belong to this world ; but god means , he shall have that peace which the world cannot give . it is so . for this world is only for temporal things , but the peace of the perfect and upright man is spiritual and eternal . first , there is a spiritual peace , that is made for him in this life . wheresoever there is grace , there is peace . you know grace and peace go together in the gospel . but the perfect and upright man being in the covenant of grace , he is therefore in the covenant of peace ; he is reconciled to god in the blood of christ , which is the only effectual sufficient peace-offering of all them that are true and living members of his body the church ; eph. 2. 14 , 15 , 16 , 18. now this peace being made for us , it is necessary we should plead it , that we should depend wholly upon it , that we should look on this , as our only way to god , the only means of pardon and mercy , of grace and glory . it is necessary withal , that we should observe those terms that our peace-maker hath made for us . that is , not only to believe in him , but to believe him ; to keep his commandements , to repent and be converted , that our sins may be blotted out , when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the lord. and he that doth thus , is sure also of another peace , in the heavenly ierusalem , which is the eternal vision of peace . it is that rest which was typified in the earthly canaan , and which is the substance of all those promises of entring into gods rest. that perfect peace of the perfect man , who is able to express it , but he that hath already attained it ? if the peace of god in this world passes all understanding , how much more doth that peace of god in heaven pass all our expression ? we cannot say what it is , but we can say what it is not . and therefore do commonly express it by negatives ; by abstracting from all the cares , and sorrows , and fears , and troubles , and miseries of this life . we say first , there is no sin in heaven ; and then to be sure there is no evil whatsoever there is no sorrow nor affliction , there is no fear nor danger , there is no strife nor division , there is no enmity nor enemy . there is only god ; and whatsoever is like him in goodness and charity ; in joy , and peace ; in holiness , and all manner of perfection . which if any one desires to know more distinctly , let him first practise these things which he knows upon earth ; and let him have patience , and persevere in well-doing ; and when god sees his time , he shall depart , in that spiritual peace which i before described , into that eternal peace which is here promised , in these words , the end of that man is peace . i have done with my text , beyond which i cannot pretend to revelation . and therefore , in what followeth ( as in all such cases ) i desire not to impose upon your faith ; but according to the measures of discretion and charity , to say my thoughts upon long and intimate knowledge of the person who hath been the sad occasion of our meeting this day . i cannot but say , that i have thought of him all this while , as being , according to the language of my text , to my thinking , a truly perfect and an upright man. he was eminently such ; for he was perfect in that calling which of all other is most apt to shew mens imperfections . it was a saying of bias , that magistracy shews what a man is . i think next to magistracy , it ought to be said of this profession , because of the great opportunities th●t it gives men to be dishonest , if they please . however i may be understood , i am sure i mean this no otherwise but to the honour of the profession . the law is the glory and support of any nation ; a good practitioner is an ornament to the law ; and such he was , i am sure , if i knew any . among the men of his rank , few more throughly understood it . none more punctually observed it . none more heartily loved the known laws of the nation . and yet he loved not to set men at law. he did not need it , much less did he affect it . it was his way to compose suits , rather then to make them ; especially if he saw they were unjust or unnecessary : and i verily believe , in this kind he hath prevented more suits than many an honest man was ever retain'd in . as he was not greedy to undertake , so he was most diligent to give a good dispatch . he used his client , as if he had been his guardian , contriving onely how to leave him as rich in purse , and as much at peace , as it was possible . and yet this i have known of him , that he was not more frugal of his clients cost , then he was liberal of his own . all that god blest him with , was like a stock put in his hands for good uses ; out of which he both gave and lent freely while he lived , and left the rest to be distributed by his will. of which , some i suppose will redound to the good of this place . what i have said of him in respect of his calling , was only because in that he was most known ; if i should speak of him in other respects , as a vertuous man , as a just dealer , as a faithful friend , as a loyal subject , as an humble devout christian , i am sure there are those present that could testifie all that i have said . and after all this , why may not i say my text over his corps ? why may not i call him by these good names in it ? why may not i say , his end is peace ? only because i have not this from god. 't is known to god alone , who is perfect , and who is vpright , and whose soul is in peace . in the most known sence of the words , i am sure he was a perfect and upright man ; if one may judge by twenty years trial : for so long i have known him , and in all that time i never knew him blemisht ; i never heard from him an obscene or indecent word ; i never saw by him an unjust or uncharitable action . if any have known worse then i have observed of him ; i desire them to remember , there is no perfection without some imperfection in this world. and i am sure , he that knows more then i know , or can imagine , knows much less by him then all know of the ●ommon rate of christians . if such a one , as he was , should miscarry and perish ; god help us , in this age how few are they that shall be saved ? and if the righteous scarcely be saved , where shall the sinner and the vngodly appear ? the lord give us grace to avoid all evil examples ; and to give example , or to follow it , in all things that are good : that coming to that perfection which god hath required in this life , we may attain to that peace which he hath promised in the life to come . finis . a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. mary alston, wife to joseph alston esq; who dyed, jan. 25. and was interred at chelsey, feb. 7. 1670. by adam littleton, d.d. recton of chelsey. littleton, adam, 1627-1694. 1671 approx. 44 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48733 wing l2569 estc r221361 99832680 99832680 37154 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48733) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37154) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1781:15) a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. mary alston, wife to joseph alston esq; who dyed, jan. 25. and was interred at chelsey, feb. 7. 1670. by adam littleton, d.d. recton of chelsey. littleton, adam, 1627-1694. [3]-38 p. printed by john macock, london : 1671. imperfect, apparently missing one preliminary leaf. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng alston, mary, d. 1671. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2004-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-05 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2004-05 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. mary alston , wife to joseph alston esq who dyed , jan. 25. and was interred at chelsey , feb. 7. 1670. by adam littleton , d. d. rector of chelsey london , printed by john macock . 1671. acts xiii . 39. and by him all that believe are justified from all things , from which ye could not be justified by the law of moses . the subject , i have , by appointment , undertaken to treat of , may peradventure , to some at first proposal , not seem altogether so proper and suitable to our present occasion . yet when ye well consider the purport of the words i have now read to you , that faith is the great instrument and advantage of a christians life ; for the just shall live by his faith : and that justification or forgiveness of sins is the main comfort , any christian can have at his death ; inasmuch as he that believes , shall not die for ever , and though he die , yet shall he live ; and over and above , that the gospel-state affords us christians that help towards these ends , which the jewish oeconomy could not do to them : ye must acknowledge with me , there cannot be a more effectual exhortation for us that survive , then that of faith ; nor a fuller consolation over our deceased friends , then that of being justified ; whereby at our departure hence we have a prospect of ensuing bliss in the other world , by being assured through faith in christ , of pardon and acceptance , and of escaping the wrath to come . this justifying faith , i say , is the ground of all a christians present duties here in this life , and of his future expectations hereafter in the next . this it was made the apostle say , to me to live is christ , and to die is gain : a motto which every christian may bear upon his scutcheon , and inscribe upon the shield of his faith . for by christ all that believe are justified from all things , &c. s. paul being in a synagogue of the jews at antioch in pisidia on the sabbath day , after the reading of the lessons , out of the law one , and the other out of the prophets , as their custom was ; being desired by the rulers of the synagogue , the chief of the assembly , to speak , if he had any thing to say for the instruction of the people , takes occasion , after he had given them a brief historical account of the israelitish common-wealth down to david , to preach unto them jesus , and to assert his messiaship , by his lineal descent from that king david , according to promise , vers . 23. by the testimony of john his fore-runner , vers . 25. by the completion of prophecies in his passion , crucifixion , death , and burial , vers . 27 , &c. and lasty , and most especially , by his miraculous resurrection , whereof there were many witnesses still alive , vers . 30 , 31 and that accordingly as david himself had foretold in his book of psalms , particularly in the sixteenth , where he says , thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption ; which words in the 36. v. he says , as s. peter had observed before in his first sermon , acts 2. could not be meant of davids own person , who having served his generation , died as other men do , and never rose out of that sepulcher he was laid in ; his body having long since moulderd into dust , and his monument remaining still among them till that day . and now from all these arguments he draws this conclusion in this and the verse immediately foregoing . be it known unto you therefore , men and brethren , that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins . and by him all that believe , &c. and then last of all he pursues and drives home this doctrine with a vehement application , in the two next verses , forewarning them to take heed of rejecting the gospel , as we find they did on the next sabbath-day , vers . 46. when upon the untoward and unworthy carriage of the jews , the apostle disclaims them , and turns to the gentiles . thus have i given you a short analysis , and survey of the apostles whole discourse , the sense and main design whereof lies in the text , that jesus christ was the expected messias , the saviour of the world , by whom and by him alone justification through faith in him , and forgiveness of sins , which is the proper notion and importance of salvation , is to be obtained . this doctrine of justification by faith in christ is set down here . 1. affirmatively , in thesi , by him all that believe are justified from all things . 2. negatively , per antithesin , in opposition to mosaical observances ; from which ye could not be justified by the law of moses . in the affirmative part we have 1. a great priviledge , or the benefit it self , wherein gods favour and mans happiness doth mainly consist ; and that 's justification . 2. the ground of it ; christ. what by his merit ; 't is in him , for his sake , and through his satisfaction , we are justified . what by his spirit ; 't is by him , by his vertue and efficacy working in us , that we are justified . 3. the condition or qualification , which makes us capable of it , or , as some love rather to term it ; the instrument by which 't is applied and made ours ; and that 's faith . they that believe are justified . 4. the extent of it , and the latitude it bears . and that twofold . 1. as to its subject , in quo , viz. the persons justified ; all that believe , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , every one that believes is justified . 2. as to its object , circa quod , to wit , the things from which justification is to free and release believers . and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from all things , from all charge and incumbrance , from all damages and inconveniences , which otherwise might upon strict rules of justice befal them . in the negative part is expressed the weakness and insufficience of the mosaical dispensation for the attaining this righteousness , which is to be had only by christ ; that we could not be justified from those things by the law of moses . you see then , that i have a large field of discourse before me , were i , which cannot well be expected from me in these straights of time , at large to speak of justification , of christs satisfaction , of faith in christ , of the legal administration , which are so many common places of divinity , and would each of them require a volume to be treated of in their full importance . it will be enough that i briefly touch at each particular head severally , and so as may be most agreeable to the purpose of our present meeting , to the instruction and comfort of the hearers . and i shall take this method , first to shew , what is meant by justification , or by being justified . next to prove the insufficience of moses his law , and its inability of justifying the observers of it : and then in the last place to make out how we are justified by christ , and that through faith in him . for so the words stand in the greek , in this order i have here set them in ; from all things from which ye could not be justified by , or in the law of moses , by , or in him , namely , in christ , every one that believeth is justified . first then what justification is . to be justified is to be accounted and lookt upon as righteous and perfectly just in the sight of good , our law-giver and our judge ; and thereupon to be absolutely discharged and acquitted according to the tenour of the law by the sentence of the judge from all the penalties that were to be inflicted upon the transgressors of the law , and for that our righteousness to be accepted of god in our persons and performances , and in the end to be eternally rewarded . and this all grounded upon the nature and sanction of a law , which as it proposes commands and rules to be observed , so is ratified with promises on one hand of reward to the obedient , and on the other hand with threats of punishment to those that shall be found guilty of the breach of it . now this justification , had the covenant of nature stood , the law of moses continued in force ; must have been made out by our own personal exact obedience to every tittle of our obligations : for this was the tenour of that law. do this and live , and cursed be every one that continueth not in all the words of the law to do them : and this is that is called legal righteousness . but in christ , under the covenant of grace , which was substituted in the room and stead of that other , the law of faith has altered the terms , thus ; he that believes , shall be saved ; and he that believeth not , shall be condemned . so that now faith in christ and sincerity of obedience , ( for there are commands too as well as promises , and threats even in this law of faith ) is that we call evangelical righteousness ; whereby we are through that satisfaction , christ as our surety hath by his active and passive obedience wrought for us , which through faith in him is imputed unto us for righteousness , justified by him , to the forgiveness of our sins , to the acceptation of our persons , and to the reward of our services . again this justification is indeed attained in this life , being laid hold on by faith , evidenced by our obedience , and sealed to every particular believers conscience by the spirit of promise : but in the next life will be declared in open court at the general assizes of all mankind at the last day , so that the true believer lives & dies in peace of conscience , as having an assurance through faith , that christ by his death has satisfied for his sins , and purchased for him everlasting life . for so we find justification explained in this very chapter , by comparing the 38. and 26. verses with our text. what he had said there , to you is the word of this salvation sent , repeating it here in other words . through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins . so that to be justified is to have our sins forgiven , and our souls saved . having thus stated and distinguished iustification , we are now to remove the legal righteousness , that we may establish the righteousness by faith , and to shew that the law of moses was unable and insufficient for the justifying of any one . where first we are to premise an usual distinction of that law into moral , ceremonial , and judicial . the judicial law was peculiar to the jewish common-wealth , designed only for external polity , and for the quiet and regular administration of the civil state of that people , nor has it any obligation upon any other people any further , then , as it was a body of statutes appointed by god himself for the government of his own people , it deserves our veneration , and as far as the circumstances and customs of other countries will admit , an imitation . the ceremonial law was most properly the law of moses , wherein were delivered the rules of gods worship , which consisted of purifications and expiations , and other levitical rites . that again obliged none but jews , and their proselytes , and was to have an end at the coming of christ. the moral law was not so much the law of moses , as the law of adam , that which is written in every mans heart , and was obligatory to all mankind before moses , and will be so to the end of the world ; such as are all the precepts of the decalogue . for though there be somewhat in them ceremonial , to which none but jews were obliged , as in the fourth the strictness of the sabbath-rest , and the very day it self ( for had it not been so , it could not have been altered ; whatsoever is in its nature purely moral , being of a perpetual as well as universal , and of an indispensable obligation ) i say , notwithstanding somewhat of ceremony intermixt , the things themselves commanded or forbidden in those precepts are acknowledged and owned by the very light of nature ; as that god should have a proportion of our time bestowed on his service , which in equity could not be less then a seventh part . beyond all this , our saviour himself tells us , he came not to destroy this law , but to fulfil it in his own person , and heighten its obligations upon us his followers . and it appears by circumstances here , that the apostle addressing his speech to the jews might very likely mean only the law of ceremonies , as possibly he does in his epistle to the galatians , and other places by works of the law intend mainly the circumcision and other rites and observances , which some converts of that religion , at the first propagation of the gospel , mainly insisted on , and mixed with their christianity : a perswasion and practice , which the doctor of the gentiles does every where upon all occasions as he meets with it , endeavour to confute . yet this law also having been given by moses in some sense , as to the promulgation of it , and the accommodating it to the use and interest of his country-men , i shall take it in too , and make good , that neither the observance of the ceremonial law , which obliged the jews , could ; nor the performance of the moral law , to which all men are obliged can or ever could justifie any man. and this according to that place , the law was given by moses ; but grace and truth came by jesus christ , where as truth is opposed to ceremony , so grace is to the law of nature . first the ceremonial law , besides that it laboured under other disadvantages , as that it was burdensom in its charge , and in its attendance ; and it was obscure , compared to gospel light , as being but the shadow of good things to come ; it was in its very constitution imperfect and impotent , and that in two respects . 1. it was not commensurate to the necessities of all mankind ; that levitical service having been prescribed only , and appropriated to the jews , as a characteristical mark of distinction betwixt them and other nations . 2. it was not adequate to its end ; which was the expiation of guilt , the atonement of wrath , and propitiation for sins . for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins , as the apostle argues , heb. 10.4 . wherefore the law , as he says there , could not by those sacrifices , which were fain to be continually repeated , make the comers thereunto perfect . for indeed what proportion was there betwixt those mean oblations and the ransom and price of souls ? for the verdict of the law was , that the soul that sins shall die . what amends then could the death of a poor beast make for the transgression of its owner ? or how could those sorry acknowledgments reconcile divine justice ? which made the prophet micah cry out , vi. 7. wherewith shall i come before the lord ? shall i come before him with burnt offerings , with calves of a year old ? will the lord be pleased with thousands of rams , or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl ? shall i give my first-born for my transgression , the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? no , this would have been no compensation . it cost more to redeem souls then so . but , you 'l say , if it be so , what use was there then of those ceremonies and sacrifices ? was no one justified under that law , no righteousness to be had by that dispensation ? yes , but 't was the righteousness of faith then too , and those that were , were justified by christ , who was represented and typified in those legal rites : for it was the immaculate lamb that virtuated all those oblations , and the whole pedagogie of that law had its effect and consummation in him . wherefore it was to be but of a temporary date , and as it pointed to him , so it was to end in him . nor was the ceremonial law only imperfect , but the moral is so too , that which has a natural obligation upon all men . the inability of this law , as to justification , is partly from our weakness , partly from its own . 1. we are naturally unable to perform it in an exact obedience : and though some hereticks are bold to say , that a man may by the strength of nature satisfie all the demands of that law we are by nature obliged to ; a doctrine which modest philosophers amongst heathens disclaim ; as appears by the body of death , the blessed apostle complains of , and other passages in him , taken out of the writings of plato . yet supposing , that there were no original corruption , and that a man could lead a perfect life ; which are two things that are not to be supposed ; for what man ever was there beside the son of god , that was either born , or lived without sin ? if he could make satisfaction , where would be his merit ? or how could he extend that satisfaction to the benefit of others ? but alas ! scripture tells us , no man hath redeemed his own soul ; much less is he in a capacity to do it for another , but must let that alone for ever . 2. as we are unable to go through what the law requires , so the law also is unable to help us . it lays rules indeed before us , and obligations upon us , and convinces us sufficiently of the duty we owe ; but furnishes us with no strength for the performance of it . i had not known sin , says the apostle , but for the law , no , nor practised it neither . for ( which shews the pravity as well as weakness of our nature ) lust takes advantage from the law , and breaks out with the more violence from under its restraints . not but that the law is in it self holy , and just , and perfect , but sin finds occasion from the law to be exceeding sinful . wherefore he affirms elsewhere , that as the sting of death is sin , so the strength of sin is the law ; from whence sin hath all its damning power ; since without the law sin could not damn us ; for where there 's no law , there 's no transgression . but what follows ? but thanks be to god , says he , which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ , and that 's our third consideration . that we are justified by christ alone . what moses could not do in his law , christ has done in his . grace has supplied the defects of nature ; and what was wanting to legal righteousness , is made up by the evangelical . the ceremonies , as they were to have their period , so were to have their completion too at the coming of truth : and the law of works is not so much superseded , as 't is accomplished in its end , by the law of faith , which exserts it self , though not in an exact , as was then required , yet in , that , which is now accepted , a sincere obedience . now this justification i told you , is had by christ two ways . 1. by imputation of his satisfaction and merit . 2. by the influence and efficacy of his spirit . i am sorry to find that some men among us take offence at these terms of imputed righteousness , and infused grace , as notions that do not so well square with right ( i. e. they mean their ) reason . but as sure as our sins were imputed to christ , so really is his righteousness imputed unto us : and as sure as we have no natural ability of our selves to any thing that good is , so certain is it , that we are to be influenced by gods good spirit , infusing a principle of grace into us , and accompanying that grace along with his assistances in its particular acts . otherwise i am to seek which way we are to expect , either to be justified , or to be sanctified : for i hope they will not say our justification or sanctification is from our selves , and so make men to become their own saviours . 1. we are justified by christ , per modum meriti , as a meritorious cause ; by vertue of that satisfaction he has made for us . for the father and the son having in our behalf agreed upon a mutual covenant and ingagement , that whosoever believes , should through christ have forgiveness of his sins , and be accepted in the well-beloved ; and christ on his part having in his own person fulfilled the law , and fully answered all its demands , and satisfied divine justice for us ; it now remains that god , as he is faithful , will forgive our sins , if we be faithful ; and that he will in justice justifie us sinners by faith in his sons sufferings . for so he that knew no sin was made sin for us , that we through his obedience might be made righteous . to this satisfaction of his , which was of it self plenary , the dignity and excellency of the person that undertook and performed for us , has added that illustrious advantage , that there has accrued a large stock of merit , a purchase of life and glory for all believers , as well as of pardon and grace for true penitents . nor is it his merit alone , for which we are justified . but , 2. we are justified by him per modum efficientiae too , as an efficient cause , by the working of his spirit . and this was to ascertain his purchase and to apply his acquists : and therefore , when he had finished the work of our redemption he came into this lower world about , he not only ascended himself into heaven , there to sit at the right hand of the father , and by continual intercessions to plead and make good his merits ; but did also send down the spirit to keep residence here below , & to perform the office of an advocate and a comforter , and made him the great trustee to issue out the revenues of his grace . besides , all things in him are gathered into one , and there is that strict vnion and intimate communion betwixt christ the head of the church , and all the lively members of that his mystical body , all true believers , that they and he are one , as the father and he are one . for he having espoused our nature as well as our quarrel , the vertue of that hypostatical vnion extends it self over all , even to the very dust of the faithful , that sleep in their graves . from this close vnion it follows , that all believers , as being parts of himself , are animated and acted by his spirit effectually in several operations ; such as these are in the matter of justification we are now upon : that by this spirit of his , the merits of christ are applied to us , and that our consciences are sprinkled with his blood from dead works , to the purging away of guilt , that the pardon of our sins is assured and sealed to us , that faith is wrought in our hearts , and that a sufficience of grace is given in to us , whereby we are inabled to every good work . and all this according to the covenant , by which he was to purchase not pardon only , but grace also for us , whereby we might be as discharged from the guilt , so released from the slavery and dominion of sin , if we rightly imploy our victorious faith : which is the condition , or , if you will , taking the word in a moral sense , the instrument of justification . and this we are now to speak of , and then conclude with the extent of it , that 't is all believers are justified , and they are justified from all things . and these two will make up our applicatory part , the condition for our instruction and exhortation , and the extent for a word of comfort . seeing then that justification is so great an advantage and priviledge , such a benefit and blessing , as none is to be compared to it , as that which sanctifies and sweetens all the injoyments of this life , and ascertains gods favour and glorious hopes to us in the next : that which renders all conditions comfortable , living or dying ; whereas without pardon of sins and peace of conscience , let a mans outward fortunes be what they will , the man is an utter stranger to true happiness , whilst he is here , and will be abandoned to a sad miserable estate to all eternity hereafter : and seeing that this justfication is not to be had but by christ alone , who took upon him to be our surety , and has done and suffered all that was necessary to be done and suffered for us in order to our salvation , and has by his merit and satisfaction purchased for us pardon and grace whereby we may be saved ; and that the merit of his satisfaction can no other way be derived and conveyed to us but by faith in him , a reliance on his merit , and an obedience to his gospel ; and that without our faith christ and his gospel and salvation it self can stand us in no stead ; and all the merits of his obedience and the benefits of his passion , and the dispensations of his grace will signifie nothing , be of none effect to us , if we remain still in our unbelief ; let us be exhorted to have faith in the holy jesus , to have recourse to him as to our mediator and advocate , to imbrace him upon his own terms , to nail our sins to his cross , to cast our burden upon him , who is able to save to the utmost all that put their trust in him , to shelter our selves in the clefts of that rock the wounds of our dear saviour , and renouncing all other hopes with a holy confidence roll our selves upon his satisfaction , that we may be cloathed with the robes of his righteousness , and be found in him to the atoning of our offended god , to the pacifying and purifying of our troubled and guilty consciences , and to the escaping of indignation and wrath , tribulation and anguish , and everlasting burnings , which attend those that through unbelief and impenitence live and die in their sins . but because faith is a word of large and doubtful meaning in holy writ , let me also for your better instruction , that no one may mistake himself , lay before you some of the most ordinary acceptions of the word , which yet do not come home to our purpose nor amount to a justifying faith. sometimes faith is taken for an acknowledgment of divine truths revealed in gods word . and this though it be enough to denominate one orthodox in his opinions , and sound in his judgment ; yet if it be but notional , and hath no practical influence upon the heart and life , is no right sound faith , by which a man shall be justified . otherwhere it denotes a firm perswasion of mind , that the thing he is taking in hand is lawful and fit to be done . in which sense the apostles rule is to be understood , that whatsoever is not of faith is sin . and this is very far from being a faith that will justifie one before god or men . for some out of an erroneous conscience ( which sure is no good conscence ) may having a zeal not according to knowledge ( as often has been done ) think those things lawful , which are quite contrary : such as our saviour speaks of , that will kill you , and think they do god good service in so doing . and others when they have not a mind to do things that in their own nature are lawful , and the command of a just authority makes necessary to be done , may pretend dissatisfaction of conscience for a colour of their disobedience . another common acception , to mention no more , of faith is to take it for a strong assurance of gods peculiar love and favour to them in pardoning their sins and designing them for salvation . when perhaps they have no other reason for their so believing , but that they are willing to believe so , and have taken pains with themselves to perswade themselves into such a belief , and make themselves believe they do believe : and this may be , as it too too often proves a dangerous mistake , by putting the name of faith upon a fond over-weening conceit and a rash unreasonable presumption . wherefore that thy faith may not deceive thee , take along with thee these three or four marks of tryal , to examine it by , whether it be a right well-grounded faith or no. 1. a true faith imbraces christ in all the capacities of his mediatiorial office ; as king , priest , and prophet . 2. it takes in the whole compass of gospel-dispensations ; commands and threats as well as promises ; sacraments and all other ordinances alike . 3. it ingages the whole man , the assent of the understanding , the compliance of the will , the regularity of the affections , and the composure of the outward behaviour . 4. it always is accompanied with serious repentance for sin , and a frank expression and exercise of charity , according to the sense a man has of the love of god towards himself . dost thou find then that by thy faith thou ownest and acceptest thy saviour all over in all his three offices ? that thou art as content to submit to him as a prophet to teach and instruct thee , as a king to rule and govern thee , as thou art glad to have him thy priest to satisfie for thee and to bless thee ? art thou willing to be saved his way , and to conform to his methods , so as to ingage in working out thy own salvation , and art thou convinced thou oughtest to do something for thy own sake , something for his , who has done so much for thine ? has thy faith an equal impartial respect to christs commands as to his promises ? and dost thou take as much delight in the obedience of faith , as thou dost in its assurance ? dost thou consider that though it be a covenant of grace , thou standest under , yet 't is a covenant and tyes thee up to conditions ? and that though the gospel be a law of liberty , 't is a law still , and that christian liberty does not give thee a freedom from duty , but from sin , and is not to be used as a cloak of malice and licentiousness ? hast thou an even regard to all the means of grace , and a desire to profit by them all , and not by a wanton preference of one ordinance to another , forfeit the benefit of all the rest ? canst thou tell where to find thy faith , in what part of thee 't is seated : does it swim as an empty notion in thy head only , or has it by serious resolutions sunk down into thy heart , and thence flows into all thy outward parts ; to the government of thy thoughts and desires , thy words and thy actions ? dost thou use to call thy sins to account , and thinking on them and thy saviours sufferings togetber , set open the sluces of grief , and mourn over thy wounded conscience and thy crucified jesus ? and lastly , hast thou such a sense of gods love to thee , in the pardon of thy sins , that thou canst freely forgive all offences done against thee , and for his sake , who for thine has not spared his son , cheerfully part with all thou hast and resign up all thy concerns into his hands for his uses , when he calls for them ; and is thy faith a faith working by charity , that puts forth vital acts ; and evidences and justifies it self by good works to be a living and a true faith ? for though it be faith alone that justifies , yet 't is no true faith that is alone ; and as a man is not justified for his good works , so no man must hope to be justified without them . if thy faith be such a faith , as will abide this tryal , and answer this description , then 't is a faith thou mayst trust to , and thou hast reason to believe thy self to be a believer , and god will improve and build up thy faith to blessed assurances of pardon and peace , of grace and glory . and then in the last place , what comfort will it be to be thus assured , when thou canst apply the general proposition to thy self , which is that all that believe are justified . but believe . therefore i am justified . if all believers , then thou , believer , whoever thou art ; of whatsoever condition , be thy worldly estate never so low , thy outward circumstances never so contemptible , thou hast an equal share and interest in gods favour , and in the merit of christ with the best . whatever thy former life hath been , read with comfort that black list of the foulest sins , 1 cor. 6. idolaters , adulterers , and the like , and such , the apostle tells them , were some of you , but now are ye washed , now are ye sanctified , now are ye justified . reflect with sorrow upon what thou hast been , and with joy give god thanks for what thou art . and then how weak soever thy faith at present be , canst thou say , lord , i believe , that he may help thy unbelief , and increase thy faith more and more , till faith it self shall be swallowed up into vision . this as to the extent of the subject ; nor has that of the object less of consolation in it , when a believer considers that by his faith he is justified and fully discharged from all things , from all suits and evictions , from all troubles and molestations , from all dues and demands , his surety having paid all for him . from the guilt of sin , in that he that knew no sin , was reckoned amongst transgressors , and was made sin for him . from the punishment of sin , christ having offered up himself in sacrifice once for all . as for the chastisements and light afflictions of this life , as they are but momentany , to they are attended with an eternal weight of glory . from the demands and sentence and curse of the law , his redeemer having fulfilled all righteousness for him , and nailed the hand-writing of ordinances , which was against him , to the cross , and undergone the curse upon the tree . from the wrath of god , which the son of god his mediator has atoned . from the horrors of a guilty conscience , which the lamb of god has sprinkled with his blood , and his prince of peace has spoke peace to . from the terrors of death , which the captain of his salvation has conquered by dying . from the accusations of the devils , whom the king of glory has triumphed over at his descent into hell in their own territories : and from everlasting damnation , which his blessed saviour the holy jesus by his infinite satisfaction has bought off for him . and now what has this happy person to do in this world any longer , having his debts paid , his sins pardoned , his god reconciled , his conscience quieted and assured , his accusers silenced , his enemies vanquished , the law satisfied , and himself justified , and his saviour glorified , and a crown of immortality , and a robe of righteousness prepared for him ; what has he to do here more , then to get him up to the top of pisgah , and take a view of his heavenly canaan , to stand upon the confines of eternity , and in the contemplation of those joys and glories despise and slight the vanities and troubles of this sinful and miserable world , and to breathe after his better life , and be preparing himself for his change , when he shall be called off to weigh anchor and hoise sail for another world , where he is to make discoveries of unutterable felicities , and unconceivable pleasures ? o what a happy and blest condition is it to live or to die in the midst of such gracious deliverances and glorious assurances ; with this fastning consideration to boot , that neither life nor death , nor things present , nor things to come , nor any creature is able to separate him from the love of god , which is in jesus christ his lord ? thus to live , is to live in peace ; thus to die , is to die with joy : peace of conscience , and joy in the holy ghost . what would not a dying man give to have his eternal state thus secured to him , and to insure his soul for his long long voyage , whence there 's no returning ? o let us earnestly beg of god to give us faith to be our guide in this life , and our pilot for the next . amidst these raptures , 't is but time , to speak a word or two of our dear deceased sister here before us , who has brought us together to do her the last office of christian charity . and sure that charity , as well as custom , makes it necessary , that where much may be said , something must . nor need i be lavish in her praises , since to be but just to her memory , and to speak out , but her due commendations , would seem to distrust the neighbours , her acquaintance , my auditors , whose good word and high esteem as she had , when she was living ; so she needs no pulpit-flattery to set her forth being dead . shall i tell you of her conjugal affection and her chast conversation coupled with fear ? who , besides the advantages of a great fortune , brought that to her husband , which was a more valuable portion , a lowly mind ; paying that constant respect to his person , and that due submission to his pleasure , and that sure friendship to all his concerns , and demeaning her self to humbly , as if she had brought him nothing but her vertues . shall i mention her indulgent care and motherly love of her children ? whose duties she earned by her laborious attendance on their infant-years , thinking it would look too like an unkindness to be owned as a mother , where she had not been a nurse too , and judging it little better than unnatural not to entertain them at her breasts , whom she had carried in her womb . shall i take notice to you , what good order and decorum she kept in her family , how she centered all her thoughts and business , like the standing foot of the compass , at home , and how unconcerned she was in the publick , unless it were to do any office of neighbourly kindness , or when the duties of the sabbath called her forth ? above 〈…〉 humility was remarkable , for she had that , which s. peter advises grave matrons to put on , the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god , and of good men too , of great price : and this she preferred before all the gawdy attire , which others of her sex , especially of her fortune , use to adorn themselves withal . in a word , as she exprest the vertues of the other sister in her domestick cares , so i doubt not but she minded the one thing necessary too , and with mary in the gospel , chose that better part which shall not be taken from her . god grant us all to be like-minded , and as he has given us his son , so may he give us of his spirit to work faith and all grace in us , that so we may be justified and sanctified , and finally as we hope she now is glorified . now to god the father , son , and blessed spirit be all praise , honour , and glory , now and for ever . amen . finis . the waters of marah sweetned a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. clare wittewronge, eldest daughter to joseph alston esq; and late wife to john wittewronge esq;: who was interred at stantonbury in the county of bucks. octob. 22. 1669. by mr. john mason, minister. mason, john, 1646?-1694. 1671 approx. 40 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a52175 wing m923 estc r213830 99826101 99826101 30493 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a52175) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30493) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1798:9) the waters of marah sweetned a sermon preached at the funeral of mrs. clare wittewronge, eldest daughter to joseph alston esq; and late wife to john wittewronge esq;: who was interred at stantonbury in the county of bucks. octob. 22. 1669. by mr. john mason, minister. mason, john, 1646?-1694. 39, [1] p. printed by john macock, london : 1671. the first leaf is blank. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng wittewrong, clare, 1644 or 5-1669 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -hebrews ix, 27-28 -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2004-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-09 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-09 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the waters of marah sweetned . a sermon preached at the fvneral of mrs. clare wittewronge , eldest daughter to joseph alston esq and late wife to john wittewronge esq : who was interred at stantonbury in the county of bucks . octob. 22. 1669. by mr. john mason , minister . 1 cor. 15. 56 , 57. the sting of death is sin , &c. but thanks be to god which giveth us the victory , through our lord jesus christ. col. 3. 4. when christ who is our life shall appear , then shall ye also appear with him in glory . london , printed by john macock . 1671. hebr. ix . 27 , 28. and ▪ as it is appointed unto men once to die , but after this the judgment ; so christ was once offered to bear the sins of many , and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time , without sin , unto salvation . man is born to die , and he dies in order to his last judgment . this is an hard sentence ; but the latter part of the text mollifies it ; so christ was once offered to bear the sins of many , and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time , without sin , unto salvation . the proposition is terrible , but the reddition is comfortable . the scope of the apostle in this chapter is to prove that the sacrifice of christ exceeds in worth and merit all the sacrifices of the law. and one argument is this , that the sacrifice of christ was so perfect , that it needs not to be repeated ; but whereas the sacrifices of the law were offered by the high-priest yearly , our lord jesus by one single oblation of himself hath obtained eternal redemption for us . and this argument is illustrated in the words of my text ; as men die once , so christ died once for men ; for his death was equivalent to many deaths : and as men after death must appear to be judged , so jesus christ after his death shall appear to judge men . he shall die no more , but when-ever he appears again , it shall be to judge the world , and to save his elect. this proves the vertue and merit of his death ; for if christ by his death had not wholly discharged himself from the imputation of sin , he must have been a prisoner , and not a judge . now as the words shew us the sufficiency of christs mediation , so in the second place the suitableness thereof to those estates whereunto all mankind is ordained . we must all die of necessity , we must all come to judgment ; but this we have for our comfort , jesus christ is gone before us in death , and will meet us in the day of judgment and from hence we raise this observation . those last , inevitable , and dreadful estates of death and judgment are sanctified and sweetned to all true believers by the precious death and glorious appearance of jesus christ. death and judgment are the terrors of mankind , but they are consecrated into blessings and comforts by the death of christ , and the appearance of christ. the doctrine falls into two parts . 1. jesus christ hath sanctified to us a dying estate by his own death . 2. he will sweeten to us our day of judgment by his own appearance . to begin with the first . we are all subject to a state of death , and that , not by hap or chance , but by the appointment of the living god. it is appointed unto men once to die . 1. in gods secret and everlasting decree . 2. in that express decree , gen. 3. 19. dust thou art , and unto dust shalt thou return . god hath said it , and hath performed his word in all ages ; so that we must needs dye , and are as water spilt upon the ground . now seeing we cannot possibly avoid a dying condition , let us see how we can digest it . and truly if we look back upon its first institution , and the occasion of it , we shall find it to be full of malignity and bitterness . for what is death , but the curse of the great god upon rebellious man , the bitter fruit of sin , a period to all earthly comforts , and the beginning of an everlasting hell ? death destroys vital union , dissolves the knot of natural relations , divorces the wife from her husband , pulls the child out of his fathers bosom ; it marrs the greatest beauties , stains the pride of earthly glory ; it degrades the honourable , binds the strong , beggars ▪ the rich ; it casts us out of our houses and possessions , disappoints our earthly expectations ; in a word , it rends a man asunder , and sends part of him into the prison of the grave ; and the other part into the dungeon of hell. and now what will ye do in the day of visitation ? how will you save your selves ? to whom will ye flee for help , and where will you leave your glory ? can your hearts endure , or your hands be made strong in the day that the great god shall deal with you ? o unhappy mortals , that are born to such misery , who have no sooner entred a single life , but are liable to a double death ! and surely if the son of god had not died in our nature , we should envy the condition of toads and serpents ; we should curse the day of our birth , and tremble before the day of our death . but christ was once offered to bear the sins of many . this offering hath mitigated our state of mortality . for as it is appointed to men once to die , so jesus christ was appointed to die once for men . he died once , that we might not die ever . the blood of god was an acceptable sacrifice to the justice of god. infinite blood hath satisfied infinite justice . so that wheresoever this blood is sprinkled , it redeems the soul to god , even from the hand of all her enemies . particularly death threatned us with hell and damnation ; but now the death of christ is the plagues of our death , and the peace of our souls . and what is it now for us to die , but to pass into the bosom of a reconciled god , to leave the world , and to go to our father ? we die still , yet it is upon a new account . as good josiah , though he died in blood , yet he went down into the grave in peace . the sentence of death , though it be still passed upon us , yet its commission is altered through christ. before it was a serjeant to carry us to the dark and dreadful prison of hell ; but now it is as it were a porter to set open heaven-gates for us . death hath a new commission , and a new aspect by vertue of the death of christ. it is 1. innocent . 2. vseful . 1. innocent . the death of a faithful christian ( for i am speaking now of sincere believers ) i say , the death of a faithful christian doth him no hurt : what hurt is there in putting off a suit of old cloaths ? i must shortly put off this earthly tabernacle , says the apostle peter , and it did not greatly trouble him . what hurt is it for an imprisoned soul to be enlarged ? or for a wearied body to take a short nap in the dust ? jesus christ hath sucked out all the venom of death . christs death hath swallowed up the bitterness of ours . christ hath taken away 1. the sting . 2. the curse . 3. the shame . 4. the terrour . 5. the enmity . of death . 1. jesus christ hath pulled out the fiery sting of death ; 1 cor. 15. 56. the sting of death is sin . guilt is the vigour of death . guilt and sin makes death to be venomous and deadly ; but a child of god dies not upon the account of sin , neither in his sin , nor for his sin . christ was offered up to bear our sins . that was the business of christs death , to be a sacrifice for sin . but our death is a service , not a sacrifice . this is enough to make our death tolerable ; 't is no punishment for our sins . 2. christ by his death hath taken away the curse of our death . death at the first was threatned as a curse , and as an instrument of gods revenging justice . but jesus christ by suffering the cursed death of the cross , hath taken away the curse of our death . here is more comfort for us , christians ; death is not envenomed with the wrath of god ; it is no blow in anger , no token of his displeasure , no curse , but only a rougher sort of love . 3. jesus christ hath taken off the shame of a dying condition . death was a shameful penalty inflicted upon ambitious man , that would needs have been a god. death was sent to reproach him , to stain the pride of his glory . but our lord cloathed himself with our shame , you know , how he was buffeted , derided , spit upon , crowned with thorns , arayed with mock-apparel . why was this ? but to take off the reproach of our sufferings , and the shame of our death . 4. jesus christ by his agonies and tremblings , and terrible sufferings , hath freed us from the terrour of death . there is a fear of death arising from the natural constitution of man ; this is a guiltless infirmity , which all are subject to . but then there is a slavish fear of death , as it is penal , as it is an issue of the primitive curse , and as it is a dreadful entrance into a state of damnation . now true believers are delivered from the spirit of bondage through the blood of christ. this also enables them to check their natural fear , as hilarian did , when he cryed , get thee out , my soul , get thee out ; thou hast served christ these seventy years , and art thou now afraid to die ? lastly , the enmity of death is slain by the death of christ. it intends us no mischief . though i● may seem to threaten us at a distance , yet ( like esau ) it is friendly in its address . it is an enemy to our nature , but it is no enemy to our happiness . it divides us , but it doth not destroy us . nay this last enemy is become one of our chiefest friends . for when the world disquiets us , pains torment us , friends and physicians are of no value , death proves our cure. when sin besets us , temptations assault us , the devils buffet us , death proves our deliverance . you see , my beloved , what an innocent thing death is ; you may touch it , handle it , converse with it , it will do you no hurt . it is but a necessary ceremony and formality , through which we must pass into everlasting glory . as it is innocent , so it is vseful ; for it is a blessing of god , a blessing of the new covenant . death is yours . dear christians , all are yours ; and as the ministers of the gospel are yours , and the world is yours , and life is yours , so death is yours ; yours in covenant , yours to serve you . if ye are christs , death is yours ; but if you are not christs , you are deaths , you are deaths prisoners ; but in christ we are deaths masters . for all true believers , though they have not made a covenant with death , yet they have death in the covenant . we call death a debt of nature , but to us it is the gift of god ; a legacy rather than an exaction , a priviledge rather than a burden . it is a conquered enemy , and is become tributary to us . 1. it gives us rest from all our labours . rev. 14. 13. blessed are the dead that die in the lord , for they rest from their labours . these are our working days , our dies profesti , the days of our toil and pilgrimage ; but there remains a rest for the people of god , heb. 4. 9. there remains a sabbatism ( as it is in the original . ) and death is the evening of our everlasting sabbath . here gods people are labouring under sin , and against sin , under temptations , and against temptations , in their heavenly callings , and in their earthly callings . but then these weary pilgrims shall be at rest , when their souls shall be lodged in the bosom of christ , and their bodies shall rest in a bed of earth . our souls shall rest in heaven , and our flesh shall rest in hope . 2. death enters us into our masters joy , into the presence of god , where there is the fulness of joy . here the children of the bride-chamber are fasting and mourning for the absence of the bridegroom . here they hang their harps upon the willows , and how can they sing songs in a strange land ? but when once they come into their lords presence , they shall break forth into singing ; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads , sorrow and sighing shall flye away . 3. to die is gain . for it perfects our knowledge , grace and communion with god. alas , here we know but in part . the the apostle tells us , we are but children , we think as children , we discourse as children ; but when we are grown up to a full stature in christ , when we are once got to heaven , we shall put away these childish things . then we shall see god as he is , and know him as we are known , and shall behold his face in righteousness , and shall be satisfied with his likeness . then our faith shall end in vision , and our hope in fruition , and our graces shall be perfected in glory . our love shall burn , our zeal shall flame , our holiness shall shine ; then our peace shall be as a river , and our righteousness as the waves of the sea. then we shall have perfect , immediate , uninterrupted communion with god. this it is to die in the lord. but after death comes judgment . there is a vain argument that lactantius confutes ; epicurus slighted death upon this account , because said he , whilst we are , death is not ; and when death is , we are not ; and therefore death is nothing to us . but this man erred , not knowing the scriptures , nor the power of god : for after death comes judgment , wherein the souls and bodies of men being re-united , all nations , tribes , and languages shall appear before the living god to give an account of their lives , and to receive their final sentence . now it is the dreadfulness of the day of judgment , that makes the day of death so terrible . and the poor guilty soul was not more loth to part with her body in the day of death , than she shall be to re-enter it in the day of judgment . when the lord jesus shall appear from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire , to take vengeance on all those that know not god , and obey not the gospel of christ , where then will guilty sinners appear ? or where will you hide your selves from the presence of the lamb ? alas , there will be no possibility of escaping his terrible presence ; you shall see him coming in the clouds , you shall hear him pronouncing your dreadful doom , you shall feel him pressing down your souls with the power of his wrath . but fear not , little flock ; for your enemies shall not sit in judgment ; when you shall come upon tryal for your lives , to have your everlasting estate determined : it is your friend , your brother , your advocate that shall be your judge : 't is he that led you by the hand through the valley of death , that shall meet you in the day of judgment . then you shall say , lo , this is our god , our jesus , we have waited for him , and he will save us . then the object of our faith shall be the object of our sight . him whom our souls have loved , and longed for , we shall see with these eyes of ours in that day ; we shall see him coming in the clouds with power and great glory , we shall see him not with scorn , but with admiration , not with trembling , but with rejoycing . christs first appearance was very mean. he appeared as the son of man , or rather as a worm , a reproach of men ; all that saw him laughed him to scorn . but hereafter he shall appear as the god of all glory , and the judge of quick and dead . in the days of his flesh he appeared as a prisoner at pilates bar , and as a malefactor on the cross ; then indeed he stood charged with the sins of all his people , but in the day of judgment he shall appear without sin unto their salvation . the glorious presence of the lord , that shall be as a devouring fire to consume his enemies , shall be a warm sun to refresh his saints . and that day , that shall be a day of terrour to guilty sinners , shall be to us a day of refreshing from the presence of the lord. it 's wonderful to think , what infinite honours and priviledges shall be conferred upon us ( poor dust and ashes ) in that day . how we shall be caught up in a chariot of clouds , and shall meet the lord in the air , where we shall receive kind salutations from him , and smiles , and blessings , and acknowledgments of service , and crowns of glory , and shall be made his assessors whiles he is judging the world , and after all this , shall attend him into his glorious palace , where we shall ever be with the lord let us comfort one another with these words . the very thought of christs last appearance , how sweet is it to a believing soul ! this day of life , is a day of trouble ; but the day of judgment , is a day of redemption . this is a day of confession , but that is a day of absolution . here we are slain all the day long , but that is our coronation-day . here in mans day we are judged by the world , but in the lords day we shall judge the world , angels , and men . o most blessed day , that ever shone , being thus enlightned by the bright and glorious appearance of the sun of righteousness ! now if death and judgment are thus sweetned , and blessedly altered through christ , as you have heard ; then o how happy are the saints departed . rev. 1413. blessed are the dead which dye in the lord from henceforth . they are blessed from henceforth ; here their blessedness commences , even in this same point which puts a period to their sins and sorrows . and the spirit of god bid his amanuensis write it down , as a remarkable note , that a christians blessedness takes date from the time of his death . till then he was a wretched sufferer under a body of death , and a mass of corruption , but now he is a blessed triumpher . his sins have left him , his good works follow him , and heaven affords him rest. i confess , 't is a common errour among the worst of men , that when they die , they shall be at rest ; and in their pains , they will wish to die , that they may go to rest . but alas , 't is only those that die in the lord , that shall rest from their labours . cursed are they that die out of the lord , that die in the old adam only , and upon the old score . i have spoke nothing all this while in favour of the unregenerate ; let them not boast with agag , surely the bitterness of death is past , for death will hew them in pieces , as the unmerciful executioner of divine justice . they that die out of christ , die in all the sins that ever they have committed . those dreadful words which our saviour spoke to the pharisees , will reach them — ye shall die in your sins ; and whither i go , ye cannot come . their dying , alas , what is it but a going to hell ? as the rich glutton , when he died , the next news that we hear of him is , that he is in hell ; the devil did not make him roar till he had him there . death stings a wicked man , and leaves its sting in him , and casts all its venom upon him . a wicked man is a great loser by his death ; he loses all he is worth , he loses his heaven here , his paradise , and his hearts delight ; death sends him into another world begging . and he that had his cups of wine here , would there be glad of drops of water . he is a great sufferer by his death ; for it is the devils trap , wherein he takes his soul ; it is the door of hell , which lets him into that abhorred place of everlasting torments . but , o how safe and quiet are those that are fallen asleep in jesus ▪ they are resting securely , they are unconcerned in the troublesom affairs and changes of this life : nothing disturbs their rest . abraham is ignorant of us , saith the church ; but he is acquainted with god and christ , and that is sufficient . he is ignorant of us and our calamities , but he is sensible of his own mercies . alas , here can be no perfect happiness on this side death ; for whiles we are present with the body , we are absent from the lord. it was excellently spoke of queen elizabeth , whiles i call things past to mind , behold things present , and expect things to come , i hold them happiest that go hence soonest . surely all the faithful have cause to bless the lord for a state of mortality . job loathed to think of a state of immortality upon earth , chap. 7. 16. i loath it , i would not live always . the soul of this righteous man was like a bird caged or pinioned , and if she had her freedom , she would soon flie away , and be at rest . what delight could she take in such an unclean cage , in such a rotten , ulcerous body , in such a base treacherous world ? she would fain be gone , and is waiting and requesting for leave . it was once the speech of a good man , i have been seeking death these forty years , and cannot find it . i care not when , nor where , nor how i die ; and seeing our lives be so miserable , it is our happiness that they be mortal . truly our condition would be very sad , if we should have immortal sins , immortal cares , immortal miseries , but death proves mortal to them all . and whereas our bodies shall be recovered from a state of death in the resurrection , our sins and sorrows die and rise no more . i must needs say , 't is an happiness to be christs souldier in the field of this world , but o how happy are his courtiers ! they are resting in their beds , whiles we are toiling in the house of bondage . they are singing on the shore , whiles we are floating on the waves : we are sowing in tears , but they are reaping in joy , and rejoycing as in the joy of harvest . we are wrestling with devils , but they are conversing with angels . but when the lord jesus shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the archangel , and the trump of god , then shall these blessed souls attend upon him ; and they shall immediately recover their proper bodies after their long separation ; and then soul and body shall mutually comfort and welcome one another , and rejoyce together , being both dressed up into a conformity to the glorious image of god , the king of glory , and arrayed suitably to the solemnity of that day . imagine we two travellers sweetly and sociably walking together , till night overtakes them ; one of them loses himself in the dark , and being tired with his journey , lies down , and falls asleep ; the other being more vigorous and lively , walks on till he spies a light in a stately lodge , there he knocks , and finds good entertainment , and is kindly invited to stay . there he refreshes himself after his travel , and enjoys himself : yet he wishes for the company of his fellow-traveller to compleat his felicity . when morning light appears , he goes out , and seeks his companion that had been sleeping upon the cold earth all night ; there he renews his acquaintance with him , and brings him into the presence of his new-found friend , where they both share in his courtesie and bounty . these two travellers are the soul and body of a christian. their days journey is the twelve hours of their life ; the night is death . both walk friendly together , till night parts them ; the weary body falls asleep ; the active soul keeps on her way till she comes to the light of heaven , where she is most kindly treated by the lord and his angels . but yet in the midst of her entertainment , she cannot forget her old mate , but is ready to say , lord , i have a body below , which used to pray with me , and to fast for me . well , it is not long e're morning-light appears , and then the soul looks abroad , and takes acquaintance with her body , and carries it into the presence of her noble and gracious lord , where both are welcomed with his smiles , and enriched with his favours . such honour have all his saints . how happy is our friend departed ? she is with her father above , with her husband above , and with her children in glory . i shall not insist much on her praises : for though solomon saith , a vertuous woman shall be praised : yet he says in another place , her own works shall praise her in the gate . they that knew her most , loved her best . among several good things that were found in her , there are four which i would not have buried with her in the dust , but shall publish them as worthy of your imitation . 1. her private conversings with god. 2. her affectionate hearing of gods word . 3. her professed esteem of the merits of her saviour . 4. her frequent , savoury discourses of her own mortality . her infirmities she oft bewailed , and they served but to enhance the price of her saviours blood. she professed she was willing to die , that she might cease from sin ; and upon her death-bed she rejoyced in hope of the glory of god. she hath left us such evidences of her holiness , that we doubt not of her happiness . and how happy are the saints departed ! again , learn from hence how to die , and how to prepare for judgment . we all know , we must die ; but who knows how to die ? death is the way of all the earth , but an happy death is a way that few find out . now seeing we cannot make a covenant with death , let us labour to have death in the covenant . wouldst thou die and go to the grave in peace ? then 1. meditate on the death of christ. some harden themselves against the fear of death , because 't is the general lot of mankind : all must die , say they . it is appointed for all men once to die . but alas , what comfort can it be to them to be bound up in a bundle of tares , and to be cast into unquenchable fire ? but , poor christian , let this be thy comfort , that death was the lot of jesus christ , that he hath consecrated a dying state for us in his own body , and that he poured forth his soul unto death , that our souls might be bound up in the bundle of life . the life of our souls lies in the blood of christ. o my beloved , take heed of slighting a crucified christ. they that are against christ , either in their judgments or hearts , that dispute against him , or live against him , seem to hate their own souls , and to be in love with damnation , as it is in prov. 8. ult . how can such ever look death in the face , that hide their faces from christ , and esteem him not ? where will they find such another saviour ? in vain do you run from mountain to hill , christ , christ alone can secure you from the plagues and hellish terrors of death . he is the foundation of an holy life and happy death . the readiest way to learn this long art of dying well , is to study the death of christ. now the intendment of the death of christ , was not meerly to teach us to die patiently , but to enable us to die comfortably . and if thou wouldst depart this life in peace , then first possess thy soul with a right apprehension of the death of christ. study the words of the apostle , christ was once offered to bear the sins of many , and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time , without sin , unto salvation . in these words , you have four things touching the death of christ very considerable . 1. the death and blood of christ was vicarious , instead of many . many deaths were summed up in his one death . he was offered upon the cross , to bear the sins of many . the jews thought he died worthily for his own sins , for blasphemy and treason : no , but it was our blasphemies and treasons , our sins against god and man , that he died for . isa. 53. 4. — we did esteem him striken , smitten of god , and afflicted ( viz. for his own sins ; that was their great mistake , which the church of god corrects in the next verse . ) but he was wounded for our transgressions , he was bruised for our iniquities , the chastisement of our peace was upon him . 2. observe , christs deaths was an offering ; he was offered in sacrifice to god upon the altar of the cross. he did not fall as a sacrifice to the rage of the jews ( for he could easily have rescued himself out of their hands ) but he was offered up to the justice of his father . eph. 5. 2 — christ hath loved us , and hath given himself for us , an offering and a sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling savour . 3. in respect of sin , christs death was not only penal , but also expiatory . he bore the sins of many , i. e. the punishment due to them , even what was equivalent to a thousand hells . there are not such torments to be found in hell , as he suffered upon the cross , where he bore the sins of his people . and yet he did so fully discharge himself of sin , that at his second coming , he shall appear without sin . 4. in respect of his enemies , the death of christ was victorious . once he was devoted for his people , cursed , tortured by a bitter death : but in death he overcame death , and all the powers of hell. and therefore death could not hold him , the grave could not detain him , the wicked one could not touch him , heaven could not refuse him . he died once for sin , but he shall die no more , for his death was triumphant over sin : and he shall shortly appear without sin , to the terror of his enemies , and the salvation of his dear people . we should treasure up such sweet notions of a dying jesus , to prepare us against our dying day . to die , my friends , is a solemn work ; it is a loud summons that calls the soul to appear before her judge . we go from funeral to funeral , and may see death riding through our towns , but little do we think what it is to have death come home to our selves . o what strange thoughts of heart , what hurrying of passions will the sight of death beget , when it layes close siege to a man , and begins to make its breaches upon the body . then the soul views and reviews her self ; as all the virgins looked into their vessels , when they were awakned by the loud cry at midnight , to see if they had oyl for their lamps . then all the signs of grace , and grounds of hope must be brought to tryal ; then she examines whether her matters be right and good , whether her condition be safe . but be it safe or perillous , death comes in haste , as martha to her sister , the master is come , and calls for thee ; and thou must away : then all the world could not redeem one hour for repentance . now how if thou shouldst be surprised , and taken away by a sudden stroke , and arrested by death , before thou hast well thought of it , what a sad blow would that be ? o therefore now be wise , be wise , for thy self ; it is a great point of wisdom to consider our latter end ; as the lord saith , o that they were wise to consider their latter end ! i beseech you therefore , familiarize death in your thoughts , make it near . what thinkest thou ? durst thou dye this night ? durst thou meet thy judge this night ? thy heart , it may be , trembles at the thoughts of this o spare me a little . but then ask thy self , why thou wouldst not dye , what art afraid of ? let me offer some consolatory meditations to a poor soul that is trembling under the fears of death . art thou afraid of the wrath of god ? then meditate , but christ died as a propitiatory sacrifice to satisfie the justice of god. he drank off the very dregs of gods wrath in the cup of his death . art thou afraid of losing thy soul for ever ? o but jesus christ died for the redemption of poor souls . his soul went for our souls , and his life for our life . he gave his life a ransom for many , mat. 20. 28. the price of christs blood is a souls ransom . art thou afraid of falling short of heaven ? but the death of christ opened our passage to heaven . the renting of the vail of his blessed body made an open passage into the holy of holies . art thou afraid thy sins should find thee out in another world ? then meditate , the lamb of god , that great sacrifice , takes away the sin of the world . sin was condemned in the death of christ , and receives its final execution in the death of a christian. art thou afraid the law should condemn thee ? then remember , the death of christ hath rebated the edge of the law , and hath abolished the curse of the law. art thou afraid the devils should fetch away thy soul at death ? but the lord jesus hath destroyed him that had the power of death , and hath bruised the serpents head , by the power of his death . thus you should anoint your heads against your funeral , with the precious oyntment of the name of christ , and bathe your souls in such heavenly comfortable meditations . 2. it is not enough for us to meditate on the death of christ , but we must apply it to our selves by a lively faith , that it may have an influence upon our death . have faith in the blood of christ. the blood of christ is the wine and marrow of the gospel-feast , the strength of our sacraments , the foundation of an everlasting covenant . this blood seasons all the mercies of a believer , sanctifies all his offerings ; it makes his heart chearful , his life comfortable , his death precious , his grave sweet , his soul fit to enter into the holy of holies . o derive the stream of it upon thy soul. thou canst not instantly believe that christ died for thee , yet labour to stay thy heart upon the satisfaction , sufficiency , and worthiness of the death of christ. hide thy self in the clefts of the rock , the wounds of thy saviour . embrace a crucified christ , and lay him in thy heart , as joseph did in his garden . why hath the righteous hope in his death , but because he hath faith in the death of christ ? a living faith in a dying christ is a soveraign remedy against the plagues of death , and an infallible prevention of the pains of hell. joh. 11. 26. whosoever lives and believes in me , he shall never die , as we read it . but yes , he shall die once by gods appointment ; but he shall not die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( as in original ) he shall not die ever , he shall not die to eternity . death is cast into the lake of fire . they that are thrown into the lake of fire , meet with death there : in the lake of fire they are ever dying . but he that hath faith in the blood of christ , passeth from death to life . what was it that gave the israelites safe passage through the red sea ? read heb. 11. 29. by faith they passed through the red sea as by dry land ; which the egyptians ( through presumption ) assaying to do , were drowned . even so death will drown us and sink us into hell , if we have not faith to clear our passage for us . lastly , would you hold up your heads in the day of judgment , then look for the coming of christ. wo be to those souls to whom christ shall come unlooked for . o how sadly shall the drowsie world be surprised by the sudden appearance of christ ! but christ shall appear to the salvation of those faithful servants , that are watching and waiting for his second coming . he shall come to them , not as a thief in the night , but as a friend in the day . faith and love combine together in an earnest expectation of christ , and that is the reason , that it is so kindly accepted , and so richly rewarded . and therefore , good christians , keep watching , if you have any affection for christ. cannot you watch one hour ? it is but yet a little while , and he that shall come , will come and will not tarry . you have but two things to do , and christ will either meet you or send for you ; and that is to finish your work , and to fill up the measure of your graces . god hath something to do for us , and something to do by us , and then he will take us to himself . 1. we must be careful to dispatch our business , and to finish our task . herod might threaten death , but our saviour could not die till he had finished the work which god gave him to do . so neither shall a christian die , till his work be done . we read , act. 13. 36. david after he had served his own generation by the will of god , fell on sleep . or , as others read it , when david had served the will of god in his age and generation , &c. both are true ; he was serviceable to god , and an useful instrument in the church ; and when all his work was ended , he fell on sleep , and sweetly rested in the lord. 2. again , we must fill up the measure of our graces . there is a certain measure and proportion of grace assigned to every member of the body of christ. some have more , some less : every one shall have his proper sufficient measure . a christian shall not enter into glory , till he hath received his measure of grace . read the parable of the seed growing secretly , mark 4. 26 , 27 , 28 , 29. and observe that passage , after that the full corn is in the ear , and the fruit is ripe , immediately he putteth in the sickle . when our grace is like full corn in the ear , when the fruit of gods spirit is ripe in us , then immediately comes the sickle of death ; then we are meet to be partakers of an inheritance with the saints in light , o then we shall come and appear before god. consider what hath been said ; for , you see , all flesh is grass , and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass ; the grass withers , the flower thereof falls away ; but the word of the lord endures for ever . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a52175-e240 doct. acts 20. 28. hos. 13. 14. 2 pet. 1. 14. gal. 3. 13. heb. 2. 13. 1 cor. 3. 22. 1 cor. 13. 9 , 11. ii. part of the doctr. 2 thess. 1. 7 , 8. psa. 22. 6 , 7. 1 cor. 4. 3. 1 cor. 6. 3. vse 1. joh. 8. 24. joh. 8. 21. isa. 63. 16. job . 7. 16. vse 2. mat. 25. joh. 11. 29. deut. 32. 28. heb. 10. 19 , 20. joh. 1. 19. gal. 3. 13. heb. 3. 14. rev. 20. 14. heb. 10. 37. luke 13. 23. eph. 4. 7. 1 pet. 1. 24 , 25. a sermon preached at the funeral of her late majesty queen mary of ever blessed memory in the abbey-church in westminster upon march 5, 1694/5 by his grace thomas lord archibishop of canterbury. tenison, thomas, 1636-1715. 1695 approx. 31 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a64379 wing t722 estc r6633 12527693 ocm 12527693 62689 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a64379) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62689) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 949:5) a sermon preached at the funeral of her late majesty queen mary of ever blessed memory in the abbey-church in westminster upon march 5, 1694/5 by his grace thomas lord archibishop of canterbury. tenison, thomas, 1636-1715. [2], 14 p. reprinted by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson ..., edinburgh : 1695. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-06 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-06 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of her late majesty queen mary of ever blessed memory in the abbey church in westminster . upon march 5 , 1695. by his grace thomas lord archbishop of canterbvry . edinburgh , re-printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , 1695. die jovis 7. martii , 1695. it is ordered by the lords spiritual and temporal in parliament assembled , that his grace the lord archbishop of centerbury be , and he is hereby desired to print and publish his sermon preached in the abbey-church in westminster , at the funeral of her late majesty queen mary of blessed memory . matth. johnson , cler parliamentor . eccles . vii . 14. former part. in the day of the prosperity be joyful , but in the day of adversity consider . god , also hath set one over against the other . — prosperity , which carries the affections outward and discovers them in joy , is , by no means , a fit subject to to entertain you with in the house of mourning . but adversity , which causeth the mind to retire , and to consider , is , without peradventure an argument in season . and , a fourfold consideration , in this day of our adversity , seems very proper . i. the greatness of our loss . ii. the principal cause of it . iii. the degrees of good , which god hath temper'd with this sore evil , for the rendring of it the more supportable . he hath set the one over against the other . iv. the duty which , upon this whole matter , is required of us , to the end that our affliction having had its due effect , we , who , at present sow in tears , may hereafter reap in joy. 1. the first consideration is , the greatness of our loss : this will appear ▪ 1. from the excellency of the person whom god hath taken from us , 2. from some circumstances of time by which that loss is further enhaunced . 1. the greatness of our loss appears from the exellency of that person whom the goodness , and justice of god ( towards her goodness , but justice towards us ) has taken away . this is a very copious subject ; and the difficulty consists not in finding out matter , but in keeping a measure in speaking . to that , therefore , i shall have especial regard . now , the excellency of the person may be represented to you , 1. in her intellectual accomplishments ; 2. in her graces and vertues . 1. this incomparable princess was endow'd with more than common accomplishments of mind , whether we have respect either to her knowledge , or her wisdom . towards her knowledge nature hath done a great deal , education and conversation of the best kind , more still , and most of all the grace of god. her vnderstanding was clear and steddy , and there was a great compass and comprehension in it . it reach'd both to the greater things of religion , and the lesser of oeconomy . it was perpetually fed and improved by reading , by hearing books read , by discoursing , by meditation . her books were many and well chosen ; much delighted in , and therefore well studied , and well remembred , for her majesties memory was great , and it was properly exercised by books of history . one i may name which she much valued , and often took into her hands father paul 's celebrated history of the couneil of trent . but the holy scriptures were the oracles which she chiefly consulted . in them if any thing occurred which was not at first so well understood it was , by her , noted down , as a subject for after-thoughts , and to be cleared by them , or by some comment , or some person of especial ability . neither was her wisdom and prudence inferior to her knowledge ; and of this there are many instances out of which i shall select a few . 1. her wisdom shew'd it self in the governing of her knowledge she troubled not her self or others with such curious questions which the prudent neither ask , nor think themselves concern'd to answer . neither was she wrought up to any biggotory in unnecessary opinions : she was most conversant in books of practical divinity , of which some of the latest used by her , were certain sermons , and some discourses concerning happiness death and iudgment . she knew good things in order to the doing of them . it is true , she read many volumnes of controversies betwixt the reformed and those of the church of rome ; but it was for the sake of necessary defence not of vexatious dispute . 2. her wisdom was made known by the wonderful art she had attain'd to , for the governing of time , upon which all managements do much depend . her hours were so adjusted to the several affairs of her own and others , that notwithstanding the multiplicity of them , she found a season for every thing , and frequently a time for dispatching many things together . dressing did not wholly prevent reading , or hearing , or working ; and nothing prevented the service of that god , who gives all time , and expects an account of it . it was well understood by this wise princess , that in the current of time , affairs meet at last with a stop ; if by dispatch some of them are not taken out of the way , but all are suffered to float down together . 3. her wisdom shin'd very gloriously in her administration of publick affairs , for which she has received deservedly the publick thanks , having conducted them with wisdom and temper and unwearied application ; application , which was made a jest in a late age , and the want of which is a lamentation in this . it was an obeservation of some who were in circumstances to make it , that when secret difficulties occur'd , this wise princess had a due sense of them , and together with that , such a command of her passions , that there appeared few signs of trouble , none of dejectedness in her countenance ; least either the friends of the government should be disheartned , or its enemies encourag'd . add to all this , that the wisdom of this princess was that true wisdom which chuseth the best things in the first place ; the honour of god before the pomp of life ; the salvation of the soul before the gaining of the world. this wisdom is justified by the genuine effects of it ; of which the second part of her character consists her graces and virtues ; which may be laid before you under these three great branches of the christian life , piety , charity , and humility . 1. she was a princess eminent for piety ; piety which is necessary for all , but still more necessary in her station , it being the readiest way for those who are to govern the people , to be , first , themselves obedient to god. her private devotions were extraordinary . and tho she shut out the world , yet in her high circumstances , her very retirements could not pass wholly unobserv'd . and it has at last been understood that her exercises of devotion which were known , were not the half of those which were then not known . if all were as diligent in examining and noting down the condition of their souls , and comparing the former and the present estate of them , heaven would in some measure be upon earth . in publick , how pious an observer of the lords day was this religious princess ; how constant at prayers , at the blessed communion , at sermons ; and at all of them how reverend , how attentive ? insomuch , that those who gave themselves any diversion from their own duties , to observe the manner in which she performed hers , found her intent upon them ; and no further drawn off , than by a solemn look to check any interruption which might sometimes happen . so judicious and devout a saint , the degenerate church of rome can by no means shew us ; the zeal of their most pious recluses , being from the very rules of their several orders , embased with superstition , whilst in hers appeared no allay of it . 2. the genuine fruit of the true devotion of this princess , was christian charity , without which the longest and loudest prayers are but pharasaical pretences . for he who loveth god , loveth his brother also . her charity was as great as her power , and as discreet as it was great . the distressed french , and scots , and irish , and the needy at home , were daily refreshed by it . it extended to persons of condition who were fallen into decay , and to a very great number of meaner people , and especially ( as i am well assur'd ) to the wives and vvidows of inferior soldiers and seamen . her charity was generous and unconstrain'd . when it was ready , nothing was denied which was fit to be asked . it could not be extorted by the vnworthy , and by the worthy it needed not . in granting charities . there appeared in her countenance an air of satisfaction ; and when supplies were not at hand , it was a grief to deny , but the mannner of it was obliging ; whilst many others almost as often as they gave a denial , create a enemy . if god had thought us worthy of her life , she had done more publick and lasting charities , and particularly in an hospital for seamen at greenwich , in which the wisdom and goodness of the king concurr'd with hers whilst she was alive ; and which at this time his majesty is going on with , for the encouragment of navigation , which i take to be the english nerve both of war and peace . 3. as this excellent princess added to her knowledge wisdom and to her wisdom , piety , and to piety , charity ; so to all these , she gave ornament by humility , which according to st. peter , is the cloathing , [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] the girdle or badge of a servant of christ. the haughty and over-bearing are absurd enough when they have power , but when they have it not , they are perfectly ridiculous . in this princess , authority , majesty , and humility met together . that dwelt in her to such a degree , that in her presensce , or within her hearing , the speaking of this , which i have said , or any thing like this , would have been exceedingly offensive . but the justice of nations gives those praises to the merit of good princess , which their own modesty would not bear . an ordinary instance may suffice for the shewing her averseness not only to flattery but to praise . of a book addressed to her , she said she had read it , and lik'd it well , but much the better , because the espistle was a bare dedication . this grace of humility did eminently discover it self , when at any time her publick administration was to cease . it was laid down with the like unconcernedness , as one uses when he puts off his garments , and goes to rest. it is true , this grace was accompanied with a remarkable smoothness of demeanor ; but it was not such as the artificial use ; it was the effect of an excellent spirit , and not of worldly craft . it was , also , attended with familiarity , but with such a good sort of it as bred rather veneration than contempt ; and increas'd the love and duty even to her servants , tho' she treated them as her children : it procur'd that regularity and good order , and diligence in her greater family , which , in private ones , is so much to be desird . such accomplishments as these , are , usually , increas'd by fame but diminished by presence , which discovers those imperfections that , at a distance , are not discern'd . but , here the more this queen was understood , the more she was admir'd ; and those who knew her best , could not but most esteem her . after this excellent princess had been very well known for several years in a neighbouring country , she was so extreamly valued , that her removal from it was lamented as a death , and occasioned a deep and universal sorrow . concerning her forementioned graces and vertues , they may upon many accounts , be still further recommended . they were not blemished by vanity or affection : had that been so , she would scarce have made such a profession as this a little before her death . i know ( said she ) what loose people think of those who pretend to religion : they think it is all hypocrisie : let them think what they will , i may now say , and i thank god i can say it , i have not affected to appear what i was not . further ; her vertues were the early fruits of the grace of god ; whilest fear and impotency are the ordinary causes of the shews of piety in aged sinners . they dwelt in a person seated in that high estate which is subject to many and violent temptations . they were practis'd in conjunction with one another . they were the agreeable parts of an uniform life . they were sincere and unpolluted ; and it could not be said of this princess● that she had great virtues and no less vices . there was devotion without enthusiasm , and charity without vain-glory , and humility without that censoriousness which tramples upon the pride of others with a greater pride of its own . they had their influence upon her in her several stations and capacities . she was a wise and good queen an incomparable wife , and one who ( i'm well assur'd ) had all the duty in the world for other relations , which after long and laborious consideration , she judged consistent with her obligations to god and her country . she was likewise , one of the great supports of gods church establish'd among us , and not without due temper towards the scrupulous ; a patroness of religion and learning , a mistress whose service was a pleasure ; a true and certain friend ; and a christian mild and merciful to her enemies . marvel not that she had some ; the son of god himself was not without them . in fine , there was in her life a perpetual course of christian practice . she was not distemper'd with fits of unsubstantial piety , which are suddenly rais'd , and as suddenly vanish . the spring was in the judgment and the heart , and from thence the exercises of holy living were regular and constant . o! how good , how happy a life was this ? what a glorious scene was it , not of vain pleasure , and soft and unprofitable ease , but of true usefulness and comfort ? how reasonable were her very diversions ; such as building , and gardening , and contriving , and improving , and adorning , and adjusting every thing thereunto belonging ? how does her life upbraid theirs , who are at the end of their race , before they have set a few wise steps ? lord , teach us so to husband our time that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . to have lost a very wise and virtuous friend , tho' of private condition , had been no small calamity , but here we lament the death of a publick person , who was as publick a good and that has made our loss so much the heavier . there are also , secondly , some circumstances of time which farther shew the greatness of it . great is our loss of a most pious queen in an atheistical and profane age , the seeds of which impiety have been sowing for some years , and now seem to spring up in greater plenty than ever . great is our loss of a most charitable queen , in an age which takes up the reverse of our lord 's saying , and declares that it is more blessed to receive than give ; of a most humble queen at a time when pride would bring all to such a level , as is the parent of confusion . again , great is our loss with respect to this iuncture , a time of foreign war , and domestick discontent reigning in those whose resentments are stronger than their reasons . a person is taken away who was a partner in all the joys , and griefs , and fortunes of the king ; one who could administer , with the entire confidence of all the people , and without the competition of the great . likewise , great was our loss by the death of a matchless queen as taken away in the midst of her daies , and in less than half the common standard of human life . it is certain , all princes are mortal ; dust they are , and to dust they shal return : but yet good princes are the especial care of providence , which often preserves them by striking a terror into the desperate themselves ; whilst tyrants , who have not god before their eyes , and observe not how he rules by the eternal laws of equity , do seldom die an unbloody death . moreover , this princess , being a person of the nicest modesty , and most regular life , and free from those uneasie & vexatious passions , which wear out nature before its time ; we had entertained hopes that , under the shadow of her protection , we might have sate down many years with safety and delight . but man's expectation is often very vain , and it is as often disappointed ; and when it is so . that causeth grief . and there is a double grief which it ought to awaken at this time ; a grief for our loss , and a greater one for , that which is a , ii. second consideration , the principal , occasion of it . natural causes had their share in this evil , but it was the immortality , the sin of the nation which hastened it as a judgment . a sparrow falls not to the ground without god's providence , much less a crowned head. god has guided and ordered this affair as he does all things , most suitable to his own justice . he is righteous , but we have been wicked : he shewed what a mighty blessing he had for a people , if they would become reform'd ; but we were not sufficiently sensible , nor thankful . their majesties letters for reformation were early issu'd out , but how few had a just regard to them ? the light shone , and we followed not its direction , and god has remov'd one branch of it ; let us sin no more lest ( which god avert ) those which remain be extinguish'd also . as yet we may be happy , if we will amend ; for god hath shewed us by several tokens , that he has not yet given us up to destruction . he has afficted us , but in judgment he has remembered mercy . and , which is , iii. a third consideration , in this day of our trouble : he has temper'd prosperity with adversity , to make the latter the more supportable ; he hath set the one over against the other . and thus much the following remarks will prove . the king's life is ( blessed be god ) preserv'd , and his health re-established ; and is still pursuing the great design of securing the liberties of europe . he was present in this kingdom when our loss happen'd , for the keeping us from that instability which this accident might have procur'd . he still more endear'd himself to his people , by that tenderness which he express'd upon this most sorrowful occasion . that went as far as decence would permit , and gave us an instance of such true greatness of mind as is made up of courage and humanity . the good vnion of the royal family in this realm , confuted the surmizes of evil minded men , and disappointed their devices . the great council of the nation was sitting at this time , and came to a speedy and seasonable resolution for the support of the king and his government . the season admitted of little of such actions as might disturb affairs abroad . and at the same time that foreign countries had the sad news of the queens death they reciv'd tidings of the loyalty of the kingdom . these several things , by the conduct of god's wise providence , have wrought together for good. and there is one thing more to be considered under this head ; that seeing god had determin'd this good queen must die , the christian manner in which she went out of the world , is , in some sort , an alleviation of the grief of those whom she has lef behind her ; who have indeed reason more than enough to mourn , but yet not as persons without hope . some few days before the feast of our lord's nativity , she found her self indispos'd . that , where it was known , was ( i hope ) some check to the liberties of such who mispend that most solemn festival in very improper mirth . i will not say that of this affliction she had any formal presage : but yet there was something which look'd like an immediate preparation for it . i mean her chusing to hear read more than once , a little before it , the last sermon of a good and learned man now with god , upon this subject , iob 2 , 10. what! shal we receive good from the hand of god , and shal we not receive evil ? this indisposition speedily grew up into a dangerous distemper . as soon as that was understood , the earliest care of this charitable mistress was for the removing of such immediate servants as might , by distance , be preserved in health . soon after this , she fix'd the times of prayers in that chamber to which her sickness had confin'd her . on that very day she shewed how sensible she was of death , and how little she fear'd it . she required him who officiated there , to add that collect in the communion of the sick , in which are these words — that whensoever the soul shal depart from the body , it may be without spot presented unto thee . i will ( said shee ) have this collect read twice every day . all have need to be put in mind of death , and princes as much as any body else . on munday , the flattering disease occasioned from hopes , though they were but faint ones . on the next day , the festival of christ's birth , those hopes were raised into a kind of assurance ; and there was joy , great joy seen in the countenances of all good people , and heard from their mouths ; and , i believe , it was very warm in their hearts . but alas ! we saw what a few hours could bring forth . that joy endur'd but for a day ; and that day was clos'd with a very dismal night . the disease shew'd it self in various forms , and smal hopes of life were now left . then it was that he who perform'd the holy offices believ'd himself oblig'd to acquaint the good queen with the apprehensions all had of an unlikelyhood at least of her recovery . she receiv'd the tidings with a courage agreeable to the strength of her faith. loth she was to terrify those about her ; but for her self she seem'd neither to fear death , nor to covet life . there appear'd not the least sign of regret for the leaving of those temporal greatnesses which make so many of high estate unwilling to die . it was ( you may imagine ) high satisfaction , to hear her say a great many most christian things , and this amongst them ; i believe i shal now soon die , and i thank god , i have from my youth learned a true doctrine that repentance is not to be put of to a death-bed . that day she called for prayers a third time , fearing she had slept a little when they were the second time read ; for she thought a duty was not perform'd , if it was not minded . on thursday she prepared her self for the blessed communion , to which she had been no stranger from the fifteenth year of her age. she was much concern'd that she found her self in so dozing a condition ; ( so she expressed it ) . to that she added , others had need to pray for me , seing i am so little able to pray for my self . however , she stirred up her attention , & prayed to god for his asistance , & god heard her , for from thenceforth to the end of the office she had the perfect command of her vnderstanding , and was intent upon the great work she was going about : and so intent that when a second portion of a certain draught was offer'd her , she refuss'd it , saying , i have but a little time to live & i would spend it a better way . the holy elements being ready , and several bishops coming to be communicants , she repeated piously and distinctly , but with a low voice , ( for such her weakness had then made it ) all parts of the holy office which were proper for her , and received with all the signs of a strong faith and fervent devotion , the blessed pledges of gods favour , and thank'd him with a joyful heart that she was not depriv'd of the opportunity . she owned also that god had been good to her beyond her expectation , though in a circumstance of smaller importance ; she having without any indecence or difficulty taken down that bread , when it had not been so easie for her some for time to swallow any other . that afternoon she called for prayers somewhat earlier than the time apppointed time , because she feared ( that was her reason ) that she should not long be so well compos'd . and so it came to pass : for every minute after this , 't was plain death made nearer and nearer approaches . however , this true christian kept her mind as fixed as posibly she could upon the best things ; and there were read , by her direction , several psalms of david , and also a chapter of a pious book concerning trust in god. toward the latter end of it , her apprehension began to fail , yet not so much but that she could say a devout amen to that prayer , in which her pious soul was recomended to that god who gave it . during all this time , there appeared nothing of impatience , nothing of frowardness , nothing of anger ; there was heard nothing of murmuring , nothing of impertinence , nothing of ill sound , and scarce a number of disjointed words . in all these afflictions the king was greatly afflicted ; how sensibly , and yet how becomingly , many saw ; but few have skill enough to describe it : i 'm satisfyed i have not . at last , the helps of a●t , and prayers and tears not prevailing , a quarter before one on friday morning , after two or three smal struglings of nature , and without such agonies as in such cases are common , having ( like david ) serv'd her own generation by the will of god , she fell on sleep , acts. 13.36 . thus piously , thus resignedly , thus calmly departed this wise , and great , and good princess , who could never have learn'd the art of dying so well , if she had not first well understood and duly practis'd , the art of living so . what becomes vs , who are left behind in this troublesome world , is the iv fourth and last consideration ; and i will detain you with it but a very little time. our duty is manifold ; towards god , the king , the memory of the queen , ( the blessed queen ! ) and our own selves . towards god , our duty is , to give him the glory , thankfully to commemorate the excellencies of his grace , which shin'd in the queen : for by his grace she was what she was ; to give thanks to him for enjoying so wonderful a blessing thus long , without any murmuring because he was not pleas'd to continue it longer to us ; to own his justice , to tremble at his iudgments , to remove the causes of them , our grievous sins , and with frequent and earnest supplication , to cry to heaven , and say , spare thy people , good lord ! spare them , & be not angry with us for ever . towards the king ; our duty is , to pray to god to double his blessings upon him , and to endeavour our selves to support him by the steddiest loyalty . towards the memory of the queen , our duty is , to mourn solemnly and deeply , ( so much even foreign nations have done ) and yet to temper our sorrow with the strong hopes we have of her everlasting felicity ; to speak good of her , to observe and extol the mighty power of her piety , which conquer'd so many hearts ; so to commend her virtues , as not to let them cool in our practice , but , as far as we can and may , to follow her example , who liv'd more ( that is , to more purpose ) in three and thirty years , than very many do in seventy . to conclude our duty towards our selves is , to weep , not so much for her as for our selves , and for our provoking iniquities which have drawn down this calamity upon us , and speedily to amend our lives ; and in order to that , to think daily of death , and not to suffer the splendor of any thing , that is great , nor the conceit of any thing , that good in us , to divert us from the consideration of our mortality . seing the most vvise , pious , charitable , humble queen is taken away in the flour of her age ; how foolish , how wicked is the wilful forgetfulness of death in the dissolute , the bloody , the sick , the aged , the decrepid , nay , even in the young and healthful ! let us consider we are mortal , ( which we must do if we have any thought that way at all ) and let us carry that thought forward to all the purposes of the holy living . for , when a man dies , to concern is not how great or how rich he has been , ( all that is come to an end ) but how good a life he hasled . may god give us all grace to live as this blessed princess did , that we may dye like her ; that we may fight the good fight , and finish our course by all the exercises of our holy religion , and keep the faith inviolate , to the last minute of our days , that from thenceforth , there may be laid up for as a crown of life , by our lord jesus the righteous judge of all men ; to whom , with the father , and holy ghost , be all honour and glory world without end amen . finis notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a64379-e210 1 pet. 5.5 . jul. poll. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 4. c. 18. christ's revvard of a christians watch and ward, or, a sermon preached at the burial of mr. john berry of thorverton in the countie of devon, aug. 23, 1654 by john preston ... preston, john, b. 1598 or 9. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a55741 of text r1152 in the english short title catalog (wing p3297b). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 46 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a55741 wing p3297b estc r1152 12181821 ocm 12181821 55690 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a55741) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 55690) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 115:7) christ's revvard of a christians watch and ward, or, a sermon preached at the burial of mr. john berry of thorverton in the countie of devon, aug. 23, 1654 by john preston ... preston, john, b. 1598 or 9. [6], 16 p. printed by w. bentley for f. eaglesfield ..., london : 1655. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. eng berry, john, d. 1654. funeral sermons. sin -sermons. sermons, english. a55741 r1152 (wing p3297b). civilwar no christ's revvard of a christians watch and ward. or a sermon preached at the burial of mr. john berry of thorverton, in the countie of devon preston, john 1655 9157 26 0 0 0 0 0 28 c the rate of 28 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion christ's revvard of a christians watch and ward . or a sermon preached at the burial of mr. john berry of thorverton , in the countie of devon ; aug. 23. 1654. by john preston minister of the gospel there . upon these words of our saviour , luke 12. 37. blessed are those servants , whom the lord , when he cometh , shall find watching . london , printed by w. bentley , for f. eaglesfield at the marygold in s. pauls church-yard . anno dom. 1655. to the worshipfull thomas brown esquire , alderman of london , grace and truth by jesus christ . sir , it may be said of your famous city , as sometimes of tyre . she is the crowning city , whose merchants are princes : whose traffiquers are the honourable of the earth , isa. 23. 8. but what became of tyre , that noble and ennobling city ? her crown was laid in the dust , and her honourable in the streets . and why ? they were haughty and knew not the lord , neither regarded they the god of jacob . they did not know ; in their affairs they eyed not the crown of righteousness , neither were traffiquers with heaven , therefore they perished from off the earth . your city , as a stately princess , wears a goodly rich crowns on her head , crowns her merchants and inhabitants with wealth and honour ; and you confess that it is not for your righteousness that the lord hath spared you , but that it is of the lords mercies , that ye are not consumed , because his compassions fail not . lam. 3. 22. i will not accuse you for pride and haughtiness , for trampling under foot the glory of england , the preaching of the gosple of righteousness , nor for blasphemy , heresie , apostasie , oppression , self-love , and self-seeking , serving your selves upon christ and upon his gosple , for i have often heard you , upon your publick fasting-daies and daies of humiliation , to accuse and condemn your selves for these and the like city sins , onely i grieve to see these rebels and traitors against god to get a reprieve , and i heartily wish that the day of their execution were come : for , the putting of these to death will be your life . for the prophet micah tells you how you shall be still renowned , the crowned and the crowning city . to do justly , to love mercy , and to humble thy self to walk with thy god , micah 6. 8. you must meet god every day upon the royal exchange . here you must barter nature for grace , error for truth , your own righteousness for christ ; ( and who will not part with dross for gold , pibbles for pearls , rags for robes ? you must put off ( saith the blessed apostle ) concerning the former conversation , the old man , corrupt through the deceitfull lusts , and be renewed in the spirit of your minde : and put on the new man , which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness . ephes. 5. 22 , 23 , 24. your main case must be for your religious factorage , and to keep up your noble trade with heaven . your merchandize must be for them that dwell before the lord , to eat sufficiently , and for durable cloathing . isa. 23. 18. let prayer continually go forth with your loaden vessels , and the spirit of god will pilot ye . then shall ye have good markets indeed : and oh , the rich returns that will flow in unto you ! blessed are the merchants , that walk and talk with god daily upon the exchange . when god and the soul are partners , oh , the sweetness and fullness of that communion and entercourse ! see how our saviour loveth such a soul as is busied in heavenly negotiations , when he likens the kingdom of heaven to such a merchant , who seeking goodly pearls , when he had found one pearl of great price , he went and sold all that he had and bought it . matth. 13. 45 , &c. the true christian is this merchant ; a merchant adventurer , he ventures riches , honours , pleasures ; life and all , he trades for pearls , that is , he seeks ( with labour , cost , and danger ) for heavenly knowledge , the pearl of great price , or the peerless pearl is christ iesus . a pearl is bred of a caelestial humour or dew in shell-fishes : christ by heavenly influence was formed in the womb of the virgin . emanuel , god with us , or god-man is this pearl . the value and worth of this pearl no arithmetician can sum up , it is infinite , of wonderfull virtue , most precious , a pearl that makes pearls , it makes vile sinners to be pearls and costly jewels , malac. 3. 17. and turns every evil thing into good for us , rom. 8. 28. as the philosophers stone turns every thing it toucheth into gold . this pearl , christ iesus with all his gifts , graces , virtues , merits , and priveledges is derived to us by the means of his ordinances . these are the cabinets and caskets of this pearl . god offers christ in his word , he is willing to barter with us . come buy . isa. 55. 1. i counsel thee to buy . rev. 3. 18. in it god desires us to be good to our own souls , to receive the soul-saving , soul-enriching pearl , thus offered ( as these texts , 2 cor. 5. 20. deut. 5. 29. luke 13. 34. do testifie . ) as there the merchant went and sold all , so doth the true christian sell all . that is first , he parts with the estimation of all in comparison of christ . secondly , he hath a heart prepared actually to part with all , if he cannot enjoy it and christ too . thirdly , and especially , he parts with his sins all , not reserving a zoar or a rimmon , not keeping any one beloved lust or forbidden pleasure . yea , fourthly , he parts with his affections , with all their branches and objects , if they will not stand with christ . whatsoever comes into competition with christ , whether honours , riches , pleasures , yea his own life , he declineth it , and looseth all for christs sake . and the gain of this merchandize , no tongue is able to express . thus do wise merchants traffique whilst they live here on earth , a countrey that is not theirs , venting their commodities and transmitting all they can into heaven , their own countrey , against their arrival and receit there , with joyfull acclamations of saints and angels , and most rich and most honourable dwelling with their blessed redeemer , soul-solacing , and hearts-satisfying friends , in perfect joy , compleat comfort , and fullness of all good things for evermore . the lord remove and take out of the way , whatsoever letteth you in this blessed merchandize , which is better than the merchandize of silver , and the gain thereof than fine gold , prov. 3. 14. let your merchandize be holiness to the lord isa. 23. 18. here : so in the ballancing of your accompt at the last day , you shall be clear out of debt with your heavenly creditor , and receive a full and final discharge , together with a full remuneration of eternal happiness to you , and all carefull accomptants with him , wayters and preparers for him . which negotiation and traffiquing with heaven ( o sedulous and rich merchant ) is set forth under many other notions in scripture . amongst which is that of watching for the masters coming . what it is ; how this watch is to be set and kept , motives to it , and the reward of it , is as laid forth in the ensuing sermon , in which your obsequious friend ( being dead ) yet speaketh . many be the epistles , ( which whilst he lived ) he wrote to you by my hand . accept i beseech you of my appearing his amanuenlis once more . and keep this by you . first , as a remembrance of him that honoured you , and was faithfull and diligent to serve you in your employments in our countrey . and second , as a funeral ribband for your soul to wear , which may daily minde you of your mortal condition , and stir you up to get such necessaries and preparatives to go hence , that when ) you shall be no more seen on earth , you may enjoy the beatifical vision of our lord jesus in heaven . so prayeth ; sir ▪ your worships servant in our great master , iohn preston . a sermon , preached at the bvrial of mr. john berry . august 23. 1654. luke 12. ●7 . blessed are those servants , whom the lord when he cometh shall finde watching . here christ compares himself to a man lately married , solacing himself , preparing a place for his spouse , leaving a servant at home to wait for his return . christ hath married his church to himself , is gone into heaven to solace himself , after his sufferings ( for he ●ught his church with his bloud ) in the mean time we are to ●atch for the coming of our lord . blessed are those servants , whom ●●e lord when he cometh shall finde watching . where you have 1. the master . 2. the servants . 3. their works . 1. here is our relation . servants . 2. our condition , a wayting a ●●tching condition . 3. the encouragement . blessed are those ser●●nts , &c. 1. our relation , servants . doct. our greatest title of honour in this life , is to be gods servants ; his servants are kings . to serve him is to reign , that is , over lusts , over sin . his service is perfect freedom ; he is greater than alexander the great that subdueth his passions and corruptions . and hath made us kings , revel. 1. 6. ( us ) his servants , not onely in adopting us to be the heirs of his kingdom , but also ( through the power of the holy ghost ) hath made us conquerours over sin , death , hell , sathan , and all our enemies , as it is written , in all these we are more than conquerours , rom. 8. 37. and he will crown all his members with glory and honour . vse . 1. account it so , & make great account of , and glory we in this title . and indeed this is all our glory , our joy and rejoycing , that the lord hath vouchsafed to call us forth to serve him , to wear his badg and livery . and it is a rich and beneficial service , we serve a lord that hath the scepter of heaven and earth , that will reward to a cup of cold water . a poor man beg'd a penny of alexander , he gave the poor man a city ; what will our munificent , most magnificent lord do if we ask in faith . he will give us a kingdom , a glorious kingdom , a kingdom of glory that cannot be shaken . ask of me , and i will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance , and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession , psal. 2. 8. said god to his son ; aske of me in my sons name ( saith the same god to his servant whosoever he be ) and i will give the heaven for thine inheritance , and the uttermost parts of the boundless inheritance ( which is above ) for thy possession ; so that gods servants may say every one of them , i am a citizen of no mean city . i am a king of no mean kingdom . i am a servant of the great god of heaven . he will not set us to gather stubble as pharaoh , to work of our selves , but he will enable us to work ; where we fail , he will pardon ; and when we do his works by his own help , he will reward , crown his own works in us ; and when our enemies oppress ▪ he will take our parts . vse . 2. do we our duty as servants , else the lord will not own us . when david was contriving to build a temple to the lord , then 't is , go tell my servent david ; but when out of gods work , numbring the people , then onely go tell david . so when the people of israel did well , then , go tell my people , but when they committed idolatry , go tell thy people , exod. 32. 7. the lord will not own us , if we be away from his work and service . but is it for nothing that god so highly honoureth his people ? seemeth it a small thing ( saith david ) to be king sauls son in law ? so ( say i ) seemeth it to you a small thing to be the king of sauls sons by grace , to be his servants ? nay , dignity calls for duty , this honour looks for service and gods servants must be watching , which is the 2. part . the second part of the text is the condition . [ watching ] doct. it is the office of every christian , constantly to watch and wait for the lords coming . all wakers are not watchers . there is a natural waking , and there is a spiritual waking , and so there is of watching . waking natural is when the obstructions of the spirits being dissolved , the spirits return into the senses ( for sleep is the binding up of the senses ) when upon the discessation of vapours ( that stopped the senses before ) there is a return of the spirit into the senses ; which may be done by some call , some motion , some stirring up of the body : or by some great shining light . in a spiritual sense . worldly thoughts , and fleshly thoughts , as foggy vapours , do obstruct the workings of gods spirit , and cause the soul to sleep in sin . god calleth by his word , stirs up good motions of his spirit , sends a proclamation by his messengers , scatters , a light , either the light , the delightsome light of his mercies , or the startling terrifying light of his judgements , or the light of divine truth , and awakens these sleepers . and this waking is a preparative to waching , as watching is a i reparation for the masters advent . watching natural : is when upon waking we have our senses exercised , and are intent and carefully look about us to prevent some mischief or inconvenience , which careless security would let in upon us . spiritual watching ( of which in the text ) is when upon our waking , our souls are exercised , the faculties and powers bent and intent in the work which god hath set us to do , when we do quicken , actuate and raise up our graces , avoiding of evil , preparing for god , to prevent that hurt and dammage which a sleepy state brings upon men : here 't is spoken of the vigils of the soul , yet the body may so far be taken in , as it is an instrument of the soul in the action . in the primitive times they had their vigils , because of present persecution , or when they had some great business in hand , to seek the lord for direction or for preparation to the sacrament . in process of time it fell into superstition , and the papists rise up to their blinde devotions at certain hours of the night , which they call canonical hours . but how are we fallen from the zeal and piety of the primitive times ? — o quantum mutatus ab illo — pectore . o where is the heart , and life , and spirit , the vivacity , the constancy and continuance in the service of god ? sathans watch and play is more used than our saviours watch and pray ? but to the doctrine . it is the office of every christian to keep a constant and continual watch over his soul . reas. 1. because we are in danger of sin , and in danger by sin . in danger of sin , besides many other sins ; of that deadness and drowsiness and heaviness of spirit which hangs upon the best . in danger by sin , more than i can express , offending of god , the good angels , giving advantage to sathan , exposing our selves to his darts , grieve the good spirit of god , and put a sting into all other troubles , yea , sin makes the blessings of god to be no blessings , birdlimes , or clips the wings of our prayers , hinders us from praysing god for his blessings . sin is the continual make-bate between god and us , it separates all good from us , it withdraws our good god from us . it cankers our gold , blasts our good , embitters our comforts . it is cunning and will steal into our hears , unless we keep a guard and set a diligent watch . what is it but the powerfull command of sin ( which like the devil in the man possessed ) casts us sometimes into the fire , where we burn and boyl with lust ; sometimes into the water , where either we swim with vain delights ; or are drowned with the drunken pleasures of this flattering world ? sometimes it blows us up into the air , with a giddy desire to hunt and hawk after the honours and preferments of the world , and anon throws us down groveling on the ground , nailing our affections to this earth with the covetous desires of worldly goods . sin lies daily and hourly at our doors , at our beds , at our boards , in solitariness , in company , in the house , in the field , watching to surprize us , therefore we ought constantly to keep our watch , because of the danger . reas. 2. because the life of man is a pilgrimage , and we travel through our enemies countrey . this is sathans empire , we had need to watch , when we are in the midst of our enemies , and a traitor , a bosom-enemy within us . alas our precious iewel is in a fraile pitcher , therefore keep thy heart with all diligence , prov. 4. 23. in the 2 kings 20. 39. a disguised prophet cries to the king , and said . thy servant went out into the midst of the battel , and behold a man turned a side , and brought a man unto me , and said keep this man : if by any means he be missing , then shall thy life be for his life , or else you shall pay a talent of silver : to our purpose , thus . as thou camest into the midst of the army , the militant church , god gave thee a soul to make thee a man , with this charge , keep this soul safe , if it be missing when i come , about the business of the world , or sin , or sathan , look to it , thy soul goes for it , and thou hast in all the world but one soul , if unprepared and unappointed , the lord will cashier it , and cast it into hell , whence thou shalt not come forth till thou hast paid the utmost farthing . it will be in vain for thee to say as the man of his prisoner vers. 40. as thy servant was busie here and there , he was gone : lord i had much to do in the world , many businesses , much to look after , &c. so my soul was missing when thou calledst . the lord will say as the king to the delinquent there , so shall thy judgement be , thy self hast decided it . reas. 3. we are runners in a race . the price set before us is eternal glory . according as the price is above all other : so in our running we should be more quick , more yarr and circumspect . reas. 4. we are in a warfare , and souldiers can never promise to themselves security without a strong and diligent watch ; 't is certain , the general of the enemies horse never sleeps , sathan is alwaies waking and watching to take advantage , & simon dormis tu ? christian souldier sleepest thou ? the poor disciples slept when their lord was in an agony , but iudas slept not : ah! our husbandmen slept , and the envious one hath sowed tares . christs disciples have left christ alone to his own cause , saying , as sometimes the israelites , to your own tents . now look to thine own house , o son of david . reas. 5. we are stewards , and must shortly give an account , how we have improved our talents . the estate of an account is a watchfull estate . our account will be strict , our thoughts words and works shall be weighed in the impartiall scales of the judge of heaven and earth , and if they be found thoughts of the flesh , words of the world , and works of the devil , we shall be sent away from the presence of god . with a go ye cursed &c. hell will be our prison , eternity our shackles , fire and brimstone our torment , the breath of the lord like a river of brimstone will kindle it . reas. 6. the daughter of improvidence , notably set forth , luk. 12. 45 , 46. if the servant say in his heart , my lord delayeth his coming , and shall begin to beat the men-servants and maydens , and to eat and drink , and to be be drunken . the lord of that servant will come in a day he looketh not for him , and at an hour when he is not aware , and will cut him in sunder , and will appoint him his portion with unbelievers . swift destruction is at the heels of promisers to themselves peace and safetie . yea , then is the time of pouring down divine vengeance , when men are dissolved to a secure negligence . when they shall say peace and safetie , then sudden destruction cometh upon them , as travail upon a woman with child , and they shall not escape , 1 thess. 5. 3. lastly , we are perpetually under observation ; 1 conscience is an observer of us . 2 sathan observes what we speak or do , that he may accuse us to god and witness against us . 3 god observes us , his eyes behold , his eye-lids trie the children of men , psal. 11. 4. he knoweth our thoughts , he writes it down in his book , and the faults can never be blotted out without repentance . if conscience fail ( as for a time she may ) and lye asleep at the door of our heart , and neither bark or bite ) she will awake at last and tear thee . assure thy self , god will not fail to set thy sins in order before thee , if now thou do not examin and set them in order before thy face , judge and condemn them . the case being such , we had need to keep a perpetual watch and ward over our souls . these reasons are so many motives to this necessarie dutie of a christian watchfulness . i shall now give you a few directions for , and in watching . first , labour to have waking considerations . consideration is a help to watchfulness . 1 know and believe that there is a god that eyeth thee , an enemie that observeth thee , and a conscience that will do his office first or last , that death is coming , and judgement draweth nigh . 2. consider the end of this coming into the world , and living here . what dost thou here eliah ? o baptized christian , what dost thou sullying thy self amongst the flesh-pots of egypt , lading thy self with thick clay , how long ? hab. 2. 6. how long , o ye sons of men will ye turn my glory into shame , how long will ye love vanitie and seek after leasing , psal. 4. 2. how long will ye be busied like ants about a mole-hill , carrying and recarrying in and out a little worldly trash , when you think to finish your earthly fabrick , death ( as a wild beast ) with one dash of his foot spoils all , and disperseth it and you . the time past may suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles , when we walked in lasciviousness , lusts , excess of wine , revellings , banquetings , and abominable idolatries . 1 pet. 4. 3. it is enough , i , too too much , that you have revelled out the third of your life to waste , hitherto ; oh spend and end the little remnant of time wholy and holy in gods service , working out your salvation with fear and trembling . were your heaven-born souls given you to stop to this earths drudgery ? your eagle minds to resort to the carrion of this world ? was your golden time given you to gather dross ? your noble affections to run in the dirty channels of this world ? rather was not your chief end to glorifie god and enjoy him ? how sutable have been your actions to this chief end ? have they been for your good and the salvation of your souls ? consider this seriously . 3. have this waking consideration . is not god present ? doth not he observe all my ways and count all my steps ? if i have walked with vanity , or if my foot hath hasted to deceit job . 31. 4. 5. will not god finde it out ? saies joseph , how can i do this great wickedness , and sin against god , in whose presence i am , gen. 39. 9. the eyes of the lord run to and fro through the whole earth , to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him 2 cor. 16. 9. he neither slumbereth nor sleepeth , his eyes see into the dark thoughts of our heart , all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do heb. 4. 13. this should make us watch over our secret sins . what if thou hadst no body to accuse thee ? thou hast a conscience , and a god that sees thee . when thou art in secret , think thou art in the presence of god , who is a judge . s. paul was kept in a watchfull condition upon this consideration . knowing the terrours of the lord , we perswade men . 2 cor. 5. 11. it will be a terrible day . and when solomon would startle young men , he minds them of the day of judgement . but know that for all these things thou must come to judgement , eccles. 11. 9. 4. the fearfull condition to be found in an estare wherein we are not fit to dye . take heed of promising thy self pleasure , or jollity tomorrow ; it may be the day that god will strike thee . annanias and saphira were stricken suddenly ; and he who hath stricken thy neighbour ( as many now are smitten by death suddenly ) what if he smite thee ? it may befall thee when thou goest about sinfull and unwarrantable courses ( take heed ) it may be the time when god calls for thy soul . add hereunto that our l●fe is short and uncertain , and that which at any time may , why not now ? and if we wait all our daies , and every hour , it will not be long , and it is for eternity . eternity depends upon this moment of time . 5. labor for such inward dispositions as may dispose us to watchfullness . two affections , when they are raised , will much help us , fear and love . 1. fear . when iacob was afraid of his brother esau , he spent the night before in prayer . blessed is the man that feareth always , prov. 28. 14. blessed is the man that standeth constantly in aw of god , and is afraid to offend him at any time . so prov. 23. 17. be thou in the fear of god all the day long . what fear is that ? of iealousie and reverence . there is great use of this fear , it is the souls best scout-master , and will give report to the soul of her enemies approches . fear stirs up care , care rowseth duty , and performance of duty keeps us from surprizal . it is the athiesm of the times to stand in aw of nothing : but he who hath the fear of iealousie and reverence is fit for all things . 2. love , it is a sweet affection , and keeps the soul watchfull over any thing that may displease the person whom we love . it is also full of invention to give content to the person loved , we never sin till the soul is betraied and drawn away from these two , fear and love : and we have the soul never in better tune than when thus qualified . these are royal supports of a christians arms . his field is sincerity , charged with the deeds of piety , shall be accomplished with a crest of glory . the supporters are fear and love , with this motto , my soul watcheth . wind up the strings of your affections every day , else they will be down , wind them up with waking considerations , else they will down to these present things . finde out what sin thou art naturally prone to . be wise and foresee . know your selves both in good and evil , wherein thou art prone to be overtaken , or overcome , and what hath done thee good and use it again . no creature will be taken in a snare , if he see it , and the medicine that cured the sick one , he will use it again . take all advantages to do good , slip no opportunity , no sabbaoth , no sermon , for why , thou seest some alive and well to day are dead to morrow . when we have advantages to any thing , study to improve them and turn them to gods glory . this is a special exercise of watching . it will grieve you one day , when you shall see , that at such a time , ye lost such an opportunity , and at such a time , omitted such a duty . consider this is your seed-time . if ye sow to the flesh , ye shall of the flesh reap corruption , but he that soweth to the spirit , shall of the spirit reap life everlasting , gal. 6. 8. will ye have a harvest of glory and no seed-time of graces . every company you keep , make them better , or your self better by them : gain some spiritual encrease by them , or they by you . labor to know how to judge every thing in its due worth , and so as it deserves affect it , least you put good for evil , and evil for good . to know god in his greatness , christ in his goodness , virtue in its dignity , sin in its dangers , death in its certainty , yet times uncertainty , will be a means to stir thee up to watchfullness . let the joyes of heaven ravish thee , the torments of hell scare thee , the sound of the last trumpet ( arise ye dead and come to judgement ) sound and resound always in thine ears . mors tua , mors christi , fraus munda gloria coeli et dolor inferni , sunt meditanda tibi thy death and christs , earths fraud , heav'ns habitation and pains of hell , let be thy meditation . labour to finde out what hinders from doing good , whether too much business and pudder about the things of this world ( as if we were born to live here everlastingly . ) the scripture sets bounds & limits to us : as 1 cor. 7. 31. use this world as not abusing it , not doting upon these passable and perishable things , as our saviour luke 21. 34. warn us to take heed that we be not overcharged , as not with surfetting and drunkenness , so not with the cares of this life . there is an overcharging of the soul with cares , as the body with meats or drinks . as the glutton and drunkard are unweildy to work : so cares eat up the power of the soul , so that they loose many opportunities to do good and to receive good . cares choke the word . but more particularly . first in the morning , begin to wake with god , and give thy soul a mornings-draught steept in the meditation of god his mercy and preservation , before the world or the flesh thrust in . bethink of all that may befall thee that day , of all the dangers , of all the troubles , what armor to encounter , surely ye have need to buckle on your armor with patience , to go up and down ( amongst men , shall i say ? ) hissing serpents of envy , poisonous adders of maliciousness , and fiery flying scorpions of slandering their neighbours , and we must fight ( as s. paul ) with beasts after the manner of men : you cannot go safe amongst these malevolent spirits without your coat of male , girded on about you by prayer . where the enemy once entered , barracado up that passage more stronngly as souldiers do , where the enemy hath broken in , or the wall is weak . take provisions for thy journey or undertakings , that ye may be able to encounter whatsoever accidents befall you . let god have the first fruits of the day , the firstlings of your hearts . begin the day with prayers , and it will sweeten all your actions of the day with comfort , and all occurrences thus : i commended my self to god in prayer , and have set upon the day with this resolution , to do nothing that may offend god or a good conscience , regarding no iniquity in my heart but to pass the day in the works of my calling under the shadow of the almighty , &c. afterwards , in the day let us do nothing wherein we conceive god ●ill not protect us , that we cannot pray to god for a blessing upon it . if men would do so , what would become of their lying , swearing , & forswearing cheating , couzning , and underminings ? drinkings , lasciviousness and vanities for why ? can they pray to god for a blessing upon these courses ? in the day-time , carry a heavenly minde in earthly business . no occurrent fa●ls out , no object is presented , but a gracious heart will draw out something of it for religious use . a good christian is an excellent chimist , and extracts heavenly things , and things for heavenly uses out of earthly minerals and materials . the present harvest puts him in minde of the day of judgement , and the reapers , of the angels . when he plows the ground he thinks upon the fallow ground of his heart how it needs turning and ripping up ; when he weaves , or sees the weavers shuttle , he meditates upon the shortness of mans life , now at this end , but presently at an end , &c. thus he reasons with himself , god hath set me in this place for a little time , and here i must work in this inferiour calling , and i must serve god with contentment in it . as for recreation make it not a vocation , you will quickly err in the use of lawfull things , if ye be not watchfull . prosperity is a slippery mountain , if you walk not warily , you will slip and slide , & glide into the forgetfullness of god , of your selves , of your duty , which is the way that leadeth to destruction , and many there be that fall into it . take heed ( saith god ) when thou art in that good land that floweth with milk and hony , that thou forget not , &c. job knew that for to get full of all was the way to be forgetfull , and therefore when his children were banqueting he was sacrificing . if athwarts and crosses of the world come , look upon the hand that orders all ; wherein thou art prone to be overtaken , take especial care to prevent , and be watchfull there . and because every man cannot use privacy well , be watchfull over thy self alone , use the ●ime of aloneness , in meditation of him that all one is , though he ●e three . let thy sequestration-time , be thy holy meditation-time , ●athan is busie still ; he will be too cunning for thee , and make thy ●eart his shop , if thou suffer it empty , and fill it not with good ●houghts . let thy company be such as to whom thou mayest do good , or ●rom whom thou maist receive good . good company strengthens ●ne another , as stones in an arch. such company as thou keepest , ●●ch thou art , or such thou wilt be shortly , or such thou wilt be ●ccounted to be . when it comes to night , reflect upon the occasions and passages ●f the day : go over all , where thou hast offended , crave pardon , ●here thou hast done well , bless the lord . if thou have done good to none , nor made thy self better , thou mayest cry out , heu ! diem perdidi . alas ! i have lost a day . suffer not thy body to rest , before thy conscience be assured of peace & reconciliation with god through iesus christ . dangerous to go to bed with a guilty conscience , what do we know whither we shall live till the morning ? if we could account religion a serious thing , as it is , we would not hear these things as strange doctrines , but we would think of them seriously , and practise them affectionately . renew your resolutions for the time to come , for we have all broken our vows and covenants with god . observe all advantages for praying to , and praysing of god , speaking of his goodness to others with thy mouth , and let thy life speak thereof lowder , let god have all the honour of his assistance of thee , & blessing thy labours . above all , remember the sabbaoth , do the work of the lord onely upon the lords day . if thou mingle thy worldly business with his service , thou spoylest all ; such mixings marr all . dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour eccles. 10. 1. so distracted thoughts , worldly mindedness , and earthly talke and business upon the lords day , will cause all thy prayers and services to stink in the nostrils of god . and if thou steal away of his time , to use it about thine own occasions , thou art a thief also to thy self , and to thine own profit . for therefore god commanded thee to keep the sabbaoth that he might bless thee , that by thy holy observation of the day , and carefull performance of the duties of the day , he might convay over to thee his blessings , for such a servant he blesseth , and he shall be blessed , which is the third and last part . the encouragement . blessed is that servant , &c. doct. blessing attends and goes along with watching . if thou wilt be blessed ? then watch for the lords coming . blessed are these servants , &c. those that keep their souls in a watchfull frame are blessed . and it is truth . the mouth of the lord hath spoken it . vse . what a motive is here to give our souls to watching . in blessedness all good things whatsoever , meet as in a centre . it is a confluence and concurrence of all good whatsoever , either honest , profitable or pleasant . and this blessedness shall meet the watchfull soul in death , and embrace it . the watching christian , his life is blessed , his death is blessed : blessed by grace , blessed by glory ; blessed in body , blessed in soul . blest soul that immediately enjoyes blessedness in the kingdom of heaven where god is all in all to his elect 1 cor. 15. 28. where is eternal life and perfect glory . eternal , life , which is that fellowship with god , whereby god himself is through the lamb christ , life unto the elect . for in the kingdom of heaven , the elect shall not need meat , drink , sleep , air , heat . cold , physick , apparrel , or light of sun or moon , but in place of all these , shall they have gods spirit , by which immediately they shall be quickned for ever . revel. 21. 3. 23. and perfect glory , which is that wonderfull excellency of the saints , whereby they shall be in a far better estate than heart can wish . for first , they shall everlastingly behold the face of god , which is the glory and majesty of god , rev. 22. 4. secondly they shall be most like to christ , to wit ; just , holy , incorruptible , glorious ; honourable , excellent , beautifull , strong , mighty and nimble 1 iohn 3. 2. phil. 3. 21. thirdly they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven 1 pet. 1. 4. matth. 25. 34. whence proceeds eternal joy , and the perfect service of god immediately . eternal joy , had peace with safety , safety with security , security with eternity . the joyes above are for matter , spiritual , for substance , real , for use universal , for continuance , eternal , psal. 16. 11. psal. 36. 8. there the king is verity , the law charity , the peace felicity , and the life eternity . the service of god consists onely in prayse and thansgiving rev. 21. 3. and rev. 5. 12 , 13. and 11. 17. see the texts . the manner of performing this service , is to worship god by god immediate●y . in heaven there shall neither be temple , ceremony , nor sacrament , but all these wants shall god himself supply together with the lamb that is , christ , rev. 21. 21. i say no temple therein , for the lord god almighty , and the lamb are the temple of it . the service ●hall be dayly and without intermission , rev. 7. 15. they are in the ●resence of the throne of god , & serve him day and night in his temple . vse . the consideration hereof , should stir up us to a constant ●atch and ward over our souls . if immediate communion with god through iesus christ , which is the life eternal ; if to have whatsoever heart can wish , & infinitely beyond that , which is perfect glory , where we shall for ever behold and admire the face of god , be like our blessed saviour , & inherit the kingdom of glory with the priveledges thereof in eternal joy , where our exercise shall be singing and praysing god . in a word if we would be blessed , if blessedness ( which contains all these and more ) may prevail to move us ( or else what can ) to the duty of watchfulness : then be we stirred up to be in a frame of soul fit to meet christ , have all the graces of the soul in exercise ; this is to watch . look about you , the phylistines be upon you . every day is clipping your life , and taking away part of it , what should we now do , but fit our selves for christ , seeing he is coming to us , and we are going to him by death ? you would be fit at the hour of death . that which will be good then , is good now , and the work which of necessity , must be done , or we are everlastingly undone , let us first go about it , and make an end of that once . the worst of men , when death comes will wish he had watched , done these and these good things , abstained from these and these evil things ? i exhort you to nothing , but that which is fit for you to make you fit for christ . when your faith and hope , and love have their right object , and all the graces of the soul are in exercise , then you watch , and blessed are those servants , whom the lord when he cometh shall finde watching . so much for the text . my auditours are of three sorts , either morners of our deceased brother , or rejoycers at his death , or men indifferent , neither affected with grief or joy at all at his sudden fall , a word to each of these . first , for you mourners ; wise lamenting the death of her carefull husband ; children bemoaning the death of their carefull father ; labourers and servants mourning for the loss of a work-contriving ; labour-rewarding master ; friends for the lack of their discreet , advising friend . to you i say no more but this , look up to your husband , father , friend , lord and master in heaven . it is the lord hath done it , as it is marvellous , so let it be well pleasing in your eyes . his will is done , subject your wills to his ; we are the clay , he is the potter , psal. 64. 8. shall not the potter do with his clay as he pleaseth rom. 9. 21. we read exod. 15. that the waters of marah were so bitter , that the people could not drink of them , then moses , at gods commandment , cast into them a tree , and the waters were made sweet . in the bitterness of soul upon the death of our brother , god shews you a tree that will turn your bitter waters of affliction into sweetness . this tree is christ , take up this blessed tree in your hands by faith ( who willingly presents himself unto you in this your agony ) cast him into your bitter waters , or cast your self upon him ; hide your self in the boughes and branches of this blessed tree , till the lords indignation be past . for , his anger endureth but a moment , in his favour is life . weeping may endure for a night , but joy cometh in the morning , psal. 30. 5. you will faint , unless you believe to see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living , psal. 27. 13. to the second sort , that rejoyce because now death hath shut him up in his cave , the spirit of god directly meets with you , prov. 24. 17 , 18. rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth , and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth . let the lord see it , and it displease him , and he turn away his wrath from him upon thee . why shouldest thou run from thine own watch to fault finde his now ? death found him not from his calling all the day ; at mid-night , when he pierc'd him at the heart , dost thou know his vigils , his preparations , his meditations what they were ? if death had come to thee that same hour , at the second watch , should he have found thee better prepaed than he was ? what art thou that judgest another mans servant , he standeth or falleth to his own master . he hath past his day , thine is to come , if the lord finde thee in thy swearing , sabbath-breaking , coveting , wandring out of his ways , not guiding thy life by his law unprepared , unappointed , thy doom is set down luk. 12. 45. to vers. 48. see the place . if there be a third sort of hearers , indifferent men , without affection of the one side or other , nor caring whether he had lived or dyed , neither partake with the mourners here , nor with such as are well pleased at his death ; are nothing toutcht or smitten with this stroak : besides that they proclaim stupidity , do they not walk contrary to the command , weep with them that weep . be of the same affection one towards another , rom. 12. 15 , 16. and shew themselves athiestical ? it is the athiesm of these times to be without dread or fear . when god gives one of his houshold-servants a blow , the rest should fear . this use should every one of us make of it . if god had so smitten me , in what case had i been ? how had it been with my poor soul ? surely i was not prepared as i ought , ought not i to accept of this acceptable time , this day of salvation , and to act and exercise my self in all these duties that tend to salvation ( that is ) to watch ? blessed are those servants , &c. when our saviour said to his disciples , one of you shall betray me ; every one of them ( suspicious of himself ) questioned him again , master is it i ? so whilst i say one of you ( beloved ) shall be the next that shall dye , it behoves every one of you to question with himself . is it i ? is it i ? what if it should be i ? am i prepared to meet the lord ? is my soul in a watchfull frame and posture ? do i perform my sentinel-charge till i be relieved ? do i wait all the days of mine appointed time untill my chang come ? job . 14. 14. the same shall be blessed . for blessed are these servants whom the lord when he cometh shall finde watching . amen . finis . a sermon preached at the funeral of sir henry johnson, kt. who was interr'd in the chappel at popler, november the 19th. 1683 / by samuel peck ... peck, samuel. 1684 approx. 39 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53926 wing p1037 estc r33040 12851741 ocm 12851741 94543 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53926) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94543) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1038:25) a sermon preached at the funeral of sir henry johnson, kt. who was interr'd in the chappel at popler, november the 19th. 1683 / by samuel peck ... peck, samuel. 30 p. printed for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1684. errata: p. 8. illustrated frontispiece. signed on p. 6: samuel peck decemb. t. 1683. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. christian life. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-03 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-03 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of sir henry johnson , k t. who was interr'd in the chappel at popler , november the 19th . 1683. by samuel peck , minister there . london : printed for tho. parkhurst , at the bible and three-crowns , at the lower end of cheapside , near mercers-chappel . 1684. academiae cantabrigiensis liber . to the worshipful henry johnson , esq worthy sir , that neither a private interest , nor itch of vain-glory have the least share in this undertaking ( in whole or in part ) god and my own conscience bear me witness . and that a compliance with the repeated and reasonable commands of some friends of the deceased ( to whom i bear a deserved respect and honour ) have made it publick , you and they are able to testify . 't is somewhat larger in the press than 't was in the pulpit : yet no more than what should have been spoken , had the time permitted . what is said of the dead , i am satisfied , envy it self cannot disprove or contradict . the discourse is not polite , but plain . for 't is never my custom ( upon such solemn occasions ) to interline my sermons with much reading , nor to gloss them with much rhetorick ; knowing that the leaves of antiquity would make but a weak shield against the stroak of death . and that the fine flowers of rhetorick are not armour of proof against the conquering fears of the king of terrors . such as it is , i hope you will accept : and if it may prove persuasive to any into whose hands it shall fall , timely to prepare themselves for death and judgment , i have my desired end , and fervent prayer , who am , decemb. 1. 1683. sir , your respective friend , and servant , samuel peck . a sermon preached at the funeral of sir henry johnson , kt. 2 cor. v. 1. for we know , that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . he that in his private recesses and solitude , takes a serious and impartial survey of most mens works and actions ; how they spend their strength for nought , and ( as the prophet speaks ) labour in the fire for very vanity ; how greedily they pursue the world , and what sinful and indirect courses they take to further and promote themselves therein ; how they blind their judgment , bribe their reason , and baffle their own consciences ; dally with god and their souls , and play the wantons with death and judgment , and every thing that is good and serious ; will sadly break forth in the words of the royal psalmist , psal. 36. 1. the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart , there is no fear of god before his eyes . so the lives of such men make me think that death and judgment seldom enter into their hearts ; that the reward of the righteous , and the recompence of the evil doer , are seldom the subject of their meditations ; and that they have but a very weak faith of the invisible realities of the world to come . for did men firmly believe , and frequently consider , that for all these things god will bring them to judgment ; and that an unalterable weal or wo will follow upon it , according as their works shall be ; it must needs excite them ( unless they are hardned to destruction ) to a religious life , a godly conversation ; yea , it would make them serve the lord , and work out their salvation with fear and trembling . 't is chronicled of philip king of spain , that tho he never committed any great sin all his life , yet he cried out dreadfully at his death , saying , o , that i had never been king : oh , that i had never reigned : for then i should not have now to answer for the neglect of doing the good i might , and for not preventing the evil i ought in my government . and tho god hath not set any of you in places of so great weight and trust , yet there is none of you to whom he hath not committed many talents , and opportunities of doing and receiving good , in order to death and judgment . and will it not be a fearful time with you , when you are grapling with the king of terrors , when you are upon the brink of eternity , and within view of that eternal judgment ( which the apostle calls the terror of the lord , 2 cor. 5. 11. ) to have conscience fly in your faces , and accuse you for your falsness and unfaithfulness in your places and relations ? for neglecting your time , and abusing your talents ; wishing a thousand times you had never been , or that you had never known what the gospel meant ; for then your account , before the great tribunal of the righteous god , would have been less strict , and more easie by far , than it is now like to be ; for those evils which you might have avoided , but would not , and for all that good , which ( by your pious patterns and holy examples ) you might have done , but did not ? alas , who can conceive the sad apprehensions , and killing terrors that wrack the soul of such men , in such a day ! let the belief hereof provoke you to make a better improvement of your time , and talents , opportunities and enjoyments than hitherto you have done . lay them not out upon toys and trifles , worldly , lying vanities , which like your own flesh or bodies , are frail , uncertain , and will quickly fail you ; for st. peter tells you , all these things ( as well as these earthly tabernacles ) shall be dissolved . but let us spend them upon better objects , upon a better inheritance , a more durable and lasting estate than this world can afford us ; seeking to make him our portion , who will be a living comfort in a dying hour , the ever blessed and glorious god ; spend more strength and time in his service : let us have our conversation in heaven , here , as the apostle exhorts ; that we may obtain an assurance our habitation shall be there , when we go hence , as the apostle tells us he had , saying — we know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . which words are both an illustration and confirmation of the reason which our apostle gives his corinthians , why he did so couragiously and valiantly labour in the work of the ministry , notwithstanding the many difficulties and dangers , the continual trouble and opposition he met withal on every side , for commending himself to every mans conscience in the sight of god. for he had spoken in the preceding chapter , of the perishing of the outward man , and of renewing the inward man day by day , of the great weight of glory which should succeed his light affliction for a moment in this life ; and that those things that are not seen , which are eternal , are to be looked to , and minded , rather than these things which are seen , and are only temporal , chap. 4. 16. to the end . now in the beginning of this chapter he doth farther expound himself concerning the dissolution or change of the outward man , and the building up or perfecting the new man , as also concerning the short continuance of these things that are seen , and the stability or continuance of those things that are not seen ; affirming , that he himself and others of the faithful , did certainly know , that after this short and transitory life was ended , they should enjoy an estate , heavenly , glorious and eternal . and this assertion and article of christian faith he cloaths with variety of sweet and significant metaphors ; helping the soul by the body , the understanding by the sense , saying , we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , &c. where he compares this miserable body , as it now is in this life , to an earthly house , and that not a sumptuous palace , impregnable castle , or other strong and well framed building ; but to a tabernacle , a weak , frail , brittle cottage of earth or clay : we know if this earthly house ( wherein the soul d wells for a time ) if this tabernacle were dissolved — then , he opposeth to this , the state or condition of the body glorified in the life to come , which he resembles to a building firm , durable , and lasting ; yea of eternal continuance and duration ; the beginning of which is the blessed estate of the soul at death ; and the perfection of it is the glorious estate of soul and body reunited at the resurrection : we know we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . where you have these two considerables recommended by the holy ghost to our meditation , seasonable to the sad occasion of this great assembly . 1. what our body is in respect of the frailty of it in this life , an earthly house , a brittle tabernacle that must down , must be dissolved . 2. what house or building the souls of the faithful have after the dissolution of this earthly tabernacle ; a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . both these together are a brief and full metaphorical description of our mortality , and immortality , of our weak and frail condition in this life , and of our eternally blessed and glorious estate after death . 1. first , what our body is in respect of its frailty in this life , an earthly house , a brittle tabernacle , that must be dissolved and go down to the dust . these bodies wherein our souls take up their residency for a time , are but earthly tabernacles , of short and uncertain continuance . the body is so called elsewhere , 2 pet. 2. 1 , 14. knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle : and job 4. 19. 't is termed an house of clay , whose foundation is in the dust . eliphaz in the foregoing verse speaks of angels , here of men ; and these words are a description of man opposed to angels , those inhabitants of heaven , those courtiers of the new jerusalem ; called therefore the angels of heaven ; the place of their special residency being the heavens , in and with which they may seem to have been created ; whereas men are said to be on the earth , on the surface only , as a tabernacle ready to be shaken off , as having no foundation . having here no abiding place , no continuing city , no setled abode , till we come to heaven where the angels are . some huts we have , rather than houses . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a clayie cottage , an earthly tabernacle , as st. paul and plato call the body of man , which is made up of a little dust or clay , somewhat sublimated and refined by art or nature . what is man , saith gregory nazianzen , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , soul and soil , breath and body , the one a puff of wind , the other a pile of dust ; no certainty , no solidity in either . pulvis & umbra sumus , we are dust and a shaddow , no more ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith the greek proverb ; man is but an earthen pot , no better . the first man adam was of the earth earthly ; and no more are the best of men ; quas ex meliore forsan lato finxit titan ; who are made of the first common mold somewhat refined . and the finer the glass , the slighter the tabernacle , the more subject to break and fall ; and so are we to dye . mans flesh will fail him , saith david , psal. 73. 26. those whose spirits are noble , will find their bodies brittle . the highest , the holiest mans heart will not ever hold . princes and peasants are of the same flesh , which , saith the prophet isaiah , is but grass , it soon withers and fades away ; they are alike dust , and to dust they must return . what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? the psalmist here challengeth all the world to find out one man that could procure a protection from dissolution . holy hezekiah could beg his life , and compound for his death for fifteen years , but could not obtain an exemption for ever . no , this earthly house is subject to many storms that shake it , to variety of diseases , the least of which is sufficient to overthrow it : so that what st. paul said of himself in a proper sense , we may say every of us in a common , i dye daily : my earthly tabernacle declines and wastes daily : such is the frailty and corruptibility of the body , that tho some are more curiously painted than others , and tho all are fearfully and wonderfully made , full of accuracy and curiosity , like a spiders web ; yet like that we have no stability : and thanks be to mans apostacy for this frailty ; his falling from god , by neglecting his duty , hath brought him to the dust ; so the apostle , rom. 5. 12. by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin . sickness and death had never touched our bodies , had not sin first tainted our souls . man in his innocency was immortal , but now in his state of apostacy he is determined to death . had he stood , he should , like enoch , have been translated , and not seen death ; he should have entered into his fathers house , but not through the dark entry of the grave ; but now i know thou wilt bring me through the grave , the house of all the living . now the body must die , before the soul can ( as it were ) begin to live . man must now put off his house of earth , before he can possess his house in heaven . when this earthly house of our tabernacle is dissolved , then ( not before ) we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . thus you see by this metaphorical expression , what a lively resemblance the apostle gives of our frail condition in this world , or in respect to our bodies . we dwell , saith he , in tents or tabernacles . 1. and a tabernacle or pavilion is not made of any strong matter , having only a few slight poles for timber , and painted cloths for walls ; a weak lodging , quickly taken down , easily removed or overthrown . such is the body of man , a fair fabrick , but frail ; the bones are its timber-work , the flesh its walls ; all of clay and dust ; one blast mars it ; a little pain or grief shakes it ; an ague , fever , dropsie , or as the prophet speaks , isa. 38. 12. a little pining sickness quickly dissolves and makes an end of it . for our strength , saith job , is not the strength of stones , nor our flesh as brass : no , our earthly house is not framed of such strong and lasting materials . 2. and like a tent or tabernacle it stands in continual need of repairation , being shaken with every wind , and shattered with every storm . nor is our food , or physick , or any other means , which we use as daily props and preservatives to this earthly house , sufficient to support it without the divine protection . there are so many thousand casualties we are daily subject to , that nothing less than a divine providence could preserve these tabernacles one day . and when by sickness or age they are tottering and falling , nothing less than the same power can repair or restore them . 't is god only that brings down to the grave , and then saith , return again ye children of men . no wonder therefore that the wicked , who by their obstinacy in sin , withdraw themselves from under the divine protection and providence , do not live out half their days , as david observes , psal. 55. 23. 3. once more : as a tabernacle hath no foundation , so no certain continuance in any place ; 't is here to day , and carried to another place to morrow , shewing us that the inhabitants are but strangers . no more can we assure our selves any fixed habitation or abode in the body ; we are here to day , and gone to morrow ; standing this hour , and pulled down the next ; growing in the morning , and ( like the grass ) in the evening cut down and withered . our souls are but strangers in these tents : i am a stranger in this earth ( saith david ) : and i beseech you ( saith saint peter ) as pilgrims and strangers , abstain from fleshly lusts , which war against the soul. nay , our bodies in respect of continuance , are more uncertain than any tabernacle : other tabernacles may be removed ; this must , god will certainly take it down , it shall not continue ; when this earthly house shall be dissolved ; it must be so , no help for it , no avoiding of it . that decree can never be reversed , it is appointed to man once to dye , and after this the judgment , heb. 9. 27. 1. o how preposterous then is the care of most men , whose contrivance is chiesly for the body , to gratifie and please the flesh , and to provide for it ? for it's covetousness , ambition , voluptuousness , which the apostle calls the lusts of the flesh ? as if god sent them into , and continued them in the world for no other end but as cooks to dress up their bodies as well as possibly they could for the worms : as if they believed these earthly houses should stand for ever , contrary to daily experience ; or that there were no habitation for the soul after the dissolution of this tabernacle , contrary to divine revelation . the universal cry of the world ( saith david , psal. 4. ) is , who will shew us any good ? what shall we eat and drink ? or wherewith shall we be cloathed ? and how shall we do to live in this hard world ? never once asking their souls in good earnest ; soul , what wilt thou do for that bread which came down from heaven ? how wilt thou do to be saved ? what shall thy state be eternally ? and what hope or assurance hast thou of an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens ? and how wilt thou be made meet to be partaker of that inheritance of the saints in light ? col. 1. 12. these things are not in all their thoughts . awaken thy reason , o man ! is not thy spirit an heavenly plant , the immediate product of the divine breath , of the eternal wisdom and power of god ? is it not the impress and image of the glorious trinity , in its immortality , in its noble faculties , and capacitiy of honouring and enjoying the chiefest good ? and shall not the life of this soul run parallel with the life of god , and line of eternity ? or , do you think our blessed lord overvalued it , in saying , it should profit a man nothing to gain the whole world , and lose his soul ? mat. 16. 26. and is not thy body earthly , frail and fading ? do you not find it now and then tottering , as if it were ready to drop down ? and is not the welfare of thy body involved in the welfare of the soul , and that for ever ? what madness is it then to take so much care for the former , and so little for the latter ? to make so much provision for the flesh , and none for the spirit ? to prefer dirt before that which is divine ? that which is bruitish , before that which is the picture of gods own perfections ? to love and admire the box above the jewel , the clay walls above the treasure ; and to let the vessel sink , and yet presume to preserve the passenger that saileth in it ? certainly were not men poysoned with atheism , drowned in sensuality , or scared and become sensless , it were impossible they should act so much beneath the principles of a right reason , as well as of all religion . 2. and as inconsistent is it with religion and reason , to be proud of our bodies , of our earthly tabernacles , tho never so fairly built . for their excellency ( saith job ) passeth away , their beauty fades daily ; the poor cottage decays of it self , and must shortly to the dust , to the house of corruption and rottenness , and become a prey to the most contemptible worms . o who can be proud of so mean a thing , as a moth can crush , job 4. 19. a fly choak , or a single hair destroy and dash in pieces ! yet such are our bodies , which we take so much eare , and are apt to have so high a conceit of . but which is more , the lord beholds every one that is proud , to abase him . to be proud of it , will provoke god to abolish it . if we dote too much upon our dwelling-place , he can quickly turn us out ; for at the breath of his mouth we perish , at the blast of his nostrils we are consumed . let not our hearts therefore be puffed up with pride of , nor perplexed with over-much care for these tabernacles that cannot long continue ; that are no better than a vapour , which appears a little while , and then vanisheth away , jam. 4. 14. 3. but let us from henceforward reckon it a matter of no small import and concern to us all , seriously to reflect and consider how we are provided for the fall and dissolution of these tabernacles of our bodies . 't is our saviours advice , matth. 24. 44. to be always re ady . down they shall ; dust thou art , and to dust thou shalt return ; and how suddenly we know not ; for at our best estate we are altogether vanity , psal. 39. 5. 't is prudence to consider it ; not enough to talk of it ; to say , we know it , we believe it ; but as the wise man adviseth , eccles. 7. 2. to lay it to heart : to cast and consult with our selves in this , as in other matters , saying , hence i must : and whither then ? whither must my next remove be ? there is an everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels : ' this is my desert : how shall i escape it ? and there is a rest to come , heb. 4. 9. an inheritance incorruptible , that fades not away : a building of god , eternal in the heavens , 1 pet. 1. 4. this i desire ; how shall i obtain it ? such thoughts as these would make us as prudent for heaven , as we are for the earth ; as provident for our souls , as we are for our bodies ; quicken us to lay up a treasure in heaven : or , as the apostle exhorts , 1 tim. 6. 19. to lay up to our selves in store , a good foundation against the evil day , that we may lay hold on eternal life . especially if you consider , as the certainty of the dissolution of these tabernacles , so , that death is daily stealing upon them , as ruin upon an old building ; here falls a wall , there a door ; here a tyle , there a rafter , till at last the whole tumbles : thus the dimness of thine eye , the deafness of thine ears , the trembling of thine hand , the stifness and coldness of thy limbs ; all these tell thee , death and dissolution steal upon thy earthly house of the body , and loudly call upon thee by faith , repentance , good works , and an holy life , to prepare for it : remembring what horror and fear will seize upon our souls , when we behold death coming or marching upon us , jehu-like , furiously . men may talk wantonly of death , and make a light matter of it , while they think it at a great distance ; but when the sun of life grows low , when sickness shakes their tabernacle , when the shades of the grave appear , when ( as the wise man elegantly speaks , eccles. 12. ) those that look out at the windows are darkned , the strong men bow themselves , the keepers of the house shall tremble , the silver cord is loosed , and the golden bowl broken ; when the mourners stand about our beds . when the grim serjeant death lays one hand on their heads , and in the other hand holds a writ of remove , that cannot be reversed , and yet they are uncertain whither they must go , and what place or state they shall have in the other world. now , i say , that which seemed before but a trifle , will appear the king of terrors to their doubting , to their despairing and departing souls . 't is a question that many ask when they are dying , whether they shall be saved or damned ? whether they shall be happy or miserable , when they go hence ? the resolution of which they never seriously minded while they lived , and so continue uncertain in this great concern , till death resolve them , and they are entered upon that state , in which they must abide to all eternity , be it a paradice of felicity , or dungeon of misery . and this great uncertainty is that , that makes the apprehensions of an approaching disfolution so exceeding formidable to them . how happy therefore are those persons , who have made their future state so much their concern in life , that with our apostle they are able to say when death comes , we know when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved , we have a building of god , not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . which leads me , 2. to the second general in the text ; namely , the blessed estate of the faithful after this life , after the dissolution of the body , expressed in these words — we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . of which briefly . and here you have the habitation or dwelling place of faithful souls , of saints departed , set forth , or commended to us by these specialities . 1. the efficient cause , or founder of it , god , [ a building of god ] the great jehovah of heaven and earth , whose glory and greatness we cannot comprehend , but only in his works , is the builder of it . and as great men love to do things like themselves , so doth god. if ahasuerus make a feast for his nobles and servants , it shall be such as becomes a king. if the king of kings make an house , an habitation for his servants , and prepare mansions of rest for his children , he acts like himself , answerable to his infinite goodness , mercy , and other attributes . and what a goodly , what a glorious habitation must this house in the heavens be , which hath infinite wisdom to contrive it , infinite power to erect it , infinite treasure to inrich it , infinite glory to beautify it , and the omnipotent god the founder of it ! 2. 't is set out by the manner of its framing , created [ not made with hands ] : termed an house , 1. for the spaciousness of it ; not a cottage , but an house ; room enough for the inhabitants both for necessity and delight ; an house wherein there are many mansions , john 14. 2. called an house , 2. for its conveniency , for its security ; as a mans house is termed his castle , where he is safe from all assaults and dangers : such is this house of the saints , a place of security from all evils penal and sinful , and from all enemies bodily and ghostly . 3. an house [ not made with hands ] for its glory and excellency . solomon's temple was a glorious building , and so many other buildings in the world are ; but not comparable to this , because made with hands , and so subject to ruin and decay . this being made without hands , is perpetual : as far transcending all earthly glory and happiness , as the curious frame of heaven and earth excels these clayie cottages made by men , or made with hands . 3. commended to us by the pleasant situation of it . it is situate or placed [ in the heavens ] where god is , where christ is , where the holy angels , the church of the first-born , and spirits of just men made perfect , are . where there is heavenly manna , the tree of life , rivers of pleasures , and variety of fresh and overflowing delights , to make the inhabitants continually and compleatly happy . 4. by the durableness of it , [ 't is eternal ] not subject to decay or dissolution , but everlasting . our saviour calls it , a kingdom that cannot be shaken ; st. peter , an inheritance incorruptible ; and st. paul , here , a building of god , eternal . other buildings , be they never so strong and stately , are subject to decay by storms , by fire , by age ; but this , and all relating to it , is eternal ; the builder of it eternal , the inhabitants in it , the joys and glories of it , all eternal . and the truth is , when we have searched and said all we can of this glorious estate of the saints hereafter , the joy , the life , the glory of all is this , that it is eternal . heaven were no heaven , the happiness of it no happiness , if it were not endless . eternity is that , that heightens all miseries and all mercies . 't is this makes hell , and all the torments of it so intolerable , that they shall never end , mark 9. 44 , 46 , 48. and 't is this sweetens all the joys and felicities of the saints in heaven , that they are everlasting : this 't is makes this building of god , the habitation and dwelling-place of faithful souls , so pleasant and delightful , that 't is eternal — 5. and lastly , that which is the chief of all , you have here the believers right and title to it , [ we know ] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the very top of faith ; we are sure . as certainly assured by faith , that we shall have it , as if we did now possess it . so sure is it , so certain are we of it , that the apostle speaks in the present tense , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not we shall have , but we have an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . thus you have , in the terms and epethites which the apostle gives this building in the text , a shadow or glimpse of heaven , of that blessed and glorious estate , which the faithful enjoy after this life . the fulness whereof no tongue can utter , or words express ; for , saith the apostle , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive what things god hath prepared for them that love him . o! who then would be an atheist , who would be irreligious or prophane , and so at once cut himself off from all hopes of all this glory ! surely religion is not an idle , empty thing , that brings such rewards to all the serious professors and practisers of it . 't is not in vain to be holy , and to serve god in good earnest . there is a reward for the righteous , and our labour in the lord shall not be in vain to us . the wicked indeed , may be said to have an house , and an eternal house too , prepared for them in another world ; but 't is a sad one , tophet is prepared for them of old ( saith the prophet ) the pile whereof is fire and much wood , and the breath of the lord , as a river of brimstone , continually kindling it . a state of sorrow , weeping and mourning for ever , and ever . but the house or dwelling-place of the righteous hereafter , is in the heavens , an house of light , of joy and rejoicing , wherein they shall sing praises and hallelujahs to the lamb , that sits upon the throne for evermore . o how should the belief and hope of this , push us on to the greatest perfections of holiness , and severities in religion , if thereby we may attain to an assurance of our right to this heavenly habitation ! how should this make us contemn the world , with all its inconsiderable nothings ! how should this bear us up under , and chearfully carry us through all afflictions and troubles , all reproaches and scorns in this world ! in a word , how should the hope and prospect of this glory , of this coelestial palace , and eternal life to come , steal us against death , vanquish from our souls all slavish fears of the dissolution of these bodies , and moderate our sorrow forour departed frien ds and relations , who have given us any hopes that they have but changed this earthly house , for that glorious building of god , eternal in the heavens ; where we hope one day to meet and enjoy them , and they us , without sin , sorrow , or fear of parting more for ever and ever . i have said what i intended on the text ; — but i have now another subject to enter upon , of which it is but fit and necessary somewhat be spoken ; that is , sir henry johnson , whose remains lye yet before us . and here i could be large , but both the time , and the particular acquaintance which most of you had with him , commands brevity . nor is it so much my design in what i have to say , to praise the dead ( whom our praises can neither reach nor profit ) as to provoke you that are living to imitate him in what is good and praise-worthy . and to let you see , 't is possible for a man to be great and good too . i shall omit to speak of him , as he once stood in those relations of an husband , father or friend , in every of which there are many will testifie he deserved an euge ; but shall consider him only as a christian ; and here let his own works speak for him , both living and dying . some of which i shall set before you from my own observation ; and others from credible and undoubted information . all the time i have known him , ( now near fourteen years ) i have observed him religiously inclined ; not only free from the gross debaucheries and sinful excesses of this atheistical and corrupt age , wherein he lived ; from those open vices and immoralities , which many of his rank are tainted with , and are not at all ashamed of ; but very serious in his discourses , grave and exemplary in his whole deport . no encourager of faction or rebellion ; no friend to , or favourer of prophaneness or irreligion ; but the contrary , a countenancer of religion and loyalty ; this i know . i doubt not to say ( without fear of controul ) that sir henry johnson was one , who both feared god and honoured the king ; a pair of vertues as inseparable as commendable , which i wish more were endued with , that make as great a figure in the word now , as he once did . as to the former of these , his religion towards god , i need mention but this one demonstration of it ; that commendable and religious order that he constantly kept up in his family , by prayer , reading the scriptures , and good instructions to the members of it , especially upon the lords day , or sundays , which he was a strict observer of . this i my self have sometimes seen ; and those of his houshold can bear testimony to the truth of it ; and i have often heard him say , that those servants that would not submit to , and comport with this discipline , were no servants for him ( i wish more gentlemen were of his mind ) ; so that he seemed to have taken up joshua's resolution ; as for me and my house , we will serve the lord. as to his good works , his pious and charitable deeds , both in his life , and at his death , i presume not to give an exact account of them from my own knowledg , but as i am informed ; and in recounting these , i know no reason why that charritable act of his to the poor of wapping , in the late dreadful fire there , may not be remembred ; since many of you know he was the first and chief mover to obtain a contribution to their present necessities , and ( i know ) a liberal donor thereto himself , which was a great , a publick good work . in the time of his life ( for divers years last past , besides his most private acts of this nature ) he every sunday or lords day relieved forty or fifty poor persons at his own house , and that not with the fragments of his own table ; but with good and wholsome diet provided on purpose for them ; and as he fed the poor in his life , so he did not forget them at his death , having in his last will bequeathed several legacies to chairtable uses ; some of which i had an account of — as , to two hospitals , christ-church and bridewell . to the poor of trinity house . to the poor of the east india alms-house in this hamlet . to the poor of shipwrights hall in ratcliff . to the erecting and maintaining of an alms-house for six poor persons in blackwall . he hath also given monies for the placing out of several poor children at albrough in suffolk ; and for the maintaining of a weekly lecture at saxmundum in the same county . by these charitable deeds he hath built his own monument more lasting than those of brass or marble . and i wish every man , to whom the divine bounty hath liberally given the good things of this world , would but go and do likewise . and now i shall commit him to his bed of rest , when i have said this one thing more : that during his last long and tedious sickness ( in which i was sevral times with him ) he had many excellent expressions of god , and the state of his own soul. i could mention divers , and the occasions of them , but then i should be tedious . i will only recall some spoken to my self . i bless god ( saith he ) for this affliction ; i would not have been without it for all the world . and again , when i told him i should visit him oftner , if his ilness would admit me : he replied , i thank god i am never alone , god is always with me , and christ is my visitant , who is above all to me , and who ( i trust ) will work all in me , and for me . he often spoke of the vanity of the world , and ( not withstanding the large share god had given him of it ) declared himself willing to leave it : adding this with great earnestness and vehemency of spirit ( being sensible he was not wholly without enemies ; and what good man is ? ) i sreely sorgive all the world . in a word , when he received the holy sacrament , which i administred to him in the time of his sickness ; as he received it with good devotion , so he afterwards expressed himself very thankful to god for that opportunity , blessing him for the refreshment he found in his soul by it . i could mention more expressions of this nature that fell from him , but i forbear . these , with the manner of his delivering them , begot in me ( i confess ) a belief that he had upon his mind a real sense of god , and a savoury relish of the great things of eternity ; yea , and an hope too of a better inheritance in the other world , than he hath left behind him in this , even of a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . to which blessed and glorious estate , god of his infinite mercy ( in his due time ) bring every soul of us , for the sake of his beloved son , who died for us , christ jesus the righteous : to whom with the father and holy spirit , be glory for ever , and every , amen . errata in the epist. 1. 17. for gloss r. glose page 11. l. 7. for if r. of page 13. l. 4. for lato r. luto finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a53926-e300 hab. 2. 13. 2 pet. 3. 11. phil. 3.20 . joh. 3. 13. 14. 1 cor. 15. lat . end . a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. arthur vpton esquire in deuon. by iohn preston, minister of gods word preston, john, minister of east ogwell. 1619 approx. 67 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a68607 stc 20282.7 estc s115170 99850389 99850389 15586 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a68607) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 15586) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 933:17) a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. arthur vpton esquire in deuon. by iohn preston, minister of gods word preston, john, minister of east ogwell. 36 p. imprinted by william iones dwelling in red-crosse streete, london : anno. 1619. identified as stc 20268 on umi microfilm. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng upton, arthur. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-05 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-05 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the worshipfvl and my very good friends , m r. iohn vpton esquire , and to his vertuous and religious wife , mistresse dorothy vpton , all prosperous welfare tending to eternall safetie . as one not ambitious , but desirous to set foorth the glory of god , to declare his truth and publish his mercies , i haue presumed to present this small treatise to your viewe , wherein is handled the shortnesse and fewnesse of mans dayes , the frailtie and vncertaintie thereof , how he is mortall , euery day dying , because euery day life shortneth , & the rather because it was preached at the funerall of your deare father . i knowe salomon findeth fault with writing many bookes , saying , there is no end in writing many bookes , but they are such doe defend false doctrine , and vaine opinions which he taxeth , such as set foorth the glory of god he commendeth . this inconsiderate age of ours , is more willing to entertaine idle pamphlets & vaine toyes , with fond inuentions haue excogitated , then to embrace such laudable enterprises which further the kingdome of god , or perswade the truth of religion among the sonnes of men . i knowe some will not spare to barke at this , but i will passe by the s●●llean dogges . and stop my eares , as ierome speakes , esteming zoilus , nothing at all , nor much regarding 〈◊〉 as carpe at each monument of pietie , and in a prejudi●●e 〈◊〉 reiect and discharge their paines who shall 〈◊〉 crosse the watch of their wicked delights . i doubt not 〈◊〉 with you and with all good christians it will finde acceptance . ) it is vnworthy the worlds view , being the fruits of a short conception , the effect of a distracted study , oft hindered and perturbed by sinister courses . thus thankefully remembring my selfe , doe commend your wayes to the lord , that they may be prosperous , your sorrowes easie , your comforts many , your vertues eminent , your consciences quiet , your liues holy , your deaths comfortable , your election sure , and your saluation certaine , remaining . yours in all christian affection , iohn preston . a sermon preached at the fvneral of arthvr vpton esquire in denon . psal. 103. 15. 16. mans dayes are as an herbe , as a flower of the field so florisheth he . for the wind goeth ouer it , and it is not , and the place thereof shall know it no more . this psalme is laudatiue , wherein dauid doth praise god for diuers benefits partly in particular bestowed on him , partly on all man kinde , and partly on the people of israel . the first part of praise he propoundeth vnder the forme of an ex ortation , in the first and second verse . the benefits bes●●●ed on him he setteth downe to be fiue , 1. remission of sinnes , 2. regeneration , 3. deliuerance from dangers , 4. giuing victuals , and necessary foode , 5. strength of body , all which are contained in the 3. 4. 5. verses . the benefit bestowed on the people of israel were these , the opening of his word , the remission of sinnes , and the moderation of chastisements , from the 7. to the 13. then hee amplifieth this moderation , from the fragilitie of humaine nature , saying , god knoweth whereof wee are made , hee made vs , therefore he knoweth vs , he made vs of dust , gen. 2. 7. and he remembreth that we are but dust , thou art dust , gen. 3. 14. and dust shall returne to the earth , as it was , eccles. 12. 7. and so euery man shall become no man , for that which is taken from the earth shall returne to the earth , dust shall returne to dust , and earth to earth : wee are borne that we might die , and wee must die that we may liue , by dying to reuiue , by leesing life to winne the goale of eternall felicitie . there is litle cause either to loue life , or to feare death : and motiues to perswade vs to mourning , that our inhabitancels prolonged , and our decease adiourned . as all riuers goe into the sea ; eccles. 1. 7. so all men must goe into the graue . death is the tribute of all , the prison of all , the mistresse of all , and the receptacle of all . mans dayes are as an hearbe , as a flower of the field , so flourisheth he . for the winde goeth ouer it , and it is not , and the place thereof shall know it no more , in which words , 2. things are remarkable , 1. the fragilitie of humaine nature in the 15. v.   2. a reason at the 16. v. the fragilitie of humaine nature is expressed by a twofold comparison . 1. compairing mans dayes to an hearbe , mans dayes are as an hearbe . 2. to a flower of the fielde , as a flower of the field so florisheth he . it is as much as if the prophet had saide , though man be an excellent creature litle inferior to the angels , yet he is a fraile creature , soone come and soone gone , his dayes are like the hearbe which is the life of the earth , and a flower of the fielde , which is the glory of the hearbe as the hearbe groweth , and as the flower florisheth , so now groweth and florisheth , and as the hearbe and flower soone wither , so man soone fadeth away , if the winde blow on the hearbe or grasse it is gone , and it commeth not to his place againe : so if death blow , or depriue man of breath , hee is dead , hee is gone , and the place wherein hee liued , hee shall liue no more , and the eye which hath seene him , shall see him no more . mans dayes ] the word is enosh man , which is a common name , and sometimes particular . as homo is a common name to all men in one tongue : so enosh is a common name of all men in the holy tongue . god named the first man adam , let vs make man , gen. 1. 26. let vs make adam that is man , adam from adamah , which is moist earth , fit to receiue formes and impressions , he was so named that he might keepe in memory , that he was but earth . our first parents called their second sonne habel , gen. 4. 2. or hebel , which is vanitie , vanitie is a matter which is nothing , or that which soone vanisheth away as the breath which goeth foorth from the mouth . man is vanitie , psal. 39. 5. like to vanitie , psal. 144. 4. the children of men are vanitie , the chiefe men are lies , to lay them vpon a ballance they are altogether lighter then vanitie , psal. 62. 4. the sence is , if men should bee put in one scale of the ballance , & vanitie in the other scale , men would ascend , vanitie descend , that is , men would be found lighter then vanitie : men are vainer then vanitie it selfe . he was so named that he might keepe in minde the vanitie of his humaine condition . zeth named his sonne enosh , gen. 4. 26. which is to be weake or fraile , that hee might keepe in memory the frailtie and infirmitie of humaine condition , and so it is a common name of man. that all men both by name and by nature , are fraile and weake , mans name doth bring so much to mans remembrance . man brought nothing with him into the world , 1. tim. 6. 7. in his infancy he cannot helpe himselfe , in his old age he must be holpen , the helper of other creatures , must haue his helpe from god the creator . other creatures can shift for themselues , but man is so weake that he must bee fed , warmed , nurced and nourished by others . hee is subiect to sicknesses , to diseases , to troubles , to sorrowes , to the famine , to the plague , to warre , and to many more miseries , man is borne vnto trauaile , iob. 5. 7. this life is full of the griefe of things past , of labour and paine of things present , and of feare of things to come . the ingresse into life is lamentable , because an infant begins his life with teares , as it were foreseeing the euils to come , the progresse weake , because many diseases afflict vs , and many woes vexe vs , and the egresse fearefull if we be not in christ , and haue put him on , rom. 13. 14. man beginneth his race with crying , and endeth it with grieuing , nay all mans dayes are sorrowes , eccles. 2. 23. it is . it is , full of sorrowes both of body and minde . abraham had in the land of canaan no ground of his owne to dwell in , but onely the inheritance of a sepulchre : so man shall haue no more in this life after a fewe yeeres , nay moneths , it may bee dayes but a plot of lodging . this life is rather a death because euery day wee die , seeing euery day we consume somewhat of our liues . the entrance into life is straight wayes the beginning of death . this life is an expectation of death . for euery day we looke for death a scene of mockeries , a sea of miseries one onely viall of bloud which euery light fall breakes , euery light ague corrupts . though man be fraile and weake , yet god loues him dearely , and doth regard him , and doth respect him , hence is it that dauid saith lord what is man that thou regardest him , psal. 144. 4. man is the slaue of death , a traueller that passeth away , for here wee haue no abiding cittie , heb. 12. 14. we are strangers and pilgrimes , 1. pet. 2. 11. soiourners as all our fathers were , psal. 39. 12. lighter then a bubble , shorter then a moment , vainer then an image , frailer then a venice glasse which is soone broken , more changeable then the winde , more inconstant then a shadow , and more deceiueable then a dreame . god doth also prouide for man foode and raiment : what is here in man to moue god to loue him , he is conceiued in sinne , and borne ininiquitie , psal. 51. 5. and vnlesse he be borne againe , he cannot enter into the kingdome of god , ioh. 3. 5. his heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things , ier. 17. 9. and the imaginations of the heart euill , gen. 8. 21. the eyes are casements of lust , as to dauid , 2. sam. 11. 2. the throate is an open sepulchre , psalm . 5. 9. the mouth is full of cursing and deceit , psalm . 10. 7. the feete swift to shed blood , esa. 59. 7. the hands are extended to all vnmercifulnesse . hee doth breake the yoake , and burst the bonds , ier. 5. 5. hating to be reformed , psal. 15. 17. saying , the lord shall not see , psal. 94. 7. it is in vaine to serue god , and what profit is it if we keepe his commandements , malach . 3. 14. by nature man is the child of wrath , ephes. 2. 3. the sonne of disobedience , collos. 3. 6. nay , a beast by his owne knowledge ier. 51. 17. yet god loues man , and will make him coheire with christ , rom. 8. 17. yet not all but the elect god doth giue to vs , we can giue nothing to him , nothing doth come to him , if we stay in him , nor nothing doth depart if wee stay not in him , on either side he is our profit , whether he stay in vs , or we in him . to the sicke and weake he is a keeper , turning their bed in their sicknesse , psal. 41. 3. to the man of the palsie , he was health , mat. 9. 2. to lazarus that was dead he was life , ioh. 11. 44. to the blinde he was sight , ioh. 9. 9. to the lost sheep he was saluatiō , luk. 15. 4. 5. 6. to such as goe astray he is the way home , ioh. 14. 6. the second vse may iustly reproue such as neuer minde their weake and fraile condition . wee should meditate on death in life , then death would not be so ghastly and fearefull . in the morning wee should thinke this may be the last day of our life , and in the euening often we goe to bed , we should thinke this may be our last night on earth , so thinking on death at all times . in all our actions we should consider with our selues , would we doe such and such like things if we were to die instantly , and then come to iudgment . we should consider our liues are but lent vs , they are no free-hold . we came into the world vpon this condition that we should goe out againe , yeelding vp all into the lords hand : most men neuer thinke on death , but put that day farre from them , when there is nothing nearer life then death , it alwayes dogges a man at the heeles . as the shadow followeth the body : so doth death follow life . if we die to our selues in life , we shall liue in death to god. before wee die , sinne must die in vs. let vs leaue sinne , before sinne leaue vs. god will neuer forgiue , that we will not forgiue . let the olde man die in vs in this life , then christ will liue in vs in death : none are exempted from death of what estate or condition soeuer . salomon for all his wisedome died , 1. king. 11. 43. sampson for all his strength , iudg. 16. 30. absolom for all his beautie , 2. sam. 18. 11. ahitophel for all his craft , 2. sam. 17. 23. dauids childe for all his youth , 2. sam. 12. 18. methushelah for all his age , gen. 5. 27. lazarus the begger died , luke 16. 22. and the rich couetous cormorant died , luk. 12. 20. proude iezabel died , 2. king. 9. 33. & sarah which was ful of modest humilitie , & humblemodesty died , gen. 23. 2. kin. are not exempted , from death , for saul , dauid , iosiah died , preachers are not exempted , for paul , peter , and many such like haue died . phisitians which kill many , though cure some , die themselues as sicke . souldiers the cause of many mens deaths , die themselues as cornelius . as it is most true some of all sorts shall be saued : so it is no lesse true that all of all sorts shall die . death is a port or hauen whereunto we all must saile through the troubles of this world , whervnto the sooner we come , the sooner wee shall be deliuered . it is appointed all shall die , heb. 9. 27. decreed in the parliament in heauen , and gods decrees are vnchangeable . it is but a minute of time which we liue , and somewhat lesse then a minute , wee are in this world as in another mans house , and therefore wee should alwaies minde death . if meanes could free men from deaths arrest . kings , potentates and rich men would not die , for they would giue more then halfe their goods to liue . if ignorance babbling in an vnknowne tongue might serue the papists would not , if strength , the strong would not : if skill , the phisitian would not : if mirth , the bone companion would not : if smoake , the bewitching vanitie of this time , thē the greatest part of men would not , in a word if any thing would serue turne , then death arrest were not strong enough . death is such a purseuant , that hee will take no baile , no bond , no day for appearance , but the party arrested must presently appeare before the tribunall seate of god , 2. cor. 5. 10. as an hearbe ] or as some reade it , as grasse or hay . this similitude of grasse is vsed in diuers scriptures to this end . the prophet saith , all flesh is grasse , esa. 40. 6. not by nature , not by making , not by condition , but by similitude of fragilitie . the holy ghost vseth this simily to shew the imbecillity of our nature and of our times . and the apostle saith , all flesh is as grasse , 1. pet. 1. 24. the world of men may bee resembled to a field of grasse . that man is like grasse for the breuitie of his life , and suddennesse of his death . the grasse is soone come , and soone gone : so is man soone come , and many times soone gone , as ionah his gourd was , ion. 4. 6. the grasse when it is greene is beautifull bearing flowers , but being cut downe withereth : so man being young hath the greenesse of life , then beauty and comlinesse , but being dead withereth . as the grasse is to day , and to morrow cast into the ouen : so man liues to day and to morrowe cast into the graue . there is difference in grasse a thousand formes in one field , yet all are alike in this that they must wither : so there is difference in mens places in the world , but no difference at all in death . as dies the begger : so dies the king. it is granted he may haue better attendance , and hee may haue more cost bestowed on him . healthy bodies must wither , as well as sicke bodies . the strongest must stoope as well as the weakest . the godly must die as well as the wicked , and the longest liuer must packe along , as well as the vntimely birth . as the mower can with few strokes cut downe thousands of grasse : so god can easily with the sith of his iudgements cut downe a multitude of men . this grasse may be brought to wither many waies , if it be eaten by the beasts , or troaden by the foote of man , or burnt with fire , or cut downe with sithe or sickle : so man may bee brought , to his ende many wayes , by fire or water , or strangling , or murthering , or the like . when the grasse is cut and dried , it is meate and fodder for the beasts of the field : so when the flesh of man is laid in the graue , it is meat for the wormes . i shall say to corruption , thou art my father , and to the worme thou art my mother , and my sister , iob 17. 4. man shall sleepe in the dust , and the wormes shall couer him , iob 21. 26. the moath shall eate within vs like a garment , and the wormes shall eate them like wooll , esa. 51. 8. herod was eaten of wormes , act. 12. 23. as a worme did eate ionah his gourd , ion. 4. 6. so wormes shall eate our flesh . the grasse will perish if it be neuer cut downe : so man will become as a rotten leafe if he liue long . this life is as a short misery . man that is borne of woman is of short continuance , iob 14. 1. i would haue no man say , i haue so many yeares to liues , yeares are not thine , they are but lent thee . this answere was made to one saying , i haue fourteene yeares to liue , thou doest mention fourteene yeares which thou hast not , nor maist not haue , but thou forgettest the many yeares which thou hast had . iacob saide , fewe and euill haue the dayes of my life beene , gen. 47. 9. the time of our life is threescore yeares and ten , if a man come to fourescore , then there is nothing but weakenesse , psal. 90. 10. all come not to seuentie yeares , or to eightie , & some liue an hundred , but most die before they come to seuenthty . some die in their youth , some in their old age . god hath ordained to euery liuing creature his appointed time wherein to liue , grow , and increase , so to decrease and die , and as it pleaseth him to prolong or abridge their liues , so doth he dispose of the second causes and meanes whereby hee will haue it brought to passe , and so euery one hath his certaine bonds and terme of life set him , yet none but god onely can attaine to the knowledge thereof . is there not an appointed time to man vpon earth , and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling , iob 7. 1. are not mans dayes determined , the number of his moneths are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds , which ( if he would ) hee cannot passe , iob. 14. 5. all the dayes of my appointed time will i waite till my changing shall come , iob. 14. 14. god hath appointed how long euery man shal liue , though fourescore yeares be no long course , yet there are but few that hold out to the vttermost ende thereof in regard of them that stay by the way . some are cut off euen before they haue begun their course , and some in the midde way , & that through so many sorts of sicknesses with other inconueniences and accidents , that a man cannot possibly comprehend or conceiue them all . the first vse reproueth such as know their flesh is as grasse , yet they seeke things for this life onely , they wallow in wealth , and haue all things at their wils , they are cloathed in fine silke and purple , they glitted and glister with gold and pearles , their faces are couered with fatnesse , iob. 15. 27. they beate the people to pieces , and grind the faces of the poore , esa. 3. 15. they swallow vp the poore . amo. 8. 4. they eate the flesh of the people , and flay off their skinne , mich. 3. 3. they are attended with great traines and troupes of men , they lead mightie armies , and are carried in coaches like princes , for aboundance of all things , they are as mortall gods vpon earth , yet are soone bereft of all their riches and glory , and perish as the grasse , what foolishnesse hath wrapt vp their vnderstanding , what blindnesse hath possessed their hearts , what vanitie hath bewitched and rauished their mindes , what mist of error hath compassed them and ouershadowed the light of their knowledge , that they seeing the frailtie of their owne estate and condition . can any thing in this life , be either durable or very delightsome , when life it selfe is so fraile and tickle a thing . the apostle saith , the world vanisheth and the lust thereof . 1. ioh. 2. 17. salomon concludeth all worldly things vnder a most vncertaine , fraile and brittle condition , censuring them all with one iudgement : vanitie of vanities , all is vanitie , eccles. 1. 2. came not craesus the rich prince to misery for all his wealth . xerxes the king of persia for all his pompe and glory discomfited . did not dionisius the king of siracuse fall from a king to be a schoolemaister . did not bellisarius fall from a giuer to bee a receiuer , from a rich man to be a begger . came not iob from great riches to miserable pouertie for a time . doe not many florish to day in wealth , and to morrow come to extreame pouertie . are we all as grasse and wormes meate , why then doe wee make so much of the flesh which shall perish , and doe not adorne and decke the soule with vertues which shall be presented to god in the day of iudgement . we doe not regard our soules , but prefer our bodies before them . it is a great abuse when the mistresse shall become an handmaide , and the handmaide mistresse : so it is a great abuse when the soule is not regarded , and the body preferred before the soule . seeing our bodies shall perish as grasse , let vs say , christ is to mee in life and death aduantage . phil. 1. 21. when we die we shall be deliuered out of two prisons at once , the one so much worse then the other , as it is worse to be with-held from perfect blisse , then from the libertie of a most painfull and tedious pilgrimage . we now liue to die , but then wee shall die to liue for euer : now liuing we are continually dying , but then once dying neuer to die more . wee shall leaue a ruinous and base cottage , & passe to a most glorious and blessed pallace , whose pauement is pure gold , and whose gates are pearles , reuel . 21. 21. by this wee may ghesse what roomes wee are like to finde , where our sauiour prepareth the place , , ioh. 14. 2. had the prodigall sonne cause to sorrow when he was to depart from this dirtie village , and the company of swine to his fathers house . who would not bee able to cast off a sacke of dunge to receiue long white robes , reuel . 7. 14. i hope we shall haue neither oxen to try , nor farme to see , nor wiues to with-hold vs from going , luk. 14. 18. 19. 20. wee haue had toile enough in the seruitude of egypt , we haue wandred long enough in the desert in continuall battaile with gods & our enemies , and in death the time is come to take our repose , and inioy the felicitie of the land of promise . wee haue beene in the mount sinai with moses , when thundrings began to be heard , lightnings to flash , and a thicke darke cloude to couer the mount , but wee shall come to enioy his glory , whose terror we haue already sustained . this may reproue such as feare death , the sting of death is taken away , o death where is thy sting , 1. corint . 15. 55. some would die , but they would not die a violent death . what cause haue we to feare death , wee haue but one life , and but one can we loose . goliah was as much hurt by dauids litle stone , 1. sam. 17. 50. as sampson by the waight of a whole house , iudg. 16. 30. ely had as much harme by falling backward in his chaire , 1. sam. 4. 18. as iezabel by being thrown downe from a high window , 2. king. 9. 33. all they that stoned stephan to death , tooke no more from him , act. 7. 59. then an ordinary sicknesse did from lazarus , luk. 16. 19. one death is no more death then another , and as well the easiest , as the hardest , taketh our life from vs. let vs bee willing to leaue this sinfull world , desiring to bee dissolued and to bee with christ , philip. 1. 23. why should wee feare that which cannot be auoided . the very necessitie of death should make vs not vnwilling to die , and the remembrance of our mortalitie should make vs litle feare , when experience sheweth vs , that we are mortall . liue well , and die well we may , if please god , but liue long , & not die , we cannot . we should not thinke our life shortened , when it is well ended . he dieth olde enough , that dieth good : and life is better well lost , then euill kept . wee goe but that way , the which all the world before vs hath gone , and all that come after vs shal follow & beare vs company . 4 if we bee not warned , neither will take it for a warning , that we are as grasse , death may come before we are aware , and surprise vs , when wee shall not haue time to learne to die . wee must be prepared , luk. 12. 40. we must watch , mark. 13. 37. how soone is the grasse cut downe , and so , how soone doth man die . the day of death will come suddenly , as thiefe in the night , 2. pet. 3. 10. a thiefe giueth no vvarning vvhen he vvill come , but commeth vvhen men are asleepe : so the day of the lord commeth suddenly , vvhen men are altogether vnprouided . before a ruinous house fall , the rafters cracke and giue warning . at a strangers comming , the dogge barkes and giues warning : before a storme the cloudes giue vvarning , and the trumpet biddeth men prepare to battell : but the day of death commeth suddenly , all the time from the birth to death , is a time of preparation . when the bird thinketh her selfe safe , then is she nearest to death , when the ship-master is in sight of land , hee may be in greatest danger , for commonly in the range or harbour is the shippe lost , the want of care drowneth the shippe , the want of skill is the ruine of the souldiers , the want of foode starueth the sheepe , and the want of preparation to die casteth thousands into perdition . as a flower of the field so florisheth hee . ] mans life is compared in the scripture to a span for the shortnesse thereof , psal. 39. 5. to a shadow , psal. 102. 11. first , for the cause , for as the shadow is formed oflight and a body , so is man of an intellectuall soule , and a humaine body . secondly for the figure and likenesse , as the shadow is sometimes long , and sometimes short : so some men liue long , some but a short time . thirdly , for the flight , the shadow is changed with the moouing of the body : so is the life . the shadow in the morning is not as it was at night , and the health of the body in the morning is not as it was at night . the shadow flieth from a man following it , and it followeth a man flying from it : hee that looseth his life shall saue it , & he that will saue his life shall loose it . fourthly , for the measure , the longer the day , the shorter the shadow : and the shorter the day , the longer the shadow : so the higher the day of prosperitie , the shorter the life : and the shorter prosperitie is , the longer mans life seemeth to be ; iobs prosperitie was short , therefore his life seemed long , i will ( saith hee ) speake in the bitternesse of my soule , iob 10. 1. for he was euen weary of his life , to smoake that vanisheth , hos. 13. 3. to a bubble that is dissolued . to a weaueers shuttle for swiftnesse , iob. 7. 6. to a cloude that is driuen with the winde , iob. 7. 9. to a vapour which is soone dispersed , iam. 4. 14. and here to grasse which withereth , and to a fading flower . that the whole outward glory of man is but as a fading flower . though a flower may bee faire in sight , sweete for smell , curious in colour , and glorious for beautie , yet it will fade : so man may be great in place , noble in birth , mightie in strength , valiant in courage , wise in ordering and disposing , carefull in prouiding , and excellent in knowledge and gifts , yet all will fade and fall away . a flower groweth speedily , but being cut downe , turneth as speedily to its former matter : so man quickly groweth vp from the earth , & assoone turneth to earth againe . doe not thou glory , doe not thou praise , doe not thou admire , at outward things , for they will fade away , they are as a reede of egypt . that which men most glory in they are soonest depriued off , i speake of worldly things . some glory in their birth , nobilitie , and house frō whence they same , all these are gods gifts , but not much to be stood vpon , the god of heauen hath giuen thee a kingdome , power and strength , and glory , dan. 2. 37. some glory in their riches , why doest thou so , either they will leaue thee , or thou must leaue them , all riches haue their wings as an eagle , and flye into the heauen , prou. 23. 5. the apostle saith , trust not in vncertaine riches , 1. tim. 6. 17. riches are vncertaine , because they haue wings , and because they auaile not in the day of wrath , prou. 11. 4. siluer and gold cannot deliuer them in the day of the wrath of the lord , ezechi : 7. 19. that which our sauiour calleth thornes , matth. 13. 7. paul calleth vncertaine riches . doe riches content , no , the more men haue , the more men craue , and commonly they are the greatest beggers , which haue the greatest portion , hee that loueth siluer , shall not bee satisfied with siluer , eccles. 5. 9. a couetous man is not satisfied with riches , for the more hee gathereth together , the more he desireth , the graue and destruction can neuer be full , so the eyes of man can neuer bee satisfied , prou. 27. 20. the couetous man desireth all that his eye seeth . the couetous saith , what shall i doe because i haue no roome , luk. 12. 27. some glory in pleasure , pleasure is like lightning , sweete but short , much cost and care for a litle sport , nay one houres sport , may bee recompenced with eternall punishments . some glory in the world , and worldly things , notwithstanding this i must tell thee , either thou wilt faile in pursusing them , or else when thou hast caught them , they will bee so vaine that they will giue no contentment . some glory in beautie , beautie will vanish with a sicknesse , or consume in time . some glory in their strength , mans strength is but weakenes . some in honour , man shall not continue in honour , hee is like the beastes that die , psal. 49. 12. it is an euill sicknesse , and a great vanitie , when a man shall haue riches , and treasure , and honour : and want grace to ioy in them . eccles. 6. 2. some in the praise of men , which indeede is but winde , no man knoweth whether it commeth , and whether it goeth , iohn . 3. 8. as the childes lo●e , so the peoples commendation is gotten and forgotten in an houre the prophetsaith , let not the wise man glory in his wisedome , nor the strong man glory in his strength , neither the rich man glory in his riches . but let him that glorieth , glory in this , that hee vnderstandeth and knoweth mee , iere. 9. 23. 24. let not the wise man glory in his wisedome , for wisedome shall not deliuer the wise from death , nor strength the strong , nor riches the rich : but faith in christ , and good conscience in all things shall deliuer the godly from the second death . is it so , that glory , pompe , honour , and beautie are as a fading flower , then let not vs affect these things too much , let them not steale away our hearts . wee should set our affections on things aboue , col. 3. 2. it is not simply vnlawfull to vse the world , but it is needefull that we be iealous of our selues , to watch our own hearts , that our affections bee not set on the world . outward glory , pompe , honour , and beautie are but transitory things , so are riches , and the world . a man cannot serue god and mammon , math. 6. 24. it is an axiome in the bible , that amitie with the world , is enmitie with god , iam. 4. 4. either men must forsake god and loue the world , or bid the world farewell and cleaue to god. wee are taught not to loue the world , 1. iohn . 2. 15. for we see the daily mutabilitie , and inconstancie of the world and worldly things . doe not humaine affaires imitate the sea , are not men tossed on earth , more then on the sea , one taketh away this mans ground , another that mans field , another desireth his neighbours wife , another taketh away his seruants . one striueth with his neighbour about water , another about the aire . he that is poore is reproached , he that is rich is sought to be ensnared . hee that ruleth is subiect to conspiracy , the magistrate to enuy , and hee that is of power to hatred . there are continuall wars , continuall slaughters , and insatiable desire doth exercise tiranny , couetousnesse ruleth , and lying is preferred . trust hath taken her flight , truth is a stranger , and salutations are full of suspition , and so all wallow in vices , for euery man is vanitie , psal. 39. 11. 2. this may reproue the seekers of these vanities , who plod and study to attaine to them , but being gotten , they profit not much , they cannot saue , they may destroy , they cannot helpe at the last , they may hurt . how greedy are men after honour , how doe they couet promotions , how doe they hunt after riches . they care not who are poore , so they be rich : who sicke , so they be whole , who cold , so they be warme , who sinke , so they swimme . the loathsome luke-warmnesse of the most is to be reproued , reuel . 3. 19. and the dangerous losse of first loue in too many to be lamented , reuel . 2. 4. let men seeke the lord , whiles he may bee found , esa. 55. 6. good and not euill , amo. 5. 14. the kingdome of god , math. 6. 33. peace , psal. 34. 14. the time will come when the scepter and sepulchre will bee all one , when the prince and peasant shall bee fellowes , when there shall bee no difference betweene the ashes of veluet , and course canuasse . what can the belley returne which consumeth most part of mens riches but dunge & corruption , what vaine pompe and glory , but malice and enuy , what vnchastitie but hell and the worme of conscience . let men and women bee neuer so richly attired without christ they are naked , with what iewels and ornaments soeuer they are set foorth , without christs beautie they are deformed , howsoeuer their faces are painted , and their beautie blazed , without grace they are vgly and monstrous , nay they carry about them their owne funerall , while their body is a filthy tombe of a more filthy soule , not onely dead , but almost rotten in sinne . noah must not follow the fashions of the olde world . lot must not follow the fashions of sodome . iob must not follow the fashions of vz. wee must not follow the fashions of our corrupt age , but as paul exhorteth , in the middes of a crooked and naughtie generation , we must be , pure and blamelesse , shining euen as lights in the world , philip. 2. 15. shining euermoreto walke in the narrowe path , and enter in at the straite gate , luk. 13. 24. wee must account spirituall things our chiefest glory . this spirituall glory is either in the world to come , or in this world , that in the world to come is the greatest . reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of god , rom. 5. 2. when christ which is our life shall appeare , then shall yee also appeare with him in glory , coloss. 3. 4. the glory which shall be conferred may be considered either on the bodies or on the soules of the godly . the glory which shall bee giuen to the bodies of the saints is threefold , first the bodies of the saints shall bee immortall , they shall die no more , for mortalitie shall put on immortalitie , 1. corinth . 15. 53. secondly , they shall be incorruptible , they shall rot and putrifie no more , they shall be free from infirmitie and deformitie , it is sowen in weakenesse , and shall be raised in power , 1. cor. 15. 43. thirdly , they shall be spirituall , 1. cor. 15. 44. the glory vpon the soule shall bee the perfection of gods image in all the faculties of it , then shall the memory , will and affection bee made conformable vnto god. the glory in this world is first christ , he is the king of glory , psal. 24. 7. wee must bee much in the duties of mortification , before wee can enter into the kingdome of glory , for no vncleane thing shall enter into the kingdome of heauen , reuel . 21. 27. wee are vncleane till we be washed in the blood of christ by iustification , and bathed in teares of true repentance by mortification . secondly , the spirit of adoption is the spirit of glory , if this rest vpon men they cannot bee miserable , 1. pet. 4. 14. thirdly , our soules are our glory . fourthly , the testimony of a good conscience is our glory , 2. corinth . 1. 12. in a word , god is our glory , psalm . 3. 3. for the winde goeth ouer it , and it is not . ] the word is taken for winde , for the sperit , for the intellectuall soule , for the will , and for the aire , but most expositers read it , the winde goeth ouer it . the prophet doth not say , it is burned with the heate of the sunne , or destroied with the cold of the winter , or cut downe with the hand of the mower , but the winde goeth ouer it , and it is not , that is , the winde goeth ouer the flower , and it is not , for it is withered . as a flower is destroyed by the passing of some winde : so mans life doth faile with a light occasion . that mans life and glory are soone gone . first , mans life is soone gone , how many at vnawares haue beene burnt vp in their owne houses , how many slaine by beastes in the field , how many deuoured by the same , how many consumed in common pestilences , murthered by thieues , slaine by their enemies , killed by the fall of an house , as those on whom the tower in siloam fell , luk. 13. 4. they spend their dayes in wealth , and suddenly they goe downe to the graue , iob 21. 13. sodome was destroied in a moment , lam. 4. 6. sisera soone slaine by ioel , iudg 4. 21. the philistims by sampson , iudg. 16. 30. saneherib by adramelech and sharezer , esa. 37. 38. man can take life away , but he cannot giue life . there is great paines and paiments bestowed before one come to mans estate , and then a small thing taketh away his life . as when a bladder is blowne great with great paine , a pricke of a pinne will giue vent for all the winde : so when man is growne vp , a litle thing will depriue him of life , a stab with dagger or knife will take from him his life , because life it selfe is fraile , brittle , vnstable , and of all things most vncertaine . as the spiders webbe which is long time spinning , is swept away and destroyed vpon a sudden : so mans life which hath continued many moneths and yeares in a moment ceaseth , i haue cut off like a weauer my life , esa. 38. 12. one is choakt with an haire in milke , another strangled with the stone of a grape , another with a flie some crushed and troden to death . man continueth not in one stay , hee is of fewe dayes in his body , and full of trouble in his estate . secondly , mans glory is soone gone . the prophet saith , the glory of epraim shall flie away like a bird , from the birth , and from the wombe , and from the conception . hos. 9. 11. by glory is meant riches , power , honour , and renowne . as a bird doeth not long stay in a place : so glory , as riches , and such like doe not long continue . the smoake ascending vpward from the chimney at the first is great and thicke , but it is quickly scattered and out of sight : so the glory of the men of this world , by litle and litle is obscured , and vanisheth cleane away . the first vse wee must remember our ende , how fraile and fickle a thing our life is , hence is it , that dauid saith , lord let mee knowe my ende , and the measure of my dayes , what it is , let mee knowe how long i haue to liue , psal. 39. 4. thy life is as the palme of thy hand , if it be compared with eternitie , and it may bee more truely called the shadow of death then life . it is decreed that the death of all is a certaine houre , but the houre of death vncertaine . it is better the houre of death be vnknowne , then knowen . moses saith , teach vs to number our dayes , that we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome , psalm . 90. 12. that wee may haue the fewnesse of our dayes in memory , that vvee promise to our selues no great things in this world , but that our mindes bee set vvholly on the study of heauenly wisedome . let vs consider how many yeares vvee haue liued in the vvorld , how many of them vvee haue spent in sleepe , and eating , how many in childhood and vanities , how many in vvorldlinesse and vvickednesse , and how few in pietie and godlinesse , vvhy doe i speake of yeares , i may speake of moneths , nay of dayes , nay of houres : vve neede not the art of arithmeticke to number the houres that many of vs haue spent in reading , praying , meditating , examining , hearing , and practising holy and christian duties . let vs now returne to the lord , iere. 4. 1. let vs heare his writ , while it is to day , heb. 3. 13. let vs arise and depart for this is not our rest . mich. 2. 10. let vs be more frequent in prayer , more carefull in hearing , more conuersant in meditation , more painfull in seeking , more diligent in examining , and more studious in doing . let not god , the author of time , haue the least part of time spent in his seruice . let vs redeeme the time , coloss. 4. 5. buy it with repentance , vvatching , fasting , praying , and with strong cries , let vs make our peace , & fly from the anger to come , math. 3. 7. let vs remember our creator in the dayes of our youth , eccles. 12. 1. god vvill haue the first fruites , and the first borne are due to him . let vs consider our latter ende , deut. 32. 29. and how quickly our life vvill be gone . our sinees cleaue so fast vnto vs , that wee doe not remember our latter ende , lament . 1. 9. wee are carelesse in making our calling and election sure , 2. pet. 1. 10. it is sufficient for vs that wee haue spent the time past of our liues after the lustes of the gentiles , walking in wantonnesse , lustes , drunkennesse , in gluttonies , drinkings , and in abominable idolatries , 1. pet. 4. 3. our gray haires , our sickly bodies , our weakenesses , and infirmities , the shortnesse of our liues , the iudgements of god on others , and his mercies toward vs , should make vs alway aboundant in the workes of the lord , 1. cor. 15. 58. that is , we must proue our constancy in faith , and our loue to god and our neighbour , by earnest study , endeauour , and zeale , not that our workes can bee superogatory , and more then due , but that we ought to excell in the things that are due . let vs double our imploiment in reading the scripture . prayer must bee sent before , vnderstanding desired , the continuance of meditation giuen , that the scripture might transforme vs into it selfe after a sort . in reading the scripture , the guide oft to be the grace of god , study and diligence must be giuen , that all may be referred to edification . in meditation , which putteth life and strength into all other duties . wee must meditate on gods maiestie aboue vs , on our nature within vs , on the vanitie of the world without vs , on the shortnesse of life behinde vs , and on heauen which is set before vs. in hearing of the word preached , which is the meanes of knowledge , and faith , and of all grace , with the blessed and prosperous grouth and increase thereof . in conference , in mortification , and in mercy . the life of all wise men is the meditation of death . is outward glory soone gone , i for the glory of man endeth with the life of man. it is hard to bee gotten , short of continuance , and sorrowfull to be left . it is giuen to men , not that they should giue themselues to it , or to affect it too much . be not thou afraid , ( saith the prophet ) when one is made rich , and when the glory of his house is increased . for hee shall take nothing away when he dieth , neither shall his pompe descend after him , psalm . 49. 16. 17. salomons glory ended with his life , so did hamans , herodes , and neroes . the affecting of outward glory doeth cause many to fall from god. the loue of the world made demas for sake christ , 2. tim. 4. 10. the loue of money made iudas sell christ , math. 26. 15. the loue of riches , made the couetous man loose christ , luk. 12. 20. and the seeking of vaine glory , maketh many men neglect christ. seeke christ and yee shall liue , amo. 5. 6. seeke him while hee may bee found , esa. 55. 6. he that hath i sachar his burden must needes couch , gen. 49. 14. he that hath rent his net , will take nothing , luk. 5. 5. they which are laden with thicke clay cannot mount vp before the lord , habak . 2. 6. they can neuer bee faithfull disposers , that are faithlesse workers , 1. cor. 4. 2. they will say and doe not , math 23. 3. so they which labour much for vaine glory , will hardly attaine to true glory . and the place thereof shall knowe it no more . ] when the flower is cut off , or withereth , the roote is greene in the earth , but man when hee is once dead shall liue no more here , hee shall liue no more vpon earth . hee shall bee seene no more here , hee shall liue no more in this world . the place where a flower hath growne shall know it no more : so the place shall know no more where man hath liued . that man being onee dead shall liue no more on earth . who of all our fathers departed this life haue liued againe a naturall life , wee shall goe to them , they shall not com to vs , they triumph , wee fight , they at their iourneyes ende , wee trauailing , they in the hauen , wee on the sea , they at rest , wee in trouble . remember that my life is but winde , and that mine eyes shall not returne to see pleasure . the eye that hath seene me shall see me no more , thine eyes are vpon me , and i shall be no longer . as the cloude vanisheth , and goeth away : so hee that goeth downe to the graue shall come vp no more . he shall no more returne to his house , neither shall his place knowe him any more . iob. 7. 7. 8. 9. 10. as if iob had said , after death i shall not liue here on earth , enioying my riches , my dignities , and power , i shall not come againe to eate and drinke , to haue children , and to be restored to my former estate , i shall not command seruants , nor bee commanded by any higher power on earth , my life shall bee a communion with the blessed trinitie , my ioy the presence of the lambe , my exercise singing , my dittie praise yee the lord , my consorts saints and angels , the place the heauen of heauens , 1. kin. 8. 27. the paradise , luk. 23. 43. the bridegromes chamber , psal. 19. 5. they which now see me , shall see me no more on earth my soule at the time of dissolution shall returne to god that gaue it , eccles. 12. 7. and my body to the dust , dust i am , concerning my body , gen. 3. 19. there is hope of a tree if it be cut downe , that it will yet sprout , and the branches thereof will not cease . though the roote of it waxe olde in the earth , and the stock thereof be dead in the ground . yet by the sent of the water it vvill bud and bring forth houghes like a plant . but man is sicke and dieth , and man perisheth , and vvhere is he , iob 14. 7. 8. 9. 10. hee that is once dead naturally cannot bee repaired againe , hee cannot returne to liue on earth . an house that is fallen may bee built againe , a tree that is fallen may bee vnderpropped and staied vp againe : but man being dead can returne to his naturall life no more . my dayes are swifter then a vveauers shittle , and they are spent vvithout hope , iob 7. 6. a weauers shittle is soone from one ende to another : so wee are soone from the day of birth , to the day of death : and our dayes are spent without hope euer to liue a naturall life . if a man die , shall he liue againe , iob 14. 14. when the soule is separated from the body , the body lieth as a stocke or blocke terrible to behold : if it lie a while vnburied it wil putrifie and stincke . wee loue no man so much in his life , as wee loath him after death : for then wee cannot see him dead , whom wee were neuer weary beholding when he was aliue . to desire or wish him liuing that is dead , is in vaine . the liuing shall goe to the dead , but the dead not come to the liuing . first , it may warne and admonish men to doe good whiles they liue , and to set all things in order before they die . if thou hast wronged , make restitution in thy life time , for thou shalt not come againe to restore . if thou wilt giue , doe it in thy life time , for thou shalt not come againe . no doubt the rich man would haue beene more pittifull and mercifull if hee had liued againe on earth . mercifull giuers shall be the children of the highest , luk. 6. 35. and bee like god their father , who is the father of mercies , 2. cor. 1. 3. they shall bee his stewards to dispose his goods , luk. 16. 2. and his hands to distribute his almes . all that thy hand shall finde to doe , doe it vvith all thy power , for there is neither worke nor inuention , nor knowledge , nor vvisedome in the graue vvhither thou goest , eccles. 9. 10. here wee must repent , here we must giue , for after death these actions shall haue no place . in this life doe good , after this life receiue good : here labour , hereafter rest . in earth action , in heauen contemplation . the dead are saide to rest from their labours , reuel . 14. 13. and although the soule thorough death doeth not loose his faculties , notwithstanding she doth not exercise her operations . the action of the godly after this life is a perpetuall fruition of eternall happinesse , put in the contemplation of diuine glory . our sauiour saith , i must doe the vvorkes of him that sent me , vvhile it is day , the night commeth vvhen no man can vvorke , ioh. 9. 4. worke vvhile yee haue haue light , ioh. 12. 35. while we haue time , let vs doe good to all men , gal 6. 10. as all time is not fit to sow and plant : so all time is not to doe good , for after death there is no place of repentance , nor no effect of satisfaction . hard dealing men giue gifts to the poore after death but too late . funerall beneficences is not free but formal , not chearfull , but extorted . because the time of repentance , satisfaction , restitution , and such like will not long last and continue , let vs now repent and turne to the lord , to day if yee will heare his voice harden not your hearts , hebr. 3. 7. 8. exhort one another daily , while it is called to day , hebr. 3. 13. make satisfaction to those men whom thou hast wronged , and restore such goods , lands , and possessions as thou doest detaine from any man , there can be no true repentance while the treasures of wickednesse are in the houses of the wicked , mica . 6. 10. secondly , it may reproue many who affirme that they haue seene and heard dead men to walke and talke , to frequent their promises , and to say , i am the soule of this man , or of that woman , i am tormented grieuously in purgatory , for this or that which i haue done , i might be deliuered , if so many masses were said for mee . if they be not popish which make such false apparitions for gaines sake , they are certaine euill spirits , satan can transforme himselfe into an angell of light , 2. cor. 11. 14. why not into a soule . he entred into iudas , ioh. 13. 27. he filled ananias heart , act. 5. 3. he worketh mightily in the sonnes of disobedience , eph. 2. 2. hence it is that they are called the children of the diuell , as paul said to elimas , and full of all subtiltie and all mischiefe , the child of the diuell , and enemy of all righteousnesse , wilt thou not cease to peruert the straight wayes of the lord , act. 13. 10. such were the iewes to whom christ spake , yee are of your father the diuell , and the lustes of your father yee will doe . ioh. 8. 44. hence is that the holy ghost saith , woe to the inhabitants of the earth , and of the sea , for the diuell is come downe vnto you , which hath grtat wrath , knowing that hee hath but a short time , reuel . 12. 12. he is a deceiuer of the people , reuel . 20. 3. 8. and his sleights and deceits are called the deepenesse of satan , reuel . 2. 24. the diuels perloaps cannot assume dead mens bodies , for they are more vnfit for motion , then dead instruments that neuer had life . it is a peculiar worke of gods power to raise the bodies of men out of the graue . the scripture doth not mention that euer euill spirits did appeare with true bodies . seeing , mans dayes are few , fraile and fickle , few , for fourescore yeares is a long time now , though foure hundred were not much in time past , fraile , for the strongest man is but weake , and fickle , for we are speedily from the wombe our liuing mothers , to the wombe of our dead mother earth . mans dayes are not onely few , fraile , and fickle , but short , and so his liuing death is changed to an euerlasting life , and the end of a temporall is the beginning of an eternall life . mans dayes are not onely short , but also full of trouble , notwithstanding the sorrowes of a bitter life shall bee recompenced with a blessed death , and the going out of a bad , is the beginning of a better world . mans dayes , pompe , glory , birth , blood , are but as vanishing flowers , this world is transitorie , and when man dieth he shall leaue all behind him , hee shall carry no more with him going , then he brought comming : no more out of the world , then hee brought into the world , whereof he shall haue any vse : and when a man is dead he shall returne no more . if a man wrong , or deceiue , oppresse and goe beyond the seas at his returne hee may right those he hath wronged , and relieue those he hath oppressed : but man that wrongeth , oppresseth , and iniureth in this life , and dieth in the sinne , shall not returne to liue on earth , to repent for it , neither to satisfie for it , therefore while we liue , let vs so liue , that we may liue in death . i haue hitherto spoken of life and death , now i must speake something of the life and death of this worshipfull gentleman whose body standeth before vs ready to be interred . to liue well is the ready way to die well , as men liue : so they for the most part die . a blessed life , shall haue a blessed death . such as expect for comfort in death , must be obedient to god in life . if men will liue till they be dead , they must die while they liue , a good life here , bringeth a good death hereafter . that his life was godly appeared by his hospitalitie how many of the saints hath he fed , and lodged , insomuch as if he was a gaius for them , how did he relieue the poore daily at his doores and in time of sicknes how prouident was he for them . he was a peace-maker amonge his neighbors , composing controuersies , and ending many needlesse suites , which either pride , or tyranny , or selfe-will , or enuy had begun . hee had a great loue to the meanes of his owne saluation , i meane the preaching of the word , frequenting it often if his health did serue him , countenancing & supporting the lecture where he was a continuall hearer . how kinde and affable hee was to gods ministers they will be ready to witnesse . in his sicknesse he was very penitent and sorrowfull , confessed his sinne , desiring god to forgiue him : nay , assuring himselfe that all his sinnes were pardoned and forgiuen for christs sake . in his sicknesse he was patient , weary of the world , desirous to goe home , forgiuing and forgetting all wrongs and iniuries done him . his talke for the most part in his sicknesse was of heauenly matters , and such as came to comfort him , might receiue comfort from him . he did often pray , and ioyne in praier , and which was worthy obseruance did pray for a blessing on phisicke before hee would vse it . he vsed all lawfull meanes commending the successe to god. so liued he , and thus died he , leauing an earthly possession , and a house of clay , but now enioying an heauenly inheritance , a mansion , a resting place of eternall glory , leauing louing friends : but now enioying such as are more louely , leauing children , and yet gone to his children . all did not speake well of christ , some saide hee was a deceiuer , some a glutton , some a wine-bibber , some a company keeper of wicked men ; so all may not speake well of this gentleman , there be cursing shimeries , and rayling rabshakethes , some that will speake good of none . as the red dragon cast out water after the woman that had brought foorth a man child to drowne it ; so such as are the dragons young will cast out slanders , lies , false reports , and cursed speeches after those which die in the lord to disgrace them . the liues of such men as loue to disgrace the dead we mayknow , their death god knowes . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a68607-e10 eccles. 12. 12 , tenet insanabile multos scribends cacoethes . notes for div a68607-e220 epainetix●s . gen. 2. 7. gen. 3. 19. eccles. 12. 7. puluis in pulne●ena : humus in humum . n●scimur vt● moriamur . eccles. 1. 7. the metaphrase . text. pagin . lingua hebraica adam ab adamach terra madida apta ad formas recipiendas , merce . gen 4. 2. psal. 39. 5. psal. 144. 4. psal. 62. 4. hommes sunt 〈…〉 gen. 4. 26. doct. 1. 1. tim. 6. 7. iob. 5. 7. rom. 13. 14. eccles. 2. 23. vse . ●● psal. 144. 4. heb. 13. 14. 1. pet. 2. 11. psal. 39. 12. psal. 51. 5. ioh. 3. 5. ier. 17. 9. gen. 8. 21. 2. sam. 11. 2. psal. 5. 4. psal. 10. 7. esa. 59. 7. ier. 5. 5. psal 50 17. psal 94. 7. mala. 3. 17. ephes. 2. 3. col. 3 ▪ 6. ier. 51. 17. rom. 8. 17. psal. 41. 3. mat. 9. 2. ioh. 11. 44. luk. 15. 4. 5. 6. ioh. 14. 6. vse . 2. 1. kin. 11. 43. iudg. 16. 30. 2. sam. 18 , 11 : 2 , sam. 17. 23. 2 , sam. 12. 18. gen. 5. 27. luk. 16. 22. luk. 12. 20. 2. kin. 9. 33. gen. 23. 2. hebr. 9. 27. 2. cor. 5. 10. ic●● . esa. 4. 6. ● . pet. 1. 14. doct. 3. ion. 4. 6. iob. 17. 4. iob. 21. 26. esa. 51. 8. act. 12. 13. ion. , 6. iob 141. gen. 47. 9. psal. 90 10. iob. 7. 1. iob. 14. 5. iob. 14. 14. vse . 1. luk. 16. 19. iob. 15. 27. esa. 3. 15. amo. 8. 4. mich. 3. 3. 1. ioh. 2. 17. eccles. 1. 2. iob. 1. 21. domin●n ancillari , et ancillam dominari magna ●●t abusis reuel . 21. 21. iohn . 14. 2. luk. 15. 17. 18. reuel . 7. 14. luk. 14. 18. 19. 20. 1. cor. 15. 55. 1. sam. 17. 50. iudg. 16. 30. 1. sam. 4. 18. 2. kin. 9. 33. act. 7. 59. luk. 16. 19. philip. 1. 23. luk. 12. 40. mark. 13. 37. ● . pet. 3. 10. text. psal. 39. 5. psal. 102. 11. iob. 10. 1. hos. 13. 3. iob. 7. 6. iob. 7. 9. iam. 4. 14. doa . 3. dam. 2. 37. prou. 23. 5. 1. tim. 6. 17. prou. 11. 4. ezechi . 7. 19. mat. 13. 7. eccles. 5. 9. pro. 27. 20. luk. 12. 17. psal. 49. 12. eccles. 6. 2. ioh. 3. 8. ier. 4. 23. vse . 1. colos. 3. 2. mat. 6. 24. iam. 4. 4. i. ioh. 2. 15. psal. 39. 11. reuel . 3. 16. reuel . 2. 4. esa. 55. 6. amo. 5. 14. mat 6. 33. psal 34. 14. philip. 2. 15. luk. 13. 24. rom. 5. 2. col. 3. 4. i. cor. 15. 53. 1. cor. 15. 43. 1. cor. 15. 44. psal. 24. 7. reuel . 21. 27. 1. pet. 4. 14. 2. cor. 1. 12. psalm . 3. 3. text. doct. ● . luk. 13. 4. iob. 21. 13. sam. 4. 6. iudg. 4. 21. iudg. 16. 30. esa. 37. 38. es 138. 12. fabius senator anacreon . adrianus papa . ●anat . in 27. prouerb , iohan. stow 44. ann . elr●a . hos. 9. 11. ●e . 2. psal 39. 4. psal. 90. ●● . iere. 4. ● . heb. 3. 1● . mica . 2. 1● . colloss . 4. 5. math. 3. 7. eccles. 12. 1. deut. 32. i. lament . 1. 9. 2. pet. 1 , 10. 1. pet. 4. 3. 1. cor. 15. 58. 〈◊〉 sapien●ium vita est 〈◊〉 medita●●● . psal. 49. 16. 17. 2. tim. 4. 10. mat. 26. 15. luk. 12. 20. amo. 5. 5. esa. 55. 6. gen. 49. 14. luk. 5. 6. haba . 2. 6. 1. cor. 4. 2. mat , 23. 3. text. doct. 5. iob. 7. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1. kin. 8. 27. luk. 23. 43. psal. 19. 5. eccles. 12. 7. gen. 3. 19. iob 14 7. 8. 9. 10. iob 7 6. io 1 14. 14. vse . 10 luk. 6. 35. 2. cor. 1. 3. luk. 16. 2. eccles. 9. 10. ●●ccrris actio in calis contemplatio . ●●●monles . reuel . 14. 13. ioh 9 4. ioh. 12. 35. gal. 6. 10. nallus poenitentiae ln us , nullus satisfaclionis effetlus . cypria ad de●●ctr . perk. hebr. 3. 7. 8. quotidie est ho. he . heb. 3. 13. mica . 6. 10. 2. cor. 11. 14. ioh. 13. 27. act. 5. 3. ephes. 2. 1. act. 13. 10. ioh. 8. 44. reuel . 12. 12. reuel . 20. 3. 8. reuel 2. 24. christ the christians choice. or a sermon preached at the funerall of mr john cavvs one of the magistrates of the famous corporation of plymouth. march the 29. anno dom. 1645. by alexander grosse. b.d. and pastor of bridfoad. grosse, alexander, 1596?-1654. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a85734 of text r200080 in the english short title catalog (thomason e286_19). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 72 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a85734 wing g2069 thomason e286_19 estc r200080 99860884 99860884 158538 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a85734) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 158538) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 47:e286[19]) christ the christians choice. or a sermon preached at the funerall of mr john cavvs one of the magistrates of the famous corporation of plymouth. march the 29. anno dom. 1645. by alexander grosse. b.d. and pastor of bridfoad. grosse, alexander, 1596?-1654. 24 p. printed by r.b. for iohn bartlet at the gilt cup under st. augustines gate, london : 1645. annotation on thomason copy: "june 3d". imperfect: cropped affecting imprint. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bible. -n.t. -philippians i, 23 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -17th century. a85734 r200080 (thomason e286_19). civilwar no christ the christians choice. or a sermon preached at the funerall of mr john cavvs one of the magistrates of the famous corporation of plym grosse, alexander 1645 12384 53 0 0 0 0 0 43 d the rate of 43 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion christ the christians choice . or a sermon preached at the funerall of mr john cavvs one of the magistrates of the famovs corporation of plymovth . march the 29. anno dom. 1645. by alexander grosse . b.d. and pastor of bridfoad . phil. 1.21 . to mee to live is christ , and to dye is gaine : psal. 73.24 . thou shalt guide me with thy counsell , and afterward receive me to glory . psal. 73.25 . vvhome have i in heaven but thee , and there is none upon earth , that i desire besides thee . psal. 73.26 . my heart and my flesh faileth , but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . london printed by r. b. for iohn bartlet at the gilt cup under st. augustines gate . 1645. philippians chapter . 1. vers . 23. having a desire to depart , and be with christ which is farre better . noah left the earth to enter into the arke , the children of israel left the land of egipt for the fruition of the land of canaan : every santified and beleeving soule is willing to leave all that it may fully enter into christ , that it may have a compleat fruition of christ , who is all in all . better then all , infinitely more then all to every regenerate , and gracious soule . no prisoner but is willing to leave the prison-house , for the enjoyment of his owne house ; no excile but is willing to leave the land of banishment for the repossession of his owne country : no soule that knowes its owne bondage under corruption , it s owne alienation , and exilement from christ , ( in part at least , ) during the dayes of its abode in this earthly tabernacle . but with paul , hath a desire to depart and be with christ which is farre better . this our deceased brother making use a little before his death of these words to his wife , almost to the same purpose saint paul made use of them to his philippians . haveing a desire to depart and to be with christ which is farre better ; neverthelesse to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you . is that which invited and moved me , to treat of these words , in this houre of his funerall , and from them to deduce some instructions for the proffet and consolation of the living . the words propound unto us , and present before us , the choyse of a gracious soule the paradise wherein it desires to dwell , the sun which it desires to behold , the pearle which it desires to possesse , the haven wherein it desires to harbour , the tree whereon it longs to feed , and the fountains whereof it doth desire to draw and drinke a full and everlasting draught , even iesus christ , and nothing else , haveing a desire to depart and to be with christ which is farre better . in the words there is . 1. motus , a motion , the internall moving , stirring , longing , and working of the soule , excited , assisted , inabled , acted , moved , framed , and disposed , bent , and inclined , thereunto by the gracious presidentiall , active , and mighty power of the holy spirit ; like the motion and stirring of the heart of a prisoner , longing after , and looking out at the prison windowes for some tidings of liberty and freedom : like the motion of a man in darknes , waiting for the appearance of the light ; like the motion of a wife , in the time of her husbands absence , looking for , and expecting her husbands returne : a motion raised , excited , quickned , and strengthned , by a collation and comparison of the soules future felicity , with its present misery . as the husbandman compares , the joy of his future harvest , with the labour of his present winter . the souldier the glory of his future crowne with the difficulty of his present battle ; the traviller the comfort of his future paradice ; with the sadnes of his present wildernes : lively sence of present misery , sweet and powerfull apprehension of future , and ensueing glory , fill the soule truly gracious with longings of unwearied , and sacred vehemency . assurance of future happines makes a good man restles under the presant burthen of his corruption . here is movens . the party longing desiring to depart ; and that is paul a chosen vessell , afaithfull servant of god a liveing member of christ . none can truly desire to be dissolved but he that is sure to be saved . no man willingly leaveth his present habitation , but he that is assured of a better dwelling . no wise man willingly to cast of his present garment , but he that hath another , a better to put on : no man can be upon right grounds willing to be dissolved , but only that man who is truely fanctified : he who is not throughly interested in christ , cannot willingly leave all for christ : eleazar abrahams servant , put a jewell upon rebeccaas face , and bracelets upon her hands , and gave her jewels of silver and jewels of gould and rayment , and then shee was willing to goe with him , willing to leave all , and enjoy jsaac for her husband . that soule alone which christ beautifieth with the saveing gifts of his spirit , the love tokens of christ , better gifts then jewels of silver , and gold . js the soul , the only soule , that can forsake the dearest things of this life , that can readily leave its habitation in this mortall flesh , and take up its everlasting abode with christ . here is termin●s , the terme whereunto this gracious foule moves , and that is double the one privative , the other positive the first privative a desire to depart or be dissolved , exprossing the nature of death not an annihilation . but a dissolution , a seperation of the foule and body , the foule is now in the body as a bird in the cage , a prisoner in the prison house ; a traviller walking under a cloud , and therfore much desires a discharge , and exemption from his fad and burthensome condition ; no child of god desires death under the naked and simple notion of death , it is in it selfe , the king of terrours , repugnant , and disstructive to nature , a thing never desired for it selfe , but for some other thing , therfore here is secondly a positive terme wherein this motion , and desire of the foule ends ; that is in the fruition of christ , that he may be fully and everlastingly with christ ; that he may come out of the prison of the flesh , to be clad with glory to sit downe , and raign with christ as joseph came out of prison haveing his prison garments taken from him , a gould ring put upon his finger , royall apparell put upon his backe , and made the second person next to the king in the kingdome of egypt : that he may come out of all the servitude and slavery bondage and troubles of this life to triumph with christ leaving sinne , satan , and the world behind him , conquered , subdued , distroyed , as israel came out of the waters of the red sea , triumphing , leaving pharaoh and the egiptians , there drowned behind them . the fruition of the lord iesus makes death desirable , and lovely in the eies of al truebeleevers . here is , motivum . the motice , which sets the soule on worke , thus to desire to be with christ ; and this is drawne ab v●●● . from the fruit , and benefit thero : it is fore better . to be with christ then live here , to enjoy christ then all things else , it is not only better , but farre letter , a thousand degrees better , for the sa●ctity , for the liberty , for the safety , for the satie●y , for the sweete society and for the fulnes of all glory there to be enjoyed . the present felicitie of gods children is very little , even nothing , incomparison of the future glory which shal be put upon them . j cannot , time will not give me leave , to insist upon all the perticuler branches of these words , though every one of them present , before us and offer to us respectively , variety of usefull , sweet , and comfortable fruit ; had we time and leasure but to gather them ; i shall therfore for the present , give you one generall observation from them . st. paul so loved christ , so prized christ , so delighted in christ , so longed after christ , and apprehended the fruition of such a plenitude and sweetnesse , such duration , and continuance of all foule ravishing , and heartcontenting excellencies in the full enjoyment of christ ; that he was willing to leave all , to depart with all , even with his very life , for the full enjoyment of christ . whence observe . that there is nothing so deare and precious to gods faith full servants , noe not their very lifes , but they are willing to leave and lay them all downe for christs lake ; for the present , and future enjoyment of christ : thus it was with st. paul , and thus it is in proportion , in degree , according to the measure of grace received , with every child of god : the wife leaves all to enjoy matrimoniall communion with the husband ; sarah left all , and went with her husband abraham . true beleevers are the bride and spouse of christ : they forget their owne people and their fathers house to enjoy their husband christ : they so love , they so remember , they so delight in , and so long after christ , that they love nothing remember nothing , delight in nothing , prize nothing , desire nothing in comparison of christ iesus ; be it otherwise never so deare & precious : the merchant in the parable sold all that he had for the precious pearle , true beleevers are spirituall marchants , they trade , and traffick for christ ; christ is to them a pearle of that price , that they joyfully sell all , leave all for the present , and future enjoyment of him : this truth is carried by way of command in the iniunction laid by our blessed saviour upon the angel of the church of smyrna . be thou faithfull unto the death , and i will give thee the crowne of life . whatsoever trouble doe arise , whatsoever storme doe tosse and shake thee , whatsoever cloud of contumely doe seize upon thee , whatsoever band of violence be stretched out to rob and spoile thee , yet be thou saithfull in thy covenant with christ , in thy profession of christ in thy undertaking for christ in thy dependance upon christ , in thy love unto christ , in thy defence of the cause of christ be thou faithfull to the death let life , and all goe , rather then let goe christ ; lay downe all for the crowne of life , for the sweet , the full , and everlasting enjoyment of christ . thus the apostle peter haveing declared the vanity and mutability of the whole frame of the creature , argueth and urgeth from thence the necessity of looking out for christ , of hastning unto christ , of making christ sure unto our soules . seeing then ( saith he ) that all these things shalb● dissolved , what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godlynes . looking for and hastning unto the comming of the day of god . looking for the coming of and full enjoyment of christ as a husbandman looketh for the coming , and gathering in , of the harvest ; looking and preparing for christ as a good servant waiteth , and prepareth for the coming of his lord and master : thus have the servants of god ever lively expressed the sadnes of their condition without christ , their high prizing of christs gratious presence in his ordinances for the present , though they enjoy him herein but in part , a farreof , and obscurely , as we enjoy a friend in his letters , the son in the starres . a birde the bridgroome in his love tokens . yet when christ hath at any time in his behalse estranged himselfe from them , they have beene as drie ground without water , in an incessant thirst , as a chased hart without the water brookes , full of restles motions , and ardent cries after christ : as the hart panteth after the water brookes so panteth my soule after thee o god . my soule thirsteth for god , for the liveing god . when shall i come and appeare before god . they follow him as sttai david whether in life or in death , the virgins follow the lam wheresoever hoe goeth whether in a codition of honour , or ignominy , of perce or trouble of losse or gaine they follow him : david accounts one day in the courts of god better a thousand , and prizes the place of a doore keeper in the house of god above the choyfest habitation among the tents of wickednesse preferring the poorest condition with christ , above the highest condition without christ : what was moses his choise ? did he not chuse to endure affliction with the people of god rather then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season . did not he refuse to be called the sonne of pharaohs daughter ? did not he esteeme the enjoyment of communion with christ , and his members , though in the wildernesse , above the fruition of fellowship with the greatest profane worldly nobles . though in a paradise of all earthly pleasures ? did not the primitive christians take the spoyling of their goods joyfully knowing they had an abiding substance in heaven : were not they contented to be spoiled of all , rather then to be spoiled of christ , and what is the glory of gods deare servants , but this they loved not their lives unto the death ; if they doe all this for the present enjoyment of christ , where they enjoy him a farre off , and but in part , how much more will they do it , for an immediate and compleat enjoyment of him in the next life : having their conversation now in heaven , from whence also they look for the saviour the lord iesus christ , being turned unto god from idols , to serve the living and true god : and to waite for his sonne from heaven . by all which it plainly appeares that there is nothing so deare and precious to gods faithfull servants no , not their very lives , but they are willing to leave and lay them all downe for christs sake , for the present and future enjoyment of christ . for the fuller understanding , and clearer discerning of the extent and latitude of this truth there be foure things considerable , first the matter left , secondly the persons leaving it . thirdly the manner how they leave it . fourthly the end or finall cause for which they leave it . first the matter left things most deare and precious to them , things of greatest price among the men of the world , things in their kinde for their quality most eminent as riches , honours , pleasures favour credit countenance and applause amongst men : they are contented for the enjoyment of christ to be men of no name , of no repute , of no wisedeme , of no authority , of no wealth among men : things for their use most necessary as calling station and instruments of livelyhood , things for their relation very sweete and pleasant as friends father , mother , and things for their number , the very all which they possesse , things for their intimacy and nearenesse the most deare and precious , as life it selfe , so paul here the traveller willingly leave all lamps , candles , torcher , the greater and the lesser starres to enjoy the sunne : the true travellers in the way to god in christ , willingly leave all other comforts to enjoy christ jesus , the sunne of all true consolations : secondly the persons leaving all , laying downe all for christ , paul , and such as have the spirit of paul : none have these desires besides the truely gracious : none but the bride leaves all for the bridegroome , it is not orpah , but ruth that cleaves to naomi in the day of her distresse , it is not demas but paul that esteemes all but dung and drosse in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of jesus christ , it is not the coward but the valiant souldier , that willingly layes downe his life for his captaine in the battell ; hyminoeus and philetus are no sooner shaken with a tempest , but they forthwith make shipwracke of faith and a good conscience , onely paul is the man that fights the good fight , that finisheth his course and keepes the faith : he alone that is a true partaker of christ is the man that will leave all for christ . thirdly , the manner how they leave all willingly , it is their desire it is their choise , the bird willingly leaves his cage , to soare and fing aloft in the aire . israel willingly left egypt to free their shoulders from pharroahs heavy burthens : the lords faithful servants , the israel of god indeed : willingly hazard , leave and lay downe all for god and christ , to case themselves of the burthen of corruption , and to enjoy communion with god and christ , this they doe with desire as paul desired to depart , and this desire carries in it . first , a sensible apprehension of the miserie and troublesomnesse of their present condition , the sence and feeling which israel had of the sadnesse of their estate under the heavy burthens which pharaoh imposed on them , and cruell task-masters which he set over them made them willing to leave the land of egypt , and desirous to goe to canaan : sence of the burthensomnesse of mans owne corruption , and of the violence and bitternesse of the buffettings of satan , fills the soule with sad complaints of its present miserie and ardent prayers , for the enjoyment of full freedome from them and intire rest , and acquiescence in christs bosome . secondly , an high prizing of christ , as the onely glorious and shining sunne , whence discend all the beames of spirituall consolation , as the apple-tree , whereon growes all sweet and desirable fruit for the noufishment of the soule , and under whose shadow it can repose , and rest it sell with much delight : as the store-house whence is derived all celestiall treasure for the fouls inrichment : as the fairest of ten thousand in whom all soul ravishing , and heart admiring excellencies are discerned : he alone that takes the true measure of the worth of christ , is the man that can leave , and lay downe all for christ . thirdly , servent and unfained love to christ , she●h●ms love to dinah made him willing to undergoe the paine or circumcision for her , jacobs love to rachel put him upon a hard service , in the heate , and in the cold , in the day , and in the night for her ; servent love to christ , puts the gracious soule upon a ready undertaking of the hardest servie or christ , a patient toleration of the greatest difficulties in the way of christ , and a che refull effusion of its dearest blood for the exaltation of christ , for the fruition of full communion with christ : true love to christ resteth in nothing , but in the fruition of christ ; all desires after christ which spring not from unfained love to him , are fruitlesse have no acceptance with him never reach him , never worke the soule into the possession of him . fourthly , vehement longings after christ , a holy restlinesse of the soule , and spirit untill it doth come to christ , as the bee untill it comes unto the hive : the river untill it emptieth it self into the ocean : and as the dove did fly up and down , and found no rest for the sole of her foot untill she entred into the arke . the soule which truely defires christ meetes with contentation no where but in christ ; the thirst thereof is never satisfied untill it drinks a full draught of christ , the heavenly oecan , in whom are all soule-refreshing waters ; the motion thereof is never terminated untill it comes fully home to christ , the paradise in whom dwell all spirituall comforts . fifthly , diligent inquisition after christ , carefull use of all meanes to enjoy christ ; these desires are no lazy , sluggish , weake feeble , and fleeting desires ; but strong , active , and stirring desires , desires knocking at the doore of the heart , and awakening it as a loud sounding trumpet rouseth a man out of his sleepe ; desires quickning man , like spurres in his motion unto christ ; desires drawing a man like a loadstone unto christ , david desired to drink of the water in the wells of bethel , and his worthies brake through the army of the philistines , and brought waters thence : true desires after christ neglect no meanes leading unto christ , breake thorow all oppositions betweene them and christ : their soules are set upon an unwearied inquiry after him , a constant use of all meanes to enjoy him , when joseph and mary had lost christ they went up and downe , and sought him sorrowing , never ceasing from their inquiry untill they found him ; the soule which knowes what it is to loose christ , what the sadnesse of the soule is without christ : never ceaseth seeking untill he hath found him , never ceaseth from his mourning , till christ returnes with sweete consolations againe unto him . sixtly , delight , he that ardently desires christ , joyfully leaves all for christ , accounts it all joy to fall into m nifold temptations for the cause of christ : takes the spoyling of all joyfully , sings in prison , is cheerefull in the wildernesse as in a paradise : walkes like the three children in the fiery furnace of great adversities as in a palace : and comes when god calls him to the stake and fiery tryall as the hungry to a feast , the souldier to the crowne : or bride to the marriage of the bridegroome , and unto death it selfe through many temptations , weaknesses and disasters as mariners to the haven thorow a violent and stormy tempest the way of the soule to christ jesus is not such a way of sorrows , but that it is mixt with man , sweet and secret pleasures . seventhly , a confident resignation into the hands of christ , he that truely and unfainedly desires christ , doth not dye as a man uncertaine where he shall goe , ●●t commeth as a bride to the bridegroom , as an obedient childe to his loving fathers house , with much assurance of gracious acceptation , of a sweet and everlasting entertainment and welcome , though he sometimes feel the winde of temptation blowing with much violence upon him : and dismall feare now and then furprizing him , yet with teter in another case he cries mast r save me , and immediately see iesus stretching out his hand , and saving him from sinking in the waters ready to swallow him : he beholds the winde ceasing , and an everlasting calme ensueing , upon the fall of this house of his flesh he sees a glorious habitation provided for him ; he knowes that if his earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed , he hath a building made of god , an house not made with hands , but eternall in the heavens . fourthly , here is the end or finall cause , why the gracious soule doth leave all , and desires to goe hence : it is for christs sake , that it may have the full fruition of christ , that it may mount aloft and come to christ : as the bird when the cage is broken or the prisoner when the prison house is beaten downe , and throwne into the dust have liberty , the one to fly , and the other to walke abroad and meete their companions . thus the lords servants desire to depart ; to leave this mansion of the flesh , that they may meet the lord and so be ever with him , the ultimate end of every good mans desires and endeavours is the full fruition of christ jesus . having seene what it is that this observation carries in it , let us now descend to the reasons conducing both to the further illustration , and confirmation thereof ; now the reason why gods servants doe so willingly leave and lay downe all for the enjoyment of christ is . in regard of the evill adherent to the present condition of gods children though they be a red●●ed people a people translated out of darknesse into the kingdome of gods deare sonne , yet they have some fetters still upon them , though they be an instructed people , a people taught of god yet they have some ignorance remaining in them though they be a ga der inclosed , an ●rchard of pomegranates with sweet fruites yet they have some weeds , some thornes and briars , there sprouting and spreading : there is a manifold evill yet adherent to gods children . first an evill of darknesse the day-star●e indeed hath appeared , but the sunne is not yet fully risen in their soules is butday dawning they know but in part , there is some ignorance mingled with their knowledge . secondly an evill of bondage , though they be not led away captive at the will of satan as voluntary slaves without reluctance and resistance : yet they are sold under sin , as a man led captive against his will . like lazarus they are risen but yet they carry some of their gravecloathes about them which doe in part still fetter and tye them . thirdly an evill of opposition , sickenesse opposeth health in men diseased esau opposed jacob in the wombe of rebecca , saul opposed david and made continuall warre against him , the flesh opposeth the spirit , corruption opposeth grace in gods children : fleshly lusts warre against the soule in the best of gods people . fourthly an evill of uncleannesse , though they be washed , and sanctified and instified in the name of the lord jesus and by the spirit of our god , yet this is but in part , they are indeed perfectly instified but imperfectly sanctified : he saith our saviour that is washed , needeth not save to wash his feet but is cleane every whit , and ye are cleane , but not all . fiftly an evill of temptation egyptian pharaoh pursued israel after they were gone out of egypt , the infernall pharaoh pursues god , israd after they are escaped the plenary servitude and slavery of this world , and their owne corruption , satan stands at the right hand of iosua the high priest to hinder his supplication : and he buffets paul to disturb and vexe him , satan now and then obtaines commission to tempt and try the best of gods children . sixthly an evill of burthens , there lyes on the shoulders of gods servants a burthen of corruption a burthen of contumelies ; a burthen of manifold afflictions , israel in egypt had cruell task-masters over , and heavy burthens imposed on them : gods israel in this world still travels under heavy burthens , travelling like israel thorow the wildernesse of many troubles , and red sea of many sorrows and sufferings , afmore or lesse , will rest as a burthen on gods people , as long as they carry corruption about them . seventhly an evill of close and conscience-accusations , of heart smiting and selfe-judgings , davids heart smites him for touching sauls garment , job sees enough amisse within him to make him abhorre himselfe below the dust and ashes : esaiah is sensible of so much uncleannesse , that he is forced to cry out , wo is me for i am undone , because i am a man of polluted lips : no man walkes with such exactnesse and circumspection , but that his conscience now and then , brings matter of accusation against him : eightly an evill of sorrows , for temporall or spirituall losses for their owne or others failings , for their owne or others miseries : the lords people are seeds men sowing in teares now reaping in ioy : hereafter gods children like israel of old have such canaanites like thornes in their sides and pricks in their eyes that they are full of lamentation , and mourning ninthly an evill of commerce and communion with profane people who pricke like thornes , and sting like scorpions , and pierce and wound like arrows , vexing the righteous soules of gods people , and making their very lives a burthen to them . tenthly an evill of absence , they are not yet come fully home to christ , they are at much distance from him ; have not the full enjoyment of him while they are at home in the body they are absent from the lord : and therefore are willing to leave and lay downe all that they may be discharged from this manifold evill . in regard of the termination of a gracious soules motion in christ , every thing terminates its motion , in its proper , christ is the soules center , the rivers move and stop not , till they terminate their motion in the sea : the gracious soule is restlesse till it commeth unto christ , naomi said of boaz unto ruth the man will not be in rest untill he hath finished the ma●ter this day : the soule intending wedlocke with christ , will not , cannot be in full and thorow rest , untill it hath finished , and fully perfected its wedlock with christ , the whole or a gracious man moves to christ : the motion of his imagination is to the thought , and meditation of christ : the meditation of christ is sweete unto him ; the motion of his und●rstanding is to the knowledge of christ , hee desires to know nothing but christ , and him crucisied , the motion of his faith is to the alsufficiencie , worth and efficacy of christ : be i● rooted , and built up in christ , the motion of his love is to the beauty and excellency of christ : he is the fairest of ten thousand in his eye , and his soule is sicke o● love to christ : every way the motion of a sanctified is to christ , the travellers motion is to his home , the the thirsty mans motion is to the fountaine , the good mans motion is to christ , he never attaines his desired perfection untill he hath gotten the full possession of him : and therefore leaves all to enjoy him . in regard of that union which a gracious soule hath with christ , by saith and love , he is not so united unto any thing , as to christ , he is so united to him that he is be come one with him boxe of his bone , ana flesh of his flesh he is united to christ with a separating and singling union , with an union separating him from the world as a woman joyned in with an union separating him from the world as a woman joyned in wedlocke is separated from her owne people , and her fathers house , with an union crucifying the world unto him and him againe unto the world : he is united unto christ with a deriving and enriching union , drawing from christ grace for gra●e , filled with christs fulnesse and made compleate n him : he is united unto christ with a translating and transforming union , an union transforming him into the very image of christ , making him pure as christ is pure ; he is united to christ with an inflaming and soule ravishing union : kindling a fire in his heart which no waters can quench & many floods cannot drown : he is united to christ with an indissoluble union , so united , that neither the powers of hell , nor earth can dissolve it ; he is united unto christ with a victorious union , an union overcomming all the proffers , and oppositions of the world : a prostrating union , casting a man and all his gifts and abilities downe at the feet of christ , making a man willing to be nothing in the eyes of men that christ may be exalted : an aspiring union ascending unto more and more perfection never ceasing untill the soule is wrought into a full communion with jesus christ , making a man willing and industrious to cast away whatsoever may hinder his enjoyment of christ , to breake prison to come to christ , to leave all to be with christ , as elisha left his yokes of oxen to follow eliah in regard of that preheminence which christ hath in the heart of a gracious man , above all other things he giveth christ preheminence : first in his choice , he chooseth christ rather then all or any other thing whatsoever , the traveller chooseth the sun rather then any other light to guide him ; the builder chooseth the rock , rather then the sand to build upon : and the wise merchant the pearle , rather then the pebble to enrich him : the gracious man preferreth christ as the onely wise counseller able to advise him , the ovely racke able to support him , and the onely ●ear●e wherein is all worth to inrich bun : he chooseth the gifts and graces of christ before all other treasures : bee preserreth the love of christ , the light of his countenance , above all other pleasures , and earthly abundance : there is nothing without this can give him contentation . absolon thought it a small thing that he lived at ierusalem , nay he esteemed his life as nothing , unlesse hee might see the kings face : a good man esteemes it a little thing to live at jerusalem , i meane to have all gods ordinances , unlesse he enjoy the face of christ with them : his very life without this seemes but a burthen : when the face of christ shines there is exceeding great joy and rejoycing , when this is hidden there is a cry , much mourning and lamentation . secondly in his feare , men give preheminence in their feare to their soveraigne , above the subject , children to their fathers above the houshold servants : wives to their husbands above strangers : good men feare christ as their soveraigne as their fathers , as their husband with an awfull , a spirituall , a filiall , an affectionate and submissive feare , choosing rather to offend all the world then to offend christ : they feare the command of christ , more then the command of man : the wrath of christ more then the wrath of men : the losse of christ favour , more then the losse of any , or all men whatsoever : they chuse rather to expose themselves to mans greatest rage and indignation , then to provoke christ in the least sillable of voluntary and witting deviation from the rule which christ hath prescribed to them . thirdly in his love , the wife preferres the husband in her love above all other persons ; he that is married unto christ loves christ more then all creatures , he loves him not carnally but spiritually , his love ariseth from a seed of grace sowne in the heart , it is a fruit of gods spirit , he loves him not constrainedly but freely , his love moves to christ like water flowing from a living spring : he loves him not with a niggardly but a bountifull love , with a love moving him to give all that he hath to christ : he loves him not with a sinister but a sincere love ; not in a shew but in truth not in word but in deed ; he loves christ not with a faint and languishing love , but with a strong and victorious love ; a love overcomming all opposition a love carrying him home to christ , a love causing him to abide with christ in all changes , to rest upon him in all conditions , a love like the love of jonathan to david , jonathan so loved david that he was contented to run the hazard of his fathers displeasure , to be abased that david might be exalted , and disrobe himselfe for davids sake : the gracious soule so loveth christ , that he is ready for christs sake to incurre the hatred of his dearest friends according to the flesh , to humble himselfe belowe the dust for the exaltation of christ , and to put oft this garment o● the flesh , that he may honour and enjoy christ . fourthly in his possession , he had rather possesse christ then all things else ; all other possessions are but an empty vessell to the posessing of christ : the king of sodome sometime said to abraham give me the persons take thou the substance : the gracious man is ready to say to his neighbour , give me christ , and take the goods , house honours , body , and whatsoever else he that will : all other possessions are but a wildernesse to this paradise : a b●amble to the vine , the fig-tree and the olive-tree as iotham in another case expressed himselfe in this parable . fifthly in communion men of generous disposition prize communion with princes above communion with beggars : wives preserre fellowship with their husbands above fellowship with servants : fellowship with christ is the longing desire of every gracious soule they say of this as peter did of the mount it is good being here , the desire of their soules is to dwell with christ : to live continually in the blessed presence of christ , and as they give him preheminence in their choise , feare love possession and communion , so they are willing to leave and lay downe all for him . fifthly in regard of that gaine which commeth to a gracious man by leaving and laying downe his goods , liberty , or life for christs sake : the more he leaves for christ the more he shall receive , the greatest loosers for christ are the greatest gainers by christ : it is our saviours promise whosoever shall loose father or mother or house or lands &c. for my names sake shall bare an hundred fold more in this life , and life everlasting hereafter : the seed thus sowne returnes with a plentifull harvest : this is the best adventure to make a rich merchant the least gaine of christ is recompence enough for a whole worlds losse : the having of christ make every condition gainfull , christ saith st. paul is both is life and death advantage . israel by leaving egypt , got a land flowing with milke and honey . mose● by leaving the honour of pharaohs court , got greater honour in becomming both a leader and a wonder-worker before the children of israel in the wildernesse : peter by leaving his nets became a fisher of men , the lord hath many wayes to make the grestest losses of his servants most advantagious : by death it selfe a gracious man hath a gaine o●much light he beholds the sun in the fulnesse of his rising : he sees face to face , and knowes even as he is knowne : he hath a gaine or compleate purity , like absolon in another respect , having no blemish from the crowne of the head , unto the sole of the font , a man without spot or wrinkle : he hath a gaine of liberty , he commeth as peter out of herods prison , all his setters smitten off , as israel out of the red sea leaving satan , the world , and his owne corruption there drowned behinde him . lastly he baths gaine of the greatest honour communicable to the soule of man , a crowne of life and glory given him : and hence it is hat such are willing to leave and lay downe all for christ , that they may leave the full fruition of him . this by way of reprehension reproves two sorts of men : first such as are so farre from leaving and laying downe all for christ , for the present and future enjoyment of christ ; that they will neither lay out , nor lay downe any thing for christ : so farre from being willing and desirous with paul to be dissolved from their bodies , that they will not be dissolved from the least part , or parcell of their possessions , honour , riches , pleasures , liberties or priviledges amongst men for christs sake : but when christ , the cause of christ , the church of christ in the course of gods providence , call for helpe , reliefe , supportment , comfort , and encouragement , at these mens hands as sometimes david did at the hands of nabal these men like the sonnes of nabal , answer christ as nabal their father answered david , who is david and who is the sonne of iesse ; there be many servants now a dayes that breake away every man from his master , shall i then take my bread and my water and my flesh which i have killed for my shearers , and give it unto men whom i know not whence they be : thus they are ready to answer who is christ , and who is the church of christ , there be many that rebell and without cause draw troubles and calamities on their owne heads : shall i then take my bread and water , my possessions and riches which i have provided for me and mine , and give it to i know not who : and of these may christ truely say as david did of nabal surely in vaine have i kept all that these fellows have , for they have requited me evill for good : and as david was full of wrath against nabal , and resolved the utter extirpation of him and his house , so no doubt the indignation of christ is kinled , and burnes like fire against such mercilesse and cruell caitiffes : neither can they expect a blessing but a curse on themselves and their posterity after them the sentence of our saviour against such is very dreadfull , and such as may make them act belshazar living , in the midst of their great possessions . depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire which is prepared for the d●vill and his angels , for i was an hungred and ye gave me no meate thirsty and ye gave me no drinke : i was a stranger and yee tooke me not in unto you . i was naked and ye clothed me not : sicke and in prison , and ye visited me not : verily ( saith christ ) in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me , and these shall go into everlasting paine : you may please to call to minde the story betweene gideon and the princes of succoth : gideon and his men were weary and aint in the pursuit of their enemies , and gideon said unto the men of succoth , give i pray you morsels of brean unto the people that follow me for they be weary that i may follow after zeba and zalmunna kings of midian : to whom the princes of succoth answered , are the hands of zeba and zalmunna now in thy hands that we should give bread unto thine 〈◊〉 : to whom gideon replyed , therefore when the lord hath delivered zeba an zalmunna into mine hands i will tear your flesh with thornes of the wildernesse and with bryers : which upon his victory he did accordingly : gideon was a type of christ , and christ is the captaine of the lords host : when his souldiers his people at this day are weary and faint in fighting his battells , in defending his cause , in pursuing his and their enemies , christ speakes to many amongst us , as gideon to the men of succoth : give i pray bread , flesh , lodging , cloathing , to these men that follow me , that stand for me , that fight for me and my truth ; that lay downe all for me and my cause : to whom many men answer as the men of succoth answered gilead , are the cavalleirs now in thine hands ? hast thou vanquisht and overcome them : it is yet doubtfull which side will prevaile ; why then shall we give our bread unto , or make provision for thine army : but let these men looke to it , when zeba and zalmunna when the publike and open enemie shall be subdued , christ hath thornes and briars , fearefull judgements for them that withdraw their assistance in the day of the churches distresse , judgement mercilesse is the portion of them that shew no mercy . secondly , it repr●veth such as will spare something , but not the best things like them of old in the prophet , that would spa●e the blinde the lame and the sick for sacrifice , but not that which was sound and without blemish : they will spare the tongue , but not the hand their bodly presence but not their hearted soule presence : they will spare some but not all for christ , when they are put upon this , to leave all , and take christ alone , they goe away sorrowfull : some will spare their goods but not their lives , they will not with paul be dissolved , peter once left all , but he would not at that time leave his life for christ , but denyed his master to save his life : now these men doe herein , and hereby plainely discover . first an overprizing of the creature , so esteeme it , that they value the unworthlest of their possessions as the gaderines did their swine above jesus christ : so love it , that upon the losse , or likely hood of taking it away , they goe weeping after it as sometimes ●haltiel went weeping after mical to bahurim : so adore and serve it , so rest and relie upon it , that when it is gone they runne up and downe like mica after his idole , and cry out as men undone . secondly a shamefull underprizing of christ : he that will not leave a pebble for a pearle , a broken bottell for a river , a barren branch for a fruitfull tree , under values the pearle , river , tree , all creatures excellency is nothing in comparison of christs glory : they very wickedly , and shamefully disparage christ , that preferre or equalize any thing to christ ; let such men with the invited guests in the parable , never look to partake of christ with comfort , whose love unto , or delight in the creature withholds them from giving their hearts unto christ . thirdly , hereby they hazard the very losse of what they retains , and get by leaving christ , their losse is ever greater then their gaine , usually they loose the very thing which they withhold ; he that will save his life shall loose it , he that will save his honours , his riches , his liberty his favour with men shall loose the same : how ignominious to all succeeding generations hath beene the name of the scribes and pharisees who for the maintenance of their owne name and honour , studied and consulted the eclipsing and obscuring of the name and honour of christ : how odious is the name of judas who laboured his own gain , more then gaining of honour and soules to his master christ : take this for thy portion whosoever thou art that seekest to make thy selfe rich and honourable , with the losse and dishonour of christ , thy name and riches both shall be everlastingly buried in the dust of dishonour and reproach . fourthly , hereby they draw a curse on themselves and on their possessions , they having of christ like the arke to the house of obed edon makes all to prosper , like the ●rce to the waters of marah , it makes the bitterest condition pleasant and comfortable : the deniall of christ the losse of christ turnes all into a curse , like the evill herb that turned the prophets pot into a pot of death : all that men get against christ , all that men keepe with the dishonour of christ , proves like achans golden wedge and babylonish garment , a curse and ruine to their whole possession , therefore thus saith the angel of the lord , curse ye meroz , curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof , because they came not to the help of the lord against the mighty fifthly hereby they contract shame , raise a cloud of dishonour upon their owne heads , that never shall be blotted out : is it not the shame of all shames , to a wise to forsake her husband for the love of an unworthy servant ; for a sonne to leave his parent , and with the prodigall to run a rioting with loose and dissolute companions , to a souldier to leave his captaine , and betake himselfe unto the enemies quarters : is christ your husband , your father your captaine ; will you leave him for the gaine the honour , the pleasure of the world ? will you leave him and enter consort with profane people ; will you fly from him , and joyne with his enemies , be assured then your memory shall rot , your name shall goe out like a candle : leaving nothing but an unsavory smell behinde it your honour shall lie in the dust , your name shall everlastingly perish . this by way of counsell should advise all men to work their hearts to alow prizing of their present estate , and every thing they have here , incompart on of the enjoyment of christs gods children desire to be dis●ed , they know it to be better to be with christ , then to continue here therefore looke on all your outward priviledges , and prerogatives as on d●gand drosse in comparison of the excellency of christ , nay look on the gift , and on all the best things of god which you have here in this ●●e , in comparison of the full enjoyment of christ , even a few gleani●●s●n comparison of the full vintage as on the daw●ing , in comparison of the noon-day , as on some small love-tokens in comparison of the compleate enjoyment of the bridegroome : we have the good things of god now as waters in a bottle , then we shall have them as waters in the fountaine , now we have them as an earnest peny , then we shall have them in the full summe . this ministers matter of sweet and singular consolation to the surviving friend of all the godly deccated : it was their desire to be dissolved , it is better , yea farre better for them , they have a possession now , the least mite whereof is better then all the possessions of the earth we may say of this as gideon did of the gleanings of ephraim : the gleanings of ephraim are better then the vintage of abiezer here they were as ●itors now their mairrage is consumm●●e , here they were as men walking in setters , now they are as men walking in chains of gold : here their bread was mingled with grav●ll , and their drink with gall , now they have a sumptuous and a costly feast , here they were as souldiers in the battel , now they have a glorious crowne put upon them , here they were 〈◊〉 seed-men sowing in teares , now they are as harvest men reaping in great job : here they were as runners in a race , now they have obtained the prize : here they were as wor●s and no men , obscured with many clouds , now they have a name as glorious as the sun , here their dw●lling was as in a dungeon , as in a house continually dropping thorow and ready to fall , now they have a glorious ●al●ce wherein to dwell here they had consortship with men who were as thornes in their sides , now they have communion with god , with christ , with the glorious angels and glorified saints : in a word now they are ceased from their labours , and heir works follow them : therefore as we sorrow at our owne losse , so let us rejoyce in their gaine remembring that of the apostle . i would not brethren have you ignorant concerning them which are a sleep , that ye sorrow even not as others which have no hope , for if we beleeve that iesus is dead , and is risen , even so them that sleep in iesus , will god bring with him . 4. this by way of excitation should perswade and move men to a singular willingnes to leave all for christ to lay down life , and all , and be desirous to be dissolved , for the enjoyment of christ , to suffer wrong for christ , to abide in any low and sad condition with christ as ruth with naomi : to long for christs coming ; to say with the spouse , come lord iesu : but how shall we work our hearts to this , to be willing to suffer for christ to work for christ to lay down , & leave all for christ . be experienced in the bitternes of sin , how it breakes the bones how it causeth man to abborre his bread , and his soul , dainty meat , how it makes his flesh to fail : that it cannot be seen , and his bones to shiver , how it strikes with sorrow , and makes man to cry , o miserable man that i am who shall deliver me from this body of death , be experienced in the misery of this bondage , and thou shalt not much fear any prison whereinto man can cast thee ; be sensible of the weight of this burthen , and the imposition of pharaohs burthens shall not much molest thee : know thou the hidiousnesse of a tempestuous and accusing consciences , and all the accusations of men shall not much perplex thee , be sensible of the bitternesse of gods wrath against sin , and the declination of the wrath of men shall never prevail with thee to draw thee to do evill , be acquainted with the losse which commeth by sin , and thou shall be willing to loose all rather then fall into any sin , be sensible of the troublesomnesse of this inmate sinne , and thou shalt be willing to go out of this house of thy flesh that thou mayest cease from sinne , the more the soul is afflicted with the burthen of its own corruption , the more it is experienced in the bitternesse of the fruits of sinne the more it longs to depart from this tabernacle of the flesh and to be with christ . secondly get a through taste of the goodnes and sweetnes of christ , taste what christ is to the soule when all is gone , even all in all , a sun in darknes , a 〈…〉 in drought , and a stoore house in every want : and without christ all worldly fullnesse is very vanity and emptines , a body without a soule a s●mpe without oyle , a bone without marrow . every high thing without christ is base , every strong thing without christ is weake , and every full thing without christ is empty : it is christ that filleth all in all he is the fullnesse of our knowledge , he that knowes not christ is very blind and ignorant , he is the fullnesse of our faith , if wee apprehend not christ our faith is all empty hand ; he is the fullnes of our love , love is never perfect , never resteth untill christ is imbraced , he is the fullnesse of our joy , if we joy not in christ , we rejoyce in a thing of nought , he is the fullnes of all our possesions , if we posses not christ with them we have but a barren possession , like the dry ground which caleb gave unto his daughter achsa without the wither springs , therefore get a full and thorough taste of christ , of the sweetnesse and pleasantnes of christ , as the eye the sweetnes of the sun , the palate the sweetnes of the wine , satiate thy soule in christ , in the goodnes , fullnes fatnes , and sweetnes which cometh from him , marry thy soule to him , take up thine abode and dwelling with him ; fill thine eies with the beholding of christs beauties , and say as peter when he saw the gloryous transfiguration of christ on the mount , it is good being here . feed thy soule on christ and say with them iohn 6. lord give us evermore of this bread . let thy heart so love him , so admire him , so choose , so cleave unto him , that thou mayest be able to say of christ as david of goliahs sword , there is none to that , there is none to christ ; and this will make thee willing to leave , and lay downe life and all for christ . thirdly got assurance of glory with christ , be sure of raigning with him , and thou shalt be joyful in suffering and laying all downe for him were the souldier sure of the conquest and the crowne , he would never feare to enter the battel , assurance of the crowne of life exceedingly sweetens mans passage through the vally of death . get cleare and invincible evidence of gods love , and of intrest in the first resurrection , and then as joseph willingly put of his prison garment , so shall you this garment of your flesh , and as israel went joyfully through the sea to canaan , so shall you through the deepe waters of all sorrowes , troubles , changes yea death it selfe , unto heaven . you shall have a desire to depart and be with christ which is farre better . now concerning this our deceased brother ; there are in the course of divine providence , some acts of god towards him worthy of observation ; and some acts again of his , in themselves worthy of imitation , if you cast your eye on god and behold him in the way of his providence and dispensation you may observe . 1. an act of gods liberall and bou-tifull communication ; from small beginnings the lord increased and multiplyed his outward and earthly stock to a great abundance : he might have said as old jacob did . i am lesse then the least of all the mercies , and all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant : for with my staffe came i over this jordan , i now have gotten two bands : you must know that riches are the lords , and he doth with his own what be please : it is not the naked having , but the well using of riches that makes them truely comfortable to them that have them . it is not the rich in worldly goods , but the rich in faith are heirs of the kingdoms which god hath provided for them that love him , riches without grace and holinesse are but as a lamp in a foolish virgins hand without oil , therefore as christ charged his disciplet not to labour for the bread which perisheth but for the bread which endureth to everlasting life : so labour you not for fading and perishing riches , but for that riches , which is an abiding substance : when god makes men not onely rich in goods , but in true and saving goodnesse , there goes the character of gods undoubted loving kindnesse . secondly , you may here of serve gods act of exaltation ; the lord raised him from a low condition , to the highest pitch and step of outward dignity this place could afford him ; wherein you may see that of hanna verified , the lordmak the poore , and maketh rich bringeth low and exalteth , be raiseth up the poore out of the dust , and lifteth up the begger from the dunghill , to set them among princes , and ●o make them inherit the throne of glory : you may here see that of the palmist made good . promotion commeth neither from the east , nor fram the west , nor from the south , but god is the iudge , he maketh low , and he maketh high : yet this observe , that when god doth not onely exalt a man in civill jurisdiction over his brethren but in spirituall jurisdiction over his corruption , satan and the world , that is the man whom god makes truely honourable : that man alone who honours the place of eminency wherein god sits him , by his wise and gracious deportment in it , and faithfull discarge of it , is the man that shall be everlastingly honoured . the lord gave him not only wealth and dignity among the people , but also knowledge and understanding in the things of this life and partly in the things of a better life : now there is a knowledge hystoricall , and a knowledge my●icall a knowledge speculative and a knowledge experiamentall , a knowledge discussive and a knowledge practicall : that man that doth not onely know the way of god but all walk in it , is the man that shall be surely blessed , that knowledge alone which is affective , submissive , and communicative argues a saving illumination i● them that have it , much knowledge in the understanding without sutable obedience in the conversation , doth exceedingly aggravate mans condemnation there are also some acts of his , which in themselves are worthy of imnitation . first , an act of ministration he was not a sealed fountain , he kept not all unto himsel● , but for divers yeers together laid aside a certain some every day for the poore : simply to give of what a man hath , is not enough : he alone that gives in love to god , in pity to them that need , and for the glory of god , is the man that shall not loose his reward : thus to communicate and to do good , is a sacrifice wel-pleasing in the sight of god . secondly , his discourse and communication was often of the best things , he knew how to speak to edification ; and usually according to that of our saviour , out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh , and so i suppose we are to conceive it , unlesse we know the contrary to it . thirdly , it was observed by such as were very neere him , that hee seldome did set himselfe about any weighty undertaking , but he first addressed himself to god by prayer for councell & a blessing : barely to pray is insufficient to argue any man to be a childe of god ; that prayer alone is acceptable , and returnes with a blessing which proceeds from faith and unfained affection . lastly , you all know that he was a zealous maintainer and stout defender of the jurisdiction authority dignity and priviledges of this incorporation ; and as touching the common controversie of the kingdome i am very confident by what i have heard him speake , and seene him doe that he was very really and cordiall to the parliament , however some jealousies to the contrary were raised . but why or for whose sakes is all this spoken , but for yours that are living : shortly to let you see the vanity of all outward things , how then like jonahs goard that came up in an evening and wither in the morning , to let you see that richer profit not in the day of wrath , onely righteousnesse delivereth from death . 2. to move you to a faithfull imployment of that talent wherewith the lord hath intrusted you , notwithstanding all your wealth and authority your body like this your brother will lie shortly in the dust , & you shall appear before the lords tribunall there to receive according to that which you have done in the body whither it be good or evil : therefore like good nurses draw forth now your full breasts to nourish the lords hungry servants cast out the beams of consolation upon them that set in sorrow and sadnesse , as the sun casteth out his light for the direction and comfort of poore travellers , and the clouds their rain for there freshing and making fruitfull of the dry and barren ground . 3. to stir you to be men of prayer indeed , to pray not like mariners in a storme , not formally , customarily , coldly , and for fashion onely as many doe , like a company of canting beggers that pray for custome and not for conscience , but understandingly , sensibly affectionately that christ may heare and help you , and that christ may abundantly blesse and prosper you , acquaint your selves with god by prayer daily , sweetly , throughly that peace , and mercy may be upon you . 4. to perswade you to consecrate your selves and all your abilities unto god to be active and lively indeed for god , to bee faithfull in keeping covenant with god , to bee full and fruithfull in every good way and worke of god ; to worke and keep your soul in such an understanding , holy , humble , penitent , beleeving , heavenly , sincere , circumspect , and universally gracious frame and temper , condition and posture , that you be able at all times and seasons , in all estates and conditions every one for himself to say with the apostle . i have a desire to be dissolved and be with christ which is serve better . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a85734e-270 gen. 24.53 . exo 15 , 1. doctrine . psa. 45.10 . mat. 13 44. rev. 2.1 . 2 pet. 3.13 . luke 12.36 . psal. 63.1 . rev. 14.4 . psal. 84 10. math. 9. ● . luk. 19.8.9 . mat. 4.22 . mat : 10.37 . mat. 19.27 . luke : 4.26 . ruth 1.15.16 . 2 tim. 4. ● . phil 3.7.8 .. 1 tim. 19.20 . 2. tim. 4.7 . exod. 3. rom 7 , 24 2 col. 12.7.8 . mat. 4.2 . cant. ● . 3 . col. 2.3 . cant. 3.10 . gen. 34. 2. cor. 5.14 . cant. 2 5. 1 cor. 13.3.4 . psa. 42.1 , 2. cant. 3.1 . cant. 5.3 4. 1 sam. 23.15 . luk 2 46. ia. 1.2 . heb. 10 34 acts 16.23 . dan. 3. mat. 14.30.31 . 2 cor 5 , 1 〈◊〉 4 17. reasons . col. 1.13 . esa. 54.13 . cant. 4.10.11.12 . 2. pet. 1.19 . 1 cor. 13 . 1● . 2. tim. 2.26 rom. 7.14 . 10.11.43.44.2 . sam. 3.1 . gal. 5 17.1 pet. 2.11 . iob , 13.10 . zech 3.1.2 . 2 cor. 12.7 8. ioh 2 6. esa 6.5.6 . psa 126.5 . judges 2.2 . ezek. 2.3 . 2. cor. 5.6 . ruth . 3. ult. psal 104.34 . 1 cor 2.2 . col 2.7 . cant. 5 10. cant. 2.5 . ioh. 17.21 , ephes. 5.29 . ioh. 15.19 . gal. 6 , ● . ioh. 1 15. 1 ioh. 3.3 . cant. 8.6 . math. 15.18 . ioh. 10.28 . 1 ioh. 5.4 . ioh. 3.30 . ephes. 4.12.13 1 kings 19. ● . 2 ● 31 , 32. psal ●3 . 3 . psal. 4.6 . psal. 30.7 . acts 4 19. mat. 10.28 . dan. 3.17 . 1 sam. 18.1.2 . gen. 14.21 . judges 9 9. math. 17.4 . math. 19.29 . phil. 1 , 23. 1 cor. 13.12 . 1 ioh. 3.1.2 3. ephe. 5.26 . act 12.7 . rev. 2.10 . 2 tim. 4 8. vse . 1 sam. 25.11 . matth. 25 iudg. 8 5.6 , ios. 5.14 . mat. 1.20 . iam. 2.16 . ezek. 33.31 . mat. 19.21 . m●t. 8. iudg. 18.24 . luke 14.8 . ioh. 12. 2 sam. 6. ● . exo. 15 , 25. 2 kings 4.40 . ios. 7. iudg. 5.13 . phil. 3 8. 2 cor. 1.22 . iudg. 8.2 . rev. 14.13 . 1 thes. ●13 14. answer 1. psal 51.8 . iob. 33.19.20 . rom. 7.14 . col 3.11 . ios. 15.19 . iohn . 6. gen. 32 101 mat. 20.5 . 〈◊〉 2.5 . iohn 6. heb. 10 34. 1. sam. 2.7.8 . psal. 7 5.6.7 . heb 23.13 . grace and mercy to a sinner in a time of afflictions, or, the serious meditations of m. tho. ford of rochester during the time of his imprisonment, before his execution, faithfully delivered from his own copie : together with his funeral sermon, preached by mr. wil. sandbrook, p.m. rochester / set forth for the strengthning of our faith in jesus christ ... ; published for the satisfaction of his friends ... by john plasse. ford, thomas, d. 1656. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a39934 of text r40949 in the english short title catalog (wing f1513). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 81 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 42 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a39934 wing f1513 estc r40949 19537871 ocm 19537871 109059 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39934) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 109059) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1687:16) grace and mercy to a sinner in a time of afflictions, or, the serious meditations of m. tho. ford of rochester during the time of his imprisonment, before his execution, faithfully delivered from his own copie : together with his funeral sermon, preached by mr. wil. sandbrook, p.m. rochester / set forth for the strengthning of our faith in jesus christ ... ; published for the satisfaction of his friends ... by john plasse. ford, thomas, d. 1656. sandbrooke, william. plasse, john. [4], 74 p. printed by joseph moxon, for francis cossinett ..., london : 1657. imperfect: tightly bound, with some loss of print. reproduction of original in the british library. eng meditations. funeral sermons. a39934 r40949 (wing f1513). civilwar no grace and mercy to a sinner, in a time of afflictions. or the serious meditations of m. tho. ford of rochester: during the time of his impri ford, thomas 1657 15062 274 0 0 0 0 0 182 f the rate of 182 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-02 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion grace and mercy to a sinner , in a time of afflictions . or the serious meditations of m. tho. ford of rochester : during the time of his imprisonment , before his execution . faithfully delivered from his own copie . together with his funeral sermon , preached by mr wil. sandbrook . p. m. rochester . set forth for the strengthning of our faith , in jesus christ ; and to arm our selves against satan . published for the satisfaction of his friends , and conviction of his enemies . by iohn plasse . london . printed by ioseph moxon , for francis cossinett , and sold at his shop in tower street , at the sign of the golden anchor at minsin lane end . 1657. to the reader . courteous reader , i having the original of this coppy committed to my hands by the author thereof , ( it being a grand part of his serious meditations , during the time of his imprisonment in rochester ) was desired by many of the inhabitants and others adjacent , to transcribe the same , that it might be committed to presse , thereby to come to the publique view . the peece it self is but small , yet full of many precious truths : and altho penned by a person statned with the guilt of the blood of his own sister , yet in it thou shalt find so much of gods glorious countenance shining out upon him , ( after so long a time of gods with-drawing ) which thou shalt find fully discovered in his last speech , annexed to this treatise ; that thou maiest conclude with me , doubtless he is now at rest in the arms of a faithful redeemer . iudge charitably , accept of it kindly , and walk thank fully with god for a● his mercies : these are the only desire of him , that is margarets rochester ian. 26. 1656. thine john plasse . several notes and observations , collected by me tho. ford , for the strengthning of my faith in my saviour , the lord iesus christ , and fealing of the assurance of my everlasting salvation . dedicated to any tender eye that will pardon the mistakes , and correct the errors . my entrance by prayer . most high and mighty lord god , that didst create man after thine own image ; but he fell from thee , and by his fall made himself despicable and most vile in thy eyes . o lord we are in his loyns , and are corrupted in him , so that our original corruptions are enough to sink us into hell , without any actual transgressions . but ever blessed be thy name thou didst not leave us in this condition , but didst provide a saviour the lord jesus christ , to randsom us from the thraldom of sin and death , that whosoever beleeves in him should not perrish , but have everlasting life . strengthen me o lord the greatest of sinners , that i may by sure evidences from thy good spiri● working in me a lively faith , receive some crums of mercy from thy table . take away o lord the hardness of my heart ▪ the blindness of my understanding , the deadness of my affections : create in me o god a new heart , and renew a right spirit within me : make me to hear joy and gladness : rebuke the tempter that hath been too strong for me ; and while i live here , let me live to thy glory ; and before i depart hence receive that blessed and comfortable sentence from thee , thy sins are forgiven thee , and this i begg of thee for the sake of jesus christ my alone saviour and redeemer . amen . of god . he is glorious in his essence , and glorious in his persons . in his essence , of an eternal being ▪ by himself , without beginning and without end , iehovah , elohim . he is glorious in his persons , father , son , and holy spirit . the father is glorious in his great work of election . the son is glorious in his great work of redemption ▪ the holy ghost is glorious in his great work of application . the father is glorious in choosing the house . the son is glorious in buying the house . the holy ghost is glorious in dweling in the house . to apply this to my self . is god so full of glory and majesty ? with what an awfulness and dreadfull reverence of his majesty should i come before him to beg pardon for my sins ? for my sins that have been so sinfull beyond measure ? the whole course of my life hath been nothing else but a continual act of sin ; and to all my sins have added murder , and that not of a stranger , but of my own sister . well , where shall i rest for comfort ▪ in the father ? he is full of majesty and glory ; i cannot . but here must i rely , upon jesus christ my redeemer ; that by true repentance for my sins , ( principally as they have been an offence against the majesty and dishonour to his name ) joyned by a lively faith in jesus christ : here must i cast anchor , and upon this rock must i be preserved from dispair of gods mercies . but how shall i come to christ , that i may find mercy ? 1. come to him mourning and loathing thy self for thy long continuance in sin , and refusing of him : come with a broken and lamenting heart , for all thy sins ; but especially for thy sleighting of christ , for the shedding of his blood , the renting of his bowels : and if thou canst not come as well as thou shouldst , yet come as well as thou canst come to him , and make thy moan of thy unbeleef and inability to come . 2. come with this assured confidence , ●hat those that come unto him he will in to wise cast away ; and thou being come he will not cast thee away . let us draw neer with full assurance of faith , having ●ur hearts sprinkled from an evil consci●nce , and our bodies washed with pure water . 3. come gladly and willingly glorifying the grace of god but abasing thy ●elf . come with gladness that thou shalt ●e brought and enter into the kings pre●nce : receive not the grace of god as ● common thing , but thankfully , and with all thy heart : for the end why the lord gives christ to a man , is the glory ●f his grace . if the lord attain his end , he desires no more : for why should ●e when he hath his end ? the only way and means to obtain pardon from god the father , by his ●on jesus christ , is set down briefly by s. iohn thus : if we acknowledge our sins , he is faithfull and just , to forgive us our sins . make therefore a diligent search of ●hy heart , by the law of god : arraign thy self in thine own thoughts before god , supposing this were the day o● reckoning ; rip up thy heart , and lay open all thy known sins without lesning them without excusing them , without hiding them , without taking upon thee to defend them : thus did david psal : 51 ▪ 3. 4. thus did ezra : 9. 6. and then go on to give iudgement to thy self , i say iudge thy self , that thou be not iudged ▪ thus did daniel in the 9. and the 7 ▪ thus did the prodigall , luke : the 15 21. one thing is very observable in the prodigals return to his father ; and that on the fathers part : the text saith ▪ his father went and met him : intimating unto us the goodness and infinit● mercy of god in the lord jesus christ to humble and penitent sinners ; that by hearty repentance come home unto him ▪ he is very ready and willing to meet them , to imbrace them in the arms of his mercy , to kill the fatted calf , to provide delicates , heavenly delicates for his the bread of life , the food of immortality , ushered in with the most delightfull musick , for there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth . ( that by the way . ) when thou hast judged thy self , then earnestly beg of god pardon for christs sake , and never leave him off untill he give this blessed answer to thy conscience , that thy sins are pardoned . the unjust judge by reason of the importunity of the widdow , granted her request ; how much more shall the just god grant the request of his , that pray day and night unto him ? thus did david , let thy good spirit lead me . &c. these things are necessary , if we would be saved : we must not be cowards in a business of this nature , if we intend to win the field , but we must work our best endeavours , and still hold out wrestling with god , if we intend to win the victory . some captives amongst men , are redeemed by price only , some by power without price ; but such is the lamentable captivity of all men , under sin and the severity of gods justice , that without the price of christs blood , and the power of his spirit , there is no deliverance from sin and misery : the lord jesus christ having paid the full and absolute price of our deliverance . ioh 8. 32. yet it is with us as with a company of captives in prison ; our sins like strong chains holds us , satan our keeper will not let us go : the prison doors through unbeleef are shut upon us , and thereby god and christ are kept our from us : what power now can rescue us that are held fast unto such a power , even after the price is paid ? the spirit of god speaketh of a power in christ , thou hast destroyed thy self , but in me is thy help . as christ hath redeemed us , so we must go unto him for strength and power , that we may make application of this redemption to our selves that by his spirit we may find the fruits of it on our own souls : and here consists our comfort , that as christ was abased to purchase redemption for us , so now he is exalted at the right hand of god the father , to apply this redemption unto us . four causes of mans misery , joyned with four acts of christs power . mans misery , 1. the ignorance of his own misery . 2. security and unsenceableness of it . 3. carnal confidence in their own duties . 4. presumption or resting upon the mercy of god , by a faith of their own forgeing . christs act , 1. conviction of sin . 2. compunction for sin . 3. humiliation , or self-abasement . 4. faith . these are the works of christ on the soul . there must be an actual deliverance in man , wrought by the efficacy and power of the spirit of christ , as well as a purchased deliverance wrought by the blood of christ : therefore untill we can find the former wrought in us , we can lay no claim to the latter : until we can see sin in its own colours , with the several aggrevations thereof , and the wages of sin , which is eternal death , we cannot truly hate it , and not truly hating it , we cannot repent of it ; and not repenting of it , we cannot with a true faith lay hold on the lord jesus christ . shew me thy faith without thy work , saith s. iames ; and i will shew thee my faith by my works . he that repents and beleeves shall be saved ; but he that beleeves not shall be damned . thus you see where our rest and rock of comfort for salvation is : only in our saviour the lord jesus christ . you see the manner how we must come to christ , so that we may be accepted : we must come loathing and abhorring our selves , out of our selves into christ , come humbly , come willingly to christ , as with all thy might and power , as to the only spring , fountain and head of comfort , of wisdom , of excellency ; come even as the bride to the bridegroom , as the members to the head , as the branches to the vine : and let thy confidence when thou comest , inwardly perswade thee , that those who come to him , he will in no wise cast away , for we have his promise for it . behold , saith our saviour i stand at the dore and knock . &c. let every beleeving soul then say with thomas , my lord and my god . objection may arise , is god such a merciful god ? and is iesus christ so willing to imbrace us when we come unto him , and seek to him by those we 〈◊〉 which he hath appointed us in his word ? ●hen what is the reason that he hears ●t the prayers of his people , that they ●t up unto him to be delivered from sin , ●om some particular sin , which it may is more predominant than any other ; against hardness of heart ? it may be thou art not humbled e●ough in thy self ; thou dost not pray as ●ou oughtest to pray in faith : or if thou ●st , god may for present not answer ●ee according to thy desire , for the try●● of thy faith and patience , to make ●ee the more earnest suitor unto him . ●oahs dove returns not presently with 〈◊〉 olive branch of peace in his mouth : ●rayer sometimes that speeds well re●●rns not presently for want of compa●● enough to fetch away that abun●nce of mercy that god hath to give . the lord ever gives them that ask in ●aith : their asking in mony or monies ●orth , god is long many times before ● gives , but pays them well for their ●aiting . approve thy self to god in all thy ●aies , for he is an omniscient god : no ●atter what he world saith of thee : god is thy spie , taking notice of all actions , and they are in print in hea●● which that great spectator and ju●● will open at the great day . fear the●●fore to sin in secret , unless thou canst a dark hole to sin where god cannot thee . have a care of playing the ath●● in practice , although thou be not so thy profession ; to confesse there is god , yet by thy works to deny hi● even if it were possible to unthrone ●●●sus christ : they that pluck the 〈◊〉 from his throne are as bad or as vile they that say there is no king . but that we may the better understa●● how sin is remitted by christ , and him , consider that in him there 〈◊〉 three things , that makes sin exceed 〈◊〉 sinfull 1 the crime of sin . 2 the guilt of sin . 3 the stain and blot or pollution sin . the crimes by which god is offen●ed . the guilt by which we are liable punishment . the blot or stain which the 〈◊〉 ●ommitted leaveth in the offender . these three are taken away by the ●erits of christ . 1 the crime is taken away by his obedience . 2 the guilt is removed by his suffer●ngs . 3 the blot stain and coruption is hid●en by his holiness , and the very being ●hereof , daily diminished by the ●trength power and working of his spi●t . if thou wouldst be saved , this must be ●●y plea : i lord have most grieviously ●●ned against thee , even in my best per●rmances ; therefore i beseech thee for christ his sake to pardon me : and not ●us , behold this i have done , thus i have deserved , therefore i require thee ●f thy iustice to reward me : for in the work of salvation all merrit and desert ●f our own is absolutely excluded . how sweetly and contentedly may ●at soul repose it selfe that hath a testi●ony of his salvation by iesus christ ●at god is reconciled unto him in christ , notwithstanding his many and ●rievous sins the root of corruption every coruption that lyeth lurking in the heart of man . now for the soul to feele such a change , such a regeneration wrought on the heart , after a true and serious repentance , and the embracements of a saviour , the lord jesus in his arms ready to receive thee ; what a transcendent unspeakable comfort is that soul partaker of ! but that we may not flatter our selves with the bare flashes , and as it were , shaddows of comfort , taken from a wrong principle , let us consider , and that seriously , from whence our comforts do arise : do they arise from an utter abhorring our selves by reason of our polution by nature ? for until we be wounded , what need can we find of a medicine ? until we can find our selves heart-sick of sin , what need can we find to our selves of a physician ? they that are whole need not a physician , but they that are sick . is jesus christ the chief desire of thy soul ? art thou willing to part with any thing for him , that having found this treasure , canst thou presently hide it in thy heart ? art thou willing to sell all that thou hast to purchase this field , this treasure , this wisdom ? is thy heart affected with the saving knowledge of jesus christ ? dost thou eye jesus christ by faith ? dost thou see fulness of satisfaction in the merits , death , and passion of christ ? dost thou feel by the power of christ's spirit an application of all this to thy soul , that thou canst out of a setled assurance conclude these benefits and blessings belong to me ? then my soul , let thy temporal condition be what it will , as for this life , yet raise up thy affections higher ; let thy heart be where thy treasure is , repose thy self upon jesus , and take care of exempting thy self from those heavenly priviledges which the blood of jesus christ is ready to pour down upon thee . these things well considered , are as so many sinews and joynts to strengthen a weak and drooping faith ; the lord give me his spirit of grace , that i may not only write these truths , but that by his strength they may be applied unto my soul . thomas ford . he that broke the heart of manasseh and paul after their blood and blasphemies , when they never desired any such thing , he can break thine much more , when thou desirest him to do it for thee . t. f. to my loving and esteemed friend , mr henry wright , one of the serjeants at mace , within the city of rochester . loving friend , i present unto you a small quantity of winter fruit , which hath fell from ●a dry branch : what my purpose is in presenting them , i trust of your self you will conceive it to be no other but this , that they may remain with you as a testimony of mysetled purpose , never to forget your ancient love : he that hath a friend , let him shew himself friendly saith the scripture . accept therefore this little as from a new graft upon a corrupt stock , and vouchsafe it some low room in your meditations ; and as you relish it , promote it ; not for any worth in the gift , but for the integrity of the donor , who while he lives , will alwaies pray , that after you and yours have served their time here , ye may be made free-men , and free-women of the kingdom of heaven . amen nov. 30. 1656. your loving and well-wishing friend , thomas ford , a prisoner in the prison of the city of rochester called the dolphine . certain propositions which ( in my meditations ) i have collected together ( in this time which is lent me ) out of the 14 chapter of hosea , and the first verse . the words are these , oh israel , return unto the lord thy god , for thou hast faln by thine iniquity . the words are an exhortation , or a vehement perswasion ( which the spirit of god doth use by the prophet ) to return to god . the whole chapter containing a rousing or stirring up the people of israel to repent of their iniquiries , and to return to god ; whereunto are annexed gracious promises of gods mercies unto them , in healing their backslidings , and returning unto them : and you may observe what a mixture of repentance and mercy there is in the chapter : from whence in the general , we may observe the unseparableness of true repentance and mercy ; they are linked together as in a chain , even as david and ionathan , they will not part one from the other . in the words there are five particulars observed : 1. the seriousness of the prophet's call , perswading our better attention , and as it were a necessity of lending an ear unto this call , in the vocative , o! 2. the persons called , israel : by israel is meant the people of god . 3. the act or duty called unto ; return . 4. the object matter of their return , or the person to whom they should , is , the lord . 5. and lastly , the grounds and reasons of this their return , laid down in cloze of the words ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity . from the words you may plainly gather several points or observations , to wit ; 1. that the best and choisest of god's children may decline , and grievously fall from god , as israel did . 2. that the ways of sin lead us directly from god . or thus , that sin is an absolute turning the back upon god ; therefore return . 3. that god the father , through his son the lord iesus christ , is the only shelter and tower of refuge for a penitent sinner . thy god . 4 and lastly , that it is and ought to be the main scope and aim of the ambassadors and ministers of iesus christ , to disswade from sin , and perswade to repentance . o israel , return unto the lord thy god ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquities . first , of the first in order , that the best and choisest of god's saints and people may grievously decline and fall from god . for proof whereof , i need go no further then the subject we treat of , israel ; a name whereby god pleased to stile his own people , his elect , his chosen people of israel ; my people , as he terms them . nay god is pleased to term himself the king of israel , in isa. 44. 6. thus saith the lord of hosts , the king of israel , and his redeemer , the lord of hosts : we know the prerogative of kings is to rule over their subjects , to have the command and government of their subjects , and we know what the duty of subjects ought to be in yeilding obedience to the commands of a king , and not to rule over their king ; yet this revolting people israel , this rebellious house , for so god calls them , notwithstanding his owning them for his people , and challenging a soveraignty over them , grievously sinned , and fell from god ; for , thou hast fallen by thine iniquity . your iniquities have separated between you and your god , and your sins have hid his face from you , that he will not hear . so to instance in divers other of the saints and people of god . david's adultery and murder , 2 sam. 11. 4 to 18. peter's denial , mark 14. 68. but what are the grounds and reasons that gods people fall from him by their iniquities ? first , the principal and main ground may arise from original sin , the filthiness and corruption of our own natures for we are in nature , as we came out o● the loyns of our parents , no better the● a very lump of rottenness and corruption . if thou shouldest see a man from the very crown of the head to the soal of hi● foot ▪ had nothing in him but wound ▪ and swellings , and sores full of corruption , he could not but seem a very loth●som creature unto thee : yet know this● whosoever thou art , be thou never s● well descended , never so rich , wise , beautiful , &c. thy soul is through sin ● thousand times more odious and abominable before god : think well on this ▪ comune with thine own heart about it ▪ it will make thee abhor thy self in dus● and ashes with iob , and with paul , coun● all things to be dung , that thou mightest win christ . reas. 2. that by this means man●● may see his own frailty and miserable condition by nature , and that seeing his wretched and lost estate in himself , he might be deeply humbled before god , that thereby he might rest in no performances of his own ; for our best performances are full of sin and corruption . 〈◊〉 david was humbled to the purpose ●●er he was truly sensible of his sin , when ●athan the prophet reproved him ; i ●●ve sinned ( saith he ) against the lord : ●eter wept bitterly after he denied his ●aster . where the sense of sin , and the wrath 〈◊〉 god hath a deep impression upon the ●eart , there it will effect deep humiliati●n and hearty sorrow . david's sins were alwaies before ●im , he could take no rest in conscience , ●ntil he found god reconciled unto ●im ; now where sin in the true sense of ●t hath this working on the spirit , hap●y is that soul : but where on the con●rary there is sin committed in a high na●ure , yet notwithstanding the heart is not ●t all moved to compunction and humi●iation , but rather hardned : woful , and 〈◊〉 desperate is the condition of that soul . motives to move us to humiliation . first may be from gods command , ●o israel return unto me ; turn you from from your evil waies , for why will ye dy o house of israel ? repent and turn you from all your evil waies , so iniquity shall not be your ruine : there m●● be an universal turning from all sins , a● a turning to god with the whole hea●my son give me thy heart : it is go● complaint against the children of israe● after he had brought them out of the land of egypt , into a land flowing wit● milk and honey , the joy of all land ▪ then god said unto them , obey 〈◊〉 voice , turn from the evil of your doing 〈◊〉 for i am the lord your god : but the● rebelled against me and would not hear ▪ shall god call to us to come unto him ▪ and shall we reject his call ? shall ou● saviour iesus christ beg of us to be reconciled unto him , to come unto him to take his yoak ? his yoak is easy to those that will ly under it . hath he promised to satiate the hungry soul ? salvation to the repentant soul ? doth he command us to come unto him and drink i● we thirst ; not to sip but drink ? and shall we reject this cup of salvation ? o let the mercies of god constrain us , and let his kindness draw us unto him . another motive to perswade us to come , is the mercies patience , and long sufferings of god with us for many years , it may be our whole life time , we ●●ve lived in sin , and in grievous sins ; ●●l god spareth us , to see whether we ●ll return unto him , and shall we yet 〈◊〉 revolting and drawing back from ●od ; then considering the infinite mer●● of god , in providing the lord jesus ●hrist , to be our phisitian to cure our ●eakness and imperfections , by his per●●ct righteousness , and to accept of us in ●●d through him . let these considera●●ons be as so many cords of love to ●aw us unto god by speedy repen●nce , and a present return unto god . if we did but consider the blessed e●●te of that soul that is at peace with ●od , and truly keep in our thoughts ●●●e uncertainty of this life , and certainty eternal life to the godly , and death 〈◊〉 the unregenerate : certainly we could ●●t be so lazy in our journy to heaven ; 〈◊〉 if reconciliation with god and eter●tie were not worth the looking after ; ●t we should rather with that disciple ●hom jesus loved out-run peter , and get ●rst to the ●epulchre . let jesus christ ●ve the chief room , yea all the room in ●ur hearts . a prince is at peace , and cease war against a rebel , a traitor , yet●● will not bring the rebel before him , into his special favour ; yet the lord glory doth both towards us as enemie strangers , rebels , devils in our reconci●●ation with him . o the wonderfull me●●cy of god in jesus christ , that he shou● be pacified wholy and throughly wi● thee . out of christ he is a consumin● fire ; in jesus christ he is a nothing e● but love : and though there may be f● therly frowns and chasetisements fro● him , though he may for a time hide h● face , shut out thy prayers , defer to fulf● promises ; yet all these if thou art reco●ciled in christ , are out of pure love u● to thee : and thou shalt see it , and fe● it so in 〈…〉 end . quest . 〈◊〉 how must we come christ , that we may be accepted ? answ. 1. we must come humbl● stript of all self performances and dutie● resting wholy upon jesus christ , as the only means of our redemption . 2. we must return unto him hearti● with our whole heart ; not keeping part of our heart for sin , and give chri●●●e other part ; we must come unto him ●o be our king to rule us , as well as to ●ave us . in a word , we must come unto ●im as the hart to the rivers of waters , ●s a spouse to her beloved , with ferven●y of love and zealous affections and ●rdency of spirit , being sick of love for him : so come unto him , as esteeming our selves lost without him , as our rich●s , our only pearl of great price . 3. be earnest in prayer unto god , ●hat he would grant you his good spirit , that he would mollifie you hard and ●tony heart , and give you a heart of ●lesh ; pray continually , pray without ●easing , and pray in faith , with a confidence that god hears your prayers , and will in his good time answer them , not for thy sake , but for his sons sake . 4. attend upon the means of grace in the ministry of the word , which is the only way and means god hath appointed for begetting of faith in us : and search the scriptures , the word of god , they ●are they that testifie of me , saith our saviour : and as you love your souls take care of disrespecting or sleighting the word of god , and laying it aside as a thing not worth the looking into , fo●● sleighting of it you sleight god himself you are the greatest enemies to you● selves in the world , in being ignorant o● the word of god , you are utterly disarmed against the temptations of sata● when he assaults you . when we go to war against a potent prince or person , we will not go without our arms , bu● in a posture of defence ; i beseech you let us consider the strength and power of our adversaries we have to deal withall , the world , the flesh and the devil , three potent enemies , therefore labour to be well armed out of the magazine , the word , the word of god , which is for doctrine , reproof , instruction , &c. and then to your armor that you may be compleat in the principal bag , the sword of the spirit of god : we know a souldier is no body without his sword ; no more are we spiritual souldiers without the sword of the spirit ; for a man may read and hear all his lifetme , yet if the spirit of god go not along with him , in accompanying him in his reading and hearing it is all in vain , unless the sword of gods spirit cut asunder our corrupt hearts and affections , so as to understand the mistery of the word of god , as well as the history of it barely . the use of this doctrine should be for exhortation to all sorts of men and women in the world , to beware of sin , and to shun it as the greatest evil in the world , and more especially of those sins which draw away our hearts and affections ; and likewise to consider the dangerous consequences of sin , and how dangerous a matter and thing it is to let loose our hearts and affections to satan . then it may serve for to admire the wonderfull and unspeakable love of our heavenly father in christ , that he will accept of us upon our unfained return unto him by repentance that our pardon is already sued forth , if that we can by faith lay hold on it , and esteem of the favour ( in some measure ) according to the worth of it . it lets us see the miserable condition of them that claim no interest at all in this pardon . of the comfort of those that can experimentally conclude ( and by the spirit of god witnessing with their spirits ) say , this pardon is sealed unto me , i shall have the benefit of it , tho notwithstanding my sins reach up unto heaven , and cry mightily for vengeance against me , yet my whole alliance and sole comfort and confidence is in the merrits of jesus christ applyed by faith , i shall find mercy , for he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy , but he that hideth them , shall not prosper . i am one of them that confesse my sins , and earnestly desire of god that he would break my stony and hard heart for them ; and do without hypocrisie ( if my heart deceive me not ) unfainedly resolve to forsake my sins ; therefore i though the worst and greatest of sinners , shall accordingly find mercy . tho. ford . collossians the 2. and the 6 verse . the words are these , as ye have therefore received christ iesus the lord , so walk ye in him . the blessed apostle paul after christ had awaked him from his sleep of security , and unscaled the eys of his understanding , which were before darkened with that mistiness which the devil like a jugler cast before him , did immediately after the holy ghost had enlightned him , preach christ , and so like a principall work-man in christs church , and as a chosen vessell to bear the name of christ amongst the gentiles , did with all vehemency and ardency of spirit and affection , endeavour to build up a spiritual church to jesus christ ; and in this epistle to the colossians ( amongst the rest of his epistles ) he dischargeth his trust as a faithfull ambassador of jesus christ . the whole chapter is as it were a glasse wherein we may see the fruit of pauls m●nistery ; the words being a perswasive part moved from a good priniple . for the better explanation of them , consider in them , first the guift received ; secondly , the congratulation thereof . 1. the gift received , jesus christ . 2. the congratulation of the gift , walk in him . the words contain a serious exhortatation , and the reason thereof . the exhortation , walk in jesus christ . the ground and reason thereof , for you have received him . as if the apostle paul should have said , you had jesus christ preached amongst you , by me and others of my brethren ; you are not ignorant of that eternal weight of glory which jesus christ hath purchased for you ; therefore walk not according to the rudiments of this world , but walk according to the rules of jesus christ , for this is all that jesus christ requireth of you , that you would manifest your love unto him , in walking obediently before him ; if you love me keep my commandments : so that the words are in themselves a proposition , and do speak plainly thus much unto us . that the incomparable love of the lord jesus christ declared unto us in the word , and laid open more abundantly in the ministery of the gospel , should be a strong perswasion unto us to walk according to the rules of the gospel . or thus , that christs exceeding love unto us , in redeeming us from death and hell , should be a strong ty upon us to love jesus christ . every one that hears me , cannot deny but must needs confess and acknowledge that the point is very reasonable , and ( i may say ) very seasonable in these apostatizing dayes of ours ; that love deserves love . our saviour speaks of a deserved love as a thing not to be looked on , not worth any reward : for if ye love them that love you , what thanks have ye ? saith our saviour , do not even the publicans the same ? denoting unto us , that true love is of such an extensive nature that it sheweth it self even to our enemies : this is perfect and true love : be ye therefore perfect , even as ▪ your father which is in heaven is perfect . now the greatness of jesus christs love is shewn in that he loved us when we were enemies unto him , strangers and aliens from the common wealth of israel . and how did christ love us ? was his love an ordinary love ? that christ the son of god , co-equal with his father , should become man ; even the meanest of men ( although by ioseph he was next heir to the crown of david , yet he came in the very declining age of davids kingdom , to shew us that his kingdom is not of this world , as he tells us ▪ my kingdom is not of this world , ) and should suffer a cursed death on the crosse , for our sins , that we might be delivered from eternal misery , and from his fathers wrath , and overcome death for us : will not these considerations work our hard hearts to an humble frame , and perswade us to love god and our lord jesus christ again ? is not the love of christ to be esteemed by us ? in that he being the son of god , humbled himself , to become a servant to men , to make us sons and j●ynt-heirs with himself ? and of the children of wrath to make us heire of ●●●vation ? ●re●t is mens readiness , chiefly in 〈…〉 and giddy times , to gaze upon strange and uncouth sights , to run to see things that are rare ▪ and are seldom seen ; therefore now let me quicken your desire , to behold a thing without comparison , such a thing as we may with a kind of astonishment and amazedness admire , but the eloquence of no man alive is able fully and effectually to express : behold , saith the apostle , what love the father hath shewn unto us , that we should be called the sons of god . behold , the son of god made man , to dy for us , that we might be delivered from the slavery of satan , and be made the adopted sons of god . i might insist upon this point not out of any hope i have to set out a benefit so inestimable : for the tongue of men and angels cannot reach it : but as it were ( as god said to moses ) to let you see the back parts of that perfect glory , which the dimness of our minds is not able to behold . now that we may be the better sensible of christs love , let us consider how and in what manner the lord jesus christ is pleased to reveal himself unto us in the gospel : and that in three particulars . first , he uncovers and layeth open himself fully and manifestly in the gospel : we have a whole christ offered unto us ; we have his offices , and the whole work of our redemption set down : search the scriptures , for they are they that testifie of me , saith our saviour . we do in the word of god as in a glasse , behold the proportion of jesus christ , when we compare the old and new testament together ; for indeed it concerns us , and it is most needfull and necessary in this great work of our salvation ( so that our faith may be the better grounded and confirmed ) to note and observe the order and agreement of the scriptures , both old and new testament : by this mens christ himself endeavoured to settle his disciples faith : for the text tells us that he began at moses and the prophets , and interpretted to them in all the scriptures the things which were written of him . we live in an age that men are so backward in following christs pattern herein , that they are grown contemners and dispisers of the word of god , which plainly appears in that they divide the new testament from the old , making a separation of that which god hath joyned together : they will ( it may be ) carry the new testament in their pockets , i and in their pates too , yet sure i am it cannot be near their hearts , when they shall think themselves too wise to read the old , or give entertainment to it upon which the patriarchs and our forefathers of old built their faith , and by the light of which they found the way to heaven . this was pauls course for the establishment of his hearers , he disputed by the scriptures ; he said no other things then that moses and the prophets did say should come : these and the like sayings we read often that the sayings of the prophets should be fullfilled ; this is done that the scriptures should be fullfilled : which argues the care and purpose the spirit of god had to ground our judgement upon the scriptures , in so much that when we clearly behold those things fullfilled which are recorded in them , we should set the higher esteem on them ; comfort our selves in them , and strengthen our faith by them take now a view of christ in the scriptures , and see first how he is represented in zacharïas prophecy ; blessed be the lord god of israel , who hath visited and redeemed his people : there you have christ termed the horn of our salvation ; a metaphor taken from beasts , wherein doth ly their chief strenght and power , giving us to understand that our saviour iesus christ is of full and absolute sufficiency to accomplish the work of our redemption ; for there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved ; but only in and through the name and merrits of the lord iesus christ . it hath pleased the father that in him all fullness should dwell : would you see christ promised ? read the 28 of esaiah 16. therefore thus saith the lord , behold , i lay in syon for a foundation , a stone , a tryed stone , a precious corner stone , a sure foundation . psal. 118. 22. matth. 21. 42. acts 4. 11. 1 pet. 5. 6 , 7. esai . 11. 1. would ye behold christs nativity ? read luke 2. 7. 10 , 11 , 12. iohn 7. 42. mich 5. 2. would you behold his passion ? esaiah 53 , 7 , 8 , 9. mat. 27 , 35. would you see him dead and buried ? read : mat. 27. 50. 60. would you see his resurrection ? read the 28. math. 6. iohn 20. 2. 15. 19. 26. would you see his assention ? read acts 1. 9. would you see him at the right hand of his father in heaven ? read hebrews 1. 3. would you see him coming from heaven to judge the quick and the dead ? read matthew 25. 31. thus you see in the first place how fully the lord iesus christ is set forth unto us in his word , in himself , which is the word . secondly , christ doth very friendly perswade us to imbrace him in the scriptures , and that upon very good grounds and reasons : first , because he came purposely into the world to save us , he was wounded for our transgressions , and broken for our iniquities , and with his stripes we are healed . come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden , and i will give you rest . behold i stand at the door and knock , saith christ , he hath redeemed us from the curse of the law , beeing made a curse for us . oh every one that thirsteth , come unto the waters , and he that hath no mony , come buy , &c. secondly , christ doth very friendly perswades us to be reconciled unto him , by his ambassadors , which he sends amongst us , the ministers and dispencers of his word and sacraments : the ministers of christ , they are the ambassadors of iesus christ , which bring his message unto his people ; they do the work which they are imployed in by their master ; and christ is pleased to set men apart purposely for this service , as s. paul speakes . paul an apostle of iesus christ , by the will of god &c. and as christ doth set some apart for this service , so he furnisheth them with gifts suteable to the service : as for example , zacharias is apointed to prophesy ; the business is a weighty business , therefore he is filled with the holy ghost , that he may be able to performe that great work . god imploys moses upon a service of great concernment ; i will send thee to pharoah saith god : i my lord ? saith moses , i am not eloquent : the lord presently upon moses seeing his own insufficiency : i will be with thy mouth . isaiah being in a vision in the presecne of god , and seeing the nature of the service unto which he was called ; cryethout , woe is mee , for i am undon ? after his , one of the seraphins touched his mouth with a coal from the alter : which gave the prophet a full supply of grace : the same we see in ieremiah , god ●alling him , he began to complain of his ●nsufficiency . o lord behold i am a ●hild and cannot speak : well , the lord ●ook away his fear in bestowing a com●etency of gifts upon him , i have put ●●y words in thy mouth . christ set apart ●is disciples for that office , and gave the holy ghost unto them , promi●ng to make them fishers of men . so that you plainly see it hath bin gods way , thorough the whole course of the scripture , to furnish them which he did ●mploy , with gifts sutable for the service : ●ake care therefore i pray you , of sleight●ng the ministers of god , or of the am●assadge which they bring , for in con●emning them you contemn and dispise god himself ; for what contempt you ●hew to an ambassador which represents the kings person , you shew to the king himself . this is a sin which our land stands guilty of in a hight nature : we are grown to such a heig●t of pride and insolency amongst us , that gods word and his ministers are had in least estimation . a faithfull minister of god is no more countenanced then a thing of nothing , which plainly appeares from our detaining from them their right and just due , even that which the law of god hath alotted and set apart for them : we have every tradesman now , even meanest of the people , take upon them the high and great work of the ministery ; fomenting and prateing out their nonsence , to the great dishonnor of his word and ministery . no wise man will send a fool of an errand , who will set a fresh souldier over an army , or intrust a dumb man with an ambassadge ? it were an odious imputation to the wisest god to think him lesse carefull in the business and discipline of his church , then men are in their temporal affairs ; yet these intruders these busie-bodies in gods business , go on with such boldness and impudency ( and the rather because they are cherished and maintained ) as not thinking that god will ever call them to an accompt or tax them with that heavy sentence ieremiah 2. 21. i have not sent them yet they ran . or with friend , how camest thou hither ? the lord awaken such sleepy-headed intruders , that they may know what it is to meddle with the great things of the law of god . thirdly , christ is pleased to make known himself unto us by the graces of his spirit , which he workes in us ; the spirit of god witnessing with our spirit , ●hat we are the sons of god : the spirit of god is the key which opens the ca●enet of the scriptures and present it unto us as the mistery of godliness ; men by nature are stone blind in the ●hings of god , therefore untill they be ●egenerated and new born by the spirit of god in the inward , man , it is impossible they should discern the things of god , that which is born of the flesh , ●s flesh , and that which is born of the spirit is spirit . man by nature of himself , ●ath nothing in him but corruption , i was born in iniquit● saith david , and sin was i conceived : we are all unpro●table servants , all the children of di●●bedience , and the sons of wrath : all 〈◊〉 imaginations of mans heart are 〈◊〉 evill , and that continually . now eve●● regenerate man is by virtue of his ne● birth , a spirituall man , and the new bir●● is the gracious working of the spir●● therefore such are called spiritual me● the whole scociety of the regenerate a spiritual house : the regenerate man said to be born after the spirit , and to 〈◊〉 after the spirit of god , being the apli●● of those precious promises written 〈◊〉 the word of god , unto the soul . take care i beseech you of que●ching the spirit of god , or stifleing 〈◊〉 motions of his good spirit within yo● ▪ thus you see the manner how chri●● communicates himself unto us , 1 by his word . 2 by his ministers . 3 by his spirit . let us now proceed to the last clau●● of the doctrine , and let it serve for exhortation in the fear of god to exho●● and perswade us to walk according t● the rules of the gospel , to have a more close communion with iesus christ then ever we had ; doe not reject so great salvation . hath jesus christ purchased heaven for believers ? doth he continually knock at the door of our hearts for entrance , and shall we not let him in ? shall we still persist and go on in sin ? in our drunkenness , prophaness , contempt of gods word , of his ministers ? certainly if we do , if we will take no warning , but go on in the waies of the wicked , we shall receive the reward of the wicked : every man shall be judged according to his works : he that soweth righteousness shall receive a sure reward ; we must use diligence and care in the way to heaven . who more laborious than the husbandman , that doth desire to reap the fruit of his sowing ? who ought to be more diligent than a christian , who intends to reap the hoped for fruit of eternal happiness ? we must not be loyterers in the way to heaven , ways are for travellers , and not for gazers ; therefore go on and see to your steps , let the word of god be your conducter and leader ; estrange not your selves from the word ; let it precious unto you . and the good spirit of god help your infirmities , and assist you in your spiritual warfare , that you may like good souldiers , under the banner of jesus christ , fight the good fight of faith ; so that you may attain the end of your faith , even the salvation of your souls , amen . the last speech of thomas ford , being penned by himself , and delivered to me , iohn plass , his own brother by the mother . gentlemen and friends , i am yet a living object of your pitty , ere long my soul will be seperated from my body by an untimely , yet a wel-deserved death . bloud must be recompenced with blood , the law of god commands it : the law of man in subordination to gods law , hath brought me to the period of execution . but that i may not minde my barbarism , so as to swallow it down without chewing , give me leave to lay open the heart of the fact , with the chief incendiaries thereupon attending , and that only in two particulars . first , laying before you the person on whom i acted it , and the sudden deprivation of life in the action . the person upon whom i acted this bloody tragedy , it was not a stranger , but an acquaintance and friend , not a common acquaintance or friend , but a sister , an only sister , by flesh and blood ; and i can shew no reason could incite me to it , except it were for her over tender care and respect to me had , of which i am now truly sensible : other perswasions were nothing else but the jugglings and delusions of that old enemy of mankind satan , who hath been a lyar from the beginning . the second scene in this cruell and bloody tragedy , which much aggravates the fact , was the suddenness of the action , which robbed her of her life in a moment , without giving her any warning to prepare for heaven , so that as much as in me lay , i did deprive her temporal and eternal happiness , without gods great mercy . i might blaze this my cruelty with several other colours , but let these suffice to let you know the horridness of the crime . gentlemen , you know how for a long time my conversation amongst you hath been very inconsistent to the gospel of jesus christ ; i have plaied the atheist in my practice , though not in my profession ; i have acknowledged there is a god , but in my works i have denyed him ; and atheism in practise is the worst sort of atheism , i have been in the highest nature , a rebel , a traytor against the king of kings , endeavouring to unthrone god by not yeilding obedience to his commands , and he that plucks the king out of his throne is as bad or worse , than he that saith there is no king . now that you may be the better senseable how i have idolized my profession , i will give you the catalogue of sins which our saviour gives you in the seventh of mark , the 21 , 22 , 23. verses , for from within out of the heart of man proceeds evil thoughts , adulteries , fornications , murthers , thefts , covetousness , wickedness , deceit , lasciviousness , an evil eye , blasphemies , pride , foolishness : all these sins , have lain lurking , and been rooted in my heart originally , ( being by nature the child of wrath ) and have in some kinde or other been put in execution , though not in the same manner literally , as they lye in the text , yet circumstantially as they may be considered and applyed . but one main sin which is not here rehearsed , hath been my mother sin , to wit , drunkenness and excess , the abuse of gods creatures , this hath been the engine of this cruelty , and the door and inlet to all my misery . beware of this lion-like sin , least it command you to do the same cruelty , give not the least entertainment to it , as a cup and away ; for it is the greatest peece of witchcraft , that i know to betray the soul to the devil . thus i have given you a glimpse of my wounds , now let me shew you my physitian . but gentlemen , i must not forget one sin which was almost slipt out of my memory , namely , the sin of uncleanness , i do not mean with a woman ; gentlemen , there is other uncleanness than that with a woman , and there be some young gentlemen in company , that looks upon me , which are guilty of the same , and know what i mean . then stooping to mr. rosewell he began upon the breach of sabbath , saying ; gentlemen , i have lived a long time amongst you , and indeed frequented the church , but in all my time never kept one sabbath to the lord aright , as i ought to do , i beseech you gentlemen to have a special care of keeping the sabbath , and slight not the ministers of god , who are his embassadours : and truly i see apparently an imminent judgment hanging over the head of this nation , upon the account of the ministers disagreeing ; for well may the sheep be scattered , and the flock come to destruction , when the shepherds quarrel , and go together by the ears . well , but now to my physitian . it hath pleased the father that in jesus christ all fulness should dwell , and if all fulness , then the fulness of power , to effect and bring to pass the work of our redemption ; he is the horn , the strength of our salvation : thus god the father from all eternity foreseeing mans inability of standing , did provide a remedy for his fall ▪ the son of god , the second person of the trinity , to take our nature upon him , and to dy a cursed death on the cross , that we might live eternally in heaven , and now he sits at the right hand of god , making intercession for us , that by a lively faith joined with contrition and mortification of the old man and sin in us , can lay hold of him , the right way to see the aboundant mercy of god in christ , is to see our own misery by reason of sin , how lost and undone we are without him . behold what love the father hath shewed unto us that we should be called the sons of god . seemeth it , saith david , ( being moved by the courtiers to entertain the offer of sauls daughter ) a light thing to be the kings son in law ? and it is registred as a fruit of moses faith , to prefer the rebuke of christ before the title of the sonne of pharaohs daughter : between god and saul what comparison ? between the king of heaven , and the daughter of pharaoh what proportion ? david might have been son in law to saul , yet not entituled to the crown . moses might have been the adopted son of pharaohs daughter , yet but a subject still . seemeth it a light matter to us to be called the sons of god , or to be the sons of god , which is all one : this prerogative which we have by christs blood , makes us heirs every one , not onely sons , but heirs , joint heirs with iesus christ : we are all made kings and princes by ●im , all of us intituled to a crown of ●lory , an eternal weight of glory , which ●s laid up for us in heaven , a most ●nestimable benefit , which the tongue of men and angels are not able to express . o let , i beseech you , the serious considerations of gods mercies in christ , constrein us from sinful courses ; ●et the words of me ( a dying man ) work ●n your spirits , that you may speedily ●xamine your own hearts , how you ●●and affected to a saviour that offers ●imself to be yours , ●●on condition you will leave your sins and turn unto him ●y repentance . gentlemen , he were a desperate man ●●at being condemned to dy would not ●ccept of the kings pardon , if it were ●ffered . behold here is a pardon from the king of kings , here jesus christ ●●ffereth his blood , if we do not wilfully ●efufe it , in persisting and going on in a ●ourse of sin . gentlemen , be perswaded i beseech you to make your title good to heven ; fo● temporal things we bend all might and main to make them sure , as in purchasing of lands , settling of estates : what coun● selling and contriving is there ? gentlemen , it is an estate of immortality , which will not fade away , labour to get a fee● simple in this estate : get interest in jesu● christ , and let him be of inestimabl● value in your thoughts . thus gentlemen , i thought it a par● of my duty to ease my spirits to the world in hinting at particulars . i migh● have been abundantly more large ; 〈◊〉 let this be enough to comfort my friend and acquaintance , and the rest of 〈◊〉 well wishers for eternity , that althoug● i am by an ign●●●inous death depriv●● of this temporal life , yet i have goo● assurance of eternal life , and that 〈◊〉 name is registred in heaven , of whic● blessedness i shall by and by have ● taste , and a full consummation at the da● of judgement , when we shall all appe●● before the judgement seat of christ 〈◊〉 give up our accompts . and i beg 〈◊〉 god to afford you his spirit of grac● that you may be kept blameless un●● that day , and that you may be assured upon good grounds before you depart this world , that your names are written in heaven , and that you may say with the apostle , blessed be god for this unspeakable gift . the two and thirtieth psalm was intended to be sung , but not sung ; himself being desirous to finish his course in this life . his prayer . o lord our god , high and mighty king of kings , lord of lords , the only ruler of princes , look down from heaven upon us miserable sinners , in and through the merits of the lord jesus , pluck us out of our sins and implant us into jesus christ ; let us be living branches in that vine , living members of that head : remember these nations of england , scotland , and ireland , and in them the principal member thereof , govern thou him , whose right it is to be our governour , implant thy grace in his heart , let the kingdome , authority and power of jesus christ in the gospel , be by him advanced ; season his heart with wisdome from above , and defend him from his enemies : remember the afflictions of ioseph , comfort thy people after thou hast afflicted them , and for the yeares wherein thou hast shewed them tribulation , quench the fire of ●hine indignation , that is kindling amongst us , and consume us not for thy name sake : shew mercy unto sion , build up the walls of ierusalem , and love it still . be with me now that am to dye ; just , o lord is it with thee to cast me into hell , but here lyeth my comfort , jesus christ will receive me ●nto his bosome , to whom , with thy self , and comfortable spirit , be praise and glory , dominion and majesty for ever . and in whose name and words i further call on thee , as my saviour hath taught me to pray : ou● father which art in heaven , &c. compared with the original copies and examined by us , vvilliam sandbrook . p. m. r. margaret roch● december the 24. 1656. at the funeral of mr. thomas ford of rochester . micah , chap. 7. verse 8 , 9. at margarets rochester , by william sandbrooke , p. m. r. micah 7 , verse 8. rejoice not against me , o mine enemy , when i fall i shall rise , when i sit in darkness , the lord shall be a light unto me . v. 9. i will bear the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him , until he plead my cause , and execute judgement for me , he will bring me forth to the light , and i shall behold his righteousness . v. 7. therefore i will look unto the lord , i will wait for the god of m● salvation , my god will hear me . sect. i. the preface . brethren , you know and see , and i do believ● are sensible of what the occasion o● this sad meeting and assembly is . time and opportunities of this nature , especially in so stupendious and astonishing a● instance we have in hand , must be mad● use of for our good ; you all grant the person deceased is no way advantage● by this exercise . 1. except we run to the alylum o● purgatory . 2. and fly to those rotten shifts o● dirges and requiems of rome , which you all i believe know the church of england , with all other profest protestants , and the reformed orthodox churches have justly exploded , 1. as the doctrine of antichrist . 2. as a parcel of heathenish abominations . ergo , this the occasion . now in the next place , let me also acquaint you with a paragraphe more in this preface to my work . 2. the occasion of my being limited up to the text . it was i understand , his own request ( that it comeing often upon his thoughts ) it might be the remembrance of him in his funerall obsequies , and might be to appeare in this confidence upon the churches hope , the lord : rejoyce not o mine enemy . i shall make no long furrows upon his back ; it is sufficient what hath been already done , and now it is totally in vain for any assistance towards him , except to rake up the ashes of so great a crime : therefore letting these things passe as well known to you already . sect 2. the text it self . wherein i le not trouble you with dependance . the words are a distinct paragraphe in themselves , and may be kept entire within their own limits , bounds , and confines : so according to my old method of for exposition of the text , take this . the sum . this is easily resolved in this issue . the sure stay , support and setleness of the church , and by consequence of every beleever , in their utmost desertions greatest declinings from god by transgression against , 1 the apprehension of divine wrath sincking their spirits for ever . 2 the insolent insulting of adversaries . 1 they shall see . 2 god to be light to them . this being the sum of the whole text , take the analysis of the 8 verse , for that is all : i can or will meddle with at this time . 1 the state of the church and every beleever in that condition she is fallen . 2 the successe of this . the adversaries tryumph and rejoyce . 3 the state of recovery with a secret check to the malicious pride of insolent adversaries . rejoyce not . for the rest of the particulars my time nor ability of body , nor strong lunges to keep on in a strong carreer , in a long and vexing winded discourse , will not admit mee , ( therefore i le be briefe ) if you expect it . 1 pardon my inabilities i am aged . 2 seek it where you know you may have it . these things supposed , let me now come seasonably to my last 4 theorems . 1 the best of churches ; saints , or persons , may fall deeply into grosse transgressions . 2 the enemies to the church and saints have an akeing tooth and obstinate spirit of insulting and vaporing over the church and saints , in their fallings , ●in this their sadd and deep declining by transgression . 3 in this distresse of falling , and the exultancy and proud insolency of opposition they shall arise again , and the glory of the lord shall appear upon them in light . these are the theorems which i must prosecute distinctly , therefore pray take this to be the first . 1. theorem . saints may fall into grosse and very deep transgressions or sins against god . the demonstration of this theorem is firm upon these principles . 1 the infinite and indeed unlimited liberty and authoritative power the infinite god hath over the creature , to do with it what he pleaseth . ergo 1 to leave and desert when hee will . thence 2 to give them up to themselves . 2 the naturall principles of the creature ( being thus left without any limits or bounds to its own propensions ) from preservation , it must follow inevitablely that the springs or sluces of corruption must break forth . ergo , churches and persons , nay saints may rush into , and act in grosse abominations . hence then from these principles le● us wind up all into an argumentive form● argument . 1 where there is an independant liberty in any cause to sustain , or not to sustain a created being , in a just regularity to his own will . 2 and strong active principles in an eminent deviation from the eternall rule , there must be ( and that unavoidably ) a deflexion from that eternall rule . 1 but in the eternall god of glory in christ , there is this independant liberty by concession of schooles and fathers . 2 the creatures acting nothing by their own principles , but opposition to him and his rule and will . ergo the creature may fall into the greatest relapses , grossest sins that ever any creature did . thus i have twisted up my argument of reason into the forme of a sillogisme in mood and figure : and it being but reason which is dark , let me support faith with scripture . and for this purpose i le nominate but two places , which will strongly evince the conclusion it self . 2 samuel chap. 11. chap. 12. isaiah 63 17. these two places will joyn in issue to prove my conclusion against any the least opposition . wee will a little examine both : in the 11 chapter you find very desperate acts of davids . 1 his adultery deflowring vriahs wife , bethseba to bear a child . 2 murder upon the person of vriah , by his speciall comission sent to ioab the generall of his army . now do but observe the severall agravations , and concatinations of other sins lincked together and centred in these two and then judge . 1 ingratitude to a faithfull servant and officer in his battles . 2 his cursed hypocrisy , in carrying on his desperate designe . 1 vriah must be sent for home , under pretence of favor , but in a reall intention that he might be murdered , or hide davids shame . but this was but the briding of his designe to the execution of murder upon so faithfull a friend and servant : therefore he goes on . 2 vriah must goe home to his wife , to hide davids shame , that the bastard might be made legitimate by vriah , yet vriah stands this attempt out , as unworthy of the spirit of a souldier , especially a commanding souldier . yet david in a depth of hypocrisy towards faithfull vriah , persists ( with what brave resolutions and what firm principles vriah baulked the motion the text cleares , ) and yet david hath another stratagem upon so faithfull a servant to hide his own shame vriah , 3 he must tarry but one day , and on the morrow he shall goe : to this vriah condescends , and abode in hierusalem that day . 4 david goes on with new stratagems to hide his sin , so adds sin to sin , under the pretence of doing him honor in an entertainment , he makes him drunk , ( cursed hypocrisy ) hoping when he was drunk he would do any thing : and now after the transgressions of adultery , and these subtile devices to hide the shame . next comes the tragedy of poor inocent vriahs murder . all full of perfidious deceit and dissimulation in hypocrisy by david . 1 ioab the generall must be sent unto , to put vriah upon the forelorn hope , where the skirmish was hottest , and this by commission from david , that vriah might dye expresly . 2 ioab obeys davids severe unjust and desperate command ; and the issue is vriah is slain . but it is not unworthy observation . david gives commission in his coole blood , and sedate resolutions , that vriah being in the heat of battell , upon a desperate service , all his forces should retire and leave him naked , in the fury of the enemy ( cursed treachery in david : yet davids sin in this passage goes on to a higher stretch then this ; for if you observe the subsequent passage you will find . 3 ioab to be an obsequious knave , to do any thing that the king commands him against a faithfull servant to ioab himself : shall i and my lord ioab ? 1 to hide his sin and shame . 2 to accomplish his base lust with bethseba . ioab sends an accoumpt to david , that according to davids command and directions given to him , vriah is out of the way : these tidings being brought to david , he hath an other shift to his hypocrisy and cruell designe . 4 the sword devoureth one as well as the other . yet that he thought all things might be secure and hidden , he takes her home , and makes her his wife ▪ well this done , the thing did displease the lord . thus far of davids sin of murder and adultery against god . having done thus farr in the business , the detection of the horrid unparralled villany in davids sins ; the next business is to come in hand . 1 davids arraignment by nathan the prophet : now in this we may consider thus . 1 nathan is sent to him by commission from the lord , the god of glory , to convince him of his guilt of this his sin . 2. by a wile of a parable , states the question so that david confesseth plainly , he had sinned . 2. nathan leaves him not in this sad condition , under guilt , but presently applies peace , the lord hath put away thy sin , yet gives him a chastisement temporall : hence then . persons under the apprehension of guilt , ought not to be left so : but promises of mercy ought after the detection of guilt to be applied . now bretheren the next busines . isaiah 63. 17. if you observe the connexion of the words , you will find the state of whole churches under a sad state of dereliction : here in this verse wee find not only 1 outward transgressions , and those of a deep die , if you compare things with things . 2 inward opposition , or an habitual frame of spirit : whence , 1 outward transgressions did flow a hardened heart . 2 and the frame of the spirit corrupted . out of all these my conclusions i will conclude . the saints may be deserted and left to great transgressions , and a fearfull frame of spirit . but we must go on to the other conclusions : but the time is almost past , and the time of the year unseasonable , and now bretheren ( since we have brought our busines thus farr , ) let me inferr these few practique corrolaries . 1 let him that standeth take heed least he fall . 2 keepe for the purpose vigilant eye over your own spirits . 3 pittie those that are fallen , and walk in darkness and see no light . 4 presume not upon examples : you know not whether davids restitution may be yours . this is from the second conclusion . insultansy of spirit over distressed persons , and falling sinners is incident to man , especially enemies . next take notice of this plaine issue . 4 as presume not to act hainous transgressions . 5 so dispare not under their burden . this is from the last proposition of the three , gathered from the text : and so these three propositions in the first paragraphe are dispatched . sect 3 the occasion of this business , and application , to the remembrance of the person deseased ; and herein brevitie becomes the time and season , ergo . let me acquaint you with these few hints , which possibly you may hear more at large hereafter . the occasion i have told you already , and so need no further repetition . the persons condition is now in agitation . 1 his birth and education , with his parts and their improvements you all know , were to be highly approved of , 2 his conversation , and greatly prodigious act of sin , in so near a relation , is too well known , for me to trouble your memories or greive your spirits a fresh , these things we grant to the most malevolent spirit , and contradicting spirit , we meet with ; yet for his deportment in the time of his confinement sentence and execution , some things must be said . 1 these reverend divines faithfully that dealt with him , and most in frequency in the time of his confinement , can give a more strict and severe accompt . when i had the opportunitie to visit him , i found him in a sedate composure of spirit ; i hope in the successe of their endeavours , and upon accompt examined with other things implicitely two great questions resolved , 1 conviction of guilt of so great a transgression , 2 yet this was not all but tenderness of contrition for this and other facts . 3 a totall relinquishing of any thing of humiliation or contrition for acceptation . 4 only wrapt up himself in the armes of our saviour christ , as the only refuge , upon this accompt i did what i did and ought to do . let momus carpe , wee will leave him to his own master , to him he stands , or falls , or suffers ; only thus , it was his earnest desire to receive a sealing testimony from christ in the ordinance , for his sealed confirmation of his interest in him , and in this case i● will doe it again upon like occasion , when they that except are reduced to the like condition , upon his supposed qualification , let malevolent spirits say what they will . i say he died a christian : the testimony of this shall appeare to the shame of his calumnators in print from his own hand . i confesse i have the original by me , but will conceale it yet . i am yet confident his grand adversaries do not know what , 1 hee found of the things of god in christ . 3 nor can so exactly compose a peece of a beleevers spirit , as he hath done , this you know to speake in business of this nature , unusual , yet seeing such pettish foolish impertinances added in by ignorance and malicious beggerly pride i thought fit to acquaint you with my resolutions . i le justifie it against opposition , let proud malice swell untill it break . february . 20 , 1656. valete notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a39934e-320 quest ans. ioh. 6. 37. heb. 10. 11 psal. 45. 15 phil. 2. 30 lu. 15 , 10. hos. 14. 3. dan. 9. 18. 19. 20. 21. psal. 143. 10. read eph. 1. ro. 11. 32 hose . 13. 9 acts. 5 31. isa. 43. 25 ezek. 36. 22 ia. 2. 18. ioh● 20 28 ans. notes for div a39934e-1560 pro : 18. 24 : notes for div a39934e-1690 hos : 4. 6. esai . 44. 1. esa : 59 : 2. esa : 1. 6. psal. 77. 6. iob. 42. 6. phi. 3. 8 : 2. sam. 12. 13. mar. 14. 72. psa. 51. 3. deu. 30. 2. eze. 20. 8. and added blood to all our sins the sin of murther iohn . 20. 4. heb. 12 , 8 , 9. vse 2 vse 3 vse 4 notes for div a39934e-2640 acts. 9. 4. vers. 18. vers. 15. ioh. 14. 15. doct. mat. 5. 46. vers. 48 , ioh. 8. 25. 1 ioh. 3. 1 gal. 4. 5. exod. 33. 23. ioh. 5. 39. luk 24. 27. act. 17. 2 act. 26. 22. mat. 26. 56. mark . 14. 49. luk. 1. 67 , 68 , 69. act. 4. 12 co. 1. 19. ioh ▪ 1. 1 , 2. mat. 19. 13. isa. 53. 5. mat. 11. 28. rev. 3. 20 gal. 3. 13 isa. 55. 1. 2 cor. 5. 20. 2 cor. 1. 1. luk 1. 67 exod. 3. 10. exod. 4 12 isa. 6. 5. ier. 1. 6. vers. 9. mat. 22. 12. hos. 8. 12 ioh. 3. 6. psal. 51. 5. eph. 2. 2. 3. gen. 6. 5. 1 cor. 2. 15. 1 pet. 2. 5 rom. 8 , 5 prov. 22 8. notes for div a39934e-4030 this inserted but really delivered . notes for div a39934e-4530 rom. 1. vers. 4. vers. 15. vers. 6. vers. 8. vers. 9. vers. 12 ▪ vers. 13 vers. 15. vers. 11. vers. vers. ● chap. 12. a sermon preached at st. botolphs aldersgate, at the funeral of robert huntington, esq., who died april 21 and was buried april 30, 1684 by timothy hall ... hall, timothy, 1637?-1690. 1684 approx. 76 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45343 wing h443 estc r11203 13115893 ocm 13115893 97753 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45343) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97753) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 419:12) a sermon preached at st. botolphs aldersgate, at the funeral of robert huntington, esq., who died april 21 and was buried april 30, 1684 by timothy hall ... hall, timothy, 1637?-1690. [4], 44 p. printed for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1684. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng huntington, robert, d. 1684. church of england -sermons. bible. -n.t. -hebrews ii, 15 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2008-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at st. botolphs aldersgate , at the funeral of robert hvntington esq who died april 21. and was buried april 30. 1684. by timothy hall , rector of alhallows staining , london . london , printed for tho. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns at the lower end of cheapside near mercers chappel , 1684. to the worshipful , and my much valued friends , esquires , sons , and executors of the deceased . robert hvntington . john freind . thomas brvmpsted . and to mr. timothy dod . and to their worthy and religious consorts : mrs. elizabeth hvntington . mrs. ann freind . mrs. martha brvmsted . mrs. elizabeth dod . fvnerals may well be stiled ( with sacraments ) visible sermons , because they teach by the eye , and outward senses . the dead speak aloud to the living , and as it were in a glass , represent to them what their condition in the circulation of a little time will be . shortly , we shall be in the place of silence with them . when we see others fall before us , how easily and naturally is it infer'd , that our standing cannot be long after them . yet how apt are we to flatter our selves with the spinning out of our thred of life to a great length ! a man would wonder , that in the wilderness , where so many thousands died , moses should then pray , lord , so teach us to number our days , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom , psal . 90.12 . if they who had so many dying objects continually before them , needed to be stirred up to pray in this manner , surely much more have we to whom such spectacles ( though many ) are more infrequent . to correct this folly and madness which possesseth the hearts of men while they live , eccles . 9.3 . who turn away their eyes from their sepulchre , and divert them with more pleasing prospects , i have ventured to comply with your requests in publishing this sermon . i am equally surprised , that you should desire , and i permit so thin a discourse to appear abroad . i expect to be censured for distributing a trifle amongst so many of you . i take you all joyntly in the dedication , because on this occasion to have addressed to one , might have been interpreted a disregard to the rest ; besides , it being preached by your order , and by the same influence being now made publick , i engage you to be accountable with me for all the rude strokes in it . i know your design was to keep up his memory ; but such an hasty monument erected to it , cannot long preserve it ; i had neither art nor time to build one . the errand this discourse comes on , is not to desire you to remember your father ; it would be a rudeness to request that he might live in your thoughts ; i am sensible , you will do that without my being your remembrancer ; but i beg , that nothing which was exemplary in him , be buried with him , and sealed up in his grave ; that you would improve what was delivered at his funeral to the best spiritual advantages , that you may live as strangers in this world , and persons belonging to a better ; that it may prove effectual to the furtherance and joy of your faith , shall be a considerable part of the hearty prayers of yours to serve you , timothy hall . heb. ii. 15. and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage . the apostle , in the former part of this chapter , having asserted the nature and necessity of the incarnation and death of christ ; he now in my text , and the preceding verse to it , acquaints us with the ends and uses of it . all the host of heaven stood amazed at this great mystery , expecting what would be the issue of this great trial. men and devils could not fathom the depths of god's design in this dismal tragedy . they verily concluded , that the captain of our salvation would now be conquered , and that they should hear no more of him , when once he was humbled to his grave . can he save others , who cannot save himself ? can he bring life to others , by his own death ? after this sarcastical manner the heathens upbraided the christians ; and the apostle tells us , that this death and cross of our lords , was a stumbling-block to the jews , and folly to the greeks , 1 cor. 1.18 , 23. and thus indeed it well might have been , had not that all-wise god ( who brings light out of darkness , and meat out of the eater ) by his unsearchable counsel and wisdom over-ruled this matter so , that the death of christ , like to that of sampson's , should issue and conclude in the utter rout and overthrow of his , and our greatest adversaries . whil'st they bruised his heel , he brake their head . thus by his wise disposal , he made suffering , to be saving ; death victorious , and the stripes of his son to be medicinal and healing to us . one end was to destroy the power of satan , to break the head of that serpent , stilling this enemy and self-avenger . psal . 8.2 . leading captivity captive , psal . 68.18 . binding the strong man , matt. 12. and dividing the spoil with him , isa . 53. thus this great destroyer was quelled and conquered , and at the sign of the cross thus used ( by faith in his death , i mean ) we may at any time put the devil to flight , and cast out the prince of this world. the other end is mentioned in my text , to deliver them who through fear of death , &c. which words acquaint us with a double subjection of the servants , or children of god , ( as they are called in the foregoing verse . ) 1. a subjection to death . 2. a subjection to bondage upon account of death . from whence i gather these propositions . prop. 1. god's own children , those for whom christ dyed , may be brought , and kept under the fear of death . prop. 2. the fear of death is a state of bondage . prop. 3. the onely deliverance from this fear , is by the death of christ . i shall make the first , the subject-matter of my discourse at this time ; and in treating on that , shall comprehend the other . god's own children , those for whom christ died , may be brought under , nay , kept under the fear of death ; and this fear may be so great and pressing , that it may be a heavy burthen ; it may gall them much , and deeply affect their souls to their great disquietment ; so that they may have many uneasie hours , and doleful complaints ; it may bring them into an estate of slavery and bondage : and this trouble may not onely be heavy and great for its nature , but long , and continued for its duration ; it may run parallel with the longest date of their time , and not come onely by way of paroxism and fit , but hold them all their life long . so that in the best , the fear of death is not wholly destroyed and removed . grace doth not extinguish nature ; and the christian doth not cease to be man. there is a double fear of death . 1. natural , and inseperable from our present condition . there is implanted in man a desire of self-preservation ; and this is natures aversation to its own dissolution . this is an innocent and guiltless infirmity , and no more culpable , than weariness , sickness , and many other natural imbecillities , inseperably annexed to the condition of mortality . 2. there is a sinful fear of death , a fear of death more than as it is natural , viz. as it is poenal , and an issue of the curse ; as it brings men under the devils power , and may prove a dreadful inlet and passage to everlasting burnings . now the children , ( viz. of god , and of the promise ) in some measure have conquered this last sort of fear ; but it is impossible for them , while they are cloathed with this frail and tattered humanity , wholly to rid and divest themselves of the former . death is the king of terrors , and therefore may command dread and fear even in the best . plentiful are instances of this kind , and they easily occur to us . thus jacob feared to die by the hand of his brother esau , and studied how to meet him in peace , and prayed to god to stay his hand , and turn his heart . the man after god's own heart cries , the sorrows of death compassed him , psal . 116.3 . and tells us , how his soul came to be full of trouble , psal . 88.3 . because his life drew nigh to the grave , and he was counted with them that go down to the pit . how industrious he was , to save his life , will appear from his counter-plots to save himself when saul pursued him . good hezekiah could not receive a summons to the grave with dry eyes ; the message made him chatter like a crane , and mourn as a dove , isa . 38.3 , 14. good old . hilarion was frequently chiding of his soul with an egredere o anima , for being so loath to leave a crazy body , in which it had been a tenant upwards of fourscore years : nay , our blessed redeemer himself , in whom there was no sin to imbitter his dissolution to him , yet we find him greatly affected at the approach of his departure hence ; his soul was heavy unto death . he entred not the lists with that last enemy without a heavy spirit : father , if it be possible , let this cup pass from me . it was the saying of reverend mr. greenham , ( page 15. of his works ) i like as well of them that measurably fear death , as of them who joy at it : in another place he tells us , he never dared desire to dye , however his continual crosses did afford him small desire to live . it is true , we sometimes meet with christian heroes of st. paul's temper , whose song ever since he had been in the third heavens , was to return thither again ; who are so much exalted above the fear of death , that they court , and crave it , and make it the most desirable of desirables , phil. 1 23. they never sing a loath to depart , but chearfully chaunt out with old simeon their nunc dimittis , luk. 2.29 . lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace . with elijah , they are satisfied , and full enough of days , and crave no further time , 1 kings 19.4 . nay , so fervent and earnest was the desire of the primitive christians after immortal glory , that they groaned earnestly , desiring to be cloathed upon with their house from heaven , 2 cor. 5.2 . they seemed not onely to be contented , but rejoyced with their departure ; and in the mean time , they did rather accept of life , than affect it , and endured it , more than desired it . great is the number of christian pilgrims , who ( in st. bernards phrase ) desire repatriasse , to return home , and loose from the shore of life , and to launch out into the ocean of immortality , looking for that blessed hope , and the glorious epiphany of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ , titus 2.13 . at the news and tidings of their lords approach , their faith eccho's back their hearty amen , even so come lord jesus . but here we must take notice , that our desires may be looked upon in a double capacity , either as natural and connate , or rational and elicite , according to the principles of reason and grace . a man that hath a gangren'd member hath a natural desire to keep it in the body , but his rational desire makes him willing to part with it . thus our saviour told the apostle peter , he should be bound , and carried whither he would not , john 21.18 . to be girded and pinion'd , he would not , according to his natural will ; but according to his renewed and sanctified will , he was ready joyfully to go to the place of martyrdom . thus my spirit may cry , come lord jesus , come quickly ; when the flesh may say , master , save thy self , and pray that the cup may pass from it . on the other hand , they who have the greatest reason to dread it , may sometimes defie it ; and knowing not what it is to dye , brutishly seem to slight it . thus in these low running dregs of time , an atheistical crew of men living in brutish ignorance , fall blindfold into their pit and grave ; they shut their eyes , and are never awakened , till those infernal flames flair about them , and lend them light to read their folly . they are not out of danger , but onely without the knowledge of it : their hardiness proceeds not from the knowledge of their good estate , but their ignorance of their bad one , like passengers that are asleep in a ship that is sinking : they revel , and hector on the very pits brink , and their joy is like to that of those who are stung with the tarantula , which is not the effect of mirth , but madness ; and though they have no bands in their death , yet death hath dominion , over them . pleasant company , wine , feasting , musick , divert their thoughts from that formidable prospect of their end , couzening themselves as far as they can , with that vain opinion , that the way to escape the sting of death , is not to think of it . it is risus sardonicus , a deadly joy ; the end of their mirth is heaviness , prov. 14.13 . like those silly fishes , which swim down the sweet stream of jordan , into the dead sea , where they perish . some indeed there are which please themselves with vain hopes of deliverance , and flatter themselves with ungrounded presumptions , that they shall escape the bitterness of death . oh the foolish , and helpless shifts that besotted sinners cling to ! how many perish at the very horns of the altar ? what ungrounded hopes have they from their own fictions ? how sadly do they abuse the best doctrines ; and suck poyson from the extent of god's mercies , and christ's merits ! they suffer their own innate light to be extinguished , and resist all means of conviction from that which is revealed . thus you see , that the proposition is irrefragable , notwithstanding we read some good men have desired it , and some bad men have not dreaded it . in further prosecution of this truth , 1. i shall lay down some propositions that tend to the clearing and confirming of it . 2. i shall inquire into the grounds and causes of this fear of death . 3. by way of application , i shall lay down some directions as proper remedies and cures of this fear . 1. propositions tending to the illustration and further defence of this truth . 1. prop. man in his first creation was not made mortal or corruptible . adam fell into a dying condition in the day that he rebelled against the crown and dignity of heaven . i know the question is much controverted , whether adam were made immortal , or no ? this were to make death necessary before sin ; which the apostle contradicts , when he writes rom. 5. that by one mans sin death came into the world : and rom. 6.23 . the wages of sin is death . death is the fruit and effect of our disobedience , and passes upon all , inasmuch as all have sinned , rom. 5.12 . 2. prop. all men are now subject unto death , as it is poenal . the first sentence reaches all mankind , gen. 2.17 . most men look on death as the common lot and condition of mankind , resulting from their frail condition , and the jarring and warring principles of their composition , which for want of poise destroy one another . they think it belongs onely to our natural , and not at all to our moral capacity ; reckoning it to be the consequent of their being , and not the demerit and punishment of our guilt . it is very true , though the principles of our nature are subject to dissolution , yet if we had not declined from the law of our creation , we had not inclined to the grave or corruption , but god had made our life commensurate with our holiness , and prolonged our time with our obedience . but alas ! death now is not more natural , than it is poenal . all mankind is condemned as soon as born. life is a reprieve , and short suspension of the execution of that sentence , which in the day of adam's transgression was pronounced on him , and his descendants : and oh miserable we ! if we improve not this small scantling of time to sue out our pardon , and make our peace with this incensed judge of heaven and earth ; who though he be a serene , yet withal is a dreadful majesty ; and will infallibly execute the severity of the sentence on every offender , who doth not timely accept and comply with those terms and articles of peace , which in the preaching of his gospel are tendred to them . 3. prop. fear and bondage are inseparable attendants on such a sinful and poenal state . it cannot be avoided , but that the expectation of death in such a condition must be very troublesome . this is a strait yoak , and will pinch the necks of all the sons and daughters of adam , though some wear it more easily than others . this will perplex our minds , raise storms within , and sink us frequently into deep despondencies ; for we know not how to cast it off , in vain are all attempts to slip the neck out of this collar ; we are unable to deliver ourselves , no man can free his own soul. we are in god's chain , and it is impossible to break it , all our strivings will contribute nothing to its removal , but onely gall and torment us more . 4. prop. whatsover bitterness and gall there is in death , it is from sin , that makes it more terrible than otherwise it would be . 1 cor. 15.56 . the sting of death is sin . so many sins as thou committest , so many stings thou puttest into thy death , to render it more dreadful to thee . could a man dye , and have no sin laid to his charge , though there might be some pain , yet there could not be terror in his departure out of this world. well may death be called the terrible of terribles , when there is not onely an apprehension of the dissolution and divorce between the soul and body , but there interposes and starts up the guilt of many sins , which confront the sinner , and stare him in the face ; nay , those sins that had a gaudy and tempting dress , will then be strip'd of all their feigned beauties , and appear in all their dreadful circumstances , agitating and terrifying the consciences of men , with the expectation and dread of future evils . when the sinner dare not die , yet cannot live , what convulsions must there needs be in his breast , which must terrify him like the cracks of a falling house . what a calm and well-natured death might a man have , ( far beyond that euthanasia which augustus wished for himself ) if sin and hell , and approaching judgment , and a gnawing worm within , did not drive him into agonies and despair . alas ! when nothing is in view to him but these things , and the conclusion of the whole matter will with him be nothing short of hideous darkness , and a tormenting fire , having heat but no light , gnashing of teeth , late remorse , incurable wounds , self-hatred , and all imaginable distresses , even to be hated of god , and to hate him for ever , he must needs turn away his face in the anguish of his soul from beholding such distracting objects . these things our sins procure for us , and fill our souls with all the anticipations of hell. 5. prop. the death of christ applyed by faith , is the onely soveraign remedy to deliver us out of this estate of fear and slavery . our heavenly elisha hath cast salt into those bitter waters , and so healed them . death to a believer is a serpent without a sting . he hath fortified us against these fears two ways . 1. by giving us the example of his dying . his tasting of death before hand , keeps it from being a cup of trembling , and wonderfully will this animate our spirits under all dejections , that our lord walked in this dark valley before us . 2. by affording us the merit and efficacy of his death ; this is very operative to this purpose , to consider , that our redeemer , and the captain of our salvation , undertook our deliverance by his own death : so that now there is no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus , rom. 8.1 . for being justified by faith in the death of christ , they have peace with god , and in themselves , rom. 5.1 . thus has christ changed the nature of death , that it should be more desirable , than dreadful to a good man , being like josephs chariot sent for dying jacob , to carry us to the place of our hope and desire . this made the apostle ring that sharp and shrill note , in the ears of death , and send that bold and brave challenge to the last eneny ; 1 cor. 15.55 . o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? death is swallowed up in victory . it is not now so much an outlet of temporal , as an inlet of eternal life . well might the apostle write insultingly , as a man offering sacrifice for victory , and singing a triumphant song , while his feet stood on the neck of his enemy . we know now to whom to have recourse , when our spirits droop at the apprehension of our decease ; not to saints , or angels , not to the blessed virgin her self ; but to her son , who is the lord of life : that brazen serpent we are to look upon , when that fiery one of death puts out his sting ; and we are sufficiently antidoted against all the poyson that is spit at us . thus we see the children , though they cannot escape the stroak , yet they are freed from the sting of death ; they can play upon the hole of this aspe without danger , and wellcome the grimmest approach of this destroyer with a smile , being freed from the venom of this serpent , by him who is , the captain of the lords hosts ; who hath abolished death , and brought life and immortality to light . he has by his own death , made death to them , not onely tollerable and easie , but desirable and gladsome . indeed , none dared cope with this king of terrors , but our blessed lord ; and he by dying , went into the den of this dragon , fought it , and conquered it in its own territories and dominions . 6. prop. notwithstanding all that christ hath done to reconcile us to a view and prospect of our dissolution ; yet so deep is the love of life , and fear of death implanted in us all , that nature cannot but tremble at the approaches of it . though this serpent is bereaved of his sting , and the nature of it changed to every holy man ; yet its hissing affects us at sometimes with a cold sweat and shivering , some regrets and aversation from it . the heart of that man who is most heavenly , and covetous of entring the promised new canaan , who breathes after that happy country , the jerusalem above , is now and then startled at his passage thorough the howling desert which leads thither ; he would be cloathed with immortality , and yet unwilling to put off the garment of this body . we would be blessed and happy , but wish it might be some other way than by dying . loath weare to be absent from the lord , and yet desirous to be present here ; we may desire to be with the lord , and yet at sometimes very loath to depart : it is often the case of many a child of god , that he very willingly would be at his journeys end , and yet at the same time dreads the going the way of all flesh , which leads to it : thus , like little children , we are covetous of being cloathed with a new garment , and yet may be so pained and pinched in the putting of it on , that it may force a tear or two to distil from our eyes , in the exchange of our sute of flesh , for the robes of glory . 7. prop. this natural fear of death frequently sinks and degenerates into a very vitious and sinful one . it is difficult in this matter , so to fear , as not to over-fear . our passions of this nature , are often subject , either to mistake their object by fearing what we need not , or else to exceed their bounds by fearing more than we need , or ought . hence it often comes to pass , that this dread of death has proved a great snare to the best men. what mean and unmanly shifts , what poor tricks and artifices , what unfriendly ways and methods have many used , ( even to the spilling of others blood ) to save their own ? they have sullied their names and reputations , wounded their own spirits , and grieved those of their friends , and all to eke out an inch of life . abraham though dignified with that illustrious title , of the father of the faithful ; yet so unbelieving was he of god's providence over him , that he betakes himself to sinful equivocations , ( those cousin-germains to a lye ) to save his life . while we use any indirect means to prolong our days , it plainly reproaches us to our faces , that we fear men more than god , and death more than hell and damnation ; which is very absurd and foolish , to fear the less , and not the greater evil ; to be afraid to dye , but not to be damned . great reason therefore there is , to watch over this natural fear , lest it prove immoderate , and betray us into the hands of many foul temptations , as it did abraham , isaac , and peter . our saviour gives us praemonitions about it , when he instructs us not to be afraid of men who can kill the body , and after that have no more that they can do : but i will forewarn you whom you shall fear , &c. luke 12.4 , 5. one fear , ( like fire ) drives out another . if the fear of god more prevailed in our hearts , it would wonderfully qualifie and moderate all the powers of our souls , that there would not be such prevailing excesses and disorders in them . our care therefore must be , that our natural fear be compatible with that which is gracious ; and that we never dread any thing further than it is consistent with the fear of god. 8. prop. this natural fear of death being kept within due bounds , may very much be improved to our advantage . 1. it will help us to be more patient underder all poenal evils . so sentence of death be not executed , stripes and imprisonment , fines and banishment are more easily under-gone . skin for skin , and all that a man hath he will give for his life , job 2.4 . a living man will not complain , lam. 3.39 . thou art alive man , that one word encircles many blessings , and i pronounce an hundred good things in that comprehensive monosyllable . of all other evils we say , they are not so bad as death , and therefore they may , and must be bore . 2. it will make us more watchful against all sinful evils . god has in his law appointed death , as a punishment for many offences , that it might be a curb and bridle in our mouths to restrain us from the commission of those sins ; and when men throw this aside , what wickedness is there which they will not attempt ? eve was emboldned to sin by the devils telling her , she shall not die . men will not commit that wickedness which they know is not onely against god , but against their own lives also . 3. it will weaken our pride . it will render us more low and vile in our own eyes . this will much abate our pride , and keep us humble . put them in fear , o god , ( viz. of death ) that they may know themselves to be but men , psal . 9.20 . 4. it will strengthen our faith. we received , saith the apostle , 2 cor. 1.9 , 10. the sentence of death in our selves , that we should not trust in our selves , but in god which raiseth the dead . while a man looks to sense , and is upheld by sensible comforts , there is not that exercise for faith , which otherwise there would be ; for the exercise therefore , and strengthning of his grace so acceptable to god , and advantageous to us , god exposes his children to this fear of death , that when all other helps and supports are removed , they may fly to him for refuge . the bohemians when they lost their famous captain zisca , stiled themselves orphans : she that is a widdow indeed , and desolate , trusteth in god , 1 tim. 5.5 . whereas , while she had an husband and children , she trusted over-much in them . the hemorrhoisse made not her applications to our lord , till all her stock was spent . a poor and afflicted people will trust in the name of the lord , zeph. 3.12 . 5. it will quicken our preparations for death . god therefore wills it , that we should have , not onely some thoughts , but also some fears of death ; that we may improve the day of grace , and be working while it is called to day . fear is an affection which quickens to action ; noah being moved with fear , prepared an ark , heb. 11.7 . they that fear not death , grow desperate , their language is , let us eat and drink , for to morrow we die ; but they that are armed with this well-guided and bounded fear , infer much more wisely , saying , let us pray , read , hear , repent , believe , obey , for to morrow we die . thus you see great advantages may be made of this natural infirmity , and we may learn how to turn our water into wine ; to make those thoughts of death , which at some times lie very cold at our stomachs , to become very cordial and reviving against all sinful and immoderate dread of it . grace , though it do not extinguish , yet it corrects and regulates nature ; and by the ways above mentioned , mortifies this fear , that it prove not a temptation to sin. stoicism hath attempted to do this ; but christianity onely can , and hath effected it ; in the school of christ is best taught the right cure of all our amazing and distracting fears . 2. i come now to inquire into the grounds and causes of this fear . as before i distinguished this fear it self , so now i shall the causes of it , into natural , and sinful . 1. natural causes . death on this account is dreadful , because it is a future , unavoidable evil to nature . as a future possible good is the object of hope , so a future possible evil is the object of fear ; and much more it is to be dreaded , when it is a certain futurity , as death is , which no ways can be declined . nature looks upon death as its enemy , whose design is to divorce and separate soul and body , two ancient comerades , no wonder therefore that it shun it , when it knows it shall one day fall by the hand of it . memorable is the passage of that martyr to the executioner , driving the staple into the stake ; pray friend knock it in fast , for nature will be working . and that this fear is greater in some , than others , from the very constitution and temperament of the body , is every days observation . our very natural complexion renders us either more bold , or fearful . this is a natural passion , which though it may be corrected and sanctified , yet it cannot be totally conquered , for religion changes not the temperament of the body . good men who are of this fearful temper , and melancholy disposition , and experience the tyranny of this natural passion , have need to pray for the sanctification of it . i never thought religion did depend upon the temper of the body , but i am sure the acting and exerting of it very much doth . but these fears , so far as they are natural , they are lawful ; for they are not transgressions of any precept , and though they may be reckoned amongst our infelicities and weaknesses , yet they come not into the number of our sins and crimes . 2. there are sinful grounds of this fear of death ; these chiefly are to be regarded , and they are very many ; some i shall name , and can do little more than in the gross produce them , leaving you to enlarge on them , and i am sure any man of thoughts may be very copious on this subject ; his own inward sense of things strongly will attest all to him . this sinful fear proceeds , 1. from the want of a holy fear , the fear of the great god. as the fear of him is the less , the fear of god in our lives , is the ready way to cast us into a slavish fear of death . it was one of the judgments threatned , deut. 28.58 , 65 , 66. if thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book , that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name , the lord thy god ; then neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest , but the lord shall give thee a trembling heart , and failing of eyes , and sorrow of mind ; and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee , and thou shalt fear day and night , and shalt have no assurance of thy life . 2. from the want of faith in the death of christ springs this fear of our own death . even the children , holy and religious persons , who live soberly , righteously , and godly , are sometimes beset with these uncomfortable apprehensions of death ; being now and then plagued with the remainders of an unbelieving heart , as if still death were not subdued , as if death had conquered christ , and not christ death : the disciples were terrified and frighted , and unbelieving thoughts did arise in their hearts , luk. 24.37 , 38. fools , our lord calls them , and slow of heart to believe , ver . 25. we trusted that it had been he which would have redeemed israel , v. 21. here their faith flag'd , and hang'd , the wing extreamly ; their buckler was much battered , and stood in need of beating out again . weakness of faith gives strength to our fears , and doth both greaten and multiply them upon us . faith is not without its conflict with sadness of spirit , and carnal fears ; amalek sometimes is too hard for israel , and the house , of saul frequently prevails over the house of david . 3. this fear proceeds from want of serious meditation on death , and due preparation for it . our negligence and sloath in not finishing that work which god has put into our hands to do , way well make us loath to come to an account with our lord. bad stewards are afraid of a reckoning ; and death coming thus suddenly , puts all into confusion : suddenness and fear are joyned together , prov. 3.25 . suddenness of destruction is the description of a doleful and fearful estate . when men have laid in no antidotes and cordials against death , then , like nabal , their hearts die before they do . this was davids case , psal . 39. ult . o spare me . stay a little , that i may get strength to combat with this adversary . the best are too backward in their preparations for this encounter with this grim and gastly enemy , and therefore are not without their fears ; but oh ! who can express that great fearfulness which needs must surprise unregenerate men , who are clapping many stings into their deaths by their repeated and continued sins ; they take pains to make their end uneasie , and with their vices dress up death in a terrible vizard to affright them . what ease can they live at , whose souls this night may be turned out of their soft beds where now they lye securely snorting , into a bed of flames ? one would think , these men should eat their bread with trembling , and the thoughts of their danger should keep them waking . there is no wonder , that a sinful cause should produce a sinful effect ; and that mens terrors should be increased with their offences . every wicked man must look death in the face , with pale cheeks . it was a copy of julians countenance , but not of his dying one , when he said , vitam repescenti naturae tanquam debitor bonae fidei redditurus exulto . what solomon speaks of prophane mens merry living , that even in laughing their heart is sorrowful , prov. 14.13 . is very applicable to their dying condition , their heart gives their mouth the lye. indeed , sometimes like furious gamesters , they throw up their cards , not out of any dislike of gaming , but of their games ; they are rather discontented with life , than contented with death ; but yet such reassume their play , and go on afresh ; and so do these passionate fools upon second thoughts , eat their words , and unwish their wishes . such are like to gaal in his drink , judg. 9.27 . he cursed abimileeh when he was at a great distance ; speaks very contemptibly of him , brags how he would use him , if he had him in his clutches , ver . 29. but upon abimelechs appearance , his courage was cooled , his heart sunk into his heels , for he fled before him , ver . 40. mens sins will one time or other sink their spirits , and make their death dreadful ; and that upon account , 1. of the guilt that is in sin . to apprehend sin unpardoned , amazes and confounds , and therefore god's arrest by death , must make the knees smite , and strike one against another , belshazzar like , who could not hold his joynts still . 2. of the filth in sin . the defilement of it is so great , that it makes the sinner startle . such squalid and nasty sights , must needs occasion the turning away of our eyes . who can look upon them , and live ? the sinner often sinks and drops at the view of his lusts ; they have a killing aspect . 4. excessive love of life , and of this world , begets immoderate fear of death . when mens hearts are so closely united to creature-comforts , they cannot be torn from them without much violence and pain . what we over love in the enjoyment , we over-fear in the apprehensions of its loss . a child that has tasted much of the breast , cannot be pulled from it without much crying : things glued together , are seldom parted , without tearing or breaking . if thy portion is onely in this life , thou art utterly undone when it is ended , and who can blame a man for fearing the loss of his all ? it is a canonical truth , though in the apocryphal writings , o death , how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions ! eccles . 40.1 . how sad a sight is a hand writing on the wall to a belshazzar in his cups ? to a rich man dreaming of his goods laid up for many years , how sad and confounding must that voice be , thou fool , this night thy soul shall be required of thee ? luk. 12.20 . it was a wise and christian speech of charles the fifth , to the duke of venice , who hezekiah-like , shewed him the glories of his throne and palace , his great wealth and riches ; haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori , these are the things that make us loath to dye . 5. this fear is frequently occasioned by too much carelesness about our worldly affairs ; i mean , the neglect of a provident , timely setting our house in order , and adjourning this necessary and hard work to the dregs of our age. that which should be the living mans care , is too often the dying man's task : the ending of our accounts with men , and the beginning of our accounts with god , are both of them generally put off to the inconvenient season of a death-bed ! to reckon with god and man at once , is too hard a province for a sick and languishing sinner . many more grounds might be assigned , i shall add but one more . 6. the breach of former sick-bed vows and resolutions , when we were in fear of death , renders men more fearful when once they come in sight of it . the answer is not amiss which theodoricus , bishop of coleine gave to the emperor sigismund , upon his inquity , which way he might best get to heaven : if thou walkest ( said the bishop ) so as thou didst promise under thy painful fit of the stone . our extremity commonly renders us holy , and our pain is prodigal of those vows , which our ease is niggardly of performing . we daily see desperation making those votaries , who in their health were the loosest libertines . were it essential to health , thus to debauch us , it would make a good man out of love with it . it were better to be always sick , than for our health to maks us irreligious . let us pray to god to remedy this sickness of our health and to bless us rather with sanctified afflictions , than curse us with unsanctified prosperity . i now am to speak to the third particular , and that by way of use and application . 3. to give some prescriptions and remedies , by way of antidote and defence against the fears of death . it was one of the defects which the learned verulam , ( in his advancement of learning , ) found in our physitians , that they do not study those rmedies , which might procure an euthanasy , an easie passage to their patients ( since they must needs dye ) thorough the gates of death . such helps must be left ( saith bishop hall ) to the care of the skilful sages of nature , the use whereof must be with great caution ; lest while they endeavour to sweeten death , they shorten life . my work at present , is to prescribe spiritual helps to an easie and comfortable departure out of the houling wilderness of this world , to make the grave-bed soft , that we may lye down in peace there , and descend to those dark chambers with as great desire , as a weary traveller lies down to sleep . the neglect of looking to this while we live , is the cause why death comes on so many as a snare , as amongst many other , it did on caesar borgia ( the wicked son of a worse father , viz. pope alexander the sixth ) who meeting death in that cup of poyson , which he had prepared for others , cried out with great consternation under this terrible surprise . adversus omnia pericula me munivi praeter quam mortem : that he had armed himself against all casualties , excepting death , for of that he never thought . amazing and deplorable inconsideration ! that men should find time to think of all things , but those which do most nearly concern them ! that heaven and hell , death and judgment , should then only come into mens thoughts , when they have nothing else to think of . how solicitous are we to fortifie our selves against external evils , timely engaging against sickness and poverty , banishment and imprisonment , cold and hunger , shame and scandal , but laying little or nothing up against the evil day ? death comes and seizes most with a heavy hand , because so little is done to bear up against it . take notice here of the excellency of the christian doctrine , which affords beyond all other professions , the greatest relief in this way . some phylosophers have essayed upon comforts of this nature ; and epicurus tells us , if a wise man were to burn in phalaris bull , he might say , dulcae est , & ad me nihil pertinet . but these were empty brags , and founded on some principles , of which we may say , ( as job to his friends ) ye are miserable comforters ; such as these , 1. premeditation on it before it comes ; others rejected this as much , because it made a man miserable before he was so . meer apprehensions of it to them ( whow wamed the divine oracles ) signified little to lighten their burden . 2. others supported themselves with the thoughts of necessity , and inevitable fate , and many such like considerations . but alas , tho philosophy has been stiled animi medicina ; yet their precepts in reference to comfort , have been compared to the influence of the moon , which doth rather rotten , then ripen , in respect of the suns influence . they were ignorant of christ the prince of peace , of the holy paraclete and comforter , and unacquainted with the life of faith. they knew not how with ignatius , to invite the cross and fire , breaking on the rack , quartering of members , and all the torments that either men or devils could invent . when the emperor threatned st. basil with death , o that it might come , was his ready and chearful reply . when eudoxa the empress threatned chrysostome ; he sent her word , nihil praeter peccatum timeo : he feared gods wrath , ( because of his sins ) but not at all her . these are the men that tread on the lion , the asp , and the adder . and that we may be enabled to do the like , take these following directions ; these comforts and consolations of gods own prescription in the holy scriptures , which as far exceed all philosophical remedies , as the sun doth a glow-worm . i am constrained to be short in them , and must leave it to you , to blow every blossom into a flower . 1. direct . rectify your apprehensions and opinions of death . is not thy fear of it grounded upon a mistake ? fears are apt to agravate evils . levis est dolor si nihil opinio adjecerit . we fright our selves with images and idaeas of evils , and dress up bug bears and mormoes to torment our selves withal . christ himself walking upon the waters , was by the disciples trembled at as a dreadful apparition . it may be thou lookest on death , as some utter abolition and extinction of thy being . remember it is but a departing , which thou callest a death . see how god himself stiles it to the father of the faithful , gen. 15.15 . thou shalt go thy fathers in peace . it is but a going away , not a perishing ; and not a going to wo and misery , but a comfortable going to our fathers . it is hence called , the way of all the earth , josh . 23.14 . christ intimates his death under this notion ; it is expedient for you that i go away , john 16.7 . death is a journeying from one region to another . see in what familiar terms god conferred with moses about his death , deut. 32.49 , 50. get thee up into this mountain , and die in the mount whither thou goest up , and be gathered unto thy people . death it self is so embalmed and cloathed in the holy scriptures , that there is even a sweetness and beauty in it : therefore called an uncloathing , a putting off the flesh . he that has wore his cloathes long , till they are foul and nasty , will he not willingly strip himself to put on a fresh suit ? children fear their nearest relations , and best friends , when they appear under a disguise to them ; but when their vizard is taken off , they rejoice at their presence . to sweeten our departure to us , it is called a rest and sleep . is there any hurt in that ? would not a man tired out with a long days work , gladly go to bed ? under these notions we may bury all fearful thoughts of death . our friend lazarus sleepeth ; but i go that i may awake him out of sleep , john 11.11 . what more desirable and refreshing than a good nights rest ? sleep is the nurse of nature , the sweet parenthesis of all our griefs and cares . cloathe thy death therefore in a scripture dress , and this will help to allay the bitterness , and beautifie the deformity of it . sleep is a short death , and death is but a long sleep . the babylonians are threatned with death , under the name of a long sleep , jer. 51.57 . they shall sleep a perpetual sleep , and not wake , saith the king whose name is the lord of hosts . it is a judgment to be cast into a sleep like death , but a mercy that death is like a sleep : nay , death is not a perpetual sleep : a good man when he has done his work , falls asleep , and awakes in the great morning of the resurrection to receive his wages . hence the grave is call'd a bed , isa . 57.2 . it is gods ark and chest , wherein he keeps the bodies of his saints , and he will open this cabinet in the great day of the resurrection , and take his jewels out ; he will scowre and furbish them up again , making their vile bodies like unto the glorious body of christ . the jews call the grave , beth chaiim , i. e. the house of the living ; and when they return from the burial of their friends , they pluck up the grass , and cast it into the air , using those words of the psalmist , psal . 72.16 . they shall flourish like the grass of the earth . the greeks call their church yards , dormitories , sleeping places ; and the germans ( say some ) call them god's-acre , because their bodies are sown there , to be raised again , be not then daunted with the gloomy thoughts of a total dissolution ; no , it is but a little intermission , a disappearance for a while , a short and sweet nap in their beds , which are warmed and perfumed for them by christ's body laid in the grave , with whom also they look to rise to eternal life . and this leads me forward to the 2. dir. be established in that weighty and great doctrine of the resurrection . soul and body , old companions , part but for a while . thou art not so sure to arise in the morning , when thou liest down at night , as thou art to awake at that day . 1 thes . 4.14 . for if we believe that jesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . what an antidote is this against the worst of death ? that christ who did arise from the dead , shall come again , and bring all his with him in glory ? these scripture consolations come home to the very heart , which the philosophical ones did not , ( being in tullies phrase , medicine morbo imbecilliores ; ) well therefore might the apostle call on them , to chear up , and comfort one another with such words of truth , ver . ult . the courage and constancy of the jewish martyrs was such on this account , that they would not accept of deliverance in their tortures , that they might obtain a better resurrection , heb. 11.35 . the resurrection they knew would recruit , and recompence them . lucian called the christians miserable caitiffs , for being stout to the death , in the belief of this doctrine ; on the same account , all wise and good people must pronounce them of all men then most happy . remember what god said to jacob , gen. 46.3 . fear not to go down into egypt : for ver . 4. i will go down with thee , and i will also surely bring thee up again . 3. dir. remember death is the common condition and lot of all mankind . now what reason hast thou to be troubld when ( as joshua expresses it ) thou goest the way of all the earth ? if all travel this road , art thou so foolish , as to think , there should be a by-path for thee to go alone ? none can redeem his brothers , no not his own life , from death . monarchs , emperors , patriarchs , prophets , apostles , have trod this tract ; nay , christ himself : why then dost thou fear to follow such a glorious company ? grudg if thou wilt , that thou art a man ; grudg not that being a man , thou must die . where are the fathers of old ? do the prophets live for ever ? this is the kings high-way , and the beggars also . you tread no untrodden tract ; you are not the first set out this way , nor will be the last . thou dost not break the ice first . 4. direct . familiarize death in thy thoughts . this familiarity with it , will breed contempt of it . men little think of dying , therefore are the terrors of death so stinging . plato perswading to the thoughts of death , defined true philosophy to be a meditation of death even tygers and lions , which at their first sight affright , by frequent viewing abate their terror . look it often in the face , and thou wilt sooner be reconciled to its hard features , and grim countenance . bid death to thy board , to thy bed , to thy closet , to thy counting house , and thy shop , walk with him in thy garden , as joseph of arimathea did . dye daily in your thoughts and meditations , and when you come to it actually , you will die more delightfully . it is for want of these thoughts , that mens souls are chased out by violence , rather than yielded up to god in obedience . 5. direct . ponder on the happy advantage of your dissolution . this is a large cluster , and i cannot tarry to give it you grape by grape . 1. death will give thee a freedom from all evil , whether of sin or sorrow ; cure all your diseases and infirmities , dry up all your tears . when the stroke is once struck , adieu then to the temptaions of satan , the rage of persecutors , distempers of mind , deformities of body , disgrace of name , unfaithfulness of friends , undutifulness of children , loss of estate , and whatever else makes life bitter . didst never cry out , who should deliver thee , with the apostle ? rom. 7.24 . and art troubled when a liberate is sent ? art afraid to land after such storms and tempests ? how many have desired death , nay sinfullly destroyed their lives , to deliver themselves from griefs , fears , wants and pains ? 't is true , he sins highly that goes away out of this world , before god calls him ; yet who would refuse to go , when once he is call'd ? 2. it will put thee into possession of thine inheritance . i desire to depart , and to be with christ . who would tarry so long from his dear lord , that might have passage to him ? when the heathen socrates was to dye for his religion , he was greatly comforted at his death , with this , that he should go to the place where he should meet orphous , homer , hesiod , and many other worthies of the former ages : had he but known christ , the order of cherubim and seraphim , angels , glorified saints , patriarchs , prophets , apostles , martyrs , confessors , our fathers , mothers , near relations , and dear friends , and the rest of the glorious heirarchy of heaven , he would then doubtless have taken down his deadly draught of hemlock with greater relish and satisfaction . the proto-martyr stephen triumphed over death , when he saw the heavens opened , and the son of man standing on gods right hand . faith will help to the same beatifical vision and prospect . it is pleasant to the eyes to behold the sun ; but the sun is as darkness , and altogether useless in that kingdom of glory , rev. 21.23 . rev. 22.3 , 4 , 5. if david in the wilderness so impatiently thirsted to appear before the living god in an earthly jerusalem ; how earnestly should we long to see his glory in the heavenly one ? psal . 42. the glimps of his back parts was as much as moses might behold , yet that put a shining glory on his face ; what will it be then to see him face to face ? the glimps of christ in his transfiguration ravished three apostles who beheld it : st. pauls vision , that did wrap him up in the third heavens , advanced him above the rest of mankind ; but the beatifical vision of the glory of the great god , far excels all . this leads me to the next particular . 6. direct . renew your familiarity with the blessed ones above . remember that great army of god , ( the souls of the just from adam till now ) are all got safe thorough this dead sea , and are triumphing in heaven already , and that there are but a few straglers in the end of the world left behind , and then which part do you desire to be with ? but especially remember that jesus your head is entred into the heavens before you , and is preparing a place for you , not being willing to be there without your company . he would have you there to behold his glory ; and do not these considerations provoke you to covet to be united to that heavenly quire above , which incessantly sing ( not resting either day or night ) that melodious anthem to him that sits on the throne , and unto the lamb for ever and ever , of blessing and honour , and glory , and power , rev. 5.13 . many more things might be added by way of direction , but i shall add but this one more , tho the most considerable and important . 7. direct . act faith on the death of christ : here is the main prop and pillar of comfort . who would have dared to dye , had not our lord dyed first ? he has taken away , the sting of death ; what harm can there be in a stingless snake ? he hath cut the lock of sin , where the strength of death lay . hosea 13.14 . o death , i will be thy plagues ; o grave , i will be thy destruction : christ hath happily triumphed over it , both for himself and thee ; his precious blood has altered its complexion , and turn'd its pale face into a beautiful sanguine : our redeemer having unstung it , we may safely put it into our bosomes ; it is an enemy indeed , but a conquered and disarm'd one . dost dread an enemy vanquish'd to thy hand , and sprawling at thy feet ? hath david killed this great and formidable goliah , and shall not trembling israel recover their spirits , and up , and pursue the philistines ? shall a conquered enemy disanimate the conquerors ? remember and revive , o christian ; the captain of thy salvation has not onely destroyed , but sanctified the grave to thee , and perfumed the dust thereof with his own body . what comfortable words are those , because i live , ye shall live also , john 14.19 . the grave that otherwise affords but a noysom smell , smells sweet ever since the rose of sharon , and the lily of the vallies lay in it . this dark hole is made lightsome , ever since that true light , ( for a time eclipsed ) shone out of it . thus our sampson has found an honey-comb in the carcase of this lion. christ is the lion of the tribe of judah , from whose death , as from a plentiful breast , we may suck abundance of sweetness . his sepulchre is the most fragrant knot in joseph's garden : your thoughts cannot be dyed into a richer colour than the meditation of christ crucified . as st. paul always did bare about in his body , so do you in your minds , the dying of the blessed jesus : assure your selves , the pale face of death will look ruddy , when you cast this blood of sprinkling on it . this should arm the heirs of life , against the fear of death . we read cant. 3.7 , 8. the valiant of israel have their swords on their thighs because of fear in the night . night strikes men into fears ; especially , the night of death ; but gird this sword on thy thigh , get a living faith in thy heart , and all the fears of death will not dead it . this should teach us to give praise and thanks to our lord and master . how did the philistines rejoyce , when they had got sampson in their hands ? judg. 16.23 , 24. then the lords of the philistines gathered them together , for to offer a great sacrifice unto dagon their god , and to rejoyce : for they said , our god hath delivered sampson our enemy into our hand . and when the people saw him , they praised their god : for they said , our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy , and the destroyer of our country , which slew many of us . what lebanon is sufficient to burn ? or what cattel on a thousand hills for a sacrifice ? what hecatombs of praise and service are due to our great god and saviour ? who hath delivered the destroyer both of our souls and bodies into our hands ; and us out of his ; who hath slain , not onely many of us , but either hath , or will make havock of us all , heaps upon heaps , and that far more and greater than ever sampson did of the philistines . not unto us , o lord , not unto us , but to our most mighty and merciful god and saviour be all the praise and glory given , who hath translated us from under the power of sin and death , into the kingdom of his dear son. having finished one text , it may be expected i should speak on another , viz. our deceased brother , who is the doleful occasion of this days solemnity i acknowledg i have not been much used to funeral encomiasticks ; and when i consider that this kind of work is not without much hazard , i do the more unwillingly engage in it . relations will think too little is spoke , others too much . the task is hard , when on one hand i may be censured to give a faint and mean character , and on the other hand i may be thought to over do it , and be parasitical . i acknowledg it ( and shall endeavour to avoid it ) that it is too common on these occasions to saint all at their death , who expressed little of sanctity in their lives . it was said of julian , idoneus erat dicere panegyricum diabolo . he was fit to canonize the devil ; and i have read that bruno an italian did it . this should make us wary in discourses of this nature : but where there is real worth , and deeds praise-worthy are to be found , to deny the scattering a few flowers on the hearse of such a person , would be injustice both to the living and the dead . there is a generation of men , whose eyes are mostly fixed on the dark sides and blemishes of their brethren , and chuse to represent them to be such always , as possibly they once might find them to be in some particular circumstance of their lives . concerning such , i shall say no more , than that there are in the world such things to be found , as envy , pride , detraction , evil surmising , malice , and rancour , which like smoak is always driven upon the fairest faces . i am not so partial as to believe our deceased brother to have lived without his humanities and frailties ( let such who have escaped them , throw stones at him ) ; yet god kept him from the immoralities and gross pollutions of the times and places wherein he lived . good and wise men have generally determined , that it is more pardonable to praise a worthy person , even beyond his merits , than to be always rakeing with the nail in the sores of others , who may justly deserve our reproof and correction . they are two equal guilts , to detract from an enemy ; and to lavish and be prodigal in the commendation of a friend i hope there is no one here that scruples the commending of the dead , tho our age abounds with many of that humour , who little scruple the calumniating both dead and living . i am in a streight betwixt two , having much to object both against speaking , and being silent : yet i must not deny our brother the justa defunctorum , the rights and dues of the dead ; i shall say but little , and that ( as near as may be ) within the compass of my own knowledg and observation . sorry i am , to be an actor in this mournful scene ; it might better become , and better be done by some other ; but providence has made it my task to perform this last office of love . we are met to solemnize the funerals of robert hvntington esq , a gentleman as generally beloved as known , who lived much desired , and dies much lamented . my business is not to tell you , he descended from an ancient and worthy family , that is the work of the herald , not of the preacher , and those escutcheons on his hearse sufficiently tell that ; my task is to blazon a more noble coat , and to give you those good grounds of hope which we have of his new and better birth , which are these following . he was not only a frequent , but a reverent hearer of gods word , not easily detained from the publick ordinances , as we sadly observe in this profane age many are , who question the gentility of that man , who goes to church more than once on gods day , reckoning him the best bred , and most modish , who is for three meals a day in his own house , and either none , or but one at most in gods. o sad and deplorable age we live in ! that by how much the lesser any man lives like a christian , to be reckoned so much the better gentleman ! if this be the character of one well bred , and well born , i am sure our brother must not have it , for he with his , went to the habitation of gods holiness , and the place where gods honour dwelleth . he was an honourer and encourager of a religious ministry ; i have often heard him speak of such who were diligent and faithful in that sacred office , with great testimony of respect and veneration , as well knowing the bringing their persons and function into disrespect , was the ready way ( already attempted by the debauchees of this age ) to bring their doctrine into contempt . he valued those most , who preached most to the hearts and consciences of a sinner , and never disliked a good sermon because it did not keep time with the glass . with much sense he expressed his dislike of seeing the pulpit converted into a stage , wherein men vented their heats and singularities , and discovered more of spleen , pride and passion , than of being inspired with the spirit of that holy jesus , in whose name they pretend to come , and whose mind they profess to reveal and preach . he judged that doctrine to be good , which tended to make men so , and much abhorred gingling and quibbling , affected cadencies of words , and all frothiness and levity of expression , conceited , fashionable , and phantastical phrases ; he best like those discourses which pressed most a holy and strict life in these licentious and profane days , and catholick and universal charity in these distracted , and divided times ; such which urged men to be at peace with god , and one another . it was a good sign of a spiritual appetite , that he liked more the favouriness of the meat , than the garnishing of the dish . he was vir sine plicis , without foldings and twistings , a true hearted man to his friend , a stranger to that much studied art of flattering and hating at the same time . in his converse and friendship , cordial and faithful , without baseness , or low dissimulation . i boldly affirm him a man free from revenge . i say not , but he had a sense of personal injuries , and especially of those that reflected on his name ; principally , when they proceeded from those who had good names themselves . what others said , he dispised , but often wished he had been better understood by some ; and that he was not , he bore as his misfortune ; yet would not requite them with the like measure , but mentioned them with all due respect , being always ready to oblige them , and to do them good . tho he was a man naturally of a great spirit and courage , of that personal valour , as if nothing but steel had gone to his composition , his eyes being shut against all impressions of fear and terror ; yet no man more gentle , or easie to be intreated , more yielding or desirous of reconciliation , of which i could give very pregnant instances . i must not omit his exemplary charity . it was of the right stamp , constant and private , i knew it to be diffusive and large , and very far from ostentation . as he did not rob himself , ( for i count every miser a thief to his own body ) , so neither did he rob the poor . oppression , or withholding the hire of the labourer will never come within his indictment . what estate god blessed him with , was neither procured or enlarged by defrauding or over-reaching his neighbour . whilst he was a house-keeper and master of a family , he reckoned more belonged to his table , than they that slept under his roof , and therefore with his own hand first divided and sent a portion to them , before he took his own : and ( which i think was hardly known to any but my self ) , he did as duly furnish one purse with money , to distribute amongst the indigent ( tho not begging poor ) , as he filled another for his ordinary expences , and made their dividend equal with his own . the age we live in , hath much of the lamp of profession , but little of the oyl of charity . 't is the sin and curse of many rich earth-worms to have with a flourishing estate , a withered hand , which they stretch not forth to good uses . it was a startling and rousing passage of st. chrysostome , feed the hungry while you live , that you feed not the fire of hell when you die . 't is sad to drink in a full cup our selves , and not to let one drop to fall beside , to refresh the bowels of a poor neighbour . what he was in his relative capacity , you his children and servants can bear me witness that i speak the truth , and lie not , when i affirm him to have been a tender , compassionate and provident father ; and a worthy , kind , and gentle master ; a good friend , and no bad enemy . report gives him an honourable pass . the voice of all ( as far as it reaches my ears ) proclaims him a useful good man , a true friend , a just person , of a most obliging conversation , having pleasantness of spirit , without levity ; freedom and affability of carriage , yet still with gravity . of what use he was in his publick station , will best be discovered hereafter ; you will know how great the tree that 's fall'n was , by the vacuity or void place it leaves behind it , which every slight stick of wood will not supply and fill up . in short , he lived to a good old age , he came up to the standard of moses , threescore years and ten , and now is gathered to his fathers , we hope . for not only charity , but common reason thinketh no evil , where it findeth so many evidences of good . i close all with a word of advice and counsel , as knowing these solemnities are not ad juvandas animas , as a great cardinal upon his single affidavit would require us to believe ; nor are they mortuorum adjutoria , as a great schoolman would perswade us ; but they are vivorum solatia & documenta , they call upon us to read our own dissolution in this of our brothers . anatomists and physitians advantage themselves by the dissection of dead bodies : so may we by this gloomy providence improve our skill in the two great arts , of living godly , and dying blessedly . tho the occasion of this assembling together is mournful , yet the fruit will be comfortable , if we who survive are forwarded in our preparation for our change , and do something towards our chearful repose in the grave , without distracting fears of that king of terrors ; and since no ingredients in the shop of nature , are sufficiently cordial to fortifie the heart against this ghashly enemy , or his harbingers ; it will be no less our wisdom and interest , than it is our duty and obligation to provide our selves with them , out of that divine laboratory of the sacred scriptures , where in great abundance , and on easie terms they are tendred to us , by him who is the god of all consolations . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45343-e570 mors nomen tantum fidelibus . vitae via bern. omnibus finis , multis remedium , non nullis votum . a sermon preached at the funerall of mr. iosiah reynel esquire, the 13. of august 1614. in east-ogwell in deuon. by iohn preston minister of gods word in east-ogwell preston, john, minister of east ogwell. 1615 approx. 49 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a10034 stc 20282.5 estc s115167 99850386 99850386 15583 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a10034) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 15583) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1001:7) a sermon preached at the funerall of mr. iosiah reynel esquire, the 13. of august 1614. in east-ogwell in deuon. by iohn preston minister of gods word in east-ogwell preston, john, minister of east ogwell. [28] p. printed by nicholas okes, for richard boulton, and are to be sold at his shop in chancery-lane, london : 1615. signatures: a-d⁴ (-a1, d4). running title reads: a funerall sermon. identified as stc 20267 on umi microfilm. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng reynel, josiah, d. 1614. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the fvnerall of mr. iosiah reynel esquire , the 13. of august 1614. in east-ogwell in devon . by iohn preston minister of gods word in east-ogwell . london , printed by nicholas okes , for richard boulton , and are to be sold at his shop in chancery-lane . 1615. to the right worsipfvl sir thomas reynel , sir george reynel , sir carew reynel , knights : mr. richard reynel esquire , grace , mercy and peace in the blessed lord iesvs . right worshipfvl , it may seeme strange that i haue ioyned you all together in one inscription , when euery one of you seuerally are worthy of a better gift then here is exhibited , or by me can be giuen ; yet herein i haue done no more then nature , brotherly affection , and christianity hath done . that i haue clothed this in the liuery of your patronages , i might haue giuen many reasons : first , for that you are louers of true religion , and fauourers of all true professors . secondly , because it was preached at the interring of your deere brother . thirdly , because i had rtaher the whole world shold condemne me as vniust , & the curious and captious carpe at me , then you should so much as thinke me vnthankfull . i owe vnto you all a double debt , of loue , and of seruice . of loue , the more i pay , the more i owe ; though a debt once paid , be no more due , yet loue being paid , is still due . seruice i will bee ready to pay to the vttermost , though it come short of your great deserts , and of my manifold desires : i that yeeld to all in learning , will yeeld to none in loue and seruice to you . but to you right worshipful and worthy patron , i owe a treble debt , of loue , of seruice , and thankfulnesse : of loue , for your extraordinary kindnesse in preferring me , and for that countenance you haue continually giuen to my weake ministerie : of seruice , such as i can performe , i will not faile ; daily beseeching god for the increase of his spirituall graces here , and eternal glory hereafter , both to your selfe , and al such as are d●ere vnto you . of thankfulnesse , in patronizing me being absent , kindly entreating me present , and for affecting me long before i was by you preferred . of some i shall be hardly censured , of others thought ambitious in seeking mens fauours . for this i care not , so the well-affected christian may think of the shortnesse of his life , and thereby prepare to dye ; and being ready , to bee willing to dye , and you be pleasd to procure a quiet passage vnder your patronages for those few indigested meditations , which were by gods permission , and his assisting spirit , first preached , and now published : i ascribe the patronage to you , the vse to the godly , and the successe to god. the god of peace giue you the peace of god which passeth all humane vnderstanding , and affoord you many comforts and ioyes in this life to the end , and in the next his ioy without end . your worships in all faithfull seruice , iohn preston . a sermon preached at the fvnerall of mr. iosiah reynel esquire , the 13. of aprill 1614. in east-ogwell in deuon . psal. 39. 5. behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth , and mine age is nothing in respect of thee : surely euery man in his best state is altogether vanity . the princely prophet dauid , who was a man after gods owne heart , 1. sam. 13. 14. the chosen of god , psa. 78. 70. a man gratious with god , act. 7. 46 the seruant of god , ps 89. 20. the type of christ. acts 2. 25. nay christ is called the son of dauid , math. 1. 1. the sweet singer of israel , a man that had tasted the full cup of gods mercies , and had beene plunged in many troubles , insomuch as hee said : great are the troubles of the righteous , psa. 34. 19. hee doth often complaine of his troubles , and that with great griefe and bitternesse of minde , and chiefly in this place . this psalme is partly narratiue , partly precatiue : in the first part dauid declareth how hee had purposed with himselfe to take need of murmuring against god , which might arise through the iniuries of men . in the second part he desireth that god would certifie him of the vanitie of this life , and therefore he saith : lord let me know my ●●d , and the measure of my dayes what it is : let mee know how long i haue to liue . psal. 39. 4. in another place hee saith : teach vs so to number our dayes , that we may apply our hearts vnto wisdome . psa. 90. 12. dauid in these words doth not desire death , but he requesteth that he may be brought to a serious consideration of his mortality , as is euident by the words , let me know my end : that is , the end of my naturall life , of my daies , which by thy decree i must liue in this world , and then he saith ; behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand breadth , and mine age is nothing in respect of thee : surely euery man in his best estate is altogether vanity . here note 4 things . 1 a note of attention , behold . 2 a confession , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth . 3 an asseueration : surely , 4 an amplification , euery man in his best estate is altogether vanitie . it is as much as if the prophet had said ; behold , i will shew and declare vnto you by a twofold comparison , that the lord hath made my dayes short ; for they are but as an hand bredth , which is one of the shortest measures , and the time of my life is as nothing , or like to nothing ; and surely euery man , not onely such as are of base condition , but the mighty and the noble are vanity . [ behold , ] this word behold , consisteth of few letters , lesse sillables , yet very significant : sometimes it is a badge of admiration , as behold a virgine shall conceiue and beare a sonne , and thou shalt call his name immanuel , esay 7. 14. sometimes a signe of alteration , as behold i will make all things new . reu. 21. 5. sometimes a token of gladnesse ; behold , i bring you tydings of great ioy that shall be to all people , luke 2. 10. sometimes a point of demonstration , behold the place where they haue laid him . mark. 16. 6. sometimes it shewes a thing vnknowne , behold i will send you eliah the prophet , mal. 4. 5. sometimes it is taken scornefully , behold the man that tooke not god for his strength , but trusted in the multitude of his riches , and put his strength in his malice . psalm . 52. 7. sometimes it is a note of attention , behold i stand at the dore and knocke , &c. reu. 3. 20. declaring his loue to the laodiceans . in this one word behold , here is comfort for such as faint , and gods loue is shewed towards such as repent . in this place it is a note of attention , to put vs in minde of the breuity and shortnesse of our liues . here obserue , that euery word in the scripture is remarkeable , and this word behold is not a word of course , but a note to stirre vp our attention . it is like the sounding of a trumpet before some waighty proclamation , or like the ringing of a great bell , before the sermon of a famous preacher : it is set downe to moue vs to attention to heare for afterward . esay 42. 23. one figure may stand for many hundreds , one counter for many pounds , one little boxe may containe many iewels : so one word of the scripture may point out vnto vs many things worthy our obseruation , and what can bee greater then to heare , to learne , and to learne to know how short our life is . let him that hath an eare heare . reuel . 3. 6. the vse may reproue such as will not be warned , by any marke or note , nor stirred vp to heare , but become voluntary deafe adders , refusing the voyce of the charmer , though he be most expert in charming , psal. 58. 4. 5. they will not heare christ crucified , gal. 3. 1. they are enemies of the crosse of christ , phil. 3. 18. who is able to kill our sinnes , and quicken our soules . when the balme tree is cut in summer , that the sweete liquour drop forth , the inhabitants preserue it in viols : when the word , which is the spirituall baulme , is diuided by preaching , 2. tim. 2. 15. the people should bring empty pitchers with them , as the widdow did at the command of elisha , 2. king. 4. 5. the empty pitchers should be attentiue eares ; but either they are without mouthes , or without bottomes ; without mouthes to let in one drop of grace , or without bottomes that when we haue put it in and looke to see it againe in your liues , behold it is runne throughout , as water through a siue , and scarce leaues any wet behind it . it is not enough to eate meate , vnlesse the stomacke retaine it ; so it is not enough to heare , vnlesse men lay it vp in their hearts , as mary kept the sayings of christ in her heart , luk. 2. 51. we must haue eares of atention , and hearts of retention . in vaine doth the preacher open his mouth , vnlesse god open the heart , when god opened lidiaes heart , then she attended to the things which paul spake , act. 16. 14. as men come so they speed , and as the affection is , so is the profite : if they bring empty pitchers they may be filled , but if their vessels be full of wickednesse , they can neuer be filled with goodnesse : as we do gods workes to holinesse , so we shall finde comfort to holinesse : it is to bee feared , least many go home with vnfallowed hos. 10. 12. nay with vnhallowed hearts . secondly , for instruction to vs , where god is an admonisher , there let vs be admonished ; where hee is a teacher , there let vs be schollers ; and if he haue made our daies as an hand bredth , then let vs resolue to die , and prepare for death . it is decreed in the high court of parliament , that all shall die , euen in heauen , heb. 9. 27. for we must die , and wee are as water spilt on the ground . 2. sam. 14. 14. which cannot bee taken vp againe . wise salomon , godly dauid , religious iosiah , faithfull abraham , iust lot , righteous noah , zealous moses , trusty ionathan , dilligent peter , and carefull paul , haue dyed ; it is certaine we shall die , but the time vncertaine , and the place . the time is vncertaine , god came to dauids child in his infancy . 2. sam. 12. 18. to the widdowes sonne in his yourh , luk. 7. 12. to iacob in his old age . gen. 49. 33. god hath ordained and limited to euery liuing creature his appointed time wherein to liue and grow , and next to decrease and die ; and as it pleaseth god to prolong or abridge their liues , so he disposeth of the second causes , and meanes whereby he will haue it brought to passe , and so euery one hath his certaine limits and terme of life set him . iob saith , is there not an appointed time to man vpon earth , and are not his daies as the daies of an hireling . iob. 7. 1. againe , are not mans daies determined , the number of his months are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds which hee cannot passe ? iob. 14. 5. in the same chapter , all the daies of my appointed time will i waite till my changing shall come . 14. god hath appointed how long euery man shall liue , and though foure score yeares be no long course , yet there are but few which hold out to the vttermost end thereof , in regard of thē that stay by the way . some are cut off euen before they haue begunne their course , and some in the mid-way , and that through so many sorts of sickenesses , with other inconueniences and accidents , that a man cannot possibly comprehend , or conceiue them all . as death spares not any person , so it respects not any place . a man may be murthered in the field as abel was , gen. 4. 8. a man may fall backeward sitting quietly in his chaire , and breake his necke as eli did . 1. sam. 4. 18. or dye in the temple as senaherib did esay 37. 37. or at the altar as ioab 1. king. 2. 34. while iobs sonnes were feasting , the house fals vpon them iob. 1. 19. while the scoffing boyes were mocking , beares came from the wildernesse and deuoured them 2. king. 2. 24. while corah and his company were contending , the earth opened and swallowed them vp numb . 16. 31. 32. while the captaines and their fifties were fetching the prophet perforce to the king , fire fals from heauen and consumes them . 2. king. 1. 10. thus death doth follow vs wheresoeuer we goe , and is ready to ceize vpon vs wheresoeuer we are . thou hast made my daies as an hands bredth . some say thou hast set my daies short , some thou hast made my daies mourning ; some , thou hast made my daies of foure fingers wide , taphat signifieth the measure of the palme of the hand , which is of foure fingers . the meaning of the prophet is this : thou lord hast made my life short , like the palme of an hand , which is of foure fingars , which is one of the shortest measures . seeing the life of man is but as an hand bredth , it affoordeth this doctrine , that mans life is short , and of no long continuance . our life is compared to grasse esay 40. 6. which withereth . to a shadow which passeth psalme 102. 11. to smoake that vanisheth , hos. 13. 3. to a bubble that is dissolued : to a weauers shuttle for swiftnesse , iob. 7. 6. to a spiders web which is soone swept away . to a cloud that goeth away . iob. 7. 9. to a flower that fadeth , iob 14. 2. to a vapour which is soone dispearsed , iam. 4. 14. remember that my life is but a winde iob. 7. 7. no meruaile if when the winde bloweth the leafe fall , if when the death appeareth , the night end . there is one saith , our life is an heauy sleepe , fed with false and imaginary dreames , and he calleth it a comedy , or rather in our daies a tragedy of transitory shewes and disguised persones . sometimes to a birds nest made of straw and dung , that the winter soone dissolueth . there is another calleth it a childs game , that buildeth houses of sand on the shore , where euery waue washeth them away . is our life so short ? then it is better to die then to liue , and the day of death is better then the day of birth . eccles. 7. 3. the day of death is not a perishing but a parting . the soule is not lost to the body , but onely sent before it to ioy . if the soule bee painefully laid off , it is ioyfully laid vp . through our natiuity wee come to the race , through death to the reward : through birth to the floud , through death to the hauen ; through birth to the fight , through death to the victory ; through birth to labour , through death to rest ; by birth to sorrow , by death to ioy ; by birth to life , which is full of all sorrowes and troubles , by death to life eternall which is free from all sorrows . death is rather the flight of sinne , then the detriment of man dying , because to the iust death is not the end of nature , but of sinne , as a father saith . to leaue this world and inherite a better should seeme nothing . death is a passage from sinne and corruption to glory and immortality , from this earth to heauen , from the company of sinners , to the company of saints ; from sorrow , to solace ; from paine , to peace ; from sicknesse , to safety ; from persecution , to triumph ; from the bondage of pharoah , to the liberty of the sons of god. the consideration heereof made salomon , who for wisedome might seeme a god , for gouernement deseruedly might be king , and for learning might bee a prophet , to say ; all things vnder the sunne are vanity and vexation of spirit . eccl. 2. 11. seeing all things in the world are vanity , better is a good death then a bad life , and the day of death better then the day of birth . when we are borne wee are mortall , but when wee shall rise againe , wee shall bee immortall : wee are aliue in the wombe , to die in the world , but dead in the graue to liue in heauen . our life is not compared to an ell or yard , to a pace or to a cubite , to a mile or to a furlong , to a fathome or to a foote , but to an hand bredth , a very short measure . man that is borne of woman is of short continuance . iob. 14. 1. few and euill haue the daies of my life bene . gen. 47. 9. the time of our life is three score yeares and ten , if a man come to foure score , then there is nothing but weaknesse . as ionah his gourd was soone come and soone vanished , ionah 4. 6. so man is soone borne and soone dead . this world is as a stage , and man as an actor , when he hath plaid his part hee is gone . our liues shorten as if the booke of our daies were by the pen-knife of gods iudgement cut lesse . before the floud they were in folio , they liued almost a thousand yeares , methushelah liued nine hundred sixty and nine yeares , gen. 5. 27. the whole chapter will shew vs how long the men liued before the floud . after the floud in quarto , then they liued an hundred and twenty , and an hundred and seuenty . gen. 25. 7. in dauids time in octauo , three score and foure score yeares , but with vs in the daies of the gospell , in decimo sexto in the least volume , now at forty , fifty , or sixty yeares , old men , and so we are dying almost so soone as we beginne to liue . the elements are more mixed , drossie , and confused , our new sins call for new plagues ; the aire is more infected and contagious , and our sinnes of drunkennesse and surfeiting do not want to second all the rest : we may obserue that neither planers aboue , nor plants below , yeeld vs expected comfort . so god for our sinnes doth cause the heauen to be as brasse , and the earth as iron , and the aire with the winds to bee tempestuous , and so almost euery thing which was created for mans vse is become his enemy , and all because wee turne all things to vices corruption , which were giuen for natures protection : and therefore what wee haue diuerted to wickednesse , god hath reuerted to our reuenge . wee are sicke of sinne , and therefore the world is sicke of vs. how soone doth the sand runne downe in the houre-glasse , how quickely doth the sunne beginne to set ? so speedily doth our time passe away . future things are alwaies beginning , present things alwaies ending , and things past are dead and gone ; while wee liue we die , and then we leaue dying , when we leaue liuing : better it is therefore to die to life , then to liue to death , because our mortall life is nothing but a liuing death , and life continually flyeth from vs and cannot be with-held , and death hourely commeth vpon vs and cannot be with-stood : no armour resisteth , no threatning preuaileth , nor no entreaty profiteth , against deaths assault . if all perils spare our life , yet time and age in the end will consume it . as a riuer that riseth in the forrest passeth by many rockes , runneth and tumbleth , and maketh a noise , yet in the end entreth into the sea : so fareth it with mans life , he commeth into the world with paine , and beginneth his course with pittifull cries , and is daily molested with sicknesses , and neuer ceaseth running , till in the end he fall into the sea of death : as euery man hath his genesis , so hee must haue his exodus , and as we are borne to liue , so we are borne to die . our dying on earth is but the taking of our iourney to heauen : why are we vnwilling to loose that , which cannot be kept ? the good pilot sitteth at the sterne to guide his ship ; and so a good christian to direct his life must thinke on death : death is the dore whereby we must go out of bondage , and therefore as he that is in prison taketh great comfort to sit vpon the threshold , that when the doore is opened , he may the sooner get out : so we must alwayes haue our mindes fixed vpon death , for passe wee must , but how or when wee know not . emosinarius hauing his tombe in building , commaunded that it should bee left imperfect , and that his seruants euery day should put him in minde to finish the same , that so hee might prepare to dye . the vse of this doctrine is , forasmuch as our life is short , and nothing almost shorter , let vs prepare for death , for we must dye . bee yee prepared , for the sonne of man will come at an houre when yee thinke not , luk. 12. 40. all estates of men are exhorted to prepare , old and young , rich and poore , prince and peasant : the danger is great , if men be found vnprepared : as death leaueth men , so the day of iudgement shall finde them . if the tree fall toward the south , or toward the north , in the place that the tree falleth , there it shall be . ec●le . 11. 3. as ishbosheth being found asleepe , was killed by rechab & baanah , 2. sam. 4. 6. 7. euen so if we be asleepe in sin , and vnprepared , we shall be killed by sathan . because the fiue foolish virgins had not oyle to maintaine their lampes , the bridegroome said , i know you not . mat. 25. 12. because the man which came to the wedding was not prepared , he was cast into vtter darknesse , mat. 22. 13. as he is left behind that is vnprepared when the winde serueth , and the ship vnder saile , euen so he is left in damnation that is not prepared for the lord when death commeth . many men prepare for life which is vncertaine , and forget death which is certaine . i say vnto all men , watch , mark. 13 37. the day of the lord will come as a thiefe in the night . 2. pet. 3. 10. a thiefe as well for stealing on vs , as stealing from vs : he comes in the darke when no body sees , treades on wooll , that no body heares , watcheth an houre that no body knowes . it may be he will come when men are banqueting , as on the old world , luk. 17. 27. or when they are drunken , as on belshazzer , dan. 5. 25. or when they are committing filthinesse , as on the israelitish man , and the moabitish woman . num , 25. 8. or when they are coueting , as on the rich man , luk. 12. 20. or when they are gormandising , as on the glutton , luke . 16. 22. or when they are lying , as on ananias , acts 5. 5. no thunder now can beat into them a feare of that which then no power shall ease them of . we know christ will come , let vs prepare for his welcome . we are all housholders , our bodies are our houses , our soules our goods , our sences are the doores and windowes , the lockes are faith and prayer . the day of our death will come as a thiefe ; a thiefe commeth when men do not looke for him : so the day of death commeth suddenly . a thiefe commeth not when the maister of the house is watching , but when he is asleepe : so many times the day of the lord commeth on men , not when they seeme to watch , but when they are secure and carelesse : let our repentance watch , let it neuer sleepe , least we perish . but men now put farre away the euill day , and they flatter themselues with the remotenesse , the vision that he seeth , is for many dayes to come , and he prophesieth of the times that are farre off , ezek. 12. 27. surely there is no peace to the wicked , esa. 57. 21. their rose buds are not withered , their dances are not done , sleepe conscience , lye still repentance , they will not prepare for death . god made garments for adam of dead beasts skins , gen. 3. 21. to put him in minde that he was condemned to dye , and to make the remembrance of death familiar vnto him , that the losse of life might not affright him , who alwayes ware the liuery of death vpon him : so we feed daily vpon dead creatures , this should teach vs to prepare to feed dumbe creatures . secondly , because our liues are short and sinfull , it should worke in vs a willingnesse to dye . blessed are they which die in the lord. reu. 14. 13. first , they are blessed in respect of the place : for if we consider the world wherein we liue , it is a vale of misery , a prison , and a place of vexation and trouble , as the apostle saith , wee know that euery creature groaneth with vs also , and trauelleth in paine together vnto this present , rom. 18. 22. but heauen is a place of ioy , rest , and of comfort . this place is of no certaine continuance , here we haue no abiding citty , but wee looke for one to come , heb. 13. 14. but heauen is of continuance : for the foundation thereof is god. secondly , they are blessed in regard of their company : for here we liue among the wicked and sinfull men ▪ but there we shal enioy the company of innumerable angles , heb. 12. 22. it was an excellent change when dauid was called from a sheepheard to be a king : so was it an excellent change in saul when hee was called from seeking his fathers asses , to be a king ; yet this is nothing in respect of their estate which are called from this world to heauen , where there is light without darknesse , wisedome without ignorance , vnderstanding without error , reason without obscuritie , memory without obliuion , and ioy without sorrow , where , whatsoeuer shall be desired , shall be present ; neither shall any thing bee desired which is not comely : where god shall be seene without end , loued without lothing , and praised without wearying . thirdly , in regard of their condition they are blessed , for they rest from all their labours : for they which dye in the lord , or for the lord , are with the lord. paul desireth to be dissolued , and to be with christ , phil. 1. 23. death considerd in christ , and ioyned with a good life , is to gods elect an aduantage , phil. 1. 21. nothing else but a bridge ouer this tempestuous sea to paradice , gods mercy made it so ; not by making death in it selfe good , but an instrument of good to his . why is any man vnwilling to dye ? death doth not separate vs from god , but it maketh vs draw neere to god : then doe wee draw neere to god , when we are separated from the body . as pharaohs butler could not see the face of the king when hee was in prison , but beeing loosed from his bonds , he both saw him , and gaue the cup into pharaohs hand , gen. 40. 21. so as long as we are in the prison of our bodies , we cannot see the face of god ; but being loosed , we shall see god face to face , 1. cor. 13. 12. and enioy that vnspeakable good which god hath prepared for them that loue him . 1. cor. 2. 9. hast thou feared god in life ? then do not feare death : for the sting of death is taken away by christ , so that as hony is not truely hony when it hath lost its sweetnesse ; nor vinegar truely vinigar , when it hath lost its tartnesse ; nor aloes truly aloes , when it hath lost its bitternesse : so the death of the righteous is not truly death , hauing lost his sting , fearfulnesse and terrors in the godly . the dying out of this world is not a death , but a life rather , and therefore as iulian said to christ ; o galilean , thou hast ouercome me : so may death say to them , o christian thou hast ouercome me . what is death that thou fearest it ? it is a departure from this wicked world , a dissolution of the bodies of the godly from bonds , that they may be with christ ; it is a returning to our heauenly countrey from this pilgrimage , it is a deliuerance from the misery of the world , it is a returne from banishment to our fathers house , it is a preparation for the glory of the resurrection . why dost thou feare death ? death hath onely the name of death , not the sting of death . as the brazen serpent in the wildernesse had the forme and shape of a serpent , but not the life a serpent , nor the sting of a serpent , num. 21. 9. so death hath the likenesse and semblance of death , but it hath no sting , it hath no venome , it hath no poyson . if a bee sting a dead carkasse , she looseth not her sting ; but if she sting a liuing man , she looseth her sting : so death stinging vs which were as dead flesh , did not loose his sting ; but stinging christ , he hath lost his sting : therefore we may now say ; o death where is thy sting . 1. cor. 15. 55. thy sting is no sting vnto vs , but a crowne of reioycing . 1. thess. 2. 19. it is a midwife to bring vs out of the wombe of this world , into the land of the liuing , psa. 27. 13. death is as a ship wherby we faile from earth to heauen . do not feare the graue : for thou sowest but a carnall and corruptible body , to reape an incorruptible and spirituall in the resurrection . be willing to change drosse for gold , and corruption for incorruption . if one enemy finde fauour at another enemies hand , why should a dutiful child feare to go home to his heauenly father , a penitent soule to his sweete sauiour , and an obedient member to be ioyned with his head ? if he came into this world to redeeme vs , why should we doubt but at our death he will receiue vs. he that accepteth his enemies , will hee reiect his friends ? he that bought vs so deere , will he refuse his penyworth ? if he affected our company so much on earth , ( as that hee sayd ) my delight is to be with the children of men , pro. 8. 31. hath he now so forgotten his old loue , as not to admit vs into his company in heauen . hee came hither to buy vs an inheritance , and hee went from hence to prepare it for vs. ioh. 14. 2. and when wee are to enter into possession , will he exclude vs ? no , no : the eyes of the lord are vpon them that feare him , to deliuer their soules from death . psa. 32. 18. 19. pretious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints , psal. 116. 15. pretious , as the end of labours , as the consummation of victory , as the gate of life , and the ingresse of perfect security . let vs remember his loue in adopting , his truth in promising , and his power in performing , and our feare of death wil soone be altered into a desire of the same . he come to open heauen gates , and what meant he , but that wee should enter in ? he came to vs on earth to innite vs to him , and why departed he from the earth , but to haue vs follow him ? he abandoneth none , but abandoned by them . hee is easily found where hee hath been carefully sought . well , death to the good is counted a quiet hauen , and to the bad it is counted shipwracke , the wayfaring man doth willingly demand where his mansion and stay shall be . the seruant doth often account when his yeare is ended , the husbandman doth alway expect haruest , and a woman with childe doth wait for her time of deliuery : so the seruants of god do thinke of their death , & so looke where their treasure is , there will their heart be also . math. 6. 21. if a prince should command a beggar to cast off all his ragges , and bid him prepare himselfe to come into his presence , and liue daily in his company , would the beggar delay , or be sorry because hee shall enioy the company of a prince ? much lesse should wee delay , or bee sorry , when god , the prince of princes , calleth vs by death into his priuy chamber of heauen . therefore let beasts , and heathen , adulterers , and murtherers feare death , because they thinke , and it is certaine , that all their ioy ends with their death ; and let not gods children feare death , because it is an entrance into ioy , and eternall felicity in heauen . and my age is nothing in respect of thee . some read it age , some substance , some life ; in the originall , my time is nothing in respect of thee ; nor this life nothing in respect of the life to come . it is some thing in the eyes of men , which see onely things present ; but before god , which seeth things to come , which is eternity , which wanteth all measure , it is altogether nothing . this teacheth vs , that our life , how long soeuer it be , being compared with the eternity of god , is as nothing ; and worldly prosperity beeing compared with eternall felicity , is as nothing . god is infinite , and our life is finite : it were a most vnequall valuation to compare , and much more to preferre things which are in no proportion of goodnesse to the things which are vnder-valued ; for betweene temporall and eternall , heauenly and earthly things , can be no proportion . one day with the lord is as a thousand yeares , and a thousand yeares as one day . 2. pet. 3. 8. i am alpha and omega ( saith god ) reu. 1. 11. the first , and the last , without beginning and without end . but man had beginning , for hee was made of the dust of the earth , gen. 2. 7. and man shall haue an end of his time , for hee shall returne to dust , gen. 3. 19. what proportion is there betweene god and man ? god is the creator , man the creature : god is immortall , man mortall ; god the maker , man made by god ; god the potter , man the vessell of earth ; god is mighty , man is weake . if persecution happen , saint not , god is mighty ; if pouerty , shrinke not , god is wealthy ; if thy conscience grieue thee , runne to god hee is mercifull ; if thy ignorance dismay thee , run to god hee is wisedome : worldly prosperity is of short continuance , but heauenly happinesse shall continue for euer . this serues to instruct vs to preferre the life to come before this life , for in the world to come there is life without death , rest without labour , health without griefe , light without darkenesse , day without night , and happinesse without end . the eye hath not seene , the eare hath not heard , neither came into mans heart , what god hath prepared for them that loue him . 1. cor. 2. 9. in heauen there is no sickenesse nor sorrow , no crying out nor complainig . there is no neede of the sunne , neither of the moone to shine in it , for the glory of god did light it , and the lambe is the light of it . and the people which are saued shall walke in the light of it , and the kings of the earth shall bring their honour and glory vnto it : and the gates of it shall not be shut by day , for there shall be no night there . reu. 21. 23. 24. 25. as god is our light heere , so hee will be in heauen , hee is the sun which borroweth not light from another . hee is the way . ioh. 14. 6. the dore , ioh. 10. 9. the vine , ioh. 15. 1. the liuing bread. ioh. 6. 51. hee is the light by participatton here , and by fruition in heauen . our sauiour said , i will be with you to the end of the world , math. 28. 20. that is , hee will be with the godly , as long as any be on earth , and hee will be with them for euer in heauen . christ will not be light to the wicked in this life , and therefore he will be no light to them in the life to come . hee will bee life to none that are appointed to death , nor the bread of life , to such as had rather the onions and garlicke of aegypt , then milke and hony in the heauenly canaan . to whom god doth giue the light of grace heere , to them hee will giue the light of glory in heauen ; to whom hee denyeth the one , hee will neuer giue the other : if god make vs partakers of christs ignominy , he will make vs pertakers of his glory . secondly , seeing all things are mutable in this world , let vs lay vp our rest in the world to come . there is nothing vnder the sunne which is perpetuall , but all subiect to diuers mutations : kingdomes are subiect to mutability , as we may see by israel and iudah , how did they flourish for a time , now they are gone , and their kingdomes possessed by others ? how often hath the gouernement of rome beene changed ? famous citties haue come to nought . one generation passeth , and another succedeth . eccl. 1. 4. in another place he saith : surely the light is a pleasant thing , and it is a good thing to the eyes to see the sunne . though a man liue many yeares , and in them all he reioyce , yet hee shall remember the daies of darkenesse , because they are many , all that commeth is vanity , eccl. 11. 7. 8. man is not perpetuall , for man is borne to die , as we see daily by experience : houses built with great cost and charge become ruinous : trees haue but a time and then wither . what is there vnder the sunne that is perpetuall ? the light of our eyes is but for a time , but the happinesse of the godly lasteth for euer . the rich man can haue his riches but for a time , nor the great man his honours , nor the king his crowne , nor the wanton his pleasures , but the godly mans happinesse lasteth for euer . the true difference betweene earthly things and heauenly consisteth in this , earthly things are much desired , but being obtained they content little , heauenly things are desired little , but once gained , satisfie much ; and therefore lay not vp treasure vpon earth , where the moth and canker corrupt , and where theeues dig through and steale . math. 6. 20. [ surely , euery man in his best state is altogether vanity . ] euery man of what sort or fashion so euer hee bee is vanity . salomon saith , all is vanity : eccl. 1. 2. and dauid saith , the children of men are vanity , the chiefe men are lies ; to lay them vpon a ballance they are altogether lighter then vanity . psal. 62. 9. and man is like to vanity ▪ psal. 144. 4. that is vaine which is subiect to diuers changes , which is mutable , fraile , and passing away ; so euery man , rich , and poore , noble , and ignoble , prince , and people , are changeable , like a bubble made of vanity . this doth teach vs that all sorts of men , and all sexes are fraile and changeable : to day liuing , to morrow dead , as some of our neighbours round about vs , to day rich to morrow poore , as iob. 1. 21. to day in honour , to morrow in the dust . one cryeth mine head , as the shunamites child did . 2. kin. 4. 19. another is sick with a fall , as ahaziah was , 2. kin. 1. 2. another cryeth in his feet as asa. 2. chro. 16. 12. another sicke to death , as hezekiah , esa. 38. 1. anothers soule panteth , as dauids did , ps. 42. 1. as that part of the wheele which is highest , is presently lowest againe : so that man which the world lifteth vp one while , anone after casteth downe againe , so mutable is the estate of euery man. all things in the world wil either leaue vs or else we must leaue them . they will leaue vs ; riches taketh her to her wings , as an eagle . pro. 23. 5. honours leaue many , as haman ; dignities , as bellisarius . we leaue them , as the partridge gathereth the yong which shee hath not brought forth : so he that getteth riches , and not by right , shall leaue them in the middes of his daies , and at his end shall be a foole . ier. 17. 11. the vse of this doctrine serues to humble all sorts and sexes , that they wax not proud . art thou a king , thou art subiect to mutability ? thou art vanity . art thou noble , art thou rich , thou art but vanity ? like a venice glasse soone broken , thy daies are but as an hand bredth ; thy time is nothing , if it be compared with the eternity of god , and thou in thy best estate , whether youthfull , or in prosperity , thou art fraile and subiect to diuerse mutabilities and changes , thou art mortall and thou must die . and now ( beloued ) least i should tire my selfe , and your christian patience , i will but lap with gideons souldiers , iudges . 7. 6. and touch the hony as ionathan , with the tip of my rod. 1. sam. 14. 43. and so brifly will speake as the present occasion , and your expectation requireth : that as i haue hitherto spoken of death , so now i may say something also of this dead subiect presented here before your eyes . this worshipfull gentleman , descended from worshipfull parents , who were well knowne to many liuing among vs. his education was in learning , first in schooles in the countrey ; then to oxford , where he became so studious , that he excelled many of his ranke . from thence hee was sent to the innes of court ; there he made such proceedings , that hee might haue been inferior in nothing to such as are right honorable , if he had continued ; but he chose rather to liue priuately with contentation , then in great places where contentment is hardly to bee found . i will speake with your fouourable patience , somthing of his learning , of his life , and so of his death . first touching his learning , he was a good grammarian , he did both write and speake good latine : touching his writing , his booke written in latine , dedicated to the kings maiesty , will testifie the truth thereof . touching his speaking of latine readily , such as haue conferred with him , can relate . he was a good phylosopher , a good historian , some grecian , a man well read in physicke : and for distillations , and secrets ; few can second him . touching diuinity , he had read the bible , and expositors thereon , both old and new , ancient and moderne . diuinity was his study now for the most part , wherein he did so busie himselfe , that he intended ( if it had pleased god ) to haue printed a booke of the grounds of christian religion , collected in latine , wherein hee shewed great reading , good iudgement , and multiplicity of knowledge . it were to be lamented , were it not that the good pleasure of almighty god was such , that so much learning should goe to the graue , and such good parts as were in him , should be buried in the earth . secondly , his life was answerable to his learning , he was sober in his carriage , affable in company , gentle , and of an humble spirit towards all ; not couetous , for he was dead to the world ; not proud , no quarreller , no drunkard ; and for any thing i can speake ( or any other charitable christian ) blamelesse from all great , enormous , and scandalous offences ; being full of the workes of the spirit : he was a peace-maker , he would perswade such as did contend , and take paines to compose strife : he would giue of his owne to end that which malice had begunne : hee was charitable to the poore , and pittifull to the distressed . his brethren & sisters haue lost for a time , the company of a deere and comfortable brother : his kindred a good counseller , the poore an almes-giuer ; and other ministers & my selfe , a kind friend , and i doubt not but god hath receiued his soule . lastly , touching his sicknes & death , his sicknes was morbus haereditarius ( as himselfe would call it ) accompanied with a feuer . in his sicknes he was patient , & willing to leaue this miserable world . and as his life was quiet , so he died quietly . now the lord grant vs grace so to spend all our dayes in his feare , that at length we may dye in his fauour , and receiue the reward of euerlasting life . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a10034-e210 1. sam. 13. 14. psal. 78. 70. acts 7. 46. psalm . 89. 20. acts 2. 25. math 1. 1. 2. sam. 23. 1. psalm . 34. 19. psalme 39. 4. psalm 90. 12. esay 7. 14. reuelat. 21. 5. luk. 2. 10. marke 16. 6. mal. 4 5. psalme 52. 7. reuelat. 3. 20. doctr. esay 42. 23. reuel . 3. 6. vse 1. psalme 58 , 4. 5. gal. 3. 1. phillip . 3. 18. 2. tim. 2. 15. 2. king. 4. 5. luk. 2. 51. acts 16. 14. hos. 10. 12. heb. 9. 27. 2. sam. 14. 14. 2. sam. 12. 18. luk. 7. 12. gen. 49. 33. iob. 7. 1. iob. 14. 5. gen. 4. 8. 1. sam. 4. 18. esay 37. 37. 1. king. 2. 34. iob. 1. 19. 2. king. 2. 24. num. 16. 31. 32 2. king ▪ 1. 10. doctr. esa. 40. 6. psal. 102. 11. hos. 13. 3. iob. 7. 6. iob. 7. 9. iob. 14. 2. iames 4. 14. iob. 7. 7. eccles. 7. 3. per natiuitatem ad stadium per mort●m ad breuium peruenimus . eccles. 2. 11. iob. 14. 1. gen. 47. 9. psal. 90. 10. ionah 4. 6. 7. gen. 5. 27. gen. 25. 7. vse 1. luke . 12. 40. eccles. 11. 3. 2 sam. 4. 6. 7. matth. 25. 12. matth. 22. 13. marke 13. 37. 2. pet. 3. 10. luke . 17. 27. daniel . 5. 25. numb . 25. 8. luke 12. 20. luke 16. 22. acts 5. 5. amos 6. 3. ezek. 12. 27. esay . 57. 21. genes . 3. 21. reuel . 14. 13. rom. 8. 22. hebr. 13. 14. hebr. 12. 22. philip. 1. 23. philip. 1. 21. genes . 40. 21. 1. cor. 13. 12. 1. cor. 2. 9. vicisti galilae . vicisti christiane . numb . 21. 9. 1. cor. 15. 55. 1. thess. 2. 19. psalm . 27. 13. prou. 8. 31. iohn . 14. 2. psal. 32. 18. 19. psalm . 116. 15. matth. 6. 21. doctr. 2. pet. 3. 8. reuelat. 1. 11. gen 2. 7. gen. 3. 19. vse 1. 1. cor. 2. 9. reuel . 31. 23. 24 25 ioh. 14. 6. ioh. 10. 9. ioh. 15. 1. ioh. 6. 51. math. 28. 20. 2 eccles. 1. 4. eccles. 11. 7. math. 6. 20. eccles. 1. 2. psal. 62. 9. psal. 144 4. doctr. iob. 1. 21. 2. king. 4. 19. 2. king. 1. 2. 2 chr. 16. 12. esay 38. 1. psalme 42. 1. prouerb . 23. 5. ier. 17. 11. vse . iudg. 7. 6. 1. sam. 14. 43. discent . education . learning . life . death . the stone . a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend edward reynolds, d.d. arch-deacon of norfolk and rector of kings-thorp near northampton / by william gibbs ... gibbs, william. 1699 approx. 54 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42701 wing g668 estc r34914 14908105 ocm 14908105 102852 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42701) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102852) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1571:1) a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend edward reynolds, d.d. arch-deacon of norfolk and rector of kings-thorp near northampton / by william gibbs ... gibbs, william. [4], 32 p. printed by john astwood for thomas cockeril ... and herbert walwyn ..., london : 1699. reproduction of original in the trinity college library, cambridge university. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng reynolds, edward, 1629-1698. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2007-09 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend edward reynolds , d. d. arch-deacon of norfolk , and rector of kings-thorp , near northampton . by william gibbs , m. a. rector of gayton in northampton-shire . london , printed by john astwood , for thomas cocketil in amen-corner , and herbert walwyn in the poultrey , over against the stocks-market . 1699. to m rs . frances reynolds , relict of dr. reynolds . madam , when your desires were once and again signified to me , of having this discourse published , it became not me to dispute them , especially in such a season , and in such circumstances to which nothing is to be denyed , and therefore i presently resolv'd to comply , tho' i was not ignorant at the same time how hazardous a proof i must give of my obedience . for tho' sermons of this kind are not so liable to censure as others , because if they be plain and practical , 't is all that is expected from them , and allowances are generally made for those deficiencies of language , method and reading , which would hardly be granted in other composures : yet if th●●● be any thing of a character added , that is capable of being assaulted by so many , and in such various wayes , according to the different apprehensions and interests of men , that nothing renders an author more obnoxious , or sooner forfeits the reputation of the whole . what entertainment , madam , this is likely to meet with , i am not at all sollicitons to know , for if what is here said be any wayes instrumental to moderate that sorrow you have justly conceiv'd , for the loss of so near a relation , or may serve to keep up the memory of so worthy an example , i have all my aim ; unless ▪ it be the gratifying of a little ambition which this opportunity gives me , in letting the world know , that i was once honoured with the friendship of the deceased , and that i am ▪ madam , your most obliged and humble servant , will. gibbs . 1 thes . iv. 13. but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope . these words are an introduction to a short discourse which st. paul makes concerning the certainty of a resurrection , and the manner thereof , by which he endeavours to rectifie the mistakes of some concerning a future state , and thereby moderate their griefs for their deceased friends , which it seems were too often wont to be so excessive and inordinate , as did not at all become those that had such hopes . the occasion of them this , the saints at thessalonica were sorely persecuted by the unbelieving jews , ( as is hinted in several places of this epistle ) and many of them no doubt put to death ; which proving great discouragements to those new converts , st. paul tells them , that god's wrath would shortly seize upon those wicked enemies of theirs , and then they should be delivered from those pressures and afflictions which at present they lay under : and as for those of their fellow-christians , who had already lost their lives for the sake of their religion , ( for some imagine such are here 〈…〉 not be too much solicitous for , or perplex'd about ; for if they did believe that christ dyed and rose again , ( which great article of faith they all profess'd ) the same assurance had they likewise of their resurrection at the last . and because the several kinds of death to which they were exposed , might a little startle their belief , and increase their sorrows ; for they were sometimes committed to the flames , and their ashes scattered up and down in all places , ( their enemies fondly thinking thereby to quash their hopes of a resurrection . ) sometimes they were cast to the lyons , and other beasts of prey , to be devoured by them , and sometimes their carkasses thrown into the sea , for the fish to feed on ; their surviving friends , tho' they might be well enough satisfied of the state of their souls , might yet possibly be too solicitous for their bodies , what should become of them , whether they that were thus mangled were capable of a restauration : to obviate which , the apostle shews , that such shall be no losers by the injuries that have been offered them , for they shall not only be raised as entire as those that dyed a natural death , but as a special reward of their martyrdom , shall have the priviledge to rise before the rest , this be intimates ver. 16. when the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , and the voice of the arch-angel , and with the trump of god , the dead in christ , [ or those that dyed for christ ] shall rise first : nay , even those which are found alive at the coming of our lord , shall not have the start of those martyr'd saints , so as first to meet their saviour , and receive their crown , this he assures them ver . 15. for this we say unto you by the word of the lord ; as much as if he had said , i do not speak it according to my own fancy or private opinion , but as i had it by revelation , that we which are alive , and remain unto the coming of our lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep ; i.e. be caught up before them , to congratulate first our returning lord , and be rewarded by him ; and having thus evinc'd the certainty of a resurrection , he concludes thus , wherefore comfort ye one another with these words . but though we should grant , that the word may be more eminently understood of those that dye for christ , and suffer martyrdom for his sake ; yet they seem to require a larger interpretation , and to be extended to all that are christ's , 1 cor. 15. 23. for those which are here said to be asleep , are oppos'd to those which are alive : and besides , if they were to be restrained to those only that thus suffered , then the apostle's argument for the consolation of christians , would only be serviceable to such , whose friends were of that happy and illustrious number . and therefore i shall take the words in the more general sence , and then we have in them these three parts : 1. st. paul's desire to inform the ignorance , and rectifie the misapprehensions of the saints of thessalonica , concerning the state of the dead , of such as had laid down their lives for the sake of christ , and indeed of all that truly believe in him ; i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep ; it is a matter of great importance , and therefore would not have you lye under any doubts or mistakes herein , but desire you may have as full an understanding of the thing , as the gospel revelation will afford you , 2. the design which the apostle had in clearing up these notions to them , and that was to repress those excessive griefs and inordinate sorrows , which they had conceived upon the account of their departed friends , for want of a right apprehension and steady belief hereof . 3. we have this sorrow more particularly describ'd , viz. it was like theirs who had no hope ; such who either absolutely denied the immortality of the soul , and the certainty of a future state , as the sadduces among the jews , and the epicureans among the gentiles : or , such who had but faint apprehensions and doubtful guesses thereof , as the generality of the heathens , who had no other direction herein but the light of nature . no wonder to see such vent their sorrows in an extravagant manner , when all their hopes were terminated on this side the grave , and when once gone , they fear'd there was to be no more remembrance of them or their friends for ever . to bring the words down to our purpose , i resolve them into these three propositions : 1. that there is a certain measure of sorrow allowable to a christian , at the death of his friends . 2. that excessive or immoderate sorrow , be the loss never so heavy , is much unbecoming the christian temper , and very unsuitable to those hopes which he professes to have ; i would not have you sorrow like ▪ others that have no hopes . 3. that a right understanding , and a due consideration of what our religion offers in such cases , is the most effectual method for the suppressing of all those inordinate passions . this i gather from the former part of the text , i would not have you to be ignorant concerning them that are asleep ; as if he had said , had you but right apprehensions of what the gospel assures you herein , you would not be thus sorrowful . to begin with the first , 1. that there is a certain measure of grief and sorrow allowed to the christian , at the death of his friend : this is clearly implyed in the words , for the apostle by telling them , that they should not sorrow as those that had no hope , does at the same time intimate , there must be some allowance made , that christianity did not design to extirpate our passions , but only to moderate and correct them , to keep them from those excesses which would disparage our reason , and put the soul into an unquiet state. 't is true , there is no command in the gospel for this , because the practice hereof has no inherent goodness in it , but argues rather the debility and weakness of humane nature ; however the lawfulness and expediency of such a sorrow , cannot in the least be doubted , and this will appear , 1. from the examples of many pious and devout persons , who upon such occasions have vented their griefs , without ever having them changed upon them as crimes or indecencies : we find jacob renting his cloaths , putting sackcloath upon his loyns , mourning bitterly for his son many days , whom he supposed to have been slain , and refusing to be comforted , gen. 37. 34. we read again of joseph and his brethren , making such a lamentation for their father jacob , that the canaanites charged the name of the place , to be a perpetual remembrance of their sorrow , gen. 50. 11. david , whose thoughts seem'd mightily to be raised above the little concernments of this life , doth not look upon it as any derogation to his piety , to be the chies mourner at the death of saul , and his beloved jonathan ; how pathetical his grief was , may be seen in that funeral song he composed for that purpose , in 2 sam. 1st . chap. nay , he doth indulge his passion so far , as to lament the tragical end of his rebellious son absalom , in a most unusual strain , o my son absalom , my son , my son absalom , would to god i had dyed for thee ; o absalom my son , my son ; and yet we find him not reproved for it by god or his prophet , 2 sam. 18. 33. nay higher yet , our blessed saviour , who never did any thing amiss , bears a part with the jews in their mourning for lazarus ; for when he saw mary , and the rest of the company , lamenting the loss of her brother , he likewise groan'd in spirit , and was troubled ; but when he approaches nearer to the grave , his sorrows found a vent , our dear lord is then said to have wept , john 11. 35. and whether he did this out of affection to his friend , or upon the account of the jews incredulity , or some other consideration , as some are apt to think , we are sure the standers by took it in the first sense ; for in the verse after , they say , behold how he loved him ! what shall i say more ? god himself is said to be grieved and troubled at the death of his creatures , and is set forth by the prophets , most passionately resenting the loss of any of them , and when their iniquities had forc'd him to destroy them , how pathetically doth he express the conflicts he had within ; how shall i give thee up , ephraim ? how shall i deliver thee , israel ? my heart is turned within me , my resentings are kindled together , hosea 11. 8. 2. as the lawfulness of bewailing the death of our friends , is thus to be justified from instances , so out of complyance with our natural frailties , which must necessarily be allowed such excursions ; for being creatures , compounded of gross , earthy bodies , as well as pure immaterial souls , we shall unavoidably be sensible of calamities , afflictions , losses , and what greater than those of a real friend ; so that sorrow and anguish will take hold of us , as long as we have humane passions and affections to gratify ; for our strength is not the strength of stones , or our flesh of brass , as job expostulates the case . and as humanity requires it , so christianity does indulge it ; tho' that indeed tends much to the raising up our thoughts to higher objects , yet it doth not oblige us to a stupid regardlessness of our concerns here below , or intend wholly to divest us of our passions , such a temper befiting rather a sullen stoick , than a tender-hearted christian ; and therefore we are allowed not only to be sensible of , but to complain and weep for our losses , tho' never to murmure or repine : nay , seneca himself , who was much of the stoical humour , could say , nobis ignosci potest prolapsis ad lacrymas , si non nimiae decurrerint ; that tears might be excused , if they did not flow down in too great abundance : and he tells us in the same epistle , what his own carriage was at the death of his dear friend annaeus serenus : i , saith he , was of the number of those whom grief overcame : nature , it seems , was there too strong for his philosophy , tho' at other times none outbraves the misfortunes of life , or the terrors of death at a higher rate , as if they had not the least power to move his wise man. 3. such sorrows are the proper intimations of our love to the deceased person , they are the last expressions of kindness to our friend , and therefore very allowable ; there being no wayes so proper of shewing our value and esteem for them . hence it was a custom among the jews , and some part of the gentile world , to set apart such a portion of time for these mournful exercises , in which 't was accounted dishonourable and inhumane , to set about other concerns , and therefore sayes the wise son of sirach , weep bitterly for the dead , and make great moan , and use lamentation , as he is worthy , lest thou be evil spoken of , eccles . 38. 17. solomon tells us , there is a time to mourn , and a time to weep , as well as for other actions , and that every thing is beautiful in its season , therefore none so fit for this as the loss of our friends . when god forbad ezekiel to mourn for his dead wife , and to omit those expressions of sorrow which were then in use , the people were presently amaz'd at this thing , and therefore came to him and said , wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us that thou dost so ? ezek. 24. 29. they concluded god had some further meaning by this unusual behaviour of his prophet , as it fell out afterwards , or else at such a time especially he would never have forbore to cover his lips , or eat the bread of men. 4. sometimes god intends the death of friends , as tokens of his displeasure , and therefore our griefs are not only allowable , but highly requisite too ; for in all the punishment which he inflicts , his design is to make us sensible of the stroke , and to humble us under the weight of the affliction ; if it doth not this , god misses of the end of his correction , and by such a security and unconcernedness we do heighten his displeasure : when therefore he takes away such as are our greatest stay and support , the delight of our eyes , the joy of our hearts , the staff of our age , or such who were publick blessings to the neighbourhood where they were , skilful to advise , and ready to assist ; then sure the almighty calls for mourning and lamentation , and expects we should take notice of his hand ; therefore the prophet upbraids the jews with their gross stupidity , that the righteous should perish , and no man lay it to heart ; none moved at it , none troubled for it , when it was design'd as a publick calamity , isa . 57. 1. upon these accounts it must be confess'd that there is a certain measure of sorrow allowed the christian , at the death of his friends ; humanity requires it , and religion does indulge it . 2. the next thing arising from the words , is , that excessive or immoderate sorrow , be the loss in this kind never so heavy , is much unbecoming the christian , and very unsuitable to that belief which he professes ; this is expressed , i would not have you sorrow like those that have no hope ; i.e. like such who either deny the immortality of the soul , and scoff at the resurrection of the body , who thought the grave made an everlasting separation between them and their friends , and when the fatal stroke was once given , the spirit vanished as the soft ayre , and there was not possibility of a return , or else doubted of a future state : no wonder to see such indulge their passions to the utmost ; but the christian who has such great assurances of a future being , betrays his weakness , and disparages his religion , if he suffer his griefs to exceed the bounds of prudence and moderation . — now by this immoderate sorrow i mean , that which is unreasonable , as to the duration and continuance , or to the measures and degrees thereof . 1. that which offends as to the duration , is , when too great a share of our time is laid out this way ; when like some fond persons , we consume years in those unprofitable complaints , and refuse to be comforted , because our friends are not . some time indeed must be allotted those tender passions , custom and decency will exact some , and the worth or nearness of the decased will require more ; but to spend our days in trouble , and our years in vanity , because that hath happened to thy friend , which must e're long befall thy self , to whom 't was as natural to dye as to be born , is not only foolish in it self , but injurious to thy own quiet , and displeasing to heaven . much more advis'd was the method that david took , who when his sick child dyed , arose from the earth , washed and anointed himself , and changed his apparel , upon this consideration , wherefore should i now afflict my self , can i bring him back again , i shall go to him , but he shall not return to me , 2 sam. 12. 23. 2. as our sorrows may be faulty as to their continuance , so may they be as to the measures and degrees thereof , they may soon exceed the bounds of a christian behaviour , and this is when they vent themselves in loud outcries and exclamations , in passionate expressions , and oblique reflections upon god's administration of things , in publishing our calamities to all that are near us , and tiring them with our complaints : or , when it is so outragious , as to drive us to foolish and indecent carriages , as was the manner of the heathens ; who us'd to make lamentable howlings for their dead , to besmear their faces , to cut their own flesh , and sometimes to slay their beasts , or their slaves , to accompany the ghosts of their deceased friends . or again , when we are so intent upon our loss , as wholly to neglect our own affairs , when in a sullen , discontented mood , we regard neither our selves , nor any concern of life , and refuse to partake of any of those mercies providence has bless'd us with , because we are cross'd in this ; as if we could not testify our affections , unless we did sacrifice our health and enjoyment , our peace and comfort , to the memory of those who neither regarded what we did , nor received any advantage by these supererogatory works of ours : and therefore , st. jerom deservedly reproved the religious paula , because at the death of any of her children , the greatness of her sorrow brought her even to the brink of the grave ; take no heaviness to heart , says the wise jew , drive it away , and remember the last end ; forget it not , for there is no turning again ; thou shalt not do him good , but hurt thy self , eccle. 38. 20 , 21. as if he had said , let the contemplation of thy own mortality make thee to spare thy self , you are shortly to submit to the same fate , and therefore reserve some pity for your self , and be not so extravagant in the bemoaning of those , who are either blessed , and so need it not , or past a recovery , and so deserve it not . some losses , 't is confess'd , may make a deeper impression than other , according to the worth of the person , the nearness of the relation , or the need we had of his assistance , in such cases quicker and deeper resentments may be allowed ; but be it as afflictive as we can imagine , it will not justifie the christian to exceed the bounds of decency , he must not sorrow as those that have no hope : for , 1. such sorrows are useless and unprofitable , and therefore not fit business for a christian to be employed in long , who has work of far greater importance before him , such designs to bring about , that he can spare but little leisure for trifles , or afford to consume his time and strength in that which is impertinent , unattainable . if my friend was good and virtuous , he is already possess'd of a far greater measure of happiness , than what this world could bestow , and there remains in a joyful expectation of a fuller bliss at the restitution of his body : and therefore , why such outcries and direful complaints , for the departure of that soul which is now triumphing , glad it hath got loose from a vain , troublesome , wicked world , and you grieve it was a prisoner here no longer . if such blessed spirits did behold those scenes of sorrow , which are usually acted here below , they would pity our mistaken zeal ; and be ready to bespeak their mourners , as our saviour did the women which followed him to his crucifixion , weep not for me , but for your selves , and your relations that survive ; we are happy , and have pass'd those calamities which you that remain in the body must still conflict with . if again , the person we vent our sighs and complaints for , was vain and useless , liv'd vicious and ungodly , and dyed without giving any tolerable hopes of a sincere repentance ; he is gone to his place , neither our tears nor our pennances are of any efficacy , for the remitting of his punishment , or for bringing him back to live over another life , to correct the errours of the former ; it costs more to redeem their souls , so that we must be forc'd to let that alone for ever : and indeed those that are such , are unworthy of our sorrows , how intimate or dear soever they have been before ; they cannot much deserve our pity , who did not deserve it at the hands of our merciful father . thus david is said to be comforted , within a while after the death of his son amnon , though the circumstances thereof were lamentable enough , possibly upon the consideration of his being so lewd and dissolute a person , and therefore not deserving to be the subject of any long continued sorrow ; and we find , 't is put down among the punishments of such , that the memory of the wicked shall rot ; so that in both respects , such inordinate griefs are useless and insignificant . 2. they are likewise selfish , and therefore unbecoming a christian , who is to be acted by higher principles : self-love is usually at the bottom of those excessive sorrows , whatever pretences of kindness we make to them ; for those violent passions are seldom exercised , but when our own interest is concern'd , and therefore such complain not so much that their friend is gone , as that they are left , that they are deprived of his society , and of those comforts they received thereby ; or , that they must now despair of those helps and assistances they expected from him ; and so 't is not properly their friend's absence , but their own evils and inconveniencies which they deplore ; for with such the remembrance soonest goes off , when they are supplied with comforts and assistances elsewhere . if , i say , the cause of such extream passions were search'd into , they would usually be found to resolve into this at the last ; whereas true christian sorrow has less of noise and pomp in it , is more even and temperate , and arises from other considerations . 3. such immoderate griefs very often proceed from a murmuring and discontented spirit , which must never be allowed the christian , be the affliction never so severe ; they argue a repining at the dispensations of providence : hence it is , that those who give their passions so much liberty , seldom forbear venting themselves in unhandsome reflections upon the divine providence : or however , secretly tax it of injustice or partiality , in the managing of affairs here below . 4. they do manifestly betray a great defect in our faith , that we are not so fully convinc'd of the certainty of a future being as we ought , that we give but too slight a credit to what the scripture has in such a case propos'd as the chief support , and therefore we sorrow as those that have no hope ; for were we firmly perswaded of an immortality afterwards , and the immediate happiness of those that sleep in jesus , with how calm and compos'd a mind should we bear the loss : it is for those to fill the air with shrieks and lamentations , that used to give their aeternum vale to the ashes of their friends : but the pious christian , by the help of his faith , can easily view eternity on the other side the grave ; for indeed , he alone partakes of those glorious hopes , those great assurances , which can render him truly triumphant at such a time : this brings me to the last proposition , viz. thirdly , that a right understanding , and due consideration of what the gospel offers in such cases , is the most effectual method for suppressing all those inordinate passions : this st. paul intimates , by these words , i would not have you ignorant , brethren , concering those that are asleep ; as if he had said , had you but clear apprehensions of what the christian religion delivers , concerning the state of your deceased friends , your griefs would never be so excessive , you would never behave your selves in so indecent , so despairing a manner , as those poor gentiles do with whom you converse , who have not as yet embraced the doctrine of our saviour ; for as they are without god , so they are without hope in the world. and now what that great catholicon or universal remedy is , which the gospel proposes as the chief support , the apostle delivers in the verses after ; for if we believe that jesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus shall god bring with him : for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the arch-angel , and with the trump of god , and the dead in christ shall rise first ; then we which are alive and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air , and so shall we ever be with the lord. this is a brief description of the christian's hope , the great foundation upon which all his comforts are built , and indeed nothing below this can vanquish the fears of death , or scatter all those black and melancholly thoughts that are apt to seize us , either at our own or our friend 's approaching fate . and now the certainty of this , is to be fetch'd only from the gospel ; never had the world so full a demonstration of these important truths , 'till our saviour came , and brought life and immortality to light . all besides , might be truly said to be without hope ; for though they might make some imperfect guesses at a future state , by the light of reason , yet their notions were so obscure , and their opinions about if so various , that they could neither satisfie themselves nor others about a matter of so great concernment : but whatever they might think of the soul , yet the resurrection of the body was a thing quite beyond their reach and comprehension , and indeed contrary to the principles of their philosophy ; the compleat knowledge of this , was purely the effect of the gospel manifestation , so that the utmost their fancies could extend to , was but a partial imperfect happiness , in respect of what the christian is assur'd of . but alas ! the generality went not so far , the common cry with them was much like the arguings of those fools in the book of wisdom , chap. 2. our life is short and tedious , and in the death of man there is no remedy , neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave , for we are born at all adventure , and we shall be hereafter as though we bad never been , for the breath in our nostrils is as smoak , and a little spark in the moving of our heart , which being extinguish'd , our body shall be turned into ashes , and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air : our time is a very shadow that passeth away , and after our end there is no returning , for it is fast sealed , so that no man cometh again . thus it was with them , and truly it was little otherwise with their grave and learned philosophers , though they made such great flourishes , and some of them talk'd loftily about the joys of the separate soul , yet they were so extravagant in their fancies , and some of them so inconsistent with themselves , when they had occasion to discourse on this subject , that we may easily imagine they were at a loss , and not much satisfied themselves , in that which they taught the common people to believe : insomuch , that socrates , who was as great an instance of virtue and learning , as the gentile world could produce , yet towards the latter end of his life , plainly confesses his ignorance in this thing ; for when he came to plead his cause before his judges , and largely discourses of the happy state of good men hereafter , at last frankly owns , that he could be content 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to dye over and over , was he but assured of the reality of what he had so often asserted ; and afterwards receiving his sentence , concludes his apology in this doubtful manner , i am now leaving the world , 't is your lot to live , and mine to dye , but whether of us two shall fare the better ; i.e. ( whether there be any existence on the other side the grave ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is unknown to all but god alone ; so little confidence had that great man even at such a time , when he should have been constant to his former reasonings , and magnified his own philosophy . hence we may safely affirm of a great part of them , what the author of the book of wisdom says , that as for the mysteries of god , they know them not , neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness , nor discern'd a reward for blameless souls . and now being thus wavering in their minds , and unfix'd as to their resolutions about an immortality , what was there left to fortifie them against the fears of dying ? nature is apt to startle at the thoughts of a dissolution , even then when it is assured it serves but as a passage to that life which shall never end ; but when it looks upon it as the utmost period of their being , as that which crumbles them into dust , without any possibility of a return , what reflections can be more dismal or amazing : and therefore , to prepare themselves the better for the fatal stroak , they invented many pretty apothegms and paradoxes , furnished themselves with some common topicks or witty sayings , that so they might have some relief against their own or their friends departure : but alas ! they are all of them but poor receipts , in respect of that sovereign antidote which the gospel prescribes . to instance in some of their choicest ; sometimes they would say , that death was the unavoidable fate of all mankind , that there was no resisting the power of it , they saw that wise men dyed as well as fools , and therefore it was their prudence not to be concern'd at that which no ways could be avoided . again , it was a common calamity , we every day meet with remembrances of mortality , and should such thoughts discompose us , our life would be a continual vexation . sometimes they would use this little sophistry , that death cannot hurt us , because when that is we are not , and when we are that is absent , so is a thing that does not at all belong to us , and if perhaps there be any pain at the last separation of the soul from the body , yet afterwards we shall not grieve at what we had endur'd a little before . this was the great retreat epicurus and his followers betook themselves to . sometimes they would argue after this rate , that we are dead already as to so much of our life which is past and gone , for so much as we live , so much we dye , being dead to the day past , and that which we usually call death is but our last death , and therefore as we did not fear our former death , why should we that which is to come . another little hold they had was , that they were admitted into life upon this condition , that they should give place to others as the former generation did to them , and therefore a piece of injustice to be unwilling to go off the stage when their work was done . others would comfort themselves after this manner , that death was a desirable thing , seeing there were so many troubles and disasters that did attend us , for it was no more than solutio omnium dolorum , the easying and disburthening us of all our cares and fears , the letting us loose from an infirm body and a tormenting world , and laying us up in that quiet , secure state , wherein we were before we had a being . this is seneca's last refuge : for tho' he sometimes seems to intimate a belief of a future state , yet he is quickly off again , very inconstant as to his resolutions in that point , and makes use of this as the chief prescription to allay our fears and moderate our griefs . some in the last place soar'd higher , and would solace themselves with the thoughts , of the soul 's enjoying by death a true freedom and liberty , of its being received into pleasant delightful mansions , and there partaking for a vast tract of time of such enjoyments as were more suitable to its nature : this was the opinion of the platonists , but their fancies in this kind were so extravagant , their notions generally so obscure , and their discourses so romantick , that it may very well be question'd , whether they had those great transports when they were about to exchange this prison of the body , for those airy vehicles they so much talk'd of . nay , such as profess'd most to own the incorruptible nature of the soul , and stedfastly to believe a future state , yet supposed such various transmigrations and shiftings of the soul from one body to another , as must needs be an abatement of its happiness ; because by such alterations , it should soon lose all knowledge both of its friends and it self too . these were the cheif prescriptions the moralists made use of , but alas how slight and feeble are they in respect of that lively hope the christian is possess'd of ; with what courage and constancy such notions might inspire them i know not , but certainly where persons find themselves made for higher objects than what this world presents , and have a consciousness of their own eternity , nothing can effectually compose the tumultuary rovings of that mind , but the assurances of an immortality , and of such an immortality only which the christian hopes for : without this all the notions of the phylosophers and sentences of the moralists signifie little , death can never be vanquish'd by such weak charms , but would be still too hard for their principles , too strong for their resolutions ; they must sorrow even as those that have no hope : so that the best of them pass'd off the stage rather in an obstinate , vain-glorious humour , than in any true satisfaction or triumph . but now the christian has a far better provision made him ; for besides the helps and considerations he has in common with the phylosophers , which he may serve himself of when he pleases ; his religion offers him such supports as are sufficient to repress all inordinate passions , and compose our minds into a steady frame . it assures us of the reality of a divine providence in the managery of things here below , that whatever affliction , loss or calamity befalls us , was so ordered by an over-ruling providence : this was a truth which the gentile world either absolutely denyed , or however was not so well satisfied in as to make any true use of their adversities , or to be patient under them . — but now we know , that affliction springs not out of the dust , nor trouble out of the ground , that nothing falls upon us without the knowledge and permission of our heavenly father , who still designs our welfare by all the severe methods and dispensations he exercises towards us , and therefore the thoughts of this must needs render us more calm and sedate at such times , than those who can spy out nothing of divine wisdom and goodness , but look upon all their crosses as the effects either of an ill chance , or an inevitable fate . but more especially doth it relieve our . thoughts , by giving us so great an assurance of a happy state hereafter , that not only the soul , but the body too , shall live for ever , that the whole man shall be perfectly and entirely raised , and death at last be swallowed up in victory ; therefore those that were dead , are said in my text only to be asleep ; and if we sleep we shall do well , as the disciples said of lazarus : it is only a resting for a while in our dormitories , but we shall as certainly awake in the morning as ever we lay down — and this we are ascertain'd of : first , by many full and clear testimonies in the scripture , of whose divine authority we have so many undoubted proofs : here we are plainly told , that the hour is coming , in which all that are in the graves shall bear , and shall come forth , they that have done good unto the resurrection of life : hear it is said , that when our earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens : here 't is promised , that this corruptible must put on incorruption , and this mortal must put on immortality : nay , here in the context we have a more particular description of the manner thereof , and in what order it shall be . secondly , but more especially are we secur'd hereof by the resurrection of our blessed saviour ; therefore st. paul makes use of this argument , to excite in us these hopes , as in the verse after my text ; for if we believe that jesus dyed , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him : as if he had said , if once your faith will carry you so far , as to believe your lord's resurrection , you need never doubt your own , this being a matter of fact , surpasses all the arguments that could be drawn from any other topick whatsoever : for our saviour dying in a humane capacity , and being raised again , does clearly evince , that we who are of the same nature , are capable of a like restauration . this indeed is a sensible experiment of the possibity of a resurrection ; but now that which was thus shewn to be possible , is made also certain to us , from the relation that is between christ and us , as he is the head , and we are his members , and so shall be made partakers of the like condition with him . so our apostle elsewhere , 2 cor. 4. 14. knowing this , that he who raised up the lord jesus , shall raise us up also by jesus ; of which we have have an earnest by the spirit he hath given us . so our apostle again , rom. 8. 11. if the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you , he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies , by the spirit that dwelleth in you : so that by this triumphant action chiefly it is , that our lord has brought life and immortality to light , brought those mysteries to a full view , which before lay hid under types and figures , or were only faintly apprehended by natural reason . and to give us a further assurance of the thing . he manifested his power before ; for at his death the graves were opened , and many bodies of saints which slept arose , and came out of their graves after his resurrection , and appear'd to many ; intimating by that release of some few prisoners made then , what a general goal-delivery there should be when he comes at last in his glory . and now upon a review of all this , shall the christian sorrow like those that have no hope ? shall he not be able to part with a pious friend or relation , but must he lament him as if lost for ever ? how easily rather , may he at such a time triumph over death , and cry out , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? where are all your trophies ? the body indeed you have seized on , but that is only a sacred depositum , committed to your trust for a time , you must make a faithful restitution of it e're long ; the victory truly is ours , and god hath given it us through our lord jesus christ : by the help of this single consideration , how often hath death been triumph'd over by the primitive christians , who have been so transported with the thoughts hereof , that they have been eager to quit this dull mortality before they were call'd , and to press upon those eternal mansions , before they had compleated their probation-ship here below ; and yet we have the same arguments for the truth hereof as they , and may have as strong evidences for our title . however , if our faith cannot inspirit our resolutions so high , yet sure it will be sufficient to moderate our grief , to restrain the inordinacy of our passions for our deceased friends , especially when they are such as sleep in jesus , such who are not so much departed from us as gone before us , have the priviledge to go a little the sooner to take possession of that glorious inheritance , where they joyfully expect the consummating of their bliss , as well in the redemption of their bodies , as in the being restored to those pious friends they parted with here . that this is the condition of every true christian that is fallen asleep , our religion will not suffer us to be ignorant of : and that it is now the happy state of this reverend person , whose obsequies we at this time come to celebrate , our charity easily teaches us to believe , and therefore we are not to sorrow as those that have no hope . tho' indeed , if at any time our passions might be allowed to exceed the common bounds , now it is that humane frailty might expect to be indulg'd ; when one ( who perhaps according to the compass of the orb in which he moved , was as useful to the community as any besides ) has bid adieu to the world , when it stood in great need of such exemplary piety and conduct . but when again we consider , he was one of those of whom we have the greatest hopes , christian prudence is so to regulate our deportment , as that our sorrow do neither betray the weakness of our faith , nor imply too great a fondness for our selves . he was trained up in religion under the early instructions of careful parents , and of a father equally learned as pious , the late lord bishop of norwich : had the farther help of an academical life in one of the chiefest colledges of the university , from whence he was removed to this place , where he was near forty years a faithful pastor , that taught out of the pulpit as well as in it , and whose conversation was a comment upon his doctrine . the constant tenour of his actions evidently shew'd , that piety and a due fear of almighty god was fix'd at the bottom ; that he had right notions of religion , and an awful sense of his duty : in the management of which , he avoided all those little arts and designs , which many often practice to obtain the vogue and applause of others ; for i could never perceive in him any intemperate zeal , or studious affectation of preciseness and singularity , no pretensions to a higher strain of purity than others ; but goodness in its own native dress , every thing acted without pomp or noise , ( choosing rather to be a christian in earnest , than striving only to seem so ) as being no doubt sufficiently satisfied with the approbation of that judge which sees in secret , and the testimony of that one evidence which is above a thousand witnesses . he had all along that great probity and uprightness , and withall such a sweetness of temper , as procur'd the esteem and love of most that knew him , and his conversation he so prudently temper'd , as render'd it agreeable to all that deserv'd it ; for he knew how to be chearful without being vain and light , and how to be serious , and not sullen or morose . his great meekness and condescention added no small lustre to his other accomplishments , for here appear'd not the least leaven of pride to soure his conversation , no haughty , disdainful looks towards inferiours , no fond affectation of distance , or difficulty of access , but all along comporting himself with that unstrain'd humility , as evidently declar'd him to be a true minister of his , who own'd himself to be a servant to all . how faithfully he descharged the several relations he stood in , either as a husband , a parent , or a friend , is so evident to all that had an intimacy with him , that i need only say , scarce greater instances of love , tenderness and sincerity are now to be found . 't is confess'd , that neither his temper nor his judgment , carried him up to the heighths and violences of some men , but yet he well understood the design of religion , and the interest of our church , and proved i dare say more serviceable to both , than many that pretended stronger zeal , or made a louder noise : he very well knew , a due regard should be had to the passions , prepossessions and infirmities of humane nature , the consideration whereof would still incline every-good man to use such gentle methods , as are most proper to accomodate lighter differences , and advance the main ends of the gospel . all persons are naturally conceited of their own notions , ( especially such as respect religion ) and nothing so soon overcomes those prejudices , and unbinds the charm , as a candid representation of their mistakes ; whereas a furious opposition 〈◊〉 , creates either a greater fondness for , or obstinacy in them ; or e●se only makes such converts , as at the first opportunity will turn our enemies , and study revenges for their past restraints . however , if it was for nothing else but the fallibility of humane judgment , and the mutability of humane affairs , a due exercise of moderation would not be absurd or inconvenient , but when it seems to bear so near a resemblance to that wisdom that descends from above , which is not only pure , but peaceable , gentle , and easie to be entreated , we have no reason to be asham'd to own the thing , or afraid to defend those that lov'd it . but whatever might be the opinions of others , i make no question but you that were under his ministerial charge , to whom he was so long and so well known , cannot but have a great value and esteem for his memory , and therefore his example and his doctrine ought to be still of force with you ; for though he be dead , yet to you he still speaks : the unblameableness of his life , and the soundness of his discourses , will but aggravate your guilt , if you disobey the one , and forget the other . endeavour then so to be followers of him as he was of christ , that when you are to pass into the other world , you need not be afraid of meeting with him , nor he asham'd to own you ; but there congratulating each other's safe arrival , you may increase the triumph of your faithful conductor , and procure for him that aureola , or additional glory , that belongs to those who turn many to righteousness — for indeed what is our hope , or joy , or crown of rejoycing ? are not even ye in the presence of our lord jesus christ at his coming ? his death-bed i may say was easie to him , though his pains were very acute and tormenting ; for his mind was quiet and sedate , and that enabled him to bear his afflictions with a wonderful patience and resignation : there was nothing ( as he profess'd to me ) that discomposed his spirit , or made him fearful of dying . and indeed , this was but the consequence of his past actions ; for he that 〈◊〉 so long 〈…〉 that is right , according to the 〈◊〉 observation , will find peace at the last . he had of late so often encountred with the harbingers of death , that he could not be much surprized at the approach of it , and his conscience was too clear to be fear'd at any thing beyond it . seeing then we are not ignorant of this person who is now asleep , we ought not , even such as were most nearly related to him , or had an interest in his friendship , sorrow like those that have no hope , but commit him to the earth , in sure and certain hope of his resurrection to eternal laife and endeavour to imitate that justice , humility , charity and patience , and other christian virtues that were remarkable in him ; that when we come to put off mortality , we may meet with that rev●●●d of well-doing , which we have so good grounds to believe our deceased brother hath to his unspeakable joy already received . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a42701-e290 zanch. & ham. epi. 63. inter exempla eorum fui quos dolor vicit . apol. socrat . apud plat. gas . synt . eth. cap. 21. conso . ad marciam , sect. 19. joh. 11. 12. john 5. 28. 2 cor. 5. 1. 1 cor. 15. 53. mat. 27. 52. a sermon at the funeral of sr. edmund-bury godfrey, one of his majesties justices of the peace, who was barbarously murthered preached on thursday the last day of october 1678, in the parish church of st. martin in the fields / by william lloyd ... lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 1678 approx. 55 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48835 wing l2700 estc r20443 12402742 ocm 12402742 61311 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48835) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61311) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 767:25) a sermon at the funeral of sr. edmund-bury godfrey, one of his majesties justices of the peace, who was barbarously murthered preached on thursday the last day of october 1678, in the parish church of st. martin in the fields / by william lloyd ... lloyd, william, 1627-1717. [3], 42 p. printed by tho. newcomb for henry brome ..., london : 1678. includes bibliographical references. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng godfrey, edmund berry, -sir, 1621-1678. bible. -o.t. -samuel, 2nd, iii, 33-34 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-01 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatvr , guil. jane . r. p. d. hen. epis. lond. à sacris dom. nov. the 9th 1678. a sermon at the funeral of s r edmvnd-bvry godfrey , one of his majesties justices of the peace , who was barbarously murthered . preached on thursday the last day of october 1678. in the parish church of st. martin in the fields . by william lloyd d. d. dean of bangor , one of his majesties chaplains in ordinary . vicar of the said parish of st. martin . london , printed by tho. newcomb , for henry brome at the gun , at the west-end of st. pauls . mdclxxviii . a funeral sermon , on 2 sam . iii. 33 , 34. 33. and the king lamented over abner , and said , died abner as a fool dieth ? 34. thy hands were not bound , nor thy feet put into fetters : as a man falleth before wicked men , so fellest thou . and all the people wept again over him . if i could at any time allow my self to transgress the rules of this place , to preach without a text , it should be now , having this subject before me . here 's a subject that makes it's own sermon and its own prayer . the blood of abel speaks , saith the apostle . this innocent blood speaks and cries in the ears of god , ( the all-knowing god that hears matter without words ; ) it speaks and cries aloud to him for vengeance : how long , o lord , holy and true , dost thou not judge and avenge ? it speaks to you , to your eyes , and to your hearts , many sad and astonishing things . i judge of others by my self ; i do not hear , but i feel what this speaks to me : it speaks in such language as this , oh my friends ! i spent my life in serving you . it was my business to do justice and shew mercy . see what i had for it , insnared and butcher'd by wicked men against justice and without mercy . how many things did i endure e're they brought me to this ? how many lies were you told the mean while , to hide it from you ? how many deaths have i suffered before death came to relieve me ? and if that would have satisfied them , if they would but have buried me , you should have heard none of all this . but their malice went farther ; my poor mangled macerated body must be thrown out to birds and beasts , and my name to the obloquy of worse men . then it was time for me to speak for my self , and god brought a number of you to hear me : then i said , see , see , o my friends , how they have used me ! behold the spectacle they have given you . i saw it among the rest : it was a most dismal fight , such as that which we read of . it was so , that all that saw it , said , there was no such deed done nor seen from the time that we first came to be a nation , till this day . 't is possible i might find something like it among other nations ; but i shall confine my self to what we find among the people of god. and of all that god delivers to us in scripture , among them , i think there is no example like that of the murther of abner , which occasioned those words which i have chosen for my text. and because i do not intend to dwell upon that , i shall shew you ( but briefly ) these three particulars in it , first , the person ; secondly , his sufferings ; and thirdly , the consequences of it . first , the person ; that was abner , an eminent man , both in dignity , and also in usefulness among his people . secondly , his sufferings ; a bloody violent death . and herein i have three things to consider . first , the kind of fact : he died , he fell by wicked men : he was murthered by ioab and abishai . secondly , the manner of it ; perfidiously and cruelly , with shew of the greatest friendship they inhumanly killed him . thirdly , the authors of it ; such as can pretend friendship to destroy ; such no doubt are wicked men , the most dangerous sort of wicked men . by such a wise man may be caught , and die like a fool ; a mighty man may be deprived of the use of his hands ; a wary man may be deprived of the use of his feet : there is no fighting with such , nor no running away from such an enemy . this david exprest in his lamentation , which moved the people to theirs , and that was the consequence of it , which comes last to be considered . i shall repeat you my text , that you may see how all these parts lie together . the king lamented over abner , and said , died abner as a fool dieth ? could he make no shift for himself ? why couldst thou not fight ? thy hands were not bound . nor thy feet put in fetters , why couldst thou not run away ? the reason is plain , thou couldst do nothing to help thy self . thou wert caught in a trap . as a man falleth before wicked men , so fellest thou . this the king having said , all the people , who wept before , now wept again over abner . for the person here spoken of ; he was a a prince of the blood , b cousin german to king saul , and general of his armies all his reign . he was an excellent person ( as c iosephus describes him ) for counsel , & courage , and diligence , & experience in affairs . there is ground to believe this from scripture , which makes him after saul's death , to have been the only support of his son and successor ishbosheth . 't is said 2 sam. 2. 8 , 9. that abner took ishbosheth , and made him king over all israel . he might , in all probability , considering the others weakness , as easily have made himself king if he pleased . but he was true to his relation and his trust. in this chapter , at the sixth verse , he set himself with all his might for the house of saul . amidst his cares and concerns for the state , he was not forgetful of the church , as appears by his dedications , 1 chron. xxvi . 28. i find nothing that can any way blemish his memory , unless it was something contained in this chapter ; where it is said , that he was charged by ishbosheth , with dishonouring the bed of his late master , ver . 7. he asketh him , wherefore hast thou gone in unto my fathers concubines ? iosephus believeth the information was not true ; and it seems not so likely of one of his age , being then above sixty years old when the king charged him with it . the more cause he had to lay this to heart . it made that great man think his service misplaced , and that god was not pleased with what he did for sauls family , in opposition to david , who had a better title to the crown . he knew that the government was not yet made hereditary , but that it was conferred immediately by god , who had decreed that he would take away saul and set up david in his stead . and reflecting upon this , abner swore he would now make amends for his error , he would bring over the kingdom to david . this ishbosheth heard ; and durst not gain-say , nay , it seems he consented to it , by what followeth : for when abner sent to david for terms , and he required this preliminary point , that his wife michal should be sent home to him ; we read that ishbosheth used his authority in the matter : he sent for his sister michal , and delivered her to abner , to take her with him when he went to perfect his agreement with david . this being supposed , that he had ishbosheths consent , i do not see what can be blamed in the conduct of abner ; i see much to be commended in him , especially considering the greatness of his birth , and how near he was to the crown , and in what probability he stood for it ; that notwithstanding all these temptations , he still adhered to just and right , he kept his loyalty to his prince , he did all possible service to his country . he was about the greatest work , to secure both the peace and the religion of god's people , in uniting them under the government of david ; when unexpectedly he was taken off by death , which is the second thing i am to consider . his death was untimely , and bloody , and treacherous . first , untimely ; for he was then in the midst of his business . he had been at hebron with david . he had made his terms with him ; such as would have united all israel without a stroke ; such as would have saved ishbosheth's life , as appears by what follows , 2 sam. iv . 1. ( which confirms me in what i said , that he had his consent along with him ; for there it is said ) when saul ' s son heard that abner was dead , his hands were feeble , and all the israelites were troubled . then , and not before , the reins of government fell out of his hands . he could hold them no longer , when his friend abner was dead , both his and all israel's hopes , depended upon abner's safe return . and he was so far towards it . he was then upon the way , when he was fetched back to hebron by a messenger in david's name . so iosephus understands those words in the 26th verse , but david knew not of it ; it was in david's name , but he knew it not . and when abner was come back , even at the gate of the royal city , he was met and received by some friends whom he did not suspect . they had him apart from his company , they brought him into a lone place , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith iosephus , to tell him something which the king had forgot . and there he soon had his message ; it was a stab , that put an end to his life . the authors of this fact were as soon known as the fact it self . they were ioab and abishai , the sons of zerviah ; men that had a pretence to do this , in revenge of their brother whom abner had slain some years since in defence of his own life . revenge was an ill reason ; but the scripture mentions that , as the only one they had to give . the true reason was ( saith the jewish historian , who is herein followed by most christians , ) because they feared that among abner's terms , this was one , to keep his place , to be general of the armies of israel . that interfered with the ambition of these men , who were resolved to have all the power to themselves , to admit of no sharer . they would scarce take in the king himself ; even he complained , they were too hard for him , in the last verse of this chapter . i am weak this day , though anointed king , and these men the sons of zerviah are too hard for me . it appeared they were so , by this , that he durst not call them to account for it . but he did all that he could . he disclaimed , he detested the wicked fact ; he curst the authors of it most bitterly . he exposed them to the people ; requiring them all to mourn for abner , and to shew all possible signs of it , by renting their clothes ; and putting on sackcloth , which the people did most willingly , and ioab durst not but do it among the rest . in this mournful array they attended him to his grave . the king followed him weeping , and all the people wept with him , saith the text. when they had buried him , the king pronounced the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the funeral song , for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies , which being in ioab's and abishai's presence , it was a fresh mortification to them , as well as a just honour to abner . the king lamented over abner , saying , &c. i intended all this but to shew you in scripture a record which god hath given us of his peoples behaviour in such a case as we have before us . such as that in divers respects , though very different in many other . and yet whereinsoever they differ , if their case exceed our's in some respects , it is exceeded by our's in so many more , as may sufficiently justifie us , and oblige us to the like lamentation . only bating this one circumstance , abner's high birth and quality , being a prince of the blood , and so nearly allied to king david ; ( which , together with some other public considerations , might well oblige david himself to be present at his funeral . this we have no reason to expect of our king , who hath done in other respects more than david could or durst do for abner . but waving this , ) we have all other considerations , some greater than what god's people had in my text , to weep and weep again , in our private and in our public lamentations . first , the person , and his personal accomplishments , were such , as , though i would not compare them with abners ; yet i would not lessen him by declining the comparison . they were very considerable in his rank . he was a great blessing to this place , and will be so understood , as all god's blessings are , by the loss of them . but secondly , for the kind of our loss , for the things that he indured , for the manner in which he was brought to it , for the treachery and barbarity of it ; these things are so far above all that were in abner's case , that we cannot admit them into the comparison . thirdly , for the authors of abner's murther , they were known , by this , and one more , that of amasai whom they killed in like manner . but for our's , they are unknown . we are yet to inquire for them , and we have reason to fear we may find them too late , and yet too soon . lastly , for the consequences , i shall shew you how the king hath lamented it ; and how , besides all that we have done , we are yet to do it so as to make the best of our loss ; to sow in tears that we may reap in joy. that is the end and benefit of our lamentation . first of the person , i must crave leave to say so much as may justifie the public sorrow upon the account of an extraordinary loss . and being my self particularly concerned in it , i may be allowed to speak with the more freedom . 't is all the way i have to shew my gratitude for the many good offices that i among many others received from him , while he was living . and what i am to say , i have so well considered , that i do not fear to be suspected of flattery by any that knew him so well as most of you did in this place . as to those things which belong to a private christian , i ought to know him better than most others ; and i did know that by him which gives me abundant comfort in his death . i knew him to be a just and charitable man , a devout , a zealous and conscientious christian. his religion was more for use than for shew . and yet he was constant in all the acts of gods worship . he loved the communion of the church , as well out of judgment as affection . and though the compassion that he had for all men that did amiss , extended it self to allmanner of dissenters ; and among them he had a kindness for the persons of many roman-catholicks : yet he always declared a particular hatred and detestation of popery . i say this on purpose to be remembred , ( because some would have him a papist , or inclined that way , ) i never pleased him with any duty i performed , at least he never thanked me for any , so much , as he did for those sermons which i preacht here against popery . but these things are less considerable in our loss , we are more concerned for what he was in his publick capacity . and for that he seem'd made and fitted up with more than ordinary care : god seemed to have singled him forth , and designed him to be the useful man that he was in this place . he was composed for it , both by nature , and education , & choice , & study , & practice : i know not what could be added to make him fitter than he was . he was ( as it were ) born to be a justice of peace ; his grand-father , his father , his elder brother were so before him . the two last were also members of parliament . his great grand-father was a captain , which was considerable in those days . his education was sutable to his birth ; being brought up at westminster school , from whence he was sent to the university , thence to travel in forein parts ; then he came to live in the inns of court , where wanting health , he retired for a time into the countrey : and now all our hopes of him might seem to have been defeated at once . but that god , who by his providence , designed him for this place , brought him back with an intimate friend and relation ; who having suffered much for the late king , whose servant he was , turned what he had left into money , and to make the most of that , employed it in a wood-yard in this parish . our friend could have no great estate , being the tenth son of his father , who had four sons younger than he was : and his father was a younger son of his grand-father : so that though his father had a plentiful estate , and his grand-father one of the fairest in his country , yet but a small portion of these could fall to his share . but what he had , he laid it out as partner with his friend , and so improved it , till he had wherewith to live like himself . and then , he that was never bred to a trade , needed not be perswaded to ease himself of it . he found other business more equal to his soul : which having practised at first , with his other emploiment , afterwards he withdrew from all other business to this . he dedicated himself wholly to it ; made his country his family , this parish his wife and children ; attended wholly to their good ; to keep up law , and justice , and safety , and liberty ; to save others from violence and wrong , to reduce them from disorder and idleness . he was perhaps the man of our age , that did the most good in that station : i should not doubt of it , having so great an author . he that ought to know best , hath often said , sir edmund godfrey he took to be the best iustice of peace in this kingdom . he knew what he had reason to expect would come of this , the emulation even of good men , for they are but men . and he shewed his own infirmity in this , that sometimes he was troubled at it . but for others , he despised whatsoever they thought or said . he knew before hand the price of doing his duty , how many ill men he must displease , what scoffs and censures he must indure , what hazards he must run . and this was all he expected for his labour . he thought it worth the while , to suffer this for god's glory and the public good. 't is vulgar virtue that puts men only upon safe good things . 't is virtue in its perfection , when one dares do well , and suffer for it . and of this degree , he shewed some as great proofs , as perhaps have been given in our days . in the plague-time , who would have done as he did ? not only to stay here , but to expose himself upon every occasion . it was much to indure the very air ; that , besides its own putrefaction , was filled with the steams of so many thousands of dying-breaths . it was fearful to see and hear the mournful objects and cries that went hourly every-where about the street . it was a desperate thing to flesh and blood , to converse with them , and to be in the midst of them . god knows , when i am called to this , how i shall perform it ; but he did , what i have even trembled to hear ; he fed so many poor with his own hands , distributed as well physic as food , exposing himself to be pulled and haled by them sometimes . and that which exceeds all the rest , where the officers durst not , he went himself into the pesthouse to seize on a malefactor . these are instances of so high a courage , so undaunted a zeal to public good , that if we should have the like occasion again , ( which god forbid ) we could scarce hope to find the like instances . he could not shew the like himself at other times . and therefore i shall the more easily pass over those things which in themselves were very considerable ; those watchings , and hazards , and toils , which would have been great matters to others ; but they were less to him , because he had inured himself to them . they were by long and constant practice become so natural to him , that he seemed to have left himself , no sense of any labour , no weariness of watching , no apprehension of danger , in any thing by which he might do service to god , the king , and his countrey . there are but few such men living , the greater is our loss by his death . a great loss , if he had died a natural death . then we should have submitted to the will of god. and so we must now . but we could easier have done it , if he had lived out his time , and done all the good we could have hoped from him . if he had lived the age of a man , as his grandfather did ; or as his father , to that which moses calls labour and sorrow ; or as his mother , who is eighty six years old , and yet living . how much good might one do so qualified as he was , so disposed , so resolved , so verst in business ? how much more good might he have done , if he had lived to those years ? but to be taken off at six and fifty , as he was , when he might have lived much longer , to go on doing still as he did ; the thought of this hath much uneasiness in it . but then farther , to think how he was taken away ; by a violent death ; he was murthered ; the very mention of this strikes horror into one that considers it . human nature abhors it . much more , grace in christians ; whom god hath strictly forbidden it , by all the laws that are given to christians . but then , to murther a magistrate , that should be the keeper of those laws ; this is so much beyond common horror , i know not how to express it . if it were an assault , if it were a false imprisonment , much more if the murther , of any other person , the magistrate is he that should punish it . but that he should be murthered himself ! to murther him , it cannot be without the highest affront , to authority , and laws , to the king , to the whole nation , to god himself . alas ! that such wickedness should be done in our nation , in this 〈◊〉 in this place . but especially upon such a magistrate , that was the blessing of this place . they could not hurt him , but they must hurt us all , for whom he lived , and cared , more than for himself ; for whom he also died , as we have too much reason to believe . considering this , it concerns us all to know how he died . there are ways , that a wise man may die like a fool ; that he can neither fight nor run away ( as my text shews us ) . thus died abner , and thus died our friend ; and this heightens our horror above measure . had he died by sudden chance , or by open malicious design , it had happened to him as it hath done to many others : but perhaps never any was murthered as he was , so treacherously and basely , and with such bloody and barbarous cruelty . for the treacherousness of it , if abner were catcht so , it is no wonder . 't is no hard thing for any one that hath made himself base enongh ; that will violate his faith , and break the bonds of human society ; to call another aside , and secretly to cut his throat . the pretence of common friendship is enough to enable any one that is wicked enough , to do this . but in our case , there was no need of so much as that pretence or colour of friendship . any stranger might do it to a person of so easie access ; one that never denied himself to any one that had need of him ; one that neither feared force , nor affected shew ; and therefore never took so much as a servant along with him . he was at every ones call , to do that which was his daily business ; to make peace , to do justice , to do any good to any person . was it not a worthy prize to get such a one into their hands ? oh cowards ! that could go such a low mean way to take him . oh monsters ! that having taken him , could find in their hearts to do him hurt . well , he is now in their hands , as he thinks , to do them service in his place . what business have they for him ? what they said , we are not able to guess : but what they did , appeared by woful tokens in this poor body . god knows where they kept him . we know only it was under restraint ; and 't was not altogether in darkness , by the wax-candle-drops upon his cloaths ; and therefore it was not altogether hell upon earth ; though it was like it in his usage , that hellish usage that he indured . ah poor soul ! how many comfortless hours did he reckon in that merciless trap where they kept him ? how many insulting words , how many reproaches did he hear ? what racks , what bodily tortures might he probably suffer ? and what cordial , what refection to support him under all this ? we know nothing but what appeared in his body ; his sunk belly , his empty stomach , his blancht tongue , were all witnesses of his chear . my tears are my meat day and night , while i call upon my god. yet we cannot say they starved him . god knows what they would have done , had they had time ; but in all likelihood , it was the fear of search that hastned his death . and the same death it was , that they deserved ten thousand times over . they can suffer no worse ( if they are taken ) than this , to be strangled , and then the law hath done with them . but when they had strangled him , they had not done with him so , he must be cast forth to the birds & beasts : and that with the formality of a sword thrust through his body , that if men came to find him , they might judge that he had killed himself ; whether it were to save themselves from suspicion , or whether out of malice to him , or whether both these together , god knows . sure enough , it was the worst they could do to him ; it was that which being believed , would ruin all that they had left . all that they could not reach , the law would , if he had murthered himself . it must have ruined his name , it had forfeited his estate , it had brought a blot upon his family . nothing could be done more to shew their malice , if that were their meaning . if they rather sought to hide their own guilt , it was surely an infatuation from god : he took away their understandings , that they could not consider those things which every child could not but observe . what , would none miss his band , or take notice of his clean shoes ? would none look for the effusion of blood , or take notice of that which hindred it , that so manifest coagulation ? twenty things more that have been considered elsewhere , and are not to be repeated in this place . it was surely an infatuation from god. who having suffered them to run on in their sin to the utmost to make that scarlet sin of murther , even blush at it self ( if it were possible ) ; having suffered the devil to teach them every thing else that he could think of , to consummate the ruin of this good man ; yet was pleased so to take away their understandings , that they could not see so many evident proofs as would be made to all the world ; of his innocence , and of their horrible wickedness . but now i speak of discovery , me-thinks i see you all stirred up , as it were , expecting that i should name you the persons that did this bloody fact. i would i could , for sundry reasons . but i cannot pretend to that . i can only say with david , they were wicked men . he was the common enemy of all such , and it pleased god to let him fall into their hands . he fell by the hands of wicked men , that is certain . but if you would know more , i will endeavour to shew you how possibly you may discover them . perhaps some that are wiser , would be afraid to go so far . but why so ? i speak for him that feared nothing , but to lose an opportunity of doing good . and in hopes to do good by it , i will be so far like him ; i will not fear to go on with what i offered , as to the discovery . there are three things to be chiefly considered in this matter . first , mens actions : secondly , their interests : and thirdly , their principles . we shall consider each of these , first , their actions and practices . since we know not who they are that were the authors of this wickedness , at least can we find who they are that are not willing we should know it ? they that have practised , and intrigued to this purpose , to endeavour to hinder the search , or the discovery ; if they knew what they did , we have reason to judge they were concerned , for themselves , or for their friends . you cannot but remember the dust that was raised in the week when the search should have been made ; those calumnies , & those various reports that went about , as it were , on purpose to hinder the discovery . one while he had withdrawn himself for debt ; another while he was married , & that not very decently ; another while he was run away with a harlot ; even what the father of lies put into their heads . at last , when they knew what they intended to do with him ; they prepared you to expect it , by giving out that he had kild himself . you know how impatient they were to have this believ'd . i was told it some hours before the discovery , that he was found with his own sword through his body . others could tell that he had two wounds about him . these things were found to be true some hours after . but then they devised sundry untruths to colour it . it was suggested that it might be done ▪ in distraction , which ( they said ) was an hereditary disease in his family , that his father and his grand-father had it before him ; that this disease being stirred up by some mis-apprehensions , wrought that direful effect upon him , to make him kill himself . these things ( from whatsoever author they came ) being confidently said , were as easily believed by them that knew nothing to the contrary . i confess i knew not what to think my self , till i saw the contrary with my eyes . when i saw he was strangled as well as thrust through , i soon considered , that no man could kill himself both those ways . and then for the scandal that was raised of his family , i found upon inquiry ; that all the colour they had to say it , was only this : that his father was sometime afflicted with melancholy , almost to distraction ; but it was before he was fifty years old ; he soon recovered of it , and lived till the eightieth year of his age. besides , i am informed , that there never was any appearance of the like distemper in any one person of all that numerous family : nor did any of his relations ever come to an untimely end , as has been falsly reported . for the melancholy that was observed in our friend , i think none , that knew him , ever thought it distraction , or any thing tending that way ; but a thoughtfulness sometimes , that proceeded from the intricacy and multiplicity of business . i believe the weightiest business that ever he had , was that which made him say some days before his death , i am told i shall be knock'd in the head. he said this in my hearing , without any great visible concern . he continued the same he ever was , in his daily conversation ; serious in business , but chearful and pleasant at other times . thus he used to be alway . he was so the last day of his living life ; that is , till the hour that we lost him . and how he was afterwards , i suppose they best know , that were the authors of these rumors . that 's one way to try men , i think , by their actions and practises . a second way to find out the authors of any fact , is to consider who they were that were concerned to have it done . it was cassius's word , cui bono ? for whose interest was it ? now consider for whose interest it was to kill this person . they must be some that were not safe while he lived ; or some that might be the better for his death ; and that in some considerable measure , such as would requite all the danger they were to incur by it . if you know of any that could not think themselves safe while he lived , you have great reason to believe you know the authors of his death . i have not so far been privy to his doings , as that i could be able to enter into this secret. much less to know of any personal malice against him . he that was so tender hearted , even to those whom he punished , could not provoke any one to this height of revenge . much less were they robbers , or any such poor rogues , that kill men for what they have . these did their work gratis . they left him all his money . they took nothing but his band , except papers . 't is therefore very credible , that the authors had some other interest that moved them to it . and that seems rather to have been , against the government and the laws . they knew how firm he was in his duty to both ; and perhaps they had tried it in something else than we know of . if so , they could not but think it worth their while to send him out of the world. one that durst do his duty , when he knew , whom , and what , he should provoke by it ; one that would give so ill an example to other magistrates , which if followed , might be the ruin of their cause ; what could they think of such a man ? we cannot scare him , we cannot bribe him , but we can kill him . they could not have thought of a more compendious way than this . especially , if the killing of him would dishearten others , and so be a means to weaken authority and laws . such men cannot but know , that publick-spirited men are not so many ; and they that are , are but men , they may be daunted , they may be discouraged . and what can do that , more , than the terror of such an example ? i doubt not , they that did this , would rather have done it publickly for that reason . as we hang up thieves , for example to others ; so to hang up justices for doing their duty ; oh that would be a pleasant thing indeed ! no , gentlemen , we are not come to that yet . god knows , what we may come to for our sins , and by your means . but it will be the longer first , if the laws can find you out . and towards that , we have some guess at you by this token ; they that are against the established laws , it was their interest to do this , that is the second thing . the third token is , by their principles . and so , whosoever did this , they should be either such as hold nothing unlawful , or at least such as hold it lawful to do such things . for the first , that is , men of atheistical principles ; they follow only their lust , or their interest ; which will scarce unite any number of men to carry on such a formed design as this was . or if it had , they would scarce have held together so long , they would have impeached one another , and so saved us the labour of discovering them by this token . i do not therefore charge it upon them that hold nothing unlawful . but how shall we excuse them , that hold it lawful to do such things ? if there are such men in the world , and if the other tokens agree to them , they surely are the likeliest that can be thought of for this matter . but such a sort of men there is , even here in england , we have them among us . i could not but think of them when i named the other tokens , and so must any one that hath been conversant in their books . we need not put them upon the rack , to make them confess . they offer themselves , they tell us such things which we scarce dare tell you again . 't is scarce credible , how openly , and how grosly , they teach men these things they are the iesuits i speak of . and whosoever reads their books cannot but know i do not wrong them in what i say . i say , first , they teach men to raise such reports as we heard of this person . and secondly , 't is their interest to discourage the execution of the law. and thirdly , they hold it lawful to kill men that would prejudice them or their religion . if i prove these three things , we have all the tokens together , which i think are not to be found so in any other persons or society . let them clear themselves as they can of the fact. i will prove the tokens . and first for their teaching of calumny . in plain terms , to slander another man in defence of ones own right or honor , and especially one of the fathers to do it in defence of the society ; some hold it plainly lawful . some say , it is a venial sin. for the proofs you may find them together in the fifteenth of the provincial letters . if so , what should hinder these men from r●ising all those reports of this person ? since it was in defence of themselves , and of their sect , if they killed him . secondly , that it was their interest to kill him , 't is manifest ; if they have any design against the government ; and if either his life would have hindred or discovered them in it , or if his death would discourage others from being active in their place . but that it is the interest of their sect , and of their church , to subvert the government ; and that they for their parts design it now at this present ; i think this is so palpable , that i should but lose time in proving it . thirdly , that they hold it lawful to kill in such cases . for this , 't is as plainly delivered in their writings , as any article of faith is in the creed . they say first in general , to kill another , is murther indeed , if you do it for revenge , or any such sinister end. and therefore you must be careful to direct your intention aright . and so by directing the intention , though you do the same act , it is not murther . for example ( saith amicus , one of their professors ) if one threatens to publish grievous crimes of my self or of my order ; when i have no other way to escape this , i may lawfully kill him . and ( saith he ) 't is plain that i have no other way , if he be ready to charge me or my order publickly , coram gravissimis viris , before men in authority . saith tannerus in like manner , one may kill him , if it be in defence of his own goods , or of the goods of his society . saith lessius , if one endeavours to take away my life , by revealing a secret crime , i may kill him . nay , if he endeavours to take away but my good name , by revealing a secret crime , i may kill him , saith lessius , and the same saith filliucius . now who that knows what informations our friend had against them , can doubt but they might lawfully kill him by these doctrines ? i name but one for each . whosoever would see more , may find them collected in the seventh and the thirteenth of the provincial letters . though if we had but one author for each of these doctrines , that 's enough to make a probable doctrine , as they tell us . and then , if it is probable , we may practise it safely without sin . i know what any iesuit would answer to this . they would say that these doctrines , are some of them delivered as being only speculatively true ; that is , they are true in their own nature : but they are not practicè sequendae , that is , in respect of the consequences , they are not to be reduced to practice . and why so ? if they are speculatively true , why then are they not to be practised ? they themselves tell you why , they would cause disorders in the commonwealth . lessius hath a better reason , for one of them , he saith , one ought not to practise it , because if one doth , he may be hang'd for it . the mean while , if one can do it so secretly , as not to disturb the commonwealth , ( and then to be sure he shall not hang for it ) in that case it is practicè sequenda , 't is to be practised according to their doctrine . or if not , while it is speculatively true , that the thing it self is no sin ; who that knows this , and hath a mind to kill another , and sees his occasion , will make any scruple of the practice ? yes , ( they will tell you ) the pope hath forbidden it , in that decree of the year 1665. which is set down in the end of the last roman index to their shame be it said , these doctrines are forbidden indeed ; but not as being untrue , not as contrary to god's word , or having any immorality in them : how then ? he saith , they are ad minimum scandalosae , at least they are apt to give offence , ( no doubt they are , if we hereticks come to know them : ) and therefore he charges them upon their obedience to himself , that they must not practise these doctrines . had he said upon their obedience to god , that had been a dangerous word . it would have made them afraid to practise them , even in his own service . he would take heed of that , not to spoil that which may be a useful doctrine . but he forbade it , forsooth , upon obedience to himself , which is such a restraint as the pope may take off when he pleaseth . and how can we tell , when he doth , or doth not , that which is in his power secretly to do or not to do ? we have only this measure by which to judg : he will do whatsoever he sees best for the catholick cause . if he sees it best for the cause , we shall live . if not , you see it is no sin to kill us ; even the pope being judge . so that now we hold our lives at his courtesie . but thanks be to god , that gives us better security than that ; gives us government and laws to protect us : or else , no man here knows how soon he might be laid as our friend is before us . and we thank you , reverend fathers of the society , if you were the men that killed him , as you are the likeliest if we may believe yourselves ; we thank you , that you did not begin with the government first . that you killed him , not the king. there had been a blow indeed . we thank you for not beginning with that . though we have the less cause , if your plot was against the king , and you only took this man away , that you might the better cover it . we thank you at least , though we pay too dear for it , that you have made the people know your religion ; that you have alarm'd the state with your practises ; we may live the longer for that , to thank you for it . but then we must remember , we ow this to god , not to you . he it is that hath crossed your design . it is he that hath taken away your covering , and spread reproach on your faces in the stead . we see what you would be at ; if not by this , by some thing else . and if we saw it by nothing else , we know it sufficiently in your writings . when your doctrines are so plain , we have no reason to doubt of your practises . god still deliver us from your bloody hands . god keep england from your bloody religion . this being at present as far as we can go in the discovery ; all that remains is , to return , and to consider our loss , and to lament over it . it was the consequence of abner's death . the king lamented over abner , and the people wept over him again . king david mourned for abner . that was all that he could do . our king hath done more . he hath not only lamented , but proclaimed his sense of it , to the whole nation . he hath done it , once , and again , with all possible demonstrations of his care , and of his concernedness , for the discovery , and for the punishment of this wickedness . where the king hath begun to us , we ought to follow him , as israel did david . we have wept already , we are here to weep over him again . and because i would not keep you long in pain , nor stir you up to fruitless tears , i will endeavour to shew you how it may be a useful lamentation . there is no fruit to godward , but is to be brought forth with patience . and therefore first . i must caution you to that , in this and all other trials . if this horrible fact were committed by those hands , ( which of all other we have reason by all tokens to suspect ) yet have patience , and deal not violently even with them . what by law may be done , i would not preclude , i pray for it . but otherwise , 't is murther in you to kill a iesuit , that thinks it none in such cases as this to kill you. god be thanked , you are no disciples of theirs , but of him whose sacred name they abuse ; that holy iesus ; he hath taught us other rules , he hath shewed us other practises . love your enemies , bless them that curse you , pray for them that despightfully use you and persecute you . these rules , and the like , are the soul of the christian religion . 't is that which softens the heart , and makes it gentle , and tender , and pitiful . and so conforms us to the image of christ , who being reviled , reviled not again ; when he suffered , he threatned not ; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously . indeed , when i consider the temper that is required of all christians ; i cannot but bless god for what i find in the protestant religion . i cannot but reflect on the incredible patience that was found in you at the fire of london . though so many believed , and few very much doubted whence it came ; that it was from the same hands which we justly suspect for this wickedness ; yet there was no tumult rose upon it ; no violence done that extended to the life of any person . you then bore patiently that great loss both of your houses and of your goods . and now it cometh to your persons and lives , still your patience continues . is not this a fair proof of your religion ? i bless god for it ; and pray for the like in other things ; though this one is a great testimony to us , even our adversaries themselves being judges , if they would but consider it . had either of these things been done or happened in any popish countrey ; had the protestants been suspected to have had any the least finger in them ; there had not been one of them suffered to live in that countrey . alas ! without that , what have those poor men suffered ? what have they not suffered , who have had their lot in popish countries ? in france a hundred thousand massacred in a few daies . how many more thousands in ireland in our memory ? not to speak of the like slaughters , in piedmont , and elsewhere . where can they shew the like in countries of our religion ? they might have found it now here , if we had been like them . but blessed be god , we are not so , and i hope shall never be . i beseech you to continue the same patience still ; not lose it for any , even the highest provocation . commit your wrongs to him that judgeth righteously ; and under him to the magistrate , that bears not the sword in vain . the king hath already shewed his care in this matter . follow it with yours , in lawful waies . and if neither of these will do , leave the matter to god. when he makes inquisition for bloud , he will remember them . we shall see it in his time , which is best ; and that by such tokens , that all men that see it shall say , verily there is a god that judgeth in the earth . next , since we ought to imitate those whom we praise ; let us follow our friend , in those things which were praise worthy in him . i might enlarge this in sundry particulars , for he had not a few exemplary virtues . but i must not enlarge beyond those that are of present consideration . let us first endeavour to right him in the injuries that he has suffered , and then not shrink from our duties for fear of suffering the like our selves . for the first , he was ready to do all right to others , especially if they had been so handled as he was . if any other , if his murtherers themselves , had been used thus , he had been the man to have righted them ; by all lawful means to clear the innocent , to discover and to punish the guilty . this duty is now yours , every one in his place , to do all that possibly he can , to right his memory , to discover his murtherers , and to bring them to due punishment . i need not much exhort you to this ; and therefore next , for that which may be more needful ; i beseech you to follow him in this , not to shrink so far from your duty as to fear them , he feared them not for your sakes . 't is true , he suffered for it , he lost his life . but let the devil get nothing more by that . he hopes , and it seems to have been his design , to deter you from your duties , for fear if you be too forward , he may stir up others to serve you in like manner . well , but that will not certainly follow . they will not alwaies find men unprovided , nor alwaies ready to be drawn into traps . you see they have awakened the government , i hope this will also awaken you. oh how happy should we be , ( though we paid so dear for it , ) if we could gain this by what we have lost ; if all would be so vigilant , so resolved , that they might not know which to take next ; if for one sir edmund godfrey , whom they have taken away , we might see twenty , yea a hundred such justices in this city . and why not ? the english spirit is generous and bold , as well as it is compassionate and gentle. they may be perswaded or misled , but they are not to be frighted , or threatned ; not easily into their duties , i hope , much less out of them . that , i trust , will never be . especially , if we remember the good providence of god , which is the third thing . if we look up to him , that hath secured us against so great and so many dangers . he that delivered me from the bear , and the lion , ( saith david ) he will deliver me from the hand of this philistin . we may argue likewise ; he that saved us in eighty eight , he that saved us from the gun-powder plot , he will deliver us from this cursed conspiracy . he will give us this fruit of our loss , and of all their machinations against us . who knows , but , in the end , it may prove a fatal blow to themselves ? this , together with other things , which are now under consideration , may occasion a fair riddance of all that faction out of england . it may so happen to them , as the apostle foretold it would to the iews , when they persecuted the christians at thessalonica , that they would but fill up the measure of their sins , that wrath might come upon them to the uttermost . i pray rather for their conversion . but whether that will ever be ; whether the one , or the other , we must leave that to god. and lastly , look to our selves , that all our ways be pleasing in his sight . if so , he is able to secure us against all others : but otherwise there is nothing can secure us against him. except he keep the city , the watchman wakes but in vain . but if he be on our side , we need not fear what man can do unto us . therefore cleave we to him , with all our hearts , and souls . hold fast that which he hath committed to our charge , the gospel of christ. when god sees truth on our side , nothing can make him against us , but sin. therefore watch also against sin , shew the truth of your faith by your works , adorn your holy profession with a holy life . so living , death can be no surprize to us , even such a death , or worse , if worse can be , let them kill our bodies , abuse them , mangle them , as this is , or worse ; let them burn them , and throw our ashes whither they please ; we lose nothing by it . at last , all shall meet again in a happy and blessed resurrection . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48835-e280 heb. xi . 4. rev. vi . 10. iudg. xix . 30. a 1 sam. xiv . 50. b iosepho 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c ios. ant. iud. lib. 7. c. 1. ioseph . ib. 2 sam. iii. 9 , 10. 2 sam. iil . 11. verse 13 , 14 , 15. 2 sam. iii. 20 , 21. ioseph . ib. 2 sam. 3. 27. ioseph . ib. 2 sam. iii. 27 , 30. ioseph . ib. 2 sam. iii. 28 ▪ &c. psal. xc . 10. temburin . lib. 9. cap. 2. sect. 2. n. 4. doubts whether it be any sin. lovan . theses , anno ▪ 1645. make it but a venial sin. franc. amicus , in curs . theol. tom. 5. disp . 36. sect. 7. n. 118. adam . tanner . theol. schol. tom . 3. disp . 4. q. 8. n. 83. lessius de jure & just. lib. 2. c. 9. dub . 8. sect. 47. si nomini meo , &c. moralium quaest. tom . 2. tract . 29. c. 3. sect. 52. si quis detrahat falsis criminationibus apud viros honoratos — possit occidi , quando aliter famae damnum averti non potest . filliuc . lessius de jure & just. lib. 2. c. 9. dub . 12. sect 1 81. filliuc . ib. majora mala in rep. sequerentur . lessius de jure & iust. lib. 2. c. 9. dub . 8. sect. 47. — talis in rep. bene constitutâ ut homicida plecteretur . mat. 5. 44. 1 pet. 2. 23. rom. 13. 4. psal. 9. 12. psal. 58. 11. 1 sam 17. 37. 1 thes. 2. 16. psal. 127. 1 ▪ 118. 6. a sermon preach'd at crosby-square, jan. 8, 1692 upon the funeral of that faithful servant of christ, mr. john reynolds, who died in the lord the preceding 25 decemb. / by samuel slater ... slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1693 approx. 78 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60352 wing s3972 estc r37561 16973888 ocm 16973888 105573 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60352) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 105573) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1159:13) a sermon preach'd at crosby-square, jan. 8, 1692 upon the funeral of that faithful servant of christ, mr. john reynolds, who died in the lord the preceding 25 decemb. / by samuel slater ... slater, samuel, d. 1704. [4], 32 p. printed for j. lawrence ..., london : 1693. title within mourning border. advertisement: prelim. p. [4] reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -samuel, 2nd, i, 26 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-06 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2003-09 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-10 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2003-10 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preach'd at crosby-square , jan. 8. 1692. upon the funeral of that faithful servant of christ , m r. john reynolds , who died in the lord the preceding 25 decemb. by samuel slater , minister of the gospel . london , printed for i. lawrence at the angel in the poultrey . 1693. to m ris . reynolds . dear sister , all these things shall be dissolved , the very heaven and earth , and so must our relations , however delightful , for they are only for a time . death with its cold hand will easily loose the straitest knot that coupled the most suitable and affectionate pair : you frequently have heard and seen it , now you feel it . god hath been pleased to make a breach upon you , oh that he would fill it up by standing himself in it : by the father of mercies , and god of bowels , great and precious promises are made to the solitary , widow , which are yea and amen ; sue them out by prayer , and live upon them by faith. it is well with your deceased husband , and whatever straits and difficulties you may for a time meet with , i hope it will be so with you . what i heartily pray for you , is , that you may have a full enjoyment of god in the end , and receive supports from him by the way , together with fresh and full supplies of grace , peace and comfort . you by and with your son desir'd the printing of the following discourse , i could not deny you : now it sees the light , may it do good to you , and many more through the blessing of god accompanying it ; which will be the rejoycing of your sympathizing friend and brother , samuel slater . from my study , ian. 19. 92 / 3 newly published , and sold by john lawrence at the angel in the poultrey . a sermon preached on the thanksgiving-day , the 27th . of october , 1692. at crosby-square . by samuel slater , minister of the gospel . quarto . a good minister of iesus christ. a funeral sermon for the reverend mr. richard steel , a faithful and useful minister of the gospel . delivered novemb. 27. 1692. by george hamond , m. a. and minister of the gospel . octavo . mr. addy's short-hand is newly re-printed , the bible being printed in the same short-hand . octavo . 2 sam . i. 26. i am distressed for thee , my brother ionathan , very pleasant hast thou been unto me . the last chapter of the former book of samuel , gives us an account of a battle fought between the philistines and israel , in which the former had the victory , and the latter were put to flight , no less than three of saul's sons were slain , and alas ! of them ionathan was one ; and saul to avoid being killed and abused by such loathed hands , took a sword and fell upon it , which however it may be by some applauded as a brave and heroick action , was certainly unlawfull for him to do , wicked and abominable , whereby he became felo de se , and brought upon himself the guilt of his own blood ; but as he had lived , so he dyed under the power of an evil spirit . the dolefull tydings hereof being by an amalekite brought to david , it much affected and afflicted him , he lamented over them with a great lamentation , of which the words of my text are a part ; and in them two things present themselves to our observation . 1. what ionathan had been to david while he lived , very pleasant , and sweet , by consequence his life was exceeding desirable . 2. what david found himself to be , now that his ionathan had been so cut off , a poor distressed man , i am distressed for thee my brother ionathan ; for thee , i. e. for the loss which i , poor i have of thee , in whom so much of my comfort was laid up . thou art gone , for ever gone , thy place will know thee no more , and i both do and shall dearly miss thee . although he was sure shortly to possess the throne of saul the father , yet he should want the company of ionathan the son. by how much the life of ionathan had of all outward enjoyments been to him most sweet , by so much was his death of all temporal losses most grievous . i am distressed for thee , my brother ionathan , very pleasant hast thou been unto me . the doctrinal conclusion which i shall draw from these words , and prosecute in the following discourse , will be this , doct. when god doth take away from his own people their pleasant things , it brings them into distress . depriving providences are distressing providences . if you look into the 13 iob 26. you will find that good man complaining to god , that he did write bitter things against him ▪ if you ask , how did god do that ? i answer , by the hand of his providence ; though he had set down most precious things for him in his eternal purposes , yet he wrote bitter things against him in his present dispensations . he had stript him of all his outward comforts ; his estate was melted down , his cattel driven away , his servants slain , his children all buried in the ruines of the house which fell upon them while they were feasting together : god had in this way brought him from plenty to penury , and from great abundance to pinching want. he took his pleasant things from him , and in so doing he wrote bitter things against him . ionathan had been very pleasant to david , his tender and immovable love had very much sweetened to him the implacable hatred and violent rage of saul against him ; but now his death did imbitter his enjoyments and expectations , whatever he had in his hand , whatever in his hope , yet he had not his ionathan ; no , no , he is gone , he is gone never to return , he is slain in his high places , and therefore he lifts up a great and bitter cry , i am distressed . there are three things that i shall speak to in the doctrinal part , and then proceed to the application , which i principally have in mine eye . we shall enquire , 1. what rendered ionathan so pleasant unto david ? 2. what brought david into distress ? 3. what his being in distress doth import and hold out to us ? we begin with the first of these , what was it that rendered ionathan so very pleasant unto david ? to this i answer , there were sundry things which did happily concurr , and greatly contribute thereunto ; so many remarkable things did unite and meet in that one excellent person , so many singular ingredients , as that they could not choose but make in him such a composition of sweets , as would make him the pleasure and delight of david's soul. you may take some of them in these following particulars . first , the nearness of that relation in which he stood : this is mentioned in the text , my brother ionathan : not that he was his natural brother , but by marriage : not consanguinity but affinity ; david having married michal the daughter of saul , and sister of ionathan . but had this been alone , had it been all , it would not have been enough to make him so very pleasant : many times relations are bitter , they prove burdens and vexations to one another , and instead of rejoicing in the nearness of their union , they could even curse the first day of their acquaintance . how often is the wife a thorn in the side of her husband ? such was iob's wife to him ; the child an heart-break to his father ? such was absalom to david ; and the brother an affliction and terror to his brother ? so esam was to iacob , and cain to abel . there must be something beside the relation to sweeten it , otherwise the persons related will be mutual crosses and torments , instead of being pleasant , 113 psal. 1. behold , how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to walk together in vnity : this is like the precious ointment , like the dew of hermon , the dew that descended upon the mountains of zion ; there god commandeth the blessing . it is not nearness of relation , nor oneness of blood , nor any other strictness of bond that will be sufficient alone , but together with that there must be an oneness of mind and heart . thus it should be in families , and thus in churches , 2 acts 42. they continuing daily with one accord in the temple , did eat their meat with gladness : and again ; 4 acts 32. the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. brethren and united brethren , this is amiable indeed and delightfull , when they dwell together , meet and converse together , and all in unity ; so that there are no animosities and heart-burnings among them , no divisions and contrary motions , no quarrels and contentions , but harmony and agreement , this is good , a lovely sight , god and man count it so ; and it is pleasant , the joy and comfort of those persons lives . well then , this was not all in the present case ; there was not only a nearness of relation , but also secondly , there was in ionathan unto david a dearness of affection . not only such as was suitable to the relation , but above it ; such as too too often is not to be found in an own brother . for the proof of this , do but observe the expressions used in the scripture for the setting of it out ; 1 sam. 18. 1. when he had made an end of speaking unto saul , the soul of ionathan was knit with the soul of david . they were glewed together , fastened one to another , and bound together by the holy spirit of god : there was between them , as the philosopher saith , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one soul ; and read on , ionathan loved him as his own soul , which words are repeated in verse 3. he did really desire his good as his own , and sensibly felt his afflictions as his own , and heartily rejoyced in his prosperity , successes and honours , as if they had been his own ; they rejoyced and mourned together ; they sung and sighed , laugh'd and wept together . again , it is said in 1 sam. 19. 2. that ionathan delighted much in david : he was not only pleased with him , but he delighted in him too , and that not a little , but much : he was delighted to see his face , and to hear his discourses , and to be in his company . david was sensible of this , could not but take notice of it , you may see he did in the words immediately following the text , where he speaks of it in an high and lofty strain , that so he might the better shew the price he himself set upon it , and raise up in others the greater admirings of ionathan . thy love to me was wonderful , passing the love of women . as if he were a prodigy of love , the none-such of the age , yea of the world , and had such a pure and vehement flame as could not possibly be matcht : among men there was none to be found that came near it , nay it exceeded the love of women : which may be variously understood , and is by the learned . either thus : thy love to me is above that which men have , yea that which thou , my dearest brother , hadst for women : or thus , that love , which was in thine heart unto me , was above the love which is in the heart of women themselves . tho' they have strong affections , and violent passions , yet they come short of thine , are not to be compar'd with thine ; the most endearing wives do not love their husbands , the most affectionate mothers do not love their children , the fruit of their own wombs , at such a rate , to such a degree , as ionathan did his david . now this could not but make him very pleasant , for love is the beauty of all relations , it puts a sweetness into , and a gloss upon all societies ; yea it is the glory of heaven it self , where it is advanced to , and shall eternally continue in it's highest perfection , without the least languishing or diminution . but further , this love of ionathan to david was not dull and sluggish , a sleepy habit , but lively and active , hastily catching at , and laying hold upon all opportunities offered for the venting and expressing of it's self . and therefore , thirdly , the love of ionathan did signally evidence its self in a way of self denyal , and by the unparallel'd humility of his spirit . he was no conceited and lofty person , puffed up with pride , wholly confin'd to his own interest , and looking with contempt or jealousie upon them who were below him ; but most readily yielding to the interest of his brother , and cheerfully welcoming and embracing all means of promoting it . we may learn this from 1 sam. 18. 4. ionathan stript himself of his robe that was upon him , and gave it to david , and his garments , even to his sword , and to his bow , and to his girdle . good man , he now would have his david go like himself , arrayed in a courtly habit , as became the son-in-law to a king : he must put off the shepherd , and put on the prince , yea he should have his own robe ; that all who met with him might see ionathan in him , and accordingly respect and honour him as another ionathan ; yea , he gave him his very girdle , or belt , which was a great ensign , or badge of honour , and the principal ornament of a souldier ; thus he accounted nothing too good or too great for david . and tho' he full well knew that david should succeed his father in the throne , and be king in israel , yet he had no rising of heart against it , he did not at all envy him that royal preferment : no , no ; 1 sam. 23. 16. he went to him into the wood , and strengthened his hand in god : i. e. with the gracious promises that god had given him , putting him in mind of former assurances he had received , as is clear from the 17th . verse , he said unto him , fear not , for the hand of saul my father shall not find thee , and thou shalt be king over israel , and i shall be next unto thee : he was very well content not to insist upon the right line , but tho' as prince , heir of the crown , yet to resign it to david , and to be himself his inferior and subject : nor was he at all heated in his spirit against him , or alienated from him in affection by his fathers angry taunts , and upbraiding him with his having chosen the son of iesse to his own confusion , and to the confusion of his mothers nakedness . as if he should have said , thou dost by this means expose thy self and thy mother to reproach , none will look upon thee as my son , but a bastard , and of some mean and base original . fourthy , ionathan was true , and immoveably faithful to the interest of david . he was a cordial and sincere friend , as did appear by his stedfastness : as he was united to him in affection , so he would bind himself to him yet faster by a covenant . as in the 1 sam. 18. 3. ionathan and david made a covenant , and they did again renew it , in the 20 ch . 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , and 16 , verses . thus he added obligation to obligation , as if he thought he could never lay bonds enough upon himself , nor give unto david sufficient assurance of his sincerity and faithfulness , and that never dying friendship and kindness which he had with , and for him : he so loved david , that he feared himself , and was jealous of his own heart , lest it should afterward prove false and treacherous , and therefore he would bind it to its good behaviour . fifthly , such was the love of ionathan to david , that it put him upon being his advocate . oh how ready and forward was he at every turn to appear on his behalf , and plead his cause with his angry father , tho' he knew him to be very jealous of him , and desperately enraged and set against him , and could not but foresee that his standing up on his behalf would certainly bring his fathers displeasure , frown and indignation upon himself , yet he was resolved to act the part of a friend and brother to the utmost , and put his life in his hand , and speak , rather than by a timerous silence be wanting unto david . we find in the 1 sam. 19. 1. that saul spake to ionathan his son , and to all his servants , that they should kill david : he gave them command and commission to do it , but notwithstanding this , we read in the 4th . verse of the same chapter , that ionathan spake good of david unto saul his father , and said unto him , let not the king sin against his servant , even against david , because he hath not sinned against thee , and because his works have been to thee-ward very good . it was an argument of dear love , and a brave spirit , to speak so to his father at such a time . and he did the like again in the 1 sam. 20. 31 , 32. as long , saith saul , as the son of iesse liveth upon the ground , thou shalt not be established , nor thy kingdom , wherefore now send , and fetch him to me , for he shall surely dye . what now ! this went to ionathans heart , it was as a sword in his bones , the fire burned ; then spake he with his tongue , and said unto his father , wherefore shall he be slain ? what hath he done ? i. e. what evil hath he done , what one thing hath he done for which he deserves to dye ? and it is said , ver . 34. he did eat no meat the second day of the month , for he was grieved for david : he could not but think of david's case , and when he did think of it , it could not be without great sadness . sixthly , i shall add but this one thing further , ionathan was unto his david a ready and faithful counsellor : ready to give him timely notice of any danger that threatned him , and to acquaint him with the true state of things , and how matters went as to him , and to afford him the best advice he could for the steering of his course , and preservation of himself in so critical a time . thus in the 1 sam. 19. 2. when saul had declar'd his will to have him butcher'd , ionathan told him , my father seeketh to kill thee ; and thereupon directed him what to do , i pray thee , take heed to thy self until the morrow , and abide in a secret place , and hide thy self . and again afterward in the 20th . chapter , by the arrows which he shot , and the words which he spake to the lad , he gave him to understand how exceeding hazardous his continuance thereabout would be , and how necessary it was for him to provide for his own security as well as he could , and with all possible speed ; make speed , haste , stay not . shall we now take all these six particulars , and bind them up togegether thus : since ionathan was in so near a relation to david as his brother , and did bear him such a sincere and entire affection , could freely wave his own interest , and lay it at the foot of david , continued so faithful to him , and at all times ready to plead for him , and carefull to give him the best advice and counsel that he could , he must needs be very pleasant , exceeding desireable and delightful , he was very loving , and therefore very lovely . but alas ! david was not always to have his ionathan ; the knot is soon untied that had united and coupled this excellent pair . ionathan hath breath'd his last , his soul hath made it's escape out of his wounded body , and taken its flight into the other world. he is slain in his high places , and that brought david into distress ; and it brings me to the second thing which i promised to enquire into , viz. what was there in the case , that david should be so distressed ? what reason was there , that so good a man should be in such a plunge ? time was when we found him at ziklag , 1 sam. 30. which was burnt by the amalekites , the wives , and sons and daughters were taken captives , and the people spake of stoning him , and then he pluck'd up a brave spirit , and encouraged himself in the lord god. how then comes it to pass that upon this occasion , tho' sad enough , he cryeth out of his being distressed ? i shall give you my answer in these three things . first , i do not think he was brought into distress by any fears or dark apprehensions concerning the eternal state into which jonathan was now enter'd : surely he did not question but he was now in the bosom of divine love , though he had fallen by the cruel hand of a barbarous enemy , for he was a good man ; whosoever reads the story of his life , and considers his spirit and carriage , will find therein sufficient reason to conclude him not only truly gracious , but a person of an excellent and more than ordinary spirit , and from thence gather whatever was his exit out of this world , he had an entrance ministred to him abundantly into the glorious kingdom of his god and saviour : his dying upon the mountains of gilboa , could not at all hinder his direct , speedy , and joyfull ascent to the mountains of myrrhe and beds of spices , where he shall take a sweet and undisturbed repose to all everlasting . he had indeed his head not incircled with a crown , but laid in the dust , and so the earthly throne was left for david to fill , but he was advanced to one much above it , a throne of glory in heaven . i do not in the least doubt that david was abundantly satisfi'd about the happy exchange ionathan had made , and the goodness of that condition in which he now was , that if he might return again to be as he was before , he would not ; nor leave the clear vision , and immediate communion with the son and lord of david , for a fresh and further enjoyment of david himself . instead of making a descent to this lower , dirty and troublesom world , he would choose to continue where he now is , and take some delight in the thoughts of davids coming to him as soon as he had served his generation according to the will of god , and finished the work given him to do . but secondly , i judge him brought into this distress , by a reflection upon the manner of ionathans death : that he did not die in a natural way , but was cut off in his prime and flourishing age by a violent stroke , and that ( which was gall in the cup ) given by the hand of the uncircumcised ; it pained him at the very heart , to think , that that brave prince , who had been so eminently valiant and prosperous in fighting the battels of israel , whose bow turned not back from the blood of the slain , nor from the fat of the mighty , had now fallen a sacrifice to their fury , and was become the object of their boasting and triumph . hence it is that he did , as in an agony , cry out in the 20th . verse of this chapter , tell it not in gath , publish it not in askelon : conceal it from them , if it be possible conceal it from them , lest the daughters of the philistines rejoyce , lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph . poor soul , he knew not how to bear up under the thoughts of this , that those desperate enemies to his god and people , should rejoyce in the fall of his beloved ionathan , and with their unhallowed feet trample and dance upon his precious dust. but then thirdly , that which encreased his distress , and did yet much more straiten him , was the consideration of his own loss . we all know , that cordial friends , of good humour , are the great comfort of our lives . suppose a man hath a great confluence of mundane delights , waters of a full cup wrung out to him , more indeed than heart could wish , yet would he be miserable in the midst thereof , if he were friendless . god did not think it good for man to be alone , tho' in a paradise : he enjoyeth himself pitifully , that hath not a friend to enjoy . the sacred scripture speaking of a friend , adds this expression , 13 deuter. 6. who is as thine own soul ; i. e. as near and dear to thee as thy self , he is an alter ego , another self , a second self : so that when an intimate , entire friend is taken away by death , a man is almost torn in pieces , and loseth a very considerable part of himself . the wisest of men tells us in the 17 proverbs 17. a friend loveth at all times , and a brother is born for adversity . this was verified in ionathan , he was such a brother , endearing david in the clearest sunshine , and under the blackest clouds in fair weather and soul , in halcion days , and most tempestuous blustering storms , being always the same , whatever changes were to be found abroad ; he being tryed by adversity , was found faithful . when his father was his implacable enemy , he was his fast friend ; saul could not be more resolved to ruine him , than ionathan was studious of saving him . he stuck to david , and would not leave him , any more than ruth would her afflicted mother-in-law naomi , who spake thus to her , 1 ruth 17. where thou diest will i die , and there will i be buried , the lord do so to me , and more also , if ought but death part thee and me . his fathers enmity and hatred of david could not part them ; if for that he did not love him the better , for certain he pityed him the more . his fathers displeasure and indignation against him for loving of david , could not part them : but death came , it may be , unexpectedly , and by way of surprize , and did that which nothing else could do , it parted them , and now whatever friends david still had about him , he had lost the best . he had not his ionathan , among all the rest he could not find one like ionathan ; and therefore when he thought of it , yea dwelt in his thoughts upon it , as he could not choose but do , he found himself wounded , and in pain , so that he could not forbear crying out in our text , i am distressed for thee my brother . so we are got to the third and last thing which i said was to be enquired into , viz. the import of the word : what may we look upon as the meaning of david , when he saith , he was distressed ? i shall give you my thoughts of it in these two things . by this word he intimates . 1. the greatness of the loss he sustained . 2. the intimate sense he had of it . first , by saying he was distressed , he signifieth the greatness of the loss , the soreness of the affliction . it lay heavy upon him , being no common stroke , no ordinary blow ; not the blasting of a sorry gourd , but withering a plant of renown , a principal stud was faln . this was such a loss , as every one could not meet with ; none but a david could lose , so lose his ionathan . it must be granted , his death was a publick loss , all good men had a share in it , but his own was more than double . his brethren had a loss , let their eyes be fountains of tears ; his family had a loss , let them put on sackbloth , and be cloathed in mourning ; all israel hath had a loss , let them hang their harps upon the willows , but their loss , put them all together , is not comparable to mine , mine is by far the greatest : i have lost my right hand : i have lost my companion , my counsellor , my comforter : my loss is such , as that it cannot be made up to me by any man upon earth , but only by a god in heaven , from whom came all that sweetness that i found in ionathan , and in whom there is infinitely more . secondly , by saying he was distressed , he giveth us to understand the deepness and intimacy of that sense which he had of this his loss . he felt it , for it went to the quick , and struck him to the very heart ; this was such a blow as he did not well know how to bear , he was troubled at it , and bowed down greatly , feeble and sore broken , so that he was scarce able to outlive it ; therefore here he draws up the flood-gates , spends the strength of his sorrow , pours out his last and heaviest groan . we may conceive him speaking thus to himself : i easily yield some sorrow to be due to saul , as bad as he was , because israels king , chosen and appointed of god , one that had been anointed with oyl , yet i can bear with his death ; for tho' he was king , and my father-in-law , yet he was my irreconcileable enemy , who hated me with a cruel hatred , and hunted me as a partridge upon the mountains , therefore his death i look upon not as my affliction , but deliverance ; accordingly some tears i will drop over him , and bestow a sigh or two there , but can soon wipe mine eyes , and dry my cheeks again , leaving sorrow and mourning upon his account as a business more proper for them who find themselves concern'd : 2 sam. 1. 24. ye daughters of ierusalem , weep over saul , who cloathed you in scarlet , with other delights , who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel . you have reason , for he was your friend and benefactor . as for mourning over ionathan , that is my province , my business , and i undertake it , and will go about it with all my might , there is none to be found in israel that i will trust with it , none that can do it so well as my self , there being none so much concerned , none so inwardly sensible , none so great a sufferer , none so deeply wounded , i am distress'd for him , brought into a great strait : while i had him , my heart was enlarged with love to him , and joy in him ; how did it flame , how did it leap , how strong was my affection , how high my delight ; but now he is gone , those comforts are gone with him ; my heart is pent and opprest , my sun is set , and i am clouded , benighted , left alone to bemoan my self . we have finished the doctrinal part , and now come to the improvement of all in a way of application : and there are only three things which i shall bring in as so many corollaries , and speak to , in order to the making the late providence and my present discourse profitable to you . use 1. from hence learn the weak slippery hold you have of all your worldly comforts . tho' your title to them be good , the best that can be , founded not only upon providence , but covenant , yet they may slip thro' your fingers before you are aware , your possession is not sure : whatever sweetness you taste in them , whatever expectations you have from them , they may take their leave , and disappoint you , there by at once proving their own vanity , and your vexation . hence they are called things that are not , because they have so little of being , are of so uncertain continuance , and no further removed from nothing . they are here to day looking pleasantly , but may be gone to morrow , yea before , and leave you drown'd in tears : fragrant flowers they are , by which you are at present greatly refreshed , but know not how soon they may wither in your hands . you greatly rejoice in your loving friends , dear relations , faithful ministers , but their breath is in their nostrils , and wherein are they to be accounted of ? ionah was exceeding glad of the gourd , under the refrigerating shadow whereof he sate comfortably and at ease in a scorching day , but a worm smote it that it dyed , by this the good man was transported into an excess of passion , and disordered throughout . iob complained not without cause , iob 10. 17. that changes and wars were upon him , or against him ; a multitude , a variety of changes , they trod upon the heels of one another , so that he was at no time safe , knew not what a settlement meant , could not say , the morrow will be as this day ; nay , he could not commend one day before the night ; the fairest morning he had seen overcast , and converted into a blustering afternoon . he that hath the most eagle-eye , and pierceth into mysteries , cannot look into the purposes of god concerning his present state , nor into the womb of providence , so as to tell aforehand what a day will bring forth . the gross mistakes of every almanack about the weather , proclaim the impudence and ignorance of the star-gazers , and it is to be attributed to the patience and mercy of god that he doth not strike those diviners mad . as god hath a variety of mercies and blessings , so that day unto day sheweth love , and night unto night faithfulness , he compasseth his children with favour as a shield , loads them with benefits , and we may say , many such things are with him , so hath he great store of afflictions and exercises for them too ; an house of bondage , an howling wilderness , and a red sea. before you have finished your course , pass'd through the world , and enter'd into your rest , you may be sure of changes , but none of you can tell what those changes will be , how god will try you , nor in what vein bleed you : now through mercy you have your comforts , but know not how little awhile you shall have them , ruth 1. 20 , 21. call me not naomi , call me marah , for the lord hath dealt bitterly with me : i went out full , and the lord hath brought me home again empty : the comforts of life are not sure , for life it self is not , that is at best a vapour , and may be soon exhal'd . upon this account , let the advice i shall give in four things be acceptable to you . first , do not overvalue any of those outward good things you have : do not withhold from them that which is meet . there is a love and delight due to them according to the several degrees of excellency which they have , and of nearness in which they stand to you ; this is a debt you owe them , and what you owe you are obliged to pay , if you do not , divine justice may come upon you for it . oh that you would wisely consider how dreadful and tormenting a sting it would be to you at the last , if conscience ( which is now a curious observer of you , and all the passages of your lives ) should arrest you , and say , man , woman , thou art now fetching thy last breath , a dying creature , ready to launch into eternity , and to appear before the tribunal of god ; but know , thou diest desperately in debt to thy friends , thy relations , and thy family ; thou hast lived with them , and conversed with them , but not carried toward them as thou oughtest to have done ; thou didst not abound in those expressions of love which thou shouldest ; nay , thou didst want the love its self ; thou didst not take that care of them thou shouldest , neither care of their bodies nor of their souls : indeed it is no wonder that their souls were neglected by thee , since thou didst not at all mind thine own , thou wast not so kind to them as civility would have taught thee to have been , but morose and chubbid ; at one time thy carriage was strange , at another thou didst put on the countenance of a fury ; thy words were cutting like sharp swords , nor didst thou hold thy hands , but they lighted heavy upon the wife of thy bosom , ( unnatural brute as thou art ) whom thou shouldest have been tender over , and loved as thine own flesh . as for you that are herein guilty , i cannot but tell you , your relations now feel the want of your love , and care , and kindness , but you will then feel the smart and horrour of your having been so willingly and wickedly wanting to your duty : therefore amend your wayes , and put away the evil of your doings from before the eyes of god ; learn your duty , and chearfully apply to the doing of it , do it all , do it more and more , take delight and pleasure in doing it : love them , love to love them , let your love continue , let it abound , convince them of your loving them , that whatever other wants they may have , they may be sure of this , that they do not want your love. but still , do not overdo : love god as much as ever you can , because him you cannot love too much ; you cannot bestow too much upon him to whom you owe more than all you have amounts to , therefore there give your affections their full liberty , lay the reins upon their neck ; but when you have to do with creatures , take heed to your selves , and love with caution ; let there be a true , honest and faithful heart , but yet a weaned heart . there is a great difference between endearing and doting , study and practise the former , avoid the latter , 1 cor. 7. 29. it remaineth that they that have wives be as though they had none : and the same is to be said of others , let those that have husbands be as tho' that had none , and they that have children , and they that have brethren , sisters and friends : too much love layes a foundation , and makes way for too much sorrow ; if while you have comforts you are not as tho' you had none , i am sure , when you weep , you will not be as though you wept not : alas you will scarce find in your heart how to resign that which you have fixed your heart upon . in such a case , and unto such a person , the taking away of a comfort , or the dissolving of a relation will be not as the putting off a garment , but rending the very caul of your heart . secondly , wisely and carefully improve your comforts while you have them : be as good husbands as possibly you may , they may not abide long with you , therefore while they do , suffer them not to lye dead upon your hands . have you friends and relations ? draw from them all possible soul advantages ; labour you to be the better for them , and do your utmost , that they may be the better for you ; be mutually helpful one to another , quickening , warming , strengthening one another , provoking to love and good works . that proverb is not to be slighted , for wisdom is in it , make hay while the sun shines . by present diligence prevent those idle and unprofitable wishes that come too late ; oh that i had been wiser , oh that i had done so and so . do you now , and every day think and repeat the thoughts of this , who have husbands and wives , brethren and sisters , children and servants , ministers and people ; and you that walk together in an holy communion , meeting in the same assembly , attending upon the same ordinances , and sitting at the same table , and let these thoughts be mighty in their operation . and as it ought to be thus with reference to your friends and relations , so to your estates and possessions . many are all the year round digging like moles in the earth , scraping , raking and heaping up of riches , as if there would be no end of their days , but they should live here alway : like the horse-leeches daughter , they never say it is enough , as some never think they have sinn'd enough , but drink in iniquity like water , and draw it with cart-ropes ; so these never think they have got enough , in the fulness of their sufficiency they apprehend themselves in straits . would these persons hearken to me , i would advise them to be ready to communicate , and do all the good they can to others , since they do not know how soon they may die , and so have no more opportunities for charity and usefulness in the world. by acts of bountiful compassion make sure of something considerable , that you may carry with you , before death comes to take you from all , and all from you : what thy hand findeth to do , either in works of piety or charity , speed the doing of it , do it with all thy might , considering there is no work , nor device , nor invention in the grave , whither thou art going , eccl. 9. 10. thirdly , provide for changes : expect them , and arm your selves , that when they come , they may not do you a fatal mischief . do not say as david did in his prosperity , 30 psalm . 6. i shall never be moved , tho' thou thinkest the lord by his favour hath made thy mountain to stand strong . dream not of such a settlement upon earth , as knoweth no shaking , thou mayst quickly be moved , and thy mountain too ; thy mountain , as big as it looks , may dwindle , and shrink it self up into a molehill , or the hand of divine providence may take it and cast it into a sea of trouble . notwithstanding the height of his confidence , he soon found it so , and in the next words hath left his experience upon record , for the teaching us to cherish in our selves more solid and sober thoughts , thou didst hide thy face , and i was troubled . god doth not need to arm against us , nor throw his thunderbolts , it is but hiding of his face , that is enough to cover us with the shadow of death , and put all into confusion ; and this , or any thing else that god pleaseth to do , may be done in the twinkling of an eye : therefore under the warmest and most comfortable beams of divine favour , under the brightest shinings forth of the face of god , we should think of a cloud , and in the highest spring tide of creature comforts prepare for as low an ebb. it doth not indeed upon any account become us to give way unto those fears , that would deprive us of the comfort of our enjoyments ; nor when god hath put a cup of consolation into our hands go about to imbitter it to our selves with the frightful apprehensions of that which may never be . but it is our wisdom in the serenest day , and when there is peace round about , to cherish those prudent fears which may enable us to look terror in the face , without being distracted by it , and to endure evil , without having our hearts broken by it . there is nothing lost , no hurt done by a calm , sedate propounding difficult cases to our selves . as thus : now i am full , but i may be emptyed as from vessel to vessel . now i am cloathed with silk and beautiful garments , but god may strip me of these and put sackcloth upon my loins : now i have a convenient stately house , richly hung and furnished , but sons of violence may break in and steal , or a fire may burn it down to the ground , so that i shall not have where to lay mine head : now i have a dear and loving husband who careth for me , but i may lose him , and be brought to a state of desolate widowhood : now i have enough , and to spare , an overplus for the relief of the poor , but the time may come wherein i shall want necessaries , and pine away , stricken thrô for lack of the fruits of the field . my soul , how wilt thou be able to bear up , if it should please god to bring it to this ? thou knowest how to abound with joy , and to eat thy bread at a plentiful table with a merry heart ; but dost thou know how to be contented in a time of want and scarcity , and to rejoyce in the god of thy salvation in a day of famine , as the holy prophet could , 3 habbuk . 17 , 18. fourthly , seek for , and diligently look after those things which you cannot lose , nor be deprived of . in the midst of the uncertainty you live at , as to all the comforts of this present world , make sure of something ; i mean , something that is worth your pains to get , and that it is your interest to keep . in the 17 psalm 14. we read of the men of the world , that their bellies are fill'd with hid treasures ; and possibly so is their bags , and their cherts , and their houses too , all full , and that not of trash , but treasure : but poor creatures , this is their misery , that they have their portion in this life . they have a portion , and it looks great , makes an huge noise , but alas ! it is only in , and for his life . we read also of the sure mercies of david , 55 isa. 3. incline your ear , and come unto me , hear , and your soul shall live , and i will make an everlasting covenant with you , even the sure mercies of david ; now be you so wise as to mind them . it is very good to be sure , excellent to have that which is so . christ told martha , in a way of friendly reproof to her , that mary her sister had chosen the good part , which should never be taken from her ; neither by god , who was too good to do it , nor by men and devils , who were too weak : that was a wise choice , be you perswaded to make it . take not up with that which may leave you , and which sooner or later you must leave . sit not down with any thing that thieves may break thro' , and steal , or that moths can corrupt , or rust can fret , or time shall see the end of . look out for christ , who is the everlasting father , and able to save to the utmost of your needs , and dangers , and desires , and of eternity too ; pray for the spirit , he will abide with you for ever ; grace will grow up to glory , and holiness bring you to an happiness that knows neither measure nor end . follow the noble example which was set you by the holy apostles , and primitive christians taught of god , who 2 corinth . 4. 18. looked not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen , because the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen are eternal . spiritual blessings in heavenly places , and things , are of all good things the best , and also the most lasting . riches and honour are with wisdom : but what ! such riches as take unto themselves wings , and flee away , such honour as is a vain and vanishing breath ? no , no ; durable riches and righteousness , 8 prov. 18. when all worldly enjoyments take their last farewell , leaving you for ever , you need not look upon your selves as persons undone , but say , for all this the lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place ; still i have a god here , and i shall have an heaven hereafter . vse 2. learn , that it is both the duty and interest of persons in relation , to study and endeavour the being pleasant to one another . ionathan was so to his brother david , and by being so , he obtained a good report , in the text , very pleasant hast thou been unto me . this is a fair and lovely copy for us to write after , drawn by an excellent hand ; let us all imitate it , and come up to it as near as we can : whether we stand in natural or civil , or church-relation , whether conjugal , parental , or filial ; whether we are masters , mistresses , servants , fellow-citizens , or church-members , let us labour to sweeten that relation , and to render our selves as easie and acceptable as possibly may be to one another , that we may not be as thorns in one anothers sides , nor pricks in one anothers eyes ; there will be aloes enough , we had need bring good store of honey . it is an excellent command the scripture gives , follow peace with all men , go and do it ; follow peace abroad , tho' it run from you follow it , but be sure to keep peace at home ; yea , not only peace , but pleasantness too , and both these are to be found in the ways of wisdom , 3 ▪ prov. 17. her ways are ways of pleasantness , and all her paths are peace : see then that ye walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise . a great deal of benefit will be the fruit and effect hereof ; your relations will have the comfort of it while providence continues you with them , and so will your selves also : and besides that , you will have the comfort of it when you come to die , a reflection thereupon will be exceeding cordial , and over and above you will have the honour of it after death . nabal was a very chub , a morose and ill-natur'd fellow ; well , what did his servants say of him behind his back while he lived , see 1 samuel 25. 17. he is such a son of belial , that a man cannot speak to him : and what did his prudent wife say of him after he was dead , 25 verse of the same chapter , let not my lord regard this man of belial , even nabal , for as his name is , so is he , nabal is his name , and folly is with him ; whereas by your being pleasant to your friends and relations , you will raise a monument to your own honour , far better than absolam's pillar ; and tho' your body will corrupt in the grave , and return to dust , yet your name will be embalmed , and your memory blessed . and to this end i commend to you by way of advice , these three things , desiring you to put them in practice . first , let your love be sincere , hearty , constant and free ; a self-evidencing love , that there may be more ground and reason to believe it than your bare say so : be sure that your relation carry along with it all the affection that it calls for , and all the desireable fruits of that affection . it is this , my friends , that makes every thing savoury , and puts a good relish into it ; take this away , and all that remains is nothing else but bitterness . what is communion and cohabitation without love , but a constant burden ? and what are services but ungrateful ? and what is it that makes them so , when they are good in themselves ? nothing but their coming from such an hand . the conjugal yoke will be very heavy , and pinch and gall if it be not lin'd with love : and is there not reason ? did not god reject and abhorr all that the hypocritical and profane iews did in his worship upon this very account , because he knew they did not love him : isai. 29. 13. this people draw near me with their mouth , and with their lips do honour me , but have removed their heart far from me . and for that cause he delighted not in the blood of bullocks , or rams , or he-goats , but their oblations were vain , their incense an abomination , and their solemn meetings iniquity . why was ionathan so very pleasant to david ? the words immediately following the text tell us , thy love to me was wonderful . secondly , labour for , and in all your converses be expressive of a sweetness of temper ; there is without peradventure , a great deal lieth in the natural disposition . many persons , who are enriched with the true grace of god , are notwithstanding that , burdens to themselves , and very uneasie to their friends , because of the untowardness of their temper . i have heard of a person very eminent for his place and learning , yea and godliness too , of whom yet it was said , tho' he had grace enough for ten men , he had not grace enough for himself : the soil was rank , and the weeds that grew in it got to such an height , that too often they overtopt the divine plantation . is it not too ordinary and common to find some imperious and lordly , others fretful and peevish ? some are lions , and others are wasps ; every little thing almost unhingeth , and puts them out of humour ; they are angry for trifles , the very wagging of a feather , by no means enduring a contradiction in their speeches , or a being crost in their wills ; but all must study their humour , and comply with it , otherwise they will be all on a flame , and soon make the house too hot : but this will not do , they are to be greatly condemned , and those that live with them to be as greatly pitied , specially those that are stak'd down , and must bide by it . the lord give them of his comforts , for indeed they have cross enough . as for you that are so much friends to your selves , as to desire a being pleasant to those that are concerned with you , labour to file off this ruggedness ; rectifie your own spirits , conquer your selves , pray and labour for a mastery over your unruly passions . get that meek and quiet spirit , which is an ornament of great price in the sight of god , 1 pet. 3. 4. a singular friend of mine , by nature hasty and furious , attained to so great a victory over himself , by prayer , reading of and meditation upon the history of christ , that none could put him into a discomposure . make you use of the same remedy , remembring ; that which is to sweeten other things , must it self be much more so . wormwood and gall are very improper means for so excellent an end. thirdly , give diligence that ye may know the whole duty of your place , and make conscience of doing whatsoever you know to be so . contribute all that is within the compass and reach of your power , to the spiritual , eternal good , and temporal comfort of those with whom you have to do . it is a very good commendation which lemuel's mother gives of a virtuous woman , 31 prov. 26. that she opens her mouth with wisdom , and in her tongue is the law of kindness . she hath a liberty to speak , it is her right , but she useth it with discretion and affection ; and when her lips are opened , specially to her husband , they drop like an honey-comb : there you see the amiableness of her temper and conversation . but that is not all , there was another curious stroke given in her picture before , a choice character in the 12th . verse , she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life . she is carefull to avoid doing evil , ready and constant in doing good , yea all the good she can , being , as paul would have every one , unwearied in well-doing . oh! this is a noble life , what our precious lord and saviour led while upon earth : he went up and down doing good , therein leaving us an example , that we may tread in his steps . do good , all of you , in those several places in which providence hath set you , all the good you can , fill them up with love and duty ; and do good to the several persons you have to do with : let nothing be wanting in you in order to their being really the better for you , their souls being the better for you , that they may have cause to say , blessed be god that ever i lived in such a family , that ever i had such a wife , was married to such an husband , descended of such parents , served such a master and mistress . you will then be pleasant indeed , when you are profitable , when you teach the ignorant , and reduce the wanderer ; when you enlighten the dark mind , and blow up the languishing flame ; when you strengthen the weak hands , and confirm the feeble knees . and i beseech you , seriously consider with your selves , why god did make the woman , and order out the conjugal relation ; and we may say the same of others : it was that persons in those relations might be helps meet for one another . and truly that person lives to no purpose , that doth not live to good purpose ; and he doth not live to good purpose , who doth not live to that purpose for which god made him , and sent him , and set him in the place where he is : that person who is an useless vessel , i do not , and you need not wonder , if he be a vessel in which there is no pleasure . all that know him , may look upon him as an unprofitable burden to the earth , and so he may be to his friends , for he doth nothing else but take up a room , and cumber the ground . use third . since the taking away of pleasant things doth bring saints themselves in distress , we may learn how weak , impotent and inconsiderable a creature man is . the royal prophet tells us , 39 psal. 5. verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity . this is a truth , i have searched it , i have found it , i am sure of it ; verily it is so , not onely some men , those that are poor and sickly and silly , but every man , the youngest , the strongest , the wisest , the most holy ; and that not only at some times , and in some conditions , when he is diseased and discompos'd , but at his best state , when he is most himself , when his faculties and powers of soul and body are raised up to the highest pitch , and most in tune for work , then , even then , he is vanity . he not only hath some vanity in him , some mixture of vanity , some dross with his gold , some water with his wine , but he is vanity : he may e'en be defined by it ; nay more , he is altogether vanity , it over-spreads him , it runs through the whole , from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head he is vanity . in se uno omne genus vanitatis complectitur : in himself alone he contains all sorts of vanity : if any one is lost , it may be found again in man. the several and manifold lines of vanity meet in man as in the centre of them . the doctrin we have been discoursing of , is one proof and evidence hereof . david was a good man , a godly man , a man after gods own heart , a man of war , a man of mettal and courage ; when but a stripling , he did not fear goliah an huge and mighty gyant , before whom all israel trembled ; yet when god was pleased to deprive him of his friend and brother , to take from him his ionathan , he was distressed . how great strangers are all of us at home , and how much unacquainted with our selves ! it is very usual for good men to be mistaken about themselves , and that among others in these two cases : they do not know how much they can do and suffer , when god is with them : that which to them seem'd intolerable at a distance , feels light when upon them ; they can sing under that which they thought would have broken their hearts . hence a good man once said , i was in prison till i was in prison . on the other side , they do not know how little they can do or suffer , if god be pleased to subduct from them , and cometh not in to their assistance . this made confident peter tell our lord , though all men should deny him , yet he would not ; whereas , when the temptation came , though iudas betrayed him , and the rest of the disciples forsook him , yet peter was the only man of them that denyed him . but let us return to the business before us . afflictive providences may , and oft-times do , bring the best saints into distresses ; and those not only outward in their condition , so that they shall be compast about with difficulties , and hemm'd in on every side , as israel was at the red sea ; but likewise inward in their spirits , so as to be brought to their wits-end , and almost to their faiths end ; they know not which way to turn them , nor what course to steer : they are at a loss both how to bear the affliction upon them , and what to do in the case . first , afflictions , such afflictions may be order'd to good men , as may bring them into those distresses that they shall not know how to bear it . this is often seen and felt . david did not know how to bear the death of absalom , but went up and down like a bedlam , wringing his hands , and crying , would god i had died for thee , o absalom , my son , my son , 2 sam. 18. 33. ionah could not bear the non-fulfilling of his prophecy concerning the destruction of niniveh , nor the withering of his gourd , for he would have had god take his life from him , and told him to his face , he did well to be angry , even unto death , 4 ionah 3 , and 9 verses . thus the spirit is roil'd , the patience is spent , and the heart fires and flames . in the 73 psalm , holy asaph seeing the prosperity and flourishing state of the wicked , while he was daily under a pressing load of afflictions , and the violent hurries of temptation , cried out , ver. 26. that his flesh and his heart failed . have not some of us heard poor creatures under some sore and heavy blow given them by the hand of god , crying out in the agony and bitter anguish of their spirits , this is such a loss i cannot bear it ? little considering that iob did bear more than is laid upon them , and when all was gone at a clap , fell down and worshipped , saying , the lord hath given , and the lord hath taken , blessed be the name of the lord. neither do they consider , that nothing is happened to them , but what is common to man ; and what reason is there for extraordinary passions , when there is nothing but ordinary providences . once more , they do not consider , what the apostle saith , viz. that god is faithful , who will not suffer his people to be tempted above what they are able , but will so graciously and tenderly order that they shall be able to bear it . forbear such expressions . the church understood her self , and spake very wisely when she said , 7 micah 9. i will hear the indignation of the lord : and if she could bear indignation , you may very well resolve to bear affliction . secondly , afflictions do sometimes bring good men into such afflictions , as that they do not know what to do under them . that is an usual cry , things are so and so with me , that i cannot tell what to do : i do not know in all the world what i shall do . and indeed it must needs be exceeding sad with that person who is brought to such a loss : now i shall say these two things to such persons as these are . first , those distresses which amount to this , are too much , and rise to too great an height ; and you may thank your selves for them . be the affliction which you meet with what it will , it is not too much , nor too great ; not such as god could have laid on , nor as you did deserve : so ezra acknowledged in his 9th . chapt. 13 v. thou our god hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve . remember it is of gods ordering out , all whose wayes are mercy and truth , to them that fear his name , and keep his covenant ; who doth all things to his people with wisdom and in love , measuring out the potion , and weighing the burden , that there may not be a grain more than is necessary and fit . but this sore distress is a great deal too much , into which thou hast thrown thy self by thy unbelief and impatience . what meanest thou by saying , this i cannot bear ? from whom comes it ? was it not from god ? and if from god , it is thy duty to bear it . the lord jesus knew better , and spake better , when he said , shall i not drink of the cup which my father hath given me to drink of ? 18 ioh. 11. and how will you avoid it ? how can you help your selves ? can you shake off the burden ? if not , you must bear it . thine arrows stick fast in me , said david , 38 psal : 2. v. yes , too fast for him to pull out with all the strength he had . see to it , that you bear it becomingly , submissively , like a child whose will is bowed to the will of god , and swallowed up by it . let patience have its perfect work . be the present load what it will , if you will not bear it , you take a course to bring upon your selves an heavier . what doth a wild bull in a net do when he tosseth , and kicks , and flings , but intangles himself the more ? he had better be quiet . again , art thou thy self when thou sayest , i know not what to do ? have you been in the school of christ , and taught of god , and yet such a dunce as not to know what to do ? you ought to know and do too . your work is before you , and will you not see it ? i beseech you to sit down , and recollect your selves , seriously commune with your own hearts , propound the question , what is the will of god concerning me ? there is no state or condition in which you are or can be , but therein you may find something , yea enough to do . you may do something to please and honour god , and something to help and profit your selves : you may therein set faith at work , and patience at work : a time of affliction is the proper season for those graces to yield their fruit , those spices to flow forth . now act submission to the divine will : here am i , let him do what seemeth good unto him : fall to improving of the affliction , get meat out of the eater , honey from the carkase of the lion , that what hath devoured thy comforts , may seed thy graces ; see if you cannot by an holy chimistry extract gains out of losses , and turn iron into gold : try what advantage you can make of the sickness that consumes you , of the pain that grinds and tortures you ; what life you can fetch out of the grave , the death of such a friend or relation ; there is no affliction with which we are exercised , but it puts into our hands an opportunity for some special work or other ; there is no condition but what hath a particular duty belonging to it . do not say , i am now altogether useless and unserviceable ; who is it that hath made thee so ? god hath not , have a care thou dost not make thy self so : what thô thy work doth not lie where it did , it lieth somewhere , find it out , and do it . i most freely and readily grant , you cannot do your present duty , nor any thing else in your own strength , as it ought to be done . you cannot stir a finger without divine concurrence , nor lift up a prayer , unless the spirit set his hand to it ; there must be an helping of the infirmity , else no performance of the duty . it is one above that worketh both to will and to do , of his own good pleasure : but however , go you about your work , set to it heartily , and in good earnest , going for strength where it is to be had : seek it in , and from christ , in whom it is laid up for you . to this purpose , for your encouragement , remember that of paul in the 4 phil. 13. i can do all things thrô christ , who strengtheneth me . upon the gracious conveyances of life , spirit and power from christ , he is able to do the work of a christian , and of an apostle , to resist temptation , to bear affliction , and glory in tribulation : he was able wisely to improve what he had , and willingly to part with it ; able to deny himself , and yet enjoy himself , when he had done so . in short , while you bitterly complain , that you know not what to do , have a care you do not overdo , in inflaming your own wounds , afflicting and sinking your own spirits , when the hand of god hath touched you . secondly , labour to extricate your selves , and with all possible speed procure your own deliverance and enlargement out of these distresses . submit to the loss god hath order'd out to you , and to the affliction with which you are exercised : hath he brought you into the dust , lay your mouths there , and lie quietly till he bring you forth to the light , and shew you his smiles and salvation ; but get out of the distress as fast as may be , only see that it be in the right way . be content that a storm should be upon thy tabernacle as long as god will have it there , but command thy soul to be silent , and still , and as soon as thou canst , recover the calm of thy spirit . our lord and saviour of his own accord came to do the will of his father , and without hesitancy yielded to a suffering condition , not running from it to the last , but breathing out his last upon a cross , but his agony did not last long ; very sharp indeed it was , so that therein he sweat drops of blood , but it was short , and quickly went over again , and in all his after trials he expressed a full and most sweet composure of soul , and carried it with a true greatness of spirit . there should be in us a due sense of losses and afflictions ; otherwise we shall be guilty of offering an affront unto god , and putting a slight upon him ; and we shall prejudice our selves by not serching that good out of an actiction which we might : but still we must be careful to moderate our grief as much as possibly we can , both as to degree and duration , returning to a right and even temper . it is most honourable for the christian , and comfortable to him , when grace doth that which time will. in order hereunto , i advise these four things . first , ease your selves in a way of prayer . it is indeed very good , when an oppressed person can broach the vessel , and give his sorrow vent in tears : i my self have known some ( among others an eminent and noble lady ) so full of sorrow , that their hearts were ready to break , relieved by weeping , when all their friends that came to comfort them , prov'd physicians of no value ; but the best , and most excellent way , is to mingle tears and prayers together . weep over your afflictions if you can , but withal go and tell your father of them , pouring out the complaints and desires of your souls into his bosom . poor hannah was in great distress , having an adversary in the house with her , who multiplied provocations to make her fret , whereupon she became bitter of soul : in that case she tried what god would do , and sought unto him , 1 samuel 1. 10. she wept sore ; that she could not help , nor did she endeavour it , tears have their rhetorick , but she also prayed : and o! how much did she gain by it , what abundance of peace , what quietness and comfort did her prayer fetch into her ! it is said , ver . 18. she went away , and her countenance was no more sad : while she was praying , god gave her a gracious smile , a look of love , and she was a cheerful woman ever after . faith and prayer will do the work , notwithstanding the difficulties of it , and scatter the clouds , be they never so thick . the more a gracious soul relies on god in a way of believing , and seeks him in a way of humble , fervent supplication , the easier will every burden be to it , the lighter every affliction , and the more comfortable every condition . secondly , put the most fair and candid sense you can upon providences ; and make the best interpretation of every thing god doth with you . we should have both honourable thoughts of it , and amicable too , for he is too righteous to do wrong to any of his creatures , and too gracious to do hurt to any of his children . when our lord had open'd the ears of the deaf man , and loos'd his tongue , the people said 7 mark 37. he hath done all things well : say the same of god , for it is true : he doth not fail in any of his undertakings , nor miscarry in any of the works of his hands , but doth all things like himself , like a god. do not only assert this of his providences in general , but bring it down , and apply it to particular dispensations . he hath done well in this , and well in that , 119 psalm 65. thou hast dealt well with thy servant , o lord , according to thy word : 71 verse , it is good for me that i have been afflicted . 75. i know , o lord , that thy judgments are right , and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me ; go ye , and do likewise . he hath done well in emptying me , for had i continued full , i might have grown proud , and denied him , saying , who is the lord : he hath done well in taking my husband , my father , my teacher from me , for being ripe for heaven , he was gathered . he had finished that work which was given him to do ; and it is more than a thousand pities that a good man should outlive his work , or stay in a place where he hath nothing to do : it is pity but that a faithful servant of christ , when he hath dispatch'd the business he came for , should forthwith be taken up to his rest , and have an entrance granted him into the ioy of his lord : believe this also , that in all god's dealings with you , he intends you a kindness ; if a raven be sent to elijah , it shall carry food for him ; the very rod blossoms with love , and bears the peaceable fruit of righteousness . iacob was mistaken , when he said , 42 gen. 36. all these things are against me : good man , he little knew then what god was doing for him . do you rather say with paul , 8 romans 28. we know that all things work together for good , to them that love god ; this shall work so , and that likewise . thirdly , look off from the afflictions you feel , to the mercies you have ; from the comforts you have lost , to those that are yet left . god might have stript you of all , for you have made frequent forfeitures . we took notice before of god's dealing with vpright iob , who in a little time was deprived of all , brought to the ashes , having his body over and above smitten with fore boils , from the sole of his foot , even to his crown , yet had he then something left him for his support and comfort , viz. the witness of his conscience . tho' his wife was very unkind , a thorn in his side , and spake bitterly , when she bade him curse god , and die ; yet conscience was within him like a bird of paradise that sung sweetly , while it told him , he was not wicked , and bare testimony to his integrity . god hath taken from you an husband , a father , a wife , a mother , a child , one child after another , a dear brother or sister , a faithful friend , a diligent labourer in the vineyard : but ask your selves the question , what hath god left me ? and be sure that the present loss , be it what it will , do not so corrupt and vitiate thy palate , as that thou shouldest not taste the remaining mercy : rather let the mercy which remains influence thy spirit to the alleviating of the present loss , and enabling thee to bear thy burden the better . possibly some here have lost the husband , or father is dead , estate is spent , debtors are broke , trade fails , all is gone , and no visible way for a livelihood . be it so , yet there is something left for you ; namely , a god , can you not live upon him ? cannot you rejoyce in him ? you may read of one that could , 3 habbuk . 17 , 18. and you have promises left , which are exceeding great and precious : go feed upon them , believe them , plead them , and turn them into prayer . lastly , often relieve your selves with meditations upon the fulness and sweetness of christ. was ionathan pleasant to david ? how pleasant then is iesus , far more than ionathan was , or ever could have been ? and tho' ionathan be dead , yet iesus is risen . he is said to rejoyce over his church as the bridegroom over the bride : and he saith , 7 cant. 6. how fair and how pleasant art thou , o love , for delights ! and shall not saints reckon christ so ? they that know what he is , and what communion with him is , do , and will witness with the spouse in 1 cant. 16. behold ! thou art fair , my beloved , yea , and pleasant . o , how fair must he needs be , who is the sun of righteousness , who outshines all the beauties in the world , all the angels in heaven , and who is the brightness of his fathers glory , the express image of his person , 1 heb. 3. and how pleasant must he needs be , who puts a sweetness into our worst things , so that the saints have taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods , 10 heb. 34. and a deliciousness into their best things . it is he that makes truths sweet , being the marrow of the gospel ; and ordinances sweet , they are but the dishes , he the feast . it is he that makes heaven sweet : what would that place be without his company ? there indeed saints are , and shall be without sin , and without sorrow , above affliction , and above temptation ; all this is very good , but that which commends it , and is its self yet better , is , they shall there be with christ. 14 ioh , 3. where i am , there ye shall be also : and said paul , 1 phil. i desire to be dissolved , and to be with christ , which is far better . yea , it is christ that commends god himself to us , for out of him he is a consuming fire , and everlasting burnings ; 33 isa. 14. we could not endure his presence . in him he is reconciled , a father of mercies , and god of comforts , 2 cor. 1. 3. so that he must needs be pleasant , and with this comfort your selves : whoever is dead , whatever is gone , you have christ still , who hath said , he will not leave you comfortless , but will come to you . it may now be expected i should speak something concerning my dear brother , who fought a good fight , kept the faith , served his generation according to the will of god ▪ and hath now finished his course ; but there is no need , his works praise him : you have known his doctrine , and manner of life , and so have others who were gainers by his ministry , being begotten , nourished and built up by the gospel he preached . take therefore what i shall say in short ; thus : he was well accomplished with learning , and furnished for the work to which god had call'd him . his abilities and stock of knowledge were very considerable , as they found who conversed with him . he was , i am perswaded , truly gracious , an humble christian , a profitable preacher , an able catechist , and a faithful friend : he was a wise man , and a man of peace , one that did adorn his profession by his unreproveable and exemplary conversation . god hath been pleased to take him from us , i do bewail my loss , and so do many of you yours : but he had done his work , and is now , i doubt not , taking an everlasting rest in the bosom of his dearest lord. his faith let us follow , considering the end of his conversation . finis . threnodia, the churches lamentation for the good man his losse delivered in a sermon to the right honourable the two houses of parliament and the reverend assembly of divines at the funerall of that excellent man john pym, esquire, late a member of the honourable house of commons : preached in the abbey-church of westminster / by stephen marshall ... marshall, stephen, 1594?-1655. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a70654 of text r17869 in the english short title catalog (wing m794). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 86 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 27 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a70654 wing m794 estc r17869 12109956 ocm 12109956 54184 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a70654) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54184) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 241:e80, no 1 or 720:10) threnodia, the churches lamentation for the good man his losse delivered in a sermon to the right honourable the two houses of parliament and the reverend assembly of divines at the funerall of that excellent man john pym, esquire, late a member of the honourable house of commons : preached in the abbey-church of westminster / by stephen marshall ... marshall, stephen, 1594?-1655. [5], 42 p. printed for stephen bowtell ..., london : 1644. "threnodia" in title transliterated from greek. m793 and m794 appear to differ only in the order of binding of the preliminary pages, neither of which follows the signature count. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library and huntington library. eng pym, john, 1584-1643. bible. -o.t. -micah vii, 7 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a70654 r17869 (wing m794). civilwar no threnodia. the churches lamentation for the good man his losse: delivered in a sermon to the right honourable the two houses of parliament, marshall, stephen 1644 15970 31 10 0 0 0 0 26 c the rate of 26 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-01 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion θρηνωδια . the churches lamentation for the good man his losse : delivered in a sermon to the right honourable the two houses of parliament , and the reverend assembly of divines , at the funerall of that excellent man john pym , esquire , late a member of the honourable house of commons . preached in the abbey-church of westminster , by stephen marshall , b. d. minister of gods word at finching-field in essex . published by order of the house of commons . esa. 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , & no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . london , printed for stephen bowtell , and are to be sold at his shop in popes head alley . 1644. to the right honourable the lords and commons assembled in parliament : right honourable , this plaine piece , which ( were it worthy ) should bee sacred to this excellent man , memory , comes now also devoted to your service : it should have been his picture , but becomes your possession ; and let it be inter {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and that by your fourfold interest . 1. in himselfe , whilest he lived , every one of you deservedly esteeming him as a friend , a brother , if not a father . 2. in his losse , ●or rather yours of him ) which because i cannot describe , 〈…〉 vaile over with silence . 3. in the worke wherein hee lived , and by which he dyed ; which was not so much his as yours ; or , yours , as your countries , your gods : in which he laboured so much , that he died the sooner , that you might have his better helpe toward the finishing of it , who ( through the mercy of god ) live longer . 4. in this meane sermon , which by your command comes to publike view , and therfore craves patronage in your favourable acceptance : the lord make it yours by a greater right ; even by making the commands delivered in it to be so ingrafted in your hearts , that you may all not onely with him be cast into the same mold , but that his spirit may be so doubled upon you all , that you chearfully and without fainting may beare whatever remaining heat and burden of the day ; and at last come to the same blessed evenings-reckoning , rest , and reward in everlasting life . so prayeth daily your most unworthy servant , in , and for christ iesus , stephen marshall . die veneris , 15 decembr . 1643. it is this day ordered by the commons assembled in parliament , that master sollicitor doe returne thankes to master marshall , for the great paines he tooke in his sermon preached at the funerall of master pym , a worthy member of the house of commons ; and to desire him to print his sermon . and it is ordered , that no man presume to print this sermon , but whom the said master marshall shall authorise under his hand-writing . h. elsynge cler. parl. d. com. i doe authorise stephen bowtell to print this sermon . stephen marshall a sermon preached before the right honourable , the lords and commons , and the reverend assembly of divines at the funerall of john pym esquire . right honourable and beloved , should a stranger behold the face of this assembly , and see the honourable houses of parliament , and the reverend assembly of divines , and such a great confluence of persons of all ranks and qualities , in this mournefull posture , they would say as the inhabitants of canaan did , when they saw the mourning for old jacob in the floare of arad , this is a grievous mourning to england ; and would certainly enquire , what prince ? what great man is this day fallenin our israell ? but you , who knew the worth of this excellent person , whose shadow lies here before you , doe rather wonder that all faces are not covered with blacknesse , and all bodies with sackcloth , and come hither so fully prepared to mourne , that you even long till something bee spoken of him , that you may ease your hearts a little , though it bee with weeping . but stay a while ( i beseech you ) till i first deliver an errand from god , the ground whereof you shall find , micah the seventh , the first and second verses . micah . 7. 1 , 2. wo is me , for i am as when they have gathered the summer fruits , as the grape gleanings of the vintage . there is no clusterto eat : my soule desireth the first ripe fruit . the good man is perished out of the earth . this text , and two or three verses following , containes a sad complaint of the prophet in the churches name , of the small number of the good , and the great multitude of evill men in the dayes wherein he lived . the paucity of goodmen is set downe in an elegant comparison : they are as the scatterings after the in-gatherings of the summer fruit , as the grape gleanings after the vintage , here and there a berry in the top of a bough , not an whole cluster anywhere left to eat . she needed full clusters ; the worke she had to doe required many able hands , and gratious hearts . there were clusters enough of vile ones , whole boughes , whole trees , whole hedge rowes of such were to be found every where . every family , every street , town , and city abounded with them . there were princes that were oppressours , iudges who received bribes , great men uttering their mischievous desires , a world of people who lay in wait for bloud , who could hunt every man his brother with a net , that could doe evill with both hands earnestly , the best of them as a briar , the most upright sharper then a thorne hedge ; but such a thin scattering of men willing and fit for the service of god and his church , that if one searched as diligently as diogenes did in athens at noon day for an honest man , hee was hardly to be found . but how comes the church to be thus empty ? had she never any better store ? o yes ! she had precious sonnes , comparable to fine gold ; she had nazarites , purer then snow , whiter then milke : at the first she had her iudges , that were upright and wise ; her prophets , that taught them the feare of the lord ; her priests and levites pure , who bore the vessells of the sanctuarie : she had her mighty men , and the men of warre ; the honourable man and the counsellor , the cunning artificer , and the eloquent oratour : she had every place furnished with men of renown , the throne , the campe , the senate , the colledge , the city , but in her greatest need they were well nigh all gone . how gone ? were they apostatised ? had they voluntarily left her ? no neither ; but even perished , cut off before their time , and for these things she weeps , her eyes run downe with teares , and she cries out , woe is mee , because the comforters which should refresh her soul are removed farre from her . o england , england , i see thy woefull face in this glasse : this text holds out a type of thy sad condition . but i proceed to the words , woe is me , the good man is perished out of the earth . wherein observe these two things . first , the state and condition of the church in this prophets daies , the good man is perished out of the earth . secondly , the churches sensiblenesse of her present condition , woe is me for it . the words need no great explication , only let us enquire what is meant by the good man : secondly , what by the good mans perishing . by a good man in the largest sense is meant a godly man , a holy man , a righteous man , but more strictly , here a good man is an usefull man , such are instruments of good to others , such as are good magistrates , the pillars of a state , who execute judgement and justice in the gate : a mordecai , who seeks the wealth of his people , and procures peace to all his seed . or good ministers , such an one as jehojada , who did good in israell ; such an one as barnabas , a good man and full of the holy ghost , by whose ministrie much people were added unto the lord . a good father in a family ; as abraham , who teaches all his children the feare of the lord : thus some interpret that place , rom. 5. 7. scarcely for a righteous man will one dye , yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die : that though they would hardly die to excuse an ordinary man though godly , yet some eminent usefull man , they would not onely with the galathians pluck out their eyes , but lay downe their lives for them . secondly , what by perishing ; how the good man may be said to perish . you know to perish in the common acceptation is taken in the worst sense , to be cut off from the land of the living by the hand of god in wrath and fury , and their soules cast for ever into the pit of hell ; but thus the good man perisheth not ; though the wicked be driven away to hell in his wickednesse , yet the righteous hath hope in his death . but here to perish , and elsewhere is to dye immaturely , unseasonably , to bee cut off from the place where they were usefull , and could ill be spared . many excellent lessons doe these words hold forth unto us : as first the prophet makes the churches condition his own , with aaron bearing them on his shoulders , on his brest-plate , yea in his very heart . if it be ill with the church , you may discerne it in his countenance , heare it by his speech . if well , by the cheerefullnesse of his spirit . if they be afflicted , he mournes ; if they rejoyce , he is cheerefull with them . secondly , the prophet observes all his people , whose faces stand towards heaven , who looke another way ; who are saints , who are children of belial ; is diligent to know the state of his flock . thirdly , that it is no new thing to find in the church of god , many evill , and few good ; in gods field , many tares , little good corne ; in his barne floar , much chaffe , and little wheat ; in his great house , many vessels of dishonour , and few of honour ; many stones , few precious stones ; in his drag . net abundance of weeds , many bad fishes , and few good ones ; in his vineyard , many wilde grapes , and few right grapes . fourthly , and this also ; that even those few godly men , which are the churches treasure , are subject to death , even immature and untimely death , as well as others . but , i passe over all these , with a bare mention of them ; and confine my selfe to these two observations , as most cleerly held forth in the text , and suitable to this sad meeting . first , that the most excellent and usefull men , are often taken away , when the church could ill spare them . the church at this time did abound ( as wee also now doe ) with sons of belial , compassed about with many enemies , and therefore needed the first ripe fruits , many choise instruments , and yet those very few shee had were now taken away ; the good man is perished out of the earth . secondly , that when god doth this , it is a matter of sad lamentation ; woe is mee , the good man is perished , &c. the first of these , that god often takes away choisest men , men more precious then gold , then the fine gold of ophir , when the church hath greatest need of them , hath , ( alasse ) abundance of sad evidence ; a whole cloud of witnesses might easily be brought in : a large catalogue of examples . abel , the first flower that ever grew in the lords garden , cropt off as soone as blowne , and in him all the seed of the woman devoured by the seed of the serpent ; slain by the eldest sonne of reprobation ; so moses and aaron , when the israelites were to take possession of the land of canaan , to root out thirtie kingdomes , to set up both church and common-wealth , these long experienced and able leaders , prince and priest , taken off in the very beginning of the work , and all seem to be left to raw heads and hands , that know not how to manage it : so elisha the man of god fell sick and died , when in the judgement even of a wicked king , he was all the chariots and horsemen of israel , all the strength they had left : so iosiah , that rare and excellent prince , who seemed to be created as a new star , purposely to shine in those darksome times , cut off in the midst of his work , for whose death jeremiah composed the whole book of the lamentations : and in the christian church , in the beginning of it , when all the world was to be subdued to the faith of christ , the harvest very great and the labourers but few , iohn the baptist , a greater prophet then whom was never borne of a woman , comming in the spirit and power of elias , to turn the heart of the fathers to the children ; and the heart of the children to the fathers , and the disobedient to the instruction of the wise , taken away violently , after but two or three years work , whiles he was making ready a people for the lord : james the brother of iohn , one of the pillars , one of the chief apostles , cut off by the sword ; and stephen a rare man , full of the holy ghost , whose wisdom and spirit the enemie was not able to resist , exceedingly fitted to convince the iewes , and to prove that iesus was the very christ , suddenly taken off , and knocked on the head in a popular tumult and commotion : and now of late , our edward the sixth , another iosiah , when this land had been long in bondage unto antichrist , overwhelmed with the darknesse of idolatry and superstition , and seemed to be purposely raised up to bring light and salvation to this desolate land , while he was preparing this wildernes to be the lords fruitfull vineyard , planting it with the choisest vines , and setting up a wine presse in the midst of it , walling it , and fencing it about , after five or sixe years labours , suddenly snatched away . so the incomparable king of sweden , brought over the baltick sea by the hand of god to restore the ruines of germanie , travelling in the greatnesse of his strength , and working little lesse then wonders for two or three yeares together , and drawing the eyes of all men towards him , as the man that should undoubtfully have delivered that woefull countrey ; in a moment this bright sun set , soon after his rising : yea , since this very parliament , when there was never more work nor fewer hands ; religion to be reformed , liberties to be recovered , great offendors to be punished , and all the gates of hell opened to hinder us , to devoure us , yet of those few how many of our choisest nobles , parliament men , souldiers and ministers , hath the hand of god deprived us of ? but what need we seek for more examples , when our blessed lord and saviour iesus christ was himself cut off from out of the land of the living , when he had not attained the one half of the age of man . this is one of the lords strangest works , a woke wherein his enemies often rejoice , and his people mourne , the reason therefore should diligently bee sought out ; in which enquiry wee shall find , that he , whose works are all done with unsearchable wisdome and for excellent ends , doth hereby first provide for his owne glory , and that manie waies . as first , he often takes away instruments , that it may be known that his church and cause is not supported by them , but by himself alone ; that the pillars of the church are not borne up by any created strength , but by him , who measureth the water in the hollow of his hand , and weighs the mountaines in the scales , and the hills in a ballance ; that men may know , when the youths faint and be wearie , and the young men utterly fall , the most active and able instruments brought to nothing , yet the church is carried in his bosome , and by him alone shall renew its strength , and mount up with wings as an eagle , run and not be wearie , walke and not be faint . secondly , to set out his wisdome and the aboundance of spirit , in providing varietie of instruments : he purposely takes some away to make way for others , as in the frame of the world the varietie of the creatures indued with their severall abilities doe all serve for the beauty and good of the vniverse : and thereby set forth the wisdome as well as the power of the creator : so here moses shall have one part , ioshuah another ; and ioshuah shal do as excellently in canaan as moses in the wildernesse , he shall honour god as much in the military part , as the other in the legall : elihu a youngmen shall convince iob , and compell him to give glory to god , when other wise and gracious men , much older then his father , had long wrangled with him to little purpose : elisha , who powred waterupon elijahs hands , shall work more miracles then his master did : yea , christs apostles shall doe greater works then he himself did , that the world may know that he hath aboundance of the spirit . other kings and princes are compelled to preserve their chief instruments , because when they are gone they know not where to find a supplie , but god ( as he needs none so ) when he pleaseth to use any , can raise up stones to be children , and children to doe the worke of men , and yet all these empty pipes , further then he fills them , bubbles , easily broken , further then he supports them . and that is the first reason . secondly , as for his own glorie , so herein hee also provides for the good of his owne people , his owne i say , both them that are thus cut off , and them that remaine behind . first , of them who dye , for they are henceforth freed from their labours , from the body of sin , from the cohabitation of it , the molestation of it , & the too often prevailing power of it , from the fierie darts of sathans temptations , from the conversation of the wicked , from their oppositions , persecutions ; from the worlds allurements on the right hand , and afflictions on the left hand , from all these they are delivered , with which hitherto they had bin vexed ; yea and oft times taken away from greater evills to come , and they also enter into rest , receiving the full recompence of all their labours , not onely what they have actually done , but even what they were resolved and prepared to doe if god had been pleased to employ them any longer in his service . secondly , for the good of them that live , ( though this seem most unlikely ) who shall lose nothing by cutting the pipes whereby mercies are conveyed , as long as the fountaine of power and goodnesse remaines i●tire in god himselfe , who can and will issue it out by other waies and meanes , to as great advantage of his people : yea , i say , he makes them gainers by it , and that severall waies . first , he hereby cures them of one of the most dangerous evills which his people are or can be guilty of , and that is , setting up the instruments of their good to be idols in their hearts , which they are extream prone to doe ; and for this very cause doth the lord often break these bubbles with the touch of his finger , that his people may thinke of them no otherwise then they are , and for this very reason some thinke the lord buried the body of moses , and would never let the people know where his grave was , because he foresaw that they would be ready to worship his dead body . secondly , hereby the lord doth humble his people , and awe them with the feare of his wrath , making them sensible of it , in these heavie stroakes , and quicken them more up to prayer , and serious seeking after himself , as this church doth in this place ; woe is me , the good man is perished , the princes , the judges , the nobles &c. are all naught , none to be trusted , neither wife , nor father , nor brother , ver. 7. then followes , therefore will i looke to the lord , i will wait for the god of my salvation , my god will heare me . and this lesson the lord taught his people by josiahs death , lament . 5. ver. 16. &c. the crown is fallen from our heads , good king josiah is dead . woe unto us that wee have sinned , for this our heart is faint , for these things our eyes àre dim , but thou ( o lord ) remainest for ever , thy throne from generation to generation . vvherefore dost thou forget us for ever , and forsake us so long time . turne thou us , o lord , unto thee , and we shall be turned . now this is one of the greatest blessings in the world , to be put into such an humble , penitent , praying , seeking temper as this is , his death which can procure this is like to be more advantageous then any mans life . thirdly , hereby the lord makes his church more sensible of his power , goodnesse , and faithfullnesse , when they shall find all these constantly continued , even when the instruments are taken away . thus moses the man of god taught the people upon the meditation of all the sons of men returning to dust , to stay themselves wholly upon god , who was their dwelling place in all generations , from everlasting to everlasting , a god all-sufficient . thirdly , though he doth this for the good of his owne glory , and the good of his owne saints , both the living and the dead , yet hereby he makes way for his wrath upon others , who injoied th●m , and either opposed them , or under-valued them , or improved them not as they might have done , this god threatens , isa. 57. the righteous perisheth , mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to com● : by their removal the lord opens the sluces to his judgments , as men pluck away the props or pillars of an house when they are willing it should fall downe , as in noahs time , as soon as god had housed him in the arke , he presently sent in the flood upon the world of the ungodly : and in lots time , as soon as the righteous man , vexed with the unclean conversation of sodome , was removed from them , presently god rained fire and brimstone from heaven , and destroied those five cities : thus was it in iosiahs time , as soon as he slept with his fathers , all that fierce wrath of god wherewith his anger was kindled against iudah and ierusalem , which was kept in all the while josiah lived , brake out to the removing of judah and jerusalem out of his sight . give me leave now to make a brief application of this : first , is this so , doth god often times take away the most usefull men , when his church hath most need of them ; then let all the church learn never to rest on men , how excellent so ever . i begin with this first , because it is our great and generall sinne , that we either vilifie or deifie all gods instruments , either respecting them lesse or more then god will have us : if god give us any precious jewels , we deal as the israelites did in the wildernesse , turne our golden eare-rings into an idol , and thereby change our glory into our shame and misery , offering infinite injury unto god , who gives us these meanes to use , but not to depend upon ; to bring us neerer to him , not as we sinfully make them occasions to draw us further from him ; this is a very great sinne , whereby we lose the taste of gods goodnesse , while wee choose to respect the stream rather then the fountain , and even take our heart off from god , and stay too much upon the creature , making our comfort to ebbe and flow according as these weak props doe break or hold , and even compell god to deprive us of them , as ezekiah uused the brazen serpent , reserving it in an honourable shrine so long as it was but looked upon , as a monument of gods deliverance ; but when once they went a whoring after it , he brake it in pieces ; and that they might know , it was but ne●ushian , a piece of brasse : thus doe we break our staves in leaning too hard upon them . it is confidently reported that the king of sweden a little before his death told some in ward friends , that he verily feared god would not use him long , because the people attributed more to him then was due to a mortall man ; and i feare this sinne costs us deare at this day , we have over-valued our parliaments , our armies , our treasures , our interests in the hearts of the people , leaned too much upon them , looked too little unto god , who hath therefore brought us low in most of these . to my owne knowledge , some good men have said of some choise instruments , whose hearts were right with god , and zealous in his cause , these are the men who must do the deed ; god will certainly deliver us by their hands : who when they have heard of the sudden and unseasonable cutting off of those men , have bin forced to lay their hand upon their mouth , and to say , what fooles are we to expect any great things from man , whose breath is in his nostrils . god hath sadly broke all our carnall confidence , some excellent men he hath took away by death ; some , whom we over-highly valued , have beene permitted to discover the falsnesse of their own hearts ; others , little lesse then blasted by peoples mistake , although their hearts remaine upright to god and his cause . and i verily fear , left our relying too much upon the assistance of our brethren from scotland by their armies , may more prejudice theirs and our successe , then the strength of the enemies can do . let us therfore be perswaded in the feare of god , to use men , as gods instruments , but build nothing upon them , lest our expectation prove that of cesar borgia , who built infinite projects upon his interest in the pope , and when newes was brought him of the popes sudden death , cried out , this i never thought upon , now my designes are all lost ! certainly , whoever lookes for much from men , how excellent soever , will prove like men who go to lotteries , with their head full of hopes , and returne with their hearts full of blankes . let therefore every one whom god hath fitted for any service , doe what their hand findes to doe with all their power : this is solomons counsel , eccles. 9. and upon this verie ground , whatsoever thy hand findeth to doe , doe it with all thy might , for there is neither worke , nor device , nor knowledge , nor wisdome in the grave , whither thou goest ; as if he should have said , thou knowest not how long god will use thee , lay not up thy talent in a napkin , thy master may suddenly call thee to an account for it . this made our blessed lord take so much paines , iohn 12. & 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , & 17 , chapters , delivering all that excellent matter in one evening ; because hee was to leave them the next day ; this made paul continue his preaching at troas untill mid-night , because hee was the next morning to bee gone from thence : this very argument was thought upon and applied by our blessed saviour unto himself , iohn ii. who when his disciples would have perswaded him not to hazard himselfe among the iews , who lately sought to stone him , answered , are there not twelve houres in the day , must i not doe the worke of him who sent me , while it is called to day , when night comes no man can work : god hath fitted thee with many excellent talents , with wisdome and vnderstanding ; with place of office and authority ; with interest in friends ; with strength of body , and courage of spirit , and by all these put some beames of his owne excellency upon thee , which is the greatest favour in the world : to be a usefull man , is at least equall with being a saved man ; ply this work diligently , doe as it is recorded of a famous minister , who wrote upon his study doore , minister verbies , hoc age ; thou art a minister of the word , attend to this worke ; and thinke often how uncomfortable it would be to thee , if god should take thee off in the midst of thy race , when thou hast burnt out much of thy candle in play , wherein thou shouldest have done much of thy masters worke . and secondly , let the thought of this keep thee from being high minded , thinke not too much depends upon thee , it may bee thou imaginest what great need the church or state , the city , parish , or family , hath of thee , or thy parts and abilities . suppose they have , are these things thy owne , are they not thy masters talents , for which thou must be countable , and for which thou wilt be condemned as a thiefe , for withholding that which was their due and none of thine ; but i tell thee , god hath no need of thee , thou art obliged to him for using thee , he is not obliged to thee ; he can do his work without thee , and raise up them whom thou thinkest meanly of , to doe greater things then thou-canst imagine : therefore whatever hee pleases to imploy thee in , bee faithfull in it , follow his businesse , and do it diligently , and with an humble heart . thirdly , doth god often take away the choisest instruments of our good after this manner , then let all learne to make use of them , and improve them to the best advantage while we have them : this our lord teacheth upon the same ground , iohn 12. 35. when his hearers had propounded a needlesse question , how he could say messiah should be lifted up , that is , crucified , whereas the scripture saith , that christ abides for ever , instead of giving a solution to this doubt , he replies , yet a little while the light is with you , walke while you have the light , lest darknes come upon you : as if he should say , you frivelously lose your time in making no better use of the light which shines among you , which is given you for another end , even to guide you to doe that work which alone is necessary ; to get sound evidence of your being children of the light ; to enable you to lead gospel lives , under gospel light ; you spend your time in needlesse questions , and neglect this which most concernes you , as if it were in your power to doe it at your leasure : but be not deceived , this market will not long last , after a little while the gospel will be taken from your nation , and whoever then is to seek in this great work , will miserably wander in the darke , and lye down in sorrow . let me therefore perswade you to give all diligence while this light shines , to get your calling and election made sure . thus christ there presseth it upon his hearers , and let us urge it upon our own souls , neglect no opportunity of drawing out from good and usefull men , what god hath put into them for our good , because we know not how long they shall abide with us : if any of us have any choice or excellent book which is our owne , we commonly read it at leasure , now and then a leaf or two , but if it be borrowed , and we know not how soon the owner may call for it , we sit up night and day , till we have gathered all the flowers out of it ; thus did elisha the servant of elias , when he once knew that his master was shortly to be taken from him , he would not part a moment from his presence , but endeavoured earnestly to get as much of his spirit as was possible : o , if this wisdome were in us ! that considering the prophets , and other servants of god , doe not live with us for ever , we might use them as iacob did the angel , not let them depart till we have got our blessing from them . fourthly , but above all , because the most useful men are often taken away in an ill time from us , let us make sure of god , whose yeares , power , goodnesse , faithfullnesse , and truth , never faile , but are alwaies present and everlasting helps in time of trouble : this use the lord teacheth his people upon the same ground , psal. 146. 2. put not your trust in princes , nor in any sonne of man , in whom there is no help ; his breath goeth forth , he returnes to the earth , his thoughts perish : but happy is he which hath the god of iacob for his god ; whose hope is in the lord his god , which made heaven and earth , the sea and all that is therein ; which keepeth truth for ever : the lord shall raigne for evermore , even thy god , o sion , unto all generations : this use the afflicted church made of it , isaiah . 63. 18. when they had considered the daies of old , and how all instruments and means of mercie had but their time , and how the lord was alwaies the same , they sit down with this meditation , doubtlesse , o lord , thou art our father : though abraham be ignorant of us , and israel acknowledge us not , wee are past receiving any benefit from them , thou o lord art our father , our redeemer , thy name is from everlasting : this use did asaph also make of it , psal. 73. when he had considered not onely the worlds vanity , and worldly mens vanity , but the vanity of whatever earthly thing was most like for to comfort him ; his flesh failed , and his heart failed : and how that the lord alone was the strength of his heart , and his portion for ever , he concludes all with this , ver. 28. it is good for mee to draw nigh to god , and put my trust in the lord god . and verily , so long as we are strangers to this , wee shall be as saint iames his double-minded man , unstable in all our waies ; as the weeds , which are driven every way where the ebbing and flowing sea doth carrie them ; and as the topps of trees , which are driven with every wind , this way and that way : but if once we had learned to make the most high our stay and strength , to trust in the lord jehovah , we might possesse our souls in perfect peace ; for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength : we might bee as a rock in the midst of the sea , not moved with any tempest ; as mount sion , which cannot be removed , but standeth fast for ever . now what argument could be a greater spurre to this , then to know the brevitie vanity , instability , of all other helps ; look upon whatever is deare , and thought to be advantagious to thee , without which thou knowest not what to doe , thy father , husband , pastour , friend , estate , life , &c. of all these thou must acknowledge , they are but grasse , the glory of them is but like a flower in the field : but in god thou maiest find all the same things sufficiently , eminently , everlastingly ; an everlasting father , an everlasting husband , an everlasting friend , an everlasting sheepheard , an everlasting portion , an everlasting life . let thy soule therefore waite upon the lord , make him thy onely helpe and shield ; let thy heart rejoice in him , and trust in his holy name alone , and let thy mercy o lord be upon us all , who desire to feare thy name , and to hope in thee alone . and thus much of the first observation , that god often deprives his church of most usefull men , when they could ill bee spared . the second followes , which is , that when god doth take away such usefull instruments , it is a matter of sad lamentation : for proofe hereof wee have first god himself requiring of it ; 2. examples of the saints practising , thirdly , strong scripture-reason inforcing it . first , you have god himself so far calling for it , that in esaiah 57. hee charges it upon them as a great sinne , and the fore-runner of a great judgement , that the righteous dye , and mercifull men are taken away , and no man considers it . secondly , we have plenty of examples , the whole church crying out , psal. 12. helpe lord , for the godly man ceaseth : for the faithfull faile from amongst the children of men . you all know the great lamentation made at the death and buriall of old jacob ; at the death of moses , of samuel , of david ; especially at the untimely death of good king josiah , how all judah and jerusalem mourned for him ; how jeremie the prophet lamented for him , and all the singing men , and singing women , spake of iosiah in their lamentations to this day : and made them an ordinance in israel , & behold their lamentations are written in the book of the lamentations : insomuch that the greatest mourning that ever should be in the world , is by the lord compared to the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon , which was the bitter lamentation of the church at josiah his death : so in the 24. of esaiah , you shall find , that among the songs that were heard from the uttermost parts of the earth ; even glory to the righteous , rejoycing in that remainder of godly men , who were found amongst them , the church cryeth out , my leannesse , my leannesse , woe unto me , because the good men were but as the shaking of an olive-tree , and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done : and when the martyr stephen was so barbarously murthered , when devout men carryed him to his buriall , they made great lamentation over him . the time would faile to name particular instances : i will adde but one more , of a king , and hee none of of the best ; ioash the king of israel , who when elisha was fallen sicke of his sicknesse whereof he dyed , came downe unto him , and wept over his face and said , o my father , my father , the chariot of israel , and the horsmen thereof . thirdly , wee have also strong reason out of scripture to enforce it . first , in regard of god , there is required sorrow , fear and trembling , at such evident manifestation of his wrath in these remarkable judgements . when nadab and abihu fell untimely by fire , which issued out from the lord , and devoured them , though they dyed in and for their sinne , yet being the lords priests , from whom better things might have been expected , god commanded that the whole house of israel should bewaile the burning which the lord had kindled : assuredly if god would have the death of these men lamented ( in whose fall his displeasure was manifested , not against his people , but against themselves onely ) much more doth he expect it when he taketh away our jewells , our comforts , our meanes and instruments of good ; not in wrath to them who die , but in sore displeasure to us who remaine alive : when our heavenly father thus spitteth in our faces , should we not be humbled and ashamed before him ? secondly , from the hon●ur due to them who are thus taken away . god threateneth in his word , that the name of the wicked shall rot , but the memoriall of the just shall bee blessed : the righteous shall bee had in everlasting remembrance : now it is one great degree of rottennesse to the name of the wicked , as to live undesired , so to die unlamented : which was iehojakim his portion , concerning whom thus saith the lord , they shall not lament for him , saying , ah my brother ! or , ah my sister ! they shal not lament for him saying , ah lord ! or , ah his glory ! he shall be buried with the buriall of an asse , drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of ierusalem . but now this is a great glory and honour which god putteth upon his servants , to have their death honoured with the sighs of his mournefull people , and embalmed in their teares . was it not a great honour to the patriarch jacob , to have all the princes and nobles of egypt , and all the elders of israel , lament his death threescore and ten dayes together ? was it not a great honour to abner , to have david and all his people following the beere , lifting up their voices and weeping over him , & saying , dyed abner as a fool dieth ? &c. was it not a great honour to elisha the prophet , to have the king of israel to acknowledg that the chariots and horsmen of israel all fell in his death ? the like may be said of all mentioned before , and of dorcas , about whom the widdows stood weeping , mournfully shewing her coats upon their backs . i have read of lewes the eleventh , king of france , that he counterfeited himselfe to die , to try whether his death should be honoured with the tears of his court : and somewhat to this purpose , of paulus aemilius , whose son died just when he was himself to triumph ; that hee more joyed to see their mourning for his sonne , then in all the other glory of his triumph : nature in these men did draw them to breath after that , which free grace casts-in to them even in this world , who do worthily in the service of god , besides their eternall reward in heaven : that as they are desired in life , so they shall be lamented at their death . thirdly , in regard of our selves , there is then great cause of mourning in divers respects : first , because we are hereby deprived of so many means of our good , of their counsell and direction ; the lips of the righteous feed many , and disperseth wisdome and knowledge : their examples are as a tree of life ; they are the lights of the world , their very presence every where a blessing : they are a blessing in the midst of the land , where-ever they goe god is with them ; god will give kingdomes for their ransome ; hee 'll rebuke the devourer for their sake : they may stand in the breach , to turne away gods wrath , when it 's ready to breakein to devoure people : they may run with their censers , and stand between the dead and the living , and make an attonement for a whole congregation when wrath is gone out from the lord against them : the innocent men may deliver the iland , and it is delivered by the purenesse of their hands : they are the very chariots and horsemen of the places where they live ; their prayers are exceeding powerfull , which can open and shut heaven it selfe . what is it that the god of mercy will deny to their prayers , who saith , aske me of things to come , concerning my sonnes , and concerning the worke of my hands command ye me ? in a word , they are very store-houses and granaries of good to the places where they live ; fruitfull trees , affording both food and shelter , the only excellent men of the world , they are wholly medicinable : and should not such a losse as this be felt and lamented ? secondly , and as their death deprives us of much good , so it often presages and pregnosticateth wrath to come upon those they leave behind , esa. 57. the righteous perisheth , and no man layes it to heart ; mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . so it proved in this place , the good man is perished , the vile are left behind ; then followeth , vers. 4. the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation commeth , now shall be their perplexity : it 's true , as i said before , to them who are godly , the fountaine remaines when the pipes are cut ; and there is ten thousand times more cause of joy in their god who lives , then of sorrow for their friends who die ; but to others it 's a sad prediction , that when god makes up his jewels , and carries them away , he hath a day comming that shall burne as an oven , and all the wicked shall be as stubble , that it shall leave them neither root nor branch . and indeed they are the very {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the onely meanes to keep off wrath and judgement from the places where they live : every mercie saith to such a people , as elisha to jehoram , surely were it not that i regard the presence of jehosaphat , i would not looke toward thee , nor see thee : and the devouring judgements say to these godly ones , as the angel said to lot , we are come to destr●y this place , up get thee out , hast thee , escape hence , for we can doe nothing till thou art gone . when the husband-man thus p 〈…〉 s up the fence , and gathers in his crop , it is a signe that shortly you 'll have wild beasts in the field : this , jeroboam and his whole family found to be true , who had abijah , one child in his family , in whom some good thing was found toward the lord , and as soone as he was taken away , the judgements of god broke in upon his house , and cut off him that pist against the wall , and him that was shut up and left in israel ; and took away the remnant of the house of ieroboam , as a man takes away dung , till it be allgone . this the old world found true in noah ; and sodome , with the rest of the cities , in lot : this the iews found true , when the christians ( admonished from heaven ) left ierusalem & fled to pella ; soon after their departure the enemies made a trench about them , and laid their city even with the ground , and their children with them , not leaving one stone upon another : thus fared it with the city of hippo in africa , where saint augustine was bishop , which , as soone as ever he was dead , was taken and sackt by the goths and vandals : luther was no sooner translated to a better life , but the smalchaldick war begun in germany , wherein all the protestants were almost wholly wasted : no sooner was old paraeus taken away from heidelberg , but spinola entred the towne . these , and many other instances of gods wrath breaking in upon the departure of godly men , abundantly manifest , that we have cause to weep and lament ( not for them who thus dye , but ) for our selves , and our children , because of the miseries which we may then justly feare are comming upon us . take a briefe application of this lesson , and i have done my sermon . first , would god have his people thus to mourne , when usefull men decay and faile , how sadly then doth this reprove our generall stupidity : the lord hath made many great and lamentable breaches amongst us in this kinde , he hath broken all our carnall confidences ; our parliament is weakned , our armies wasted , our treasure is exhausted , our enemies increased ; and of those few able hearts , heads , and hands , who abode faithfull to this great cause and worke in hand , it might even stab us to the very heart to thinke how many of them the lord hath even snatcht away , in the middest of their worke , and our greatest need ! that excellent spirited lord , the lord brooke ; that rare man , master iohn hampden ; that true-hearted nathaniel , master arthur goodwin , ( pardon me , i beseech you , though i mention them amongst these friends , who cannot thinke of them without bitterness● ) how are these mighty men fallen in the midst of the ba●tell , ana the weapons of warre perished ! the beauty of our israel is slaine in the high places : whose heart wou 〈…〉 not b●eed , and cry out , as david at ionathan his death , tell it not in gath , publish it not in the streets of ●skelon , lest the daughters of the philistins reioyce , lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph ! but now which of us laies these things to heart ? who considereth the bitter things which god writes against us ? no , we are rather like that wretched people , who when the righteous perished , and mercifull men were taken away ( though it were from the evil to come ) were so farre from laying it to heart aright , that they banished all serious thoughts from them , every one looking to their owne way ; some to their gaine , others to their pleasure : come ye , say they , i will fetch wine , and we will fill our selves with strong drinke , and to morrow shall be as this day , and much more abundant ; and this even when the righteous perished . verily this is our carriage ; the lord deprives us of these excellent men , and we ( it may be for a moment ) bewaile their losse in some passionate expression , saying , there is a brave man lost ! i am sorry such a man is dead ! &c. and then every one goeth on againe in his owne way : as i have seen a hen ( pardon an homely similitude ) goe clocking and scraping in the midst of her chickens ; then comes the kite , and snatcheth away first one , then another , then a third , till all are gone ; and the hen brustles and flutters a little when any is snatched away , but returns instantly to her scraping and picking , as if she had lost nothing : even so doe wee , presently forgetting our great losses , but no man sitting alone by himselfe , to enquire what god hath done ? and what he meanes to doe with us ? or , what we have done to provoke him thus far against us ? thrusting such thoughts far away from us , passing by on the other side of the way , as the priest and levite did by the wounded man , as if it nothing concerned us : o , beloved , this wofull security and regardlesnesse of ours , is one of the saddest tokens of gods purpose still to bring us lower ; it was the prophet hósea his complaint against israel , a little before their utter ruine , strangers have devoured his strength , and he knew it not ; gray haires were here and there upon him , and he regarded it not : the losse of good men was one of his gray hairs , which argued his declining ; and his not-regarding it was the saddest evidence of his incurablenesse ; the lord in mercy make us sensible of these heavie strokes before it be too late , lest we prove like them of the old world , who did eat and drink , marry and give in marriage , and would know nothing , untill the flood came , and swept them all away . secondly , but how exceedingly doth this discover the wickednesse , the divellishnesse of the spirits of a generation of men amongst us , who are so far from bemoaning and lamenting the losse of good men , that they have no greater joy or content , then to heare of their fall ; who , with the edomites , rejoice over the church in the day of their destruction , and speake proudly in the day of their distresse ; who say with tyrus , aha , now i shall be replenished , since they are brought low ; who , with the inhabitants of the earth , rev. 11. reioiced when the two witnesses were killed , and sent gifts one to another , because those witnesses tormented them with their prophesying whilest they lived . but stay , profane and wicked man , ( if any such be here ) and let me a little reason with thee : what such cause is there of thy rejoicing ? art thou a gainer by their deaths ? dost thou imagine to rest more safely , because the pillars of the house which covers thee are taken away ? hast thou any surer footing , because the bough is cut whereupon thou treadest ; because the thread is cutting asunder , whereby the sword hangs which is over thy head , art thou therefore further from danger ? or dost thou conceive that god hath taken them away to gratifie thee ? is it possible for thee to thinke that they who are thus precious in his eyes , who are to him as the apple of his owne eye , are by him removed for any advantage to thee , whom his soule ●ateth ? i tell thee nay ; i tell thee , if thou weighest things seriously , thou shalt finde their life was thy gaine , and their death thy losse ; because it assures thee , first , chat thou art now deprived of them , who put up many a prayer for thee ; who stood in the gap , to turne away wrath from thee ; for whose sake thou faredst the better every day , god delighting to doe good to the place where his children lived . and secondly , their death assures thee , that thou also must dye : if the greene tree be cut downe , the dry must not long escape ; & not only die , but after thy death thou must come to judgment , and their soules whom thou thus hated'st will give most terrible evidence against thee , of all the ungodly deeds which thou hast ungodly committed ; and of all the hatred , spite , and hard speeches , which thou hast thus long exercised and spoken against them : the very sight of whom at that day will be more dreadfull to thee , then the most terrible lyon , at terrible as death , or hell it selfe . thirdly , and lastly , would god have the death of his saints thus to be lamented ; then ( right honourable and beloved ) learne the right and onely way to attain that which ( i know ) all your soules desire , even to be desired whilst you live , and lamented when you dye : a thing so naturally engraven in the heart of every man , that nothing can be more ; to have an eternall and honourable memoriall ; ego si bonam famam servavero sat ero felix , said the heathen man . you have read of herod , that monster of men , who perceiving the approaching of his death , caused the flower of all the jewes to be apprehended , imprisoned , and to be murthered at the instant of his death , that he might have lamentation to accompany his death and funerals : nor was there , amongst the heathens , any thing esteemed a greater plague , then to dye unlamented , and their memoriall to be buried in obscurity , or remain in infamy : and i believe there is not a man in this great assembly , who would not esteeme himselfe extremely miserable , to be , with jehojakim , buried with the buriall of an asse ; to live undesired , and to dye unlamented : now know for certain th'only way to prevent this , and to bee truely honour'd in life , and bewail'd in death , is to bee good men , to serve god and his church faithfully in your generation . it may be some of you as yet doe not think so , being accustomed onely to bee flatter'd and daubed up , and made to believe that you are as great in other mens eyes , as you are in your owne ; that because ( with dives ) you swim in pleasure , we are soft raiment , fare delitiously every day , & enjoy the worldly accomplishments of health , wit , honour , friends , &c. though in the meane time you be strangers from god , and it may be , enemies to him , his wayes , his servants , and his ordinances : but could you know how meanly you are now esteemed by them who are best able to judge of things that differ , even by god , his angels , and saints : and couldst thou guesse the discourses will bee of thee when thou art dead , thou wouldst certainly think otherwise . do but listen abroad in the world , and thou maist discerne what is spoken of them , who in their life time blest themselves as much as thou canst doe : is such a noble man dead ? blessed be god , who hath rid his church of a great enemy : is such a rich mandead ? the world is well rid of a griping usurer , a cruell oppressor , a mammonist , who had his portion in this world : is such a great schollar dead ? god bee praised for it , his learning and parts were imployed onely for the hurt of the church of christ : is such an one gone ? then ther 's a cursed blasphemer , a profane swearer , an uncleane adulterer , a swinish drunkard , a dangerous stumbling blocke , out of the way of the saints happily removed : this or the like talke will be of thee when thou art gone , if thy life bee such a one : and , which is worst of all , thine immortall soule for ever sunke into a lake , burning with fire and brimstone , where is nothing but weeping , wayling , and gnashing of teeth for evermore : but couldst thou with a single heart , give up thy selfe to bee good , and doe good , every one who hath interest in heaven would beg thy life ; and when thy worke is done , and thou gathered to thy fathers , every godly mans eye would lament thee , every one of their tongues would praise thee ; thy memoriall should be crowned by them all : yea , god himselfe would make thy funerall oration , rather then thy work should not praise thee in the gates ; and , which is best of all , thy soule shall enjoy the fruit of all in everlasting life and glory . and now the more particular application of all this , brings me directly to the sad occasion of this present meeting ; even to lament the fall of this choice and excellent man , in whose death the almighty testifies against us , and even fills us with gall and wormwood . i know you come hither to mourn , so fully prepared for it , that although i am but a dull oratour to move passion , i may serve well enough to draw out those tears , wherewith your hearts and eyes are so big and full : there is no need to call for the mourning women , that they may come ; and for cunning women , that they may take up a wailing , to helpe your eyes to run downe with teares , and your eye-lids to gush out with waters : the very looking downe upon this beere , and the naming of the man whose corps are here placed , and a very little speech of his worth , and our miserable losse , is enough to make this assembly ( like rachel ) not only to lift up a voice of mourning , but even to refuse to be comforted . i know , large encomiasticall praises of the dead , unlesse their lives were eminent in goodnesse , and free from any notable blot , are much condemned by the most judicious and godly divines , as a thing of very evill consequence : first , to the minister himself , who hereby is evill spoken of , as a man who for a reward , or some other base respect ( like unworthy heralds ) will give greatest badges of honour to any ignoble person . secondly , to the deceased , whilest it occasions some others , who haply knew them better , to rake into their lives , and lay open their former faults , which otherwise had been buried in oblivion . thirdly , but the worst of all is , that wicked men make this a fearfull stumbling-blocke ; who when they heare such men highly commended , in whom peradventure they knew such and such enormities , doe hereupon conclude , that our preaching for abandoning of all evill is of no great necessity , even in the preachers own judgement ; who sends men to heaven in his funerall orations , who yet lived , and ( for ought they know ) dyed in the practice of such things as the minister useth to declaime against . but i am called to speake of a man so eminent and excellent , so wise and gracious , so good and usefull , whose works so praise him in every gate , that if i should altogether hold my tongue , the children and babes ( i had almost said , the stones ) would speak : upon whose herse could i scatter the sweetest flowers , the highest expressions of rhetoricke and eloquence , you would thinke i fell short of his worth ; you would say , this very name , john pym , expresseth more then all my words could doe , should i say of him , as they of titus , that he was amor & deliciaegeneris humani : should i say of his death , as once the sicilians upon the grecians departure , totum ver periit ex anno siciliano : should i say , he was not onely as one of davids thirtie worthies , but one of the three , one of the first three , even the first and chiefe of them , the tachmonite who sate in the seat : should i say , our whole land groaneth at his death , as the earth at the fall of a great mountaine , i might doe it without envie in this assembly : yea , should i write a whole booke in his commendation , and publish it , many of you would say as a philosopher once did , who falling on a booke entituled encomium herculis , said with indignation , et quis lacedaemoniorum eum vituperat ? he thought it time ill spent , to praise him whom none could blame : and i beleeve your selves are resolved to make some such monument of your high esteeme of him , that after-ages , as well as the present , shall know you valued him above my words . but i am well pleased to be impar huic negotio : est hoc maximum laudis genus , quum orationis copiam virtus exuperet & magnitudo laudati ; sicque vinci nobis est multo gloriosius quam saepe vicisse . and for that i am able to say , i am presently at a losse , having in my serious thoughts viewed him in his naturals , in his moralls , in his graces , in his relations , in his publicke and private behaviour , inopem me copia fecit . i know i could not speake long , but you would be weary of such a speaker ; and i remember salusts speech , when he was to speake of carthage , praestat tacere quam pauca dicere , then i wisht seriously that it had fallen to the lot of some such able tongue , to have so characterized and deciphered him before you , that you who now mourne for his losse , and knew his worth , might say , this is the very image of the man ; and might once at least be refreshed to see his lively picture represented to your eyes , by such a tongue as was suitable to his worth , and this present auditory ; that that might have been your refreshing , which was once cyprians auditors , to heare the martyrs praised by such an oratour as cyprian was . i spare to english what was spoken of the holy martyr his eloquence , because to doe the like , is above my sphere , i want such a tongue , and therefore must study to be short , and shall confine my self to that rule which basil ( worthily called the great ) observed in the praise of gordius the martyr . it s the custome of the world ( said he ) when they would praise a man , to speake of his family , to derive his pedigree through many discents , to open to the full his education , parts , and learning , and such other accomplishments : sed ecclesia haec tanquam supervacua dimittit : the church lookes onely at those things which may glorifie christ in his saints , and thereby do good to them who remaine alive . according to this rule , i shall forbeare to speake any thing of his family , education , naturall endowments , his cleare understanding , quick apprehension , singular dexteritie in dispatch of busines : his other moralleminences , in his justice , patience , temperance , sobriety , chastity , liberality , hospitality : his extreme humanity , affability , curtesie , cheerfulnesse of spirit in every condition ; and ( as a just reward and just fruit of all these ) the high and deare esteeme and respect which hee had purchased in the hearts of all men of every ranke , who were acquainted with him ; such onely excepted , of whom to bee loved and well reported , is scarce compatible with true vertue : all men who knew him , either lov'd or hated him in extremity : such as were good , extremely delighted in him , as taken in a sweet captivity with his matchlesse worth ; the bad as much hated him , out of their antipathy against it . but , all these things ( though most desirable and excellent in their place ) i passe over , and shall insist only upon two things , which alone are desirable in any man , which indeed make a man more precious then gold , then the fine gold of ophir : first , he was a true christian man , a faithfull servant of iesus christ , one who long since was borne againe of water and the holy ghost , engratted into christ , adopted to be the childe of god justified freely by his grace , renewed in the spirit of his mind , sanctified throughout , in spirit , soule and body : one who had made god his portion , and gods word his guide : who in his whole course had left off to fashion himselfe according to the world , but in all things studied to know ( as his rule ) what was the good and perfect will of god : in a word , he was a true nathaniel , in whom there was no guile . secondly , hee was a man of a publike spirit , a most usefull man ; he was the good man of this text , wholly laid out for the publike good : the publike safety was written in his heart , as men report , queen mary said , that callis was in hers : it was his meat and drinke , his worke , his exercise , his recreation , his pleasure , his ambition , his all : what 〈◊〉 was , was onely to promote the publike good : in and for this heliv'd , in and by this he died . and this excellent usefull spirit of his , was accompanied with three admirable properties , wherein he excelled all that ever i knew , and most that ever i read of : first , such singlenesse of heart , that no by respect could any whit sway him ; no respect of any friend : he regarded them in their due place , but knew neither brother , kinsman , not friend , superior nor inferior , when they stood in the way to hinder his pursuit of the publike good : magis amica respublica : and he used to say , such a one is my entire friend , to whom i am much obliged , but i must not pay my private debts out of the publike stock . yea , no self-respect , no private ends of his owne or family , were in any degree regarded , but himself and his were wholly swallowed up in the care of the publike safety ; insomuch that when friends have often put him in mind of his family and posterity , and prest him , that although he regarded not himself , yet he ought to provide that it might be well with his family ; ( a thing which they thought he might easily procure ; ) his ordinary answer was , if it went well with the publike , his family was well enough . secondly , such constancy and resolution , that no feare of danger , or hope of reward , could at any time so much as unsettle him . how often was his life in danger ? vvhat a world of threats and menaces have bin sent him from time to time ? yet i challenge the man that ever saw him shaken by any of them , or thereby diverted from , or retarded in his right way of advancing the publike good : nor could the offers of the greatest promotions ( vvhich england could afford ) in any measure be a block in his way : in that he was as another moses ( th'only man whom god went about to bribe ) who desired that hee and his might never swim , if the cause of god and his people did ever sinke : his spirit was not so lovv , as to let the whole world prevaile with him so far as to hinder his vvork , much lesse to be his wages . thirdly , such vnweariablenesse , that from three of the clock in the morning to the evening , and from evening to midnight , this vvas his constant employment , ( except only the time of his drawing nigh to god ) to be some wayor other helpfull towards the publike good ; burning out his candle to give light to others . who knows not all this to bee true , who knevv this mans conversation ? not onely since the time of this parliament , but for many yeers together hath he beene a great pillar to uphold our sinking frame ; a master workman , labouring to repaire our ruinous house ; and under the weight of this worke hath the lord permitted this rare workman to be overthrown : and that 's all i meane to say of his life . and as his life , such was his death , enjoying all the time of his sicknes the same evennesse of spirit which he had in the time of his health , with an addition of a more cleare evidence of gods love in jesus christ , and most ready subjection to gods will , to live or dye at gods choice ; professing to my self , that it was to him a most indifferent thing to live or dye : if hee liv'd , hee would doe vvhat service he could ; if hee dyed , hee should goe to that god whom he had serv'd , and who would carry on his worke by some others : and to others he said , that if his life and death were put into a paire of ballances , he would not willingly cast in one dram to turne the ballance either way . this was his temper all the time of his sicknesse ; but as he drevv nigher to his end , the swifter his motion was to god-wards ; enjoying more abundant comfort in his spirit , more frequently pouring out his heart in prayer : and whereas formerly his soliloquies and private devotions were only betwixt god and his own soule , now , out of the abundance of his heart , his mouth was compel'd to speake , and that so audibly , that such of his family or friends , who endeavoured to bee neere him ( lest he should faint away in his weaknesse ) have over-heard him importunatly pray for the kings majesty , and his posterity , for the parliament , and the publike cause ; for himselfe begging nothing , but that if his worke were done , he might bee received into his masters joy : and a little before his end , being recovered out of a swound , seeing his friends weeping about him , he cheerfully told them , hee had look't death in the face , and knew , and therfore fear'd not the worst it could doe ; assuring them , his heart was filled with more comfort and joy , which hee found and felt from god , then his tongue was able to utter ; and soon after ( whilsta reverend and godly minister was at prayer with him ) he quietly slept in the lord . it may bee some of you expect i should confute the calumnies and reproaches which that generation of men who envied his life , doe already begin to spread and set up in libels concerning his death ' ; as that hee dyed raving , crying out against that cause wherein he had beene so great an instrument : charging him to die of that loathsome disease , which that accursed balsack , in his booke of slanders against mr calvin , charged him to dye of . but i forbeare to spend time needlesly , to wipe off those reproaches , which i know none of you believe . and this will satisfie the world against such slanders ; that no lesse then eight doctors of physick , of unsuspected integrity , and some of them strangers to him , ( if not of different religion from him ) purposely requested to be present at the opening of his body ; and well neere a thousand people , first and last , who came many of them out of curiosity , and were freely permitted to see his corps , can , and doe abundantly testifie the falshood and foulnesse of this report ; the disease whereof he dyed , being no other then an imposthume in his bowels . but now ( to leave this ) tell me all you that passe by the way , have we not great cause of mourning , in the fall of such a man ! may i not say , as david to the people , rent your clothes , and gird you with sackcloth , and mourne before abner ? verily , when i consider how god hath followed us with breach upon breach , taken away all those worthy men i before mentioned , and all the other things wherein the lord hath brought us low ; and now this great blow , to follow all the rest , i am ready to call for such a mourning , as that of hadadrimon in the valley of megiddon . but mistake me not ; i do not meane that you should mourne for him , you his deare children ; you , right honourable lords and commons , who esteeme him little lesse then a father ; i mean not that you should mourne for him , his worke is done , his warfare is accomplished ; he is delivered from sin and sorrow , and from all the evils which wee may feare are comming upon our selves : hee hath received at the lords hand a plentifull reward for all his labours . i beseech you , let not any of you have one sad thought touching him . nor secondly , would i have you mourne out of any such apprehension as the enemies have , and for which they rejoice ; as if our cause vvere not good , or wee should lose it for want of hands and heads to carry it on : no , no , beloved , this cause must prosper ; and although we were all dead , our armies overthrown , and even our parliaments dissolved , this cause must prevail ; out of the mouth of babes and sucklings , will god ordeine strength to quell all the enemies of it ; even the great enemy , and the avenger . nor should we much mourne , because the enemies rejoyce : i confesse it is as a sword in our bowels , to heare their blasphemies ; but as in relation of the cause , their blasphemies need not trouble us ; let my enemy ( said job ) be as the wicked ; and he that riseth up against me , as the ungodly ; let them fill up the measure of their wickednesse , god will the sooner take a course with them , and the more eminently and speedily plead our cause : but let us mourne that we have thus farre provoked the lord god to displeasure , and to manifest it by such heavy stroakes , that wee are deprived of such an excellent godly man , such a patriot , such a light , such an example , such a store-house of good , such a jewell snatch't out of our bosome , as we all knew him to be , and that we have such a sad prediction in his death of the increase and prolongation of our calam●ties . but especially ( right honourable lords and gentlemen ) let me prevaile with you to make such use of him , that with abel , though he be dead , he may still speak unto you ; that , as a graine of corne , he may prove more fruitfull when buried under the ground , then while he lived with us upon earth . and certainly , if god sends us to the pismire , to consider her waies , and thereby to learne wisdome ; it can be no disparagement to any of you to consider his worth , and thereby to grow better ; i shall therefore make bold to propound him , as bishop mountacu●e did master perkins in his funerall sermon , to be the man that taught england to serve god , and ministers to preach jesus christ ; so master john pym to be the man , whose example may teach all our nobles and gentlemen , to be good christians , good patriots , good parliament-men . you all knew him well , and knew that he was not a man , who when he was called to the publike service of his countrey , lay here to satisfie his lusts , spending his time in riot and wantonnesse , in gaming , drinking , whoring , &c. take heed none of you be such . he was not a man who prov'd a traitour to god and his countrey , and the cause of religion , which he had solemnly protested to maintaine . take heed none of you be such . hee was not a man , who ( though hee appeared often in the parliament house , yet ) neither promoted good causes himselfe , nor willingly permitted others to do it . take heed there be none such among you . he was not a man who own'd the good cause so long as it was like to thrive , and then tackt-about when it seemed to decline ; resolved to secure himselfe , what ever became of the publike . beware none of you be such . he was not a man who would feed himselfe , or feather his owne nest , or provide for his family or friends out of the publike stocke or treasure of the kingdome . take heed none of you be such . he was not a man who would favour the cause of his friend , or presse too heavily against his enemy ; he was no respecter of persons in any cause or judgement . take heed none of you doe so . he was not a man who would consider how far any publike service would stand with his owne private designes , and promote the one no further then the other could be driven on ●ith it . beware this be none of your condition . he was not a man who for maintaining or propagating any private opinion , or way of his owne , would hazzard the publique safety . take heed none of you be such . he was not a man who feared to promote the reformation of religion , lest himselfe should be brought under the yoke of it . take heed that none of you doe so . not a man living ( i beleeve ) could justly taxe him for any of these ; god grant none of you may be found guilty of any one of them in the day of your account . if you be such , or should prove such , let me tell you , it 's most probable you do but dance in a net ; all good men are not fooles , some of them will discover you : however , though we may possibly suffer a while by your wickednesse , yet soone enough to your owne ruine your sinnes will finde you out . but in stead of these things , he was the holy man , the good man , adorned with that integrity , constancy , and unweariablenesse in doing good , which i before told you of : goe , and doe likewise : get such an upright heart to god ; lay out your selves wholly in the publike cause ; put both your hands to this worke , and the smaller your number is , be the more diligent , and fall the closer to it ; set selfe , and selfe-respects , aside ; drive 〈◊〉 designes of your owne ; count it reward enough , t● spend , and be spent in this cause ; esteeme the work● more worth then all your lives ; ●mitate him in thei● things : so might you make him , as another sampson more advantagious to the cause of god in his death then ever he was in his whole life . you have done well thus to follow his corps with honour to his bed of rest : you have done well to appoint a committee to consider his debts , and how hee hath wasted his estate as well as spent his life in the publike service , that so his family may finde he did not all this to an ungratefull state ; the lord reward this faithfulnesse into your bosomes : but would you endevour to be like him , to set him up for your patterne , and not to rest till a double portion of his spirit might be found in you , this were the greatest honour you could possibly doe unto him : so should we all blesse god for his example , and your imitation ; so should you be repairers of our breaches ; so should you be even saviours unto us ; so should you doe worthily in ephrata , and be famous in bethlem . consider what i say , and the lord give you understanding in all things . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a70654e-580 introduction . gen. 50. 11. the text explained . vers. 2. hest. 10. 3. 2 chron. 24. act. 11. 24. gen 8. 19. prov. 14. 32. doct. 1. god oft takes away usefull instruments ; and proved 1. by examples . 2 king. 13. mal 4. ult. esa. 53. 8. by reason . hereby hepro vides for his owne glory . his power . esa. 40. 2. wisdome . i●h. 14. 12. 2 e●r the good of his own , of them who dye . sa . 53. 2. of them who live . deut. 34. 6. 3. for judgment and 〈◊〉 upon others . 2 king. 23. vses . vse 2. vse 3. vse 4. esa. 26. psal. 125. doct. 2. 1. god requires it . 2. the saints practising it . gen. 50. deu●. 34. 2 chron. 35. 24 , 25. zechar. 12. isa. 24. 13. 16 act. 8. 2. 2 ki● . 13. 14 3. scripture-reason infor●eth it . because god is then displeased . 〈◊〉 . 10 8 2. because the dead are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . psalme 122. ier. 22 18. gen. 50. 2 samuel 3. acts 9. 39 3. because we our selves are hereby endammaged . pro. 10 21 pro. 15. 7 mal. 3 psal. 106 num. 16. 46 iob 22. iam. 5. 17 , 18 esa. 45 11 mal. 3. 17 2 kings 3 gen. 19. 13. 22 2 kings 14 luke 19 vse 1. for reproofe . 2 s●m . 1. 1● . &c. esa. 56. ult. esa. 52. 1. hos. 7. 9 〈◊〉 . obad. 2. ezech. 26. 2 rev. 11. 10 〈◊〉 3. ier. 9. 1● chrys. hom de laudib. . paul . percepimus gaudia , magna solatia , magna fomenta , maximè quòd et gloriosas martyrum , non dicam mortes , sed immortalitates gloriosis et condig●is laudibus prosequutus es ; tales enim excessus talibus vocibus personandi sunt , ut quae referebantur sic dicerentur qualiter facta sunt , cypri . ep. 26. exod. 32. 10. num. 14. 12. 1 sam : 3. 31. zach. 12. 11. iob. 27. 7. mat. 23. 32. heb. 11. 4. iohn 12. 24. prov. 6. 6. esa. 58. 12. obad. 21. ruth 4. 11. a sermon preached at ashby de-la-zouch in the countie of leicester at the funerall of the truely noble and vertuous lady elizabeth stanley one of the daughters and coheires of the right honourable ferdinand late earle of derby, and late wife to henrie earle of huntingdon the fifth earle of that familie. the 9. of february. anno dom. 1633. by i.f. i. f., fl. 1633. 1635 approx. 44 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a00510 stc 10644 estc s116875 99852090 99852090 17395 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a00510) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 17395) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1379:13) a sermon preached at ashby de-la-zouch in the countie of leicester at the funerall of the truely noble and vertuous lady elizabeth stanley one of the daughters and coheires of the right honourable ferdinand late earle of derby, and late wife to henrie earle of huntingdon the fifth earle of that familie. the 9. of february. anno dom. 1633. by i.f. i. f., fl. 1633. fletcher, joseph, 1577?-1637, attributed name. [2], 44 p. printed by william iones dwelling in red-crosse streete, london : 1635. leaves b2 and d4 are cancels in most copies of this and stc 10545 and stc 10646. most copies also have an extra leaf with epitaph by l. cary, 2nd viscount falkland. some copies have a portrait of the countess engraved by john payne. sometimes attributed to joseph fletcher. the copy catalogued contains the cancels (d4r catchword "from". variant: d4 is cacellandum; d4r catchword "part"), but lacks the epitaph and the portrait of the countess. reproduction of the original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng huntingdon, elizabeth hastings, -countess of, 1586-1633. funeral sermons. 2005-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at ashby de-la-zovch in the covntie of leicester : at the funerall of the truely noble and vertuous lady elizabeth stanley one of the daughters and coheires of the right honourable ferdinand late earle of derby and late wife to henrie earle of huntingdon the fifth earle of that familie . the 9. of february . anno dom. 1633. by i. f. london . printed by william iones dwelling in red-crosse streete . 1635. an epitaph vpon the excellent covntesse of hvntjngdon . the cheife perfections of both sexes joyn'd , with neithers vice nor vanity combin'd . of this our age the wonder , loue , and care , the example of the following , and dispaire . such beauty , that from all hearts loue must flow : such maiesty , that none durst tell her so . a wisdome of so large and potent sway , romes senare might haue wisht , her conclaue may . which did to earthly thoughts so seldome bow , aliue she scarce was lesse in heaven , then now . so voyd of the least pride , to her alone these radiant excellencies seem'd vnknowne . such once there was : but let thy greife appeare reader , there is not : huntingdon lies here . by him who saies what he saw falkland . a fvnerall sermon . iohn . xi . xxv . he that beleiveth in mee though he were dead yet shall he liue . the hopes of those which are strangers unto the covenants of promise , cannot fixe any setled ayme , and expectancie beyond the short line of life : when that is drawne out unto the utmost point , death at the best is apprehended by them , but as it was by adrian , to be incerta peregrinatio , a race of very doubtfull issue , doubtfull whether in the end thereof , the head shall be crowned or cut off ; so that of all men most miserable that they are , their hope is onely in this life . tantisper sperant dum spirant ; but the hope of the children of the promise , doth not vanish into emptines with their breath , etiam dum expirant sperant ; though there be no more breath in their mouthes and their nostrills , yet their hope is layd vp in their bosome . iob 29. though we die , yet saith job , we know , that our redeemer liveth . though we be hid and closed vnder the ground , like the seed in the garden bed , yet he whom mary saw like the gardiner , this gardiner , will looke , that the seede shall have its spring againe : he will , saith the prophet , poure vpon vs a dew , like the dew of bearbes , and the earth shall yeeld forth her dead and of thus much doth he here ass●re the sister of mary , who was almost as deepely swallowed vp of griefe , as her deceased brother lazarus was of the grave . comfort thy selfe martha , he shall rise againe ; and doubt not martha , i my selfe am the resurrection , and the life , the issues of death belong unto me . the keyes of the grave are at my girdle , and he that beleeveth in me , though he were dead yet shall he live . the wordes are in summe , a stipulatio conventionalis , consisting of a 1. condition . 2. promise . 1. first , the condition thus insinuated , he that beleeveth . 2. the promise thus proposed and pronounced , though he were dead yet shall he live . first , the condition upon which the promise is suspended , is faith , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that fulnesse of our hopes , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that solace of our lives , as philo calleth it , nay that our life it selfe , or at least that upon which our life lies ; for by it the just shall live , or by nothing , he that beleeveth in me , and he onely that beleeveth , he shall live . and here seeing this action is so properly specified , by its object ; we may observe , that the principall obiect of our faith , is god , considered in the unitie of his essence and a trinity of persons , and therefore in the symboll of our beleife , the creede , is there a particular credo , or at least the particle ( in ) premitted apart before every one of the three persons , importing , that upon them we fixe , and build , our first assent , and assurance . as for those other subordinate principles of our faith , such as concerne the catholique church , the communion of saints , these being but creatures , are not assented unto for themselves , but for god , the uncreate , and first truth , and therefore have no such credo , nor particle set apart before them , but onely prefixed before one of the three persons . now , this obiect of our faith is considered diversly ; either , as the act of beliefe and assent hath respect unto the understanding , and in that consideration , the obiect of faith is twofold , either formall , in which respect the act of faith is credere deo , we beleeving god as the first truth , and for him fixing a setled assent upon all second and subordinate truthes , they be the maine characters of divinity power , and wisdome imprinted on them , apparently manifesting , the hand , the finger of the lord to have written them . or else it is materiall , and so the act of faith is credere deum ; we that beleeve beleeve that god is , and that he is a rewarder of those that seeke him . or secondly , the obiect of faith is considered , as the act of beleefe and assent hath respect unto the will moveing the understanding to render its assent , and in this respect the act of faith is credere in deum , as it is here delivered ; for the will having pitched the end of all its hopes , in the goodnesse of this exceeding rich and precious promise uncessantly plyeth the understanding to give its assent to the truth of that which so much imports and concernes its peace and satisfaction . and these different considerations , doe not importe any such various difference of the acts of faith , but rather signifie the divers respects of one and the same act unto the obiect of faith . the summe of all may be collected thus . first , we beleeve that god is , and a rewarder of all those that seeke him : 2. we beleeve his counsells and covenants manifested , and dispensed unto us . 3. we beleeve in him , adhaere unto him , relie on him ; our soule being with absolute complacencie satisfied in him , cryeth out , pars mea dominus , it is enough the lord is my portion , how then can i lacke any thing ? we give our assent unto his counsells , and covenants , because we are assured that in what he delivereth , or promiseth , he is wise and cannot be deceived himselfe , he is faithfull and will not deceive us ; though we discerne a propension , and flexiblenesse in our selves to waver with every contrarie ayre , yet let god be true , though all men be lyars . the aegyptians as aquinas notes adventured to make the promise alterable ; i know not what feates they had , like unto those of their moderne counterfeits , to play fast , and loose with such a firme , and sealed knot as this . but whatsoever they ! we , saith the apostle , beleeve what we know , and we know whom we have beleeved , and if we be deceived , certainely as the prophet saith , thou lord hast deceived us ; but god for bid saith abraham the father of all beleevers , that the iudge of all the world , should not do righteously ; and unto this well-grounded assent , succeedes our firme adhaerence unto the covenants of promise , by which we cleave unto , and close with our redeemer in this manner . the proposition of the promise is furnished by the gospell ; the redeemer died for those that are dead unto sin & rose againe for the justification of them which are planted into the similitude of his resurrection . now an assumption must be fitted unto the proposition by that assent which our understandings give unto the truth , and that adherence which our wills fasten upon the goodnesse of these exceeding rich and precious promises . if we be able thus to limit the generall proposition , i am dead unto the world by the crosse of christ , or i was dead , but now i am alive in iesus christ , the conclusion will follow inevitably . i doe not alwayes expect in such a limitation certitudinem evidentiae : where i finde but certitudinem adhaerentiae , such a one as sometime feeles some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some declinations and abatements of its firmenesse , and fervor . even that faith howsoever it seeme to come no neerer unto christ then the very hemme of his garment yet is able to derive vertue from him . thus have i in a verie narrow modell represented unto you the whole figure of that grace , which gives us title unto this promise . give me then leave to question you , as the apostle did agrippa , beleevest thou the prophets ? beleeve you in the lord iesus ? i would i could answer for all , as he did for agrippa . i know that you beleeve . but this i know : many will make a boast of faith ( saith salomon ) but where shall we finde a faithfull man ? if you beleeve indeed , your faith will give evidence of it selfe by the exercise of an adhering and an apprehending vertue : by the first we are inserted into him ; by the second we derive a quickening influence from him doest thou then beleeve in the lord iesus ? shew mee then the power of the lord iesus . the angell gave a reason of his name , he shall be called iesus , saith he , for he shall save his people from their sinnes . but art thou yet in thy sinnes ? i cannot then beleeve that thou beleevest : no! it is fitter for thee ( according to that elegant observation of st. bernard ) to feare the name of christ , then to be confident upon the name of iesus . it is fitter for thee in such a case to dread him as he is christ , a king , a iudge , then to presume upon him as he is iesus , a saviour , a redeemer . doest thou beleeve in the death of iesus christ ? shew me then the power of his death , whether it worke in thee mightilie , as it did in the apostle to the subduing of every corrupt affection . doest thou beleeve in his resurrection ? shew me then the power of his resurrection , resurrectio christi habet virtutem in se , sed operationem in nobis , shew me then what new effect it hath wrought , what new life it hath quickened in thee . no man came unto christ , that went away in the same estate that he came in : some came lame , and paralytike , and went backe restored to the integritie of their limmes and strength ; some came leprous and were dismissed cleane some came blinde and deafe , and went went away restored to the integritie of their sences , none were dismissed in the same estate wherein they came : and hast thou beene so neere unto christ , as to say , i am in him , and of him , and yet art neither cleansed , nor enlightened , nor healed , who can beleeve it ? whatsoever thou boastest of beleeving , i cannot beleeve that thou beleevest at all , no certainely thou never wert so neere him , as the very skirts of his clothing , thou never camest so neere , as the very smell of the oyntments of this our aaron , if thou hadst certainely that name , which is as an oyntment powred forth , that name , wherein thou pretendest to beleeve , would powerfully have healed all these wounds and sores , and swellings but doest thou indeed beleeve , and art able to give evidence thereof by such comfortable testimonies , as are here implied ? then doubt not of the promise as christ said unto martha . beleevest thou this ? why then he that beleeveth in me , though he were dead yet shall he live ; and so i passe from the condition , to the consideration of the promise suspended upon the condition , though he were dead , yet shall he live . the labour of man in this life , is , to turne up the face of the earth in the sweate of his owne face , seeking for foode and fewell in her bowells , and in the closing up of the weary day of his travell , the earth receiveth man himselfe for a recompence into her bosome to fill up those wounds and rents , but the earth receaveth back no more then it lent , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . naz : the spirit breathed from above , returneth to god that gave it . dissolutio corporis , est absolutio animae . as the snare being broken the bird escapeth , so the bodie being dissolved , evadit intus inclusa columba , our soule is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler ; so that in our departure we suffer but aliquid mortis , not a whole death . our life is not lost , but hid . the serpent which hath the power of death can doe no more , but manducare terram nostram , licke our dust ; and indeed but licke it ; devoure it , consume it , annihilate it he cannot , there must still be ex defectione refectio , after a decay a reparation . the earth indeed receiveth the dust backe againe , which it lent , but yet it receiveth it not as payed , but as lent ; it must be given up , and returned backe againe ; it receiveth our bodies to make up those wounds and wants , which partly our wants , partly our wantonnesse have made in her face , and wombe ; and it retaineth them for a recompense of her sufferings and losses , till in the generall restoration , it selfe be restored . but then when it selfe is renewed , when there is a new heaven , and a new earth what need hath the earth to reteine our bodies any longer for satisfaction ? in that day oh earth , earth , earth , thou shalt heare the voice of the lord , and render up thy dead , and even the dead themselves shall heare the voyce of the son of god , and they that heare it shall live . this is the hope of israell , and indeed the hope of all the world , after al those evills which presse and persecute man to the last earthly evill death , there is yet this hope left in the botteme of the grave , as in the bottome of pandora's boxe but it is but hope , not sight , and therefore the doctrine which concerned this hope , received such sleight intertainment ; for whereas the apostle saith , hope that is seene is not hope , cleane contrary with him that lookes onely with the eye of nature , hope that is not seene , is no hope at all . hope that is not founded upon the evidence of reason is with him but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a citie in the cloudes , a castle in the ayre ; hence was it that the doctrine of the resurrection , amongst the epicureans & pithagoreans of athens was receved but as a mater of mockery ; though the iudgement seate were in the arcopagus , yet they sate downe in the seate of scorners , not as iudges of paules sermon ; but allowing that the athenians had some reason to be ignorant , as perhaps , had they not so much reason , they would not have had so litle faith . it is not strange that in the first 300. years after christ , divers even in christ should gainesay this hope of all the world being spoyled through the same vaine philosophy . many of those ages , having not seen any example of a resurrection , but only received it upon relation and reading , began to scanne the possibility of such a restoration according to the principles of nature , & reason . it is well observed of minutius non minoris est sceleris ignorare quamsaedere these men sinne as highly by denying gods power through their ignorance , as if by their disobedience they had resisted it : malè deum norunt qui illum putant non posse quod non putant ; i may pronounce them ignorant which conceive , that god is able to do no more , then they are able in reason to conceive . but though they , though all the world gainsay this hope of all the world , yet this is the victory that overcometh all the world , even our faith : we will not draw all unto reason but leave something for faith . our contemplation of matters of this straine which are above the comprehension of reason , and beyond the bounds of experience doth not arrive at knowledge but at wonder : which is nothing els but contemplation broken off , or loosing it selfe ; it was aptly said by one of platoes schoole , the sense of man resembleth the sunne , which openeth and reveileth the terrestiall globe , but obscureth and concealeth the celestiall , so doeth the sense discover naturall things , but darken , and shut up , those which are beyond the verge of nature : for all things proceeding in the invention of knowledg is by similitude , but those things are onely selfe like and have nothing in common with naturall things otherwise then in shadow , and trope . give therefore unto faith , that which unto faith belongeth ; for indeed it is more worthy to beleeve then to thinke or know ; considering that in knowledge the minde suffereth from the impression of inferior natures ; but in all beliefe , the minde suffereth from a spirit which it holdeth superior , & more authorised thē it selfe ; nolumus igitur intelligere ut credamus , sed credereut inteligamus , we wil not therfore seeke to under stand that we may beleeve , but beleve that it may be given us to understand the mystery of the resurrection was delivered not by pihlosophers , but by simple fishermen : and here the most subtill of us , must leave to be disputants , and learne to be disciples . and yet if any list to dispute , let me aske as st. paul did , why should it seeme an impossible thing , to raise up one that is dead ? it was well argued by the iew pesisa , si quod fuit , est , ergo , quod fuit erit . whether is it harder to restore a body mouldred into the dust from whence it was taken , then to creat all things out of nothing ! is it thought impossible in nature ? why , nature her selfe is a mistrisse able enough to informe us of the contrarie . operibus resurrectionem perscripsit antequam literis , viribus praedicavit antequam vocibus : se we not the vicissitudes of night and day , the revolutions of winter and summer , the riseing and setting of the starres , the wane and increases of the moone , the quickening of the dead graine under the clod , to beare a lively resemblance of this restoration . the whole creation which grones for the generall resurrection , practiseth a yeerely , a monthly , yea a daily resurrection in its severall parts . and all this for man ! and shall man onely not rise , for whom all these things rise in their periods and seasons ? what should withhold him from being restored ? the powers of the grave are shaken , and disabled , christ himselfe hath broken open the gates thereof , and loosed his prisoners from the brinkes of the pit : death it selfe hath by his last conflict received its deaths wound : he had foiled it before , by the ministry of his servants , by eliah recalling the sarephtans son , by elisha recovering the shunamits son . so david foiled his enemies of ammon by the valour of his servants ioab , and abisha , but himselfe was faine to appeare before rabbah for the perfecting of the victory and conclusion of the warre ; so the sonne of david appeared personally to give his enemie the last stroke to swallow up death in an utter victory . the victory is thus atcheived . death it selfe though he be the king of feare , and have as many provinces of his dominion , as there be paines , perills and snares of death , yet hath no more dominion over us , then what our sinne betrayeth us unto . the arrowes of death are fledged with the feathers which grow upon our owne wings . now therefore if we conceive man to be without sinne , death hath no more dominion over him : death then haveing seized upon our saviour , who was without staine or guilt , it was found equall in the iudgement of god , that it should loose all power over us that were sinfull , because it exercised a power which it had not over him that was innocent . for in regard of the iniury offered unto him and patiently susteined by him , god adjudged him all power over him that had the power of death , giveing him liberty to restore unto liberty the prisoners of the grave . and indeed he hath reason thus to restore them , for according to that of bernard , christus solus resurrexit , sed non totus ; christ alone is risen , but all christ is not risen , till all that are of , and in christ be risen likewise . thus though other graves be the houses of death , this of christ is unto us , ( now the stone is removed from it ) the gate of everlasting life ; although death be the king of feare yet we see of his kingdome there is an end , he raigned indeed under the law , but now the scepter of righteousnesse is transferred unto one , of whose kingdome there is no end . and observe the procession and pompe of his triumph over his vanquished foe : death , saith the prophet , shall goe before his face pale and trembling as a prisoner before his triumphall chariot . he saith no longer now as he did once , o death , i will be thy death , it is not seasonable to threaten now , death hath already felt his vanquishing armes , he spareth not now therefore to reproch him with this glorious insultation , o death where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victorie ? since thou didst once loose thy sting upon mine innocency , i have taken away the sinnes of the world , so that now thou canst not fit thy selfe with any new sting , to wound either mee , or mine . thus death it selfe is dead , and the dead live againe ; death is swallowed up , and the dead are rendered up : this is the hope of humaneflesh : but he must be more then flesh , whosoever attaineth to the end of this hope , for flesh and bloud shall never inherit the kingdome of heaven . as there is a flesh which shall see the salvation of god , so there is a flesh which is as grasse . grasse which groweth to day , and tomorow perhaps is to be cast into the fornace , there to be tormented in aeterno dei , because it sinned in aeterno suo . during the eternall pleasure of god , because of its owne eternall pleasure it tooke in displeasing of god ; as there are some qui rapientur in occursum , so there are some qui convertentur retrorsum . those which have turned their backes unto me , and not their face , those shall be turned backward . they shall rise againe , but it shall be for their greater depression . their bodies shall be delivered from the first death , but it shall be to be delivered up unto the second death , their soules and bodies shall be united , but both devided from god , in such manner that they shall wish the bodie had beene rather extinguished , then thus united . sed ad augmentum tormenti , ut hic de corpore nolens educitur , itidem et illic in corpore tenetur in vitus . to aggravate the vengeance , as here the soule parted out of the bodie against its will ; so there it s held in the body against its will. marveile not at it , though 〈◊〉 be de suo optomus , yet he is de nostro iustus . as he is gracious by the propriety of his nature ; so he is iust for the necessity of the cause . and it is equall and iust , that if we taste of the sweetnesse of sinne against the will of god , we shall taste of the bitternesse of punishment against our owne will. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. it is equall if we be here subiected unto that evill one , that we should hereafter be possessed of him , saith that excellent homilist macarius . if we make our bodies prostibula and not templa , rather temples of chemosh and ashtaroth then domus patris mei , they will become rather blockes of hell-fire then pillars in the temple and the courtes of the house of our god. let us therefore spare our bodies ( my beloved ) and not use them as if they were borrowed garments , we must give accompts of things done in them . and as the scarrs of wounds , so the scarrs of sins will appeare therin after death , which will be characters of evidence plaine enough to testifie their un●●●blenesse of glorie , let us therefore here seeke to take them away , by taking the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by being washed , by being sanctified here . would we so rise from death , that we may not sinke into the second death , let us remember , that corpora nostra huic resurrectioni per regenerationem spiritus inaugurantur , our bodies must be here intituled unto the resurrection of glory , by the resurrection of grace . nature exposeth us all dead , dead in the uncircumcision of the flesh , dead in the dead workes of the flesh ; man , who had not knowne sinne , should have felt no power of death in his bodie , by sinne contracted a death even of his soule , for as the soule is the life of the bodie , so is grace the life of the soule ; as then when the soule departeth the bodie dies , so grace having abandoned the soule , the spirit it selfe is dead . and how many doe we discerne everie where , in whom the tokens of this death are sensibly apparent , men dead in themselves , onely satan moveth in them , satan walketh in them , so that they move but like prodigies , like the bodies of those which satan is said to make use of for the atcheiving of his wicked illusions . st. aug : observes three sorts of dead persons whom christ raised up unto life , representing three distinct sorts of his spirituall death : first the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue , which was dead in the house , resembling those that are dead-hearted , senselesse of the impressions of life & grace , such as sit as dead in these assemblies , as if we were preaching at their funeralls . secondly , the young man which was caryed out of the gates of natin , resembling those whose hearts and hands are engaged in the outward practise of the dead workes of the flesh thirdly , lazarus that had layen long putryfying in the grave representing those that have layen from the very wombe , overwhelmed with the body of death and over-set with a cloud of ignorance , & insensiblenes so many dead in all these conditions and degrees do we observe every where that we have reason to wish as ieremie did : oh that our eyes were as rivers of water , that we might weepe for the dead , for the slaine of our people , now then oh wretched men that we are , who shall deliver us from the body of this death ? if we be raised , we must be raised by the voice , and vertue of the same christ which raised up these he that in the gospel bad the yong man , arise , must by his gospel bid the new man arise in us . as we are sūmoned unto the second resurrection , by the voice of an archangel , so are we here unto this , by the voice of the angel of the covenant , in the mouths of the angels of the churches , the ministers . & here both that voice which sounded from mount sinai , and that which sounded from mount sion , have their part in the action . the law startleth , the gospell awaketh & quickneth us . christ sent the law by his servant , as elisha sent his staffe , by which yet the dead child was not raised up till elisha himselfe came in persō . the terrors of the law quicken in us so much sence , as may make us sigh for our restoration , the refreshings of the gospel quickē in us so much light , & life as to make us se and run into the arms of our restorer the law seemes to remove the stone from the mouth of our hearts , as it was removed from the mouth of lazarus sepulchre ; but the voice of christ in the gospel sumoneth us to awake & arise that he may give us light , wherin we may be enabled to know & follow him , that hath visited us , & done so great things for us & now i would that we had made such an advantage of our attention , to that powerfull voice , that i might have occasiont 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after a visible , & evident resurrection to loose you , as lazarus was , from the bondes of the grave , or to say with the father of the prodigall , loe these my sonnes were dead , but now they live : we were dead saith the apostle , but now we are alive in iesus christ , now we feele the pulse of spirituall life beate in the arteries of our faith , which assureth us that our life is prepared for us ; of our hope which is resolute that it is preserved for us ; of our love , which upon these well-grounded perswasions , is continually running in a cheerefull prosecution and chase thereof . my beloved though we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earth to our father and dust to our sire , yet let us not have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dust-creeping soules : surely our hope is higher then the dust , let our conversation then be as high as our hope is . though we be made of the earth , yet we are not made for the earth . we may observe , that he that requires the erection of our affections , doth with great iealousie withdraw from us all those ensnarements upon which they may fasten here below . he is such a bridegrome , as will not that we preferre the king before himselfe ; this circle the world , before the compasse of his armes . all these counterfeit delights , which this empty dust is able to yeeld us , they are as of purpose , made either not to rellish at all with us , by reason of their shortnesse and fleetingnesse , or to distate us by the admixture of some calamitie and bitternesse : for if we will be children in understanding insteed of being children in innocency , if we will still be sucking here , we must be used as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 great babes , we must have the breast be smeared and sowred , to weane out childish longing from it . but the withdrawing of any of these earthly things from us , doth not so much withdraw us from the earth as the calling away of those deare-ones in whose bloud , or love we have any interest , the wives of our youthes , the children of our delight . these are they with whom we reioyced and they being gone , the remainder of our life seemes bitter unto us , and we thinke with our selves , what further use is there of us ? or what portion have we left upon the earth ? we crie like children , that have their delights and rattles taken from them . and at last as when the nurse makes the child beleev she hath layed them in the cradle to sleepe , the childe cries to sleepe likewise , that he may be neere them : so we when our deare ones are layed downe and composed in their beds of dust , we are weary of waking any longer , our eyes grow as heavy as our hearts , we see nothing to reioyce in , or take comfort in ; we desire as iacob , to goe downe to the grave to our sonnes , we desire to sleepe by the sides of our beloved ones , that with them we may awake againe , after the likenesse of him who layeth us and them unto our rest , and shall raise us againe unto our refreshing . thus should ye ( right honorable ) looke after this renowned ladie , who is now composed unto her rest in the bed of earth ; suspiring and longing after the same refreshing , the same hope that hope which is now no lōger hope with her but sight and sense , & possession it selfe . but if you would have your soule find the same rest with hers , let your soule seek it as she did . if with her you would find the kingdome of god seek with her the righteousnes therof . let us awhile looke into the grave with which these deare ashes are entrusted , for in that house 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the septuagint reades that of eccles : 13. though the grave be the house of death , yet we shall derive from hence , an example of a gracious life , and of such a death as undoubtedly ushers in a glorious life . anciently there were great treasures hid in the sepulchres of great ones , & if we looke into this we shall finde a treasure too , a treasure of rich example to us all . as she was derived of a very noble princely extraction , so she ennobled her selfe much more by endevouring to assure her selfe of her regeneration and adoption , than by her birth . that was the honor by which she valued her selfe , and indeede the true and genuine honor of you all , right honorable . he that called abraham father was everlastingly accursed because god was not his father . it is a good observation of philo , upon that of gen : 6. these are the generations of noah , noah was a iust man and walked with god. &c. moses , saith he , setting downe noahs genealogie insteed of recounting his ancestors , reckoneth his vertues . it were easie for me to name many noble names like unto these , to prove that nobility by which she esteemed her selfe principally honored . she had a mind of a most excellent cōposure , of a noble & generous height , but attempered with an admirable sweetnesse , and humility , so that i may affirme , that she made use of the greatnesse of her spirit in nothing so much , as either in the magnanimous contempt of unworthy iniuries , ( for some such were aymed at her though none could fasten , her vertue had so oyled her name , that no inke would sticke upon it ) or else in the patient tollerating of worldly occurrences , and afflictions , and of them she made this happy advantage that as a thred besmeared with any filth , must be drawne through some narrow hole for the cleering of it , so the pressure of some afflictions seemed to cleere her from many corruptions , through which nature , & custome , and fashion and greatnesse , do yet draw the lines of others lives . her understanding was of great perspicacity , and as she fayled not to imploy the same for the comprehending of such occasions and affaires , as might advantage & susteine the estate of her house , and procure and reinforce the content and comfort of her noble lord : so principally she directed the strength thereof for the enabling her selfe with the knowledg of the misteries of redemption , her delight was in the law of god , she was an unwearied reader of the oracles of gods sacred word , she that aimed at a living againe though she must die , sought not the tree of the knowledge of good and evill , which made us all obnoxious to die , but the tree of the knowledge of god , which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tree of life it selfe , as thala●ius calls it in biblioth . patrum . and as she had the knowledge of truth to give light unto her religion , so she had the truth of religion , to give life unto her knowledge . i make no doubt but the state thereof hath beene much advanced , by her instruction and incouragement in this house , which hath beene long honoured , for honouring of god. it hath pleased her lord more then once to make profession , not onely what refreshing her comforts , what support her counsells have brought him , but now much he hath in the estate of the minde beene bettered by her . i am perswaded , they have beene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yoke-fellowes in this worke , & i trust they shal be hereafter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellow heires of one and the same grace . from him , and her selfe , she made a diffusion of her goodnesse to all hers , educating them in such puritie , and inocency , as is admirable , in those , who ( i know not how ) are lyable to be betraved by their birthes and fortunes unto great depravations , and exorbitancies , so that we may say of her as greg : naz : said of his sister gorgonia , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . she made the fruite of her bodie , to become the fruite of the spirit . and of the same goodnesse there was a proportionable diffusion amongst those that depended on her . how many that lived neere her , hath the elixar of the same goodnesse , rendered of the same qualitie , and propertie ? her charitie and courtesie was large and open unto all . i name these as strictures of that fire of zeale , which she had to goodnesse . she was not like those which esteeme themselves onely members , and others but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apostems congenite and connaturall partes with themselves , her zeale was farre from being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bitter zeale , such as we see in some , like a salt-light , which burnes indeed but spits withall ; while she had health she made advantage therof thus to demeane her selfe , not deferring the taking up of good purposes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. greg : naz : till the artlesse physitian takes upon him to dispense what houres of life and continance he pleaseth unto us , weighing us out either sicknesse or health with his severe-rod , and commonly discoursing and concluding of the disease that brought death , after death it selfe . but the greatest part of her life was a parasceue , a preparation to her dissolution , as if she had beene sensible , that as christ dyed upon the parasceue , the day of preparation ; so none have any advantage by the death of christ , but those which premit such a preparation before their owne death , and dissolution . is it not admirable that she who had runne through some hard lessons , in the schoole of affliction , loved the rod so , for the healing , and sanctifying benefit , which she found in it , that it was her frequent prayer , that god would be pleased when he called her hence , he would be pleased to call her by a consumption , rather then by any other way . and accordingly it was so : she conceived , that many had been shaken with the whirlwinde of a convulsion , and perhaps the lord god was not in that winde : many consumed with the fire of adustion and choller , & perhaps the lord god was not in that fire : but whereas many have beene summoned away by the still soft voice of consumption , the lord god is frequently in that voyce . and certainly the lord supported her , the lord perfected his strength in her weaknes , for she susteined that afflictiō with such admirable moderation , with such strength and vigour of spirit that if any man had entred her chamber , if he had not read the truth of her sufferings in the decayes and weaknesse of her person , hee would have thought there had been none sicke there ; whatsoever she suffered , there was nothing in her mouth , but thanks to that gracious hand which lay so light vpon her , and made her suffer no more . as before , so in her sicknesse especially , it was her uncessant practise , to commend her selfe continually unto god , and that in the most conceived , and feeling formes in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , words winged with affection , and zeale not like those estriches wings wherewith our sluggish devotions are usually fledged , which as the estriches make a faire offer at flying toward heaven , but are held down by the grossnes of their bodies , so howsoever we seeme to soare , yet are we restrained by our carnall heavinesse . but her wordes were winged so , as to carry her spirit there where her hope was , farre above the reach of satan , though he be planted high too , as high as a prince of the aire so that no marvell if her spirit during her last affliction , were in such a composed settlednesse , it was out of the enemies reach . she was not in the aire lyable to be shaken with tempests , and windes , but even in heaven it selfe , which cannot be turmoyled with any such agitations . she vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to seale vp her bosome against temptation by continuall prayer , so that satan durst not attempt her , seeing what impression seeing whose image , and superscription , she bore ; hence was that often comfortable profession , how firme and stedfast she found her faith ! yet shee was iealous of her selfe because shee seemed to finde no greater measure of sorrow in her selfe when shee looked backe from her future to her former life : put she ever used to accuse her want of sorrow with such a measure of sorrow , as well witnessed the truth thereof . for this respect she did with exceeding diligence search , and with great iudgement choose , whatsoever the scripture could afford her for the establishing of her spirit , and the building up of her assurance in the lord iesus , committing with her owne hand , even in ●●at weakenes●e , to writing what she had observed , and contin●ing that pr●ctise till within very few dayes before her death , before which she became most peaceably setled , and r●solved , that god according to that of greg : naz : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 god desireth that our hearts should be pricked , but not stabbed thorough ; and her faith being thus strengthened , and established , by continuall prayer and hearing , and by frequent communicating that sacrament which ignatius calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she preserved it in such strength and vigor , that the day of her dissolution , i comming to her , she professed , that whatsoever her sufferings were , yet she did nothing but claspe her selfe about her-sweet saviour . and againe the same day , i see satan hovering over me , but though he be the prince of the ayre ( they are her owne words ) yet he doth but hover like a bird in the ayre not being able to seize upon me , i still feele the advantage . and thus she passed as she was passing away , in the same calme behaviour that she had ever shewed , rendering her selfe into the armes of her redeemer : and she having lived thus , and died thus , now she is dead , shall we thinke she doth not live ; no no! it is not impertinent what i have read in spartian of hadrian . signa mortis haec habuit . annulus sponte de digito delapsus est , but the ring of faith as bernard calls it , never slipped from her , she tooke it with her , to be maried for ever in it , unto the lambe , who hath graven her in the palmes of his hands , and hath set her as a scale upon his arme there to remaine for ever . vnto which honor the lord with her bring us all that we may so live , & so die , & then so live for ever , without dying any more amen . finis . perlegi hanc concionem funebrem in cap. 11. st. ioha 1. ver . 25. in quâ nihil reperio bonis moribus , aut sauae doctrinae contrarium quo minus cumutilitate publicâ imprimatur ; ita tamen , ut si non intra tres menses proximè sequentes typis mandetur , haec licentia sit omninò irrita . prid : calend. iunii . 1635 guil : bray . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a00510-e410 iob. 29. 17. iob. 20. 15. es. 16. 19. psal. 68. 20. rom. 3. ier. 20. gen : 17. prov. 20. 6. nazian : aug : col. 3. 1. ioh. 5. 25. act. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aug. 2 sam 12. 1 cor. 15. es. 52. es. 4. 1 thes. 4. 17 ps. 9. 17. gr●g . tertull : hom : cyrill . catech . 18. tertull : septuag . luke . 16. nazian . greg : naz : greg : naz : ignatius . epus : de char : chap : 27. a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable robert boyle at st. martins in the fields, january 7, 1691/2 by the right reverend father in god, gilbert lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. 1692 approx. 62 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a30441 wing b5899 estc r21619 12683266 ocm 12683266 65710 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30441) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65710) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 682:11) a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable robert boyle at st. martins in the fields, january 7, 1691/2 by the right reverend father in god, gilbert lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. 40 p. printed for ric. chiswell ... and john taylor ..., london : 1692. cf. fulton, j. bibl. of robert boyle 300. first ed., issue b. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng boyle, robert, 1627-1691. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-07 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable robert boyle ; at st. martins in the fields , january 7. 1691 / 2 ; . by the right reverend father in god , gilbert lord bishop of sarum . london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown , and iohn taylor , at the ship , in st. paul's church-yard . mdcxcii . eccles . ii. 26. for god giveth to a man that is good in his sight , wisdom , knowledge , and joy . when the author of this book , the wisest of men , applied his heart to know and to search , to seek out wisdom , and the reason ( or nature ) of things ; and summed up the account of all , article by article , one by one , to find out the thread of nature , and the plann of its great author ; tho his soul sought after it , yet the riddle was too dark , he , even he , could not discover it : but one man among a thousand he did find , and happy was he in that discovery , if among all the thousands that he knew , he found one counting figure for so many cyphers , which tho they encreased the number , yet did not swell up the account , but were so many nothings , or less and worse than nothings , according to his estimate of men and things . we have reason rather to think , that by a thousand is to be meant a vast and indefinite number ; otherwise it must be confessed that solomon's age was indeed a golden one , if it produced one man , to a thousand that carry only the name and figure , but that do not answer the end and excellency of their being . the different degrees and ranks of men , with relation to their inward powers and excellencies , is a surprizing but melancholy observation : many seem to have only a mechanical life , as if there were a moving and speaking spring within them , equally void both of reason and goodness . the whole race of men is for so many years of life , little better than encreasing puppits ; many are children to their lives end : the soul does for a large portion of life , sink wholly into the body in that shadow of death , sleep , that consumes so much of our time ; the several disorders of the body , the blood and the spirits , do so far subdue and master the mind , as to make it think , act , and speak according to the different ferments that are in the humours of the body ; and when these cease to play , the soul is able to hold its tenure no longer : all these are strange and amazing speculations ! and force one to cry out , why did such a perfect being make such feeble and imperfect creatures ? wherefore hast thou made all men in vain ? the secret is yet more astonishing , when the frowardness , the pride and ill-nature , the ignorance , folly and fury that hang upon this poor flattered creature , are likewise brought into the account . he that by all his observation , and encrease of knowledge , only encreaseth sorrow , while he sees that what is wanting cannot be numbred , and that which is crooked , cannot be made straight , is tempted to go about , and with solomon , to make his heart to despair of all the labour wherein he has travelled . but as there is a dark side of humane nature , so there is likewise a bright one , the flights and compass of awakened souls is no less amazing . the vast croud of figures that lie in a very narrow corner of the brain , which a good memory , and a lively imagination , can fetch out in great order , and with much beauty : the strange reaches of the mind in abstracted speculations , and the amazing progress that is made from some simple truths into theories , that are the admiration as well as the entertainment of the thinking part of mankind ; the sagacity of apprehending and judging , even at the greatest distance ; the elevation that is given to sense , and the sensible powers , by the invention of instruments ; and which is above all , the strength that a few thoughts do spread into the mind , by which it is made capable of doing or suffering the hardest things ; the life which they give , and the calm which they bring , are all so unaccountable , that take all together , a man is a strange huddle , of light and darkness , of good and evil , and of wisdom and folly. the same man , not to mention the difference that the several ages of life make upon him , feels himself in some minutes so different from what he is in the other parts of his life , that as the one fly away with him into the transports of joy ; so the other do no less sink him into the depressions of sorrow : he scarce knows himself in the one , by what he was in the other : upon all which , when one considers a man both within and without , he concludes that he is both wonderfully , and also fearfully made : that in one side of him he is but a little lower than angels ; and in another , a little , a very little higher than beasts . but how astonishing soever this speculation of the medly and contrariety in our composition may be , it contributes to raise our esteem the higher , of such persons as seem to have arisen above , ( if not all , yet ) all the eminent frailties of humane nature ; that have used their bodies only as engines and instruments to their minds , without any other care about them , but to keep them in good case , fit for the uses they put them to ; that have brought their souls to a purity which can scarce appear credible to those who do not imagine that to be possible to another , which is so far out of their own reach ; and whose lives have shined in a course of many years , with no more allay nor mixture , than what just served to shew that they were of the same humane nature with others ; who have lived in a constant contempt of wealth , pleasure , or the greatness of this world ; whose minds have been in as constant a pursuit of knowledge , in all the several ways in which they could trace it ; who have added new regions of their own discoveries , and that in a vast variety to all that they had found made before them ; who have directed all their enquiries into nature to the honour of its great maker : and have joyned two things , that how much soever they may seem related , yet have been sound so seldom together , that the world has been tempted to think them inconsistent ; a constant looking into nature , and a yet more constant study of religion , and a directing and improving of the one by the other ; and who to a depth of knowledg which often makes men morose , and to a heighth of piety , which too often makes them severe , have added all the softness of humanity , and all the tenderness of charity , an obliging civility , as well as a melting kindness : when all these do meet in the same person , and that in eminent degrees , we may justly pretend that we have also made solomon's observation of one man ; but alas ! the age is not so fruitful of such , that we can add one among a thousand . to such a man the characters given in the words of my text , do truly agree , that god giveth to him that is good in his sight , wisdom , knowledg , and joy : the text that is here before us , does so agree to this that i have read , that the application will be so easie , that it will be almost needless , after i have a little opened it . a man that is good in the sight of god , is a character of great extent : goodness is the probity and purity of the mind , shewing it self in a course of sedate tranquility , of a contented state of life , and of vertuous and generous actions . a good man is one that considers what are the best principles of his nature , and the highest powers of his soul ; and what are the greatest and the best things that they are capable of ; and that likewise observes what are the disorders and depressions , the inward diseases and miseries , which tend really to lesson and to corrupt him ; and that therefore intends to be the purest , the wisest , and the noblest creature that his nature can carry him to be ; that renders himself as clean and innocent , as free from designs and passions , as much above appetite and pleasure , and all that sinks the soul deeper into the body ; that is as tender and compassionate , as gentle and good natured as he can possibly make himself to be . this is the good man in my text ; that rises as much as he can above his body , and above this world , above his senses , and the impressions that sensible objects make upon him ; that thinks the greatest and best thing he can do , is to awaken and improve the seeds and capacities to vertue and knowledge , that are in his nature ; to raise those to the noblest objects , to put them into the rightest method , and to keep them ever in tune and temper : and that with relation to the rest of mankind , considers himself as a citizen of the whole world , and as a piece of humane nature ; that enters into the concerns of as many persons as come within his sphere , without the narrowness or partiality of meaner regards ; that thinks he ought to extend his care and kindness as far as his capacity can go ; that stretches the instances of this , to the utmost corners of the earth , if occasion is given for it ; and that intends to make mankind the better , the wiser , and the happier for him in the succeeding as well as in the present generation . this is the truly good man in god's sight , who does not act a part , or put on a mask ; who is not for some time in a constraint , till the design is compast for which he put himself under that force ; but is truly and uniformly good , and is really a better man in secret , than even he appears to be ; since all his designs and projects are worthy and great : and nature , accidents and surprizes may be sometimes too quick and too hard for him ; yet these cannot reach his heart , nor change the setled measures of his life ; which are all pure and noble . and tho the errors of this good man's conduct may in some things give advantages to bad men , who are always severe censurers ; yet his unspeakable comfort is , that he can make his secret appeals to god , who knows the whole of his heart as well as the whole of his life ; and tho here and there , things may be found that look not quite so well , and that do indeed appear worst of all to himself , who reflects the oftenest , and thinks the most heinously of them ; yet by measuring infinite goodness with his own proportion of it , and by finding that he can very gently pass over many and great defects in one whose principles and designs seem to be all pure and good , he from that concludes , that those allowances must be yet infinitely greater , where the goodness is infinite ; so being assured within himself , that his vitals , his inward principles , and the scheme and course of his life are good , he from thence raises an humble confidence in himself , which tho it does not , as indeed it ought not , free him from having still low thoughts of himself , yet it delivers him from all dispiriting fear and sorrow , and gives him a firm confidence in the love and goodness of god , out of which he will often feel an incredible source of satisfaction and joy , springing up in his mind . a man who is thus good in the sight of god , has , as one may truly think , happiness enough within himself . but this is not all his reward , nor is it all turned over into a reversion . we have here a fair particular given us , by one that dealt as much both in wisdom and folly , as ever man did ; who run the whole compass of pleasure , business , and learning , with the freest range , and in the greatest variety , and who by many repeated experiments knew the strong and the weak sides of things : he then who had sound the vanity , the labour , the sore travel , and the vexation of spirit , that was in all other things ; the many disappointments that were given by them , and the painful reflections that did arise out of them so sensibly , that they made him hate life for the sake of all the labour that belonged to it , and even to make his heart despair of all the travel he had undergone , gives us in these words another view of the effect of true goodness , and of the happy consequences that follow it . the first of these is wisdom , not the art of craft and dissimulation ; the cunning of deceiving or undermining others : not only the views that some men may have of the springs of humane nature , and the art of turning these ; which is indeed a nobler scene of wisdom , by which societies are conducted and maintained . but the chief acts and instances of true wisdom , are once to form right judgments of all things ; of their value , and of their solidity ; to form great and noble thoughts of god , and just and proper ones of our selves ; to know what we are capable of and fit for ; to know what is the true good and happiness of mankind , which makes societies safe , and nations flourish . this is solid wisdom , that is not mis-led by false appearances , nor imposed on by vulgar opinions . this was the wisdom that first brought men together , that tamed and corrected their natures ; and established all the art and good government that was once in the world ; but which has been almost totally defaced by the arts of robbery and murder , the true names for conquest ; a specious colour for the two worst things that humane nature is capable of , injustice and cruelty . wisdom in gross , is the forming true principles , the laying good schemes , the imploying proper instruments , and the chusing fit seasons for doing the best and noblest things that can arise out of humane nature . this is the defence as well as the glory of mankind : wisdom gives life to him that hath it , it is better than strength , and better than weapons of war ; it is , in one word , the image of god , and the excellency of man. it is here called the gift of god ; the seed of it is laid in our nature , but there must be a proper disposition of body , a right figure of brain , and a due temper of blood to give it scope and materials . these must also be cultivated by an exact education ; so that when all these things are laid together , it is plain in how many respects wisdom comes from god. there are also particular happy flights , and bright minutes , which open to men great landskips , and give them a fuller prospect of things , which do often arise out of no previous meditations , or chain of thought ; and these are flashes of light from its eternal source , which do often break in upon pure minds . they are not enthusiasms , nor extravagant pretensions , but true views of things , which appear so plain and simple , that when they come to be examined , it may be justly thought that any one could have fallen upon them , and the simplest are always the likest to be the truest . in short , a pure mind is both better prepared for an enlightning from above , and more capable of receiving it ; the natural strength of mind is awakened as well as recollected ; false biasses are removed ; and let prophane minds laugh at it as much as they please , there is a secret commerce between god and the souls of good men : they feel the influences of heaven , and become both the wiser and the better for them : their thoughts become nobler as well as sreer ; and no man is of so low a composition , but that with a great deal of goodness , and a due measure of application , he may become more capable of these , than any other that is one the same level with him , as to his natural powers , could ever grow to be , if corrupted with vice and defilement . knowledge comes next . this is that which opens the mind , and fills it with great notions ; the viewing the works of god even in a general survey , gives insensibly a greatness to the soul. but the more extended and exact , the more minute and severe , the enquiry be , the soul grows to be thereby the more inlarged by the variety of observation that is made , either on the great orbs and wheels that have their first motion , as well as their law of moving , from the author of all ; or on the composition of bodies , on the regularities , as well as the irregularities of nature ; and that mimickry of its heat and motion that artificial fires do produce and shew . this knowledge goes into the history of past times , and remote climates ; and with those livelier observations on art and nature , which give a pleasant entertainment and amusement to the mind , there are joined in some , the severer studies , the more laborious as well as the less-pleasant study of languages , on design to understand the sense , as well as the discoveries of former ages : and more particularly to find out the true sense of the sacred writings . these are all the several varieties of the most useful parts of knowledge ; and these do spread over all the powers of the soul of him that is capable of them , a sort of nobleness ; that makes him become thereby another kind of creature than otherwise he ever could have been : he has a larger size of soul , and vaster thoughts , that can measure the spheres , and enter into the theories of the heavenly bodies ; that can observe the proportion of lines , and numbers , the composition and mixtures of the several sorts of beings . this world , this life , and the mad scene we are in , grow to be but little and inconsiderable things , to one of great views and noble theories ; and he who is upon the true scent of real and useful knowledg , has always some great thing or other in prospect ; new scenes do open to him , and these draw after them discoveries , which are often made before , even those who made them were either aware , or in expectation of them : these by an endless chain are still pointing at , or leading into further discoveries . in all those , a man feels as sensibly , and distinguishes as plainly an improvement of the strength and compass of his powers , from the feebleness which ignorance and sloth bring upon them , as a man in health of body can distinguish between the life and strength which accompany it , and the flatness and languidness that diseases bring with them . this enlarges a man's empire over the creation , and makes it more intirely subject to him by the engines it invents to subdue and manage it , by the dissections in which it is more opened to his view , and by the observation of what is profitable or hurtful in every part of it : from which he is led to correct the one ; and exalt the other . this leads him into the knowledge of the hidden vertues that are in plants and minerals ; this teaches him to purify these , from the allays that are wrapped about them , and to improve them by other mixtures . in a word , this lets a man into the mysteries of nature : it gives him both the keys that open it , and a thread that will lead him further than he durst promise himself at first . we can easily apprehend the surprising joy of one born blind , that after many years of darkness , should be blest with sight , and the leaps and life of thought , that such a one should feel upon so ravishing a change ; so the new regions into which a true son of knowledge enters , the new objects and the various shapes of them that do daily present themselves to him , give his mind a flight , a raisedness , and a resined joy , that is of another nature than all the soft and bewitching pleasures of sense . and tho the highest reaches of knowledge do more clearly discover the weakness of our short-sighted powers , and shew us difficulties that gave us no pain before , because we did not apprehend them ; so that in this respect , he that increases knowledge , increases sorrow : yet it is a real pleasure to a searcher after truth , to be undeceived , to see how far he can go , and where he must make his stops : it is true , he finds he cannot compass all that he hath proposed to himself , yet he is both in view of it , and in the way to it , where he finds so many noble entertainments , that though he cannot find out the whole work of god , which the preacher tells us , that though a wise man thinks he may know it , yet even he shall not be able to find it out ; yet he has this real satisfaction in himself , that he has greater notions , nobler views , and finer apprehensions then he could have ever fallen upon in any other method of life . this knowledge , though it may seem to be meerly the effect of thought , of labour , and industry , yet it is really the gift of god. the capacity of our powers , and the disposition of our minds are in a great measure born with us : the circumstances and accidents of our lives depends so immediately upon providence , that in all these respects , knowledge comes , at least in the preparations to it , from god : there are also many happy openings of thought , which arise within the minds of the searchers after it , to which they did not lead themselves by any previous inferences , or by the comparing of things together . that , which the language of the world calls chance , happy accidents , or good stars , but is according to a more sanctified dialect providence , has brought many wonderful secrets by unlookt for hits , to the knowledge of men . the use of the loadstone , and the extent of sight by telescopes , besides a vast variety of other things that might be named , were indeed the immediate gifts of god to those who first fell upon them . and the profoundest inquiries into the greatest mysteries of nature , have and still do own this , in so particular a manner , that they affirm , that things that in some hands , and at some times are successful almost to a prodigy , when managed by others with all possible exactness do fail in the effects of them so totally , that the difference can be resolved into nothing , but a secret direction and blessing of providence . the third gift that god bestows on the good man is joy , and how can it be otherwise , but that a good , a wise and knowing man , should rejoyce both in god and in himself ; in observing the works and ways of god , and in feeling the testimony of a good conscience with himself . he is happy in the situation of his own mind , which he possesses in a calm contented evenues of spirit . he has not the agitations of passions , the ferment of designs and interests , nor the disorders of appetite which darken the mind , and create to it many imaginary troubles , as well as it encreases the sense of the real ones which may lye upon ones person or affairs . he rejoyces in god when he sees so many of the hidden beauties of his works , the wonderful fitness and contrivance , the curious disposition , and the vast usefulness of them , to the general good of the whole . these things afford him so great a variety of thought , that he can dwell long on that noble exercise without flatness or weariness . he rejoyces in all that he does , his imployments are much diversified , for the newness of his discoveries which returns often , gives him as often a newness of joy . his views are great , and his designs are noble ; even to know the works of god the better , and to render them the more useful to mankind . he can discover in the most despised plant , and the most contemptible mineral that which may allay the miseries of humane life , and render multitudes of men easie and happy . now to one that loves mankind , and that adores the author of our nature , every thing that may tend to celebrate his praises , and to sweeten the lives of mortals , affords a joy that is of an exalted and generous kind . if this at any time goes so far as to make him a little too well pleased with the discoveries he has made , and perhaps too nicely jealous of the honour of having done those services to the world , even this which is the chief and the most observed defect , that is much magnified by the ill-natured censures of great men , who must fix on it because they can find nothing else , yet i say even this shews the fullness of joy which wisdom and knowledge bring to good minds , they can give them so sensible a pleasure , that it cannot be at all times governed : and if it break out in any time in less decent instances , yet certainly those who have deserved so highly of the age in which they have lived , and who have been the instruments of so much good to the world , receive a very unworthy return , if the great services they have done mankind do not cover any little imperfection , especially when that is all the allay that can be found in them , and the only instance of humane frailty that has appeared in them . but if the joy that wisdom and knowledge give , is of so pure and so sublime a nature ; there is yet another occasion for joy , that far exceeds this : it arises from their integrity and goodness which receives a vast accession from this , that it is in the sight of god , seen and observed by him , who accepts of it now , and will in due time reward it . the terror of mind , and the confusion of face that follows bad actions , and the calm of thought and chearfulness of look that follows good ones , are such infallible indications of the suitableness or unsuitableness that is in these things to our natures , that all the contempt with which libertines may treat the argument will never be able to overcome and alter the plain and simple sense that mankind agrees in upon this head . a good man finds that he is acting according to his nature , and to the best principles in it , that he is living to some good end , that he is an useful piece of the world , and is a mean of making both himself and others wiser and happier , greater and better . these things give him a solid and lasting joy , and when he dares appeal to that god to whom he desires chiefly to approve himself , who knows his integrity and sees how thoroughly good he is , even in his secretest thoughts and intentions , he does upon that feel a joy with in himself , that carries him through all the difficulties of life ; and makes most accidents that happen to him pleasant , and all the rest supportable . he believes he is in the favour of god , he hopes he has some title to it , from the promises of god to him ; and his grace in him . he can see clouds gather about him and threaten a storm , and though he may be in circumstances , that render him very unfit to suffer much hardship ; yet he can endure and bear all things , because he believes all god's promises . he may sometimes from the severe sense that he has of his duty , be too hard , and even injust to himself , and the seriousness of his temper may give some harsher thoughts too great occasion , to raise disquiet within him ; but when he takes a full view of the infinite goodness of god , of the extent of his mercy , and of the riches of his grace ; he is forced to throw out any of those impressions , which melancholy may be able to make upon him : and even those when reflected on in a truer light , though they might have a little interrupted his joy , yet tend to encrease it , when by them he perceives , that true strictness of principles that governs him , which makes him tender of every thing that might seem to make the least breach upon his purity and holiness , even in the smallest matters . i will go no further upon my text , nor will i enter upon the reverse of it , that is in the following words , but to the sinner he giveth travel , to gather and to heap up , that he may give to him that is good before god. these i leave to your observation : they are too foreign to my subject to be spoke to , upon this occasion , that leads me now to the melancholy part of this sad solemnity . i confess i enter upon it , with the just apprehensions that it ought to raise in me : i know i ought here to raise my stile a little , and to triumph upon the honour that belongs to religion and virtue , and that appeared so eminently in a life , which may be considered as a pattern of living : and a pattern so perfect , that it will perhaps seem a little too far out of sight , too much above the hopes , and by consequence above the endeavours of any that might pretend to draw after such an original : which must ever be reckoned amongst the master-pieces even of that great hand that made it . i might here challenge the whole tribe of libertines to come and view the usefulness , as well as the excellence of the christian religion , in a life that was entirely dedicated to it : and see what they can object . i ought to call on all that were so happy , as to know him well , to observe his temper and course of life , and charge them to sum up and lay together the many great and good things that they saw in him , and from thence to remember always to how vast a sublimity the christian religion can raise a mind , that does both throughly believe it , and is entirely governed by it . i might here also call up the multitudes , the vast multitudes of those who have been made both the wiser and the easier , the better and the happier by his means ; but that i might do all this with the more advantage , i ought to bring all at once into my memory , the many happy hours that in a course of nine and twenty years conversation have fallen to my own share , which were very frequent and free for above half that time : that have so often both humbled and raised me , by seeing how exalted he was , and in that feeling more sensibly my own nothing and depression , and which have always edified , and never once , nor in any one thing been uneasie to me . when i remember how much i saw in him , and learned , or at least might have learned from him ; when i reflect on the gravity of his very appearance , the elevation of his thoughts and discourses , the modesty of his temper , and the humility of his whole deportment , which might have served to have forced the best thoughts even upon the worst minds , when , i say , i bring all this together into my mind ; as i form upon it too bright an idea to be easily received by such as did not know him ; so i am very sensible that i cannot raise it , equal to the thoughts of such as did . i know , the limits that custom gives to discourses of this kind , and the hard censures which commonly follow them : these will not suffer me to say all i think ; as i perceive i cannot bring out into distinct thoughts all that of which i have the imperfect hints and ruder draughts in my mind , which cannot think equal to a subject so far above my own level . i shall now therefore shew him only in perspective , and give a general , a very general view of him , reserving to more leisure and better opportunities , a farther and fuller account of him . i will be content at present to say but a little of him ; but that little will be so very much , that i must expect that those who do never intend to imitate any part of it , will be displeased with it all . i am resolved to use great reserves ; and to manage a tenderness , which how much soever it may melt me , shall not carry me beyond the strictest measures , and i will study to keep as much within bounds , as he lived beyond them . i will say nothing of the stem from which he sprang : that watered garden , watered with the blessings and dew of heaven , as well as fed with the best portions of this life , that has produced so many noble plants , and has stocked the most families in these kingdoms of any in our age , which has so signally felt the effects of their humble and christian motto , god's providence is my inheritance . he was the only brother of five , that had none of these titles that sound high in the world ; but he procured one to himself , which without derogating from the dignity of kings must be acknowledged to be beyond their prerogative . he had a great and noble fortune ; but it was chiefly so to him , because he had a great and noble mind to imploy it to the best uses . he began early to shew both a probity and a capacity ; that promised great things : and he passed through the youthful parts of life , with so little of the youth in him , that in his travels while he was very young and wholly the master of himself he seemed to be out of the reach of the disorders of that age , and those countries through which he passed . he had a modesty and a purity laid so deep in his nature , that those who knew him the earliest have often told me , that even then nature seemed entirely sanctified in him . his piety received a vast encrease as he often owned to me from his acquaintance with the great primate of ireland , the never enough admired vsher , who as he was very particularly the friend of the whole family , so seeing such seed and beginnings in him , studied to cultivate them with due care . he set him chiefly to the study of the scriptures in their original languages , which he followed in a course of many years , with so great exactness he could have quoted , all remarkable passages very readily in hebrew : and he read the new testament so diligently in the greek , that there never occurred to me an occasion to mention any one passage of it , that he did not readily repeat in that language . the use of this he continued to the last , for he could read it with other mens eyes ; but the weakness of his sight forced him to disuse the other , since he had none about him that could read it to him . he had studied the scriptures to so good purpose , and with so critical a strictness , that few men whose profession oblige them chiefly to that fort of learning have gone beyond him in it : and he had so great a regard to that sacred book , that if any one in discourse had dropped any thing that gave him a clearer view of any passage in it , he received it with great pleasure , he examined it accurately , and if it was not uneasie to him that offered it , he desired to have it in writing . he had the profoundest veneration for the great god of heaven and earth , that i have ever observed in any person . the very name of god was never mentioned by him without a pause and a visible stop in his discourse , in which one that knew him most particularly above twenty years , has told me that he was so exact , that he does not remember to have observed him once to fail in it . he was most constant and serious in his secret addresses to god ; and indeed it appeared to those , who conversed most with him in his enquiries into nature , that his main design in that , on which as he had his own eye most constantly , so he took care to put others often in mind of it , was to raise in himself and others vaster thoughts of the greatness and glory , and of the wisdom and goodness of god. this was so deep in his thoughts , that he concludes the article of his will , which relates to that illustrious body , the royal society , in these words , wishing them also a happy success in their laudable attempts , to discover the true nature of the works of god ; and praying that they and all other searchers into physical truths , may cordially refer their attainments to the glory of the great author of nature , and to the comfort of mankind . as he was a very devout worshipper of god , so he was a no less devout christian. he had possessed himself with such an amiable view of that holy religion , separated from either superstitious practices or the sourness of parties , that as he was fully perswaded of the truth of it , and indeed wholly possessed with it , so he rejoyced in every discovery that nature furnisht him with , to illustrate it , or to take off the objections against any part of it . he always considered it as a system of truths , which ought to purifie the hearts , and govern the lives of those who profess it ; he loved no practice that seemed to lessen that , nor any nicety that occasioned divisions amongst christians . he thought pure and disinteressed christianity was so bright and so glorious a thing , that he was much troubled at the disputes and divisions which had arisen about some lesser matters , while the great and the most important , as well as the most universally acknowledged truths were by all sides almost as generally neglected as they were confessed . he had therefore designed , tho' some accidents did , upon great considerations , divert him from settling it during his life , but not from ordering it by his will , that a liberal provision should be made for one , who should in a very few well digested sermons every year , set forth the truth of the christian religion in general , without descending to the subdivisions among christians , and who should be changed every third year , that so this noble study and imployment might pass through many hands , by which means many might become masters of the argument . he was at the charge of the translation and impression of the new testament into the malyan language , which he sent over all the east-indies . he gave a noble reward to him that translated grotius his incomparable book of the truth of the christian religion into arabick , and was at the charge of a whole impression , which he took care to order to be scattered in all the countries where that language is understood . he was resolved to have carried on the impression of the new testament in the turkish language , but the company thought it became them to be the doers of it , and so suffered him only to give a large share towards it . he was at 700 l. charge in the edition of the irish bible , which he ordered to be distributed in ireland ; and he contributed liberally both to the impressions of the welsh bible , and of the irish bible for scotland . he gave during his life 300 l. to advance the design of propagating the christian religion in america , and as soon as he heard that the east-india company were entertaining propositions for the like design in the east , he presently sent 100 l. for a beginning and an example , but intended to carry it much further , when it should be set on foot to purpose . thus was his zeal lively and effectual in the greatest and truest concerns of religion ; but he avoided to enter far into the unhappy breaches that have so long weakened , as well as distracted christianity , any otherwise than to have a great aversion to all those opinions and practices , that seemed to him to destroy morality and charity . he had a most particular zeal against all severities and persecutions upon the account of religion . i have seldom observ'd him to speak with more heat and indignation , than when that came in his way . he did throughly agree with the doctrines of our church , and conform to our worship ; and he approved of the main of our constitution , but he much lamented some abuses that he thought remained still among us . he gave eminent instances of his value for the clergy . two of these i shall only mention . when he understood what a share he had in impropriations , he ordered very large gifts to be made to the incumbents in those parishes , and to the widows of such as had died before he had resolved on this charity . the sums that , as i have been informed , by one that was concerned in two distributions that were made , amounted upon those two occasions , to near 600 l. and another very liberal one is also ordered by his will , but in an indefinite sum , i suppose , by reason of the present condition of estates in ireland : so plentifully did he supply those who served at the altar , out of that which was once devoted to it , though it be now converted to a temporal estate . another instance of his sence of the sacred functions went much deeper . soon after the restoration in the year sixty , the great minister of that time , pressed him both by himself and by another , who was then likewise in a high post , to enter into orders . he did it not meerly out of a respect to him and his family , but chiefly out of his regard to the church , that he thought would receive a great strengthening , as well as a powerful example from one , who , if he once entered into holy orders , would be quickly at the top. this he told me made some impressions on him . his mind was , even then at three and thirty , so intirely disingaged from all the projects and concerns of this world , that as the prospect of dignity in the church , could not move him much , so the probabilities of his doing good in it , was much the stronger motive . two things determined him against it ; one was , that his having no other interests , with relation to religion , besides those of saving his own soul , gave him , as he thought , a more unsuspected authority , in writing or acting on that side : he knew the prophane crew fortified themselves against all that was said by men of our profession , with this , that it was their trade , and that they were paid for it : he hoped therefore , that he might have the more influence , the less he shared in the patrimony of the church . but his main reason was , that he had so high a sense of the obligations of the pastoral care ; and of such as watch over those souls , which christ purchased with his own blood , and for which they must give an account , at the last and great day , that he durst not undertake it , especially not having felt within himself an inward motion to it by the holy ghost ; and the first question that is put to those who come to be initiated into the service of the church , relating to that motion , he who had not felt it , thought he durst not make the step ; least otherwise he should have lyed to the holy ghost : so solemnly and seriously did he judge of sacred matters . he was constant to the church ; and went to no separated assemblies , how charitably soever he might think of their persons , and how plentifully soever he might have relived their necessities . he loved no narrow thoughts , nor low or superstitious opinions in religion , and therefore as he did not shut himself up within a party , so neither did he shut any party out from him . he had brought his mind to such a freedom , that he was not apt to be imposed on ; and his modesty was such , that he did not dictate to others ; but proposed his own sense , with a due and decent distrust ; and was ever every ready to hearken to what was suggested to him by others . when he differed from any , he expressed himself in so humble and so obliging a way , that he never treated things or persons with neglect , and i never heard that he offended any one person in his whole life by any part of his deportment : for if at any time he saw cause to speak roundly to any , it was never in passion , or with any reproachful or indecent expressions . and as he was careful to give those who conversed with him , no cause or colour for displeasure , so he was yet more careful of those who were absent , never to speak ill of any ; in which he was the exactest man i ever knew . if the discourse turn'd to be hard on any , he was presently silent ; and if the subject was too long dwelt on , he would at last interpose , and between reproof and rallery , divert it . he was exactly civil , rather to ceremony ; and though he felt his easiness of access , and the desires of many , all strangers in particular , to be much with him , made great wasts on his time ; yet as he was severe in that , not to be denied when he was at home , so he said he knew the heart of a stranger , and how much eased his own had been , while travelling , if admitted to the conversation of those he desired to see ; therefore he thought his obligation to strangers , was more than bare civility , it was a piece of religious charity in him . he had for almost forty years , laboured under such a feebleness of body , and such lowness of strength and spirits , that it will appear a surprizing thing to imagine , how it was possible for him to read , to meditate , to try experiments , and to write as he did . he bore all his infirmities , and some sharp pains , with the decency and submission that became a christian and a philosopher . he had about him all that unaffected neglect of pomp in cloaths , lodging , furniture and equipage , which agreed with his grave and serious course of life . he was advised to a very ungrateful simplicity of diet ; which by all appearance was that which preserved him so long beyond all mens expectation ; this he observed so strictly , that in a course of above thirty years , he neither eat nor drank to gratifie the varieties of appetite , but meerly to support nature ; and was so regular in it , that he never once transgressed the rule , measure , and kind , that was prescribed him . he had a feebleness in his sight ; his eyes were so well used by him , that it will be easily imagined he was very tender of them , and very apprehensive of such distempers as might affect them . he did also imagine , that if sickness obliged him to lie long a bed , it might raise the pains of the stone in him to a degree that was above his weak strength to bear ; so that he feared that his last minutes might be too hard for him ; and this was the root of all the caution and apprehension that he was observed to live in . but as to life it self , he had the just indifference to it , and the weariness of it , that became so true a christian. i mention these the rather , that i may have occasion to shew the goodness of god to him , in the two things that he feared ; for his sight began not to grow dimm above four hours before he died ; and when death came upon him , he had not been above three hours a bed , before it made an end of him , with so little uneasiness , that it was plain the light went out , meerly for want of oil to maintain the flame . but i have looked too early to this conclusion of his life , yet before i can come at it , i find there is still much in my way . his charity to those that were in want , and his bounty to all learned men , that were put to wrastle with difficulties , were so very extraordinary , and so many did partake of them , that i may spend little time on this article . great summs went easily from him , without the partialities of sect , country , or relations ; for he considered himself as a part of the humane nature , and as a debtor to the whole race of men. he took care to do this so secretly , that even those who knew all his other concerns , could never find out what he did that way ; and indeed he was so strict to our saviour's precept , that except the persons themselves , or some one whom he trusted to convey it to them , no body ever knew how that great share of his estate , which went away invisibly , was distributed ; even he himself kept no account of it , for that he thought might fall into other hands . i speak upon full knowledge on this article , because i had the honour to be often made use of by him in it . if those that have fled hither from the persecutions of france , or from the calamities of ireland , feel a sensible sinking of their secret supplies , with which they were often furnished , without knowing from whence they came , they will conclude , that they have lost not only a purse , but an estate that went so very liberally among them , that i have reason to say , that for some years his charity went beyond a thousand pound a year . here i thought to have gone to another head , but the relation he had , both in nature and grace , in living and dying , in friendship , and a likeness of soul to another person , forces me for a little while to change my subject . i have been restrain'd from it by some of her relations ; but since i was not so by her self , i must give a little vent to nature and to friendship ; to a long acquaintance and a vast esteem . his sister and he were pleasant in their lives , and in their death they were not divided ; for as he lived with her above fourty years , so he did not outlive her above a week . both died from the same cause , nature being quite spent in both . she lived the longest on the publickest scene , she made the greatest figure in all the revolutions of these kingdoms for above fifty years , of any woman of our age. she imployed it all for doing good to others , in which she laid out her time , her interest , and her estate , with the greatest zeal and the most success that i have ever known . she was indefatigable as well as dextrous in it : and as her great understanding , and the vast esteem she was in , made all persons in their several turns of greatness , desire and value her friendship ; so she gave her self a clear title to imploy her interest with them for the service of others , by this that she never made any use of it to any end or design of her own . she was contented with what she had ; and though she was twice stript of it , she never moved on her own account , but was the general intercessor for all persons of merit , or in want : this had in her the better grace , and was both more christian and more effectual , because it was not limited within any narrow compass of parties or relations . when any party was down , she had credit and zeal enough to serve them , and she employed that so effectually , that in the next turn she had a new stock of credit , which she laid out wholly in that labour of love , in which she spent her life : and though some particular opinions might shut her up in a divided communion , yet her soul was never of a party : she divided her charities and friendships both , her esteem a well as her bounty , with the truest regard to merit , and her own obligations , without any difference , made upon the account of opinion . she had with a vast reach both of knowledge and apprehensions , an universal affability and easiness of access , a humility that descended to the meanest persons and concerns , an obliging kindness and readiness to advise those who had no occasion for any further assistance from her ; and with all these and many more excellent qualities , she had the deepest sense of religion , and the most constant turning of her thoughts and discourses that way , that has been perhaps in our age. such a sister became such a brother ; and it was but suitable to both their characters , that they should have improved the relation under which they were born , to the more exalted and endearing one of friend . at any time a nation may very ill spare one such ; but for both to go at once , and at such a time , is too melancholly a thought ; and notwithstanding the decline of their age , and the waste of their strength , yet it has too much of cloud in it , to bear the being long dwelt on . you have thus far seen , in a very few hints , the several sorts and instances of goodness that appeared in this life , which has now its period ; that which gives value and lustre to them all , was , that whatever he might be in the sight of men , how pure and spotless soever , those who knew him the best , have reason to conclude , that he was much more so in the sight of god ; for they had often occasions to discover new instances of goodness in him ; and no secret ill inclinations did at any time shew themselves . he affected nothing that was solemn or supercilious . he used no methods to make multitudes run after him , or depend upon him . it never appeared that there was any thing hid under all this appearance of goodness , that was not truly so . he hid both his piety and charity all he could . he lived in the due methods of civility , and would never assume the authority which all the world was ready to pay him . he spoke of the government even in times which he disliked , and upon occasions which he spared not to condemn , with an exactness of respect . he allowed himself a great deal of decent chearfulness , so that he had nothing of the moroseness , to which philosophers think they have some right ; nor of the affectations which men of an extraordinary pitch of devotion go into , sometimes , without being well aware of them . he was , in a word , plainly and sincerely in the sight of god , as well as in the view of men , a good man , even one of a thousand . that which comes next to be considered , is the share that this good man had in those gifts of god , wisdom knowledg , and joy. if i should speak of these , with the copiousness which the subject affords , i should go too far even for your patience , tho i have reason to believe it would hold out very long on this occasion . i will only name things which may be enlarged on more fully in another way . he had too unblemish'd a candor to be capable of those arts and practices that a false and deceitful world may call wisdom . he could neither lie nor equivocate ; but he could well be silent , and by practising that much , he cover'd himself upon many uneasy occasions . he made true judgments of men and things . his advices and opinions were solid and sound ; and if caution and modesty gave too strong a biass , his invention was fruitful to suggest good expedients . he had great notions of what humane nature might be brought to ; but since he saw mankind was not capable of them , he withdrew himself early from affairs and courts , notwithstanding the distinction with which he was always treated by our late princes . but he had the principles of an english-man , as well as of a protestant , too deep in him to be corrupted or cheated out of them ; and in these he studied to fortify all that conversed much with him . he had a very particular sagacity in observing what men were fit for ; and had so vast a scheme of different performances , that he could soon furnish every man with work that had leasure and capacity for it ; and as soon as he saw him engaged in it , then a handsom present was made to enable him to go on with it . his knowledg was of so vast an extent , that if it were not for the variety of vouchers in their several sorts , i should be afraid to say all i know . he carried the study of the hebrew very far into the rabbinical writings , and the other oriental languages . he had read so much of the fathers , that he had formed out of it a clear judgment of all the eminent ones . he had read a vast deal on the scriptures , and had gone very nicely through the whole controversies of religion ; and was a true master in the whole body of divinity . he run the whole compass of the mathematical sciences ; and though he did not set himself to spring new game , yet he knew even the abstrusest parts of geometry . geography in the several parts of it , that related to navigation or travelling , history and books of travels were his diversions . he went very nicely through all the parts of physick , only the tenderness of his nature made him less able to endure the exactness of anatomical dissections , especially of living animals , though he knew these to be the most instructing : but for the history of nature , ancient and modern , of the productions of all countries , of the virtues and improvements of plants , of oars and minerals , and all the varieties that are in them in different climates ; he was by much , by very much , the readiest and the perfectest i ever knew , in the greatest compass , and with the truest exactness . this put him in the way of making all that vast variety of experiments , beyond any man , as far as we know , that ever lived . and in these , as he made a great progress in new discoveries , so he used so nice a strictness , and delivered them with so scrupulous a truth , that all who have examined them , have found how safely the world may depend upon them . but his peculiar and favourite study , was chymistry ; in which he engaged with none of those ravenous and amitious designs , that draw many into them . his design was only to find out nature , to see into what principles things might be resolved , and of what they were compounded , and to prepare good medicaments for the bodies of men. he spent neither his time nor fortune upon the vain pursuits of high promises and pretensions . he always kept himself within the compass that his estate might well bear : and as he made chymistry much the better for his dealing in it , so he never made himself either the worse or the poorer for it . it was a charity to others , as well as an entertainment to himself , for the produce of it was distributed by his sister , and others , into whose hands he put it . i will not here amuse you with a list of his astonishing knowledg , or of his great performances this way . they are highly valued all the world over , and his name is every where mentioned with most particular characters of respect . i will conclude this article with this , in which i appeal to all competent judges , that few men ( if any ) have been known to have made so great a compass , and to have been so exact in all the parts of it as he was . as for joy , he had indeed nothing of frolick and levity in him , he had no relish for the idle and extravagant madness of the men of pleasure ; he did not waste his time , nor dissipate his spirits into foolish mirth , but he possessed his own soul in patience , full of that solid joy which his goodness as well as his knowledg afforded him ; he who had neither designs nor passions , was capable of little trouble from any concerns of his own : he had about him all the tenderness of good nature , as well as all the softness of friendship , these gave him a large share of other mens concerns ; for he had a quick sense of the miseries of mankind . he had also a feeble body , which needed to be look'd to the more , because his mind went faster than that his body could keep pace with it ; yet his great thoughts of god , and his contemplation of his works , were to him sources of joy , which could never be exhausted . the sense of his own integrity , and of the good he found it did , afforded him the truest of all pleasures , since they gave him the certain prospect of that fulness of joy , in the sight of which he lived so long , and in the possession of which he now lives , and shall live for ever ; and this spent and exhausted body shall then put on a new form , and be made a fit dwelling for that pure and exalted mind in the final restitution . i pass over his death , i looked at it some time ago , but i cannot bring down my mind from the elevating thoughts that do now arise into that depressing one of his death ; i must look beyond it into the regions of light and glory , where he now dwells . the only thought that is now before me , is to triumph on the behalf of religion , to make our due boast of it , and to be lifted up ( i had almost said proud ) upon this occasion : how divine and how pure a thing must that religion be in it self , which produced so long a series of great effects , thorow the whole course of this shining life ? what a thing would mankind become if we had many such ? and how little need would there be of many books writ for the truth and excellency of our religion , if we had more such arguments as this one life has produced ? such single instances have great force in them ; but when they are so very single , they lose much of their strength by this , that they are ascribed to singularity , and something particular in a man's humour and inclinations , that makes him rise above common measures . it were a monopoly for any family or sort of men to ingross to themselves the honour which arises from the memory of so great a man. it is a common not to be inclosed . it is large enough to make a whole nation , as well as the age he lived in , look big and be happy : but above all it gives a new strength , as well as it sets a new pattern to all that are sincerely zealous for their religion . it shews them in the simplest and most convincing of all arguments , what the humane nature is capable of , and what the christian religion can add to it , how far it can both exalt and reward it . i do not say that every one is capable of all he grew to ; i am very sensible that few are ; nor is every one under equal obligations : for the service of the universe , there must be a vast diversity in mens tempers , there being so great a variety of necessities to be answered by them : but every man in every imployment , and of every size of soul , is capable of being in some degrees good in the sight of god ; and all such shall receive proportioned degrees of wisdom , knowledg and joy ; even though neither their goodness nor these accessions to it , rise up to the measure of him who was a while among us , indeed one of a thousand , and is now but one of those ten thousand times ten thousand that are about the throne , where he is singing that song which was his great entertainment here , as it is his how endless joy there ; great and marvellous are thy works , o lord god almighty ; and just and true are thy ways , o king of saints . to follow him in the like exercises here , is the sure way to be admitted to join with him in those above ; to which god of his infinite mercy bring us all in due time , through jesus christ our lord. amen , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a30441-e160 chap. 7.25 , 27. eccles. 8.17 . the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall, april the 8th, 1655. and was buried in hope of an immortal life the 11th of the same moneth. / by nath: hardy m.a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87093 of text in the english short title catalog (thomason e844_15). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 91 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87093 wing h720 thomason e844_15 99862783 99862783 114959 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87093) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 114959) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 248:e844[15]) the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall, april the 8th, 1655. and was buried in hope of an immortal life the 11th of the same moneth. / by nath: hardy m.a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 31 [i.e. 33], [3] p. printed by j.g. for nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear neer the little north door of s. pauls church, london : 1655. p. 33 misnumbered 31. with a final advertisement leaf. errata, f1r. variant: lacking errata. annotation on thomason copy: "june. 25." reproduction of the original in the british library. eng pemberton, adam, d. 1655 -early works to 1800. christian life -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. a87093 (thomason e844_15). civilwar no the epitaph of a godly man, especially a man of god: or, the happines by death of holines in life. delineated in a sermon preached at the f hardy, nathaniel 1655 14430 44 55 0 0 0 0 69 d the rate of 69 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-04 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-04 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of god : or , the happines by death of holines in life . delineated in a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane : who ended this mortall , april the 8th , 1655. and was buried in hope of an immortal life the 11th of the same moneth . by nath : hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st dionis back church . revel. 14 13. and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , w●ite , blessed are they which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works doe follow them . aug : de discipl : christ : tract : 1. c. 12. prorsus confirmo , audeo dicere , credidi propter quod locutus sum , non potest malè mori qui bene vixerit . chrysost : in psal : 114. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . london . printed by j. g. for nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear neer the little north-door of s. pauls church , 1655. to the reverend mr. john pemberton , minister of charleton in kent : contentment here , and injoyment hereafter . reverend sir , i am very sensible that this dedication will revive the memory of your great losse , and thereby renew your grief , but withall , this publication will perpetuate the memory of your dead son , and that may be your comfort . indeed , this ( as i conceive ▪ was the chief cause why it was so earnestly ▪ desired by many of his friends , and this ( i am sure ) was the onely reason why it was at length yeilded to by me . but truly , so pretious is his name , that i am abundantly assured it will live though he be dead , not onely in the inkie characters of this paper , but the tender affections of many hearts : the truth is , might prayers have prevailed with god for his life , he had not yet died ; and would tears have brought him back from the dead , he had again lived . what the name of the place was where the angel of the lord spake to the children of israel , so that they lift up their voices and wept , might justly have been given to that church upon the day of his enterrement , it was bochim , a place of weeping ; every eye almost bedewing his grave with tears . and though in respect of him they were as needlesse , so fruitlesse ; the case being ( as holy job observeth ) farre different between a withered root , and a dead man ; yet as the jewes said of christ weeping for lazarus , it might well be said of them , behold how they loved him : and doubtlesse , he cannot but be remembred by them to whom he was so much endeared . this i have thought fit to mention ( good sir ) as for his honour , so your joy ; at least the mitigation of your sorrow for him , who lived so beloved , and died so lamented , and though he is buried , will not be forgotten . yet still , that which is , and ought to be , your greatest consolation , is the good hope you have of his eternall salvation , on whom , having finished his short course , in keeping the faith , and fighting the good fight , ( i trust ) the crown of righteousness is already in part , and shall be in that day fully conferred by the lord the righteous judge . and now ( worthy friend ) i cannot but take notice of that whereof ( i am confident ) you are not unmindfull , the various dispensation of divine providence towards you and yours . both your hopefull sons he was pleased to take away in the morning of their youth , and you have lived to the evening of old age . both their years put together could not make up much above two thirds of those you have already lived to , and ( if it be gods will ) may you see many more , for the sake , as of your surviving children , grand-children , so especially the church ; that having expended a long life in gods service , you may at last exchange it for an eternall life in his glory . so prayeth your truly loving friend , nath : hardy . the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of god . phil. chap. 1. ver. 21. to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . words both short and sweet , brief and pithy , few in expression , and large in extension . that of solomon is an ample epitome , summing up the whole duty of man in these two , fear god , and keep his commandements . that of our blessed saviour is a comprehensive compendium , comprizing the whole law of god in these two , thou shalt love the lord thy god , and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self . but loe ! in this abridgment we are taught both how to live , and how to die , quantum in quantillo , how much is here folded up in a little ; what counsell for life , what comfort in death doth this scripture afford ! happy is he who so readeth this copie as to write after it , vieweth these steps as to tread in them , being able to say , if not with the same measure , yet at least with the like truth of affection and confidence in christ : to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . i finde among expositors a double version of this verse : 1. some modern , both protestant and popish interpreters ; and one among the antients , read this verse as if it were one intire proposition , whereof christ is the subject , and gain the predicate : christ is to me gain both in life and death . according to this sense there is a double truth contained in them . first , that both life and death are gain to a good man : in the former verse , our apostle expresseth his confidence , that both his life and death should be christs glory : and here , that they would be his gain , utraque mihi conducibilia , is theodoret's note , both shall conduce to my benefit . ostendit sive vitam , sive mortem , sibi censuram in salutem , so estius : he sheweth that whatever happened , whether the continuation of his life , or the acceleration of his death , it should work for his good ; in which respect he seemeth to say , nec mori timeo , nec vivere recuso , as lapide well glosseth , i neither refuse to live , nor fear to die . in how happy an estate is every holy man , to whom no condition cometh amisse , prosperity or adversity , wealth or want , health or sickness , life or death . lucri bonus odor ex re quâlibet , saith the worldling , gain is sweet out of any thing . the saint finds truly sweet gain in every thing . secondly , that it is christ who maketh both life and death gain to a good man . it was s. paul's hope , first , that christ should be magnified by him : and next , that he he should be comforted by christ , both in life and death : unus est christus qut tam in morte quam in vita nos facit beatos , saith calvin upon the place . indeed , christ is the christians all in all estares ▪ as david said concerning god , whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth i desire in comparison of thee : so saith a christian in this case concerning christ , whom have i in death but thee ? and there is none in life i desire in comparison of thee . the comfort of life is in the knowledge , and the profit of death is in the fruition of christ : if we be without christ , it is hard to say whether is better to live or die : the truth is , both are hurtful , whilst life will prove an increase of sinne , and death sends to torment ; but if christ be ours , both will be to our advantage , according to that of the apostle , all things are yours , whether life or death , things present , or things to come , all are yours , and you are christs , and christ is gods . 2. but because all greek copies divide the verse into clauses , and ( as zanchy well observeth ) it is not safe to recede from the plain reading of the text unless necessity compell , ( whereas here the verse being read according to the originall , is more full , and no lesse true ) i shall adhere to our last as the best translation , and so much the rather , because in this construction it holds well in connexion both with what praecedeth and followeth : therefore his expectation was , that christ should be magnified and he not ashamed whether he did live or die , because if he lived it should be christ if he died it should be gain ; and so no cause in either of shame to himself , but from both there would accrue honour to christ . again , therefore he did not wot what to choose , whether life or death , because to him on the one hand to live was christ , and on the other to die was gain . to look upon the words in themselves , you have in them some things supposed , and some things proposed : the things supposed are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as a presence of life , so a certainty of death : the things proposed are the dedication of his life to christ , and the advantage of death to himself . of the former more briefly : of the later more largely . 1. to live , to die , are the things supposed ; the one common to all others with s. paul : the other common to s. paul with all others . first , s. paul lived , so doe all men , so doe all animals : what our apostle saith of bodies , i may of life : there is a naturall body , and there is a spirituall body ; so there is a naturall , and there is a spirituall life ; this is an hidden , but that a manifest life ; this an inclosure , but that a common ; it is common to heathen with christians , to beasts with men ; the little ant , the crawling worms have a share in life as well as we ; so that these may say as well as s. paul , to me to live : why should we be so much in love with , or dote upon this life , which we have no more interest in than the meanest living creature ? indeed , it is a mercy for which we ought to be thankfull , it is a talent which we are to improve , but it is no priviledge wherein we should glory , whereof we should boast , or wherewith we should be too much affected . secondly , as s. paul lived , so he made account of dying : others live as well as he , and he must die as well as others . the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is as certain as the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as sure as we live we must die : man is no lesse subject to perishing than the beast ; yea , the good man hath no more exemption than the bad ; for so the prophet esay asserts , the righteous perisheth . indeed , our apostle elsewhere calls righteousness a breast-plate , but it is not death-proof ; and though it delivereth in , yet not from death : it is true , death is the wages of sin , but still , it is here the lot of a saint : perfect innocency should not have known mortality , but grace in the best is mixed with that sinne , which bringeth death ; christ ( i grant ) hath taken away death , but so as he hath taken away sin for the present , onely in part , not fully : sin is taken away ne praesit , death ne obsit ; the power and guilt of the one , the sting and venome of the other ; but neither ne sit ▪ not the beeing of either . and indeed , it is not without manifold reason that divine providence hath so ordered it : 1. that the members may be conformable to their head , & we may follow christ the same way of death in which he hath gone before us to glory . 2. that by the pulling down of the wall , the mosse may be fully-plucked out , and by the dissolution of the body , its infirmity and frailty wholly purged away . 3. that the power of god may appear the more glorious in raising us up after death hath layd us in the grave , and the grave turned us into dust . 4. finally , that the strength of our faith might appear the more in believing we shall live though we die : for these reasons the wise god hath appointed his own children to walk through the valley of the shadow of death . to carry it yet one step further , and that in a few words , it is no other than s. paul ( who was not onely a christian , but an apostle ) who taketh it for granted , that he must die ; neither the word nor the work of righteousness can secure from death ; prophets , apostles , ministers , as well as others , are mortall , and must die . indeed , they are ( according to our saviours metaphor ) the lights of the world ▪ but such as after a while may be blown out by a violent , however must go out by a naturall death . clouds they are from whom the rain of instruction falls upon the people , but at length they themselves vanish away . finally , angels they are in respect of their office , but still they are men in regard of their nature , and must die like men . s. paul himself hence supposeth it as a thing which sooner or later would befall him . and so i have given a dispatch to the first , passe we on to the next and principall part of the text , the things that are proposed , concerning the things supposed , which accordingly are two : namely , christ the scope of the one , and gaine the attendant on the other ; which when i have viewed severally , i shall look upon them joyntly , and so put a period to my discourse on this scripture . to me to live is christ : ] is the first propsition to be discussed . it is that which according to that twofold life a christian leads ; namely , spirituall , and temporall , is capable of a threefold interpretation : 1. many of the fathers understand this [ to live ] in a spirituall sense , and so this phrase , to me to live is christ , is made synonimous with that of this very apostle elsewhere , christ liveth in me : to this purpose is that paraphrase of devout anselme upon this text , that by which i live is christ , i live not the old but the new man . and of eloquent chrysostome , i live not a common life , but christ liveth in me : and going on in his rhetoricall strain , he puts the question , why ô blessed apostle doest not thou breathe in the ayre , and tread on the earth as we doe ? art not thou nourished by food , and refreshed by sleep as we are ? yes , but this life he despised , looking after another ; he did not lead a sinfull , but a spirituall life , and so to him to live was christ . thus origen occasionally speaking of these words , saith , in quibusdam vivit iesus , in quibusdam defunctus est : christ is as it were dead in some christians , in some he liveth , to wit , in those who can say to me to live is christ : in this sense it is that christ is the efficient cause of a christians life , and as the head communicateth motion to the members , and the root sap to the branches , so doth christ life to all christians . 2. one upon this text expounding it of naturall life , rendreth the sense thus , to me to live is christ , that is , the onely reason why i am content to live is christs pleasure : if christ will have me to live longer , i am willing ; what seemeth good to him is so to me . consonant to this is that of s. ambrose , to an holy man to live is christ , quasi servus enim non refugit vitae obsequium : since as a faithful servant he doth not refuse the work of life : if it may be an opportunity of advancing his masters glory , or like a good souldier he is willing to stay in the field as long as his captain commandeth . 3. but lastly , and as i conceive most rationally we are to interpret this to live of s. paul's natural life , and christ as the finall cause of it ; so that we may best render the meaning of these words in estius his paraphrase , vitam meam christo & evangelio consecravi : to me to live is christ , that is , i have consecrated my life to christ and his gospel . this is that which was true of paul under a double notion , the one speciall , as an apostle ; the other general , as a christian . 1. consider him as an apostle , and so it lets us see what ought to be the chief ayme and scope of every ministers life ; namely , the honour and glory of christ . indeed , what other is the work , to which a minister is called , and about which he is to be imployed : but ( to use s. pauls expression in the very next chapter ) the work of christ ? what is it we are to publish but the gospel of christ ? and therein the love of christ to lost sinners : in this respect we are compared to ambassadours , and as the ambassadours businesse is to declare his masters message , so is this our work to make known the glad tydings of salvation by christ , as being the great errand about which he sends us . what is it we endeavour by publishing the gospel , yea not onely by preaching but praying , and all other religious means , but the gaining of souls to christ ? upon this account we are called the friends of the bridegroom ; and as the friends office is to speak a good word in the bridegrooms behalf , and to conciliate the brides favour and affection towards him : so is this our employment to wooe your soules that they may be married to christ . indeed , as saint bernard hath piously observed , that purity of heart which especially ought to be in a bishop and pastor of the church , consists in two things ▪ to wit , in seeking the glory of christ , and the good of the people : it behooving him in all his words and works to seek not himselfe , but either christs honour or the peoples profit , or both ; so doing , implebit nonsolum pontificis officium , sed & etymologiam nominis pontem seipsum faciens inter deum & proximum : he shall , according to the etymologie of the latine word , make him self ( as it were ) a bridge between god and his neighbour , whereof the one part reacheth god by advancing his glory , and the other extendeth to his neighbour by furthering his benifit : ( oh that all we who undertake this sacred function would take out this lesson ! ) farre be it from us to live to our selves , either onely or chiefly ayming at our own emolument : wee are among other resemblances compared to eyes , and eyes which see all things else , see not themselves , no more should we look at our selves in any thing we doe . it is said of ignatius , that the name iesus was ( as it were ) engraven upon his heart . oh let our heart be fixed on , and then our life cannot but be devoted to him , we are in a more speciall manner servants of jesus christ , it is that character which the apostle s. jude giveth of himself , and whose work should we imploy our selves about but his ? we are the soldiers of jesus christ ( according to s. pauls character of timothy ) and whose commands should we observe if not his ? finally , we are as so many stewards intrusted by christ with his glory , his gospel , and what an odious thing is it for a man not to discharge his trust ? oh my brethren ! if we should not live to christ , who should ? our relations to him are nearer , our obligation greater than any others , and therefore as we have opportunity let us lay out our abilities in the service and for the glory of christ . 2. but further consider him as a christian , and so it is a pattern for all to follow , and instructs us all what is the genuine character of a sincere saint : to him to live is christ , as christ is the alpha or beginning of his spirituall , so he is the omega or end of his temporall life ; the life of grace he deriveth from him , the life of nature he devoteth to him ; and indeed by the one he is inabled to the other ; it is only a principle of supernaturall life which inclineth a man to order his conversation aright , and steer the course of his life so as may best redound to christs honour . in this respect it is that s. paul saith in the name not onely of himself , but all believers ; both negatively , none of us liveth to himself ; and affirmatively , we live unto the lord : that memorable saying of the emperour jovinian is the motto of every saint , scopus vitae christus , christ is the christians scope , and whatever he is , or hath , or doth , it is all in reference to christ . what the end is to the agent , that is christ to a saint : the end is that which doth both excitare , and commensurare , stirre up the agent to act , and according to which he ordereth and squareth his actions ; so it is with a christian , in respect of christ that which both moveth and squareth him in all that he goeth about is the glory of christ ▪ what the center is to the circumference , that wherein all the lines which are drawn from every part of it doe meet , that is christ to the saint , all the lines of his thoughts , and words , and works tend to , meet in him . and truly , good reason it should be thus , since all christians are christs , such to , and over whom he most justly layeth a claim , and challengeth a right . it was davids acknowledgment to god , upon which he groundeth a prayer for protection , i am thine , save me . it is every christians acknowledgment to christ , upon which he groundeth a resolve of subjection , i am thine , ô blessed jesus ! i will serve thee . i am thine , and therefore my health , my strength , my life , all i am , have , or can doe , is thine . it is the character by which s. paul describeth believers , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they that are christs , and so they are ( as for other causes so ) chiefly , because they are redeemed by him . it is the reason alledged by the apostle himself writing to the corinthians , ye are not your own , for ye are bought with a price : and now , since we are not our own , but his , and that by so strong an ingagement ; it is but equall that we should live to him , quicquid es , debes creanti , quicquid potes debes redimenti , saith saint bernard , thou owest what thou art to thy creator , yea whatever thou art able to thy redeemer . whom should a captive live to , but him that ransomed him ? a slave but to him that bought him ? a christian but to christ who hath delivered him from the slavery and captivity of sin ? indeed , this is the end which christ intended in purchasing us by his death : he gave himself for us , ( saith the apostle ) that he might purifie us to himself a peculiar people : and more appositely to our present purpose , he died for all , that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves , but unto him which died for them and rose again : thus then the case stands , christ hath bought us by his blood for himself : being thus bought by him , we owe our selves and lives to him : no wonder if every believer upon this consideration saith , with this holy apostle , to me to live is christ . but if this be the inseparable character of a christian , alas ! where shall we finde him ? it was the complaint of god , concerning ephraim , by the prophet hoseah , ephraim is an empty vine , he bringeth forth fruit to himself . and may not christ take up the same complaint of us ? none of us liveth to himself , saith s. paul : nay , none of us but liveth to himself , may we say . gregory nyssen speaking occasionally of these words , thus comments , the apostle saying to me , to live is christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , intends thus much , no carnall affection liveth in me ; not pleasure , nor grief , nor anger , nor pride , nor envie , nor revenge , nor covetousnesse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but to him onely i live , who is none of all these . but , my brethren , which of us can excuse our selves from living to some one or other of these lusts ? doth not the ambitious man say , to me to live is honour ? the voluptuous , to me to live is pleasure ? the envious , to me to live is revenge ? the covetous , to me to live is wealth ? but where , oh ! where is the man can truly say ▪ to me to live is christ ? we call our selves christians , but we are christiani sine christo , no better than the ephesians in their heathenish condition , of whom the apostle saith , that at that time they were without christ : onely this is the difference , heathens are without any knowledge of christ , and loose christians are without the effectuall knowledge of christ : and so their condition worse than heathens , who , though they have christ in their ears and mouths , yet he is not in all their thoughts , or affections , or actions . oh that the setting of this pattern before us might serve to shame us out of our inordinate living to our selves , and quicken us in our indevours to live to christ ; as peter said in another case to christ , lord , whether should i go ? thou hast the words of eternall life . let us say in this , lord , to whom should we live ? thou hast the command of our naturall life ; yea , thou art the life of our life , and soule of our soul : oh that all our oyle might empty it self into this golden candlestick ! that all our water might run in this channell , all our actions be levelled at this marke christ , and his honour : to this end , let us get our hearts both enlarged with apprehensions of christs love to us , and inflamed with love to him . the love of christ ( saith the apostle paul ) constraineth us : a phrase which may be construed both waies ; either actively , the love of christ to us ; or passively , our love to christ : both of which have a sweet , yet strong influence . 1. meditate we seriously on the love of christ to us . how truly might our blessed saviour say , whilest on earth ; yea , now he is in heaven , to me to live is man ? he lived here to die , he liveth there to intercede for man ; his fathers will ( which was our salvation ) was not onely his work , but his food ; and ( as he saith himself ) his meat and his drink : so much content he took , and delight he had in our redemption . indeed , what was there from first to last which had not a reference to us ? he was born for us , lived for us , died for us , rose again for us , is ascended , sitteth at gods right hand , and shall at last come again for us . who can think on this exceeding love of christ , and not acknowledge himselfe obliged to this duty by way of gratulation , it being most consonant to the law of thankfulness and retaliation , that since to christ to live ; nay to die was man : to man at least to live should be christ . 2. let the consideration of christs love enflame thee with love to christ , and that love will inable thee to live to him . it is a known saying , the soule is not where it liveth , but where it loveth : and it is no lesse true , whom the soul loveth , to him it will live . it is by faith that christ liveth in us , it is by love that we live to christ : let him be the sole object of thine affections , and then he will be the chief end of thy actions . that expression of the spouse in the canticles , my beloved is mine , and i am his ; is very considerable to this purpose : my beloved is mine , in that she expresseth her sense of christs affection towards her : and , i am his , in that she insinuateth her love towards christ . and ( which was the fruit of it ) the resignation of her self to christ . excellently doth s. bernard illustrate these words , ille mihi , & ego illi . ille mihi , quia ben gnus & misericors . ego illi , quia non sum ingrata . ille mihi , gratiam ex gratiâ . ego illi gratiam , progratiâ . ille meae liberationi , ego illius honori . ille saluti meae , ego illius voluntati . he is mine , and i am his . he mine , because he is mercifull . i his , because i am not unthankfull . he conferreth on me , grace for grace . i return him praise for his grace . he is for my deliverance , i for his honour . he for my salvation , i in subjection to his will . thus it was with the spouse , and thus will it be with every christian , who duly pondreth upon the mercy of christ towards him , and hath his soul affected with love and gratitude to christ . to end this , if there were not in us any spark of love to christ , yet even self-love cannot but strongly oblige us to live to christ , inasmuch as this is the onely honourable , profitable , and pleasurable life . 1. no life so honourable as this : all actions are dignified , especially by the end to which they tend ; whence , the more noble the intention , the more noble the operation : and what intention can be higher , or end nobler than the glory of christ ? this is that which by a strange activity turneth our earthly into an heavenly , our naturall into a spirituall life , which is the most excellent of all lives . to live to a mans lusts debaseth his life , and maketh it no better than bestiall ; to live to christ exalteth it , and rendreth it no lesse than angelicall . 2. no life truly profitable but this ; the way to live to our selves , is to live to christ : whilst he hath the glory , we have the benefit : and as his name is advanced , so our good is advantaged . there is a strange riddle , and a seeming contradiction in those words of god by the prophet , ephraim is an empty vine , and bringeth forth fruit : a vine is then said to be empty when it is fruitlesse , and can that which bringeth forth fruit be said to be fruitlesse ? but the next words [ to himself ] unfold the riddle , and reconcile the contradiction , since the fruit which is brought forth to our selves is no fruit . what he said of the day wherein he had done no good , diem perdidi , i have lost a day : that may we say in this case , that day and time of our life is lost wherein we live not to christ . finally , this is the most pleasurable life , free from those cares and feares , distraction and vexation , with which living to the world , and our lusts , is encombred , full of those joyes and sweet pleasures , and delights whereof all others are ignorant . he that can say , to me to live is christ , may say , to me to live is peace of conscience , contentment of minde , and joy in the holy ghost . in one word , this is the onely way to make both our life comfortable , and our death gainfull . and so i am fallen on the other branch of this text , that which is here proposed by our apostle concerning his death , in those words , to me to die is gain . to die , whether violently , or naturally ; by sickness , or a sword ; be the manner , or means of death what it will , it is gain not onely not injurious , but commodious ; no hurt , but profit , no losse , but benefit : to me , and all such as he was , whether faithfull ministers , or good christians . indeed , this is primarily true of that dying to which s. paul ( being now in chains at rome ) might especially referre , ( i mean ) a violent death for the cause of christ , by heathenish persecution : and so this is true of the death it self , and true martyrs may say the very {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to die is gain to thm . indeed , to die for christ is both an honour , and a gain ; an advancement , and an advantage . s. paul in this very chapter tells the philippians , it was given to them to suffer ; as if this were a special choice gift , an extraordinary gratification conferred by god upon a man when he calleth him to suffer , and especially death for his truth ; yea , the death it self gaineth an increase of the reward , and a further accession of glory : in this respect our blessed saviour saith , he that loseth his life for my sake , shall finde it : which is in effect , he that loseth , shall not lose ; yea , the very losing his life in this quarrell shall be an advantage to him , whilest he shall finde that life which infinitely exceedeth this . mors quippe integriorem facit vitam , mors magis deducit ad gloriam , to use s. cyprians expression , such a death shall not onely accelerate , but accumulate the glory of that other life . but besides this speciall , it is ( according to a right construction ) true also in a generall notion , not onely of them that die for , but all that die in the lord : that death is a gain to them , onely with this difference , to martyrs their dying is a gain , and all christians gain by dying . indeed , this gain is not a direct and proper , but onely an accidental effect , or rather a consequent of death not flowing from , but following after it ; that which death in its own nature bringeth forth is evill , it causeth not gain but losse , depriving good as well as bad men of the sweet comforts of this present life ; but in regard of the good , christ hath by obtaining for them a life after death , made death of a curse to become a blessing , of a punishment a benefit , of a departure an entrance , and of a losse a gain : thus , as the waters of marah were sweetned by the tree , so is the bitternesse of death allayed , the sting of it plucked out ; yea , the nature of it changed by the crosse of christ . this being premised , i shall intreat you to walke awhile with me in this pleasant field of deaths gain , which i shall endevour to illustrate both absolutely and comparatively , privatively and positively . 1. this will appear to be a truth absolutely , death is a gaine to a godly man , if you consider both the evils from which he is freed , and the good things of which he is possessed . 1. privatively : death is a gain to true christians in respect of those various evils from which it delivereth . the evils of this present life are of two sorts : to wit , temporall and spirituall , from both which death delivereth . many are the miseries under which we groan in this life ; but mors pro remedio , so s. ambrose , death is a cure for them all : in this respect it is that seneca saith aptly , it is nullius mali materia , multorum finis , the cause of none , but the end of many evils : upon this account it was that death hath been , even by the heathens , looked upon as an advantage . when those two famous carpenters , agamedes , and trophonius , had built a temple for apollo at delphos , they begg'd of him a reward : to whom this answer was given by the oracle , that it should be conferred on them within nine daies ; within which time they died . and when cydippe begg'd of juno a boon for her two sons , cleebis and byto , she found them in the morning dead in their beds , as if the gods could not bestow a greater benefit than death , by which men are freed from the calamities of life . in this respect seneca's comparison is very fi● , who resembleth death to an haven , into which when the ship enters , she is past all the danger of rocks , of sands , of waves , or windes , to which she was continually lyable upon the tumultuous seas . indeed , death is that which delivereth our bodies from pains and aches , our eyes from tears , and our hearts from sorrows : and in this respect s. john calls them who die in the lord , blessed , because they rest from their labours , to wit , all labour both of minde and body with which here they are oppressed . the truth is , many are the afflictions , as of all men , so especially of the righteous in this life . they are sure to meet with persecution from wicked men for their righteousness sake ; as the tree is beaten with sticks for its fruits sake ; yea , such is the rage of persecutors , that they care not to what sorrows of hunger , cold , nakednesse , imprisonment , banishment , want , they expose them : besides , almighty god is pleased to chastise them for , whilst he lets others alone in sinne , to exercise their graces by adversity , whilst others enjoy prosperity : but when death comes , it sets them free from all , as being the last chastisement which god doth inflict upon , and the last mischief which wicked men can doe to the godly . but these are the least of those evils from which death delivereth a believer ; there are evils of another , an higher nature : and as the sense of them is a sadder trouble , so the deliverance from them must needs be a greater gain ; such are divine dereliction , satanicall temptation , the wickeds conversation , and sins infection . 1. in this life the godly are oft-times enforced to goe mourning all the day long , because god hideth his face : many clouds interpose that they cannot behold the sun of righteousness shining on them , but when the winde of death cometh it bloweth all these clouds away , and puts them in such an estate wherein there shall be no interruption of their comfort . 2. whilst we live on earth we must expect assaults from hell , we walk here amongst snares ; nor are we at any time , or in any place , secure from satans suggestions ; but death puts us out of his reach , whilest our souls soare aloft , and so are like the flying-bird out of the compasse of his snare . 3. how we are forced to be as lillies among thorns , wheat among chaffe ; and being thus mingled with the wicked , we complain with david , woe are we that we must dwell in mesheck , and in the tents of kedar : but when we die we shall be separated from the ungodly , so that they shall no longer be to us as the canaanites were to the israelies , thorns in our eyes , and pricks in our sides . 4. finally , so long as we continue in this world , the bur of corruption will cleave to us ; but death rids us of it : according to that of s. paul , he that is dead , is free from sinne . in this respect , death is fitly called by s. ambrose , vitiorum sepultura , the grave of our sins . and by gregory nyssen , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the expurgation of wickednesse : since till the vessell be broken , the muddy water of corruption cannot be wholly poured out . consuit the experiences of the saints , and you shall finde them still complaining of spirituall conflicts with their corruption . we are besieged on every side , ( as s. cyprian observes ) and , oh how often is a breach made upon us ! if covetousnesse be knocked down , lust riseth up ; if lust be quelled , pride starteth forth ; if pride be subdued , anger exasperateth ; thus are we forced to a continuall strugling with our sins : but when we die , the combate ceaseth ; and , as for the present , we are not under sinne ; so then , we shall be without sin , or so much as the motions of sin . indeed , it very observable , that as death came in by sin , so sin goeth out by death : filia devoravit matrem , the daughter destroyeth the mother ; nisi primi parentes peccassent non morerentur , peccarent justi nisi morerentur , had not our first parents sinned they had not died , if we did not die we should not be without sin : sin delivereth to death , and death delivereth from sin ; and , so that which was onely the punishment , becomes the period of sinfull evill . and surely as s. ambrose occasionally speaking of these words , saith , lucrum est evasisse incrementa peccati , lucrum fagisse deteriora & ad meliora transisse , it is no small gain to avoid the increase of sin : nay , our apostle uttereth these words , saith s. cyprian , lucrum maximum computans jam seculi laqueis non teneri , jam nullis peccatis & vitiis carnis obnoxium fieri , accounting it the greatest gain no longer to be subject to the sins of the flesh , and intangled in the fetters of the world : indeed , this is as in it self , so in the estimation of every godly man the chiefest gain ; and , no wonder if accounting sin to be the greatest evil , he esteem this the chiefest priviledge of death , more rejoicing that it putteth an end to his sinnings , though they were never so small , than to his sufferings , were they never so great . in fine , death is both a totall and finall deliverance from all evils , except it self , from which also we shall be delivered by the resurrection : in which respect , an antient saith elegantly , it is unjust to call it a death , rather a recesse from death ; a separation from corruption , a freedome from bondage , rest from trouble , ease of labours ; & ( ut in summa dicam ) omnium consummationem malorum ; yea , the consummation of all evils . and yet , in all that i have said i have told you but one half , and that the lesse half of deaths gain : there is not onely ademptio malorum , but adeptio bonorum , a removall of evil , but the presence of good ; and so positively , to die is gain : for , though the happiness of our persons doe not presently follow upon death , but the resurrection ; yet there is an happiness conferred upon our souls immediately after death : and if you would know wherein this consists , i answer , 1. when we die our souls goe to paradise : a place of rest , and joy , and comfort . our first parents were cast out of paradise that they might die ▪ and we die that we may goe to paradise . the poet saw this when he said , parte tamen meliore mei — though my body rot in the earth , yet my better part shall be carried above the skies . indeed , the souls of them that depart hence in the lord are immediately received into those celestiall habitations . 2. when we die our souls go to god and christ , in whose presence is fulness of joy : this is the reason why gregory naz : calls death a benefactour , because it presently sends us to god , our apostle ( in the next verse save one ) tells us , he had a desire to depart and to be with christ : thereby plainly intimating , that when be did depart hence , he should be with christ , to wit , in his soul ; and if you will know where christ is , you shall finde it by other scriptures , to be , farre above all heavens , at the right hand of god . indeed , the contract between christ and the soule is made on earth , but the marriage is consummated in heaven ; here christ is with us by his spirit , there we shall be with him , first in our souls , and at last in our persons . it is much for a prince to visit a poor man in his cottage , but it is farre more for him to take the poor man home with him to his palace . esse christum cum paulo magna securitas . esse paulum cum christo summa foelicitas : it is our great security while we live , that christ is with us , but it shall be our felicity when we die that we shall be with christ . 3. finally , when we die our souls are endowed with perfect purity and spotlesse holinesse , and grace receiveth its consummation by glory : the apostle maketh mention of the spirits of just men made perfect , that is , perfectly just and holy in their spirits . indeed , the perfection of glory is not till the resurrection when soule and body shall be united ; but in the mean time ▪ the souls of them that die in christ are adorned with a perfection of grace ; and if the beginnings of grace be pretious , what is the completion of it ? if the first fruits be desirable , what is the full crop ? if the soule which hath but one dram of grace be more truly noble than if it had all other naturall or morall endowments , how glorious shall our souls be when they shall be as vessels filled to the brim with fulnesse of grace ! by all this which hath been said , the truth of this apostolical assertion sufficiently appeareth , but that all objestions may be removed be pleased to consider it comparatively , and to weigh a while in the scales of reason both the losse and the gain of death , that we may see how much the gain preponderateth the loss , and so this doctrine will remaine undoubtedly true notwithstanding whatever may be pretended to the contrary . it is true , death bereaveth us of a mortall and transitory , but it is an inlet to an immortall and everlasting life ; it despoileth us of our worldly possessions . i , but it putteth us into possession of our heavenly inheritance , it taketh us from the society of our neighbours , bosome of our friends : i , but it sends us to abrahams bosome , & makes way for our society with christ . finally , it severs the soul from the body ; i , but it unites the soul to god : what is it for the candle to be put out whilst we enjoy the light of the sun ? for the standing-pools to be dry so long as we may drink at the fountain ? for our earthly comforts to be taken from us , when heavenly joyes are conferred on us ? the truth is , death is not a privation , but a permutation : so holy iob calleth it a change , and that a blessed exchange of a cottage for a palace , a wilderness for a paradise , a house of bondage for a place of liberty , of brass for gold , pebles for pearls , earth for heaven . and , now tell me , if upon all these considerations s. paul had not just cause to say , to me to die is gain . the meditation whereof may serve as a check to those passions of grief and fear which are apt in this matter to be exorbitant , the one in respect of our friends , and the other of our own death . it is the use which cyprian teacheth us to make of this very doctrine , ut neque charorum lugeamus excessum , & cum accessionis propriae dies venerit incunctanter & libenter ad deum ipso vocante veniamus , that we should not too much bewail the departure of our dearest relations , and when the day of our dissolution doth approach , that we readily and chearfully obey gods call . 1. let the gain of death moderate our sorrow for our friends who sleep in iesus : why should we be troubled for them who are at rest ? sit down in sorrow for them who are entred into joy ? why are we clad in black for them who walk in white ? and so many tears flow from our eyes for them who have all tears wiped from theirs ? it is storyed of the thracians , that they mourn at the birth , and rejoice at the death of their friends . nec imprudenter , saith s. ambrose , nor was it without reason that they should account those fit to be bewail'd who are launching forth into the tempestuous sea of this world , and attend them with joy who are got into the harbour of rest . we read concerning lazarus , that christ rejoiced when he was dead , but wept being to raise him to life . and chrysologus his note is very apt to our present purpose , christ us recipiens lazarum flevit , non amittens , christ bewaileth not the losing , but restoring of his life : according to which the greek fathers make the reason of our saviours tears to be , that he should now call him back to a miserable life . indeed , as s. hierome saith concerning nepotian , we may say of every one who departeth in christ , non tam plangendus est qui hac luce caruerit quam gratulandum ei qui de tantis malis evaserit , we are not so much to condole his losse of this life , as to congratulate his deliverance from the miseries of this life . thou wilt say perhaps , it is my friend , my dearly beloved friend who is dead , and can i choose but mourn ? but , is he thy friend , and dost thou envy him his happiness ? dost thou dearly love him , and yet grieve at his welfare ? he is thy friend , and death is his benefit : and shall the benefit of another , especially of thy friend , be thy sorrow ? i , but he is snatched from my arms , i have a great losse in his departure , and that is my trouble : true , this nature promteth to , that we should be sensible of our own losse ; yea , grace requireth that we should be sensible of such a losse as it is a crosse inflicted upon us by divine providence . thus , patient job , when the news came to him of his childrens death , shaved his head , and rent his mantle : signes of that sorrow which naturall affection put him upon ; yea , he fell down upon the ground and worshipped : signes , that in his sorrow he looked higher , at the hand of god which had done it . but , as with one eye we look on our losse , and weep ; so with another eye we must look on their gain , and rejoice ; as it is a chastisement to us , we must be affected with sorrow ; as a mercy to them , with joy : and thus , whilest we mingle these affections together , our sorrow will not be exorbitant . indeed , when any die , to whom we have reason to fear , death is the beginning of sorrrow ; there is sad cause of bitter mourning : but not for them who die in the lord . scribitur david justè flevisse filium parricidam , qui alium parvulum , quia sciebat non peccasse , non flevit , david justly bewailed dead absalom , because he died in his rebellion , and therefore despaired of his blisse ; but when the other childe dieth , he drieth his eyes , as not doubting its happinesse . they indeed cannot sufficiently be lamented at their death , who dying in their sins , drop into hell ; not they who are carried into those heavenly mansions , saith isidore excellently . 2. let the gain of death mitigate the fear which is apt to arise in us from the apprehension of our own . when abigail told nabal the threatning words of david , the text saith , his heart died within him , and became as a stone . thus is it with the most of us , when any summons of death is given ; nay , not onely with the most , but even sometimes with the best . christ cometh to the disciples on the sea , to preserve them from the storme , and they are troubled , death cometh to deliver us from all evill , and we exceedingly tremble . indeed the reason is , because we consider not that death is a deliverance , and so gaine to us . what chrysologus saith of martyrs , is true of all good men , morte nascuntur , fine inchoant , occisione vivunt , & in coelis lucent , qui in terris putabantur extincti , their death is a birth , and end a beginning , they live by being killed , and whilst they are thought to be extinguished on earth , they shine in heaven ; and surely were this well pondered by them , they would not seek consolation against death , but death it selfe would be their consolation . those words of job , i have said to corruption , thou art my father , to the worme , thou art my mother , are not unfitly allegorized by origen to this purpose ; ut pueri consolatores habent parentes , sic ego mortem & putredinem ; as if he therefore called corruption and wormes his father and mother , because as parents are comforters to the children , so were they to him . it is true , the separation of soule and body is terrible , and a naturall feare of it may be , cannot but be in all . i but it is as true in respect of the godly , that when this separation is made , anima absolvitur , corpus resolvitur , quae absolvitur gaudet , quae resolvitur nihil sentit , as st. ambrose elegantly ; the soule is set at liberty , and rejoyceth , yea , the body is at rest , and knoweth no trouble ; and is such a separation to be feared ? this life , what is it but a going to death ? and death , what is it but a going to life ? little cause then sure , why we should either too much love the one , or feare the other : non est timendum , saith tertullian , quod nos liberat ab omni timendo , shall that be the object of our feare , which freeth us from what ever is to be feared ? by death we gain glory , and shall we not glory over death ? non repuerascam , said a roman , si deus mihi largiretur , i would not be young againe , though god would grant it me , and he giveth this reason , quia ab hospitio ad domum discedam , because when i dye , i shall goe from my inne to my home . did ever childe cry when his fathers man came to fetch him home ? alas beloved ( as st. ambrose rightly ) non mors ipsa terribilis , sed opinio de morte , not death it self , but our misapprehension of death , is terrible to us ; did we look through , beyond death , at the gaine which followeth , it would not be dreadfull , but amiable in our eyes , and with this holy apostle , we would not feare , but desire to depart : that of the wise man , the righteous hath hope in his death , the caldee reads , the righteous hopeth he shall dye ; so farre is a good man ( upon serious meditation of deaths gaine ) from fearing of , that he hopeth for , his dissolution , and though he dare not rashly hasten , yet he willingly entertaineth it , whensoever sent by god to him . to draw to an end : be pleased to put both clauses together , since indeed they cannot be asunder , if to us to live be christ , to dye must needs be gaine , to dye cannot be gaine , but onely to them , to whom to live is christ . if a good life precede an happy death , cannot but follow : nor is it probable , a gainfull death should be the consequent , if a religious life have not been the antecedent . indeed if we observe the temper of many in the world , we shall finde them either inverting or separating these clauses . 1. some there are who would invert these words , & make gain the predicate of the former , and christ of the latter ; thus doth every covetous man say , to me to live is gain , and to dye is christ ; vaine men who will have gold to be their god , and yet christ to be their redeemer , they will serve mammon whilst they live , and yet be saved by christ when they dye ; but it will be just with christ to say at death to all such mammonists , in these words of god to the israelites , in the day of their distresse , goe to the gods which you have served , the gaine which you have lived to , and let that deliver in this houre of your death . 2. more there are who would sever these clauses , whilst they would gladly say , to dye is gaine , but not to live is christ : one was asked , whether he had rather be craessus or socrates , his answer was , in vitâ craesus , in morte socrates , he would be rich craesus in his life , and good socrates at his death ; you know whose prayer it was , let me dye the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his , and it is that no doubt , which many wish and desire ; nay hope , who yet regard not to live the life of the righteous , and that their course to that end may be like his . but what a folly , nay madnesse is it , for men to expect to reap what they doe not sow ? to sow to the flesh , and to the world , and yet reap by christ the gaine of everlasting life after death ? as therefore we expect that one , let us endeavour the other ; and if gaine by death be our hope , let living to christ be our practice . so that this scripture thus considered , doth plainly put a difference between the pretious and the vile , the godly and the wicked ; whilest to these who live to themselves , death is a losse ; to those who live to christ , it is a gaine . adrian was wont to say , that death is pavor divitum , & pauperis desiderium ; the rich mans feare , and the poor mans desire . i may well apply it here , death either is or may be the bad mans feare , but the good mans wish , or to use st. ambrose his expression , justis mors quietis est portus ▪ nocentibus naufragium , it is an haven to the just ▪ but a shipwrack to the guilty ; to those a bed of repose , to these a rack of torture : the man who liveth to the world , saith to death , as ahab to eliah , hast thou found me oh mine enemy ! but he who liveth to christ , may say to it as david of ahimaaz , it cometh with good tidings . and now my brethren , would you on the one hand ▪ see the reason why you are so fearfull of death ? it is because your consciences accuse you , that you have not lived to christ ; suae quisque conscientia vulnus accuset , non mortis acerbitatem , we may thank our owne guilty consciences for our feares of death : it was not without reason , that st. paul saith , the sting of death is sin , since death is onely venemous and deadly to them who live in sinne : on the other hand , would you see the way to a joyfull end ? would you have comfort in , and gaine after death ? oh let it be your study to live to christ . it is our saviours counsell to his disciples , take no thought for your life , let me alter it a little , take no thought for your death , but for your life ; let your care be to advance christ in your lives , and it will be his care to confer the gaine of glory and immortality upon you at your death . and thus i have finished the text ▪ time , and your expectation hasten me to the sad occasion of this sorrowfull assembly . the early and unexpected death of this hopefull servant of christ , in the worke of the gospel , master ▪ adam pemberton ; what s. paul said concerning timothy ▪ i need not doubt to say of him , that from a child he hath known the holy scriptures , being the son of such a father , who strove to instill into his tender yeares , both religion and learning . it pleased god to bestow upon him , many choice naturall endowments of an acute wit , a ready expression , and a good memory . he wanted not acquired abilities , in the knowledge of tongues & arts , those handmaids of divinity , which none contemne but the ignorant , who because they cannot be like others , would have others like them , and so whilst darknesse covers the hemisphere , they may be thought to have as good eyes as any . besides these naturall and acquired parts , i trust ( and what ever any proudly undertake , man can goe farther ) he had some measure of supernaturall and infused graces , and experienced those saving operations of the blessed spirit on his owne heart . being thus competently ( nay farre more excellently then many of his yeares ) furnished for the work of the ministry , he entred into holy orders , and that by the right door , preferring the beaten track of venerable antiquity , before the untroden by-path of novelty . and now having undertaken this sacred employment , how studious and sedulous , frequent and diligent he was in performing it , i doubt not but a great part here present can attest . commonly twice , this last halfe yeare thrice , nay , many times oftner within the compass of a week , he dispensed the mysteries of the gospel to the people ; so that i may truly say , he exhausted himselfe , his strength , his health in this worke , as it is reported of archimedes : is quibus obtinuit famam , amisit vitam , he lost his life by those studies , which got him credit . so i may truly affirme of him , by labouring to gaine soules to christ , he impaired the health of his owne body , and in some sence accelerated his end . as thus he did the worke of the lord laboriously , so in some measure sucessefully ; me thinkes i read in the eyes of many here present their deep sorrow for his losse , and that chiefly upon this account , the great good and comfort their souls found in , and by his labours : yea , it pleased god to give him as it were a seale of his ministry at his last sermon ; after which , one that had been seduced by the errors of the times , came to him , humbly acknowledging his own folly , heartily blessing god for his instructions , and earnestly desiring confirmation by private conference with him . and truly i cannot but take notice of gods great mercy to himselfe in this regard , that though he was but a tender plant , and so the more apt to be bended any way ; yea , though in this innovating age , the ready way to preferment ( of which young men are usually ambitious ) he to turn novelist , or in plaine termes schismatick , yet not consulting with flesh and blood , he stood firme in the faith , which was once delivered to the saints , & chose rather to side with suffering truth , then prospering error ; he owned the church of england , and that as before this last deformed reformation , to be his mother , zealously preaching her doctrine , asserting her discipline , and bemoaning her sorrowes , which caused him not many dayes before his death to take up davids language , redeem israel oh god , out of all his troubles . nor did he onely pity her sufferings , and pray for her deliverance , but to the utmost of his power , he was ready to help her children , his fellow ▪ brethren , and labourers in the gospel , who for her sake , are reduced to extream necessity . in this respect what st. hierome said of nepotian , i may of him , caecorum baculus , esurientium cibus , spes miserorum , solamen lugentium fuit , he was a staffe to the blind , food to the hungry , an anchor of the afflicted , and a comfort of the mourners . and now whilst this young tree was thus growing up in grace and knowledge , in favour with god and man , so that they who sate under the shadow of his ministry , promised to themselves much comfort and contentment : alas ( who can mention it without teares ) in the spring of the yeare , i and of his age , the winde of a violent disease blasted him , and death removeth him hence , to be transplanted in the celestiall paradice . having spent his life in the lords worke , he ended it on the last lords day , and on that day of rest , ( yet withall of labour to a minister ) he rested from his labours . so that quem haeredem putavimus funus tenemus , ( to use st. hieromes phrase ) we are forced to bemoane his fall with teares , who ( being elder ) hoped to have left him a remaining pillar in the church of god . some few houres before his dissolution , a reverend doctor of divinity ( his and my very good friend ) coming to visit him , and putting him upon the act of resignation in yeilding up himself to gods dispose , his answer was , that if he might doe god any further service in his church , he was willing to live ; but if not , he was content to submit to gods will , saying in the words of my text , ( which since he made use of , i made choice of ) to me to live is christ , and to dye is gaine : and truly by what you have already heard , there is reason to believe , that he practised the former , and hope , that he now experienceth the latter . indeed his death in respect of us was a losse , a great losse , and that every way ; his father hath lost the staffe of his age , an observant child ; his wife an affectionate husband , and his children ( poor babes whose sorrow is yet to come ) a carefull father . the church hath lost an obedient son , this parish a painefull , profitable preacher , the poor , a zealous charitable advocate and almoner : nor must i leave out my selfe , who have lost an intire cordiall friend . but whilst his father , wife , children , parish , the church , the poor , my selfe , may all truly say , to us his death is a losse , he said , and i hope accordingly findeth it verified ; to me to dye is gaine . i have onely three short words with which i shall close up my discourse . 1. to the neere relations of this our deceased brother , my word is submit , durum verbum , an hard lesson i acknowledge , but yet such as i trust you will endeavour to take forth : his aged father i cannot better counsell , then in saint hieromes words to heliodorus , concerning nepotian , non doleas quod talem amiseris , sed gaudeas quod talem habueris , you have more reason to rejoyce that once you had , then to mourne that now you have lost , such a sonne . his deare consort i shall bespeak in seneca's words , i dare not forbid you to grieve at all , but i would not have you grieve to excesse . that knot which was tyed between you , it was but till death did part you : and as if divine providence would minde you upon what termes you had him , on that day three yeares he was marryed to , he is taken from you . 2. to the loving parishioners and auditors of this now silenced preacher , my word is , remember , remember all those wholesome counsells , faithfull rebukes , comfortable doctrines , sound truths , which you heard dropping , nay , flowing from his lips in this place , i doubt not but many of you dearely loved him , show at once your love both to him and your selves , by indeavouring to practice what he taught you , and let your greatest sorrow be not for him , but for your selves , that you have no more profited , under his pious labours . 3. to all here present , my word is that of our saviour to his disciples , watch : a word which ( i hope ) will take so much the deeper impression upon you that were his auditors , because it was the last counsell himself gave you out of this place , that portion of holy writ [ what i say unto you , i say unto all , watch : ] being then the subject of his discourse , and not onely on you , but us all ; because it is that which his dead corps now preacheth to us . indeed , when we see one falling in his full strength , snatched away in the prime of his dayes , have we not reason to watch ? and watching , to prepare for the hour of our death . let it then be the care of us all whilst we live to live to christ , every one of us in our station consecrating our selves to , employing our talents in his service , for his glory ; so shal it be our comfort in , and blisse after death . and whensoever that time shall approach whether sooner or later to any of us , we shall be able to say , with this our deceased brother , in the words of this holy apostle , [ to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . finis . the works of mr. nathanael hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st. dyonis back-church . 1 — justice triumphing , or the spoiler spoiled . a sermon preached on the 5 of novem. in the cathedral church of s. pauls , in 4to . 2 — the arraignment of licentious liberty , and oppressing tyranny . in a sermon preached at a fast before the lords in parliament in the abbey-church at westminster , in 4to . 3 — faiths victory over nature . a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr john rushout junior , in 4to . 4 — the safest convoy , or the strongest helper . a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sir thomas bendish baronet ▪ his majesties ambassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople , in 4to . 5 — a divine prospective , representing the just mans peacefull end . a sermon preached at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir john gayre knight , in 4to . 6 — love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony . a sermon occasioned by the nuptialls between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams , in 4to . 7 — divinity in mortality : or , the gospels excellency , and the preachers frailty . a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr richard goddard minister of the parish of st gregory's by st pauls , in 4to . 8 & 9 two mites : or a grateful acknowledgment of gods singular goodness . in two sermons , occasioned by his late unexpected recovery of a desperate sickness , in 4to . 10 — death's allarum : or , security's warning-piece . a sermon preached in st dionis back-church , at the funerall of mrs mary smith the 9 of novemb in 4to . 11 — the epitaph of a godly man , especially a man of gods : or , the happinesse by death of holinesse in life . a sermon preached at the funerall of mr adam pemberton ( late minister of the parish of st fosters foster-lane ) the 11 of april , in 4to . 12 — the first epistle general of st john unfolded and applied . the first part , in 22 sermons , in 4to . printed for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at the black bear near the little north-door of s. paul's-church . 1655. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a87093e-290 judg. 2. 5. job 14. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. joh. 11. 36. 2 tim. 4. 7 , 8. notes for div a87093e-1640 eccles 12. 13. mat. 22. 37 , 3● theod. in loc. est . ibid. lap. ibid. calv. i● . psal. 73. 25. 1 cor. 3. 21 , 22 , 23. zanch. ib. 1 cor. 15. 44. isa. 57. 1. ephes. 6. 14. rom. 6. 23. mat. 5. 14. isa. 5 6. rev. 1. 20. gen : 2d . part. 1. expos. 1. gal. 2. 20. vide anselm . vide chryso . in loc. orig hom 2. in iudic. expos. 2. velasq. in loc. ambros. de bono mortis , cap. 2. expos. 3. est . in loc. phil. 2. 30. 2 cor. 5. 21. mat. 9. 15. bern ep. 42. cant. 1. 15. jude v. 1. 2 tim. 2. ● . 1 cor. 4. 1. rom. 14. 7 , 8. psal. 119. 94. gal. 5. 24. 1 cor. 6. 19 , 20. bern. tit. 2. 14. 2 cor. 5. 15. hos. 10. 1. greg nyss. . i● cant. hom 15. eph. 2. 12. oh . 6. 63. 2 cor. 5. 14. joh. ● . 34. cant. 2. 16. bern. in cant. s●●m 68. hos. 10. 1. part. 2d . ver. 29. mat. 16. 25. cypr. de laude martyr . ambr. de fi● . resur. sen. de benef. l. 7. c. 1. vide plut. de consol ▪ ad apoll sen. consol. ●d polyb. cap. 28. revel. 14. 16. psal. 34. 19. quid aliud est haec vita nisi plena laqueis inter laqueos ambulam●… &c. ambr. de bon . mort. cap. 3. psal. 120. 5. josh. 23. 13. rom. 6. 7. ambr. de bon . mort. cap. 4. greg nyss ▪ orat . in fun . pulcher . cypr. serm. 4. de morta● . ambros. de b●n● mort. cap. 2. cypr. serm. 4. de mortal . ● . maxim. ovid . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. greg. naz. orat . 20. verse 23. colos ▪ 3. 1. ephes. 4. 10. bern in ps. qui bab . heb. 12. 29 ▪ job 14. 14. cypr. serm. 4. de mortalit . ambros. de fid. resur. chrysol. ser. 64. is pael . l. 2. ep. 175. cypr. in joh. l. 7. c. 21. hieron. ep. 3. job 1. 20. hieron. ep. 25. illi deplorandi sunt in morte quos miseros infernus ex h●c vitâ recipit , &c. isid. hispal . de sum . bon . l. 3. c. ult. ● sam. 25. 37. mark ▪ 6. 50. chrysol. serm. 108. job 17. 14. orig ibid. ambrose de bono mort. c. 8. t●cert . de anim. ●p . 4. ambrose de bon. mort. c. 8. prov. 14. 32. judges 2. 14. numb. 23. 10. ambrose de bono ▪ mort. cap. 8. 1 king. 21. 20. 2 sam. 18. 27. ambrose . l. d. 1 cor. 15. 56. mat. 6. 25. 2 tim. 3. 15. psal. 25. 22. hierom. ep 3 ▪ the 28. yeare of his life . palme sunday apr. 8. a. d. 1655. hier. ib. nedoleas exigere non audeo pl●● aequore dolere volo , sen. ep. mark 13. 37. a funeral sermon preached at deptford june 3. 1688 upon the occasion of the death of mrs. elizabeth kilbury, late wife of mr. john kilbury. by henry godman, minister of the gospel. with allowance. godman, henry, 1629 or 30-1702. 1688 approx. 62 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a86062 wing g940a estc r229589 99895318 99895318 152658 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a86062) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 152658) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2312:4) a funeral sermon preached at deptford june 3. 1688 upon the occasion of the death of mrs. elizabeth kilbury, late wife of mr. john kilbury. by henry godman, minister of the gospel. with allowance. godman, henry, 1629 or 30-1702. [6], 34 p. printed for nath. crouch at the bell in the poultrey near cheapside, london : 1688. reproduction of original in the dr. williams' library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng kilbury, elizabeth, d. 1688 -early works to 1800. kilbury, john -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2007-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-10 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon preached at deptford june 3. 1688. upon the occasion of the death of mrs. elizabeth kilbury , late wife of mr. john kilbury . by henry godman , minister of the gospel . with allowance . london , printed for nath. crouch at the bell in the poultrey near cheapside , 1688. to the reader . that thou may'st profit by thy hearing or reading of sermons : there is a necessity of more pastors and teachers , to open and apply the word , than one : thou must act the part of a pastor and teacher unto thy self , and thine own soul. the ministers application without thine own , will be to little or no purpose . when there is the application of the word to the heart by preaching ; and the application of the heart to the word preached , by serious meditation ; when ( i say ) both these meet and strike one upon the other , there will , by the help of the spirit , ( who is always ready to promote his work ) be some sire struck , and a kindling of some good things in our souls towards the lord our god ; meditate on these things , saith the apostle , that thy profiting may appear . reader , if thou wouldst meditate well on this plain sermon , and ponder with thy heart and soul on these plain truths that are here laid down ; thou wouldst doubtless find them to be blessed for thy spiritual and eternal advantage : but without this , all will prove but empty words , and the whole discourse , but as so much water spilt upon the ground . this sermon was calculated for a plain countrey auditory ; such as it is , i mean rude , rough and unpolisht as it is , i let it go : being importuned by the earnest desires of several persons , especially those concerned for the preaching of it , to send it forth . and indeed , to tell you the truth , if i had never so many polished shafts in my quiver ( as i have none ) i should not care to draw them out in my ministerial work : being convinced in my soul and conscience , that there is very little work done for god or mens souls this way . i don 't at all affect to tickle means ears with pleasing eloquence , or to humour their fancies : though the flashy professors of our age ( whose religion lies all in their fancies , memories or minds , for there is little or nothing of it in their hearts ) like nothing else ; i am sure that god in the scripture doth not labour to please mens ears , nor to adorn his matter with a curious garment of words ; but represents the matter it self to the souls of men , as that which is worthy of all acceptation . the things of god need no humane eloquence to commend them : painting spoils native beauty , and external ornaments would disfigure some things that are of themselves proportioned and lovely . it 's that preaching which the world counts foolish , and which men being vain in their imaginations are ready to despise ; that is made mighty through god for the casting down the devils kingdom , and the setting up the kingdom of christ in the souls of men . if god would please to bless these plain things for the good of any poor souls , then i should easily despise all the exceptions of the curious , and slight all the cavils of the captious . that the lord may water these seeds with his blessing , shall be my prayer . farewel . psalm 73. 25 , 26. whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that i desire besides thee . my flesh and my heart faileth , but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . my beloved , this text was bequeathed unto me and you ( as i may say ) by the last will and testament of a deceased friend , both mine and yours ; which the lord can make more profitable to us , than thousands of gold and silver : and i am sure it was the earnest desire of her that left it , that it might be blest to us all for our everlasting benefit . in the first verse of the psalm , the sweet singer of israel lays down a consolatory proposition for the whole israel of god , to cheer up and refresh their souls withal in their darkest and most cloudy seasons of trouble and affliction — truly god is good to israel , even to such as are of a clean heart : as if he should say , though god may seem by his providence to neglect the ways of men , and the worst in the view and judgment of sense may seem to prosper most , and the best be of all men the most miserable ; yet for all this , i am sure that this is a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation , that god is good to his israel , and will do them good . then to come near to the text , he tells us that god will guide them , v. 24. by his counsel , and hereafter will receive them to his glory . he speaks indeed in the singular number as of himself , but you are to understand him in what he says , as personating all the people of god : therefore it must needs be well with the people of god here , since infinite wisdom doth guide and direct them ; and it shall certainly go well with them hereafter , since infinite glory then shall crown them : which blessed estate the psalmist esteemed above all that this world can afford , because god in that estate will be all in all , in the faith , hope , and expectation of the enjoyment of him for ever , knowing that in him he shall inherit all things , he incourages and comforts his soul in his present troubles ; verse 25. whom have i in heaven but thee ? and what is there upon earth that i desire besides thee ? the words , you see , are an interrogation , which here hath the force of a negation : thus , there is nothing , lord , in my judgment , either in heaven above , or on the earth beneath , that is of any real worth and value to me , or affords any comfort to my soul besides thy self . now the doctrinal observation which i shall draw from hence is this , doct. that god is the all of a gracious and godly soul. other things to him are but as cyphers , that signifie nothing , are but as shadows , which are something in shew , but nothing in substance ; the things that the men of the world court and adore , the trinity which the world doth worship , which are earthly pelf , sleshly pleasure , and airy honour , are nothing , less than nothing , and vanity in compaparison to him , unto such a soul. take this in two or three particulars . 1. this gracious soul sees all things in god : i am god all-sussicient , saith god to abraham , and i see thou art so , saith this soul to god. in thy breasts are all things ( as the hebrew word imports ) out of which we may draw , and suck every thing that we need , either for the vile body , or the precious soul ; he sees by an eye of faith , and the vision of an enlightned mind , that all things are in god comprehensively , eminently , virtually , superlatively ; according to what we read , rev. 21. 7. he that overcomes shall inherit all things , and i will be his god. the carnal heart makes nothing of god , psal . 10. 4. he is not in all his thoughts ; god is not worth his thinking of ; he idolizes god , as if he were nothing in the world , and he deifies the creature , making that a god : he sees nothing in him , no excellency at all why he should desire him ; he prefers the dung and dross of the world before him , and is a lover of these things more than god ; these broken cisterns that hold no water , he prefers before the fountain of living waters . but the gracious soul sees all things in him , and that all things which we can desire are not to be compared to him . 2. he accounts nothing misery but to be separated from god. there is no sorrow , saith this soul , to this sorrow ; all other sorrows laid in the ballance he sinds but light . he had rather chuse to beg with god , than to reign without him : he had rather die with god , that is , in the arms of his mercy , and in the bosom of his love , than live without him , in the affluence and confluence of all creature comforts , enjoyments and delights . hîc ure hîc seca , saith this soul , burn me lord , wound me , rend and tear me with the briers and thorns of the most grievous afflictions , for this do i chuse , and this is infinitely more eligible unto me , with the enjoyment of thy self , than to live without god in the world , in the sun-shine of all its favours , and to bathe my self all my days in the river of its pleasures and delights . much rather would this soul be with job upon the dung-hill , groaning under the burden of all his sorrows ; or with lazarus at the rich man's door , covered all over with sores and ulcers from the crown of the head to the soles of his feet , than to be without god. but you may say , are not these things miseries ? surely they are ; for a poor creature to have no soundness in his flesh , and to have no rest in his bones , to be chastned with pains , to be feeding on wormwood , and drinking the waters of gall all the day , and all the night long to be pinched with poverty , to lie upon the wrack of continual pains , to be always under griefs and groans ; are not these miseries ? ans . yes , they are mala & miseriae in se , but not ad hominem istum ; i mean , that they are evils and miseries in themselves , and so they are to all others , but not to that man that hath the lord for his god : therefore saith the apostle , rom. 5. 1 , 2. we glory in tribulations , having peace with god : tribulations are to us no tribulations ; all our maladies are now turned into medicines , our crosses into comforts ; all these things shall work together for our good . god's people shall gather grapes of all their thorns , and figs of all their thistles : all their bitter waters of marah shall be turned into sweet wine unto them : god will comfort them in all their sorrows , for he will not leave them comfortless , but will come unto them : the fruit of all shall be the taking away their sin , and the making them partakers of his holiness : when they fall into the waters of affliction , it 's that they may be washed there ; when they fall into the fire of tribulation , it is , that they may be purged there : with these god proves them that he may do them good in the latter end : all shall work for the increasing their grace , and preparing them for glory , and the adding more weight of glory to their eternal crown . these are restraints to them from doing evil ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and spurs to them , to provoke and excite them to good . in a word , there is no evil befals any one that hath an interest in god , but what shall be turned to a far greater good , than that is an evil ; therefore under all , they should with habakkuk , joy in the lord , and rejoyce in the god of their salvation . 3. he accounts nothing blessedness and happiness but to be united to him ; to be one with him , and to live in the enjoyment of him : psal . 144. 2 , last : happy are the people that are in such a case , even the people that have the lord for their god. nihil bonum sine summo bono ; there can be no good without the chiefest and best good : therefore those terrae filii , those men of the world , that you read of , amos 6. 5 , 6 , 7. that did lie upon their beds of ivory , and stretch themselves upon their couches , and did eat the lambs out of the flock , and the calves out of the midst of the stall , that did chaunt to the sound of the viol , and invent to themselves instruments of musick , like david , that did drink wine in bowls , and anoint themselves with the chief ointments , are said , verse 13. to rejoyce in a thing of nought : intimating to us , that they did put a value upon nothing , and made themselves glad with dreams and fancies , as mad-men use to do : we must derive our joy from the eternal spring , which is god himself , else our joy will quickly be turned into sorrow , because that well out of which we did draw our water , will be dryed up . in 1 john 1. 4 , 5. these things write i unto you , that your joy may be full ; and what he was writing about , we read before , about fellowship with the father , and with his son jesus christ : that you may have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son jesus christ : and truly unless we attain to that blessed fellowship , we can never have verum aut plenum gaudium , that is , true or full joy . qu. but you may say , is not this happiness , to have what heart can wish ? for a man to have his desires attend him all the days of his life , and to have all the sdreams of the creature to concur together to bring him satisfaction ; to be like the rich man in the gospel , to be clothed with purple , and to sare delicicusly every day ? ans . this is indeed no happiness , no blessedness without god at all ; because without him there is nothing blessed , but every thing cursed which we do enjoy , psal . 69. 22. their table becomes a snare , how well furnished soever it may seem to be , and that which should otherwise have been for their welfare , is turned into a trap , by which they are taken and snared unto their destruction , job 29. 18. their portion is cursed in the earth : it may be a large , a very plentiful and stately portion , and men may bless them because of it , but the lord abhors them , and the curse of the lord is upon them and their portion : they were better indeed ten thousand times have no meat , than such sawce . solomon tells us , that the prosperity of fools doth destroy them , and is as a sword in their bowels to them : their cups of pleasure and delight , are but sweetned draughts of mortal poyson : this the godly man seeth by faith , and that this poison will work in a little time in a visible way , and they will be brought into desolation even in a moment . vse i. examine your selves whether god be your all ; can you say , whom have we in heaven but thee , and that there is nothing on earth that we desire besides him : prove your own selves by this touchstone ; try your selves by this weight and ballance of the sanctuary : if you do not attain to this , you are reprobate silver , and the lord will reject you . we have reason to examine our selves about this matter . 1. because there are but few that make god their all : many give him glorious titles , and challenge an interest in him ; they call him their lord , their god , and their king , yet in their serious and practical thoughts have higher estimations of lying vanities , than of god blessed for ever . many there are that hear the word of the lord ; they come before him as his people use to do , and sit before him as his people use to sit , but amongst these how few are to be found that make him their all , that look for no happiness , no comfort , no good but in the enjoyment of him ? 2. we have reason to examine , because of the necessity of it , it must be done : woe unto us if it be not done ; we are no christians without it ; we are not in the state of grace , if this be not : we are no more saints whatever our profession may be , than the picture or carkass of a man is a man. oh! if we do not make god our all , though we may seem to be something , and may deceive our selves and others , yet in god's account we are nothing , and god will make nothing of us , i. e. will have no regard of us , or respect unto us another day . to help us now a little in our enquiry about this matter , i shall give you a few characteristical marks of such a soul as makes god his all. 1. this soul will love to draw near to god : to draw near to him by faith , by prayer , and in all the duties and ordinances of his worship : you read in the last verse of this 73 psalm : it is good for me to draw near to god : so saith every one that makes god his all : oh i love to draw near to god , one day in the courts of the lord is better to me than a thousand elsewhere . i was glad when they said unto me , come let us go into the house of the lord : whilst others say unto god , depart from us , we desire not the knowledge of thy ways , job 21. 14. and again , chap. 22. 17. they said unto god , depart from us , and what can the almighty do for us ? we shall get no good by gods drawing near to us , nor by our drawing near to him ; and in the 15th verse of the 21 chap. of job , what is the almighty that we should serve him ? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him ? this is the language of the men of the world , their words are indeed stout against the lord ; but saith the soul that makes god his all , it 's good for me ; whatsoever the sentiments and apprehensions of carnal ones are , this i am sure of , it 's good for me ; i believe it to be good , and i have found it to be good ; all the people of god say it's good for them , and i will say it's good for me , to draw near to god : lord , saith peter , whither should i go but unto thee ? thou hast the words of eternal life : lord , saith this soul , whither should i go but unto thee ? i love , i love to come to thee , for thou art my all , and all my springs are in thee , and slow from thee . 2. he is one that fears to sin against god : he fears indeed nothing more ; his motto is , nil nisi peccatum timeo : there is nothing in all the world that i fear more than sin , because this is the only thing that can separate between him and his god ; and that can make a partition wall between him and his great all. he fears sin more than suffering , and will chuse it rather than iniquity ; because suffering doth not separate between the soul and god. he fears sin more than poverty , than sickness , than death it self , for none of these can separate between the soul and god. he knows what is exprest , rom. 8. ver . 35 , &c. that tribulation , distress , persecution , famine , nakedness , peril or sword ; neither height nor depth , death or life , i. e. the pains of death , or the afflictions and sorrows of life , can separate from the love of god in christ jesus ; therefore he fears sin more than all . sin is against god , suffering is only afflictive to the creature . it 's sin only that causes god to hide his face from us , and to set his face against us . 3. when other things come into competition with god , this soul that accounts god his all , will leave them , and cleave to god. if he can't injoy father and mother , brethren and sisters , houses and lands with god , he will leave them all , because they are not his all , and will cleave to god. as rath left her kindred , and her fathers house , and joyned her self to naomi : and as it 's said , a man shall leave his father and mother , and shall cleave to his wife ; in like manner will that soul do , whose all the lord is : as mephibosheth said , let ziba take all , since the king is returned in peace , 2 sam. 19. 29 so saith he , let all go , i am willing to forgo them all ; if god will return to me in peace , and abide with me , i shall say , my lines are fallen in a fruitful place , and truly i have a goodly heritage . sometimes we may see a servant following two gentlemen , but unto which of these the servant belongs , we can't tell , until they part asunder , and then the servant will go with the one , and leave the other . while we can have god and the world both , it 's hard to say which is our all , and which is our master that we desire to serve ; but when they come to part asunder , and we can no longer injoy god and the world together , that soul whose all the lord is , will resolve with joshua , that he will serve the lord ; and as the needle in the compass leaves all the other points and stands to the north , so will he leave all his other injoyments , and joyn himself to the lord in an everlasting covenant to love the name of the lord , to fear him , and serve him for ever . 4. such as these will not be envious at the foolish when they see the prosperity of the wicked . i mean , this temptation will not abide in and upon them ▪ they will not remain under the power of it , though they may be surprized with it , but they will soon get out of it . he that makes god his all , cannot but see , that tho' they seem to possess all things , yet indeed they have nothing ; that they are more to be pitied than to be envyed ; and that they have greater cause to weep and howl even in the fulness of their sufficiency , than they have to rejoyce and be glad . it 's said of jehoshaphat , that he had silver and gold in abundance , riches and honour in abundance , 2 chron. 17. 5 , 6. but his heart was lift up to god in the ways of god : he valued not himself by his riches and honour , but by his relation to god , and interest in him ; without whom all other things had been but low-priz'd commodities , and of very little account with him . the wicked man's riches , honours and good things are his all ; for what hath he more ? god pays them their portion in the world's coin , and in a little while will say unto them , you have received your consolation : and then they will wish that they had begg'd their bread with lazarus on earth , rather than their water with dives in hell. oh! pity these miserable souls ; they have nothing within them or without them , that can do them any good : they have nothing but sin within them , and that will damn them ; they have nothing but the world without them , and that cannot save them ; no , it will prove a heavy mill-stone about their necks , which will sink them down deeper into the gulf of eternal woe and misery . i now pass on to the next , which is the 26th verse : my flesh and my heart faileth , but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . where you have the psalmists complaint ; and secondly , the psalmists comfort . in the former part of the verse , you find him going forth weeping , my flesh and my heart faileth ; but because he had within him precious seed ; ( for light is sown for the righteous , and gladness for the upright in heart : this seed is already sown in their hearts and souls ; ) therefore in the latter part of the verse , we find him returning again rejoycing with his sheaves in his bosom : but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . we will first consider his complaint ; my flesh and my heart faileth , 〈◊〉 will fail ; my flesh will fail , my heart will fail in a little time : he speaks in the present tense , to notifie the certainty of the failure : such forms of speech are frequently used in scripture : babylon is fallen , is fallen — i. e. babylon shallas surely fall as if it were fallen already . the scripture speaks often of things that will be done , as if they were at present done , rom. 8. whom he justified , them he glorified ; that is , they shall as certainly be glorified , as if they were already in the kingdom of glory . thus here , my flesh and my heart faileth , that is , it 's sure and certain that it will be so : my flesh , my heart ; we are not to understand it exclusivè , as if it were only appropriate to himself , and were not the case of others as we●l as his ; no , but you are to understand it inclusivè , as meant of all that dwell in these fleshly tabernacles and houses of clay : this is a common case ; there is no exemption from this general calamity and affliction the doctrine from hence , ( which i shall but briefly insist on ) is this : doct. that the flesh and the heart of every man will certainly fail . though at present this flesh of ours may flourish as the grass ; and may be in its beauty as the flower in the field ; yet as the grass soon withereth , and the flower soon fadeth , so will it be with our flesh . though at present , these hearts of ours may be sound and strong , though they are every moment moving and beating in our bosoms , always opening or shutting . still busie either in a way of contraction or dilatation ; but e're long all this work will fail , this motion will cease , the heart will faint and succumb , and the strings of it will be broken in pieces . mans slesh and heart will surely fail : i shall in a few words animadvert , 1. vpon the failing of mans flesh . 2. on the failing of mans heart : and then , 3. shew whence this failing proceeds and doth arise : and , 4. make some brief application . 1. mans flesh that will fail : flesh sometimes is taken in scripture , sensu morali , or rather , immorali & corrupto ; in a moral , or immoral and corrupt sense ; for the depraved nature , for the unregenerate part in man : as in gal. 5. 17. the flesh lusteth against the spirit . rom. 7. 18. in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing . so in gal. 5. 19. the works of the flesh are manifest , &c. but this is not the meaning of it here . though this flesh shall fail , and doth fail , for in every regenerate soul , it is dying daily . sin in the godly hath lost its sword. so that it can't kill ; it hath lost its scepter , so that it can't rule , and in a few days it shall lose its being , its habitation and residence . the death of the body shall be the destruction of the body of death . now sin is dying in them ; it hath received a deadly wound , but then it shall breathe out its last , and live no longer , to be a thorn in their eyes , or a goad in their sides , to vex and disquiet their righteous souls , as now it doth from day to day : then this cursed inmate shall be turned out of doors , and grace shall dwell alone in the soul for ever . this body of death is now under a curse , and then the curse of the barren fig-tree shall fall upon it , and no fruit shall ever grow on it more . but secondly ; flesh is taken and to be understood sensu naturali & physico , in a natural and physical sense ; and thus we are to take it here : for the fleshly part of man , that fleshly substance that our bones are covered withal ; that fleshly tabernacle in which the soul of man doth dwell : this flesh will fail , isa 40. 6 , 7. all flesh is grass , and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field ; the grass withereth , and the flower fadeth , so will the flesh : all the goodliness of it , its comeliness , strength and beauty , all will fail : a blast will come upon all , which will cause it to wither and decay , which will turn it into rottenness , and make it become like a moth-eaten garment , job 13. 28. how beautiful soever you may now be , in a few days your beauty shall be turned into deformity : and how strong soever you at present be , it will not be long but this flesh of yours will become so weak , that it will not be able any longer to hold the spirit . the lord hath determined a consumption to come upon all flesh , isa . 28. 22. and he hath many ways and methods to bring it about : as in deut. 28. 21 , 22. either by the pestilence , or a fever , or an inflammation , or an extream burning , or the sword , &c. how many hundred diseases and distempers are there up and down in the world , effecting this determined consumption : if god give any one of them a commission to come to us , and to effect the same ( as surely at one time or other he will ) then will our beauty consume away as a moth , and this blow of his hand will make our flesh to fail . 2. mans heart will fail . this heart of man , which is that part that is primum vivens , and ultimum moriens in him , which is first alive , and dies last ; this heart will fail , grow cold and die away : it dies last , but die it must . this strong hold in man will be assaulted , and forced , nolens volens , whether it will or no , to surrender to the power of sickness and death : sickness will come and closely besiege it ; one disease and distemper or another will give it a summons ; then death will come , that mighty conqueror , and break the very strings of it , and so quite subdue it . thus , as you read eccles . 12. ver . 6. this golden bowl will be broken , and the pitcher will be broken at the fountain , and the wheel will he broken at the cistern ; that is , the heart of man , with all the instrumental and subservient parts , whereby supplies of blood and spirits are conveighed from it , into the several parts of the body , will break and fail , and the offices of these parts will cease , and be performed no more . 3. we are to shew from whence this failing doth proceed . the answer to this question , hath occasioned many serious thoughts amongst the wise men of this world ; i mean , amongst many sage heathens and profound philosophers ; these evils and miseries they were sensible of , and complained of them ; but the rise and original of them they could not come to the knowledge and understanding of : this wisdom and understanding was too deep for them to sound with their line of reason , and too difficult for them to attain unto : therefore they looked upon death , and all the failings and tendences thereunto to be a common tribute , laid upon every creature to pay ; to be an universal law that all mankind must obey ▪ and submit to : and to have the same reason that other mutations and changes have , which they did see in the course of nature every day : and they could render no other reason , but the same which they gave when they saw other things dissolved into their elements : this is a common fate , sic fata volunt : it 's so appointed by the higher powers ; but the reason of the appointment they could not find out . and because they did apprehend no farther , it 's no great wonder why they did fear death and dissolution no more than they did ; but rather expected or desired it , as a rest from their labours , and an end of all their sorrows and miseries . but god hath shewn in his word unto us the true cause of all our woe , and the original of our failing and dying ; that all proceeds from mans sin ; hinc illae lachrymae ; from this cursed root of bitterness doth spring and arise all our worm-wood and gall. rom. 5. 12. by one mans disobedience sin entred into the world , and death by sin : death with all its appurtenances , with all that leadeth to it , and all the miseries that follow after it ; all are the issues and products of sin : there had been no sickness , no death , no failing of heart or flesh , had there been no sin . man hath sown unto the flesh , and therefore of the flesh must reap corruption , gal. 6. 8. sin as naturally produceth these evils , as every seed doth produce and send forth its own herb : it 's this that hath opened the sluce , and let in that inundation of miseries , that we poor creatures are assaulted and over-whelmed withal . it 's storied , of a person travelling in germany , and beholding the ruins and desolations which the wars had made there ; that he said , haec sunt peccata germanorum ; that is , these ruins and desolations are the germans sins ; meaning , that their sins and provocations were the procuring causes of all their mischiefs and miseries . james 4. ver . 1. the apostle proposes a question , and gives the resolution of it : from whence ( saith he ) come wars and fightings , with all their mischievous and destructive attendances ? he tells us , they come from the lusts of men that war in their members against the lord , and against their own peace , comfort and tranquillity . there had been nothing but good seed in the whole creation , which would have brought forth good fruit , had not man by his sin sowed tares : there had been no pricking bryar , nor grieving thorn , there had been nothing to hurt or destroy in the whole universe , had it not been for mans sin : man hath sowed the wind , and reaps the whirl-wind . we will now make some brief application , and so dispatch this point . vse i. let 's all look to this , that all be well within with our souls and spirits , because these failings and failures will certainly come upon our slesh and our hearts : oh look to your souls , and ask them often how they do ? and whither they are not in danger of failing too ? i mean of being lost and undone for ever . oh it 's sad to have a failing body , and a perishing soul ; to have a pained and languishing body , and to have a pained and dying soul ; troubles without and terrors within ; this must needs be doleful and dismal : the spirit of a man will bear the infirmities and failings of the body , if that be but sound , and in a good condition ; but if that be wounded and galled with the guilt of sin and apprehensions of wrath , what is there then to help us to bear ? vse ii. let 's think seriously of this failing : make me to know how frail i am , psalm 39. 4. help me to ap●rehend and consider what a poor failing creature i am , saith david ; those of you that have bones full of marrow , and breasts of milk , that are in your health and strength , and seem to slourish like the green bay-tree ; oh consider this and lay it to heart , that your flesh and your hearts must fail before it be long . the lord help us so to consider it , that we may apply our hearts to wisdom ; oh that there were such an heart within us ! eccles . 11. 8. if a man live many years , and rejoice in them all ; yet let him remember the days of darkness , for they will be many . oh don't let us forget the days of darkness ; let us not put away from us the evil days of failing , of trouble and affliction , because they will assuredly come upon us . some heathens accounted it true wisdom and sound philosophy to meditate often of death : to be sure this would be of excellent use , and would much conduce to the promotion of piety and true religion , if we would be much in meditation on this subject . let it be much in your thoughts in your lying down , and in your rising up , in your going out , and in your coming in , at home and abroad ; oh consider that your flesh and your heart must fail in a little time . this frequently considered on , and often revolved in our minds , would ( by the assistance and operation of the spirit of grace ) doubtless better us to a far higher degree than yet we have attained unto . 1. we should verily be less earthly than we are , did we ponder this more in our hearts than we do . we should not be so much concerned about the body and the things thereof as we are , did we seriously consider this : certainly men would not spend their days , waste their lives , prostitute their consciences , in making provision for their flesh , and in getting supplies for their bodies ; did they seriously consider that this fabrick of the body , this tabernacle of dust , this house of clay , is falling down about their ears , and then what profit will they have of all that they cared for , and laboured after under the sun ? were this well considered , we should not be so like the serpent as we are , which goes on its belly and seeds on dust . mens souls cleave unto the dust as david speaks , though in another sense , psal . 119. 25. adhaerent pavimento : they are as if they were all flesh , and had no spirit to mind at all , as if they were all body , and had no soul , which would not be , if this were well considered by us . 2. we should be surely more heavenly than we are , if we did meditate more on the failing of our flesh and our heart . we should be more heavenly in our conversations , in our communications , in our hearts and affections , in our labours and indeavours . this would cause us to groan to be delivered out of this failing tabernacle , and to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven . here we have no continuing city , saith the apostle , heb. 12. 14. there is not a house in it , but what is failing , decaying , and even ready to drop down : therefore we seek one to come ; even a city that hath foundations , and will never fail , whose builder and maker is god. vse iii. let 's from hence learn to hate sin to a greater degree than yet we do . this is the evil of evils ; the greatest evil of all evils ; and the evil that is the cause of all our other evils : it 's this that doth us all the mischief : all our consumptions , our pains , diseases , distempers , failings come from this cause . it 's strange indeed , that men should be in love with their deadly enemy ; that they should entertain it in their bosoms , that they should lodge it so near their hearts : that they should nourish this viper which will gnaw out their very bowels , and will assuredly feed upon the slaughters and ruins of its dearest lovers . oh if we love our sins we are cruel unto our own souls . if any man among our selves , should take away our money , should fall upon us , and beat , and wound us , or deprive us of any worldly accommodation ; how easily can we hate such a person ; and how hardly be reconciled to him ? oh learn to hate sin ; all ye that love the lord hate evil ; all ye that love your selves , that love your souls , hate sin : there 's nothing more prejudicial and destructive to us . this is the enemy that robs and wounds us ; this weakens and debilitates our bodies , and ruins our souls : this is the enemy that separates the soul from the body , and god from the soul. thus we have done with the psalmists complaint , my flesh and my heart faileth , there 's the dark side of the cloud : we pass on now to the bright side thereof ; which is the psalmists comfort , but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . thus , as in 1 sam. 30. 6. he encouraged himself in the lord his god ; and in the view and apprehension of the failing of his flesh and his heart , these consolations did refresh and delight his soul. here i shall only glance a little upon these three particulars , which may serve for so many doctrinal observations . 1. that god is the believers strength . 2. that god is the believers portion . 3. that god is the believers everlasting portion . every one of these is a well of salvation , out of which with the bucket of faith , we may draw out abundance of the waters of consolation to chear our hearts withal in our greatest troubles . 1. god is the believers strength : from god he hath strength , 1. to bear his burdens . alas ! without the strength of god , we should faint in the day of adversity , because our strength is small : god puts underneath his everlasting arms , and enables them to bear : he strengthens them with all might by his spirit in the inward man ; and helps to undergo the miseries , infirmities and burdens , that are upon the outward man , therefore by faith we should cast all our burdens upon him , for he hath promised to sustain us , psal . 55. 22. he will give us shoulders suitable to our burdens , or else suite our burdens to our shoulders . 2. from god he hath strength to do his duties : as he gives shoulders for every burden , he hath for us to bear , so he gives hands for every piece of work he hath for us to do : alas ! without him we can do nothing , as the hand can do nothing without the head , the body can do nothing without the soul ; no more can we do , without the strength of god : therefore where ever there is a command that finds us work , there is always a suitable promise to find us strength : i will cause you ( saith god ) to walk in my ways , my grace shall be made sufficient for you : god doth not deal with us as the egyptian taskmasters did with the israelites , who required brick , but would give them no straw : god doth not require duty and service of us , and leave us to get strength to do it , where we can ; no , but is pleased graciously to promise , that he will give what he doth command , and that his spirit shall help our infirmities , and that he will strengthen us unto the performance of every good work . 3. from god he hath strength to overcome his corruptions . were it not for the power of god resting on them , and working in them , these sons of zerviah would be too hard for them ; these mighty philistines would certainly vanquish and overcome them . therefore he goes out against them in the name of the lord , as david did against that philistine giant , 1 sam. 17. 45 knowing , that in his own strength he cannot prevail ; therefore he begs of god to teach his hands to war , and to strengthen his fingers to fight , that he may be avenged on the enemies of god , and of his soul , and be made more than a conquerour in and through the strength and power of christ jesus : it 's from the spirit and strength of christ , that any soul is enabled to mortifie the deeds of the flesh ; without this strength , instead of mortifying our lusts , our lusts , to be sure , would mortifie us , and lead us captive as it were bound hands and and feet , and triumph over us . 4. in god is his strength to stand it out against , to resist and to overcome satan's temptations . the tempter is strong , and we are weak ; he did overcome man when he had no sin , and gave him a sad fall ; even then , when he was in the rectitude of his nature , when there was nothing within to take the tempter's part : but now he hath much more power over us , because we have a party within us , that upon every occasion and temptation , is ready to betray us , and to deliver us up unto him . so that if we be not kept by the power of god through faith in christ jesus , unto salvation , we shall undoubtedly come short of the kingdom of god : we have not only flesh and blood , but principalities and powers to wrestle withal . how shall we quench the fiery darts of the devil ? how shall we resist his strong temptations , when we are weak as water , if we be not strong in the lord , and in the power of his might , and be not strengthned by the hand of the mighty god of jacob ? but god tells us , that we have more with us , than we have against us , though the gates of hell , and all the power and policy of that kingdom of darkness be engaged against us . he hath assured us that he will be with us , and strengthen us , and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against us . vse i. learn from hence , that such as are without god are without strength : you are in the midst of enemies , and have no strength to resist them ; in the midst of dangers , and have no strength to fly or make an escape , and so to deliver your own souls . you are without strength for active obedience , you can do nothing as you ought to do it , you are without strength for passive obedience , you can bear and suffer nothing as you ought to bear it ; in a word , you have strength for nothing but to fight and rebel against god , and in so doing you do but kick against the pricks , you wound your own souls , and add coals of fire to your eternal flames . vse ii. let the people of god have frequent recourse unto their strength . the name of the lord is a strong tower , the righteous fly unto it , and they are safe ; all is well with them then . let me tell you , that you are but a feeble people of your selves , every blast of temptation will blow you down ; every gust of the wind of affliction , every wave and billow , will overcome and overwhelm you ; every duty and service will be too mighty for you ; therefore have recourse to your strength , keep close to your strength . you read prov. 30. 26. that the coneys are but a feeble folk , therefore they dwell in the rocks . oh! go to the rock that is higher than you , dwell in the rock , and build upon the rock ; and this rock will be a hiding-place from the wind , a covert from the storm , and afford a shadow unto you in a weary land : you will find honey in this rock to delight you , water in this rock to refresh you , strength in this rock to support and bear you up , when your flesh and your heart will fail you . this rock will follow you whither soever you go , it will never leave you nor forsake you : when you go through the fire , and the water , you will find it present with you ; as isa . 43. 2. when thou passest thorow the waters , i will be with thee , and thorow the rivers , they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest thorow the fire , thou shalt not be burnt , neither shall the flame kindle upon thee . none have such a rock as is our rock ; we may appeal to the very enemies of god themselves to be judges , if they would speak arbitrio sano , and judge according to evidence . let us then fly to our rock by faith and prayer ; let us get into the clefts of it ; if we build upon this rock , and put our confidence in it , we shall never be moved . 2. god is the believer's portion . the people of god are the lord's portion , and jacob is the lot of his inheritance — and the lord calls them his pleasant portion , deut. 32. 9. god indeed would be very poor in the world , and would have no pleasure in the works of his hands , were it not for them : so god is their portion , he hath made over himself by a deed of gift , to be their god , and their exceeding great reward : and here i might shew you : 1. what an enriching portion god is . 2. what a soul satisfying portion god is . and 3. what a soul-saving portion god is . but i have no time to enlarge upon these things : if you know god , you know it all , and abundantly more than i am able with words to express . i shall therefore only shew you , first , how they came to have this portion ; and then secondly , make some brief application . first , how they came to have this goodly portion , and to be instated in such an inheritance , which is incorruptible , undesiled , and that fadeth not away . for answer , first , negatively , 1. they were not born to it . some among men are born to great portions , and large inheritances ; these are their birth-right , and intailed upon them as being the lawful heirs of such and such persons : but the lord knows , that we are all base-born , because born in sin : our father was an amorite , and our mother an hittite ; and so we are become an accursed generation , and are heirs of nothing but wrath and hell : we did no sooner live , but we deserved to die ; and no sooner did we see the light , but we deserved that god should give us our portion among devils and damned ones , in the kingdom of darkness : in the womb we were like the cockatrice egg , fill'd with deadly poyson , and since we came thence , we have been like the troubled sea , casting forth myre , filth and dirt . as we are adam's children , if god should pay us our portion that belongs unto us , it would undo us for ever . secondly , they did not get this portion by their own industry , labour and diligence . sometimes among men the diligent hand makes rich ; and persons born to nothing come to acquire great things , and to purchase for themselves large revenues . but so it is not here ; this portion was not acquired by us in this way . alas ! what were we able to do in order to this , whose hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked above all things ? as god , who knows us infinitely better than we know our selves , witnesseth of us . we have nothing within us to principle any one good action : if the tree be bad , so must the fruit of necessity be . if we would attain to this of our selves , we must first pay the debt which we owe to justice for our sin ; and then we must perform that sinless and unspotted obedience which the law demands . both which all the men on earth , and i may add , all the saints and angels in heaven , are not able to do . thus negatively . 2. and positively . we are born again to it , by the resurrection of jesus christ , 1 pet. 1. 3. who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of jesus christ : the meaning is , that being born again , we slie to jesus christ by faith , and by his resurrection are assured , that god is reconciled , and that our peace is made , our debt is paid ( for otherwise he having been arrested and laid in the prison of the grave , he had not risen again and come forth from thence , if full satisfaction had not been given ) and thus we come to a lively hope , that now we are upon good terms with god , and that he is become our father , and will be the portion of our souls for ever . vse i. hence we may be informed , that none are so rich as the people of god : none so rich in possession , none so rich in reversion : many of them seem to have nothing , yet they possess all things : none can tell how rich they are , but they that can tell how rich god is , for the riches of god are all theirs . vse ii. let the people of god make use of their portion ; is men do , for the supply of those things they need ; they go to their portion , and with that procure those necessaries and conveniences which they want . oh , let the people of god , go to their portion every day , and make use of it , for all they want for their bodies , or for their souls , for their inward , and for their outward man , for time and for eternity : there are some men of the world that do not use their portion , eccles . 6. ver . 2. there is a man to whom god hath given riches , wealth , and honour , so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth ; yet he hath not power to eat thereof . by reason of inordinate love , distrustful providence , and the incumbrances of earthly imployments , they hinder themselves of the injoyment of what they have ; and so they are poor in the midst of their riches , and beggars in the midst of their abundance . there is as it were a spell set upon their estates , so that their wealth says to them , touch not , tast not , handle not . they are like the dog in the wheel , that toils all the day to roast meat for others eating . truly many of gods own people live exceedingly below their allowance , they live , as if they had nothing , were worth nothing , when they have a rich portion ; they have it , but they do not use it : what comfort , what joy , what peace which passeth all understanding , might they find in it , if they would live by faith upon it ? vse iii. let all be exhorted to get this portion : what will you do when your flesh and your heart faileth , if god be not your portion ? what will you do when death and judgment comes , if god be not your portion ? oh death will be deadly to you , if god be not your portion ; judgment will be terrible and amazing , and you will be ready to cry to the rocks , to the hills and mountains to fall upon you , and to hide you from the wrath of the lamb that sits upon the throne , if god be not your portion . oh get this portion ! i told you before , that it is not procured by our indeavour , we can't purchase it by all that we are able to do ; but this is procured by another ; there is a near kinsman of ours , that hath redeemed this morgaged or lost inheritance , that is , jesus christ ; the right of redemption did belong to him , and he hath done the part of a kinsman for us . now if we will come to him as poor , miserable and undone creatures , and take this inheritance thankfully out of his hands ; if we will receive it , in his right , and submit to his terms , which are as reasonable as can be desired ; then this inheritance is our own , and god will become our portion again . oh , get this portion , or you get nothing ; get this portion , and you get all ; this portion will make you happy in life and death . if god be your portion , if your possessions are lower he will heighten the fruition : he can croud in abundance of comfort in a little of the creature . he can make a single dish out-vye a feast , and the meanest fare , suppose a dinner of green herbs , to be sweeter and better than a stalled ox. with god a small stock , will be more comfortable and satisfying than a large revenue . or if he susser us to be bereaved of all , he himself will be instead of all . he hath taken to himself the names of all things needful and comfortable , to intimate to us , that he alone stands for all they signify or are worth . therefore he is called a portion , an inheritance , an habitation , high tower , shade , strength , deliverer , friend , father , husband , &c. to let us know that all these are nothing without him , and that he can be all without these ▪ without this portion , when you come to die , not angels but devils will receive your souls : and eternity will not be the measure of your joys but of your woes : oh think of your dying day , and how near you may be to that day , and be awakened to make sure of this portion . death is riding its circuit , up and down every day , it will not be long but it will come to us : it will come with its sythe , and mow us down , it will come and take down the glass , and stop our breath , and tell us that we have lived our last ! oh then , make sure of this portion : and he will be your god in life , in death , and after death to all eternity . make sure of this portion , or you will have the wicked mans portion , psal . 11. 6. vpon the wicked he shall rain snares , fire and brimstone , and an horrible tempest ; this shall be the portion of their cup. 3. god is their everlasting portion . a portion that they shall never leave , a portion that they shall never lose . for we must have a better and a more induring substance , than can be had and injoyed here : we shall outlive all these things . a portion in this world will not serve our turns , because we are hastning away out of this world into an everlasting state ; and therefore must get an everlasting portion : alas , a month may devour us and all our portion that we have here , hos . 5. 7. yea a week , a day , a night , may devour all ; but the godly mans portion is everlasting . god , saith the psalmist in the text , is my portion for ever . there 's nothing but god that suits the souls nature ; nothing but god that can fill the souls capacities , nothing but god that can equal the ▪ souls duration . here is a portion indeed that is coaetaneous with the immortal soul of man. as for all the perfection that is here below we shall soon see an end of it : as david said , i have seen an end of all perfection , psal . 119. 96. he speaks not of every kind of perfection , but of all the perfections of one kind : as for divine perfections and injoyments they have no end ; therefore an end of them cannot be seen ; but all humane perfections and injoyments they must and will end . by the sight of his eye , he had seen an end of many humane perfections ; and by the sight of his mind he had seen an end of them all ; some he had seen already ending , and he saw of necessity that all must end . but the godly man hath an everlasting portion , a portion that shall survive all the vicissitudes , and changes of time : in fatal period shall ever come to put an end to their injoyment of this portion , to denude or rob them of this precious treasure . to the enjoyment of this blessed and everlasting portion , our friend ( whose death was the occasion of this discourse ) is gone ; and now all tears are wiped from her eyes , and she is bathing her self in those rivers of pleasures that are at gods right hand for evermore . tho' she be dead , she yet speaketh ; she speaketh to her yoak-fellow and children that she hath left behind , to live godly , righteously , and soberly in this present world , as she did ; to mind their precious and immortal souls , to provide for eterity and to lay a good foundation against the time to come , 〈◊〉 she did . she speaks to us all , to be followers of them , 〈◊〉 through faith and patience inherit the kingdom : such a one she was , under her long affliction though she di● groan , she never grumbled ; though she mourned , 〈◊〉 she never murmured ; her earnest desire was rather to be●● her affliction sanctified to her , than removed from 〈◊〉 . as to life or death , she left it wholly to gods choice chusing infinitely rather to be at his dispose than her own . i verily believe that if life and death had been put in a pair of balances , she would not willingly have 〈◊〉 in one dram , to turn the balance any way . the kingdom of heaven had already entred into her , and she had a longing desire ( if her time was come , and her work done ) to enter into it . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a86062-e190 haec tria pro trino numine mundus habet john 10. 18. prov. 1. 32. psalm 84. 10. psalm 122. 1 mal. 3. 13. the mourning of mount libanon: or, the temples teares a sermon preached at hodsocke, the 20. day of december, anno domini, 1627. in commemoration of the right honourable and religious lady, the lady frances clifton, daughter to the right honourable the earle of cumberland: and wife to the truly noble sir geruas clifton of clifton, in the county of nottingham, knight and baronet, who deceased the 20. nouember, 1627. by william fuller doctor of diuinity, one of his maiesties chapleines in ordinary. fuller, william, 1579 or 80-1659. 1628 approx. 77 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01347 stc 11468 estc s102826 99838588 99838588 2972 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01347) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 2972) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1098:07) the mourning of mount libanon: or, the temples teares a sermon preached at hodsocke, the 20. day of december, anno domini, 1627. in commemoration of the right honourable and religious lady, the lady frances clifton, daughter to the right honourable the earle of cumberland: and wife to the truly noble sir geruas clifton of clifton, in the county of nottingham, knight and baronet, who deceased the 20. nouember, 1627. by william fuller doctor of diuinity, one of his maiesties chapleines in ordinary. fuller, william, 1579 or 80-1659. [6], 37, [3] p. printed by thomas harper for robert bostocke, and are to be sold at his shop in pauls church-yard, at the signe of the kings head, london : 1628. running title reads: the temples teares. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng clifton, frances, -lady, 1593 or 4-1627. funeral sermons. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-08 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the movrning of mount libanon : or , the temples teares . a sermon preached at hodsocke , the 20. day of december , anno domini , 1627. in commemoration of the right honourable and religious lady , the lady frances clifton , daughter to the right honourable the earle of cumberland : and wife to the truly noble sir geruas clifton of clifton , in the county of nottingham , knight and baronet , who deceased the 20. nouember , 1627. by william fvller doctor of diuinity , one of his maiesties chapleines in ordinary . eccles . 40. 19. children and the building of a city continue a mans name , but a blamelesse wife is counted aboue them both . london , ¶ printed by thomas harper for robert bostocke , and are to be sold at his shop in pauls church-yard , at the signe of the kings head. 1628. to the mvch honoured , sir gervas clifton , of clifton , in the county of nottingham knight and baronet , my most noble patrone . noble sir , how much j stand obliged to your loue and bounty , should i be silent , others would testifie : to conceale it , were to call witnesses ; and to denie it , to proclayme ingratitude . neither hath your respect come single or alone . for those excellent ladies , of pious memorie , which successiuely made your bed happy , and i hope your house prosperous , as they were to you most deare , so to me most noble : neuer stranger found either more encouragement in his labors , or more ample remonstrance of an honourable loue . but there is no earthly contentment , but hath interruption or intermixtion : wee must leaue it , or it must leaue vs. i onely , now instance in this , that god hath taken those ornaments of their sex , as fit for heauen , too goo● for earth , to both which liuing , i was indebted and for both dead ( by your election ) the sad ▪ membrancer . others might haue set out their perfections better , none more mournfully or more truely . in which the rarenesse of the subiects haue had the power to make my weaknesse , not onely to passe without censure , but the publishing to bee importuned with an earnest zeale , both by your selfe and others of their and your honorable friends . the first long since went out in written copies : this last ( it seemeth ) must not be restrained within so narrow bounds , nor the desire of many satisfied without more ample notice . which sithence it must come to publique view : to whom should i present it , but your selfe , who haue the losse , and knowe the truth , from whom i haue receiued my meanes , and to whom i shall euer remaine thankfull , and faithfull in all christian duties . william fuller . zacharie 11. 2. vlula abies , quia cecidit cedrus , &c. howle thou firre tree , for the cedar is fallen . all the former prophets ( one only excepted ) did see , or foresee the temples desolation , the holy cities widowhood ; how she that was so great among the nations , the princesse among the prouinces , was become tributary , weeping continually euen in the night , and the teares running downe her cheekes , whilest the people sigh , and seeke their bread abroad , the elders sit vpon the ground and keepe silence , cast dust vpon their heads , and gird themselues with sackcloth , whilest the virgins hang downe their heads : all crying the ioy of our hearts is gone , our daunce is turned into mourning , the crowne of our head is fallen , woe now vnto vs that we haue sinned . but haggai , zacharie , and malachie , are raysed as messengers of glad tidings to tell the comfort of a blessed deliuerance : that the gold should be no more so dimme , nor the fine gold so changed , that the stones of the sanctuary , should no longer bee so scattered in the corner of euery street . but it is the nature of all earthly hopes to be like sicke mens pulses full of intermissions , there being rarely seene , sperate miseri , in the superscription , hope ye wretched , but it is subscribed with cauete foelices , beware ye happy . no day so fayre without some cloud , nor life so successefull without some crosses : the ioyfullest feast the iewes had was eaten with sowre herbes , and the blessed euangelists themselues as they preach christ and his mercies , so his crosse and our afflictions . and this our prophet sent to proclayme restauration to the people : to his exulta satis filia zion , &c. reioyce greatly , o daughter zion ; shout for ioy , o daughter ierusalem ; behold thy king commeth vnto thee &c. in prescience of that aduent which wee are within so few dayes to celebrate , annexeth an interruption in my text , and some verses following . vlula abies , quia cecidit cedrus howle thou firre tree , for the cedar is fallen . i may terme my text the mourning of mount libanon , a hill replenished with firres and cedars : or the temples teares , for it was builded of that wood fetched from that mountayne : and hector pintus interpreting the 17. of ezekiel and the 3. verse , where an eagle is said to come vnto libanon and take the highest branch of the cedar , maketh libanon to bee the temple , and prooueth it out of the chaldee paraphrast , which readeth the former verse to my text . open thy doores , o libanon , thus : open thy doores , o temple , and the fire shall deuour thy cedars : some meane the holy city , some the land of promise , but all agree that it may insinuate the lamentation of gods people for some great one fallen . and god we know doth often cloath his will in parables , vt noua minùs fastidiat variet as , that variety may delight and make a deepe impression in him that heareth : nathans tale of the poore mans sheepe that was his whole flocke , went to the quicke with dauid : nor is there a more piercing passage in the whole booke of god , then iothams parable of the trees choosing their king , and all refused the troublesome honour , but onely the ambitious bramble , meaning abimelech the vsurper . omnis homo arbor inuersa : euery man ( they say ) is a tree with the root vpward and the armes downeward . suppose mee then to be this houre vpon mount libanon condoling with the firre trees , because a cedar is fallen . in the words of the prophet are three probleme questions , ( as parts obseruable ) to be both discussed and resolued . 1. why it is sayd vlula : howle , a signe of sorrow without measure . 2. quare abies , why the firre tree should howle , it being the hieroglyphicke of a childe of god , who is in no case to sorrow as a man without hope . 3. quare , quia cecidit cedrus : why , for the cedars fall . sithence it is cut down only for the building of the sanctuary , and to its owne increase of glory . this is the compasse i am to sayle by , vntill i land vpon the shore i steere to , which is the sad occasion of this dayes meeting . a wise-man should not vse much passion , nor a good man perswade it , for the one argueth weakenesse of iudgement , the other wickednesse of minde . affections being those vnruly beasts , which reason and religion striue to bridle . but there is a great difference betwixt quid agitur , and quid deletur ; what is done , and what should be done : as is betwixt contemplation and practise ; the one liuing in politiâ platonis , the other in faece romult : they are but in a dreame that conceiue a common wealth without corruption , a church without errour , or a man without passion . it is an easie matter for one in health and plenty to crie shame on him that is distracted with payne and care : and for the wanton on his couch to disesteeme the soldier in his tent , because not more hardy both in cold and danger , when tu si hic esses , change but the condition of the parties and the case is altered . a publicke losse is a generall sorrow , to the bewayling whereof the greatest expression is required : a teare is not held sufficient , where there should be an inundation ; nor a sigh , where howling . rachel in child-birth called her sonne of which she died ben-oni , the sonne of sorrow . naomi biddeth her friends call her no more naomi , that is beautifull , but mara , that is bitternesse , out of the sence of her misery : but phineas his wife had iust cause to name her sonne ichobod , that is , where is glory ? because the glory was departed from israel , for the arke of the lord was taken , o that my head were full of waters , and mine eyes a fountayne of teares , to weepe day and night for the slaine of the daughter of my people , ( sayd the prophet ieremy ; ) and thence it was , that our prophet in the chapter following would haue the mourning of ierusalem like the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon , yet not euery family apart , and their wiues apart , ( as it there followeth ) but their forces ioyned both of teares and shrikings to mooue heauen to pitty , and earth to imitate . abyssus abyssum inuocat : one depth calleth for another ; great sinnes must haue great repentance , and great iudgements great acknowledgement . mine eyes doe fayle with teares , my bowels swell , my liuer is powred vpon the earth , for the destruction of the daughter of my people , because the children and sucklings faint in the streets of the city , and say to their mothers , where is bread and drinke , as the prophet complayneth : although reason and religion should forbid , yet nature and necessity wou'd inforce a howling . yet is not all this a note of distrust of gods prouidence , but a manifestation that we are sensible of his iustice and our demerits : quid miraris quod maria dolebat , tuno cum ipse dominus flebat ? it is no maruell if mary greeued , when as her lord himselfe wept ; not as bewayling the dead man whom hee presently intended both to rayse and to recouer , but the dead mans sinne which had attracted death for punishment . sicut mors animae praecessit deserente deo , sic mors corporis secuta est deserente animâ . thus then in all sorrow this is the highest note . woe vnto vs that we haue sinned . the death of the soule was first when god forsooke it ; and the death of the body soone followed , the soule forsaking it in condigne recompence . whence in the truth of iudgement , the iust causes of extreme sorrow in a man are , vel cum ipse , vel cum proximus offendit deum : when either himselfe or some other offend his god. and though a man may seeke , yet shall hee neuer finde any true cause like vnto this . which caused anselmus to phrase it in these termes : when i consider the multitude of mine offences , i shame to liue , i feare to die ; then what remayneth , ô sinner , in thy whole life , but only vt ipsa tota se ploret totam , to bewayle thy whole life : so washing ( as saint bernard speaketh ) the barrennesse of his soule with the floods of teares , quia magis frugiferae lacrymantes vineae : the bleeding vines for the most part are most fruitfull . and yet in this we must not sorrow as men without hope : for with god there is mercy that hee might be feared : maiores motus impediunt minores : the greater wheeles doe hinder the lessers motion , and the sonne of god the sinnes of man. subordinate powers hauing but limited authority , mooued from aboue as is the inferiour by the higher orbe , the proconsull can doe nothing but what the consull pleaseth either to command or to permit : as praesumptio superbiae de proprio ingenio , is a course held without carde or compasse , a mans owne works being a weak staffe to leane vpon . and so i see not how a romanist should die comfortably , yet praesumptio confidentiae de diuino adiutorio , is the pole that cannot alter ; and so i see not how a true christian should die desperatly . most excellent is the counsell which the chancellour of paris giueth : before thou sinnest , thinke of diuine iustice , and thou wilt abstayne : when thou hast sinned , thinke of diuine mercy and thou wilt not despayre . sícque ponderent suam negligentiam , vt praeponderent dei infinitam clementiam : so weighing our owne negligence , with the counterpoyse of christs indulgence . it is a subtle question that is made by denise out of bonauenture , whether it bee possible that contrition for sinne can exceed the measure of duty , or we be more penitent then there is occasion : it being a rule that as much as the presence of any good is to bee beloued , so much the absence of it is to be lamented , but god and his grace cannot be too much in one kinde , therefore neither the losse in the other . certainely ( me thinkes for answer ) quoad displicentiam rationis , in eye of reason ( if wee goe no further ) after sinne we may weepe and dispayre , dispayre and die ; for how should infinite sinnes expect any but infinite punishment : but quoad desperationem fidei , in the apprehension of faith we may be comforted , for that is the euidence of things not seene , whence christians are called fideles , not rationales . and it is contrition not attrition ( as the schoole distinguisheth ) that affoords vs comfort . doleat , sed ex fide doleat , saith saint augustine . hence it is hector pintus his obseruation commenting vpon ezekiel , ( yet borrowing it from aquinas ) that if it were reuealed to any one that hee were a reprobate to be condemned , that man were bound to esteeme of it , not as diuine reuelation , but a diabolicall illusion . nay , if god himselfe should speake it , it were to be interpreted with an exception of repentance . and in the 33. of that prophet , verse 14. 15. it is made manifest . gods blessings pronounced in the present tense doe intend praesentiam extensam , an act without backsliding , continuing to our liues endings , and his iudgements threatned are not absolute , but conditionall , if wee repent not : god can easily stay his hand , could we as willingly amend our liues . if wee doe suruey the booke of god , euery word that is vsed to insinuate his mercy will bee found effectuall . for consider sinne , as the bondage to sathan , redimitur , it is redeemed : as the spoyle of grace , tegitur , it is couered : as the blot and blemish of nature , mundatur , it is clensed : as the wound of conscience , sanatur , it is healed : as an offence against the highest , remittitur , dimittitur , it is forgiuen . then euen in this great cause of sorrow , our sorrow must bee bounded . much more in humane crosses , for they rightly apprehended are but healthfull , ( howsoeuer bitter ) potions , in which a seruant of god may in time finde comfort , as sampson found hony in the lions belly , which lately menaced death : thus the waters which israel feared would haue drowned them , are on both sides as rampiers to defend them : the lions fawne on daniel and deuour his aduersaries : and the dogs that should haue bawled at lazarus did licke his sores . the drumme beaten a farre off , maketh a fearefull noyse ; come neere and open it , and it shews its owne emptinesse , and our panicke feare . thus euery passion hath bounds and limits ; a man may be transported too much both in ioy and sorrow , as hee that windeth vp the strings too high , and he that letteth them downe too low , doeth marre the musicke . pope leo the tenth that died for ioy was as erroneous , as others that dyed with griefe . plinie telleth of a lake , that although you powre in neuer so much , it runneth not ouer , and let out abundance , yet it still is full . mans heart should bee so tempered , as that affections should neither runne out of it , nor ouer it : for the one would make men stony hearted , the other effeminately minded . as a man may vse pleasure but not enioy it : ( so lumbard distinguisheth betwixt uti and frui ; ) so suffer griefe but not sink vnder it . how well doe teares become the eyes in the house of mourning , so that moderation lendeth a napkin to drie vp excesse of weeping ? and s. ambrose speaking of the death of valentinian the emperor sayth , that to pious affections there is a kind of content euen in teares , & plerumque graues lacrymas euaporare dolorem , and that much weeping did euaporate much sorrow . sure griefe oft times is like fire , the more it is couered , the more dangerously it burneth , as the wound concealed rankleth inward . saint bernard bewayling the death of gerardus the monk and his deerest brother , sayth , at his death my heart fayled me , sed feci vim animo , with much adoe i dissembled , lest affection should seeme to ouercome religion , and whilest others wept abundantly secutus ego siccis oculis inuisum funus &c. my selfe followed with drie eyes the happy herse . by-standers with watry cheekes admyring , whilest they did not pitty him , but me that lost him . indeed whereas teares and words fayle , the blood leaueth the cheekes to comfort the heart , and speech giueth place to amazement ; like niobe in the poet , a woman turned to marble , no difference betwixt men and statues , but that they are softer . that obseruation of saint peter is good , fleuit sed tacuit , he wept but was silent : as if his eyes would in some sort tell what his tongue could in no sort vtter : leues dolores loquuntur , ingentes stupent : they are small miseries , when hee that hath them can presently tell them . thus hee that howleth may haue lesse sorrow then hee that is mute and silent , vox rationis pierceth heauen sooner then vox orationis : and god regardeth sad hearts when he doth not heare puling voyces . i come to the second part , quare abies , to shew the cause of the firre trees howling . passion oft times commendeth what reason doth disallow , and reason as often willeth what religion gaynesayth ; so that the howling of briers and brambles is no president for the firre trees mourning : that is , a tree straight and tall ( not like the shrub , short and crooked ) dwelling on mount libanon , neighbour to the cedar , and both louingly ioyne to build vp gods temple , the true types of saynts in the church militant , which must not sorrow as men without hope : non vt contristemur , sed non sicut caeteri , qui spem non habent , sayth s. augustine vpon that place ; not that we should not sorrow , but that wee should not exceed in sorrow : the best members of christs church mourne for the necessity of the losse , and yet are comforted with the assurance of a second meeting . inde agimur , hinc consolamur , inde infirmitas afficit , hint sides resicit : inde dolet humana conditio , hinc sanat diuina promissio : on the one side wee are deiected , on the other cherished ; there affected with infirmities , here erected by faith ▪ there humane condition woundeth , here diuine promise healeth , as the same father hath it . a man ( saith hector pintus ) must not expect the medicine of time ( time giueth ease to all afflictions ) when wee may presently haue that of reason ; nay of religion rather . for gersons consolation of theologie doth farre exceede boëtius his consolation of philosophy , because the supreme part of the elementarie world , dependeth vpon the inferior part of the celestiall , more concatenationis , as links in chaines are ioyned ; and robur socraticum is farre short of robur christianum , the rules of reason , of the principles of religion : where philosophie endeth , physick beginneth , and where reason faltereth , religion maketh good the place . as the traueller in a long voyage , when hee looseth the northerne , rayseth the southerne pole . to beleeue passion aboue reason , were to subiect iudgement to affection ; and to incline to reason rather then religion , were to preferre nature before god , supposition before fayth , humanity before diuinity . certaynty of adherence doth as farre surpasse the certainty of euidence , as faith doth sence , or gods meanes mans intelligence : hence it is that so many are deiected , not because their troubles are so great , but because their faith is so little . although peter might iustly tremble when he felt himselfe sinking ( if we looke no further ) yet is he as iustly termed one of little fayth , sithence christ was by to helpe him . so as the prophets counsell in my text ( mee thinks ) rather sheweth the firre trees cause , then the firre trees practise , which alwayes goeth betwixt those two extremes , astoicall stupidity not capable of sorrow , and desperate infidelity vncapable of comfort , alwayes confident in gods prouidence , howsoeuer vsually weeping out of one of these fowre occasions : eyther for contrition , compassion , deuotion , or oppression : and euery saint is another augustine , filius lachrymarum , a childe of teares ; heere is the difference , he was so for his conuersion ; they ( and hee afterward ) in conuersation . for the first , repentance is a kinde of reuenge a sinner taketh against himselfe , puniens in s●quod dolet commisisse , punishing with griefe what hee committed with folly . and therefore the father deriueth poenitere quasi poenam tenere : vt semper puniat vlciscendo quod commisit peccando : for euery seuerall sinne yelling out a seuerall sorrow . as loud as our sinnes haue beene , so loud should be our cries ; deepe wounds must haue long and carefull cures . poenitentia crimine minor non sit : betwixt foule crimes and superficiall mourning there is no due proportion . dauid could do no lesse then water his couch with the teares of his complaint , and make them his bread day and night , considering his transgressions . for hee must of necessity haue sorrow for them that expecteth pardon of them ; reioycing that he can sorrow , and sorrowing if he repents that sorrow , weeping because he cannot weep , and that much more because he can weepe no more . and all this not impatienter habitus , sed desiderio susceptus : not imposed by necessity , but assumed by desire , as knowing that repentance is the super sedeas that dischargeth sinne , making god to bee mercifull , angels to be ioyfull , man to be acceptable ; an heauenly gift , an admirable vertue , ouerruling the rigour of gods iustice and the force of law : whose validity consisteth mente non tempore , not in length of time , but in true sincerity . euen at the last gaspe , cum iam anima festi●et ad exitum , when the soule laboureth for passage , and almost ceaseth to informe the body ; the eares of the lord are open to the cries of his people ; as no sinne so great but may be pardoned , so no time heere so late but may be accepted . neyther the faults greatnesse , the liues wickednesse , the houres shortnesse , if there be true contrition , true conuersion , exclude from pardon . et ideo vlulat abies : and therfore in the first kind gods seruant mourneth . nor is he weeping for himselfe alone , but lendeth a groane for anothers misery : of all passions compassion is the best , because it hath a fellow feeling of a brothers griefe ; eyther by a secret sympathy , participating with his losse ( for misericordia dicitur quasi miserum cor habens , quia alterius miseriam quasi suam reputat : mercy hath her denomination from participation ) or fearing that in himselfe which hee seeth in others . as the good old father that hearing of his friends sinne , cried out , ille heri ego bodie , hee yesterday and i to day . particular accidents ( much more publike ruines ) will wring pitty from any but a nero that could sit and sing at romes burning : it being held a shame to an athenian ( much more to a christian ) neuer to haue beene in the academic of philosophers , nor in the temple of mercy . it is an obseruation that the doores of the tabernacle which is called the holy of holyest , was of oliue , the hieroglyphicke of mercy ; but the gates of hell , of brasse and iron , the signes of hard hearts , and instruments of destruction : to shew that the way to heauen was by pitty , and to hell by inhumanity . and therefore that act of licinius the tyrant was strange : to forbid mercy to christians vpon pain of the same calamity to bee inflicted vpon them that should dare to shew it , as was in those happy wretches that were to receiue it . miserable man that hee was ; as if he could hinder gods saints from suffering with them , that dayly suffer in them . malice armed with power may hinder that we cannot bee ( as iob said he was ) eyes to the blinde , and feet to the lame : which is the mercy of consolation . yet can it not hinder the teares and prayers of samuel for saul , and moses for the people , which is the mercy of intercession . in a word , they will ( maugre all opposition ) reioyce with them that reioyce , and weepe with them that weepe , being of like affection one towards another : and sic vlulat abies . thus the firre tree mourneth . nor thus only : for the desire of the soule is neuer satisfied , vntill it commeth to the end it aymeth at ; a maine argument for the resurrection ( say the schoolmen ) which can neuer be vntill christs second comming , that the dead body by the reioyning of the blessed soule be reinformed . so saints in the church militant , vpon consideration of the future perfection and the present vanity , in despite of nature , grone vntill they be dissolued , and the number of gods elect may be hastened . it is onely ignorance that maketh vs dote vpon earth , and dissolutio continui that is so troublesome , fayth and reason striue against it . egredere anima mea quid dubitas , septuaginta prope annis seruîsti deo , & iam mori times ? sayd old hilarion . goe out my soule why doubtest thou , seuenty yeeres almost hast thou serued god , and fearest thou now to die in the vpshot ? and platoes scholers out of iudgement ( as they thought ) offered themselues violence so to compasse immortality , which was all one to desire to come to the end of the race and to run a course quite contrary . but the mortified members of christ that tarry the lords leysure , do ioyne with the creatures , that groane and trauell in payne vnto this present , wayting when the sonne of god shall be reuealed ; and the saints in heauen pray continually for hastning that number , whilest the spirit it selfe maketh it a request with sighes that cannot be expressed . the bride too crieth , come lord iesu , come quickly . there is recorded in holy writ a threefold longing of the faythfull , first to dwell continually ( although but as a doorekeeper ) in the house of the lord : secondly to be deliuered from the body of sin . lastly to be dissolued and to bee with christ . howsoeuer the parting of soule and body is harsh to nature , yet future happinesse ( as one that drinketh a bitter potion to procure his health ) biddeth present sorrow welcome . a wise man cheerefully holdeth out his arme , willing the chyrurgion lance and spare no● ; when that way and no other , the cure is certayne . eius est mortem timere , &c. hee should onely tremble at the name of death that will not goe to christ , and he only be vnwilling to go to him that despayreth of reigning with him ; for the whole life of a good christian is nothing else but a continued desire of dissolution : my soule thirsteth for god , when shall i come and appeare before the presence of god ? sayd the psalmist . christ is my life and death aduantage , saith the apostle . then what haue we to doe with this light , for whom a light neuer eclipsed with any darknesse is in reuersion ? sayd s. cyprian . and that of ignatius going to martyrdome , is a speech most excellent . being exercised with iniuries ( sayd hee ) i am made wise ( though not iustified by them ; ) o how i wish for your wilde beasts , how i would flatter them to deuour me , and if they will not , i will compell them ▪ pardon me , i know what is good ; now i begin to be christs disciple , i regard neyther things visible nor inuisible , neither fire nor crosse : let the fury of beasts , the breaking of bones , the conuulsion of members , the destruction of the whole body , and all the torments that satan himselfe can impose , rush vpon me , modo iesum christum acquiram : so i may gayne my sauiour . a quiet death is the vsuall symptome of an honest life : humane fraylty euen then striuing to accord with gods iust pleasure . but hee is a man after gods heart that liueth in a kinde of payne , and d●eth with desire and comfort , as one that seeth worldly vanity , knoweth the future reward , and thirsteth for the accomplishment , as the hart doeth after the riuers of water : life being to him as irkesome as death to others : such a one non patienter moritu● , sed patienter viuit , delectabiliter moritus , sayd s. augustine speaking of s. pauls desire of dissolution . should the hand of diuine bounty conferre vpon me all the contentments the world so aspireth to , did the spheres ioyne with the elements to make me happy , yet there is nothing in the earth that i desire but him , nor any thing in the whole heauens that i desire in comparison of him , omnino me non satiaret deus , nisi promitteret semetipsum deum : god himselfe could not satisfie my ambition , except he gaue himselfe vnto mee ▪ . beauty is not ague proofe , wealth will leaue mee , or i must leaue it , honor must borrow poore mens eies to see its excellency . earth , sea and ayre are but creatures ; and so by consequence both vayne and corruptible . but god is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , and was , and is to come ; in whose presence is ioy for euermore . it is no maruell then si ululet abies , if this be reckoned among the firre trees mournings . but these three are voluntarily assumed ; there is a fourth ( the more both shame and pitty ) by necessity imposed , in which the reasonable man is more brutish then the vnreasonable beast . o the detestable cruelty of humane malice ! ( saith s. cyprian speaking of elias sed by rauens , and daniel spared by lions ) ferae parcunt , aues pascunt , & homines insidiantur & saeuiunt : fowles of the aire they bring meat , beasts of the field they bring comfort , whilest man against man doth rage and tyrannise : now , vertue it selfe that reioyceth in the obiect , yet findeth trouble in the act ; no patience so strong but it is sensible , nor sanctification so perfect as to extirpate nature . when the glorified saynts in heauen do crie , vsquequo domine &c. how long lord faythfull and true , doest not thou iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth ? and abels murder speaketh loud a brothers iniury . no maruell then if heere on earth , good mens wrongs , cause good mens howlings : the one being so frequent , the other cannot be altogether vnusuall . as is the head , such are the members : heere is the difference , the children of the bride-chamber did not mourne whilest the bridegroome himselfe was with them ; malice was ioyned with policy , ayming by the death of the generall to disband the army ; as long as christ liued , wee reade of no persecution against his disciples , but he once remooued stephen is stoned , peter crucified , paul beheaded . some burned , some strangled , some broyled , some brayned ; all ( but only s. iohn ) murdered . and euer since that is too true , amara est veritas , & qui eam praedicat repletur amaritudine : bitter is the truth , and he that preacheth it is filled full of bitternesse . the woes of saynts hauing no ease but custome ; and that passage of s. bernard is good : the spouse louingly ( sayth hee ) inuiteth the beloued to her bed ; and hee her againe to armes and trouble : illâ monstrante lectulum , ille vocat ad campum , ad exercitium : hence it is that in her garden doe grow roses as well as lilies , because the church is both operibus candida & cruore purpurea : hauing this vnseparable lot to doe good and suffer euill . as my father sent mee , so send i you , sayth our sauiour to his disciples . that is , as bellarmine doth well expound the place : 1. to binde and loose . 2. to reconcile god and man. 3. to beare my crosse and suffer afflictions . indeed why should we looke for loue when our head found hatred ? if the world hate you , it hated mee before you : ( as himselfe speaketh . ) most comfortable is that of s. augustine : in ipsum christum non crederemus , si fides christiana cachinnum metueret paganorum : that man will neuer be christian , that can be dismayd by the scoffes of a pagan . and it is as vsuall to see vntouched consciences , and vntouched fortunes to dwell together , as for men that know no sorrow , to know no god. it is opposition that giues the triall , and causeth argent seem bright in a sable field , as the fun pleaseth breaking from a cloud . it is the portion and vertue of goodnesse , to suffer and shine in great extremities . et hïc vlulat abies . whether the fall of cedars will prooue another cause , is my third part and question . of all the sorrowes that the firre tree hath , the fall of cedars is the least ( if any . ) it may seeme enuie that they inioy heauen , or selfe-loue that wee enioy not them , when wee are so transported to the degree of howling for such as know no sorrow . doest thou lament the body from which a soule is parted ( sayth augustine : ) rather deplore the soule from which god is separated . a saint ( you say ) is fallen . it is impossible , si iustus quomodo cadit , si cadat quomodo iustus ? if so how fell hee , if he fell how so ? vespasian sayd of himselfe , that he was not a dying , but a diefying . and blessensis of a friend , abijt non obijt , recessit non decessit : heeis but gone aside a while , but not departed . the garment that was taken from ioseph , was but a false argument of his death or losse : for he then not only liued , but gouerned egypt . nor doth the sencelesse body prooue any thing more , then that the soule hath left that sinfull prison , and is fled to heauen , which whoso doth soonest is happiest : as the traueller that hath taken vp a good lodging , feeleth not the trouble of him that is comming to him in the rayne and dirt . as in paradice , there was a liberty of life or death , so in the world a necessity of death , not life . but in heauen and hell a necessity of life that can neuer be extinguished . for in one , death would bring ease which cannot be granted ; in the other , losse which cannot be imagined . the corolary is this : saynts are not to bee lamented as lost , but beloued as absent . if bryers or brambles fall , weepe for them : they must bee burned . if cedars , they were planted to be transplanted from the hill of libanon to the sanctuary of god. dauid had iust cause to exclayme : o my sonne absalom , my sonne , my sonne absalom : would god i had died for thee , o absalom , my sonne , my sonne . hee was both a priuate sinner and an open traytor . but christs was , o daughters of ierusalem , weepe not for mee , but weepe for your selues , and for your children . it was good for the church that paul should abide in the flesh , but better for him to be dissolued and bee with christ . what ingratitude were it to repine at our friends promotion , and for our pleasure to debarre his preferment ? when there is more then hope , that wee shall meet agayne with vnspeakeable ioy and comfort . iacob , i suppose , was more refreshed at the newes of iosephs life and greatnesse , then deiected with the sorrow of his conceyued losse . non moeremus quòd tales amisimus , sed gratias agimus quòd habuimus , immo quòd habemus : we doe not lament those we haue lost , but giue thankes because wee had them , nay still haue them , sayth s. hierome . and in another place , bewayle your dead , but such as hell receiueth , not such as angels doe accompany to heauen , and christ meeteth : and there bringeth in god himselfe thus speaking : thou denyest thy selfe meat , not out of a desire of fasting , but of sorrow . non amo frugalitatem istam : i like not this frugality : your fasts are both aduersaries to mee and to your friends . nullam animam recipio , quae me nolente separatur à corpore : i receyue no soule , but such as with my will is seuered from the body . but alasse , it is a cedar , the hieroglyphicke of greatnesse , aswell as goodnesse , and the cutting downe of such make those deep impressions both of griefe and wonder . vanity of vanities ! the heathen themselues that implored as many dieties , as they conceiued chimaeraes in their fancies , yet were neuer knowne to erect an altar to death , because that was euer held implacable . what is my birth right seeing i am almost dead ? sayd esau . what profit is there in my blood , when i goe down into the pit ? sayd dauid . philosophers make sport with great alexander , ( as hares may play with the beards of dead lions ) being intombed in a poore vrne , whose ambition before the whole world sufficed not . and nature maketh no other difference , then doth the potter , that of the same clay maketh vessels of honour and of dishonour ; the one more polished but as brittle as the other . or the mason that from the same quarry diggeth stones both for the pauement and for the altar ; although wee trample the one and kneele to the other . the same wood may make some goodly image , and a plough or fewell : and the figure is the same , that stands for one and for one thousand , they being meere ciphers , nothing in themselues that alter the accompt . the prince is as corruptible as the poorest beggar ; lay aside dying and dressing , painting and pruning , and all are but earth , the wormes meat , and graues inheritance . diadema non fanat caput , nec annulus digitum : the crowne cannot helpe the headache , nor the ring the finger . what then is the prophets meaning to aduise this sadnesse ? it must be truth vnquestionable that such men vtter . all the scripture being credibilis vt credibilis , to bee beleeued without a reason . holy men inspired did but pen what god did dictate . it is most true and for all the premisses there is great cause of howling , not because the cedars fall , was the cedars harme , but the whole mountaynes both losse and danger , like the comet portending ruine to ierusalem . a good man is a common good , that brings not blessing for himselfe alone , but for all about him . themistocles setting his house to sale prized it much deerer then ordinary , propter bonum vicinum , because seated by a good neighbour : and christians alwayes accompted their peace more sure by the life of saynts , as knowing that the world it selfe must fayle when the elect are finished . sodome must necessarily perish when lot is out of it . tenne righteous could haue guarded it , not against the powers of men and earth only , but of heauen and angels also . whilest iacob serued laban , he and his prospered ; once parted , the one grew rich and the other poore . and his sonne ioseph was not putaphars only , but all egypts blessing . the righteous like moses stand in the gappe , and hold the almighties hands from striking : the very chariots of israel and horsemen of the same . iudges on earth cut off offenders , to secure the innocent , holding it a cruell mercy to spare one to manies ruine : but god in heauen cuts off his children for the wickeds sorer punishment ; that their defences being surprised , hee might haue none to giue stoppage to his intended vengeance . troy ( they say ) was impregnable whilest they had the palladium , or hector liued . but it may bee better auerred that families , cities , kingdomes ( for one is the modell of the other ) are more prosperous , whilest they inioy the godly . for it is presupposed that god remoueth them but from the anger to come . and therefore no maruell if dauid cryeth , salvum me fac , domine : helpe or saue me , o lord. giuing such a pregnant proofe of imminent danger , quia defecit sanctus , there is not one godly man left , the faythfull are minished from the children of men . the physitian sometimes letteth the arme blood to cure and correct the head ; and god did as much in the three dayes pestilence sent to the people for dauids numbring them : hee crying , i haue sinned , yea i haue done wickedly , but these sheepe what haue they done ? but when the head is wounded , all the members are likewise smitten with it , ( as the sheepe are scattered when there is no shepheard ) the eyes grow dimme , the armes weake , the tongue doeth falter and the legges doe tremble . if the bushes bee stubbed vp , the cedars prosper more , and flourish better ; but if the cedars fall , eyther the shrubs are beaten downe with the weight , or standing are likely to bee blasted by the stormes and tempests for want of shelter . i need not trouble you with further application , since hee that runnes may read the meaning . i haue beene tedious in a theme that rellisheth not , neuerthelesse i must proceed without apology or crauing pardon : loue and sorrow admit no ceremony . and you , i know , will not be weary to heare me descending to particulars , which more affect then do all generall , eyther notions or instructions , but sometimes accompany me with sighes ( if not teares ) and all the way with sad attention , whilest i relate with griefe how our cedar is fallen . a subiect in which a iust orator might incurre the imputation of flattery , with strangers , did they not in charity and iudgement remember , that god is his spectator and angels auditors . but to men acquaynted with the person and her vertues , all will fall short that one man can speake ; and euery one may affoord some thing worthy memory omitted by the preacher . nazianzene commending athanasius sayd , that commending him he should commend vertue . idem enim est illum dicere , quod virtutem laudibus efferre : i might well applie it , yet neyther sow pillowes vnder the elbowes of the liuing , or shoulders of the dead . she was the lady frances clifton , ( well were it for most heere could i speake it in the present tense ) a lady of those endowments as might bid detraction it selfe , belch her poyson : she would so liue ( as socrates once answered a backbiter ) that none should credit it . the cupping glasse which draweth none but impure bloud , and the flie that lighteth vpon nothing but vlcers , this heere would famish , that be vselesse . hee that should dare to snuffe this taper , would but defile his owne fingers and make her light the cleerer ; as the waters ( sayth stella ) that by ouerflowing ▪ their bounds , make the bankes cleane and themselues dirty . a flourishing branch she was , of a stocke as honorable , as ancient ; and as it to her , so she to it an ornament : knowing that vertue with much adoe might begin a house , but vice with little labour easily end it ▪ that cham and esau had noble parents , & themselues were base : that there is no greater argument of pouerty , then to boast anothers worth or vertue . and therefore stroue to be side nobilis , quae omnibus ornatibus ornamento est : noble in faith , which to all honors is an ornament . who knoweth not that great births haue the strongest ties to chayne them to those duties , by which the ancestor rose or flourished ? and the greatest liberty for to lose themselues in courses that are both irregular and vnlawfull , which begets a soloecisme in great houses : that is , honoris titulum sine homine : much stile , and little man. shee therefore knowing both the rocks and channell , sayled in the one and waued the other ; there being not any noble vertue befitting her blood and sex , that she did not in high measure practise ; as if she had beene ambitious to be verè nobilis , that is , virtute prae alijs notabilis , as some deriue the word , exceeding others as much in the gifts of minde , as fortune . nor is it maruell she should bee scarlet in the cloth that was dyed so in the wooll , sucking religion with her milke , the excellency of her nature being perfected by education . it were very improbable shee should degenerate , hauing such a sister to accompany , and such a mother to lead the wayes of godlinesse , both demonstrating in life and death , how she following should learne of them to liue and die . so as it were no arrogant chalenge to bid rome ( which maketh traytors saints , and strawes miracles ) to set from foorth their legend , such a parent , with such a payre of sister saints . sure i am , many a superstitious knee hath beene bowed to inferior worthies . from the time of her marriage to her death , few can giue more ample testimony then my selfe ; for from that time i had good cause to know and to obserue , and cannot but with comfort remember the happy both fruit and incouragement of my weake indeuours , as a poore labourer that lookes with ioy vpon some goodly pile of building , because hee can say , he brought something to it , although but stone or morter . shee was a woman full of noble curtesies , eyther when shee did visit others , or her selfe were visited . one that could stoope low by the rules of religion , and vet knew her distance in the truth of reason ; so she had alwaies the rich mens applause , and the poore mans praiers : with the one she conuersed not but with an honourable familiarity ; nor with the other but with a charitable reliefe . hee must haue beene of an euill life she would not haue deigned to speake to , and of an euill disposition that would not be content with her answers . iudicious in all discourse beyond the degree of her sex , yet pleasant to ; interlacing mirth with earnest , both in such a posture as did well become her , and such a manner as was beyond exception : her presence would not grace either the cynicks rudenesse , or the wantons boldnesse . well seene in history and other humane knowledge ; but so as her mayne ayme was at religion and to be skilfull in the law of god. for that father that chasteneth euery childe that he receyueth , had giuen her a long infirmity , bred with her from her childhood , bringing as much payne to her , as shame to the physitians . and this though the bodies hurt , yet the soules physicke : filling those empty parts , that appeared at her dissection with inuisible graces , that there might bee no vacuity . calamitas saepius disciplina virtutis est : her calamity directed her virtue . so mortifying all her affections as she valued not the world , relyed not vpon arte , trusted not her strength , nor euer was vnprepared to entertayne death so long expected . i haue diuers times heard her say , that she neuer went to her bed but as to her graue ; nor euer saw that morning , that she did thinke she should liue to see the euening . thus what some make easie with patience , she made easie with preparation and prouidence ; and quicquid expectatum est diù , leuius accidit : what so is foreseene before it happeneth , falleth lightly when it commeth , when hee that is surprized is halfe beaten before a blow bee giuen . omnia nouitate grauiora : all things seeming more greeuous as they are more sudden . she , if any , might truly take vp that of the apostle , i die dayly , hauing so many and so bitter fits , as all attendants as well as her selfe thought them mortall ; yet borne with that vndanted resolution , as might well demonstrate how she had learned christ ; her tongue neuer venting the least word of murmur or repining , but continually vttering heauenly ●inculations to god , and comfortable assurances to those about her . nor were her many deliuerances passed ouer in silence , as if shee would receyue the fruit and not looke to the tree , that dropped it to her , for god had alwayes due praises , and the poore large almes and bounty . one time ( among many others ) was most remarkeable : hauing conceyued and a fit taking her when she was quicke with childe , the extremity was such , as within her shee felt no motion , and but small signe of life eyther of her selfe or that she went with . from which danger when god had preserued her , she vowed a vow vnto the lord , and performed it truely , that that day should be annually holy vnto his name , which she spent in her priuate chamber with fasting , reading , psalmes and prayer : her fast indeed , but the poores feast , they might well write that day in red letters , as their greatest festiuall so as what she was in euery relation as a daughter , sister , wife , mother , ladie , mistresse , neighbour , christian both in life and death , neede not seeme strange , although transcendent in each particuler , the goodnesse of her nature being ordered by education , that rectified by grace , grace exercised by afflictions , and they purged out all vanities , and thence she was as fine gold often tried , fit for her makers temple . such a daughter as would make a father wish to be aged , to haue the comfort of that respect and dutie , euer attending him with a bended knee , and a carefull loue , humble obeisance , and a ioyfull heart , as if she had receiued a second life by his presence , from whose bloud the first was taken . such a sister , as if the bloud were still in the old vaines vndiuided . such a wife , as might be an argument against a vow , her society rather perfecting then interrupting deuotion . she seldome parted from her noble husband in any iourney without a sad heart , and sometimes bedewed cheekes in his absence , in her closet she praied for him , at the table remembred him , against his returne was zealously carefull nothing might offend him , the messenger that brought newes of his comming neuer vnrewarded , and then with what open heart and armes would shee entertaine him ? such a mother as most dearely loued her tender progenie , yet knew full well that all children were borne alike , and that vertues onely gaue distinction , and therefore with a carefull eye surueyed each naturall disposition , cutting off with discipline the course of humors , not suffering those little bodies to haue setled infections , seasoning them in minoritie with goodnesse and religion , that in riper yeares it might be another nature ; for instructions then instilled enter easily , but depart with difficultie . and these oliue branches produced a great care of domesticke affaires , as not ignorant that these challenged prouision answerable to their births , and prouidence to be the leader to entertainments : there was not that weeke in which she exacted not an account of all expences , descending to such trifles as in a house so plentifull is scarce imaginary ; yet did this care lessen her bountie , neuer any of her seruants departed without gratuity , nor office looked into without reward : and if she were inforced to complaine , it was so as that the fault might be amended ( i haue it from his mouth that can best relate it ) but the faulter pardoned . for a neighbour though i say nothing , your selues can speake it . neuer was hospitality accompanied with a more cheerefull looke , nor an open hand with a more open heart . super omnia vultus accessêre benigni . as if that conduit had had no cisterne , and that abundance no prouidence . but o you poore , to you what was she ? when was any hungry ( if she knew it ) and she did not feed him ; thirsty , and she sent not drinke ; nay , the naked too she sometimes clothed ; was any sicke or sore , this house was an apothecaries shop open to all commers , without mony , or exchange , how many diseased , how many hurt haue here beene helped , neither medicines nor cordials were euer spared if want were knowne , or vnknowne demanded . were euer those eies seene without pittie , or hands without bountie ? she beleeuing certainly that god blessed their store that spent on their brethren , as running streames are fed that they may continue . the neighbour townes and villages are now as sad witnesses that i lie not , as before ioyfull receptacles of her almes and charitie : and yet all this without the least cackling of merit , her left hand scarce knew what her right hand did , and her tongue accusing her selfe for an vnprofitable seruant , euery day promised a further reformation ; as if she had not beene good , except she had beene perfect , which degree in this life may bee aspired vnto , but not accomplished . then what she was to man you may make some scantling , as he that by hercules his foot guessed at the proportion of his whole body ; and you may assure your selues her deuotion to god was nothing inferiour . in which she was neither foolishly factious , nor popishly superstitious , she did not so ingeminate the first table of the law , that vnder that glosse ( as hypocrites doe ) she might take occasion to neglect the second , nor yet so conceiued of the second , but as a rule to be applied according to the lines of the first . in a word , her beleefe and life were each others counterpane , a true light that did both ardere & lucere , burne with inward zeale , and shine with outward practise . euery morning about fiue of the clocke , she had a light and went to her priuate prayers , lying in her bed . when shee was vp and halfe ready , she called for meat ( such was the weaknesse of her vitall spirits as she could abstain no longer ) and then oft times some read by her : no sooner dressed , then she and her women went to prayer , from the chamber to the chapell to call vpon god with the whole family , in which she neuer fayled ( if she were able ) although shee often rested her weary legges in so short a passage . after dinner she was for company , her booke , or exercise , as there was occasion . before supper againe to chapel to her god ; after supper and in her bed she & her women went to praiers . vpon the lords day in the morning , as before , and being ready , all the mayd seruants were called into the next roome to pray for the disposing of their hearts to heare reuerently ; and for the preacher that he might speake powerfully , that both hee and they might practise truth and godlinesse . from thence hither to pray and to attend ; sermon once ended , if shee her selfe could not , yet her women went priuately to giue god thankes for their instruction ; and in few words to pray for a blessing . after dinner in her chamber she and her women sunga psalme , read a sermon , and againe sung a psalme after it ; and then children and the maydes were catechized . then hither againe and so as before ; and this course shee so affected , as she gaue the same directions to her noble neece whom shee most deerely loued , almost as her last legacy . a soule ( sayth s. chrysostome ) guarded with prayers , is stronger then a city with walles and rampiers . then how armed shee was against sinne and sathan is euident to the impartiall hearer . the sacrament of the lords supper shee highly prized and receiued often , vnderstanding well that as long as we are here capable of augmentation and subiect to diminution of grace , that meanes was as necessary for our soules as for our bodies , meat or medicine : and that she might receiue it worthily , excellent was her preparation before , and contemplation after it . but in the act a gesture and posture so humble and reuerent , that i for my part neuer doubted , but i deliuered and she receyued christ our sauiour ; as if vpon her knees shee would haue sayd with learned hooker in the determination of the question which hath cost so many liues , o my god thou art there , o my soule thou art happy . the word preached was her delight and comfort , in hearing wherof she ordered her body to attend , her vnderstanding to intend , and her memory to retayne what should bee spoken , laying vp the words , not as the lazie seruant his talent in a napkin , but as ioseph his corne to releeue in necessity . i must not omit ( for the example is not vsuall ) that the messenger was so respected with her , for his message , and both for his sake that sent them , as maugre the well knowne contempt of the world ( the vndoubted demonstration of irreligion , i had almost sayd atheisme ) she had a vehement desire , if god should send her another sonne to dedicate him to god and make him a minister ; as if shee had read salvian : si quis ex nobilibus conuerti ad deum coeperit , statim honorem nobilitatis amittit : if any of the nobility turne to god , they are reputed to haue lost the honour of nobility . and it presently followeth , o quantus in christiano populo honor christi est , vbi religio ignobilem facit : how little honour do christians shew their god when the profession of the religion maketh the professor to be held ignoble . let me adde that no nation vnder heauen of what religion soeuer if they acknowledge a god , doe vnder-value their priests and orders but only the reformed churches . i pray god it may portend no iudgement . i haue now breathed her course of life , and proceed to a conclusion , ( if i bee tedious you must blame her vertues . ) as her life was nothing but a care for death , so her death an entrance to a better life . she hauing beene a mary to god , a martha to the world , a sara to her husband , a lois , an eunice to her children , a lydia to the disciples : in a word an elect lady borne for the good of many . so as shee might well vtter s. ambrose his speech to his people of millan which s. augustine so much admired : non sic vixt vt me pudeat apud vos diutius viuere , nec mori timeo quia bonum dominum habemus : i haue not so liued as that i should be ashamed to liue longer , nor feare i to die because wee haue a gracious lord. sure it is that death which was so long expected and prepared for , could neither be suddaine nor grieuous when it happened . about a moneth before her childebirth she had a dreame which something troubled her , and sent for me ( a bad interpreter ) if i could to tell the meaning . her body ( she thought ) was past all cure , her vitall spirits spent , she had taken her leaue of the world and reconciled her selfe to god , and was euen giuing vp the ghost into the hands of her redeemer , and so awaked . i told her , dreamed came either from the disposition of the body , or the sollicitude of the minde , and that questionlesse her meditations were much vpon mortalitie , and that some of those broken species remained in the fancie vndiscoursed , and the soule which cannot bee idle , did worke vpon them . she replied in few words to this effect . i doe , or should daily think to die , & sure i am , not i only , but all should doe so , and occasion being offered of some thing to be done a moneth after by , that time , said she , shall i be in my graue . and indeed within three or foure daies of her account she was so , ( as i compute the time ) as if god ( rather then nature ) had revealed it to her . after her deliuery , succeeding a painfull labour , it was well hoped she had at once parted with her childe and danger , and that her many faintings were signes of a weake ( but not a dying ) body . lord , how a little glimpes of comfort giueth light to desire and loue , and maketh men thinke they she when they doe but dreame , hope being the first thing that taketh vs , and the last that leaueth vs : but she that had often seene the face of death , and had as often wrestled with his forces , seldome comming off without great paine and hazard found him now manifestly preuailing , and cryed out , farewell vaine earth , i embrace thee heauen . then calling for her noble husband , tooke her leaue of him , and prayed for him , blessed her children , and s●●tching her little sonne into her dying armes , desired god to make him true to him , and iust to man , and at other times ( although not then ) that he might resemble his great grandfather in all noble vertues , for he ( said she ) was likewise a cliffords sonne , then casting her eyes vpon all together , with a zealous exclamation besought god for them , that the seedes of his grace might be so sowen within their hearts , that they might bud and blossome , and bring forth fruit , and become in time broad shades for the poore afflicted members of christ to sit vnder and receiue comfort . in the morning before she died , she had conuulsion and the signes of death : and i comming to her , although she had not slept foure or fiue nights before , ( an infirmity able to haue weakned the strongest braine ) yet presently , without the least distemper , distraction or shortnesse of breath , ( her old disease ) she recalled all her vitall spirits , to doe that last office , comfortably and confidently made the profession of her faith , auowing that there was no name either in heauen or in earth that she hoped to be saued by , but that of iesus christ the righteous . she was not then to learne either the principles or practice of religion , so that i stood rather to behold the vse , then teach the theory . from that wee went to prayers , she repeating with wonderfull feruency the words after me , vntill perceiuing her weaknesse , i besought her to spare her decayed spirits , telling her that both shee and wee might receiue as much comfort by her silent assistance in the length and vocall assent in the conclusion . when all was done that could be required of a christian in that extremity , i boldly proceeded to the office of my ministry , and pronounced her absolution , and am very confident that it was olaue non errante , with a key that erred not , and that god did ratifie in heauen , what i his vnworthy minister declared on earth : she receiuing it as comfortably as i deliuered it faithfully . after this she seemed to sleepe , and a great care was had for feare of interruption , and so continued vntill the afternoone , when her speech left her , and the messengers of death againe appeared : and we ( as was our duty ) renued our prayers , which for a time she answered with signes vntill her memory as well as her tongue did faile her . nor did we then giue ouer , as knowing well with s. augustine , that god differreth sometimes to grant , to teach vs to beg , and so promiseth to beginners , as that he will giue to none but perseuerers . my selfe and another minister ( that came in that perplexity ) continually solliciting his diuine maiesty for mercy , vntill in the middest of one of my prayers , in which i desired him to giue his angels charge ouer her , in that her agonie against sinne and sathan , she departed ; going her selfe to vndoubted ioy , and leauing vs to vnfayned sorrow . and thus ( o firre trees ) our cedar is fallen ; if such a fall bee not an exaltation rather , for it shall bee my ambition to liue so , that i may die so . and now she lieth low , by the side of that other excellent lady her predecessor ; two such parcels of earth , as the earth that couereth them may seeme proud of . what remayneth but a generall sorrow , not for her , but for our selues ; in which each order may beare a part of mourning : the firre trees because all the mighty are spoyled ( as it followeth the words of my text ) and the oakes of bashan to , for their defenced forrest is come down . i shall not need to bid the shepheards howle , for the next verse sayth , that their voyce is already heard ( and good reason ) for their glory is destroyed : nor the lions whelps , their roaring is presupposed , because the pride of iordan is destroyed . questionlesse , all that but remember that the righteous are taken away from the anger to come , howsoeuer they haue no part in our priuate losse , may ioyne themselues in our publicke feare , knowing that the death of saints trencheth to further danger . god for his infinite mercy grant grace in our liues , pardon at our deaths , and after both , the fruition of his blessed vision . amen . in obitum praematurum praeclarissimae heroinae d. franciscae clifton , quae obijt in pace paulò post puerperium . ad turgescentem tumuli molem . qu. cvrita turgescis moles ? vnúmne cadauer , aut multa hâc sacrâ contumulantur humo . res . hic sita nobilitas & quicquid nobile , virtus , ingenium , probitas & pietatis amor . hic sita faeminci sexus laus , deliciúmque : hïc francisca sita est : desine musa , sat est . ad patrem de quinâ tantùm defunctae matris prole . qvinque tibi casti charissima pignora lecti donauit coniux nobilis , atque obijt . non auxit numerum , sed sensibus omnibus vnum ex aequo tribuit , disce quid hic numerus . vt videas , tangas , gustes atque oscula figens coniugis olfacias dulcia dona tuae . atque etiam ascultes , cùm blando murmure pappant ; tu nobis mater quinque patérque simul . per sam. simson . pietati , virtuti , honori & foelici memoriae illustrissimae d. d. franciscae clifton ampliss . comitis cumberlandiae charissimae filiae , atque honoratissimi viri d. geruasij clifton militis & baronetti coniugis spectatiss . petrarum in clivis gaudent habitare columbae , hoc est quod christi sponsa columba cluit . christus enim petra est , christique in vulnere clivus , gestit vbi solum figere sponsa pedem . o te foelicem idcirco franscisca columbam , quae tota in cliuis vixeris & moreris . a cliuo ad clivum mortalis sponsa volabas , nunc eadem in clivo , caelica sponsa lates . vtque ille in terris ampli tibi portus honoris , hic itidem aeternae porta salutis erit . io. crauen . vvhat means this mourning on mount libanō ▪ why howle ye firre trees ? o a cedars gone , whose hallowed boughs to vs such shade had lent , as shepheards sang , and trees made merriment ; which being fallen , the hils would equall faine , hadadrimmons mourning on megiddons plaine : yet know we well it 's but remoued hence , to holy zion , where with deare expence of shiloes bloud , god raised hath a quire , to which all firres and cedars doe aspire . it is our losse , foule crimes haue caused these throes , for present want and feare of future woes . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01347-e310 ier. la. 1. 1 la. 2. 10. la. 5. 15. 16. exod. 12. cap. 9. 1. reg. 5. 8. gerson ser . 19. post pentec . 2 sam. 12. iud. 9. quare dicit , vlula . gen. 35. 18. ruth 1. 20. 1. sam. 4. 21. 9. ● . vers . 11. vers . 12. ier. la. ● . 11. 12. aug. dever . apost . ser . 33. idem ibid. la. 5. 1● ▪ de miseriâ hominis . serm. in cant. 20. tract . de remed . contra pusillanimitatem . in 4. sent . dist . 16. item aquarius in 4. sent . ex s. thom. aug. serm . 189. de tempore . idem lib. de verâ & falsâ poenitent . cap. 9. in 1. sent . ezech 33. 14. 15. panigarola ex bonauent . in l●● . 5. dan. 4 24. ps . 32. 1. ps . 51. 2. ps . 41. 4. matth. 9. 2. matth. 6. 14. ouicciard . lib. 14. lib. 2. nat hist . lib. 1. sent . art . 5 item aug. lib. 11 deciuit . dei , cap. 25. pet. bless . ep . 49. serm. 26. in cant. ambr. serm . 46. item lib. 10. in lucam cap. ●6 . 〈…〉 1. thessa . 4. 13. de verb. apost . serm . 32. ●dem vbi supra . in ezech. 24. aug c●●●… 12. aug de ver●d & sal . p●n●● . cap. 8. io●d ca ▪ ●2 . 〈◊〉 sent . cyprian . ser . de lapsis . anselm . de si militudine , cap 102. a●g vbi supra cap. 13. cyprian . de coena domini . idem ibidem . aug ● de 〈◊〉 cap. 5. gersin . serm . pro hum●l . bellarm. lib. 3. de bonis operibus in particulari . cap. 4. 1. kin. 6. 21. ps . 107. 10. euseb . de vita con. lib. 1. cap. 47 iob. 29. 15. 〈◊〉 bless . ser . 53. rom 12 ●1 . aquin●… . 4. contra gent. cap. 81. hieronymus in vita eius , lib. 3. epist . rom. 3. apoc p●●●… . ro. 7. philip. 1 ▪ cyprian de immortalitate . ps . 42. phil. 1. de laude martyrij . fuseb . lib. 3. eccles . hist . c. 33. platina in vita anacien 1. reuel . 6. 10. hieronym . cont . iouin . lib. 2. ser. in cant 47. cypr. ep . 9. ioh. 20. 21. lib. 3. de poenit . cap. 18. ep. 49. ● . quare , quia cecidit cedrus . ep. 27. greg. nazian ▪ oratione de funere patris . ● . sam. 1● . 33. luk. 23. 28. ep. 27. ep. 2. gen. 25. 〈◊〉 . paniga . ps . 12. 1● . 2. sam. 24. 27. oratione in laudem athanas● j. m. foelix . in octav. 1. cor. 15. ●● . lib 5. eccles . poli . sec . 67. lib. 4. de gubernat . dei . the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus, or, the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave, sleeping in jesus delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of ... lady anne waller, at the new church in westminst[er], oct. 31, 1661 : together with the testimony then given unto her / by edm. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1662 approx. 92 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32022 wing c255 estc r1658 13070138 ocm 13070138 97111 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32022) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97111) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 409:21) the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus, or, the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave, sleeping in jesus delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of ... lady anne waller, at the new church in westminst[er], oct. 31, 1661 : together with the testimony then given unto her / by edm. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 32 p. printed by j.h. for nathanael webb ..., london : 1662. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng waller, anne, d. 1661. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2002-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-01 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-01 spi global rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus , or , the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave , sleeping in jesus . delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of that pious and religious lady , the lady anne waller , at the new church in westminst . oct. 31 , 1661. together with the testimony then given unto her . by edm. calamy , b. d. and pastor of aldermanbury . rev. 14.11 . and i heard a voyce from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . john 11 11. our friend lazarus sleepeth , but i go that i may awake him out of sleep . upon which words st. austin saith . domino dormiebat qui eum tantá facilitate excitavit de sepulchro , quanta tu cx citas dormientem de le●to , hominibus autem mo●taus erat , qui eum suscitare non poterant . 1 thes. 4.16 . the dead in christ shall rise first . london , printed by i. h. for nathanael webb , at the royal oak in st. pauls church-yard , near the little north-door , 1662. royall oake printer's or publisher's device to the right worshipful , s r william waller . sir , it hath pleased the wise god , & your heavenly father , to exercise you with variety of sad providences , & to train you up for himself and his kingdom , by many troubles and afflictions . it hath alwaies been his method to prepare his children by light and moment any crosses , for a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory , and by imbittering the pleasures of this world , to sweeten the delights of a better this , sir , hath been your portion , and i doubt not but you have learned , and are instructed by god in whatsoever state you are , therewith to be contented , and are made able to say with david , it is good for you that you have been afflicted . this last trial was one of the sorest that ever yet betided you , being the loss of so precious a lady , so sutable a wife , full of so much goodness and prudence . but when you consider , that your losse is her gain , that she is taken away from the evil to come , that she is not lost , but gone before to her father , and your father , to her god , and your god ; that her soul is at rest in abrahams bosom , and her body , even while in the grave , asleep in iesus , and who it is that hath taken her from you ; this doth much allay the immoderateness of your sorrow , & enables you to say with holy iob , the lord giveth , and the lord taketh , blessed be the name of the lord ; and with holy david , i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . there are three great truthes , which if well digested , will prove heart-quieting , and compose the spirits of gods people , and make them calm and satisfied in the worst of daies and dangers . 1. that all the providences of god , though never so dark and m●sterious , and seemingly contrary to his promises , shall all of them at last concur to the fulfilling of his promises ; for we know that all things shall work together for good to those who love god. 2. that sanctified afflictions are great blessings , and that correction , when joyned with instruction , is a certain character of election . that god had one son without sin , but no son without sorrow ; that afflictions are divine touchstones , to try the truth and strength of our graces , divine furnaces , to purge out the drosse of our sins ; divine files to pare off our spiritual rust , and divine framing houses , to dress us , and make us fit for heaven . 3. that iesus christ hath altered the nature of death , and made it a gate to everlasting life . that christ hath sanctified , sweetned , purchased , conquered , and disarmed death , so as it is now become the best friend we have next to iesus christ. for we shall never be free from sin , nor perfected in grace , nor see god face to face , till we die . this last grand truth is made out fully in the ensuing sermon , wherein also is shewed the benefit that the bodies of the saints obtain while in the grave , by sleeping in iesus . many sermons tell us the advantage that the soul reaps by death , but this will discover what our vile bodies gain even while they are rotting in the grave . sir , it was your desire it should be made publick , and out of pure obedience so it now is . for there is nothing in it that is elaborate , and more then ordinary , or that renders it worthy the perusal of a judicious eye . but the testimony given of your noble lady , as it is true , so ( i conceive ) it is worth reading and imitating , and may well be called a looking-glasse for ladies to dress themselves by every morning . it will teach them to make religion their business , and to spend more time in decking their souls with grace , then their bodies with vain attire , that a neck-lace of graces , is more worth then a neck-lace of pearles . st. hierom writes much in commendation of many holy and religious ladies , living & dying in his dayes , and proposeth them as patterns to others for their imitation . in like manner , i thought meet to propound the example of your most excellent lady , which if well followed in those things wherein she was praise-worthy , will without doubt bring us to everlasting happiness . the lord give a blessing to what is said in the following discourse , and make up to you in himself , what you have lost in the want of your dear consort , and be your comforter and counsellour in all conditions . so prayeth , your servant in the work of the lord , edm. calamy . the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus , or , the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints , even while they lie in the grave , sleeping in jesus : 1 thess . 4.14 . — even so them also which sleep in iesus , will god bring with him . _●n the former verse , the apostle perswades the thessalonians not to mourn immoderately for the saints departed . he doth not forbid them to mourn , but not to mourn without measure . religion doth not abolish natural affections , but only mode 〈…〉 hem . grace doth not destroy , but rectifie nature ; it dep 〈…〉 ot of sense , but teacheth the right use of senses . and he b 〈…〉 divers arguments to diswade us from immoderate m 〈…〉 ning . because this would bewray our ignorance of the blessed estate of gods children after this life . this is set down , v. 13. but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep . 2. this is to act as hopeless , heathens , not as christians . this is put down in the same verse , — that ye sorrow not even as others , that have no hope . though heathens who have no hope of a better life after this , do mourn immeasurably , yet this doth not become christians , who have hope in death , and who believe the life everlasting . 3. because the death of a saint is not an utter extinction , and abolition of the man , but only a quiet and comfortable sleep . verse 13 , 14. 4. because they are so far from being abolished , and utterly extinct , that they are asle●● in iesus . they are , even while they are in their graves , at rest in the arms of jesus . the greek is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they that sleep by jesus . but as grotius observes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so it is taken , rom. 4.11 . 1 tim. 5.14 . and so it is expressely said , v. 16. of this chapter , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the dead in christ. and also , 1 cor. 15.18 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they that sleep in christ. 5. because at the great day of judgment , they shall be raised from out of their graves , and raised to the resurrection of life , and raised by the power of god , and by vertue of their union with christ , v. 14. for if we believe that iesus died , and rose again , even so , them also which sleep in iesus , god will bring with him . even so , that is , as christ died , and rose again , so shall all that are dead in christ , rise again , by vertue of their membership with christ ( for if the head be alive , the members must live also ) and by the power of god. the same god that raised christ from the dead , will raise all that are united to him , and bring them with him at the dreadful day of judgment . 6. because christ will carry all his saints whom he shall raise , up into heaven with him , where they shall be for ever with the lord , in perfect happiness . the text that i have chosen contains three of these arguments , which i shall sum up in these three doctrinal conclusions . doct. 1. that the death of a saint is nothing else but a quiet , comfortable , and blessed sleep . doct. 2. that the bodies of the saints , even while they are in their graves , are asleep in iesus . doct. 3. that iesus christ will raise the dead bodies of the saints , and joyn their souls to them , and bring them with him to judgment , and then carry them into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord. doctrine 1. that the death of a child of god is nothing else but a quiet , comfortable , and happy sleep . for the understanding of this i shall answer to three questions . quest. 1. what part of a child of god is it that sleepeth when he dieth ? ans. there are some who say , that the soul sleepeth as well as the body , and that when a man dies both body and soul lye asleep till the resurrection . and this they prove from the example of stephen , because it is said of him , that he fell asleep . but still the question is , what part of stephen fell asleep ? not his soul : for he commends that into the hands of christ ; lord iesus receive my spirit . and he saw the heavens opened , and the son of man standing on the right hand of god ready to receive his soul immediatly . it was the body of stephen fell asleep , but his soul was presently received by the lord jesus into heaven . when a man dies , his body returns to dust from whence it came , but the soul returns to god who gave it , either to be judged to everlasting happiness , or everlasting misery . indeed , in one sence the soul may be said at death to fall asleep , that is , it is at rest in abrahams bosome : but it is not asleep in the anabaptistical and socinian sence , so as to lie in a dead apoplexy or lethargy ▪ neither capable of joy or sorrow , of happiness or misery till the resurrection . this is a most uncomfortable and unscriptural opinion . when st. paul desires to be dissolved and to be with christ , he doth not desire to lye asleep till the resurrection , and neither to see , know , or enjoy christ , but to be made happy with him , and by him . when christ promised to the penitent thief , that that day he should be with him in paradice ; his meaning was , that he should enjoy unspeakable pleasures with him . thence the jews write upon the graves of their dead friends , let their souls be gathered in the garden of eden , amen , amen , amen . selah . the souls under the altar , of them that were slain for the word of god , and for the testimony which they held , are not in a dull lethargy without sence or understanding , but cry with a loud voice , how long , o lord , holy and true , dost thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth , &c. the souls of just men made perfect in heaven are not asleep , but enjoy coelestial felicity . and the soul of lazarus was immediately upon his death received into abrahams bosome , and filled full of consolation . polycarpe , that ancient and stout champion of jesus christ , when he was at the stake , amongst many other excellent words which he uttered , this was one , that his soul should that very day be represented before god in heaven . the truth is , this opinion of the soul-sleepers is as pernicious as the opinion of those who say , that the soul dies with the body , and riseth with the body . for this sleep must be either natural , or metaphorical ; of the first the soul is not capable , and the second is nothing else but death it self . therefore calvin , in his book written on purpose against these hypnologists , saith excellently , they that say , that the soul lives when out of the body , and yet deprive it of all sense and understanding , do feign to themselves a soul which hath nothing of a soul in it , and divorce the soul it self from it self : for the nature of the soul , without which it cannot any way consist , is to have motion , sence , and understanding . and as tertullian saith , that sence is the very soul of the soul. so much in answer to the first question . quest. 2. is not the death of a wicked man called a sleep as well as the death of a saint ? answ. this cannot be denied . it is said of baasha , omri , and ieroboam , who were three wicked kings , that they slept with their fathers . but then i answer : 1. that this is but very seldome used . 2. that the death of an ungodly man , though it be a sleep , yet it is not a quiet , and comfortable , but a disquietting and terrifying sleep . as nebuchadnezzar was much troubled in his sleep , and , as many sick men have very unquiet sleeps , so as they are more sick when they awake than before they slept , so is it with a wicked man. both good and bad ( saith st. austin ) sleep at death ; but it fares with them as with those who dream in their sleeps : some dream of things delightful , and are comforted : some of terrifying things , insomuch as when they awake they are afraid to sleep again , left their terrifying dreams should return . so ( saith he ) every man sleeps at death according to the condition of the life he hath led , and accordingly riseth and is judged . the souls of good and bad at death have different receptacles ; the good have joy and happiness : the wicked , misery and torment . the soul of the wicked goeth immediately to hell , where it hath little list to sleep , and his body lieth asleep in the grave . but how ? even as a malefactor that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed , but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution . so the wicked man falls asleep at death , but when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting damnation . but a child of god , when he sleeps the sleep of death , he sleeps in the arms of his eldest brother , and when he awakes , he awakes unto everlasting happiness . quest. 3. in what particulars may the death of a child of god be compared to sleep ? answ. i have already in a sermon printed ( without my knowledge ) given thirteen resemblances between death and sleep , and therefore must of necessity here omit them lest i should seem actum agere . at the present i shall only mention these two . 1. the death of a child of god is called a sleep , because he is thereby layed to rest . the scripture calls their graves , their beds of rest . and the apostle tells us , that they which dye in the lord rest from all their labours . they are at rest from all corporal and spiritual evills . first , from all corporal evills . 1. from all sicknesses , diseases , pains , and all other bodily infirmities . death is that great physitian which will cure gods people of all diseases at once , and for ever . thus the blind and lame man said one to the other at the stake : bishop bonner will cure thee and me this day . 2. from all worldly griefe and sorrow . for at death all tears shall be wiped from their eyes , and there shall be no more sorrow , rev. 21.4 . 3. from all laborious and painful employments ; martha shall have no more need to complain of mary , nor shall the prophets of god waste their bodies by preaching . ipsa cessabunt misericordiae spera ubi nulla erit indigentia , nulla miseria . 4. from all the wrongs , injuries , and persecutions of the wicked world . in this life they are mocked , scoffed , and persecuted , but when death comes , they are like a man above in the upper region , where no winds nor storms can come . 5. from the evils to come upon the wicked world . thus st. austin was layed to rest immediately before hippo was taken by the vandals . luther , before the wars brake out in germany , and paraeus before heidleburgh was sack'd by the spaniards . secondly , from all spiritual evils . 1. from the hurt of the devil and his temptations . death puts them above his reach , so as he shall not be able to hurle one fiery dart any longer at them . 2. from evil company , and evil examples . in this life the wheat are mingled with chaff and tares , and cannot but hear the name of the great god blasphemed and dishonoured , which is a great vexation to them , as it was to lot in sodom . but at death they shall be separated from all chaff and tares , and shall never hear god dishonoured any more . 3. from divine desertions . in this life god many times withdraweth the light of his countenance from his sinning children , which is more terrible to them than death it self : for if his loving kindness is better than life , then his frowns are worse than death . but after death the light of gods countenance shall shine perpetually upon them , and never admit either of a cloud , or eclipse . 4. from the very being and existence of sin . the death of the body frees them perfectly from the body of death . death drieth up the bloudy issue of sin , root and branch . as sin at first begat and brought forth death , so death at last destroyes sin , as the worm kills the tree that bred it . therefore st. austin saith , plus restituitur quam amittitur . more is restored to a child of god than he lost in adam : for adam had only a power not to sin , but he by death hath an impossibility of sinning . sin was obstetrix mortis , a midwife to bring death into the world , and death is sepulchrum peccati , a sepulchre to bury sin in . insomuch as death is now become not so much the death of the man , as of his sin and misery . hence it is that our burying places are called by the greeks dormitories , or sleeping-places , and by the hebrews , the houses of the living . 2. the death of a child of god is called a sleep , propter spem resurrectionis . to intimate unto us the assurance of a resurrection . thus christ saith of lazarus , our friend lazarus sleepeth , but i go that i may awake him out of sleep . death is nothing else ( saith st. chrysostome ) but a temporary sleep . sleep is a short death , and death a longer sleep . as he that goeth to sleep , sleeps but for a certain time , and awakes in the morning out of sleep : so he that sleeps the sleep of death , when the trump of god shall found , shall awake , & arise out of his grave as out of his bed in the morning of the resurrection : st. austin saith , that the scripture saith of those that are dead , that they are but asleep , because of the certain hope of a resurrection , by which they shall speedily be awakened from the sleep of death , and raised out of their sepulchres as out of their beds . hence it hath formerly been , and still is a godly custom amongst christians when any of their religious friends die , to say of them , they are not dead , but obdormi●nt in domino , they are asleep in the lord. and this they do for the comfort of their relations , and to create in them a contempt of this present life , and a sure and certain hope of a resurrection unto life everlasting . before i make use of this , i shall speak something to the second doctrine . doctrine 2. that the bodies of the saints , even while they are in their graves , are asleep in iesus — they that sleep in iesus . this is a very excellent and singularly comfortable expression , worthy to be seriously weighed and considered . for the understanding of it i will shew , first , what it is to sleep in iesus . secondly , what glorious benefits and advantages come to the bodies of the saints by this priviledge . 1. what it is to sleep in iesus . this expression signifieth two things . 1. that a true saint dieth a member of christ , united to him by a lively saith . he is one that abideth in the faith till the last gasp , and ( as the apostle saith ) dieth in the lord ; that is , engraffed into the lord iesus christ. 2. that he doth not only die in christ , but continueth a member of christ , and united to him even while he is in the grave . for this text speaks of all saints departed from the beginning of the world — so also they that sleep in iesus ; that is , they that are now in their graves , and are there asleep in jesus . the like phrase is used , 1 cor. 15.18 . then they also which are fallen asleep in christ are perished . the apostle speaks of such who had been long in their graves , and yet all that while were asleep in christ. the bodies of the saints in the grave , though turned to dust , are yet notwithstanding united to christ , and members of his body ; and though separated from their souls , yet are not separated from christ : even as the body of christ , while in the grave , was even then united to his divine person . though soul and body were separated one from the other , yet neither of them were separated from the divine person . so the body of a man in christ , though separated by death from his soul , yet it is not separated from christ. though it say to corruption , thou art my father , and to the vvorms , thou art my mother , and my sister , yet it may say also to christ , thou art my brother , and to god , thou art my father . and therefore the saints , even while they are in their graves , are said to be christs , 1 cor. 15.23 . — afterwards they that are christs at his coming . and are said to be dead in christ , 1 thes. 4.16 . not only to die in christ , but to be dead in christ ; that is , to continue in christ even while dead . and that they do so , appears further by these two reasons : reas. 1. because the union between christ and a true christian is spiritual and everlasting . 1. it is spiritual , and therefore needs no vicinity of place to preserve it . a husband and wife , a father and his child are really united together , though a thousand miles distant . 2. it is everlasting , hos. 2.19 . i will besroath thee unto me for ever , &c. herein it exceeds the union between a man and his wife , which is only till death them do part . but the union between christ and a true christian is not separated by death : once in christ , ever in christ , joh. 8.35 . reas. 2. because death is christs purchase , and part , of the saints ioynture . the apostle tells the corinthians , all things are yours , whether paul , or apollo , &c. or life or death , &c. and ye are christs , &c. these words teach us these two lessons : 1. that death is part of the saints magna charta as well as life . death is the believers rich portion , and peculiar priviledge . 2. that christ hath purchased death for his children , as properly as life . he hath made over death for their joynture , and rich portion , as much as paul , apollo , or cephas , nay , as much as heaven it self . christ hath altered the nature of death , insomuch as that now it is become our best friend next to iesus christ : for we shall never be rid of sin , nor perfected in grace , nor see god face to face till we dye . it is become a gate to heaven , an outlet to all misery , and an inlet to everlasting happiness . now then if death be christs purchase , and a part of the saints ioynture , without doubt , it doth not separate us from christ , for then it would be but an ill purchase , and joynture , obtained not for our good , but our great hurt , contrary to the express words of the apostle , and also contrary to rom. 8.28 . all things work together for the good of those that love god. et mors praecipue , and especially death , as st. austin saith . the second thing propounded , is , to shew what those glorious benefits and advantages are , which the bodies of the saints enjoy while they are in their graves asleep in jesus . for answer to this , you must know , that as soon as ever the soul departs out of the body , the body presently loseth all its beauty and comliness , and becomes a rotten and stinking carkass ; it goeth down to the house of rottenness , to the dungeon of darkness , and is layed in the cold earth , dust to dust , ashes to ashes . and yet even then it hath a six-fold benefit , by being asleep in jesus . 1. though the body be turned to dust , yet that very dust is pretious in gods sight . as the death of the saints , so also their dust is precious to god. there is a twofold dust that god loves . 1. the dust of sion . 2. the dust of his saints . first , the dust of sion , psal. 102.13 , 14. secondly , the dust of the saints . the golden ore in the mine is not so pretious to us , as this golden dust is to god. iob tells us , that out of the earth comes the dust of gold ; but i may truly say , that in the earth there is golden dust , even the dust of gods saints . as balaam saith concerning the people of israel , who can count the dust of iacob , and the number of the fourth part of israel ? so may i say , who can sufficiently express the love that god bears to the dust of iacob , and to the bodies of his people , while in their graves ? the apostle tells us , that neither life nor death is able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ iesus our lord. god loves the bodies of his saints as well as their souls , and their bodies when turned to dust . that very dust is part of gods election , ( for god hath elected the bodies of his saints unto eternal life , as well as their souls ) and it is part of christs redemption , and the spirits sanctification . o what a comfort is this to a dying child of god! though all his friends will forsake him when brought to the grave ( the husband will leave his dear wife , and the children their dear father ) yet god will not forsake him , but go down to the grave with him , and the watchful eye of his providence will be over his dust and ashes . and as rispah kept the dead bodies of sauls seven sons , and spread a tent over them , so as the birds of the air could not hurt them by day , nor the beasts of the field by night . so will god keep the dead bodies of his saints , and spread the curtain of his protection over them , and as he took care of them while they were in the sepulchre of their mothers wombe , so he will also take care of them while they are in the sepulchre of their mother earth . he that loved them in sepulchro uteri , will love them in utero sepulchri . 2. they that sleep in iesus have this benefit by it , that christ by his burial hath sanctified the grave , and sweetned it , and perfumed it , insomuch , that though in its own nature , it be as loathsome prison , a house of rottenness , and a place of terrour ; yet to a man dead in christ , the nature of it is altered , and to him it is as a soft bed , wherein he is laid down quietly to take his rest , and there to remain asleep , free from all cares , fears , and troubles till the resurrection of the dead . though the grave in its own nature be a dreadful place , a stinking charnel-house , and a rotten prison to the wicked and ungodly , where they lye waiting for the great assizes ; yet to the children of god , christ hath made it a magazin and store-house to keep their bodies safe till the great resurrection . and he hath also made it a beaten and plain way to heaven . christ jesus himself went to heaven thorough the grave , and so must we and all the godly . we must first put off the rags of mortality , before we can put on the robes of immortality . to a wicked man , the grave is a thorough-fare to hell , but to a man asleep in jesus it is a passage to heaven , where christ is . and if st. austin was willing to go even thorough hell to christ in heaven , much more may we be willing to go thorough the grave to him . 3. they that sleep in iesus have this benefit also , that by their union with christ , and by the watchful providence of god , there is a substance preserved , so as they are not utterly extinct , and annihilated by death , but something of their bodies remain undestroyed . there is nothing utterly , totally , and finally destroyed in a child of god by death , but sin and misery . the rotting of the body in the grave is but as the rotting of the corn in the earth , as the apostle saith , 1 cor. 15.36 . the seed is cast into the earth , and there it dieth , and rotteth , but is not utterly extinct , but rotteth in the ground , that it may be quickned again : so the bodies of the saints rot in their graves that they may be raised again , and made like unto the glorious body of iesus christ. and this is another reason why the death of a child of god is called a sleep , because as a man asleep is not extinct , no more is he in the grave . there is a substance preserved , and as david saith of an afflicted righteous man , that god keepeth all his bones , not one of them is broken : so god keepeth the dust and ashes of his children , so as they shall not be utterly and totally consumed . object . but is there not a substance preserved also in the bodies of the wicked ? answ. it is true , their bodies are not utterly destroyed , but remain , not by vertue of their union with christ , but preserved by the almighty power of god as a terrible lord , and severe iudge , and remain , as in a prison , till the great day of judgment , in which they shall appear before christ , and then be condemned to hell . happy were it for a wicked man if his body were annihilated by death , ( as it were happy for a traytor if he died in prison , and escaped hanging . ) but herein consisteth the difference between him and a man asleep in jesus , a man out of christ is not properly preserved in the grave , but rather reserved by the power of christ to be afterwards tormented in hell : but a man in christ is not only reserved , but by vertue of his union with christ , and preserved to enjoy eternal glory with their souls at the great day of judgment . 4. he that sleepeth in jesus hath this benefit also , that though his body lieth rotting in the grave , yet his soul is all the while in heaven , where it enjoyeth the glorious presence of god , and of his saints and angels : i say , his soul , which is his best half , which is the man of man , is in heaven . indeed , his body , which is but as the box and carkass , is in the grave ; but the substance and iewel is in heaven . object . what benefit doth the body in the grave gain by his souls being in heaven ? answ. i gains this double benefit : 1. if his soul be in heaven , it is certain the body will come thither at last : for it is but as the shadow to the substance , and if the substance be in heaven , the shadow will undoubtedly follow . 2. though the soul be in heaven , yet it can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till it be reunited to the body . for god made the soul to be the form of the body , and to dwell for ever in it : and if it had not been for adams transgression , the body and soul should never have been separated . this separation is the fruit of sin , and therefore the soul in heaven hath appetitum unionis , a desire to have this breach made up , and to be united again to his body , because he shall have a more perfect and compleat being with it than without it . the scripture tells us , that it waits for the redemption of his body , and that it prayeth that god would accomplish the number of his elect , that so they may again be joyned to their bodies , and have coronam perfectam & publicam , a publick and perfect crown of glory . the souls in heaven ( saith bernard ) pray for their bodies in the grave ; they are not like the chief butler , who forgat ioseph when he was restored to his former dignity . they remember they have bodies still in the grave , which were companions with them in the service of god , in prayer , and fasting , and suffering afflictions for christ. and they know , that by reunion with them their happiness will be much increased ; and therefore they cannot cease pra●ing for them , and christ will in due time come in glory to raise them up unto everlasting life . a fifth benefit that accrueth to the body that is asleep in jesus , is , that christ himself cannot be perfect till it be raised from the dead . as a natural body cannot be perfect without all its members , no more can christ mystical , as head of his church , be perfect till every member of his body be glorified . therefore it is said , eph. 1.23 . that the church is the fulness of him who filleth all in all , which is to be understood of that voluntary condition , whereunto christ hath subjected himself in being the head of the body , that is , his church . so that as a natural body is maimed and imperfect if the least member be wanting : so is christ , as head of his church , maimed and imperfect till all the bodies that are asleep in iesus be reunited to their souls , and received into glory for ever with christ. lastly , the body by being asleep in iesus , hath this great benefit , that though it lieth rotting in the grave , yet it resteth in hope . this was davids comfort , psalm 16.9 . therefore my heart is glad , and my glory rejoyceth , my flesh also shall rest in hope . there is not a member of christ , but when he is breathing out his last breath , may use davids words with davids comfort — my heart is glad , my glory rejoyceth , and my flesh also ( which is shortly to be put into the grave ) shall rest in hope , in a forefold hope : 1. that it shall rise again . 2. that the same body shall rise . 3. that it shall rise by vertue of its union with christ. 4. that it shall rise to glory everlasting . and this leads me to to the third and last doctrine . doctrine 3. that iesus christ will raise the dead bodies of those that sleep in him , and raise them as their head and saviour , and bring them with him to iudgment , and then carry them into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord. all these particulars are comprehended in the words of the text — god will bring with him . but before he brings them , he must first raise them . the bodies of the saints shall not alwaies dwell in the dust ; therefore the prophet isaiah calls upon them to awake and sing , awake and sing , ye that dwell in dust . a strange expression ! is there any cause of rejoycing for those who dwell in dust ? yes ; awake and sing ye which dwell in dust , for the earth shall give up the dead which are in it , and the sea also . as the whale cast up ionah on the shoar , so shall the sea cast up her dead . when ionah was swallowed up by the whale , one would have thought he had been utterly lost , yet god did but speak a word to the whale , and he cast him on the dry land . the grave to an atheistical eye is like the belly of the whale ; and an atheist is ready to think , that the child of god is utterly lost . but when the trumpet shall sound , and the arch-angel speak the word , the whale shall cast up ionah ; the sea shall give up her dead , and the earth also , for they are but gods stewards , unto whom he hath betrusted the bodies of his saints , and when god calls them to give an account of their stewardship , they will give in a most faithful account , and will not leave one body behind . they are but tyring-houses or with-drawing rooms for a while ; they are but sleeping-places . and as a man when he goeth to sleep hopeth to awake again in the morning ; so do the saints of god fall asleep by death with a sure and certain hope of a resurrection from the dead . so then , all that sleep in jesus shall rise again . and they shall arise with the same bodies , ( the same for substance , though not for qualities ) otherwise it were no resurrection , but a new creation . christ tells us , that all that are in the graves shall hear his voice , and shall come forth . the apostle tells us , that this mortall body shall put on immortality , and this corruptible body shall put on incorruption . this was iobs comfort upon the dunghill , that with these very eyes he shoould see his redeemeer . and it cannot stand with gods justice , that one body should sin , and another be condemned , and one body serve him , and another be crowned . the same body then shall rise . and rise by vertue of its union with christ. this is hinted in the text — for if we believe that iesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in iesus will god bring with him . by the same power by which christ raised up himself , by the same power he will raise all that are by the spirit united to him : for he is the husband of his church , and the husband will raise his spouse . he is the shepheard and king of his church , and the shepheard will raise his sheep , and the king his subjects ; and therefore he is called the first fruits of them that sleep . as the first fruits did sanctifie the whole lump : so by christ's resurrection all that die in the lord are sanctified unto him , and assured of their resurrection by him . and it is said , as in adam all die , even so in christ shall all be made alive ; that is , all that are in christ shall be raised by the power of christ , as their head , and as their merciful saviour and redeemer . if the head be above the water , the body cannot be drowned , but will rise after it . and let me add . it shall rise after a most glorious manner ; it is sown in corruption , but it shall be raised in incorruption . it is sown in dishonour , but it shall be raised in glory . it is sown in weakness , but it shall be raised in power . it is sown a natural body , but it shall be raised a spiritual body . for jesus christ in his incarnation assumed our bodies , as well as our souls , and at his death , suffered for us , in his body , as well as in his soul. our bodies are united to him , and members of him , temples of the holy ghost , and instruments in his service , as well as our souls . and therefore he will glorifie our bodies , as well as our souls , and make them like unto his own glorious body . it is impossible to set out all the glory that god will bestow upon the bodies of his saints , at the great resurrection . eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath in entred into the heart of man to conceive what god hath prepared , even for the bodies of those that love him . some part of this glory i have discovered already in a funeral sermon in print , and therefore shall now forbear to mention it . the bodies of the wicked shall come out of their graves , as out of their prisons , as so many malefactors , to appear before an angry iudge . they shall come out of their graves , as the chief baker did out of prison , to be executed in hell for ever . they shall rise with great fear and trembling , and shall call to the rockes and mountains , to hide and cover them from the wrath of the lamb. but the bodies of those who sleep in jesus , shall rise out of their graves , as out of their beds , with great ioy and rejoycing . they shall come out of their graves , as ionah out of the whales belly , as daniel out of the lions den , as the chief butler , who came out of prison , to be restored to all his former dignities , and as ioseph , who after his release out of the go●l , was made lord of egypt . so shall the bodies of the saints be raised out of their graves , to be made like unto the angels , and to have their faces shine like the sun in the firmament , and to be crowned with everlasting glory . now the dead in christ , thus raised , christ will bring with him , at the great and dreadful day of judgment , and he will cause them to sit with him in his throne , as he sits with the father in his throne , rev. 3.21 . and he will advance them to be iudges of all the wicked and ungodly , and not only of wicked men , but of the wicked angels ; i say to be judges , as coassessors with christ , and approvers of his sentence . this is a high preferment , not proper ( as the papists think ) to the apostles , and such who have left all for christ , but common to all the saints of god , who are such indeed and in truth . i deny not , but that the apostles shall have eminentiorem thronum , a more eminent degree of glory then other saints . but yet this honour of judging the world , is common to all saints , to the least , as well as to the greatest . they that now are judged and condemned by the wicked of the world , shall one day , sit with christ in his throne , and judge their iudges , they that are now tempted , buffeted , and somtimes foy●ed by satan , shall one day be judges of him and all his angels . now after the day of judgment is finished , christ will carry up all that sleep in him , with himself into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord in perfect happiness . so much for the explication of the three doctrines . use 1. let us not mourn immoderately for the death of our godly friends and relations . this is the use which the apostle would have us to make . mourn we may , but not as the heathen , who have no hope . let us remember , that the death of a child of god is nothing else but a comfortable and blessed sleep ; that he goes to the grave , as to his bed , and there lieth free ( as a man asleep ) from all cares and troubles , and at rest from all his labours , that even while he is in the grave , he is asleep in iesus , and there continueth a member of his body ; that his very dust is precious in gods sight , and part of gods election , christs redemption , and the spirits sanctification . that by vertue of its union with christ , his body while in the grave , is not utterly extinct , but there is a substance , not only reserved , but preserved , to be raised to everlasting glory . that christ hath so perfumed the grave , as that it is nothing else to him , but as a tyring-house , and withdrawing-room . in a word , that he lieth down in his bed till the morning of the resurrection , and then he shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality , and his vile body shall be made like unto the glorious body of iesus christ. let us comfort one another with these words : let us not weep immeasurably for those from whom all tears are wiped away , but let us consider their unspeakable g●in . death hath put an end to all their temporal and spiritual evils , and opened a door for them to everlasting happiness . use 2. let these doctrines serve as a precious antidote to all the people of god against the fear of death , and of the grave . why should we fear that , which if it should not happen , we should be superlatively miserable ? as the apostle saith , if we had hope only in this life , we were of all people most miserable ; and therefore when there was a rumour spread concerning st. iohn , that he should never die , he himself , ch. 21.23 . rectifieth the mistake ; yet iesus said not unto him , he shall not die . as if he should say , god forbid i should be so miserable , as never to die . though a man in christ could live for ever in this world , and be alwaies young , rich and healthful , yet he would account himself most miserable , because while he is here , he is absent from christ , who is his life , and from god , who is his happiness , and full of sin , which is his greatest burden . and therefore as iacob rejoyced , when he saw the chariots which should carry him to his son ioseph , so should the people of god rejoyce , when death approacheth , which will carry them to christ. and as god said to iacob , fear not to go down to egypt , for i will go down with thee , and i will also surely bring thee up again : so , methinks , i hear god saying to all his children , fear not to go down to the house of rottenness , for i will go with you , and tarry with you , and watch over your dead as●es with the eye of my providence , and will surely bring you out again , and raise you unto eternal glory . let us not look upon death , as presented unto us in natures looking-glass , but as it is set down in a scripture-dress . nature presents death in a terrible manner : the philosopher cals it , of all terrible things , most terrible . iob cals it the king of terrors , it is terrible three manner of waies . 1. because it is a separation between two dear and ancient friends , the soul and the body , who having lived long together , are very loath to part asunder . there is nothing more contrary to flesh and bloud , then the separation of the one from the other . 2. because it is the fruit of sin . for the wages of sin is death . had adam never sinned , we never should have died ; by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin , and this makes it terrible . 3. because of the after-claps of death . for after death comes iudgment , and after judgment , everlasting salvation , or everlasting condemnation . this makes death very terrible to those who have the guilt of sin upon them unrepented of , and who are under the just fear of everlasting burnings , and indeed to all men out of christ , death is of all terrible things most terrible , as you shall hear in the next use. but to you that are in christ , the sting of death is taken away , and it is become of all desirable things , most desirable ; it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the apostle saith ; it is much far better . it is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep ; a putting off our cloaths and going to bed till the morning of the resurrection . therefo●e austin saith , that a child of god should be as willing to die , as to put off his cloaths , because death is nothing else to him , but a putting off of his body ( which is animae vestimentum , the souls garment ) and a departure from misery to everlasting happiness , a le●ting the soul , as a bird , out of the cage of the body that it may flee to heaven . death to a child of god is the birth-day of heavens eternity , a putting off of its earthly tabernacle , and a going to a house made without hands , eternal in the heavens . it is an uncloathing of himself , that he may be cloathed upon with his house which is in heaven . it is a going to his fathers house , where he shall enjoy perfect and perpetual happiness . there are 10 springs and fountains of consolation to a true saint against the fear of death . 1. when he dieth , though his body be laid in the grave , yet his soul is immediatly received up into heaven , his best part is at the instant of death blessed and happy . 2. his body at death doth not die , but only sleepeth ( as christ said of dead lazarus ) and is at rest , and is asleep in iesus , even while it is in the grave , and is part of that man who is a member of christ , and under the care and love of god. 3. his soul , though it be in heaven , can never be perfectly and compleatly happy , till his body be joyned to it . 4. christ himself , as he is the head of his church , can never be perfect till his body be raised from the dead , and crowned with a crown of glory . 5. christ hath conquered death for him , he hath not only sweetned and sanctified it , but conquered it , according as it was fore prophesied , — i will ransom them from the power of the grave , i will redeem them from death ; o death i will be thy plagues ; o grave i will be thy destruction . he hath led captivity captive , and death is one of those captives , as well as the devil . he hath disarmed death , and taken away the sting of it , so as to a man in christ , death is a serpent without a sting . it is like the viper which skipt upon s. pauls hand , which did not at all hurt him . it is like the brazen serpent , which though it had the shape of a serpent , yet it hadnot the nature of it , but was a healing , not a stinging serpent . so is death to a child of god. it is so far from hurting of him , that it is now by christs death , become his greatest advantage , and he may triumph over it , and say with the ap. o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to god , which giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ. 6. there is this spring also of consolation against the fear of death , because he that hath an interest in christ , cannot die suddenly , though he die never so suddenly , that is , though he die never so suddenly in regard of time , yet he can never die suddenly in regard of preparation . for he is alwaies habitually fitted , and prepared for death , he is justified by faith , and sanctified by the spirit , and is above the hurt of damnation : for there is no condemnation to those that are in christ. he hath not his graces to seek , when he comes to die , which is no little happiness . 7. he can never die miserable , though he die never so miserably . though he die upon a dunghil , or in a goal , or upon the gallows , or at a stake , wheresoever , and howsoever he dies , he dies happily . for so saith the apostle , blessed are the dead which die in the lord. they are blessed , though they die upon a dunghil . though stephen was stoned to death , yet he died happily ; for while he was stoning , he saw the heavens opened , and christ ready to receive him . though lazarus was starved to death , yet he died blessedly , because the angels carried his soul into abrahams b●som . though king iosiah died in war , yet he died in peace . a man in christ dieth in the arms of christ , and though he dieth never so miserably , as to his outward condition , yet he may sing a nunc dimittis with old simeon , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . 8. there are 3 expressions which the scripture useth concerning death , which are singular fountains of consolation against the fear of it . 1. the apostle s. peter cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 2 pet. 1.15 . i will endeavour that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my decease , &c. death is nothing else , but an exodus out of egypt , unto our heavenly canaan . it is not a dying , but a transmigration , a passage from the valley of death into the land of the living . 2. the apostle s. paul cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , phil. 2.23 . i desire to be dissolved , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is ( as grotius interprets it ) that my soul may return to god from whom it first came . others say , it is a metaphor taken from mariners , who are said to loose from the haven , when they depart from the shore . death is nothing but a hoysing up of sayl ( as it were ) for heaven . 3. old simeon cals it a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , now lord lettest thou thy servant depart in peace . the greek word signifieth a release , and dismission out of prison . thus it is taken , acts 16.35 , acts 5.40 luke 23.17 . and it holds forth these two lessons . 1. that the soul is in the body as in a prison . therefore the greek words for the body , are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vincio . and petrarch saith , that he that glorieth in the strength of his body , glorieth in the strength of his prison . and when plato saw one of his scholars overcuriously pampering his body , he said to him , what do you mean to make your prison so strong ? the soul is in the body as in a prison , in 3 respects . 1. because the soul is hidden in the body , as a man is hidden in a prison . as plato saith of vertue , that if a man could see it with corporal eyes , he could not but love it . so may i say of the soul ; if a man could see the beauty , glory and excellency of it , he could not but admire it , and highly value it . but it is hidden in the body as in a prison . 2. because the soul is hindred by the body , and that three waies . 1. it is hindred from heaven . for whilst we are in the body , we are absent from the lord , and we cannot be with christ , till we be dissolved . and this is truly a prison wherein a man is absent from his best friends and acquaintance . 2. it is hindred from heavenly operations . for the body takes up all the time from the soul ; as the lean kine of pharaoh devoured the fat , so the provision for the feeding and cloathing of the body , eats up the time that should be spent about the soul. it is with the soul and body , as it was with abraham and lot. abraham had his cattel and his servants , and lot his , so that the country was too narrow for them . so the soul hath her work , and the body his , and there is hardly time enough for both ; so as the one must needs hinder the other , and they never will be well till separated . the cloath is too short to cover them both . and this must needs be a great bondage when the handmaid shall be preferred before her mistress , hagar before sarah . 3. it is hindred in all its heavenly operations . for the body weigheth down the soul. as a bird that hath a stone tied to its leg , is weighed down that it cannot fly aloft . so is the heavenly soul in the best christian depressed by the body , that it cannot mount aloft in prayer and other holy exercises . the soul and body are like a pair of scales , the more the one is up , the more the other goeth down . as sauls armour was a burden to david , so is the body to the soul. the body is quickly tired in the service of god. the spirit is willing , but the flesh is weak , like a strong man upon a jadish horse , &c. 3. because the soul is defiled by the body , as a man in a nasty prison . god gave man a heavenly soul , and an earthly body , that the heavenly soul might lift up the earthly body towards heaven : but now it fares quite contrary . our earthly bodies have weighed down our heavenly souls , and made them earthly and sensual . tamdiu versata est anima in tabernaculo , ut ipsa versa est in tabernaculum . the soul hath lived so long in a body of flesh , that it is ( as it were ) fleshified , and bodified . the soul looks through an eye of flesh , and every thing seems fleshly to it . it is diverted by the body from its true end. the true end of the soul is to know god , to love , fear and serve him . but the body diverts the stream , and turns the soul to serve men , and to provide for back and belly . and therefore it may fitly be called the souls prison . 2. it holds forth this lesson also , that death is the souls goal-delivery . it is the letting of it loose from its bonds and fetters . its is setting it at liberty , like a bird escaped out of a cage . now lord let thy servant depart ; that is , be set at liberty from the prison of my body . 9. there is this comfort also against the fear of death , that iesus christ is gone to heaven on purpose to prepare a place for the dead bodies of his saints , and he will come again , and raise them up , and take them to himself , that where he is , there they may be also , john 14.2 , 3. therefore he is said to go into heaven as a forerunner , heb. 6.20 . whither the forerunner is for us entred . now a forerunner supposeth some that are to follow . christ is entred before , to take up lodgings for all that are asleep in him , and hath ( as it were ) written their several names upon their several lodgings , as is intimated , heb. 12.23 . to the church of the first-born , which are written in heaven ; and keeps them empty till they come to heaven to fill them , as is hinted , 1 pet. 1.4 . — reserved for you in heaven . therefore we are said to fit with him in heavenly places , because he went up to take possession of it for our use , and benefit , and fits there in our nature , and as our head , not as a private citizen of heaven , but as a representative of all the elect of god , and will ere long come down , and take them up to himself , and so they shall ever be with the lord. 10. the last spring of consolation against the fear of death is , that death will put a perfect and perpetual end to all his miseries , whether spiritual or corporal ( as i have shewed ) and open a door to infinite and unexpressible happiness for ever and ever . let these ten considerations be made use of , as precious antidotes against the flavish fear of death . use 3. the woful and miserable condition of those , who die in an unregenerate condition , in their sins unrepented on , and whose bodies lye in the grave ● not asleep in iesus , but asleep in sin ; to these men death is of all formidable things most formidable . it is a most cruel , biting , and devouring serpent with eight stings . 1. to a man out of christ , death puts an end to all his outward contentments , to all his riches , honours , and pleasures , to whatsoever a wicked man accounts his heaven , and his happiness ; and this must needs be as a stinging serpent to him . we read of micah , that when the men of dan stole away his gods , he followed them crying , and they turned back , and asked him what aileth thee ? he answered , ye have taken away my gods , &c. and do you say to me , what aileth thee ? when a wicked man dies he looseth all his gods , for he maketh his riches , honours and pleasures his gods , and no wonder the memory of death is so bitter to him . 2. it deprives him of all his hopes . for when a wicked man dieth , his expectation shall perish , and the hope of unjust men perisheth . the righteous hath hope in death . his motto is , dum expiro , spero . but a wicked mans hope perisheth at death , and gives up the ghost , job 11.20 . his motto is dum expiro , despero death puts an end both to his hopes . earthly and heavenly 1. to his earthly hopes a wicked man builds castles in the air , and promiseth great matters to himself , and saith , as the rich man , soul , thou hast much goods laid up for many years , take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry . but god saith to him . thou fool , this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided . death dasheth all his earthly hopes ; and that which is worse , 2. death dasheth all his spiritual and supernatural hopes . a wicked man is ready to nourish in himself a presumptuous hope of heaven , and doubts not but that he shall be saved ; but when he comes to die , all his hopes of heaven perish , and are as a spiders web , easily swept away , iob 8.14 . the lord rejecteth his vain confidence , jer. 2.37 . now this is a misery above expression , for a man to be disappointed of his eternal hopes . 3. death puts an end to all the sweetness , pleasure and profit that is in sin . there are two things in the serpent , sin . the speckled black , and the sting in the tail of it . the pleasures of sin for a season , and the eternal pains attending it . a man out of christ while he is alive and in health , sucks out the carnal sweetness that is in sin , it is as honey to his mouth . but when death comes , the sweetness of sin vanisheth , and nothing remains but the sting and torment of it . even as a thief , as long as he is unfound out , lives merrily upon what he hath stolen , but when he is found , and cast into prison and condemned to be hanged , then he feels nothing but bitterness and sorrow . so it is with a wicked man ; as long as he is in health and in prosperity , he takes great delight and content in sinning , but when he comes to be attached and arrested with death , then the misery and cursedness of sin appears before him . then he begins to say , where is all the carnal pleasure i once took in my sinfull courses ? nothing now remains but the sting . momentaneum quod delectat , aternum quod cruciat . that which delighted me was but momentany , but that which will torment me , is eternal . 4. death must needs be a stinging serpent to a man out of christ , because it puts conscience into office to wound and torture him . the great design of a wicked man in health is to blind , or bribe his conscience ; but death puts it into office , and sets it on his proper throne ; and conscience once awakened becomes a biting serpent , and a gnawing worm , never suffering him to be at rest night nor day . sin is like a piece of wood , which while it is in the water seems very light , floating on the top of it , but when it comes to the shoar , ten men can hardly stir that , which one man before might have carried which way he lifted . while a wicked man is in health and in prosperity , his sins seem light to him , but when he comes to the shoar of death , then they begin to be heavy , then conscience , like a mastive dog , flies in his face , and his sins appear in their ugly colours , with all the aggravating circumstances , and sting him exceedingly . 5. death puts an end to gods patience , to the day of grace and mercy , and to all the means of salvation . for there is no repenting in the grave whither we are going . this life is a day of grace and salvation . now ahashuerosh holds forth his golden scepter . now the hour-glass of patience is running , the draw-bridge is let down , and the white flag of mercy is hanged out ; but when death comes , the white flag is taken down , the hour-glass run out , the draw-bridge taken up , the day of grace and patience at an end . et qui fluvios sanguinis nunc dabit guttam aqua in inferno negabit . and he that will now give us rivers of his blood to wash away our sins , will not in hell give us a drop of water . 6. a man out of christ hath also this unhappiness , that whensoever he dieth , he dieth suddenly , though he die never so leasurely ; suddenly in regard of preparation , though not in regard of time , for he dieth like the foolish virgins , having his oyl to buy , his graces and evidences for heaven to get , which is no little misery . for death is a time of spending , not geting , whether you consider the soul , or the body . and as that man is in a sad condition , as to his outward estate , that hath laid up nothing in health to maintain him in sickness ; so he is in a sadder , as to his eternal estate , that is unprovided at death of a stock of grace , and scripture cordials . this man dieth suddenly though he die never so leasurely . 7. he dieth miserably , though he die never so happily ; though in his bed , and in his old age ; though buried in great pomp , yet dying in his sins he is cursed at death , and cursed after death . 8. lastly , and especially , because death opens a door to endless and easeless miseries . it is gaudiorum finis & malorum omnium principium , the end of all his joy , and the beginning of all his misery . if death were an utter extinction , and annihilation it were not so terrible ; but herein is the terrour of it , because it lets the soul out of the prison of the body , to go to the everlasting prison of hell. death is gods sergeant to arrest a wicked man , and after arrest to carry him to the iudge , there to receive the sentence of condemnation , and after that to be delivered over to the gaoler , to be carried to the fiery prison of hell , there to remain for ever . it deals with every wicked man as it did with dives , it carrieth him a tenebris ad tenebras , from the darkness of sin , to the darkness of hell. all these particulars shew unto us the woful and miserable condition of those who die out of christ. use 4. let us all labour so to live , that when we come to die , we may be sure to sleep in iesus . for all the ten forementioned fountains of consolation , against the fear of death , belong only to those who sleep in jesus . quest. what must we do that we may be made partakers of so great a happiness . answ. we must do two things . 1. we must labour to get into christ while we live , and we shall be sure to die in christ when we die , and sleep in him when in the grave . we must make it not our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not our ultimum , but our primum quaerite . not our last , but our first and chief work to get out of the old adam into the new adam , out of the root of abomination , into the root of acceptation by a christ-appropriating faith. for it is the great office of justifying faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as chrys. saith ) to bring us into the possession of jesus christ. we must be willing to part with all our goodly pearles to buy this pearle of price . we must account all things but dung and dross ( all creature excellencies , all church-priviledges , and all civil righteousness ) and suffer the loss of all things that we may gain christ. 2. we must labour to get a death-enduring assurance of our interest in christ. the reason why many of gods children are so unwilling to die , is , because they do not know their title to christ , and the happiness of those that die in him . before old iacob knew his son ioseph to be alive , he received no comfort by his being alive . before mary magdalene knew the person with whom she discoursed to be christ , she was not revived by discoursing with him . before a child of god knows that christ is his , and hath purchased death for his great advantage , it is impossible for him to embrace it with comfort . this then is the second work of every good christian , and the work of his whole life to get a tribunal proof assurance of his being in christ. quest. how may a man know that he hath an interest in christ ? answ. by three texts of scripture . 1. by 2 cor. 5.17 . if any man be in christ he is a new creature . he that is inwardly and outwardly renewed ( renewed in every part though imperfectly in every part ) may assure himself of his interest in christ. 2. by rom. 8.1 . there is no condemnation to them that are in christ iesus , who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit . a man may have flesh in him , and yet be in christ , but he that walks after the flesh and makes provision for it , to fulfill the lusts of it hath no share in him . but he that walks after the spirit , and is led by the spirit , and is spiritually minded , may be assured of his interest in christ. 3. by gal. 5.24 . they that are christs , have crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts . they that make it their work to crucifie not only the flesh , but the affections and lusts of it , and are alwayes crucifying and mortifying it , are in a gospel-account esteemed as c●ucifiers of the flesh , and do crucifie it ( desiderio & conatu , though not actu ) in their desires and indeavours , though they cannot while in the body perfectly subdue it ; and may be confident that christ is theirs , and they are christs , and that christ jesus shall be to them in life and death advantage . that you may be the better encouraged to make it the work of your whole life , to gain christ , and an assurance that you have gained him ; let me set before you the example of this excellent lady ( the lady anne waller ) for whose funeral we are here met this night . of whom i may truly say as nazianzene of his sister gorgonia , that we need not fear lest we should exceed in praising her too much , but rather lest we should be deficient in praising her too little . it is not my custom to speak much in commendation of the dead ; but something i must crave leave to speak at this time , not so much for her commendation ( for she hath no need now of our eulogies ) but for our imitation . i shall not at all mention her birth and noble extraction , nor meddle with any thing that concerns her in her natural and civil capacities ; but only speak something about her piety and godliness ; which indeed is the truest nobility . she was ( as saint iohn stiles the lady to whom he wrote his second epistle ) an elect lady ; whether you take elect , for a choise and pretious lady , or for one who was elected by god from all eternity unto life everlasting : she was one who made religion her business , nor ( as some ladies do ) her idle hour , but her daily labour : one who sought first the kingdom of god and his righteousness , making it her care to walk before god in truth and uprightness of heart , and to keep a conscience void of offence both towards god , and towards man. she was early conversed to iesus christ , and that she continued stedfast in faith and holinesse to her lives end , appears by these following demonstrations . she was 1. a diligent attender upon gospel ordinances , delighting much in the house of god , and preferring the word of god above her appointed food . a constant writer of sermons , and wrote them in her heart as well as in her book , and her life was an exact commentary upon the sermons she heard . she hath a large book in folio written with her own hand , wherein under several heads of divinity , she hath registred the observations of her reading both out of the scriptures ( which were her delight ) and out of the writings of our best divines , and out of her own experiences . 2. very conscientious in observing the lords day . her custom was after sermon both in the morning , and afternoon to retire into her chamber , and to call before her her maid-servants , and such boyes as served in the house , to give account what they had heard ; helping their memories wherein they failed , clearing up the sense of what was delivered , wherein it might seem obscure unto them , exhorting and pressing them to be doers of the word , and not hearers only , concluding all in prayer with them . 3. very careful in receiving the sacrament of the body and blood of christ every moneth , if she were not hindred by indispensable necessity . and in her preparation thereunto she was most diligent . for help herein she had made a collection of the best rules and directions she could get about that subject . 4. taught of god not onely notionally , but experimentally to live by faith. for she met with many trials in her outward estate , both when a wife , and when a widdow . but by faith in jesus christ , she was more than conquerour over them all . 5. frequent and constant in her private devotions , both in praying , reading and meditating at set hours . 6. a fixed star in the firmament of gods church , not like a little child tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine , but rooted , built up , and stablished in the faith , and in the orthodox truths of christian religion . 7. abundantly charitable to all in want and necessity , especially to such who feared god , and had his image upon them . yea she was ready ( as the apostle saith ) even above her ability , to distribute to the necessities of the saints . for being advised by a friend , ( who well approved of her gracious temper and frame of spirit ) to take care of her self , and to remember her debts , and other occasions she had to discharge , she did with much affection and ●ears s●y , that she could not eat her bread with comfort , while the servants of god were in hunger and nakedness . 8. a lover and honourer of pious and painful ministers . upon the close of the late unhappy wars , so soon as she had a liberty to return to her estate and place of adobe near oxford , and when her estate ( through the calamity of those times ) was at a low ebbe , the first thing she did , was more then she could well do , her poverty abounding unto the riches of her liberality ) to provide and maintain at her own cost ( in effect ) a preaching minister there ( the poor old incumbent being superannuated , and unfit to serve the cure , though he received the profits of the place . ) upon her remove from thence to her husbands habitation , immediately after she was setled there , she fell to workagain , and set up a lecture in the parish , which was continued by the ablest ministers thereabouts , until it received interruption by the troubles which befel her husband . this good affection to the advancement of the gospel , and gospel-ministry , she sealed up in her last will , by a legacy of a considerable sum to be distributed to poor ministers . 9. of a publick spirit , not to be numerated amongst the sinners , but mourners in sion , for the sins of sion . she was one that sought the welfare of the israel of god , and was as solicitous and thoughtful about the concernments of christ and his gospel , as about her own , if not more then her own . 10. a very prudent dady , a credit to her profession , of very good understanding and iudgment in the things of god , able by her wise and christian counsel , to comfort , and build up others ; which she frequently did , insomuch that many have blessed god for the advice they received from her . 11. eminent in the discharge of all relative duties ( in the conscientious performance of which , the power and beauty of godliness doth especially consist . ) she was careful to keep up the observation of family-duties twice a day , and of catechising the children and servants once a week , commending those who were forward , admonishing and reproving those that were tardy and averse , and imposing little penalties upon them , payable to the poor , and by all the waies she could , endeavouring to win them to the service of god. as a daughter , she was very obedient to her parents , insomuch that her mother did once publickly say , a little before her death , that she was the child who did never disobey or displease her in all her life . she was an excellent mother , bringing up her children in the nurture and fear of the lord , and walking before them as an example of piety and humility . as a mistress , she was wonderful diligent in training up her servants in the waies of god ; insomuch , as that she was a means of the conversion of two of them ; one of them acknowledged it upon her death-bed ; the other yet living ( a sober christian ) will confess the same . she was excellent and transcendently eminent in her relation as a wife , insomuch that her husband saith of her , as the wise man of the virtuous woman , that her price was far above rubies , that his heart did safely trust in her , that she did him good and not evil all the daies of her life , that she stretched out her hand to the poor , yea she reached forth her hands to the needy . that she opened her mouth with wisdom , and in her tongue was the law of kindness ; that her children rise up and call her blessed , her husband also , and he praiseth her , and saith , many daughters have done virtuously , but thou excellest them all . let her own works praise her in the gates . the truth is , she was a lady of ten thousand , and they that knew her intimately , will confess that i do not hyperbolize , and they that knew her not , will i hope , believe that i dare not ( standing in this place , as gods ambassador ) give flattering titles , for in so doing , my maker would soon take me away . 12. and lastly , as she lived , so she died , she lived holily , and died happily . her last sickness was long and violent , wherein , though she was never heard to let fall one word unbeseeming the mouth of a blessed christian , yet she would often charge her self for complaining , though inforced thereunto by the extremity of her p●ins . but yet in the midst of all her anguish , she ceased not to testifie her faith in god through christ , as her only anchor-hold and supportation , exhorting with a powerful sweetness those about her , and her relations when they came to her , to make sure of that interest , and to apply themselves to the service of god with all faithfulness and diligence , which was that that would bring them peace at last . towards the end of her sickness , she took occasion to speak to some friends that were about her bed , touching an unhappy difference between her husband , and one of his sons ( wherein she had been most injuriously defamed , as a person that had done ill offices between them , and contributed fuel to that flame ) professing in the presence of that god before whom she was to make her account , that she was innocent from the thought of such an offence , and that no carriage of his , had ever so far transported her , as to make her to desire , much less to endeavour any thing that might be to his prejudice . and that she desired his good and welfare , with the same heart , as if both he , and the rest of the children had been all her own . ( i give you her own words . ) the day before her death , she challenged her husband to speak , whether she had ever instigated him against his son , or done any thing to keep up that difference . and he did then ( as in the presence of god ) clear her , and avow this truth , that she had many times made his peace , and brought him to a reconciliation with him ( once with tears ) but never had done him any ill office. one thing i must add of mine own knowledge ; that this excel-cellent lady was much troubled in her life time with the slavish fear of death . i told her then out of mine own frequent experience , that they that were so much afraid of death , while living , and thereupon , were careful to prepare for it , would be free from the fear of it when they came to die . and it happened accordingly : for though she had not those ravishing ioyes which some somtimes have , yet she had such a calmness and quietness of mind , and peace of conscience , that she could chearfully and most willingly surrender up her s●ul into the hands of her redeemer . in the l●st day of her sickness , it pleased god in some measure to allay the extremity of her pains , and to afflict her only with shortness of breath ( which increased upon her to her last ) but her understanding was clear , and her speech free a few moments before her departu●e . she continued throughout the day in an admirable composed , quiet and serene frame of spirit , and wholly gave her self to glorifie god , and to exhort all others to do the like , and to give up themselves to his service . a reverend minister coming to visit her , she entertained him with a chearful aspect , and desired him , to search and examine her heart , what way of wickedness he could find in it , and pressed him to deal freely and plainly with her , and not to spare her . ( i deliver her own expressions ) his discourse was comfortable to her . she complained of the sinfulness of her nature , and the wickedness of her heart , but still with a confidence in the merits of her saviour , upon whom alone she rolled her self . after that , she desired him to pray by her ; which he did , and she heard him with an unmoveable stilness and attention , giving him thanks when he had done . she continued in the same heavenly temper with many gracious expressions , until about eight of the clock that night , and then finding ( as we had reason since to suppose , though she made no shew of it ) that her death was approaching , she requested the minister to pray by her again ; he happened to be somthing long ( though contrary to his intention ) when towards the latter end , she made a sign unto him , which he taking notice of , and thereupon concluding , she said , i thank you sir , and forthwith bowing down her head , within a few minutes delivered her blessed soul into the hands of her heavenly father . thus she lived , and thus she died , and thus being dead , she yet speaketh ; and now is gone to that place where she hath no more need of prayers , but all her prayers are turned into hallelujahs . the lord give us grace so to imitate her holy life , that when we come to die , we may die in christ , and when layed in the grave , may sleep in iesus , and in the great resurrection , may both in body and soul be taken up into heaven , to be for ever with the lord in perfect happiness , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32022-e280 job 1.21 . psal. 39.8 . paula , marcella , euslochium , &c. notes for div a32022-e1250 act. 7 57 eccl. 12.7 anima eorum sint colligat● in horto edenis , amen , amen , amen , selah . rev. 6.9 , 10. heb. 12.23 euseb. lib. 5 cap. 11 the book is called , psychopannychia . qui animam vivere fatentur , illamque omni sen●u spo●●ant , prorsus animam fingunt quae nihil animae habcat aut animam ipsam a se ipsa avellunt ; cum cjus natura , sincqua consistere ullo modo ucquit , sit . moveri , sentire vigere intelligere : atque ( ut ait tertulli●ous ) animae anima sensus slt . dormit omnis mortuus , & bonus , & malus , sed quomodo interest in ipsis qui quotidie dormiunt , & exurgunt , quid quisque videat in somnis , alii sentiunt laeta somnia , alii torquentia , it a ut evigilans dormire timeat , ne ad ipsa iterum redeat : sic unusquisque hominum cum causae sua dormit , & cum causa sua surgit ; & interest quali quisque custodia recipiatur , ad judice● postea recipiendus , &c. habent omines animae cum de seculo exierint , divers as receptiones suas haebent guadium boni , & mal● tormenta . tract . 49. in joan. isa. 57.2 rev. 14.13 2 pet. 2.7 , 8 psal 63.3 peccatum peperit mortem , & silia devoravit matrem . homo non moritur sed peccatum mori●ur & miseria . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . joh. 11.11 . mors non est mors , sed somnus & do●miti● temporaria , homil , 22. ad populum antinchenum . somnus est mors quaedam brevior , mors vero somnus longior , — consanguineus lethi soper . scriptura cos qui mortui sunt , vocat dormicutes ob spem resurrectionis , qua celerim●●vigilabunt ( x somno mortis , & ex lecto , id est , ex sepulchro . serm. 32. de verbis apostoli . tom 10. rev. 14.13 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 co● . 3.21 , 22 , 23. psal. 116.15 . job 28.6 . num 23 , 10 , rom. 8.38 . 2 sam. 21.10 . psal. 34.20 . rom. 8.23 . rev. 6.10 . isa. 26.19 . joh. 5.28.29 . 1 cor. 15.53 . job 19.27 . 1 cor. 15.2 . 1 cor. 15.20 . 1 cor. 15.42 , 43 , 44. mat. 13.43 . 1 cor. 6.2 , 3. 1 thes 4.13 . 1 cor. 15.17 . gen. 46.4 . job 18 , 14. rom. 6. rom 5. heb. 9.27 . phil. 1.23 . mors piorum est natalis vitae e●erna . obstetrix vitae melioris , profect o ad civitatem dei. ianua ad vitam eternam porta gloriae , medicamentum immor●alitatis . hos. 13.14 . eph. 48. acts 28. 1 cor. 15.55 , 56 , 57 , rom. 8.1 . rom. 12.13 . 2 kings 22.20 . luke 2.29 , 30. mors non est exitus , sed transi●us , non obitus , sed abitus . mortui non sunt amissi , sed praemiss●● , cypr. de mortalitate . profectio est quam putas mortem . tert. de patientia . luke 2.29 . qui gloriatur in viribus corporis , gloriatur in viribus carce●is . judg. 18.23 , 24. job 11.7 . luke 12.19.20 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . job 32.22 . a sermon preached at coles-hill in warwickshire, january 24, 1685, on occasion of the death of the right honourable simon lord digby, baron digby of geashil in ireland, who deceased at coles-hall, jan. 19, 1685, on heb. 6. 12 by john kettlewell ... kettlewell, john, 1653-1695. 1686 approx. 66 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47311 wing k382 estc r658 12952548 ocm 12952548 95989 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47311) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95989) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 717:37) a sermon preached at coles-hill in warwickshire, january 24, 1685, on occasion of the death of the right honourable simon lord digby, baron digby of geashil in ireland, who deceased at coles-hall, jan. 19, 1685, on heb. 6. 12 by john kettlewell ... kettlewell, john, 1653-1695. [4], 33, [3] p. printed for robert kettlewell ..., london : 1686. advertisement: p. [1]-[3] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -n.t. -hebrews vi, 12 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2006-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at coles-hill in warwickshire , january 24. 1685. on occasion of the death of the right honourable simon lord digby , baron digby of geashil in ireland . who deceased at coles-hall , jan. 19. 1685. on heb. 6. 12. by john kettlewell minister of coles-hill in warwickshire . imprimatur . hen. maurice r no p. & d. wilhelmo archiep. cant. à sacris . april . 17. 1686. london , printed for robert kettlewell at the hand and scepter over against st. dunstan's church in fleet-street . 1686. to the right honourable william lord digby , baron digby of geashil in ireland . my lord , when i preach'd this sermon to my own parish , i had no design to make it more publick . but since your lordship desires it should come abroad , i readily submit to it . for , besides the just and great regard i have to your lordship's request , i would not be wanting in any thing , that may serve , though in a very small measure , to do honour to that most dear , and exemplary saint , your deceased brother . i am conscious that the draught i have made of him is very imperfect : but such as it is , it sets out many things most worthy to be imitated , which may render it no lost labour to the world. to do right indeed to the subject , i should speak in proportion to what he deserved : but to do service among those that survive , the saying any thing almost of him is sufficient , since it must needs be worth mens while to hear any particulars remarqued upon , where almost all are excellent . and so long as his character may benefit others , were he on earth again , he , whose studied care it was to do good , and shun the praise of it , would readily pardon all the well-meant errors and defects of the compiler , which make it wanting to his own honour . and i am well assured your lordship , who succeeds him in his virtues , as well as in his estate and honour , will do so too . in particular , my lord , i hope your lordship will reap benefit by these papers . for to your own stock of an excellent good nature , and religious principles , you have made the discreet choice of his admirable example to improve both , and have already transcribed it , in some choice and commendable methods . god grant your lordship a lasting continuance , and daily increase of those noble endowments , which make you brothers in virtue as well as in blood , that you may not only equal , but exceed him in all those excellencies and pious qualities , which set him out for a rare pattern , and injoy a much longer life , wherein to display , and do good to the world with them . this , my lord , is , and always must be the most hearty prayer of , your lordship 's in most affectionate duty and service , john kettlewell . coles-hill mar. 30. 1686. a sermon preached at coles-hill in warwickshire , january 24. 1685. on occasion of the death of the right honourable simon lord digby , on heb. 6. 12. that ye be not slothful , but followers of them , who through faith and patience inherit the promises . one of the best encouragements to act , especially in difficult and perilous undertakings , is other mens examples . and the argument , which is like to have most force , and prevail most in examples , is their good events , when we see others , under the same disadvantages and hardships we suffer , to injoy the same divine aids whereon we rest , and meet at last with the same success which we hope for . and this argument the apostle uses in this place , to perswade the hebrew converts , to constancy and perseverance in the faith. we desire , says he , that as hitherto ye have shown love towards god's name in a free profession of religion , and ministred to the saints , who suffer for him , ( thereby openly owning and avowing both him and them ) so ye would still continue to shew the same diligence to the full assurance of your hope unto the end . that ye be not slothful and † faint-hearted , like those cowardly apostates mentioned v. 6. whose case is desperate , but followers of them , who through faith and patience inherit the promises . that which he particularly notes in these examples , is their faith , and patience . their faith , that is their firm trust in god , and belief of his promises , relying on his word under all tryals . and their patience , that is , their perseverance in this trust and expectation under all delays , and constant adherence to him under all difficulties . these two the apostle singles out from among many others , because they particularly serve his purpofe , which is to press perseverance in the faith , neither totally abjuring and falling off from christ , as some had done v. 6 ; nor forsaking the publick assemblies in perilous times as † others did , which would shortly end in it : which perseverance is best secured by these two virtues . but good examples give instances of many other virtues wherein they are to be followed ; and are equally serviceable to all other duties as well as these : and in that latitude i shall consider them in the ensuing discourse . this text excites the hebrews to diligence in good works , from the examples of deceased saints , who are now reaping the reward of all their former pains , and inherit the promises . and in treating on it , i shall 1. show what use we are to make of pious mens examples . 2. propose one to your imitation . 1. i shall show what use we are to make of pious mens examples . a good example is both a very instructive , and ingaging thing . and the examples of deceased saints , have more power and efficacy than the examples of the living . for nothing gives us so just an estimate of any excellencies , as the loss of them . and when once good men are gone , there is no more emulation , to make those that survive detract from what was imitable and praise-worthy in them . and after their deaths , we look upon them not only as good , but as blessed , and so are apt to be influenced the more by their virtues , because of our veneration for their persons and memories . and these the apostle here proposes , directing us to look up to those , who are now no longer candidates and expectants , but inherit the promises . now the use we are to make of their examples , is both for a lesson to direct and teach , and also for a motive to hearten and excite us to an imitation of their virtues . 1. we must use the examples of good men for a lesson , to direct and guide us in the way of goodness . examples are more plainly instructive than precepts . for precepts prescribe virtue in general terms , which afterwards needs farther reasoning to supply circumstances , and accommodate them to particular occasions . but examples shew it in particular instances , attired in all its various forms and circumstances , and fitted for practice ; so that when they are in sight , we have nothing left to do , but to follow what we see before us . and this use our saviour directs us to make of his example , to look upon his life as a sermon , and make his practice our instruction . learn of me , for i am meek and lowly matt. 11. 29. but in this use , of learning our duty from good examples , we must take care to chuse such acts of good men for our imitation , as had a law of god to direct them . good mens examples are no warranty to our consciences , when they are alone . they make our duty plainer by illustrating gods laws ; so that they help our understanding of what is good , when there is a law with them . but they do not make any thing a duty without a law , and much less can they authorise any action which is against a law of god : so that we must not think it enough to justify us in any action , that any good men have done the same . 1. we may not imitate all the actions of good men ; because no men are perfectly good in this world , but have a mixture of good and evil in them . they have not only virtues to be followed , but over-sights and humane passions to be pityed and avoided . and these being faults and blemishes in them , can give no security in following them . 2. we may not imitate all such acts of theirs , as the scripture recites without blaming . such is jacob and rebekkah's fraud , in making blind isaac go out of his way , and stealing away esau's blessing . gen. 27. and holy david's putting his friend jonathan , to excuse his not attending upon saul at the feast of the new moon , by making a feign'd story for him , 1. sam. 20 , 5 , 6. and by such another fiction getting the shew-bread and goliah's sword from ahimelech , which occasioned the death of fourscore and five of the priests , and of all the inhabitants , not only men , but also women and children in the city of nob. 1. sam. 2● . &c. 22 these , with other such like actions of good men , the scripture relates by way of bare history and narrative , without making descants and reflections , or passing any censure on them . but the silence of the holy pen-men in this point , is no sign of their approbation . god has plainly enough laid down the rules , whereby men ought to act in these cases , and from which we are to judge of their actions . and therefore having related the facts which were done , they leave others to bring them to the rules , and see whether they are according to them . when any good mans action then is related in scripture , 't is no sufficient justification of it to say it is not censured , unless it can be shewn moreover that it is not lyable to censure ; that is , that it is against no law of god , which both the holy pen-men and we are to censure and judge of all actions by . nay further , 3. we may not imitate all such actions , as we find justified and commended in the scriptures . the reason of this is , because the scriptures commend , not only purely virtuous , but also mixt actions , which are only justifiable on some accounts , but culpable on others . thus the lord in the parable doth by his needy steward , who at his going off provides for his future subsistence among his lords tenants , by a false stating of his masters accounts : he commended the unjust steward that he had done wisely . luk. 16. 8. where , though the lord commends his fore-sight , that he acted providently , yet , had he design'd to speak to it , he would as much have blamed his fraud and dishonesty . and thus our saviour doth by david , when he speaks of his eating the shew-bread : he justifies his eating of it , though it were appropriated to the priests , and was holy , because all that was superseded by his hunger and necessity . matt. 12. 3 , 4. but although he there maintains his eating of the holy bread , yet are we not thence to conclude he would also have defended that falshood whereby he procured it . 1 sam. 21. 2. thus st. paul , among his other worthies , praises gideon , and samson , and jephtha , heb. 11. 3● . but that which he would recommend to imitation among us from their practice , is only their faith , not their hostilities and warlike invasions . and the like judgment we may reasonably pass upon the commendation given to the egyptian midwives , who with their pious charity in saving the lives of poor innocents , joyn'd falshood to their own prince , to whom , when they reply'd any thing at all , they ought not to have given a false answer in their examinations . therefore , says moses , god dealt well with the midwives , and made them houses , thereby not approving their insincerity , but only rewarding their pious charity . exod. 1. v. 16. to v. 22. in these , and the like instances , when the good part in a mixt action is the most eminent , as in the case of the midwives ; or when the ill part happen'd through a pityable fear , and great temptation to it , as in the case both of them , and david : god , who is much more prone to approve than to spy faults , and had rather observe what may make for us , than what would make against us , is pleased oft-times to take notice of the virtues of his servants , which are to their praise , without mentioning the defects intermixt , which would be to their disparagement . but because in these mixt actions god commends what he likes , we must not think that he also approves what his law forbids and punishes . the ill part of good mens actions , their faults and defects , are no ground of his commendation , and so can give no warranty for our imitation of them . one example , indeed , there is , which is perfectly without sin , and that is the example of our blessed saviour , who did no sin , neither was guile found in his mouth . 1 pet. 2. 22. but although we are secure , that in his example nothing justly deserv'd blame , yet must we not draw even it as a rule in all points for our imitation . for he was a person of a most peculiar office and station , and many things which he did were in virtue of that , which are not compatible to us that follow him . he * fasted forty days and forty nights , at his entrance upon the office of being a law-giver to the church , as † moses had done before him . he whipt the buyers and sellers out of the temple , and overthrew the tables of the mony changers , without any visible authority of a publick character or warrant from the magistrate , but only as he was the † son of god , and because the spirit of zele was upon him . he * freely and openly reproved the scribes and pharisees , those great rules among the jews , and call'd king herod † fox , by virtue of his prophetical commission . these , and several other things he acted , not as an ordinary person , by his pattern to lead on other men : but as being acted by an extraordinary spirit , and in pursuit of his mediatory office and undertaking , which is a thing wherein we must not pretend to imitate him . 't is true , our lord's example is a rule to direct us in our duty , and he intended it should be so , calling us to be his followers by treading in the same steps , and to be meek and lowly , as we saw he was . but in taking measures of our duty from it , we must not conclude any thing a duty barely from his pattern , but only where his laws say the same . for not to be minute in all the particulars , wherein our blessed saviour's example may instruct us , the safest and easiest argument from his actions in this case , is when they are instances and illustrations of his own precepts . it is not his practice , but his command that makes any thing a duty , and when he practises according to it , that exemplifies the commandment in its lively forms and circumstances , and is a more sensible manifestation of the duty injoyn'd by it . the adding of his practice , where he has given a precept , serves for a clearer illustration of it : but if there be no precept , his practice alone doth not bind , nor make any thing become a duty which before was not one . and accordingly those instances , wherein the scriptures recommend his example to us , are things injoyn'd by his own laws . as when we are bid to be me●k and lowly , as he was , matt. 11. 29 ; to inherit the virtue of blessing our persecutors and slanderers from his practice , 1 pet. 3. 9 ; to follow his steps in a patient resign'd endurance of unjust sufferings , without railing or wrathful returns , 1 pet. 2. 20 , 21 , 23. and the like . and as this is true of the example of christ , so likewise of the examples of other holy persons recorded in scripture . for even their unmixt actions , which were not blameable in them , are sometimes unfit for our imitation , being perform'd in pursuit of peculiar offices , or authorized by such circumstances of things and other special inducements , as they had at that time , and which do not agree to us in common with them . 1. several of their actions , which the scripture justif●es were by virtue of immediate divine warranty and commission , which would have fallen under a just censure , but for that reason . thus the israelites † borrowed of the egyptians , and pay'd not again , because god , the supreme disposer of all mens goods , had given them that express direction . † phineas , though a private man , did a publick act of justice upon a malefactor , without expecting the forms of law and the magistrates order for it , because he had a particular divine impulse ( a thing sometimes vouchsafed under the jewish dispensation ) and the spirit of zele was upon him . * jehu took arms against the house of ahab , and slew his master joram by a particular command of god , which would have been a most detestable treason and rebellion without it . the holy prophets are most publick and plain in their reproofs , both of princes and priests , calling them * companions of thieves , rulers of sodom , † blind watchmen , dumb dogs , greedy dogs , and the like , because there were such profligate powers then , and though they were in authority , this was no criminal speaking evil of dignities , because the prophets spoke not of themselves , but only delivered gods message , which he had put into their mouths . these bold and open reprehensions of higher powers were good in them , because the lord had bidden them . but this is no justification at all to the black-mouth'd quakers , and other railing rabshekah's of our time , who have neither the like just occasion , nor , if they had , can reasonably pretend to any such prophetical office and commission . 2. other of their actions were commendable upon their suitableness to the present circumstances and particular state of things at that time , which would have deserv'd no praise , but rather reproof at another season . such was david's eating the shew-bread in the pressing necessity of his hunger , and when he could have no other ; which had been unjustifiable and blame-worthy out of that circumstance , and at any time when common bread was to be had ▪ such also was st. pauls † circumcising timothy , when he chose him out to gather jewish converts , because that would help him to gain upon the jews , who at that time having a great devotion to the law of moses , would not only be slow to receive instruction from , but also to give access and converse freely with an uncircumcised person . but because he did it in this advantageous circumstance , we must not conclude it may be done indifferently in any others , or to comply with their error , who press the necessity of circumcision and the law of moses : in which alteration of the case , the apostle himself was so far from doing the same again , that he inflexibly refused to circumcise titus when the necessity of it was urged upon him by the false brethren and judaizers . gal. 2. 3 , 4 , 5. such again was the practice of † having all things common at jerusalem , when the necessities of the poor saints could not otherwise be supplyed , and the confiscations coming upon the church for christ's sake , would let no christian there call any thing his own long . and the apostolical rules of * holding no acquaintance or commerce with stubborn contemners of church-orders , and notorious evil livers , which , whilst the church was encompassed with heathens , so that its own members would seek shelter from it , and the offenders were fewer in number , and so unable to protect themselves , was like to reduce them . these practices were good then because prudent in their circumstances , and proper for that season : but would not deserve the like approbation in those , who should go to imitate them unseasonably at another time . 3. lastly , some actions of good men , particularly under the old testament , were justifiable whilst that dispensation stood , which would be criminal in us now , who are under a law more perfect . such was † elias's calling down fire from heaven upon his adversaries , which agreed well enough with that state. but when the disciples james and john went about to do the like , and pleaded his example in justification of it , jesus rebuked them , and told them his dispensation required another manner of spirit , luk. 9. 54 , 55. such also are the liberties , of having many wives , of putting away their wives for every cause and dislike , of cursing enemies and praying down judgments upon their heads , which no good christian must presume to do , because he finds it done † often by holy david in the psalms , and by * others of the holy prophets , since our saviour has out-stripp'd moses , and rais'd our duty higher in these points . as to this use then of good mens examples , viz. taking the information and measures of our duty from them ; their examples are not sufficient to warrant our consciences when they are alone , but only when we see the law and rule too which they went upon . it is not enough to justifie us in any action , that they did it , unless it may appear that they did well in it , and that it is according to law , which shews what they ought to do . their practice is not to give laws , but is it self to be ruled and judged by them , as ours is . if they act against any law of god , that law condemns them , and so will never justifie us for following them in an unlawful thing . but if they acted according to it , we may safely follow them : but that is not upon the authority of their pattern , but of god's law , which justifies both us and them . they are only his laws , not other mens practice , which at last must judge us . god shall judge the world according to my gospel , says st. paul , rom. 2. 16. and my word shall judge men at the last day , says our saviour , joh. 12. 48. and if laws must govern our sentence , bare examples without laws can never be sufficient to guide and authorize our practice . so that in learning our duty from good examples , we must seek to understand a command more fully and usefully by seeing it exemplified , but not think bare examples make virtues , and authorize actions where there are no commands at all . and this i have insisted the longer on , because in judging of their duty , men are generally prone to build too much upon the examples of such , as have been eminent for the practice of it . they find it easier to follow what they see others do , than to enquire what they ought to do : and so by an indiscriminate imitation , sometimes turn those pious examples , which were intended for the souls most wholsom food , into its poison . 2. the second use we are to make of pious examples , is for a motive , to hearten and excite us to an imitation of their virtues . this is the most proper use of examples , when laws have made duties , and establish'd the goodness of actions , to be an argument and incitement to the practice of them . this end they serve , by working upon that natural emulation which is in men , who care not to be out-done in an advantageous or praise-worthy thing , and seeing others reap honour or happiness from any performances , are thereby much incited to attempt the same . now the example of pious persons spurs us on to an imitation of their virtues , both as it shews the performance of our duty to be very desirable , and fairly possible . 1. as it shews it very desirable , and inflames us with a noble eagerness , and earnest longing to do as they have done . that which principally doth this in examples , is the honourable end , and happy event of them : for the glory and greatness of the rewards shews the desirableness of any service , and is fittest to work upon our emulation . and this the scripture particularly directs us to look to in the examples of holy men. ye have heard of the patience of job , and have seen the end of the lord , how bountifully he rewarded him for it , says st. james to the jewish converts , when he exhorted them to bear affliction patiently as he did , jam. 5. 10 , 11. in running our hard race with patience , says st. paul , let us look unto jesus , who endured much worse ; and is now set down for it at the right hand of god , heb. 12. 1 , 2. be ye followers of them , saith the apostle in the same text , who through faith and patience inherit the promises . and remember them , who have spoken to you the word of god , whose faith follow , considering the end of their conversation , and what eternal bliss they got by it , heb. 13. 7. thus doth the scripture propose the end of their services , their purchased glories and rewards , as the most powerful argument to enkindle noble desires in others , and gain followers . so that if we would give our selves the benefit of deceased saints examples , we must consider the blissful end of them , and often reflect , how their piety has placed them in a state of most pure , perfect , and endless happiness , where they are at absolute rest from all their labours , and eternally exempt from all sorrows , fears , and cares ; where they injoy all their hearts can desire , and live always in the presence , and about the throne of god , whence they daily receive communications ineffable , and glories incomparable , and such ravishing delights , and inward satisfactions , as no fancy can reach till we come to feel them , all which they are to injoy for evermore . this is the incomparable reward of all the good they did , and a due and serious consideration of it will inflame in us an emulous desire , and mightily ingage us to do the same . 2. their example encourages us to imitate their virtues , as it shews such imitation fairly possible . they were men of like passions , over-sights , and infirmities ; and subject to like trials and temptations with our selves . and since notwithstanding all these difficulties and discouragements , they were successful in their virtuous attempts , we may justly take heart , and hope to be so too . for our discouragements are no greater than theirs were , and our assistances from the spirit and good providence of god will be no less . he will be the same in all times , to all that labour in expectation of his aid , and faith of his gracious promises . so that if we will imitate their labours , we may promise our selves to experiment their success , and to prosper and be victorious as they have been before us . and this use also the scripture makes of good examples . st. paul endeavours to support the faith and patience of the corinthians , by telling them there hath no temptation taken them , but such as is common to man , 1 cor. 10. 13. and st. peter bids the persecuted christians be stedfast in the faith , knowing that the same afflictions are accomplish'd in their brethren , which are in the world , 1 pet. 5. 9 : and st. paul exhorting the hebrews to patience in their race , sets before them the cloud of witnesses , who were glorious in their successes , though of like passions and trials with themselves , heb. 12. 1. thus to strengthen his faith in god's mercy , the psalmist says he will remember his wonders of old , and talk of his doings for others , which would incourage him to hope for the same himself , psal. 77 , 11 , 12. and st. paul tells the corinthians , that whether he be afflicted , or comforted , it is for their consolation and salvation ; and is effectual in their enduring of the same sufferings which he suffers ; they having thereby , not only god's promise , but also his experience to assure them of the same support in their afflictions , which he found in his , 2 cor. 1. 6. thus was one great benefit they design'd men in proposing good examples to them , the overcoming their diffidence , either of god , or of themselves , and possessing them with good hopes of success in their attempts after any virtues . and therefore if we would give our selves a just advantage from the examples of deceased saints , we must duly consider their discouragements and assistances , and that as they were of like passions and temptations with us , so shall we find like grace and success with them , if we † saint not in a holy undertaking . having thus shown what use we are to make of pious mens examples , and how fit they are , either to be guides and directions to our consciences , or a spur and incitement to our practice : i proceed now 2. to propose one to your imitation . it has pleased the all-wise god to take from us an excellent person , who whilst he lived was a bright example , and a publick good , whose life could credit an holy religion , and whose rank and quality in the world afford interest and support to it . he was a clear instance of many noble virtues , and both a discreet and zealous stickler in promoting them . as for his funeral , he desired it might be private , without splendor and ceremony , wherewith his friends would otherwise have begun to pay honour to his memory . and this he did out of a generous contempt of worldly show and pomp , and a fixt inclination of expressing his liberality , which indeed was great , in pious and charitable works , which are things of solid use : chusing such methods of expence , as were like to bring most glory to god , and good to men , not such as were only empty and unprofitable signs of honour to himself . this way of carrying him to his grave , occasioned no publick meeting at his funeral , which superseded such accounts , as might otherwise have been expected of him at that time . but i think an example , from which so much is to be learnt , ought not to pass without some remarques upon it . and although i do not intend a just and full description of him , yet that you of this place , who have been eye-witnesses of his conversation , may not lose the benefit of such a pattern , i shall draw him out in some rude lines for your imitation . and if we can be so wise and careful as to imitate him , that will make a recompence for our loss , and in part supply the want we must all expect to find of him . he was a person of good understanding , without haughty opinions and conceit of his own knowledge , which is the greatest hindrance to any mans gaining more , and growing wiser . he was of a quick , and clear apprehension ; of a temper very sedate and calm , free to hear , and patient to consider of such reasons , as were offer'd to him ; of sagacity to direct his thoughts to the right mark , where the stress lay in any point ; and of a well poys'd judgment , in discerning which was the right side . he did not affect to hear himself talk , and ingross the discourse , but was industriously careful to appear , as one that desired rather to learn than to teach , and to be free to hear other mens sense , as well as to give his own . but what he took occasion to speak , was pertinent and proper , with such insight into things , and judicious consideration of them , as made it well worth the hearing . he had a very good talent of reason , and was careful so to imploy it , as might enable him to give the best and most unblameable account of it , that is , in understanding himself and his own duty , in bringing honour to god , and doing good to men , and fitting himself to be serviceable to his friends , and to his country . as for religion , that was the height of all his aims , and the most open of all his professions , wherein he endeavor'd most to be a good proficient himself , and which he most sought to propagate among others . of which , for your godly imitation , i shall give these following accounts he was a person of true tenderness of conscience , very impressive , and soon touch'd with any thing , that had true goodness in it . but although he was thus justly tender , yet he was not of a scrupulous temper , i. e. apt to run away from trifles , and startle at such things , as have in them no illness , or hurt at all . and to prevent being mis-led into doubts and perplexities , by any unnecessary rigors or unwary expressions , which sometimes occur in good books , he was studiously careful to get distinct notions , and to discern what things recommended in them were matters of necessary duty , and what only of prudent advice and godly direction : which thing if it had been more remarqued by some that have written good books , as well as by those that read them , several laudable directions , that have occasion'd much trouble to some pious minds , would have proved only profitable helps to mens practice , without engendring doubts and scruples , or any ways insnaring of their consciences . next to this true tenderness , and intire sense of duty , which i think is the first , and must always be the leading excellence in any good man , since our practice of any duties must follow upon our opinions of them : i shall recommend to you his intire care and regard to observe all . this indeed , was the sum of all his prayers , of his studies , and endeavours , to be an upright and intire man ; i. e. to have an eye to all the commandments , and observe god in every thing he had required of him . to keep up a constant sense of his weaknesses and miscarriages , he took daily accounts of his daily practice , besides what he did with more care and exactness at set times . and his examinations of himself stood not only in the most notorious and weighty duties , but also in such others , as though christ has equally injoyn'd , yet in the practice , and too often in the opinion of the world , are least observed . he judg'd himself for his uncharitable surmises , and hard censures , for his unwary propagating and reproachful falshoods he had heard of his brethren , nay for his unnecessary utterance of any real miscarriages he knew by them , for his omissions to discourage an ill thing , or to embrace and promote a good one when it lay before him . these , and such other less observ'd errors of the tongue , and sins of conversation , and other less noted breaches of duty , for which , though christ at last will judge us all , yet so many otherwise serious neglect to judge and reform themselves , were the matter of his accounts and confessions . and when he had confess'd them , his care , like a good christian , was to amend them , and to be more watchful to prevent the like again . the plain truth is , he carefully studyed this art , as one that greatly desired , and wisely intended to be expert in it . and among all the methods he took for this end , the principal were these . the chief cause why men , who in the general aim and bent of their minds are set upon their duty , are yet for all that liable to transgress it , is because it is slipt out of their thoughts , and they want a present sense of it when they should be govern'd by it . to prevent this , his first care was what in him lay to familiarize all particular duties to his mind . in order to this , one way he chose , was out of books to extract a scheme , containing all particulars in a short compass , which might easily be inured to his thoughts : another was , to have all the sins he needed to confess , and the graces he was to beg of god , set down as particularly , as might be , in his daily devotions . his great desire and care was to make his prayers serve for lessons and instructions , that his confessions of sin might shew him what he was to shun , and his prayers for grace be monitors to his practice , and his daily petitions to almighty god , become rules to himself . and intending thus to live according to his prayers , he desired in them to be very particular in the points of practice , that in his daily devotion , he might not only have the benefit of a supplication , but withall the daily use and admonition of a sermon . having taken this care to maintain in himself a present lively sense of all duties , his next care was to study , what were the most expedite , easy , and useful rules of practising them . and after he had wisely chosen , and proposed these rules to himself , he was careful to observe them , and took account of himself how he swerv'd from them : remembring in the mean time , that many of these rules were not necessary duties , but only prudent means , and such as he had set himself , but god had not prescribed him . these rules , with the sins , which by nature or custom , or the course of temptation , he was most exposed to , and which they were design'd to cure , he set down in writing . and that both his dangers , and his remedies , might be kept fresh and familiar upon his mind , his method was to have two fixt days in every week , to peruse and consider of them , that so , if he did forget himself , it should be but for a short time , and that within a very few days , he might return to his former guard again . in sum , the course of his repentance was plainly a most studied and contrived thing . he forethought ways , how to carry on good motions ; how to prevent surprizes ; or , when at any time he fell , how to recover himself by an immediate repentance ; how to prepare for the temptations of any day , or business ; how to maintain a constant liveliness of heavenly affections , by sending up divine breathings and ejaculations , not only every day , but almost every hour more or less . so that repentance was the art he studied , and was as truly his daily business , as some mens trades and occupations , others vices , and the vanities and diversions of a third sort are theirs . this was his care of good living in the general , but i shall expose it still nearer to your view and godly imitation in some particulars . to begin with the piety and devotion of his spirit , he had a prosound honour and reverence for almighty god , and love for religion , which without the extremes , either of fear , or affectation , he would openly profess and own in a licentious and prophane age , that thought such pretences to religion to bewray want of spirit or breeding . he did not only take care of the practice , but espouse the party of true godliness : he would bravely and wis●ly plead for it , and labour to gain profelytes to it . he had a compassionate sense of the difficulties and temptations that attend men of quality , through the worlds adopting many wicked practices into rules of good breeding , and fixing such things into laws of honour , as are not only a most open breach of the plainest and most important precepts of religion , but the grossest absurdities to any sober reason and common discretion . and having wisely consider'd and prepared his own mind against them , where he could , he was glad to convince and strengthen others , and where he could not , he pitied and griev'd for them ; lamenting to see some , in other respects very wise and sober men , too deeply tainted with the commonness of the infection . to ingage his friends to a serious and powerful sense of religion , he would follow them with good counsels , which he would manage discreetly , and time seasonably , laying wait for them in their most impressive moods , especially after any great dangers , or in the time of sickness , and wherein he would reason clearly , endeavoring to convince and persuade them , both from the cogent reason of things , and from the more affecting argument of his own experience . whilst he lived , he would urge them by advice and importunities , and at his death , by the most affectionate messages and dying intreaties . in pursuit of this end he would stoop to any thing , and sometimes make himself a companion of mean persons , not only sending books or instructors to them , but making repeated personal addresses , and becoming a preacher to them himself . and as for his servants and dependants , with the care of whom he knew god had particularly intrusted him , he was more especially careful to have them told their duty , and observant how they practised it , teaching them to honour the name of god , to attend duly upon his worship in the church , and particularly upon that highest instance of it , the holy sacrament , to be constant at prayers in his own family , and frequently taking notice of such as neglected them , declaring that his business should not be admitted as their hindrance and excuse . thus was he resolv'd , so far as either his perswasions , example , or authority would prevail with them , that they who serv'd him , should fear and serve his lord and master too . and then as for his prayers and devotions , which are the very vital breath of a religious spirit , as in his closet , so in publick , he gave an example most worthy to be imitated , shewing both much zeal , and discretion in them . he was , as you all know , a careful and constant attender upon gods publick worship , and so desirous to bring others to do the same , that when for the convenience of the family , he has on any festivals first had the service of god at home , to induce others by his example , he has several times gone presently after to church to have it there again . and in this he was not content to attend by halves , but was careful to come to the beginning of the service : sincerely desiring rather to come before the time , and with patience wait the beginning of the prayers , than lose any part of them . for he thought it argued a great coldness , and want of zeal for god , as indeed it doth , to use delays in paying him attendance , and though they be as forward as any in expecting of a blessing from him , yet to be among the hindmost when any honor and service is to be paid to him : wherein i hope those among you , who are too remiss in this point , will learn to follow him . and as for the holy sacrament , though he was laborious in recollection , and much in devotion against that time , yet were the returns of it , whereat he was always a devout attendant , so far from being a burden to him , that he several times desired they might be more often . thus careful and constant an attender was he upon the publick worship and service of god. and whilst he was at church , we all know the gravity , the reverence and devoutness of his carriage . his behaviour there was grave and composed , and a habit of seriousness visibly dwelt upon his spirit ; which testified a mind duly sensible , that there he was in the more especial presence of almighty god , and negotiating affairs of greatest moment , which require the utmost intention of mind , and are not to be undertaken by a light and trifling , a remiss and stupid , a desultory and careless spirit . it was also very reverent , and in decent show of profound humility and submission of spirit , to his aweful apprehensions of god , adding humble and respectful postres , and praying always upon his knees . for which he had so conscientious a regard himself , that as he has told me , he was really scandalized to see the careless , neglectful , and misbecoming gestures some others would use at church in their prayers : being uneasie in himself to see men , even when they profess'd to honour and pray to god , to do it in such careless postures as shew'd not honour but neglect , and wherein , though they presume to pray to god , yet they dare not come to petition any powerful , or great man. and as for the devotion of his heart , when he appeared among you in any publick worship , how easily might you observe a spirit greatly and piously affected ? how humble , and hearty was he in his confessions , how fervent in holy desires , how affectionate in praises and thanksgivings ? in a word , he discover'd a profound sense of god's majesty and adorable excellencies , a full conviction of his own meanness and sinfulness , and an high esteem and ardent desires of the favour of god , and of the mercies of another world. all which devout tempers and apprehensions were livelily drawn out in his outward meen , and yet without appearance of vanity and ostentation . this was the religious behaviour of this pious and excellent person towards almighty god. and as for his carriage among men , it was such as became a heart so piously and devoutly affected . he was a person remarkably temperate . his quality and fortune would have supply'd him with any thing , to gratifie and caress any sense and appetite : but in the midst of all these , he chose rather to deny himself , and triumph over them . the power of abstaining from what meat , and sensual delight he pleased , was a point of virtue he particularly affected : and this made him so far from indulging the body , that he burden'd it with more severity than his friends thought it could well bear . and as for his sobriety in a temperate use of drink , to say he would not exceed himself , is but a small part of his praise , who , so far as he could help it , would by no means suffer it in others . he would lay no snares to draw in others to excess , nor suffer it to be done by those , that depended on him . nay , if any persons were inclinable to over-load themselves , his conscience would not allow him to seek the reputation of being hospitable , by ministring to their excess . for he thought , and he thought truly , that to minister to any vice , is to partake in other mens sins . and that a man may as innocently furnish out opportunities and supplies , to those who are seeking to gratifie their unclean lusts , or greedy rapine , as set out excessive stores of wine to those , who are playing prizes in excess , and contest like profest champions in debauchery . he ministers to other mens sins in both these cases , only in the two former he helps them to sin against their brethren , but in this last against their own selves . he was very sincere , and plain-hearted in his speeches and professions , making this his rule , never to promise any thing , but what he intended exactly to keep , and to mark down what he had promised , lest he should forget it . nay , even in civilities and ceremonious addresses , wherein the world are most subject to transgress , the measure whereby he govern'd himself was , that he might safely speak less , but never profess more than he meant , nor tell a lye even in complement . in his dealings he would be just , not daring , i will not say to cozen by down-right fraud and falseness , but even to prey on others by over-reach of wit and skill , in play , or business : or if at any time he forgot himself in this point , he durst not rest , without finding out some way to make restitution of it . nay , in his pastimes , he was conscientiously careful , not only of the honesty and fairness , of his getting , but also of the ability of others losing to him . and some men of mean estates , being forward to mix themselves with persons of quality in their diversions , when , by their forwardness to wage with him , he has fairly won what he thought their family at home would find a want of , he has taken care secretly to convey it back to the wife and children , without the profuse husband 's knowing any thing of it . this charitable care and christian tenderness , was very agreeable with that rule he had set himself in his diversions , which was to be no gainer by any games , but what he lost should go as the price of his own pleasure , but what he won should accrue to the poor , and the needy should be his receivers . as his justice was exemplary and great , so his charity was noble and eminent . he would do generous and noble things , and these he loved , so far as he could , to steal in upon the world , and carry so private , that unless the deed proclaim'd it self , there should be no expectation rais'd , nor noise made of it ; hoping thereby to secure a greater purity of intention in the good he did , and intitle it the more to his reward , who sees what is done in secret . in distributing his alms , his rule was first to distinguish between objects , that he might give wisely , to supply real wants , not to support idleness , and then to give freely and liberally , with all secrecy . in pursuance of his compassionate sense of poor peoples necessities , he would sometimes take occasion privately to visit them , and give them relief . and being more especially sensible of the great miseries they suffer in sickness , which by a little physick seasonably administred would oftentimes soon be ended , and thereby they be both eas'd of their uncomfortable distempers , and enabled more speedily to return to their employments to maintain themselves and their families : he agreed with a physician for a yearly pension to take care of all the sick poor of his own parish , and ply them with remedies proper for their distempers , requiring him to say nothing of this his exemplary , and wisely chosen because most wanted charity , being careful only to secure to himself the virtue of the act , and then let who would have the praise and honour of it . out of his sincere zeal for the honour of god , and the beauty of his house and worship , he has adorn'd the quire of this church , and nobly augmented our furniture of communion-plate . upon the death of his excellent lady , besides his liberality to every adjacent parish for a present distribution , he allotted a considerable sum to the use of the poor for a perpetual settlement . and now at his own death , he has given a much greater for the use of the poor of this parish , and restored two impropriations , one whereof is very considerable , to the church ; viz. the impropriate tythes of this parish of coles-hill , and of the parish of vpper-whitacre , to those two respective churches . the bestowing of the two impropriations , was a thing he had fully design'd in the time of his health . for as for vpper-whitacre , he had purchased it with a design of annexing it , the summer before he died . and as for coles-hill , by a solemn paper left sign'd with his own hand , to provide against all casualties , lest he should die before he had accomplished what he intended , he took care to tell his surviving relations , how upon mature study and deliberation , he was also fully and religiously resolved to restore it , which , as he words it , belonging to the church by several titles , ought not to be withheld . these are noble instances of an extraordinary piety towards god , and generous affection to the church of england , for whose encouragement he design'd them , for which god , i doubt not , has rewarded him , and all future ages shall celebrate his memory and call him blessed , whilst this church and state shall stand . this was the charity of his purse . and as for all the other instances of charity in conversation , as long-suffering , civility in carriage , mercifulness , candor in passing interpretations , patience upon indignities , and the like , without which , as st. paul † says , giving all our goods to feed the poor will signifie nothing : he had an equal regard , and conscientious care of them too . his religion did not sowre into moroseness , nor his severities to himself render him peevish and uneasie towards others . to set him out to your imitation in all the virtues of conversation , i shall not describe his carriage in all the particulars , which would take up too much time , but rather chuse to set down the rules whereby he govern'd himself , which will be , as the more compendious , so i hope as profitable a way for those , who are disposed to follow him . those rules , as they appear in his own papers , were such as these ; viz. to cross himself in any eager desire , and in things most to his own humour ; to prefer others ease before his own ; not to neglect , or over look the meanest person ; to stoop to the meanest offices to do others kindnesses ; not to be high in his expectations from others ( one of the best securities against being exceptious ) to own the least kindness he had receiv'd , and be really inclined to return it ; to forget all injuries done to him , and stifle all thoughts of resenting them ; not to speak at a venture , without thinking ; whensoever he proposed any reasons , to do it with a modest deference ; not to mention any thing to his own praise ; nor to discommend others ; nor to strive to out-do , or vie in the least matters . these , and such like , were the maxims , he proposed to live by in conversing with others , and whereby he judg'd himself in his retirements and self examinations . and the effect of them was answerable , in a truly humble , courteous , and obliging carriage . he was careful not to pass unjust censures , nor shew any unchristian violence which might cause just offence , even to his enemies , and to those he most opposed in interests and opinions : making it his frequent prayer , to help it the better into his daily practice , that with just zeal against their errors , he might still preserve all due charity for their persons , and never use any sinful means and unlawful expedients , in opposing the worst things , or pursuing the most pious , publick , and generous ends in the world. as he was thus careful to practise this excellent virtue of charity himself , so was he very studious to maintain it among others . he sought to deserve the title of a peace-maker , and when he heard of differences ready to flame out , would interpose himself a protector of the oppressed parties , and hear complaints and pleadings , and compose and adjust differences , and if the authority of reason and religion would not do , make use of the power he had over his tenants and dependants , not allowing them to commence suits for redress , till they had first complained to him , and seen what redress he could make them . in sum , he was a well-studied , and improved christian , able to plead for virtue and goodness , with such reason and argument , as might become a preacher , and careful to practise it with such exactness , as might adorn a cloyster . he was a person of very sincere and warm devotion , a most religious honourer of god , and of the clergy for god's and their function's sake , an affectionate admirer of true virtue and worth wheresoever he found it , a sincere and zealous son of the church of england , in whose communion he lived and died , desiring above all things in his last extremities , to receive the holy sacrament and priestly absolution according to its order and appointment , and a faithful and serviceable subject to the king. he was strict in his trusts , faithful and active in his friendships , a dutiful son , a discreet and loving husband , a good and careful master to his servants , and in the inclination of his mind , and according to the opportunities of his life , an universal friend and benefactor unto all . this is such an account , as i thought fit to give you of this place , of this truly pious and exemplary soul. and i have chose to give it , not so much from general characters of his person , as particular relations of his practice , both because this is most honourable to him , there being no way so advantageous of drawing out excellent persons , as by shewing the draught they have made of themselves , their own praise-worthy deeds making them more truly illustrious , than all the paint and varnish of abstracted eloquence : and especially because this is of more use , and a better help to imitation . for however some persons may hear general characters with more approbation and applause , as thinking they shew more of fancy and wit than plain narratives of fact : yet the exposing of their particular performances , of the rules they observ'd in governing themselves , and of their wise and worthy actions , is that which is like to gain most followers , and turns most to profit in all great examples . this goes before men in the way , and marks out the very steps they have troden , and so plainly shews and assures the path to all that have a mind to follow after them . god grant us all the grace to imitate these , and other his virtues after his death , which we had so just reason to admire , and bless god for in his life ; and then we need not fear at last to inherit those great rewards and glorious promises , which we have reasonable grounds to believe he is now an happy sharer of . finis . books lately printed for robert kettlewell at the hand and scepter in fleet-street . 1. the measures of christian obedience : or , a discourse shewing what obedience is indispensably necessary to a regenerate state , and what defects are consistent with it , for the promotion of piety , and the peace of troubled consciences . by john kettlewell , vicar of coles-hill in warwickshire , the second edition . in quarto , price bound 8 s. 2. a journey into greece by sir george wheeler , in company of dr. spon of lyons , in six books . containing , 1. a voyage from venice to constantinople . 2. an account of constantinople , and the adjacent places . 3. a voyage through the lesser asia . 4. a voyage from zant through several parts of greece , to athens . 5. an account of athens . 6. several journeys from athens into attica , corinth , boeotia , &c. with variety of sculptures . in folio , price bound 15. s. 3. a vindication of the primitive christians , in point of obedience to their prince , against the calumnies of a book , entituled , the life of julian , written by ecebolius the sophist . as also , the doctrine of passive obedience cleared , in defence of dr. hicks ; together with an appendix , being a more full and distinct answer to mr. thomas hunt's preface and postscript . unto all which is added , the life of julian , enlarged . in oct. price bound 2 s. 6 d. 4. a sermon preached at the worcester-feast , by george walls master of arts , and student of christ-church , oxon. quarto , price stitcht 6. d. 5. the treasures of the sea , a sermon preached to the mariners , by william thompson . in quarto , price stitcht 6. d. 6. an help and exhortation to worthy communicating : or , a treatise describing the meaning , worthy reception , duty and benefits of the holy sacrament , and answering the doubts of conscience , and other reasons , which most generally detain men from it ; together with suitable devotions added . by john kettlewell , vicar of coles-hill in warwickshire . in twelves , price bound 3 s. 7. two hundred queries moderately propounded , concerning the doctrine of the revolution of humane souls , and its conformity to the truths of christianity . in octvo , price bound 1 s. 6 d. 8. a sermon preached at the church of st. bridget , on easter-tuesday , being the first of april 1684. before the right honourable sir henry tulse mayor of london . by george hicks d. d. dean of worcester , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . in quarto , price stitcht 6 d. 9. a spelling book for children . in twenty fours , price bound 6. d. 10. a good subject : or , the right test of religion and loyalty . in a sermon , preached july the 17th at the last summer assizes held at buckingham , for the county of buckingham . before the lord chief baron mountague , and sir richard holloway knight , john culling esq high sheriff . by lewis atterbury , d. d. 11. a dissertation concerning the pre-existency of souls : wherein the state of the question is briefly ununfolded , and divers arguments and objections on both sides alledged and answered ; and a free judgment concerning the sum of the controversie allowed to every one . being originally written in the latine tongue , several years since , by the learned c. p. and now made english by d. f. d. p. upon the recommendation of f. m. h. their friend . in twelves , price 1 s. 12. the history of isuf bassa captain general of the ottoman army at the invasion of candia . in octavo , price bound 1 s. 6 d. 13. animadversions on dr. burnet's history of the rights of princes in the disposing of ecclesiastical benefices and church lands . in a letter to a friend . in quarto , price 3 d. 14. a discourse explaining the nature of edification . both of particular persons in private graces , and of the church in unity and peace . and shewing that we must not break unity and publick peace , for supposed means of better edifying in private virtues . in a visitation sermon at coventry , may 7. 1684. by john kettlewell vicar of coles-hill in warwickshire . in quarto , price 6 d. 15. a funeral sermon for the right honourable , the lady frances digby , who deceased at coles-hall in warwickshire , on the 29 of septemb. 1684. by john kettlewell , vicar of coles-hill in warwickshire . in quarto , price 6. d. 16. the paradoxical discourses of f. m. van helmont , concerning the macrocosm and microcosm of the greater and lesser world , and their union . set down in writing by i. b. and now published . in octavo , price bound 3 s. 6 d. 17. a discourse on persecution , or suffering for christ's sake . clearing the notion of it ; and making a discrimination of just from vnjust pretensions to it . and passionately recommending true christian suffering to all those who shall be call'd thereto . occasionally representing the folly and sinfulness of illegal , arbitrary courses for the prevention of it , and the security of our church . by john howel , a. m. rector of radnor nova in the county of radnor . the religious loyalist : or , a good christian taught how to be a faithful servant both to god and the king. in a visitation sermon preached at coles-hill in warwickshire , aug. 28. 1685. at the triennial visitation of my lord's grace of canterbury , during the suspension of the bishop of lichfield and coventry . by john kettlewell , vicar of coles-hill . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47311-e410 † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † heb. 10. 25. * mat. 4. 2. † exod. 34. 28. † joh. 2. 16 , 17. * mat. 23. † luk. 13. 32. † exod. 11. 2 , 3. † num. 25. 7 , 8. * 2 king. 9. * is. 1. 10 23. † is. 56. 10 , 11. † act. 16. 1● , 3. † act. 4. 34 , 35. * 2 thess. 3. 6. 14. & 1 cor. 5. 11. † 2 king. 1. 10 , 12. † psal. 35 , 36 , 80. psal. 109. * ier. 18. 21. † heb. 12. 3. † 1 cor. 13. 3. the way to the highest honour a funeral sermon, on john xii, 26, preach'd upon the decease of the rnd tho. jacomb ... april 3, 1687 / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. 1687 approx. 115 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 69 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26816 wing b1131 estc r14324 12718166 ocm 12718166 66264 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26816) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 66264) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 973:5) the way to the highest honour a funeral sermon, on john xii, 26, preach'd upon the decease of the rnd tho. jacomb ... april 3, 1687 / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. [8], 128 p. printed for j. robinson ..., london : 1687. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. advertisement, errata: p. [8] created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jacombe, thomas, 1622-1687. bible. -n.t. -john xii, 26. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2004-11 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the way to the highest honour . a funeral sermon , on john xii . 26. preach'd upon the decease of the r nd tho. jacomb , d.d. april 3. 1687. by william bates , d.d. london , printed for j. robinson , at the golden lion in s. pauls church-yard , mdclxxxvii . to the right honourable elizabeth countess-dowager of exceter . madam , i present a sermon to your view , that drew forth your tears in the hearing , and is like to be a revival of your sorrow in reading ; but i could not without indecence decline the inscribing it to your name . 't is design'd to the precious memory of one , whose piety and prudence had render'd most worthily and affectionately respected by you : one who for forty years faithfully served you in the affairs of your soul , and in that long space there was a continual circulation of favours on your part , and observance on his . as his presence and counsel , and example in your family was an excellent blessing and dearly prized by you , so in proportion your afflicting grief rises for the loss of him . but you are instructed to be content with the divine disposal : and our gracious god by withdrawing intermediate comforts , calls you to more intimate and heavenly communion with himself . i might here take a just occasion to speak of your eminent vertues , and of your serious religion that crowns the rest : for then praise-worthy excellencies may be duely and safely represented , when he that commends is not in danger of falling into flattery , and the person commended is not in danger of being swell'd with pride : and such is your excellent and conspicuous goodness , that it reflects a lustre upon your nobility , and is above verbal encomiums ; and your rare humility is most relucent amongst your other shining graces . but 't is needless to illustrate that worth that is so visible to all . i shall only observe , that as you have been so happy as to find wisdom , the true spiritual wisdom that directs us to our last and blessed end , the wisdom that excells rubies , and by an incomparable comparison all the admired things in the world : so the promised reward of wisdom has been your portion : length of days are in her right hand , and in her left hand wisdom and honour . you are now come to old age , and are apt to complain ( such is your zealous piety ) that , your strength being spent , you are useless , and with impatience desire a dismission from hence . but as a servant that stands and waits upon his master's pleasure , as truly serves him , as he that is most industrious in his business ; so by an humble patient waiting upon your heavenly lord , till he shall call you to the blessed state above , you as truly please and glorifie him , as when your active powers were fresh and lively , and you went about doing good . be encouraged , good madam , with unfainting perseverance to expect the final reward : for your salvation is nearer than when you first believed . let the love of christ always reign in your heart , and the crown of glory be always in your eye , that you may finish your course with joy . these are the most unfeigned desires of him who is , madam , your very humble and faithful servant , william bates . advertisements . a short description of the blessed place and state of the saints above . in a discourse on the words of our saviour , joh. 14.2 . preached on occasion of the death of mr. david clarkson . by w. bates , d. d. a plain representation of transubstantiation , as it is received in the church of rome , with the sandy foundations it is built upon , and the arguments that clearly evert and overturn it . errata . pag. 29. in the margent , for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 102. l. 6. for ruines r. ruin'd . p. 104. l. 11. dele our selves . st. john xii . 26. if any man serve me , let him follow me ; and where i am , there shall also my servant be : if any man serve me , him will my father honour . if it so pleased the wise and soveraign disposer of all things , how much rather would i be an attentive hearer of that blessed servant of god who is now above , than preach his funeral sermon at this time. that my sad voice should be reserved for this mournful service , is both contrary to my desire and expectation . o frail and faithless life of man ! who would have thought that dr. jacomb , whose natural vigour and firm complexion promised a longer continuance here , should have a period put to his days , and that i should survive , whose life has been preserved for many years like the weak light of a lamp in the open air ? but he has finish'd his work , and was more fit for heaven : the last lord's day he entred into everlasting rest : and i with you are still upon the earth , that we may make a better preparation for the divine presence in heaven , and that holy assembly that serves him who sits upon the throne without imperfection or intermission for ever . in order to this end , i have chosen the present subject of my discourse . in the verse our saviour gives a most important command and indispensably obligatory to all christians ; if any man serves me , let him follow me : if he assumes the title , and enters into the sacred engagement of being my servant , let his carriage be answerable to his condition , let him follow the divine example i have set before him . and since the way is narrow and be-set with thorns , our coelestial leader who by the cross ascended to the throne , assures us of a blessed retribution that shall infinitely out-weigh all the numerous and heavy troubles to which we are expos'd in his service ; all our grievous sufferings shall end in eternal joys : where i am , there shall my servant be : and he is at god's right hand , where there is fulness of joy , and rivers of pleasure for ever . and all the clouds of disgrace and contempt that darken our present state , shall be dispell'd and overcome by unfading glory : if any man serve me , him will my father honour . joy and glory are the bright sum of heaven : the compleat felicity that a stedfast faith in our saviour's promises , opposes to the greatest evils , all the ignominy and reproaches , all the pains and miseries that can afflict life , or imbitter death : the lively hope of it inspires his servants with an invincible courage and patience to sustain what ever evils for his sake . i shall confine my discourse to the last part of the verse ; if any man serve me , him will my father honour : having upon the like occasion treated of the joy that shall recompence all the sorrows and labours of the saints . the proposition i shall insist on is this : god will crown the fidelity and constancy of christ's servants with the highest honour . in the managing of the point , i will consider , first , what the service of christ implies . secondly , upon what accounts 't is due to him . thirdly , the final reward that shall certainly attend it . lastly , bring it home to our own bosoms by application . first , what the service of christ implies . in the general notion , to serve christ , implies obedience to his will as the rule of our actions , with aims at his glory as the end of them . his will revealed in the scriptures is a rule eminently and exclusively . eminently , for it has all the perfections of a rule : 't is clear and compleat , sufficient to make us wise to salvation , and to direct us in the way everlasting . 't is called the holy , acceptable , and perfect will of god. 't is a rule exclusively . to speak strictly , no creature can be a rule to another ; for they are all in an equal line of subjection to the creator : one may be a guide or governour to another according to the rule of god's word . the laws of men cannot reach and bind the conscience immediately , but by virtue of god's command ; nor unlimitedly , but as they are consonant with his laws . now a universal respect to the will of christ , as the rule of our lives , is truly to serve him . and the aiming at his glory in all our desires and endeavours , either actually or habitually , is an essential ingredient in his service . the actual intention in every performance is not absolutely necessary : many good actions may proceed from the influence of the habitual intention : an arrow that is directed by aim may hit the mark , tho in its flight the eye be turned off from it . but the ultimate scope of our life , which ought to be often renewed in our minds , must be to please and glorify christ ; according to the apostle's expression , to me to live is christ. i will more distinctly open these things under the following heads ; 1. the church is a distinct society from the world , of which christ is the head ; and the state of christianity is a high and holy calling ; and all who are brought into it by the outward ministry of the word , or in conjunction with it , by the internal grace of the spirit , are obliged to the faith and obedience of the gospel ; the same duties and the same rewards are common to all : and living according to that spiritual state in godliness , righteousness , and sobriety , is to serve christ. thus the adoration , the honour , the homage we render to god , the making him the sole object of our highest love , an entire relyance on the mediator for our salvation , an earnest desire to please him in all things , and an equal fear to displease him , the exercise of compassionate beneficent charity towards men ; briefly , a holy and heavenly conversation , is the universal duty of christ's servants . and that our service be accepted , it must be performed with humility , zeal and constancy . with humility and dependance upon the mediator for divine grace and acceptance . every spiritual act requires a supernatural power : not a holy thought or word springs from naked nature . our saviour tells his disciples , without me you can do nothing . as the branches derive life and active sap from the root that makes them flourishing and fruitful ; so from his sanctifying spirit , ( that was purchased by his meritorious sufferings , and is conferr'd by him in his glory , ) we are made fruitful in every good work : and in the beloved son we are only accepted . this general service due to christ , must be done with zeal . we are commanded to be fervent in spirit , serving the lord ; to work out our own salvation , as the apostle with most lively emphasis enforces the duty . our most ardent affections and active powers are to be imploy'd in this work , remembring that our lives are short and uncertain : time flies upon the swiftest wings : that the work is of infinite and everlasting consequence , in comparison of which our fervent diligence in worldly affairs , is like the throwing of straws and feathers with our utmost strength : remembring , that we are always under the pure eye of our divine master , that will call us to an exact account . to be cold and careless in his service , disparages his excellency , and will defeat our hopes : the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence . with constancy . he delivered us from the hands of our enemies , that we might serve him without fear , in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives . the travail of faith continues till heavenly vision be brought forth , and the labour of love till the reward be obtained . i will not insist on this , being to resume the consideration of it afterwards . 2. in the various conditions of life in this world , we are to serve christ. the entire man is the object of god's tender care and providence , and accordingly he has wisely ordered divers conditions , and special callings of men , wherein they are engaged , and employed for the support and comfort of themselves , and the publick good. and as in a circle , from every point of it , a streight line may be drawn to the centre : so in the vast sphere of this world , from every lawful calling there may be a direct prosecution of our last and blessed end , the glory of god in conjunction with our salvation . there is no state of life so low and mean , but a christian may so manage it , as to excel in holiness , and consequently honour christ : as phidias that famous sculptor expres'd his art to admiration , not only in gold , and marble , and ivory , but in mean materials , in wood or ordinary stone . the apostle often inculcates this lesson upon servants , to obey their masters with fidelity and cheerfulness , for ye serve the lord christ ; col. 3.24 . eph. 6.7 . it was to a mortal man , and if it might be of a perverse humour , their service was immediately addres'd ; but if from conscience of their duty to christ , and a direct intention to please him , they performed it , that respect sweetened and ennobled the service . 't is the spirit and perfection of christianity to transform and elevate the lowest actions : it makes the service of a slave to be divine obedience , which is the most free and noble act of the reasonable creature . from hence the same apostle enforces the duties of servants , that they may adorn the gospel of god our saviour : the faithful discharge of their service redoubles the lustre of the glorious gospel , and recommended it to their pagan masters . and 't is equally true , that in every lawful condition of life , when men are conversant in the duties proper to it , with a respect to the command of christ , when their civil actions are ultimately resolved into his glory , they perform religious obedience . this is enjoyned in that comprehensive precept , whatsoever you do in word or deed , do it in the name of the lord jesus christ : that is , with a respect to his will , and for his honour . i shall only add that diligence in our civil callings , must always be in subserviency to the great end of our general calling , the salvation of our souls ; to which we are primarily and indispensably obliged . the life of a christian is a walking with god , and the way is in the performance of holy and civil duties . and as companions in a journey are together all day , but have set times of refreshing themselves ; so a christian in his coelestial journey , is to walk always before god uprightly , in all temporal affairs to regard his presence , and every day at set times to draw near to him by prayer and thanksgiving , and to represent his greatness and glory in so solemn a manner , that there may be a serious habitual constitution of spirit respecting him in all his actions . if there be a neglect of heavenly communion with him , and of our spiritual state , and a perpetual consumption of our thoughts , time , and strength for secular advantages and interests , men are slaves of the world , not servants of christ. 3. the service of christ is more eminently performed in some special offices ordained for the glory of god and the publick good. and such are the civil magistracy , and the spiritual ministry . 1. magistrates the highest and subordinate in the scale of government , are by designation to their office to serve him , they are called the ministers of god , for the good of the people . princes may be considered in a double capacity , as christians , and as princes , and in both they are obliged to serve christ. as christians , by an inflexible necessity , without priviledg or dispensation they are bound to obey his holy laws as strictly as every private person ; as princes , they are subject to him not only upon the account of his deity simply considered , but his office as mediator . in his mortal state he did not exercise regal power , nor appeared with conspicuous marks of royalty , for it was incongruous to his end : the redemption of the lost world was to be obtained by sufferings : but his supremacy over the world , is a prerogative annext to his being head of the church , a title that infinitely transcends all angelical , much more human principalities . he is stiled the prince of the kings of the earth . princes are commanded to kiss the son , a token of the adoration , and homage they owe to him . as princes , they are to exercise their power and authority to repress wickedness , and preserve the publick tranquillity : for without the restraints of fear , the most savage fierce beasts would be less dangerous than men to men. they are to encourage moral goodness , and not only to promote the civil prosperity , but eternal felicity of their subjects . accordingly the apostle exhorts christians to offer up prayers and supplications for kings , and all in in authority , that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . when princes are inspired with sentiments and resolutions , becoming their lieutenancy to the lord christ , when they govern their greatness , and employ their power in subserviency to his interest , when they protect and encourage all that seek the kingdom of heaven , and the righteousness thereof , as the clear direct way that leads to it , they shall obtain the brightest richest crowns in the state of glory : but those who are a terror to the good , and encourage evil doers , their mighty aggravated sins will sink them into the deepest damnation . 2. those who are consecrated to the spiritual function of teaching , and governing the church , are in a peculiar manner the servants of christ , not as he is the lord of the earth , but of heaven ; considering the quality of their work and the end of it : for 't is wholly conversant about the souls of men , to open their eyes , and turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of satan to god , that they may receive forgiveness of sins , and inheritance amongst them which are sanctified by faith that is in christ : and as 't is express'd in other words of scripture , to translate them from the kingdom of darkness , into the kingdom of his dear son. this relation extends it self from the highest apostle to the lowest in the sacred office : st. paul frequently stiles himself the servant of christ : and by that title he expresses any that are by office employed for the saving of souls : the servant of the lord must not strive , but be gentle to all men , apt to teach . as christ is called the servant of god by way of eminency , and was anointed to to preach the gospel ; so those who are dedicated to that work , are his servants in the most proper sense , and are to follow him , the most excellent example , and highest master in that divine work. this i will more particularly insist upon , being suitable to the present occasion , and lay down some rules directing how the ministers of christ may serve him acceptably , so as to be rewarded in the heavenly glory . 1. they must by serious study furnish themselves with divine knowledg , and substantial learning , for the discharge of all the parts of their office : to instruct the ignorant , to refute the erroneous , to reform the unholy , and to comfort the humble and disconsolate . our saviour compares the ministers of the gospel unto a man that is an housholder , which brings forth out of his treasure , things new and old ; 't is his duty to give to the flock meat in due season , for which not only fidedelity but wisdom is requisite . 't is the apostle's charge to timothy ; give attendance to reading , to exhortation , to doctrine ; meditate on these things , give thy self wholly to them , that thy profiting may appear before all . if timothy who had supernatural gifts by inspiration , was obliged to be intent and diligent in the application of his mind to the mysteries of godliness ; how much more should those who must acquire knowledg by search and industry , and the divine blessing upon it . as fountains by secret passages derive from the sea the waters that flow in their streams ; so ministers by reading and contemplation , and prayer in their retirements , obtain the knowledg of divine things , which they convey in their sermons to the people . with the notional , an experimental knowledg of divine truths , is absolutely necessary to a minister to save himself , and most useful to save others . 't is not a perfect systeme of divinity in the head , not an universal knowledg of spiritual things confined to the brain , that has a saving efficacy : 't is not composing a sermon with exquisite art , and the delivering of it like an orator , that makes him accepted with god. for without a cordial sense of divine truths , he only lends his tongue in that holy service ; like a reciter in a scene , all he does is but external appearance . god sees and requires the heart : without it neither the head nor the tongue of a minister , tho his speculations are sublime , and his words drops of gold , are of any value . and usually the sermons of such are without profit to the hearers . the sound of words only reaches the ear , 't is the mind convinces the mind , and the heart perswades the heart . he that is strongly convinc'd of the truth of eternal things , he will speak of them with assurance , as an eye witness , and in a lively manner : he that is burning in his own breast , will inflame others ; but if there be no spark of celestial fire in the minister's brest , if he does not value the consequence of divine truths , he speaks of them without a deep concernment ; and a cold preacher makes a careless hearer : and the sermon is lost in the air between the lips of the one and the ears of the other . 2. the matter of their sermons must be the doctrine of the gospel revealed from heaven to reduce men to their duty , and restore them to felicity . this is the tenor of the commission given by our saviour to his apostles , go teach all nations , to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you . the preaching unrevealed or trivial things , impertinent to the salvation and perfection of souls , is directly contrary to the end of their office. the wisest method of recovering lost sinners is to unfold the two covenants , and represent the two worlds to them . the first covenant was with man created in natural righteousness and holiness , but was of a short continuance : for by his rebellious sin he made a deadly forfeiture of the image and favour of god , of communion with him the fountain of our felicity . he is cut off from that blessed life , and must remain in the state of corruption and death for ever without redeeming mercy . 't is a necessary preparative for the conversion and recovery of sinners , to convince them of the guilt , pollution , and dominion of sin , and the everlasting hell that follows it , that they may be roused out of their security to fly from the wrath to come . the terrors of the lord make the first breach into the hearts of men , and grace victoriously enters , and subdues the reluctant will. after the conviction of sin , 't is seasonable to convince them of the all-sufficient righteousness of christ ; that he is the tree of life , for the reviving dead sinners , that he is wisdom , righteousness , sanctification , and redemption , a universal remedy for all the evils that lie upon man in his fallen state. and 't is requisite to open the terms upon which god offers his mercy , the law of faith in the gospel , that consists of commands and promises , both to check presumption that flatters so many into hell , and to prevent despair that works as dangerously , though not so frequently , to the ruin of souls . that men may not from corrupt minds and carnal affections misinterpret the gospel , to live at ease in their sins , a faithful minister must shew them , that the promises of pardon and salvation are made only to a certain order of sinners , the repenting and reforming sinners , that rely upon christ alone for their acceptance ; that he is a king as well as a priest , and none can regularly depend upon his sacrifice without subjection to his scepter : in short the soveraign balm of his blood is to be applied only to those whose hearts are broken for their sins , and from them . and to raise and encourage drooping spirits that feel the intolerable burthen of sin , and both from their guilt and unworthiness , and their impotency to perform the conditions of the gospel , are apt to be hopeless of obtaining salvation , the gospel assures us that god is rich in mercy , ready to receive humble contrite suppliants : that although sins are of different degrees of guilt , and accordingly conscience should be affected , and the springs of godly sorrow be opened , yet god can as easily forgive ten thousand talents as a few pence : that the blood of christ cleanses from all sins , those that are of a crimson dy , as well as from those of a lighter tincture : that the promise of pardon is without limitation to all penitent believers . and although in the fallen state man is destitute of spiritual strength , no man can come to christ except the father draw him ; though carnal lusts have fetter'd nature , and captivated the will , that men cannot rescue themselves from the bondage of sin , yet divine grace is offered in the gospel , to enable us to do what is impossible without it ; and the holy spirit is promised to all that sincerely ask it , who is stiled the spirit of love , and power , and a sound mind , with respect to his heavenly operations in the hearts of men. therefore as it would be folly in a scholar that is invited to the school of a learned master , to discourage himself from going , because he wants learning : for that is to be obtained there , and only his desire and capacity of instruction is requisite for his admission : so 't is unreasonable for those who have a humble sense of their sins and misery , to be discouraged from coming to our saviour ; for he is most willing to reconcile god to them by his prevailing mediation , and to communicate divine grace that they may perform that obedience which god will graciously accept . this is to imitate the apostles , of whom 't is said , we preach not our selves , but christ jesus the lord. 't is of excellent use also for preachers often to represent to men the two worlds , so vastly different in the qualities , the degrees and duration of the good and evil things that are enjoyed or suffered in them , that they may discover the errors of their ways before they come to their end , and death opens their eyes to see and lament what is lost and never to be recover'd . all the admired things in the sensible world , are perishing vanities ; like an inchanted feast that feeds the eye , without real nourishment : but in the coelestial world all is substantial , satisfying , and eternal . all the evils , the calamities , the injuries , and troubles suffer'd here , are no more to the plagues prepared by revenging justice for impenitent sinners , than the slight razing of the skin is to a deadly wound in the heart . now the fundamental delusion of men is in valuing the present state of things above what is future , and infinitely better or worse . they think and call them only happy , who live in pomp , and flow in riches and pleasures ; but as vainly as the heathens dignified their idols , with the titles of coelestial deities : they count them only miserable that are in poverty , sickness , and afflictions here . and as 't is observed , by the great physician , that if a delirous person proposes his incohoerent fancies , seriously as the product of consideration , his case is more dangerous and hardly curable : so the solemn folly of men that think it reasonable to esteem what is present and sensible , above what is future and spiritual ; and accordingly to choose the present as the real substantial good , and neglect the future as a matter of fancy and conceit , is hardly cured . their minds and affections , their aims and desires center in the earth : their fears , anxieties , sorrows terminate there . and 't is one necessary part of the minister's work to devest the world of its masquing habit , that appears so rich and glittering in the night by torch-light , to strip it naked as it shall burn in the consuming fire at the last day : and to unvail the glory of heaven , and represent it to the eyes of christians so as to ravish their hearts : in short , to make such a convincing discovery of things unseen , that men may judg , that only the saints above are truly and perfectly happy , and only the reprobates in hell are really and finally miserable , and accordingly regulate their lives . i shall add to this , that the language of sermons should be suitable to the quality of the matter , and the end of that divine ordinance . a minister must speak as becoming the oracles of god : with solemn expressions according to the sanctity and importance of the great mystery of godliness . the apostle tells us his speech was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom . a luxuriant flourish of words , a vain ostentation of wit , debases the majesty , enervates the vigour , and corrupts the pure taste of the gospel . true eloquence is always suitable to the subject , and springs from it ; as the native beauty of the countenance that springs from a sound complexion of body , and is not varnish'd with the paint of art. when the truth of eternal things is planted in the heart , and the vital sense of them is shed in the will and affections , it will furnish us with fit and powerful words to express them . besides , in the managing of a sacred argument , salus populi suprema lex esto : the salvation of souls is the rule to which the language of sermons must be parallel . divine truths must be represented with those clear and solemn expressions , as may powerfully affect the conscience , and excite the practick faculties of the soul , with such weighty and serious words , as may awaken sinners to fear the powerful and terrible judg of the world , and to hate sin that provokes his displeasure . the curious contexture of words of pleasant sound without substance , is an elaborate folly : 't is the framing a net only fit to catch flys , the vain applauses of the injudicious , not to take souls , the divine work of a minister . and the account must be woful for those ministers to the redeemer of souls , whose study , thoughts , and time are wasted for so guilty and base an end . 3. the motives of their affections and endeavours in this holy service must be the love of christ and precious immortal souls . our saviour with repeated earnestness recommends this to st. peter , lovest thou me , feed my lambs , feed my sheep . the salvation of souls is his dearest glory , and satisfying pleasure : as it was prophesied , that he shall see of the travel of his soul , and be satisfied : and our zealous endeavours to save them from death , is the natural and necessary effect of our love to him . a true minister of christ has a diviner principle , a sublimer soul , than to aim at carnal fruitions , at temporal and terrestrial rewards . the blessed end of his office must be the end of all his studious thoughts and labours , the honour of his master in the conversion and salvation of sinners . if the world be in their eye and heart as the scope of their ministry , they are guilty of the most unnatural disorder by employing the most excellent means for low and sordid ends , they use god to enjoy the world : this corrupts and stains their service . such mercenaries are empty vines , that only bring forth fruit unto themselves : they have their reward here . but the love of christ and souls reigns in the heart of a faithful minister : this regulates his work in order to their spiritual and everlasting good. this will make him descend to the capacity of the meanest , and plainly to instruct them in things concerning their salvation . as elisha put his mouth upon the mouth , and his eyes upon the eyes , and his hands upon the hands of the dead child , and thereby conveyed a living heat into him ; so a minister should apply himself suitably to their capacity , who are but children in knowledg . 't is his duty to raise the low understandings , as well as to humble the high and swelling passions of men. this love to souls will inspire him with tender melting affections : without which , unless god renews the miracle of aaron's dry rod blooming and bearing almonds , our discourses will be barren , without fruit in the hearers . a plain sermon dictated from the heart with a holy heat of affections , makes a solid impression upon the hearers : when an elaborate discourse , not animated with the affections , is of little efficacy . as a blunter iron , if burning hot , pierces more easily and deeply into a piece of churlish wood , then a sharper that is cold . the love of christ and souls inspires with joy and alacrity in his service . no element is heavy in its own sphere . a mercenary spirit performs the work as an irksom task ; but love sweetens all the duties of the sacred calling , even such as are most distastful to the carnal . this entitles to the blessed reward . the apostle saith , if i preach the gospel willingly , i have a reward : otherwise his abundant labours would be of no comfortable account at last . 3. the ministers of christ must with most faithful diligence attend his service . the subject and end of their work challenges this of them , the conversion and salvation of souls . what earnest and repeated calls are necessary to awaken those who are involved in carnal security , to perswade them to love what they hate , and to hate what they love ? and when the foundation is laid in serious repentance , and the work of grace begun , what diligence is requisite to raise it to perfection ? how does the malicious incessant enemy of our salvation strive by a thousand temptations to blast our endeavours ? the work of a minister is not like the work of an artificer : a statuary with long labour cuts the marble to form it into a noble image , but he leaves his work at his pleasure ; and when he resumes it , the matter being durable , 't is in the same state towards finishing as when he left it . but the heart of man is of a strange nature , hard as marble and fluid as water ; heavenly impressions are with difficulty made in it , and easily defac'd . when by many prayers and tears , many tender addresses of ministers the heart is softened , and the image of christ , the lineaments of his divine graces and vertues are first drawn in it , without a continual eye and attendance upon the work , how soon are those blessed beginnings spoiled , and the carnal lusts regain the heart ? how hard is it to prevail with men to enter into the narrow way , and to preserve them from defiling lapses in it , or woful excursions into the pleasant ways of sin , and to bring them safely to heaven ? the solemn adjuration of the apostle to timothy should excite ministers with the most watchful care and useful diligence to attend their work : i charge thee before the lord jesus christ , who shall judg the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom : preach the word , be instant , in season , out of season ; reprove , rebuke , exhort with all long suffering and doctrine . what opiate can stupify the conscience of idle ministers so as not to be awakened by these ardent expressions ? how can they appear before the most high , and everlasting judge ? what will be a sufficient defence before his inlightned tribunal ? what apologies will skreen them from his fiery displeasure ? will their ignorance , or abundance , or slothfulness excuse the neglect of their duty ? they may deceive themselves with vain allegations to palliate their negligence , but god will not be mocked . if in the last judgment those who neglected to feed the poor with material bread to support their bodies , shall be placed with the reprobates at the left hand of christ , how can those whose office it is to dispense the bread of life to souls , and neglect to feed them , escape condemnation ? the useful diligence i have been urging upon ministers , is not only necessary in publick solemn preaching the word , but in seasonable applying it to particular persons within their compass and care. of this we have an excellent pattern in st. paul , who gives this account of his spiritual work : we preach christ , warning every man , and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus . a minister should with watchful diligence take all opportunities for the saving of precious souls ; and sometimes one short lesson seriously applied to a person in private , more powerfully , affects the conscience , and moves the affections , than a long and well studied sermon . 4. the servants of christ must with resolution and constancy despise the allurements and the terrors of the world in performing the duties of their office. the apostle declares his fixed mind , i count not my life dear to me , so that i may finish my course with joy , and the ministry which i have received of the lord jesus : tho amongst the pikes of a thousand dangers he was never faint-hearted , much less false-hearted , in the cause of christ. the two principal parts of the minister's duty are to preserve the truths of the gospel inviolate , and to open and enforce the commands of it in their spiritual purity and extent : they are stiled the lights of the world , and the salt of the earth . all the truths of the gospel are of precious value , but not of equal clearness and moment : and christian charity should moderate between dissenters in smaller matters , who agree in the main points of religion . but those truths of the gospel that are primary and radical , and those that by necessary consequence are deduc'd from them , require our most vigilant care and zeal to preserve them entire and untainted . 't is a universal duty respecting christians , to search out the truth as 't is in jesus , to understand the reasons of the religion they profess , and to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints . but the ministers of christ who by virtue of their office are depositaries of the truth , are chiefly obliged to assert and defend it : especially when there are many snares spread abroad to entangle ignorant and unstable souls with dangerous errors . our saviour has set us a pattern of our duty , who declared , for this end was i born , and came into the world to bear witness to the truth . they are false to the sacred trust reposed in them , when , by silence the truth is in danger of being opprest . 't is their duty and glory to be valiant for the truth , when false doctrines boldly oppose it , and poyson'd arrows are shot into the eyes of men by erroneous teachers . 't is said of john the baptist , he was not the light , but as next in dignity , he came to bear witness of the light. but if they withdraw their testimony when the truth challenges it , they will be covered with confusion at the last day ; according to that fearful threatning , whosoever denies me before men , him will i deny before my father which is in heaven . the ignorance of saving-truths will not excuse the people ; and silence will condemn their guides who should illustrate and defend the truth even in the face of danger . besides they are guilty of unfaithfulness to christ , who by colourable temperaments adulterate the purity of the truth , and by milder modifications qualify and lessen errors ; who would joyn the word of god with the traditions of men , which are incompatible as mid-night and mid-day . none are more artificial than fearful spirits : they have many turns and expedients to compound necessary controversies , and to make it seem indifferent which opinion is chosen . they transform their fearful apprehensions , into counsels of prudence , and disguise the baseness of their cowardise under the reputation of being discreet . the wisest of men who understood the incomparable value of truth , advises , buy the truth , and sell it not : and we are told by st. james , the wisdom , that is from above , is first pure , and then peaceable : but the worldly-wise , with art and industry endeavour to secure their outward peace with the violation of truth . how contrary is the judgment of god to the vain opinions of men ? he is jealous of the simplicity of his truth , and the chastity of his worship , and will at last convince such of their extream folly who would reconcile religions that can never flow into one another . 't is therefore an indispensable obligation of the servants of christ to adhere to the eternal truth in scriptures , tho vilified by some as an insufficient rule , or impertinent and not absolutely necessary : and to preserve the pure doctrine and transmit it to succeeding ages . and this divine encouragement should sustain them with unfainting resolution to do their duty , that if they cannot save the truth from being over-born at present , yet the truth will save them , and that it will pierce through all opposition , and be victorious in the issue . the church of christ is of a supernatural original and order , and contrary to the custom of human things , is enlarg'd and establish'd by the means used to destroy it . when the heathen powers with the utmost rage and cruelty attempted its final ruine it prosper'd the more : the patient deaths of the martyrs , as well as conspicuous miracles , gave credit and conveyance to the gospel . and the ministers of christ must with faithfulness and courage enforce the commands of the gospel upon all . carnal men would fain relax the strictness of the gospel ; and endeavour to make their principles correspondent to their practices : they try to bend the rule to their disordered and licentious appetites , and will not regulate their hearts and lives according to the sanctity of the rule : and those who are high in the world , very uneasily bear the conviction and reproof of their sin : but a minister must be faithful to christ and their souls , and press upon them the commands of our judg , to pluck out the right eye , and cut off the right hand , upon the heavy penalty of being made entire victims to revenging justice for ever . 5. they must with a prudent temperament of zeal and meekness , insinuate and open a passage for sanctifying and saving doctrine into the hearts of men. this is the successful method to convince those who are seduced with errors , and to reclaim the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. the defence of the truth must be managed in a calm peaceable manner ; as the sun scatters and overcomes the darkness of the night and clouds without noise . 't is the apostle's counsel , in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves : without contumelies and revilings ; for injuries convince no man. the human spirit is naturally proud and stiff , and will resist such arms : fierceness and scorn irritate the passions , and hinder impartial and serious deliberation , that opens the mind for receiving the truth . to perswade the soul , the mild and placid manner of conveying the truth is as effectual as the irradiation and evidence of it . and to reclaim the disobedient there is nothing more powerful than gentleness and the constraint of love. the most fervent reprehensions of sinners must be mixt with tenderness to their souls . under the law there was a severe prohibition of offering sacrifices with the common fire : but only with that fire that came from heaven , and was preserved day and night in the temple : the allusion is easy and fit : the reprehension of sinners in the pulpit must be always from zeal for the honour of god and the eternal salvation of souls , not from natural fiery passions . if a minister denounces the judgments of god with compassion to souls , if he thunder and lightens in his sermons , a shower of repenting tears will follow in convinced sinners . 6. a minister of the gospel must joyn a holy life with found doctrine , according to our saviour's description of him : he that shall do and teach my commands , shall be great in the kingdom of heaven . he must not only be free from pollutions , but excel in vertues ; nothing in his conversation should be worthy of reproach , nothing but what is worthy of imitation . he must lead a life answerable to the excellence and end of his calling . he is to preach a doctrine so holy divine and venerable , that it would become the unspotted angels to be ministring spirits in revealing it to men. he is therefore strictly obliged to shew forth the power of godliness , and the beauty of holiness in all his ways . he must imitate and honour his master , who inseparably united saying and doing in himself : he must adorn the gospel by expressing the efficacy of divine truths in his actions . under the law he that had touch'd a dead body , was forbidden to approach the sanctuary : and what a violation is it of all the rules of decency and reason , for one who is employed in the holy service of the gospel , to be polluted with dead works ? tertullian writing of the excellency of patience , and reflecting upon himself , how opposite his fiery nature was to that vertue , was deeply affected with grief and shame , and drew up his own arraignment and process for his impatience : how much juster cause has an unholy minister to be surprised with horrour and confusion , considering the irreconcileable opposition between his doctrine and his life ? how just and stinging is the upbraiding speech of god to such ? how peremptory the rejection ? what hast thou to do to declare my statutes , and to take my covenant into thy mouth , since thou hatest to be reformed , and hast cast my words behind thee ? the end of the sacred ministry requires holiness in those who perform it : that is to convert men to the faith and obedience of the gospel . now the practice of a minister gives weight and efficacy to his doctrine , the exemplifying of it in his actions is the most powerful perswasive to draw men to their duty . therefore the apostle commands titus in all things to shew himself a pattern of good works . as the plants that are productive of balm , and myrrh , and incense , have a fragrancy not only in the precious liquor that distils from them , but all their branches , and leaves , and bark , are aromatick . thus a minister of the gospel , must be holy not only in his doctrine , but in all manner of conversation . be thou an example of the believers in word , in conversation , in charity , in spirit , in faith , in purity , is the solemn charge to timothy . he that is holy in his profession , and unholy in his life , both discredits the gospel , and hardens men in their sins . though his tongue may direct to heaven , if his life leads to hell , the authority of his actions will be more prevalent than of his instructions . the vices of a minister are more conspicuous and infamous than of private persons : as a blemish in the eye is more conspicuous and disfiguring than in a concealed part of the body ; and they have the most corrupting destructive influence upon others . for there is nothing more natural than for men to think that ministers do not believe what they preach , when there is a visible contradiction between their lives and their words : that their most zealous sermons are rather pageantry than serious piety , and accordingly to slight them . this is a principal reason that the conversion of sinners is so rare : 't is not from any defect in the word , for that is not like some medicinal drugs , that lose their virtue by age , it has the same divine power to revive dead souls , to transform the carnal into spiritual persons , to clarify the mind that it may see things invisible , to reconcile the will to the sanctity of god's law , to calm the stormy affections , and leave an impression of its purity in the hearts of men : but the admirable and secret grace of the holy spirit is not usually concomitant with the ministry of those who grieve him , and quench him in themselves ; and they render the holy doctrine ineffectual by their discordant conversations . it was the character of the wicked pharisees from the mouth of christ : they say , and do not : and to them , and all that are involved in the same guilt , the saviour of the world threatens the most heavy damnation . 7. humble , fervent , and continual prayer to the father of mercies , and the father of spirits , that he would bless the outward ministry , is requisite to make it effectual . the conversion of man is not wrought by man , but by the energy of the holy spirit . god instructs us what he does in the more secret operations of grace , by what he does in the more visible operations of nature . this is express'd by the apostle ; paul plants , and apollos waters , but god gives the increase . a man plants a green stick , and waters it ; but the god of nature forms the tree in all its parts , the root , the sap , the trunk , the branches , and the fruits : the planting by the hand of man is necessary for the growth of a tree , but what is that to the divine blessing ? thus according to the ordinary method of divine grace , god unites his marvellous power with the weak ministry of men for the salvation of souls , and according to the apostle's arguing , it is an impossible event that men should believe without hearing the gospel , and hear without a preacher : but the converting and saving of souls is to be ascribed to god. and thus in the spiritual husbandry , the occasions of pride and slothfulness are equally removed . as the same apostle saith , he that plants is nothing , and he that waters , is nothing , but god that gives the increase . this consideration should be an incentive in our breasts , to petition the god of all grace that he will please to give life and efficacy to his word . in jacob's vision of the mysterious ladder that reach'd from heaven to earth , the angels were ascending and descending : an emblem of a minister's duty , they must first ascend in prayer and contemplation , and then descend in preaching to the people . 't is observable that sometimes men of excellent accomplishments are blasted in their ministry ; and others of meaner abilities , but of more holy affections , are very instrumental to save souls : the reason is plain ; those who are most frequent and fervent in prayer , obtain the richest abundance of the spirit , and are usually most blest with success . when the apostles were filled with the holy ghost , descending in the significant emblem of fiery tongues ; what an admirable influence had their preaching upon the obdurate jews ? the first sermon presently convinc'd and converted three thousand , that were murderers of our saviour , with the stains of his blood fresh upon them . tongues of flesh are without vigor , make no lasting impression upon the hearers : tongues of fire have a divine force and operation , to dispel the ignorance and errors of mens minds , to quicken the dull earth of their affections , to refine and purify their conversations . lastly , to sum up all in one general consideration ; he serves christ , that employs all his abilities , and uses all opportunities in the circle of his calling , as was before spoken of , for the honour of our saviour . this is represented in the parable of the talents , which the master committed to his servants ; different in their number , but to be faithfully improved for the master's interest . under the talents are comprised all that we have and are ; whether in the order of nature , and with respect to our civil state in the world , all our intellectual and sensitive faculties , all our innate and acquired endowments , our time , our health , our dignities and power , our estates ; or spiritual blessings , all the gifts and graces of the spirit , the light of the gospel , all the advantages we have of doing or receiving good for our more excellent and immortal part , the salvation of our souls . every one according to the character wherewith he is invested in this world , and according to his capacity of doing good , must be diligent in the service of christ. in what relations soever men are , as fathers , masters , or magistrates in a superiour rank , or as friends and associates in an equal line , and as they stand related to all men , they are either by authority and command , or by counsel and compassionate care and encouragements to promote with diligence , their temporal and eternal welfare . the apostle's advice with respect to acts of beneficence for relieving the poor , let us do good unto all as we have opportunity , is by just analogy binding to all other expressions of love , to direct , to perswade men to their duty , to comfort them in their sorrows , to assist them in all their wants and exigencies . briefly , the wisdom and goodness of christ's servants consists in their faithful improving all their talents for his glory , as our saviour declares , who is that wise and faithful servant ; and , well done good and faithful servant . 2. we are to shew upon what accounts our service is due to christ. if we seriously consider things , it will be evident that by all the titles of justice and gratitude , by all divine and rational rights we are obliged to serve him intirely and for ever . in the present state there are four ways whereby men become servants : some are born servants ; some are by ransom and purchase ; some by victorious rescue and deliverance ; others are servants by covenant and agreement . now all these titles concur in obliging us to serve christ. 1. we are his servants by nature , he has an original and unalianeble right in us as our creator . god to satisfy the inquiry of moses defines himself , i am : all the intimate and eternal attributes of the deity are implyed in that short title : he is the only necessary being by his nature , and consequently has all perfections in himself , and is the fountain of all being . his hands made us and fashioned us , he breathed into us a living soul. all our faculties and their efficacy are from him . he produces this evidence of his right in us , remember o jacob thou art my servant , i have formed thee : the psalmist declares , know ye that the lord he is god ; 't is he that made us , and not we our selves ; we are his people and sheep of his pasture : we owe to him an obedience as ready & unconstrain'd as the meekest creatures pay to those that feed and conduct them . his perfections qualify him to be our absolute master , for his will is always directed by infinite wisdom , 't is the rule of goodness , and his benefits in making and preserving us , acquire to him a supreme right in us . now if there be a spark of reason in our minds , 't is impossible to have the least shadow of doubt , that a derivative being has a dependent working , and is to employ his active powers according to the will of his maker , as the rule , and his glory as the ultimate end of all . the connexion is indissolvable , for of him , and through him , and to him are all things . the psalmist ardently calls the whole world ; bless the lord all ye his works , in all places of his dominion . the angels who by nobility of nature are superiour to all his other works , yet are not sui juris , at their own disposals , but his ministers that do his pleasure : they employ their excellent strength in humble obedience to his commands : they fly with incredible swiftness to perform his orders . and in the visible world , the heavens in their motion , the earth in its seasons , with an invariable tenor observe the law impress'd upon them in their creation : as the psalmist speaks , they continue this day according to thy ordinance , for all are thy servants . and if the creatures without reason and sense are perfectly subject to his will , much more should man who understands his obligations to the creator . now the son of god made us , and maintains our beings by his powerful providence ; from whence it follows , we are under an eternal obligation to serve and glorify him to the utmost of our capacities . his unexcited and most free goodness decreed our beings from everlasting , and in time brought us into the world , whereas he might have created innumerable other persons , for omnipotence is without bounds , and left us in the pure possibility of being , without the giving actual being to us . the natural law that shines in the minds of men , in the knowledg of what is just and good , and in the conscience of what is evil , binds them with the deepest humility to acknowledg the greatness and goodness of our creator , and in the sense of this first and fundamental benefit to consecrate our selves for ever to his service . 2. we are his servants not only upon the general title of creation , but in a more peculiar manner by redemption . man by his disobedience was fallen into a woful bondage , his guilt subjected him to the threatning , that contained two deaths in one sentence , the temporal and present of the body , and the eternal of the soul. the righteous judg of the the world , whose law was broken , required an honourable reparation of it : the most costly sacrifices of beasts , a sea of blood could never atone his displeasure : nay , the obedience and sufferings of men and angels were of no value to satisfy his injured justice : thus mankind was desperately lost , our ruines ( if i may so speak ) were sowed with salt , we were concluded under his most righteous and fearful wrath : if the love and wisdom of god had not accorded to find out that astonishing expedient of uniting the eternal son of god with the human nature in one person , that as man he might voluntarily submit to bloody sufferings , and as god give an infinite merit and value to them , and thereby purchase our redemption . this is accomplished by jesus christ ; the lord laid on him the iniquity of us all ; he gave his life a ransom for us : from hence a new right springs of his dominion over us ; as the apostle invincibly argues , ye are not your own , for ye are bought with a price , therefore glorify god in your bodies , and in your spirit , which are god's . the naked representing of this to the serious mind must awaken a dear sense of our obligations to our saviour : but if we solemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing benefit , out of what rock is the heart framed , that is not soften'd and melted in love and obedience to our blessed redeemer . to heighten the sense of our obligations , consider , 1. a more excellent goodness is visible in the redeeming man than in creating the angels , upon the account of the distance of the terms and the difficulty of the way to effect it . in the creation of angels , goodness was rich indeed , there being no possibility of desert in pure nothing , but it was simply free ; whereas in our salvation it is merciful beyond all imagination , for by our rebellion we were justly fallen under the wrath of god : their creation was without the least strain of his power ; he spake , and it was done : but there was a legal bar against our restitution : to remove it , his son endured the curse of the law for us , and bore our sins in his own body on the tree . divine love in our redemption not only exceeds what was shewed in the creation of angels , but is admirably illustrated by a higher comparison : for the father seemed to love us above his only begotten son , whom he spared not , but delivered him up for us all ; and the son loved us above his life , which he laid down for us . 2. by the way of our redemption he has infinitely honoured our nature that was so vilified by the fall. man , whose soul was an immortal spirit , stamped with the lively image of god , capable of everlasting communion with him in glory , was sold for nought . be astonished o ye heavens at this , and be very desolate : that man , who had the two great lights of natural reason and divine faith , should prefer the pleasing an irregular appetite before the favour of god , and for a vain fancy lose the most substantial happiness . thus man being in honour , and understood not , became like the beasts that perish , nay viler than the earth . and all the children of adam sin according to the similitude of his first transgression . o the cheap damnation of sinners ! for transient pleasures , and mean profits they venture upon eternal death . this guilty and woful folly not only defiles , but debases men to hell. now the lord of life and glory by suffering an ignominious death for us , has with the clearest evidence discovered the true worth of souls : that they are precious beyond comparison , since the whole world is not a valuable compensation for them : we are not redeemed with corruptible things , as silver and gold , but with the precious blood of christ , as of a lamb without spot and blemish : that sacred treasure of heaven that was laid down for us , exceedingly increases our obligations to the blessed redeemer . 3. by giving himself for us , he has not only freed us from the wrath of god , but restored us to his dearest favour : we are translated from the fearful state of being god's enemies into the amiable joyful state of his children : and consequently our redeemer has purchased for us not only salvation from hell , but eternal glory , a life more divine and durable than the natural life in paradise . how can we seriously think of this transcendent benefit without a rapture of affection ? he infinitely deserves our love and service who has bought us with so dear a price , and purchased for us a glorious and incorruptible inheritance . 3. we are his servants by his deliverance of us from our spiritual enemies , satan , sin , and death . since the devil obtained a woful victory over us in the fall of adam , great was the triumph of hell : and though he be an usurper of god's right , which could never be extinguished , yet by our overthrow he has a kind of a title to us , and keeps us as the spoils of his victory : and having revolted from god , we are justly though miserably under the powers of darkness . we are chained in the lowest and the vilest bondage : the soul and body are under his tyrannous dominion , and suffer the deepest wounds of infamy and cruelty . he fetters our minds with dangerous delusions , our wills with divers lusts and passions , and leads men captives in the ways of sin , till they fall into hell the centre of misery . now as in redeeming a captive , there must be the paying the ransom , and the breaking his chains , that he may be restored to liberty : so , besides the price that was payed to god the supreme judg , for our discharge , our saviour has broken our chains ; he by the sanctifying spirit dispels the darkness of our minds , softens the hardness of our hearts , subdues the rebellion of our wills , rectifies the disorder of our affections , that we may be freed from the domion of sin , as well as from the obligation and terrors of the law. he has broken the powers of darkness that conspired to keep us fast in the intanglements of our iniquities , he has freed us from the spiritual pharaoh , and his cruel task-masters , the imperious violent lusts that are seated in the heart , and restores us to the glorious liberty of the sons of god ; by dying he destroyed him that had the power of death , and triumphed over principalities and powers on the cross. we have freedom of pardon and of grace , and the natural and necessary consequence is , that we cheerfully serve him that set us free . this is expressed by zacharias in his divine thansgiving , that being delivered from the hands of our enemies , we might serve him withour fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives . in what a holy extasy does the psalmist break forth , o lord , truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant , and the son of thy handmaid , thou hast broken my bonds : yet this was but the rescuing of him from some temporal imminent danger : how much dearer and stronger ingagements bind us to serve our redeemer , who has freed us from the power as well as punishment of sin ? love should correspond with love : as love descends in favours and benefits , it should ascend in thankfulness and duty . st. paul had such a lively apprehension of our saviour's love , that it had an absolute empire in his heart and life ; he expresses it in the most significant manner : the love of christ constrains us , because we thus judge , that if one dyed for all , then were all dead ; and that he dyed for all , that they which live , should not henceforth live to themselves , but unto him which dyed for them and rose again . the word constraineth , signifies properly to be intirely under the power of another : as the prophets inspired by the spirit of god , only spake and acted according to his extraordinary motions in them . thus the love of christ had such an absolute empire in his heart , that his whole life was spent as a vowed oblation to his service and glory . and whoever does not live a spiritual life , as the servant of christ , never yet felt the misery of this bondage of sin , nor the sweetness of that liberty which the son of god has purchased for his people . lastly ; we are the servants of christ by solemn covenant , and the most sacred ingagement . in the covenant of grace god and man are the parties : and such was his condescending love , that he came down from heaven and assumed our nature , on purpose to seal his part in his own blood , the promise of his pardoning mercy , of his sanctifying spirit , and his rewarding goodness , to all that with unfeigned consent and firm resolution will seal the counterpart of their duty and obedience to him . we are entred into his family and the relation of his servants in baptism ; and vowed universal obedience to our new master , in defiance of all temptations whether inviting or terrifying in the world : for this reason baptism is called the answer of a good conscience towards god. we wear his colours , are distinguished from the heathens by the title of christians : we ratify in a most solemn manner our covenant by the seal of the lord's supper , wherein we sacramentally eat and drink the body and blood of our saviour . now from hence arises a new obligation to serve christ : he had a soveraign right in us antecedently to our dedicating our selves to his service , but from our voluntary consent accrues another title , whereby he claims our perpetual service . the law of god binds us without our consent , but our consent increases the obligation ; and if we are careless of our duty , and desert his service , we break double bonds , and are guilty not only of disobedience to the law , but of perfidious violation of our covenant . 't is observable in the parable of the talents , they were committed to servants , from whence a double obligation springs , to employ them with intire fidelity for the master's profit . a merchant sends goods to his correspondent , who is bound to make faithful returns upon the account of commutative justice that reaches all : but a servant is under a special obligation , and if he wasts or neglects the improving his master's goods , he does not only break this trust reposed in him , but violates the duty of a servant , that obliges him to manage them according to his master's will , and for his profit . the account will be particular and exact for all our talents at the last : none so high that shall be excused , none so mean that shall escape that strict inquiry : for he that knows all things , shall be our judg. the servant that had but one talent was called to account for it , and condemned for neglecting to improve it : he pretended that he hid it out of caution lest it should be lost , knowing his master's severity ; but his vain excuse was retorted upon him , to aggravate his sin and sentence : cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth : a judgment as righteous as terrible : for the guilt of his rebellion , in not using his talent according to his master's order ; and unthankfulness , in despising his gifts , and an unrighteous depriving of others of that benefit , that was by the master's will due to them . 3. we are to consider the final reward of christ's servants under two heads . 1. the order of the reward . 2. the excellency of it . 1. the order , in giving it after the service of christ faithfully and constantly performed . 't is the revealed will of god , that all men should honour the son as they honour the father : the son is the heir of his love and glory , and in serving him the father is honoured and obeyed . and as our saviour reigns eternally in heaven , after the finishing his work injoyned him by the father , so according to his example , we receive the crown of life after the course of our obedience . this is the tenor of the promise : to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne , even as i also overcame and am sat down with my father in his throne . the order in dispensing the blessed reward , does not in the least eclipse the honour of god's grace , or afford the least shadow of presuming upon any merit in our best services . the wages of sin is death , 't is the just desert of it ; but the gift of god is eternal life in jesus christ our lord. the eternal election of persons to life , the preparing of them by sanctifying grace for glory , and the actual possession of it , is from the most free favour of god. election is the first fountain of water springing up to eternal life : for what could induce god when all mankind was equally involved in guilt and misery , to choose some to be vessels of grace and of glory , but his soveraign pleasure and pure grace ? the elect were in the eye and heart of god from eternity , appointed to supernatural happiness , but that free and insuperable decree is accomplished according to the law of faith , the unchangeable order of the gospel ; and that is , that heaven shall be the reward of the faithful servants of christ ; not for the true desert of their service , but the most gracious and rich bounty of god. the angels of glory cannot from a plea of justice claim any reward from god : for the rights of justice suppose some equality between those who respectively are obliged by them , tho not in all regards , yet so far as a certain common rule makes them equal : but there is such an immense distance between the divine majesty and the highest creatures , that there is no foundation for such a plea between them . besides , the duty of obedience is absolute : for all our natural powers and supernatural strength are his gifts , and were there no reward assured to us , are to be faithfully employed in his service . now the paiment of a debt cannot deserve a reward . our best services are blemished with many imperfections , and without the mercy of the gospel that mollifies the strictness of the law , would make us liable to punishments ; god spares us , as a father spares his son that serves him : now pardon and merit are utterly inconsistent . and what proportion can there be between our mean and short services , and the eternal weight of glory ? even martyrdom , which is the most signal act of love and obedience to our redeemer , the highest advancing of his glory , the most noble testimony of his truth ; when our example works upon others , and engages them to christ , and entitles us to a kind of interest in all they do and suffer for his name , yet even the laying down our lives is by infinite degrees below the glory of heaven , that is the promised reward to it . this st. paul testifies from his deliberate judgment , i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us . from hence in scripture the reward is often expres'd by mercy : the apostle prays for onesiphorus , whose valiant love in visiting and supplying him in the time of his imprisonment , was set off illustriously by the discouragements and inconstancy of others who neglected him ; the lord grant to him that he may find mercy of the lord in that day . and we are exhorted to keep our selves in the love of god , looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life . but although there is no merit in our service of the reward , yet god has wisely established an order and consequence between them , as the most conducing for his glory and our good. for not only the superabundant mercy , but the righteousness and truth of god appear with an eminency of glory in this way of making us happy . the promise of the reward was from excellent goodness , but the performing it to his faithful servants is from his justice and fidelity . he was unlimitedly free , but having pleased with such condescending favour to make a covenant with us , up-our sincere compliance with the terms of it , he is obliged for the honour of his truth and righteousness to accomplish it : though in strictness he can owe nothing to us , yet he is a debtor to his promise . from hence the apostle saith , i have fought the good fight , i have finish'd my course ; from henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which god the righteous judg shall give unto me . the honour of his truth is sacred and inviolable : thus he is proclaimed in a stile expressing how glorious his truth is , and how dear to him , the lord thy god , he is god ; and the only attribute that is annext is , the faithful god , keeping covenant and mercy . at the last day he will be glorified not only as the free and magnificent donor of all the treasures of heaven , but as the god of truth , who has fulfilled all the exceeding great and precious promises made to his servants . and the connexion between our duty and the reward , has a powerful influence to excite our sincere and earnest endeavours to please god : 't is the strongest engagement to universal sanctity and obedience . for the gospel is an everlasting covenant , and condition of it is unalterable : heaven is not promised as an absolute irrespective gift , but as a reward consequent of services . there can be no lively regular hope of future happiness , but according to the revelation of god's will , who gives it : the accomplishment of his promise has a dependance upon our duty . the crown of life is promised to those that love god ; and love is the fulfilling of the law : if any one aspires to that dignity , he must from love , which is the internal character and disposition of a saint , obey and serve god. to presume of obtaining our last and blessed end , without a diligent use of the means prescribed in the gospel , is such idle preposterous folly that men would be ashamed of with respect to the gaining of temporal things . can he that sows no seed , expect a harvest ? or that plants no vineyard , expect a vintage ? can a merchant hope for rich returns from a foreign countrey , without trading thither ? and 't is as vain to hope for the eternal reward , without following holiness . the presumption is heightened and more fatal , when any shall think , if they are predestinated to glory , they shall obtain it without their best diligence in making their calling and election sure . this is to make a diametrical opposition between the decrees of god , and the record of his will in the gospel . election is a chain that reaches from heaven to earth , to draw men from earth to heaven : it has intermediate links that must not be left out . between election and glorification the faith and obedience of the gospel intervenes : the apostle informs us , that we are chosen to salvation , through the sanctification of the spirit and the belief of the truth . the decrees of god are a secret we cannot dive into . we can discover what is secret only by what is revealed ; our election by our effectual calling , which is the infallible and sensible effect of it . to lie down securely in the secret decree , neglecting to work out our own salvation , is such pernicious sophistry , as can only be inspired from the father of lies . if ever such a thought is suggested , that if i am elected , i shall be happy though careless of my duty , chain it up , there is folly and frenzy in it . heaven is bestowed as a gift of his infinite grace and power , but according to the wise and immutable order set down in the gospel ; which is so far from lessening and obscuring the glory of his mercy , that it makes it more conspicuous : for holiness , to which we are so strictly obliged as preparatory for heaven , is our most divine perfection , and qualifies us for the enjoyment of god. 2. the excellence of the reward is to be considered : he that serves me , him will my father honour . such is the wisdom and equity of god in his moral government , that he has by a graceful order annexed honour as the reward to vertue . the general rule is , those that honour me , i will honour ; and those that despise me , shall be lightly esteemed . there is such a majestick beauty in holiness as commands the esteem and affections of men , unless they are prodigiously degenerate and corrupted by their lusts. the heathens were convinc'd that honour is the extrinsick tribute always due to vertue ; and some were so strict and had such divine thoughts as to maintain that vertue is the only true nobility . 't is foretold in scripture , the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance : they leave an honourable evidence of their graces and vertues in their works , and are of precious memory , when the name of the wicked shall rot . but the reward our saviour promises , is the honour that comes from god only : and as his majesty infinitely transcends all earthly principalities ; so in proportion , the honour that he confers upon his servants is above all the titles of honour , all the swelling praises of men. this reward is given in the next world. here the servants of christ are sometimes darkened with many afflictions , and buried in sad obscurity before they are dead ; they are the objects of scorn and contempt : st. paul who was an incarnate seraphim , whose zeal in the service of his divine master exceeded all the apostles , yet was , as he declares , vilified as the off-scouring of the world. now such is the excellent goodness of god , that he will certainly in the next life reward with the highest honour all who have advanced his honour . the honour and glory of the future state is concealed at present , 't is wrapt up in a cloud ; only some glimmerings of it glance upon our eyes : light is sowed for the righteous , the plenary revelation is hereafter . 't is true the apostle tells us , that life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel : but that is only to be understood of a comparative revelation , to what was under the law : 't is brought to the light of faith , which is like to break of day , when the shadows of the earth and the light of heaven are mixt . there is a veil between us and the glory of heaven , partly to try our faith , whether we will believe the promise of god without sensible discoveries of it ; and to try the sincerity of our love , whether we love god for himself , without the distinct unfolding of that excellent glory : and to comply with the weakness whilst we are in such temper'd tabernacles of flesh. if the beams of his glory were display'd before our eyes , we should be struck with blindness , as saul was at the brightness of christ's appearing to him : the flood of light would swallow us up in extasy and amazement . our faint faculties cannot sustain his glorious presence . as god told moses , no man can see my face and live . st. john tells believers , now we are the sons of god , and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : now our names are written in the book of life , in the rolls of eternity ; now we are adopted into the line of heaven ; now we are cloathed with the righteousness of christ , the royal purple robe dyed in his blood ; we have the priviledges of the justified state ; we have a right to the eternal kingdom by our saviour's purchase , and the firm covenant of grace ; we have the holy spirit of promise , who is the earnest of our inheritance , and the seal of god's love to us : but the full partaking of that glory is reserved till we leave this visible world. i will briefly glance at the several degrees of the reward that shall be conferred upon all whom the king of glory delights to honour in the next world. 1. the scripture reveals , that the souls of just men first come to the perfection of glory . if adam had continued in his holy state after a short immortality upon earth , he had been translated alive , and entire in soul and body , to heaven : the everlasting doors had been opened wide for his reception : but since our disobedience , tho our guilt be pardoned , the gate is so strait that the gross spoils of our flesh must be left behind us . now immediately upon the dissolution of the saints , god sends a guard of angels , his most noble creatures , to convoy their souls into the courts of his honour , into the chamber of his glorious presence . divine dignity ! this is the priviledg of his chosen friends and favourites , of the most illustrious and blessed creatures . in heaven the divine majesty is seen in its glory : and if one ray of it , reflecting upon suffering stephen , adorn'd him with angelical glory , how much more will the face of god most radiant and resplendent transform the soul into an admirable similitude of his perfections ? when we shall see him as he is , we shall be like him , by his everliving spirit , the principle of the divine life and beauty in the soul , as the soul is of the natural life and beauty in the body . there will remain no shadow of error in the mind , no mixture of evil in the will , no pollution in the affections , but the full likeness of god in holiness and joy. this is the highest honour an immortal spirit is capable of . the state of innocence wherein man was created is call'd a state of honour : the angels are dignified with the title of saints : and god is glorious in holiness : it follows therefore , when the spirits of just men are made perfect they partake of the heavenly and divine honour . if the joy that springs from believing whilst we are in this vale of tears be unspeakable and full of glory , how glorious is the joy that springs from the clearest sight and the most intimate fruition of the blessed god , the joy that is without defect or end ? as the psalmist expresses , in thy presence is fulness of joy , at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore . 2. at the last day their bodies shall be raised and refined to a spiritual excellency , and transformed into the likeness of christ's glorious body . the apostle declares , that the consummation of the saints glory shall be at christ's appearance . then their souls shall be reinvested with shining robes of immortality : they shall be placed at the right hand of the everlasting king , which implies the highest honour ; as god's being at our right hand , implies protection and defence : they shall then receive a most glorious testimony of his acceptance , well done , good and faithful servants , enter into your master's joy : after they are approved , they shall sit upon thrones , and judg the the world , even the prince of darkness with all his apostate trains ; they shall give their solemn suffrages to the judgment pronounced by our saviour , saying , hallelujah , salvation , and glory , and honour , and power unto the lord our god ; for true and righteous are his judgments . and after the last act of his regal office , our saviour will lead them into the kingdom of his glory to reign with him for ever and ever . who is able to unfold this excellent glory ? all humane words are unworthy and too narrow to express it ; only the lively and ravishing experience of that glory can fully reveal it to us . the meanest saint in that kingdom shines in glory that infinitely exceeds all the most solemn and magnificent representations of earthly majesty , all the trophies and triumphs of the most famous conquerors . to raise our thoughts by a distinct comparison of them , consider , the glory of saints is substantial and solid , 't is inherent in them . the apostle says , 't is a glory that shall be revealed in us : a plenary infusion of all glorious endowments both in soul and body shall conform us to the son of god. the glory of this world is but an aiery opinion , a verbal sound without substance , empty titles , external appearance , and confers no real dignity to the person that receives it . there is no greatness in worldly honour : 't is fancy heightens some by comparison with those that are below them . but heaven is the kingdom of true glory , and every saint there is truly glorious . the psalmist declares god's judgment of all the honour and prosperity of the world : as a dream when one awakes , so o lord , when thou awakest thou wilt destroy their image . they are painted shadows , splendid toyes . what difference there is between the clear and sound judgment of a person throughly awake , and the vain fugitive fancies of one that dreams , there is , and much more between the swelling images of worldly honour , and the real heavenly honour of the saints . the heavenly glory brings entire satisfaction . as for me , saith david , i will behold thy face in righteousness , i shall be satisfied when i awake with thy likeness . when the morning of glory arises , and the soul awakes from the heavy eye-lids of flesh , and sees the king of spirits in his beauty , and the impression of the divine excellencies conspicuous in it self , what a joyful satisfaction , as sweet as life , is diffused through all its powers ? what a heavenly sabbath composes all its vast and restless desires ? the glorified saint sings with the psalmist , return to thy rest , o my soul , for the lord has dealt bountifully with thee . but how unsatisfactory is all secular greatness and honour ? of this we have the fullest testimony from some who ascended to the top of worldly glory : solomon whose calm and flourishing state was scarce ever parallel'd , yet declares that all was vanity : and the roman triumphs , wherein the world was represented in its highest glory , was but an empty shew : vespasian the emperor in his triumphant way often reflected upon his folly in being induc'd to suffer such a tedious vanity , 't is true the dreaming minds of men are deceived with vain complacence in it for a while , and this makes them unwilling to be convinc'd of their foolish prizing it ; yet they cannot find any solid true satisfaction : they are charm'd with a superficial pleasure , that cannot reach to the center of the soul. to sum up all , the honour of the servants of christ is eternal : they will shine like the stars , that never faint in their watches and influences , with a durable glory . but the glory of this world , like a blaze in straw , presently vanishes : not one ray of secular glory shall enlighten the highest monarchs , in the shady valley of death , nor in the regions of darkness beyond it . the proper and main use of what has been spoken , is , 1. to direct our ambitious desires and endeavours to seek heavenly honour . nature has instilled the desire of praise and glory : and this is like some plants that in their native soil have a poysonous quality , but transplanted into another soil and climate , are not only innocent , but healthful . pride ruines both worlds : the angels were expelled from heaven , and adam from paradise for their pride . and ever since 't is a seminal sin productive of innumerable evils and mischiefs : pride of life is one of the great corrupters in the world : 't is the cause of envy and emulation : of envy that would degrade those that are above ; of emulation that urges those who are below by any guilty means to ascend higher : 't is one of the great destroyers of men here and hereafter . the affectation of the praise of men makes so many ashamed of the gospel of christ , of owning its truths , or subjecting themselves to its pure rules . this account is given of the infidelity of some in our saviour's time , they sought the honour of men , and not the honour that comes from god only . but let the desire of glory be consecrated , let our aspirings be transported to a new and heavenly object , to the incorruptible crown , and 't is a saintly ambition becoming the breast of a christian. the changing of the object will be an excellent means to rectify our inordinate desire of honour , of what is pompous and specious in this world. there is some resemblance in curing the diseases of the mind , and those of the body . a disease is not only cured by what is manifestly contrary , but sometimes by what seems like to it , yet has a secret contrariety . the feverish heat is not only spent by cooling julips , but by cordials that fortifie the natural heat that consumes those humours that are the inflamable matter which foments the fever . thus the sensual desire of worldly honour is extinguished by a pure aethereal affection , the desire of that honour that comes from the god of glory , who is the absolute and eternal fountain of honour . 2. let us be effectually excited our selves to choose christ for our master , and devote our selves to his service for ever . tho his dominion is supreme , and his right in us unalienable , yet he will be glorified by our free obedience . our resolution and consent to serve him , that it may be acceptable , must be deliberate , intire , and everlasting . 1. deliberate from the conviction and sense of our duty and interest : for the ignorance and deception of the mind , the suddain surprisal of the will is contrary to that clear consent that is requisite to establish a covenant . there is a competition between the son of god , and the god of this world , who shall reign over us : one we must serve : 't is therefore our highest wisdom to choose a gracious master , and most just to serve him who by full right may claim due service . if with free judgment we ponder things , if our carnal senses and passions have not the decisive vote , we shall readily yield our selves to christ , who by so many dear titles has a right in us : for to this end christ dyed , and rose , and revived , that he might be lord both of the dead and of the living . he is the true vine that left his sweetness , the good olive that left his fatness to reign over us ; and shall we choose the bramble to domineer ? he requires our service not for his profit , but that his love and bounty may take a rise to reward us : but satan will torment them most who are most obsequious to him : and what charm , what impression upon the human mind can induce us to prefer a murderer before our saviour ? 2. our consent must be intire , without exception against any of his laws , or his providential will , and any reservation of our own lusts and appetites . he has told us , no man can serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one , and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one , and despise the other . the commands of christ and satan are absolutely inconsistent : obedience to the one is direct rebellion against the other . we may not capitulate with him , and think by some good works to compound for our exorbitancies , and that strictness in some duties will excuse our indulgence of some sins : he will not accept of bankrupt obedience , but strictly requires the payment of sincere obedience to all his commands . the apostle expresses our universal duty in active and passive obedience to christ ; none of us liveth to himself , no man dyeth to himself ; for whether we live , we live unto the lord ; and whether we dye , we dye unto the lord , whether therefore we live or dye , we are the lords : that is , our lives must be employed in his service , and our deaths be at his order and disposal . is the external acknowledging of him , and a specious homage worthy his most precious sufferings ? can his death excuse our disobedience ? can his sufferings that purchas'd his dominion to rule us , procure a licence for us to rebel against his commands ? such a thought is blasphemy . and our consent must be entire ; that is , we must serve him with all the freedom and force of our internal faculties , with all the diligence of our outward members , with all possible industry to advance his glory . 't is not the empty title of lord , nor the performing some slight observances that will please christ. the commands of the gospel frequently urge us to be fervent in our heavenly calling , first seek the kingdom of heaven , and the righteousness thereof : strive to enter in at the strait gate : take the kingdom of heaven by violence : work out your own salvation with fear and trembling : abound in the work of the lord : be rich in good works : add to faith vertue , to vertue knowledg , and every grace in degrees of eminence : give all diligence to make your calling and election sure : we must walk circumspectly and exactly becoming the dignity and purity of our high and holy calling . we have many duties to perform , many sins to subdue and mortify , many graces to perfect , and the most intent application of mind , the most zealous industry is requisite for such great ends. by diligence and culture our souls will be as fruitful gardens abounding in the fruits of righteousness ; but if we are remiss and careless , they will be barren as the sands of africa . we should with as much zeal and vigour serve christ as ever we served our lusts , those imperious exactors of our time , and strength , and affections . 't is the proportion st. paul enforces , as you have yielded your members servants and weapons to vncleanness , so yield your members weapons and servants of righteousness . but how many that have made a trade of sin , are as careless in religion as if it were a slight recreation ? how many please themselves with a mediocrity in religion , and pretend if they be but saved , they are content : they do not aspire to excellent degrees of glory , nor to higher degrees in the favour of god , and are luke-warm and remiss in his service , presuming what they do will be sufficient to secure their souls : but was ever any person so deserted of reason , that in worldly trade when he might gain a hundred pounds he is contented with ten ? besides this disposition and language is of one that principally desires heaven , to escape hell : and all that he does religiously is the effect of servile fear , which is no saving grace : for were it not for the terrible punishment , such a person would securely commit the sin. briefly , as the lord christ has sav'd us to the uttermost , we should serve him to the uttermost : we should with such alacrity and diligence , with such willing hearts and earnestness serve him on earth as he is served in heaven : if we had the powers of the angels , yet our service would be short of our obligations . 3. our service of christ must be upon firm principles and permanent reasons to our lives end . sometimes there are desires and resolutions kindled in the breast , and the carnal passions blow so violently as to quench them . like some cursed women , that by violent potions destroy the living conception in their bowels . others in the sunshine of prosperity will adhere in profession to christ , but when storms arise , they withdraw themselves . others begin in the spirit , run well for a time , but end in the flesh. our saviour has spoke the doom of all such , no man having put his hand to the plough , and looking back , is fit for the kingdom of god : he is not worthy the honour of being christ's servant , and he will quickly find the fearful consequences of christ's rejection in the next world. we read of shimei , that upon solomon's confining him to jerusalem , with the threatning of death if he went forth : and shimei said to the king , the saying is good : as my lord the king hath said , thy servant will do . what an easy confinement was it to remain in the holy city , where all the tribes came twice a year , and when they returned left their hearts behind them : it seems to be a priviledg and favour rather than a punishment . yet a petty interest drew him out , and for the violation of his promise he lost his life . this is a representation of those who for temporal respects desert the service of christ , violate their promises to him , and leave the new jerusalem , the city of the living god. our saviour will accept of none into his service but upon his own terms ; whoever will be my disciple , let him take up his cross and follow me . who would not be ambitious to be the copy of such a divine original ? we should rejoyce if call'd forth to sharp tryals for his name , as having an occasion to give the clearest testimony of our superlative love and intire fidelity to our blessed lord. to conclude the argument , let us be persuaded to dedicate our selves wholly to the service of christ , and to live according to our dedication . this should be the early act of the reasonable creature ; for is it equal to put him off with the reliques of the world to whom the first-fruits , the best of all we are and have is due ? but if we have been careless of our duty , let us not any longer defer to make a voluntary consecration of our lives to his glory : remember that life is but a spans breadth , our opportunity of serving christ is short , and the omission of it is irreparable . what is there to recommend a service to us , but is to be found in the service of christ ? 't is the most honourable service , whether we consider the divine majesty of our master , who is king of kings , and lord of lords : the quality of our fellow-servants , the angels of light , and the glorified saints , who are the princes of his court , and the heavenly nobility : and the nature of the work that is sublime and excellent , becoming an intellectual soul , that is spiritual by nature , and divine by grace . 't is the most sweet and easy service : this will seem incredible to those who judg of the delights of the spirit by the principles of the flesh. in this sense also , the carnal man understands not the things of the spirit : who can discover the pleasure of musick to one that was born deaf ? or describe the light of the sun to one that was ever blind ? who can see a taste ? the truth is , the life of carnal men has the appearance of joy , but not the reality : and the life of the saints has a gloomy melancholly appearance , but has an inward cordial joy incomparably above all the vain flashy delights of the world. a carnal man that serves divers lusts and pleasures , is sometimes rack'd and vex'd betwixt contrary passions . every lust has a secret sting with its honey . and as the corrupt heart is its own tempter , so the guilty conscience is its own tormenter . besides the fearful apprehension of what shall follow in the next world , when the revenging justice of god , and the cruel malice of satan shall concur to make the sinner miserable , is sufficient to poyson the sweetest pleasures of sin. but the life of a saint is regulated by a law that is always at union in its precepts . he has divine assistance to enable him to perform it . his gracious master will pardon his infirmities . the content of conscience , the joy of the holy ghost , that rewards our duty here , far exceeds all the severity and difficulty that the carnal nature complains of in obeying the divine law. the yoke of christ is truly easy , and his burthen truly light . his service is the most profitable : he will protect , maintain , and everlastingly reward his servants . is there any master so rich , so liberal , so faithful as christ ? how often do the slaves of the world complain that they have spent themselves in vain ? as jacob reproached laban , thou hast deceived me , and changed my wages ten times ; so may the worldlings say , whose hopes have been often charm'd with the specious promises of the world , and deluded in the end . dear bought experience at last convinces them of their woful folly , in seeking for happiness where it was not to be found , and neglecting to seek it where it was . but the servants of christ have at the present their fruit unto holiness , and in the end everlasting life . the service of christ here , is freedom , victory , empire , and hereafter a triumphant felicity . i shall now address my self to the present occasion , which is to pay our last solemn respects to the memory of the reverend dr. thomas jacomb : who was so universally known , esteem'd , and beloved in this city , that his name is a noble and lasting elogy . i shall not give an account of the time he spent in cambridg , where he was fellow of trinity colledg , and worthily esteemed in that flourishing society : but confine my discourse to his ministry in london . here the divine providence disposed him into the family of a right honourable person , to whom he was deservedly very acceptable , and whose real and most noble favours conferred upon him , were only to be equalled by his grateful and high respects , and his constant care to promote serious religion in her family . he was a servant of christ in the most peculiar and sacred relation : and he was true to his title , both in his doctrine and in his life . he was an excellent preacher of the gospel , and had a happy art of conveying saving-truths into the minds and hearts of men. he did not entertain his hearers with curiosities , but with spiritual food : he dispens'd the bread of life , whose vital sweetness and nourishing vertue is both productive and preservative of the life of souls . he preach'd christ crucified , our only wisdom and righteousness , sanctification and redemption . his great design was to convince sinners of their absolute want of christ , that with flaming affections they might come to him , and from his fulness receive divine grace . this is to water the tree at the root , whereby it becomes flourishing and fruitful ; whereas the laying down of moral rules for the exercise of vertue , and subduing vicious affections , without directing men to derive spiritual strength , by prayer , and in the use of divine ordinances , from the mediator the fountain of all grace , and without representing his love as the most powerful motive and obligation to obedience , is but pure philosophy , and the highest effect of it is but unregenerate morality . in short , his sermons were clear , and solid , and affectionate . he dipp'd his words in his soul , in warm affections , and breath'd a holy fire into the breasts of his hearers : of this many serious and judicious persons can give testimony who so long attended upon his ministry with delight and profit . his constant diligence in the service of christ , was becoming his zeal for the glory of his master , and his love to the souls of men. he preach'd thrice a week whilst he had opportunity and strength . he esteemed his labour in his sacred office both his highest honour and his pleasure . at the first appearance of an ulcer in his mouth , which he was told to be cancerous , he was observed to be not much concerned about it , than as it was likely to hinder his preaching that was his delightful work : and when he enjoyed ease , and after wasting sickness , was restor'd to some degrees of strength , he joyfully return'd to his duty . nay , when his pains were tolerable , preaching was his best anodyne when others fail'd : and after his preaching , the reflection upon the divine goodness that enabled him for the discharge of the service , was a great relief of his pains . his life was suitable to his holy profession . his sermons were printed in a fair and lively character in his conversation . he was an example to believers , in word , in conversation , in charity , in spirit , in faith , in purity . he was of a staid mind , and temperate passions , and moderate in counsels . in the managing of affairs of concernment , he was not vehement and confident , not imposing and over-bearing , but was receptive of advice and yielding to reason . his compassionate charity and beneficence was very conspicuous amongst his other graces . his heart was given to god , and his relieving beneficent hand to the living images of god , whose pressing wants he resented with tender affections , and was very instrumental for their supplies . and as his life so his death adorn'd the gospel , which was so exemplary to others , and so gracious and comfortable to himself . the words of men leaving the world make usually the deepest impressions , being spoken most feelingly , and with least affectation . death reveals the secrets of mens hearts : and the testimony that dying saints give , how gracious a master they have served , how sweet his service has been to their souls , has a mighty influence upon those about them . now the deportment and expressions of this servant of christ in his long languishing condition , were so holy and heavenly , that though his life has been very useful , yet he more glorified god dying than living . when he was summoned by painful sickness , his first work was to yield himself with resigned submission to the will of god. when a dear friend of his first visited him ; he said , i am in the use of means , but i think my appointed time is come , that i must dye : if my life might be serviceable to convert or build up one soul , i should be content to live , but if god hath no work for me to do , here i am , let him do with me as he pleaseth : but to be with christ is best of all . another time he told the same person , that now it was visible it was a determined case , god would not hear the prayer , to bless the means of his recovery , therefore desired his friend to be willing to resign him to god , saying , it will not be long before we meet in heaven , never to part more , and there we shall be perfectly happy , there neither your doubts and fears , nor my pains and sorrows shall follow us , nor our sins , which is best of all . after a long continuance in his languishing condition without any sensible alteration , being asked how he did , he replied , i lie here , but get no ground for heaven or earth : upon which one said , yes in your preparations for heaven , o yes said he , there i sensibly get ground i bless god. an humble submission to the divine pleasure was the habitual frame of his soul : like a dye that thrown high or low , always falls upon its square : thus whethe hope of his recovery were raised or sunk , he was content in every dispensation of providence . his patience under sharp and continuing pains was admirable . the most difficult part of a christian's duty , the sublimest degree of holiness upon earth , is to bear tormenting pains with a meek and quiet spirit . then faith is made perfect in works : and this was eminently verified in his long trial. his pains were very severe , proceeding from a cancerous humour , that spread it self in his joynts , and preyed upon the tenderest membranes , the most sensible parts , yet his patience was invincible . how many restless nights did he pass through without the least murmuring or reluctancy of spirit . he patiently suffered very grievous things through christ that strengthned him ; and in his most afflicted condition was thankful . but what disease or death could disturb the blessed composure of his soul , which was kept by the peace of god that passes all vnderstanding . such was the divine mercy , he had no anxieties about his future state , but a comfortable assurance of the favour of god , and his title to the eternal inheritance . he had a substantial double joy , in the reflection upon his life spent in the faithful service of christ , and the prospect of a blessed eternity ready to receive him . this made him long to be above . he said with some regret , death flies from me , i make no haste to my father's house . but the wise and gracious god , having tried his faithful servant , gave him the crown of life , which he hath promised to those that love him . his body , that poor relick of frailty , is committed in trust to the grave , his soul sees the face of god in righteousness , and is satisfied with his likeness . the hope of this should allay the sorrows of his dearest friends . when the persons we love and have lived with , are to be absent a few months , it is grievous , but at the last lamenting separation , all the springs of our tender affections are opened , and sorrows are ready to overwhelm us . but the stedfast belief of the divine world , and that our friends are safely arrived thither , is able to support our fainting spirits , and refresh all our sorrows . the truth is , we have reason to lay to heart the displeasure of god , and our own loss , when his faithful ministers are taken away . when the holy lights of heaven are eclips'd , it portends sad things : when the saints are removed from earth to heaven , their souls freed from the interposition of their dark bodies , they truly live , but we that remain , dye , being deprived of their holy lives , their examples , that are a preservative from the contagion of the world. a due sense of god's afflicting providence is becoming us : but always allayed with hope of our being shortly reunited with our dearest friends for ever in the better world. o that our serious preparations , our lively hopes , and the presence of the great comforter in our souls , may encourage us most willingly to leave this lower world , so full of temptations and trouble , to ascend into the world above , where perfect peace , full joy , and the most excellent glory are in conjunction for ever . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26816-e460 rom. 12.11 . luke 1.74 , 75. et si adhuc viliorum materiarum obtulisses , fecisset quod ex illa fieri optimum possit . sic sapiens virtutem si licebit , in divitiis explicabit , si minus , in exilio . quamcunque fortunam acceperit , aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet . senec. ep. 78. tit. 2. rom. 13. acts 26.18 . col. 1.12 . rom. 1. phil. 1. 2 tim. 2.14 . mat. 13.52 . mat. 24.45 . 1 tim. 4.14 , 15. cui ideo reor veteres pagani tam speciosae appellationis titulum dederunt , ut quia in eo non erat numen , vel nomen esset . et quia non habebat aliquam ex potestate virtutem haberet saltem ex vocabulo divinitatem . salv. de provid . l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hippoc. aphor. lib. 6. 2 tim. 4.1 , 2. col. 1.28 . acts 20.24 . miser ego semper aeger caloribus impatientiae . confiteor ad dominum deum , satis temere me , si non etiam impudenter de patientia componere ausum , cui praestandae idoneus omnino non sim. esa. 44.12 . psal. 103. dan. 9. psal. 118.181 . idoneus sui operis aestimator , magno pretio nos redemit . arnob. luke 11.21 . acts 18.5 . 1 pet. 3.12 . rev. 3.21 . deut. 7.8 . col. 3. nam ut mens per diem veris visionibus avocatur ne dormiat , ita falsis nocte ne excitetur . lactant. de opific . dei. c. 18. quae in ipsis visceribus , medicaments epotis originem futuri hominis extinguunt & paricidium faciant antequam pariant . minus . fel. 1 king. 2.38 . jussisti domino sic & est , ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus animus . aug. a sermon preached upon the much lamented death of our late gracious sovereign queen mary to which is added the address of condolence to his majesty by the dissenting ministers / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. 1695 approx. 43 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26800 wing b1118 estc r2534 13442755 ocm 13442755 99569 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26800) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99569) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 834:2) a sermon preached upon the much lamented death of our late gracious sovereign queen mary to which is added the address of condolence to his majesty by the dissenting ministers / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. [6], 26 p. printed for brabazon aylmer ..., london : 1695. half-title: dr. bates's sermon upon the death of the queen. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion dr. bates's sermon upon the death of the queen . a sermon preached upon the much lamented death of our late gracious sovereign queen mary . to which is added the address of condolence to his majesty by the dissenting ministers . by william bates , d. d. psalm 112. 6. the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . london , printed for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons in cornhil : m dc xcv . to the most illustrious william duke of bedford . may it please your grace , in this season of griefs that overspreads three kingdoms , i thought it not unbecoming me , to add one voice to the consort of mourners . the universal goodness of the queens life , is attended with a sorrow of equal compass at her death . if we consider the causes of it , our sins , the just incentives of gods high displeasure , and the chain of fearful consequences that may ensue ; what heart is such a frozen fountain as not to dissolve , and mix flowing tears with the current that will be permanent in times to come . i have presum'd to inscribe your most honourable name in the following sermon , knowing that notwithstanding the meanness of the composure , the subject of it will be very pleasing to your grace , as being the expression of homage to the memory of the incomparable princess , our sovereign by a double title , by her resplendent virtues , and by her crown . i am my lord , your graces very humble and obedient servant , william bates . a sermon preached upon the much lamented death of our late gracious sovereign queen mary . psalm 102. verses 26 , 27. they shall perish , but thou shalt endure , yea , all of them shall wax old like a garment , as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed . but thou art the same , and thy years shall have no end . this psalm was according to the judgement of the best interpreters composed during the captivity in babylon : and in the former verses the prophet reflects sadly upon the churches afflicted state , and his own misery and mortality : verses 14 , 23 , 24. he extends his view to the ruinous prospect of the fabrick of heaven and earth : they shall decay , and , be destroyed , either in their substance , or qualities and use : perish by consuming , or be changed by a purifying fire . from this consideration he turns his thoughts to the immutable constancy and eternity of god , but thou art the same ; thy compassionate favour and power never decline ; and thy years shall have no end . upon this ground he raises his hope , that god will revive and restore his church ; the children of thy servants shall continue , and their seed shall be established before thee . the proposition that i shall discourse of is this . that the unchangeable everlasting perfections of god are the sure foundation of the churches hope in its desolate state. in the managing of it , i shall first consider the unchangeable perfections of god. 2. how they are the foundation of the churches hope . in discoursing of the first head i shall premise , that the most sublime spirits in heaven cannot fully discover and comprehend the intimate and unsearchable perfections of god. he dwells in that light which is inaccessible , the astonishing glory of his essence . how little then of his nature is known here ? in the present state of union with the flesh , we cannot contemplate things purely spiritual without some material resemblances . humane knowledge and language begin by the senses , and in the ascent of the mind to the supreme region , we are constrained to make use of the most refined sensible representations of divine things , as rising steps , lest our thoughts , by their own weight , fall into gross matter . the holy spirit in great condescension reveals god to us , in expressions suitable to our capacity and conception ; but the understanding must be attentive to correct the imagination , that we may not offend his majesty , and lessen his glory . in the text , the eternity of god is set forth , his years shall have no end : and he is stiled , the antient of dayes : which signifie the unequal spaces of transient time , and are proper only to created things that have a successive duration , and are metaphorically attributed to god. eternity that is proper to god , is a duration permanent , indivisible , and wholly present in it self . all the numbers of motion and measures of time are comprehended and lost in the vastness of eternity , as a few drops of rain that fall into the immense ocean . 't is said of god , he is , and was , and is to come . there is no past or future in god , but with respect to his works . our saviour declares , i am the first , and the last ; wherein he attributes to himself a perfection truly and manifestly divine . the absolute immutability of the divine nature is by a comparison declared in scripture : god is stiled , the father of lights , in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change . the great luminary of heaven has various aspects and appearances in its rising and meridian , and setting ; is changeable in its approaches and recesses , from whence different shadows are cast : but the father of lights has an invariable tenour of glory , he is without motion and mutation . god is absolutely exempt from all change in his nature , and from all accidental change . the reason of this is evident from the consideration of his necessary self-existence , and from the absolute simplicity of his being . self-existence is the intrinsical property of gods nature : he defines himself by it , i am that i am . he directs moses to tell the israelites , i am hath sent me unto you . this and the wonder working rod were his credentials to authorize and dignifie him in their esteem , and to induce them to believe his message . jehovah , which is the same with i am , is the essential , supream , and singular name of god , whereby he is distinguished from all created beings : it exhibits the clearest character of the deity . there are other divine titles that signifie particular attributes , but jehovah declares his being from himself , independent upon any cause ; his necessary eternal nature the root ( if i may so speak ) from which his perfections spring and flourish . all other things are from his causality ; every spark of life , every degree of being is from him : but the most excellent creatures compared to him , are but as dark shadows without reality . therefore god assumes to himself , i am , and there is none besides me . 't is said the whole world compared to him , is like a drop of the bucket to the sea , or the dust of the ballance to the globe of the earth ; nay , is less than nothing . there is a greater distance between god and the angels , than between the angels and their native nothing : for they have derived , and dependent , limited beings , but god is all perfection , all greatness and goodness from himself . this necessary self existence of god is the foundation of his immutability : thus he declares , i am the lord jehovah , i change not : he is necessarily and eternally himself , and all that he is , without the least change for a moment . absolute necessity of existence invincibly infers the infinity of existence : for the limits of any being are determined by the productive cause of it . of created beings some excel in one thing , some in another , according to the will of the maker . every change in the substance of things is either perfective or corruptive , and both are equally impossible in god. for nothing can accrue to infinite perfection , and nothing can be wanting to it . any accession to his excellency implyes , there was a defect before , if any impairing , there would be a defect afterward : from hence it follows , either that he was not god before , or that he shall cease to be god afterward , it being absolutely impossible that any perfection be wanting in the true god. the absolute simplicity of the divine nature does infer the immutability of it . 't is true the perfections of god are exprest by different titles , and are apprehended by us under different conceptions , yet they are all the same infinite nature . there is no composition and mixture of wisdom , and power , and goodness in god , but he is all perfection in the unity of his essence . eternity is a resultance from his independent nature : for we cannot conceive of a being necessary in it self , but it must be eternal ; from everlasting to everlasting thou art god. whatever is made is perishable , either from the principles of its composition , as the bodies of animals , which being made of jarring elements , dye by natural expiration , or may be destroyed . the angels , tho' spiritual substances , are mortal to god , he can by a word annihilate them : nay , their immortality depends upon his power , the productive and conservative cause of their beings . he only has immortality , the inseparable perfection of his nature , and bestows it upon others . the eternity of god is inseparably connexed with his immutability : for that being that cannot change , cannot cease to be . these attributes infer and illustrate one another . those things which time bestows , it takes away : flowers that are of a springing accomplishment , gradually wither : but the sun shone with as much lustre and force the first day as ever since , and continues in its perfection . god was from eternity , and therefore is alwayes the same in himself . he is not more powerful when he works , nor wise when he governs , nor more just when he punishes , nor more good when he bestows his benefits . the immutability of the divine nature is proper to every perfection : i will mention some of them . the divine wisdom is so perfect there can be no addition to it . from eternity it fixed the best end of all things , the glory of the creator ; and appointed the fittest means to obtain it . his all-discerning eye with one imperious view comprehends all events necessary and contingent . he sees all real effects , and all possible in himself : for he perfectly understands his own power , and his own will. to his coeternal knowledge nothing is past , or to come : nothing occurs new , or appears old . the divine power is not capable of accession or diminution . in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength . 't is a perfection inseparably inherent in his nature : o lord be exalted in thine own power . the lords arm is not shortened : with the least strain of his power he can do all things . we have a constant visible demonstration of the unchangableness of these attributes : for the same infinite wisdom and power are requisite to manage the world as to make it . without his directing light and supportting power , that frame of the world would disband , and the full harmony of it be turned into confusion . he upholds all things by the word of his power . the manner of sustaining and governing this great world , is as divine as the thing it self . for no less than infinite power can do things by a commanding word . the mercy of god endures for ever . this is renewed every morning and moment : 't is from his never-failing compassions that we do not fail . this is our continual advocate to deprecate the evils we deserve , and obtains all good things for us . 't is mercy supports and sweetens our lives , that are so frail , and so often forfeited . the unwasted treasure of mercy supplyes our wants , satisfies our desires , allayes our sorrows . the divine mercy vanquishes our fears , comforts us in the hour of death , and crowns us after it with everlasting life . the holiness of god , the brightest ornament of his essence , is unchangable : 't is without spot or wrinkle , that may stain its absolute purity . this is the radical , fundamental rule of order in the divine government . 't is as impossible the will of god should decline from moral good , as that his understanding should not discern it . from hence our saviour declares , that heaven and earth shall pass away before the law shall be abolished . if the pillars of heaven should fall , and the foundations of the earth be overturned , there would be no loss to god : for by one act of his will he can create a new world ; but if the law , the copy of his holiness , were altered or abrogated , it would be an imputation upon his holy nature , as if it were arbitrary and mutable , and consequently he should cease to be god. briefly , divine immutability is the full and constant state of perfections in the deity . and the blessedness of god ▪ that consists in the fruition of himself , has a necessary connexion with this attribute . immutability is the ground that supports it , and the perfection that crowns it . secondly , the churches hope in its extremity , is supported by the unchangable perfections of his nature that establish his covenant with his people . 't is stiled , an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things , and sure . this will be evident by considering the immutability of his counsels and decrees , and of his words and promises . 1. his counsels and decrees that concern the recovery of the church from its despised and desolate state. the unchangable perfections of his nature are the foundation of his unchangable decrees : for there can be no change of them from within , and no controlling of them from without . the perfection of his knowledge is such , that he can never be surprized with a sudden new event , that should induce him to alter them : and his power that is truly infinite will effect them . his decrees are exprest to be the council of his will ; those determinations being most compleat that are the product of council . there are no temporary decrees that begin upon an unforeseen emergency , for it would then follow , there were a change in god : but they were before the foundation of the world , and shall be accomplished in real effects , either immediately by his own power , or by secondary means . the counsel of the lord shall stand . the decree of election , the original spring of all the good his people enjoy or expect , is of infallible accomplishment . 't is the observation of * st. austin , that although the number of the elect shall not be actually compleat till the end of time , yet the apostle speaks of eternal predestination , as if it were finally accomplish'd already : whom he predestinated , them he also called ; and whom he called , them he also justified ; and whom he justified , them he also glorified . for his eternal will , the product of his eternal love , can never be frustrated . 2. his word endures for ever : 't is more stable than the centre . the strength of israel cannot lye ; for he is not a man that he should repent . the immutability of his nature gives firmness to his counsels , they are unretractible , and fidelity to his promises , they are inviolable . the apostle confirms believers in the hope of eternal life , which god , that cannot lye , promised . his truth is an attribute so glorious to him , that in the solemn proclaiming of him to the israelites , 't is peculiarly mentioned and placed next to the deity , the lord thy god is god , the faithful god , that keeps covenant and mercy . 't is so sacred and dear to him , that he magnifies his word above all his name . therefore he revealed himself by the name jehovah to moses , which implyed , he would be the same in performing as he was in promising ; and accordingly by the miraculous strokes of his power delivered his people from the bondage of egypt . this is the ground of the psalmists confidence , thou o lord shalt endure for ever , and thy remembrance unto all generations . thou shalt arise , and have mercy upon sion , for the time to favour her , the set time is come . from the immutability of the essence of god , he infers the constancy of his promises , which declared by his prophets the fixed time of their restoration . in short , by the covenant of god , his church is received into communion with him , and because he lives , 't is impossible they should perish . in this the force of our saviours argument consists against the sadducees , who denyed the resurrection : that jehovah was the god of abraham , isaac , and jacob , therefore they should be raised to a glorious immortality . the application of the point . from hence we may understand the reason of the supreme and solemn adoration that all intelligent creatures are obliged to pay to god ; 't is for the absolute and unchangeable perfection of his nature , whereby he is infinitely superiour and separate from all created beings . there are different degrees of excellency in the creatures , but in comparison with god they all vanish and are equally nothing . as if one should be raised to the region of the stars , and cast a look down on the earth , the highest mountains with the vallies would appear an equal plain . god's incommunicable name is , i am ; he is alone from himself infinite and immortal , and in propriety of speech he only is : all other beings are derived and dependant on him , and have but a countenance and shadow of being . let us consider men and angels , that in nature are more excellent than other creatures . the first man in the perfection of paradise was mutable , his natural life was in a continual flux , and to be preserv'd by the fruits of the garden . if he had persevered in his obedience , after a short immortality on earth , he had ascended to heaven alive in his intire person , but he must have been changed in his ascension , for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven . he had strength to stand , but was free to fall ; and that freedom to evil was a branch of imperfection . there is a woful proof of this in his rebellious disobedience , for which he lost more in a day than his progeny can recover to all ages . the angels are superiour spirits , yet they were charged with folly , that is , a slipperiness and mutability from which god alone is entirely exempt . the elect angels , who continued faithful when such mighty numbers were false , and deserted their duty , ( and fell from their original purity and glory ) are not absolutely unchangeable : their confirmation and stability is from the continual irradiations and influences of divine grace , that preserve their minds from error , and their wills from irregular desires , and consequently they cannot sin , nor forfeit their felicity ; for all sin proceeds from error in the mind , and disorder in the will. in the perfection of glory the angels are not without change ; their understandings and wills are variously tinctur'd and colour'd by diversity of objects : their minds are illustrated with new discoveries of the divine counsels in their gradual accomplishment . the apostle tells us , unto principalities and powers is made known by the church the manifold wisdom of god. with the intellectual change their wills receive new impressions of joy. at the incarnation of our saviour a chorus of angels sang with celestial harmony , glory to god on high , on earth peace , good will towards men. at the conversion of a sinner there is new joy among those blessed spirits : but the blessed god is always the same . 't is from the consideration of god's peerless excellencies that the glorious seraphims are for ever in a posture of lowest reverence before the throne , and magnify him by the transcendent title that separates him from all creatures of the highest order , holy , holy , holy lord god of host : the earth is full of thy glory . the most proper affection due to that infinitely excelling object , is admiration mix'd with humble fear . 2. this should confirm our trust in god at all times . the psalmist's induction is from hence , thou art the same , and thy years have no end. the children of thy servants shall continue , and their seed shall be establish'd before thee . we will consider this security of the church in the present and the future state. 1st . while the church is in this lower world the sphere of mutability . the first sin of adam open'd a passage to innumerable evils , that either oppress us , or are impendent over us : man at his best estate is altogether vanity : not only when languishing and wasting by diseases , when afflicted by disasters , but in his fairest flower and best vigour . nay , the higher his exaltation is in this world , the more he is exposed to the storms of mutability . how shall man , a creature so impotent and apprehensive of dangers , compose the disorder of his passions ? how shall he support his spirit in an unsafe and unquiet condition ? the present world , as 't is insufficient for our satisfaction , so it cannot afford us protection : it cannot fill the immensity of our desires , nor extend to the eternity of our duration , nor preserve us from afflictions here . the seeming felicity hence is like a feast in an empty dream , mere imaginary food , and vanishes in a little while . what then can quiet our fears under imminent evils ? what can revive and support our hopes in our distress and exigencies but the unchangeable god , whose love , and power , and truth , are everlasting ? therefore we are encouraged to trust in the lord for ever , because in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength . he sits in heaven , his throne is unshaken , when things below are whirl'd about in a vertiginous circle . creatures may promise us relief in our troubles , but they are so false or fading , that we shall be deceived in our reliance on them , and disappointment will increase our vexation ; yet our carnal constitution strongly inclines us to depend upon them , either for the obtaining what we desire , or for the preventing what we fear : the reason is , because we see things with the eyes of flesh , and accordingly esteem their strength and sufficiency as 't is visible to us . therefore we are so often directed not to put our trust in princes , nor in the sons of men , in whom there is no help : his breath goeth forth , he returns to his earth , in that very day his thoughts perish . they are distinguish'd from others in the quality of living , but are under the same hard and inflexible necessity of dying . they cannot retain one ray of the superficial lustre of their crowns , to enlighten the dark shadow of death : they carry no reliques of majesty into the next world , to impress a reverence upon others . all flesh is grass , and the glory of it as the flower of grass : the grass withers , and the flower thereof fades ; but the word of the lord endureth for ever . god is our living strength , a sure refuge to which we may fly in our extremities . he can compose a raging world , or preserve his church in it , as he did the ark in the universal deluge . the prophet alledges this reason of his confidence , art not thou from everlasting , o lord my god , mine holy one ? we shall not die . and accordingly the prophet jeremiah argues ; thou o lord remainest for ever , thy throne is from generation to generation ! wherefore dost thou forget us for ever , and forsake us so long time ? 2dly . in the next state we shall be unchangeably happy in his influxive presence . here there are many vicissitudes , strange and suddain prosperity and adversity , riches and poverty , health and sickness in the circulation of time succeed one another : as in a voyage , the change of the winds , sometimes a storm , and after a calm , the unquiet agitation of the ship , the sickness of the passengers , are accidents that happen to those who sail in the ocean : but when they arrive at the port , all is at an end . thus when we shall come to heaven , all the variations of time shall end in a permanent stable state : our blessedness shall exceed all our desires , and exclude all our fears : it shall be compleat and surrounded with eternity . there god is all in all. the text i have been discoursing of , is very applicable to the occasion ; for we are instructed by very afflicting experience how fallacious our hopes are , that depend upon dying creatures . the excellent queen , from whose inclination and power the kingdom expected such diffusive good , and for a long continuance , was in the prime and vigor of her age taken from us . how convincingly verified are the words of the wise preacher , vanity of vanities , all is vanity . those who are stiled gods by deputation and vicegerency , and children of the most high , shall die like men : they are made of the same frail materials , and liable to the same accidents with the lowest of the people . that we may have a due sense of our heavy loss , i shall endeavour sincerely and briefly to represent what she was , and what a blessing we enjoyed in her government . i know that the praising of the dead is usually suspected to be guilty of flattery , either in disguising their real faults , or in adorning them with counterfeit vertues , and such praises are pernicious to the living . the temptation to excess in this kind is never so dangerous as in the funeral encomiums of princes . the most regular discretion is requisite in managing such subjects : flaunting language , and high sounding words the more poetical , are less perswasive , for they seem to proceed from a vain ostentation of eloquence . the discovery of the paint of art in a funeral sermon defeats the end of it , for it lessens the credit of the speaker , and the esteem of the person spoken of . the suspicion that more is said than is true , induces a thought that there is less praise-worthy than there is . but when the excellent goodness of a person in a uniform tenor of life was illustriously visible , the naked narrative of her actions will be a more effectual amplification of her worth and praise , than the most lively and graceful colours of language can impart . before i proceed , 't is necessary to consider two acts of divine providence concerning the queen , that are eminently observable , and were principal ingredients in our miraculous deliverance . the first is , that she was not early engaged in the belief and practice of popery , a religion so contrary to reason and divine revelation . children before they come to the free exercise of reason , are very receptive of the first impressions : especially the instructions of parents enter with authority and efficacy into the minds , and more especially if they partake from them as the secondary authors , not only life , but high honour and riches . there is the clearest evidence of this , for in all nations children receive their religion from the quality of their parents . now 't is truly wonderful , that the queen's father being so amorous of his religion , did not take the season of instilling it into her , before she could with understanding make a choice of it . it increases the wonder , in that the priests were attendants in his court , who being deeply struck with superstition , are watchful to take all advantages to propagate it . if she had been tainted with it , how unhappy had it been to her self , how pernicious to others ? if the light that is in thee be darkness , how great is that darkness ? darkness ! popery is a religion that begins in inward darkness , and leads to utter darkness . if her mind had been prepossest with so dangerous errors , how hard to have represented truth convincingly to her ? the wool that has imbibed a dark tincture , can never receive a lighter colour . the change of inclinations that are deeply set in the will is very hard , and the change of opinions concerning religion that have first possessed the mind , is equally if not more difficult . how pernicious had it been to others ? for the corrupting the mind of a royal person with a false religion , is like poisoning a publick fountain , that conveys infection abroad . how admirable was the preventing mercy of god , that as soon as she was capable , she was instructed in the knowledg of the saving truth ; and that her mind and heart were so firm and fixed in it , that she was neither seduced nor terrified from it . this preventing grace was an illustrious mark of her election . 2. the disposal of her in marriage to a prince of the reformed religion , raised by god to oppose the proud aspirer , and check the current of his fury , who usurps the glory of heaven , and breaks the peace of the earth ; who arrogates a soveraignty over conscience , and has compelled such vast numbers to abjure the truth : whose infamous ambition has turned europe into a stage of bloody confusion . our serenity and tranquillity , the flourishing of peace and truth , are from the benevolent aspect and favourable influence of these two bright stars in conjunction . i shall in speaking of this excellent queen , not insist on the privileges in the order of nature that eminently distinguish'd her from others . her descent was royal : but this is only an external circumstance , and derives no moral value to a person . the splendor of extraction , like varnish in a picture that gives more life and lustre to the colours , makes the vertues or the vices of a person more conspicuous . her body was the beautiful temple of a fairer soul : her graceful presence inspired reverence and love in those who saw her , and appeared worthy of empire . but visible beauty is often join'd with foul deformity in the same person . i shall begin with her piety towards god. this is the first duty of man in order and dignity , and the most considerable in its consequences : 't is the foundation of all royal vertues . in the publick worship of god , she was a bright example of solemn and unaffected devotion . she prayed with humble reverence , heard the word with respectful silence , and with serious application of spirit , as duly considering the infinite interval between the supremacy of heaven and princes on earth : that their greatness in its lustre is but a faint and vanishing reflection of the divine majesty . one instance i shall specify in this kind : when her residence was at the hague , a lady of noble quality coming to the court to wait on her on a saturday in the afternoon , was told she was retired from all company , and kept a fast in preparation for the receiving the sacrament the next day . the lady staying till five a clock , the princess came out , and contented her self with a very slender supper , it being incongruous to conclude a fast with feast . thus solemnly she prepared her self for spiritual communion with her saviour . when moses was surpriz'd at the sight of the flaming bush , and intended to come near to it , he was warn'd by a voice from heaven , draw not nigh hither : put off thy shoes from thy feet , for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground . by the familiar figure of putting off the shoes , is signified the purifying our selves from all defilements . and certainly the presence of the son of god is more peculiar in that sacred mysterious ordinance , than it was in the burning bush ; accordingly we should sanctify our selves , and approach with holy fear . her religion was not confin'd to the chappel , but every day she had chosen hours for communion with god , of which he is the only discerner and rewarder . some that are high in the world , think it sufficient to pay a complemental visit to god once a week , and content themselves with the external service , tho destitute of holy affections , which are the life of religion , or at best are satisfied with a few expiring acts of devotion : but the good queen's conversation was in heaven , she was constant in those duties wherein the soul ascends to god by solemn thoughts and ardent desires , and god descends into the soul by the excitations and influences of his spirit . her religion was not only exercised in divine worship , but was influential into her practice . the law of god was written in her heart , and transcribed in her life in the fairest characters . she had a sincere zeal for the healing our unhappy divisions in religious things , and declared her resolution upon the first address of some ministers , that she would use all means for that blessed end. she was so wise as to understand the difference between matters doctrinal , and rituals ; and so good as to allow a just liberty for dissenters in things of small moment . she was not fetter'd with superstitious scruples , but her clear and free spirit was for the union of christians in things essential to christianity . this revives in me the sorrowful remembrance of the late excellent arch-bishop , tho in place incomparably inferiour to the queen ; their principles and temper , their designs and endeavours were for peace : and the hopes of obtaining it are weakened by the fatal conjuncture of their funerals . the holiness of her life was universal . she was born and lived in the court that shines in pomp and flows in pleasures , and presents charming temptations to all the diseased appetites . pride that destroyed both worlds , and cleaves so close to human nature , reigns there . the love of pleasure is a soft seducer , that easily insinuates through the senses , and captivates the soul. 't is an observation of st. chrysostom that the three hebrew martyrs that were preserved unpolluted in the court of babylon , was a greater miracle than the preserving them unsinged in the fiery furnace . in the absence of temptations the corrupt nature is sometimes so conceal'd that 't is hardly known to it self ; but when tempting objects arm'd with allurements offer themselves , the corrupt nature is presently discover'd : especially if a person comes to the licence of the scepter , that swells pride , and authorizes the exorbitant desires . to be humble in such a high elevation , to be temperate in the midst of the freest fruitions , is the effect of powerful grace . who ever saw in the queen an appearance of pride and disdain ? how graceful was the condescendence of her greatness ? who saw any disorder in her countenance , the chrystal wherein the affections are visible ? her breast was like the pacifick sea , that seldom suffers and is disturbed by a storm . she was so exempt from the tyranny of the angry passions , that we may have some conjecture of the felicity of the state of unstained innocence , of which one ray is so amiable . and was so abhorring from the sensual passions , that nothing impure durst approach her presence . in her relation to the king she was the best pattern of conjugal love and obsequiousness . how happy was her society , redoubling his comforts , and dividing his cares ? her deportment was becoming the dignity and dearness of the relation . of this we have the most convincing proof from the testimony and tears of the king since her death . solomon adds to many commendations of a vertuous woman , as a coronis , that her husband praises her . the king 's declaring , that in all her conversation he discovered no fault , and his unfeigned and deep sorrow for his loss , are the queen 's entire elogy . she had an excellent understanding that qualified her for government . of this her presiding in council in times of danger , and preserving the tranquillity of the kingdom , were real proofs . her charity , that celestial grace , was like the sun , nothing within her circuit was hid from its refreshing heat . love is the clearest notion we have of the deity : god is love. a prince in no perfection resembles god more than in his communicative goodness . if it were known what this good queen did , and what she designed to do , among all her relucent vertues , charity would be illustrious . her wise redemption of time from unconcerning vanities for domestick affairs , was the effect and indication of her tender and vigilant conscience . she consider'd her glass was continually running , and all the sands were to be accounted for . how should this great example correct those who are lavish of nothing so much as of time ; which , being lost , is irrecoverable ? the sun returns every day , but time never returns . in her sickness , patience had its perfect work. her disease was uncomfortable , yet with resigned submission she bore it . when the danger of it was signified to her , she had no fearful thoughts about her future state. 't is a cruel respect to sick persons , especially to princes , to conceal from them their danger till death steals insensibly upon them . indeed considering their past lives , and their present anxieties , the advice of approaching death is an anticipation of it . but the spirit of this excellent saint was not afraid of evil-tidings , but fixed , trusting in the lord. her care had been to secure the love of god in the best time of her life , this mixed cordial drops in the bitterness of death . in short , to finish my discourse , all the blessed vertues were eminently seen in her that might render her government an entire happiness to the kingdom . this erected her a throne in the hearts of her subjects : and the honour the wise poet attributes to the emperor augustus ; victorque volentes per populos dat jura , that he rul'd a willing people , may more truly be said of this excellent princess , she was queen of the affections of the people , and governed them without constraint . her praise-worthy actions will eternize her memory , when other princes , devested of their secular pomp , shall either be buried in dark oblivion , or condemned in history . the earthen vessel wherein all these treasures were deposited is broke , and the instructive providence should perswade us to look to our living strength , the blessed god , fixing our trust in him . he bestowed this rare instrument of his goodness : he can preserve his servant , our sovereign lord , who by the divine assistance has the honour of establishing our religion and liberties at home , and gives hope of restoring it abroad , from whence it has been so cruelly and perfidiously expell'd . finis . the address of condoleance to his majesty , by the dissenting ministers . may it please your majesty ; tho we come in the rear of the train of mourners , to pay our tributary tears for the unvaluable loss in the death of your royal consort , and our most gracious queen , yet our resentments of it are with as tender a sympathy as are in the breasts of any of your subjects . this gives the sharpest accent to our passions , that the considerations which are most proper and powerful to allay our sorrows , exasperate them : for while we remember what she was , how general and diffusive a blessing to three kingdoms , the severe stroke of providence in taking her from us , is most afflicting . such a concurrence of high perfection shin'd in her person and actions , that would have made her illustrious in a low condition ; and in her exalted station they were attractive of the eyes and admiration of all . her mind was above the temptations that attend the throne . majesty was mix'd with that condescending humility , that tender and beneficent goodness , that she was easily accessable to all for their relief and support . her piety and purity were so conspicuous , her affections were so composed and temperate , that the court , that is usually the centre of vanity and voluptuousness , became vertuous by the impression of her example . her conversation was so regular , that her enemies ( if goodness in such a bright eminency had any ) could not fasten a taint upon her. her royal endowments for government , wisdom , magnanimity , vigilance and care in managing affairs of state ( without which the highest princes are but civil idols , useless and unprofitable to the world ) these were in such a degree of excellency , that in your majesty's constrained absence , while you were defending the interest of christendom , against a potent enemy abroad , with the sword of war , she sweetly ordered all things at home with the scepter of peace . she is gone , and must return no more : o astonishing grief ! but it becomes us with humble submission to acquiesce in the divine disposal . the will of god is always directed by infinite wisdom , and is the rule of goodness . we must refresh our sorrows with the hope that she is entered into her saviour's joy , whom she imitated and honoured , and that she is made happy in the love of god and the light of his countenance for ever . we humbly beseech your majesty to accept the renewed assurances of our inviolable and constant fidelity to your person and government ; and that we shall influence all that are within our compass to persevere in their duty : we shall earnestly pray to the blessed god to keep you in the best protection , his encompassing favour , to support your spirit with divine comforts , and to continue long your precious life , so necessary for preserving the pure religion , and the civil rights of this kingdom . finis . advertisement . the four last things , viz. death , judgment , heaven , hell , practically considered and applied : in several discourses . by william bates , d. d. printed for brab . aylmer . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26800-e290 rev. 1. 4. isa. 44. 6. exod. 3. mal. 3. 6. 1 tim. 6. psal. 21. esay . heb. 11. * adhuc usque in finem seculi multiplicandi & justificandi sunt : tamen verba praeteriti temporis posuit de rebus etiam futuris , tanquam jam fecerit deus , quae jam ut fierent , ex aeternitate disposuit . 2 pet. 1. 1 sam. 15. 29. deut. 7. psal. 102. eph. 3. 10. luke 15. psal. 39. lam. ● . 19 , 20. psal. 82. 6 , 7. a funeral sermon for that very reverend, and most laborious servant of christ, in the work of the ministry, mr. matthew mead who deceased oct. 16, 1699 / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. 1699 approx. 77 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 38 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44677 wing h3025 estc r3677 11790825 ocm 11790825 49196 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44677) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49196) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 535:13) a funeral sermon for that very reverend, and most laborious servant of christ, in the work of the ministry, mr. matthew mead who deceased oct. 16, 1699 / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. [10], 63 p. printed for t. parkhurst ..., london : 1699. title within black bar border. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mead, matthew, 1630?-1699. bible. -n.t. -timothy, 1st, iv, 16 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon for that very reverend , and most laborious servant of christ , in the work of the ministry , mr. matthew mead . who deceased oct. 16. 1699. by john howe , minister of the gospel , and some time fellow of magd coll. oxon. london , printed for t. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns in cheapside , 1699. to the right honourable , john , and frances , the lord , and lady haversham . may it please your honours , the request of the mournfull widow , and other relatives , of the worthy person , deceased ; concurring with my own inclination , left , with me , no room to deliberate , concerning this inscription . i easily apprehend , how quick , and deep , a sense you both have , of the loss of such another valuable person , from off this earth ; having so lately born your part , in lamenting the decease of one you much valued also . upon which account , i put into your hands , a discourse on those words , john 11. 16. let us go , that we may die with him . such persons leave this world so fast , that it grows a more difficult choice , with whom to live , than with whom to die . when , on that sad occasion , i did set my self to consider , that passage of holy scripture , i had seen some expositors , that made it a doubt , whether that were meant of lazarus , or of our lord himself . some , of good note , thought the latter . for which , was plausibly to be alledg'd , what we find , vers . 8. and that , in this verse 16. the words were spoken , not to christ , but to the fellow-disciples that doubt was not to have been mov'd in an assembly , where was neither time , nor a sit season to discuss it . and tho' i might more conveniently , i shall not say much to it , now . only i iudge , that , without necessity , the present coherence was not to be torn . when , by the series of discourse , the same [ him ] seems plainly to be referr'd to , in the close of the 15. verse , and of this 16. — lazarus is dead , v. 14. — nevertheless , let us go to him , vers . 15. — let us also go , that we may die with him . it was little needfull to say to christ , let us go , whose mind appeared set upon going , already , but to the disciples , who drew ba●k . besides that reverence might restrain from saying this to our lord , when what was to be propos'd was matter of hortation , not of enquiry . tho' sometimes they feared even to ask him a question , also ; as luk. 9. 45. and they might the rather , be now , under a present awe , from the rebuke , or expostulatory answer , he had given them , for their objecting against going into judea . especially , so as not to signifie a remaining fear , which he had so newly check'd therefore thomas's speech , directed to his fellow-disciples , but not out of christ's hearing ( for we have no reason to suppose , that he separated them from him , that he might say this to them apart ) is so ordered , as not to import fear of death , but love to the deceas'd . if any should object , that thomas could not mean dying with lazarus , when he was told , he was already dead . that scarce deserves answer , to any one that understands the latitude of the particle render'd with , especially , that it frequently signifies after , and not always with . and very often notes nothing of time at all . and therefore may here , mean no more , than let us go that we may die too , or , die , as well as he . all this i say , not that i have heard any person , in our days , object against , or plead for , this or that sense of these words : but knowing they have been differently understood ; and this being the first opportunity i had to take publick notice of the difference , i am not ill pleased , that i have now , this occasion of representing it , to so competent judges , partly to prevent objection , or at least , to shew with what temper of mind , any such different apprehensions , in matters of no greater moment , ought to be look'd upon . nor shall i here vye authorities of commentators , that have gone this way , or that in this matter . therefore i name none : only some , of as great name as any , have judg'd this the more probable opinion , which i have follow'd . many instances might be given , wherein , when matters , extra-essential to the summ of our religion , are deliver'd , one sense must be pitch'd upon , tho' another , very divers , ( of which there cannot be two ) is not to be demonstrated impossible . in which case , i much prefer a tacit following that which one chooses , before a conceited confidence , and crying down of the other . for confident clamour neither admits light , nor tends to enlighten any body . in the present case , it makes no difference , to any disadvantage . for if we desire to be united in death , or in that state , to which it introduces , with this or that h. man : to be with our blessed lord , in that state , must be much more desirable . but the departure of the excellent ones of the earth , from it , leaves us less , here , of present attractive , and gives us a very threatning prospect , and presage of what we are to expect , for the future . your lordship's great respect to this servant of christ , was even hereditary , and descended to him , by you , from tour family ; as i have often heard him acknowledge , with great sense of obligation . and ( madam ) your ladyship 's great value of him , tho' it might take its first rise from so near , and judicious a relative , could not but receive a great increase , from his known worth , and your own discerning judgment . i pray , ( not doubting it ) that with whatsoever kindness , you have received any prophet , or other servant of christ , in that name , you may have a proportionable reward ; and am , my most honoured lord , and lady ; your most obliged , humble servant , in the work of the gospel , john howe . a funeral sermon on the reverend mr. mead . 1 tim . iv. 16. — thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee . these words i principally design to insist upon at this time , and on this sad , and mournful occasion ; but not without retrospection , to the foregoing verse , and the former part of this ; which run thus , verse 15. meditate upon these things , give thy self wholly to them , that thy profiting may appear to all . v. 16. take heed to thy self , and thy doctrine ; continue in them , for in doing this , thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee . this whole foregoing context contains precepts , which reduc'd to practice , afford an eminent example and patern of a true gospel-preacher : or as the words are , v. 6. of a good minister of jesus christ , nouristed up in the words of faith , and of good doctrine . as these last words shew the blessed end and issue of such a one's ministry , i. e. that he shall save himself ; which must be look'd upon as certain . and them that hear him ; i. e. as much as in him lies , he shall herein do his part , and what is incumbent upon him , to the saving of his hearers . these latter words hold forth the double end which a minister of christ is to pursue , the saving his own , and his peoples souls . the foregoing words , considered in reference to these , contain the proper means lie is to use in order to this two-fold end . i. e. he is to meditate much on the great things of the gospel . he is to be wholly in them , as the words literally import , which we read , he is to give himself wholly to them . he is to be continually increasing in the knowledge of god , and that so as not to know only to himself , but so as to make known what he knows . he is especially ( tho' that be the common duty of christians ) to turn all to the use of edifying , eph. 4. 29. that his profiting may appear to all . for tho' timothy was at this time a young man , yet the most grown , did always need to be still growing : none have here , attain'd their ne plus ultra , but may still write for their motto , plus ultra , all their days ; even paul the aged , as he writes himself to philemon , tells the philippians ( both those epistles being dated from rome , and supposed to be written about the same time , when he was first there ) that he had not yet attain'd , in point of the transforming knowledge of christ , chap. 3. 10 , 11. and unto what pitch soever he grew , it was still in order to communication . he writes to the corrinthians , that he determined to know nothing among them ; which is so to know , as to make known , nothing but jesus christ and him crucify'd . and to the ephesians , that he would have them understand , his knowledge in the mystery of christ ; no doubt that their salvation might be promoted thereby . and hereupon , in great part , depends a minister's own salvation ; as hereafter will further appear . but besides , he is to take heed to himself , and see to the good state of his own soul ; he is to take heed to his doctrine , not to corrupt , or handle deceitfully the word of god , but represent it sincerely , and as the truth is in jesus . he is to continue in them , i. e. in the things he before exhorts him to meditate on , and be wholly in them ; to continue in the faith , of what was to be believed ; and the practice , of what was to be done ; and in pressing and insisting on both . and all for the mentioned ends , that he might both save himself , and those that hear him . and it is this two-fold end of a minister's care , and labour , that will take us up at this time . this is that therefore , which as god shall help , i am to evince and apply , viz. doct. that a minister of christ is to make it his business , both to save himself , and his hearers . i am , as the text directs , to speak of these two ends conjunctly : and here i stall not spend time , or use a a liberty , beyond what is obvious , and useful ; in enquiring into the counsel of god , why he makes use of such in order to the saving of others , as need to be saved themselves , also . but shall principally insist , that since it appears to be god's pleasure to make use of such , they should , therefore , most earnestly concern themselves , and be very intent upon carrying on this design ; viz. of their own , conjunctly with that of their hearers salvation . yet as to the former of these , 1. somewhat it may be requisit to say , concerning this course and method , which we find the wisdom and good-pleasure of god have pitch'd upon , for the carrying on a saving design in this world ; to make use of such for the saving of others , as do need to endeavour the saving of themselves . and here i shall briefly shew ; 1. how it is to be understood . 2. how the fitness of this course may be evinced . as to the former we shall briefly note ; that we must be cautious to understand aright , how , and in what sense any one can be said , to save himself , or another . therefore , 1. it must be understood so , as to keep at a remote and awful distance from intrenching upon a divine prerogative . it being most expresly said , isa. 43. 11. i , even i , am the lord , and besides me there is no saviour : and chap. 45. 21 , 22. there is no god beside me , a just god , and a saviour , there is none beside me . look to me , and be ye saved all the ends of the earth : for i am god , and there is none else . which plainly signifies , that in the highest sense , to save , is most appropriate to deity , especially , with an everlasting salvation , as 't is express'd , v. 17. of this chap. 45. israel shall be saved , in or by the lord , with an everlasting salvation . and that to be so a saviour , is equally incommunicable , as to be god. how gloriously doth he triumph in this excellent peculiarity of the godhead , in his expostulations with job , chap. 40. 9. hast thou an arm like god! q. d. come let us compare ; stretch out that weak withered ulcerous arm of thine . deck thy self now with majesty and excellency , array thy self with glory and beauty ; try if thou canst make thy self shine in god-like splendor : cast abroad the rage of thy wrath : behold every one that is proud and abase him . try thy power upon thy fellow mortals . see if thou canst crush all the haughty ones of this world , bring them down , and bind their faces in the dust of the grave . and ( to recall thee to the greater things mention'd before ) try if thou canst form me such another earth as this , establish its foundations , lay its corner stone . if thou canst countermand the motions , bind up the influences of the stars in the heavens . then will i confess unto thee , that thy own right-hand can save thee , vers . 14. it is , it seems , as much above created power to be a saviour , as to be the creator or ruler of the world. and how should we dread to think of usurping the title and office of the great emanuel , the saviour , who is therefore call'd jesus , because he was to save his people from their sins , matth 1. 21. 2. yet there is a true sense wherein the saving act and power , are otherwise , and very variously ascrib'd . sometimes to faith , luk. 7. 50. thy faith hath saved thee ; sometimes to hope , we are saved by hope , rom. 8. 24. sometimes to baptism , 1 pet. 3. 21. baptism doth also now save us , not the putting away the filth of the flesh , &c. sometimes to husbands and wives in reference to one another , 1 cor , 7. 16. so is the gospel call'd the gospel of our salvation , eph. 1. 13. and to you is the word of this salvation sent , act. 13. 26. so are we exhorted to save our selves , act. 2. 40. and others , jud. 23. others save with fear . thus in lower matters , is the act , of writing , for instance , ascribed to the pen , to the hand that uses it , and to the writer himself , that moves both ; and we have no difficulty to understand those different forms of speech : nor is there a greater difficulty in the present case ; so to ascribe to the creature , the low subordinate agency , which in distinct capacities may belong to it , as in the mean time to reserve to god and christ the supream agency , which is most peculiar and appropriate to divine power and grace , 1 pet. 1. 5. eph. 2. 8. 2. we now come next to shew , that it was very manifestly agreeable to the most accurate wisdom of god , to imploy such in the design and work of saving others , as were themselves concern'd , and needed to be saved too , that were to be upon the same bottom themselves with the rest ; and to venture their own souls , and their everlasting concernments the same way , and into the same hands . and this we shall labour to clear and make evident by degrees . 1. it was fit , since creatures were to be employ'd in this work , to make use of intelligent creatures , such as could understand their own errand , and act with design in pursuance of it . 2. mankind was universally lost , so as all do need being saved themselves . 3. therefore no intelligent creatures else , could be employed herein , but the unfall'n angels . 4. we may adventure to say after god , and when he hath so determined the matter himself , though it was not fit for us to have said it before him , as if we would direct the spirit of the lord , or as his counsellours would instruct him , isa. 40. rom. 11. that it was more suitable to make use to this purpose of sinfull men , than of sinless angels . let us sever and lay aside herein , what may at first sight , seem specious , but is really not considerable in this matter , as that men , in the same miserable circumstances with those whom they are to perswade , that they may save them , will be so much the more earnest , and importunate , use so much the more pressing arguments , as having been upon the brink of hell , and the borders of destruction , for we suppose such as are most likely to promote the salvation of others , to have been made sensible of their own undone lost state , and to be in a way of recovery themselves . but hereupon it may also be supposed , they will therefore so much the more pathetically plead with sinners . their knowledge of the terrors of the lord will urge them to perswade men , 2 cor. 5. 11. and make them eloquent at it . but what ? more than angels ? when the apostle , 1 cor. 13. supposes one speaking with the tongue of men and angels , doth he not intend a gradation , and signify the latter far to excel ? and are we to suppose that the benignity of their own natures , their kindness to man , and their perfect conformity , and obediential compliance and subjection to the will of their sovereign lord , would not have oblig'd them to do their uttermost , if he had sent them upon such errands ? we cannot doubt it . but , 1. it is apparent that what the blessed god doth in pursuance of this saving design , he doth to the praise of the glory of his grace , and that it might appear the more conspicuous , in the whole conduct of this affair . 2. that it is not within the compass of any created , no not of angelical power , to change the hearts of men , and turn them to god. if angels were the constant preachers in all our assemblies , they could not with all their heavenly eloquence convert one sinner , if the immediate divine power did not exert it self . the people are willing in the day of his power , who was god-man , as psal. 110. 3. the jews at mount sinai received the law by the dispensation of angels , yet kept it not , act. 7. 53. 3. yet if god should put forth his own power , by such a ministration : if angels should appear in glorious aray among us , and speak to men with greater advantage , and more perswasive eloquence , than we can conceive ; and marvellous effects , by divine concurrence , should ensue ; those great effects , among a sort of creatures led by sense , and who judge by the sight of the eye , would all be ascribed to the visibly glorious instrument , not to the supreme agent , who is invisible and out of sight ; even as in effects of another kind , the invisible power and godhead , that do all , are little regarded by stupid man , whose dull eye stays , and rests in the visible outside , and fixes his mind there too . 4. therefore the rich treasures of the gospel are put into earthen vessels , that the excellency of the power might be , i. e. might appear to be of god , and not of the inferiour instrument , 2 cor. 4. 7. 5. in this way of dispensation , wherein god speaks to men liable to the same passions with themselves , he accommodates himself to their frail state , who cannot bear glorious appearances ; and to their own option and desires , who say to moses , exod. 20. 19. speak thou to us and we will hear , but let not god speak to us lest we die . when they had heard the sound of the trumpet , and the voice of words accompanied with thunders and lightenings , they entreated that they might hear no more , heb. 12. 19. the celestial glory , while our mold and frame is dust , doth more astonish , than instruct . those soft and pleasant words , this is my beloved son — hear him , spoken by a voice from the excellent glory in the transfiguration , made the disciples that heard them sore afraid , and fall on their faces , matt. 17. how would it unhinge the world , and discompose the whole state of civil affairs if all conversions were to be as saul's was , when he became paul , with such concomitant effects , not only on himself , but all others present , especially being wrought ( as most conversions may be ) in numerous assemblies , the convert struck blind for some days , and all that were in the place , speechless ! perhaps we have one such instance to let us see how inconvenient it were , such instances should be common ; or that this should be god's ordinary way of converting , and saving sinners . 6. the holding of men in this world under the ministery of men , not of angels , in reference to the affairs of their salvation , is certainly more sutable to the condition of probationers ; for eternity , and another world ; and more aptly subservient to the business of the judgment-day , when all the talents men were entrusted with , their natural endowments , and faculties , as well as additional advantages , are to be accounted for . we shall hereafter understand better , but may , in good measure , conjecture now , why there is so fix'd a gulf by the wisdom and counsel of god , between the two worlds , the visible , and the invisible , and so little commerce between them . and whereas in the old testament , the apparition of angels was more frequent , that passage , the world to come , being said , not to be put in subjection to angels , seems to signify the time after the messiah's appearing should be more entirely left to the conduct of a gospel-ministery , as the connection , heb. 2. vers . 4 , 5. intimates . 7. and tho' the compassions of men , who have been in danger to perish themselves , cannot be supposed more powerfully to influence them , unto an earnest endeavour of saving them that are in the like danger , than the kindness and benignity of angels would do , if they were so employ'd ; yet their concern to save others , who are also to be saved themselves the same way , is likely , more easily , more generally , more sensibly , to be apprehended by those others , to whom they are to apply themselves , upon this account . they have kinder thoughts of one another , than they are like to have of a superiour order of creatures . their own flesh and bloud , is nearer akin to them . yea they are more apt to love one another ( and consequently to apprehend one anothers love ) than the blessed god himself . which is more than intimated in that of that ii. apostle , 1 joh. 4. 20. he that loveth not his brother , whom he hath seen , how shall he love god , whom he hath not seen ? things affect us , not meerly as they are , but as they are understood . ministers cannot be kinder to mens souls , than the blessed angels , among whom there is a joy for the conversion of a sinner , much more pure , exalted , and sublime , than an humane breast is capable of , and in proportion , more servent desire of such conversions : but their propensions towards us , tho' they should be expressed by counsels and precepts that tend to our good , would be less apprehended by most men ; they carrying a severity with them , which makes them need such insinuative recommendations , as slide more easily into their minds , from creatures of their own order . 8. our lord himself was so concern'd for the saving of souls , as who could be besides ? but tho' before the floud he is said to have preached to the old world , 't was , by his spirit , in the ministery of noah , a man like themselves , to whom he preach't . but when he thought sit to preach immediately himself , he put on flesh ; and dwelt , or did tabernacle , among men as one of them , joh. 1. 14. so moses foretold . a prophet like to me shall god raise up , him shall you hear . so his terrour was not to make us afraid . and tho' his compassionateness towards us is argued from his being tempted , and compas't with infirmities , as we are , that cannot be understood , as if hereby he became more gracious and mercifull towards us in himself ; but his being so , was the more apprehensible to us . 9. the steadiness of the course god hath taken in this matter , shews , what his judgment was of the fitness of it ; who doth all things according to the counsel of his will , eph. 1. 11. 't is observable , that when our lord was now about to ascend , he fixes a ministery that he promises his presence unto , always , or every day , unto the end of the world , matt. 28. 19 , 20. ascending on high he gave ( among other ) these gifts to men , ( even to the rebellious , psal. 68. ) apostles , prophets , evangelists , pastors , teachers , eph. 4. 8 , — 11. and that he might put an honour upon this ministery , when he designed the gospel to be preached to cornelius , and his relatives ; tho' he prepares peter , by a vision , and sends an angel to cornelius , 't was not to preach to him , but to direct him to send for peter , to preach to him and his ; who tells him , when he fell at his feet , i also am a man , act. 10. we are humane preachers , tho' from a divine master and lord ; and of a divine word . 2. but now the mind , and counsel of god being sufficiently evident in this matter , both in the fact , and in the fitness of it , to make use of such , for promoting the common salvation , as do need themselves to partake therein ; we come now to shew , that the ministers of the gospel of christ , ought to be very intent upon the business of their own salvation , conjunctly , with that of them that hear them ; and of theirs with their own . there is a double obligation meeting upon a minister of the gospel ; that of the law of nature , and of the law of his office ; he is to comply with both . nature obliges him to intend his own salvation ; his office , theirs that hear him . the same authority lays him under the one obligation , and the other . for he that is the author of nature , is the author of his office too . 1. he ought so to mind the concern of his peoples salvation , as not to neglect his own . this is so evident in it self , that it would be supersluous to speak to it , were it not that we , as well as they to whom we preach , do need to be put in remembrance of very important things , tho' we know them , 2 pet. 1. 12. to know , and to consider , we not only may distinguish , but do , too often , separate . and there are divers things to be considered to this purpose . 1. that the royal law , as 't is call'd , jam. 2. 8. which requires us to love our neighbour as ones self , makes love to our selves ; i. e. not meerly which we bear , but which we owe to our selves , the measure of that which we ought to have for our neighbour . and that which ought to be the measure in any kind , should be the most perfect in that kind ; and must oblige us to love first , our most noble self , our own souls . 2. 't is gross hypocrisy to seem earnestly intent upon saving other men , and to be neglectfull of ones own salvation . 't is sin only which endangers both ; meant by the mote and the beam , matt. 7. 3 , 4 , 5. and our saviour , we see there , stigmatizes such a one , with the brand of an hypocrite , that is officious to take out the mote from his brother's eye , but never concerns himself to cast out the beam from his own eye . 3. 't is a scandalous and an ignominious absurdity , as the apostle's sharp expostulations imply , rom. 2. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. to take upon ones self to be a guide to the blind , a light to them that are in darkness , to take up with having a form of knowledge , and of the truth in the law ; and to teach others , and not to teach ones self ! preachest thou ( as he adds ) a man should not steal ? and dost thou steal ? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery , dost thou commit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols , dost thou commit sacrilege ? thou that maketh thy boast of the law , by breaking the law dishonourest thou god ? this is that which makes the name of god be blasphem'd among the gentiles ; as he tells us 't is written , referring to some texts in the old testament , ezek. 16. 47 , — 52. ch. 36. 22. 't is a blackening thing when it can be said , i was keeper of the vineyards , but my own vineyard have i not kept , cant. 1. 6. our lord speaks of it as a reproachfull proverb , which he , knowing the hearts of men , observed some were apt to misapply to him , luke 4. ( noted to have been in use among the greeks , and which , with that empire , had reach't judaea ) physician , heal thy self . it would be very opprobrious to us , who are in the ministry , if it could be truly said to us , we seem concern'd at the diseasedness that appears in our flocks , but overlook the diseases , and distempers of our own souls . that was meant for a bitter reproach to our lord , dying upon the cross ; he saved others , himself he cannot save . to us , if it might be truly said , it must be a just reproach , as well as bitter ; our saving our selves being our duty enjoyn'd us , and tending to the saving of others ; whereas our lords saving himself , in the sense intended by those scoffers , was against the law he was , then under ; and against his own design ; tending to overthrow it , and leave them to perish , whom he was dying to save . 4. the observable neglect of the design to save our own souls , would defeat and destroy the other design of saving theirs that hear us . for who can think us serious in our preaching , or that we believe our selves , in what we say ; if we manifestly decline , our selves , that way of salvation , which we propose to others ? we tempt men to infidelity , if we live like infidels . it was a cutting repartee , made by an atheistical person , to one , that leading an ill life , yet profest to wonder , that the other , the arguments for a deity being so plain and cogent , did not own there was a god ; the other reply'd he much more wonder'd , that he who did own him , should yet live as he did ! this tends to overthrow all our preaching . tho' our saviour directs , to do as they said , who sate in moses ' s chair , not as they did ; because they said and did not : yet he did not thereby justify those self-repugnant teachers ; for his reflection upon them is sufficiently severe . and we are to consider in the case , not meerly what man's duty is , but what their dispositions are . not what they ought , but what they are apt , to do . if they think we do but act a part , when we speak never so movingly to them , they will be little mov'd by all that we can say . they will be more apt to conclude , that we who have studied , and searched into the matters of religion , more than they have done ; have found some flaw at the bottom , and perceive the very foundations of it to be infirm ; and therefore practice not according to the doctrines , and rules of it . but that for our gain , because it was the calling we were bred to , and we know not how else to live , we are content , and some way constrain'd , to keep up the forms , we found in use ; and maintain them , that they may maintain us . 5. yet when it shall be found , as upon strict enquiry it cannot but be , that the foundations of religion , are more firm than those of heaven and earth , how dismal will it be to have preach't to others , and our selves to be cast-aways ? 1 cor. 9. 27. for as , by loose , licentious walking , we hazard other mens souls , which we should endeavour to save ; so we , more certainly , lose our own . god may save them , some other way , and by other , more apt instruments ; but we have little reason to expect that we shall save our own ; either while we design it not , ( as if we were to be saved by chance ) or , much less , if we counteract any such design . which we may , most destructively , by that single instance , which the apostle , in that last mentioned place , refers to ; an indulg'd intemperance ; or not keeping our bodies in subjection ; in servitude , or in a serviceable temper , as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports ; to subdue them into the state of servants ; wherein , rather than fail , one would use the severity which this other word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there signifies . it is plain that if we live after the flesh we must die , rom. 8. 13. there is one law for ministers and people . and it is only by the spirit , we are so to mortify the deeds of the flesh , that we may live . how dismal when a minister's own breath poisons him ! when the very gospel which he preaches is a deadly odour to himself ! how horrid when a shepherd is the leader of the epicurean herd ! 6. but if by neglecting visibly the gospel-way of saving himself , he not only hazard , but actually destroy other mens souls , together with his own , he then perishes , under a much heavier load of guilt , than another man can , that was not under his obligations . as his obligation was double , so is his guilt . when sinfull , vicious inclination , hath depraved his mind , put out the eye of his practical understanding , so that the blind leads the blind , both fall into the ditch ; but he falls much the deeper , having the others destruction charg'd upon him , together with his own . such teachers as bind heavy burdens for others , which they will not touch fall under an aggravated woe . and the case is the same , with them that prepare , and set before their hearers , the most nutritive and delectable fare , which they will not tast . and for that reason , perhaps , the people will not feed on them , because the preachers themselves too evidently , appear , to have no tast or relish of them . 2. the ministers of christ ought to conjoyn the serious design , and earnest endeavour , of saving them that hear them , with the design , and endeavour of saving themselves . they are not to be so bound up within themselves , as only to mind their own things , tho' of this most noble kind . 1. the law of nature obliges them to it . which extends its obligation , as far as humane nature extends . and must therefore include them with the rest of mankind , under the same common notion : viz. them , who are ministers , not as they are such ; for nature hath not made them ministers ; but as they are men. whom the royal law , mention'd before , requires to love their neighbour as themselves : and therefore to seek anothers felicity ; not before , but as their own . we are taught to count it an unnatural barbarity , when we see any prest and pincht by bodily wants , and miseries , to hide our selves from our own flesh , isa. 58. 7. how much more , if we see immortal souls in danger to be lost and perish , that are of the same make , and capacity , with our own ! 2. the law of christ as such , obliges christians to the same thing . which is not , in this instance , therefore , a divers law , but hath a different stamp , and impress , as being the law of the kingdom of god in christ. we are to bear one anothers burdens , so fulfilling the law of christ , gal. 6. 2. what so weighty a burden can there be upon any man as this , the importance of his eternal salvation ? and which is plainly here referr'd to , when we are required to endeavour the restoring of such as have been overtaken , and lapsed into sin ; by which the precious soul is hurt , and endangered , should they be left to sink under such a burden . christians are elsewhere , required to have compassion on such as they see in such danger , to save them with fear , and pull them as firebrands out of the fire , jud. 23. these are obligations common to ministers with others . but , 3. the law of their own office , lays upon them an obligation , peculiar , as such , to themselves . what serves their office for , but this ; as the principal end and design of it ? what is it meant for ? but to gather in souls to christ ; and confirm them in him , because there is salvation in no other , nor is there any other name given among men by which any can be saved , act. 4. they are the messengers of the glad tidings of peace . their business is so well known , even in hell it self , that a spirit from thence speaks it out , these are the servants of the most high god , which shew unto us the way of salvation : i. e. to humane creatures , of whom the possessed person was one , acts 16. 17. 4. they are obliged by the example of their blessed master . our lord jesus himself , the primary saviour by office ; whom they are both to imitate , and to serve in this mercifull design . christians are so far to imitate them as they do christ , 1 cor. 11. 1. which implies their obligation to imitate him , as the word there used , signifies . the great salvation , which none that neglect , can escape vengeance , began to be spoken by the lord himself , then by them that heard him , and so on ; by others that succeed in the same office. this is following christ in the way of imitation , as in the mentioned place . and we are required to have the same mind in us , which was in christ , phil. 2. 5. and are told wherein , v. 6 , 7 , 8. which read over at leisure , and consider what was that deep humiliation and suffering for ? but the salvation of souls . and consider that this is said , as to the saints at philippi , so particularly to the bishops and deacons there ; which shews their common and their special obligation both together . and now can we behold with what compassions , and in what agonies , even unto blood , our blessed lord pursued this design , and not feel a constraint in our spirits , in our lower sphere , and capacity , to serve it also to our uttermost ! 5. they are obliged by the peculiar advantages they have for this work , and those they expect by it . 1. they have special advantages , for it , from their very calling , being separated to the gospel ; taken off from other business , to give themselves ( as in this context ) wholly to this . they are supposed therefore , to know more of the concernments of souls ; of the terrors of the lord , 2 cor. 5. 11. whence , therefore , they are to perswade men ; of the nature of sin , and how it entang'es mens spirits ; of the wiles of satan , and how he waits for advantages to destroy them ; of the foundations of religion , and by what arts they are endeavour'd to be subverted , or shaken : and by what means and methods , they are to be demonstrated , and establisht . of the mysteries of the gospel of christ , and how they are to be unfolded ; to have more special assistances from heaven , in their work , according as they faithfully mind it : christ's promised presence , therein , even to the end these are talents , with others , tending to the obtaining of these , which they are to be accountable for . and hereby they are strongly oblig'd , with their own , to intend earnestly the salvation of other mens souls . 2. they expect great advantages by it . that , since nothing is more gratefull to our lord christ , than the progress of this saving work , he will bountifully reward them that faithfully serve him in it . that if they be stedfast and immovable , abounding in this work of the lord ( as he hath not a greater , now in doing , in this world ) their labour , in him , shall not be in vain . they shall hear from him , well done good and faithful servant , enter into the joy of thy lord. if they turn many to righteousness ( or endeavour it with sincere minds ) they shall shine as stars in the firmament . and in the mean time , the honour , and the pleasure , of serving that mighty redeemer , and lover of souls , in so glorious a design , have in them a very excellent reward ; and which cannot but be esteem'd such , by a right mind . 6. they are oblig'd by the exigency of their own case . they cannot , as that is stated , neglect the design of saving other mens souls , without forfeiting their own . if they warn them not , over whom , as watchmen they are set , they perish , but their bloud will be requir'd at their hands . it is a mighty trust they stand charg'd with , which if they discharge not , they are liable to accusation , and condemnation , as false , and faithless servants ; perfidious to the souls of men ; traiterous to the king of kings — whose interest they will have betray'd , being his agents , and ministers , in his kingdom of grace ; about the prosperous state of which kingdom , with the successful progress of the affairs of it , he is most deeply concern'd . and now from this conjunct consideration of these two great ends , which a minister of christ is to propound to himself . i might proceed to consider them severally , and a part ; but this the case doth not require , it being easie to sever what hath been said to the one and the other ; nor do our limits allow it . we , therefore , go on to the ( more necessary ) use of the whole . to this purpose , we collect , 1. that this world is universally in a very miserable state . for it is the business of christ's ministers , to endeavour , both , the salvation of them that hear them , and their own . 1. the salvation of them that hear them . this is very indefinite . let who will be the hearers , they are supposed to be such as need to be saved . the object of their ministry is all nations , and every creature , viz. that is , or shall be , capable of being taught the way of salvation . therefore all nations are delug'd by the destructive evils , from which they are to be saved . and the world is every where inhabited by miserable creatures . we are told , that sin and death have pass'd upon all men , rom. ● . 12. and all the ends of the earth are invited to look unto god in christ ( as the application of this context , phil. 2. shews ) that they may be saved , isa. 15. 22. whereas , 〈…〉 we , the ministers of the gospel of salvation , wheresoever they can obtain to be heard , are to endeavour the salvation of their hearers , it shews , they can speak to none , who stand not in need of saving mercy . 2. and that they are also to save themselves as well as them that hear them , more fully shews the absolute universality of the ruin that hath befal'en this world ; that there are , among men , none to be found , that may be employ'd in saving others , but who are of the lost , themselves , and , so far , drown'd in the c●mm●n deluge of perdition , and destruction , as to need his help , as well as the rest , who came to seek and save them who are lost ; and to stretch out to him craving hands , with , that crying voice , lord , save us , we perish . 2. the common stupidity of this wretched world , is , hereupon , most observable , and amazing ▪ that so few such cries are sent up to heaven ! men are involv'd in a common ruine ; overtures are made to them of a common salvation ; but they are in reference hereto , destitute of common sense , i. e of such sense as is common , in less important cases . their misery lies in their having lost god ; but little do they apprehend this loss . amidst their other miseries , they cry out , when some that are mightier oppress others , but none says , where is god my maker , job 35. 9 , 10. the lord looks down from heaven , upon the children of men , to see if any will understand , and seek after god : but they are every one gone back ; or are in an averse posture , none doth this good , no , not one , psal. 14. and 53. none , till he give an effectual touch to their drowsie spirits ; and say , inwardly , and vitally , to their hearts , seek ye my face , so as to make their hearts answer , thy face , lord , will we seek . preventing grace doth this , psal. 27. 8. otherwise they feel no need of god , they miss him not , are content to be without him in the world ; yea , say to him , depart from us . distance from him is chosen , and desired . from him , whose off-spring we are , who is the father of spirits , their parent , their life , their blessedness ; of whom they are , and to whom , if they tend not , they cannot but be miserable . it is the salvation of the soul that is the end of faith , 1 pet. 1. 9. that faith by which we are to come to god , believing that he is , and will be , the rewarder of them that diligently seek him ; being redeemed to god , by the bloud of his son , rev. 5. 9. and who suffered once , the just for the unjust , to bring us to god , 1 pet. 3. 18. and who upon his suffering , intercedes , for the same purpose ; and is able to save to the uttermost them that come to god by him , because he ever lives to make intercession for them . but this salvation of the soul , this coming to god , or redemption by christ , and his intercession thereupon , who looks after ? neither the end , the salvation of their souls , coming back to god ; nor his method for attaining this end , are regarded , or so much as thought on . to have this flesh saved from any thing that is grievous to it , every one covets , and endeavours , in vain . it must , however , rot in the dust , and be , in the mean time , a prey to worms . it s own father , mother , and sister , will devour it , job 17. 14. the father of their spirits would save , and satisfy them , but him they shun , and will not know . who that observes how men spend their days , even under the gospel , which makes their time a day of grace , wherein they should be working out their salvation , can think they have any concern to be saved ? their life is continual trifling , some pass their days in mirth and jollity ; doth this signify any sense of misery , or fear of perishing , and that destruction from the almighty is a terrour to them ? these are not more idle , than others are idly busie , to get estates , and a name on earth ; but what is this to their being saved ? they are liable to the common , more sensible , miseries of life , and they are without god ; but this is no misery with them . this misery is their element , and burdens them not . were their present case , and future danger , in this respect apprehended , and felt , how full of outcries would this world be ; o we are lost , and perishing ! such cries would ring through the earth , and pierce heaven ! but the same carnality that is death , and makes them miserable , makes them stupid too , and insensible of their misery . and are these reasonable souls , intelligent , immortal minds and spirits , that are thus stupify'd ! turn'd into such clods , and stones ! o deplorable case ! methinks such an office , set up in the world , of men that are to save their own , and other mens souls , should make them consider , and bethink themselves , what is it for ? it must have had an original ; and so , it hath a divine aspect ; a tast of heaven upon it , and must have an end , suitable to the wisdom , and grace of heaven , which claims to be entertain'd otherwise , than with neglect , and contempt ! and indeed , this leads to take notice more expressly , in a further inference . 3. that there is a saving design on foot in the world. set a foot by the blessed god himself . otherwise in so great a ruine as is come upon this wretched world , what could it signifie ? for any man , to offer at saving either himself or others ? how vain an attempt were it ! for any man , out of so deep and horrid a gulf , of impurity , misery , darkness and death , to think of lifting up himself , and of plucking up others as high as heaven ! this intimation , carries hope with it . it is a voice from heaven to such as are so imploy'd , as timothy was : o save thy self , and as many as thou canst besides . it takes away all pretence for despair . god puts not men upon vain attempts . a lively hope ought to spring from hence . and we are saved by hope , rom. 8. 24. as without hope no man would ever design for salvation , or any thing else . hope is the engine that moves the world , keeps the intelligent part of it , in action , every where . no man could rationally stir in pursuit of any design , whereof he despair'd . but as to other designs , mens hopes are commonly self-sprung , and end in shame . but when one can say , lord , thy word hath caused me to hope . thou hast put me upon aiming to be saved , and to save others , it speaks this to be a just and a hopefull undertaking . i will therefore set about working out my own salvation ( and with my own , other mens , as far as is within my compass ) expecting he will graciously set in with me , and work in order hereto , to will , and to doe , of his own good pleasure , without which , all mine will be lost labour . 4. we further collect , that the blessed god is most intent upon this design . that which this supposes , and that which it imports , speaks him intent . it supposes he hath appointed a sovereign saviour set over this work ; otherwise , there could be none subordinate . it imports , he hath settled an office on purpose . made it some mens special business , to intend ( as every one ought ) his own salvation , and withall , to give himself up to this great work , the saving all he can . an office set up for the saving of souls , ought to be a great thing in our eyes ; and is a standing testimony for god , how willing he is men should come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved . 5. they that bear this office should be highly honoured for their works sake . for how glorious an employment is it , to be instrumental to salvation ! to be , in any kind , saviours . i could tell you of some great princes , in the pagan world , that to their other splendid titles , have had the addition , of soter , a saviour ; as to some other , the destroyer of cities , hath been given as a name of reproach . and you do know who hath the name of apollyon , or abaddon . rev. 9. 11 6. it highly magnifies the wisedom , power , and sovereignty of god , that he can , and will , make use of so mean instruments , for so high and glorious a purpose . for what end and purpose can be greater , than the recovery , and salvation of souls , so deformed , miserable , and lost , as the souls of men , universally , were ? and what instruments could be meaner , or more vile , than such as needed to be saved themselves , with the same salvation ? that god should make use of them who were darkness , eph. 5. 8. to enlighten the world matt. 5. 14. of such as were but sinfull flesh , joh. 3. 6. to be able ministers of the spirit , 2 cor. 3. 6. of such as had minds that were cumity against god , rom. 8. 7. to reconcile men to him ! 2 cor. 5. 20. these are some of the wonders he works among the children of men . when he hath converted some to use them ( first for the converting of others , and then ) for the strengthening of their converted brethren . 7. the ministers of christ are to be examples to them over whom they are set . they are to be so in the beginning of their course , in their first turn to god , tho' then , in a more passive sense , that i might be a patern , &c. saith the apostle , 1 tim. 1. 16. and in their after-course ; as in this context , v. 12. be thou an example of the believers , in word , in conversation , &c. they must be leaders in the whole way of salvation , from first to last . 8. pride , in the ministers of the gospel , and in them that live under a gospel-ministery , is a most monstrous absurdity : for what are we all of us , but a company of wretched creatures , just perishing , and only ( at the best ) but in the way of being saved ! what have such to be proud of ! 9. both christ's ministers , and their flocks , are under the greatest obligation imaginable unto union . for their case is one and the same ; their miseries were the same , their dangers the same . they must all have the same saviour , the same way of salvation , and the same end ; the same state of salvation , which all the nations of the saved are to be brought to at last , rev. 21. 24. 10. 't is an unquestionable thing , that salvation is to be designed for , by all sorts . ministers must aim to save themselves , and their hearers . and is the minister to design his peoples salvation , and not they , their own ! they have mean thoughts of salvation that stumble here , as if they were only to be saved from hell-flames ! but to be saved from sin that makes us unlike god! to have his image , and his love perfected in us , to be with the rest of the elect , partakers of salvation , with eternal glory , is that mean ? 2 tim. 2. 10. 11. the ministers of the gospel must , sometime , or other , be taken away from their work . it is time , a limited duration , within which their work and business lies , for the saving themselves and those that hear them . they are to save themselves . this end they are to pursue ; and it must sometime be attain'd . they are not alwaies to labour , and never rest : sometime , they are to receive the fruit of this their labour , and the end of their faith , the salvation of their souls . as more time passes , their salvation draws nearer than when they believed ; they are not always to be in saving , and never saved . in mercy to them , god will translate them ; and may it not be in judgment to many , whom they earnestly laboured to save , but who rejected their counsels , and strove against their own salvation ! that they may not , always , labour in vain , for themselves , and because they have laboured in vain for many others , they must be withdrawn from their hard and toilsome labour , and enter into rest . 12. the loss is great , and grievous , beyond all expression , above all our lamentation , when such are taken away as have made it their business , to save themselves , and those that heard them . in their endeavour to save themselves , they have been great examples . in their endeavour to save others , they may have been great instruments , of much saving good to many a soul. how few are they that drive such designs ! how fast doth their number decrease ! how fitly may we take up that of the psalmist , when the godly man ceases , and the faithful fail from among the children of men ? and what could be said with greater pathos , i sal . 12. 1. help , lord , as in a common ruine ; help , help , for god's sake , help , lord , help ! my friends , are you not sensible you have lost such a one , even while you are not yet sav'd ! while you yet need to be working out your salvation ! the effectually called , 't is true , are saved , 2 tim. 1. 9. who hath saved us , and called us with an holy calling . — and ( which is , in substance , the same thing ) the regenerate are saved : not by works of righteousness which we have done , but of his mercy he saved us , by the washing of regeneration , and the renewing of the h. ghost ; tit. 3. 5. but , if this were the case of you all , how much yet remains to be done , in order to your full , and consummate salvation ! you have yet mighty difficulties to overcome . a body of death , which you are not yet delivered from . for are not these some of your groans , in reference to it , o , who shall deliver us ? a world , full of troubles , and snares . your adversary the devil , that goes about seeking whom he may devour : all the principalities and powers of the kingdom of darkness , that you are to contend with , and with whom you are to dispute every step of your way to heaven . and do you not need such a leader , in that way ? and if any are fall'n into drowsie slumbers , do you not need his awakening ministry ? if dead , how often hath the blessed spirit breathed life into you , by his quickening ministry ? how often hath god us'd him , to enlighten you , when you have been in the dark ; to clear up the great doctrines of the gospel , when you have not distinctly understood them ? to establish you in the faith , when you have wavered , to resolve you in matters of practice , when you have been in doubt , to encourage you in your fears and faintings , to comfort you , in your sadness , and sorrows ! i wonder not that there are many weeping eyes , and should much wonder , if there be not many aking , trembling hearts among you , for what you have lost , and from an apprehension , how hard , and , almost , hopeless it is , your loss should be soon , or equally supply'd . he was long in preparing , and forming , to be what he was when you lost him . his station among you in this neighbourhood , when first he undertook the pastoral charge of this church over which the holy ghost made him overseer , requir'd a man of as much wisdom and grace , as any such station could well be supposed to do . considering how numerous , how intelligent , and well instructed a people , he was to take the care of . i well remember , that about 3 or 4 and 40 years ago , being desir'd to give some help , on a lord's-day , to that eminent servant of christ , mr. greenhill , whose praise is still , in all the churches , i then first heard him preach ; and ( if my memory fail not ) he had about that time in hand , some part of that excellent discourse , of the almost christian ; i had then the opportunity of beginning an acquaintance with him . his excellent good natural parts , his ingenuous education , his industry , his early labours in preaching the gospel of christ , in his native country , in the city , and in this place . his conjunction̄ and society , for some years , with that excellent servant of god before named ; above all , the gracious assistances he had from heaven , gave him great advantages , to be a minister of christ , approved unto god , a workman that needed not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth . and his multiply'd years , unto the 70th , with the continual addition thereby , to the rich treasury of his experiences , still improv'd him more and more : so that there being no decay of his natural endowments , and a continual increase , of his supernatural ; you had the best of him , at last , whereby , indeed , your loss was the greater , but your obligation was also the greater , that god continu'd to you the enjoyment of him so long : and that in a serviceable state . but when he could be no longer serviceable in his stated , delightful work , it was by the decay , not of the inward , but the outward man ; so that when he could preach to you , and converse with you no longer , he could earnestly , and servently pray for you , to the end . and god did not afflict you , by leaving , long among you , only the shadow , the outside of the man , and of such a man ! he took little pleasure in embroiling himself , or his hearers , in needless , and fruitless controversies . the great , substantial , doctrines of the gospel , were his principal study , and delight ; such as lay nearest the vitals , and the very heart of religion , and godliness ; and most directly tending to the saving them that heard him . the subjects which he chose to insist upon , from time to time , in the course of his ministry , shew'd , as to this , his spirit , and design . having formed , from the h. scriptures , that scheme of thoughts which satisfy'd him , and gave him a clear ground , whereupon to preach the gospel , with an unrecoiling heart , he lov'd not to discompose it . his judgment , in things which had that reference , being constantly moderate , and unexceptionably sound ; remote from rigorous , and indesensible extremities , on the one hand , and the other . hereupon he drove at his mark , without diversion ; not so much aiming to proselyte souls to a party , as to christ. and to engage men , as much as in him lay , to be sound and thorough christians . hitherto tended his sermons , from year , to year . the great subject he had in hand , and which he left unfinish'd , when god took him off from his publick work , was manifestly pointed this way , viz. of the covenant of god in christ. and his annual course , of preaching a sermon on may-day , to young men , had the same manifest scope , and aim , with which his publick labours were concluded . god so ordering it , that his last sermon , was this year , on that day . his judgment in reference to matters of church order , was for union , and communion of all visible christians , viz. of such as did visibly hold the head , as to the principal credenda , and agenda , of christianity . the great things belonging to the faith , and practice of a christian , so as nothing be made necessary to christian communion but what christ hath made necessary ; or what is indeed necessary to one's being a christian : what he publickly essay'd to this purpose , the world knows . and many more private endeavours and strugglings of his , for such an union i have not been unacquainted with . the unsuccessfulness of which endeavours , he said , not long before his last confinement , he thought would break his heart . he having openly , among divers persons , and with great earnestness , sometime before , exprest his consent to some proposals , which if the parties concern'd , had agreed in the desire of the thing it self , must unavoidably have inferr'd such an union , without prejudice to their principles ; and on such terms , as must have extended it much further ; else it had signify'd little . but this must be effected , as is too apparent , not by meer humane endeavour , but by an almighty spirit pour'd forth , which ( after we have suffered a while ) shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , put us into joynt , and make every joynt know its place in the body , 1 pet. 5. 10. shall conquer private interests and inclinations , and over-awe mens hearts by the authority of the divine law ; which now , how express soever it is , little availeth , against such prepossessions . till then christianity will be ( among us ) a languishing , withering thing . when the season comes , of such an effusion of the spirit from on high , there will be no parties . and a midst the wilderness-desolation that cannot but be , till that season comes , it matters little , and signifies to me scarce one straw , what party of us is uppermost . the most righteous ( as they may be vogu'd ) will be but as briars , and scratching thorns ; and it is better to suffer by such , than be of them . in the mean time , it is a mark of god's heavy displeasure , when persons of so healing spirits are taken away . and if it awaken any of us , that will tend to prepare us for the effects of it , which preparation , seems a thing more to be hoped , than prevention . but this worthy servant of christ sees not the woful day , whatever of it he might foresee . his removal makes , to many , indeed , a woful day , and that , all about him , did long foresee . he was long languishing , and even dying daily . but amidst surrounding death , as a relation told me , there was no appearance of any the least cloud upon his spirit , that obscured the evidences of his title to a blessed eternity . being asked how he did , he said , going home , as every honest man ought , when his work is done . he was much in admiring god's mercies under his afflicting hand , saying , every thing on this side hell is mercy . that the mercies he received were greater than his burthens , tho' in themselves grievous . that he rested upon that promise , that his father would lay no more upon him than he would enable him to bear . that he expected to be saved only by the righteousness of christ imputed to him . tho' he well understood , as i had sufficient reason to know , that christ's righteousness is never imputed to any , but where , if the subject be capable , there is an inherent righteousness also , that is no cause of our salvation , but the character of the saved . and having before precaution'd some as were about him , not to be surpriz'd , if he went away suddenly , he repeated the ejaculation , come , lord jesus , come quickly ; and renewing the former caution , by saying , remember what i said before ; as he sat in his chair , with all possible composure , he bow'd his head , and without sigh , or motion , expir'd in a moment . the sighing part , he left to others that stay behind . and i do even feel the sorrows of his most afflicted family , his mournful widow , his sorrowing sons and daughters , his destitute church , with all others that got good , or might have done by his quickning , spiritful , piercing ministry , or had the advantage , and satisfaction of his acquaintance , and converse . your grief cannot but be measured , by your love ; and your love by his in the several kinds , and objects of it . his conjugal , paternal , pastoral , friendly love , as he was an affectionate husband , a tender father , a vigilant pastor , and a pleasant friend . but withall , let your consolations be measur'd by the proper grounds thereof . it is a most improper , irrational , unchristian way of being comforted in such a case , only to let time wear away our sorrows . it is but a negative , an heathenish , yea a worse than heathenish method of receiving comfort . for i have observed it to be animadverted on , as an intolerable absurdity , by some among the heathens , that time should work that cure of grief and sorrow , which reason and prudence work not . and thus 't is plain , we shall be relieved , not by holy thoughts , but by not thinking . so it may , in time , be forgotten , that ever such a man as mr. mead , was minister in stepney ! and what is this to christian consolation ? but we need not wander from the text for a positive , and a solid ground of comfort . remember it was his business to save himself , and those that heard him . as you have no doubt of his . salvation , which i believe none of you have , make sure of your own . put on , with the breast-plate of faith , and love , that helmet , the hope of salvation . you are of the day , watch , and be sober , as those that are not appointed to wrath , but to obtain salvation by jesus christ. and then consider ( as i doubt not many a soul will bless god for him for ever ) how glorious a sight it will be , to see him , one day , appear in the head of a numerous company , of saved ones ; and say , ( as a subordinate parent in the apostle's sense , 1 cor. 4. 15. ) lord , here am i , and the children thou hast given me . in conclusion for you of his dear , and beloved flock , this may be directive to you as well as consolatory ; would you have a pastor after god's heart ? put your selves under the conduct , as much as in you is , of such a pastor , as you apprehend will be intent , in all his ministrations , upon this double end , to save himself , and them that hear him . and labour to be perfect , be of one mind , and live in peace , so the god of love and peace shall be with you . and remember him as one that hath had the rule over you , and hath spoken to you the word of the lord , and follow the faith of such , considering the end of their conversation ; and that jesus christ is the same , yesterday , and to day , for ever . as you change pastors you will not need to change christs , so as to have one yesterday , another to day , and a third to morrow . pastors under the gospel , as well as priests under the law were many , because of death . but our b. lord , because he continueth ever , hath an unchangeable priesthood , heb. 7. 24. therefore do you never think of another christ , as their doubt was , matt. 11. 3. but cleave to this your great lord with purpose of heart , till he give you at last , an abundant entrance into his everlasting kingdom . let his mournfull relatives , and all of you to whom he was dear , consider , what our lord offer'd as matter of consolation , in the most trying case , of this kind , that ever could occur to poor mortals ; i. e. when he himself was to be taken away , from his sorrowing family , and followers . it is but a little while , q. d. my words have a plain meaning . a little while , and you shall not see me , and again , a little while , and you shall see me : and because i go to my father — ye now have sorrow , but your sorrow shall be turned into joy , and your joy no man taketh from you . now the god of peace , that brought again from the dead , our lord jesus , that great shepherd of the sheep , through the bloud of the everlasting covenant , make you perfect in every good work , to do his will : working in you that which is well-pleasing , in his sight , through jesus christ ; to whom be glory , for ever , and ever . amen . finis . books written by the reverend mr. j. howe , and printed for t. parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns near mercers-chappel . of thoughtfulness for the morrow . with an appendix concerning the immoderate desire of foreknowing things to come . of charity , in reference to other mens sins . a sermon at the funeral of mr. richard adams , m. a. sometime fellow of brasen-nose colledge in oxford . the redeemer's tears wept over lost souls : in a treatise on luke 19. 41 , 42. with an appendix , wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed , concerning the sin against the holy ghost , and how god is said to will the salvation of them that perish . a sermon directing what we are to do after a strict enquiry , whether or no we truly love god. a funeral sermon for mrs esther sampson , the late wife of henry sampson , doctor of physick . the carnality of religious contention . in two sermons , preach'd at the merchants lecture in broadstrees . a sermon for reformation of manners . a sermon preach't on the day of thanksgiving , decemb. 2. 1697. to which is prefix'd dr. bates's congratulatory speech to the king . a calm and sober enquiry , concerning the possibility of a trinity in the godhead . a letter to a friend , concerning a postscript to the defence of dr. sherlock's notion of the trinity in unity , relating to the calm and sober enquiry upon the same subject . a view of that part of the late considerations to h. h. about the trinity : which concerns the sober enquiry on that subject . the redeemer's dominion over the invisible world. a funeral sermon for mrs. hammond . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44677-e1490 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in a better than the poets sense , scire tuu●● nihil est . 1 cor. 2. 2. eph. 3. 4. acts 3. 22. from deut. 18. heb. 4. & 5. 2 cor. 2. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rom. 8. 6. 1 thess. 5. 7 , 8 , 9. 2 cor. 13. 11. joh. 16. a funeral sermon for mrs. esther sampson the late wife of henry sampson, dr. of physick, who died nov. 24. 1689 / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. 1690 approx. 72 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44678 wing h3026 estc r19694 12221747 ocm 12221747 56414 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44678) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56414) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 919:18) a funeral sermon for mrs. esther sampson the late wife of henry sampson, dr. of physick, who died nov. 24. 1689 / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. [4], 28 p. printed for thomas parkhurst ..., london : 1690. reproduction of original in bristol public library, bristol, england. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sampson, esther, d. 1689. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon for m rs . esther sampson , the late wife of henry sampson , d r. of physick , who died nov. 24. m.dclxxxix . by john howe minister of the gospel . published principally for the use of such as languish under painful and chronical diseases . london , printed for thomas parkhurst at the bible and three crowns , at the lower end of cheap-side , near mercers chapel . 1690. to my worthy friend dr. henry sampson . sir , i have perused the papers which you sent me , and find , as far as i can recollect , they contain in them the substance of what was delivered : with no more mistakes than is usual , in writing from the mouth of one who is not of the slowest speakers . some things besides , which the limits of the time allow'd not to be spoken ( having some short memorials of them by me ) i have added , conceiving they might , also , contribute towards the good end you proposed to your self , in so earnestly desiring this publication , the assisting of their patience , and their good and placid thoughts of god , who are exercis'd under long and languishing distempers . the observations which your profession hath occasion'd you to make in the cases of many others , hath , i doubt not , let you see the need of somewhat to this purpose ; otherwise the example you have had so long before your eyes of so calm and compos'd a temper in this excellent relative of yours , might have made you less apprehensive how great an addition a fretful , unquiet spirit is , both to the sin , and the affliction of a sickly state. i am sensible your own affliction is great in the loss you now sustain . the relief will be great , and suitable ; which the forethoughts of that state will afford , where they neither marry , nor are given in marriage , but are as the angels of god in heaven . i am , sir , in much sincerity , and affection , yours to serve you in the work and labour of the gospel , john howe . luke 13. 16. and ought not this woman , being a daughter of abraham , whom satan hath bound , lo these eighteen years , be loosed from this bond , on the sabbath day ? you will soon see the occasion , and connexion of these words , by viewing over the whole paragraph to which they belong , verse 10. and he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath . 11. and behold there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years , and was bowed together , and could in no wise lift up her self . 12. when jesus saw her , he said to her , woman , thou art loosed from thine infirmity . 13. and he laid his hands on her , and immediately she was made straight , and glorified god. 14. and the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation , because that jesus had healed on the sabbath day , and said unto the people , there are six days , in which men ought to work , in them therefore come and be healed , and not on the sabbath day . 15. the lord then answered him , and said , thou hypocrite , doth not each of you on the sabbath loose his ox and his ass from the stall , and lead him away to watering ? 16. and ought not this woman , being a daughter of abraham , whom satan hath bound , lo these eighteen years , be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day ? 17. and when he had said these things , all his adversaries were ashamed ; and all the people rejoyced for all the glorious things that were done by him . inasmuch as our blessed lord spake these words , and did the thing which occasion'd them , upon that which was , with the jews , their sabbath day ; it cannot be unfit for us to consider them upon ours , they so fitly leading us to consider also , another release wrought for a daughter of abraham too on our sabbath day . it was formerly told you upon what occasion , and i doubt not but you generally know , upon whose account we were to divert from our usual course and subject at this time . nor could any thing have been more suitable to the present occasion ; for not only was this daughter of abraham releas'd from her infirmity upon the sabbath day ; but the time , wherein it remain'd upon her ( in a great and manifold complication ) was ( as her surviving consort hath acquainted me , and who therefore recommended this subject ) precisely about eighteen years . there are ( 't is true ) disagreements between our case , and that case in the text , which do not therefore render both together less instructive to us , but the more . and , to make way to what may be so , you must here take notice , that these words are part of our lords defence of what he had done , in performing this work of mercy , wherein what he says is justly severe , and very clearly convictive . it is very deserved and just severity , that he call'd him , who cavil'd in the case , by his own true name , thou hypocrite . he , under pretence of great sanctity , discovers the highest enmity , even against our blessed lord himself , who came ( being sent ) upon the holiest and kindest design into this world. the zeal which he pretends for the observation of the sabbath , could not be the thing that he did really mean , or that acted him in this case . for it was not likely he could be ignorant of what was a known adjudg'd case among the jews ( as some of their own rabbies * inform us ) that all needful endeavours ought to be used for the cure of the sick upon the sabbath day . so as that he very well knew , no rule could be broken in this case . but this he reckons was somewhat plausible , and he pleases himself in it , that he could tell how to vent his spite against christ and christianity , under a mock-shew of great sanctimony . and our lord justly calls him what indeed he was , when he would thus seem what he was not . it was not that he cared for religion , or for any thing of real sanctity , of which a due and just observation of the sabbath was a real part ; but that he had a mind , as far as conveniently he could , to express his displeasure at that evidence and lustre , wherewith the glorious works our lord wrought evinc'd him to be the messiah ; while yet he was struck with that awe of him , that he adventures not to direct his reproof to him , but the people . it is here by the way to be noted that they were not thus disaffected to our lord , and the religion he was about to introduce . no , but this ceremonious bigot , a ruler of the synagogue , was the ill-pleased , disaffected person . i shall not trouble you with the discussion what sort of power it was that belonged to that office. some well acquainted with the jewish writings say , that the ruler of the synagogue was not wont himself to officiate , as minister in sacris ; but his business was circa sacra , to regulate the administration . we consider not his power , but his ill-will , and enmity against christ , and true religion . the people , in the mean time , throng'd after him in multitudes , and beheld the great works he wrought with joy , and glorified god. only where was more power , and probably more knowledge , there was more too of a peevish spite and envy , that the interest of our lord was , by so proper means , growing in the world. a sad ( and not a new ) thing ! that religion should have most opposition , whence it should have most of countenance , and advantage to dilate and spread it self . do any of the rulers believe on him ? but the people ( whom they despised , and pronounc'd accursed for that reason ) were more apt and forward to receive the gospel , joh. 7. 48 , 49. the more there is of light , unaccompany'd with a pious inclination , the higher , the more intense and fervent , the finer and more subtle is the venome and malice against christ , and real christianity . but our lord was not diverted from his kind and compassionate design , by any such obstructions as these . his love triumphs over them ; and he makes that discovery of this compassion , which could not but carry the clearest conviction with it , as his reproof carry'd the brightest justice . why , what , saith he , do not any of you loose an ox , or an ass from the stall on the sabbath day ? and shall not i loose a daughter of abraham ? 't is like she was a daughter of abraham , not only as being a jewess , but as being a believer ; as being , according to scripture language , of abrahams seed , in the spiritual sense , as well as the natural ; and he was the more peculiarly compassionate upon that account ; and yet more , because her ail proceeded from the malignant influence of the devil . shall not i loose such a one whom satan hath bound , that great enemy of mankind ? why should not i shew my self so much the more a friend , by how much the more he appears an enemy , and give the earliest relief the matter can admit ? 't is very true indeed , his compassion was never to incline him to do unfit and unseasonable things , or things that were no way subservient to his principal end . but such a subserviency being supposed , his relief must be with the earliest , to day , before morrow , though it were the sabbath day . and so now you have the ground of discourse plainly in view before you . that the devil cannot be more maliciously intent to afflict those that relate to god ( even , when it is in his power , with bodily distempers ) than our lord jesus is compassionately willing to relieve them , without distinction of time , when it shall be consistent with , and subservient to his higher and greater purposes . in speaking to this , i shall 1. touch briefly upon what is here exprest in the text , the hand that satan may have in the afflictions , yea and in the bodily distempers of men , and even of them that belong to god among them . 2. what hand our lord jesus has in their relief or releasement . 3. how far we may understand , or may reasonably expect his compassion to influence him in such cases . 4. i shall shew that however the release be wrought , it is done very mercifully towards them that belong peculiarly to god. and so make use of all . 1. somewhat briefly as to that first query , what hand it is supposable the devil may have in the afflictions of men , and more particularly of them that belong to god ; as this woman being a daughter of abraham was to be considered , as one within the compass of gods covenant , and not improbably as one , that , in the strictest sense , was in covenant with god. 1. it is plain in the text , the devil had a direct hand in her distemper , called a spirit of infirmity . there were more evident , and more frequent instances of this kind in that time , the devil then setting himself more openly to contend against the incarnate son of god , upon his more open appearance to rescue and recover an apostate world from under his dominion and tyranny . but as to more ordinary cases we may further consider , 2. that the devil is a constant enemy to mankind , apt and inclin'd , as far as god permits him , to do men all the mischief he can . 3. that as he first introduc't sin into the world , so he hath , by consequence , all the calamities that afflict it . there had been no death , sickness , or distemper upon the bodies of men , but from hence . consider the devil therefore , as the prince and leader of the apostasie , who first drew man into transgression , and thereby render'd him liable to the justice of his maker , turn'd his paradise into a desart , and a region of immortal undecaying life , into a valley of sickly languishings and death it self ; so may he said to have had a ( remoter ) hand , in binding not only this daughter of abraham , but every child of adam in all the afflictions , maladies , and distempers which befall them here , and finally in the bonds of death too , whereof he is said to have had the power . tho the children of the second adam , ( with whom , for this purpose he was partaker of flesh and blood , and became with them a son of abraham , and of his seed ) are , by being so bound , releas'd and made free , both from death , and the bondage of fearing it , to which they were otherwise subject all their days , as we shall further see anon . 4. tho god do not ordinarily allow him more power , yet we may well suppose him to have more malice against these children of abraham ( who thereby pass into the account of his own children also ) being more intent upon vexing and afflicting , whom he apprehends or suspects he shall never be able finally to destroy ; and always apt to use all the power shall be allowed him to this mischievous purpose . we find that the afflictions of the people of god , in other kinds , and even in this kind , are expresly , often , attributed to the devil . in other kinds , satan shall cast some of you into prison , revel . 2. 10. and divers think that thorn in the flesh which the apostle suffered , 2 cor. 12. was some acute bodily pain , and he says expresly , it was a messenger of satan sent to buffet him . he , 't is said , smote job with the tormenting boils that afflicted him so grievously , and so long , and brought the other calamities upon him that you read of in his story . 5. and again it is further to be considered , that whereas in all diseases , the morbisick matter , whether immediate in mens bodies , or remoter in the incompassing air , differs not from other matter , otherwise than only in the various disposition , figuration and motion of parts and particles whereof it is made up ; inasmuch as the devil is called the prince of the power of the air , we know nothing to the contrary , but that he may frequently so modifie that , as that it shall have most pernicious influences upon the bodies of men , and upon those especially , so far as god permits , that he has any greater malice against . 6. and again , ( supposing this ) it is not a stranger thing that god should permit him to afflict the bodies of them that belong to him , than to disturb their minds . sure their bodies are not more sacred . if we should suppose that he may some way or other perniciously agitate the humours in humane bodies , 't is no harder a supposition than that he should so variously from the images in the fancy , by which he tempts : for herin surely he comes nearer us , and is more inward to us . 7ly . nor is it less supposable that god should , in some instances . permit the devils to follow their inclinations in afflicting his people , than wicked men to follow theirs , which , in the general , carry them to the same thing ; when he knows how to turn the one to after-advantage , as well as the other . but we have no ground to think , notwithstanding all this , that the wisdom and goodness of providence will ordinarily permit that this agency of the devil , in the mentioned cases , should be altogether in a contra-natural way ; but only , by so moving and acting with natural causes , that he may be also obviated , through the ordinary blessing of god , by natural means , and causes too . much less is it reasonable that diseases should be themselves reckon'd very devils , as was the opinion of the gnosticks of old , wherein they much concurred with the manichees , and whom , together with them , the more honest-minded pagan plotinus so copiously confutes ; ( though that that was more anciently a common opinion , the septuagints rendring the word that signifies plague by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in several places of scripture seems to intimate . but the commonness of such an opinion in a dark time , signifies nothing to sway ours this way or that . ) but whatsoever hand the devil may be supposed to have in their afflictions , or sicknesses that belong to god , we are in the 2d . place sure , that our lord jesus has a most kind hand ( whensoever it is ) in their release , which though it were here in a more extraordinary and immediate way , and besides the course of nature ; the disparity in this case signifies nothing to the lessening of the favour , towards those whom he vouchsafes to relieve in other cases ; for the influence that he has in ordinary cases is as truly divine . if the cure of a diseased person be wrought by his blessing upon ordinary natural means , his cooperating with nature is less amazing , but not less effectual , or less kind ; as also the efflux from god is ( for his own part ) as real , when he works with second causes , as without them ; and as immediately reaches the effect , in both the senses of immediateness , whereof so much noise is made in the schools . and we must further know our lord christ is now the universal regent of all nature , even as he is the christ , the world being devolv'd into his hands , and all power being given to him both in heaven and earth . he is lord of all . when therefore any of you are sick , it is by his disposal , if you are recovered out of that sickness . nor is his agency less or lower , whether it be by blessing a medicine , or working a miracle . his power and love are the same either way . and know , there is an honour , and acknowledgment due from christians to their great crucifi'd lord , who hath founded a dominion over this world in his blood , who died , and revived , and rose again , that he might be lord of living and dead . therefore you are to reckon you are beholden to christ for all your recoveries , and all your refreshings that you meet with amidst the many infirmities and frailties of this your present mortal state . and if the release be by death , as the case is , which we now have specially to do with , that universal power of his over all lives , must be understood immediately to reach to that case too . it is he that measures lives , that lengthens them out , and cuts them shorter at his own pleasure . and , as to those that are more peculiarly his own , it is a more peculiar , and favourable superintendency that he has over that affair , even of their very dying . their death is precious in his sight . he with a most gentle tender hand unties the knot of man , releases and receives the dislodging soul. lord jesus receive my spirit , as dying stephen speaks . but , 3ly . we are to consider how far our lord jesus his compassion concerns him in such cases ; or wherein that may move him to interpose in them so , as in this case he did . and here two things are to be asserted . 1st . that his compassion has not supream and principal influence in this case . 2ly . that yet it hath real influence . that it hath not supream or principal influence in such cases . and this doth really require to be more principally insisted on , as of greater importance to narrow , terrene minds , that are apt to measure all things by themselves , and in reference to their own little sphear and compass ; and to themselves only in their present state , as they are inhabitants of this minute spot of earth ; as if all things ought to bend , and yield , to their present convenience , and accommodation here ; whereupon they wonder when they are sick , and in pain , god doth not presently relieve and ease them ; and think they should do so , for any friend or neighbour , if it were in their power . know , therefore , 't was not from compassion , as the solitary , or as the chief inducement , that our lord did work this release for this daughter of abraham . that cannot be supposed . for he can never be understood to make a creature , and the advantages of a creature his supream end . that would have been to invert the order of things , to dethrone god , and deifie man , and had been , it self , a real sort of that idolatry , which was one , among the many horrid evils , which he purposely came to redress , and give remedy to in this apostate degenerate world. he had a greater inducement , i. e. that he might diffuse the glory of god among the children of men ; and that he might give evidence thereby , to the truth of his own mission , and prove most convincingly , that he was the messiah , the son of god , the very person that was anointed , and sent about that great undertaking , to recover gods rights in this lapsed world , to bring about a reconciliation between god and men. and upon this account , when he wrought cures upon mens bodies , it was out of an higher compassion to their souls . and tho' even this it self of saving mens souls was not his highest design , but the glory of god ( as we shall see further by and by ) yet it being truly design'd by him , and more principally than their bodily ease and relief , this was an apt means to this his lower end . for , whereas , in order to this , he was to manifest himself a divine saviour , 't was requisite he should give a joint , and an equal demonstration of the two things , which his being so implies , his godlike power , and love. the former alone it did not serve his purpose to shew , which he might have shewn as much by inflicting plagues on mens bodies , as working cures , by striking them with blindness , lameness , &c. as by giving them sight and soundness . but it was necessary to his end , his miracles should be beneficent , and that he should ( as it is elsewhere said in the evangelical story he did ) go about doing good , and not make men afraid of him , by shewing the power of a god in destructive strokes and judgments ; but , ( which became a saviour ) express a divine good-will towards men , and thereby make his way into their hearts , bring them to understand , and own a saviour , and , as such , to fall in , and comply with his kind design towards them . and this , as it serv'd to exalt god in the world , chiefly induc'd him to work this present cure . if his compassion towards a poor afflicted woman , labouring under bodily infirmity , were his principal inducement , if therefore , she must be presently cured out of hand , even on the sabbath day , because she had been now bound eighteen years ; why , i pray you , was she to have been bound eighteen years ? or why bound at all ? his divine knowledge of the case , and power to have redrest , or prevented it , had as well serv'd his compassionate inclination long before . or why was not such a course formerly set on foot , and continued in the world , that men might be cured of blindness , deafness , lameness , feavers , dropsies , or whatsoever other maladies , easily , and by speaking a word , in any former time ? why was it deferr'd to this time ? or why hath not such a course been kept afoot ever since his ascension ? hath heaven render'd him less merciful , and compassionate ? is it so unkind and ill-natur'd a place ? 't is true that his apology for the cure he now wrought to this ruler of the synagogue , seems to have no higher reference , nor was he bound , unseasonably , to declare his utmost end and design , to a prejudic'd , malicious enemy . that was to speak it self , to shine by it's own light , and , by such means , and methods as these , gradually to make it 's own way into less-obstructed minds , insensibly sliding in upon them ; which might better be done ( time being given at leisure to consider things ) by the real evidence which his works carry'd with them , than by industrious , and often-repeated verbal commentaries and expositions . he sometimes spake it out expresly , as he thought fit , to competent , and more prepared hearers , that his great design was to make himself , and his errand be understood ; who he was , and what he came into the world for ; that he was the son of god , the promised messiah ; and that his business was to save them that were lost ; and to restore gods interest in an apostate lost world ( whose rights were to be cared for in the first place . he redeemed us to god by his blood , rev. 5. 9. ) or for the glory of god , as he summ'd it up , in the case of lazarus , when he was told of his being sick , jon. 11. 4. this sickness is not unto death ( i. e. it was not to terminate in a continuing death ) but for the glory of god , that the son of man might be glorifi'd , the same account which this evangelist gives of all these his great works , and why they were recorded , that we might believe that jesus was the christ , the son of god. &c. chap. 20. 30. and otherwise was it so considerable a thing , that a man well got out of this fearful gulf , as lazarus now was , should be fetcht back again ! that so mighty a wonder should be wrought ! that the inclosure of the grave should be torn open ! and the released soul should be again drawn down , as a bird escaped , caught back into it's former confinement , to converse a while longer amidst the impurities of a world lying in wickedness , and with shadows , in a world the fashion whereof passes away ! no ; miracles were not so cheap things . we may observe the great and wise god hath , for great and weighty reasons , been always very sparing in making very observable innovations upon nature , or any considerable changes in the ordinary course and method of natural causes , and their operations ; as a thing less suitable to a state of probation , wherein men were to be held in this world . and hath only been wont to do it , where the inconvenience was to be ballanced by preponderating greater reasons ; which might as much require that he should depart from the fixed rule sometimes , as other reasons might , that he should not do it often . it was equally necessary that miracles should not be common , as that there should be any wrought at all , and in great part for the same reason . for if they were common , they must lose the only design , for which they could be at all useful . if god should do , in this kind , what is not necessary , he should the less effect by it that which is . inasmuch as they are only useful , as they are strange , and , in the natural way , unaccountable . but there is nothing so great in this kind , but ceases to be thought strange , if it be common . otherwise , is not the forming of the eye , in itself as great a thing , as to give sight to the blind ? or the framing such a world as this , as great a thing , as the most stupendous miracle that ever was wrought in it ? it was indeed necessary somewhat extraordinary should at first be done to demonstrate that man , jesus of nazareth , to be the son of god , which it was impossible should otherwise be known . when that was fully done , it was not necessary there should still be a repetition of miracles , from age to age , to prove the former were wrought , or the truth of the narratives , which reported them . that was sufficiently to be known in the ordinary way , as other matters of fact are , or other history , about which there is no doubt made among men . and the history of these things has greater advantages to recommend it to the certain belief of after time , than most that ever were writ besides , upon many accounts . it was indeed most becoming the majesty , wisdom and goodness of god ( taken together ) to do what might answer the real necessities of men whom he was designing to save ; but not to indulge their curiosity , nor their unaccountable dulness , sloth , or prejudice , whereby they may be unapt to enquire about , or receive plain things . therefore miracles were to be done , as rarities , sometimes , not at all times , and at such a time , and upon such an occasion most of all , to notifie , and signalize the redeemer , at his first appearance , to draw mens eyes upon him , that they might take notice of him , and demean themselves towards him accordingly . this was to be done sufficiently once for all . and the great stupidity of the world made a matter which needed some supernatural evidence , need so much in that kind . except you see signs and wonders , you will not believe . and if he did so far comply with the necessity of degenerate humanity , as to give once some signal convictive evidence that he was the christ , the divine wisdom would take care it should not be so often done , as to become trivial , and insignificant to it 's proper end ; the importance whereof was such , as that it ought to transcend any regard to the welfare of mens bodies ; but not to exclude it ; which we now come briefly to shew in the next place . viz. 2. that tho' compassion towards an infirm creature , under bodily distemper , was not the principal inducement unto this cure , it was a real one . our lord doth really compassionate the frailties of those that relate to him , while they dwell in mortal flesh . he himself bears our sicknesses . he has a tenderness towards them , even while he doth not think it fit actually to release , and set them free ; which makes way to what was proposed in the last place to be insisted on , as preparatory to the intended use . 4. that in what way soever our lord jesus works a release for them that are most specially his own , from their bodily distempers , he doth it in mercy to them . he lets their affliction continue upon them in mercy ; greater mercy , indeed , than would be in an unseasonable deliverance . but when he sees it a fit season to give them a release , that is an unquestionable mercy too ; tho' it be not in such a way , as appears such to vulgar eyes . it is more easily apprehensible to be from compassion , if he relieves a poor , pained , weak , languishing , sickly creature , by giving renewed strength , and ease , and health in this world . but when the release is by death , as in the case we have under our farther present consideration , it is hard to perswade that this is done in mercy ; that there is compassion in this case . there is 't is true in this a manifest disparity , but not a disadvantageous one . is it a less thing , to release an holy soul from the body than from bodily distempers ? it can only be so in the opinion of such blind moles of the earth , as the children of men are now generally become . but let the case be considered according to it's true and real import . why ! a recovery from sickness is but an adjournment of death ; 't is but death defer'd a while . when there is a release wrought in such a way as this , in which hers was wrought , whom god hath lately taken from amongst us ; here is a cure , not only of one bodily distemper , but of all ; not only of actual diseasedness , but of the possibility of ever being diseased more ; here is a cure wrought , not only of infirmity , but of death : for the saints conquer death by suffering it ; yea a cure , not of death only , but of mortality , of any liableness to death , so as it can never touch them more ; yea further , not only of bodily diseases , but of spiritual too , far worse , and more grievous than all bodily diseases whatsoever ; a cure of blindness of mind , deadness , and hardness of heart , of all indispositions towards god , his ways , and presence , towards the most spiritual duties , and the best , and most excellent of our enjoyments . the body of sin , and the mortal body are both put off together . the imprisoned soul is set free , and enters upon a state of everlasting liberty ; is releast from the bands of death , of whatsoever kind , and in the highest , fullest sense , shall reign in life , thorough jesus christ. what is the decease of a saint , but a translation out of a valley of death , a golgotha , a place of skulls , a region where death reigns , into the region of perfect and everlasting life ? it is not to be called death simply or absolutely , but with diminution ; 't is death only in a certain respect , when in an higher , and much more considerable respect , when in an higher , and much more considerable respect , it is a birth rather ; a dying out of one world , and a being born at the same time , into another , a much more lightsome , a purer , and more glorious world . the soul is cured in a moment , of whatsoever was grievous or afflicting to it , and the body put into a certain way of cure , of being made from an earthly , mean , mortal thing , heavenly , spiritual , incorruptible , and immortal ; from a vile , a glorious body , like christs own , and by that power , by which he can subdue all things to himself , phil. 3. 21. and now for use. i. learn , that there is no inconsistency in the case , that the same person should be at once the subject of long continued bodily affliction , and of divine compassion . these are reconcilable things , sickly languishings , under which one may be ready to fail , and compassions that fail not . this is a common theme ; but the due consideration of it is too little common . let it now be considered with impartial equity , and with deep seriousness . do you think the all-comprehending mind of the son of god now first began to pity this daughter of abraham ? while he was not yet ascended , this attribution is given him ; otherwise , no doubt , than as a false complement ; lord thou knowest all things — since his ascension , we are assured he hath a feeling of our infirmities , so as to be toucht with them , a continuing sympathy , remembring the inconveniences of that state he had past thorough ( as she once , non ignara mali &c. ) and is always ready , therefore , to do the part of a faithful and merciful high priest. before his descent , we must , with equal reason , suppose him to have an entire prospect of the sad case of wretched mortals , in this miserable world of ours . what else made him descend ? and after that he was descended , this mark could not but lye still before the eye of his divine mind , to which all his works were known from the beginning of the world . yet the cure is defer'd , the release is not given till the appointed season . when it is the case of any of you to be afflicted with long sickness , and to feel the tediousness of a lingering disease ( count upon it that it may be so , as 't is like , it hath been with divers of you ; ) do not then permit the matter to the censure of an incompetent , partial judge . if you consult flesh and blood , if sense be to pronounce in the case , and give judgment , how hard will it be to perswade that you are not neglected in your languishings , that your groans and faintings are unpity'd ; tho' you are so plainly told , that whom the lord loves he chastens ? are you not ready to say , how can this stand with being at the same time , the object of divine pity ? if he pity me , would he let me lye , and languish thus , in so miserable a plight , day after day , and year after year ? yes ; these things very well agree , and i would fain shortly evince to you that they do . why ! 1. his compassion may sufficiently be evidenc'd in another kind , and by another sort of instances . sure , it will speak compassion , if he frequently visit his frail infirm creatures , and by his visitation preserve their spirits , if he support them , if he refresh them , this is grace . my grace shall be sufficient for thee , saith he to the great apostle , when he refused to release him from that thorn in the flesh , that messenger of satan that did buffet him . 2. besides , compassion may appear by this kind of dispensation it self . it may not only carry that with it , but in it , which may shew good will. if long continued affliction may be supposed to proceed from compassion , it doth much more consist with it . it may proceed from compassion , and bear the relation to it of an effect to the cause . we find it expresly so said in scripture ; and who can so truly speak gods mind as himself ? he afflicts in very faithfulness ; and , as many as the lord loves , he chastens , and scourges every son whom he receives , prov. 3. 12. quoted , heb. 12. 5 , 6. rev. 3. affliction must be the effect of his real , and most sincere good will , and compassion , tho' of long continuance , if it be apt , and intended to do you good , in higher , and in greater regards , than those wherein you suffer ; or if the good your affliction does you , or is fitly design'd to do you be of a nobler , and more excellent kind , than that whereof it deprives you , it must be understood , not only to be consistent with kindness and good will , but to be produc'd of it . for the same principle that intends the end , must also intend the proper means that serve to effect it . now the kind of this good is thus to be estimated . you read psal. 103. 5. as a father pities his children , so the lord pities them that fear him . as a father . the relation he is in to them is that of a father to his children . but we must understand , under what notion , he is so related , and we are told , heb. 12. 9 , 10. furthermore , we have had fathers of our flesh , which corrected us , and we gave them reverence : shall we not then much rather be in subjection to the father of our spirits , and live ? for they , verily , for a few days , chastened us after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit , that we might be partakers of his holiness . we have here an account where the relation terminates , and see both the object of his more special kindness and good will , which accompany the relation , and the end of it . he is the father of their spirits ; whence , therefore , we may collect the object of that love which goes with the relation must be their spirits also ; the end of it is their spiritual advantage ; to make them partakers of his own holiness . his holiness ! ] is a lofty word , and carries the matter high . understanding it soberly ( as we may be sure it was meant ) it must signifie the holiness , which he hath himself imprest , and the impression whereof is the lively resemblance and image of his own . and is not this a good of a nobler , and more excellent kind , than we can lose by a sickness ? better than the case of this vile flesh , that was made out of dust , and tends thither ? the object is their spirits ; for there the kindness that belongs to the relation must terminate , where the relation terminates . how much more shall we not be subject to the father of our spirits , and live ? the father of our spirits is there contradistinguisht from the fathers of our flesh . god is not the father of our flesh ; but the father of our spirits . he is the creator of our flesh too ; our flesh is his creature , but not his off-spring . there must be a similitude , and likeness of nature between a father and a child , which there is not necessarily , between a maker , and the thing made . in respect of our spiritual part , we are his off-spring , and he is so a father to us ; both , as the souls of men in common bear his natural image ; and , if they be regenerate , as they bear his holy image too . and the case may be so , that the suffering of our flesh is necessary for the advantage of our spirits . our flesh may suffer so , as that the spirit shall be the better for it ; and then pity it self , compassion it self must not only permit , but cause and produce such a course of dispensation , as whereby that end shall be attained , the making us partakers of his himself ; so the apostle speaks of his own case ; though our outward man perish , yet our inward man is renewed day by day , 2 cor. 4. 15. though our outward man perish . we are compass'd about with deaths that are continually beating down the walls of this outward man ; they are beating upon it , and are likely to infer it's perishing ; and if it perish , let it perish , i am not follicitous ( q. d. ) about that . if it must come down ; let it come down ; in the midst of all these outward assaults , our inward man is renewed day by day , gathers a fresh , and increasing strength , and vigour , whilst this outward man is tending to dissolution and dust . and several ways such continued afflictions upon the outward man , may make for the advantage of the inward man in the best kind . 1. as they withdraw , and take off the mind and heart from this world ; a debasing and defiling thing , and which transforms the soul that converses too much with it , into a dunghil , fills it with ill favour . but what doth all this world signifie to a sickly pained person ? 2. as it engages them to be much in prayer . nothing is more sutable , than that an afflicted life be a life of much prayer . is any man afflicted , let him pray , jam. 5. 13. much affliction hath a natural aptitude to incline men this way . in their affliction , they with seek me early , hos. 5. 15. it is dictate of nature , even when grace , as yet , hath no possession ; but which , through gods blessing , may , by this means , help to introduce it . for it urges the soul godward , who is the god of all grace ; obliges it to converse with him , whereby somewhat better may be gained than is sought : in their afflictions they will be submissive and lye at my feet , saith god ; they will seek me early , from whom , otherwise , i should never hear , it may be , all their life long . oh! that you would understand the matter so , when god afflicts in such kinds , so as his hand touches your very bone and flesh ; this is the design of it , to make you pray , to bring you upon your knees , to put you into a supplicating posture , if he can , upon any terms , hear from you , tho' you seek him but for bodily ease and refreshing , it may be a means of the greatest advantage to you , e're god have done with you , when once he has brought you , by this means to treat ; when he has got you into a more tractable disposition , there is hope in the case . if thus he open your ear to discipline , and be to you an interpreter , one of a thousand , to shew you his righteousness , he may seal instruction to you , and save your soul from going down to the pit , having found a ransom for you , job 33. 15. &c. but for those that have a real interest in god , and union with christ , that which occasions much prayer , is likely to be the means of much spiritual improvement , and advantage to them . 3. it puts several suitable graces upon exercise , and by being exercised they grow . it tries their faith , and improves it . faith is , in such a case as this , necessarily called forth into act , if there be the principle ; and as it acts , it grows ; becomes more and more strong and lively . their patience is exercised by it , and perfected ; and that has a great influence upon their universal perfection . let patience have it's perfect work , that you may be perfect , jam. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. there will be an universal languor ( as if he should have said ) upon your spirits , if you be impatient ; if you cannot suffer ( as patience is an ability for suffering ) if you can by no means endure , without tempestuous agitations , or sullen despondencies of spirit . but if patience have it's perfect work , that will infer an universal healthfulness , and good habit into your whole soul. their love to god is , in such a case , eminently tried ; and improved , blessed is the man that endures temptation ( tentative affliction is there meant , as above , vers . 2. ) for when he is tryed , he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him , jam. 1. 12. which implies their love to him is the great thing put upon trial , in that case . and it is a great trial of love to god ; a very improvable opportunity of discerning it's sincerity , when , upon a long affliction , you can appeal to god , and say , thou knowest i love thee ; tho' thou smite and kill , i will still love thee . no discontentful motion , no repining thought shall ever be allowed a place in my breast ; there may be sighs , but no murmurings ; groans , but no tumults , nothing of displeasure against thy holy pleasure . 4. it occasions such to live much upon the borders of eternity . under affliction we look not to the things that are seen and temporal , but to the things that are unseen and eternal , which make us count our affliction , tho' long , but momentany , 2 cor. 4.17 , 18 , and those souls will prosper , and flourish that have so unspeakably more to do with the other world than with this . 't is in this way , that the afflictions of this present state do work for us the far more exceeding , and eternal weight of glory , ver . 17. as they direct our eye forward , while we look , ver . 18. not to the things which are seen , which are but temporal ; but to the things , which are unseen , and eternal . life and spirit , strength and vigour enter ( q. d. ) at our eye , which is prompted by the horrour of frightful spectacles in this scene of things , to look to another , where all things appear lightsome , pleasant , and glorious . there are other considerations , whereby you might argue to your selves , not only the consistency , but the great suitableness of an afflicted state in this world , with gods favour , kindness , and compassion towards you . as that when he is more highly provok'd , he threatens not to afflict , as the heaviest of penalties . why should they be smitten any more ? isa. 1. 5. i will no more punish your daughters , &c. hos. 4. 14. ephraim is joined to idols , let him alone , ver . 17. that his covenant obliges him to it , as to them , who are , on stricter terms , in covenant with him , christs own seed being signifi'd by davids , as by david is manifestly christ himself , psal. 89 : where you may see how , and after what tenour his covenant runs , ver . 30. 31 , 32 , 33 , 34. according whereto he himself elsewhere acknowledges , that in very faithfulness god had afflicted him , psal. 119. 75. that , in experience , we are apt to grow remiss , secure and negligent , when all things are externally well with us . and let us but appeal to our selves , how much a wakeful temper of spirit , under affliction , is better than carelesness , and vanity of mind , accompany'd with fleshly ease and pleasure . that we can our selves easily apprehend that it may , not only consist with the tenderness of a parent , to have the wound of a child search'd , tho' with much pain ; but proceed from it . that in heaven our judgment of things will be right and incorrupt , where we shall apprehend no cause of complaint , that , through many sicknesses , diseases , and death it self , our way was made for us thither . and if that shall then be a true judgment , the thing it self must be as true now . but these i hastily hint , and pass to some further use . 2. we may , next , collect , that since it is out of doubt , the devil may have some hand in our outward affliction , we are concern'd to take so much the more care , that he may not have his end upon us by it . an hand he may have , and we cannot determine how far ; but whether it be more or less , great care we are concern'd to take how to frustrate his design . he has the most mischievous ends that can be , and designs worse things to us than the affliction , which is the means , whatsoever that be . he would fain engage us in a controversie with god ; would have us contend with him , murmur , fret , blaspheme and curse god , and therewith send out our last , and dying breath . that was his design upon job . let us labour to frustrate it , as he did . divers of the antients ( justin martyr , jerome , cyprian and austin ) speak much to this purpose , how great a design the devil drives in being the author of sicknesses and diseases to men , that he might make them apply themselves to him , and divert from god , as that wicked prince did , whom by the prophet we find so tharply reprov'd for it , as if there were no god in israel , that he went to the god of e●rom ( some daemon , or other as we have reason to think . ) the last mentioned of those authors speaks of it , as just matter of excommunication , when those that bear the name of christians , shall in such cases , use means bearing no natural proportion or accommodateness to the end , charms , spells , &c. for ease , or cure of maladies ; wherein no relief could reasonably be expected , but from the devils agency ; who may be officious enough , if , especially , he have first hurt , to heal too , that by practising upon their bodies , he may entangle their souls ; and ( according to his wont of running counter to god , who wounds that he may the more effectually heal and save ) by a present temporary cure , wound mortally , and finally destroy . he hath not left the world ( no , not the christian world ) quite ignorant of his methods in these kinds , of training men , by gradual steps , into things , first , that seem innocent , and then into such familiarities ( whether their real distress , or their curiosity , were the first handle he took hold of them by , or the engine by which he drew them ) till , at length , it comes to express covenanting . if the matter come not so far , 't is rare to come off from the least tamperings without a scratch . he that is born of god keeps himself , that the evil one may not touch him , i john 5. 18. as knowing he designs to touch mortally , and if he touch , to kill . if it proceed so far , as a solemn league , how tragical consequences doth story abound with ! that of count matiscon ( pluckt away by the devil from among divers persons of quality , whom he was entertaining , and at noon-day , whirl'd in the air three times about the city , in open view of the people , to whom he in vain cried for help ) reported by some historians ; and that of an infamous magician of saltzburg , and divers others , are instances both very extraordinary , and very monitory . but as to a future ruine , which he finally aims to involve men in , with himself , he hath not faster hold of any , than those that have learnt to ridicule every thing of this kind , and who have put so much sadducism into their creed ( consisting of so many negatives , or things they believe not , that they scarce leave enough positive to admit that name ) as to think there is no such creature : perhaps as being conscious there can be no worse than themselves . but how near is he to them that think him out of the universe ! 3. since it is possible the devil may bind even those that belong to god , with some kind of bodily affliction or other ; it is the more to be apprehended , how much worse bonds they are , in which he binds those that do not belong to him . oh! that you would be serious here ! how many such sad cases are there , amongst even them , as may be feared , that are called christians , concerning which it may be said , here is a soul that satan hath bound , not eighteen , but , it may be , thirty , forty , fifty years ! oh! when shall this soul be releast , that satan hath so long bound ! 4. as from the devils malice to the bodies of men we may collect his greater malice to their souls ; so we may judg proportionably of christs compassions ; that as they incline him to give them all sutable relief in their bodily afflictions , as far as can consist with those measures , which infinite wisdom hath pitcht upon , for the government of this present world , and as shall fall in with the design of his office of a redeemer and saviour to us ; so they much more incline him to relieve embondag'd souls ; for this doth most directly fall in with his design , and is the proper business of his office ; the other may be only collateral to it , and , as it were to be done on the by . he came not into this world to procure , that men might not be sick , or pained ; or be presently restored to health and ease . but he came and died , that souls might live ; to procure for them pardon , reconciliation with god , all needful assisting influences of grace , and eternal life . of these therefore they may be most assured , if they duly apply themselves . and some encouragement to expect so much they may draw even from this instance . this infirm woman , in order to bodily cure , did apply her self to him . she came after him , as others did , for this purpose ; and did , in a sort , put herself in the way of his healing influence . now if any of you find your souls are yet held by the devil in worse bonds , apply your selves to the merciful compassionate jesus , there is hope in the case . oh! will you not say so much to him for a soul in bondage ? lord loose this poor soul of mine , that satan hath bound for so many sad years . do but labour to know you are bound , to feel your bonds . whatsoever there is of prevailing sin in you , it is a bond , by which the devil holds your souls . the wicked are held in the cords of their own iniquities . prov. 5. 22. and sins are said to be the works of satan , from which it is the design of the redeemer to loose us . the son of god was for this purpose manifested that he might destroy ( we read , ) it is , that he might dissolve the works of the devil . q. d. that he might release , and unbind souls , that the devil as yet holds in fast bonds . and you may find you are so bound , when upon self-reflexion you take notice , you are ordinarily restrained from what you should do , against the light , and conviction of your own minds and judgments ; i. e. you find , if you reflect , a conviction hath taken place in your consciences , you ought to love god ; but there is with you no such motion of soul , no inclination towards him ▪ you ought , in a stated course to pray , and pour out your soul to him ; but you are bound , you cannot offer at it ; you have no liberty for it ; your terrene inclination , or love to vanity plucks you back ; you ought to walk in the ways of god , but you are fetterred , you cannot move a foot ; you ought to do the works of god , but you are manacled , you cannot stir and an hand . are you so bound , and will you not know it ? what! never feel your bonds ? when once they are felt , you will soon begin to cry , and supplicate . and if once you shall be brought seriously , and incessantly to supplicate , it may be hop't the release will follow . was our lord so compassionate towards infirm bodies , in the days of his flesh in this world ; and do we think he , above , is less compassionate to souls ? can it be thought heaven hath altered him to your disadvantage ? is he less kind , benign , and less apt to do good , now he is inthroned in glory ? why should you not believe he will give release unto your captiv'd embondaged souls , if you implore his help and mercy , with seriousness , and insist upon it , and do not give him over . say to him , jesus , thou son of god have mercy on me ; for do you not know it is his office . the spirit of the lord was upon him , to proclaim liberty to the captives , and opening of prisons to them that are bound . isa. 61. 1. what! will you be bound all your days , and never lift up a cry to the great redeemer and saviour of souls to give you release ? how deservedly should these bonds end with you in the chains , wherein the devils themselves shall for ever be bound with you ? 5. we may collect , there is an awful regard due to the sabbath-day . when our lord justifies the cure now wrought on their sabbath , only on this account , that it was an act of mercy towards a daughter of abraham , by the exception of such a case he strengthens the general rule , and intimates so holy a day should not , upon light occasions , be otherwise imploy'd , than for the proper end of it's appointment . tho' our day be not the same , the business of it , in great part , is ; by the reason given in the fourth commandment , which being plac't among the rest of those ten words , so many ways remarkably distinguisht from the other laws given the jews , and signifying that these were intended not to them alone , but to mankind , and given upon a reason common to man ; the words also not necessarily signifying more , than there should be a seventh day kept as sacred to god , reserving it to after-significations of his pleasure to mark out , and signalize this or that day , as he should see fit . and our saviour having told us expresly the sabbath was made for man , ( i. e. as men , not for jews , as jews ) these considerations taken together , with many more ( not fit to be here mentioned ) do challenge a very great regard to the day , which we have cause to think it is the will of god we should keep as our sabbath . 6. that there is somewhat of priviledge due by gracious vouchsafement and grant to the children of abraham , to abrahams seed , i. e. to speak by analogy , to the children of covenanted parents . abraham is considerable here , as being under that notion , a father ; whosoever of you therefore are the children of such , as were of the faith of abraham ; and you are now come to that adult state , wherein you are capable of transacting with god for your selves , and wherein the transitus is made from minority to maturity ; if now you own the god of your fathers ; if you will now say , my fathers god shall be my god ; he keeps mercy for thousands of them that love him , and keep his commandments . i. e. if there were a thousand generations of such ( generations being spoken of so immediately before , viz. that he would visit iniquity upon them that hate him , to the third , and fourth generation ; but shew mercy to them that love him , and keep his commandments , unto a thousand generations , i. e. to never so many ) if you will not when now grown up disavow your fathers god ; if you will avow and own him , and devote your selves to him , he will be your god , as well as theirs . here is now the priviledge due to abrahams children , or to the children of covenanted parents . god has an early preventive interest in them , upon which they may lay their claim to him , as their god , if they will but now give up themselves to him , and stand to his covenant . but if you will not do so , but slight , and reject the god of your fathers , then your birth priviledge can signifie nothing to you ; then , think not to say with your selves , we have abraham to our father , in that 3d. of matthews gospel ; for god will never want children ; he is able of stones to raise up children to abraham , q. d. rather stones than you . and then indeed , upon a true account , abraham is none of your father ; as our lord jesus tells the jews , if you were abrahams children , you would do the works of abraham . you do so and so , thus did not abraham . joh. 8. 39 , 40. pray consider what abraham was , and how he lived on earth , like an inhabitant of heaven , as an heir of the heavenly country , his business was to seek the better country , that is , the heavenly , wherefore god was not ashamed to be called his god , as in that 11th . to the heb. 16. ver . but if you will go from day to day grovelling in the dust of the earth , this did not abraham . if you will spend your lives in the pursuit of vanity and trifles , this did not abraham . there is a great priviledge belonging by gospel grant unto the children of covenanted parents , if they do not forfeit it , by neglecting , and practically disavowing their fathers god. 7. but i further infer hence , that since this compassion has a real , tho' not a principal hand in the release that is given to them that belong to god , in whatsoever way they are releast , from all their infirmities , and ails , and afflictions in this world ; it very much becomes , and much concerns all the children of abraham patiently to wait for it , in gods own way . patiently , i say , in gods own way wait for it : the children of abraham shall be loosen'd sooner or later , and in one way or other , tho very long , tho so many years bound by such and such afflicting distempers . you have a great instance of this kind in that daughter of abraham , whom god hath called away from us . in all that long exercise , the main thing she was ever wont to insist upon , was that in all this affliction , she might gain patience submission , and instruction . and in her later time , when she drew nearer to eternity , was more in view of it , that was the great subject wherewith she entertained her self , and was conversant much with somewhat more lately written upon that subject , as by mr. shower ( now known to most of you ) and by another author : and her last entertainment , as i have been told , ( as to helps from creatures in any such kind ) was the repetition of what some of you have heard concerning the emmanuel , wherewith she formerly pleased her self , as being , 't is likely much habituated in the temper of her spirit to the thoughts of him , that having , by agreement with her pious consort , been their motto * , at their first coming together , emmanuel , god with us . 8. i shall only add one instruction more , to shut up all ; that since our lord jesus hath such an agency , and even with compassion in the release of those , that do belong to him , from their afflicting infirmities , we should all of us labour , with a due and right frame , and disposition of spirit to behold any such releasment . it is a great matter to be able to behold instances of that kind , with a right frame of mind , and spirit . if one be released by recovery , into ease , health , and strength in this world , 't is easily and readily made matter of joy . is one recovered out of a long and languishing sickness , friends and relations behold it with great complacency and gladness of heart . but if a godly friend be relea'd by dying , truly we can hardly make our selves believe , that this is a release or so valuable a release ; so much are we under the government of sense , so little doth that faith signifie with us , or do it's part , that is the substance of what we hope for , and the evidence of what we see not . no! this is to go with us for no release . we look only upon the sensible , i. e. upon the gloomy part of such a dispensation , when such a one is gone , releast , set at liberty , ( as a bird out of the cage , or the snare ) we can hardly tell how to consider it as a release . we will not be induc'd to apprehend it so . there are no dispositions no deportments commonly that suit such an apprehension . and oh! how unbecoming and incongruous a thing , when christ is , in that way , about releasing such a one , to have an holy soul just upon the confines of a glorious blessed eternity , compassed about with sighs , sobs , tears , and lamenations . how great an incongruity ! i have many times thought with my self , the love and kindness of friends and relations is very pleasant in life , but grievous at death . it is indeed in some respects , a very desirable thing , ( if god shall vouchsafe it , ) to die with ones friends about one . it may be one may need some little bodily relief , in those last hours ; besides that , some proper thoughts may be suggested by them , to mingle with ones own . and , if god afford the use of reason , and speech , and the supply of his own spirit , one may possibly , in this last juncture , be a means of some good to them . one may possibly say that , that may abide with them , and be of future advantage to them . but , in other respects , if the related friendly by-standers cannot duly temper themselves ; if they are apter to receive or do more hurt , than good ; if christians do not labour to shew a truly christian spirit , in such a case , their presence has very little eligible in it . and , indeed , the deportment even of those that profess christianity , about their deceasing godly friends , is such , for the most part , as if the foundations of all religion were shaken with them , and as if they had a design to shake them too , if possible , in such with whom they are now to part ; as if it were to be called in question , whether what god hath said concerning another world , and the blessed state of the innumerable and holy assembly above be true or no , or were not doubted to be false and a solemn fiction , invented to delude mortals here on earth . it is little considered how opposite such a temper of spirit , as commonly appears in us , is to the very design of all christianity . for doth not the whole of christianity terminate upon eternity , and upon another state , and world ? now do but consider the inconsistencies that are to be found in this case , between the carriage , and temper of many that profess christianity and their very profession it self . they acknowledge , they own , that the design of christ's appearing here in this world , and of his dying upon the cross , was to bring us to god ; to bring the many sons to glory . they grant that this is not to be done all at once , not all in a day ; but it is to be done by degrees . here he takes up one , and there another ; leaving others still to transmit religion , and continue it on to the end of time . so far they agree , with our common lord ; and seem to approve the divine determinations , in all these steps of his procedure . but yet for all this , if they might have their own will , christ should not have one to ascend to him , of those , for whom he died , and himself ascended , to open heaven for them , and to prepare a place for their reception , as their forerunner , there . i say not one to ascend after him ! for they take up with a general approving of this design of his . very well ! say they , it is fitly ordered , his method is wise , and just , and kind , and let him take them that belong to him , when he thinks fit ; only let him excuse my family ; let him take whom he will , only let him touch no relation of mine , not my husband , wife , child , brother , sister , take whom he will , but let all mine alone . i agree to all he shall do well enough , only let him allow me my exception . but if every one be of this temper and resolution , for themselves and theirs , according to this tendency , and course of things , he shall have none at all to ascend ; none to bring with him , when he returns . those that are dead in jesus , he is to bring with him . no , he should be solitary , and unattended for all them . they , and all their relations would be immortal upon earth . how ill doth this agree , and accord with the christian scheme and model of things ? but you will say , what ! would i perswade you to be indifferent , and not to love , and care for your relatives , or be unwilling to part with them . no. all that i perswade to is that there be a mixture in your temper ; and such a mixture , as that the prevailing ingredient therein , may agree with the stronger and weightier reason . 't is not that i would have love extinguisht among relatives ; but i would have it moderated and subdued , to that degree , as to admit of being governed by superiour , greater , and nobler considerations . do you think christ did expect or design , that his disciples should not love him . and yet he tells them , if you loved me , you would rejoice that i say , i go to my father . and who in all this world could ever have such a loss , as they of him , dwelling in flesh among them ? yet , says he , if you loved me , you would rejoice , that i say , i go to my father . and when the apostle , visibly tending towards death , by the prediction given concerning him , acts 21. 13. said to the disciples round about him , what mean you to weep , and to break my heart ? i am ready , not only to be bound , but to die for the name of jesus . if there had not been a faulty excess in the affection they exprest , certainly he would not have rebuk'd it . he would not have blam'd what he thought not blame-worthy . in short , it were desirable ( if god see good ) to die amidst the pleasant friends and relatives , who were not ill-pleased that we lived ; that living , and dying breath might mingle , and ascend together in prayers , and praises to the blessed lord of heaven and earth , the god of our lives . if then , we could part with consent , a rational , and a joyful consent . otherwise , to die with ceremony ! to die amongst the fashionable bemoanings , and lamentations , as if we despair'd of futurity ! one would say ( with humble submission to the divine pleasure ) lord ! let me rather die alone ! in perfect solitude ! in some unfrequented wood , or on the top of some far remote mountain ! where none might interrupt the solemn transactions , between thy glorious blessed self , and my joyfully departing , self-resigning soul ! but in all this , we must refer our selves to gods holy pleasure , who will dispose of us , living , and dying , in the best , the wisest , and the kindest way . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44678-e360 * vid. maimon . constitut . de fundam . c. 5. 9. cum abrav . n. 13 , 14. and , as our own dr. lightfoot says upon that question of our lords ; is it lawful to heal upon the sabbath day ? ( quoting divers more of theirs to that purpose , ) he violated not the sabbath so much as their own cannons allow'd . see his works , vol 2. heb. 2. 14 , 15. * the posie on their wedding ring . john 14. 28. the arch-bishop of canterburie his speech, or, his funeral sermon preached by himself on the scaffold on tower-hill on friday the tenth of january, 1645, upon hebrews 12, 1, 2 also, the prayers which he used at the same time and place before his execution / all faithfully written by iohn hinde, whom the archbishop beseeched that hee would not let any wrong be done him by any phrase in false copies. laud, william, 1573-1645. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a49716 of text r41258 in the english short title catalog (wing l599a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 23 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a49716 wing l599a estc r41258 31354701 ocm 31354701 110234 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a49716) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 110234) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1742:30) the arch-bishop of canterburie his speech, or, his funeral sermon preached by himself on the scaffold on tower-hill on friday the tenth of january, 1645, upon hebrews 12, 1, 2 also, the prayers which he used at the same time and place before his execution / all faithfully written by iohn hinde, whom the archbishop beseeched that hee would not let any wrong be done him by any phrase in false copies. laud, william, 1573-1645. 12 p. printed with license and entred according to order, london : [1645?] imperfect: stained, and with print show-through and loss of text. date of publication from wing (2nd ed.). reproduction of original in the british library. eng laud, william, 1573-1645. bible. -n.t. -hebrews xii, 1-2 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a49716 r41258 (wing l599a). civilwar no the arch-bishop of canterbvrie his speech or his funerall sermon: preached by himself on the scaffold on tower-hill, on friday the tenth of laud, william 1645 4237 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 b the rate of 7 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2002-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-03 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-03 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the arch-bishop of canterbvrie his speech or his funerall sermon : preached by himself on the scaffold on tower-hill , on friday the tenth of january , 1645. upon hebrews 12. 1 , 2. also , the prayers which he used at the same time and place before his execution . all faithfully written by iohn hinde , whom the arch-bishop beseeched that hee would not let any wrong be done him by any phrase in false copies . london printed with license , and entred according to order . the arch-bishop of canterburie his funerall sermon , preached by himself on the scaffold on tower-hill . upon heb. 12. 1 , 2. let us run with patience that race that is set before us , looking unto iesus the author and finisher of our faith , who for the joy that was set before him , endured the crosse , despiside the shame , and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god . good people , you 'l pardon my old memorie , and upon so sad occasions as i am come to this place , to make use of my papers , i dare not trust my self otherwise . good people , this is a very uncomfortable place to preach in , and yet i shall begin with a text of scripture , in the twelfth of the hebrews , let us runne with patience that race that is set before us , looking unto iesus the author and finisher of our fait● , &c. i have been long in my race , and how i have looked unto jesus the author and finisher of my faith , is best knowne to him : i am now come to the end of my race and here i finde the crosse , a death of shame , but the shame must be despised , or there is no comming to the right hand of god ; jesus despis'd the shame for me , and god-forebid but i should despise the shame , for him ; i am going apace , as you see towards the red-sea , and my feet are upon the very brinks of it , an argument , i hope that god is bringing me to the land of promise , for that was the way by which of old he led his people : but before they came to the sea , he instituted a passover for them , a lamb it was to bee eaten with very sowre herbs , as in the twelfe of exodus . i shall obey , and labour to digest the sowre herbs , as well as the lamb , and i shall remember that it is the lords passeover ; i shall not think of the herbs , nor be angry with the hands which gathered them , but look up onely to him who instituted the one , and governeth the other : for men can have no more power over me , then that which is given them from above ; i am not in love with this passage through the red-sea , for i have the weaknesse and infirmity of flesh and blood in mee , and i have prayed as my saviour taught me , and exampled me vt tansiret calix ista . that this cup of red wine might passe away from me , but since it is not that my will may , his will be done ; and i shall most willingly drink of this cup as deep as he pleases , and enter into this sea , i and passe through it , in the way that he shall bee pleased to leade me . and yet ( good people , ) it would be remembred , that when the servants of god , old israel , were in this boistrous sea , and aaron with them , the egyptians which persecuted them , and did in a manner drive them into that sea , were drowned in the same waters , while they were in pursuit of them : i know my god whom i serve , is as able to deliver me from this sea of blood as hee was to deliver the three children from the fornace daniel 3. and i must humbly thank my saviour for it , my resolution is now , as theirs was then : their resolution was , they would not worship the image which the king had set up : nor shall i the imaginations which the people are setting up , nor will i forsake the temple , and the truth of god , to follow the bleating of ieroboams calves in dan and in bethel . and i pray god blesse all this people , and open their eyes , that they may see the right way : for if it fall out that the blinde lead the blinde , doubtlesse they will both into the ditch : for my self , i am , ) and i acknowledge it in all humility ) a most grievous sinner many wayes , by thought , word and deed , and therefore i cannot doubt but that god hath mercie in store for mee a poore penitent , as well as for other sinners : i have upon this sad occation , ransack'd every corner of my heart , and yet i thank god , i have not found any of my sinnes that are there , any sins now deserving death by any known law of this kingdome : and yet thereby i charge nothing upon my judges ( i humbly beseech you i may be rightly understood , i charge nothing in the least degree upon my judges ) for they are to proceed by proof , by valuable witnesses , and in that way i or any innocent in the world may justly be condemned : and i thank god , though the weight of the sentence iye verie heavie upon me , yet i am as quiet within , as ( i thank christ for it ) i ever was in my life : and though i am not onely the first archbishop , but the first man that dyed in this way , yet some of my predecessors have gone this way , though not by this meanes : for elfegus was hurried away and lost his head by the dans ; and simon sudbury in the fury of wat tyler and his fellowes : and long before these saint iohn baptist had his head danced of by a lewd woman , and saint cyprian arch-bishop of carthage submitting his head to a persecuting sword . many examples great and good , and they teach me patience , for i hope my cause in heaven will looke of another dye then the colours , that is put upon it here upon earth , and some comfort it is to me , not onely that i goe the way of these great men in their severall generations , but also that my charge ( if i may not be partiall ) looks somewhat like that against s. paul in the 25. of the acts , for he was accused for the law and the temple , that is the law and religion : and like that of s. stephen in the sixth of the acts , for breaking the ordinances which moses gave us , which ordinances were law and religion ; but you 'l say , do i then compare my self with the integritie of saint paul and saint stephen : no , god forbid , farre be it from mee : i onely raise a comfort to my selfe that these great saints and servants of god were thus laid up in their severall times : and it is very memorable that saint paul who was one of them , and a great one , that helped on the accusation against saint stephen , fell afterwards into the selfe same accusation himselfe , yet both of them great saints and servants of god , i but perhaps a great clamour there is , that i would have brought in poperie , i shall answer that more fully by and by , in the meane time , you know what the pharisees said against christ himselfe in the eleventh of iohn , if yee let him alone , all men will believe on him et veninnt romani , and the romanes will come and take away both our place and our nation . here was a causelesse cry against christ that the romanes would come , and see how just the judgement of god was , they crucified chriss for feare least the romanes should come , and his death was that that brought in the romanes upon them , god punishing them with that which they most feared : and i pray god this clamour of veniunt romani ( of which i have given to my knowledge no just cause ) helpe not to bring him in : for the pope never had such a harvest in england since the reformation , as he hath now upon the sects and divisions that are amongst us : in the meane time , by honour and dishonour , by good report and evill report , as a deceiver , and yet true , am i now passing out of this world . some particulars also i thinke not amisse to speak of , and first this i shall be bold to speake of the king , our gracious soveraigne , he hath been much traduced by some for labouring to bring in poperie , but upon my conscience ( of which i am now going to give god a present account ) i know him to bee as free from this charge i thinke as any man living , and i hold him to be as sound a protestant , according to the religion by law established as any man in this kingdome , and that he will venter his life as farre and as freely for it : and i thinke i doe or should know both his affections to religion , and his grounds upon which that affection is built , as fully as any man in england the second particular is concerning this great and populous city , which god blesse : here hath been of late a fashion to gather bands , and then go to the honourable and great court of the kingdome , the parliament , & clamour for justice , as if that great & wise court , ( before whom the causes come which are unknown to many : ) could not or would not do justice , but at their call and appointment : a way which may endanger many innocent man , and pluck innocent bloud upon their own heads , and perhaps upon this citie also , which god forbid : and this hath been lately practiz'd against my self , god forgive the setters of this , with all my heart i beg it , but many well meaning people are caught by it : in s. stephens case , when nothing else would serve , they stirred up the people against him , acts 6. and herod went just the selfe same way , for when he had killed saint iames , hee would not venture upon s. peter too , till he saw how the people took it , and were pleased with it , in the 12 of the acts. but take heed of having your hands full of bloud , in the first of isaiah , for there is a time best known to himselfe , when god amongst other sinnes makes inquisition for bloud : and when inquisition is on foot , psalmest tells us , psal. 9. that god remembers , that is not all , that god remembers and forgets not ( saith the prophet ) the complaint of the poore , and hee tells you what poore they are in the ninth verse , the poore whose bloud is shed by such kind of means : take heed of this , it is a fearfull thing ( at any time ) to fall into the hands of the living god , in the 12. of the hebrews : but it is fearfull indeed , and then especially , when he is making his inquisition for bloud , and therefore with prayer to advert the prophesie from the citie , let me desire that this my cup would remember the prophesie that is expressed , ier. 26. 15 the third particular , is this poore church of england , that hath flourished and been a shelter to other neighbouring churches , when stormes have driven on them , but , alas , now it is in a storme it self , and god knows whether , or how it shall get out ; and which is worse then a storme from without , it is become like an oake cleft to shivers with wedges made out of its owne body , and that in every cleft prophanesse and irreligion is creeping in apace : while as prosper saith , men that introduce , prophanesse are cloacked with a name of imaginarie religion : for wee have in a manner almost lost the substance , and dwell much , nay too much a great deale in opinion : and that church which all the jesuites machinations in these parts of christendome could not ruine , is now fallen into a great deal of danger by her owne . the last particular ( for i am not willing to be tedious , i shall hasten to go out of this miserable world ) is my self , and i beseech you ; as many as are within hearing , observe me : i was borne and baptized in the bosome of the church of england , as it stands yet established by law , in that profession i have ever since lived , and in that profession of the protestant religion here established i come now to die : this is no time to dissemble with god , least of all in matter of religion ; and therefore i desire it may be remembred : i have alwayes lived in the protestant religion established in england , and in that i come now to die : what clamors and slanders i have endured labouring to keep an vniformity in the external service of god , according to the doctrine and discipline of this church , all men knows , & i have abundantly felt : now at last i am accused of high treason in parliament , a crime which my soul ever abhorred : this treason was charged upon me to consist of two parts : an endeavour to subvert the law of the realme , and a like to overthrow the true protestant religion established by those lawes , besides my answers which i gave to the severall charges , i protested my innocency in both houses : it was said , prisoners protestations at the barre must not be taken de ipso : i can bring no witnesse of my heart , and the intentions thereof , therefore i must come to my protestation , not at the barre , but to my protestation at this houre and instant of death , in which ( as i said before ) i hope all men will be such charitable christians as not to thinke i would die , and dissemble my religion , i doe therefore here , with that caution that i delivered before , without all prejudice in the world to my judges , that are to proceed secundum allegata & probata , and so to be understood , i die in the presence of almighty god , and all his holy and blessed angels ; and i take it now on my death , that i never endeavoured the subversion of the laws of the realme , nor never any change of the protestant religion into popish superstition , and i desire you all to remember this protest of mine , for my innocency in these , and from all manner of treasons whatsomever . i have been accused likewise as an enemie to parliaments , no , god forbid , i understood them , and the benefits that comes by them , a great deal too well to bee so ; but i did indeed dislike some misgovernments ( as i conceived ) of some few one or two parliaments : and i did conceive humbly that i might have reason for it ; for corruptio optimi est pessima : there is no corruption in the world so bad , as that which is in the best thing it self , for the better the thing is in nature , the worse it is corrupted : and this being the highest and greatest court , over which none other can have the jurisdiction in the kingdome , if any way a mis-government ( which god forbid ) should any wayes fall upon it , the subjects of this kingdome are left without all manner of remedy , and therefore god preserve them , blesse them , and direct them , that there may be no misconceit , much lesse misgovernment amongst them . i will not inlarge my self any further , i have done , i forgive all the world , all and every of those bitter enemies , or others whatsoever they have been , which any wise prosecuted me in this kinde , and i humbly desire to be forgiven first of god , and then of every man , whether i have offended him or no , if hee doe but conceive that i have , lord do thou forgive me , and i beg forgivenesse of him , and so i heartily desire you to joyne with me in prayer . the bishop of canterburies first praye● on the scaffold . o eternall god , and most mercifull father , looke downe upon mee in mercie , in the riches and fulnesse of all thy mercies , look downe upon me , but not till thou hast nailed my sinnes to the crosse of christ : looke upon me , but not till thou hast bathed me in the bloud of christ : look upon me , but not till i have hid my selfe in the wounds of christ , that so the punishment that is due to my sinnes may passe away and go over mee : and since thou art pleased to try me to the uttermost , i humblie beseech thee give me now in this great instant , ful patience , and proportionable comfort a heart readie to die for thine honour , and the kings happines , and the churches preservation , and my zeal to these , ( far from arrogancie be it spoken , and all the inhumane frailtie excepted , and all incidents thereunto ) which is yet unknowne of mee in this particular , for which i now come to suffer , i say in this particular of treason , but otherwise my sins are many and great , lord pardon them all , and these especially , whatsoever they be , which have drawne downe this present judgement upon mee , and when thou hast given me strength to beare it , then doe with mee as seemes best in thine owne eyes : and carrie mee through death , that i may looke upon it in what visage soever it shall appeare to mee , and that there may bee a stoppe of this issue of bloud in this more than miserable kingdome . i shall desire that i may pray for the people too , as well as for my selfe : o lord , i beseech thee give grace of repentance unto all people , that have a thirst for bloud , but if they will not repent , then scatter their devices so , and such as are , or shall be contrarie to the glorie of thy great name , the truth and sinceritie of religion , the establishment of the king , and his posteritie after him , in their just rights , and priviledges , the honour and conservation of parliaments in their ancient and just power , the preservation of this poore church in her truth , peace and patrimonie , and the settlement of this distracted and distressed people under their ancient laws , and in their native liberties , and when thou hast done all this , in meere mercie for them , o lord , fill their hearts with thankfullnesse , and with religious dutifull obedience to thee and thy commandements all their dayes : so amen , lord iesus , and i beseech thee , receive my soule to mercie . our father which art in heaven . hallowed be thy name . thy kingdome come . thy will be done in earth , as it is in heaven . give us this day our dayly bread , and forgive us our trespasses , as we forgive them that trespasse against us . and lead us not into temptation : but deliver us from evil , amen . when he had finished his prayer , hee gave his paper to doctor sterne , saying , doctor , i give you this , that you may show it to your fellow chaplains , that they see how i am gone out of the world , and gods blessing and his mercy be upon them . then turning to master hinde , hee said , friend , i beseech you here mee , i cannot say i have spoken every word as it is in my paper , but i have gone very neere it , to help my memorie as well as i could : but i beseech you let me have no wrong done me . hinde . sir , you shall not , if i doe any wrong , let it fall on my owne head , i pray god have mercy upon your soule . cant. i thank you : i did not speak with any jealousie , as if you would do so , but i spake it onely as a poore man going out of the world , it is not possible for me to keep to the words of my paper , and a phrase may do me wrong . i did think here would have been an emptie scaffold , that i might have had roome to die : i beseech you let me have an end of this miserie , for i have endured it long . when roome was made , he spake thus ; i 'le pull off my doublet , and gods will be done , i am willing to goe out of the world : no man can be more willing to send me out , then i am willing to be gone . sir iohn clathworthy . what speciall text of scripture now is comfortable to a man in his departure ? cant. cupio dissolvi & esse cum christo . sir clothworthy . that is a good desire , but there must bee a ●●undation for that desire , as assurance . cant. no man can expresse it , it is to be found within . sir iohn clothworthy . it is founded upon a word though , and that word would be knowne . cant. that word is the knowledge of jesus christ and that alone . and turning to the executioner , he gave him money , saying , here honest friend , god forgive thee , and do thy office upon mee in mercie . the executioner desiring him to give some signe when he should strike , he answered , yes , i will , but let me fit my selfe first . then kneeling down on his knees , he prayed thus : the bishop of canterburies last prayer on the scaffold . lord , i am coming as fast as i can , i know i must passe through the shaddow of death before i can come to see thee , but it is but umbra mortis , a meere shadow of death a little darknesse upon nature , but thou by thy merits and passion hast broke through the jawes of death : so lord , receiue my soule , and have mercy upon me , and blesse this kingdom with peace and plenty , and with brotherly loue and charitie , that there may not be this effusion of christian bloud among them , for iesus christs sake , if it be thy will . and when he had said , lord receive my soule ( which was his signe ) the executioner did his office . finis . a sermon preached in christs-church, dublin, july 16, 1663, at the funeral of the most reverend father in god john, late lord archbishop of armagh and primate of all ireland with a succint narrative of his whole life / by the right reverend father in god jeremy, lord bishop of down and connor. taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. 1663 approx. 86 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 35 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a64132 wing t396 estc r11878 13574860 ocm 13574860 100417 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a64132) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100417) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 804:7) a sermon preached in christs-church, dublin, july 16, 1663, at the funeral of the most reverend father in god john, late lord archbishop of armagh and primate of all ireland with a succint narrative of his whole life / by the right reverend father in god jeremy, lord bishop of down and connor. taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. the third edition enlarged. [3], 66 p. printed by j.g. for richard royston ..., london : 1663. caption title: a sermon preached at the funeral of the lord primate. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bramhall, john, 1594-1663 -sermons. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-02 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2002-02 tcp staff (oxford) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-03 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , sept. 21.1663 . m. franck , s.t.d. r sso . in x te . p. ac d no. d. gilb . archiep. cant. à sacris dom. a sermon preached in christs-church dublin , iuly 16. 1663. at the funeral of the most reverend father in god , iohn , late lord archbishop of armagh , and primate of all ireland : with a succinct narrative of his whole life . the third edition , enlarged . by the right reverend father in god , jeremy , lord bishop of down and connor . london : printed by i. g. for richard royston , bookseller to the kings most excellent majesty , 1663. 1 cor. 15. 23. but every man in his own order : christ the first fruits ; afterward they that are christ's at his coming . the condition of man in this world is so limited and depressed , so relative and imperfect , that the best things he does he does weakly , and the best things he hath are imperfections in their very constitution . i need not tell how little it is that we know ; the greatest indication of this is , that we can never tell how many things we know not : and we may soon span our own knowledge , but our ignorance we can never fathom . our very will , in which mankind pretends to be most noble and imperial , is a direct state of imperfection ; and our very liberty of chusing good and evil is permitted to us , not to make us proud , but to make us humble ; for it supposes weakness of reason and weakness of love. for if we understood all the degrees of amability in the service of god , or if we had such love to god as he deserves , and so perfect a conviction as were fit for his services , we could no more deliberate : for liberty of will is like the motion of a magnetick needle toward the north , full of trembling and uncertainty till it were fixed in the beloved point ; it wavers as long as it is free , and is at rest when it can chuse no more . and truly what is the hope of man ? it is indeed the resurrection of the soul in this world from sorrow and her saddest pressures , and like the twilight to the day , and the harbinger of joy ; but still it is but a conjugation of infirmities , and proclaims our present calamity , onely because it is uneasie here , it thrusts us forwards toward the light and glories of the resurrection . for as a worm creeping with her belly on the ground , with her portion and share of adam's curse , lifts up its head to partake a little of the blessings of the air , and opens the junctures of her imperfect body , and curles her little rings into knots and combinations , drawing up her tail to a neighbourhood of the heads pleasure and motion ; but still it must return to abide the fate of its own nature , and dwell and sleep upon the dust : so are the hopes of a mortal man ; he opens his eyes and looks upon fine things at distance , and shuts them again with weakness , because they are too glorious to behold ; and the man rejoyces because he hopes fine things are staying for him ; but his heart akes , because he knows there are a thousand wayes to fail and miss of those glories ; & though he hopes , yet he enjoys not ; he longs , but he possesses not , and must be content with his portion of dust ; and being a worm and no man must lie down in this portion , before he can receive the end of his hopes , the salvation of his soul in the resurrection of the dead . for as death is the end of our lives , so is the resurrection the end of our hopes ; and as we die daily , so we daily hope : but death , which is the end of our life , is the enlargement of our spirits from hope to certainty , from uncertain fears to certain expectations , from the death of the body to the life of the soul ; that is , to partake of the light and life of christ , to rise to life as he did ; for his resurrection is the beginning of ours : he died for us alone , not for himself ; but he rose again for himself and us too . so that if he did rise , so shall we ; the resurrection shall be universal ; good and bad ; all shall rise , but not altogether . first christ , then we that are christs ; and yet there is a third resurrection , though not spoken of here ; but thus it shall be . the dead in christ shall rise first ; that is , next to christ ; and after them the wicked shall rise to condemnation . so that you see here is the summe of affairs treated of in my text : not whether it be lawful to eat a tortoise or a mushrome , or to tread with the foot bare upon the ground within the octaves of easter . it is not here inquired whether angels be material or immaterial ; or whether the dwellings of dead infants be within the air or in the regions of the earth ; the inquiry here is whether we are to be christians or no ? whether we are to live good lives or no ? or whether it be permitted to us to live with lust or covetousness acted with all the daughters of rapine and ambition ? whether there be any such thing as sin , any judicatory for consciences , any rewards of piety , any difference of good and bad , any rewards after this life ? this is the design of these words by proper interpretation : for if men shall die like dogs and sheep , they will certainly live like wolves and foxes : but he that believes the article of the resurrection , hath entertained the greatest demonstration in the world , that nothing can make us happy but the knowledge of god , and conformity to the life and death of the holy jesus . here therefore are the great hinges of all religion : 1. christ is already risen from the dead . 2. we also shall rise in gods time and our order . christ is the first fruits . but there shall be a full harvest of the resurrection , and all shall rise . my text speaks onely of the resurrection of the just , of them that belong to christ ; explicitely i say of these ; and therefore directly of resurrection to life eternal . but because he also sayes there shall be an order for every man ; and yet every man does not belong to christ ; therefore indirectly also he implies the more universal resurrection unto judgment . but this shall be the last thing that shall be done ; for , according to the proverb of the jews , michael flies but with one wing , and gabriel with two ; god is quick in sending angels of peace , and they flye apace ; but the messengers of wrath come slowly : god is more hasty to glorifie his servants then to condemn the wicked . and therefore in the story of dives and lazarus we find that the beggar died first ; the good man lazarus was first taken away from his misery to his comfort , and afterwards the rich man died : and as the good many times die first , so all of them rise first , as if it were a matter of haste : and as the mothers breasts swell and shoot and long to give food to her babe ; so gods bowels did yearn over his banish'd children , and he longs to cause them to eat and drink in his kingdom . and at last the wicked shall rise unto condemnation , for that must be done too ; every man in his own order : first christ , then christs servants , and at last christs enemies . the first of these is the great ground of our faith , the second is the consummation of all our hopes : the first is the foundation of god that stands sure , the second is that superstructure that shall never perish : by the first we believe in god unto righteousness , by the second we live in god unto salvation : but the third , for that also is true & must be consider'd , is the great affrightment of all them that live ungodly . but in the whole christs resurrection and ours is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a christian ; that as jesus christ is the same yesterday and to day , and the same for ever ; so may we in christ , become in the morrow of the resurrection the same or better then yesterday in our natural life ; the same body and the same soul tied together in the same essential union , with this onely difference , that not nature but grace and glory with an hermetick seal give us a new signature , whereby we shall no more be changed , but like unto christ our head we shall become the same for ever . of these i shall discourse in order . 1. that christ , who is the first fruits , is the first in this order : he is already risen from the dead . 2. we shall all take our turns , we shall all die , and as sure as death we shall all rise again . and 3. this very order is effective of the thing it self . that christ is first risen , is the demonstration and certainty of ours , for because there is an order in this oeconomy , the first in the kind is the measure of the rest . if christ be the first fruits , we are the whole vintage , and we shall all die in the order of nature , and shall rise again in the order of christ : they that are christ's , and are found so at his coming , shall partake of his resurrection . but christ first , then they that are christ's : that 's the order . 1. christ is the first fruits ; he is already risen from the dead . for he alone could not be held by death . free among the dead . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; death was sins eldest daughter , and the grave-clothes were her first mantle ; but christ was conquerour over both , and came to take that away , and to disarm this . this was a glory fit for the head of mankind , but it was too great and too good to be easily believ'd by incredulous and weak-hearted man. it was at first doubted of by all that were concerned ; but they that saw it had no reason to doubt any longer . but what 's that to us who saw it not ? yes , very much . valde dubitatum est ab illis , ne dubitaretur à nobis , saith s. augustine . they doubted very much , that by their confirmation we might be established and doubt no more . mary magdalene saw him first , and she ran with joy and said she had seen the lord , and that he was risen from the dead ; but they believed her not . after that divers women together saw him , and they told it , but had no thanks for their pains , and obtain'd no credit among the disciples . the two disciples that went to emaus saw him , talk'd with him , eat with him , and they ran and told it : they told true , but no body believ'd them . then s. peter saw him , but he was not yet got into the chair of the catholick church , they did not think him infallible , and so they believ'd him not at all . five times in one day he appear'd ; for after all this he appear'd to the eleven ; they were indeed transported with joy and wonder , but they would scarce believe their own eyes , and though they saw him they doubted . well , all this was not enough ; he was seen also of iames , and suffered thomas to thrust his hand into his side , and appeared to s. paul , and was seen by five hundred brethren at once . so that there is no capacity of mankind , no time , no place , but had an ocular demonstration of his resurrection . he appeared to men and women , to the clergy and the laity , to sinners of both sexes ; to weak men and to criminals , to doubters and deniers , at home and abroad , in publick and in private , in their houses and their journeys , unexpected and by appointment , betimes in the morning and late at night , to them in conjunction and to them in dispersion , when they did look for him and when they did not ; he appeared upon earth to many , and to s. paul and s. stephen from heaven . so that we can require no greater testimony then all these are able to give us , and they saw for themselves and for us too , that the faith and certainty of the resurrection of iesus might be conveyed to all that shall die and follow christ in their own order . now this being matter of fact , cannot be suppos'd infinite , but limited to time and place , and therefore to be prov'd by them who at that time were upon the place ; good men and true , simple and yet losers by the bargain , many and united , confident and constant , preaching it all their life , and stoutly maintaining it at their death . men that would not deceive others , and men that could not be deceiv'd themselves in a matter so notorious and so prov'd , and so seen : and if this be not sufficient credibility in a matter of fact as this was , then we can have no story credibly transmitted to us , no records kept , no acts of courts , no narratives of the dayes of old , no traditions of our fathers , no memorials of them in the third generation . nay , if from these we have not sufficient causes and arguments of faith , how shall we be able to know the will of heaven upon earth ? unless god do not only tell it once , but alwayes , and not only alwayes to some men , but alwayes to all men : for if some men must believe others , they can never do it in any thing more reasonably than in this ; and if we may not trust them in this , then without a perpetual miracle , no man could have faith : for faith could never come by hearing ; by nothing but by seeing . but if there be any use of history , any faith in men , any honesty in manners , any truth in humane entercourse ; if there be any use of apostles or teachers , of embassadors , or letters , of ears or hearing ; if there be any such thing as the grace of faith , that is less than demonstration or intuition , then we may be as sure that christ the first fruits is already risen , as all these credibilities can make us . but let us take heed ; as god hates a lie , so he hates incredulity ; an obstinate , a foolish and pertinacious understanding . what we do every minute of our lives in matters of title and great concernment , if we refuse to do it in religion , which yet is to be conducted as all humane affairs are , by humane instruments and arguments of perswasion proper to the nature of the thing , it is an obstinacy as cross to humane reason , as it is to divine faith. but this article was so clearly prov'd , that presently it came to pass that men were no longer asham'd of the cross , but it was worn upon breasts , printed in the air , drawn upon foreheads , carried upon banners , put upon crowns imperial , presently it came to pass that the religion of the despised jesus did infinitely prevail : a religion that taught men to be meek and humble , apt to receive injuries , but unapt to do any ; a religion that gave countenance to the poor and pitiful , in a time when riches were ador'd , and ambition and pleasure had possessed the heart of all mankind ; a religion that would change the face of things , and the hearts of men , and break vile habits into gentleness and counsel ; that such a religion , in such a time by the sermons and conduct of fishermen , men of mean breeding and illiberal arts , should so speedily triumph over the philosophy of the world , and the arguments of the subtil , and the sermons of the eloquent ; the power of princes and the interests of states , the inclinations of nature , and the blindness of zeal , the force of custom , and the sollicitation of passions , the pleasures of sin and the busie arts of the devil ; that is , against wit and power , superstition and wilfulness , fame and money , nature and empire , which are all the causes in this world that can make a thing impossible ; this , this is to be ascrib'd to the power of god , and is the great demonstration of the resurrection of jesus . every thing was an argument for it , and improv'd it ; no objection could hinder it , no enemies destroy it ; whatsoever was for them , it made the religion to increase ; whatsoever was against them , made it to increase ; sun-shine and storms , fair weather or foul , it was all one as to the event of things : for they were instruments in the hands of god , who could make what himself should chuse to be the product of any cause ; so that if the christians had peace , they went abroad and brought in converts ; if they had no peace , but persecution ; the converts came in to them . in prosperity they allur'd and intic'd the world by the beauty of holiness ; in affliction and trouble they amaz'd all men with the splendour of their innocence , and the glories of their patience ; and quickly it was that the world became disciple to the glorious nazarene , and men could no longer doubt of the resurrection of jesus , when it became so demonstrated by the certainty of them that saw it , and the courage of them that died for it , and the multitude of them that believ'd it ; who by their sermons , and their actions , by their publick offices and discourses , by festivals and eucharists , by arguments of experience and sense , by reason and religion , by perswading rational men , and establishing believing christians , by their living in the obedience of jesus , and dying for the testimony of jesus , have greatly advanc'd his kingdom , and his power , and his glory , into which he entred after his resurrection from the dead . for he is the first fruits ; and if we hope to rise through him , we must confess that himself is first risen from the dead . that 's the first particular . 2. there is an order for us also . we also shall rise again . combustúsque senex tumulo procedit adultus , consumens dat membra rogus ; — the ashes of old camillus shall stand up spritely from his urne ; and the funeral fires shall produce a new warmth to the dead bones of all those who died under the arms of all the enemies of the roman greatness . this is a less wonder than the former : for admonetur omnis aetas jam fieri posse quod aliquando factum est . if it was done once , it may be done again ; for since it could never have been done , but by a power that is infinite , that infinite must also be eternal and indeficient . by the same almighty power which restor'd life to the dead body of our living lord , we may all be restor'd to a new life in the resurrection of the dead . when man was not , what power , what causes made him to be ? whatsoever it was , it did then as great a work as to raise his body to the same being again ; and because we know not the method of natures secret changes , and how we can be fashioned beneath in secreto terrae , and cannot handle and discern the possibilities and seminal powers in the ashes of dissolved bones , must our ignorance in philosophy be put in balance against the articles of religion , the hopes of mankind , the faith of nations and the truth of god ? and are our opinions of the power of god so low , that our understanding must be his measure ; and he shall be confessed to do nothing , unless it be made plain in our philosophy ? certainly we have a low opinion of god unless we believe he can do more things then we can understand . but let us hear s. paul's demonstration : if the corn dies and lives again ; if it layes its body down , suffers alteration , dissolution and death , but at the spring rises again in the verdure of a leaf , in the fulness of the ear , in the kidneys of wheat ; if it proceeds from little to great , from nakedness to ornament , from emptiness to plenty , from unity to multitude , from death to life : be a sadducee no more , shame not thy understanding , and reproch not the weakness of thy faith , by thinking that corn can be restor'd to life and man cannot ; especially since in every creature the obediential capacity is infinite , and cannot admit degrees ; for every creature can be any thing under the power of god , which cannot be less than infinite . but we find no obscure foot-steps of this mystery even amongst the heathens . pliny reports that appion the grammarian by the use of the plant osiris call'd homer from his grave ; and in valerius maximus we find that aelius tubero return'd to life when he was seated in his funeral pile ; and in plutarch , that soleus after three dayes burial did live , and in valerius that aeris pamphilius did so after ten dayes . and it was so commonly believ'd , that glaucus who was choked in a vessel of honey did rise again , that it grew to a proverb ; glaucus poto melle resurrexit ; glaucus having tasted honey , died and liv'd again . i pretend not to believe these stories true ; but from these instances it may be concluded that they believ'd it possible that there should be a resurrection from the dead ; and natural reason , and their philosophy did not wholly destroy their hopes and expectation to have a portion in this article . for god knowing that the great hopes of man , that the biggest endearment of religion , the sanction of private justice , the band of piety and holy courage , does wholly derive from the article of the resurrection , was pleased not onely to make it credible , but easie and familiar to us ; and we so converse every night with the image of death , that every morning we find an argument of the resurrection . sleep and death have but one mother , and they have one name in common . soles occidere & redire possunt , nobis cum semel occidit lux brevis , nox est perpetua una dormienda . catul. charnel-houses are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , cemeteries or sleeping-places , and they that die are fallen asleep , and the resurrection is but an awakening and standing up from sleep : but in sleep our senses are as fast bound by nature ; as our joynts are by the grave-clothes ; and unless an angel of god awaken us every morning , we must confess our selves as unable to converse with men , as we now are afraid to die and to converse with spirits . but however death it self is no more ; it is but darkness and a shadow , a rest and a forgetfulness . what is there more in death ? what is there less in sleep ? for do we not see by experience that nothing of equal loudness does awaken us sooner then a mans voice , especially if he be call'd by name ? and thus also it shall be in the resurrection . we shall be awakened by the voice of a man , and he that call'd lazarus by name from his grave , shall also call us : for although s. paul affirms , that the trumpet shall sound , and there shall be the voice of an archangel ; yet this is not a word of nature , but of office and ministry : christ himself is that archangel , and he shall descend with a mighty shout , ( saith the apostle ) and all that are in the grave shall hear his voice , saith s. john : so that we shall be awakened by the voice of a man , because we are onely fallen asleep by the decree of god ; and when the cock and the lark call us up to prayer and labour , the first thing we see is an argument of our resurrection from the dead . and when we consider what the greek church reports , that amongst them the bodies of those that die excommunicate will not return to dust till the censure be taken off ; we may with a little faith and reason believe , that the same power that keeps them from their natural dissolution , can recall them to life and union . i will not now insist upon the story of the rising bones seen every year in egypt , nor the pretences of the chymists , that they from the ashes of flowers can re-produce from the same materials the same beauties in colour and figure ; for he that proves a certain truth from an uncertain argument , is like him that wears a wooden leg when he hath two sound legs already ; it hinders his going , but helps him not : the truth of god stands not in need of such supporters , nature alone is a sufficient preacher : quae nunc herba fuit , lignum jacet , herba futura , aeriae nudantur aves cum penna vetusta , et nova subvestit reparatas pluma volucres . night and day , the sun returning to the same point of east , every change of species in the same matter , generation and corruption , the eagle renewing her youth and the snake her skin , the silk-worm and the swallows the care of posterity and the care of an immortal name , winter and summer , the fall and spring , the old testament and the new , the words of job , and the visions of the prophets , the prayer of ezekiel for the resurrection of the men of ephraim , and the return of jonas from the whales belly , the histories of the jews and the narratives of christians , the faith of believers and the philosophy of the reasonable ; all joyn in the verification of this mystery . and amongst these heaps it is not of the least consideration that there was never any good man , who having been taught this article , but if he serv'd god , he also relied upon this . if he believ'd god , he believ'd this ; and therefore s. paul sayes that they who were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , were also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they who had no hope ( meaning of the resurrection ) were also atheists , and without god in the world . and it is remarkable what s. augustine observes , that when the world saw the righteous abel destroyed , and that the murderer out-liv'd his crime , and built up a numerous family , and grew mighty upon earth , they neglected the service of god upon that account , till god in pity of their prejudice and foolish arguings took enoch up to heaven to recover them from their impieties , by shewing them that their bodies and souls should be rewarded for ever in an eternal union . but christ the first fruits is gone before , and himself did promise that when himself was lifted up he would draw all men after him . every man in his own order ; first christ , then they that are christ's at his coming . and so i have done with the second particular , not christ onely , but we also shall rise in gods time and our order . but concerning this order i must speak a word or two , not only for the fuller handling the text , but because it will be matter of application of what hath been already spoken of the article of the resurrection . 3. first christ and then we . and we therefore because christ is already risen . but you must remember , that the resurrection and exaltation of christ was the reward of his perfect obedience and purest holiness ; and he calling us to an imitation of the same obedience , and the same perfect holiness , prepares a way for us to the same resurrection . if we by holiness become the sons of god as christ was , we shall also as he was become the sons of god in the resurrection : but upon no other terms . so said our blessed lord himself : ye which have followed me in the regeneration , when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory , ye also shall sit upon thrones judging the tribes of israel . for as it was with christ the first fruits , so it shall be with all christians in their own order : as with the head , so it shall be with the members . he was the son of god by love and obedience , and then became the son of god by resurrection from the dead to life eternal , and so shall we ; but we cannot be so in any other way . to them that are christ's , and to none else shall this be given . for we must know that god hath sent christ into the world to be a great example and demonstration of the oeconomy and dispensation of eternal life . as god brought christ to glory , so he will bring us , but by no other method . he first obeyed the will of god , and patiently suffered the will of god ; he died , and rose again , and entered into glory ; and so must we . thus christ is made via , veritas , & vita , the way , the truth , and the life ; that is , the true way to eternal life : he first trode this wine-press , and we must insist in the same steps , or we shall never partake of this blessed resurrection . he was made the son of god in a most glorious manner , and we by him , by his merit , and by his grace , and by his example : but other then this there is no way of salvation for us . that 's the first and great effect of this glorious order . 4. but there is one thing more in it yet , every man in his own order . first christ , and then christ's . but what shall become of them that are not christ's ? why there is an order for them too . first , they that are christ's ; and then they that are not his . * blessed and holy is he that hath his part in the first resurrection . there is a first and a second resurrection even after this life . the dead in christ shall rise first . now blessed are they that have their portion here ; for upon these the second death shall have no power . as for the recalling the wicked from their graves , it is no otherwise in the sense of the spirit to be called a resurrection , then taking a criminal from the prison to the bar is a giving of liberty . when poor attilius aviola had been seized on by an apoplexy , his friends supposing him dead carried him to his funeral pile ; but when the fire began to approch , and the heat to warm the body , he reviv'd , and seeing himself incircled with funeral flames , call'd out aloud to his friends to rescue , not the dead , but the living aviola from that horrid burning . but it could not be . he onely was restor'd from his sickness to fall into death , and from his dull disease to a sharp and intolerable torment . just so shall the wicked live again ; they shall receive their souls , that they may be a portion for devils ; they shall receive their bodies , that they may feel the everlasting burning ; they shall see christ , that they may look on him whom they have pierced ; and they shall hear the voice of god passing upon them the intolerable sentence ; they shall come from their graves , that they may go into hell ; and live again , that they may die for ever . so have we seen a poor condemned criminal , the weight of whose sorrows sitting heavily upon his soul hath benummed him into a deep sleep , till he hath forgotten his grones , and laid aside his deep sighings ; but on a sudden comes the messenger of death , and unbinds the poppy garland , scatters the heavy cloud that incircled his miserable head , and makes him return to acts of life , that he may quickly descend into death and be no more . so is every sinner that lies down in shame , and makes his grave with the wicked ; he shall indeed rise again , and be called upon by the voice of the archangel , but then he shall descend into sorrows greater then the reason and the patience of a man , weeping and shrieking louder then the grones of the miserable children in the valley of hinnon . these indeed are sad stories , but true as the voice of god and the sermons of the holy jesus . they are gods words and gods decrees ; and i wish that all who profess the belief of these , would consider sadly what they mean. if ye believe the article of the resurrection , then you know that in your body you shall receive what you did in the body , whether it be good or bad . it matters not now very much whether our bodies be beauteous or deformed ; for if we glorifie god in our bodies , god shall make our bodies glorious . it matters not much whether we live in ease and pleasure , or eat nothing but bitter herbs : the body that lies in dust and ashes , that goes stooping and feeble , that lodges at the foot of the cross and dwells in discipline , shall be feasted at the eternal supper of the lamb. and ever remember this , that beastly pleasures , and lying lips , and a deceitful tongue , and a heart that sendeth forth proud things , are no good dispositions to a blessed resurrection . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . it is not good that in the body we live a life of dissolution , for that 's no good harmony with that purpose of glory which god designs the body . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , said phocyllides ; for we hope that from our beds of darkness we shall rise into regions of light , and shall become like unto god. they shall partake of a resurrection to life and what this can infer is very obvious . for i● it be so hard to believe a resurrection from one death , let us not be dead in trespasses and sins , for a resurrection from two deaths will be harder to be believ'd , and harder to be effected . but if any of you have lost the life of grace , and so forfeited all your title to a life of glory , betake your selves to an early and an entire piety , that when by this first resurrection you have made this way plain before your face , you may with confidence expect a happy resurrection from your graves . for if it be possible that the spirit , when it is dead in sin , can arise to a life of righteousness ; much more it is easie to suppose that the body after death is capable of being restor'd again . and this is a consequent of s. pauls argument , if when ye were enemies ye were reconciled by his death , much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life ; plainly declaring that it is a harder and more wonderful thing for a wicked man to become the friend of god , then for one that is so , to be carried up to heaven and partake of his glory . the first resurrection is certainly the greater miracle : but he that hath risen once , may rise again ; and this is as sure as that he that dies once , may die again , and die for ever . but he who partakes of the death of christ by mortification , and of his resurrection by holiness of life and a holy faith , shall , according to the expression of the prophet isaiah , enter into his chamber of death ; when nature and gods decree shall shut the doors upon him , and there he shall be hidden for a little moment : but then shall they that dwell in dust awake and sing , with christs dead body shall they arise : all shall rise , but every man in his own order ; christ the first fruits , then they that are christs at his coming . amen . i have now done with my meditation of the resurrection ; but we have a new and a sadder subject to consider : it is glorious and brave when a christian contemplates those glories which stand at the foot of the account of all god's servants ; but when we consider , that before all or any thing of this happens every christian must ●wice exuere hominem , put off the old man , and then lie down in dust and the dishonours of the grave , it is vinum myrrhatum , there is myrrhe put into our wine ; it is wholsom , but it will allay all our pleasures of that glorious expectation . but no man can escape it . after that the great cyrus had rul'd long in a mighty empire ; yet there came a message from heaven , not so sad it may be , yet as decretory as the hand-writing on the wall that arrested his successor darius , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prepare thy self , o cyrus , and then go unto the gods ; he laid aside his tiar and his beauteous diadem , and cover'd his face with a cloth , and in a single linen laid his honour'd head in a poor humble grave ; and none of us all can avoid this sentence . for if wit and learning , great fame and great experience , if wise notices of things , and an honourable fortune , if courage and skill , if prelacy and an honourable age , if any thing that could give greatness and immunity to a wise and prudent man , could have been put in bar against a sad day , and have gone for good plea , this sad scene of sorrows had not been the entertainment of this assembly . but tell me , where are those great masters , who while they liv'd flourish'd in their studies ? iam eorum praebendas alii possident , & nescio utrum de iis cogitant ; other men have got their prebends and their dignities , and who knows whether ever they remember them or no ? while they liv'd they seem'd nothing , when they are dead , every man for a while speaks of them what they please , and afterwards they are as if they had not been . but the piety of the christian church hath made some little provision towards an artificial immortality for brave and worthy persons ; and the friendships , which our dead contracted while they were alive , require us to continue a fair memory as long as we can ; but they expire in monethly minds , or at most in a saint and declining anniversary ; — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and we have great reason so to do in this present sad accident of the death of our late most reverend primate , whose death the church of ireland hath very great reason to deplore ; and we have great obligation to remember his very many worthy deeds done for this poor afflicted and despised church . s. paul made an excellent funeral oration , as it were instituting a feast of all saints , who all died having obtained a good report ; and that excellent preacher in the 11. chap. of the hebrews made a sermon of their commemoration . for since good men , while they are alive , have their conversation in heaven ; when they are in heaven 't is also fit that they should in their good names live upon earth . and as their great examples are an excellent sermon to the living , and the praising them when envy and flattery can have no interest to interpose , as it is the best and most vigorous sermon and incentive to great things ; so to conceal what good god hath wrought by them , is great unthankfulness to god and to good men . when dorcas died the apostle came to see the dead corps , and the friends of the deceased expressed their grief and their love by shewing the coats that she , whilest she lived , wrought with her own hands . she was a good needle-woman and a good huswife , and did good to mankind in her little way , and that it self ought not to be forgotten , and the apostle himself was not displeased with their little sermons , and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the women made upon that sad interview . but if we may have the same liberty to record the worthy things of this our most venerable father and brother , and if there remains no more of that envy which usually obscures the splendour of living hero's , if you can with your charitable though weeping eyes behold the great gifts of god with which he adorned this great prelate , and not object the failings of humanity to the participation of the graces of the spirit , or think that gods gifts are the lesse because they are born in earthen vessels , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for all men bear mortality about them , and the cabinet is not beauteous as the diamond that shines within its bosom ; then we may without interruption pay this duty to piety , and friendship , and thankfulness , and deplore our sad loss by telling a true and sad story of this great man , whom god hath lately taken from our eyes . he was bred in cambridge in sidney-college under mr. hulet , a grave and a worthy man , and he shewed himself not onely a fruitful plant by his great progress in his studies , but made him another return of gratitude , taking care to provide a good imployment for him in ireland , where he then began to be greatly interested . it was spoken as an honour to augustus caesar , that he gave his tutor an honourable funeral ; and marcus antoninus erected a statue unto his ; and gratian the emperour made his master ausonius to be consul : and our worthy primate , knowing the obligation which they pass upon us , who do obstetricari gravidae animae , help the parturient soul to bring forth fruits according to its seminal powers , was careful not onely to reward the industry of such persons so useful to the church in the cultivating infantes palmarum , young plants , whose joynts are to be stretch'd and made streight ; but to demonstrate that his scholar knew how to value learning , when he knew so well how to reward the teacher . having pass'd the course of his studies in the university , and done his exercise with that applause which is usually the reward of pregnant wits and hard study , he was remov'd into york-shire ; where first in the city of york he was an assiduous preacher , but by the disposition of the divine providence he happened to be engaged at north-alerton in disputation with three pragmatical romish priests of the jesuits order , whom he so much worsted in the conference , and so shamefully disadvantaged by the evidence of truth , represented wisely and learnedly , that the famous primate of york , archbishop matthews , a learned and an excellent prelate , and a most worthy preacher , hearing of that triumph , sent for him and made him his chaplain ; in whose service he continued till the death of the primate , but in that time had given so much testimony of his great dexterity in the conduct of ecclesiastical and civil affairs , that he grew dear to his master . in that imployment he was made prebendary of york , and then of rippon ; the dean of which church having made him his sub-dean , he managed the affairs of that church so well , that he soon acquir'd a greater fame , and entered into the possession of many hearts , and admiration to those many more that knew him . there and at his parsonage he continued long to do the duty of a learned and good preacher , and by his wisdom , eloquence and deportment , so gain'd the affections of the nobility , gentry and commons of that countrey , that as at his return thither upon the blessed restauration of his most sacred majesty he knew himself oblig'd enough , and was so kind as to give them a visit ; so they by their coming in great numbers to meet him , their joyful reception of him , their great caressing of him when he was there , their forward hopes to enjoy him as their bishop , their trouble at his departure , their unwillingness to let him go away , gave signal testimonies that they were wise and kind enough to understand and value his great worth . but while he lived there he was like a diamond in the dust , ( or lucius quinctius at the plough ) his low fortune covered a most valuable person , till he became observ'd by sir thomas wentworth lord president of york , whom we all knew for his great excellencies , and his great but glorious misfortunes . this rare person espied the great abilities of doctor bramhall , and made him his chaplain , and brought him into ireland as one whom he believ'd would prove the most fit instrument to serve in that design , which for two years before his arrival here he had greatly meditated and resolved , the reformation of religion and the reparation of the broken fortunes of the church : the complaints were many , the abuses great , the causes of the church vastly numerous , but as fast as they were brought in , so fast they were by the lord deputy referred back to dr. bramhall , who by his indefatigable pains , great sagacity , perpetual watchfulness , daily and hourly consultations , reduc'd things to a more tolerable condition then they had been left in by the schismatical principles of some , and the unjust prepossessions of others , form any years before . for at the reformation the popish bishops and priests seemed to conform , and did so , that keeping their bishopricks they might enrich their kindred and dilapidate the revenues of the church ; which by pretended offices , false informations , fee-farms at contemptible rents , and ungodly alienations , were made low as poverty it self , and unfit to minister to the needs of them that serv'd the altar , or the noblest purposes of religion . for hospitality decayed , and the bishops were easie to be oppressed by those that would ; and they complained , but for a long time had no helper , till god raised up that glorious instrument the earl of strafford , who brought over with him as great affections to the church and to all publick interests , and as admirable abilities , as ever before his time did invest and adorn any of the kings vicegerents : and god fitted his hand with an instrument good as his skill was great . for the first specimen of his abilities and diligence in recovery of some lost tithes being represented to his late majesty of blessed and glorious memory , it pleased his majesty upon the death of bishop downham to advance the doctor to the bishoprick of d●r●y ; which he not onely adorned with an excellent spirit and a wise government , but did more then double the revenue , not by taking any thing from them to whom it was due , but by resuming something of the churches patrimony , which by undue means was detained in unfitting hands . but his care was beyond his diocese , and his zele broke out to warm all his brethren ; and though by reason of the favour and piety of king iames the escheated counties were well provided for their tithes , yet the bishopricks were not so well till the primate , then bishop of derry , by the favour of the lord lieutenant and his own incessant and assiduous labour and wise conduct , brought in divers impropriations , cancell'd many unjust alienations , and did restore them to a condition much more tolerable ; i say much more tolerable ; for though he rais'd them above contempt , yet they were not near to envy ; but he knew there could not in all times be wanting too many that envied to the church every degree of prosperity : so iudas did to christ the expence of oyntment , and so dyonisius told the priest , when himself stole the golden cloak from apollo , and gave him one of arcadian home-spun , that it was warmer for him in winter and cooler in summer . and forever , since the church by god's blessing and the favour of religious kings and princes , and pious nobility , hath been endowed with fair revenues ; inimicus homo , the enemy hath not been wanting by pretences of religion to take away god's portion from the church , as if his word were intended as an instrument to rob his houses . but when the israelites were governed by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and god was their king , and moses his lieutenant , and things were of his management , he was pleas'd by making great provisions for them that ministred in the service of the tabernacle to consign this truth for ever , that men , as they love god , at the same rate are to make provisions for his priests . for when himself did it , he not only gave the 48. cities , with a mile of glebe round about their city every way , and yet the whole country was but 140. miles long , or thereabouts , from dan to beersheba ; but besides this they had the tithe of all increase , the first fruits , offerings , vows , redemptions , and in short , they had 24. sorts of dues , as buxtorf relates ; and all this either brought to the barn home to them without trouble , or else , as the nature of the thing required , brought to the temple ; the first to make it more profitable , and the second to declare that they received it not from the people but from god , not the peoples kindness but the lords inheritance ; insomuch that this small tribe of levi , which was not the 40th . part of the people , as the scripture computes them , had a revenue almost treble to any of the largest of the tribes . i will not insist on what villalpandus observes , it may easily be read in the 45. of ezekiel concerning that portion which god reserves for himself and his service , but whatsoever it be this i shall say , that it is confessedly a prophecy of the gospel ; but this i adde , that they had as little to do , and much less than a christian priest , and yet in all the 24. courses the poorest priest amongst them might be esteemed a rich man. i speak not this to upbraid any man or any thing but sacrilege and murmur , nor to any other end but to represent upon what great and religious grounds the then bishop of derry did with so much care and assiduous labour endeavour to restore the church of ireland to that splendor and fulness ; which as it is much conducing to the honour of god and of religion , god himself being the judge , so it is much more necessary for you than it is for us , and so this wise prelate rarely well understood it ; and having the same advantage and blessing as we now have , a gracious king , and a lieutenant patron of religion , and the church , he improv'd the deposita pietatis , as origen calls them , the gages of piety , which the religion of the ancient princes and nobles of this kingdom had bountifully given to such a comfortable competency , that though there be place left for present and future piety to inlarge it self , yet no man hath reason to be discourag'd in his duty ; insomuch that as i have heard from a most worthy hand , that at his going into england he gave account to the archbishop of canterbury of 30000 l. a year , in the recovery of which he was greatly and principally instrumental . but the goods of this world are called waters by solomon . stollen waters are sweet , and they are too unstable to be stopt : some of these waters did run back from their proper chanel , and return to another course than god and the laws intended , yet his labours and pious counsels were not the less acceptable to god and good men , and therefore by a thankful and honourable recognition the convocation of the church of ireland hath transmitted in record to posterity their deep resentment of his singular services and great abilities in this whole affair . and this honour will for ever remain to that bishop of derry ; he had a zerubbabel who repair'd the temple and restor'd its beauty , but he was the ioshuah , the high-priest , who under him ministred this blessing to the congregations of the lord. but his care was not determin'd in the exteriour part onely , and accessaries of religion ; he was careful , and he was prosperous in it , to reduce that divine and excellent service of our church to publick and constant exercise , to unity and devotion ; and to cause the articles of the church of england to be accepted as the rule of publick confessions and perswasions here , that they and we might be populus unius labii , of one heart and one lip , building up our hopes of heaven on a most holy faith ; and taking away that shibboleth which made this church lisp too undecently , or rather in some little degree to speak the speech of ashdod , and not the language of canaan ; and the excellent and wise pains he took in this particular no man can dehonestate or reproch , but he that is not willing to confess that the church of england is the best reformed church in the world . but when the brave roman infantry under the conduct of manlius ascended up to the capitol to defend religion and their altars from the fury of the gauls , they all pray'd to god , us quemadmodum ipsi ad defendendum templum ejus concurrissent , ita ille virtutem e●rum numine suo tueretur : that as they came to defend his temple by their arms , so he would defend their persons and that cause with his power and divinity . and this excellent man in the cause of religion found the like blessing which they prayed for ; god by the prosperity of his labours and a blessed effect gave testimony not onely of the piety and wisdom of his purposes , but that he loves to bless a wise instrument when it is vigorously imployed in a wise and religious labour . he overcame the difficulty in defiance of all such pretences as were made even from religion it self to obstruct the better procedure of real and material religion . these were great things and matter of great envy , and like the fiery eruptions of vesuvius might with the very ashes of consumption have buried another man. at first indeed , as his blessed master the most holy jesus had , so he also had his annum acceptabilem . at first the product was nothing but great admiration at his stupendious parts , and wonder at his mighty diligence and observation of his unusual zele in so good and great things ; but this quickly pass'd into the natural daughters of envy , suspicion and detraction , the spirit of obloquy and slander . his zele for recovery of the church-revenues was call'd oppression and rapine , covetousness and injustice ; his care of reducing religion to wise and justifiable principles was called popery and arminianism , and i know not what names , which signifie what the authors are pleased to mean , and the people to conster and to hate . the intermedial prosperity of his person and fortune , which he had as an earnest of a greater reward to so well-meant labours , was suppos'd to be the production of illiberal arts and ways of getting ; and the necessary refreshment of his wearied spirits , which did not alwayes supply all his needs , and were sometimes less then the permissions even of prudent charity , they call'd intemperance : dederunt enim malum m●telli naevio poetae ; their own surmises were the bills of accusation , and the splendour of his great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or doing of good works , was the great probation of all their calumnies . but if envy be the accuser , what can be the defences of innocence ? saucior invidiae morsu , quaerenda medela est , dic quibus in terris sentiet aeger opem ? our b.s. knowing the unsatisfiable angers of men if their money or estates were medled with , refus'd to divide an inheritance amongst brethren ; it was not to be imagin'd that this great person ( invested , as all his brethren were , with the infirmities of mortality , and yet imployed in dividing and recovering and apportioning of lands ) should be able to bear all that reproch which jealousie and suspicion , and malicious envy , could invent against him . but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , said sophocles : and so did he ; the affrightments brought to his great fame and reputation made him to walk more warily , and do justly , and act prudently , and conduct his affairs by the measures of laws , as far as he understood , and indeed that was a very great way : but there was aperta justitia , clausa manus , justice was open , but his hand was shut ; and though every slanderer could tell a story , yet none could prove that ever he received a bribe to blind his eyes to the value of a pair of gloves . it was his own expression , when he gave glory to god who had preserv'd him innocent . but because every mans cause is right in his own eyes , it was hard for him so to acquit himself , that in the intriques of law and difficult cases some of his enemies should not seem ( when they were heard alone ) to speak reason against him . but see the greatness of truth and prudence , and how greatly god stood with him . when the numerous armies of vexed people , turba gravis paci , placidaeque inimica quieti , heap'd up catalogues of accusations , when the parliament of ireland imitating the violent procedures of the then disordered english , when his glorious patron was taken from his head , and he was disrobed of his great defences ; when petitions were invited and accusations furnished , and calumny was rewarded and managed with art and power , when there were above 200. petitions put in against him , and himself denied leave to answer by word of mouth ; when he was long imprison'd , and treated so that a guilty man would have been broken into affrightment and pitiful and low considerations ; yet then he himself standing almost alone , like callimachus at marathon invested with enemies and covered with arrows , defended himself beyond all the powers of guiltiness , even with the defences of truth and the bravery of innocence , and answered the petitions in writing , sometimes twenty in a day , with so much clearness , evidence of truth , reality of fact and testimony of law , that his very enemies were asham'd and convinc'd ; they found they had done like aesops viper , they licked the file till their tongues bled ; but himself was wholly invulnerable . they were therefore forc'd to leave their muster-rolls and decline the particulars , and fall to their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to accuse him for going about to subvert the fundamental laws ; the way by which great strafford and canterbury fell ; which was a device , when all reasons fail'd , to oppress the enemy by the bold affirmation of a conclusion they could not prove , they did like those gladiatores whom the romans call'd retiaries , when they could not stab their enemies with their daggers , they threw nets over him , and cover'd him with a general mischief . but the martyr king charles the first , of most glorious and eternal memory ; seeing so great a champion likely to be oppress'd with numbers and despair , sent what rescue he could , his royal letter for his bail , which was hardly granted to him , and when it was , it was upon such hard terms , that his very delivery was a persecution . so necessary it was for them , who intended to do mischief to the publick , to take away the strongest pillars of the house . this thing i remark to acquit this great man from the tongue of slander , which had so boldly spoken , that it was certain something would stick , yet was so impotent and unarm'd , that it could not kill that great same which his greater worthiness had procur'd him . it was said of hippasus the pythagorean , that being ask'd how and what he had done : he answer'd , nondum nihil , neque enim adhuc mihi invidetur ; i have done nothing yet , for no man envies me . he that does great things , cannot avoid the tongues and teeth of envy ; but if calumnies must pass for evidences , the bravest hero's must alwayes be the most reproched persons in the world. nascitur aetolicus , pravum ingeniosus ad omne ; qui facere assuerat , patriae non degener artis , candida de nigris , & de candentibus atra . every thing can have an ill name and an ill sense put upon it ; but god , who takes care of reputations as he does of lives , by the orders of his providence confutes the slander , ut memoria justorum sit in benedictionibus , that the memory of the righteous man might be embalm'd with honour : and so it hapned to this great man ; for by a publick warranty , by the concurrent consent of both houses of parliament , the libellous petitions against him , the false records and publick monuments of injurious shame were cancell'd , and he was restor'd in integrum to that fame where his great labours and just procedures had first estated him ; which , though it was but justice , yet it was also such honour , that it is greater then the virulence of tongues , which his worthiness and their envy had arm'd against him . but yet the great scene of the troubles was but newly open'd . i shall not refuse to speak yet more of his troubles , as remembring that st. paul , when he discourses of the glories of the saints departed , he tells more of their sufferings than of their prosperities , as being that laboratory and crysable in which god makes his servants vessels of honour to his glory . the storm quickly grew high ; & transitum est à linguis ad gladios , and that was indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , iniquity had put on arms ; when it is armata nequitia , then a man is hard put to it . the rebellion breaking out the bishop went to his charge at derry , and , because he was within the defence of walls , the execrable traitor sir phelim ● neale laid a snare to bring him to a dishonourable death . for he wrote a letter to the bishop , pretended intelligence between them , desir'd that according to their former agreement such a gate might be deliver'd to him . the messenger was not advis'd to be cautious , not at all instructed in the art of secrecy , for it was intended that he should be search'd , intercepted and hang'd for ought they car'd : but the arrow was shot against the bishop , that he might be accused for base conspiracy , and die with shame and sad dishonour . but here god manifested his mighty care of his servants ; he was pleas'd to send into the heart of the messenger such an affrightment , that he directly ran away with the letter , and never durst come near the town to deliver it . this story was publish'd by sir phelim himself , who added , that if he could have thus ensnar'd the bishop , he had good assurance the town should have been his own : sed bonitas dei praevalitura est super omnem malitiam hominis , the goodness of god is greater then all the malice of men ; and nothing could so prove how dear that sacred life was to god , as his rescue from the dangers . stantia non poterant tecta probare deos : to have kept him in a warm house had been nothing , unless the roof had fallen upon his head , that rescue was a remark of divine favour and providence . but it seems sir phelim's treason against the life of this worthy man had a correspondent in the town ; and it broke out speedily ; for what they could not effect by malicious stratagem , they did in part by open force ; they turn'd the bishop out of the town , and upon trifling and unjust pretences search'd his carriages , and took what they pleas'd , till they were asham'd to take more : they did worse then divorce him from his church , for in all the roman divorces they said , tuas tibi res babeto , take your goods and be gone ; but plunder was religion then . however , though the usage was sad , yet it was recompenc'd to him by his taking sanctuary in oxford , where he was graciously receiv'd by that most incomparable and divine prince ; but having served the king in yorkshire by his pen , and by his counsels , and by his interests , return'd back to ireland , where under the excellent conduct of his grace the now lord lieutenant , he ran the risque and fortune of oppressed vertue . but god having still resolv'd to afflict us , the good-man was forc'd into the fortune of the patriarchs , to leave his countrey and his charges , and seek for safety and bread in a strange land ; for so the prophets were us'd to do , wandring up and down in sheeps-clothing , but poor as they were the world was not worthy of them ; and this worthy man , despising the shame , took up his cross and followed his master . exilium causa ipsa jubet sibi dulce videri , et desiderium dulce levat patriae . he was not asham'd to suffer where the cause was honourable and glorious ; but so god provided for the needs of his banished , and sent a man who could minister comfort to the afflicted , and courage to the persecuted , and resolutions to the tempted , and strength to that religion for which they all suffered . and here this great man was indeed triumphant ; this was one of the last and best scenes of his life : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the last dayes are the best witnesses of a man. but so it was , that he stood up in publick and brave defence for the doctrine and discipline of the church of england ; first , by his sufferings and great example , for verbis tantùm philosophari non est doctoris sed histrionis , to talk well and not to do bravely is for a comedian , not a divine : but this great man did both ; he suffered his own calamity with great courage , and by his wise discourses strengthened the hearts of others . for there wanted not diligent tempters in the church of rome , who ( taking advantage of the afflictions of his sacred majesty , in which state men commonly suspect every thing , and like men in sickness are willing to change from side to side , hoping for ease and finding none ) flew at royal game , and hop'd to draw away the king from that religion which his most royal father , the best man and the wisest prince in the world , had seal'd with the best bloud in christendom ; and which himself suck'd in with his education , and had confirm'd by choice and reason , and confess'd publickly and bravely , and hath since restor'd prosperously . millitie●e was the man , witty and bold enough to attempt a zelous and a foolish undertaking , and address'd himself with ignoble indeed but witty arts to perswade the king to leave what was dearer to him then his eyes . it is true , it was a wave dash'd against a rock , and an arrow shot against the sun , it could not reach him ; but the bishop of derry turn'd it also , and made it to fall upon the shooters head ; for he made so ingenious , so learned and so accute reply to that book , he so discover'd the errors of the roman church , retorted the arguments , stated the questions , demonstrated the truth , and sham'd their procedures , that nothing could be a greater argument of the bishops learning , great parts , deep judgment , quickness of apprehension , and sincerity in the catholick and apostolick faith , or of the follies and prevarications of the church of rome . he wrote no apologies for himself ; though it were much to be wish'd that , as iunius wrote his own life , or moses his own story , so we might have understood from himself how great things god had done for him and by him ; but all that he permitted to god , and was silent in his own defences ; gloriosius enim est injuriam tacendo fugere , quàm respondendo superare . but when the honour and conscience of his king ; and the interest of a true religion , was at stake , the fire burn'd within him , and at last he spake with his tongue ; he cried out like the son of croesus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , take heed and meddle not with the king ; his person is too sacred , and religion too dear to him to be assaulted by vulgar hands . in short , he acquited himself in this affair with so much truth and piety , learning and judgment , that in those papers his memory will last unto very late succeeding generations . but this most reverend prelate found a nobler adversary and a braver scene for his contention . he found that the roman priests being wearied and baffled by the wise discourses and pungent arguments of the english divines , had studiously declined any more to dispute the particular questions against us , but fell at last upon a general charge , imputing to the church of england the great crime of schism ; and by this they thought they might with most probability deceive unwary and unskilful readers ; for they saw the schism , and they saw we had left them , and because they consider'd not the causes , they resolv'd to out-face us in the charge . but now it was that dignum nactus argumentum , having an argument fit to imploy his great abilities , consecrat hic praesul calamum calamlque labores ante aras domino laeta trophaea suo ; the bishop now dedicates his labours to the service of god and of his church , undertook the question , and in a full discourse proves the church of rome , not only to be guilty of the schism by making it necessary to depart from them , but they did actuate the schisms , and themselves made the first separation in the great point of the popes supremacy , which was the palladium for which they principally contended . he made it appear that the popes of rome were usurpers of the rights of kings and bishops , that they brought in new doctrines in every age , that they impos'd their own devices upon christendom as articles of faith , that they prevaricated the doctrines of the apostles , that the church of england only return'd to her primitive purity , that she joyn'd with christ and his apostles , that she agreed in all the sentiments of the primitive church . he stated the questions so wisely , and conducted them so prudently , and handled them so learnedly , that i may truly say , they were never more materially confuted by any man , since the questions have so unhappily disturbed christendom . verum hoc eos malè ussit : and they finding themselves smitten under the fifth rib , set up an old champion of their own , a goliah to fight against the armies of israel ; the old bishop of chalcedon , known to many of us , replied to this excellent book ; but was so answer'd by a rejoynder made by the lord bishop of derry , in which he so press'd the former arguments , refuted the cavils , brought in so many impregnable authorities and probations , and added so many moments and weights to his discourse , that the pleasures of reading the book would be the greatest , if the profit to the church of god were not greater . flumina tum lactis , tum flumina nectaris ibant , flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella . for so sampson's riddle was again expounded ; out of the strong came meat , and out of the eater came sweetness ; his arguments were strong , and the eloquence was sweet and delectable ; and though there start up another combatant against him , yet he had onely the honour to fall by the hands of hector : still haeret lateri lethalis arundo ; the headed arrow went in so far , that it could not be drawn out , but the barbed steel stuck behind . and whenever men will desire to be satisfied in those great questions , the bishop of derry's book shall be his oracle . i will not insist upon his other excellent writings ; but it is known every where with what piety and acumen he wrote against the manichean doctrine of fatal necessity , which a late witty man had pretended to adorn with a new vizor ; but this excellent person wash'd off the cerusse and the meretricious paintings , rarely well asserted the oeconomy of the divine providence , and having once more triumph'd over his adversary , plenus victoriarum & trophaeorum betook himself to the more agreeable attendance upon sacred offices , and having usefully and wisely discours'd of the sacred rite of confirmation , impos'd hands upon the most illustrious princes , the dukes of york and gloucester , and the princess royal , and ministred to them the promise of the holy spirit , and ministerially establish'd them in the religion and service of the holy jesus . and one thing more i shall remark , that at his leaving those parts upon the kings return , some of the remonstrant ministers of the low-countries coming to take their leaves of this great man , and desiring that by his means the church of england would be kind to them , he had reason to grant it , because they were learned men , and in many things of a most excellent belief ; yet he reprov'd them , and gave them caution against it , that they approched too near and gave too much countenance to the great and dangerous errors of the socinians . he thus having serv'd god and the king abroad , god was pleas'd to return to the king and to us all , as in the dayes of old , and we sung the song of david . in convertendo captivitatem sion : when king david and all his servants returned to ierusalem , this great person having trode in the wine-press was called to drink of the wine , and as an honorary reward of his great services and abilities was chosen primate of this national church : in which time we are to look upon him , as the king and the kings great vicegerent did , as a person concerning whose abilities the world had too great testimony ever to make a doubt . it is true , he was in the declension of his age and health ; but his very ruines were goodly ; and they who saw the broken heaps of pompey's theatre , and the crushed obelisks , and the old face of beauteous philaenium , could not but admire the disordered glories of such magnificent structures , which were venerable in their very dust . he ever was us'd to overcome all difficulties , onely mortality was too hard for him ; but still his vertues and his spirit was immortal , he still took great care , and still had new and noble designs , and propos'd to himself admirable things . he govern'd his province with great justice and sincerity ; unus amplo consulens pastor gregi , somnos tuetur omnium solus vigil . and had this remark in all his government , that as he was a great hater of sacrilege , so he professed himself a publick enemy to non-residence , and often would declare wisely and religiously against it , allowing it in no case but of necessity or the greater good of the church . there are great things spoken of his predecessor s. patrick , that he founded 700. churches and religious convents , that he ordain'd 5000. priests , and with his own hands consecrated 350. bishops . how true the story is i know not ; but we were all witnesses that the late primate , whose memory we now celebrate , did by an extraordinary contingency of providence in one day consecrate two archbishops and ten bishops ; and did benefit to almost all the churches in ireland , and was greatly instrumental to the re-endowments of the whole clergy ; and in the greatest abilities and incomparable industry was inferiour to none of his most glorious antecessours . since the canonization of saints came into the church , we find no irish bishop canoniz'd , except s. laurence of dublin , and s. malachias of down ; indeed richard of armagh's canonization was propounded , but not effected ; but the character which was given of that learned primate by trithemius does exactly fit this our late father ; vir in divinis scripturis eruditus , secularis philosophiae jurísque canonici non ignarus , clarus ingenio , sermone scholasticus , in declamandis sermonibus ad populum excellentis industriae : he was learned in the scriptures , skill'd in secular philosophy , and not unknowing in the civil and canon laws , ( in which studies i wish the clergy were with some carefulness and diligence still more conversant ) he was of an excellent spirit , a scholar in his discourses , an early and industrious preacher to the people . and as if there were a more particular sympathy between their souls , our primate had so great a veneration to his memory , that he purpos'd , if he had liv'd , to have restor'd his monument in dundalke , which time , or impiety , or unthankfulness had either omitted or destroyed . so great a lover he was of all true and inherent worth , that he lov'd it in the very memory of the dead , and to have such great examples transmitted to the intuition and imitation of posterity . at his coming to the primacy he knew he should at first espy little besides the ruines of discipline , a harvest of thorns , and heresies prevailing in the hearts of the people , the churches possess'd by wolves and intruders , mens hearts greatly estranged from true religion ; and therefore he set himself to weed the fields of the church ; he treated the adversaries sometimes sweetly , sometimes he confuted them learnedly , sometimes he rebuk'd them sharply . he visited his charges diligently , and in his own person , not by proxies and instrumental deputations : quaerens non nostra , sednos , & quae sunt iesu christi ; he design'd nothing that we knew of but the redintegration of religion , the honour of god and the king , the restoring of collapsed discipline , and the renovation of faith and the service of god in the churches . and still he was indefatigable , and , even as the last scene of his life , intended to undertake a a regal visitation . quid enim vultis me otiosum à domino comprehendi ? said one ; he was not willing that god should take him unimployed : but , good man , he felt his tabernacle ready to fall in pieces , and could go no further , for god would have no more work done by that hand ; he therefore espying this , put his house in order , and had lately visited his diocese , and done what he then could to put his charge in order ; for he had a good while since receiv'd the sentence of death within himself , and knew he was shortly to render an account of his stewardship ; he therefore upon a brisk alarm of death , which god sent him the last ianuary , made his will ; in which , besides the prudence and presence of spirit manifested in making just and wise settlement of his estate , and provisions for his descendants ; at midnight , and in the trouble of his sickness and circumstances of addressing death , still kept a special sentiment and made confession of gods admirable mercies , and gave thanks that god had permitted him to live to see the blessed restauration of his majesty and the church of england , confess'd his faith to be the same as ever , gave praises to god that he was born and bred up in this religion , and prayed to god and hop'd he should die in the communion of this church , which he declar'd to be the most pure and apostolical church in the whole world . he prayed to god to pardon his frailties and infirmities , relied upon the mercies of god and the merits of jesus christ , and with a singular sweetness resign'd up his soul into the hands of his redeemer . but god , who is the great choragus and master of the scenes of life and death , was not pleas'd then to draw the curtains ; there was an epilogue to his life yet to be acted and spoken . he return'd to actions and life , and went on in the methods of the same procedure as before ; was desirous still to establish the affairs of the church , complain'd of some disorders which he purpos'd to redress , girt himself to the work ; but though his spirit was willing , yet his flesh was weak ; and as the apostles in the vespers of christs passion , so he in the eve of his own dissolution was heavy , not to sleep , but heavy unto death , and look'd for the last warning , which seiz'd on him in the midst of business ; and though it was sudden , yet it could not be unexpected , or unprovided by surprize , and therefore could be no other then that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which augustus us'd to wish unto himself , a civil and well-natur'd death , without the amazement of troublesom circumstances , or the great cracks of a falling house , or the convulsions of impatience . seneca tells that bassus aufidius was wont to say , sperare se nullum dolorem esse in illo extremo anhelitu , si tamen esset , habere aliquantum in ipsa brevitate solatii : he hop'd that the pains of the last dis●olution were little or none ; or if they were it was full of comfort that they could be but short . it happened so to this excellent man ; his passive fortitude had been abundantly tried before , and therefore there was the less need of it now ; his active graces had been abundantly demonstrated by the great and good things he did , & therefore his last scene was not so laborious , but god call'd him away something after the manner of moses , which the jews express by osculum oris dei , the kiss of gods mouth ; that is , a death indeed foresignified , but gentle , and serene , and without temptation . to summe up all ; he was a wise prelate , a learned doctor , a just man , a true friend , a great benefactour to others , a thankful beneficiary where he was oblig'd himself . he was a faithful servant to his masters , a loyal subjest to the king , a zelous assertor of his religion against popery on one side , and fanaticism on the other . the practice of his religion was not so much in forms and exteriour ministries , though he was a great observer of all the publick rites and ministries of the church , as it was in doing good for others . he was like myson , whom the scythian anarchasis so greatly prais'd , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he govern'd his family well , he gave to all their due of maintenance and duty , he did great benefit to mankind ; he had the fate of the apostle s. paul , he pass'd through evil report and good report , as a deceiver and yet true . he was a man of great business and great resort : semper aliquis in cydonis domo , as the corinthian said ; there was alwayes somebody in cydon's house . he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he divided his life into labour and his book ; he took care of his churches when he was alive , and even after his death , having left 500 l. for the repair of his cathedral of armagh and s. peters church in drogheda . he was an excellent scholar , and rarely well accomplish'd ; first instructed to great excellency by natural parts , and then consummated by study and experience . melanchthon was us'd to say that himself was a logician , pomeranus a grammarian , iustus ionas an orator , but that luther was all these . it was greatly true of him , that the single perfections which make many men eminent , were united in this primate and made him illustrious . at , at , quintilium perpetuus sopor urget : cui pudor & justitiae soror incorrupta fides , nudaque veritas quando ullum invenient ●arem ? it will be hard to find his equal in all things : fortasse tanquam phoenix anno quingentosimo naseitur , ( that i may use the words of seneca ) nec est mirum ex intervallo magna generari mediocria & in turbam nascentia saepe fortuna producit : eximia vero ipsa raritate commendat . for in him was visible the great lines of hooker's judiciousness , of iewel 's learning , of the accuteness of bishop andrews . he was skill'd in more great things then one ; and , as one said of phidias , he could not onely make excellent statues of ivory , but he could work in stone and brass . he shewed his equanimity in poverty , and his justice in riches ; he was useful in his countrey , and profitable in his banishment ; for , as paraeus was at anvilla , luther at wittenburg , s. athanasius and s. chrysostom in their banishment , s. hierom in his retirement at bethlehem , they were oracles to them that needed it ; so was he in holland and france , where he was abroad ; and , beside the particular endearments which his friends receiv'd from him , for he did do relief to his brethron that wanted , and supplied the souldiers out of his store in york-shire , when himself could but ill spare it ; but he receiv'd publick thanks from the convocation of which he was president , and publick justification from the parliament where he was speaker ; so that although , as one said , miràculi instar vitae iter , si longum , sine offensione percurrere ; yet no man had greater enemies , and no man had greater justifications . but god hath taken out elijah from our heads this day . i pray god that at least his mantle may be left behind , and that his spirit may be doubled upon his successour ; and that we may all meet together with him at the right hand of the lamb , where every man shall receive according to his deeds , whether they be good or whether they be evil . i conclude with the words of caius plinius , equidem beatos puto quibus deorum munere datum est , aut facere scribenda , aut scribere legenda . he wrote many things fit to be read , and did very many things worthy to be written ; which if we wisely imitate , we may hope to meet him in the resurrection of the just , and feast with him in the eternal supper of the lamb , there to sing perpetual anthems to the honour of god the father , son and holy ghost , to whom be all honour , &c. the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a64132-e240 synes . hym . 6 1 thes. 4. 16. john 5. 28. dracuntius de opere dei. luk. 14. 14. * rev. 20. 6. 1 thes. 4. 16. rom. 5. 10. isa. 26. 20. numb . 1. 46. 3. 39. ●●ld . hist. of●ithes ●ithes , c. 2. ●e philo. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . tract . 25. in st. matth. pindar . de scriptor . eccles. epist. 30. synes . ep . 57. a sermon preached in the parish church of st. giles in the fields at the funeral of bernard connor, m.d., who departed this life, oct. 30, 1698 : with a short account of his life and death / by william hayley ... hayley, william, 1657-1715. 1699 approx. 51 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a43127 wing h1214 estc r412 12012515 ocm 12012515 52450 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a43127) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52450) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 565:7) a sermon preached in the parish church of st. giles in the fields at the funeral of bernard connor, m.d., who departed this life, oct. 30, 1698 : with a short account of his life and death / by william hayley ... hayley, william, 1657-1715. 36 p. printed for jacob tonson ..., london : 1699. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng connor, bernard, 1666?-1698. bible. -o.t. -psalms xc, 10 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-04 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2003-04 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached in the parish church of st. giles in the fields . at the funeral of bernard connor , m. d. who departed this life , oct. 30. 1698. with a short account of his life and death . by william hayley , d. d. rector of the said church , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . london , printed for iacob tonson , at the iudges-head , near the inner-temple gate in fleetstreet ; and at grays-inn gate in grays-inn lane , 1699. a sermon preached at the funeral of doctor connor . psalm xc . 12. so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . there is nothing more apparent to the capacity of all men than the uncertainty of life , and nothing of which mankind is more universally perswaded than the necessity of death ; these are truths so self-evident , that there needs no labour to demonstrate them , the fate of past genenerations has given us palpable arguments to imprint them upon our minds , and the present , and every such like occasion of meeting , are so many fresh renewals of the impression ; so that as to the doctrinal part all men seem to be 〈◊〉 wise , and the most ignorant does not want an instructor to tell him that he must die , and that every day of his life brings him one step nearer to the grave . and yet though men are thus universally wise in the theory , we find them almost as universally unwise in the more necessary point , that of practice . men know they must die , they daily discourse and complain of it , nay in their temporal concerns their covenants , projects and securities , they consider and provide for it , and yet they are so blind that they seldom apply it to their great , their eternal concerns , or draw from it those plain and easy conclusions , which it naturally furnishes to perswade to a circumspect and religious manner of living . some look upon it as a great truth indeed , but so plain as not to need the being reflected on , and therefore neglect it as hardly worth their notice , or at least think the consideration of it may be assumed at their leisure . some again know it is too true , and they are afraid of it ; they see 't is pointed and must prick their consciences , if they suffer themselves to dwell upon it , and therefore put away the evil day far from them , remove the thought of it from their minds , as they wish they could do the thing from their persons , and say in their hearts to such suggestions , as the demoniacks did to our saviour , that they should not come to torment them before the time . and others use the important truth yet worse if possible , and endeavour to distort it to patronize folly and levity ; they conclude since life is short 't is best enjoy its delights as fast as they can , and live apace because they must shortly depart ; and so advance for their common motto , let us eat and drink for to morrow we die . thus the great and useful lesson of the brevity of life , which nature teaches , and the word of god inculcates , misses of its true end , which is the reformation of our manners ; is overlook'd by the negligent , dreaded by the voluptuous , and perverted and abused by the daring and prophane . the sacred author therefore of this psalm , who is supposed to have been moses the favorite of god , makes it his petition , that he might be directed by the aid of heaven in the application of this piece of knowledge ; and since the world was generally so unfortunate , as not to make a due use of it , that god would graciously please to teach him and his people the way to profit by it . he knew very well that our days pass on insensibly , and that we bring our years to an end as it were a tale that is told ; that the days of our years are threescore years and ten , that if they exceed , 't is but to bring an accession of labour and sorrow ; and that their date is made much shorter by our own ill conduct , and the just punishment that it deserves ; that the divine anger frequently cuts the thread of a dissolute life , and the divine providence sometimes straitens the bounds of a pious one , and therefore that all are concerned to reflect seriously on their frail and uncertain state , and to make that consideration a motive to a wise and a watchful conduct ; and since all wisdom comes from above , and 't is god himself that must direct our goings in his paths , or else our foot-steps will slip , he makes this his supplication , and thereby directs us to do the same , that god the author of all that is good in us , or useful for us , would so teach us to number our days , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . wisdom is in the sense of my text , the prudent administration of our life , the disposal of our ways agreeably to reason and religion , the careful preservation of our innocence in this world , and the securing our happiness in a future one ; these being the great ends of man , and consequently the obtaining of them being the main of our hopes , and the due prosecution of them the most exalted wisdom . and the applying our hearts to this wisdom , is the making it the ultimate design of all our thoughts and actions , the fixing our minds upon it , the entertaining it with such serious meditation as the dignity of the subject requires , the keeping it still in our view , and not letting it either escape by inadvertency , or grow remiss by its becoming familiar , but the persisting in a constant , uniform contrivance and endeavour , to order the little time we have so wisely , as to secure our eternity by it , and so work out our own salvation with fear and trembling . this is to be the great important result of the numbring our days , or the reflecting seriously on the shortness and uncertainty of human life ; this is the excellent lesson that we are to learn by the present , and by all other like occasions of assembling , which were piously designed , not for vain useless ostentation , but for our real instruction and improvement ; and were not so much intended for ceremony to the dead , as for advantage to the living ; this being an opportunity when our hearts are supposed to be more mollified , and more capable of serious impressions , when our tears should soften and prepare the soyl for the reception of god's word , and further its fruitfulness ; when our senses being fill'd with the demonstration of the vanity of this world , we should sensibly rellish the joys of another . and o! that it would please god so to bless what i am now about to deliver , that it might effectually engage us all , not to a faint reflection on mortality , which passes away with the pomp of the funeral , but to such an habitual remembrance of it , as might work its natural effect , the applying of our hearts to true wisdom ; to unfeigned holiness and the fear of god. this would be an effect truly answering the charity of our deceased brother , who being now ( as we hope in god ) united to the society of the saints in glory , would with them more rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner , than at panegyricks on himself ; and be more pleased at the improvement of others vertues , than at the recital of his own . now in order to this end , i shall in my discourse upon these words observe this following method . i. i shall shew that the numbring our days furnishes us with excellent motives to a pious and holy life . ii. that the applying of them to this end is the highest piece of wisdom . iii. i shall enquire how it comes to pass that they have generally so little influence on the minds of men , as not to engage them seriously to a constant and habitual piety . iv. i shall conclude with an earnest exhortation , to make that due application of our hearts to wisdom which the text directs us to pray for , and the present occasion does so movingly recommend to us . i. that the numbring our days furnishes us with excellent motives to a pious and holy life . the numbring our days is the serious consideration of the brevity and uncertainty of life , and the fatal necessity of a dissolution ; that we must die , that it will not be long before we do , that the time is not at our own disposal , no not in our knowledge , that the method of our ending our days is as uncertain as the time , but that whenever or however it happens , it opens a passage into an eternity of joy or misery . such reflections as these make up the work of numbring our days , and at first apprehension they must strike the mind with attention and concern ; but they are too many to be considered all together , and too fruitful of arguments to have them all at one glance deduced and attended to . i shall therefore distinctly treat of some at least of the principal of them , and shew the motives they afford to piety and a holy life . 1. the numbring our days implies that we must die , and that a period must be put to them ; whatever can be numbered must end , 't is only infinity that is always durable . the life of man is indeed properly eternal , and his mortal life is but the prologue of it , we were made principally for another world , and this present one is but the journey that leads to it . let it be therefore never so durable we must at last come to our long home , and its length will then be nothing , when eternity is put in the balance with it , how pleasant soever the objects of our senses may be , however our affections may doat upon them , and make us say within our selves , as peter did to our saviour on the mount , it is good for us to be here . yet the eternal laws of mortality oppose their bent , and cry aloud to us that we have here no abiding city . our bodies are tabernacles that cannot last long , and nature it self by degrees moulders these our houses of clay , to make way for death , and that lands us upon immortality . the consideration of this is sufficient to teach us that the business of this world is not to be our greatest care ; that what is needful for our temporary support is not of so great importance , as what makes a provision for an endless life ; what if every thing here does not fall according to our wishes ? or what if it does ? what if the world frown upon us , and we meet with disappointments in our designs , necessity in our fortune and pains and diseases in our bodies ? what if all these join together to make our journey uneasy ? if we are sure in the end to find a lasting comfort , to have all our tears wiped off , and an admittance given us into the joy of our lord ? and what if fortune smile upon us here for a moment ? what if we are feared or envy'd , caressed or loved by those about us ? what if we have health of body , plentiful estates and fair reputations ? if in the mean time our hopes reach no farther , and death is to put an end both to our grandeur and our expectation ? would not any man that reflects seriously on this be apt to say to himself , shall i spend my thoughts or contrivance for that which profiteth nothing ? or for so short a time ? shall i loose my rest and my peace , to be rich or great in the sight of my neighbours , when i am poor and miserable in the sight of my god , destitute of the riches of his grace , and the spiritual treasure of good works ? shall i gratify my own follies and vices , and in the hurry of them fancy i live for a moment , and so be carried away blindly into everlasting death ? o stupidity and madness ! that can please it self with the gaiety of a mortal state , and in the mean time not make provision for immortality ! 't is enough that this world passeth away , to make us not value it ; and that our home is in another , to perswade us to think of , and provide for it . 2. another reflexion that the numbring of our days will afford us , is , that life is at best but short , and of no considerable duration ; if we reckon it from our birth to the period of a good old age , 't is no vast circuit ; when iacob had lived near twice the common age of man , and the days of his pilgrimage were 130 years , he told pharaoh that the days of the years of his life were but few as well as evil . 't is the usual complaint of those that spend their time in enquiries after sciences , in the search of nature , or the improvement of arts , that knowledge is of a vast extent , and life is but short to work it out ; but if we measure the greatness of the work that most concerns us , the subduing our corruptions , the improving our graces , and the study and practice of our duty , this short time will appear yet more inconsiderable , the days fly swiftly , and the night hastily approaches wherein no man can work . i do not now mention , that a great part of this life is spent before we come to any maturity of thought , that another great portion is given to necessary employments and diversions , and a third glides away insensibly in the silence of thoughtless sleep ; for the present let us suppose that all of it were in our hands to husband and employ to our spiritual advantage , and that we were sure it should not be suddenly snatcht from us , yet alas ! it is easily measured , we see how short it seems to ourselves , when we look back upon what is past of it , and if we do but compare it with eternity , it quite disappears and vanishes into nothing . let us see then what use wisdom would make of such a consideration as this ; would it pass this little time it has given it to no purpose ? or to wicked ones ? would it study methods and contrivances to waste and mispend it ? would it neglect its work or add to it ? would it carelessly let slip the opportunities of repentance and amendment , or render them yet more difficult by affected and habitual impieties ? these methods are directly opposite to a perswasion of the brevity of life ; such a thought would be productive of diligence and watchfulness , and would make us vigilant in catching at and improving every opportunity that providence is pleased to afford us of making our calling and election sure ; we should account it unexcusable folly to waste our pretious time in the serving of our lusts , in the jollities of extravagance , or the supinity of sloth and idleness ; we should then conclude that we ought at least to employ our time well , if we could not prolong it , that we should make some progress in our spiritual race , press on daily nearer and nearer to perfection , and be therefore more active , because we find we have not long to run ; but above all we should dread the going backward in our course by vice and licentiousness , and the fettering our selves in the sinful pleasures of the world , and loading our minds with the clogs of wicked affections and vicious desires . whoever is truly sensible that his hours are few , will not dare to be prodigal of them , and he that wisely considers that his work is great , and that it must be done , will tremble at the thoughts of idly neglecting it , remissly engaging in it , or foolishly swelling its bulk or obstructing its progress . 3. the numbring our days will convince us , that this short life is yet shorter to us ; that its period is uncertain and unknown ; and what must necessarily end quickly by the common laws of nature , is frequently by our own follies , by chance and accident , and by an over-ruling providence suddenly broke off and concluded , or which is equal to us , render'd useless to our main design , the preparing for another life . we may perhaps arrive to the age of man which the psalmist assigns , that of threescore years and ten ; we may possibly , by a gentle hand of god be called from the hurry of business , the vanities of the world , and the temptations of pleasures , and have leisure , upon a bed of retirement , without acute or discomposing sickness , to think and prepare for heaven , and make our peace with god ; these advantages 't is possible the divine clemency may afford some of us ; but we are to reflect that these are extraordinary advantages , that god does not generally vouchsafe to men , but is pleased to indulge only to some few as particular expressions of his paternal love . the present occasion of our meeting must divert us from such expectations , and if we turn our thoughts upon the usual methods of mens departure , we see that the most are taken off , when they least think of it ; some suddainly without time to reflect , some by acute diseases that disturb the mind , and take away either its sense , or the calm which is necessary for divine thoughts ; and in some the vigor of the understanding wears away with the strength of the body , and dotage takes up that time which they had destin'd for the work of their conversion ; thus we see we are not rationally to expect that our years should grow to their possible extent , or that they should be useful to us if they did ; and therefore we should constantly be apprehensive of what may always happen , and be still prepared for what may every day arrive . this reflection then must necessarily awaken us from the lethargy of security ; and shew us the fatal imprudence of putting the evil day far from us . have i not begun my preparation for death till this day , and yet for ought i know this may be the very last day of my life ? i may perhaps this hour be called to give up my accompts , and wretched man than i am ! i have scarce yet had it in my thoughts , that i have an accompt to make ! must not such a consideration as this terrify the sinner , discover the egregious folly of a wicked life , the necessity of repentance , and that a speedy one ? is it possible that a man could take any pleasure in the most delightful of all his sensual enjoyments , if he reflected that in that very moment he were to expect death as the reward of it ? this he knows he deserves , and he does not know but he may feel ; and therefore he can never be easy or satisfied , while he remembers it , till he has made his peace with that god , in whose hands are his life and death . nothing sure can be a more rational inducement to draw off our dependance on the world , than to think we do not know how soon we may quit it , nor is there a more natural consequence of the uncertainty of death , than the absolute necessity of a present and certain preparation . 4. the last suggestion i shall offer from the numbring our days , which carries with it one of the strongest motives to a true use of life ; is , that the same moment that terminates our days , puts an end likewise to all opportunities of conversion or reconciliation to god. as the tree falls so it lies , and as the grave receives us , so will it deliver us to judgment . behold now is the accepted time , behold now is the day of salvation , but in death no man can remember god or make his peace with him in the pit . were there a middle state , where we might have a double prospect , backward on the vanities and follies of the world , and forward on the two portions of endless bliss or torment , and might we be there admitted to sue out our pardon , and to make attonement for the errors of our life , it would possibly not be reckon'd folly , to defer our preparations for another world , till we had done with this ; but sacred writ assures us , that there is no such middle state or opportunity of reconcilement , but that as certainly as 't is appointed for all men once to die , so certainly after death succeedeth the judgment : and we shall not be judged according to any future thoughts we may have hereafter , but every man shall receive according to what he has done in the flesh whether it be good or evil . is there then no thought , or labour in , or beyond the grave ? is there nothing that can avail us towards joy in the world to come , but our passing of our days on earth in a conscientious discharge of our duty ? and can we live here , as if we had nothing to do , or nothing but what we might defer till a future state ? is this life our only stage of probation and tryal , and must the other receive us as we are qualified when we go out of it ; and can we think we are not concerned how we behave our selves here , or deliver our selves up to our iudge ? if when we depart hence spotted and polluted with unrepented sins , there is no fountain left to purge our pollutions , but a devouring fire only to punish them , sure we cannot be so stupid as not to wash away speedily our habitual vices , in repentant tears and a bitter humiliation , and labour mightily in this our day , for the things that belong to our peace , before they are hid from our eyes . and if those only are addmitted into the company of the lamb , who are sanctified by his blood , and cloathed with innocence , will not common sense tell us , that we ought to lay hold on the merits of his blood and passion , by a zealous performance of the duties of that covenant which was sealed by it , and by a careful preservation of our integrity , and an affectionate doing of his will while we are in the flesh , make our selves meet to be received into his glory , cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit , and perfect holiness in the fear of god ? that when we come to die , we may do it with joy , and embrace our dissolution , as that which will crown the pious life on earth , with an immortal one in heaven . these are the genuine applications of some of the most considerable reflections , that arise from the numbring our days , whereby it appears , that this lesson furnishes us with excellent motives to a holy life , i come now to shew ii. that the applying of them to this end is the highest piece of wisdom . and that , whether wisdom be taken for judging aright , or for the doing what is most for our interest and advantage . 1. if wisdom be taken for judging aright , or deducing just consequences from evident truths , what can be more evident than the wisdom of these conclusions ? if we must quit this world , and then enter upon an eternity of joy or misery , is it not rational to take care how we steer our present course , that we do not make a fatal mistake at last ? if the time we have to stay be but short , is it not just and fit that we be cautious of loosing and misapplying it ? if its duration be uncertain , and futurity be out of our knowledge , does it not highly become an understanding creature , to be prepared for what may happen ? and if this opportunity being once lost , there be no other to retrieve our hopes , does not common reason urge us immediately to embrace and employ it ? and do we not all act thus in those affairs that relate to our temporal concerns ? and how then should it not be prudence to judge alike with reference to our eternal ones ? the contrary judgments which libertinism raises , how unconclusive and absurd are they ! life must end , therefore 't is no matter how we spend it ; 't is short , therefore 't is not worth our improving ; 't is uncertain , and therefore 't is in vain to design any thing in it ; and 't is our only opportunity , and therefore — what ? that we must neglect , pervert and abuse it ! o senseless folly , and unmanly stupidity ! we pretend in vain to reason , if we can judge no better ; we have no pretence to understanding , no not so much as to that of the beasts that perish . 2. but then if we take wisdom for the doing of that which is most for our interest and advantage , one should think there were no need of proof to evince , that to spend our life in goodness and piety , is the most useful deduction we can make from the vanity and brevity of it ; for what do we loose by it ? or what do we gain by the contrary ? if there be certainly a future judgment , an eternity of bliss , and a lake of everlasting fire , we are then sure nothing but piety can bear the one , can be admitted into the other , or delivered from the last . and i would ask a prophane and impenitent person , how he thinks he can bear the pomp of the last tribunal ? what thoughts would be raised in him from the sight of a distant heaven , and what sense he would have of the torments of a present hell ? if these things must be , sure reason as well as religion must make the apostles reflection , what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness ? but what if these things were only probabilities and conjectures ? what if we were not fully assured that there were to be a future state , but only apprehended and dreaded it ? a pious life would still be the most advantageous conclusion we could deduce from this ; for what do we loose by it ? nothing but some of the deceitful pleasures of sense , which alwasy fall short of our hopes , end in dissatisfaction , and never fully gratify : and yet we gain in exchange the delights of vertue , which are deep , real and lasting . and what great pleasure is it that we have from vice ? is it enough to make amends for the fears and dread we have , least the checks of our conscience , and the voice of reason and religion should prove true at last ? does it ballance the dismal apprehensions we have upon a sickbed , or upon approaching death ? no , i am fully perswaded , that as there is no one so wicked but he would die the death of the righteous , and wishes it whilst he lives ; so there is not any so profligate , but when he sees his last hour is coming , he would most willingly choose to have had all his years confin'd to a bed of weakness , and debar'd all the sensual delights of the world , so that he might die like the good man , and have that peace of conscience , and comfortable assurance of happiness , which the pious christian has when he departs this life . i shall therefore make no question but that every one that hears me is fully convinced , of the wisdom of applying the thoughts of death to the reformation of life ; and so may be all mankind are , when they do but reflect ; and yet we see these reflections are like man himself , short-lived , uncertain , and too often fruitless ; and therefore that they may not be so with us , let us if we can , find out the causes of this unhappiness in order to avoid them , and this i am to endeavour in my third general . iii. where i am to enquire , how it comes to pass that these things have generally so little influence on the minds of men , as not to engage them seriously to constant and habitual piety . now to omit others , i conceive it generally owing to one of these two reasons . 1. men do not generally consider seriously , or reflect on these truths , with that attention and meditation as is proper for a matter of so great importance ; the world is most commonly taken up with interest and pleasure , and mens thoughts are habitually possest with contrivances of another nature ; and when a person is so overbusy in raising his fortune , gratifying his appetite , or combating with necessity , matters of religion , and particularly preparation for death , may wait long before they are admitted ; and when they are , they have but a short hearing , and are presently dismist with a be gone for this time and when i have a convenient opportunity i will resume ye . now inconsideration is a certain obstruction to the most excellent rules or motives that can be given a man ; the doctrine i now press is a soveraign medicine indeed , but it must be applied and digested ; if the patient will not receive and keep it , 't is in vain to expect any benefit from it . 't is as plain an argument as sense and reason can invent against the worship of an image , that it is a thing insensible and uncapable of adoration ; and yet not only the gentile world , but the israelites themselves ; and , i wish i could not add , some christians , have been drawn into the folly , and the prophet isaiah in his 44. ch. and 19. verse gives the reason for it . and that is , that none considereth in his heart , i have burnt part of it in the fire , and shall i make the residue of it an abomination ? shall i fall down to the stock of a tree ? and thus the certainty of death , and the brevity and vanity of life , are as strong motives to vertue and piety , as can possibly be given to men , but yet they can never have a due effect , if israel will not know , if the people will not consider . and therefore it is that the mercy of god breaks out into that pathetical wish in the 32. deut. 29. o that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end . 2. if there are many that will not consider at all , there are many likewise that baffle their consideration , with the hopes of such advantages as possibly may happen . they know and consider too that they must die , and that their life is short and uncertain , and they are not ignorant that they must make their peace with god before they depart this life , or perish everlastingly ; but yet 't is possible they may live to a good old age , and wear out by degrees ; may have leisure to think , and be good when they are no longer able to enjoy the pleasures of life , and then they resolve to lay aside all other business , and think of eternity . they see there are some that god blesses with a gradual and a sensible departure , and therefore they hope for the same mercy which god vouchsafes to these some , and do therefore abuse his patience and long sufferance , because they hope for it . i do not now urge the unreasonableness and ingratitude of such a carriage , nor contend that the goodness of god should rather lead us to a speedy reformation ; i am only now noting that how unreasonable soever it be , yet still this is a great cause of the backwardness and roerastination of repentance : hope is a flattering passion , it will represent what is possible as if it were certain , and what is sometimes given , as if it might be always expected ; and so by pursuing these vain hopes men loose their real ones , and are overtaken by evil when they promised themselves peace . they hope death will not come quickly , and so squander away life , and by expecting a longer duration of their being in this world , are not hasty in laying the well grounded expectation of bliss in a future one . now if there be any here present who have hitherto deferr'd their preparation for another world , who are in the strength of their youth , and resolve still to put off this work 'till old age , i need not send them far for arguments to convince them of their folly . our deceased brother god has called away in the vigor of his youth , about the thirty third year of his age , when the world was in expectation of great things from him , and when possibly improvement in natural knowledge , reputation in his profession , and advancement in his fortune filled and employed his thoughts . he had liv'd a vertuous and a sober life , free from those extravagancies which men in the luxuriant bloom of youth and wit are too often carried into , and by which they run into a hasty decay ; and yet god has been pleased to call him away in the midst of his course , and to make him our warning of the uncertainty of life . thus his fate is one argument for us , and if we regard his judgment in this matter , that will be another ; for though he had been free from the debauches of the age , yet what he seem'd most to lament at his death was that he had not been better prepared for it , and that he had not employ'd more of that time which he spent in the search of nature and the entertainment of philosophy , in the more useful search into the state of his soul and the concerns of a future life ; so that both the persuasion of his mind and his early departure strike in with my main design , to press men to apply their hearts betimes to this piece of true wisdom , the early preparing for eternity . but before i come to the close application of this , it will perhaps not be unacceptable to you to have some short account of his life and death who gives the occasion of this present admonition . he was born in ireland , and educated in the communion of the church of rome , and remained in his own country , as i am informed by his friends , till about the twentieth year of his age ; when in order to cultivate his studies , and to apply his mind to physick , and work out his fortune , he betook himself to travel . his parts and conduct were soon taken notice of in the court of france , where the care and government of the sons of the high chancellor of poland who were then in that kingdom , was committed to him , and he attended them in their travels into italy , sicily , germany , &c. which gave him opportunity of making many considerable observations in those countries . at his arrival in poland , whither he accompanied these gentlemen in their return . , he was made physitian to the late king , and by him recommended to his daughter the electoress of bavaria , to have the care of her health . after some stay at the elector's court , he departed thence with several marks of esteem and favour , as he had before done from the court of poland , and he came through holland into this city , where he was admitted into the royal society and the colledge of physicians . whether it were only to perfect himself in physick that he came into england , where our professors have deservedly the reputation of excelling those of our neighbouring nations , or whether his riper years gave him other opinions in matters of religion than would have been tolerated in the courts whence he came , i had not opportunity of informing my self . in fact , he had not been long in england but he became so far acquainted with our doctrine and discipline , and approved of both so well , that he professed himself a member of our church , what were the main arguments and inducements to his conversion , though i could wish they were publick , i could not particularly examine ; for i knew not of his sickness till two days before his death , when he was very weak ; and i was then ignorant of his having been bred up in the roman communion , and had i known it , i should still have thought it more necessary to employ that little time his weakness would enable him to hold a discourse , in examining his present sincerity , and directing him in his last work , thn in enquiring into the occasions and reasons that brought him to a change of his religion . he had in his sickness , before his distemper arrived to a great heighth , and while he was in his perfect senses , made his will , in which he left five pounds to the poor of this parish where he now lived , and desired that if it should please god to take him out of this world , i might preach him a funeral sermon , and that it might be made publick ; his friends let me know this , and at his and their request i visited him ; i found him very much decayed in his strength , but perfectly sensible , as he had still been , in the intervals of his fits , though the heighth of his feaver put him into ravings . as soon as i saw him he requested of me what his friends had told me beforehand , and i presumed his design in it was that he might be vindicated from the suspicion of some heterodox opinions which his censurers imputed to him , as well as that his death might be the occasion of an useful discourse to the living . i therefore told him that in case i complyed with his desire , i thought it would be expected i should say something of a person whose writings and character had rendered him so much known to the world , and had given occasion to some people to speak doubtfully of his principles in religion , and that for this reason , among others , it would be very proper for me to have some satisfaction from him , as to his faith ; upon which i put several questions to him , as whether he believed the gospel ? whether he gave credit to the miracles that are there recorded ; and lookt upon them as attestations of the truth of the christian religion ? whether he believed that jesus christ was the saviour of the world , and that he came to be our propitiation , and to satisfy divine justice for the sins of mankind ? to which , and such-like questions he answer'd affirmatively with great earnestness ; and when i discoursed him on the subject of that book of his , which occasion'd suspicion of his principles , he declared that he had no intention to prejudice ▪ religion thereby , and remitted me to his grace the archbishop of canterbury for farther satisfaction , to whom he said he had explain'd himself in this matter , and as an attestation of his sincerity had received the sacrament upon it , at the parish church of st. martin's in the fields , which i have since found to be true . i then began to examine him as to the state of his soul , what sense he had of his sins ? and what remorse for having at any time offended god ? and whether he were perswaded of the necessity of repentance and amendment of life in order to gain the salvation purchased by iesus christ ? to all which he gave me very satisfactory answers , and expressed great sorrow for the sins and errors of his life past , and then join'd with us very devouty in the prayers of the church , in the office for the visitation of the sick. in the afternoon of the same day i went with a desire to have had some farther discourse with him , but the violence of his fit being upon him , he was not in a condition to be spoken with . the next morning i visited him again , and found him in one of his intervals , still sensible but very much weakned . i took this occasion to talk with him more particularly concerning his principles , and upon mentioning the merits of our saviour , askt him whether he depended entirely on the merits of jesus christ , and his intercession for pardon of his sins and reconcilement to god ? and he made answer that he relied only on the merits of his saviour . he was then put in mind of receiving the sacrament , and he said he desir'd it with all his soul , i asked him whether in receiving the sacrament he had in his view the professing himself a disciple of christ and a member of his body the church ? and if in receiving it from my hands he desired to profess himself a member of the church of england , which question being a second time distinctly put to him by a friend of his then present , he answered with very great seriousness that he did ; then i put him in mind of his neglect of receiving the sacrament , which he had not done since about two years ago when he communicated at st. martins , and he express'd a sorrow for it ; by all this i thought he sufficiently purged himself from the imputation of deism , socinianism or popery , i lookt on him as a true penitent member of the church of england , and i gave him the sacrament . he received it with signs of very great devotion , with expressions of hearty repentance for all the sins and follies of his life , and earnest petitions for pardon , and so i left him , as far as we could judge , in a christian disposition for death , which i look'd upon as very near . these are things which i think my self obliged to give a particular account of , partly to answer what i conceive was the design of the deceased , and partly upon occasion of an accident that happen'd some hours after i left him ; which perhaps it will be thought not fair to conceal ; a certain person , who it seems was a romish priest , came to the doctor 's lodgings , and desired very earnestly to see him , declaring that he was his country-man , his friend and his relation , those about him , looking upon him as very near his departure , were unwilling he should be disturbed ; but upon great importunity did at last grant the stranger admittance , who coming to the bed side , call'd the doctor by his name and saluted him in his native language three times before he regarded ; but at the third time he cry'd out for god's sake assist me . upon which the company was prevailed with to leave the room , but the doctor 's most intimate friend returned to the door and heard the doctor repeating over his confiteor in latin , in a very huddled manner ; upon which the priest gave him absolution , and then asked him whether he would have extream unction , and the doctor said yes , after which it is suspected it was given him . now here could i imagine the doctor was in his senses , and that he was really in his heart of the roman communion , while he only acted this part in the last scene of his life , i should look upon it as a very great stain on his memory ; and i am perswaded it would give everybody a shocking idea of that religion which would allow a person so to prevaricate both with god and man. but i confess i believe his judgment was now quite decayed , and that he did not know what he did ; for he was thought dying by those about him , though he recover'd out of that agony and liv'd till next day . his friend assures me that in his sickness he turned away another romish priest , who would have seen him , that the doctor thanked him for it , and desir'd that none of those persons ( adding a reproachful word which i do not think decent to publish ) should be admitted to him , and that it was the doctor 's own desire that i should attend him in his sickness ; and i cannot see what occasion there should be for such a piece of dissimulation if he had been of the roman communion . now if the case were thus , that he was really past his senses , it cannot but give us some resentment of the confidence of persons , who will take such liberties in our land as to obtrude themselves upon the dying members of our church , when they know what severities any protestant must expect , who should dare to do any thing like it in a popish country . and it must give us some indignation against the vanity of that church , which hopes to save a man by words said over him in which he bears no part ; and against the prophaneness of those priests who prostitute the most sacred parts of their religion , to those who have no faith in them or regard for them . however it be , i thought it a sincere part to lay the thing open as it happen'd , that it might not be pretended that any thing was concealed which should argue him of the roman communion , or that we do , what we justly reproach our adversaries for , endeavour to gain credit to our church by feigned and pretended conversions . iv. it is time now to hasten to the last thing i proposed , to conclude with an earnest exhortation to all that hear me , to make that due application of their hearts to wisdom which the text directs us to pray for , and the present occasion does so movingly recommend to us . does the numbring of our days then afford us the most moving and prevalent arguments to a pious course of living , and does the shortness and uncertainty of life and other reflections drawn from it , naturally excite us to caution and vigilance ; let us then for our own interest , and for the glory of god , be perswaded to fix it in our minds , and meditate upon it . nature has written it in legible characters , and providence gives us frequent demonstrations of it , in the funerals of our friends and acquaintance ; and this day affords us a fresh instance to awaken our memories . let not this occasion then be unprofitable and vain , let it not add to our condemnation , by proving a new slighted call to conversion ; but let the natural death of our brother be the commencement of our spiritual life ; and if we have not yet considered of our great change , let us now begin ; and let not business , pleasure or time obliterate the thought , or stop its growth ; but let us constantly recall it upon all occasions , in temptation it will help us to fly and resist , in business it will prevent immoderate care and anxiety , and in pleasures it will make us cautious to guide them by innocence , and confine them with moderation . thus will it be of use in all the scenes of our life , and keep the judgment steady , and the passions in sobriety . but above all , let us take care that our meditations on this subject be not bare thought and persuasion , but that they have their due energy upon our manners ; let not actual amendment of our lives be put off till another day , nor iet vain hopes of future opportunities , which may be will never come , make us loose the present which god has put into our hands . if we know we must die , let us live as men that expect it , if our time at best cannot be very long , let us not give idleness or sin any share in it , and if our end , for ought we know , may be now at hand , and no one can tell , but his turn may be the next , let us endeavour to leave behind us a pattern for imitation and love , and not for terror and abhorrence . and in the last place , since we have no other time allotted us but this mortal life , to provide for eternity , and to secure our happiness ; let all our actions speak that we think of it , and are preparing for it . so shall our life here be a blessing to our selves , a joy to our friends and a benefit to the publick , and our death when ever it comes , shall be acceptable and welcome , not attended with anxious distrust , and doubtful expectations , but chearful and resigned , and such as gives a blessed presage of a happy immortality . which god of his mercy in his due time grant unto us all , amen . finis . the great treaty of peace: or, a serious exhortation upon a sad occasion to double diligence about making peace with god part whereof was preached at the funeral of mrs. anne kyrl, april 6. 1677. to which is added, the character of that worthy gentlewoman. by h. s. minister of the gospel. h. s. 1677 approx. 103 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 49 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59930 wing s34 estc r219783 99831230 99831230 35693 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59930) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35693) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2040:25) the great treaty of peace: or, a serious exhortation upon a sad occasion to double diligence about making peace with god part whereof was preached at the funeral of mrs. anne kyrl, april 6. 1677. to which is added, the character of that worthy gentlewoman. by h. s. minister of the gospel. h. s. [4], 91, [1] p. printed for john hancock, at the sign of the three bibles in popes head alley in cornhil, london : 1677. a2r contains dedication "to the relations of mrs. anne kyrl ..". caption title on p. 76 reads: in memory of that very religious gentlewoman, mrs. anne kyrl, the relict of colonel robert kyrl of waford, and daughter of william sellwin of matson near gloucester, esquire. .. many pages misnumbered. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng kyrl, anne, d. 1677 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. peace -early works to 1800. 2007-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 john latta sampled and proofread 2008-02 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the great treaty of peace : or a serious exhortation upon a sad occasion to double diligence about making peace with god. part whereof was preached at the funeral of mrs. anne kyrl , april 6. 1677. to which is annexed , the character of that worthy gentlewoman . by h. s. minister of the gospel . london , printed for john hancock , at the sign of the three bibles in popes head alley in cornhil . 1677. to the relations of mrs. anne kyrl lately deceased , h. s. wisheth the multiplication of grace and peace , through the knowledge of god , and of jesus our lord. the great treaty of peace . by a sad providence you are brought together into this place , yea by a long series of providences the governor of the world hath brought it to pass , that i must be your orator for a while , and you my auditors . to bespeak your attention and seriousness , being met upon such a sad occasion , one would think should be needless . i hope you are perswaded that you are all here before god to whom all things are naked , and opened , and to whom you must , another day , give account of your being here this day . i hope also that you are fully perswaded that preaching the gospel , what ever the world accounts it , is the power of god , rom. 1. 16. and that whereby it pleaseth him to save them that believe , 1 cor. 1. 18 , 21. and that faith comes by hearing it , rom. 10. 17. and that 't is a means ordained of god to open peoples eyes , and to turn them from darkness to light , &c. acts 26. 17 , 18. i would hope also , that you are come with an expectation to hear what god , by man , will say unto you , and with a resolution to do what shall be commanded you of the lord , as peters hearers , acts 10. 33. when he was sent to them to tell them words whereby they might be saved , acts 11. 14. my hearts desire and prayer to god is , that i may so speak , and you may so hear , that our souls may be , when we go hence , where that blessed soul is , whose corps we are met here to inter . it is written , 2 pet. 3. 14. thus , wherefore ( beloved ) seeing that ye look for such things , be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace , without spot and blameless . the day of the lord will come , v. 10. whatever mockers ( v. 3 , 4. ) say to the contrary . therefore the apostle exhorts to holiness , v. 11. and in this v. 14. repeats his exhortation . the exhortation is enforced by arguments . 1. one v. 12. from their hope and expectation of christs coming . 2. another from the new and better estate they expected at his coming according to promise , v. 13. which promise you have , isa . 65. 17. & 66. 22. behold , i create new heavens and a new earth , that is , a new estate of the church , which was to have , 1. it s inchoation and beginning . 2. it s consummation and perfecting . 1. it s inchoation at the first coming of christ in gospel times , which estate of the church is called , 1. a new creation by the prophet isaiah . 2. the world to come by s. paul , heb. 2. 5. 3. the kingdom of heaven by john baptist , mat. 3. 2. 2. it s consummation and perfecting at the second coming of christ at the last day , which is that here spoken of v. 13. and rev. 21. 5. now it follows , wherefore seeing we look for such things , be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace , &c. beloved , beloved of god , christ , angels , and men ; seeing ye look for , expect , hope for , such things , such a new and happy estate , viz. eternal blessedness , eternal life , when this life shall have an end ; be diligent , industriously diligent , sedulous , studious , sollicitous : that ye may be found of him , that is , of the lord jesus christ , when he shall come to judgment , to the judgment either of all in general , or of each one in particular . 1. in peace , in peace with god , reconciled to him by jesus christ , col. 1. 20. rom. 5. 10. 2. in peace with our selves , having peace of conscience , and no trouble or terror in our spirits at his coming , as they rev. 6. 15 , 16. who could not endure to see the face of him that sate on the throne . 3. in peace with others , especially the saints , holding fellowship and communion with them . without spot , having the unspoted righteousness of christ imputed to them as their own . and blameless in their conversation . three things upon this occasion i intend to speak to . 1. that christ will come to judgment . 2. at his coming believers expect a blessed estate . 3. they that do expect this blessed estate must be diligent , that they may be found of christ in peace at his coming , in a reconciled estate with god. of the two former briefly , of the last more largely . 1. that christ will come to judgment , is an article of our faith : we say we believe that jesus christ the son of god shall come from his right hand to judge the quick and the dead . 1. christ himself hath told us so , joh. 14. 3. 2. enoch prophecied of it , jude 14. 15. 3. paul assures us of it , acts 17. 31. 1 thes . 4. 16. 2 thes . 1. 7 , 8. 2 tim. 4. 1. 4. peter likewise , 1 pet. 4. 5. 5. and john , rev. 1. 7. 6. yea angels , acts 1. 11. this day is diversly called with respect to good and bad . 1. to the good : so 't is called , 1. the day of refreshing , acts 3. 19. repent and be converted , that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come . 2. the day of redemption ; lift up your heads , for your redemption draweth nigh , luke 21. 28. 2. to the bad : so 't is called , 1. a day of wrath and revelation of gods righteous judgment , rom. 2. 5. 1 cor. 4. 5. 2. a day of perdition , 2 pet. 3. 7. use . seeing christ will come to judgment , i have a fourfold request to make unto you . 1. that you would settle this truth in your hearts by believing it : do not only say you believe it , viz. that christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead , but do so indeed , believe it with all your heart . my hearts desire and prayer to god for you is , that you may be established , strengthned , and setled in the belief of this article of the christian faith. 2. that you would be mindful of it , let it be always in your thoughts , christ will come to judgment , he will reckon for this another day . say this often to your selves ; the coming of the lord draweth nigh , he is even at the door , jam. 5. 8 , 9. 3. that you would repent : because for certain god hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world by jesus christ , acts 17. 31. 4. that you would see to it , that your conversations be holy and godly . seeing christ will come to judgment , what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness ? 2 pet. 3. 11. doct. 2. believers at the coming of christ expect a blessed estate . when christ who is their life shall appear , then do they expect to appear with him in glory , col. 3. 4. our conversation is in heaven , from whence we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile bodies , and make them like to his own glorious body , phil 3. 20. according to promise we look for new heavens and new earth , saith st. peter 2 pet. 3. 13. and paul is confident of rest , when the lord jesus should be revealed with his mighty angels , 2 thes . 1. 7. use approve your selves believers , by looking for this blessed estate , and hastening unto it . see 2 pet. 3. 12. doct. 3. they that do expect this blessed estate must be diligent , that they may be found of christ in peace , or a reconciled estate with god , at his coming . here i shall shew you , 1. what this peace and reconciliation with god is . 2. how it was effected , how brought to pass , seeing we were in an estate of variance and enmity . 3. that 't is our duty to be diligent to be found in peace in this estate . 4. what this diligence is . 5. to what this diligence in scripture is applyed , and to what required . 6. why. 7. the use . 1. what this peace and reconciliation with god is ? answ . 't is the restoring that ancient friendship betwixt god and man which sin had dissolved . or , the reuniting of god and man which were at odds . the healing and making up of the breach between god and man , which sin had made . rightly to understand this , know , 1. god and man were once good friends ; man in his estate of innocency was in an estate of unity and amity with god , god was well pleased with man , and man well pleased with god , gen. 1. 31. 2. by mans transgression this friendly estate between god and man was lost , and all mankind plunged into an estate of alienation and aversation from god , and enmity against god. 3. this alienation and difference is mutual , on both sides . 1. on mans. col. 1. 21. you that were sometimes alienated , and enemies in your mind by wicked works , yet now hath he reconciled . so rom. 8. 7. the carnal mind is enmity against god , and is not subject to the law of god , neither indeed can be . 2. on gods. god owns him not , will have no fellowship with him , mat. 7. 23. luk. 13. 17. . god is so alienated from fallen man , 1. that he abominates his person and services . 1. his person . ps . 5. 5. the foolish shall not stand in thy sight , thou hatest all workers of iniquity , saith david . god is angry with the wicked every day , ps . 7. 11. his soul hateth the wicked , ps . 11. 5. 2. his services . he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law , even his prayer shall be abomination , prov. 28. 9. the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the lord , prov. 15. 8. so isa . 1. 13. incense is an abomination to me , your appointed feasts my soul hateth . v. 14. they are a trouble to me , i am weary to bear them . 2. god is so alienated from man , that he leaves him under the power of satan , to whom he had yielded himself , ephes . 2. 2. 3. and in bondage unto death under which he had brought himself , heb. 2. 14. 4. god is so alienated from him , that he leaves him under the power of sin which he had embraced , rom. 6. 16 , 17. 5. under the guilt of sin which he had contracted , rom. 3. 19. 6. under the curse of the law which he had transgressed , gal. 3. 10 , 13. 7. under the wrath of god which he had deserved , ephes . 2. 3. rom. 1. 18. and 5. 9. 4. no man can reconcile himself to god , or reingratiate himself with god , nor can any creature do it for him . acts 4. 12. neither salvation , nor reconciliation in any other but in christ ; for there is none other name under heaven among men , whereby we must be saved or reconciled . 5. jesus christ ( a mighty person ) undertook the office of a mediator , and has made peace for many , and will make peace for all the father hath given him . this may be illustrated by the making up of the breach between david and absalom , 2 sam. 14. 1. david and absalom were good friends at first . 2. absalom kills amnon , and thereby offends david . 3. this offence makes a difference between david and absalom . david is wroth , absalom slees , and dares not come near his father . 4. joab uses means , and seeks to take up the difference . 5. by joabs means the breach is made up , and david and absalom become good friends again . even so , 1. god and man were good friends at first , whiles he retained gods image . 2. man offends by eating forbidden fruit . 3. this offence makes a difference between god and man. 4. jesus christ undertakes to make up the difference . 5. by means of jesus christ god and man become good friends again . 2. how this peace and reconciliation with god was effected , how 't was brought about . answ . much after that manner , and by that means , that david and absalom were reconciled . 1. davids heart was towards offending absalom , 2 sam. 14. 1. davids soul longed to go forth unto absalom : but for shame he could have gone himself , or sent others to fetch him home . o the ocean of love that is in a fathers heart ! 2 sam. 13. 39. even so was gods heart towards transgressing offending fallen man. his soul longed to go forth unto fallen man. his kindness and love towards man appeared tit. 3. 4. which eph. 2. 7. is called the exceeding riches of his grace , in his kindness towards us through christ jesus . this he shewed . god so loved the world , that he gave his onely begotten son , that we might live through him . read joh. 3. 16. 1 joh. 4. 9. 2. joab perceives it , 2 sam. 14. 1. so christ knew the fathers love to man , being in his bosom , joh. 1. 18. the onely begotten son which is in the bosom of the father , he hath declared him . none knows the father but the son , and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him , mat. 11. 27. 3. joab intercedes for absaloms return and reception into favour , and instructs the woman of tekoa to say to david among other things , the iniquity be upon me , 1 sam. 14. 9. so saith christ , man hath sinned , let his iniquity be upon me . as once abigail said to david when her husband had offended , upon me , upon me let this iniquity be , 1 sam. 25. 24. and as rebecca said to jacob , when he feared he should bring a curse on him , by seeking a blessing in a wrong way , upon me be thy curse , gen. 27. 13. so said christ to his father , upon me be the curse of the law which man hath transgressed . and as paul to philemon concerning onesimus , phil. 18. if he hath wronged thee , or oweth thee ought , put that upon my account . so said christ to his father , what the sinner oweth thee put that upon my account . lo , i come ( saith christ ) to do thy will , ps . 40. 7. heb. 10. 7 , 9. 4. david hearkens to joabs motion , grants his request , 2 sam. 14. 21. so god accepts of his sons offer , and lays mans iniquities upon him , isa . 53. 6. and v. 5. the chastisement of our peace was upon him . 5. joab goes to geshur to seek and fetch absalom back again , 2 sam. 14. 23. so christ came into the world to save sinners , 1 tim. 1. 15. to seek and save lost man , luke 19. 10. which that he might do , more was required of him then was of joab in order to absaloms return . two things joab did not which christ did , and without the doing of which man could not have been received into favour again with god. 1. joab did not die at geshur or jerusalem for absalom , to satisfie for the bloud of amnon , he onely went to geshur ; but christ when he came into the world to save sinners , he died and suffered in the room and stead of sinners , to satisfie the justice of god offended by sinners . he died for the ungodly , rom. 5. 6. while we were yet sinners christ died for us , v. 8. when we were enemies , we were reconciled unto god by the death of his son , v. 10. the just suffered for the unjust , 1 pet. 3. 18. see also col. 1. 20. eph. 2. 16. heb. 2. 17. 2. joab did not undertake for absaloms good behaviour for the future ; but jesus christ did undertake for sinners , that they should be have themselves better for the future , and by his death merited faith , repentance , new obedience , and good behaviour , for them for whom he died . therefore , says he joh. 6. 37. all that the father giveth me shall come to me : and tells his hearers , joh. 12. 32. if he be lifted up from the earth , he will draw all men unto him , that is , all given to him . this god stood upon with christ , when he undertook for sinners . he must and will have his justice satisfied , which could not be done without dying for , and suffering in the room and stead of sinners . and sinners must turn from sin , and lead a better course of life , else it would not stand with gods holiness to receive them into favour and fellowship with him . to illustrate this by a similitude . suppose one mediating to a prince for a thief , that had greatly wronged another in his estate : upon two conditions , says the prince , i will pardon him ; 1. that the wrong done be satisfied for , and the loss sustained be repaired . 2. that he leave off his thieving and former course of life , else in justice and wisdom , says the prince , i cannot but refuse your suit . now christ does both . 1. the former by dying for sinners , and thereby satisfying justice for the wrong done to it . 2. the later , by meriting grace for sinners , viz. faith and holiness , and by sending his spirit to work it in them ; therefore is the spirit called , the spirit of faith , 2 cor. 4. 13. the spirit of holiness , rom. 1. 4. 6. joab brings absalom to jerusalem , 2 sam. 14. 23. christ by his care brings sinners to the church , to the means of grace , or the means of grace to them , as he did to the jaylor , acts 16. 29 , 30 , 31 , 32. christ , as the good samaritan , brings them to an inn , and host , and gives charge concerning them , luke 10. 34 , 35. see also joh. 21. 15 , 16 , 17. 2 tim. 4. 1 , 2. 7. absalom at jerusalem is troubled that he was not admitted to see the kings face , 2 sam. 14. 32. for v. 24. david had said , let him not see my face : and this david did , to humble him the more for his sin , and to keep him in awe that he might do no more so wickedly . so sinners by the means of grace being brought to a sight and sense of sin and misery , as peters hearers were , being prick'd at heart , and troubled as the jaylor was , acts 16. 29. do long for a sight of the pleased face of their heavenly father , which for their farther humiliation he thinks fit to deny at present . 8. absalom sends for joab , but he comes not , 2 sam. 14. 29. so the sinner by prayer sends to christ about gods hiding his face , but he comes not . 9. absalom sends a second time , and sets joabs corn on fire , 2 sam. 14. 29 , 30. and then joab comes . so the sinner prays and sends again to christ , and then christ comes . thus paul prays , and then annanias was sent to him , acts 9. 11. so cornelius prayed , and peter was sent to him , acts 10. 2 , — 20. 10. joab being come absalom imploys him , and sends him to the king , 2 sam. 14. 32. so poor penitent sinners imploy christ by faith , to make peace for them with their offended father . 11. joab comes to the king , and represents to him absaloms trouble , because he could not see his fathers face , i sam. 14. 33. so jesus comes to god , and represents as an advocate the troubled sinners case to his father , 1 joh. 2. 1. heb. 9. 24. 12. now davià calls for absolom , 2 sam. 14. 33. so does god , upon christs appearing for the penitent sinner , call for him , mat. 11. 28. come to me poor , labouring , heavy-laden sinner , and i will give thee rest . so isa . 55. 1. ho , every one that is athirst , come . and joh. 7. 37. if any man thirst , let him come to me and drink . 13. now absolom comes and prostrates himself before the king , 2 sam. 14. 33. so does the penitent sinner prostrate himself before his heavenly father , as the prodigal did before his father , judging himself , luk. 15. 21. saying , i have sinned against heaven , and in thy sight , and am no more worthy to be called thy son . 14. now david kisses absolom , and receives him into favour , 2 sam. 14. 33. so god as the father of the prodigal , falls upon the necks of penitent sinners , and kisses them , receiving them into favour , as if they had never offended , luk. 15. 20. 3. the proof of the doctrine . that they who expect a blessed estate at the coming of christ , must be diligent to be found of him in peace , or in a reconciled estate with god , at his coming . eliphaz counsels job to acquaint himself with god , and to be at peace , and tells him that thereby good shall come unto him , job 22. 21. both here and hereafter . gods face and favour is to be sought evermore , ps . 105. 4. let him take hold of my strength , saith god , that he may make peace with me , isa . 27. 5. nay , god beseeches us to be reconciled to him , 2 cor. 5. 20. now then we are ambassadors for christ , as though god did beseech you by us , we pray you in christ his stead be ye reconciled to god. we must be ready for the coming of the son of man , mat. 24. 44. and ready sure we cannot be , until we have made our peace with god. we are beseeched to present our bodies a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable to god , which sure cannot be whiles we are up in arms against him , rom. 12. 1. 4. what this diligence is ? diligence is the continual and earnest applying our selves to a thing . the giving , setting , bending the mind to a thing . 't is to be instant in season , and out of season about any thing , 2 tim. 4. 2. 't is in the morning to sow ones seed , and in the evening not to withhold his hand , eccles . 11. 6. 't is to do what one does , with all ones might , eccles . 9. 10. and power , gen. 31. 6. 't is to abide at ones work , as the levites were required , lev. 8. 35. 't is to be at it early and late , night and day , as paul was , acts 20. 31. 't is to take heed to fulfill our work , as archippus is required , col. 4. 17. further , 't is to arise and be doing , 1 chron. 22. 16. 't is to rise up betimes about a thing , 2 chron. 36. 15. 't is to enquire early after a thing , ps . 78. 34. 't is to take heed that we fail not to do a thing , ezra 4. 22. 't is to bestir ones self , 2 sam. 5. 24. 't is to be industrious about a thing , 1 kings 11. 28. 't is to wait on a business , pro. 27. 18. 't is to stand continually at it , isa . 21. 8. 't is to give ones self no rest , lam. 2. 18. 't is to seek as for silver , and to search as for hid treasure , pro. 2. 4. 't is to offer violence , mat. 11. 12. 't is to press into , luke 16. 16. 't is to work out with fear and trembling , phil. 2. 12. so then , to be diligent to be found of christ in peace , or a reconciled estate with god , it is , to be instant in season and out of season about it . to be at this work of making peace with god in the morning and in the evening , not to withhold our hand . to endeavour it with all our might and power . to be at this work of making peace with god early and late , night and day . to abide at it ; and , to take heed that we fulfill it , and not fail to do it . to wait on it till it be effected . to give our selves no rest till it be done . to seek this peace with god as one would seek for silver , or as one would search for hid treasure . to offer violence to all that oppose our doing it , &c. 5. the fift thing i promised to shew you was , to what this diligence in scripture is applied , and to what required . 1. to what applied . 't is applied , 1. to seeking good , heb. 11. 6. he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . 2. to seeking god , prov. 11. 27. he that diligently seeketh god procureth favour . 3. to searching for salvation , 1 pet. 1. 10. after which the prophets searched diligently . 4. to learning the ways of gods people , jer. 12. 16. if they will diligently learn the ways of my people , they shall be built . 5. to looking left any fail of the grace of god , heb. 12. 15. looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of god. 2. 't is required , 1. to the keeping of the soul , deut. 4. 9. and heart , pro. 4. 23. keep thy soul diligently . keep thy heart with all diligence , for out of it are the issues of life . 2. to keeping gods commands of loving him , walking in his ways , and cleaving to him , deut. 11. 22. ye shall diligently keep all these commandments , which i command you to do them ; to love the lord your god , to walk in all his ways , and to cleave unto him . 3. to the delivering of our selves from an adversary , luke 12. 58. when thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate , as thou art in the way give diligence , that thou mayst be delivered from him , lest , &c. 4. to adding to our stock of grace , 2 pet. 1. 5. giving all diligence , adde to your faith vertue , and to vertue knowledge , and to knowledge temperance , and to temperance patience , and to patience , godliness , and to godliness brotherly kindness , and to brotherly kindness charity . 5. to attaining the full assurance of hope , heb. 6. 11. we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end . 6. to the making of our calling and election sure , 2 pet. 1. 10. give diligence to make your calling and election sure . 7. and here in my text , to our being found of christ in peace at his coming . 6. the reasons why we must give diligence to be at peace , and in a reconled estate with god , that so we may be found of christ in it at his coming , are these : reason 1. because god having done so much in order thereunto , ( viz. in order towards making peace between god and man ) our negligence in not doing our part in order thereunto , will be a slighting of the love and kindness of god , which is said to be great , eph. 2. 4. and exceeding rich towards us through christ jesus , eph. 2. 7. it will be horrible ingratitude , which will cause god to cry out and say as isa . 1. 2. hear o heavens , and give ear o earth , for i have out of my love , and by my wisdom , found out a way for fallen offending man to be at peace with me , and he will not accept of it , will not be diligent in the use of means to obtain it . now here it may be inquired , q. what hath god done towards making peace between man offending and himself offended ? a. 1. he took counsel about it ; both father and son took counsel together about it , zech. 6. 13. the counsel of peace-making between god and man was between them both , not i think between the two offices of christ , kingly and priestly , but between the two persons spoken of before , viz. the lord jehovah , and he who was to be the branch . god takes this counsel with him , as he was his eternal wisdom , with respect to his future incarnation , for in that respect he was to be the branch . hence it may be he is called counsellor , isa . 9. 6. the consultation was how to satissie justice offended , that so the offender might be received into favour , how man an enemy to god might be reconciled unto god , and god to him . the way thought upon was , the incarnation of the second person in the holy trinity , in order to his suffering death in the room and stead of the offender , thereby to satisfie the justice of god offended . 2. he entred into a covenant and agreement with his eternally begotten son about it . in order to peace-making between god and man , 1. god demands , requires of his son , such and such things to be done and suffered , viz. that he be made under the law , and that his soul be made an offering for sin , isa . 53. 10. the transgression of the law of god made the difference between god and man , and he will not be satisfied and reconciled , unless this law be fulfilled . satisfie the law and i am satisfied , says god. 2. the son accepts and engages to satisfie his fathers demands , viz. to fulfill the law , to perform the duty and pay the penalty of it ; to do what the law enjoynes , and to suffer what the law threatens . therefore when he came into the world , he was made under the law , gal. 4. 4. and says , lo , i come to do thy will , o god , heb. 10. 5. and ps . 40. 8. i delight to do thy will , o god , yea thy law is within my heart . it becometh us , saith he to john baptist , to fulfill all righteousness , mat. 3. 15. i am not come to destroy the law , but to fulfill it , mat. 5. 17. and this he did , that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us , rom. 8. 4. how often doth he say his father had sent him , and that he came to do the will of him that sent him ? joh. 6. 38 , 39 , 40. and joh. 9. 4. i must work the works of him that sent me , and in his prayer , joh. 17. 4. he tells his father that he had finished the work he had given him to do . 3. he takes delight in these transactions between him and his son about this peace making for man , prov. 8. 30 , 31. the counsel and contrivance of the work of our redemption and salvation was the mutual delight of the father and son. god forseeing how these transactions between him and his son about mans reconciliation with god would issue in his own eternal glory , is delighted and pleased therewith . the father and son foreseeing how by this means the law would be fulfilled , gods justice would be satisfied , gods glory would be repaired , satan would be trodden under foot , and his works destroyed , and poor captives would be delivered , and sinners reconciled , are greatly delighted . the father rejoyces in the sons undertaking this work ; the son rejoyces in the fathers undertaking for his protection , and assistance , and success in the work . see how 't is expressed , isa . 42. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. behold my servant whom i uphold , mine elect in whom my soul delighteth , in whom my soul is well pleased . mat. 12. 18. my beloved son in whom i am well pleased . mat. 17. 5. and mat. 3. 17. i have put my spirit upon him , he shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles . he shall not cry nor lift up , nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets : a bruised reed shall he not break , and the smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring forth judgment unto truth : he shall not fail nor be discouraged , till he have set judgment in the earth , and the isles shall wait for his law. thus saith the lord , he that created the heavens , &c. i the lord have called thee in righteousness , and will hold thine hand , and will keep thee , and give thee for a covenant of the people , for a light of the gentiles , to open the blind eyes , and to bring out the prisoners out of the prison , and them that sit in darkness , out of the prisonhouse . the foresight of these things was their delight . 4. he has been at great cost and expence , even the expence of blood , precious blood , 1 pet. 1. 19. yea god-blood , acts 20. 28. to have this peace with himself purchased and procured for us . it pleased the father ( christ having made peace through the blood of his cross ) by him to reconcile all things to himself , &c. and youth at were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works , yet now hath he reconciled , in the body of his flesh through death , to present you holy and unblameable , and unreproveable in his sight . see col. 1. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. see also ephes . 2. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16. when we were enemies we were reconciled to god by the death of his son , rom. 5. 10. 5. he has provided and taken care , that this purchased peace should be preached and proffered unto us : christ himself came and preached it , ephes . 2. 17. and has commissionated others to do so too , mar. 16. 15. go preach the gospel , the gospel of peace , rom. 10. 15. to every creature . god sent to the children of israel , preaching peace by jesus christ , acts 10. 36. he hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation , to wit , that god was in christ , reconciling the world unto himself , not imputing their trespasses unto them , and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation , 2 cor. 5. 18 , 19. this grace is given to ministers , that they might preach the unsearchable riches of christ , eph. 3. 8. when christ sent forth the 70 disciples , he commissioned them to say to every house where they came , luke 10. 5. peace be to this house . after christ was risen he appears to his disciples , john 20. 21. saying , peace be unto you , as my father hath sent me , so send i you to preach the gospel , even the gospel of peace . 6. he hath given us a charge to accept of proffered peace , to believe on his son for peace and reconciliation . 1 john 3. 23. this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son jesus christ : and isa . 27. 5. let him take hold of my strength that he may make peace with me . 7. he hath expressed and manisested his great desire of our making peace with him 1. by writing . christ writes to the church of ephesus to repent and make her peace , lest he come against her , rev. 2. 1. with 5. 2. by sending . ministers are messengers sent to us , job . 33. 23. embassadors sent to treat with us about peace and reconciliation with god , 2 cor. 5. 20. the lord god of their fathers sent to them by his messengers , because he had compassion on them , 2 chron. 36. 15. as my father sent me , saith christ , john 20. 21. so send i you : in the same errand that i was sent , i send you ; my errand was to make peace , and that 's yours . luke 10. 5. say , peace be to this house . 3. by praying and beseeching . now then we are embassadors for christ , as though god did beseech you by us , we pray you in christs stead , be ye reconciled to god , 2 cor. 5. 20. 4. by expostulating and reasoning the case : turnye , turnye , for why will ye dye ? ezek. 33. 11. 5. by wishing . o that thou hadst hearkened unto my commandments , then had thy peace been as a river , isa . 48 18. o that my people had hearkened unto me , and israel had walked in my ways ! i should soon have subdued their enemies , and turned my hand against their adversaries . o if thou hadst known in this thy day the things belonging to thy peace ! luke 19. 42. o that there were such a heart in them ! deut. 5. 29. 6. by waiting for our coming in and making peace with him . the lord waits that he may be gracious , isa . 30. 18. behold i stand at the door and knock , if any man hear my voice and open the door , i will come in to him , and sup with him , and he with me , rev. 3. 20. 7. by swearing . as i live , saith the lord god , i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but that the wicked turn from his way and live , ezek. 33. 11. so , but that he lay down his weapons and be at peace with me , that so he may live . reason 2. why we must give diligence to be at peace , and in a reconciled estate with god , that so we may be found of christ in it at his coming . because peace with god is so desirable . all peace is desirable , whether in a family , or neighbourhood , or nation ; but this peace with god is transcendent , an incomparable blessing . 1. it passeth all understanding , all created understanding , phil. 4. 7. 2. it is safeguarding , phil. 4. 7. 3. 't is part of the kingdom of god , rom. 14. 17. 4. 't is everlasting , isa . 54. 10. reason 3. because to be negligent herein , not to be diligent in seeking peace with god , is so dangerous . for are we able to meet god when he shall come against us ? see luke 14. 31 , 32. are we stronger than he ? 1 cor. 10. 22. can thy heart endure , or can thy hands be strong , in the day when god shall deal with thee ? ezek. 22. 14. if you rebel , and make not your peace with him , he will be your enemy , and fight against you , isa . 63. 10. and , who ever hardned himself against god , and prospered ? job 9. 4. if you shall not be found of christ in peace at his coming , he will at his coming take vengeance upon you , 2 thes . 1. 8. the use . must we be diligent in seeking peace with god , that so we may be found of christ in peace at his coming ? use 1. examine . have we done our duty herein ? have we been diligent in making our peace with god ? and have we made our peace ? what faith conscience ? is there peace between god and you ? deal truly with your own souls . 1. they that are at peace with god , are at war with sin . know ye not the friendship of the world is enmity with god ? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world , is the enemy of god , jam. 4. 4. now all that is in the world is , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , 1 joh. 2. 16. and whosoever is a friend of these , is an enemy of god. if any man love these , the love of the father is not in him , 1 joh. 2. 15. these lusts do war against god and the soul , 1 pet. 2. 11. and they that are at peace with god , and in his favour , and have any love to him and their souls , cannot be at peace with these , with an unlawful immoderate desire after the profits , pleasures , and honours of this world . what say you , are you at war with these ? if you be at peace with these , you are not at peace with god. 2. they that are at peace with god , are in mourning for their former enmity against god ; when they look on him whom they have pierced they mourn , z●ch . 12. 10. now do you do so ? do you mourn for your former sinning against god , and offending him , as one mourneth for his onely son ? what , and are you in bitterness for it , as one that is in bitterness for his first born ? 3. they that are at peace with god , are in care to please god , and in fear to offend him for the future . care and fear are the fruits of godly sorrow for offending god , 2 cor. 7. 11. they that are at peace with god say as joseph when tempted to sin , gen. 39. 9. behold , now i have peace with god , how then can i do this great wickedness , and sin against god , and so break my peace with him ? is it thus with you ? is there this care and fear in you ? 4. they that are at peace with god are in pain and heaviness till others , especially near relations , be also at peace with god , as paul was rom 9. 1 , 2. he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart for his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh , because they sought not peace with god by jesus christ ; because they being ignorant of gods righteousness , and going about to establish their own righteousness , had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of god , rom. 10. 3. you have children and other relations , are you in pain and heaviness till they have made their peace with god ? is it a grief of heart to you , that any of yours should be at war with your god , with whom you now are at peace ? 5. they that are at peace with god , are at peace with those that are at peace with god : their delight is in them : ps . 16. 3. but they are grieved with those that rise up against god. ps . 139. 21. they count gods enemies their enemies , v. 22. and gods friends their friends . is it thus with you ? 6. they that are at peace with god cannot but wonder , and say to god as once ruth said to boaz , ruth 2. 10. why have i found grace in thine eys , that thou shouldest take knowledge of me , seeing i am a stranger ? so faith the person that is at peace with god , that has found favour in his eyes , why have i found this favour , who was sometimes alienated , and an enemy in my mind by wicked works ? is it thus with you ? 7. they that are at peace with god are joyful in god through our lord jesus christ , by whom they have received the attonement , rom. 5. 11. they rejoyce in jesus christ , and have no considence in the flesh . phil. 3. 3. they say , not unto us , not unto us , but unto god in christ be all the glory and praise of our being at peace with god : they thank god through jesus christ for their being at peace with god. they say as paul , gal. 6. 14. god forbid that we should glory in any thing , save in the cross of our lord jesus christ , through which our peace was made , col. 1. 20. now are you thus joyful in god through our lord jesus christ ? 8. they that are at peace with god , do highly esteem those that have been instrumental in making their peace with god : the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace , and bring glad tidings of good things , are beautiful to them , rom. 10 15. how are they accounted of by you ? use 2. reproof . this reproves those that neglect their duty herein ; that give no diligence to make their peace with god , but go on in their enmity and hostility against god : as did the old world , pharaoh , nebuchadnezzar , and herod , when god spake unto them by noah , moses , daniel , and john raptist . but what got they by standing out against god ? had it not been better for the old world to have hearkened unto noah , and for pharaoh to have hearkned unto moses , and for nebuchadnezzar to have hearkened to daniel , and for herod to have hearkned to john , and so to have prevented that destruction and misery which came upon them ? did they do ill in standing out against god ? and is it not ill in you to do the same ? can you condemn them and not your selves ? sirs , you have the offers of peace with god made unto you , if you accept not of the offers , if you hearken not to the counsel god gives you , and shall continue not to hearken , 't is a sure sign that god will slay you . see what was said , 1 sam. 2 , 25. concerning elie's sons , they hearkened not to the voice of their father admonishing and reproving them , because the lord would slay them . dreadful was that word of the prophet to amaziah , 2 chron. 25. 16. i know that god hath determined to destroy thee , because thou hast not hearkened to my counsel . great wrath from the lord of hosts may they expect to feel that refuse to hearken to gods counsel , zech. 7. 11 , 12 , 13. pray take your bible and read this scripture . assure your selves if you continue in a state of enmity against god , not minding reconciliation , god will find you out . ps . 21. 8 , &c. thine hand shall find out all thine enemies ; thine right hand shall find out those that hate thee ; thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger ; the lord shall swallow them up in his wrath , and the fire shall devour them . and ps . 68. 21. god shall wound the head of his enemies , and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses : yea he will make his enemies his footstool , ps 110. 1. and render vengeance to them , deut. 32. 41. and reward them that hate him . what else can you expect if you continue in a state of enmity against god , seeing he has done so much , and said so much towards peace-making between him and you : what more could be done or said , than he has done and said ? you have heard that he took counsel about it , and contrived a way that there might be peace between him and you . he entred into a covenantand agreement with his son about it , and that he undertook the work of making peace and bringing sinners into an estate of reconciliation with god , if they would be ruled by him . he took great delight in those transactions between him and his son about this peace-making for man. he hath been at a great deal of cost & expence of precious blood to obtain it . he has taken care that this purchased peace might be preached and proffered to you , and so it has been again , and again , and again . he has charged and commanded you to accept of it . he has written to you about it , and sent to you about it , and prayed and beseeched you to be at peace with him , and expostulated and reasoned the case with you , and wished your acceptance of proffered peace , and waited for it , and what more could he have done ? and now after all this , what cloke , what excuse can you have ? see joh. 15. 22. if i had not come and spoken to them , they had not had sin , but now they have no cloke for their sin . if god had not done all this in order to peace-making between him and you , you might have had some plea for your selves ; but now if you shall continue in a state of enmity against god , neglecting the means ordained and appointed to be used for the obtaining of peace with god , if you shall be dealt with as enemies thank your selves . use 3. exhortation . be diligent in making your peace with god , that so you may be found of christ in peace at his coming . continually and earnestly apply your selves to this work : give , set , and bend your minds to it . be instant in season and out of season about it . be at this work of making peace with god in the morning , and in the evening withhold not your hand . endeavour it with all the might and power , &c. as before in answer to the 4th . quest . q. what is to be done that we may make peace with god ? directions . a. 1. satisfie your selves in what estate you are , whether in an estate of peace and reconciliation with god or not . examine your selves , say to thine own soul , am i at peace with god ? time was when i was at enmity with god , how came i to be in an estate of amity ? may not i be mistaken , and think i am in an estate of peace and friendship with god , when in truth it is no such matter ? may i not think my self to be something when i am nothing ? gal. 6. 3. and to be rich , when indeed and in truth i am poor , naked , &c. rev. 3. 17. call to mind the former characters of a reconciled estate , and say , 1. am i at war with sin ? with the lust of the eyes , the lust of the flesh , the pride of life , all which do war against my soul ? am i at war with all these lusts , or one or none ? what is the sin , the lust that i am at war with ? is it pride , or worldiness , or wantonness , or what is it ? how long have i been at war with it ? what success have i had ? what conquests have i gotten ? what aids and assistances have i had ? what weapons have i made use of ? what sword , what word of god , what precept , what promise , what threatning is it , that i have either defended my self with , or offended my sin with ? 2. say to thy self in secret , and in good earnest , have i mourned for my former enmity against god ? when ? where ? how long ? how much ? what sin was it that i mourned for ? what was its name ? have i been in bitterness for it , as one that is in bitterness for his first born ? 3. say again , am i in care now to please god , and in fear of offending him ? had i rather offend all the world than offend him ? or can i venture to displease him , rather than to displease others ? 4. say also , is it a grief of heart to me that any of mine should be found fighters against god ? 5. am i best pleased with those that are at peace with god ? 6. have i at any time wondred at such a wretch , such a rebel as i should be received into the favour of god ? 7. what thanks did i ever render to god for it ? what rejoycing in christ the purchaser of it have i ever had ? 8. what are ministers , and what is their ministry unto me ? are they , or is their ministry much set by , by me ? by such questioning with your selves you may satisfie your selves in what estate you are , whether in a reconciled , or unreconciled estate . this is the first direction . direction . 2. satisfie your selves , that getting into a reconciled estate with god , is your greatest concern in the world . 1. the greatest counsel was taken about it that ever was . 2. the greatest persons imployed about the bringing of people into it that ever was . 3. the greatest price was paid that it might be obtained that ever was . 4. the greatest love was manifested about it that ever was , 1 john 49 , 10. 5. the greatest good thereby , by being brought into a reconciled estate with god , will come to us , that heart can wish or desire . 6. the greatest hurt , by remaining in an unreconciled estate with god , will come unto us that can be . and is not then the getting into a reconciled estate with god , our greatest concern in the world ? review the first reason , and consider well what god hath done towards making peace between man offending and himself offended , and you will understand the better , of how great concern a reconciled estate with god is to you . direction . 3. understand well the way of making peace with god , viz. by jesus christ who is our peace , eph. 2. 14. and by whom there is peace on earth , luke 2. 14. and peace in heaven , luke 19. 38. having made peace through the blood of his cross , col. 1. 20. when herod was highly displeased with them of tyre and sidon , they came with one accord to him , and having made blastas the kings chamberlain their friend , desired peace ( it being their great concern ) because their country was nourished by the kings country , acts 12. 20. in like manner god being highly displeased with sinners , they must make jesus christ gods beloved son , in whom his soul is well pleased , mat. 12. 18. their friend , to make peace for them : and if sinners desire this of him , he will not say them nay , john 6. 37. direction . 4. know also and labour with thy self to be fully perswaded that peace with god , and a reconciled estate with him , is a real thing , a real blessing and privilege . sure , that about which such a consultation was held , such a contract was made between the father and the son , and such articles were performed by both father and son , must needs be a real thing . and that for the accomplishment of which so much real work was finished , and so great a price was paid , must needs be a real thing . direction . 5. well understand the terms upon which this peace and reconciliation with god , is really tendred in the gospel and ministry thereof . the terms are , 1. laying down our arms in a penitent way . wash ye , make you clean , put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes : cease to do evil , learn to do well . come now and let us reason together and be friends , saith the lord ; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow , though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll . isa . 1. 16 , 17 , 18. 2. resigning up our selves to the government of christ in a believing way . believe on the lord jesus christ , and thou shalt be saved , said paul and silas to the trembling jaylor , acts 16. 31. and that it is really tendered in the gospel and ministry thereof , who can doubt that well considers that one scripture ? 2 cor. 5. 18 , 19 , 20. where the gospel is called by the holy ghost , the word of reconciliation , and the ministry of it the ministry of reconciliation ; and where we are beseeched and prayed in christs stead to be reconciled to god. direction . 6. make it your business to get into this reconciled estate : lest you should deceive your selves , and think you make it your business . when you do not . know that when a man makes any thing his business , 1. he thinks of it seriously , much and often : his first and last and middle thoughts are of it ; he thinks of it when he is eating , drinking , sleeping , working , journying . 2. he talks of it perpetually , and puts questions about it to any one he thinks can better inform him . 3. he does cast and contrive this way and that way how to effect it . 4. he takes all opportunities offered that may further it . 5. he removes all hindrances of it , and is glad when they are removed , and sad while they lie in the way . 6. he allows time for it , yea redeems time for it . 7. he sequesters himself from all company that may disturb him in it . 8. he puts out his strength in the use of all means to effect it . thus in this way make it your business to get into a reconciled estate with god. 1. think seriously of it , as the prodigal did , luke 15. 17. and peter , mark 14. 72. 2. talk perpetually of it , and put questions about it , as peters hearers , acts 2. 37. and the jaylor acts 16. 30. be talking of it when thou sittest in thine house , and when thou walkest by the way , and when thou liest down , and when thou risest up . 3. contrive how to effect it . sit down and consult what is to be done , luke 14. 31 , 32. 4. watch and take all opportunities that may further it . for watching see luke 21. 34 , 36. 1 cor. 16. 13. 1 pet. 5. 8. 5. remove all hindrances of it . if iniquity be in thy hand put it far away , job 11. 14. do as they ezra 10. 3. covenanted to do , and did v. 11. 6. allow time for the doing of it . redeem time from meals and sleep , rather then want it for this work , eph. 5. 16. 7. sequester your selves ; go into your closets , shut the door against all disturbers , mat. 6. 6. 8. put out your strength in the use of of all means to effect it . set about it with all your might , eccles . 9. 10. q. in the use of what means ? a. in the use of all means : reading , hearing , studying , meditating , praying , watching , fasting , searching , trying , examining your selves , keeping your hearts , flying temptations and occasions of sin , neglecting no opportunities of acquainting your selves with god. among other means use these with diligence , preparation , and prayer , as in the sight and presence of the great god. 1. attend upon the word and ministry of reconciliation , so called 2 cor. 5. 18 , 19. because 't is a great means of reconciliation . this blessing of peace comes out of zion , ps . 128. 5. 't is the fruit of the lips that must be instrumental to make peace with god , isa . 57. 19. if there be a messenger with him , that is , a minister of the gospel and interpreter , one of a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness , then he that is god is gracious to him and saith , deliver him from going down to the pit , i have found a ransom , job 33. 23 , 24. 2. joyn with confession of sin , whereby god has been offended , contrition and conversion . 1. confess sin . i acknowledged my sin unto thee , said david , ps . 32. 5. and mine iniquity have i not hid . i said i will confess my transgressions unto the lord , and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin . if we confess our sins , saith s. john , 1 joh. 1. 9. god is faithful and just to forgive us our sins . see jer. 3. 13. 2. mourn for sin and turn from it unto god. rend your hearts , and turn unto the lord , joel 2. 13. for he is gracious . let the wicked forsake his way , and the unrighteous man his thoughts , and let him return unto the lord and he will have mercy upon him , and to our god for he will abundantly pardon , isa . 55. 7. 3. make your supplication to the god of peace in the name of christ , who is our peace , eph. 2. 14. and the prince of peace , isa . 9. 6. give your selves to prayer , ps . 109. 4. pray as david did , ps . 60. 1. o god , thou hast been displeased , o turn thy self to us again . cause thy face to shine , ps . 80. 3. and as daniel , ch . 9. 17. cause thy face to shine upon me for the lords sake , v. 19. o lord hear , o lord gorgive , o lord hearken and do , and defer not for thine own sake . and as jeremiah , ch . 14. 7. o lord , though mine iniquities testifie against me , do thou it for thy name sake , for my backslidings are many ; i have sinned against thee . and again , v. 21. do not abhor me for thy name sake . 4. get some abraham , moses , or samuel , some noah , daniel , or job , to pray & make intercession for you : the prayers of such are prevailing , gen. 20. 7. he is a prophet , and he shall pray for thee , and thou shalt live . accordingly v. 17. abraham prayed and god heard . so job 42. 8. my servant job shall pray for you , for him will i accept . gods wrath was kindled against eliphaz and his two friends , job 42. 7. and job is to be imployed as gods special favourite , to offer up sacrifice , and to pray for them , and so to make reconciliation between god and them . the prayer of a man of god may do much . 1 kings 13. 6. jeroboam put out his hand against the prophet , and god dried it up , so that he could not pull it in again to him . and the man of god besought the lord , and the kings hand was restored again . 5. set faith awork in the satisfaction and mediation of christ ; he is our high priest , whose office it is to make attonement , numb . 16. 47. christ was in all things made like to his brethren , that he might be a merciful and a faithful highpriest in things pertaining to god , to make reconciliation for the sins of the people , heb. 2. 17. 't is by his death that we are reconciled to god , rom. 5. 10. and v. 11. we joy in god through our lord jesus christ , by whom we have now received the attonement . let him take hold of my strength , saith god , isa . 27. 5. that he may make peace with me . by strength some understand the mercy of god in christ ; let him take hold of this by faith , and he shall make peace with me . 6. to all this add a day of humiliation and soul-affliction , which is called a day of attonement , lev. 23. 27. christ told his disciples , that some devils went not out but by prayer and fasting , mat. 17. 21. and mar. 9. 29. he said unto them , this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting . now it may be god may be so greatly displeased , that he will not be at peace with us until we have greatly humbled our selves . set apart a day therefore and set about this work ; sure peace and reconciliation with god is well worth a day , yea days of humiliation . thus do , and do it with speed without further delay . 1. the present day is the day of salvation . 2 cor. 6. 2. now is the day of salvation ; and heb. 3. 15. 7. the holy ghost saith , to day if ye will hear his voice . 2. good purposes are often lost if not presently put in execution ; as felix's were , acts 24. 25. go thy way , saith he to paul , for this time , when i have a convenient season i will call for thee ; but that season was long a coming . 't is just with god to deny thee a future day , that acceptest not the present ? 4. time is short , and the very next day very uncertain : we are apt to promise our selves a long time to come , whereas we know not what shall be on the morrow , jam. 4. 14. and therefore do as moses bade aaron do , numb . 16. 46. go quickly and make an attonement . and as solomon advised a surety for another to do , prov. 6. 3 , 4 , 5. give no sleep to thine eyes , nor slumber to thine eye-lids , till thou hast made thy peace with god. and as our saviour adviseth to do , when a brother is offended , mat. 5. 25. agree with thine adversary quickly : so let us do . speedily , quickly apply your selves to the use of the forementioned means , to obtain peace and reconciliation with god. think it not enough to read or hear these directions , or to talk of them , unless you practise them . i am sure , you think it not enough to read or hear directions for the health of your bodies , unless you practise them . give me leave therefore to ask you , will you practise these directions or not ? motives to follow the directions given , and to use the means prescribed for the obtaining of peace and reconciliation with god. 1. the happiness of a reconciled estate . 2. the misery of an unreconciled estate . 1. the happiness of a reconciled estate , which will appear to be very great , if you shall well consider ; 1. that god will be a friend to such as are in a reconciled estate ; whoever be enemies to them , god will be their friend ; god will be for them whoever be against them . and if god be on their side and take their part , they need not fear . ps . 118. 6 , 7. the lord is on my side , i will not fear , what can man do unto me ? 2. that to whom once he is a friend , to them he will be a friend for ever . the mountains shall depart , and the hills be removed , but my kindness shall not depart from thee , neither shall the covenant of my peace , or my covenant of peace , as ezek. 37. 26. be removed , isa . 54. 10. although sight , hearing , speech , depart from me , said one , yet gods loving kindness shall never depart : somewhat like that of david , ps 73. 26. my flesh and my heart faileth , but god is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever . god may visit his friends and such as are at peace with him with the rod , nevertheless his loving kindness he will not utterly take from them , nor suffer his faithfulness to fail , ps . 89 33. whom he loves , he loves to the end , joh. 13. 1. 3. that he will be a friend with all that he is , has , can do and procure , if for their good . he will be a friend to those that be at peace with him . 1. with all that he is ; and he is all : i am , is his name . he is a sun and a shield , ps . 84. 11. he is a rock , a fortress , a deliver , a buckler , a rock , a high tower , ps . 18. 2. 2. with all that he has : now he has strength , prov. 8. 14. counsel and understanding , job . 12. 13. 3. with all that he can do : now he can do whatsoever pleaseth him , ps . 135. 6. eccles . 8. 3. he can furnish a table in the wilderness , he can give bread and provide flesh , ps . 78. 19 , 20. 4. that god takes pleasure and delight in such , rejoyces over them as a bridegroom rejoyceth over the bride , isa . 62. 5. rejoycing over them with joy , with singing , zeph. 3 17. see cant. 4. 7 , 9 , 10. and 7. 6 , 10. o how well-pleased was the father of the prodigal with his returning son ! he falls upon his neck and kisses him , luke 15. 20. in truth , reconciled persons are the travel of christs soul , isa . 53. 11. and you see how mothers delight in those children they have had hardest travel with . 5. that god will not deny them any request that is for their good . they may ask what they will , and it shall be done for them if it be good for them , joh. 15. 7. and this they may be confident of , 1 joh. 5. 14. if they call , god will answer , ps . 91. 15 , 16. and be favourable to them , they shall see his face with joy , job 33. 26. yea , sometimes before they call he will answer them , and whilst they are yet speaking he will hear , isa . 65. 24. 6. that all shall work together for their good , rom. 8. 28. their wants shall make them pray the more . their sins shall humble them the more . their sorrows and sufferings shall make them slight the world the more . their temptations shall make them exercise grace the more . their spiritual desertions shall set them a longing to be with christ the more . all shall be for their advantage , whether paul , or apollo , or cephas , or the world , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come , all shall be theirs , 1 cor. 3. 22 , 23. see jer. 24. 5 , 6. 7. that the creatures shall be at peace with them , job 5. 23. yea their enemies too if it shall be for their good , pro. 16. 7. so that they may sleep securely , job 11. 19. and not be afraid of evil tidings , ps . 112. 7. when thou liest down thou shalt not afraid , yea thou shalt lie down , and thy sleep shall be sweet unto thee , for the lord , with whom thou art now at peace , shall be thy confidence . read pro. 3. 23 , 24 , 25 , 26. 8. that they shall have confidence at the appearing of christ , and shall not be ashamed before him at his coming , 1 joh. 2. 28. reader , shall i reason with thee ? 1. are these things so ? is this the happiness of a reconciled estate ? will god be a friend to such ? a friend for ever ? with all that he is , has , can do or procure ? does god take delight and pleasure in such ? do you believe it ? nay , but do you believe it ? will not god deny them any request that is for their good ? shall all work together for their good ? and shall even enemies be at peace with them if for their good ? i say , are these things so ? do you indeed believe them to be so ? 2. say then , is not a reconciled estate a happy estate ? 3. is not such a happy estate desireable ? 4. art thou yet in a reconciled estate ? canst sind in thy self the characters of a reconciled person ? look back to the use of trial , and put again and again the questions to thy self , that there are put to thee , and allow some time for it : deal truly , can time be better spent ? 5. if thou canst not yet satisfie thy self , that thou art in a reconciled estate , how art thou affected ? art in trouble about it , in care and fear about it ? 6. if so , wouldst thou be in a reconciled estate ? may one believe thee ? is it a comfort to you to think that god is reconcilable through christ ? and that he makes the motion to you , and will be at peace with you , if you will be at peace with him . and are they welcom to you , that come in gods name to make peace between him and you ? and do you like the terms , and cordially accept of peace with him upon these terms ? 7. can you be in a reconciled estate without the use of means ? 8. what are your thoughts of the means prescribed , are they good ? 9. why then will you not use them ? motive 2. the misery of an unreconciled estate , which will appear to be great if you consider that unreconciled persons are , 1. enemies to god. 2. and god is an enemy to them . 1. if you be an unreconciled person , thou art an enemy to god ; and , which aggravates thy misery , 1. thou art a weak enemy , unable to resist or defend thy self . can thy heart endure , or can thy hands be strong in the day when god shall deal with thee ? ezek. 22. 14. 2. a poor enemy , that hast nothing to ransom thy self if taken , though thou have silver and gold never so much , for neither silver nor gold shall be able to deliver in the day of the lords wrath , zeph. 1. 18. 3. a secure enemy , that fearest no danger , and therefore thy case the more dangerous . when any man shall hear the words of the curse , and yet shall bless himself in his heart , and say , i shall have peace , though he walk in the imagination of his heart : the lord will not spare him ; but then the anger of the lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man , and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him , and the lord shall blot out his name from under heaven , deut. 29. 19 , 20. 4. a provoking enemy , that provokest god to his face , isa . 65. 3. 5. an enemy that hast refused proffers of peace , pro. 1. 24. 6. and it may be an enemy that hast abused those that have been sent to treat with thee about peace with god , such as you read of 2 chr. 36. 16. and if so , may not god justly refuse now to be reconciled to thee ? because i have called , says god , and ye have refused , i have stretched out my hand and no man regarded , but have set at naught all ●y counsel , and would none of my reproof , i also will laugh at their calamity , and mock when your fear cometh , pro. 1. 24 , 25 , 26. take your bible and read on to v. 31. and dreadful is that word ezek. 24. 13 , 14. in thy filthiness is lewdness . because i have purged thee and thou wast not purged , thou shalt not bepurged from thy filthiness any more , till i have caused my fury to rest upon thee . i the lord have spoken it ; it shall come to pass : and i will do it , i will not go back , neither will i spare , neither will i repent , according to thy ways and according to thy doings , shall they judge thee , saith the lord god. poor soul , what if this scripture should be fulfilled in thee ? and what if god should give satan a commission to fetch away thy unreconciled soul this night ? 2. if you be an unreconciled person , god is an enemy to thee : and he is , 1. a potent enemy , nah. 1. 2 , 3 , 6. god is jealous , and the lord revengeth , the lord revengeth and is furious ; the lord will take vengeance of his adversaries , and he reserveth wrath for his enemies . the lord is slow to anger , and great in power , and will not at all acquit the wicked . who can stand before his indignation , and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger ? his fury is poured out like fire , and the rocks are thrown down by him . 2. a sworn resolved enemy , deut. 32. 40 , 41 , 42. for i lift up my hand to heaven , and say , i live for ever . if i whet my glittering sword , and my hand take hold on judgment , i will render vengeance to mine enemies , and i will reward them that hate me . 3. an unavoidable enemy , ps . 139. 7 , &c. whither shall i flee from thy presence ? 4. an immortal enemy ; not like a man that shall dye , or the son of man that shall be made as grass , isa . 51. 12. and whilst he is an enemy to thee , 1. all his actings towards thee are in a hostile way , isa . 63. 10. they rebelled and vexed his holy spirit , therefore he was turned to be their enemy , and he fought against them . 2. he will not grant your requests , isa . 1. 15. when you spread forth your hands i will hide mine eyes from you ; yea , when you make many prayers , i will not hear . 3. his creatures are in arms against you , and wait but for a word of command , and then will fall upon you as once they did upon pharaoh . 4. you may fear therefore continually day and night , and can have no assurance of your life , deut. 28. 66. and now poor unreconciled soul , shall i once more reason with thee ? are these things so ? art thou an enemy to god , and is god an enemy unto thee ? and art thou not only a poor , weak enemy , no way able to prevent falling into the hands of the living god , nor to deliver thy self out of his hands when fallen into it ; but a secure enemy , also a fearless enemy , unapprehensive of danger , yea a provoking enemy , that hast time after time refused proffered peace ? and is god an enemy unto thee ? a potent , sworn , resolved , provoked , unavoidable , immortal enemy to thee ? and are all his actings against thee in a hostile way ? and will he grant none of thy requests , nor have any fellowship with thee ? and are the creatures waiting for a command from their great general to fall upon thee ? and canst thou have no assurance of thy life , no not for an hour , no not for a minute ? is this thy case poor unreconciled soul , what thinkest thou ? is this thy case ? is this thy case ? wilt thou not be at the pains to think a little ? lord what ails thee , that thou art not startled , affrighted , sinking into a swoun at the thoughts thereof ? what , to be an enemy to god , and to have god to be an enemy unto thee ? is this nothing ? a thing to be laid to thy heels and not to your heart ? 1. is it nothing to reject proffered peace and reconciliation with god ? will it not bring upon thee double condemnation ? reader , i beseech thee take thy bible , and before thou read a line more in the book thou hast in thy hand , read mat. 10. 12 , 13 , 14 , 15. luke 10. 5 , 6 , 10 , 11 , 12. and now , reader , what sayest thou , is it nothing to be under this threatning ? it shall be more tollerable for sodom and gomorrah in the day of judgment than for thee . 2. is it nothing by thy standing out & refusing proffered peace with god , to grieve god , christ , the holy spirit , angels , & near and dear relations , a mother it may be that bare thee , brought thee forth into the world , and nurst thee up , who is in travel again till thou be at peace with god , is this nothing ? once more i beg of thee to take thy bible and read mat. 23. 37. mar. 3. 5. mar. 8. 12. luke 19. 41 to the end . zech. 7. 11 , 12. what more shall i say unto thee poor unreconciled soul , that refusest proffered peace ? 1. is it not thy saviour , thy saviour for all that thou knowest , that thou standest out against ? 2. art thou without reason , natural affection , and self love , that thou standest out against a saviour , that thou runest from peace , and pardon , and life ? 3. what harm will pardon , peace , reconciliation do thee ? 4. wilt not wish first or last that thou hadst accepted of proffered peace with god ? reader , take thy bible , read luke 13. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. good reader , say me not nay , ; read what is written for thy good , for thy admonition . 5. would it not be a day of gladness to god , christ , saints , angels , and thy relations and acquaintants that fear god , if thou wouldest be perswaded to come in and be reconciled to god ? for certain it would . read luke 15. 6 , 7 , 9. luke 10. 21. cant. 3. 11. ps . 87. 5 , 6 , 7. you will do very little for your souls , if you will not be at the pains to read and consider these few scriptures , for their good . come , come , reader , 6. is it without a providence that this book was put into thy hands , and that thou hast had a heart to read it ? sure not , i would hope that god intends thee good by it . good reader , be willing to be saved , to come to christ , to endeavour thy peace with god , to set about the use of the means before prescribed , to try what thou canst do to be at peace with god. come , wilt thou try , and use the means in good earnest ? i will promise thee if thou wilt , thou shalt not want help ; god christ , his spirit , good ministers and people will help thee . see isa . 41. 10 , 13 , 14. rom. 8. 26. ps . 89. 19. ps . 72. 15. ps . 118. 25 , 26. come , reader , do i intreat thee to thy loss or hurt ? is it not for thy good ? hear it , i beseech thee , and know it for thy good , job 5. 27. is it not great rich grace and favour that god doth offer to be at peace with thee ? and wilt thou receive the grace of god in vain ? god forbid . in memory of that very religious gentlewoman , mrs. anne kyrl , the relict of colonel robert kyrl of waford , and daughter of william sellwin of matson near gloucester , esquire . who having lived about 46 years , did sweetly fall asleep in christ march 30 , was decently interred april 6. 1677. and is at blessed rest till christs second appearing , to awaken , raise , and glorifie her with himself for evermore . concerning our dear friend departed , an exemplar worthy imitation , i think i have warrant enough to say something to her praise . she was a woman that feared the lord , and shall she not be praised ? solomon says she should , pro. 31. 30. she was a dorcas , why should not the coats and garments she made be shewed ? acts 9. 39. christ commended the faith of the centurion , mat. 8. 10. and of the syrophoenician woman , mar. 7. & mat. 15. 28. and the love and repentance of the woman that stood at his feet behind him weeping , luke 7. 44 , &c. and what mary the sister of lazarus ( joh. 12. 3. ) had done in pouring oyntment on his head , he said should be spoken of throughout the world for a memorial of her , mar. 14 9. and for a memorial of our friend now sweetly sleeping in jesus , who had ( as demetrius ) a good report of all , 3 joh. 12. i may safely and boldly say , 1. that she according to gods promise looked for new heavens and a new earth . she looked to things not seen , and things that are eternal , 2 cor. 4. she looked for that blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ , tit. 2. 15. yea she looked for and hastned unto the coming of the day of god. 2. her looking for such things made her diligent , industriously diligent , that she might be found of christ in peace , without spot and blameless ▪ in a reconciled ▪ justified and sanctified estate . she gave her mind , she set her self to be found in this estate . she was instant in season and out of season about this . in the morning she sowed her seed , and in the evening she withheld not her hand , eccles . 11. 6. she gave all diligence to add to her faith vertue , and to vertue knowledge , &c. she gave diligence to make her calling and election sure , 2 pet. 1. 5 , 10. she was not slothful , but shewed diligence to the full assurance of hope , heb. 6. 11 , 12. and whatsoever she apprehended was commanded by the god of heaven , she would diligently do it , ezra 7. 23. what more shall i say ? her eyes were turned away from beholding vanity , ps . 119. 37. her ears were swift to hear , jam. 1. 19. in her tongue was the law of kindness , prov. 31. 26. her hands were stretched out to the poor and needy , prov. 31. 20. her feet were shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace , eph. 6. 15. her knees were bowed unto the father of our lord jesus christ , eph. 3. 14. her face was zion-ward , jer. 50. 5. her clothing was humility , 1 pet. 5. 5. her ornaments a meek and a quiet spirit , 1 pet. 3. 4. her girdle sincerity , eph. 6. 14. her speech was savoury , seasoned salt , col. 4. 6. corrupt communication proceeded not out of her mouth , but such as might minister grace to the hearers , eph. 4. 29. her conversation was upright , ps . 37. 14. ordered aright , ps . 50. 23. as became the gospel , phil. 1. 27. without covetousness , heb. 13. 5. chaste coupled with fear , 1 pet. 3. 2. honest , 1 pet. 2. 12. holy , 1 pet. 1. 15. heavenly , phil. 3. 20. all her springs whence slowed these streams were in god , ps . 87. 7. her confidence was not in the slesh . her rejoycing was in christ , phil. 3. 3. christ was her all , col. 3. 11. her wisdom to direct her , righteousness to justifie her , sanctification to cleanse her , redemption to set her at liberty , 1 cor. 1. 30. when she was hungry his flesh was her meat . when thirsty his blood was her drink , john 6. 55. when she fainted he was her cordial , luke 2. 25. when she fought with her spiritual adversaries , he was her victory and triumph , 1 john 5. 4 , 5. 1 cor. 15. 57. rom. 8. 37. when she failed , christ was her advocate with the father , john 2. 1 , 2. in life he was her hope , 1 tim. 1. 1. in death he is her gain , phil. 1. 21. in the grave he will be her life and resurrection john 11. 25. i think i may say of her as hezekiah of himself , isa . 38. 3. that she walked before god in truth and with a perfect heart , and did that which was good in his sight . and as christ of nathanael , john 1. 47. behold an israelite indeed in whom is no guile . her dying words exprest much of a christian indeed . to instance : they exprest , 1. her expectation of a change : i do not hope to live long . 2. her weannedness from the world and sense of the badness of it : for , said she , being fit to dye , 't is the best time to dye in , and the worst age to live in . 3. her lamenting after god ; for she complained of unprofitableness under the means she enjoyed , and of the want of former refreshments . 4. her confidence in god : for , said she , though i am a great sinner , yet i believe i am a pardoned sinner , and so have rest and quiet . one saying to her , there is need of the lords help : yea , said she , and god hath laid help upon one that is mighty , and by his stripes i am healed . one repeating that scripture , ps . 116. 6. the lord preserveth the simple , i was brought low , and he helped me . yea , said she , the lord will remember me in my low estate . her thankfulness . blessed be god , said she , i have refreshing though not rest . at other times she would say : o the consolations of the lord are not small things . 6. her prayerfulness . in her last fit she said : lord ease , lord help ; pray , pray , pray . and so whiles we were praying for her , she fell asleep . thus she has given you an example , as christ did his disciples , john 13. 15. i will not call you to lamentation , but to imitation i must . not to lamentation , though some of you have lost a dear sister . and some of you a tender aunt . and some a faithful friend . and some a helper of their faith and joy . and some an encourager in the ways of god. the poor have lost a visitor and liberal benefactor . and this congregation a worthy member . and she her self has lost something too ; she has lost her asthma , or difficulty of breathing . her pains , sighs , and groans . her cold sweats and fainting fits . her sorrows and sufferings . her troubles and temptations . her sins and corruptions . but what are her gains ? no tongue can express , nor heart can conceive , what they are . she has gained heaven . what eye hath not seen , nor ear hath heard , nor hath it entred into the heart of man , 1 cor. 2. 9. a kingdom everlasting , luke 12. 32. 2 pet. 1. 11. a crown of righteousness and life , 2 tim. 4. 8. james 1. 12. an inheritance rich and glorious , eph. 1. 18. incorruptible , undefiled , and that fadeth not away , 1 pet. 1. 4. she has gained fulness of joy in the presence of god , and pleasures for ever more at his right hand , ps . 16. 11. an exceeding exceeding eternal weight of glory , 2 cor. 4. 17. the beatifical vision , mat. 5. 8. the immediate and full fruition of god and christ . an eternal life with god , and christ , and saints , and angels . and therefore i must not call you to lamentation . but , as i said , to imitation i must . follow her as she followed christ , 1 cor. 11. 1. let her vertues live in you , so shall she in some sense still live with you . 1. look for such things as she did . look for new heavens and new earth . look to things not seen , and things that are eternal . look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of , &c. look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of god. 2. let the expectation of such things make you diligent in the use of means to be found of christ at his coming in peace without spot , &c. in a reconciled , justified , and sanctified estate . give your minds , set your selves to be found in this estate . be instant in season and out of season about it . in the morning sow your seed , and in the evening withhold not your hand , eccles . 11. 6. give all diligence , adde to your faith vertue , &c. 2 pet. 1. 5. give diligence to make your calling and election sure , 2 pet. 1. 10. be not slothful , but shew diligence to the full assurance of hope , heb. 6. 11 , 12. and whatsoever shall be commanded you by the god of heaven diligently do it , ezra 7. 23. turn away your eyes from beholding vanity , ps . 119. 37. with your ears be swift to hear counsel and receive instruction , james 1. 19. in your tongues let the law of kindness be , pro. 31. 26. let your hands be stretched out to the poor and needy , pro. 31. 20. let your seet be shod with , &c. eph. 6. 15. let your knees be bowed to your father , &c. eph. 3. 14. let your faces be zionward , jer. 50. 5. cloath your selves with humility , 1 pet. 5. 5. adorn your selves with meekness and a quiet spirit , 1 pet. 3. 4. gird your selves with sincerity , eph. 6. 14. let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth , &c. eph. 4. 29. order your conversations aright , ps . 50. 23. let your conversation be as becomes the gospel , phil. 1. 27. without covetousness , heb. 13. 5. chaste , coupled with fear , 1 pet. 3. 2. honest , 1 pet. 2. 12. holy , 1 pet. 1. 15. heavenly , phil. 3. 20. that it may be such , let all your springs be in god , ps . 81. 7. have no confidence in the flesh , phil. 3. 3. rejoyce in jesus christ , phil. 3. 3. let christ be your all , col. 3. 11. your wisdom to direct you , your righteousness to justifie you , your sanctification to cleanse you , and your redemption to set you at liberty , 1 co. 1. 30. when your souls are hungry , let christs flesh be your meat . when thirsty , let his blood be your drink , john 6. 55. when you faint in a day of adversity , let christ be your cordial , luke 2. 25. when you fight with your spiritual adversaries , look to jesus for victory and triumph , 1 john 5. 4 , 5. 1 cor. 15. 57. rom. 8. 37. when you fail , look to christ your advocate with the father , 1 john 2. 1 , 2. in life let christ be your hope , 1 tim. 1. 1. in death be confident he will be your gain , phil. 1. 21. and in the grave your life and resurrection , john 11. 25. thus pace after this blessed soul departed , your near and dear relation , tread in her steps , and then ere long where she is you shall be also . where 's that ? i doubt not to say in paradise , luke 23 43. in abrahams bosom , luke 16. 22. in heaven with saints and angels , heb. 12. 22 , 23. with god in christ jesus , which is best of all , phil. 1. 23. an appendix to the foregoing discourse by way of caution and exhortation . 1. by way of caution . take heed lest christ at his coming find you , 1. with nothing but leaves on you , as that figtree , mar. 11. 13. was , lest you be cursed , and it be said unto you as mat. 25. 41. depart , &c. 2. without fruit , as that tree was , luke 13. 7. lest you be cut down and cast into the fire . 3. without oil in your vessels , as the foolish virgins were , mat. 25. 3. lest the door be shut against you , v. 10. 4. with works not perfect before god , rev. 3. 2. 5. smighting your fellow-servants , as he , mat. 24. 49. lest you be cut asunder , and have your portion appointed you with hypocrites . 6. eating and drinking with the drunken , mat. 24. 49 , 50 , 51. 7. idle , slothful , and not improving your talents , mat. 25. 25 , 26. lest you be cast into utter darkness , where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , v. 30. take heed therefore , lest christs coming suddenly , as mar. 13. 36. find you thus , viz. with nothing but leaves , without fruit , without oil , with works not perfect , smiting your fellows , eating and drinking with the drunken , idle , drunken , not improving your talents . do not make slight of this caution i beseech you . 2. by way of exhortation . be diligent , that you may be found of christ at his coming . 1. watching . for blessed are trhose sevants whom the lord when he cometh shall sind watching , whether he come in the second watch , or in the third watch , and sind them so , blessed are those servants , luke 12. 37 , 38. 2. in christ , not having your own righteousness , which was pauls desire , phil. 3. 9. that i may be found in christ , not having mine own righteousness which is of the law , but that which is through the faith of christ , the righteousness which is of god by faith . 3. written in the lambs book of life : for whosoever shall not be found written in the book of lise , shall be cast into the lake of fire , rev. 20. 15. 4. established , unblameable in holiness before god. this was part of pauls prayer for the thessalonians , that their hearts might be established unblameable in holiness before god even our father , at the coming of our lord jesus christ with all his saints , 1 thes . 3. 13. 5. sanctified wholly in spirit , soul , and body . so also prays the apostle for the thessalonians , the very god of peace sanctifie you wholly , and i pray god your whole spirit , soul , and body , may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our lord jesus christ , 1 thes . 5. 23. 6. patient . to this s. james exhorts , be patient , brethren , unto the coming of the lord , which draweth nigh , james 5. 7 , 8. 7. waiting for his coming , which was the commendation of the corinthians , they waited for the coming of our lord jesus christ , 1 cor. 1. 7. 8. looking for and hasting to it , according to the counsel of s. peter , 2 pet. 3. 12. 9. in peace without spot and blameless , as in the text. be diligent thus to be found at the coming of christ , so shall you be blessed , luke 12. 37 , 38. and so shall you have confidence , and not be ashamed before him at his coming , 1 joh. 2. 28. finis . a good and seasonable caveat for christians. delivered in a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir charles shirley, knight and baronet, in the parish church of breedon, in leicester-shire. / by john wilson, master of arts, and preacher of gods word in the sayd parish. 7. octob. 1646. imprimatur, jo. downame. wilson, john, of breedon, leicestershire. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a96652 of text r204901 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1182_5). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 84 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a96652 wing w2899 thomason e1182_5 estc r204901 99864350 99864350 116578 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a96652) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 116578) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 256:e1182[5]) a good and seasonable caveat for christians. delivered in a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir charles shirley, knight and baronet, in the parish church of breedon, in leicester-shire. / by john wilson, master of arts, and preacher of gods word in the sayd parish. 7. octob. 1646. imprimatur, jo. downame. wilson, john, of breedon, leicestershire. [8], 62, [2] p. printed for richard harper, and are to be sold at his shop in smithfield, london : 1646. the last leaf is blank. annotation on thomason copy: "octob: 26". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng shirley, charles, -sir, 1623-1646 -early works to 1800. god -worship and love -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. a96652 r204901 (thomason e1182_5). civilwar no a good and seasonable caveat for christians.: delivered in a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir charles shirley, knight an wilson, john, of breedon, leicestershire 1646 15323 119 45 0 0 0 0 107 f the rate of 107 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2007-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a good and seasonable caveat for christians . delivered in a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sir charles shirley , knight and baronet , in the parish church of breedon , in leicester-shire . by john wilson , master of arts , and preacher of gods word in the sayd parish . o lord keepe my soule . psa. 25. 20. for what shall it profit a man if he win the whole world , and lose his owne soule ? or what recompence or exchange shall a man give for his soule ? mat. 16. 26. imprimatur , jo. downame . 7. octob. 1646. london , printed for richard harper , and are to be sold at his shop in smithfield . 1646. to the right vvorshipfull sir robert shirley knight baronet , and to his vertuous consort the lady catharine shirley , the authour wisheth all happines , externall , internall , and eternall . rt. wor. had not the importunity of friends prevailed with me , i had never published this sermon preached at the solemnization of the funerall obsequies , of your noble brother , sir charles ) for i was never so well conceited of the product of my weak brain , as to deem it worthy publique view . if moses the authour of my text , professed that he was not eloquent , that he was slow of speech , and unapt for so great employment as he was called to : i am sure i have ten thousand thousand times more cause to disclaime eloquence and to acknowledge my owne weakenesse , and unworthinesse ; yet this is my comfort innocentia melior eloquentiâ b innocence is better then eloquence ; a good cause better then a good oratour . this little manuall or enchiridion i am sure will be censured , and i feare more then practiced : c one perhaps will quarrell with the stile , another with the method , and others with the matter , but let such know that i seeke not the suffrages of their praise or approbation , d who like summer ●lyes breath corruption on the best provision : the malignity of whose wit , can find fault with the best actions , not onely of men , but of god also , as lucians momus , who being called to judge of the excellency of those master peeces the gods had made , ( scil. ) a man , a house and a horse , found fault withal three , with the horse , that it had not hornes for defence , with the house , that it had not motion , and with the man , that he had not a window to look into his breast : even so these malevolent censurers criticise with a froward curiosity upon the best and purest volumnes , and often times fill and blot them with their own astericks and errata's . and where a candid censure might of every thing make a good construction , and take all in a faire sense , there will they through misconstruction or some idle conjecture , though to the fullest period , adde , a nonnulla desiderantur , that something is wanting , or that it might have beene better done otherwise . insomuch that it is even a taske for divinity to please man , g not that this argues any weaknesse in god who is able to do all things , but a perversnesse in mans nature that will be content with nothing . if therefore such find fault , it shall not trouble me ; if any be contentious , we have no such custome , nor the church of god . 1 corin. 11. 16. the more ingenious , are more courteous , i together with whom , so your wor. continues your approbation of it , i shall thinke my selfe happy in my labours ; k and acknowledge your favour herein , to be farre transcending my merit ; the best of whose endeavors cannot deserve the influence of so noble a protectour . it is a good rule that in dedicating books , we should be sure that the thing be worthy the person to whom it is dedicated . l i will not say this is such , m because i am conscious to my selfe of much weaknesse and unworthinesse : yet you will the more magnifie your owne worth by receiving so small a mite into your so noble patrociny . i shall forbeare much apologizing , for your protection of this ensuing sermon , having had assurance thereof already from you , at your house in staunton ; my humble suite is , that you will pardon my demerits , and at your best leasure peruse it , and i trust that as god hath endowed you with a great temporall estate on earth , so you may by these my weake endeavours be excited to labour for , and diligently seek after , an eternall inheritance in the kingdome of heaven . the motto anexed to your coate of armes is , a eterna prapon● caducis , a●d indeed it is the s●mme of my exhortations , in the ensuing sermon . be pleased therefore to ●emember what you in that motto professe . prefer heavenly above earthly things , set your affections on things above , and not on things beneath ; take heed to your selves , and keep your soules diligently . but the volumne is so small , that i must make the preface suitable , lest the city run out of the gates , as the philosophers jeered the men of myndum . i shall therefore conclude with that of saint paul to the thessalonians , 1 ep. 3 ch. 12. & 13. ver. the lord make you encrease and abound in love one towards another , and towards all men , to the end he may establish your hearts unbl●mable , in holinesse before god our father , even at the comming of our lord jesus christ with all his saints : which is and shall be the hearty and constant prayer of your most humble servant , iohn wilson . a good caveat for christians . deut. chap. 4. part of the ninth verse . onely take heed to thy selfe , and keepe thy soule diligently . this is grave counsell , given by moses the lawgiver ; a man both religious and learned , who , though his humility was such , that he pleaded want of eloquence , slownesse of tongue , and imperfection of speech , exod. 4. 10. yet his knowledge was so great , and that not only in the learning of the egyptians , but also in spirituall matters , that wee may most justly affirme of him that he was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , weighty in his sentences : for proofe whereof you neede travaile no farther then my text , which is both short and sweet , and therefore i hope will be the more welcom to you , for it fares with sentences as it doth with coynes . in coynes they that in smallest compasse conteyn greatest values are most esteemd ; and in sentences , they that in fewest words comprize most matter , are most praysed , and indeed such is this of my text : it is both short and sweet . it is short and therefore you will bee without excuse , if you forget it ; it is sweet , and therefore he must needes bee a distempered man that disrellishes it : it is short and indeede so short that i may justly affirme with basil that it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , even a volumn in a sentence , consilium optimum in mole minima , one of the excellentest exhortations in one of the least sentences , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as it were homers iliads in a nut shell . it is also sweete , and so sweete , that as saint paul said . covet earnestly the best gifts 1 cor : 12. 31. so may i say covet or seeke the best counsell you can , and you cannot find better then this in my text : for what counsell is like it ? it is true you may have good counsell from your physician for your bodily-health , and no one is so simple to refuse it , you may have good counsell also from your lawyer concerning your estate , & i am sure you much desire it ; but this counsell from the minister concerning the good of your so●le much exceeds both the precedent counsels in regard of the excellency of the soule , which farre surpasses both body and estate . it was good advice of austin , keepe the fayth , res pretiosa est . it is a precious thing , keepe innocency , res pretiosaest , that is a precious thing also . i adde farther , yet not i , but moses custodi animam , keepe thy soule , res pretiosa , nay res preciosissima est , it is the most precious jewell thou hast , if it be lost thou art lost , if it be lost all is lost , therefore moses in the text advises us to take heede to our selves and keepe our souls diligently . division . in which words bee pleased to observe with me two parts : first a preface , secondly a precept ; or ( if you will ) a direction , and a duty . first the preface , or direction in these wordes , onely take heede to thy selfe . secondly the precept or duty , in the words following . keepe thy soule diligently . he duae partes quasi duo luminaria , these two as the two great lights in heaven gen : 1. 16. may serve to direct us in all our wayes . thus having , as dido did with her oxe hide , cut the words in peeces , i have enclosed a pleasant and fruitfull ground , out of which i shall collect these two observations , on which ( by the almighties assistance ) i intend to build my ensuing discourse . 1. obser. the first is this : it is the duty of christians to bee circumspect and cautious in all their enterprizes : or ( if you will have it more plainly ) in the words of my text , to take heede to themselves in all their attempts . 2. obser. the second this , every one ought to have a care of his soule , to keepe that diligently . of these in their order briefly and plainly , and first of the first . it is the duty of christians to be circumspect and cautious in all their enterprizes . this is that which the apostle exhorts unto . eph. 5. 15. see then that ye walke circumspectly , not as fooles but as wise , and according to this is that advice of the poet . quicquid agis prudenter agas & respice finem , what ever thou doest take heed that thou doe it wisely and praecogitate , or anticipate to thy selfe what the end , the issue or the event thereof may be , which duty of circumspection will appeare to be most necessary , if we consider the reasons following . 1. reason . first wee should be circumspect and wary in all our undertakings , because rash and precipitated actions , seldome or never produce good effects , this you may see verified in all manner of actions , whether naturall , morall , civill or spirituall . first in naturall actions , as in the motions of nature , which the philosophers hold are flowe in the beginning , swifter in the middle , and swiftest of all in the latter end , so that no violent action ( being contrary to nature ) can continue long , nullum violentum perpetuum , no violent is permanent . secondly , morall actions , wherein consists the exercise of virtues , seldome or never come to good perfection , unlesse advice and deliberation goe before , hence grew that maxime , deliberandum est diu , quod statuendum est semel , we must deliberate or forethinke of that often , which we are to doe but once . thirdly , civill actions , whether concerning church or common-wealth , seldome succeede well unlesse advice and deliberation praecede them , and indeed there is no orator in the senate-house , nor lawyer in the common-pleas , nor preacher in the pulpit ( if he have any modesty ) which dare shew himselfe in publique , except he be well furnished and provided before-hand . fourthly and lastly , spirituall actions , which concerne the worshippe of god , never please god , unlesse they bee undertaken with deliberation , due advice and circumspection , unlesse wee consider the matter which we doe , the manner how we doe it , the meanes whereby we doe it , and the end wherefore we doe it , which is ( or at least ought to be ) for the glory of god : according to that of st. paul , whether yee eate or drinke , or whatsoever else you doe , let all be done to the praise and glory of god . 1. cor. 10. 31. thus you see that no manner of action can come to good perfection , except advice and deliberation goe before , which ( if there were no other reason ) is enough to perswade every prudent man to take heede to himselfe ; as moses in my text exhorts . rea. 2. but secondly , we had neede take heede to our selves , and bee circumspect in our waies , in regard of the many subtile and puissant enemies wherewith we are daily surrounded . the greater our danger is , the greater should our care be , and the more subtile our enemies are , the more circumspect ought we to bee , lest wee bee circumvented by their policie . now i beseech you consider what great danger we are in , and what resolute and cunning assailants we are besieged with . our danger is great , for in this our spirituall war-fare wee are not in a fenced and fortified garrison , but in the open field ; nor is it a naked field , but a field of warre , i might say acheldama , a field of blood , where you neede not waite for an enemy , for you shall finde many , and those not weake but strong ; able to conquer adam in paradise , noah the most righteous man in the world , david the best king , peter the best apostle . you must not expect that i should capitulate unto you all your enemies which are against you , for as nestor said of the mise●ies that they suffered at the seige of troy , or as david speakes of gods works , psalm . 40. 5. they are more then can be numbred , non mihi si centum linguae sint oraque centum , if i had a hundred mouthes and tongues , g i were not able to relate them all unto you ; i shall therfore ( as men doe in the suppression of rebellion ) shew you the heads of the chiefe rebells of mankinde ( as it were ) on stakes , and leave the rest to your mature consideration . the first enemy whose cunning i would have you take notice of , is the devill , the grand generall of all mischiefe , who with his host of malevolent spirits , encamps himselfe against us , and endevors by all meanes to plunge us both soule and body into everlasting torments in the bottomlesse pit , where is weeping and wayling , and gn●shing of teeth for evermore . much might be said concerning the terriblenesse of this enemy , but because i would hasten to other things , i shall refer you to st. peter for information in his first epistle , fift chapter and eighth verse ; your adversary the devill ( saith he ) goes about daily like a roaring lion , seeking whom he may devoure , 1. pet. 5. 8. in which description you may finde foure properties in sathan , which makes him a most terrible enemy . first his power , secondly his malice , thirdly his subtilty , and fourthly his sedulity or diligence to harme us ; goliahs power made him seeme so terrible , that saul and all israel were dismayed when they heard of him 1. sa. 17. 12. doegs malice made him seeme terrible , 1. sam. 22. 22. achitophels pollicy made him seeme terrible , 2. sam 15. 31. and the enemies of israel were accounted terrible in respect of their swiftnesse to destroy . esa. 5. 26. now if one of these make an enemy terrible , how terrible will that enemy bee , in whom all these foure meete ? if an enemy be malicious ( as a writer observes ) yet if he want power , hee may peradventure consume himselfe with malice and hurt no other ; or if he have both power and malice , yet if he want cunning and subtilty he may misse an oportunity to doe hurt ; or suppose he have power , malice and subtilty , yet if he be slowe and carelesse , there is the lesse danger of him , but where malice is accompanied with power , and that guided with craft , and all exercised with sedulitie and much diligence ; who , having such an enemy will be carelesse and take no heede to himselfe ? now if you please to review that 1 pet : 5. and the 8 verse . you shall find that all these , doe in a high degree concurre in sathan ; your adversary the devill ( saith the apostle ) goes about daily like a roareing lyon seekeing whome he may devoure : his name devill and that which he seekes to devoure , shewes his malice ; the lyon whereunto he is resembled , demonstrates his power and subtilty , the epithite roareing shewes his terriblenesse , and lastly his walkeing up and downe shewes his diligence and sedulity which he uses to bring us to destruction . now beloved , if wee had no other enemie but this , yet the consideration of his malice power and cunning , should cause as to walke circumspectly ; and ( as wee are exhorted in my text ) to take heede to our selves . the second enemie which i would have you take notice of is the world , which though it inchaunt us with it's circe's charmes , and vayne promises of comfort to dote upon it , yet it is a great enemies to us , so great that david ( a man after gods own heart ) bewayles his abode in it : psa : 120 : 5. so great , that saint iohn disswades from the loue of it 1 ioh : 2. 15. so great that saint paul desires to be translated out of it . i desire ( saith he ) to be dissolved and to bee with christ . the third enemie is the flesh and indeede this is inimicorum p●ssimus , quia proximus , the worst because the most neere adhering to us ; it is an enemie quem nec fugere , nec fugàre possumus , circumferre ●um necesse est , which wee can neither fly from , nor cause it to fly from us , but must of necessity carrie it abou● us : this as the trojan horse hath in it many enemies , such as are noysom justs , & ungodly thoughts , which warre ●●ainst us in their severall orders : there bee thousands mor● enemies , which conspire against our welfare , but the time will not permit me to pu● downe any more of them in this list , therfore i forbeare any farther enumeration of them , and hasten to the third reason why we should all take heede to our selves and walke circumspectly , which is this : because wee must all answere for all our thoughts , words and deedes . it is appointed for all men to dye , and after death the judgement . he. 9. 27. so re. 20. 12. i saw the dead small and great stand before god , and the bookes were opened , and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the bookes according to their works . there be two things that deale impartially with all men , death , and the judgement of the last day . that death deales impartially , you see proved in that it strikes with the same foote as well at the pallaces of princes , as at the cottages of poore men : 't is true that there is a great deale of difference betweene man and man , in three respects . first in respect of naturall endowments , some are wise , others fooles , some beautifull , others deformed , some of an affable and courteous disposition , others are sordid and immorigerous ; secondly , in respect of spirituall graces , some are spirituall , sanctified with grace , others carnall , sold under sin , some are patient in the greatest tribulation , and others querulous and murmurers in the least , some there are whom nothing can make proud , or elevate them above their brethren , and others there are , whom things worth nothing , transport in a sphere of pride above their betters ; thirdly , there is difference in respect of future eternity , some there are who are vessels of wrath , and firebrands of hell , to whom it shall be said , ite maledicti , goe yee cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devill and his angels : and others there are who are children of god and heires of the kingdome of heaven , to whom it shall be said , venite benedicti , come yee blessed children of my father receive the kingdome prepared for you . yet though it be true that there be such difference between man and man in these respects , if we looke upon death and the judgement that they have of the righteous judge at the last day , we shall finde that they have no respect of persons ; as for death it doth equalise the peere of the realme , and the peasant of the country the life of man is like a play or interlude . you know before the play be begun , the actors are fellowes , in the play there appeares a great deale of difference , some are kings , and others subjects , some judges , others prisoners , some rich , others beggers ; and after the play is ended , there is little or no difference between them : even so is it with men , while we act our parts on the vast stage of the world , there appeares a great deale of difference between us , some live in the mountaines of riches , honors , and preferments , others in the vallies of meane and low estates , yet when we have severally acted our partes , death will make us all equall : him that sitteth on the throne , with him that lieth in the field , him that holds the scepter , with him that holds the plow , the rich with the begger , wise with foolish , by turning us all into the prime element , dust , whereof we are composed ; and as death deales impartially with all , so will the judgement of the last day . there qualem unusquisque habet conscientiam talem & habebit judicem , whatsoever conscience a man hath , such a judge shall he have either excusing or accusing him , there no bribes shall corrupt justice , no intreaties protract it , no opposition hinder the passage of it , but there every one shall receive without partiallity according to what he hath done in the flesh . o that men would seriously revolve this in their minds , that so they might be caused to walke circumspectly with god and man , and ( as moses in my text exhorts ) to take heed to themselves , and keepe their soules diligently . application . it serves for exhortation ; first to magistrates , secondly , to ministers , thirdly , to the common people , to be circumspect in their waies , and to take heede to themselves in all their enterprizes . first , let magistrates and men in eminent places , take heede to themselves in all their undertakings , for they have as much , nay more cause to be circumspect in their waies then others . first they are bound to it by the former reasons , scil. their actions , as wel as the actions of other men , ( if undertaken unadvisedly ) produce miserable , and prodigious effects . again , they have the same enemies , the devill , the world , and the flesh endeavouring their overthrow , as well as the overthrow of others , and finally they must die as well as others , psal. 82. v. 6. 7. and give an account for their thoughts , words , and deeds , as well as others . but secondly , they have more cause to take heede to themselves , and to be circumspect in their waies then others , for these reasons . first god hath advanced them above others in dignity , and he therefore expects that they should walke more warily then others : if god should finde them guilty of such enormities as others , he might justly cry out against them as caesar did against brutus , & tu fili ? what and thou my son ? have i honored thee so much ? and wilt thou be so carelesse of my honour , and of thy owne salvation ? it should be with men as it is with the elements , the higher they are , the purer they are , aire is purer then water , and fire then aire , so the higher men are in office and wealth , the more circumspect ought they to be in their waies : to whom much is given , of him much shall be required , luke 12. 48. good to this purpose is that of gregory , crescentibus donis crescunt & rationes donorum , the greater our guifts are , the greater should our care be . againe , men in eminent places ought to be more circumspect then others , because the people commonly follow their examples , their good or evill life doth commonly cause much good , or evill amongst the people . i remember a saying , which experience in all ages hath proved to be true : qualis rex , talis grex , such as the king or chiefe rulers are , such for the most part will the people be ; for their president is more followed then their precept . if the king be an idolater , it lodgeth not in his breast alone , but like a gangrene or spreading leprosie it passeth over the whole body of the common wealth : if on the contrary , the king be a religious and sanctified person , the people will at least in shew appeare so too : if jeroboam the son of nebat become an idolater , and an errector of strange altars , he shall not goe alone , but all israell will sin with him for company , 2 ki. 10. 31. if joshus devote himselfe to serve the lord , all the people will be ready to comply with him , 1 josh. 16. ahaz was an idolater , so were the people , hezekiah his son worshipped god truly , so did the people , thus regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis : the examples of eminent persons are as looking glasses , after which the country dresse themselves ; and therefore you may find that jehosaphat speaking to such , charges them even in the very words of my text to take heede to themselves , 2 cron. 19 c. 6. 7. v. and he said to the judges take heed what you doe , for you judge not for man but for god , who is with you in your judgement , v. 6. againe v. 7. wherfore now let the fear of the lord be upon you take heede and doe it . secondly , let ministers take heede to themselves and be circumspect and wary in all their courses : first let them take heede that they thrust not themselves into the calling of the ministry , without due calling thereunto , let them not intrude into moses chaire or rashly lay hold on the arke of aaron , let them not presume to execute the ministeriall function , in preaching the word , and administration of the sacrament , without commission . i beseech you doe not uncharitably misconstrue my meaning , by concluding that i condemne lay-men , that are carefull in teaching their families the fundamentall grounds of piety and true religion , for it is their duty so to doe , and in so doing they are worthy of much honour . bernard hath an apt saying to this purpose , as ( saith he ) it is our duty to teach you in the church , so it is your duty to teach those that are under your tuition in your houses : and augustine saies that every man in this case is a minister , or ( if you will a bishop ) so he keepe within his owne diocesse , but for the publique charge , the pulpit , let no over officious nadab or abihu approch into it there to offer up the strange fire of their owne preposterous zeale , lest fire come downe from heaven and consume them , as it did nadab and abihu , levit , 10. 1. 2. be pleased to looke into the chapter , and you shall in the first ver. find their arrogance and presumption , in offering up strange fire unto god ; and in the very next verse , gods just judgement on them for their most unjust presumption , in sending downe a miraculous fire to destroy them . o then , as we love our owne soules let us know our owne charges , let every man take heede and keepe him to his owne trade or vocation , ne sutor vltra crepidam , let not the cobler mistake the pulpit for his stall , and instead of patching soles , take upon him the charge of soules . let not the taylor mistake the lords table for his cutting board , let him not instead of a garment cut out a text , and with some stollen shreds of other mens workes , patch up a sermon ; god forbid that this should be suffered , for if it should , our religion , our land , nay our soules are like to suffer ruine . i assure you beloved i speake not this out of any pride of my selfe , who am the unworthiest of all the prophets , neither doe i speake it in the contempt of the gifts of others , be they never so meane , for i could wish with moses , that all the lords people were prophets , and that the lord would ponre downe his holy spirit upon them ; but ( as a late writer saies ) we must give god leave to be the orderer of his owne ordinances , and we that are called to the ministry , must take leave to call upon men to keepe them to their owne callings ; and i desire you to forbeare hearing such arrogant nadabs , and insolent abi●ues , for they are not pastores pastors , sed impostores , but impostors ; not doctores teachers , sed seductores but seducers ; not vigiles but noctambulones , not guided by the spirit , but scared with spirites , like the seven sonnes of sceva , act 19. 13. 14. 15. a vagabond jew that without commission , would needes cast out devills in the name of jesus , but marke what befell them , acts 19. the evill spirit answered , jesus i know , and paul i know , sed qui vos ? but who are you ? and the man in whom the evill spirit was , leapt upon them and overcame them . o that all those who pretend the spirit of god , against the ordinance of god , would henceforward take heede to keepe them to their owne vocations , and not meddle with the preaching of the word , more then as diligent hearers , and constant practitioners ; or with the administration of the sacrament more then as pious and well prepared receivers , lest the evill spirit which they would seeme to cast out of others , enter into themselves , prevaile against them , and overcome them . secondly , when ministers are lawfully called , let them take heed that they minde not the fleece more then the flock , their owne benefit more then the good of their people , let them take heede that they desire not more to make a prey of their flock , then to prey for it . let them take heede that they be not such as in their preaching aime more at popular applause for themselves , then to win soules unto god ; i meane such whose preaching is more affectedly obscure then delphian oracles , or egyptian hieroglyphicks , that have mouthes , nay words , yet speake not , at least not to their auditors understanding , that deale with their auditors , as the foxe did with the storke , who inviting him to dinner , poured his liquor into so shallow a platter that the storke by reason of his long bill was unable to lap any of it , so that he was only spectator while the foxlapt up the liquor . such ministers as these set their words in knots and borders , only to delight the eares of the curious , not to ravish the heart of the sanctified ; they labour and study much to speake so as they may not be understood , who fill up their sermons with strange languages , some of whose english words ( being exceeding lofty ) are as difficult to be understood by the greatest part of their auditors , as hebrew is ▪ these would make good that curse upon their auditors , to be of the number of those , that hearing , heare and understand not , and seeing , see and perceive not , isa. 6. 9. acts 28. 26. but stay , i would not have you thinke that i am advocate for those that on the contrary , as the other make their preaching as prophecying , so these in a bad sence would make good that of the apostle , of some that call preaching foolishnesse , 1. cor. 1. 21. 23. as if , because preaching must not bee garish , it must therefore bee sordid . i meane such , who rush unpreparedly into the pulpit , perhaps three or foure times a weeke , with any undigested stuffe , and there rend the sacred scriptures in peeces with their unsanctified lips , even as a clowne doth a capon , who knowes not how to carve it neately , neither know these how to divide and dispence the word rightly ; these take no heede to prepare themselves for so weighty a worke , but spend the whole weeke in rioting , chambering and wantonnesse , and little or no part of their time in studying , and then mount the pulpit trusting to enthusiasmes and revelations , as if god were bound to appeare alwaies in such glorious rayes of wonders , whereby it comes to passe that they vent such poore stuffe in the pulpit , that no wise or religious man hath so much patience as to heare it , much lesse so much folly , as to follow it . i would such would hereafter take notice of the exhortation of st. paul , to the pastors of the church of ephesus , take heede to your selves and to the flock overwhich the holy-ghost hath made you overseers , acts ; and that to timothy , take heede to thy selfe and to thy doctrine . ● tim. 4. 16. thirdly , let all men in generall be exhorted to take heede to themselves , and be circumspect in all their actions , but more especially in those which concerne the worship of god . let us instance in some particulars . art thou to come unto the lord by prayer ? take heede that thou doe it not rashly without due preparation of thy heart , and praeconsideration of the majesty of him to whome thou art to speake , the want whereof causes us to carry our selves so irreverently as wee doe towards god : for so immorigerous are wee grown , that wee will scarce vouchsafe to fall downe and worship the lord our maker . we thinke our selves too great or too good to fall downe and kneele before him in prayer : ezra : 9 : 5. 6. it was not so with ezra , for hee rent his garment , and his mantle , and fell upon his knees and spread out his hands unto the lord , ezra : 9 : and david advises us to worship and fall downe and kneele before the lord , our maker , psal : 95. 6. yea and the lord himselfe expects it . is : 45. 23. i have sworne by my selfe that every knee shall bow to me : & this is most certain that that prayer which is made unto god without reverence and due respect done to his glorious majesty is not acceptable with god . i will not say , that all prayers that are made without bending the knee are unacceptable , yet i could wish that men being but dust , should kneel as low as dust when they are to speake to the high god . it is reported of augustus that one inviting him to dinner to homely entertainement , farre unfit for so royall a personage ; hee thus spake to him that invited him ; nesciebam me tibi fuisse tam familiarem , i knew not that you and i had beene so familiar : may not the lord say so to us , that without any taking heede to prepare or sanctifie our selves , petition for favours : take heede therefore to your selves , and remember the advice of the wise man eccles. 5. 2. be not rash with thy mouth , neither let thy heart bee hasty to utter any thing before god , for god is in heaven , and thou art on earth , therefore let thy words be few ; and indeede it very much concernes us thus to take heede that we be not inconsiderate , rash or multiloquacious in our prayer , for though it be true that we may approach unto the throne of grace , with confidence and boldnesse , yet wee must take heede that we come not with saucinesse , for as god is a god of mercy , so also is he a consuming fire . againe , art thou to come unto the temple of the lord ? take heede that thou rush not in thither rashly or unadvisedly , as if thou wert going unto a stage play , but forethinke with thy selfe that thou art going , as it were , into the immediate presence of almighty god , who is a great and terrible god , that will not be mocked by thee : as therefore when you are to meete an earthly king , and to speake with him , you prepare your selves , and study a comportment and expression that may best please him , so doe when you are to meete god : praecogitate with your selves what comportment you ought to use in his presence ; what zeale , ro. 12. 11. cheerefulnesse , psal. 100. 1. sinceritie , josh. 24. 14. and reverence , heb. 12. 28. you should use in the service which you performe to god . art thou to receive the sacrament of the lords supper ? take heed that thou doe it not rashly or unadvisedly ; it is the advice of the apostle . let a man examine himselfe , and so let him eate of that bread and drinke of that cup , 1 cor. 1. 28. 19. and he gives a good reason for it in the next verse , for ( saith he ) hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily , eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe , not discerning the lords body . what shall i say more ? in a word , art thou a beleever , and hast embraced the faith of christ ? take heede thou undertake not any thing without due advice and deliberation , lest that old proverbe be verified by thee , qui ante non cavet post dolebit , he that doth not beware before , will be sory after . now , lest what i have said be not enough to make us take heede to our selves in all our undertakings , i beseech you look back into the former ages , and consider what and how many miserable inconveniences and sad disasters have happened to severall people , only for want of good take heede ; it was the want of good take heede that cast the angels out of heaven : it was the want of good take heede , that exiled adam from paradise , that brought the flood on the old world : it was the want of good take heede that brought sire and brimstone on sodome and gomorrah , that rent ten tribes from rehoboams kingdome , 1 king 12. it was the want of good take heede that shut the five foolish virgins out of heaven , mat. 25. and it is the want of this good take heede , that shall bring a generall destruction on the wicked and ungodly , 1 thes. 5. 3. no more but this , consider i pray you , what is it that brings so many , some to poverty , some to disgrace , some to sodaine desperate and dangerous deaths ? but only the want of good take heede ; that you may therefore escape all these inconveniences , and thousands more which are most incident to the carelesse ; i beseech you remember the exhortation of moses in my text , take heede to your selves . quest . but then as the souldiers said to john the baptist , master what shall wee doe ? so may you say to me , you have ( we confesse ) proved that we should bee circumspect and take heede to our selves , but we would know the manner how wee should doe it , or what it is that we should take heede to in our selves . ans. i answere , you must first take heede to your eyes , they are apt to range after iniquity , and if they be not diligently watch't , they prove arch-traytors to mankinde : untill adam and eve lusted with their eyes , sin and sathan entred not into their hearts , gen. 3. had not herod look't or herodias dancing , hee had not so rashly granted her john baptists head mar. 6. had not potiphars wife given her eyes liberty to behold joseph , she had not lusted to defile her marriage bed with him , king. 2. had not sichem seene dina jacobs daughter , he had never ravish't her , gen. 34. these evils proceede from licentious gazing on such objects , and therefore ( saith the prophet ) turne away mine eyes lest they behold vanitie ; it was the want of taking heede to the eyes , that made tarquinius sextus to ravish collatinus wife that made queene cleopatra to use her brother ptolomeus as her husband ; that made macareus to lye with his sister canaces , and menephron to defile his own mother . and indeede it is god's great mercy that he hath placed in the eyes , as well the remedy as the malady , fletum & visum , the faculty of seeing , and the sluce of teares , vt qui delinquant videndo , poeniteant plorando , that they who have offended by seeing , may repent by weeping ; if therefore thou wilt escape the punishment of weeping ( i meane of eternall weeping in hell fire ) take heed to thine eyes : look not after a woman to lust after her , for then thou hast committed adultrie with her in thy heart , mat. 5. in a word , make a covenant with thine eyes that they behold nor vanitie . secondly , take heede to your eares which most commonly are more open to syrens songs , then to heavenly ditties , to obscene communication then to the precepts of god , and therefore christ sets a double guard at this port of hearing , and both delivered in the termes of my text ; the first is in mark 4. 24. where we are bid to take heede what we heare : and the other in luke 8. 18. where we are bid to take heede how we heare , psal. 141. 3. hee keepes both these sayings well that heares the word of god diligently , and practises it in his life and conversation constantly . thirdly , take heede to your tongue , for this is often times an unruly member , so unruly that ( as one well observes ) the port-c●●llis of the teeth , and the counterscarfe of the lips are not sufficient to keepe it in , unlesse with david , wee daily pray psal. 14. 3. set a watch o lord before my mouth , keepe thou the doore of my lips . take heede to your understanding that it be not corrupted ; this is the first doore the devill knocks at , the first forge where sin is framed , the first commander the devill seekes to corrupt , for though he intend to sack the whole citty of our soules , yet hee makes his first assaults against this port. and therefore as the besieged fortifie most where they feare most batteries or assaults , so take we heede to looke carefully to our understandings , that they bee not blinded with ignorance , nor insnared with the subtiltie of atheisme , heresie , popery , schisme , or any thing else repugnant to god and his truth . take wee heede to our understandings that they dive not too farre into the hidden mysteries of the word : there is enough revealed both for our faith and our salvation , mitte arcana dei , meddle not with the secrets of god : quod deus texit , quis revelabit , what god hath hidden , let not the understanding pry into . consider wee , that our understanding or intellectuall part , is that which the devill , hereticks , atheists , papists , schismaticks , and many other pernicious enemies , much labour to corrupt , and therefore let us take great heede to preserve it . take heede to your will , which will be either the seate of sin , or sanctuary of grace ; if it be depraved it hath a very malignant influence upon all our actions , and therefore as besiegers of a garrison labour most to possesse themselves of the chiefe sconce or capitoll , knowing , that thence they may command the whole city , so the devill besieging the city of our soule , labours chiefely to captivate our will , because he knows that if that become subject to his lawes , and embrace his scepter , all the faculties of the whole man will be tributaries to the same service . take heed therfore that your wills be not enslaved by sathans policy , but renued by grace , and regulated by the rule of piety . lastly take heede to your consciences , there may be so much said for this , that i shall say but little . salomon saies that a good conscience is a continuall feast , prov. 15. 15. and indeed so it is , if we be weake it is a staffe to support us , if in want , a comforter to relieve us , if in suites of law , it is the best agent to pleade for us if falsely accused , it is the best witnesse to cleere us , if wrongfully condemned , it is a most upright judge to vindicate us : there can no estate or condition befall man , either so prosperous or averse , but that the comfort of a good conscience will appeare in it . it comforts in prosperity and adversity , in sicknesse and in health , in life and in death , and ( which is best of all ) it yeeldes transcendent comfort at the day of judgement : for when among the wicked at the dreadfull day of jesus christ , there shall appeare nothing but horrors , frights , and amazements , be heard nothing but feareful shri●kes , ululations , cries , and howlings , for feare of the sentence of malediction , that shall there be pronounced against them ; even then there shall be nothing but joy , exultation , and heavenly consolations to them that have taken heede to preserve their consciences spotlesse , being assured of the sentence of benediction which shall then be pronounced to them , at which time their bodies being reunited to their soules , they shall be both received into everlasting salvation which every one ought diligently to seeke after , which is set forth in the next part of my text , the duty in these words , keepe thy soule diligently ; whence we conclude this observation . 2 obser. that every christian should have a speciall care of his foule ; and keepe that diligently . to this purpose we have both the precept and president of gods children in sacred writ . first for precept , see st. paul exhorting us to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure , 2 pet. 1. 10. and phil. 2 12. he bid us worke out our salvation with feare and trembling , so moses in our text , bid us take heede to our selves , and keepe our soules diligently . as for president , looke on st. paul , and you shall finde that he was so carefull of his soules salvation , that as the nicene fathers would not gratifie arrius in the least compliance with him , so neither would he conforme in any thing to the doctrine of seducers : and if you read the life and death of the martyrs , you shall finde that they were so carefull of the salvation of their soules , that they would not in the least semblance condiscend to the pagan persecutors , though they might thereby have come off with corporall safety . but not to trouble you with multiplicity of examples , looke but on one president more , and that shall be david a man after gods owne heart . the lord had wonderfully magnified his mercy towards him in many eminent favours , first in respect of his estate , when he tooke him from following his fathers ewes great with young , to feede iacob his people , and israel his inheritance , psal. 78. 70. 71. when he translated him from a shepheards crooke to a scepter of gold , psa. 70. 71. againe , the lord did well for him otherwise too , in respect of his strength ; for he had as magnanimous a heart , as a lion , 1. sam. 17. 49. and when that proud philistine goliah came rayling and defying the god of israel , notwithstanding his menacing tearmes , he encountred with him , and slew him , and so tooke the reproach from israel . againe , the lord did wonderfull well for david , in respect of his beauty ; for he was a man of a more then ordinary pulchritude , as you may see prooved , 1. sam. 16 12. the text there sayes , that he was ●uddy , and withal of a beautifull countenance , and goodly to looke on . againe , the lord did wonderfull well for him , in respect of his issue , for he had a marvellous great issue . and i doubt not but david was truly thankfull to the lord for all these ●nercies bestowed on him , in respect of his body and his estate . but yet i am resolved that hee minded more the salvation of his soule , then he did all these things : and i gather this from his owne words in the 14. psalme : he declares that he longs for the salvation of god ; and if you looke on him in the psalme , 25. v. 20. you shall finde that being surrounded with miseries , he hath a speciall care of his soule , and desires the lord to keepe that safe , so psal. 86. 2. hee prayes the lord to preserve his soule , and having received some speciall favour for his soule you may finde him making a solemne invitation unto the righteous , to come and heare what the lord had done unto his soule , psal. 66. 16. come and heare all yee that feare god , and i will declare unto you what he hath done for my soule ; thus you see god's children have at all times been so carefull of their soules , that they would rather suffer death then doe any thing that might hinder the salvation of their soules ; such care ought we also to have of our soules , wee should keepe them diligently , and that for these reasons . 1 reason . first , because of the excellency of the soule , which consists first in the puritie of it ; secondly , in the unitie and singularitie ; and thirdly in the inequality that is between it and any thing else . first , in the puritie of it , which though it be shapelesse and immateriall , yet would it make a man heavenly proud , to contemplate of how divine a nature , excellency and qualitie the soule is . in puritate est deo simillima , in its puritie it is as a god , and hereupon ( saith a writer ) let me worship the great god of the little god my soule : and good to this purpose is that of seneca . quid aliud est anima quam deus hospitans in corpore humano ? what other thing is the soule , but god lodging in the body ? and bernard , standing in admiration of the excellency of his soule , breakes out into these words . how beautifull art thou o my soule ! thou art ennobled by the image of god stampt on thee , adorned with his likenesse , espoused to him by promise , redeemed with the precious blood of jesus christ . quid de te dicam ? what shall i say of thee ? tu maximum es quod esse potest in parvo loco . thou art the excellentest thing that may be contained in so small a place as the body . nobilitas tua omnibus mundanis praeferenda , thy excellency exceedes all earthly treasures . according to this is that of augustine : as ( saies he ) the creator excells all the creatures , even so the soule is farre more excellent then any of them . secondly , consider the excellency of the soule , consisting in the unity and singularity of it . god hath given unto one body two eyes , two hands , and two feete , but he hath given it but one soule , he hath given two eyes to the end that if one bee blinde the other may see , two hands to the end that if one be weake the other may worke , and two feeete to the end that if one be lame , the other may walke , but he hath given us but one soule , which is a jewel invaluable , a jemme immatchable , & a pearle inestimable . thirdly , consider the excellency of the soule consisting in the inequality that is between it and any thing else , what recompence or what exchange shall a man give for his soule , mat. 16. 26. shall hee give a thousand of rams , or ten thousand rivers of oyle , shall he give the fruit of his body for the sinne of his soule , surely all these are not sufficient to redeeme one soule , mica . 6. 7. nay ten thousand worlds were not sufficient ransome for one soule , nothing could doe it but the precious blood of that immaculate lamb jesus christ ; this st. peter affirmes 1. pet. 1. 19. we are not bought with silver or with gold , or with any corruptible thing , but with the blood of jesus christ , as of a lamb spotlesse and undefiled . i beseech you consider then the excellency of your soule ; the body of man is a glorious frame , yet it is not comparable to the soule , for the body is but the tabernacle , the soule is the mercy-seate , the body is but the hand maid , the soule is the mistris , the body is but the pallace , the soule is the queene-regent governing in that pallace ; the body is but the cabinet , the soule is the precious jewell lodging in it . what is it that advances the calling of the ministery above other callings but only this , that it tends to the good of man's soule ? the study of the lawyer tends to the good of man's estate , the study of the physician to the good of man's body , but the study of the minister tends to the good of man's soule , which is the better part . the soule is optimum & primum , the better part , there is nothing like it , there is nothing that may be compared unto it , salomon calls it a precious soule , prov. 6. and a greater , and wiser then salomon puts it in the ballance of the sanctuary , and makes it weigh downe the whole world ; what shall it profit a man ( saith our saviour jesus christ ) to win the whole world and lose his own soule ? mat. 16. 26. and i pray see if he bee not a great loser that gaines a world and loses his soule ? for suppose a man were sure to live as long as nestor , who is reported to have lived three hundred yeeres , and could have his health all that time , and never be sick ; suppose he had as much riches as cressus , as much beauty as absalon , as much strength as sampson . supposes he had as much worth in him , as the romans ascribe to their catoes , curioes , fabritioes ; the greekes to their socrates , solon , aristides , homer , to agamemnon , affirming that he was like jupiter in feature , mars in valour , pallas in wisedome ; suppose all eyes were upon him , all tongues spake well of him ; suppose he had such a glorious fame , that men came as farre to see him , as the queene of sheba did to see salomon , gaze on him as the aegyptians did once on honoured joseph , the arabians on fayre vertomanus , suppose men praysed him as much as tully did caesar , plato did socrates , let his eares be delighted with as much variety of musick as alexander had from timolaus , the thebans from amphion , the mariners from orpheus ; suppose men acted such playes before him as the romans acted in their theaters and amphitheater , let men shew him such sports and pageants as the greekes had in their olympian , pythian , istmian , athenian and corinthian games ; suppose he have houses like nebuchadnezars babel , gardens like that of adonis , orchards like those of the hesperides ; suppose he fared at home as deliciously , as he in the gospell , luke 16. 19. 20. and when hee went abroad be feasted with more varieties then esther entertained ahasuerus , esth. 7. dido aeneas , or cleopatra mark anthony ; let him be attended with more men then salomon ; let him solace himselfe among his lascivious concubines as heliogabalus and sardanapalus ; let him hunt more then leo the tenth ; hawke more then the persian kings ; card and dice more then the thebans ; and suppose ( if it be possible ) that he enjoyed all these pleasures all the daies of his life here , yet if he lose his soule hereafter , he is most miserable , and that sad catastrophe brings more torments , then all his former fruitions brought him pleasures : consider this i beseech you , that your soule is more excellent then any thing you can have , and therefore take heede to your selves , and keepe your soules diligently . 2 rea. secondly , we should looke so carefully to our soules , in regard of the necessity of the salvation of the soule ; certainely there are many things which we pursue and seeke after with eager , and uncestant labour and desire ; which are not absolutely necessary , such as are riches , honours , and preferments ; i may say of these , as our saviour said unto martha , luke 10. 41. 42. you are troubled about many things , but there is but one thing necessary , and that is to make your election sure , to labour diligently for the salvation of your soules . 3 rea. thirdly , we should looke carefully to our soules , in regard of the difficulty of attaining to salvation ; it is not so easie a matter as some suppose it is , to get our soules into heaven , it is easie to fall into sin and so consequently into hell , but it is a difficult matter for that soule that hath once beene entangled in the snares of sin , to become retrograde , and turne backe againe into the waies of righteousnesse , it will be a hard matter for the covetous man whose heart hath beene long imprisoned within the walls of covetousnesse , to forsake his covetousnesse , and become bountifull ; it will be hard for the ambitious man whose heart hath beene only set upon honours , who hath not feared the greatest hazard , or omitted the least opportunity that might further him in attayning thereof , to forsake his ambition and become humble . in a word it will be hard for any one that once devoted himselfe to sin , to become the servant of god ; and therefore ( as we are exhorted in my text ) we ought to take heede to our selves , and keepe our soules diligently in the waies of salvation , because that having once wandred out of the right way , we cannot with facility returne into it againe . 4 rea. fourthly we have great reason to keepe our soules diligently , in regard of the miserable and wretched condition of the lost soule . certainely had i the tongues of men and angells , i could not relate unto you the wofull condition of the lost soule ; but this is that which aggravates their tortures , beyond compare , that as they are ●aselesse , so also are they endlesse : other losses may be recovered , but the lost soule that is cast into the bottomlesse pit of perdition cannot be recovered . a man may lose his estate , and may recover it with more then he had before , he may lose his health and may recover it with more then he had , he may lose his credit , and may recover it with more estimation , then he had before , but if once he have lost his soule he must never looke to recover that againe ; poets and historians writ of some that have gon to hell and returned againe , as of ulysses that went thither to consult with tiresias , aeneas that went thither to talke with his father anchises : orpheus that fetcht his wife euridice thence , pythagoras also that going thither reported at his returne , that he saw hesiod tied to a brazen pillar , and homer hanging on a tree full of snakes , for feigning such things on the dieties : admiranda canunt , sed non credenda poetae ; these be strange things , but they are not true , for the scripture assures us that there shall be no returne from heaven or hell : if any man be cast into hell , though his eyes gush out with rivers of water , yet there shall be no one to comfort him , no one to helpe him , no one to doe so much as coole his tongue with a drop of cold water . o that we had hearts to consider this , that so we might take heede to our selves , and keepe our soules diligently . 5 rea. lastly we should looke carefully to our soules , for if they be lost , body and all is lost , and if they be safe , body and all will be safe , for where the soule at death goes before , the body at the resurrection will follow after . good to this purpose is that of chrysostome : if ( saies he ) we neglect the soule , the body cannot be saved , for the soule was not made for the body , but the body for the soule ; he therefore which neglects the soule , being the first and chiefest part , and mindes the body only , loses both , but he that seekes after the salvation of the soule , though he neglect the body , yet by the soules salvation , the body also shall be saved , which is most elegantly set downe by aristotle , lib. 7. metaphysic . ex sanitate animae fit sanitas in corpore , by the safety of the soule , safety is wrought to the body . if you have but so much faith as a graine of mustardseede to lay hold on jesus christ , as the saviour of your soule , your body shall be sure to be saved also , rom. 8. 32. he that spared not his owne son but gave him to death for us , shall he not with him give us all things else that are necessary ? i might give you more reasons why we should seeke so diligently after the salvation of our soules ; but i must not be totus in singulis : i therefore proceede to application , and the use which we shall make hereof is twofold . first , it serves for confutation . secondly , for exhortation . 1 vse of consutation . have we such great cause to seeke diligently after the salvation of our soules ? sure then they are much to blame that care more for temporall things , then they doe for the salvation of their soules . some prodigalls what cost doe they bestow upon houses , horses , hawkes , dogs , and what cheap account do they make of their souls : the house must be magnificently built and furnis●t , the horse must be pampered and kept fat and faire , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and all things must be brave and gorgeous , but there is no care taken that there be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a beautifull soule . i have read of a spruce roman , that riding through the streets of rome on a leane horse , was demanded by the censor , why hee being so spruce a man , rode on so poor a horse . unto whom he answered ego curo incipsum , servus vero equum . i take care for my selfe , but my servant for my horse ; in like manner i doubt there are many that onely take care for their bodyes , but neglect seeking after the salvation of their soules . some there bee , that esteem more of agility of body then fervency of spirit : others esteem more of strength of the body , then grace of the soule : others there be , that esteem more of beauty of the body , then purity of the soul ; and if such as these have beauty , how doe they mince and trip it up and downe , contemning and despising others ? and yet god knows beauty is but a deceiving vanity : favour is deceitfull , and beauty is vaine . forma est mera deceptio visus , beauty is a meere deceiving of our selves , a meere flout , a meere scoffe . for what face is there , bee it never so beautifull in youth , but if it live long it will be plowed with the furrows of old age ? and if it live not to old age , yet it is subject to deformity many other wayes ; and yet some are more enamoured with this vanity , then they are with their soules . the covetous man cares not what becomes of his soule , so he may have but plenty of riches : these count wealth the summum bonum , the chiefe good , and therefore seek onely after it , and not after the salvation of their soules : these are the seed of the serpent , and indeed have the curse of the serpent sticking on them , to licke the dust ; these covetous wretches deface the image of god that was stamp't on them , by continuall rubbing against the earth : these like wormes and no men crawle upon the ground , or like hogs they go rooting downe-wards in the earth ; and indeed they may well be compared to hogs , for as hogs are alwayes rooting downwards in the earth , and seldome or never look upwards , till being ready to be killed they are layd flat on their backes , and forced to it ; so these covetous miscreants goe groveling downe-wards , and lye scraping in the dung-hill of this world , and never looke upwards , or thinke of heaven or salvation , till wrestling with the pangs of death they are thrown flat on their backes , and then perhaps the minister is sent for , the sacrament and heavenly things desired ; but if the minister perswade them before this time to be weaned from the world , and to seeke diligently after the salvation of their soules , they are ready to say as the devils to our saviour , art thou come to torment us before our time , they are loath to be saints too soone , and if they must needs be weaned from the world , they would put it off till the last day and houre of their death , when they can enjoy it no longer . it is fabulized that the crab gave the serpent his deaths wound , for his crooked conditions , and seeing him stretch himselfe out straite , said , at oportuit sic vixisse , you should have lived so . let the covetous worldling that seekes not after the salvation of his soule take heed that when he lyes gasping as it were in the suburbs of death , and begs for salvation , that god answer him non at oportuit sic vixisse , but thou shouldest so have lived , as that thou mightest now have beene sit for heaven . but me thinkes i heare this earth-worme say , i doubt not but i shall go to heaven , for i am not such a notorious offender as such and such are , i am no adulterer , no drunkard , no swearer , and the like . i onely affect this sin of coveteousnesse , and i hope that for all this , i may be saved . to this i answer , yet not i , but the apostle . be not deceived , for neither idolater , nor adulterer , nor drunkard , no nor the covetous person shall enter into the kingdome of heaven . ephe. 5. 5. againe the ambitious man cares not for his soule , so he may have honours here : how many such be there , that spend all their time in seeking after honour , and neglect many blessed opportunities offered to them for the salvation of their soules ? the voluptuous person devotes himselfe wholly to pleasures , and with the epicure thus sings to himselfe , ede , bibe , lude , charum praesentibus exple corpus deliciis post mortem nulla voluptas , eate , drinke and be merry , let us fill our selves with new wine , and crowne our selves with rose buds , let us take our pleasure while we live here , for there is no pleasure hereafter . and indeed to them there shall be nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth . i might much enlarge my selfe in marking out others that come under this reproofe , such as is the amorous wanton , that spends that time which he should spend in seeking after the salvation of his soule , in courting some faire face , some beauty of the times , and thinkes of no other heaven , then the fruition of his mistris favour , and counts her smile the onely vision beatisicall , never considering that death is courting that face as well as he , and oftentimes proves the most successefull , at least the most revengefull corrivall : taking her from him , or him from her , and turning them into another world to embrace , but what ? eternall flames . such also is the profuse gallant , that spends his time in gaming , and not in seeking after salvation , that sits downe to eate and drinke , and rises up to play . such also are your fantasticall women that spend their whole time in tricking and ●rimming , tyring and dressing their bodies , and seeke not after the salvation of their soules . dum moliuntur dum comuntur annus est , the morning is gone before many of them know it is come ; at least by any serious holy duty which they have performed therin : these will not have so much as a pin out of order in atyring their bodies , but care not for beautifying their soules with grace ; these spend their time in looking glasses to see their bodies gorgiously attyred , but looke not into the looking glasse of god's word , to be taught the way of saving their soules . in a word , these are very carefull to enquire after the newest ( french , italian or spanish , ) fashion , but take no paines to enquire after the way that leades to salvation , they are better and constanter customers to new fashioning taylers , then they are auditors to the best preaching ministers , and will give more to him that shall make them a new fashioned suite , then they will to him that shall preach salvation to their soules . i could enumerate many more , but it is high time to close this use . 2 vse . exhort . secondly , have we such reasons to seeke after the salvation of our soules ▪ let us then be weaned from the world , and consider what danger they are in , that only hunt after the pleasures , profits and honors of this world , and neglect seeking after the salvation of their soules . it is storied of lysimachus , that he being much necessitated for want of drinke , parted with a whole kingdome for a drop of cold water , and afterwards repented in these words , o pro quant illo regnum perdidi ? o for how little have i lost a kingdome ? even so will the covetous , the ambitious , and the voluptuous man , the profuse gallant , the amorous wanton , and the fantastick woman ; repent with o pro quantillo ! o for how little pleasure , how little profit , how little honours , how little pride and the like , have we lost the kingdom of heaven , the eternall salvation of our precious soules . i beseech you therefore , settle not your affections on the things of this life , but on things that are aboue . remember the excellency of your creation . os homini sublime dedit coelūque tueri jussit , & erectos ad fidera tollerevultus . god hath given you a lofty countenance that you might not as beasts looke downewards , nor as wormes crawle on the earth , nor as hogs bee allwayes feedeing on the acornes of this world : but that you might looke upwards and seeke after that kingdom which he prepared for his servants . o then bee not slaves to the world when you may bee kings in heaven : think on the excellency of your soules . remember the aduice of moses in my text , take heede to your selves and keepe your soules diligently . and that you may the better performe this , consider these two motives . 1 mot. first , consider the vanity of the things of this life . i might prove that there is nothing but vanity , vicissitude and uncertainty in all those earthly things which we delight in : but i will confine my selfe to the examination of that trinity which worldlings most adore ( to wit ) honors , riches , and pleasures . first , how uncertaine is honour ? it is but the breath of the vulgar , which being but winde , changes with the winde ; did not the people even now salute our sav●our with hosanna , blessed be he that commeth in the name of the lord , and presently they cry out against him to have him crucified , john 12. 13. was not paul and barnabas honoured by the barbarians , as though they were their paganish gods , jupiter and mercury , acts 14. 12. and in the same chapter ver. 19. we reade that they were stoned as malefactors , was not christ counted a prophet ? mark 6. 15. and presently a devill , jo. 7. 12. 20. how soone was pharoah and his pompe drowned in the red sea , exo. 13. 28. adonibezeck disgracefully mangled . jud : 1. 6. agag a king hewen in pieces 1 sam. 15. 33. nebuchadnezar turn'd out as a beast : b●jazet carried up & down by conquering tamberlain in an iron cage ; by all which you see that it is not wisdome to place our delights in honours , which are exceeding lubrick and subject to change . secondly , you shall find the like uncertainty in pleasures . alas how short lived are they , even the best of them perish as vapours , or as the untimely fruite of a woman , they are dasht in a moment . looke on adoniah feasting in great jollitie , 1 ki. 1. and you shall finde that the news of salomon proclamed king , and the noyse of trumpets turned his joy into sorrow , his myrth into mourning ; the like you may see in baltazar , who when he was feasting with his lords and concubines , there appeared an inscription on the wall , which soone turned his jollity into sadnesse , made his joynts loose , and his knees smite one against another , dan. 5. 3. 4. 5. therefore it 's no trusting to the pleasures of this life . thirdly , you shall finde the same uncertainty in riches ; they often times take the wings of eagles , and fly away , when we think we have them surest ; they skip from man to man , like some fawning dog , or insinuating whore : for proofe hereof looke on job , who in the morning had 7000. sheepe , 3000. camels , 500. yoke of oxen , and 500 shee asses , and at night was bereft of all . quotidian experience proves that riches are uncertaine , for how many bee there , noblemen and gentlemen , marchants , mariners and tradesmen , citizens and countrymen , who formerly were able to relieve others , and now want to support themselves , who formerly had store of gold & silver , and now some of them are ( as great bellisarius , who thrice rescued rome was ) forced to say , date obolum bellisario , one single halfepenny to bellisarius , so these who formerly lived as croesus are now as colon : fallen from a mountaine of riches , into a valley of poverty , some by carding , dicing and gaming , some by false servants , some by extorting u●●reres , some by haukes , hounds , and horses , and some by whoring , being eaten up of their owne lusts , as acteon by his owne dogges : thus you see that these things are uncertaine in respect of themselves . you may also see them uncertaine in respect of our selves : for if wee were sure of them , yet wee are not sure of our owne selves ; we are as subject to change , as riches , honours , and preferments are , wee change in a moment , in the twinkling of an eye . the second motive to stir us up thus to seeke after the salvation of our soules , is , the consideration of the blessed condition of the soule that is sav●d , instead of the corruptible drosse of this life , they shall have treasures incorruptible , glory unmatchable , solace inalterable , mirth immeasurable , and perfect felicity unto all eternity . eye hath not seene , neither hath eare heard , neither can it enter into the heart of man , what things god hath prepared for those soules that shall be saved . mar. 13. 35. now therefore , as when monica ( austens mother ) heard an excellent discourse of the joyes of heaven , sayd , quid facio hic ? what doe i heere on earth ? so say i , what doe we heere , planting our affections on the things of this life ? let us transplant our affections , and set them on things that are above . some may object thus : object . is it not lawfull to seeke at all after the things of this life ? ans. i answer , it is : you may , nay you are bound in conscience to provide for those that are under your tuition , but you must not spend all your time herein , and neglect seeking after the salvation of your soules , you may in a moderate way seeke after the things of this life , but you must not doe it immoderately , you may use the world , but it must be as if you used it not , you must so live heere as if your conversation were in heaven , you may salute the world , but you must take heede that you doe not hugge and embrace it . to conclude , in a word , i beseech you doe as our saviour exhorts you , mat. 6. 33. seeke yee first the kingdome of god , and his righteousnesse , and all other things shall be added to you : make sure of jesus christ to be the saviour of your soules , and you shall be sure that god will give you all things else that are necessary for you ; which that you may doe , i desire every one of you , to remember and practise this exhortation of moses in my text , with which i began , and now end . only take heed to thy selfe and keepe thy soule diligently . i have done with my text . i know it will be expected that i should adde some laurell to this hearse , by ●lazoning the great worth of the noble party deceased ▪ and i am sure i might without flattery speake much to his honour , for those who knew him best , knew him to be of an affable and amiable carriage , courteous to the meanest , exceeding charitable to the poorest , and most upright towards all , &c. but i know that funerall sermons are not made as panegyricks , or commendatory orations to proclaime the worth of the dead , but for instruction to the living ; and therefore i shall forbeare to speake more now , but i shall ( god willing ) write of him by way of elegy ; which shall be exposed to publique view . si benè quid dixi ; mea non est gloria , christi est sin malè , scito hominem me quoque quisquis homo es . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a96652e-240 exod. 4. 10. b quintilian . c scrinia damagnis , me manus una capit . mar. lib. 1. epig. 2. d candor in hoc ae●●o in●ermortua ●enc , ovid ●e pont . lib. 〈◊〉 . elig . ● . 〈◊〉 non ego ●●entosae ●●lebis suf●●ragia ve●●or . ho●●a . lib. 1. ep. 9. lucian . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . non 〈◊〉 cun● tis place● vel jupi●ter ipse nec mi●●tens pluv●●am , ●●retinens ●●pluviam . i unus plato plus est quam atheniensis populus . 〈…〉 , in vita ●lat . k magnum ●oc ego ●luco , ●ood pla●●ui tibi , qui tu●pi ●ecernis ●oncstum h●rat-ser●● . lib. 2. 〈◊〉 . 6. l ●e exhortor moneoque libelle , ut docto placeas apolli●●● . m mart. lib. 4. epig. 87. da mihi ●te placidum , ingenium vultu starque caditque tuo . ovid fast. lib 1. ●mmensa subit cura ut quae tibi dicantur te digna sint . ●lin . praef in hi●●●at . 〈◊〉 vesp . imperat . in hoc faci●unt slult quos gloria vexa●inanis . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ●acrt . de ●it . philos. ●ib . 6. notes for div a96652e-670 suav●●●●● & brevissima . ●drewes princi●●● conci● . 〈…〉 . ●●edibile ●●alicui ●ntam ig●aviam esse insuā , ut salutem suam negligat . de most . oly 〈…〉 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} homer od. γ . g aen. 6. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} calumniator . deceptor . qui quamvis su●● vanis pollititationibus & promissis nos alli●iat , &c. greg. 〈…〉 catera praetereo nec ●nim sermonibus istis ●mnia complecti ●●a●uo . mantuan . eclog. 8. pallida ●ors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres . mors sceptra ligonibus aequat . simile . simile . sicut ad pertinet qui vobis ecclesia ad vos p●tinet v●tris l●qui domibus ber. vnusquis● pater famlias est m●nister chr●sti , & erg● suos que dammod●●●piscopale officium implere d●●bes . aug in psa. 5● aug. li● de anim● senec. 〈◊〉 8. ad 〈…〉 . quam 〈…〉 anima , 〈◊〉 bernar● meditat● ●icut deus ●●nem 〈…〉 ita 〈…〉 al as ex 〈◊〉 . aug. 〈◊〉 de ani●● . ●eus dedit 〈◊〉 corpori 〈◊〉 oculos 〈◊〉 as ma●us 〈◊〉 duos 〈◊〉 uni●a 〈…〉 ber. 〈◊〉 medit. anima naturaliter dominatur corpori , sicut dominus servo . aristo . lib. 1. politic. proper . lib. 2. & iuven. sat. os occulesquejovi pares . navigat . vertom . lib. 3. oration . pro rege . justin . li . 1 jo. in e●us vita . shyrlics relation . facilis descensus averni . sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras , hic labor hoc opus est . hom. od. 〈◊〉 virg. aen. l. 6. ovid . m●t. lib. 10. laert. de vita philo. l. 8. in pythag . tert. lib. de anima , cap. 29. si animam negligamus , nec corpus salvare paterimus , &c. chrysost. de recuperatione lapsi . ●●ject . ●●sw . ●●en . ●●onor est hono●●nte . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right reverend father in god john late lord bishop of chester, at the guildhal chappel london, on thursday the 12 of december, 1672 by william lloyd ... lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 1672 approx. 43 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48839 wing l2703 estc r20363 12402666 ocm 12402666 61307 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48839) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61307) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 767:28) a sermon preached at the funeral of the right reverend father in god john late lord bishop of chester, at the guildhal chappel london, on thursday the 12 of december, 1672 by william lloyd ... lloyd, william, 1627-1717. 36 p. printed by a.c. for henry brome ..., london : 1672. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng wilkins, john, 1614-1672. bible. -n.t. -hebrews xiii, 7 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the right reverend father in god john late lord bishop of chester . at the guildhal chappel london , on thursday the 12 of december , 1672. by william lloyd d. d. dean of bangor , and one of his majesties chaplains in ordinary . london : printed by a. c. for henry brome , at the gun at the west-end of s. pauls . 1672. heb. 13. 7. remember them which have the rule over you , who have spoken to you the word of god ; whose faith follow , considering the end of their conversation . in handling this text of holy scripture , that we may mingle nothing of humane affections , that our passions may give no interruption to you in hearing , or to me in speaking ; i should desire to suppress them quite , if it were possible . and possible it is , where they are slightly raised , as upon common and ordinary occasions : but where they are grounded and strong , where they dare argue , and seem to have reason on their side , as there is too much in sight for ours ; there i think it is in vain to endeavour it : the only way in this case , is to give them some kind of vent , to discharge them in part , and to govern what remains of the affections . you will i hope the rather bear with my infirmity , that i cannot contain from deploring the loss , the irreparable loss that we suffer , i think all suffer , in the death of this eminent person . he was the man in whom his friends had experience of much good , and had hopes of much more ; not so much for his greatness or power , as abstracting from these , for what they found in himself , which was a great and manifold blessing to all that lived within his conversation . he was a father , a counsellor , a comforter , a helper , a sure friend : he was all they could wish in every relation , and by the course of nature , might have been for many years . but for our sins , ( though for his unspeakable advantage ) the great and wise god was not pleased to continue that blessing ; he took him out of this world , when for ought we could judge , there was most need of such men to live in it ; and when we had much reason to expect more good than ever by his living in it . oh the unsearchable ways and counsels of god! oh the blindness of humane hopes and expectaons ! while we please our selves with the good we have in hand , while we reach out for more , as if there would never be an end , within a few days all withers , all vanisheth to this : we have nothing left , but what it grieves us to see , we have nothing remains , but what we are willing to be rid of , a poor shell of earth , that we make haste to bury out of our sight . yes , of wise and good men , which is their priviledge above others , there remains after death , a memory , an example which they leave behind them , as a sacred depositum for us to keep and use until we see them again . are these things nothing in our sight ? they are above all price in the sight of god ; who , that they may be so to us , both telleth us the worth , and recommends them to our esteem , and requires the fruit of them in many places of scripture : but in none with more application to our present occasion , then in my text. i shall sufficiently justifie my choice of it , if i can but make it be understood : i shall shew the full import of it , in those duties which it contains : i shall endeavour to stir you up to practise them with respect to this present occasion . first , for the understanding of my text , we are to look for no help from what goes next before it , or after it : for the whole business of it is contained within its self . it lies in the heap among other directions , which without any certain connexion between them , were given by the writer of this epistle to the hebrews , that is , to those jews who were converted to be christians . for the time when it was written , we are certain of this , that it was while timothy lived ; for he is mentioned as living in the 24 verse of this chapter . and he being there said to have suffered imprisonment for the gospel , this brings us a little nearer to the knowledge of the time : for then it must be after both s. pauls epistles to timothy . in the last of those epistles , which was some years after the other , s. paul speaks much of his own imprisonment for the gospel : he warns timothy oft , that he must suffer for the gospel : he instructs him what to do when god shall call him to suffer . not a word of any thing that he had suffered already : nay , he counsels him as a young man , that had never been tried . he invites him to rome , which was the great place of tryal ; in which place , as it appears in the close of this chapter , timothy did suffer that imprisonment for the gospel , from which he was deliver'd , when this epistle was written . it appears , that after the epistle to timothy , how long after we know not , he did go to rome , as paul will'd him . how long he staid there we know not , ere he did suffer imprisonment . how long he was in prison , we know not , ere he was set at liberty . only we know , it was a considerable time , we have reason to think it might be some years ; it might be many years that this epistle was written after the second epistle to timothy . and if so , then it was written , not only as theodoret says , long after the death of james the brother of john : but account it how you will , this epistle was written , after the death of james the brother of our lord : which james being the first bishop of jerusalem , and the other james an apostle , that is , a bishop at large , and both these being put to death at jerusalem ; not to search into church history for those others of their order , who dyed before this time in other places ; nor to guesshow many others were dead , that are not recorded in church history : if we think of no more but these two eminent servants of christ , we cannot be to seek of the understanding of this text , nor of the application to our particular purpose . i say not , but it may have a more general extent . there is a memory due , not only to the apostles of christ , and to the bishops their successors ; but to all other good ministers of christ , yea to all other exemplary christians . but if the apostle had meant this only of bishops , i cannot guess that he would have it exprest otherwise , than he hath done in my text. to prove this , i must have recourse to the original , and not wholly depend upon our english translation . for that he meant this of bishops , it appears not sufficiently , and of them being dead , not at all , in our translation . and yet from the original , i see no reason to doubt , that our apostle in this text , meant no other but bishop , and those departed this life . for the order of bishops , it is described by those acts of ruling and teaching , in the words of our translation ; but it is much more expresly by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original . for the meaning of which word , to whom should we resort , but either to the greeks , in whose language ; or to the jews , for whose immediate use this was written ? among the greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a general word , it signifies rulers ecclesiastical or civil . in this verse they take it for ecclesiastical rulers : so chrysostom on my text ; and oecumenius , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the apostle speaks of bishops in this verse : if the jews would say so too , what could we have more ? they do say it , as much as we have reason to expect . in their traditional language they call one of our bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in effect is the word in my text. so then we have the consent both of greeks and of hebrews , that is , of them who had most reason to know the meaning of the word , that bishops are meant by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my text. that the apostle here speaks not of living , but of dead bishops : of them that had the rule before that time ; though 't is rendred , that have , in our translation ; it appeareth by other words in my text. remember them , says the apostle : what , those that are present ? they are not the objects of memory , but of sense . remember 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the good bishops you have had : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , them that have spoken to you , that have spoken their last , and shall speak no more in this world : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 considering , looking back , or looking up to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the end of their conversation . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the whole course of this life , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the end or period of it , look back , says the apostle , to your bishops deceased , consider their end , or exit , or going out of this world . to confirm this , if any doubt , i shall desire him to compare this verse with the 17 of this chapter . in both verses the apostle speaks of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is of bishops , as i have interpreted and proved . in the 17. he shews our duty to the living , obey them , says the apostle , and submit your selves , for they watch for your souls . in this verse he shews our duty to bishops deceased ; remember them , and follow their faith , considering the end of their conversation . i think more needs not be said , to shew the scope of my text , and how applicable it is to our present occasion . it being clear that the apostle speaks here of bishops , and of them being departed this life . i now proceed to the duties required at our hands ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remember and imitate . first remember . 't is a natural desire that men have , to be remembred when they are dead . we do not find it is so in any other creature : they desire to live as long as they can ; but for ought we can judge , by any indication , they have no regard to what shall come after . the reason is plain , for their being determines with their life . but for man , among many other tokens of immortality , he hath by secret instinct , a natural desire , to be thought of , and spoken of in after-times . we see this , not only in them that are inflamed with the hope of a future life ; but even in those , that , for ought appears to us , know or think little of any more but the present . what else made the egyptian kings lay out their wealth on pyramids , and the like stupendious buildings ? what moved the old greeks and the romans , with so much care and expence to leave statues and other monuments , with inscriptions of their names ? what meant those in the unlettered nations , by the much harder shifts they have made to conveigh any thing of themselves to posterity ? i need not seek for instances of this in remote times and countries , when we see 't is so frequent in our age , and perhaps no where more than in this city ; for men of design , that think long beforehand , above all other things , to provide for this kind of immortality . some venture their lives , others wear out themselves , they do and suffer any thing , to get estates : not for themselves , that might be happier without them ; nor so much for their known heirs , whom they load with entails ; as for men whom they know not , but only hope they will be in after-times . for their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever , and their dwelling place to all generations : they call their lands by their own names . this their way is their folly , and those that see it are such fools to take after them , says david , psal. 49. 11. but if this design take , it must be in spite of god , who hath declared it shall not do . he will thwart wicked men . they that provide not for the true immortality , shall lose their design in this shadow of it . either their name shall be forgotten ; god hath threatned he will cut it off , he will blot it out , their memory shall perish with them : or if it survive , it shall be to their shame , their name shall rot , prov. 10. 7. what they build for fame , shall be like absaloms pillar ; which remains to this day , but the passers by throw stones at it , in detestation of his memory : such is generally , though not always , the curse of god that pursues wicked men . whereas contrariwise it is the promise of god to the just , that they shall always be had in remembrance , psal. 112. 6. and that their memory shall be blessed as far as known , prov. 10. 7. promises which , as all other of temporal things , are to be understood with reservation to the divine oeconomy , to that wisdom of god , which orders all things in the government of the world . it becometh not the majestie of him that governs all things , to break his course , and to work miracles , upon every particular occasion . 't is enough that he generally provideth that the same thing may be done otherwise , and declares it to those by whom it ought to be done . if they do it not , if there be a faileur in them ; his promise is not void , his word is not broken , since it was given with that condition : which being not performed by them that were to have done it , he can make reparation to those that suffer by it ; yea he hath done it already in this , that he hath given them that which this typifies . and what if they fall short of the shadow , when they have the substance , in a better and true immortality ? the mean while we see what is required on our parts . as the servants of god , out of that store which he hath given us , we are to pay what he hath promised good men . 't is that which all naturally desire , but wicked men shall not attain , only to the just , god hath promised that we shall remember them , and he commands that we should do it , especially for good bishops departed this life . our remembrance of them doth not differ in kind , but in degree , from what we ow to the memory of others . 't is a duty we are to pay them above others , in our thoughts , in our affections , in our words , and in our actions and lives . first in our thoughts , 't is not a simple remembrance that god requires ; for that being an act of the sensitive soul , as i conceive , doth not directly fall under precept . for it is not in our power , to remember , or forget , either what , or when we please . but it is in our power , to do those acts , which conduce to the exciting , or to the helping of our memory . this is that which god requires at our hands ; that we should endeavour to turn our minds towards such objects , and contemplate in them , the gifts and graces of god : that as oft as we think of them , we should acknowledge that good which was in them , and which we have received by their means : that we should pay them that honorable esteem , which we ow to our spiritual parents and benefactors . if we think of them heartily in this manner , it will work something upon our affections . we cannot but be sensible of the want of such men , and therefore grieved for our loss , when they are taken from us ; as the asian bishops were at those words of s. paul , when he said , they should see his face no more . though god intend it for their gain , whom he takes to himself , and he takes them in that time , which suits best with their circumstances : yet , even then , we have cause to grieve for our selves , and for the church , who are deprived of the presence and use of such men . how much more , when for ought we know , they are taken away for our sins ? when for ought we know , it was because the age was not worthy of them ? for ought we know , 't is in order to some judgement of god , which will come the sooner when they are gone , when we have filled up the measure of our iniquities ? when elijah was taken away in a very evil age , elisha cryed out , o my father , my father , the chariots and horse-men of israel . what will become of israel now thou art gone ? we dare not think so highly of any one man. we have no such cause to despond of our nation . when it is bad , we are to do our parts to make it better , to pray that god would send more labourers into his harvest , that he would double his gifts and blessings on those that are left. and for those we have lost , we must resign them to god ; both acknowledging his bounty in giving them to us , and submitting to his will , in taking them to himself . so s. bernard on the death of his brother gerard , lord , says he , thou hast given , and thou hast taken away ; though we grieve that thou hast taken away , yet we cannot forget that thou didst give him . yea , we ow not only submission to god , but thankfulness too for their sakes , who are delivered by this means , from so great and such manifold evils , as continually hover about us in this life . from sickness , and pain , from labour , and danger , from sorrow , and fear , and care , and what not ? being delivered from sin , which is the cause , and from that flesh , which is the center of all this . they are past all evils else , that have overcome death : they leave sorrow to us , who call our selves the living : their life , the only true life , is immutable joy , eternal rest , peace , and felicity . which if we seriously believe , if we desire to be with them ; we cannot sorrow for our loss , without joy for their gain , and thanksgiving on their behalf , to that good god , who hath given them the victory through our lord iesus christ. but thus much we ow upon the death of every true christian , though of never so mean a rank and condition . we are to be thankful to god for his mercies , and to profess it , as we are taught in the offices of our church ; which have the same words of burial , for the meanest of our communion , as for those that are highest in their graces and gifts . but there is a remembrance in words , that is due to these , and not to the other ; namely the due praise of those their excellent graces and gifts ; which though they have not of themselves , but through the bounty and liberality of god , who is therefore to be chiefly respected and glorified , in all the praise that we give to his creatures : yet since he is pleased to do them this honour above others , and to make choice of them whom he so dignifies ; we are bound to allow it them , we are to follow gods choice , to give them praise whom he hath so qualified for it . only with this care , that we do it truly , not to flatter the dead , and profitably for the example and imitation of the living . we have so much reason to do this , that they who had only reason to guide them , the gentiles , upon the death of any eminent persons , had orations made publickly in their praise . the jews , without any particular law for it , had honour done to the memory of worthy persons at their funerals , 2 chron. 32. ult . the rites of it are partly described , 2 chron. 16. 14. they laid their dead in a bed full of the richest perfumes , which also were publickly burnt at the interment . to which i conceive the preacher alludes , eccles. 7. 1. where he says , a good name is better than precious oyntment , and the day of ones death , than the day of ones birth . when one cometh into the world , none knows how he may prove ; if he do well in it , he goes out with this publick testimony . after which the jews never mentioned such persons , without a blessing on their memory . but above all others , the primitive christians were very observant this way . they saw it was the will of their lord and master , that the good work which was done upon him by mary , should be kept in perpetual memory , and is therefore recorded in the gospel . they saw how the works of dorcas were shewn at her death , the coats and garments which she made for the poor . they saw what need there was of great incentives , in those days , when christianity was a most dangerous profession . it is of no small force , to make men love a religion , when they see it infuses excellent principles , that it excites so suitable practises , that it is proof against suffering and death . and the experience of that power it hath in some , provokes and animates others to the same . upon these and the like considerations , and perhaps with allusion to that text , where s. john is said to have seen the souls of the martyrs under the altar ; they had their memorias martyrum , their places of worship , where they placed the altars , over the bodies of their martyrs . what , with any intention to worship the martyrs ? it was so suggested by the adversaries , and as vehemently denied by the christians of those times . by those of smyrna , in the undoubted acts of polycarpus : we cannot ( say they ) worship any other than christ ; we love the martyrs as being followers of christ , we celebrate the days of their passions with ioy , we do it both in remembrance of those champions of god , and to train up and prepare others for the like conflicts . besides this , which was peculiar to the martyrs , they had a lower degree of remembrance , for bishops , and confessors , and all other eminent persons departed this life : whom they not only praised in orations at their funerals , but writ their names in their diptychs , or two-leaved records , which contained in one page all the names of the living ; in the other , the dead that were of note in the church . all these were recited in the communion service , where , as the living for themselves ; so far the dead , came their friends , and gave oblations and alms which , before they were distributed among the poor , were first offered up to god in a prayer , like that which we use for the church militant here on earth . these doles were their only sacrifices for the dead : only alms to the poor , with which sacrifices god is well pleased . and their prayers were not for any deliverance from pains ; unless the patriarchs , and prophets , and the apostles , and virgin mother of christ , were in the same pains too , and needed the same deliverance . for they were all mentioned alike , and together , as it is to be seen in the ancientest liturgies . among all these innocent offices and rites of the primitive christians , was there any thing of prayer for souls in purgatory ? was there any thing of prayer to saints departed this life ? was there any foundation for those superstitious observances , of adoring their relics , of prostration to their images , of pilgrimage to their shrines , of making vows , of saying masses , of offering to them , and the like ? the papists say there was , they plead the practice of the church for it , they wrest places of scripture to their purpose . nay the rhemists and others , alledge this very text , without which i should not have mention'd them at this time . but as the learnedst men among themselves have been so just not to charge this upon my text , and some of them confess they have no ground for these things in any one text of canonical scripture : so they would do us but right to acknowledge , that none of these things was practis'd for some hundreds of years after christianity came into the world . in those primitive times all their offices for the dead , were , either to give testimony of that faith in which they died , and that death had not dissolv'd their communion with the living : or they were to bless god for their holy life , and happy death : or to pray to him , not for their deliverance from purgatory , of which there was no faith in those times ; but for the increase of that good which they believ'd them to be possest of already , or for the atteinment of that farther good which they thought they were sure of , namely , for their speedy and happy resurrection , for their perfect discharge at the day of judgement , for the consummation of their bliss with their own in the kingdom of glory . not to say how the fathers differ among themselves in these particulars ; or how many of these particulars are omitted in the roman church as well as ours ; it is enough that here is nothing makes for them , but much against those their errors and corruptions . all that is agreed on all hands , or that we find in the practise of the first ages , being sufficiently contein'd in those offices of our church ; in the prayer for the church militant , in the collect on all-saints day , and in the office for the burial of the dead ; where we pray , that it would please god of his gracious goodness , shortly to accomplish the number of his elect , and to hasten his kingdom , that we , with all those that are departed in the true faith of his holy name , may have our perfect consummation and bliss , both in body and soul , in his everlasting glory . lastly , remembrance in action is the other duty enjoyn'd in my text , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , imitate their faith , that is , their christian profession and practise , their whole life and conversation , according to their own belief of that word which they have spoken . the reason of this duty is plain : for it is our business in this world to recover the image of god in which he created us ; to be like him here in righteousness and holiness , that we may be like him hereafter in glory and happiness . to this end , god has given us those lineaments of himself , which are written sufficiently in our nature , but more fully and distinctly in scripture . in which scripture , he so oft and so vehemently requires us , be ye holy , as i am holy ; be ye iust , as i am iust ; be ye merciful , as i am merciful ; be ye pure , as i am pure ; be ye perfect , as your heavenly father is perfect . this good word of god , which was given by the prophets and apostles , is still inculcated on us by them that speak to us the word of god. which office being primarily of bishops , as appears in my text , they are first and above all others to conform themselves to it , to shew others how possible and how practicable it is . our apostle suppos'd this in those primitive bishops in my text. god requires it of all that succeed them in the church . so of timothy , though he were young in age , yet being in that place , be thou an example to believers in word , in conversation , in spirit , in faith , in truth , 1 tim. 4 12. and in the last verse , take heed to thy self , and to thy doctrine : do this constantly and continually , and so thou shalt save both thy self and them that hear thee . whether they do this or no , they are our teachers and rulers ; therefore in the 17 verse of this chapter , while they live , we must obey their word , and submit to their government . when they are dead , both for what they are , and were , we may do well to say no ill of them ; and since we can say no good , e'en forget them , and leave them to god. but if they are such as they ought , which the apostle supposes in my text , if they live as men that believe themselves what they say : 't is our duty , not only to submit , and obey them , while they live ; but also to remember them when they are dead : remember them , in our thoughts , with that honour they deserve ; in our affections , with a due sense of our loss , and their gain : remember them in words , with the just praise of their actions and lives : in our prayers to god , with due thankfulness for their graces and gifts in this life , and for the glory they receive after death : lastly , remember to follow them in that holy way , which leads to so happy an end : in our apostles words , follow their faith , considering the event , the blessed end of their good conversation . what my text says in general of bishops deceased , 't is most easie to apply . i know it hath been done all this while , by them that knew the virtuous and great mind , that lately dwelt in this body . they know the truth of all i shall say , and much more that might be said in his just commendation . but the little i can bring within the time i have left , being said from many years experience , will at least stir up those that knew him not , to enquire ; and if they find these things true , they know their duty of remembrance and imitation . i shall not be minute , in drawing all i say under these heads : for i speak to them that can distinguish and sort things , as they belong to the one , or to the other . to begin with the natural endowments of his mind ; i cannot think of him without just reflection upon that paradox , of the equality of souls . he was surely a great instance to the contrary , having that largeness of soul in every respect , which was much above the rate of ordinary men . he had an understanding , that extended to all parts of useful learning and knowledge ; a will always disposed to great , and publick , and generous things . he had a natural aversion from all idle speculations , and from the eager pursuit of small and frivolous designs . in great matters , he judged so well , that he was not usually surprized with events . he pursued his intentions , with such equalness of mind , that he was never carried beyond the calmness of his natural temper , except through his zeal for publick good , or where his friend was concerned . what he was in his studies , i have reason to know , that have often been tired with studying with him . he was indefatigable , and would have worn himself out , if he had not been relieved with multiplicity of business . however he impaired by it , a body which seemed to have been built for a long age , and contracted those infirmities , that hastned his death . the effect of his studies , in his preaching , and writings , are sufficiently known , and would have been much more , if god had given him time. as for his preaching , it was sometimes famous near this place ; though he sought rather the profit , than the praise of his hearers . he spoke solid truth , with as little shew of art as was possible . he exprest all things in their true and natural colours ; with that aptness and plainness of speech , that grave natural way of elocution , that shewed he had no design upon his hearers . his plainness was best for the instruction of the simple ; and for the better sort , who were in truth an intelligent auditory , it was enough that they might see he had no mind to deceive them . he applied himself rather to their understanding , than affections . he saw so much of the beauty of goodness himself ; that he thought the bare shewing of it was enough , to make all wise men , as it did him , to be in love with it . in his writings he was judicious and plain , like one that valued not the circumstances , so much as the substance . and he shewed it in whatsoever argument he undertook ; sometimes beating out new untravel'd ways , sometimes repairing those that had been beaten already : no subject he handled , but i dare say is the better for him ; and will be the easier for them that come after him . if in these he went sometimes beside his profession , it was in following the design of it , to make men wiser and better , which i think is the business of universal knowledge . and this he promoted with much zeal and sincerity , in hope of the great benefit that may accrew to mankind . it was his aim , as in all things , so especially in that which , i conceive , is much more censured than understood ; i mean , in the design of the royal society . he joyned himself to it with no other end , but to promote modern knowledge , without any contempt or lessening of those great men in former times . with due honor to whom , he thought it lawful for others to do that which , we have no reason to doubt , they themselves would have done if they were living . i would not seem to excuse that which dedeserveth commendation and encouragement ; or to commend other things , for want of subject in him . therefore leaving this theme in better hands , i proceed next to speak of his virtues and graces ; and these the rather , as being both to be remembred and followed . and in speaking of these , where shall i begin ? nay when shall i end , if i say all that may be spoken ? i think it not worth while to speak of those that are vulgar , though he had them also in no common degree : nor would i seem to make any virtue a propriety . but there are those which are not common to many , and were generally acknowledged to be in him ; though they appeared not so to some other men , as they did to those that intimately knew him . his prudence was great , i think it seldom failed in any thing to which he applied himself . and yet he wanted that part , which some hold to be essential ; he so wanted dissimulation , that he had rather too much openness of heart . it was sincerity indeed that was natural to him , he so abhorred a lye , that he was not at all for shew ; he could not put on any thing , that look'd like it . and presuming the same of other men , through excess of benignity , he would be sometimes deceived , in believing they were what they seem'd to be , and what he knew they ought to have been . his greatness of mind , was known to all that knew any thing of him . he neither eagerly sought any dignity , nor declined any capacity of doing good . he look'd down upon wealth , as much as others admire it : he knew the use of an estate , but did not cover it what he yearly received of the church , he bestowed in its service . as for his temporal estate , being secured against want , he sought no farther , he set up his rest ; i have heard him say often , i will be no richer , and i think he was as good as his word . as for revenge , how could it enter into the breast of him , that hated nothing , but that which makes us hateful to god ? i say not but he had a sense of personal injuries ; and especially of those that reflected upon his name , when they proceeded from those that had good names of their own ; what others said , he despised ; but by those he would often wish he had been better understood : that he was not , he bore as his misfortune ; he would not requite them with the like , but mention'd them with all due respect , and was always ready to oblige them , and to do them good. yet it was not so desirable , ( i say not to be his enemy , for he did not account them so , but ) to be at those terms with him , as to be his acquaintance or friend . they that were never so little familiar with him , could not but find , as well benefit as delight in his conversation . his discourse was commonly of useful things ; it never caused trouble or weariness to the hearer . yet he would venture to displease one for his good ; and indeed he was the man that ever i knew , for that most needful , and least practised point of friendship ; he would not spare to give seasonable reproof , and wholesome advice , when he saw occasion . i never knew any that would do it so freely , and that knew how to manage that freedom of speech so inoffensively . it was his way of friendship , not so much to oblige men , as to do them good . he did this not slightly and superficially , but like one that made it his business : he durst do for his friend , any thing that was honest , and no more . he would undertake nothing but what well became him , and then he was unwearied till he had effected it . as he concerned himself for his friend , in all other respects , so especially in that , which went nearest to him of all earthly concernments . he would not suffer any blot to be thrown , or to ly upon his friends good name , or his memory . and that office i am obliged to requite , in giving some account of that which has been spoken by some to his disadvantage . i shall neglect for he did so , any frivolous reports ; but that which seems to have any weight in it , as far as i have observed , is , that he had not that zeal for the church , that they would seem to have that object this . he seemed to look upon the dissenters , with too much favour to their persons and ways . as to the persons : no doubt that goodness of nature , that true christian principle , which made him willing to think well of all men , and to do good , or at least no hurt to any , might and ought to extend it self to them among others . but besides , he was inclined to it by his education , under his grandfather mr. dod , a truly pious & learned man ; who yet was a dissenter himself in some things ? not that he had any delight in contradiction , or could find in his heart to disturb the peace of the church for those matters he was so far from it , that as i have frequently heard from this his grandchild and others , when some thought their dissents ground enough for a war , he declared himself against it , and confirmed others in their allegiance : he profest to the last a just hatred of that horrid rebellion . now his relation to this man , and conversation with those of his principles , might incline him to hope the like of others of that way . and when he found them farther off from the unity of the church ; he might possibly overdo , through the vehemence of his desire , to bring them off of their prejudices , and to reduce them to the unity of the church ; in which his grandfather lived and dyed : why might he not hope the same of other dissenters ? as for himself , he was so far from approving their ways , that in the worst of times , when one here present bewailed to him the calamities of the church , and declared his obedience even then to the laws of it : he incouraged him in it , he desired his friendship , and protected both him and many others , by an interest that he had gained , and made use of chiefly for such purposes . how he demeaned himself then , is known in both universities ; where he governed with praise , and left a very grateful remembrance behind him . how in the next times since , i cannot speak in a better place . and when i have named this city , and the two universities , i think he could not be placed in a better light in this nation . there were enough that could judge , and he did not use to disguise himself ; i appeal to you that conversed with him in those days , what zeal he hath exprest , for the faith , and for the unity of the church : how he stood up in defence of the order and government : how he hath asserted the liturgy , and the rites of it : he conformed himself to every thing that was commanded . beyond which , for any man to be vehement , in little and unnecessary things , whether for or against them , he could not but dislike ; and as his free manner was , he hath oft been heard to call it fanaticalness . how this might be misrepresented i know not , or how his design of comprehension might be understood . sure i am , that since he came into the government of the church , to which he was called in his absence ; he so well became the order , that it out-did the expectation of all that did not very well know him . he filled his place with a goodness answerable to the rest of his life ; and with a prudence above it , considering the two extreams , which were no where so much as in his diocess . though he was , as before , very tender to those that differed from him ; yet he was , as before , exactly conformable himself , and brought others to conformity , some eminent men in his diocese . he endeavoured to bring in all that came within his reach , and might have had great success , if god had pleased to continue him . but having given full proof of his intentions and desires , it pleased god to reserve the fruit for other hands , from which we have great cause to expect much good to the church . he was in perfect health in all other respects ; when a known infirmity , from an unknown cause , that had been easier to cure , than it was to discover , stole upon him , and soon became incurable . he was for many days in a prospect of death , which he saw as it approached , and felt it come on by degrees . some days before he died , he found within himself , as he often said , a sentence of death . in all this time , first of pain , then of dreadful apprehension , at last in the presence of death ; who ever saw him dismaid ? who ever found him surprized ? or head a word from him , unbecoming a wise man , and a true christian ? it was my infelilicity to be so engaged , that i could not duly attend him ; and so deceived with vain hopes , that i believed him not dying , till he was dead . but at the times i was with him , i saw great cause to admire his faith towards god , his zeal for his church , his constancy of mind , his contempt of the world , and his chearful hopes of eternity . i have heard much more upon these heads , from those that were with him . some of you may have heard other things from other men . it hath been the way of our adversaries to entitle themselves to dying men , even those , whose whole life was a testimony against them . thus after the death of our famous jewel , the papists were pleased to say , he dyed of their religion . militiere hath ventured to insinuate the same , of our late king of blessed & glorious memory . mens tongues and pens are their own , but lest they should abuse them and you , and the memory of this worthy prelate , as they have abus'd others , ( though nothing needs to be said to such groundless calumnies ) i declare , and that upon most certain grounds ; that he died in the faith of our lord jesus christ , and in the communion of the church of england , as it is by law established . he died only too soon for the church , and for his friends . but for himself he had lived long enough . he has liv'd long enough that dies well . for whatsoever he wants of that which we call time , it is added , though it adds nothing to eternity . as for us that are now to try how we can bear the want of those many blessings we enjoyed in him ; what shall we say ? we must submit to the will of god. our comfort is , that we shall follow , and come together again in due time. till when , farewel pious and virtuous soul , farewel great and excellent man , farewel worthy prelate and faithful friend . we have thy memory and example , thou hast our praises and our tears . while thy memory lives in our breasts , may thy example be fruitful in our lives : that our meeting again may be in joy unspeakable , when god shall have wiped away all tears from our eyes . finis . a sermon preached july 2, at the funeral of mr. john wells late pastor of olave-jury, london by thomas watson ... watson, thomas, d. 1686. 1676 approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a65312 wing w1143 estc r9175 12197565 ocm 12197565 56019 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a65312) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56019) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 905:33) a sermon preached july 2, at the funeral of mr. john wells late pastor of olave-jury, london by thomas watson ... watson, thomas, d. 1686. [4], 35 p. printed for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1676. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng wells, john, 1623-1676. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 1st, vii, 29 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached july 2 , at the funeral of m r john wells late pastor of olave-jury , london . by thomas watson , late minister of the gospel in stephens walbrook , london . london , printed for tho. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns in cheapside near marcers-chappel , 1676. to the reader . good reader , at the request of some friends i have been induced to publish this sermon : it is swelled something bigger in the press ; but the matter i had prepared before , only there wanted time to serve it in . if thou reapest any benefit by this ensuing discourse , i shall not repent that it was made publick . july 7. 1676. thine to serve thee tho. watson . times shortness . i cor. vii . 29. but this i say , brethren , the time is short . the blessed apostle in these words shews us what our station in the world , and all our secular enjoyments are ; they are minute and transient , but this i say , brethren , the time is short . the text consists of two parts : 1. a kind compellation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , brethren . 2. a seasonable admonition , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the time is short . 1. a kind compellation , brethren . the saints of god are brethren . they are eodem sanguine conglutinati * , cemented together with the blood of christ. then let there be no strife among them , seeing they are brethren , gen. 13. 8. believers are regenerated by the same spirit , they suck the same breasts , the promises ; they wear the same garment , christs righteousness ; they sit at the same board , the table of the lord ; they partake of the same glory , the inheritance in light , col. 1. 12 , and shall they not love ! there ought to be no contending among gods people , but who should love most * . satan leaps at discord , he warms himself at the fire of mens passions . if he cannot divide the spiritual members from their head , he will endeavour to make them smite one against another . if he cannot keep the saints from heaven , he will endeavour to make them fall out by the way . it was ill for abrahams herd-men and lots to fall out when the canaanite was in the land , gen. 13. 7. 't is an ill time for mariners to be fighting when the enemy is boring an hole in the bottom of the ship. take heed the popish enemy doth not enter at your breaches . let christians remember they are brethren . unity among brethren , resembles the harmony among angels . psal. 133. 1 , 2 , behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ; it is like the precious ointment upon the head , as the dew of hermon . 't is compared to ointment , because it is sweet ; and to the dew of hermon , because it makes every thing fruitful . the primitive christians were of one heart , act. 4. 32. let us pray , that that golden motto may be written upon england , cor unum , via una , one heart , and one way ; jer. 32. 39. what a blessed place will heaven be , where our light shall be clear , our love shall be perfect , our joy shall be full ! 2. a seasonable admonition , the time is short . this word [ time ] i shall take more strictly for the term and period of mans life , the time is short . the divers instances of mortality may serve as so many commentaries upon the text. the greek word for short * alludes to mariners , who roul up their sails and bring them into a narrow compass when the ship draws near the harbour . so though the sails of mans life were spread larger in the times of the patriarchs , yet now god is folding up these sails in a narrower compass , tempus contractum est , the time is short : the scripture frequently asserts the brevity and transitoriness of mans life , psal. 89. 97 , remember how short my time is * . psal. 39. 5 , behold , thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth ; which is the least of the geometrical measures . job useth three elegant metaphors to set forth the shortness of mans life , job 9. 25 , my days are swifter than a post , they are passed away as the swift ships , as the eagle that hasteth to her prey . if we look to the land , there mans life is like a swift post ; if we look to the sea , there it is like a swift ship ; if we look to the air , there it is like a flying eagle . life is compared to a cloud , job 7. 9 , a cloud is a vapour drawn up by the sun into the middle-region of the air ; when this cloud comes to its full proportion , it is soon dispersed and blown away with the wind . life gathers as a cloud , bigger and bigger , but on a sudden it is dissipated by death . our life is but as a point to the globe * , nay it is less , psal. 39. 5 , my age is as nothing * before thee . there is but a span between the cradle and the grave . solomon saith , there is a time to be born , and a time to die , eccles. 3. 3 , but mentions no time of living , as if that were so short , it were not worth speaking of * . quest. in what sense is the time of life short ? answ. 1. it is short in respect of the uncertainty , it may instantly expire . a man that holds a farm at the will of his landlord , if he be asked how long time he hath in the farm , he will say , no time at all , because he is sure of none , he may be turned out the next hour . so our time is short because uncertain . hezekiah , it is true , had a lease of fifteen years sealed , isa. 38. 5 , but we have no such lease sealed us , death may be within a days march of us . quis scit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina vitae tempora , dii superi * . there are so many casualities , that it is a wonder if the slender thread of our life be not cut off by untimely death . have you not seen a virgin on the same day dressed in her bride-apparel , and her winding-sheet . 2. time is short in respect of the improvement . if we reckon that for time which is well spent , then time is brought into a narrow compass indeed : a great part of our time lies fallow : take from our life all the time of eating , drinking , sleeping , besides idle impertinencies , and then how short is out time ! how little is the time wherein we can truly say , hoc vixi , this time i have lived ! o how little is the time which is spent with god! time misimployed , is not time lived , but time lost * . 3. time is short compared with eternity . there is no prospective-glass to see to the end of eternity . eternity is a day that hath no sun-setting * . it is a circle without beginning or end . eternity is a sum that can never be numbred , a line that can never be measured : reckon as many millions of years as there have been minutes since the creation , and they stand for ciphers in eternity . the most elevated strains of rhetorique cannot reach eternity * : it is a sea without bottom and banks . time may be compared to a spot of earth lying at the mouth of the great ocean ; time is a spot on this side eternity ; and what a little of that spot is mans life ! thus you see in what sense time is short . it will not be long before the silver cord be loosed , and the golden bowl broken , eccles. 12. 6. by the silver cord i understand the pith or marrow of the back , which for its whiteness is called silver : this silver cord will soon be loosed . by the golden bowl is meant the meninx , or skin , wherein the brains are enclosed as in a bowl ; this golden bowl will soon be broken . time goes on apace * . the poets painted time with wings , because it flies so fast . in joshua's dayes , when the sun and moon stood still , time went on . in hezekiah's reign when the sun went ten degrees backward , time went forward . our whole life is nothing else but a passage to death , where there is no staying by the way , or slacking our pace . vse 1. see what a poor inconsiderable thing life is . the time is short , and upon this small wire of time hangs the weight of eternity . life is but a short scene acted here . it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a vapour or puff of wind , jam. 1. 4 * . life is made up of a few flying minutes . oh then how imprudent are they , who to save their lives will damn their souls ! he were unwise , who to preserve a short lease would lose his freehold : how many such are there who to preserve this short life will take indirect courses , defraud and oppress , and to build up an estate will pull down their souls ; many to save their skins will deflour their conscience : spira to preserve his life abjured the faith. the irish make great reckoning of their skimeter ( a warlike weapon ) and will endure a blow on the arm to keep their skimeter from being hurt . to this skimeter i may compare the soul : better it is to endure a blow on our body , or estate , than suffer our precious soul to be endamaged . the soul is the man of the man : the soul of plato , is plato : the soul is the princely part , crowned with reason ; it is dei insignita imagine * ; it carries in it some faint idaea or resemblance of the trinity . the soul is a rich diamond set in clay : what folly is it for saving the clay , to lose the diamond ! like tiberius the emperour , who for a draught of water lost a kingdom . vse 2. is time so curtail'd and shortned ? let us often contemplate the shortness of life * . feathers swim upon the water , but gold sinks into it . light feathery-spirits float in vanity ; but serious christians sink deep into the thoughts of their sudden change ; deut. 32. 29 , o that they were wise , that they would consider their latter end . forgetfulness of the latter end , makes life sinful , and death formidable . people naturally shrink back from the thoughts of death : amos 6. 3 , they put far away from them the evil day . when they are young , they hope they shall spin out life to the blossoming of the almond tree ; and when old age comes , they hope to renew their strength as the eagle * : though their bodies are subject to corruption , and they feel the symptoms of mortality in them , deafness of hearing , here is death creeping in at the ear ; dimness of sight , here is death creeping in at the eye : yet so frantique are they , as to perswade themselves of long life . bodily diseases are but deaths harbingers , which go before to bespeak a lodging for death . why then do men dream of an earthly eternity ? psal. 49. 11 , their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever . where is the man that contemplates times shortness , or makes another's death a looking-glass in which he may see his own dying face . some may say , this discourse of the shortness of time is fit for such as are consumptive , whom the physicians have given over ; but for their parts they are well in health , and may live these many years * . but though your blood be fresh in your veins , and your bones are full of marrow , you know not how short your time may be : he was not sick , nor in fear of sickness , who said , soul take thy ease , but that night death sealed him a lease of ejectment , luke 12. 20. freshness of complexion is sometimes a lightning before death . the metal of which glass is made , when it begins to shine , is nearest melting . persons likely enough to live , have been suddenly taken away , by squinisies , convulsions , appoplexies . how soon may death sound its allarm ! 't is reported of zeleuchus , that the first piece of household-stuff he brought into babylon , was a tomb-stone . o meditate of the transiency and brittleness of life : think often of your tombe-stone . quest. what advantage will accrew to us by often thinking of our short stay here ? answ. 1. the shortness of time meditated on , would cool the heat of our affections to the world. these visible objects please the fancy , but they do not so much delight us , as delude us : they are brevi dilapsura , suddenly gone from us . worldly things are like a fair picture drawn on the ice , which the sun quickly melts * . the time is short , why should we love that over-much , which we cannot keep over-long ? 1 cor. 7. 31 , the fashion * , or pageant , of the world passeth away . time passeth away as a ship in full sail : this thought-on seriously , would mortify covetousness . paul looked upon himself as ready to loosen anchor and be gone , 2 pet. 1. 14 , knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle : and how did his love to the world dye ? gal. 6. 14 , the world is crucified to me , and i unto the world. who would covet that much , which hath neither contentment nor continuance ? among the graecians , the city of sparta had a king of it but for a year , and then he was to lay down his crown , which made every one strive not to be king. why should we so toil about the world , as if we were to live here ever ? what needs a long provision for a short way * ? if we have but enough to bear our charges to heaven , it sufficeth . suppose a mans lease were ready to expire , and he should fall a building and planting , would not he be judged indiscreet ? when our time is so very short , now to follow the world immoderately , as if we would fetch happiness out of the earth , which god hath cursed , is a degree of frenzy : we shall have no need of the earth shortly , but to be buried in it . 2. the meditation of the shortness of time , would be a means to humble us . st. augustin calls humility the mother of the graces . balm sinks to the bottom of the water : a good christian sinks low in humility : and what can sooner pull down the flags and banners of pride , than to consider we are shortly dropping into the dust * . the priest was to cast the feathers of the fowls , by the place of the ashes , levit. 1. 16. all your feathers of honour must shortly lye in the ashes . shall not he which is cloathed with mortality , be cloathed with humility ? the thoughts of the grave would bury our pride . when the lord had said to the judges , psal. 82. 6 , i said ye are gods ; lest they should grow proud , he adds a corrective , but ye shall die like men . ye are dying-gods . 3. the meditation of the shortness of time , would hasten our repentance . repentance is as necessary as heaven ; as radical moisture and natural heat preserve the life , so repenting-tears , and an heart burning with love , preserve the soul. it is natural to delay repentance * . we say as hag. 1. 2 , the time is not yet come . but the text saith , the time is short ; our life is a taper , soon blown out . the thoughts of times volubility and swiftness , would keep us from proroguing our repentance . 't is no time for us to make a long work , when god is making a short work * . it is observed of the birds of norway , that they fly faster than the birds of other countrys . by the instinct of nature knowing the days in that climate to be very short , they therefore make the more hast to their nests . the consideration of our short abode here , will make us avoid delays , and fly faster to heaven upon the wing of repentance . 4. the meditation of the shortness of time , would antidote us against the temptations of satan * . temptation is satans eldest daughter , that woes for him . satan doth more mischief by his wiles , than his darts . he knows how to suit his temptations , as the husbandman knows what seed is proper for such a soil . satan tempted achan with a wedg of gold ; david with beauty . it is hard to keep up the banks of grace against the sea of temptation . i know no better remedy against satans immodest solicitations , than this text , the time is short : what satan , dost thou tempt me to vanity , when i am going to give up my accounts ? shall i now be sinning , when to morrow i may be dying ? how shall i look my judg in the face ? christian , when satan sets sinful pleasure before thee , shew him a deaths-head , this will make temptations vanish . 5. the consideration of the shortness of our stay in the world , would be an help to temperance ; it would make us sober and moderate in the use of worldly comforts . by excess we turn things lawful into sin * ; the bee may suck a little honey from the leaf , but put it into a barrel of honey , and it is drowned . we may with jonathan , dip the end of the rod in honey , but not thrust it in too far * . noah took too much of the grape , gen. 9. 21. the flesh , when pampered , rebels : the best preservative against intemperance is this , tempus est contractum , the time is short . when we are feasting , death may quickly take away the cloth. plutarch reports , that the egyptians used at their great banquets to bring in the image of a dead man , and say to their guests , look upon this , and proceed in your banket . an excellent antidote against a surfeit . joseph of arimathea erected a sepulchre in his garden , to spice his flowry delights with the thoughts of death . 6. the meditation of the shortness of time , would much mitigate our grief for the loss of dear relations . it is observable , when the apostle had said , the time is short , he presently adds , let them that weep be as if they wept not . no doubt the loss of relations is grievous to the fleshy part . it is like pulling a limb from the body . when god strikes us in our right eye , we weep . 't is lawful to give vent to our grief : joseph wept over his dead father . but though religion doth not banish grief , it bounds it . we must weep quasi non , as if we wept not . rachels sin was , that she refused to be comforted , mat. 2. 18. origen it is thought died of grief ; and if any thing can stop the issue of sorrow , at least asswage it , it is this , the time is short . we shall shortly have our losses made up , and enjoy our godly relations again in heaven . 7. the meditation of the shortness of time , would make us highly value grace . time is short , but grace is for ever . 1 joh. 2. 27 , the anointing which ye have received of him , abideth in you . grace is a blossome of eternity * ; it is semen manens , an immortal seed , 1 joh. 3. 9. grace is embryo gloriae ; grace is not blasted by death , but transplanted into a better soil . grace is not a lease which soon expires , but an inheritance intailed for ever . he who hath true grace , can no more lose it , than the angels can who are fixed in their heavenly orb. rev. 10. 6 , the angel sware by him that liveth for ever , that there should be time no longer . but grace shall survive time , and run parallel with eternity . 2. branch . if time be so short , and winged , take heed of mispending this short time ; to mispend time is the worst prodigality . 1. take heed of spending time unprofitably ; domitian wasted much of his time in catching flies * . many live to cumber the ground . telluris inutile pondus . judg. 10. 4 , ● jair had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass-colts , and they had thirty cities , and they died . so it may be said , such an one was born in the reign of such a king , and he possessed such an estate , and he died ; his life was scarce worth a prayer , or his death worth a tear . an idle person stands in the world but for a cypher , and god writes down no cyphers in the book of life ; many are like the wood of the vine , useless . ezek. 15. 3 , will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon ? too many resemble the lillies , which toil not , neither do they spin . they spend their time as the emperour caligula , he was at a great expence to provide a navy , and when it was provided he sent his mariners to sea to gather cockle-shells , and so they sailed home again . god hath furnish'd men with precious time wherein they may work out salvation , and they imploy it vainly , aut aliud agendo aut nihil * ; they ravel it out in impertinencies . what reward can be expected when there is no work done ? who is crowned that never fights ? mat. 25. 30 , cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness . 2. take heed of spending time viciously ; divers spend their short time in drinking , gaming , whoring : esau while he was hunting lost the blessing ; many while they hunt after sinful pleasures , lose heaven : sin is boiled to a great heigth in this age ; men study new oaths , and count it a shame not to be impudent ; they are steep'd and parboil'd in wickedness * ; they live in the world to infect others , as the basilisk with its breath poisons the herbs . what a dreadful account will they have to give , who have nothing to shew god but their treasons ? branch 3. if the time of life be so short , let us improve it . ephes. 5. 16 , redeeming the time . if a man had but a short time in a farm , he would make the best improvement of it ; and get as good a crop as he could out of it , before he left it . the thoughts of our short stay here , should make us improve this little inch of time . and that we may the better do this , remember , we must be accountable to god for time. god will say , what have you done with your time ? if a lord intrust his steward with such money and goods , he expects that he should give him an account what he hath done with them , and how he hath employ'd them . every one of us are stewards , and god will call us to a reckoning , and say , what have you done with the talent of time i intrusted you with ? quest. how should we improve this short time ? answ. 1. in general , mind salvation-work , philip. 2 12. he who layes up gold and silver , is wise for his children ; but he who gets salvation , is wise for himself . * . 2. in special , improve this short time , 1. by a serious examination : christians , examine how the case stands between god and your souls , 2 cor. 13. 5 , prove your selves . the greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , try your selves , as the goldsmith doth his gold by a touchstone . time is short , and what if god should say this night , give an account of your stewardship . 1. account with your selves about your debts ? are your debts paid , your sins pardoned ? 2. account with your selves about making your will : time is short , you may dye before night ; have you made your will ? i mean in a spiritual sense , have you given up your will to god , and by solemn vow set seal to the will ? they are fittest to resign their souls to god , who have resigned their wills to him . 3. call your selves to account about your evidences . are your evidences for heaven ready ? your desires are your evidences . do you desire christ for himself ; as beauty is loved for it self ? and can nothing quench your thirst but christs blood ? and , is your desire quickned into endeavour * ? this is a blessed sign . for want of this self-examination , many who are well known to others , are unknown to themselves : they know not whither they shall go when they dye , or to what coast they shall sail , to hell , or to heaven * . 2. improve this short time by laying hold of all the seasons and opportunities for your souls . the mariner takes the fit season , he sets to sea while the wind blows . time is short , and opportunity ( which is the cream of time ) is shorter . let not the seasons of mercy slip . 1. while gods spirit strives with you , cherish its sweet whispers and motions : as when the dove came flying to the windows of the ark , noah reached out his hand , and pulled it into the ark : so when gods spirit ( this blessed dove ) comes to you , entertain and welcom it into the ark of your souls * . if you repulse the spirit , he may refuse to strive any more . gospel-seasons though they are sweet , they are swift . 2. while god's ministers are with you , make use of them , zechar. 1. 5 , the prophets , do they live for ever ? their time ( by reason of their labours ) is scarce so long as others . we read of lamps within the pitchers , judg. 7. 16. ministers are lamps ; but these lamps are in earthen pitchers , which soon break . ministers , though they carry the word of life in their mouths , yet they carry death in their faces . improve their labours while you have them : they thirst for your happiness , and as so many bells would chime-in your souls to christ. 3. improve this short time by keeping up a close communion with god , 1 joh. 1. 3. our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or communion is with the father , &c. this sweet communion with god is kept up , 1. by holy meditation , gen. 24. 63 , isaac went out to meditate in the field at even-tide . meditation concocts divine-truths in the mind . it brings god and the soul together * . it is the bellows of the affections : it gives a sight and a tast of invisible glory , psal. 140. 39 , my meditation of him shall be sweet . 2. communion with god is kept up by prayer : praying-dayes are ascensiondayes . caligula placed his effigies in the capitol , whispering in jupiter's ears . prayer whispers in gods ears : it is a secret parley and converse with god * . on this mount of prayer the soul hath many sweet transfigurations . 4. improve this short time by doing all the service you can for god * : wisdom may be learned of an enemy ; satan is the more fierce , because he knoweth his time is but short , rev. 12. 12 : we should act more vigorously for god , seeing our time is but short . our lives should be as jewels , though little in quantity , yet great in value . st. paul knew his stay in the world was short , 2 pet 1 , 14 , therefore how zealous and active was he for god while he lived , 1 cor , 5. 10. i laboured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , more abundantly than they all . paul 's obedience did not move slow , as the sun on the dial , but swift , as the sun in the firmament . is time short ? let us be god-exalters , let us bring glory to god in doing good to others : as aromatick-trees sweat out their precious oyles ; so should we lay out our strength for the good of others . 1. let us do good to their souls : convince the ignorant , strengthen the weak , reduce the wandring : a good christian is both a diamond and a load-stone . a diamond sparkling in sanctity , and a loadstone for his attractive virtue in drawing others to christ. 2. let us do good to their bodies : many at this day say to their sorrows , ye are our companions . let our fingers drop with the myrthe of liberality , heb. 13. 16 , to do good , and communicate , forget not . let us feed the hungry , cloath the naked ; be temporal saviours to others * . could we thus improve our time , our lives , though short , would be sweet : this would be the way to cast abroad a fragrant redolent smell in gods church ; like the orange-trees which perfume the air where they grow . could we thus improve our time , we might have our consciences drawing up a certificate for us , 2 cor. 1. 12 ; and then no matter though the world censure , if conscience acquit : no matter how cross the wheels go , if the clock strikes right . could we thus improve our time , we might have an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an easy and joyful passage out of the world . this was hezekiah's comfort when he thought he was lying on his death-bed , 2 king. 20. 3 , i beseech thee , o lord , remember how i have done that which is good in thy sight . to improve time aright , answers gods cost , credits religion , saves the soul. vse 3. terror to every wicked person , who exhausts his strength in sin : his time here is short , and then begins his hell. he spends his life in a frolick ; he takes the timbrel and harp , and rejoyceth at the sound of the organ , job 21. 12. but the time is shortly coming , when all his mirth shall cease , rev. 18 22 , the voice of the harpers , and musicians , and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee . the grave buries all a sinners joy . when a wicked man dies , the devil gets a windfal . satan ( in samuel's shape ) said to saul , 2 sam. 28. 19 , thou shalt be with meto morrow . the sinner is to day with his lusts , and may be tomorrow with the devil . who would envy the wicked , their honour , or pleasure ? they must pay dear for it . they have a short feast , but a long reckoning : for a drop of mirth , they must drink a sea of wrath : and who knows the power of that wrath ? it was a saying of cardinal bellarmine , if a man had but a sight of hell , it were enough to make an intemperate person sober . hell is the emphasis of torment . the sacrifice of jealousy was to have no oyl , nor frankincense put to it , numb . 5. 15. in hell is no oyl of mercy put to the torments of the wicked to lenify them ; nor is there any incense of prayer to appease gods wrath . oh that sinners would in time break off their iniquities . what is become of their intellectuals , have they sinned away reason as well as conscience ? the time of life is short , but the torments of hell are lengthened out ; rev. 14. 11 , the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever . 4. vse . here is a light side of the text , to the godly ; they may be glad that their time here is short ; they cannot live but by dying . behold , honey at the end of the rod. 1. the time being short , their sinning-time cannot be long . sin is a troublesome inmate . rom. 7. 24 , paul that bird of paradise , sighed and groan'd under corruption ; a child of god mingles sin with his duties , he cannot write a copy of holiness without blotting ; there 's a party in a regenerate heart sides with satan ; but be of good comfort , the time is short , it is but a while ( christians ) that the dead man shall be tyed to the living ; that you shall be combating with a proud , unbelieving heart . the year of release is coming : death doth to the godly , as the angel did to peter * , it smites them , and makes their chains of sin fall off quite . 2. the time being short , their working-time cannot be long : in this life much work is cut out . there is , 1. the work of the hand , as the artificer works in his trade , prove . 10. 4. 2. the work of the head ; notions are the children of the brain , and there is labour in bringing them forth . 3. the work of the heart , which is the hardest work , to search , cleanse , watch the heart ; as a clock sometimes goes faster , sometimes flower ; so the heart sometimes goes faster in sin , sometimes flower in duty . but here is the saints comfort , their working-time is but short , rev. 19. 13 , they rest from their labours . when their bodies return to dust , their souls return to rest . 3. time being short , their suffering-time cannot be long . life is inter-larded with trouble , job 14. 1. you may as well separate weight from lead , as trouble from mans life . we come into the world with a cry , and go out with a groan . every one hath his yoke , and 't is well if there be not a nail in it ; but time is short . though the cross be heavy , we have but a little way to carry it ; death will give the godly a writ of ease , job 3. 17 , there ( i.e. in the grave ) the wicked cease from troubling . 4. the time being short , their waiting-time cannot be long ; the godly shall not be long out of heaven . while the blessed angels see the orient beauties that shine in gods face , believers live far from court , being imprisoned in the body . here they do rather desire god than enjoy him . but the time is short , it is but a few days , perhaps hours , and the saints shall be ever solacing themselves in the light of gods countenance . they shall leave their pillow of thorns , and lay their head on christs bosom . faith gives a propriety in god , death gives a possession . the wagons and chariots came ratling to old jacob , but they were to carry him to his son joseph . deaths chariot-wheels may come ratling to a believer , but it is to carry him home to his fathers house . in that paradise of god a christian shall have more than he can think ; eph. 3. 20. he can think , what if every mountain were a pearl , every flower a ruby , every sand in the sea a diamond , the whole globe a shining chrysolite ? but all his thoughts are too low and dwarfish to reach the glory of the coelestial pyramides . the reward heavenly ( as st. austin saith ) exceeds faith ; and the time being short , a christian shall be in heaven before he is aware ; then shall he bathe his soul in those perfum'd pleasures of paradise , which run at gods right hand for evermore . i have done with the text : let me speak next to the occasion . we are met to commemorate the death of an eminent minister in this city , mr. john wells . sorry i am to be an actor in this mournful scene . but being requested by him in his life ( in case i survived ) , i was willing to do this last office of love . there hath been of late a great mortality of ministers . the men of the world need not be so fierce against gods ministers , they will not trouble them long ; gods taking away his ministers so fast ( two in a day ) boads much evil . it presageth the fall of an house when the pillars are removed . concerning this reverend brother deceased , it is not my purpose to use any hyperbolical encomiums , or panegyricks ; only give me leave to strow a few flowers upon his hearse . this our worthy friend was endued with learning and volubleness of speech . he could 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , divide the word rightly , as a workman that need not be ashamed . seals he had to his ministry . some of his hearers might call him ( as cyprian did caecilius ) novae vitae parentem their spiritual father . for his piety , he was not only a follower of that which was good , but a leader ; he said not long before his death , that he had brought this to an issue , that he loved god. he was fixed to his principles : though he be now by death a fallen-star , yet he was not a wandring-star his disposition was not morose , but affable : a man of that candor and curtesy , as did oblige and win the affections of many to him . when grace and sweetness of nature meet , it is like a pearl in a gold-ring . for his preaching , 1. he did frame himself , ad captum populi ; he preached intelligibly to the capacity of his auditory . sure that minister will never hit the hearts of his hearers , who shoots over their heads . ministers should be stars to give light , not clouds to darken the truth ▪ clearness is the grace of speech . gregory nazianzen preached plain to the ignorant , yet was admired by the learned . 2. he was elaborate and painful in his work . sloath in a minister is as bad as sleep in a sentinel . he would not offer that to god which cost him nothing . christ bled for souls , well may we sweat . this good man , like a taper , wasted himself , while he gave light to others . he was a man of a forgiving-spirit ; he was not troubled with the overflowing of the gall : kindnesses he wrote in marble ; injuries he forgot . he was very charitable : the backs and bellies of the poor , were the furrows where he sowed the seeds of his liberality . but though his charity did shine , he did not care it should blaze . he is now taken from the evil to come . for you that did sit under his ministry , let me tell you , you have lost a friend and a guide ; you have cause to be close-mourners . let me request only this of you , that you would remember the many good instructions given you : though he is dead , let not his sermons dye too , but labour to copy them out fair in your lives . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a65312-e260 * august . * 1 pet. 3. 8. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * quantillum sit tempus meum . gejer. * punctum est quod vivimus & puncto minus . sen. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ * vita adeò parum a morte distat ut ipsa mors sit . musc. * horat ▪ * diu suit in mundo non vixit . sen. * una dies continua occajum non habens . gerh. * cogita centum millia annorum , cogita decies centena millia annorum , cogita mille milliones annorum , immò saeculorum nondum in choasti aeternum . corn. à lap. * animantis cujusque vita in fuga est . * ut vir crescit vita decrescit , senec. * bern. use 2. exhort . br. 1. * vive memor lethi . pers. * nemo putat se citò moriturum . aug. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys. * theodoret. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * parùm viae quid multum viati●i ? * agnoscat homo se esse mortalem & franget elationem . aug. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarch . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys. hom. 22. de simult . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * in licitis perimus omnes . * 1 sam. 14. 27. * plut. * joh. 4. 19. * turpe est difficiles habere nugas . mart. * sen. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . claud. * prov. 9. 12. * isa. 26. 9. * animula , vagula , blandula , quae nunc abibis in loca ? hadr. * gen. 6. 8. * nil in hac vita dulcius sentitur , nil ita mortem ab amore mundi s●parat , nil sic animam contra tentationes roborat , nil hominem ita ad omne bonum opus excitat quam gratia contemplationis . bern. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clem. alex. * dio servire est regnare . * incipe erogaere si non vis errare . aug. de verb. dom. * act. 12. 7. quid est diù vivere , nisi diu torqutri ? aug. praemium quod side non attingetur . a funeral sermon on the decease of that worthy gentlewoman mrs. margaret baxter, who died the 28th of june, 1681 by john howe. howe, john, 1630-1705. 1681 approx. 83 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44681 wing h3030 estc r26809 09547112 ocm 09547112 43592 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44681) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 43592) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1334:4) a funeral sermon on the decease of that worthy gentlewoman mrs. margaret baxter, who died the 28th of june, 1681 by john howe. howe, john, 1630-1705. [2], 42 p. printed for brabazon alymer, london : 1681. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng baxter, margaret charlton, 1636-1681. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 2nd, v, 8 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon on the decease of that worthy gentlewoman , m rs . margaret baxter , who died the 28th of june , 1681. by john howe , minister of the gospel . london : printed for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons , over against the royal exchange in cornhil . 1681. to the very reverend , mr. richard baxter . sir , when you assign'd unto me that part , not of forming a memorial for your excellent , deceased consort , ( which is reserved to the fittest hand ) but of instructing the people upon the occasion of her decease : this text of scripture occurring also to my thoughts , ( which i reckon'd might sufficiently agree with the design , you generally recommended to me , tho i am sensible how little the prosecution did so ) it put me upon considering , with how great disadvantage , we set our selves , at any time , to reason against bodily inclination ; the great antagonist we have to contend against in all our ministerial labours ! an attempt , which , if an higher power set not in with us , looks like the opposing of our faint breath to the steady course of a mighty river ! i have often thought of cicero's wonder ; that since we consist of a mind and a body ; the skill of curing , and preserving the body , is so admir'd , as to have been thought a divine invention : that which refers to the mind , is neither so desired , before it be found out , nor so cultivated afterwards , nor is approv'd , and acceptable to so many ; yea , is even to the most suspected , and hateful ! even the tyrant phalaris tells one , in an epistle , ( tho by way of menace ) that whereas a good physician may cure a distemper'd body , death is the only physician for a distemper'd mind . it works not indeed an universal cure. but , of such , on whom it may , how few are there , that count not the remedy worse than the disease ! yet how many thousands are there , that , for greater ( hoped ) bodily advantages , afterwards , endure much more pain and trouble than there is in dying ! we are a mysterious sort of creatures ! yet i acknowledg the wisdom of god is great and admirable , in planting in our natures so strong a love of this bodily life ; without which the best would be more impatient of living on earth , so long as god thinks it requisite they should . and to the worst , death would not be a sufficiently formidable punishment . and consequently humane laws and justice would be , in great part , eluded . and the same divine wisdom is not less admirable , in providing there should so generally be so much of mutual love , as doth obtain among near friends , and relatives ; for thereby their cohabitation , and mutual offices towards each other , are made more pleasant and easie ; which is a great compensation for the concomitant evil , that , by the same love , their parting with one another cannot but be rendered grievous . but for you , who live so much upon the borders , and in the pleasant view of the other state ; the one separation , is , i doubt not , much easier to your sense , and the other to your fore-thoughts , than they are with the most , a perfect indifferency towards this present bodily state , and life , is , in mine eyes , a most covetable thing , and my daily aim . wherein i entreat your prayers may assist , your most respectful , though most unworthy fellow-servant and expectant , in the work and hope of the gospel , john howe . a funeral sermon . 2 cor. 5.8 . we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body , and to be present with the lord. the solemn face of this assembly , seems to tell me that you already know the present , special occasion of it : and that i scarce need to tell any of you , that our worthy , honoured friend , mrs. baxter , is dead . you have ( 't is like most of you ) often met her in this place ; when her pleased looks were wont to shew what delight she took , to have many share in those great advantages , wherein she had a more peculiar interest : you are now to meet her , here , no more ; but are met your selves to lament together , that our world hath lost so desirable an inhabitant : and to learn ( as i hope you design ) what so instructive an occasion shall ( of it self , or as it may be improv'd ) serve to teach us . it doth of it self most obviously teach the common document , that we , who are of the same make and mould , must all die too . and our own prudence should hereupon advance one step further , and apprehend it a most covetable thing , that the temper of our minds might comply with this unalterable state of our case . and that we be in a disposition , since we must die , to die willingly , and with our own consent . nothing can be more irrational , or unhappy , than to be engaged in a continual quarrel with necessity ; which will prevail , and be too hard for us at last . no course is so wise in it self , or good for us , as to be reconciled to what we cannot avoid ; to bear a facile yielding mind towards a determination , which admits of no repeal . and the subject now to be insisted on , may help us to improve the sad occasion to this very important purpose ; and shew us that dying , which cannot be willed for it self , may be join'd with somewhat else which may and ought to be so ; and in that conjunction , become the object of a rational and most complacential willingness . a subject recommended to me ( though not the special text ) by one , than whom i know no man that was better able to make a fit choice ; as ( in the present case ) none could have that right to chuse . i cannot stay to discuss and open the most fruitful pleasant series of discourse in the foregoing verses , though there will be occasion to reflect somewhat upon it by and by . but , in the text , the apostle asserts two things concerning the temper of his spirit in reference to death . his confidence , and complacency , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. his confidence ; or his courage and fortitude . [ we are confident , i say ] he had said it before , vers. 6. we are always confident ; and assigned the cause , knowing that while we are present in the body , we are absent from the lord. and declared the kind of that knowledg , ( viz. which he had of that presence of the lord , whereof he was deprived , by being present in the body ) that is , that it was the knowledg of faith , not of sight , vers. 7. now here he adds ; we are confident , i say . it notes a deliberate courage . and the fixedness of it ; that it was not a suddain fit ; a passion soon over . he had said above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . we are confident at all times . it was his habitual temper . and here the ingemination signifies increase ; as if he had said , we grow more and more bold , and adventurous , while we consider the state of our case , and what we suffer by our presence in the body . sense of injury or damage heightens , and adds an edg unto true valour . we would venture upon a thousand deaths , if the matter were left entirely to our own option , rather than be thus with-held any longer from the presence of our blessed lord ; a thing whereof nothing but duty to him could make us patient . we are not destitute of the fortitude , to enable us even to rush upon death without more ado , if he did say the word : but as yet he bids us stay ; and his supream and holy will must in all things determine ours . therefore 't is immediately subjoin'd in the midst of this high transport , vers . 9. wherefore we labour , that whether present or absent , we might be accepted of him , or , well-pleasing to him , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) . we less mind the pleasing our selves than him . we are indifferent to life or death , being in the body or out of it , in comparison of that . his pleasure is more to us than either . here the highest fortitude yields and submits it self : otherwise , and for his own part , and as to what concern'd his own inclination singly , and in the divided sense , the apostle to his confidence doth 2 ly , add complacency . we are better pleased , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) this is a distinct thing , ( a valiant man will venture upon wounds and death , but is not pleased with them ) but in reference to so excellent an object , and occasion , they must mingle , and the latter runs into the former . we are willing rather ( as we read it ) to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. the word which we read willing , signifies to approve , or like well , not a meerly judicious , but complacential approbation : the word , whence comes the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often ascrib'd to god in scripture ; which signifies the high satisfaction he takes in all his purposes and determinations . the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ephes. 1.5 . is certainly no tautology , but speaks how perfectly and pleasingly he agrees , and ( as it were ) consents with himself in all that ever he had resolv'd on . this rather , says the apostle , is our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the thing that would please us best , and wherein we should most highly satisfy our selves . it would not be the matter of our submission only , or whereto we could yield , when we cannot help it , but of our highest joy and pleasure . according as we find it was with the psalmist in the same case , ( which though it had a further meaning in reference to christ , had a true meaning as to himself also ) ; therefore my heart is glad , my glory rejoyces , my flesh also shall rest in hope . for thou wilt not leave my soul in ( sheol ) the state of the dead , nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption , but wilt shew me the path of life ; and no matter though it lie through the dark shady vale : it leads however into that blessed presence of thine ( the same with that in the text ) where is fulness of joy ; and unto that right hand ( that high and honourable station ) where are pleasures for ever-more . both these , the apostle's courage and fortitude , and his complacency or well-pleasedness , have express reference to the state of death , or of being absent from the body . the one respects it as a formidable ( but superable ) evil ; the other as a desirable and most delectable good. but both have reference to it in its concomitancy , or tendency , viz. as absence from the body should be accompanied ( or be immediately followed ) with being present with the lord. the sence therefore of the whole verse , may be fitly exprest thus : that it is the genuine temper of holy souls , not only to venture , with confidence , upon the state of absence , or separation from the body , but to chuse it with great complacency and gladness , that they may be present with the lord. body ] we are not here to understand so generally as if he affected , or counted upon a perpetual final state of separation from any body at all . no ; the temper of his spirit had nothing in it so undutiful , or unnatural ; no such reluctation , or disposition to contend , against the common lot of man , the law of humane nature , and the comely order which the author of our beings , and of all nature , hath setled in the universe . that , whereas one sort of creatures , that have life , should be wholly confin'd to terrestrial bodies ; another , quite exempt from them ; ours should be a middle nature , between the angelical and the brutal . so as we should , with the former , partake of intellectual , immortal spirit ; and a mortal body made up , and organiz'd of earthly materials , with the latter . which yet , we might also depose , and reassume , changed and refined from terrene dross . the apostle's temper hath in it nothing of rebellion , or regret , against this most apt and congruous order and constitution . he had no impatient proud resentment of that gradual debasement and inferiority ; that , in this respect we are made a little lower than the angels . when porphyry tells us , in the life of plotinus , that he blush'd as often as he thought of his being a body ; it was agreeable enough to his notion , of the pre-existence of the soul ; i. e. if it were true , that the original state of humane spirits , was the same with that of angels , ( which this is no fit season to dispute against ) and that by their own fault , some way or other , they lapsed and slid down into grosser matter , and were caught into vital union with it , there was just cause of shame indeed . apuleius's transformation ( which many of you know what it means ) if it had been real , was not more ignominious . but it appears , the apostle affected not a state wherein he should be simply naked , or unclothed of any body at all ; for he longs to be clothed upon with his heavenly house , vers. 2. and whereas he tells us , vers. 4. that which he groaned for , was not to be unclothed , but clothed upon : that being unclothed , doth not mean the act , but the state , i. e. that he did not covet or aspire to a perpetual final state , of being naked , or without any body at all . for so he speaks , vers. 3. if so be ( as we read ) that being clothed , we shall not be found naked . the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , admits to be read , since that , in as much as , or , for truly : and so the 2 d and 3 d verses will be connected thus : in this , i. e. for this , viz. for this cause , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often signifies causality , ( not in this house , for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not agree ) we groan earnestly , desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven , i. e. of heaven , or sutable to heaven , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes here , as often , the matter whereof a thing is formed and made ) a body made up of an heavenly material ; or , ( which is all one ) an earthly body refined and transformed into such a one. and then he subjoins the reason why his desire is so condition'd , and limited , or runs only in this particular current to have , not no body at all , but only not such a body . he wishes to have a body made more habile , and commodious , and fitter for the uses of a glorified soul , ( which hath its own more inward clothing peculiar to it self , in respect whereof that of such a body would be an additional one , a superinvestiture , as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports ) his desire is thus limited and modified for this reason . in as much as , being thus clothed , we shall not be found naked , or without any body at all ; which the law of our creation admits us not to affect , or aspire unto . and therefore in qualifying our desire thus , we shall contain our selves within our own bounds , and not offer at any thing whereof humanity is , by the creator's pleasure , and constitution uncapable . therefore he inculcates the same thing over again ; we groan not to be unclothed , but only to be clothed upon : where that unclothed ( the thing he desired not ) must signify the state , and not the act only , is evident ; in that being clothed ( the thing which he did desire ) must plainly be so understood . for was it only an entrance into glory he desired , and not continuance in a glorified state ? nor can this being unclothed ( much less ) refer as an act to the present clothing of this earthly body , as if it were our being divested of that which he intended in this 4 th vers. as the thing he desired not , for then the 4 th verse would contradict this 8 th , where he tells us he did desire it . the meaning then is , that he did not desire to be exempted from wearing a body ; or to be without any at all . he did only covet to be absent from this body , ( gross and terrene as now it was ) that he might be present with the lord , with which he found being in such a body , and in the several accompanying circumstances of this bodily state , to be inconsistent . wherefore it was a terrestrial body , ( the earthly house of this tabernacle , as 't is vers. 1. ) which he was now better pleased to quit upon this account . and , i say , it is the genuine temper of an holy soul to be like-minded , not their constant , explicite , discernible sense . we must allow for accidents , ( as we shall note afterwards ) but when they are themselves , and in their right mind ; and so far as the holy divine life doth prevail in them , this is their temper . and now that i may more fully open this matter to you , i shall , 1. endeavour to unfold , somewhat more distinctly , the state of the case , in reference whereto , good and holy souls are thus affected . 2 ly , shall shew you what is their true and genuine temper , or how it is that they stand affected , in reference to that case . 3 ly , shall discover how agreeable this temper is to the general frame and complexion of an holy soul. and then make such reflections upon the whole , as may be more especially useful to our selves . 1. we are to take , as much as we can , a distinct view and state of the case . we see the apostle speaks by way of comparison , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , we are willing rather . we are therefore to consider ( that we may comprehend clearly the true state of this case ) what the things are which he compares . and between which his mind might be supposed , as it were , to have been before ( at least in order of nature before ) in some suspence , till at last it come so complacentially to incline , and be determined this one way . take the account of the whole case in these particulars . 1 st , there are here two principal terms between which the motion and inclination of such a mind lies , from the one to the other . the lord , and the body . both do as it were attract and draw ( or are apt to do ) two , several ways . the lord strongly draws on the one hand , and the body hangs on , and holds , and draws in as strongly to it self as it can , on the other . the body as having us present in it . and how ? not locally only , but in the way of vital union and communion with it . and that shews how we are to understand being present with the lord too ; not by a meer local presence , but of more intimate vital union and commerce . where , as in the union between the soul and body , the more excellent communicates life , the other receives it ; so it must be here . though now , the lord is present , thus , in some measure , ( which this attraction supposes ) ; yet , speaking comparatively , that presence is absence , in respect of what we are to look for hereafter . both these vnions are very mysterious , and both infer very strong and powerful drawing , or holding together , of the things so united . there is no greater mystery in nature , than the union between the soul and body . that a mind and spirit should be so ty'd and link'd with a clod of clay ; that , while that remains in a due temper , it cannot by any art or power free it self ! it can by an act of the will move an hand , or foot , or the whole body , but cannot move from it one inch . if it move hither and thither , or by a leap upward , do ascend a little , the body still follows ; it cannot shake or throw it off . we cannot take our selves out ; by any allowable means we cannot ; nor by any at all , ( that are at least within meer humane power ) as long as the temperament lasts . while that remains , we cannot go ; if that fail , we cannot stay , though there be so many open avenues , ( could we suppose any material bounds to hem in , or exclude a spirit ) we cannot go out or in at pleasure . a wonderful thing ! and i wonder we no more wonder at our own make and frame in this respect . that we do not , with reverent submissive adoration , discern and confess , how far we are outwitted and overpowred by our wise and great creator ; that we not only cannot undo his work upon us , in this respect , but that we cannot so much as understand it . what so much a-kin are a mind , and a piece of earth , a clod , and a thought , that they should be thus affiix'd to one another ? or that there should be such a thing in nature as thinking clay ! but hereupon , what advantage hath this body upon the soul and spirit ! in the natural vnion is grounded a moral one , of love and affection . which ( on the soul's part ) draws and binds it down with mighty efficacy . again , how mysterious and ineffable is the vnion of the lord , and the soul ; and how more highly venerable , as this is a sacred mystery ! and who would not admire at their proud disdainful folly , that while they cannot explain the vnion between the soul and body , are ready to jeer at their just , humble , and modest ignorance , that call this other a mystical vnion ? or , because they know not what to make of it , would make nothing , and will not allow there should be any such thing , or would have it be next to nothing . have those words no sense belonging to them , or not a great sense , 1 cor. 6.17 . but he that is joined unto the lord , is one spirit ? and , upon this supernatural union also ( be it what it will ) methinks the binding , and drawing power of love should not be less ! 2 ly , we must conceive in our minds , as distinctly as we can , the peculiar adjuncts of each of these more principal terms , i. e. on the part of the body ( first ) we are to consider a sensible , a grosly corporeal world , to which this body doth connaturalize us ; and whereto we are attempered by our being in the body , and living this bodily life . this body , while we live in it , is the terminus uniens , the medium , the unitive bond between us and it . in this world we find our selves encompass'd with objects that are sutable , grateful , and entertaining to our bodily senses , and the several principles , perceptions , and appetites , that belong to the bodily life . and these things familiarize and habituate us to this world , and make us , as it were , one with it . there is , particularly , a bodily people , as is intimated in the text , that we are associated with by our being in the body . the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in this verse , ( and the same are used vers. the 6 th and 9 th ) signify there is such a people of which we are , and from which we would be dissociated ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is civis , incola , or indigena , an inhabitant , or native among this or that people , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is peregrinus , one that lives abroad and is severed from the people he belonged unto . the apostle considers himself , while in the body , as living among such a sort of people as dwell in bodies ; a like sort of people to himself . and would be , no longer , a home-dweller with these , but travel away from them , to join and be a dweller with another people . for also , on the other hand he considers , with the lord , an invisible world , where he resides , and an incorporeal people he presides over . so that the case here is , are we willing to be dispeopled from this bodily sort of people , and peopled with that incorporeal sort , the world , and community of spirits ? 3 ly , it is further to be considered in this case , that we are related both ways ; related to the body , and related to the lord ; to the one people , and the other ; the one claims an interest in us , and so doth the other . we have many earthly alliances , 't is true ; and we have many heavenly . we are related to both worlds , and have affairs lying in both . and now what mighty pleadings might the case admit , on the one hand , and the other ? were the body , apart , capable of pleading for it self : to this effect it must bespeak the soul : i am thy body , i was made and form'd for thee , and ( someway ) by thee . thou hast , so long , inhabited and dwelt with me , and in me . thou art my soul , my life , my strength ; if thou be absent , i am a carcass , and fall to dirt . and thou wilt be a maimed thing , and scarce thy whole self . but though it cannot dictate , and do not utter such words . nature doth , it self , plead more strongly than words can . and again ; how much more potently might the lord plead for his having the soul more closely united , and intimately conversant with himself ! thou art one of the souls i have loved and chosen ; which were given to me , and for which i offered up my own soul. i have visited thee in thy low and abject state , said to thee in thy blood , live , have inspired th●● with an heavenly , sacred , divine life , the root , and seminal principle of a perfect , glorious , eternal life . let this body drop , which hath been long thy burden ! let it fall and die , it matters not ! yet since thou lovest it , i will restore it thee again , pure and glorious , like mine own . i am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me , though he were dead , yet shall he live , john 11.25 . never fear to venture thy self with me , nor to commit thy body to my after-care . and now , all the question will be , which alledges the more considerable things ? and the matter will be estimated as the temper of the soul is . an earthly sordid soul , when the overture is made to it of such a translation , will be ready to say as the shunamite did to the prophet , when he offered to speak for her to the king , ( perhaps that her husband might be called to court , and made a great man ) i dwell among my own people , ( an answer that in her case well exprest the true greatness of a contented mind , but in this case nothing more mean ) i am well where i am , and dwell among a people like my self . so faith the degenerate abject soul , sunk into a deep oblivion of its own country . here i dwell a fixed inhabitant of this world , among a corporeal people , where i make one . and we find how it is with this sort of people ; each one charms another , and they grow familiar ; have mutual ties upon one another , and there is a loathness to part . especially as here , in this lower world , we are variously dispos'd , and cast into several mutual relations to one another . husbands and wives , parents and children , brothers and sisters , all dwelling in bodies alike , cohabiting , eating and drinking daily , and conversing together . these are great and sensible endearments , by which the minds of men become as it were knit , and united to one another . how are men's spirits fixed to their own countries ! nescio quâ natale solum dulcedine — 't is by an unexpressible pleasure and sweetness , that the people of one country are as it were linkt and held together . but would not an heavenly , new-born soul say , no ; this is none of my country , i seek a better , and am here but a pilgrim and stranger ; this is none of my people ? so it was with abraham , isaac , and jacob , that conversed in the earthly canaan , but as in a strange country ; their mind being gone , towards that other , which they sought . and accordingly you find it said of each of them in their story , when they quite left this world ( as also of moses and aaron afterwards ) that they were gathered to their people . a people that were more their own . and surely , as god ( who was not ashamed to be called their god ) is not the god of the dead , but of the living ; we must understand this was not the congregation of the dead to which these were gathered , otherwise than in a low , relative sense , as to us only , and our world. holy men , as they die out of one world , are born into another , to associate with them that dwell in light : and be join'd to a glorious community above , the general assembly , the innumerable company of angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect . where all love , and adore , praise and triumph together . 4 thly , it is again to be taken in to the state of this case , that we have , one way or other , actual present notices of both the states , which both sorts of objects , that stand in this competition , belong unto . of the one by sense , and experience . we so know what it is to live in the body , and in a sensible world , and among a corporeal people . of the other by faith , by believing as we are told , by one that , we are sure , can have no design , or inclination to deceive us . there are many mansions ( saith he ) in my father's house , as good accommodations , as suitable society , ( and sufficiently numerous which the many mansions implies ) to be sure , as any you have met with here . faith is , in this case , to serve us instead of eyes . it is the substance of things hoped for , the evidence of the things not seen . as we have the notion of a country where we have not been , by the description of a person whom we can trust , and that , we think , intends not to abuse us by forgeries , and false representations . in reference to this country , we walk and guide our selves by sight in our converses and affairs wherein we have to do with it ; as to that other , by faith , ( as vers . 7. 't is implied . ) 5 thly , yet further it is to be considered , that this body , and this present bodily people , and world , have the present possession of us . and though the spiritualiz'd mind do , as it were , step forth , and place it self betvveen both , when it is to make its choice ; yet the objects of the one sort are much nearer ; the other are far distant , and much more remote . 6 thly , that it cannot but be apprehended , that tho the one sort of things hath the faster hold ; the other sort are things of greater value . the one hath the more entire present possession of us ; the other , the better right . thus we see the case stated . ii. we are next to shew , what the temper is of an holy soul , ( i. e. it s proper and most genuine temper ) in reference to this supposed state of the case . we are willing rather , or have a more complacential inclination , to be unpeopled from the body , and this bodily sort of people , and to be peopled with the lord , and that sort of incorporeal people , over which he more immediately presides in the upper world. he speaks comparatively , as the case requires . and because all comparison is founded in somewhat absolute , therefore a simple disposition both ways , is supposed . whence then , 1 st , this temper is not to despise , and hate the body . it imports no disdainful aversion to it ; or to this present state. 2 ly , nor is it an impetuous precipitant tendency towards the lord , impatient of delay , mutinous against the divine disposal ; or that declines present duty , and catches at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the crown and prize , before the prescribed race be run out . an holy man is at once dutiful and wise . as a servant , he refuses not the obedience of life ; and as a wise man , embraces the gain of death . 3 ly , but it is considerate , the effect of much foregoing deliberation , and of a thorough perspection of the case ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vers. 6. knowing , or considering , that while we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord. this choice is not made blindly , and in the dark . 4 thly , it is very determinate and full , being made up of the mixture of fortutide and complacency , as was said . the one whereof copes with the evil , of being severed from the body . the other entertains the good of being present with the lord. therefore this is the sense of a pious soul in the present case , q. d. i do indeed love this body well , and reckon it a grievous thing to be severed from it , if that part of the case be singly considered , and alone by it self ; but considering it in comparison with the other part ; and what is this body to me ? what is it as an object of love , in comparison of being with the lord ? what is death to me as an object of fear , in comparison of being absent from the lord ? which is a death many thousand times more deadly than the other . iii. the agreeableness of this temper to the general frame and complexion of an holy soul as such . which will appear , if we consider , 1. what sort of frame or impression , in the general , that is , that doth distinguish a sincerely pious person from another man. 2 ly , the more eminent principles in particular that are constituent of it , and do , as it were , compose and make it up . 1. the general frame of an holy soul as such , is natural to it : 't is not an artificial thing , a piece of mechanism , a lifeless engine ; nor a superficial , an external form , an evanid impression . it is the effect of a creation , ( as scripture often speaks ) by which the man becomes a new creature , and hath a nature peculiar to him , as other creatures have : or of regeneration , by which he is said to be born anew . which forms of speech , whatever they have of different signification , do agree in this , that they signify a certain nature to be the thing produc'd . this nature is said to be divine , 2 pet. 1.4 . somewhat born of god , as it is exprest 1 john 5.4 . and in many places more . and it is an intellectual nature , or the restored rectitude of such a being . now who can think but what is so peculiarly from god , a touch and impress from him , upon an intelligent subject , should , with design , choice and complacency , tend to him , and make the soul do so ? especially , when it is so purposely design'd for remedy of the apostacy , wherein men are revolted and gone off from him ? will he suffer himself to be defeated in a design , upon which he is so industriously intent ? or is it supposable the all-wise god should so mistake himself , as to do such a work upon the spirit of man , on set purpose for an end , which it is no way apt to serve ? yea , and when he now takes him in hand a second time ? nor can it be , but this impression of god , upon the soul , must have principal reference to our final state. it is a kind of nature , and must therefore tend to what is most perfect in its own kind . but we need not reason in a matter , wherein the word of god so plainly unfolds the scope , and the success of this his own work. by it we are said to be alive to god through jesus christ , rom. 6.11 . to turn , and move , and act towards him , as many scriptures speak . and towards him , as he is most perfectly to be served and enjoyed in the most perfect state of life . we are said to be begotten again [ to a lively hope ] 1 pet. 1.3 . ( where hope is taken objectively , as the following words shew ) to an inheritance incorruptible , undefiled , and that fadeth not away , reserved in heaven for us . and when , elsewhere , it had been said , every one that doth righteousness is born of him , 1 john 2. ult . there is immediately subjoined , chap. 3.1 , 2. a description of the future blessedness ; whereto 't is presently added , vers. 3. and every man that hath this hope in him , purifyeth himself , even as he is pure . implying the hope of that blessed state to be connate , implanted as a vital principle of the new and divine nature . and all hope , we know , involves desire in it . which is here intimated to be so powerful and prevailing , as to shape and form a man's whole course to an agreeable tenour : which it could not do , if hope were not superadded to desire ; for no man pursues an end whereof he despairs . and what else is living religion , but a tendency to blessedness ? a seeking honour , glory , and immortality , by a patient continuance in well-doing , rom. 2.7 . nor need we look further than this context for evidence , that this divine impression upon the soul hath this reference . for when , vers. 4. the apostle had avow'd the fervor of his desire after that state wherein mortality should be swallowed up of life , he immediately adds , vers. 5. now he that hath wrought us to this self-same thing , is god , &c. and indeed , after that transforming touch , the great business of such a soul in this world , is but a dressing it self for the divine presence , a preparation for that state , wherein we are for ever to be with the lord. and 't is not only an incongruity , but an inconsistency ; not only that which is not fit , but not possible , that a man should ever design that as his end , which he cares not ever to attain ; or that for his last end , which he doth not supreamly desire . 2 ly , if we consider particular principles that belong to this holy divine nature ; the more noble and eminent are faith and love. the former is the perceptive , visive principle ; the other the motive , and fruitive . and these , though they have their other manifold references , have yet , both , their final to that state of absence from this body , and presence with the lord ; the one eying , the other coveting it , as that wherein the soul is to take up its final rest . here some consideration should be had of objections , that some may be apt to make use of , to shift off the urgency of this truth , and excuse the unsutable temper of their spirits to it . 1. that they are unassured about their states god-ward ; and how can they be willing to die , and be absent from the body ; or not be afraid of the lord's presence , whom they may , for ought they know , find an angry vindictive judg , when they appear before him ? answ. this , which is the most considerable objection that the matter admits of , if it were directly pointed against this truth , as it hath been laid down , would answer it self . for it is not dying simply , that is the object of this inclination , but dying conjunctly with being with the lord , in his blessed joyous presence . do not therefore divide the object , and that objection is no objection . you are unwilling to die , and be banish'd the divine presence ; but are you unwilling to die and enjoy it ? or , upon supposition you should , are you willing ? this is all that we make characteristical , and distinguishing . where there is only an aversion to leave this bodily life and state , upon a fear we shall not be admitted into that blessed presence ; there is only an accidental obstruction to the more explicite , distinct , and discernable exertions of desire this way ; which obstruction , if it be removed , the soul would then follow the course which the divine and holy principle in it doth naturally incline to . but the mortal token is , when there is no such doubt ; and yet there is still a prevailing aversion ; when men make no question , if they die they shall go to god ; and yet they are not willing to go . in the former case , there is a supream desire of being with god , only suspended ; take off that suspension , and that desire runs its natural course . in the other case , there is no desire at all . and the difference is , as between a living man that would fain go to such a place , but he is held , and therefore goes not ; and one that is not held , but is dead , and cannot stir at all . for the life of the soul towards god is love ; aversion therefore is ( not an absolute , but ) respective death , or quoad hoc , a death towards him ; or , as to this thing , viz. being with him . 2. as for the objection of being more serviceable to children , friends , relations , or the glory of god in the world , and his church in it . upon which last account this apostle , ( phil. 1.22 , 23 , 24. ) though he express a desire to be dissolved and to be with christ ; yet is in a strait , and seems also very well pleased to abide in the flesh a longer time . he can himself best judg of our serviceableness . the meaning is not , that we should be willing to leave the body before he would have us , but that we should not be unwilling then . and because we know not when his time will be , and it may be presently for ought we know ; we should be always willing and desirous , upon that supposition . our desire herein should not be absolute , and peremptory , but subordinate , and apt to be determined by his will ; which can determine nothing but what will be most for his own glory , and for their best good who belong to him . but as to this instance of the apostle , we must consider what there was peculiar in the apostle's case , and what is common , or ought to be , to all serious christians . there is no doubt there was this more peculiar to him , ( and to persons in such a capacity and station as his was ) viz. as he was an apostle , he was one that had seen the lord , which was a qualification for the more special work of that office. whereupon he was as an eye-witness , to testify of his resurrection ; upon which so great a stress lay , in asserting the truth of the christian religion , and in propagating it with the greater assurance in the world. to testify as an apostle , therefore , could not be done by one of a following age. and 't is very probable , when he expresses to the philippians , vers . 25. his knowledg he should abide and continue yet longer with them all , i. e. with the christian church in the world , ( for we cannot suppose he was to continue at philippi ) for the furtherance of the common cause of the christian faith , which was their common joy , ( and which would no doubt be increased intensively and extensively at once ) ; he had some secret intimation that all his work in this kind was not yet over . nor were such monitions and advertisements unfrequent with the apostles , that specially related to the circumstances of their work. and so entirely was he devoted to the christian interest , that wherein he saw he might be so peculiarly serviceable to it , he expresses a well-pleasedness to be so , as well as a confidence that he should . as we all ought to do , in reference to any such significations of the divine will concerning us , if they were afforded to us . but as to what there is in this instance , that is common and imitable to the generality of christians , it is no other than what we press from the text we have in hand : a desire to depart , and be with christ , as that which is far better for us ; submitted to the regulation of the divine will ▪ as to the time of our departure , and accompanied with a chearful willingness to serve him here , to our uttermost , in the mean time . but we have , withal , little reason to think we can do god greater service , or glorify him more here , than above . there is indeed other service to be done below , which is necessary in its own kind , and must ( and shall ) be done by some or other . but is our service fit , in point of excellency , and value , to be compared with that of glorified spirits in the upper regions ? we serve god by doing his will , vvhich is ( sure ) most perfectly done above . and our glorifying him , is to acknowledg and adore his glorious excellencies . not to add the glory to him which he hath not , but to celebrate and magnify that which he hath : whereof certainly the large minds of glorified creatures are far more capable . he never needs hands for any work he hath to do , but can form instruments as he pleases . and what is our little point of earth , or any service that can be performed by us here , in comparison of the spacious heavens , and the noble employments of those glorious orders of creatures above , which all bear their parts in the great affairs of the vast and widely extended heavenly kingdom ? we might as well suppose , that , because there is in a prince's family , employment below-stairs for cooks and butlers , or such-like underlings , that therefore their service is more considerable , than that of great officers , and ministers of state. 3. and for what may be thought by some , that this seems an unnatural inclination : we must understand what we say , and what our own nature is , when we talk of what is natural , or unnatural to us . ours is a compounded nature . that is not simply unnatural that is contrary to an inferior nature , and agreeable to a superior . the most deeply fundamental law of the intellectual nature in us , was to be most addicted to the supream good. the apostacy of this world from god , and its lapse into carnality , is its most unnatural state . to have an inclination to the body is natural ; but to be more addicted to it , than to god , is most contrary to the sincere dictates of original pure and primitive nature . there are now ( for our use ) many things to be inferred . 1. we see here , from the immediate connexion between being absent from the body , and present with the lord , there is no place for the intervening sleep of the separate soul. can such a presence with the lord , as is here meant , consist with sleeping ? or is sleeping more desirable than the converse with him our present state admits ? but of this much is said elsewhere . 2 ly , death is not so formidable a thing as we commonly fansie . we are confident and willing rather . there is a fortitude that can oppose the terrors of death , and overcome . how many have we known die triumphing ! 3 ly , we see that men of spiritual minds have another notion of that which we call self , or personality , than is vulgar and common . for who are the [ we ] that speak of being absent from the body , and present with the lord ? the body seems excluded that notion ; which we know cannot be absent from it self . how like in sound is this to animus cujusque is quisque ? or , that the soul is the man ? i would not indeed drive this so high as some platonists are wont to do , as if the man were nothing else but a soul ( sometimes ) using a body . nor do therefore think the body is no more to him , than our clothes to the body , because the apostle in this context uses that similitude . for that is not to be conceived otherwise than ( as is usual in such illustrations ) with dissimilitude . a vital union must be acknowledged ; only neither is it agreeable with their self-debasing thoughts , that seem to make the body the more considerable part of themselves , that measure good and evil by it , as if what were grateful to the body were simply good for them ; and that which offends the body simply evil ; that speak or think of themselves , as if they were all body , forget that there is belonging to them an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an inner man , and an outer . that the latter may be decaying when the other is renew'd day by day . that the father of our spirits may often see cause to let our flesh suffer , ( and , at last , perish ) for the advantage of our spirits , heb. 12.9 , 10. ( so distinct are their interests and gratifications , and sometimes inconsistent ) . when men make therefore this bodily , brutal self their center and end , how sordid and unchristian is their temper ! and how reproveable by some more noble-minded pagans that had better learn'd the precept , inculcated by some of them , of reverencing themselves . of whom we find one * speaking with a sort of disdain ; is this body , i ? another saying , he might be kill'd and not hurt ; and upbraiding to his friends their ignorance , when they enquired how he would be buried . as if he could be buried , who ( he said ) should be gone far enough out of their hands . another , that the tyrant ( that made him to be beaten to death with iron mallets ) might break that vessel of his , but himself he could not touch . 4 thly , we learn , that when god removes any of our dear godly friends and relatives out of the body , tho he displease us , he highly pleases them . for 't is that they desire rather ; and we are sure he pleases himself , for what can induce him , or make it possible to him to do any thing against his own pleasure ? we are too apt to consider our own interest and satisfaction apart from theirs , and god's in such cases . and hence is that too vulgar and practical error among many very serious christians , that when such as are dear to them are taken away , they reckon their thoughts are to be principally employed , in considering such a thing as afflictive , or punitive to them . 't is true , that the affliction of that , as well as of any other kind , should put us upon very serious enquiry , and search what the sin is that may , more especially , have deserved it . but that ought , upon all occasions , to be principally considered in any case , that is principal . as god did not make such a creature principally to please me , so nor doth he take away such a one principally to displease me . god's interest is supream , their own next , mine comes after both the other . therefore when the stream of thoughts and affections hath run , principally , in such a case , upon our own affliction , 't is time to check it , and begin to consider , with some pleasure , how the lord and that translated soul , are now pleased in one another ! he hath his end upon his own creature , and it hath its end and rest in him . 5 thly , we see the admirable power of divine grace , that it prevails against even the nature love of this bodily life . not where discontent , and weariness of life contribute ; but even where there is a willingness to live too , upon a valuable consideration , as this apostle doth elsewhere express himself , viz. in the place before noted ; and how easily the divine pleasure could reconcile him to life , notwithstanding what is said in the text , is sufficiently signified in the words immediately following it . and the effect is permanent , not a sudden transport , ( wherein many are induced to throw away their lives upon much lower motives ) ; this appears to be an habitual inclination . at distant times , we find the apostle in the same temper . that is not surely from the power of nature , that is so much against it , as the stream of nature now runs , i. e. that a man should be willing to be plucked in pieces , and severed from himself ! and we see , vers. 5. whereto it is expresly ascribed , he that hath wrought us to the self-same thing , is god. 6 thly , how black is their character , and how sad their state , that are more addicted to the body , and this bodily life , than to the lord , and that holy blessed life we are to partake in with him ! their character is black and horrid , as it is divers , from that which truly belongs to all the people of god , that ever liv'd on earth ; and so doth distinguish them from such , and place them among another sort of men that belong not to him ; such as have their portion in this life , their good things here ; and who are to expect nothing hereafter , but woe and wailing . and who would not be affrighted that finds a mark upon him , that severs him from the whole assembly of the just , and the blessed ! their state is also therefore sad and dismal : and in as much as what they place their highest felicity in , ( their abode in the body ) they know will continue but a little while . who could ever , by their love of this bodily life , procure it to be perpetuated ? or by their dread of mortality , make themselves immortal ? have not others , in all former ages , lov'd the body and this world as much ? and what is become of them ? hath not death still swept the stage from generation to generation ? and taken all away , willingly or unwillingly ? to have all my good bound up in what i cannot keep ! and to be in a continual dread of what i cannot avoid ! what can be more disconsolate ? how grievous will it be to be torn out of the body ! not to resign the soul , but have it drawn forth as a rusty sword out of the sheath ; a thing which our utmost willingness ( will make the more painful , but ) cannot defer . no man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit , nor hath he power in death , eccles. 8.8 . how uncomfortable , when the lord's presence , the common joy of all good souls is to me a dread ! by the same degrees by which an abode in the body is over-desired , is that presence dreaded and disaffected . and how deplorate is the case , when this body is the best shelter i have from that presence ! would i lurk in the body , and lie hid from the presence of the lord ? how easily , and how soon will my fortress be beaten down and laid in the dust ! and i be left naked and exposed ! and then how fearful things do ensue ! but what now , doth this fearful case admit of no remedy ? it can admit but of this only one , which therefore i would now recommend and press : the serious effectual endeavour of being , to a just degree , alienated from the body , and of having the undue love represt and wrought down of this bodily life . mistake not , i go not about to perswade all , promiscuously , out of hand , and without more ado , to desire death , or absence from the body . the desires of reasonable creatures should be reasonable ; the product of valuable considerations , and rational inducements . the present case of too many , the lord knows , admits not they should be willing to die . who are they that they should desire the day of the lord ? a day of such gloominess and darkness , as it is likely , should it now dawn , to prove to them ? no ; but let all endeavour to get into that state , and have their affairs in such a posture that they may be , upon good terms , reconciled to the grave ; and that , separation from the body may be the matter , with them , of a rational and truly christian choice . and since , as hath been said , there are two terms between which the inclination and motion of our souls , in this case , must lie from the one to the other , viz. the body , and the lord , life in the body , and with the lord. let such things be considered on both hands , as may justly tend to diminish and lessen our inclination and love to the one , and increase it towards the other . so as that all things being considered , and upon the whole , this may be the reasonable and self-justifying result , to be well pleased rather to be absent from the body , and to be present with the lord. and , 1. on the part of the body , and this bodily life , consider , 1. how costly it is to you ! you lay out upon it ( the most do ) most of your time , thoughts , cares . the greater part , most ( or even all : ) of their estates . all the callings you can think of in the world , and which all help to maintain at no little expence , are wholly for the body : what costly attendants must it have of cooks , bakers , brewers , mercers , physicians , lawyers , and what not ? one only excepted that refers to the soul. and again , when all is done , how little serviceable is it ! when you would employ it , sometimes it is sick , sometimes lame ; sometimes lames the mind and intellect too , that it cannot do its office , meerly thorough the distemper of bodily organs ; is at all times dull , sluggish , indisposed ; the spirit is willing , but the flesh weak . yea moreover , how disserviceable ! hinders your doing good , prompts to the doing much evil . what a world of mischief is done among men , meerly by bodily lusts , and to serve fleshly appetite . these fill the world with confusion and miseries of all sorts . all catch from others what they can for the service of the body . hence is competition of interests and designs : no man's portion is enough for him to serve the body , ( or the mind , as it is depraved by bodily inclinations ) . and so the world is torn by its inhabitants , countries wasted and laid desolate . religion it self made subservient to fleshly interest , and thence is the occasion of many a bloody contest , of oppressions , persecutions , and violences ; whereby , many times , it so falls out , that such as are most vigorously engaged in a design of serving the body , destroy it ; their own as well as other mens . and ( which is most dreadful ) souls are numerously lost and perish in the scuffle ; yea , and very oft , upon the account ( or pretence ) of religion , whose only design it is to save souls ! and how many to save their bodies , destroy even their own souls ! not having learn'd that instruction of our saviour's , not to fear them that can only kill the body ; or , being unable to suffer some lesser bodily inconveniences , apostatize , and abandon their religion , whereby that , and their souls too , become sacrifices to the safety and accommodation of an idoliz'd lump of clay ! and how certainly ( if a seasonable repentance do not intervene ) do they , who only thus tempt the souls of other men , destroy their own ! nor can it be doubted , at this time of day , and after the experience of so many ages , wherein christianity hath been so visibly and grosly carnaliz'd , but that it is a religion perverted to the support of the bodily and animal interest , that hath thus embroiled the christian world. how plain is it , that they who desire to make a fair shew in the flesh , to strut in pomp , to glitter in secular grandieur and splendor , to live in unrebuked sensual ease and fulness , are the men that would constrain others to their carnal observances ! men that serve not our lord jesus christ , but their own bellies . who can think it is pure love to souls , and zeal for the true ends of the holy peaceable religion of our blessed jesus , that makes them so vexatious and troublesome to all whom their fleshly arm can reach and ruin , and whom their spirit and way cannot allure and win ? who that understands religion , and the true design of it , and the blessed end wherein it will shortly terminate , would not be glad to be rescued out of this large diffusive unquiet empire of the body , that extends it self over all things , mingling its odious impurities , even with what is most sacred ! who would not long to be from under this reign of the beast , if he might have a fair way of escape ! and where religion is not in the case , what multitudes of terrene creatures , earthly-minded men , are stupidly going down to perdition daily , and destroying their souls by meer neglect , while they are driving designs for the body ! which yet , in the mean time , is , at the best , but a prison to the best of souls . o how could they love god! admire , and praise him ! were they once out of this body ! but it is not enough to a subject wherein love is implanted , and is a part of its nature , to have only the prospect of what is unlovely ; or be told only what is not to be loved . there must be somewhat to invite and draw , as well as to depel and drive off . therefore , 2 ly , consider also , on the other part , the lord , and that life you are to transact and live with him . little can now be said ; you are not ignorant where much is , and your own thoughts may , upon much conversing with the holy oracles , suggest yet more . and you have need to use your thoughts here , the more largely , where your sense doth not instruct you , as on the other part it doth . consider the descriptions which you are copiously furnish'd with , both of him , and of the state in which you are to be present with him . recount his glorious excellencies ; his immense and all-sufficient fulness ; his wisdom , power , holiness , and love in absolute perfection . consider his high , equal , comely , amiable regency over the blessed community above , that spiritual incorporeal people , the pleased joyful inhabitants of the celestial regions . and that he rules over them , and communicates himself universally to them , in a state of perfect light , purity , peace , love , and pleasure , that is also immutable , and never to know end . there is nothing capable of attracting an intellectual nature , which is not here ! but on both parts , suffer your selves to be directed also . 1. take heed of over-indulging the body ; keep it in subjection , use it , and serve it not . primitive nature , and the creator's wise and holy pleasure , ordained it to serve . lose not your selves in it ; take heed you be not buried , where you should but dwell ; and that you make not your mansion your grave . mansion do i say ? call it as this apostle doth , and another , ( 2 pet. 1. ) your tabernacle only ; a tent pitched for you , but for a little while . every day look upon it ( and without fond pity ) as destin'd to rottenness and corruption . and as that , which when it ceases to be your cloathing , must be worms meat . labour to make the thoughts easie and familiar to your selves of leaving it ; think it not an uncouth thing . how doth that part of the creation that is inferior to you , abound with like instances ? of fruits springing up out of this earth , and growing to ripeness and maturity , with husks , shells , or other integuments , which then fall off ; such as never ripen , they , and their enfoldings rot together . esteem it your perfection , when your shell will fall off easily , and cleaves not so close , as to put you to pain when it is to be severed from you . endeavour the holy and heavenly nature may grow more , and more mature in you ; so death will be the more also an unregretted thing to your thoughts . by all means labour to overcome the fear of it ; which that you might , our lord also took a body . forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood , he also himself likewise took part of the same , that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death , that is the devil : and deliver them , who through fear of death , were all their life-time subject to bondage , ( heb. 2.14 , 15. ) reckon not much of that fear , which is only the meer regret of sensitive nature , purely involuntary . and that can no more obey the empire of the mind , or be regulated by it , than you can make strait a crooked leg by a meer act of your will , or make your body not feel pain . a fear from which the perfection of our nature , in our blessed lord himself , was not exempt . but it is one thing to extinguish even that fear , another to overcome it . the former is impossible to you , the latter necessary . it is overcome , when a superior principle governs you , and your resolutions and course , as it did our lord. he did not , because of it , spare himself , and decline dying . you may feel perhaps somewhat of such a fear ( a secret shrug ) when you are to be let blood , or have a wound search'd . it governs not in such a less important case , when ( being convinc'd it is requisite ) you omit not the thing notwithstanding . labour herein to be hardy , and merciless to this flesh , upon the fore-thoughts of the time when god will allow you to step forth , and go out of the body ; and say to it , with an obdur'd mind , for all thy craving , and shrinking , thou shalt be thrown off . labour it may , not only , not be the matter of your prevailing fear , but be the matter of your hope . look towards the approaching season , with pleasant chearful expectation : aspire ( as it belongs to you to do , who have received the first fruits of the spirit , that blessed spirit of adoption ) and groan for the adoption , ( the season of your being more solemnly own'd for sons ) viz. the redemption of the body , rom. 8.23 . which though it ultimately refer to the resurrection , may be allowed to have an incompleat meaning in reference to death too : for i see not but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , may admit such a construction , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , heb. 9.15 . i. e. that redemption of the body may mean redemption from it ( wherein it is burthensome , a grievance , and penalty ) here , as well as there . the redemption of transgressions , doth truly mean liberation from the penalty of them . from which penal evil , of , and by the body , ( so materially , at least , it is ) we are not perfectly freed ( as our blessedness is not perfect ) till mortality be swallowed up of life , and all the adopted ( the many sons ) be all brought to glory together . how happy in the mean time is your case , when death becomes the matter of your rational well-grounded hope ! you have many hopes wherein you are liable to disappointment ; you will then have one sure hope , and that will be worth them all ; none can prevent you of this hope . many other things you justly hope for , are hindred by ill minded men of their accomplishment . but all the wit and power of your most spiteful enemies can never hinder you from dying . and how are you fenc'd against all the intervening troubles of life ! nihil metuit qui optat mori , you have nothing to fear , if you desire to die ; nothing but what , at least , death will shortly put an end to . make this your aim ; to have life for the matter of your patience , and death of your desire . 2 ly , on the other part also , labour to be upon good terms with the lord ; secure it that he be yours . your way to that is short and expedite . the same by which we become his , ezek. 16.8 . i entred into covenant with thee , and thou becamest mine . solemnly and unfeignedly accept him , and surrender your selves . without this , who can expect but to hear from him at last , depart from me , i know you not ? know of your selves , demand an account , are you sincerely willing to be his ? and to take him for yours , without limitation or reserves ? matters are then agreed between him and you : and who can break or disanul the agreement ? who can come between him and you ? i often think of the high transport wherewith those words are uttered ; the excellent knowledg of christ jesus my lord , phil. 3.8 . this is christian religion , not in a system , but as it is a vital principle , and habit in the soul , inclining us , making us propense towards our blessed lord ; addicting and subduing us to him ; uniting us with him . whereby we come to know by inward sensations ; to feel the transfusions of his spiritful light and influence , and our souls thereby caught , and bound up in the bundle of life . so we have christ form'd within ; his holy truths , doctrines , precepts , promises , inwrought into the temper of our spirits . and , as it follows in that context , phil. 3. to have him , according to the states , wherein he successively was , by correspondent impressions represented in us . so as that we come to bear the image of him , crucified and dying , first ; then reviving , and rising ; and afterwards , ascending and glorifi'd . to know him , and the power of his resurrection , and the fellowship of his sufferings , being made conformable to his death ; if , by any means , we might attain unto the resurrection of the dead , vers. 10 , 11. let us not be at rest till we find it thus , in some measure with us . if we feel our selves , after this manner , internally and initially conform'd to him , this will be both a preparative and a pledg of our future perfect conformity , both internal and external . it will fit us to be ever with the lord ; and assure us we shall , and can be no where else . that he and we shall not to eternity dwell asunder . we shall neither fear to be externally conform'd to him in his death , to quit , and lay down the body as he did ; nor despair of attaining with him the resurrection from the dead , and of being present with him in glory . or that he shall recover for us , out of the dust , our vile abject bodies , ( the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) the body of our humiliation , wherein we were humbled , as he was in his , ( as it follows in that , phil. 3. vers . 21. ) and make it like his own glorious body , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , conform , and agreeable ) by that power , by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself . in the mean time , as this present state admits , converse much with him every day . be not strangers to him ; often recognize , and renew your engagements to him . revolve in your thoughts his interest in you , and yours in him . and the nearer relation which there is between him and you , than that between you and this body . recount with your selves the permanency and lastingness of that relation . that whereas this body , as now it is ( a terrestrial body ) will not be yours long ; he is to be your god for ever and ever . that , though death must shortly separate you from this body , neither life nor death , principalities nor powers , things present , nor things to come , shall ever separate you from the love of god which is in christ , our jesus , our lord. while this body is a body of death to you , he is your life , your hope , and your exceeding joy , your better , more laudable , and more excellent self , more intimate to you , than you can be to your self , ( as hath been anciently , and often said ) ; and for the obtaining whose presence , absence from the body is a very small matter . a great * prince ( in an epistle to that philosopher ) tells him ; i seem to my self not to be a man , ( as the saying is ) while i am absent from iamblichus , ( or while i am not conversant † with him ) . that we can better endure our lord's absence , is surely a thing , it self , not to be endured . we should labour our acquaintance with him ( such as is fit to be between so great a majesty , and such mean creatures as we ) should grow daily . yea , and endeavour to make the thoughts more familiar to our selves , of spiritual beings in the general . for we are to serve , and converse with him in a glorious community of such creatures . an innumerable company of angels ; the general assembly , and the church of the first born , and the spirits of just men made perfect , heb. 12.23 . in a region where an earthly body , remaining such , can have no place . why do we make the thoughts of a spirit out of a body so strange to our selves ? we meet with hundreds of spirits in bodies , and moving bodies to and fro , in the streets every day , and are not startled at it . is a body so much nearer a-kin to us , than a spirit ; that we must have so mean a thing to come between , to mediate and reconcile us to it ? why are we afraid of what we are so nearly allyed unto ? can we not endure to see or think of a man at liberty , ( suppose it were a friend or a brother ) if we our selves were in prison ? the more easy you make the apprehension to your selves of a disembody'd spirit , i. e. free , i mean , of any terrestrial body , the better we shall relish the thoughts of him who is the head of that glorious society you are to be gathered unto ; for the lord is that spirit , the eminent , almighty , and all-governing spirit , ( to be ever beheld too in his glorified body , as an eternal monument of his undertaking for us , and an assuring endearment of his relation to us ) . the better your minds will comply with the preconceived idea we are to entertain our selves with , of the constitution , order , employment , and delights of that vast collection of heavenly associates we shall dwell with for ever . and the more will you still incline to be absent from this body , that ( among them ) you may be ever present with the lord. and if you thus cherish this pleasant inclination , think how grateful it will be when it comes to be satisfied ! how natural is that rest that ends in the center , to which a thing is carried by a natural motion ! how pleasantly doth the departed soul of that good gentlewoman , whose decease we lament , solace it self in the presence of her glorious lord ! i shall say little concerning her ; you will have her just memorial more at large e're long . i had indeed the opportunity , by an occasional abode some days under the same roof , ( several years before she came into that relation wherein she finish'd her course ) to observe her strangely vivid , and great wit , and very sober conversation . but the turn and bent of her spirit towards god , and heaven , more remarkably appear'd a considerable time after . which when it did , she shew'd how much more she studied the interest of her soul than the body ; and how much more she valued mental and spiritual excellencies , than worldly advantages , in the choice of her consort , whom she accepted to be the companion and guide of her life . she gave proof , herein , of the real greatness of her spirit ; and how much she disdain'd to be guided by their vulgar measures , that have not wit , and reason , and religion enough to value the accomplishments of the mind , and inner man. and to understand that knowledg , holiness , an heavenly heart , entire devotedness to the redeemer , a willingness to spend and be spent in the service of god , are better and more valuable things , than so many hundreds or thousands a year . and that no external circumstances can so far dignify a drunkard , an atheist , a profane wretch , as that , compared with one that bears such characters , he should deserve to be simply reckon'd the better man. and that meer sober carnality , and ungodliness , suffice not to cast the ballance . or that have so little of these qualifications for the making a true judgment , as to think that calling dishonourable , and a diminution to a man , that refers immediately to the soul , and the unseen world , and that relates and sets him nearest to god. she knew how to make her estimate of the honour of a family , and a pedigree , as things valuable in their kind , without allowing her self so much vanity , as to reckon they were things of the most excellent kind , and to which nothing personal could be equal . and well understood , of the personal endowments of the body , and the mind , which were to have the preference . her life might teach all , those especially of her own sex , that a life's time in the body , is for some other purposes , than to indulge , and trim , and adorn the body ; which is most minded by them who ( as that shows ) have , in the mean time , most neglected , and ( god knows ) most depraved and deformed souls . i hope her example more fully and publickly represented , will more generally teach . in the mean time , this instance of our common mortality should teach us all . we see this state of life in the body , is not that we were finally made for . yet how few seriously look beyond it ! and it is amazing to think how little the deaths of others signify , to the making us mind our own . we behave our selves as if death were a thing only to be undergone by some few persons , here and there ; and that the most should 'scape ; and as if we took it for granted , we should be of the exempted number . how soon are impressions , from such occasions , talk'd , and trifled , and laugh'd , and jested away ! shall we now learn more to study , and understand our own natures ? to contemplate our selves , and our duty thereupon ? that we are a mortal , immortal sort of creatures . that we are sojourners only in a body , which we must shortly leave to dust and worms ? that we are creatures united with bodies , but separable from them ? let each of us think , i am one that can live in a body , and can live out of a body . while i live in one , that body is not mine , i dwell not in mine own . that the body must be for the the lord , as he will then be for the body . that we shall dwell comfortless and miserable in the body , if we dwell in it solitary and alone , and have not with us a better inhabitant . that our bodies are to be mansions for a deity , houses for religion , temples of the holy ghost . o the venerable thoughts we should have of these bodies upon this account ! how careful should we be not to debase them , not to alienate them . if any man corrupt the temple of god , him will he destroy , 1 cor. 3.16 . will a man rob god ? break and violate his house ? how horrid a burglary ! shall we agree to resign these bodies , and this bodily life ? our meeting will have been to good purpose , might this be the united sense of this dissolving assembly . lord here we surrender and disclaim ( otherwise than for , and under thee ) all right and title to these bodies and lives of ours . we present our bodies holy , acceptable , living ( yet , living ) sacrifices , as our reasonable service . let us do so , and remember we are hereafter not to live to our selves , nor to die , at length , to our selves , but living and dying to be the lord's . finis . advertisement . there is lately printed , a brief exposition of the lord's prayer , and the ten commandments . to which is added , the doctrine of the sacraments . by isaac barrow , d. d. and late master of trinity-college in cambridg : and now , since his death , publish'd by dr. tillotson , dean of canterbury . printed for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons over against the royal exchange in cornhil . in octavo . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44681-e810 psal. 16. vers. 2. vers. 3. vers. 4. 2 kin. 4. heb. 11.1 . ambros. de bono mortis . 2 cor. 4.16 . * epict. socrat. anaxarch . * julian . ep. ad iamblic . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. jos. glanvil late rector of bath, and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, who dyed at his rectory of bath, the fourth of november, 1680, and was buried there the ninth of the same month / by jos. pleydell ... pleydell, josiah, d. 1707. 1681 approx. 32 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a55143 wing p2569 estc r17110 13645600 ocm 13645600 100911 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a55143) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100911) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1040:8) a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. jos. glanvil late rector of bath, and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, who dyed at his rectory of bath, the fourth of november, 1680, and was buried there the ninth of the same month / by jos. pleydell ... pleydell, josiah, d. 1707. [2], 25 p. printed for henry mortlock ..., london : 1681. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. 2002-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-09 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2002-10 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-10 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of m r. jos. glanvil , late rector of bath , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty : who dyed at his rectory of bath , the fourth of november , 1680. and was buried there the ninth of the same month. by ios. pleydell , arch-deacon of chichester . london , printed for henry mortlock at the sign of the phoenix in st. pauls church-yard , and the white hart in westminster-hall . 1681. revel . xiv . ver. 13. and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , from henceforth , yea saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . the more attentively we consider the christian religion in any of its parts , we find greater grounds for the confirmation both of its author and excellency ; so infinitely does it surpass all those writings of that nature , which the great sages of the world , have , with so much superciliousness on their part , and admiration from their respective followers , i may add too ( all things considered ) not without meriting due praise from us , delivered to their scholars . and this will appear evident and undeniable if we but parallel them in any of the chief heads ; for instance , in the principles upon which our religion does proceed , the precepts it contains , and the rewards it appoints ; which division will comprize the summ of what we profess : in all which the great masters of heathen wisdom , do plainly discover , either a great deal of ignorance , or malice , in prevaricating that light they had reflected upon them from jewish tradition , so that it may be well doubted whether their symbolick divinity were not design'd rather to conceal their own ignorance in what they pretended to , than to secure the rites and mysteries thereof from the vulgar's profanation . for example : 1. take first the principles , those truths that are the basis and foundation of our religion ; such as are the being and nature of god , the creation of the world , the fall of man , and his redemption by a messias , the immortality of the soul , and the resurrection ; 't is plain the whole philosophick world had none , or but a very imperfect knowledge of almost all of them ; however some , of their lavish charity , have endeavour'd to squeeze as much from their writings : nay , that they were not without some knowledge of our greatest mysteries , viz. of a messias under their daimono-latria , and even of the trinity in plato's triad , and the resurrection of the body , under the indians palin-genesis : but no body that has any veneration either for the scriptures , or but for truth in general , but must see and acknowledge that all this is but tortur'd from them . nor may we deny this further , that whatever notions of this kind they had , were but traditional in respect of their origine , and conjectural in reference to their ambiguity and uncertainty . 2. the like is to be said of their rules and precepts of virtuous living . for we may not detract thus much from them , that they have recommended many excellent institutes to their sects . you shall collect among them many very admirable sayings , such as these ; to know our selves ; to abstain from vice ; to bear afflictions : to do justly , and speak truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . do as we would be done by ; and many more . indeed for that kind of divinity which was deducible from the rules of common prudence and observation , and depended not chiefly or solely upon divine revelation , they have done extraordinary well : and if they had not furnish'd us with so many famous examples of vertue too , it would not reflect so much upon the professors of christianity , which in the spirituality of its precepts has as far exceeded all that they have writ , as some of their lives have most of ours ; though that be not to be imputed to our religion , unless it were justly chargeable upon the vitiosity or defect of its principles or rules . thus miserably however do we compensate the divine culture ; and as if nature abhorring so great a disparity betwixt mankind , would thus ballance the heathen with the christian world ; by opposing their imperfect knowledge , but severer vertue , to our diviner laws , but greater licentiousness in practice : many of them having , by as great proportions exceeded us in their endeavours after goodness , as we do them in the knowledge and other means of it . 3. last of all ( which brings it to our present subject ) christianity propounds nothing but upon the fairest and surest encouragement imaginable . for the happiness of our religion is both transcendently superiour to their discoveries and accompts of it ; and then also we are sufficiently and unquestionably assur'd hereof , i e. 't is not recommended to us upon plausible perswasions and inconclusive arguments , but in the genuine sence of st. paul's expressions , 1 corinth . 2. 4. in demonstration of the spirit and power . so that we see there is a kind of peculiar excellency in the holy scriptures , above all the systems of the greatest moralists ; the foundation of our obedience being laid upon clearer and better principles , the practice of our obedience being carried higher by the spirituality of its commands , and the rewards of our obedience being incomparably greater , than what we can conceive , much less could they promise or bestow . 't is the last of these that is contain'd in the text , and for which i am to be further accomptable to ye in the prosecution of the words i have read . and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed , &c. wherein we have these following particulars principally to be observed . 1. the happiness of good men describ'd by its general nature , they are blessed , and by its integral parts , they rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . 2. the security and evidence upon which this happiness is promis'd and asserted , yea saith the spirit . 3. the time of its perfection and accomplishment , partly in this life , but not fully nor completely till death , saying , blessed are the dead that dye in the lord. 4. and lastly , the influence which the consideration of these premisses ought to have upon us , both in life and death , in reference to obedience and patience . and i. to begin with the description of that happiness , those rewards , which are propounded to us for the encouragement of our obedience and patience : which are so great , that i am utterly ignorant by what measures to describe them to ye . the nature of that celestial bliss as far transcending all our present felicities , by which we should judge of it ; as it does the very capacity of our meriting it . sir francis bacon has observ'd , we can have but a very imperfect accompt of those things , which receed any whit near those extreams of nothing and infinity : because either by their parvity or immensity , they elude or confound our knowledge . and especially the latter , which choak the understanding ; and is like the beholding of the sun , whose light and lustre , by which we discern other objects , marrs , and dimms our sight . such is the transcendent excellency of our future bliss , at once the delight and amazement of our intellectuals . in the description whereof our highest expressions are so far from being hyperbolical , that they amount but to a litotes ; so that after our utmost endeavours we must content our selves with st. pauls account of it , in his first and second epistles to the corinthians , his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , unutterable , for that i take to be the meaning ( and not as we render it unlawful ) of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and also unconceiveable . so inevitably should we diminish the glory of heaven , by any expression , illustration , or parallel whatever . which happiness of ours consists of , and is integrated by these two parts . the total privation of all evil . and the aggregate enjoyment of all good . both which as they are necessarily requisite to the nature of the thing , so are they contain'd in the very notion of the word . for as the plurality of the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [ ashrei ] ostendit omnigenam beatitudinem ; so more expresly does the etymology of the greek word answer hereunto , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immunity from evil , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extremity of joy ; and accordingly 't is describ'd in my text , first privatively , and then positively . 1. for the privative part , rest from their labours , or which is all one , immunity from evil , by which this happiness is oft-times describ'd : for though the privation hereof simply and absolutely signifie no part hereof , the absence especially ; for by that reason you might call a stock or stone or any other insensible creature happy , as by the other a horse or dog might be said to be so when dead : yet inasmuch as it is more than a negation , namely the being deliver'd from a world of misery wherewith we are now infested , and more which we had deserved , and were once obnoxious to , which we also then behold in others of the same make and nature with us ; the contemplation hereof , by which it so widely differs from both the instances , must needs fill our mind with an ineffable delight and satisfaction . or at least if this indolency be no part of our happiness , yet is it so absolutely needful to it , that we cannot tell well how to conceive of it without this ; and much less can such a thing be as perfect happiness and degrees of misery conjoyn'd together . nor did ever any sect of philosophers think otherwise , but those fullen and self-will'd stoicks . that ever any body should be so mad to cry out in the extremity of pain and misery , quàm suave , quàm dulce hoc est , quàm hoc non curo ! and i cannot but laugh at possidonius his rant , nil agis , o dolor , &c. there are divers instances of such who have born most exquisite miseries even to admiration , as well out of a kind of hardiness of nature , as greatness of mind ; and in that they were less miserable than the delicate and impatient : but whence was it ? either from necessity , or hope , or both ; this is christian-like , but that is bruitish , if it were sufficient without t'other , but 't is not , for perpetuity would certainly render any evil intolerable . so that we are so far from being completely happy as long as any disease or inquietude of mind or body does attend us ; that the hope of being delivered is the only argument that can afford us any solid and rational comfort in our afflictions : for as to fatality , hoc ipsum est , said augustus when one urg'd it ; and for the disease of impatiency , 't is ( as one has excellently observ'd ) no proper consideration of comfort , but only an art of managing our trouble ; so as not to make it greater than really it is . 2. the other part of our happiness , and indeed the main , we call positive , and consists in the enjoyment of all good ; and is what st. iohn intends by their works following them ; i. e. they shall then receive all those glorious rewards that god has promis'd to good and righteous men for all their service and obedience . we should in vain go about to recount them , they are so many and so great . in two things the scriptures chiefly place it ; in the vision , and in the fruition of god. this is life eternal , saith this very st. iohn in his gospel , to know thee the only true god , and iesus christ ; and again in his 1 ep. ch. 3. v. 2. it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he doth appear we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is . the other is call'd the being with christ , and the being united to him . st. iohn 17. 21. that they all may be one , as thou father art in me , and i in thee , that they also may be one in us . but this is not to exclude the other instances of our happiness , indeed it comprehends all the rest . for what are all the pleasures and contentments of the world , but as so many rays of that sun and emanations of that fountain ? they are all contain'd with much more perfection in god , than they were created in their own natures : whereupon it follows that they which are admitted into his presence , have all the goodness and perfections of all the creatures in the world united in god. so that whatever can delight either body or mind , there it is ; nor will there be any room to wish for or imagine more than what we have ; there being in him ( as an ingenious man expresseth it ) such a various identity , that the fruition of him at once satisfies and creates desires , that without fatiety , this without disquiet . 3. to which if we add the eternal duration of this state , we attribute unto it a kind of complication of infinities , a potential infinity in the subject , actual in the object , and eternal in the continuance of it : which single consideration is sufficient to advance it to an infinite preference above all earthly things imaginable ; because these things being founded in matter , and that being in continual flux and motion , here can be nothing permanent and lasting . nor indeed would that be any addition to our present felicity . 't is variety that makes these things appear excellent ; their mutability , is both the life and death of all present delights . a few repetitions make us abhor our food ; in less than a night and a day we grow weary of our beds ; and 't is so in all the other instances of our nature , and 't is more so in those of our corruption . but 't is otherwise in the attainment of the ultimate end , where all our appetites are arrested and detain'd . indeed we no sooner experience these things in the fruition , but we straightway nauseate them ; finding them so pitifully allay'd with mixtures of evil , and prove so miserably short of what we desire and expect from them . but 't is otherwise there , the excellency of those celestial objects will disappoint our expectation by their transcendency , as much as in all other fruitions their emptiness is wont to do . so that eternity , though but a circumstance which does only superinduce a kind of extremity or perfection to what it is conjoyn'd with ; and may as well be drawn in to enhanse our misery , ( for what more than this makes the condition of the damn'd so horribly dreadful , whereby they are excluded from all hope , the very seed and lowest degree of felicity ? ) yet is it so necessary to what we are speaking of , as that without it those joys of heaven , though otherwise absolute and infinite , would suffer a contradiction , and become imperfect : and that not only for the future , but the present , by introducing such passions as must needs debase and allay the highest delights . so that by being thus secur'd in the possession of our happiness , we receive thereby an unspeakable addition to it . ii. proceed we next to shew you the security and evidence , upon which this happiness is promis'd and asserted , and whether it bear any proportion to our duty and the rewards of it , for so we are allow'd to call them ; though not upon the account of merit , yet by reason of their necessary connexion with , dependance upon , and that kind ( such a one as 't is ) of proportion they bear to each other . there is a two-fold evidence god almighty has given us , for the strengthning of our hope , and confirming of our faith , in the belief and expectation of the other world. the first moral , grounded upon the testimony of the spirit ; the other i call natural , and is grounded in the things themselves . 1. the first evidence of our future bliss , is the testimony of the spirit , express in the text , yea , saith the spirit . but then we must have a care of what kind of testimony of the spirit we understand it : for , understand it as 't is vulgarly taken , for some act or operation wrought in and upon us , besides the enthusiasm of it , fain would i be satisfy'd , what validity can there be in such a testimony , as it self needs something else to confirm it ? for so this testimony of the spirit is to be tryed by its concordance and agreement to the word of god , nor do i know any other way to distinguish it from a motion or suggestion of the devil 's besides . and though to err thus in this single instance may not be very pernicious , for i am not mighty solicitous , how it was wrought , so there be a firm perswasion in us of this truth ; yet in other cases i know how dangerous it is , nor is it safe in this , for it leaves a passage open and unguarded to down-right atheism . by the testimony of the spirit therefore i understand the word of god ; or the scriptures as made known and prov'd to us to deriv'd from this divine spirit , which we may call the outward testimony thereof : for though st. iohn knew this by the other way , as most certainly all others did who received any revelation ; yet never was any other than the person himself assur'd that way . nor do i make degrees of more or less certainty in the way or manner of the spirit 's revealing a thing ; for the apostles were as well assur'd of the infallibility of their doctrine before they wrought any miracles , as we are by them : but we were not nor could be so . but this notwithstanding , in respect of us we must admit of such degrees ; for no body i hope will be so blasphemous to equal such private dictates they have in their own breast to the divine authority of the holy scriptures . so then i make this to be the moral evidence of future happiness : god hath said it in his word . and this i call a moral certainty , not in opposition to divine and infallible ; as they are sometimes contradistinguish'd ; but only to natural : for we can desire no greater evidence , we cannot have a higher confirmation of any truth , than the veracity of heaven to attest it . i do not know any proposition that carries greater self-evidence than this , that god ought to be believ'd in what he says ; and therefore though we may question the truth of the revelation , 't is impossible to do so of any thing we acknowledge to be so revealed . so that the stress of this point lyes upon that great and necessary praecognitum in our religion ; namely , the divine authority of the holy scriptures . upon which postulate if we proceed , there is as great certainty of the truth of this proposition , that good men shall enjoy eternal happiness after this life ; as if we should again hear that daughter of voice , and god himself should sensibly attest it . 2. but there is another ground or evidence of our future happiness which i call natural , because it depends upon that intrinsick relation and consent there is between goodness and it ; the difference between them being only in degree , like the dawning of the morning to the lustre of the noon . for what is it to be happy but to be united to god ? and what does unite us to god but love ? and what is the love of god but religion ? and if you remove but all inward imperfections , and all outward impediments , there remains no difference at all . so that virtue and piety do not only dispose and prepare us for heaven and salvation , but we thereby receive and experience the very beginnings and anticipations of it . and though in respect of the mutability of our will and affections toward god and goodness in this world , we cannot be infallibly assur'd of it as to our own particulars ; because every alteration in the one produceth a like answerable effect as to the other : yet in the general we may , even from hence , be very well assur'd hereof ; because there is nothing more requir'd to the compleating of our essential happiness , than an advance and progression in the same vertuous tract . and however it looks in a divine , if we will speak rationally to the thing , we must allow the love and hatred of god to be the true natural causes of our salvation and damnation , even of their very eternity ; it being naturally impossible to be other than happy while we love god , and contrariwise if we hate him ; and this is the only instant cause of its continuation through all the durations of eternity . and to remove your astonishment , see , how in this lower world , many stupendous and admirable works are daily produc'd which were mean and unnoted while they lay hid and contain'd in the seminal beginnings ; after the same wonderful manner by divers minute gradations does this divine creature grow up from its first formation in our trembling and unstable desires , to the stature and perfection of everlasting glory . and yet there remains less doubt if we take in the consideration of the divine nature . how else will you vindicate the justice of god in all the odd and confused occurrences of this world ? where 's your infinite goodness and bounty , that suffers its servants always to be neglected ? what will become of an almighty and omniscient justice if sinners are never call'd to an accompt ? or one , or t'other cannot be . iii. 't is true indeed the compleating of this bliss ( which brings us to our next head ) is neither promis'd , nor to be had in this life . 't is at death these rewards become due and payable . — dicique beatus ante obitum nemo , supremáque funera possit . it has been the constant method of divine providence , to cause the most excellent things to follow and arise from the most uncouth and unlikely . thus in the creation order springs from confusion , and the light is made to attend the darkness . contrary to the methods observ'd by nature , where the causes are ever more worthy than their effects from their first beginning downward . now as he is pleas'd to transcend and deviate from the tracts and capacities of natural agents , thereby to assert his prerogative , and render his omnipotency more conspicuous to the world : so is he no less delighted to use the same recesses in displaying his grace ; evermore ushering in his mercies with the black rod , thereby inhansing and endearing our subsequent refreshments . and though the goodness of those celestial inhabitants , and the happiness of their condition , need neither foyl nor artifice to render that or their acknowledgements of the divine favour greater : yet however if we consider these things as a reward and incouragement of our obedience , the proceeding thus is but regular and necessary ; that we should do our work before we receive our wages , and finish our undertaking , before we demand satisfaction . earnest and security heaven has vouchsaf'd us , but to deposite the whole in hand , this were , not to encourage but bribe our obedience . this were to destroy morality , and turn vertue into nature . nor yet is the divine goodness less communicable in this life , but we are not so capable of receiving it . for look as in nature neither the single excellency of the object or the agent alone is sufficient to produce any notable effect , but both are requir'd : so likewise in religion , all the effects of the divine grace and bounty ( though that be free and infinite ) are limited and determin'd by our capacities and reception . so that while our appetites , those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as they are call'd in scripture , that are to be the receptacles of all this glory , are , either replenish'd with the vain and sinful objects of this life , or , are straitned and contracted by the weakness and imperfection of this dull and lumpish matter , they must be rid of the one and devested of the other , and then , we should be instantly happy . you have seen the happiness of the christian man ; there are indeed encouragements of another nature , namely , earthly blessings and temporal rewards , our whole present interest , unless it happen to interfere at any time with the other . religion has descended to the securing of these too , and that not only by moral designation , but by a proper and natural efficiency ; so that we cannot better prosecute our present interest , than by the methods of religion . and by this gracious and happy complication of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together , they are made to become helpful and assisting to each other , serving reciprocally as a means or motive either to other . but this encouragement is neither proper nor adequate to christianity ; since it may be as well pursu'd by natural , as by divine rules , better perhaps by diabolical arts than either , nothing experimentally so inriching men , as sordidness , oppression , and other violences and frauds . the devil in all likelihood , giving the fairest prospect , and most likely possession of the kingdoms and glory of this world . but they are things , i have shewn you , of a nature infinitely more sublime , that christianity propounds to its observers ; the rewards of our religion , exceeding as well the capacities of our nature , as all those other things . to the attainment whereof , as all vicious practices are extremely contrary ; so have all the others philosophick transactions been miserably vain . some weak and glimmering light the heathen had of these things ; which it is not certain whether they collected from some fragments of tradition , or extracted from the principles of natural reason ; but which way ever it came , it was so weak and imperfect , as serv'd to shadow , not help to discover , but eclipse the transcendent excellency of that state ; till , as the great apostle of the gentiles saith , life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel . and indeed without this all other proposals were unsuitable to its professors , and disproportionate to the difficulty and severities of religion . cicero saith , none ought to be deem'd a vertuous or a just man , that will be allur'd affrighted from his duty , by any advantage or disadvantage whatever : but who , trow ye , would abide both these , upon no other consideration , than barely to have acted according to the sentiments of right reason , or in hope to acquire an insignificant fame of vertue , of which they could have no knowledge or remembrance after death ? and for this cause i judge the stoicks more absurd in their morals , than the epicureans , considering the principles that is upon which they built . for 't is the premise and not the inference of theirs , that 's so urg'd by the apostle , let us eat and drink , 1 cor. 15. 32. but now the christian religion propunds such overtures to our obedience and patience , as may justly and reasonably encourage us thereunto . iv. for a conclusion , let us take in the importance of that phrase of [ dying in the lord ] which relates primarily to martyrdome ; but must also be extended to as many as live and dye in the faith of the holy jesus . the result of all is this : that we would so consider this happiness , as every of our great interest , that we forfeit not our propriety therein , by a vicious and sinful life . there 's nothing else can render it hazardous or doubtful , but that , which indeed in the very nature of the thing renders it impossible . let us not repeat esau's folly , sell our birth-right for a trifle ; and for the sake of some pitiful lust proscribe our selves out of our celestial inheritance . neither let us contemn our happiness for being feasible . were wilful poverty and certain martyrdome , part of our duty , and inseparable appendages of our religion , there is tentation enough in the proposals , to make us conflict with the greatest difficulties , and overcome them . when christianity was thus attended , and had nothing else to recommend it self to the world , besides the reasonableness of its injunctions , with what holy violence did those blessed saints storm heaven , and with a strange eagerness pursue martyrdome ! but now as if the fervour of our devotion were only kindled and maintain'd by antiperistasis : now i say the impediments are remov'd , and religion is become a part of our civil obedience , and made necessary to our secular interests , and guarded with a great many other temporal phylacteries , men are yet more hardly wrought upon to be religious , the consideration of a single lust shall be able to weigh down all . and if any would seem to have a greater zeal for it than ordinary , as if they were in love with the troubles of religion , and not the thing ; they suffer their heat to spend it self in little piques and contentions , and about things of none or ill moment , in maintaining of parties , and opposing their superiours , and not in devotion , obedience , charity , humility , and the like , as they ought . in short , christians , let the thoughts of this blessedness , excite our affections heaven-ward , and quicken our endeavours : let it animate us against all difficulties , and buoy us up above all adversities ; let it cheer us in our duty , quiet us in affliction , and comfort us in death . that so living unto christ , we may at last dye in him , and in the end be for ever blessed . and now to accommodate all to our present case . it has pleas'd god to take away this extraordinary man , for such , considering all things , we must needs allow him ; and because 't was somewewhat early , i think of dr. hammond's notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text , the sooner the better , the better for him , no doubt . i had once thought to have given you his character , but i am not asham'd to tell you , i found me not able to do it worthy of him . and calling to mind a saying of one of the roman historians , i soon desisted from any further attempt of it ; who when he was reckoning up some of the great men of that age , virgil and ovid , livie and salust , and going to commend them , stops , and concludes thus : but of men of eminency , as their admiration is great , so is their censure full of difficulty . as to those relations that are more nearly interessed in this solemnity ; i would beseech them to remember , that all indecency and excess of grief , for our deceased friends , must needs reflect upon the memory of the dead , or the discretion of the survivers . god enable them to bear it : and supply this loss to them by his grace and providence : let me say , and to the church of england , by increasing the number of such men , of no worse learning , integrity , and courage ; that are able , and dare defend her against the encroachments of popery and fanaticisme . now to god only wise be glory through iesus christ for ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a55143-e160 1 ep. c. 2. v. 9. 2 ep. ch . 12. v. 4. joh. 17. 3. phil. 1. 23. 1 tim. 1. 10. a funeral sermon. delivered upon occasion of the death of that worthy gentleman john marsh, esq; who lived at garston-hall in watford parish in the county of hartford; and died in the lord, and was buried septemb. 16, 1681. by samuel slater, late minister of the gospel at edmunds-bury in suffolk. slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1682 approx. 89 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60346 wing s3964 estc r222772 99833898 99833898 38376 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60346) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 38376) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1785:18) a funeral sermon. delivered upon occasion of the death of that worthy gentleman john marsh, esq; who lived at garston-hall in watford parish in the county of hartford; and died in the lord, and was buried septemb. 16, 1681. by samuel slater, late minister of the gospel at edmunds-bury in suffolk. slater, samuel, d. 1704. [4], 36 p. printed for tho. parkhurst, at the bible and three crowns in cheapside, near mercers chappel, london : 1682. imperfect; title-page torn; trimmed at foot, affecting text. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng marsh, john, d. 1681. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-12 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon . delivered upon occasion of the death of that worthy gentleman john marsh , esq who lived at garston-hall in watford parish in the county of hartford ; and died in the lord , and was buried septemb. 16 , 1681. by samuel slater , late minister of the gospel at edmunds-bury in suffolk . isa. 57. 2. he shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , each one walking in his uprightness . london , printed for tho. parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns in cheapside , near mercers chappel . 1682. the epistle dedicatory . to my honoured friends , madam marsh , and her pious son and daughters . at the motion and desire of your ( since deceased ) father and husband , my worthy friend , i did , after the solemnization of his funeral , deliver the following discourse to you in private . and in order to common good , i have here made it publick . the father of mercies accompany it with his blessing upon you , and all others into whose hands it shall come , that thereby love to and faith in christ may be promoted , together with holiness of life and comfort at death . that you may not be unmindful of that king of terrors at his greatest distances , nor terrified by him in his nearest approaches . i was greatly pleased to see your gracious deportment under that afflictive providence , which deprived you of one so desireable , and that you were duely affected with your loss , yet sweetly submissive to your god. though the cup was bitter , you did not faint nor murmur . it was indeed a mercy that you enjoyed him so long , for he was full of dayes , and had a flourishing old age. and it may be a comfort , that you shall see him again in heaven , where you shall eternally rejoyce together in god. that your souls may prosper , your graces increase , your comforts abound , your daies may be filled with mercy and duty , and your selves at last received into glory is the hearty prayer of your friend and servant in our dear lord jesus , s. slater . decemb. 22 , 1681. errata corrigenda . page 13 line 16 , for primative read privative : p. 14. l. 12. for places r praises . l. 22. for son r sun. p. 20. l. 10. for lusted r likened . p. 22. l. 6. dele thus . p. 23. l. 31. dele that . l. 36. after am l , r that l. p. 26. l. 20. for him r them . p. 30. 1. 14. for judges r judge . l. 37. for lords and gods r lord and god. p. 34. l. 34. for their r the. p. 35. l. 16. for in r is . p. 36. l. 10. for not r now . luk. 2. 29 , 30. lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , according to thy word . for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . these are the words of holy simeon , who is supposed to be the son of hillel , and chief of the great synedrion , and father of the learned doctor gamaliel , at whose feet , the great apostle of the gentiles , paul was educated . concerning whom the sacred scripture testifies , that he was a just and devout man , i. e. godly , and righteous , wary , and cautious ; a man that managed his life , and ordered his actions with that due circumspection , as evidenced his sedulous care of approving himself to god. this good man waited for the consolation of israel , viz. the incarnation , or coming of the son of god , the promised , and longingly expected messiah ; in whom all our comforts are laid up , if we be israelites indeed . that jesus alone can be our consolation , who is our salvation . it is only under his shadow we can sit with great delight , because under that alone we can sit in safety . those men and women that seek their comforts out of christ , will find themselves under miserable disappointment . and by how much the higher they are raised in hopes and expectation , by so much the lower they will be plunged into sorrow and vexation . i do earnestly beseech you , christians , to remember this , that christ is the consolation of israel , and improve it for your souls advantage . especially i speak this to you , my friends , who are most nearly concerned in the late stroak of providence , and do now mourn under the smart thereof . learn whither you should repair for support and healing ; even to this jesus , who to this day , yea , for ever continues to be the consolation of israel : and in whom you may find abundantly enough to sweeten this bitter cup. this simeon who thus waited , was well rewarded for his faith and patience , having this assurance given him , that he should not see death , until he had seen the lord's christ. he should not see death until christ was born . christ should come upon earth before simeon should go to heaven : from whence you may learn this truth . that waiting upon god is not in vain : much time may be spent in it , but it will not be time mis-spent . god is not wont to send a waiting soul mourning away . such an one may come to god with a tear in it's eye , but sooner or later , it shall go from him with a smile upon it's countenance . thou , o mourning , drooping christian , dost not see christ now , he covers himself with a cloud ; well , sink not under discouragement , but let patience have it's perfect work , and do thou charge thy soul to wait on , i am perswaded , before thou seest death , thou shalt see jesus ; christ will manifest himself unto thee ; however , as soon as death hath closed thy bodily eyes , thou shalt both see him , and thy self with him in glory . well . simeon having waited long , though not too long , came into the temple , which did then exceed in glory , for there he met with jesus . and having met with him , he toook him up in his arms ; and he was a most blessed arm-full ; doubtless the good old man was glad he had got him , and his heart did leap within him . he never before embraced so great and glorious an object . and i tell thee , o christian , who hast got christ in thy heart , and dost hug him in the arms of thy faith , thou hast as much reason to rejoyce , as simeon did , when he had him in his arms : for it is christ in you the hope of glory . if he be formed in you , you shall be saved by him . having taken christ in his arms , what did the good man do ? oh! he blessed god , and truly he had reason . how could he be without his song , when he had got him , who was his strength and salvation . we have cause to bless god for creatures , for our health , strength , estates ; and relations , because we are less than the least of these , but we have infinitely more cause to bless god for christ , because he is a gift of the dearest love , and of the greatest excellency . all earthly comforts come from the hand of god , but christ comes from the some part of that which simeon spake upon this occasion , you have in the words of the text , in which take notice of these two things . 1. simeons humble petition and request to god. lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , according to thy word . 2. the ground or reason of this his request , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . this scripture being chosen by our deceased brother for his swan like-song ; i shall present you with those several observations i have made upon it , and briefly touch upon them , and so pass to that which i purpose most to insist upon . doct. 1. every godly man is god's servant . so simeon stiled himself here , lord , lettest thou thy servant . and so did david , psalm . 116. 16. o lord , truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant . he gloried more in his being gods servant , than in his being king of israel . wicked men are the slaves of corruption , and vassails of satan , the scriptures saith , they serve divers lusts , and truly that is an hard task : if a man cannot well serve two masters , how shall he serve divers , many . their service is meer drudgerie and bondage . two things may justly discommend it ; viz. they have dirty works , and they shall have dreadful wages ; their works foul them , and their wages undoe them . but you , o saints , are the servants of god , and you are so upon a threefold account , besides that of your creation . first , upon the account of your redemption , which was brought about by the power of christ , who rescued you out of the clutches of sin and satan . luk. 1. 74. he hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies , that we might serve him without fear , in holiness and righteousness before him , all the days of our lives . secondly , you are gods servants upon the score of purchase , that jesus who purchased heaven and glory for you , hath also purchased you for himself , and the price which he laid down , was no less , than that of his own blood : and therefore it is your unquestionable duty to glorifie him in your souls , bodies , and spirits . 1 cor. 6. 20. thirdly , you are gods servants by virtue of covenant ; you have chosen one another , he hath chosen you for his people , and you have chosen him for the lord your god ; an agreement hath been made and indentures sealed ezekiel 16 ▪ 8 i entered into covenant with thee , saith the lord god , and thou becamest mine . vse . remember and seriously consider then , whose you are , and unto whom you belong . study and acquaint your selves with your masters will , and knowing it , apply your selves immediately to the performance of it ; let your life be a life of obedience to god ; and whatsoever your hand findeth to do , as the matter of his will , be sure that you do it with all your might , knowing that your labour shall not be in vain : and that it is most highly reasonable you should be as industrious about the work of god , as you have been about the work of satan , as diligent for your best friend , as your greatest enemy ; as industrious for the saving of your souls , as you have been for the damning of them . and for your encouragement and quickning , consider . 1. first , that in the service of god there is perfect freedom , his yoke is easie , and his burden light . you are never so much your own men , as when you are gods servants : you are so his servants , as that you also are his children : your work is cut out by the hand of a most tender father , and therefore it should be done with the heart and spirit of a child . david resolved to run the way of god's commandements . 2. as you have the noblest work , so you shall one day have the most glorious rewards . you may now do your work with singing , you shall then receive your reward with admiring . when you have done the work of servants , you shall be instated in the inheritance of sons , where christ is , there shall his servants also be , to behold his glory , and to share with him in it , for the apostle assures us , that he and his people shall be glorified together . and their work is not so difficult , nor are their sufferings so pressing , but that their future crown will unspeakably excel them for its weight and splendor . doct. 2. i observe . that gods servants must be at gods dispose , and not at their own . lord , lettest thou thy servant depart . i dare not stir without thy order , thou didst send me hither , and here i must stay , until thou shalt please to send for me hence . i am weary of being here , lord wilt thou dismiss me , and give me leave to be gone . it is gods unquestionable right to order out as he pleaseth concerning us , and that in these things . 1. god may cut out for us what work he pleaseth , and lay it either in active or passive obedience as he thinks good : whatsoever his will is , we must not dispute , but obey it , and so be like those ministring spirits , the angels above who do his pleasure , yea , all his pleasure . 2. it is gods right to carve out our allowances , either a full , or a scantie condition ; abundance , or want to set us in a palace , or upon a dunghil , to cloath us in scarlet , or in canvas , to give us comfort or afflictions : we must be wholly at gods finding . feed me , said good agur , with food convenient for me , he did not prescribe to god , but left god to judge what was so . 3. it is fit that god should measure out our time for us , and bestow upon us a longer or a shorter day of life ; we do not live , nor do we die at our own pleasure , or at the will and pleasure of men , but god. he is not only our lord , but also the lord of our time . so david cheerfully acknowledged , my times are in thy hands , to make them cloudie , or serene , halcyon , or tempestuous , to prolong , or to contract them , as seemeth good to him . it is an indubitable part of gods royal prerogative to order concerning us ; and it is the unquestionable duty of our place to submit to his orders . whatsoever he commands , we must do , even as did the centurions servants ; if he said to one of them , go , he went , if he said to another , come , he came . reason good we should do so , for all the commandements of god are holy , and just , and good ; and an universal cordial respect to them will evidence our sincerity , and secure us from shame and whatsoever god doth , we must accept not only kissing his hand when it sweetly seeds us , nor only his arm when it graciously supports , but likewise his rod , when it doth smartly lash us . there ought to be no discontents , no quarrelsome murmurings , nor immoderate excessive sorrows , when he blasts our sweetest comforts , or kills our dearest relations ; yea , though he should do it with a violent stroak , for he may do what he will with his own . when he destroyed nadab , and abihu by fire in the very act of their sins , aaron their father held his peace . he saw that god was provoked by them , and angry with them , and therefore concluded it his wisest course to be quiet . it is indeed extreme madness for the clay to say to to the potter , why dost thou so , or for the creature to contend with his creator . such contendings procure us heavier blows . 3. doct. we may learn that death is a departure ; lord ! lettest thou thy servant depart . when a man dies , he removes ; he doth not then go back again into nothing , but into another place , and into another state. christ called his death a going away . joh. 14. 28. ye have heard how i sayed vnto you , i go away . so joh. 16. 7. it is expedient for you , that i go away , for if i go not away , the comforter will not come unto you . our death also is a going away . those that make the longest stay here , must be gone at last . a wicked man when he dies , departs out of his warm climate , and pleasant state , from his friends and riches , from his comforts and delights , into miseries and torments , which are intolerable and eternal . and it is no wonder if such a man play loath to depart , and death be unto him a king of terrors . but when an holy gracious person departs , he leaves all his sins and enemies , all his troubles and sorrows behind him , and he goes to a better place , and better company , and infinitely better delights : he enters into peace and into rest , and into the joy of his lord. he gets off from the stormy troublesome sea of this world , where he was so frequently indangered , and baths himself in those rivers of pleasure , which are at god's right-hand for evermore . vse 1. let the consideration hereof quiet us , under those breaches which death makes in our families and relations . though it be very afflictive to think , my dear husband is gone , my tender father is gone , my loving and faithfull friend is gone ; yet this will lighten and sweeten that affliction , if we think whether he is gone , from earth to heaven , from troubles to joy and glory , from us to god , christ , the spirit , angels and saints above . oh blessed , and everlastingly making exchange . vse 2. let the consideration hereof quicken us , the good lord grant that we all may frequently and seriously think of this our departure , and industriously bestir our selves in order to a full preparation for it . oh let us get our work done before we go ; christ did so : joh. 17. 4. i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do , and now come i to thee . mind ; follow , finish that for which you came into the world , before you are called out of the world. oh! get your evidences full and fair , that when death siezeth upon you , you may lay hold upon eternal life . make sure of heaven before you come to leave the earth . how sweet was it for christ to tell his disciples , i go to my father , and to your father , to my god , and to your god. doct. 4. we may from hence learn this lesson ; that a departure in peace is exceeding desireable . this was the subject matter of simeon's desire and prayer . lord , lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; he would go out in a calm , neither in a stink through sin , nor in a storm through fear , but in an holy peace . this promise was made to abraham , the father of the faithfull ; thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace : that is , with a quiet , pacate and comfortable spirit , with joy and satisfaction , without any trouble for what he should part with , and without fear of any thing he should meet with . and you find psal. 37. 37. the royal prophet bids you , mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . whatever troubles he is encountered by , in his way , he hath peace at his end . a wicked man may dye in stupidity , but not in peace , he may then be secure , but he is not safe , though he then have no trouble , yet he hath cause enough of trouble . my god saith there is no peace to the wicked , neither in his life , nor at his death . such an one dies in sin , and therefore he cannot dye in peace , but now a godly man , whose heart is sprinkled from an evil conscience , hath peace in his death , usually he hath peace with his own conscience , that befriends him , witnesseth for him , speaks comfortably to him , and is an excellent cordial at a dying hour ; always he hath peace with his god , they are friends ; he is reconciled to god , and god to him ; moses dyed at the mouth of the lord ; god kist him home . vse well my friends , i am confident you all desire such a death , you would willingly go out of the vvorld in peace . oh , let it not be only the matter of your desire , but likewise of your endeavour , use means in order thereunto , and follow these directions . 1. make your peace now ; cease your enmity against god , throw down your weapons of rebellion , and return unto your duty . how can those persons rationally hope , that god should be a friend to them when they dye , who are enemies to god while they live , now , now , seek peace and ensue it . 2. make hast to christ , make sure of christ , get unto him , he , and he alone is the peace , and the prince of peace , there is no peace to be had out of christ. let him saith god , lay hold upon my strength , that is upon christ , that he may make peace with me , and he shall make peace with me . have a care that you be not found in your sins , nor in your selves , nor in your own righteousness , trusting in that ; no , no , saith paul. phil. 3. 8 , 9. i have suffered the loss of all things , and do count them but dung , that i may win christ , and be found in him . 3. look after a sanctifying change in your hearts and natures , follow peace and holiness ; holiness both of inward disposition , and of outward conversation ; grace ushers in peace , purity and peace go together , the work of righteousness is peace , and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever . by the study and practice of holiness you may lose your peace with some men , but you will keep up , and maintain your peace with god , yea , and with good men too . prov. 22. 11. he that loveth pureness of heart , for the grace of his lips , the king shall be his friend . doct. 5. vve may from these words gather this instruction . that a truly gracious man , may very well be willing and free , and forward to dye . thus good simeon was here , he prayed for death ; let me depart , let me be gone out of this vvorld ; do thou lord send for me , that i may come to thee . and not only so , but he also prayed for a quick dispatch , a speedy dismission , as one that was in hast to be gone : as you may learn from that particle now , now lettest thou thy servant depart ; he did full well know , that he must dye one day , that was certain and unavoidable , the chambers of the grave are prepared for all the living . but he would dye presently , now o lord ! now without more ado ; now without any longer tarrying . a wicked man doth not care how long death stays ; he puts that day far from him , because he looks upon it as a very evil day ; but good simeon did not care how soon death came , he lookt for it , yea , and he long'd for it , he thought it was too slow pac'd , and its motions towards him not quick enough ; he knew death would do him a good turn , and therefore he was a voluntier in dying . and i must say this , supposing that a godly man have no cloud upon his spirit , and no flaw nor blurr in his evidence , supposing that god shines upon his soul with the bright and comfortable beams of his love and favour , and that his own conscience doth speak comfort to him plainly , i know no reason , no solid , substantial reason why he should be backward , and unwilling to dye , unless it be serviceableness and usefulness in the world : if once a christians work be done , what should he stay here for ? if once he be full ripe for glory , why should he stand any longer ? it is not worth his while to continue here , were it not that he may do good in his place , and be helpfull to others , and yet farther serve the interest of gods name and glory , and upon that account he ought to deny himself , and be willing to wait yet longer for his rest and crown . thus it was with holy paul : phil 1. 23. i have a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which , is far better ; it was better for him , he knew he should mend himself ; but saith he , ver . 24. nevertheless to abide in the flesh , is more needfull for you . they would need his company , and his labours , his counsels , and his comforts , and upon that account he submitted . ver. 25. having this confidence , i know that i shall abide and continue with you all , for your furtherance and joy of faith. and he was content so to abide . indeed there is not any reason at all , why a wicked man should be willing to dye , he can promise himself no good by it ; it doth not come peaceably to him , it brings it's sting along with it ; he dyes to dye , his natural death is a passage to eternal : he loseth all by death , and gets nothing ; therefore i say , there is no reason at all why he should desire to dye . and there is but one reason ( i mean which is worth any thing , and which is not easily answered , ) why a truly godly man should be willing to live ? and that is serving his generation according to the will of god. but i am sure , there are a great many weighty and cogent reasons ; why such an one should be willing to dye , and not only submit to death , but also welcome it , and long for it , of which i shall speak more by and by . doct. 6. a sixth instruction , which these words do most freely afford us , is this ; that though a godly man be never so desirous to dye , yet it is his duty , and will be his business to stoop , and submit his will to the will of god. thus it was with this holy man , he was willing and desireous to dye , he even longed to be gone : lord , lettest thou thy servant depart , but he would not go without license , he would stay gods time . though heaven be never so desireable , and this world never so troublesome , though the country be never so pleasant , and the way thither never so tedious : be our sicknesses , pains and crosses never so great and heavy ; be our enemies never so furious and violent , our dangers never so eminent , our persecutions never so sharp and bitter , our temptations never so fierce and fiery , we must in patience possess our souls , and be content to bear them , till god shall please in his own time to command for us , a deliverance out of them . let our conditions be never so dark and dismal , we must not escape by opening the door with the devils key , nor break out of prison by offering violence to our own lives . job had very dreadfull exercises , his state was sad and deplorable ; he was stript of all his outward enjoyments , bereaved of his beloved children , smitten in his body with sores and inflammations , his wife was a cross to him , and his friends cruel ; god himself carried as his enemy , and set him up for a mark to shoot at ; he had but one comfort left him , that was the testimony of a good conscience ; yet he was resolved to wait all the days of his appointed time , untill his change should come . he would not make more hast than good speed . as long as god was pleased to tarry , holy job was well pleas'd to wait . vve should write after so fair a copy , so to do is both our wisdom and our interest : for god is wiser than we , his vvisdom is infinite , and his time is always best . he that goeth to his grave in gods time , goes as a shock of corn in its season . god always plucks his fruit , vvhen it is ripe and fit to be gathered ; he vvill not pluck it sooner , and it shall not hang any longer . doct. 7. the seventh doctrine vvhich these vvords afford us is this . gods promises are to be pleaded by us . thus in the text ; novv lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , according to thy word ; there is the argument that he useth for the enforcing his petition . he had received a revelation from god , that he should not see death , i. e. that he should not die , he should not taste of death , though he saw the death of others , yet he should not see his own death , until he had seen the lord's christ , the messiah , or the lord 's anointed one , namely , jesus the saviour . and now , saith he , lord , now that i have seen him , do thou graciously grant me my dismission . be it unto me according to thy word . have you a word , o christians , a word of promise , blessed be god you are rich in them , god hath abounded in promises to his people . you have words of inestimable value , words better than gold , better than mans bonds , words that are suitable to , and cordial in every condition , into which providence can cast you . now then , what is your duty with reference to these words , but to make use of them . it is pity they should lie by neglected , as useless . fetch them out as you have occasion , and live upon them , that when you are rich in promifes , you may not be poor in comforts . you do deal disingeniously with god , and unworthily with promises , unless you use them . q. if any one should propound this question , what is that right and proper use which we should make of promises ? a. i answer , turn them into faith and prayer , make use of the promises as food for your faith , and matter for your prayers . promises are the life of faith , by these things men live , said good hezekiah , and they are the strength of prayer . so then , 1. you must believe the promises . set to your seal that god is true , and faithful , that his word is setled in heaven , that all his promises are in christ yea , and in him amen : i. e. of a most sure and certain accomplishment ; and accordingly do you hope in them , and rejoyce in them , and rely upon them as security enough ; cast your selves upon the word , do not question it's truth , do not doubt of its accomplishment , but firmly expect the making of it good , whatever the devil , and carnal reason , and flesh , and blood suggest to the contrary . as long as you have the assurance of a promise , fear not enemies , nor difficulties , nor dangers , but keep your way , and go on . though there be lions in it , and other ravenous beasts , worse than they . 2. your business is to plead the word , and urge it , and beg of god , that he would be pleased to fulfil it . we never improve promises as we ought , until we turn them into prayer , and press god with them . thus david did , 2 sam. 7. 27. thou o lord of hosts , god of israel , hast revealed to thy servant , saying , i will build thee an house , therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee . thus simeon did here , let me depart according to thy word : and you frequently meet with these expressions in psalm . 119. remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope . as long as that word was remembred , david knew , he himself should not be forgotten . — my soul cleaveth unto the dust , quicken thou me according to thy word . — my soul melteth for heaviness , strengthen thou me according to thy word . — oh , let thy mercies come unto me , even thy salvation according to thy word . — i entreated thy salvation with my whole heart , be merciful unto me according to thy word . you see how good david was at it . he had a mind to be answered . he could not indure to meet with a denying god. a gracious soul had rather lose his comforts upon earth , than his prayers in heaven . one of the saddest groans that ever such an one did utter , is , lam 3. 8. when i cry and shout , he shutteth cut my prayer . now david to prevent that , he strengthned his cause as much as he could , and so did bottom his prayer upon , and back it with a promise ; then he knew himself sure of acceptance and answer ; for god could not deny davids prayer , but he must in so doing deny himself too , and falsifie his own word : and therefore observe , how he gets hold , and keeps it , and wrestles . psal. 143. 1. here my prayer o lord , give ear to my supplications , in thy faithfulness answer me . the good man had the covenant and promises at that time in his heart and eye , and thought he , now i may be bold , for i am sure enough ; whom ever he doth send away with a repulse , he can't me ; he is a faithful god , and therefore he will answer me , and that according to the desert of my heart ; in thy faithfulness answer me . and truly , christians , thus we all should do , if we would act wisely and advantagiously for our selves . search the scriptures , and see what promises speak appositely to your case , and take them , and carry them by faith in prayer unto god , and there put them in suit . lord , i want faith , patience , and meekness ; i am in such a difficultie , called out to such works , assaulted with such temptations , environed with such and such and such dangers , and thus and thus hast thou spoken , lord make good thy word unto me thy servant . this , this is the way to obtain , and as princes to prevail with god , doct. 8. the eighth doctrine which these words afford us , is this . that christ is god's salvation . good simeon had been delighted with the sight of jesus , and now saith he , mine eyes have seen thy salvation . he is the saviour whom god hath chosen in his wisdom , raised up in his love , and sent with authority . he is not only willing to save , and mighty to save , but he is also authorized , and commissioned for it . all our salvation comes from christ , both our salvation from temporal , spiritual , and eternal evils . our primative salvation from sin , and from wrath , comes from christ. he delivers us from the guilt of sin , by his righteousness imputed to us , and from the dominion of sin , by the power of his spirit and grace , and from the damnation which was due to sin , by the sacrifice of himself , which he offered unto the justice of his father . he rescued us out of the hands of satan , as a tempter , so that his fiery darts shall not mortally wound us , and as an accuser , so that his charges shall not take place , nor prevail to our condemnation . he doth redeem his people from all their iniquities , and from death , and hell , and he will never leave working , until he hath redeemed them from all their distresses . and all our positive salvation doth likewise come from christ. it is he that reconciles us to god , that doth make , and keep the peace between god and us . he doth give us our title to heaven , and our fitness for heaven , and our possession of heaven . he giveth both grace and glory . he doth first infuse the principle of grace , and then adds the crown of glory ▪ he it is that by his spirit first breaths into them the breath of a spiritual life , and then imparts to them that life more abnndantly , and then at last advanceth them to , and rewards them with eternal life . the scripture calls him the captain of our salvation , and the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him . vse . 1. oh , how should we admire the goodness of god in giving christ to us , and for us ; and how should our mouths be filled with his praises all the day . thus it was with good zacharias , in luk. 1. 68. blessed be the lord god of israel , who hath visited , and redeemed his people , and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant david . specially you that have found , and experienced his salvation begun upon you ; that whereas he is a stone of stumbling to others , he is a stone of support , a foundation-stone to you . and whereas he is a rock of offence to thousands , he is a rock of salvation to you . surely upon this score most inlarged places are due to god , and comely for you . that man that cannot be thankful for christ , can be truly thankful for nothing . that heart is cold indeed , which this exceeding riches of grace will not warm , melt , and inflame . vse . 2. look carefully to it , that you do not fail of this grace of god , that you do not neglect this great salvation . do not slight christ , do not stand at a distance from him ; for there is not salvation in any other . there is no name under heaven which is a strong tower , in which you may be safe , but only his : no wings under which you can find healing and security , but only the wings of this eternal son of righteousness ; therefore be willing to accept of his help , and that upon his own terms , which are most just and reasonable . if ever he save you , he will not save you in your sins , but from your sins . he will be sin's death , if he be your life . he will sanctifie you , as well as well as save you . he will rule you , and govern you , as well as save you . he will bring you to his foot , if ever he bring you to his throne . god the father hath exalted him to be a prince , as well as a saviour , and he will be both , or neither . vse . 3. be sure to flie to this jesus in all your dangers , and distresses . when your enemies without you are furious , and fears within you are high , so that your hearts are almost overwhelmed . then run to this rock that is higher than you . when you find corruptions are stirring within you , and you know not how to master them ; and when you find temptations are violent upon you , and you are not in your own strength able to resist them , then go to christ , and beg ye of him , that he would be your salvation . thus paul did , when he had a thorn in the flesh , and a messenger from satan buffetting him , then he besought the lord thrice , and had this assurance , that christ's grace was sufficient for him , and christ's power should be made known in his weakness . and that gracious answer which was given to paul , may be an incouragement to you , and all the people of god , to take the same course in the time of their need , and as this is a most proper course , so it is most prevailing , for the lord is good to them that wait upon him , and to the souls that seek him . and if you will consult your own experiences , they will tell you , that you get most of your comforts , and most of your victories upon your knees . and our lord jesus himself , by his own example directs you to this means ; for when peter was to be tempted , then christ prayed . but there remains one thing more , very observable in the words , upon which i shall more largely insist than i have done upon all the foregoing points . the sight which this good man , old simeon had of gods salvation was the reason , why he was so willing and ready , and desirous to depart , and take his last farewell of this world. from hence i offer to your consideration this truth . doct. 9. those that have had a sight of gods salvation , may very well be desirous of dissolution , and think long till that happy day comes , which will convey them into the other world. some men wish for death meerly in a fret , or discontented fit ▪ they meet with disappointments and crosses , and troubles , their estates fail them , their trading grows dead , their friends unkind . a ship at sea is cast away or taken by pirates , they are vexed at this and the other , and hereupon they are weary of life , and now , whether they be fit or no , they would fain dye , thus it was with passionate jonah , when that a worm had smote his gourd , that it withered , and the sun darted his scorching beams upon his head , that he fainted , he wished in himself to dye , and said in his hast , that it was better for him to dye than to live . poor man , he had been put out of sorts , and did then quite forget himself . but this is very ordinary among people , as if every trouble of life should make life it self a burden . and as if , though our comforts be consumed , it were not still of the lords mercies that we our selves are not consumed ; and certainly , as ordinary as it is , it is exceeding sinfull ; it speaks a wofull impotency and weakness of spirit , yea , and there is in it a spirit of rebellion against god , when men would live no longer than god useth them as they themselves please , and orders all things concerning them according to their own mind and humour . if we did but seriously consider the sovereignty of god , and that as we are his creatures , we must be at his dispose , we should see reason enough to submit to him , and be silent under all his providences . how great and how heavy soever our cross is , we should carry it patiently , and be content to bear it , so long as our god will have us . but now a sight of christ , and of gods salvation by christ , is a just and justifiable ground of such a desire , so that still it be with submission to the vvill and good pleasure of that god in vvhose hand our lives are . in the handling of this point i shall do these three things . 1. i shall shevv hovv or in vvhat vvays a soul may see god's salvation . 2. that one vvho hath had the sight of gods salvation , may very vvell be vvilling and desireous to dye . 3. and then improve it by vvay of use and application . first , what is it to see god's salvation , or in vvhat vvays doth a man or woman see this blessed sight . unto that i shall return this fourfold answer . 1. there is an ocular vision , or a sight of god's salvation with the eyes of the body . this sight those saints had , vvho savv christ , vvhen he vvas here upon earth , and tabernacled among men , and vvho beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the father ; this sight simeon had , vvhen his parents brought him into the temple , then simeon took him up in his arms , and said , mine eyes have seen thy salvation ; and upon that sight he was raised , and his heart so ravished , that he vvas vvilling immediately to set sail for the other world ; his soul vvas ready to take its flight , he thought he had lived long enough , and had seen enough of these inferiour objects , he cared not for beholding the vanities of the world any more . jesus in his svvathering bands did outshine princes in their robes and thrones . and having once got a sight of him , he thought there was nothing else upon the face of the earth worth seeing . having seen christ upon earth , he had a mind to go see god in heaven . now this sight we cannot have , and we need not have it now . in this respect the lord jesus is gone out of our sight the heavens do contain him , and so they must , until the time come , wherein there shall be the restitution of all things . and there is not any necessity of our seeing him in this manner , we are no losers by his absence . it was expedient for us that he went away , for it was upon his going , that the comforter came , who is to abide with us for ever . all the work which christ had to do upon earth , was finisht before he went away : what remains further to be done , he can do it in heaven , as he sits upon his his throne , at the right hand of his father . and his bodily presence would contribute nothing at all to our advantage and comfort . we have a great deal more cause to please our selves with the thoughts of his being in heaven , by which we see that justice is satisfied , yea , that he entred there as our fore-runner , to make way for us , and to take a place up for us , and that he doth there ever live to make intercession for us and upon these accounts , though now we see him not , yet believing , we may very well rejoyce with joy unspeakable , and full of glory . for so in those dreadful days of persecution , the primitive christians did as you may read in the 1 pet. 1. 8. ii. therefore there is a mental , or intellectual vision . a seeing of gods salvation with a spiritual eye , the eye of the soul , the eye of faith , which can see things remote , yea , at the greatest distance both of time and place . it is the substance of things hoped for , and the evidence of things not seen . heb. 11. 1. faith can wade through the greatest difficulties , and look through the thickest clouds , and grossest darkness , it can see within the vail , and behold those invisible glories which are there . that speech of our saviour to his disciples , is applicable to our present purpose , and richly worth your consideration . john 14. 19. yet a little while , and the world seeth me no more , but ye see me , because i live , ye shall live also . the prophane , wicked , and unbelieving world should see him no more ; they indeed did then see him , and were offended at him , they slighted and rejected him , because of his outward meanness , yea , they hated him with a perfect hatred , they conspired his death , and were never quiet , till they had seen him cruified , and breath his last . well saith christ , ere it be long , these wretches shall see me no more . since i am such a burden to them , i will ease them of that burden . since i am their torment and vexation , since i am an eye sore to them , i will be gone , and they shall see me no more , they shall be troubled no more with the sight of me , and they shall be honoured no more with the sight of me . but saith christ to his disciples , you see me ; that is , you shall see me . the present tense is put for the future , to shew the certainty of the thing . as you see me now , so you shall see me hereafter . and that not only with your glorified eye , with which you shall behold me , when we meet together in my fathers palace , where you shall be like me , because you shall see me as i am , but also you shall see me with a spiritual eye , even that of your faith , after my ascension into my kingdom , you shall so see me . and it is observable , that christ did call upon poor lost sinners to take this sight of him long before his incarnation , and appearance in the flesh. thus in isa. 45. 22. look unto me , and be ye saved all the ends of the earth , for i am god , and there is none else . now when he thus commanded , and invited all the ends of the earth to look to him , you must understand it thus , that they were to look to him with this eye of faith , and that before he came to take upon him our nature ; and so again that excellent place , which respects us gentiles . isa. 65. 1. i am sought of them that asked not for me , i am found of them that sought me not . i said , behold me , behold me , unto a nation that was not called by my name . in the same way still they were to behold him , namely by an eye of faith. and it was with this sight , that abraham saw him hundreds of yeare before he was born . our saviour you know speaks thus to the obstinate and quarrelsome jews , john 8. 56. your father abraham rejoyced to see my day , he saw it , and was glad . he saw christs day , or christ in his day , by an eye of faith. now , my brethren in the same manner that abraham , and others under the old testament saw christ before he came in the flesh , true believers now in new testament times may and do see him , though he be ascended into heaven , and hath carried his flesh with him thither . it is by faith we see christ , by faith we apply him to our own souls , and by faith , that we eat his flesh , and drink his blood , and fetch from him life and strength , grace , peace , and comfort . there are two things which faith is furnished with , and both of singular use . first , faith hath a long hand , that can reach a great way . one of the mighty monarchs of the world was called longimanus , or long hand . above all creatures , faith doth best deserve that name , there is nothing out of its reach ; it can take , and lay hold upon prophecies and promises , though they shall not be yet a great while accomplished . heb. 11. 13. these all dyed in the faith , not having received the promises , but having seen them afar off , they were perswaded of them , and embraced them : as far off as they were , these saints by faith got them into their arms , and hugged them babylon is yet standing , and triumphing , but the believers faith looks into the prophecie , and saith , babylon the great is fallen , it is fallen . this long-handed grace can reach heaven , it can lay hold upon the hope that is set before it ; it layeth hold upon eternal life ; nothing is too hard for faith , to him that believeth all thing are possible , and nothing is too high for faith. secondly , faith hath a quick , strong , and piercing eye , it can see up to heaven and it can see into heaven ; you find in acts 7. that stephen was stoned , yet when those stones were showred down upon him , and at the last beat the breath out of his body ; yet they could not strike out the eye of his faith : but that was quick still , and saw as well as ever ; as you read verse 55. stephen being full of the holy ghost , looked up stedfastly into heaven , and saw the glory of god , and jesus standing at the right hand of god. it was doubtless to him a most sweet and comfortable sight , when he saw devils incarnate upon earth , working his ruine ; then to see god incarnate in heaven , beholding his faith and patience , appearing on his behalf , and standing ready to receive his soul. faith hath indeed an eye , like the eye of an eagle . they say , an eagle can behold the sun in its greatest splendor and brightness , it can glare upon the sun , and by that she tries her young ones whither they be genuine , or no ; now faith can look christ in the face , it can behold the sun of righteousness in the highest heavens , who is ten thousand thousand times brighter than the sun in the firmament . the evangelist tells us john 1. we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten son of the father . the true believer may and doth by faith see christ in heaven more clearly and stedfastly than he can see the sun in these lower heavens : for this sun doth dazle , and weaken , and blind the eye that dwells too long upon it ; for it is too eminent an object for the organ . but now the sun of righteousness doth clear , and fortifie , and strengthen the eye of faith , so that the more he looks , the better he sees , the more able he is to converse with the object , because he is thereby more assimilated , and lusted to it . 2 cor. 3. 14. we all , with open face , beholding as in a glass , the glory of the lord , are changed into the same image , from glory to glory , even as by the spirit of the lord. 3. there is a sight of gods salvation by the vertue , or help of inward experience . the gracious soul sees the harvest in the seed , the topstone in the foundation that is laid , the greatness of the design in the greatness of the preparation . in short , he sees that which god intends for him by that which god hath been already pleased to work in him . he doth both see and feel salvation begun in the soul. for , my brethren , we are to know this , and seriously consider it , that salvation is not a thing wholly future , it is not only after death , and in the other world , but it is a thing present . heaven is to be had here , as well as hereafter , and he that is not saved here , shall never be saved . he that doth live an utter stranger to heaven in this world , shall never enter into heaven . the perfecting and completion of the work is reserved for the next life , but the inchoation and beginning of it is here , even here the saints conversation is in heaven , there be their thoughts and affections ; they walk with god , and have fellowship with christ. as soon as ever a man is sanctified , he is saved . when grace is first planted in the heart , salvation is begun . when christ went home with zacheus , he told him , salvation is come to thine house to day . when christ comes to any heart , salvation comes along with him . grace is glory in the infancie and bud : and as grace doth thrive and grow , and improve in the heart , so the work of salvation is carried on ; therefore gracious renewings are in scripture called glorious changes . we beholding , as in a glass , the glory of the lord are changed into the same image , from glory , to glory ; i. e. from grace , to grace , from lower , to higher degrees . the apostle paul saith , eph. 2. 5 when we were dead in sins , we were quickned together with christ , by grace ye are saved . if quickened , and made partakers of spiritual life , the life of grace and holyness , then saved . there is heaven and salvation in the smallest quickenings , as there is the total sum or bargain in the earnest , and the crop or harvest in the first fruits . observe also that place in the 2 tim. 1. 9. who hath saved us , and called us with an holy calling . if you be effectually called then you are actually saved , not only in spe , but in re , not only saved in hope but in deed . that person who is turned from darkness to light , and from the power of satan to god , is passed from death to life , he is out of reach of eternal dangers ; the same calling is to virtue and glory , and fo far as that call doth carry a man on in virtue , so high , full so high doth it advance and raise him up in glory . so that when once you do experimentally find this change wrought in you , sin crucified and mortified in you , and holiness communicated to you . if you find that you are taken off from the old stock , and ingrafted into the lord jesus christ , that you are in any measure ( though never so small ) made partakers of the spirit , life and grace of christ , then you may sit down in peace , and heartily rejoyce , for your eyes have seen god's salvation . a renewing change is a saving change , and my brethren consider how much this should commend grace to us : oh how should they desire it , and beg it , and use means for it , who have it not , and you that have it , how thankfull should you be , and how should you admire and bless god for it , since there is salvation in it , there is a blessing in a cluster , fullness in spiritual hungerings , heaven and glory in brokenness of heart . fourthly and lastly . there are the sights of heaven in a way of assurance , and this is the sight of , or the looking to the perfecting and completion of this most great and blessed work of salvation . by assurance the believing soul sees the matter brought to an issue , and the top stone laid in the building , which reaches as high as heaven . the poor christian in the midst of enemies and dangers , and from his low condition , from his dunghill or cottage , can look upon all the glory and happiness above , and as great as it is , lay hold upon it , and claim it , all this is mine ; this god is my god for ever and ever ; heaven will be my everlasting home , and the kingdom there my portion , even as the proto-martyr stephen , in a shower of stones which fell about his ears , could see heaven opened , and jesus standing at the right hand of god , and could comfort himself with such thoughts ; thus jesus stands yonder as my friend , my advocate , and shortly i shall be there with him . to the producing of this assurance in the heart of a christian , especially in an high degree , in its fulness , there is required not only the work , but also the witness of the spirit . the work of the spirit in sanctification , drawing the divine image upon the soul , breathing into it spiritual life , and implanting in it a gracious and holly nature , and then irradiating and shining upon those graces , that the soul may see them , and see them to be what they are , the true grace of god , he doth bear witness to his own work , so that the soul can say , the finger of god was here ; this is not flesh and blood , this is more than nature , this is grace indeed . this you read of in rom. 8. 16. the spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit ▪ that we are the children of god. there is the testimony of our spirits , our consciences , and the holy ghost doth super-add his ; and in the mouth of these two witnesses the thing is established , and the believer is satisfied , and cryeth abba father . take notice of that prayer which paul put up . rom. 15. 13. that they might abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost . so that good hope through grace , and the abounding of that hope , the fullness of assurance is no other than a divine work , brought about by the powerfull operation of the spirit of god ; the resurrection of christ from the dead is the ground and reason of our hope ▪ and the holy spirit of christ is the author of our hope . now then lay these things together , that person who seeth christ by faith , who doth experience an inward change , and who hath the assured hope of heaven and glory , may very well say , that his eyes have seen god's salvation . and the man that hath been blessed with such a sight , may very well be free and willing to depart out of this world , to bid farewell to present comforts and enjoyments , and welcome death in its nearest approaches . and this is the second thing unto which i am now to speak , and he that considers what hath been spoken concerning this sight , will easily see there is enough in it alone to produce such an effect . but besides that there are four other sights which will contribute exceedingly towards such a willingness in such a person . 1. this man seeth enough in the world to render that bitter to him ; there is wormwood enough laid upon the breast of the creatures , and he tasts it . here i shall not take notice of those outward troubles and afflictions , in which he finds great exercises for his faith and patience , though these are the principal and only things , about which the carnal unregenerate heart is concerned . if there be no cloud upon his tabernacle , no thorn in his side , nor gall in his cup , he sings a lullaby to his soul , and concludes all well . but sin , sin is that which sowrs and imbitters all to a godly man , both other mens sins , and his own sins , without doors and within . first , other mens sins , that wickedness which the world lyeth in ; oh , it goeth to his very heart to see the profaneness and abominations of those among whom he is constrained to converse , and how that blessed and most holy god , whom he so dearly loves , is neglected , abused , dishonoured and affronted by them . upon this account it was that good jeremiah's soul wept in secret , and rivers of tears ran down david's eyes , and just lot was vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked . such men cannot take their rest here , because the place is so shamefully polluted , and the villanies of others are such a stink in his nostrils . secondly , that which doth yet much more pain him is his own sin , a foul world without , and a wretched heart within , the plague of that which is not perfectly cured , the sin that dwelleth in him , the pravity and corruption of his nature , the old man , that he cannot possibly shake off , that troublesome old man , together with many and great transgressions of his life . hence such complaints and grounds as these , oh , what a wretch am i , should be so unmindfull of god , so unthankfull to god , so unfruitfull before him ? that i should walk so unworthy of him , that hath laid such obligations upon me . oh! that i should offend him so much , and glorifie him no more , and serve him no better . oh! this goeth near indeed , this is a sword in his bones , a burden to heavy for him to bear , this extorted from holy paul that bitter cry ; o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of death ! this is my plague , but whence or by whom cometh my deliverance ? and when he considers that deliverance is wrought by christ , he blesseth god for him , and since a perfect deliverance is to be brought to him by death , he thanks god for it , and this is one thing that makes this grim messenger so lovely and acceptable to him , because he knows by that all the shackles of corruption shall be knocked off , and he shall be troubled with sin no more . when he shall once lay down the body of flesh , he shall also lay down the body of sin and death . 2. the godly man sees enough to render all the comforts of this present life cheap to him ; so that he doth not love them too much , nor value them at too high a rate : they are not so cheap as that he doth slight and despise them , or is not thankfull to god for them ; he admires the goodness of god in all his mercies , even the very least , the coursest garments he wears , and the brownest bread he eats , and the meanest lodging , the hardest bed he hath . i am less said good jacob , then the least of all thy mercies . but they are so cheap , as that he is not unwilling to part with them , or to go from them ; whensoever god pleaseth he can part with them : the primitive christians took joyfully the spoiling of their goods , and he can go from them . paul desired to be dissolved , and to be with christ , he could without any regret or reluctancy leave the world behind him , so long as he did see his god and saviour before him . those comforts which god is pleased to afford unto his people while they are here , are of two kinds ; spiritual and temporal . 1. god is pleased to afford unto his people outward themporal comsorts ; these he hath in the creature from the hand of common providence , which feeds and cloaths him , and provides for him , and sometimes wrings out to him waters of a full cup ; but be his portion here never so fat , his outward enjoyments never so large , yet they are but low enjoyments , they are but for a vile body , we do consume and wast , and will shortly moulder away , and crumble into dust ; be they never so delicious and pleasant , yet still they are perishing bread , it perisheth in the using . and besides there is a snare in these things , so that we must use them with caution and fear ; there is a snare in relations , and in possessions , a snare in riches and pleasures , a snare in worldly honours and dignities . oh , how often do these things divert the mind from god , and distract the thoughts , and deaden the heart , and embase the affections and clog the heels , and hinder holy motions , these are weights that press down , so that the christian moves heavily in the way of god , and cannot do those things that the would , nor any thing as he would ; and it doth speak a great deal of wisdom , and calls for no less care , so to enjoy the world , and take the comfort of it , as to avoid the snare in it , and to keep our selves unspotted by it . secondly , god is pleased to give unto his people here inward and spiritual comforts , from the hand of his spirit , in the way of the gospel , and gospel-ordinances and duties . he gives them some clusters from canaan , some pisgah-sights of the land of promise , some praelibamens , and foretasts of those pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore ; there are the kisses of his lips , the manifestations of his love , the witnessings of his spirit , the unspeakable joys of faith : and these are sweet indeed , and inestimably precious to the gracious soul. one day in thy courts , said david , are better than a thousand elsewhere . what a day of gladness doth a smile of god make , and what melody is there in the sofest whisper of divine love. no such day in the week , as that of a sabbath ; and no such meeting in the world , as that with god at an ordnance , it affords sweetness beyond expression . but alas ! here is something to allay that sweetness ; the good man doth too too often find himself unfitted for these things , his soul is out of tune , he cannot hear , nor can he pray , nor meditate as he would , nor keep up so warm and intimate a communion with god as he would : wandering , and dulness , and deadness do adhere to his duties ; and he blushes and mourns to see and consider the iniquities of his holy things . and then again , he doth too frequently miss of that good and comfort which he expects , and waits for , he goeth out full of hopes , and returns home blank ; he looks for much , but gets little ; he cannot see his fathers face , that is covered with a cloud , nor can he hear his saviours voice , for he hath withdrawn himself , and is gone ; he cannot find those kindly meltings and warmings , and quickenings , and enlargings that he desires ; but he goeth with a pittifully cold , hard , straitned , dead heart ; so that he begins to question gods love , and his own faith. if he doth at any time meet with his gracious god , and is sensible of his doing so . if he can say , god was with me of a truth ; i have this day sate under the shadow of my dearest saviour with great delight , and his fruit hath been sweet to my taste . alas it is but short , ( rara hora brevis mora ) it comes but seldom , and it lasts not long . it is but a little visit ; and no sooner , it may be , hath the gracious soul done blessing himself in his enjoyments ▪ but he sees cause to bemoan himself for his loss . but however it be with some particular saints , upon whom the sun of righteousness stands and shines , with constant beams , yet this is most certain as to all the saints , that the most sweet , and full enjoyment which they have of god ( while they are here ) the most pleasant and comfortable communion they have with him , is but mediate . christ looks upon him through the lattice , and they see him but as in a glass , darkly . all their refreshings are conveyed by pipes , they do not lie at the fountain-head . when they are most present with the lord , they are even then absent from the lord ; and upon this account it is no matter of wonder to see or hear that they are willing to exchange a dark vision for a clear one , seeing in a glass , for a seeing face to face ; to exchange interrupt pleasures for permanent and abiding ones , and mediate fellowship for that which is immediate . love is an uniting affection , and is set for the strictest and closest embraces of it's indeared object . and so a soul that truly loves god , cannot but desire to be as near to him as it can be , and ready to exchange the comforts of the way , for the joys and pleasures of the countrey . 3. he that hath seen god's salvation , hath seen enough to deliver him from the dread and terrour of death ; for this is evident and obvious , that if christ be any mans salvation , it is utterly impossible that death should be his destruction . a man that is in christ is not out of the reach of death , but he is secured from the hurt of death . take an unregenerate man , one that is a stranger unto christ , and he cannot see any thing in death that should commend it to him : it hath a dreadful aspect , and a worse issue ; he hath cause to fear both death and its followers : he is stript at death , and lasht in hell. death to him is a dark passage to outer and endless darkness . but now as grim as death looks , a believer can easily discover a great deal , that will make it lovely ; even death it self hath its beauty ; as thus . it is a conquered enemy . christ went into the grave it 's strongest hold , and there he baffled it , broke its chains , and carried away its gates ; he disarmed , and unstung it ; so that holy paul did , and every true believer may play with it , and triumph over it ; 1 cor. 15. o death where is thy sting , o grave , where is thy victory , the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law , but thanks be to god , who hath given us the victory , through jesus christ our lord. though death kill the believer , yet it doth not dammage him ; and though it separate between his soul and body , yet not between him and god : who shall separate us from the love of god in jesus christ our lord ? shall death , saith paul , no , saith he , in that , as well as in other things , we are more than conquerors through him that loved us . nay through christ , death is not only conquered , but also reconciled to all the saints ; it is now become your friend , and servant , and doth you a real kindness , so that , as solomon tells us , the day of your death is better than the day of your birth . you came into the world crying , but you may go out of it triumphing , and with the voice of melodie . the primitive christians did not array themselves in sables at the funerals of their friends ; but in white , looking upon their dying day , as the day of their nuptials . it was most terrible to nature to be torn in pieces by wild beasts , to die at a stake , to breathe their last in flames , yet , in such a death did they glory , counting martyrdom their crown . what though death carry you from all your present comforts , it doth at the same time set you out of the reach of all troubles ; and as it carries you from comforts , so it carries you to comforts ; yea , to such comforts as are far better than those you part with . it pulls down this decaying and tottering tabernacle , that a more beautiful and stately fabrick may be erected . it takes you out of your sorry cottages , and carries you to those blissful mansions which are in your fathers house . the grave it self , though it be darksome and lonely , yet it is a good resting place ever since our lord lay there : he hath perfum'd it , and made it both soft and safe . that bed of dust is now better than a bed of down , or roses . it is true , in the grave , though christ's body did not , yet ours must see corruption , they must putrifie , and at last be converted into dust ; but that dust is more precious than gold oar , and shall accordingly be most curiously preserved , not an atome of it shall be lost . and that body which is sown in weakness , shall be raised in power , and cloathed with immortality , and made like unto christ's own most glorious body . 4. and lastly , that man who hath seen gods salvation , hath also seen all things amiable , and desireable in the other world , whither death will carry him . he hath looked within the vail , and had a prospect of that better countrey . there hath he by the eye of faith seen incomparable beauties to enamour him , an excellent glory to adorn him , unspeakable comforts to delight him , the best of friends to invite him , and an innumerable company of angels and saints to bid him welcome . there shall be nothing at all that may offend , nothing in him to offend god ; nothing without to offend him ; nothing of sin , and nothing of sorrow ; no temptation , no affliction , no danger , no loss , no frown , no fear , no sickness , no pain , no want ; no angry withdrawings , not one pricking briar , nor one vexing thorn. but there shall be all things that you can desire , and are suitable to that glorious state unto which you shall be advanced , all things that will contribute to your happiness and comfort . the scripture tells us , psal. 16. that in god's presence there will be a fullness of joy , and by consequence there can be no scantiness of enjoyments , but pleasures for evermore , yea , a river of pleasures , nay , a bottomless , and boundless ocean of them ; the infinite and eternal god must himself be exhausted , before the delights and pleasures of heaven can be spent . eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath entred into the heart of man what god in the mansions above hath prepared , and reserved for them that love him . there is a feast of love , a crown of life , and robes of glory . there is abraham's bosom , and the joy of their lord , which is too big to enter into them , therefore they shall enter into it , and be filled , encompassed and swallowed up by it , as a small vessel in the sea. when once the gracious soul hath set foot upon that coelestial countrey , and made its entrance into that stately and magnificent palace of the great king ; he shall be not only filled with satisfaction , but likewise rapt up into astonishment , and highest admiration ; what am i that god hath brought me hitherto ? and what were all my services , that they should be thus rewarded . oh , how light and inconsiderable doth he now think all his former sorrows and sufferings , if compared with that far more exceeding , and eternal weight of glory . what low thoughts will he then have of the skin-deep beauties , and transitory delights here below , on which the besotted children of men do so foolishly dote . and with what an holy scorn , and indignation will he call to mind that pains men did take for , and that eagerness with which they did pursue the trifling vanities of the earth , and how they scrambled for them , and quarrel'd about them . and oh how doth he wish and long for that blessed day , in which the church militant shall be made triumphant , and all his gracious friends , all his brethren and sisters in christ , all the chosen and beloved of god shall be taken up to the same place , that they may see what he sees , and be possest of that which he enjoys . that so they may altogether contemplate the glory of god , and be satisfied with the fruition of him , and endear , admire , and extol father , son , and spirit unto all eternity . lay all these things together , and you will easily see , that there is great , yea , abundant reason , why those that have seen gods salvation , should be willing , yea , desirous to depart in peace , and to take their flight into the other world . and now i come to shut up this discourse with some application . and in the first place this serves to shew us , what it is , that above all things should engage , and draw out the vigour and strength of our desires ; namely , the sight of gods salvation . my brethren , i beseech you frequently to consider , that we must all die , there is no shift for it . death will not be bribed , and it cannot be avoided . it is appointed for all men once to die , by a statute-law enacted in heaven , which admits of no repeal . the aged father of this family is now gone , and the youngest child here must follow him sooner , or later . and is it not good for us to prepare for death ? will it not be our wisdom ? will your wisdom more eminently discover it self in any thing , than in this ? that so this king of terrours may not be terrible unto you ; that you may not fear him , but rejoyce in him ▪ you will die uncomfortably , ( this is past all dispute ) you will die unhappily , if you die unpreparedly . oh the horrour that will sieze an awakened sinner upon a death-bed ! when he shall think thus , my glass is run , my time is spent , i must die , but alas , i am not fit to die . i must now appear before my judges , but i have not made my peace . now then go on and consider , what is to be done by you , in order to this preparation : a life of vanity and folly will not fit you ; the more you sin , the more you sharpen the sting of death . an eager minding the world , and pursuing the delights of that will not fit you ; the more you have indulged your self in a course of prophaneness , the more afraid you will be to die ; and the more you have set your hearts upon the creatures , the more loath , and unwilling you wil be to die , when you come to die , the love of the world will make you unwilling to leave it ; and conscience of sin and guilt will make you tremble at the thoughts of appearing before god. turn away your eyes then from beholding vanity , and pray that they may be opened to see gods salvation . oh , study christ , get an intimate acquaintance with him : beg of god to reveal him to you , and in you , that you may know him , whom to know , is life eternal , and never rest quiet nor contented , till you have seen him by an eye of faith , and laid hold upon him by an hand of faith , as one that loved you , and gave himself for you ; and have a care that there be not a ( deceptio visus ) mistake in the case , but look to this , that your sight be saving , and the faith you pretend to , the faith of gods elect , that you may upon good grounds ( such as the scriptures will warrant ) appropriate him to your selves , as your lords and gods , and saviour . rest not in any thing till you find and feel christ living , and commanding in you ; his image drawn upon you , his law written in your hearts , and his spirit poured out ; take not up with a verbal profession , formal duties , and unblameable conversation , common convictions , and some stirrings and flushes of affection : all this may be , and all come to nothing . hypocrites may go so far , and yet they do not go far enough , but after all fall short of heaven . it is not the form of godliness that will avail you , but the power , not a name to live , but the life it self . god is not taken with empty shews and appearances , he is for reality and truth in the inward parts ; you can take but little comfort from christ dying without you , unless you find christ formed and living in you : notwithstanding the death of christ you may be for ever lost and damned , unless you be made partakers of his life . remember and consider that expression , col. 1. 27. christ in you , the hope of glory . when christ dwells in you by faith , when he is in you by his spirit , and by his graces , then , and not till then is there a firm foundation laid , on which you may build the hope of glory ; for hope so grounded is good hope , such as shall never make ashamed . vse 2. the second use will be of reprehension . those are blame-worthy , and deserve reproof , whose eyes have seen gods salvation . men and women that do know the jesus in whom they have believed , and are made partakers of sanctifying , saving grace , and have had the manifestations of god's favour , and covenant love made to them , and are verily perswaded that it shall be well with them when they dye , and that they shall go to heaven when they go from earth , and yet they are loath to dye , and thoughts of their departure from hence are afflictive to them . when the message of death was brought by the prophet to good hezckiah , he turned his face to the wall , and prayed , and wept sore . and good david himself , though he knew that god had made with him an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things and sure , yet he cryed , o spare me that i may recover strength before i go hence , and he seen no more ; he would fain live a little longer , and see a few more days past over his head . i do not wonder that wicked men are loath to dye , for they get nothing by it , nay , they lose all by it , they are utterly ruined and undone by it . death takes them from all their good things , jovial companions , and pleasant enjoyments , and carries them into that lake which burns with fire and brimstone . therefore who would think it strange that they should put from them the day of their death , which will be to them such a day of evil . they have reason to desire life , yea to say , i would live always , because it is better for them to live than to dye , if you kill them you spoil all . such men may well say to death , as ahab did to elijah , hast thou found me , o mine enemy ? but here is the wonder , that a godly man should firmly assent unto this truth , that there is another life after this , and that that life is unspeakably better than this ; there is no compare between the comforts of this and the glory of that , and they are also confident , that when once they are absent from the body , they shall be present with the lord , and when once this frail , uncertain , troublesome life shall come to an end , they shall live that better life , when once they are got off this stormy tempestuous sea , they shall bath themselves eternally in those rivers of pleasures , which are at god's right-hand ; and yet death is a word that sounds harsh in their ears , they care not to hear of it : when they think of it they are troubled . a deaths head upon the board spoils the mirth , and marrs the feast , it doth not only make them serious , that it should do , but it also makes them sad and dumpish , and still they have desires that they may , and some hope that they shall have a longer continuance in the world , and draw out some more years , yet before they come to the end of their line . i must and do most readily grant that long life is a blessing , a great blessing , as such , it is the matter of the promise , but withall know , eternal life is a greater blessing , and he is no loser that lives but a little while here , and then goes to live for ever with god. for gracious persons that have seen god's salvation , and know they have seen it , i say for such to be unwilling to dye carryes two evils in the bowels of it . 1. it is too great a magnifying of this present evil world , an over-valuing of it , and a setting too high a rate , indeed an unreasonable price upon the enjoyments and delights of it ; your esteem of them are far above their intrinsic worth , what will carnal men say , who stand by , and see how you are wedded to the world , and unwilling to be divorced from it ? what have they reason to say , but that you find a great deal in it ? you tast the fatness of the olive , and the sweetness of the vine , and so think it is good to be here . certainly this speaks your setting your hearts too much upon the creatures . and hereby you do justifie and encourage them in their worldliness , they are strengthened in their love of the world , and devotedness to it ; and also you do hereby cross and thwart god , and run counter to him in one of his grand designs , which is to wean his people from the world , and to take their hearts off from creature delights , which do ingross so much of their time , and cares , and do so much distract their thoughts , and embase their spirits , and hinder them both as to their service of god , and communion with him ; and indeed , how indecorous and unbecoming is it for heaven born souls to embrace dunghills , and for those that profess themselves risen with christ to set their affections upon those things that are here upon earth ; and for you who are the children of god , and heirs of heaven , to mind carnal things . it is far more unseemly than to see the heir of a crown stopping ovens , or raking kennels . after these things , saith our saviour , do the gentiles seek , that is , those who know no better , who are without god in the world , who are drowned in the flesh , and understand not the worth of an immortal soul , and upon these things let them dote still , alass , their portion is in this life , being aliens from the covenants of promise : and having no hope . but as for you who have been taught of god , who have heard of a blessed immortality , who have seen those invisible glories that are within the vail , you should be disingaged from all inferiour delights , and carry towards them with a spirit of indifference , you should use the world but do not love it , make it serve your occasions , but suffer it not to command your affections ; while you have it in your hands , and in your chests , keep it out of your hearts . the world is ( as we use to say of fire ) a very good servant , but a very bad master . things are usefull and beautifull in their places , so is the world , but when it is in the heart , it is out of its place , and then it is stark nought , and doth much hurt . 2. for those who are the people of god , and do know they are so , who have seen god's salvation , i say for them to be unwilling to dye is a great reproach and disparagement to those glories which are above . christians , you do hereby bring up an ill report upon the land of promise , as if the honey and milk of canaan were not so good & desireable as the garlick & onions of egypt , what is the interpretation & meaning of such a spirit but that you fear it will be to your loss to exchange earth for heaven , & to leave delights temporal for those that are eternal . what shall i say , this averseness from death , and loathnesses to depart from hence is a piece of practical blasphemy , as if these sorry cottages were better to inhabit than those stately pallaces , that these puddle delights , and muddy streams were more delicious and desireable , than that pure river of water of life , which is clear as chrystal , and proceeds out of the throne of god , and of the lamb , as if these childish and trifling vanities did out-weigh and out-worth the glories which are above ; and these pitifull contemptible glow-worms did out-shine and obscure the eternal sun of righteousness ; as if god would take you from hence to your loss , and you should be better in a strange land than in your fathers house ; and the preparations that god hath made for eternity , are not so good as those that he hath made for a short time , and so abraham , isaac , jacob , david , peter , paul , and the rest of the saints departed , had better have staid here , and now they are with god , do wish themselves with us again . in a word , it is as if the immediate and full enjoyment of god would not be sufficient for you , you could not find room enough nor goodness and delights enough in a god , but you must go begging to the door of creatures , and patch up to your selves an happiness with these small and sorry shreds of being , and you have found more to live upon , and to delight your selves in the drop of a bucket , than you can or do find in the ocean of goodness . i beseech you seriously consider of these things , all these things lye uppermost , any one may see them in such a persons unwillingness and loathness to dye whensoever god would have him . but to proceed . vse 3. in the third and last place , this may prove a very comfortable consideration , and staff of support in the hands of those who labour under sorrow and continual heaviness of heart , because of their departure of their gracious and holy relations , they are dead , and you carry as if all your comforts were dead with them . this is certain that when god gives such blows , those , that have any thing of tenderness , do feel the smart of them . breaches in the family do make breaches upon the spirit . when lazarus was dead , jesus wept ; mourning at funerals is no soloecism , but a lovely sight , so the sorrow be kept within those bounds that reason & religion have set it : and where there are such breaches , they call for binding up ; we should all be as so many good samaritans , pouring oyl into the wounds of the spirit , for the suppleing and healing of them . god hath been pleased to come into this family , and break the head of it , and cut it off ; in taking him away , he took away a tender husband , a loving father , a good master , a dear friend , one that in these evil days owned god , his waies , and people , and kept a church in his house , and his doors open , that hungry souls might feed upon , and be refreshed with the bread of life , which was there from sabbath to sabbath , delivered out unto them . the death of such a person is a common loss , not only to the familie , but to the country too , and because thereof you are in heaviness , and afflicted in your spirits . neither is this your case alone , but of many others . death rides in circuit , and according to the commission which it hath received , so it makes it seizures , here in an husband deprived of the delight of his eyes , there is a woman made a widow , and her children fatherless , many a faithful , fruitful , useful christian is cut down , under whose shadow , and in whose sellowship his relations and acquaintance did greatly rejoyce . unto such i have something to say , that should prevail to the silencing of them , and that is this , it is the will of god ; the great god will have it so . thou wouldest have had thy husband , thy wife , thy father , thy child lived longer , but god would have him die now ; and this should knock all quarrelings , and murmurrings , and discontents down ; for there is all the reason in the world why god's will should take place , and he should fullfil all his pleasure , and why our will should submit , and give place to god's . and then i have something to say , that may quiet , & satisfie you under such a providence ; for it is not enough for us that we be silent under it , unless we be also reconciled to it , & at peace with it ; now in order thereunto , take these 2 particulars , & consider them . 1. they did see gods salvation before they did depart , and so they dyed not under terrour , nor in doubt , nor at any uncertainty , but in peace ; before death closed the eyes of their bodies , god had opened the eyes of their faith , and shewn christ to them , and his love in christ ; and you have reason to be perswaded good things concerning them , even such as do accompany salvation , nay , to be now perswaded of their salvation it self . this was the reason of my choosing these words of simeon for the subject of my discourse at this time , because they were the swan-like song of our deceased brother , the very last words he spake , save some short , and holy counsels which he gave to his beloved , and most hopeful son , and shall not this satisfie you : but then add , 2. now that those holy ones are dead , they see those things which they never saw ; things that are most richly worth their seeing ; and which , as the case now stands with mankind , they could not see without dying . they have those sights which make the seer blessed , they are taken up to the beatifical vision . they do not see an end of all their sins and sorrows , nothing shall defile , nor afflict them more , all filth , and all tears are wiped away ; they see the accomplishment of all their hopes , the fullfilling of all their prayers , the reward of all their services , the crown of all their sufferings . they see the excellent majesty and glory of that god whom they had chosen , and do now behold his face in righteousness : neither is that sight terrible to them , as it was to moses in the mount , so that he did exceedingly fear and quake . no , those holy souls do see god , and live , and rejoyce ; that sight is their satisfaction , and delight . they see that blessed jesus , who loved them , and gave himself for them , and washed them in his own blood , and made them kings and priests unto god ; yea , they shall be like him , for they shall see him as he is . they do see that holy spirit which convinced them , and sanctified them , who directed them in their difficulties , strengthned them in their weaknesses , assisted them in their duties , and most sweetly supported , and comforted them in all their distresses . they see an innumerable company of angels and spirits of just men made perfect . in short , they see that which eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive , namely , that glory , kingdom , inheritance , those robes , crowns , and thrones which god hath prepared for them that love him . and the day is coming , in which they shall again see those bodies ( that at their flight to heaven they left behind ) in a better state than ever . and you o saints shall see them too , and christ with them , and then your hearts shall rejoyce , and your joy no man shall take from you . only , in the mean time , do you live believingly , walk humbly , holily , and circumspectly ; get your vessels filled with oil , your lamps burning , and your loins girt ; make haste to the kingdom of god , and be ye followers of them , that through faith and patience do inherit the promises . the royal common-wealth's man, or king david's picture represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams, knight and baronet, and alderman of london ; in st. katherine creechurch, on the 10th of march, 1667 / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. 1668 approx. 96 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45563 wing h742 estc r16815 11733988 ocm 11733988 48444 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45563) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48444) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 533:15) the royal common-wealth's man, or king david's picture represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams, knight and baronet, and alderman of london ; in st. katherine creechurch, on the 10th of march, 1667 / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [8], 40 p. printed by tho. newcomb, for william grantham ..., [london?] in the savoy : 1668. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng david, -king of israel. adams, thomas, -sir, 1586-1668. christian life -sermons. funeral sermons. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the royal common-wealths man : or , king david's picture , represented in a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of sir tho. adams knight and baronet , and alderman of london . in st katherine creechurch , on the 10th of march , 1667. by nath. hardy , d. d. d. r. chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , and vicar of st. martins in the fields . david fortis in bello , patiens in adversis , in hierusalem pacificus , in victoriâ mansuetus , in peccato dolens , in senectute providus , rerum modos , vices temporum , per singularum sonos servavit aetatum : ●t mihi videatur non minus vivendi genere , quam canendi suavitate praedulcis moralem deo sui fudisse meriti cantilenam . ambros. de officiis , l. 1. cap. 24. in the savoy . printed by tho. newcomb , for william grantham , at the sign of the black bear in westminster-hall . 1668. to the right worshipful sir william adams , baronet . as it is not only lawful , but ( in gregory nazianzens opinion ) a most due debt , to publish the praises of gods eminent servants ( especially when dead ; ) so it is expedient that the publication should be extended as far , and perpetuated as long as may be . it is the advantage which all discourses ( particularly encomiastical ) have by being printed , above that which they have by being only spoken ; that whereas these are like pictures hung in a private gallery , those are as statues set upon an high hill , every way conspicuous ; these are as pictures drawn in fading colours , those are as imagery wrought in lasting arras . vpon these considerations ( worthy sir ) i suppose it is , that you desired this following discourse might ( by the printers help ) become legible , and though i am very conscious of its manifold defects , upon the same reason i have fulfilled your desire . it were too great pity , if such a rare and precious jewel as he was should have been lockt up in a cabinet ; yea , pity it is , that a more skilful lapidary was not made choice of to have set him forth in his lustre . but the best of it is , his native lustre was such as needed not the help of art ; and so far is this discourse from adding to his splendour , that in truth it receiveth whatever worth it hath from him . such as it is , i tender to you by this dedication , and justly , since you have the greatest right to it , as being an inventory of your dear fathers best goods , and choicest riches , which he hath at once carried with him and left behind him , in as much as the good works of them who die in the lord follow them , to wit , for their own remuneration ; and yet stay here to be paterns for others imitation . an inventory i call it , and that such as i dare own to be so far true , that there is nothing said of him which doth not belong to him ; and therefore let none think that i do nimis adulari , at all flatter him , though on the other hand i ingeniously acknowledg it is far short of what might have been said of him : and therefore your self with the rest of his relations may think that i did frigide laudare , coldly commend him : the truth is , though i will not use saint john's hyperbolical expression concerning our saviour ; there are many other things which jesus did , the which if they should be written every one , i suppose that the world it self could not contain the books which should be written : yet i dare say , the several passages of his excellent life could not be contained in an hours discourse , but justly require a large volume . and now ( honoured sir ) though it grieve you to have lost , it is no small comfort to you that you had such a father , so far excelling in all virtue , nor will , i hope , the reading afresh what you have heard before , discompose you , since you will finde more white of your deceased fathers gracious life , than will checker the black of his dolorous death : nor is it only a comfort , but an honour , a great honour to you to have had such a father , who was greatly and highly ( yet no more than deservedly ) beloved and honoured , both living and dead in city and country . but withall , give me leave to mind you , that the having such a father , layeth upon you a strong obligation of duty to walk in his steps and conform to his patern , which i trust , in some measure you do , and will do more and more . may you ( if it be god's will ) equalize his years , and as you grow in years , grow in grace , that you may if not equalize , yet come near to his righteous patern . i doubt not but whilst he was on earth , he put up many devout prayers for you , your consort , your posterity , and not for you only but your sisters with their relations , whereof you all have and will experience the benefit , nor can i close with a better prayer than that all those blessings ghostly and bodily which he implored for you , may by divine bounty , be continued and multiplied upon you : i subscribe my self , apr. 7. 1668. sir , your affectionate servant , nath. hardy . acts 13. 36. david after he had served his own generation , by the will of god fell asleep and was laid to his fathers , and saw corruption . i am at this time to preach upon a double text , the one whereof i have now read in your ears , and the other is here presented to your eies : both of them so copious that the scantling of an hour is too narrow for each . and therefore waving all prefaces and without enquiring into the context or occasion of the words : i shall immediately address my self to a short discourse upon the text , and so proceed to give an account of the sorrowful occasion of this solemn assembly . and if in performing this double task , i shall exceed the limits of a single hour , my apology shall be in the language of salust , praestat tacere quam pauca loqui , it were better to say nothing at all than too little upon two such pregnant subjects . the former whereof is st. pauls narrative concerning david , as it is set forth in these words ; david after he had served his own generation , by the will of god , &c. which narrative plainly parts it self into the life and death of david . the character of his life is but one , but that unum aggregatum such an one , as ( by the handling it will appear ) hath many involved in it , he served his own generation by the will of god. those of his death are three , by which the state of the dead is represented to the life . he fell asleep , and was laid to his fathers , and saw corruption . i begin with the character of david's life , he served his own generation by the will of god. and before i proceed further , it will not be amiss to observe , that the apostle speaking of david though but collaterally giveth him an excellent encomium . it had been sufficient as to the scope of st. pauls discourse only to have said , david after he fell asleep , saw corruption . but he being an eminent person not only in place but grace must not be mentioned without an honorable character , nay though he wanted not his faults and those great ones too , yet they are buried in silence and only his worth proclaimed . it is the saying of solomon , the memory of the just is blessed , the vulagar latin from the lxx read it , cum laudibus , gods faithful servants ought to be remembred with praises . upon this account we finde god himself adorning those who were eminent in their generations with the amiable titles of servant and friend , as abraham , job , moses , josua , and others ; for this reason st. paul enumerating the worthies of the old testament , giveth them their due characters ; as abel , enoch , noah , with others : and here though it were but by the by and in a few words , he bestoweth a very high commendation upon david , that he served his own generation by the will of god. which words in the greek are capable of a double translation whilst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred in the dative and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the ablative case , and so have our translators construed it , he served his own generation by the will of god , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred in the ablative case , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the dative , and so it is translated in the margin , in his own generation he served the will of god. those two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are also capable of a double interpretation in this place and accordingly the sense of the clause may be variously explicated ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among other acceptations , is sometimes and most usually taken for the men of one age , or , sometimes for the age of one man ; and so here ▪ either he served his own generation , that is , the men of the time wherein he lived , or , he served in his own generation , that is , during the time of his own life : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render will , signifieth counsel which cannot properly and strictly be applyed to god : for whereas counsel supposeth imperfection of knowledg , and requireth time of deliberation . to god all things past , present , and to come , are at once and altogether manifest : but , yet inasmuch as when the will acts by counsel , it acts most rationally and prudently , it may serve to minde us of the equity , and wisdom of the divine will. and whereas there is the will of gods purpose and decree ; and t●e will of his precept and command ; both of these may fitly be understood in both the translations , all which i shall accordingly make use of , since every way the words serve for the commendation of david , and consequently instruction unto us : and 1. first of the translation which we have in the text , — he served his own generation by the will of god , it here we understand the will of god's command , it must be referr'd to served ; and the meaning is , that david in serving his generation , did not follow his own fancy , nor yet the humour of the times , but god's will made known to him in his word . and this restriction must still be taken in , as we ought to be another's friend , so a servant to our generation , but usque ad aras , and no farther ; so far as may consist with a conformity to god's will. there is a time serving , which is , though too usual , yet detestable , when we sail with every winde , and comply ▪ with every humour of the age we live in . too many such have been in our times , who change not only their fashions but opinions according to the mode , men that can swear and forswear , and will be sure to side with that part of the generation that is uppermost , but far be this from the conscientious man who according to the double reading of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will serve the time , but no further than withall he may serve the lord according to his will. but i rather adhere to that exposition which understanding the will of god's decree , referrs it to generation , and giveth this sense , that david served that generation upon which he was cast by the will of god : according to which construction here is something implied and something express'd in this character . 1. that which is implied is , that that generation in which every man liveth , is , allotted to him by the will and counsel of god. we come not into this world by chance but providence , and that we are born in this or that place , in this or that age , is the wise appointment of god , according to that of st. paul , he hath made of one blood all nations to dwell upon the face of the earth , and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitation . and therefore , if the generation in which we live be virtuous and prosperous , we must thankfully acknowledg the goodness of divine dispensation ; and if it be vitious and calamitous , the daies and times evil , we must not repine nor murmur , because it is no other than divine determination which hath cast us upon the one or the other . 2. but secondly , that which is expressed is , that it is our duty , whilst we live in this world to serve our generation . it is a known saying of the oratour , nemo sibi natus , no man is born for himself , nay more , no creature is made for it self ; but all that they may be serviceable to each other , and every one to the community . we may observe in the several parts and members of our natural body , how that their several acts and operations are in reference to the whole , the eye seeth , the foot moveth , the mouth feedeth , and the stomack digesteth not for it self only , but all the rest of the members . thus it ought to be in church and common-wealth ; st. paul saith of charity , that she seeketh not her own , to wit not only , nay , in some cases not principally . it is the same apostles counsel to the phillippians , look not every man on his own , but the things one of another , to which may be added and all upon the things which concern the publick . the truth is , for this end hath god bestowed upon men several gifts of nature , of art , of fortune , and of grace , that with these they may serve their generations . yea , for this reason , as he hath enriched several countries with different commodities ; so he hath furnished men with several gifts , to one in this kinde , to another in that , that so they may every one stand in need of , and be helpful to each other : nor are we only cisterns to retain but conduit pipes , to convey that water which is bestowed upon us : treasurers to lay up , but stewards to lay out the talents which are communicated to us for the common good . this is that duty which is incumbent upon every man according to his capacity and ability , but more especially such as david was , who had riches and honour , men of wealth and estate , men of power and authority . true it is , there is no man though never so mean and poor but may serve his generation , if he have a family , ( as most men have ) he serveth the publick by well ordering his houshould , especially educating his children in the fear of god , it being not imaginable how great an influence that hath upon the commonwealth . if he hath a calling ( as no man ought to be without ) by his industry and diligence in that he doth not only maintain himself and family , but serveth the publick ; finally , if he be a pious man , by his good example to those among whom he liveth , and both by his mourning for the publick enormities and prayers for the publick welfare he is greatly useful to the community , and therefore let no man think himself excused or disobliged from this service . but yet to make use of our saviours words , to whom much is given , of them much is required , and consequently , by them much ought to be performed in the service of their generation . rich men with their gold and silver by works of piety and charity ; great men with their power and honour , by restraining and punishing evil doers ; and by encouraging and rewarding those who do well , since as it is their privilege that they can , so it is their duty to be serviceable to their generation above others . it is the difference which aristotle maketh between a tyrant and a king , that a tyrant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mindeth his own profit , but a king 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the benefit of them whom he governs . and though that be a rebellious principle rex minor universis , which maketh the king inferiour to the whole body of the people : yet it was an excellent motto of trajan the emperour , non mihi sed populo ; who lookt upon himself as a servant to his people : it is very observable how that the sun is called in the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a servant , in as much as it shineth not for it self but the world , serving all creatures with its light , heat and influence ; and such ought kings and princes to be , yea as all the stars in their several spheres are useful to the publick , so ought all that are set on high in any kind of power and authority at once both praesse and prodesse aliis , to go before and be beneficial to others . nay such hath been the temper of publick spirited men in publick places that they have empoverished themselves to enrich the community ; like the clouds which empty themselves to water the earth . one of the german princes had for his device , a candle burning in a candlestick with these letters , a. s. m. c. aliis servio , meipsum consumens , i consume my self to serve others . plutarch reports an excellent saying of pelopidas — a valiant commander , who when going out to the wars he was desired by his wife to look to himself return'd this answer , it is for private souldiers to be careful of themselves , they in publick places must have an eye to other mens lives . though there be more danger to a man's self by standing in the gap than getting behind the hedg , yet every good man will stand in that place to which his office obligeth him , saying with pompey when a storm threatned the ship which was going to fetch corn for rome , it is not necessary that we live but it is needful that rome should be relieved . thus ought all to be as stones , and great men as corner stones and pillars in the building whereof they are a part , contributing to their utmost for the support and preservation of the whole ; nay they ought all as souldiers in their several ranks , and great men like the chief officers in the front adventure themselves to get the field and win the day . nor is our zeal to the publick to be confin'd to that which is called in the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our own generation but extended to the generations which are to come , that when we are perished from off the earth , those that follow after us , may be the better for us ; for since according to that known maxim , bonum quo communius eo melius , good is so much the better by how much it is the more common , the further our service extends , the more acceptable . it was matter of joy to the blessed virgin that from henceforth ( to wit from her conception of christ in her womb ) all generations should call her blessed , and it is no small cause of joy to every good man when he can , yea his earnest desire and indeavour that he may be a blessing not only to one but many , to the present but future generations , doing and promoting those things which may procure and preserve piety and tranquillity to the places where he liveth in after ages . how fully all this was verified in david may appear from the several passages of his history , which because time will not give me leave to enlarge , i shall contract in a narrow compass . he served his generation as a good man by his grieving for the notorious transgressors of gods law , insomuch that rivers of tears ran down his eyes ; by his praying for the peace and prosperity of jerusalem ; by walking in his house with a perfect heart , and by doing that which was right in the eyes of the lord , not turning aside from any thing that the lord commanded him save in the matter of vriah the hittite : insomuch that his successors are commended and discommended according as they were like or unlike in their practices to david . he served his generation as a great man in wealth , by consecrating a considerable part of his gold and silver for the temple which his son built , in honour by executing justice and judgment for all the people , he fed them ( saith the psalmist of david ) according to the integrity of his heart , and guided them by the skilfulness of his hand . he saith of himself and accordingly he performed it , when i shall receive the congregation , i will judg uprightly ; and again , mine eye shall be upon the faithful in the land ; and again , i will early destroy all the wicked of the land , then which no ruler can do a greater service for his generation . how many adventures did he engage in for his country , witness among others that notable encounter with goliah : and by his zeal in preparing for the house of god , and establishing the worship of god , he served not only the present but future generations , nay by these excellent psalms which he hath left upon record , pen'd upon several occasions , and useful for all conditions of life , he hath and will serve the church of god , as well christian as jewish , and that in all ages , to the end of the world . thus did david and thus proportionably ought we in our several stations . but alas how few such are to be found ? there are too many lasy debauched persons ( the chronicle of whose life was long since summed up by the poet , nos numerus sumus & nati consumere fruges ) such as are the very drones of the hive , telluris inutile pondus , barren trees fit only to be cut down , like wooden legs , and glass eyes , nay not so good , for these are of some use at least to fill up a vacuity , but these are like cyphers in arithmetick which signifie nothing , nay not so good as these neither , for these are serviceable in conjunction with figures , but they do no good alone , and by their society with others much hurt . they are the wens and tumors , yea the botches and scabs of the body to which they belong , a reproach and dishonour to their generation . the romans appointed their censours to inquire into every mans course of life , & nigro carbone notare , to marke them with a brand of infamy , who could give no good account of their life , as adjudging him unworthy to be a member of a society , by whom the society is not bettered nay dammaged , and such are all idle vagrants and dissolute libertines . yea well were it if among the rich and mighty men there were not many who like mineral grounds , which have a great deal of gold and silver in their bowels , but bring forth no fruits upon their furface ; or like mountains that are of a great height , and yield but very short grass , notwithstanding their high places and full purses do little or no good in their generation . nay which is yet far worse , there are some and these too of the upper rank , nor is it so long since there were such among us , i pray god there be none such still who in stead of serving their generation serve themselves upon the generation where they live , raising ther own fortunes upon publick spoils , warming themselves at those flames which consume the community , not rulers but ruiners , not governours but oppressors , who in stead of feeding , feed upon the people . and though i hope the number of these is small , yet i fear the most are of a meer selfish spirit , not caring for their generation whither it sink or swim , flourish or wither , be happy or miserable , provided they may save their own stake , or advance their own interest ; whereas in truth would we weigh things in the balance of right reason , we shall find that serving our own generation is the best way to secure our own interest and that both as to matter of profit and honour . it was god's command to his people in babylon , seek the peace of the city , for in the peace thereof you shall have peace , every particular is involv'd in the general , if the tree wither , the branches cannot flourish , if the ship sink the cabbin cannot be safe , and therefore , by serving our generation , we serve our selves . nay , in this sence to be a servant is an honour , else sure st. paul would not have made choice of this as the fittest character he could give king david in my text , nor indeed is any prince more honour'd in the sight of god and man , then he who most serveth the publick by well governing them . among all the creatures which god made , the angels are the most glorious and yet of them it is said , that they are ministring spirits , sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation . nay of our blessed saviour it is said , he came not to be ministred unto but to minister ; and surely then it is no dishonour , no not to the greatest potentates : nay shall i say , it is the grand reason why they are entrusted by god with their power and authority that thereby they may serve the generation . and let this suffice for a dispatch of the translation which we meet with in the text . 2. but there is another in the margin namely that david in his own generation served the will of god , which seemeth best to correspond with that which is said of him at the 22th verse of this chapter that he was a man after gods own heart , and did fulfil all his will , and therefore must not be passed by . in the handling whereof , i shall again make use of that forementioned distinction of the will of gods decree and command . 1. david served the will of gods decree , and that both actively in respect of the church and her enemies in his time , and passively in respect of himself . 1. he served gods decree actively , in as much as he was a special instrument in the hand of god for bringing great things to pass in order to the deliverance of his people and the destruction of their enemies , for so we find in his history , how once and again he subdued the philistines , recovered the ark out of their hands , and brought it into the city of david with gladness . what victories he obtained over the amalekites , ammonites , edomites , moabites and syrians , by which meanes the people of israel enjoyed plenty and tranquility . this is that which is observable in all ages how god hath found out , or rather , made some persons fit for eminent service , and stirred them up to do noble and heroick acts for his church , the book of judges affords plentiful instances of this kinde , where we read , that god raised up judges which delivered them out of the hands of those that spoiled them such as were othniel , barak , deborah , gideon , jephithath , samson , with others who from time to time served the will of god in rescuing the israelites from their enimies , time would fail me to tell you of hezekiah and josiah , nehemiah and zorobabel together with those many worthies we finde in the histories of others and of our own kingdom in former and latter times . among which i should be very injurious if i should forget to mention him whose memory will be pretious to all loyal english men so long as the sun and moon shall endure . the thrice noble duke of albemarle to whom the character of this text in both translations so justly belongs , having served his own , nay succeeding generations , yea , having most eminently served the will and counsel of god in his generation , by being the happy instrument of delivering his country from slavery , and setling his king in his throne , together with the reestablishment of our laws and liberties . the word in my text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is according to its derivation primarily applied to marriners at sea , who by rowing with the oar , or in any other way serve the pilot in the safe passage of the ship to the haven . what is this world but a sea , the church a ship , god the pilot , by whose providence , the ship is steered , and those whom he in a more especial manner maketh ▪ use of to preserve the ship of his church whilst it passeth through this world , are as it were his under-rowers ? we read of a memorable vision in the prophecy of zachary , of four horns by which are meant the churches enemies , and four carpenters which are the instruments raised by god to break these horns ; when god hath any great work to do , either to pull down babylon or build up sion he will send carpenters to accomplish it , and surely thus to be imploy'd by god in the accomplishment of his will , is no small honour : yea , for this end doth that god ( who can when he pleaseth do his own work without means ) vouchsafe as it were to single out some persons in several ages to be serviceable to his decrees in the protection of his church , that he may clothe them with renown ; and consequently we ought to fulfil this design of god by giving them all respect and honour which they are capable to receive and we to give . i cannot close up this without taking notice that this is no apology , no nor so much as the least excuse for those egregious persecutors , oppressors , usurpers , which have in their generations been destructive to the places where they lived , ( among whom oliver cromwel the late cursed monster of men deserveth to be looked upon as a nonsuch ) i say this is no plea for them that in some sence it may be said of them they served the will of god , for they only serve his permissive not his effective will , and besides what is said of the assyrian king , howbeit he meaneth not so , neither doth his heart think so , is fitly applicable to them , they design not to serve the will of god but their own covetous , ambitious and revengefull lusts ; only god is pleased to suffer and make use of those horrid wickednesses and violences which they act upon others ; and for the bringing about of his own most just counsels and righteous decrees , so that howsoever some of them adding hypocrisie to their villany have pretended the glory of god , yet by their abominable actions they have discovered their intentions to be nothing less , and though they have after a sort served the will of god , yet it was besides nay against their will , since at the same time , and in the same thing whereby unwittingly and unwillingly they have fufilled gods secret will of decree they have wittingly and wilfully violated his revealed will of command . and therefore in a far other notion is this of david's serving gods will to be understood in the text ; namely , his ready accomplishment of of gods decree in saving his church and destroying his enemies , by these warrantable means which his word alloweth , and his providence hath offered to him which as it was highly commendable in him , so justly imitable by us upon the like occasions . but secondly , he served gods will of decree , and that passively in respect of himself by his willingness to suffer whatsoever evil god allotted to befall him in his generation ; he was a man who experienc'd both conditions of life , namely prosperity and adversity , nor was he more thankful for the one than patient under the other , and that because it was gods will , for so runs his own language , i was dumb and opened not my mouth because it was thy doing ; very observable to this purpose is that expression of his humble resignation , where he saith of his return to jerusalem , if i shall find favour in the eyes of the lord he will bring me back , but if he thus say , i have no delight in thee ; behold , here am i , let him do to me as seemeth good to him . and in this notion this character belongs to every good man , whose name like that of a deacon to whom st. austin writeth an epistle is quod vult deus what god will , he is willing to be any thing or nothing , as god shall dispose of him . this saith st. chrysostom , is the property of a servant of god to be well pleased with his severe as well as gracious dispensations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ not only when he smileth but when he frowneth , when he delivereth but when he afflicteth , as to say with ely , dominus est , it is the lord let him do what seemeth him good , and as that nobleman answered his king when he said , you must go on hunting with me , non oportet nam lubens volo , it is not i must , but i will with all readiness : so did david , saying , oh god , my heart is ready my heart is ready ; and let the same frame of spirit and temper of heart be in every one of us . 2. besides this notion of serving gods will , that is , his decrees both by doing and suffering ( since so far as consists with the analogy of faith , and the reason of the context , it is best to expound scripture in its largest sence ) i must not omit the notion of serving gods will , that is , his commandments which are the signification of that which god would have us to avoid and perform . we find in the 119th psalm david often praying to god , teach me thy statutes , and teach me the way of thy statutes , and make me to understand the way of thy precepts ; and accordingly he professeth that gods testimonies were his meditation , and that all the day ; nay , his eyes prevented the night-watches that he might meditate in gods word ; nor was this only that he might know but do them , and therefore he prayeth , teach me good judgement and knowledge ( and a good understanding have they that do his commandments ; ) and again , oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes , and again , make me to go in the path of thy commandments . thus like a good servant he desired first to know his masters will , and then to doe it . and as he served the will of god so he performed that service . 1. cordially , rejoycing in the way of gods statutes , making his testimonies his delight . yea , and in another psalm he saith , i delight to do thy will , oh my god yea thy law is in my heart . 2. speedily , his resolve is not only to go but run the way of gods commandments , in his practice he made haste and delayed not to keep gods commandments ; as well knowing , that though in other cases haste maketh waste , yet in this delay breedeth danger . 3. universally , not that he was without particular failings , and those gross ones too ; but as he saith himself , he had respect to all gods commandments , not wilfully living in the breach of any ; and again , i hate every false way , so that the bent of his heart was against all sin , and the course of his life was conformable to all virtue ; and accordingly it is said of him at the 22 verse of this chapter , he did fulfil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all gods will. 4. constantly , in his generation or age ; that is , to the end of his life , and therefore he saith not only i have chosen the way of truth , but i have stuck unto thy testimonies ; and again , thy testimonies have i taken as an heritage for ever , and i have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway , even unto the end . all which considered well might he not only say but ingeminate it , oh lord , truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant . thus did david , and thus ought we ; but do we thus ? we all profess our selves , the servants of god , and what is the proper notion of a servant , but one who is ad alterius nutum , at another man's command , and therefore serve god we cannot if we serve not his will. but alas how many of us according to saint pauls character , are taken captive by the devil at his will : and like the centurion's souldiers , he bids us go , and we go , come , and we come , do this and that , and we do it ▪ we serve diverse lusts and pleasures following ( as our church teacheth us to confess ) the devices and desires of our own hearts . and like those of whom saint peter speaketh that wrought the will of the gentiles ▪ we conform to the humours of wicked and ungodly men , so far are we from being what we profess to be servants , to the will of god. oh , therefore let us sit down and consider with our selves . 1. what the will of god is , which we are obliged to serve and according to saint pauls exhortation , prove what is that good , that acceptable and perfect will of god. he hath shewed thee , oh man , saith the prophet , what is good , and what doth the lord thy god require of thee . whatsoever god willeth and requireth is good , just and equal : and that were it for no other reason but because he willeth and requireth it . david speaking of the will of god , saith , the law of the lord is perfect . the statutes of the lord are right . the fear of the lord is clean . the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether : good reason we should serve his will which is so just , pure , right and perfect . 2. whose will it is , namely the will of god , who is , 1. supremus in imperando , most supreme in commanding , having an absolute soveraignty over all his creatures ; wherever the supreme power on earth resideth , whither in one or many , it is and must be arbitrary , but , surely much more in him who is without a solaecism or hyperbole , most highest king of kings , and lord of lords , and therefore his will ought to be our law and the rule of our actions . 2. benignissimus in adjuvando , most gracious in assisting ; who as in justice he may command what he will , so in mercy will enable us ( if we seek to him ) to do what he commands ; upon which account it is that the yoke and burthen of gods law is said to be light and easie . 3. indulgentissimus in condonando , most merciful in forgiving the defects and imperfections of our service for so the promise runs , i will spare them as a man spareth his son that serveth him accepting the will often for the deed , and pardoning the imperfections that usually accompany best deeds . 4. munificentissimus in remunerando , most bountiful in recompencing those who serve him . indeed , there wants not prophane atheists who say , it is in vain to serve the lord ; but saint paul hath assured us , he is a rewarder of them that seek him diligently ; nay he is not only a rewarder , but he himself is the reward : they are his own words to abraham , i am thy exceeding great reward . and surely upon all these considerations , we shall conclude that nothing is more reasonable than after david's pattern in our generation to serve the will of god. from the character of his life , proceed we more briefly to the threefold character of his death , by which is described the state of the dead . 1. he fell asleep , that respects the person . 2. was laid to his fathers , that respects both his soul and body . 3. and saw corruption , that only respects the body . 1. he fell asleep , those words which precede , the will of god , are by some intepreters referr'd to this clause he fell asleep ; in which construction they afford us a good instruction ; namely that death befalls us not by chance , but by the will of god. it is appointed ( saith the apostle ) for men once to dy , and not only the thing it self in general , but the circumstances as to individuals ; namely , the means , manner , place , time , are all appointed by the will and counsel of god , we are all in this world as so many tenants to god , the great landlord ; and this not for any certain term of years , but durante beneplacito , during his good pleasure we come in , and stay , and go out of this world : so much that prayer of simeon imports , lord , lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , we can neither stay longer nor go sooner than god pleaseth . a consideration which ought to be an argument of contentation both in respect of our selves and others whensoever or howsoever they dye , since it is by the will of god , to which we must necessarily and ought voluntarily to submit . 2. to let this go , i might further observe that it is said of david , he fell asleep after he had served the will of god in his generation , or , served his generation by the will of god not before , nor doth any of gods servants dye before they have fulfilled the work for which god sent them into the world . it is said of our blessed saviour that though the jews sought to take him , yet no man laid hands on him , for his hour was not come ; yea , he saith of himself , i must work the work of him that sent me into this world , whilst it is day ; not did the day ( to wit of his life ) exspire till he had done that work . the time of my departure saith st. paul is at hand , but what followeth , i have finished my course , then , and not till then , was the time of his departure , when he had finished his course . it is that which may very much comfort us whensoever death seemeth to , or really doth approach that as we dye not before the time which god hath allotted us to live , so neither before the service be done which he hath appointed for us in our generation , and if that be done , we have reason to be willing to ly down to sleep as here david , after he had served his generation , fell asleep . 3. but that which i here especially take notice of is , that death is resembled to a sleep . it is observable among prophane writers both greek and latine poets and oratours , that sleep is said to be the image , the kindred , the sister , the brother of death , and this metaphor is frequently used in the holy scriptures , in the old testament promiscuously of both bad and good , in the new , especially of the good , who are said not only to sleep , but to sleep in jesus : and to sleep in the lord. and thus christ useth it of lazarus , st. luke of stephen , and here st. paul of david ; and this more particularly in a double respect . 1. sleep is a levamen laborum , a quiet repose and a cessation of all pain and labour ; thus they that dy in the lord , rest from their labours . it is a saying abundantly verified , omne quod vitae praesentis miseria , this life is a wilderness of troubles , wherein our bodies are exposed to pains and pain , and our souls suffer somtimes by sympathy with the body , and somtimes by its own immediate sorrows , cares , and fears ; but when we dy we are freed from all these . valerius expresseth it by 4 letters , h. r. i. p. hic requiescit in pace . petrus diaconus by three , d. m. s. dormiunt mortui securi , the dead sleep in safety , and rest in peace . this is that which in respect of the body is common to the wicked with the righteous ; but in regard of the soul peculiar to the righteous , for whilst the soul of dives is tormented , the soul of lazarus is comforted saith abraham . true , the soul doth not as the psuchopannuchists fondly asserted , sleep with the body , nor yet as the body , for though by the separation of the soul from the body , there is cessation of those organical actions which the soul performeth by the help of the body , yet its immanent and immaterial acts are performed by it in that state of separation , and if ( as we observe in our own experience ) the soul is active in dreams and fancies whilst the body sleepeth , we may very well conceive that the soul hath its proper acts which it exerciseth whilst it is without the body . but as to a cessation from all disturbing passions , the souls of the good may be said to fall asleep . in this respect they are said to be in gods hand , a place of safety in abrahom's bosome a place of refreshment , and under the altar a place of refuge . the greek word here used ( as hath been already intimated ) referrs to the oar , and tugging at the oar is a laborious imployment . how sweet is sleep to the weary labourer , and so was death to david who had laboured more abundantly than others in serving his generation . the churchyards are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sleeping places , the coffin a couch , and the grave a bed , so saith the prophet , they enter into peace , they rest in their beds , so the poet , somnus ut est mortis sic lectus imago sepulchri , and such a bed , quo mollius ille dormit qui durius in vita se gesserit , wherein he sleepeth most sweetly who hath suffered most bitterly ; for which reason saint stephen dying under a shour of stones , is said to fall asleep . 2. when we ly down at night to sleep , we hope to awake again in the morning : and therefore is death a sleep to the godly , ob spem futurae resurrectionis , for the hope of a future resurrection . sleep is a short death , and death is a long sleep ; but though long it is not perpetual , we shall arise again , and as , though a man sleep many hours , it seemeth when he awaketh but a few minutes , so though we ly dead many years , it shall seem at the resurrection but as it were a few hours : nor do we with so much ease awake any man out of his sleep , as divine power shall raise us from the dead , yea , as usually we awake men by our voice , so shall the dead at the last day , hear the voice of the son of god , and come forth . this notion of deaths being a sleep , in reference to the resurrection is true , both in respect of bad and good , since all shall be raised at the last day : but whereas sick men awake disturb'd , but healthy men refresh'd ; so shall it then be with the wicked and the righteous , those shall arise to sorrow , these to joy , those shall awake and sigh , but these shall awake and sing . and therefore saith david of himself , my flesh shall rest in hope , and again , when i awake , i shall be satisfied with thy likeness . so that , to close up this , seek not consolation against death , but let death it self be our consolation . true it is , death it self is very terrible , yea , the king of terrours , and the thoughts of it so dreadful that we are very unwilling to entertain them . but lo , here it is reprefented to us in a mollifying phrase , and that which is familiar to us : and why thus ? but to mitigate our fears of death , upon which account christs crucifing is called a lifting up , and the afflictions of gods servants instructions , to smooth the roughness and asperity of them , and withall to render death familiar to us , that every evening when we put off our clothes , ly down in our beds , and fall asleep , we may call to mind our death , and our grave , looking upon this as a bed , and that as a sleep . 2. the next character of death david is , that he was laid to his fathers , which i have already told you , may be understood in reference either to the soul or the body . 1. to the soul , and so the meaning is , that when he fell asleep , his soul went to the nest of those holy patriarchs which were gone before him . i am a stranger upon earth , and a sojourner , saith david , as all my fathers were : because as they so he , had but a short continuance upon earth , and looked upon themselves as going hence , and when he went hence , he went to those his fathers , which had gone before him : what that place was , i shall not stay to dispute , most certainly it was not a limbus subterraneus , prison under ground , on this side hell , where their souls were detain'd till christs resurrection : most certainly it was the bosom of abraham ; and that a place of comfort : yea , most probably ( by our saviours words ) the kingdom of heaven . and it is no small comfort to consider , that when we dye , we shall be gathered to our godly ancestors and progenitours . 2. to the body , and so it may be taken in a narrow or an enlarged sence , in a narrow sence : those are laid to their fathers , who are buried in the same grave or vault with their progenitors : but in this sence this was not true of david , for where it is said , he slept with his fathers , it presently followeth , and he was buried in the city of david , which city of david was not bethlehem , the place of his fathers , but sion the place where the kings were buried ; so that it must be taken in an enlarged sence , inasmuch as the grave being the common receptacle of all men , any one being buried , is laid to his fathers , because in a grave , which is the place for all mankind : and so gathered quasi in tumulum & cumulum , to the heap of dead bodies . it is that consideration which should render the grave so much the less dreadful to us , because it is no more than what is common to our fathers , nay , to the whole race of them that dwell upon the earth . 3. the last character referrs only to the body , which is that he saw corruption . seeing ( according to the hebrew phrase ) is as much as experiencing ; so we read else where of seeing death , what man is he that liveth ( saith the psalmist ) and shall not see death ? there were never any but two , enoch and elias , and i may say , what man is he that dieth , and shall not see corruption ? there was never any but one , the holy one of god : but otherwise all that lie in the grave , rot ; for which reason the same word in hebrew signifieth both the grave and corruption ; i have said ( saith job ) to corruption , thou art my father , and to the wormes , you are my mother , my sister , and this , as appeareth by the foregoing words in reference to the grave , wherein though some by embalming are preserved longer than others ; for so say some , was alexander's body kept from putrefaction above an hundred years : yet sooner or later all rot , for which cause our body is called by st. paul , vile body , or according to the greek , body of humiliation . a consideration which may very well be matter of abasement to the strongest man , & beautifullest woman , that their strength must degenerate into weakness , their colour into paleness , and both at last into rottenness , though withall , let it not too much discourage us , since as the rotting of the grain in the ground maketh way for its springing up and fructifying , so shall the corrupting of our bodies in the grave . and therefore let us in the multitude of our thoughts within us touching the grave , look beyond it , at that day when ( as st. paul assureth us ) our lord jesus shall change our vile body , and when ( as the same apostle tells us ) mortality shall put on immortality , and corruption shall put on incorruption . and thus i have given you an account of saint pauls narrative concerning king david . but another narrative is , and that justly , at this time , expected from me concerning the life and death of the right worshipful , and right worthy knight , sir thomas adams , knight and barronet . there is no less than a threefold obligation , to wit , of piety , equity and charity laid upon us of publishing the excellencies of those who have done worthily and been famous in their generation , since ( as saint basil ) hereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we glorifie the lord in and for his servants and that is piety , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — we honour the dead in their memory , and that is equity , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we rejoyce and benefit the people by their examples , and that is charity ; as physicians and chirurgians do very much advance their knowledg by anatomising the bodies of dead men , so we either are , or may be much better'd in our practise by a delineation of the graces of dead saints : and therefore though this eminent servant of god , and of his generation being taken out of this valley of bacah and carried to that mount of joy ( where beholding the glorious deity , he sings eternal halelujahs ) stands in no need of any praises from us . yet it is needful , very needful for us , who are left behind that we may be stirred up to follow his choyce example . and now what paterculus saith of aemilius paulus , he was vir in tantum laudandus in quantum virtus ipsa intelligi potest , i may fitly apply to him , the circumference of his encomium , may very well take in all the lines of virtue , which meet in him as in their center : and i could heartily wish that as those confessours truly said in their epistle to saint cyprian , vigorous expressions were correspondent to the glorious actions or rather passions of those martyrs whom he commended , so i could now draw the picture of this worthy , not only at the length , but to the life . but alas my pencil giveth so rough a draught , that i am afraid i shall but disfigure him whilst i go about to commend him , so that i am ready to draw back my hand , whilst i am drawing his lineaments , and therefore shall desire as he did , who wrote the life of saint cyprian , that quicquid minus dixero , ( minus enim dicam necesse est . ) if i shall say less , as less i must needs say than he deserveth , it may not derogate from his honour , but be imputed to my unskilfulness ; and if any shall think i say too much , i shall ascribe it to their ignorance since none who knew him but must needs have a high value for him , nor shall i say more of him than what not only very credible information but for the most part my own personal knowledg will warrant me ; having had the honour of more than 20 years acquaintance with him , 15. whereof , he was the chief inhabitant of that parish , wherein i was an unworthy labourer . the truth is as titus vespasian was called deliciae generis humani , the delight of mankind , so was he the darling of the city , so generally well reputed and reported of , that i suppose it will be said of this panegyrick concerning him , what one said , who met with a book called herculis encomium , the praise of hercules , quis lacedaemoniorum unquam vituperavit , who ever dispraised him , to wit , that knew him . his very outward aspect was amiable nay venerable and his presence as the appearance of some benign star having a pleasing influence upon all that looked upon him . but could you have viewed his inside , behold that virtuous soul , which inhabited his comely body , how would it have ravished you , and yet though we could not directly , we might reflexively and that both from his words and works . the tongue of the just ( saith solomon ) is as choyce silver , of which the trumpets under the law were made , because of its sweet sound , and again , the lips of the righteous feed many , to wit , with wholesome counsels and comforts , keeping as it were open table for all comets ; such was his tongue , frequently tip'd with silver , nay golden sayings , which he brought forth out of the treasure of his memory , such were his lips with which ( as well , nay better , then with his bountiful table ) he fed not only his children and servants , but all who conversed with him , among whom i can truly say , i never went to him , but i did , or might come away from him bettered by his gracious and prudent discourse : nor was he only , as i doubt too many are , a man of words , his goodness was not only at his tongues , but his fingers ends . that of our saviour concerning himself , my works testifie of me , is , though in a far inferiour way verifyed of him ; at least , we may make use of what solomon , saith concerning the virtuous woman , his works did praise him in his gates , so that he was not only in respect of his words , a sweet and pleasing voice , but of his works , a burning and shining light . it is said of david , that he died in a good old age , full of riches and honours : the age to which this worthy patriot attained was old , elder then david , exceeding it eleven years , for whereas david lived but 70 , he was above 81. years old when he died ; and if davids were a good old age , his was better , being more hayle and lusty at 80. than david was at 70. that promise in the psalm , thou shalt see thy childrens children , and peace upon israel , was abundantly made good to him , as to childrens children , and though he lived to see both domestick and foreign wars , yet before he died , he saw peace upon our english israel , which god of his mercy long continue . and as he was full of daies , so he filled these daies with all sorts of good actions , he well knew the worth of time , which we for the most part undervalue : and accounting every minute pretious , took care to spend not only his daies , but his hours well ; so that his gray hairs being found in a way of righteousness were a crown to him : and what scaliger said of strisset , may no less justly be said of him , it was pity , ut aut senium senem faceret , aut lex naturae vita privaret ▪ either that age should have made him old , or the law of nature bereaved him of life . as to riches and honour , it is true , he came far short of david , yet he wanted not his share of either ; god was pleased so far to bless his honest indeavours in that calling wherein his providence had placed him , that he enjoyed a liberal portion of this worlds goods , nor did he want those honors which were suitable to him : david indeed was a king , and so the supreme person in his kingdom . he was , whilst lord mayor , chief officer of this city , during his continuance in which place , he did by virtue of his office , represent the king's person . whatsoever honor in the city , he was capable of , he was chosen to : master of his company ; alderman of a ward ; president of st. thomas his hospital ; several times burgess in parliament , though the iniquity of the times would not permit him to sit : sheriff , & lord mayor . after which he at length became and so continued for some years ( as benazah was said to be a mighty man among the 30. ) the first among the 26. the eldest alderman upon the bench that had served in the office of a lord mayor , to whom is given that honourable title of the father of the city : nor had he only all this honour from the city , but his king also gave him the greatest honour he was capable of in his station , making him not only a knight , but a barronet , which descends upon posterity . i mention these , not as if riches or honours or both were abstractively considered topicks of commendation , but in as much as they are conferred by god sometimes upon good men , as the encouragements and made use of by them as the instruments of virtue , and so they were to him he being a bountiful steward of his riches , nor did his dignities so much honour him as he them . i cannot say of him , as christ said lo a greater than solomon , he was greater or richer than david , nay , much inferiour ; no , nor yet better than david , nor yet so good : but thus much i dare say , it was his laudable ambition to be as good , he indeavoured to tread in davids footsteps , and what is said in my text concerning david , i shall confidently affirm of him , and that in both translations , he was one who served his own generation by the will of god ; and who in his own generation served the will of god. throughout the age of his life , he was through god's providence instated in manifold relations , intrusted with various offices , conversant in several imployments , in all which he had no cause to complain with him who said , omnia fui , nihil profui , i was every thing , and profited nothing . all of them , being as so many cutts and chanels , through which did run his several vertues and graces . and now as he said of st. cyprian , onerosum enumerare , it would be a burdensome task to enumerate all particulars , since inopem me copia fecit , plenty makes me poor ; and i have so much to say , that i know not where to begin . if you please , i will begin with that which is ( in solomons language ) the beginning of wisdom , namely , the fear of the lord. he was eminent for religion and devotion : that orthodox religion which is professed in the church of england , he faithfully adhered to , cordially owning her doctrine and discipline , hierarchy and liturgy : and though he lived in an inconstant age ( wherein it was the mode to change religions , as women do fashions ) he proved not a reed o● a willow , but an oak , stedfast and immoveable . great was his respect to the orthodox and orthoprax clergy : those who were sufferers he charitably relieved : those who were labourers , he bountifully encouraged . the very feet of them that served at the altar were beautiful in his eies ; and i should be very ingrateful , if i should not acknowledg my self ( though most unworthy ) to have had a benjamen's share in his favour . schismatical conventicles he ahhorred , but duly frequented the church assemblies : i was for many yeares an ocular witness of his attendance on the publick ordinances , where he was a joint petitioner at the throne of grace , a judicious auditor of god's word , a diligent receiver of the lord's supper , from the monethly administration whereof i do not remember he was absent , if in town and in health : and though it was an age wherein irreverence was in fashion and devotion decryed as superstition , he was exemplary for his reverent behaviour in god's house , seldom at prayers but upon his knees , unless want of room hindred him , his head still uncovered at the reading and preaching of gods word , and alwaies kneeling at the holy communion : nor was he only ( as i fear too many are ) religious in the church , but his family , praying with and for them , and giving wholesome counsels to them . that character which almighty god giveth concerning abraham , for i know him , that he will command his children , and his houshold after him to keep the way of the lord , did justly belong to him , whose care it was to bring up his children in the fear and instruct his servants in the ways of the lord , and his resolve was that of joshua , i and my house will serve the lord. finally , trace him not only from god's house to his own , but from his chamber to his closet ; and there you might have found him , daily setting time apart for his meditations and devotions : nor could any secular affairs divert him from god's service , and therefore when his occasions called him forth sooner , he would still rise the earlier , that he might begin the day with god , with whom he always also closed it up . thus during his age and generation in this world , he served his god ; and no less careful was he to serve his king , remembring , that fear the lord and the king are joyned together by solomon . he was a strenuous asserter of monarchical government . nor can i pass by one argument which he often used upon that account , where almighty god by his prophet ezekiel reconing up the manifold blessings he had conferr'd upon his people israel , mentioneth this among the rest , as none of the least , thou didst prosper into a kingdom ; by which is clearly intimated , that those nations are most prosperous which are under kingly government ; nay that kingly government is a prosperity to a people . he was , i dare say , among the number of the mourners in sion , for all the abominations which were committed , and especially for that execrable treason in murthering the father , and banishing the son ; nor did he cease to be an importunate petitioner at heaven gates for the restauration of king and church . upon the account of his loyalty to charles the first , of blessed memory , when lord mayor , his house was searched by the rebels then in power , supposing there to have found the king : the year after he was cast into the tower , and there kept a prisoner , and for several years put by all publick offices and imployments , they finding him a man that would not be moulded into their several formes , nor make shipwrack of his conscience to serve their interests . upon the account of his loyalty to charles the second ( whom god almighty prosper ) during his exile , he hazarded his estate and life , by sending him considerable summes of money beyond sea ; and when the blessed time came of his joyful return to his throne , though he was in the 73. year of his age , which might have been a just excuse for his staying at home , this aged banzillai went not only over jordan river , but crossed the sea to attend his soveraign home . next to god and the king , i dare say , the city of london was written upon his heart , wherein he spent by far the greatest part of his life , and hath now breathed his last . here , through god's blessing , he got , and here he spent a considerable part of his estate in the citie 's service . he was of so publick a spirit , that when his son in law brought him the first news of his being chosen sheriff of london , he immediately dismissed the particular business about which he was , and never after personally followed his trade , but gave himself up to the city concernes . it was his study to know the customes and usages , the liberties and priviledges of the city , and accordingly his endeavour in his several capacities to preserve and maintain them . he was not only in word but in deed an assistant , a guardian , yea a pillar of the right worshipful company of drapers . he was a vigilant president of saint thomas his hospital , which probably had been ruined before this , but that his sagacity and industry discovered the fraud of an unjust steward . in the court of aldermen he was as an oracle , very subservient by his grave and prudent counsels to the cities government . he was so far from self-seeking , that when he was lord mayor , he did not make those advantages ( which usually are ) by selling the vacant places . whilst a private tradesman , he was exact ( so far as i ever heard ) in commutative justice , in his bargains and contracts of buying and selling : and when a publick magistrate , he was no less conscientious of distributive justice between man and man , so that what lampridius , said of alexander severus , he was virbonus & reipublicae necessarius , a good man and very needful for the common wealth , may be affirmed of him in reference to the city , he was not only a good man , but exceedingly useful by his justice and prudence for the cities welfare . i must not forget to tell you how he served the town where he received his first breath , by building there and endowing a free-school with a considerable maintenance for the education of children . how he hath served the university of cambridge by erecting an arabick lecture , and setling upon the lecturer 40 l. per annum for his pains in reading it ; hereby testifying himself to be a lover of learning , to which , indeed , none is an enemy but the ignorant : and therefore he could not , having himself a very competent measure of knowledg : nor were these munificent works to bear the date of their beginning from his death , but the one began 20 and the other 30 years ago , nor is their maintenance only setled for some term of years , but ( as we usually express it ) for ever : by which means he hath not only served his own , but succeeding generations ; nay , in that arabick lecture he hath served those remote eastern parts of the world , upon which account ( at the desire of the reverend master wheelock , now with god ) he was at the charge of printing the persian gospels and transmitting them into those parts : yea , by these wayes he endeavoured to serve the lord christ promoting the christian religion and ( to use his own language ) throwing a stone at the forehead of mahomet that grand impostor . thus he was serviceable in his generation to the will of god. honor of christ , welfare of the city , benefit of country and university : nor was he awanting to serve the poor neither by his charity : his hands were frequently open whilst he lived upon all occasions , and notwithstanding many late great damages to his estate , he hath given considerable legacies to the poor of several parishes , to hospitals , to ministers widows , and such like at his death ; all which i cannot now stay particularly to enumerate . finally , let me not tire your patience , if to the rest of his graces and vertues , i adde his patience , whereby he served the will of god in suffering . to serve the will of god in doing good was his meat and drink : to submit to his will in suffering evil was his antidote and cordial . the truth is , this good mans coat ( like josephs ) was particoloured , his wine mixed with water , nay with gall and wormwood ; many doleful losses he met with , as to his worldly goods , some disastrous crosses in his near relations , such ( as himself said ) he could not have born , were it not for this book , pointing to the bible which lay before him , but there he met still with that which comforted him : frequently ( among others ) making use of that passage of job to his wife , shall we receive good at the hands of god , and shall we not receive evil . the latter years of his life have been years of pain to him , by reason of that disease of the stone in the bladder , whereof at last he died : a stone so weighty , that it exceeded 25 ounces , so grievous , that a little before his death it made him roar , but yet not murmur : god graciously supporting him under the weight , and sustaining him under the pain of it , and indeed the providence of god was singularly remarkable , in that having a stone of so vast a bigness in his bladder , his pain was comparatively so little , & his life so long , for had there not been as it were a way pav'd , or rather a channel cut through the stone for his water to pass ▪ the stoppage of it , must of necessity have very much added to his smart & lessened his days . he hath now taken his leave of this world , and truly , i may very well say of him in st. ambrose his language , in illo uno non unum sed plures amissos requirimus , in this one person there is a manifold loss ; whilst passing by private losses , the king hath lost a loyal subject , the church a faithful son , and the city , a prudent senatour : indeed , he was so eminently useful every way , that his loss would have been insupportable , did not this consideration quallifie it , that he died in so old an age , that according to course of nature he could not have lived much longer : nay , considering his disease , it is a wonder that he lived so long . he is departed from the inn of this world , to the long home of his grave , of which , i am sure he was many years before mindeful , it being his frequent language upon several occasions sclum mihi superest sepulchrum , i have nothing to make account of but only my grave : where he shall sleep in the dust , till he awake and arise to glory . i end all with a threefold word of admonition . 1. the first , to the rt. honble the l d mayor with the rest of the worthy senatours of this city , who out of their great ( yet due ) respects to this excellent person have attended the solemnity of his funeral , and that to beseech you , that you would endeavour ( as much as in you lieth ) to make up this invaluable loss , by your double diligence for the publick good : that as every one of you by his office is as a city built upon an hill . you would help to raise this city out of its ruinous heaps . oh let there be no cause of taking up that complaint of any of you , which cicero did of the senatours in his time . vos separatim quisque consilia capitis , you every one take counsel apart , for your particular interests ; but rather like the fabricii and patricii , or rather like david in the text , and this worthy patriot whom you have so well known , make it your design to serve your generation . 2. the second to the hopeful heir of the family , that as you inherit your fathers honour and estate , you would his graces and vertues also , that so though he be dead , he may still live in you . 3. to the rest of his children , kindred , friends , acquaintance all here present , yea , the whole city , that though we cannot come up to his pattern , we would follow as hard after him as we can , and learn of him the best way to live long on earth , and eternally in the heavens . amen . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45563-e220 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , greg. naz. rev. 14. 15. john 21. 25. notes for div a45563-e1660 salust . gen. 1. prov. 10. 7. exod. 33. 11. james 2. 23. josh. 1. 2. job 1. 8. heb. 11. rom. 12. 11. acts 17. 27. cic. 1 cor. 13. 5. philip. 2. 4. luke 12 ▪ 48. arist. ethic. lib. 1 ▪ cap. 10. luke 1. 48. psal 119. 137. 158. psal. 122. 6. 7. psal. 101. 2. 1 kings 15 ▪ 5. 2 kings 16. 2. 18. 3. 2 sam. 8. 11. 15 psal. 78. 72. 75. 2. 101. 6. 8. 1 sam. 17. 19. jerem. 29. 7. hebr. 1. 11. matth ▪ 20. 28. 2 sam. 6. 12 ▪ 8. 12. judg. 2. 16. 3. 9. 12. ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , metaphora a renavali sumpta beza . zach. 1. 18. 20. isai. 1 c. 7. psal. 39. 5. 2 sam. 15. ver . 25. 26. chrysost. 2 sam 3. 18. psal. 57. 7. psal. 119. 12. 33. 35. ver . ver . 97. 99. 148. v. 66. 5. 35. psal. 111 10. psal. 119. 14 24. psal. 40. 6. psal. 119. 31. 60. psal. 119. 6. 104. acts 13. 22. psal. 119. 30. 31. 111. 112. 116. 16. 1 tim 2. 26. matt. 8 9. titus 3. 3. 1 pet. 4 3. rom. 12 1. micah 6. 8. psal. 19. 7. 8. 9. matth. 11. 29. mal. 3. 17. 3. 15. hebr. 11. 6. gen. 17. 1. gen. 2. erasm. in cor. hebr. 9. 27. luke 2. 29. john 7. 30. 9. 4. tim. 4. 6. 7. 1 thess. 4. 14. john 11. 1 ▪ acts 7. 60. rev. 14. 13. luke 16. 25. wisd. 31. luke 16. 22. rev. 6. 9. isai. 57. 2. isa. 26. 20. ps. 16. 7. 17. 15. joh. 3. 14. psa. 94. 3. ps. 39. 12. matth. 8. 11. 2 kings 2. 10. ps. 16. 10. psal. 89. 48. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 job 17. 13. 14 , phil. 3. 21. 1 cor. 15. 53. bass. mag. paterc . cypr. cp . 26. prov. 10. 20. 21 joh. 5. 36. prov. 31. 31. 1 cor. 29. 28. psal. 128. 6. 1 chron. 27. 6 , gen. 18. 19. josh. 24. 15. prov. 24. 21. ezeck . 16. 13. job 2. 10. ambros. cic. cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, the reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bowyer, merchant, who died the 8th day of february 1659, and was buried the 22th of the same moneth, in the parish church of st. olaves jewry / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45544 of text r17381 in the english short title catalog (wing h712). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 86 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45544 wing h712 estc r17381 11739165 ocm 11739165 48473 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45544) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48473) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 533:11) cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, the reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bowyer, merchant, who died the 8th day of february 1659, and was buried the 22th of the same moneth, in the parish church of st. olaves jewry / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 35 p. printed for josepph cranford ..., london : 1659. errata: p.35 reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng bowyer, thomas, d. 1659. bible. -n.t. -james i, 12 -sermons. funeral sermons. temptation -sermons. a45544 r17381 (wing h712). civilwar no carduus benedictus, the advantage of affliction, or the reward of patience. unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr. thomas bow hardy, nathaniel 1659 12854 8 70 0 0 0 0 61 d the rate of 61 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion carduus benedictus , the advantage of affliction , or the reward of patience . unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of mr thomas bowyer merchant , who died the 8th day of february 1659 , and was buried the 22th of the same moneth , in the parish church of st olaves jewry . by nath. hardy minister of st dionys. back-church . job 5. 17. behold , happy is the man whom god correcteth , therefore despise not thou the chastening of the almighty . james 5. 11. behold we count them happy which endure . you have heard of the patience of job , and have seen the end of the lord . ambros. de offic. quae putantur mala , non solum impedimenta non sunt ad vitam beatam , sed etiam ad meritum adjuvant . london , printed for joseph cranford at the sign of the castle and lyon in st. pauls churchyard . 1659. to his much respected friend mr henry bowyer merchant . the memory of the just ( saith the wise man ) is blessed , or more sutably to the originall ) for a blessing : and that in regard of god , whom we are excited to bless and praise , by remembring the vertues of the just ; us , to whom the remembrance of his good example ( if attended with imitation ) is a blessing , and will lead us to blessedness ; him , on whom this is conferrd as a blessing , that though his body rot , his name shall not , but be remembred ( according to the vulgar latine from the 70 ) with praise and honour . that the memoriall of your dead brother's exemplary life might be kept alive and perpetuated to succeeding generations , the publication of this plain piece was earnestly desired by your self with many of his friends , and readily yeelded to by me since ; though i do not judge the sermon worthy to be printed , yet i am sure he is worthy to be remembred . to this end i have endeavoured in the close of the sermon , to draw his picture , not to the length ( i confess ) but ( i hope ) to the life , so truly , that i dare say , whoever well knew him , and shall view this portraiture , will acknowledg it to be like , and not at all flattering ; which that it may be the more publikely beheld , i have by the printers help , hung it in a convenient light ; and now ( worthy friend ) before i take pen from paper , give me leave to annex a word of gratulation , in a thankfull acknowledgment of those many undeserved kindnesses which were vouchsafed to me by the deceased , and are continued by your self ; exhortation , which concerneth as well my self and all who shall peruse this discourse , as you , that ( to allude to the philosophers phrase ) we would all bear the colour of this dead servant of god , by following his excellent pattern . supplication to the great god , for you , your vertuous consort , and posterity . that divine bounty may continually pour upon you all these graces and blessings which conduce to your present and future well being , is and shall be the prayer of your very reall friend nath. hardy . the reward of patience . james 1. ver. 12. blessed is the man that endureth temptation : for when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . christian religion is a volume of paradoxes , and its oracles ( though not like apollos ambiguous , yet ) aenigmaticall ; whether you view matters of faith or practise , of promise or precept , you shall finde the most of them to be so many riddles ; and yet though they be not verisimilia , seeming probabilities , they are vera , reall verities ; yea , those contradictions to carnall reason are excellent sence to faith . if you cast your eyes upon this scripture which i have now read , what else doth it appear at the first aspect , but a strange and dark saying ? some of the learned have enumerated severall centuries of opinions amongst the philosophers concerning blessedness ; but not one amongst them all pitcheth upon this . the meer moralists would as soon place the element of fire in the water , or the sun in a cloud , as happiness in affliction , blessedness in enduring : but if you view the text again , and read it throughout , you will find it an undeniable truth , such as though carnall reason knoweth not how to understand , yet it can not gainsay ; in which respect i may well call it an orthodox paradox , well worthy my discussion and your attention ; blessed is the man that endureth temptation , for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . if you well observe the text , you will find it consists of two generalls ; a strange affirmation , and a strong confirmation : or , if you will , an obscure proposition , and a clear exposition . the former in those words , blessed is the man that endureth temptation . the latter in these , for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . i begin with the affirmative proposition , wherein there are three principall words which constitute so many particulars ; temptation , enduring , blessedness . the first informeth us in the quality of affliction , it is a temptation . the second mindeth us of the duty of a christian , which is to endure . the third assureth us of advantage by enduring temptation , and that no less then felicity , blessed . 1. affliction is a temptation , not seductionis , seducing to badness , of which our apostle speaketh in the very next verse , and in our english language is most frequently so stiled ; but probationis , proving our goodness , of which our apostle speaketh at the second verse of this chapter , and best agreeth with the signification of the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which cometh from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , experimentum . that kind of affliction which st iames seemeth here more especially to intend , is persecution from wicked men for righteousness sake : but divers temptations at the second verse , and temptations here set down indesinitely , may take in all sorts of afflictions , as well corrections from god , as persecutions from men . temptation , in its proper notion , is exploratio instituta ad eliciendam rei ignotae notitiam , any triall made for discovery of what was unknown ; thus every affliction is a temptation , manifesting what was before unknown ; not to god , who knoweth what is within us , but to our selves and others . that which affliction discovereth , is both evill and good , sin and grace . much evill of sin which lay hid in the heart is brought to light by affliction : it is a known saying , magistratus indicat virum , magistracy sheweth the man in his colours ; that pride and haughtiness then appearing , which was not before to be discerned ; and as prosperity maketh known that pride , so doth adversity that impatiency which is in us . when the corn is winnowed , that chaff which being mingled with it was hid , is severed from it and discovered . the mud , which whilest the water is quiet , lieth at the bottom , is manifest when it is stirred . neither we nor others oft-times think there is so much frowardnesse in our spirits , as we and they find when affliction stirreth and sifteth us . but that which affliction principally maketh tryal and discovery of , is our grace , and that in its truth and strength . the soundness of the foundation is tryed by the winde , the health of the body by hard weather , the rightness of the metall by the touchstone , and the sincerity of our graces by affliction . the reality of a friend is seen in adversity ; the faithfulnesse of the wife , when her chastity is assaulted ; and , the truth of our christianity , when we are tempted by affliction . the noune {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ( from whence the word in my text cometh ) is neerer in sound with the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifyeth transfodere , to pierce through . and as by piercing through a thing , it is tryed whether it be substantial or hollow ; so are we pierced through with sorrows and troubles , to try whether we are sincere or hypocrites . nor doth only the truth , but the measure of grace then manifests it self . the souldiers valour is shewn in the battell , the pilots skill in the tempest , and the vigour of a christians grace in temptations . a if thou faint ( saith solomon ) in the day of adversity , thy strength is small . every cockboat can swim in the narrow river , but it is the strong vessell which holds out in the main ocean . the strength of our grace is at once both manifested and increased by troubles . yet more particularly , affliction trieth our faith , whither it be only a willow or an oake ; our hope , whither it be only a reed or an anchor ; our love , whither it be only a blaze of thorns , or a vestall flame ; and our patience , whither it be only a fading flower , or a flourishing lawrell . a st peter calls affliction the triall of our faith : here is the faith and patience of the saints , saith st. iohn , in suffering times : and surely the consideration hereof should teach us this point of divine wisdome ; as to make account that troubles will come upon us , so that when they come they will be trials , and accordingly so to stablish our hearts with grace , that when they befall us we may be able to 2. endure , which is the next particular . enduring temptation . 1. on the one hand is not 1. a needless bringing it upon our selves ; it is one thing ferre , to bear , and another inferre , to bring the cross upon our backs ; ius legionis , facile non sequi , nec fugere ; the military law is not cowardly to run away , nor rashly to fall on : if affliction meet us in our way we must not run from it , but withall we must not stir out of our way to meet i● . 2. nor is it a stupid despising of a temptation when it befalleth us ; it is one 〈◊〉 thing to lie under a burthen as a stone , and another to stand under it as a man ; he that doth not feel , cannot be said to endure : stoicall apathy is far distant from christian patience . 2. on the other hand , that enduring which is truly christian , and here intended by the apostle , 1. in the extent , reacheth to divers , manifold temptations ; the syriack word here is in the plurall number ; our shoulder should be as broad as the burthen ; we must not only endure a few drops , but many showers ; a single gust , but renewed storms . 2. in the duration , holdeth out to the last , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is added by our saviour , he that endureth to the end , let patience have its perfect work , is our apostles advice , at the 3d verse of this chapter ; our patience must be dyed in grain , such as will hold colour . 3. as to the manner , is voluntary without compulsion , quiet without strugling , cheerfull without repining , and magnanimous without fainting . our saviours injunction is , to take up the cross ; when god layeth it before us we must take it up willingly : the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} here used , signifieth irruentem host is impetum viriliter sustinere , to receive a fierce onset from the enemy , and not to stirre : afflictions fall upon a christian as hail stones upon the tiles , which instead of breaking the tiles , are broken themselves ; a good man is neither lifted up with prosperity , nor cast down by adversity . 4. as to the motive , by which truly christian patience is distinguished from that which is meerly morall , it ariseth from a placid submission to gods will , and aimeth at the exaltation of gods glory . right obedience is chiefly because god wills to injoyn , and right patience because he wills to inflict , and in both , whatsoever he doth or suffereth , the true christian seeketh gods honour . and now as christ once said to his disciples , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , where is your faith ? let me say to you , where is your patience ? we are all philosophers till we come to dispute , and souldiers till we are ingaged to sight , and christians till we are called to endure ; but alas are we not then like bad stuff , that shrinketh in the wetting ? do we not like froward children , cry when we are crossed ? like woodden vessels , we break if we come near the fire ; and like earthen pots , we crack , nay fall in pieces , when we are dashed against the stones ; if we endure for a while , yet are we not soon weary ? if our first onset be ( as it is said of french men ) more then manly , is not our second less then womanly ? so soon are we out of heart . finally , is our patience founded upon divine principles ? are we acted by spirituall enducements in all our sufferings ? oh let us learn to shew our selves christians , by our readines to endure ; and let our enduring be such as is truly christian . i end this with that short memento , which though borrowed from a heathen , is well worthy the eare and practice of a christian , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , abstine & sustine , abstein from the evill of transgression , and sustein the evill of affliction ; forgoe thy sinfull pleasures , and undergoe sorrowfull pains ; not under the power of any sin , and stand under the weight of whatsoever suffering may befall thee , so shalt thou be 3. blessed , which is the last particular in the first generall . blessedness in its proper and adaequate notion , consists in a freedom from whatsoever is evill , and a fruition of all good . but he that endureth temptation , is deprived of good and afflicted with evill , how then can he be blessed ? this objection will be sufficiently answered by a double distinction . he that endureth temptation , though he is not blessed consummatively , yet he is blessed inchoatively . for 1. though he is not altogether free from evill , yet he is free from the evill of the evill , and that is a beginning of happiness . christian patience plucketh out the sting of every temptation , whereby it becometh in stead of a curse , a blessing . affliction to him that endureth it as he ought , is not sickness but physick ; and so not evill to , but good for him . 2. though he wants a fullness , yet he enjoyeth so much as may well be called a tast of bliss , namely the favour of god , and the peace of conscience . 1. he that endureth temptation hath a quiet mind in the midst of all his troubles ; and his soul , like the upper region of the ayre , is without any clouds of distraction . it was the counsell of our saviour to his disciples , in your patience possess your souls ; the patient christian even when he is bereaved of his estate , his liberty , his health , his credit , possesseth his soul in a calm and serene tranquillity . 2. nay , which is yet far more , he that endureth temptation , enjoyeth his god ; and whilest the rain of affliction falleth , he beholds the sun shining on him . to the upright ( saith the psalmist ) there ariseth light in darkness , even the light of gods countenance in the darkness of trouble . what a glorious sight had st steven , when through a showre of stones he beheld the heaven open and iesus standing at the right hand of god! and yet the like vision , though not after the same manner is vouchsafed to every christian endurer ; to whom , as it were , heaven is opened , whilest he beholds god through christ propitious towards him . it is in love , that god doth exercise any of his with temptations ; and to those that endure them he is pleased to manifest his love ; kissing them with the kisses of his mouth , who kiss the rod of his hand . and surely there is no happiness on this side heaven , to the sense of divine favour , and the quiet of our own spirit : indeed it is an heaven upon earth , an anticipation of heaven , the first fruits of glory , and an inchoation of blessedness . 2. he that endureth temptation , though he is not blessed positively , yet he is dispositively ; he is not actually possessed with bliss , but he is in a certain expectation of , and ready preparation for it ; ( though he be not at the journeys end , he is way that leads to it . ) when the ship is in the haven , it is past all storms ; but by enduring storms , it at last arriveth at the haven . when we come to heaven , there will be no more temptation to endure , but by enduring temptation it is , that we come to heaven . so true is that of st paul , these light afflictions which are but for a moment , work for us ( to wit not of themselves , but being patiently undergone ) an exceeding eternall weight of glory . indeed the temptation in it self is an evill , and tends to make us miserable ; but the enduring it , is a vertue , a grace which maketh us fit for blessedness . to close up this , and with this the first generall part of my text : 1. how grosly is the world deceived in their opinion concerning the godly , whilest they judg them of all men most miserable , by reason of those temptations , to which they are exposed ; whereas the truth is , that wicked men in the midst of all their prosperity , by abusing it are infaeliciter faelices , unhappily happy ; and good men in the midst of adversity , by enduring it , are faeliciter infaelices , happily unhappy ? the enjoyments of the one are but golden chains and silken halters , whereas the sufferings of the other , are as fiery chariots to carry them to heaven . 2. how great an encouragement is this to aequanimity , nay magnanimity of spirit in all our tryall ? what traveller doth not cheerfully ride through dirty and watery lanes , when he considers it is his way home ? what merchant doth not willingly dispence with a troublesome tedious voyage , when he considers it is to advance his fortune ? why should we think much at any tryals , when they are designed for this end , to prepare us for glory ? for ( saith our apostle concerning the patient endurer ) when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life , which he hath promised to them that love him . which is the second and main part of the text , and now cometh to be discussed ; it is that which i call an expository confirmation . that it is a confirmation , the causall particle for implies ; and that it is an exposition , the following words demonstrate . the design of the argument is , to prove the man that endureth temptation blessed , because he shall receive a crown of life ; by which it appears to be a confirmation . the strength of the argument is , because blessedness consists in the receiving of that crown ; in which respect it is an exposition . if yet more particularly you look into the words , you will find in them an answer to three questions , concerning the blessedness of the enduring saint : quid , what it is he shall receive ? a crown of life . quando , when he shall receive it ? when he is tryed . quare , wherefore he shall receive it ? because the lord hath promised it . or if you will , observe here a double confirmation ; the one , whereof is principall , and the other collaterall . here is a reason of the doctrine , why he that endureth temptation is blessed , because when he is tried , he shall receive a crown of life . and then here is a reason of that reason , why when he is tried he shall receive a crown of life , because it is that which the lord hath promised to them that love him . our apostle well knew how hardly this doctrine would be received in the world . were it , blessed is the man that liveth in power and splendour , in pleasure and jollity , enjoyeth health , wealth , commands countries and kingdoms ; it would have found an unanimous assent . but blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; quis credit , who beleeveth this report ? no wonder that st iames provideth so strongly for the proof of it , that none but an atheist can deny it . here is rota in rota , one proof within another . that he which shall receive a crown of life is a blessed man , is unquestionable ; all the doubt is , whether there be any such crown of life ; and this our apostle puts out of doubt by this strong medium , that the lord , to wit dominus deus , the lord god hath promised it . since the lord hath promised it , he must perform it , or he can not be faithfull ; if he be not faithfull , he ceaseth to be god , it being impossible for god to lye . so that whosoever questioneth the blessedness of this man , must doubt the reception of the crown , and whosoever doubts the reception of the crown ; must question the truth of the promise ; and whosoever questions the trath of the promise , must suppose that god can be false in his word ; which is in effect to deny a deity , and so to be in plain tearms no better then an atheist . 1. begin we with the principall confirmation , to wit the reason of the doctrine , in those words , for when he is tryed , he shall receive a crown of life . wherein more particularly observe , the excellency of the benefit , he shall receive a crown of life : and the opportunity of the time , when he is tryed . 1. he that endureth temptation , shall receive a crown of life . if you enquire , what is intended by this crown of life ? the answer is easily returned , it is no other then the estate of happiness which is enjoyed in heaven . that which would more particularly be inquired , is , why this state is called a crown , and why a crown of life ? 1. the metaphore of a crown , serveth very fitly to illustrate that future estate in severall particulars ; 1. a crown is set upon the head in token of honour ; for this reason conquerours , and especially kings had crowns put upon their heads . there are severall regalia insignia , ornaments belong to kings and emperours , a throne , a robe , a scepter , a crown ; and amongst them , this last is the chief . when ring ahasuerus asked haman , what shall be done to the man , the king delighteth to honour ? one part of the answer is , let the royall apparrell be brought forth which the king useth to wear ; and the crown royall which is set upon his head : such honour have all his saints , they are as so many conquerours , yea kings . what was said of rome , is much more true of heaven , it is respublica regum , a society of kings ; according to that of st iohn , he hath made us kings . that we may see how honourable that estate is , it is not only here resembled to a crown , but by st peter it is called a crown of glory : as if whereas glory is an appendix to other crowns , it were the matter of this ; paralell to which it is , that we read elswhere of a weight of glory . and as a crown encompasseth the whole head , so shall this crown the whole man , soul and body , whilest each shall have that glory , which is sutable to it . 2. a crown , especially a royall crown , is made of gold , set with iewels and pearls ; by which is represented the wealth of that estate , wherein there shall be no want , but a fullness of all enjoyments . to this purpose it is , that it is elswhere compared to an inheritance , and a kingdom ; it is set forth by a city , the streets whereof are of pure gold , the gates were of pearls , the building of the wall of jasper , and the foundation garnished with all manner of pretious stones ; indeed the opulencie of that state is so great , that it can not be measured , so much that it can not be numbered , and so precious that it can not be valued . 3. a crown , is an embleme of joy ; dayes of coronation , are dayes of exaltation ; the day wherein king solomons mother crowned him , is said to be the day of gladness of his heart : yea at that time , all the people piped with pipes and rejoyced with great joy , so that the earth rent with the sound of them . sutable thereunto it is that st paul puts these together , my joy and my crown , speaking to the philippians ; and that he calls the thessalonians his crown of rejoycing . such a crown shall be set upon the heads of glorified saints , which shall fill them with joy and gladness of heart ; for this reason it is called by our blessed saviour , gaudium domini , the joy of the lord , which because it cannot enter into us , we shall enter into it . then it is , those prophecies shall be fully accomplished , the lord god shall wipe away tears from off their faces ; that the ransomed of the lord shall come to zion , with songs and joy upon their heads , they shall have joy and gladness , and sorrow and sighings shall flee away . thus whereas honour , wealth and pleasure , are the three grand objects of mens desires , all of these meet together in that estate , and are as it were encircled by this metaphor of a crown . 2. but our apostle contents not himself only to assure a crown , for that would not have proved his doctrine , since many that receive crowns are not blessed ; yea notwithstanding the honour , wealth and joy of a crown , there is also envy , care , trouble , which followeth that honour , accompanieth that wealth , and attends that joy . oh nobilem potius quam felicem pannum , said he truly of the royall robe , it is rather noble , then happy ; and it is not seldom seen , that crowns are unfortunate to those who wear them . that therefore we might not think that our apostle intended an earthly crown , it is said to be a crown of life , by which it is distinguished from , and far advanced above other crowns . by the apostle peter it is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a crown made as it were of the flower {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which never fadeth : and to this notion the phrase in the text may be referd ; it is a crown of life , that is such a crown which can not die , nor wither . to this crown that motto refers , of a nobleman giving three crowns in his arms , quarta perennis erit ; the fourth shall never perish . indeed this is that which denominateth it a state of blessedness ; for were there never so great a confluence of pleasure , riches , honour , yet if this were but only for a time , it could not make a man happy . the crown of this crown is , that it is of an eternall duration , and that not only in respect of it self , but those that wear it ; for which reason i conceive it is especially called a crown of life , as being such a crown which confers life , so that they who enjoy it never die . there is a fabulous story of a sheepheard , which having a crown of thorns upon his head , fought with a basilisk and was not killed by it ; but it is a certain truth , that the saints having this crown upon their heads , are not longer subject to the poyson of death . earthly crowns though they confer honour , they cannot life ; nay sometimes they hasten death , and occasion the ruin of their owners ; but this crown maketh the possessors of it as long lived as eternity . nor is it barely a life , but a crown of life ; that is , an honourable , pleasant , joyfull life , a life attended with whatsoever may make it desireable , which is here ascertained ; for that is the import of these two words joyned together , and both these must concurre to make a man happy . there is a kind of life which even the damned may be said to have , but it is not a crown of life , a life attended with dignity and prosperity : indeed neither the crown without life , nor life without the crown , but the crown of life maketh the compleat happiness . and as these words conjoyned , best describe bliss , so this description of bliss , was most sutable in this place . for where as the temptation which a man may be called to endure , is such as toucheth him in his estate , or credit , or body , or life ; and to bereave him of this last , is the worst which any temptation can do ; here is abundant recompence for shame , pain , poverty , yea death it self ; to wit a crown of life . learn we therefore when we are called to endure , to call to mind what we shall receive . it is a true saying of st gregory , mala vitae praesentis tanto durius sentimus , quanto bonum , quod sequitur , pensare negligimus ; the true reason why we so unwillingly endure present evils , is , because we neglect to consider the future good . all who endure chastisings ( saith the apostle ) are sons , and being sons , are heirs of this crown , noli attendere quam poenam habes à flagello , sed quem locum in testamento , consider not so much what strokes thou hast from thy fathers rod , as what place in his will , which bequeatheth to thee no less then a crown . the first christian sufferer stephen had a crown in his name , and every one that endureth , though not to that extremity , which he did , shall have a crown upon his head . vertue ( saith seneca divinely ) quo tendit , non quid passura est recogitat ; recounts not what it now suffereth , but what it shall enjoy . while a crown of thorns is put into thy hand , let a crown of life be in thy eye . indeed this crown of life duly pondered , will serve on the one hand to darken the glories , and on the other to lessen the miseries of this present life ; and accordingly cannot but enable us to contemn the one , and endure the other . 1. what is the glimmering of the candle to the shining of the sun ? the value of brass and iron , to the worth of gold and silver ? infinitely far less is the highest dignity here below , to the glory above . the woman in the revelation having a crown upon her head , hath the moon under her feet ; terram despicit , qui coelum aspicit ; he who beholds the stars of heaven , despiseth the flowers of the earth ; all the excellencies of this world are so far from being desirable , that-they are contemptible to him who expects this crown of life . 2. nor is there less efficacy in this crown , to render this worlds miseries tollerable , then its delights despicable . the sufferings of this present life ( saith st paul ) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed . how light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory ? how short is a minute of pain to an eternity of pleasure ? no wonder if upon this account the apostle calls them light afflictions , which are but for a moment . bene fertur calumnia cum acquiritur corona , he need not be weary of the cross , who is sure of the crown . we faint not ( saith st paul ) in that very place , whilest we look not on the things that are seen , but on the things that are not seen , meaning the things of glory which are not seen by the eye of sense ; and yet being looked on by the eye of faith , preserves us from fainting in the greatest trials . moses having respect to the recompence of reward , made choice of afflictions ; well may we be contented to endure them . this joy being set before christ , caused him to endure the cross and despise the shame ; and therefore having this price in our eye , let us run with patience the race which is set before us : so much the rather , considering 1. the usuall priority of enduring in order to this crown . st austin long since said , and truly , tota vita humana tentatio , mans life on earth is a continued temptation . there are temptations we must resist , and there are temptations we must endure ; and who almost more or less , in some kind or other , doth not experience both these ? the way to heaven is sometimes bloudy , frequently watery ; per angust a pervenitur ad augusta ; the way to bliss is straight , no passing through with our sins , and seldom without suffering . this crown is not for any but conquerours , nor is there any conquest without fighting , and that many times a sharp fight of affliction . he who is the captain of our salvation , obtained his crown by this means , and surely those that are the souldiers , must not think to have theirs upon other tearms . 2. the probable proportionality of this crown to our enduring : amongst the romans there were severall sorts of crowns appointed , according to the severall services , which had been done : and divines generally affirm different degrees of glory , according to what we do or suffer in this world : as one star , so one crown differeth from another in glory ; indeed communis laetitia , the joy is common ; but dispar gloria , the glory is different . it is st pauls assertion , as the sufferings of christ abound in us , so our consolation aboundeth by christ ; and it is probably true , that as our afflictions abound , so shall our remuneration abound also . the same apostle saith , if we suffer with him , we shall raign with him : i , and the more we suffer for him , the more glory we shall receive from him , whilest that every new cross addeth a new pearl to this crown of life which is conferred on the christian endurer . i end this : it is storied of alexander , that having invited many of his courtiers to supper , he provided a crown of neer 200lb value , which was to be given to him who drank most ; upon which severall of them drank so long , till in stead of gaining the crown they lost their lives . lo here ( my brethren ) a crown of life tendered to all who willingly drink the cup of affliction ; let us not refuse although we lose our lives , since we shall be sure to win the crown . pericula non respicit martyr , sed coronam ; plagas non horret , praemium numerat , saith chrysologus excellently . whensoever thou art called to suffer , look off from the danger to the crovn , and numbring the riches of the one , thou wilt not fear the other . that was but a foolish mother , who would not let her sonne put off his night cap to put on a crown : and he is a foolish christian , whom this crown cannot perswade to part with these worldly comforts , and to endure worldly crosses . oh let us ask that wisedom of god , whereby we may learn to set a true aestimate on this benefit , and then we shall know , that however whilest we endure temptation , we seem to be miserable , when we receive this crown we shall be really blessed : and if you desire to know when this crown shall be received , the answer is 2. when he is tryed , which is the next particular to be handled . the greek words are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and may best be rendred , being found approved : look as the gold when upon tryall it is approved , is then imployed for some vessell of honour ; the schollar when upon examination he is approved , is advanced to some preferment ; the wrestler or runner , when having performed his service , he is adjudged conquerour , obtaineth the prize ; so the christian having been tryed by temptation , and being approved for his enduring , receiveth the crown . that which would be more particularly inquired , is , when the christian that endureth , is tryed and approved ? the answer to which is returned , when he hath endured to the end of his life . the truth is 1. so long as we are in this world , we are under tryall , nor are we tryed and approved till we go out of it , and then we receive the crown . the whole day of life is the time of labouring in the vineyard untill the evening of death , when we receive our wages ; we are not fully tryed in the christian race , till we come to the goal of death , and then if we be found worthy we shall obtain the prize . there are too many who endure for a time , and then fall away , thereby manifesting themselves to be , not gold but dross , which melts away in the heat of the fire ; and therefore it is our saviours counsell to the angell of the church of smyrna , be thou faithfull unto the death , and i will give thee a crown of life . 2. when we are sufficiently tryed , we shall be called out of this world to the fruition of our crown . this world is the field , wherein the good corn stands so long till it be ripe , and then it is cut down by death , to be carried into the barn of glory . it is the school of the cross wherein it pleaseth god to train us , and then by death he taketh us to the academy of heaven : our heavenly physition will keep us no longer in physick , but till we are throughly purged ; our mercifull refiner will no longer detain us in the furnace , but till we are sufficiently purified : when once by enduring temptation we are tryed and fitted for heaven , death doth come to put an end to all our troubles , and put us into a partiall possession of that crown , which in the day of iudgment the righteous iudg shall plenarily confer upon us . let then the christian endurer be content to wait , and not repine at the delay of his reward : the thing is certain , he shall receive ; i and the time is set too , when he is tryed ; nor can it be long , since it is only during the short time of life . it may perhaps seem long to thee , and so much the longer , because of the temptations which befall thee ; but surely a crown , and especially a crown of life is worth the waiting for , and when it is received , thou wilt acknowledg thy self abundantly recompenced for the greatness and length of thy sufferings . and if at any time distrustfull thoughts arise in thy mind concerning this crown , whether it shall be conferd ; fix thy eyes on the last clause of the text , which now remaineth to be discussed ; it is the crown of life , 2. which the lord hath promised to them that love him ; it is that which i call the collaterall confirmation , as being a strong argument , assuring the reception of that crown , which denominateth the suffering christian blessed . wherein more particularly there are two things observable : the means of conveiance , in those words , which the lord hath promised , the subject of reception , in those , to them that love him . 1. the crown of life is that , which the lord hath promised . the title of lord here used , is very frequently throughout the new testament given to christ , and that upon a double account . 1. quatenus deus , inasmuch as he is god , the lordship belongs to him , iure naturali , by naturall right . he is the son of god by eternall generation , and being so , he is equall with the father , and god over all , blessed for ever . 2. quatenus mediator , inasmuch as he is god man , this lordship belongs to him , iure donativo by deed of gift . all power ( saith our blessed saviour ) is committed to him in heaven and earth , namely by god the father , to him as mediator . and thus 1. he is lord of the whole world , having power ad dominandum , to rule over all his creatures . 2. he is lord of his enemies ad domandum , to subdue and vanquish them . 3. he is lord of his church ad donandum , to confer gifts upon her , especially this crown● and knowing , to how manifold temptations she would be subject in this life , he is pleased to vouchsafe , the promise of this grown , to be as it were a bit to stay her stomach , till the full meal . it were easie to multiply instances , how this lord promised this reward vivâ voce to his disciples , whilest he was on earth , and that though not expresly ( as we read ) under this very metaphor of a crown , yet frequently under the resemblance of a kingdom , to which a crown relateth . indeed though this bliss was promised before , to wit in the old testament by moses and the prophets , yet it was not so clearly and fully revealed by them , as it was afterwards by this lord and his apostles ; so that now we have ( to allude to st peters phrase ) a more sure , or at least a more plain word of promise , to which we shall do well to take heed , as to a light shining in a dark place ; to revive our hearts with a confident expectation , even when we are involved in the darkness of affliction . that which may the more excite our faith , encourage our hope , and thereby strengthen our patience in enduring , is the consideration of this lord who hath promised this crown . inasmuch as 1. in generall , this lord never faileth in whatsoever he promiseth . st paul faith , all the promises are in him yea and amen ; surely then all his promises are yea and amen ; and as they are made , so they are made good . in the preface of the epistle to the angell of the philadelphians , he is called the amen , the faithfull witness , as being true in all his sayings , and more especially in his promises . the words of the lord ( saith david ) are pure words , as silver tryed in the fire purified seaven times . it is true of all , but principally meant of the words of promise , which are said to be as silver purified seaven times , because they are free from the least dross of deceit . this lord never promiseth , but what he really intends , and effectually performeth . 2. in speciall as to this promise , he who promiseth is fully able and willing to fulfill it : he is called by this apostle the lord of glory , and therefore can confer the glory of a crown : by st paul the lord of life , and therefore can bestow a crown of life . there cannot be a clearer title to any thing , then that which a man hath by a lawfull purchase from the right owner . this lord hath purchased this crown of his father at a dear rate , not with corruptible gold and silver , but his own most pretious bloud : yea he is gone into heaven to take possession of his purchase , whereby it is now fully in his hands to bestow : nay which is yet more , he hath purchased it in our name , and possesseth it in our behalf ; no wonder if he hath promised it to us , nor need we doubt at all of his power or will to confer it on us . the devill once took our blessed lord up to an exceeding high mountain , and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them ; yea not only shewed , but promised them saying , all these will i give thee , if thou wilt fall down and worship me . but in this he was a gross lyar , since they were none of his to give , but only by the permission of him to whom he was so impudent as to promise them . and as he would have dealt with christ , so he dealeth with foolish mortals , promising them what he cannot , nay never meaneth to perform . but far be it from this lord , the righteous iudg to deal so with his servants : he hath shewed , nay he hath promised us the kingdom , not of earth , but heaven and the glory thereof ; and we are as sure to receive it , as if we did already enjoy it ; and therefore ought with saith to beleeve , with hope to expect , and with constancy to wait for the accomplishment of it ; remembring what he saith himself , though on another account , heaven and earth shall pass away , but my word shall not pass away . i shut up this with this usefull gloss , it is not the the crown of life , quam ille meruit , which he who endured hath deserved , but quam dominus promisit , which the lord hath promised , to wit of his meer grace and mercy . a duke waging war with his enemy , bore in his shield the eagle ( resembling iupiter ) having a crown in his beak , with this motto , iupiter merentibus offert , iupiter offers it to them who doserve it . it is not so with this crown of life , for then who should receive it ! not our best doings , nor yet worst sufferings can merit this crown . it is called indeed by st paul , a crown of righteousness , to wit in respect of christs promise ( for so it followeth , ) which the righteous iudg ( to wit upon the account of his own word , which if he should not perform he were unrighteous ) but not in respect of our merit ; and therefore it is added , shall give ( not pay ) me in that day . let us not then proudly challenge this crown , as if it were that which we have merited , but withall let us be confidently assured of it , since it is that which the lord hath promised . 2. to them that love him ; which is the last particular of the text , and shall in a few words be dispatched . for the explication hereof , there are two questions to be resolved ; what it is to love this lord ? and why the qualification is changed , from enduring to loving ? in answer to the first quaery , be pleased to know , that the love of christ in its utmost latitude , includeth an esteem of a desire after , and a delight in him : esteem is as the foundation , desire as the wall , and delight as the roof of this fabrick of love : esteem is the beginning , desire is the progress , and delight is the consummation of love . finally , esteem is as the ballast to make the ship steady , desire as the sayls , by which it passeth through the ocean , and delight is the musick , which welcometh it to the shore . 1. to love the lord christ , is to set an high rate and value upon him , so as to reject all things in comparison of him . iudgment is the source and spring of affection , from whence it proceeds , and according to which it is proportioned . he that hath an equall esteem of a base lust , a brutish pleasure as of christ , cannot be said to love him ; he onely hath a right affection to him , who ( with st paul ) accounts all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledg of him . what is thy beloved more then another beloved ? said those blind daughters of ierusalem , who being ignorant of his excellency , knew not how to judg of his worth ; but the spouse of christ having her eyes opened to see him , knoweth how to value him ; and therefore returneth this answer , he is the chiefest among ten thousands . 2. to love this lord , is earnestly to long after union and communion with him . as samuel told saul , that all the desires of the israelites were upon him ; so is it with the christian in respect of christ , who is the center in which all the lines of his desire meet ; whom have i in heaven but thee , and there is none on earth i desire besides thee , is the language of love . as those two friends begd of vulcan , that he would new make them into one ; so doth the christian desire to be one with christ , and christ with him , to dwell in christ , and christ in him . 3. to love this lord , is to take a sweet complacency in the presence and enjoyment of him : the hebrew word which signifieth to love , endeth in litera quiescenti , in a quiescent letter ; the acquiescency of the soul in the object beloved , is the perfection of love . when the desire cometh ( saith solomon ) it is a tree of life ; so it is when christ cometh to the soul which loveth him . it is observable how these two are joyned together ; my beloved sonne in whom i am well pleased , the latter unfolding the former ; and then is christ our beloved , when we are well pleased with him . good old iacob having seen his darling ioseph , saith it is enough : good old simeon having embraced christ in his armes , saith , lord now lettest thou thy servant depart . the christian enjoying the presence of christ is fully satisfied , not regarding the best delights this world can afford him . by this time you see what it is to love christ : that which would next be inquired is , why our apostle changeth the qualification ? it had been more proper and agreeable with his precedent discourse to have said , which the lord hath promised to them that endure ; and no doubt this is intended to be included : but if you duly weigh , you shall find very good reason for the alteration , and that in a threefold respect ; since we may probably conceive , that our apostle hereby intended a restriction , a direction , and an enlargment . 1. them that love him , implyeth a restriction , letting us see to what kinde of endurers this crown belongs , namely to such as endure out of a love to christ : oramus , jejunamus ( saith an ancient ) we pray , we fast , i may add , toleramus , we suffer ; sed quid sine charitate , but what is all without love ? though i bestow all my goods on the poor ( saith st paul ) yea though i give my body to be burned and have not charity , i am nothing : and though the charity there intended be love to the brethren , yet it may be applied to the love of christ , without which the greatest sufferings are of no value in gods esteem . there is an enduring out of necessity , because we cannot help it ; there is an enduring out of vain glory , that we may gain the repute of courage ; and there is an enduring out of charity , to which our love to this lord induceth , when we suffer for his sake ; and it is onely this enduring which entituleth us to the crown . 2. them that love him , involveth in it a direction , whereby we may be enabled to endure , namely by this grace of love . that challenge of st. paul is very apposite to this purpose , if with some expositors we construe it of our love to christ : who shall separate us from the love of christ ? shall tribulation , or disiress , or persecution , or famine , or nakedness , or perill , or sword ? whilest love to christ will enable us to endure all these for christs sake ? hence it is that the holy scriptures compare it to death , not onely because it separateth as it were the soul from the body , to joyn it with its beloved object ; but likewise ( as st austin observeth ) because as there is no opposition to be made against death , so neither against love , which overcometh all difficulties , even death it self ; and in that respect is not only strong as , but stronger then death . 3. once more : them that love him , carrieth with it an enlargement of this remuneration , as belonging not onely to them who actually endure , but to all who love christ . all christians are not called to endure temptation ; and if they be not called to it , they ought not to put themselves upon it , to you ( saith the apostle ) it is given , not only to beleeve , but to suffer ; ability of suffering , especially death , is a gift not conferr'd on all christians ; and this lord onely calls them to suffer whom he fits for it . but least those christians who were not put upon such eminent service , might think that therefore they had no part in the crown , the apostle enlargeth the qualification to all who love christ . indeed every christian ought to have a minde in some measure ready to endure what christ shall require , and where there is this love of christ , there will be this readiness . but if it please this lord that thy lott fall in halcyion dayes , when the church enjoyeth rest and prosperity ; or if in suffering times , by his providence thou art not called to endure , yet be not discouraged , this crown is promised by this lord , not onely to them that endure , but to them that love him . i end all therefore with that exhortation of the psalmist ; oh love the lord all you his saints ! love him for his own sake , that is amor amicitiae , a love of friendship , and most acceptable . indeed if you look upon him , you cannot choose but love him , for he is altogether lovely to a spirituall eye . and shew the reality of your love , by your sorrow for his absence , and joy in his presence ; fear to offend him , care to please him , by avoiding what he forbids , and performing what he requireth ; by your willingness to hate father and mother , goods and lands ; to endure reproach and shame , losses and crosses for his sake ; and then quid non speramus amantes ? what may not christs friends hope for ? if you love him he will love you , nay he loved you before you loved him , and by that so much the more obligeth you to love him : he loved you so as to doe , nay so as to die , not onely by acting , but enduring : let your love answer his , and if nothing else will prevail , love him for your own sakes , for the crownes sake which he hath promised to ( and will in due time confer on all ) them that love him . and thus i have finished the text ; wherein you have beheld the bliss of the man that endureth temptation and loveth the lord . but perhaps you will ask , where is this man to be found ? the truth is , such an one ( like those pearls called unions , because found one by one ) is very rare , but yet such there have been in all ages ; and loe here the liveless dust of such a man , mr thomas bowyer merchant , of whom i can truly say , whilest he lived he loved the lord , and endured temptation ; and now he is dead , i justly hope , he is blessed with a crown of life . if you peruse the sacred writ , you will finde the blessed man described by severall characters ; the ladder which reacheth to heaven , consisting of many steps ; nor do i know any of them which might not in some measure be applied to him . indeed he was not onely a starre but a constellation , or rather an heaven bespangled with many starres : his life was not a single leaf , but a book of many leaves , and those filled with the lines of good works . finally , he was not onely flower , but a garden adorned with the choice flowers of many excellent virtues : to gather them all , would ask more time then can be spared , and therefore passing over his temperance , iustice , prudence , with many others , i shall onely cull out four choice flowers to strew upon his herse , and then i shall commit him to the ground , and you to god . 1. the first is the marygold of piety , which is called in my text , the love of the lord ; a grace whereof he gave manifest evidence , by his due regard of gods worship , affectionate love to christs ministers , constant adherence to the truth , and passionate sympathy with the church . 1. he was a man much given to religious exercises , and as he made choice of a single life , so for some years before his death , he sequestred himself from secular affairs , that he might have more opportunity of conversing with god . so long as he had ability of going and hearing , he duly waited on the publique administrations , where i have severall times been an eye witness of his reverend and devout attention . nor was he ( as i fear too many are ) negligent of family dutyes , in praying with , and giving instructions to them , withall allotting much time to his closet devotions ; so that i may truly say of him , in the words of david concerning the blessed man , his delight was in the law of the lord , and therein he did exercise himself day and night . 2. he was an entire and cordiall friend to the orthodox and faithfull dispensers of the word of christ ; he delighted to hear them , joyed to see them , desired their prayers , their company , and was never better then when he had them at his table ; yea their very feet were beautifull in his eyes . 3. the truly reformed religion of the church of england , in which he had been educated , he stedfastly adhered to , and according to his knowledge ( which was not small , in divine as well as other matters ) he zealously asserted her doctrine and discipline , against hereticall and schismaticall antagonists . finally , he was one of the mourners in sion , for the heynous sins of the nation , and grievous calamities of the church ; oftimes sending up cryes and groans to heaven in secret , for the forgiveness of the one , and redress of the other : upon all which considerations , i suppose none will deny him the title of religious man . 2. a second flower is the rose of charity , a virtue which ever attendeth upon the former , the lov● of god , and of our neighbour being inseperable . the charity of this our brother , was though extended to all , yet especially directed towards the poor and needy , whom ( according to another character of davids blessed man ) he considered , and that so as to relieve , answerable to that estate wherewith god had blessed him . in his last will and testament , he hath remembred the poor of this , with some other parishes ; and hath taken care for the putting of ten poor youths forth to apprentiships . being a citizen , he hath not forgotten christs hospitall . being a merchant , he hath made provision for ten seamen , maymed in merchants service : and being ; ( as i have already told you ) a true fiend to the clergy ; he hath given an hundred pounds to be distributed among ten poor ministers , and ten poor ministers widowes , whom ( being very well acquainted with their persons and necessities ) he hath nominated himself . nor must i omit to tell you ( that i wish all rich men would practise ▪ ) that the charity of his life was far more then that of his death . he gave when it was in his power to have kept , he scattered his almes with both hands , and yet the one hand must not know what the other did ; by all which it appeareth he was a truly charitable man . 3. a third flower is the violet of humility , that grace which is the first step in the scale of blessedness , erected by our saviour : this worthy man , though rich in grace was poor in spirit ; though ( to use st pauls phrase ) he laboured more abundantly then many others in doing good ; yet ( as i have often heard him say ) he thought he could do nothing , looking upon himself as an useless branch , an unprofitable servant : and so far was he from being one of those pharisees , who trusted to themselves , that they were righteous and despised others , that he judged others better then himself , and trusted onely to the mercy of his god , and righteousness of his redeemer . the last flower is the camamile of his patience , a virtue wherein this our brother was most exemplary , for which reason i made choice of this scripture , to be the subject of my discourse at his funerall . it pleased the all-wise god to visit him severall years before his death , with the tormenting pain of the stone ; he was scarce at any time wholly free , and sometimes exceedingly tortured as it were upon the rack ; and as if god intended him to be another iob , he gave him a great measure of patience , being never heard , no not in his sharpest fits , to charge god foolishly , or break forth into any repining language . he sometimes desired to die , not out of a fretting impatience at the miseries and pains he endured , but ( as his own words were ) because he longed to be with god , with whom i doubt not but he now is in case , in rest , in joy and falicity . and now they who knew not this worthy person , will be ready to think i have said too much , but they who knew him , know i have said too little , since i cannot say enough . the commendation of this our brother is , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not the work of one tongue , especiall one so unskilfull as mine . in whatsoever i have said , i have onely born witness to the grace of god bestowed upon him ; and though i am sure i have not spoken all the truth , i am no less sure i have spoken nothing but the truth ; nor do i doubt but many tongues are ready to attest the verity of what hath been spoken . it will i suppose be needless now to tell you , how great a loss to the clergy ( my self in particular ) the parish , his near relations , this city , nay the whole church , the loss of this good man is ; nor dare i here enlarge , least sorrow put a stop to my speech . my design in his commendation , is , our consolation , that considering on the one hand the good works which he did , and on the other , the many pains which he endured , all who knew and loved him may be comforted , in that he is released of his miseries , and hath in part received the recompence of his vertues . i have but one word to add , to my worthy friend his surviving brother , that the vertues of the dead may still live in him , to the glory of god , the comfort of himself , the honour of the family , which hath for many years been of good repute in this city , and the welfare of his posterity , who i am confident will fare the better for the prayers and piety of their deceased uncle ; especially those prayers being ( as i hope they will be ) renewed , and that piety imitated by their living father . nothing now remaineth , but that we all joyn together in giving god thanks for the excellant example of this good man , and express that thankfullness in our lives by following his piety , charity , humility , patience , with all those graces which did shine forth in him , that in due time , together with him , and all others departed in the faith and love of christ , we may receive that crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . amen . finis . errata . page 2. line 30. after begin read we . p. 4. l. 22. r. neer . p. 9. l. 30. dele one . p. 12 , l. 32. dele e. p. 14. l. 7. for al. r. ul . a catalogue of those sermons that have been printed since the sermon preached at st. pauls church , to the native citizens of london , may the 27th 1658. at the end of which , there is a catalogue of all his other sermons formerly printed . the first generall epistle of st iohn the apostle , unfolded and applied ; the second part : in thirty seven lectures on the second chapter , from the third verse to the last . a sad prognostick of approaching judgment ; or , the happy misery of good men in bad times . a sermon preached at st gregories , iune the 13th 1658. for the funerals of the reverend iohn hewit , d. d. mans last journey to his long home . a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick , iune the 9th 1659. the pilgrims wish ; or , the saints longing . discussed in a sermon preached in st bennets grace-church , at the funerals of mr , anne dudson , late wife of mr edward dudson of london draper , ianuary 11th 1658. a looking-glass of humane frailty set before us . in a sermon preached at the funerals of mrs anne calquit , late wife of mr nicholas calquit draper , at alhallows the lesse , in thames-street london , april , the 19th 1659. carduus benedictus , the advantage of affliction ; or , the reward of patience . unfolded in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr thomas bowyer merchant , at st olaves iew●y , february the 22th 1659. all printed for ioseph cranford , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the castle and lyon in st pauls church-yard . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45544e-330 prov. 10. 7. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in benedictionem . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept. cum laudibus . vulg. zeno . notes for div a45544e-1480 gen. 1. ver. 13. ver. 2. a pro : 24.10 . a pet. ver. 3. mat. 16. 24. epict●● . psalm 111. acts 7. 2 cor. 4. gen. 2. psalm 1 49. rev. 1. 1 pet. 5. 4. phil. 4 1. 1 thes. 2. 20. mat. 25. 21. isa. 53. 10. 1 pet. 5. 3. greg. m. hieron. sen. ep. rev. 12 1. rom. 8. 2 cor. 4. heb● . 11. aug. aug. medit. . 1 cor. 1. 2 tim. 2. chrysol. rev. 2. 10. rom. 9. mat. 28. luk. 12. 32. see my 2d part on st iohns first epistle the 33th lecture . 1 pet. 1. 25. psal. 12. 7. james 2. 1. matth. 4. matth. 5. 17. ● tim. 4. quest . 1. phil. 3. matth. 3. 17. luk. 2. 29. 3 quest . 2. 1 cor. 13. 3. rom. 8. aug. phil. 1. psal. 31. psal. 2. psal. 41. the life and death of mr. william moore, late fellow of caius colledge, and keeper of the university-library as it was delivered in a sermon preached at his funeral-solemnity, april 24, 1659, in st maries church in cambridge / by tho. smith ... smith, thomas, 1623 or 4-1661. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a60568 of text r566 in the english short title catalog (wing s4231a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 32 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a60568 wing s4231a estc r566 11943235 ocm 11943235 51300 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60568) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 51300) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 42:3) the life and death of mr. william moore, late fellow of caius colledge, and keeper of the university-library as it was delivered in a sermon preached at his funeral-solemnity, april 24, 1659, in st maries church in cambridge / by tho. smith ... smith, thomas, 1623 or 4-1661. hammond, henry, 1605-1660. [20], 11, [1] p. printed by john field, printer to the university of cambridge, [cambridge] : 1660. place of publication from wing. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. "the last words which were writ by ... dr. hammond, being two prayers for the peaceful re-settlement of this church and state" : p. 1-11 at end. eng moore, william, 1590-1659. funeral sermons. sermons, english. a60568 r566 (wing s4231a). civilwar no the life and death of mr william moore, late fellow of caius colledge, and keeper of the university-library: as it was delivered in a sermon smith, thomas 1660 5926 4 20 0 0 0 0 40 d the rate of 40 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-05 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the life and death of mr william moore , late fellow of caius colledge , and keeper of the university-library : as it was delivered in a sermon preached at his funeral-solemnity , april 24. 1659. in st maries church in cambridge ; by tho. smith , b. d. his successour . hinc ◆ lvcem ◆ et ◆ pocvla ◆ sacra printed by john field , printer to the university of cambridge . 1660. to my ever-honoured friend , charles scarborough , doctour of physick , and the rest of mr moors pupills . most dear friends and fellow-pupils ; i here present unto you a description of our tutour , as it was taken in short-hand . i beleeve that mr smith ( towards the end of whose sermon this was inserted ) would have been persuaded to have printed this whole sermon , if m●moor's executours had not told him , how they observed , that in such discourses the onely thing regarded by the reader is the life of the person , especially in these times , wherein few minde any thing but news . i remember that when our tutour had read over a book writ by d h. he said , that if he had been to write a tract on that subject , he would have said the same things with that authour . and therefore i here make bold to send you also the last words of dr hammond , which are newly come to my hands , because i have heard some ( who were intimate with them both ) say , that they knew no men more like in judgement and temper then m ▪ moor and that holy personage : so that if you desire our tutours works , you may be pleased to read this doctours , till his shall be published ; which i hope some of his pupills will do ere long , and not leave all the toyl to mr smith . i have transcribed many of them , but am leaving england ; and so must commend them to you , and you to god : beseeching you to pray for me , and to look upon these not onely as the last words of my tutour and dr hammond , but of me also , unless you hear further from the unworthiest of your fellow-pupills , charles bertie . middle-temple , may 8. anno caroli ii. 12o . the life and death of mr william moor . reverend and beloved ; be pleased to suffer me ( who never yet commended any man out of the pulpit ) to say a little of this mr william moor , newly interred here * before us , under that very stone whereon he was wont to kneel down in prayers to almighty god . he was a person , who had that of solomon continually before his eyes , eccles. 9. 10. what ever good thy hand findeth to do , do it with all thy might ; for there is no work , nor device , nor knowledge , nor wisdome in the grave , whither thou goest : or rather , he had the life of the blessed jesus in his daily meditation and practise . you can scarce name the good or piece of knowledge or wisdome , wherein he was not eminent : one of the ablest that ever i met with , not onely in the knotty pieces of divinity , cases of conscience , and chronologie , and all ingenuous sciences , especially history and all kinde of antiquity ( which , if any thing , must bring the men of this age to their wits again , when all is done ) but also in anatomy , physick , mathematicks , and the like . those who are the most eminent for all these now in england being of his education . but above all i must admire his piety to god , signified in every particular that i could observe . and i think i had more the happiness of his company ( and so greater opportunities to note his behaviour ) of late years , then any here present , except his own family , having been with him almost every day for these seven years last past . cardinal bellarmin ( in his second book of dying well , and eighth chapter ) is so ingenuous as to blame those romanists , who begin with their sacraments when they have done with their physick ; and saith , sacramentum conferretur aegrotis quando periculosè aegrotare incipiunt ; that 't is a very dangerous custome ( though it is seldome otherwise ) that men send not for the priest till the physician hath given them over . this our friend ( quite contrary to them , and such as asa ) sought to the lord first , and then to the physician . to the lord , and that ( after a strict examination of his soul ) in those two main parts of divine worship , prayer and the holy eucharist . no sooner had the disease seized upon him in an extraordinary manner , but straight he spoke of the sixth chapter of st johns gospel , and those {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} mysteria , and told me and divers others , that he was of his good friend mr herbert thorndikes minde concerning that chapter , viz. that it must needs be a prediction of the holy eucharist : which the first nicene council thought the most necessary viaticum ; and after them the whole christian world ( not excluding calvin , zanchy , and others of the reformed ) till some late novelists arose : who would perswade us that christ had no true church upon earth before these times . and he received the body and bloud of our saviour with expressions of as much outward reverence as ever i beheld , ( which several here present can witness ) and doubtless his external deportment was but a necessary consequence of his inward devotion . which also appeared by his zeal and frequency in prayer to almighty god : not omitting to humble himself in a decent {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} dedicate to that purpose ( as you know the primitive christians did ) through every day of his life , even when he was not able to go , but crept and was led to it : not omitting the very last day of his pilgrimage , when he could not without help move his foot over the threshold . as he testified his reverence to god in doing , so in suffering . though his sickness was very painfull ( caused by an ulcer in his bladder ) yet who ever heard him complain in that or any other trouble ? all that i heard of it from his mouth , was this ; when one told him that he could not but be in great pain ; he answered , my saviour was in far greater pain for me . in his sickness he spent the most of his time in reading and meditating on the passion of christ , desiring to throw aside other learning , and to know nothing else but jesus christ and him crucified : and this knowledge was his ballast kept him steady and couragious ; for he never abhorred any thing more than the humours of this age , simulation and dissimulation ; so that if ever any man had a window into his heart , that all the world might know his most secret thoughts , mr moor had . in these changing times wherein men pride themselves in menstrua fide & anniversaria ( as tertullian speaks ) in a religion that alters as oft as the moon , or take up with the year at most ( and then persecute their neighbours for not being as very protei as themselves ) who dare whisper that mr moor was not constant to that religion , which upon a strict rational examination he took up in his younger days ? sticking close to that faith into which he was baptized , the true ancient , catholick , and apostolick church of england , whose doctrine is contained in the 39 articles , the book of homilies , and our * liturgie , which he lookt upon as the onely probable medium to reunite the shatter'd pieces of decaying christendome . in this religion he lived , and in this he died ; commending his soul ( in my hearing ) to god with a loud voice , in those our prayers which a erasmus , and b gilbertus cognatus say , do savour of an apostolical spirit ; and while both his hands and eyes were lifted up to heaven , his soul peaceably departed . thus died mr moor , as david , in a good old age , threescore and ten ; full of days ( i will not say riches and honour , but ) full of that which david saith is far beyond them , peace of conscience , and joy in the holy ghost . shall i tell you how he added to his true faith vertue , 2 pet. 1. 5 ? as that word signifies courage and constancy in well-doing , and conforming our actions to the rule which our consciences approve . he would oft say , that if men would generally take courage , and shew themselves bare-faced ( without mask or vizard ) and profess what they do indeed beleeve ; it were the onely way to secure themselves and all others , and make those few that be factiously bent unable to hurt them ; but that foolish fear hath always betrayed , and brought evil upon men , from the time of the gnosticks till now . to this vertue he added patience , an admirable submission to all manner of superiours , though perverse ; a most meek and quiet spirit under what governours ( ecclesiastical or civil ) soever . which i note the rather , because i see some men write large books , and many disputations , to prove that the members of the old english church are not to be suffered in any civil society : which books and disputations are ( in my opinion ) far better confuted by such lives as mr moors , then by volumes . and to patience how did he add brotherly kindness ! a true samaritan . every man was his neighbour ; loving to all , i cannot say to his enemies , because i never heard he had any , for he walkt so far from offence toward god and man , that he attracted the love or wonder rather , even of the froward . and though in these unhappy times difference in religion ( as 't is the nature of it ) hath caused a vast difference in most mens affections , yet i cannot hear of any one man that spoke one single word against mr moor ; nor do i remember that i have heard him speak ill of any one man or woman ; but i have heard him in general blame the men of this age for pulling down — and looking into other mens faults more then their own . he would say , that he had oft heard an apt proverb , after a good dinner , let us sit down and back-bite our neighbours : the discourse of most men now adays being nothing else . and i confess i have seen him very oft ( both in sickness and health ) upon the mention of schism , heresie , or sacriledge , shake his head , and profess that he would not have had the least finger in the ruin of the church of england for a million . but let us go to the colledge . ask those who were his contemporaries in gonvile and caius concerning him , and you shall hear them ( beside all this ) wonder at his contentedness , his joy in the most private condition ( the most mean and toylsome employment ) from first to last . though he had as many fair opportunities for preferment offered him as any man , yet he slighted them all , trampling this world under his feet : saying , that since he was but a passenger here , it was a folly not to behave himself as a traveller in an inn ; a madness to set his minde on such things as there is no use of at his journeys end ; adding , that god sent no man hither to get money . his contemporaries will tell you , how far he was from disturbing the peace of the society wherein he lived , from beginning or fomenting any faction or sedition in the house . that he never asked any fellow for his vote , nor politickly ( as the custome is ) enquired before hand what other men would do in any election , nor spoke one word for any pupil of his own either to get a scholarship or fellowship ( and yet even lately he had five or six senior fellows at once in caius colledge his own pupils ) but he went on his own road , chose that man whom he in his soul thought fittest for the place , fall how it would ; & so his vote oft stood alone , doing no man any good . and though some laughed at his singularity , he had his reward within and above , which told him that a time would come ere long , when it would be declared by strange effects , that wealth was never the greatest happiness , nor worldly policy the best counsellour , that to lie and forswear for a good cause was no piety , and to do wickedness for the glory of god was ill worshipping him . in a word , that there would come ( as sure as that god is true ) a day of visitation ; when we shall all be judged not by the flexible rules of our factions or interests ( non est judicium dei sicut hominum ) but by the straight regularities of the word of god , by the rules of s. paul , and justice and charity , by the laws of the nation and our local statutes . and thus he brought up his pupils , not choosing the richest ( such as be ordinarily the tulips of the university , stay a while , onely to show themselves & see fashions ) but such as were of the choicest parts though never so poor , and such as he thought he was likely to do most good upon : with whom he took more pains usually in one day then many do in a moneth , knowing that doing good to them he did good not onely to single persons , but sometimes to whole families , whole parishes , whole counties ; & he made it his business to principle them in true religion as well as learning . and now here be pleased to behold and admire the strange blessing of god upon his precepts and example ; though i know many scores of his pupils ( some in this and some in other nations ) yet i never knew any who continued not firm to those good principles which his tutour moor instilled into him ( quo semel est imbuta recens ) notwithstanding all the temptations of schisme and heresie , on the right and on the left , both from rome and amsterdam , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , except onely one . i should transgress the bounds ( though not of your patience , yet i am sure ) of the time , if i should tell you now of his almes , which are almost incredible . where is the poor man from whom he turned his face ? or where the poor pupil that ever he turned from the colledge for lack of money ? and yet what almes he gave was in the most private manner he could devise . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . how communicative was he ? how ready to lend any thing he had , even the choicest of his books or manuscripts , to any man in town or countrey that would make good use of them . i must not stand to tell you what pains he took to collect our university statutes ( now scattered in many scarce legible manuscripts ) into one body , how he was chearfull without lightness , grave and serious without distrust , sorrowfull for nothing but sin , delighting in nothing but doing good . and by that ye may trace his footsteps where-ever he went : 't is well known that he was through his whole life a diligent collectour & transcriber of the choicest manuscripts which he could possibly purchase by love or money ; all these he gave to caius colledge . while he was in the university library , how diligent he was for the publick good from first to last , what incredible pains he took there for you , and for how trifling a recompense ye all sufficiently know . and when the sharpness of his disease would not suffer him to frequent that place , he delivered to me a catalogue of all the manuscripts in that library ( except the oriental ) writ every word with his own hand ; which i am to deliver into the publick library , as soon as it is open again . but my strength faileth , and will not suffer me to tell you half the excellent things i have heard from him , seen by him : his modesty ( he could scarce moderate an act without blushing , even when his almond tree did flourish ) his temperance and sobriety in diet and apparrel , abating all superfluities , and even robbing himself to bestow upon the poor ( remembring the causal particle for : matt. 25. 35. for i was hungred and ye gave me meat , for i was naked and ye clothed me ) his retiredness , his contentedness , his humility — you see i can but name them ; nor shall i need when they are known to most of you as well as to my self : especially to that numerous company of his pupils who had the happiness of the queen of sheba to be perpetually at the elbow of our solomon . ye who lamented him to his grave ; give me leave to speak to every one of you ( dear friends ) particularly ( as methought i heard him on his death-bed ) in the words of the dying romane . non est amici defunctum vano ejulatu deflere , sed quae voluerit meminisse , quae mandaverit exequi , 't is not the part of a friend to bewail a dead friend with vain lamentation , but to remember what he advised and to perform what he commanded . there is not one of you who had any relation to him that were in the sad condition with most other gentlemen whose follies are termed wisdome , who are applauded when they talk vainly , and are let alone when they do shamefull things : no , every mothers childe of you was as sure to meet with his portion of sage and sober counsel as of his diet . and ( in your hearing ) he oft lamented the misery of our english gentry , who are commonly brought up to nothing but hawks and hounds , and know not how to bestow their time in a rainy day , and in the midst of all their plenty are in want of friends , necessary reproof , and most loving admonition . and now when the preacher hath done all the use that most men make of such discourses as these ( or indeed of any sermons ) is to pass a censure . i doubt not but some of you will say i have spoke too much , others that i have said too little of him de quo praestat nihil quàm pauca dicere . and for the first , i confess i am so far of my reverend friend dr jeremy taylers minde , as to be no friend to funeral sermons : but i know m● moor was such a person , that if the dr himself were in my stead this day , he would say far more of him then i have done : that he was a man of whom though i had said nothing , and though he have no tombe-stone here before you , yet he cannot want a monument or a remembrance while caius colledge stands , while we have an university or publick-library , of which we never before had such a custos ; and i believe hereafter never shall . the last words which were writ by the reverend , pious and learned dr hammond : being two prayers for the peaceful re-settlement of this church and state . prayer i. o blessed lord , who in thine infinite mercy didst vouchsafe to plant a glorious church among us , and now in thy just judgement hast permitted our sins and follies to root it up ; be pleased at last to resume thoughts of peace towards us , that we may do the like to one another . lord , look down from heaven , the habitation of thy holiness , and behold the ruines of a desolated church , and compassionate to see her in the dust . behold her , o lord , not onely broken , but crumbled , divided into so many sects and fractions , that she no longer represents the ark of the god of israel ( where the covenant and the manna were conserved ) but the ark of noah , filled with all various sorts of unclean beasts : and to complete our misery and guilt , the spirit of division hath insinuated it self as well into our affections as our judgments ; that badge of discipleship which thou recommendedst to us , is cast off , and all the contrary wrath and bitterness , anger and clamor , called in to maintain and widen our breaches . o lord , how long shall we thus violate and defame that gospel of peace that we profess ? how long shall we thus madly defeat our selves , lose that christianity which we pretend to strive for ? o thou which makest men to be of one mind in an house , be pleased so to unite us , that we may be perfectly joyned together in the same mind , and in the same judgment . and now that in civil affairs there seems some aptness to a composure , o let not our spiritual differences be more unreconcilable . lord , let not the roughest winds blow out of the sanctuary ; let not those which should be thy embassadors for peace still sound a trumpet for war : but do thou reveal thy self to all our eliah's in that still small voice , which may teach them to eccho thee in the like meek treating with others . lord , let no unseasonable stiffness of those that are in the right , no perverse obstinacy of those that are in the wrong , hinder the closing of our wounds ; but let the one instruct in meekness , and be thou pleased to give the other repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth . to this end do thou , o lord , mollifie all exasperated minds ( take off all animosities and prejudices , contempt and heart-burnings ) and by uniting their hearts prepare for the reconciling their opinions . and that nothing may intercept the clear sight of thy truth , lord , let all private and secular designs be totally deposited , that gain may no longer be the measure of our godliness , but that the one great and common concernment of truth and peace may be unanimously and vigorously pursued . lord , the hearts of all men are in thy hands , o be thou pleased to let thy spirit of peace overshadow the minds of all contending parties ; and , if it be thy will , restore this church to her pristine state , renew her days as of old , let her escape out of egypt , be so entire , that not an hoof may be left behinde : but if thy wisdome see it not yet a season for so full a deliverance , lord , defer not ( we beseech thee ) such a degree of it , as may at least secure her a being . if she cannot recover her beauty , yet o lord grant her health , such a soundness of constitution as may preserve her from dissolution . let thy providence find out some good samaritans to cure her present wounds . and to whomsoever thou shalt commit that important work , lord , give them skilful hands and compassionate hearts ; direct them to such applications as may most speedily , and yet most soundly , heal the hurt of the daughter of sion ; and make them so advert to the interests both of truth and peace , that no lawfull condescension may be omitted , nor any unlawfull made : and do thou , who art both the wonderful counsellor and prince of peace , so guide and prosper all pacifick endeavors , that all our distractions may be composed , and our jerusalem may again become a city at unity in it self ; that those happy primitive days may at length revert , wherein vice was the onely heresie ; that all our intestine contentions may be converted into a vigorous opposition of our common enemy , our unbrotherly feuds into a christian zeal against all that exalts it self against the obedience of christ . lord , hear us , and ordain peace for us ; even for his sake whom thou hast ordained our peace-maker , jesus christ our lord . prayer ii. evening . o most gracious lord , who doest not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men , who smitest not till the importunitie of our sins enforce thee , and then correctest in measure , we thy unworthy creatures humbly acknowledge that we have abundantly tasted of this patience and lenity of thine . to what an enormous height were our sins arrived ere thou beganst to visit them ! and when thou couldst no longer forbear , yet mastering thy power , thou hast not proportioned thy vengeance to our crimes , but to thy own gracious design of reducing and reclaiming us . lord , had the first stroke of thy hand been exterminating , our guilts had justified the method ; but thou hast proceeded by such easy and gentle degrees , as witness how much thou desiredst to be interrupted ; and shew us , that all that sad weight we have long groaned under , hath been accumulated onely by our own incorrigibleness . 't is now , o lord , these many years that this nation hath been in the furnace , and yet our dross wasts not but increases ; & it is owing onely to thy unspeakable mercy , that we ( who would not be purified ) are not consumed ; that we remain a nation , who cease not to be a most sinfull and provoking nation . o lord , let not this long-suffering of thine serve onely to upbraid our obstinacy , and enhanse our guilt ; but let it at last have the proper effect on us , melt our hearts , and lead us to repentance . and oh , that this may be the day for us thus to discern the things that belong to our peace ! that all who are ( yea , and all who are not ) cast down this day in an external humiliation , may by the operation of thy mighty spirit have their souls laid prostrate before thee in a sincere contrition ! o thou who canst out of the very stones raise up children unto abraham , work our stony flinty hearts into such a temper as may be malleable to the impressions of thy grace , that all the sinners in sion may tremble ; that we may not by a persevering obstinacy seal to our selves both temporal and eternal ruine , but instead of our mutinous complaining at the punishments of our sins , search and try our ways , and turn again to the lord . o be thou pleased to grant us this one grand fundamental mercy , that we who so impatiently thirst after a change without us , may render that possible and safe by this better & more necessary change within us ; that our sins may not , as they have so often done , interpose and eclipse that light which now begins to break out upon us . lord , thy dove seems to approach us with an olive-branch in her mouth , oh let not our filth & noisomness chase her away ; but grant us that true repentance which may atone thee , and that christian charity which may reconcile us with one another . lord , let not our breach either with thee or among our selves be incurable , but by making up the first prepare us for the healing of the latter . and because , o lord , the way to make us one fold is to have one shepheard , be pleas'd to put us all under the conduct of him to whom that charge belongs ; bow the hearts of this people as of one man , that the onely contention may be who shall be most forward in bringing back our david . o let none reflect on their past guilts as an argument to persevere , but to repent ; and to make their return so sincere as may qualify them not onely for his but thy mercy . and , lord , be pleased so to guide the hearts of all who shall be intrusted with that great concernment of setling this nation , that they may weigh all their deliberations in the ballance of the sanctuary ; that conscience , not interest , may be the ruling principle ; and that they may render to caesar the things that are caesars , and to god the things that are gods ; that they may become healers of our breaches , and happy repairers of the sad ruines both in church and in state . grant , o lord , that as those sins which made them are become national , so the repentance may be national also ; and that evidenc'd by the proper fruits of it , by zeal of restoring the rights both of thee and thine anointed . and do thou , o lord , so dispose all hearts , and remove all obstacles , that none may have the will , much less the power , to hinder his peaceable restitution . and , lord , let him bring with him an heart so intirely devoted to thee , that he may wish his own honour onely as a means to advance thine . o let the precepts and examples of his blessed father never depart from his mind ; and as thou wert pleas'd to perfect the one by suffering , so perfect the other by acting thy will ; that he may be a blessed instrument of replanting the power instead of the form of godliness among us , of restoring christian vertue in a prophane and almost barbarous nation . and if any wish him for any distant ends ( if any desire his shadow as a shelter for their riots and licenciousness ) o let him come a great but happy defeat to all such , not bring fewel but cure to their inordinate appetites ; and by his example as a christian , and his authority as a king , so invite to good , and restrain from evil , that he may not onely release our temporal , but our spiritual bondage , suppress those foul and scandalous vices which have so long captivated us , and by securing our inward , provide for the perpetuating our outward peace . lord , establish thou his throne in righteousness , make him a signall instrument of thy glory and our happiness , and let him reap the fruits of it in comfort here , and in bliss hereafter ; that so his earthly crown may serve to enhanse and enrich his heavenly . grant this , o king of kings , for the sake and intercession of our blessed mediator , jesus christ . the end . the manner of dr h's death . d ▪ h. hammond , whose works ( both of charity and learning ) praise him in the gate , was about the beginning of april 1660. seized with a fit of the stone ; which at first put him to acute pain , but soon after changed it self into a languishment & sorenes over the whole body , attended with nauseatings and vomits ( usual symptomes in such cases ) and a suppression of urin for three days , then a fit of bleeding , &c. thus he remained till april 25 when a second fit of bleeding came . after it succeeded a faintness , which increased till one a clock at night , which began a perpetual day to him , and to us as great a darkness as the remove of such a luminary could create to the church . his disease ( though of the acutest kinde ) was , in a manner , without pain . his soft departure would make a christian in love with death : for whereas at other times he was upon the like occasions subject to a lethargick stupor ; now he had his intellectuals perfect to the last , and breathed out his soul in a veni domine jesu . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a60568e-530 * not in caius colledge , as he desired , because mr dell would not suffer him to be buried by the liturgy , which was his last request . * he was the last who read it in caius colledge-chapel . a de modo orandi . edit. maire , p 115. b precum . p. 302. fol. a sermon preached at alderly in the country of gloucester, january iv, 1676/7 at the funeral of sir matthew hale, kt, late chief justice of his majestie's court of the king's bench / by e.g. ... griffith, evan, a.m., minister of alderly. 1677 approx. 37 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42143 wing g1995 estc r2788 12781682 ocm 12781682 93823 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42143) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 93823) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 983:18) a sermon preached at alderly in the country of gloucester, january iv, 1676/7 at the funeral of sir matthew hale, kt, late chief justice of his majestie's court of the king's bench / by e.g. ... griffith, evan, a.m., minister of alderly. [2], 30 p. printed by w.g. for william shrowsbury ..., london : 1677. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng hale, matthew, -sir, 1609-1676. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-03 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur . guil . sill , r. p. d. hen. episc . lond. à sac. dom. feb. 23. 1676 / 7. a sermon preached at alderly in the county of gloucester , january iv. 1676 / 7 : at the funeral of sir matthew hale k t. late chief justice of his majestie's court of the king's bench . by e. g. a. m. minister of alderly . london , printed by w. g. for william shrowsbury at the sign of the bible in duke-lane . 1677. a sermon preached at the funeral of sir matthew hale k t. at alderly , jan. 4. 1676 / 7. isa . 57.1 . the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering , that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . in the ninth verse of the former chapter the holy prophet threatneth a fearful judgment that was like to fall on the jews , he calls for the wild beasts of the field and the forest to come and devour , meaning the gentiles , which should be executioners of the lord's judgments ; and because the lord is righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works , he shews what causes would provoke the lord to inflict such a heavy judgment upon his people , as to give them up to be devoured by the beasts of the field and the forest , such savage enemies . the first cause is set down at large in the rest of the verse to the end of the chapter : even the blindness , idleness , covetousness , and security of their watchmen , who should have taught the fear of the lord ; the neglect of their duty being a special occasion of the peoples sin , is alledged as the first cause of god's judgments threatned . the second cause was in the common people , set down in the first verse of this chapter : even their careless neglect , in not regarding nor considering the death of the righteous , when many of them were taken away to warn them of some strange judgement to come ; yet they laid it not to heart nor considered , but continued and proceeded in their sins , drinking , and filling themselves with wine and strong drink , and merriment , promising themselves happy days , as it is the manner of the wicked to be most secure when judgment is nearest unto them , as we have example in belshazzar , dan. 5. he was among his concubines and his cups , when the hand wrote his doom over against the candlestick , mene mene tekel upharsin . the righteous perisheth . these are the words of the holy and evangelical prophet , lamenting the spiritual security of the jews , chiding and reproving them for their great stupidity and spiritual lethargy . wherein we have , first , the persons that dyed , who are described by two excellent properties : 1. righteous before god ; 2. merciful towards men. secondly , the manner of their death , set forth by two terms ; perisheth , are taken away . the sin of careless people , by two phrases ; not laying to heart , nor considering the death of the righteous . fourthly , the final cause or special end for which they dye and are taken away , and that is , to prevent future evils . concerning the persons , here are two great problems to be resolved , hard questions . quest . i. how can any man be righteous ? the scripture saith , there is none righteous , no not one . ii. how do the righteous perish ? the lord knoweth the way of the righteous , the way of the ungodly shall perish . answ . i. there is a legal righteousness , so adam was righteous in the state of innocency , being created after god's image : this righteousness is forfeited and lost , so by nature all are corrupt and unrighteous : there is none righteous . ii. there is an evangelical righteousness , and this is twofold . 1. the righteousness of imputation , when the righteousness of christ is imputed to the believer , and received of him by faith : christ is made of god to be unto us righteousness , 1 cor. 1. jehova tsidkenu , jer. 23.6 . he was made sin for us , that we might be made the righteousness of god in him , 2 cor. 5. ult . as christ was made sin for us , not by the infusion of sin into his person , but by imputation of our sins unto him : so we are made righteous before god , not by any righteousness inherent in us , but by the righteousness of christ imputed unto us . 2. believers are righteous by sanctification , when by the spirit of christ the mind is enlightned , the heart is mollified , the will is rectified , the affections sanctified , and the whole course of their life is reformed , the habits of grace planted in them , they are partakers of the divine nature ; so that as before they liked , loved , and lived in sin , now they abhor and avoid sin and all the occasions of it : he that doth righteousness is righteous , 1 joh. 3.7 . this doth not make us perfectly righteous , but imperfectly ; not before god , but before men. jam. 2.24 . 3. they that are righteous thus by justification and sanctification , are also merciful , passively and actively : passively , that is , first in nature and order , such as gad received into mercy and favour ; hence they are called vessels of mercy prepared unto glory , rom. 9.23 . they are truly righteous before god , whom he hath received into mercy in forgiving their sins . rom. 4.6 , 7. actively , for such as shew mercy unto others ; these two are always found together in the same persons , as our saviour , matth. 5.7 . blessed are the merciful , for they shall receive mercy . they have obtained pardoning mercy , and shall obtain crowning mercy : he which receiveth mercy of the lord will shew mercy unto men. quest . ii. how doth the righteous perish ? answ . not in soul , for that is immortal , and cannot perish by any means , but doth live out of the body as well , or more truly than in the body : this solomon taught , ecclesiast . 12.7 . the spirit returns to god that gave it ; this st. paul desireth , to be dissolved , and to be with christ : phil. 1.23 . and lazarus enjoyed at his death , being carried by the angels into abraham's bosom : luke 16. and this john saw in a vision , revelat. 6.9 . performed to the saints , he saw the souls under the altar . neither doth he perish in body , for the body of a righteous man hath still a being in the sight of god , and remains a member of christ's mystical body : this union betwixt christ and the faithful is not of souls only , but also of bodies ; the bodies of saints do not finally and totally perish , their dust in the grave is precious in god's sight , they only sleep in jesus , and by the power of jesus shall be raised again glorious bodies . phil. 3. ult . nothing perisheth of a righteous man in death finally and totally , but sin. they perish in appearance , according to the opinion of the world and the judgment of flesh and blood. the proper meaning of this expression is , they dye , depart hence , and are no more seen , their place knoweth them no more ; or , as the other word is added exegetically , they are taken away or gathered to god and his christ , to angels and saints . observation . the righteous and godly man must dye as well as others , but the death of the righteous is not hurtful but beneficial , no loss , but great gain and advantage . of this lesson we see two branches . 1. that the righteous man who is evangelically righteous , as being justified by the righteousness of christ , and sanctified by his spirit , must dye , and go down into the chambers of death and darkness , and the house of rottenness , as well as others . 2. that the death of the righteous is not hurtful , but beneficial ; no loss , but gain . of the first ; death is the way of all the world josh . 23.14 . the way of all the earth , saith david , 1 king. 2.2 . it is the end of all men , as solomon , eccles . 7.2 . and the righteous must walk and pass this way , and come to this end before they come to their everlasting home , as well as others : the wise man dyeth as well as the fool , eccles . 2.16 . yea in this respect the condition of the children of men and the condition of beasts are alike , as the one dyeth , so dieth the other . eccles . 3.19 . no marvel if the condition of all men be alike , high and low , rich and poor , wise and unwise , learned and ignorant , righteous unrighteous , godly and prophane , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mors impudens , it fears no colours , spares neither great nor good : abel dyed , whose person and sacrifice god accepted , as well as cain whose person and sacrifice god rejected . abraham the father of all the faithful , and the friend of god , isaac , jacob , joseph , all the patriarchs , prophets , apostles , evangelists , and holy men of god paid this tribute , and all must pay : heb. 9.27 . statutum est , there is the necessity ; omnibus , there is the universality of dying ; there is a statute law for both , enacted in the court of heaven , which no mortal can repeal . as sure as we are born to live , so sure are we born to dye ; nasci & denasci ordo rerum est . i need not travel far for many more examples or proofs of this , only turn your eyes to that doleful object and sad spectacle of mortality under that black vail , then conclude of this necessity : for if art , and learned skill and industry of physick could have continued him , if strength of body could have preserved him , if wisdom and rare gifts of mind , if temperance in diet , if chastness of life , if a concurrence of all excellent virtues , if piety and the power of godliness , the life of holiness , if the wishes of men , yea of a whole nation , if the prayers and tears of the godly , if any thing could have prevailed for him to give him any priviledge against deaths arrest ; blackness and darkness had not at this time covered that earthly tabernacle wherein lately lodged so heavenly a mind . quest. why should this be so , hath not christ died for the righteous , why then should they dye ? death is the wages of sin , hath not christ suffered for all their sins , wherefore should they dye ? answ . christ by his death and satisfaction hath freed them from the second death , and all the degrees of it ; as , 1. spiritual death in sin. 2. the damnation of the soul at her sepaparation from the body . 3. from the condemnation of the whole ●…lan at the resurrection ; go ye cursed into everl●sting fire . this death christ by his death hath abolished , and freed the righteous from ; but not from the first death , which is the separation of soul and body : he hath only changed the nature and use of the first death , he hath taken away the sting and venom of it , all the evil and hurt of it : of a punishment for sin , he hath made it a passage into heaven ; of a curse , he hath turned it into a blessing ; it did at first deprive men of good , but now it putteth the righteous into the possession of all good . the righteous must dye . ratio 1. to accomplish the decree , and to prove the truth of god , who said , in the day thou eatest thereof , morte morieris , thou shalt surely dye . gen. 2.17 . as they who are adjudged and condemned to dye are dead in law , albeit they be kept in prison , and not presently executed ; so our first parents , though they did not immediately dye , were subject to death by the desert of sin , and so in them all their posterity . by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men , for that all have sinned . rom. 5.12 . now that the decree of god might be accomplished , and his truth kept inviolate and stand with his mercy , man , yea the righteous man must dye the first death . if man should dye no manner of death , how could the truth of god appear ? and if that death due to sin had been inflicted on man , how should the mercy of god have been manifested ? this controversie god in his wonderful wisdom hath reconciled thus , piat mors bona , & habet utraque quod petit ; in changing the cursed nature of death , and making that temporal which was eternal , doth his mercy appear ; and in the dissolution of man's body into dust for a time , doth his truth appear . ra. 2. because all are dust ; our bodies are earthly tabernacles , houses of clay , the foundation of them in the dust : job 4.19 . all flesh is grass , and the glory of man as the flower of the field : isa . 40. great as well as mean ones , their glory fades , they wither as the grass , and meet all in the dust : our life is a vapour . ja. 4.14 . the sea never resteth ; but is always ebbing or flowing , so is it with the life of man , it never standeth at one stay , every day cutteth off one part of our life , no power can make my life so long to day as it was yesterday , we are nearer our end in the evening than in the morning . job 4.20 . we are destroyed from morning to evening . even as rivers run into the sea , so our life runs into death . this is the reason which the lord useth , gen. 3.19 . dust thou art , and into dust shalt thou return . ra. 3. because here is no continuing city for any ; we are strangers and pilgrims , and are placed in the world for a season , as men upon a stage to act our parts , and then must be gone , to give room for others . one generation passeth away , and another generation cometh . eccles . 1.4 . ra. 4. the righteous are taken away because the world is not worthy of them , heb. 11 ▪ 38. they are the means of blessings to the world , 1. by their presence : 2. by their prayers ; they stand in the gap , they stave off judgments from the world ; the angel could do nothing to filthy sodom , until lot was gone out of it into zoar : gen. 19.22 . 3. by their examples : and 4. by their counsel : but the wicked world will neither follow their example , nor take their counsel : therefore the lord doth take away the righteous in mercy to them , but in judgment to the world. branch 2. the death of the righteous is not hurtful but beneficial , no loss , but great gain and advantage . this will appear , 1. by the phrases which the holy ghost useth to describe the death of the righteous : it is a sleeping in jesus , 1 thessalon . 4. a resting in hope , psalm 16. a putting off an earthly tabernacle , 2 pet. 1.14 . a falling of a corn of wheat into the ground , that it may spring up more glorious ; a sowing in god's acre . joh. 12.24 . it is a gathering of them to their fathers : 1. of their bodies from a place of care and labour , o● trouble and pain , to a place of easerest , and security ; they shall enter into peace , rest in their beds . vers . 2. 2. of their souls , from the body to god , to abraham's bosom ; from an earthly tabernacle and house of clay , to an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens : from men to angels ; from sinners to saints perfectly righteous ; from enemies to their best friends ; from the vale of the shadow of death to the land of the living ; from the church militant to the church triumphant ; from earth to heaven , whither they are gathered , as the apostle teacheth at large , heb. 12.22 , 23 , 24. to mount sion the city of the living god , the heavenly jerusalem ; to an innumerable company of angels , to god the judge of all , and the spirits of just men made perfect , to jesus the mediator of the new covenant . 2. this will yet evidently appear , if we consider two things . 1. the evils from which the righteous are freed by death . 2. the good which comes unto them in death , the blessed estate they shall then enter into , and so continue to all eternity . for the first , they shall be freed , 1. from all evils , corporal and temporal , sicknesses diseases , aches , pains , griefs , toyl , labour crosses and losses , troubles and persecutions which god's children , as long as they live here are subject unto . the disciple of christ must take up his cross ; through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven . act ▪ 14.22 . we must look for afflictions so long as life lasteth , but death makes an end of them all : life and trouble are twins which were born together : job 5.7 . man is born unto trouble , as the sparks fly upward ; and must dye together , as john heard it by a voice from heaven , revelat . 14. blessed are the dead which dye in the lord for they rest from their labours : all labour in their actions , and dolour in their passions are ended ; then shall god wipe away all tears from their eyes . revelat. 21.4 . again , they are often taken away to prevent some extraordinary evils to come , as in the text : so josiah , 2 king. 22. was put in his grave in peace , that he might not see the evil that god did bring upon his land : so luther was taken away not long before that miserable calamity which the lord brought upon germany , for their contempt of the gospel . augustine died before the taking of hippo ; paraeus before ●he taking of heydelberg : happy is he who dieth before his country , i. e. before the ruine and desolation of his country . virgil. faelix nepotianus qui haec non videt , saith jerom of his friend nepotianus : jerom lived in a calamitous time , and he counted his friend happy , that he died before he saw those calamities . 2. the righteous , by death are freed from spiritual evils ; as , 1. from the assaults of the devil ; our life here is a continual warfare , the church is militant , and we must fight as the lord's souldiers , and that not against flesh and blood , for then one man's sword would be as long as anothers , and one man's skin as thick as anothers ; but against principalities , powers , rulers of the darkness of this world , spiritual wickednesses , lambs against roaring lions , men against devils , and not for a natural or temporal , but for a spiritual and eternal life ; not for an earthly , but for a heavenly crown and kingdom : and in this war there is no time of truce , if the devil be overcome one time , he will suddenly , and none knows how soon , give a fresh assault , but death ends the battel ; not as among earthly warriours , when the one dieth in the fight the other getteth the upper hand ; but in this fight the devil hath not the victory by the death of the faithful , but the faithful at the end get a full and final conquest , and ascend into heaven , there to triumph ; the devil cannot assault them there , he may compass the earth , but he cannot enter within the lists of heaven , he never came thither to assault any since he was cast out ; though he tempted adam in the earthly paradise , and got him to be thrust out , yet can he not tempt any in the heavenly paradise . 2. it is no small evil to the righteous to live and converse among the wicked , to see the land dishonour god ; as just lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked , dwelling among them , in seeing and hearing , he vexed his righteous soul from day to day at their unlawful deeds : 2 pet. 2.7 , 8. he which is truly grieved for sin in himself , will be also grieved for sin in others ; so david , psal . 119.136 . rivers of waters run down mine eyes , becaus● men keep not thy law : and psal . 120.5 . wo is m● that i am constrained to dwell in mesech , and in the tents of kedar ; barbarous and profane people ▪ that did neither know god , nor fear , nor love ▪ nor serve him . now this world is full of scandalous sinners , that if a man would not keep any converse with such , he must go out ●f the world , as st. paul saith , 1 cor. 5.10 . but death frees the righteous from this evil , for it taketh them out of the world , that they shall not behold either the sins which men commit against god , or the evils which god doth bring upon them ; yea death doth carry them into heaven , to the society of the holy angels and the spirits of just men made perfect , which sin not at all , but do the will of god in all perfection . 3. another evil from which the righteous are freed in death is the practice of sin here , as solomon saith , there is not a just man upon earth , that doth good and sinneth not : eccles . 7.20 . in many things we sin all . jam. 3.2 . as the wicked sin in all things , so the righteous , yea all the righteous sin in many things , and nothing is so grievous to the true christian as sin , it is as the thorn , 2 cor. 12. or barbed head of an arrow in the tender flesh , a splinter under the nail , it woundeth in the piercing in , and woundeth in the taking out ; he will cry with st. paul , o wretched man that i am , &c. rom. 7. but death destroyeth sin , this is a mystery of grace , sin brought in death , and death drives out sin : after death the righteous shall be perfectly sanctified , and made like the angels to do the will of the lord readily , willingly , chearfully , delightfully , and constantly . at first death was inflicted as a punishment for sin , but now it is used as 〈◊〉 means to stop the course of sin : tunc dictum est homini , morieris si peccaveris , nunc dicitur , morer● ne pecces ; then it was said to man , if thou sin thou shalt dye ; now it is said to the righteous man , dye that thou mayst not sin . sin is the mother , and death is the daughter , and the daughter shall become the destroyer of her own mother : unto the christian death is a perfect mortification of all his earthly members , and the destruction of the whole body of sin. 2. the good which death brings to the righteous man is manifold ; 1. it brings him into the presence of god , the father , son , and holy ghost ; our father , redeemer , and comforter , an immediate communion and fellowship with the sacred trinity . 2. the beatifical vision of god , to see his face , rev. 22.4 . to see him as he is , 1 joh. 3.2 . 3. union with god. 4. fruition of god , and that for the manner , immediately , all means ceasing ; for the measure , fully , enjoy god in all , and all in god ; for time , eternally , for ever with the lord , and reign for ever and ever ; revelat. 22.5 . for th● place , in the third heaven , the heaven of heavens , the paradise of god , where the throne of god and of the lamb is ; for the company joyned with us , the innumerable company of glorious angels and blessed saints : from this fruition will arise endless and unspeakable joy , and pleasure , and glory ; that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . 2 cor. 4.17 . usus 1. in that death cannot be avoided , we should learn to prepare and wait for it , to have our loins girded , as the israelites , and our staves in our hands , ready to take our journey from egypt to canaan : as fowls desirous to fly , stretch out their wings , so should we , being desirous to be with the lord , stretch out our affections towards heaven . as abraham was in the door of his tent when the angel appeared unto him , and elijah in the mouth of the cave when the lord appeared unto him ; so we should be ready to come out of the cave and tabernacle of our body when the lord appeareth unto us by his messenger , death . let our lamps be trimmed , our lights burning , and always watching , as our lord commandeth , matth. 24.42 . watch therefore , for ye know not what hour your lord doth come : and holy job practised , job 14. all the days of my appointed time will i wait , till my change come . look to your faith that it be unfeigned , the faith of god's elect ; to conscience , that it be pure , undefiled , void of offence towards god and man ; to conversation , that it be such as becometh the gospel , that is , holy , and in heaven : a good life will sit us for a comfortable death , and a comfortable death will assure us of a joyful resurrection . usus 2. death to the righteous is not hurtful , therefore not to be feared ; but is beneficial , therefore to be desired : unto the gracious christian , whose conscience is purged from dead works , death shall neither be fearful nor bitter ; acerbitas non mortis sed culpae , the bitterness is not in death , but in sin : as a serpent wanting a sting may hiss , but cannot hurt , a man may take it in hand and put it in his bosom ; so the righteous man may welcome and embrace death , and be sure it will never hurt him : it is not the death of the man , but of sin in the man , it is not the destruction but the absolution of the christian ; the dissolution of the body is the absolution of the soul. so then not death it self , but the opinion of death is terrible ; for since it translates us from this present evil wo●●d , and va●e of misery and the shadow of death , into everlasting life into the land of the living , how can it be called death , said one of the ancients , being nomine magis quam re formidabilis , formidable rather in name than indeed ? the separation of the soul from god , that is death ; but the separation of the soul from the body is only the shadow of death : therefore such as are dead , not in soul , but in the flesh , are not said to be properly dead , but to be covered with the shadow of death . the righteous man who is evangelically righteous hath no cause to fear death , but with st. paul , desire to be dissolved , and to be with christ : let him only fear death who is unwilling to go to christ . it is true which solomon saith , that the day of a mans death ( that is , a righteous man's death ) is better than the day of his birth : eccles . 7.3 . the day of a godly man's birth is the beginning of his misery , but the day of his death is the end of his misery , and an entrance into endless glory and bliss . usus 3. consolation as to the death of our righteous friends . it cannot be denied , but that we ought in a special manner to consider and lay to heart the death of our righteous friends that are near and dear unto us , of whom we have good grounds to be perswaded that they sleep in jesus , and dye in the lord ; for it may be they were taken from us because we were not worthy of them , and the mercies we received from god in and by them , and were not thankful unto god for them ; or that we gloried , were proud of them , and trusted too much in them , made flesh our arm. we must consider whether god hath deprived us of them as a punishment of our sins and unthankfulness , as the widow of sarepta said unto the prophet , o man of god! art thou come to call my sins to remembrance ? 1 king. 17.18 . in this respect we have cause to mourn , and lay to heart the death of our righteous friends . we of this place have cause indeed to mourn , droop , hang down our heads like bulrushes , to weep , yea to weep if it were possible rivers of tears , till we can weep no more , with david , because our honourable dearest lord and best friend to all of us is not : but that this may be guided with wisdom , and that we be not swallowed up of sorrow , let us rightly understand where he is not : he is not in a prison , but in a palace of freedom and enlargement ; he is not in the sea tossed with waves , exposed to storms , but arrived safely in the haven ; he is not in bondage of corruption , but in the glorious liberty of the sons of god ; he is not in the way and upon his journey , travelling and toyling , but in his country , and at home in his own mansion , in his father's house ; he is not in the hope of heaven , but in the actual possession of it : and look how far heaven doth excel the earth ; eternal good things , momentary and perishing vanities ; the true joys of the saints of god , the false delights of the sons of men : so much is his condition better than ours is , or his was , when with us . oh then ! pereat contristatio ubi est tanta consolatio ; forget we our sadness in the midst of such joys , and let these consolations allay the bitterness of our grief , and dry up in part the fountain of our tears . farther consider : 1. his gain : ballance that ( whereof you you have heard before ) with our loss ; and then our loss ( though exceeding great ) will hold no weight . 2. let that argument which prevailed with the ephesians in the like case sway with us , the will of the lord be done , acts 21.13 . let us not make such idols of our selves , or our friends , as for their death , so comfortable and advantageous to them , to be discontented with god's appointment . 3. if the heathen could say , non amittimus , sed praemittimus , why should not christians much more be so perswaded , and say , we do not lose our godly friends , but send them before us ? usus 4. yet take this caution , beware of the sin of this people reproved in the text , in not laying to heart the death of this our honourable , dear , religious , and right christian lord ; but make we some use of this sad dispensation of divine providence . 1. consider it as a plain prognostication and warning of some evil to come , as in the text , the righteous is taken away from the evil to come : a trumpet sounded , or a beacon set on fire to alarm and awaken us out of the sleep of sin , to fright and fire sinners out of their carnal security . we may be assured he is freed from all evils and miseries present , and it may be he prevented some extraordinary judgments which remain for it . sin is rise and ripe , hath all the symptoms of ripeness : 1. it is great , knows not how to be more sinful , strikes immediately at the glorious face of god. 2. common , from the highest to the lowest . 3. it is impudent ; sinners of this generation cannot blush , they declare their sin as sodom , they hide it not . 4. incorrigible ; we have been stricken , but we have not grieved ; we have been consumed , but refused to receive correction , we have made our faces harder than a rock , we have refused to return . jer. 5.3 . we may therefore justly fear some strange future evils , when the harvest is ripe the sharp sickle will be thrust in , and the earth will be reaped ; and when the grapes are fully ripe , the vine of the earth shall be gathered and cast into the great wine-press of the wrath of god. rev. 14.14 . now god grant , that as he hath prevented such evils by his blessed death , so we may prevent them by our unfeigned and seasonable repentance , and by receiving that exhortation , zeph. 2.1 , 2 , 3. the decree i● big and travelleth , and will undoubtedly brin● forth , therefore gather your selves , o nation , see ▪ ye the lord , it may be ye shall be hid in the day 〈◊〉 the lord's anger . 2. remember we his eminent virtues and holy graces for our imitation , he hath no need of our prayers or our praises , his praise is not of men but of god : though his god had honoured him highly in the sight of all wise , learned , good , godly , and great men , as unto his servant david , made him a great name among the great men that are in the earth : 2 sam. 7. so that he will be eminently famous to all posterity , as one of his honourable brethren , a learned judge of the land faith : and let me add , his remembrance will be as the remembrance of josiah , like the composition of the perfume made by the art of the apothecary , sweet as honey in all mouthes , and melodious in all ears , as musick at a banquet of wine . ecclus. 49.1 . this is for our comfort and instruction , but adds nothing to his happiness , which is in the highest perfection , now in the clear sight and full fruition of the chiefest good . if he desires any thing , it is our imitation ; that i am inclined to believe , that the saints in glory desire the salvation of their brethren on earth ; and consequently , that they should be followers of them in the way of salvation . rev. 6.10 . then remember we , 1. his humility , meekness , and gentleness , and self-denial ; in this grace , which indeed is the grace of every grace , he was another moses . 2. his patience under all his crosses and tryals , whereof he had no small portion , and his long continued affliction in this excellent virtue , that he was another mirror , after holy job . 3. his temperance and sobriety , in the midst of a sottish and swinish generation . 4. his righteousness and justice , he was another aristides ; to hinder him from administring of justice impartially , to high , low , rich , poor , without fear or favour , was to stop the sun in the firmament , and to divert its course . 5. his piety and holy devotion , in publick , in private , in secret , he kept close and constant communion with god. 6. his charity and mercifulness to the poor , his bowels of compassion were largely drawn out to them . 7. his indefatigable industry in all the duties of his calling , general and particular ; it may be engraven upon his tomb , hic mortuus requiescit semel , qui vivus , requievit nunquam . here , being dead , he resteth once ; who being alive , rested never . these rare virtues and precious graces were deeply planted and habituated in his gracious soul , even from his youth , for his god looked early upon him , which was his own expression to my self with great humility , and thankful resignation of himself , and all that he was , and had , to his good god , from whom he acknowledged he received all . these , i say , were acted , and shined in the whole course of his life : let us remember them carefully , and conscionably follow him in these holy steps ; so shall we come to the place and estate wherein he is , and meet again at the right hand of jesus christ at the resurrection of the just , to our mutual joy , and rejoycing both his and ours , and hear and have that joyful and blessed doom , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom . — which god of his infinite mercy and rich grace grant , for jesus christ his dear son's sake , to whom be glory , and majesty , dominion and power , and blessing , now and for ever . amen . finis . the decease of lazarus christ's friend a funerall sermon on iohn. chap. 11. vers. 11. preached at the buriall of mr. john parker merchant and citizen of london. by tho. gataker b. of d. and rector of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a01531 of text r212839 in the english short title catalog (stc 11656). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 142 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 29 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a01531 stc 11656 estc r212839 99835846 99835846 72 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01531) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 72) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1065:16) the decease of lazarus christ's friend a funerall sermon on iohn. chap. 11. vers. 11. preached at the buriall of mr. john parker merchant and citizen of london. by tho. gataker b. of d. and rector of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. [8], 48 p. printed by e[dward] g[riffin] for edward brewster, and fulke clyfton, and are to be sold at the bible on fleet-bridge, and on new-fishstreet-hill, london : 1640. printer's name from stc. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng parker, john, d. 1639 or 40 -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -17th century. a01531 r212839 (stc 11656). civilwar no the decease of lazarus christ's friend. a funerall sermon on iohn. chap. 11. vers. 11. preached at the buriall of mr. john parker merchant a gataker, thomas 1640 23634 827 735 0 0 0 0 661 f the rate of 661 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2002-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-05 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2002-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the decease of lazarus christ's friend . a funerall sermon on iohn . chap. 11. vers. 11. preached at the buriall of mr. john parker merchant and citizen of london . by tho. gataker b. of d. and rector of rotherhith . london . printed by e. g. for edward brewster , and fulke clyfton , and are to be sold at the bible on fleet-bridge , and on new-fishstreet-hill . 16●0 . to the right vertvovs and religious gentlewoman , mrs. joane parker , the relict of master iohn parker lately deceased . having beene , with much importunity and renewed reqests , a incessantly solicited , by divers , who either had themselvs heard , or from others heard of , what was delivered at the enterrement of your late wor●hy consort , and either had knowne him in his life time , or taken notice of his course of life then related , to make that more publick , that was then uttered , in the audience but of a few to speak of , and by reason of the lownesse and feeblenesse of my voice , of the fewer ; i was at length over-wrought ( though having formerly no such purpose ) to condescend thereunto : the rather hoping that his examplary course of life and cariage , with the good effect and comfortable issue of it , might be a meanes , through gods blessing working together therewith , to invite , incite , allure and winne others to the like . experience teaching , that b mans nature is of it selfe more prone to walke by example then by rule ; and to follow precedents rather then precepts . those also having this advantage of these , that c they shew not only what things are enjoyned , and how things enjoyned may be done ; but they d take away also that common counter-plea of impossibility , which against all exhortation and admonition is by the multitude usually objected ; by shewing , that such things as are required of them , are no other then have beene done by e men like themselves ; and may therefore be done by others also , and among others f by themselves , if they will but as those before them have done , endeavour and enforce themselves thereunto . i remember a good saying of a reverend divine now with the lord , that g a good great man is a great moat in the devils eye : for that the exampls of those that are in eminent places , as they are h more eyed of others , so i they draw the more after them , either to good or to evill . and i may well adde , that a r●ligious rich man is likewise ( witnesse blessed k job ) a great moat in the devils eye : not only because such an one , having his heart enlarged answerably to his hand , may l by his bounty and beneficence do a great deale the more good , and that m where the devill least liketh : but because also in such it is made to appeare , that by honest courses and n gods blessing upon them , men may attaine unto wealth , as well as by fraud , deceipt , extortion , oppression , and such indirect wayes , as o most strive to raise and advance their estates by , and p without which they think wealth cannot possibly be compassed . yea , let me adde in the third place , that a religious industrious man ( and yet i see not well , q how they can be severed ) is a great moat in the devils eye . for that by his● aven and wise practise such an one maketh it manifest , that a man may well serve god in a constant course , and yet follow also the duties of his speciall calling ; and that there is therefore no such necessity , as many , on either side faulty , pretend , of neglect of the one , if the other be diligently attended ; but that r both of them may have their due time and place , without enterfering or justling out either of other , as the s rules both of reason and religion require . the common , yea , almost generall abuse of the times , might well require me to adde , that a sober and temperate , as well as a religious ( and yet t what religion can be , where excesse reigneth ? ) but yet , that a sober and temperate merchant or tradesman , may well be reckoned among those moates , that disturbe the common adversaries eye : since that by such it appeares , that men may have ordinarily , in orderly manner , mutuall commerce , trade , and traffick either with other , without u beating every bargaine they make over a wine-pot , and concluding it with braines equally distempered on either side . in these therefore and divers other respects , i supposed the example of this our worthy friend and faithfull servant of christ might be usefull to many : and was in that regard the rather induced to satisfie the desire of those , that so instantly pressed me in it . which having once concluded on , i knew none fitter to addresse it to , then to your selfe ; who had chiefe interest under god in him , x by gods own ordinance , while he lived ; and may with fairest title and plea lay best claime to the memory of him now deceased . to you therefore , beloved in our common saviour , i tender it to remaine by you ; for my selfe , as a monument of mine entire a●fection to him , who is now with the lord , and to his surviving for him ; for your selfe , as a memoriall of what a precious iewell it pleased god sometime to possesse you of , and to grace you with : yet not thereby to renew your griefe for your temporary losse of him , ( if it may be so tearmed , when he is but , as y he saith of onesimus , gone from you for a time , that you may after a while againe receive him and enjoy him for ever ) joyned with his eternall and incomparable gaine ; but z to minde you of his goodnesse who bestowed him upon you , and of thankfulnesse to him for the continuance of such a favour so long unto you . so beseeching god abundantly to blesse you , and all yours and his , with all spirituall blessings and sweet comforts in christ , i take leave , and rest yours ever in all christian office , tho. gataker . the decease of lazarvs christs friend . john , chap. 11. vers. 11. our friend lazarus sleepeth . they are the words of our saviour christ , more covertly intimating that to his disciples , which presently after hee telleth them in plaine tearmes ; to wit , lazarus his decease . and they need no curious analysis ; for the sentence is but short ; nor large explication ; for there is nothing in them ambiguous , but what our saviour himselfe in the words following explaineth . in them we may consider ; 1. the person spoken of : and 2. his present estate and condition . the person spoken of is described ; 1. by his name ; lazarus , or a eleazer . for b all is one : and it ●ignifieth one whose aide god is . 2. by his relation to christ , and his disciples . our friend . his present estate and condition is expressed in a metaphore . he sleepeth . that is , as our saviour himselfe by and by after expoundeth it , c he is deceased , he is dead . from the words thus opened , these points of instruction offer themselves unto us . 1. that every faithfull one is one of christs friends . 2. that every friend of christ , is a friend of those also that are christs . 3. that christs friends dye as well as others . 4. that death , to such especially , is but as a s●●epe . 5. that this their friendship never faileth : it surceas●th not in death , but surviveth their decease . and of these in order , as god shall enable , and the streights of time permit . first then , * every faithfull soule is a friend of christ . every true christian is one of christs favourites . it is the usuall style of abraham , d the father of the faithfull ; gods friend . e to abraham thy friend : saith iehoshaphat to god . and , f ye seed of abraham my friend ; saith god to his people . and , g abraham , saith s. iames , believed god ; and he was called gods friend . so here , of lazarus , a sonne of abraham , christs friend . our friend lazarus , saith our saviour . and to his disciples elsewhere in generall , h i tell you , my friends . and , i ye are my friends . k no more servants , but friends . this will more cleerely appeare unto us , if we shall consider , what the common nature of friendship or amity is . friendship is defined , l a mutuall love manifested : or , more largely , a mutuall love and affection betweene party and party , manifested by some means from either to other . and such is there betweene christ and the faithfull . 1. there is m a mutuall love and affection required unto friendship . and such there is betweene christ and the faithfull . for n christ loveth them ; and they love him . he loveth them . o christ loved his church ; saith the apostle s. paul . and p to him that loved us ; saith s. iohn : and they love him . q my father , saith he , loveth you , because you love me : and , r we love him , saith s. iohn , because he hath loved us . and againe , s i love them , saith he , that love me : and , t if any man love me , the father will love him , and i will love him too . so that u there is no love lost betweene christ and his . x he loveth them first : and they love him , because he loveth them : and againe , he loveth them the rather , because they love him . sweetly therefore bernard ; y let no man , whose heart can truly testifie for him , that he loveth christ , make any doubt but that christ loveth him . for how can he choose but love thee , when thou lovest him , z who loved thee then , when thou loved'st not him ? 2. unto friendship is required , that this mutuall love and affection betweene party and party be manifested from either to other . and so is it also betweene christ and the faithfull : the love and affection they beare either to other is by them mutually made manifest from either to other . a i know mine , saith our saviour , and am knowne of mine● i know them , and they know me . i know their love to me . b lord , saith saint peter to our saviour , thou knowest that i love thee . and c they know my love to them . d he loved me , saith the apostle : and , we know , saith saint iohn , the love that god beareth to us . and , e that with all the saints , ye may know the love of christ , saith s. paul againe . yea , he hath manifested his f matchlesse love to them , by what he hath done and endured for them : by giving himselfe for them , g he loved me , saith the apostle , and gave himselfe ●or me . and , h christ loved his church , and gave himselfe for it : and making a bath of his own heart-blood , to bath their soules in , for the curing and healing of them . i he loved us , saith s. iohn , and washed us from our sinnes in his blood . besides that , hee hath given them his spirit , for this very end , to k seale up his love to them , and l to make them know what , out of his love to them , hee both hath done , and will further do for them . and they manifest and testifie their , though farre meaner , love to him , by their diligent observance of him , and dutifull obedience to him ; by m keeping his commandements , and n doing whatsoever he enjoyneth them . againe , there is a solemne league of amity betweene christ and the faithfull . just such as that betweene ionathan and david . for as they o to confirme that league of amity mutually betweene them , changed apparell one with other : ionathan took davids raiment and put it on him selfe ; he took his own garments and put them upon david ; so our blessed saviour christ hath changed apparell with us ( a p sorry change indeed to him selfe , though advantagious to us ) hath taken and put on himselfe our garments , not q our nature alone , but even the sorry rags of it , r our infirmities , by participation , and s our iniquities also , by imputation , and he hath taken his owne raiment and put it upon us , t the rich roabe of his merits , and the royall roabes of his holinesse and righteousnesse ; u by imputation , unto justification , the one ; and x by participation , for our sanctification , the other . in a word , y he hath bestowed himselfe upon them ; and z they have given up themselves unto him . so that a he is not more his own now , then he is theirs : b nor are they now more their own , then they are his . and what neerer or more intimate amity can there be then this ? now the vse hereof may first be for information , to informe us of the most high and honourable estate and condition , of every faithfull soule , of every true christian : he is a friend of god , he is a favo●rite of christ . it is noted as a speciall , yea a singular honour , in zabud the sonne of nathan the prophet , that he was the kings , to wit , king solomons , friend . but behold d a greater then solomon here : and a greater honour therefore then king solomons favour was able to afford . every true hearted christian , be he never so meane , be he never so contemptible in the eyes of the world , ( for e this dignity of theirs , worldly men cannot see , the world is not aware of ) is , f not a servant only , ( and yet were that honour enough ; it is that the apostle prefixeth before divers of his epistles , as a matter of no small credit to him , g paul a servant of iesus christ ) but a friend and favourite of him who is king of kings , and l lord of heaven and earth : then which what estate can be more high or more honourable ? a second vse may be for exhortation , to incite every one of us to labour to be of the number of those , whom this dignity , belongeth unto . k many , yea l every one , saith solomon , seeketh the face , * that is , the favour , of the prince , of the ruler . and indeed what will not men do and indure , if there be any hope or possibility , as they conceive , of successe , to insinuate themselves into the favour of great ones ? creepe on all foure , as m ionathan to get up the rock , n debase themselves to the lowest and meanest services that may be , attend them with neglect of their own affaires and themselves . and why should a man then think any thing too much to do , too hard or harsh to endure , though it be to o the denying , forsaking , and abandoning of himselfe , ( as p there is no way indeed but this to save himselfe ) q for the indeering of christ to himselfe , for the winding of himselfe into the favour and friendship of christ . for alas , what is the greatest favour of the greatest monarch in the world without this ? or what is the greatest favour of the greatest on earth unto this ? for first , princes favours are fickle . a man may be in favour to day , and out of favour the next day : and so r aloft now , and as low as the lowest to morrow ; yea , or sooner then so . s the second place in court , said t aeneas sylvius sometime , is a slippery place . yea , as it is u slippery , so they that hold it , if they slip and fall ( as x soone they may ) y they come downe with a witnesse , z they fall heavie ; their downfall is very dismall and dreadfull . we have an example of it in a haman : i cannot stand to relate it : you may when you will , reade it . yea , i need not to relate it . for who is ignorant of it , that hath read , or heard read or told the story of queene esther ? and this may befall those that are in favour with princes , though they be never so faithfull unto them , never so carefull to please them . but christs favour is not fickle : it is constant , it is permanent . b whom he loveth once , he loveth ever . do thou c cleave close to him ; and he will never leave thee : d be thou faithfull to him ; and e he will never forsake thee , * he will never break his faith with thee . againe , princes favours are no sure shelters . the greatest favourite may bee slaine in his soveraignes eye , at his soveraignes feet . alas , f how can they save them , when they cannot secure themselves ? g any one is lord of their life , who sets light by his own life ; unlesse the lord be pleased to protect and afford them shelter against such . but christs favour is a sure shelter . for h he is able to save ; i to give issues against death ; k to preserve his from death ; to protect them so in death ; that l though they dye , yet they shall not dye ; though m they be slaine , yet there shall n not an haires harme befall them ; and to save them everlastingly after death . for o he liveth for ever , to save perfectly all those that bee his . a third vse may be for comfort , consolation and encouragement , to every faithfull soule , to every true christian . for hast thou christ to friend ? p thou needest feare no evill ; thou n●edest dread no enemy . thou mayest well rest upon him for matter of provision : thou mayest well relye upon him for matter of protection . 1. for matter of provision . q for all is common among friends that are r truly friends . and s if all things be christs ; then all things are thine , if thou be his ; and shall not be denied thee , nor detained from thee , t when thy necessity shall require them , and they may be for thy good . for well mayest thou reason here , as the apostle of god ; u he that spared not his sonne , but gave him up for us , how much more will he give us all things together with him ? so of christ ; he that spared not himselfe , but hath given up him●elfe for me , hath bestowed himselfe upon me , hath not denied himselfe to me , how can he refuse to afford with all unto me , whatsoever shall be requisite , either for my support here , or for mine eternall welfare and salvation hereafter ? 2. for matter of protection . hast thou christ to friend ? thou mayest well reason , as the same apostle doth in the same place , x if god be with us ; so , if christ be with us , ( for y christ also is god ) who shall be against us ? as , z if he be against thee , who can be for thee ? so , a if he be for thee , who can be against thee ? and thou mayest therefore , having christ to friend , say confidently with the psalmist , b the lord is my light , ●nd my salvation , whom should i feare ? or of what should i be afraid ? as long as he provideth for me , c i shall be sure to want nothing : as long as he protecteth me , i need not to feare any thing . d though i walk , saith hee , through the vale of deadly shade , i will feare nothing , so long as thou art with me . * for where can a man be in safety without christ ? or where can he be but in safety with christ ? a fourth vse may be for caution , to disswade , yea , and deterre men● from opposing or wronging any of the faithfull . e how fearefull are men usually of offending a favourite ? but all the faithfull are christs favourites . f how chary are men of the credite , welfare , contentment , safety , and indemnity of their friend ? even as chary as of their own ; yea , or more . what is more usuall , then when we heare a friend traduced , or threatned , to say , g speak what you please of me ; but forbeare my friend : do what you will to me ; but meddle not with my friend ? and is not christ think we , as chary , and as regardfull of those that be his ? yes undoubtedly . these are those , in behalfe of whom he giveth warning , and crieth , hands off ; saying , g touch not mine anointed ones . it is spoken h of kings , and that i in a speciall manner , and k unto kings there in their behalfe : as l the ancients generally expound it . doth thy conscience then tell thee ; that such an one though never so poore a wretch , never so meane an abject , is a faithfull soule , a good christian , one that sincerely feareth god , one that truly loveth christ ? n take heed how thou wrongest him . thou shalt bee sure to heare of it againe at one time or other , if thou doest . he hath christ to friend : he is one of christs favourites , o as deare unto him , as the very apple of his eye . p nor will he suffer any wrong offered in word or deed , unto any of his , to go unrighed , or unrevenged . a fifth use may be for triall and examination . hereby then thou mayest try thy selfe , whether thou beest a friend of christ , or no , and one that hath christ to friend . ( for q every professed christian is not by and by r christs friend . s there are some that so walk ; and of professed christians he speaketh ; that they are enemies to christs crosse , and to christ himselfe consequently ) if thou beest a lazarus ; one that makest t god , not the world thine aide , and thy stay . if thou beest an abraham ; or u a childe at least of abraham ; one that x walkest in the steps of the faith of abraham , y who is the father of all the faithfull . but these things , you will say , are too generall . we will descend therefore to some particular notes in our ensuing discourse . and so passe we to the sixth and last vse of this point : which shall be for admonition , to admonish us of the duties required of all those that professe or pretend to be in friendship and amity with christ . x he that hath a friend , saith solomon , must carry himselfe friendly . if thou wilt therefore have a friend of christ , thou must be christs friend , ( for friend and friend are correlatives ) thou must carry thy selfe as a friend unto christ . how is that ? you will say . first , thou must be faithfull and loyall to christ . for y faithfulnesse is especially required of friends , and regarded in friendship . z be thou faithfull , saith he , unto death . nor speaketh he of the faith that we * repose and put in him , but of the faith that we * yeeld and performe unto him . but when are we faithfull unto christ ? i answer . first , when we keep our heart and affections loyall and true to him , not suffering a this wicked world , or any sinfull lust ( for these be the b absoloms that filch our hearts from this our david ) to sway in our soules ; nor our affections to be so set upon any outward thing , even such as we may lawfully love , c father or mother , husband or wife , childe , friend , or acquaintance , or ought else whatsoever , that it should either d withdraw our affection from christ , or minish our love unto christ , or e that we should not be willing to relinquish it for christ , if either f it shall stand betweene christ and us , or he shall be pleased to require it from us . secondly , then are we faithfull to christ , when we are affected as he is ; when we love what he loveth , and hate what he hateth . for g what is true friendship , but when men will and nill the same things ? h ye that love the lord , saith the psalmist , hate that that is evill . whereupon augustine ; i doest thou love the lord ? thou must hate what he hateth . so art thou , or wouldest thou be christs friend ? thou must love what he loveth ; and hate what he hateth . and what loveth he ? k he loveth piety , purity , mercy , charity , humility , sobriety , upright dealing , and the like . and on the other side , l he hateth prophanenesse , uncleannesse , unmercifulnesse , uncharitablenesse , haughtinesse , drunkennesse , intemperance , falshood , unjust dealing , and the like . if then thou m lovest , affectest , and labourest in the former , not so much because they conduce and are consentaneous to humane society , ( for so one may do that is no friend to christ or christianity ) as because christ n liketh and loveth them , and they make thee o like unto him : and p hatest the latter , not so much because they are contrary to civill society , as because christ q hateth them , and they make unlike unto him , r whom thou desirest to please , and to approve thy selfe unto ; yea , whom thou endeavourest s to imitate , and strivest to be t like unto : knowing that u likenesse breedeth further liking and love : thou art then a true friend to christ indeed . but on the other side , if thou canst not brook or abide , but hatest the former , which he loveth ; and lovest and delightest in the latter , which he hateth and abhorreth ; it is certaine , there is u no friendship betweene christ and thee , whatsoever thou maist professe or pretend to the contrary . secondly , if thou wilt shew thy selfe a friend to christ , thou must diligently observe him . friends , we see , are carefull to observe either other . especially , if a meaner person have some great man to friend , how carefull and sedulous will he be to observe and attend upon such an one ? and it is expected he should so do . so we finde in story , that it was the manner of those among the romans that enjoyed the favour of any great ones , a to repaire to them every morning , ( that was b the first work they did , and c strived who should first do it ) attend upon them so soone as they came forth , and tender themselves and their service unto them . in like manner , doest thou desire to maintaine friendship with christ ? thou must diligently and constantly attend upon him in his ordinances , in publick , in private : d repaire frequently to his house ; attend at his threshold : ( e he is a blessed man that so doth ) f invite him oft to thine house : g he is not dainty of repaire to the meanest of his : h he is willing to be entertained of us ; and i delighteth in such invitements : especially take heed , how , when k he knocks at the door of thine heart by the ministery of his word or the motions of his spirit , thou either refuse or neglect to open unto him . l such an oversight the spouse committed , and she smarted for it , it cost her full deere . and m such unkindnesses oft make shrewd breaches betweene friends . yea take heed of intermitting and letting fall thine usuall and wonted resorts . n intermission of entercourse breedeth strangenesse betweene friends and such intermission of spirituall entercourse ; may , though not cut off all amity , yet breed no small strangenesse between christ and thy soule . thirdly , our friendship with christ must appeare , as by our diligent observance of him , so by our constant obedience to him . o if a man love me , saith our saviour , hee will shew his love to mee by keeping my commandements . and , p you are then my friends , and manifest your selves so to be , when you do what i enjoyne you . yea then indeed do we shew our selves , to esteeme christ our friend , and carry our selves towards him as towards a friend , q when his commandements seeme not harsh and grievous unto us : when r with heart and goodwill we serve the lord iesus , either in that we do for him , or for others at his request . that which a man doth lumpishly and heavily for a meere stranger , the same yet he doth readily and s cheerefully for a friend . and that is it , that maketh t christs yoake seeme so easie , and his loade so light to his , that u seeme so unweldy and so unsupportable to others . lastly , it must appeare , as in matter of obedience , so in matter of patience ; as in constant doing , so in patient enduring any thing whatsoever for him , even a to losse of liberty , limme , livelyhood , and life it selfe too . for what would not a man do or endure for a deere friend ? or what hath he not done and endured for us ? yea , appeare it must , not in patient only and quiet , but in willing and cheerefull enduring , undergoing and going through with , whatsoever we may be called to suffer and sustaine for his sake . b iacob , though hee served for rachel some tearme of yeares , an c hard s●rvice under an harsh master ; by day parcht with the heat , and by night nipt with the frost , yet he went cheerefully through with it , and d those many yeares seemed unto him but as a few dayes , because he loved her . so of the apostles , peter and iohn , two of christs faithfull friends , it is said , that when they had been in the iewish consistory , not rated and reviled , nor threatned only , but e beaten also , f they went away rejoycing , that they g were graced so much as to be disgraced for christ . and , h we , not rejoyce only , but even i glory , in our afflictions ; saith s. paul , another of christs friends , and that in the name of the rest ; k because the love of god l in christ , and so m of christ , is shed into our hearts by the spirit that is n given unto us . in a word , what we do or endure for him , must come freely from us . o friendship , as love the ground of it , is a free affection ; not a trade or traffick for lucre and gaine . p that is done by a man ●reely , that is done for his friend ; it is done as for q himselfe : his friend r being to him as himselfe . s we must not stand to demand , or forecast with our selves , as those prophane ones in t iob , what shall i get or gaine by what i do or endure ? what shalt thou gaine by it ? saist thou ? it is gaine sufficient , and so art thou to esteeme it , that thou maist do christ any service . a singular precedent have we of this freenesse of disposition in that * choice vessell s. paul : u i care not what become of me , saith he , so that christ be magnified in me , be it by life or by death . for all the gaine that i aime at both in li●e and death , is christ : that is , to do service unto christ , to bring glory unto him , as that x reverend doctor of ours rightly expoundeth it . yea as the apostle , i may well say , expoundeth himselfe , where he telleth those of ephesus at his taking leave of them , y that he was going to jerusalem bound thither by the spirit , not knowing what might befall him when he should come thither : and howsoever from the holy ghost he was every where told , that bonds and afflictions there aboade him ; yet did none of these things trouble him , nor was his life deere unto him , he regarded not what became of him , so he might joyfully finish his course , and discharge the work of his ministery committed to him by christ . that was all he de●ired , and all that he aimed at , to do service to his saviour , to finish cheerefully his task assigned him by him . and the like disposition who so can finde in himselfe , may assure himselfe that he is a true friend to christ , and may build upon it , that he hath christ to friend . and thus much for the first point , that every faithfull one is christs friend . the second followeth , that every friend of christ , is a friend also to those that be his . lazarus , saith our saviour , not my friend , but our friend , mine and yours too : as well mine as yours , and yours as mine . and a the communion , or society , saith s. iohn , which you have with god and christ , ye have also with us . and so it must needs be . for , 1. b all the faithfull are one , as in christ , so with christ . they are c all members of one and the same christs mysticall body ; d the head and the whole body making up but one christ . nor can a man be a friend●o the head , that is an enemy to the heart or the hand , yea to the heele or the toe , to the lowest and meanest member of the body . e nor can he be in amity with christ , who is at enmity with any member of that body , whereof christ is the head . 2. f he that hath a friend must be a friend not to him alone , but to his friends also . he therefore that is a friend to christ , must be a friend also to them that are christs friends ; and such are all the faithfull ; as hath formerly been shewed . the vse whereof may be , first , to admonish u● of our duty . do we professe our selves to be of the number of christs friends ? we must then be friends also to those that be his . we must shew our love to him by our friendly disposition and cariage towards them ; and that , 1. in affection . we must have g a sympathie , a fellow feeling , and fellow like affection with them . h friends rejoyce in the good one of another , i as in their own ; they * grieve for the evils one of another , as for their own : and k so must thou , yea so wilt thou , if thou beest a friend of christ , l rejoyce with his when they have occasion of joy , m weepe with them , when they have occasions of griefe . yea so it is with the members , as of the naturall , so of this s●irituall body , n if any one be honoured , all rejoyce ●●●h it ; o if any one be afflicted , all sorrow and suffer with it . but how can we rejoyce in the good of our christian brethren , when we p envie their welfare ? how can we grieve with them in their griefe , when we our selves q grieve them , or are r causes of griefe to them . 2. in action : we must shew our love unto christ by doing good unto them . s o lord , saith david , thou art my god , t thou hast no need of me ; all my goodnesse , or well-doing , cannot reach unto thee . * but unto thy saints that are here upon earth , to such as excell in grace and vertue , my desire and delight is to be doing good unto them . what i would , but cannot do unto thee , that for thee i do to them . so here , u christ indeed himselfe is in heaven ; nor can ought we do reach to him , nor hath he need of it himselfe . but in his stead he commends unto us his poore limmes here on earth . x me have you not alwayes with you ; but my poor● members you have , and you may do them good when you will . y yea though he wanteth not himselfe , yet he suffer●th want in them . z i was , saith he , naked , and a thirst , and a hungry , and sick , and restrained : and , * whatsoever is done to them , it is done to him , and whatsoever is denied unto them , it is denied unto him . and hereby therefore we may well try and examine our selves , whether we be indeed , as we professe , true friends unto christ ; if we shew our love to christ , by a our beneficence and well doing to those that be christs . which if we faile in , we faile in truth of affection to him , whatsoever we may pretend . for as the apostle reasoneth , b how can he love god , whom he never saw , that loveth not his neighbour , whom he daily seeth ? so , how can any man say he is a friend to christ , whom he never conversed with , if he shew no friendship to such members of christ , his christian brethren , with whom hee daily converseth ? besides that , it may be a comfort to every sincerely faithfull soule , that every true christian is his friend ; and he hath interest therefore both in the c parts , and in the d prayers of all the faithfull , a great stay to a christian soule , when it cannot satisfie it selfe with its own suits . yea , that it hath a stock going with them every where : though it have little of its own . but i hasten . the next point is , that christs friends dye as well as others . e abraham gods friend : and yet f abraham is dead . g the prophets gods favourites : and yet h the prophets are dead too . lazarus christs friend : and yet i lazarus is dead . the apostles k christs friends : and yet l the apostles are dead . yea , m the beloved disciple , christs n chiefe favourite is dead . for o christ did not say , that he should not dye . and no marvell . for , 1. they are made p of the same mould that others are : though they be possessed of pretious treasure , yet q is it but an earthen vessell that the same is contained in . 2. they are subject to the like casualties that others are . for r all things here come alike unto all ; to the good and the bad , the pure and the impure : to christs friends , and christs foes . 3. they are by their naturall condition and constitution , as s the grasse ; which though it be not cut downe , yet will wither of it selfe . yea , but as the iewes reasoned , when they saw t christ weepe at lazarus his grave , u behold how he loved him : say some of them . and againe other some , x could not he that made the man borne blinde to see , have caused that this man should not have dyed ? as if they had said , if he y loved lazarus so , why did he suffer him to dye , whom he could have saved from death ? so may some say , if the faithfull be christs friends , why doth he suffer them to dye ? when as z he might , if he pleased , deliver them from death ? i answer . 1. because it is for their good . for they dye , a to rest from their labours ; to be b rid of sin ; to be c freed from death ; to d ●eceive the reward of their well doing ; to e go to god ; to f be with christ . 2. it is according to their own desire that they so do . their desire with g simeon is to h be dismissed : they desire to be i eased of that burd●n , k released from that body of death , that they beare here about them ; l which cannot be done but by death ; they desire to m leave this wicked and wretched world , and to n go to their own home , to their o fathers house , p to heaven : they desire to depa●t hence , that they may q be with the lord iesus , and r abide with him for ever . 3. it is for gods glory that they dye ; and that they regard too as much as their own good . for s christ is magnified in them as well by their death , as by their life ; as well by their pious and patient end and conclusion , as by their godly course of life and conversation . and a man may thereby as well glorifie god , though he dye in his bed , as if he dyed at a stake , or with t saint peter on the crosse . 4. they a dye not , though they dye : death is no death to them : as they b hope even in death ; so they c live even in death . d as others are e dead while they live ; so they f live when they dye . as to the wordly their g life is but a passage unto death ; so to the godly their h death is but an entrance into life : their i deaths-day is better to them then their birth-day : it is the k birth-day of their immortality , the l birth-day of their eternity . now it is so , that even the faithfull , though chri●ts friends , yet are as well as others subject to death ; are no more priviledged or exempt from it , then others are ? this may then first serve to admonish us that have such friends , to make use of them while we have them , not to be like those fooles , of which solomon ; m why is there a price in the ●ands of a foole to get wisdome with , when he hath no heart to make use of it ? nor like those , whom the heathen man speaketh of , that n cannot brook or abide such while they live , and yet lament for t●em , and wish them againe alive when they are dead : but o to make the best use we can of them for our spirituall good while we have them , not knowing how soone or suddenly they may be taken away from us . againe , it may serve as to encourage us against the feare of death , so to mitigate our griefe for the decease of such our friends ; since that nothing therein shall betide us , or hath befallen them , but p what all gods friends and christs favourites have undergone before us , and doe daily undergoe . nor would he suffer the same to befall those that are his intimatest friends , his best beloved , his dearest darlings , his neerest favourites , were there any q evill in it , yea or were it not for their r good . and so passe we to the next point , to wit , that death , to such especially , is but as a sleepe . so here , our friend lazarus a sleepeth , and b steven , when he had so said , fell a sleepe : and , c david , when he had served his time , fell asleepe : and , d for this cause some among you are sicke , and some sleepe : and , e whereof some are asleepe , and some yet survive . and indeed in divers respects is death to such as a sleepe . for 1. sleepe giveth f ease of paines and of troubles for the time : and so doth death to the faithfull : for g they rest from their labours , their troubles , their travels . but sleepe doth it only , as those h palliating medicines that empiricks usually give , that abate the paines for the present , but work no sound cure , so that the paine returneth after againe as fresh and fierce as before : whereas death with the faithfull worketh i a perfect cure of all evils either k corporall or l spirituall , so as they never feele them , or see them , or heare of them any more . 2. those that sleepe are m not perished , are not dead ; they are alive still : there is with them only a n suspension and an intermission of some naturall actions and of o all worldly imployments . p lord , if he sleepe , say they , he shall do well . in like manner , q those that sleepe in christ , are not perished ; though to the outward eye , to carnall sense they may so seeme . ( r the righteous , saith he , perisheth , and no man considereth it , ) yet in truth it is not so : all s worldly imployments indeed are suspended and surceased with them , but they t rest in their beds , and they u live unto god . 3. sleepe is but for a time ; men are wont to a awake againe after a while ; and b death is but a sleepe somewhat longer then ordinary . c man , saith iob , if he dye , shall not be awakened againe , untill d the heavens be no more . but then e he shall , at the worlds end , when he shall heare that voice of our saviour , f awake ye that sleepe in the dust of the earth , and g all hearing it shall arise . 4. men usually rise from sleepe , h refreshed with it , in better plight then they were when they layd them downe to rest . so shall the i faithfull rise againe from death , in farre better plight then ever they were while they lived here . k when i awake , saith david , i shall behold thy face , and shall be satisfied with thine image . for l then shall we become perfectly like unto him , not m in grace alone , but n in glory , too , when we shall see him as he is . now is death then but as a sleepe to the faithfull ? then first o why should any faithfull , any friend of christ feare death ? it is a childish thing for a man to be afraid to put off his cloathes and go to bed ; and what is death more then a stripping of us , that we may lay our selves down to rest ? it is true indeed that in some diseases even sleepe it selfe is so p restlesse and troublesome to the sick ( it was q iobs case sometime ) and they are so ill after it , that they are r afraid and loath to sleepe : and so indeed * it is , or may well be , in this case with the wicked . but it is not so with the godly : they may well say with the prophet , s i slept , and my sleepe was sweet unto me . the sleepe of death is no dreadfull , but t a sweet sleepe unto them . secondly , is death as a sleepe , and such a sleepe , to the faithfull ? a there is no cause then to mourne and take on for such deceased . we reade of a people that b used to houle and keepe an hideous coile every day at the setting of the sunne , as if they feared he would never rise againe . would wee not condemne such of extreame folly ? or would we not deeme him little better then a mad man , that should stand weeping and wringing his hands over one that were falne asleepe , as supposing he would never awake againe ? yet the like doest thou , when thou doest so over the dead : since that they are but in a deepe sleep . c they are fallen asleepe in christ . and , d i would not therefore , saith the apostle , that you should be grieved and sorrow for those that be e asleepe , as men that have no hope , as if you thought they would never awake againe . for f those that be asleepe in christ , will god awake , and bring againe together with christ . thirdly , this may helpe to strengthen g our faith in the assurance of the resurrection of the dead . augustine speaking of those words of our saviour , h the damosell is not dead , but sleepeth : i she sleepeth indeed , saith he ; but to him who is able to awake her . so , k lazarus sleepeth here , but to christ , who l was able to awake him , and m to raise him up againe with a word . he sleepeth , saith he here : but i go to awake him . and indeed as easie a thing it is for christ with a word to raise out of this sleepe , not n lazarus alone , but o all those , that shall be found deceased at the p last day , as for any of us q by making a noise to awake any one that lyeth fast asleepe . lastly , is death as a sleep ? we have that daily then before our eyes that may minde us of death . r our sleepe is a lively embleme of it : s so oft , saith he , as thou layest thee downe to sleepe , and awakest againe from sleepe : so oft , in a similitude , as the apostle t of isaac , thou dyest , and risest againe from the dead . and well were it for us , could we take occasion thereby daily so to u minde our end , that we might live x in a continuall exp●ctation of it , and a continuall y preparation for it . the last point is , that this friendship beweene christ and the faithfull never faileth . it surceaseth not in death , but surviveth their decease . so here , a lazarus is dead , and yet , our friend still , saith christ , and of abraham , god , when he had beene many hundreds of yeares deceased , b abraham my friend . and no marvell . for , 1. neither doth christs love to them , nor theirs to him surcease , at their decease . he ceaseth not then to love them still : for c whom he loveth he loves for ever . nor do they cease then to love him : nay they love him more then , then ever before , better then , then ever they did , or could do : they never did or could love him so well as then , when the grace of d love , as e all other , comes to be perfected in them . 2. so far is it from this , that death should breed any enmity , or infringe that amity , that is between christ and them , that it removeth utterly all the reliques and remainders of that , f that at first bred an enmity betweene god and them , and maketh some g breaches betweene them now and then , while they live here , to wit , h sinne and corruption ; which sanctification indeed eateth out here by degrees , but death utterly destroyeth . 3. christ and the faithfull , they part not in death . i the lord do so to me & more too , saith ruth to naomi , if ought but death do part thee and me : and it is a solemne clause in our espousals , till death us k do part . but it is more then so betweene this loving couple ; betweene the faithfull soule and christ . as david saith of saul and ionathan , l they are lovely and amiable either to other in their life , nor are they divided and sundred in death . m the sword and death may sever the christian mans head from his body , and his body from his soule : but neither n sword nor o death can sever him either from his head christ , or from the love of god in christ . 4. death bringeth p christ and the faithfull neerer together q then ever : it bringeth them to a r more entire & immediate communion either with other , to s a fuller fruition either of other . first then would'st thou have a sure friend , a constant friend both to thee and thine , one that may stand by thee and stick to thee , when all other may forsake thee , yea of necessity must leave thee ? make christ thy friend , and a he will never leave thee , though b all others do , when all others shall . c your wordly friends , saith tertullian , writing to the martyrs in prison , tooke leave of you , and left you at the prison doore : but d christ your best f●iend went in with you . so thy wordly friends , yea all other thy friends will shake hands with thee and leave thee , if not before , yet at the e posterne gate of this life , either at their death , or , at furthest , at thine : but if thou hast made christ thy friend , he will never leave thee , he will for ever be thy friend , unto death , in death , and after death , unto all eternity . yea , hast thou made christ thy friend ? he will continue so f not to thee only , but to thine also for thee . it troubleth men many times ( and well may it , considering g the untrustinesse and unfaithfull dealing of many professed friends ) upon their sicke , and as it may fall out , their death-beds , to think whom they should intrust with their charge , their children , if god shall call them away . this may well ease in part the minde of the godly man in this case : christ iesus thy friend he will undertake the charge of them , he will be a trusty friend to thee as well when thou art gone , as while thou art here . h who is there left , saith david , of ionathans issue , that i may shew kindnesse unto for ionath●ns sake ? nor could davids love to his friend ionathan surviving his decease , prevaile more with him , to move him to deale kindly with those that he left behinde him , then christs love will with him towards those that have been , yea that are still , though deceased , his friends , to cause him to deale friendly with those whom deceasing they leave here behinde them , or at their decease commit unto his charge . it is the argument that god useth to his people , to encourage them to depend upon him , not doubting of the continuance of his kindnesse to them , i because they were the seed of abraham his friend . and herein let us learne to imitate , our both lord and friend , iesus christ . k let not our friendship to the faithfull deceased dye with them : l as the manner of the world , and worldly men is : but let us make it to appeare , that it lives and surviveth still with us ; by m apologizing for them , and maintaining of their credit and good name , if need be ; n by faithfull discharge of any trust reposed in us by them ; and o by a ready performance of all friendly offices● unto those they leave behinde them . let us shew it then , i say , and p then most , when there may be q most need of it , more it may be , then while they yet survived : that so it may be said of us , as r she sometime of boaz , that we cease not to shew kindnesse both to the living and to the dead ; as s a true friend indeed will do . and so much for my text , and the points of instruction observable out of it . let me now crave your patience a little further , for the application of it , and that that hath beene delivered out of it , to the present occasion . of our deceased christian brother therefore , mr. iohn parker , whose remaines are at this time to be laid up in a the bosome of the earth , as in b a bed of rest ; i may well say , as in the words , so in the name of our saviour , ou● friend lazarus sleepeth . for he was indeed a lazarus , though not in name , yet in truth , one that made god his aide , his helpe , his strength , his stay . nor was he lesse a friend to christ , and to all that were christs ; to his ministers , to his members ; yea to all for christ , with this aime , either to bring them on unto christ , or to build them up in christ . and he was indeed c a man of a thousand ; yea such an one for a private man , d as among many thousands , i suppose few to be found that might every way match him . for those things that are wont to be e severally eminent in others , were in an f eminency more then ordinary g combined together in him . he was one of a sweet and sociable disposition ; of a meek and an humble spirit ; just and upright in his dealings ; faithfull in his trusts ; firme and sure of his word ; of a pittifull heart ; of a bountifull hand ; truly h religious , without superstition or ostentation ; zealo●s in ●n high degree , but with spirituall dis●retion ; industrious in his calling , ( one that abhorred idlenesse ) yet so as ●is sedulity therein should not withdraw him from due attendance on better things ; of a good understanding ; a sound judgement ; a tender conscience ; a circumspect cariage ; a strict course of life , yet without austerity or censoriousnesse : in a word , of a wise and prudent temper in all things . i remember a story in i plutarch of an artist at athens , who being called among others to the undertaking of a piece of work for the publick , when one of his fellow-workmen had made a long speech , to shew them in what manner he would do it , if they would put it into his hands , he being a man of few words , but of good skill , said no more but this , k as this man hath said it , so will i do it . to apply it to our purpose . we have spoken much● of the duties that are required of all those that pro●esse friendship with christ ; their faithfulnesse to him , their ob●ervance of him ; their obedience to him ; their loving what he loveth , loving whom he loveth ; and the like . now of this our brother we may well and truly say , what we have said● he did : he made good all we have said in a methode , in a manner , in a measure more than ordinary . and for the making good of what i say , that which i shall deliver unto you , shall be the most of it , out of his own remembrances , ( for he kept journals as well of his spirituall ●stat● and ●mployments , as of his worldly reckonings and affaires ) and the rest either from mine own knowledge , or the credible relation of those that conversed versed most constantly and inwardly with him . when it pleased god to bring him first acquainted with christ , and to discover unto him the vanity of those courses that he had formerly taken ; albeit he had a great measure of inward remorse , and was much humbled for the same , and he was now res●lved upon a new , and that a strict course of life ; yet it troubled him not a little , that he could not shed teares , as he desired , for his sinnes , and his fore-passed excesses ; that which made him somewhat doubtfull therefore of the sincerity of his then present repentance : nor did he leave earnestly begging of this grace and favour at gods hands , untill it pleased god to vouchsafe it in great abundance unto him . in which te●res of his he professeth that he found more sound comfort , l more hearty joy , more true contentment , then all his former mirth and jolity , ever did , yea then all the mirth and merry company in the world ( and he knew by experience to his griefe what such things meant ) were able to afford unto any . being now thus growne into some intimacy with christ ; that no strangenesse by neglect might accrew betweene him and christ , he was carefull to maintaine it by a frequent and constant attendance upon him in his ordinances , both in private and in publick . for his ordinary addresses unto god in private : he used prayer constantly , as m david , and n dani●l , thrice a day ; morning and evening with his fa●ily ; and some other time of the day a part , either with his religious consort , if she were in the way , or in her absence , alone by himselfe . on the lords-day his common course was , not as the manner of many . yea the most , to lye longer in bed , and take their ease more on that day , then on others ; but to get up early , that he might be an houre at least , if not more , sometime two , in private with god : after which he used to spend some time in prayer with his family : yet so , let me tell you , that the publick might not be drownd and swallowed up in the private ; ( for it was ever his saying , that the private must yeeld and give way to the publick ) but that both he and his might be present in the congregation , as well at the publick prayers and service of the church as at the preaching of the word : after which publick performances also , his constant course was at his returne home to repeate with his family , and presse upon them , ( which well he could doe ) those things that had in publick been delivered unto them . and for the week-dayes , once or twice at least , ordinarily he frequented the ministery of some of those of the best note about the city . and thus much of it i had from himselfe ( the rest from those that conversed familiarly with him ) when some halfe a yeare or thereabout before his decease , advising with me concerning some thoughts that he then had , of either abandoning , or abatement of his worldly employments , for the freer pursuit of spirituall things , which he most eagerly thirsted after , he related to me in particular what liberty he had , notwithstanding his then present engagements by his trade and traffick , for the prosecution of the better part . this then was his ordinary course of addresses unto god , and attendances upon christ . but besides these he had solemn days of humiliation upon speciall occasions : and no businesse of more then ordinary weight did he lightly undertake without some such imployment . it is said of cornelius , o thy prayers and thine almes , and p these two constantly concurred , as with q cornelius , so with him : for the day after ever abroad he went with the b●g , and no small summes in it , to distribute , where he supposed most need was , or deemed most good might be done : for neither did hee r throw that he gave away , hand over head , but carried this , as s other his actions , t with an advised discretion : without which liberality is u nothing lesse then that it beareth the name of . now as he had such times of solemne seeking to god ; so he kept a due account of the successe of his suits , and the returne of his addresses : and he had then accordingly , solemne dayes of gratulation and thanksgiving ; on which the bag likewise with the greater summes walked , out of that stock and store , of which anon , that he had set a part for such purposes : that so the poor servants of god partaking with him in that wherewith god had blessed him , might blesse god for him , and together with him . thus much then for his due and diligent observance of christ and attendance upon him . now for matter of obedience ; ( a without which all such observances are but loathsome , nor acceptable , but abominable in gods eye ) he was one that b in all things endeavoured to approve himselfe unto god , desirous , as the apostle speaketh , c to keepe a good conscience in all things . and indeed he was a man of a very tender , yea of a scrupulous conscience , out of a feare to do ought , though unwittingly , that might be offensive unto god . to which purpose i can truly testifie of him that he made many a journey over of purpose unto me ( that which also first occasioned mine acquaintance with him ) to request resolution in such cases as seemed any whit ambiguous , d not daring to undertake them , till he knew what warrant there were for them , nor desiring to deale in them , unlesse he might see some good ground for what he did . in which kinde i know that he forbore diverse things , because they seemed doubtfull , which might in likelyhood have proved very advantagious unto him , and that few would have stuck at . againe , because he knew well , that though a man be never so circumspect , yet e in many things he may faile , either in doing that he should not do , or not doing that he should , or not doing it as he should ; that he might not therefore runne far behind hand with god , he had his nightly exercise , as he tearmeth it , both in his remembrances , and ( where he seriously commendeth it also to his ) in his will : f wherein having withdrawne himselfe a part , he used to take a strict surveigh and account of his employments the day past : to the end that if he found ought therein amisse , he might humble himselfe for it , and by renewed repentance make up the breach ; if he found nothing , he might yet , with g david , crave pardon for his hidden transgressions , and blesse god for his direction and h preservation so far forth . and yet beside this , he had his weekly , monethly , and yearely times of account , not for his worldly , but for his spirituall estate and condition , to i examine how therein it fared with him , and how he either thrived or paired in it . and thus much , as for his observance of christ , so for his obedience unto christ ; his desire and endeavour not to faile in any office required of him , and his care to finde out wherein he might faile , and to amend what he ●ound amisse . but may some say , you told us ere while among other things , that those that are christs friends must shew their love to christ , in loving those that he loves , in being friendly , and doing good , unto those that are his . why ? this was one of the principall flowers , in that garland of graces , wherewith it pleased god to crowne and adorne this our brother . in other things he excelled others , a in this even himselfe . what faithfull minister of christ did he not entirely b love , and affect ? what faithfull member of christ , though never so meane , did he not c honour and respect ? neither was this his love and respect , d verball , or e complementall , but active and reall , ready largely and liberally to manifest it selfe at all occasions , upon the least intimation and signification made to him , as my selfe at diverse times have had experience , and that even there * where no motion at all hath beene made to him for them , but he had come occa●ionally to understand of their wants and necessities . at his first effectuall call , among other things he then resolved upon , this was one , to set apart every yeare a tenth of his gaine for the reliefe of the poore ( and that besides his tithe to god . ) and will you know the reasons that induced him thereunto ? you shall have them out of his own memorials , and most in his own words . first , to shew his love and his thankefulnesse unto god ; as f for raising him from a meane condition , having lesse then fifty pounds to begin withall at first , to that wealth that then he had ; so more especially for g his spirituall goodnesse to him , in electing him , redeeming him , reclaiming him , h remitting his sinnes , and receiving him to grace and favour in christ . secondly , because he conceived , that this distribution of almes would be an excellent meanes of keeping him from being proud and high-minded , i a vice that usually followeth wealth ; for when in the exercise of this gift he should behold so many lamentable creatures , some blinde , some lame , some sore , some diseased , some hunger-starved , having death in their faces either through famine or other wayes , it would minister him occasion of these and the like thoughts . k why am not i as this lamentable creature ? or why is not this lamentable creature as i am ? l what makes the difference betweene me and him , but the mercy of god only more in this kinde to me then to him ? thirdly , it would m occasion many to blesse god , and to pierce the heavens with their prayers , and indeed in giving to any his word was usually , n praise god : or when he sent to others , as to my selfe sometime , any summe to be distributed among poore people , his manner was to adde in his lines accompanying it , will them to praise god for it . fourthly , he conceived he should be no small gainer by such gift . and shall i tell you from himselfe , what the gaine he meant , was ? he considered , he saith , what o comfort would accrue to such poore ones by his gift : and what a joy must it needs then be unto him , ( yea and no small p honour it is indeed , if it be rightly conceived ) to be an instrument of such comfort to any member of christ ? i might well adde , and to q christ in them . this therefore r he constantly set apart : and out of this treasury it was , that upon the forenamed occasions he so liberally dispensed . that which being cast up , amounteth to many hundreds , a greater summe then for some considerations i think meet to expresse : and yet what beside he freely bestowed upon his kindred and allies , is deemed to amount to as great , yea a greater summe then it . nor do i reckon what over & above all this also went out of his poores purse , which he never carried out empty ; that he might s ever be doing good ; that which he much desired and most t delighted in , blessing and praising god , in his remembrances , that had u given him ability and opportunity so to do : it being one branch also of his daily prayer , that as god increased him in wealth , so he would be pleased withall to encrease in him , wisdome , humility , and thankefulnesse , together with a constant and comfortable perseverance in that lovely grace of charity . yea but , what got he , or gained he , may some of you say , by this his beneficence ? or what was the fruit and effect of it ? i answer . he esteemed it a gaine enough to do any good : and b gods acceptance of this his service to be recompence sufficient . but yet it pleased god abundantly to recompence this his beneficence unto him , both with outward and inward blessings . true it is indeed , that for some space of time , some three or foure yeares after that his resolution of setting a tenth apart for such purposes , he thrived not , he found no increase , nor came forward in the world , as formerly he had done . yet was he not thereby discouraged , nor did he forbeare to be bountifull as opportunity was offered , and the necessity of poore people required it ; but he gave still with cheerefulnesse and comfort out of love unto god , ( i give you his own words ) freely leaving prosperity in temporall things to god his fathers good pleasure ; and conceiving ( so he saith ) that god in wisdome and goodnesse prospered him not , thereby to try his sincerity to him , and his charity to others● yea and that c he himselfe might thereby have experience of his love unto god , his faith , patience , and constancy ; nor would he forgoe those evidences hereof , that thereby he gained , for ten thousand times ten thousand times more then they cost him . so that albeit he prospered not in his wordly estate , yet even then also he thrived much in his spirituall estate , and in the fruits and comforts of it . but from that time forward god abundantly advanced his estate . ( you heare him againe speaking to you in his own language ) so that he found experimentally those gracious promises of god true , ( and he citeth the places ) of his blessing of him that disperseth and dispenseth to the poore ; of the repayment of that with interest , that is so lent to the lord ; of the finding againe after many dayes with increase the bread , or a bread-corne , that is cast upon the face of the waters , or b on the land neare thereunto , though it seeme cast away for the present . but that , which is above all , and beyond all , it pleased god withall to afford him such evidences and assurances of his favour & love towards him , as who●oever would buy from him by offer of the whole world and all the soveraignty thereof , he professeth he would refuse a thousand such worlds in exchange for them . by meanes whereof , as he led c an heavenly course of life here on earth ; so within his soule in spirituall joyes and comforts d he had an heaven here out of heaven . and this cheerefull and comfortable estate and condition continued with him to the end . the nearenesse whereof as presaging before his departure into forraigne parts , whither his affaires drew him , he took a great deale of pains according to e esaies advice to ezechiah , in the se●ling of his estate , and in composing of his will● pliny the younger saith , it was a received opinion and common conceit in his times , that f mens last wils and testaments , were as looking-glasses , in which a man might as cleerely descry and discerne the inward disposition of their minde , as he may see their bodily face in a glasse . and such indeed was the will of this our deceased brother , all savouring of piety , all of charity , very lively resembling and representing his inward disposition . few wils , i suppose , so composed , come into the office : full of spirituall , religious , holy , heavenly expressions ; full of blessings of gods name , and acknowledgements of his goodnesse , with incitement of others thereunto ; full of works of mercy , bounty , and charity , as if he were but then beginning that work , which the most put off till then . besides large legacies to not a few of his neare kindred and acquaintance , which i cast out of this account . to the poore palatine exiles , fifty pounds : to the towne of leicester for the use of the poore weavers and knitters there , fifty pounds : for the reliefe of poore prisoners , one hundred pounds : for the taking up in the streets a certaine number of poore children , boyes , and girles , to be fitted for , sent out to , and placed in the forraine plantations , three hundred pounds : among his poore servants , seventy pounds : among other poore , left to the discretion of his executors , fifty pounds : to this poore man , and that poore minister , as they came then in his minde , to the summe of forty and seven pounds ; which in all amounteth to six hundred sixty and seven pounds . this for his charity , g as fresh at last as at first , notwithstanding his charge , that is wont to coole charity with many , but did not so with him . now for his piety , and his care of the continuance of it with those whom god had blessed him with or committed to his charge . it is report●d of plato , that when he had occasion to go abroad , he used to give in charge to those young men that lived with him , h to spend their time during his absence , in some usefull imployments : and blessed peter the apostle was carefull to take such a course , that i his disciples might after his departure remember and beare in minde those things , that he had delivered to them while he lived . in like manner was it with this our brother . as he was alwayes carefull , ( therein a true child of k abraham ) to commend piety to his people , and to informe those of his family , as well servants as children , how to feare and serve god : so in speciall manner , at his departure beyond the seas , he assigned each of them , as their abilities and capacities were , what they should learne of the grounds of religion , and proofes thereof out of scripture , against his returne . and yet more specially for the better continuance of piety and godlinesse in those his child●en whom god had blessed him withall , and the i●citing of them by his example and the fruit he had found in it , to a more constant and cheerefull practise thereof , he gave order in his will , to have all his spirituall journals , his meditations and remembrances , gathered together , digested and reduced into a methode , by some two godly divines , unto whom also he hath assigned a very liberall consideration for their paines therein taken : and severall copies thereof to be transcribed and made up for the use of each of his children : that therein they might see him when he was gone , and l treading in those steps that he had walked in before them , they might at length m arrive at that end , that he hath now attained to : which n the lord in mercy grant they may . thus both living and dying , yea as well dead as ●live ( though not dead indeed , but alive still , alive to god , yea alive to his too ) he desired every way to doe good . what shall i need to adde ought concerning his end ? it is seldome seene , and o hardly , saith one , can it be , that one that hath lived ill , should make a good end . but p it cannot be , that one that hath lived so well shou●d make any other then a good end . sure it was so with this our brother , by report of those that were eye-witnesses of it : full of pious expressions and sweet comforts to the last ; and that , even after that speech failed him , but memory and understanding continued with him , by sign●s outwardly expressed , upon such passages recited , as he had before given order to them about him to be read by him . insomuch that we may well with good probability suppose , that god in his holy wisdome had so disposed it , that he should go ov●r hence to make his end in that place , amids the enemies of gods truth and grace , that those that are seduced by them , might see●pregnant proofe of ●●e power of piety , in the religious and comfortable end of one deceasing in that faith and profession , in which those seducers of them beare them in hand , that there is no safety or comfort to be had , either in life or in death . in a word to conclude all with the words of my text ; our friend , and your friend ; christs friend , and the friend of all christ his , sleepeth ; his soule being entred into his masters joy , his body to be laid up in its chamber of rest ; untill christ come to awake him , and us altogether with him , to the et●●nall blisse of both . let us all make that use of wh●● hath ●●en delivered , that we be thereby encited to i●itate him in those good things that we have , either seene in him , or heard of him , that so through gods goodnesse and his gracious ac●eptance of our godly endeavours , we may both attaine and retaine those spirituall joyes and inward comforts that he found and felt , both in life and in death . finis . imprimatur , iohannes 〈◊〉 . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01531e-160 a qotidian●●onviti● es flag●tatu●● fa●iu● instit. pr●f . b vivi●ur exemplis . nec tam imperio nobis opus est qam exemplo . plin. paneg. ●lus succendunt exempla . qàm praedicamenta . gregor. dialog. l. 1. prae● . & qi praeceptis non accenduntur , exemplis saltem excitantur . id. moral . l. 9. c. 43. plerumque ad exercenda bona opera , aliena nos utiliter exempla persuadent . ib. l. 22. c. 7. & grex , qi pastoris v●c●m mor●sque seqitur , per exempla melius qam perverba graditur . id. de past. l. 2. c. 3. facilius suadent exempla qam verb● . ambr. in 1 cor. 14 c {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. probl. lib. 18. q. 3. longum e●st iter per praecepta ; breve & essi ax , per exempla . senec. epist. 6. insuevit ●a●er optimus hoc . me , u● fugerem , exemplis ●i●●orum q●que notando , formabat dictis puerum sic , sive j●bebat ut f●ce●em qid , sive vetab●● . flac. satyr . 4. d admonetur audi●●aetas omnis , fi●ri posse qod factum est● cypr. ad donat. melius homin●s exemplis docentur ; qae in primis hoc in se boni habent , qod approb●●t ●ieri posse qae praecipiunt . plin. in paneg. sermo qidam vivu● & efficax exemplum ope●is est , ●acilè pers● adens q●d intendimus , dum factibile probat esse qod suademus . bern. de resur. 2. adjuvari se ex●m●lis exoptat humana in●irmitas , qo facilius ipsa etiam nunc faciat , qae alios secisse ante cognosca●● salvian . contr. avar lib. 3. ex aliorum enim factis fieri posse credunt , qod fo●te dum putant fieri non posse , pigrescunt . august . epist. 134. e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . acts 14.15 . ia●es 5.17 . f {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . m. an●on●n . l. 6. sect. 19. tes●es suos contra nos dominus ins●a●r●t , eum bora qae f●cere ipsi negligimus . ad correptionem nostram , ab a●iis facta demonstrot : ut in recti tudini● appe●i●u nil sibi mens nostra di●si ile aes●imet , qod ante peragi ab aliis videt . gr. mor. l. 9. c. 43. nescio qo modo amplius ad c●o●it●tē excitamur , per fidem , qâ cred . mus vixisse sic aliqē ; & spe● qa nos ●oque ita posse v●vere , qi homines sumus , ex co qod aliqiho●ines ita vixerunt , mi●i . ●è desp●ramus . a●g. de trinit. l. 8. c. 9. g mr. william bradshaw in his meditations on christ . tempt . ms. h matth. 5.14 . tu to totius medio telluris in o●●e vivere cognoscas : cunc●is tua g●ntibus esse fac●a palam : nec posse dari regalibus unqam secretum viti● . nam lux al●issima fati occultum nihil esse s●nit , latebrasque per omnes intrat , & abst●usos explo●at fan are●●ssus . cla●dian de honor . coss. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . herodim . l. 4. perluc●t omne regi●e vitium domus . sen agam. 2.1 . tibi nullum secret●m liberum est : in mult● l●ce fortuna ●e posuit . idem ad po●yb . c. 25. nost●os motus ●auci sen●i●nt : ●ibi non magis qam so●ila●ere conti●gi● : multa circa te lux est : omnium in istam conv●rsi oculi sunt . id●m de clem. l. 1. c. 8. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. in patr. qi m●gro imp●rio praed●●i in excelso aetatem agunt , corum facta cuncti mortales novere . sal●st . ad caesar ad ●e oculos auresque tra●is : ●ua facta notamus . pedo ad liv. i {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . basil. apud anton. ●●l ss. l 2 c. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . nicet . in al●x . comn. l. 2. c. 4. vua principis censura est , aeque perpetua . ad hanc dirigimur , ad hanc convertimur . flexibiles qamcunque in partem d●cimur a princ●p● : atque ut ita d●●am , se●ac●s s●mus : huic enim cari , huic prob●ti ●ss● cupimus : q●d d●ssimiles ●rust● asperant . plin. paneg. rex veli● honesta , ne●o n●n ●adem v●l●t . se● . thyest 1.1 . nā totus componitur orbis regis ad exemplū ; nec sic inflect●re sensus humanos edicta valent , qam vi●a regentu . claud. ut sup . r●ctè facere princeps s●os sacie●do docet . v●lleius hist l. 2. & contra , vitia principes non selū ipsi concipi●● , e●iam in civi●a●es infundun● ; plusque exemplo qam pecc●to n●cent . cic. de leg. l. 3. k iob 1.10 . l iob 29.13 , 15 , 16. & 31.16 , 20. m gal. 6.10 . n prov. 10.22 . o hab. 2.9 , 12. p varo , regustatum digito terebrare saelin●● contentus per●ges , si vivere cum iove tendis . pers. sat . 5. hoc est , qod flac. l 2. sat. 4. s●mp●r p●uper eri● . q ephes. 4.28 . 1 tim. 5.8 . r 1 cor. 7.20 , 24. vbi vo●atio duplex , in qâ , ad qam s 1 thes. 4.11 . 2 thes. 3●7 , 12. t ephes 5.18 . rom. 13.13 , 14● u {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ut athen. dipnos. l. 11. persa●um ritu , qibus {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . vid. plut. sympos . l. 7. c. 9.10 . x g●n . 2.24 . 1 cor. 7.4 . y philem. 15. deside an●us ●s● tibi , q●si absens , n●n q●si 〈◊〉 : u● illum expectare , n●n amisisse videa●is . h●er . de n●p . z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . basil orat . 5. ne doleas , qod talem amiseri● ; s●d gaudeas q●d t●lem habueris . hi●ron . in nepot . non ●oeremus , qod ta●ē amisimus ; sed gratias agimus , qod habuimus , imò habemus . idem in paul . non contri●lor , qod accepisti ; s●d ago g●a●tias , qod dedisti . idem ad iulian . e●si dolemus ablatum , non oblivis●imur tomen , qod datu● suit : gratias agimus , qod habere illum meruimus , qo carere in tantum non volumus , in qantum non expedit . bern. in ca●t . 26. & de humberto ser. 110. tulisti , q●niam tuus erat . nec pro nobis , qibus ille sublatus est , murmurandum ; magis gratias agendum , qod tam di● concessus est ●obis . notes for div a01531e-1510 summe . branches 2. 1. 2. branch 1. person . his 1. name . a ita tertullian de idolatr . c. 13. & prudent . hymn● de exeq . vide rigalt . ad ter● . b drus. ad voc. hebr. n. t● 2 relation . branch 2. condition . c verse 14. points 5. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. point 1. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . cl●m . pro●rep● . i●ter b●●●s viros & deum amiciti● est . s●nec . de provid. cap. 1. q●nqam negare h●c videatur arist. eth. magn. l. 2. c. 11 d ●om . ● . 11 . e 2 chron. ●0 . 7 . f es●y 41●● . g iames 2.23 . h luc. 12.4 . i iohn 15.14 . k iohn 15.15 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . clem. s●rom . l. 2. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ib. l. 7. potest ergo & servus esse & amicus , qi servu● est bonus . aug. in ioan. 85. qos amat , amicos habet , nonservos , amicus fit de magistro , neque enim amicos discipulos diceret , si non essent . bern in cant. 59. reason 1. l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. ethic. nicom . l. 8. c. 2. & l. 9 c. 5. amor , sive benevolentia mutua , non la●ens . branch . 1. m {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aristot. rhetor . l. 2. c. 4. amicitia est voluntas erga aliquem rerum bonarum illius , ipsius causâ qem diligit , cum ipsius pari volun●ate . cicer. de invent . l 2. n {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . o ephes. 5.28 . p apoc. 1.5 . q iohn 16.27 . r 1 iohn 4.19 . s prov. 8.17 . t iohn 14.21 . u benè igitur ratio accepti a●que expen●i inter nos conven● . tu me amas , ego te amo : meritò id fieri ut●rq●e existimat . plaut. mostel . 1.3 . x ej●s amor nostrum & praeparat & remun●rat . bern. de dilig . deo. cap. 3. et nostrum libenter , qem praecessit subseqitur . idem . epistol. 107. y nemo se di●●idat ama●i , qi j●m amat . q●modo enim redamare pigebit , ●qi amavit necdum ama●tes ? bernard . epist. 107. z 1 iohn 4.10 . branch 2. a iohn 10.14 . b iohn 21.15 . c 1 iohn 4.16 . d ●gal . 2.20 . e e●hes . 3.18 , 19. f iohn 15.13 . rom. 6.8 . g ga● . 2.20 . h eph. 5.25 . i ap●c . 1.5 . k rom. 5.5 . 1 iohn 4.13 . l 1 cor. 2.12 . m iohn 14.15.21 , 23. n iohn 15.14 . reason 2. o 1 s●m . 18.3 , 4. q●modo glaucus & diomedes in amicitiae ●ospit●litatisque mutuae ●esseram , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . homer . ●l . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p 2 cor 8.9 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . q heb. 1.16 . r heb. 4.15 . rom. 1.3 . s esay 53.4 , 5 , 6. 2 cor. 5.21 . 1 pet. 2.24 . t 1 cor. 1.30 . u rom. 3.24 , 25. x iohn 1.16 . reason 3. y heb. 3.14 . z 2 cor. 8.5 . a cant. 2.16 . b 1 cor● 3.23 . vse 1. for information . 1 kings 4.5 . d matth. 12.42 . e 1 iohn 3.2 . f iohn 15.15 . g rom. 1.1 . philip . 1.1 . tit. 1.1 . apoc. 19.16 . l matth. 28.18 . vse 2. for exhortation . k prov. 29. ●6 . l prov 19.6 . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●facies pro f●vore & gratiâ hebraeis passim . num. 6.25 . psal. 4.6 . & 80.3 , 7 , 19. & 105.4 . m 1 sam. 14.13 . n obsequio gr●ssare , — & leniter in sp●m arrepe officiosus . pers●a atque obdura : seu ●ubra canicula findat infantes statuas , seu pingri tentus omaso furius hyber●a● ca●â nive conspuit alpes . flac. serm. l. 2. sat. 5. o matth. 16 24. luke 9.23 . p matth. 16.25 . q phil. 3.8 . difference 1. r {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . qui summus bodiè cr●s futuru● nullu● est . s lubricu● est secundu●●pud regem l●cus . t plati●● in p●● . 2. u aul● cul●en lubricum . senec. thyest. x confragosa in fastigium dignitatis via est . non in lubrico tantum illic statur , sed in praerup●o . sen. ep. 82. & de tranq . c. 10. quae excelsa videntur , praerupta sunt . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut. symp. l. 2. c. 1. y psal● 73.15 , 18. z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . n.q. apud stob. c. 105. — ex alto magna ruina venit . catale●● . vi●gil . et gravius summo culmi●e missar●unt . maximin . eleg. 1. a est●er . 5.11.12 . and 7.9.10 . b iohn 13.1 . c deut. 4.4 . d apo● . 2.10 . e heb. 13.5 . * psal. 89.32 . difference 2. f psal. 146.3 , 4. g dominus est vitae tuae● qisqis contempsit suam . sen. ep. 44. h esay 63.1 . i psalm . 68.20 . k ier. 1.19 . l iohn . 8.51 . m luke 21.16 . n luke 21.18 . ●t acts 27.34 . 1 sam. 14.45 . ●sam . 14●11 . 1 kings 1.52 . o heb. 7.25 . vse 3. for consolation . p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. o est . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . n.q. apud suidam . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. herc. fur . q philem. 17. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . fyth●g ap. laert. branch 1. for provision . r {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . euripid . androm . consortium rerum omnium inter nos facit amicitia , in commune vivitur . sen. ep. 48. non , mebercule , ●am mea sunt , qae mea sunt , qam qae tua . plin. l. 1. ep. 4. no●●● qod tuum est , meum est● omne meum est autem tuum . plaut. trin. 2.2 . s 1 cor. 3.22 , 23. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . clem. protrept. . t psal. 34.10 . & 84.11 . u rom. 8.32 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in rom. hom. 15. branch 2. for protection . x rom. 8.31 . y rom. 9.5 . z si deus co●●ra nos , qis pro nobis ? petr. cellen . ep. 23. lib. 6. a qid tibi malipoteri● nocer● ? aut qid tibi boni poterit deesse , si ●lle te diligi● , qi de ●ihilo cuncta cr●avit ? bern. in caen. dom. qid timendum , si adsit nobis , qi purtat omnia ? hebr. 1.3 . idem in psal. 90 conc. 1. b psal. 27.1 c psal. 23.1 . hebr. 13.6 . d psal. 23.3 . * vbi enim aut ●ecum male , aut sine 〈◊〉 bene esse poterit● bern. in advent . 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut contr. epicur . vse 4. for caution . e 2 sam. 18.12 . f 2 cor. 11.28 , 29. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} plut. de mul . amic. g ●rom . 16.4 . 2 cor. 7.3 . & 12.15 . phil. 2.17 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plato● in symp. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. iph. taur . dionysio caput platoni ●bla●u●●●i●i●ami , m●●n prius , inqit xenoc. l●eri , l. 4. g psal. 10● . 15 . h 1 sam. ●4 . 7 . & 26.9.11 . i 2 sam. 22.51 . psal. 18.50 . & 21.7.12 . k psal. 105.14 . l ch●ysost . theod. euthymius , aug. prosp. hugo card , lyran. in loc. n matth. 18 10. o zech. 2.8 . psal. 17.8 . p ier. 2.3 . matth. 18.6 . vse 5. for examination . q 1 iohn . 2.4 . frustra nobis in ●o plaudimus , cujus mandata non implemus . hieron. ad iovi● . l. 2. neque enim christianus esse videtur , qi christiani nominis opus non agit , cum nomen sine act● atque officio su● nihil sit . salvia● . l. 4 c. 1 r omne , amici , & omnes inimici● omnes necessarii , & omnes adversarii . bern. in cant. ser. 33. s phil. 3.18 . qi christianos se dicunt & christo contradicunt . aug. ep. 171. christiani in contum●liam & opprobrium christi . salvian . l. 4. c. 11. t psal. 70.5 . u luke . 19.9 . x rom. 4.12 . gal. 4.12 . rom. 4.16 . eorum enim filli dicimur , qorum m●res imitamur . orig. in ezek. 16●vide iuvenal . sat. 8. vse 6. for admonition . x prov. 18.24 . duties 4. duty 1. faithfulnesse . y prov. 20 . 6● z apoc. 2.10 . * qam habe●us in christum . * qam pr●sta●u● christo . notes 2. note 1. a iames 4.4 . 1 iohn 2.15 , 16. b 2 sam. 15 6. c matth. 10.37 . d 1 kings 11.1 , 4. e luke 14.26.33 . f licet pa●vulus ex c●llo pe●d●at nepos , licet sparso crine & ●usis v●stibus , ubera qibus ●e nutrierat , ma●●r ostendat , licet in limine pater jaceat , p●r calcatu● perge patrem : siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis evola . s●lum● pietatis genus est , in hac re esse crudelem , hier. ad heli●d●r . note 2. g idem ●elle & nolle , ●a demum persecta am●ci●ia est . salust . in c●til . hieron. ad demet. ennod. l. 6. ep. 24●sidon l. 5. ep. 3. & 9. minut. octav. apul. de philos. ioseph . apud cassi . an collat. 16. ioan. sari●b . polycra● l. 3. c. 4. p●t. cluni . l. 4. ep. 21. fulb. ep. 68 h psal. 97.10 . i amas deum ? debes odisse qod odit . aug ib. k psal. 11.7 . & 45.7 . l prov. 6.16.19 . & 8.13 . m zech. 8.19 . amos 5.15 . n 1 iohn 3.22 . o 1 iohn 3.3 , 7. & 4.17 . luke 6.35 , 36. p prov. 8.13 . amos● . 15 . rom 12.9 . q zec● . 8.17 . r colos. 1.10 . s 1 cor. 11.1 . ephes. 5.1 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . marcus imper. ●p . iulian . in c●sar● {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . iust . ad diog● {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. nys. de profes . christ . t rom. 8.29 . phil. 3.10 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} marcus imp. l. 10. c. 8. u {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plat. leg. l. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plat. ib. l. 8. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem lysid . qod & arist. eth. l. 9. c. 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . u i●ter dispares ●nim mores non potest esse amicitia . ambr. offic. lib. 3. c. 16. in taneâ morum discordia , qae potest esse concordia ? ●ier . ad nepot . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plato phadr . clem. strom. l. 5. & euseb. praep. l. 13. c. 13. duty 2. observance . a mane salut●tum venio , tu diceris ante isse salutatum . martia . l. ● . ep. 1● . nec venit inanis rustici●● salutator . idem . l. 3. ep. ●8 . mercenari●● salu●●tor circ●●volitat limi●● potenti . 〈◊〉 , s●●●umque regis s●i r●●●●ribus a●gu●atur . col●●●l . p●●●●at . l. 1. b prima salutan●es at● altera 〈…〉 art● l. 4. ●p . 8. c 〈…〉 c●●re●e , cu● pr●t●r li●●orem i●pell●t , & ire pr●●●pite●●ubeas● 〈…〉 ne prior 〈…〉 3. d psal. 2● . 8 . ● 27 . 4●&●2.2 . & 84 . 2●&●22 . ●●● e prov. 8.34 . psal. 84.4 . f col. 3.16 . g luke 19.5 . iohn 14.23 . h io●n 1.12 . luke 10.38 , 39. i prov. 8.31 . k apoc 3.20 . l ca●t●5 . 2.6 . m exclusit . red●am ? ter. ●u● . 1.1 n {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a●istot . ethic l. 8. c. 5. duty . 3. obedience . o iohn 14 . 15●21 , 23 , 24. proba●io dilectionis ex●ibitio est operis , de dilectione conditoris m●ns & vita reqiratur , nunqam o●iosus est amor dei , operator si est ; sin operari renuit , amor non est● greg. in evang. 10. & be●n . de temp. 106. & can . dom. q. 8. p iohn 15.14 . q 1 iohn . 5.3 . nil grave aut miserum est mihi , qod re 〈◊〉 voluisse : ●u tant in impera . oedipus antigonae in thebaid . ● . minor huic est labor jussa exeqi , qam mihi j●bere : l●t●s imperia excipit . senec. herc. fur . 1.1 . facilia fiant cuncta charitati , ●uiuni christi sarcina levis est , qia ea una est sarcina ipsa qae levis est , dil●ctioni● 〈…〉 poterit esse grave diligenti ? aut enim non diligit qis , & ideo gravis est ; aut di●●git , & gravis esse non po●est . aug. de nat. & grat . cap. 69. r ephes. 6.5 , 7. s {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . liban . orat . 11. non sunt onerosi labores amantium , sed delectant ipsi . iulian . de viduit . c. 21. nonsentiunt amanies , qod laborant . sed tunc ab eis plus laboratur , q●ndo à labore qisque prohibetur . aug. de matth. 16.24 . t matth. 11.30 . u non omnibus sunt onerosa tolerantibus , sed tolerare nolentibus , gravia vel levia facit animus tolerantis . sicut nihil est tamleve , qod ●i grave non sit , qi invitus facit : sic ●ihil est tam grave , qod non ei , qi id libenter exeqitur , leve esse videatur . salvian . de provid. l. 1. c. 2. facit praeceptum liber , qi facit libens . aug. de grat . chr. l. 1. c. 13. duty 4. patience . a luke 14.26 , 33. b gen. 29.18 . c gen● 31.38.42 . d gen. 29.20 . amanti enim nihil difficile . cicer. de orat . perfect . qid grave n●n leviter tolerat , qi amat ? greg. in 1 reg. 12. e act● 5.40 . f ac●s 5.41 . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . oxymoron ●l●gantissimum . c●s●ub . h rom. 5.3 . i {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . k rom. 5.5 . l rom. 8.39 . m rom. 8.35 . n 1 cor. 2.12 . 1 iohn 3.24 . o amor affectus est , non contractu● . ber● . de dilig . deo. amicitia non est vectigalis , sed liberalis : virtus enim , non qastus est . amb. offi. l. 3. c. 16 & cas●io . de amic. c. 2. multum a beneficio distat negotiatio . cleanth . sen. de benef. l. 6. c. 13. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. ethic. l 8. c. 5. & ibid. l. 9. c. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem . rhet. l. 2. c. 4. q {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . marc. imp. l. 7. sect. 13. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ib. sect. 32 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . r {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. eth. l. 9. c. 4. amicus alter ipse . amb. desp. l 2. c. 7. s benefi●iorum simplex est ratio , erogantur , non computantur . s●n . de benef● l. 1. c. 2. interitura ●st rei ●a●tae dignitas , si beneficium me●cem facimus . lb. l. 3. c. 14●beneficium virtutis est ; & turpissimum id causâ ullius rei dare qam ut datum sit . se intueri & commodum suum , i●lud non est beneficium , sed soenus . ibid. l. 4. c. 3. non est beneficium qod in qastum mi●●i●ur , hoc dab● . hoc rec●piam , auctio est . ib. c. 14. t iob 21.15 . * acts 9.16 . u phil. 1.20 , 21. x d. ayray in loc. y act● 20.22 , 23 , 24. point● . a 1. iohn 1.3 . b iohn 17.21 . reason . 1. c ro● . 12.4 , 5. d 1 cor. 12.12 . caput & corpus , unus est christus . aug. de trinit. l. 4. c● 9. & in psal. 45. & de verb . dom. 49. & 65. & de temp. 40. bern. ep. 190. beda in ioan. 17. omnes sancti & fideles cum h●mine christo sunt unus christus . aug. de pec . mer. & rem . l. 1. c. 31. e acts 9.4 , 5. non potest concordiam habere cum christo , qi discordare voluerit cum christiano . august . de verb . dom. 57. f {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a●ist . rhet. l. 2. c. 4. reason 2. vse 1. for admonition . branch 1. affection . g rom. 12.16 . compatiamur affectu . ambr. offic. l. 3. c. 16. h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. eth. l. 9. c. 4. & rhe● . l. 2. c. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i 2 cor. 2.3 . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . k rom. 12.15 . l esay 66.10 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} m 2 cor. 2.2 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} eurip. ●p● . aul. n 1 cor. 12.26 . o 2 cor. 11.29 . heb. 10.34 . & 13.3 . p 1 cor. 13.3 . q rom. 14.15 , 1 cor. 6.8 . r psal. 119.158 . 2 cor. 2.5 . branch 2. action . s psal. 16.2 . t acts 17.25 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. herc. f●● . clem. strom. l. 5. plut. de stoic . contradict . c. 37. ipse est deu● tuu● , qi ●o● eget bonis tuis . aug. in ps. 80. nec ille collat● eget , nec nos ei qic●am conferre poss●mus . senec. de ●●●●f . l. 4. ● . 9. * ps. 16.3 . u acts 3.21 . x mat. 26.11 . y non eget miseriâ , sed eget misericordi● : non eget deitate pr●se ; sedeget pietate pro suis . salvian . cont. avar . l. 3. z mat. 25.35 , 36 , 42 , 43. an non ege● , qi esurire , ●i sitire se qeritur● salv. ib. 〈◊〉 . * matth. 25.40 , 45. vse 2. for examination . a ga● . 6.10 . 1 iohn 3.17 , 18. b iohn 4.20 . vse 3. for consolation . c 1 cor. 12.7 , 25. d rom. 1.9 . ephes. 1.16 . colos. 1.3 . 2 cor. 1.11 . point 3. e iames 2.23 . f iohn 8.52 . gen. 25.8 . g amos 3.7 . iohn 15.15 . h zech. 1.5 . iohn 8 52. i vers. 14. k luke 4 . 4● l 2 tim. 4 6. 2 pet. 1.14 . m iohn 21.20 . n iohn 13.23 , 24. o iohn 21.23 . reason 1. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . clē . strom. l. 2. iob 6.12 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. de compunct . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. pro●aup . q 2 cor. 4.7 . reason 2. r eccle. 9.2 . cuivis po●est accidere , qod cuiqam potest . p. syrus . reason 3. s esay 40.6 , 7. 1 pet. 1.24 , 25. objection . t ioh● 11.35 . u iohn 11.36 . x iohn 11.37 . y iohn 11.5 . solution . z dan. 3.17 . iohn 21.22 . reason 1. a apoc. 14.13 . b rom. 6.7 . qod à malo liberat , qis non bonum pronunciabit ? tert. scorp . c. 5. c 2 cor. 5●4 . excutitur morte ve●ernus mortis . mors morte dissolvitur ; vita a●fer●n●● confertur . tert. ib. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . an●●●han . moriar ? desi●a● m●ri posse . s●● . ep. 24. d 2 tim. 4.8 . e 2 cor. 5.8 . f phil. 1.23 . reason 2. g luke 2.29 . h 1 king. 19.10 . i 2 cor. 5.6 . k rom. 7.24 . l vide methodii parabolam de caprifici radicibu● & radicum fibris templi parietibus inna●is , q● nisi compag● dissolutâ eximi p●ni●us n●n possunt● apud epip●an . in ●a●e● . ●4 . m psal. 120.5 , 6. n 2 cor. 5.8 . o iohn 14.2 . p 2 cor 5.1 . q phil. 1.23 . iohn 14.3 . r 1 thes. 4.17 . reason 3. s phil. 1.20 . t iohn 21.19 . a iohn 8.51 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . callimach . epig. 14. reason 4. b prov. 14.32 . c iohn 11.26 . d {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ch●ys . in philip . hom. 3. e luke 9.60 . 1 tim. 5●6 . f luke●0 . 38 . g per vitam ad moriem transitu● es● . h per mortem ad vitam reditus est . am●r● de bon . mort. i eccles. 7.1 . k apoc. 21.4 . l aeternina●alu est . senec. epist. 102. vse 1. for admonition . m prov. 17.16 . n virtutem in co●lumē odimus : subla●ā ex oculis qaerimus invidi . flac. carm . l. 3. od. 24. o hab●●mus tanqam amissuri , tanqam recessuri , in ò recedentibus uta●u● : tanqam extēplo abituros possideamus , senec. ad marc. c. 10. vse 2. for consol●t●on , and encouragement . p psal. 49. ●0 . esay● 57.1 . q prov. 1.33 . nihil accidere bo●● viro mali potest . son . de provid. c. 2. r rom. 8.28 . etiam pro ipsis est . senec. ib. c. 3. point . 4. sanctorum mors som●●● . hieron. in matth. 25. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . c●llimach . epig. 14. b acts 7.60 . c acts 13.36 . d 1 cor. 11.30 . e 1 cor. 15.6 . reason 1. f somnu● malorum domi●or , reqies animi : ●ars humanae melior vitae senec. herc. fur . vtmors , sic somnus miseros foelicibus aeqa● . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , e●stath . ad {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . inde dictū , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aristot. eth. l. 1. c. 13. g apoc. 14.13 . h delinimenia , sive lenocinia morbi , non remedia . sen. de beat . c. 17. & salvian . de provid. prafat. i iob 3.13 , 18. mors simulut veni● , dolores , no● a●●get , ( non mitigat ) sed aufert : ut remedium esse videatur , non poena . ambr. de cain & abel . l. 2. c. 10. pro rememed●o data est , qasi finis malorum . idem de fid. resur. k esay 57.1 , 2. l rom. 6.7 . reason 2. m iohn 11.12 . n {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. ethic. lib. 1. cap. 13. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sive , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem de somn . cap. 1. & 3. o {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aristot. ethic. lib. 1. cap. 8. hinc heraclitus . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut. de super. . anima in somno sic patitur , ut alibi agere videatur , dissimulatione praesentiae futuram absentiam ediscens . tertul. de anim . cap. 43. p vers. 12. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . solet enim esse somnus aegrotantium , salutis i●dicium . august . in ioan. 49. q 1 cor. 15.18 . mors non est peremptoria , per qam non adimitur vita . ambr. de cain & abel . ● . 10. r ●sai . 57.1 . s eccles. 9.6 . iob 14.21 . esay 63.16 . t esay 57.2 . u luke 20.38 . reason 3. a psal. 3.5 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. de somn. c. 1. b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. de stat . orat . 5. stul●e qid est somnu● , gelid● nisi mortis imago ? lo●ga qi escendi tempora fata dabunt . naso amor . 2.9 . c iob 14.12 . d 2 pet. 3.10 . e iohn 11.24 . vere dormit , qia de mor●e , velut de somno erat surrecturus . august . de temp. 104. f esay 26.19 . g iohn 5. ●8 . reason 4. h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. de somn . c. 2. hac reparat vires , membraque fessa levat . naso ep. 4. i 1 cor. 15.42.44 k psal. 17.15 . l 1 iohn 3.2 . m 1 iohn 3.3 . n colos. 3.4 . vse 1. for enco●ragement . o {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. de stat . orat . 5. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●ibid . p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut. de sup . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . hom●r . odys . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . q iob 7.14 . r qomodo interest in ipsis , qi qotidiè dor●iunt & exurgunt , qid qisque videat in somnis : alii sentiunt laeta somnia , alii torqentia , ita ut evigilans dormire timeat , ne ad ipsa iterum redeat : sic unusqisque hominum cum causâ su● dormit , cum causâ su● surgit . aug. in ioan. 49. * mors enim peccatori finis est naturae , non p●●ae . ambr. in luc. l. 7. c. 1● . s ierem , 31.26 . t {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . iliad . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} dulcis qies mortis . ambr. de bon . mort. c. 8. vse 2. for comfort . a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. de ●●at . orat . 5. b de morib . gent . autor . incertus . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theod. de chrysost. ●ra● . 3. c 1 cor 15 18. d 1 thes. 4.13 . contrist●mur in nost●o●ū m●r●ibus , de necessi●a●● amittendi : s●d cons●lemur , de sper●cipiendi , ideo enim d●rmire dicuntur , ●t cum dormientes audimus , evig●la●u●os ne d●speremus . aug. de ve●b . ap. 32. e d●rmientes appellavit , qi● resurrecturos praenunciavit . aug. in ioan . 49. f 1 thes 4.14 . manet ergo corum vita , qos manet resurrectio . ambr. de obit . valent . vse 3. for confirmation g somnus mors dicitur , propter futuram resurrectionem , velu● evigil●tionem . august . ep. 1 ●0 . c. 32. id●o mortu●s consu●vit , scriptura dicere do●mientes ; qia ev●gilaturos , id est , resurrecturos vul● intelligi . idem in psalm . 87. q●re enim dormientes dicantur nisi qia di● suo resuscitantur ? idem de verb . dom. 23. cum evigilav●ri● corpus , reddi●um officiis ejus , resu●r●ctionem tibi adfirmat . ita per imaginem resu●rectionis fidem initiaris , spem meditaris , discis mori & vivere . tertullian . de anim . cap. 25. h mat●h . 9 24. i dormiebat : sed illi , qi poterat excitare● aug. de verb . dom. 44. k sor●ribus mortu●● erat ; domino d●r●iebat , hominibus mortuus erat , qi eum suscitare non poterant : nam dominus tan●â eum facilitate excitabat de sepul●ro , qan●â tu non excitas dormientem d●lecto . a●gustin . in io●n . 49. l iohn 11.43 , 44. m m●rtuos tanqam è somno suscitavit . martial . epist. 2. sect. 1. n tardius qi● de som●o susci●a●ur , qam lazarus de m●●te . august . de temp. 104. o iohn 5.28 . omnes pla●● ei , qi po●est exci●are , dormiunt . nemo tam facilè excitat d●rmientes in lecto , qam christus mor●uos in sepulchro . august . de verb . dom 44. p 1 cor. 15.51 . q 1 thes. 4.16 . vse 4. for admon●●ion . r somnus mortis imago . naso am●r . l. 3. cl . 9. speculum mortis s●mnus & exemplar . tert● l. de anim . c. 24. prop●nitur tibi corpus amicâ vi sopori● el . s●m , bla●dî qie●is prostratum , i●mobile situ , qale ante vitam j●cuit , & qale post mortem jacebit , ut tes●atio plasticae & sepul●urae , exp●●●ans anim●m qasi nond●m c●nlatam , & qasi jam ereptam . ibid. cap. 43. s qoties dormis & vigilas , toties moreris & resu●gis . petr. chrysolog . ser. 59. t heb. 11.19 . u deut. 32.29 . x iob 14.14 . y psal. 90.12 . point 5. a vers. 14. b esay 41.8 . reason 1. c iohn 13.1 . d 1 iohn 4.17 , 1● . e 1 cor. 13 . 10● reason 2. f colos. 1.21 . g esay 59.2 . & 57.17 . & 54.7 , 8. h rom. 7.24 . & 6.7 . reason . 3. i ruth 1.17 . k so should it be read , not , depart . l 2 sam. 1.23 . m mark 6.16 , 27. n rom. 8●35 . o rom. 8.38 , 39. reason 4. p philip . 1.23 . q 2 cor. 5.6 . r 2 cor. 5.8 . apoc. 14.4 . 1 thes. 4.17 . s 1 cor. 15.28 . vse 1. for exhortation . a gen. 28.15 . iosh. 1.5 . heb. 13.5 . b 2 tim. 4.16 , 17. c ad limen carceris deduxerunt vo● . tertul. ad martyr . c. 2. d vobisc●m carcerem intro●it . ●b . c. 1. e mundi buju● p●●tica mors . peral● . sum. de vit. vse 2. for consolation . f gen. 17.7 . exod. 20.6 . psal. 37.25 , 26. & 115.13 , 14. g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip . stob. c. 127. h 2 sam. 9.1 . vse 3. for imitation . i esay 41.8 . k {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; eurip. hecub . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; soph. aj●c . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . stesichor . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . archilich . m inimicitiae qoque suscipiende sunt propter amici innocentiam , cum restiteris vel responderis , qando amicus arguitur & accusatur . ambr. offic l. 3. c. 16. n {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. di●n pr●s . orat . 37. o {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . d●mosth● epist. 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . is●crat . ad d●m●n . amicitia parentum rectè in liberos transferuntur , ●t charitas semel inita successorib●● e●rum haereditario jure proficiat . symmach . l. 7. ep. 87. religiosa curae es● , qae amicorum liberis ex ●ibetur . idem . l. 9. ep. 31. ad pos●er●s ami●o ●n cur●m tra●●fe●re debem●● ; ne fides cum hominibus interiisse vide●tur . id. l. 9. ep. 45. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. ip●ig . taur . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . me●nand . q {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. herc. sur . r ruth● 2.20 . s {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . de capan●o eurip● supplic . caduca enim & fragili●●ffectio est , qae non & amic●rum liberos amore propagato ●omplecti●ur . symmach . l. 9. c. 31. testimony given to the deceased . a terra novissimè complex● gr●●i● j●m à reliqâ naturâ abdicatos tum maxime , ut mater , operiens , plin. l. 2. c. 63. b esay 57.2 . hi● disposicion in generall . c eccles. 7.28 . d q●le●● vix repp●rit ●num millibu● è multis . aus●n . idyl . 16. e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. in patrem . f {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} idem in ba●il . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . id. ib. in particular . h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . de pio marc●● imp. l. 6. sect. 30. i plut. in pr●c●pt . p●litic . k {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . his first conversion . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. helen . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. pro pauper . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ● chrysost. in phil. hom. 15. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . basil● caes. hom. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . basil. caes. hom. 19. observa●ce of christ by attendance on him in his ordinances . ordinary . private . m psal. 55.17 . n dan. 6.10 . publick . extraordinary● dayes of humiliation . o acts 10.4 . p esay 58.6 , 7. qi vul● orati●nem suam i● coelum volare , fa iat ei duas al●s e●e●mosynam & j●junium . aug. de t●mp . 59. erg● qi orat , j●j●ne● : qui jejunat , misereatu● : audiat petente● , qi petens opta● audir● : auditum dei ape●i● sibi , qi su●m suppl●canti non cl●udit a●di●um . es●rien●em sentiat , qi vult deum sentire qod es●ri● : misereatur , qi misericordiam spera● : pi●tatem , qi qaerit , faciat : qi praestari sibi vult , praestet : improbus pe●itor est , qi qod a●iis negat , sibi postulat . chrysolog . serm. 43. q acts 10.2 . r {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. l. 1. ep. 44. collocare te vult dous , q● habes , non projicare . aug. de 10. cho●d . cap. 12. multi sunt , qi non d●nant , sed pro . jiciunt . senec. ep. 21. beneficia nec in vulgus effundenda sunt : & nullius rei , minin è beneficiorum , hon●sta largitio est . senec. de benef. l. 1. c. 2. s ●sal . 112.5 . t e●rat , siqis existima facilem rem esse donare , plurimum ista res habet difficultatis , si modo consilio tribu●●ur , non casu & impetu spargitur : habebit sapiens sinum facilem , non persoratum ; ex qo multa exeant , nihil excidat . senec. de beat . ●it . cap. 24. u ambitio & jactantia & effu●io , & qidvi● po●●us qam liberalitas existimanda est , cui ratio non constat . pl●n. pan●g . b●n●fici●● si detrax . e●is judi●ium , de●iaunt esse beneficia , in aliud qodlibet incidunt nomen . senec. de benef. lib. 1. cap. 2. gratulation . obedience . a prov. 15.8 . & 21.17 . esay 1.11.14 . & 66.3 . ier. 17 . 2●.23 . ezek. 20 39. b colos. 1.10 . c h●b. 13.18 . d iuxt● illud r. gamalielis in dictis p●t●um , c. 1. sect. 16. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ab●●ineas ●e à re dubiâ . illudque c●utissimi cu●usque praec●ptum , qod dubites , ●e f●ce●is . plin. l. 1. ep . 18. siqidem benè praecipiunt , qi vetant ●icqam agere , qod dubites , aequm sit●n iniqum . cicer. offic. l. 1. examination . e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aeschyl . ap. st●b cap. 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} g●eg . naz in patr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem in basi● . iames 3.2 . n●● in uno sed in m●l●●s nec qosdam , sed omnes offendere dicit . aug. ep. 29. non dixit , offenditis , sed offendimu● , inqi● : & , in multis , praemisit ; omnes subjunxit . beda . f iuxta illud pythagorae monitum . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . la●rt . in pythag. plut. d● superf●●● . & de curios . epictet . dissert. l. 4 c. 6. non priu● in dulcem de●linat lumina somnum , omnia q●m longi transege●it acta diei , qo praetergressus ? qid gestum in tempore ? qid non ? cur isti facto de●●● abfuit , aut ratio illi ? qod mihi p●aeteritum ? cur haec sententia sedit , qam m●liu● mutâss● fuit ? ● qid volui , qod nolle bonum fuit ? utile honesto , cur malu●●ntetuli ? — sic dicta p●r ●mnia factaque ingrediens , ortoque à vespere c●ncta revolvens , offensus pravis , dat palma● & pramia rectis . aus●n . idyl● 16. idem de catone cicero de senect . de sext●o s●neca de irâ . l. 3. c 36. de s● idem ibid. de christianis qibusdam climacus scalae grad. 4. vide chrys●●t . tom. 8. orat . 10. g psal. 19.12 . h 1 sam. 25.32 , 33. i psal. 119 . 59● beneficence . a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. apud plut. in g●rg . & alcib . 2. & plut. sympos . l. 1. c. 4. & l. 2. c. 1. b 1 thes. 5 , 12 , 13. c psal. 15.4 . 1 pet. 2.17 . d 1 iohn 3.18 . e iames 2.15 , 16. * qod de atheni●us . aristides . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . tenth of yearly gaine for the poore . reason . 1. f gen. 32.10 . g eph●s . 1.3 , 4. h psal. 103.1 , 4. reason 2. i 1 tim. 6.17 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isidor . l. 3. ● . 322. ante omnia nihil est qod s●c generant divit●a , q●mode superbiam : omne pom●m , granum , ●ructus , lignum ●abet vermem suum : liu● est vermis mali , ali●● py●i , alius fa●● , aliu● tri●ici : vermis divitiarum superbia . aug. de verb . dom. 5. & homil . 15. primus vermis divitiarum superbia . idem de temp. 205. k sicut rusticus qidam ab aut●re anonymo buf●ne conspecto lachrymas ●bertim fudisse refertur , h●c consideratione motus , potuisse eundem , qi hominem f●ceratipsum , ●usonem ejusmodi fecisse . greg. naz. pro pauper . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l 1 cor. 4.7 . reason 3. m 2 cor. 9.12 , 13. n ha● est {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ut marc. imp. l. 6. §. 7 reason 4. o philem. 7. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr●g . naz. pro paup . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem ad cives su●s de prae●id . irâ . q matth. 25.40 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. pro paup●r . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem in tetrast . christus accipit● qod de di●●i : ille accipit , qi unde dares dedit . aug. de temp. 50. ipse s● dicit accip●re , q●d pa●●tribus da●ur . sibi colla●um praedicat , quod in pauperis ma●u ponitur . idem hom 47. q●d in terrâ jacentibus porrigi●is , in coelo sedenti datis . greg● in evang. 40. r 1 cor. 16.2 . s gal. 6.9 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●lut . de s●● . ●●lit & contr. c●lo● . hoc est qod marc. l. 12. sect 29. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ● t {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . marc. imp. l. 7. sect. 13 & l. 6. sect. 7. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●idem . l. 10. se●t . 3●● {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz. in bapt. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ● 〈…〉 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . epicu●us ipse ●●ud plut. de vit● epic. u {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . m●●c . l. 1. sect. 17. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ph●laris ep. 17. & ep. 119. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . b●neficium dand● accepit , qi digno dedit . p. syrus . marc. l. 11. sect. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . idem lib. 9. sect. 42. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; plut. de ●ffect . e●g . ●r . 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . aris●id panat● . ad ben●ficium no● adducit cogitatio avara , nec sordida , sed liberalis , cupiens dare , etiam cum dederit , & augere novis ac recentibus vetera . seneca de benef. lib. 4. cap. 14. b hebr. 13.16 . gods triall of him . c ●●n . 2● . ●2 . 〈…〉 , id est , 〈◊〉 ●e f●●i : ign●tus enim ●ibi qisque est a●te interrogationē tentationis : latentque homi●em dilectionis & ●idei sua vires , nisi exp●rimento divino eidem inno●escant . aug. in gen qaest . 57. & in deut. 13.3 . q. 19. & in psal. 58. & de trinit. l. 1. c. 12. & l. 3. c. 11. blessing of him in his estate temporall . psal. 112.9 . prov. 19.17 . eccles. 11.1 . a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} panem , id est , semen : ut psal. 104.15 . iun. b secundum aqas in l●●is irriguis , ac proinde feracibus . esay 32.20 . iun. spirituall . c {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . phil. 3.20 . qod cypr l. 2. ●p . 4. in ca●ne adhu● positis vi●a vivitur , non praes●ntis seculi , sed fu●uri . d {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. naz apolog. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. de stat●is . 2. e esay 38.2 . preparation for his end . f testamenta ●ominum , specula morum . plin. l. 8 , ●p . 18. his will● in it , his charity . g apoc. 2.19 . his piety . h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plut. de sanit . conserv . i 2 pet. ● . 13 . k gen. 18.19 . l qomodo de pt●l●m●● . th●●●r . idyl . 17. — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. helen . m heb. 13.7 . n qod commod● marci fili● aristides ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . his end . o vix fi●ri p●test , ut benè moriatur , qi malè vixe●it . p fieri non potest , ut malè moriatur , qi benè vixerit . a●g. ●om . de ver. & f●ls●p●nit . conclusion of all . a funeral sermon preached upon occasion of the decease of the eminently pious mrs. elizabeth williams, late wife of mr. daniel williams, who departed this life, june the 10th, 1698, ætat 62 with some account of her exemplary character taken for the most part out of her own papers / by edmund calamy. calamy, edmund, 1671-1732. 1698 approx. 112 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 56 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32087 wing c272 estc r29171 10840311 ocm 10840311 46092 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32087) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 46092) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1418:22) a funeral sermon preached upon occasion of the decease of the eminently pious mrs. elizabeth williams, late wife of mr. daniel williams, who departed this life, june the 10th, 1698, ætat 62 with some account of her exemplary character taken for the most part out of her own papers / by edmund calamy. calamy, edmund, 1671-1732. [6], 92 p. printed for j. lawrence, london : 1698. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng williams, elizabeth, d. 1698. funeral sermons. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon , preached upon occasion of the decease of the eminently pious mrs. elizabeth williams : late wife of the reverend mr. daniel williams . who departed this life , iune the 10 th . 1698. aetat . 62. with some account of her exemplary character : taken for the most part out of her own papers . by edmvnd calamy . london : printed for i. lawrence at the angel in the poultry over against the compter , 1698. to my much honoured friend , the reverend mr. daniel williams . reverend sir , if the present which i here make you , should occasion any renewal of your grief , you know where to charge it . though i should hope , a repeated reflection on your deceased yoke-fellows correspondence , both in temper and practise , with the instances and patterns propos'd for imitation in the text , which i ( with your approbation ) fixt on for the subject of the ensuing discourse , might administer consolation and refreshment . for it cannot but be very comfortable , to have so good grounds to believe , that at the same time when withdrawn from you , she was remov'd out of a troublesome world , into that better countrey , which had her heart so long before : where she hath unspeakably better friends , and better entertainments , than this world was ever capable of affording her ; and that without any mixture , or fear of change. it hath pleas'd god ( sir ) that in the midst of a great many signal mercies , you have met with a variety of difficulties and troubles ; some of which have been attended with very uncomfortable circumstances . i take this opportunity to join with you in heartily rejoicing , and blessing him , who hath so wonderfully supported you under , and so comfortably carry'd you through all hitherto . methinks you had a peculiar mercy , under the most furious assaults of those envenom'd spirits , who combin'd together ( sometime since ) to blast your reputation , ( of some of whom 't is sufficiently evident , that they aim'd at giving a wound to the ministry in general through your sides ; ) in having such a domestick instance of exemplary patience in your dear consort : who though deeply affected , and not free from just resentments of their inhumanity ; ( especially in charging you with vnkindness to her , who ever retain'd a most thankful sense of your endearing love and tenderness ; ) yet carried it all along with that evenness of temper , that christian composure , and vndauntedness ; ( being fully satisfi'd from first to last , of the groundlessness of their malicious insinuations ) as seem'd wonderful to all who knew , and observ'd her. i am persuaded , you then reap'd much comfort and benefit , as from the serious supplications of your loving flock , and many other christian friends on your behalf , so also from hers particularly , which were sent vpwards with a peculiar tenderness and fervour . and your loss of her prayers , by her removal , is with me ( and i doubt not with you much more ) of considerable account . wovld the most angry and censorious , but take the pains to peruse , and have the patience seriously to consider , those genuine and vnaffected breathings of a gracious heart , a gospel spirit , and truly christian temper , which i have inserted in the annexed character of the deceased , out of her own papers ; i could not but hope , if they had any remaining tincture of sober-mindedness , they would see the folly of inveighing against that sort of ministry , either as legal , or vn-evangelical , which god so blesses , and makes use of , to form christians of such a make , and spirit , and temper : if not , let them go on , and see what they 'l get by it in the issue . and although , while they persist in this course , i am well assur'd they are doing the devils work , yet all the hurt i wish them is , that they may not in the event fall short of her , whose character is here faithfully though imperfectly given , and others of the like stamp , to whom god is pleas'd so remarkably to bless that sort of ministry , which they with so much bitterness censure and condemn . may you ( sir , ) if it be the will of god , shine the brighter the more others study to eclipse you : may the devil ( who is too subtle to rage most , where his interest is least assaulted ) find you through divine assistance , the more effectually supplanting and undermining his kingdom , the more opposition he raises against you : may you be more and more fixt out of the reach of envy and bitterness , rage and malice : may the exemplariness of your life and carriage silence all the calumnies of your adversaries : and the eminent success of your ministerial labours , more and more confirm the truth of the doctrine you deliver : may you still have fresh supports afforded , suitable to your tryals and exigencies : and long remain an instance of publick spiritedness and integrity in a wretchedly selfish age : may you have an abundant reward above ; and have your memory ( when you are gone to rest , ) blest here below : this is the hearty prayer , of sir , your unworthy fellow-labourer in the work of the gospel . e. calamy . a funeral sermon . heb. xi . xvi . but now they desire a better countrey , that is an heavenly ; wherefore god is not ashamed to be called their god , for he hath prepared for them a city . these words may be consider'd under a double aspect . either as particularly relating to the old patriarchs , of whom the apostle is in this place discoursing : or , as they are equally applicable to any , who tread in their steps in after-times : either as peculiarly meant of the fore-fathers of the iewish nation ; or as generally regarding all who are acted by a like faith with them ; all who are heartily listed in the service of the same god , and stand in the same relation to him ; whose common spirit and temper , honour and happiness , is here exemplify'd and illustrated . consider'd the former of these ways , three things in them deserve observation . i. the character given of those ancient worthies , abraham , isaac and iacob ; concerning whom 't is asserted , that they desir'd a better countrey , that is an heavenly . ii. a comfortable inference drawn from that character ; wherefore god was not asham'd to be call'd their god. iii. the manifestation of the truth of that inference : god shew'd he was not asham'd of that name , in that he had prepar'd for them a city . these three things duly weigh'd and consider'd , will give a sufficient insight into the sense of the words , according to their primitive and original intention ; which once settled , will make way for the doctrinal observations they afford , with their suitable improvement . i. begin we then with considering the character here given of the old patriarchs , abraham , isaac and iacob ; of whom 't is asserted , that they desired a better countrey , that is an heavenly . abraham upon a call of god , had forsaken his native countrey , his kindred , friends and paternal inheritance , which are naturally very dear and valuable , and taken his progress towards an unknown land , which he upon the divine promise , believ'd would in time , become the possession of his posterity : while there , he had a son and grand-son born to him , who were heirs of the promise ; who travell'd with him from place to place , having no fixt abode , or hope of present settlement , but following god whithersoever he would lead them ; living and dying in this faith , that he would without fail , make good to a tittle , all that he had promised them ; especially with reference to their progeny , and the messiah , ( who was to spring up amongst them ) and their future bliss . in the whole course of their lives , they all profest themselves pilgrims and strangers ; which ( as it is here argu'd in the context ) intimated , that they sought a countrey , wherein they might be at rest . this countrey they sought for , must be either earthly or heavenly : were it an earthly one , it must be either that which they had abandon'd ; or that in hope of which they had forsaken the land of their nativity : it could not be the former , for they had no thoughts of returning to it ; for which they could not have wanted opportunity had they had an inclination : neither could it be the latter , because though they were safely arriv'd at it , beheld , and travell'd through it , they yet sought not for a settlement in it : they profest to have here no continuing city : they desir'd therefore a better countrey , that is an heavenly . a better countrey . this is comparative . a countrey better than that which they had forsaken ; and better than that in which they sojourn'd . one better than that which they had forsaken . for they might well expect they should be no losers , at long run , by following god. how could they imagine he should have put them upon leaving what was better , for that which was really worse ? they might certainly upon good grounds hope , that when they had trusted to him to provide for them , he would not leave them destitute and helpless ; would not leave them worse than he found them ; nay , not till he had made their listning to him , and following of him , in the final issue , abundantly worth their while , both in their own and others estimation . again , one better than that in which they sojourn'd . for even in the land of canaan they were not at rest . they did not incorporate with those among whom they sojourn'd , but kept themselves to themselves , and that by order ; and so were but a poor solitary family living upon courtesie : had they therefore at the present ever such ease and plenty , they knew not how soon they might be depriv'd of it ; being by some un-foreseen accident forc'd to a removal . the land was in it self indeed delicious and tempting ; stiled therefore in holy writ , a land flowing with milk and honey : i. e. abounding with the necessaries and comfortable conveniencies of humane life ; but yet being strangers in it , they met with a great many difficulties and un-easinesses , fatigues and troubles . and had these been much fewer and smaller than they really were , they must be suppos'd very ignorant and thoughtless , if they were not sensible that this earth was no place for a perpetual abode ; that they were but passing through it towards the invisible regions ; and in a little time to be transplanted hence into another state. like persons therefore truly devoted to the most high , they look'd beyond earth for an home , they desir'd a better countrey ; where there should be perfection of life , and fulness of bliss ; freedom from all evil , and an abundance of all good ; and that un-alterably and for ever : and that the rather , because they knew this was no more than he to whom they had devoted themselves , and under whose care they were , could easily help them to . canaan was a good land ; but yet it could not satisfie them ; they still crav'd a better countrey : a countrey of a better nature ; where they might have better entertainments and enjoyments ; and better society and converse ; all free from mixtures and defects ; more suitable to their rational refined powers ; liable to no changes or alterations , disturbances or interruptions ; a countrey therefore necessarily of another kind : that is , an heavenly countrey . and indeed desiring a fixed settlement , how weak must they have been , had their thoughts ultimately fixt in any other ! earth being in its own nature necessarily mutable ; and heaven only fixed and stable . no other than an heavenly countrey could suit heaven-born souls ; and satisfie their enlarged cravings ; no other could answer their spiritual aims ; no other could be perfect and without mixtures ; safe and of eternal continuance . such a countrey therefore they desir'd . we may translate it a supercoelestial one ; i. e. seated above all the visible heavens ; meaning that which is call'd the third heaven . some are very earnest in maintaining , that the ancient patriarchs neither had any better promise , nor higher thoughts than of a temporal felicity . whereby they would tempt one almost to think , that they hardly ever took notice of this passage of sacred writ , where the direct contrary is clearly intimated , when it is asserted , that they desir'd an heavenly countrey . crellius particularly in his comment on the text , pretends , that the meaning is , a better countrey was design'd for them , but not explicitely desir'd by them . he owns indeed that a state of immortality and glory is here intended ; though not as look'd for , and desir'd by the patriarchs by vertue of any promise : but as what would ensue according to the divine purpose , although they had no ground to believe it . which in short , is a direct levelling them with the rest of the world , notwithstanding that god had thought fit to separate and distinguish them out of special favour . for temporal blessings were not a sufficient mark of distinction ; nor a suitable foundation for that celebrated covenant of peculiarity . can it be imagin'd that god should be call'd their god , so often , and in so pompous a manner , above what could be claim'd and pretended to by the rest of the world , and after all it should issue in nothing but his settling on their posterity a small spot of land , wherein they themselves all their days were strangers , having no certain habitation ? are these tempoporal lower things to be thought of such account with god ? must not the ancient worthies be supposed grossly carnal in their aims and inclinations , if these furnisht with the principal motives of their obedience ? what sort of servants must god have of those , who had only earthly things in their eyes ? whose hopes and hearts were not fixt on heaven ? all their devotion must necessarily be mean and flat , and all their service spiritless and beggarly . how could it be possible , that such heroical obedience , as theirs was in sundry instances , should arise from such mean and weak foundations ? besides , how could this supposition consist with the apostles present argument ? who if he doth not prove that their faith wrought in the desire and expectation of heavenly things , proves nothing at all to his purpose : as is evident , if the context be duely consulted . but 't is to little purpose to argue , where men having fixt their hypothesis , which they will not alter , will resolve all things they meet with into a consistency with it . to one that considers things fairly , a believer not eying heaven , will appear a contradiction ; and that of such a nature , as that the difference of the oeconomy persons are under , will be far from satisfactorily accounting for it . 't is further observable , that this heavenly countrey was much desir'd by them . the word we so translate , intimates great earnestness and vehemence in reaching out after the thing aimed at . they did not only therefore faintly wish , that they might be admitted into the coelestial mansions , when they had finisht their course on earth : but their desire was vigorously active in a way of endeavour , in order to their safe arrival at them . the grounds of their desire of this heavenly countrey were mainly these . they were feelingly sensible of their want of something higher and more noble , more solid and more durable , than this earth was able to afford them ; they found just ground for dissatisfaction , in their present flitting , uncertain , wandering , and imperfect state : they were at the same time fully satisfied , that if they could but once reach heaven , all their difficulties and exercises , all their perplexity and uneasiness would be at an end , and that for ever : and withal , they were not destitute of reason to hope , that that god who had given them so many assurances of his favour , would not herein refuse to gratifie them : which grounds were of such a nature , as that they might well carry their desire to a considerable heighth , and make it very vehement , and earnest , and consequently very influential on their whole conduct and behaviour . for desire cannot in any case but be enflam'd where these three things concur ; a sense of want ; a certain prospect of a comfortable alteration upon its accomplishment ; and a grounded hope of that accomplishment ; no one of which could be said to be wanting in the case of these patriarchs . thus much briefly of their character , which though short , carries in it a plain description both of their faith and conversation . of their faith ; in that they nothing doubted but there was a stable , firm , heavenly city and countrey , built , made and prepar'd by god , for all his sincere servants ; a place and state infinitely beyond any that was to be met with here on earth ; into which they question'd not , but that they in time should be receiv'd , if they persisted in an holy course of obedience to the end of their lives . of their conversation ; in that their firm belief of the excellency of that heavenly countrey which they had in their eye , made them earnestly desire it , and vigorously follow after it ; over-look all discouragements and difficulties they met with in their way to it ; contemn all earthly glories in comparison of it ; and tend towards it in their whole course ; and that with such earnestness and assiduity , as sufficiently intimated to all that observ'd them , that they look'd not on themselves as of this world , but as of another countrey ; and reckon'd not upon being at home , till they got safe to heaven . this being well consider'd will abate our wonder at the seemingly strange inference we find drawn from this their character ; to the consideration whereof , i now in the second place proceed . strange but comfortable is the truth hence inferr'd , wherefore ( saith the apostle ) god is not ashamed to be called their god : so well did he approve of their foresaid faith and desire , that he thought fit to give evidence of his special respect to them . their faith being so firm , and their reliance on the divine promises so steddy , as its fruits and effects discovered it ; they being so free in despising these lower things , and so earnest in pursuing higher , upon the inducements he set before them ; he did not disdain them , or think it any dishonour to him , to own them to be his , and himself to be theirs . he thought it no disgrace to him to vouch a special relation to them . this is spoken after the manner of men. the expression is negative , the meaning positive . it implies a joyful acknowledgment of them , as a father of a generous son : and a much greater readiness to gratifie their reasonable desires , than there could be in the tenderest earthly parent , towards the most dutiful and respectful child conceivable . and here let 's pause a little , and make our remarks . god was neither asham'd to be their god ; nor to be call'd so . he was not ashamed to be their god. if he had , he would never either have represented himself as such , or have suffer'd himself to have been so represented by others . he was their god : and that not only in a way of propriety , dominion , and sovereignty , in which sense he is the god of all men ; but in a way of special interest , arising from a covenant engagement to them ; whereby he stood bound to take care of and provide for them ; to protect and bless them ; to be their shield , and exceeding great reward , as he particularly promis'd abraham . now what an honour was this ! for any of the degenerate children of adam , to be admitted into such a relation to , to have such an interest in , the infinite lord of heaven and earth ! of whom , and to whom , and through whom are all things ! and who really is all in all ! well consider'd , it will appear amazing . again ; he was not asham'd to own and call himself their god ; which is yet more . for he might really be their god , and yet not be ready to signifie , or so willing to have it ▪ publisht that he was so : but alas , having taken them for his own , and put such an excellent spirit into them , he thought it no dishonour to him to be call'd by their name . for thus doth he express himself to moses . i am the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of iacob . and again ; the lord god of your fathers , the god of abraham , the god of isaac , the god of iacob . this is my name for ever ; this is my memorial to all generations . now what an honour was this to them , for the great god to be nam'd after them ! what were abraham , isaac , and iacob , but men who were dead , and laid in their graves , long before this speech was addrest to moses ? and what were they while living , but poor desolate strangers , wandring from place to place ; naturally infirm ; vile thro' sin ; and every way imperfect ; and therefore absolutely speaking , unworthy of any favour ? what an amazing thing then is it , that god should as it were be beholden to them for a name , and borrow a title from them , whereby he should be known to others ! this is an honour the greatness whereof we cannot reach ; and which no comparisons can help to illustrate . it deserves however to be observ'd , that although these patriarchs were far from having any thing to 〈◊〉 such an honour , yet were they so qualifi'd , as that it was not unbecoming god to confer such an honour upon them . abraham , is●●c and iacob , as unworthy as they were , were yet persons of a sincere faith , and heavenly conversation ; as hath before been hinted : and had they not been thus qualifi'd , we may be assur'd god would never have own'd them for his. had they been prevailingly terrene and carnal , like the rest of the world ; govern'd by the spirit of it ; ingulpht in the common pollutions , sensualities and impieties , of the prophane and atheistical inhabitants of the land wherein they sojourn'd ; he would have been asham'd to have been called their god. he would have reckon'd it ignominious and a reproach to him , to have own'd a peculiar relation to them . for this would have been to have attempted to distinguish such as would not be distinguished ; and to have made a visible difference by favours and priviledges , where there was no visible difference in temper and conversation , that might signifie a more excellent spirit : which , how much soever it might be to the gust of a carnal mind , could not but appear a matter of shame to an holy god. but they being by his influence wrought up to such a temper and carriage , as hath before been briefly signifi'd , 't was consistent with his honour , he was not asham'd to own them for his. he is never asham'd of persons , because poor and mean , and of no account in the world : but he would and might justly be so , of those who wallow'd in filth , and delighted in impurity . 't was otherwise with these patriarchs . although they made no great figure , yet such was their spirit , and such their carriage , that he thought it not a diminution to him , to be stiled theirs . it was thought mean by the heathen world , and a matter of reproach , that he should stile himself the god of three poor wandring pilgrims : but let them laugh on ; he was not asham'd of his title , nor did he disuse it till he had famisht their idols , which they set up in opposition to him , and effectually vindicated himself from the reproach of their admirers . nay , he was not only not asham'd of his title , but he glory'd in it . for he gave himself this name in confirmation of the covenant , by which he stood engag'd to these worthies , whereby he had ample occasion of glorifying the holy properties of his nature , in the displays of his grace , goodness , truth , and power ; and various other of his most glorious perfections , on their behalf . and the meaner the objects , the greater the glory . thus god was not ashamed to be called their god. but i know not how to dismiss this clause , without observing how it confirms our saviour's argument against the sadducees , in proof both of the souls immortality , and the bodys resurrection ; to clear which , this very passage is cited out of exodus , which is here referred to . the sadducees deny'd both these grand articles of faith ; ( as appears from acts 23. 8. ) when therefore they came to our blessed lord with a foolish question , he to confront them ( as will appear by consulting the places cited in the margin ) urges this declaration of god by moses , of his being the god of abraham , isaac and iacob . some have been so petulant , as to call the strength of his argument , taken from this declaration , into question ; but consider'd with the light my text gives it , 't will , i think , appear sufficiently cogent . for god would really have bin asham'd of making any such declaration , had not their souls bin immortal , and were not their bodies to rise again . 1. god would have bin asham'd to have bin called the god of abraham , isaac and iacob , if their souls had not bin immortal . for they were all dead a considerable time before he made that declaration to moses , as before was hinted . now god , ( as our saviour urged ) is not the god of the dead , but of the living . he 'd have bin ashamed to have stil'd himself their god after their decease , had they thereupon quite lost their being . for what could his pretending to that relation to them have signified , if it could not have kept them from returning to nothing ? in stiling himself theirs , he certainly intended some peculiar blessing and advantage to them above others . this they could not be said to have had at any time in this world ; for they were continually fatigu'd and harrass'd , and never at rest : 't is therefore necessary they should have it in another ; or otherwise this promise of his being theirs , would shamefully have fallen short of what it seemed to import . if ( as one well says ) nothing beyond this life had bin reserved for them , that saying of old iacob towards the end of his life , few and ●uil have the days of the years of my life been , would have bin an eternal reflection on the truth and faithfulness of him , who had so often called himself the god of iacob : but supposing him to make up in the happiness of another life , what was wanting in this ; supposing him to have fixt their departed spirits in un-alterable bliss ; his promise and declaration appears to have been made good to the full ; and he needed not to be ashamed to be called their god. again , 2. he would have bin asham'd to have bin called , the god of abraham , isaac and iacob , if their bodies were not to rise again . which though it be not so clear and directly evident as the foregoing proposition ; yet is it not destitute of sufficient proof . for let it be observ'd ; our souls and bodies are so adapted to each other , that a separate soul , though in the midst of bliss , is in a sort imperfect , while without its proper body ; after which , notwithstanding the greatest surrounding glory that could be imagin'd , there yet remains an hankering inclination . now would it not reflect on the blessed god to make his servants happy by halves ? to strip them of their bodies , before they should at all taste of the provision he had made for them in the upper world ; and leave them without all hope of receiving them anew , notwithstanding a re-union to them would be a great addition to their happiness ? withal , it seems highly equitable , that the same body which at the soul's command , was often harrass'd , and bore a great many fatigues in the service of god , should also share in the reward following upon it . further ; humane nature , consider'd as fram'd entire by god , must necessarily have some end propounded to it ; which can be no other than the blessedness of the whole man : for the end of one part , cannot be the end of the whole : but god made the whole ; and takes the whole under his special care and patronage when sincerely devoted to him ; and therefore must make the whole happy , unless he be suppos'd to mock those whose god he professes himself ; which to imagine , would be a most shameful reflection upon him. new this cannot be without a resurrection of the body ; which therefore , together with the soul's immortality , results by consequence , from his profess't relation to these patriarchs as their god. iii. it now remains , that in the third and last place , i a little consider the manifestation of the truth of the foregoing comfortable inferrence , which stands thus ; god show'd he was not asham'd to be call'd their god , in that he had prepar'd for them a city . a city . this is the same with that better heavenly countrey , of which in the fore-going part of the verse they are said to be so desirous . heaven is exprest to us in the sacred scriptures , by sundry metaphorical resemblances . sometimes it s call'd a paradise , or garden , because of its santness and delightfulness . but there being in a garden no fixt abode , 't is called an house ; which hath conveniency for fixing . but an house may be too strait for the number of inhabitants , and therefore 't is here called a city , and elsewhere in this chapter , and in many other places . but least any should think of being incommoded for want of room and air , 't is here also call'd a countrey . and because a city or countrey may be destitute of the glory that attends a court , 't is call'd a kingdom . and the design of these and all other the different ways of representation us'd in this case , is to satisfie us that the place and state prepar'd by god for the everlasting entertainment of his faithful servants , hath all things in it that can be really needful or useful , delightful or entertaining , comfortable or desirable , to persons advanc'd to that degree of perfection which they shall be rais'd unto . this city is prepar'd . herein there is an allusion to the manner of disposing colonys into cities and towns : before the actual settling of which , all things are usually ready prepar'd for their habitation and entertainment . consonantly whereto , 't is intimated that in this case , god was fully provided with whatsoever was requisite to the eternal rest and blessedness of these his servants ; that he had made such provision for them , as was abundantly sufficient to answer all the ends of his being their god , or being so called . but wihhal , it is to be observ'd , that this preparation necessarily also includes and supposes , the interposition of christ the mediator , by whom this city was to be procured and purchas'd : and also the influence of the divine spirit , to prepare these candidates for that perfectly holy state , in which much more of the happiness of heaven lies , than in the glorys of the place : which spirit is supposed to work faith in them ; and by sanctifying them , to prepare for possession and enjoyment . for these blessed patriarchs was this city prepar'd ; for them , and not for others : not because they merited it , and others not ; but because through the influence of divine grace , they earnestly minded , desir'd , and sought it ; despis'd all earthly felicity in comparison of it ; and thought nothing too much to undergo in the way to it . for them was a blessed home prepar'd above , who never thought themselves at home while here on earth . for them who were all their days pilgrims and strangers here , was everlasting rest provided in the heavenly state. for how unequal soever the present dispensations of providence may appear , god will at long run make a mighty difference , between those who sincerely love , and serve him , and value his favour ; and such as neglect and slight him , and bid him defiance . now how full an evidence was gods thus preparing this city for these patriarchs , of his not being asham'd either to be their god , or to be call'd so ? hereby he sufficiently discharg'd the demands of that declaration , and carry'd it as became that relation . for had he been either weary or asham'd of them , he 'd have cast their souls into a deep sleep , whence they should never have recover'd ; he 'd have let their bodies have for ever lain rotting in the grave without any hope of resurrection ; he 'd never have thought of them more : he 'd have let them sink into their primitive nothing ; bury'd them in an everlasting oblivion ; and have taken effectual care , that neither they themselves should survive to upbraid him with his acting so unsuitably to his profest relation to them , in his not having made answerable provision for them ; nor any others on their account . but on the other side , having provided such an happy reward , for all their pains and labour in his service , as the blessedness of the other world , he fully shews that he is altogether consistent with himself , and punctual to the utmost tittle to all his promises ; and no way wanting in any thing which they could reasonably expect that a god , nay , even their god , should be unto them , or do for them . thus have i as briefly , as well i could , open'd and clear'd the primitive sense of the words , according to their reference to the ancient patriarchs : as to whom they intimate to us in short , that a most excellent spirit was found in them , and a suitable reward was provided for them . but they have an eye upon vs also as well as upon them , and may be of use to all who come after them . for with good reason may we upon reflection conclude , that where-ever there is the same spirit working , and showing it self , the same reward in process or time will follow . god will no more be asham'd to be call'd the god of any of us , as meanly as we may possibly be thought off either by our selves or others , than he was to be called the god of abraham , isaac , and iacob ; if we are heavenly in our temper , bent , and stated course , as they appear to have been ; and we shall find in the event , he hath made as ample provision for our everlasting entertainment as ever he did for theirs . sundry doctrinal observations that would be both instructive and affecting , would so full and copious a text as this thus open'd , afford foundation for : but waving others , i 'le select these two , which i 'le endeavour succinctly to open and illustrate . doct. 1. that all holy souls look upon themselves but as pilgrims , and strangers here on earth ; and are therefore earnestly desirous of a better countrey , that is an heavenly . doct. ii. that god would be asham'd to be call'd the god of such as renouncing this world ; devote themselves entirely to his service , and ardently aspire heaven-wards in the course of their present pilgrimage , if he had not made abundant provision for their happiness in a better state and life after this . doct. i. that all holy souls look on themselves but as pilgrims and str●●gers here on earth ; and are therefore earnestly desirous of a better countrey , that is an heavenly . that it hath actually been thus with many of the most eminent saints , mention'd in the sacred scriptures , is undeniable . says abraham to the sons of heth , i am a stranger and sojourner with you . and iacob speaking to king pharaoh , calls the days of his life , the days of the years of his pilgrimage . they ( as hath before been observ'd ) were but sojourners in that land whereof they had the promise ; and herein they did but shadow out and represent the common condition of good men in this life ; who notwithstanding , the firmness of their adherence to god , are travelling up and down in the world for a time , in great uncertainty ; often changing their place , and state , and posture , and circumstances ; as they of old did in canaan . of which also they have not been insensible : thus david confesseth to god ; we are strangers before thee , and sojourrers as were all our fathers : and he gives this reason ; our days on earth are as a shadow , and there is none abiding . and elsewhere ; i am a stranger with thee , and a sojourner , as all my fathers were . and it hath been the like with others also . but that which bore them up in this their unsettled state , and under all the evils and troubles which attended it , was the hope and prospect of a quiet habitation , and perpetual rest in a future state. thus we are told concerning abraham in this very chapter ; that he sought a city which had foundations , whose builder and maker was god. and 't is intimated , that it was the believing foresight of that , which made him easie in the midst of all his difficulties . and iacob in an holy rapture cries out ; i have waited for thy salvation , o lord. and iob declares , that though after his skin , worms should destroy his body , yet in his flesh should be see god : whom he should see for himself , and not another : though his reins were consum'd within him . the thought whereof enabled him to hold out , under the forest tryals . david also herein triumphs ; that whatever he was forc't first to undergo , god would at length shew him the path of life ; and bring him to his own presence , where there is fulness of ioy ; and to his right hand , where are pleasures for evermore . and at another time , when he was much discompos'd at the reflection on his own afflicted state , compar'd with the prosperity of the wicked , he soon recovers , at the thought of the happy issue that awaited all his present exercises and conflicts . as for me ( says he ) i will behold thy face in righteousness : i shall be satisfi'd , when i awake with thy likeness . st. paul also not only in his own name , but as personating the body of believers , declares ; we know , that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolv'd , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . and that our light affliction , which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . which things taken together , give us sufficiently to understand that this doctrine is true in fact , as to many of the most remarkable servants of god , whom we find mention'd in our sacred records : to whose experiences in a point of this nature , we may well conclude , those of others , who are acted by the same spirit , how different soever their particular circumstances may be , should be consonant and correspondent . but i advance further , and dare be bold to say , that whosoever truly belong to god , they cannot but look upon themselves as pilgrims in this life ; and therefore can do no other than earnestly seek an home above , where they may be at rest , and that for ever . and if you 'l but a little consider , the divine principle that is in them ; the worlds unsuitableness to them ; and the prospect faith gives them of futurities , you 'l easily conclude , that thus it must necessarily be with them . first then , let us a little consider the divine principle which is in all holy souls ; and which not only is in them , but acts and governs them . they are made partakers of a divine nature ; which therefore necessarily prompts to , and issues in a divine life ; which lies in two things , among others , a love of god , and vniversal purity ; both which have a direct tendency to alienate them from this world , and make them foreigners in it ; and to raise their hearts towards a better world , and make them earnest seekers of it . 1. the divine principle , which is implanted in all holy souls , naturally tends to draw forth their utmost ardour in the love of god , to whom it brings them wholly to resign and sacrifice themselves ; desiring above all things to please him , and delighting in nothing so much as in fellowship and communion with him. it causes them to disdain and undervalue all things below him , as mean and unworthy : so that that strain of the psalmist , whom have we in heaven but thee , and there 's none upon earth we desire besides thee ! becomes their natural breathing . for he is really their souls last end and rest. now how can persons of this make be fond of this present world , which is a meer stage of vanity and sin ; where , under the utmost advantages , they are comparatively distant from him whom their souls love : comparatively , i say , with what they desire , and hope to be hereafter . they well know that while they are at home in the body , they are absent from the lord : how then can they do any other , than ( as the apostle intimates ) be rather willing to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. 't is the nature of love to excite vehement desire after the nearest union that is possible with its prime object , and to make uneasie under absence and separation from it . now , what is in this life to be found , and felt , and enjoy'd of god , is as nothing , to what our natures are capable of , and what grace leads holy souls most earnestly to desire , and what they hereafter hope for : ( on the account whereof it is that they are at present said to be as it were , absent from him : ) the intenseness therefore of their love to him , necessarily leads them to look upon themselves , as being in this life abroad , and in a strange countrey ; and with vehemence to long for that near vision , and close and un-interrupted enjoyment of him , which they expect when they shall come to be at home : and , when they act like themselves , nothing but a sense of duty , and desire of serving the purposes of his glory , according to their capacity here on earth , can enable them to brook their absence from heaven , where their hearts and hopes are fixt . 2. that divine principle which resides , rules and governs in all holy souls , most naturally and directly influences them to an vniversal purity . they are fram'd for divine and intellectual pleasures ; which are unspeakably superiour to what sense can possibly afford . the body , whereto they are at present linkt in its state of mortality and corruption , hath such a propenseness to be inveigled by those light and airy gratifications which sensual objects offer for their entertainment , that they are forc't to keep up a constant contest with it ; and to be perpetually striving for the mastery of it : and when they have done all they can , they find their success so small , that they have good reason with the apostle paul to cry out of their wretchedness . this makes them necessarily very uneasie ; and the more so , because they can see no reason to hope it will be otherwise while this life lasts . well then , and naturally may they conclude , that this is not a place for them to be fond of ; or wherein they should desire to settle ; that this world is a place where they must carry it as strangers , least before they are aware , they are defil'd and debas'd : they must needs be induc'd often to long for their arrival at that place and state , where being free from that toil and trouble , which is now their daily exercise , they shall meet with entertainments every way suitable to their sublime and refin'd tempers , and be satiating themselves therewith to all eternity . but further , 2. if we add hereto the consideration of the worlds unsuitableness to holy souls , we shall meet with further evidence of the same thing ▪ whatever others think , who judge by the great , and put all the additionals of a freakish fancy into the scale , together with that small scantling of reality that is here to be met with ; for their parts they find this world to be a very unsuitable place for them to make any long stay in ; and the longer they live in it , the more do they find it so : and that because 't is so very troublesome , so uncertain , and changeable , and so ensnaring . 1. they find this world to be very troublesome . this life hath a great many natural inconveniencies , which make it uneasie to thinking-persons . there is no age of it , from first to last ; whether infancy or childhood , youth or manhood , or old age , but hath its peculiar troubles : no state in it , but what hath its special difficulties . do persons live solitarily ? they are in danger of being mopish . are they much in conversation ? they 'll see so much vanity and folly , ill humour and insincerity , as , if they will give way to thought , cannot but disturb them . they 'll find it hard , with the utmost caution , to walk inoffensively ; and meet with so many unkindnesses , ( and that even it may be , where they have study'd to oblige ) as will make them weary of their lives . are they in a poor and low condition ? they 'll find it very hard to rub through the world with any thing of evenness of temper , and content of mind . are they rich and wealthy ? the vexation , care and fear , and the envy of others , that attends their estates , and the disquieting losses and disappointments they meet with , do often more than over-ballance the comfort they afford them . are they in health and strength ? yet it 's an hundred to one if they are not afflicted with losses , or depriv'd of their friends , or crost in their interests and designs , or have something or other , ever and anon , happening to them , to interrupt their repose . are they sick and crazy , or often in pain ? how little relish have they of all all their comforts ! how burthensome are their lives ! nay , how often do we find that even those who have all that heart could wish for , that have all the materials and ingredients of a worldly felicity at command , yet even in their suffciency are in streights ; and make a shift to create as much trouble to themselves , by their own listless , querulous , uneasie tempers , as those who have the most real and substantial causes of discontent ? but besides all these , and a great many other considerations of the like nature , that might be suggested , which are common to all , the world is peculiarly troublesome to holy souls . they for the most part , meet with a great many hardships , contempts and injuries in it ; they are often baited at , molested and teaz'd by the men of the world , who care not for their company . for , as our blessed lord hath long since observ'd , because they are not of the world , therefore the world hateth them ; and is often speaking evil of them , and doing evil to them . they see god so much dishonour'd in it , as grieves them to the heart ; and causes them often with bitterness of soul to mourn in secret . and all these troubles , and a thousand more , that were as easily nam'd as these , are great hindrances to them , in that whereon their hearts are principally intent ; and often create them much perplexity and uneasiness . how can they then but be tir'd with this world , when they have dispatcht the great business they have to do in it ; and comfortably settled their concerns as to a future state ? how can they take this for a suitable place for them to stay in , where they are like to have little else but a constant succession of disturbances ? how can they do any other than earnestly long to be in their father's house , where they shall meet with no sorrow or trouble more for ever ? 2. holy souls find also this world very unsuitable to them , because so uncertain and changeable . the more they give way to thought , the more necessary do they find it to fly higher than the stage of sense for a portion . as for themselves , they perceive by their make , they are fram'd for eternity , unless he that made them should annihilate them ; of which they can discern no just reason to be apprehensive . as for this world they find the fashion of it is still passing away ; and that in all its parts , and at all times 't is full of uncertainty and unsettlement . how then can they six upon it ? if not better provided , how certainly may they expect in a little time to be left quite destitute ? and how can they take up with that , which they are every moment in danger of being depriv'd of ? they well know that there is nothing here to be met withal , let it seem ever so sure , but it may be taken away by a thousand unforeseen casualties ; and let ever so great a degree of earthly felicity be attain'd , they within a while must die , and in that very day all their enjoyments and hopes as to this world perish . others indeed know these things as well as they , but they mind them not ; and you may plainly discover by their carriage they hardly ever think of them . but being important matters , they are often seriously weigh'd , and intently ruminated on , by holy souls : who deliberately thence conclude , that it is in vain to seek for an happiness here ; that we are only travelling and passing through the state we are in ; and are thereby led to fix their hearts on the upper world , where alone it is that any thing solid , stable , and durable , is to be met withal . 3. this world is therefore also unsuitable to holy souls , because ensnaring . often have the best been here led aside from god and their duty ; and drawn into sin to their unspeakable damage . either unforeseen temptations have presented themselves ; or they have been careless , and nibbled at the bait , till they were caught with the hook. through heedlessness and privacy , was even a noah tempted to drunkenness and incest ; and unguarded lust , drew a david into murder and adultery . and who then can be secure ? snares abound every where , and some that are taking , will not be wanting ; and even those who have given themselves up to god most seriously , and listed themselves in his service most heartily , are not out of danger : for they have corruption within , and a busie enemy without , who watches all opportunities to entrap them ; and he 's so subtle and diligent , that unless they are always watchful , he 'll be more or less too hard for them . and if he in any remarkable degree prevails upon and foils them , how will he triumph ! and how will the wicked of the world , who are ever at his beck rejoice ! how busily do they , that they may serve their master , employ themselves in endeavouring to draw such aside into some reigning vices ! how many artifices will they use for that purpose ! and if they prevail , how will they scoffingly cry out , and say , even the godly are as bad as others ! and when they come to recollect their own slips and miscarriages ( especially if they are any thing notorious ) great is their concern and regret ; nay sometimes their bitterness and perplexity is inexpressible . for time to come , it may be , they then think to be more careful . but alas ! after all , how difficult is it to live where an infectious contagion is diffus'd universally , and not be tainted ? how hard to be daily conversant in a wicked world , and not be dampt and deadned in the exercises of the divine life ? the generality are not aware of this ; but the more holy any persons are , the more lively is their sense of it . this causes them to live as 't were in daily fear : and they 'd be quite dishearten'd , had they not ground to hope , that such sort of exercises would not last long ; but that when they had bin try'd for a time , if they retain'd their integrity , god would take them to himself , and make them happy in his favour and love for ever . thus its plain , this worlds unsuitableness tends to wean holy souls from it , and raise them above it . again , 3. the prospect which faith gives them of futurities , tends also to produce the same effects , viz. to make them weary of this earth , and to long for heaven . their faith grounded upon the promise of god , assures them that he will be a rewarder of them that diligently seek him ; that there remaineth a rest for his people ; that he will give eternal life to all those who by patient continuance in well doing , seek for glory , and honour , and immortality ; and that there is an inheritance incorruptible , and undefiled , and that fadeth not away , reserv'd in heaven for them ; and the like . these things are not the fruit of their fancy ; they are not perswasions they have unwarily imbib'd , or taken upon trust from others , without just grounds : but their faith herein is bottom'd on the word of the eternal god. now 't is in the nature of faith , as is even in this chapter declar'd , to be the substance of things hoped for , and the evidence of things not seen : holy persons having such a foundation to build upon , do as verily believe that if they persevere in the course they are in , they shall certainly find these things made good to them ; as tho' they did actually enjoy them already . they are as really perswaded of the truth of these , and the like declarations , and give as true an assent to them , as if they could see the things they make mention off , or as if they were intuitively , and demonstratively known to them . now their full satisfaction in the grounds they go upon , must necessarily depretiate this world , and advance that to come in their esteem . were they left at uncertainties , they would not be so positive ; but having such security given them , they cannot but look upon this earth as a foreign countrey to them ; and fix upon heaven as their home . thus much of the first observation : the second follows ; viz. doct. ii. that god would be asham'd to be call'd the god of such , as renouncing this world , devote themselves entirely to his service , and ardently aspire heaven-wards in the course of their present pilgrimage ; if he had not made abundant provision for their happiness , in a better state , and life after this . and here i 'le endeavour briefly to show these three things . i. what it implies for god to be call'd any persons god ▪ ii. that he really is the god of those , who renouncing this world , devote themselves heartily to his service , and fix on heaven as their home and portion . and , iii. that it would be matter of shame to him , had he not made suitable provision for all such persons in a better state and life than this . first then , let 's take notice what it implies , for god to be call'd the god of any persons . he is the god of all in a general sense ( as hath before been intimated . ) for he made and sustains them , and he alone can make them happy . but when such a phrase is in the scriptures apply'd to any peculiarly , it denotes a special interest in him in a covenant way ; a peculiar propriety in him , founded on that covenant of grace , the substance whereof we have thus deliver'd to us in short ; i will be their god , and they shall be my people ▪ it necessarily therefore denotes a transcendent love and affection in god to any persons , for him to be stil'd theirs . 't is certainly a great demonstration of love , for him as it were to give himself to them : and therefore also this appropriation must needs imply some very great and extraordinary happiness . 't is declar'd by god , that he that overcometh shall inherit all things ; but as if this were nothing , notwithstanding all things are taken in , 't is added ; and i will be his god , and he shall be my son. one would have thought nothing could have been more than all : but however this is added , because all all things else are as nothing without it . but alas ! who can tell what it is , and what it implies for god to be the god of any one ! thus much in general is plain ; that it intimates he will act for such a persons good as becomes a being , infinite in all manner of perfections : but come to particulars , and we are soon at a loss . that man that should pretend to unfold it , must be able to fathom the boundless excellencies of the divine essence , which are all engag'd , so far as the good of the party to whom god hath made himself over , is concern'd . whosoever hath god for his god , his mercy is his to pardon him ; his wisdom his to guide him ; his power his to secure him ; his faithfulness his to fulfil all his promises to him ; his love to confer grace and glory on him ; and in short , all that is in god is his , so far as his necessities can require , and his capacity can reach . so that this is most evidently the very top of our happiness . but let it be observ'd withal , that in such a phrase as this , there is ever imply'd a respect to the attoning blood of the mediatour ; without the intervention whereof such degenerate and guilty creatures as we , could have had no hope , should have remain'd incapable , of any such interest : but that , hath laid a foundation for our advancement to this amazing honour and priviledge ; which bespeaks all those who reach to it inconceiveably happy ; by reason that it intimates that god will do all things for them in a becoming manner , and like himself ; all things which may further their everlasting welfare . 2. god certainly is thus the god of all those , who renouncing this world , do heartily devote themselves to his service , and fix on heaven as their home and portion . he is the god of none , if not of such . what is the language of the covenant but this , i will be to them a god , and they shall be to me a people ? of which i think we can make nothing , were any willing to be his people , and desirous to be under his care , and free to be govern'd by his laws , to whom he were backward to be a god , and to act the part of a god which is the more evident from hence ; in that there cannot be such a consent as this ▪ a real willingness hereto , in any heart that is not of his producing . for ( whatever any in the heat of dispute may have advanc'd ) 't is notoriously evident that none of the fallen race of adam would in this case move till they were drawn ; none could be free and willing to take god for theirs , as he hath offer'd himself to them in covenant , whom he had not made so . they might indeed after a sort , be desirous of the blessings of the covenant : that is to say , they might desire to be pardon'd that they might not be damn'd ; and to be so far under the divine protection and care , as that they might be sav'd from ruine , and the like : but this is all selfishness ; and hath nothing of love to god at the bottom of it . this there may be , and god still remain estrang'd ; and they after all go without an interest in him as theirs . but where-ever there is a free consent in any heart , to take him for owner , ruler , and end , according as he hath propos'd himself ; and a willingness to be entirely at his disposal , and under his government and management ; we may safely say , there the divine spirit hath been effectually at work : for otherwise , this is a step , had never been taken . now to suppose persons wrought up to this , and god to stand back ; to suppose them willing , and him shy ; were to imagine he mockt us in the proposal of his covenant , and sported himself with our misery , when he made us overtures about our recovery . now i 'le leave it to any to judge , how impossible it is for persons to renounce this world , and fix on heaven as their home and portion , and act correspondently , and this consent on their part be wanting . for what is it to renounce the world , but to disclaim all interest in it opposite to the divine honour ; to be content with that portion of it that is of divine allotment ; to use it as not abusing it ; to be ready to improve what is afforded of it , for the best purposes ; and to sit loose to it , and be ready to part with what is most dear and valuable in it , upon a divine call ? and what is it to fix on heaven as an home and portion ? but to live in the believing hope and expectation of a bettrr state and life after this ; to long for it , and pant after it ; despise all things that could be offer'd in competition with it ; to be earnest and diligent in preparing for it ; fetch supports from it under all present uneasinesses ; and be often delightfully ruminating on those reports which god in his word hath made concerning it ? and both these jointly , do plainly bespeak an heavenly mind and heart . how can the blessed god , then , if he act consistently with himself , do any other , than embrace all such with a tender affection ; become theirs , and act like a god on their behalf ? now this he could in no respect be said to do , had he not prepar'd an an heaven , that is a state of exquisite and perfect bliss , for their everlasting entertainment . which leads me to the third and last particular , viz. 3. to show that it would really be a matter of shame to the blessed god , had he not made suitable provision , for all such persons as those foremention'd , in a better state and life than this . none need wonder at the phrase i use , when i speak of its being a matter of shame to god ; for it 's borrow'd from my text. and indeed strictly speaking , it would be really shameful and a dismal reflection on the great god , if he had not such a reserve as heaven for their entertainment , when this frail life comes to an end . a few things will sufficiently clear this . 1. upon this supposition he 'd have provided no satisfaction for earnest desires of his own exciting . he ( saith the apostle ) that hath wrought us for the self same thing , is god. his meaning is , 't is he who by his spirit hath wrought up believers to any measure of preparedness for the blessed and glorious state above ; 't is he that hath kindled earnest desires after it , and excited firm expectations of it . had he not then such a state in store , had he not an heaven in reserve , for the entertainment of his faithful ones , at the end of all their present conflicts , it would evidently appear he did but tantalize them in making any such motions to them ; in stirring up any such inclinations in them . and would not this be shameful ? might he not be asham'd to be call'd their god , whom he lur'd to himself , and then impos'd upon , by deceitful appearances , and shadows , instead of substances ? but this we may be assur'd can never be ; for he hath prepared for them a city . 2 he would upon this supposition have made it their duty , to intend an ●nd which could not be reacht . for we knowing our selves capable of subsisting hereafter , nay of enjoying a much greater happiness than this present state can admit off , are hereby laid under an indispensable obligation of intending that happiness as our end. for supposing there should be no future state of bliss , there is however no possibility of being absolutely certain there is none : nay the matter being impartially consider'd , it will appear abundantly more likely that there is . now the very law of nature obliges us to pursue the highest good whereof we are capable , supposing the attainment of it be but probable : revelation next steps in , and tells us it is certain . if the after all , there should be no heaven hereafter , we must not only acknowledge that capacity needless ; but also must be suppos'd to be oblig'd to employ the principal endeavours of our life , and all our powers to no purpose . and what a shameful reflection would this be on god , for him to have laid us under an absolute necessity , if acting rationally , of aiming at that which is unattainable ! of labouring for that which is not ! and constantly tending towards that which hath no other being than in the fancy and imagination ! and so we must either live like brutes , and be continually expos'd to the smart upbraidings and reproaches of our own minds , without relief : or else following our reason , must voluntarily befool our selves by building castles in the air , where there is no possibility of having any footing . might he not well be asham'd to be call'd the god of those whom he held thus fasten'd in a fatal circle , whence they could never get loose ! we may therefore conclude , if he acts like himself , there must be an heaven in store and reserve . again , 3. upon the supposition foremention'd , none would fare so ill as the servants of god. those who were really the best , would fare the worst : for , 1. piovs persons would have no reward for all their pains . far be it indeed from such as we are , to think of meriting any thing at the hands of god ; i abhor the thought : and yet i am sure 't would be no credit to him who hath promis'd to be a rewarder of them that diligently seek him , to let people serve him for nought . there 's a great deal of pain and misery and sorrow , which many holy souls voluntarily undergo : their tender consciences reproach and smite them for the smallest neglect and transgression ; and on that account , draw forth many a mournful sigh and groan . the sense of their great weakness makes them walk in constant fear . watchings and fightings against the assaults of satan are their daily exercise . their self-denial is galling ; and their severity to the flesh painful . often are they groaning under their own body of sin and death ; and rivers of tears also run down their eyes , at the sight of the transgressions of others , whereby their god is dishonour'd : and can all this come to nothing at last ? and there be no difference at long run between those who underwent so much for the sake of god ; and those who liv'd in an open estrangement from him , and opposition to him ! would not this be shameful ? should any plead , that holiness and vertue is its own reward ; i 'le freely grant it in the general : insomuch that were we certain there were no life after this , it were more for our present interest in the main , to be vertuous than vicious ; unless where there should be apparent hazard of the loss of life or estate , or of any other insupportable detriment , which a vertuous course might have attending it : but yet withal , it is obvious , that there are sundry exercises of vertue that are very difficult and painful ; in which the holiest souls are most strict and frequent ; which upon that supposition , would be needless and fruitless , and therefore better forborn : for such as these there would be no reward . which would cast such a reflection on the blessed god , as were never to be wip'd off but we may be assur'd 't is otherwise , for he hath prepar'd for them a city . nay , 2. upon the supposition foregoing , the most pious would be so far from gaining by the service of god , that they 'd plainly loose by it . for 't is easie to be observ'd , that a great part of their lives is employ'd in painful endeavours after a meetness for heaven . their great aim and scope is , to purifie themselves as he is pure , to whom they are devoted , and in whom they hope to be for ever happy . with great earnestness do they strive to improve both ordinances and providences to this purpose . early and late are they tugging at their listless , sluggish , backward hearts , that they may get them into a more lively , spiritual heavenly frame . and many an hour do they spend in endeavouring to mortifie a particular sin , which they find themselves most prone to , which yet others , it may be , can hardly observe in them . and can all this at last , prove labour-in-vain ? shall they be never the better for all in the issue ? if so , they had done much better to have spent their time , and their pains , in more agreeable , pleasant , and delightful exercises , like the rest of the world. 't was better they had deny'd themselves nothing that their hearts could crave , which yet had not present visible damage and detriment attending it ; 't were better they had freely enjoy'd themselves , and what came within their reach , and not have so tired their spirits , or perplext their minds , or sower'd their joys , by any such needless labour and severity . they lost all that pleasure and ease , and freedom and satisfaction which others met with , all that while that they were grinding at the mill , as 't were , and all to no purpose . let none say this is as nothing ; for though it be freely granted it would appear so , upon a certain prospect of a future state , which unspeakably over-ballances ; yet , had we no more to expect than what this life could afford , it would be very considerable , and a stress might be deservedly laid upon it . for common sense would teach us to make the most of our all . it was not without good reason therefore , that the apostle declares , that if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . but this cannot be , for he hath prepar'd for them a city : and which is more , their future advancement therein shall be the higher ; the more pains they took in his service in this life , and the more they lost and endur'd for his sake . again , 4. upon the foregoing supposition , god would either leave his most faithful ones without any thing to support them under their greatest present troubles , or he 'd support them with a fallacy . holy souls fetch their great consolations from heaven in every state. the thoughts of that refresh and chear them when their sins and sorrows make them weary ; support them under the greatest disappointments ; and make them boast and triumph in their god , in the midst of all their afflictions . this thought often recurs ; we are not far from home , and then 't will be better . were it not for this , their spirits would often sink , and their hearts faint . nothing else in reality , besides a prospect of a future state of bliss , can any thing tolerably support them . the thoughts of the utter unavoidableness of the troubles they met with , through the imposition of a rigid fate ; or of the common liableness of all mankind thereto ; or of the likelihood of their ceasing in a little time , upon their passing into a state of silence and darkness , and everlasting oblivion , would give little relief . if this then prove a fallacy , he who pretends to be their god , hath most miserably deceiv'd them : and is not that a matter of shame ? but this need not be feared , for he hath prepar'd for them a city . lastly , were there not an heaven prepared for holy souls hereafter , a special relation to god would signifie just nothing . those big phrases , their god , and our god , would in reality , dwindle to meer noise and sound . for what could they be suppos'd to import that could amount to any thing , if yet the persons concern'd might be left destitute ; if there were no provision made for their eternal abode . they had e'en as good have bin without him , and had no concern with him , any further than was common to all . for they 'll be left to the full as helpless and miserable , as if they had slighted and disregarded him all their days , and liv'd as much at random as any in the world. so that even god himself must necessarily be ashamed of any such empty title , that hath no significancy in it , or benefit attending it . but there being an heaven , that is unspeakably more glorious than we can conceive , he is not asham'd : and we , if we are his faithful servants , may have the comfort at present , and shall have the benefit hereafter . i should now expatiate beyond all bounds , should i pretend to be particular in my application of the discourse foregoing ; however , i can't be satisfi'd , without making some improvement . 1. then give me leave to ask you ( my friends ) how you stand affected , making this text the touchstone , as it hath bin open'd to you ? are you of the same spirit and temper with the antient patriarchs ? deceive not your selves ; the faithful servants of god in all ages , are of one and the same make , and acted by one and the same spirit . the period of time , wherein they liv'd , makes no essential difference between them . have you then any of that faith for which they were so famous ? and doth it work the same way , according to our circumstances and divine calls ? our advantages with respect to clearness of light , and opportunity of distinctly understanding the way of salvation , are greater than theirs : but how is it with our hearts ? do they work towards god and heaven as theirs did ? do you , sirs , carry it like pilgrims and strangers here on earth ? do you desire , and seek , and pant after a better countrey , that is an heavenly ? give me leave to put it to you ( and i pray put it home to your selves ) ; could you not be contented , would it not be pleasing and delightful to you , to have the hope and prospect of living here always ? i doubt that 's the case of many : but must assure you where-ever 't is so , 't is a sign there 's not the least tincture of saving grace . have you fixt on the most high god for yours ? have you chosen him , and given your selves up to him , and that heartily and sincerely ? can you evidence it by your heavenly-mindedness ? if so , 't is happy for you . but let me tell you , these things deserve to be enquir'd into , and that with great seriousness and application ; for much depends upon them . again , 2. let me desire you to consider what is like to become of those of you who never yet minded this better , this heavenly countrey , in the whole course of your lives ; but have bin bury'd in the world , and minded earthly things , and nothing else . i doubt this would take in many in this numerous assembly . pray , sirs , what is likely to become of such as you in a little time ? where do you think to go when your souls shall take their 1. then give me leave to ask you ( my friends ) how you stand affected , making this text the touchstone , as it hath bin open'd to you ? are you of the same spirit and temper with the antient patriarchs ? deceive not your selves ; the faithful servants of god in all ages , are of one and the same make , and acted by one and the same spirit . the period of time , wherein they liv'd , makes no essential difference between them . have you then any of that faith for which they were so famous ? and doth it work the same way , according to our circumstances and divine calls ? our advantages with respect to clearness of light , and opportunity of distinctly understanding the way of salvation , are greater than theirs : but how is it with our hearts ? do they work towards god and heaven as theirs did ? do you , sirs , carry it like pilgrims and strangers here on earth ? do you desire , and seek , and pant after a better countrey , that is an heavenly ? give me leave to put it to you ( and i pray put it home to your selves ) ; could you not be contented , would it not be pleasing and delightful to you , to have the hope and prospect of living here always ? i doubt that 's the case of many : but must assure you where-ever 't is so , 't is a sign there 's not the least tincture of saving grace . have you fixt on the most high god for yours ? have you chosen him , and given you selves up to him , and that heartily and sincerely ? can you evidence it by your heavenly-mindedness ? if so , 't is happy for you . but let me tell you , these things deserve to be enquir'd into , and that with great seriousness and application ; for much depends upon them . again , 2. let me desire you to consider what is like to become of those of you who never yet minded this better , this heavenly countrey , in the whole course of your lives ; but have bin bury'd in the world , and minded earthly things , and nothing else . i doubt this would take in many in this numerous assembly . pray , sirs , what is likely to become of such as you in a little time ? where do you think to go when your souls shall take their flight , and leave your bodies behind ? it may be you may hope you should be transplanted into this better countrey : what! and never mind it before ! think of it a little and you 'l easily discern that that is an unreasonable , and will in the event prove a groundless expectation . no , you must desire it ; and that not lazily , but earnestly ; you must be diligent in using all the means god hath directed you to , in order to the reaching of it ; you must get above the world while you are in it ; you must get an heavenly mind and heart ; otherwise this will be impossible . and truly you had need mind this matter speedily : for an heavenly temper is not likely to be gotten in an instant . and should you die without it , what would become of you ? god hath indeed prepar'd a city , a glorious city , where his faithful ones , shall have everlasting rest , and peace , and joy : but flatter not your selves , this is nothing to you ; you have neither part nor portion in this matter . i beseech you then ; look about you , before it be too late . you might come there as well as others ; ( for whatever you may weakly imagine , there 's no bar in your way , but what is of your own laying : ) 't is offer'd to you as well as others ; and god is sincere and earnest in that offer : why then should you befool your selves ? neglect your own endless happiness , and throw your selves into perdition ? consider a little where you must go , if excluded thence . pray , whither can you go but to the land of gloominess , and thick darkness ; where weeping and wailing , and gnashing of teeth , is the perpetual employment : and there must you spend an eternity , in lamenting your present folly. as you would not have this to be your woful case , i beg of you this day ; rid your selves of encumbrances , mind heaven in earnest . break off your sins by repentance . make your peace with god. look out for an interest in christ. and think not to make a neglected god and saviour your last refuge , which i 'm sure would be little to your comfort , nay would be likely to issue in your everlasting confusion . again , 3. if god is not asham'd to be call'd our god , then let us take care , that we be neither asham'd of him , nor a shame to him. let us not be asham'd of him ; that is asham'd to own him. shall the men of this world glory in their shame ( as they often do ) and we be asham'd of our glory ! how unaccountably strange doth that appear ! let them laugh , ridicule or banter ; pray what will they get by it , or we loose ? but i am verily perswaded , would but pious persons put on courage , and manage it with prudence , your hectoring swaggerers , who pride themselves in defying god , and pouring contempt on whatever belongs to him , would in most cases , without much difficulty , be put out of countenance . but be that as it will , why should we in any company , be asham'd to own to whom we belong ? our service is honourable ; and our reward will be great ; we have no need therefore to sneak : let us leave that to those , who can give no account of themselves or their actions ; their work or their wages . again , let us also take care , that we be not a shame to god. le ts beware of a carnal , drossy , earthly spirit . let 's beware of narrowness of mind and selfishness : and indeed of any thing that might bring a reproach on him whom we serve , or the way we walk in . let 's remember that the eyes of god , and of the world too are upon us ; and that there is , and may be a general expectation , to find a difference between us and others . let 's have our conversation in simplicity , and godly sincerity ; keep our eyes six't upon our home ; and carry our selves so , as that others may be able to observe , what we aim at , and whither we are tending . lastly ; since god hath provided a better life for his people after this ; hath prepared for them a city ; we may groundedly cry out , blessed are the dead , which die in the lord. for they are transplanted into that countrey which they so much desir'd , and so earnestly sought , and on which their hearts were so much set : and feel the meaning of god's being their god , in a degree beyond what we at our distance are capable of understanding . and this i doubt not is the case of our lately deceased friend , the truly ▪ pious mrs. elizabeth williams . whom i dare to set before you as one of the primitive stamp ; one of a like spirit and temper with those worthies whom my text speaks off . take her before her late illness , and she had as many things to make this world agreeable to her , as most can pretend to . she came of an honourable family ; had a great many noble relations ; an husband to her hearts desire ; a considerable estate ; and a general respect from all that knew her : and yet all this was as nothing to her ; she could not bear a thought of fixing , and taking up her rest here below ; but lookt upwards ; and profess'd her self a poor pilgrim and stranger in the world : she sought a better countrey ; that is an heavenly ; and that with greater vigour and assiduity ; with greater diligence and fervour ; and with greater earnestness and constancy , than , is i am sure , ( to say the least ) usual and common . she began to dislodge from this earth , and look heaven-wards betimes . she was brought home to god in her younger years , by means of a sermon of one mr. baynes , who was an eminent minister in dublin ; and gain'd many souls to christ in his day . and setting out for heaven so soon , she made a much greater advance in the way thither , than could otherwise have been expected . she often reflected on her early dedication of her self to god with comfort and joy ; and hath many times been heard to say with an holy triumph , by those who were intimate with her ; god hath been my god , even from my youth . and she ever after kept as close to him , and gain'd as much by close walking with him , as most can pretend to . i cannot forbear particularly mentioning some things con●erning her , which i take to be generally exemplary and instructive . she was one of great faith , and signal was her trust in god : to him she had heartily given her self , and in him , who she knew was faithful , she could conside . there was a remarkable instance and evidence hereof , in her last passage from ireland to england in the month of september , 1687. she was then in a violent storm ; eminent was the danger ; not only in the apprehension of the passengers , but of the master , and seamen ; all reckon'd themselves as lost. here was a time of tryal . but she was fearless ; and great was her composure and undauntedness . she cast her self on god , and was freely ready for his pleasure . i have seen this passage of providence recorded by her own hand ; with this remark : that there was at that time an observable answer of prayer , in a sudden and unexpected calm immediately following upon their joint recommendation of thems●lves to god. and with this short petition annext ; lord make me to live more to thy glory , that i may not be afraid to die at any time. her love to god was eminent . she manifestly seem'd to all who had any thing of freedom with her , to value his favour more than all the world ; and to fear his displeasure , more than any trouble whatever . it seems to be the most inward sense of her soul she vented , when she put this short passage under her hand ; the manifestation of god to my soul , is my highest priviledge and comfort : and the hidings of his face , my greatest loss and sorrow . she appear'd to take delight in whatever belong'd to god. his word she counted her chiefest treasure , and therewith she converst daily , with great earnestness and pleasure . his sabbaths she esteem'd the sweetest portion of her time. his ordinances , were the greatest comfort of her life : and it hath been observ'd by those who knew her well , that she would be more chearful and pleasant in her walks to the house of god , than at any other time. she had a mighty honour , value , and love to the ministry . she did not ( as is common with many ) love this or that particular minister extravagantly , and disesteem others : but she honour'd the office , and all without distinction who were faithful in it : she lov'd all , and despis'd none . she lookt upon all equally as god's agents and representatives ; and as such they were the objects of her singular esteem and respect . and in short , whatever any way belong'd to god , or had any thing of him in or on it , she discover'd an high value for . she was much taken-up in admiring thoughts of our lord iesus christ , and his work of redemption : and often venting the sense of her soul , in ardent breathings after him. i 'le give you a few passages of this kind out of her papers ; in her own words . in one place thus : i 'm amaz'd at the mysteries of redemption ; the incarnation of the son of god ; the killing the prince of life ; the humiliation of the high and lofty one ; the disgrace of the lord of glory ; the curse upon him who is blessed for ever : o the mysteries of scripture , of love , of grace , of providence ! in another place ; oh that i may know christ as a prophet instructing me ; a priest satisfying for me ; and a king ruling spiritually in me . in another thus : this wretched soul of mine doth pine away for strength , and even pant for breath ; longing to receive encrease of life from the living stock christ iesus ; which must be thy work , and thine only . oh work it i humbly pray thee , which way thou wilt ; oh empty my self , of my self , and let all glory be given to thee , and not to any other . she was entirely dependent for all on the blessed spirit of grace . in one of her papers , she hath this remarkable passage looking that way : there is no corruption though more deeply rooted than others , but that in time , by walking in the spirit , bringing it to the law of christ , to the death of christ , and to the love of christ , and joining ones own endeavours to the spirit of christ , one may get an eminent victory over it , and see it by degrees fall down before us . lord lend me the powerful aid of thy spirit , i humbly beg it . in another place thus : i am troubled with temptations , but i trust in thee : i rest on thee for life and for salvation : oh take me into the bosom of thy love for christs sake : i cast my self into the arms of thine everlasting strength ; i have no confidence in my self nor any other . but in no grace was she more eminent than in that of humility . she silently converst with her god , and that better world , which her heart was set upon , without noise and ostentation . she was more fearful of nothing than spiritual pride . methinks that is an affecting passage which dropt from her pen a year or two ago : i must humbly leave it on record , i never found so much of god , i never drew so near him , i never experienc'd the power of his word as of late . and yet as humble as she was , and as diffident of her self , she did not think her self excus'd from becoming christian resolutions in dependence on divine strength . take some of them , in her own words . i 'le be ruled by thy revealed will. i 'le be dispos'd of , by thy pleasure . i 'le gladly be improved by thee . i 'le rest on thy fulness to discharge all my bonds . i 'le wait on thee in all thine appointments . i 'le intend thy honour in all i do as my chief end. i 'le be serviceable in my place , as i can to others . i 'le be satisfi'd with thee , and thy rich treasures as my portion . and i 'le take thy word and sacraments as my security . herein will i hope , and go on till death . i am weak ; but christ is strong . and i hope for supplies from him. to which she subscrib'd her name . great was her contentedness , resignation , submission to the will of god , and heavenly mindedness . her papers abound with pregnant expressions , and indications hereof . in one place she delivereth her self thus . lord give me what thou wilt have me to do ; and then do what thou wilt to , and with , me thy unworthy servant . in another , she hath these two remarkable passages . if thou wilt have me poor and disgrac'd , i am content to be so . if thou wilt have me serve thee in the condition i am in ; i will gladly do so . it is enough to me , that thou wilt have it so . i desire to yield readily , humbly and chearfully to thy disposing providence . amen , amen , lord. hath god made me rich , that i might maintain my pride , my pomp , and erutish pleasures ? no ; he hath rather lent than fully given me what i have ; and i must give an account to him for all . all we are and have , we have it on this condition ; to use it , to leave it ; to lay it out , to lay it down ; vnto the honour of our master , from whose bounty we receiv'd it . she was very regular in her devotions : much in prayer ; and frequent in meditation ; and spent more time in converse with god in her closet than most . i 'l cite a few passages out of her papers , which seem to deliver the very sense of her soul as to religious dutys . in one place she expresseth her self thus . in duty i 'd not be satisfi'd , unless affections be rais'd so as feelingly , awfully , believingly , fervently , and sincerely , i pour out my heart with its desires to god. in another thus ; the soul on the lip , and the soul in the ear , ridd work in god's service . in another thus ; a soul in league with sin , dare not come or look to , or think of god ; and what must that man think on in a duty , who dare not seriously think of god ? she was much in self-examination : and such as these , were some of the marks and signs whereby she try'd her self . 1. do i prize christs righteousness ? 2. do i choose heaven above all ? 3. do i hate all sin ? 4. am i spirited for duty ? 5. do i relish and prize the things of god ? she fram'd various maxims , and collected rules for her self , both for her temper and practise ; which those who knew her best , can bear witness she made conscience of minding and following . i 'le mention a few of them , as i find she hath set them down for her use. we should see , that we may be fit and ready for god's service ; and that religion , and religious duties sit fitly on us. the commandment finds work ; the promise finds strength . religion is an inward , difficult , and serious business : oh rather give me the saints heart , than the angels tongue . the end of christs doctrine , is practise and exercise , and not speculation and discourse . nobility of birth , honour , and all outward delights , are to be deny'd for christ. a sound-hearted christian hath always a god to go to ; a promise to go to ; and former experiences to go to ; besides some experience of god's goodness which he now enjoys . be sure there is somewhat displeasing to god , when the word wants its powerful effect . it s our duty to refer all the circumstances of our petitions to the wisdom of god. we may be suitors to god , but we must not be his counsellours . that condition should be chosen by all , which is best for their souls . it is a blessed trouble that brings sound and long peace . the spirits operations will extort acknowledgments . and the like . and yet notwithstanding all these instances and evidences , and a great many more that might be produc'd , of the fervour of her piety , and the vigour of her grace , she ( as is usual with the best of christians ) had her complaints . she thus expresseth her self in one of her papers . oh my dark vnderstanding ! oh my hard and unbelieving heart ! my heart is the worst part of me. coldness and deadness of heart is my fault . i desire to repent , and to be humbled for it . she had a very tender conscience ; which made her mourn in secret , for those things which others would have taken little notice off . but withal she had her comforts , hopes , and ioys . her religion did not lie all in complaining ; but in a life of faith , self-denial , delight in god , and preparation for heaven . her heart was so set on the coelestial felicity , that she seem'd as it were out of the world while she was in it ; and hardly any converst with her , but they might observe she lookt upon her self as belonging to another countrey . the grounds of my longing for heaven ( saith she in one of her papers ) are ; those glorious enjoyments that are there to be met with ; god's presence ; perfection of grace ; fulness of ioy ; excellency of glory ; plenty of best wealth and peace , &c. she made no great stir or figure here below ; her aim seem'd to be to pass through the world without much observation . she was not indeed fram'd for a life of much action ; but was a great lover of retiredness ; i think i may justly say to a fault : by reason that she would in all probability have more consulted her own benefit ; and have been more useful to others , had she been more in conversation . but i pretend not to be giving an account of one that was without imperfections , and defects . though withal 't is not unworthy observation ; that she by her private and retir'd sort of life , avoided a great many snares which much conversation hath attending it ; which also was no small inducement to it . there is one thing which in justice to her memory , i cannot forbear mentioning as the matter of my own observation ; which hath been noted also by many others . she was a pattern of a loving and respectful wife . a more reverential respect for an husband , join'd with a more tender affection , i must declare i never saw , nor ever expect to meet with : and more than once hath she intimated to me her entire well-pleasedness with the disposal of providence in fixing her condition in the world ; assuring me 't was more to her satisfaction and content , than if her circumstances upon marriage , had not only equall'd but exceeded , what according to common course , she from her birth and estate might have had reason to have expected . she was not without a variety of difficulties and trials in the course of her life ; and no wonder , since all things we know come alike to all at present , and there 's no knowing either love or hatred by these things . but she under all , carried it with a christian patience , and composure ; and often had recourse to her smal , her everlasting home , for support . though she had met with many troubles , yet none ever came so near her , as the loss of her dearly beloved sister , the countess of mountrath , a few weeks since ; which did indeed sink her spirits , and was too hard for her. this may seem somewhat strange after the foregoing account of her : but the best have their weaknesses . though there is this to be said in her case ; she had before been much indispos'd , and was not recover'd , when the tidings of that stroke first reacht her : she receiv'd the news of it upon a surprizal , which encreas'd the impression it made ; and then she pent up her grief , and would not give it vent in the usual way , which was the occasion of its over-setting her. she was fearful of dishonouring god by immoderate mourning ; and thereupon suffer'd her grief to boil within : whereas had she let it run over , it would in all probability have been much better with her. so that there was an holy tenderness observable , even in that which occasion'd the distemper , which hath now laid her in her grave . a little before her disorder came upon her , she express'd her self thus one morning to her husband . i know not what i may meet with , but great things pass'd between god and me this night . he hath with unusual power assured me , and spoken to my heart ; i will never leave thee nor forsake thee : and this she during her illness , oft repeated . and god did indeed remarkably guard her ; he kept her from doubting of her state ; she retain'd her assurance ; in her greatest disorders she express'd her desires to die and be in heaven ; and the breathings of her soul after god , even then , were such , as discover'd the pious bent of her heart . indeed the power of grace in her soul was convincingly evidenc'd in the heighth of her disease . she had not her great work then to do : she had indeed been very unfit for it . but through mercy , 't was , i trust , dispatch'd long before . o take warning all you , who leave the principal business of life to an uncertain hereafter . little do you know , but you may be surpriz'd by death on a sudden ; or if not , may be seiz'd by some such distemper , as though it may not remove you immediately , may yet take away all capacity of making your peace with god , or getting ready for another world. take warning , i say ; and provide in time , and improve your health , and neglect not god , least you are deserted , and abandon'd by him. the last seene of our dear deceased friends life was dark and gloomy : but the clouds are now quite blown over , the issue was , i doubt not , glorious . god was her god still : he was not asham'd to own her , nay helpt her to own him , even the day before she dy'd : when she express'd her faith and trust , of her being about to be remov'd out of a troublesome world into her fathers house . there she now is in that better countrey ; on which her heart was so much set : let us therefore be followers of her thither ; and together with her , of all that numerous company , who through faith and patience inherit the promises . and god grant that we may . amen . finis . books printed for iohn lawrence at the angel in the poultrey . folio . mr. pools annotations , in two volumes . the works of the reverend mr. stephen charnock , b. d. in two volumes . the life of the reverend mr. richard baxter , with the history of the times he lived in , written by himself , and published by mr. sylvester . quarto . mr. shower's winter meditations , or a sermon concerning frost , and snow , and winds , &c. and the wonders of god therein . — his thanksgiving sermon , april the 16th . 1696. mr. nathaniel vincents funeral sermon , preached by mr. n. taylor . mr. lorimer's apology for the ministers , who subscribed only unto the stating of the truths and errors in mr. williams book , in answer to mr. trail's letter to a minister in the countrey . — his remarks on mr. goodwin's discourse of the gospel , proving that the gospel-covenant is a law of grace , and answering the objections to the contrary . an answer of mr. giles firmin to mr. grantham , about infant baptism . some remarks upon two anabaptists pamphlets . by giles firmin . mr. firmin's review of richard davis his vindication . a proposal to perform musick , in perfect and mathematical proportions . by tho. salmon , rector of mepsal in bedfordshire . approved by both the mathematick professors of the university of oxford ; with large remarks . by john wallis , d. d. mr. stephen's sermon before the lord-mayor , and aldermen of london , at st. mary le bow , jan. 30. 1693. — his thanksgiving sermon , april 16th . 1696. mr. slater's thanksgiving sermon , octob. 27. 1692. — his sermons at the funerals of mr. john reynolds and mr. fincher , ministers of the gospel . — his sermon at the funeral of mr. george day , minister of the gospel at ratcliff , 1697. the jesuits catechism . a sermon preached at a publick ordination in a country congregation , by mr. s. clark. mr. gibbons sermon of justification . comfort in death a funeral sermon preached upon the death of mr. timothy cruso late pastor of a church in london , who died novemb. 26. 1697. by matthew mead. mr. john howard's assize sermon at buckingham july 5. 1692. the evil of our days with the remedy of it . a sermon preach'd at a visitation at rothwel in northampton-shire , octob 12. 1697. by the same author . octavo . dr. burtons discourses of purity , charity , repentance , and seeking first the kingdom of god , published with a preface , by dr. john tillotson , late arch-bishop of canterbury . remarks on a late discourse of william lord-bishop of derry , concerning the inventions of men in the worship of god. also a defence of the said remarks against his lordships admonition . by j. boyse . the works of the right honourable henry , late lord delamere , and earl of warrington consisting in thirty two original manuscripts under his lordships own hand . bishop wilkins discourses of the gift of prayer , and preaching ; the latter much inlarged by the bishop of norwich , and bishop williams . mr. samuel slater's earnest call to family religion ; being the substance of eighteen sermons . mr. addy's stenographia : or the art of short writing compleated , in a far more compendious way then any yet extant . cambridge phrases , by a. robinson . history of the conquest of florida . mr. william scoffin's help to true spelling and reading : or , a very easie method for the teaching children , or elder persons rightly to spell , and exactly to read engglish . graaf de succo pancreatico : or , a physical and anatomical treatise of the nature and office of the pancreatick juice . a preservative against deism : shewing the great advantage of revelation above reason , in the two great points , pardon of sin , and a future state of happiness . with an appendix in answer to a letter of a. w. against revealed religion in the oracles of reason , by mr. nath. taylor . a practical discourse concerning vows : with a special reference to baptism and the lords supper , by mr. edmund calamy . monro's institutio grammaticae . dr. pack's praxis catholica : or , the countryman 's universal remedy ; wherein is plainly and briefly laid down , the nature , matter and manner , place and cure of most diseases incident to the body of men . english military discipline , or , the way and method of exercising horse and foot , according to the practice of this present time , with a treatise of all sorts of arms , and engines of war. orbis imperantis tabellae geographico historico genealogico chronologicae , curiously engraven on copper-plates . clavis grammatica : or , the ready way to the latine tongue ; containing most plain demonstrations for the regular translating english into latine . mr. alsop's faithful rebuke to a false report . — his vindication of the faithful rebuke , &c. mr. woodhouse's sermon , preach'd to the society for reformation of manners . mr. shower's sermon on the death of mr. nat. oldfield , who departed this life , decemb. 31. 1696. — his sermon preach'd to the societies for reformation of manners , nov. 15. 1697. mr. hamond's sermon at mr. steel's funeral . mr. aikin's english grammar : or , the english tongue reduced to grammatical rules , composed for the use of the english schools . mr. john mason's little catechism , with little verse● , and little sayings for little children . mr. addy's short-hand bible . twelves . london-dispensatory , reduc'd to the practice of the london physicians : wherein are contained the medicines , both galenical and chymical , that are now in use : those out of use omitted ; and those in use , and not in the latin copy , here added , by john peachy , of the colledge of physicians in london . mr. john shower's discourse of tempting christ. — his discourse of family religion , in 3 letters . mr. dan. burgess's discourse of the death , rest , resurrection and blessed portion of the saints . — his ●●an's whole duty , and god's wonderful intreaty of him thereunto . — h●s advice to parents and children . mr g●orge hamond's , and mr. matthew barker's discourses of family worship . written at the request of the uni●ed ministers of london . misc●llanea sacra : containing scriptural meditations , divi●e breathings , occasional reflections , and sacred p 〈…〉 s 〈…〉 nas moor 's mathematical compendium . the third edition . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32087-e330 2 cor. 12. 2. gen. 15. 1. exod. 3. 6 , 15. matt. 22. 31 , 32. luke 20. 38. 2 cor. 12. 4. joh. 14. 2. verse 10. luke 12. 32. 2 pet. 1. 11 gen. 23. 4. gen. 47. 9. 1 chron. 29. 15. psal. 39. 12. vers. 10. gen. 49. 18. job 19. 26 , 27. psal. 16. 11 ▪ psal. ●7 . 15. 2 cor. 5. 2. 2 cor. 4. 17. 2 pet. 1. 4. ps. 73. 25. 2 cor. 5. 6 , 8. rom. 7. 24 joh. 15. 19 heb. 11. 6. heb. 4. 9. rom. 2. 7. 1 pet. 1. 4. vers. 1. rev. 21. 7. heb. 9. 10. 2 cor. 5. 5. 1 cor. 15. 19. rev. 14. 13. an antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead. being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of mr. thomas bewley junior, december 17th. 1658. by sa. clarke, pastor in bennet fink, london. clarke, samuel, 1599-1682. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a79887 of text r208174 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1015_5). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 109 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 31 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a79887 wing c4501 thomason e1015_5 estc r208174 99867151 99867151 119443 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a79887) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 119443) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 150:e1015[5]) an antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead. being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of mr. thomas bewley junior, december 17th. 1658. by sa. clarke, pastor in bennet fink, london. clarke, samuel, 1599-1682. [8], 55, [1] p. printed by e. m. for george calvert, at the half moon in pauls church-yard, neer the little north-door, london : 1659 [i.e. 1660?] annotation on thomason copy: "ffebr 2". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng funeral sermons -17th century. a79887 r208174 (thomason e1015_5). civilwar no an antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead.: being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of mr. thomas bewley junior, december clarke, samuel 1660 20187 11 15 0 0 1 0 18 c the rate of 18 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-04 jason colman sampled and proofread 2008-04 jason colman text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an antidote against immoderate movrning for the dead . being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of mr. thomas bewley junior , december 17th. 1658. by sa. clarke , pastor in bennet fink , london . quid interest utrum febris , an ferrum de corpore solverit : non quâ occasione , sed quales ad se exeant , dominus attendit in servis suis . august . is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? are not his dayes like the dayes of an hireling ? job 7. 1. london , printed by e. m. for george calvert , at the half moon in pauls church-yard , neer the little north-door , 1659. to his honoured and much esteemed friends mr. thomas bewley , merchant ; and mrs. mary bewley , his wife . dearly beloved in the lord : it was at your request that i first preached this sermon ; and it is more to satisfie your desires than mine own , that i now print it . they that know me , cannot but withall know how backward i have ever been ( being conscious to my own weaknesse ) to publish any of my labours in this kind ; and your selves can bear me witness , that it was my earnest request , that you would have laid this burthen upon abler shoulders , especially having so great choise of godly and learned ministers whom you invited to the funeral : but when you persevered in your desires and requests to me to undertake it , my chiefest care was to make choise of such a subject , as ( through gods blessing ) might come home to your hearts , and direct your behaviour under so great a burthen , as is the losse of a dear and and only son . i knew that your affections were strong , and that you had need of a great deal of heavenly wisdom to enable you to moderate them ; and whence is this wisdom to be learned , but from the sacred scriptures , which are richly stored with precious promises , as with so many cordials to revive and strengthen us in our greatest necessities . vnless thy law ( faith david , meaning principally the promises contained in it ) had been my delights , i should have perished in mine affliction , psal. 119. 92. but as those which are faln into a swoon , may be fetched again with hot waters poured down their throats : so they that are troubled and pressed down under the heavy burthen of sorrow and grief , may by patience and comfort of the scriptures recover hope and joy . the text which god directed me to treat of was both seasonable and suitable to your present condition ; as not onely teaching you how to behave your selves under such an affliction , but holding forth to you sound and sufficient arguments to perswade and induce you to the practice of the same : i beseech you therefore to read it over and over again , and remember what the father said ; these are verba vivenda , & non legenda solùm , words to be lived and practised , and not to be read only : such a sentence it is as a man would fetch from china upon his bare feet , rather than be without it . take , i pray you , your correction as from gods hand , and humble your selves under the smart of it : yet withal look to christ , and entreat him that your faith , hope , and meeknesse may not be overturned by it , but rather that the affliction may bring forth patience , and patience experience , and experience hope . consider who it is that hath done it : is he not your heavenly father ? now if your natural father had done some shrewd turn at unawares , by breaking a thing wherein you much delighted , when you heard that he did it , you would be quiet , though before you were much moved : should you not say with christ ? shall i not drink of that cup , that my father will have me to drink of ? remember , i pray you , what the apostle suggesteth , hebr. 12. 9. we have had fathers of our flesh that have corrected us , and we gave them reverence : shall we not much rather be in subjection to the father of our spirits , and live ? v. 10. for they verily for a few days chastned us after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit , that we might be partakers of his holinesse . consider , i pray you , if god when you were first married should have told you , i will give you two children , and you shall bring them up so many years , and then i will take them away again ; would you not have accepted gladly of this offer , and taken it thankfully too ? why ? the event doth tell you no lesse than if he had spoken so afore-hand , and will you now murmur or repine at his dispensation ? is not god the chief father of all the families in heaven and earth , and we but foster-parents to our own children under him ? is it not a mercy that god hath made you instrumentall for the enlarging of his kingdom , though he hath taken both your children from you ? say therefore with job , the lord hath given , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord . at least say with david , i was dumb , and opened not my mouth , because thou lord didst it . oh! labour for good old eli's temper , it is the lord , let him do what seems good in his eyes , 1 sam. 3. 18. consider that god who hath done it , is love , and if you look upon it as an effect of his anger towards you , yet be of good comfort , that god that would not have sinful man to let the sun go down upon his anger , he will not retain his anger for ever , because he delighteth in mercy , micha . 7. 18. but i presume that one thing addes a great sting to your affliction , which is , that hereby you want an heir to enjoy your estate , and to preserve your name : for all men naturally affect immortality , and because they cannot enjoy it in themselves , they desire it in their posterity that survives them : but for a medicine to this malady , remember what the lord speaketh , isa. 56. 3 , 4 , 5 let not the eunuch say , behold , i am a dry tree . for thus saith the lord to the eunuchs that keep my sabbath , & choose the things that please me , and take hold of my covenant ; even unto them will i give in my house , and within my walls , a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters , i will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off . let me but adde one word more , and i have done ; consider what a mercy it is , that god hath given you so many christian friends that sympathize with you , and help to bear your burthen ; so many godly and able comforters to speak a word in season to your afflicted souls , so many faithful ministers and christians that daily pray for you , and beg of god that he will support you under this heavy losse , and make it up in some better blessing . remember , i beseech you , what our lord and saviour christ saith , luke 14. 26. if any one come unto me , and hates not his father , and mother , and wife , and children , and brethren , and sisters , yea and his own life also , he cannot be my disciple . now the god of comfort be your comforter , and give you a large measure of prudence , patience , self-denial , with a full and free resignation of your ▪ self , to the absolute disposal of the all-wise and all-merciful god , that you may as well in heart , as in words say , thy will be done in earth , as it is in heaven , which is the servent prayer of from my study in thred-needle-street jan. 14. 1658 / 9. your affectionate friend to love and serve you , s. clarke . an antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead . 1 thes. 4. 13 , 14. but i would not have you ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope . for if we believe that jesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . the apostle paul , by gods blessing upon his ministry , had gathered a large church in thessalonica , the chiefest city of macedonia : for besides that some of the jews believed , there were also multitudes of the greeks , and of the chief women not a few , that readily entertained the gospel , and conforted with paul and silas , act. 17. 4. whereupon the devil , moved with envy , raised a great persecution against them by the jews that dwelt there , and other lewd fellows of the baser sort that they adjoyned to them ; upon which occasion paul and silas were forced to fly to berea , and from thence paul went to athens : and after a while silas and timotheus coming to him thither ; he , not being unmindful of his flock that he had left at thessalonica , sent timothy to confirm them in the faith that he before had preached , and they had received . at timothy's return to him at corinth , being informed by him of their estate , he thought fit and expedient to write to them this epistle , as appears , 1 thess. 3. 1 , 2. wherein after the apostolical salutations , c. 1. v. 1. the epistle consists of two principal parts . in the first , the apostle indeavours to confirm and strengthen them in the faith received , to the end of the third chapter . from thence to the end of the epistle , he exhorts them by a christian conversation to beautifie and adorn their profession ; and this he doth : first , in general , ch. 4. v. 1 , 2. secondly , in particular , by perswading them to the practice of sundry christian vertues , and duties ; as , 1. to chastity , v. 3 , 4 , 5. 2. to justice and equity in all their dealings , v. 6. 3. to brotherly love , v. 9 , 10. 4. to a quiet life , and attending their own businesses , v. 11 , 12. 5. to be moderate in their sorrow for their deceased friends , seeing they shall be raised up again by christ , v. 13 , 14. and thereupon he takes occasion largely to describe the glory of christs coming to judgment , and the order of the resurrection of the dead , declaring the certainty of it , though the time was uncertain , and this he doth to the fourth verse of the fifth chapter . in these two verses of my text , the chiefest scope of the apostle is to perswade them to keep a mean in their mourning for the dead ; wherein are considerable , first , the friendly compellation that he uses , brethren . secondly , an information concerning the state of the dead , set down negatively , i would not have you ignorant , as if he should say , i would have you well informed of this doctrine , the knowledge whereof will conduce much to your comfort . thirdly , the end why he was so careful to inform them of it , that they might not sorrow , as did others which had no hope , viz. as the heathen did : for although they believed the immortality of the soul , yet they were never able to comprehend or believe the resurrection of the bodies , and re-uniting them with the souls , whereof he speaks in the subsequent verse , as appears , acts 17. 32. and 26. 23 , &c. fourthly , a strong argument to inforce his exhortation for their moderate mourning for the dead , ver. 14. for if we believe that jesus died and rose again , &c. thus having heard the occasion and scope of these words , and the principal parts of the text , i will make no other curious division of it , but proceed to shew you how many useful observations may be gathered out of these verses : and first , from the friendly compellation used by the apostle , brethren . whence note first , that , all gods children are brethren ; so saith abraham to lot , gen. 13. 8. let there be no strife , i pray-thee , between me and thee , &c. for we are brethren : so col. 1. 2. 1 thes. 5. 26 , 27. 1 tim. 6 2. for first , they are the adopted children of the same father , ephes. 4. 6. secondly , they are born of the same mother , the church , 1 pet. 1. 23. thirdly , they are brought up in the same family , ephes. 3. 15. fourthly , they are nourished with the same food , 1 pet. 2. 2. fifthly , they have all the same inheritance , rom. 8. 17. secondly , again , consider who it is that calls them brethren , the apostle paul , the great doctor of the gentiles , and a man endowed with more then ordinary gifts and graces : and who they were that he calls brethren ; the lately converted thessalonians : most of them of mean rank , and mean gifts , in comparison of him : whence note , they which have the greatest gifts and graces bestowed upon them by god , must not superciliously overlook those which are meaner and weaker then themselves , but must own them for , and acknowledge them to be brethren hence , 1 cor. 4. 7. who makes thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? now if thou didst receive it , why doest thou glory , as if thou hadst not received it ? thirdly , in that the apostle was so careful to inform them of this comfortable truth ; observe , gods ministers must be careful to inform their people of all such saving truths as may conduce to their edification and comfort : that when they come to leave their people , they may be able to say with the apostle , act. 20. 27. i have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of god . fourthly , it seems that till now the thessalonians were ignorant of these things which made them to over-sorrow for their dead . hence observe : ignorance of the blessed estate of the saints departed is the cause of excessive mourning for them . fifthly , paul speaking of the dead , saith , they were asleep , hence observe : the death of the righteous is but a sweet sleep : so it is often called in scripture . christ speaking of dead lazarus , saith , our friend lazarus sleepeth , joh. 11. 11. with 14. and when stephen was stoned to death , its said , that he fell asleep , act. 7. 60. and in these two verses of my text , paul twice calls it a sleep : and hence the grave is called a bed , isa. 572. and the greeks called it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a dormitory , or sleeping place . sixthly . i would not have you sorrow as do others , &c. he doth not say , i would not have sorrow at all : for , it s a duty to mourn for the dead : for as a reverend and learned doctor saith , sorrow and lamentation is the dues of the dead . it is fit that the body , when it s sown in corruption , should be watered with the tears of them that plant it in the earth , and to be without natural affections is an heathenish sin , rom. 1. 31. and one of those that make these later times perilous , 2 tim. 3. 3. from whence we may observe : it s lawful to mourn and sorrow upon the death of our friends and relations . our lord christ himself wept at the death of lazarus , joh. 11. 35. and the church made great lamentation for stephen , act. 8. 2. and the widdows wept for dorcas , act. 9. 39. and paul sorrowed when epaphroditus was deadly sick , phil. 2. 27. seventhly , as do others that have no hope , i. e. as the heathen do , which are ignorant of these things ▪ hence , the heathen use to be immoderate in their mourning for the dead ; becaue they want a hope of the present blessednesse of their souls , and the future resurrection of their bodies . forbidden gods people , lev. 19. 27 , 28. eightly , but i would not have you do so , saith the apostle . hence , christians which know these things must be moderate in their mourning . ninthly , vers . 14. for if we believe , that jesus died and rose again , &c. hence observe , first ; the resurrection of christs body from the dead is a sure and certain pledge and evidence of the resurrection of out bodies : so the holy apostle paul makes it , 1 cor. 15. 12 , &c. if christ be preached , that he rose from the dead , how say some among you , that there is no resurrection of the dead : but if there be no resurrection of the dead , then christ is not risen : and verse 20. but now is christ risen from the dead , and become the first fruits of them that slept , &c. tenthly , even so them also which sleep in jesus . hence observe . that the bodies of the saints departed sleep in the arms of jesus : he takes care of all the bones , yea , of the very dust of his saints , that none of it shall be wanting when he comes to raise their bodies again at the last day . our bodies , even whilst they lie in the grave , are members of christ ; and therefore it s no marvel , though he takes such care of them . eleventhly , will god bring with him . whence i gather . that when christ shall come to judgment , then shall the resurrection of our bodies be : this is an article of our faith . it was typified by the budding and blossoming of aarons dry rod : by jonas deliverance out of the belly of the fish , where he had been three dayes and three nights . it was believed by the patriarchs of old , heb. 11. 13. and its an infallible truth , that these bodies of ours that are sown in corruption , shall be raised in incorruption , 1 cor. 15. 42. and for our further security , enoch before the flood , and elijah after the flood , were taken into heaven in their bodies . neither indeed is this contrary to reason , though it be above the reach of reason : for why cannot christ as well raise a body out of the dust , as at first he made it out of the dust ? especially considering that the soul is preserved in heaven for this very end , to be joyned to the body again . this job was confident of , job 19. 26 , 27. though after my skin wormes destroy this body , yet in my flesh i shall see god , &c. nay , it s not contrary to the course of nature : for we yearly see that the resurrection of the spring succeeds the dead winter , the day the night : and thou fool , the corn that thou sowest , is not quickned , except it die , saith paul , 1 cor. 15. 36. and the same apostle tells us , rom. 8. 11. that if the spirit that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in us , he that raised up christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in us . besides , christ is the second adam , and as we did bear the image of the first adam in corruption , so we must bear the image of the second adam in glory , 1 cor. 15 22. 45 , 49. twelfthly , but that which is the principal thing that i intend to insist on is a doctrine held forth to us in the latter end of the fourteenth verse , that ye sorrow not as do others that have no hope : whence , a well-grounded hope of the happinesse of our friends deceased should moderate our mourning for them . this ( without question ) moderated abrahams mourning for sarah . mourn indeed he did , for the text saith , gen. 23. 2. that sarah died — and abraham came to mourn for sarah , and to weep for her ; but that he kept a mean in his mourning , appears by the next words , v. 3 , 4. and abraham stood up from before his dead , and bespake a burying place to bury his dead out of his sight ; and this he did , that the object being removed , his sorrow might be mitigated . this also moderated josephs and the israelites mourning for jacob , gen. 50. 1. where it is said , that joseph fell upon his fathers face , ( when he died ) and wept upon him , and kissed him : and vers. 10. it s said , that joseph and the israelites made a mourning for him seven dayes : but v. 3. it s said , that the egyptians ( who mourned as men without hope ) mourned for him threescore and ten dayes . this also moderated davids mourning for his child , 2 sam 12. 23. now he is dead , wherefore should i fast ? can i bring him back again ? i shall go to him , but he shall not return to me : and this was martha's comfort , when her dear brother lazarus was dead , i know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day , joh. 11. 24. in the prosecution of this point , i shall shew you , first , what is meant by a well-grounded hope . secondly , wherein the happinesse of our friends departed in the lord , consists . thirdly , why the consideration of these things should put a mean to our mourning for them . fourthly ; i will answer some objections that may be made against it . and fifthly , make application of it . for the first : what do you call a well-grounded hope ? i use this epithite , to distinguish it from that ill-grounded hope wherewith so many do delude themselves . as first , because their friends were born of christian parents , baptized , and brought up in the church . secondly , because they had gotten some knowledge , and made an outward profession of religion . thirdly , because they used to attend upon the publick ordinances , and that with some seeming devotion . fourthly , because they were free from grosse sins , and dealt justly with every man . fifthly , because they enjoyed outward peace and prosperity , the sun of god shining upon their tabernacles . sixthly , because they died quietly like lambs , and it may be , went out of the world with some good words in their mouths , psal. 73. 4 , 5. there are no bands in their death , but their strength is firm ; they are not in trouble as other men . from these and such like weak grounds , they presume that their friends after death must needs go to heaven , and therefore they comfort themselves , and one another with these words : whereas the truth is , they may go to hell after all these things . our saviour christ tells us , matt. 5. 20. that except our righteousnesse shall exceed the righteousnesse of the scribes and pharisees , we shall in no case enter into the kingdome of heaven : and these men are so far from exceeding , that they come short of the righteousnesse of the scribes and pharisees , who were frequent in alms-deeds , in prayer , in fasting , mat. 6. 2. 5. 16. and yet christ calls them hypocrites . yea , they made long prayers , matth. 23. 14. they compassed sea and land to make one proselyte , v. 15. they payed even their smallest tithes , v. 23. they outwardly appeared righteous unto men : v. 28. they blamed their fathers for murthering the prophets , and by way of compensation to free themselves from the guilt , they built tombs for those prophets , and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous , v. 29. 30. notwithstanding all which , christ pronounceth many woes against them . thus we see what are ill-grounded hopes , which prove but like a spiders web to those that trust in them . i shall therefore in the next place shew you what is a well-grounded hope of the happinesse of our friends departed , which consists in this : when our deceased friends have in their life-time given us some good evidence of the work of grace and sanctification wrought in their hearts , whereby we could discern that , by gods blessing upon the means , their eyes were opened , that they were turned from darknesse to light , and from the power of satan unto god : for then we may conclude , that they have received forgivenesse of their sins and an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith that is in christ , act. 26. 18. but this work of grace being inward and secret , how shall we be able to judge of it ? our saviour christ gives us a rule for our direction in judging of others , mat. 7 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20. ye shall know them ( saith he ) by their fruits . do men gather grapes of thorns , or figs of thistles ? even so every good tree brings forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit . a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit , neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit : wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them . from whence we may gather , that as wicked men , for the most part , may be known by their wicked lives ; so gracious persons may be known by their gracious lives . for it s as easie to carry fire in our bosome , or oil in our hands without discovery , as grace in our hearts without the manifestation of it . now many signes might be given , whereby we may judge of the work of grace in others , but i shall content my self for the present with these three . first , if living with them , we observe that they make conscience of , and practise private and secret duties as well as publick . hypocrites when they do duties , do all to be seen of men , that they may have glory of men , matth. 6. 2. 5. 16. and therefore in their very private prayers they love to make them in the synagogues , and in the corners of the streets , v. 5. they have jacobs voice , but esaus hands : the lord indeed is much in their mouths , but far from their reines , jer. 12. 2. they lay claim to christ , but yet have no share in him : they deeply affirm of him , but have no manner of right to him : their faith is but phansie , their confidence but presumption ; they are like the mad man at athens that laid claim to every ship that came into the harbour , when he had no part in any ; like haman , that hearing the king would honour a man , concluded ( but falsly ) that himself was the man : or like sisera that dreamed of a kingdome , whereas jaels nail was neerer his temples then a crown : and thus they deceive themselves with their shews , and think to deceive others ; but gods children can usually discern them , and discover them to be like harpyes that are said to have virgins faces , but vulturs talons : but on the contrary , a sound-hearted christian , though he dare not neglect , yea , though he prefer the publick , yet he also makes conscience of private duties , and prayes to his father in secret ; so that if we observe this in them , its one good ground that they have the work of regeneration wrought in their hearts . secondly , if we observe them , that they labour to keep a conscience void of offence both towards god , and towards men , as saint paul professeth that he did , act. 24. 16. if they have had respect to all gods commandments , as david , psal. 119. 6. if they have made conscience of the duties of both tables , serving god in holinesse and righteousnesse all the days of their lives , luke 1. 75. hiring themselves unto him for term of life , not desiring to change their master , knowing that they cannot mend themselves neither for fairnesse of work , nor fulnesse of wages , whereas an hypocrite is versutulus & versatilis , he casts about how to deceive god and man with meer shews of devotion , being not afraid to be damned , so he may seem to be saved , and seeking so long to deceive others , that in fine he deceives his own soul . imposturam faciunt & patiuntur , as that emperour said of them that sold glasse beads for pearl . they deceive , and are deceived . thirdly , when we have heard them groaning and mourning under the remainders of corruption , and the relicts of sin , crying out with the holy apostle , rom 7. 24. o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ! when they have manifested their hatred against all sin , and shunned every evil way , saying with the wisest of men , prov. 8. 13. the fear of the lord is to hate evil ; pride , and arrogancy , and every evil way do i hate : whereas a dispensatory conscience is a naughty conscience : neither doth he gods will , but his own , that doth no more nor no other then himself pleaseth , as hypocrites use ; such holiday servants god cares not for . every one can swim in a warm bath , and every bird will sing in a summers-day . judas will bear the crosse , so he may bear the bag : and the carnal capernaits will follow christ for the loaves , though not for love , joh. 6. 26. but abraham will forsake all to follow god , though he know not whither yea though god seems to go a cross way , as when he promised him a land flowing with milk and honey ; and yet so soon as he came there , he met with a famine , gen. 12. 10. if then you have observed these three things in your christian friends whilst they lived , you may have a well-grounded hope of their blessednesse after death , which , sure , cannot but moderate your mourning for them . but wherein consists the happinesse of our friends who are departed in the lord ? i shall shew this in two particulars : first , in the evils that they are freed from by death secondly , in the good things that they are put into the present possession of : so that their happinesse is both privative and positive . what are the evils that they are freed from by death ? they may be reduced to these seven heads . first , they are freed from worldly cares , businesses , and troubles . for its gods institution since the fall , that every one shall live , either by the sweat of his brain , or by the sweat of his brow . and eliphaz tells us , that man is born to trouble , as the sparks fly upward , job 5. 7. and the apostle tells us , that he that careth not for his own , and especially for those of his own house , he hath denied the faith , and is worse than an infidel , 1 tim. 5. 8. so then whilst we live here , we cannot be free from multiplicity of cares , businesses , and troubles . the world is like a tempestuous sea , where troubles succeed one another , as one wave follows another . — dolor & voluptas invicem cedunt , brevior voluptas . joy and sorrow ( as one wittily saith ) make chequered work in our lives : sorrow bedews our cheeks with tears , and joy wipes them off again . our condition in this life is not unlike to that of the israelites in the wildernesse , where they met with many troubles , dangers , and occasions of sorrow . are we hurt then , if by a tempest of sicknesse we are driven out of the sea of this world into the safe harbour of the grave , the onely place where the weary are at rest , job 3. 17. where they enter into peace , and rest in their beds , isa. 57. 2. for which cause amongst others , they are pronounced blessed by god himself , rev. 14. 13. blessed are the dead which die in the lord — for they rest from their labours . indeed the messenger of death is to most men and women very terrible ; but to a dying believer , then acting faith , it s nothing so , but it s entertained by him as a welcome messenger sent from the father to a child at nurse , to bring it home , where it shall be better provided for , whilst it transmits him from all his cares and sorrowes into that place and state of blisse where all tears shall be wiped from his eyes , and he shall never sorrow more , revel. 21. 4. secondly , they are freed from the company and society of the wicked , which ( whilst they lived ) was a cause of much sorrow to them , and that first , because of their sins , which were a continual grief to their godly hearts . hence david professeth , that rivers of waters ran down his eyes , because men kept not gods law , psal , 119. 136. and the apostle peter tells us that just lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked . for ( saith he ) that righteous man dwelling amongst them , in seeing & hearing , vexed his righteous soul from day to day , with their unlawful deeds , 2 pet. 2. 7 , 8 gods children are so tender of their fathers honour , that they cannot see , or hear his name blasphemed , his truths adulterated , his sabbaths profaned , his ministers , and ordinances despised , &c. but it goes like so many daggers to their hearts , neither can they be free from such occasions of sorrow whilest they continue in this wicked world , death only removes such objects of grief from them . secondly , because of the wrongs , injuries , and persecutions which they meet with from them these goats will be pushing at christs sheep : sometimes wounding them in their good names : sometimes wronging them in their estates : and othersometimes raising greater persecutions against them . for the apostle tells us , that this is the portion of all gods children in this life ; all that will live godly in christ jesus , shall suffer persecution , 2 tim. 3. 12. and our saviour christ tells his disciples , that the time should come , that whosoever killed them should think that he did god service , joh. 16. 2. thus cain persecuted abel : ismael , isaac : yea , which of the prophets or apostles did not the wicked of their times persecute ? this made david to cry out , wo is me that i fojourn in mesech , that i dwell in the tents of kedar . my soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace , psal. 120. 5 , 6. but now in the grave the wicked cease from troubling . there the prisoners rest together , and hear not the voice of the oppressour , job 3. 17 , 18. thirdly , death frees them from evils to come , god herein dealing as parents use , who have children forth at nurse or at school , when troubles or dangerous diseases come into those places where their children are , they send for them home , that they may be in safety . so god many times takes his children out of this world , that he may secure them from imminent dangers : or as when our houses are in danger of firing , we remove our treasure and jewels in the first place into places of more security : so where god wrath , s like fire , is breaking in upon a place , he removes his children to heaven , as to a place of greater safety . it s the fathers love and care ( saith one ) then hastily to snatch away his child , when the wilde bull is now broken loose , and running upon him . the wise husband-man hastens to get in his corn before the storm cometh , or the swine be turned out into the field to root up all . this is that which the lord by the prophet isaiah long since assured us of , isa. 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . as it was a sign that sampson meant to pull down the house upon the heads of the philistines when he pulled down the pillars that bare up the roof : so its a shrewd sign that god intends to ruine a state , when he takes away those that were the pillars and props of it . when methusala died , the flood came upon the old world : when josias was gathered to his fathers , the babylonish captivity hastened . when s. augustine died , hippo was taken and sackt by the vandals , and heidleburg by the spaniards , shortly after the death of pareus . fourthly , death frees them from all sicknesses , diseases , pains , and all other bodily distempers . it cures the blind eyes , the deaf ears , the dumb tongue , the lame legs , the maimed hands , &c. it easeth the tormenting stone , the painful gout , the aking head , the intolerable twisting of the guts , the loathsome strangury , &c. death to the godly is the best physician , it cures them not of one disease , but of all , and of all at once , and of all for ever ; yea it cures them of death it self . fifthly , it frees them from the fiery darts and temptations of satan , from which they cannot be free whilst they live here : for the whole world is the devils diocesse : he goes to and fro in the earth , and walketh up and down in it , job . 1. 7. yea , as a roaring lion he walketh about , seeking whom he may devour , 1 pet. 5. 8. no place can exempt us from his tentations whilst we live in this world . he assaulted adam in paradise , lot in the cave , david in his palace : josuah the high priest , in the presence of the angel of the lord ; christ in the wildernesse ; peter in the high priests hall , &c. but when death comes , these egyptians which you have seen to day , ye shall see them again no more for ever , exod. 14. 13. satan shall never more molest gods children after this life is ended . hence , saith saint ambrose , diabolus per quod potestatem habuit , victus est . the devil , who had the power of death , heb. 2. 14. hath by death his power abrogated and abolished . sixthly , death frees them from gods frowns , which sin often exposeth them to here , and which to a child of god is more terrible than death it self : for if in gods favour is life , as david affirms , psal. 30. 5. then in his frowns is death . : yea , if gods loving kindness is better than life , psal. 63. 3. then his frowns are worse than death . there are no outward or corporal afflictions , but a resolute and roman spirit will stand under them : the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity , prov. 18. 14. but the frowns of god and tokens of his displeasure are intolerable : a wounded spirit who can bear ? it made david roar , psal. 32. 3. hezekiah chatter , isa. 38. 14. yea christ himself to sweat drops of congealed blood , and to cry out in the anguish of his soul , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? but after death the light of gods countenance shines perpetually upon them , and shall never admit either of a cloud or eclipse : when lazarus died , he who lay groveling at the rich mans gate , was found in abrahams bosome , in a place of warmest love . for seeing by death gods children are freed from corruptions , therefore after death they have no need of gods frowns , or corrections . seventhly , death frees them from the very being and existence of sin . at death , the spirits of just men are made perfect , heb , 12. 23. the death of their body delivers them from the body of death . death and sin do not meet in a child of god ; but so part , that when the one comes , the other is gone for ever : as when sampson died , the philistines died with him : so when a child of god dies , all his sins die with him . hence ambrose saith , quid est mors , nisi peccatorum sepultura ? what is death but the grave of our sins wherein they are all buried ? thus death doth that at once which grace doth by degrees . grace indeed when it is once wrought in the heart , under the conduct of the spirit , it resists and fights against sin , and gives it such mortal wounds that it never fully recovers again : it dejects it from its regency , but cannot eject it from its inherency . it frees us from the raigning of sin , but cannot free us from the remaining of sin : after regeneration sin hath not dominion over us : but yet there is a law in our members warring against the law of our minds , and many times leading us captive unto the law of sin that is in our members , so that we cannot do the good that we would ; but the evil that we hate , that do we , rom. 7. 19. 23. but when death comes , it wholly extirpates sin , root and branch ; and not one , or some few sins , but all sin ; and that not for a time only , but for ever : when the souls of gods children are dis-lodged from their bodies , this troublesome and incroaching inmate shall be dis-lodged and thrust out of doors for ever . hence one saith , peccatum peperit mortem , & filia devoravit matrem . sin at first begat and brought forth death , and death at last destroys sin , as the worm kills the tree that bred it . and as bernard saith , death which before was porta inferni , the trap-door of hell , is now introitus regni , the porch that lets us into heaven . and mr. brightman saith , what was before the devils sergeant to drag us to hell , is now the lords gentleman-usher to conduct us to heaven . thus i have shewed you in these seven particulars what are the evils that gods children are freed from by death : now in the next place i will endeavour to shew you the priviledges that at death they are invested in , and the good things that they are put into the present possession of : but yet this must be premised , that if i had the tongue and pen of men and angels , yet should i come far short of that which i aim at : for whatsoever can be said of heaven , is not one half ( as the queen of sheba said of solomons magnificence ) of what we shall finde in that city of pearl . to expresse it ( saith a reverend divine ) is as impossible as to compasse heaven with a span , or to contain the ocean in a nutshel . and chrysostom speaking of the happinesse of the saints in heaven , saith , sermo non valet exprimere , experimento opus est : words cannot expresse it ; we must have trial of it before we can know it . but yet that which i shall say of it is contained in these six particulars . first , death invests gods children with perfection of all graces . here we know but in part , we prophesie but in part : but when that which is perfect , is come , then that which is in part shall be done away , 1 cor. 13. 9 , 10. it 's true , when god first regenerates and sanctifies us , we have perfection of parts , there is no grace wanting that is necessary to life and salvation : for god doth none of his works by the halves : but yet we attain not to perfection of degrees till death comes : whilst we live here we are exhorted to adde grace to grace , 2 pet. 1 5 , 6 , 7. and one degree of grace to another . we are commanded to grow in grace , and in the knowledge of eur lord and saviour jesus christ , 2 pet. 3. 18. to make a daily progress , till we come unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of christ , ephes. 4. 13. but yet when we have done all that we can , our faith is mixed with doubtings , our love to god with love of the world : our tears in repentance need washing in the blood of christ ; our humility is mixed with pride ; our patience with murmurings , and all our other graces have defects in them : but in death they are all perfected , and thereby we are put into a far better condition than we were capable of in this life . secondly , death puts the saints into the present possession of heaven , a stately place , into which there never did , or can enter any unclean thing : no dirty dog ever trampled upon this golden pavement . it 's called paradise , luke 23. 43. indeed paradise which god made for adams palace ( though the stateliest place that ever the eye of mortal man beheld , wherein was a confluence of all earthly felicities ) was but a type and shadow of it . heaven is a large place . in my fathers house ( saith our saviour ) there are many mansions , joh. 14. 2. it s a golden city , having the glory of god in it , and her light like to a stone most precious , even like a jasper stone , clear as chrystal : and the wall of it is of jasper : and the city is pure gold , clear as glasse , the foundations of the wall are garnished with all manner of precious stones , and the city hath no need of the sun , neither of the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of god doth lighten it , and the lamb is the light thereof , rev. 21. 11 , 19 , 23. it 's a city whose builder and maker is god , heb. 1. 10. and therefore having such an architect , it must needs infinitely transcend the stateliest fabricks that were ever made by man . it hath been neer these six thousand years in preparing , matt. 25. 34. and christ , ever since his ascension , hath been further preparing of it for us , joh. 14. 2. i go ( saith he ) to prepare a place for you . let us say therefore , as fulgentius did , when he saw the roman nobility mounted in their pride and bravery . si talis sit roma terrestris , qualis est roma coelestis ? if rome be such a glorious and glittering place , what is heaven ? how should these considerations make us to grow weary of the world , and groan and breath after heaven , where are riches without rust , pleasure without pain , joy without sorrow , youth without decay , ubi totum sit quod velis , & nihil sit quod nolis : where is all that the heart of man can wish , and his mind desire ; where is nothing more that can be desired , nothing more than can be desired . if an heathen could say , fugiendum est ad clarissimam patriam ; ibi pater , ibi omnia : how much more should a christian say , let us flee apace to our own countrey that is above , sith there is our father ; yea , there is all that heart can wish , or need require . thirdly , a third priviledge wherewith all the saints departed are invested , is , that they have immediate fellowship with the blessed angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect , heb. 12. 22 , 23. in heaven they enjoy abraham , and isaac , and jacob , and all the patriarchs , and all the prophets , and apostles , and the noble army of martyrs , their godly friends and relations which went before them , and all other the true members of jesus christ , of what tongue , or nation , or kindred soever they have been . one of the greatest happinesses which the godly enjoy in this world , is the communion of saints . the prophet david professeth that all his delight was in the saints , and in those that were most excellent , psal. 16. 3 and though he was a king , yet made he himself a companion of all them that feared god , and of them that kept his precepts , psal. 119. 63. he would have such , and none but such , by his good will , about him . mine eyes ( saith he ) shall be upon the faithful of the land , that they may dwell with me : he that walketh in a perfect way , he shall serve me , psal. 101. 6. and yet , by woful experience we see how many bones of contention the devil casts in amongst them to sowr their society , and what breaches many times are occasioned by small and trifling matters : but in heaven they are all of one mind , which makes their society the more comfortable . when grinaeus lay on his death bed , he told some friends that came to visit him , that he was going to that place , ubi luthero cum zuinglio optime convenit : where luther and zuinglius ( who because they differed in judgment about the manner of christs presence in the sacrament , could never agree on earth ) agreed excellent well . in heaven ( if there be degreesof glory , as probably there are ) yet shall not those who have their choicest graces crowned with the greatest weight of glory , despise or over-look the meanest saint , but they are perfectly knit together in the bonds of dearest love . fourthly , another priviledge which our christian friends departed enjoy in heaven , is , that they are neerlier united to their head christ than possibly they could be in this world . it 's true , that even whilst they live here , they are the members of christ . for the holy apostle tells us , that as we have many members in one body — so we being many are one body in christ , rom. 12. 4. 5. yet are we now at a great distance from him . our head is in heaven , and we upon the earth , and therefore saint paul tells us , that whilst we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord , 2 cor. 5. 6. and this makes us sigh and groan , not for that we would be uncloathed , but cloathed upon , that mortality might be swallowed up of life , vers. 4. and this made the church to pray so pathetically , cant. 8. 14. make hast , my beloved , and be thou like to a roe , or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices . and paul himself considering his distance from his head , cties out : dis cupio solvi , tecumque o christe , manere . phil. 1. 23. i desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; by much far the better . and no marvel , though the members do so long to be conjoyned with their head in heaven . for there ( as one saith excellently ) the lord jesus christ perpetually and without intermission manifesteth the most glorious and visible signes of his presence , and seals of his love : he there pours forth all the plenteous demonstrations of his goodnesse to his members , and gives them eyes to see it , and minds to conceive it , and so fills them with exceeding fulnesse of love to him again ; so that they even swim in pleasure , and are overwhelmed with joy . a joy too big to enter into them ; and therefore they are said to enter into it , matth. 25. 21. a glory fitter to be believed , than possibly to be discoursed : an exceeding , excessive , eternal weight of glory , 2 cor. 4. 17. such a weight , that if the body were not upheld by the mighty power of god , it were impossible but that it should faint under it . oh therefore let there be continual ascensions in our hearts thitherward . let us lift up our hearts with our hands to our head in heaven . praying with the church , even so come lord jesus , come quickly , and then ere long he will send his chariots for us ( as joseph did for his father ) and will fetch us riding upon the clouds , and convoy us by his angels through the air , and put us into that general assembly of happy and blessed souls ; and though death ( like peters good angel ) smite thee on thy side , yet it is only that it may lead thee out of thy prison , through the iron gates into the city of god . fifthly , the next priviledge which the saints enjoy in death , is the beatifical vision . here indeed they see god in a measure , as they are able : but there they shall see him in all fulnesse , and perfection . here as in a glasse obscurely , or as an old man through spectacles , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; but in heaven they see him face to face : now they know him in part : but there they know , even as they are known , 1 cor. 13. 12. happier herein than solomons servants , for a greater than solomon is there . god looks upon them with singula complacency , and they look upon him with infinite comfort . i cannot better expresse the happinesse which the saints enjoy in this beatifical vision than in the words of a reverend and learned doctor . the saints in heaven , ( saith he ) that delight in the sight of gods glory , do still desire for ever to be so delighted ; their desire is without anxiety and trouble , because they are satiated with the thing that they do desire , and their satiety is without loathing , because they still desire the thing with which they are satiated . they desire without grief , because they are replenished ; and they are replenished without wearinesse , because they desire still : they see god , and still they desire to see him : they enjoy god , and still they desire for ever to enjoy him : they love and praise god , and still they make it their immortal business to love and praise him . et quem semper habent , sempere haber volunt . whom they for ever have , with love yet higher ▪ to have for ever they do still desire . sixthly & lastly , our friends departed in the lord , enjoy all these and more than can be spoken ; yea such things as neither eye hath seen , nor ear hath heard , nor can enter into the heart of man to conceive of unto all eternity : hence the prophet david tells us , psal. 16. 11. — in thy presence is fulnesse of joy , and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore ; where is as much said in a few words as can be spoken of it . for quality , there is in heaven joy and pleasure ; for quantity , a fulnesse , a torrent , whereat the saints drink without let or loathing : for constancy , it is at gods right hand , who is stronger then all , neither can any take us out of his hand : it 's a constant happinesse without intermission : and for perpetuity , it is for evermore : heavens joyes are without measure , mixture , or end . and the apostle paul tells us , 1 thess. 4. 17. — we shall ever be with the lord . it is granted by all , that one of the greatest aggravations of the torments of the damned in hell , is the thought of the eternity of their torment : and therefore it follows by the rule of contraries , that it shall much heighthen the felicity and joy of the saints in heaven , to think that they shall continue to all eternity . but why should these considerations moderate our mourning for them ? first , because if our friends died in the lord , they have lost nothing by death , but what may well be spared , viz. sin and sorrow : we use not to mourn for such losses of our friends , which are but small and inconsiderable , especially if it be of such things as are better lost than found : but such are the losses of our christian friends departed . is it not better to lose sin and sorrow than to retain them ? and upon this account it is , that the wisest of men , solomon tells us , eccles. 7. 1. — that the day of death is better than the day of ones birth . the greeks call the beginning of mans nativity , the begetting of his misery . man that is born of a woman , is born to trouble , job 14. 1. if he lives to see the light , he comes crying into the world : a fletu vitam auspicatur , saith seneca ; and saint augustine speaking hereof , saith , nondum loquitur , & tamen prophetat : ere ever a child speaks , he prophesies by his tears , of his insuing sorrows : nec prius natus , quam damnatus ; no sooner is he born , but he is condemned to the gallies , as it were of sin and suffering : and therefore in this text solomon prefers his coffin before his cradle ; whereupon one infers , one would wonder ( saith he ) that our life here being so grievously afflicted , should yet be so inordinately affected ; and yet so it is , that god is even forced to smoke us out of our clayie cottages , and to make our life to be unto us no better then a lingring death , that we may grow weary of it , and breath after a better . secondly , because they are not only not losers , but they are great gainers by death : they are immediately put into a far better condition than they were capable of in this life . the day of death is to them the day-break of eternal righteousnesse . it gives them malorum ademptionem , bonorum adeptionem , freedome from all evil , and the fruition of all good . and as it 's not a losse but a preferment and honour for a married woman to forsake her own kindred and fathers house to go to her husband ; so it 's not a losse , but a preferment for the souls of our friends for a time to relinquish their bodies , that they may go to christ , who hath married them to himself for ever . hence our saviour christ comforts the dying thief upon the cross with this : this day shalt thou be with me in paradise , luke 23. 43. why then should we so mourn for them , seeing our loss is their gain ? they are indeed absent from us , but it is that they may be present with the lord : they have put off the old rags of mortality , that they may be cloathed with immortality : they have parted with flesh and blood , that so they may be in a capacity of inheriting the kingdome of heaven , 1 cor. 15. 50. justi vivunt ( saith saint augustine ) etiam quando corpore moriuntur . godly men live even when their bodies die . they are not lost , but laid up : our grief therefore should not exceed , either for measure or continuance . i would not have you sorrow even as others that have no hope . we mourn not for them , but for our own losse : for the loss of their sweet society , and of all the comfort that we expected in and by them ? truly , for this we may mourn : weep not for me , ( saith christ to those good women that followed him to his cross ) but weep for your selves : yet alwayes remember , that though there be reason for weeping and sorrow , yet there is no reason for excessive and immoderate mourning : for that is a sin , and there is no reason , because god hath taken away our friends and relations , that therefore we should further provoke him by sinning against him . immoderate mourning is a cha●ging of god foolishly : so did not job , though he rent his mantle , and shaved his head , and fell down upon the ground , yet it was not through impatience , but to worship god ; for the text saith , in all this job sinned not , nor cha●ged god foolishly , job 1. 20. with 22. it was jacob fault , that he refused to be comforted , and said , for i will go down into the grave , unto my son , mourning : sorrow indeed and lamentation are the dues of the dead ; but it ought not to exceed either for measure or duration : neither should we mourn so much for our friends departed , as for our sins against god . but our child that is snatched away by death , was young , and might have lived not only to have been a great comfort to us , and the staff of our old age , but very instrumental to gods glory . first , we must not take upon us to be wiser than god , or to teach him , as when to give us children , so how long to continue them unto us . it 's his royal prerogative , that he may do with his own what he pleaseth . they are not so much our children as gods , ezek. 16. 21. he doth but put them forth to us to nurse , and may send for them home when he pleaseth . we who are parents would not take it well if having set forth a child to nurse , when we send for it home , the nurse should refuse to part with it , and grow into impatiency when we take it away . neither can god take it well at our hands . secondly , was your child young when he died ? yet remember that it was gods mercy to spare him so long . for life is not long enough to deserve the title of time , eccles. 3. 2. there is a time to be born , and a time to die : he doth not say , there is a time to be born , and a time to live . death borders upon our births , and ( as one saith ) our cradles stand in our graves . multos ostendunt terris bona fata , nec ultra esse sinunt — finisque ab origine pendet . god deals with some , as a skilful limner doth with his master-piece , brings it , and sets it forth to be gazed at and admired by the multitude ; and after a while draws a curtain over it , and carrieth it back into his house again : so god sends some whom he endows with admirable parts to be looked upon , and wondred at by the world , and then draws the sable curtain of death over them , and takes them into his own habitation in heaven . indeed the longest liver hath but a short cut from the grave of the womb , to the womb of the grave . orimur , morimur , we are born , we die . and considering the frailty of our lives , it 's no marvel that we die so soon ; it 's rather a marvel that we escaped so long . for mors ubique nos expectat : death waits for us at every turn : in the fields , in the streets , in our houses , in our beds , &c. mille modis morimur ; we come but one way into the world , but we may go out a thoufand wayes . thirdly , did your child die young ? yet if he was ripe for heaven , he lived till he was old enough . hierom saith of a godly young man , that in brevi vitae spatio tempora virtutum multa replevit , he lived long in a little time . and indeed some live more in a moneth or two , then others do in many years . a good man ( saith reverend doctor preston ) prolongs his dayes , though he dies young , because he is ripe before he is taken from the tree : he even falls into the hands of god that gathers him . they that die soon in gods fear and favour , though as grapes they be gathered before they be ripe ; and as lambs slain before they be grown up , yet ( besides the happinesse of heaven ) they have this advantage , that they be freed from the violence of the wine-press that others fall into , and escape many rough storms that others meet with . fourthly , did god take away your dear relation whilst he was young ? what then ? hath god anywhere promised that all shall live till they be old ? is not mortality the stage of mutability ? doth not experience shew us , that man is but the dream of a dream : but an empty vanity , but the curious picture of nothing , but a poor feeble dying flash ? in golgotha there are skulls of all sizes . bernard tells us , senibus mors in januis , adolescentibus in insidiis : death stands at old mens doors , and it lies in wait to surprize young men also . it 's like lightning , that blasts the green corn as well as the dry : like the thunder-bolt that dasheth in pieces new and strong buildings as well as old . do you not know that , as for our lands , so for our lives , we are but gods tenants at will ? mans life is his day : and we see by experience that dayes are not all of a length ; but some longer , some shorter . death is the lady and empress of all the world ; and from her sentence the youngest cannot appeal . as the rivers haste to the sea , and the stars to the west , so man hastens to the grave . it's domus conventionis , the house of parliament , where all estates and ages meet together . hence it is that we are exhorted to gather manna in the morning of our lives : to remember our creator in the dayes of our youth , eccles. 12. 1. to present our first-fruits to god , whose soul desires the first ripe fruits , micah 7. 1. and who will remember the kindnesse of our youth , the love of our esponsals , jer. 2. 2. he would be served with the primrose of our years , and therefore he made choice of the almond-tree , jer. 1. 11. because it blossometh first of all others ; and truly we have reason to obey his precepts , and answer his expectation , if we rightly consider the brevity of our lives . must we keep a mean in our mourning for our deceased friends ? this then may exhort and perswade parents to be careful in training up their children in the faith and fear of god , in bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the lord , ephes. 6. 4. and to labour to promote and see the work of grace in their souls , that so if they die before them ( as oft-times they do ) they may have hope in their death , and so not sorrow as do others that have no hope . probably this much aggravated david's sorrow for absalon , that he had cockered , and not corrected him in his childhood , and he now saw him taken away in his sinne and rebellion , whereby he could have no hope of the salvation of his soul . so should all other relations do ; endeavouring to be heirs together of the grace of life , that so when death makes a divorce betwixt them , they may leave a well-grounded hope to their friends of their blessed estate and condition , which cannot but much moderate their mourning for them . it reproves and justly blames such , as upon the loss of their godly friends , give too much way to satans tentations , and their own corruptions , whereby they become immoderate and excessive in their sorrow , to the dishonour of god , the disgrace of their profession , the dis-fitting themselves both for the service of god and man , in the duties of their general and particular callings , to the prejudice of the health of their bodies ; ( for worldly sorrow causeth sicknesse , and death , 2 cor. 7. 10. ) and to the opening of the mouths of the wicked , who scorn them and religion for it , saying , these are your professours , that make idols of their children and friends , and mourn for the losse of them , as if they had lost their god . they are like rachel , that wept and lamented for her children , and would not be comforted , because they were not . such forget the exhortation which speaks to them as unto children ; my son , despise not thou the chastening of the lord , nor faint when then art rebuked of him , heb. 12. 5. prov. 3. 11. indeed we are sometimes in danger of setting light by gods corrections , saying with those sturdy persons , it is my burthen , and i must bear it , jerem. 10. 19. but more frequently we are impatient , either outwardly fretting at the rod , like those plunging horses which will not indure their rider ; or inwardly repining , like those horses which digest their choler , by biting their bridles . and if we neither despise , nor impatiently murmur against the dispensation of god , yet our weaknesse is such , that we are ready to take the affliction too much to heart , so that our spirits droop and faint : and this is so much the worse , because it 's commonly accompanied with a wilful indisposition , which will not suffer us to entertain such things whereby we might be truly comforted : and the hearts of such many times , like nabals , die within them , that they are not capable of counsel ; so that all consolatory exhortations are to them like water spilt upon the ground : whereas we should take our correction , and humble our selves under the smart of it : but withall we should look to christ , and beg of him that he would not suffer our faith , hope and meeknesse of mind to be overturned . again , consider that it 's not love to them , when we are perswaded , that they are with the lord , which makes us excessively grieve when they are taken from us : it is indeed self-love and carnal affection . our lord christ told his disciples , if ye loved me , you would be glad because i go to the father . and what measure then do we offer to god herein ? we can many times send our children far from us , where it may be we shall never see them again , if we are but well perswaded that it will be for their good and preferment ; and yet we cannot indure to have them taken out of our sight by the lord , though we are perswaded that their souls are with him in the highest glory . we ought to labour for such tractable and obedient hearts , as may not be content perforce to let him take them , but may willingly resign even our children ( if it were by sacrificing them with our own hands , as abraham ) to him , who hath not thought his onely begotten son , too dear for us , but hath delivered him to death for our sakes . once more remember , that it 's a sign that we felt not gods love in them , nor received them at his hand as we ought to have done , if we do not thankfully give them back to him when he calls for them . hannah having received samuel as a gift gotten by prayer from god , did readily part with him to god again , and she lost nothing by that loan which she so cheerfully lent to the lord , as you may see , 1 sam. 2. 20 , 21. and so dealt abraham with his onely sonne isaac , whom by faith in the promise he had obtained of the lord , hebr. 11. 17. this is true indeed ; but yet parent-like affections cannot easily part with and yield up children so dearly beloved . but take heed , lest whilst you plead love to your children or friends , you do not bewray and discover unkindnesse unto god . dare any of you say , lord , if i did not so love them , i could be content to give them to thee : surely if with a calm spirit you think of this , you would blush for shame , that your heart should be so cold towards god , as not to be willing to part with any thing you love when he calls for it : to part with that which you much care not for , is not at all thanks-worthy . it 's said of abraham , that when god commanded him to sacrifice his own and only son , that he arose early in the morning , gen. 22. 3. to do it : he consulted not with flesh and blood , nor with carnal reason , nor with fond affections , but ( as david said ) he made hast and delayed not to keep gods commandments . how should this shame our backwardnesse and our many reluctancies against the will of god , when he hath declared it in taking away a dear child or relation from us ? how much better were it for us to do as david did ( that man after gods own heart ) who when he heard that his child was dead , arose from the earth , and washed , and anointed himself , and changed his apparel , and went into the house of the lord , and worshipped , and then came into his own house , and called for bread , and did eat , 2 sam. 12. 20. again , the consideration hereof may minister singular consolation . first , to every godly person , when he lies upon his sick bed , and sees death approaching , and his friends standing about his bed weeping and wringing their hands , and that upon a twofold ground . first , because himself hath hope in his death , prov. 14. 32. death is to him as the valley of achor : it 's a door of hope to give entrance into paradise , and to translate him into a state of blessednesse , whereas to the wicked it 's a trap-door , through which they fall into hell . it 's an excellent saying , improbi dum spirant , sperant : justus etiam cum expirat , sperat : wicked men hope whilst they live ; but a godly man , when he breaths forth his last , hath hope . he is like unto that dying swan , of which aelian tells us that sang most sweetly and melodiously at her death , though in her life-time she had no such pleasant note . there is some truth in that saying of the heathen , optimum est non nasci , proximum quam celerrime mori . for wicked men , it had been best for them never to have been born , or being born to die quickly , seeing that by living long they heap up sin , and thereby treasure up wrath against the day of wrath : but as for good men , the day of death is best to them , because here to live is but to lie a dying ; and eternal life which they are now taking possession of , is the onely true life , as saith saint austine . secondly , because as they have hope themselves in their death , so they leave a good hope to their friends , to quiet their hearts in their losse . oh what a cutting grief is it to a godly heart , to see a child , or kinsman , or other dear relation taken away , and cut off in the midst of his sins , so that he can have no hope of his blessed estate in another life ! but on the contrary , ( if self-love be not too prevalent with us ) we cannot but moum moderately for those which die in the lord , and say with holy job , the lord hath given , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord . how much better cause have such than tully to cry out , o praeclarum diem , cum ad illud animorum concilium , coetumque proficiscar , & cum ex hac turba , & colluvione discedam ! o what a brave and bright day is it to our friends when they go to the congregation-house of blessed spirits , and walk no longer in the way of this world , which is ( like the land of chabul ) dirty and dangerous : like the the vale of siddim , slimy and slippery , full of lime-pits and pit-falls , snares and stumbling-blocks laid by satan to maim and mischief them . here is comfort also to the parents and relations of this young gentleman now with the lord , in that they have and may have a well-grounded hope of his now blessed estate in heaven : could he speak to you , you should hear him saying , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , for i have made a blessed change , and am gone from night to day , from darkness to light , from sorrow to sollace , and from a troublesome world to a heaven of happinesse . and this brings me to the last thing which i intended , which is to speak something of our deceased brother . but before i begin , i thought fit to make this profession : that i shall speak nothing of him , but what i either observed in him my self , or have from the faithful relations of those which were neerer about him , the truth of whose testimony i dare not call into question : and what i shall speak of him , i shall reduce to these two heads : first , to shew you what were his priviledges . secondly , what improvement he made of them . his priviledges were these : first , that he was born of godly parents , et nasci ex piis parentibus non minima laus est : to be born of godly parents , as it 's no small praise , so it 's no small priviledg . the glory of children are their parents , saith solomon , prov. 14. 6. it was a great honour to jacob , that he could swear by the fear of his father isaac : to david , that he could say , i am thy servant , and the son of thy handmaid , psal. 116. 16. to timothy , that the same faith that was in him dwelt first in his mother and grand-mother , 2 tim. 1. 5. to those children whose mother saint john stiles the elect lady : to mark , that he was barnabas's sisters son : to alexander and rufus , that they were children to simon of cyrene , mar. 15. 21. now the priviledge of such children consists in these two things : first , that they have the godly example of their parents , as a copy or continual pattern for their imitation ; and experience tells us , that childrens manners are much moulded by the examples of their parents . it s reported of the harts of scythia , that they teach their young ones to leap from bank to bank , from rock to rock , and from one turfe to another , by leaping before them , by which means when they are hunted , no beast can overtake them : so godly parents , by giving a good example of piety to their children when they are young , preserve them from satan ( that mighty hunter ) that he shall never have them for his prey . secondly , children of believing parents are by vertue of their parents copy & gods gracious entail , within the compass of the covenant , as appears gen. 17. 7. i will establish my covenant between me and thee , and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant , to be a god unto thee , and to thy seed after thee , and psal. 112. 2. david speaking of the blessedness of that man that feareth the lord , adds , his seed shall be mighty upon earth ; the generation of the upright shall be blessed : and act. 2. 39. peter tells us , the promise is made to you , and to your children : and paul to the same purpose adds , if the first fruit be holy , the lump is also holy ; and if the root be holy , so are the branches , rom. 11. 16. secondly , a second priviledge was , that presently after his coming into the world , he was by the care of his godly parents presented before and dedicated unto god , being made a visible member of the church by baptisme , which is called a laver of regeneration , and renewing of the holy ghost , tit. 3. 5. yea , baptisme is said to save us , 1 pet. 3. 21. to wit , sacramentally ; because it seals up salvation to the believer , mar. 16. 16. and it is of perpetual and permanent use to him for that purpose throughout his whole life , ut scaturigo semper ebulliens ; as a fountain bubling up to eternal life . and truly this his priviledge was the greater , if we consider how many poor infants are deprived of it , through the default of their parents in these last and worst of times , who yet pretend much to religion . thirdly , that with timothy , from a child he was taught to know the scriptures , which are able to make one wise to salvation , 2 tim. 3. 15. and his christian parents were the more careful to instruct him therein , because themselves had found it fit milk for babes , 1 pet. 2. 2. dainty and delicious food , sweeter than hony , psal. 119. 103. wells of salvation , isa. 12. 3. breasts of consolation , isa. 66. 11. the hony-drops of christs mouth , cant. 4. 11. to be preferred before gold and silver , psal. 19. 11. before pearls aad rubies , prov. 3. 15. before all other learning , deut. 4. 6. they knew that the scriptures are a lamp to our feet , as saith david , psal. 119. 105. gods epistle to us , as saith gregory : the souls food , as athanasius : the souls physick , as chrysostome : the invariable rule of truth , as irenaeus , &c. their care therefore was so to acquaint him with them from his childhood , that he might love them as his sister , prov. 7. 4. that he might be ready in them , and have them alwayes , as saul had his spear at his boulster : as david had his stones at hand in his scrip . and thus ( according to the apostles rule , ephes. 6. 4. ) he was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the lord . fourthly , it was his priviledge , and happinesse to be brought forth in such a time , and to be brought up in such a city , wherein he enjoyed more plentiful means of grace and salvation than he could have done in former times , and ( i dare boldly say ) in any other city or place in the christian world besides . we read of plato , that when he drew neer unto his death , he rejoyced and gave god thanks for three things : first , for that he had made him a reasonable man , and not a bruit beast . secondly , a greek , and not a barbarian . and thirdly , that he was born in the time of socrates , from whom be had learned many good instructions . how much more cause had this gentleman to praise god for making him a man , a christian , and a londoner at such a time as this ? fifthly , his parents were not onely thus careful betimes to bring him up in the knowledg and fear of god , but to have him instructed in humane learning also , that thereby ( if the lord should please to lengthen out the thrid of his life ) he might be the more useful and serviceable in his generation : for which end first , they took care to have him taught the first grounds of learning , and that betimes in his childhood , whereby he excelled and out went not onely many of his contemporaries , but divers that were older than himself . secondly , when he was thus fitted at home , they placed him forth at a boarding-school , in the family of a godly minister , that so , whilest he went forward in humane , he might make a further progresse in divine learning also . thirdly , when they thought fit to take him back under their own wing ( being exceeding tender of him ) and not daring to trust him in a publick school , by reason of those many evil examples that he might meet with there , they provided a godly and learned tutor whom they maintained in their own house , to have the oversight and education of him . these were his priviledges . now fot his improvement of them . but before i mention that , i must tell you with what parts god had endowed him , whereby he was enabled to make a good improvement of these opportunities : and therein especially these three things were remarkable . first , that he had a quick invention . secondly , a strong and active phansie . thirdly , a diligent and industrious spirit . and by help of these he quickly learned to read and write , and so proceeded to the grounds of the latine tongue ; and after he had made a good progresse therein , the care of his tutor was to acquaint him also with the sacred languages of the greek and hebrew : and then he applied himself to the study of the arts : first , of logick , then of philosophy , astronomy , geography ; and ( being denied the opportunity of travelling abroad ) he spent some time in reading history , and the travels of sundry persons both by sea & land . and lastly , being admitted a member of that honourable society of grayes-inne , he betook himself to the study of the law , and made no inconsiderable progresse therein : by all which ( if god had lengthened out his dayes ) he might probably have been very serviceable to his countrey . all which being considered , i may say with a reverend divine , that it 's a blessed institution of younger years , when reason and religion are together fashioned and moulded in a tender mind . but that which gave him the greatest lustre , and was ( as it were ) the diamond in the ring , is yet behind , which i shall reduce to these three heads . first , his piety to god . secondly , his dutifulnesse to his parents . thirdly , his charity to the poor . his piety to god manifested it self , both in his life ; and at his death . in his life . by first , his constant and diligent attending upon the publick ordinances , wherein he was not an idle and carelesse hearer , but could in the evening give a good account of what he had heard in the day . secondly , his careful sanctification of the whole sabbath , insomuch as if ( through inadvertency ) any unfitting and unseasonable speeches had proceeded from him on that day , his heart smote him for it , and it made him more cautious for the future . thirdly , besides his joyning in family-prayers , and with his tutor , his manner was , to retire daily into his closet , where he first read a portion of scripture , and that not cursorily as too many do , but endeavouring to understand what he read ; and when he met with any hard place , he used to enquire of his tutor , therein following the advice of a worthy divine : the difficulties which we meet with in reading the word of god ( saith he ) should not weaken , but waken our more diligent search ; not being contented with the first oar that offers itself to our view ; but digging deeper and deeper we should search till we become owners of the whole treasure , which will sufficiently pay us for all our pains . after the scripture read he betook himself to prayer : in which duties , if he was disturbed , he was displeased with it , and what at one time he omitted , he used to regain at another ; all which he carried on with such privacy , that scarce any , besides his tutor , knew of it . fourthly , to these also of late he adjoyned meditation , which is an excellent character of a godly person : for , as the philosophers stone ( they say ) turns all metal into gold : as the bee sucks honey out of every flower : and as a good stomak sucks some wholsom nourishment out of the food that it receives into itself : so doth an holy heart , so far as its sanctified , convert and digest all into spiritual and useful thoughts and meditations : and we shall find by experience , that when we go to sleep with some holy meditations in our minds , it will be an excellent preservative against foolish dreams and ●●●●cies , and we shall finde our hearts in the better frame when we awake : as he that rakes up his fire over night , shall find it again in the morning , psal. 119. 15 , 16. prov. 6. 22. now of his dexterity in this kind , i shall anon give you an example , which he hath left in writing behind him . fifthly , he reverenced and loved godly ministers and christians , and liked that ministry best that was most plain , powerful , and searching . i remember that luther in his me observed two sorts of divines : one was theologus crucis , the poor divine , that preached plainly , and told men faithfully how things stood with them : the other was theologus gloriae , the divine that hunted after praise , glory , and preferment ; concerning whom his prayer was , a theologo gloriae liberet suam ecclesiam dominus ; that god would deliver his church from vain-glorious divines . peter so preached ; that his hearers were pricked at the heart , act. 2. 37 , 38. and steven's hearers were cut at the heart ▪ with his words , act. 7. 54. and truly this was the more commendable in this young gentleman , seeing there be so many at this time , and in this city , that are like those greeks , that counted the plain preaching of the cross foolishnesse , 1 cor. 1. 22. 23. so that neither god , nor his ministers can please them , except they speak tinkling and tickling words . but such should get their ears healed ( as demosthenes advised his countrey-men of greece to do ) before they can hear gods word with profit . they must learn of bees to passe by roses and violets , and to sit upon thime , though it be bitter ; and to preferre sound rebukes before smooth flatteries . sixthly , he was willing to be admonished , and reproved for what was amiss in him , being herein of davids mind , psal. 141. 5. let the righteous smite me , it shall be a kindnesse ; and let him reprove me , it shall be an excellent oil which shall not break my head . he was one of those that had an obedient ear to reproofs , of whom solomon speaks , prov. 25. 12. as an ear-ring of gold , and an ornament of fine gold ; so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear . and this is one good sign of a godly wise man , prov. 15. 5. he that regards reproof , is prudent , and vers. 31. the ear that heareth the reproof of life , abides amongst the wise . hesiod tells us of three sorts of men : first , such as live so well that they need no reproof ; these are best of all . secondly , such as do not so well , but can be content to hear of it ; and these ( saith he ) are not bad . thirdly , such as will neither do as they ought , nor be advised to do better ; these are in a very dangerous condition , such may read their doom , and see their destiny , psal. 50. 21 , 22. truth ( saith one ) is sharp , but bitter though it be , yet it is better and more savoury to sound sences , then the hony-drops of a flattering tongue . seventhly , he ( by gods grace ) resisted tentations frome some of his familiars , who would have drawn him to taverns , and mildly reproved them for it . concerning all these i shall present you with the attestation of his tutor , given me in writing , and that in his own words . he was ( saith he ) when i came to him ( which was about four years ago ) a christian youth , well principled in the grounds of religion , and i left him a little before he died ( which was about the eighteenth year of his age ) knowing what was in the assemblies confession of faith , in wollebius , and what altingius in his didactica hath written : of late also he delighted much to read calvins institutions , and b. halls meditations , and of his knowledge of the things of god , yea of the hardest of them , i have found satisfaction after trial : he not onely knew god , but loved him , and in his last sicknesse , wept to think that he had , and did love god no more . he was a lover of the children and ministers of god ; and amongst his acquaintance he valued them most , in whom he saw most of vertue . he heard the word , and could retain and judg of what he heard , and did not so much affect flaunting and quaint preaching , as that which spake most home to his heart . in his closet , before he came out of his chamber , he read a portion of scripture , from which he hath raised pertinent observations , when put to the trial ; and what he knew not , that he asked . he read with judgment , and hath said , that all other books but the bible did bring weariness : & to his reading he joyned prayer : i have seen him displeased , when disturbed , and what at one time he omitted , at another time he would repair ; and this he carried on with so little noise , that i only was privy to it . thus you have heard of his piety manifested in his life : & vita qualis , finis talis ; as was his life , such was his death . for , in his last sicknesse ( which was the small pox accompanied with a feaver ) he bore it with great patience . he inquired of his tutor , how he might know that he loved god ? and being answered , he brake forth into tears : and when his tutor asked him , why he wept ? he answered , because he had loved god no more , nor made a better improvement of his former deliverances . yet he said , that the word of god was his meditation , the promises whereof did now comfort him . he was sensible of his approaching death , and the night before , told some about him , that he should not live another night . one of his last words was , i must be gone . the next thing that i propounded to speak of was , his dutifulnesse to his parents , which can be testified by many : indeed they were very tender of him , and indulgent towards him , yet did not he abuse their love to liberty , nor through familiarity contemn their authority , but was many times content to refrain from things lawfull and suitable to his desires , to give them satisfaction . neirher was his charity to the poor lesse remarkable then the two former . for from his childhood he would often go to the servants to fetch relief fot such poor as came to his fathers door . and being grown up to more maturity , he frequently distributed money amongst them , & would many times say , that if god ever brought him to the enjoyment of his estate , he would as constantly make provision for such as were in want , as for himself and family . he knew that , temporalia dei servis impensa , non pereunt , sed parturiunt , almes given to the poor , perish not , but multiply : that bounty is the most compendious way to plenty ; and that hereby he might lay up a good foundation for himself against the time to come , 1 tim. 6. 18. he knew that rich mens houses should be gods store-houses ; and that sowing oft of this fruitful seed , we shall be sure to reap in our greatest need : and god is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love in this kind , heb. 6. 10. oh! how may this shame many rich men that keep no proportion between their increases for god , and increases from god : that though they are rich in this world , yet they are poor in good works : they lay not by for pious and charitable uses , as god hath blessed them , 1 cor. 16. 2. but indeed are , the richer the harder , as children that have their mouths full , and both hands full , and yet will part with none , but spill it rather . men when they grow fat , have so much the lesse blood : so the fatter men are in their estates , the lesse blood , life , and spirits they have for god : or if they do give something , yet they do not love mercy , micha 6. 8. they are not ready to distribute , willing to communicate . 1 tim. 6. 18. their mercy doth not flow from them like water from the fountain , or light from the sun , naturally and freely : but it must be wrung from them , like verjuice from the crab , or as distilled water , that is forced out by the heat of the fire . it s no marvel therefore that this charitable frame of heart contributed so much towards the comfortable end of this our deceased brother . i remember what hierom saith , non memini me legisse malâ morte mortuum , qui libenter opera charitatis exercuit : habet enim multos intercessores . i do not remember ( saith he ) that i ever read of any one that died an ill death that was frequent in works of charity ; and no marvel , for he hath many intercessors for him ; which agrees with that of david , psal. 112. 9. he hath dispersed , he hath given to the poor , his rightcousnesse indures for ever , his horn shall be exalted with honour , and psal. 41. 3. the lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing : thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness . having thus dispatched those three things that i proposed to speak to , i might adde much more , by telling you of his humility in concealing himself and his own parts , as the sweet violet that grows low , neer unto the ground , and withall hides it self under it's own leaves . of his sweet and affable nature , and loving and courteous disposition : of his indefatigable diligence in his imployments , and shunning , yea hating of idlenesse . i shall only adde one word more of his ingeniousnesse in , and the usefulnesse of his recreations , which were divers : one while he exercised himself in the art of dialling ; another while he applied himself to musick : but i shall say no more of these , because he attained not to any perfection in them ; that which he followed with most diligence and delight was the art of drawing , painting , and limning , whereof he hath left many very good pieces for so young a practitioner ; and had he lived longer , probably he would have attained to a great perfection therein . he had also a poëtical vein , whereof i shall give you a taste by and by . his meditation upon the history of christs transfiguration , matth. 17. 1 , &c. jesus christ is so willing that we should have communion with him in this life , that he takes us up into his most secret retirements . prayer is a divine ascention , and whosoever would pray spiritually , must have an holy elevation of spirit to meet god in that duty . high turrets of faith and mountains of graces are the real helps in prayer . in prayer we are sure to enjoy gods presence . it 's a sure way to see god face to face ; and ( if i may so say ) in his natural complexion : we may meet with god , as moses did in the mount sinai of prayer . it was in the mount praying when the fashion of christs countenance was altered : it is in the mountain of prayer that christs purity appeareth more and more to a believer . never more whitenesse do believers see in christ , then in their prayers to him . in this life the saints have a taste of the glistering and whitenesse of his out-side : but in the life to come it is that they have immediate fruition of himself : in this life we only see a sudden transfiguration to stay our stomacks ( as i may say ) till hereafter at what time we shall see him as he is : and if this transfiguration appears white he began to write a book in verse , which he calls spuma musarum , which he purposed to dedicate to his father and mother ; i shall only give you an account of the first verses in it , that by them you may judge of the rest . rete venatur ventos . to hunt the winds with a net . thou that do'st strive the windes with net to catch , unfruitful labours to thy self do'st hatch : what! catch the wind ? if caught , thou 'lt not enjoy thy dear times worth to purchase such a toy : and when y' have done , look in your net , you 'l find all that remains is folly , yea , and wind . many littles make a mickle . 't is unity brings strength ; if then you 'ld have strong , noble vertues , vices to outbrave , unite your weak-limb'd forces , and you 'l see many a little will a mickle be . t. b. finis . upon the death of that pious young gentleman mr. thomas bewlije . thomas beulije . anagram , o beati humiles . if either fate or fortune had made such a breach among us , i should have call'd them blind , or mad , or envious , thus to wrong us . i should have in my showers of tears exprest a weeping eye with furious anger drest . that when in all the garden did but one choice flower appear , it should be thus nipt in the bud , who can with patience bear ? but most in that in this one flower alone , the sole hope of the root is overthrown . but stay ! it was a better hand , more sacred and more wise , then fate or fortune can command : [ those heathen-deities . ] the root 's not dead , the flower is but transplanted , with added beauty which before it wanted . and happy they who humbly can submit to him whose wisdom hath transplanted it . thomas beulye . anagram . thy love-beams . thy love-beams lord , so strongly shone on me , that i impatient was of more delayes ; but needs must leave the earth to go , and see the sacred fountain of those glorious rayes . thomas beulie . anagram . the smile above . * * the posie of the ring given at the funeral . set your affections on things above , not things of sence ▪ it was the smile above , loadstone of love , that drew me hence . ad parentes . thomas beaulie . anagram . leave me as i both . leave me as i both you , 't is for our gain ; when you know how i do , you 'l not complain . thomas bewlie . anagram . i 'me well as both . i 'me wel as both you can be ; nay i am better , because triumphing with the lamb : yet i 'me not gone for ever , our parting is , till death unlock for you this door of bliss . j. c. a. m. on the death of that ingenious , industrious , and pious young gentleman , mr. thomas bewlie junior . oh death ! of terrors king ! could nothing move thee to suspend this stroak ! no not the love , nor cries of parents , tutor , friends , and all that knew his worth , and now bemoan his fall ! nor 's age ! ( but eighteen years ! ) nor that estate , to which this onely sonne was destinate ! not's active soul ! and hand ! nor 's nimble head ! nor 's skill in common-law could thee out-plead ? nor 's tongues ! nor 's logick ! nor 's philosophy ! nor 's drawing ! limning ! nor his poetry ! not disposition sweet ! nor 's gracious heart ! not's love to god! nor that he did impart to saints ! not's pity great to poor , and such as age and chance with want afflicted much ! no! servant like , thou but to passe didst bring the counsel wise , of god his soveraign king : who at this time , and thus , hath cropt this rose , with 's hand of love ; and giv'n't a safe repose , in heaven above , where he doth clearly see , what in his mountain thoughts he spied to be . then cease you parents , tutor , friends , to waile , he is with god , your grief cannot avail . another . view underneath this stone , a fancy choice ; invention good , a sed'lous hand to poise the greatest things , a mind made wise by grace ; and tongues with arts not scantlingly t' embrace . his parents joy ; now grief : his kindreds losse . o' th' bewlies phoenix here remains the drosse . on the death of his dear friend and cousen , mr. thomas bewley junior , gent. art fled , dear soul ? and is thy purer breath become a victime ? ah ! too rich for death . could not the riv'lets from thy parents eyes prevail for once to drown the destinies ? or 's death so envious ? that th' art onely shown , cropt , like a bud , before thou wer 't well blown . envious indeed , in that he doth deny us the enjoyment of thy company . which joyn'd with goodnesse , and a candid mind , must few aequators , no ascendent find . but here , methinks , injustice taints my will , in that while worth'less i would take my fill in traffique sure divine ; ( of which each part throughout thy soul might make a sev'ral mart. ) i envy thee that perfect happy shore , to which on earth 't was thy desire to soaere . injust ( perhaps ) it seems , yet let me say that though i could have wish'd a longer stay : so great 's thy gain in thy friends greatest losse , that wee 'l conjoyn the harp unto the crosse . to thee thy parents greatest love did run , a fit meridian for affections sun ; and nature will have vent , perhaps immerse their eyes in tears attending on thy herse . yet should but an impartial judge stand by , he 'd think your tears from passions contrary proceeded , that that seeming dismal sound did not through sorrow , but through joy abound . that 's love indeed , if parents don't complain at their own losse , if 't be their childrens gain . 'twixt joy and sorrow . t. e. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a79887e-680 doct. doct. doct. doct. doct. dr , tuck doct. doct. doct. doct. doct. doct. doct. quest . answ . object . ans. quest . answ . quest . answ . dr. s●ought dr. tuckney rev. 21. 2● . rev. 22. 20. dr. hall . dr. reynold . mr. trapp . quest . answ . object . answ . gen. 37. 35. object . answ . vse . 1 pet. ● . 7. vse . joh 14. 28. mr. baines . object . answ . psa. 119. 60. vse . gen. 31. 53. mr. pat. drummond . eklampsis tōn dikaiōn, or, the shining forth of the righteous a sermon preached partly upon the death of that reverend and excellent divine, mr. stephen charnock, and in part at the funeral of a godly friend / by john johnson. johnson, john, m.a. 1680 approx. 126 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a46911 wing j783 estc r16247 12724887 ocm 12724887 66312 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a46911) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 66312) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 694:3) eklampsis tōn dikaiōn, or, the shining forth of the righteous a sermon preached partly upon the death of that reverend and excellent divine, mr. stephen charnock, and in part at the funeral of a godly friend / by john johnson. johnson, john, m.a. [6], 40 p. printed for the author, and are to be sold by tho. parkhurst, will. miller, and benj. alsop ..., london : 1680. includes bibliographical references. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng charnock, stephen, 1628-1680. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2006-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion εκλαμψια των δικαιων : or , the shining forth of the righteous : a sermon preached partly upon the death of that reverend and excellent divine , mr. stephen charnock , and in part at the funeral of a godly friend . by john johnson , m. a. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , greg. nyssen . orat. de mortuis . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chrys . hom . in matt. 49. cum a propriâ & ingenita corruptione immunes — ab ascittiâ improborum inquinatione separati , non tum ut alim sicut luna , quae suâ luce mutabilis est , sed ut ipse sol infinito fulgore fulgebunt . cartwr . in mat 13.43 . london : printed for the author , and are to be sold by tho. parkhurst , will. miller , and benj. alsop , at the bible and three crowns in cheapside , at the acorn in st. pauls church-yard , and at the angel and bible in the poultry , 1680. to the reader . courteous reader , i thought when it was told me that my only bosom-friend amongst the ministers , that excellent divine mr. stephen charnock ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) lay a dying , that i heard a voice from heaven which whispered to him , go up and die , but spake aloud to us , do the prophets live for ever ? it awakened me to review a sermon which i had preached at the request of some godly friends in leicestershire upon a text given by their father the day before his death , and to repeat it to some very few of mr. charnocks hearers . my intent in publishing of it is not so much to gratifie them both , as to endeavour some small benefit to the souls of some weaker christians as well as theirs , before i go hence and be no more . may not a little milk be handed by me to new born babes , but one or another must think strange of it ? what if they should ? i leave it to others to seed strong men with stronger meat . this prevails with me , mr. charnock is dead , i 'm a dying . some other reasons i have acquainted him with who knows my thoughts afar off . here 's nothing of an elogium on my country friend ( that i delivered formerly to his relations ) little concerning mr. charnock . i should have said , at least attempted , much more ; but i heard a narrative of his life will be drawn by an able hand . all my skill could not have done it to the life . if this sermon beyond my intention should fall into the hands of any ministers , besides some few my acquaintance and juniors , who may challenge it from me , i shall add only this following character taken out of several of the fathers writings , more applicable ( i dare avouch it ) to mr. charnock than those to whom they affixed it . i cite not the places , they are known to scholars . he was , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i pray they may be delivered into this expressed form as these lines were into their types ; and commend them and the following discourse to the blessing of our good god , and rest thine in our lord , john johnson . the importunity of some constra●ns me to render into english the character in the epistle to the reader , though far short of the copiousness and elegancy of the greek language . i. e. he was as to manners and comportment venerable and grave , like an aged person from his youth : then well train'd up and learned in all the wisdom couched under exotick and foreign languages : in his skill in both the originals of sacred writ , the wisdom taught by the holy languages , was he instructed , and so augmented and grew ripe ( as in years ) even to perfection ; and became not only the lively representation , but the original it self of humanity , love and kindness towards the sons of men ; keeping no consort but only grace and vertue . he was the rational house of god , christs spiritual building , the temple of the holy ghost , framed , made up of orthodox doctrines and good works . a person really transformed into the very image of god himself . always serving the only true and living god , as becomes such a god. all the work wherein he employed and exercised himself with diligence , skill and constancy , was love to god and souls . his life he examined and squared until it was in every thing exact according to the rule of the word . his gravity not affected in the least ; his very silence was more efficacious many times than his own , very often than the speech of others . but all his ministerial service always such as brought down fire from heaven upon the spiritual sacrifices . he being a fountain of divine truth , a larger beam of great light , which always carries much warmth and heat as well as light along with it . he was the very mouth by which the lord christ spake , and a genuine interpreter of the holy ghost of his mind in the words , of his meaning in the doctrines of the gospel . that golden urn ( in the ark of god ) that preserved divine manna , and was fill'd to the brim with coelestial food to nourish souls in spiritual , unto eternal life ; his heart ever-flowing , and over-flowing love , and grace abundantly poured round his lips . the doctrines he set forth before his hearers for food and physick , were most divine , whom he never directed into any way of truth wherein he had not walked before them . christs most fruitful vine over-spread the walls of his auditory , well hung with lovely clusters , and flourishing with pleasant fruit of all the salutiferous doctrines of the gospel , whence ministers , others carried home baskets full to rejoice the hearts of new-born babes which they were to bring up for christ . herein lay his eminency , he had resigned all into the hands of his lord and saviour that had received him , viz. his estate , reputation , health , life , and what ever might be for his comfortable being here , even his learning and learned discourses ; enjoying only thus much of all these things that he over-looked them , and had wherewith he might make it appear how much he pre-esteemed christ before them . mat. 13.43 . then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father . our lord in this and the two precedent verses , ascertains us what discrimination at the end of the world shall be of saints and sinners . they can hardly be distinguisht here . in the lords field , pure corn grows , and also tares , i. e. not such noisome and noxious weeds as cockle , darnel , &c. openly known , notorious sinners , such should be weeded out : but as the learned brederodius , after him scultetus and others do expound it , burnt or blasted corn , which cannot be extirpated before harvest , without endangering the plucking up good corn with it . ( from the same root i have observed , blasted ears sprang up-must then ) , since 't would sully and damage the good corn . amongst the truly righteous , hypocrites grow up , which are but , 1. things that offend , i. e. not dissenters , they are persons scandalized , offended : nor , 2. only men heterodox , or hereticks , that lay traps to ensnare others . but , 3. all such as lay , or lye themselves , as stumbling-blocks , and snares in the way ; weaker christians can hardly get to heaven for them , not without stumbling , wounding their consciences , and making their hearts to ake . 2. persons that do iniquity , no good , much mischief in the church , and that make it their employ . too many such there are in the visible church , because they whose concern it is , take not that care of , and inspection over them as they ought . when both these shall be bundled up by the angel , and hurl'd into the fiery furnace , as fewel for hell , yet not be consumed , but salamander-like , live in the devouring fire , and dwell with everlasting burnings . consider these four particulars . 1. the subjects of future glory , the righteous . 2. what their dignity , preferment , and eternal happiness will be ; viz. 1. they shall shine ( as they do in grace and holiness , much more ) in glory . 2. shine forth , i. e. be perfectly freed from every thing that eclipses their light , or obscureth the splendor and brightness of their grace and holiness . 3. shine forth as the sun , i. e. gloriously , incomparably , not as the moon that changeth ; as the sun in its noon day glory , with unchangeable , everlasting light shall they be perfectly glorified . 3. the firmament or place where , in the kingdom of their father . god may as soon be pulled out of heaven , his being and glory be extinct , as they plucked out of their orbs , and their light and glory be put out . 4. the time when , when hypocrites , the unrighteous shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone , to be tormented with their father the devil , and abide there for ever ; there , to the torment of sinners , their own unspeakable comfort ; especially to the glory of god shall the righteous in heaven shine out . hence , note , 1. they that shall be glorified , are the righteous , viz. through regeneration , reputation , by sanctification and acceptation . 1. they that are righteous through regeneration , called ( v. 38. ) the children of the kingdom , ( by an usual hebraism , as in those terms , children of death , children of wrath , &c. ) 1. because they are designed for , and constituted by god heirs of the kingdom : and , 2. are made capable of it , being born of the word , of the spirit , of god himself . 1. they are born again , not of corruptible black rotting seed , but of incorruptible , the word of god , which liveth and abideth for ever , 1 ● et . 1.23 , 24. i. e. not of the word of man , flowers and flourish●s of humane wit and eloquence , which soon fade , corrupt , and like rotten seed come to nothing ; but of the word of god , pure gospel , v. 25 whence they grow , and ( as the corn sown , and the corn in the ear are of the same nature ) by regeneration turn as it were very word and spirit ; that incorruptible seed , the word of the kingdom being turned into grace in their hearts , changes and transforms them in●o new creatures , and they grow from it in grace and holiness . 2. they are born of the spirit , joh. 3.5 , 6. and thereby not only evangelized , but spiritualized , 2 cor. 3 18. changed into the image of christ , ( presented to them by the gospel ) who received the spirit without measure , and transformed from glory to glory , from grace to grace ; or from one degree of the glorious grace and graces of the lord , the blessed spirit , to another ; made very like not only to their lord jesus , but the lord the spirit . yea , 3 ly , they are born of god , 1 joh. 3.9 . so implicitely termed his children in the text , which calls heaven by the name of the kingdom of their father . though 't is true they grow after in their resemblance of him , as they grow more holy as he is holy , eph. 4.23 , 24. in holiness of truth wrought in them by the word of truth , and by the spirit of truth ; whereas before conversion there is none righteous , not one jew , one gentile , one in all the world. all are of their father the devil , and his works they will do . all are corrupt and do iniquity , yea abominable iniquity , and do not do good . their best actions in holy austin's language are but glittering sins , ( some in our days would say the good father is out , his bolt is soon shot ; what ! were the eminent vertues of the heathens sins ? how differs grace from vertue and morality ? therefore we 'l say ) the best actions of the unregenerate being not from a principle of grace , have nothing of holiness , truth of grace and goodness in them . — so are sins of omission , which was austins meaning . they do no good at all . 2. such as are righteous by reputation , i. e. to whom god imputeth not sin and guilt , but reckoneth and reputeth righteous in his sight , not for any thing wrought in them , or done by them , but for the merit , righteousness , perfect obedience , and full satisfaction of their lord jesus received by faith alone . this is the good seed , the word of truth , the gospel of our salvation , which being scattered by ministers , and blown by the blessed spirit into the prepared hearts of intelligent hearers , takes root and grows there ; they which come up thereby to trust , i. e. to hope in christ , and to be justified by faith thorough him , they are the good seed , the righteous that shall be glorified . as the sons of the first adam were made sinners , the sons of the second are made righteous . none ( after regeneration ) can make themselves righteous , if they could keep the whole law ; since by adam's disobedience , theirs in him , they were made sinners . all , and only believers are constituted righteous by the obedience of christ , who was made of god the second adam , a common head and representative of all that were given to him by the father . this righteousness is not their own , but christs ; yet 't is theirs , being made theirs , 1. by gods donation ; 2. by their thankful acceptance , apprehending , laying hold upon , and appropriating of it by faith . so ( if i may borrow the learned mr. richard hooker his saying ) god accepts them in jesus christ as perfectly righteous , as if they had fulfilled all that was commanded in the law ; shall i say more perfectly righteous than if they had fulfilled the whole law ? i must take heed what i say , but the apostle saith , god made him to be sin for us who knew no sin , that we might be made the righteousness of god in him . 3 ly . they who are by inchoation , i mean by the word , and by the spirit of holiness , truly in part , though not perfectly sanctified and made righteous , and daily more and more , when as 't was in an instant of their being turned to god that they were regenerate , of their believing in christ that they were justified . whom he justified , them he also glorified , rom 8.30 . i. e. say divines , he sanctified . there being not a specifical , but only a gradual difference betwixt them ; and such have , love , and do righteousness . 1. they have righteousness inherent in them , answering to what was in the first , and in some measure to that which is in the second adam , being made partakers of the divine nature , and receiving of the lord christs fulness , grace for grace . in regeneration the principles and seeds of grace , in sanctification gracious dispositions and habits are infus'd and wrought . he is a sinner that wanting original rectitude hath corruption of nature in lieu of it . evil dispositions inclining him instead of fearing , serving and glorifying god as god , to cast off the fear of god , to sin against and dishonour him ; and instead of loving his neighbour as himself , his righteous neighbour best with such a love , to hate others as his enemies , so he becomes more like a beast than a man , and the godly most of all . so he is more like a child of the devil , than a child of god. so he is righteous , who being created over again , hath such habitual grace and good dispositions wrought in him , as incline and facilitate him to serve the lord : 1. in holiness : 2. in righteousness , luk. 1.75 . both in acts of piety towards god , and justice towards man ; and fill him with love to god , and all that bear his image , and to all that have as bucer spake , any thing of christ in them . so 1 pet. 4.18 . the righteous are opposed to the ungodly and sinners , unrighteous ones that have not the fear of god before their eyes , not the love of god in their hearts , nor grace to live and act justly and honestly towards themselves or others , rom 1.29 , &c. hence 2. they love righteousness as their lord jesus did , to whose image they were predestinated to be conformed . he being perfectly righteous , did perfectly love righteousness and hate inquity , they receiving of his fulness , do it in their measure and degree ; which they manifest by a constant serious purpose and endeavour to follow after holiness and righteousness , ( exercising themselves herein to keep a conscience void of offence towards god and man ) and to depart from iniquity . though through remainders of corruption they may sometimes omit some duties , or fail in the performance of them , or be overcome and fall into the commission of some sins ; yet as to the constant frame of their hearts , they love righteousness ; and as to their course , 3. they do righteousness , and do no iniquity . sinners being void of all grace , filled with all unrighteousness , commit sin , work and do mischief , are workers of iniquity , mat. 25. sin-makers ; by the trade they drive , you may know their calling . they do nothing else but sin , and manifest themselves to be ungodly , unrighteous , by their ungodly and unjust practices . by their actings they shew themselves to be men not only of loose and licentious , but flagitious lives , living in gross , open and scandalous sins . they sin like the devil , who from the first never ceased to sin , was a lyar , a murtherer from the beginning , is and will be so , 1 joh. 1.6 . c. 3.4.6.8 . es . 59.6 . so 1 joh. 1.7 . c. 2.29 . c. 3.6 , 9 , 10. they are righteous that work righteousness , making it the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the main business and employment of their lives . 4. they that are righteous by acceptation , in the lords , though not the laws account ; i. e. though they are not legally , absolutely and most compleatly righteous , so as they might challenge from god , and by the law justification and life upon account of personal and perfect obedience ; yet are righteous evangelically in a gospel sense , yea through the lords gracious acceptation in gods own account . god accepts them that are truly and really righteous , though they be not absolutely perfect ; and dignifies them with that title of honour upon account of their uprightness and sincerity , which is a jewel in the lords eye , yea all in all in his account ; so were abel , noah , zachariah and elizabeth , righteous before god ; whereas hypocrites are only seemingly righteous , and that before men in appearance , outward shew and profession . righteousness usually is defined to be a constant and perpetual ( desire , purpose , and ) will to give unto every one his own . observe wherein noahs righteousness lay , ( when he was the only righteous person in the age wherein he lived ) and you 'l see what that righteousness is which god approves , and accepts through christ , and the new covenant . 1. he gave to god his own , that faith , fear , love , obedience , that internal and external worship which was due unto him , when ( gen. 6.12 . ) all flesh had corrupted their way : i. e. in worshipping god , and turn'd idolaters as the hebrew phrase oft intends , exod. 32.7 . deut. 32.5 . he knew 't was just , the great , the good god , his god should be served in the first place , most and best served by him , always according to his own will. 2. he gave unto others their due , when gen. 6.18 . the earth was filled with violence : i. e. injustice , cousenage and oppression . — he took what care he could for the good , the preservation and salvation of others , especially of his family , as well as of himself . 3. he was perfect : i. e. upright amongst a world of hypocrites , his heart right with god , and he was righteous before him ; what he did for god or others , he did all as under gods eye , as in his presence , gen 6.9 . 4. he was righteous in his faithful discharge of duty in that office and station which god set him in , as a master of a family , a father , a preacher of righteousness , gen. 6.22 't is rare , but the most amiable sight to see persons , mat. 3 1● . fulfilling all righteousness in their particular callings . john had need , as he said , to be baptized of christ , but christ had not entred on his office ; john had , and his office was to baptize : so christ saith , suffer it now , it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness . 2. as to their preferment . note , 2 ly , the righteous shall be glorified ; being regenerate , justified and sanctified , they walk uprightly , and work righteousness : they shall be taken up , and admitted into the kingdom of their father , and shall dwell there , psal . 15 1 , 2 and , 1 there they shall shine . they were darkness , but god bespoke them out of it , and they were made light in the lord , eph. 5.8 . as in the first , so in their new creation . 2 cor. 4 6. god said , let there be light , and there was light . light immediately sprang up out of darkness , into their understandings , and they appeared as luminaries in the world , phil. 2.15 and gave light to others , mat 5 15 , 16 but they do only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , appear sometimes , then they shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , always shine , and shine bright : here their light is a little twinkling glimmering light ; as the light of here and there a star , at distance one from another , in a pitchy dark night : look wishly , and you may see here and there a saint in his conversation , holding forth the word of life ; but then being fixed as thick as they can stand one by another , all together ( an innumerable company ) will shine bright in one constellation , giving out their light . in heaven none but saints are , all are burning and shining lights . 2. they shall shine out ; here , as the greek word intimates , are they under a cloud , hereafter they shall break forth , shine clearly and gloriously , as the light of the sun doth , when on a sudden it breaks out ( as we think ) from under a cloud ; there 's too much here that darkens and obscures their lustre , splendor , radiant and shining brightness , which then shall be scattered , dispel'd , driven away , and that for ever . 1. alas ! they are much darkened here by bodily weaknesses and distempers . 2. much more by humane frailties ( though regenerate , they are but men ; though saints , not glorified ) remainders of inbred corruption , and prevalent temptations much obscure them . paul , the chief of the apostles , speaks most of his infirmities . 3. most of all in the eyes of others by abundance of dirt , a world of slanders , as false , as foul aspersions flung upon them ; which at present too much eclipse their light and lustre , but will serve then only for the better setting of it off . besides , 4. here they are under the cross , and manifold afflictions , which make many speak and censure hardly of them , and yet work together only to purge their filth away , and to file off their dross , 1 pet. 1.6 , 7. for then , 3. they shall shine forth as the sun , i. e. 1. with a most full , perfect and glorious light , such as we are not able to conceive of , much less to express . 't is therefore shadowed out by a familiar metaphor from the sun , which even children know to be the greatest and the clearest light . here they appear , and twinkle now and then like the stars , those lesser lights of heaven ; then shall they shine with a far greater , an incomparably more glorious light , like the sun it self . 2. nativo lumine , with their own light , received at their first creation , their regeneration , and from that time encreasing in grace , till it advance to its full growth and perfection in glory . the path of the just shineth more and more unto the perfect day . whereas hypocrites ( like the ignes faetui , fire-drakes ) blaze a little here with an adventitious light , which will evaporate , quickly be extinct , and dye with them as soon as those gross vapors , sumes and exhalations from the earth , whereof they consist , are spent and gone ; whilest the coast is clear , and the air serene , they glister ; but when the wind and storms arise , they go out in a snuff and stench . 3. with a perpetual , yea an everlasting light : the light of the sun , who is the fountain of light , and the eye of the world , is constant , and cannot be extinguisht , unless you could pluck , or put it out . 2. the place where , the kingdom of their father ; that is mat. 5.16 . in heaven , where he sits upon his throne in majesty , isa . 66.1 . so it is 1. a most glorious place . god , as to his essential , powerful , providential presence , is every where , fills heaven and earth , jer. 23.23 , 24. psal . 139.8 , &c. but his most special glorious presence is in heaven , called ( 2 cor. 12.1 . ) the third heaven . whatever philosophers may opine concerning the number of the heavens , scripture enumerates them to be three ; 1. the place betwixt the visible firmament and the earth , gen. 1.20 . 2. where the sun , moon and stars are fixed , gen. 1.14 . psal . 19.1 , 4. the third above all , where is gods dwelling-place , psal . 123.1 . and sion-colledg , the mansions and lodgings of blessed angels , and glorified saints . they have all their name from the hebrew word , which signifies light . some light there is in the aereal heaven from the sun , moon and stars , which makes it comfortable , much more in the sidereal , where those glorious lights are set up . infinitely more in the empyrean , where god is light , 1 joh. 1.5 . the sun the fountain of it , jam. 1.17 . and dwells in light , 2 tim. 6.16 . the sight whereof no creature can endure , till glorified and made meet for it ; so great is the supereminence of the divine glory ; yet here the righteous partaking thereof shall shine forth as the sun , according to the several degrees of divine light which they receive . 2. a most secure place : their several orbs are so fixed here , they shall never fall or be plucked out . an astrologer observed a new star in cassiopea , others fancy they have seen more , but was it ever found that any of the old stars were extinct and lost ? but these lower heavens ( 2 pet. 3.10 ) in the twinkling of an eye shall pass away ( and be seen no more ) with a great noise , ( as many famous places , the exchange , did in the dreadful conflagration ) , a ratling noise , or like the noise of the wheels of chariots that run swiftly , or of waves in a storm at sea rushing by us , or as parchment hizzeth when 't is cast into the fire ; the firmament that scroll of the heavens shall be rolled up , thrown into the fire , and shrivel up with fervent heat ; and the sun ( shall no more set , as poets fancied in thetis her lap , a sea of waters , but ) shall be extinct in an ocean of fire , and so put out ; then that heaven wherein righteousness , the spirit of the just made perfect , christ and god dwell for ever . for , 2. it is the highest heaven ; far out of the reach of the prince , and all the powers of darkness , and their comrades the beast and false prophet . all which accursed crew shall be thrown into the lowermost hell . and it is the kingdom of god almighty , who is able to preserve them . the rabbins do not groundlesly assert that the souls of the righteous in heaven do adh●re unto ( and hold fast by ) the right hand of god for ever , in that he held the stars his faithful ministers and saints here ; and can any , think you , if they would attempt it in heaven , pluck them out . 2. it is , psal . 24.3 . the lords holy place , the holy of holies , where there can be no sin , ( as there was in paradise ) , or temptation unto sin . from eternity god was a heaven to himself . then with his own hands he created and built heaven of old , ps . 102.25 . not that he might be comprehended there , but to be a palace for his residence , the habitation of his holiness , psal . 103.19 . and an house for his children to live comfortably in safety . saints of themselves could not , it may be would not continue in grace here , in glory hereafter ; but god is not only able to preserve them in glory , but their gracious god and father , and he will do it . after , 3. the time , then ; which carries a double antithesis in it : 1. more generally of time future , of eternity ; i should say to this now , this moment of their life here , job 14.1 . the few days of saints are full of trouble , act. 14 22. the clearest sun-shining day succeeds the darkest night , and glorious deliverances of particular saints , and the whole church , after days of most sore affliction , at length after that time of trouble , such as never was before , dan. 12.1 , 2. ( understand it of the calamities which befell the jews under antiochus ) at that very time the church shall have an eminent temporal deliverance , a pledg of one more glorious eternal salvation , by the coming of the great prince michael , the eternal son of god ; who is like him , the lord of hosts , that standeth on his churches side , against the devil , and all in confederacy with him ? so in the antiparallel , rev. 20.8 . when the city is begirt , assaulted , battered and storm'd , the lord christ the captain-general comes in to its relief , works such a deliverance as soon ends in everlasting salvation ; for then many ▪ all an innumerable companies of saints , whose bodies slept in the dust , shall arise unto an eternal life in glory ; as appears by its being opposed to that shame and everlasting contempt the rest shall awake unto , isa . 66.24 . and stand as statues of ignominy to all eternity , 1 joh. 3.2 . now we are , and shine as the children of god in grace , but it appears not what we shall be , and how we shall shine in glory hereafter . the excellencies of the righteous , innate light , grace , holiness , and righteousness of truth appear only to a few . some philosophers , unwise as they are , have gone about to number the stars but gen. 15.15 . jer. 32. god only , psal . 147.4 . all don't appear at all time , to all persons , nor to any at the first view , and at too great a distance . they that have the best eye-sight , and longest and most carefully view them , observe most . in the church some saints give forth more light , and are very conspicuous , 2 cor. 8.18 . some less , which yet is well discerned , by such as take an exact view of them , and as near as they can ( true grace will shine where ever it is , but some persons graces are little observed by others that think they have none ) . some cast out a very little light , which is seen only by those that have the spirit of discerning , after long observation ; and some do not go for saints , which would appear such if exactly viewed , and not at too great a distance , and will be approved at the day of judgment , 1 cor 4.6 . 2 tim. 2.19 . 1 joh. 3.1 . but as to the blind world , saints shine not ; they that are most eminent for grace & holiness seem mean , obscure , very contemptible in the eyes of the generality , both sinners and hypocrites , especially of your don illustrissimo's and virtuoso's in the world . 2. that instant when the excellencies of saints shall shine forth , is opposed to that moment of time when the tares , all hypocrites , unrighteous ones , shall be thrown head-long by the angels into the flaming fiery furnace , that deep , yea bottomless pit of far worse than egyptian darkness ; when the world was drowned , noah and his family were saved ; and when god will not spare hypocrites , but give them their portion , mat. 24.51 . immerse them in a deluge of everlasting fire , mat. 25.41 , 46. then , mal. 3.17 , 18. they shall appear most glorious when the childten of the devil shall be tormented ; and seeing the children of god thus dignified , advanced , shall , envying them and their happiness , fume and fret , and for rage and madness , gnash their teeth , which it seems will be their posture and guise to all eternity . for the demonstration of this truth , the foregoing scripture-exposition of the subject , affords us these undeniable arguments for satisfaction of our judgment , and confirmation of our belief of it . 1. because they are the children of god ; he hath designed them for future , for eternal glory : 1. he has chosen them in christ , that they should be holy , and shining in grace here , and most happy and glorious hereafter to the praise of his own glorious grace , eph. 1.3 , 4 , 6 , 11. 2. in pursuance thereof god hath out of his electing love , through his abundant mercy , regenerated them . now consider , 1. the kingdom of heaven is his , and the power ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) the right to confer it on as many and whom he pleaseth ; and luk. 12.13 . 't is his good pleasure to bestow it upon all the righteous , and only upon them . amongst men , the eldest son goes away with the inheritance , the younger with portions only ; the regenerate as children of men may not be born to any great matters ; but as they are the children of god , they are born to the glorious kingdom of their father in heaven . 2. all the glory of and in heaven , is gods own , and at his sole disposal rom. 5.2 . he loves the righteous , whom he hath made so near and dear to himself , as that he will confer it on them . an earthly king can bestow his kingdom only upon the prince his eldest son , but the god of glory hath ( phil. 4.19 ) riches in glory enough for the prince and all his other children , whom he makes coheirs with christ ( of that incorruptible inheritance , even ) heirs of god himself . this is not gotten by them , but they are begotten to it by a mighty work of god upon their hearts , and that according to his abundant mercy , 1 pet. 1.3 . out of meer grace and love will he freely confer it on them . 2 because they are one with christ here , and shall have a more perfect indissoluble union with him hereafter . christ doth , therefore all that are by faith united to him , shall shine in glory , 1 tim. 3.16 . he was re assumed into glory ; not only received , assumed and taken up into glory . so saints that never were in heaven , shall be received or assumed , psal 49.15 . after god has guided them with his counsel , he will receive them to glory ; i e. assume and take them up into a copartnership to have their share in it , ( every one his proportion ) but christ that came down from heaven was again received or assumed into glory according to his prayer , joh. 17.5 . christ was glorious within , both as god and man here , but his glory did not shine out , ( only the few that were near , and had an exact view of him , joh. 1.14 ) he was covered with a vail of flesh ; as to humane infirmities in the likeness of sinful flesh , which darkened his glory . a world of contumelies , yea blasphemies cast on him , did more obscure it . that which did ecl●pse it , was divine desertion , when under the sense of divine wrath for our sins laid upon him , with a great skreik he gave up the ghost , ( when the sun also in the firmament , as it were in sympathy , put on mourning , and seemed a meer lump of darkness , which made the philosopher that observed it cry out , either the god of nature suffers , or the world will be dissolved . ) christ abased himself , and emptied himself of his glory , during the state of humiliation . at his glorious ascension into heaven he shone forth , as god with the glory he had with god from eternity ; and the humane nature sharing with the divine , according to its capacity : as god man he is glorified with god himself , and shines forth in the glory of the father . what he suffered was as our surety , as a publick person ; so he rode in triumph into heaven , sits and shines there at the right hand of god in glory , as head of the church , of all his members that are by faith united to him ; and they now de jure , ephes . 2.6 . and de facto , hereafter , shall sit down with him ; as a father he went to prepare and take up heaven for the children god gave him to be brought unto glory ; as soon as he has prepared them for it , he will receive them , that where he is ( in heaven , in glory ) , they may be also , joh. 14.3 . there 's both causaelitas efficientis & causae exemplaris , in the glorification of christ the head , as to the glorifying of his members , 2 cor. 4.14 . joh. 14.19 , 20. and since he doth , all true believers shall shine out in glory . which glory is , 1. christs purchase , he bought them for it , and it for them ; and therefore prays for all believers with such boldness and freedom , for such a perfect union with himself , as he had with the father in happiness and glory : 1. as god : 2. as man , in his humane nature united to the divine : and consequently , 3. as god-man in both natures united unto one , joh. 17.20 . that they all may be one , as thou father art in me , and i in thee , that they also may be one in us . and the ground of his prayer we have , v. 4. because he glorified god on earth by active and passive obedience , and finished the whole work god gave him to do in order to their redemption , which is called , ephes . 1.14 . the redemption of the purchased possession : being a redemption from all sin and misery , to an inheritance of life and glory , hardly procured , bought with his own precious blood . 2. 't is his gift ; he purchased it upon no other account but this , that he lawfully might , and he will bestow it on them , joh. 10.28 . i give unto them eternal life , in happiness and glory . and ch . 17.22 . the glory which thou gavest me , i have given them , that they may be one even as we are one . q.d. by infallible promise i have conveyed it , and by my last will and testament made it sure unto them ; upon their believing on me they have jus ad rem ; and when i am come again they shall have jus in re ; at their resurrection i 'le see them take and have actual possession of it . 3. because they are ( in part ) sanctified by the spirit , they shall be ( perfectly ) glorified , their bodies ( and their fou●s much more ) are the temple of the holy ghost , 1 cor. 6.19 . who is called the living god , 2 cor. 6. now god the father will have his children , the son , his members , the holy spirit , his temple , to be in heaven , which he will beautifie and adorn for the habitation of the ever glorious one god , father , son , and spirit , to live and dwell in for ever , 2 cor. 6.17 , 18. rev. 21.3 . here in part are they filled with grace , inherent righteousness the fruits of it , the fruits of the spirit , and shall hereafter be perfectly fill'd with glory , as full as humane natures are capable . then shall they shine , i had almost said infinitely in glory , ( and should have said so , but that i know they will remain creatures ) , i will say infinitely beyond the sun. 't is but an hyperbole , and yet so mean , as is far short of adumbrating the greatness of their glory . 't is a known saying of plato , could virtue be seen with corporeal eyes , 't would appear the most comely beautiful thing in the world . his scholar spake the like of moral righteousness . what 's grace ? in it self the most amiable and glorious thing in the world , psal . 45.13 . as it shines out of the hearts and lives of gracious persons into the minds of other saints , how great a lustre doth it carry with it ! yet though always visible , 't is not always seen , many things intervening intercept its light . oh how lovely ! glorious ! will all the graces of all the saints appear in heaven , when they shall all be in the flower expanded to the full in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , full growth , and most absolute perfection ; for such glory is . 't is nothing else but grace in its growth . or all graces blown up by the blessed spirit to the full ▪ and shining out in perfection . saints shall be perfectly ren●wed after the image of god , whose light and glory mainly consists , at least appears , in his holiness and righteousness . adam was a glorious creature till he had lost the image of god his righteousness . righteous persons excel their neighbours : 1. they are glorious within , being created after gods image in righteousness and true holiness . 2. they shine as lights in the world , holding forth the word of life ; but oh how glorious ! how excellent ! or how excellently glorious are glorified saints , who are the temples of the holy ghost , filled in their capacities , enlarged to the utmost with the divine , the gracious , yea the most glorious presence of god! they are made perfectly like christ , who is the brightness of the glory of god , and the express image of his person , heb. 1.3 . i. e. as much after the image , and as perfectly like to the son of god as is possible for the almighty to make them to be , when he shall try his wisdom , and put his last hand to the making of them so . but i foresee an objection , which i will anticipate : wherefore should saints that are sanctified but in part , be so perfectly glorified ? why , 4. out of gods grace and favour , because they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his favourites . though we spoke highly of their ( gratiae gratis datae , yet they are not gratos facientes , much less are they facientes gloria dignos , and so glorificantes , i. e. ) graces given to them , wrought in them , yet as they make them not accepted with god here , so not to be glorified by god hereafter . 't is god that accepts them here in the beloved , that glorifies them hereafter . they are righteous , 't is by gracious acceptation ; they shall be glorious , 't will be by gracious remuneration . holy austin writes some where to this effect : if a man should live and serve the lord a thousand years , he could not by his service of god all that time earn so much as one hour of the glorious reward in heaven , much less an eternity of happiness and glory : no , death is the wages of the least sin , be it but an omission of duty , or a neglect to persevere in it , gal. 3.10 . and eternal life in glory in the gift of god through christ , rom. 6. ult . it 's given to the righteous that work righteousness , but neither for their being righteous , and having righteousness in them , nor for their doing of it . they both are from free and meer grace , much more is the reward . through the same grace it is that an eternal life in heaven and happiness in glory is the inheritance , lot and portion of the righteous , i. e. sincere upright saints according to the covenant of grace , the precious and sure promise of the gospel . 1. well , sirs , you believe this truth , then suffer the word of exhortation . if you have been enlightened by the word and spirit , mat. 5.16 . let your light so shine before men , that they may see your good works , and glorifie your father in heaven . 't is spoken of ministers whose concern chiefly it is to enlighten the places where they live by their doctrine , holy conference and conversations ; and they that see their good works by the sermons they preach , and live , will glorifie god ; but the lords advice reacheth all . if you truly desire to shine , for ever to shine forth in glory , in the most high , most holy heaven , the holy of holies . if you have good hopes from your regeneration by god the father , vnion with christ , god the son , and sanctification of the spirit , god the holy ghost , and the love , grace and favour of that one god blessed for ever , ( from your being the children of god , by faith united to christ , and also consecrated , dedicated and set apart for god and holy uses ; and though but in part sanctified , real and upright saints shine as the righteous do . not only before saints . 't is true as to your sincerity you can approve your selves only to god , as to your grace and holiness only to saints ; from the trade you drive they may know your calling . indeed as to particular acts , some saints may be lyable to mistakes as well as others concerning you , and those particular acts of yours ; but by your doing righteousness giving god and man their due , 't will appear there 's some excellence in you , and your light will shine before men , saints and sinners . what though sinners are wilfully blind , and take no notice of that light of grace , holiness and righteousness which shines in your lives , but rather censure you as hypocrites . 't is not unusual for the vilest of sinners to condemn the best of saints as such ; when they dare not speak against the principles of godliness they profess , and the accurate ways of religion they walk in ; ah! if they did so in sincerity ! but i have heard so and so of them , they are a company of hypocrites . while their false and foul mouths censure you , let your holy lives condemn them ; when they talk of your hypocrisie , more carefully look to your sincerity . consider the item which they give you , to have an eye to it . alas ! if not only men , but my own heart , and god himself , should charge me to be an hypocrite ! shine before men as to your good works . let your graces , faith , hope , brotherly love , contentment in every condition , zeal for the glory of god , and the good of precious immortal souls , shine before saints : they are things for saints to judg of ; and your good works works of justice , righteousness , shine , before men , they are things that men may judg of . true , men can't judg of your having grace , or acting of it . blind men cannot distinguish colours , only such as have a spirit of discerning , and a spiritual judgment can do that ; but men partly know by remainders of the light of nature , what honesty , what plain dealing ( a jewel very rare and of great price ) is ; what works of charity are , and they expect that men who make the greatest profession of religion should be more just in their ways , and honest in their dealings , and when they see some professors at some times fall short herein , many presently condemn them as to every other action , and the whole community of professors for their sakes . yet some when they cannot but perceive a greater light shining in the lives of professors than of other men , will be induced thereby to glorifie god , who hath bestowed more light and grace upon them . but be they amongst whom you live , what they will you ; know , do your duty , phil. 2.15 , 16. so order your lives , as 1. you may be blameless , no man may justly complain of you . if some do , without a cause ; regard it not , what though they cause others to do so , 't is but at present , and ti●l they come to a full hearing and right understanding of your actions . and , 2. harmless , i. e. yea , without will or power to hurt , which is the mark of the sheep of christ ; or sincere , without mixture of deceit or guile . whereas the wicked ( bulls of bashan ) have more power than authority , more will than power to harm ; and being full of guile , will smile in your face when about to cut your throat ; speak friendly , when they are doing you the shrewdest diskindness . 3. in the midst of an age of men that are crooked , full of windings and turnings , turn this way or that way according to their company ; and perverse or rather perverted ; that once had better thoughts of the ways of religion , but now are of another opinion , ( 't is well if more be not perverted by the devil's angels of light than are converted by christs ) ye shine as stars that retain and keep their light , holding forth the word of life ; for the grace of god that bringeth salvation , hath appeared to all men ; teaching us , that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , that we should live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world , looking for that blessed hope . as a most pious divine saith , there may be justice where there is only morality ; there can be no religion where there is not justice . the text tells you , the light of the salutiferous gospel more effectually teacheth sobriety , justice and piety , than the light of nature or morality doth , without which there can be no looking for that blessed hope , the appearing of christ and of our selves with him in glory , with any comfort . will hopes of keeping up their credit in the world , of getting a little gain thereby , make men deal honestly , and seem righteous before men ? let hopes of eternal light , life and glory , make you do so , and be truly righteous before god if you have taken out that lesson , live like men ; yea like men evangelized , of which sort i fear there are more of the poor than of the rich , as there were in our saviours time . i could heartily wish the words of the forementioned divine were imprinted on your memories , engraven on your hearts . when men talk so much of godliness , and of church discipline , and others come to deal with them , they are so cunning , and will fetch over men , as well as any , as griping as any , these are burdensome members to a church , that wrong religion ; your injustice herein is a greater evil than the injustice of any man. the injustice of a moral man does not make men shie of dealing with all moral men ; but injustice in you , makes men shie of dealing with any that make profession of religion , and to say none are so deceitful as they ; and though that objection does come usually from malice , yet it cannot be denied but those that make profession give too much advantage for it . the truly righteous are the right honourable ; a saints coat of arms should be such as that holy martyr mr. hooper had when installed bishop of worcester , a lamb in a flaming-bush with raies from heaven shining on it . a lamb for meekness , innocency , and profitableness in a bush burning , amidst wicked men , brambles and thorns set on fire of hell , and burning with malice : yet , 1. sweet influences of heaven let out upon it ; he hath the grace , and enjoys the consolation of the blessed spirit . now heb. 13.20 , 21. that you may be truly righteous , righteous before god ; then you will shine forth here , 1. with a clear , a glorious light , such a convincing light as may condemn the world of sinners for their aberrations , and shame some saints out of their deviations from the ways of holiness and righteousness , and encourage weaker christians to make a farther progress in them . 2. with your own innate light ; as true nathanaels , jews inwardly , and not only in outward show and profession , as such in whom there is no guile ; then your conversation will be as the shining light , which shineth more and more unto the perfect day , prov. 4.18 . 3. with a constant durable light ; in heaven your light of glory will everlastingly shine before saints ; let your light of grace and holiness on earth continually shine before men . to quicken you thereunto . consider again and again , security of the coelestial kingdom , the glory of it , and the seasonableness of the time when you shall there shine forth in glory , as you have heard . 1. it 's a most safe and secure place : 1. by reason of its height , 't is above , far out of the reach of scandals , such as do offend and do iniquity , of all sinners and persecutors be they men or devils . luther being asked when many were engaged and enraged against him , and sought his life , where he thought he might be safe ? replied ▪ either ( in one corner or other ) under heaven or in heaven . i 'le assure you , you will have little content , comfort and peace on earth , if your hopes and hearts be not much in heaven ; and they will never fix on heaven , if your thoughts and affection be not set upon it . every day cast up an eye towards heaven , and by the telescope of your faith ta●e the height of it . 2. 't is a most holy place ; after saints have been in heaven upon earth , had much communion with god , and comfort , they fall into some sin , and such a condition that all their hopes of ever getting to heaven are in a manner lost and gone . when god hath once seated you in heaven , you need not fear being plucked , or falling thence . adam abode not in paradise , divines think , one day ; some angels that dwelt in heaven preserving not their original excellency , soon left their habitation . but god takes his children to his house , that they may abide and dwell there for ever . 2. take an exact observation , view the glory of it , 't is the kingdom of our father , where he sits in his majesty in glory . 't is ours , our own inheritance , our father prepared it for us before the foundation of the world every morning , every evening , through the perspective of the word , contemplate heaven ; some mornings , lords-days at least , rise before the sun , look up through the aereal to the sidereal heaven , and thus meditate : yonder are the glorious heavens , where god hath pitched a tabernacle for the sun ; that glorious bridegroom comes out of his chamber , how doth he smile and rejoice to run his race from the end of the heaven , to the ends thereof . through grace i shall hereafter be even in this body more glorious than that sun. there 's another , the empyrean , the third heaven , the place of residence of the god of glory . thither one day will he take me up to live for ever with himself in glory , my redeemer is already gone thither , and sits at his right hand in the glory of the father . oh the height of that heaven ! 't is infinitely higher than that inferior heaven whence the sun comes forth to shine for a while , yet a little while and that sun will be laid aside and set , set once for all , and be and shine no more , when i with blessed saints and angels shall be with christ and god , and shine with them in glory to all eternity . oh the height of that heaven ! 't is infinitely above the reach of persecutors , of all the devils , of all the damned , they will never pluck them thence , out of the hands of jesus the son of god ; they can't pluck him out of the right hand of his father , nor his father from his throne : oh the holiness of that place ! and when your thoughts and meditations have made you more spiritual , more holy , more heavenly , and to shine more in grace and holiness that day ; then at the evening , when ye look out of your doors or windows , or walk forth , behold and think how do those stars , an innumerable company , differ in glory , yet all glissen . what a vaste resplendent body is the moon , each of the planets ! all the light they have was imparted to them by the sun that shined in the day-time ; all is nothing to the glory of heaven . oh the holiness of the highest heavens ! where all the stars , the saints that shined as lights in the world , shall give forth their light , and shine as the sun , and with light and glory imparted from the lord jesus , the sun of righteousness , shall shine out in the glory of the father ! how incomprehensible ( even to saints , angels , christ himself as man ) must the glory of the father be that communicates such light to christ , angels and saints ! this bespangled firmament seems glorious , 't is not heaven , nothing like it , not like the floor and pavement of our fathers house ; 't is an out-room , which shall be pulled down and burnt . above , above , is the presence-chamber , i long to see the king in his beauty , in his palace , and will through grace live as a child of god , and hold forth the word of life in my conversation . 3. ponder upon the seasonableness of the time , not now , but 1. at the resurrection day , when sin , affliction , sorrows , shall flee away , and so forward , an inconceivable tract of time , eternity , not measured by the duration of any creature , but of the ever-living god shall ye shine out . think then , through the disposition of the only wise god , some have their sun-shine , others rainy and tempestuous seasons all their days ; say , what though i have been most , if not all my days disesteemed , yea contemn'd and scorned in the world , under many various long and sore afflictions , and had small comfort but in suffering with and for christ ! this is my lot and portion , hereafter i shall reign with christ , and be glorified . my saviour once said ●o sinners , this is your hour and the power of darkness . you have your authority by divine permission , and your father the devil , the prince of darkness , his usurpation by your high court of justice , to extinguish me the sun of righteousness , the light of the world . 't is but an hour . the church once said , this is the day of jacob's trouble . she is still militant under the cross , eclipsed with a cloud . 't is but for a day , then more gloriously will her light shine forth . the pageantry of sinners will soon be over . they come on the stage , dazzle spectators eyes , the scene will alter , such as acted the part of nobles , e're long will appear as they are , meer beggars , nay in a worse condition , when called to account for what they profusely spent on their lust , and when thrown into hell that most hideous prison , from whence there is no redemption . in this vale of tears i sit down and cry , few and evil have my days been . the church said , though i am comely look not upon me , i am scorched , sun-burnt and much discoloured thereby . nay , all my days have been one night . in perils oft , and too much in fears of them . 't will be day ! what 's this to eternal life ! what 's time to eternity ! what 's this moment to the five thousand years past since the creation ! yet that and all the time that shall be , which the lord only knows , till the end of the world , is nothing to eternity ; all that endless eternity shall i shine forth in glory . 2. at the day of judgment , when scandals , they that do iniquity , some that created me much disquiet and discomfort in the world , shall be cast into hell , shall all my sorrow be turned into joy , and my disgrace into glory . let antiochus be epiphanes here , was not he eaten up of lice or worms ? and will not that greedy worm of conscience , gripe , gnaw , and feed upon his soul to all eternity ? let herod ( for his gorgeous apparel ) be most illustrious , had not he the same exit ? act. 12 22 , 23. but v. 24. the word of god grew and multiplied . let bishops at rome come forth in their pontificalibus , and their olympia's in gold and silver , in all their gallantry ; and too many of our professing gentlewomen to their shame ( for ladies generally are more modest ) in their apish french modes and fashions , they have little else to set themselves out with . was not dives one day clothed in fine linnen , in purple , ( clad in scarletrobes , which the sumptuary laws of the romans allowed only the chief magistrates to wear ) the next in hell ? and when out of curiosity he had looked for , but found not lazarus , did he not lift up his eyes and espy abraham in heaven , with lazarus in his bosom , ( in his lap , on his knee , leaning on his bosom ) cheering him . thou wast as thy saviour some time in the world , and receivedst , didst patiently take from the ●ands of others , since thou lawest the hand of god in it , and didst not bring upon thy self thine evil things ; thou hadst hard measure , scarce a rag to thy back , a crust for thy belly ; yonder 's one lies that had enough to spare , might and ought to have relieved thee , but had no heart to do it , he had more respect for his hounds than a child of god. look ! now he 's in torments , thou art and shall be comforted for ever . thy father hath called thee into this his kingdom of heaven with everlasting consolation to comfort thee ; here shalt thou shine in glory for ever . so shall shine when many diveses shall be cast into hell to be tormented for ever , weeping , wailing , and gnashing of their teeth . 2. 't is time for me to beseech the concern of your comfort at present , and future happiness calls you to try whether ye be righteous , and shall be glorified . 1. are you born of the word , of the spirit of god himself ? 1. of the word ; was you ever by the gospel read or preached , brought out of the kingdom of satan , the world , into the church militant ? has the word of god been the power of god to your conversion ? were you by any ministers preaching christ , brought over to christ , so as you gave up your selves and your heart , souls and bodies , to the lords anointed , the messiah , the christ , the great prophet , the only king , head and saviour of his body the church , to be taught , governed and saved by him . how shall ye know this ? why , 1. if you , v. 23. received the seed , the gospel into good ground , ( i would not give you my own , much less other mens , but the lord christs characters of the regenerate ) , i. e. you heard the word and understood it , it made such impression , and took deep root in your hearts , as made you leave the world , and cleave to christ with full purpose of heart , at least to be as desirous and sollicitous to be subjects of the kingdom of christ in grace , as to have a lot and share with the righteous in the kingdom of glory . you have known and learnt from the word and spirit , something of christ , of his grace and truth , and of the life and immortality that he brought to light by the gospel . whereas the first , the worst sort of hearers are all ignorant , careless , willfully ignorant hearers , such as hear the word without attention , affect on , understanding ; do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in their minds go along with the word till they understand it , and get grace , spiritual light , and wisdom by it ; they resisting the motions of the good spirit , god suffers the evil one to beguile them of it , by casting vain , at least unseasonable thoughts into their minds . god gives encrease to the conscientious , careful , attentive hearer , which he denies to the careless and negligent , that will not attend and regard , but thinks to give the minister the hearing is enough to stop the mouth of conscience , to save his credit with professors , yea to save his soul , ( such a cheat he puts upon himself ! 2. are you born of the spirit ? how shall you clear that ? why , if v. 23. you bear fruit , as good corn doth in a fertile soil , which grows and comes up in a hundred , where many ears spring from the same root ; or sixty , where fewer ; or thirty , where the fewest corns for one ; as persons are wrought upon by the word and spirit , some in and after hearing are made as much more spiritual in their thoughts , meditations , desires , than others . and yet there are some that herein very much exceed them ; yet all that are regenerate bear fruit , act. 20.32 . of the same kind and nature with the seed sown ; fruits of grace resembling the spirit of grace ; gracious thoughts , desires , purposes , resolutions , spiritual meditations , holy affections , gracious words and discourse , the fruits of the spirit , gal. 5.22 . love , joy , peace , long suffering , gentleness , goodness faith ; conformity to christ : which are fruits unto holiness , rom. 6.22 . good works , works of piety , religious acts , works of honesty , righteous dealings , works of mercy and charity . in a word , all the fruits of righteousness , phil. 1.11 . the word works a wonderful change : 1. in their hearts : 2. in their lives and conversations ; coming up like isaac's seed , gen. 26.12 . in some an hundred fold . whereas the second sort of hearers by hearkening to the word , get only some notional knowledg and understanding of it , and are much affected with it ; they receive it with joy , yet taking no root in the heart , brings forth no fruit ; though it makes impression on their memories , stays long there , and on their affections , yet this is all the fruit , which is as good as none . they can only talk how well they liked such a minister , such sentences , expositions , expressions of his , ( yet with the same breath they will speak as evil of other ministers as well of them ) , they receive it into their ears and memories , not into their judgments , into their affections , not their hearrs . the affections of many are much wrought upon when their wills are not ; else they would not run as some do from one to many seeking scratch for the itch in their ears , & novelties to please their fancies , but would stay most where they might profit . the third sort go farther , they receive the word ( though not in the love of it ) and let it abide till it spring up in the blade in a fair profession , such a liking they have of it ; yet there 's no corn in the ear , no change in the judgment , heart or conversation ; for the cares of the world , distracting cares about worldly concerns in prosperity , and the deceitfulness of deceitful riches , lying vanities , choak the word ; when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word , by and by are they offended , and let the word go , rather than any part of their estate , especially if they espy any likelihood of gain that may accrew unto themselves thereby . but new-born babes must not be forgotten : 3. are you born of god ? partakers of the divine nature ? then , 1. do you lay up , casting up all prejudice : ( i. e. by friendly communications acquaint your nursing fathers how corrupt you were ) wherewith all carnal unregenerate persons are clogged and do abound , viz. all malice , guile , hypocrisies , envies , evil speakings . do you desire the milk of the word that ye may grow thereby . where spiritual life is , there will be spiritual longings for spiritual food , for the preservation and nourishment of it , for augmentation in each part , not only in the head with notions as in children which have the rickets , such are weak in their hands and feet , can't act or go one stroke heavenward . do you rellish most such particular subjects concerning grace , christ , god in christ , as your hearts were at first most wrought upon by ? you 'l think you can never hear enough of these truths by which you had a taste how gracious the lord is : sincere milk of the word , that is not adulterated with humane inventions ; pure gospel is spiritual , may not i say angelical food ; they long , bow down , that with their eyes fixed upon the propitiatory , on christ , they may look into the gospel which the holy ghost sends down from heaven ; see more of christ and the grace of god , and get a sip whereby they may be fed with light in their love , admirations and praises of god blessed for ever . the child of god can no more digest some mens quaint orations , others sublime discourses , than austin could tullies works where he found not the name of jesus . the end he proposes to himself in hearing , is that he may grow in grace , the knowledg of christ , conformity to him , spiritual and heavenly-mindedness , in likeness to god , holiness in all manner of conversation , 1 pet. 1.14 , 15 , 16. in abstaining from fleshly lusts , and having his conversation honest amongst others , that god may be glorified . consider , 1 pet. 1.4 , 5 , 6 , 7. 2. do you grow by the word ? but your growth being gradual and discernable rather by others than your selves , resolve this question . 3. can you clear your regeneration to your own souls by your living a new life and conversation ? a new life in holiness , which is called the life of god , argues a new , a divine nature ; he is born of god , that is a new man created after god , after his image and likeness in righteousness and holiness of truth ; compare your selves with rom. 6.4 . eph. 4 th . & 5 th . chapters . and col. 3. newness of life and conversation is the best evidence of regeneration . ye did live like men , according to the course of the world , ( in the age you live in ) according to the devil , in disobedience , the lusts of the flesh , and carnal mind , the fulfilling your manifold wills and pleasures ; do ye now live and walk like the children of god ; i. e. in an holy awe of god , serving him with filial reverence , and out of love , in ways well pleasing to him ? is your fear more to displease god than man ? your care to please him rather than your selves or others ? you lived a careless secure carnal life ; do you live a strict , a spiritual life now ? ye were worldly , are you heavenly-minded , and your thoughts and affections set on the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , things of everlasting concernments to your precious immortal souls . ye lived in the commission of such sins , the omission or careless performance of such and such duties ( your hearts tell you what ministers cannot , therefore speak to you only in generals ) , do you find through grace now ye dare not , do not , at least , will not do it ? believe it , a change in the heart is best discerned by a reformation in the life ; mens living another life than they did , whilst in a state of sin , nature , and unregeneracy , both as to their leaving known sins , and living in the practise of known duties . 2. are ye righteous through reputation ? after ye were wrought off from a course in sin , to a constant course in duty , were ye brought off from resting on your own righteousness in careful abstaining from sin , performance of duty , to relye wholly on christ and his righteousness for justification ? all the children of god sooner or later are brought over , not only from sin to duty , but also from self , and self-righteousness to christ ▪ by faith united to , and ingrafted into him . they see their best services are impure , imperfect , they need christ and his righteousness , so desire , phil. 3.9 . they are brought to this at last , though it may be long first ; faith in christ , the seed of it may be wrought in regeneration , long before the perceptible acting and exercise of that grace , and ( if you will call it so , the younger twin ) repentance towards god gets the start ; for when man has been throughly convinced he has by sin deserved hell , ( poor creature 't is natural for him so to do ) he seeks by a righteousness of his own to climb up to heaven . we should do duty as if we were to get to heaven by it ; but trust no more to it , than if we were to go to hell for it ; for failings i mean in the performance of it . do ye know , believe , ye were made sinners , guilty , liable to eternal death , upon the special verdict of the blessed trinity on that righteous sentence of the law , the covenant of works , gen. 2.15 . by the disobedience of the first adam ? and that ye can never be acquitted therefrom but through the obedience of christ the second adam by your believing on him , and his righteousness ? have you had the sense of that sin , that guilt lying up on you , as much as the guilt of the want of original righteousness , corruption of nature , of actual sins of omission and commission ? have you had a sight of your need of christ , of his perfect righteousness , so as to apprehend it as that wherewith alone god is and can be well pleased and satisfied ; and as that which is only sufficient to justifie you in his sight ? have you by faith applied and appropriated this righteousness to your selves , and so trusted , i. e. hoped in christ after ye heard this word of truth ? ephes . 1.7 . this gospel of your salvation , ephes . 1.12 , 13. do you lay the weight of all your confidence , all your hopes for salvation , on this corner-stone christ , god-man , on whom the church is built ? the more after regeneration ye abstain from sin , perform duty , the more will you see sin in your natures , lives , and the guilt of commissions and omissions ; carelesness in the performance , if not neglects of duty , ( you 'l have less sin , but more light , and so not have , but see more sin in and by your selves ) and the more your sin , unrighteousness , and the impurity and imperfection of your own righteousness , the righteousness of christ , & the perfection of it are discovered to you , the more will ye go on from faith to faith , and live by it , rom 16.17 . 3. are you righteous inchoatively , i. e. in part , some measure and degree purified and sanctified by the word , and through the sanctification of the spirit unto obedience ? 1. have you righteousness inherent , gracious dispositions , and habitual grace , the graces of the spirit infused into and wrought in you ? by these is the new nature clearly evidenced . the blessed god having created a new man , will not leave off his work till he hath made him a real and conspicuous saint ; do you find , as a corrupt nature , remainders of indwelling sin by evil dispositions inclining you to that which is evil , so a sanctified nature by gracious dispositions inclining , byassing you to that which is holy , just and good ? do those dispositions the blessed spirit moving you to frequent exercise ? become habitual , rom. 4.5 , 6. & 7.14 . to the end . in the unregenerate and unsanctified ones , there are nothing but evil dispositions , which the devil helping on , grow up into evil habits , and strongly incline them to that which is evil , to love it , and to do it . in the sanctified , though there be corruption , yet there is grace ; though there be remainders even of hypocrisie , yet there is truth of grace , and many gracious dispositions infused by the spirit , which by his mighty co-operation with the word , grow into habits , strongly set them against all evil , make them hate and abhor it , and byass them unto that which is good , making them to love it , rom. 7.19 . they would do that good which they do not , and would not do that evil which they do ; whereas a sinner , a wicked man , that good that he doth , he would not do ; that evil which he doth , he would do , and he doth it in despight of god and man , and his own conscience , very freely , very willingly , indeed with all his heart . therefore , 2. doth grace in your heart frequently shew it self : 1. by your hatred of sin ; of every false way that appears to you by the light of the word and spirit so to be ? and , 2. by your love to holiness and righteousness , and an universal respect to all gods commands ? is the firm and full resolution of your souls , and your daily endeavour , to bring your hearts and lives into as near a conformity to the mind and will of god as possibly ye can . though ye too oft fail in the doing of it , is it the desire of your hearts and your endeavour to be as good , holy , righteous , as god would have you to be ? weaker christians seeing many failings in their duties , much sin in their hearts , little good done in their lives , conclude they are not regenerate , they should discern and bewail that they are sanctified but in part , and pray and strive that they may be wholly . had they not been regenerate , they could not have seen that sin which they see , nor have done duty ; and had they not been sanctified , they could not have so hated sin which they see , and so loved righteousness , as to be much troubled that they do so much of the one , so little of the other . 3. that ye may know whether you have not only gracious dispositions , but habits , the graces of the spirit in you , chiefly have an eye to your work , business , and employment in the world . true , paul did not some good that he would , did do some sin that he would not ; yet he did abstain from much evil , do much good ; who so much as he ? the weakest , poorest saint does some good : that is not only his profession but his trade , his calling . ye cannot but know what work you have been doing , and done since you came into the world . what good have ye done in your places and generations ? joh. 5.28 , 29. they that should have minded things of concernment , did many frivolous things or actions that should be done , but not aright according to gods appointment ; and many mischievous acts shall arise to condemnation ; and they which have done many and many a good act and deed , good for their kind , and the manner of their doing of them from good principles , and for right ends , shall arise to the resurrection of life , a life in glory ; remember as much as ye can of your good actions . try them by the touchstone ; do you think they will abide the trial another day , at the day of judgment ? oh that there were a heart in all of you to do all that has been desired in the sight of god! then i am sure you will. 4. above all , try whether you have in all been upright and sincere , and righteous before god : do you give god his due , and to men theirs , and do both as under the eye , in the sight of god ? the formalist gives god part , not his whole due , his body , not his soul ; his cap and knee , but not his heart ; he regards not god , and god regards not him . the meer moralist will give man his due , he either respects or fears him , but will not give god his ; he gives to god very little , if any at all ; he cares but little for god , and god as little for him . the hypocrite pretends to give both god and man their due ; carries it so as if he would have others think he doth it ; but god sees him , sees he doth all to be seen of men , nothing as in the sight of god , he hath his reward . only the truly righteous gives ( as well as he can ) both god and man their due , and doth both as in the sight of god ; his eye is upon god , and to him god looks ; him god approves , and will accept of notwithstanding all his failings . one that is upright and sincere , is righteous before god. by these plain characters you may distinguish him from an hypocrite : 1. in general , he is one that walks with , and before god , gen. 24.40 . & 48.15 . through his whole conversation , which way soever he goes , and every step he takes . more particularly , 1. he hath always an eye to gods precepts , as psal . 16.8 . he sets the lord always before him , that he may not be moved ; so he sets gods commands before him that he may not be mistaken or misled . so he walks in the law of god , in his ways , psal . 119.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 11 , 30.97 , 142. yea , v. 6. he has respect to all gods commands ; when he perceives a call to duty , a command from god , immediately in the fear of god , and the strength of christ , he sets upon the performance of it , gal. 1.15 , 16. he stands not to confer and consult with flesh and blood , any man living , not the apostles themselves ; they might wonder , suspect him , so disswade him from preaching , v. 13. you have been a known notorious persecutor , who dares hear , trust you ? who will believe you ? or advise him in prudence to forbear a while , till christians were better satisfied concerning him . hypocrites are much ruled by , they take for doctrines and canons the commands of men . 't is not the will of god , but of others , or their own will , that is the rule they walk by . have they at any time any respect to any of gods commands ? they 'l pick and chuse such as they can make to suit their humour , and serve their interest and reputation . 2. to the lords threatnings , gen. 49. how can i do this , saith holy joseph , and sin against god ? if i should do it , my master may be angry , my god much more ; adulterers , god ( that sees them , though others should never know of it ) will judge . one that is upright , serves god with reverence and godly fear , as knowing that even our god is a consuming fire , ps . 119.120 . ex. 1.15 . that wicked king spake to the midwives , his word was a law , vers . 16. ye shall kill the male children of the hebrews , or lose my favour , your office , or dye your selves , vers . 17. but they feared god , that commanded , you shall not kill , and threatned , gen. 9.6 . if ye do , ye shall dye ; and did not as the king commanded , but as god. they saved the children , acts 4.17 , 18 , 19. dan. 3.15 , 17. a real saint fears god and the king ; an hypocrite stands only in some awe of the civil magistrates and the laws , and his fear towards god is taught by the precepts and edicts of men . es . 29.13 . whatever country he lives in , he will be of the same religion the chief magistrate , and such as are in greatest power and authority are of ; and will change his religion , opinions , practises , as the times and the laws in force change . 3. to the lords promises , psal . 119 166. on them his hopes for salvation hang : that he hopes for , and so doth gods commands . he walks with god , because that god has promised to be his god , who is alsufficient , to make him happy here and for ever , gen. 15.1 . as hypocrites fear men more than god , so they look to get more by pleasing men than god ; they look to what the world promises , to what their own hearts promise them . if they do as others , serve god , they shall get acquaintance , into credit , and gain thereby . their care is not to serve god , but to make god and religion to serve them ; to serve themselves of them . a saints care is to please god , he looks for all from him , he looks on all creatures as broken reeds , empty cisterns , as creatures that can do him no good without god. through the promise , he looks on god as god , as almighty , alsufficient , and verily believes , since god cannot lye , that he will lay out his almighty power and alsufficiency , not only for his protection , but also his temporal , spiritual , and eternal good : so he walks with ( as the apostle renders the word ) pleaseth god , that 's all his care . 4. to our lords presence , to gods alseeing eye ; pharisaical hypocrites , matt. 6. do all to be seen of men ; pray in market-places , blow trumpets when they give alms ; their charity that fills the bellies of some , shall fill the ears of all . come and see my zeal , saith jehu ! did ever moses , phinehas , or david , or any of the lords faithful , zealous servants say so ? no , an upright saint delights in secret holiness , and takes infinitely more content in being and doing good , than in being known to be and do so . there 's many an hypocrite that seems much better than he is ; and many a poor saint that is really much better than he seems to be . at all times he doth all to be seen of god , and is much in private duty , where he can be seen only of him that sees in secret . he prepares his heart , and then , psal . 116.14 . pays his vows to our lord before all his people ; yea , as jotham , 2 chron. 27.6 . he prepares his ways before the lord his god , i. e. his counsels , designs , ( state-affairs ) and all his actions , as under gods eye , knowing god stood a spectatour overlooking him , an eye-witness observing him , a judge that would call him to account . paul , 2 cor. 12.13 . spake before god in christ , he was not as many that corrupt the word of god , but as of sincerity , as of god , in the sight of god spake he in christ , 2 cor. 2.17 . so he commended himself to every mans conscience in the sight of god , 2 cor. 4.2 . that his care of souls in the sight of god might appear to them , 2 cor. 7.12 . sincere hearers present themselves before god , acts 10.33 . he says not , we are present before thee . some hearers , like simon magus , have hearts altogether corrupt , rotten , stark naught , not in the least right with god. when he saw the word of god prevail'd more than his sorceries , got his disciples from him , and his reputation was gone , he turns , hears for company , believes also , makes such a profession , as he was baptized ; his heart was set on the advantage he might have if he could preach , and also procure from the apostles the faculty of giving the holy ghost . others have hearts like amaziah , not perfect , 2 chron. 25.2 . not perfectly sound and sincere ; such will fall away as he did , vers . 14. the apple you find under the tree looks well , look wishly , and you 'l perceive some specks within , and see 't is rotten at the core. how gallantly did joash demean himself as a religious prince , a zealous reformer ! he did that which was right in the sight of the lord , all his days , i. e. all the days of jehoiada , all his days wherein he instructed him , 2 chron. 24.3 . 2 kings 12.2 . his tutor , a godly man , had an eye to him , and upon him , and he an eye to his tutor , a respect for him , and thence did that which for the matter of it was right in the sight of the lord ; in a good mood was more forward and zealous in repairing the house of god than his tutor , vers . 4.5 , 6. chides him ; but , vers . 17.18 . as soon as jehoiada was dead , out of sight and hearing , he fe●l to his own course and bias again , his eye being only to the lords people ; and the lords minister , though he did what was right in the sight of god , his heart was not right with god ; he took up the religion of the fawning princes of judah , that was more for his turn , his interest now . but would he not repent if any of the lords ministers would boldly tell him of his backslidings ? no , many did , vers . 18.19 . them he regarded not . jehoiada's own son did , and he gave express order they should stone him . so , many are righteou● before men , that godly ministers , good people may have a great opinion of them ; they carry it cunningly , whilst godly ministers , parents , friends , acquaintance live ; yet are hypocrites and gross dissemblers before god. 5. but the occasion calls louder upon me than the time , and constrains me to be thus abrupt , ( to omit the remainder of this , and the use of consolation , which will take up another s●●eet , and may come to your view . ) there●ore stay , sirs ; ye that have heard mr. charnock preach , yea , if there be any such here , that first gave your own selves unto the lord , then unto him by the will of god , ye will hearken , ye will be exhorted and prevailed with . is it ? is it not ? i know it is , your hearts desir , to be received into the kingdom of your father , and be perfectly glorified : let it be your constant care and endeavour to be found still amongst the righteous , to shine in grace , in holiness and righteousness , in light and love , faith and new obedience ; above all , in uprightne● and sincerity . be ye righteous before god , in his all-discerning eye , not only in your own , or other mens eyes , which may soon , easily be dazed , blinded , and so deluded by you . at your leasur● weigh these scriptures , 1 thes . 4.1 , to 10. luke 1.75 . and 1 thes . 3.12 , 13. thus ye will embalm the deceased , put him in the best repository , and preserve in your minds his remains . ye are to eternize the name of that reverend and excellent divine , your faithful pastor , mr. stephen charnock , a name of precious and eternal memory ; ye are to follow his faith , to walk in the way of righteousness : you saw how he went before you . my observation of his walking , growth , and perseverance in the way that is called holy , makes me conclude , that he was , 1. a sincere convert , born of the word and spirit , the seed of grace and righteousness sprang up betimes in his heart . the deed of gift , or rather copy of it , which shewed his title to heaven , i believe perished with his books in londons flames ; and i have forgot the particular places of scripture , by which he was most wrought upon , which were there inserted . that it was pure gospel is evident ( whatever any ( that heard him not ) may think or have heard of his preaching but morality or metaphysicks ) in all his sermons , prayers , conversation , gospel-light appeared to each that had any thing of the spirit of discerning , and love did abound more and more in knowledg , in all judgment and experience . how would he deeply search into , and prove things that differ ( which many others at first view would well approve of ) and allow only what he found pure and excellent , whereby he might make himself , others sincere , without offence , and to be filled with the fruits of righteousness . for this i had him in my heart , at my first acquaintance with him in cambridge , thirty six years since ; i found him one that , josiah-like , had turned to the lord with all his heart , all his soul , and all his might , and none like him ; which did more endear him to me . how had he hid the word of god , in a fertile soyl , a good and honest heart , which made him flee youthful lusts , and antidoted him against the infection of youthful vanities ! his study was his recreation ; the law of god all his delights . had he it not , think ye , engraven on his heart ? he was as choice , circumspect and prudent in his election of society , as of books to converse with ; all his delight being in such as excelled in the divine art of directing , furthering , and quickening him in the way to heaven , the love of christ and souls . most choice he was of the ministers that he would hear ; what he learnt from books , converse , or sermons ( that which affected and wrought most upon him ) he prayed over till he was delivered into the form of it , and had christ , grace and the spirit formed in him . true , he had been darkness , and then ( he said ) full of doubtings , fears , and grievously pestred with temptations . 't is in the night the ugly serpent crawls forth ; alas , he was to be trained up , as he might counsel and comfort others ; but god vouchsafed to dart such raies into his heart , as gave the light of the knowledg of the glory of god in the face , the person of jesus christ . so was he made light in the lord , and believing on christ , and god in him , filled with inward peace and comfort . 2 ly , he was a sound believer , and oft said he esteemed his own righteousness as none at all , nor would he be found in it ; 't was impure , imperfect , defiled , stain'd like a menstruous cloth . all his desire was to be found in christ , and arrayed with the fine linnen , clean and shining , the righteousness of the saints . one excellency of this excellent divine lay in his knowledg , belief of , and the soundness of his judgment , to clear unto the understanding of others fundamental truths , viz. concerning the first covenant , the apostacy and defection of our first parents , ( by which term the fathers in the primitive times judiciously delight to delineate the fall of adam , and ours in him . ) the first promise that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , concerning christ the seed of the woman , and that before the judiciary sentence past ; the covenant of redemption , the new covenant of grace ( which filled up the greatest room in his head , heart , meditations , prayers and discourses ) the nature of original sin , want of original righteousness , corruption of nature , impossibility of being justified by the law , by works , justification by christ , by faith in him , the sufferings of christ , regeneration , &c. and the love of god in all . how oft have we found him ( as if he had lately been with paul caught up into the third heaven , and heard unspeakable words ) magnifying and adoring the mercy , love , and goodness of god , the freeness , and the riches of his grace , in giving the promise before the sentence , giving christ , righteousness and faith in him ? oh! said he oft to this effect , the grace of god! the freeness and exceeding riches of his grace , who is rich in mercy , for his great love wherewith he hath loved us ! he was pleased to make us vessels of grace and mercy , when he might have made us vessels of wrath ! that ever the lord should have thoughts of mercy on such sinful creatures , such vile wretches , worse than worms or toads ! they have poyson in them , but no enmity against god. oh that god should give his christ for us , to us , and faith in christ , both work it , and preserve it in us ! yea , he was one that lived by faith , and he is gone to receive the end of it , the salvation of his soul . 3 ly , he was no solifidian , but being sanctified in part , truly righteous : 1. having infused habits of grace and righteousness in him , light and love , faith and hope , inclining him to walk in new obedience , and worthy of the lord unto all pleasing . 1. knowledg , without which the heart is not good ; he knew the grace of god in truth , and through grace had treasured up a large stock of saving , solid , practical , experimental knowledg , which furnished him with great abilities , not only to convince gain-sayers , which crept in as new lights , of their broaching old errors ; but ( wherein he did most delight ) to give knowledg and discretion to weaker christians , and to illuminate and instruct the righteous . many able ministers loved to sit at his feet , for they received by one sermon of his those instructions , which they could not get by many books or sermons of others . his heat and zeal for the honour of god , and the good of souls , was proportioned to his light ; he was as much a burning , as a shining light . 2 ly , as for his sparkling love , he had bowels of compassion for sinners to snatch them out of the flames , and for saints to direct them into the love of christ , of holiness and righteousness . — i need not speak unto you of his preaching : how oft went he to children of light walking in darkness , to cheer and revive them with cordials , wherewith the lord had usually refreshed him ! this great physician of souls had great practice , and was rarely found out of his study , where he was commonly immured five days in the week , twelve hours each of those days . ( i will not say as some , to make one sermon , i know he had other work there ) ; unless gone to visit and relieve his patients . 3. for his hope , he might appeal to god and say with david , lord , i have hoped for thy salvation ; the great and glorious , the promised rewards , eternal life and glory ; and so have done thy commandment , as the righteous have ; he had hopes in his death . 't was his longing desire , and his hopes were that he should shortly be in that sinless estate in heaven , where there is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the perfection of grace and holiness . hypocrites fancying something they know not what of the glory and happiness of that place , i believe sometimes have desires to go to heaven when they die , and hopes they shall go , thinking themselves too good for hell , and better than many others ; but sure they would reach and pursue more after holiness and perfection , were their desires after , and hopes for heaven real and sincere : but as to mr. charnock , these gracious dispositions inclin'd him , 1 ly , to love righteousness , to cherish , countenance , and encourage holiness , and to hate iniquity , to reprove sin where he found it , thou●h in his dearest friends ( imitating his father in heaven , who is not only an all seeing god that espies sin where ever it is , but so holy , pure and perfect , that he hates sin where ever he finds it ) , yet his reproofs never brake the head , but heal'd the heart , went down smoothly like precious oyl , being compounded of such ingredients , much christian meekness , prudence , compassion , love as well as zeal . yea , 2. grace in the heart set his hands at work , the work of righteousness , made him only mind that work , and so much abound in it . should you bring me many eminent saints , choice ministers , yet i believe i may say without adulation , mr. charnock did labour more than them all . i am sure ( though i do not particularize them ) his works will be had in remembrance , and praise him in the gates . so i question not but the lord did accept him , 3 ly , as righteous in his own eye ; though i say , it may be you observed some failings in him . that which i wishly looked for , and am perswaded i found in him ; ( for so far as 't is in man to judg , it seemed to me the most sparkling jewel in the crown of glory which he wore upon his head ) was sincerity ; he would give god his own , himself , soul and body a living and an acceptable sacrifice , his whole heart , his life , which he spent in the service of god , and of the faith of his people , ( i remember ( if i mistake not ) something he reply'd to one that told him , if he studied so much , 't would cost him his life ; to this effect . why ! it cost christ his life to redeem and save me ▪ ) his time , which he husbanded best to that end ; his talents , parts , gifts and graces . he was careful to watch over his heart , that he knew too well to trust , and against spiritual pride . 't was apparent he had frequently been with god in the mount especially at sacram●nt-seasons ( when christ is as it were transfigured , lively crucified before his people , and looks with a most amiable countenance , white and ruddy ) his face then , and after his conversation , shone in hol●n●ss ; yet such was his humility , he himself took no notice of it , though others did observe it with admiration ; he would adhere to christ , observe his ordinances according to his prescription . and his main care was always to worship god in spirit and in truth . 2 ly , as to himself he watched and kept his garments , as he kept himself unspotted from the world . 3 ly he gave others their due ; one instance whereof , he was a preacher of righteousness . he , or rather christ in him by the blessed spirit preached in season and out of season , sometimes to such as would not be perswaded . but , 4 ly , especially to his flock , whether many others came flocking like doves unto the windows , that he might better fulfill this righteousness of his office. he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which as plato affirms , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or rather as the apostle exhorts , he did study to be quiet , and to mind and do his own business ; and all his care was to work out the salvation of himself , and of his people . indeed not long after he had received light himself , when the lord by his blessing on his endeavours had qualified him for it , such , such was his love , he gave forth light unto others , inviting them , and saying , come and see jesus . 1. in southwark , where seven or eight in that little time providence continued him there , owned their conversion under god to his ministry , and were the seal and letters testimonial thereof . then in the university of oxford and adjacent parts . after in dublin , where it might be said of his , as it was of the lords preaching in the land of zebulon , the people which sat in darkness saw great light : and to them which sat in the region of the shadow of death light sprang up . and lastly , in this great city , where his sphere being not spacious enough for so great a light , was enlarged . here he intended to have given forth a compleat body of divinity ; but alas ! after he had demonstrated the being and existence of god , this sun set before he had gone over half of his transcendent excellencies and perf●ctions . the last subject he treated on and finished , was the patience of god. he was looking what to say next of the mercy , grace and goodness of god , which he is gone to see and to admire ; for he found that which he most looked and longed for , the mercy of our lord jesus unto eternal life in heaven , where he shines now . indeed all the while he was upon the attributes of god , he moved with that extraordinary strength and celerity , 't was an argument of his near approach unto his center , his everlosting rest ; and if it be true , as some say , that the soul doth prominere in morte , his words were too true predictions , and from his soul , when he said that concerning divine patience would be his last sermon , which the lord grant may prove salvation to all that heard him . let me advise you , dry your eyes , he is translated to heaven to shine forth . here your timothy was something obscured by manifold infirmities , a crazy body , weak eyes , one dark , the other dim ; a hand that would shake sometimes , an infirm stomack , an aking head , a fugitive memory , which after it had failed him sometimes , he would never trust again ; but verbatim , pen'd and read all his notes ; whereas till of late years , in preaching he never look'd within them : more by a little passion or choler , which through grace he turned into the right channel : most of all by foul and false aspersions cast upon him , as if he was melancholly , reserv'd , unsociable ; to which , all his acquaintance will give a character of him diametrically opposite . how cheerful , free , loving , sweet-disposition'd was he in all companies where he could take delight ! he was their love , their delights . well , your stephen has seen the glory of god , and jesus at his right hand , in the glory of the father , and now he shines forth as a star , as the sun it self for ever and ever . i know it , the word of god is truth , they that turn many to righteousness , shall shine as the stars for ever , dan. 12.3 . as a learned rabbin comments upon the words , they that in their life-time followed the righteousness of god , and were the adjuvant causes to make others to work and do righteousness , shall attain to a more eminent degree of light and glory from the brightness of the shechinah , or the divine presence , and their faces shall shine as the face of moses did , when he had been long fed with , and lived upon the divine-light , and that for ever ; for they shall sin no more , as here , as oft as they sinned , they lost degrees of the excellency of their dignity ; but shall with an absolute perfection be made perfect : then also , whatever did let and oppress their shining forth , viz. the captivity ( we may say temptations to sin , or their being in part carnal and sold under sin ) satan , and the evil figment , or remainders of corruption shall cease . and you know that your sun which is now set , did follow after holiness , and rejoyced as a strong man , a giant to run that race ; the light of his doctrine was pure , perfect , sure , right , enlightning the eyes , converting the soul , making wise the simple , and rejoycing the heart . your teacher was , though not a perfect man , a perfect minister , thorowly accomplish'd by the spirit and the word of truth , the old and new testament ( i never in all my life knew any that had attained near unto that skill he he had in both their originals , except mr. thomas cawton ) unto all those four good works of the ministry , 2 tim. 3.16 . 1. doctrine , i. e. clearly to expound , 1. the promise , the covenant of grace , the gospel . 2. the law , and so to preach over the apostles whole system of divinity , faith and love , which is in christ . in this which is the only true divinity , he was a most judicious , solid and sound divine . as for , 2. reproof ; he was an able and an orthodox divine , a professor in divinity , able to convince of every sin , to refute every error , to demonstrate the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of each antichristian , or other false opinion . 3. for correction and restauration of any that through infirmity or temptation had fallen into sin to the wounding of his conscience , he was an excellent casuist , a most experimental preacher , a most discreet and experienced divine . 4. for instruction in righteousness ; he knew the way to heaven , and how to conduct and take his hearers along with him . he was a most powerful and practical preacher . he was so , but now he is not . he is not so to you . — all that i speak , i see doth but renew your grief : but moderate your sorrows ; yea , sorrow not . read what dr. bates in his funeral-sermon on dr. manton cites out of chrysostom , pag. 47. yea , read the text , 1 thes . 3. from v. 13. to the end . mr. charnock his soul is gone , his body will be raised to be for ever with the lord. you 'l say you weep for your selves : truly , well you may ; yet think not because he hath left you , that you are left of god. i own it , your loss is so great that it cannot be repaired but by god himself . continue in prayers , that god would please to raise you up a pastor , by whose ministry you may be called more and more effectually to the obtaining of the glory of our lord jesus christ. were i to speak to mr. charnock's people , i should beg of them to be most circumspect and prudent in calling one to establish you ; if they could meet with , to chuse such a one as he was , a powerful preacher , a good casuist , a judicious divine , a doctor , yea , professor in divinity . i know not what more to advise ; pray i will , since a chariot of fire hath parted mr. charnock and you , that a double portion of his spirit may be , and rest on him whom the lord shall chuse , and direct you to pitch upon , to succeed him , that whilst you are crying , my father ! my father ! the chariots of israel , and the horsemen thereof ! the enemy may not pursue your souls , break in upon , rout , scatter and divide , and so ruine you and your congregation . amen! amen! finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a46911-e300 pictores p. ichram absolutámq faciem rarò nis in pejus effingunt . plin. sec . lib. 5. c. 10. notes for div a46911-e660 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , stumbling-blocks , traps . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not only as justin , and gr. nyssen cite it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . g nazian . orat. 1● . rom. 3.10 , &c. splendida peccata . gataker renders glittering slips . see articles of the church of england , art. 11. christi justitia in justificatione fidelibus imputatur quatenus eju● merito justi coram deo reputamur . ames . med. theol. lib. 1. c. 27. th . 12. hanc dei justitiam quam donat gratia sine meritis nesciunt illi qui suam justitiam volunt constituere & ideo justitiae dei qui christus est , non sunt subjecti , in quâ justitia est multa multitudo dulcedinis dei , propter quam dicitur gustate & videte , quam dulcis est dominus . aug. de civ . dei , l. 21. c. 24. disc . of justific . p. 7. 2 cor. 5.21 . — in quantum viget in nobis quod ex deo nati sumus , ex fide viventes justi sumus , in quantum aut . relliquias ex adam trahimus , sine peccato non sumus . — nec tamen ex hoc desinimus esse justi cum ex affectu tenemus sanctitatem . aug. ep. 50. denominatione ex meliori parte quat . opponuntur hominibus carnalibus , in quibus nullum est semen inchoatae justitiae , nullus conatus piae vitae , nullum studium sanctitatis , doctos appellamus bonis literis initiatos & incumbentes opponendo eos rusticis & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. daven . disp . de hab . just . 2. 3. ab ipso habituali proposito & amore justitiae in est omnibus renatis hoc propositum haec voluntas tribuendi quod suum est deo & proximo quamvis vitiosa concupiscentia in contrariam partem sub inde eos trabat . daven . ibid. praeter operationem dei , quae nos i●loneos reddit mutando ac regenerando requiritur misericors dei acceptatio , quae tegat infirmitates nostras & conatus imbecilles reputet pro perfectâ obedientiâ , ut nil in nobis boni esset , ni renovati essemus operatione divinâ , ita nihili essent renovatorum opera , ad participationem hereditatis coelestis , nisi a pater indulgentissimo propter christum supra condignum aestimarentur . daven . in col. c. 1. v. 12. retinens veri cultus — justus fide credens verbo dei de mundo per dendo & servanda sua-posteritate , & de semine mulieris . munst . quaen . justitia est quae ipsum hominem deo vero tollit , & immundis spiritibus subdit ? hoccine est suum cuique distribuere ? aug. de civ . dei. l. 19. c. 21. vid. pisc . justitiam officii , particularem . i. e opus ministeriis unius cujusque . scult . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rarò solent ingenia insigniter foelicia robusta sortiri corpora deo dispensante ita ut quod animi viribus additum est , corporis de●ra●atur . erasm . praefat . ad august . opera . scriptor sapientiae loquens de justis — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . grot. in mat. 13.43 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , walketh , advanceth , pro. 4.18 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . acutissimè christianus philosopho interroganti ubi deu● esset respondit● dic tu priùs 〈◊〉 philosophe ubi● non sit . alcnin● l. 2. de trin. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 excellens sensibile destruit sensum . quidistan beatitudine falsiu● aut fallacius , ubi nos futuros miseros aut in summâ veritatis luce nesciamus , aut in summâ faelicitatis apice timeamus ? aust . de civ . dei , lib. 12. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●achiad in ●an . 12.3 . ●ost illam po●li liberatio●m per an●chi mortem , expetenda etiam erit alia multò illustrior , quam michaelis , i. e. christi interventu as●uemur , ita tamen ut calamitatis gravissimae praecedant , mat. 24. quas resurrectio beata excipiat . ●mpereur in loc . arist . meteor lib. 1. c. 3. telleth the stars . quanto quis● acutius cas 〈◊〉 turtur tantò plures videt unde & acerrimè cernent●bus aliquas oc●cultas esse me●rito existimatur . aug. de civ . dei , lib 16. non crimen phoebus , noctu● crimen habet . gloria à deo ●donanda . pisc . coelestis est terrenae hareditatis dissimil●ima terrenan . quo inter plu●es distribui●ur , eò minus à singulis possidetur , regnum coeleste in solidum possidetur ab inumeris sanctis , ita ut numerus participantium nihil obstet perfectissimae & p●enissim●e participationi singulorum . dav. in col. 1.12 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assumi dicitur qui in co●sortium adju● gitur recept● est nimirum coelum unde venerat . erasmus . praemium vi●tutis erit ipse qui virtutem dedit , qui sei● sum quo meli● & majus nihil esse possit eg● ero illorum deus , i. e. eg● ero unde sat entur , ego e● quae cunque ab hominibus ho●nestè de syderantur & vi & salus , & v●ctus , & copi● & gloria , & honor , & pax , & omnia bona . aug. conf. l. 9. c. 13. heb. 10.7 , 8. phil. 2.8 , 9 , 10. vid. zanch. in locum . non dicit templa ut significet ita singulos esse dei templa , ut tamen omnes ●num dei templum constitu●ant . estius in loc . nec coelum aut christus patitur hyperbolen . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arist . eth. ad nicom . l. 5. c. 1. psal . 16.3 . vt sit in nobis boni scintilla minima requiritur dei potentia in operando , ut illud bonum qualecunque idoneos nos faciat ut reputemur interfilios ac haeredes regni requiritur paterna clementia in acceptando . daven . in col. 1.12 . quisquis tibi numerat merita sua , quid tibi enumerat nisi munera sua . aug. conf. l. 9. c. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , without horns . tit. 3. ● . burroughs , moses his choice , p. 316. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . naz. orat. 1● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . joh. 1. nec beatitud● esset si certu● non haberent s● ibi semper fu●turos nec vita● aeterna si mort● finiretur lud viv. in aug. de civ . dei. lib. 12. c. 19 if in heavens outward court such beauty be , vvhat is the glory which the saints do see ! herbert . vbi nulla crea●tura est cujus mutabilibus motibus tempo●ra perarantur tempora omnin● esse non possunt . aug. d● civ . dei , l. 12 ▪ c. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vid. beza & dicks in loc . nubecula est & citò praetor ibit . athan. gen. 47.9 . cant. 1.6 . lam. 3.2 . mic. 7.8 , 9 , 10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , haec distantia praemiorum atque paenarum justos dirimens ab injustis quae sub isto sole in hujus vitae vanitate non cernitur quando , sub illo sole justitiae in illius vitae manifestatione clarebit tunc profecto erit judicium quale nunquam suit aug de civ . dei , l 20. c. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theod. ep. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derelinguen●tes , verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in part sensu habemus , ja● 1.21 . grot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est consilia arcana communicare , & in sinum amicorum effunder budaeus . ●atia haec di●na eò in ●nditur electis 〈◊〉 peragant ●iones ordi●tas in finem ●ae eternae , ●quinas , qu. ●isput . de virt. ●t . 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is oppo● to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . vbi homo deo non servit , quid in eo putandum est esse justitiae . aug. de civ . dei. a real sain● is one well known , not to the world , to god alone . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c ▪ g. nyssen , or de vito . s. p ▪ ephrem . syri● da pulchra laverna , fallere da justum , ●anctumq , vide●i , horat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. strom. lib. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex adm. ad gent. p. 167 psal . 119 . 16● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. al. l. 6. ● . 667. r. j. jachiades in dan. 12.3 . cum version . constant . ●empereur . the credenda & agenda . 2 tim. 1.13 . a sermon touching the use of humane learning preached in mercers-chappel at the funeral of that learned gentleman, mr. john langley, late school-master of pauls school in london, on the 21 day of september, 1657 / by ed. reynolds ... reynolds, edward, 1599-1676. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a57163 of text r9227 in the english short title catalog (wing r1287). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 63 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a57163 wing r1287 estc r9227 11985780 ocm 11985780 51940 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57163) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 51940) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 76:16) a sermon touching the use of humane learning preached in mercers-chappel at the funeral of that learned gentleman, mr. john langley, late school-master of pauls school in london, on the 21 day of september, 1657 / by ed. reynolds ... reynolds, edward, 1599-1676. [4], 34 p. printed by t.n. for george thomason ..., london : 1658. reproduction of original in british library. eng langley, john, d. 1657. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. a57163 r9227 (wing r1287). civilwar no a sermon touching the use of humane learning. preached in mercers-chappel, at the funeral of that learned gentleman, mr. john langley, late reynolds, edward 1657 10697 124 25 0 0 0 0 139 f the rate of 139 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2004-04 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon touching the use of humane learning , preached in mercers-chappel , at the funeral of that learned gentleman , mr. john langley , late school-master of pauls school in london , on the 21 day of september , 1657. by ed reynolds , d. d. london , printed by t. n. for george thomason at the rose and crown in pauls church-yard , 1658. to the honorable sir henry yelverton , baronet . sir , there i● none amongst all my ●●ble friends unto whom the ded●cation of this sermon doth more properly be long , then unto your self . for ●esides that debt of honor which i owe to ●our family , not onely for the favors received from your self , but from your noble father and grandfather , n●w with god ; when i consider the ve●y great love , and high esteem which your father did bear to that good man , at whose funeral this sermon was preached ▪ unto whose care ●e in●●usted the two ●rops of his family , your self , and your most hopeful brother ( whom god took from that school to a celestial academy ▪ ) and with al , your own hereditary possession of the same love and esteem , as a grateful return unto this learned man for his special care in your education ; and when i further remember the noble thoughts and singular honor which this worthy man ever had towards your father , your self , and all the relations of your family ; it was not possible for me to look further for a name to inscribe before this smal book . i have therefore assumed the boldness to put so poor a testimony of those honorable affections which i owe unto you , and of that great love which i bear to the nam● of that good man , who was so dear unto you , into your hands ; as knowing withal how much the argument of this sermon would be acceptable unto you , who can experimentally subscribe to the excellency and use of that learning which it pleadeth for , and as an eye and ear witness can attest the character of that worthy pe●son , to whose obsequ●es this last office of love was performed . my hearty prayer for you unto god is , that he will crown all those great blessings which he hath bestowed upon you , with ● more abundant greatness of his heavenly grace , tha● you may be eminently serviceable to his great name , and may so tread in the steps of your worthy pr●genitors ( which i perswade my self you do ) as not onely to keep up the life and power of godliness in your own heart , and family , but further to be a comforter , countenancer , and encourager ( as they were ) both of learned and godly ministers , and of others who love the lord iesus in sincerity . to his gracious protection and blessing i commend you , and all yours , desiring to be esteemed your most faithful and humble servant ed. reynolds . a sermon touching the use of humane learning . acts 7.22 . and moses was learned in all the wisdom of the egyptians , and was mighty in words and in deeds . in the former chapter we read of a dispute between stephen , and the members of a certain synagogue in ierusalem , called the synagogue of the libertines , of such jews , who having been servants to the romans , were manumitted and made free ; for such the romans called libertines ; of which sort of jews , coming out of several parts of the world that colledge or convention seemeth to have been made up . or , as grotius supposeth , was built by them at ierusalem for their countrymen and proselytes , as there are at rome and rhemes colledges for english papists . the issue of this disputation was , that being worsted at arguments , these libertines do betake themselves to calumnies , and false accusations , as the pharisees when their reasons were spent , were wont to take up stones to throw at christ . they bring him from a scholastical to a judicial defence , from the ●olledge to the council , and by false witnesses charge him with blasphemy against moses and god . whereupon , being pro forma , permitted to make his defence ( for persecuters will manage their cruelties under a form of law , that they may appear the more specious ) he doth it largely with much wisdom and courage . the scope of the sermon is to shew ( upon a fair issue with his accusers ) that he was not guilty of the charge given in against him , that it did not follow , because he affirmed that christ would destroy the temple , and change the customs which m●ses deliv●red , that therefore he blasphemed either moses or god ; the argument of his justification , is by an historical induction . 1. if abraham , isaak , iacob ▪ and ioseph worshipped god without a temple , and without such customs as moses delivered , and moses did without blasphemy against them , make that alteration which god was pleased to command him to make : then the worship of god is not peremptorily confined to an outward temple , or a mo●aical ministration . but abraham , isaak , iacob and ioseph by obeying the commands and beleeving the promises of god , did acceptably worship him without a ●emple or mosaical ceremonies ; therefore it is no blasphemy to say that god may so be worshipped . 2. again , if moses , a great , a learned , a mighty ruler and deliverer , did assure the people that a prophet god would raise who should do as he had done , make new institutions , and set up a more excellent way of worship , then it was no blasphemy against moses or god , to say , that 〈◊〉 customs by him introduced should be by that prophet altered . but moses himself did teach the people thus to beleeve : therefore stephen teaching the same did not blaspheme moses . 3. again , that which was not blasphemy to affirm of the tabernacle , though it were set up by gods special appointment unto moses , is not blasphemy to affirm of the temple . but it was not blasphemy to affirm the use of the tabernacle to have been temporary , and consequently alterable ; therefore to affirm the same of the temple is not blasphemy . especially , since the lord hath said , that he dwelleth not in temples made with hands . together with these strong arguments are interwoven apologetical reprehensions ; stephen justifying himself against their accusations now , by the same argument whereby moses was to be justified against their fathers before . moses did by wonders and signs in egypt , in the red sea , in the wilderness prove himself to be a ruler and iudge sent of god , and yet your fathers would not obey but thrust him from them , and made a calf to worship . now the lord hath raised up the prophet whom mose● foretold , who by signs and wonders did prove himself to be of god , but you thrust him from you , and resist the holy ghost as your fathers did . and your refusing of iesus is no more argument against his doctrine and institutions , then their refusing of moses , was an argument against his . in as much as you are not able to alleadge any thing why your fathers should have beleeved moses , which we are not able to alleadge , why you ought 〈◊〉 to beleeve christ . unto this strong defence of stephen , neither the iudges nor his accusers make any reply by way of argument ; but though he professed himself to be at that time an eye witness of the truth of jesus his being in glory , yet in a rage and outcry they cast him out of the city and stoned him . the stronger were his arguments for the truth , the more excessive was their malice against him for it . the words of the text are a branch of the second argument , drawn from the testimony of moses , and the historical narration touching him : and they contain the fruit which followed upon the noble education , which he received from the hand and care of pharaohs daughter ; he so prospered under it , that he became learned in all the wisdom of the egyptians , and was a mighty man both for oratory and action . the lord by these civil accomplishments fitting him in part for the government whereunto he reserved him . in the words we have first , his intellectual perfections . he was learned and instructed , together with the object of that learning , all the wisdom of the egyptians . secondly , his civil , moral and religious perfections ; a mighty man for elocution , a mighty man for action . he improved and put forth his intellectual abilities for the good and service of others , laid up all his power to do good to his brethren , in due time when god should call him thereunto . moses was learned , or instructed and instituted . it noteth acquired knowledge , by the benefit of learned education . in all the wisedom of the egyptians ; that nation was antiently famous for wisedom : from thence some think that the grecians derived their learning ; for we read in diodorus s●culus , and others , that orpheus , homer , pythagoras , plato , lycurgus , solon , and others did travel into egypt for institution . but cadmus who first brought letters into greece , was a phanitian , as eusebius , and after him other learned men have fully proved . therefore from the egyptians the greeks did not primitively derive their learning . what this wisdom of the egyptians was , wherein moses was learned , is by philo in the life of moses , by diodorus siculus , lib. 1. c. 2. by sixtus senensis , biblioth. lib. 2. and others described , viz. mathematicks , astronomy , geometry , arithmetick , musick , natural philosophy , physick , symbolical , and hieroglyphical writing , civil and political knowledge , for which that people seemeth to have been famous , isa. 19.11 — 14. i shall not here enquire into the most antient rise or original of learning , or seat thereof , which some carry beyond the flood , and tell us of pillars with hebrew inscriptions and characters set up by enoch and seth ; nor shall i inquire whence the egyptians derived their learning , which some ascribe to ioseph and the people of the iews living there : others to abraham , of whose being in egypt we read , gen. 12.10 . it is sufficient for us to know , that at this time there was learning there , and that moses was brought up and proved excellent in it . now we may here observe , first , the great care of the kings daughter to bring up moses in in all kinde of good literature , that thereby he might be fit for such great services , as his so near relation to a princes court might probably have brought him unto . and truly so great hath been the care of w●se heathens in this particular ( as we read of the lacedemonians , persians , and others ) as may justly put to shame many christians , who breed up their children many times so loosely , so ignorantly , so sensually , to gameing , sporting and excess , as if an inheritance did serve to no other purpose but to make the heir of it useless , and good for nothing . and as we see many times good ground grow moss● and barren for want of culture ; so is it with good wits , which being neglected do usually become more vitious then those of less hope and pregnancy . the foundations of an honorable and comfortable age are laid in the minority of children ; if the plant be not kept strait at first , the tree will be crooked incurably at the last . no doubt but david had special care of the education of solomon ; for quickness of parts , without special culture would hardly have arrived at so great a pitch of learning , especially in a disposition , as the event proved , by nature sensual enough , and therefore he maketh mention both of his fathers and his mothers teaching him , prov. 4.1.31.1 . it is as great a folly to lay up estates for children , and to take no care of themselves who must enjoy them , as to be curious for an handsom shoe , and then to put it upon a gouty f●ot . and the greater men are , the greater should their care be for free and honorable , learned and religious education of their children . first , because it is a very incongruous mixture , greatness of estate , and meaness of understanding ; the one will be a perpetual blemish and reproach unto the other . secondly , because there will be the more fuel of lust , if learning and piety be not laid up to season a full estate . we see nothing grow upon a fat heap of muck , but weeds and trash : therefore we find what great care theodosius had to have a good tutor to shape the minds and manners of his children the famous arsenius , and iosephus telleth us that moses had a special care of the education of children in good literature , and we find some evidence of it in the scripture , where he commandeth the people to teach the words of the law diligently unto their children , deut. 6.7 . and herein must our care exceed this of pharaohs daughter , we must so provide to breed up our children unto wisedom , as that we forget not the chief thing to have them seasoned with the knowledge and fear of god , which is the onely true wisdom , iob 28.28 . iulian the apostate had great schollars , mardonius and maximus to his tutors , but being prophane heathens and scoffers at christian religion , they laid the foundations of that desperate apostacy , whereby he fell from christ to the devil . he that begets a fool , or by careless breeding maketh one , hath been the author of his own sorrow ; a wise son maketh a glad father . if thine heart be wise , saith solomon . i shall rejoyce , prov. 23.15 . it is very sad for children to have wicked parents , who wholly neglect their education , and of whom cyprian tels us they will cry out at the last day , parentes sensimus parricidas . our parents have been our parricides . now then by this important duty we learn , 1. to set an high value upon such wise , learned and religious tutors as at any time we enjoy for the discarge of this great work . and 2. to bewail it as a more then ordinary loss , when men whom god hath every way fitted with learning , industry , piety , and fidelity for so excellent a work are by a sudden stroke taken away from us . we have considered the care of the kings daughter for the education of moses ; let us in the next place consider , the blessing of god upon it , in that thereby moses was learned in all the learning of the egyptians . where first , it is very observable , the different end which god had in his providence , and she in her particular care ; she intended , no doubt , the service of pharoah , god intended to qualifie him the better , to be a ruler and a deliverer of his people from pharoah ; she intended the good of egypt , god intended the good of israel . many times the wise and holy providence of god , useth the diligence of one man to bring about effects for the good of others , which he never intended ; as we see in iosephs brethren , and hamans dictating the honor which was conferred upon mordecai at that time , when he came to beg him for the gallows which he had erected . god useth the counsels of men , to effect things by them which they never thought of . the assyrian had his work , and god had his , isa. 10.6 , 7. iudas looked after money , caiphas and the high priests after interest and revenge , pilate after caesar and his favor ; but gods end was the salvation of the world by the death of christ . in re una quam fecerunt , causa non una propter quam fecerunt . god and christ did it in charitate , iudas and the jews in proditione . 2. we may here observe , that moses that great prophet , whom the lord did after speak unto mouth to mouth , num. 12.8 . is commended for his skill in the learning and wisdom of the egyptians , a prophane nation . ven humane , secul●r , and exotick learning is a noble gift of god ; and a very great ornament and honor un●o the most excellent men . as it was mentioned for the honor of daniel and his three companions , that god gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom , dan. 1.17 . meaning , as appears ver. 4. the learning of the caldeans : not as if they were southsayers , as the wise men of caldea were ; or moses , a magician and sorcerer , as the wise-men of egypt were , and as heathen writers charge him to have been . for the great miracles which moses did ; and the interpretations of dreams and visions by daniel , were from god , and not from the devil , by the help of any magicall inchantments . in like manner bezaleel and aholiab are commended by god for that wisdom and understanding , which they had in all manner of cunning workmanship , exod. 31.3 — 6. and it is mentioned for the honor of iabal , iubal , and tubal cain , that they were the first inventers of some particular useful arts for the good of humane society , gen. 4.20 , 21 , 22. and of solomon , that he spake of trees from the cedar tree in lebanon , unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall , and that he spake also of beasts , and of fowl , and of creeping things , and of fishes , 1 reg. 4.33 . the high esteem which the heathen had of the first inventers of liberal sciences and necessary arts and manufactures , is noted as one principal cause by diodorus si●ulus , and others , of the divine titles and honours which were given unto them . and paul mentions it amongst other his priviledges , that he was brought up a schollar at the feet of the learned ●amaliel , act. 22.3 . yea by that apostle the lord hath given so much honor unto humane learning , as three times to make mention of heathen poets , and their sayings . aratus , act. 17.28 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . me●ander , 1 cor ▪ 15.33 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . epimenides , tit. 1.12 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. truth is gods where ever it is found , res fisci est ubicunque natat ; as a mine of gold or silver is the kings in whose ground soever it be discovered . christianus domini sui esse intelligit ubicunque invenerit veritatem , saith austin . a christian knows that truth belongeth to christ wheresoever he finds it . and again , tibi serviat , saith he , quicquid utile puer didici . as israel took of the egyptians , jewels of silver and jewels of gold , as david consecrated the spoils of the philistims , moabites , syrians , and all nations whom he subdued to the lord , 2 sam. 8.11 . as the crown of the king of rabbah , was set upon the head of david , 2 sam. 12.30 . so the spoils of all secular learning are to be dedicated unto christ , and the use of his church , who is said to take from satan all his armor , and to divide the spoil , luk. 11.22 . for so in triumphs the enemies was disarmed , and the spoils carried in state before the victors chariot . such spoils did origen , tertullian , cyprian , clemens alex. iustin , cyril ▪ lactantius , hierom , austin , basil , nazianzen , arnobius , &c. take from the gentile writers and devote them to the service of the church of christ . it is noted of theodosius the emperor , that when he destroyed the temples of the heathen idols , in alexandria , yet all the vessels and statues of gold and silver he converted to the use of the christian churches . yea ●etrus aerodius a learned civilian out of procopius telleth us , that the christians did convert the very idol temples themselves into churches , wherein to worship christ . for if an idol , being nothing , did not so , defile meat , but that as a good creature ( though not in idol communion ) it might be eaten , if the conscience of no man were thereby offended , as the apostle teacheth , 1 cor. 8 . 4-7 . 10.25.28 . certainly neither doth it leave any such abiding pollution to any place , but that therein god may be worshipped , 2 tim. 2.8 . first , all good learning and wisdom is per se , and in its own nature desireable , as an ornament and perfection to the mind , as a part of that truth whereof god is the author . there is a knowledge of god natural in and by his works : and a knowledge supernatural by revelation out of the word ; and though this be the principal , yet the other is not to be undervalued . for the works of god are great , sought out of all them that have pleasure therein ▪ psal. 111.2 . now all secular learning is the knowledge of gods works , aeternae verita●is particula ; a small emanation from eternal verity . philosophical and mathematical learning , the knowledge of his works of creation . historical and political learning , the knowledge of his works of providence . moral and oeconomical and civil learning , the knowledge of those remainders of his image and law , which are left in the minds of men , for their direction and conviction . grammatical , rhetorical and logical learning , the knowledge of the use of that reason which god giveth us for imparting our minds , and evidencing our conceptions unto one another . so then all true learning being a knowledge of the works of god , and of that truth which he , who is the supreme verity , hath implanted in them , must needs be such as the works of god themselves are , honorable and excellent , and so per se desireable . secondly , all true learning is desireable , for the uses whereunto it may be applied ▪ we will consider these uses . 1. in regard of evil men , many of whom are great schollars , and eminent for various learning . first , it serves to beautifie even them , and render them , as learned men , great ornaments to their generation ; as many harmful herbs do bear beautiful flowers , and are upon that account special ornaments to the gardens were they grow . goodly statues of gold or silver , though dead , though hollow , and without heart or vital parts , are yet of great value , and special honor to the places where erected . such are even prophane learned men , in regard of their learning . secondly , it is useful unto them to convince them of gods glory and greatness , of his soveraignty and will ; and so if it be not praeexercitamentum , as clemens alexandrinus calleth it , unto the more comfortable knowledge of him out of his word , namely , to kindle in them a desire to know more of so great a god from thence , it will render them without excuse for abusing the knowledge which they have , rom. 1.19 , 20. thirdly , it is by accident useful another way , viz. by honest and assiduous labours in the pursuit of learning , to keep them from the temptations of divers lusts , which by a loose and an idle life would be more ready to assault them . if david had been at his study , when he was on his house top , he had not been tempted unto adultery . fourthly , it makes them thus adorned serviceable to humane society . singular use have all ages had of the learned labors of prophane historians , philosophers , poets , orators , mathematicians , physitians , artists in divers kinds . and● it is a comfort to any man to live to some good purpose , and to be serviceable to his own and future generations . fifthly , they are hereby useful to the church of god : that god who can make use of the sins of men to do his people good by them , as of iosephs brethren , to make way , by s●●●ng him , unto the safety of israel and his family ; can make use of the gifts and tallents he bestows on wicked men for the service of good men . the hands of those that did themselves perish in the flood , were imploied in building the ark for noah and his family . it is true , very often wicked men do use their learning against god , as they do all other his good blessings . learned wickedness is arm●ta● nequitia , such learning degenerates into pride , arrogance , scorn , atheism , heresie , contempt of godliness , ( as philosophers are called by the fathers , haereticorum patriarchae , but all this is accidental , and the fruit of lust . ) yet , as a malignant planet , when in conjunction with a good one may have a benign influence ; so it doth often fall out that they who are by sin enemies , may by learning be useful to the church . the jews are bitter enemies to christ , yet god hath by their care preserved the old scriptures from danger of corruption . 2. in regard of holy men . first , though learning be much inferior to holiness ; there are learned devils , there cannot be holy devils ( for holiness is the character of celestial not of infernal angels , deut. 33.2 . ) yet in holy men learning is a rare ornament and accession , as the golden ring to the gem which is in it . like the marriage of an holy david to a beautiful abigail . secondly , it enableth them to do the more service unto the church of god , and the truths of religion . every good gift sanctified is in such a way useful to the church , as the proper nature and excellency of the gift doth admit . sanctified wit beautifies religion , sanctified reason defends it , sanctified power protects it , sanctified elocution perswades others to the love of it . as different gifts of the people , did with a different value serve the tabernacle , the stones of the ephod , more pretious then the badgers skins ; so though every good man is ready to offer willingly to the service of the church , yet great difference between the learning of a paul , or the elequence of an apollo , or the power of a constantine , or the acuteness of an austin , or the courage of an athanasius , and the ordinary qualifications of inferior good men . thirdly , it enableth them to procure more favor and to bring more reputation unto religion ▪ by the greatness of parts wherein they may be otherwise serviceable unto them , with whom it concerneth religion to have the honour thereof preserved . god is pleased in his holy providence to make other interests , sometimes a preservative unto religion , where it self is not immediately and per se regarded . ahasuerus was amorous and uxorious , and that induced him to favour the jews , whose worship he cared not for . thus it is useful in regard of holy men . 3. in regard of the church and truth of religion ; it is useful as an handmaid , in a way of attendance thereupon , and subserviency thereunto several ways . first , hereby the antient fathers of the church were furnished to confute the pagan and idolatrous worship of the heathens out of their own writers , as paul did the idolatry of athens by the inscription of their own altar , act. 17 , 23. as david killed goliah with his own sword , as a tree is cut down by an axe , the helve whereof was made out of a bough of the same tree ; this course origin , clem. alex. iustin , eusebius , tertullian , minutius felix , and many others of the antients have taken , as likewise to shew that many doctrines of the scripture have been owned even by prophane writers ; one god by plato , one first cause by aristotle , divine providence by cicero , the last conflagration by the stoicks , &c. secondly , hereby we shame christians , when out of prophane writers we let them understand of the continency , justice , temperance , meekness , clemency , and other amiable moral vertues of heathen men , which they having abundantly more means , come so exceeding short of ; and that fabritius , aristides , antoninus , epictetus , and many other vertuous heathens shall rise up in judgement against them . thirdly , scriptures have much of poetry , philosophy , mathematicks , law● , antiquities and customs of other countries in them ; in the understanding of which by secular learning we may be much assisted . physicks in genesis , ethicks in proverbs , logick in the disputations of the prophets , of christ and his apostles , allusions to the natures of beasts , sheep , goats , wolves , lions , doves , &c. many allusions in the books of ezra , nehemiah , and esther , to the customs of the persians , many passages in the prophets illustrable out of the histories of the times and places to which they refer , many expressions in the new testament best explicable out of the roman laws and antiquities . many passages exquisitely parallel'd in humane authors , and receiving much light from them , as that learned and good man mr. gataker hath observed . fourthly , the histories of the scriptures , and the miracles of moses , of christ and his apostles may even out of heathen writers be confirmed ( and a testimony from adversaries is of great validity ) this hath been largely and learnedly proved by mornay and grotius in their books de veritate christianae religionis . fifthly , the knowledge of times by the olympiads , the fasti consulares , and other standing ways of computation are exceeding necessary to the the exact distinguishing and digesting of sacred chronology , and of the occurrences of scripture to their proper times , as austin hath noted . sixthly , many ecclesiastical writers , who either write against the gentiles , or apologetical discourses for christian religion , cannot be clearly understood without the reading of secular authors ; those kind of writings , as origen against celsus , tertullians apology , theodoret de curandis graec●rum affectibus , cyprian de idolorum vanitate , austin de civitate dei , minutius felix his octavius , and other the like , being brimful of such kind of learning , and allusions thereunto . to say nothing of the necessity of grammar and tongues to understand the words of scripture ; of logick to understand the contexture , method , argumentation , and analysis of scripture ; of rhetorick to understand the eleganc●es of scripture . when i consider all these things i cannot but beleeve that the more learned men are ( having gracious hearts as well as learned heads ) the more sensible they are of their insufficiency , for so tremendous an imployment as the sound , solid , and judicious preaching of the word of god ; and are more dismaid at the sense of their own wants for so weighty and arduous a service , then they do wonder at the boldness of illiterate men , who therefore venture with more confidence upon it , because they know not that variety of learning , as well as of spiritual wisdom and grace , which is requisite unto such an able discharge of it , as whereby a man may appear to be a workman who needeth not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth . we have considered some of the many uses of sec●lar learning , and that within the sphear of one onely profession , that it is as a dead hedge wherewith men use to fence a quick one , or as basils similitude is , as those fulcimenta upon which men do raise and bear up their vines ; or as ground colours upon which gold is to be over-laid . i shall conclude with a few inferences from this point for our use . first , though there be excellent use to be made of humane learning , yet it is to be used with much caution , as physitians use opium , or other dangerous things with their due correctives . 1. use it , not unnecessarily where the nature of the matter doth not rationally call for it . some learned men have upon this account blamed some of the antients , origen , iustin , clemens alexandrinus and others , for mixing philosophy with theology , out of an opinion thereby the easier to gain the gentil●s unto the christian faith . but none have been more blame-worthy in this case then the old schoolmen , of whom melancthon saith , that their doctrine is chiefly made up of two things , philosophy and superstition ; and therefore it is well observed by a learned man that school-men and canonists have been the fountains of that corruption which hath infected the church of christ ; the school-men in doctrine , by opinions of popery ; and the canonists in discipline by the state of the papacy , of which the main cause hath been the admitting of aristotle and his philosophy , in ipsa adyta & penetralia ecclesiarum , as h●spinian speaketh . we finde even amongst the heathens , men were punished for presuming to dispute of heavenly things , in the same manner as they did of natural causes ; and for the like reason aetius the heretick being given to an er●stical and contentious way of arguing in divine things , as one much addicted to aristotelical learning , thereby purchased unto himself the title of atheist , as socrates and sozomen tell us . 2. use it not vain-gloriously , and unto oftentation . it is a puffing , a windy , a flatulent thing ; knowledge puffeth up , 1 cor. 8.1 . tertullian calleth philosophers , gloriae animalia . and i beleeve that this vanity doth scarce in any thing mote put forth it self then in pride of wit or memory in this way of learning . we may learn the danger of it by the example of herod , act. 12. who was smitten with worms because he gave not god the glory . 3 use it not proudly with contempt and disdain of the word of god , like that prophane wit who said , he did not dare to read the scripture for fear of spoiling his stile . i have heard of some wretches even amongst us in our days , who presume to magnifie socrates above moses or paul . 4. use it not heretically in defence of error , as erasmus saith of the arrians , hoc ipso fuere pestilentiores quod aristotelicis argutiis essent instructi ; and as hierom complains that they rose è platonis & aristophanis sinu in episcopatum . we must take heed of making our reason judge of articles of faith , or setting humane learning in the tribunal against divine truth . for this it was that tertullian calleth philosophers the patriarchs of hereticks , and that the apostle exhorteth us to take heed no man spoil us through philosophy and vain deceit , col. 2.8 . he meaneth not solid philosophy , the genuine issue of right reason ; but the arrogance of humane reason to sit as a judge of those things that are supernatural and of divine revelation , as articles of faith and forms of worship , when it will acknowledge no religion but what is deducible out of the princples of corrupted reason , nor admit any conclusions which are not consonant to those principles . 5. use it not prophanely , to inflame lust , as some elegant writers do more corrupt by their lasciviousness ▪ then benefit by their politeness , as ma●tial , petronius arbiter , * &c. cyprian said of the adulteries of the heathen gods , that by their examples fiunt miseris delicta religiosa . in such a use we may justly fear the rebuke which † ierom saith he had , ciceronianus es , non christianus . but use it with humility , moderation , sobriety , as an handmaid to christ ; as painters lay a worser colour , when they mean to superinduce another . pare the na●ls , cut the hair , lop the luxuriances , carry it through the fire , as the spoils were appointed to be , that it may be purged for the use of the temple . secondly , this justly reproveth all the enemies of learning ; who because the apostle forbiddeth deceitful philosophy , and telleth us how vain the professors thereof became in their imaginations , do thence condemn all the sober and just use of true learning . such the weigel●ans , who tell us that there is no knowledge of christ in any universities ; that all schools and academies are enemies unto christ , and all their learning merae corruptelae ; who shut all learning out of the church , and all learned men out of heaven . such was it seems friar francis the popish saint , who cursed a learned minister of bononia for going about to set up there a school of learning without his leave . yea , such it seems was pope paul the second , of whom platina telleth us , that he did so hate humane learning , that he esteemed the lovers thereof hereticks , and exhorted the romans not to breed up their children thereunto . this hatred of learning must needs proceed either from ignorance , for scientia neminem habet inimicum nisi ignorantem : or from malice , and a desire to have religion betraied ; ( and therefore it is reckoned amongst the persecutions of the church , that iulian prohibited the children of christians to be trained up in the schools of learning : ) or from avarice , and out of a sacrilegious desire to devoure those revenues wherewith the bounty of benefactors hath from time to time endowed the schools of learning . i shall not spend time to confute so ignorant an absurdity . ar●tius a learned protestant hath fully done it to my hand . but i cannot but take notice of it , as doubtless a calumny cast upon carolostadius and melanchton , as if they taught the youth at wittenberg to cast off all philosophy and humane learning , having been themselves so taught by luther , and that they turned to mechanick imployments , one to husbandry , the other to the art of baking , and that thereupon many young men did burn their books of liberal arts , and betook themselves to manufactures . but how honorably both luther and melanchton thought of humane learning in it self ( though they might inveigh against the abuse of it in popish academies ) is by learned men so abundantly cleared out of their own practice and writings , that i shall not need add any more in their vindication . thirdly , we must get our learning seasoned with holiness , else it will not serve us to repress any temptation . great learning will consist with monstrous wickedness . who more learned then the scribes and pharisees , and who more graceless , and more bitter enemies to the doctrine of salvation ? who more learned then the athenian philosophers , and who greater deriders of the apostles preaching ? never had christian religion more bitter enemies then celsus , porphyrie , iulian , libanius , and the like great professors of humane learning . none do the devil more service in his opposition to the church of god , then men of great parts , that are enemies to godliness . a proud heart , and a learned brain , are satans warehouses , and armories , the forge where he shapeth all his cyclopical weapons against divine truth . the egyptians here are noted for wise men , and yet they were of all others the most sottish idolaters ; insomuch that other idolaters derided them for theirs , as we finde in iuvenal ; oppida t●ta canem venerantur , nemo dianam . o sanctas gentes quibus hac nascuntur in hortis numina ! though therefore we must covet the best gifts , yet we must still remember there is a more excellent way ; and consider if the knowledge of the wisdom of egppt be so honorable , how glorious is the excellency of the knowledge of christ , in comparison whereof all other knowledge is loss and dung ? si tanti-vitrum , quanti veram margaritam ? if a glass jewel be so valuable , how excellent is an inestimable pearl ? themistocles though he was ignorant of musick , yet knew how to govern a state ; and a beleever , though he be ignorant of all other learning , yet by the knowledge of christ will be a blessed man , whereas all the learning in the world , without this , will leave a man miserable . to know the whole creation , and to be ignorant of the creator ; to know all histories and antiquities , and to be unacquainted with our own hearts ; to be good logicians to other purposes , and in the mean time to be cheated by satan with paralogisms in the business of our own salvation ; to be powerful orators with men , and never to prevail with god ; to know the constellations , motions , and influences of heavenly bodies , and have still unheavenly souls ; to know exactly the laws of men , and be ignorant and rebellious against the laws of god ; to abound with worldly wisdom , and be destitute of the fear of god , which makes wise to salvation , is all but a better kinde of refined misery ; the devils have much more then all this comes to , and yet are damned . we must therefore study to improve our learning unto the use and furtherance of holiness , to better our minds , to order our affections , to civilize our manners , to reform our lives , to adorn and render our profession the more amiable , to consecrate all our other endowments as spoils unto christ , to lay our crowns at his feet , and make all our other abilities and acquirements handmaids unto his glory . when learning is thus a servant unto godliness , godliness will be an honor unto learning . fourthly , since learning is so excellent an endowment , the teachers of it ought to be had in great honor . and i scarce know a greater defect in this nation , then the want of such encouragement and maintenance as might render the calling of a school-master so honorable , as men of great learning might be invited unto that service . errors in the first concoction , are not mended in the second , what is lost in the school , is hardly ever fully recovered in the university . and by how much the fewer men of great worth and parts are imployed in that service , by so much the more should the loss of rare and worthy men in that way be bewailed by us . and certainly were they while we enjoy them so honored as they should be , they would be as much lamented when we are deprived of them . we read of the honorable interment which augustus gave unto his master . of an honorable statue with m. antoninus philosophus erected unto his . gratianus the emperor made ansonius his master consul : and achilles made his a fellow-sharer with him in his own honour . and we read in the imperial law , that learned grammarians , after they had taught diligently for twenty years , had special honour conferred upon them , and were numbered amongst those who were vica●iae dignitatis . what necessity there is to have the mindes and manners of children formed and seasoned , while they are pliant and ductile , before licence break out into pride and luxury , before lust grows head-strong and intractable , while they are a rasa tabula , tender trees , and capable of shaping , we need not to be told . omnium hominum gravida est anima , said philo , and want masters , as midwives to shape and fashion the off-spring of them : and even heathen men have complained of the carelesness and neglect of parents in this particular . diogenès was wont to say that a man were better be some mens sheep then their son ; the care of their cattel being greater then of their children . if then you set a value upon your children , you ought accordingly to prize religious and learned instructors of them , and to take care to put them under such . for if grammer schools had everywhere holy and learned men set over them , not onely the brains but the souls of children might be there enriched , and the work both of learning and of conversion and grace be timely wrought in them . great was the happiness of this city in this particular , while it enjoyed this worthy man , and great the loss in being deprived of him ; for though through gods goodness there be many excellent men remaining , out of whom some reparation may be made of so great a damage ; yet still i look on the departure of this man , as if the middle and most precious stone in a rich iewel should drop out , which though many others remain in , cannot but be greatly missed , and bewailed . moses was unto the people of israel , poedagogus ad christum , as the apostle speaks of the law , gal. 3.25 . and of other teachers , 1 cor. 4.15 . and although he were so great a man , as no other prophet ( much less ordinary person ) could parallel , numb. 12.6 , 7 , 8. yet there may be resemblance where there is not equality . give me leave to make the comparison in several particulars ; three of which we have in the text , moses was learned and mighty in word and deed , in which three , consisteth the excellency of a teacher , and therefore the same is noted of christ the great prophet of the church , luke 24.19 . act. 1.1 . learning qualifieth the teacher ; word and work , doctrine and life , institution and example leadeth and directeth the schollar . and so homer describeth phaenix the master and instructer of achilles , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . first , our dear brother was a learned man , learned in the whole body of learning ; not onely an excellent linguist and grammarian , historian , cosmographer , artist , but a most judicious divine , and a great antiquary in the most memorable things of this nation . into whatsoever parts of the land he travelled , he was able to refresh and to instruct his fellow-travellers in the most remarkable particulars of every country . pausanias was not more accurate in the description of greece , then he of england . and i have heard , that he had it sometimes in his thoughts to have published some thing in this kind . he was a man of a solid iudgement ; he always spake è sulco pectoris , and i have , not without very great satisfaction , heard him give his notions upon difficult places of scripture , and arguments of divinity in ordinary discourse , as if he had elaborately studied them . secondly , he was mighty in word , able out of a full treasury , and store-house of learning , to bring forth both new and old . i never knew any learned subject spoken of in his company , wherein he was not able most dexterously to deliver his opinion . he was a man of a copious discourse , but withal so solid and judicious as did ever delight his auditors , never weary them . as livie said of cato , natum ad id diceres quodcunque ageret , we may say of him , doctum in hoc uno crederes , quodcunque diceret . thirdly , he was as moses , a worker as well as a speaker , he was not a barren fig-tree , that had leaves without fruit ; nor a tinckling cimbale , noise without love ; he taught by his life as well as by his learning . verbis tantum philosophari non est doctoris sed histrionis , as he said ; and dicta factis deficientibus erubescunt , saith tertullian . and indeed he was a man of fixed and resolved honesty , and wondered in his sickness what men did learn christianity for , if it were not in every condition to practice it , and adorn the profession of it . time was , when fearing whether his conscience and his imployment would consist together , he put himself to much pain and trouble to resign the place , which he then held in the city of glocester . for the times were then such , that many durst not take his resignation , till at last he met with a worthy gentleman , who feared no mans displeasure in doing that which he knew was his duty . fourthly , he was as moses , a patient man ; patient in his business , moses was patient in his iudicature from morning to evening , exod. 18.13 . and he patient in his school in like manner . patient in his sufferings , willingly with moses bearing the reproach of christ , and not fearing the wrath of any man in comparison of the reverence he did bear to his own conscience . patient in sickness , composing himself with as an unshaken confidence to dye , as in time of health he would have gone about any other business . fifthly , he was as moses , a faithful man , heb. 3.5 . most exactly answerable to the trust of his place : opprimi potius onere officii maluit , quàm illud deponere , as once tully spake . it was hardly possible for any friend by any importunity to draw him from a most punctual observation of timely attendance upon the duties of his place . and so tenderly fearfull was he of miscarriage herein , and so sensible of any the least defect , that in a former sickness he desired , if he should then have died , to have been buried at the school door , in regard he had in his ministration there come short of the duties which he owed unto the school . and this we shall ever find true , the more active , able , conscientions , faithful , any are in discharge of duty , the more humble , the more jealous , the more fearful they are of their coming short of it . the fullest and best ears of corn hang lowest towards the ground ; and so those men that are fullest of worth , are most humble , and apprehensive of their own failings . sixthly ▪ he was as moses , a constant , resolved , steady man . moses would not bate pharoah an hoof , kept close to every tittle of his commission , exod ▪ 10.9 , 26. so was he punctual and unmoveable from honest principles . vir rigidae innocentiae , as livy said of cato . he was of polemo his judgment in this point , debere , inesse quand●m mo●ibus contumaciam , that men having proved all things should hold fast the best , and be pertinacious in goodness . seventhly , he was as moses , a wise man ; moses was often put to the use of his wisdom to compose the distempers of a froward people ; and a masculine prudence is requisite to tame and calm the wilde and unswaied humors of young children . it is noted as a special peece of socrates his wisdom , that he did by his institution fix and reduce the wandering and vitious inclinations of alcib●ades . i might go on in this parallel , and instance in the authority , gravity , meekness and zeal for the truth , which were observeable in this our dear friend , as they were eminent in moses . but i shall add onely this one thing more , the great care which he had of the school at his last , that there might be an able successor chosen . of moses his care in this particular we read , numb. 27.15 , 16 , 17. and this good man the evening before he died with great earnestness commended it to the company , by a member thereof , who came to visit him , that they should use their uttermost wisdom and care to chuse an able , learned , religious , and orthodox man into the place , naming one of whose fitness , both he , and the company , and school had had before great experience . and so much were they pleased to honor the judgment and integrity of this worthy man , that presently after his death they pitched upon an excellent learned man whom he had so providently commended unto them . i might add one parallel more , in the death of this good man to moses . the lord bid moses go up to the mount and dye , deut. 32.49 , 50. and he did so , deut. 34.1.5 . this worthy friend of mine , the friday and saturday before his own fit , was pleased to visit me , lying at that time under a sore fit of the stone . it pleased the lord the monday following to bring a like fit upon him , and sending to enquire of his condition , he sent me word how it was with him , and that he looked on this fit as a messenger of death from god unto him . and accordingly though in obedience to gods appointment , he made use of means , yet he still insisted upon it , that his time of dissolution was now come , and accordingly , with great composedness and resolvedness of spirit , waited for death as a man doth for a loving friend whom he is willing to embrace . i assure my self that he had with moses a sight of canaan , which made him so undauntedly look death in the face . i shall conclude with that exhortation , let us go up to the mount , and by faith look into our heavenly country ; let us have our eyes fastened upon christ our salvation , and then we may with old simeon sing our nunc dimittis ; with the apostle be willing to depart and to be with christ , which is best of all ; and with moses die not onely patiently but obediently , as knowing that we have a city which hath foundations made without hands , eternal in the heavens , whose builder and maker is god . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57163e-350 iustin , instit. l. 1. tit. 5. vid. rosin . antiq. rom. l. 1. c 20. et calvin● lexic juridic . istae sunt haeretic●rum machinae , ut convic●i de pe●fi●ia , ad ma●edicta se conferant hier. apol. 2. advers. russianum . diod. si●●l . l. 1. euseb. de praep. evang. l. 10. sect. 5. bochart . geograph . sacra . lib. 1. c. 19.20 . ioseph . antiq. l. 1. alex. poly hist. apud euseb. de oraepar . evang. l. 9 c. 17· niceph. l. 12. ioseph . contr. appion . l. 2. ennopius in maxim. s●z●m . lib 5 c. 2. vid. aug. in psal. 75. & 93. & tract. 7. in ep. 1. ioannis . & epist. 48. ad vincentium . plin. l. 30. c. 1. lib 3. cap. 5. & i● . 5. c. 15. iustin. apol. 1. de doctr. christ . l 2. cap. 18.39 , 43. confes. l. ● . c. 15. ●●v . dec . 4 l. 9. socrat. l. 5. c. 16 decret. l. 1. tit. 8 sect. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. ●het , tertul. ont . hermog . c. 8. apol. c 47 , vid. aug. de civ. dei l. 18. c. 46. & in psal. 58. legimus non ut teneamus sed ut repudiemus , ambros. proaem . in luc. terul . de testim animae cap. 1. 1 cor. 11.14 . vid. alting . probl. 2. cinnus lib. 2. cap. 13. hier. in dan. 1. mornay . cap. 26 grot. lib. 1. sect. 16 & lib. 2 sect. 5. de doct. christ . l. 2. c. 28. 1 ▪ th ● 5.21 h●xam . hom 5 alting . the●l . pr●bl p●rt . 1. problem 2. melanct. epist. pag 890. raynold ▪ confer. with hart. p. 72. vid. ora● 2. anti●weigel . su●vissimi ●oc●issimique viri d. i an. a●rowsmith . hospinian . hist. iesuit . in prae● . et hist. sacram. p 401. cic. de nat. deorum lib. 1. de prota. abderit . plutarch . in nicia & in pericle , de anax. socrat. l. 2 c 28 sozom. l. 2. c. 4. h●er . advers. luciferan . vid. tert , apol. c 46. de pres●r . c. 7. de anim . c. 1 , 2 , 3. vid. daven. in col. 2.8 . alting . theol. problem . p. 1● . n●s à prophetis & christ● , n●n à philosophis & epicuro erudimur . te●tul . conn . marc l. 2. c. 16 vid. danaeam in aug euchirid . c. 4. sect. 9.10 . * prohibe●ur christianis figmenta legere po●tarum , quia p●r oblectame●ta inanium fa●●l●rum mentem excitan● ad incentiva libidinum , i●id lib 3. sent. de summo b●no● cap. 13. vid. tertul. de idol●lat . cap 10. & isidor . pelut . lib. 1 ▪ epist 63. † ad eustochium de custodiâ virginitatis , aug. epist. 119. basil. de leg. lib. gentil . hieron ad pammachium de obitu paulinae . & epist. ad magnum orat . num . 31.23.24 ▪ hoorubec . commantar . de ●eige● . baldw . casus . conscien . lib. 4 c. 2 cas 9. greg. tholos . de re●ub . lib. 17. cap. 12. sect. 5. plati● . in fi●e vitae pauli ▪ 1 , 2 aug. de civ. dei l 18. c 52. confess l 8. c. 5. greg naz. orat . 1. aret. problem . loc. 151. sarius comment . rerum in ●be gesta●um ▪ ann● 1522. p. 116. baldw . cas. consc. l 4. c. 2 cas 9. d. arrow . orat . 3 an●i ●e●g . joh. 7.48 . act. 17 32. iuvenal . satyr . lib. 5. aug. ep. 36. quid mihi pro derat ingenium per illas doctrinas agile , cum def●rmiter & sa●rilegâ turpi tudine in doctrina pietatis errarem ! aug confess . l. 4. c. 16. lib. 1 ▪ c. 8. quis enim ●irtutem amplectitur ipsam . praemia si tollas ? iuven. sat. 10. dion . lib. 48. p. 376. iul. capital . auson. in g●at . act. homer . iliad . 9. cod. l. 10. tit. 15 vid. qui●til . l. ●cap . 1 , 2. philo de praeir . & paen . aelian . var● hist. l· 12. diog. laert. l. 6. homer . iliad . 9. tertul. de patientia c. 1. diog. laeril . 4. vid. greg. tholos . de repub. l. 15. c 1. the fight of faith crowned, or, a sermon preached at the funeral of that eminently holy man mr. henry stubs by tho. watson ... watson, thomas, d. 1686. 1678 approx. 56 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a65295 wing w1123 estc r8965 12196651 ocm 12196651 56007 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a65295) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56007) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 905:30) the fight of faith crowned, or, a sermon preached at the funeral of that eminently holy man mr. henry stubs by tho. watson ... watson, thomas, d. 1686. [4], 28 p. printed and are to be sold by joseph collier ..., london : 1678. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng stubbes, henry, 1606?-1678. bible. -n.t. -timothy, 2nd, iv, 7-8 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-04 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the fight of faith crowned : or , a sermon preached at the funeral of that eminently holy man mr. henry stubs . by tho. watson minister of the gospel . london , printed and are to be sold by joseph collier at the bi●●● on london-bridg , under the gate , 1678. the epistle . christian reader , it was not my intendment to have appeared thus publickly , but being requested by the near relations of this worthy minister deceased to print my sermon , ( which by their appointment was preached ) i knew not well how to withstand their importunity . indeed i was the more willing to let these lines be published , that i might raise a pillar of remembrance to the precious name of mr. stubs . the subject-matter treated on is the christian combat and crown . o blessed crown which cannot be fully pencilled out in its orient colours , though an arch-angel should take the pencill . the roman emperours had three several crowns set upon their head ; the first was of iron , the second of silver , the third of gold. god sets three crowns upon the elect , grace , joy , glory . what should we thirst after but this incomprehensible bliss ! did our thoughts dwell above , we should live sweeter lives . the higher the lark flys , the sweeter it sings . cyprus was anciently called macaria , the blessed island ; but it is more true of heaven , it is the blessed island . 't is a place where sorrow cannot live , and joy cannot die . it may be compared to the fields of sicily , where there is continual spring , and flowers all the year long . could our meditations mount up to the empyraean delights , how would the world disappear and shrink into nothing ! 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . — to those who stand upon the top of the alps , the great cities of campania seem as little villages . after st. paul was wrapt up into third heaven , the world was crucified to him , gal. 6. 14. worldly things when they are in their highest meridian of glory hasten to a sun-setting , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . let us live more in the altitudes , and take a prospect of the eternal recompences ; what can be more delicious or sacred than to have christ in our heart , and the crown in our eye . i have inserted something more into this sermon , than straits of time would permit in the delivery . if it may inkindle holy ardours in the breasts of any , and quicken their pace in the way to heaven , i have my option . that this may be effected is the prayer of him who is thy friend and servant in the gospel , tho. watson . 2 tim . iv. 7 , 8. i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith , henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness . these words were spoken by paul the aged not long before his death , ver . 6. i am now ready to be offered , or ( as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies ) to have my blood poured out in sacrifice . and what a comfort was it to make this noble profession before his departure , i have fought a good fight , &c. the text falls into three parts : 1. st. pauls courage , i have fought a good fight . 2. his constancy , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith . 3. his crown , henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness . here is a large field , and i can but pluck a few ears of corn , i begin with the first part of the text. 1. pauls courage , i have fought a good fight , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i have fought to an agony . observe first , a christians life is military , 1 tim. 1. 18. that thou maist war a good warfare ; * a saints life is not effeminate and slothful , but like the soldiers life . 1. in respect of hardship : a soldier hath not his soft bed or daily fair , but undergoes tedious marches ; such is the christian life , 2 tim. 2. 3. thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ. we must not be delicatuli ( as tertullian speaks ) silken christians , but expect to wrestle with difficulties : the naked neck is too soft and tender to bear the cross of christ. 2. in respect of watchfulness : a soldier gets up to his watch-tower , and sends abroad his scouts for fear the enemy surprize him ; a christian must excubias agere , stand sentinel , be ever upon his guard . it was christs watch-word , mark 13. 37. i say to you all watch . when you have prayed against sin , watch against temptation . 3. in respect of combat , 1 tim. 6. 12. fight the good fight of faith . in order to which fight , a christian must get his armour and weapons ready . 1. he must get his armour ready , the care of most is to get riches , not armour ; there are two things absolutely needful , food and armour ; 't is necessary to get christ for our food and grace for our armour without this there is no abiding the day of tryal : a soldier that wears his princes colours , but hath no armour , will soon fly the field ; such as by a profession wear christs colours , but have not the armour of god upon them , will turn their backs in the day of battel . there are two chief pieces of the spiritual armour . 1. the helmet , that is , divine hope , 1 thes. 5. 8. for an helmet the hope of salvation : an helmet is to defend the head that it be not hurt * ; so the hope of salvation as an helmet defends a person , and makes him lift up his head in the greatest dangers . but christians , be sure ye get the right helmet , the helmet of hope may be counterfeited . 1. the first deceit of the helmet , or a false hope , is a dead hope ; hypocrites have a faint velleity , they hope for heaven , but exert no activity in working out salvation ; but true hope is a lively hope , 1 pet. 1 , 3. hope of glory sets an edg upon the affections , and adds wings to the endeavour . 2. a false hope is an unclean hope , a man hopes , but sins ; 't is vain to speak of hopes of salvation , yet have the marks of damnation : true hope is an helmet made of pure metal , 1 john 3. 3. he who hath this hope , purifieth himself . 3. a false hope is vanishing , 't is not an helmet , but a spiders web * ; the least terror of conscience shakes it , but a true hope is permanent , prov. 14. 32. the righteous hath hope in his death , in a dying hour his hope is in a living god. when quintian the persecutor commanded to cut off the breasts of agatha a martyr , do thy worst tyrant ( said he ) , yet i have two breasts which you cannot touch ; the one of faith , the other of hope . * o get the right helmet , the devil laughs at hypocrites to see how they are cousened with false armour : a fool is contented with a paper-helmet . 2. the second piece of the spiritual armour is the brest-plate , which is love , 1 thes. 5. 8. putting on the breast-plate of love. this breast-plate is inseparable , it may be shot at , but it cannot be shot thorow , cant. 8. 7. a soul armed with love , will go through a sea , and a wilderness , he will dye in gods service . * 2. a christian must get his weapons ready . 1. the shield , ephes. 6. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , above all things taking the shield of faith . epaminondas was not so careful of his life , as of his shield : a shield is of great use , it defends the head , it guards the vitals , it keeps the arrow from entring into the body ; the shield of faith defends the heart , and beats back the fiery darts of temptation . scena a roman soldier did so long resist ponipy's army , till he had above an hundred darts sticking in his shield — densam portans in pectore sylvam — * hold forth the shield of faith , and nothing can hurt you . 2. the sword , ephes. 6. 17. the sword of the spirit , which is the word of god : 't is good for a soldier to be well skill'd in his weapon , the word of god is a weapon to stab lust at the heart ; 't is observable when the devil tempted our saviour , he ran to scripture ; 't is writen * three times christ wounded the old serpent with this spiritual weapon . and having gotten into this warlike posture , a christian must in arenam descendere , enter the lists , and fight the good fight of faith . in the future life the saints shall be out of the noise of the drum and canon , and not one stroke shall be struck more ; then they shall not appear in their armour , but their white robes , and with palm-branches in their hands in token of victory * but here they must fight the lords battels * , and no cessation of arms till death ; and there is a threefold regiment they must encounter with . 1. the lusts of the flesh which war against their souls , 1 pet. 1. 11. the flesh is a sly intestine enemy , and least suspected * ; an enemy got within the walls of the castle is most dangerous . luther said he feared his own heart more than pope or cardinal , the heart is the somenter of sin * ; it mints evil thoughts , and blows up the coals of fiery passions ; it is the trojan horse , out of which comes a whole army of lusts . and shall not we fight the good fight , and discharge with the fire of zeal against this bosom-traytor the flesh ? the primitive christians cryed , ad leonem potius quam lenonem ; they chose rather to be destroyed by lyons without , than lusts within . 2. the second regiment to be resisted , is satan and the infernal powers * , 1 pet. 5. 8. your adversary the devil as a roaring lyon walketh about * : he walketh about not as a pilgrim , but a spy that narrowly observes ; there were lyers in wait for sampson , judg. 16. 12. satan like a muskiteer lies in ambush , and his design carries death in the front , seeking whom he may devour : he tempts one man to be drunk , another to be unclean ; he sets kingdoms a-quarrelling , that at last he may devour them , like him who sets two cocks of the game to fight , that having killed each other , he may sup with their carcasses . doth this hellish goliah come into the field , and defie the living god ? and shall not some spear be lift up against him ? 1 pet. 5. 9. whom resist stedfast in faith . 3. the third regiment christians must fight against , is the inchantments of the world ; the world is a flattering enemy , it kills with embracing ; worldly things are retinacula spei * , they hinder our passage to the holy land ; they choke good affections , as the earth puts out the fire ; whom the world kisseth it betrayeth . heliogabalus made ponds of sweet water to drown himself , and guilded poysons to poyson himself ; the world destroys millions with her sweet waters of pleasure , and her guilded poysons of preferment ; let us then gird on our armour , and fight valorously good reason we should fight the fight of faith , because we carry rich treasure about us : he who carries a charge of money about him , had need be in a fighting posture . we carry a precious soul about us ; if the cabinet of the body be so curiously wrought and embellished , psal. 139. 15. then what is the jewel in it ? the soul is a spark and beam of celestial brightness * , a blossom of eternity , and shall not we by our martial prowess and chivalry defend this treasure ? to be robbed of the soul is an irreparable loss . god ( saith chrysostom ) hath given thee two eyes , if thou losest one , thou hast another ; but thou hast but one soul , and if thou art robbed of that , thou art undone for ever . use 1. is the christian life military ? to blame then are they who have no spiritual artillery , nor do they make one sally out against the enemy . 't is death to go abroad unarmed ; people spend time in dressing themselves by the glass , and putting on their jewels , but do not put on their sacred armour , job 21. 12. they take the timbrel and harp , and rejoyce at the sound of the organ ; as if they were rather in musick , than battel . lycurgus would have no mans name written upon his tomb , but his who dyed manfully in war : god writes no mans name in the book of life , but his who dyes fighting the good fight of faith . use 2. give battel to sin and satan , and pursue them with an holy malice * : and to encourage in the fight , let these things be weighed . 1. it is certamen praeclarum , a good fight : 't is a lawful war ; princes may commence a war to invade other mens rights and properties ; but god hath proclaimed this war against sin * , col. 3. 5. mortifie therefore your members , fornication , inordinate affection . 2. we have a good captain : jesus christ is the captain of our salvation * , hebr. 2. 10. if a flock of sheep have a lyon for their captain , they need not fear the wolf : christ is the lyon of the tribe of judah , revel . 5. 5. he not only leads us on in our march , but helps us in the fight : a captain may give his soldier armour , but he cannot give him strength : christ animates and strengthens us * , isa. 41. 10. he puts his spirit within us * , and so we are more than conquerors , rom. 8. 37. 3. our enemy satan is beaten in part already ; christ hath given him his deaths-wound upon the cross , col. 2. 15. the devil may roar against a child of god , but shall not hurt him : he could not touch job's life , much less his soul ; therefore fear not , resist the devil and he will fly from you , jam. 4. 7. satan is a conquered enemy , he knows no march but running away . 4. fighting is the best way to have peace , by sitting still , we tempt the enemy to fall upon us , and wound us ; our peace is preserved by war with satan * : he who hath been skirmishing all day , may take davids pillow at night , and say , in pace enbabo , i will lay me down in peace . quest. how may we so fight the good fight as to overcome ? answ. 1. let us fight in the strength of christ , phil. 4. 13. i can do all things through christs strengthning me . grace it self , if it hath not a good second , will be beaten out of the field ; some fight against sin in the strength of their vows and resolutions , and so are foiled . we must go out against our spiritual antagonists in the strength of christ ; as david went out against goliah in the name of the lord , 1 sam. 17. 45. the saints overcame the accuser of the brethren by the blood of the lamb , rev. 12. 11. 2. we must fight upon our knees by prayer : prayer is flagellum diaboli , it whips the devil * ; the arrow of prayer put into the bow of the promise , and shot with the hand of faith , pierceth the old serpent . prayer brings god over to our side , and then we are on the strongest side ; let us pray that god will inable us to overcome all our ghostly enemies . while joshua was fighting , moses was praying on the mount , exod. 17. 11. so while we are fighting , let us be praying , ephes. 6. 13 , 18. the way to overcome is upon our knees . 2. the second part of the text , is , st. pauls constancy , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith . i have finished my course ] , cursum peregi — i have run out natures lease , i am come to the period of life prefixed , and am stepping into eternity : i have kept the faith , that is , i have kept the doctrine of faith , i have lived the life of faith. 2. observe , christians should hold on till they come to the finishing of their faith , a carceribus ad metam ; 't is not enough to begin well , to put forth fair blossoms of religion at first , but we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , continue firm to the end . * this is the glory of a christian not only to hold forth the truth , but to hold fast the truth , act. 21. 16. mnason of cyprus an old disciple ; 't is a beautiful sight to see silver hairs crowned with golden vertues . it was the honour of the church of thyatira , her last works were better than her first , rev. 2. 19. the excellency of a medicine is when it keeps its vertue . to finish the course and keep the faith , is like generous wine that keeps its spirits to the last drawing . use 1. here is a bill of inditement against such as before the finishing of their course , have departed from the faith ; they are fallen to worldliness or wantonness , the very mantle of their profession is fallen off . desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne . such were lucian , porphiry , peter castellon , judas . judas hath many successors . demas forsook god , * and afterwards became a priest in an idol-temple , saith dorotheus . julian bathed himself in the blood of beasts offered in sacrifice to heathen gods , and so as much as in him lay , washed off his baptism . things which move from an artificial spring quickly cease ; unfound hearts having only external artifices of piety , but wanting a vital principle of grace , soon make a stop in religion . how can they adhere to god who never loved him ? the soldier who hath no true love to his commander , will throw off his colours . , hos. 8. 3. israel hath cast off the thing that is good . we have had more shipwracks at land than at sea , men have made shipwrack of their conscience , 1 tim. 1. 19. apostates unravel the work they have been doing for heaven , they pick out all their golden stitches , ezek. 18. 14. as if a limner should with a pencil draw a curious piece , and then come with his spunge and wipe it out again . apostates drop as windfalls into the devils mouth , they having disparaged the ways of god , and put christ to open shame , heb. 6. 6. god will make them do penance in hell * . use 2. persevere in the faith. what is a man the better to run some part of the race and then tire ? so to go within an inch of heaven , and then fall short * . who makes reckoning of corn that sheds before harvest ? or fruit that falls from the tree before it be ripe ? o christians , remember your salvation is now nearer , rom. 13. 11. you are within prospect of the holy land , and will you now tire in your march ? this is as if a ship laden with jewels and spices , and within sight of the shore should be cast away ; or as if a jew had been running to the city of refuge , and had gotten within half a furlong of the city , and then had fainted , and been slain by the avenger of blood . 't was beza's prayer , lord , perfect that which thou hast begun in me , that i may not * suffer shipwrack when i am almost in the haven . mot. consider , persevering in the faith is a note of discrimination between a true saint and an hycrite ; the hypocrite he sets up in the trade of religion , but will soon break ; he advanceth his mast and topsail , and sets out fair for heaven , but in time of temptation falls away , mat. 13. 21. but a true christian is fixed in holiness ; he is not as a wave of the sea , but as a rock in the sea. his zeal like the fire of the vestal virgins in rome is always kept burning . that we may spin out this fine thread of religion to its full length , and hold out to the end , 1. let us be well grounded in the fundamentals of religion , the doctrine of justification , regeneration , the resurrection , and the eternal recompences , col. 1. 23. grounded and setled ; such as are unprincipled will be led into any error , the masse or the alchoran , you may lead a blind man any whither ; he will hardly ever suffer for the truth that doth not know it . 2. if we would hold on in the faith let us preserve a jealous fear of our selves ; fear is the souls life-guard , it causeth vigilance , it banisheth presumption , rom. 11. 20. be not high-minded but fear . if god lets go his manu-tenancy we fall . how many have been over-turned with self-confidence as the vessel with the sail . pendleton's proud brag was soon confuted , instead of his fat melting in the fire , his heart melted ; the fear of falling keeps us from falling . fear begets prayer , and prayer begets strength , and strength begets constancy . 3. if we would keep the faith to the end , let us labour to tast the sweetness of religion in our own souls , psal. 34. 8. o tast and see that the lord is good . the light of truth is one thing , the rellish is another , psal. 119. 103. how sweet are thy words unto my tast , yea sweeter than honey . many fall away because they never tasted what religion was ; they could tast some sweetness in corn and oyl , but promises were dry brests . if the wine of the word have ever chear'd our heart , we will never part with it . 4. if we would continue our progress in the ways of god , let us be inlaid with sincerity ; this silver-thread must run through the whole chain of our duties . a christian may have a double principle , but he hath not a double heart ; he is perfect with the lord , deut. 18. 13. nothing will hold out but sincerity , psal. 25. 21. let integrity preserve me . when job could not hold fast his estate , yet he held fast his religion ; whence was this ? from his sincerity , job 27. 6. my righteousness i hold fast , and will not let it go , my heart shall not reproach me so long as i live . the garment of job's profession did not tear , because it was lined with sincerity . 3. the third part of the text is st. paul's crown , henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ; it is corona recondita , a crown laid up . a christians best things are to come * . well might the apostle say , it doth not yet appear what we shall be , 1 joh. 3. 2. we are here as princes in disguise , the world knoweth us not ; but there is a crown laid up . while we are laying out for god , he is laying up for us . and what crown is this ? a crown of righteousness . the felicity of heaven is described sometimes by a city for riches , heb. 11. 10. sometimes by a country for pleasure , heb. 11. 16. sometimes by a crown for honour . and this crown hath various appellations : 1. it is called a crown of glory , 1 pet. 5. 4. it is full of splendor , therefore said to be bespangled with stars , rev. 12. 1. we can no more bear a sight of this crown till god enlarge our capacities , than a weak eye can bear the dazling beams of the sun. 2. it is called a crown of life , jam. 1. 12. whoever heard before of a living crown ? it is a crown of life , not only ( as grotius saith ) because it is bestowed in the life to come , but because it enlivens with joy ; it not only crowns the head , but chears the heart . 't is a living crown . 3. it is called a crown of righteousness in the text ; not that it is of right due to us , or comes of merit , as the papists corruptly gloss ; we cannot deserve a crum at gods hands , much less a crown . that which merits must be a gift , not a debt , whatever service we do for god is a due debt ; nay , we cannot pay all ; nay , that which we pay is not in currant money , our duties are stained with sin , where then is merit ? but it is called a crown of righteousness , because it is purchased by christs righteousness , and because god having promised this crown , it is righteous in him to bestow it . hence observe thirdly , for the persevering saint there is laid up a crown of righteousness in heaven ; * a crown is the highest ensign of worldly happiness . 't is only for kings and persons of renown to wear ; there is a crown of righteousness laid up for the elect. 't is a massy crown . the hebrew word for glory signifies a weight * ; things that are precious , the more weighty they are the more they are worth . the weightier a chain of pearl is the more it is worth . the heavenly crown is expressed by a weight of glory , 2 cor. 4. 17. this crown of righteousness doth out-vye , and exceed all earthly crowns . 1. it is more refined ; earthly crowns are interwoven with troubles ; they are not made without crosses . it was king henry the sevenths motto , a crown of gold hung in a bush of thorns . but the saints crown is not mixed with care , it adds no sorrow with it . 2. the crown of righteousness is given to every individual saint . here the crown goes but to one person , a crown of gold will fit but one head ; but in heaven every saint is a king * , and hath his crown . 3. the crown of righteousness doth not draw envy to it . david's crown was an eye-sore to absalom , and he would have plucked it from his fathers head , but in the life to come different degrees of glory , shall neither stir up pride , nor cause envy ; for though one crown may be bigger than another , yet every ones crown shall be as big as he can carry . 4. the crown of righteousness is everlasting ; that which disparageth earthly crowns is , they are corruptible , prov. 27. 24. doth the crown endure to every generation ? terrestrial crowns soon moulder into the dust , but the crown of righteousness is a crown of immortality , it neither spends nor fades * , 1 pet. 5. 4. ye shall receive a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away . corona virens , non ( quales illae ex hedera & lauro ) marcescens * eternity is a jewel of the saints crown . quest. what is the quiddity or matter of which the coelestial crown is made ? answ. the crown it self consists in the beatifical sight and fruition of the all-glorious god. * what else is the angels crown but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the beholding of gods face , mat. 18. 10. deus & coronator , & corona * ; to have intellectual transforming sights of god , will ravish the elect with infinite delight . chrysostom saith , the souls of the blessed shall be bespangled , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , with some of those illustrious beams of gods glory which shall be transparent through the bright mirrour of christs humane nature . if there were such gladness when solomon was crowned , 1 king. 1. 40. they rejoiced with great joy , so that the earth rent with the sound ; what mighty acclamations and triumphs will be on the saints coronation day ? such will be the extasies and divine raptures of joy , as exceed our very faith * . the delights of heaven may be better felt than expressed . whatever can be said of the coelestial crown is but gutta de mari , as a drop to the ocean , nay , scarce so much . quest. when shall the saints receive this crown of righteousness ? answ. they shall receive it in part immediately after death , before their bodies are buried , their souls are crowned , 2 cor. 5. 8. absent from the body , present with the lord ; if the crown were not instantly bestowed after death , it were better for believers to stay here , for they are here daily cucreasing their grace ; here they have some bunches of grapes by the way , sweet foretasts of gods love , so that they had better stay here , if they had not a speedy transition and passage to glory . but this is the consolation of believers , that they shall not stay long for their preferment ; no sooner did lazarus die , but he had a convoy of angels to carry him to abrahams bosom . christians you may be happy before you are aware , it is but winking and you shall see god. the full coronation will be at the resurrection when the bodies and souls of believers shall be reunited ; their bodies shall be crowned with immense felicity , and clarified like christs glorious body . quest. but why is the crown at all deferred , why is it not set on a christians head presently ? answ. it is not yet the proper season . 1. we are heirs under age ; we receive but primitias spiritus , the first-fruits of the spirit , rom. 8. 23. grace is in its minority ; now , though some princes have been crowned in their cradle , god crowns none till they are of perfect stature . sin incorporates with grace , would we partake of glory while we partake of sin ? 2. our work is not yet done , we have not finished the faith ; the labourer doth not receive his pay till his work be done . christs reward was deferred till he had perfected his work , joh. 17. 4 , 5. i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do , and now o father glorifie me . the lord doth not think it meet that we should have our pay before hand ; when we have arrived at the end of our faith , then comes salvation , 1 pet. 1. 9. br. 1. see then there is nothing lost by solid piety ; after fighting the good fight of faith , comes the crown of righteousness . when we hear of the severe part of religion , steeping our souls in the brinish tears of repentance , mortifying our complexion-sin , we are ready to grumble and mutiny , but do we serve god for nought ? will he not compensate our labours with a crown ? yea , such a crown which as far exceeds our thoughts as it doth our deserts . no man can say without wrong done to god that he is an hard master . the lord gives double pay , he gives great vailes in his service here , inward joy and peace , and afterwards he refresheth us with the delights of paradise which are without intermission and expiration : o what a vast difference is there between duty enjoyned , and glory prepared ! what is the shedding of a tear to a crown ? 2. branch . see what contrary ways the godly and the wicked go at death ; the godly are advanced to crowns of glory , the wicked are bound with chains of darkness , jude 6. but what are these chains ? surely such as no aqua-fortis can eat a-sunder . by these chains i understand god's soveraign omnipotency , fastening sinners under wrath ( as the chain doth the prisoners ) that they cannot stir : sinners may break the chain of gods precepts , but they cannot break the chain of his power : this is the unparallel'd misery of impenitent souls , they do not go to a crown when they dye , but to a prison ; o think what horror and despair will possess the wicked when they see themselves ingulphed in tremendous flames , and their condition hopeless , helpless , endless * . a servant under the old law , who had an hard master ; yet every seventh year being a year of jubilee , or release he might go free ; but in hell there is no year of release when the damned shall go free , mark 9. 44. what is become of mens intellectuals ? have they lost their reason as well as their conscience ? why do they not bethink themselves in time what sin will bring them to , though now it shows its colour in the glass , yet in the end it will bite as a serpent , prov. 23. 32. if a man had but a sight of hell ( saith bellarmine ) it were enough to make him sober , yea turn hermite and anchorite , and live a most mortified life . 3. branch . see the grand folly of such as for vain pleasures and profits will lose this celestial crown : it may be said of them , as eccles. 9. 3. madness is in their heart . tiberias for a draught of water lost his empire ; men swallow temptations like pills , which gripe their consciences , and afterwards make them forfeit blessedness . this will accent and inhance a sinners torment , and will cause gnashing of teeth , to think how sillily he lost paradise ; for a flash of impure joy , he parted with the quintessence of happiness . would it not vex one to think he should be so inveigled as to part with his land of inheritance for a fit of musick ; such are they who let heaven go for a song . if satan could make good his brag , in giving all the glory and kingdoms of the world , they could not countervail the loss of heavens crown ; whenever a sinner dyes , the devil will beg him for a fool . 4. branch . if the saints are installed , and have the crown-royal set upon them at death , then what little cause have we to mourn immoderately at the death of godly friends ? god allows us tears ; jacob wept over his dead father * ; tears give vent to grief — strangulat inclusus dolor — but there is no reason we should grieve excessively for our pious friends , they receive a crown , and shall we mourn when they have preferment ? suppose you had a dear relation beyond the sea , and you should hear he were crowned king , would you grieve to hear of his advancement ? thy friend who dies in the lord , receives immediately a crown of righteousness , and will you be cast down with sorrow ? why should you shed tears immoderately for them who have all tears wiped from their eyes ? why should you be swallowed up of grief for them who are swallowed up of joy ? they are removed hence for their advantage , as if one should be removed out of a smoky cottage to a pallace ? the prophet elijah was removed in a fiery chariot to heaven ; shall elishah weep inordinately , because he enjoys not the company of elijah ? is it not better to have sparkling crowns and white robes , than to sojourn in the tents of kedar ? is it not better to live among angels than fiery serpents ? is it not best to have christs banner of love displaid over us ? are there any sweeter smiles or softer embraces than his ? why then should any macerate , and even intomb themselves in sorrow for their relations ? theocritus saith , it was a custom among the ancients to have their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or funeral banquet , because of the felicity they supposed the parties deceased did enter into ; o thou who hangest thy harp upon the willows , and with rachel refusest to be comforted ; remember there is no wiping away tears from the eye , but with the winding-sheet ; thy friend could not be in the region of the blessed , till he dyed ; his dying-day was his ascension-day : o then keep thy tears for thy sins , but do not torment thy self with grief for him , whose soul is as holy as it would be , and as happy as it can be . use 2. tryal . are we heirs to this glorious crown ? such only as are righteous persons shall wear the crown of righteousness : the work of righteousness goes before the crown of righteousness , isa. 32. 17. are we not only morally , but theologically righteous ? have we a righteousness of imputation procured for us by christs merit , and a righteousness of implantation produced in us by his spirit ? are we consecrated with the anointing oyl of grace ? god gilds the elect with the beams of his own holiness , and makes them shine like himself . have we both circumcision of heart , and circumspection of life ? if we are righteous persons , we are sure to wear the crown of righteousness . let not the profane presume of happiness ; let not them think to go to heaven per saltum , to leap out of delilah's lap into abrahams bosom , 1 cor. 6. 9. know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god ? god will not lay a viper in his bosom , or set a crown upon the head of a swinish sinner . use 3. exhort . it hath a double aspect : 1. to all in general . 1. believe that there is a crown of righteousness laid up for all that fight the good fight . some of the rabbins say , that the great dispute between cain and abel was about the world to come : abel affirmed a crown of recompence for the godly , cain denyed it . this truth concerning the real elyzian delights in reversion , should be graven upon our hearts as with the point of a diamond . carnal persons look upon the felicities of the other world , but as a platonical idaea , or fancy ; they do not see the crown with bodily eyes , therefore they question it : the verity of the soul may as well be questioned , because being a spirit it cannot be seen : doubting of principles , is the next way to denying them . let us set our seal to this , there is a crown of righteousness laid up . where should our faith rest but upon a divine testimony ? the whole earth hangs upon the word of gods power , and shall not our faith hang upon the word of his promise ? tit. 1. 2. in hope of eternal life , which god who cannot lye hath promised . the saints crown is purchased by christs blood , ephes. 1. 14. and christ will not lose his purchase . what was the end of christs ascension ? he went up to heaven , not only to invest himself , but all believers with glory ; as an husband takes up land in another country in the behalf of his wife . what did christ pray for , but that all the saints might be with him ? john 17. 24. and what christ prayed for as he was man , he hath power to give as he is god : besides , the lord hath given us the unction of his spirit to prepare us , and the earnest of his spirit to assure us of happiness , 2 cor. 1. 21. and he will not lose his earnest ; so that the crown of righteousness shall indubitably be bestowed . to question this , is to destroy the main article of our creed , life everlasting . such atheists as judg the eternal recompences fictions , put god to swear against them , that they shall never see life . 2. branch . strive for this crown * . i have read of those who travel in long pilgrimages to the holy land , they have hard lodgings , and pass through a number of dangers ; and at the end of their journy pay a large tribute at the pisan castle to the turks ; and when they come thither , they see only a bare sepulchre , where it is supposed their saviour lay . did they take such pains to gratifie their superstitious devotion ? what herculean labour then should a christian undertake in his journy to the true land of promise , whereby he shall both see and enjoy his saviour , and not enter into his sepulchre , but palace , and be eternally crowned with the delights of the jerusalem abo 〈…〉 〈…〉 we but take as much pains for heaven , as others do for the world , undoubtedly we might obtain it , phil. 3. 15. reaching forth unto those things which are before * . a metaphor taken from racers , that reach their necks forward , and strain every limb to lay hold upon the prize ; let us contend , tanquam pro aris & focis . there are two things requisite for a christian , a watchful eye , and a working hand ; to purpose , let us add pursuit . what scuffling is there for outward honours ? men will wade through blood to a crown . was there such strife for a corruptible crown in the olympian and isthmean races ? sometimes the crown bestowed upon the victor was made of olive , sometimes of mirtle , sometimes of cynamon enclos'd in gold ; but still it was corruptible : o then how strenuously should we labour for the garland made of the flowers of paradise , which never fade ! with what vigour and resolution did hannibal march over the alps for the obtaining terrestrial kingdoms ? how should we act then ad extremum virium , for that orient crown which shines ten thousand times brighter than the sun in its meridian splendour . luther spent three hours a day in prayer : anna the prophetess departed not from the temple , but served god with fastings and prayers night and day , luk. 2. 37. the learned calvin , jewell , perkins were indefatigable in their pursuit after glory . let us look to this cloud of witnesses , and bestir our selves , ply our oar , double our files ; who would not toyl all day , to catch salvation at night ? when the flesh crys out , what a weariness is it ? who can endure all this labour ? say , it is worse enduring hell : the labour for heaven , though it seem pungent , it is transient ; the fight is quickly over , and then comes the immarcescible crown . 2. it hath a particular aspect to believers . 1. be full of anhelations and longings for this crown of righteousness . doth not the banished prince desire his native countrey ? the unwillingness of christians to go hence shows , 1. the weakness of their faith : they question their interest in this excellent glory ; were their title to heaven more cleared , they would need patience to be content to stay here any longer . 2. the weakness of their love . love ( as aristotle saith ) desires union . did men love christ as they should , they would desire to be united to him in glory . st. paul desired to be dissolved and be with christ , phil. 1. 23. it was the speech of an holy man on his death-bed , my heart is in heaven , lord lead me to that glory which i have seen already as through a glass * . we are encompassed with a body of sin ; should not we long to shake off this viper ? we are combating with satan ; should not we be willing to be called out of the bloody field , where the bullets of temptation fly so fast , that we may receive a victorious garland ? we now live far from court , we do rather desire god than enjoy him ; should not we long to be crowned with the blissful sight of gods face ? though we should be content to stay here to do god service , yet we should ambitiously desire to be always sunning our selves in the light ofgods countenance ; think what it will be to be led into christs wine-celler , to have the kisses of his mouth , to smell the savour of his oyntments , to lye in his bosom , that bed of love ; think what it will be to have unstained honour , unparallel'd beauty , unmixed joy ; what it will be to tread upon stars , to dwell among cherubims , and to feast on those dulcia fercula , heavenly delicacies and rarities wherewith god himself is delighted . methinks our souls should be big with longing for these things , and we should be put into such a blessed pathos of desire , as monica , who hearing of the joys of heaven , cryed out , quid hic facio ? what should i do here ? why is my soul held any longer with this earthen fetter of the flesh ? would but god give us some idaea , or imperfect glimps of heavens glory ; how should we be ready to fall into a trance with peter ? and being a little recovered out of it , what earnest suiters would we be to be caught up for ever into the heavenly paradise . 2. you who are the heirs of glory , be exhorted to work with all your might for god : love and serve god more intensly than others , who hath laid up such things for you , as eye hath not seen , nor can it enter into mans heart to conceive , 1 cor. 15. 58. always abounding in the work of the lord , knowing your labour is not in vain in the lord — immensum gloria calcar habet — st. paul had a spirit of activity for god , 1 cor. 15. 10. i laboured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more abundantly than they all . st. pauls obedience did not move slowly , as the sun upon the dial , but swiftly as the sun in the firmament ; whence was this , his eye was upon the crown , henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness : the recompence of reward may add wings to duty , and oyl to the flame of zeal . what are we that god should incircle us with happiness , and not others ? that he should ( as jacob ) cross his hands , lay his right hand upon us , and his left hand upon others ; o discriminating grace for ever to be adored , how can we serve god enough ? if there could be tears shed in heaven , it would be for this that we have been so lame in our duty , and have brought no more revenues into the heavenly exchequer . 3. let this be as bezoar-stone to revive and bear up your hearts under all your present sufferings , act. 20. 23. bonds and afflictions abide me . affliction is the saints diet-drink ; instead of roses they are crowned with thorns . you may aswell separate weight from lead , as sufferings from a saints life , 2 cor. 9. 8. we are troubled on every side . believers are as a ship that hath the waves beating on both sides , but this text may buoy them up from sinking , there is glory which doth succed and exceed all their sufferings . the saints now drink in a wormwood-cup , but shortly they shall drink in a spiced cup , and tast the same heavenly nectar as the angels . one days wearing the coelestial crown , will abundantly pay for all their sufferings , rom. 8. 18. i reckon that the sufferings of this present time , are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us . the weight of glory makes affliction light . o ye saints who are the true birds of paradise sing in winter , there is glory behind , and every suffering will be like a grain put in the scale to make your glory weigh heavier . suffering saints shall have more jewels hung upon their crown . 4. let this be an antidote against the fear of death . the day of death is ( as seneca calls it ) aeterni natalis , the birth-day of eternity ; believers are not fully happy till death * . death therefore is made a part of the inventory , 1 cor. 3. 22. death is yours . when the mantle of the flesh drops off , the soul ascends in a triumphant chariot ; god hath promised his people a portion , but it is not paid them till the day of death . 't is their fathers good pleasure to give them a kingdom , luk. 12. 32. but they cannot see it till death hath closed their eyes . why then should the saints be troubled at death ? indeed i wonder not that the wicked are appal'd , and scared at the approach of the king of terror ; they are in debt to gods justice , and death as gods serjeant arrests them , and drags them before the divine tribunal . but why should any of gods children be under such consternation , and have the trembling at the heart ? what hurt doth death do to them ? it pulls off their fetters and puts jewels upon them ; it leads them to gates of pearl , rivers of pleasures . faith gives a title to heaven , death a possession . go forth my soul , said hilarion on his death-bed , what fearest thou ? why should the godly dread their priviledg ? is a prince afraid to cross the narrow seas who is sure to be crowned assoon as he comes at shore ? this puts roses into the pale face of death , and makes it look more ruddy and amiable ; it is aditus ad gloriam , it crowns the saints with all the delights of the empyraean heaven . i have done with the text , it remains that i should speak something to the occasion . it hath pleased the all-wise god to take to himself lately , that reverend and faithful minister mr. henry stubs , whose death we now commemorate . the memory of the just is blessed . fulgentius calls a good name the godly mans heir , it lives when he is dead . this man of god hath left a sweet favour and perfume behind in gods church , besides his atchievement of humane learning , he was enriched with the knowledg of christ crucified . the graces excell the muses . he was very humble ; humility is the best garment a minister can preach in * . he was one of a thousand for integrity . the plainer the diamond is , the richer . he was a grave preacher , and did chuse rather to speak solidè than floridè . he spake as became the oracles of god. levity is below the majesty of preaching . he was a painful labourer in gods vineyard ; he preached in season and out of season . the souls of people were dearer to him than his life * . praying and preaching was rather his delight than task . he was a burning lamp consuming himself to give light to others . he preached feelingly ; he felt those truths in his own soul which he recommended to his auditors ; an unconverted minister is like a lute , making sweet musick to others , but it self is not sensible ; this elect vessel retained a scent and rellish of those sacred truths which he poured out to others . he lived much by faith , and had sweet converse with god ; all the saints have gods heart , but some have more of his company . he was exemplary in his deportment ; he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ministers by vertue of their calling , approach nearer to god , exod. 19. 22. the elements the higher they are , the purer ; the fire is purer than the air . the higher we are by office , the holier we should be . quo sublimiores , eo sanctiores . this blessed person deceased , did live as an incarnate angel. i may say of him as basil of gregory nazianzen , he thundred in his doctrine , and lightned in his conversation . he was charitable-minded . i have been credibly informed , that out of that little he had gathered together while he was in his living , he appointed two hundred pounds ( which he intrusted in the hands of feoffees ) to be improved annually for the good of the poor to buy them bibles . he was of a sweet temper , never fierce but against sin . he was devout towards god , affable to his friends , loving to his relations . the lord honoured his ministry very much , he had a double crown ; the souls he converted were his crown of rejoicing * , and now he wears a crown of righteousness . how great a loss hath glocestershire and london of this eminent minister . it hath been told me , that he set apart some time every day to pray for the church of god ; he ( like moses ) lay in the breach to turn away wrath ; we shall soon grow poor if we lose such praying friends . during the time of this good mans sickness , he was asthmatical , and laboured much for breath , so that he could not utter himself so freely , but what was heard to drop from him was very savoury . he said he had fled to the city of refuge , and recited that scripture , 2 tim. 1. 12. i know whom i have believed , and i am perswaded he is able to keep that which i have committed to him against that day . i pray god give all who are concerned in this loss , wisdom to improve this present stroke , and make a living sermon of their dead minister . he is now voti compos , he enjoys the sight of that god whom he so pathetically longed for upon his death-bed . he is got into the upper region above all storms . his body is returned to dust , and his soul to rest . he is enclosed in happiness , as the word for crowning imports * . he is as rich as the angels , though he hath lost his life , yet not his crown . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a65295-e100 chryfost . notes for div a65295-e420 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , chrys. * galta caput tuetur . * job 8. 14. * duae tamen supersunt mamillae , una fidei , altera spes . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ignatius . * lucan . * mat. 4. 10. * rev. 7. 9. * certent singuli ut accipiant coronas , cypr. * si soris host●m non habes , domi invenies , livy . * fomes peccati , aug. * ephes 6. 12. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * tertul. * damascen . * qnis sanctorum sine certamine coronatus est , hierom. * gen. 3. 15. * forti anim● pugnare dece● , sub christi auspiciis & vexillo , calv. * eph. 6. 10. * erek . 36. 2● . * pax nostra bellum contra daemonem , * tertul. * non pugnanti sed vincenti dabitur corona , aug. * 2 tim. 4 , 10. * heb. 10. 38. * non quaruntur in christianis initia , sed finis . hierom. * domine quod capisti perfice , nè in portu naufragium accidas . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ignat. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * rev. 1. 6. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys. * menochius . * in visione dei ut primi veri , & amore dei ut summi boni consistit corona . * august . * premium quod side non attingitur . aug. use 1. * ubi nec qui : torquetur moritur , nec qui torquet fatigatur , bern. flor. * gen. 50. 1. heb. 3. 18. * sen. herc. fur. non est ad astra mollis è terris via . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * mr. rollock . act. 10. 11. * sicut testa ovorum quamvis pulchre formata , necesse est tamen eam frangi ut inde pullus procedat ; ita hujus corporis necesse est testam , ut status ille sublimior regni coelestis effulgeat . clem al. * 1. pet. 5. 5. * nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causam . d. reyn. * 1 thes. 2. 19. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a funeral sermon on mordecai abbott esq. preach'd at lorimers hall, april the 7th, 1700 / by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas, fl. 1700. 1700 approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 28 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45685 wing h910 estc r40131 18762922 ocm 18762922 108225 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45685) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 108225) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1656:5) a funeral sermon on mordecai abbott esq. preach'd at lorimers hall, april the 7th, 1700 / by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas, fl. 1700. [6], 48 p. printed for d. brown ... and a. bell ..., london : 1700. errata: p. [2]. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng abbott, mordecai, d. 1700. bible. -n.t. -matthew xxv, 21 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2008-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon on mordecai abbott esq preach'd at lorimers hall , april the 7th , 1700. by thomas harrison . psal . 89.48 . what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? mat. 24.46 . blessed is that servant , whom his lord when he cometh , shall find so doing . london , printed for d. brown at the black swan and bible without temple-bar , and a. bell at the cross-keys and bible in cornhil . 1700. errata . page 7. line antepenult , put the comma after little . p. 15. l. ult . for servant , read service . p. 18. l. ult . r. they may both themselve acknowledg . p. 19. l. 2. for but , r. and. to the sorrowful widow of mordecai abbott esq madam ; tho i readily comply'd with your desire in preaching the following sermon , i could not without some reluctancy consent to the printing of it : but my great obligations both to your deceas'd husband , and your self , gave your request the force of a command . i rather chose to have my prudence censur'd than my gratitude . i am sensible that i studied it under a great disadvantage , both by reason of my bodily indisposition , and those necessary affairs that lay upon my hands ; which made me the more unwilling to publish it . but if god , who is a soveraign agent , shall be pleas'd to make it useful to any that read it , i shall find no reason to repent its being brought upon the public stage . i hope , madam , when you seriously consider how sutable those vvords w●●ch i preach'd upon are to the character of your departed relative , it may be a means to support you under that severe stroke which separated him from you. he was a good and a faithful servant , and i question not but he is now enter'd into the joy of his lord. his conversation upon earth gives you solid ground to hope that he is advanc'd to heaven , where he is possest of a compleat felicity : and that sweet savour he has left behind him perfumes his family , now his body is cloth'd with corruption . 't is an honour to you that you had such a husband ; to your children , that they had such a father . that the lord would supply this loss by the more eminent vouchsafement of his gracious presence to you ; that he would adopt your fatherless children into his own family ; that the choicest of his blessings may constantly descend upon you and yours , is the unfeigned desire of , madam , your humble servant , tho. harrison . april 15th , 1700. matth. xxv . 21. his lord said unto him , well done good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord. the great apostle of our profession , during the publick exercise of his ministry upon earth , spoke very much in parables , according to the stile and manner of the jewish nation : hereby spiritual things were brought down to the capacities of his hearers , being represented by those earthly ones which were most familiar to their understandings . we have two parables in this chapter , my text is a part of the latter , which begins with the 14th , and ends with the 30th verse . the scope of this parable was to perswade men to diligence in the service of god , and to a faithful improvement of the benefits which they receive from him . in order to the explication of my text , i shall consider four things . 1st . the speaker . 2dly . the person spoken to . 3dly . the speech it self . 4thly . the time when it was deliver'd . an account of these things will give you further light into the whole parable . 1st . the speaker ; his lord. hereby our lord intends himself , who was ready to travel into a far country , to ascend to the emperial heaven , which is at a vast local distance from this lowly earth , wherein he then sojourned . he hath a double lordship over all countries , viz. essential and primitive , as the second person in the trinity ; and derivative and dispensatory , as mediator . tho many of the human race refuse to serve and obey him , they are all his rightful servants and subjects : his dominion over them is not founded upon their consent ; he is nevertheless their lord , tho they will not own him to be so . in short , they that slight his authority now , will find it exercis'd hereafter in the infliction of a deserved and severe punishment upon them . the unprofitable servant shall be cast into outer darkness , where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ; as you may see in the 30th verse of this chapter . 2dly . the person spoken to : his lord said unto him. we have an account of the person in the preceding verse , and that with respect to two things , viz. his receipt , and his improvement . 1. his receipt . this servant had receiv'd five talents from his master . all the blessings that the children of men enjoy , flow from jesus christ : temporal good things are dispensed by him as the governor of the world ; and spiritual , as the head of the church . his favours are not communicated to all in an equal measure . we read of one servant that receiv'd but one talent , of another that receiv'd two talents ; but this servant was intrusted with five . the supreme lord makes a considerable difference between one and another by the distribution of his favours . one hath no more than food and raiment , just enough to supply the necessities of nature ; another abounds in wealth , his cup is so full that it runs over : one lives obscurely , and makes no figure in the world ; another is in an exalted station : one is very weak in his intellectuals , another is furnish'd with a considerable stock of parts and learning . and surely the proprietor of heaven and earth may dispose of his own as he pleases . they that enjoy the least , have more than they deserve ; they that enjoy the most , must acknowledg that it is not their worthiness , but the soveraign goodness of their lord , that hath made them to differ from others . 2. his improvement ; he gained besides them five talents more : he did not hide his five talents , as his fellow servant did his one talent , but laid them out and improv'd them . he gain'd more by his five talents than the other man did by his two ; his improvement was proportionable to his receipt . to whomsoever much is given , of him shall much he requir'd ; luke 12.48 . the more god hath done for us , and bestow'd upon us , the more will he expect from us . all that we have receiv'd from him should be laid out in his service , for the advancement of his honour . i proceed , 3dly . to the speech it self : well done good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful in a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord. herein we have his lord's commendation of him , and the happiness to which he adjudges him . 1. his lord's commendation of him ; well done good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful in a few things . he approves of his service , and commends him for it . i conceive the latter word faithful may be explicative of the former epithet , good : the goodness and excellency of a servant chiefly consisting in his fidelity to his master . the things wherein he had been faithful are call'd few , in comparison of what should be intrusted with him , and bestow'd upon him . the most that we receive from christ at present , is very little compared with what we shall receive from him hereafter . there is a vast disproportion between what we have in hand , and what we have in hope . i may say of the enjoyments , as the apostle doth of the sufferings , of the present time , that they are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be reveal'd in us , rom. 8.18 . god will deal more bountifully with his own children when they come to heaven , than he ever doth while they remain upon earth . 2. the happiness to which he adjudges him : i will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. we must not be solicitous to accommodate every word in a parable to that spiritual truth that is taught us by it . i will not determine whether these words , i will make thee ruler over many things , do purely serve for the setting off the parabolical narration , or are to be taken in a spiritual sense . according to the former notion they are expressive of a kind master's treatment of a faithful servant ; having experienc'd his fidelity in smaller matters , he entrusts him with greater , and advances him to a higher station . according to the latter notion they are expressive of that great felicity which christ will confer upon his faithful servants in another world. this is further held forth in the following words , enter thou into the joy of thy lord ; whereby is certainly intended the glory and blessedness of the heavenly state. this is exprest by joy , because the fruition of it will produce a triumphant and unspeakable joy in those that enter into it . thus psal . 16.11 . in thy presence is fulness of joy , and at thy right-hand are pleasures for evermore . 't is call'd the joy of his lord , and that probably on a double account . ( 1. ) because in the vision and enjoyment of christ the greatest part of their felicity will consist . tho there be many jewels in that never fading crown of glory which shall be set upon the heads of believers in another world , this is the brightest and most sparkling . when our lord prays for the final happiness of his people , he thus expresses himself ; father , i will that they be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me , joh. 17.24 . the apostle therefore desir'd to depart , that he might be with christ , phil. 1.23 . ( 2. ) because his glory in heaven is the exemplar and pattern of that which his people shall enjoy . they shall enter into that joy , which he as their forerunner is already enter'd into : not that they shall possess the same glory in all respects that christ hath ; for his personal glory as the son of god , and as mediator , are incommunicable ; but they shall partake of his glory according to their capacity . we are told that they shall reign with him , 2 tim. 2.12 . and that when he shall appear they shall be like him , 1 joh. 3.2 . their souls shall be perfectly conform'd to his human soul , in purity and felicity , and their bodies shall be fashion'd into the likeness of his glorious body . an entering into this joy may denote the plenitude and abundance of it : here joy enters into us , but hereafter we shall enter into joy ; we shall be swallow'd up in a fathomless ocean of pure and unallay'd pleasures . i proceed , 4thly . to consider the time when this speech was deliver'd . if we look back into the 19th verse , we shall find it was when the lord came to reckon with his servants . hereby our lord's second coming in visible glory , to judg both quick and dead , is evidently intended : of this we have a particular account in the latter part of the chapter . the heavens must contain our ascended lord till the times of the restitution of all things , and then he shall descend from thence in the glory of his father , with all his holy angels , to convene the whole race of adam before his judgment-seat , to call them to an account for the deeds done in the body , and to pass a definitive sentence upon them according to their works . 't is true , there is a particular judgment which immediately follows after death : when the soul is separated from the body , it appears before the bar of the supreme judg , to give an account of its stewardship , and then receives an irreversible sentence of condemnation , or absolution . but i conceive our lord chiefly respects the general judgment , when the trial will be public , the sentence pronounc'd with the most awful solemnity ; and the happiness or misery of every man compleated . having gone thro the words by way of explication , i might raise several observations from them . but that i may comply with my time , i shall only speak to this proposition : doct. that they who are faithful servants of christ in this life , shall be possest of a very joyful and happy state in the next . in prosecuting this point , i shall , i. describe the faithful servants of christ . ii. give an account of that joyful and happy state of which they shall be hereafter possest . iii. show the certain connexion between serving christ faithfully in this life , and the possession of that blissful state in the next . iv. make some application . i. i am to describe the faithful servants of christ , who they are that shall be own'd as such by the supreme lord , when he comes to judgment . they may be described , ( 1. ) from their state. ( 2. ) from their actions . the former is necessarily presuppos'd to their serving christ with faithfulness and acceptance . the service which they do for christ consists in the latter . 1. their state may be describ'd ●n two particulars . ( 1. ) they are justified by the righteousness of christ . 't is impossible that any good fruit should be brought forth by a person till he be ingrafted into christ , as is plainly taught us by our lord himself ; joh. 15.4 , 5. now being found in christ , and ●aving on his righteousness , are conjoin'd , because they are inseparable ; phil. 3.9 . they who are mystically one with christ , must ●eeds be interested in his mediatory righteousness , and so perfectly justified in the sight of god. tho , according to the tenor of the covenant of works , the servant was to be first accepted , and then the person on that account ; yet according to the tenor of the covenant of grace , the person must be first accepted , and then the service . nothing short of an investiture with christ's perfect righteousness can render our persons acceptable to the most high ; and till they become so , our most splendid services will be abominable in his sight . ( 2. ) they are renew'd and sanctified by the spirit of christ : every acceptable service flows from a principle of spiritual life . a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit , mat. 7.18 . we may as well suppose that grapes should be the product of thorns , o● figs of thistles , as that an unsanctified person should bring forth fruit unto god. they that are in the flesh cannot please god ; rom. 8.8 . their persons cannot therefore their actions cannot ; because they are the products of a nature at variance with him , a nature that is not , nor cannot be subject to his law. the faithful servants of christ are conform'd to his image : the law of god is first written in their hearts , and then copied out in their lives . 2. i shall describe them from their actions : only i would premise this , we are not to suppose that they are altogether free from sin. the most faithful servants of christ offend in many things ; their errors are so many and so great , that they cannot fully understand them : their best performances are imperfect , being tinctur'd with the remaining corruption of their natures . should god be strict to mark the iniquities of their holy things , they could not stand before him . but , ( 1. ) they design the honour of christ in that service which they do for him . many carnal persons do several things that are agreeable to the reveal'd will of this glorious lord , and have a proper tendency to serve his interest ; but they have no eye to his glory in any of these actions : they only aim at the advancement of their own reputation , the promotion of some secular interest , or the quieting of their own consciences . but they who sincerely serve the blessed jesus , fix upon his glory as their ultimate end ; and what good they do is propos'd by them as a means subservient to it . the grand reason of their practical holiness and obedience is , that they themselves may not only acknowledg the glory of their great master , but likewise proclaim it to others . ( 2. ) they have a regard to all his commandments . the character which christ gives of his friends , joh. 15.14 . agrees to his faithful servants , they do whatsoever he commands them : they do not slight any precept on which they can discern the stamp of his authority : they make conscience both of first and second table duties , of those that are personal and those that are relative of the least as well as the greatest , of the most difficult as well as the most easy . they will not say of any divine command , this is a hard saying , who can bear it ? they are ready to do any sort of work their master sets them about , however toilsom and laborious , however mean and contemptible in the eyes of the world , however costly or hazardous : they mind the duties of every place and station wherein the providence of god hath set them , whether civil , domestic , or ecclesiastical ▪ they discharge their duty towards their country , their families , and the church to which they are related , with integrity and diligence . and this they do , not by constraint , but willingly . ( 1. ) they lay out all the talents with which they are intrusted in his service : as they are stewards , they improve what he hath put into their hands to those ends and purposes for which they receiv'd it . have they a plentiful estate ? they do not spend it in making provision for the flesh ; nor do they covetously hoard it up , but imploy a considerable part of it in supporting the worship of god , propagating the gospel of christ , and relieving those that are in distress . they honour god with their substance , and with the first-fruits of their increase . are they advanc'd to any station wherein they are capable of serving christ or his people with their interest ? they improve it to the utmost for such a purpose . they serve the lord with those parts and abilities , with those gifts and graces which he hath bestow'd upon them . ii. i proceed to give you an account of that joyful and happy state whereof those faithful servants shall be hereafter possest : and since it is exprest by joy in my text , i shall mention some things which render that state very joyful , or excite a triumphant joy in those that enter into it ; and then give you the properties of that joy which results from these fruitions . 1st . i shall mention some things which render that state very joyful , or excite a triumphant joy in those that enter into it . 1. a freedom from those infelicities which attend a mortal state. as the privation of good is cause of sorrow , so a deliverance from evil gives a natural rise to joy. will not a prisoner rejoice when reliev'd from that dungeon to which he was confin'd , and freed from those fetters wherewith he was shackled ? how joyful is a man when recover'd from a languishing sickness , and eas'd of racking pain ? surely our mouths will be filled with laughter , and our tongues with singing when we shall be perfectly freed from that mighty train of evils which adam's fall brought into this lower world. how will our spirits exult when we shall be set at a vast distance from those things , which often made us sigh , groan and weep ! when we enter into the other world , we shall be freed from all sorrowful , and from all sinful evils . ( 1. ) from all sorrowful evils . there is no more death , nor sorrow , nor shall there be any more pain ; for former things are past away ; rev. 21.4 . there is no infirmity of body , no poverty , no disgrace , no treachery of pretended friends , no persecution of open enemies ; there are no perplexing cares , or tormenting fears , no temptations from within or without , no divine withdrawings . how will the soul rejoice when it can say , i felt abundance of pain by reason of the disorder of my body , but now i enjoy perfect ease : i was rack'd and tortur'd with many cares and fears , but now they are all chas'd away as the shadows of the evening by the rising sun : i was violently buffeted by the wicked one , but he is now bruised under my feet , i have obtain'd a compleat and final victory over him ; i am got out of the reach of his fiery darts and malignant suggestions . ( 2. ) from all sinful evils . these are most grievous to a renewed soul , when in a right frame ; no pressure so heavy as that body of death which he continually carries about with him . of this the apostle paul made a very doleful complaint , rom. 7.34 . and from the fountain of indwelling sin many actual sins do frequently stream . but all vitious habits are entirely rooted out of believers when translated into another world. no unclean thing can enter into the holy place above . the rags of mortal defilement drop from them , as elijah's mantle did from him when mounting up to that lofty region . and none of those sons that are brought to glory , ever wander from god's commandments : there is no more disconformity to the divine will in their actions than there is in their hearts . and how will the holy soul exult when freed from those fetters of corruption which so often kept it at a distance from god , and hinder'd it from doing his will ! to what an extasy of joy will it be raised , when it finds it self without spot or wrinkle ! 2. the moral perfection of our souls . the separate spirits of just men are made perfect , heb. 12.23 . as the old man shall then be destroy'd , so the new man shall come to its full growth , to its highest pitch . that moral image of god which was imperfectly pourtray'd upon us at our introduction into the kingdom of grace , will be brought to its utmost perfection upon our entrance into the kingdom of glory . now we may consider this moral perfection both as it respects the understanding , and as it respects the will , the two supreme faculties of the human soul. ( 1. ) as it respects the understanding ; and so it consists in a perfection of knowledg . now we see thro a glass , darkly ; but then face to face : now we know in part , but then shall we know even as also we are known ; 1 cor. 13.12 . then that which is perfect will come , and that which is in part shall be done away . those things we have at present conceal'd from us , shall then be unfolded to us : our apprehensions of those things which we are now acquainted with , will be much clearer and more distinct than they are while we dwell in this cloudy region , where so many mists and fogs arise to obscure our sight of divine and spiritual objects , and our souls are apt to make a judgment of them as represented by the senses . what bright views shall we then have of the nature and perfections of the deity , of the glorious mysteries than are contain'd in the everlasting gospel , of the eternal counsel and designs , of the beautiful and harmonious providences of the eternal king ! knowledg is so agreeable to the human mind , that men take abundance of pains , and wade thro many difficulties in the pursuit of it , and are even transported with joy when they have obtain'd it , tho in a trifling inconsiderable matter . what an elevation then will be given to our joy , by the clearest view of the most excellent objects ? what pleasure will result from those bright idea's of god and christ , wherewith our minds shall be filled ? ( 2. ) as it respects the will ; and so it chiefly consists in a perfection of love , which is a grace very sutable to the triumphant state. there is a vast difference between that love which a militant saint bears to his heavenly father and his glorious redeemer , and that of a triumphant saint . our love , when we come to heaven , will bear a just proportion to our knowledg . the light wherewith our minds shall be irradiated , will be accompanied with a sutable warmth of affection . and as a perfection of love to god will mightily ennoble our wills , so it will produce solid and unspeakable joy , forasmuch as it renders the fruition of god and christ exceeding delightful . there can no satisfaction arise from the presence of an unbeloved object : and the pleasure that we take in the enjoyment of any thing will be proportionate to its share in our affections . in short , since believers mourn at present to find their love of the supreme being but as smoking flax , how will they rejoice hereafter when it shall becom a triumphant flame ? 3. the full enjoyment of god and christ . tho the divine gracious presence be afforded to believers in their way to heaven , yet the glorious presence of god will not be enjoy'd by them till they enter into that blissful habitation . our fellowship with the father , and with his son jesus christ , is but partial at present , hereafter it will be full . since god is our chiefest good , the supreme object of our love , we must needs rejoice in the compleat fruition of him . what a triumphant joy will spring up in our souls , when we shall lie in the embraces of such a glorious person as our emanuel , one who is the brightness of the father's glory , and the express image of his person : one who is very nearly related to us , being our elder brother , our head , our husband : one who hath laid the most endearing obligations upon us by what he hath done for us . how pleasant will it be to dwell with him , who from eternity undertook for us as our sponsor , who in the fulness of time took upon him our nature , stood in our law-place , redeem'd us from eternal misery , and purchas'd everlasting happiness for us by his obedience and sufferings ; who lov'd us so as to give himself a ransom for us ; of whose fulness we have receiv'd , and grace for grace ; who hath succor'd us in our temptations , supported us under our afflictions , and conducted us to the heavenly canaan . 4. the society of glorious angels and glorified saints . how joyful will that state be , wherein we shall dwell and converse with the highest order of created beings , who have perform'd many eminent services for us in the house of our pilgrimage , being all ministring spirits , sent forth to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation ? how pleasant will it be to dwell and converse with the whole assembly of triumphant saints , when free from all those imperfections which attended them in their mortal state , and very much abated the comfort of their mutual society ? there will be no divisions or animosities among them , but perfect unity , and a flaming love shall reign in all their hearts . 5. the glorious and blissful state of our bodies . when our great master shall come again as a quickning spirit , he will raise the bodies of his members from their beds of dust , and reunite them unto their souls : and tho for substance they will be the same that they were before their dissolution , yet the qualities will be greatly alter'd . the bodies of believers shall be reform'd with all glorious perfections sutable to their nature , and partake with their souls in consummate blessedness in a glorious immortality ; 1 cor. 15. the soul must needs have a great affection for its body , and when separate from it , desires a reunion . how will it exult then when the marriage-knot shall be retied , and it shall find such a vast and happy change made in its dear relative since the doleful separation ? how will it rejoyce to possess an incorruptible , a spiritual , a glorious and an immortal body ? 2dly . i shall give you the properties of that joy which results from these fruitions , in two particulars : 't is endless , and 't is undecaying . ( 1. ) 't is endless . that fulness of joy which is in god's immediate presence , lasts for evermore : it must needs be so , because that happiness whence it results will be of a perpetual duration . those evils from which the glorified saints are freed , shall no more return upon them ; they shall never be depriv'd of the beatific vision of god , nor dislodg'd from the immediate embraces of their dear redeemer . tho the first adam was soon expell'd the earthly paradise , the seed of the second adam shall never be driven out of the heavenly : their souls shall no more be divorc'd from their bodies . in short , when millions of millions of ages are run out in the fruition of heavenly pleasures , their happiness will be no nearer to its period than at the first moment of their admission into the regions of glory . ( 2. ) 't is undecaying . as they shall not cease to rejoice , so their joy will never be impair'd or diminish'd : there shall be no clouds to obscure the splendor of that eternal day . our happiness will be always the same , and our perception of it equal throughout an endless eternity . the long enjoyment of celestial pleasures will not make us to grow weary of them . there is an infinite variety in god , and whatever is truly desirable is eminently injoy'd in him . an infinite good produces always the same pure equal compleat joy , because it arises from its intrinsic perfection that wants no foil to commend it . in a word , this joy is no ravishing rapture , but a constant height of affection . thus i dismiss the second general head. i must but touch upon the iii. to show the certain connexion between serving christ faithfully in this life , and the possession of that blissful state in the next . there is no connexion by way of merit between the one and the other . eternal life is the free gift of god , and therefore not the proper reward of our services . since we owe a perfect obedience to our lord , could we yield that , it would not entitle us to the glory of heaven . but there being many flaws and defects in our obedience , 't is very absurd to claim so great a felicity on that account . tho the word of god assures us , that the possession of heaven shall certainly follow upon the faithful serving of christ on earth . i might produce several texts to this purpose , but two shall suffice . we are assur'd , that christ will render eternal life to them who by patient continuance in well-doing , seek for glory , honour and immortality ; rom. 2.6 , 7. he that soweth to the spirit , shall of the spirit reap life everlasting ; gal. 6.8 . this glorious judg will at the grand assize pronounce a sentence upon every one sutable to the kind and nature , tho not to the desert of his works . then shall men return and discern between the righteous and the wicked ; between him that serveth god , and him that serveth him not . since all christ's faithful servants are justified and sanctified , they shall certainly be glorified . they who have a right to heaven , and a meetness for it , shall infallibly enter into that delectable habitation . there is such connexion between the fruits of electing love , that they who have receiv'd any one , shall certainly receive all the rest . i proceed , iv. to make some application . 1. how highly doth it concern us to enquire , whether we are the faithful servants of christ or not ! since this is a matter of everlasting importance , how strict should we be in the examination of our selves , that we may come to a due result in our own minds about it ? let us seriously consider whether the character that hath been given of such persons agrees to us . we have a great deal of work to do , are we diligent in it ? some talents are intrusted with us all , do we carefully improve them ? if we loiter and are unfaithful , we cannot conceal our infidelity from our omniscient lord , tho our fellow servants may be unacquainted with it . deceitful pleas and excuses will not avail us , when we stand before that judg , whose eyes are as a flame of fire . 2. how sad will the condition of unfaithful servants be in the awful day of account ! if they that are faithful shall enter into the joy of their lord , then they that are unfaithful shall be doom'd to eternal sorrow . as there is a vast difference between their state and their actions at present , so their condition will be vastly different hereafter . they that spend all their time in the service of sin and satan , will receive dreadful wages , even everlasting death , at the end of it . the talents which are now intrusted with them , will inflame their reckoning when they stand at their lord's tribunal : since they have sown to the flesh , they shall of the flesh reap corruption . think of this , o sinners , before it be too late . that time , those estates , those opportunities , those natural and acquir'd parts which you now profusely squander away , must e'er long be accounted for . in a short time christ will say to every one of you , give an account of thy stewardship , for thou mayst be no longer steward . and how sad an account will you give if taken out of the world in your present state ? think what horror will seize you ( if not extremely stupid ) when death shall sit upon your quivering lips , and your souls shall be just ready to take their flight into an eternal world ! how dreadful will the thoughts of appearing before the lord be to you , when sensibly approaching his judgment-seat ! think of that awful day when christ shall be reveal'd from heaven in flaming fire , to take vengeance upon them that know not god , and obey not the gospel . how dreadful a spectacle will the supreme judg be to you who have slighted and contemned him , when he shall appear in a pompous manner , arm'd with almighty power , and attended with a numerous train , to pronounce an irreversible sentence of condemnation upon you ? can you bear to dwell in blackness of darkness , and to lie in unquenchable flames with legions of devils ? tho you have highly offended your lord , 't is not yet too late to find mercy . he now sits upon a throne of grace , and extends his golden scepter to the greatest criminals . come to christ by faith , that you may be interested in his righteousness , which will free you from the guilt of your former infidelity ; and receive that grace from him which will capacitate you to serve him faithfully the remainder of your days . know that many who were once in the same case with your selves , are now reigning in life , thro jesus christ their lord. 3. what encouragement have believers to fidelity in the service of their lord ! that assurance which you have of a future felicity , should encourage you to lay out your selves to the utmost in the service of christ at present . the improvement which the apostle makes of the doctrine of the resurrection , 1 cor. 15. ult . is a natural improvement of this doctrine ; therefore , my beloved brethren , be ye stedfast , unmoveable , always abounding in the work of the lord , forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the lord. since christ will bestow such an unspeakable happiness upon you hereafter , how willing should you be to do your utmost to serve him here ? the joy that is set before you should carry you chearfully thro all the fatigues and difficulties of your present state. 4. this may comfort us under the loss of our godly friends and relations . 't is true , the better they were , the greater loss we sustain'd by their removal . but the consideration of what they have gain'd by a translation into another world , may very much lighten the affliction , and chear our spirits under it . are we satisfied that our deceased friends were good and faithful servants of christ ? we may conclude that they are enter'd into the joy of their lord , and therefore have pass'd thro a very happy change. and i may reasonably suggest this to the surviving relatives of that excellent person whose death hath occasion'd this discourse : i think the words of my text were justly applicable to him . to give his just character might render me suspected of flattery by those who were unacquainted with him . ever since i had the honour of his acquaintance , i took him to be a sincere christian ; and the better i knew him , the more i was confirm'd in that opinion . i found him a solid and serious , not a flashy and airy professor ; one that had a great concern not only for the welfare of the nation , but for the interest of christ in it . his lord had intrusted him with several talents ; he had a plentiful income , was in an eminent station , had great natural abilities , and a general reputation among all sorts of persons . and did he bury these talents ? no , he laid them out in the service of his lord. how freely and liberally did he contribute towards the relief of those that were in want , and the propagation of the gospel ? i never knew him backward to the promotion of any good design ; but were it convenient , could give many instances of his readiness to do good both by his purse and interest . he was lovely in every capacity , a good subject , a true patriot , a useful and honourable member of the church of christ , a loving husband , a careful father , a kind master , and a faithful and affectionate friend . but he is gone , his place shall know him no more : having serv'd his own generation by the will of god , he is fallen asleep ; god hath call'd him away in the midst of his days , when many unprofitable servants are left behind . such a loss , so publick , so general , ought to be bewailed . now a righteous man is perish'd , a merciful man is taken away , and we ought to lay it to heart . but let us not mourn as those that are without hope . it would be a good improvement of this providence , if men of interest and estate would imitate his example . that covetous narrow spirit which prevails among the professors of this day , is a great reproach to our holy religion . i close with a short address to the mournful relations of this worthy person : have a care of repining at the hand of god , tho you have receiv'd a severe stroke . he that has taken him from you , first gave him to you , and had a soveraign right to dispose of him . it highly becomes creatures and subjects to acquiesce in the will of the supreme lord. god is righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works , and his will is always agreeable to infinite wisdom . the ways of his providence are all mercy and truth , even when he seems to walk contrary to them . for your comfort , think of that happy state into which your dearest friend is enter'd ; death was a blessed gain to him ; he has thereby obtain'd a post not to be exchanged for the highest preferment in the court of an earthly prince . be followers of him as he was of christ . study to serve your lord in your day and generation with uncorrupted fidelity ; so shall you also be own'd by him in the day of account : he will then say to you , well done good and faithful servants ; you have been faithful over a few things , i will make you ruler over many things : enter ye into the joy of your lord. finis . empsychon nekron, or, the lifelessness of life on the hether side of immortality with (a timely caveat against procrastination) briefly expressed and applyed in a sermon preached at the funerall of edward peyto of chesterton ... / by thomas pierce ... pierce, thomas, 1622-1691. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a54841 of text r33405 in the english short title catalog (wing p2182). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 93 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a54841 wing p2182 estc r33405 13295029 ocm 13295029 98875 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a54841) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 98875) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1039:31) empsychon nekron, or, the lifelessness of life on the hether side of immortality with (a timely caveat against procrastination) briefly expressed and applyed in a sermon preached at the funerall of edward peyto of chesterton ... / by thomas pierce ... pierce, thomas, 1622-1691. [10], 33 p. printed for r. royston ..., london : mdclix [1659] first two words of title in greek characters. imperfect: pages faded with loss of print. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. eng peyto, edward. funeral sermons. a54841 r33405 (wing p2182). civilwar no empsychon nekron, or the lifelesness of life on the hether side of immortality. with (a timely caveat against procrastination.) briefly expr pierce, thomas 1659 16122 27 165 0 0 1 0 125 f the rate of 125 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion εμψυχον νεκρον or the lifelesness of life on the hether side of immortality . with ( a timely caveat against procrastination . ) briefly expressed and applyed in a sermon preached at the funerall of edward peyto of chesterton in warwick-shire esquire . by thomas pierce rector of brington . — — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sophocles {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. in alcest . london , printed for r. royston , and are to be sold at the angel in ivie-lane . m. dc . lix . to my ever honoured friend mris. elizabeth peyto of chesterton . madam , to speak my sense of your many favours , with my reverent esteem of your approbation , and how inclinable i have been to yield obedience to your commands , the greatest expression that i can make , hath been hetherto the least that i think is due . and now i am sorry i can prove by no better argument , ( at the present , ) how great a deference and submission i think is due to your judgement , than by my having preferr'd it before mine own , in permitting that sermon to lye in common , which i had only intended for your inclosure . for though the thing hath been desired by several persons of quality , besides your self ; yet the principal end of my publication , is not to gratifie their desires , whom i could civilly deny , but to comply with your reasons , which i cannot pardonably resist . the very piety of your reasons having added to them so great a power , that what was skill in aspendius , in me would certainly be guilt , should i ( through avarice or envy ) reserve any thing to my self , by which your charity doth † believe i may profit others . indeed considering we are fallen , i do not onely say , into an iron age , but into an age whose very iron hath gather'd rust too , wherein the most do so live , as if they verily thought they should never dye , ( at least had forgotten that they are dying , and being dead must be accountable for what is done whilst they are living , ) it may be labour well spent , to trig the wheels of their sensuality ; and that by thrusting into their eyes such sad and seasonable objects , as may make them consider their latter end . it was a custome with some of old , ( or else my memory is a deceiver , ) whensoever they intended a sumptuous feast , to put a death's-head into a dish , and serve it up unto the table : which being meant for a significant , though silent orator , to plead for temperance and sobriety , by minding the men of their mortality , and that the end of their eating should be to live , that the end of their living should be to dye , and the end of their dying to live for ever , ( for even the heathens who denyed the resurrection of the body , did yet believe the immortality of the soul , ) was look'd upon by all sober and considering guests , as the wholesomest part of their entertainment . and since it is true ( what is said by solomon ) that sorrow is better then laughter , for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better ; whereupon the royall preacher concludes it better of the two , for a man to go into the house of mourning ; i cannot but reason within my self , that when * the heart of fools is in the house of mirth , whose customary language is such as this , [ come on , let us injoy the good things that are present , let us crown our selves with rose-buds before they be wither'd , let none of us go without his part of voluptuousness , let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every street , let us oppress the poor man that is righteous , and let our strength be the law of justice , ] there can be nothing more friendly , or more agreeable to their wants , than to invite such men to the house of mourning , and there to treat them with the character of the life of man ( which being impartially provided will serve as well as a deaths-head ) during the time of his floating in a valley of tears . for this is usefull to teach us all , not to be amorous of a life , which is not onely so short , as that it cannot be kept long , but withall so full of trouble , as that 't is hardly worth keeping . nor by consequence to doat on a flattering world , which is so little to be injoy'd , and its injoyment so very full of vexatious mixtures . again it is usefull to incourage us , not to be afraid of a man that must die , and whilst he lives , can but kil the body . nor to scruple at the paying that common debt , which we owe to religion , as well as nature ; that god may give us an * acquittance , as well as nature : we having received an ensurance from the infallible undertaker , that the way to save and prolong a life , is religiously to lose it , or lay it down . again 't is usefull to admonish us , ( after the measure that we are negligent ) to * trade with the talent of our time , for the unspeakable advantages of life eternall ; and to be doing all the work we can , because the night cometh , when we shall not be able to work more . lastly it mindeth us , as to be doing , because our lord cometh , and is at hand , so to be vigilant and watchfull , because we know not † what hour . in a word , the more transitorie , and the more troublesome , the life of men shall appear to be , by so much the better will be the uses , which we are prompted to make of its imperfection . and here it comes into my mind , to give you my thanks by my observance of the seasonable counsell you lately gave me , not to lavish out my time in shaming the adversaries of truth , ( by way of answer or reply to their meer impertinencies and slanders , ) but rather to spend it in such practicall and peaceable meditations , as are likelyer to forward their reformation . and though it was not your opinion that i could use my time ill , in writing continuall vindications of the lately persecuted doctrines of iesus christ , but onely that you thought i might use it better ; yet my opinion doth so fully concurr with yours , that even as soon as my leasure serv's me to pay my readers what i have promised , ( that men may learn to love god , by thinking him free from their impieties , and may not reverence their impieties , so far forth as they think them the works of god , ) i shall direct my whole studies , as you have charitably advised . and indeed i am the fitter to take your counsell , because i want a fit enemy with whom to combate , since three or four of the ablest have quit the field , and as it were bowed to the truth of the things in question . for though they have lately sent out a teazer , who ( they hoped ) might tempt me to loss of time , not by disputing in any measure against a line of what i have publish'd , but onely by opening a noysome mouth in a very wide manner against my person , and ( which is infinitely sadder ) against my * god too ; yet this doth signifie no more , then that they are stomackfull in their afflictions , and like the metalsome cynaegyrus in no particular but this , that when his hands were out off , he pursued the enemy with his teeth . a printed pamphlet comes to me , subscrib'd and sent by edward bagshaw , ( with your pardon be it spoken , for 't is not handsome in your presence to mention the name of so foul a thing ) which neither the gravity of my calling , nor the price i put upon my time , nor the reverence i bear to your advice , will permit me to answer in more then two words . for whereas it amounted to these two things , to wit , his railing against god as the * author of sin , and his railing against me as a grievous sinner , ( without the offer of any proof , 〈◊〉 the one , or the other , ) to the first i say , no , to the second , nothing . as for his blasphemies at large , his inconsistencies with himself , his frequent confessions that he is ignorant of what he presumeth to affirm , his impotent slanders , his most unsavoury scurrilities , his pique at my cassock and my cap , his evil eye upon my rectory , and female readers , ( to the honour of your sex , and shame of ours , ) last of all for his impenitency and resolutions to persevere in his crying sins ( against that person of all the world , whom , next to god , and his parents , he ought to have had in the greatest reverence , ) i shall leave him to the mercy of one or other of my disciples ; who being as much his iuniors , as he is mine , may have youth enough to excuse , if not commend them , for cooling the courage of so prurient and bold a writer . but for my self , i have determined , so to profit by what i preach in the following sermon , as not to leave it in the power of every petulant undertaker , to dispose of my hours in altercation . they that look to live long before they * look upon the grave , may trifle out their time with better pretensions to an excuse ; but i who have lost so much already , and have also had ( as i may say ) so many trials for my life , ( at that bar of mortality , the bed of sickness , ) which makes me consider it as a perishing and dying life , cannot think it so much as lawful , to dispute it away with an itching adversary ; who , however insufficient to hold up his quarrell , is yet too restless to lay it down . but i proceed to that subject ( from which my thoughts have been kept by a long parenthesis ) of which i love to be speaking on all occasions that can be offer'd , because i find so much in it , of which i cannot but speak well ; and no less to the honour of his memory , then to the profit and pleasure of his survivers . he was certainly a person , who liv'd a great deal of life in a little time ; especially dating it ( as he did ) from the memorable point of his renovation . when i consider him in his child●ood at the university of oxford ( i am sure some years before you knew him ) exciting others by his example , to mind the end of their being there ; how strict and studious he appeared throughout his course ; how much farther he went before , ( in point of standing and proficiency , ) then he came behind others , in point of years ; how much applauded he was by all , for his publick exercises in lent , both as an oratour at the desk , and as a philosopher in the schools ; how ( like the brave epaminondas ) he added honour to his degree , which yet to us ( of his form ) was all we were able to attain ; when i reflect upon his progress through much variety of learning , through every part of the mathematicks , especially through algebra , the most untrodden part of them ; and when i compare with all this , the great sobriety of his temper , his unaffected humility , and ( after a publick aberration ) his perfect return into the way , out of which ( for some years ) he had unhappily been seduced ; last of all when i remember , how whilst nothing but prosperity made some in the world to hug their errour , he hated his so much the more , the more he had prosper'd by its delusion , ( which was an argument of the most generous and christian temper , ) i think i may fitly affirm of him , what was said by siracides concerning enoch , that being made perfect in a short time , he fulfilled a long time . i do the rather think it a duty , to praise him after his decease , the less he was able to endure it , whilst yet alive . and i conceite my self the fitter , to speak a little in his absence of his perfections , because so long as he was present , i onely told him of his faults . ( never leaving him as a monitor , untill i thought he left them . ) for having found him my noble friend , and ( which in honour to his memory , i think it my duty to acknowledge ) my very munificent benefactor , i could not be so unkind a thing , as not to afford him my reprehensions , ( yet still attended with respect ) in whatsoever regard i could think them useful . and 't was the mark of an excellent judicious spirit , that he valued me most for my greatest freedom in that particular . even then when our heads were most at enmity , ( by the over great influence of his fathers persuasion upon his own ) there still remained in both our hearts a most inviolable friendship . and yet the chiefest instance of mine , was onely my often having been angry with what i conceived to be a sin ; against which ( by gods goodness being sufficiently convinced ) he grew at last to be as angry , as friends or enemies could have been . he had impartially considered that sacred aphorism , that to refuse instruction , is to despise one's own soul . and he who could not be thankfull for being chid , was judg'd by him to be unworthy of any honest man's anger . nor can i imagine a solid reason , why he was careful in time of health , to be speak my presence in time of sickness , ( of which you are able to be his witness ) unless because he did esteem me the most affectionate person of his acquaintance , by his having still found me the most severe . to conceal his great failing , ( which was so far scandalous , as it was publick , and apt to be hurtful by the reverence which many men had to his example , ) and only to speak of the best things in him , were rather to flatter , then to commend him . but yet as the scripture hath said of david , that he did what was right in the eyes of the lord , save onely in the matter of uriah the hittite , so i think i may say of your self-departed , that unless it were in that one unhappiness , of ingageing himself in an ugly cause , ( which yet be seriously repented , and so was fitted for that early , but most exemplary death , which happily opened a door to his immortality , ) his greatest vice was but this , that he modestly concealed too many virtues . the remarkable manner of his departure did most remarkably resemble sir spencer compton's , ( a person so singularly qualified by grace and nature and education , that however his extraction was highly noble , i may confidently say it was the lowest thing in him , ) who dyed at bruges about the time , wherein the man of our desires expir'd at compton . never did i hear of a more heavenly valediction to all the contentments of the earth , then was given by these two at their dissolutions . never yet did i heare , of any two farewells so much alike . never were any more admired , by those that saw them whilst they were going , or more desired , when they were gon . how your excellent husband behav'd himself , i have but partly related in the conclusion of my sermon . for though i may not dissemble so great a truth , as my strong inclinations both to think and speak of him to his advantage ; yet in my last office of friendship , i did religiously set so strict a watch over my tongue , as that i rather came short in many points of his commendation , then went beyond him in any one . and could i have had the possibility to have kept him company in his sickness , which i as earnestly endeavour'd as he desir'd it , ( but his sickness was too short , and my journey too long , for either of us either to give , or to receive that satisfaction , ) i might have perfected that account , which many witnesses enabl'd me to give in part . having thus far spoken of him to you , i must only speak of you to others . for such as reject what they deserve , i think it a panegyrick sufficient , to make it known they will have none . having dedicated my papers to a person of your endowments , for whom to approve , is to patronize them , i also dedicate your person ( with the hopefull particles of your self ) to the peculiar protection and grace of god . and as the heirs of that family , which you were pleased by adoption to make your own , have already been lords of that seat for more then eighteen generations , ( which i can reckon , ) so that the person whom i commemorate may inherit also that other blessing ( as an addition to that blessing which god hath given him in your self ) conserred in favour upon jonadab the son of rechab , [ not to want a man to stand before him for ever , ] is no less the hope , then the prayer of him who think's himself obliged , as well to be , as to write himself your most importunate servant at the throne of grace thomas pierce . the lifelesnes of life on the hether side of immortality . a sermon preached at the funerall of m. edward peyto . job xiv . i. man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live , and is full of trouble . now you have listen'd unto the text , cast your eyes upon the shrine too . for that doth verifie this , by no less then an ocular demonstration . you see the reliques of a person full of honour indeed , but not of years ; he having had his december ( i may say ) in june ; and reaching the end of his journey , ( as 't were ) in the middle of his course . so that if i should be silent upon the mention onely of this text [ man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live , ] that very hearse would present you with a kind of visible sermon . yet something i must say , in honour and duty unto the dead ; and something too , for the use and benefit of the living ; that as death already hath been to him , so it may be also to us advantage ; that some at least who are here present , may go from hence ( when i have done , ) if not the wiser or more intelligent , yet at least the more considerate , and the better resolved for coming hither . i need not be teaching my weakest brethren , ( what common experience hath taught us all ) either the misery , or the shortness , or the uncertainty of our dayes . but yet recounting how many souls do perish for ever in their impieties , not so much by wanting knowledge , as by abounding in the thoughtlessness of what they know , i shall not sure be unexcusable ( having * s. peter for my example ) if i tell you those things which you know already . an honest remembrancer is as needfull , as the most eloquent instructer to be imagin'd , because we do less want the knowledge , than the consideration of our duties . saint peter hath magnified the office no less than three times together , in that epistle which he composed a * little before his dissolution . i will not ( saith he ) be negligent to put you alwayes in remembrance , though ye know these things , and be established in the truth . yea i think it meet , as long as i am in this tabernacle , to stir you up , by putting you in remembrance . again ( saith he ) i will endeavour , that you may be able , after my decease , to have these things alwayes in remembrance . when i consider that these words were by † divine inspiration , and that they were written for our instruction , yea and inculcated upon us no less than thrice in one breath ; methinks they tacitely reprove us , for having such wanton and itching ears , as will be satisfied with nothing , but what is new . whereas the thing that is to us of greatest moment , is not the study of more knowledge , but the making good use of the things we know . not the furnishing of our heads with a richer treasure of speculations , but the laying them up within our hearts , and the drawing them out into our lives . men would not live as they are wont , were they sufficiently a mindfull that they are men . did they but often enough consider , how short a time they have to live ; how very b often they are in deaths , before they dye ; how much their short time of life is more c uncertain than it is short ; how very shortly they are to render a strict account unto the iudge , ( i say not of every evill work , but ) even of every d idle word , and of each unprofitable howre ; they would not make so many demurrs in the important work of their reformation . the uncertainty of their time would make them watchfull over their wayes ; that how suddenly soever they may be caught ( by the common pursevant of nature ) yet it may not be by a surprise . that they may not die with the fool's motto [ non e putâram ] in their mouthes . now to consider my present text in the most usefull manner that i am able , i must bespeak your best attention , not so much to the dogmaticall , as to the applicatory part of my meditations . it being chiefly in my design , to shew what profit we are to reap from all such melancholy solemnities , as by many deep mourners are sown in tears . what kind of influences and virtues , from the great brittleness of our lives , are to be shed upon the practice and conduct of them . what kind of consectaries and uses should flow from the one , upon the other . i shall not therefore wear out my little time , in any such accurate and logicall analysing of the words , as would but serve to divert you from the scope and drift , for which the holy man iob did make them a part of his preaching , and for which i have chosen them to be the subject of mine own ; but shall immediately consider them as an entire doctrinall proposition , exhibiting to us both the frailty , and frame of man , and the reason of the one implicitly rising out of the other . man is born of a woman ; there 's his frame . he hath but a short time to live , there 's his frailty . he hath but a short time to live , because he is born of a woman ; there is the reason of his frailty from the condition of his frame . nor is he attended onely with vanity , but vexation of spirit . as iacob said unto pharaoh , his dayes are evil , as well as few . however empty of better things , yet from the bottom to the top , ( i mean from his birth unto his buriall ) he is repletus miseriis , fill'd full of trouble . and yet by way of application , we may reflect upon the text in a threefold antithesis . for to man as born of a woman , we may oppose the same man , as being regenerate , and born of god . to the very short life he hath by nature , we may oppose the life eternall he hath by grace . and to his fullness of misery whilst he is here in the body , we may oppose his fullness of bliss and glory . but first let man be consider'd in his hypogaeo , that is , his state of declination , as he is born of a woman , and having a short time to live ; and that for this reason , because he is born of a woman . for t is a maxime in philosophy which never fails , that generable and corruptible are terms convertible . it is demonstrably proved that we must one day dye , because we did one day begin to live . all that is born of a woman is both mixt and compounded after the image of the woman , of whom 't is born ; not onely mixt of the four elements , but also compounded of matter and form . and all things compounded a must be dissolved into the very same principles of which at first they were compos'd . hence are those pangs and yernings of the flesh and the spirit , of the appetite and the will , of the law in the members , and the law in the mind ; b the one inclining towards earth , from whence 't was taken , and the other towards heaven , from whence 't was sent . the truth of this had been apparent , if it had onely been taken out of aristotle's lycéum ; but we have it confirmed out of solomon's portch too : for in the day when man goeth to his c long home , when the grinders cease , and the windows be darkened , and all the daughters of musick are brought low , when the silver cord is once loosed , and the golden bowl broken , so as the mourners are going about the streets ; d then the dust shall return to the earth as it was , and the spirit shall return to god who gave it . when god himself was pleased to be born of a woman , he submitted to the conditions of our mortality , and had ( we know ) but a short time to live ; for he expir'd by crucifixion before he was full thirty four , as his younger e brother , whom we commemorate , before he was full thirty three . man hath a short time indeed , as he is born of a woman , because he is born of a woman ; for ( as it presently follows in the verses immediately after my text ) he cometh forth as a f flower , and ( as a flower ) he is cut down . he flyeth also as a shadow , and continueth not . and therefore epictetus did fitly argue the very great fickleness and frailty of worldly things , first because they were g made , and therefore had their beginning ; mark is threescore and ten , if moses himself hath set it right . or place it further , at fourscore ; farther yet , at an hundred ; the life of man ( we see ) is short , though it should reach the very utmost that nature aymes at . but how many wayes are there , whereby to frustrate the intentions and ends of nature ? how many are there buried before their birth ? how many men's cradles become their graves ? how many rising suns are set , almost as soon as they are risen ? and overtaken with darkness in the very dawning of their dayes ? how many are there ( like the good king iosias , like righteous abel , and enoch , and that laudable person whom now we celebrate , ) who are taken away † speedily from amongst the wicked , as it were in the zenith or verticall point of their strength , and lustre ? it is in every man's power to be master of our lives , who is but able to despise his own . nay 't is in every one's power who can but wink , to turn our beauty into darkness ; and in times of pestilence , how many are there can look us dead , by an arrow shot out of the eye into the heart ? for one single way of coming into the world , how many are there to go out of it before our time ? ( i mean , before nature is spent within us . ) many are sent out of the world , by the difficulties and hardships of coming in . we are easily cut off , even by eating and drinking , the very instruments , and means of life . not to speak of those greater slaughters , which are commonly committed by sword , and famine , ( which yet must both give place to surfet , ) death may possibly fly to us , as once to aeschylus , in an eagle's wing . or we may easily swallow death , as anacreon did , in a grape . we may be murder'd , like homer with a fit of grief : or fall , like pindarus , by our repose : we may become a sacrifice , as philemon of old , to a little iest . or else , as sophocles , to a witty sentence . we may be eaten up of worms , like mighty herod . or prove a feast for the rats , like him of mentz . a man may vomit out his soul , as sulla did in a fit of rage . or else like coma , may force it backwards . he may perish by his strength , as did polydamas and milo . or he may dye , like thalna , by the very excess of his injoyment . he may be provender for his horses , like diomedes . or provision for his hounds , like actaeon and lucian . or else like tullu● hostilius , he may be burnt up quick with a flash of lightning . or if there were nothing from without , which could violently break off our thread of life , ( and which by being a slender thread is very easily cut asunder ) we have a thousand intesline enemies to dispatch us speedily from within . there is hardly any thing in the body , but furnisheth matter for a disease . there is not an arterie , or a vein , but is a room in natures work-house , wherein our humors ( as so many cyclops's ) are forging those instruments of mortality , which every moment of our lives are able to sweep us into our graves . an ordinary apoplexie , or a little impostume in the brain , or a sudding rising of the lights , is enough to make a man dye in health ; and may lodge him in heaven or in hell , before he hath the leasure to cry for mercy . thus our † houses of clay ( as eliphaz the temanite did fitly call them ) do seem as false , and as frail , as the apples of sodom ; which being specious to the eye , did fall to crumbles by every touch . the frame of our building is not onely so frail , but ( as some have thought ) so ridiculous , that if we contemplate the body of man in his condition of mortality , and by reflecting upon the soul do thereby prove it to be immortall , we shall be tempted to stand amazed at the inequality of the match , but that to wonder at our frailty , were but to wonder that we are men . yet sure if we , that is , our souls ( for our bodies are so far from being us , that we can hardly call them ours , ) are not capable of corruption , our bodies were not intended for our husbands , but for our houses ; whose dores will either be open that we may go forth , or whose building will be ruinous , that needs we must ; we cannot , by any means possible , make it the place of our continuance ; for though our bodies ( as saith our saviour ) are not so glorious as the lillies , yet ( saith job ) they are as frail . and by that time ( with david ) they wax old as doth a garment , how earnestly ( with s. paul ) shall we groan to be cloath'd upon ? to be cloathed with new apparell , whilst that the old is turning ? for when christ shall come in the clouds with his holy angels , at once to restore , and to reform our nature , he shall change our vile bodies , that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . but here i speak of what it is , not what it shall be ; though it shall be glorious , yet now 't is vile ; though it shall be immarcescible , yet now 't is fading ; though it shall be a long life , 't is now a short one . it is indeed so short , and withall so uncertain , that a we bring our years to an end like as a tale that is told . death come's so hastily upon us , that we never can b see it , till we are blind . we cannot but know that it is short , for we c fade away suddenly like the grass ; and yet we know not how short it is , for we pray that god will a teach us to number our dayes . this we know without teaching ; b that even then when we were born , we began to draw towards our end . whether sleeping , or waking , we are alwayes flying upon the wings of time ; and even this very instant , whilst i am speaking , doth set us well on towards our journey's end ; whether we are worldly , and therefore study to keep life ; or male-contents , and therefore are weary of its possession ; the king of terrours will not fail , either to meet , or overtake us . and whilst we all are c travelling to the very same countrey , ( i mean the land of forgetfulness , without considering it as an antichamber to heaven or hell , ) although we walk thither in d severall rodes ; 't is plain that he who lives longest , goes but the farthest way about , and that he who dyes soonest , goes the nearest way home . i remember it was the humour , i know not whether of a more cruell , or capricious e emperour , to put a tax upon child-births ; to make it a thing excizeable , for a man to be born of a woman . as if he had farm'd gods custom-house , he made every man fine for being a man ; which as it was a great instance of his cruelty , so 't was as good an embleme of our frailty . , our state of pilgrimage upon earth . for we arrive at this world , as at a forraign and strange country ; where i am sure it is proper , although not just , that we pay tole for our very landing . and then being landed , we are such transitory inhabitants , that we do not so properly dwell here , as f sojourn . all the meat we take in , is at god's great ordinary ; and even the breath which we drink , is not our own , but his ; ( which when he taketh away , we dye , and are turn'd again into our dust . ) insomuch that to expire , is no more in effect , then to be honest : 't is to restore a life , which we did but borrow . a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and well it were , if it were no worse : for if the life of man were pleasant , it would the less disgrace it , that it is short . a short life and a b merry , is that which many men applaud . but as the son of a woman hath but a few dayes to live , so it follows in the text , that even those few dayes are full of trouble . and indeed so they are , in whatsoever condition a man is plac'd : for if he is poor , he hath the trouble of pains , to get the goods of this world . if he is rich , he hath the trouble of care , to keep his riches ; the trouble of avarice , to increase them ; the trouble of fear , to lose them ; the trouble of sorrow , when they are lost . and so his riches can onely make him the more . illustriously unhappy . if he lives as he ought , he hath the trouble of self-denyalls ; the trouble of c mortifying the flesh , with the affections and lusts ; the trouble of being in d deaths often ; the trouble of e crucifying himself , and of f dying daily . if to avoid those troubles , he lives in pleasure , as he ought not , he hath the trouble of being told , that he is g dead whilst he lives ; the trouble to h think that he must dye ; the trouble to fear ( whilst he is dying ) that he must live when he is dead , that he may dye eternally . not to speak of those troubles which a man suffers in his nonage , by being weaned from the breast , and by breeding teeth ; in his boyage and youth , by bearing the yoke of subjection , and the rigid discipline of the rod ; in his manhood and riper years , by making provision for all his family , as servant-generall to the whole ; nor to speak of those troubles which flow in upon him from every quarter , whether by losses , or affronts , contempts , or envyings , by the anguish of some maladies , and by the loathsomness of others ; rather then want matter of trouble , he will be most of all troubled that he hath a nothing to vex him . in his sober intervalls and fits , when he considers that he must dye , and begins to b cast up the accounts of his sins , it will be some trouble to him that he is without chaslisement , whereby he knowes he is a c bastard and not a son . it will disquiet him not a little , that he liveth at rest in his possessions ; and become his great cross , that he hath prosperity in all things . not onely the sting , and the stroak , but the very remembrance of death will be bitter to him ; so saith jesus the son of sirach chap. 41. vers. 1. thus ( we see ) the child of man , or the man who is born of a woman is so full of trouble to the brim , that many times it overflow's him . on one side , or other , we all are troubled ; but some are troubled on d every side . insomuch that they themselves are the greatest trouble unto themselves ; and 't is a kind of death to them , that they cannot dye . we find king david so sick of life , as to fall a wishing for the wings of a dove , that so his soul might fly away from the great impediments of his body . he confessed his dayes were at the longest but a e span , and yet he complained they were no shorter . it seems that span was as the span of a wither'd hand ; which the farther he stretched out , the more it griev'd him . he was f weary of his groaning . his soul did g pant after heaven , and even thirsted for god . and he might once more have cryed ( though in another sense ) woe is me , that i am constrain'd to dwell with meseck , and to have mine habitation among the tents of kedar ! i remember that charidemus , in dio chrysoslom , compared man's life unto a feast or banquet . and i the rather took notice of it , because the prophet elijah did seem ( in some sense ) to have made it good . who after a first or second course ( as i may say ) of living , as if he had surfetted of life , cryed out in hast , it is enough ; and with the very same breath , desired god to take away ; for so faith the scripture , 1 kings 19. 4. he went into the wilderness ( a solitary place ) and there be sate under a iuniper ( in a melancholy posture ) and requested of god that he might dye ( in a very disconsolate and dolefull manner , ) even pouring forth his soul in these melting accents , it is enough now , o lord , take away my life , for i am no better then my fa●hers . and if the dayes of elijah were full of trouble , how was iob overwhelmed , and running over with his calamity ? when the b terrours of god did set themselves in aray against him , how did he c long for destruction ? o ( saith he ) that i might have my request , that god would grant me the thing that i long for ! even that it would please him to destroy me , that he would let loose his hand , and cut me off . how did he d curse the day of his birth , and the night wherein he was conceived ? let that day be darkness ; let the shadow of death stain it ; let a cloud dwell upon it ; let blackness terrifie it . and for the night , let it not be joyned unto the dayes of the year . let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark ; neither let it s●e the dawning of the day . and what was his reason for this unkindness to that particular day and night , save that they brought upon him trouble of being a man borne of a woman : for we find him complaining a little after , why dyed i not from the womb ! why did i not give up the ghost when i came out of the belly ? and then for the life of our blessed saviour , who is call'd by way of eminence , the son of man ; as i observ'd before that it was short , so must i here put you in mind that it was full of trouble . he was therefore call'd by way of eminence , vir dolorum , a a man of sorrows . the prophet adds , he was b acquainted with grief . for the whole tenor of his life was a continuation of his calamities . the time would fail me , should i but mention the hundredth part of those men , whose short time of life hath seemed long to them , even because they have felt it so full of trouble . but enough hath been said concerning the doctrine of the text . and it lyes upon us to make some use . first then let us consider , that if man ( as born of a woman ) hath but a short time to live , it concerns us to take up the prayer of david , that god will teach us to know our end , and the number of our dayes , that we ( like c hezechiah ) may be fully certified how short our time is . it concerns us to take up the resolution of job ; all the dayes of our appointed time , incessantly waiting till our change cometh . it concerns us , not to say , with the rich man in the parable , we will pull down our barns and build greater , and there we will bestow all our fruits ' and our goods : much less may we say , with that other worldling , souls take your ease , eat drink and be merry , for you have much goods laid up for many years : for ( alas ! ) how can we know , ( silly creatures as we are , ) but that this very night , nay this very minute , either they may be taken from us , or we from them ? there is such a fadeingness on their parts , and such a fickleness on ours . but it concerns us rather to say with job , naked came we into the world , and naked shall we go out of it . or it concerns us rather to say with david , that we are strangers upon earth , and but so many sojourners , as all our fathers were : for whilest we consider we are but strangers , we shall as * strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul . and so long as we remember we are but sojourners upon earth , we shall pass the time of our sojourning here in fear . and behaving our selves among the gentiles , as a chosen generation , a royall priesthood , an holy nation , a peculiar people , we shall shew forth his praise , who hath called us out of darkness , into his marvellous light . secondly let us consider , that since our life is uncertain , as well as short , ( inasmuch as we know not how short it is ) it concerns us immediately , to labour hard in the improvement of this our span into eternity ; to employ our very short and uncertain time , in making a seasonable provision against them both ; i mean , it's shortness , and its uncertainty . for shall we be lavish even of that , which is so easily lost , and of which we have so very little , and every minute of which little does carry so great a weight with it , as will be either a kind of pulley to help raise us up to heaven , or else a clogg to pull us down to the lowest hell ? of whatsoever we may be wastefull , we ought to be charie of our time , which doth incontinently perish , and will eternally be reckoned on our account . per●unt & imputantur , the epigrammatist could say of his pretious hours . now the way to provide against the shortness of our life , is so to live , as to dye , to the greatest advantage to be imagin'd ; and so to dye as to live for ever . what tobit said to tobias , in respect of wealth , [ fear not , my son , that we are made poor , for thou hast much wealth , if thou fear god , and depart from all sin , and do that which is pleasing in his sight . ] he might have said as well in respect of wisdome , and by consequence as well in respect of long life . for as the fear of the lord is solid wisdom , and to depart from evil is understanding ; so honourable age is not that which standeth in the length of time , nor that is measured by number of years , but wisdom is the gray hair unto men , and an unspotted life is old age . to be devoted ( like anna ) to the house of god , so as to serve him night and day with fasting and prayers , and not to content our selves with that which is meerly lawfull , or barely enough to serve turn , ( as men do commonly reason within themselves , ) but to study the things that are † more excellent , to streine hard towards * perfection , to forget those things that are behind , and to reach forth unto those things that are before , pressing on towards the mark , for the prize of the high calling of god in christ iesus , this is to amplisie our lives , and to frustrate the malice of our mortality ; and as the want of stature many times is supply'd in thickness , so this is to live a great deal in the little time of our duration . ampliat aetatis spa●ium sibi vir bonus , hoc est vivere bis , vitâ posse priore srui . as we are thus to provide against the shortness , so in like manner we must provide against the uncertainty of our time . and the way to do that , is to distrust the future , and to lay hold upon the present ; so to live every houre , as if we were not to live the next . having a short time to live , our time to repent cannot be long . and not assured of the * morrow , 't is madness not to repent to-day : when we see many persons of the most promising countenance , and the most prosperous constitution , not onely snatched by an early , but sudden death , why should we not seriously consider , that we may be of their number , having no promise of the contrary , either within , or without us ? † what happens to any man , may happen to every man ; every man being encompassed with the same conditions of mortality . 't is true indeed , that we may live till we are old ; but 't is as true , that we may dye whilst we are young ; and therefore the later possibility should as well prevail with us for a dispatch of our repentance , as the former too too often prevails upon us for a delay . nay if we procrastinate our repentance , in hope of living till we are old , how much rather should we precipitate it , for fear of dying whilst we are young ? ( if yet it were possible to precipitate so good and necessary a work , as a solid impartiall sincere repentance . ) for as to repent whilst we are young , can never do us the least harm ; so it may probably do us the greatest , to post it off till we are old . nay it may cost us the loss of heaven , and a sad eternity in hell , if we deferr our repentance ( i do not say till we are old , but if we deferr it ) being young , till we are one day older then now we are . and shall we deferr it beyond to-day , because we may do it as well to-morrow ? this is madness unexpressible . for as 't is true that we may , so 't is as true that we may not . our knowledge of the one , is just as little as of the other . ( or rather our ignorance is just as much . ) and shall we dare to tempt god , by presuming upon that which we do not know ? are heaven and hell such triviall things , as to be put to a bare adventure ? shall we play for salvation , as it were by filliping cross or pile ? implicitly saying within our selves , if we live till the morrow , we will repent and be saved ; but if we dye before night , we will dye in our sins and be damned for ever ? shall we reason within our selves , that though we know our own death may be as sudden as other men's , yet we will put it to the venture , and make no doubt but to fare , as well as hitherto we have done ? what is this but to dally with the day of judgement , or to bewray our disbelief that there is any such thing ? it s true we may live untill the morrow , and so on the morrow we may repent . but what is this to the purpose , that 't is certain we may , whilst 't is as doubtfull whether we shall ? is it not good to make sure of happiness , by repenting seriously at present , rather then let it lye doubtfull , by not repenting untill anon ? methinks we should easily be persuaded to espouse that course , which we are throughly convinced doth tend the most to our advantage . when the rich worldling in the parable was speaking placentia to his soul , [ * soul take thine ease , ] alleaging no other reason , than his having much goods for many years ; nothing is fitter to be observed , then our saviour's words upon that occasion , stulte , thou fool , this night shall thy soul be required of thee ; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? however the men of this world have quite another measure 〈◊〉 , and do esteem it the greatest prudence to take 〈◊〉 pleasure whilst they are young , reserving the work 〈◊〉 mortification for times of sickness and old age , ( when 't will be easie to leave their pleasures , because their pleasures will leave them , ) yet in the judgement of god the son , ( the word and wisdom of the father ) 't is the part of a blockhead and a fool , to make account of more years , then he is sure of dayes or hours . he is a sot , as well as a sinner , who does adjourn and shift off the amendment of his life , perhaps till twenty , or thirty , or fourty years after his death . 't is true indeed that hezekiah , whilst he was yet in the confines and skirts of death , had a * lease of life granted no less than fifteen years long ; but he deferred not his repentance one day the longer . and shall we adventure to live an hour in an impenitent estate , who have not a lease of life promised , no not so much as for an hour ? shall we dare enter into our beds , and sleep securely any one night , not thinking how we may awake , whether in heaven or in hell ? we know 't is timely repentance which must secure us of the one , and 't is finall impenitence which gives us assurance of the other . what the apostle of the gentiles hath said of wrath , may be as usefully spoken of every other provoking sin , † let not the sun go down upon it . let us not live in any sin untill the sun is gone down , because we are * far from being sure that we shall live till sun rising . how many professors go to sleep , ( when the sun is down , and the curtains of the night are drawn about them , ) in a state of drunkenness or adultery , in a state of avarice or malice , in a state of sacriledge or rebellion , in a state of deceitfulness and hypocrisie , without the least consideration how short a time they have to live , and how very much shorter then they imagine ? yet unless they believe they can dream devoutly , and truly repent when they are sleeping , they cannot but know they are damn'd for ever , if the day of the lord shall come upon them as a thief in the night , and catch them napping in their impieties . consider this all ye that forget god , least he pluck you away , and there be none to deliver you . consider it all ye that forget your selves . that forget how few your dayes are , and how full of misery . consider your bodies , from whence they came ; and consider your souls , whether it is that they are going . consider your life is in your breath , and your breath is in your nostrils ; and that in the management of a moment , ( for the better , or for the worse , ) there dependeth either a joyfull or a sad eternity . if our time were certain as well as short , ( or rather if we were certain how short it is , there might be some colour or pretence , for the posting off of our reformation . but since we * know not at what hour our lord will come , this should mightily ingage us to be hourely standing upon our † watch . and this may suffice for the subject of our second consideration . thirdly let us consider , that if our dayes , which are few , are as full of trouble , it should serve to make us less fond of living , and less devoted to self-preservation , and less afraid of the cross of christ , when our faith shall be called to the severest trialls . * o death ( saith the son of sirach ) acceptable is thy sentence unto the needy , and to him that is vexed with all things . the troubles incident to life have made the † bitter in soul to long for death , and to * rejoyce exceedingly when they have found the grave . if the empress † barbara had been orthodox , in believing mens souls to be just as mortall as their bodies , death at least would be capable of this applause and commendation , that it puts a conclusion to all our troubles . if we did not fear him , who can cast both body and soul into hell , we should not need fear them , who can destroy the body onely ; because * there is no inquisition in the grave . † there the wicked cease from troubling : and there the weary are at rest . there the prisoners lie down with kings and counsellers of the earth . the servant there is free from his master . there is sleep , and still silence , nor can they hear the voice of the oppressor . mors bona si non est , finis tamen illa malorum . but we have farther to consider the threefold antithesis , which we ought to oppose to the three clauses in the text : for as man , who is born of a woman , hath but a short time to live , and is full of trouble ; so man , as regenerate and born of god , hath a long time to live , and is full of bliss . a life so long , that it runs parallel with eternity ; and therefore ( without a catachresis ) we cannot use such an expression , as length of time . it is not a long , but an endless life ; it is not time , but eternity , which now i speak of . nor is it a wretched eternity , of which a man may have the priviledge as he is born of a woman ; but an eternity of bliss , which is competent to him as born of god . and of this bliss there is such a fullness , that our heads are too thick , to understand it . or if we were able to understand it , yet our hearts are too narrow , to give it entrance . or if our hearts could hold it , yet our tongues are too stammering , to express and utter it . or if we were able to do that , yet our lives are too short ; to communicate and reveal it to other creatures . in a word , it is such , as not onely eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , but it never hath entred into the heart of man to conceive . incomprehensible as it is , 't is such as god hath prepared for them that love him , 1 cor. 2. 9. if we compare this life , with the life described in the text , it will severall wayes be usefull to us ; for it will moderate our joyes , whilst we possess our dear friends ; and it will mitigate our sorrows , when we have lost them ; for it will mind us that they are freed from a life of misery , and that they are happily translated to one of bliss . nay if we are true lovers indeed , and look not onely at our * own interest , but at the interest of the parties to whom we vow love , we even lose them to our advantage , because to theirs . lastly it sweetens the solemn farewell , which our souls must take of our mortall bodies ; we shall desire to be dissolved , when we can groundedly hope we shall be with christ ; we shall groan , and groan earnestly , to be uncloathed of our bodies with which we are * burdened , if we † live by this faith , that we shall be cloathed upon with our house from heaven ; we shall cheerfully lay down our bodies in the dust , when 't is to rest in his peace , who will certainly raise us by his power , that we may rest and reign with him in glory . thus have i done with my text , though but in the middle of my sermon ; and but briefly considered it in its antithesis , because it is not pertinent any otherwise , then by affording to such as are mourners , a use of comfort . and because i am confident , that there are many such here , ( when i consider how many losses lye wrapt in one ) not onely wearers of black , but serious mourners , whose very souls and insides are hung with sable , and whose unaffected sorrows do call for comfort ; i shall raise you matter of reall joy , from the ground and occasion of all your sorrows . for there is yet another text , upon which i must give you another sermon . a text , i say , whose matter and form have been divided by god and nature . the inward form is ascended , to him from whom it came down ; but the outward matter still lyes before us . and well may that person become our text , who was himself a living sermon ; since the integrity of his life was truly doctrinal , and the resplendent piety of his death a very pertinent application . i am sure 't is well known in another place , and therefore i hope 't is believed in this , that i am none of their number , who use to scatter abroad their eulogies upon every man's hearse , meerly as customary offerings , or things of course . no , those alone are my seasons wherein to make narratives of the dead , when it may righteously be done for the use and benefit of the living . you know that jesus the son of sirach doth set himself solemnly to the work : and that with an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} let us now praise famous men . men renowned for their power ; men of knowledge and learning ; wise and eloquent in their instructions . rich men furnished with ability , and living peaceably in their habitations . there be of them that have left a name behind them , if their prayses might be reported . and some there be who have no memoriall , who have perished as though they had never been , and are become as though they had never been born , and their children after them . but these were mercifull men , whose righteousness hath not been forgotten , * their bodyes are buried in peace , but their name liveth for evermore ; for the people will tell of their wisdom , and the congregation will shew forth their praise . our honour'd brother now departed ( i will not say the unhappy , but ) the now-blessed occasion of this solemnity , as he deserves a noble eulogie , so he needs none at all : he being one of those few of my particular acquaintance , of whom i have seldome , or never heard an ill word spoken . but in this one thing , he had the least resemblance unto his saviour , who was hated by many , despised by more , and basely forsaken almost by all . this is therefore no commendation , on which our saviour proclaims a woe . woe be to you when all men speak well of you . nor do i say that this worthy gentleman was ill spoken of by none , ( he was sure too worthy to be so befriended by the world ) i onely say that i have seldom or never heard it . and he was so much the less obnoxious to the dishonesty of the tongue , because ( as far as his quality would give him leave ) he ever delighted in that obscurity , which most young gentlemen are wont to shun . for although his extraction ( we know ) was noble , and his fortune extremely fair , though his naturall parts and abilities were truly great , as well as greatly improved by art and industry , ( he having been master of many languages , and ( i am sure ) well vers'd in great variety of learning ) yet still his modesty and his meekness were so much greater then all the rest , that ( in a perfect contrariety to the vainglorious and hypocriticall ) he ever turn'd his worst side outward . the late retir'dness of his life made him so blameless and inoffensive , that i suppose it hath ditted the mouth of envie . it was no doubt an effect of those two virtues , ( i mean his modesty and his meekness ) that he so constantly observed that apostolicall precept , iames 1. 19. for he , if any man living , was swift to hear , but slow to speak . and when he thought it his turn to speak , it was rather much , than in many words . as the speech of menelaus describ'd by homer , so perfectly free were his discourses , from the fault of impertinence , or superfluity . so far was he from sitting down in the chair of the scornfull , ( as too many of his quality are wont to do ) nay so far from walking in the counsels of the ungodly ( from the time that he found them to be such , ) that he made it his care and chiefest caution , ( in his later years more especially , ) not so much as to stand in the way of sinners . for as much as i could judge of him , ( who had the happiness to know him for many years ) he was a true nathanael , * an israelite indeed ; who , though he had many imperfections , as one who was born of a woman ; yet he had sure no guile , as being also regenerate , and born of god . methinks i hear him now speaking to all that knew him , as samuel did to all israel ; i have walked before you from my childhood to this day . behold here i am , witness against me before the lord ; whose oxe have i taken ? or whose ass have i taken ? or whom have i defrauded ? whom have i oppressed ? or of whose hand have i received any bribe , to blind mine eyes therewith , and i will restore it ? to which methinks i hear the answer which was made to samuel in the next verse , thou hast not defrauded nor oppressed us . 't is this that speaks a man right honest ; which is a nobler title then right honourable , though i may say very truely , that he had many due titles of honour too . for not to speak of his ancestors , who came in hether with the conquest , and that from the city poitou in france , ( from whence they derived the name of peyto ) i think it more for his honour , to have been many wayes * good ; to wit , a good husband and a good father ; a good master and a good friend ; a good neighbour and a good land-lord ; a good christian and a good man . and , which is a sign of more goodness then all the rest , he never thought he was good enough ; especially in the first , and the two last particulars . it is an excellent ingredient in that religious composition , which he had sent before him to bless his soul , and left behind him in memory to perfume his name too , that having been charged with a debt , ( whether by his father's last will and testament , or by the condition of the times , or by both together , ) he was ever in some pain till he had paid that debt , or at least had made provision for it ; because untill he had done justice , he knew he could not so well shew works of mercy ; and that was doubtless a pregnant token of walking humbly with his god . the three grand duties which god requires , in the sixth chapter of micah , at the ninth verse . the end of christ's coming into the world , was to make us live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world . ( tit. 2. 13. ) the first implying our whole duty towards our selves , the second towards our neighbour , the third towards our god . that extraordinary person , of whom i speak , doth seem to me , as well as others , to have reached those ends . he was so eminently sober , that i believe he was never known to have sinn'd against his own body in any kind ; so eminently righteous , that ( as i said ) he was in pain , till he had rendred to every man his due . being so sober , and so righteous , he is inferred to have been so godly too , as to have liv'd in opposition to those bare professors of christianity , who having a form of godliness deny the power of it ; for give me leave to tell you , what is not every day considered , that the most materiall part of godliness is morall honesty . nor was there any thing more conspicuous in the holy life of our blessed lord . the second table is the touchstone of our obedience unto the first . and to apply what i say unto the honourable person of whom i speak , we may conclude him to have lived the life of faith , because we find him to have dyed the death of the righteous . to pass on therefore towards his death , as the fittest transition unto his buriall ; i am enabled to say of him , ( by such as were eye and ear witnesses , ) that he abundantly injoyed [ that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] that happy calmness of death , which the emperour augustus was wont to pray for . i say he injoy'd it in both acceptions of the word . for first however he was sick of a burning feaver , ( which carried him up like elias in a fiery chariot ) yet he had this rare happiness which is the priviledge of a few , that he even injoyed his whole disease without the least taint of deliration . that knot of union betwixt his body and his soul , was not violently broken , but very leasurely untyed ; they having parted like two friends , not by a rude falling-out , but a loving farewell . thus was his euthanasia in the first acception of the word . but he had it much more , as to the second . for two things there are , which are wont to make death terrible . the first is suddenness , and the second is sin . he was so arm'd against the first , that he did not onely take care for the setting his outward house in order , to the end that nothing in this world might trash his flight towards a better ; but he also sent for the divine , to imp the wings of his devotion ; and farther told his physician , that god had sent him his summons ; so well was he arm'd against the first of those phobera , and that by the help of our english litanie , which prompt's us to pray against sudden death ; and which he commanded one of his servants to assist him with upon his death bed , bestowing upon it ( when he had done ) a great deal of holy admiration . again , so well was he prepared against the second , that for the tenderness of his conscience , and his deep resentment of all his sins , those of the times more especially , in which he deplored his unhappiness that he had had a great share , ( till god was pleased in much mercy to shew him that errour of his judgement , by which the errour of his practice was bred and cherish'd , ) next for his hatred of himself in the remembrance of them , ( though we may say , that in comparison with many others alive and dead , he had kept himself unspotted from the world , ) then for his steadfast resolutions of better life , of making ample satisfaction for every ill that he had done , and so of bringing forth fruits † worthy of repentance , ( if god should be pleas'd to inlarge his time ; ) and last of all for his sollicitude , that all his * family might live in the fear of god , and redeem those opportunities which he seem'd ( at least unto himself ) to have sometimes lost , or neglected ; i say , in all these respects , he appears to me , ( as well as to others ) a more then ordinary example . but some may say , that sick persons are ever sorry for their sins ; but it is many times a sorrow squeez'd out by sickness . and as soon as they recover , they do relapse too . to which i answer , that though it is often so in others , yet in this exemplary christian it could not be so . for first , it was a mark of his sincerity , that he look'd upon his failings , as through a macroscope ; which made them seem nearer , and very much greater then they were . he warn'd all those who stood about his sick bed , to beware of those sins which the world call's little ; and of the no-little sins which the world calls none ; yea from the least * appearances and opportunities of sin . it was his own expression , that all the sins of his former life did even kick in his very face ; yet he remembred the † labourer , who went late into the vineyard , and was rewarded . he also made some reflexions upon the * thief on the cross ; that his faith might steer an even course , betwixt the scylla of despair , and the charybdis of presumption . secondly , it was another good token of his sincerity , that he was not meerly a death-bed penitent , whose repentance too too often is but [ a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] a sorrow according to the world ; but , ( as diverse persons can well witness ) he began the great work in his time of health ; so as his sickness did but declare his having been a * new creature by † change of mind , and that he did not fall back , but * press forward towards the mark , and persevere in so doing unto the * end . thirdly , it was another mark of his sincerity , that he insisted on the nature of true repentance , which still importeth an amendment and reformation of life . nor had he a willingness to recover his former health , unless to the end he might demonstrate his renovation , by that carefullness , that fear , that indignation , that vehement desire , that zeal , yea that revenge , which s. paul hath recorded as the effects of a godly sorrow in his corinthians . abhorring and deploring those desperate notions of repentance , which the world is so commonly mistaken in . fourthly , it was a comfortable token of his sincerity , that he was obstinate in his prayers , against the precept of his physician , and resolv'd to pour out his soul , though to the prejudice of his body . as if he were piously ambitious of being too strong for his own infirmities ; when a reverend divine ( who was standing by ) would fain have done that office for him , at least as a deputy to his lungs onely , that he might not spend his few spirits as yet left in him ; he made him this resolute and hasty , but pious answer , that whilst a tongue was in his head whereby to speak , and whilst he had breath in his body to move and animate his tongue , and whilst he had lungs in his brest to supply his breath , he would shew forth the goodness and the glory of god , who had been pleas'd to do so great things for him . and in a mercifull answer to all his prayers , which he continued to the amazement of all that heard him , ( after some conflicts which he had had with the ghostly enemy , that so he might be happier in a victorious , then he could possibly have been in an untempted innocence , ) god was pleased ( very signally ) to reveal himself to him , to speak peace unto his conscience , to fill him inwardly with joy in the holy ghost , to give him some glimmerings and fore-tasts of the glory to be revealed . that i may use his own words , ( which , as he came out of a trance , he was observed to speak , ) he had a ravishing glimps of the beatifick vision ; meaning thereby ( as i interpret ) that god had refreshed his drooping soul with his unspeakable comforts ; saying unto his soul , i am thy salvation , or this day salvation is come to thy house . so that now being plac●d above the levell of temptations , and exempted from the fear of what the * red dragon could do unto him , he cheerfully lifted up his head , and first his eyes upon iesus the author and finisher of his faith , and for the joy that was set before him , expected the advent of death , as of a very dear friend . fifthly , it was another great sign that his heart was right towards god , and therefore not treacherous to himself , that he extended his care to the souls of others , with as true a charity , as to his own ; exhorting one in particular against the love of this world ; charging another to be watchfull against intemperance and debauch ; exciting a third unto frequent and servent prayer . i do but mention the severall subjects , on which he treated like a divine . to all his servants in the generall , and to three of them in special ( for his words like * manna in the wilderness , and the apostles * doal , were discreetly proportioned to every one as he had need ; so as they who had most of his instruction had nothing over , and they who had least had no lack . ) i say , in generall , and in speciall , he was by his precepts , as well as practice , ( even as righteous * noah ) a true preacher of repentance . nor did his care end here . but as it were in imitation of good old iacob , before he was gather'd to his fathers , he gave a blessing to all his children . and farther gave it in charge to his ●irtuous consort , whom he worthily esteemed his dearer self , ( and of whom he also requested pardon , if by any cross word he had ever griev'd her , ) not to educate his children , so much to learning and other accomplishments , as to the knowledge , and service , and fear of god . nor was it a little to his advantage , that he was carefull to have them seasoned with those his last principles , which by his later experience he found the best . not to be endless upon the subject , ( on which it is difficult not to be long , and yet impossible to be tedious , ) he was briefly all that , which i pray god of his mercy to make us all . that whensoever he shall appear unto us , in death , or in judgement , we may be found , like † wise virgins , with oyl in our lamps . and that together with this our brother , ( whose remembrance ( like that of † iosias ) will ever be sweet unto us as musick at a banquet of wine , ) we may be ioyned in consort with the quire of angels , and with the generall assembly of the first born which are written in heaven , and with the souls of just men made perfect , singing hosanna's and hallelujah's , to him that sitteth upon the throne , and unto the lamb for evermore . the end . vir exploratâ integritate , gravitate morum primaevâ annumerandus patribus ; scientiarum lumen omnium , supraque scientias eminens humilitate summâ : innocenter doctus , & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} edoardus peyto de chesterton in agro warwicensi armiger , ex antiquo pictavorum stemmate oriundus , edoardi peyto equitis aurati filius unigenitus : uxorem duxit elizabetham grevilli verney de compton-mordake in eodem agro equitis aurati filiam unigenitam : lectissimam pariter & dilectissimam foeminam . compar conjugium ! cujus ex foelici copulà manavit sexûs utriusque trias , altera filiorum , edoardus , guilielmus , franciscus , altera & filiarum , elizabetha , catharina , margareta , patris simul , & matris ectypa : virorum & foeminarum olim exemplaria . proh dolor ! tantae familiae & virtutis instauratorem brevem , primo velut in molimine fatiscentem ; in ipso aetatis flore decussum , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ! tamen querelarum desine . quippe saeculi pertaesus , maturus coelo , et praeproperâ laborans maturitate , perfectionem vitae cum immortalitate commutavit , anno aetatis supra xxxm currente tertio , salutis reparatae m d cl v iii. viiio . calendas viibres . anima , christi appetentissima , in christi gremium evolavit ; coelorum , quò dudum ascenderat , tandem incola : corpus reclinavit in pulveris dormitorium ; sic etiam christum in sepulchro quaeritans . telluris sarcina subter tellurem deposita ; incolumes reliquia sub domini custodiâ . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a54841e-280 † 1 cor. 13. 7. 2 cor. 5. 10. deut. 32. 29. eccles. 7. 3. vers. 2. * vers. 4. † wisd. 2 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. ioh 14. 1. eccles. 2. 12. isa. 51. 12. mat. 10. 28. * mat. 25. 2● . mat. 16. 25. mar. 8. 36. * mat. 25. 16. luk. 19 , 15. ioh. 9. 4. phil. 4. 5. † mat. 24. 42. * he saith expresly , 1. that whatever god foresees , and doth not prevent , ( which is all the wickedness in the world ) he may be justly said to cause . ( p. 9 ) 2. that gods absolute will is the prime cause , and necessarily productive of every action of the creature , p. 10. ( and so no less of our worst , then of our best actions 3. that god cannot be freed from being the author of sin , by such as acknowledge his prescience , p. 9. ( so that either he cannot believe gods prescience , or cannot but believe him the author of sin 〈◊〉 . that he cannot deny god to be the author of sin , or to will the event of sin , p † p 2. l. 〈…〉 to be compared with l , 2. * psal. 16. 10. wisd. 4. 13. 1 king. 15. 5. ier. 35. 19. notes for div a54841e-4640 * 2 pet. 1. 12. 13. 15. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} v. 14. † 2 tim. 3. 16. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isocrat . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . b 2 cor. 11. 23 c mat. 24. 42. d mat. 12. 36. luk 21. 36. e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . polyb. l. 10. p. 603. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arist. e●h . l. 10. c. 3. b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . id. l. 9. c. 4. c eccles. 12. 5. 3. 4. 6. 5. d vers. 7. e heb. 2. 17. f {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . homer . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . † wisd. 4. 11. † job 4. 19. poma oculis tenus , contacta cinerescunt . tertull. apol. c. 40. p. 70. 2 cor. 5. 2. a psal. 90. 9. b psal. 89. 48. c psal. 90. 5. a vers. 12. b wisd. 5. 13. iob 18. 4. c {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . d hunc diverso tramite mortales omnes conantur adipisci . boethde consol philos l. 3 p. 98. e leo isaurus {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . f psal. 39. ●4 . a euripides in ph●nissis . b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . euripin alcestide . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . so. rat . in epist. ad anonym. p. 8. c col. 3. 5. rom. 8. 13. d 2 cor. 11. 23 e rom. 6. 6. gal. 6. 14. f 1 cor. 15. 31 g 1 tim. 5. 6. h eccles. 41. 1. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . herodot. in thalia . c. 43. p. 179. b wild . 4. 20. c heb. 12. 8. d 2 cor. 4. 8. occidere est ; vetare cupientem mori . sen in thebaide . psal. 54. e psal 39. 5. f psal. 6. 6. g psal. 42. 1. vers. 2. dio chrysost. orat . 30. pag. 305. d. 1 king. 19. 4. b iob 6. 4. c vers 8 , 9. d iob 3. 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , &c. vers. 11 , 12. a isa. 53 ● . b ibid. the application . psal. 39. 4. c 2 king. 20. 6. iob 14. 14. luk. 12. 18. vers. 1● . iob 1. 21. psal. 38. 12. * 1 pet. 2. 11. heb. 11. 13. 1 pet. 2. 9. 12. tobit 4. 21. iob 28. 28. wisd. 4 8 , 9. luk. 2. 37. † rom. 2. 8. * 2 cor. 7. 1. phil. 3. 13 , 14. * nemo tam divos habuit faventes , crastinum ut possit sibi polliceri . † cuivis potest accidere quod cuiquam potest . publius . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} — s●phoc . in ira. chintis . * luk. 12 20. * 2 king. 20. 6. † ephes 4 26 * — {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} s●ph . ubi supra . 1 thes. 5. 2 , 4. 2 pet. 3. 10. psal. 50. 2● . * mat. 24. 42 ▪ 43 , 44. † hab●k . 2 ▪ 1. * ecclus. 41 ▪ 2 † iob 3. 20 ▪ 21. * vers. 22. † cuspinianus in vitâ sigismundi . p. 498. mat. 10. 27 , 28. * ecclus. 41. 4. † iob 3 17. 18 , 14 , 19 , 18. * philip . 2 ▪ 4. * 2 cor. 5. 23. 4. † vers. 7. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . alexis in olympiodoro . ecclus. 44. 1 , 2 ● . &c. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eurip. in 〈◊〉 . iames 4. 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . — hom. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * ioh. 1. 47 ▪ 48. 1 sam. 12. 2 , 3. vers 4. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. hom. ( in gen. ) 23. gal. 3. 11. num. 23. 10. 2 kin. 20. 1. iam. 1. 27. † luk. 3. 8. act. 26. 20. * iosh. 24. 15. object . answ. * 1 thes. 5. 22. prov. 5. 8. † mat. 20. 9. * cito igno scit dominus , quia citò ille convertitur . ambros. in luc. 23. 43. * 2 cor. 5. 17. † 2 cor. 7. 9. * philip . 3. 14 * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . mat. 24. 13. 2 cor. 7 ▪ 11. psal. 35 3. luk 19 9. * rev. 12. 3. heb. 12. 2. * exod. 16. 18. * act. 2. 45. * 2 pet. 2. 5. gen. 49. † mat. 25. 7 , 8 † ecclus. 49. 1 heb. 12. 22 , 23 rev. 5. 13. a summons to the grave, or, the necessity of a timely preparation for death demonstrated in a sermon preached at the funeral of that most eminent and faithful servant of jesus christ mr. john norcot who departed this life march 24, 1675/6 / by benjamin keach. keach, benjamin, 1640-1704. 1676 approx. 100 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 52 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47613 wing k95 estc r29890 11217632 ocm 11217632 46869 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47613) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 46869) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1444:29) a summons to the grave, or, the necessity of a timely preparation for death demonstrated in a sermon preached at the funeral of that most eminent and faithful servant of jesus christ mr. john norcot who departed this life march 24, 1675/6 / by benjamin keach. keach, benjamin, 1640-1704. [19], 79, [1] p. printed for ben harris ..., london : 1676. errata at end. reproduction of the original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng norcott, john, d. 1676. death. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a summons to the grave or . the necessity of a timely preparation for death . demonstrated in a sermon preached at the funeral of that most eminent and faithful servant of jesus christ mr. john norcot . who departed this life march 24. 1676 by benjamin keach , a cordial and an unfeigned lover of the deceased . mic . 7. 2. the good man is perished out of the earth . london , printed for ben. harris at the stationers arms in sweethings rents , near the royal exchange . 1676. to all sincere christians that were the hearers of this sermon , but more especially to that poor , afflicted , and sorrowful congregation , which is in god the father , and in our lord jesus christ , meeting in old gravel-lane , near wapping , london . when i think of that separation death hath made between you and your beloved pastor ( my dear brother ) it causes sadness to seiz my spirit ; sure , such stroaks of the almighty should bring us upon our knees ; i wish you are not hereafter made more sensible of the nature of these sore rebukes , then at present you can be ; however let us learn this lesson by it , not to overprize or value any thing or person short of jesus christ ; 't is good in all things to labour against inordinateness of affection ; we can't , 't is true , love god too much ; nor christ too much , but we may love ministers too much , nay , idolize them , esteem them above what is meet , as many in former times have done , or we may esteem them not enough ; whether any of you have bin guilty herein or no , will now i am perswaded be discovered ; if duty to god , our solemn vow and covenant with god and the church , and our love to jesus christ , will not make us to know and keep our places , what may we judge of our selves , or others judge of us : i am not without fears i speak of some in respect of temptations of this kind , i pray god deliver them from it , lest they bring up a reproach upon the good ways of god ; you had or would be looked upon all of you , to have a real and cordial love for him that is now taken from you , o then do nothing after his death that would have grieved his soul were he alive ; labour to live in love , and strive to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ; i having this opportunity , thought it not amiss to give a hint or two of this nature and now beloved , as concerning this sermon , had it not been preached in part to fulfil the desire of the deceased , i should not have presumed to have taken so weighty a work upon me , especially in the presence of so many able and worthy ministers , as i am not so , ( the lord knows , i look upon my self no ways meet , or fitly qualified and capacitated for such a weighty work i am called to ) and truly , brethren , 't is not any excellency and worth that is in this broken sermon that is the cause of its publication , 't is the desire and importunity of several amongst you , and some others , that hath brought it forth ; i do think , nevertheless , for the sake of him at whose desire and at who'e funeral it was preached , you will entertain it though never so poor and mean a work . i told you what sorrow had seized my spirit , i preached with a heavy heart , and with a mournful spirit , i know you fate under the hearing of it ; alas , i cannot blame you for your mourning , he was a most sweet and choice preacher , most excellent skill had he to dive into gospel-mysteries ; he saw , if i may say without offence , as far into a text of scripture , as most men now surviving , and as careful in dividing of the word that every one might have a portion in season ; o how sweetly has this trumpet sounded in your ears , what spiritual joy hath it raised in your hearts ! o how powerful in prayer hath he been ! hath not his prayers and tears over sinking sinners , tended to melt their adamant hearts ! o the thronging there hath been about him , no marvel he had precious bread always to break unto the children ; he knew how to feed with milk , and how and when to feed with strong meat ; it was his delight , i am satisfied , to do his masters work , and in doing of it , i may say , he loved not his life unto the death . he is gone to eat the fruit of his labour , and i wish , that all those choice sermons you have heard from his lips may not be buried with him , i hope the fruit of them will be seen in your lives ; and could some of them be made publick , they might be very serviceable unto the people of god and others in general . i shall at present say no more , but earnestly desiring the lord to continue the labourer you have , and send some other in due time amongst you , to the making up that great loss which at present you do sustain , so that sinners may be in the midst of you converted , and true believers strengthned , encouraged and comforted , and all built up together in love , to the end that you may be found without blemish in the day of jesus christ , and that it may be so , is the desire , and shall be the prayer of him who is willing to serve you to his power , for christ and his truths sake , benjamin keach . to the reader . impartial reader , svpposing thee to be one that was not at this late funeral ; or if thou wert there , could'st not have the opportunity to hear the sermon ( by reason of the straightness of the place , and the multitude of people ) and perceiving it is partly for thy sake , the printing of it has bin so much desired , i thought it might not be unnecessary to offer a word or two briefly unto thee , whether it deserves such a publication or not , it will come now under thy censure ; however , if thou knowest the person that taught it , i am satisfied , thou wilt not lose thy expectation , nothing excellent thou dost expect , considering the weakness and shallowness of the preacher , how shouldst thou ; yet if thou hast nothing of prejudice in thy heart against him , from that contemnable apprehensions thou and others have of that he is not wholly without hopes , but that some small profit thou mayst gain hereby ; let the consideration of the subject prevail upon thee , however to give it the reading ; 't is , you hear , a summons to the grave : thou canst never hear too often of death ; and sure this sermon will not offend thee , if thou art one that dost live , i mean , live indeed , in the sight and stedfast belief of a future life , an eternity of happiness or misery ; i have read , that philip king of macedon , commanded one of his pages to awake him every morning and call aloud to him , sir , remember you are a man : this great monarch did not disdain to be rouzed every day from sleep with the news of death , though it was but by the mouth of his poor sorry page , and shall any of us slight the message , through want of affection to the messenger ; but perhaps , thou mayst be one that likes neither , may be thou dost not care to hear of the tidings of dying , and art ready to judge them melancholy fools that break their sleep about it ; these who are indeed prepared for it , have no cause to be disquieted in thoughts of it ; but what wilt thou do when death comes , that hast a guilty conscience ; have you not heard of that poor soul , who cried out in horrour and distress of spirit upon his death-bed , o what shall i do , i am so sick that i cannot live , and yet so unprepared that i dare not die : remember , that the thoughts of death , when it comes , will abate thy courage , 't will make the proudest heart to stoop ; 't is a pretty passage that i remember of a certain king of hungary , who being on a time very sad , his brother ( a jolly courtier ) would needs know what ailed him , o brother ( said he ) i have bin a great sinner against god and i know not how to die , nor appear before god in judgment ; these are ( said his brother ) melancholy thoug●●… , and withal made a jest at them ; the king replied nothing for the present but the custom of the countrey was , that if the executioner came and sounded his trumpet before any mans door , he was presently to be led out to the place of execution ; the king in the dead time of the night , sends the headsman to sound his trumpet before his brothers door , who hearing it , and seeing the messenger of death , springs in pale and trembling into the kings presence , beseeching him to tell him wherein he had offended ; o brother ( replied the king ) you have never offended me , and is this executioner so dreadful , and shall not i that have greatly and grievously offended god , fear to be brought before the judgement seat of christ ; death amazes none more when it comes , as it doth them who think not of it ; the egyptians used to carry about the table a deaths head at their feasts ; 't is good in the midst of all our delights and enjoyments , to be put in minde of the grave ; and if this sermon spake no more power fully to thee then a deaths-head to awaken thee , it may be worth thy pains to read it , god may bless weak endeavors to great advantage ; jesus christ could make five barley leaves and two fishes to feed five thousand men , and yet the fragments that were left might saetisfie many a poor hungry soul : what though thou art afterly served , god can heat it by his spirit , god can make it wholesom food for thy soul : if thou hast but an appetite i do not much fear thy relishing of it , for though the full stomack loaths the honey-comb , yet to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet . but because i would not weary thee , i shall only now give thee a summary account of the particular things insisted upon , and then commit thee to god. 1. thou hast the certainty of death amplified , or brieftly enlarged upon . 2. some awaking considerations and motives to a speedy and effectual preparation for it . 3. several directions and cautions in order to it . 4. you have dying ministers lamented , or several sad grounds of lamentation upon that account . 5. then fifthly and lastly , you have comfort against death , or how true christians may stay and support themselves in the hour of death , or in parting with godly relations : and because nothing is more effectual in order to this , then that comfortable assurance of present enjoyment , or being with christ at that very instant , when the breath leaves us ; somthing was offered to confirm the souls immortality , it was but a little which was said , had it been more it would not have bin too much : it was not delivered as it is matter of controversie , to grieve any who are differently perswaded : but as 't is matter of comfort , suiting with the occasion , that so sorrowful spirits might be consolated , having for several years found the usefulness and sweetness of the doctrine under the like dispensation my self : what is more plainly laid down in holy scripture then this : and those arguments that so much establish me in the beleef hereof are many , one is taken from our saviours own words , because man cannot kill the soul mat. 10. 28. if men cannot kill it then 't is not mortal : as also the consideration of its nature being spirit , might i not reason thus , if the noble part of man somtimes called soul be spirit , then 't is immortal : but 't is called spirit in several places : and again , doth not the name of spirit declare its nature : a spirit in its nature is invisible , and its very essence is life , if it should cease to live , if would be spirit no more . thirdly , the scripture shews , that at death the body goes one way , and the spirit goes another , namely , to god that gave it : we may judge also of the nature of the spirit or soul of man , if we consider how nothing but god himself can satisfie it , lives upon divine and immortal food , and therefore sure must be of like nature : what does shew more clearly that our bodies are earthly , or made of earth , as the consideration of their being fed , and sustained from the earth , so say i on the contrary hand in respect of the soul ; 't is sed with spiritual and immortal food , ergo such is its nature ; but not to trouble you with things of this kinde further , reader , let it be thy chief care to prepare for thy eternal state , for be sure it will be but a little while , and thou wilt find either to thy everlasting joy and comfort , or else to thy everlasting wo and sorrow : the truth of this doctrine of the souls ; immortality , and the effects thereof ; and that this broken sermon may prove , through gods blessing , someways for thy souls advantage and profit , is the sincere desire of thy affectionate and cordial friend and servant in the lord jesus b. k. an elegy on the death of that most laborious and painful minister of the gospel mr. john norcot , who fell asleep in the lord the 24th of this instant march 1675-76 . how doth my troubled soul amused stand , on thoughts of god's most sore chastising hand let heaven assist my pen , and help indite this mournful elegy i 'm mov'd to write . my grieved heart knows not what way to take , its love to shew and lamentation make . david for jonathan was sore distrest , and in like so 't has sorrow seiz'd my breast . beloved john is gone , dear norcot's dead ; that man of god , who hath so often fed our precious souls with manna from above : whose powerful preaching did ingage our love to jesus christ . o! h● had care and skill to feed poor souls and do hi● master 's will. but is he from us also took away , what , breach still upon breach ! lord jesus stay thy band such stroaks are hardly born , here 's cause for hundreds to lament and mourn . the loss is gr●at th● churches do sustain , poor sinners too live cause have to complain . there 's few like him surviving to arouse their fluggish souls cut of their sinful drouse . they now may sleep secure and not awake , until they fall into the seygian lake . this golden trumpet 's stopt , 't will sound no more , to warn them of what danger 's at their door . to win sinners to christ he did not spare his strength nor time , thought nothing was too dear . to part withall , if any wayes he might , their souls turn from false ways unto the right , like as a candle which much light doth give , doth wast itself , whilst from it we receive much benefit ; so did he clearly burn , to the wasting of himself unto the urn . this godly preacher in a little space . much work did do , he swistly run his race ; with 's might perform'd what e'r he found to do . god graciously did bless his work also , yea few ( i think ) have had the like success , in turning sinners unto righteousness . o were the worth of this good man but known , it might produce an universal groan . let brethren dear of different minds lament , for he for you in prayers much time has spent ; he lov'd you all , though i have cause to fear , the like affection some did scarcely bear . 't would pierce ones heart to think in such a time , obedience unto christ should be a crime : or that offence should in the least be took , ' cause from gods word he durst not turn nor look . he would own nought but what thus faith the lord , add would not he nor minish from gods word . come let us live in love , we shall agree , when at his port we all arrived be . let sinners mourn , who shall their loss repair , who for their souls so naturally did care . well may ye fear god will proclaim new wars , when he calls home his choice embassadors . what may a sodome look for from above , when such who stood i' th' gap , god doth remove , o tremble city , what is god about look for new flames , thy lots are calling out . and now chastized flock a word or two , i 've double sorrow when i think of you . when that the harvest doth for reapers call . to lose your labourer , this wound 's not small . o who shall bear the burthen of the day , if god doth take the labourers thus away . when pylots dye , how shall the seamen stear , ' mong'st rocks and sands , when storms also appear . have we not cause to think the crafty fox , we 'l out abroad and play upon the flocks . and ravening wolves also will grow more bold , and scare some silly lambs out of the fold ; if god proceed to call the shepherds home , o what will of so many flocks become . i th midst of all , in this doth comfort lie , the chiefest shepherds lives when others dye . and he be sure who for the sheep did bleed , will stick to them in times of greatest need . come cease your grief , don't you know very well , then care god has on his own israell . and it s no more which now is come to pass , the what by you some time expected was . and what is done is but our fathers will , therefore be silent every one be still : for should we yield to passion i have fears , we should grieve christ and wound our souls with tears . the narrow sluces too of dribling eyes , would be toostreight for those great springs that rise . but since our vessels fills up to the top . le ts empty them , for every sin a drop . for it le ts wish we were compos'd of snow , instead of flesh yea made of ice , that so we might in sense of sin and its loathing , melt with hot love to christ , yea , thaw to nothing . and should our sins deprive our souls of him , let tears run from our eyes till couches swim . yet let 's not grudge him that most happy bliss , who now in glory with christ jesus is . he did his work apace , his race is run ▪ he as touch'd the gole , yea , and the prize hath won . an epitaph . a sweet and godly preacher doth lie here , who did his master jesus love so dear ; and sinners souls , that he his strength did spend . and did thereby ( t is thought ) hasten his end , he brought himself by preaching to the grave , the precious souls of sinners for to save . he lies but here asleep , he is not dead : to god he lives , to christ his soul is fled , and o're a while must he awake again , and evermore with christ in glory raign . by b. k. another elegiack poem by a young man that dearly loved him . waves upon waves , methinks , begins to roule , some strange alarm afflicts my troubled soul , vvhich grieves my heart , by founding in mine ears and makes my eyes to flow in brinish tears . vvhat tragedy is this : death hold thy hand , vvhy , must the good man perish from the land. is nobcot dead , suffer me then to mourn , for now he 's gone , but never well return . oh father father , whither dost thou fly , and leave , my soul , in this perplexity . and if that i dear lord must stay behind , a portion of his spirit let me find . oh find thy spirit no● into my heart that it may gospell grace , to me impart and that it may , likewi● anoynt mine eyes , for to conceave those glorious misteries . of thy most sacred kingdom , heaven above , vvhere norcot s swallowed , in eternal love , faith love and zeal , did his brave soul adorn , and this did manifest , he was new born . norcot ( a boanerges ) was indeed could make the heart , of sturdy sinners bleed . and yet and evangelic●s , did prove vvith soveraign balm of sweet gospell love. great reverence dear soul , he used to bear to things that sacred , and coelestial were . oh with what gravity and zeal did he declare to sinners their sad misery . in praying preaching , christ alone he fyed , and when he had done , the will of god he dyed . a panegyrick , i do not intend neither with parasites , for to contend . yet much as to his vertues , i might say did i not know , the humors of the day . doubtless on whom . god honour doth confer , in our affections we highly should prefer . dear norcot's gone , that worthy man of god , lord this aloud ; bespeaks our ichabod . my soul cease for to mourn , he is not dead , he into everlasting bliss is fled . vvhole troops of angels , did his soul attend , vvhen he to jesus christ , did it commend . he now is swallowed up , in glory above , embrac'd in arms of everlasting love : and now dear soul he 's gone , his race is run , and faithfully his fathers work he hath done . the veil of enmity hath been removed , he could not love more then he is beloved . the veil of blindness that is ta'en away , and now with his dear soul 't is perfect day , the veil's removed he seeth , as he is seen , and praiseth him that did his soul redeem . he now sings halleh jahs heavenly hymnes , amongst coelesticall glorious seraphims . he hath fought the fight , the crown hath gain'd , yea , and to perfect visions hath attain'd ; and you his mourners here , the word doth say . the righteous from bad times are snatch'd away ; a prince and a great man you all can tell this day is fallen in our israel . oh israel mourn , thy chariots flee away , thy horsemen leave thee in an evil day . the godly fail , and ceaseth for to be , lord , is not this for our iniquity ? let 's tremble then , black clouds hang o're our heads , whilst we securely lie upon our beds : rouse , rouse my soul for shame , what sleepy still , hast thou not of luke-warmness had thy fill ? heark , dost not hear the bridegroom very nigh , oh then , by faith , thy self to him apply : get oyl , more oyl , thy heart to purifie , for now , methinks , i hear a louder cry , thousands there are which to the forme attain'd of godliness , yet without grace remain'd : they cry and howl , lord , open heavens gate , but he saith , no , you now are come too late . oh norcot , norcot , if it were but free to envy any , i would envy thee , because thou now invested art with glory , whilst i behind do write this mournful story . but stay my soul , pray why so passionate grown , wilt thou not suffer him to reap his own ? he sowed in tears , but now he reaps in joy , don't then by murmuring thy self annoy ; must he all day be labouring in the field , and now 't is night ▪ dost grudge him rest to yield : rather lament and mourn for thy own sin , and that 's the way for thee to follow him ; dost hear him call , mourn for thy self , not me , i from death , sin , and sickness now am free . farewel , blest saint , farewell ; thou art fled away , and left us in a black and stormy day ; and yet we hope to see thy face again , that so with thee in glory we may reign . acrostick . i s norcot dead ? ( no ) he is fallen asleep , o h then my soul , cease to lament and weep ; h e now in glory clearly doth behold n ought else but joys that never can be told : n ever more grieve for him : what is thy loss , o 't is his gain , for he hath left but dross . r epent , oh england , i filled am with fears , c ompel me not to mix my thoughts with tears . o gospel-grace will haster , if you scoff ; t o a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof . e. p. an epitaph on his tomb-stone . here underneath this stone lieth the dust of norcot ; whilst the r●si●g of the just . his soul to heaven is sled , and there doth stand with christ and all the saints at his right hand . and when on earth he was , he did not spare his life for christ , it was his daily care , to pray and preach , and unto god to crave , that sinners might repent their souls to save ; his work was done , his glass is run , and we may all conclude he 's blest t'eternitie . b. h. a sermon ●●●ached at the funeral of mr. john norcot , march the 28th . 1676. i need not tell you the ground and occasion of this present meeting ; certain i am this is a sorrowful assembly : whether i am fit to preach or no i cannot tell , but sure i am ripe to mourn . may i not on this occasion use the words of david upon abner's death , 2 sam. 3. 38. know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in israel ? who more worthy of honour than those god confers honour upon ( and to be employed as christs embassadors ) to treat in his stead with poor sinners about their eternal estate and condition , is no small dignity ; and to be deprived of such a one , what greater ground for grief and mourning ? but not to take up your time in a way of introduction , i shall commend to you that portion of holy scripture , which shall be the ground of my present discourse ; psal . 89. 48. what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? selah . the psalmist in the verses that doth precede is pleading with god under great afflictions and the hidings of gods face , upon consideration of the shortness of his dayes : how long wilt thou hide thy self ? for ever shall thy wrath burn like fire ? and ver . 47. remember how short my time is ; as if he should say , lord i have but a little while to live , my time on earth is short ; let me therefore enjoy thy favor : let the remainder of my dayes ( the days of my pilgrimage ) be good dayes : let me see thy face , have the light of thy countenance ; let them not be dayes of sorrow and darkness . from hence note this , that a gracious soul , whilst on earth , desires nothing more than the enjoyment of gods favor . communion with god is the onely thing his soul longs and breaths after . they having a sense of the shortness of their dayes , resolve to live well and to make good improvement of their time : they would not onely have the full enjoyment of god hereafter , but a sight of his presence and favour whilst here . and indeed those who would live with god in heaven , must first live to god on earth . now it is not thus with the unregenerate , if wicked men have a sight of the shortness of their lives , it hath not this effect upon their hearts ; they many times the more pursue their lusts : they endeavor to get as much pleasure as they can , and to gratifie their covetous , ambitious , and carnal appetites , and suck out what sweetness they can out out of this perishing world ; they resolve to have it as sweet as outward enjoyments can make it ; they know no higher or better good then what is earthly and sensual . oh miserable deceived creatures , how is their understandings darkened , having never attained a saving knowledge of god , nor spiritual relish of his grace and love , nor a sight of his favour and kindness towards them . they are dreadfully involved in egyptian darkness , they are ignorant of the satisfaction , joy and sweetness that is in him ; hence they cry not after god , nor seek after him here , that they might be made happy with him hereafter . but that i may come to the words that i have read to you , in the text you have a twofold interrogation or negative questions . 1. what man is he that liveth and shall not see death ? 2. can he deliver his soul from the power of the grave ? selah . the meaning is no man can avoid it , none can escape the grave , whatever he be . many such kind of questions are put forth and thus answered in holy scripture . here are two terms , before i proceed to any observation , that i judge needful to speak to by way of exp●ication : first , what is meant by the word soul in this place ? doth the soul go to the grave ? i answer , soul in holy scripture bears divers acceptations ; sometimes by it is intended one thing , sometimes another ; and from hence i judge it is , that so many persons miss in their understandings about the noble and superiour part of the creature . 1. by it is intended the whole man , gen. 46. 27. and the sons of joseph which were born him in egypt , were two souls ; all the souls of the house of jacob , which came into egypt , were threescore and ten souls ; the like you have in acts 7. 14. and joseph called his father jacob to him and all his kindred , threescore and fifteen souls ; that is so many persons : in acts 27. 37. all that were with paul in the ship , are said to be two hundred and threescore and sixteen souls . 2. it is taken for the life of the body , psal . 7. 5. let the wicked persecute my soul and take it , yea let him tread down my life upon the earth . 3. it is taken for the affections , desire , or heart of the creature , 1 sam. 1. 15. and hannah answered and said , no my lord , i am a woman of a sorrowful spirit ; i have drunk neither wine nor strong drink , but have poured out my soul before the lord. and in chap. 18. it is said , the soul of jonathan was knit to the soul of david ; that is , his affections were set and fastened upon him . in many other places , by soul we find some one or more faculty of the soul is intended . 4. it is taken for the stomach , prov. 27. 7. the full soul loatheth an honey-comb , but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet . 5. by it is meant oftentimes the noble and superiour part of man , distinct from the body ; for this see psal . 19. 7. the law of the lord is perfect , converting the soul ; mat. 10. 28. fear not them which can kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul . but probably some may say , if the word soul hath so many various acceptations , how may we know when the spirit or principal part is in scripture meant hereby . answ . i shall briefly lay down three or four rules , whereby you may know : 1. when you read of soul , as that wherein couversion is wrought , it can intend nothing else save the noble or immortal part ; for conversion is a change onely of the evil qualities of man's better or superior part ; psal . 19. 7. the law of the lord is perfect , converting the soul . conversion to god changes not the defects and qualities of the outward man. if a man be attended with such and such a disease , or distemper before conversion , he may be truly converted , and yet retain the same diseases ; the same lameness , blindness , deafness , crookedness , or what ever other blemish he may have of the like nature . 2. when you read of soul as that which rejoyceth in god , delights in god , longs and thirsts after god , lives and feeds upon god and christ , and united to and hath communion with god , cloathed and adorned with the holy spirit ; it alwayes holds forth the glorious spirit or soul of man : let me onely direct you to one or two scriptures upon this account , luke 1. 46. my soul doth magnifie the lord and my spirit rejoyceth in god my saviour , psal . 94. 19. in the multitude of my thoughts within me , thy comforts delight my soul . psal . 42. 1 , 2. as the hart panteth after the water brooks , so panteth my soul after thee , o god ; my soul thirsteth for god , for the living god ; when shall i come and appear before him . psal . 73. 26. my heart and my flesh faileth me , but god is the strength of my soul , and my portion for ever . 3. when you read of soul , as that which men cannot kill or destroy , is alwayes intended this excellent part ; see matth. 10. 28. fear not them that kill the body but cannot kill the soul . 4. lastly , when you read of soul , as that which lives when the body dies , or is commended into the hands of god at death ; you must alwayes take it in those scriptures for the same . 6. by soul sometimes is meant only the body distinct from the spirit or immortal part ; see josh . 10. 28 , 37. and the king thereof he utterly destroyed , and all the souls that were therein ; and they smote the king thereof and all the souls that were therein ; and in this sense soul is to be taken in this place . but that i may proceed , a word to explain the other term , to wit , the hand of the grave . by hand , beloved , often in scripture is meant power , isa . 50. 2. is my hand shortned , that it cannot redeem ? that is , have i lost my power to redeem ? so acts 4. 3. my text thus briefly opened , i shall proceed as most suiting with our present occasion , to take notice of one doctrinal truth from the words ▪ which take as followeth . doct. that all men must die . or thus , that no man whatsoever , can escape the power of the grave . i shall , god assisting , endeavor to demonstrate and confirm the truth of this proposition . the holy spirit doth not slightly pass it by , but puts a remora to it ; viz. that emphatical signal word selah , which shews us that this word calls for meditation and our diligent attention ; it doth lay a kind of an arrest upon our spirits , not passing from it till we have seriously weighed the matter . what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? death will be too hard for him , and too powerful to resist ; there is no withstanding the strength of this king , he will bring all into subjection : he is said in rom. 5. 12 , 14. to reign over all , and so he is called the terror of kings as well as king of terrors , he is so to the wicked ; and what king hath as many subjects as death hath ? and that i may demonstrate it , consider age cannot rescue any man from the hand of death ; the oldest man must die . all those that lived before the flood are dead . methuselah lived nine hundred sixty nine years , gen. 5. 27. but alass at last the words tell you , and he died ; he lived near a thousand years , but at last was forced to subject to the grave . 2. as the oldest man must die , so must the strongest . sampson was a mighty man , yet sampson must die . death will make the stoutest hearts to faint , and the strongest legs to tremble . one dieth in his full strength , being wholly at ease and quiet ; his breasts are full of milk and his bones are moistned with marrow , job 21. 23 , 24. if any were likely to encounter or grapple with death , we may suppose that this is the man ; he who is in his perfect strength , free from distempers ; signified by that word , wholly at ease and quiet : yet alass all will not do , this man was forced to yield , he is made deaths captive . 3. the wisdom and policy of man cannot deliver from the power of the grave . the wisest prince that ever late upon a throne was forced to stoop to the sovereign hand of death . wise men die , faith the psalmist , likewise the fool , psal . 49. 10. in death there is no remembrance of the wise more than the fool , eccl. 2. 16. the most grave and politick in all ages of the world , after all their famous and deep contrivances , have been overcome by death . 4. riches cannot deliver from death , if it could we should have few rich men die ; doubtless they would give their all to save themselves from the grave : they would leave but little to friends or executors , could they but bribe death with their silver and gold. i have read of one who would make a tryal , and so called for a bag of gold , when on a sick-bed , and laid it to his trembling heart ; but presently cried out , away , away with it ; it will not do . oh my beloved , riches will not avail you in the day of wrath , prov. 11. 4. and as it will not in the day of judgement , so it will not in the hour of death . the brutish person dies and leaves his wealth behind him , psal . 49. 10. the cardinal of winchester , who procured the death of the good duke of glocester in the reign of king henry the sixth , was shortly after taken with a grievous disease ; who understanding by his physicians that he could not live , murmurring and repining thereat , he cried out , ( fie ) will not death be hired ? will money do nothing , must i die , that have so great riches ? if the whole , realm would save my life , either by policy i can get it , or by riches i can buy it . but yet all would not do , the proud cardinal must submit to death . 5. as riches will not deliver from the power of the grave , so likewise earthly power and worldly sovereignty and greatness , cannot do it ; all the mighty potentates and monarchs , the holy scripture and ancient histories acquaint us of , where are they ? hath not death subdued them all ? after all their grandeur and pomp they were all cut down by deaths all-conquering hand , and now their glory lies in the dust . augustus caesar one day triumphs in the greatness of his strength , the next day is stabbed to death with bodkins herod king of the jews , one hour is admired as a god , the next hour is made a feast for worms , acts. 12. 22 , 23. the great conqueror alexander . who subdued he greatest part of the world , is at last overcome by death . death makes no difference between the king in his royalty on the throne , and the begger in rags upon the dunghill alexander having received 2 wounds at the siege of great city in india , finding himself to be sore wounded , was in some measure made sensible of his own fragillty ; and cried out to his flattering followers , you call me the son of jupi●er , but i perceive i am subject to wounds and death as well as other men . death bringeth down the loftiest looks of man. i have read that in the library of dublin there is a globe at the one end and at the other end the picture of death , to shew that though man was lord of the whole universe , i. e must submit to death . thus you see that all the pomp and glory of the world hath been cut down by the power of the grave . but again , 6. as worldly dignities cannot deliver from the power of the grave , so glorious titles will not do it . those worthies that god conferred glorious titles upon , yea so far as to give his own name unto them ; to be called gods . one would think that this , if any were the most likeliest to exempt a man from the grave , and yet it will not do , psal . 82. 6 , 7. i have said ye are gods , but with the same breath adds , ye shall die like men , and fall like one of the princes . but , 7. eminency in grace and spiritual endowments , or divine qualificacations , will not be able to rescue a soul from the power of the grave . all the patriarchs of old they are gone ; where are all those choice and renowned in grace that we read of , who shined in their day like the stars in the firmament ? oh! where are those troops of israelites that excelled in patience , chastity , temperance , holiness and humility ? these could not deliver themselves from death . the righteous perish , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away : none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come , isa . 57. 1. 8. lastly , no spiritual dignity , office , or place , can deliver from the hand of the grave ; though a person be never so much in the favour of god , and honoured by christ jesus ; though never so laborious for the good of souls , as to be an embassador of peace and minister of the gospel , yet these will not exempt from death : your fathers where are they and the prophets , do they live for ever ? zech. 1. 5. thus you have heard the doctrine made good and confirmed , that there is no man living that shall not see death , or be able to deliver himself from the power of the grave . i shall onely give you two or three reasons of the point , and so proceed to the application . if you question why all must die , take two or three things for an answer . 1. reas . because all have sinned . sin and death came into the world together . death came by the fall in the garden , 't is part of the punishment due to us for that transgression ; rom. 5. 12. wherefore as by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin , so death passed upon all men ; for that all have sinned ; the wages of sin is death , rom. 6. 23. we may cry out in the words of a holy man , o sin , sin , 't is thou , which by thy just deserts hast caused all the funerals that ever have been . thus you see all must die , because all have sinned . 2. reas . because god hath decreed that all men must die , heb. 9. 27. and as it is appointed for men once to die , and after that to judgement . though death be natural and the punishment of our sins , yet we die by gods appointment . we let in death by our sin , and god causeth death to proceed upon us , to make good the justice and severity of his own threatning . i know , saith job , thou wilt bring me to death , to the house appointed for all living , job 30. 23. on the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die ; dust thou art , and to dust shalt thou return ; gen. 2. 17. 3. 19. 3. reas . lastly , why god will bring all men to the grave ; and i shall add no more , because he would thereby magnifie his glorious attributes ; as first out of infinite grace , commiseration and goodness , he brings his own children to the grave , knowing the miseries , sad afflictions and troubles that doth attend them in this life . here most times poor saints , with lazarus , have their evil things ; many are their afflictions , and this way god takes to deliver them out of them all . death opens a door to glory to every gracious soul ; and secondly god by death prepares the bodies of his saints for eternal bliss and happiness . he brings the body to the grave , that it may be purified and made a glorious and most amiable body ; 't is sown , that it might be raised more glorious , 1 cor. 15. 42 , 43 , 44. god doth with the bodies of his saints , with reverence be it spoken , as they do with their earthen vessels in china , they bury them in the earth for many years , and when they take them out , the nature and worth of them is far transcendent . 2. the ungodly must die , that god may magnifie on them his own infinite justice . death having seized their body , their souls must go to its place , to suffer the intollerable pains and incensed wrath of the almighty ; and that their bodies also , with their souls , when they shall hereafter meet together again , might he made fit fuel for eternal flames to kindle upon : for now as they are in this mortal state they cannot endure the terrible wrath of god , but would soon be freed of all bodily pain and extremity , were they cast into that lake that burns with fire and brimstone . thus much for the reasons of the point ; more might be said , but i must hasten to the application . i have onely four uses to make of it , as first an use of exhortation , secondly an use of direction , thirdly an use of lamentation , fourthly an use of consolation . first , by way of exhortation , is it so beloved , must all men die ? can none deliver his own soul from the power of the grave ? must every mothers child of us take up our lodging there ? is the dark grave the appointed house for all living ? shall the proudest and loftiest be brought down to the dust ? must that little cool house under ground hold us all ? then poor sinners shall i prevail with you to prepare for death ? let me exhort you to look about you and get ready . i remember , when the prophet came to good king hezekiah , isa . 38. 1. with that doleful tidings ( as upon some consideration and circumstances it might then appear to that holy man ) he bids him set his house in order , make provision for eternity : and this is the message that is brought to you this day : you must die and not live . and that i might enforce this word upon you , let me lay before you a few motives and awakening considerations . first , consider what a great favour and mercy it is that god hath let you and i live so long . others are long ago cut down and sent to the grave ; he hath not it may be given many half of those dayes which thou hast had : look upon this as a mercy indeed , considering thy life was forfeited before thou wert born . sirs we came into the world with the sentence of death upon us ; and if jehovah had cut us down in our sins many years ago , it would have been but a piece of justice . and what is the end of god in sparing of us , but that we might be fitted for the place whither we are going . oh how unwilling is god to strike the fatal blow , to cut men down before they are prepared for death . he is not willing they should perish , and that is the reason of his patience , long-suffering , and forbearance , sinners lay it to heart . secondly , consider what dreadful provocations you and i have given him to take us away , and command death in his name to arrest us . have we not grieved , burdened , yea even wearied him with our iniquities ? nay , have we not pierced him ? may he not cry out , as being pressed as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves , amos 2. 13. is it not a sad and most lamentable thing , thus to deal with a loving and gracious god ? thirdly , how often hath the lord called you , and yet you have rebelled ? hath not he stretched out his hand all the day long , and yet you have not hearkned ; but have rejected his counsel and cast his word and reproofs behind you ; yea , and often resisted his holy spirit in the common motions and workings thereof ? have you not many of you refused his grace , son , and divers sweet and precious calls and offers of love. and certain i am , you have had many of these in this place , nay , how many warnings have you had of the near approach of death ? nay , awakening summons to prepare for the grave , as you would answer it before the dreadful judge of heaven and earth ; by my dear brother that is fallen asleep ; whom we shall hear no more ? oh what pains did he take with some of you , that so you might be ready ? have not you and i notwithstanding all this hearkened to a base deceitful heart , and inticeing and tempting devil ? have you stouted it out against all pains and endeavours used for spiritual awakenings , and are you yet alive ? then consider how much this calls upon you to be ready to die ? will any dare , that are sensible of the worth of their immortal souls , neglect this concern any longer ? 4. consider , that the abuse of mercy and goodness will greatly aggravate thy misery in the day of wrath : oh remember what it is to sin against light , love , and patience . shall the goodness of god , that should lead to repentance , encourage and harden thee in thy iniquity ? how dost thou think to escape the judgement of god ? or despisest thou , as saith the apostle , the rich's of his goodness , forbearance and long-suffering , not knowing that the goodness of god leadeth thee to repentance ; but aftey thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of god ; who will render to every man according to his deeds , rom. 2. 4. 5 , 6. sentence is past against a sinner , but because it is not speedily executed , therefore the hearts of men are fully set within them to do wickedly , eccl. 8. 11. christ knocks at the door and yet sinners will not hear . christ may speak of sinners as god speaks of israel of old , my people will have none of me , psal . 81. 11. oh what have you to answer for abused mercy and favour ! what what will you do hereafter , when christ , who waits upon you now to save you , will then turn his face from you in the day of your calamity , and plead against you to condemn you ? see prov. 1. 28. 5. consider for christs sake of those advantages you have had and still have : if some had the like , we may conclude they would have made better use and improvement of them then some of you have done . hath not god afforded you the gospel beyond what he hath to divers parts of the world ? nay , what a gracious and powerful ministration of it hath there been continued for some time in this place ? you have had helps above thousands , god hath taken much pains with you that have attended upon the word here . where god gives many talents , he requires the improvement of them ; what will become of jerusalem and capernaum in the day of judgement ? and hath not gods spirit striven with you also ? nay , and hath not conscience endeavoured to awaken you ? have you not had summons and calls from thence ? hath not that often reproved you for neglect of seasons , flighting of sermons , and indulging your selves in iniquity and secret lusts and omissions of duty ? oh! how many sharp checks and rebukes have you had from within ? nay , and besides all this , what awakening judgements to prepare for the grave , have you and i had ; dreadful plague , fire and sword : and what further means could god make use of in an ordinary way for allarming and stirring of us up to prepare for our change , aud turning of our souls to himself , and fitting of us for eternity ? and shall none of these work upon you ? shall all means fail ? shall the gospel be preached in vain ? shall ministers spend their study , their breath , nay their strength , to no purpose : what will you do then in the end ? 6. do you know that you shall have all these helps continued to you ? will god still suffer his holy spirit to strive with you ? alass , death may soon have commission to seize you and carry you into the other world ; but should you live , are you sure god will still wait upon you : upon such rebels , who have slighted and undervalued his grace , son , and gospel ? sirs , i must tell you , alluding to that in genesis 6. which hath often been upon my heart ; that the blessed spirit shall not alwayes strive with man : means and advantages are like to be taken away . god ere long may say to conscience , be still , reprove that man , that woman no more : you may be left to commit wickedness without remorse or trouble . god may give you up to a hardened and sordid heart , to a seared and filthy conscience , yea , and refuse in mercy to afflict you any more ; see hosea 4. 14. may not he that hath taken away a minister , an able one , a sweet and precious labourer , take away ere long a sweet and precious gospel ; and what will become of your souls then ? 7. do you know for certain the gospel shall be continued to this land ? be you sure you shall hear the joyful sound ? let me tell you my thoughts freely , though i pretend not to a spirit of prophesie ; yet mark what follows : i tremble to think what is coming upon us as a punishment of our sins . i fear , beloved , the gospel is a going . ephraim hath grey hairs here and there , though he know it not ; and grey hairs are a sign that our morning or best days are gone ; secondly , they commonly bring a wrinkled face , or a decay of beauty ; our goodness , like ephraims , are even like the morning dew : thirdly , they bring feebleness , or a decay of strength : fourthly , they shew that death and mortality draws near . we have heard , some of us , that he was grey a great while ago ; i doubt he is white , by this time . there are sad symptomes upon us , i know not how soon we may have cause to cry ichabod , because the glory is departed . are we not in danger to be over-spread with popery , confusion , and darkness ; for if the gospel should continue , and gods people resolve to do their best , by their prayers and prizing of it , to hold it fast ; yet are you sure you shall have ministers to prcach unto you ? many have been taken of late away , and one at this time before your eyes is gone , a faithful and able one ; whom now you shall hear no more . but should there be ministers and opportunities , yet you may be left to your selves , to ripen for hell and ruin ? nay , is not christ already crying over you , as he did over jerusalem ; oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belongeth to thy peace ; but now they are hid from eyes ; luke 19. 42. oh that these things might take hold and touch your conscicnces . 8. consider of the shortness and uncertainty of your dayes ? alas , what is your life , you know not how soon death may come and knock at your doors , or look in at your windows ? it may be some of you have had many years , but this consider of , you know not how few the rest may be behind ; you have no promise from god , no lease or assurance that you have one year more ; where hath god told you that you shall ? nay one half year ? you cannot assure your self you shall have one month , no not one week , no not one day . you may be stricken by death before you return home . boast not thy self of too morrow , for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth , pro. 27. 1. many that are young , hope that they may have many years ; the child thinks to be a youth , and the youth to be a man , and a man till he is full of dayes : but alass , they consider not how brittle they are ; they do not lay to heart the uncertainty of their lives . david desired to know his end and the measure of his days , that he might know how frail he was , psal . 39. 4 , 5. many do not take a right measure of their dayes , they measure not by a lawful rule . what say some , my father and grandfather lived to a good old age , and i hope to attain to their years . others measure by their present health ; they are not diseased nor sickly ; but of a good healthful constitution : but alass , this is no sure rule , thou mayest notwithstanding all this be quickly in the grave ; such sometimes death makes to stoop on a sudden , they go many times before sickly persons . others measure their dayes by their present strength , they fear not death upon that account ; yet they die as you have heard ; though wholly at ease : these do not go by the kings standard neither . let me tell you what is a right and true measure for your dayes , account them then by the morning dew and flower of the field . man that is born of a woman , saith holy job , is but of few dayes ; he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down : and flieth away like a shadow and continueth not . job 14. 12. naturalists tells us of a plant that lasts but for a day , this plant thou or i may be . the heathen hath observed that the rose grows old in its very budding . mankind is like jonah's gourd , that came up in a night and perished in a night . nothing fades sooner than a flower , oh measure thy dayes by that and by the vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away ; the spiders web , the swift post , the weavers shuttle , or a ship under sail . persons never so rich or great , never so beautiful , never so weak of strong , wise or foolish , vertuous or vicious , as thou hast heard must die . may not the thoughts of this move thee to a preparedness for the grave ? 9. consider how you have loytered hitherto and lost much of your precious time which god hath lent you to prepare for the grave . upon the improvement of your present time doth your eternal happiness depend , and if it be squandered away , what will become of your immortal and never dying souls ? if a man hath much work to do , work of the weightiest concern that must be done , or the man undone : business that would take up all his day , and it should so fall out that he had lost the morning , nay above half his day ; would it not concern him to set about the work with all his might , so as if possible to do two hours works in one ; lest the sun go down before the work is finished . redeem the time , because the days are evil , eph. 5. 16. alas sirs , are not the shadows of the evening upon some of you ? the lord help you to lay it to heart . do not think the whole work of your lives can be done upon a dying bed. oh consider old age is unfit for labour , and it is folly with a witness to think 't is time enough to sow when thou shouldest reap . delays proves the ruin of many thousands ; the night cometh , saith christ , when no man can work . 10. and lastly , consider what will become of your precious souls , if death takes you before you are ready ; for it will not stay for you : will he be bribed or perswaded to come another time ? i remember a young maid in the countrey that was sick , and as she grew near her end , she cried out to be spared one quarter of a year , one month ; but when that would not be granted ; rather than fail , one week : but die she did , greedy death will have no denial . oh what a sad sight is it to see a christless soul a dying ! when death sits upon your trembling lips , and you not prepared , what would you give for peace and pardon then ? when pale death comes upon thee like a sturdy sergeant , and doth arrest thee in the name of the great king of heaven and earth , he will hale you along ; to prison you must go . death comes upon a wicked man like a hungry lyon , tearing their souls from their bodies ; to such he is indeed the king of terrors : he comes on them like a fiery serpent , with his venomous sting ; with which he wounds them and lays them a bleeding to all eternity . oh to have the soul dragged out of the body and cast into hell , is of a dreadful and amazing consideration . with this i shall conclude the use of exhortation . the next is an use of direction to poor sinners and all others that would be prepared for the grave , if this be so . first , doth not some poor soul hear say , oh what shall i do that i may be prepared for the grave ? have you a heart , a mind , a desire indeed to be fitted for that hour ? then in the first place labour to get a full sight and sense of your sins , and of your lost and undone condition by nature . oh what a miserable creature hath sin made man , or rather man by sin made himself ? that must needs be the greatest evil , that deprives man of the greatest good . god is mans chief good , sin deprives man of this good ; sin makes man hated or god , and causeth man to resemble satan ; who is the opposite of god. the carnal mind is enmity against god , this enmity must be removed , unless a man be born again , he cannot see the kingdom of god , john 3. 3. secondly , labour to get brokenness of heart , oh strive to melt in the sight and sense of your iniquity . sinner what hast thou done , wilt thou sin away thy mercies , sin away thy ministers ? gods hand is lifted up , we are under sore rebukes of the almighty , though i fear few are sensible that it is the fruit of their transgressions . may we not say with the prophet , no man repenteth him of his wickedness , saying , what have i done ? jer. 8. 6. god expects and looks for tears of repentance , a broken and a contrite heart is a sacrifice that he will not despise . if you are not broken in the sense of the odious and abominable nature of sin , broken into pieces now , you are like to be broken with horror under the weight of the punishment hereafter . oh! is it not better to be smitten and broken in a way of mercy , in order to healing ; then to be broken in a way of wrath and judgement , when there will be no help nor cure for you . thirdly , labour so get an interest in jesus christ . oh that this opportunity might have some tendency this way ! unless ye believe that i am he , saith jesus christ , you shall die in your sins . soul never rest and be satisfied , till thou canst say with thomas , my lord and my god , john 20. 28. can you still stand it out against such precious patience and offers of grace ? will you not yet open to christ ? shall he call and cry to you and will you give him no entertainment ? can you close in with a better friend ? how long hath he stood knocking at the doors of your hearts ? was he not graciously calling upon you the last lords day ? and now in mercy he is giving you another knock . oh fear lest he depart ! is he not ready to take his farewell of you ? have you not let him stand till his head was wet with the dew , and his locks with the drops of the night ? sinner , sinner , hasten to him , and open the door , do'st not hear that lovely voice that was spoken to the blind man , be of good comfort , rise , he calleth thee , mark 10. 49. it may be you will ask where ? i 'll tell thee , if thou art a weary and burdened soul , that feelest the weight of thy sin , there is a precious word spoken for thy sake , take hold of it ; matth. 11. 28. come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden , and i will give you rest ; take my yoke upon you , and learn of me , for i am meek and lowly in heart ; and you shall find rest for your souls . oh the sweetness of that word , take it and receive it down . fourthly , labour in the strength of christ to oppose every sin . see that there be no sweet morsel hid , no dalilah , no pleasant nor profitable lust spared . o cry with david , search me , o lord , and try my heart ; prove me , and know my thoughts ; psal . 139. 23. fifthly , take heed you do not sin against light. neglect no conviction either of sin or duty , if you would be prepared for the grave : then shall i not , saith david , be ashamed , when i have respect to all thy commandments ; psal . 119. 6. sixthly , never be satisfied until you have all your sins subdued . sin must be crucified , or the soul must die , rom. 8. 13. to this i might add ( for i cannot enlarge ) make it your business also to get your sins pardoned ; so that you may have the feeling sense of the forgiveness of them in your own hearts . seventhly , labour after a pure conscience . what will stand your souls in greater stead , when you come to die than this ? paul's great care and endeavour was , to keep a conscience void of offence towards god and toward men , acts 24. 16. i must tell you , an accusing conscience will be a bad death-bed companion . i remember what our dear friend spake to me in the time of his sickness . oh brother , said he , a good conscience is the best refuge . that was his rejoycing , alluding to that text , 2 cor. 1. 12. the testimony of his conscience , that in simplicity and godly sincerity ; not with fleshly wisdom , but by the grace of god he had his conversation in the world . it matters not who reproach us , if conscience doth not ? conscience , as i told some of you lately , will be your best friend ; if a friend , a friend indeed , a friend in adversity ; a friend at death , and a friend in the day of judgement . oh what would some men give for such a friend ? but if constience be an enemy , he is the worst of enemies . conscience is a secret enemy , an enemy that is privy to all we have done ; he knows all our thoughts , yea those secret lusts and evils , that lie in our hearts ; and he will not be flattered . he will tell the truth and all the truth . conscience will lay all open in the dreadful day of account before angels and men , rom. 2. 15. holy job resolved to hold his integrity fast and not to let it go ; his heart should not reproach him as long as he lived , job 27. 5 , 6. sincerity of heart and a good conscience will be a good sanctuary at the hour of death . the lord help you to lay these things to heart . i might give you more directions which i am forced to omit , because of time . onely this , if thou wouldst be prepared for the grave , take this one , which was not then delivered ; which i am sorry i did omit . eightly , beware of resting in the form of godliness without the power . 't is an easie thing to conform to the outward part of religion ; to take up ordinances and come into churches : but oh what will become of the foolish virgins . sinners in zion ere long will be afraid , and fearfulness will surprize the hypocrites . many of you heard those excellent soal-searching sermons of your dear pastor now deceased on 2 tim. 3. 5. oh that you would labour to call them to mind ! and those upon a well-ordered conversation ; from psal . ●50 . and the last verse . what pains did he take with you , that you might not deceive your selves and miss at last of eternal life ? i think there was never more formality amongst christians and carnality amongst professors in the churches , than in these dayes : no marvel if god bring a day of dreadful tryals and afflictions upon us , that those that are approved , may be made manifest . tremble sranners , for god is a coming forth to refine his people ; he will search jerusalem with candles ; zeph. 1. 12. and woe to them that are at ease in zion ; however you appear now to men , your sins ere long will find you out . i now must come to the third use , which must be an use of lamentation ; and indeed i know not well how to enter upon it , my heart is full . is it so ? must all die ? can none deliver their own souls from the power of the grave ? must husbands die , dear husbands ? must fathers die , yea tender fathers ? must friends , our dearest friends die ? ministers , nay , our choice and godly pastors , must they die too ? oh greedy death ! oh cruel tirant ! oh that ever we sinned ! this may well be for a lamentation . samuel died , and israel made great lamentations for him . your samuel is gone , but no asking for him again , he cannot come . in acts 8. 2. it is said devout men carried stephen to his burial , and made great lamentation over him . o spare me a little , you have lost one who laboured to do the work of his generations in faithfulness . let me lay down some grounds that we have for a lamentation . 1. oh it 's grievous to loose a godly preacher , a pastor , a faithful labourer . 't is a day of mourning , my soul as well as yours is full . alas there is but few of them ! we have need of more , and lord do'st thou take away these we have ? 2. but if any should say we have many yet left behind , i must say not many such , who make it their main work and business to bring souls to jesus christ . there are but few who naturally care for the flock : few preach christ for christs sake , that are willing to spend and be spent for his name sake ; like our dear brother , now with the lord. may i not say with paul , some preach christ out of envy , and some of strife ; onely with this variation , are there not many who preach jesus christ not sincerely , but have self and sinister ends at the bottom . but to leave that , however , if god proceed and go on after this rate to take our preachers away , there will be few enough ere long . 3. you have not onely lost a pastor , a shepherd , a tender one , but you have lost a father . many of you must follow your father this day to the grave . you have many instructors in christ , yet not many fathers . he hath been an instrument through the word and the operation of the spiri● in his ministry , to beget many of you to jesus christ . may you not cry out with elisha when elijah was taken up from him , my father , my father , the horsemen of israel and the chariots thereof ; and he saw him no more , 2 kings 2. 12. he is now gone , you will hear him no more , see him no more . this golden trumpet is now stopped , you will hear it sound no more . 4. consider the time in which god hath taken him away , when the harvest is white , or when the fields are ripe to harvest ; when many sinners are ready to be brought in to jesus christ . the loss is great , oh how shall it be repaired ? how shall the harvest be gathered in , when the chief labourer in this field is gone ? 5. ministers are and fitly may be compared to pilots ; the church to a ship passing through a troublesome ocean , amongst many rocks and sands ; and when such die , how shall the poor marriners steer , especially , considering the dangerous and grievous stormes that do now appear : is not this a ground of lamentation ▪ 6. ministers are compared to shepheards , that are to keep the flock and watch over them to take care of the tender lambs ; and let me tell you , ravenous wolves are abroad , yea and the cunning fox , nay as crafty foxes as ever were in the world ; and the shepherd being gone , may we not fear that which will follow ; is not the flock in danger to be scattered . 7. ministers of the gospel may be compared to captains , to encourage us in our spiritual warfare , and now alas your leader is gone , he is taken from you , and are we not surrounded with enemies ? may we not say with leah in another case , gen. 30. 11. a troop cometh ; a troop of troubles , a troop of afflictions , a troop of temptations , a troop of miseries and persecutions ; i wish improve not a troop of division to the scattering of us : the lord i hope will prevent it . 8. ministers of the gospel are compared to trees , the trees of the lord are full of sap . psal . 104. 16. the lip of the righteous feed many ( saith solomon ; and this was a fruitful tree . oh the sweet fruit it did bear , most precious fruit it yielded us for many years . oh what good have many gathered out of the branches thereof . but now alas it is ( cut down ) it will bear fruit for you no more ; you shall hear him pray no more , preach no more , and is not this a ground of lamentation . 9. saints and ministers of the gospel are the interest of the nation , city , or place where they live . was not lot the interest of sodom ? i cannot do any thing till thou be come thither , gen. 19. 22. till lot was gone , fire and brimstone could not come upon that miserable city . oh what love hath god to the poor preachers of righteousness . but again , was not jacob the interest of labans family ? how did god bless him for jacobs sake ? the like might be minded of joseph to the egyptians ▪ ye , saith our blessed saviour , are the light of the world and the salt of the earth . to whom did he speak but to his disciples , his holy apostles , that he sent forth to preach glad tydings of great joy unto the nations . i might shew you wherein they are the interest of the place where they are , but i must hasten : take onely two or three brief hints . 1. they stand in the gap or in the breach . ours is a great one , the lord look upon us . they plead with god : when moses hands are up israel prevails , and when he lets down his hands amalek prevails , exod. 17. 11. oh how doth he cry out for a provoking generation . when jehovah cries , let me alone , that i may destroy them , exod. 32. 10. oh , saith joshua , what wilt thou do for thy great name ? if thou wilt not forgive their sin , saith moses , blot me out of thy book ▪ nay ▪ though god promised to make of him a great nation , yet he still lifts up a cry for them , exod ▪ 32. 10 , 11 , 32. 2. they are the interest of the nation where they are , by counselling , warning , and admonishing . 3. by their holy and exemplary conversations . except the lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant , we should have been as sodom and should have been like unto gomorrah , isa . 1. 9. 10. ground of lamentation , is because sin usually is the cause why god removes his faithful embassadors . he sends to treat with sinners about the concerns of their souls . i wish this stroke be not in judgement to some of your souls . the message they bring is often slighted , and thereby sinners slight and reject the king himself . they cry and lift up their voice like a trumpet , fore-warning of danger ; but none lays it to heart . they spend their strenght and weaken their bodies for the good of sinners souls ; but sinners slight it ▪ nay , if they should sweat drops of blood it would not do , it would not work in them remorse of conscience and repentance unto life . well , saith god , now i 'll wait upon thee no more , him that you despised and contemned , or neglected to hear , or whose counsel you did not regard , you shall hear no more . the taking 〈◊〉 of faithful preachers is one of the greatest judgement that can come upon sinners . but alas , it may not onl● be for the sins of the ungodly world ●●on unconverted sinners , but a punishment upon professors and church members ▪ for their inquiry ; they may not prize the mercy nor walk worthy of the blessing . they may not carry it as they ought to do to the labourer that is amongst them : they may grieve and wound his heart by their disorderly walking ; and god may from hence be provoked to take him a way . nay they may on the other hand overvalue him , they may idolize their teachers and look upon them above what is meet ; though sinful , yet 't is possible to eye man more than god by man. god may remove them . upon this account the apostle speaks of some that had mens persons in admiration . i am satisfied there is too great extreams in the world . we should have a care we do not receive the truth for the sake of a man , or to please men , because such and such says it ; but out of love to jesus christ , and because god hath commanded it . beloved , it may not be amiss to lay these things to heart , 't is good to hear the rod and to know who it is , and for what it is appointed . i do not charge any in particular . 11. and lastly , here is cause of lamentation , because evil and dark dayes many times follows the removal of gods worthies . when god take away so many faithful ones , what may we expect to look for . i might give divers instances of the sad effects , or what hath followed the taking godly persons & sincere labourers away * . but i am afraid i have been too tedious already , remember what the prophet saith , the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; merciful men are taken away ; and none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . isa . 57. 1. thus much by way of lamentation and consolation . i have onely one use more , which shall be in the fourth place by way of comfort and consolation . 1. must all dye , the godly as well as the wicked ? is the grave the place prepared for all living ? must fathers , husbands , wives , children , ministres , and the dearest friends we have dye ? how shall we then comfort our selves against death ? if thou art a beleiver , i i have a word of comfort for thee ; there is none i am sure for christless souls . 2. consider death cannot hurt thee ; it cannot hurt those that are believers , because it hath lost his sting . death may hiss but cannot hurt : nothing makes death terrible to an ungodly man but it's sting . the sting of death is sin , but this is taken away from believers by jesus christ . oh death where is thy sting ? o grave where is thy victory ? 1. cor. 15. 55 , 56. 2. death cannot hurt a believer , because it cannot bring an annihilation of the body , though it bring an alteration upon the stare and condition of the body , yea and though the body be dissolved to dust , yet it shall not be lost , it shall rise to life again . 3. death cannot dissolve or break that blessed union there is between jesus christ and believers . though it may separate soul and body , yet it cannot separate either from jesus christ , and the soul immediately will be in a more glorious enjoyment of christ ; and though the body for a while must lie in the grave , yet that dust is precious dust in christs sight . 4. consider death cannot keep the body long under its power , nor keep soul and body apart ; 't is but a little while and they will meet again . death and the grave are conquered enemies . saints by faith can now , through jesus christ triumph over them , and shall have a compleat , a full conquest , over a short space . 5. death has not power to cast into hell , if conscience condemns thee not , if the word convicts thee not , if god passeth not the sentence upon thee , death has no power to do it . death can but bring to the grave , 't is sin that casteth the soul into hell . 6. consider death is thine , that is , 't will be for thy profit and advantage every way . remember that sweet word of paul to the corinthians , 1. cor. 3. 22. whether paul or apollo , or cephas , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come , all are yours ; it will be every way for thy good . consider what freedom thou wilt gain thereby . 1. it will free thee from a body of sin and death , that often makes thee go with a sorrowful heart . oh! hath it not oft made thee to cry out with st. paul , oh wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death ? oh what is a greater trouble to a child of god than indwelling sin ? he cannot do the things he would do . but now comes death and frees thee of all these soul perplexities and disquietments . sin makes a saint to groan , being burthened ; but now thou shalt grieve christ and his spirit , nor thy own soul no more . is not this that a poor saint longs for ? 2. 't will free thee from a poor crazy , diseased , or distempered body . there will then be no crying out of back or bone , nor head not heart any more ; 't will be with thee as with the church in the glorious day to come , rev. 21. 4. there shall be no more death , neither sorrow , nor crying , neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are passed away . 3. it will free thee from an evil and wicked world . oh what a defiling , ensnaring , and bewitching world is this ? what hinders us of our joy and peace in christ more than it ? what greater vexation to us ? oh how many precious saints are clogged and imprisoned by the cares of the world , which many times is ready to choak the seed of holy desires after christ : but by death thou shalt be delivered . 4. it will free thee out of the hands of presecutors . thou wilt , ( with our dear brother ) be out of their reach then : they shall not disquiet thee , imprison thee , nor torment thee any more . there , saith job ( speaking of the grave ) the wicked cease from troubling ; and there the weary be at rest ; there the prisoners rest together , they hear not the voice of the oppressor , job 3. 17 , 18. 5. death will free thee from an envious raging and tempting devil . he will have not more power to disturb thee , accuse thee , nor by his cursed suggestions , to vex and perplex thy soul ; no , nor any other ways to hurt or annoy thee . o will not this be to thy great advantage ? who would be unwilling to die , that hath an interest in jesus christ ? 6. thou wilt hereby also be freed from all the discords and troubles that rise amongst brethren . the unworthy and disorderly lives of professors shall sadden thy heart then no more . this was that which worried and grieved the blessed apostle , phil. 3. 18. our dear brother is set at liberty from all these things , disorders in the church , no loose walking of members thereof , will burden nor trouble him again . 7. nay and death will free thee of all that trouble that riseth from those inward becloudings and hideings of god's face . it will never be night with the soul any more ; thou wilt then be with christ and behold his face with joy for ever . 8. and lastly , thou wilt also be freed of all thy toilsome pains and labour , of what nature soever it be . o how good is rest to a weary soul ? blessed are the dead which die in the lord , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them , rev. 14. 13. but then once again , consider what a blessed state thy soul will be in at death . if thou art a true beliver , thou shalt not onely have hereby a negative good , it will not simply a freedom from all those sorrows and troubles thou hast heard , but thy soul shall immediately receive transcendent joy with jesus christ . for me to live , saith paul , is christ , and to die is gain . the advantage the soul receives upon this account , made paul so much desire to depart and be with christ ; which he says is far better , phil. 1. 21. pray observe his words , he doth not say it will be gain to him when he rises again , no , but to die is gain * . i shall receive more joy , more consolation , more of the fulness of god and christ ( as if he should say ) when i die , then i can whilest i am in this body . mind that passage in 2 cor. 5. 1. for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , a house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . compare this with ver . 6. therefore we are always confident , knowing that whilst we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord. the apostle doth not say we know when this earthly house is broken down and raised up again , we have a building with god , eternal in the heavens . ( pray consider it ) but plainly when it is dissolved , when it is turned to its dusty crums : ( we have ) that is our souls , he can intend nothing else . by ( we ) he means their better part , which he compares to an inhabiter , and the body to the house or tabernacle in which it dwels . oh what an excellent thing is the soul of man over the body . and now beloved , that the soul or better part is capable of being separated from the body , and in its seperate state from the body , capable of glorious enjoyments of god and high raptures of joy with jesus christ , doth appear most evident from that passsage of the apostle in 2 cor. 12. 1 , 2 , 3. it is not expendient for me doubtless , to glory , i will come to vissions and revelations of the lord. i knew a man in christ above fourteen years ago , whether in the body , i cannot tell ; god knoweth : such a one caught up to the third heaven . ver . 4. says , he was caught up into paradise , and heard unspeakable words , which is not lawful for a man to utter . the soul or spirit then it appears may be seperate from the body . i from this place thus argue , 1. if the soul or spirit of man be not capable of being seperated from the house of clay or earthly tabernacle , then paul might have boldly and safely have said the whole man was taken up , a soul and body together , and not one without the other , because it is impossible to seperate them : but since paul says he knows not whether in the body or out of the body , he plainly shews what opinion he was of . and then secondly , i may from what he says , reason after this manner , viz. if the soul in its seperated state from the body , be not able or capable to enjoy or take in heavenly comforts or consolations of jesus christ , paul might boldly and positively have said he was taken up in the body , because however he was caught up , whether within or without the body , he heard and saw unexpressible things ; he had high and soul-filling raptures of joy . the lord jesus promised the penitent thief that he should ( that is his chief or better part ) be that day with him in paradice . lord jesus ( saith stephen ) receive my spirit . o what a blessed thing it is to die in christ ? o what a happy estate is our friend in , the gain is exceeding great . some may say what doth a godly man gain by death ? i answer , first , they gain a glorious place , heaven , the glorious paradice of god , the mansions of glory that are in our fathers house ! who is able to conceive what a glorious place heaven is ? but then , secondly , they shall enjoy glorious company too . they shall be with jesus christ , have his company , in whose presence there is fulness of joy , and at whose right hand there be pleasures for evermore ; be with christ , holy angels , and glorious spirits of just men made perfect . o what a blessed state and condition of soul have they gained that are gone thither ! thirdly , we shall gain sweet peace . 't is not onely peace in christ ( that gods people have as their portion here ) but it shall be peace with christ . a woman that has a dear husband who is gone to sea , he is it may be in another countrey , yet she hears from him , receives tokens of love , she has much satisfaction of the stedfasteness of his love , cordialness of his affection ; in this she has peace and comfort , but alas what is this peace to that when he comes home , when she has him , enjoys his company ? o we shall see christ , enjoy him , yea lie in his arms to all eternity . enter thou , saith christ , into the joy of thy lord. that joy is too much to enter into us , therefore we must enter into that . mark the perfect man and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . he has peace in death , peace beyond death , yea and peace to all etrernity . and now one word more particularly to you that have lost your pastor : your loss i must confess is great ( though he hath gained hereby ) and it may be some of you are crying out , what shall we do ? beloved , you must labour for a quiet frame , strive for contentedness of heart ; 't is the lords hand upon you , 't is what he has done ; remember david , i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it , psal . 39. 9. 2. consider also your loss is not so great , but god is able to repair it and make it up to you , though you may not see which way it can be done , let it be your care to wait upon god ; cry to him , look up to the lord of the harvest , and patiently wait to see what he will do for you . 3. to support you under this sore affliction , consider the great shepherd of the sheep never dyes , he lives for ever ; and sure he that dyed for the sheep whose own sheep they are , will take care of them ; he will feed them and preserve them from danger , isa . 23. 1 , 2 , 3. the lord is my shepherd , saith david , i shall not want : he maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me besides the still waters : he restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness , for his names sake . and from hence he takes courage , yea , though i walk thorow the valley of the shadow of death , i will fear no evil . oh what a blessed thing it is to have confidence in god , and to have such a shepherd ; the keeper of israel never slumbers nor sleepeth . and now to conclude one word to dear relations , and to comfort us all under the present dispensation . 1. consider death shall not seperate us long , we shall see one another again over a short time , he is gone but a little before ; let us think upon that glorious meeting we shall have ere long in the air , read 1 thes . 4. 13 , &c. i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope ; for if we believe that jesus died , and rose again ; even so them which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him : for this we say unto you by the word of the lord , that we which are alive , and remain unto the coming of the lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep : for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the arch-angel , and with the trumpet of god : and the dead in christ shall rise first , then we which are alive and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the lord : wherefore comfort one another with these words . what can i speak that may be more seasonable for comfort , then that which the holy spirit hath left upon record , upon that very account it will be but a little while and we shall see him again , we shall have a joyful meeting and never part more . o therefore be quieted , consider what you have heard what death is to a believer . shall not our friend go to rest ? alas he hath laboured hard , and o how sweet is this rest to him . when a man hath worked hard all day and wearied himself , how willing is he to go to bed at night ? alas he is but gone to sleep , to take sweet and quiet rest until the morning . 2. shall not we be willing he should have inlargement to be freed out of prison . alas our souls are as it were but in prison whilst we dwell here below in these houses of clay ; death as a porter opens a door into that glorious palace above he is but gone home to his fathers house , and how earnest was he to depart , that he might be present with the lord. 3. shall not he eat the fruit of his labour , he that soweth in tears shall reap in joy , those that go forth weeping bearing precious seed , shall doubtless come again rejoycing and bring their sheaves with them . 4. he having overcome , shall not he receive the crown ? paul having fought the good fight of faith , knew there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness : to him that overcometh , saith our saviour , will i grant to sit with me in my throne . even as i also overcame , and am set down with my father an his throne , rev. 3. 21. 5. and now in the last place and to shut up all , consider , uncertain is thy life , and mind ; you know not but that in a very few dayes you may go after , it will not be long be sure , and thither we all must go : for , what man is he , that liveth and shall not see death ? shall be deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? selah . finis erata . pag. 4. l. 9. blot forth cut , p. 4. l 10. also blot forth out , p 9. l. 25 for is read it , p. 11. l. 14. blot out word , p. 15. for augustus caesar r. julius caesar , p 17. l. 2. for if r. of , p. 18. for question r. query , p. 32. l. 8. blot out and , p. 32. l. 9. for and r. for , p. 58. l. 8. blot out and consolation , which escaped in s●me copies . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47613-e3280 * mr. clark gives us several instances how the death of the righteous hath been the fore-runner of sad and lamentable judgements : begins with methuselah before the flood , whose very name was very significant upon this account . also i lately met with a sermon of a godly minister in new england that was preached sometimes before their late calamities and miseries broke forth there , and amongst their other signs of approaching judgement , that he seemed to be very apprehensive of , he minds that of the dropping away of many holy and godly persons . oh how many able and godly preachers and others have we lost in a short space ? we may look upon it as one sad sign or symptome of approaching evil . * some probably may object the dead are not sensible of time , 't is but as a sleep to them ; they die and their resurrection to them immediately follows ; no distance of time between death and judgement the dead , and so paul's gain he speaks of 〈◊〉 might not be till the resurrection ? aasw . though it be granted death to the body is but as a sleep , yet 't is not so to the soul . but that this is not the intent or meaning of the apostle , is plain ; which i make out thus : paul plainly shews that if he did presently depart or die , it would be gain to him ; now if that which you say were true , he would have lost by death , 't is easie to see how , suppose he might live twenty or thirty years longer on earth , would not thirty years sweet enjoyment of jesus christ be worth nothing ? is not one ▪ day with god , beholding his lovely face , better than a thousand ? all know , that if he died presently , he should never the sooner obtain the resurrection , of this body , than if he had lived a hundred years longer ; this being well weighed , to die presently would have been his great loss , were not the soul in a present enjoyment of christ at death . the last work of a believer his passing prayer recommending his departing spirit to christ to be received by him / prepared for the funerals of mary the widow first of francis charlton esq. and after of thomas hanmer, esq., and partly preached at st. mary magdalens church in milk-street, london, and now, at the desire of her daughter, reprinted by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. 1682 approx. 162 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 51 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-02 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a69538 wing b1298 estc r5056 10547773 ocm 10547773 45240 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a69538) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45240) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 201:7, 1395:27) the last work of a believer his passing prayer recommending his departing spirit to christ to be received by him / prepared for the funerals of mary the widow first of francis charlton esq. and after of thomas hanmer, esq., and partly preached at st. mary magdalens church in milk-street, london, and now, at the desire of her daughter, reprinted by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. [14], 79 p. printed by b. griffin for b. simmons, london : 1682. reproduction of original in the british library and harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng hanmer, mary, d. ca. 1657. funeral sermons. 2005-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-10 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2005-10 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the last work of a believer . his passing-prayer , recommending his departing spirit to christ to be received by him . prepared for the funerals of mary the widow first of francis charlton esq and after of thomas hanmer esq : and partly preached at st. mary magdalens church in milk-street , london , and now , at the desire of her daughter , before her death , reprinted . by richard baxter . joh. 12. 26. if any man serve me , let him follow me ; and where i am , there shall also my servant be : and if any man serve me , him will my father honour . london : printed by b. griffin , for b. simmons at the three golden cocks , at the west-end of st. pauls . 1682. the contents of the last work of a believer . the occasion of this discourse , pag. 1. the opening of the text , p. 3. doct. 1. and 2 d passed by [ that christ is exalted in glory ] and [ is to be prayed to ] p. 5. doct. 3. man hath a spirit , as well as a body : and what the soul is , p. 6. doct. 4. the spirit of man doth survive the body : it dyeth not , nor is annihilated , nor sleepeth , p. 11. doct. 5. christ doth receive the spirits of his saints , when they leave the flesh . what his receiving them is ? p. 14. doct. 6. a dying christian may confidently and comfortably commend his spirit to christ to be received by him , p. 19. the doctrine applyed to the unregenerate unprepared soul , p. 20. whom christ will receive , and whom he will not refuse , p. 26. considerations to move them to prepare so as to be received , p. 30. applyed to believers , p. 37. encouraging proofs os christs receiving their departed soul , p. 39. other vses of the doctrine , p. 57. for the abatement of sorrow for the death of our departed friend , p. 61. the evidences of her happiness , in the graces in which she was eminent and exemplary , p. 63. the use of her example to them that survive , p. 70. doct 7. prayer in general , and this prayer in particular , that christ will receive our departing souls , is a most suitable conclusion of all the action of a christians life , p. 72. to the reader . reader , the person whose death did occasion this discourse , was one that about five years ago removed from her antient habitation ( at appley in shropshire ) ▪ to kederminster , where she lived under my pastoral care till i was come up to london : and before she had lived there a twelve-month ( for thither she removed ) she died of the fever , then very common in the city . she lived among us an example of prudence , gravity , sobriety , righteousness , piety , charity and self-denyal : and was truly what i have described her to be , and much more : for i use not to flatter the living , much less , the dead . and though i had personal acquaintance with her for no longer a time than i have mentioned , yet i think it worthy the mentioning , which i understand by comparing her last years with what is said of her former time , by those that were then nearest to her , and so were at her death , that whereas ( as i have said ) sudden passion was the sin that she was wont much to complain of , she had not contented her self with meer complainings , but so effectually resisted them , and applyed gods remedies for the healing of her nature , that the success was very much observed by those about her , and the change and cure so great herein , as was a comfort to her nearest relations , that had the benefit of her converse : which i mention as a thing that shews us , 1. that even the infirmities that are founded in nature and temperature of body , are curable so far as they fall under the dominion of a sanctified will. 2. that even in age , when such passions usually get ground , and infirmities of mind increase with infirmities of body , yet grace can effectually do its work . 3. that to attend god in his means , for the subduing any corruption , is not in vain . 4. that as god hath promised growth of grace , and flourishing in old age , so in his way we may expect the fulfilling of his promise . 5. that as grace increaseth , infirmities and corruptions of the soul will vanislh . this makes me call to mind that she was once so much taken with a sermon which i preached , at the funerals of a holy aged woman * and so sensibly oft recited the text it self as much affecting her , ( 2 cor , 4. 16 , 17. for which cause we faint not ; but tho our outward man perish , yet the inward man is re-renewed day by day , &c. ) that i am perswaded both the text it self , and the example opened ( and well known ) to her did her much good , her work is done : her enemies are conquered ; ( except the remaining fruits of death upon a corrupting body , which the resurrection must conquer ) . her danger , and temptations , and troubles , and fears , are at an end : she shall no more be discomfited with evil tidings ; nor no more partake with a militant church in the sorrows of her diseases or distresses : we are left within the reach of satans assaults and malice ; and of the rage and violence which pride , and faction , and cainish envy , and enmity to serious holiness , do ordinarily raise against christs followers in the world : we are left among the lying tongues of slanderous malicious men ; and dwell in a wilderness among scorpions ; where the sons of belial , like nabal , are such that a man cannot speak to them . 1 sam ▪ 25. 17. the best of them is as a briar ; the most upright sharper than a thorn hedge : mic. 7. 4. ( but the sons of belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away , because they cannot be taken with hands , but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron , and the staff of a spear , and they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the place , 2 sam. 23. 6 , 7. ) we are left among our weak , distempered , sinful , afflicted , lamenting friends ; the sight of whose calamities , and participation of their sufferings , maketh us feel the stroaks that fall upon so great a number , that we are never like to be free from pain . but she is entred into the land of peace , where pride and faction are shut out ; where serpentine enmity , malice and fury never come : where there is no cain to envy and destroy us ; no sodomtes to rage against us ▪ and in their blindness to assault our doors : no ahitophels to plot our ruin : no judas to betray us : no false-witnesses to accuse us : no tertullus to paint us out as pestilent fellows and movers of sedition among the people : no rehum , shimshai , or their society , to perswade the rulers that the servants of the god of heaven are hurtful unto kings , and against their interest and honour , ( ezra 4. 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 22. and 5. 11. ) : no rabble to cry away with them , it is not fit that they should live : no demas that will forsake us for the love of present things : no such contentious censorious friends as jobs to afflict us , by adding to our affliction : no cursed cham to dishonour parents : no ambitious rebellious absolom to molest us , or to lament : no sinful , scandalous , or impatient friends to be our grief : and which is more than all , no earthly , sinful inclinations in our selves ; no passions or infirmities ; no languishings of soul , no deadness , dulness , hard heartedness , or we aknesses of grace ▪ no backwardness to god , or estrangedness from him , nor fears or doubtings of his love , nor frowns of his displeasure : none of these do enter into that serene and holy region , nor ever interrupt the joy of saints . the great work is yet upon our hands , to fight out the good fight , to finish our course , to run with patience the remainder of the race that is before us : and as we must look to jesus the author and finisher of our faith , as our great exemplar , so must we look to his saints and martyrs as our encouraging examples under him . put the case you were now dying , ( and o how near is it , and how sure ! ) what would you need most if the day were come ? that is it that you need most now : look after it speedily while you have time ! look after it seriously , if you have the hearts of men , and sin have not turned you into ideots or blocks . what a disgrace is it to mankind , to hear men commonly at death cry out , o for a little more time , and o for the opportunities of grace again ! and o how shall i enter upon eternity thus unprepared ! ] as if they had never heard or known that they must die till now ! had you not a lifes time to put these questions ? and should you not long ago have got them satisfactorily resolved ? and justly doth god give over some to that greater shame of humane nature , as not to be called to their wits even by the approach of death it self , but as they contemned everlasting life in their health , god justly leaveth them to be so sottish , as to venture presumptuously with unrenewed souls upon death , and the conceit that they are of the right church , or party , or opinion ; or that the priest hath absolved them , doth pass with them for the necessary preparation ; and well were it for them , if these would pass them currantly into heaven : but o what heart can now conceive , how terrible it is , for a new departed soul to find it self remedilesly disappointed , and to be shut up in flames and desperation , before they would believe that they were in danger of it ? reader , i beseech thee , as ever thou believest that thou must shortly die , retire from the crowd and noise of worldly vanity and vexation : o bethink thee how little a while thou must be here , and have use for honour , and favour , and wealth ; and what it is for a soul to pass into heaven or hell , and to dwell among angels or devils for ever ; and how men should live , and watch , and pray , that are near to such a change as this ▪ should i care what men call me ( by tongue or pen ) ? should i care whether i live at liberty or in prison , when i am ready to die , and have matters of infinite moment before me , to take me up ? honour or dishonour , liberty or prison , are words of no sound or signification scarce to be heard or taken notice of , to one of us that are just passing to god and to everlasting life ! the lord have mercy upon the distracted world ! how strangely doth the devil befool them in the day-light , and make them needlesly trouble themselves about many things , when one thing is needful ; and heaven is talk'd of ( and that but heartlesly and seldom ) while fleshly provision only is the prize , the pleasure , the business of their lives ! some are diverted from their serious preparation for death , by the leastly avocations of lust and g●wdiness , and meats , and drinks , and childish sports : and some by the businesses of ambition and covetousness , contriving how to feather their nests , and exercise their wills over others in the world ! and some that will seem to be doing the work , are diverted as dangerously as others , by contending about formalities and ceremonies , and destroying charity and peace , rending the church , and strengthening factions , and carrying on interests hypocritically under the name of religion , till the zeal that saint james describeth , ( jam. 3. 13 , 14 , &c. ) having consumed all that was tike to the zeal of love and holiness in themselves , proceed to consume the servants and interest of christ about them and to bite and devoure , till their lord come and find them in a day that they locked not for him , smiting their fellow-servants , and eating and drinking with the drunken , and cut them asunder , and appoint them their portion with the hypocrites , where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , matth , 24. 49 , 50 , 51. o study , and preach , and hear , and pray , and live , and use your brethren that differ from you in some opinions , as you would do if you were going to receive your doom , and as will then be most acceptable to your lord ! the guilt of sensuality , worldiness , ambition , of uncharitableness , cruelty and injustice , of losing time , and betraying your souls by negligence , or perfidiousness and wilful sin , will lie heavyer upon a departing soul , then now in the drunkenness of prosperity you can think : christ will never receive such souls in their extremity , unless upon repentance by faith in his blood , they are washed from this pollution . it is unspeakably terrible to die , without a confidence that christ will receive us : and little knows the graceless world what sincerity and simplicity in holiness is necessary to the soundness of such a confidence . let those that know not that they must die , or know of no life hereafter , hold on their chase of a feather , till they find what they lost their lives , and souls , and labour for : but if thou be a christian , remember what is thy work ! thou wilt net need the favour of man , nor worldly wealth to prevail with christ to receive thy spirit : o learn thy last work , before thou art put upon the doing of it . the world of spirits to which we are passing , doth better know than this world of fleshly darkened sinners , the great difference between the death of a heavenly believer , and of an earthly sensualist . believe , it is a thing possible to get that apprehension of the love of christ , that confidence of his receiving us , and such familiar pleasant thoughts of our entertainment by him , as shall much overcome the fears of death , and make it a welcome day to us when we shall be admitted into the celestial society . and the difference between one mans death and anothers , dependeth on the difference between heart and heart , life and life , preparation and vnpreparedness . it you ask me , how may so happy a preparation be made ? i have told you in this following discourse , and more fully else where formerly . i shall add now these few directions following . 1. follow the flattering world no further : come off from all expectation of felicity below : enjoy nothing under the sun ; but only use it in order to your enjoyment of the real sure delight : take heed of being too much pleased in the creature . have you houses , and lands , and offices , and honours , and friends that are very pleasing to you ? take heed ; for that is the killing snare ! shut your eyes , and wink them all into nothing ; and cast by your contrivances , and cares , and fears , and remember you have another work to do . 2. live in communion with a suffering christ : study well the whole life and nature of his sufferings ; and the reason of them ; and think how desirable it is to be conformed to him : thus look to jesus , that for the joy that was set before him , despised the shame , and endured the cross , and the contradiction of sinners against himself . dwell upon this example that the image of a humbled suffering christ being deeply imprinted on thy mind , may draw thy heart into a juster relish of a mortified state : sure he is no good christian that thinks it not better to live as christ did ( in holy poverty and sufferings in the world ) then as croesus or caesar , or any such worldling and self-pleasure lived . die daily , by following jesus with your cross , and when you have a while suffered with him , he will make you perfect , and receive your spirits , and you shall reign with him : it wonderfully prepareth for a comfortable death , to live in the fellowship of the sufferings of christ : he is most likely to die quietly , patiently and joyfully , that can first be poor , be neglected , be scorned , be wronged , be slandered , be imprisoned , quietly , patiently and joyfully . if you were but at hierusalem ; you would with some love and pleasure go up mount olivet , and think , [ christ went this very way ] you would love to see the place where he was born , the way which he went when he carryed his cross , the holy grave where he was buried , ( where there in a temple which pilgrims use to visit , from whence they use to bring the mark as a pleasing badge of honour . ) but how much more of christ is there in our suffering for his cause and truth ? and in following him in a mortified self-denying life , then in following him in the path that he hath trodden upon earth ? his enemies saw his cross , his grave , his mother , his person : this did not heal their sinful souls and make them happy . but the cross that he calleth us to bear , is , a life of suffeing for righteousness sake , in which he commandeth us to rejoyce and be exceeding glad , because our reward is great in heaven , though all manner of evil be spoken of us falsly by men on earth , mat. 5. 11 , 12. this is called a being pertakers of christs sufferings , in which we are commanded to rejoyce ; that when this glory shall be revealed , we may be glad with exceeding joy , 1 pet. 4. 13. and as the sufferings of christ abound towards us , so will our consolation abound by christ ; 1 cor. 1. 5. till we come up to a life of willing mortification , and pleased contented suffering with christ , we are in the lower form of his school , and as children , shall tremble at that which should not cause our terrour , and through misapprehensions of the case of a departing soul , shall be afraid of that which should be our joy . i am not such an enemy to the esteem of relicks , but if one could shew me the very stock that paul and silas sate in when they sung psalms in their imprisonment , acts 16. i could be contented to be put ( for the like cause ) into the same stocks , with a special willingness and pleasure : how much more should we be willing to be conformed to our suffering lord , in a spirit and life of true mortification ? 3. hold communion also with his suffering members : desire not to dwell in the tents of wickedness , nor to be planted among them that flourish for a time , that they may be destroyed for ever , psal . 92. 6 , 7. i had rather have bradford's heart and faggot , than bonners bishoprick . it was holy stephen , and not those that stoned him , that saw heaven opened , and the son of man sitting at the right hand of god , acts 7. 56. and that could joyfully say , lord jesus receive my spirit . he liveth not by faith ( though he may be a hanger on that keepeth up some profession for fear of being damned ) who chooseth not rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season , and esteemeth not the very reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures of the world , as having respect to the recompence of reward , heb. 11. 25. 26. 4. live as if heaven were open to your sight : and then dote upon the delights of worldlings if you can : then love a life of fleshly case and honour better than to be with christ , if yon can . but of this i have spoken at large in other writings . christian , make it the study and business of thy life , to learn to do thy last work well ; that work which must be done but once ; that so death which transmits unholy souls into utter darkness and despair , may deliver thy spirit into thy redeemers deemers hands to be received to his glory ; according to that blessed promise , john 12. 26. and while i am in the flesh , beg the same mercy for thy brother and companion in tribulation , and in the kingdom and patience of jesus christ . richard baxter . london , jan. 31. 1661●●… a believers last work. acts 7. 59. lord jesus , receive my spirit . the birth of nature , and the new birth of grace , in their measure resemble the death of saints , which is the birth of glory . it is a bitter-sweet day , a day that is mixt of sorrow and joy , when nature must quit its familiar guest , and yield to any of these changes . our natural birth is not without the throws and pain , and groanings of the mother , though it transmit the child into a more large , and lightsom , and desirable habitation : our spiritual birth is not without its humbling and heart-piercing sorrows : and when we are brought out of darkness into the marvellous light , we leave our old companions , in displeasure , whom we forsake , and our flesh repining at the loss of its sensual delights : and our passage into glory is not without those pangs and fears which must needs be the attendants of a pained body , ready to be dissolved , and a soul that is going through so strait a door , into a strange though a most blessed place ; and it leaveth our lamenting friends behind , that feel their loss , and would longer have enjoyed our company , and see not ( though they believe ) the glory of the departed soul. and this is our case , that are brought hither this day , by an act of providence sad to us , though joyous to our departed friend ; by a voice that hath called her into glory , and called us into this mourning plight : even us that rejoyce in the thoughts of her felicity , and are not so cruel as to wish her again into this corruptible flesh and calamitous world , from the glorious presence of the lord ; and yet should have kept her longer from it , for our own and others sakes , if our wisdom had been fit to rule , or our wills to be fulfilled , or if our prayers must have been answered , according to the measure of our sailing apprehensions , or precipitant desires . but folly must submit to the incomprehensible wisdom ; and the desire of the creature must stoop to the will of the creator the interest of christ must be preferred , when he calleth for his own ; and our temporary interest must give place : flesh must be silent , and not contend ; and dust must not dare to question god : he knoweth best when his fruit is ripe ; and though he will allow our moderate sorrows , he will not so much damnifie his saints , as to detain them with us from their joyful rest , till we are content to let them go . thus also did blessed stephen depart from glory to glory ; from a distant sight of the glory of god , and of jesus standing at his right hand , into the immediate presence and fruition of that glory : but yet he must pass the narrow port ; enraged malice must stone him till he die ; and he must undergo the pains of martyrdom , before he reach to the glory which he had seen : and when he was arrived in safety , he leaveth his brethren scattered in the storm , and devout men make great lamentation at his burial . acts 9. 2. though it is probable by the ordinary acceptation of the word [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] that they were not professed christians , but devout proselytes , ( such as cornelius and the ethiopian eunuch were ) that buried and thus lamented stephen , as knowing him to be an excellent person , cruelly murdered by the raging jews ; yet their example , in a case not culpable , but commendable , may be imitated by believers ; upon condition that , with our sense of the excellency of the persons , and of our loss by their removal , we exceed them that had but a darker revelation , in our joyful sense of the felicity of the translated souls . the occasion of the death of this holy man , was partly that he surpassed others , as being full of faith , and of the holy ghost ; and partly , that he plainly rebuked the blind and furious persecuting zeal of the jews , and bore a most resolute testimony of christ . it is an ill time when men must suffer because they are good , and deserve not suffering , but reward : and they are an unhappy people that have no more grace or wit , but to fight against heaven , and set themselves under the stroaks of god's severest justice , by persecuting them that are dear to christ , and faithfully perform their duty . it is no strange thing for the zeal and interest of a faction to make men mad ; so mad , as implacably to rage against the off spring of heaven , and to hate men because they are faithful to their great master , and because they are against their faction ; so mad , as to think that the interest of their cause requireth them to destroy the best with the greatest malice , because they stand most in their way ; and to forget that christ , the revenger of his elect , doth take all as done to him that is done to them ; so mad , as to forget all the terrible threatnings of god , and terrible instances of his avenging justice , against the enemies of his servants , whom he taketh as his own ; and to ruine their own reputations , by seeking to defame the upright , whose names god is engaged to honour , and whose righteousness shall shine forth as the sun , when foolish malignity hath done its worst . when christ had pleaded his cause effectually with saul , that was one of the persecutors of stephen , he maketh him confess that he was [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] exceedingly , excessively , or beyond measure mad against the christians . but this blessed protomartyr , in despite of malice , doth safely and joyfully pass through all their rage to heaven : by killing him they make him more than conquerour , and send him to receive his crown : and he shuts up all the action of his life , in imitation of his suffering lord , with a two-fold request to heaven ; the one for himself , that his spirit may be received ; the other for his persecutors , that this sin may not be laid to their charge , acts 7. 59 , 60. for so you may find christ did before him , luke 23. 34 , 46. father , forgive them , for they know not what they do : ] and , [ father , into thy hands i commend my spirit . ] only christ directeth his prayer immediately to the father , and stephen to christ , as being one that had a mediator , when christ had none , as needing none ; and being now bearing witness , by his suffering , to christ , and therefore it was seasonable to direct his prayer to him ; but especially because it was an act of mediation that he petitioneth for , and therefore directeth his petition to the mediator . this first request of this dying saint , which i have chosen to handle , as suitable and seasonable for our instruction at this time , in a few words containeth not a few exceeding useful wholesom truths . as , 1. it is here plainly intimated , that [ jesus christ is exalted in glory , ] in that he hath power to receive departed souls . 2. that christ is to be prayed to , ] and that it is not our duty to direct all our prayers only to the father . especially those things that belong to the office of the mediator , as interceding for us in the heavens , must be requested of the mediator : and those things which belong to the father to give for the sake of the mediator , must be asked of the father for his sake . i cannot now stay to tell you in particular what belongeth to the one , and what unto the other . 3. that man hath a spirit , as well as a body : of which , more anon . 4. that this spirit dieth not with the body ( unless you will call a meer separation a dying . ) 5. that christ doth receive the spirits of his saints , when they are separated from the body . 6. that a dying christian may confidently and comfortably commend his spirit to christ , to be received of him . 7. that prayer in general , and this prayer in special , that christ will receive our departing souls , is a most suitable conclusion of all the actions of a christian's life . the first and second of these doctrines , offered us by this text , i shall pass by . the third is not questioned by any that knoweth himself to be a man : but that we may understand it and the rest , we must consider what the word [ spirit ] doth here signifie . by [ spirit ] here can be meant nothing but the rational soul , which is the principal constitutive part of the man. for , though the word do sometime signifie the wind or breath , and sometime the moral and intellectual qualifications , and have divers other senses , i need not stay to prove that it is not here so taken : stephen prayeth not to christ to receive his breath , his graces , or the holy ghost ; but to receive his rational immortal soul. it is not only the soul , but god himself , that is called [ a spirit ] : and though the name be fetch'd from lower things , that is because that as we have no adequate positive conception of god or spirits , so we can have no adequate proper names for them , but must take up with borrowed names , as answerable to our notions . sometime the word spirit ( as heb. 4. 12. &c. ) is distinguished from the soul : and then it either signifieth the superior faculties in the same soul , or the same soul as elevated by grace . do you ask , what the soul is ? you may also ask , what a man is . and it is pity that a man should not know what a man is . it is our intellectual nature , containing also the sensitive and vegetative : the principle or first act , by which we live , and feel , and understand , and freely will. the acts tell you what the faculties or powers are , and so what the soul is . if you know what intellection , or reason and free-will are , you may know what it is to have a spiritual nature , essentially containing the power of reasoning and willing . it is thy soul by which thou art thinking and asking , what a soul is ! and as he that reasoneth to prove that man hath no reason , doth prove that he hath reason by reasoning against it ; so he that reasoneth to prove that he hath no soul. doth thereby prove that he hath a reasonable ( though abused ) soul. yet there are some so blind as so question , whether they have souls , because they see them not : whereas if they could see them with eyes of flesh , they were no souls : for spirits are invisible . they see not the air or wind , and yet they know that air or wind there is . they see not god or angels , and yet they are fools indeed if they doubt whether there be a god and angels . if they see not their eyes , yet they know that they have eyes , because with those eyes they see other things . and if they know not directly and intuitively that they have rational souls , they might know it by their knowing other things , which without such souls cannot be known . it is just with god , that those that live as carnally , and brutishly , and neglegently , as if they had no souls to use or care for , should at last be given up to question whether they have souls , or no. o woful fall ! depraved nature ! o miserable men , that have so far departed from god , as to deny both themselves and god! or to question , whether god be god , and man be man ! return to god , and thou wilt come to thy self ; forget not , man , thy noble nature , thy chiefest part : think not that thou art only shell , because thou seest not through the shell . it is souls that converse by the bodies while they are in flesh . it is thy soul that i am speaking to , and thy soul that understandeth me : when thy soul is gone , i will speak to thee no more . it is thy soul that is the workmanship of god by an immediate or special way of fabrication , isa . 57. 16. the souls that i have made . ] gen. 2. 7. he breathed into man the breath of life , and he became a living soul . ] it is thy soul that is said to be made after god's image ; in that thou art ennobled with a capacious vnderstanding , and free-will : and it is thy soul that is the immediate subject of his moral image , even spiritual wisdom , righteousness , and holiness : god hath not hands , and feet , and other members , as thy body hath . how noble a nature is that which is capable of knowing not only all things in the world ( in its measure ) but god himself , and the things of the world that is to come ; and capable of loving and enjoying god , and of seeking and serving him in order to that enjoyment ! christ thought not basely ▪ of a soul , that redeemed souls at such a price , when he made his soul an offering for sin , isa . 53. 10. were it not for our immortal souls , would god ever honour us with such relations to him , as to be his children ? ( for he is first the father of spirits , heb. 12. 9. and then the father of saints . ) should we be called the spouse and the members of christ ? would he be at so much cost upon us ? should angels attend us as ministring spirits , if we had not spirits fit to minister to god ? would the spirit of god himself dwell in us , and quicken and beautifie us with his grace ? should a world of creatures ( whose corporeal substance seems as excellent as ours ) attend and serve us , if we were but an ingenuous sort of brutes , and had not rational immortal souls ? should such store of mercies be provided for us ? should ministers be appointed to preach , and pray , and labour for us , if we had not souls to save or lose ? they watch for your souls , as those that must give account , heb. 13. 17. why should they preach in season and out of season , and suffer so much to perform their work , but that they know that [ he that winneth souls is wise , ] prov. 11. 30. and that [ he which converteth a sinner from the errour of his way , doth save a soul from death , and hide a multitude of sins . ] jam. 6. 20. the devil himself may tell you the worth of souls , when he compasseth the earth ( job 1. 7. ) and goeth about night and day to deceive them and devour them , 1 pet. 5. 8. and yet can he make you believe that they are so worthless , as to be abused to the basest drudgery , to be poysoned with sin and sensuality , to be ventured for a thing of naught . o , sirs , have you such immortal souls , and will you sell them for a lust , for a beastly pleasure , for liberty to glut your flesh , or for the price that judas sold his lord for ? is thy soul no more worth than honour , or wealth , or foolish mirth ? is thy soul so base , as not to be worth the care and labour of a holy life ? is the world worth all thy care and labour , and shall less be called too much ado , when it is for thy precious soul ? alas ! one would think by the careless felshly lives of many , that they remember not that they have souls . have they not need in the depth of their security , in the height of their ambition , and in the heat of fleshly lusts , to have a monitor to call to them , remember that thou art a man , and that thou hast a soul to save or lose . what thinkest thou of thy negligence and carnal life , when thou readest that so holy a man as paul must keep under his body , and bring it into subjection , lest he should be a cast-away after all his labours ! 1 cor. 9. 25. 26 , 27. o live not as if the flesh were the man , and its pleasure your felicity ; but live as those that have spirits to take care for . doct. 4 the spirit of man doth survive the body . it dyeth not with it : it is not annihilated : it is not resolved into the essence of some common element of souls , where it loseth its specifick form and name : it was still the spirit of stephen that was received by christ . it sleepeth not : to confute the dream of those that talk of the sleeping of souls , or any lethargich , unintelligent or unactive state , of so excellent , capacious and active a nature , were but to dispute with sleeping men . when we say it is immortal , we mean not that it or any creature hath in it self a self-supporting or self-preserving sufficiency ; or that they are necessary beings , and not contingent ; or primitive beings , and not derived from another by creation : we know that all the world would turn to nothing in a moment , if god did but withdraw his preserving and upholding influence , and but suspend that will that doth continue them : he need not exert any positive will or act for their destruction or annihilation . though ejusdem est annihilare , cujus est creare ; none can annihilate but god ; yet it is by a positive efficient act of will that he createth ; and by a meer cessation of the act of his preserving will , he can annihilate . i mean not by any change in him ; but by willing the continuance of the creature but till such a period . but yet he that will perpetuate the spirit of man , hath given it a nature ( as he hath done the angels ) fit to be perpetuated : a nature not guilty of composition and elementary materiallity which might subject it to corruption : so that as there is an aptitude in iron , or silver , or gold , to continue longer than grass , or flowers , or flesh ; and a reason of its duration may be given a natura rei , from that aptitude in subordination to the will of god ; so there is such an aptitude in the nature of the soul to be immortal , which god maketh use of to the accomplishment of his will for its actual perpetuity . the heathenish socinians that deny the immortality of the soul , ( yea worse than heathenish , for most heathens do maintain it ) must deny it to christ himself , as well as to his members : for he used the like recommendation of his soul to his father , when he was on the cross , as stephen doth here to him . if [ lord jesus receive my spirit ] be words that prove not the surviving of the spirit of stephen ; then [ father , into thay hands i commend my spirit ] will not prove the surviving of the spirit of christ : and then what do these infidels make of christ , who also deny his deity ; and consequently make him nothing but a corpse , when his body was in the grave ! how then did he make good his promise to the penitent malefactor , [ this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . ] but he that said . [ because i live , ye shall live also ] john 14. 19. did live in the spirit , while he was put to death in the flesh , 1 pet. 3. 18. and receiveth the spirits of his servants unto life eternal , while their flesh is rotting in the grave : this very text is so clear for this , if there were no other , it might end the controversie with all that believe the holy scriptures . i confess these is a sleep of souls : a metaphorical sleep in sin and in security : or else the drowsie opinions of these infidels , had never found entertainment in the world : a sleep so deep , that the voice of god in the threatnings of his word , and the alarm of his judgments , and the thunder of his warnings by his most serious ministers , prevail not to awaken the most . so dead a sleep possesseth the most of the ungodly world , that they can quietly sin in the sight of god , at the entrance upon eternity , at the doors of hell , and the calls of god do not awaken them : so dead a sleep that scripture justly calls them dead , eph. 2. 1. 5. and ministers may well call them dead ; for alas it is not our voice that can awake them . they are as dead to us ; we draw back the curtains to let in the light , and shew them that judgment is at hand , and use those true but terrible arguments from wrath and hell , which we are afraid should too much frighten many tender hearers : and yet they sleep on , and our loudest calls , our tears and our intreaties cannot awaken them . we cry to them in the name of the lord , [ awake thou that sleepest , arise from the dead , and christ shall give thee light ] eph. 5. 14. this moral sleep and death of souls , which is the fore-runner of everlasting death in misery , we cannot deny . but after death even this sleep shall cease ; and god will awaken them with his vengeance , that would not be awaked by his grace . then sinner , sleep under the thoughts of sin and gods displeasure if thou canst ▪ there is no sleeping soul in hell : there are none that are past feeling . the mortal stroke that layeth thy flesh to sleep in the dust , le ts out the guilty soul into a world where there is no sleeping ; where there is a light irresistible , and a terrour and torment that will keep them waking . if god bid thee awake by the flames of justice , he will have no nay . the first sight and feeling which will surprize thee when thou hast left this flesh , will awake thee to eternity , and do more than we could do in time , and convince thee that there is no sleeping state for separated souls . doct. 5. christ doth receive the spirits of his saints when they leave the flesh . here we shall first tell you what christs receiving of the spirit is . the word signifieth to take it as acceptable to himself ; and it comprehendeth these particulars . 1. that christ will not leave the new-departed soul to the will of satan its malicious enemy . how ready is he to receive us to perdition , if christ refuse us , and receive us not to salvation ? he that now seeketh as a roaring lion night and day , as our adversary , to devour us by deceit , will then seek to devour us by execution . how glad was he when god gave him leave but to touch the goods , and children , and body of job ? and how much more would it please his enmity , to have power to torment our souls ? but the soul that fled to the arms of christ by faith in the day of tryal , shall then find it self in the arms of christ in the moment of its entrance upon eternity . o christian , whether thou now feel it to thy comfort or not , thou shalt then feel it to the ravishing of thy soul , that thou didst not fly to christ in vain , nor trust him in vain to be thy saviour : satan shall be for ever disappointed of his desired prey . long wast thou combating with him ; frequently and strongly wast thou tempted by him : thou oft thoughtest it was a doubtful question who should win the day , and whether ever thou shouldest hold out and be saved : but when thou passest from the flesh , in thy last extremity , in the end of thy greatest and most shaking fears ; when satan is ready , if he might , to carry thy soul to hell ; then , even then shalt thou find that thou hast won the day . and yet not thou , but christ is he that hath been victorious for thee ( even as when thou livedst the life of faith , it was not thou , but christ lived in thee , gal. 2. 20. ) thou mayst fear at thy departure , and leave the flesh with terrour , and imagine that satan will presently devour thee : but the experience of a moment will end thy fears , and thou shalt triumph against thy conquered foe . he that saved thee from the dominion of a tempting devil , will certainly save thee from him when he would torment thee . here he would have us that ▪ he may sift us , and get advantage on our weakness ; but christ prayeth for us , and strengthneth , us , that our faith may not fail , luke 22. 31. and he that saveth us from the sin , will save us from the punishment ; and from satans fury , as he did from his fraud . 2. christs receiving us , doth include his savourable entertainment and welcoming the departed soul. poor soul , thou wast never so welcome to thy dearest friend , nor into the arms of a father , a husband , or a wife , as thou shalt be then into the presence and embracements of thy lord. thou hearest , and readest , and partly believest now how he loveth us , even as his spouse and members , as his flesh and bone , eph. 6. but then thou shalt feel how he loveth thee in particular : if the angels of god have joy at thy conversion , what joy will there be in heaven at thy enterance into that salvation ! and sure those angels will bid thee welcome , and concur with christ in that triumphant joy . if a returning prodigal find himself in the arms of his fathers love , and welcomed home with his kisses , and his robe and feast ; what welcome then may a cleansed conquered soul expect , when it cometh into the presence of glorious love , and is purposely to be received with such demonstrations of love , as may be fitted to magnifie the love of god , which exceedeth all the love of man , as omnipotency doth exceed our impotency ; and therefore will exceed it in the effects ! though thou hast questioned here in the dark , whether thou wert welcome to christ when thou camest to him in prayer , or when thou camest to his holy table ; yet then doubt of thy welcom if thou canst . o had we but one moments sense of the delights of the embraced soul , that is newly received by christ into his kingdom , it would make us think we were in heaven already , and transport us more than the disciples that saw the transfiguration of christ ; and make us say , in comparing this with all the glory of the world , [ master , it is good for us to be here ; ] but in consideration of the full , to say , [ it is better to be there . ] but it must not be : earth must not be so happy as to have a moments sense of the unconceivable pleasures of the received soul ; that is the reward and crown , and therefore not fit for us here in our conflict . but low things may by dark resemblance a little help us to conceive of something that is like them in a low degree . how would you receive your son , or husband , the next day after some bloody fight , where he had escaped with the victory ? or your child , or friend , that arrived safely after a long and a dangerous voyage ? would you not run and meet him , and with joy embrace him , if he had been many years absent , and were now come home ? i tell thee , poor soul , thy saviour hath a larger heart , and another kind of love than thou , and other reasons of greater force to move him to bid dice welcome into his presence . 3. christ's receiving the departed soul includeth the state of blessedness into which he doth receive it . if you ask , what that is ? i answer , it is unto himself , to be with him where he is : and that in general is full of comfort , if there were no more : for we know that christ is in no ill place ; he is glorified at the right hand of the majesty on high , heb. 1. 3. and that the souls of the righteous , and at last their bodies , are received to himself , he often telleth us : john 12. 26. if any man serve me , let him follow me ; and where i am , there shall also my servant be ▪ ] john 14. 2 , 3. and if i go to prepare a place for you , i will come again and receive you unto my self , that where i am , there you may be also . ] and in the mean time , when we once are absent from the body , we are present with the lord , 2 cor. 5. 8. and that is in [ the building of god , not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , v. 1. paul therefore desired to depart and be with christ , as being far better , ] phil. 1. 23. and christ promiseth the converted thief , [ this day shalt thou be with me in paradise , ] luke 23. 43. and our state after the resurrection hath the same description , 1 thess . 4. 17. [ and so shall we ever be with the lord : ] and what it shall be , he declareth himself , john 17. 24. father , i will that they whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me . the soul of lazarus , luke 16. was received into abrahams bosom , where he is said to be comforted . the heavens receive christ , acts 3. 21. and therefore the heavens receive the spirits that go to him : even the spirits of the just made perfect , heb. 12. 23. that is , that are crowned with christ in glory , and freed from the imperfections and evils of this life . and so that 1 thess . 5. 10. is plain , though some would pervert it , [ that whether we wake or sleep , we may live together with him ] : not [ whether we wake to righteousness , or sleep in sin ] ; for such sleepers live not with him : nor [ whether we wake by sollicitude , or sleep in security ] : nor [ whether we naturally wake or sleep ] only : but whether we live , or die , and so our bodies sleep in death , yet we live together with him . in a word , christ will receive us unto a participation of his joy and glory ; into a joy as great as our nature shall be capable of , and more than we can now desire , and that the largest heart on earth can justly conceive of or comprehend . and because all this tells you but to the ear , stay yet but a little while , and experimental sight nnd feeling shall tell you , what this receiving is ; even when we receive the kingdom that cannot be moved , heb. 12. 28. and when we receive the end of our faith , the salvation of our souls , 1 pet. 1. 9. doct. 6. a dying christian may confidently and comfortably commend his spirit to christ to be received by him . though he have formerly been a grievous sinner ; though at the present he be frail and faulty : though he be weak in faith , and love , and duty ; though his body by sickness be become unfit to serve his soul , and as to present sensibility , activity , or joy , he seem to be past the best , or to be nothing ; though the tempter would aggravate his sins , and weakness , and dulness to his discouragement ; yet he may , he must with confidence recommend his spirit to christ to be received by him . o learn this doctrine christians , that you may use it in the hour of your last distress : the hour is near : the distress will be the greatest that ever you were in : as well as we seem now while we are hearing this , our turn is nigh : the midwife is not so neccssary to the life of the child , that receiveth it into the world , as christs receiving will be then to our everlasting life . to say over heartlesly these words [ lord jesus receive my spirit ] will be no more than a dead hearted hypocrite may do : such formal lip-service in life or at death , doth profit nothing to salvation ; now make such necessary preparation , that at death you may have well-grounded confidence , that jesus christ will receive your spirits 1. and first , let me bring this to the carnal unprepared sinner . poor sinner , what thoughts hast thou of thy dying hour , and of thy departing soul ! i wonder at thee , what thoughts thou hast of them , that thou canst sin so boldly , and live so carelesly and talk or hear of the life to come so senselesly as thou dost ! thou mightest well think i wronged thee , if i took thee to be such a brute as not to know that thou must die ! thy soul that brought thy body hither , that causeth it now to hear and understand , that carryeth it up and down the world , must very shortly be required of thee , and must seek another habitation . what thoughts hast thou of thy departing soul ! will christ receive it ? hast thou made sure of that ? or hast thou made it thy principal care and business to make sure ! o what doth intoxicate the brains of sensual worldly men , that they drown themselves in the cares of this life , and ride and run for transitory riches , and live upon the smoak of honour and applause , and never soberly and seriously bethink them , whether christ will receive their departed souls ! that they can fill their minds with other thoughts , and fill their mouthes with other talk , and consume their time in other inconsiderable employments ; and take no more care , and spend no more thoughts , and words , and time , about the entertainment of their departing souls ! when they are even ready to be gone , and stand as it were on tip-toes ; when fevers , and consumptions , and many hundred diseases are all abroad so busily distributing their summons ; and when the gates of death have so many passengers crowding in , and souls are making such haste away , will you not consider what shall become of yours ? will you say , that you hope well , and you must venture ? if god had appointed you nothing to do , to prepare for your safe passage and entertainment with christ , you might then take up with such an answer : but it 's a mad adventure to leave all undone that is necessary to your salvation , and then to say , you must put it to the venture : if you die in and unrenewed and unjustified state , it is past all ventures ; for it is certain that christ will not receive you : you may talk of hoping , dut it is not a matter to be hoped for . hope that god will make good every word of his promise , and spare not : but there is no more hope that christ will receive the souls of any but of his members , than there is that he will prove a lyar . he never promised to save any others : and that is not all ; but he hath declared and professed frequently that he will not . and you are no believers if you will not believe him : and if you believe him , you must believe that the unbelievers , the unregenerate , the unholy and the workers of iniquity , shall not be received into the kingdom of heaven : for he hath professed it , john 3. 3 , 36. heb. 12. 14. matth. 7. 23. if christ would receive the souls of all , your venture then had reason for it : or if he had left it as a thing that depended only on his unrevealed will , and not on any preparations of our own , we might then have quit our selves of the care , and cast it all on him , as being his part , and none of ours : but it is not so : i hope i need not tell you that , it is not so : believe it , the question must be now resolved , and resolved by your selves , whether christ shall receive your departed souls , or cast them off as firebrands for hell ? he hath made the law , and set down the terms already to which he will unalterably stand , and which we must trust to . it is now that you must labour to be accepted of him : for we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ , that every one may receive the things done in his body , according to that he hath done , whether it be good or bad , ] 2 cor. 5. 9 , 10. o sirs , this is the reason of our importunity with you : knowing the terrors of the lord , we persuade men , saith the apostle in the next words , vers . 11. we know that the sentence will be just , and that it is now in your own hands what judgment then shall pass upon you ! and if just now your souls were passing hence , before you went from the place you sit in , would you think any care could be too great , to make sure that they should go to happiness ! o that you would consider how much it is your own work , and how much it resteth on your selves what christ shall then do with you ! then you will cry to him for mercy , [ o cast not away a miserable soul ! lord , receive me into thy kingdom . ] but now he must intreat you to be saved , and to be the people that he may then receive , and you will not hear him : and if you will not hear him , when he calleth on you , and beseecheth you to repent and to prepare ; as sure as christ is christ , he will not hear you when you cry and call for mercy too late in your extremity . read prov. 1. and you will see this is true . it is you that are to be entreated that christ may receive you ; for the unwillingness and backwardness is on your part : you are now poysoning your souls by sin , and when we cannot intreat you either to forbear or to take the vomit of repentance : yet when you are gasping and dying of your own willful self-murder , you will then cry to christ , and think he must receive you upon terms inconsistent with his justice , holiness and truth . but flatter not your selves ; it will not be : this is the accepted time : behold now is the day of salvation : refuse it now , and it is lost for ever . o sirs , if this were the hour , and you were presently to be received or refused , would you blame me to cry and call to you with all the fervour of my soul , if i knew that it were in your own choice , whether you would go to heaven or hell ? why , now it is in your choice ! life and death are set before you . christ will receive you if you will but come within the capacity of his acceptation . if you will not , there will then be no remedy : it is a doleful thing to observe how satan doth bewitch poor sinners ! that when time is gone , and the door of mercy is shut against them , they would think no cries too loud for mercy , and no importunity too great : for christ telleth us , matth. 25. 10 , 11. that they they will cry [ lord , lord , open to us : ] and yet now when the door stands open , no arguments , no earnestness , no tears can intreat them to enter in ; then there is not the most senseless sinner of you all , but would cry more strongly than esau for the blessing , ( when his tears could find no place for repentance , heb. 12. 16 , 17. ) [ lord receive a miserable soul ! o whither shall i go , if thou receive me not ! i must else be tormented in those scorching flames : ] and yet now you will sell your birthright for one morsel ; for a little of judas , or gehezi's gain , for the applause of worms , for the pleasing of your flesh that is turning to corruption ; for the delights of gluttony , drunkenness , sports or lust . there is not a man of you but would then pray more earnestly than those that you now deride for earnest praying , as if they whined and were ridiculous : and yet now you will neither be serious in prayer , nor hear christ or his messengers , when he maketh it his earnest request to you to come in to him , that you may have life , john 5. 40. then you will knock when the door is shut , and cry [ lord open to a miserable sinner : ] and yet now you will not open unto him , when by his word and spirit , her mercies and afflictions , he standeth at the door of your stubborn hearts , and calleth on you to repent and turn to god ; now our intreaties cannot so much as bring you on your knees , or bring you to one hours serious thoughts , about the state of those souls that are so near their doom . o sirs , for your souls sake , lay by your obstinacy : pity those souls that then you will beg of christ to pity . do not you damn them by your sloth and sin , in the day of your visitation , and then cry in vain to christ to save them , when it is too late . yet the door of grace is open : but how speedily will it be shut ? one stroak of an apoplexy , a consumption , a fever , can quickly shut it ; and then you may tear your hearts with crying [ lord open to us ] and all in vain . o did you but see departed souls , as you see the corps that is left behind ! did you see how they are treated at their removal from the flesh ? how some are taken and others left ! how some are welcomed to christ , and others are abhorred , and turned over to the tormenter , and thrust out with implacable indignation and disdain ( luk. 13. 28. prov. 1. 24 , 26 , 27. ) sure you would enter into serious consideration this day , what it is that makes this difference ; and why christ so useth the one and the other ; and what must be done now , by the soul that would be received then ? alas , men will do any thing , but that which they should do ! among the superstitious papists , the conceit of a deliverance from purgatory makes them bequeath their lands and moneys to priests and friars to pray for them when they are dead , and to have other men cry to christ to receive them , and open to them , when time is past : and yet now in the accepted time , now when it is at your choice , and the door is open , men live as if they were past feeling , and cared not what became of them at the last , and would not be beholden to christ to receive them , when the deceitful world hath cast them off . and now , beloved hearers all , i would make it my most earnest request to you , as one that knoweth we are all passing hence , and foreseeth the case of a departed soul , that you would now without any more delay , prepare and make sure that you may be received into the everlasting habitations : and to this end , i shall more distinctly , though briefly tell you , 1. what souls they are that christ will receive , and what he will not : and consequently , what you must do to be received . 2. what considerations should stir you up to this preparation . i. nothing is more sure than that christ will not receive , 1. any unregenerate , unconverted soul , john 3. 3 , 5. matth. 18. 3. that is not renewed and sanctified by his spirit , rom. 8. 9. heb. 12. 14. acts 26. 18. they must have the new and heavenly nature that will ever come to heaven : without this you are morally uncapable of it . heaven is the proper inheritance of saints , col. 1. 12. this heavenly nature , and spirit , is your earnest : if you have this , you are sealed up unto salvation , 2 cor. 1. 22. ephes . 1. 13. & 4. 30. 2. christ will receive none but those that make it now their work to lay up a treasure in heaven , rather than upon the earth , matth. 6. 20 , 21. and that seek it in the first place , mat. 6. 33. and can be content to part with all to purchase it , matth. 13. 44 , 46. luk. 14. 33. & 18. 22. an earthly-minded worldling is uncapable of heaven , in that condition , phil. 3. 17 , 18. luk. 16. 13. you must take it for your portion , and set your hearts on it , if ever you will come thither ; matth. 6. 21. col. 3. 1 , 2 , 3. 3. christ will receive no soul at last , but such as sincerely received him as their lord and saviour now , and gave up themselves to him , and received his word , and yield obedience to it , and received his spirit , and were cleansed by him from their iniquities , john 1. 11 , 12 , luk. 19. 27. 2 thes . 2. 10 , 12. [ that all they might be damned that believed not the truth , but had pleasure in unrighteousness . ] ( they are god's own words : be not offended at them , but believe and fear . ) he hateth all the workers of iniquity , and will say to them , depart from me , i know you not , psal . 5. 5. matth. 7. 23. 4. he will receive none but those that loved his servants , that bore his holy image , and received them according to their abilities , matth. 25. 40 , 41 , &c. and if he will say to those that did not entertain them [ depart form me ye cursed into everlasting fire , ] what will he say to those that hate and persecute them ? 1 joh. 3. 14. & 5. 2. 5. he will receive none but those that live to him in the body , and use his gifts and talents to his service , and make it their chief business to serve , and honour , and please him in the world , matth. 25. 21 , 26. 2 cor. 5. 9 , 15. gal. 6. 7 , 8. and live not to the pleasing of the flesh , but have crucified it and its lusts , rom. 8. 1 , 13. gal. 5. 24. examine all these texts of scripture ( for the matter is worthy of your study ) and you will see what souls they are that christ will then receive , and what he will reject . you may see also what you must now be and do , if you will be then received . if you are not regenerate by the spirit of god , ( though you may be sacramentally regenerate in baptism ; ) if you are not justified by christ , ( though you may be absolved by a minister ; ) if if you seek not heaven with higher estimation and resolutions that any felicity on earth , and take not god for your satisfying portion ; ( though you be never so religious in subserviency to a fleshly worldly happiness ; ) if you receive not christ as your only saviour , and set him not in the throne and government of your hearts and lives ( though you may go with men for currant christians ; ) if you hate not sin , if you love not the holy image , and children of god , and use them not accordingly ; if you crucifie not the flesh , and die not to the world , and deny not your selves , and live not unto god , as making it your chief business and happiness to please him : i say , if this be not your case , as sure as you are men , if you died this hour in this condition , christ will not own you , but turn you off with a [ depart ye cursed : ] you may as well think of reconciling light and darkness , or persuade a man to live on the food of beasts , or the stomach to welcome deadly poyson , as to think that christ will receive an ungodly , earthly , guilty soul . deceive not your selves sinners : if god could have entertained the ungodly , and heaven could hold unholy souls , answer me then these two or three questions . 1. what need christ then to have shed his blood , or become a sacrifice for sin ? if he could have received the ungodly , he might have done it upon cheaper rates . this feigneth him to have died to no purpose ; but to bring the unsanctified to heaven , that might have been as well entertained there without his sufferings . 2. to what use doth christ send the holy-ghost to sanctifie his elect ? or send his word and ministers to promote it , if they may come to heaven unsanctified ? 3. if the ungodly go to heaven , what use is hell for ? there is no hell if this be true ! but you will quickly find that to be too good news to the ungodly to be true . ii. in luk. 16. christ teacheth us our duty by the parable of the steward , that asketh himself before-hand , what he shall do when he must be no longer steward ? and contriveth it so that others may receive him when he is cast off : and he applieth it to us hat must now so provide , that when we fail , we may be received into the everlasting habitations . this is the work that we have all to mind ! we always knew that this world would fail us : o how uncertain is your tenure of the dwellings that you now possess ! are you provided , certainly provided whither to go , and who shall receive you when your stewardship is ended , and you must needs go hence ? o think of these considerations that should move you presently to provide . 1. your cottages of earth are ready to drop down ; and it is a stormy time , there are many sicknesses abroad : one blast may quickly lay them in the dust ; and them the flesh that had so much care , and was thought worthy to be preferred before the soul , must be laid and left to rot in darkness , to avoid the annoyance of the living : and when you may justly look every hour when you are turned out of these dwellings that you are in , is it not time to be provided of some other ? 2. consider , if christ should not receive thy spirit , how unspeakably deplorable thy case will be ? i think there is no man in all this assembly so mad , that would take all the world now , to have his soul refused then by christ ; that would professedly make and subscribe such a bargain : and yet alas , how many are they that will be hired for a smaller price , even for the pleasure of a sin , to do that which chirst himself hath told them , will cause him to refuse them ? o sirs , for ought you know , before to morrow , or within this week , you may be put to know these things by tryal , and your souls may be refused or received : and wo to you that ever you were men , if christ receive you not . consider , 1. if chirst receive thee not , thou hast no friend left then to receive thee . thy house , and land , an riches , and reputation , are all left behind ; none of them will go with thee ; or if they did , they could afford thee no relief . thy bosom-friends , thy powerful defenders , are all left behind ; or if they go before or with thee , they can do nothing there , that could do so much for thee here . no minister so holy , no friend so kind , no patron so powerful , that can give thee any entertainment , if christ refuse to entertain thee . look to the right hand or the left , there will be none to help thee , or care for thy forsaken soul. then thou wilt find , that one christ had been a better friend , than all the great ones upon earth . 2. if christ then receive not thy departed soul , the devils will receive it . i am loth to speak so terrible a word , but that it must be spoken , if you will be awaked to prevent it . he that deceived thee , will then plead conquest , and claim thee as his due , that he may torment thee . and if the devil say , this soul is mine ; and christ do not rescue and justifie thee , but say so too , no heart is able to conceive the horrour that will then overwhelm thee : doth not the reading of the sentence make thee tremble , matth. 25. 41. [ depart from me ye cursed , into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels ] ? this is that dreadful delivering up to satan , when the soul is excommunicated from the city of god. o therefore if thou be yet unreconciled to god , agree with him quickly , while thou art here in the way , lest he deliver thee to this terrible jaylor and executioner , and thou be cast into the prison of the bottomless pit : verily i say unto thee , thou shalt by no means come out thence , till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing , mat. 5. 25 , 26. 3. the greatness of the change will increase the amazement and misery of thy spirit , if christ receive it not . to leave a world that thou wast acquainted with , a world that pleased thee and entertained thee , a world where thou hadst long thy business and delight , and where ( wretched man ! ) thou hadst made thy chief provision , and laid up thy treasure ; this will be a sad part of the change. to enter into a world where thou art a stranger , and much worse , and see the company and the things that before thou never sawest , and to find things go there so contrary to thy expectation ; to be turned with dives from thy sumptuous dwelling , attendance , and fare , into a place of easeless torment ; this will be a sadder part of thy change. here the rich would have received thee , the poor would have served and flattered thee , thy friends would have comforted thee , thy play-fellows would have been merry with thee : but there , alas , how the case is altered ! all these have done ; the table is withdrawn , the game is ended , the mirth is ceased ; and now succeedeth , [ son , remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things , and lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted , and thou art tormented , ] luke 16. 25. o dreadful change to those that made the world their home , and little dreamed ( or did but dream ) of such a day ! never to see this world again , unless by such reviews as will torment them ! never to have sport or pleasure more ; and for these to have such company , such thoughts , such work and usage , as god hath told us is in hell ! 4. if christ receive thee not , the burden of thy sins will overwhelm thee , and conscience will have no relief . sin will not then appear in so harmless a shape as now ; it will then seem a more odious or frightful thing . o to remember these days of folly , of careless , sluggish , obstinate folly , of sottish negligence , and contempt of grace , will be a more tormenting thing than you will now believe . if such sermons and discourses as foretel it are troublesom to thee , what then will that sad experience be ? 5. the wrath of an offended god will overwhelm thee . this will be thy hell. he that was so merciful in the time of mercy , will be most terrible and implacable when that time is past , and make men know that christ and mercy are not neglected , refused , and abused at so cheap a rate , as they would needs imagine in the time of their deliration . 6. it will overwhelm the soul , if christ receive it not , to see that then art entring upon eternity , even into an everlasting state of woe . then thou wilt think , o whither am i going ? what must i endure ? and how long ! how long ! when shall my misery have an end ! and when shall i come back ! and how shall i ever be delivered ! o now what thoughts wilt thou have of the wonderful design of god in man's redemption ! now thou wilt better understand what a saviour was worth , and how he should have been believed in , and how his gospel and his saving grace should have been entertained . o that the lord would now open your hearts to entertain it , that you may not then value it to your vexation , that would not value it now to your relief ! poor sinner , for the lord's sake , and for thy souls sake , i beg now of thee , as if it were on my knees , that thou wouldst cast away thy sinful cares and pleasures , and open thy heart , and now receive thy saviour and his saving grace , as ever thou wouldst have him then receive thy trembling departed soul ! turn to him now , that he may not turn thee from him then : forsake him not for a flattering world , a little transitory vain delight , as ever thou wouldst not then have thy departed soul forsaken by him ! o delay not , man ; but now , even now receive him , that thou maist avoid so terrible a danger , and put so great a question presently out of doubt , and be able comfortably to say , [ i have received christ , and he will receive me ; if i die this night , he will receive me . ] then thou maist sleep quietly , and live merrily , without any disparagement to thy reason . o yield to this request , sinner , of one that desireth thy salvation . if thou wert now departing , and i would not pray earnestly to christ to receive thy soul , thou wouldst think i were uncharitable : alas ! it will be one of these days : and it is thee that i must entreat , and thy self that must be prevailed with , or there is no hope : christ sendeth me to thy self , and saith , that he is willing to receive thee , if now thou wilt receive him , and be sanctified and ruled by him : the matter stops at thy own regardless wilful heart . what sayst thou ? wilt thou receive christ now , or not ? wilt thou be a new creature , and live to god , by the principle of his spirit , and the rule of his word , to please him here , that thou maist live with him for ever ? wilt thou take up this resolution , and make this covenant with god this day ? o give me a word of comfort , and say , thou art resolved , and wilt deliver up thy self to christ . that which is my comfort now on thy behalf , will be ten thousand-fold more thy comfort then , when thou partakest of the benefit : and if thou grieve us now , by denying thy soul to christ , it will be at last ten thousand-fold more thy grief . refuse not our requests and christs requests now , as ever thou wouldst not have him refuse thee then , and thy requests . it is mens turning away now from christ , that will cause christ then to turn from them , prov. 1. 31. 32. the turning away of the simple slayeth them , and they then eat but the fruit of their own way , and are filled with their own devices . ] see then that ye now refuse not him that speaketh : for there is no escaping if you turn away from him that speaketh from heaven , ] heb. 12. 25. what would you say your selves to the man that would not be dissuaded from setting his house on fire , and then would pray and cry importunately to god that he would keep it from being burnt ? or of the man that will not be dissuaded from taking poyson ; and then when it gripeth him , will cry to god to save his life : or of the man that will go to sea in a leaking broken vessel , yea himself will make those breaches in it , that shall let the water in , and when it is sinking , will cry to god to save him from being drowned ? and will you do this about so great a matter as the everlasting state of your immortal souls ? will you now be wordlings , and sensualists , and ungodly , and undo your selves , and then cry [ lord jesus receive my spirit ] at the last ? what! receive an unholy spirit ? will you not knock till the door is shut ? when he telleth you , math. 7. 21. that it is not every one that will cry lord , lord , that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven , but he that doth the will of his father which is in heaven . ] lastly , consider with what unspeakable joy it will fill thy soul , to be then received by the lord. o what a joyful word will it be , when thou shalt hear , [ come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you . ] if thou wilt not have this to be thy case , thou shalt see those received to the increase of thy grief , whom thou refusedst here to imitate : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , when ye shall see abraham , isaac , and jacob , and all the prophets in the kingdom of god , and those that from east , west , north and south shall sit there with them , and thou thrust out , ] luke 13. 27 , 28 , 29. i have been long in this part of my application , having to do with souls that are ready to depart , and are in so sad an unprepared state , as is not to be thought on but with great compassion : i am next to come to that part of the application , which i chiefly intended ; to those that are the heirs of life . ii. o you that are members of jesus christ , receive this cordial which may corroborate your hearts against all inordinate fears of death : let it come when it will , you may boldly recommend your departing souls into the hands of christ . let it be by a lingring disease , or by an acute , by a natural or a violent death , at the fulness of your age , or in the flower of your youth , death can but separate the soul from flesh , but not from christ , whether you die poor or rich , at liberty or in prison , in your native country or a forein land , whether you be buried in the earth or cast into the sea ; death shall but send your souls to christ . though you die under the reproach and slanders of the world , and your names be cast out among men , as evil doers , yet christ will take your spirits to himself . though your souls depart in fear and trembling , though they want the sense of the love of god , and doubt of pardon and peace with him , yet christ will receive them . i know thou wilt be ready to say , that thou art unworthy , [ will he receive so unworthy a soul as mine ? ] but if thou be a member of christ , thou art worthy in him to be accepted . thou hast a worthiness of aptitude , and christ hath a worthiness of merit . the day that cometh upon such at unawares that have their hearts over-charged with surfeiting , drunkenness , and the cares of this life , and as a snare surprizeth the inhabitants of the earth , shall be the day of thy great deliverance : watch therefore and pray alwayes that you way be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass , and to stand before the son of man ; luke . 21. 34 , 35 , 36. they that are accounted worthy to obtain that world , can die no more ; for they are equal to the angels , and are the children of god , luke 20. 35 , 36. object . o but my sins are great and many ; and will christ ever receive so ignorant , so earthly and impure a soul as mine ? answ . if he have freed thee from the reign of sin , by giving thee a will that would fain be fully delivered from it , and given thee a desire to be perfectly holy , he will finish the work that he hath begun ; and will not bring thee defiled into heaven , but will wash thee in his blood , and separate all the remnant of corruption from thy soul , when he separateth thy soul from flesh : there needs no purgatory but his blood and spirit in the instant of death shall deliver thee , that he may present thee spotless to the father . o fear not then to trust thy soul with him that will receive it : and fear not death , that can do thee no more harm . and when once thou hast overcome the fears of death , thou wilt be the more resolute in thy duty , and faithful to christ , and above the power of most temptations , and wilt not fear the face of man , when death is the worst that man can bring thee to . it is true , death is dreadful : but it is as true that the arms of christ are joyful . it is an unpleasing thing to leave the bodies of our friends in the earth : but it is unspeakable pleasure to their souls , to be received into the heavenly society by christ . and how confidently , quietly , and comfortably you may commend your departing spirits to be received by christ , be informed by these considerations following . 1 , your spirits are christs own : and may you not trust him with his own ? as they are his by the title of creation , ( all souls are mine , saith the lord ezek. 18. 4. ) so also by the title of redemption : we are not our own , we are bought with a price , 1 cor. 6. 19. say therefore to him , [ lord i am thine much more than my own ; receive thine own ; take care of thine own ! thou drewest me to consent to thy gracious covenant , and i resigned my self and all i had to thee ! and thou swarest to me , and i became thine , ( ezek. 16. 8. ) : and i stand to the covenant that i made , though i have offended thee ! i am sinful , but i am thine , and would not forsake thee ! and change my lord and master for a world : o know thine own , and own my soul that hath owned thee , though it hath sinned against thee : thy sheep know thy voice , and follow not a stranger : now know thy poor sheep , and leave them not to the devourer : thy lambs have been preserved by thee among wolves in the world : preserve me now from the enemy of souls . i am thine , o save me , ( psalm 119. 94. ) and lose not that which is thine own . 2. consider that thou art his upon so dear a purchace , as that he is the more engaged to receive thee . hath he bought thee by the price of his most precious blood , and will he cast thee off : hath he come down on earth to seek and save thee , and will he now forsake thee ? hath he lived in flesh a life of poverty , and suffered reproach , and scorn , and buffetings , and been nailed to the cross , and put to cry out , [ my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ! ] and will he now forget his love , and sufferings , and himself forsake thee after this ? did he himself on the cross , commend his spirit into his father's hands , and will he not receive thy spirit when thou at death commendest it to him ? he hath known himself what it is to have a humane soul separated from the body , and the body buried in a grave , and there lamented by surviving friends : and why did he this , but that he might be fit to receive and relieve thee in the like condition ? o who would not be encouraged to encounter death , and lie down in a grave , that believeth that christ did so before him , and considereth why he went that way , and what a conquest he hath made . i know an argument from the death of christ , will not prove his love to the souls of the ungodly , so as to infer that he wil receive them : but it will prove his reception of believers souls : [ he that spared not his own son , but gave him up for us all , how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ! ] rom. 8. 32. is an infallible argument as to believers , but not as to those that do reject him . say therefore to him , [ o my lord ! can it be that thou couldst come down in flesh , and be abused , and spit upon , and slandred , and crucified ! that thou couldst bleed , and die , and be buried for me , and now be unwilling to receive me ! that thou shoulds pay so dear for souls , and now refuse to entertain them ! that thou shouldst die to save them from the devil , and now wilt leave them to his cruelty : that thou hast conquered him , and yet wilt suffer him at last to have the prey ! to whom can a departing soul fly for refuge and for entertainment , if not to thee that diedst for souls , and sufferedst thine to be separated from the flesh , that we might have all assurance of thy compassion unto ours ! ] thou didst openly declare upon the cross , that the reason of thy dying was to receive departed souls , when thou didst thus encourage the soul of a penitent malefactor , by telling him , [ this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . ] o give the same encouragement or entertainment to this sinful soul that flyeth unto thee , and trusteth in thy death and merits , and is coming to receive thy doom . ] 3. consider that jesus christ is full of love , and tender compassion to souls : what his tears over lazarus compelled the jews to say , john 11. 36. [ behold how he loved him ! ] the same his incarnation , life and death should much more stir us up to say , with greater admiration , [ behold how he loved us ! ] the foregoing words , though the shortest verse in all the bible , [ vers . 35. jesus wept , ] are long enough to prove his love to lazarus : and the holy ghost would not have the tears of christ to be unknown to us , that his love may be the better known . but we have a far larger demonstration of his love : he loved us , and gave himself for us , gal. 2. 20. and by what gift could he better testifie his love ? he loved us , and washed us in his blood , rev. 1. 5. he loveth us as the father loveth him , john 15. 9. and may we not comfortably go to him that loveth us ? will love refuse us when we fly unto him ? say then to christ [ o thou that hast loved my soul , receive it ! i commend it not unto an enemy : can that love reject me and cast me into hell , that so oft embraced me on earth , and hath declared it self by such ample testimonies ? ] o had we but more love to christ , we should be more sensible of his love to us , and then we should trust him , and love would make us hasten to him , and with confidence cast our selves upon him . 4. consider that it is the office of christ to save souls , and to receive them , and therefore we may boldly recommend them to his hands . the father sent him to be the saviour of the world , 1 john 4. 14. and he is effectively the saviour of his body , eph. 5. 23. and may we not trust him in his undertaken office , that would trust a physician or any other in his office , if we judge him faithful ? yea , he is engaged by covenant to receive us : when we gave up our selves to him , he also became ours ; and we did it on this condition , that he should receive and save us : and it was the condition of his own undertaking : he drew the covenant himself , and tendred it first to us , and assumed his own conditions , as he imposed ours . say then to him , [ my lord , i expect but the performance of thy covenants , and the discharge of thine undertaken of●●ce : as thou hast caused me to believe in thee , and ●●●…e and serve thee , and perform the conditions which ●●…ou laidst on me , though with many sinful failings which thou hast pardoned : so now let my soul that hath trusted on thee , have the full experience of thy fidelity , and take me to thy self according to thy covenant . o now remember the word unto thy servant , upon which thou hast caused him to hope ! ( psalm 119. 49. ) how many precious promises hast thou left us , that we shall not be forsaken by thee , but that we shall be with thee where thou art , that we may behold thy glory ! for this cause art thou the mediator of the new covenant , that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament , they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance : ( heb. 9. 15. ) according to thy covenant , godliness hath the promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come , 1 tim. 4. 8. and when we have done thy will ( notwithstanding our lamentable imperfections ) we are to receive the promise , heb. 10. 36. o now receive me into the kingdom which thou hast promised to them that love thee , james 1. 12. 5. consider how able christ is to answer thine expectations : all power is given him in heaven and earth , matth. 28. 19. and all things are given by the father into his hands , john 13. 3. all judgment is committed to him , john 5. 22. it is fully in his power to receive and save thee : and satan cannot touch thee but by his consent : [ fear not then , he is the first and last , that liveth , and was dead , and behold he liveth for evermore , amen ; and hath the keys of hell and death . ] rev. 1. 17 , 18. say then , if thou wilt lord , thou canst save this departing soul ! o say but the word , and i shall live : lay but thy rebuke upon the destroyer , and he shall be restrained : when my lord and dearest saviour hath the keys , how can i be kept out of thy kingdom ? or cast into the burning lake ? were it a matter of difficulty unto thee , my soul might fear lest heaven would not be opened to it : but thy love hath overcome the hindrances : and it is as easie to receive me as to love me . ] 6. consider how perfectly thy saviour is acquainted with the place that thou art going to , and the company and employment which thou must there have : and therefore as there is nothing strange to him , so the ignorance and strangeness in thy self should therefore make thee fly to him , and trust him , and recommend thy soul to him , and say , [ lord , it would be terrible to my departing soul , to go into a world that i never saw , and into a place so strange , and unto company so far above me ; but that i know there is nothing strange to thee , and thou knowest it for me , and i may better trust thy knowledg than mine own : when i was a child , i knew not my own inheritance , nor what was necessary to the daily provisions for my life ; but my parents knew it , that cared for me : the eyes must see for all the body , and not every member see for it self ; o cause me as quietly and believingly to commit my soul to thee , to be possessed of the glory which thou seest and possessest , as if i had seen and possessed it my self : ad let thy knowledg be my trust . ] 7. consider , that christ hath provided a glorious receptacle for faithful souls ; and it cannot be imagined that he will lose his preparations , or be frustrate of his end . all that he did and suffered on earth , was for this end . he therefore became the captain of our salvation , and was made perfect through sufferings , that he might bring many sons to glory , heb. 2. 10. he hath taken possession in our nature , and is himself interceding for us in the heavens , heb. 7. 25. and for whom doth he provide this heavenly building not made with hands , but for believers ? if therefore any inordinate fear surprize thee , remember what he hath said , john 14. 1 , 2 , 3. [ let not your hearts be troubled ; ye believe in god , believe also in me : in my fathers house are many mansions ; if it were nor so , i would have told you : i go to prepare a place for you : and if i go and prepare a place for you , i will come again and receive you unto my self , that where i am , there ye may be also . say therefore , [ lord , when thou hadst made this lower narrow world , thou wouldst not leave it uninhabited : for man thou madest it , and man thou placedst in it . and when thou hast prepared that more capacious glorious world , for thy redeemed flock , it cannot be that thou wilt shut them out . o therefore receive my fearful soul , and help me to obey thine own command , luke 12. 32. fear not , little flock , for it is your fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom . ] o let me hear that joyful sentence , matth. 25. 34. come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . ] 8. consider , that christ hath received thy soul unto grace , and therefore he will receive it unto glory . he hath quickned us who were dead in trespasses and sins , wherein in time past we walked , &c. but god , who is rich in mercy , for his great love wherewith he loved us , even when we were dead in sins and trespasses , quickned us together with christ , and raised us up together , and made us sit together in heavenly places in christ jesus , ephes . 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. the state of grace is the kingdom of heaven , as well as the state of glory , matth. 3. 2. & 10. 7. & 13. 11 , 24 , 31 , 33 , 44 , 45 , 47. by grace thou hast the heavenly birth and nature : we are first born to trouble and sorow in the world ; but we are new born to everlasting joy and pleasure . grace maketh us heirs , and giveth us title ; and therefore at death we shall have possession . the father of our lord jesus christ , according to his abundant mercy , hath begotten us again unto a lively hope , by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead , to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled , and that fadeth not away , reserved in heaven for us , 1 peter 1. 3 , 4. the great work was done in the day of thy renovation : then thou wast entred into the houshold of god , and made a fellow citizen with the sants , and receivedst the spirit of adoption , eph. 2. 19. gal. 4. 6. he gave thee life eternal when he gave the knowledge of himself and of his son , john 17. 3. and will he now take from thee the kingdom which he hath given thee ? thou wast once his enemy , and he hath received thee already into his favour , and reconciled thee to himself : and will he not then receive thee to his glory ? rom. 5. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. god commendeth his love towards us , in that while we were yet sinners , christ dyed for us : much more then being now justified by his blood , we shall be saved from wrath through him . for if when we were enemies , we were reconciled to god by the death of his son ; much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life : and not only so , but we also joy in god , through our lord jesus christ , by whom we have now received the attonement . ] and when we have peace with god , being justifiied by faith , ( rom. 5. 1. ) why should we doubt whether he will receive us ? the great impediments and cause of fear are now removed : unpardoned sin is taken away : our debt is discharged . we have a sufficient answer against all that can be alledged to the prejudice of our souls ; yea , it is christ himself that answereth for us , it is he that justifieth , who then shall condemn us ? will he not justifie those at last , whom he hath here justified ? or will he justifie us , and yet not receive us ? that were both to justifie and condemn us . depart then in peace , o fearful soul : thou fallest into his hands that hath justified thee by his blood ; will he deny thee the inheritance of which he himself hath made thee heir ? yea , a joynt-heir with himself , rom. 8. 17. will he deprive thee of thy birth-right , who himself begot thee of the incorruptible seed ? if he would not have received thee to glory , he would not have drawn thee to himself , and have blotted out thine iniquities , and received thee by reconciling grace . many a time he hath received the secret petitions , complaints , and groans which thou hast poured out before him , and hath given thee access with boldness to his throne of grace , when thou couldst not have access to man ; and he hath taken thee up , when man hath cast thee off . surely he that received thee so readily in thy distress , will not now at last repent him of his love . as manoah's wife said , judges 13. 23. if the lord were pleased to kill us , he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands , neither would he have shewed us all these things . ] he hath received thee into his church , and entertained thee with the delights and fatness of his house ( psalm , 36. 8. ) and bid thee welcome to his table , and feasted thee , with his body and his blood , and communicated in these his quickning spirit : and will he then disown thee ▪ and refuse thee , when thou drawest nearer him , and art cast upon him for thy final doom ? after so many receptions in the way of grace , dost thou yet doubt of his receiving thee ? 9 , consider , how nearly thou art related to him in this state of grace : thou art his child ; and hath he not the bowels of a father ? when thou didst ask bread , he was not used to give thee a stone : and will he give thee hell , when thou askest but the entertainment in heaven , which he hath promised thee ? thou art his friend , john 15. 14. 15. and will he not receive his friends ? thou art his spouse , betrothed to him the very day when thou consentedst to his covenant ; and where then shouldst thou live but with him ? thou art a member of his body , of his flesh and bone , eph. 5. 30. and no man ever yet hated his own flesh , but nourisheth and cherisheth it , even as the lord the church , ver . 29. as he came down in flesh to be a suitor to thee , so he caused thee to let go all for him ; and will he now forsake thee ? suspect it not ; but quietly resign thy soul into his hands , and say , [ lord take this soul , that pleads relation to thee : it is the voice of thy child that cryeth to thee : the name of a father , which thou hast assumed towards me , is my encouragement : when thou didst call us 〈◊〉 out of the world unto thee , thou saidst , [ i will receive you , and i will be a father to you , and ye shall be my sons and daughters , 2 cor. 6. 17 , 18 , o our father which art in heaven , shut not out thy children ; the children of thy love and promise : the compassion that thou hast put into man , ingageth him to relieve a neighbour , ●ea an enemy ; much more to entertain a child : our children and our friends dare trust themselves upon our kindness and fidelity ; and fear not that we will reject them in their distress , or destroy them , though they do sometime offend us : our kindness is cruelty in comparison of thine : our love dserveth not the name of love , in comparison of thy most precious love : thine is the love of god , who is love it self , ( 1 joh. 4. 8 , 16. ) and who is the god of love ? ( 2 cor. 1. 13 , 11. ) and is answerable to thine omnipotency , omniscience , and other attributes ? but ours is the love of frail and finite sinful men : as we may pray to thee to forgive us our trespasses , for we also forgive those that have trespassed against us : so we may pray to thee to receive us , though we have offended thee ; for even we receive those that have offended us : hath thy love unto thine own its breadth and length , and height , and depth , and is it such as passeth knowledge ( ephes . 3. 17 , 18 , 19. ) and yet canst thou exclude thine own , and shut them out that cry unto thee ? can that love which washed me , and took we home , when i lay wallowing in my blood , reject me , when it hath so far recovered me ? can that love now thrust me out of heaven , that lately fetch'd me from the gates of hell , and placed me among thy saints ? whom thou lovest , thou lovest to the end , john 13. 1. thou art not as man that thou shouldst repent , ( num. 23. 19. ) with thee is no variablenes or shadow of turning : ( jam. 1. 17. ) if yesterday thou so freely lovedst me , as to adopt me for thy child , thou wilt not to day refuse me and cast me into hell. receive lord jesus a member of thy body : a weak one indeed , but yet a member , and needeth the more thy tenderness and compassion , who hast taught us not to cast out our infants , because they are small and weak : we have forsaken all to cleave unto thee , that we might with thee be one flesh and spirit , ephes . 5. 31. 1 cor. 6. 17. o cut not off and cast not out thy members that are engrafted into thee ! thou hast dwelt in me here by faith ; and shall i not now dwell with thee ? ( ephes . 3. 17. ) then hast prayed to the father , that we may be one in thee , and may be with thee to behold thy glory , ( john 17. 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24. ) and wilt thou deny to receive me to that glory , who pray but for what thou hast prayed to thy father ? death maketh no separation between thee and the members : it dissolveth not the union of souls with thee , though it separate them from the flesh : and shall a part of thy self be rejected and condemned ? 10. consider , that christ hath sealed thee up unto salvation , and given thee the earnest of his spirit ; and therfore will certainly receive thee , 2 cor. 1. 22. and 5. 5 eph. 1. 13 , 14. and 4. 30. say therefore to him , [ behold lord , thy mark ▪ thy feal , thine earnest : flesh and blood did not illuminate , and renew me : thy spirit which thou hast given me , is my witness that i am thine , rom. 8. 16 and wilt thou disown and refuse the soul that thou hast sealed ? ] 11. consider , that he that hath given thee a heavenly mind , will certainly receive thee into heaven : if thy treasure were not there , thy heart would never have been there , mat. 6. 21. thy weak desires do shew what he intends thee he for , kindled not those desires in vain . thy love to him ( though too small ) is a certain proof that he intends not to reject thee : it cannot be that god can damn , or christ refuse a soul that doth sincerely love him : he that loveth , dwelleth in god , and god in him , 1 john 4. 15 , 16. and shall he not then dwell with god for ever ? god fitteth the nature of every creature to its use , and agreeably to the element in which they dwell : and therefore when he gave thee the heavenly nature , ( though but in weak beginnings ) it shewed his will to make thee an inhabitant of heaven . say therefore to him , [ o lord , i had never loved thee if thou hadst not begun and loved me first : i had not not minded thee , or desired after thee , if thou hadst not kindled these desires : it cannot be that thy grace it self should be a deceit and misery , and intended but to tantalizeus ; and that thou hast set thy servants souls on longing for that which thou wilt never give them . thou wouldst not have given me the wedding garment , when thou didst invite me , if thou hadst meant to keep me out : even the grain of mustard-seed which thou sowedst in my heart , was a kind of promise of the happiness to which it tendeth ▪ indeed i have loved thee so little , that i am ashamed of my self , and confess my cold indifferency deserves thy wrath : but that i love thee and desire thee is thy gift , which signifieth the higher satisfying gift : though i am cold and dull , my eyes are towards thee ; it is thee that i mean when i can but groan : it is long since i have bid this world away ; it shall not be my home or portion : o perfect what thou hast begun : this is not the time or place of my perfection : and though my life be now hid with thee in god , when then appearest , let me appear with thee in glory , col. 3. 4. and in the mean time let this soul enjoy its part , that appeareth before thee : give me what thou hast caused me to love , and then i shall more perfectly love thee , when my thirst is satisfied , and the water which thou hast given me , shall spring up to everlasting life , joh. 4. 14. 12. consider also , that he that hath engaged thee to seek first his kingdom , is engaged to give it them that do sincerely seek it . he called thee off the pursuit of vanity , when thou wast following the pleasures and profits of the world ; and he called thee to labour for the food that perisheth not , but endureth to everlasting life , john 6. 27. since then it hath been thy care and business , ( notwithstanding all thine imperfections ) to seek and serve him , to please and honour him , and so to run that thou mightest obtain . say then , [ though my sins deserve thy wrath , and nothing that i have done deserve thy favour , yet godliness hath thy promise of the life to come ; and thou hast said , that he that seeks shall find , matth. 7. 7. 8. o now let me find the kingdom that i have sought , and sought by thy encouragement and help : it cannot be that any should have cause to repent of serving thee , or suffer disappointment that trusts upon thee : my labour for the world was lost and vain ; but thou didst engage me to be stedfast and abound in thy work , on this account that my labour should not be in vain , 1 cor. 15. 58. now give the full and final answer unto all my prayers : now that i have done the fight , and finished my course , let me find the crown of righteousness which thy mercy hath laid up , 2 tim. 4. 8. o crown thy graces , and with thy greatest mercies recompence and perfect thy preparatory mercies , and let me be received to thy glory , who have been guided by thy counsel , ( psalm . 73. 24. ) 13. consider , that christ hath already received millions of souls , and never was unfaithful unto any , there are now with him the spirits of the just made perfect , that in this life were imperfect as well as you . why then should you not comfortably trust him with your souls ? and say , [ lord thou art the common salvation and refuge of thy saints : both strong and weak , even all that are given thee by the father shall come to thee ; and those that come thou wilt in no wise cast out : thousands have been entertained by thee , that were unworthy in themselves as well as i : it is few of thy members that are now on earth , in comparison of those that are with thee in heaven : admit me lord into the new jerusalem : thou wilt have thy house to be filled : o take my spirit into the number of those belssed ones , that shall come from east , west , north and south , and sit down with abraham , isaac and jacob in the kingdom , that we may together with eternal joyes , give thanks and praise to thee that hast redeemed us to god by thy blood . 14. consider , that it is the will of the father himself that we should be glorified : he therefore gave us to his son ; and gave his son for us , to be our saviour , that whoever believeth in him , should not perish , but have everlasting life : all our salvation is the product of his love , joh. 3. 16 , 17. eph. 2. 4. joh. 6. 37. joh. 16. 26 , 27. i say not that i will pray the father for you ; for the father himself loveth you , because ye have loved me , &c. ] john 14. he that loveth me , shall be loved of my father , and i will love him , and will manifest my self to him . say therefore with our dying lord , [ father , into thy hands i commend my spirit : by thy son who is the way , the truth and the life , i come to thee , ( joh. 14. 6. ) fulness of joy is in thy presence , and everlasting pleasures at thy right hand ( psalm . 16. 11. ) thy love redeemed me , renewed and preserved me : o now receive me to the fulness of thy love : this was thy will in sending thy son , that of all that thou gavest him he should lose nothing , but should raise it up at the last day . o let not now this soul be lost that is passing to thee through the straits of death ! i had never come unto thy son , if thou hadst not drawn me ; and if i had not heard and learnt of thee , john 6 , 44 , 45. i thank thee o father , lord of heaven and earth , that thou hast revealed to me a babe , an ideot , the blessed mysteries of thy kingdom : ( luk. 10. 21. acts 4 13. ) o now as the vail of flesh must be withdrawn , and my soul be parted from this body , withdraw the vail of thy displeasure , and shew thy servant the glory of thy presence : that he that hath seen thee but as in a glass , may see thee now with open face : and when my earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved , let me inhabit thy building not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , 2 cor. 5. 1. 15. lastly consider , that god hath designed the everlasting glory of his name , and the pleasing of his blessed will , in our salvation : and the son must triumph in the perfection of his conquest of sin and satan , and in the perfecting of our redemption . and doubtless he will not lose his fathers glory and his own : say then with confidence , [ i resign my soul to thee o lord who hast called and chosen me , that thou mightest make known the riches of thy glory on me , as a vessel of mercy prepared unto glory , ( rom. 9. 23. ) thou hast predestinated me to the adoption of thy child by christ unto thy self , to the praise of the glory of thy grace , wherein thou hast made me accepted in thy beloved , ( eph. 1. 5 , 6 , 11 , 12 ) receive me now to the glory which thou hast prepared for us , mat. 25. 34. ) the hour is at hand , lord glorifie thy poor adopted child , that he may for ever glorify thee ( joh. 17. 1. ) it is thy promise to glorify those whom thou dost justify , ( rom. 8. 30. ) as therere is no condemnation to them that are in christ , ( rom. 8. 1. ) so now let him present me faultless before the presence of the glory with exceeding joy , and to thee the only wise god our saviour , be the glory , majesty dominion and power for evermore , amen . : jude v. 23 , 24. what now remaineth , but that we all set our selves to learn this sweet and necessary task , that we may joyfully perform it in the hour of our extremity , even to recommend our departing souls to christ , with confidence that he will receive them ! it is a lesson not easie to be learnt : for faith is weak , and doubts , and fears will easily arise ; and nature will be loth to think of dying ; and we that have so much offended christ , and lived so strangely to him , and been entangled in too much familiarity with the world , shall be apt to shrink when we should joyfully trust him with our departing souls . o therefore now set your selves to overcome these difficulties in time ! you know we are all ready to depart : it is time this last important work were throughly learned , that our death may be both safe and comfortable . there are divers other uses of this doctrine that i should have urged upon you , had there been time . as , 1. if christ will receive your departing souls , then fear not death , but long for this heavenly entertainment . 2. then do not sin for fear of them that can but kill the body , and send the soul to christ . 3. then think not the righteous unhappy , because they are cast off by the world ; neither be too much troubled at it your selves , when it comes to be your case : but remember that christ will not forsake you , and that none can hinder him from the receiving of your souls : no malice nor slanders can follow you so far as by defamation to make your justifyer condemn you . 4. if you may trust him with your souls , then trust him with your friends , your children that you must leave behind , with all your concernments and affairs ; and trust him with his gospel and his church ; for they are all his own , and he will prevail to the accomplishment of his blessed pleasure . but , 5. i shall only add that use which the sad occasion of our meeting doth bespeak . what cause have we now to mix our sorrows for our deceased friend , with the joyes of faith for her felicity ! we have left the body to the earth , and that is our lawful sorrow ; for it is the fruit of sin : but her spirit is received by jesus christ : and that must be our joy , if we will behave our selves as true believers . if we can suffer with her , should we not rejoyce also with her ? and if the joy be far greater to the soul with christ , than the ruined state of the body can be lamentable ; it is but reason that our joy should be greater for her joy , than our sorrow for the dissolution of the flesh . we that should not much lament the passage of a friend beyond the seas , if it were to be advanced to a kingdom , should less lament the passage of a soul to christ , if it were not for the remnant of our woful unbelief . she is arrived at the everlasting rest , where the burden of corruption , the contradictions of the flesh , the molestations of the tempter , the troubles of the world , and the injuries of malicious men , are all kept out , and shall never more disturb her peace . she hath left us in these storms , who have more cause to weep for our selves and for our children that have yet so much to do and suffer , and so many dangers to pass through , than for the souls that are at rest with christ . we are capable of no higher hopes than to attain that state of blessedness which her soul possesseth : and shall we make that the matter of our lamentation as to her , which we make the matter of our hopes as to our selves ? do we labour earnestly to come thither , and yet lament that she is there ? you will say , it is not because she is cloathed upon with the house from heaven , but that she is uncloathed of the flesh : but is there any other passage than death unto immortality ? must we not be uncloathed , before the garments of glory can be put on ? she bemoaneth not her own dissolved body : the glorified soul can easily bear the corruption of the flesh : and if you saw but what the soul enjoyeth , you would be like minded , and be moderate in your griefs . love not your selves so as to be unjust and unmerciful in your desires to your friends ! let satan desire to keep them out of heaven , but do not you desire it . you may desire your own good , but not so as to deprive your friends of theirs ; yea of a greater good , that you may have a lesser by it . and if it be their company that you desire in reason you should be glad that they are gone to dwell where you must dwell for ever , and therefore may for ever have their company : had they stayed on earth , you would have had their company but a little while , because you must make so short a stay your selves . let them therefore begin their journy before you , and grudge not that they are first at home , as long as you expect to find them there . in the mean time , he that called them from you , hath not left you comfortless : he is with you himself , who is better than a mother , or than ten thousand friends : when grief or negligence hindereth you from observing him , yet he is with you , and holdeth you up , and tenderly provideth for you : though turbulent passions injuriously question all his love , and cause you to give him unmannerly and unthankful words ; yet still he beareth with you , and forgiveth all , and doth not forsake you for your peevishness and weakness , because you are his children , and he knoweth that you mean not to forsake him : rebuke your passions , and calm your minds ; reclaim your thoughts , and cast away the bitterness of suspicious quarrelsome unbelief ; and then you may perceive the presence of your dearest friend and lord , who is enough for you , though you had no other friend . without him all the friends on earth would be but silly comforters , and leave you as at the gates of hell : without him all the angels and saints in heaven would never make it a heaven to you . grieve not too much that one of your candles is put out , while you have the sun : or if indeed it be not day with any of you , or the sun be clouded or ecclipsed , let that rather be the matter of your grief : find out the cause , and presently submit , and seek reconciliation : or if you are deprived of this light , because you are yet asleep in sin , hearken to his call , and rub your eyes , eph. 5. 14. awake thou that sleepest , and arise from the dead , and christ shall give thee light . rom. 13. 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. knowing that it is now high time to awake out of sleep , our salvation being nearer than when we first believed : the night is far spent , the day of eternal light is even at hand : cast off therefore the works of darkness , and put on all the armour of light : walk honestly and decently as in the day . and whatever you do , make sure of the friend that never dyeth , and never shall be separated from you , and when you die , will certainly receive the souls which you commend unto him . and here , though contrary to my custom , i shall make some more particular mention of our deceased friend , on several accounts . 1. in prosecution of this use that now we are upon , that you may see in the evidences of her happiness , how little cause you have to indulge extraordinary grief on her account , and how much cause to moderate your sense of our loss with the sense of her felicity . 2. that you many have the benefit of her example for your imitation , especially her children that are bound to observe the holy actions as well as instructions of a mother . 3. for the honour of christ , and his grace , and his servant : for as god hath promised to honour those that honour him , 1 sam 2. 30. and christ hath said , if any man serve me , him will my father honour , john 12. 26. so i know christ will not take it ill to be honoured in his members , and to have his ministers subserve him in so excellent a work : it is a very considerable part of the love or hatred , honour or dishonour that christ hath in the world , which he receiveth as he appeareth in his followers . he that will not see a cup of cold water given to one of them go unrewarded , and will tell those at the last day that did or did not visit and relieve them , that they did or did it not to him , will now expect it from me as my duty , to give him the honour of his graces in his deceased servant , and i doubt not will accordingly accept it , when it is no other indeed than his own honour that is my end , and nothing but the words of truth and soberness shall be the means . and here i shall make so great a transition as shall retain my discourse in the narrow compass of the time in which she lived near me and under my care , and in my familiar acquaintance , omitting all the rest of her life , that none may say i speak but by hear-say of things which i am uncertain of : and i will confine it also to those special gifts and graces in which she was eminent , that i may not take you up with a description of a christian as such , and tell you only of that good which she held but in common with all other christians . and if any thing that i shall say were unknown to any reader that knew her , let them know that it is because they knew her but distantly , imperfectly , or by reports ; and that my advantage of near acquaintance did give me a just assurance of what i say . the graces . which i discerned to be eminent in her , were these . 1. she was eminent in her contempt of the pride , and pomp , and pleasure , and vanity of the world , and in her great averseness to all these . she had an honest impatiency of the life which is common among the rich and vain-glorious in the world : voluptuousness and sensuality , excess of drinking , cards and dice , she could not endure , what ever names of good house-keeping or seemly deportment they borrowed for a mask : in her apparel she went below the garb of others of her rank ; indeed in such plainness as did not notifie her degree : but yet in such a grave and decent habit , as notified her sobriety and humility : she was a stranger to pastimes , and no companion for time-wasters , as knowing , that persons so near eternity , that have so short a life and so great a work , have no time to spare . accordingly in her latter dayes , she did ( as those that grow wise by experience of the vanity of the world ) retire from it , and cast it off before it cast off her : she betook her self to the society of a people that were low in the world , of humble , serious , upright lives , though such as had been wholly strangers to her : and among these poor inferiour strangers she lived in contentent and quietness ; desiring rather to converse with those that would help her to redeem the time , in prayer and edifying conference , than with those that would grieve her by consuming it on their lusts . 2. she was very prudent in her converse and affairs ( allowing for the passion of her sex and age ) ; and so escaped much of the inconveniences that else in so great and manifold businesses would have overwhelmed her : as a good man will guide his affairs with discretion , psalm 112. 5. so discretion will preserve him , and understanding will keep him , to deliver him from the way of the evil man , who leaveth the paths of uprightness to walk in the way of darkness , proverbs 2. 11 , 12 , 13. 3. she was seriously religious , without partiallity , or any taint of siding or faction , or holding the faith of our lord jesus christ in respect of persons : i never heard speak against men , or for men , as they differed in some small and tolerable things : she impartially heard any minister that was able , and godly , and sound in the main , and could bear with the weaknesses ministers when they were faithful : instead of owning the names or opinions of prelatical , presbyterian , independent , or such like , she took up with the name and profession of a christian , and loved a christian as a christian , without much respect to such different tolerable opinions . instead of troubling her self with needless scruples , and making up a religion of opinions and singularities , she studied faith and godliness , and lived upon the common certain truths , and well-known duties , which have been the old and beaten way , by which the universal church of christ hath gone to heaven in former ages . 4. she was very impartial in her judgment about particular cases : being the same in judging of the case of a child and a stranger : and no interest of children or other relations , could make her swerve from an equal judgment : 5. she very much preferred the spiritual welfare of her children before their temporal ; looking on the former as the true felicity , and on the later without it , but as a pleasant voluntary misery . 6. since i was acquainted with her , i alwayes found her very ready to good works , according to her power . and when she hath seen a poor man come to me , that she conjectured solicited me for relief , she hath reprehended me for keeping the case to my self , and not inviting her to contribute : and i could never descern that she thought any thing so well bestowed , as that which relieved the necessities of the poor that were honest and industrious . 7. she had the wonderful mercy of a man-like christian patient spirit , under all afflictions that did befal her , and under the multitude of troublesome businesses , that would have even distracted an impatient mind . though sudden anger was the sin that she much confest her self , and therefore thought she wanted patience , yet i have oft wondered to see her bear up with the same alacrity and quietness , when jobs messengers have brought her the tidings that would have overwhelmed an impatient soul . when law-suits and the great afflictions of her children have assaulted her like successive waves , which i feared would have born her into the deep , if not devoured all her peace ; she sustained all , as if no great considerable change had been made against her , having the same god , and the same christ , and promises , and hope , from which she fetcht such real comfort and support , as shewed a real serious faith . 8. she was alwayes apt to put a good interpretation upon gods providences ; like a right believer , that having the spirit of adoption , perceiveth fatherly love in all : she would not easily be perswaded that god meant her any harm : she was not apt to hearken to the enemy that accuseth god and his wayes to man , as he accuseth man and his actions to god : she was none of those that are suspicious of god , and are still concluding death and ruine from all that he doth to them , and are gathering wrath from mis-interpreted expressions of his love : who weep because of the smoak , before they can be warmed by the fire . yet god is good to israel ; aud it shall go well with them that fear before him , ( psa . 73. 1. eccles . 8. 12 , 13. ) were her conclusions from the sharpest providences : she expected the morning in the darkest night : and judged not of the end by the beginning ; but was alwayes confident , if she could but entitle god in the case , that the issue would be good . she was not a murmurer against god , nor one that contended with her maker ; nor one that created calamity to her self by a self-troubling unquiet mind : she patiently bore what god laid upon her , and made it not heavier by the additions of uncomfortable prognosticks , and misgiving or repining thoughts . she had a great confidence in god , that he was doing good to her and hers in all ; and where at present she saw any matter of grief , she much supported her soul with a belief that god would remove and overcome it in due time . 9. she was not troubled ( that ever i discerned ) with doubtings about her interest in christ , and about her own justification and salvation : but whether she reached to assurance or not , she had confident apprehensions of the love of god , and quietly reposed her soul upon his grace . yet not secure through presumption or self esteem ; but comforting her self in the lord her god : by this means she spent those hours in a chearful performance of her duty , which many spend in fruitless self-vexation for the failings of their duty , or in meer enquiries , whether they have grace or not ? and others spend in wrangling perplexed controversies about the manner or circumstances of duty : and i believe that she had more comfort from god by way of reward upon her sincere obedience , while she referred her soul to him , and rested on him , than many have that more anxiously perplexed themselves about the discerning of their holiness , when they should be studying to be more holy , that it might discover it self . and by this means she was sit for praises and thanksgiving , and spent not her life in lamentations and complaints : and made not religion seem terrible to the ignorant , that judge of it by the faces and carriage of professors : she did not represent it to the world , as a morose and melancholy temper : but as the rational creatures cheerful obedience to his maker , actuated by the sense of the wonderful love that is manifested in the redeemer , and by the hopes of the purchased and promised felicity in the blessed sight and fruition of god. and i conjecture that her forementioned dispositiou to think well of god and of his providences , together with her long and manifold experience ; ( the great advantage of antient tryed christians ) did much conduce to free her from doubtings and disquieting fears , about her own sincerity and salvation . and i confess , if her life had not been answerable to her peace and confidence , i should not have thought the better , but the worse of her condition ; nothing being more lamentable than to make hast to hell , through a wilful confidence that the danger is past , and that they are in the way to heaven as well as the most sanctified . 10. lastly , i esteemed it the height of her attainment , that she never discovered any inordinate fears of death ; but a chearful readiness , willingness and desire , to be dissolved and be with christ . this was her constant temper both in health and sickness , as far as i was able to observe : she would be frequently expressing how little reason she had to be desirous of longer life , and how much reason to be willing to depart . divers times in dangerous sicknesses i have been with her , and never discerned any considerable aversness , dejectedness or fear . many a time i have thought how great a mercy i should esteem it , if i had attained that measure of fearless willingness to lay down this flesh , as she had attained . many a one that can make light of wants , or threats , or scorns , or any ordinary troubles , cannot submit so quietly and willingly to death : many a one that can go through the labours of religion , and contemn opposition , and easily give all they have to the poor , and bear imprisonments , banishment or contempt , can never overcome the fears of death : so far even the father of lies spake truth , joh. 2. 4. skin for skin : yea all that a man hath will he give for his life . i took it therefore for a high attainment , and extraordinary mercy to our deceased friend , that the king of terrours was not terrible to her : though i doubt not but somewhat of aversness and fear is so radicated in natures self-preserving principle , as that it is almost inseparable ; yet in her i never discerned any troublesome appearances of it . when i first came to her in the beginning of her last sickness , she suddenly passed the sentence of death upon her self , without any shew of fear or trouble ; when to us the disease appeared not to be great : but when the disease encreased , her pains were so little , and the effect of the fever was so much in her head , that after this she seemed not to esteem it mortal , being not sensible of her case and danger : and so as she lived without the fears of death , she seemed to us to die without them : god by the nature of her disease removing death as out of her sight , when fhe came to that weakness , in which else the encounter was like to have been sharper than ever it was before . and thus in one of the weaker sex , god hath shewed us that it is possible to live in holy confidence , and peace , and quietness of mind , without distressing griefs or fears , even in the midst of a troublesom world , and of vexatious businesses , and with the afflictions of her dearest relations almost continually before her : and that our quiet or disquiet , our peace or trouble dependeth more upon our inward strength and temper , then upon our outward state , occasions , or provocations : and that it is more in our hands , than of any or all our friends and enemies , whether we shall have a comfortable , or uncomfortable life . what remaineth now , but that all we that furvive , especially you that are her children , do follow her as she followed christ ? though the word of god be your sufficient rule ; and the example of christ be your perfect pattern ; yet as the instructions , so the example of a parent must be a weighty motive , to quicken and engage you to your duty ; and will else be a great aggravation of your sin : a holy child of unholy parents , doth no more than his necessary duty ; because whatever parents are , he hath an holy god : but an unholy child of holy parents , is unexcusable in sin , and deplorably miserable ; as forsaking the doctrine and pattern both of their creator and their progenitors , whom nature engageth them to observe : and it will be an aggravation of their deserved misery , to have their parents witness against them , that they taught them , and they would not learn , and went before them in a holy life , but they would not follow them , prov. 1. 8. my son hear the instruction of thy father , and forsake not the law of thy mother ; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head , and chains about thy neck . read and consider prov. 30. 17. and 15. 20. and 23. 22 , 25. sins against parents have a special curse affixed to them in this life ( as the case of cham sheweth ) : and the due obsevrance and honouring of parents hath a special promise of temporal blessings , as the fifth commandment sheweth , ephes . 6. 1 , 2 , 3. children obey your parents in the lord for it is right : honour thy father and mother , ( which is the first commandment with promise ) that it may be well with thee , and thou mayest live long on the earth . ] the histories of all ages are so full of the instances of gods judgements in this life upon five sorts of sinners , as may do much to convince an atheist of the government and special providence of god ; that is upon persecutors , murderers , sacrilegious , false-witnesses ( especially by perjury ) and abusers and dishonourers of parents . and the great honour that is due to parents when they are dead , is to give just honour to their names , and to obey their precepts , and imitate their good examples : it is the high commendation of the rechabites , that they strictly kept the ●recepts of their father , even in a thing indifferent , a mode of living ; not to drink wine , or build houses , but dwell in tents : an god annexeth this notable blessing , [ thus saith the lord of hosts , the god of israel , because ye have obeyed the commandemtent of jonadab your father , and kept all his precepts , and done according to all that he hath commanded you , therefore thus siath the lord of hosts , the god of israel , jonadab the son of rechab shall not mant to stand before me for ever . ] jer. 36. 6 , 7. 18. 19. but especially in the great duties of religion , where parents do but deliver the mind of god , and use their authority to procure obedience to divine authority ; and where the matter it self is necessary to our salvation , the obligation to obedience and imitation is most indispensable ; and disobedience is an aggravated iniquity , and the notorious brand of infelicity , and prognostick of ensuiing woe : the ungodly children of godly parents being the most deplorable , unhappy , unexcusable persons in the world , ( if they hold on . ) there is yet another doctrine , that i should speak to . doct. 7. prayer in general , and this prayer in particular , that christ will receive our dep●rting souls , is a most suitable conclusion of all the action of christians life . prayer is the breath of a christians life : it is his work and highest converse , and therefore fittest to be the concluding action of his life ; that it may reach the end at which he aimed : we have need of prayer all our lives , because we have need of god , and need of his manifold and continued grace : but in our last extreamity we have a special need : though sloath is apt to seize upon us , while prosperity hindreth the sense of our necessities , and health perswadeth us that time is not near its journies end ; yet it is high time to pray with doubled fervour and importunity , when we see that we are near our last : when we find that we have no more time to pray , but must now speak our last for our immortal souls , and must at once say all that we have to say and shall never have a hearing more ; o then to be unable to pray , or to be faithless , and heartless , and hopeless in our prayers , would be a calamity beyond expression . yet i know ( for ordinary observation tells it us ) that many truly gracious persons may accidentally be undisposed and disabled to pray , when they are near to death : if the disease be such as doth disturb the brain , or take them up with violence of pain , or overwhelm the mind by perturbation of the passions , or abuse the imagination , or notably waste and debilitate the spirits it cannot be expected that a body thus disabled should serve the soul , in this or any other duty . but still the praying habit doth remain , though a distempered body do forbid the exercise : the habitual desires of the soul are there : and it is those that are the soul of prayer . but this should move us , to pray while we have time , and while our bodies have strength , and our spirits have vigour and alacrity to serve us , seeing we are so uncertain of bodily disposition and capacity , so near our end : o pray , and pray with all your hearts , before any fever or deliration overthrow your understandings or your memories ; before your thoughts are all commanded to attend your pains ; and before your decayed spirits fail you , and deny their necessary service to your suits ; and before the apprehensions of your speedy approach to the presence of the most holy god , and your entrance upon an endless state , do amaze , confound and overwhelm your souls with fear and perturbation . o christians , what folly , what sin and shame is it to us , that now while we have time to pray , and leave to pray , and helps to pray , and have no such disturbing hindrances , we should yet want hearts ; and have no mind , no life and fervour for so great a work ! o pray now , lest you are unable to pray then : and if you are then hindred but by such bodily undisposedness , god will understand your habitual desires , and your groans , and take it as if you had actually prayed ; pray now , that so you may be acquainted with the god that then you must fly unto for mercy , and may not be strangers to him or unto prayer ; and that he may not find then that your prayers are but the expressions of your fears , and not of your love , and are constrained and not voluntary motions unto god : pray now in preparation to your dying prayers . o what a terrible thing it is to be to learn to pray in that hour of extreamity ; and to have then no principle to pray by but natural self-love which every thief hath at the gallows ! to be then without the spirit of prayer , when without it there cannot an acceptable word or groan be uttered , and when the rejection of our suits and person , will be the prologue to the final judicial rejection , and will be a distress so grievous as presumptuous souls will not believe , till sad experience become their tutor : can you imagine that you shall then at last , be taught the art of acceptable prayer , meerly by horrour , and the natural sense of pain and danger , as sea-men in a storm , or a malefactor by the rack , when in your health and leasure you will not be perswaded to the daily use of serious prayer , but number your selves with the families that are under the wrath of the almighty , being such as call not on his name , jer. 10. 25. psalm 79. 6. indeed there are many prayers must go before , or else this prayer [ lord jesus receive my spirit ] will be in vain , when you would be loth to find it so . you must first pray for renewing sanctifying grace , for the death of sin , and the pardon of sin , for a holy life and a heavenly mind , for obedience , patience and perseverance ; and if you obtain not these , there is no hope that jesus christ should receive your spirits , that never received his sanctifying spirit . how sad is it to observe that those that have most need of prayer , have least mind to pray , as being least sensible of their needs ? yea , that those that are the next step to the state of devils , and have as much need of prayer as any miserable souls on earth , do yet deride it , and hate those that seriously and fervently perform it : a man of prayer being the most common objct of their malicious reproach and scorn ! o miserable cainites , that hate their brethren for offering more acceptable sacrifice then their own ! little do they know how much of the very satanical nature is in that malice , and in those reproachful scorns ! and little do they know how near they are to the curse and desparation of cain , and with what horrour they shall cry out , [ my punishment is greater then i can bear ] gen. 4. 11 , 13. if god and good men condemn you for your lip-service , and heartless devotions , and ungodly lives ; will you therefore hate the holy nature and better lives of those that judge you , when you should hate your own ungodliness and hypocrisie ? hear what god said to the leader of your sect , gen 4. 6. why art thou wroth ? and why is thy countenance faln ? if thou do well , shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou dost not well , sin lyeth at the door . ] have you not as much need to pray as those that you hate and reproach for praying ? have you not as much need to be oft and earnest in prayer as they ? must christ himself spend whole nights in prayer , luke 6. 12. and shall an ignorant sensual hardened sinner think he hath no need of it , though he be unconverted , unjustified , unready to die , and almost past the opportunity of praying ? o miserable men , that shortly would cry and roar in the anguish of their souls , and yet will not pray while there is time and room for prayer ! their judge is willing now to hear them , and now they have nothing but hypocritical lifeless words to speak ! praying is now a wearisom , tedions and unpleasant thing to them , that shortly would be glad if the most heart-tearing lamentations could prevail for the crums and drops of that mercy which they thus despise , luke 16. 24. of all men in the world , it ill becomes one in so deep necessities and dangers to be prayerless . but for you christians , that are daily exercised in this holy converse with your maker , hold on , and grow not strange to heaven , and let not your holy desires be extinguished for want of excitation : prayer is your ascent to heaven ; your departure from a vexatious world , to treat with god for your salvation : your retirement from a world of dangers into the impregnable fortress where you are safe ; and from vanity unto felicity ; and from troubles unto rest : which though you cannot come so near , nor enjoy so fully and delightfully as hereafter you shall do , yet thus do you make your approaches to it , and thus do you secure your future full fruition of it . and let them all scoff at hearty fervent prayer as long as they will , yet prayer shall do that with god for you , which health , and wealth , and dignity , and honor , and carnal pleasures , and all the world shall never do for one of them . and though they neglect and villifie it now , yet the hour is near , when they will be fain to scamble and bungle at it themselves ; and the face of death will better teach them the use of prayer , than our doctrine and example now can do . a departing soul will not easily be prayerless ; nor easily be content with sleepy prayers : but alas ! it is not every prayer that hath some fervency from the power of fear , that shall succeed : many a thousand may perish for ever that have prayed [ lord jesus receive my spirit ] but the soul that breatheth after christ , and is weary of sinning , and hath long been pressing toward the mark , may receive incouragement for his last petitions , from the bent and success of all the foregoing prayers of his life : believe it christians , your cannot be so ready to beg of christ to receive your souls , as he is ready and willing to receive them . as you came praying therefore into the world of grace , go praying out of it into the world of glory . it is not a work that you were never used to ( though you have had lamented backwarness , and coldness , and omissions ) : it is not to a god that you were never with before : as you know whom you have believed , so you may know to whom you pray : it is indeed a most important suit to beg for the receiving of a departing soul : but it is put up to him to whom it properly doth belong ; and to him that hath encouraged you by answering many a former prayer with that mercy which was the earnest of this ; and it is to him that loveth souls much better than any soul can love it self . o live in prayer , and die in prayer : and do not as the graceless witless world , despise prayer while they live , and then think a lord have mercy on me , shall prove enough to pass them into heaven : mark their statutes and monuments in the churches , whether they be not made kneeling and lifting up the hands , to tell you that all will be forced to pray , or to approve of prayer at their death , whatever they say against it in their life . o pray and wait but a little longer , and all your danger will be past , and you are safe for ever ! keep up your hands a litte longer , till you shall end your conflict with the last enemy , and shall pass from prayer to everlasting praise . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a69538-e670 * good old mris. doughty , sometime of shrewsbury , who had long walked with god , and longed to be with him ; and was among us an excellent example of holiness , blamelesness , contempt of the world , constancy , patience , humility , and ( which makes it strange ) a great and constant desire to die , though she was still complaining of doubtings and weakness of assurance . death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece. a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of mr. isaac colfe, formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex, and late wife of mr. richard smith of london, draper) who dyed the 9th. day of novemb. 1653. and was buried the 16th of the same moneth. by nath: hardy, mr. of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87089 of text r206763 in the english short title catalog (thomason e725_4). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87089 wing h714 thomason e725_4 estc r206763 99865869 99865869 118120 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87089) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118120) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 112:e725[4]) death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece. a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of mr. isaac colfe, formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex, and late wife of mr. richard smith of london, draper) who dyed the 9th. day of novemb. 1653. and was buried the 16th of the same moneth. by nath: hardy, mr. of arts, and preacher to that parish. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 32 p. printed by j.g. for nath: web, and will: grantham at the sign of the bear in s. paul's church-yard neere the little north doore., london, : 1653. annotation on thomason copy: "december. 21.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng smith, mary, d. 1653 -death and burial. bible. -n.t. -mathew xxiv, 44 -sermons. funeral sermons -17th century. death -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. a87089 r206763 (thomason e725_4). civilwar no death's alarum: or, security's vvarning-piece.: a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church, at the funerall of mrs. mary smith (daughter of hardy, nathaniel 1653 12784 115 65 0 0 0 0 141 f the rate of 141 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-04 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-04 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion death's alarum : or , secvrity's warning-piece . a sermon preached in s. dionis back-church , at the funerall of mrs. mary smith ( daughter of mr. isaac colfe , formerly minister of gods word at chadwell in essex , and late wife of mr. richard smith of london , draper ) who dyed the 9th . day of novemb. 1653. and was buried the 16th . of the same moneth . by nath : hardy , mr. of arts , and preacher to that parish . revelat. 16. 15. behold i come as a thief , blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments , lest be walk naked , and they see his shame . greg. mag. hom. 13. in evang. horam ultimam dominus noster idcirco voluit nobis esse incognitam , ut semper possit esse suspecta , ut dum illam praevidere non possumus , ad illam sinc intermissione praeparemur . london , printed by j. g. for nath : web , and will : grantham at the sign of the bear in s. paul's church-yard neere the little north doore . 1654. errata . page 7. line 22. read from , p. 8. l. 14. blot out the fig. 5. l. 25. for foremarning r. forearming , in marg. bl . out est . p. 12. l. 30. for soules r. skulls , p. 14. l. 2. for so r. to , l. 14. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , p. 15. l. 16. after readiness adde consisteth , p. 24. l. 11. before sense r. high , l. 12. blot out high . to the reverend mr. abraham colfe , minister of lewisham in kent : after the numbring of many yeares on earth , yeares without number in heaven . worthy sir , upon your first motion of publishing this sermon , i took it into a serious review , and finding the notions very common , and the expressions home-spun , i adjudged it unworthy to survive ( except in the memories of the auditors ) that houre wherein it was preached : but being loath to deny your desire , i resolved to deny my owne judgement , and withall , hoping it may prove usefull ( though not to informe the judgement , yet ) to awaken the conscience of the reader , i am willing to hazard my owne reputation , if i may advance the edification of others . that which ( reverend sir ) i conceive to be a subordinate end in your intention , is to testifie your abundant ( yet deserved ) respects to your deceased neece , in taking care that whilest her body rots her name might live ; and surely , since the memory of the just is blessed , an endeavour to perpetuate it is pious . praise-worthy then is your regard of her memory , but much more commendable is that course which you have taken for preserving your owne , by an eminent and lasting * act of charity , for which the generations to come shall call you blessed . indeed by this worthy work you have honoured the parish whereof you have been , and are a carefull watchman ; the church of england , to which you have been an obedient son ; the gospel , of which you have beene a laborious preacher ; and protestant religion , of which ( i trust ) you are a sincere professor . and truly , both the present and future ages will be very ingratefull , if they shall not highly honour so munificent a benefactor . however ( i hope ) you have so learned christ , as not to make mens applause the scope at which you aime , or marke whereat you shoot , well knowing that vaine-glory sullyeth the splendour , and evacatueth the reward of our best actions , turning christian charity into pharisaicall hypocrisie . to gods mercifull acceptation ▪ and gracious remuneration ( i doubt not , good sir ) but you commend your pious and charitable designe , who ( though men should ) will not be unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love . to his powerfull protection and most wise direction , i commend both you and your endeavours , who will not forsake you now you are aged , but preserve you to his heavenly kingdome . to whom be glory for ever and ever . amen . i subscribe my self ( sir ) a cordiall honourer of your vertues , nath : hardy . math : 24. 44. therefore be ye also ready , for in such an houre as you think not , the sonne of man cometh . this chapter is a sermon , the preacher whereof was no other than the lord of preachers and great prophet of his church : the theame whereabout it is conversant is his coming , and that in a way of judgement . and those two genuine parts of a sermon , explication and application divide the chapter : the former describeth the signes and manner of his advent , from the first verse to the 42. the latter prescribeth an expectation of , and preparation for it , from the 42. to the end . the text i am now to handle lyeth within the compasse of the latter and most practicall part of the sermon : in which , ( the designe of our blessed saviour being to urge a watchfull readinesse for his coming ) he pursueth a double metaphor ( couching logicall reasons under rhetoricall allusions ) the one in the following verses , the other in the foregoing . the subsequent similitude is borrowed from a servants behaviour in reference to the coming of his lord . no topicks more prevailing , especially with vulgar judgements , than those which are drawne à commodo & incommodo , from the danger or benefit , detriment or emolument that accrueth by the neglect or performance of that to which we perswade , upon which account it was that catiline said to his souldiers , quem neque gloria neque pericula movent , nequicquam hortere , that man is unperswadable who can neither be affrighted nor allured : both these arguments christ is here pleased to make use of , at once representing the comfortable felicity of a vigilant , and the dolefull , nay dismall misery of a secure servant , when their lord shall come . the precedent resemblance is seemingly very harsh , and yet really very fit , wherein you find mention made of an housholder and a thief , yea ( which is the riddle ) christ compared to the thief , and his disciples to the housholders . that those who are ( most justly ) afterwards called servants , should here be termed housholders , is somewhat strange , and yet this in some respect is very congruous ; since every mans body is an house wherein he dwelleth , his thoughts , words , and actions , are as his family , which he must governe , and his soule , more worth than a world , the treasure which he is to take care of . but though this part of the comparison may admit of a favourable construction , yet the other seemes altogether incompatible . methinks when i read christ resembling himself to a thief , i am ready to say , as once s. peter in another case , be it far from thee , lord , this shall not be unto thee . blessed jesus , thou thinkest it no robbery to be equall with god , and dost thou here , as it were , equalize thy selfe to a robber ? thou callest thy self , and not without good reason , a little after this , lord , and can the lord of the house become a thief , the owner a robber ? thou didst tax the multitude for coming against thee as a thief , and doest thou here speake of thy selfe as if thou wert a thief ? it was an high affront , when the jewes numbred thee with thieves , nay preferred a thief before thee , and art thou so injurious to thy self , as to cloath thy self under the appellation of a thief ? rather ( to allude to s. paul's expression ) let christ be true , and every man a thief . indeed , well may the thief lye at our doores ; our first parents were robbers in eating the forbidden fruit , and wee , their unhappy progeny , are no lesse guilty , not onely in their loynes , but in our owne persons , by uncharitablenesse , by sacriledge , by idlenesse , and prophanenesse : but as for the innocent messiah , what hath he done that may deserve the title of a thief ? to all this the answer is easie , if we consider that it is not a charge or accusation , but onely an allusion or comparison . christ doth not make himselfe the same with , because he likens himselfe to a thief , nor indeed , is it himselfe ▪ but rather his advent , which is here compared to the coming of a thief . but it will still be objected , how can this be verified ? we elsewhere finde christ plainely opposing his to a thiefe's coming , the thief cometh not but to kill and steale , and destroy , but i come , saith christ , that they may have life . true , but that is spoken of his first coming , which was in mercy . it may be replyed , this cannot be asserted of his coming in displeasure , since the coming of a thief is to take from men their owne , to doe wrong , to injure the innocent ; whereas the coming of christ is , like that of a iudge , to give every man his owne , to doe right , to punish the nocent ; and these two are so far from being like , that they are directly contrary . to unfold this riddle , therefore , you must know , that this expression is parabolicall ; and parables , like knives , cut onely in the edge , to wit , the scope : now his aime in likening this advent●o that of a thief is onely to take in the consideration of the time . excellent to this purpose is that of simon de cass●a , similitudo christi ad furem non est personae ad personam , nec negotii ad negotium , sed temporis ad tempus , the parallel here holdeth not between person and person , or businesse and businesse , but betweene time and time ; and therefore the apostles , paul and peter , though ( after christs example ) they are bold to use this allusion , yet with an explicatory addition , where they say , the lord cometh as a thief in the night ; and thus it fitly agreeth , since as the coming of a thief in the night is unexpected , because the good-man of the house is then asleep , & thinketh not of it ; so is oft times , especially to wicked men , the coming of christ ; and that this is the meaning of the protasis in the former , appeareth by the apodosis , or reddition of the similitude in this verse which requireth our constant preparednesse , because of his sodaine coming , be you therefore ready , for in an houre , &c. the words ( if taken in their fullest latitude ) present us with foure considerables : here is , 1. an advent supposed in the last word come , and what coming of christ is here intended would be a little enquired into : to cleare which we must distinguish of those severall comings which are attributed to him in scripture , nor can they ( in my weak capacity ) be more clearly differenced , than by considering a salvificall and a judiciall advent of christ , and each of these as both visible and invisible . christs coming to save is either in the flesh , or in the spirit ; his first coming into the world , and his daily coming into our hearts , are in their prime intention salvfiicall ; his visible coming was to be the sonne of man , that in our nature he might purchase salvation for us ; his invisible is by his spirit , to make us the sonnes of god , and thereby apply this salvation to us ; but neither of these can be here meant , since his coming in the flesh was already past , whereas he speaketh of a future advent ; nor can wee make our selves ready against his coming in the spirit , but it is the coming of the spirit which must inable us to make our selves ready . passe we on therefore to his judiciall coming , which is either generall or speciall , personall or virtuall , and so visible or invisible . there shall be at the end of the world , a glorious coming of christ in person , to execute a manifest and righteous judgement upon all mankinde , rewarding every man according to his works ; in the meane time , christ cometh in his power by secondary instruments to every particular man , and sometimes to whole nations : in which respect , when by plague , famine , and warre , kingdomes are destroyed , and when by casualties , or sicknesse , persons are cut off , christ is said judicially to come to them : now all these , after a sort , and in some sense , may be here understood , that coming of christ , which is literally and most properly meant , is , doubtlesse , his coming by titus vespasian against jerusalem , to overthrow it , and thereby bring vengeance on the iewes , for their most unjust and ungratefull murther of him . but though this be the literall and primary sense , yet it will not ( i conceive ) be denyed by any , but that many of the things mentioned in this chapter are , or at least , may be applyed to that last coming of christ , since we may look upon that destruction of ierusalem as an emblem of the worlds judgement ; and yet ( to draw nearer this present occasion ) the latter part of this chapter , and so this verse may morally be accomodated to the particular coming of christ , by death , to every person : in reference to which , the counsels here given are very pregnant and apposite . 2. next to the advent supposed , is observable , the person characterised , by this appellation , the son of man , a title which our blessed saviour very often giveth to him selfe , thereby setting us a pattern of humility , in having low conceits , and using mean expressions concerning our selves . but that which would here be considered , is upon what account he calleth himselfe by so mean a title , when he speaketh of so glorious a coming . if you cast your eyes on the 42. verse , you shall there finde him using the magnificent title of a lord , a terme , as most truly agreeing to him , so best fitting his advent , wherein he manifested himselfe as a lord punishing his rebels ; but yet it is not without a reason , that having called himselfe lord , before , he stileth himselfe , the sonne of man ; here , namely , to prevent the scandall which might be taken at the meannesse of his present condition : likely it is that the tenuity of his externall aspect rendered his prediction contemptible . what need we regard the words , or feare the threats of this carpenters sonne ? might the iewes say , at least within themselves . to prevent which , christ is pleased to call him selfe the son of man , as if he would say , in answer to such an objection . however , i am a poore weak man , yet the day is at hand when i will come in might and power , to avenge my self upon my enemies . 3. the third observable is the time of this persons advent specified , and that to be both speedy , and sodaine , in an houre when you think not ; speedy , because in an houre , one of the shortest dimensions of time ; it may be long before christ come , but when he cometh he will not be long about it , and therefore he saith , not in a yeare , or a moneth , or a day , but an houre ; nor is it onely speedy , but sodaine , because in an houre men think not of , and by this , an addition is made to the preceding expression , in that parallel verse , there it is , you know not in what houre , and that lets us see how secret death is from , and therefore how uncertaine it is to all men ; here it is in an houre you thinke not , which lets us see how sodaine , and therefore unexpected it is to many men . 4. the last particular ( according to this retrograde , yet logicall order ) considerable is , the inference deduced , what conclusions must be drawne from these premisses , what effect these considerations of the thing , person , and time , ought to work upon us , and that is in these words , be ye therefore ready , namely , to have all things fitted before christ cometh , that we may have nothing to doe when he cometh , but to meet him . that which he calleth for in the forementioned verse , is watching , that which he requireth here is readinesse ; two phrases , one whereof explaines the other . on the one hand , lest the command of watching alwayes might seeme impossible , christ sheweth , that the continuall watching he expects , is onely so farre as to put our selves in a ready posture , that we may not have grace to get when we should spend it . on the other , lest we should think it enough to watch , that is , think of his coming ; he calleth upon us not onely to watch , but to be ready , injoyning such an expectation of , as leads us to preparation for his coming . 5. time will not give me leave to insist on each of these particulars , and therefore i shall contract the foure to two , and dichotomizing the text , here is observable in it , praedictio eventus , a prediction of something to come to passe , in an houre you think not , &c. praescriptio operis , a prescription of something to be done , be you therefore ready : or , if you will , here is praemonitio periculi , a danger forewarned , in an houre you think not , &c. admonitio officii , a forewarning advised , be you therefore ready : yet once more , the two important truths of this scripture , are , inopinatus christi adventus , the sodainnesse of christs coming , in an hour you think not , &c. necessarius christiani apparatus , the necessity of the christians preparing , be you therefore ready . between these two i shall divide the following discourse , beseeching this son of man that he would in this houre , by his spirit , come into our hearts , that every one of us may be swift to heare , and ready to receive these divine lessons : and so i begin with the sodainesse of christs coming , in an houre which you think not the sonne of man will come : this is that truth which s. paul excellently exemplifieth , when they shall say peace and safety , then sodaine destruction cometh upon them , as travell upon a woman with childe ; when men say peace and safety , they little dreame of warre and ruine , paine cometh oft-times upon the woman in the street , at the table , in an houre when she least thinketh on it . such is christs coming , especially to carelesse and secure sinners : that expression of the prophet jeremy may not unfitly be made use of to this purpose , by way of illustration , when he saith , death is come up into our windows ; the true man cometh in at the doore , but the thief at the window ; coming in at the doore is usuall , but coming in at the window is unexpected ; so is christs coming to men by death in such a way , at such a time as is unlooked for ; this truth is that which our lord himselfe elsewhere illustrateth by the metaphor of a snare , and that day is said so to come , for its secrecy and unexpectednesse ; agag flattereth himselfe , that the bitternesse of death is past , and then samuel giveth order to hew him in pieces before the lord in gilgal : and usually , when men think death the farthest off , it is the nearest to them . to inlarge this more particularly , be pleased to take notice , that there is a foure-fold hour wherein men usually make no account of christs coming by death , and yet in which christ frequently cometh to men , to wit , hora carnalis voluptatis , mundanae prosperitatis , corporalis sanitatis & juvenilis aetatis , the houre of carnall pleasure , of worldly prosperity , bodily health , and youthfull age . 1. the houre of carnall pleasure is a time wherein death is scarce at all thought upon . while the ambitious statist is climbing high , he dreameth not of falling low into a grave ; whilst covetous mammonists are heaping up thick clay , they think not of being themselves made an heap of dust ; and whilest voluptuous epicures are feeding on dainties , and dallying with dallilah's , they seldome make account of conversing with , and being fed upon by wormes ; in this respect , no doubt it is , that our saviour warneth his disciples , take heede to your selves , lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkennesse , and cares of this life , and so that day come upon you unawares , thereby intimating that this day cometh unawares upon them , who are plunged into the cares and delights of this life , and yet even in this houre the sonne of man is pleased to come and arrest presumptuous sinners . belshazzar is quaffing in his cups , carousing with his companions , when as in that selfe-same hour came forth the fingers of a man writing upon the wall the destruction of him and his kingdomes . herod is glutting his aspiring humour with popular applause ( forgetting in the pride of his heart , both god and himselfe ) when as by a strange judgement he is immediately devoured by worms alive , and giveth up the ghost . finally , worldly men spend their dayes in getting wealth , and in a moment they goe downe to the grave . the coming of the floud upon the old world is a litttle before made an emblem by christ of his coming , and ( that as the amplification demonstrateth ) in this very particular , as the floud came upon the old world , when they were so farre from fearing ruine , that they were eating , and drinking , and giving in marriage : so doth christ seize upon sinners in the midst of their delights , whilst they are indulging to their lusts . 2. the houre of worldly prosperity is a time wherein men are very regardlesse of christs coming : in affliction and misery many wish for death , but in enjoyments and prosperity they scarce think of it ; when the sun shone so bright upon sodome in the morning , they little expected to be consum'd by a dismal fire from heaven before evening : when the world is flowing in upon a man , it is very hard to intertaine thoughts of going out of the world . if the mountaine be strong , even david is ready to say , i shall never be moved : no mervail if presumptuous babylon being in her chaire of state , say , i sit a queene and am no widdow , and shall see no sorrow . but yet very frequently , this is the houre wherein christ cometh ; so the threatning runneth against both literall and misticall babylon , evill shall come upon her in a moment , in one day : and so it was verified in the rich fool , who bidding his soul to take its ●ase , by reason of his worldly abundance , had that very night his soule required of him , and carryed to torment . 3. the houre of bodily health and strength is a time in which men cast the thought of death behind them , whilst they have colour in their faces , agility in their joynts , appetite in their stomacks , health in their bodies , how rare are their meditations on death ? go preach your lectures of mortality ( say they ) to the weake , and the lame , and the sick ; as for us , wee have no reason to trouble our selves with such melancholly thoughts : what do you tell us of dying and rotting in the grave ? whilest our bones are moystned with marrow ? we feel no infirmity , and therefore feare not mortality : and yet how often doth christ come by death in such an houre ? one dyeth ( saith job ) in his full strength , being wholly at ●ase and quiet , his breasts are full of milk , and his bones are moystned with marrow : how many valiant and stout men hath death laid upon their backs , on a sodaine tripping up their heeles ? have you not sometimes seene a sturdy oak quickly blown downe by a violent winde ? a strong and tall vessell presently sunke by a leake ? so are oft-times men snatched away in the strength and vigour of their body , by death . 4. the houre of youthfull age is a time wherein few make account of dying ; it is soone enough ( say young men ) to thinke of our death in the day when desire shall faile , to look for a grave , when they that looke out at the windowes are darkned , and to feare the approach of both when the keepers of the house shall tremble : these gravecloths are too sad for the freshness of our life , we are young , and may see many a fair yeare passe over our heads before death cometh , and therefore think not that like the mad man in the gospel we will spend our life among the tombs . but alas ! how frequently , even in this houre , doth the sonne of man come : in golgotha ( saith the hebrew proverb ) there are soules of all sizes , and our weekely bills , for the most part , afford a greater numbers of dead children than aged men . the poets have a fable , that death and cupid lodging together at an inne , exchanged their arrowes , whereby it hath since come to passe , that many times old men dote , and young men dye . the truth is , death doth not summon us according to our yeares , even the blossome is subject to nipping as well as the flower to withering . that threat which almighty god denounceth by the prophet amos , is very often in this morall sense made good , i will cause the sun to goe downe at noone ; nay , not onely so , but even in the morning of youth doth the sunne of many a mans life goe down . to apply this , let it then be the care of every one of us that christs coming may not be to us in an houre wee think not of , and to that end , let no houre , at least , day of our life passe without a serious thought of the day and houre of our death ; larkes in theocritus are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} because they carry the forme of a sepulchre upon their heads . such should all christians be , having permanent impressions of death , not on but in their heads and hearts . the indian gymnosophists were so much in love with these thoughts , that they caused their graves to be made before their gates , so as both at their going out and coming in they might be put in minde of their death : and truly , however the most men in the days of their vanity , account a life spent in meditation of death to be a miserable life , a death rather than a life ; yet when the time of their death approacheth , they will change their note , and say as dying theophilus did of devout arsenius , beatus es abba arseni , qui semper hanc horam ante oculoshabuisti , they are happy men who set death daily before their eys . indeed , by this meanes the coming of christ , as it will not be altogether sodaine , so neither terrible to us , nor can any man ( so use s. cyprians words ) receive comfort at his death , who did not before make account of dying . a late writer hath , in this respect , piously fancyed , that clocks were invented to minde us not so much of the sunne 's motion in the heavens , as the passing of our life here on earth : since the sounding of the clock telleth us that the past houre is as it were dead and buried , which at some time , or hour of some day or other , must be our lot . oh then , what ever our present condition is , let us still entertaine thoughts of our latter end : art thou in health and strength , remember , a wise and good man , even then ( as gregory nazian. saith ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} will looke both upwards to heaven , and downewards to his grave . doest thou enjoy the pleasures of life ? learn of joseph of arimathea to make a tombe in thy garden , and season thy delights with thoughts of thy dissolution . finally , art thou advanced to an high estate in this world ? forget not how low thy highnesse must come ere long , and what one was appoynted to have in his hands at the inauguration of the graecian emperours , namely , in the one a burning firebrand presently consumed , and in the other a vessell full of ashes , and dead mens bones , have thou in thy heart by renewed meditations of thy mortality . to close up this part , it is reported concerning the maids in the isle of man , that the first thing they spin is their winding-sheete , which they weare about them as a girdle at their feasts : well were it , if we would in the midst of all our enjoyments , gird our selves about with our winding-sheets , fixing our thoughts upon our end , that so by this meanes we may not have cause at last to sigh forth the foole's words , non putaram , i did not think my death had been so neare : blessed is that man , whom christ , when he cometh by death , shall finde , not as jaell did siserah , asleep , but as jonathan's arrow came to david standing in the field , and looking for it , yea , so looking , as to bee fitting himself , which leads to the preparednesse required in every christian for this coming , be you therefore ready . for the better and clearer dispatch of this , i shall endeavour both to unfold the nature , and press the practise of this duty . 1. to illustrate the nature of this preparation , be pleased to observe both the intent of the thing , and the extent of the time ; by the former we shall see wherein this readinesse , and by the latter when it ought to bee performed . 1. the duty it self being of very weighty importance , it should be a little inquired into , what things are requisite to denominate a man ready for christs coming . the severall metaphors of a bridegroome , of a lord , and of a thiefe , under which the coming of christ is represented to us , may very fitly be made use of to this end and purpose . 1. they are ready for the coming of the bridegroom , who have on their wedding garment . and this is no other in a spirituall sense than that white rayment , to wit , of christs righteousnesse , apprehended by faith , which our blessed lord adviseth the church to buy of him : indeed , when death ▪ cometh it will strip us of all other induments ; job saith of himselfe ( and it is no more than what every man shall finde true ) naked came i forth of my mothers womb , and naked shall i returne thither , onely of this garment it cannot bereave us ; and he alone , who is thus clothed , may , with comfort , look death in the face . 2. againe , he is ready for the coming of his lord , who hath discharged the trust reposed in , and improved the stock left with him by his lord . indeed , thus to doe in reference to god exactly , is impossible , but yet this to endeavour is necessary : and he onely is fit for death , who hath beene carefull in life to employ his talents for gods glory , and to keep a good conscience in all things . when the lord cometh he expects an account of the servants receipts , and disbursments , and how unfit will the idle or wastfull servant bee to make up his account ? that life must needs render a man unprepared for death , which is spent in doing nothing , or that which is worse than nothing , in abusing the mercies we receive , to the dishonour of him , who hath bestowed them on us . finally , he is ready for the coming of a thief , who keepeth himselfe and his family waking , hath his doore locked , bolted , and barred , and is furnished with weapons both of defence and resistance ; so must we prepare our selves for christs coming , by awaking our soules out of carnall and sensuall security , by keeping our hearts with all diligence , and by putting on the whole armour of god ; the condition of that man will be very sad , whom death findes asleep in sinne , without a spirituall guard , and destitute of those graces , which should arm him against its venomous sting . if you desire a more distinct explication of this preparation , let christ be his owne expositor in that elegant scripture , where he adviseth his disciples to have their loynes girt , and their lamps burning ; the worke of preparation for death is both privative and positive , in removing what may hinder us , and procuring what may enable us to meet christ at our death , with comfort . both these we are taught under those metaphoricall allusions , the former in the girding of our loynes , the latter in the burning of our lamps . 1. to be ready , is to have our loynes girt ▪ where by loynes we may very well understand , our affections and lusts , which are to be girt , by repentance and mortification . the sting of death , saith s. paul , is sinne , so that we are never fit to dye till we have taken out the sting by subduing sinne ; he that liveth in any lust is so farre from being armed for death , that he armeth death against himselfe ; death is a journey , called therefore a going to our long home ; but how shall he be fit to go this journey , who hath not laid aside the weight of sinne , and girded up his loynes , which will be a sore impediment to him ? more especially , this girding of loynes may referre to the expelling of worldly love out of our hearts . to this purpose , both that action of christs drinking vinegar , and those words of his , it is finished , immediately before his death , are not unfitly moraliz'd , to teach us that by despising the world as vaine and bitter , we are more prepared for the finishing of our life . oh how unwilling is he to goe out of the world , whose heart is glued to it ? and therefore let it be our wisdome to hang loose in our affections from all earthly relations , that as seneca divinely , if we be called to it ; nihil nos detineat , nec impediat quo minus parati simus , quod quand●que faciendum , statim facere , no worldly thing may hinder us from being ready to do that presently , which must be done at some time . 2. to be ready , is to have our lamps burning , to wit , the lamp of our soule , burning with the graces of gods spirit ; the lamp of our life , burning in the exercise of good works towards god and man . certainly he is very unfit to dye , who hath not yet begun to live ; thy condition must needes be desperate , if the lamp of thy life be put out before the lamp of grace be kindled : s. john saith of them who dye in the lord , their works follow them , to wit , those good works which have gone before their death in the course of their lives ; he onely is fit to meet christ in death , who can say to him in hezekiah's words , remember , lord , how i have walked before thee in truth , and with a perfect heart : a renewed nature , and a reformed life are the best preparatives to a comfortable and happy death . 2. you see the duty it selfe : the next thing to be considered is , the time when we should make our selves thus ready ; it is that which must by no meanes be left out , since though we all agree about the thing , yet we differ about the time , we must be ready for christs coming , that is acknowledged , but when we should goe about it , is not so easily determined . the answer to this is not expresly given in the text , but yet manifestly implyed in the context , since the housholder no● knowing when the thief will come , & knowing he will come , is alwayes expecting and providing for him : and indeed this we shall finde in the ●parallel scripture expresly supplyed , where our saviour bids his disciples to watch and pray {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} alwayes . it is that then which ought to be the wisdome of every christian , alway to be in a readinesse for the coming of christ : suitable to this is that resolve of holy job , when hee saith , all the dayes of my appointed time i will wait till my change come ; not onely one , or a few , or some , but all his dayes were dayes of watching for the approach of his change , according to which is that counsell of s. basil , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we must every day of our life be in a posture ready to goe out of this life , if our lord require us . to cleare this more fully in two particulars : 1. we must begin betimes to make our selves ready . it is an undoubted maxime , in re necessaria non d●u deliberandum , where the matter is clearly necessary to dispute much , or deliberate long about it , is both needlesse and dangerous ; nothing of more needfull concernment or greater importance to every one of us , than the being ready for christs coming : surely then , just it is we should set about it presently , and make it our first businesse . almighty god in his sublime speech to job , saith , concerning the warlike horse , that he smelleth the battell afarre off ; what nature teacheth him , let grace us , to smell that encounter we must have with death afarre off long before ( at least in probability ) it will come , and that is , in the dayes of our youth . the life of man is not without good reason compared to a night : now among the jewes there were foure watches in the night , the first was called conticinium , when all things are silent ; the second intempestum , the unseasonable time of midnight ; the third gallicinium , which began at the cock crowing ; the last antelucanum , about break of day : by these foure watches of the night are morally resembled , the foure ages of mans life , child-hood , youth , man-hood ▪ old age , and it is worth our observation , that when christ speaketh of our being ready for his coming , he mentioneth onely the second and the third watch : thophilact's reason , i confesse , is most probable , because the second and third watches are , as it were ; the dead time of night , when most men are in their soundest sleep , so that he that is wakefull in those watches , may be presumed not to sleep in the first and fourth , and so to be ready in the second and third , is as much as to be alwayes ready ; but there may be another apt allusion to our particular purpose ; as for the first watch he mentioneth it not , because child hood is in no capacity of performing this duty ( though even then it concerneth parents to make their children ready , by bringing them to the holy sacrament of baptisme : ) and as for the fourth watch of old age , he specifieth not that neither , because rarissimi sunt qui ad extremum vitae differentes bene operari , inveniuntur ita facientes , they are very rare who are found ready at christs coming , and yet have not begun before the fourth watch : let it then be our care to begin at the third watch of man hood , nay , sooner ▪ at the second watch of youth , to prepare and provide for christs coming . happy is that man who fitteth himself for dying , so soon as he cometh to know that he liveth , and consecrateth the beginning of his rationall life to a religious meditation of his mortall end . 2. we must hold out to the end of our dayes in this ready posture , daily endeavouring greater measure ▪ of preparation . those two excuses will be found alike invalid whensoever christ cometh , fuisse & futurum esse , i resolved to be ready hereafter , and i was ready heretofore ; since it is neither what thou wouldst be , nor what thou hast beene , but what thou art ; when death cometh unbend not then the bow of thy pious endevor , till the string of thy life break ; cease not running the race of piety till thou art put out of breath ; be alwaies preparing to meet christ till he come to thee . it is to this purpose well observed , what a difference there is between the other life and this ; as to that life , it will be sufficient , bene incipere , to begin well ; if we can but enter into that joy of our lord , it is enough ; he that is once entred into a possession of that blisse , shall goe no more out , but as to this present life , the great care is bene finire , to end well , since incassum bonum agitur si ante vitae terminum deseratur , that work is begun to no purpose , which is left off before it is finished ; no● can this work of preparation be finished , till life be ended . but it may , perhaps , and not improbably , be objected , even by good christians : alas , the practise of this duty in this extent , is impossible ; who is there that can at all times so order his conversation , as to be ready for his dissolution ? we meet with many remora's to stop us in , many avocations to turne us aside from this work , the labour of our callings , the care of our families , lawfull recreations , many worldly businesses take up our time , so that we cannot alwayes be at leisure to thinke of , and so provide for christ's coming . to resolve which doubt , be pleased to take notice of a double preparation for the coming of christ , to wit , habituall and actuall . actuall readinesse consists in the exercise of those spiritual graces , and practise , of those religious duties , which are fit for us to be conversant in at the time of our death , such as are selfe examination , penitent humiliation , believing invocation , charitable condonation , and the like ; and truly thus to be alwayes ready , is not possible , nor requisite : it is not possible , for our natures , which at best are but in part renewed , to be wholly taken up with divine performances ; nor indeed is it requisite , since god hath given us time for secular as well as spirituall businesses , yea , for recreation as well as devotion ; and if christ shall come by death to us when about our civill callings , or lawfull refreshings , our condition were not therefore to be adjudged desperate . indeed , on the one hand , because death may come at such times , it should be our endeavour , as much as may be , to carry about us heavenly hearts in our earthly employments ; and on the other hand , because the best of us are too deficient in this kinde , we may , nay ought to beg of god ( if it be his will ) that death may rather finde us praying , than playing ; in our chambers , than in our shops ; about devout exercises , than worldly businesses . in this respect , that prayer of the church ( from sodaine death good lord deliver us ) which by our arrogant novelists , among other passages of the lyturgie , is causelesly denyed , is fit to be made , not onely by the worst , but by the best of men , to whom death may be , and many times is so sodaine , that they cannot be in an actuall readinesse for it , and therefore if it be ( as doubtlesse it is ) a very desirable thing to have space before our death of renewing our faith , repentance , and charity , yea , and of expressing all these for the comfort and benefit of others that belong to us , it must needes be a fit request for all christians to put up , that they may be delivered from sodaine death . but besides this actuall , there is an habituall readiness , which referres not to the action but the disposition ; the exercise , but the state of the person ; so that he , who is by faith engrafted into christ , and by the spirit regenerated to a lively hope , and so in a state of grace , is habitually ready for the coming of christ , according to this sense brugensis with others giveth the interpretation of this text , paratus est qui semper eo statu consistit , quem dominus requirit , qui semper eum vitae tenet statum qui deo gratus , he is ready , who is in that estate which is required by , and will be acceptable to christ when he cometh to call him . and thus it is our duty to be alwayes ready , not daring to live in a state of impenitency , yea , to give god and our selves no rest , till we have in some measure made our peace with him , through christ : looke as when we are enjoyned to pray continually , the meaning is , not that we should be alwayes upon our knees in the continued exercise of that duty , but that we should be frequent in the work , and have a minde disposed to pray upon all occasions ; so when we are enjoyned to be alwayes ready for death , it is not that we should be continually in the practise of those duties , which are proper for a dying man , but that we should every day set some time apart for those exercises , and alwayes be in a regenerate condition , having the graces of faith and repentance really wrought in our souls . by this time , i hope , you see what the duty is , which here our blessed lord calleth upon his disciples to perform , what remaineth , but that i now , after christs example , endeavour to presse the practise of it upon you : and indeed , so much the rather , because it is that wherein i feare the most of us are miserably deficient . it was tertullian's character of the christians in his time , that they were expeditum morti genus , a sort of people prepared for death , and that not onely naturall , but violent , and so in that sense which s. paul speaks of high concerning himselfe , when he tells his disconsolate friends that he was ready , not onely to be bound , but to die for the name of jesus , act. 21. 13. but alas , of how few christians in our dayes can this be truly said , and that in the lowest sense , the most being so farre from a readinesse to lay down their lives in suffering for christ , that they are not in a readinesse to meet christ , if he should come in an ordinary way to take away their lives . alexander cashiered that souldier , who had his weapons to sharpen when he was to goe to fight : but lord , how many christians ( in name ) have the worke of preparation to begin , when their lives are almost at an end , never thinking of doing good , till the opportunity of doing it be past . suppose , beloved , our lord christ should now come against this city , as he did once against hierusalem , to take vengeance on it and destroy it , in what an unprepared condition should he finde the greatest part of the inhabitants ? some sporting with their wantons , others burying themselves in their chests of gold , some quaffing in their riotous bowles , others belching out blasphemous oathes , the most wallowing in some wickednesse or other ? nay , to come nearer , suppose christ should come by death to any of us here present , this night , this evening , this houre , are we ready for him ? could we give up our accounts with joy , and look him in the face with comfort ? i feare the most of our consciences tell us we should not be able to doe it . receive then ( i beseech you ) a seasonable word of advice , and think ( for so indeed it is ) that what christ here saith to his disciples , he saith to all , bee you ready , and ( which should render this duty so much the more acceptable to us ) it wants not a therefore to enforce it , indeed there are many and those weighty motives , which may very well inferre the performance of this duty , as not onely usefull , but needfull to be done , and that at all times . for , consider 1. the son of man will certainly come at some houre or other ; bee you therefore ready . in other matters we provide for those things whereof we have at most but a probability , no certainty . the husbandman plougheth , and tilleth , and soweth his ground against the next yeare , when yet he is not sure to reap the fruit of his labour ; parents lay up riches , purchase lands , build houses for their children , though they are not sure they shall enjoy them ; shall we provide for what onely may be , or at most , is but likely to be , and take no care to prepare for what shall certainly be ? that rich man in the gospel might well be called a foole , when as he took so much care to build large barnes , and lay up goods in those barns as a provision for the uncertaine years of his life , but regarded not to make ready for his grave , which he knew to be certain , and proved to be so near . oh let not us incur this brand of folly by the like incogitancy . 2. at what houre the son of man will come , you cannot certainely know ; bee you therefore ready ; nay , alwayes ready . it is true , christ will come ; nay , he hath told us he will come ( no doubt for this reason ) that being praemoniti we may be praemuniti , having notice of , we may provide for it ; but when he will come he hath concealed from us ( and doubtlesse for this cause ) that we might alwayes stand upon our guard , and be ready for him . if thy enemy shall say to thee , at such a time , in such a place , i will meet you ; it were enough to be ready at that time ; but if he say , where , or whensoever i meet you , i will set upon you , it concerneth to be alwayes armed for him : such indeed is both the wisdome and goodnesse of our blessed lord , that he hath forewarned us of the thing , not of the time , that knowing he will come , and not knowing when , we may be continually prepared . it was the policy of julius caesar , never to acquaint his army before-hand with the time of their march , ut paratum , momentis omnibus , quò vellet , subito educeret , that they might be ready to march upon all occasions : such is the wise dealing of christ with us , and that for our good , not revealing to us the time of our death , that we may never be secure . and therefore ( to use aulus gellius his comparison ) as a fencer not knowing at what part of his body the antagonist will aime , composeth his body and holdeth his weapon , so as he may readily defend any part ; so must we , not knowing in what day of our life christ will come , so order our wayes , that we may be fitted whensoever he shall come unto us . 3. there is no houre of your life wherein you can assure your selves that the son of man will not come : indeed , as no place can exempt from death's approach , it may come to thee in the church , in the street , in the shop ; in the field , as well as in the bed ; so no time can priviledge from death's arrest , in the night as well as in the day , in youth and manhood , as well as old age , christ may send it to seize upon thee : hast thou not need then to be every where , and at all times prepared ? consider this ( oh vain man , whoever thou art ) that puttest off thy preparation in hope that christ will delay his visitation ; thou purposest to be ready when thou art old ; i , but what if christ come whilest yet thou art young ? thou promisest to prepare thy self to morrow ; but what if thou diest to day ? oh beware that thy promises beare not a date far longer than thy life . it is storied of ambitious archyas , that having by fraudulent and unjust courses , at length compassed the government of thebes ; he with his complices kept a riotous feast , in the midst of his intemperance a messenger cometh to him with a letter from a friend , importuning him speedily to peruse it , but he slighting the admonition , and putting it under his pillow , said , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} serious things to morrow , when as the thing , which the letter concerned ▪ was effected that night , to wit , deprivation at once , both of his life and dignity , by a combination of the citizens . this , this ( my brethren ) is , i feare , the dolefull case of too many who purposing to be serious and pious hereafter , are snatched away before that hereafter come . couldst thou , oh man , assure thy selfe ▪ the continuance of thy life for a day , a moneth , a yeare , thou mightest with more pretence of reason defer thy preparation so long ; but cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum , saith the heathen orator truly , who can assure himselfe he shall live till evening ? nay , who can justly promise to himselfe the next moment ? be not then so foolish , nay mad , nay bruitish , as ●o live an hour , a moment in the estate wherein thou wouldst be loath to dye . 4. that hour , in which men make least account , is commonly the time of the son of man's coming , be ye therefore ready . whilest the croc●dil being asleep openeth his mouth the indian rat getteth in and cateth up his bowells ; whilest the theban centinel was nodding , epaminondas came and thrust him thorow ; when men are secure in their sins , death stealeth upon them unawares . at what gate there is the least guard , smallest strength , the besieger maketh his onset , and endeavoureth entrance : oh feare , lest in that day death approach to thee , wherein thou art most regardlesse of death . 5. all the time alotted you before christs coming , is little enough for this great work ; be you therefore alwayes endeavouring to make your selves ready . tota vita discendum est vivere , said the philosopher , we scarce learne to live well in the whole space of our lives ; nay , totâ vitâ discendum est mori , saith the divine , our whole life is scarce sufficient to learne the art of dying well . were a short prayer , or a single sigh , a god forgive me , or lord have mercy upon me , a valid preparation for christs coming , the work were easie , and a little time might dispatch it ; but be not deceived , god is not mocked . this great work is not so facile a taske . doe but ask the servants of god , who have taken much paines , and spent many yeares in this work , and you shall hear them complain , that to this day , notwithstanding all their prayers , teares , fastings , watchings , and struglings , they finde themselves very unready for death ; and is it not a wretched presumption in any man , to think he can fit himselfe for death , as it were at an houres warning ? 6. when the son of man cometh , there will bo no opportunity for the doing of this work : be you therefore ready . likely it is , at the approach of death , many men w●ll be earnest suiters , in davids words , oh spare me a little , one moneth , one weeke longer ; but in vaine ; their request cannot be granted , nor the time delayd . very apt to this purpose is the story of s. gregory concerning ond chrysorius , a man as full of sin as he was of wealth , who on his dying bed , in a bitter agony of spirit , cryed out , inducias vel usque mane , inducias vel usque mane , truce but till the morning , stay but till to morrow ; but with these very words he breathed his last . christ may sometimes stay long before he cometh , but when he comes he will not stay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} — saith s. basil excellently , learne to be wise by the foolish virgins example , for whom the bridegroome being come , would not stay a moment , and onely they that were ready went in with him to the marriage . 7. your preparation for , will be no acceleration of christs coming ; and therefore be you ready . it is the fond conceit of many , that if they think of , and prepare for death , death will presently come to them ; upon which ground it is , that they put off the setting both their house and soule in order ; but let not vain feares beguile thee , thy death is not the nearer , but onely it will be the sweeter , graemeditati mali mollis ictus , the blow will not come the sooner , but it will be the easier ; nay , indeed , by being ready to die , thou art the fitter to live , and both thy life and thy death will be the more comfortable . 8. finally , the sonne of man's coming will be most dismall and exitiall to all unprepared persons ; be you therefore ready . s. chrysostom , upon these words conceiveth , that christ representing his coming under the resemblance of a thief , checketh our ●luggishness , who are less carefull to be ready against christs , than the housholders is against the thiefe's coming , whereas the housholder's danger is onely the loss of his goods , or money , or jewels , but ours of our precious souls : oh , my brethren , if christ , when he cometh by death , finde us unprepared , wo to us that we were born , our case will be like that of the foolish virgins , against whom the doore of heaven was shut , and no intreaty could prevaile for the opening of them ; nay , like that of the man , whom when the king came in , he found at the feast without a wedding garment , who was bound hand and foot , and cast into utter darknesse ; yea , like that of the evill servant in the end of this chapter , when his lord coming , cut asunder , and appointed him his portion with the hypocrites , there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . and oh that any , or all of these considerations , might awaken our security , and quicken our industry . this son of man hath been pleased to call upon us often for the performance of this duty : perhaps he will come to some of us before the next call : oh then , delay no longer , but be we ready whilest it is called to day , and whilest this day he vouchsafeth to call upon us . it was an excellent saying of an ancient , when his corrupt heart tempted him to procrastination , i will make use of the day to repent in , and leave the morrow to god , so do thou say , christ may come to morrow , i will be ready for him to day . thus let the remainder of out mortall life be a preparation for death , and then our death shall be a preparation of us for an immortall life . to close up all , with reference to this dolefull occasion , the interring of our diseased sisters corps . in respect of her deare friends , i may very well take up the latter part of this verse , in an houre when they thought not , the son of man came to her ; yea , even then , when they seem'd to hope and say , the bitterness of death is past , the danger of her child-bearing is over , death seized upon her : but though her dissolution was at this time unthought of by them , yet i have good reason to believe it was neither unlooked nor unprepared for by her , partly because as shee , many moneths before , knew what an hazardous condition she was to pass thorow ; so charity bids me hope that she made use of that time to provide for the worst , chiefly because her foregoing life , as to the general tenure of it was unblameable & vertuous , et illi mors improvisa , cujus vita f●it provida , even sodaine death cannot be a sad consequent , when a good life was the antecedent : her education , no doubt , was religious , being the daughter of a reverend minister , now with god , and her conversation every way corresponding to that education : much of her time she employed in the pious services of reading , meditation , and prayer , not neglecting the publique ordinances , those duties which belong'd to the relations in which god had set her , of a daughter , a wife , a mother , a mistress , sister , neighbour , friend , she did not more intelligently know , than conscienciously performe . in a word , like good mary , she chose that good part , whilest her adorning was not that outward adorning of plaiting the hair , wearing of gold , putting on of apparrell , ( in which she onely regarded decency , not affecting curiosity : ) but to use tertullian's allusions , sericum pietatis , byssinum sauctiatis , purpura pudicitiae , the fine linnen of purity , the silke of sanctity , the purple of modesty ; or to follow s. peter's expressions , the hidden man of the heart , and the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which as in the sight of god is of great price ; so it was the grace wherein she surpassed most of her sex . thus she both lived and dyed like a lamb , lived meekly , and dyed quietly , lived obediently ( in some measure ) to gods commands , and dyed submissively to gods decree . let not then her affectionate consort , and loving allyes , mourn over her grave inordinately : she dyed young indeed , but yet not before her time , because not before she was ready for death ; she was cut down betimes , but yet not before she was ripe for the harvest . rather then do you , nay let all of us here present , thinke with our selves ( to imitate s. peters words to sapphira ) that the feet of them which has brought her to her long home , are at the doore of our houses , to carry us out also , and therefore every one so to lead our lives , and order our conversations aright , that at what time soever christ shall by death approach unto us , his coming may not be unexpected to us , nor we unprepared for his coming . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a87089e-480 prov. 10 ▪ 7. * the building and endowing a free grammer school by , and writing-school in the town of lewisham , together with an annuall maintenance for 7. schollars to be sent from thence to the university . hebr. 6. 10. 2 tim. 4. 18. notes for div a87089e-1580 salust . bell. catilin . math. 16. 22. phil. 2. 6. mat. 26. ● . 27. 38. rom. 3. 4. john 10. 10. cass l. 6. c. 28. 1 thes. 52. 2. pet. 3. 10. cum inferre de be●et vi●ilare ●ontim ò id omi●it ne intolerabile quid praecipere videretur sed estote parati , ad significandum continuam vigilantiam esse paratam . avendan : in math. quod superius dix●rat {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} illud jam exponit per {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ille enim vere vigilat qui semper paratus est . gerard ▪ contin . 1st . gen. 1 thes. 5. ● . je● . 19. ●● . significatur inextectata & improvisa chald●●orum in jerusalem irrup●io ●● ▪ pot● qui n●● per portas , in quibu● sunt vigiles , fed per ●urorum foenestras clan ▪ culum instar furis irrumpant lapid in h●er . luke 21. 35. tanquā laqu●us ●cil . propter non apparentiam & impraemeditationem . eu●h . in ma●h. luke 21. 34. dan. 6. 5. acts 12. 23. job 21. 13. verse 38. psal. 30. 6. revel. 18. 21. isa. 47. 7 , 8 , 9. revel. 18. 9. luk. 12 ▪ 19 ▪ 20. ●ob 21. 23 , 24. eccles. 12. 3 , 4. sic mo●itur juvenis sic moribundus ama● . dices ●u qui ●● juvenis kondu●●●n●c●ui , noki ergo decip● , non d●●●●itur mors ce●to tempore aetatis , neque ●i●●t co● qui sunt in ipso fine ●tatis . g●●g nys●ad● ▪ e●s qui ciff . bapt. orat . bibl. patr. t. 9 ▪ ap●th●g● . nec dignus est in morte acc●p●re solatium qui s● non cogitavit esse moriturum . cypr. ep. 5 2. chrefol . mystagog . greg. naz. orat. 28. 2d . gen. revel. 3. 1● . j●b 1. 21. per primum prae●●pium jubemur c●hibere nos à malo & impedimenta removere : per sccundum excitamur ad bene operandum . tole● in luc. quid est lumbos ac incto● ? declina a malo : quid lu●●rnas ardentes habere , hoc est & fac bonum . aug. serm. 39. de verb . dom . succ●●gere debemus lumbos id est expediti esse ab impedimentis lasciviosae vi●ae & implicitae . tertul. contr. marc. l. 4. 29. ut divinum illud moriendi exemplum nos admonere● , humanarum rerum contemptum & amaritudinem morti praeire debere ut consumma●i ad mortem obeundam esse videamur . velasq. in phil. c. 1. v. 21. annot. 3● . sen. epist. 26. lucernas ardentes habere , id est mentes a fide accensas & operibu● veri●atis relucentes . tertul. contr. marc. l. 4. c. 29. rev. 14. 13. isaiah 38. 3. luke 21. 36. job 14. 14. bas. hom 2● . job 39. 25. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , &c. theoph. in luc. tolet ibid. ho● diff●rt vitapraesens ab illa quam expectamus , quo●a● totum bonum futurae vitae consistit in hoc quod est recte illam incipe●e praes●ntis vitae bonum : è contra consisti● in rect● finiendo illam , &c. avend . in mat. cap. 24. greg. mag. brugens . in loc. qui rogat semper roge● , etsi non semper precatu● , paratum semper habeat precantis affectum . ambr. in ps. 118. serm. 19. tertul ●●de spectac . cap. 1. impii runquam didicerunt bona facere , nisi c●m jam non est tempus faciendi . o ▪ cast . multi domos aedifican● , cum tamen n●sciant an per unicum diem ea debeans colere , ad incertam vitam parantur , certam mortem non curantes . stella in lu● ▪ si inimicus tuus fic tibi minaretur in tali borá te expecto , sufficeret tibi usque ad illam horam quiescer● : tamen si sic dixisset observa me , nam ubicunque te inv●n●ro te totis viribus invadam ●am tunc nullum tibi qui●tis dabatur tempus avend . in math. aul. gell l. 13. c. 26. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . bas. hom 13. plurarch . in pelopid . ci● . de s●nect stultum in tali ●ta●u vivere in quo quis non aud●● mori . aug psal. 39. 13. greg dialog. l. 4. c. 38. bas. ●om . ●3 . math. 25. 10. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in loc. math. 25. 7. 22. 13. ver. 15. hodie poenitentiam ago , craft●num deo relinquo . apothegm . in bibl. pat . m. isaac col●e . luke 10. 4● . ● pet. 3. 3 , 4. acts 5. 9. a love-token for mourners teaching spiritual dumbness and submission under gods smarting rod : in two funeral sermons / by samuel fisher m.a., late preacher at brides london, now at thornton in cheshire ; unto which is added, an antidote against the fear of death, being the meditations of the same author in a time and place of great mortality. fisher, samuel, 1616 or 17-1681. 1655 approx. 157 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 125 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39578 wing f1059b estc r42024 23238613 ocm 23238613 109507 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39578) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 109507) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1700:44) a love-token for mourners teaching spiritual dumbness and submission under gods smarting rod : in two funeral sermons / by samuel fisher m.a., late preacher at brides london, now at thornton in cheshire ; unto which is added, an antidote against the fear of death, being the meditations of the same author in a time and place of great mortality. fisher, samuel, 1616 or 17-1681. [24], 225 p. printed by a.m. for t. underhill .., london : 1655. each part has special t.p. imperfect: tightly bound, with loss of print. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. spiritual submission -an antidote against the fear of death. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-02 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a love-token for mourners : teaching spiritual dumbness and submission under gods smarting rod. in two funeral sermons . by samuel fisher m. a. late preacher at brides london , now at thornton in cheshire . vnto which is added , an antidote against the fear of death , being the meditations of the same author in a time and place of great mortality . london , printed by a. m. for t. underhill at the anchor in pauls church-yard , 16●● ▪ spiritual submission : in two sermons : one at the funeral of m rs holgate , the other at the funeral of m rs baker . by samuel fisher . job 1. 21. the lord gave , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord. levit . 10. 3. and aaron held his peace . micah 7. 9. i will bear the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him . london , to my very loving and much respected friend m r william holgate citizen and haberdasher of london . s. f. wisheth humble submission to , and holy dependance upon god. sir , it pleased you upon the death of your dear consort , to make choice of me ( the most unworthy ) to preach at her funerall . my affections to you were strong obligations upon me , i was willing to perform any service within my compasse for her that was dead , from whom i enjoyed so many real respects when she was alive . i was debtor to you both for very much love , and therefore willing to serve you both in doing this last office for her , which was no other according to scripture language ) then your self ; when you engaged me to this work , my hands were full of troublesome businesse about my removal into the countrey , which though it did not take me off , yet did much indispose me for this service ; but being engaged , i laid aside ( as much as i could ) other thoughts , that i might be in my measure provided to offer something which might be sutable to the present occasion , and usefull to those that should be my auditors in that solemnity . i intended no more then the service of my master , and the benefit of the hearers by the bare preaching of a sermon . yet when it was done , whiles my affections were stirring , and before i cooled , i was drawn contrary to my former inclinations , to promise you the notes of what i had preached ▪ and since my promise , you have kept me warm with your letters , that i might not recede . i confess i judge my self of rashnes in that promise , and i have smarted for it ; for my own thoughts have been a press to me , before my notes come under the press for you . i know mine own nakednes , and have so much pride in me , that i can hardly be willing that others should have occasion to take notice of that nakednes . but it may be god may stirre up some faithfull friend to bestow some wholsome reproof upon me , and that may repair my loss by some real advantage . i am resolved to trust the lord. sir , what they were , when they were delivered , i have sent them to you without any new clothes . you have called for them earnestly , i have only crouded for time to transcribe them and now you have them much good may do you with them . they teach a very weighty lesson under the cross , viz. to be dumb , and not open the mouth , because of gods doing . a lesson for all that are trained up in the school of affliction , but especially directed to you at this time , that you may learn with humble silence to bear the smarting twigs of that rod which lies upon your back , in the loss of so great a comfort , by th● with-drawing of so sweet , so good a companion . i hope you have learned this lesson . something i think i saw before i left you , i shall be glad if yet they may contribute any thing further towards your help , and the satisfaction of those dear friends that were in near relation to he● that is with god , who in regard of the manner of her death , seemed more dis-satisfied , and therefore as they have need , so possibly they may gain some advantag● by the reading o● what they heard . a part of these notes were used at the funeral of another friend , the good wife , of a very good man that lives in the parish of brides . i present the whole that neither of you may complain of loss . my prayer shall be , that you , and all that read them , may reap some good fruit by them , that god may have the glory of an humble silent submission under the crosse , who hath so much dishonour by our sins that bring the crosse : and if this may be the issue of these poor , weak , unpolished lines , he that praies shall have occasion to adde praises , and thanksgivings for so rich a blessing to the god of his mercies . to whom , and to whose mercies , he commends you , who is your friend , that heartily desires to meet you and your dear consort in heaven s. f. to the reader . reader , thou hast me now in print , and it may be thou wonderest , and so do i. i beleeve thou didst not expect it , and i assure thee i did not intend it . my sunne is now drawing ●pace towards the west , yet till this time i never durst venture into so open an air , as now i must . i have not wanted strong provocations from the 〈◊〉 fretting pens of other men ( who have endangered my liberty , by traducing my doctrine , wresting my words , and charging me ( beyond what i ever thought ) with that which their own wicked hearts had forged , to appear before this in mine own vindication ; but believing a day of judgement , and knowing that god sits upon the throne judging right , i thought it as a more quiet , so a safer way to interest god in the quarrel , by committing my way to him , then to take up the bucklers to defend my self : and i found this advantage by my silence , though i did , yet god did not sit still , he raised up others to appear for truth , and for his poor servant , who having more honour , and greater abilities , have done that for both , which possibly through weaknesse might have suffered in my hands . i tell thee this to beget thy favourable opinion , that thou maist not think me over forward in this undertaking . this poor thing which is under thine eye , hath nothing of art to commend it to thee . the father himself is poor . but if thou be one exercised under affliction , desirous to know and do thy duty , canst imbrace truth naked , and love it for it self . if thou wilt bring an holy and humble heart to the reading of these lines , and wilt adde some fervent requests for gods blessing , possibly thou maist get some little g●od by the sober pains upon that which is here offered thee by a weak and worthless instrument , i take it for granted that thine is within the common lot , amongst those that are subject to affliction ; and if thou be afflicted , this duty is incumbent upon thee as well as me , to be dumb , and not open thy mouth under gods hand . now if thou be so perfectly learned in this lesson of holy ●ilence , and humble submission , and hast thy heart at that command , that thou canst presently silence any distempered motion in the springing of it , without any more ado . i perswade thee not to bestow either cost or pains upon this little piece , because it on●ly treats of that which it seems thou hast no need of , and indeed contains nothing in it of that subject , but what is plain and common . but if thou be as i am ( a man subject to like passions with other poor saints ) that hath need of all the helps that may be to keep down unruly affections , when god strikes hard , the rod smarts and the flesh bleeds . and let me adde , if thou be willing to learn at a petty school , i hope i may say thou maist finde that which may be worth as much as thy cost in buying , or pains in reading will amount to ; if thou do get any good by this poor traveller ( which is the passionate desire of the author ) bestow thy prayers upon him , that dares not send out this paper without prayers for it , and thee , viz. that there may be a blessing in it , and that thou maiest finde it , with which i leave thee , and desire to be , whiles i am thornton sept. 25. 1654. thine , desirous to offer up fervent prayers for thine everlasting good s. f. spirituall submission . psal. 39. 9. i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . this psalme ( as appears by the title ) had david for the subordinate author of it . him ( being a man to his heart ) he did imploy principally to be the holy ghosts penman to write this excellent piece of scripture , this book of psalms . it is directed to jeduthun who was one of the three praefects or masters of musick , appointed and ordered by david for the guiding of song in the house of the lord , 1 chron. 25. 1 , 6 , 7. it was penned in meeter , for it is ( mizmor of david ) a psalm of david which notes sermonem concisum , ab omni verborum , aut syllabarum superfluitate resectum , a short speech , that hath all superfluity of words or syllables lopped and pared off : nor is it only bound up by the measure and number of feet , quemadmodum poëtae carmina componunt , but by the number of syllables , that it may be rightly disposed and fit for song . at what time , and upon what occasion this psalm was written , is in the judgement of the learned very uncertain : those that venture farthest give us but their conjectures , and therefore i shall not follow them , unless they had a lanthorn . leaving suppositions , that it might referre to sauls persecution , to amnons incest , to absolons murther first , or treason after , or to any grievous sicknesse , occasioned by his g●ief upon any or all of these : it is certain david ( notwithstanding his love to god , and gods to him ) was exercised with ●ariety of great and sore troubles ; with afflictions repeated , and of long continuance : and to such a season wherein he was thus exercised , it appears by the scope and whole contexture of the song he doth referre . and further , it is as clear from the psalm it self , that those afflictions which carried his eye to them in the writing of this , were such , and filled with so much bitterness , that he had much ado to bridle his passion , nay though he did with strong resolutions as with a bridle or muzrole constrain his lips , yet by reason of the pressing weight of his sorrows , his passion like fire shut up , did eat out its way , and transport him beyond the limits of religious sobriety . this i look upon ( and therein i follow that great and sound expositor , who erres as seldom as most do in giving the sense of scripture , m r calvin ) as the principall scope of the psalm , to make known to the church of god , what david had the sad experience of , viz. the great strength and power of passion under the sharpnesse and bitternesse of affliction a . the psalm consists of two parts . the first exegeticall or narrative . the second eucticall or precative . a narration and a prayer take up the whole . in the former you have the prophets disease laid open . in the later , the means of cure , or remedy applied . that which he declares in the first part was , 1. that he was sensible of his passion , under the sense of his affliction , viz. that he had need of a bridle , when god used a spur . this is fairly implied , v. 1. 2. his resolution to keep under his passion , when he felt it began to stirre . i said i will take heed , i will keep my mouth as with a bridle , or mousell . or as the greek with a ward . as if he had said , i set down this constant resolut●on to mousell , and lock up my lips , that i might not give my tongue leave to break out into any impatient or unbeseeming speech , &c. by this is noted the untamednesse of the tongue , which must by force and watchfulnesse be restrained , or else will get out of doors , and kindle fire . 3. the successe of this resolution and his endeavours for a time , the suppression of his passionate distemper , v. 2. i was dumb , with silence i held my peace , &c. 4. the power and prevalency of his passion afterwards , dolor meus turbatus est , incaluit cor meum , in meditatione mea exarsit ignis , loquutus sum lingua ; my grief was stirred , my heart waxed hot within me , whiles i was musing the fire burned , i spake with my tongue . though david had with great constancy endeavoured to subdue and keep under the risings of his heart , yet he tels us , the fire was but smothered , not quenched , his passions were like fire suppressed , which makes its way by degrees , and then breaks out with greater violence . calvins note upon this is , by how much any man sets himself more diligently to bring his heart to obedience , and strives to be patient under his trials , by so much the more many times is he vexed with his passions ; and he gives the reason , because in such a case satan puts forth his utmost , to oppose him in his honest endeavours , who in the mean time lets them alone , and doth not trouble them , whom he findes senselesse and careless under the hand of god. he addes an incouraging perswasive to those that are troubled with such inordinate inflammations , to remember david least we faint in our mindes , and the experience of our weakness should betray our hopes . in the verses following he gives an account of the language which he uttered , when his passions got vent , to v. 7. which though they carry truth in them , and are an excellent description of the vanity of mans life , yet as they were uttered , and timed , do clearly argue by the context that he was transported vitioso excessu . and therefore saith my former author , non sine stomacho & indignatione dicit , notum fac mihi iehovah finem meum , &c. it was not without stomack and passion that he saith , lord make me to know mine end . in the later part you have the way of davids cure , or the means by which his soul was reduced to a quiet temper : 1. hope in god , v. 7. 2. prayer to god , v. 8. 3. the serious consideration of gods hand in the evils which he suffered ; by which he doth correct himself for the breakings out of his passion before . as if he had said , oh my soul , dost thou consider from whom thy afflictions come , that thou thus complainest ? thou hast to deal with god , not with man ; what dost thou mean thus to lift up thy self ? god hath done it , and wilt thou call him to account ? this was of admirable use to stop his mouth , to call in his heat , to temper his passion , i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . nihil ad compescendos doloris impetus aptius est quam ubi nobis in mentem venit , non cum homine mortali , sed cum deo esse negotium . and thus i have brought you to my text , which is conveyed into davids prayer , the second part of the psalm . the sense is plain , and therefore i will not seek a knot in a bu●rush : when david saith a obmutui , i was dumb , a word that signifies to binde , as well as to be mute and dumb , because those that are dumb , whether by a naturall necessity , b as were divers of those whom christ cured , c or by a divine restraint , as the prophet ezekiel was ; or by a rationall , voluntary choice , as was this prophet david both at this d and at other times ; they are as it were tongue-tied , they have their lips stitcht and bound up ; either they have not a faculty to use , or they do not use the faculty they have . thus bound up was our prophet in the present case . according to his purpose in the beginning of the psalm , he had now got on his mousell , whereby his lips were kept shut , and he restrained from speaking : and the meaning reacheth no further , but to his patient and humble silence under gods dispensation of the crosse , viz. that upon the serious and well-weighed consideration of gods hand in the affliction , and smarting rods upon his back , he laid a law upon his tongue that he might not then sin against god , when gods hand was upon him for his sin . now without any more travell about this little spot , i shall make some observation upon these words , and carry them home in application , that if god please we may come to reap something of our seed . and whereas it appears both by the context , and the generall scope of the psalm , that david found a work on it , to get and keep his heart in a quiet , silent frame : we shall in the entrance offer this consideration , that the dear servants of god do finde a great businesse on it , and have much ado to keep under inordinate passions , when god keeps them under sore afflictions , puts them upon sharp trials . the weaknesses of the most eminent saints do offer themselves for proof of this . moses though he were as even spun as most upon earth , yet he made some snarles : he shewed that he ●ould be provoked , if you reade numb . 11. ad 16. you will finde moses himself too snappish with god , wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant , &c. i shall leave you to look upon eliah , 1 king. 19. 4. job , job 3. 20 , 21 , 22 , 23. & 6. 8 , 9. & 7. 15 , 16. the prophet jeremiah , jer. 20. 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. david , psal. 73. 2 , 3. jonah , jon. 4. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 8 , 9. rachel , gen. 30. 1. these were eminent saints , yet they could not alwaies keep the fire in the chimny , even these were sometimes in danger of being scoreht and burnt by their own passions : and no wonder , for 1. they were men , not angels , grace doth not change the beings of creatures . 2. the most eminent saints upon earth have passions , and are in some measure subject to them , james 5. 17. 3. there is something of corruption in all the saints passions ; their faculties are but in part renewed : though something of inordinate affection be mortified , yet there is something more to be mortified , col. 3. 5. 4. passions are quickly moved , easily stirred up , they have a great deal of gun-powder in them , and you know one spark will blow up a whole barrell of that , oh how quickly did jonah catch fire , jonah 4. 5. the saint is not alwayes at home ; the regenerate part doth not ever play its part , as one active and in arms to keep down the risings of those malapert quick-silver inmates of the soul which will lie down no longer then they are kept down ; where was the saint think you when jonah told god to his face , he did well to be angry , jon. 4. when jeremiah cursed the day of his birth , jer. 20. both grace and reason too have their sleeping times in the saints . 6. the enemy ( and that is the devil ) doth watch to get advantage , and when there is occasion he puts on and provokes exceedingly to unhinge the soul , to work disorder , job 1. 11. besides , knowing his advantage , how weak , how foolish , how bruitish passion makes us , psa. 73. 22. and how prepared for temptation , he restlestly useth all his art to bring the soul into this rout and confusion . 7. when the passions are broke loose and have got the reins it is a hard matter even for grace it self to quiet and charm them again , if out of these chains they will not be commanded ; it is as easie to quench fire in the thatch as to lay passion in the soul ; both job and david found it so . to prevent mistakes , and to help your understanding take these rules with this point . 1. though good men have their passions , yet they are not wholly under the power of their passions , in part they are renewed though but in part , gal. 5. 24 2. the passions of good men are none of their vertues ; though the men be good , it is no part of their goodnesse to have their affections inordinate , but sinful in them as well as in others , and more scandalous then in others ; the better the man the worse the fact , when he moves irregularly , psa. 73. 22. job 42. 3. the stronger any mans passions are , and the more inordinate , the lesse he hath of a saint in him , ecci . 7. 9. the more of a beast , psa. 73 4. the more holy any man is , the more ashamed , the more weary , the more humbled for the inordinatenesse of his passions , the more resolved , the more watchfull against them , that he be not● brought under their power , psal. 73. 22. job 42. 6. psal. 39. 1 , 2. 5. it is most unbeseeming and unworthy of a saint to be often and ordinarily transported with inordinate passions . not only in fore and breaking afflictions to be moved to unquietnesse , but upon lesse , trivial , and but supposed occasions , to put off the man to dispossesse the soul of reason and patience , is most unworthy . to improve this , take these consectaries by way of information . it follows , 1. if the godly in affliction be subject to passion , and can hardly keep them down , no wonder if other men utterly destitute of grace do grow drunk and mad with passion in their affliction ; though they cannot be excused , there is no better to be expected ; their passions are ridden without bridles ; what wonder is it to see saul in a passion ? 1 sam. 20. 29 , 30. when david a thousand times the better man is scarce himself , 1 sam. 25. 13 , 21 , 22. 2. godly men , yea , those that are got highest mus● have their grains and allowances , though they be good mettall yet they have some drosse , and they want something of their weight . perfection is not to be looked for in any saint on this side heaven , paul tels us he pressed after it , but he tels us also that he did not reach it , phil. 3. 12 , 13 , 14. 3. though you take liberty to judge the weakness of a saint , and do call passion when it is inordinate an evil ( for so it is ) yet you ought not presently to censure and conclude the man to be evil , because in affliction thou seest him abused by his passion . there is bitternesse in affliction ( which i might have named as a reason ) and no wonder if the bitternesse of the crosse do draw out the bitternesse of the patient . if you see a man under his passion you see him in an ill time to make a judgement upon him , who would have thought jonah to have been a saint that should have seen no more of him then in his passion ? jonah 4. 4. there is no ground for any man to pride himself or to be lift up , because of his graces , as if in case of aff●iction he would not shew so much weaknesse , passion , impatience , as he sees some others doe ; it may be you would not , and it is good to resolve against it ; but yet do not say you will not , lest your pride betray you , and you be 〈◊〉 to your own weaknesse whatever you may think● you will do like other men unlesse denying your selves you get the present supply of the spirit of christ , phil 1. peter resolved as well a● thou canst doe in another case , mat. 26. 35. and david in this ( i hope you will own them for saints ) and yet both failed , let him that thinks he stands , rom. 11. 19 , 20. however i will neither hear nor beleeve any man that boasts of himself till i see him in such a condition ; he doth not● know himself , nor can another man know him till he come to trial . 5. they are eminent saints , and the grace of god shines eminently in them , who under sore and griping sorrows and afflictions , do yet possesse their souls in patience , have their spirits kept quiet and undistracted . it is a glorious sight ( and the name of god is exalted by it ) to see a childe of god , keep his ground , and st●●d unshaken when the windes are high , and the rough billows beat upon him . i had the happinesse to see such a sight , ( and i blesse god i saw it with wonder and thankfulnesse ) in that blessed and renowned rock and pillar of the church m r whitaker , in whom patience had the conquest over the most breaking torments that i have known lying upon any saint in this age. as of job , so it may well be said of him in after-times , have you not heard of th● patience of whitaker ? how illustrious did this grace of god make this saint of god ? how glorious was god himself in that grace which was given to this saint , by which he stood so invincibly in his sharp encounters ? 1. when you see a man that fear● god under affliction , especially if his afflictions be great , unusual , doubled , of long continuance , put on your bowels , and go to your prayers ; be they what they will , ( though the excellent upon earth ) you cannot miss your mark ; if they be men , and on this side heaven , they may have need of them , and will thank you for them ; pity them , they have not only afflictions to bear , but passions to subdue , by reason of those afflictions , job 6. 1. to the 14 th ver . pray for them that they may be holden up by god , not lose their patience , whiles they bear their crosse , but have their spiri●s sweetly calmed and meekned to submit to god● ch●stisements , not to make god suffer by their murmurings ; this is a charitable work ; thou dost that man wrong whom thou thinkest so strong , so patient , as not to need thy prayers , and therefore sparest them upon that account . 2. learn to know your selves , that you are men and women , subject to like passions with other of your fellows . and therefore though you are naturally of meek and quiet spirits , and by grace made more impassionate , yet do not flatter your selves ; you know not what your afflictions may be , what temptations may be joyned with your afflictions , and how both these may work upon your disposition , and draw out your passion . 1. be holily jealous o● your selves , afraid least you should miscarry , walk humbly in the sense of your own weaknesse ; those children have fewest fals that are most afraid of them . consider moses , david , job , jeremiah , and do not presume . 2. follow god earnestly before afflictions come , that you may be armed , and prepared for them when they come . make davids prayer your own , psalm 17. 5. 3. study the evil of being brought under your passions , and of discovering that weakness in affliction , wherein gods honour , religions credit , your own peace and comfort are like to suffer so much . 4. make it your daily exercise to bridle these colts● , to be mortifying your inordinate passions before-hand . the sooner you begin with them , the better able you will be to rule them : inure them to subjection when they appear in their weakest motions ; and when you have broken them , and used them to the yoke , you will be lesse troubled with them . this must be your work , colos. 3. 5. 5. acquaint your selves with the promises ; improve faith upon them , and lay them up against the day of affliction and temptation , job 5. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , &c. isa. 43. 1 , 2. rom. 8. the promises will feed your faith , and your faith will strengthen your souls . another point that i must salute by the way , as implied , is , whatsoever afflictions or chastisements do lie upon the saints , god is the author of them . though it be of our deserving , it is of god● doing , thou didst it , job 1. 21. hos. 6. 1. this is true , 1. whatsoever the affliction is in its kinde , and whereever it toucheth , whether outward or inward , whether upon the body or soul , or name , or state , or family , it is the hand of god , amos 3. 6. 2 sam. 16. 11. isa. 45. 7. hos. 6. 1. 2. whatsoever it is in circumstance , for the season , measure , manner , duration , instruments imployed about it , and the manner of their acting , yet the thing is of the lord ; satan cannot touch job , unlesse god first stretch forth his hand against him , job 1. 11. to clear this , consider 1. that all the evils of affliction , were fore-laid in the eternal and wise counsel of god ; gods counsel is comprehensive of all events , isa. 14. 24 , 25 , 26. & 23. 8 , 9. jer. 4. 28 , 29. 2. the commission which is issued out in time , for the execution of the counsel , is signed under his own hand . he that hath taken up the purpose , sees to the accomplishment ; when the date is expired the counsell works : my counsell shall stand , isaiah 46. 10. 3. in his providence , he doth direct , and order the execution to its end , jer. 47. 6 , 7. object . how can it be said to be gods doing , when it comes not immediately from him , but instraments are imployed about it , and the instrument acts crookedly , and layes the foundation of my affliction in his own wickednesse ? for example , some of davids domestique afflictions , were a tamars deflouring by amnon , b the death of amnon by absolom ; incest and murther are committed to make up davids crosse ; shall this be said to be of gods doing ? answ. those affliction● , wherein wicked men are instrumen●s , and wherein the instrument acts most crookedly ( as afflictions ) are of gods doing notwithstanding . he himself owns all the evil of affliction , as the author of it , amos 3. 6. isa. 45. 7. and therefore we offer no injury to his holinesse , when we ascribe it to him . job made no scruple to say , when sabeans and caldeans had plundered him of his substance ( which was theft in them ) that the lord had taken , job 1. understand therefore , 1. that the affliction or punishment , under which any man suffers , is to be distinguished from the sin of the instruments that are used about the affliction ▪ the sinne is theirs tha● commit it , the affliction is gods , though god makes use of an instrument to execute his purpose in the chastisement of his childe , yet he puts no vitiosity into the instrument that he makes use of . evil instruments act crookedly , out of their own stock . 2. god is a free and unlimited agent ; he may use what instrument he will to serve his own purpose ; and may suffer the instrument to use its freedom about the doing of his work , to bring about his end by the instrument , as he did in the crucifying of christ , acts 2. 23. god is not , cannot be the author of sinne ; but it must ever be acknowledged , that he is , and cannot but be , the orderer and disposer of it , 1 king. 22. 22 , 23 , 24. it is his pleasure to suffer sin to be in the world , and whiles it is in the world it is not strange , if he order the sinne of a wicked man , to correct and punish the sins of good men , as is clear in the case between david and his children , if you look but one chapter back , 2 sam. 12. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. 3. though men cannot make use of other mens sins , to bring about their ends without defiling themselves ; ( and therefore he that doth not hinder is said to command , rightly understood ) yet god can , and doth , by the sinnes of the worst men , and contrary to their intentions , work out his own glory , and his peoples good , without the least touch of pollution to himself , the least impeachment to his honour , holinesse , and justice , exodus 9. 12. and 17. these things considered , viz. that god is not the authour of the instruments sinne , but the wise orderer of it , and that he hath skill , and doth order the sins of men , in punishing his people to serve his own glory , and their good , we need not be afraid to say , that god is the authour of the affliction whatsoever it is , where men that are the instruments in the affliction , are authors of the sin . i shall apply this briefly . it follows , as in job 5. 6. that afflictions spring not out of the dust , neither do they come by ●hance ; which way soever they come , the most high god hath a hand in them . 2. it is folly much to eye the instrument in afflictions , in cases where instruments are used . the instrument is but gods rod , psal. 17 13 , 14. and could not act , if it were not let out , and ordered by the principal agent . 3. whatever the affliction is that we are any of us exercised with , it is duty to look up above the instrument ( i. e. ) to see the hand of god which guides the instrument , to own him in it , to fall down before him , to hear what he speaks , and observe him carefully in all that befals us . thus did david in this text , and in the case of shime● , 2 sam. 16. 10. and so job , job 1. well were it if we could all do so , both in reference to the general and publick ●alamities upon the nation ; and in relation to our domestick and personal trials . we are apt to dwell too much upon the second causes , and neglect the first . 4. it sheweth us whether to go for the moderating , removing , bearing , sanctifying of our affliction ( i. e. ) to him whose hand is stretched out against us in the affliction . our way is to god by repentance , hos. 6. 1. & 14. and humble prayer , hos. 14. 1 , 2. thus god teacheth , ps. 50. and the saints have learned , ps. 116. 3 , 4. 5. you may see upon whom you must trust , in the presence and use of all means , when you are under affliction . you may make use of physicians , estates , friends , other creatures to help . it is duty to use them , and mercy to have them . but you must trust in none for your help in affliction , but in him that hath the command of the affliction . it was as●'s sinne to trust in the physician , 2 chron. 16. 12. it is the rich mans to trust in his wealth , pro. 10. 15. none of these can help without god ; he that breaks must binde up ; he that smites must heal . if god be the authour of the affliction , it is too hard a work for any creature without god , to be the author of the cure. 6. you may by this judge whether you must carry the glory , and to whom you must pay the tribute , for moderating , removing , sanctifying your afflictions ; sure it must be to him that is both the author of the affliction , and of this grace also , to moderate , remove , or sanctifie . in all our afflictions , we may take notice of something of mercy . and whatever we can take notice of in this kinde , it is gods work that is the author of the affliction : and if the mercy be hi● , let not another have the glory , nor let him want it that so well deserve●● our afflictions , whatsoever they be , are not so great , so long , so sharp , so mischievous , as god could make them : and if he cut off any thing of the time or measure , we have reason to acknowledge him , lam. 3. 22. ezr. 9. 3. 7. it is the great happinesse of good men , that god is the authour of affliction , though men that are wicked are sometimes imployed as instruments about them : though the instrument be an enemy , and would devour and make an end , exodus 15. yet he that is the author , is a father , revel . 3. 19. psal. 103. a●d they may assure themselves , that the authour will not resign up his soveraignty to the instrument ; it shall not be as wicked men would have it , psal. 76. 10. nor is it possible that the afflictions of the saints should hurt them , because it is god that inflicts and orders them , revel . 2. 10. isa. 27. 7 , 8. despair not therefore because of instruments , men , devils , because of their number , power , rage , subtilty , vigilancy ; they are all bu● instruments ; god hat● the managing of all , the command of all ; he 〈◊〉 able to rate his dogs , to call them off , and tie them up when he will. this is ● comfortable consideration to the church and to every saint in their greatest tria●● when to sense they are ready to sink , viz. that they are in gods hands ; he that raiseth the winde●● lyeth himself in the ship that is tossed , can rebuke their noise with his word , when they are too high to hear any body else . 8. let wicked men consider under whose hands they lie , when affliction comes upon them , when they are sick , impoverished , ●amed , defamed , when they suffer in their bodies , names , estates , families , &c. it is god that doth all this ; and therefore if they do not acknowledge him , humble themselves under his mighty hand , turn from iniquity , make friendship with him , he is able to double and treble what they now feel , and if that will not serve , can make them feel that which they will not now beleeve , can crush , consume , and d●mn them at the last , heb. 10. 31. luk. 12. 5. i come now to the main 〈◊〉 , and that which was first in mine eye . that this consideration in any affliction , ( viz. that god hath done it ) hath sufficient reason in it , and may be of irresistible efficacy , to stop his mouth , and make him dumb who labours under the affliction , if he make ● right improvement of it , job 1. 20 , 21. & 2. 10. i do not mean that th●● consideration should make a man , especially a christian 1. a stoick , to be void of sense , or of the stirring of his affections under gods hand ; duty doth not destroy nature , grace doth rather perfect , the● annihilate . it cannot be that a sensible creature should be void of sense , when it is under suffering● which is most the object of sense : there is pain , ● burthen , evil in affliction , heb. 12. 11. and therefore there must needs be sense ; no man shall ever be charged by god for feeling of his burthen , if he neither faint , nor fret under what he feels . 2. much lesse can we be supposed to mean that affliction should make him a fool ( i. e. ) the wise mans fool , one that hardens himself under his crosse , and doth not lay to heart that which befals him , that carries it so , as if there were nothing to be done by him ; when he suffers under the hand of god ; this is charged upon the jews , as an aggravated sinne , isaiah 42. 25. we grant therefore , that it is a sinne for any man in his affliction , 1. not to take notice of the hand of god in affliction ; affliction springs not out of the dust . they are gods pursevants , and he would have us know they are his , and that when we are arrested , it is at his suit , we are in his hands , and at his mercy● god is contemned in our affliction , if he be not owned . 2. not to be affected with our sinn● , the cause of our sorrow , is to adde more sinne to our sorrow , and the way to increase our sorrow by the addition of our sinne ; that which every affliction speaks most plainly in ordinary , is the sin of the patient , lam. 3. 39. david understood this quickly when he had numbred the people . and this god would have us all to understand , he sends afflictions on purpose to tell us of our sins . 3. nor yet can this dumbnesse intend that w● should not be afflicted in our affliction , either not to mourn for our sin , the cause of gods disple●sure , or for gods displeasure the effect of our sinne ; this were to sinne again , and to sinne more . god looks that when he ro●rs we should tremble ; when he strikes , that we should stoop ; when his hand is lifted up , that our hearts should be humbled , and cast down . as our sinnes provoke god to judgment , he expects his judgements should bring us to repentance . this is the voice of the rod to repent , to return to god. if we do not this , we open his mouth to complain , after we have made him stretch out his hand to correct . one of these is enough . 4. lastly , it cannot admit of this of all others , that either david did , or that we should shut ou● mouths , to restrain our prayers . not to pray to god in our affliction is so farre from being our duty , that it receives a check from nature to neglect it . the very heathens in their afflictions do betake themselves to their idol-gods ; we shall be shamed by them , if in like case we pray not to the true god ; afflictions are to make dumb men speak in this sense , not to make speaking men dumb , to abstain from prayer . god will take it very ill from any man , if he strike , and they do not pray . qu. but what then is the meaning ? answ. the meaning of the point is this , that if any thing , this consideration ( of gods doing ) will be effectuall to make men dumb , to mousel their mouths , as vers . 1 ( viz. ) to restrain them from distempered hea●●s , from passionate distempers . he that considers that he hath to do with god in his affliction , may easily see he should have nothing to do with passion in his affliction . david saw this , and endeavoured it , v. 1. but more particularly this consideration ( god hath done it ) should and will where it is rightly improved keep a man , 1. from complaining at his condition , or at the measure he hath from the hands of god. a christian hath no ground for complaint , when he is under any affliction , though it be sharp and long . be it what it will , yet lam. 3. 39. why doth a living man complain ? the holy ghost insinuates , that a living man hath no room for complaint . if he will complain , he must bring it home to himself , and discharge god. if he say , god hath done it ; he stops his own mouth ; therefore he should not complain , especially since he hath gods answer , a man for his sin . though god have done it , sinne hath caused it . so much as there is of complaint reflecting upon god , in our afflictions , so much is wanting of submission to god , by that complaint . this consideration is good to cut off complaining , a thing that we are all apt to do when we have little cause . 2. if it will keep a man from complaining , which hath something of discontent in it , it will much lesse admit of disputing and reasoning with god , which hath too much of pride and sawcinesse in it . mans reason cannot finde a flaw in gods working ; nor will he suffer it , that when he hath done man should dispute . it is his duty to believe that which is above his reason . he must not argue with god , because he cannot finde gods reason in his dispensations , rom. 9. 20. nay , but o man , who art thou that repliest against god ? you may perhaps finde some good men that have ventured upon this in their affliction , but it was when passion had got the upper hand of patience ; job , that went farre , did not dispute so long as his eye was kept clear upon this consideration , job 1. 21 , 22. and what he did afterwards , upon temptation , and the stirring of corruption , he was ashamed of it , when he had done . humble expostulations , god hath sometimes allowed , and the saints practised , when it hath been to expresse the vehemency of holy desires : but carnall reasonings , and proud disputes , the expressions of discontent and maintenance of a quarrel , have no place against gods providence , god hath done it , if it be improved , will take off any man from chopping logick with god. 3. if it have enough to keep a man from complaining and disputing , it cannot want any thing to keep him from fretting and murmuring at his affliction . shall dust and ashes be angry with his maker ? or man that is a worm suffer his bloud to heat , his passions to boyl up , if he consider that god hath done it ? suppose an affliction be sharp and long , instruments used about it , be wicked , unjust , cruell , yet if he consider , that he hath to do with god , and that it is god that hath to do with him , that it is god that appoints and orders his affliction , with all its adjuncts and circumstances , he will see little reason to give vent to his passions , because of the bitterness of his afflictions . it is weaknesse to be angry with the instrument : ( yea though it act crookedly , and voluntarily ) but it is madnesse to be angry and tetchy with god , that orders and guides the instrument to serve his purpose . foolish man that sufferest thy self to be fired with thy cross , dost thou know at whom thou murmurest and repinest ? sure thou neither knowest against whom thou quarrellest , nor what he is , nor what thou art , nor what thou dost ; if thou didst , thou wouldst leap into the water to cool thy self for fear , lest god should smoke with his nostrils , cause the fire of his jealousie to break forth , and turn thy flames of lust into the flames of hell . we reade of one good man that once plaid the beast in this kinde , but it lies as a brand of infamy upon him , jonah 4. 1 , 8 , 9. he stands in the text as a pillar of salt , ●or other men to be ashamed , and take heed of such folly . when thou art under affliction , do but seriously consider , it is gods doing , and i hope thou wilt be afraid to say , thou dost well to be angry . i suppose this doctrine cannot want reason to convince any man that hath reason ; it self is reason , and such as a heathen ( by his natural light ) would sit down and submit unto ; for nature it self teacheth , that , what a god doth , cannot admit of that creatures contradiction , that doth acknowledge subjection to such a deity . reason will not suffer a man to make his dealings with his fellow creatures , even with himself , a measure for his dealings with god , that stands so much above him . but let us see what use may be made of this doctrine . and it follows from hence , 1. that one of the main and capitall reasons of the non-submission , impatience and discontent of men , under the discipline of the rod , is the non-consideration , or want of the effectuall improvement of this consideration , that their afflictions are ordered and disposed by god , that what is their suffering is gods doing . there is a great deal of weaknesse and sinfull folly discovered in the afflicted state of the children of men : and to speak truth the godly themselves have not been all , nor alwaies clear in this matter . 1. sometimes we finde some of them sullen and dogged under their afflictions , and because they could not be free from trouble , therefore in a fit they would die before their time . some think this psalm points at such a mood as this in the prophet that wrote it . but you are sure to finde jonah in such a fit , jonah 4. 8. 2. sometimes full of complaint under their burthens , was ever sorrow like my sorrow ? lam. 1. 12. sometimes the kinde of the affliction doth not please them , otherwhiles the season that god takes , suites not with them . again , the smart , bitternes , length , measure , manner of gods dealing is matter of complaint , one thing or other , we are apt to finde fault with in gods dispensation , rather then set the saddle upon the right horse ( i. e. ) to finde fault with our own provocation . 3. sometimes they accuse god , and accuse him falsly , as if he dealt hardly and unjustly with them , as if because he doth chastise them , therefore he did not love them , or were become their enemy , because he doth not indulge their folly . 4. sometimes you may finde them in the schools , they will question gods dispensations towards them . if they must suffer they will dispute it , and know the reason why . nay , they will climb up to the bench , and call god to the bar , to give an account of his dealing . and thus in a sort they make themselves the gods , and god the creature . such a thing is in it , though me● do not think on it . 5. some men in their affl●ction , cast off their dependance , and will wait no longer , 2 kings 6. 33. they are in haste , and if god will not help them , they will try somewhere else : a witch , a devil , any one shall be the physician if he will dispatch the cure sooner then god doth . 6. sometimes they fall to fretting , they fume and chafe , and storm , and rage , and fling , as if they would break all in peeces , and play the samsons , to knap in sunder the cords wherewith god bindes them ; not that they can do any thing , but to shew that they are mad , and must be bound . 7. sometimes they despond under their afflictions , and cast off their confidence , as if they doubted of the accomplishment of the promise , because hope is deferred , and they have not that in their hand● which they have in their eyes . 8. sometimes they have so little wit , as with the dog to lie biting of the stone ; i mean , to flie upon the instruments , which god useth in afflicting them . they will not seem to quarrell with god , but they will pick an hundred quarrels with the rod that is in his hand . it is easie to interpret their meaning . 9. sometimes non-submission , is expressed by excessive and immoderate mourning under their affliction . and thus it is with some ( especially in the losse of near friends and relations ) though they say little , yet they grieve much , their eyes speak a great deal more then their tongues . but it is all one as if they did speak with their tongues , god understands it ; where there is too much of grief , there is something of discontent . he doth not submit aright to the hand of god , that suffers himself to be overwhelmed with sorrow under gods hand . the apostle supposeth such a thing as this . 10. sometimes it is expressed unhappily by the neglect or giving over duty , and so it hath been sometimes in pure contempt , mal. 3. 14. sometimes upon surprisal . sometimes in passion , jer. 20. 8 , 9. but what ever is the rise of it , the thing is nought . now whence all this , and all the rest that breaks forth into a seab in mens carriages under affliction ? is it not hence , that men do not in their affliction consider that they are u●der the hand of god , that all that which they are discontent at , and quarrel with , is gods doing ? undoubtedly it is from hence , at least this bears a part . if there were more of the one , there should be lesse of the other , lesse passion if more serious consideration of this truth : i appeal to any conscientious christian , whether when they have lashed out into any passionate discontents by reason of their sufferings , they do not finde upon reflection , that this consideration hath lien asleep , at lest hath not been throughly improved ; he that sayes he doth seriously consider this , and yet findes his heart to rise and quarrell with god , says also that his heart is above measure proud and stout against god. doubtlesse this is one , and a prevailing ground of the distempers that are in the soul , for the afflictions that are upon the man , not considering that god hath done it . 2. hence it will follow , that none but a gracious heart can carry it with holy submission , quietly , and without distemper under affliction , especially when afflictions are sharp and pinching : and the reason is , because none but a gracious heart can make a right improvement of this consideration . where there is not a distinct knowledge of god , of his attributes , of his ends , and the fear of god to make the heart stand in awe of him ; it is not possible this consideration should work up to such an effect , as appeared in the prophet in this place . i doubt not but a heathen might be convinced of the reasonablenesse of this , that what is done by his god , should not be contradicted by himself ; but it must be a higher principle that must enable him to practise , to make such an improvement of his consideration , that it may balance his spirit , and keep it even . there must be something more then reason , to keep under the boylings of passion , when a man is scorched and pained with his affliction . this is an excellent reason indeed to balance the spirit of a man : but if there be not grace to husband and advance this reason , the pot will boyl over notwithstanding . and this is a main reason of the different carriage between a godly man and a wicked man in time of affliction , i mean , when each of them acts like himself , and as such . take a godly man , and a wicked man , and suppose their afflictions equall , yet you shall ordinarily see a deal of difference in the temper , and behaviour of the men , in reference to their afflictions . as the men differ so their carriage . as they differ in their principles , so you shall finde them in their practice . the one stoops , is quiet , dumb , silent , acknowledgeth the hand of god , and blesseth him , job 1. 20 , 21 , levit. 10. 3. 1 sam. 3. 18. the other frets ; is impatient , discontent , cannot endure the yoke , and therefore labours to shake it off , will do any thing , though never so unlawful , to get his leg out of the stocks . job 2. 9. you have a veryful instance in saul , 1 sam. 28. 5 , 6 , 7. there is in ordinary abundance of difference between good and bad men in the carrying of the crosse ; and if it be examined , this will be found to have an influence upon the better side , viz. the help of this consideration , that god hath done it , and grace to improve it . object . if it be said , some wicked men lie as quietly under affliction , as any men , not expressing any thing of impatience . answ. there may be something like patience , and submission to the hand of god , discovered in a wicked man under affliction , which if examined , is but a counterfeit ; they are silent sometimes out of 1. a stoical apathy . 2. or from natural courage . 3. sometimes out of meerfullennesse . 4. or from some impressions of conscience working servile fear , or something else like these , but none of these , no nor all of them together do amount to that which we now treat of , viz. an holy , humble , silent submission under affliction● , wrought out by the gracious improvement of gods hand in the affliction that lies upon them . object . but you give us some instances of very holy men , who under affliction have seemed to carry it as frowardly , and have expressed as much passion as the worst . ans. it must be confest , and this doth so much the more confirm the assertion and inference , that where grace is ●●nting , an holy submission to gods hand ( as the hand of god ) must needs be wanting . it is hardly done where there is grace , and therefore where it is not , it is not to be expected ; know then 1. that the judgements of those that are gracious ones are right for this , that when god strikes , they should be dumb and silent . they own it as good to do so , though sometime they do not the good they own . 2. it is in their scope to be that in performance , which they are in conscience , to practise as they judge . every gracious heart resolves to keep the commandments of god , psal. 119. 115. and because the command reacheth their tongues , therefore to bridle their lips when gods rod is upon their backs , v. 1. i said i will. 3. it is in their endeavour , as well as in their purpose ; they know it to be their duty , and as duty they set upon what they know , v. ● . i was dumb , i held my peace . they are fruitlesse and vain purposes that are not seconded with some endeavours . job , though surprized afterward , held in to a miracle the first and second bouts that satan had with him , job 1 : 21 , 22. & 2. 10. 4. but the best of the saints that is here in a bearing condition hath flesh in him as well as spirit . and hence it is , that the worser part is sometimes the stronger by the advantage of temptation , and then passion gets the upperhand of patience , as otherwhiles patience doth of passion . a christian is but in the fight , not come to a perfect conquest , 1 cor. 9. 26. and whiles he is in fight , it may be his unhappinesse to have his affections routed till he rally again . he is sure he shall have the victory at the last , but not sure that he shall get that victory without wounds . it is thus with the most eminent saints , often down and up again , as i have instanced . and therefore it can hardly be expected of any that he should be altogether , and at all times so impassionate , as he is at some . 5. if he be overcome , and do speak unadvisedly with his lips , or manifest impatience under the rod , there is this to say for him to witnesse him a saint , to distinguish him from a fool . 1. that he doth it not easily , much lesse upon choise . it is usually upon surprisal , temptation , or in desertion , when he is not himself , when he hath not his arms about him , his graces ready . job was beaten out of his possession , job 3. 2. but it was upon very strong assaults . 2. when he hath lost any ground to the enemy , he is ashamed that the enemy hath got it , and he hath lost it . it is not usual with him to justifie himself in his folly , as jonah seemed to do , before he cooled , jonah 4. but to mourn for what he cannot help , and to abhorre himself for what he hath done against his god. 3. though he fall yet he doth not lie , he gets up again ; he never rests till he have recovered his losses , till his wounds be cured . thus david in this psalm . and when he is up , he watcheth more narrowly , and fights the next bout● , better then he did the last . 3. now it might be proper for us to examine our selves what we have been , and what we have done , when we have been under affliction . there is no question but we have all tasted of sorrow more or lesse , in one kinde or other , in our bodies , names , estates , relations , &c. it is common to all , man is born to trouble , job 5. 7. but it is a very great question , whether we have been like david in our afflictions ? whether we have been dumb , and not opened our mouths ? or if we have , whether it have been upon this consideration , because god hath done it ? few can say they have been silent , but fewer , that it hath been upon this ground ; let us look into both . 1. have you been silent : can you say ? 1. that you have used no impatient complaints under affliction , as if your sorrow had never been fellowed , nor any suffered as you have done . it is very ordinary , especially under pinching crosses , for a man to aggravate his own sufferings , to think his own greatest , because he doth not know what other men feel in theirs . but certainly too much complaining argues too little patience , lam. 3. to complain excessively , to aggravate our griefs , is not to be dumb . it is a sign we feel sinne too little , when we complain of smart so much . 2. have you not sometimes accused god , as dealing too severely with you . if not in words , yet will conscience clear you for your thoughts , that you have not condemned god , as too hard a master . thinking is speaking with god ; if we have entertained such thoughts , and not shut them out when they have offered themselves , we have not been dumb . 3. have you never in the confidence of your own logick , challenged god to a dispute , enquiring of him a reason of his matters , as if he should not chastize his creature , ●nlesse first he should give his creature an account why he doth chastize . this i beleeve is more ordinary , then is ordinarily thought of . i have known some that have ●sed strange boldnesse with god in this kinde . but that man that will have a reason from god of his dispensations towards him , discovers plainly enough , that he is at present outed of his own . if they did either know themselves what vermine they are , or did acknowledge god in the greatnesse of his soveraignty , they would quickly give that proud humour an answer with rebuke . 4. when you have been under affliction , have you used no indirect means to come to the end of your affliction , before your affliction hath had its end on you ? when god hath put you into the prison , have you staid there , till his discharge hath been your warrant ? oh how many good men miscarry in this case , using false keys to open the doors , or bribing the keepers to connive at an escape before they have obtained a d●scharge ! some in our times have ventured the breaking of their necks , the wounding of their consciences , to be ●ased of their chains . most of us are too basty , and by our pract●ce speak the language of that wicked king of israel in the siege of samaria . 5. have you not in despondence cast away your confidence , and laid aside your hopes , as if because god doth sometimes deferre , therefore he would deny , and that you should never have deliverance , because it comes not just when you look for it . it is too ordinary in our afflictions , to give way to dejection , and so to make our yokes heavjer while they are on , because god is not pleased so soon as we would have him to take them off , what is the language ? i shall perish , i shall be undone , i shall never break over this affl●ction , this will make an end of me , there is no hopes , this is not the voice of a faith , but of discontent . thou art not pleased with gods dispensation , and therefore through unbelief wilt forestall his compassion . 6. though you durst not seem to make many words with god when you have been in affliction , yet can you say , you have let the instrument passe so quietly , as it should have done , because an instrument in gods hand . this bewrayes many a mans impatiency and discontent , that though he sayes nothing to god , yet he speaks a great deal too much to the rod that god useth . few men will let him that curseth him passe , as david did shimei , 2 sam. 16. 10. nay rather we say , what god sayes , say not ( prov. 20. 22. ) say not thou , i will recompense evil . let god say what he will , we many of us take liberty to say , and do what we list , to requite what we call our injuries upon the instrument : but he deceives himself who thinks he is silent towards god , while he vents his passion against the rod that god layes upon his back ; god will interpret we mean him by our quarrelling with his messengers . 7. have you moderated your passions , and not suffered the flouds to overflow the banks ? when afflictions have been sharp , and perhaps renewed , have you not suffered your selves to be drowned with sorrow , and your spirits to be overwhelmed ? sometimes we suffer our sorrows to eat up all our comforts , and because we cannot enjoy what we would , therefore will not take the benefit of what we have . this is not dumbnesse , but discontent . it is peevishnesse in a childe , because he hath been whipped for his fault , to refuse his meat . certainly if we give way to immoderate sorrow in our afflictions , so as to refuse to eat our bread , to serve our relations , to neglect our duties either to god or man , in our silence we speak a language , which god understands to be impatient . to sorrow without hope , is to sorrow without submission . so much for bare silence , but we have another search to make . quest. whether we have been silent upon this ground , because whatever be the affliction , it hath god for the authour , it is of his doing . answ. sometimes men are dumb and silent under affliction , out of pure ignorance , they do not understand , are not sensible of the evil that lies upon them , and the reason why they do not complain , is because they do not understand : and this is not , because its gods doing . 2. sometimes men are silent , because they are sullen , they restrain speech , not to restrain passion , but to gratifie pride , because they will enjoy an humour , not because they will expresse their patience . this is not upon the ground in the text , because its gods doing . 3. some men are silent out of a stoicall apathy , because they think they ought not to be moved with any thing that befals them , that it is altogether below a man that hath reason , to be affected with passion in any case , either to rejoyce in any good , or to mourn for any evil . this is stoicism , not christian silence , much lesse upon this ground , because god hath done it . 4. there may be silence out of a naturall astorgy , as being in a great measure without natural affections . though it be not common , nor in the power of any man , by the strength of reason wholly to enervate , and lay asleep his affections , according to the stoical dream , yet it is natural to some men to be in a great measure without naturall affection , very unapt to be stirred or moved with any changes that do befall them : yet this is not grace , but a naturall indisposition to sense any thing with vehemency of affection : one man burieth a wife , and the burial of the wife is almost the death of the husband . he feels himself half dead , because the companion of his life is dead which was one half of himself . i do not excuse this . another buries a wife , and scarc● knows what he buries ( i. e. ) is so little affected with it , that one would think he buried that which he never loved . this is a judgement , not a vertue . 5. there may be silence out of a naturall courage , raised by the study of morality . in morals there are vertues called magnanimity , fortitude , to which are opposed cowardize , pusillanimity , weaknesse of spirit . the vertues are seen in undertaking great difficulties without recoyling , bearing great trials without shrinking . now some men bear their burthens with a seeming invinciblenesse ( i. e. ) they bear them with so much courage , that he that looks on would think they did not bear them . the setting of a joynt , the dismembring of their bodies , the ripping up of the flesh , seems as little to them as to another ; the opening of a vein , the pulling out of a tooth ; and what is all this ? christian patience , holy submission , no , it may be nothing but natural stoutnesse , heightned by principles of morality , because it speaks fortitude and magnanimity to bear great things without the appearance of great passion . 6. it may possibly be upon strong convictions of sinne , and the workings of a naturall conscience , labouring under guilt , and the fear of some greater evil . he that is in the hands of an enemy , though he have , and do suffer much by him , yet is silent under his present sufferings , because he knows he is still liable to worse , that he that hath plundred his pockets , and given him a cut in the arm , hath power when he will to let him bloud in the throat , or in the heart , and therefore he concludes it is best to take that patiently , that is done , lest he bring some greater mischief upon himself by his impatiency . thus i believe it is with some natural men , when god layes his hand upon them by some smarting affliction , conscience flies in their faces , tels them now they are in the hands of an enemy , that he that hath arrested them is he , that they have sinned against by oaths , perjuries , drunkennesse , whoredom , bloud , oppression ; that he that punisheth with sicknesse , losses , &c. is able to punish with flames ; that now his body is not onely in danger of death , but his soul of hell. this alarm from conscience makes him lie still : he dares not complain of his present burthen , because h● sees he is within the reach of that which is a thousand times worse . quest. but what then will argue our silence upon this consideration that god hath done it ? answ. 1. when the heart is sensible , that in the affliction it hath to do with god , and is more awed with the thoughts of him that is the author of the affliction , then with the affliction it self , of which he is the author . thus it was certainly with job , the lord giveth , and the lord hath taken away . it is a very ill sign when only pain , sicknesse , losse ▪ &c. do break our spirits , but he that sends them is not considered . it is better a great deal to remember the authour , though we should forget the affliction , then to be affected with the affliction , and forget the author . 2. if it be because god hath done it , then the soul will be free to condemn it self , and justifie god in all his dispensations . the sanctified soul knows that god can do nothing but that which is righteous towards his creature , and therefore it must needs justifie him in that which he doth . and this justifying of god in his affliction , is an argument that his eye is upon him whom he justifies , and that he sees it were an unreasonable thing to quarrel with him for the doing of that which he cannot but clear him for in his own conscience , when it is done . 3. he that hath his heart quieted , and his mouth stopped , upon this ground , because god hath done it , will upon the same ground labour to be quiet , though his burthen encrease , because he hath the same reason lying still before him . the encreasing , multiplying , lengthening of afflictions is from the same hand . he is as really the authour of the weight and measure , as of the kinde and substance of any affliction . indeed if this consideration be laid aside , there may be a change . it cannot be expected of any plaister that it should operate , except it be applied . 4. he that is silent upon this consideration , will not make haste out of his affliction . he knows the wise god can do nothing without an end , and therefore he will be contented to wait upon god till he have accomplished his end in afflicting him . because it is physick from the most skilfull physician , therefore he will submit to the judgment of his physician , how long to continue in that course . and because god delights not in afflicting , but strikes with bowels , he concludes , that so much the longer his course , so much the greater his benefit . 5. he that is quiet upon this ground , will upon the same ground , as well blesse god in his affliction , as submit to his afflicting hand . as you see it in job , the lord hath given , and the lord hath taken , blessed be the name of the lord. he eyed god both in his safety and sufferings . he saw both coming from the same hand , and therefore were both worthy of the same acknowledgment . since it was god that afflicted him , he must needs be thankfull , for he knew god could doe nothing but what was worthy of praise . 6. if it be because god hath done it , then you will not hear of any thing from any other hand that should raise up any prejudice in you against god : your souls will abhorre any of these suggestions from whomsoever they come , that shall seem to cast any blemish upon him , or tend to work the least discontent in you . when jobs wife ( stirred up by the devil no question ) came to stirre up discontent in him against god , dost thou still retain thine integrity ? curse god and die : observe with what indignation he makes his return to her ; thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh . and whence was it that he fetcht this sharp arrow , but from this quiver , what , shall we receive good at the hands of god , and shall we not receive evil ( i. e. ) from the same hands ? as if he should have said ; woman , my afflictions come from god , as well as my mercies , and wouldst thou have me blesse him for mercies , and quarrel with him for afflictions ? thou speakest foolishly . 7. if it be this consideration that works to keep you quiet in affliction , then this will make you humble your selves under gods mighty hand , that he may lift you ●p . the same consideration that makes you silent , will make you humble , will put you upon it to search and try your wayes , lam. 3. 40. to enquire into the cause of gods displeasure , and return to him that s●ites , hos. 6. 1. & 14. 1 , 2. and since you have made a breach by sinne , to be restlesse till you have made your peace by repentance . this will put you upon it to seek god● face by supplication , which seems at present to be clouded from you by affliction . and that faith which sends you to prayer in your affliction , will also comfort you by the promise in that affliction : because he that bids you pray hath promised to hear , and given assurance , that if we answer the rod , he will burn the rod , and answer our prayers . now let a word of exhortation be suffered and accepted . i beseech you let us labour each of us for such a frame of spirit , as david with much striving attained to ( i. e. ) in all afflictions to sit down quietly , to be dumb , and not open our mouths , because god hath done it ; whatsoever be the affliction , let this be the practise . and now let it be yours , that are at present called to this exercise . for this end consider 1. it is the will of god it should be so ; when he strikes , he would have his people submit , not quarrel or dispute , luk. 21. 19. iam. 4. 7 , 10. 2. the best saints , when they have been themselves , and not outed their possession , have done so . aaron , leviticus 10. 3. eli , 1 sam. 3. 18. hezekiah , 2 king. 20. 19. job , job 1. 21. david , in this psalm , & psal. 38. 13. the church , micah 7. 9. the best saints are best examples . 3. when they have been overtaken with passion , they have been ashamed of their weaknesse ; we must not think to scape better then our betters . shame and repentance is the best that comes of passion and frowardnesse . and this ( as good as it is ) were better prevented then born . 4. there is all the reason in the world for our silence under affliction , because we create all our own grief ; we sin before god-strikes : shall he that challengeth the field complain of his wounds ? and if we sinne against god , shall we not be dumb when god afflicts us for our sin ? shall we provoke god by sinne , and yet quarrell with god , when we have provoked him ? learn of the church rather , i will bear , &c. 5. it is very honourable for a christian , and a pious thing to be silent and quiet under gods hand . god sets a crown upon jobs head for this , and forgets his passion , because he had been acquainted with his patience , james 5. 11. job stands upon record for his submission . 6. it speeds well in the issue . no man loseth by sparing his passion . jobs patience begat a very good end to all jobs trials , jam. 5. 11. reade the story , and it will make you in love with patience , willing to wear a mousel , that you may get such provender , 1. this is the way to get good by an affliction . if the plaister lie on it will work the better ; they commonly do best that keep closest to the physicians rules . 2. it is a good way to pacifie god when he is angry . if we be quiet under gods hand , we shall sooner make him quiet when his hand is upon us . the childes crying addes to the mothers anger . 3. it s the way to get out of the stock● , god puts us in to humble us , and break our stomacks ; and if we be humbled and broken , god hath his end ; and when he hath his end , he will make an end . 7. besides that it is a very unworthy , brutish , wicked thing , to strive , to quarrel , to dispute with god , psal. 73. job 2. 10. so it is a bootlesse and a fruitlesse thing , there is nothing to be got by it . no man could ever wrangle god out of his way , till he did leave them as men that were perditae spei , isa. 1. 5. 1. it is a sign of a great deal of pride . it can be nothing below this that makes a man ●hamper with god , wriggle in the yoke . 2. it renders the physick ineffectuall ; physick cannot work , because it doth not stay . and this is bad enough to lose a cure. 3. by impatiency god is provoked to come again , and to give harder blows , because we do not couch at lesse . he must either cure us , or kill us . a physician that hath an unruly patient , useth more force . a master that hath a sturdy scholar , useth more stripes . this will god do , levit. 26. 27 , 28. what did jonah get by his passion ? consider the words of the apostle , 1 cor. 10. 22. do ye provoke god to anger ? are ye stronger then he ? who ever hardened himself against god , and prospered ? now one of the most approved wayes to bring the heart to a quiet , silent frame , is that which this text and doctrine offers , viz. this consideration , that god hath done it . and therefore to make it serviceable to its end , turn it and winde it in your thoughts : say thus , whatever my affliction is , god hath done it . and if god have done it , first , he hath done it , that might do it . god that hath done it is lord of the creature . and may not he dispose of the creature that he is lord of ? he that made heaven and earth according to his will , may not he doe what he will in heaven and earth ? this divinity the heathen emperor had learned in his affliction , and what he had learned himself , he preacheth to us , dan. 4. 34 , 35. he doth according to his will in the army of heaven , and among the inhabitants of the earth . this is the doctrine . and it is the doctrine of gods soveraignty , his dominion is an everlasting dominion , and his kingdome from generation to generation , and he doth what he will , vers . 34. but what is the use ? it is that which i am now urging , therefore he cannot be resisted ; therefore he may not be questioned . so it follows , and none can stay his hand . none can force him to retreat , or say to him , what doest thou ? i. e. call him to an account , for his providential dispensation . this is excellent in reference to our times , and to publick transactions . the potsherds of the earth may strive and quarrel one with another , but woe to him that striveth with his maker . shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it , what makest thou ? we are all the work of his hands , psa. 100. and shall he be denied that liberty which his creatures have , to dispose of his own work ? no , from hence we must argue thus , he is lord of the creature , therefore he may chastise his creature . and by his soveraignty he is entituled to this liberty , 1. to pick out whom he will. all his creatures are equally under his dominion . he is as much lord over kings and potentates , by what names soever called , as over peasants and potsherds . those that deny it may be sent to grasse , and then they will learn it : though whiles they flourish in their kingdoms , they will scarce own it . if any man that is afflicted say , why me rather then another ? answer thy self , why not thee as well as any ? since thou art as much gods creature , as much under his soveraignty as any other . he is as free to deal with a nebuchadnezzar , dan. 4. 〈◊〉 with a lazarus . 2. as to pick out whom he will , so to chasten and whip us with what rod he will. all afflictions are in his own choise , whether this or that . the creature that comes under discipline , must not prescribe to him that is his lord. for the most part we are most discontent with the present , and are ready to say , if it had been any thing else we could have born it . but this is nothing but pride , that we may not be our own carvers . the truth is , he that hath not learned to bear any thing that god inflicts , hath yet learned to bear nothing e● nomine , because god inflicts it : a quatenus adomne . 3. to come when he will , and to stay his own time . gods soveraignty knows no limits , but what himself puts . he is at as much liberty to take his own time , as to choose his own rod. we are apt to think , such an affliction came very unseasonably , and carried too long . but we forget under whose hands we are . it should satisfie us under any affliction , that the time when it comes , and the time which it lasts is gods time . he that did choose the man , and his crosse , hath also chosen the opportunity to afflict the man by his crosse. to finde fault with the time or length of affliction , is to finde fault with the soveraignty of god , & his liberty to afflict . this is one consideration by which the doctrine is improved . he hath done it that may do what he will● , will it not follow , that i must be silent towards him that doth it ? secondly , improve it thus , it is of the lord , the lord hath given , the lord hath taken ; why the lord is debtor to no man , hath no dependance on any , can be beholden to none ; we have our whole dependance upon god for all we are , for all we have , but he hath none upon us . he was , and was infinitely happy in himself before there were any other beings besides his own . and he would be happy in himself , though there were no being but his own . the being of the creature shews forth something of his excellency that made it , but addes nothing to the perfection of his being . a man cannot be profitable to his maker , as he may be to his neighbour . if we be good , it is to our selves ; and if we be bad we cannot hurt him . argue thus therefore , god hath laid his hand upon my body by sicknesse , my health is impaired , my life endangered : if i quarrel , dispute , complain , or grow sullen ; with whom is it that i am angry ? with god ? why is god a debtor unto me ? of his goodnesse he hath preserved my health so long . i have enjoyed many comfortable dayes . but is he bound , because he hath done it to continue his course so long as i please ? and not to please himself when he will , by changing of his course ? what have i done , or what could i do to oblige him to that which he hath done for me ? and if he have done it of his own will without an obligation , shall i quarrel with him , if at length it please him not to do , that which he was never bound to do when he did it ? this consideration will teach thee and me to be thankfull , that we have had so many dayes of health , which were given of grace , not to wrangle at sicknesse when it comes , or lies upon us , it may be for his end , to let us know that god is no debtor to us . in like manner when the affliction is upon you in your relations , say you be afflicted in a husband , a wife , a childe , a parent , a brother , a friend , a comp●nion . suppose any of these is sick , weak , lame , melancholly , or distracted ; 〈◊〉 suppose god makes a breach by taking away any of these relations . put the case how you will , suppose the affliction never so pinching , and to the quick by reason of the circumstances that doe aggravate , as that you have lost the best father , the best mother , the best husband , the best wife , the best friend , the best companion ( we are apt to indulge our selves , and to think our comforts were best when we have lost them , though it may be scarce content with them when we had them . ) but suppose it really so ; oh this stirs up passion ! you can hardly be ●ilent under such afflictions ; now you complain , was ever any sorrow like my sorrow ? did ever any woman lose such a husband , so kinde , so pitifull , so bountifull , so helpfull to soul and body ? did ever any paren● lose such a childe , so 〈◊〉 , so dutifull , so graci●●● , as i have done ? and so on . admit this : but i pray who hath done 〈◊〉 ? who hath laid 〈…〉 them , and taken 〈◊〉 your comfort in them , or taken them away , 〈◊〉 thereby deprived your expectations 〈…〉 you will say , 〈…〉 done it , and with job , the lord hath 〈◊〉 , job 1. well , and 〈◊〉 you quarrel with him , or not be silent under his hand ? will you complain , murmur , dispute , or pine away with sorrow , for what god hath done ? you had them , and they were so good . i pray you who gave them or made them such to you ? you might have had worse , and been crossed in them , as much as you were blessed , were they not the gifts and blessings of god ? did god give them , and are you not content that you have had them so long 〈◊〉 he was pleased to spar● them ? were they so good to you , and are they too good for god ? did he dispense with his right to let you enjoy them , though they were his ? and will not you dispense with y●ur supposed right to let him enjoy them after you have used them ? who would lend a neighbour any utensill , that for the use would alienate the property , and not let the owner have it to serve his turn , because he was so good to his neighbour to lend it to serve his use ? we deal thus with god. it is a wonder he will lend us any thing . but i have not quite done my expostulation ; could you challenge it of debt to have such relations ? and yet would you have god bound to perpetuate your relations , during your pleasure , when you cannot challenge them ? must god have dependance on us ? or shall we quit our dependance on him ? shall not he that is a free agent have liberty to act freely ? must he that gives us such good blessings be made our debtour by the blessings which he gives ? oh be silent ! he hath taken away thy relations , who was not bound to continue thy relations . be thankfull that they were so good , and thine so long . 〈◊〉 not imp●tient towards god , that they are now taken from thee , and they can be thine no longer . you have had them longer then you could challenge them . take heed of challenging god , because you could no longer keep them . thirdly , think thus with your selves , i am in such an affliction , but god hath done it , surely it must needs be done with infinite wisdome and caution , which he doth . he is the wise god , his vnderstanding is i●finite , all his workes are done in judgement . it is not possible that ●ither ignorance or rashnesse should befall his work . physicians cannot say , that all their rules are certain , much lesse that they act according to certain rules . the causes of diseases , as to this or that particular subject , are often hid from them , and therefore they are necessitated to make their applications by conjecture rather then science . they have no windows to look into the bodies of men , and therefore are subject to mistakes about mens bodies , and the diseases incident to them . but there is no such thing befals god. ignorance and error are incompatible with his nature and glory . he can as well not be , as ●e can erre in any of his wayes . when he doth afflict his children , he doth it as a physician , and he never misseth in the physick which he gives . he knows all things , and there is nothing hid from him . all causes , effects , symptoms , operations , circumstances of things , are open before him . he knows by immediate vision , not by discourse , much less by report . 1. whereever he layes an affliction , he knows the man , and knows him exactly to whom he administers . he that hath made all men , cannot but know all men that he hath made . he perfectly knows every mans temper , whether sweet or sour , hard or soft , easily to be wrought upon , or more rugged and harsh , apt to make resistance , or ductile and flexible . he knows what is in man , and needs not any one should shew him what he is , john 2. 24. and he knows mans need , as well as his temper , what will serve to answer his necessity according to his temper . 2. as he knows the man , so he knows the disease , whether it be a disease in the head , or a disease in the heart . physicians many times mistake in this , they cannot alwayes finde out the disease , and therefore sometimes they fall short of the cure ; yea sometimes in stead of curing , kill the patient , and that when they do their best . but god knowes perfectly what every man or woman are sick of , to whom he administers , yea though the diseases lie lurking , and be never so subtil , they cannot be too subtil for him . all our sinnes are before him , and none of them hid from his sight . he is able to set them in order , though they lie on heaps , and seem to be shuffled together . the heart lies as naked before him , as the body and outward man , 1 chron. 28. 9. revel . 2. 23. whether it be secret pride , or hypocrisie , or unbelief , or envy , or self-love , or an evil thought , he knows it as fully as if it were drunkennesse , swearing , murther , evil speaking , adultery . he never mistakes to pun●sh any man for a sinne that he is not guilty of , 3. he knows the remedy exactly , and what is the best wa● of cu●e for every disease . physicians many times differ about the way of curing diseases , even where their judgements accord about the diseases themselves , and their causes ; one thinks such a way best ; another is of another mind . doctors do differ . but now god doth know , and know absolutely , and unerringly , what is the most proper way that is to be taken with every disease in relati●n to each partilar subject ; whether they be tumours and tympanies , the swellings of pride and vain-glory , which david and hezekiah seemed to be sick of ; or p●lsies and shakings of carnal fear , the disease of the disciples . or of the stone , viz. hardnesse of heart , and that brawninesse which makes men insensible of ●inne , or the sad effects of it , which the isra●lites are charged with . or a lethargick distemper of spiritual security , which makes men carelesse about their spiritual condition , and by which they are in danger to die sleeping , as sardis was . whatever the disease is , god knows the best way for cure , whether purging , vomiting , bloud-●etting , bathing , sweating , exe●cise . he is never to seek for a remedy su●able to the disease ; nor doth he ever make any application that is not proper to the disease to which it is applied . so revel . 2. 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 , 16. and revel . 3. 15 , 19 , 17 , 18 , 19. if the disease be not cured it is not because of any mistake in the physician , nor any defect in the means , but usually from the disorder of the patient , that either doth not use , or misuse the means . 4. he is exact in the knowledge of the nature of every potion , and its operation . he knows to a draghme , to a scruple , what quantity may serve to work to such an height as may fit both the quality of the disease , and the temper of the subject : by reason of his perfect judgement , he alwayes keep● to a just measu●e in all his administrations without either excesse or defect , isa. 27. 8. & 28. 27. though he makes use of instruments , yet he never suffers any instrument to act without a rule , and in order . he himself governs the instrument that he acts by , revel . 2. 10. job 1. 12. & 2. 6. it is not indeed alwayes to every one the same measure and proportion , but it is alwayes a just measure and proportion to every one . he never laid upon any man in his chastisements more then was meet . 5. he knows the season exactly , as well when physick is to be administred , as what physick . that c●nnot be done without danger of life at one time , which in the proper se●son is the best way for the saving of it . he is a wise man that knows seasons . the missing of an hour is sometimes the losing of a cure , the losing of a life . it is ordinary for physicians to complain of their patients for coming too late . now god never stayes our coming . he knows , if he should never administer to us , till we come to him ; he might lose his childe by the neglect of a potion . and therefore in the fit season he prescribes his physick , though we come not for it . never any man suffered prejudice in his affliction , by gods mistaking the season of his affliction . as for all other things , so for the discipline of the soul , gods time is alwayes the best . whether he purge or bleed , he knows , and doth it with the opportunity . oh now make use of this consideration when you are under affliction , would you be dumb and silent under gods hand ? see what an argument is here , to stop your mouths , god hath done it , the wise god hath done it , he that is infinite in wisdom , and with whom is counsel & judgment he hath done it , and he hath done it with judgement : shall we question whether that 〈◊〉 well done , or quarrell with it when it is done , which hath had wisdome it self to manage and order it in every circumstance in the doing of it ? if when we are afflicted , we think the affliction might have been spared , or some other had been more sutable , a lesser measure might have served , or it might better have come at another time , we play the fools . do you know who hath done it ? do you know that god hath done it ? and is there any wiser then god ? shall the creature become wise , and direct his maker ? who hath given him counsel , or of whom hath he learned understanding ? he hath seen folly in his angels , and dost thou think to set up thy wisdom ? can there be a better way , or a fitter●season then wisdom it self hath found out ? oh let all flesh be silent before the lord , because he hath done it , that could not err in what he doth ! we never shew our selves more fools , then when we pick quarrels with gods wisdom . fourthly , improve it thus . whatsoever the affliction is , god hath done it , and if god have done it there can be no room for complaint , because he hath done it , who in whatsoever he doth with me , can do me no wrong in what he doth . he is the judge of all the world , and shall not he do right ? he is righteousnesse it self , and cannot do iniquity . this is one of those glorious attributes which speak his essence , viz. his righteousnesse , psal. 7. 9. & 116. 5. jer. 12. 1. psal. 145. 17. as he cannot clear the guilty , nor be advocate for impenitent sinners , exo. 34. so he cannot condemn the innocent , gen. 18. he is sometimes very angry and severe in his dispensations with the children of men , but never unjust . that severity which he used towards the old world in drowning it , gen. 7. 10 , 11 , 21. towards s●dome in burning it , gen. ●9 24 , 25. towards corah and his confede●ates in doing that new thing , to make the ground open its mouth to take vengeance upon their rebellion , num. 16. 30 , 31 , 32. was very dreadfull , but exceeding holy and equal . nay , his proceedings towar●● his own , his beloved ones ( which hath been the so●est temptation ) viz. the afflictions of such as jacob , ioseph , job , david , rachel , hannah , ruth , with all the rest that are mentioned in sacred writ ; instances , that are able to match any case that fals out in the saints sufferings now , whether outward or inward . i say these , though they were very sharp , yet were never chargeable with injustice . when jeremiah had a minde to plead with god about his providentiall dispensations , he is forced to make this concession to usher in his plea , righteous art thou , o lord , jer. 12. 1. there i● no case in the world like jesus christs to ground ● plea upon ; he was absolutely free from sinne in his own person , 1 pet. 2. 22 , 23. and yet he was deepest in the sufferings that lay upon his person , isa. 53. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. and yet this case will not bear a plea against gods justice . and if the hand of god could be stretched out in such a manner as it was against christ , isa. 53. matth. 26. & 27. without any impeachment to his justice ; what shall we say when we come under his hand in any of those chastisements that are laid upon us ? nothing can be unjust which is inflicted upon us , since all was justice which was laid upon christ. and how shall we think it just , that christ should suffer for others , who had no sinne of his own , and not be dumb , who have so much sin of our own , to justifie gods proceedings in our sufferings ? let us therefore argue our selves into quietnes , with this consideration , that he that hath afflicted us , hath not wronged us ; he hath done it , who doth all in righteousness . 1. he knows how to do justice exactly ; for ( as we said before ) his understanding is infinite . 1. he knows the offender , and knows him perfectly , with whom he enters into judgement , hos. 5. 3. 2. he knows the offence , what is the ground of the controversie , and why he enters into judgement with his creature , hos. 5. 3. & 4. 1 , 2. ps. 50. 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. 3. he knows all the rules of justice , and how to proportion and apply the rule to the quality of the offence ▪ and to the necessity of the offender ▪ he is judge and law-giver , isa. 33. 22. and can you suppose that he that is so absolutely knowing in the course of justice , should doe me , or you injustice , contrary to his knowledge ? earthly judges even through ignorance , do mistake in applying the rule , but god cannot . 2. but secondly , he is upright as well as knowing ; earthly judges some of them understand well e●nough , but there is another thing which makes them erre from the rule , and that is corruption . they are many times men of evil consciences , which will take a byas , to draw them aside from the golden rule , 1 〈◊〉 8. 3. and hence it is that judgement is perve●ted , that the innocen● 〈◊〉 , and the guilty many times acquitted , isa. 10. 1 , 2. amos 5. 12. but now god hath nothing in him either of corruption or defect . his righteousnesse is without mixture , 1. he hath all righteousnesse in him . 2. he hath no unrighousnesse in him . 3. nor any thing that might subject him to alteration . there are no contrary principles in god. there are no qualities nor passions in him . he hath neither covetousnesse nor revenge . he hath neither a bleered eye , nor a crooked arm . he is not capable of being flattered with rewards , because all is his own , psal. 50. 9 , 10 , 11. nor of being feared with greatnesse , because all are but worms besides himself . he is righteous , and he loves righteousnesse : and no unrighteousnes shall dwell with him , much lesse come from him . and is not this a silencing consideration , under any affliction , that the affliction is righteous , and he is righteous that hath measured ou● the affliction ? god hath done it , who shall implead him ? job 34. 17. shall he that hateth right govern ? or will you condemn him that is most just ? surely he will not lay upon man mo●e then is right , that he should ent●r into judgement with god , ● . 2. 3. it would be very tedious to enlarge all , more briefly therefore think fifthly , if god have done it , he that is almighty hath done it ; one that can do whatsoever he will , and therefore it is best to submit . it is to no purpose for us to struggle with him , unlesse we were stronger . it is the apostles question , 2 cor. 10. 21. do you provoke the lord to anger ? are ye stronger then he ? if we should rise up against him , 1. we cannot make him afraid of us , as one man is afraid of another , job 22. 4. 2. we cannot avoid him . if we seek to escape from him , he can fetch us back again ; he never lost any of his prisoners , psal. 139. 7. job 11. 20. jer. 11. 11. 3. we cannot resist him , nor grapple with him . if we come to handy gripes with god , we are crusht in pieces , job 40. 2. isaiah 27. 4. he is the almighty god , what canst thou do ? he is able to master every man , and if we refuse to be quiet , can make us quiet . when he m●ets with those that are unruly , it is usuall with him to hang on more bolts , and to plague them seven times more , that walk contrary to him under what they feel : think of this : if we be not content to part with our endearments : he is able to make us eat them . in our afflictions we are in his hands , that is able to binde devils that are stronger then we , jude 6. can drown or fire the universe , gen. 7. 2 pet. 3. yea if he will can fling into hell , as well as cast us on our beds . oh it is good to be silent before the lord ; he is almighty , the strong god that layes his hand upon us . there is nothing to be got with strugling , and therefore it is best to make our yoke as ●asie as we can by submitting . sixthly , if god have done it , there is reason to be dumb and silent , because so long as we are on this side perfect and compleat destruction , we have a great deal of mercy mixed with our sharpest trials , lam 3. 22. it is of the lords mercies , &c. though we think it much , and too much that god doth , yet it is certain he hath not done so much as he might . if god have done ( how bad soever it seems to be ) be assured it might have been much worse with us then it is . if it be not so bad with you as it was with job , job 1. job 2. as it was with the people of god in captivity , lam. 1. & 2. & 5. as it is with the damned in hell , luk. 16. 26. let us blesse god , and be content , it is not yet so bad with us , as it wer● easie with god to make it to us . seventhly , if god have done it , then for your q●ieting , and the keeping down of thoughts and passions , let this prevail , that he doth nothing in time , but what was laid in his wise counsell from eternity . all issues and events , with all the circumstances about them , were designed by god for his own glory , prov. 16. 4. ioh. 11. 4. and when they do come to passe , are all ordered and over-ruled to serve that design . if god cast us upon the bed of sicknesse , or take away our dearest relations from us ; it was determined it should be so ; and therefore of absolute necessity , it must be as it was determined . let us therefore put this question to our owne hearts in all our sufferings ; my soul , which must give place to other ? my will to the designe , counsell and glory of god , or gods counsel and glory to my will ? eighthly , i might adde , and do you make advantage of it , that whatsoever god doth with his children , he do●h it all for the good of his children , yea for their best good . if saul persecute , 1 sam. 18. 10. & 19. 9 , 10. absolem rebell , 2 sam. 15. amnon play the beast , 2 sam. 13. shim●i curse , 2 sam. 16. 5. god intends , and will do david good by all this . david looked for it , 2 sam. 16. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. and david found it , and confest it afterwards , psal , 119. 67 , 71. god hath promised that all things shall work for good , rom. 8. and therefore he cannot but make our afflictions work for good according to his promise . ordinarily the sourest part of gods providence , doth yeeld the sweetest effects for our spirituall advantage . this birche● tree , the tree of rods brings forth the quiet fruits of righteousnes , to them that are exercised thereby , heb. 12. 11. we do not reade half so much of the good of outward prosperity , as we do of divine chastisements and afflictions . if you do but think of this when you are under the rod , that whiles god is whipping , lancing , physicking of you , it is all to do you good : you cannot but be dumb and quiet , and say , so that god will do me good , let him do with me what he will. we bear with great patience our parents , our physicians , our chyrur●eons , our masters upon this account . ninthly , the consideration of gods doing , in all the evil that befals us , affords this allay , viz. that though god do afflict his children , yet at that very instant when he doth afflict , he loves his children , heb. 126 , 7. yea that he doth afflict them , because he loves them , revel . 3. 9. though the rod may speak something of anger , deut. 9. 20. yet it never speaks any thing of hatred or revenge to a saint . parents correct their children out of love , heb. 12. how much more doth god love when he doth correct ? and because he doth love them when he doth chastise them , he gives them sufficient ground to be p●rswaded , that none of their sufferings shall separate them from his love . now who would not be silent under the rod , which hears that the rod speaks so much love to him , that with silence bears it as a childe ? tenthly , if god have done it , it may be further improved to calm ou● spirits , and make us quietly submit , because he hath done it , that hath power over his own work . it is a very great comfort to be under gods hand in affliction , because he is one that keeps his afflictions under command , mat. 8. 8 , 9. he doth not let them loose like bears to destroy , but useth them as leeches to let bloud , and take off at pleasure . he that layes on the rod , can rebuke and break the rod when he pleaseth . if he send a plague , he can stop it in an instant , 2. sam. 24. he that wounds can heal ; he that breaks can binde up ; he that takes away can give , hos. 6. 1. and he can give better then he takes , either in the same , or in some other kinde , ( i. e. ) give spirituall , when he takes away temporal blessings . let us be very quiet under the crosse , because he hath laid it on , who in due time can take it off ▪ who not only doth his servants good by sufferings , but is wont to do them good for their sufferings , especially if they they be calm and quiet in the bearing of them . i do not mean in a popish , but in a gospel sense , not for the merit of them , but for the promise to them . eleventhly , if god have done it , then let this come in for its share ; that whatsoever it is , it could not have been 〈◊〉 then it is , rebus sic stantibus , i. e. as the case is with the servants of god when he doth chastise them . whatsoever god doth , is therefore best done , because god doth it . and whatsoever we may 〈◊〉 , yet this is a truth , that it would have been worse , if it had not been done , and so done , and at such a season . gods work is best , and his manner of working best , and his time is best . and thus we ought to think and speak of his work , unlesse we think our selves wiser then god. and if it be thus , why should i complain ? if it be better for me to lose my childe , then to have it , to lose my wife then to have her , to lose my name or estate then to have it ? there is reason i should be content with that which is , and not by discontent demonstrate my folly , that i affect that which is worse , because i cannot be content with that which god doth , who doth every way that which is best , if we could look the right way to see it ; god that made the world , is the best workman in the world . all his works are done in judgement , nor can any come after him to mend what he hath done . there is abundance of curiosity in the most abstruse , dark , crosse , sour providences , which cannot be found out presently . twelfthly , if god have done it , and thou finde that it begins to work towards any distemper , cast water upon the fire , consider god hath done it . and have i not reason to bear it from his hands , from whose hands i have received so much good ? as job spake to his wife , so let us speak to our souls , job 2. thou speakest foolishly , o my soul , shall we receive good at the hands of god , and shall we not receive evil ? before you quarrel at any time with what you feel , or lose , or want , sit down and reckon what you have . these things should have been enlarged , and something more added , but i have not time either to add or enlarge . you see the way , travel on , and do you enlarge , and adde by the improvement of your own thoughts . farewell . soli deo gloria . all that i have said hath been ( though not onely ) yet principally to you that are most 〈◊〉 concerned , i desire ●o take out my part in the lesson , who i am sure have as great a part in the stroke , as anyone that stands at such a distance . the losse of a true friend may very well be called an affliction ; such an one i am sure i have lost in her . god knows , my heart ●●icks close to this place , ●nd now he cals me ano●her way : seeing my di●●emper , he hath made the brest bitter that i sucked upon , by the losse of divers friends , which did divide my spirit . the lord teach me to be dumb and silent . and i hope you will all recollect your selves , and give god the glory of your quiet submission , now he cal● you to it by this sharp affliction . do not keep the wound too long open , le●● you prejudice the cure ▪ it will be your glory to own the soveraignty wisdome , justice and faithfulnesse of god i● what he hath done , so to give him his glory . probably now it may be expected by some , tha● i should raise a pillar to preserve her memory whom we have now ●●ought to her dust . but ● do not use it , and she ●oth not need it . god ●ath undert●ken to pre●erve the memory of the ●ust . and i think hers may very well be trusted with his undertaking . but ●f i do say any thing , it ●ust be this , i have known her some years since she 〈◊〉 married , and been received into the room of a friend , which hath given me advantage to be better acquainted with her temper , disposition and beha●iour , then some others were . she was but young , yet of very considerable natural parts . she had a pregnant and a ready wit , and in my opinion a good sobe● judgement , which enable● her to distinguish of person● and things , with commendable discretion . she was of a cheerful● disposition , but inoffensively pleasant for ought ● ever saw . and this was a great advantage to her self , and to her relations , both those that were below , and those that were above her . i think she seldom● caused sadnesse or ●●quietnesse to any in the family by her ●ullennesse or peevishnesse . for my part , i scarce ever saw her discontent ; this is more i am sure then a great many families can say , who labour sadly under the burthen of the wives or ●●stresses sting . there are ●o many houses where the 〈◊〉 drops through . she was very affable and ●●tteous towards all sorts , 〈◊〉 to those that were 〈◊〉 inferiours , as well as 〈◊〉 , and such as were 〈◊〉 her degree , therein ●●serving the apostles 〈◊〉 , rom. 12. 16. conde●end to them that are of 〈◊〉 estate . not onely ●thers abroad , ●ut her ●ervants enjoyed the benefit of this ; i have one in the family that will 〈◊〉 his part , and i am confident will sadly lament ●he losse . though but a ●oman , yet she was ( which ● more then is ordinarily ●ound in her sex ) a woman ●f a gallant spirit , ●hat did not use to quitch o● grumble for a little , but would carry great burthe● with an high courage . ordinary things she mad● nothing of , and but a little of those that were more then ordinary . she hath been put upon that by reason of the indisposition of her body , for ● the birth of her conception , which i believe few women have known . three times with childe , and her childre● brought to the birth , bu● never delivered by th● ordinary helps that othe● women have ; yet th● first did not discourage 〈◊〉 for the second , nor th● second for the last . i believe her experience made her the more serious , but ● think did not abate her courage ; when she was ●nder the sharpest of her ●●ins , i have not heard that ever she was put beyond the glory of her p●tience . her friends that were with her were more dispirited with her sufferings , then she was that bore all the pain of those sufferings , which did so shake her friends . and yet though she suffered so much , she was not apt to talk of her sufferings , or boast of her courage , she was magnanimous , but modest with it . for her relations , i have only known her since she was a wife , and therefore cannot so well speak of what she was when she was under the tuition of her parents , yet i am sure i have heard him that survives , her father , give her a very good testimony , and i have often heard her expresse her self with a great deal of reverence and affection towards her parents . but for her relation as a wife , she deserves to be a patern to others . if she erred not in the excess , ● think few hu●bands do● enjoy wives more full of love and sweetnesse , then her husband did . i confesse it was many times a pleasure to me to see how fresh and green the affections of both parties did continue . and certainly it was a perfume to the family , and kept all sweet . i may not forget that she was of a charitable disposition towards the poor , especially where she heard there was grace as well as poverty . i know one that hath for a long ●●me laboured under weaknesse , of whom this dear friend of ours hath taken constant care since she heard of her , and to whom she hath sent of the best at her table , and that usually before she put meat into her own mouth ; and yet i doe not make this one the limit of her charity , it had 〈…〉 dimensions . not to hold you longer , ●hough that which i have ●aid was very amiable in her , yet i hope i may say one thing more ( through the grace , and to th● glory of god ) and that is it , which is above all , and doth set off all the rest , viz. that she did give good incouragement to my self , and those that knew her , to judge her to have the truth of grace in her soul , to b● a living member of jesus christ. she was of ● sweet and tractable disposition , willing to imbrace instruction , and her soul did cleave in affection to those that she had more familiarity with , and were wont to afford her any lifts in her way to heaven . i can speak it experimentally of some that lived not farre from her , who upon this ground , became very dear to her . and though i never 〈◊〉 reason enough to question it , yet of late , i think , i have seen more reason to perswade me , that there was grace working with all those other eminencies that i mentioned . this last year i have observed her much more intense about the businesse of religion , and of her soul , then i had formerly observed , as if by a secret instinct god had put her on to prepare for this change . she was very much in the m●●ket , and besides the shep●erds tents , i mean waiting upon the ordinances of christ , and would not be kept off from lectures and fasts , when indeed her condition considered ( being at length very great ) her going into crouds , and great assemblies , did seem to threaten with some prejudice . i my self have sometimes disswaded her when she would not hear ; though in another case i think she would hardly have refused my counsel , particularly , at the funerall solemnities of that reverend and holy servant of christ , of honoured memory m r whitakers , she would not be kept away from hearing him whom she dearly loved , thoug● i think those that were present will say , it was a plac● and time of as much danger to a woman in her condition , as is usually seen . i beleeve god had pointed her spirit heaven-ward , and she tasted somewhat more in the waters of the sanctuary , then she bad done , and this made her delight to sit down by those fountains . i am sure this is her , dear husbands complaint , that he hath lost her that was tenderly carefull of his soul , one that still called upon him to minde the things of eternity , as the greatest concernments to be looked after . she is now gone , in the birth of her last childe , she gave up the ghost . and now i hope she with her three sons , which were all living souls till they came to the birth , are magnifying and praising the god of their salvations , and singing halelujahs unto je●us the prince of the kings of the earth , who loved them , and washed them in his bloud . and for my part i cannot but look upon it as an ●ffliction tempered with a great deal of mercy , that god had thus disposed . had she lived and conceived children every year ( as she was likely ) it is apparent she could never have brought forth her birth : and how sad would it have been as to her self , so to her friends to have been so often the witnesses of her misery without remedy ! i reckon it as the return of prayers . since in nature it was rendred so impossible to bear children , that god hath taken her to himself , from the possibility of conceiving ▪ and the misery of bringing forth any more children . the decree is accomplished , and now she and her children , i hope , do sit and sing together . finis . an antidote against the fear of death . being the meditations of samvel fisher in a time and place of great mortality . london , printed by a. m. for t. underhill at the anchor in pauls church-yard , 16●5 . to the reader . good reader , lest thou shouldst think thy bargain too hard in the former part , i do here cast thee in a vantage to make thee a saver . in that which thou hast read i have endeavoured to shew thee the improvement of the consideration ( of gods doing ) to make thee quiet under all afflictions . in this which follows , i give thee an account of mine own practice , how i dealt with mine own soul to perswade it into good thoughts of death . death will come to thee and me , to shut up all at last . it will be good for us now and then to talk with our own souls about it before it comes , that it may not be too grea● a stranger when it comes . i have begunne to thee , and if when thou hast read these poor thoughts of mine , thou wilt suggest thine to me , they shall be welcome , i will blesse god , and give thee thanks . two or three friends that have seen these , have desired me to print them : i am not like to trouble the presse again , and therefore i pray thee bear the trouble of them here . thine in the lord s. f. an antidote against the fear of death . some thoughts , which the author used to flatter and allure his soul to be well-pleased with death , when he with reverend m r blake , stayed in shrewsbury ( in the time of gods last visitation of that place by the pestilence ) to execute their pastoral office amongst their people that did abide there in that doleful time where they were under the continual expectation of arrest . i. death is the common lot of all men . every man must die once . there is no discharge from that warre . the best that lived have trod this path . when i die , i shall go but the same way that other men have gone before me , farre better then my self ; the same way that adam , noah , abraham , david , paul , yea that christ himself went. shall i not be willing to follow when so many , and such excellent ones , have gone before ? ii. my times are in gods hands ; the term and date of my life is set , the way and manner of my death determined . i cannot out-live that date , and nothing shall shorten that date to prevent my life . every thing is beautifull in its time , and so shall death be to me , when my time is come . when corn is ripe , it is seasonable to cut it down . i shall not be cut down , till it be seasonable . and how can i wish to stand any longer ? iii. death is that which i ( as job ) have waited for all my dayes . do i not live with expectation to die ? it should neither be strange nor unwelcome ▪ when it comes , which a man looks and waits for it before it comes . iv. there is nothing but vanity under the sunne , nothing that a man can please himself with , take comfort and contentment in , but it hath a worm in it , like jonah's gourd : a man ( while● he hath it ) is in danger either to be deprived of it , or vexed with it . why then should i be troubled at death , which will case me of the trouble of ●●y life ? v. a mans life hath very little that is desirable in it . it is a life 〈◊〉 of cares , troubles , temptations fears , 〈◊〉 , sicknesses , losses , and which is worst of all , of sinfull weaknesses , and inward perplexities . not my body onely , but my soul , my darling labou●● under sore burthens many times : my thinks death should be sweet unto thee , o my soul , when life it self is so troublesome . vi. jesus christ hath tried the strength of death , and conquered it . by ●ying , he overcame death , and him that had the power of death , which is the devil . there satan was out-shot in his own bow , and catcht in his own snare . what hath he got by bringing christ to the crosse , to the grave ? by getting , he hath lost the victory . a happy paradox . death shook the lord jesus with its sting , but lost its ●●ing by striking of him . oh death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sinne , the strength of sinne is the law. but thanks be to god who hath given us the v●ctory . see my soul , christ hath not only gotten the victory , but hath given us the victo●y which he hath gotten . what ? shall a conquered enemy , disanimate the conquerour ? vii . nay , jesus christ hath not only conquered death , and disarmed it , but hath blessed death , and sanctified it . he hath made it not only not an enemy , but a friend , a priviledge to beleevers . come my soul and play with death by faith . esteem it as a priviledge , be not ●fraid , be not troubled at 〈◊〉 , as if it were still an 〈◊〉 . viii . whiles i am 〈◊〉 the body i am absent ●rom the lord , and so i ●ust be till i die . shall 〈◊〉 not desire , at least be ●ontent to die , that i may 〈◊〉 present with the lord ? oh my soul ! love to christ should constrain thee to be willing to passe 〈◊〉 gulf to come to thy be●oved . ix . when death comes 〈◊〉 hath only to do with ●y body , nothing to do with my soul. and if it ●et my soul alone which 〈◊〉 my better part , i would ●ot be troubled for that ●hich it can do at my , ●●esh , my body , which is but the worser part . x. for my body , though it be but the grosser part of the man , yet because it is a friend of my soul and a piece of my 〈…〉 despise it not . therefor● i take comfort , that though my body shall die , yet i● shall not be lost . it shall be united to christ●in 〈◊〉 grave , as my soul to christ in heaven . death cannot destroy the union betwixt christ and the beleever in any part of him . though worms destroy my flesh , or it be turned to dust , yet my dust shall be precious . god shall bring all together after the many changes , raise up my body at the last day , give it meeting with my soul , and then with these eyes 〈◊〉 shall see my redeem●● . xi . though i shall die , yet i shall die but once . the second death shall 〈◊〉 no power over me . there is no condemnation 〈…〉 that are in christ iesus . he hath satisfied for me , and justified me by his bloud , who shall condemn ? since i must die once ; what a mercy is it that it is not the worst , the second death ! xii . death is the last enemy ▪ that is to be destroyed ( in that sense that a believer may call it an enemy ) when that is over all the worst of a believers state is over . oh my soul , be willing to die , that thou maist 〈◊〉 back and say , thanks be 〈◊〉 god , now i am past 〈◊〉 worst . xiii . for the 〈◊〉 death : whether i 〈◊〉 the pestilence , of 〈◊〉 other disease , or by 〈◊〉 hand of violence , there 〈◊〉 no great difference . ●●thing ●●ll betall me , 〈◊〉 that which is common 〈◊〉 other saints . all dea●● are much alike to a me●ber of christ : all 〈◊〉 sting'd , all sanctified . 〈◊〉 plague indeed shuts the man up from his friend●● but it doth not shut 〈◊〉 out from the man , and where god is he makes a palace of a pest-house . however it is but death . ( the plague cannot make it another thing ) and deaths a friend . xiv . for the pains of death , i should not be troubled , god can make death easie . some feel lesse in death , then in other diseases , and commonly more in the sicknesse before death , then in death which follows the sicknesse . but 〈◊〉 the worst , though sharp , yet they are short , and not intollerable . all the saints have endured them , and therefore , o my soul , do not give back for a little pain . that god which hath carried so many through this gulf , is able to carry thee with faith and patience thorow . say with the holy singer , though i walk thorow the valley of the shadow of death , yet will i fear no ill , for thou art with me . lord be with thy servant in that hour , that i may not fear . xv. there may be sore temptations , and on-sets of satan at that time , when the body is weakest . and indeed some precious saints have been in great darknesse before their death , and it may be so with me . it is true , o my soul , and thou hast deserved the withdrawings of god at such a time , because thou hast not improved his presence in former times . if thou fearest this , let it be th● warning . now take heed of grieving the spirit . but consider , though some of the faithfull have been called out to such conflicts before death , yet their conflicts have been crowned with conquests ; god hath made their light break forth of obscurity , and put them into heaven , or rather heaven into them , whiles they have been yet upon earth . however , this is the comfort ; though satan may trouble the saint , yet he shall not conquer him : and therefore trust in the lord , o my soul. it lies upon jesus christ , the captain of thy salvation , to keep all that which is committed to him of the father . he would neve● have sowed , if he had meant that satan should go away with the harvest . it cost him his bloud to redeem thee . do not think he will part with that easily , which he hath purchased at so dear a price . he never yet left any of his saints in death , i trust he will not make me the first . xvi . though death will make a separation betwixt soul and body , yet death shall not separate from the love of god which is in christ jesus . this paul was perswaded of rom. 8. and so am i upon the same grounds . gods love is not changable in it self , nor conquerable by death . he loved thee , o my soul , notwithstanding thy unworthinesse , and therefore be assured , he will not separate thee from his love , because of thine unworthinesse . and now i see what it cannot do● , lord keep me from being dismay'd at the utmost that it can do against me . xvii . if death take away some outward comforts from me , or rather me from them , viz. wife , children , friends , possessions ; this is my comfort , god hath suffered me to enjoy them , whiles i had need of them , or could have benefit by them ; when i am taken from them , i shall then have no more need of them . and why then should i care for not having what i do not want . it is a mercy to have them , but speaks the imperfection of our state to need them . it is better be in a state of perfection without them , then still to have them and be imperfect . xviii . it is true , death will strip me of some outward accomplishments , but it shall do me as good a turn , to deliver me from all my troubles . and i would have thee know , o my soul , that the troubles of this life of sicknesse , pain , losse , sorrow , fear , &c. may very well lie in the balance against all earthly enjoyments : it is a saving match at least , to sell our outward contentments , to be freed from our this lifes miseries . xix . though death take away some uselesse moveables which have served my turn whiles i had need , yet as a friend it leaves me my best jewels . my soul , thou shalt still enjoy thy precious graces , and glorious priviledges , when death hath taken thee from thy cheaper and more troublesome luggage . death will not , cannot meddle with thy best treasure . and wilt thou not be content to part with those , since it leaves thee these ? xx. what i leave of outward things when i die , i leave to others that stay behinde . there will still be use of them to those that live to use them . they will not be lost , because i leave them . and when my turn is served , why should i grudge that others should be served as well as i ? xxi . i shall know no more sensible pleasure and contentment here , but i am well content , because i shall sinne no more in the enjoyment of such pleasure . i have paid dear enough for all that i have had , whiles i had it . the sinne of my pleasure , hath devoured all the sweetnesse of my pleasure , that working me more smart after my pleasure , then all my pleasure was worth , whiles i was enjoying it . my soul , be content to rejoyce no more amongst the living , upon this account , that death will free thee from sinning any more amongst them . xxii . in death there will be no more remembrance of me : but it is no matter , i hope when i am forgotten , my sin and shame will be forgotten also . i am content the rest should be forgotten , so that my folly and weakness may be no more remembred . and yet my soul be not discouraged , the scripture saith : the memory of the just is blessed , psa. 10. 7. and the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance , psalm 11 ▪ 2. 6. god hath provided that our names should live , when our flesh consumes . the rotting of the name is a curse entailed upon those that are rotten in their lives . xxiii . i shall lie in the pit , and not know what is done under the sunne . darknesse will cover me in the grave : but if i lie in the pit i shall be safe ; no body will envy , no body will hurt me there . and though it be a dark place , it is the better for a sleeping place . i tell thee , o my soul , the recompence of not knowing what is done under the sunne . thou shalt not know the wickednesse , the blasphemy , the oppression and violence that is done there . since thou canst not know a little good , without the knowledge of so much evil under the sunne , which is so great a burthen , be contented to be eased of thy burthen by not knowing what is done . xxiv . worms may perhaps consume my body , but that is no great matter neither . i shall not feel their gnawings of my flesh . what though my body cannot escape those feeble creatures , when it is dead , yet blessed be god , that hellish worme of an accusing conscience , shall not be suffered to disrest my soul. there is more mercy in being freed from one worm , then from a thousand . the wormes feed upon my body : i remember david said , he was a worm . a king , and yet a worm . sure i must be something below a worm : but if a worm , let the worms feed upon their fellows ; i am glad that worms may be better for me when i die . it is my grief that men have been so little better for me while● i lived . xxv . my treasure is in heaven , my best goods are there ; they were not sent thither , laid up there for me to ●arry long behinde . i must go from hence before i can come thither . and i must tell thee , o my soul , i like not to lose my treasure by staying here . xxvi . when death puts an end to this life , it will give an entrance into eternall life . the ending of one is the beginning of the other : who would not be willing to be at the end of a worse , to be at the beginning of a better , of a blessed life ? lord , make thy servant not only willing , but covetous of this . xxvii . when i die , i go to rest , to rest from my labours . i shall be out of the reach of care , trouble , sorrow , sicknesse , temptations , persecution . here i am , as other of my brethren , the but of satans rage , of the malice of wicked men . i have not been free to speak or deliver my masters message without danger . men have laid wait to ensnare me in my own words , to make my tongue my trap . these shall follow me but to my grave ; there they will lose the sent. o my soul , thy grave is thy burrow , in death thou shalt be quiet . xxviii . as soon as breath goes out of my body , i trust my soul shall be mounted upon the wings of angels into heaven , into abrahams bosome ; and this will not be long in doing ; who would not ride on such a chariot , to such a place great things are spoken of heaven ; and i have spoken as great as i could , to make it an attractive , a powerfull argument to draw other men to the love of holinesse . if i be not willing to go to heaven , i betray my faith , i shame my practice . shall not he that preacheth heaven , be willing to die , that he may be in heaven ? my soul , thou wouldst be loth to have all thy heaven upon earth . and therefore when gods time comes , wilt thou not be willing to part with ●arth , that thou maist enjoy thy heaven where it is ? xxix i have accounted sle●p a speciall blessing of god for the refreshing of nature ; my sleep hath been the image and similitude of my death . when i have slept , i have been like to one that is dead for that time . death is the truest sleep : as when i slept i was as one that were dead , so when i die , i shall be but as one that is asleep . and though i shall sleep longer in my grave , then in my bed ; yet as when i have slept , i awake and rise again , so after this sleep of death , when it is off , i shall awake and rise again . o my soul , when i am weary of the day , i willingly lay me down t● sleep . thou art content the body should have rest , i pray thee be as willing , when this wearisome day of thy natural life is at an end , in the night of death to let thy body lie down to sleep in its bed of earth , till the morning of its resurrection comes . to die unto a saint is but to undresse , and go to bed . xxx . whiles i am here in the world , i am but in a moveable condition , alwayes flitting and shifting , from one house to another , from one place to another . and this hath been very irksome . but i think god hath wisely ordered it , that by moving to many places , i might be in love with none . if i have liked my house never so well , i have been forced to leave it , either because none of mine , or because my work hath been ended in the place where i have pitched . how often have i been forcibly removed from people whom i have lov●d , from places where i had thought to have rested ! in heaven i hav● an house of mine own , a better house then any the world affords , not made with hands ; an eternal house , whose builder and maker is god. an house that wants no convenience . an house that is ready and amply furnished . if thou wert there , o my soul , thou shouldst not need to flit , it is thine inheritance by gift , and he that gave it will not put thee out . shall i not be willing to live in mine own , rather then a strangers , in an heavenly then in an earthly house ; in an house of gods buildings then of mans ; in an eternal , rather then in a falling ruinous habitation ? while i live here , i shall be put to shift , when i die i shall make but one remove , and never flit again . let me remove once , and do it cheerfully , that i may remove no more . xxxi . but what do i speak of an house , in heaven ? ( my soul ) there is a kingdom , not like the kingdoms of this world , not a narrow , envied , divided , shaken , sinful , temporal kingdom . not subject to warres , tumults , fire , famine , pestilence , oppression , ruine , desolation , but a spiritual , heavenly , glorious , u●shaken , large , united , undefiled , peaceable , everlasting kingdom , not subject to any invasion , to any change , to any danger . since therefore god hath given me a kingdom , and the kingdom is not of this world , which ●e hath given me ; why should i desire to continue in this world , and not go where my kingdom is ? would any man that is heir to a kingdom desire to live any where but in the kingdom to which he is an heir ? especially , if his own be such , that in comparison it shames all others that may be brought to make comparison . lord , since it pleaseth thee to give me a kingdom , help me to walk worthy of the dignity , and hopes of a king , whiles i live , and let not this beggarly life , nor any thing that belongs to it , keep me from being willing , nay desirous to enjoy a crown . if such a worm may speak such a word , to say he is a king ; i beseech thee make me willing , or else when the time comes , stay not for my willingnesse , but set me upon the throne , bring me to the kingdom promised . put , oh put that pure crown of righteousnesse , that incorruptible crown of glory upon my head . it s a glorious thing to be a king. ambition makes graceless men , whose portion is in this life , desperately daring to adventure their all to get one of these poor cottage kingdoms . oh my soul , shall not grace make thee willing to put off thy natural life , to put on this living and immarcessible crown ? xxxii . the scripture speaks admirable things of the glorified estate of the saints , what is reserved in heaven for them , what they shall enjoy there . at present it tels us we know but in part , and we know it tels us true by our great ignorance . it cals all that we have on this side heaven our tastes and earnests of what we shall have . we are now the sons of god , but it doth not yet appear what we shall be , saith s t john. and the apostle saith , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath it entered into the heart of man , the things which god hath prepared for them that love him . surely there are some stranger things reserved to be revealed and enjoyed in heaven , or else we should not have such high and farre-meaning expressions from the holy spirit . while● thou art here ( o my soul ) thou hast but a poor imperfect glimpse of that which lies wrapt up in the promise . thou livest by faith not by sight . thy happinesse now lies pri●●●ipally in the hope of what shall be thy happinesse in heaven . and therefore since this is not the place for accomplishing thy happinesse , be thou carried out with desire to be in that place , where thy happinesse may be accomplished , to die and be dissolved , that thou maist know and enjoy all that is spoken of the blessed state of the blessed saints in glory . 1. i desire to know experimentally , what it is to be in a state that is absolutely free from trouble , fear , sorrow , sicknes , temptations , enemies , especily from ●inne : oh what a thing is that ? here i know little else but sinne and sorrow . lord , let me know what it is to be freed from these , what it is to sin no more , to weep no more . it is in the promise , rev ▪ 1. 4. oh let me have it in performance . 2. the scripture speaks of the spirits of just men made perfect . those just men are no where but in heaven , and there they have their souls accomplisht with perfection . they have their natural faculties enlarged and filled , they have the image of god , all their graces , that divine nature ( as peter cals it ) compleated to the highest degree . it is now with them , as it was in the beginning , they are like unto god himself , and in his perfect similitude , according to the measure of creature-perfection . oh my soul , dost thou not desire experimentally to know and enjoy this happiness , to be absolutely and compleatly sanctified , to have all thy graces shining in their lustre and glory ? oh me thinks thou shouldst long to know what this is to be like unto god that made thee , who when he made thee , made thee like himself . 3. i hear great things spoken of heaven , what a glorious place it is , and how farre it excels all that is visible on this side . art hath raised many glorious structures , which do very much catch the senses , ravish the beholders . but that part of the visible heavens which is the workmanship of god drawn over our heads , the beautifull ground-work , and curious enamelling of the sunne , moon and starres , doth exceedingly shame all the invention and art of man. these i have seen , and been sometimes much taken with them . but i have not seen what is the glory of the highest heavens , the paradise of god. i have not seen the city of the great king , the glorious high throne on which christ jesus fits . oh my soul , why dost thou linger ? art thou not willing to leave this world , that thou maist know , behold , and live in that place of glory , which so farre transcend● all that thou hast seen , and which thou canst not see until thou leave this world ? wouldst thou not fain see that mansion that christ went to prepare for thee ? 4. my soul , thou hast very reverend thoughts of the saints departed , of the fathers ▪ that died in the faith long ago , and of the saints and martyrs of jesus that died in later ages , of adam , noah , eno●h , abraham , isaac , jacob , moses , joshuah , samuel , david , solomon , isaiah , jeremiah , ezek●el , daniel , peter , paul , calvin , luther , cranmer , ridley , latimer , bradford . my soul , thou hast onely heard of these , thou hast not seen them . but now , my soul , when thou goest to heaven , thou shalt behold and know all these , with all the rest of those glorified saints that went before thee . thou shalt sit down with abraham , isaac and jacob in the kingdom of heaven ; and those whom thou now so much admirest , shall be thy companions . if thou leave behinde thee some precious saints , whom thou lovest , there will be no losse of company , there thou shalt finde others more worthy of thy love , in heaven all is exchanged for better . thou knowest those already that are here . there thou shalt be acqainted and familiar with those thou never knewest . 5. the angels are excellent glorious creatures , all spirit , exceeding holy , they wait upon god immediately , they passe up and down with incredible ce●erity , are instruments to do god great service ; yea though we see them not , yet are they ministring spirits unto the heirs of salvation . doubtlesse they now perform many good offices for us , which are not yet understood by us for whom they are performed . my soul , these glorious creatures , whose feet a man can hardly now behold and live , thou shalt in heaven have the full knowledge of them , of their natures , office and ministry . thou shalt converse with them familiarly , and not be afraid of them . here thou art but a companion for men , and many of those men amongst whom thou livest have scorned to be thy companions ; let this make thee willing to leave this world , to go to heaven , where thou shalt be a m●te for angels , and shalt not be scorned by them . 6. the scripture saith , our light afflictions which are but for a moment , do work for us a far more exceeding , and eternal weight of glory . my soul , thou dost not at present enjoy this ; nay , i am sure thou canst not comprehend what lies in this expression . it is spoken for thee to wonder at , glory , a weight of glory , an exceeding weight of glory , a nore exceeding weight of glory , a farre more exceeding weight of glory , a farre more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . my soul , dost thou know what this means ? sure it is some wonderfull thing , which the apostle , guided by the spirit , heaps so many words upon , as if it were something that did exceed the most exceeding expressions ; oh my soul , though now thou dost not comprehend the expression , but admirest something which thou dost not understand , yet when thou comest to heaven , thou shalt not only understand the phrase , but possesse the thing . art thou not willing to take thy wings and flie from hence , that thou maist no● only understand , but be laden with this blessed burthen , which the spirit cals an exceeding weight of glory ? who would need arguments to perswade , that might be assured by going to such a place to have leave to carry away his lading of gold or precious treasure ? why , my soul , if thou wilt go to heaven , all thy burthen shall be thy glory : this glory is ten thousand times more precious then gold . and it hath this advantage , though it be a weight of glory , yet it is no burthen , shall never weary him that carries it . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a39578-e330 ephes. 5. 28 , 29. notes for div a39578-e520 m. studley and some others . notes for div a39578-e700 ford super psal. 3. de modo orationis . a tenendum est davidem hoc psalmo non praedicare virtutem suam quod vota ad pietatis regulam composita coram deo conceperit , sed potius infirmitatis suae vitium fateri , quod efferbuerit immodico dolore , & impetu rap●us fuerit ad expostulandum . grace it self is many times hard ma●cht with corruption . b. hall in locum . 〈…〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b mat. 15. ●1 . mark ● . 32 , 33 , ●4 , 35. c ezek. 3. ●6 , 27. d ps. 38. 13 doct. jonah 4. 3 , 4 , 5 , 9. vse 1. inform. jam. 5. 26 vse 2. instruct. rom. 11 , 20 , obser. 2. a 2 sam. 13. 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. b ver . 28. vse 1. job 5. 6. hos. 6. 1. observ. job 5. 6. 2 chron. 7. 14. 2 sam. 24. 10. 17. amo● 3. 8 james 4. 7 , 9 , 10. amos 4. hos. 6. 1. jon. 1. 5 , 6 ps. 50. 15. zeph. 1. 6. job 13. 19 & 23. 3 , 4. psal. 44. 23 , 24 , 25. ps. 1● . 7. 8 vse 1. inform. job 16. 11 to 19. job 16. 21 & 13. 23 , 24. 1 sam. 28. 6 , 7. jonah 4. 1 sam. 27 1. psal. 116. 11. ● chron. 18. 26. 1 thess. 4. 13. lam. 3. 26 , 27. rom. 7. 14 , 16. job 42. 6. vse . examin● lam 1. 12 2 king. 6. 33. 1 sam. 27. 1. a mic. 7. ● 2 sam. 18. 33. & 19. 1. 4. 1 thes. 4. 13. hos. 7. 9. rom. 1. 31. ro jo● . 1. dan. 9. 7 , 14. 2 chron. 12. 6. lam. 1. 18 job 1. 21. when all came together , yet job could say , the lord hath taken , blessed be the name of the lord. lam. 3. 26. ad 34. lam. 3. 33 job 1. 21. job 2. 9. jam. 4. ps. 51. 11 , 12. ps. 50. 15. vse . exhort . job 42. 6. ps. 73. 22. lam. 3. 39. mica . 7. 9. job 42. 10 , 11. ad calcem . levit. 26. 41 2 chron. 7. 14. job 42. 6. joh. 5. 14. job . 9. 4. isa. 45. 9. job 22. 2. job 35. 8. rom. 16. 27. 1 tim. 1. 17. ps. 147. 5. ps. 11● . 7. joh. 21. 17 heb. 4. 13. psal. 94. 9. ps. 69 , 5 , & 90. 8. ps. 50. heb. 4. 12 ● sam. 24 2. 2. kin. 20. 12 , 13 isa. 42. 24 25. rev. 3. 2. job 34. 23 lam. 3. 33 34. ● kin 20 ▪ 14. 〈…〉 14. gen. 18. ps. 97. 2. dan. 9. 7. psal. 73. notes for div a39578-e7800 in july and august , 1650 eccl. 3. 2. 1 cor. 3. 22 1 john 3. 2. 1 cor. 2. 9. 1 cor. 4. 17. a sermon preach'd at the funeral of capt. john briggs at dunstable, march 23, 1694/5 by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas. 1695 approx. 52 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45688 wing h912 estc r40945 19537571 ocm 19537571 109055 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45688) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 109055) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1689:9) a sermon preach'd at the funeral of capt. john briggs at dunstable, march 23, 1694/5 by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas. iv, 27 p. printed by j.d. for the author, london : mdcxcv [1695] reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng briggs, john. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 2nd, v, 1 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2008-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preach'd at the funeral of capt. john briggs , at dunstable , march 23 , 1694 / 5. by thomas harrison . isaiah lvii . 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . london , printed by j. d. for the author . mdcxcv . the epistle dedicatory , to mrs. elizabeth briggs , widow of the deceased capt. john briggs . madam , the meanness of the following discourse would have been an effectual bar to its publication , had not your desire usher'd it into the world. the first thing of mine that came forth from the press was a sermon , occasioned by the decease of your beloved daughter ; and i concluded you would not take it well , if i denied you the liberty of reading that discourse which was preached at your husband's funeral , in a fairer character than mine own hand-writing . besides , that divine blessing which i hope attended the publication of the former , gave me the greater encouragement to expose the latter to publick view . i am not so vain as to think printing this sermon will advance my reputation among learned and judicious readers , it is more likely to produce a contrary effect ; but if god should bless it to the conversion of one sinner , or the building up of one saint , i hope i shall rejoice more than if i gained the greatest applause thereby . tho it be not meat for strong men , yet i hope it may be milk for babes . to conclude , that he who hath promised to be an husband to the widow , and a father to the fatherless , would put his everlasting arms under you , and sanctify all the dispensations of his providence to you ; that he would shower down the choicest of his blessings upon you and the fruit of your womb ; that your children may tread in the steps of their deceased father , and their living mother , is the sincere desire of your friend and servant , tho. harrison . a sermon preach'd at the funeral of capt. john briggs . 2 cor. v. 1. for we know , that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward . various are the miseries and calamities which attend the human race during their continuance in , and pilgrimage through the waste and howling wilderness of this world. and sincere christians are so far from obtaining an immunity and freedom from temporal evils while in a mortal state , that they generally have the greatest share of them : but they have those cordials to support and revive their spirits under the pressure of afflictive providences , whereof others are wholly destitute . we need look no further for an instance of this , than the chapter preceding that which my text begins ; wherein the apostle having mentioned those sufferings which himself and his brethren underwent , for their stedfast adherence to , and endeavours to propagate the ever-blessed gospel , he gives an account of those things which afforded them comfort and support under such deplorable circumstances , whereof the hope of future glory was not the least , which he proposes in the close of that chapter , and farther prosecutes in the words of my text , for we know , that if our , &c. the method that i shall take in speaking to these words shall be , i. to explain them . ii. to apply them . i. i shall explain them : and in order to a regular and distinct explication of them , i shall take notice of these four following things contain'd in them . first ; a description of the state and condition of the human body in this life ; our earthly house of this tabernacle . secondly ; an implicit assertion of its dissolution ; if it were dissolved . thirdly ; a description of the blessed state and habitation of the saints after the dissolution of their bodies : we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . fourthly ; the comfortable knowledg and assurance which the apostle and other christians had concerning their present right to , and future fruition of this blessedness , we know . first ; a description of the state and condition of the human body in this life ; our earthly house of this tabernacle . that this is a description of the body in its mortal state , is evident both from the text and context . tho the apostle here speaks particularly of believers , yet what is said concerning the present frame and condition of their bodies , is applicable to the corporeal part of all mankind . the earthly house of this tabernacle , or , this earthly house or tabernacle : for when two synonymous words are made use of in the description of the same thing , the latter is sometimes put in the genitive case , instead of their being joined together by the conjunction or ; thus numb . 19.2 . this is the ordinance of the law , i. e. this is the ordinance or law , and in several other places . more particularly , there are two things observable in this part of the text. 1st . the things to which he compares man's body , viz. an house and a tabernacle . 2dly . the epithet which he gives it , earthly . 1st . the things to which he compares man's body , viz. an house or a tabernacle ; for these words must not be taken in a proper and literal , but in a figurative and metaphorical sense . first ; he compares it to an house . this denomination is given to human bodies , job 4.19 . they are called houses of clay . the body may be compared to an house for two reasons . 1. because of the curiosity of its structure . some art and skill must be exercised in building an house , that all its parts may be commodious , and bear a due and comely proportion to each other . the divine architect hath displayed his wisdom as well as his power in the formation of the human body : we are fearfully and wonderfully made , and our substance was curiously wrought , psal . 139.14 , 15. tho it is made of a vile material , yet it hath a noble and excellent form , yea the matter it self is sublimated and refined : there is nothing wanting that is necessary for use , and there is nothing superfluous or un-useful . but i shall not now anatomize the human body , lead you into all the rooms of this stately and compact fabrick , or shew you the curiosity of every part. 2. because it is an habitation for the soul. man is said to dwell in this house of clay , job 4.19 . i conceive man is here by a synecdoche put for the soul , which is the superiour part of man. the soul dwells in the body as an inhabitant in an house , only with this difference , there is a formal union between the soul and body , which there is not between a man and the house wherein he dwells . and the body in this respect bears a resemblance to an house in three things . ( 1. ) in its inferiority to the soul in worth and excellence . as a man is of more worth than the most stately and costly palace that can be inhabited by him ; so is the soul of more value than the body wherein it resides , and which is inform'd by it . in the body there are visible footsteps of god , but the divine image is stampt and pourtray'd upon the soul. the image of god in man consists not in what is seen , but in what is not seen : god expresly saith , that none saw a similitude of him , deut. 4.15 . which had not been true , if man in regard of his body had been the image and similitude of god ; for then a figure of god had been seen every day , as often as we saw a man , or beheld our selves . tho many of the children of men are destitute of god's moral image , consisting in knowledg , righteousness and true holiness , yet every human soul bears his natural image in its spiritual nature and properties . surely the more remote from matter , and the more like to the supream spirit any being is , the greater is its excellency . ( 2. ) in its usefulness and subserviency to the soul. as the house is erected for the use of the inhabitant , and the several rooms thereof are prepared for his service , and all the affairs therein are managed and conducted by him ; so the body was framed for the service of the soul , tho sin often renders it injurious to its noble inhabitant . the motions of the bodily members are all directed and guided by that intelligent spirit which is seated in it . ( 3. ) in the independence of the soul upon the body , as to its operations and existence . an inhabitant can act without , and may exist separate from his habitation . there are many operations of the soul while it lodges in the body , which it puts forth independently from the body , and whereto the corporeal part doth not at all concur . and when the soul shall be dislodged from this dwelling-place , it will still have an existence . this noble inhabitant shall not be buried in the ruines of that earthly tabernacle . tho the life of the man is destroy'd by the separation of the soul from the body , because it consists in their union ; yet the life of the soul , which hath no dependence on such an union , is not destroy'd thereby . the soul animates the body , but the body conveys no life to the soul. secondly ; the body is compared to a tabernacle . the apostle peter gives the same denomination to his body , 2 pet. 1.13 , 14. yea , i think it meet , as long as i am in this tabernacle , to stir you up , by putting you in remembrance : knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle . and the body may be compared to a tabernacle for two reasons . 1. because of the short continuance of the soul in it . a tabernacle is opposed to a fix'd habitation , heb. 11.9 . they who only sojourned in a place , and were speedily to remove from it , did in former times erect tabernacles for themselves . indeed our bodies are rather tabernacles wherein we sojourn for a little time , than houses wherein we have a fix'd habitation : we are pilgrims and strangers in the earth ; our immortal souls will soon take their flight from our bodies . we often read of the brevity of man's life in the holy scriptures . man that is born of a woman , is of few days , and full of trouble . he cometh forth like a flower , and is cut down : he fleeth also as a shadow , and continueth not ; job 14.1 , 2. man's life is compared to a vapour , which soon vanisheth , james 4.14 . to smoke which quickly disappears , psal . 102.3 . to the grass which is withered by the summer sun , or cut down by the sharp scythe , isa . 40.6 , 7. it is said to be swifter than a weaver's shuttle , which quickly runneth from one side of the web to the other ; its motion is represented by the telling of a tale , the sailing of a ship in the mighty ocean , and the flight of an eagle towards its prey : it is compared to an hand 's breadth , yea to nothing , psal . 39.5 . how short is the life of man in this world if compared with the eternal duration of god , or with the life which we shall live in the other world ! yea , the life of man in our days is exceeding short , if compared with the lives of the antediluvian fathers . there are but a few steps between our cradles and our graves : they who live longest in the body live but a little time ; but how short is the continuance of some in this world , who are cut off in their flourishing age , in the morning of their days ! we are all hastily marching to eternity , and shall shortly come to our journey 's end . 2. because of its weakness and frailty . tabernacles were but slightly built , very weak and infirm structures ; they were not made of durable matter , nor fix'd upon strong foundations . our bodies , those houses of clay wherein our souls reside , are said to have their foundation in the dust , job 4.19 . the strength of a building lies very much in its foundation ; and that edifice which hath but weak walls , being strongly founded , may last long ; but when the building is weak , and the foundation weak also , in how tottering a condition is such a fabrick ? the foundation of man's body is sand or dust , and the word signifies unstable moveable dust , such as lies upon the surface of the earth , and is carried away with every puff of wind. man in his best estate is altogether vanity on the account of his corporal frailty and weakness ; his strength is not as the strength of brass or of stones , but he is like a reed shaken with the wind. how small a matter will make a change and alteration in the body ! how soon will the gust of a violent distemper , like a furious wind , blow it down to the ground ! so weak is the body , that we have more cause to wonder at its standing so long , than at its falling so soon . 2dly . we may observe the epithet which the apostle gives to the body , earthly ; it is an earthly house or tabernacle . this epithet may be given it upon a fourfold account . 1. upon the account of the matter whereof it is formed . it is made of earth , clay or dust . the sacred historian tells us , that the lord god formed man of the dust of the ground , gen. 2.7 . and that the woman was formed of a rib taken out of the man's body , ver . 22. when the great jehovah came to pass sentence upon man for the breach of his law , he put him in mind of his original and frame , as to his corporeal part ; dust thou art , out of it wast thou taken ; gen. 3.19 . and if our first parents were formed of the dust , we who are their off-spring were formed of their substance , and proceeded from their loins , must be also formed of the same matter . elihu acknowledges that he was formed out of the clay , job 33.6 . the psalmist tells us , that god knoweth our frame , he remembreth that we are dust , psal . 103.14 . our bodies are breathing clay , animated earth . 2. upon the account of its situation , or the place wherein it is pitched : it dwells in , it is erected upon the earth . tho angelick spirits were originally placed in the superiour world , heaven was their first habitation ; yet the human body was lodged in the earth at its first formation , this is the place of its residence , and must be while in its present state and condition . flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god ; 1 cor. 15.50 . heaven is too pure an air for our animal bodies to breath in , till they shall be purified and refined , and endued with those excellent qualities which will fit them for such a noble region . therefore so long as our souls continue in our bodies , they have but an earthly lodging ; tho their motions and operations may reach to heaven , yet their essential residence is in the earth : on this account while we are present in the body , we are absent from the lord , 2 cor. 5.16 . while we dwell in this tabernacle , we sojourn in a polluted and troublesome world , a place to which sin hath introduced the greatest disorder and confusion , where iniquity abounds , and where many occasions of grief are continually ministred to us ; a vale of tears , a field of war , a stage of contention , and a waste and howling wilderness . 3. upon the account of those means whereby it is supported and refreshed . our bodies in their present state would immediately fall if they were not propp'd up and repair'd by earthly comforts , viz. meat , drink , physick and raiment . all the conveniences of life which we value and prize , which we industriously labour for , and after which our affections do often run in an immoderate degree , are nothing better than earth . an earthly body is only capable of earthly enjoyments . 4. upon the account of its disposure and resolution . when death rends the soul from the embraces of the body , then the dust returns to the earth as it was , eccles . 12.7 . it is turned into common earth , and laid in a bed of dust . thus much for the description of the state and condition of the human body in this life . i proceed , secondly ; to the second thing contain'd in the words , viz. an implicite assertion of its dissolution ; if it were dissolved . tho the conditional conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if , is here made use of , yet it doth not import any hesitation or doubt in the apostle's mind concerning the dissolution of his body , as if it were uncertain , whether it should be dissolved or not ; but that conjunction hath the same signification here with the adverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when , and so the words may be render'd thus , when our earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved . we find that this particle hath the same signification , joh. 16.7 . 1 joh. 3.2 . so that these words do amount to an assertion of the body's dissolution : for what comfort could arise to the apostle and his fellow-sufferers from the thoughts of their entrance into an heavenly habitation after the dissolution of their bodies , if they were not assured that some time or other they should be dissolved ? we read of a twofold dissolution made by death in sacred writ , viz. a dissolution of the person or the man , phil. 1.23 . i desire to depart , or , as the original word may properly be render'd , to be dissolved ; this consists in the separation of the soul from the body : and a dissolution of the body , in my text. this is a metaphor taken from the destruction of buildings , the overthrow of earthly fabricks : when a structure is demolished , it is said to be dissolved ; for so the original word whereby the ruine of the temple is exprest , mat. 24.2 . mark 13.2 . most properly signifies . in allusion hereunto the death of the body is called its dissolution . now pursuant to the metaphor several things are imply'd in the body's dissolution . 1. the continuance of its matter after death . when an house is demolished , tho it loseth its form , yet the matter still remains , it is not annihilated . the matter of the human body passeth through various changes after death , yet it is not reduced to nothing ; for if it were , at the great day there could not be a resurrection , but a new creation of human bodies : whereas the scripture assures us that the same body which dies shall live and rise again : tho it may be accidentally and with respect to its qualities another body , yet it will be essentially , and with respect to its substance , the same . 2. the destruction of its form. when a building falls , its form is lost , tho its matter remains ; the same effect doth death produce in the body . herein these two things may be comprehended . ( 1. ) the loss of its beauty and comeliness . what beauty is there in the rubbish of the most splendid and stately palace ? surely there is nothing in it that can attract the admiration and esteem of those who behold it . they who delighted to view and walk in a house while standing , will turn their eyes from its ruines . the beauty of the most amiable body becomes a prey to death , when it is seized by this mighty conqueror . death draws a dismal vail over all its glory , and makes very unlovely and deforming impressions on it . the bodies of our deceased relatives which we formerly beheld with great delight , would be now very unpleasant spectacles to us ; we cannot without regret turn our eyes towards the corps of our dearest friend , but are willing soon to bury it out of our sight . ( 2. ) the loss of its excellency and usefulness . what value is there in the rubbish of a fallen sructure , which while standing was worth many thousands , or what use can it serve for ? tho a living body is exceeding valuable , yet a dead body is of no more worth than common earth , and it is as useless and unprofitable . the eyes , tongue , hands and feet , which were all active members , and perform'd many operations , when seized by death become wholly unactive , they lose their motion and activity when bound with its adamantine chains and fetters . those bodies of our relations which were very serviceable to us while in the land of the living , can do us no good when numbred among the dead . 3. in the dissolution of the body may be imply'd its entrance into the grave , and corrupting there . a standing house is raised above the ground , but a fallen house lies level with it , and the materials thereof are separated and divided . when mens bodies die , they are laid in the grave , which is the house appointed for all living : they enter into the place of silence and of darkness , and there they moulder away , and crumble to dust . 4. herein may be implied the various ways whereby the structure of the human body decays , and is destroyed . some buildings fall down of themselves , time , the consumer of all material things upon the earth , destroys them ; other fabricks are blown down by violent winds , others fall by the force of devouring flames , and others are demolish'd by men. in like manner some mens bodies may be said even to fall of themselves , because no internal distemper , nor external violence is the cause of their dissolution ; old age hath dried up their natural moisture , exhausted their strength , and brought them down to the dust ; their life was like a lamp that goes out when there is no more oil to feed it . the bodies of others are destroyed by the immediate stroke of god's hand , some bodies are burnt up by the heat , or blown down by the blast of violent distempers , others fall by human force and violence . that our bodies must be dissolved we have a sacred assurance from the god that made them : he hath told us that the body must return to the earth from whence it came , that he will bring us to death and to the grave , which is appointed for all living . it is appointed for all men once to die , heb. 9.27 . this appointment is accomplished upon our fellow-creatures every day ; man goes to his long home , and the mourners continually walk about the streets : yea many of our dear relatives have been rent from our embraces , and hurried into the gloomy territories of the king of terrors ; some whose bodies were stronger than ours , and seem'd more able to hold out against a besieging enemy . do not the continual totterings and shakings of our earthly tabernacles , and the frequent repairs which they stand in need of , portend their downfal ? so that the living may many ways know that they must die . thirdly ; i proceed to that description which the apostle gives of the blessed state and habitation of the saints after death . we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . the apostle carries on the same metaphor in the latter part , which he made use of in the former part of the verse . as he compares the soul's residence in the body to that of an inhabitant in an house , so he represents the glory and felicity of the soul , after the dissolution of the body , by its entrance into and abode in a more glorious habitation . but what this house is whereof the apostle speaks , is not yet agreed among expositors : some do thereby understand the same body , which the soul now dwells in , and must be dislodged from ; when raised again at the last day . others think the apostle intends that glory and blessedness into which the souls of believers enter immediately after their separation from their bodies . it is certainly true that the earthly tabernacles of the saints shall not always lie in the dust , that the divorce between their souls and them will not be perpetual , but they shall be raised from their graves , and reassumed by their antient possessors ; and then the soul will have a more noble habitation than now it hath , the body will be much more excellent and glorious than it is in its mortal state : and it is as certain that the soul will not be without an habitation when it is by its great landlord turned out of its earthly house , but will enter into the blissful regions above . i conceive the latter to be principally intended : for the apostle comforts himself with the well-grounded hopes of that glory to which death would introduce him ; when our earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved , we have a building of god , an house , &c. i. e. we shall enter into it and become possessors of it : and in the following verses he expresseth a vehement desire to be discharged from his body , that he might enter into this house ; now he would partake of the glory of the resurrection never the sooner for his speedy dissolution , the bodies of all the saints will be raised and glorified at the same time . however i shall not exclude but include the former sense in my farther discourse of these words , wherein we have a twofold account of this building or house , viz. negative and affirmative . 1. negative : it is a building , an house not made with hands . this character agrees to the glorious habitation of the saints above , in opposition to all terrene structures . the splendid palaces wherein earthly monarchs dwell , were contrived by human skill , and fram'd by the hands of men , and consequently all their excellency and glory is of a carnal and sensible nature . the tabernacle in the wilderness was contriv'd by god himself , and yet because man had an hand in the erection thereof , it is said to be made with hands , heb. 9.11 , 24. but that glorious house in which the saints shall dwell when they leave their bodies , was neither contriv'd by human art , nor fram'd by human strength ; no creatute was instrumental to the erection of that stately fabrick , and the glory thereof is not of a carnal and sensible nature : and the saints bodies at the resurrection may in some sense be said to be made without hands , in opposition to those bodies which they now carry about with them ; because , tho these structures will be materially the same that now they are , yet there will be an accidental alteration in them ; and whereas man was instrumental to their first production , ( tho god only was their principal efficient ) yet they shall be raised again by the immediate operation of god. it is observable , that the human body of our blessed lord is called a tabernacle not made with hands , heb. 9.11 . not only in contra-distinction from the jewish tabernacle , but also from all other human bodies , because no active principle but divine power produced it . 2. this building or house is described affirmatively , and that from three things : it s efficient , its situation , and its duration . ( 1. ) it is described from its efficient , god ; it is a building of god : the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which god is subjoined , denotes the efficient cause . the excellency of any building is sutable to its contriver and builder . seeing divine wisdom and power infinitely surpass human , surely the works of god's hands must transcend the works of mens hands . the glorious place above is called a city whose builder and maker is god ; heb. 11.10 . now this world which is the saints present habitation , being made by god , surely something more must be intended by his erection of this house , than the immediate creation thereof by him . it can import nothing less , than that the divine being hath exerted more of his power , wisdom and goodness , in this than in any other fabrick which he hath erected ; and that the blessedness of the triumphant saints is more immediately derived from god , than any thing that is enjoyed in a mortal state. and there will be a more admirable display of the divine glory in the resurrection of the saints bodies , than there was in their creation , they will become as glorious and perfect as human bodies can be . ( 2. ) from its situation , in the heavens . it is observable , that some words are in the new testament put in the plural instead of the singular number , particularly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heavens , for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heaven , mat. 12.25 . in my text , and several other places , with a design ( as i conceive ) emphatically to denote the excellency and glory of that lofty region . not the aerial or aetherial , but the imperial heaven is here intended . this is a place far superior to the earth , and therefore an entrance into and abode in it , is sometimes mentioned as comprehensive of all that felicity which is possest by those that inhabit it . when the soul of a believer quits its earthly tabernacle , it mounts up as on eagle's wings to the heavenly temple . this is the habitation of god's holiness , there the great jehovah in a special manner dwells , there are the brightest discoveries of the divine splendor , and the highest adorations given to his most excellent majesty : there the glorified courtiers do not behold him through a glass darkly , but see him face to face . in that building dwells and reigns the lord jesus , the mediator of the new covenant : when we shall be absent from the body , we shall be present with the lord , 2 cor. 5.8 . the heaven must receive him until the times of restitution of all things . there dwell an innumerable company of glorious angels , far more glorious than any of the princes of this world ; and all the spirits of just men that are made perfect . this is not an habitation of violence and oppression , for no unclean thing can enter there . the inhabitants of this house are out of the reach of satan and his malicious off-spring ; they are not expos'd to the hostile attempts of the roaring lion of hell , or his whelps upon earth : they are liable to no troublesome changes , heart-breaking exercises , perplexing disappointments , corroding cares , or sinful infirmities . this is a delectable and secure habitation , here is fulness of joy , here are rivers of pleasures which constantly refresh the glorified soul. in this house is light without darkness , day without night , joy without sorrow , and singing without weeping . the soul that enters into this house hath the most intimate fellowship with god the master of it , and a refreshing communion with the blessed angels and saints who cohabit with it therein : all things in this house are sutable to the grandure and magnificence of the structure . and when the saints bodies shall come forth from their houses of silence and darkness , and be reunited to their souls , they shall be received together with them into the heavenly jerusalem , and shall share with them in the felicity of that blessed seat. ( 3. ) it is described from its duration , eternal . this i conceive is predicated of this heavenly habitation in opposition to the frailty of our earthly tabernacles , which must be dissolved , and then all our temporal comforts and delights will vanish , we shall no longer enjoy them . the celestial city hath immoveable foundations , it is subject to no decay or dissolution , its duration will run parallel with the ages of eternity : and the glory of that place will last as long as the place it self ; it is called a never-fading crown , an incorruptible inheritance , and an everlasting kingdom . the divine being , in the vision and fruition of whom the happiness of glorified saints principally consists , is to everlasting . moreover , their abode in this house will be as lasting as the building , they shall never be dispossest of , or expell'd from it . tho the first adam was driven out of an earthly paradise , yet the spiritual seed and off-spring of the second adam shall never be expell'd the heavenly one : and when their bodies shall rise from their beds of dust , they will live to die no more ; death will have no power to demolish these curious fabricks , for it shall be swallowed up in victory , 1 cor. 15.54 . this mortal shall then put on immortality . tho a little time wastes and consumes our bodies in their present state , yet there shall be no diminution of their excellency and beauty in an endless eternity , when we become the children of the resurrection : these buildings will be always kept in their vigor and glory , by the immediate power of the supream architect . i proceed , fourthly ; to the comfortable knowledg and assurance which the apostle and other christians had concerning their present right to , and future fruition of this blessedness ; we know . herein we may consider the subject we , and the predicate know . 1. the subject , we. the apostle here speaks only of those that were real christians , who had sincerely closed with , and were united to the blessed jesus , they only have a right and title to , and therefore they only have ground to expect and hope for , this glorious habitation . they who come not under such a character , have reason to fear that when their earthly tabernacles shall be dissolved , their souls will enter into a different habitation . an house indeed contrived by infinite wisdom , and framed by almighty power , and an eternal house , but not in heaven , but in hell ; an house where there is blackness of darkness , inconceiveable grief , and intolerable torment ; an house prepared for the devil and his angels , wherein the wicked must cohabit with and be tormented by those apostate spirits who left their primitive habitation , for evermore : an house wherein they shall be exiles from god's comfortable presence , and every thing that is either really good , or esteemed so by them . but i conceive the apostle speaks not here of all saints ; for tho they may know and have ground to hope that when their souls are dislodged from their bodies , they shall enter into this blissful habitation , yet all believers have not attained to this knowledg and assurance thereof ; clouds and darkness do overspread some gracious souls , and they are filled with many doubts and fears concerning their spiritual and eternal state. but he speaks concerning himself and some other christians , who had attained to , and were in the exercise of this knowledg . this leads me to the second thing , viz. 2. the predicate , know . this knowledg here spoken of , is a certain knowledg , a firm and full perswasion that when their bodies should be dissolved , their souls should be received into heaven . there are several things included in this knowledg , viz. a firm belief of a future state of blessedness provided for the saints , and into which they shall enter after death . this might be known from the holy scriptures , wherein we have a sufficient confirmation of this sacred truth . moreover , a firm perswasion that they were interested in christ , and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. this they might know by comparing themselves with those marks and characters of the heirs of salvation which were laid down in sacred writ , by the lively exercise of their faith upon christ , and by the testimony of the holy spirit , bearing witness with their spirits that they were the children of god. lastly , an assurance of their preservation in a state of grace to a state of glory . this they might fairly collect from the word of god , wherein there is a full account of the everlastingness of the covenant of grace , the immutability of divine love , the efficacy of christ's death , together with the constancy and prevalence of his intercession , and the perpetual residence of the holy spirit ( the earnest of the heavenly inheritance ) in his royal palaces , and holy temples . our apostle expresseth the like assurance , 2 tim. 4.8 . henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which the lord the righteous judg shall give me at that day . holy job also exprest his assurance of future glory in his adverse state , job . 19.25 , 26 , 27. i know that my redeemer liveth , and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth . and tho after my skin , worms destroy this body , yet in my flesh shall i see god , &c. tho all who have a faith of affiance do not attain to a faith of assurance , yet it is attainable in a mortal state. thus much by way of explication . ii. i shall present you with some inferences from the words . first ; i infer , the prodigious folly of those who give their bodies the preference to their souls . it is the part of a wise man , to value things in proportion to their worth and excellency . but the generality of mankind show that their corporeal part hath a greater share of their esteem than their spiritual part : they carefully provide food and raiment for the former , but never seek after the bread of life to feed , and the robe of christ's righteousness to array the latter . they will labour hard to erect or purchase a comfortable habitation for their bodies , but do not at all endeavour to secure an happy dwelling-place for their souls when they enter into an invisible world : they will hazard the loss of their souls to secure their bodies from temporal evils , or to procure those things which will gratify the sensitive appetite . what madness is it to prefer a clod of earth to a spirit ? is not that a foolish soul that values its sojourning-place more than it self , and will expose it self to eternal ruine for the preservation of its earthly tabernacle ? what stupid fools are they who esteem their bodies , which are continually advancing towards , and must speedily return to the dust , more than their souls which shall survive them , and live for evermore ? surely such persons are as the horse , or as the mule , which have no understanding . secondly , i infer , the folly of those who are proud of , or glory in their corporeal strength or beauty . as men are apt to boast of the exact form and strength of those houses wherein their bodies dwell , so likewise of the excellency of those bodies wherein their souls tabernacle . but this will appear very foolish to us , if we consider our frame , and remember that we are dust . our bodies were formed of the same matter for kind that we trample under our feet , and disdain to touch with our fingers . tho our bodies are very robust , yet they are but earthen vessels , and will soon be broken to pieces . in a very short time our bodies must be dissolved , and then all their beauty and strength will vanish and become a prey to the king of terrors . thirdly , i infer , the vanity of placing our happiness in our living comforts , our near and dear relations . we are exceeding prone to let out our affections immoderately towards them , to give them too high a place , too large a room in our hearts , to think our selves happy in an husband , wife , or children , not considering they are frail mortal creatures . they can be no longer enjoy'd by us than while their souls continue in their bodies , and those curious fabricks , which we behold with pleasure and delight , keep their station . did we seriously consider what frail brittle houses their souls inhabit , how soon they may be demolished , and in how short a time they shall be dislodged from them , we should see it highly reasonable to moderate our affections towards them ! o let the everliving , everlasting god be the darling of our souls , and the soveraign of our affections . fourthly , i infer , how necessary it is for us all speedily to endeavour after a right and title to an heavenly habitation . to confirm this assertion , and to press you to this duty , i shall offer these things that follow to your consideration . 1. your souls are designed to a perpetual residence in some habitation . the father of spirits hath resolved to preserve the being and life of your souls for evermore , no period shall ever be put to their existence ; and therefore when they leave their present habitation , they must enter into another . there are but two receptacles of departed souls , viz. an heavenly paradise , and an infernal lake : when your immortal spirits are divorced from your bodies , they must either ascend to the former , or descend to the latter . and how can you bear to think of dwelling with consuming fire , and abiding with everlasting burnings ? 2. your bodies shall enter into the same habitation , when re-assumed by your souls , into which your souls enter when divested of your bodies . where-ever your souls go after death , there will your bodies be disposed after the resurrection . if the noble inhabitant dwells in heaven , the house that it dwelt in upon earth when rebuilt shall be fixt in that glorious region , this earthly tabernacle shall become a celestial structure ; but if it be cast into hell , the raised body must stand in that direful prison as an everlasting monument of divine wrath. by making provision for your souls , you will also secure the felicity of your bodies ; their true interest is inseparable . 3. how terrible will the agonies of death be to us , if we see our selves destitute of a title to eternal life ? they who have disregarded their future state , when the evil day of death seem'd to be at a distance from them , have had very aweful and terrible thoughts about it , when it hath made sensible approaches to them . with what horror will your souls be seised , when death sits upon your quivering lips , if you apprehend that they shall be speedily expelled your bodies , and eternally excluded the heavenly building ! 4. this life is the only time for securing an interest in this glorious habitation . as the tree falls , so it must eternally lie : death will fix us in an unalterable and unchangeable state. those spirits that are now in prison will find no place for repentance , tho they should seek it with tears . 5. the time of our souls residence in our bodies is very uncertain . persons are very apt to defer this weighty and important business ; some put it off to old age , others to a sick-bed ; some think it will be time enough to seek after another habitation when the strength of their earthly tabernacles decays , and they feel them shake and totter : our lives will be but short at longest , and how short they will be we know not . some are cut off in the morning of their days , others in their full strength : we are not sure that age will snow upon our heads before they are laid in the dust , or that the structure of our bodies will by any loud crack give us notice of its downfal . some bodies are demolished by a speedy and sudden stroke , their souls are turn'd out of them without any warning . let us therefore speedily seek that city which is above . would you , o sinners , get a title to this habitation ? then come to christ , and sincerely close with him : it is not to be purchased with your money , nor procured by your labour ; if you accept of jesus , you shall freely receive it ; if you persist in your stubborn rejection of him , you shall never obtain it . heaven is a purchased possession , christ hath bought it with the invaluable price of his precious blood ; and if he become yours , that shall be yours also : you will have a sure title to it which can never be lost , but will issue in an actual possession of it . if you lay hold of christ with the hand of faith while you live , you may securely commit your souls into his hands when you come to die , and say with expiring stephen , acts 7.59 . lord jesus , receive my spirit . fifthly , i infer , that saints should diligently endeavour to get an assurance of the happy disposure of their souls after their separation from their bodies . this is not unattainable by them , this will not be unprofitable to them . it is their duty to labour after it , and an attainment to it will be very beneficial and advantagious to them . this will comfort them under all the frailties and infirmities , the perishings and decays of their outward man , and mightily sweeten all the troubles and afflictions wherewith they are exercised during their continuance in it . this will familiarize death , and render its approach welcome to them . death is terrible to nature ; the soul is naturally unwilling to leave its old dwelling-place , nature cannot but abhor a dissolution , besides violent pains do ordinarily attend the taking down of this earthly structure . but they can embrace the king of terrors with joy and holy triumph , who are able to say with the apostle , 2 tim. 1.12 . i know whom i have believed , and i am perswaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day . we ought to give diligence to make our calling and election sure ; for so an entrance shall be ministred unto us abundantly , into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and saviour jesus christ ; 2 pet. 1.10 , 11. but if we want this assurance , we cannot comfortably walk through the valley of the shadow of death . but what trouble will possess our spirits , if when our souls are going to be unclothed of their earthly house , we know not whether ever they shall be clothed upon with an house which is from heaven ! if when they are launching into eternity , we know not whether they are entring into a bright or a black eternity ! in order to our obtaining this assurance , let us seriously and diligently search our hearts and try our ways , put forth direct acts of faith upon christ , and beg of god to shed abroad his love in our hearts by the holy ghost . sixthly , i infer , what vast obligations believers are under to their blessed lord ! how highly are they obliged to him , who descended from his imperial throne , tabernacled among us , dwelt in an house of clay , and submitted to a dissolution , that he might procure for them an eternal habitation with himself in the highest heavens ! by dying he conquered death , so as to render it a blessed gain and advantage to them , and to give them cause to triumph over it in their sharpest encounter with it . how should we love and live to that blessed jesus , through whom we are more than conquerors over our last enemy , who is gone to heaven to prepare a place for us , and will receive us into it , that where he is there we may be also ! seventhly , i infer , that a believer's conversation ought to be in heaven . shall we not be frequently conversant in that glorious place , where we hope eternally to dwell ? seeing we are strangers in the earth , we should live like those who know they have no continuing city here . let us endeavour frequently to mount up on the wings of our thoughts and affections to the excellent glory . lastly , i infer , that the saints have a solid ground of comfort under the death of their godly relatives . we cannot but mourn to see those structures wherein we took pleasure laid in the dust , and going to be a feast for worms ; to think that we shall see the desire of our eyes no more in this world. but shall we not be comforted when we consider , that their souls are gone into a far better habitation than they dwelt in while they cohabited with us , that they have exchanged our embraces for christ's , that they are now triumphing and rejoicing in the heavenly mansions ; that the loss is only ours ; they are gainers by their departure , and e're long we shall go to them and dwell with them for evermore ? i shall conclude with an address to the near relations of our deceased friend . i must acknowledg your loss to be very great ; it is no small affliction , to be depriv'd of such a loving husband and indulgent father , yet you ought not to mourn as those who have no hope . they who observ'd his conversation , might from thence take knowledg that he had been with jesus : he adorn'd the doctrin of god his saviour ; he was a burning and shining light in the place where divine providence fixt him : therefore you have no ground to question his exchange of an earthly for an heavenly habitation , and the church militant for the triumphant assembly of the first-born . were it put to his choice , whether he would stay where he is , or return to you , he would prefer the former to the latter . you ought humbly and silently to acquiesce in god's sovereign will , who is righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works , and to depend upon him who hath promised to be an husband to the widow , and a father to the fatherless . let me exhort his children to an imitation of that excellent example which he hath set them , and to a remembrance of and compliance with those wholsome instructions which he hath given them . these advantages you are now deprived of , but a serious reflection upon them may be beneficial to you ; if not , they will aggravate your guilt . it had been better for you to have descended from a turk or pagan , than from such an eminent christian as your deceased father was , if you prove degenerate children . how sad will it be , if he who put up so many prayers for your salvation before the throne of grace , should testify against you to the aggravation of your condemnation before the tribunal of justice ? he is gone before , you must follow after , how soon you know not : death hath made three breaches in your family within the compass of a few years , and shall not these frequent warnings put you in mind of your own change ? o get an interest in christ ! that will be more valuable than the estate which your deceased father hath bequeathed to you ; so you may be able to say when you come to die , we know , that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . finis . a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. joseph aleine by george newton ... newton, george, 1602-1681. 1672 approx. 60 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a52250 wing n1047 estc r16860 11734016 ocm 11734016 48449 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a52250) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48449) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 544:3) a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. joseph aleine by george newton ... newton, george, 1602-1681. 38 p. printed and are to be sold by neil simmons ..., london : 1672. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng alleine, joseph, 1634-1668. bible. -n.t. -luke xxiii, 28 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2002-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-03 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2002-03 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. joseph aleine , by mr. george newton late minister of taunton in somersetshire . rev. 14. 13. blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth : yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . london , printed and are to be sold by nevil simmons , at the princes-arms in st. pauls church-yard , 1672. luke 23. 28. daughters of jerusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for your children . what subject fitter for this sad occasion then a theam of weeping ? what language can we better speak , or more agreeable to the dark providence that we are under , then sighs , and cries , and lamentations ? how merciful was god to him , whom he hath taken to himself , and how severe to us , in this stroke ? and oh what hard and stupid hearts have we ? should we be so insensible of gods heavy indignation , and our irreparable loss , as to give him just occasion to complain , as in jeremiah 5. 3. i have smitten them and they have not grieved . you of this congregation have reason to sit down in bitterness , because the almighty hath dealt very bitterly with you . and to cry out as sometimes joash did , over elisha , 2 kings 13. 14. my father , my father , the charists of israel and the horsemen thereof : and as rachel once to weep , and hardly to be comforted , because he is not : and for my own part i shall take up david's lamentation over jonathan , with david's affection 2. sam. 1. 26. i am distressed for thee , my brother , very pleasant hast thou been unto me . but methinks i over-hear him , who being dead yet speaketh , calling upon us in our saviours words , weep not for me . as for my own part , i have rest for labour , joy for sorrow , peace for trouble , ease for pain ; i feel no aking bones , no falling fits , no strained sinews , no distortions , no convulsions in the grave . and for what i find in heaven you shall know when you come thither . my refreshing time is come , god hath now wiped clean away every tear from my eyes , and every drop of sweat from my face , and every sad thought from my heart ; and therefore i forbid your tears for me , weep not for me . but if your swelling passions must have vent , consider whose the loss is . alass , it is not mine , but yours ; and therefore turn the stream into the right channel , weep not for me , but weep for your selves and for your children . these were our saviours words sometimes , in which he puts a stop upon the sorrow & the tears of those , who wept too much even at the death of christ himself . dead he was in law already , condemned by pilate , delivered to the roman band , to guard him to the place of execution . such tragical appearances are usually attended with a multitude of lookers on , and by how much the greater , and more remarkable the person is who is to suffer , so much the greater is the concourse . and hence it was that such a heap of people followed christ , on whom the eyes of the whole nation of the jews were fixed though with different affections ; some to secure him from a rescue , some to mock him and deride him , some to gaze upon the prisoner , and to observe his carriage in his dead march , & some to see the execution . among the rest , there were a sort of people that bewailed his death , of whom it is observed that they exprest their grief in tears . i make no question there were men that wept , but because women usually have moister brains , and less command upon their passions , and so are more inclinable to vent their sorrow in a flood of tears then men , especially , because their passions are not much regarded neither ; so that there was no fear or danger though they were free and open in their sorrow . hence it is that there is no notice taken of any other tears but theirs , in the verse before the text , and that our saviour turns himself , and directs his speech to them in the words that have been read , daughters of jerusalem , weep not for me , but for your selves , and for your children . now in this speech of jesus christ we have especially to be considered two things , a prohibition and a permission . in the first place we have the prohibition of our saviour , in which he forbiddeth them to weep , daughters of jerusalem , weep not for me . and in the second place we have his permission in which he alloweth them to weep ; but weep for your selves , and for your children . and yet you see he doth not cross himself neither , he doth not here command and forbid the same things in the same respect but in relation to a diverse object . in relation to himself he forbiddeth them to weep , weep not for me . in relation to themselves , he alloweth them to weep , but weep for your selves , and for your children . the total final and irreparable ruine of jerusalem was near at hand , our saviour had it in his eye when he spake these words . he wept apace for this himself but a little while before , as you may see , luke 19. 41. he beheld the city and wept over it . first he beholds it with his eye , and then his eye affects his heart , wo and alass ! saith he , ( while in a pang of holy pity and compassion , the tears come flowing down his cheeks ) if thou badst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace , but now they are hid from thine eyes . and therefore he alloweth them to weep for this , who were to have a share and portion in that dreadful desolation . but for himself who willingly submitted to the death which he was leading to , and all the other circumstances of his passion who was beloved of him who had appointed and designed him to it , who was god as well as man ; and therefore able to endure it , and to overcome it too ; and who was shortly to be rescued from the jaws of death , and so triumphantly to enter into glory : he forbiddeth them to weep , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for , &c. so that the purpose of our saviour is not wholly to suppress , but to rectifie their sorrow . they wept for him out of a childish kind of pity , but they wept not for their sins , nor the unseen calamities that were about to come upon them . and therefore christ endeavours to withdraw their sorrow from the wrong , and fix it on the right object . and to this end he sh●ws them why they should not weep , and why they should . weep not for me , but for your selves , and for your children . two observations lie before us in the text. the first , that it is not unlawful nor unfit sometimes to express our grief in tears . the second , that we are very subject to misplace our grief , and to mistake the ground and object of our sorrow . i shall speak to these in order beginning with the first . doct. that it is not unlawful nor unfit sometimes to express our grief in tears . we have our saviours warrant for it in the text , weep for your selves , and for your children . there weep and weep on . how often are we called upon to weep in scripture ? oh what a cloud of weepers shall we find there , who are all witnesses to this great truth ! and some of them the wisest and the holiest mentioned in the book of god , without exception . our saviour christ himself the holy one , and the wisdom of god. was a very great weeper . he was a man of sorrows , not of a few , but many sorrows , isa. 53. 3. you never read he laughed in all his story , but you find he wept often . in the dayes of his flesh he offered up strong cries and tears to god , heb. 5. 7. he wept for his beloved lazarus , john 11. 35. and if we do the like on this occasion we have a great example in our eye . he melted over poor undone jerusalem with many tears , who had over-pass'd the day of her gracious visitation . look up and down among the poor afflicted and distressed people of the lord , & you shall find that tears have been as ordinary with them , as their daily food . thou feedest them , saith asaph , psal. 80. 5. with the bread of tears , and givest them tears to drink . tears were both their meat and drink , and it seems they had their fill of this diet. this was the legacy our saviour left to his disciples , ye shall weep , john 16. 20. it is observed of the saints , they sow in tears , they go forth weeping , bearing precious seed , psalm 126. 5. their time of sowing , is a time to weeping . they sow in showry weather , in a rainy time , the seed they sow most commonly is steep'd in tears . mine eye ( saith holy david ) is consumed with grief , psal. 6. 7 : he wept so much that he was shrivled up to nothing like a bottle in the smoak , as his own expression is , psal. 119. 83. you see then it is not unlawful , nor unfit sometimes to express our grief in tears . but you will ask me what those times are . i will tell you in a word . sinning times , and suffering times , are weeping times . a word or two of these in order . 1. sinning times , are weeping times . and that whether they be sinning times , with others , or our selves . 1. sinning times with others , must be sorrowing times , with us . our saviours bowels rowl'd within him , when he look'd about , and saw the hardness of the peoples hearts , mark 3. 5. rivers of waters run down mine eyes ( saith holy david to the lord. psal. 119. 136. ) because men keep not thy law. if they will not hear saith jeremiah , chap. 13. 17. my soul shall weep in secret places for their pride , and mine eyes shall vveep sore and run dovvn vvith tears . my soul and eye shall weep together . you shall observe that those whom god appointed to be marked and singled out for preservation , in a common desolation , were such as sighed and cryed for the abominations of jerusalem , ezek. 9. 4. they did not only keep themselves from the abominations of the time and place on which the providence of god had cast them , but they mourned for them in others . they were not meere abstainers , but they were mourners weepers too , and so were snatched as fire-brands out of the burnings , and set as monuments of the mercy of god. brethren , if you desire to be preserved in times of common desolation , when the judgments of the lord are abroad upon the earth , and on the places of your habitation , and to be safe in the day of his anger , work your hearts to this temper , while other men are sinning , be you mourning ; while others are committing horrible abominations ; be you lamenting and bewailing them , sighing and crying for those abominations . that when god comes to visit , he may find the sighs breathing from your hearts , the drops runing down your cheeks , and all about you wet with tears . 2. and as sinning times with others so our own sinning times especially , must be our weeping times . though david were a good man , yet he was a great sinner , and so he was a great weeper . in psalm 6. 6. we find him even drowned in tears . all the night long ( saith he ) i make my bed to swim , and water my couch with my tears . an hyperbolical expression of unmeasurable weeping . so , mary magdalen had much forgiven her , and thereupon she loved much , and wept much . yea she made a bath of tears , in which she washed the feet of christ , luke 7. 37. it is observed of the people of the jews , that when they had surveyed their monstrous sins , they drew forth water ( out of the fountaines of their guilty eyes ) and poured it before the lord , 1 sam. 7. 6. when once their hard and rockie hearts were smitten with remorse , they melted into tears . they wept by buckets , not by drops . it is a woful frame of heart , when men can sin , but cannot sorrow . 2. as sinning times are weeping times , so suffering times are weeping times . and that whether they be suffering times with others or our selves . 1. suffering times with others , must be sorrowing times with us . we must weep with them that weep . the holy ghost himself takes notice of it , as remarkable , in nehemiah chap. 1. 4. that when he heard of the distresses of his brethren , he sate down ( as one astonied ) and wept and mourned certa●n daies . ând jeremiah cryeth out in such a case , oh that my head were waters ( nothing else ) and mine eyes a fountain of tears , ( both eyes one fountain ) that i might weep day and night ( without cessation ) for the slain of the daughters of my people . it is our duty , to remember them that are in bonds , as bound with them , and them that are distresed , and broken and undone , as if we our selves were broken and undone with them . oh let it not be said of any of us , that we swim in pleasures , while our brethren swim in tears . that we have lain upon our costly beds , and stretched our selves upon our couches , that we have eaten the lambs out of the flock , and the calves out of the stall , that we have chanted to the viol and invented instruments of musick to our selves , that we drink wine in bowls , but are not greived for the affliction of joseph , amos 6. 4 , 5 , 6. 2. and as when others are afflicted , so when we our selves are so , it is a proper time to weep . the poor distressed church draws up a catologue of all her troubles , lamentations 1. 12. &c and then concludeth at the 16. verse , for these things i weep , mine eye , mine eye , runeth down with water . yea she complains that she had wept so much , that her eyes did faile with tears , lam. 2. 11. i might give you other scriptures , where you shall find them flowing abundantly on such occasions . but this may satisfie to shew you , that it is not unlawful , nor unfit , somtimes to express our greif in tears . and what those weeping times are ? times of sinning , and times of suffering , either with others , or with our selves . vse 1. they are mistaken then , who think it an unworthy and unmanly thing to weep , to to drop a tear at any time , as if it argued feebleness of mind , and imbecility of spirit . how many dareing galants are there in the world , who despise gods mourners , and look on such as weep , for the abominations , or the desolations of the times ; as a company of poor weak low souls . and yet hezekiah wept , and david wept , even till he drowned himself in tears ; who notwithstanding was as gallant and as brave a man , as ever lived . the wise man tels us , that there a time to weep , ecles . 3. 4. and where saith he of mourning thou art mad , and of sorrow , what is it that thou doest ? as he doth of joy and laughter . where , do you find a blessing poured out on laughter , as you do on tears and mourning ? there are but nine beatitudes and this is one , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall be comforted , matth. 5. 4. and therefore they deceive themselves , who scorn mourners , and labour to put on that apathie and indolence , which is so much commended by the stoicks ; who think it is their patience , and insuperable fortitude of mind , to be disquieted with nothing , neither sins , nor sufferings , so far at least , as to shed tears . there patience is it ? no , 't is their senslesness . i have smitten them and they have not greived , saith god of hardned israel , jer. 5. 3. it is not patieuce but stupidity , that he bewaileth there in that people . vse 2. what shall we think of those who have no time for tears , or sorrows : they spend their daies in mirth , and pleasure , and chase away all sad thonghts from their hearts be the occasion what it will , or what it can ; these are merry men indeed , i wish they would but sadly lay to heart these few considerations , and i shall pass on to a third use. 1. it is a foollish thing , to melt away in mirth and laughter , especially at such a time , when there is nothing upon every side but cause of sorrow . no question they conceive it is their wisdom to be lively still , however matters go , and to drive away sorrow from their hearts . but what saith solomon , the wisest man that ever lived , eccles. 7. 4. the wise mans heart is in the house of mourning . if his body be not there , yet his heart at least , is there : but on the other side , the heart of fools is in the house of mirth . you know they use to paint fools laughing , and wise men , with a serious grace composed look . and surely there is something in it , but the fool hath not the wit to pick it out . 2. and as it is a foolish thing , so it is a sinful thing , to give onr selves to mirth and laughter when god calleth us to sorrow . it is a sin which god doth hardly , ( if at all forgive , ) we find that he hath sealed the committers of it up to wrath , and bound the guilt of this iniquity upon their souls never to be removed again . that is a flameing sentence which we find , isa. 22. 12. they were formidable judgments which the lord had threatned , and actually inflicted on the jews . and thereupon he looked they should have carried and demeaned themselves like mourners , like men that were extreamly sensible of his displeasure , and much affected with his hand upon them . but they despised and slighted all , and gave themselves to mirth and pleasure , and swaggered in a braving way . and what was the event and issue of it ? surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die . 3. and as it is a foolish , and a sinful thing , so it is a dangerous thing . there is a fearful woe denounced to such as laugh ; for they shall mourn . the lord will one day turn their vain and foolish mirth , to weeping and lamentation . it will be gall and wormwood in the latter end . they that are always making merry , and never grieve at the distress of the church , they shall go captive with the first , as god denounceth , amos 6. 7. whoever escape they shall be sure to have their portion . the lord will set them in the front to undergo the sharpest brunt , and the most fierce encounter of his vengeance . and though they bear it out a while , the lord will surely meet with them another day , when they shall have their portion there , where there is nothing else but weeping and wailing , and gnashing of teeth . they that do nothing else but laugh in this world , shall do nothing else but weep in that to come . and all their carnal joy will prove like crackling of thorns under a pot , soon in and soon out , and flashes of lightning before eternal fire . use 3. and therefore in the third place , since there are times to grieve , and to express our grief in tears , let this be a caveat to us not to look for too much joy in this world . let us not cast too much upon it , lest we be disappointed and deceived . it 's that we are very apt to cozen and delude our selves about , when we are on a merry pin , and flourish in a prosperous estate , it is our manner to conclude that we shall never have a storm again , and that this happy time will never end . and so we run upon a double inconvenience , we grow remiss in making preparation for a time of sorrow ; and when it comes upon us unexpected it cuts the deeper , and disquiets us the more . how often shall you hear it from the mouths of some , when any heavy cross befals them , alas they never dream'd of this , they never look'd to see this dolesul day . the weaker and unwiser they . did they not know what they are , born to trouble , as the sparkes fly upward , so that they have a natural tendency to it ? that they are wandring in a vale of tears ; in which they must look out for many storms . it was a pretty speech of seneca , dolor & voluptas invicem cedunt , brevior voluptas ; joy and sorrow have still their turns and entercourses here , but joy ( most commonly ) hath the speediest dispatch . and therfore in the midst of joy , let us be wisely casting upon times of sorrow , and making preparation and provision for them . and that you may not faint either in the sense and feeling , or in the apprehension and expectation of them ; i shall drop down a few cordials . 1. the times of tears and sorrow , are better for us then the times of mirth & laughter . and hence saith solomon , in the fore-alledged scripture , eccles. 7. 2. it is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting . it is not a more pleasing good , but it is a more profitable good ; though it be not more delightful , yet it is more beneficial to be where there are tears and lamentations , then to be where there is nothing else but laughter . and that upon these two accounts . 1. times of grief and tears , prepare for grace . they sit us for the work of holiness upon our souls . they settle us , and fix us , and make us capable of good impressions . when there is nothing else but mirth , we have light and frothy spirits , our fancies rove , our thoughts and our imaginations wander : but when the lord presenteth nothing else before our eyes but tears and lamentations , this calleth home our thoughts , it renders us unto our selves , and makes us fit for holy motions . we see it by experierience , that the very men , who when they are upon a merry pin , are sensless and incapable of any good , they have such vain and foolish hearts : when they are brought into a melting frame , then they are mild and tame as lambs , then they are pliable and flexible , and tractable ; so that a little child may lead them , if you visit them , if you counsel and advise them for their good , then you shall have their ears , and hearts too . 2. and as the times of grief and tears prepare for grace , so they increase and further grace . grace will spring and grow the more for such showers as these are . it prospers better in a moist and watred then in a dry and barren soyl . and if you search the sacred story , you will find the greatest weepers to have been the greatest saints . as david , peter , yea , our saviour christ himself . indeed this precious seed delights to have such dews as these ; the seed of prayer , of repentance ; yea , that immortal seed , the word of god , doth best when it is sown in tears . when we repent in tears , our hearts relent and melt most . when we preach and pray in tears , we move our selves and others most ; — si vis me flere dolendum , — est prius ipse tibi . this seed when it is watred thus springs up the faster , and bringeth forth the more plentiful increase . 2. these times of grief and tears will end at last , and end in joy . you shall weep ( saith christ to his apostles , ) but your sorrow shall be turned into joy . they that sow in tears shall reap in joy ; and he that goes forth weeping , bearing precious seed , shall doubtless come again with rejoycing , bringing his sheaves with him . there is no doubt no question to be made of that , and therefore it is bound with an asseveration , which takes away all scruple from it , he shall doubtless come again with rejoycing , bringing his sheaves with him . it is the custome every where to have good chear , and to be merry when they reap . so it was among the jews , as you may see deut. 16. 13 , 14. and therefore this is used in scripture to express the greatest joy , isa. 9. 3. they shall rejoyce before thee according to the joy of harvest . so though the christian sows in rainy weather , in a weeping time , all shall be sweet and calm , and fair , when the reaping time comes . he shall sit down with abraham , and isaac , and jacob in the kingdom of heaven , feeding on the hidden manna , and drinking of the pure and chrystal river of water of life , proceeding from the throne of god , and of the lamb , and there they shall be merry altogether . when once he comes to gods immediate presence , he shall have joy , full joy , yea , the fulness of joy , psal. 16. last . in his presence is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore . 3. the joy that is to come will pay for all . it will be such , so plentiful and overflowing , that it will make a full amends for all your present tears and sorrow ; it will quite overcome the sense , and the remembrance of them . alas , our trouble here is nothing , in comparison , it is a light and easie burthen . our affliction is but short , it continues but a moment ; but the time is drawing nigh , when this little light sorrow , shall be wholly swallowed up in endless and unutterable joy . this short affliction which lasteth but a moment , shall end in everlasting and unmixed pleasures , 2 cor. 4. 17. it worketh for us , a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory : oh what transporting comfort is there many times , in reaping the first fruits of the spirit , that we are ready to cry out ! if the first fruits be so sweet , what will the harvest be ? if the earnest be so great , what will the possession be ? when we shall be filled and satisfied , with the delights that heaven yields to all eternity . i could say as peter once , it is good to be here , let us build tabernacles here . but i must hasten to another observation . doct. that we are very subject to misplace our grief , and to mistake the ground and object of our sorrow . so did these daughters of jerusalem you see , they wept where they should not , and they wept not where they should . and therefore christ corrects their sorrow in the text ; daughters of jerusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for your children . a great part of the sin , and corruption that hath invaded humane nature , consists in the disorder and distemper of our passions and affections ; and lies especially in two things either when we miss the right object , or transgress the just measure : when they are either ill placed , or ill proportioned : when we mistake in either of them , when we are troubled where we should not , or too much troubled where we should ; we are much to be condemned : and both of these we are very subject to . the first is pertinent to our purpose , we are extreamly apt to grieve and to be troubled where we should not . it is no wonder that we find esau faulty here , mistaking in the object of his sorrow : he sought repentance , and sought it carefully with tears ; as you may see , heb. 12. 17. but what repentance did he seek with tears ? alas he missed his mark , he sought not his own , but his fathers repentance ; feign he would have his father to repent of his pouring out the blessing on his younger brother jacob , and consequently to revoke it , and to call it back again : but when he saw that was not to be done , and heard his father say , i have blessed him , and he shall be blessed , he lifted up his voice and wept , gen. 27. 38 , yea the apostles and disciples of our saviour christ himself mistook in this , that they misapplyed their sorrow . they were extreamly grieved and troubled that christ was ready to depart , and to withdraw his fleshly presence from them : whereas he tells them plainly , it is expedient for you that i go away , john 16. 7. it is not only expedient for me , but it is expedient for you ; so that here was no real cause of grief and sorrow . and hence our saviour puts a stop upon it , john 14. 1. let not your hearts be troubled , q. d. i see that you misplace your grief , come it must not be so ; i will not have it to be so ; let not your hearts be troubled . poor mary was greatly at a loss in this particular , she stood beside the sepulcher of christ weeping , john 20. 11. why what 's the matter ? the body of the lord is gone . had she found him dead there , it seems she had been very well content : so that her grief and so row was indeed ( although she did not understand it , and intend it so ) that christ was risen . she should have wept over an unbelieving heart , ( that doubted of the resurrection of her saviour ) and not over an empty grave , from which his body was deliver'd ; god having loos'd the pains of death , because it was not possible that he should he holden of it , acts 2. 24. i might add other instances , but these may satisfie to clear the point ; that we are very subject to misplace our grief , and to mistake the ground and object of our sorrow : and there are two especial causes of it . viz. either because our understanding is misled , or our affections are mislaid . reas. 1. somtimes we are very subject to misplace our grief , because our understanding is misled . we do not judg aright of that , which is indeed the only , or the greatest cause of trouble . some apprehend their tears are fitter to be spent on their afflictions , then their sins : they see no great hurt in sin , but they feel much in affliction ; affliction is a grievous thing to them ; but corruption is not so . there is a principle in nature which makes a man averse from penal evil , but there is none at all , that maketh him averse from sinful evil : so that a man needs nothing else but nature to make him sensible of penal evils of afflictions , but he needs more then nature , to make him sensible of sin : and h●●●e it is , because the greater part of men have nothing else but nature in them , that they are so exceedingly affected with the one , and so regardless of the other . now these affections follow apprehensions , as they always do ; they are mistaken in their judgments , and so they misapply their passions : they look upon their sins as small matters , but they amplifie their troubles and afflictions , as he in the poet , i am ten times , twenty times , an hundred times miserable ; and hence they weep for their afflictions and will not be comforted ; while they have not a tear to spend upon their sins ; and this in probability was israels case , jer. 30. 15. they were extreamly troubled at the miseries that were upon them , but they were little troubl'd at their sins ; they cry'd because of their afflictions ; they did not only sigh and mourn and grieve and weep , but more then so they cry'd aloud ; which shews extemity of sorrow : but we hear nothing of any sorrow sor their sins . and therefore god comes in and interrupts them , why what 's the matter with you , can you tell why you take on in this fashion ? why criest thou for thine affliction ? thy sorrow is inourable , for the mulitude of thine iniquity : because thy sins are increased . and so for penal evils , they mistake there too ; they think that temporal judgments , are greater and heavier then spiritual judgments : they take the bodily plague , to be worse then the plague of the heart : a famine of corn , then the famine of the word ; and so they grieve more for the one , then for they other ; and they had rather lose their saviour , then their hogs : that is the first reason then , why we misplace our grief , because our understanding is misled . 2. the second is , because our affection is mislaid , i mean our love ; for love is the commander of our other passions : it is the first and great wheel of the soul , that carries all the rest about , and governs them as it pleaseth . love is the strongest of the passions and affections , and therefore all the rest yield to it , and are greatly sway'd by it : and by this means it comes to pass , that if we misplace our love , we are in danger to misplace our sorrow : for we shall surely grieve for that most , which we love best , whether it be best or not . oh what a deal of vain unnecessary sorrow , do many throw themselves into , by misapplying this affection ! their love is settled where it should not be , or it is stronger then it ought to be , to such a friend , to such a comfort , to such a relation , and when they find a disappointment by the removall , or the chang of that which they have set their hearts too much upon , their grief is answerable to their love . strong affections ( especially when they miscarry in the object of them ) do cast men into strong afflictions . oh how was david overcome with the death of absalom ! though yet indeed , the cutting of him off , was a great and signal mercy , to himself , and to his people . and therefore joab even rates him for it 2 sam. 19. 5. and following verses . saith he , thou hast sham'd this day the faces of all thy servants who have sav'd thy life , and the life of thy sons , and of thy daughters , and thy wves : since thou hast lov'd thine enemies , and hated thy friends , and hast declar'd this day , that thou regardest neither princes nor servants : and i perceive that if absalom had lived , and all we had died this day , it would have pleased theewell . you see the reason of his immoderate & overflowing sorrow for him , was his inordinate affection to him : which was so out of measure great , that when he heard the news , his passion wrought , and he was hasting to a room to give it vent . but alas , he cannot hold till he come thither , but discharges at the stayrs as he is going up , 2 sam. 18. 33. he wept as he went and said , o my son absalom , my son , my son absalom , would god i had died for thee , o absalom , my son , my son. you see then both that , and , why , we are so ready to misplace our grief , and to misapply our sorrow . use. the application of the point shall be for caution , and direction , both together ; to watch our hearts against it , that so we lay not out our tears amiss : be circumspect that you do not misplace your grief , and that you do not mistake the ground and object of your sorrow ; like these poor daughters of jerusalem , who wept where they should not , and wept not where they should . oh what a deal of grief do some men waste away , when there is no cause at all ! how do many men take on , when they are crost in prosecution of their lusts , and hindred in their sins , which is indeed a great mercy ? oh what floods of tears do some men pour out upon a petty slight occasion , at a trifling accident ! beloved , tears if they be shed aright , are precious things ; god puts them up into his bottle , as if they were of great value ; and yet some lay them out on nothing : how will they weep , and grieve , at any disappointment in their small affairs , any miscarriage in their business , any little petty loss , any unkindness from their friends , or neighbours , any affront or provocation in the least degree ; nay if they be but crossed of their wills ; though it be best indeed they should : all their sorrow is bestowed on little trifling inconsiderable things . why , my beloved , have ye not other manner of things then these to grieve for ? what think you of your own sins , with all their bloody aggravations ? what think you of the horrible abominations , and woful desolations of the land ? and of all the wrath of god , that hath been lately manifested and reveal'd from heaven against us , more wayes then i am able to express ? i might be very large in shewing you particularly and distinctly , both what you should , and what you should not grieve for ; and giving you directions from the word of god about it . but because the time spends , and i would not be prevented of that which i have principally in my eye , i shall pass over many other things that so i may apply my self to the occasion . methinks i see the clouds gather , and return after the rain : and out of question many of you are come hither with a sufficient stock of sorrow : your hearts are full of grief , and your souls full of trouble , and your bottles full of tears , brim full . you have drawn water , and are ready to pour it out before the lord this day . my work shall be to guide you , and direct you ( with our saviour in the text ) how to bestow these tears and how to spend this sorrow , that you may not weep in vain , i say to you as christ doth to the daughters of jerusalem ( with a little alteration ) weeep not for him , whom the lord hath taken from you , but weep for your selves ; and for your children . 1. weep not for him . i know the loss of such an able , faithful , painful , zealous minister of christ , as he was ; ought to be very much bewailed ; men of such hidden worth as he had in him , and of such publick use and service in the church , should not be raked up in their graves , without tears , and lamentations : joash a wicked king wept for a good prophet , and that with very great affection , 2 kings 13. 14. he wept over his face and said , my father , my father the chariots of israel & the horsmen thereof . and if you mark the carriage of the saints , when such as he ( i mean our dear and worthy brother ) have been taken from them , it would warrant all the tears you have to spend on this occasion . in the first of kings 13. 30. you find a prophet , burying a prophet , and melting over him when he inter'd him ; he laid his carcase in the grave and mourned over him , and said alas my brother ! how solemnly did israel lament the death of samuel , & made their grief as remarkable & publick as their loss , 1 sam. 25. 1. it is observed of stephen that he was carried by devout men to his burial with great lamentatiou , acts. 8. 2. and god forbid that such an one as we have lost , should die away , as if he were not desired ; that he should steal into his grave , as if there were no notice taken of his death . no my beloved , weep , and weep on ; sit down and weep till you can weep no more ; yet still i say , weep not for him . your loss is unaccomptable indeed , and time perhaps will shew it to be greater then as yet you see . but tell me my beloved , is he a loser any way ? nay , is he not an infinite gainer ? is not this best of all for him ? indeed to have continued in the flesh was better for you ; as the apostle states the case , when he was straightened , phil. 1. 24. but for him it was far better to be dissolved and to be with christ. now he enjoys a full deliverance from all corruptions , all temptations , all afflictions : a full return of all his prayers , and breathings after god and christ , in which he was transported , when he was drawing near his glory : a full reward of all his tiring and incessant labours . oh blessed soul ! you know a voice from heav'n hath said , blessed are the dead , that die in the lord , for they rest from their labours , and their works follow them . therefore i say weep not for him . there is one thing i must confess that makes this providence the sadder to us . you know it is the prophet davids prayer , psalm 102. 24. o my god take me not away in the midst of my daies . the lord indeed hath taken him away in the midst of his daies , and in the midst of his ministry . but is he gone to heaven too soon ? too soon indeed for you , but not for him . is he got home to his fathers house too soon ? is he with god and christ and angels and glorified saints too soon ? what , doth he wish that he were back again with you ? hath he his everlasting rest too soon ? his glorious recompence too soon ? brethren , he wrought apace you know , while he had strength , and finished the work that god had given him to do , betime . so that it is no wonder though he hath his wages early , sooner then such dull heavy slugs as we are . his life was short indeed , though filled up with grace and duty , and god hath made but an exchange of an eternal one for it . he was a burning and a shining light ; burning with enflam'd affections , till the oil was spent , and shining in an exemplary conversation . but this lamp is not extinguished , but only lighted up , to flame and shine in a more glorious place . and there he shall shine forth as the sun , for ever and ever . so that i must say still , weep not for him . 2. but you will ask me , for whom shall we weep then ? i answer , for your selves , and for your children . 1. weep for your selves . the lord you see hath made a woful breach upon you , as it is said of uzzah , 1 sam. 6. 8. and that your hearts remain unbroken , they are unsutable to this heavy dispensation . god hath remov'd his holy faithfull servant , not into a blind corner , but into a dark pit . the grave hath newly shut her mouth upon him , he is gone hence to be no more in this world : you shall behold him now no more in the land of the living : your eyes shall see your teacher here no more for ever : you shall now be no more enlightned with his clear instructions : no more enliven'd with his zealous exhortations : no more quickned with his fervent prayers : no more warm'd with his heavenly discourses : no more ehear'd with his sweet consolations : no more guided by his holy example . the lord hath made him up among his jewels , because indeed we were not worthy of such a precious gemme as he was : he hath in anger and displeasure pluckt away one of our pillars , as if he meant the house should fall . and shall we be insensible of such a stroke ? shall we have tears enough to wast upon our petty losses , & not have a tear to spend on this inestimable & irreparable one ? brethren , you are allow'd to weep here , though not for him , yet for your selves : and that especially in two respects . 1. for the sins that you have done , for they have made this sad work . they are the true and real cause of all your losses . they are your sins that hinder good things that they come not to you ; or take them quite away when they are come . if god carry you aside into a wilderness and strip you naked there of any mercy ; as if he meant to iash you to the purpose ; your ways and your doings have procured you these things ; such is your wickedness . believe it you have sinned , some way or other , against the mercy which the lord takes from you : they are our sins against the ordinances of the lord , that cause the lord to take away our ordinances from us . they are our sins against the ministers of christ ( in that capacity as ministers ) that provoke him to remove our ministers from us , yea many times to take away the candlestick and light together . you may take up the lamentation of the church this day ; the crown is faln from our heads ; wo to us for we have sinned . they are our sins that weaken , and impair and kill our ministers , who are indeed the churches crown , and the glory of christ. sometimes we overvalue them , and then we kill them with kindness . sometimes we undervalue them , and then we kill them with neglect , and make them do their work with grief : sometimes we are untractable , and unthankful , and unfruitful ; and god calls away his workmen out of the vineyard that will yield no better fruit . nay sometimes we decline , and grow remiss , and cold , and flat , we lose our love to god and christ , and then he takes away our beloved comforts from us . and let me tell you , some of you have backslidden grievously , and sonsibly abated of your former zeal and holiness and strictness in the ways of god. yea , sinned scandalously to the dishonour of religion and the gospel : this greived our dear brother , who will grieve no more now ; i had it from his mouth and pen , how tenderly he took some late miscarriages , and how near they went to him : these things brought him low among you , who was low enough before ; and made him to bewail many who have manifestly sinned , and have not repented , as the apostle speaks , 2 cor. 12. 21. oh how it wounded him , after so many labours and so many sufferings , for your establishment and confirmation ; to see such declinations and backslidings . he might have said with the apostle , 1 thess. 3. 8. now i live if you stand fast in the lord , if not i die ; and dead he is . oh my dear friends , what have your sins done ? what hath your barrenness , and your unfruitfulness , and your backsliding done ? i know you lov'd him with a very high affection , and have made it to appear in many outward declarations to your great praise . but the best way to shew your love to the true ministers of christ , who seek not yours , but you ; who seek not profit and applause , but fruit ; is to bear their just reproofs and to be amended by them ; to hear and obey them in their regular directions ; to follow all their good examples : for the ministers of christ are samplers to the flock , & samplers must be wrought after . and in a word , to bring them in the return of all their labours , in holiness and holy walking ; that they may see the travel of their souls and be satisfied . nothing but this will satisfie them , and make them do their work with joy. i know you lov'd him , as there was cause enough you should ; but say in truth , have you improv'd him ? i am assur'd that many of you ( a considerable number ) have improv'd him to the utmost of your power . that you have made the most you could , of his indefagatible and incessant pains among you . that you have gather'd up the very fragments of the bread of life , and pik'd up the very crums , that nothing might be lost . that you have eyed his exemplary conversation , and walked according to your pattern . and this i make no question is no small comfort to you in this doleful day . but have you all done this ? are there no secret stitches at the hearts of any of you , upon this consideration ? he spent his strength indeed among you , he wasted and consumed himself , that you might flourish . but tell me have there been answerable fruits among you , of holiness and obedience ? when he fed you , have you prosper'd ? he got a poor lean wither'd body , that you might have fat souls . and are you all fat and well likeing ? oh what lean souls have some of you , who have attended on his ministry , even to his dying day ? how hath your rich and fat pasture been cast away upon you ? so that our brother might have said ( in reference to many ) as the prophet did , i have spent my strength in vain . however he is glorious with his god. but i am very much afraid that many of you , will find this holy witness who is now ascended , witnessing against you , when the day of trial comes . dear friends : be not offended if i tell you , that your sins have had a stroke in the sickness , and the weakness , and the death of your deservedly beloved minister . they were our sins that killed christ ; he was bruised for our iniquities , and broken for our sins : he bare our sins in his body on the tree . and so they are our sins , that kill the ministers of christ. you have often seen your saviour slain before you , by and for your sins . now you have seen a holy minister of his , slain by the same hands . and yet your sins have still to do more such work , and the lord knows where it will end . there is no execution done upon them , who have done such dreadfull execution in our view . oh let your hearts break , and your tears run down , till your lusts be broken , mortified and destroyed ; or else they will break you , and destroy you . if you have any love to christ , to the ministers of christ , or to your selves , you may see cause enough to weep , though not for our deceased brother ; yet for your selves , and for your sins . that 's the first thing then , weep for the sins that you have done . 2. for the judgments that now you may be like to suffer . to this our saviour referth in the text , weep for your selves and for your children ; that is , for the extremity of wrath and deletery vengeance , that is about to come on you and them . even so say i to you my brethren , with the apostle james 5. 1. go to now , weep and howl , for your miseris that shall come upon you . oh let not that complaint of the prophet isaiah 57. 1. be renewed against you , the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart , and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . our dear brother now deceased was a righteous man , yea a preacher of righteousness . the lord you see hath taken him away ; oh what evil is to come ! when such as he are hous'd , what dreadful stormes may there be like to fall ? brethren , the holy ministers of god , are the peoples life-guard , the chariots of israel and the horsmen thereof , 2 kings 13. 14. they are anointed cherubs that cover . they are a shelter and a covering from the storm and from the rain . sometimes they are called shepherds ; and the business of a shepherd is to keep and save the flock . sometimes they are called angels ; and angels are the guardians of the lords people : they guard , and cover , and protect a people . now this they do while they instruct them so to walk , that wrath may not come upon them while they intercede with god , and stand up in the breach , to keep out the indignation that is flowing in upon it . a praying minister ( and such a one have you lost ) one that bare you on his heart continually before the lord , ( as aaron did the names of israel on his breast-plate ) i say a praying minister , is a protection to the people . it s true , the fervent prayers of the meanest saint are an incredible defence to any place , to save it from the strokes of god. and therefore even they are stiled intercessors , isaiah 59. 16 : because they mediate with god when he is angry , and by their zealous supplications hold his hands . but yet however , though it be a certaine truth that god hath much respect to the petitions of his weakest servants , yea though perhaps some private christians may excel a holy minister in prayer ; yet god hath more regard to the intreaties of his faithful ministers , who have a special charge , and commission to be his remembrancers for the good of that people , which he committeth to their charge ; and their petitions are of more availe and power with god both to procùre his blessings , and avert his judgments . moses and aaron among his priests , and samuel among them that call on his name ; they called upon the lord , and he answered them , psalm 99. 6. why doubtless , so he heard the prayers of his other saints . but these his holy priests and prophets had the ear of god ( as special favorites have their princes ears ) and could be heard and answer'd , when others were denied access and audience . and this is not obscurely intimated in that protestation of the lord to israel , concerning their approaching desolation , ezek. 14. 14. though these three men , noah , daniel , and job were in it , they should deliver but their own souls . by which , he insinuates , that when the absolute decree is once gone forth , it can by no means be revok'd , so he suggests withall , that if it had been feasible , these holy prophets would have done it ( q. d. ) were those three men in israel , they would put me to it hard , and try me shrewdly to forbear the land , i should be hardly able to deny them . he said he would destroy them , had not his chosen moses stood before him in the breach , to turn away his warth , psalm 106. 23. oh how did moses stand against him , and bind the hands of the almighty , when he was about to strike . so that the lord intreats and flatters with him to let him alone , exodus 32. 10. while such as moses are intercessors for a people , god forbears , he holds his hands , and restrains his indignation ; as he that means to strike , observes what strength there will be likely to oppose him : and when he looks and sees , that there is no intercessor , then he goes on with his design , isaiah , 59 16. then his arm brings salvation to him , and he puts on the garments of vengeance . brethren you are in greater danger then you are aware , by the removal of your praying minister : for you have lost one intercessor , if any breach should happen between god and you . yea you have lost your covering , if a storm of wrath should fall . so that it may be said of you , as it was once of israel when moses was away , that you are naked ; and what , are you in laodicea's case indeed ? do you not know that you are naked ? are you naked and are you not afraid ? are you naked and not ashamed ? this would become a state of innocence indeed ; in which it was observed of adam and his wife , that they were both naked , and were not ashamed , genesis 2. 5. but will it suit with such a state of sin and danger , as the best of you are in ? do you not find your selves uncovered ? have you no sense and feeling of it ? especially at such a time as this , when the judgments of the lord are abroad upon the earth , upon the land , upon this very place in which you live , more waies then i am able to express . alas , alas , you are uncovered , whether you know it : yea or no. and it is perhaps some mercy , that you are not quite uncovered . here spend your tears , and you shall not misplace your sorrow . that is the first branch of direction ; weep for your selves : for the sins that you have done , and for the judgments that you may 2. there is a second yet behind , and i have done . weep for your children . weep not for me , saith christ , but weep for your selves , and for your children . and why for them ? because their children were to bear a share , and suffer with them in the wrath that was about to come upon them , as you may see luke 19. 43. for the daies shall come upon thee ( saith our saviour ) that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee , and compass thee round , and keep thee in on every side , and shall lay thee even with the ground , and thy children within thee . brethren if you have any tears lest , drop a few upon your children : you are not able to foresee what miseries your little ones may be reserved for : and verily their danger is increased as well as yours , by this stroke , for you have lost a catechiser , as well as a preacher ; you know what care and pains he took , and what a gift and faculty he had in instilling holy knowledge into your children , and your little ones , while he had liberty in publick , and strength with opportunity in private . he took a very great delight to tamper with them , and to tole them on to the holy waies of god , by all the means that he was able to devise . it was his very last design ( as he was alwaies full of holy projects ) to take some course , that children might be more generally principled in the grounds and fundamentals of religion then they are . and i am very well assured , that many of your children , have such liquor poured into them by his means , that they will relish of it as long as they have a day to live , and it may be bless the lord and him for it , to all eternity . and therefore you have cause enough to weep that you have lost a minister that was fit and apt to teach , not your selves only , but your children too , and make them know the way of the lord. not to feed the sheep only , but to lead the lambs too , and to bear them in his bosome , as the expression is , isaiah 40. 11. i have done with the directions , weep for your selves , and for your children . and now for the close of all , i say again weep not for him , his sorrow certainly , is turned into joy , and therefore so let yours be also . he hath receiv'd that blessed sentence , well done good and faithful servant , enter into thy masters joy. and let me tell you ( i speak it upon good assurance ) he went triumphantly to glory : an entrance was ministred to him abundantly into the heavenly kingdom . as he drew nearer heaven ( till his disease prevailed against his reason ) he grew still more heavenly . when grace and glory were about to joyn , grace in him was most glorious . oh with what extasies , and ravishments of spirit did he fly away into the bosome of his saviour ! i have but one word to add , and it is that of the apostle hebrews 13. remember him that had sometimes the rule over you , who hath spoken to you the word of the lord , whose faith follow , considering the end of his conversation . and that was a blessed end indeed . remember him , to follow him in all that was exemplary in him , whether concerning faith , or life , that walking in the holy way that he did , you may at last come to the happy end and place where he is . finis . a sermon preached at westminster may 26. 1608 at the funerall solemnities of the right honorable thomas earle of dorset, late l. high treasurer of england by george abbot ... ; now published at the request of some honourable persons, very few things being added, which were then cut off by the shortnesse of the time. abbot, george, 1562-1633. 1608 approx. 75 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a16906 stc 38.5 estc s555 21634011 ocm 21634011 24849 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a16906) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 24849) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1761:3) a sermon preached at westminster may 26. 1608 at the funerall solemnities of the right honorable thomas earle of dorset, late l. high treasurer of england by george abbot ... ; now published at the request of some honourable persons, very few things being added, which were then cut off by the shortnesse of the time. abbot, george, 1562-1633. [4], 32 p. printed by melchisedech bradwood for william aspley, london : 1608. signatures: a-d⁴ e². reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dorset, thomas sackville, -earl of, 1536-1608. bible. -o.t. -isaiah xl, 6 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2003-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 ben griffin sampled and proofread 2005-03 ben griffin text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at westminster may 26. 1608. at the fvnerall solemnities of the right honorable thomas earle of dorset , late l. high treasurer of england . by george abbot doctor of diuinitie and deane of winchester , one of his lordships chapleines . now published at the request of some honourable persons ; very few things being added , which were then cut off by the shortnesse of the time . ioh. 9. 4. the night commeth , when no man can worke . london printed by melchisedech bradwood for william aspley . 1608. to the rihgt honorable and most vertuous lady , the la. cicely countesse of dorset . there are sundry reasons ( right honourable ) which haue mooued me to giue my consent that this sermon might be published : one is to testifie my dutifull & grateful respect towards that noble personage now deceased , to whom when he was liuing , i was so much bound for so many yeeres together : another is , to giue satisfaction to diuers of speciall qualitie and note , who haue earnestly intreated me , that i will not denie this dutie to the dead , nor such a kindnesse to them aliue , but that they may reade that againe and againe , which they heard once with no discontentment : a third is , that the world may truly take notice of many excellent vertues , wherewith god had indued this honourable man : and that as well with resolued knowledge to compose and settle his soule religiously towards heauen , as with rare wisdome & prudence otherwise , to digest and dispatch , either publike businesse touching his souereigne and the state , or his owne priuat affaires . in the opening whereof , as it should be vanitie to adde or amplifie any thing , so it should be want of christian dutie and regard , to conceale that which is true : especially since the relation may satisfie such as doubt , and the example may prouoke others to imitate those good parts , which are not euery where to be found . now it being published , i haue as great reason to recommend it to your honourable patronage , since you are the suruiuer of that worthy couple , who for so long time were ioyned together in the bands of christian wedlocke . and whom may it more concerne , or vnto whom can it be more comfortable than to your ladiship , that there should be some memoriall of his well-doing , whom you so deerly loued , and so respectfully obserued , in the time of your conuersation together ? besides , the reading of it , may peraduenture be a remembrancer vnto you of your owne mortalitie , when you heare of his departure before you , who ( as you supposed ) might haue ouer-liued you many yeeres . and lastly , the mention of that which his lordship hath left touching your selfe , may incite you to go forward in those vertuous and christian courses , which hitherto you haue so singularly demonstrated , that ( besides the experience which his lordship had , and testified to the full ) the world ( which obserueth few good things , vnlesse they be eminent ) taketh great notice of them : and therefore it neerly concerneth your honor to persist therein : and to endeuour yet dayly to increase those good graces ; that the end may counteruaile , yea exceed , both the progresse and beginning . i doubt not but god who hath begun his admirable worke in you , will accomplish it and make it perfect , so blessing you all the dayes of your pilgrimage heere , that you may liue to your children and childrens children an honourable paterne of pietie , religion and vertue ; and depart from this earth in a full age , vnto the true and neuer ceasing ioyes of his euerlasting kingdome . which he will alwayes pray for , who is and long hath beene your honors very much bounden george abbot . a sermon preached at westminster may 26. 1608. at the fvnerall solemnities of the right honourable thomas earle of dorset , late l. high treasurer of england . isaiah 40. 6. a voice sayd , crie . and he sayd , what shall i crie ? all flesh is grasse , and all the grace thereof is as the flower of the field . 7. the grasse withereth , the flower fadeth , because the spirit of the lord bloweth vpon it . hee that looketh into this chapter , shall see it to be a prophecie of the comming of christ : of his appearing in the flesh , and his taking of our humane nature vpon him , so to bring grace and saluation to as manie as should beleeue . and this , touching the comming of christ , is not nakedly layd downe , but with an intimation also of his fore-runner iohn the baptist , the very words being vsed ( to make it the more notorious ) which are repeated in the third chapter of saint mathew , 2 the voice of a crier in the wildernesse , prepare the way of the lord : make his paths straight . but to fit men so much the more , to embrace that mercy which should be offred by him , this sound reason is brought ; that of our selues we are mortall , corruptible and transitorie , and that therefore it is good that we should haue something else to rest our soules vpon . for we consist but of flesh , and that is like vnto the grasse . and if we should imagine othermen to be better then our selues , yet they are but as we are : for all flesh is grasse , and all the grace thereof is as the flower of the field : therefore it is best to trust to something els ; and that must be the sonne of god , the sauiour of the world , the redeemer of mankind , the mighty god of iacob . i shall not at this time speake any thing concerning the comming of christ , but shall rather insist vpon the opening of the reason which leadeth vs vnto christ iesus . which that it may bee the more strongly imprinted in vs , it is not barely deliuered , but with a kinde of preface , or solemne introduction , a voice said , cry : and he said , what shall i cry ? the whole may be diuided into these two parts , a preparation , and a proclamation . the proclamation is the maine , consisting of the latter words , all flesh is grasse , and all the grace thereof as the flower of the field , &c. in the preparation , are two circumstances : a commandement , what should be done : and the prophets composing of himselfe to the performance of it . of all which in their order , as god shall giue assistance . a voice said , crie . 2 we shall little need to inquire , what voice this is which speaketh to esay . for that , whereunto the prophet would hearken , is only the voice of god. that which spake out of the mount , in the twentieth of exodus , when the law was giuen downe to the people of israel , b god spake these words and said . that which called to c samuel , in the dead time of the night , and badde him go , and doe a message to old eli. that whereof dauid could say , d the voice of the lord is mightie : the voice of the lord is glorious . the veritie , the authority , the maiestie of that which is vttered , doth declare so much . this biddeth the prophet crie : not speake only ; much lesse whisper ; but with an extention of his voice to deliuer his message . this must not be as that was when god passed by elias , e in a soft and still voice : nor as that , where , to describe the mildenesse of our sauiour , it is said of him ; f he shall not stirre , nor crie , neither shall any man heare his voice in the streets : but it is rather like that of ionas the prophet , who entring into niniue g cried and said , yet fortie daies , and niniue shall be destroied . or as that in our prophet esay , h crie aloud , and spare not : lift vp thy voice like a trumpet . heere must be such a noise , as would mooue a man that were musing , would whet him that were dull , would rowse him that were slumbring , would awake him that were sleeping . so carefull is god , that we should heare this lesson , and lay it vnto our hearts . 3 hence we may perceiue the heauinesse and dulnesse of our nature , when in a matter so cleere , we need such a noise to remember vs of our mortalitie . for set aside the word of god , philosophy and experience may informe so much vnto vs. the churches and church-yards thorow which we do passe , the tombes of other men , the going before vs of our parents and our kinsfolkes , of our friends and acquaintance , might proclaime this vnto vs. what should we need any crying ? or why should we lacke any speaking ? we may see this well enough● so many men as wee meet , so many mortall creatures . x●rxes though but a heathen man , yet could make this vse of his sight : for when he beheld from the top of his high tabernacle , the huge numbers in his armie , as i herodotus writeth , he broke forth into teares , and yeelded this reason of it , that of all that multitude ( which was so great , that for ought we reade , there were neuer in the world so many souldiers at once compacted into one armie ) within one hundred yeres there should not one person be remaining aliue . and if we would not see it , yet feele it we may . for as we reade in s. austen , the aches of our bones , the heauinesse of our bodies , the deafenesse of our eares , the dimnesse of our sight , the baldnesse of our heads , the grainesse of our haires , are signes of a house that is ready to fall to the ground . k dum oculicaligant , aures grauiter audiunt , capilli fluunt , &c. hac omnia ruitur am iam iamque domum corporis citò praenunciant . hee alludeth to an old house , whereof when the walles doe moulder and fitter away , the roofe is vncouered , the timber is disiointed , it is an euident argument , that it will not be long before this house fall . such tokens of the mortalitie of our bodies , are those decaies and imperfections . but sathan doth so deafe vs , and the world doth so blinde vs , and our flesh maketh vs so senselesse , that wee neither heare nor see , nor feele that which lieth so hard vpon vs , and therefore gods voice must call vnto vs : a voice said , crie . what shall i crie ? 4 the herald is in readinesse , to doe as he is commanded . and that is the highest part of his dutie . what god enditeth , he writeth : what god will bid , hee will performe . so ezechiel was taught , l heare thou the word at my mouth , and giue them warning from me . and againe , m thou shalt heare the word at my mouth , and admonish them from me . in like maner in the new testament , our sauiour taking his leaue of his disciples , biddeth them , n go , and teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and the sonne , and the holy ghost , teaching them to obserue all things , whatsoeuer i haue commanded you . and s. paul to the corinthians , o i haue receiued of the lord that , which i also haue deliuered vnto you . thus the minister should depend vpon the mouth of his master . saint paul could say to timothy his scholar ; p o timotheus keepe that which is committed to thee . whereupon vincentius lyrinensis very elegantly doth descant , what is it that thou must keepe , q that which is committed to thee , not that which is inuented by thee : that which thou hast receiued , not that which thou hast deuised : a matter not of thy witte , but rather of thy learning . if the preacher of the gospell doe keepe him to this rule , he himselfe shall be safe ; and as for the speeding of it , let him leaue the euent to god. the physicians of egypt , as t diodorus siculus doth report , had this rule prescribed to them , that they should make their practise according to a booke deliuered vnto them from ancient physicians , and approued writers . if any followed the rule and prescript of his booke , though his patient did miscarie , yet hee was not blamed for it . but if any went besides his booke , though his patient did well , he lost his life for his labour . we that are physicians of the soule may make some vse therof . we must teach by the booke . the burthen of our song must be with the old prophets , thus and thus saith the lord. if he command we must speak ; what he willeth , we must cry . so much of the preparation . and now to the proclamation . all flesh is grasse , &c. 5 heere the speech is so significant , that euery word hath his weight . flesh it selfe intendeth corruption . when it is likened to the grasse , it more noteth our mortalitie . when the word all is added , it designeth the generalitie of the doome which is giuen . when the grace and beautie is named , it demonstrateth that there is no hope to the contrarie . the spirit of the lord blowing on it , sheweth the reason of the whole . of ech of these very briefly . when flesh is named heere , and it is not said , a liuing creature , or a spirit , nay not so much as that which is ordinarie in the scripture , a man , it implieth a dissolution . for our flesh is propagated from adam , and of him it was said , f from the earth thou wast taken , because thou art dust , and to dust shalt thou returne . this continueth on his successors , who deriued their flesh from him . it is written of t sheth and enosh , and kenan , and methuselah , that they liued nine hundred yeeres ; but it is added touching ech of them , and he died , and he died . dauid witnesseth this for othermen , u he seeth that wisemen die , and so doe the ignorant and foolish . of all flesh , that is true which saint bernard deliuereth , x nascimur , morimur : we are borne , and then we die . and in another place , y in terra orimur , interra morimur , &c. in the earth we haue our beginning , and in the earth we haue our ending , returning into that , from whence at first we were taken . thus god hath decreed that there should be a succession of one man after another . and as in the greatest shewes , when one hath had his turne , he is to be gone , and to leaue the place to them that follow , and if he should desire to keepe himselfe on the stage , and by no meanes to depart , he should be verie iniurious vnto those who are to succeed : so it is heere in mens liues ; one hath his turne before , another hath his turne afterwards , but the first must yeeld to the latter , when his time is once accomplished ; els he shall doe wrong to succession . yet this going away and departure out of this world , god hath appointed to be the meanes to aduance men vnto heauen . our corruption is the way vnto our incorruption . for god meaning for to crowne with the garland of immortalitie , those that haue striuen lawfully , doth not come downe to them to honour them vpon earth , but calleth them vp to him , so to glorifie them in heauen . which thing saint chrysostome well considered , when he spake in this maner : z he would haue thee to striue below , but he crowneth thee aboue : for the crowne is not in this place , where the striuing is ; but in a glorious place . doe you not see heere , that such champians and cha●et-driuers , whom they doe most honour , are not crowned below in the place of trying masteries , but the king calling them vp putteth on their garlands there . god doth take with his children the verie selfe-same course . their fight must be on earth , but their reward in heauen . and thither they may not come , till they haue put off this body . their flesh is as a veile which keepeth them from beholding the purity of that secret one . a in the tabernacle which moses made , there was a veile which was hanged vp betweene the holy place , and the holy of holies . this was made of foure substances , that is , blue silke and purple , and scarlet , and fine linnen , which as b iosephus telleth vs , and saint c hierome after him , did represent the foure elements , of whom our flesh consisteth . such a d veile was afterwards in the temple at hierusalem , which at the death of our blessed sauiour did rent from the top vnto the bottome , at which time a man might haue beheld the very sanctum sanctorum . so when our flesh , this veile , which keepeth vs from beholding the inuisibilitie of that mightie one , shall be rent and torne in peeces by dissolution and by death , we shall behold our creator , but neuer vntill that time . e the old house must to the ground , that so the tenant of it , may ascend vnto god by a kinde of remooue , till the building be new repaired . 6 in the next place , our flesh is compared to the grasse . grasse , than which nothing is more common ; nothing more vile . which groweth , and in an instant is cut downe , and then withereth , & is either deuoured as fodder , or if it be of a bigger size , f is burned in the ouen , as christ himself speaketh . dauid vseth the same comparison : g the daies of man are as grasse : as a flower of the field , so flourisheth he . which is thus expressed by gregory : h man may be compared to the grasse , quia per natiuitatem viret in carne , per iuuent utem candescit in ●●ore , per mortem aret in puluere : because by his birth , hee is greene in his flesh , by his youth he is white in his blossome , by his death he is drie & withered in the dust . such is the shortnesse and vncertaintie of our life . saint iames doth liken it to a i vapour , that appeareth for a little time , and afterward vanisheth away . saint peter compareth it to a tent or k tabernacle , which is soone vp and soone downe . the old l egyptians called our houses , by the name of innes , where we lodge for a night , and are gone in the morning . tully termed our life a m lodging , ex vita ista discedo , tanquam ex hospitio : i depart out of this life , as out of a lodging . iob calleth it a n shadow . and in another place , o my daies are swifter than the shuttle of a weauer . saint basil doth liken our life vnto a p dreame , where a man seeth glorious shewes , and is wonderfully pleased with them , but after a little while he awaketh , and all is nothing . homer compareth men vnto q leaues , which peepe out of the tree , and then grow bigger and bigger ; at last they are at the greatest , fresh in shew , and greene in colour ; but then they fade and decay , and are driuen off with the winde . some other say , that a man is but like vnto an apple , which if it be let alone will at length be ripe , and of it selfe will fall vnto the ground , but peraduenture before that time , it is shaken off by a blast , or cropped off by a violent hand . lastly , other haue likened our being heere in the world vnto a game at chesse , where there be degrees of men , kings , and knights and common pawnes , amongst whom , one is caught away , and by and by another : but howsoeuer on the boord they differ in their degree , yet when the game is ended , and they are swept all into the bagge , there is none better than other , the meanest lieth aboue , and the greatest is vnderneath . thus both the spirit of god , and the iudgement of wise men , by significant similitudes would riuet it in into vs , and fasten it as with a naile into our cogitations , that our daies are but vanitie , our continuance heere but momentame , our abode on earth but vncertaintie . 7 now lest it should be said , that with some it may bee thus , but with other otherwise , it is farther added , that all flesh is grasse . men are all of the same molde , and returne to the same substance . the wise woman of tecoah could speake in generall to dauid , r we must needs die , and we are as water spilt on the ground , which cannot be gathered vp againe . heere shee ioineth herselfe with dauid , my lord we needs must die , you a man , and i a woman : you a soueraigne , i a subiect . dauid himselfe knew this , when lying in his death-bed , he spake thus vnto salomon , s i go the way of all the earth . death is the way of all flesh . so holy iob , t i know that thou wilt bring me to death , and to the house appointed for all the liuing . so s. paul to the hebrewes , u it is appointed vnto men that they shall once die , and after that commeth the iudgement . where the indefinite proposition is equiualent to a generall . death , saith seneca , is the x hauen , whither euery ship must go : some come sooner , and some come later , but there they all must ariue . perhaps when a ship is entring into the mouth of the hauen , there commeth a blast of winde , and driueth it out againe ; but that will not serue the turne , it must backe to the same place . the speech is true of all , y vitaperpetuo auolat , neque potest retincri : mors quotidie ingruit , neque potest resisti . life alway flieth away , and cannot be held backe : and death daily doth grow on , and cannot be resisted . in this one point all conditions are alike . the yoong may , and the old must . the difference is no more , but the z one come vnto death , and death commeth to the other . death , saith saint a bernard , non miseratur inopiam , non diuitias reueretur , &c. pitieth not the pouertie of one , nor standeth in awe of the riches of another , it spareth not the parentage of any man , nor his behauiour , nor his age ; for the old it standeth ready in the gates , for the yoong it licth in ambush . the poet could say of death , that it is that , b quò pius aeneas , quò tulius diues & ancus , whether aeneas with his piety , and tullus with his riches , and ancus with his valour did go . puluis & vmbra sumus : we are but dust and shadow . nay it is a thing so assured , that in a sort a man may say we are more certaine to die , than that euer we were borne , since there is but one way onely to come into the world , but a thousand waies to goe out of it , as c gregorie nazianzene obserued , as , by fire , and by water , by the teeth of wilde beasts , by famine , or sword , or pestilence , and infinite meanes besides . and as the rule is generall for persons and for degrees , so also is it for places ; no one place being exempt or priuileged from death . which d socrates himselfe did rightly vnderstand , when after his condemnation being told by his friends , that if he would giue liking thereunto , they would by violence take him from the officers , or otherwise conuey him away ; he not onely gaue no consent to that proiect of theirs , but also smiled at them , asking whether they knew any place , without the territorie of athens , to the which death might not approch . and as pretie a speech was that of e hormisda the persian , who being by his king sent in ambassage to constantius the roman emperour , was caused by constantius to walke vp and downe , to view the citie rome . there hee beheld the glorious monuments of the place , the capitol , the pantheon , the temple of peace , the forum of traian , the amphitheater , and the bathes , with many other matters of excellent workemanship . but being asked by the emperour what he thought of rome , or what was his iudgement concerning it , he replied , that it was the most glorious citie , that was in the world ; and that as hee supposed , there was not such another in all the earth : but this , saith he , doth please me , or as other report it , this one thing doth displease me , that i see men die at rome , as they doe in other places . the speech was most true , and fitteth all other cities . we all then may resolue , that wheresoeuer we be , or of what calling soeuer , we must come to the gates of death . that we might not hope to auoid this , the patriarkes and the prophets haue gone that way before vs : that wee may not dread the sharpnesse of it , the sonne of god himselfe by sustaining death in his flesh , hath sanctified death vnto vs. 8 a man would haue thought , that by this time sufficient had beene sayd . but yet farther to imprint all into our cogitation , the prophet speaketh on , all the grace thereof is as the flower of the field . the grasse withereth , the flower fadeth . as if he should haue subioyned , that if in the life of man there be any thing more faire , more amiable , more goodly , more specious , more illustrious than the common qualitie , yet this is but like to the flower . the flower is more sightly than the grasse , more pleasing vnto the eye , more fragrant vnto the smell : yet it endureth the common qualitie of withering and fading . yea many times the fairer and the gayer the flower is , the sooner it is gathered and cropped off by the hand . so it is with those things which this world esteemeth most glorious . authority , estimation , youth , beauty , pompe , strength , all the delights of this earth are transitorie and vaine . dauid setteth men as high as possibly they may go , f i haue sayd , ye are gods , and ye all are children of the most high : but he bringeth them downe as low , but yee shall die as a man : and ye princes shall fall like others . there be many things in this world of high esteeme with men , goodly houses , glorious clothes , daintie fare , curious gardens , musicke , baths , plate and possessions : yet of these s. austen sayd truly , g quamuis insana gaudia non sint gaudia : although these mad and foolish ioyes are in trueth no ioyes , yet be they as they are , and let them delight as much as possibly they can , aufert omnia ista vnafebricula , if there come but one fit of an ague , the comfort of them is gone . to the same purpose saint basil : for when hee hath described the glory and the ornaments of princes and great persons , he addeth : h that if there come but one ill night , one little touch of a feuer , some paine of the side , or imperfection in the lungs , abijt illa vniuersa scena , all the play is marred , the shew is quite disgraced . where wee may note , that saint basil doth terme our life but a play : and so also doth saint i chrysostome , likening men vnto stage-players , among whom one is a king , a second stands for a captaine , a third serues for a mariner , and other haue other parts ; but this is only while they are vpon the stage : for the shew being ended , they are then but themselues , all fellowes , and all alike . euen so in life there is difference , there be degrees of callings ; but in rottennesse and the graue the best and worst are equall . there no difference may be found betweene k absason with his beautie , and l lazarus with his blaines . there it is true which m lucian causeth one to report , that when he came amongst the dead , he could there see no difference betweene nireus the faire , and thersites the foule : betweene irus the begger , and vlysses the prince : betweene pirrhias the cooke , and agamemnon the king . now if these things be so , why doe men set their hearts on the glory of this world ? nay , why do christian men embrace it , and admire it , and adore it , and doat vpon it , since heathen men haue discouered the vanitie thereof , and done strange things about it ? that n saladine who was so great an enemie to the christians , and wan from them the holy land , lying vpon his death-bed , gaue charge that his inner garment , his shirt as it may be thought , or rather his shrowd , being put on the end of a speare , should be carried before his coarse now going to be buried , and that a herald should crie , that saladine the great lord and gouernour of asia carried nothing away with him but that shirt or that shrowd . where if it should be obiected that he grew to this contemplation , when immediatly he was to leaue the world , i may tell you of other persons , who in their strength and vigor haue had as good meditations . o titus that romane emperour hauing set out shewes and spectacles for a hundred daies together , to demonstrate the magnificence of that empire , on the last day of those sights , in the presence of all the people did breake foorth into teares , vpon a consideration , that all that pompe was vanished and dissolued into nothing . it is sayd of p paulus aemilius , that when he had his triumph for three whole dayes together , he ioyed no way apparantly ; as neither on the other side , he gaue testimonie of griefe for the death of one of his sonnes , who died a very few dayes before the time of his triumph ; with which patience he also tooke the death of another of them within a few dayes after . but albeit in all that , he did beare himselfe with great constancie , yet in another case hee had other cogitations . for q hauing ouerthrowen in battell perseus the king of macedonia , and hauing chased him vp and downe , so that there was small hope to escape , perseus writeth letters to him , that he would yeeld into his hands his kingdome and his person ; which when aemilius had receiued , he could not stay from weeping , remembring the inconstancie and mutabilitie of all states and conditions . so did that noble r marcellus in his entrance into that rich citie syracusae , when he had long besieged it , and at last by composition it was surrendred vnto him ; the teares trickled from his eyes , to see so woorthy a place now brought into captiuitie . s scipio another romane , when he saw the citie carthage raced downe vnto the ground , though it had beene enemie to his countrey , yet could not forbeare to weepe , to thinke that empires and nations were so subiect to ouerturning . thus did the grauest and wisest men that were among the olde romans , in the happiest and most glorious things that euer did befall them while they were heere amongst men . such meditations as these were , would well become gods best seruants , to lay it vnto their heart , that the heigth of earthly felicity being taken in it selfe , is but store of the lightest vanitie . grasse is no better than grasse , and flowers are no better than flowers : these fade , the other withereth . 9 the reason of the whole now followeth : the spirit of the lord bloweth vpon it . god dissolueth all at his pleasure ; and marke with what facilitie this matter is brought about ; but as with a puffe of the winde , or as with the blast of the mouth . that breath which made the world , can marre a man in a moment . the lord sayth of himselfe , t i kill , and i giue life : i wound , and i make whole : neither is there any that can deliuer out of mine hand . hanna the mother of samuel , in her song remembreth this ; u the lord killeth , and maketh aliue : bringeth downe to the graue , and raiseth vp . and my prophet in the same chapter whence my text is taken , * he ( speaking of god ) bringeth the princes to nothing , and maketh the iudges of the earth as vanitie . these things teach vs the lords power , and his sway ouer men . hee setteth them in a standing place like sentinels in a watch , and when he list he dischargeth them : when he calleth for the greatest , there is no way of auoiding , there is no meanes of withdrawing , there is no place for absenting , there is no course of resisting . and so i end this proclamation . 10 what i haue spoken all this while touching the maine of my text , is verified in that spectacle which is now before our eyes , which can not chuse but be vnto vs a memoriall of mortalitie . for heere we are to celebrate the funerall solemnitie of an honourable personage , a graue counseller of estate , a great officer of the crowne , a faithfull seruant vnto his maiestie . touching whom , since you expect that something should be sayd , i shall draw the beginning of that which i must deliuer , from a witnesse beyond all exception ; and that is the late queene of euerlasting memorie . her maiestie not long before her death being pleased , as 〈◊〉 seemeth , with some speciall piece of seruice which his lordship had done vnto her , grew at large to discourse touching this noble man , as an honorable person , and a counseller of estate , in writing hath aduertised me . her highnesse was then pleased to decipher out his life , by seuen steps or degrees : the first was his yoonger daies , the time of his scholarship , when first in that famous vniuersitie of oxford , and afterward in the temple , ( where he tooke the degree of barrister ) he gaue tokens of such pregnancie , such studiousnesse and iudgement , that he was held no way inferiour to any of his time or standing . and of this there remaine good x tokens both in english and in latine published vnto the world . the second was his trauell , when being in france and italy , he profited very much in the languages , in matter of story and state : ( whereof this common-wealth , found great benefit in his lordships elder yeeres , in the deepest consulations that belonged vnto this kingdome . ) and being prisoner in rome for the space of foureteene daies , ( which trouble was brought vpon him by some who hated him for his loue to religion , and his dutie to his soueraigne ) he so prudently bare himselfe , that by the blessing of god , and his temperate kind of cariage , he was freed out of that danger . the third step which her maiestie did thinke good to obserue was ( vpon returne into england ) his comming vnto her court , where on diuers occasions he bountifully feasted her highnesse and her nobles ; and so he did to forren embassadors . at that time hee entertained musitians the most curious , which any where hee could haue , and therein his lordship excelled vnto his dying day . then was his discourse iudicious , but yet wittie and delightfull . thus he was in his yoonger daies , a scholar , and a traueller , and a courtier of speciall estimation . 11 the fourth step of his life , noted by her most sacred maiestie , was his imployment of higher nature , in embassages beyond the seas . as first , when his lordship was sent to the french king charles the ninth , partly to congratulate his mariage with the daughter of maximilian the emperour , and partly about other weighty affaires touching both the kingdomes . at which time his lordship was so honorably attended with gentlemen of choice qualitie ; and was so magnificent in his expence , as was admirable to the french , honorable to his countrey , and gaue much contentment vnto his soueraigne . * the chronicles at large relate the maner of it . secondly , when afterward in a seruice of tickle nature , he was imploied into the low countries , where notwithstanding the sharpe sight which by some was caried ouer him , yet his lordship behaued himselfe so warily and discreetly , that no blame could be fastened on him . the fift time obserued was , his temper and moderation after his returns from thence , when her maiestie to giue contentation to a great personage , in those daies of high imploiment , was pleased to command him vnto his owne house , there priuately to remaine till her farther pleasure was knowen . where his lordship did beare himselfe so dutifully and obsequiously vnto her highnesse command , that in all the time of his restraint , for nine or ten moneths space , hee neuer would endure either openly or secretly , either by day or by night to see either wife or childe . a rare example of obedience , and obseruance vnto his soueraigne . the sixt degree which was noted by that most renowmed ladie , was the time that his lordship was counsellor , before that he was aduanced to that high office , which afterward he bare , in which time he daily shewed great diligence and sound iudgement , in her weightiest affaires . the last of all was that space , wherein he held the roome of lord high treasurer of england , in which place she noted the continuall and excessiue paines , and care which his lordship did take in her businesse , his fidelitie in his aduices , his dexterity in aduācing of her profit . thus it seemed good to that queen of blessed memory , in particul●● discourse touching her faithfull seruant . this was while his lordship liued : and since his death , his maiestie that now is , the most religious , the most learned , the most iudicious king , that this land euer enioied , ( as i haue beene aduertised from persons of high qualitie ) hath beene pleased diuers times to giue many excellent speeches before the lords concerning him , as his highnesse had done formerly , while this noble man did liue . heere , may i not say with the poet ? y principibus placuisse viris , non vltima laus est : to please great princes is not the least commendation . nay i may change the verse , and alter it in this fashion : principibus placuisseistis , ter maxima laus est . to please such princes as these , is a very great commendation . and indeed , these were most gracious testimonies of two such soueraignes to their seruant , who desired much to please them with loyaltie and fidelitie , with vigilancie and care , with industrie and diligence , incredible , but vnto those who did know it . and neuer was there any noble man , who with more humble agnising , with more feeling and affectionate gratefulnesse did entertaine the fauours of his soueraignes , than this honorable person did , as may fully appeare by many w●●ds in his last will , recommending to his posteritie , a speciall grace of his maiestie , in sending a ring vnto him , which he wisheth his to keepe , as a iewell of highest value , thorowout all generations . the words are worth the reading , but they are too long to rehearse in this place . 12 now for other parts of morall vertues , how many rare things were in him ? who more louing vnto his wife , that honorable ladie , the mirrour of all true vertue ? it is a most worthy testimonie , that he hath giuen thereof , and hath left it to be 1 recorded for those that shall come after . who more kind vnto his children , and to his grand-children ? who more fast vnto his friend ? who more moderate to his enemy , if truth were once found out , and staining imputations were wiped away from the integritie of his honor ? who more true of his word ? it was a noble testimonie , which a most honorable personage gaue of his lordship since his death , in a right worthy assemblie , that in much conuersation and concurrence in many causes , of great waight and importance , hee neuer heard him speake , or in earnest affirme that which he found to be otherwise . what noble man in our time was more giuen to hospitalite , and keeping of a great house ? hauing liued , seuenty and two yeeres ( for so was his age accounted ) and being married more then fifty and three yeeres , vnto one and the selfe same lady , he kept house for fortie and two yeeres in an honorable proportion . for thirtie yeeres of those , his family consisted of little lesse in one place or another , than two hundred persons . but for more then twentie yeeres , besides workmen and other hired , his number at the least hath beene two hundred and twenty daily , as appeared vpon checke-rowle . a very rare example in this present age of ours , when house-keeping is so decaied . who more magnificent than than his lordship in solemne entertainments ? as ( besides other particulars ) was manifested not long since abundantly to the world , when his maiestie with the queene and prince together with a great part of the nobilitie , spent diuers daies at oxford . who was euer more desirous to doe wrong vnto none ? his lordship bought no land , but hee commonly paid more for it , than it was worth , yeelding this reason of it , that it would the better prosper and continue in his name and posteritie . in his will how carefull was he , that all debts should be paid ? yea though there were no specialty whereby it might be challenged , yet if it might appeare that ought was due vnto any man , his charge is to his executors that they should giue satisfaction . the like also for wrong done to any one whatsoeuer ( whereof he protested before the eternall maiestie that he did not remember any . ) and if there should grow difference betweene his executors and any person demanding , his hearty praier and desire is to the deanes of windsore , westminster , and pauls ( for so his lordship doth ranke them ) to heare , order , and determine all controuersies depending . which if they refuse to doe , which he hopeth they will not , or if the partie claiming shall not obey their award , he leaueth them to the ordinarie course of law , but chargeth and requireth his executors to answer them in all courts of iustice immediately , without all delaies whatsoeuer . vnto those honorable parts , i may adde a great many more : as his good and charitable disposition toward his tenants , of whom ordinarily , he tooke lesse fines by a third part , than by other lords is vsually accustomed ; and his farmers held his farmes , as is well knowen to the world , but at reasonable rents : as his releefe to the poore in pinching times of dearth . a in the yeere 1597. which was a time of the greatest scarcitie that euer we did know , his lordship sent into sussex of his free gift vnto six parishes store of danske rie bought at billingsgate . diuers other yeeres , and namely this present yeere 1608. his lordship hath caused weekely certaine quarters of wheat , to be caried from his owne granary at lewes in sussex , and to be sold in the market to the poore , at a farre b lower rate than the price which commonly men did take . and that this his lordships bountie might continue after his death , by his last will and testament he hath bequeathed a thousand pounds for the erecting of a granarie at the place which last i named , for the vse and benefit of poore people in those parts : and two thousand pounds as a stocke for the storing of that house against times of dearth and scarcitie . vnto this he hath also ioined a thousand pounds to be bestowed on the building of a chapell c where his ancestors doe lie , and where his lordship desired that his bodie might be enterred . these are fruits of a liuely faith , and so must be reputed . 13 but because a right beleefe and religion toward god is the highest point of all , i may not heere omit to say something touching that . there are arguments most euident to demonstrate vnto all men , that his faith was agreeable vnto the word of god , and according to the profession of the renowmed church of england . in that famous vniuersitie of oxford , where his lordship for more then sixteene yeeres was our honorable chancellor , it was his speciall care to substitute such vnder him as were most sound for religion , which the wiser sort did obserue , although common men did not marke it . as he kept downe with the one hand all nouelties , and humours in opinions , which laboured to set trouble in the church and common-wealth , so with the other hand to the vttermost of his power he depressed the priests and iesuits , which haue vsed too much to that place ; not to the vniuersitie , which god be praised is free from all such imputation , but to some few of the citie , who embrace their old superstitions . in that place this i can witnesse , that his lordship neither openly nor secretly did euer giue countenance vnto any that was backward in religion . and on the other side , that there was neuer any thing soberly and wisely proposed which might forward true pietie , which his lordship did not further ; as i could by many particulars make plaine to whomsoeuer . touching the education of those honorable plants his grand-children , his lordship was euer carefull that they should be trained vp in the trueth of religion , farre from poperie and idolatrie . his charge was vnto their tutour ( as i well knew in his life time ) that as he would answer him in the day of the last iudgement , before the face of christ , that he should traine them vp in the trueth of the religion professed now in england . how angry would he be , when he was at his countrey house , if they came not duly to praiers ? he neuer could endure that they otherwise should be matched , than where was sound religion . concerning his owne soule , when the last yeere he was sicke , besides ordinarie praiers , he composed himselfe to god by d receiuing the holy sacrament of the lords supper , when he looked to depart the world . but two daies before he died , deuoutly and religiously he heard a sermon at home in his lordships owne e chapell . nay to let all other things passe , how holily and christianly in his last will and testament doth he commend his soule vnto god! i must professe when i saw it first , it did very much affect me . and because it cannot chuse but giue very full contentment to all reasonably minded , yea perhaps may doe much good vnto other by the example , i thinke it not amisse to read the very words , that his owne hand hath deliuered . these they are : first therefore as a liuing creature most bound thereunto , i heere throw downe and prostrate my selfe in all humility and thankefulnes , at the foot of my creator , redeemer , and sauiour , rendring vnto his diuine maiestie my most lowly , hearty and infinite thanks , in that he hath vouchsafed to create me a man indued and infused with soule and reason , and fashioned like vnto the image of his owne eternall sonne , that might haue made me a brutish and soule-lesse beast , to haue fed and grased vpon the earth , like vnto those irrationall liuing creatures of the field . but especially in that he hath pleased to make me a christian man , whereby in this life i may ioy and reioice with the sound and badge of that glorious name , and when i goe from hence i may thereby , and through the mercies and goodnesse of iesus christ depart and die in assurance and comfort of my soules and bodies saluation and resurrection , and to rest at his right hand , in the fruition of those celestiall and vnspeakable ioies and blessednesse that neuer shall haue end . to him therefore my most mercifull and omnipotent god , and into the hands of his inexplicable and eternall goodnesse , i giue , will and bequeath my soule , firmely and assuredly trusting , beleeuing and freely confessing , that by the death and passion of his sonne iesus christ , and by his onely mercy , meane and mediation for me , and by none other , and not by any good worke or merit of mine owne ( although i must acknowledge , that i am bound vpon paine of damnation , to doe as many good works as possibly i can or may ; all which when i haue done , yet am i but an vnprofitable seruant , and a sinfull creature full of all iniquitie ) i shall liue and partake with his saints in his heauenly kingdome , of that eternall and inexplicable blisse and happinesse which he hath prepared for his elect , of which number ( through his infinite mercy and goodnesse ) i doe confidently and stedfastly hope , know and beleeue that i am one . 14 these things did god prouide should be in his lordships lifetime , that those who did loue and honour him ( of whom i must euermore acknowledge my selfe to be one , and so bound by due desert ) might haue the more comfort , in , and after his death . which must needes be confessed to haue beene on the sudden : and yet such as hath befallen many good and godly men ; yea choice persons amongst gods seruants . i need not giue example , how many in a moment haue beene drowned at sea , or in other riuers ; or haue beene slaughtered in the warres ; or murthered by their enemies ; or stifled in their beds ; or passing thorow the streets , haue beene beaten downe with a tile , or slaine with a stone throwen from a f wall , as some write that pyrrhus was , or haue had some such matter as the tower of g siloah to fall vpon them . i need not runne to h anacreon the poet , who in an instant was choaked with the kernell of a raisin , or to i fabius , who drinking milke was strangled with an haire . neither need i flie to k scipio that admirable romane , who being ouer night so honored by his countrey-men , that the senators and the people of that citie , together with the latines and other their confederates , in solemne fashion brought him home to his house , the next day he was found dead . i may speake of our owne age , wherein many persons of honour , men of learning and of great reuerence haue suddenly beene called out of the world ; touching whom for any man to giue a bitter censure , standeth not with any rule of charitie or pietie , yea of common christianitie . and for the ages past , i might tell you of petrus l castellanus , bishop sometimes of orleans , who being preaching in the pulpit , fell suddenly downe and died . i might remember you of that woorthy and most renoumed emperour , m frederike barbarossa , who going for palestina , to recouer the holy land out of the hands of the saracens , which he thought to be a seruice most acceptable to christ , and for effecting whereof , he left his countrey and friends , yet by the way as he passed , in the presence of many of his armie , was suddenly drowned in the riuer sapheth . i might mention the yoonger n valentinian an emperour indued with many most rare qualities : yet being on a time much offended that the sarmatae and quadi , two barbarous nations , had broken in vpon the empire , and speaking loud and passionately concerning that matter , he brake some veine or some thing els within him , and presently so died . notwithstanding saint * ambrose making a funerall oration or sermon for him , giueth him most singular commendation , and doubteth not but that his soule was in peace and rest with god. yea albeit at that time valentinian had not receiued the sacrament of baptisme , yet saint ambrose is resolued that propter voluntatem & votum baptismi , for his desire and wish that he had to be baptised , the lord had receiued him to mercy . where i may not forget a speech which he vttereth in that sermon , iustus quacunque morte praeuentus fuerit , anima eius in refrigerio crit : the righteous man , by what kind of death soeuer he be ouer taken , or hastily caught away , his soule shall be at rest . i might rehearse the example of iouian another famous emperour , who was the man that freed the roman armie from the danger whereinto iulian the apostata going against the persians had brought it . in the o midst of their perill , the captains and souldiers assured both of his vertue and his valour , proclaimed him for their emperour . but he being a zealous and most resolute christian , and knowing that they not long before , ( to giue contentment to iulian ) had turned heathens and infidels , made answer that himselfe professing for iesus christ , would neuer take vpon him any gouernment ouer gentiles ; which made them by and by returne to the christian faith . yet this holy and worthy emperour , p like to the sunne breaking foorth after a fearefull storme , was presently caught away , and taken out of mens sight . for going in health to bed , he was found dead in the morning ; and no reason of that hastie change could be imagined , but that either he had taken too q liberall a supper , or was choaked with the sauour of new lime on the walles of the house where he lay , or with the smell of bad coles , r foetore prunarum , as saint hierome doth deliuer it . nay i might tell of iosiah , whom ieremy did terme , the breath of their s nostrels , the anointed of the lord , yet saith withall , that he was taken in their nets , that is , was caught away suddenly . * he went into battel against pharao necho , and there was wounded and slaine . iustine martyr speaking of this most godly king , and the maner of his death doth make this obiection , t why the wicked did not say that iosias was so slaine , and died in such a fashion , because hee ouerthrew their idols and their altars . whereby he doth intimate , that the maner of men is to giue a hard iudgement on the good as well as vpon the bad , if any thing extraordinarie , especially in their death , do befall them . saint u hierome noteth the same , where hee writeth thus : solent aliqui dicere , some men vse to say , he who was slaine had not beene killed vnlesse he had beene a fornicator , or had committed some sinne . the house had not fallen vpon him , vnlesse he had beene a malefactor . he had not suffered shipwracke , had hee not beene an offender . but see what saith the holy scripture , et sanguinem innocentem condemnabunt : they shall condemne euen innocent bloud . though the person be innocent , yet god sometimes doth suffer the euill man to condemne him . this may well be a lesson to men in our time , that they be not too quicke , nor nimble in giuing vp their verdicts or censures of other men . especially since god disposeth all at his pleasure . since he hath said , that * all things come alike to all : and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked , to the good and to the pure , and to the polluted ; to him that sacrificeth , and to him that sacrificeth not . which is to bee vnderstood of externall and outward things ; since the parties that speake this , haue their owne breath in their nostrils , and it may be their owne case , if god should so determine it : it being true that this noble man spake in another cause , the very houre that he died , x hodie mihi , cras tibi : it is my turne to day , and it may be yours tomorrow . i might amplifie this point much farther , but i end it with that saying of the apostle paul , what y art thou that condemnest or iudgest another mans seruant ? he standeth or falleth to his owne master . 15 yet , that truth may not be concealed in the matter which now i handle ; as god dealt with this noble person somewhat extraordinarily in taking him from among vs , so it may be well supposed , that he gaue him more than an ordinarie coniecture , or suspicion , that his death was not farre from him . the last yeere when he returned after his greeuous sicknesse , he spake it more than once to his honorable friends , that he had setled his soule and composed it to another world , whensoeuer god should call for him . soone after he began to dispose of all those worldly things , which the lord had lent vnto him . of late it was his common speech , i am now an old man , therefore this , or therefore that , as i my selfe can witnesse . the day before he died , writing with his owne hand to one of his grand-childrē , he more than once in that letter vsed this or the like phrase , after my death : and , when i am dead and gone . the last morning of his life , it was noted by those who were neerest about his lordship , that he was apparently longer at his priuate meditations , then commonly hee did vse . but the words of his will , written with his owne hand may giue great satisfaction to a man of a hard conceit , that he did fit himselfe to mortalitie , whereof in the former yeere he had had a warning peece . i will read his lordships owne words , in which letech man iudge , whether it may not bee thought that there was some instinct more then ordinarie . thus then his will beginneth : the eternall god of heauen and earth , the father , the sonne , and the holy ghost , guide and prosper this mine intent and purpose , which in their name i heere take in hand and begin . because it is a trueth infallible , such as euery christian ought not onely perfectly to know , and stedfastly to beleeue , but also continually to meditate and thinke vpon , namely , that we are borne to die ; that nothing in this world is more certaine then death , nothing more incertaine then the houre of death , and that no creature liuing knoweth , neither when , where , nor how it shall please almightie god to call him out of this mortall life : so as heere we liue euery houre , nay euery instant a thousand waies subiect to the suddē stroke of death , which ought to terrifie , teach and warne vs to make our selues ready as well in the preparation of our soules to god , as by the disposition of all our earthly fortunes to the world , whensoeuer it shal please the heauenly power to call vs from this miserable and transitory life vnto that blessed and euerlasting life to come : therefore , &c. 16 yet to all this i may adde , that by vs who are liuing , there is an vse to be made of these th●ngs : for exempl . ●mori●ntum sunt documenta viuentium ; the examples of men dying are the instructions of the liuing . when in this present spectacle wee may sensibly beholde , that life is so vncertaine , that we may say with plinie , z whereas there be in men innumerable signes of death , there is no assured signe of safetie and of securitie in the yongest or the strongest : let vs remember the counsell of our master and sauiour , b wake therefore : for yee know not what houre your master will come , either by death , or by the last and generall iudgement . let vs be like the wise c virgins , euer readie with oile in our lamps ; the oile of faith and good life . let vs say to our selues as god sayd to d hezechiah , put thine house in an order , for thou shalt die and not liue . let vs speake thus to our soules . let vs not weaue the spiders-web ; that is , bestow all our labour vpon that which is but vaine , but weake , and of no profit . let vs not fasten our selues to this transitorie world , making that to be our ioy , our comfort and delight ; but let our minde be setled on some thing of higher nature . let vs daily pray to god as moses sometimes prayed , e teach vs so to number our daies , that we may apply our hearts vnto wisdome : which must be the wisdome spirituall , celestiall and eternall . and this is so much the rather to be desired in this life , because as we reade in salomon , f if the tree doe fall toward the south or toward the north , in the place that the tree falleth , there it shall be , that is , as g olympiodorus , and saint bernard do expound it , as a man doth die , either in the fauour or the disfauour of god , so he must remaine immutabiliter & irretractabiliter , without changing or recalling . therefore men while they doe liue should cary themselues warily , as being euer assured , that they are in the eye of god , and that he is among them in their greatest consultations , and most honourable assemblies . h god standeth ( sayth dauid ) in the congregation of princes ; he is a iudge among gods. a iudge to see and examine them , a iudge to strike and call vnto him , whom and when it pleaseth him . let him euer be before our eyes , that when he shall send for vs , we may appeare with readinesse , with alacritie and with confidence before the throne of his grace . which god the father grant vs for his sonne christ iesus his sake : to both whom with the holy ghost be laud and praise , and glorie , now and euermore . amen . to the reader . because there is mention made in this sermon of a ring sent vnto that honorable person by his most sacred maiestie , the humble acceptance whereof is set downe with so gratefull remembrance of his dutie and deuotion to his highnesse ; and because the words otherwise imply a great deale of obseruable matter , i haue thought it not amisse to offer them to more publike view , as they are deliuered by his lordship in his last will : which is as followeth . also i giue , will and bequeath vnto my sayd wel-beloued sonne robert lord bvckhvrst after my decease for and during his life onely , out of those iewels of golde , pearle and precious stone , which i keepe and reserue as iewels for my selfe , the sole vse and occupation only of one ring of golde enameled blacke , and set round ouer all the whole ring with diamonds to the number of twentie , whereof fiue diamonds being placed in the vppermost part of the said ring do represent the fashion of a crosse ; and the other fifteene are set round and ouer all the sayd ring . and after the decease of my said sonne bvckhvrst , then i giue , will , and bequeath the like sole vse and occupation only of the said ring vnto my nephew richard sackville , his eldest sonne , for and during his life only . and after his decease , then vnto the next heire male begotten of the bodie of the sayd richard sackville my nephew , for and during his life only . and so from heire male to heire male of the sackvills , after the decease of euery of them seuerally and successiuely for and during the life and liues only of euery such heire male seuerally and successiuely : charging and earnestly requiring all and euery of my said heire males before specified ; euen as they regard the last request of him by whose great trauell , care and industrie ( if the diuine prouidence of god that hath vouchsafed to giue it , shall so please to continue it ) they are like to receiue the addition and aduancement of so great honor , possessions and patrimonie , that although percase in this strict course of the common lawes of this realme , the entaile of goods and chattels may hardly stand vpright , that yet for the preseruation and continuance of this gift of mine intended by mee to remaine as an heire-lome to the house and familie of the sackvills , so long as almightie god ( according to the effects of his former goodnesse vnto that house , by the continuance thereof during the space of so many hundred yeeres past ) shall please to vpholde the same , they and euery of them will forbeare in any sort to oppugne it , or to bring it in question , or to brandle and controuert the will of their so well deseruing ancestour , and specially in a matter so honest , reasonable , fit and conuenient as this is , but rather with all willing , readie and contented mindes to suffer the same to passe as an heire-lome , from heire male to heire male , according to the true intent and meaning of this my last will and testament in that behalfe . which said ring set all ouer with twentie diamonds , as is aforesaid , i desire & charge my said sonne bvckhvrst vpon my blessing , and in like sort all other the heires male , whom god shall vouchsafe from age to age to raise vnto my house and familie , and vnto whom ( if the highest so please ) my heartie desire and meaning is , the said ring set with twenty diamonds , as is aforesaid , may lineally and successiuely descend and come for euer , namely , that with all prouident care and heedfull circumspection they will safely keepe , retaine , and preserue the said ring whensoeuer and as often as he shall come to their hands and possession , euen as one of the greatest gifts and iewels which ( in true estimation ) all circumstances considered , i haue to leaue vnto them . and to the intent they may know how iust and great cause both they and i haue to holde the said ring in so high esteeme , it is most requisite that i doe heere set downe the whole course and circumstance how and from whom the said ring did come to my possession , which was thus : in the beginning of the moneth of iune 1607 this ring thus set with twentie diamonds , as is aforesaid , was sent vnto me from my most gracious souereigne king iames , by that honorable personage the lord hay , one of the gentlemen of his highnesse bed-chamber , the court then being at whitehall in london , and i at that time remaining at horsley house in surrey , twentie miles from london , where i lay in such extremitie of sicknesse as it was a common and a constant report ouer all london , that i was dead , and the same confidently affirmed euen vnto the kings highnesse himselfe . vpon which occasion it pleased his most excellent maiestie , in token of his gratious goodnesse and great fauour towards me , to send the said lord haie with the sayd ring , and this royall message vnto me ; namely , that his highnesse heartily wished a speedie and perfect recouerie of my health , with all happie and good successe vnto me ; and that i might liue as long as the diamonds of that ring ( which therewithall he deliuered vnto me ) did endure : and in token thereof required me to we are it and keepe it for his sake . this most gratious and comfortable message restored a new life vnto me , as comming from so renowmed and benigne a souereigne , vnto a seruant so farre vnworthy of so great a fauour ; and vpon whom , not long before , it had pleased his maiestie , yea in that very first day wherein we all had the happinesse to beholde him , not only to bestow the honor of a priuie counseller , but also without any answerable desert or merit of mine preceding , to confirme that most honourable place of high treasurer of england vnto me , which the late queene elizabeth after foureteene yeeres seruice and ten yeeres following her court ( but not before ) vouchsafed ( i must needs yet say most gratiously so soon as it became void ) to grant vnto me , and likewise within a short time after to aduance both me and my succession to the high honor & degree of an earle ; which is and shall be to me , my house and posteritie , an euerliuing demonstration , aswell of his great benefit to vs , as of our infinite bond to him thereby for euer . the which inexplicable goodnesse of his maiestie towards me , besides many lustres of his bright shining fauours , from time to time cast vpon me , doe giue me iust cause to agnize , that i am no waies able to merit , no not the least part of them , but onely with the humble and infinite earnestie of my heart in desire to deserue ; which i can yet no waies manifest , but by that faithfull testimonie which shall neuer faile in me , namely , by demonstration of mine incessant cares , labours and actuall indeuors for the behoofe and furtherance of his maiesties ▪ seruices , at the least thereby to shew that good will which is in me , though i cannot shew that effect which is due to him , since all that i possibly can or may doe , is but meere debt and dutie , and so in that course to spend such remaine of life as is left vnto me , yea euen to the very last of my daies here , & when i am dead & gone , if euer occasion may or shall be offered to any of my posteritie to doe his maiestie or any of his any acceptable seruice heereafter , then let them hold & esteeme themselues most happie , if with the expence of life , & of all the fortunes that this world shall giue them , they may actually approoue and witnesse with effect , that they are not onely most loyall and dutifull vassals to this imperiall crowne , but also the most humble , faithfull , and thankfull sonnes and sequell of such a seruant , as was more bound vnto king iames , his liege master , than euer subiect was vnto his soueraigne , especially he being such a soueraigne , adorned with such excellent parts of iustice , clemencie , and goodnesse , indued with so admirable gifts of memory , learning , and iudgement , and finally beautified with so many other regall graces and vertues so farre beyond all the kings and princes that either written storie or this present age hath to present vnto vs , as i know not how any greater honor and felicitie can possiblie be added to the imperiall crowne of and in this great britaine , by his vndoubted right so happily vnited vnto vs , than we now presently possesse and enioy in the royall person of this our so renowmed and so rare a king. beseeching the eternall god , that he and his may euermore both rule and raigne ouer vs , yea euen as long as the sunne and moone endureth : and that i and mine may for euer and euer become more and more thankfull , ( at the least if it be possibly in me ) for so great honors , graces , and fauors , as this most clement and renowmed king hath thus most gratiously vouchsafed vnto me ; the remembrance of which , because it may neuer die but be perpetually recorded in the mindes of those , that by the grace & goodnesse of almighty god , both now are , & hereafter shall be the lineall stirpe and succession of my house and family , to serue both him & his : i haue heere therefore set downe this short narration , of the true state and circumstance of the whole matter , to the intent it may remaine to my posterity heereafter , as a faithfull memorie thereof euen in this my last will and testament for euer . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a16906-e180 2 matth. 3. 3. b exod. 20. 1. c 1. sam. 3. 4. d psal. 29. 4. e 1. reg 19. 12. f matth. 12. 19. g ionah 3. 4. h isa : 58. 1. i herodot , in polymma . k august . de 12. abusionum gradibus . tom. 9. l ezec. 3. 17. m ezec. 33. 7. n matt. 28. 19. o 1. cor. 11. 23. p 1. tim. 6. 20. q vin● . contr . haeres . cap. 27. t diodor. antiquit . lib. 2. 3. f gen. 3. 19. t gen. 5. 8. 11. 14. 27. u psal. 49. 10. x bern. de gradib ▪ humilitat . y in festo s. martini . z chrysost in ep. ad philip. homil. 12. a exo. 26. 31. b ios. de bel . iud. lib. 6. 6. c hier. epist. 128. d matth. 27. 51. e chrys. hom. ● . in 2. cor. f matt. 6. 30. g psal. 103. 15. h greg. in psa. 5. poenitent . i iac. 4. 14. k 2. pet. 1. 14. l diod. sie . antiq. li. 2. 1. m in cat. ma●or . n iob. 14. 2. o cap. 7. 6. p basil. in hexam . homil . 5. q homer . iliad . 5. r 2. sam. 14. 14. s 1. reg. 2. 2. t iob 30. 23. u heb. 9. 27. x senec. epist. 70. ad lucilium . y innoc. 3. de cont . mund . lib. 1. z sen. ep. 26 a bern. de conuers . ad cleric . cap. 14. b horat. carm. lib. 4. ode 7. c greg. naz. orat . 40. d xenoph. in apolog. pro socrat. e ammian : mercellin . hist lib. 16. sigon . de occid . imp. lib. 6. f psal. 82. 6. g aug. de catechiz . rudibus cap. 16. h basil. in hexam . homil . 5. i chrys con● . 2. de l●zaro . k 2. sam. 14. 25. l luc. 16. 20. m lucian . in necromant . n a●n . syl● . ● blond . decad . 2. 6. platin . in caelest . 3. o dion . histor. lib. 66. p plutarch . in vit . aemil. q tit. liu. lib. 45. r tit. liu. lib. 25. s appian . de bellis puni●is . t deu. 32. 39. u 1. sam. 2. 6 * isa. 40. 23. x the life of tresilian in the mirrour of magistr . epist. pr●fix . aulic . barth . clerke . * holinshed an. 13. eliz. y horat. lib. 1. epist. 17. 1 the words which his lordship in his last will vseth of his ladie are these : inprimis , i giue , will , and bequeath vnto the ladie cicely countesse of dorset , my most vertuous , faithfull , and dearely beloued wife , not as any recompence of her infinit merit towards mee , who for her incomparable loue , zeale , & hartie affection euer shewed vnto me , and for those her so rare , many , and reuerent vertues , of chastitie , modestie , fidelitie , humilitie , secrecie , wisdome , patience , and a mind● repleat with all pietie and goodnesse , which euermore haue and do abound in her , deserueth to be honoured , loued and esteemed aboue all the transitory wealth and treasure of this world , and therefore by no price of earthly riches can by me be valued , recompensed or requi●ed : to her therefore my most vermous , faithfull and intirely beloued wife , not , i say , as a recompense , but as a true token and testimony of my vnspeakable loue , affection , and estimation , and reuerenc● long since fixed and setled in my heart towards her , i giue , will and bequeath , &c. a from the 28. of may to the 15. of august , so much as cost 154. li. 14. s. 7. d. b after 26. s. 8. d. the quarter , when other men ordinarily sold for 40. s. the quarter . c 〈…〉 d at horseley . e at dorset house . f iustin. li. 25. g luc. 13. 4. h pli● . ●at . hist. lib. 7. 7. i ibidem . k tull. in l●lio . l nich. hospital . in tumulis . m matth. paris in richard. n hier. epist. 19. tom. 9. marcellin . lib. 30. * ambros. de obit . valentinian . o socrat. hist. eccl. li. 3. 19. p theodor. hist. eccl. lib : 4. 4. q solon . hist. eccl. lib. 6. 6. r hier. epist. 3. ad heliod . s ●am . 4. 20. * 2. chron. 35. 23. t iustin. martyr . quaest. 79. u hieron . in psa. 93. ●om . 7. * eccl. 9. 2. x eccl. 38. 22. heri mihi , hodie tibi . y rom. 14. 4. z plin. nat. hist. li. 7. 51. b matt. 24. 42. c matth. 25. 4. d 2. reg. 20. 1. e psal. 90. 12. f eccle. 11. 3. g olymp in eccl. 11. bern. sermon . paru . 49. h psal. 82. 1. divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty, represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls; who died on thursday the 12th of may 1653. and was buried on moonday [sic] the 16th day of the same moneth. by nath. hardy master of arts, and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87092 of text r202533 in the english short title catalog (thomason e708_1). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 97 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87092 wing h718 thomason e708_1 estc r202533 99862782 99862782 114958 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87092) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 114958) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 109:e708[1]) divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty, represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls; who died on thursday the 12th of may 1653. and was buried on moonday [sic] the 16th day of the same moneth. by nath. hardy master of arts, and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 29, [3] p. printed by a.m. for nathanael webb and william grantham, and are to be sold at the sign of the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north door., london, : 1653. the last leaf is blank. errata, p. 29. variant: lacking errata. annotation on thomason copy: "july 27". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng goddard, richard, d. 1653 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 2nd iv, 7 -sermons. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. a87092 r202533 (thomason e708_1). civilwar no divinity in mortality, or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty,: represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard hardy, nathaniel 1653 14825 5 315 0 0 0 0 216 f the rate of 216 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 simon charles sampled and proofread 2007-08 simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion divinity in mortality , or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty , represented in a sermon preached at the funerals of mr richard goddard late minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls ; who died on thursday the 12th of may 1653. and was buried on moonday the 16th day of the same moneth . by nath. hardy master of arts , and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church . matth. 13. 52. every scribe instructed for the kingdom of heaven , is like unto a man that is an housholder , which bringeth forth out of the treasure things new and old . 2 pet. 1. 14. knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle , even as our lord jesus christ hath shewed me . sacra scriptura utilitas christianorum , thesaurus ecclesiae lumen animarum . ubique in eis veritas regnat ubique divina virtus irradiat , ubique panduntur humano generi profutura . cassiod . div. lect. c. 15 , & 16. london , printed by a.m. for nathanael webb and william grantham , and are to be sold at the sign of the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north door . 1653. errata . page 6. in marg. after {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} read {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. 13. in m. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. 15. in m. for prefectam r. productam . p. 17. line 20. after denominateth dele te . p. 18. l. 5. before viles , pauperes censu loco humiles , for vitae r. vitâ . after labore adde communes , men of low estates , mean trades , obscure and laborious lives . where in the marg. supply chrysol. c. 28. p. 19. l. 16. r. are after mentioned . p. 27. l. 28. for innocentia r. innocenter . p. 28. l. 1. pudet r. pudeat . p. 29. marg. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . to the worshipfull roger price esq , the upper and the neather springs of the water of life . worthy sir , i well know how unworthy this slender discourse was of those judicious eares which vouchsafed it the hearing ; and surely cannot but much more judge it undeserving a publique view : so that if ( besides friends importunity perswading ) the fear of an abortive birth to have been brought forth by some unskilfull notary , had not enforced me , it should have been buried in privacy . being thus necessitated , and thereupon advised by you and others to this unwelcome task , i knew not any fitter then your self to whom i should present this dedication . how cordial a welwisher , and forward an incourager you have alwaies been of the orthodox clergy , all that know you will assert , and in particular , what an ardent affection lodged in your bosome and flamed forth in your expressions towards your reverend minister was abundantly testified both in his life and at his death , whilest in his life you were one of the first in providing for his comfortable subsistence , and at his death you took care for his decent buriall , desiring that your house might receive him when dead ( which had so often entertained him alive ) from whence he was honourably attended to his grave . i doubt not but there were many other worthy gentlemen of your parish , to whom this deceased servant of christ was much engaged ; but i hope my ignorance of their persons will be a sufficient apologie for my silence . with you ( esteemed sir ) i have had by his means the honour to be acquainted , of whom therefore i am bold ( especially for his sake ) to desire the patronage of this sermon . what hath suspended the publication since i last saw you , i am confident you have already heard ; a disease not much unlike that which snatched away our dear friend , but from which god was graciously pleased to deliver me : thus is his wisdom sometimes pleased to let the barren fig-tree stand , whilest he plucketh up the fruitfull vine . his race is now run , and he is gone to rest ; his work is finished , and he hath in part received his wages ; weep not for him who is already entred into joy , rather rejoyce , that though he be gone , god hath sent you another , one eminent both for piety and learning , in whose converse i doubt not but you will finde much content , and by whose labours i hope you will reap much profit . and now sir , i commend you to god , earnestly imploring the continuance and increase of all externall and internall blessings upon you , in your own person , your dear consort , aged father , hopefull children , till at last he crown you all with eternall happiness . i take my leave and subscribe my self , your cordial friend and servant , nath. hardy . the text . 2 cor. 4. the former part of the 7th verse . but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . the losse of a good man , especially a good minister , and most especially in bad times , is a just ground of deep sorrow . a faithful ambassadour of christ is a common stock , in which many have a share , a burning lamp by which many are enlightned , good reason the exhausting of such a treasury , the quenching of such a light , should be matter of dolefull complaint . besides , when gods wrath is flaming , who but a moses should stand in the gap ? when horrid impieties are reigning , who but an ezekiel should warn the people ? and when heresies are raging , who but a john should defend the truth ? and shall it not affect our hearts with grief , when such as these are taken away ? no wonder then if when elisha seeth elijah carried away from the earth in a fiery chariot by a whirlwinde , he crieth out , my father , my father , the charists and the horsmen of israel : if when samuel dieth all israel gather together and lament for him : finally , if when the priests gave up the ghost in jerusalem , the church uttereth that mournfull sigh , behold , o lord , for i am in distresse . this this ( men , fathers and brethren ) is the sad occasion of this solemn and sorrowfull assembly . a cedar is fallen , well may the fir-trees howl ; a bright starre is removed from our horizon , well may darknesse cover this hemisphere : i could willingly now give scope to mine and your passion that we might sit down awhile in silence , and only by the language of our tears speak our sense of this heavy losse . but all passions , especially that of grief , need rather a bridle then a spurre . affected we may , we ought to be with his death , but as a publick , not as a private detriment , and that not in an extream but moderate measure . and so much the rather , considering that it is no new nor rare thing . your fathers , where are they ? and the prophets do they live for ever ? is the prophet zecharie's question , putting it out of question , they do not alwayes live , but are alike with others , subject to mortality , nor have the ministers of the new testament , though imployed about a more excellent ministration , any greater priviledge as to exemption from death then those of the old , apostles as well as prophets are under deaths tyranny : so much st paul here intimateth , when he saith , but we have this treasure , &c. the first word of this text is but , a but which the apostle puts upon himself and fellow-apostles , yea and all the ministers of the gospel . in the fore-going verses we finde him extolling his ministery , and vindicating his fidelity in the discharge of it , here he interposeth a but , not a but of scandalous impiety , this could not be charged upon him by any . oh that all ministers lives were so ordered , as no but of this nature might be deservedly cast upon them . the but here intended is only a but of natural frailty , humane imbecillity , and the worlds unjust ignominy . these were the things the apostle well knew the false teachers would upbraid him and his brethren with , and therefore he prevents them by a voluntary concession that so it was , yea fit it was that so it should be for the advancing of gods glory , that whilst their message was honourable themselves should be contemptible , but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . in which words we have a brief yet exact delineation both of the gospel and the preachers of it , and both by a double character , the gospel is characterized by a metaphor commending , in the noun treasure . a term discriminating , in the pronoun this . the preachers of the gospel are represented by a word of description , in the substantive vessels . a word of diminution , in the adjective earthen . these are as four keys by which i shall endeavour to unlock the treasure of this text , as four vents by which the vessel of this scripture emptieth its divine liquor . in the opening of which i shall strive that my discourse may keep even pace with the time , i hope your attention will keep even pace with my discourse , and then i doubt not but that through gods grace we shall be richer by this treasure , and these earthen vessels will help us somewhat nearer to heaven . and so i begin with the delineation of the gospel , and therein the metaphor commending , treasure . to finde out the kernel enclosed in the shell of this metaphor , we must consider a three-fold reference that may be made of this word to the preceding . some referre it to the end of the former verse , and understand by this treasure the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ . this is that which there he compareth to light , and here to treasure , two metaphors though different yet consonant , light being a most precious treasure , and as treasures are kept , so lights were wont to be carried in earthen vessels . and well may the knowledge of god in christ be compared to both , for its resplendency a light , for its opulency a treasure , such a treasure as must be a light not lockt up in our own brests , but shining forth to others , such a light as is a treasure of invaluable and incomparable worth . our apostle elswhere expresseth so high an estimation of this knowledge of christ , that he accounts all other things , whether worldly fruitions or jewish observances to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only uselesse but hurtfull so far as they kept him from christ , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as offals which we throw to our dogs , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} those base excrements which physicians force out of the body by their purging : things not to be valued but despised and loathed in comparison of this . and no lesse is that value which our blessed saviour himself puts upon it , where he saith , this is life eternal to know thee the only true god , and jesus christ whom thou hast sent . life is the best treasure in nature , eternal is the best of lives , how great a treasure must the knowledge of christ be which is life eternal ? secondly , others take the reference of treasure here as remote as that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ministery , mentioned in the first verse . indeed the ministry and dispensation of the gospel is a choice and precious treasure , upon which account the apostle elsewhere cals it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a worthy work . a work it is to which is required both authority and ability , and therefore in respect of the former it is an honour , of the later a treasure . the old verse tels us , dat galenus opes , dat justinianus honores . the law brings honour , and physick wealth , but in a divine sense the ministery hath both . a burden it is indeed , but withall an honour . a labour it is , but withall a treasure for the edifying and enriching of the church . this treasure christ keeps under lock and key , only intrusting those with it whom he cals to , and furnisheth for it . as it was the priviledge of the jews above other nations , that to them were the oracles of god committed , so it is the prerogative of the ministers above all other persons , that to them is committed the dispensation of these oracles . by which it appears , that they are no better then thieves , nay sacrilegious robbers who without immediate or mediate warrant from christ assume this trust and break open this treasure . thirdly , i conceive we shall best understand the prime intent and full extent of this metaphor , by referring it not so neer as the sixth , nor so farre as the first , but to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the gospel , mentioned in the third verse . indeed both the other interpretations are fully included , and may be fitly reduced to this , since on the one hand that ministery is principally in respect of the gospel : hence it is that we are called the ministers of the new testament , and our commission is to preach the gospel , and the english tran●lators have not unfitly at once rendered and unfolded that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} st paul speaketh of to be the dispensation of the go●pel , for though since christ came not to destroy but to fulfill , we must not suppresse but publish the law , yet our chief errand is to promulge the glad tidings of salvation in the gospel . and on the other hand , it is the gospel onely that revealeth the knowledge of god in jesus christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to them that search into the mine of holy writ is opened the treasure of the knowledge of god : and whereas the creatures leade us to the knowledge of god the creator , and the law declares him as a judge , onely the gospel manifesteth him as a redeemer , to wit , god in christ . the gospel then is that which st paul here primarily cals a treasure . it is that metaphor by which christ himself represents it when he compareth the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hid in a field , as it is said to be hid for its mysteriousnesse , so a treasure for its preciousnesse . that we may see the fitnesse of the metaphor , be pleased to take a view of the analogie , and that in two particulars , to wit , the nature and the efficacy of a treasure , what it is , and what it doth . first , if you enquire into the nature of a treasure , that definition may be a full answer , thesaurus dicitur multarum rerum pretiosarum cumulatio , a treasure is an accumulation of many precious things , so that there are two things concur to a treasure , to wit , pretium and copia , value and plenty , worth in the quality , abundance in the quantity . it is not an heap of straw or rubbish that maketh a treasure , since though there is plenty , there is no value ; nor is it a single piece of silver or gold that maketh a treasure ; since though there is value there is not plenty , but many bags of gold and silver , or things of like worth fill up a treasure . both of these we finde and meet with in the gospel , no wonder it is set forth by this appellation . 1. the truths and doctrines contained in it are choice and excellent , as much worth as our souls , as heaven , as salvation is , nay shall i go higher ? look what worth there is in the riches of gods grace , the precious bloud of christ , that may secondarily be ascribed to the gospel , which discovereth and offereth both to us : no wonder that the greek fathers compare the verities of the gospel to precious stones , and our saviour to a pearl of great price , and the minister in this respect is called a merchant of invaluable jewels . if you please to take a view of those several things to which gods word in general is compared , and which may much more be applied to the gospel in particular , you shall finde its worth set forth by a very observable gradation . the basest metal to which it is compared is silver , and yet that is precious in comparison of lead or brasse or iron ; silver refined from its drosse is of farre more worth then as it is taken out of the mine ; and it is resembled not onely to silver , but silver purified in the fire seven times ; gold is yet of more value by farre then the most purified silver ; many pieces of silver are not aequivalent to one of gold , and yet all gold is not of a like worth , but this is more desirable then gold , yea then fine gold ; rubies are of more account then gold , and yet the wisdome of this word is more precious then rubies , nay that whatsoever else is accounted precious , as pearls , diamonds and the like may not be left out , there is annexed a comprehensive expression , all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her . 2. there is no lesse variety then excellency in the gospel , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; the doctrines of it are manifold , and of divers kindes , yet all profitable : whatsoever is to be known by us concerning god , christ , our selves , sin , righteousnesse , happinesse , is here delivered , here are wholsome counsels of vertue , righteous precepts of duty , the precious promises of mercy , and the sweet comforts of the holy ghost presented to us . in respect of its counsels and precepts , i may well call it ( to use saint basils phrase ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a plentifull promptuary of good documents . what is it ( oh christian , to follow his expressions ) thou mayest not learn hence ? the measure of patience , the manner of penitence , perfection of prudence , sweetnesse of temperance , exactnesse of justice , and magnanimity of fortitude ? all moral vertues , and all theological graces are both described and prescribed in the gospel . in respect of its comforts and promises , i may well ( to use isidor's comparison ) resemble it to a large and pleasant garden , replenished with variety of fragrant flowers , yielding as it were an heavenly nectar , which will revive the soul in the saddest distresse . whatsoever relations of life thou art placed in , here are fit directions to guide thee . whatsoever condition of misery thou maist be cast into , here are full consolations to support thee . well might st chrysostome say , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the holy scripture is an ever over-flowing fountain that cannot be drawn dry , and an inexhausted treasure that cannot be emptied . to this purpose tend those resemblances of the law , made use of by david , and no lesse justly applicable to the gospel , it is not only better then gold and silver , which are things of value , but thousands , which implieth abundance , and again comparing it to all riches and great spoil , both which contain in them multiplex genus , all sorts of valuable commodities , sheep , oxen , lands , houses , garments , goods , moneys , and the like ; thus are all sorts of spiritual riches , yea abundance of each sort to be had , as in the law , so in the gospel . secondly , as to the efficacy of a treasure , what will it not do ? the latine and our english proverb both assert this , pecuniae omnia obediunt , money answers all things , especially where there is plenty of it , food , raiment , lights , physick , armour , are all to be purchased by a treasure . all this is most true of the gospel . the spouse speaking of christs lips , saith , they drop as the honey-comb , in favomel & cera latent , quorum altero pascimur altera lumen accendimus , sic in sacris literis suavissimus cibus animi & lumen mentis insunt , as in the honey-comb there is honey to yeeld nutriment and wax to give light : so in the scriptures ( chiefly the evangelical ) the soul hath food and the minde light . what an aegyptian king caused to be writ on the door of a well-furnished library , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is fully verified of the gospel , whence may be selected the best , nay the onely receipts to cure a sin-sick person . finally , no such wardrobe as this wherein are to be had the robes of christs righteousnesse , and the ornaments of the spirits graces : no armoury like to this , where all both offensive and defensive weapons against our spiritual enemies are to be found . in a word , what ever the wants of a christian are he may by the gospel finde a sutable supply , very justly then doth this metaphor of a treasure belong to it . but yet this is not all that concerneth the gospels excellency : as there is an analogie , so there is a discrepancy , as in these the gospel and a treasure do agree , so there want not other things wherein the gospel doth far exceed all treasures ; to which end cast your eyes on the 2. term discriminating , non simpliciter thesaurum , sed hunc inquit thesaurum habemus , he doth not barely say , we have [ a ] but emphatically [ this ] treasure , to intimate that the treasure of the gospel is farre different from and transcendent above all other treasures , which that it may the better appear , take notice of the antithesis in these several particulars . 1. other treasures are from below , this is from above , those are dig'd out of the bowels of the earth , this is sent from heaven ; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth ? the sands and the rocks are the habitation of pearls and jewels , but the things of the gospel are , and therefore so fitly called by our saviour heavenly things . 2. other treasures are transient and perishing ; st peters epithete is , corruptible gold and silver ; solomons observation is , that riches take them wings and flee away ; and therefore as they are got with care and kept with fear , so many times lost with grief ; but this treasure is lasting and permanent , the truth of it inalterable , the goodnesse of it unchangeable , hence it is called the good part which cannot be taken away , the meat which perisheth not ; and the word of the lord that endureth for ever . 3. other treasures are only of corporal use for the profit , comfort and support of the body , and therefore it is they cannot make the possessour either wise or holy or happy . but this treasure enricheth the soul with wisdom and knowledge , grace and holinesse , whereby it becometh a means of happinesse to him that enjoyeth it , by this it is the minde is enlightened , the will inclined , the affections composed , the conscience quieted , and the inward man renewed . 4. other treasures though virtually they procure severall comforts , yet formally and in their own nature they are but a remedy against poverty . gold and silver in themselves have no feeding or cloathing or defending vertue , nor do they certainly and constantly procure those necessaries : sometimes food is not to be had for money , nor is silver alwaies a defence . and yet further though it may get the things , yet it cannot give an efficacy to them , it may buy food but not a stomack , physick but not health , clothes but not warmth , armour but not safety , lights but not eyes : whereas this treasure is in its own nature all these , and assuredly bringeth strength , wealth , ease , safety , and all spiritual blessings to them that enjoy it , it is such a treasure as is withall an oracle in doubts , a shield against assaults , a counsellor in prosperity , a comforter in adversity , a light in darknesse , and a refuge in danger . 5. other treasures oft times become destructive to the possessors , it was a sore evil solomon saw under the sun , namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt , indeed both temporall and spirituall hurt accrueth frequently to men by their treasure ; the golden ring hath sometimes lost the finger , and the bag of money exposed the traveller to danger ; yet more often do treasures become nurses of vice , panders to lust , incentives of wickedness , and the mammon of unrighteousness , whereby they ruin the soul , and take away the life of the owners ; in this respect it is that salvian saith excellently of covetous men , perituris simul atque perdentibus student nundinis , they eagerly busie themselves in those merchandizes which are not only perishing in their own nature , but destroy the possessors , whereas this treasure is altogether beneficiall to them that enjoy it ; indeed accidentally it proveth pernicious , becoming to some a savour of death , but this is only to the rejecters and contemners , not to the receivers and possessors of it ; if our gospel be hid , saith the apostle in this chapter , it is hid to them that are lost , and if any be lost to whom the gospel cometh , it s they from whom its hid by the devil and their own corruption blinding their eyes that they see not its worth , and thereby perverting their wils that they refuse its embraces ; but to them that beleeve and do it , it is a savour of life , a wellspring of comfort , a means of their eternall wellfare . finally , other treasures may have the image of a king stamped upon them , such that coyn which had caesars superscription , but this hath the image of god and christ imprinted on it , being therefore called the gospel of god , and the word of christ , other treasures are the blessings of gods left hand ; so it is said of riches and honours , but this is a blessing of gods right hand ; so it is said of the fiery law , and much more is it true of the gospel : how much the right hand excelleth the left , so much this surpasseth all riches . in a word , other treasures make the poor rich , but this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , maketh of mortall immortall , of men in some sense gods . and now upon all these considerations the surpassing worth of this treasure cannot but appear : so as we may truly say , not all the silks of persia , linnen of egypt , spices of arabia , silver of the west , gold of the east , pretious stones of both the indies , are severally , nay joyntly able to equalize it . well may this note of difference be annexed this treasure . what therefore remaineth but that every one of us labour to have the same esteem of the gospel , which st paul had , and which indeed it deserveth ? 1. let us account it our treasure , and let that appear by doing in reference to the gospel , as men do by treasure . how vehement and active are covetous mens desires after treasure ! they spare no pains to get , nor have they ever enough of it , in their longings they are unsatiable , in their labours indefatigable . such let our desires be after the knowledge of , and acquaintance with evangelicall truths : let us not be satisfied without , no nor yet with the gospel , but as we have it let us strive to have it more abundantly , according to that apostolicall precept , let the word of christ dwel in you richly in all knowledge and wisdom . besides , what care have men to lay up their treasure , when they have got it ? the greek word in its etimology signifieth as much , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and in the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} abscondit , the nown for treasure cometh from a verb that signifieth to hide , there being nothing men more secretly and carefully lay up then their treasures , yea what content do they take in viewing and recounting their bags , populus me sibilat at mihi plaudo ipse domi , said he in the poet , the covetous wretch whilest scorned abroad pleaseth himself at home in his heaps of wealth . so let us lay up the gospel in the cabinet of our souls , and take delight in meditating upon the divine truths contained in it , yea whilest we meet with reproach and persecution from the world , let us solace our selves in the fruition of this treasure . herein let davids practice towards the law of the lord be our pattern in that excellent psalm , wherein he expresseth a singular regard to gods testimonies , the words of thy mouth are better to me then thousands of gold and silver : and again , my hands will i lift up to thy commandments which i have loved , and i will meditate on thy statutes : and again , i have hid thy word in my heart , that i might not sin against thee : and once more , i have rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies , as much as in all riches . 2. since the gospel is not only comparatively a treasure , but superlatively this treasure , let our estimation and affection towards it have a this upon it , beyond that we have or any can have to other treasures . indeed beloved , though this treasure so far exceed all others , yet well were it if our love to it did equalize that to others ; the truth is , though it is far beyond , yet the most mens valuation of it is far short . what a shame is it that by us who call our selves christians , earth should be preferred before heaven , the world before christ , gold before the gospel ? oh let us blow up the fire , whet the edge , quicken the dulness of our spirituall affection , that if possible , it may not only parallel , but outvie our earthly desires , and with that wise merchant in the gospel , we may sell all we have to buy this pearl . and so much be spoken of the first part , the character here given to the gospel : i now pass on to those by which the preachers of the gospel are represented , and therein the word of description , vessels . the word both in hebrew and greek is many times taken in a large acception for instrumentum an utensill in an house , or any thing that is used as the instrument of accomplishing any work , and so the hebrew word is rendred , where we reade of the instruments of cruelty , and the instruments of death , and in this sense it is true of the ministers , they are instruments in the hand of christ for the great work of gathering his church ; but most properly it signifieth receptaculum , an instrument of containing any thing , and in this sense it may be here fitly construed , nor do there want fit resemblances in which the messengers of christ are like to vessels : more particularly in these four respects . 1. vessels are not naturall but artificial instruments : nature affords the materials , but art and industry produce the form by which it hath the capacity of a vessel . it is no less true of ministers , nemo nascitur christianus , no man is born a christian , much less a minister : indeed ex quovis ligno non fit mercurius , there must be natural parts in them that undertake this function , but those are not sufficient : and therefore in the first plantation of the church , god did by immediate inspiration , and the collation of extraordinary gifts , enable men for the discharge of this office , and afterwards in the growth and progresse of the church ; that inspiration ceasing , so as no more to be expected , there was and still ought to be a training up of youth in the tongues , arts and sciences , and after that a great deal of industry ( joyned with ardent prayer ) in the study of the scriptures and theologicall verities by them that take upon them this sacred calling . the truth is , whatever account the men of this age make of a ministers work , yet it is so weighty and divine an imployment , that no small time and pains must be spent in preparation for it . and if st paul , whom christ cals a chosen vessel , and accordingly in a singular measure , not only above other ministers , but apostles , fitted for this service , cried out , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; who is sufficient for these things ? how justly reprovable is their rashnesse , who whilst they can lay no just claim to an immediate inspiration , suddenly and unpreparedly enter upon this high imployment ? indeed such as these there have been in former times , who are called by leo , momentanei sacerdotes , and gregory nazianzen stileth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such as in a day , a moment turned priests . modò idiota mox clericus , now laicks and anon clerks . but what swarms of such extemporary and illiterate preachers abound in this age , who to use that elegant fathers expression , owe more sacrifices for their own , then the peoples ignorances ; and as those romans of old called cincinnati were advanced a stivâ & aratro ad dictatores , from the plough to be dictators , so these skip from the shopboard to the pulpit . it was a sad but just complaint , and too sutable to our times that gregory nazianzen took up in his daies , no man is accounted a physitian that hath not first studied the natures of diseases , nor a painter that hath not been exercised in drawing of lineaments , and laying on of colours , but preachers are found easily such as have never bestowed time or taken pains in preparing themselves for that service . oh how shall the very heathen rise up at the last day and condemn the men of this generation ! plutarch tels us that the virgins which were to attend diana's temple , were for many years brought up as it were in a school , and called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such as should administer sacred rites , and then being sufficiently instructed they were called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , admitted to their divine mysteries , and afterwards they became {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} instructers of others . surely if the light of nature taught them to use so much care in educating those who were to perform the worship of a false goddess , how shamefull is the blindness of those christians who think some naturall abilities of memory and elocution sufficient to qualifie a priest of the true and most high god . 2. vessels are not all of equal capacity , some are lesse , others greater ; severall trades have vessels of divers sizes : so is it among ministers , both in respect of offices and gifts . in the beginning of christianity there were some apostles , some prophers , some evangelists , and soon after there were some bishops , some priests , some deacons , and this variety of orders hath ever conduced much to the unity , harmony and beauty of the church . this diversity is no lesse apparent in regard of gifts , all have not alike abilities , nor are equally fitted for this sacred employment ; there is indeed a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} competency of gifts which every one attaineth to whom god calleth to this work : but though all have some yet not the same gifts , as st paul puts the question , intending thereby a negation , are all apostles , are all prophets ? so may i say in this , all are not chrysostome's and chrysologuse's for golden mouthed oratory , all are not epiphaniuse's and augustine's for confutation of heresies ; all are not like hierome for skill in languages , and athanasius for profound knowledge : god who is a most free agent dispenseth endowments variously according to the pleasure of his own will : some with elisha have a double portion of eliah's spirit , yea with benjamin , their messe is five times bigger then their brethren , whilest he giveth to others with a more sparing and narrow hand . the ministers of the gospel are elsewhere resembled to stars , and among others for this reason , as all stars are not of the same magnitude nor of the same lustre , so is it in the firmament of the church , one star differeth from another in glory , and one minister from another in gifts . i shut up this with gregory nissen his observation concerning solomons chariot , the pillars wherof were silver , the botome gold , and the covering purple ; which that father applieth to the church , and by the severall parts thereof understandeth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the preachers of the word , some whereof have golden , others silver , others purple gifts , of different degrees and excellencies . 3. vessels are not the originals of what they have , but it is poured into and received by them . the well hath a spring in it that yieldeth the water , but the cistern must have it conveyed into it . the mines have the treasure in their own bowels , but it is put into the chest . the parallel holds in the preachers of the gospel , who are not the authors but only the receivers of those truths they publish ▪ what st paul saith of himself , is true of every faithfull minister , i have received of the lord that which also i delivered unto you . to this purpose it is observable that the hebrew word which we render report properly signifieth hearing , intimating that we must first hear from god before we speak to men , and speak nothing but what we hear . in reference to this it is that the bishops in clements constitutions are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the receivers and proclaimers of gods word . among other resemblances preachers are compared to ambassadours , and as the ambassadour speaketh not from himself , but that message his prince puts into his mouth , so must every messenger of god . excellently to this effect vincentius lirenensis occasionally treating of that of st paul to timothy , keep the good thing committed to thee . it is committed to thee , not to be invented by thee , what thou hast received , not what thou hast fancied . not framed by thy own wit , but taught by another ; of which thou art not an author but a keeper , in which not a leader but a follower ; so was timothy , so is every minister in respect of divine truths . i close up this with that expression of the apostle to the corinthians , god maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place : we manifest the savour , but it is of his knowledge , to wit that knowledge we receive from him , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith oecumenius aptly upon the place . the incense is heavenly , we are only as the censors that contain it , and carry about the savour of it . 4. vessels are not only for reception , but effusion , as they receive and retain , so they let out what is put into them ; yea the vessel receiveth for this end , not only that it may keep , but that it may part with its liquor ; such ought the ministers of the gospel to be , not only conchae , but canales , condi , but promi shels to retain , but pipes to convey the divine nectar , layers up but layers out of this heavenly treasure . the apostle speaking of the ordinary ministers , describeth them by two titles , the one metaphoricall , the other proper , to wit pastors and teachers , the latter of which , saith st augustine , is annexed , vt intelligerent pastores ad officium suum pertinere doctrinam , that pastors may know it is a chief part of their office to teach and instruct the people . the stomack receiveth not food for it self , but to nourish the body , the steward money to imploy for his own use only , but to provide for the family ; and the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man , especially ministers , to profit withall . this treasure is a depositum , a trust committed , and that for uses , and those not private but publike ; this light is communicated not to be hid under a bushell , but for the illumination and consolation of them that are in the house . it was christs promise to his apostles to give them os & sapientiam , a mouth and wisdom : what a vessell is without a vent , that is wisdom without a mouth . wisdom that is hid and a treasure not seen , what profit is in them both ? indeed a mouth without wisdom may prove pernicious , and wisdom without a mouth cannot be profitable , christs ministers have both , wisdom in themselves , and a mouth to instruct others . and so much the more reason have those vessels to communicate this treasure , because it is not impaired by imparting . indeed this is another excellency wherein this treasure transcends all earthly treasures ; these waste by spending , this is not at all diminished by distributing . as the seal maketh an impression on the wax . the fire conveyeth the heat into iron . one candle lighteth many without any losse of figure , heat or light ; so the communicating of this treasure will inrich others without impoverishing our selves : here is no place for that allegation of the virgins , not so , least there be not enough for you and us : never any had the lesse knowledge himself , by teaching others : nay the truth is this treasure absconsione minuitur , communicatione multiplicatur , is lessened by hiding , multiplied by imparting ; like the widows oyl in the vessel , that increased by pouring out , that being ever verified , to him that hath shall be given . and thus in all these respects are preachers fitly compared unto vessels . the vse of this particular is that which concerneth my reverend brethren of the clergy , that they seek by prayer , and labour to be more and more fitted for their function , that those of meaner gifts do not envy them that have greater , nor they that have greater , despise those that have meaner ; that they deliver nothing but what they have received from above . finally , that they hide not their talents in a napkin , but lay out their parts and strength for the peoples good . but it is not fit for me , who am minimus apostolorum , to be your instructer , besides i doubt not your piety and wisdom hath already prevented my discourse in your meditations , and therefore i passe on to the word of diminution , earthly , one hath well observed the elegancy of the antithesis , thesauri pretium opponit vilitati involucri , what more pretious then this treasure ? what more vile then earthen vessels ? indeed the candlesticks by which as generally the churches , so eminently the bishops of those churches are to be understood , are said to be golden , and yet here these vessels are called earthen ; both may well stand together , golden in respect of the solidity of their doctrine , purity of their conversation , and yet earthen in regard of the frailty of their condition . the chief question to be discussed is , upon what grounds the apostle thus denominateth to himself and his fellow laboures . to which a threefold answer may well be and is returned by interpreters . the term of earthen is fastened by st paul upon the ministers , respectu status , personae , corporis , in respect of their state , persons and bodies , the two former more speciall relating to the apostles , though too often verified in severall ages of their successours ; the last more generall , as being common to all the messengers of god , that have been are or shall be . in regard of their state , which is for the most part mean and low in the world , golden and silver vessels are of worth and price , but earthen are of little or no value , such is the usuall condition of gods messengers who are frequently exposed to want and penury . instances in this kinde are numerous , and that in most eminent worthies , gregory nazianzen saith of st basill , that he had only what was necessary for his sustentation , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , his riches was to have nothing . st augustine who was rich to religion , to the church , yet was poor to himself , and therefore when he died , he made no will , since as possidius saith of him , vnde conderet pauper christi non habebat , the poor saint had nothing whence he should lay up an estate . st cyprian whose life was golden , death purple , manners pretious , yet his estate was low . christs own disciples were poor fisher-men , viles arte , obscuri vitae labore . nay st paul himself was no other then a tent-maker , a trade that could not inrich him , yea beholding to almes for his supply . thus as the poor receive the gospel , so they that publish it are many times poor and low ; not that thus it ought to be , as the opinion of too many in our daies is , who would have ministers live like beggars , upon benevolence , and account it a prudent policy to keep them poor . st paul ( though upon special grounds he was pleased to condescend to that way of livelihood ) yet asserts maintenance to be the ministers due , and this not narrow , but ample and honourable ; what else meaneth that character , which , among others , he giveth of the ministers in the epistles , both to timothy and titus , that they should be lovers of , yea given to hospitality , since it is no small competency of estate , which besides both the present and future provision for his family , will inable a man to be hospitable . but yet thus most usually it fals out , through the impiety and iniquity of men , that the preachers of the gospel are necessitous and indigent , earthen vessels . it is that therefore which they should make account of , not to be great or rich in this world , comforting themselves with this meditation , that their reward is with the lord . 2. in regard of their persons : earthen vessels being little worth are light set by , whiles golden and silver vessels are locked up safely , and onely used for the entertainment of speciall guests : earthen vessels stand in open places , are used by every servant , nay many times are trampled under foot ; so is it with the preachers of the gospel , they are viles , abjecti hominum estimatione , base and despised in the eyes of wicked men . our blessed saviour speaking to his disciples , calleth them a little flock , though they were to be shepherds of the people , yet they were a flock in respect of christ . but why a little flock ? surely not only in respect of quantity but quality ; let chrysologus give the reason , grex pusillus mundo , magnus deo. a flock great indeed in christs , but little in mans eyes . chosen vessels they are by god , but rejected by the world ; and to use the prophet jeremies expression , vessels wherein there is no pleasure . what that emperour fredrick the 3d said concerning kings , an nescitis principes quasi signum populo expositos ? do you not know that they are oft times as a gazing stock to the people ? may as truly be affirmed of ministers . the prophet isaiah useth an expression not much unlike , concerning himself and the children god gave him , that they were for signes and wonders in israel : nor did eliah , elisha , micaiah , jeremy and the other prophets fare any better then he , in the places where they prophesied , but were mocked , misused and despised by the sons of belial among whom they lived . what entertainment the apostles found let st paul speak , we are made as the filth of the world , and are the offscouring of all things to this day . both the words there are mentioned by the late learned expositor , refer'd to the same thing , and were used among the grecians , concerning that refuse , vile person which was picked out to be a lustration for a city in a publique calamity , of whom they said when they had burnt him , and cast the ashes into the sea , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; thus contemptible and odious was st paul and the other faithfull messengers of christ in the jews and heathens esteem . should i trace the footsteps of ecclesiasticall history , i might tell you how cyprian was nick-named coprian , athanasius sathanasius , and still they that have been most orthodox and zealous preachers , have met with the greatest despite and opposition from hereticall , schismaticall and prophane persons . but i need not seek for instances abroad , when there are so many at home . indeed we may remember those halcion daies when both wealth and honour attended those who serve at the altar , and the clergy ( as they ought to be ) were accounted worthy of , and accordingly received double honour . but at this day how doth sad experience verifie , that the priests are made the lowest of the people ! that complaint of the church may most justly now be taken up , they regard not the person of the priests . yea , as if some new cadmus had sown the earth with sauls teeth , and shimei's tongue , they belch out contumelies against gods ministers . many of these vessels , and those most accomplished for this sacred service , are laied aside as useless , rejected as worthless , and tantum non only not dashed in pieces . nay to that height of impiety are many come , that not only our persons are despicable , but our very function is contemptible in their eyes . oh that such would consider how near they strike at god himself . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith ignatius truly , which we may english by that of our saviour , he that despiseth you despiseth me , and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me . nor let my brethren of the clergie be too much discouraged because disregarded : it was a notable speech of the philosopher to one that reproached him , tu proferendis ego perferendis injuriis idoneus , let us be as ready to bear , as they forward to cast disgrace upon us . cast your eyes on the two next verses to my text , and observe st pauls heroicall expressions , such indeed as well befit a minister of the gospel , we are troubled on every side , yet not distressed , perplexed , but not in despair , persecuted , but not forsaken , cast down , but not discouraged : though our persons be as earthen vessels in the worlds estimation , and so used or rather abused , yet let not our spirits like earthen vessels be broken by any affliction , nay rather remember what christ said to his disciples in the like case , rejoyce and be exceeding glad , for great is your reward in heaven , and so persecuted they the prophets which were before , you are come in their stead , and therefore must expect their usage , and it is a comfort you do but pledge them in that cup of which they have drank to you before , you do but follow them in that way which they have tracked already , so persecuted they the prophets , yea and the apostles too , in which regard they are here called earthen vessels . 3. lastly , this epithete earthen is annexed to these vessels , the preachers of the word , in reference to their bodies , as their mean condition , base estimation ; so their bodily constitution proclaimeth them earthen , this is that which is common to ministers with the people , since though in regard of their calling they are prae aliis far before others , yet in this respect they are sicut caeteri , such as others . 1. thus their bodies are earthen because formed of the dust of the earth , testacea secundum originem , so tertullian , earthly in their original , upon which ground they are called houses of clay , the inhabitant indeed is heavenly , but the body earthy : vas fictile nil aliud quam lutum igne coctum , as earthen vessels , so are our bodies fashioned out of clay . 2. again , as earthen vessels are subject to flaws and cracks , yea to breaking in pieces , so are our bodies liable to sicknesses , diseases , till at last by death they fall and are broken in pieces . in this respect the apostle paul , calling the body an earthen house , addeth presently , be dissolved . to this purpose is grotius his paraphrase , in corpore multis malis obnoxio quod facile frangitur , we have this treasure in bodies subject to many evils , and at last to a dissolution . this construction is that which both the greek and latine fathers generally take it in . among the greeks , st chrysostome speaketh very fully to this sense , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he useth this term of earthen to denote the mortality of our nature , infirmity of our flesh , which by diseases and a thousand other accidents is exposed to death , and so dissolution . among the latines st ambrose speaketh to the same effect , fictilia vasa dicens infirmitatem naturae significat , the weakness of our nature is signified by the earthen vessell , and therefore st jerome explaineth it by the term fragilis ; and theophylact by the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are frail mortall bodies we carry about with us : and as earthen vessels are easily , suddenly broken asunder , one fall on the ground in a moment dasheth them in pieces ; so are the bodies of gods ministers subject to a speedy and sudden dissolution , whereby they become unserviceable to the church . indeed in one thi ng there is a difference , earthen vessels when they break , break irrecoverably , so as the pieces cannot be reunited ; but the bodies of the saints and faithfull ministers of christ , though they moulder into dust , shall at the last day be repaired , refined and made gloriously beautifull . they differ then in the consequent of the breaking , but in the breaking it self they agree , and therefore fitly are our bodies called earthen vessels . the greek word here used {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which properly signifieth the shell of a fish , and in this sense ( as criticall interpreters observe ) it agrees with the matter in hand , it being ordinary to lay up those things we value in shels or boxes and cabinets made of such : and withall those shels in regard of ther brittleness are apt resemblances of our bodies . the platonists who fancy two bodies , one more spiritual , which they call {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the chariot that carrieth the soul in it ; the other more grosse , that which we see and feel , call this latter {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because it is in their opinion as a shell which hath a finer body within it : this being but a fancy i leave it , the true reason of this expression , whether you render it shels or earthen vessels is , because as these so the body is of a frail nature , easily and quickly destroyed , nor have the bodies of ministers any greater priviledge then others : we that preach eternal life are dying men , yea whilest the word of life is in our mouths , many times death is in our faces . this wolf will not only worry the sheep but the shepherd : this enemy will not only set upon the souldiers but the captain : this plunderer will seize upon the crown and the mitre , the scarlet and the rochet : and as at chess when the game is done not only the pawns , but the bishops , yea king and queen are tumbled down and put into the bag : so not only mean and vulgar persons , but princes and priests fall down by death into the grave ; and as judges , though they be shields of the earth , are but earthen shields ; so ministers though vessels that carry this treasure , yet are but earthen vessels . to winde up this in a word of caution and exhortation . do not think the worse of , or value the treasure the less because brought in an earthen vessell . it is that folly , yea wickedness of which too many are guilty , who because they are men that speak to them , think the message is not gods , measureing the worth of the treasure by the meanness of that which conveyeth it ; but tell me , i beseech you , will any man value gold the less , because brought to him in a leathern purse ; or slight a pretious pearl , because found on a dirty dunghill ? and why then should the gospel be undervalued because they are mortall men that preach it ? the truth is we have cause to admire and bless both the power and the goodness of god , his power which by such weak means accomplisheth so great a work ; indeed as the apostle here tels us for this reason the treasure is in such vessels , that the excellency of the power might be of god , his goodness which is pleased to lay it up in such vessels that it may be the easier come by , to speak to us by men like our selves with whom we familiarly converse ; he could if he had pleased have put this treasure in heavenly vessels , used the ministry of angels , but we could not have received it so comfortably from them ; so that in reference to us god is pleased to make men the instruments of publishing the gospels mysteries , and as it is his mercifull condescention that he is pleased to deliver heavenly truths in earthly similitudes , so is it no less that he maketh them known by earthly men . and to carry it a little further , let us be so far from despising this treasure because of the vessell , as not only to bless god who hath put it into such vessels , but to honour the vessell because of the treasure . vtrumne quia testacea est secundum originem scilicet ex limo destruetur , an quia divini thesauri conditorium est extolletur ? saith tertullian rationally . shall the vessell be cast by because it is earthly , or shall it not rather be preferred because it is the repository of a choice treasure ? let me therefore beseech you in st pauls words to the thessalonians , to know them which labour among you and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake , measure them not by their frail natures but their honourable imployment , not by what they finde from the world , but by what they deserve ; they are earthen , adore them not as gods , but the treasure they bring is heavenly , honour them as men of god , let not the treasure be contemned for the vessels sake , but the vessels be esteemed for the treasures sake . 2. the word of exhortation concerneth 1. partly us who are of the clergy , that we follow the pattern which our lord and master hath set us where he saith , i must work the work of him that sent me whilest it is day , the night cometh when no man can work . oh let us break this bread of life before we be broken by death , burn and shine in doctrine and conversation before our lamp be put out ; do all the good we can by imparting this treasure , before our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved , but i hope there is not much need to enlarge in this . 2. partly you who are of the laity , that you learn 1. to make much of your conscientious painfull ministers : the more pretious the liquor , and the more brittle the vessell , the more chary are men of it . oh how tender should you be of them who , though weak creatures , bring the glad tidings of salvation to you ? a friend that cometh to us but cannot stay long with us , how much is he made of , and how freely entertained by us , and will you have no regard of those who are both yours and the bridegrooms friends ? and ere long must be taken from you ? nay let me tell you , no readier way to hasten their removall then your disregard , nor will god long continue his candlesticks among that people , who do not prize them and their light . 2. make use of them , and get all the good you can from them whilest they live : if one have borrowed a book which ere long must be returned to the owner , how diligent is he in picking and transcribing what notes he can out of it : we are but lent you for a time , and that during the good pleasure of god . as christ said to his disciples , so may we to you , vs you shall not have alwaies with you : oh suck all the knowledge you can from our lips whilest we are able to speak to you , and hear us every day as if it were to be the last day you should hear us . and truly never more need of practising this duty then now , not only because ministers are earthen vessels , that is subject to mortality , but because they are earthen , that is despised in these times , and who knoweth how far god may permit the malice of wicked men to proceed , it may be to the breaking , or if not , yet to stopping the vent of these vessels . the mouthes of your ministers must in a few years be stopped with dust when they are laid in the grave , it may be before that they may be silenced from publique preaching the gospel : oh therefore be wise to improve the present opportunities god puts into your hands ! suck the milk of instruction from the breasts of these nurses , whilest they are able to give it you : buy the oyle of consolation from these spirituall merchants , whilest they can sell it you ; do as the egyptians , who when nilus overfloweth the banks , dig pits to put water in , that they may have supply when it shall return to its channell . do as the shell-fish , which taketh in moisture whilest the tides flow in upon them , that may preserve them when it ebbeth , and leaveth them dry . finally , do as joseph , who in the years of plenty laid up store against the famine came . oh be diligent to fill the vessel of your hearts with that divine treasure which these vessels yield , against the time when you may , nay must be deprived of them ; they can instruct , exhort and comfort no longer then life , you have no assurance of their lives , they have none of their own , how long they shall continue ; nay indeed , both they and you are assured they cannot continue long , being but earthen vessels , mortall men . but we have this treasure in earthen vessels . a dolefull instance of this scriptures verity we have in the sad occasion of this daies solemnity : the death of this faithfull minister of christ , affectionate son of the church , vigilant shepherd of his people , mr richard goddard , whose livelesse dust lieth before us , and now my discourse like a circle is returned to the point where i began , our deceased brother , whose losse is deservedly to be lamented , and worth highly to be commended . indeed should i have fulfilled his modest desire , his name and vertues must have been buried in oblivion as well as his body in a grave : but had i in this satisfied his will , i must have been at once injurious to gods honour , his memory , and others profit , since by paying the tribute of praise to gods dear servants , we advance gods glory , perpetuate their remembrance , and adde spurs to the pious endeavours of those who survive . i could heartily have wished that this double task both of speaking to so reverend and worthy an assembly , and of so choise and eminent a person , had been imposed on some one of these many silver trumpets whom i have now in my eye ; but the undeserved respects of my dear friend by will put me upon the one , and his superlative merit and my due regard to his name , though it be against his will , obligeth me to the other . i shall not expatiate in his just and due character , and therein somewhat correspond to his desire : indeed i need not , his worth being so well known already , both in city and countrey , he is gone out not like a common candle in a snuffe or stinke , but like a taper , hath left a sweet savour behinde him in the nostrils of all that know him . that i may the more both sutably and succinctly delineate those graces ( which though they are gone with him for his comfort , do yet stay behinde him for his honour and our imitation . ) i shall make use of the metaphor of a vessell which we meet with here in the text . a vessell indeed he was a choice vessell : what eusebius calleth st hierome , i may well apply to him , he was vas virtutum admirabile , a vessell adorned with an admirable variety of naturall abilities , morall virtues , and spirituall graces , every way fitted and furnished for that divine imployment to which god had called him . what st basill said of gregory nazianzen , i may say of him , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he was a deep well , an elect vessell , and as it were the mouth of christ . to say much in a few words , for knowledge and wisdom he was a vessell of gold , for purity and innocency a vessell of silver , for uprightnesse and integrity , a vessell of transparent glasse ; for resolution and courage in suffering ( of which he had his share ) a vessell of brasse ; for perseverance and constancy in the orthodox faith , a vessell of stone ; and which was the crown of all , for lowliness and humility an earthen vessell ; since whilest he was glorious in the eyes of others , he was contemptible in his own . a vessell he was full of all sorts of pretious liquor , the wine of zealous devotion , the oyle of pitifull compassion , the honey of a sweet disposition , the water of penitent contrition , and the milk of spiritual consolation . to come nearer to the text and him , he was a vessel to whom this treasure of the gospel , and the dispensation of it was committed , which how conscionably , diligently , faithfully , frequently ( as farre as the weaknesse of his body would permit ) he discharged , i doubt not but many here can and will attest : he was a vessel not closed but open , not with a narrow but a large vent . that worldly treasure of estate he had , he was continually imparting to his distressed brethren in his life , and at his death bequeathed a full fifth of his estate to them who can hardly obtain a fifth of their own . and this heavenly treasure of the gospel he did with no lesse alacrity distribute among his people ; how many of all degrees from all parts , golden , silver , earthen vessels were filled at his ! noble , rich , poor persons , all inriched their souls with the treasure that was dispensed by his lips . methinks many of you are now calling to minde in what a clear method , choice words and fit phrases , with what pregnant similitudes , plentifull illustrations , pithy perswasions , sweet insinuations , powerfull inducements , allegations of antiquity , and variety of good literature ( so as both the learned may receive satisfaction , and the meanest reap benefit ) he did preach the word amongst you . finally , that which compleateth his character , this vessell retained the sent , the vertue of that himself which he poured out to others : the course of his life was consonant to the tenour of his preaching , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as gregory nazianzen saith of st basill , he spake what was to be done , and did what he spake , he did not only {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , scienter praedicare , but innocentia agere , order his preaching , but conversation aright . that sickness which occasioned the breaking of this pretious vessel was indeed sharp and short , but as himself expressed to me at the beginning of it , he did not fear , because already prepared for death . and though the violence of the disease oppressing his spirits , suppressed the freedom of his speech , yet ( blessed be god ) it did not bereave him of his senses , nor wholly of his speech , in so much that not many hours before his death he made to a loving friend of his there present , a pious confession of his faith and hope , so that what st ambrose said of himself , non sic vixi ut me pudeat vivere , nec mori timeo quia bonum , dominum habemus , i may truly affirm of him , he so lived that he was neither ashamed nor afraid to die . the vessel of his body is now broken by the hand that formed it ( to which i desire we may all submit ) yea that service which he was made for is now finished , else he had continued longer . as for the pearl that was in this casket , his soul , i doubt not but it is safe in abrahams bosome ; yea the vessel of his body rests in hope of restoring and reinjoying that pearl , when it shall be for ever a vessel of honour , glory and immortality . i have now only a double word to present , 1. the one to the reverend clergie of this city here present , those particularly who have yet the liberty of their function , that according to our several abilites we would endeavour as much as may be by our diligent preaching , exemplary living , to make up the losse of this our brother . methinks god speaketh to us this day , as he did to joshuah in another case , moses my servant is dead , be strong and of a good courage , ever remembring that such a pillar being taken away , the greater burden lieth upon our shoulders . 2. the other to his religious auditors , and especially his well-affected parishioners . he that stood in this place like a jacob to rowl away the stone from the well , open the difficult places of scripture to you , is now removed from you ; he that stood like a carefull watchman to awake and warn you , is now by death put to silence : finally , he that like a sun shined with the beams of instruction and consolation among you in this horizon , is now gone down , and which is the more sad , your eyes shall see him no more till the last day the morning of the resurrection . the bottle which filled you is now emptied , the vessell which enriched you is now broken , the gourd whose shadow refreshed you is now withered ; and i am confident , so ardent was the love towards him , so great the benefit you received by him , that i need not bid you be sensible of the losse . the more needfull counsell is to be content with , and patient under it ; and so much the rather , because it is no more then what you ought to expect , and especially in regard of him who was not only an earthen vessell , but one that had such a flaw , i mean disease , which would ere long have broken him . and now beloved , though the vessell be broken , yet let not the treasure be lost ; do you by him as ireneus did by polycarpus , keep fresh in his memory his sermons , his discourses , his goings out and comings in . this is the best way to remember him , by remembring his counsels ; to mourn for him , by mourning for your unfruitfulness under his labours , to honour him by expressing the efficacy of his doctrine in your hearts and lives . nor let it be an unwelcome admonition to you ( with which i will close ) be carefull whom you choose to succeed this our reverend brother : not one that shall pull down what he hath built , but rear up what he hath laied ; pluck up what he hath planted , but water what he hath sown ; not one that shall succeed him ( to use gregory nazianzen's expression ) as night after day , a disease after health , a frenzy after use of reason , and a storm after a calm ; but rather as a sweet shower after a warm sun-shine , and a ripening summer after a budding spring . to this end , as when joshuah was dead the children of israel askt of the lord , who shall go up for us against the canaanites , so do you now the captain is dead , consult with god , beg of him to direct you in the election of one who may leade you in the battell against your spiritual enemies : and withall as you seek to god , so look into his word , and let those directions which are there given be the rule of your election ; so may you expect and shall obtain such an one by whom your faith shall be edified , and thereby ( that which was his earnest desire ) the salvation of your souls accomplished . finis . sermons preached and printed by mr nathanaell hardy m. a. and preacher to the parish of st dyonis back-church . jvstice triumphing , or the spoilers spoiled : a sermon preached on the 5th of november in the cathedrall church of st pauls . the arraignment of licentious liberty and oppressing tyranny , in a sermon at a fast before the lords in parliament ; in the abbey-church at westminster . faiths victory over nature , a sermon preached at the funerals of mr john rushout junior . the safest convoy or the strongest helper , a valedictory sermon before the right honourable sr thomas bendish barronet , his majesties ambassadour to the grand seigniour at constantinople . a divine prospective representing the just mans peacefull end , a sermon at the funerall of the right worshipfull sr john gayr knight . love and fear the inseparable twins of a blest matrimony , a sermon occasioned by the nuptials between mr william christmas and mrs elizabeth adams . divinity in mortality , or the gospels excellency and the preachers frailty , a sermon at the funerals of mr richard goddard minister of the parish of st gregories by pauls . printed , and are to be sold by nathanaell webb and william grantham at the black bear in st pauls church-yard near the little north-door , 1653. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a87092e-1820 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . bas. mag. in isa. c. 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pel. 1. ep. 32. 2 kin. 2. 11 , 12 per tales deus placatur populo populus instruitur deo prosp. de vit contempl. . c. ult. 1 sam. 25. 1. lam. 1. 19 , 20. zech. 11. 2. zech. 1. 5. facit hoc propter pseudapostolos quibus hoc erat 〈◊〉 consueto , ut ex afflictionibus ipsius argumentum experent vilipendendi ipsius ministerium . musc. in loc. gener . 1. partic. 1. vers . 6. thesauro sacramentum significatur , dei in christo , quod fidelibus erogatur , incredulis absconditur . ambros. & anselm . in loc. de lumine quod illuxerit deus in cordibus nostris ad illuminationē agnitionis gloriae suae in personae christi dicit habere nos thesaurum . tertul. de resur. carnis , c. 44. phil. 3. 8. suid. john 17. 3. vers. 1. thesaurum vocat munus sibi creditum à deo hoc est ipsum ministerium evangelii . est . in loc. 1 tim. 3. 1. rom. 3. 2. ver. 3. 2 cor. 3. 6. mark 16. 15. 1 cor. 9. 17. mat. 5. 17. gr. thaumat . serm. 2. in aununt . b.m.v. mat. 13. 44. avend . in mat. eph. 1. 7. 1 pet. 1. 19. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . athan. de virg. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} chrysost. hom in gen. 15. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pel. l. 1. ep. 146. psal. 12. 6. psal. 12. 6. 19. 10. prov. 3. 14 , 15. basil . in ps. 44. basil . in psal. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; bas. ibid. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . isid. pol. l. 3. epist. 338. chrysost. hom 3. in gen. psal. 119. 72. 14 162. avend . ibid. cant. 4. 11. ph. carpath . musc. in loc. joh. 3. 12. 1 pet. 1. 18. prov. 23. 5. luk. 10. 42. john 6. 27. 1 pet. 1. 25. eccles. 5. 13. prov. 1. 19. salv. contr. avarit . l. 1. 2 cor. 2. 16. vers. 3. rom. 1. 1. col. 3. 16. prov. 3. 16. deut. 33. just . mart. ad ●u . adhort . 2● . col. 3. 16. psal. 119. vers. 72. 48. 11. 14. gener . 2. partie . 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . vox apud hebraeos & graecos ponitur pro quovis instrumento . loc. in act. 9. 15. gen. 45. 5. psal. 7. 13. act. 9. 15. 2 cor. 2. 16. leo apud grat. dist. 48. gr. naz. or . 29 justinian . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. orat. 21. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. orat. 20. 1 cor. 12. 29. rev. 1. 20. 1 cor. 15. 41. cant. 3. 7. 10. gr. niss . hom 7 in cant. 1 cor. 11. 23. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isa. 53. 1. non a seipso sed ab eo qui cum mittit legatus loquitur . velacq . in phil. 2 cor. 5. 20. 2 tim. 1. 14. quid est depositum , id est , quod tibi creditum est non quod a te inventum , quod accepisti non quod excogitasti , rem non ingenii sed doctrinae , non usurpationis privatae sed publicae traditionis , rem , ad te profectam non a te prolatā , in quâ non autor debes esse sed custos , non institutor sed sectator non ducens sed sequens . vinc. lyr. adv. haer cap. 27. 2 cor. 2. 14. occumen . in loc. aug. ep. 59. 1 cor. 12. 7. luc. 21. 15. wisd. 20. 30. matth. 25. 9. cassiod . in ep. matth. 25. 29. quò in plures diffunditur eò redundantior manat . ambr. 2. offic. cap. 15. ambr. 2. off . cap. 15. partic. 2. non illustres sed humiles , & nullis humanae potentiae , fortunae , praerogativis spectabiles . musc. in loc. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. or . 20 2 tim. 3. 2. tit. 1. 8. est . in loc. lap. in loc. chrysolog . serm. 22. jer. 22. 11. isa. 8. 18. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 1 cor. 4. 13. dr hammond on the new testament . lam. 4. 16. ignat. epist. ad smyrn. luc. 10. 16. aristippus . vers. 8 , 9. matth. 5. 12. tertull. job 4. 19. lap. in loc. 2 cor. 5. 1. grot. in loc. chrysost. in loc. hier. & theoph. in loc. grot. in loc dr hammond in loc psal. 47. 9. 1. a necessary caution . tertull. de resur. cor. c. 44. 1 thes. 5. 12 , 13. jo. 9. 4. mar. 4. 17. in vita ambr. josh. 1. 2 , 6. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gr. naz. or . 21 judg. 1. 1. a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john, fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john, knight and baronet, of woodford in northamptonshire, in the parish church of st. martins in the fields, on the 24th of june, 1677 by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. 1677 approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44540 wing h2849 estc r7942 13518602 ocm 13518602 99893 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44540) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99893) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 790:29) a sermon preached at the solemnity of the funeral of mrs. dorothy st. john, fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john, knight and baronet, of woodford in northamptonshire, in the parish church of st. martins in the fields, on the 24th of june, 1677 by anthony horneck ... horneck, anthony, 1641-1697. [4], 34, [1] p. printed for james collins ..., london : 1677. "published at the desire of her relations." advertisement: p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng st. john, dorothy, d. 1677. bible. -n.t. -romans viii, 20 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon , preached at the solemnity of the funeral of m rs . dorothy st. john , fourth daughter of the late sir oliver st. john , knight and baronet , of woodford in northamptonshire . in the parish church of st. martins in the fields , on the 24 th of june , 1677. by anthony horneck , preacher at the savoy . published at the desire of her relations : london , printed for james collins , in the temple passage from essex street , mdclxxvii . imprimatur , guil. sill , r. p d. episc. lond ▪ a sac. dom. julii 26. 1677. to the honorable the lady barbara st ▪ john . madam , upon your request i have adventured to appear in publick , and expos'd that to common view , which i thought would never have gone farther than my study . not to have yielded to your desires had been uncivility ; and though i am sensible of the weakness of the discourse , yet to pleasure you , i have resolv'd to deny my self in that thing we call credit and reputation ; the rather because in this sermon i have prov'd it to be vanity . the text was of your daughters choosing ; whether she regarded the sound more than the sense , i will not enquire ; but as the different sentiments of divines about this passage , have allow'd it a place in the catalogue of the sublimer mysteries of the gospel ; so if i had had more time to view and correct my comment , it might have come abroad more polish'd , and fitted more to the palate of the age. what nicer men would have made the scene of curious speculations , i have endeavour'd to make as practical as i can , being sensible that our work is to convert souls , not to paint them . in an age so loose as ours , so full of vanity and sin , we had need be very serious and earnest with men to come away from these idols , to serve the living god , and as this shall be my sincere endeavour , while the great master of my life is pleas'd to continue me in the station i am in ; so if i can contribute any thing , either to your ladyships , or your relations spiritual advantage and edification , it will be no small satisfaction to madam , your ladyships most humble servant , anthony horneck . rom. viii . 20. for the creature was made subject unto vanity , not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same in hope . the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or things hard to be understood in this epistle , would almost justifie a man's wish , for st. paul's return to this valley of tears , to explain them . as this epistle hath occasion'd more differences in the world , than any other book of scripture : so we seem to want some heavenly interpreter , more infallible than st. peter's pretended successor at rome , to compose them ; and yet i cannot deny , but that by prayer , and industry , and assiduous reading , and laying aside partiality , and prejudice , and superstitious reverence to our education , and by attending to the scope and drift of the writer , and the circumstances he then was in , and the controversies that vex'd the church in that age ; the mind of the holy ghost , though not in every particular , yet in most things may be known to our comfort and satisfaction . in this chapter the apostle partly directs the roman christians , and partly comforts them , shews them their duty , and their cordial ; lets them see how they must be qualified , if they claim an interest in christ jesus , and how much god is concern'd in the midst of all their afflictions , and persecutions . in his directions which reach from the 1. to the 16. v. he acquaints them , that if they lay hold on the love and favour , and merits of christ jesus , they must mind spiritual things more than temporal , change their bvass , and the spirit of god must be predominant in their souls , govern their inward man , make all their passions stoop , and all their desires bow to his command . in his comforts he is ever stately and magnificent , and doth as it were empty heaven , to bring the blessed trinity , and all the treasures of that glory down into their souls , and having mention'd heavens glory , the reward of all troubled and weary souls ; he knows not how to be large and copious enough upon so rich , so illustrious a subject : and therefore by way of a prosopopoea or figure , whereby we ascribe actions and postures of rational creatures to things either inanimate , or sensitive , he brings in the whole creation longing for that glory , as if the universe sympathiz'd with all the suffering servants of god , and together with them breath'd after that splendid manifestation of god's power , and majesty , v. 19. for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of god ; and because the more curious among the christians , he writes to , might ask how creatures corruptible and vain come to pant after that glorious day , he in my text lets them know that it is the great commander of heaven and earth , that hath so ordered it , and intends to bring light out of that darkness , and make that vanity they are subject to , subservient to their future perfection . for the creature was made subject unto vanity , not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same in hope . in which words we find , 1. a peremptory assertion of a signal change made in the creature . the creature was made subject unto vanity . 2. the manner of this change , or rather the cause of it . not willingly , but by reason of him , who subjected it unto the same . 3. something which qualifies and mitigates that change , or vanity . it is subjected in hope , and of these in order . i. a signal change made in the creature . the creature was made subject unto vanity . there is hardly any word in holy writ , that expositors have toiled more to find out the meaning of , than that of creature in the text. not to mention , that some by it have understood mankind in general , others the christian world , others the blessed angels , who minister unto those that shall be heirs of salvation ; some eminent men of late have undertaken to make out , that the apostle means the gentiles , or heathens , which were to be brought over to the christian faith. but if we admit of this sense , it must follow , that the apostle in the foregoing verse , where he begins to speak of the creature , falls abruptly upon a new subject , which seems altogether improbable , that verse being joyn'd by the particle for to v. 18. in which we have him comforting the afflicted christian with that glory , which ere long should be revealed in him , and then immediately it follows , the earnest expectation of the creature , &c. so that what is said v. 19. and in my text , must have relation to the same subject he had spoke of v. 18. and if by the creature we understand all creatures in this visible world , in a word , heaven and earth , and the things that are therein , the coherence is elegant , and the sense perfect , easie , and natural ; and it is an argument , à minori ad majus , from the less to the greater : if the whole creation hopes to be delivered from her bondage and oppression , you may with far greater reason both look for a happy deliverance and comfort your selves with the thoughts of it . and indeed , he will soon be convinced , that the creature was made subject unto vanity , that shall observe how much its gloss , and beauty decay'd after the fall of adam ; how the earth , that before was a stranger to all noxious herbs and plants , brought forth thistles and thorns now ; how her former fertility was lost in a dismal barrenness , and the ground that before required no labour , would yield little now , but what men forced and squeezed out of it by the sweat of their brows ; how the blessing that enrich'd and adorn'd it before , exspir'd into a curse ; and nature , which before knew no poison , no enmity to man , degenerated now into hostility , and from a friend became a foe ; how her former lovely face is all disfigured with spots and freckles now , and that which was all charm to a rational soul before , is now become an object , which few wise men , indeed none but fools delight in ; how the heavens which before dispens'd their kindly influences to man , and seem'd to be proud of the employment , soon after became gods arsenal , from whence he sometimes fetches water to drown , as he did the first world , sometimes fire to consume , as he did sodom and gomorra , sometimes hailstones to kill , as he did the amorites , sometimes winds to overturn , as he did job's houses ; how the creatures which were commission'd only to seed , and cherish man , are now very ordinarily made use of to punish him , and they that before served him for the noblest uses in his integrity , at the best do now relieve him in his misery ; how the creatures , which before did reverently observe and bow to him , do now as often seize on him , as if nature were inverted , and they had got the dominion over him , whose primitive right it was to have dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth ; and how many things , which before might have made him truly happy , serve only now to make him an object of scorn to god and his holy angels . so much of this change . ii. the manner of the change , or rather the cause of it . not willingly , but by reason of him that subjected it unto the same . men and the apostate angels indeed were made subject to vanity with their own consent , and their own wilfulness lost them that glory they once enjoy'd ; but the other creatures in a manner against their will , because it was not for any fault of their own , but for man's sin that god doomed them to ▪ their vanity ; cursed be the earth for thy sake ( saith god to adam ) gen. 3. 17. and that no man may think it strange that the curse of god should light on things innocent and incapable of sinning , we must remember that god in punishing the creatures with their vanity , punished man himself for whose use and service chiefly they were created ; as a magistrate that confiscates the offenders goods , inflicts justice on the offender , and puts him in mind of the error he hath committed , and of the injury he hath done to the publick : so that he that hath subjected the creature unto vanity , is god , by whose just sentence it came to pass , that the creatures all glorious before , became sutable to man's corrupt and miserable condition , and were permittied to be stings and thorns in his side , and so far from yielding true content and satisfaction , that they ordinarily lead to trouble and vexation of spirit . i will not here enlarge upon adam's sin , nor shew you what unbelief , what pride , what contumacy , what ingratitude , what want of love , what apostacy may be discover'd in it . we may be confident , god had reason for what he did , and that he saw the crimson dye of the transgression , which made him issue out this order , that upon this great princes fall , the whole creation should go into mourning . iii. that which in a great measure qualifies and mitigates this vanity , the creature hath been suffer'd to sink into , is this ; that it is subjected in hope . god hath as it were endow'd the creatures our eyes behold with hopes of their restitution to their pristine beauty , usefulness and glory ; for according to his promise we look for new heavens and a new earth , wherein dwelleth righteousness , the old heavens shall pass away with a great noise , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the old earth also , and the works that are therein , shall be burnt up , 2 pet. 3. 10. 13. thus the creature will one day undergo a kind of glorification and participate of the splendor which shall encircle all righteous and sanctified souls ; and as gold in the fire is refin'd , it 's dross purged away and comes out more splendid than it was before : so the world that now lies under corruption , purified by that future fire , will put on a face more pleasant and beautiful than now it hath ; and let no man scoff at this assertion under a pretence that the earth at that time will be of no use , for good men will be in heaven , and the wicked in hell , and consequently the earth will have no need of renovation ; for can any man be so irrational as to think that there is no use of the creature , but what consists in eating and drinking and sensual pleasure ? and though i will not say with tertullian , who favours the millenary opinion , that the new heavens and the new earth will be in compensationem eorum , quae in seculo vel despeximus , vel amisimus , to make amends for what we have either lost or despis'd in this world ; yet how are we sure that the glorified saints shall be so confined to that place we strictly call heaven , as not to descend upon this glorified earth , which for ought we know will be fill'd with god's glory in a manner as much as heaven , and will together with heaven , make one great theatre of bliss and happiness ? and who knows but these triumphant saints , as at that time they 'll know things perfectly , and see through a glass no more , are to read the wisdom , and goodness , and bounty of the great creator in the several creatures that shall adorn that new world ? and this is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that restistution of all things , foretold of all the holy prophets since the world began , mention'd act. 3. 21 that this stately fabrick of the world is to be at last consumed by fire , and whatever we see before us to be lost in an universal conflagration , is not only the import of the apostles discourse here , but hath been the opinion of the most ancient heathen philosophers , pythagoras , heraclitus , zeno , and of all the stoicks , who therefore talk'd much of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and seem to have receiv'd it by an immemorial tradition from adam himself ; who as josephus tells us , prophesied that the world should once be drown'd by water , and another time destroy'd by fire . and this conflagration whereby the world shall be renew'd and reinstated into its primitive splendor ; all the creatures groan for , and travel as it were in pain together until now : to use the apostles phrase v. 22. with hopes to be deliver'd from the bondage of corruption , into the glorious liberty of the children of god. thus far the sense of the words , which sense i do the rather pitch upon , because both ancient and modern divines , some few only excepted , agree in 't . and now what subject of discourse can be fitter for this present occasion , than the vanity of the creature . can we see a curious fabrick here all broke to pieces , and a creature that was made a little lower than the angels , cut off before half her race was run , and tumbling down as she was going up the hill , and forbear crying out with solomon , vanity of vanities , all is vanity ? there are few men that pretend either to sense or reason , but will freely acknowledg the vanity of all sublunary objects , and yet to see them dote on things , which by their own confession are fickle , inconstant , and unsatisfactory ; to see them hug this vanity , as if it were mount sion , which shall never be moved , as if it were the rock of ages , against which the gates of hell shall not be able to prevail , would make any contemplative man bless himself , and wonder — quis daemon subiens praecordia flammam concitat , & raptam tollit de cardine mentem : what evil spirit makes them act contrary to those convictions , cross those principles , give themselves the lie , and love such contradictions . but it 's no new thing to speak well , and to act ill , and to make a learned harangue of the emptyness and weakness of things below , while the affections are so set upon the world , that you had as good attempt to move the pyramids of egypt out of their places , as hope to disentangle the heart from these bryars and thorns . the great idols of this earth , riches , honors , pleasures , life , health , children , &c. which the world adores with preposterous devotion , alas ! what are they all but vanity in grain ? i. riches , when the magnificent croesus sat upon his throne , deck'd with beaten gold , adorn'd with a thousand jewels and precious stones , he had the curiosity to ask solon , whether he had ever seen a more glorious sight ? yes sir , saith solon , for i have seen hens and phesants , and partridges more gloriously array'd than you . the philosopher saw the vanity of all this wealth and cost , and laught at it . the covetous man indeed , that son of the earth , sees with other eyes , and cannot think himself solidly happy , except he swims in wealth : this is it engrosses the secret wishes of his mind , and to have as much as other men , is that his soul doth chiefly long for : so have i heard a man in a feavor wish for a cup of cold water , which when he hath obtain'd , hath prov'd his death and ruine . what happyness doth the wretch fancy in a little shining clay ! he sees no vanity in great possessions , and he thinks that man liv'd like a god , that could say , i will pull down my barns and build greater , and there i will bestow all my fruits and my goods : what ever other men think of nabal , he commends him , and calls that living like himself , when he scrapes what wealth he can together to feed his appetite and luxury . have not you read of whited sepulchers , which indeed appear beautiful outward , but are within full of dead mens bones , and of all uncleanness ? so here there is a veil drawn over this glittering dust , and the veil is painted and gaudy , and takes the eye ; but that man which hath courage to lift it up and to see what is underneath , will quickly find that these are things , which to day caress their favourite , and to morrow make themselves wings and flee away ; and that they can neither preserve the body from disasters , for in despight of all my treasures lightning from heaven may strike through my sides and kill me , and vapours of the earth may infect my spirits and blow my life away , and sickness may breed in my bones and rack me ; nor afford any real content to the soul , for when i see a judas tremble with his purse full of money , and gehazi walk in fear while he brings home his talents of silver , and an alexander in the midst of all his opulency dissatisfied and tor●ured with ambition , and belshazzar with all his golden cups about him , grow pale as ashes , and quake at the sight of the fatal hand ; when i see how their outward plenty entices men to that which will undo them , and how strong a temptation it proves to run away from him who is the proper center of their souls ; how it doth teach men to sin , and fills their carnal minds with car●s , and carkings , and anxieties , makes man , the noblest work of the creation , a slave to dust ; dethrones his reason , thrusts him into vassallage , and trrnsforms that part which is like to angels , in o a beast , and consequently prepares him for shame and confusion in the end , and by degrees breeds in him the worm that dies not : what name , what title can i bestow upon it , but that of the apostle , deceitful riches , which lead men into snares , and drown them in destruction and perdition , 1 tim. 6. 9. not but that our of this mercury , a wholesom medicine may be drawn , and men may lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come , that they may lay hold on eternal life ; but where one prepares an elixir of it , thousands makes nothing of it , but sublimate , so strong a poyson , as doth not only kill the body , but lays force on the soul , makes it sick to death , and which is strange , for morte carent animae , murther that part , which the great creator hath blessed with immortality . ii. honour . what a stir do men make about greatness and reputation in the world , and what is it all but the breath of dying men ! he that sees the ambitious clamber that mountain , as if it were the hill of god , and there lay the way to heaven , would wonder what the man means to labour so hard , when in good truth he only leaps to catch an atom tumbling and playing in a sun-beam . he stands on firm ground , and nothing will serve him but a slippery place , from whence the least frown of a monarch throws him down . consul bibulus surrounded with acclamations and euge's knows not where he is , whether he is riding in his chariot , or treading air : but see the sad reverse which waits on humane triumphs , while his fond thoughts and the numerous multitude , with their praises , swell him above himself , a tilestone falling accidentally from a house , puts an end to his life and all his glories together before he can reach the capitol . sejanus is honored like a god to day , to morrow kick'd by scullions and serving-men . belisarius that commands an army this year , the next is forced to cry date obolum belisario , pray remember the poor . it was therefore ingeniously said by one of the royal slaves that drew sesostris his triumphing chariot ; when the king asked him why he look'd back so often upon the wheels ; that he could not but with a great deal of pleasure observe how that spoke which was uppermost now , was lowermost by and by , giving the haughty tyrant to understand that he who wears a crown to day , may handle a spade to morrow . where are the mighty honorable men , who have made whole nations tremble , and shook the habitable world into subjection ? was their dignity able to preserve them from the burning lake , or hath vengeance been afraid to fling them into hell , because they were clad with silk and purple ? so airy , so transitory a thing must needs be vanity , and to build upon 't , is to make a nest on the waves of the sea , which the least angry billow shatters into nothing . what signifies a chair of state while the colick rages in my bowels ! or what ease can my soul find by the bowing of a thousand knees , while my own must bow to pain and anguish ! and indeed the greatest emperor makes no better dust than the meanest slave , and in the grave it 's impossible for menippus to tell the son of jupiter which was the potter and which the lofty macedonian hero. honor ! this is the goddess to which hecatombs are offered , and most of the wars and battles that are fought , are but to vindicate her cause . this is it that tempts the man of birth to sacrifice himself , and estate , and family ; and if his credit be sullied never so little , to wash away the stain with his neighbours blood ; and he that can see with what care and trouble popular applause and a changeable princes favour is acquired , with what fear it 's kept , what enemies it raises , what dangers it precipitates it's clients into , and how it causes them to prefer a punctilio of honor before all the laws of heaven , and a great man's smiles before the courtships of the blessed trinity , and makes them careless of that incorruptelae superindumentum , the carthaginian father speaks of , i. e. of being cloathed upon with their house from heaven , and regardless of that splendor and kingdom , which the mighty rewarder of them that diligently seek him , hath to bestow on those that obey him more than men . he i say , that can see all this , and fancy real and solid bliss in these castles of air , must have a heart of lead , a soul altogether immerst in sense , drown'd in sensuality ; and it may more truly be said of him , than of the man in the gospel , that travell'd from jerusalem to jericho , that he is fallen among robbers , who have plunder'd him of his reason . iii. pleasure . there is indeed a pleasure which arises from a serious and consciencious discharge of our duty to god and man , which hath nothing of vanity in it , for it is a foretaste of heaven , a glimps of paradise , and a preface to those joys which no eye hath seen , no ear hath heard , no heart hath conceived . this pleasure makes us men and partakers of the divine nature . t●●s is the water of life , whereof whoever drinks , shall never thirst again after broken cisterns which can hold no water . this pleasure hath substance in it , and the soul moves then in her own proper element , when bathing in rivers of such delight . this pleasure drop● from above , and is restless till it mingles again with those c●●e●tial joys , from which treasury it 's sent into the soul. but the pleasure which we condemn as vain , consists in gratifying the flesh in all its extravagant wishes and desires . this is the sensual man's darling , and he despairs of any satisfaction except he can crown his days with rosebuds , and walk in the way of his heart , and in the sight of his eyes , and fan his senses , and give them that liberty and elbow-room they crave : so the great solomon thought , and tryed it , but found by sad experience that this was the way to the chambers of death , prov. 7. 27. pleasure , like the harlot spoken of v. 13. catches the heedless youngster , and kisses him , and with an impudent face , says unto him , i have deck'd my bed with coverings of tapestry , with carved works , with fine linnen of egypt ; i have perfumed my bed with myrrh , aloes , and cinnamon . come let us take our fill of love until the morning ; let us solace our selves with loves , for the good man is not at home , he is gone a long journey ; he hath taken a bag of money , and will come home at the day appointed . with her much fair speech she causes him to yield , with the flattering of her lips she forces him : he goes after her straightway , as an ox goes to the slaughter , or as a fool to the correction of the stocks , till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird hasteth to the snare , not knowing that it is for life . like a fatal pit which some spreading flowers have cover'd and hid from the eyes of the unwary passenger , it tempts , but kills , laughs upon you , but gripes , invites , but betrays ; it never offers honey without a sting ; and if it courts the weak sinner with milk and butter in a lordly dish , it is but to strike a nail into his temples , and to mingle that milk with his blood . the wine it presents him with , is to bite him like a serpent , and when it shews him the blood of the grapes in a crystal glass , the intent is to sting him like an adder , prov. 22. 31 , 32. what are these sensual delights but burthens to a rational soul ! beasts have greater enjoyment of them than we . the modish gallant that courts them , and obtains his desires , too often like actaeon , is devoured by his own hounds , and the roses he smells to leave nothing but pricks behind them to wound and tear his conscience ; and like phalaris that dangerous host , when they have feasted him , they torture him , fill him with infamy and diseases , with pain and poverty ; and he that went joyful out comes mourning home , and is ready to curse the day that he listen'd to these deceitful sirens , which did but sing , first to lull him asleep and then to poison him ; like dalila , flatter'd him , that his strength might depart from him , and as judith did holofernes , made him drunk , the better to exercise their cruelty upon him . hannibal a that could not be overcome by arms , is overcome by pleasure ; and he whom all the roman forces could not weaken , is made feeble by luxury . by this rome it self fell ; and long before , the macedonian empire perish'd . this is it hath ruin'd kingdoms ; destroy'd the most flourishing monarchies ; and forein enemies have not done them so much harm as this inward and homebred adversary . aelian b tells a strange story of his pardalis , a beast of a sweet scent , but dreadful shape ; and as the one attracts company , so the other frights them . therefore to get prey to feed on , she retires to a place which nature hath adorn'd with trees and bushes ; and there covers her self with leaves , so that her scent is only perceiv'd ; but her body remains unseen . the wild goats and such other creatures ranging in the wood , and delighted with the rich perfume , approach , and now outleaps the mighty murtherer , and leads the captive wretches in triumph home . whether st. chrysostome's libyan monster be a fable or no , i will not dispute , the moral i am sure cannot be improper for our purpose . this creature he represents to be of a shape partly humane , partly serpentine : the upper part of its body like a woman , its face beautiful , its skin white , its breasts large , a strange liveliness and briskness in its eyes ; but the the lower part full of scales , and rough , ugly , and intractable , and its tail like that of a viper , swift and running very fast , having no voice but that of a hiss , laying force on all animals it meets withal , except man , whom alone it deceives by guile and cunning ; for to him it threatens no danger , makes no noise , fixes its eyes with some modesty on the ground , now and then looks up to allure man into its embraces , and if any be so ignorant as to come near and handle it , it then leaps upon his back , and shoots its poison through his bowels , and when he falls the rest of its companions come all out of their dens and help to devour so fair a prey . the application of these passages is easie enough , and who sees not that sensual pleasure is that panther and that dragon , that in the end destroys the fond man , that is either delighted with its smell , or with its glorious outside . and here i remember what the noble plutarch saith , pleasure ( he means that pleasure which lust and luxury affords ) is a brute , but not a savage one ; it tears indeed like a wild one , but doth not seem to be so ; did it appearin its proper colours , it would be shun'd as bears and leons ; and there would be no difficulty in catching and killing of it ; but coming in the habit of a friend , it doth both hurt and cheat , murthers by adulation , and while it pretends to give liberty , makes a prisoner of the man ; and enslaves him to a prodigy , the man doth not so much buy pleasure as sell himself to it ; and his reason is turn'd out into exile ; and he is banish'd from himself , for it makes him venture upon the basest , most childish , most sneaking , and most impertinent actions , things below a man , and below those excellent faculties he is endow'd withal , and like some ill natured physician , gives a pleasant potion and cures him for the present , keeps up his spirits , and supports him , that he may abuse his body more , and venture upon new diseases . xerxes knew what he did when he forbad the babylonians the use of arms , and permitted them to give themselves over to wine and women , and all manner of luxury . he was sensible this would emasculate their vertue and make them objects of scorn , who once had made the most puissant monarchs tremble . indeed this is it which dissolves courage and makes the greatest valour melt into cowardice . it debases a sardanapalus to a spindle , and roots out all sense of greatness and ingenuity : whatever conceits men have of it , in the end it leaves them miserable , and instead of pity , their neighbors cannot but laugh at them , as much as the world did at the attempts of that prince , who tired with variety of pleasures at land , had a mind to try their sweetness in a more unruly element , the sea. a ship is built , liker a palace than a vessel ; here are erected chambers for himself , there apartments for his concubines , a garden is planted too , set out with aromatick trees and herbs , no splendor is wanting , no cost spared , all the rooms dazle the spectators eyes with the gold that glistered there ; the egyptians admire it , all are ambitious to go aboard of it ; the mighty vessel being launched , the king enters , and while the calm lasted , nothing could appear more glorious ; but a boisterous wind soon turns that calm into a tempest , and now the vast bulk sinks , and the world seems to suffer shipwrack ; so that it may be truly said of pleasure what was said of the honey that was given to pompey's souldiers ; it drives men into madness , and what they intended for their cordial , proves their death , and that which they hoped would have refresh'd them , doth but intoxicate them , and the sweetness turns into gall and wormwood . iv. life . this hath in all ages been counted so vain a thing , that wise men have been at a loss for words to express its vanity . a shadow , a dream , a bubble , a tragedy , a wheel , a vapour have been thought epithets too great for it ; and therefore some have adventured to call it nothing . i confess i cannot but smile when i find what admirers of long life the chineses are , and what pains they take to preserve themselves here on earth from mortality . it 's pleasant to read how one of their kings being by some impostor promised a cup of liquor to make him immortal , would by no means be discouraged from his strong persuasion , that upon the drinking of it he should certainly be freed from death for ever , till a friend of his more , wise than he , snatched the cup from the place where it stood , and drank it off . the king mightily incens'd at the insolence , immediately drew his sword to kill him , to whom the gentleman wittily replied : either upon the drinking of this liquor , i am immortal , or i am not ; if i am , then in vain do you attempt to kill me ; if i am not , you have reason to thank me because i have deliver'd you from a cheat . which answer pacified the king , and made him commend his friends prudence and fidelity . yet , it seems , so bewitching a thing is this desire of immortality here on earth in that kind of men , that this very king not long after that modest reprehension of his friend , attempted the impossibility afresh , and commanded a house to be built of all sorts of fragrant and odoriferous trees , as cedar , cypress , camphire , &c. the scent whereof perfumed the air for two or three miles together . in this large and splendid palace , was placed an ample bason , togather the soft dew that fell , in which dew , pearls were every day dissolv'd , and from this rich draught the unwise king promised himself no less than eternity on this side heaven ; but his death which soon after follow'd , manifested the folly of the attempt , and discover'd the vanity of the king , and of his life together . where men live in contempt of a better world , no marvel if they magnifie this present life and wish for the longevity of the ancient patriarchs , and would be glad if they might arrive to the age of methuselah , but these are sickly desires which their blind appetite causes , desires as vain as the life they praise , for in praising that , what do they commend but misery and calamity ! and he that protracts his age to some hundreds of years , doth but protract it to labour and sorrow . who can express the innumerable disasters , discontents , and vexations life is subject and expos'd unto ? we come crying into the world and go weeping out . the various masters and tutors we are forced to have while young and tender , do but make us a better sort of slaves ; soon after our houses and hearts are fill'd with cares and contrivances , what we shall eat , and what we shall drink , and wherewithal we shall be cloathed ! and these waste our marrow and the flame that burns in our breasts . here an injury we receive , torments us ; there a loss we sustain , afflicts us . here our endeavours are cross'd ; there our expectations disappointed . here our hopes decay in the bud ; there the most promising flower in our garden withers . here a friend deceives us , there an enemy pursues us , now a thousand fall at our side ; by and by ten thousand at our right hand , we are neither free from the terror by night , nor from the arrow that flies by day ; we have no security against the pestilence that walks in darkness , nor against the destruction that wastes at noon day ; when one trouble is over , another comes , and the wave we have passed , is seconded by another . the messenger that brings us word , that the oxen were plowing , and the asses feeding besides them , and all on a sudden taken away by the sabeans , hath no sooner done speaking , but another is ready to acquaint us , that the fire of god fell from heaven , and burnt up the sheep and the servants , and consumed them : the words are hardly out of his mouth but another tells us a sad story of the chaldeans , that fell upon the camels and carried them away , and when he hath finished his dreadful news , the fourth comes running in with a message , that a great wind from the wilderness hath smote the four corners of the house , and that it is fallen upon our sons and daughters , and they are dead . he that hath escaped perilsl by land , soon is forced to make a trial of perils by sea ; and to a deliverance from robbers succeeds a new danger from our own countrymen . afflictat fortuna viros per bella , per aequor , iras insidiasque , catenatosque labores mutandos semper gravioribus . the candle of the lord that shines over our heads to day , exspires , may be , into darkness before the morrow ; and the rivers of oil , which the rocks pour us out this hour , are turned into streams of blood the next ; our root , which now is spread out by the waters , by and by is dried up ; and the dew that lay upon our branch all night , before we are aware , changes into a moth to consume what we have gathered ; and he whose glory was fresh in him this moment , is soon forc'd to cut up mallows by the bushes , and juniper roots for his meat ; and thus the greatest contrartieties plenty and poverty , love and hatred , peace and anger , rest and trouble , quietness and rage , right and wrong , justice and injustice make up mans life ; and what is all this but a sea , where opposite winds continually blowing endanger the ship , and the passenger that is in it , and then sure this must be vanity . v. health . this indeed is a jewel which men pass great commendations on , but it's inconstancy shews it's vanity , and he that trusts to it , relies but on a broken reed , on a sceptre of glass , and will soon be convinced , that like april weather it 's dashed and changed in the twinkling of an eye . if it be true what the poet says , that of all creatures nature hath produced , there is nothing so weak and tender , and infirm as man , he hath but small encouragement to glory in his strength : when a draught of drink can discompose him , when a fly can choak him , when a puff of pestilential air can cause a civil war in his constitution , when the least disorder can unsettle him , how little reason hath he to boast of the harmony and agreement of humours in his body ? how should he continue sound long that hath so many enemies within , and without him , to shatter his earthly tabernacle into dust and atoms ? nothing for ought i see deceives the unwary sinner more than his state of health , this tempts him to offer violence to his nature , and run out into extravagancies , and because he feels no distemper for the present , he flatters himself with a perpetual freedom from it , goes on in his debauches , and while he pleases himself , that his nature is made of iron , he finds , when it is too late , that it is weaker than clay , and thus precipitates himself into perpetual groans ; one would think he is weary of his health , and tired with continuing so long without a change ; one would think he hath his health given him for no other use , but to shorten it , and that he finds pleasure in having it checkered with diseases . indeed health is a thing of so nice a contexture , and heat and cold must be mingled and tempered to that degree , and the scales must hang so even , that we may justly wonder , that so many men enjoy it , and that they enjoy it so long as they do . what can we judg of so curious a frame , in which so many slender wheels and veins do move , but that the least jog should put the clock out of order , and spoil the musick , which is so pleasing and ravishing to the ear ? there is but a paper ▪ wall betwixt health and sickness , and how soon may that wall be broken down , and the fair summers morning turned into clouds and tempests ? how have i known men hug themselves for carrying a sound mind in a sounder body , and what care have they taken to preserve it ! they have ransacked nature for restoratives , forced metals into spirits , dissolved minerals into antidotes , distill'd herbs and plants into a quintessence ; pounded pearls into powder , used themselves to such a diet , eaten their meat by weight , avoided the coldness of the air , shun'd those dishes that might tempt them to a surfeit . but alas ! in despite of all their care , maugre all the preventing medicines they have used , how hath a distemper they neither feared , nor dreamed of , seiz'd on their limbs , and deliver'd them up to the king of tertors , and unexpectedly sent them to their long home , from whence there is no returning ? meer fancy sometimes breeds diseases , and the sight of a disfigured face causes an illness , which brings as great a disfigurement upon the spectator ; if we may believe men that have made observations of that nature , the very looking on sore eyes will cause an inflammation in our own , and sitting on the seats of persons diseased will bring the same distemper into our bones ; and how many are the daily accidents which crush the healthiest bodies into the greatest pain and anguish ! how doth death arrest a samson with all his vigour and sortitude about him , and how little is sickness afraid to enter into rooms where the various odours seem to be intended as spells to keep out the enemy : so that it may be said of health , as of jonas's gourd , it comes up in a night , and perishes in a night , jon. 4. 10. and those with whom it continues longer , are every hour in danger of losing it . vi. children . see how the fond parent dotes on those pictures , and how enamoured he is with those representatives of his person ! one would think he had found cut something that will satisfie the great soul of man , and lighted upon that which can give an immortal spirit true and solid satisfaction . see how he views these lively images of himself , as if he had eyes for no other use but to look on them , and how his soul seems to be bound up with theirs ! but while his sparkling eyes convey , and shoot all their rays on these darlings of his affections , grim death , unmannerly as it is , a stranger to respect of persons , steps in , marrs all his triumphs , and snatches the fondlings out of his hands . how have i seen a tender mother carry her babe in her arms , feed him with her breasts , dandle him in her lap , and embrace the comely boy with a love as strong as death , and which many waters cannot quench ! she breeds him up , watches his steps , her eyes are over him , and like the angels of god , she preserves him in all his ways , and with his age her affection grows , and she is concern'd for his welfare , she studies how to advance him , plots how to make him great , rejoyces to hear her neighbours speak in commendations of him : and now the lad being grown up , and understanding what the tenderness of a mother means , the mother justly expects some returns answerable to the mighty expressions of her love : but we see too often that when all these pains are taken , and all this industry and care is bestow'd , and the kind mother hopes that the measure of his love to her will be good measure press'd , and shaken together , and running over ; behold the inhumane wretch , viper-like , preys upon the bowels that did feed and nourish him , grows surly to her that bare him , and it is not all her fire that can kindle any reciprocal flames in his breast ; and thus he that was expected to have been her greatest comfort , proves her scourge , and the staff that in her old age was to support her , turns into a serpent to hiss at her , and to sting her . he whom she look'd upon as her glory , becomes her shame ; and he whom once she did rejoyce in , brings her down with sorrow into her grave . and this it 's like eve had experienc'd in her eldest son cain , and therefore when abel was born she call'd him vanity , for that 's the true import of the name , gen. 4. 2. augustus at last is forced to put that daughter from his sight whom formerly he look'd upon with a favourable eye , and her lewdness makes him hate that name which once he delighted in . absolom , formerly his fathers darling , at last invades his crown and scepter , and the indulgent prince lives to see that son he doted on , attempt his life , and defile his bed. and suppose the kind son with coriolanus doth that for his mother , which neither the peoples tears , nor the senators prayers could effect , and with cotta rescues his father from death , yet the losses , reproach , disgrace , and disasters which often befall even the most dutiful and best natur'd children make wounds in their parents breasts . and thus these certain cares and uncertain comforts by the instability and mutability of their condition proclaim to the world , that they are but vanity . and having thus with as much brevity as the subject would bear , led you to a prospect of the vanity , the creature is involv'd in , i must not dismiss you without some practical reflections . we see how necessary illumination of gods holy spirit is in matters of religion ; without it the generality of men ixion . like , embrace a cloud for juno , and are so far from seeing vanity in the creature , that they do securely build tabernacles here , and make the creature their highest and their chiefest good , which was only intended for stairs to raise them into contemplation of the glory , and goodness , and power of their maker . this irradiation from above , the consequent of earnest prayers , clarifies the mind , dispels the clouds and mists that are upon it , teaches the soul to examine the inside of things , as well as the outside , and by that means to discover the cheat , if there be any in the alluring object ; and where this day-spring doth not visit the mind , men must necessarily continue in ignorance and folly , and call darkness light , and light darkness , and count that gold which is nothing but guilded brass , and look upon that as satisfactory to their souls , which indeed leavs them empty and destitute of proper food . it 's for want of these beams , which he may be blessed withal , if he will but open the door , and let them in . it 's for want of admitting these heavenly beams , i say , that the drunkard , the lascivious , the proud , the glutton laughs at the preacher discoursing of vanity , because he sees not with our eyes , and his intellect is not so clear as ours ; therefore he thinks that vanity a fable : and how should he perceive it , whose eyes of understanding are not enlightned into contemplation and observation of the nature , quality , imperfection , and insufficiency of all sublunary objects : so that we may speak our spirits away into the air , and read all solomon's ecclesiastes to him , and we do but talk to him as we do to a blind man of colours , he hears our notions , but like empty notions they go in at one ear , and out at another . vanity , saith the sinner ! i know nothing that 's more solid , more pleasing , or more charming , than those riches , and honours , and pleasures , and the other comforts you brand with an odious name . these are things i can grasp and feel , and i know the satisfaction they will afford , my eyes see how happy these things make the men that can creep out of dust , and advance themselves above the common level ; i have not seen that glorious eternity you speak of , nor was i ever wrapt up with saint paul into paradise ; i never took a view of those spiritual crowns and scepters , you talk of . shall i leave a certain satisfaction for i know not what ? for a thing uncertain and out of sight ? these outward conveniences i see must help me in distress ; and if i hope for ease and content , it must arise from these . it 's not a notion i can feed upon ; and i may starve if i have nothing but your spiritual food to rely on . it 's the world , as you call it , that must refresh , maintain , and feed me : and it 's but reason it should have my choisest thoughts and affections : and do you charge that with vanity , which alone deserves my industry and care ? and doest thou talk like a man of reason , sinner ? if a beast could speak , would not this be his language ? hath god given thee no higher faculties ? hath not he endow'd thee with nobler desires ? are these o●●ward goods indeed the things thou chusest for thy treasure ? how brutish is thy soul , that thou canst fancy any proportion betwixt that and the creature ! hast thou a soul capable of grasping a god , and dost thou run into the embraces of an idol ? thy soul wants an everlasting object ; and are these the things that will endure for ever ? thy soul must have an all-sufficient being in her arms ! and are these butterflies , that perish in the handling , fit to ingross thy affections ? thy soul must have an anchor that can give it rest , and will these thorns and bryars do it ? thy soul must have an individual companion that will never leave it nor forsake it , and will these deceitful props stand by it at the great tribunal ? thy soul must have a friend that must conduct it to everlasting mansions , and will these miserable comforters , that shake hands with it at the brink of eternity , serve for guides ? rouse , rouse thy slumbering soul , vain man , and let not thine eyes be always shut . thy blindness is not incurable ; if thou wilt not stand in thine own light , thou maist see through all these shadows , and burst these entanglements . there is certainly vanity in the creature , and god will discover it to thee , if thou wilt but call upon him with the same earnestness that blind bartimaeus used to christ jesus . god is pleased with the cry of him that longs to be deliver'd from his misery . o the wonderful difference that is betwixt an illuminated and darkned understanding ! one pities the creature , the other admires it ; one looks upon it with tears in his eyes , the others heart leaps at the sight of it for joy ; one uses it soberly , the other gluts himself with it ; one sees so much of its weakness as drives him from this barren wilderness to make his nest among the stars of heaven , the other so adores its beauty that he can be contented to sweat and toil , and labour in its service for ever ; one salutes it as a stranger , the other embraces it as a wife ; one looks beyond it , the other sixes his eyes upon it as if he were in an ecstasie . so great a difference doth illumination make ; and indeed without it , you must needs continue strangers to god's designs and your own duty ; you walk in the dark and see not how the devil imposes upon you , how your lusts cheat you , and how the world cozens you , how far you run from heaven , and how near the burning lake you come ; you run on blindly upon eternity , and delude your selves with a few formalities of religion , you know not how the case stands betwixt god and your own souls , and cannot avoid falling into errors ; you prepare for endless sorrows , and make way for bitter , though vain lamentations at last : o that i had known in my day what belonged unto my peace ! but it was hid from mine eyes : you delay your conversion , because you know not the great importance of it , and make light of that which , were your eyes but open'd , would make you tremble to think what pains you have taken to procure your own ruine . ii. men , fathers , and brethren , if you do believe that the creature is subject to vanity , let me intreat you to act like men , that do believe it . let your faith be known by your works , and let 's but see you live like persons that do despise this vanity and seek a better world. when the primitive christians ( o happy , o blessed times ! ) gave out that they look'd upon this world as vain and transitory , their enemies saw that they were in good earnest when they said so , for they saw them forget what was behind them , and press towards the mark for the high prize of god's calling in christ jesus . they saw it , and thought them mad . they saw how they fled from the satisfactions of this world into flames , as if those were the fiery chariots , they were proud to ride to heaven in . their faith lay not in talking , and as they believed the creature to be subject to vanity , so they raised their thoughts from earth to heaven , and lived as much above the world as mortality would give them leave . they made no more of the honors and preferments of this life , when inconsistent with god's honor and a good conscience , than they did of glasses and rattles , and the prince that offered them riches to be enamour'd with vanity as much as he , was repuls'd this heroick answer ; offer these things to children , and not to christians . they made their houses oratories , and their dwelling-places were but so many churches , where you might hear the praises of god resounding day and night . the husband-man that follow'd his plough , fancied himself in heaven , and sung psalms as cheerfully as if he had been placed in the quire of angels : the injuries they suffer'd for the testimony of jesus , they smiled at , and they that had an incorruptible crown to look after , justly thought it below them to be concern'd at the slanders and reproaches of a poor envious world ; as if heaven had been the countrey from which they had been banish'd , and which they hoped they should be shortly restored unto , they made all the provision they could for it , secured the riches of another world , and bestowed a great part of their goods on christ's distressed members , because they knew they should find them again after a few years in heaven : they believ'd christ's promises , and looking upon him as the son of god , they had as great a confidence that they should be recompenced in the resurrection of the just , as if they had the reward already in their hands . they could keep a calm and serene mind under the wars and tumults of this world ; and while men raged about them , they fed upon peace of conscience , and joy in the holy ghost . they used the world as if they used it not , and one might see that they had practically learnt the great lesson , you cannot serve god and mammon . this earth they looked upon as a desert , and their perpetual wishes were , when shall we come to appear before god in sion ! the great things of this world , which their heathen neighbours magnified , they made light of ; and well might they renounce the glories of this earth , when they were assured from the word of god that they had a greater inheritance laid up for them in god's paradise . they regarded not the censures of their carnal friends and relations , and were contented to be made a spectacle to the world , and to ange's , and to men. they rejoyced when they could express their love to christ , and were troubled when the world made any encroachment upon their affections . they denied themselves in all superfluities , that they might have the more to give to pious uses ; nay , would not allow themselves conveniencies , that they might be in a better capacity to cloath the naked . they stooped to the meanest offices , and were not ashamed to converse with men of the lowest rank , as with brethren . they laid aside their grandeur , to obey the precepts of the gospel , and would not suffer any outward respects to take them off from a close adherence to god's will. they would visit hospitals , and with their own hands dress meat for them that lay upon the bed of languishing . this world seem'd so contemptible to them , that they prayed day and night to be deliver'd from it ; and it might be truly said of them , that the world was crucified unto them , and they unto the world ; and thus they despis'd the vanity of these sublunary objects , and by despising , believ'd it . disparage not your great immortal souls , beloved hearers ; they are capable of another happiness than this world can afford ; and when god hath provided for them angels food , and bread of heaven , why should you feed them with trash and husks to impoverish and weaken them for ever ? arise christians , and depart , for here is not your rest. advance into yonder regions of bliss , and live there where you may hope to live for ever . let the world be your slave , and god your only master . let it not be said that your souls are subject to vanity as well as your bodies , and do something to convince the world that you dare to have your conversation in heaven . the creature was made subject unto vanity , on purpose that you might flee away from it , and breath after a more solid good . will you do less than pagans ? will you fall short of men that never heard the gospel ? will you sink beneath those that never had any other light but what the glimmering candle of nature gave them ? can you see philosophers contemn this vanity , and dare you be in love with it ? shall a diogenes , to shew how little these things , which sensual men admire , ought to be valued , take as much delight in his tub , as xerxes in his babylon , and in dry bread , as much as smindyrides in his sauces ; in ordinary spring-water , as much as cambyses in his richer fountains ; in common sun-shine , as much as sardanapalus in his purple ; in his staff , as much as alexander in his spear ; and in his mallet , as much as craesus in his treasures ? shall a pagan look on these outward glories as unworthy of his affections , and will you suffer yours to be entangled with them ? shall a plato , a socrates , an agesilaus , a spartan , look upon these outward things as dross and dung , trample them under his feet , look upon them between anger and scorn , and think it below a creature made after the image of god , to dote on earth , and dust ; and can you that pretend to have learn'd christ , and pretend to be followers of the humble self-denying jesus , come behind heathens , whom you call blind and wretched ? will not they be your judges one day ? will not their temperance and abstinence condemn your greediness after these perishable objects ? will not they shame you , that did more by the strength of nature , than you with all the encouragements of the holy ghost ? will not this aggravate your neglect , and change your rods into scorpions ? will not this make your furnace hotter ? will not this fill your faces with greater confusion ? will god let your unprofitableness under the richest means of grace go unpunish'd ? and doth the clearest manifestation of heaven add no weight to your guilt and stubborness ? if you turn the grace of god into wantonness , will god play with it , do you think , as you do ? it was a mahometan king , could cause the following words to be written upon the gates of his pleasure-house , and the story saith his life was answerable to the grave sentences . this world will not continue long ; it 's pride and lustre will soon be gone . remember , brother , and apply thy heart to him , who only intended this world for our inn. let not thy life be united to this bitter sweet , for it hath drawn in many ; first jested with them , and then butchered them . if thy soul can but come away from her prison , pure and undefiled , and reach the mark , it 's no great matter whether thou diest on a throne , or on a dung-hill . o christians , delude not your own souls , god is resolved they shall be withdrawn from this world while you live here , or they shall never arrive to the inheritance of the saints in light : god is resolved they shall be loosened from this earth , even in the midst of your strength , and health , and plenty , and liberty , or they shall never ascend his holy hill. away then with those fond conceits that glue your hearts to things below . let god be the great and dear object of your souls . let the rivers of your delight run all into that ocean . for him spend your strength , your labour , and your care . make room for him in your hearts , and whatever hath had supremacy or priority there , pull it down , and shew it the ruler it must for the time to come obey . breath after another country where true and lasting pleasures are , where the presence of god makes hearts chearful , and ravishes souls for ever ; where the society of angels gives content , and endless bliss shuts out all imperfection and vanity ; and as they say of boleslaus king of poland , that he used to wear his fathers picture in his bosom , and whenever he was to do any thing of moment , he pull'd out the picture , lookt upon it , and begg'd of god that he might do nothing unworthy of so great , so good , so wise a father : so you , let the landskip of that celestial country hang always before your eyes , and whatever you are doing , whether you are rising or sitting down , whether you are walking or standing , whether you are travelling or conversing with men , still look upon that pourtraiture , and let this be your resolution to do nothing unworthy of that heaven you are aiming at . and then when you come to die , and no friend , no relation , no acquaintance , no riches , no honours , no children can give you ease ; this remembrance , that your mind hath been endeavouring to extricate it self from the vanity of the creature , and that you have lived like persons , that have indeed looked for a city which hath foundations ; this remembrance i say will give you ease , this will make you die with joy at the kiss of god , as the jews say of moses , and enable you to triumph over death , o death where is thy sting ! o grave where is thy victory ! but thanks be to god , that gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ. iii. the creature is made subject unto vanity ; but what shall we say to those , that subject the creature to greater vanity than ever it was condemn'd to . the idolater , that melts his gold , and makes a god of it , as the israelites in the wilderness , breaks down the limits of that vanity , outdoes adam that was the occasion of it ; nay , goes beyond the judg , that doom'd that gold to corruption . the creatures labour under vanity enough , because they cannot serve us in that innocence and integrity we once stood in , but to abuse them , now they are under a state of misery , and to force them to serve us in our sins , is a bondage which will bear witness against the daring sinner in that day , when god shall judg the secrets of mens hearts by the gospel of jesus . sinner , that wine thou abusest to besot thy understanding suffers violence from thee ; thou dost ravish it serve thy lusts , and it groans as it were under thy oppression , and thou makest it vainer than heaven ever made it . god made it serviceable to thy infirmity , and intended it as a remedy against the weakness of thy nature ; but when thou swallowest it to destroy thy nature , to throw down the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that which must guide thy actions , and shed discretion into thy speeches and converse ; forcest it to make thee a beast , and leave nothing in thee but the brutal part , indeed scarce to leave thee sense and appetite ; thou dost offer greater insolence to it than amnon did to thamar . surely every man is vanity , saith the psalmist , psal. 39. 11. but he that tempts his neighbour to run with him into excess of riot , makes him worse than vanity ; the adulterer and fornicator , that is restless till he hath caressed his mistress , as he calls her , to consent to his folly ; the ill companion that solicits his associates to be lewd and prophane with him : such persons make the creature so vain , that a devout soul cannot but stand amazed at the enterprize : vain indeed , for they double and treble its misery ; and he that entices his friend into sin , makes him besides his vanity a creature of the devil . the man before this sin was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward , but the sin he is drawn into makes his burden greater , increases his load , and makes his pound of vanity , a talent , and as if his weakness and frailty here on earth were too little , sinks him into hell , and as if the curse of god of old were too light a punishment , makes him obnoxious to gods everlasting malediction . and such men must necessarily be of the first form in the devils kingdom ; for these make devils , help to increase the number of the fiends , and are familiars , that make men sinck with them into endless torments . the covetous , who confines his money to his chest , and makes that lie still in his coffers , which like blood should have its circulation , and as it is given him from heaven , should return to heaven again by way of charity , and doing good , seems to be angry with god for giving that creature so small a touch of vanity ; and therefore as if god had not made it frail enough , makes himself gods officer , renders the dye deeper , drowns it in misery , and inflicts vanity upon it with a witness , and gods little finger he makes heavier than his loyns , for he wants in the midst of plenty , and is indigent , while he knows not how to consume that which he hath already : and this vanity increases if extortion and oppression joyn with it , and tempt hm to wade through orphans tears , and widows blood , through the necessities of the fatherless , and through the cries and lamentations of the needy , to make his heap much greater ; and certainly , if the creature is to be purged from its vanity by fire , it 's but reason his body should be the fewel , who hath loaded the creature with so much vanity and misery , and against gods will and order too . his stripes will be iustly doubled , for his sin was so , and he deserves to be punished , both for his cruelty and disobedience . the scripture excludes such men from the kingdom of heaven , and good reason , for they are so given to vanity , that they would attempt to make gods joys and hallelujahs so . iv. in the vanity of the creature , let us behold our own , and whenever we take a view of the decay of terrestrial glories , and see day die into night , and summer into winter , one hour , one moment into another , and herbs and plants shed their blossoms , let us reflect upon our own death and departure hence . the stoicks were in the right , when they defined philosophy or religion to be a meditation of death . he that is frequently engaged in such meditations , embitters his sensual delights , crushes his fondness of the world , dares not live in those sins which other men allow themselves in , and takes the readiest way to overcome himself ; for how should he be enamoured with earth that looks upon himself as leaving of it ! and what delight can he take in the laughter of fools , or in jovial company , that expects every hour to be summon'd to the bar of christ ! how should he set his heart upon his farm and oxen , that looks every moment to be call'd to give an account of his stewardship , and knows not how soon the arch ▪ angels trumpet will sound , and the judg of quick and dead awaken the world with his thundring voice , arise ye dead , and come to judgment . this even the heathens were so sensible of , that the egyptians , as every man knows , had a sceleton , or death's head set on amidst their greatest dainties , and at their greatest feasts , to check vain mirth , and to put their guests in mind , what they were shortly to come to . this made the patriarchs of old dig their sepulchers in their gardens , while their glory was yet fresh in them , that neither the pleasure of a garden , nor their business might take them off from a continual contemplation of mortality . this made others order their winding ▪ sheet to be carried before them ; others command their servants to call to them every night they went to bed , that their life was spent ; for their going to sleep they looked upon to be but a kind of going to their graves . and indeed he that thus thinks of death , cannot be surprized when it comes , for it is but what he look'd for , and when it knocks at his chamber door he can let it in , and embrace it as a welcome messenger with simeon , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . v. in the vanity of the creature , let us take notice of the odiousness of sin , and it 's large demeri●s ▪ when god for mans sin hath subjected the creature unto van●●y , it shews what an abhorrency he hath from sinful actions , and how displeased he is with transgression of his laws , in that he confines not the punishment to man alone , but extends it to the creatures , or to his servants too . to the generality of men sin seems but an inconsiderable thing , and they fancy god to be altogether such a one as themselves ; they will not believe that sin hath that poison in it , which all true penitents find , nor that there is that hell in it , when ever the conscience awakes , which cain , and saul , and judas found . they apprehend god childishly merciful , and because he knows their frame forsooth , that they are frail and weak , he cannot be angry with them for not observing his injunctions . they make him a being without justice , and though they could wish he would revenge their quarrel , whenever they receive any signal affront of their neighbours , yet they would not have him revenge their ingratitude to him , and because they would not have him angry with them , therefore they believe he will not ; and from their loose behaviour infer his good nature , and please themselves with thinking that he will overlook their wilful errors , because their nature abhors every thing that looks like pain and torment . but these fancies , sinner , are so far from extenuating , that they but aggravate thy folly . alas ! it is not thy unwillingness to suffer that will allay gods wrath , nor thy tenderness to thy self that will make him express less hatred and indignation against thee . if unwillingness to endure pain were a sufficient bar to justice , what malefactor would be put to death ? and if this plea will not serve on earth , sure i am it will be insignificant in the court of heaven ; and as light as sin seems now , there will a time come when it will be weightier than rocks and mountains . though thou losest the sense of it , yet god doth not forget the dishonour done unto him by it ; and when the monstrous load sunk the son of god , and pressed him that was infinite into a sweat of blood , and made the immortal die : think what a pressure it will be for thy impenitent soul ( for from such christ hath not taken away gods anger ) when the whole burden shall be thrown upon thee at the revelation of the righteous judgment of god. vi. doth the whole creation hope to be deliver'd from her bondage ? then lift up your heads , ye mourners of sion , and learn to imitate the creature in its hope . doth the creation as it were support it self with this hope from sinking into its primitive chaos , and cannot this hope of your everlasting deliverance keep your hearts from fainting under the darkest providence ? behold the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth , and hath long patience for it , until he receive the early and the latter rain , jac. 5. 7. you sow in tears now , the day will come when you shall reap in joy ! it 's but a little while , and he that shall come , will come : the hope of a kingdom keeps a captive prince from murmuring , and should not the hopes of that kingdom which fades not away , bear up your spirits against despair ? have you fought the good fight so long , and will you give over now ? are you within reach of the crown , and will you lay down your weapons ? are you within sight of the haven , and will you suffer shipwrack ? behold that jesus , who was dead and is alive , and is the king of the princes of the earth , is hastening to your rescue ; you 'll see him ere long coming in the clouds of heaven , and all his holy angels with him , your afflictions then will all be changed into eternal freedom , your waters of marah into rivers of delight , which make glad the city of god , your prison into perfect liberty , your lions den into a palace , your fiery furnace into the light of god's countenance , your dungeon into heaven , your poverty into plenty , your sickness into eternal health , your losses into solid possessions , your shackles into kisses , your setters into the kindest embraces , your bryars into glory , your thorns into a crown . o joyful day , when this corruptible shall put on incorruption , and this mortal shall put on immortality , and your rags be changed into splendid robes ! who would not suffer a while to enter into that rest ! who would be afraid of being destitute , tormented , afflicted , when these storms are all to expire into eternal sun-shine ! the spirit and the bride , say , come ; and let him that hears , say , come ; even so , come lord jesus ! having thus led you from the creature to the creator , i must crave leave to lead you back again from the creator to the creature , viz. to the party deceased . and here i could wish i were able to give you that account of her life and deportment , which in all probability you expect upon this occasion ; but when i shall have told you , that it was not my happiness to be acquainted with her before she died , you 'll soon pardon my silence in her commendations ; and yet i dare not be so injurious to her memory , as to conceal the character , which those that knew her intimately , were pleased to give of her . her piety it seems was great and early , and her soul big with devotion in an age which is exposed to the greatest temptations . what solomon learn'd by sad experience in his latter years , she practised in the days of her youth ; and the fear of god which he found to be the only true happiness , when he had run through all the risks of sin , she embraced before she had tasted any of the worlds pleasures . she no sooner came to years of discretion , but she saw that her greatest interest lay in loving god , and understood that to remember her creator , before the evil days do come , was the greatest prudence and policy . as young as she was , her eyes were fix'd upon a better world , and it was hard to say which had her greatest care , god's glory , or her own salvation . her affection to goodness appear'd in her , when vice begins to flourish in other persons , and she began to shoot out buds of grace , when others look upon 't as a piece of necessity to run out into sin and vanity . the word of god was the food , her soul delighted in , and she thought no provision comparable to the bread of life , which feeds men into eternal content and satisfaction . she had learn'd , that god was one that did hear prayers , and to address her self to him , was not the least part of her employment . in these tender years she was already arriv'd to that knowledg , which philosophers formerly attained not unto , till they were grown aged , and was become mistress of the greatest vertues at a time , when others are apt to laugh at strictness and severity as a mellancholy humor . she had already learn'd to scorn reproaches for righteousness sake , and did clearly apprehend that her greatest glory must be religion and god's favour . at those years when others hardly know what heaven means , she had already felt it in her soul , and she could guess at what angels did above by her praising and magnifying the beauty and bounty of her maker . the fruits of the spirit which are not seen in others before fifty , appeared in her at eighteen , and the joys of the holy ghost , which are not counted modish till fourscore , became familiar to her , as soon as her reason began to exert it self into action . she had already practised to lay up her treasure in heaven , and as if she had foreknown her death , she made preparation for it at a time , when others make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof . what would this plant have come to , if it had grown up to its full height and stature , and how glorious would this tree have been , if it had been permitted to spread its branches like the cedars in lebanon . she that did already , like aarons rod , bud and blossom , and bear fruit ; how rich would the fruit have been , if it had been warm'd some years longer by the sun of righteousness ! but the flower was too costly for this valley of tears , and the soil here below too course for this curious plant to thrive in ; god therefore cropt it to transplant it into paradise , and withdrew it from the eyes of men , because it was a fitter spectacle for angels . finis . some books printed for james collins . the duke of albermarl's compleat body of military discipline , fol. the great law of consideration in order to a serious life , by anthony horneck preacher at the savoy , octavo . essays on several important subjects in philosophy and religion , by joseph glanvil chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , quarto . two discourses , viz. a discourse of truth by dr. rust , lord bishop of dromore in the kingdom of ireland , and the way of happyness and salvation rescued from vulgar errors , by joseph glanvil chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , twelves . bishop wards sermons before the king , and other occasions , oct. doctor parkers answer to marvel , oct. bishop bramhall's vindication of the church of england , oct. private conference twixt a rich alderman and poor countrey vicar , by dr. pettis , oct. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44540-e370 2 pet. 3. 16. tertuli . lib. 3. adv . marc. luc. 12. 17 , 1● matth. 23. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . diog. laert. lib. 6. de diog. de 300 statuis demetrii phalerei null● corrupit aerug aut situs , sed omnes vivent ipso eversae sunt . demadis statuae co● flatae sunt in matulas . plutarch . de rei● ger. praec . tertullian . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 philo. voluptas bonum pecoris est senec. a campana luxuria perquam utilis ci●itati nostrae ●uit . invi●tum enim artis hanniba●em , illicebris ●uis complexa , ●incendum romano militi ●ibuit . val. max. lib. 9. ● 1. b aelian . lib. 5. de animal . c. 40. max. tyrius dissert . 21. in strab. lib. 1● . vid. trigant . com. de exped . apud sinas . et martin . hist. sin. lib. 8. vid. plat. in axioch . job 1. 14. & seq . 2 cor. 11. 26. job 29. 3. 6. 19. &c. 31. 4. vid. senec. consil. ad polyb . c. 28. hom● ▪ via . helmont . ●● sympath . vid. valer. max. lib. 5. c. 4. vid. olear . rosar . p●rs . lib. ● . c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debarim rabba . a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calquit, draper, who died on the 7. day of april 1659 and was interr'd the 19. of the said month, at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45553 of text r333 in the english short title catalog (wing h729). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 70 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45553 wing h729 estc r333 13649988 ocm 13649988 100974 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45553) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100974) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 789:28) a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calquit, draper, who died on the 7. day of april 1659 and was interr'd the 19. of the said month, at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 36 p. printed by r.d. for joseph cranford ..., london : 1659. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng calquit, anne, d. 1659. bible. -o.t. -psalms xxxix, 5 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a45553 r333 (wing h729). civilwar no a looking-glasse of humane frailty: set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit, late wife of mr. nicholas calq hardy, nathaniel 1659 10807 1 90 0 0 0 0 84 d the rate of 84 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a looking-glasse of hvmane frailty : set before us in a sermon preached at the funerals of mris. anne calquit , late wife of mr. nicholas calquit , draper , who died on the 7. day of april 1659. and was interr'd the 19. of the same month , at the parish church of alhallows the less in thames street . by nath. hardy , minister of st. dionys. backchurch . psal. 144. 4. man is like to vanity , his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away . qui aeternitate dei perspecta breve & poenè ad puncti instar humanae vitae spatium cogitaverit , ante aculos suos semper habebit interitum , &c. hieron. london , printed by r. d. for joseph cranford , at the sign of the castle & lion in st. pauls church-yard . 1659. to his highly esteemed friend , mr. nicholas calquit . imuch fear , lest the perusal of this sermon prove the reviving of your sorrow , and cause that wound which the death of your deare consort hath made , to bleed afresh . but i hope with all , that as your love hath prompted you to desire a perpetuation of her memory , so your prudence teacheth you to moderate your griefe for her dissolution . that which especially concerneth you , and whereof ( i trust ) you are not forgetfull , is , 1. diligently to enquire into the deserving cause wherefore god hath deprived you of so great a comfort so soon , that the showre of your tears for her , may be swallowed up in the river of godly sorrow for sin . 2. by this sad experience to be so effectually convinced of the uncertainty of all earthly enjoyments , that it may be a curb to all inordinate affection . 3. finally , when you contemplate her dust , so to remember your owne death , that it may be a spur to a speedy and constant preparation . so shall you have just reason to say with david , it is good for me that i have been afflicted . that these white flowers may ( through gods grace ) spring from the black root of your dolefull losse , that that wise providence which hath made this sore breach , would be pleased to make it up , that what was ( i hope in love ) denied to her , may be ( and that in mercy ) confer'd on you , namely , a long life on earth , and that which is ( i trust ) already confer'd on her , may ( at length ) be given to you , namely , an aeternal life in heaven , is the hearty prayer of him whom you have by many favours obliged to be your affectionate friend , nath. hardy . a looking-glasse of humane frailty . psalm the 39th . verse the 5th . behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth , and mine age is as nothing before thee : verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity . selah . there are two evils to which the children of men in this world are subject ; namely , of sin , and of affliction : the former whereof calls for poenitence , the later for patience : of both these david giveth us a pattern , of the one in the fore-going , and the other in this psalm , that being ( as st. ambrose hath well observed ) forma poenitentiae , a psalm of repentance for his sins , and this forma poenitentiae , a psalm of contentation under his sufferings . the two great duties of gods servants under afflictions are , a silent submission , and a sanctified use of them : the former of these maketh afflictions still-born children , in as much as it shuts the mouth , and represseth all clamorous cries . this the psalmist learnt when he said , i was dumb , and opened not my mouth . the other maketh afflictions pregnant mothers , in as much as they inable us to the exercise of many excellent graces . among the several influences which sanctified troubles have on us , it is not the least , that it openeth our eyes . schola crucis schola lucis is a known and experienced saying , the schoole of the crosse is very lightsome , and though bitter to the taste , is a singular salve for the eye . apollonius writeth of a people who see nothing in the day , but all in the night : in the day of prosperity we forget , in the night of adversity we remember both god and our selves , as his soveraignty , so our own frailty . alexander who was flattered by the people as a god , having received a wound in his body , confessed himself to be mortal . this holy man whom you find fancying a stability in the time of his prosperity , i said my mountain is so strong it cannot be moved ; being now under a crosse , acknowledgeth his brittle fragility in the words of the text : behold , thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth , &c. though there is no parcel of holy writ which doth not deserve our serious view , yet some scriptures have as it were asterisms annexed to them , to intimate , that they ought to be more especially pondered by us , and such is this which i am now to handle . the truth is , there is no lesson more substantiall than the nothingnesse of our substance or age , no meditation more serious and weighty than that of mans lightnesse and vanity ; nor would any doctrine be more closely laid to heart than this , that our dayes are as an hand , bredth . that this transitorinesse of our lives might not be slightly passed over in our mindes ; whereas some scriptures have one asterisme either in the beginning or end , and others two , to wit , both in the beginning and the end , this verse hath three notes of attention , in the beginning , in the middle , and in the end . the first word we meet with , is a behold , which argueth it to be rem seriam , a serious lesson : the word in the middle of the verse is verily , which speaketh it to be rem certam , a certain truth : and the last is selah , which intimateth it to be rem magnam , a momentous doctrine . behold is a note of attention , verily of asseveration , and selah of meditation : behold cals upon us to take notice , verily requireth us to believe , and selah willeth us to consider it : i hope there will need no more to quicken your hearts and ears whilst i shall with all possible brevity discuss this delineation of the shortnesse of life : thou hast made my dayes , &c. the text you see consists of three clauses ; the subject of the first is dayes , and those dayes measured , and the measure short , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth ; the subject of the second is age , and that age being weighed in the ballance , found light , very light , a meer nothing , mine age is nothing before thee : the subject of the third is man ; and that considered not in his autumn , but spring , who is found to be very vain , every man in his best estate is altogether vanity . for our more methodicall proceeding , observe in the text a particular exemplification of one and the same doctrine . the doctrine is no other than life's brevity , which is , particularly exemplified in david himself , and that two wayes . absolutely in the first clause , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth . comparatively in the second , mine age is as nothing before thee . generally amplified , in reference to the whole race of mankinde , every man in his best estate , &c. before i enter upon these severals , it will not be incongruous to observe , that , 1. the psalmist thinketh it not enough to mention , but ineulcateth this doctrine of the brevity of humane life ; nor is it only here , but elsewhere to be observed ; yea , not only in him , but job : so that in severall places , when those holy men fall upon this subject , they set it forth with multiplied expressions both proper and metaphoricall . that which we may well conceive to be hereby intimated , is , 1. on the one hand our dùlness and unwillingness to lay this truth to heart . there is no lesson we are more untoward to learn , and therefore the schoolmaster repeats it so often , among all the neiles of the sanctuary , none harder to enter into us than this , and therefore the masters of the assemblies fasten it so strongly , indeed it is but reason that what we are so prone to cast behinde our backs , should be frequently set before our eyes . 2. on the other hand our duty , which is not once , but again and again to consider it ; god hath spoken once ( saith the psalmist ) and i have heard it twice : it may admit this gloss , what god speaketh but once , we should hear with twice that attention which we give to what is spoken by men ; and surely if we should hear twice what god speaketh once , we should hear often what he speaketh often . that lesson which is so much iterated cannot be enough conn'd , and what the holy ghost hath uttered in such multiplied words , is certainly most worthy our multiplyed thoughts . for both these reasons , no doubt it is , that the penmen of holy writ do in their manifold expressions not only use similitudes to represent the shortness of life , but such similitudes as are most obvious and familiar to us , that which way soever we turn our eyes , we may be put in minde of it . when we are at sea , the speedy sayling of the ship ; when in forreign parts , the short time of our sojourning ; when on the road , the quick riding of the post ; and when in tents , the suddain taking down and removing of them , do all proclaim to us the passing away of our life ; the vanishing of the clouds , and flight of the eagle above us ; the withering of the flowers , and cutting down of the grass beneath us ; the tales we tell in the day , and dreams we have in the night ; finally , the breath we dayly send out of our mouths , and here the narrow bredth of our hands are all made use of to represent this truth unto us , that whether we look upward or downward , both waking and sleeping , both by other creatures , and by our own selves , we may be admonished of our mortality . 2. this good man reflecting his thoughts upon mans frailty , applieth it to himselfe , in that he saith , my dayes , and mine age , thereby setting us an excellent pattern of bringing home generall truths to our own particulars : we are all very backward to grant that in hypothesi , which we know to be true in thesi ; that all men are sinners we easily acknowledge ; and yet who saith in good earnest , i am a sinner ; that every man is mortal none will deny , and yet who considers , that himselfe is so . it was st. hierom's complaint in communi strage morientium nemo se cogitat moriturum : even at such times when multitudes are taken away by death , no man ( almost ) thinketh it will seize upon him : so that whereas it is a joyous promise to the godly man , a thousand shall fall at thy side , and ten thousand at thy right hand , yet it ( to wit , the plague ) shall not come nigh thee : it is the impious practice of the wicked man , though a thousand fall at his side , and ten thousand at his right hand , not to think death shall ( nay to think it shall not ) come nigh him . but surely it is our duty , and will be our wisdome , to bring home both examples and doctrines to our selves , that what we see verified in others , and what we confess is appointed for all , we also look upon as impending over our own heads . they are both intended by god , oh let them be so made use of by us as glasses wherein to see our own faces . do we then see others brought to their graves ? what should our thoughts be but to allude to those words of st. paul to saphyra , behold , the feet of them who have buried this my brother ( or sister ) are at the door to carry me out . do we assent to this truth , death is the end of all men ? what should out meditation be , but this , death will be my end ? the truth is , universal propositions include each particular , and therefore the inference is just ; so that david in this verse saying , every man , might also well say , my dayes ; and withall , universal propositions can have little influence upon the will and affections , unless every one look upon himself as included in them : to what purpose is it to believe the remission of sins , and the resurrection of the flesh , if i do not also believe the remission of my sins , and the resurrection of my flesh ? to as little purpose is it to acknowledge that every man is vanity , if i do not in particular consider , that i am so . behold , thou hast made my dayes , &c. 3. david having particularly asserted his own frailty , goeth on to lay it down as a generall maxime . probably for his own comfort , in that it was not his case alone : it is a great alleviation of an affliction to consider that it is common ; with this st. paul cheared up the corinthians , there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man : and in this particular of death , when joshua and david perceived their owne death approaching , they reflect on its generall extent , i go the way of all the earth , thereby rendering it so much the lesse terrible to themselves . certainly , for others warning to make account of the like . lest any should think , that though davids dayes were but an hands bredth , yet theirs may be of a longer measure , he lets the whole race of mankind know , that they are all concern'd ; so that as christ said to his disciples , what i say unto you i say unto all , david seemeth to say here , what i say of my selfe i say of all : it was not so in other things , though david could say of himselfe in one place , my cup runneth over ; and in another place , i am holy , he could not say so of every man , nay , but a few men , they are not many who enjoy that measure of prosperity , and fewer who attain that piety which he had ; but there are none who are not under the law of mortality , and therefore no wonder , if as he saith , thou hast made my dayes , so he concludes , every man in his best estate , &c. these things being premised , i shall now proceed to the distinct handling of the severall clauses , and accordingly , i shall begin with the particular exemplification , and that as it is set down absolutely in those words , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth , wherein the psalmist layeth downe a double assertion , the one concerning himselfe , my dayes are as an hands bredth , the other concerning god , thou hast made . 1. david affirmeth his dayes to be as an hands bredth , by which metaphor , i conceive two things are intended . 1. an hands bredth is a determinate measure , the time of life is set . the vulgar latine reads it , mensurabiles , dayes which may be measured , that argueth tempus finitum , that this life is finite : our dayes are both numerabiles and mensurabiles , such as may be numbred and measured , as being finite ; but dies palmares , which is the true reading of the originall , goeth further , in that his dayes are said to be as an hands bredth , it noteth not only tempus finitum , but definitum , such a time as shall end , but the end whereof is fixed , so true is that of job , is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? 2. chiefly an hands bredth is a short measure , and so is the time of life , st. hierome understands it so , and therefore reads it expresly breves : indeed both the words here used serve to illustrate this truth . 1. the psalmist doth not say , my years , or my months are as an hands bredth , but my dayes , which next to hours , is the shortest dimension of time . those sacred annals , the books of chronicles are called in the hebrew , words of dayes , for this reason probably , to intimate the short lives of the kings of israel and judah , which are there recorded . the truth is , the singular number may serve to represent mans life , which is but one day , the prosperous life a sun-shining , the afflicted a rainy day , the long life a summers , and the short a winters day ; some have only a morn and breakefast , others stay till noon and dine , the eldest live but till evening and sup in this world , all must go to bed in the grave when the night of death commeth . 2. but that which is principally intended , is the measure of those dayes , which is not an ell , or a yard , or a cubit , the length of an arm , or an elbow ; no , nor yet the length , but only the bredth of an hand : nor is this affirmed of one particular day by it selfe , but of all his dayes together , the whole time of his life . thus as parrhasius , when he had drawn cyclops asleep on a little table , the placeth satyres about him measuring his thumb with a long stalk , to expresse the greatnesse of his stature ; so here the psalmist , to set forth the shortnesse of his life , brings in god , as it were measuring it with an hands bredth . that you may yet more fully discern the fitnesse of the resemblance , it will not be amiss to observe a distinction of a double handbredth . the one greater , which is the whole space between the top of the thumb and the little finger when the hand is expanded , it is in account near twelve inches , and is called a span . the other lesser , which is only the bredth of the four fingers , and those not distant from , but closed one to the other . the former of these is by the greek called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and that is the word here used by symmachus : the later is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and that is the word used by the seventy . indeed in some copies it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , old dayes , which may admit of a good construction to this purpose , as old garments are quickly worn out , so are our dayes . but doublesse the best reading ( as agreeing with the hebrew ) is , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth , the lesser hands bredth ; so that what anacharsis said of sea-men is upon this account true of all men , there is but the space of four fingers between them and death . indeed this metaphor may very justly take in the whole latitude of life which men attain in this world , the four fingers bredth representing the four ages of man , to wit , childhood , youth , manhood , old age : the life of a childe is scarce an inch , of an old man but a span ; of the one it may be said , his dayes are but a fingers bredth , and of the other it can but be said , his dayes are as an hands bredth . 2. having taken this view of dies palmares , the measure of our dayes , which is an handbredth , it will be requisite to consider the tuposuisti , who it is that hath made our dayes such , and the foregoing verse informeth us , that it is jehovah , the lord , to whom david directeth there his prayer , and here his complaint . my times ( saith this holy man elsewhere to god ) are in thy hands ; that is , at his dispose ; so much abraham intended by the phrase , when he saith to sarah concerning hagar , behold , thy maid is in thy hands , do with her as pleaseth thee : thus were davids times in gods hands , to appoint the continuance of them , according to the pleasure of his own will ; yea , job ( speaking of man indefinitely ) saith , his dayes are determined , the number of his months are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot passe . he that hath set bounds to the sea , hither to it shall go and no further , hath appointed limits to mans life . thus long he shall live , and no longer . our saviour said to his disciples , the hairs of your head are numbred , and surely then the dayes of our life are numbred ; and if the sparrow fall not to the ground , much lesse doth a man , without the father , by whose providence all things are ordered , and consequently , all mans dayes are appointed ; so true is this of the psalmist , thou hast made my dayes as an hands bredth . to close up this with a double meditation . 1. since god hath made our dayes as an hands bredth , let us be content they should be so , not murmuring at the brevity either of our own or others lives , we are apt ( with jonah ) to say , we do well to be angry , when ( like his gourd ) our life , or the life of any of our friends quickly withereth ; but this holy mans practice is far better , and ought to be our pattern , who saith in this psalm , i was dumb and opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . the more to enforce this lesson of contentation in this respect upon us , consider , 1. it is not in thy power to make them longer , no not an hairs bredth , then this hands bredth , which of you ( saith our saviour ) by taking thought , can add one cubit to his stature ? ( i may add ) or one day to his life ? indeed a prudent care of prolonging our dayes is commendable as because god requireth it so , because the time how long we shall live is unknown to us : but an impatient anxiety in respect of life's shortnesse is foolish , since it maketh our life so much the more bitter , and not at all longer . 2. besides , though god be the efficient , yet we are the meritorious cause of the abbreviation of our dayes ; god at first made our dayes of such a bredth as could not be measured , nor should our life have knowne death if we had not known sin : it is very observable what hezekiah saith to this purpose , i have cut off like a weaver my life : he will cut me off with pining sicknesse ; acknowledging it to be his own act as well as gods , yea ( as the order imports ) therefore gods , because his , had not we our selves cut short our lives , god would never have cut them short , and therefore let us so acknowledge our deservings as to clear divine justice , and submit to his dispose . 2. since god hath made our dayes as an hands bredth let us so account them . no arithmetick in numbring , nor geometry in measuring our dayes better than that which god himself teacheth . but alas it is an usuall practice to make our dayes far longer in our imaginations than they are in reality . it was the injustice of that steward to his lord , who when the debt was an hundred measures of wheat , bid the debtor , write fourscore ; and when an handred measures of oyle , to write down fifty : but such is our injustice to our selves , that when our dayes are not fifty , we write down fourscore ; and whereas they are but an hands , bredth , we fancy them to be of a far larger size . indeed , as the deceitfull hour-glasse , having the sand up on both sides , maketh a man thinke there is a good deal of the hour to run out , whereas by reason of an hollownesse in the middle it sinketh presently ; so do our dayes , by reason of strength and health promise us to be many , and on a suddain , by reason of some ill humour seizing on the vitals in the middle of the body , they prove to be few . it is a saying in the civil law , praesumitur quilibet vivere centum annos , every one is presumed to live an hundred years ; the rise whereof is that fond opinion in the mindes of most men , whereby they flatter themselves with apprehensions of long life , oh let us remember it is the property of a good man ( according to the greeke fathers phrase ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to esteem his life as a pilgrimage of a short continuance , and this especially for four ends . 1. to hasten our repentance for our sins . the measure of our dayes , is the space of our repentance , since it is narrow , let this be speedy ; that cannot be long extended , let not this be long deferred ; one of the dayes of thy life must be the day of repentance , and if one , whynot this day ? especially considering the measure ( for ought thou knowest ) may be at the utmost extent , and this day may prove thy last . it is true , at what time soever a finner repents from the bottome of his heart , god will do away his offence ; but then he must repent whilest he hath time : at what time the winde serveth the mariner , he may saile to the haven ; but then he must saile while the winde serveth , which will not be alwayes , nor long , and therefore let us be so wise , as to take time whilest it is afforded . 2 to lessen our affections towards this world . whenas the measure of our dayes is contracted to an hands bredth , why should the earthy desires of our hearts be so much enlarged ? could we at our pleasure add day to day and year to year , it were good policy to joyne house to house , and field to field ; but to what purpose are many goods , when ( with the rich fool in the gospel ) we have perhaps but a few hours , whilest thou livest , thy dayes are but as the bredth of thy hand , when thou diest , thou shalt have no more ground than the length of thy body , why so greedy in grasping large revenews and vast possessions ? 3. to lengthen our patience under the afflictions of this present life , our dayes are of a narrow bredth , a short length , and afflictions can last no longer , nor be extended broader than our dayes ; why should not our patience be as large and long as our afflictions ? one greek reading of this clause is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , dayes of strife and misery ; such were davids at this time , and many times are ours , but the comfort is , they are {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , only an hands bredth : man that is born of a woman ( sath job ) is of few dayes , and full of trouble . true our dayes are full of trouble , i but withall they are few ; the fewnesse of our days would be a trouble , were it not that they are full of trouble , and the fulnesse of their trouble might be a griefe , were it not for their fewnesse : neither on the one hand should the pleasure of our dayes much elevate us , nor on the other , the sorrows of them perplex us , when we consider , that those though sweet , are but short , and these though sharp , are but few , very few , no more than will make up as it were an hands bredth . 4. to quicken us in the practice of good works , they say of the birds of norway , that they fly faster than others , not because nature hath given them more , or swifter wings , but because the dayes are shorter there than elsewhere they make the greater haste , oh that the consideration of the short measure of our days might accelerate us in our race to heaven , so as with great speed and diligence we may learn to worke out our salvation . it is said of the devil , he is come down to the inhabitants of the earth , having great wrath , because he knoweth his time is but short ; how should we bestir our selves with great zeale in gods service , since we know our time is short . take in the whole life of man , it is but as the bredth of four singers , sure we had not need to lose any of them : he that having but four acres to sow with corn ( all which is little enough to supply his family ) and should only sow one , and let the rest overrun with weeds , will he not deservedly be branded for a fool ? oh why then are we so foolish to mis-spend the greatest part of our dayes in doing nothing , or worse than nothing , when as all our dayes are but four fingers bredth ; nature , or rather the god of nature , hath not given us ( to use seneca's expression ) so large a time of life , as to trifle away any part of it ; yea , he that spends it best will still have cause to say with david in the close of this psalm , o spare me , that i may recover strength before i go hence , and be no more seen . 2. you have heard the brevity of mans life exemplified in david , by an absolute assertion under the metaphor of an hand bredth , go we on to the comparative proposition , mine age is nothing before thee . the subject of this proposition is variously rendred . by the caldee it is read body , and indeed it is mans duration in respect of his body , which is said to be as nothing , since the soul is immortal . aquila reads it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the time of the souls imprisonment in the body ; the seventy translate it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which is rendred by the vulgar latine substantia , but properly signifieth subsistentia , and is so to be understood here , my subsistence . the hebrew word is most genuinely translated by aevum , mine age , to wit , in this world ; for that is sometimes the signification of the word . concerning his age , david saith , it is as nothing : if you compare this with the former clause , you shall observe a gradation , ascending in the subject , whereas there dayes , here an age , which is made up not only of dayes , or months , but years , descending in the praedicate , there an hands bredth , ( which is but small ) here nothing . solomon speaking of the comforts of life , seemeth to call them non entities , wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? for this reason ( no doubt , ) because their being is a continall tendency to not being . upon the same accompt , the age of davids life is here said to be nothing , because of no continuance ; the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is near a kin to {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which commeth from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} cessavit , and so soon doth mans age cease , that it is as if it were not at all . but yet this must be taken with its restrictions . david doth not say , mine age is nothing , but it is as nothing ; nor doth he say this positively , but respectively , in reference to god , it is as nothing before thee . the prophet isaiah ( speaking of the whole world of mankind ) saith , the nations are as a drop of a bucket , and are accompted as the small dust of the ballance : behold , he taketh up the isles as a very little thing ; but as if this were not full enough , a little after he saith , all nations before him are as nothing , and they are counted to him lesse than nothing and vanity : a small dust , a single drop are little things , i but they are something ; the prophet cannot enough set forth the distance between god and the nations unlesse he go lower , and therefore he saith , they are as nothing . nay , as if this were not enough , he will strain the sence , and speak a contradiction , rather than not expresse his meaning , where he saith , they are lesse than nothing , then which ( to speak properly ) nothing can be lesse . and surely if this be true of all nations , well might david affirm it of his age , and if you would know the meaning of those words before thee , it is explained in that of the prophet , when having said before him , he addeth , they are counted to him , that is , in comparison of him . suitable to this it is that the psalmist having set forth gods eternal duration , and presently after speaking of mans years , he calleth them in the language of the seventy {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which tertullian reads nullificamina ; and it is the same in effect with that which goeth before , a thousand years are in thy sight but as yesterday , which being past , is nothing . dei esse est suum esse , say the schools , from that of god to moses , i am that i am , gods being is of and from himself ; yea , it is himself , he is one undivided , unconfined , simple , eternall , and originall being , and as there is no being , but from him , so all other beings are as nothing in respect of him . it will not be amiss ( for the further illustration of this truth ) to consider the age of davids life in severall references . 1. david might truly have said , mine age is short in respect of methuselah's : the dayes of methuselah are said to be nine hundred sixty and nine years : the dayes of david , by computation of the time when he began , and how long he reigned , were not much above threescore and ten , so that he lived not so many tens as methuselah did hundreds . the life of man before the floud , was as a large volume bound up in folio , but since it is contracted to a far lesser volume , and is ( as it were ) bound up in decimo sexto , so that whereas david saith in the former clause , my dayes are as a hands bredth , he might have said , they are as a fingers bredth in comparison of the ancient patriarchs . 2. david might have said , mine age is very short in comparison of the age of the world . st. paul saith of the fashion of this macrocosm it passeth away , but the age of the microcosm , man passeth away far swifter . the world was almost as many thousand years old as david was scores in his times , that number is now well nigh doubled , but mans age is rather shortned . how many hundreds of yeares the world may yet continue is not known to us , but the ordinary number of the years of mans age now , compared with the number of six thousand years , is but so much as a week is to a year , or a minute to an hour , so that whereas he saith my dayes are as a span long , he might have said they are not an inch long , in respect of the worlds duration . 3. david might have said , mine age in this world is exceeding little , in comparison of the duration of the other world . the age to come is no lesse than an aeternity , and though it have a beginning , it shall have no end ; so that whereas the psalmist saith my dayes are as an hands bredth , he might have said , they are as an hairs bredth in respect of the continuance of the world to come . 4. finally , david might have said , mine age is scarcely any thing before the angels , whose duration began with this world , and shall continue in the world to come , and so is coaetaneous with both the worlds . but all these are far short of this comparison which he here maketh of his age with god , who is eternal , both a parte ante , and a parte post , from everlasting to everlasting . the utmost imaginable extent of time in comparison of aeternity is far lesse than an instant , is in respect of the longest time . were it possible to divide aeternity into parts , a million of years would not be so much as a ten hundred thousandth part ; and what then is seventy or fourscore years ? no wonder if david say , mine age is nothing ( a meer nothing ) before thee . it is an excellent lesson which may here be taken forth by us , namely , to looke upon our selves in reference to god , that so we may be vile and little in our own eyes . there are many exeellencies wherein we are apt to glory , and whereof to boast , which if they would but compare with divine attributes , would appear mean and contemptible . wert thou strong as sampson , yet thou mayst say , my strength is nothing before thee , not so much and weak stripling is before a mighty giant ; wert thou as wise as solomon , yet say , my wisdome is nothing before thee , not so much as the silly brute is before the intelligent angels ; the very foolishnesse of god ( to use st. pauls language ) being wiser than the wisdome of men ; wert thou honorable as alexander , yet say , mine honour is nothing before thee , not so much as the glimmering candle is before the glorious sun ; wert thou rich as cressus , thou must say , my riches are nothing before thee , not so much as the drop of water is to the ocean : finally , wert thou as old as methuselah , thou must say , mine age is nothing before thee , not so much as a new born babe to aged methuselah . to end this , since mans age is nothing before god , let it be nothing before man himself , indeed as for that part of our age which is past , it is so with us , many years since , being but as a few dayes , and the time which is gone , is as nothing , oh that we would looke with the same eye upon that which is to come . indeed in one sence we must reckon our age as something , and that pretious , well were it if we would set an higher value upon our time than to waste it away in folly , but still as to the duration we must account it as nothing , and then we would have none to spare , but wholly imploy it for the gaining of that which is as something before god , a joyfull and happy aeternity . and so much shall serve to be spoken of the first part of the text , the particular exemplification , pass we on to the generall amplification , in these words , every man in his best estate is altogether vanity . a clause wherein each word is emphaticall , which will the better appear , if you take a view of 1. the extensiveness of the subject concerning whom this doctrine is asserted , which is , 1. not the creeping pismire , the crawling worm , the stupid asse , or any of the sensitive creatures but man , who is endued with reason . 2. not one or a few particular men , in some one part of the world , but of every man , who either hath been , is , or shall live in any part of the world . 3. not onely of mean , poor , and ignoble persons , but of man at his best estate , quamvis floreat dignitate , opibus , potentia , as mollerus glosseth upon the text , though he flourish in wealth , honour , and power ; for though the seventy reading be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , every man living , yet the hebrew {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth constitutus , fixed , or setled , is most properly refer'd to him who seemeth to be in a stablished prosperous estate . 2. the intensivenesse of the praedicate in that every man at his best estate is , 1. not only like to vanity , that is the language of the psalmist elsewhere , adam is as abel , homo similis factus est , man is become like to vanity ; but he is vanity , as if it were not only his resemblance , but his substance . 2. nor is he only said to be vain in the concrete , as zophars language is , vain man would be wise ; but vanity in the abstract , as if it were not only an accident , but his essence . 3. nor is it only said , he is vanity , as it is elswhere in this psalm , but is altogether vanity , as if from the crowne of his head to the soles of his feet he were nothing but vanity . 4. nay , in the hebrew the emphasis is yet further , in that vanity is the subject , and man the praedicate , for so the words are to be rendred , according to the originall , altogether vanity is every man , as if man were not to be defined by vanity , but vanity by man ; so that if you ask , what is vanity ? the answer is , it is man : no marvel if the psalmist elsewhere affirme , that man is lighter than vanity ; so that were man put in one scale , and vanity in the other , man would mount up as being lighter , and vanity it selfe would weigh him down . to illustrate the truth of this assertion , know . 1. that there is a double vanity , to which every man at his best estate is subject , namely , of disposition and condition . 1. man is vanity in his disposition . the grammarian in aulus gellius maketh vanus and stultus synonimous : vanus quasi mente vacuus , and so every man is vanity , because a fool , indeed vain man would be wise , but he is foolish in his thoughts , projects , desires , and actions . in the very next verse it is said , they are disquieted in vain , to wit , with foolish projects , and fruitlesse cares . the lord knoweth the thoughts of man , that they are vanity ; it is no lesse true of his words and works : no wonder if man be compared to a shadow , having no light of knowledge in his minde , heat of grace in his heart , nor substance or solidity in his actions . 2. but that which is here chiefly intended is , the vanity of man in respect of his condition ; in reference to this it is that it is said in the beginning of the next verse , man walketh in a vain shew , as if his residence in this world were but like that of a player upon the stage , and this is here affirmed of his best estate and condition . 2. mans condition at the best is but vanity in three respects , because inconstant and perishing , empty , and unsatisfying , false and deceiving . 1. vanum quod evanescit , that which is vain hath no solidity , and therefore no permanency ; lightnesse is the proper adjunct of vanity and inconstancy the effect of lightnesse . such is mans best estate , he seemeth to be setled as the earth , but he vanisheth with the winde , changeth with the moon , and ebeth with the water , homo bulla is true of man , at his best estate he is like the bubble which swels up by the rain falling upon the water , and fals presently , or which the child causeth with the breath of his mouth at the end of the reed , and vanisheth with the least shaking of his hand . it was not without reason that man is called by the phylosopher , ludus fortunae , fortunes may-game , with whom she sports her selfe , by putting him as it were into various shapes , in altering his condition , man at his best estate , like the venice glasse , is bright , but brittle ; or like sodoms apples , golden colour'd , but mouldring ; his strength a rush , soon shaken ; his riches , dust , quickly driven away ; his honour a fancy , presently gone . to day nebuchadnezzar jets it on the house top , as if he expected a salutation from the coelestial majesty , and suddenly he is turned to graze with the beasts of the field , with which agreeeth that of the poet , quem dies vidit veniens superbum , hunc dies vidit fugens jacentem . shew me that rose that will not fade , that fruit which will not putrifie , that cloud which will not vanish , that garment which will not fret , and then ( not till then ) expect to finde that man who in his best and most prosperous estate is not subject to mutation and dissolution . 2. vanity and inanity go together . one of the hebrew words {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which is rendred vain , signifieth empty ; that which is vain is empty , and being so , cannot satisfie , such is mans best estate , as not able to give any true content . man at his best estate , as he is mutable , so he is unsatiable , his desires are still larger than his fortune ; nor is it any time so well with him , but that still he would be better . ahab in the midst of his opulency is sick for naboth's vineyard ; hamon in the height of dignity is troubled at the want of mordecay's knee . health , beauty , wealth , honours , say of content as the depth saith of wisdome , it is not in us . man in his most prosperous concondition feedeth upon winde which cannot fill the stomach , and therefore like the horseleech he still crieth , give , give . 3. that which deceiveth our expectation seeming to be what it is not , and promising ( as it were ) to do that it cannot , is vain in the worst sence , being at once both vanity and vexation . this is true of man at his best estate who promiseth to himselfe and others that which he cannot perform , and so is deceived and deceiveth . the rich fool , being in a prosperous estate , promised himself much pleasure , but was miserably disappointed . iob saith of his brethren , they dealt deceitfully with him as the brooks do by the traveller which are dry in the scorching heat , when he is most thirsty . it is a remarkable passage in the psalms , men of low degree are vanity , men of high degree are a lie : a man of low degree is at his worst , a man of high degree at his best estate , and yet whereas men of low degree are said to be vanity , men of high degree are said to be a lie , which is as it were the dregs of vanity , because it tends to deceive , which yet is most justly affirmed of men of high degree , who by reason of their place and state in this world , seeme to promise much , and yet are in truth a lie , not performing what they promise , and so disappointing both their owne and others hopes . the use we are to make of this doctrine , is , in reference both to others , and our selves . 1. in respect of others , whether enemies or friends . are the churches or our enemies ( to outward appearance ) in an established condition of prosperity ? let us not give way to excesse of grief and fear , or anger , but rather remember in their best estate they are vanity , and being so , are set in slippery places . they seem to be fixed stars , but in truth they are only blazing comets , which appear for a little time and then vanish away . 2. are our friends for the present in a flourishing estate ? take we heed how we let out either our hopes or love too much towards them , considering that they are but vanity , and therefore our hope which is placed on them will end in shame , and our love in vexation : why so big with expectation of advantage or advancement from thy rich ally , honorable lord , potent friend ? alas , thou dost but set thy foot upon the water which cannot bear thee : why so inflamed with affection to thy beautifull wife , childe , or near relation ? alas , thou dost but embrace a shaddow in thine arms , which cannot , must not stay long with thee . 2. in respect of our selves . 1. reflect we with sorrow and hatred upon sin , the true cause of mans vanity . man in his first estate was altogether excellency ; god saw every thing that he made , and behold it was very good : surely this was much more true of man the master-piece of the creation , the image and glory of his maker , not vanity , but divinity was his nature ; he was not envelop'd with rags of frailty , but enobled with robes of innocency ; nor did he walke in a vain shew , but a sacred representation of god himself . and now if you would know how this flower was blasted , it was by the breath of the basilisk ; how this image was defaced , it was by the poyson of the serpent ; how man became vanity , it was by reason of iniquity : so true is that of the wise-man , he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity . the hebrew words , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vanity , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} mourning are somewhat near in sound ; oh , let us mourn for that vanity to which sin hath subjected us , and let us abhor sin which hath subjected us to it . 2. provide we for our selves another , a better estate than the best which this world affords , an estate of glory in the heavens , mans best estate on earth is mutable , but that is durable ; empty , but that is satisfying ; uncertain , but that is sure ; only for term of years , but that is for aeternity . phylosophers generally affirm , that the heavens are in continuall motion , and the earth stands immoveable , though there are those who assert , that the heavens stand still , and the earth moveth : this indeed is a riddle in phylosophy , but it is a certain truth in divinity , that the things of earth are in a continuall flux , and the things of heaven in a stable permanency . and therefore in whatsoever state we are here , let us learn to be content , be it never so mean , so as not to repine ; and let us not be content , be it never so high , so as to rest satisfied ; and whether our estate in this vvorld be high or low , let the first and best of our desires and endeavours be after that estate vvhich is not a shaddow , but a substance ; not a lease , but an inheritance ; not vanity , but foelicity , and shall be far more in the fruition than it is in the expectation . to the possession vvhereof he bring us vvho hath purchased it for us . amen . i have done with my text , but i must not yet have done . this sad providence wills us to sit still a while longer , and by taking a serious view , to make a religious use of it . it is not very many months since i was imployed to perform a far more welcome office for this our sister , namely , the consummating her nuptials . she being in the prime of her years , happily matched to a dearly loving and loved husband , enjoying a confluence of all outward contentments , seemed as it were ( to use the psalmists phrase ) to be in a settled estate , and ( according to our usuall phrase ) to be provided for as to this world . but alas ! in how short a revolution of time , how dolefull an alteration ? this yong , strong , haile , beautifull gentlewoman in her best estate becommeth a sad instance of the generall doctine in my text ; this flourishing flower is blasted by the winde of a violent disease , and plucked as it were out of her husbands bosome , by the rough hand of death , and i am now called to officiate her funerals . thus have you sometimes seen the bright sun-shine on a sudden vailed with a darke cloud , and a serene skie hung with black . but yet let not , oh let not her near and dear friends shed too many tears over her grave , remembring the tu posuisti in the text , who it is that hath made her dayes as an hands bredth , even he in whose hands all our times are to prolong and cut short as he pleaseth : besides , why should they weep above measure , since they do not grieve as without hope of ( that which is most truly called ) her best estate , her aeternall welfare . her education was religious , and her conversation vertuous ; she was well instructed in , and affected to the best things . the silver picture of her comely body had in it the golden apple of a well disposed soule ; the golden ring of her soul had set into it the pretious diamond of vertue . a spotlesse innocency , humble modesty , and calm meekness were her choice ornaments ; she was an obedient daughter , a loving sister , an affectionate spouse , a true friend , and ( i trust ) a good christian . in the time of her sicknesse she gave evidence of many graces , a confident reliance upon her gracious god for deliverance from all her pains , a penitent bewailing her careless expence of time , with serious resolves ( if god should prolong her dayes ) of more exactness in her christian course , together with her patient submission to the good will of her heavenly father . when she beheld upon her hands the marks of her disease , she said , these are gods tokens , and i willingly embrace them . that saying of solomon , favour is deceitfull , and beauty is vain , but a woman that feareth the lord she shall be praised , which was the subject of my discourse occasioned by her nuptials , was often in her thoughts ; so that she was not at all troubled with any anxious fears lest the disease should spoile her beauty ; and though the rod were smart upon her back , nay , i may say her face , her whole body , she resolved to kisse it . some few dayes before her death a drowsiness seized upon her , which continued ( for the most part ) to her last houre , when one brother tooke ( as it were ) the other by the heele , death following her sleep , yea , her death being but a sleep , and the grave to which she is now going a bed wherein she shall repose her selfe till the morne of the resurrection , when she will ( i hope ) be married to the lamb ; nor shall any funerals succeed those joyfull nuptials . weep not then for her who is not dead but sleepeth , dry your eyes , and ( with this holy man ) open not your mouths , or if you do , let it be in ely's language , it is the lord , let him do what seemeth good in his sight . and now since the text and occasion preach to us how vaine we are , how short our lives are , and to what changes we are subject ; what remaineth , but that every one of us be exhorted to prepare for changes , especially our last , and so to order our steps , that when these dayes on earth , which are as an hands bredth , are ended , we may passe to an aeternity of dayes without either number or measure in the highest heavens . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45553e-300 psal. 119. 78. notes for div a45553e-1150 〈…〉 . vers. 9. psal. 30. 7. psal. 62. 11. job 9. 25. 26. 1 pet. 1. 17. isay 38. 19. job 7. 9. isay 40. 6. psal. 90. 4. hieron. psal. 91. 7. acts 5. 9. 1 cor. 10. 13. josh. 23. 14. 1 kings 2. 2. marke 13. 14. psal. 23. 4. 86. 2. gen. 1. partic. 1. vulg. lat. job 7. 1. hieron. psal. 31. 15. gen. 16. 6. luke 12. 25. isa. 38. 12. 〈◊〉 naz. job 14. 1. rev. 12. 12. prov. 23. 5. isa. 40. 15. vers. 17 psal. 90. 4 , 5. gen. 7. 5. a sam. 5. 4. 2 cor. 7. 31. gen. 2. psal. 144. 4. job 11. 12. psal. 62. 9. vers. 6. vers. 6. sen. trag. job . 6. 15. psal. 62. 9. gen. 1. 32. prov. 22. 8 , prov. 31. 30 , 1 sam. 3. 18 , faiths victory over natvre, or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45546 of text r12956 in the english short title catalog (wing h721). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 53 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45546 wing h721 estc r12956 13312677 ocm 13312677 99009 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45546) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99009) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 457:6) faiths victory over natvre, or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london / by nathanael hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [6], 25 p. printed for nathanael webb and william grantham ..., london : 1648. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng rushout, john, d. 1648? funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a45546 r12956 (wing h721). civilwar no faiths victory over nature: or, the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father. delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral hardy, nathaniel 1648 9997 23 30 0 0 0 0 53 d the rate of 53 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 lisa chin sampled and proofread 2007-09 lisa chin text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion faiths victory over natvre : or , the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father . delivered in a sermon preached at the funerals of the hopefull young gentleman master john rushout : son and heire to master john rushout merchant and citizen of london . by nathanael hardy master of arts , and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church . was not abraham our father justified by works , when he had offered isaac his son upon the altar . seest thou how faith wrought with his works , and by works was faith made perfect , jam . 2.21 , 22. transgreditur fides rationis fidem , humanae naturae usum , experientiae terminos , bern. verus obediens mandatum non procrastinat , sed statim parat aures auditui , linguam voci , pedes itineri , manus operi ; & se totum intus colligit ut mandatum peragat imperantis . idem . london , printed for nathanael webb , and william grantham , at the grey-hound in pauls church-yard , 1648. to my right worthy friend , mr. john rvshovt of london merchant , and inhabitant in the parish of dionis back-church , the blessings of the throne and footstool . honoured sir , it was a sorrowfull losse occasioned the delivery of this sermon in your eares , and the seasonable comfort you then found , caused those desires which ( being to me commands ) occasion the presenting of it to your eyes . the tryall wherewith god hath been pleased to exercise you , cannot but be grievous , yet a patient sufferance and sanctified use will make it precious : no better means of support under , and benefit by this tryall then faith , which is both a powerfull antidote against the crosse , and a skilfull alchymist to extract spirituall advantage out of temporall losses . it is true you have lost a hopefull son , but faith will eye god , as a wise and gracious father . charity comforts you in the hope that he hath gained , the enjoyment of glory by his dissolution : faith will instruct you in the christian art , how to gain increase of grace by this affliction . it is the justice of god that hee never punisheth without a cause , it is his mercy that he ordereth all to a good end , let repentance find out and bewail sin deserving , and faith will apprehend the benefit intended . oh divine grace of faith , many daughters have done worthily , but thou surmountest them all ; thou regulatest our actions , and moderatest our passions , thou teachest us how to enjoy , and supplyest us in what wee want ; by thee wee finde the sweetnesse of a god in the creature-comforts we have , and the sweetnesse of those comforts we lose in a god . and now worthy sir , what bitter counsell could i prescribe you then this of faith ? what fuller example of faiths energie could i set before you then that of abraham , who by faith gave up that isaac to god , whom god had conferr'd on him in love . the picture of this believing patriark , offering up his obedient isaac , you have delineated in the following sermon . let abrahams steps be your walk , and his bosome shall be your rest ; imitate him as a son in the grace of faith , and you shall be an heire together with him in the grace of life , whech is the prayer of him who is your devoted servant in all christian and ministeriall offices , nath. hardy . errata . page 4. line 23 devoute , the former l 28. for people r. people p. 6. l. 5.1 . se transferre , p. 13. in marg pone chrysost. p. 14. in marg. pone chrysost. imprimatur , ja. cranford . on the death of master john rushout , eldest sonne of master john rushout , of london merchant . who slew all these ? was nimshi's sonne 's demand , when 's will was done by false samaria's hand , when heads were heapt , and nobles ( by the rude ) were made the many-headed multitude : when slain youth , and beauty were heap'd on high , virtue and strength pil'd with nobility . who slew all these ? each tear now seems to say , the mourner drops by this sad heap of clay . nor doe they soloecise , for in rushout's sonne there 's a heap'd funerall , though he be but one . logick is out , it 's praecepts erre in this , he is but one , and yet a number is . arithmetick mistakes in him , for we if not divide , yet one may multiply . virtue and beauty , strength and youth are here heap'd up and pil'd together : on this biere a summe of graces are , hee 's a totall than , not one of these , but might compleat a man . the tears that from his fathers eyes doe run , fall for but one sonne , and yet not for one . when he laments his beauty so soon gone , doth he not weep for his dead absolom ? he mourns and praises his obedient will 't is for his isaac sure those tears distill . when he recounts the wisdome of his sonne , and sighs , sighs he not for his solomon ? when how religious ! and a tear let fall , then sure he weeps at joseph's funerall . absolon , isaac , joseph , solomon , are all deceas'd in this his onely john . who slew all these then ? not the barbarous hand , of forreign stranger , nor the dire command of the theeve's captain , where the riddle 's this , out laws obey , and rape obedience is . no death abroad , strange ayre his breath supplies , he travels and lives , but returns and dies . thus have we seen the pearl or diamond stone ( brought to the cooler , from the hotter zone ) escape the threats of th' rocks , and th' oceans fome , and yet in th' harbour have been lost at home : having past the pyrats , and the watry way , made , or the customers , or the thames his prey . is this the welcome thy return'd natives have o england ? entertainment in a grave ? when to thy long'd for soile thy sonnes return , canst finde no lodging for them , but their urn● ? when from strange climates to their own they come has't no home for them , but their longest home ? fame calls thee eden , if thou a garden be , 't is such as joseph's , the sepulchre 's in thee . the terme 's too good ; since on thine none thou prey ▪ wee 'l change thy name , thou art acel●●●a . since now thy bowels are with funerals full , thou'rt or a field of bloud , or place of scull . death dwels within thee , makes his mansion here , hath ta'ne a lease ( we dread ) for many years . a lease not made by law , but war ; yet good , 'cause seal'd with swords and written in our bloud . thus cruell art thou , and like to be , yet he hath cause to thank thee for thy crueltie . in thee he dy'd , but to thy sins and fears , thy crown 's of cypresse , he a laurel weare . he rests in peace secured from thy harmes , hears glad hallelujah's , but thou alarms . the grave and heaven 's his arke , whilst that the floud sweeps thee away , he floats above thy bloud . the grave and heaven 's his house , where he hid ly , and the destroying-angel passe him by . death leads to life . he dy'd young , yet shall be , a youth as long-liv'd as aeternitie . j. thompson . faiths victory over natvre : or , the unparallel'd president of an unnaturally religious father . hebr. 11.17 . by faith abraham when hee was tryed , offered up isaac . this chapter after a briefe yet full description , presents us with a large and singular commendation of the grace of faith , the excellencie of this vertue is demonstrated by the efficacie ; that in its powerfull effects we may behold its divine nature . peruse the chapter , and you shall find her honoured as the mother of many graces , the spring of choyce duties ; yea , the worker of strange miracles . the truth of all which our apostle illustrates by various examples , since though positive doctrines declare what faith can doe , yet plain examples shew what faith hath done : amongst many others wee have the president of abraham , chiefe of the patriarks , and father of the saithfull set before us : if you cast your eyes upon the 8 verse , you shall there finde an eminent instance of his faith , when he was called to goe out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance , obeying , and he went out not knowing whither he went ; no easie matter , doubtlesse , for a man to part with his friends and live among strangers , to let goe his present possessions for uncertain enjoyments , and become a voluntary exile from his own countrey ; sence derides it , reason contemns it , but faith obeys it : nor doth his faith stay here , behold in the text a harder task imposed upon , and performed by him ; that was to leave his countrey , this was to lose his isaac : that was to sojourn in a strange land , this to commit a strange act : that to forsake his fathers house , this to forgoe his sons life : in that he sayled against the winde , in this against the winde and tyde : but the strength of faith carryed him through , enabling him to leave his countrey when called ; and to offer his isaac when tryed . by faith abraham , &c. in the words we have these three observables ; 1 a singular fact performed by abraham , he offered up isaac . 2 a speciall occasion moving him to it , when he was tryed . 3 a powerfull cause enabling , and that was his faith . or if you please to take the words in their naturall order , observe , 1 an act of gods wisdome , to wit , the tryall of abraham . 2 an act of abrahams obedience in offering up isaac . 3 the principle inclining him to perform his obedience , in reference to divine tryall , and that was his faith . once more we have here considerable , 1 the state and condition to which abraham was exposed , to wit , of temptation , when he was tryed . 2 his sutable behaviour under that condition , in obedience to that tryall , he offered up isaac . 3 the true ground of that obedient behaviour , to wit , his faith . according to each of these there are three assertions our apostle layes down in the words . that abraham was tryed , that being tryed he offered up isaac , that it was by faith he offered him up : and of these in order . 1 the state of temptation , to which abraham was exposed when he was tryed , st. austine speaking of the life of man tells us , tota vita humana tentatio est , every mans life but much more the saints is a continued tryall , no day passeth over his head without some clouds , and whiles he is in the sea of this world waves continually dash upon him , but yet there are some dayes in the calendar of his life which deserve , nigro carbone notari ; to be marked with a black coale as more cloudy then others there are some storms wherein the waves rage more vehemently , some times in which the saint is exposed to strange and strong tryalls ; and of such a one our apostle here speaketh , when he was tryed . but by whom is it that abraham was tryed ? the hebrews have a tradition that the devill appeared to him in an angelicall forme , and by many arguments diswaded him from sacrificing his son , as being an unnaturall and impious act , contrary to the law of god and nature ; nor is it improbable , that then the devill was very busie with abraham by temptation to withdraw him from obedience to gods command , though the conceit of his visible appearing to him is altogether uncertaine ; but this triall whereof my text speaks , is doubtless to be referred unto god himself : for so we finde it plainly mentioned in the history , god tempted abraham : genes . 22.1 . nor doe moses and saint james herein contradict each other , when the one sayth , god tempted abraham , and the other chap. 1.13 . god tempteth no man , but rather we must distinguish of a double tentation , the one probationis , the other seductionis , the one meerly of tryall for our good , the other of enticement for our hurt ; this latter cannot agree to the pure and holy god , but is the devils work , who goes about seeking to insnare and devoure the former : as it stains not gods purity , so it sutes well with his wisdome , which oft times puts him upon making experiments of his servants , as here he did of abraham . but for what end , may some say , doth god tempt and try his peoole ? i answer , for this double end . 1 partly to disclose their corruptions , and discover those sins which were lurking in the heart : it is a common saying , magistratus judicas virum , many men that were good while confined to privacie , have proved licentious , when advanced to magistracie ; it 's as true of tryals , wherein oft times , there is an eruption of of that corruption which one would not have imagined had lodged in their brests , for this end god proved hezekiah , that the pride of his heart might appear , and the israelites to humble them under the sence of those corruptions which tryals manifested to be in them . but , 2 chiefly the end of tryall is a discovery of our graces , both their truth , and strength , their quality and measure . tryalls shew what is the depth of our confidence , the breadth of our patience , the height of our love , and the length of our perseverance , observe but this tryall of abraham , and you shall find what a many graces here was tryed and discovered : namely , his faith , whether he would depend upon gods , promise above , against reason . his obedience , whether he would yeild to gods command against nature . his love , whether his affection was more enlarged toward his son or his god . finally , his feare , whether he did reverentially acknowledge and stand in awe of divine sovereingty the truth is , apparet virtus arguiturque malis : stars shine bright in the darkest nights , graces are manifest in the sharpest tryall ; and for this end that our graces may appeare , we are tryed , and they are exercised . but what need is there that god should for these ends try his servants ? doth he not understand there thoughts long before , are not both there sins and graces open in his fight ; it is a strange expression which god useth concerning himselfe in this tryall of abraham , now i know that thou fearest god . what did he not know before who is omniscient ? yes , doubtlesse , but we must remember , it is usuall with god , quod homini competit in iis tansferri , to apply that to himself which belongs to men , and to speake of himselfe after the manner of men ; but the truth is gods end of tryall is not that he might know but that we and others may know the graces of god that are in us : tryals are oft times publishers of concealed vertues , neither the patience of job , wisdome of solomon , or the faith of abraham , would have been so famous had it not been for tryalls . but how and by what meanes doth god try his servants ? divines answer two ways , factis , verbis ; by deeds & words : by deeds , when either he substracts his grace from us , leaving us to our selves ; as he did hezekiah , to try all that was in his heart , or else when he brings us into straits , & lays upon us afflictions , so he was forty yeares in leading of the children of israel through the wildernesse , to prove them , sometimes by words and commands , which he enjoyns us , such was that command which christ gave to the young man in the gospell , to sell all he had ; and this which he gave to abraham , take thy son , and offer him for a burnt offering ; and if you please to take a serious view of this command , you shall find it was a sore tryall , and that there was a strange probation in this divine precept : for consider , 1 whom doth the command concerne ? not a servant , or a friend , or an allye , but a son ; and him not an adopted , but a naturall son : not of many but an only son by sarah , one that was the son of his love , of his hope , yea , of his old age ; a childe of promise , of prayers ; nay , tears . 2 what it is that is required ? is it to send him a far off into some strange country ? is it to part with him and not see his face for some yeares ? is it to have him taken away by death , through some visitation of gods hand ? all of these would have been sad tryalls : nay , but it is to lay violent hands upon him and cut him off by an untimely slaughter : but whose hands must they be , may his servants carry him away to some remote place out of his sight and there kill him , or is it only to stand by ▪ look on and suffer him to be slain ; no , he himself must ' offer him up : abraham must not onely have his eyes on , but his hands in this bloudy act , he must not only be a spectator of , but an actor in this dolefull tragedy : the tender father must imbrue his hands in the bloud of his innocent childe . god had tryed abraham before many wayes , calling him to goe out of his countrey , suffering that contention between him and lot , in the battell he had with the five kings , in the circumcising of his houshold , in the casting out of ishmael , but all short of this , in sacrificing of his isaac , which abraham here was put upon , and our apostle means in these words , when he was tryed . to apply this . let the saints of god learn continually to expect and prepare for tryals , let no son of abraham hope to scape temptation , when he sees the bosome in which he desires to rest , assaulted with difficulties , nor must we onely stand in fear of diabolicall suggestions , but in expectance of divine temptation ; the truth is , tryals are both necessary and precious , needfull and usefull : saint peter joynes both together , ye are in heavinesse , if need be , and the tryall of your faith being being much more precious then that of gold : the shakeing of the trees by the winde , the casting of gold into the fire , is not more usefull for the se●ling of the one , and purifying of the other , than tryals are for gods servants : nor must we onely expect single but successive tryals , like jobs messengers , one upon the neck of the other : when one woe is past look for another to come , and that many times on a suddain , in matters we are least aware of : nor let us onely prepare for many , but great and sore tryals , such as will not only rend our garments but break our hearts , tryals in our neerest friends , deerest comforts , the delight of our eyes , joy of our hearts , and breath of our nostrils , such were jobs , in his cattell , the support of his estate , his children , the fruit of his loyns ; nay , in the wife of his bosome , and the smiting of his own body : such was abrahams in the text , in his near and dear isaac . 2 since we must be tryed , look we to the soundnesse of our graces that they be such as will abide tryall : paint will melt at the heat , while the naturall complection remains : drosse will consume in the fire while the gold grows purer : bad stuffe will shrink in the wetting , whilst that which is good retains its measure : finally , the house that is built upon the sand falls down at the blowing of the winde , while that which is built upon the rock remains : seeming grace vanishes in the times of tribulation , onely true grace retains its lustre , continues firm , nay , grows purer in fiery tryals . and since wee must expect strong tryals , look we to the strength of our graces , if thou saint in the day of adversity , thy strength is small , saith solomon , prov. 24.10 . adversity though it be a hard tyrant , yet it is a right judge speaking truly what our graces are : nemo vires suas in pace cognoscit , no , one knows his strength in peace , a sharp battle calls for courage in the souldier , hard weather makes the weak body shrinke , every cock-boat can swim in the river , it s the lusty ship must saile in the ocean ; we meet with strong tryalls , we must labour for strong graces ever remembreing this for our comfort , that divine wisdome and goodnesse will proportion the tryall to our strength : a skilfull physician in potions considers the strength of his patient , a wise scholmaster in his lessons observes the ability of his scholler , and our gracious god in his tryals remembers what wee are and will lay no heavier burthen on our shoulders then we are able to beare : that of the apostle is in this sence truly applicable ; he hath both milk for babes , and meat for strong men ; and if he impose so great a tryall as the slaying of a son it shall be upon an abraham that is strong in faith , vigorous in grace , and knoweth how to obey so severe a command which leads me to the . 2 generall abrahams obedient behaviour under his tryall , he offered up isaac ; god puts him upon it , and he sets about it , and having received an injunction , puts it in execution : he offers up isaac . but here some , perhaps , may tax our apostle as a false relater of the story , since indeed isaac was not offered up , but a ram , the answer is easie . 1 hee offered , that is , offerre coepit ; hee began to offer him , he had taken his journey , clave the wood , and was come to the mount ; being there , he had built an altar , laid the wood in order on that altar , bound and laid his son on that wood , stretched forth his hand , took the knife to slay his son ; the knife was even at his throat , and nothing wanting but the last blow to have done execution ; and so on abrahams part there was no deficiency in fulfilling this probatory command of god . 2 he offered , that is , voluntate jugulavit ; he offered him in his intention and readinesse of will , immolatio isaac , ab animi affectu censetur , his sacrificing of isaac is reckoned not from the action but his affection , and 3 he offered him , that is , interpretativè obtulit ; in regard of gods account and esteem : that which was but begun by abraham is consummated in gods sight , and his readinesse to sacrifice is interpreted as an actuall performance of it , thus pareus upon the text obtulit ille holocaustum , non facto quidem , sed prompta voluntate & obedientiae quam deus acceptavit , & scriptura celebrat pro facto . abrahams willingnesse to offer his son is accepted with god , and is recorded in scripture as if it had been really done : excellently saint chrysostom to this purpose , so far ( sayth he ) as concerned the fathers will , he had already imbrued his hands in his sons bloud , and therefore that father brings in god commending his ready performance of what he had enjoyned , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , thou didst not spare him at my command , i have spared him for thy obedience , to summe up this , it lets us see the gracious goodnesse of god , who is pleased to accept the will for the deed , and accounts what we would doe as if we had done it ; when we perform any duty , it is not quid facis , but quo animo , what we doe , but with what minde we doe it ; and as the action is never accepted without the affoction , so somtimes the affection is regarded without the action : true it is , where god affords ability , and gives oportunity , he expects the expression of our will by the execution of the act , but if either be denyed ( as here god sent his angel to stay abrahams hand , and many times he is pleased to withhold enablements to good duties ) then he mercifully accepts our intention and endeavour ; in this sence a poor man may be more charitable then the rich , according to that of our saviour concerning the widow ; verily this poor widow hath cast in more then all they that have cast into the treasury : more for the manner , though lesse for the matter , not so much , yet with more cheerfulnes , and so it was more in gods estimation . in this regard a man that dieth in his bed , may yet be a martyr in divine account , not opere , but voluntate ; reall suffering but propense willingnes to lay down his life if god had called him to it : finally , by this means it is , we fulfil that command of our saviour , in taking up the crosse daily , that is , semper animum habere paratum , being in a daily readinesse to beare whatsoever crosse it shall seem good to divine wisdome to inflict upon us . it is that which may yield abundant comfort to weak saints , and tender consciences , who are oft times sadly perplexed at the non performance of those duties , the omission whereof is caused , not through want of will but power , surely what the apostle sayth , in the point of charity , is true in regard of all other services . if there be first a● willing minde , it is accepted according to that a man hath , not according to that a man hath not . i would not have prophane carelesse sinners encourage themselves from this comfortable doctrine , who pretend to good desires , whilst they improve not the oportunity and ability god puts into their hands of doing good , and which is worse , please themselves in the vain excuse of their good meanings , whilst they impenitently go on in evill ways ; such lasie desires will be no sufficient plea at gods bar , and they will finde that usuall maxime true , too late , hell is full of good wishes , heaven of good works . but as for weak christians , who doe what they can , and would doe what they cannot , let them take comfort in this meditation , that the syncerity of their intention shall be regarded , and rewarded by god . it was the complaint of holy paul , concerning himselfe , when i would doe good evill is present with me , so that the good i would doe i doe not , and the evill i would not doe , that i doe : and surely if he , well may we have cause of taking up the same complaint , but though we complain , yet let us not despair : it is observable what a candid interpretation our saviour makes of his disciples sleep in the midst of his agony , excusing it as a fault arising only from the weaknesse of their flesh , not defect of their will ; the spirit indeed is willing , but the flesh is weak , and it is his gracious promise not to quench the smoaking flax , nor break the bruised reed : know then , oh thou dejected soul ; though thou canst offer nothing to god but a turtle , that is , gemitus a sound of sorrow that thou canst do no better , or a pair of pigeons that is well wishing , a desire to do good , god will accept and account of thy will as the work ; it was so with abraham , whose reall intention of offering was esteemed and is registred as an actuall execution he offered up isaac , to let this goe . that which is principally observable in these words , is the nature and strength of abrahams obedience , god imposes a strange command upon him , he denyes not , delayes not his obedience , he doth not consult with flesh and bloud , harkens not to naturall affection , acquaints not the wife of his bosome with his intention , but obsequiously follows divine injunction , he well knew , that though he were isaacs father , yet he was gods servant , and though his love as a father would have diverted him from the slaughter , yet his duty as a servant engaged him to the sacrifice of his son : his son was dear to him , but his god was dearer ; affection was strong in him , but grace was stronger ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : hee casts away all naturall , and embraceth divine love ; he trampleth upon fatherly bowels , and resists not his fathers call . thus he became obedient , though against his will , yet with his wil , in the sacrifice of his son , one wil sacrificed another , his spirituall will to serve his god , overcame his naturall will to save his childe : and so hee set upon this unnaturall work of offering up isaac . one would have thought that in so neere a tryall , so harsh a command abraham through frailty might have replyed against god with murmuring , as those israelites did upon a lesse occasion when they wanted food , would god wee had dyed in the wildernesse , exod. 16.3 . flesh and bloud would have broken out into these or the like expressions . what , lord ? didst thou mocke me with thy gift , that so soon thou takest him away , nay commandest me to throw him away , would thou never hadst bestowed a son upon me , rather then so sodainly to snatch him from me ? why didst thou make me a father , if now i must become a murtherer of my childe ? far better i had been childlesse , then now to make my selfe so . but far be such thoughts from abraham , who had learned this sacred lesson , not to murmur but to obey , had it been any but an abraham , he would doubtlesse have returned an excuse and said ( to use naamans words ) in this the lord pardon his servant , any thing but my isaac , thou shalt command , him i cannot , know not how to part with , however it might seem no more then just for abrahom in this case to expostulate with god in these or the like words . doth the god of mercie delight in cruelty , and piety it self command murther ? will justice require the slaughter of an innocent , and canst thou in equity desire the bloud of the guiltlesse ? or if thou wilt needs have an humane sacrifice , is none but isaac fit for thine altar , and must none offer him but abraham ? shall these hands destroy the fruit of my loyns ? must i that was the instrument of his life , become the means of his death ▪ can not i be faithfull unto thee , unlesse i be unnaturall to my childe ? why did i so long wayt for him ? why didst thou at last bestow him , if i must now part with him ? how shall i look sarah in the fa●e when i have slain her son ? how will the heathens censure this holy cruelty , and say , there goes the man who cut the throat of his own childe ? but abrahams obedience had taught him better , not to dispute but 〈◊〉 me thinks , i hear him answering gods command in these o● the like submissive terms : blessed lord , doest thou call for my isaac , thou shalt have him ; what though he be precious in my eyes yet thou art more : true , he is my son , but thou art my god , to me it will prove a bitter losse , i , but to thee it will become a sweet sacrifice ; what though my wife may blame me , yet thou commandest me ? better shee call me a bloudy husband , then thou an undutifull servant ? what though the world accuse me of cruelty , yet thou requirest it as a duty ? better i be in their eyes an unnaturall father , then in thine an ungracious son : were he ten thousand isaacs , i dare not , i will not spare him , but am ready , though against my own , to doe thy will ô god . but here a farther doubt may be moved , how abraham , though he would , could offer isaac : abraham was old and feeble , isaac young and lusty , though one had a command of offering , yet the other none of suffering , and the law of nature would teach isaac to endeavour the preservation of his life , though a father came to take it from him . to this divines answer , that isaac being religiously educated , and no doubt , by his father , sufficiently informed of gods will in this particular , submitted himselfe to be offered up . sutable to this purpose is that of saint chrysostom , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isaac gave himself to his father , as freely as abraham gave him to god : whom should i first admire , to whom shall i give the greatest honour , the tender father that offered his son : or the obedient son submitting to his father , even to the death : thus there was the same minde , the like affection both in abraham and isaac ; so that the courage of the father seemed to be transplanted into the son , and the innocency of the son ; not wanting unto the father : that golden-mouthed oratour illustrated this , whilest hee fitly bringeth in abraham , thus be-speaking his son ; suffer me , ô my son , suffer me to perform the command of my god , that god that made thee , calls for thee ; hee that gave thee , seeks thee : he that created thee , desires thou shouldest be sacrificed to him ; thou wilt be a sacrifice , so much the more acceptable : by how much the more willingly thou entertainest the glorious benefits of death : and then isaac sweetly complying with his fathers desire . my father , perform what thou art commanded , doe the office thou art enjoyned , i resist not , refuse not : what thou wilt i will , what thou desirest , i submit to , and with the same readinesse i embrace death , as i know thou doest by gods command inflict it . see here a rare patterne of obedience to parents in isaac , who suffered abraham , to god in abraham , who offered up isaac . this latter is especially presented in the text , and ought principally to be imitated by us , and though we cannot attain , yet let us aspire to that height of obedience which abraham practized : indeed , herein is the tryall of our submission , when in things contrary to our nature , contradictory to our desires , crosse to our reason , we can obey god ; it is the aggravation of disobedience in easie precepts to rebell , it is the commendation of obedience in difficult commands to submit , to obey god in what suites with our temper is not praise worthy , but then to yield when nature and reason oppose is most laudable . indeed , hic labor , hoc opus ; to strive against the stream , row against the tyde ; go against the haire , act against the dictates of our own naturall and carnall affections is the difficulty : and withall the excellencie of obedience . to close up this in a three-fold speciall application : 1 though god call not upon us to offer up our sons , yet hee requires us to offer up our sinnes , there is none of us but in this sence hath an isaac , a dilectum delictum , some darling lust , bosome corruption , which he expects we should part with at his call ; but alas how far short are we of this patriark ? he offered up a dutifull isaac , we will not sacrifice a rebellious lust ; he at a single command went about the work , we neglect after many precepts , often intreaties and frequent threatnings ; he rose early in the morning to slay his son , we make it our evening sacrifice , and scarce thinke of mortifying our lusts , till death is ready to kill us ; finally , he would have sacrific'd his son , in whom all nations were to be blest , we will not slay our sins which otherwise will make us for ever curst ; but ô sinner , how long wilt thou hug that in thy bosome which is gods hate and will be thy ruine , think thou hearest a voice from heaven once more be-speak thee as god did abraham , take now thine isaac whom thou lovest , thy sin wherein thou delightest , and offer it up to me for sacrifice : or as christ did the jews : as for my enemies ( thy lusts ) which would not that i should reign over them , bring them hither and slay them before me . o then delay not , consult not , neglect not , but while it is called to day , binde thy corruptions on the altar of the law , take the knife of gods word in thy hand , and cut the throat of thy sins , that they may become a sweet smelling sacrifice in gods nostrils , and thou an amiable priest in his eyes . 2 though god do not call us as he did abraham , to offer up our children , yet he somtimes requires us to neglect both children and parents , and all naturall relations for his sake , and surely in such a case , pietas est impium esse pro domino , it is piety towards god , to be unnaturall to our friends , our blessed saviour hath told us , he that loveth father or mother more then me , is not worthy of me , and he that loveth son or daughter more then me , is not worthy of me , mat. 10.37 . another evangelist useth a more harsh expression , he that commeth to me and hateth not all these : strange that love it selfe should require hatred , but yet just , not in an absolute but comparative sence , we must not love father or mother more then him , yea , when their desires come in competition with his will , we must hate them for him , we must say as levi , nescio vos , i know you not , or with christ to his mother , quid mihi tecum ? woman , what have i to do with thee ? trampling under foot all naturall relations , which would hinder us from obedience to divine injunctions . it was a pious ( though erroneous ) spirit that lodged in the breast of sir thomas moor , once lord chancellour of this kingdom , who regarded not the prayers , nay tears , of his dearest wife , when shee perswaded him with the forfeiture of his conscience to endeavour the restauration of his liberty , let us follow his pattern , that no respect either to wives or children may withdraw us from the performance of our duties to god . 3 finally , though god doe not call us to offer up our children , yet many times he calls to us to part with them ; though not to sacrifice them with our own hands , yet to resigne them up to his dispose ; oh let us learn by abrahams example , chearfully to give up our dearest comforts to that god who hath given them unto us , he was willing to an obtulit , so far obedient as himselfe to offer his son , shall not we be content with an abstulit , that god should take away wife or children , or any enjoyment from us , : good old eli , when acquainted by samuel with gods severe intentions against himselfe , his sons , his family , sits down quietly and sayes submissively , dominus est , it is the lord , let him doe what it seems good in his sight . holy job , when informed by severall messengers of the losse of his oxen by the sabeans , of his camels by the caldeans , of his sheep and servants by a fire from god , nay of his sons and daughters by a winde from the wildernesse , worshiped , saying , dominus dedit , the lord gives , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord . oh let us write after these copies , and what we daily pray for , cheerfully , submit unto , that the will of the lord may be done , let all parents say , to use the prophets words , though in another case , behold , i and the children whom thou , ô lord , hast given me , are at thy dispose , doe with me and mine as it pleaseth thee , and that we may attein this gracious frame of spirit , let us take notice of , and strive after that grace of faith wherein abraham excelled , and by which he was enabled to so difficult a work : which leads me to the 3 generall , namely , the true ground of abrahams obedient behaviour in those words by faith , indeed nothing but faith could enable him to quit himselfe in so great a tryall . i deny not but even heathens have sacrificed themselves and their children unto death , but upon what grounds ? for the most part affection of vain glory , at the best , but love of their countrey , was that which bereaved them of their lives , abrahams offering up his isaac was upon another ground , in a religious observance of divine precept , to which nothing but faith could enable : the truth is , if we rightly weigh this act of abraham , we shall finde there was great need of faith to unlock the difficulties , silence the reasonings , & answer the doubts which could not but arise in his spirit . there was a double objection which this patriark might make against offering up his son , to both which only faith could give an answer . the one in reference to the comand which god gave . the other in respect of the promise which god made . 1 besides the law of nature god hath given an expresse command , thou shalt not kill , and well might abraham argue , if i must not kill any man , much lesse my son , surely god is either contrary to himselfe , or else this bloudy precept came not from him , but is a meer delusion of the devill ; but here faith steps in , unfolds the riddle , assures abraham it was no other then god who had given this in charge , that he is an absolute illimited commander , and therefore might enjoyn what he pleased , that he is sovereigne lord of his own law , and therefore may dispence with it when he will , thus silencing this objection by faith he offers up isaac , and it is a rule we are to take notice of , that where gods commands seem or doe really clash one against another , the lesser must give way to the greater , and ordinary to extraordinary precepts , the ten comandements are the generall rule of our life , yet if a speciall intervene as here did to abraham , faith gives that the preheminence . 2 another objection might well arise from gods promise god hath assured abraham of an innumerable seed , as the stars of heaven , and the sands on the sea-shore , all these to come out of isaacs loynes , and yet god commands that isaac should be slain . might not abraham well have reasoned thus . what , lord , are thy decrees changable , or thy promise failable ? how can these two stand together , isaac shall be a father of many nations , and yet he must dye by his fathers hands ? what fruit is to be expected from a dry root , or what hopes can there be in a dead isaac ? the truth is to sense and reason , there is a manifest contrariety between his precept and his promise , neyther of these eyes can see how god should fulfill what hee had promised if abraham perform'd what he required , but faith hath a piercing sight , so , she steps in , untyes the knot , and thus bespeaks abraham : feare not abraham to sacrifice thy son , hee that commands thee to kill him , wants not power to quicken him ; the same hand which raised him from the dead wombe of sarah , can revive him from the ashes of a sacrifice , thou gottest thy isaac by believing , thou shalt not lose him by obeying . now faith hath got the day , obteined the victory . what cruelty doth in others , that faith did in abraham , makes him not to be moved at the strangenesse of the fact , god knew he had to do with an abraham , and therefore puts upon him such a comand ; abraham knew he had to do with a god , and therefore believes what he commands is good : and what he promiseth is infallible . thus being carelesse of the means , not doubting of the end , he sets upon the work , and by faith offers up isaac . briefly , faith wrought in abraham a double effect which inclined him to offer up isaac . the one a dependance on gods power . the other submissive to gods will . the one confidence on gods truth in promising . the others reverence of gods majesty in commanding . in regard of the promise it assured him god was able to raise up isaac from the dead , as it is verse 19th , that notwithstanding all seeming contrarieties , and though hee saw no way of accomplishment , divine power could act above , against means , and so he believeth above and beyond hope . in reference to his command , it perswadeth him this was gods will to which he must subscribe , that the almighty was his sovereigne lord to dispose of him and his how hee pleased , and therefore ought to be obeyed . thus being confident of gods ability and fidelity in making good his word , being resolved to exalt gods will above his own , hee readily performeth his duty , and by faith when he was tryed , offered up isaac . to shut it up in a brief application , learne wee all to prize the worth , and endeavour for the growth of this grace of faith , we know not what tryals god may call us , but , alasse ▪ how shall we bear them if not supported by faith , its faith is the only weapon to resist satans temptations , and the best staffe to hold us up under divine tryals : this grace of faith , as it is of singular worth , so of universall use , in prosperity it teacheth us how to use comforts , in adversity ; how to want them ; without this ; we can neither do what is enjoyned , nor beare what is inflicted : oh then let our care be with all our gettings to get faith , and not only to get but strengthen faith , since its strong faith gives us strong support in strong tryals ; and in particular , that wee may with abraham , in some sence offer up our isaac , resigne our children , yea all earthly comforts with cheerfulnesse , when he tryes us in them , and calls for them from us , let us pray with the apostles , lord , increase our faith , true it is , a naturall man when he sees there is no possibility of enjoyment , may be contented to want , just like a man who in apparent danger of the ship , with a nilling willingnesse and mixt consent casts his goods into the sea ; but it s only the believing saint who makes a free and full resignation of himself , and comforts into gods hand . there is a four-fold enablement which faith contributes to this difficult duty of offering up our isaac , parting with our dearest comforts when god calls . 1 it acknowledgeth gods sovereignty over all , and teaches the soul to say , my state , my friends , my children , my self are not my own but gods , who may doe with his own what he will . 2 it confesseth the inconstancy of all worldy enjoyments , and lets us see upon what uncertain terms we hold creature-comforts , being only tenants at the will of the lord , of whatsoever we possesse : thus it learns those that buy to be as that possessed not , to rejoyce as those rejoyced not ; and those that have wives and children , as though they had none , continually expecting to be bereaved of them . 3 it assures us of great good by obedientiall submission , and that there is no losse in giving up all to god , its good for mee to enjoy this comfort , sayth sense , its better to part with it , saith faith , since there is no better way to retein a comfort then in a faithfull carelesnesse to surrender it up to god , witnesse abraham in the text , hee offers and god spares his isaac . 4 it convinces us of gods all-sufficiencie , presents him to the soule as an universall good , finding all losses to be made up in him alone : what sweetnesse can be suckt out of any or all the creatures below , that , and more doth faith finde in the god above , as once briseis said to achilles . tu dominus , tu vir , tu mihi frater eris . thou art lord , brother , husband , children , all to me . thus will faith draw strength from god to support us under , and carry us through the saddest tryals . that therefore we may answer when god calls , obey when he commands , resigne when he requires , and be found blamelesse in the day of tryall : let our care be in all exigencies to quicken faith , so shall wee walke in the steps of faithfull abraham now , and after the cheerfull endurance of tryals for a time , we shall rest in the bosome of abraham for ever , finding that gracious promise fully verified , blessed is the man that endureth temptation , for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life , which the lord hath promised to them that love him . to end all , with one word of advice to you the father of this son , whom god hath pleased in mercy ( i hope ) to take away ; i may truly affirme , god hath bereaved you of your isaac , one who had learnt with isaac obedience to you , no small vertue in children , especially when grown up in years , ( since it too often falls out that they come no sooner to know themselves , but they forget their parents ) one in whom you had much comfort , on whom you had placed singular affection , of whom you and all that knew him , had great hopes ; his naturall endowments , ingenuous education , skill in variety of languages ; modest and civill behaviour , promising in future time abundant fruit : but this tree god hath cut downe betimes , and in charity ( we may hope ) transplanted to his own paradise , but , doubtlesse , it is no small losse to the garden of your family , and cannot but be a sore tryall of your patience , that therefore you may be comforted , look on abraham , and let his practice be the matter of your imitation your triall , in a double respect falls short of his , his was an only son ; you have one yet surviving : hee was to be executioner of his own son , but it is divine providence which by a sad accident hastened your sons death ; since then your losse is lesse then his : let your submission be equall with his , and if you cannot keep even pace with him , yet be sure to follow him in those steps of faith and obedience , which he took , remember your son is not amissus but praemissus , lost but sent before you whether one day you and wee all must follow : in the mean time , think that god saith to you , as elkana said to hannah , why weepest thou , and why is thy heart grieved , am not i better to thee then ten sons ? ô then let grace over-rule nature , faith suppresse passion : and though you cannot but shew your self a tender father towards him , yet still behave your self as a son of abraham , who by faith when he was tryed , offered up isaac . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45546e-1860 quest . 1. answ. aliter deus tentat , aliter diabolus , diabolus tent●t ut subruat , deus tentat ut coron●t . ambros. quest . 2. answ. 2 chron. 32 . 3● . deut. 8.2 . quest . 3. answ. gen. 22.12 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. quest . 4. answ. luke 18.22 . gen. 22.2 . use 1. 1 pet. 1.6 , 7. gr●● ▪ fieri dicitur quod tentatur fieri . rib. hier. calv. pareus . chrysost. obser. mark 1● 43. luke ● . 21 . stella . use . 2 cor. 8. ●● . matth. 7.8 , 9. matth. 26.41 . matth. 12.20 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ge● . 22 ● ▪ hier. luke 14.22 . 1 sam. 3. ●● . job 1.21 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , chrys. 1 cor. 7.29 , 30 james 1.12 . 1 sam. 1. ● . christian constancy crovvned by christ a funerall sermon on apocalyps 2.10. preached at the buriall of m. vvilliam winter, citizen of london; together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him. by thomas gataker, b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. 1624 approx. 93 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01528 stc 11653 estc s102884 99838646 99838646 3032 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01528) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3032) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1099:07) christian constancy crovvned by christ a funerall sermon on apocalyps 2.10. preached at the buriall of m. vvilliam winter, citizen of london; together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him. by thomas gataker, b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. sibbes, richard, 1577-1635. [8], 31, [1] p. printed by iohn hauiland for william bladen, and are to be sold at the signe of the bible, at the great north doore of pauls, london : 1624. editor's dedication signed: r. sibbs. the first leaf is blank. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng winter, william, -citizen of london. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-10 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2003-10 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion christian constancy crowned by christ . a funerall sermon on apocalyps 2.10 . preached at the buriall of m. william winter , citizen of london ; together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him : by thomas gataker , b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith . london , printed by iohn haviland for william bladen , and are to be sold at the signe of the bible , at the great north doore of pauls . 1624. to the right worshipfvll mr. robert offly master of the company of habberdashers , and the right worshipfull sir iohn garret knight , mr. alderman hammersly , mr. alderman whitmore , mr. alderman ranton , and other worthy fathers and brethren of the said company , all prosperitie in this world , and happinesse in the world to come . right worshipfull , albeit the expressions of a gracious heart by liuely voice breed deeper impressions , ( god attending his own ordinance of preaching with a more speciall blessising ) yet writing hath in this respect a prerogatiue , that holy truths thus conueyed to the world spread further , and continue longer . those therefore deserue well of the church that this way impart those things to publike and future vse , by which god wrought on the hearts of the hearers for the present . in which respect this funerall sermon preached out of loue and honour of the graces of god in a poore , yet well esteemed christian ( master winter ) may gaine acceptan●● , as being not onely for matter sound , for handling cleere , but for the times seasonable . for what more necessarie in these times , wherein many are ashamed of the downeright profession of that religion by which they hope to be saued , than to presse constant faithfulnesse in known truths , vnto which all promises are intailed ? particular points haue beene much and long vrged amongst vs , it is very needfull that constant clea●ing to all those blessed truths likewise be inforced . and from what stronger incouragement can this be , than from a crown of life here promised to the crowne of all graces , perseuerance ? since the fall , one dangerous disease of the soule , is vnsetlednesse in good purposes , especially when either discouragements or alluremēts are offered . but what wil not a soule break thorow , that hath in the eie of it a crowne held out to all that hold out to the end ▪ by him who hath both obtained it for vs , and keepeth it for vs , and vs for it ? there is a mutuall passage of trust between god and vs ( for thus graciously he condescendeth to vs. ) we trust him with the saluation of our soules , he trusteth vs with his truth , which if by grace we be inabled to keepe , it will keepe vs ▪ and raise vp our hearts to an expectation of all good frō our faithfull and good god , euen at that time when our soules gaspe for comfort , at the houre of death . and at the day of iudgement the sentence will passe , not according to greatnesse of parts and place , but according to faithfulnesse , well done , not learned , wise , rich , but faithfull seruant , &c. this sermon intreating of things thus vsefull , is presented by me , as intreated by the widow of the late deceased ( master winter ) and some others whom i respect , and to you as chiefe of that company whereof he was a poore member : and this by willing consent of the author , my reuerend & ancient friend of whom i am not willing to take this occasion to speake : his long , faithfull , learned labours in the church haue made him sufficiently knowne . he gaue her full power of the copy for her vse . which in her behalfe , and at her desire , i offer vnto your worships as a testimony of her respect , as likewise if there be a blessing in your hands in the behalfe of the orphans of such as haue beene of your company , i was not vnwilling to take this aduantage of presenting her estate to your mercifull considerations , considering she traineth vp a sonne at the vniuersitie for the future seruice of the church . it is a speciall blessing of god where he hath giuen power and a willing mind to do good , to offer likewise the opportunity of fit obiects that bounty be not misplaced ; which here vndoubtedly you shall haue , and the blessing of the fatherlesse and widow shall come vpon you . the lord leade you on in a course of faithfulnes to which we are here encouraged , that in the end you may receiue the crowne of life which is here promised . graies inne , ian. 2. 1623. yours in all christian seruice , r. sibbs . christian constancie crowned by christ . apocalyps 2.10 . be thou faithfull vnto death , and i will giue thee a crowne of life . it shall be needlesse to make stay vpon any curious analysis , either of this whole chapter in generall , or in particular of that epistle , whereof my text is a parcell . it containeth an entire sentence of it selfe , and may well therefore be handled by it selfe . they are the words of our sauiour to the angell or a pastor of the church b of smyrna : and they diuide themselues into two parts , a precept . a promise . the precept is in those words , be thou faithfull vnto death : the promise in those , and i will giue thee a crowne of life . there is the worke in the one ; the reward or wages in the other . in the precept we may obserue , 1. the dutie required , fidelitie or faithfulnesse : be thou faithfull : and 2. the stint , or extent of it ; vnto death . in the promise likewise we may consider , 1. the giuer ; christ : i will giue thee . 2. the gift ; a crowne ; and that of life . for the first branch , the dutie required or enioyned ; be faithfull . the word faithfull , is ambiguous , and may be taken two waies ; and in a twofold sense is it giuen to the godly . for as the word c faith is taken sometime for credulitie , and sometime for fidelitie ; sometime for trust , and sometime for trustinesse ; sometime for confidence in another , and sometime for faithfulnesse to another : in the former sense it is taken in those phraeses so vsuall ; d faith in christ , and e faith in his name : in the latter sense it is taken in those words of our sauiour , f you neglect iudgement , mercy , and faith , or fidelitie ; and in those of the apostle , g let seruants shew all faith ( that is , faithfulnesse ) to their masters . so gods saints and seruants are termed h faithfull in a twofold respect : sometime in regard of their faith ; that is , their beliefe and confidence in christ : i be not faithlesse , but faithfull ; saith our sauiour to thomas : and , k what part hath the faithfull with the infidell ? saith the apostle ; that is , the beleeuer with the vnbeleeuing . sometime in regard of their fidelitie and faithfulnesse vnto christ : l who is a wise and a faithfull seruant ? saith our sauiour . and , m i haue receiued mercie of god , to be faithfull ; ●aith the apostle : which of the former n some mis-expound . in this latter sense ( as i take it ) is the word here to be taken . for so is antipas o a little after termed p christs faithfull martyr : and what is here said of being faithfull to death , is in the next epistle called , q the keeping of his workes to the end . so that the point then of instruction that wee obserue hence , is this ; that fidelitie or faithfulnesse is required of all christians . faith in christ must be seconded with faithfulnesse vnto christ. as we must haue faith in him , so we must keepe faith to him . for r those that are with him , are s elect , called , and faithfull . and as some in this booke are commended in this kinde for their t patience and faith : so some are said elsewhere , to be condemned , for breaking their faith , to wit , formerly plighted vnto him . now that we may the better conceiue , and see the necessitie hereof : 1. consider we what tearmes of relation there are betweene christ and vs. fidelitie and loyaltie is in more speciall manner required u in the wife toward the husband ; and in x the seruant and subiect toward his master , his leige lord , and his soueraigne . but y christ is our husband , our head , and euery christian soule is his spouse : z i haue espoused thee vnto me , saith he , in mercie and in fidelitie . hee is a our lord and b master : c you call me lord and master ; saith he , and you say well ; for so i am . we ought therefore to beare all loialtie ▪ to shew d all fidelitie and faithfulnesse vnto him . i might adde , that as christ is gods , so e wee are christs . f you are christs , saith the apostle , and christ is gods. as christ therefore is to god , so should we be to christ. but * christ was faithfull in all things to god his father : and g faithfull therefore should we bee likewise in all things to him . hee was faithfull to god for vs : and so should we also be for him . 2. the faith that must saue vs , must be h faith vnfained . but faith seuered from fidelity , is no faith , but a meere fancie . i faith without faithfulnesse is a false , a counterfeit faith ; like k copper coine that hath the lustre , but not the worth of good gold. it is l a faithlesse faith , saith bernard ; and a trust without truth , ( * you trust in a lie ; saith ieremie ; ) whereby men expect that god should keepe couenants with them , when they haue no care to keepe the like with him . rabsakehs argument against ezekiah had beene good , if his words of ezekiah had beene true . little cause could ezekiah haue m to trust in god , had he taken downe his high places , and demolished his altars . 3. when we surcease to keepe faith with god , we free him from performance of his promises to vs. for howsoeuer it be true indeed that the apostle saith , n though we bee vnfaithfull , or , though o we distrust , rather ; yet doth god abide faithfull ; nor can he deny himselfe . p mans distrust or incredulitie cannot annull his fidelitie . and it is a deuillish position that the romanists hold , and such as cutteth asunder the very si●ewes of humane societie : that q faith is not to bee held with heretikes . for euen r with the vnfaithfull is faith to bee held . howsoeuer , i say , we may not s play the creetes with cretians ; that is , lie and dissemble , because others so doe : nor in regard of any mans wickednesse or vngodlinesse otherwise , hold our selues discharged of such t bonds and couenants as we stand obliged in vnto him . yet where agreements betweene parties are founded and grounded on conditions or couenants ( for i stand not now on the precise distinction of law-tearmes ) to be mutually and enterchangeably performed on either side , u he that in such case breaketh first , doth thereby free the other partie . nor is it any vnfaithfulnesse therefore in god , ( whose promises of life and saluation are so conditionall ) to denie to make his promises good vnto those , that haue no care to keepe touch with him . x they kept not couenant with mee , and i regarded not them : saith the lord. 4. as there is nothing among men generally more odious , than falshood in friendship ; infidelitie in those that wee are in league and amitie withall : y thy confederates , saith the prophet , haue dealt treacherously with thee . and , x it was not a profest enemy , saith dauid , that did me this wrong : for then could i well haue brooked it : but it was thou , my guide , my companion , my sworne brother ; as we say . so there is nothing that god taketh to heart more , or can worse endure , than y disloialtie and breach of couenants in those that bee in league with him . z those , saith hee , that haue violated the couenant which they solemnly made with me , when they a cut the calfe in twaine , and passed betweene the two sides of it ; i proscribe them to the famine , the sword , and the plague ; and their carkases shall lie rotting aboue ground vnburied . b better not to make couenant with god at all , than to make , and not keepe . from hence then may wee learne how to trie and examine the sinceritie , and the soundnesse of our faith. c trie your selues , saith the apostle , whether you be in the faith : whether you bee sound or d vnsound . ( the word would not be translated reprobates , as we commonly vse that tearme . ) here is a touchstone to trie it by . if our faith and confidence in christ be accompanied with fidelitie and faithfulnesse vnto christ : if we be carefull as well to obserue what hee requireth of vs , as to expect what he promiseth . it is e the nature of faith , saith chrysostome , to single out god ; to make him as thomas speaketh , f my lord , and my god : and as to single out god himselfe , so to apply his promises in particular to the faithfull partie : g who hath loued me , saith the apostle , and giuen himselfe for me . but wee must know withall , that true faith is carefull as well to apply gods * precepts , as his “ promises . h when thou saist , seeke my face ; my soule answereth thee againe , thy face , lord , will i seeke . yea , to that end saith chrysostome , doth the apostle make that particular application of gods grace and goodnesse to himselfe , * to imply thereby his owne particular engagement to god for it . and it is no true faith that regardeth not the one as well as the other . hence it is , that it is said of some , that g they became obedient to the faith : and of the romanes , that h they had from the very heart obeyed the forme of doctrine deliuered vnto them : or ( if you will ) i that they were bound vnto . who are cōmended also more than once for their k obedience of faith , or their faithfull obedience . which faithfull obedience is a sure note of sound faith ; nor can it be true faith where such obedience is wanting . then may wee know our faith to be sound and sincere , when our faith in christ breedeth and produceth in vs a faithfulnesse vnto christ , a carefulnesse to please him , l a willingnesse to obey him , to be guided and ruled by him . but alas , how many will bee found , to haue no true faith , who yet make profession of faith , if they be brought to this touchstone , if they come to this triall . euery one is ready to say with him in the gospell , m i beleeue , lord. but , n all men , saith the apostle , haue not faith . no : all haue not faith , that make profession of faith. how appeareth that , may some say ? surely , because as the same apostle saith else-where , o all obey not the gospell : p all obserue not the rules of it . for how many professe the faith of christ , that yet are wholly q estranged from the life of christ ? how many thousands ( millions , i might say ) bee there , that hauing giuen vp their names vnto christ , and made solemne vowes and couenants in baptisme with him , neuer so much as once thinke on ( much lesse haue any care of performing or making good ) those solemne vowes and promises that then they made , the bonds they entred into in their baptisme ? and how are they christians that keepe no faith with christ ? and yet will such be counted christians as well as the best : and are readie enough to vaunt of , and presume on their christendome , as if r in regard thereof they were sure to doe well . but , to omit that this their confidence , is like that before touched vpon of the iewes , which s the prophet telleth them , should neuer stand them in stead : i would gladly know of some such , what it is that maketh him a christian. my faith , peraduenture thou wilt say , in christ. yea , but that faith , as hath beene shewed , that is not accompanied with faithfulnesse , is no true , it is but a false and a counterfeit faith : nor can a false and a counterfeit faith make ( at the best , and the most ) but a counterfeit christian ; t a christian in name , but not in deed . if therefore we desire u to be counted what we are called , let vs approue the sinceritie of our faith in christ by our fidelitie and faithfulnesse vnto christ. if we desire to haue benefit by our faith in him , let vs be carefull to keepe our faith with him . if we looke that he should keepe couenants with vs , let vs be sure that we keepe couenant with him . x all the waies of god are mercy and truth , saith the psalmist , but to whom ? to those that keepe his couenant and his testimonies . and , y the mercy of god is for euer and euer , vpon those that keepe couenants with him , and that thinke vpon his commandements to doe them . but it is an vnequall thing for vs , to expect that he should keepe couenants with vs , when we haue no care to keepe the like with him . an vnreasonable thing were it for z a wife to require meanes of maintenance from her husband , when she liueth disloially , and keepeth with another man : or for a seruant to expect the wages couenanted from his master , when he keepeth no couenants at all with his master , when he refuseth to doe his worke . nor haue they any reason to expect life from christ , when they die , that haue no care to keepe faith with christ , while they liue . but how long must this faithfulnesse of ours be continued ? * not for a day or two ; as some formally would seeme to obserue it , when they repaire to gods board once a yeere ; no , nor for a yeere or two onely ; but , as in the mutuall plighting of faith in wedlocke it is wont to be said , a till death vs doe part ; so long as life lasteth , vnto death , * to the last gaspe : as it is afterward expounded , b vntill i come ; c vnto the end . christian fidelitie must continue to the last . so dauid , d i haue applied mine heart to fulfill thy statutes alwaies , euen to the end . and , e his house we are , if we hold fast the confidence , and the reioycing of hope to the end : and , f we are partakers of him , ( or , g fellow-heires with him ) if we keepe firme h the confidence begun in vs to the end . and looke what is there said of our confidence in , the same is required in our faithfulnesse vnto christ , in i the keeping of his workes ; that must also be to the end . for euen one branch it is also of * our faith vnto christ , to hold fast our faith in christ , and the profession of it , against all oppositions , and all opposites whatsoeuer . now as the necessitie before of this fidelitie , so the necessitie of such constancie and continuance may appeare ; if we shall consider , that 1. k not to perseuere is a curtailed sacrifice ; a maimed seruice , and such as god therefore will not accept of . l no maimed beast might be presented for sacrifice . that that was offered to god must haue both m horne and hoofe : yet it must not want so much as the taile : for n the taile-peece by name is in the sacred rituals disposed of . it being thereby intimated , say o some of the ancients , that no holy course of life is accepted , if it be not concluded and closed vp with a good end . 2. p inconstancie and instabilitie is an argument of vnsoundnesse and insinceritie . q a friend , saith salomon , loueth for euer . and , r hee was neuer a true friend , saith the heathen man , that euer ceaseth to be a friend . in like manner , those that be true-hearted to god , will keepe constantly with him . s nor were they euer sincere and vpright with him , that euer leaue and giue ouer their loialtie vnto him . 3. * christ perseuered for vs ▪ and therefore ought we to perseuere for him . such a friend was he to vs , as salomon describeth . t whom he once loued , saith the euangelist , he loued them to the last . hee was not u the beginner onely , but the finisher of our saluation . he held out to the last gaspe , till x all were consummated , till all were done that was to be done for the full effecting and the finishing of it . 4. it is a rule in the ciuill law , that a it is as nothing that holdeth not . yea that , b nothing is held done , because all that is done is as good as nothing , as not done , as long as ought remaineth to bee done . * a will vnfinished is no will : a deed , vnlesse it bee signed , sealed , and deliuered , is no deed . in a lease made vpon condition of diuers acts , either successiuely to be done , or yeerely to be reiterated , if all but one be done , and that onely omitted , or all be obserued for many yeeres together , but default then be once made , c that one faile , or once failing , is enough to make all the rest of no effect , and to cause a forfeiture of the whole . 5. * the former part of our life yeeldeth vnto the latter : and d the latter part of our life carrieth it away from the former . e if the wicked man , saith god , returne from his wicked courses , all his former iniquities shall be forgotten , and shall be mentioned no more . and on the other side , f if the righteous man , saith hee , giue ouer his good courses ; all the righteous deeds that hee hath done shall doe him no good ; but for the euill that then hee doth , shall he die . 6 g the end of each thing is all in all . h marke the end of the iust man. and , i i saw the end of these men . it is that that maketh or marreth all . * euerie thing , we say , is well , that endeth well . and indeed , k the maine end and aime of our whole life , should be this , to make a good end of our life ; to put a good conclusion to it , l that we may be found then holy and vnblameable in peace . 7. m it is perseuerance alone that carrieth away the crowne . vnlesse we be faithfull to death , there is * no crowne of life for vs. n christianitie is compared to a race . o in a race , saith the apostle , all that runne , win not . those onely get the garland that get first to the goale . but in this spirituall race , saith chrysostome , p not he that commeth first , but each one that holdeth out to the last , is crowned . q he that perseuereth to the end , shall be saued . r he that doth not , loseth all that hee hath done . s comming but a foot short , may make a man misse the prize , and lose the wager he ran for . as t in iournying also , a man doth but lose all his labour , if he get not to his iournies end . 8. * god himselfe is eternall , from whom wee expect our reward : and the reward that we looke for , is it selfe also euerlasting . but what hath leuitie and inconstancie , saith augustine , to doe with eternitie ? u our fidelitie must therefore hold out to the last , if we desire to haue an euerlasting reward . yea most equall it is , that we continue to the end , if we looke to enioy that x ioy and blisse in the end , that shall be without end . and , is it so then , that without such perseuerance nothing in this kinde is auaileable ? how miserable then and deplorable is the stare of those that with ephesus , a forsake their first loue ; that with the galatians , b run well a while , but then c giue ouer ; that d begin in the spirit , and end in the flesh ; that e put their hand to gods plough ▪ and then looke backe againe , as f lots wife did toward sodome ; that with demas , g follow paul a while ; but then h leaue him againe to embrace the world ; that i hauing escaped the defilements of the flesh , and the world , by the acknowledgement of our lord and sauiour iesus christ , doe afterward turne away from the holy commandement , and returne k like dogges to their vomit , to their former filth , and l like swine after washing to the wallowing againe in the mire ? they are not onely in as bad ca●e as before , ( and yet were m that bad enough ) but in worse case now than euer . n their latter estate , saith st peter , is worse than their first was . and let it admonish vs therefore o to hold fast what we haue ; p to cleaue vnto god with full purpose of heart ; and q vse all diligence , to keepe firme our assurance of hope to the end . for as it were better for vs neuer to haue entred into couenant with god , than to make couenants with him , and not to keepe them : so * it had beene better for vs neuer to haue made shew of obseruing them , if at any time after we cease and giue ouer the obseruation of them againe . and therefore r seeing that wee know these things , saith s. peter ; since that we see and haue heard what s the danger of it is , let vs take heed lest we be drawne away by the error of the wicked ; and so fall from our stedfastnesse and our faithfulnesse to our lord christ iesus . and because , as gregorie saith , t it is to little purpose for vs , to be informed how dangerous it is , if wee be not taught how to preuent the danger : it shall not be amisse to adde some few rules for the furthering of vs vnto perseuerance in those religious courses that either we are to enter , or are in some measure entred into already . wouldst thou therefore continue faithfull to christ thy master , and hold out in thy christian course to the end ? 1. enter with resolution . a cast vp thine accounts before hand . b fore-cast the worst , and prepare for it . c vnlesse a man , saith our sauiour , leaue ( d in resolution at least ) all that euer hee hath , e father and mother , and wife , and children , and land , and liuing , and his owne life too ; he can be none of my disciple . the want of this is that , that maketh many a one turne head and set saile backe againe , so soone as they see stormes towards , and opposition begin to be made : they neuer were minded to goe further , than they found the way cleare before them . it fareth with them as with those that goe to sea vpon pleasure , “ who no sooner see a blacke cloud rise , or finde the sea begin to worke , especially * if they begin to grow sea-sick with it , but they are crying by and by to make backe with all haste to the shoare ; whereas the merchant or sea-man † that is bound for his port , will not be driuen backe with a storme or two , ( hee looked before for it ) with a little foule weather , or a little sea-sicknesse , but goeth on through faire and foule , till hee hath made his voiage , till he haue gotten to his port. 2. labour for sinceritie . endeuour to bee that inwardly , that thou makest profession of outwardly . else there is no hope of continuance . for f nothing that is counterfeit , will last long . counterfeit pearles may make a faire shew for some time ; but their lustre will not last . and this is one maine cause of the apostasie of many , they were neuer but g hollow-hearted ; they were neuer sound at the heart . h the seed on the stonie ground , therefore withereth away when the heat of the yeere commeth , because it had no root . and therefore i many shall fall away , when k the dangerous daies come , that had made a goodly shew of profession before ; because they had ( when they were at the very best ) l an outward shew and semblance of godlinesse onely , but inward power of it . yea , that is one cause why many that haue seemed very forward men in times of peace , haue in times of persecution fallen cleane away , when some others that made no such great shew before , haue stucke close to it . there was an outward blase onely in the one , that was therefore by and by blowen out : there was an inward sparke in the other , that being blowne vp by the bellowes and blast of opposition , hath broken forth , and blased out to the wonderment of those , that little looked for such things from such , as had made no greater flourish before . 3. be carefull to keepe a good conscience . holding the mysterie of faith in a good conscience ; saith the apostle ; which some casting away , haue made shipwracke of faith. hee compareth conscience to a ship or a barke ; and faith to treasure therein imbarqued ; which must needs therefore miscarrie , if the ship or barke be castaway . and in this barke , sinnes against conscience make foule breaches , which if they be not speedily repaired , ( and that is not easily done neither ) may soone vndoe all . better it is to preuent them , than to hazzard the making of them good againe . the rather , because when they are growne frequent once , they bring a kinde of retchlesnesse with them . it is with our conscience , as it is with our apparell . while it is fresh and faire , new , or new washt , we are very charie what wee leane against , where we sit , or what we touch with it ; but when it is once soiled or sullied , we haue no such regard of it , we little passe what we doe with it , wee care not now where we cast it . 4. slight no sinne ; make light of no euill course . for to omit that t no sinne is light or little in it selfe . some may seeme u motes , and bee so tearmed in comparison of some other . but there is none but may well be deemed a beame , being considered in it selfe . as the earth , though but x a center or a point to the heauens , yet is an huge bodie of it selfe , y by no art or skill of man exactly measurable . and againe , that in euery sinne , great or lesse , there is ranke poison ; there are a no sinnes that are in themselues not mortall , as the popish sort imagine : b a deadly sting there is in euery sinne ; which c may not therefore be dallied with . not to stand , i say , vpon these things ; euen those little sinnes , as wee reckon them , if wee giue way to them , will make way soone for greater . the deuill vseth them ( it is the comparison of d an ancient writer ) as theeues , some little boy that they put in at a window ; who though hee can doe no great matter of hurt himselfe , yet when he is once in , can open , the doores and let them in , that may both rob the house and kill all that are in it . or e as hunt 〈◊〉 doe their little beagles , which they ply the d●ere withall till he be heated and blowen , and then clap they on their great buck-hounds that may pull him downe and plucke out his throat . and indeed , in these smaller matters decay of grace first discouereth it selfe , as f the decay of a tree , appeareth first in the washie boughes or the twigs , and so by little and little goeth on further into the bigger armes , and at length pierceth into the maine bodie . and as we say , that a mans truth and honestie may be seene as well in a small matter , as in a greater : so g euen in these trifling things also , as they are commonly esteemed , as well as in weightier , may a mans vnfaithfulnesse be discouered . he hath hardly a faithfull heart vnto christ , that counteth any thing a trifle that may tend to his dishonour ; as h all sinne , in a christian man especially , more or lesse doth . 5. be iealous of thine owne weaknesse ▪ trust not too much to thine owne strength . i it was peters ouer-sight , and we know how k fouly he fell . and his example is left vpon record l to make vs the more warie . for this is the ruine of not a few ; * that they presume too much of their owne might , and so are bold to offer themselues vnto those prouocations and temptations , that proue many times their vtter ruine . they are m like sicke folkes , who when they haue had a good day or two , think that they are perfectly well againe , and make bold to cast off their sicke kerchiefe , or put on thinner apparell , or venture out into the fresh aire , and by such meanes fall into relapses , which they hardly , or neuer ( it may be ) recouer againe . 6. shun euill occasions . n he shunneth not sinne as he should , who is not carefull to eschew the occasions of sinne , as well as the sinne it selfe . by carelesnesse in this kinde many fall into relapses . which st peter also intimateth , when he saith of some that o hauing escaped the defilements of the world , by the acknowledgement of christ , that is , by the profession of christianitie ; by being p entangled , they come to be the second time ouercome . as dauid saith of himselfe , q in the way that i walke , haue they hid their snare for me . satan hath his r snares and his ginnes set in all our waies for vs , in our meat , our drinke , our apparell , our recreation , our lawfull delights , our trading , our trafficke , our buying and selling , &c. in regard whereof , as those that s walke among snares , we had need t tread warily , and u walke wisely , and circumspectly , and x make straight steps to our feet . remembring that satan preuaileth more against those that make any conscience of their courses , by the vnlawfull , immoderate , or inordinate vsage of things in themselues lawfull , than by the practise of things meerely euill and vnlawfull in themselues . and that it is safer , and easier by much ordinarily , y to passe by the snare , than z to winde out when we are once wrought in . you know what was eues ouerthrow . satan suggested vnto her , that though shee were forbidden to eat of it , yet it was not vnlawfull to looke on it . and so by a gazing on it , she came to haue a liking to it , and from taking liking to it , fell to a longing after it , she had b tasted it in her heart , ere it came into her hand , and so at length by eating of it , c she tooke in that that proued the bane both of her and hers . in regard whereof , the prophet promiseth eternall happinesse with god to that man alone , d who not onely e speaketh truly and walketh vprightly , but f shaketh his hands also from taking of gifts , and g stoppeth his eare from hearing of bloud , and h shutteth his eies from seeing of euill : shunneth those things as well that may bee occasions of euill , as the euill , whereof they may be occasions , it selfe . 7. i bee frequent in praier vnto god for support . k watch and pray , saith our sauiour , that you may not enter into temptation . watch & pray ; because l all our watching will be of no force or efficacie at all without praier . for m from god it is , that strength must bee had to stand stedfast and firme : n it is his power that must support vs. o we are vpheld by the power of god through faith , saith the apostle . it is the p power of god then that must enable vs to perseuer : and it is q praier that must procure this power . this holy exercise therefore we must be diligent in , if we desire thus to hold out ; praying , as dauid doth in the psalme ; r lord , teach mee thy waies , that i may walke in thy pathes : o knit mine heart vnto thee , that i may feare thy name . as on the other side wee may obserue , that when men grow negligent herein , a generall decay of grace vsually ensueth . s they are all gone aside , &c. saith the psalmist : while they call not vpon god. and how can we hope to haue strength thus to stand , if we be not carefull to seeke it , where it is only to be had ? 8. keepe the feare of god fresh in thy soule . t knit mine heart vnto thee , that i may feare thee , saith the psalmist . the feare of god , if it be fresh in vs , will make vs keepe home with him , u cleaue and cling close to him , bee afraid to stirre but an inch ( as we say ) from him , x be carefull to vse all meanes of retaining his fauour , of approuing our selues and all our courses vnto him , and y of eschewing whatsoeuer may either offend him , or sauour of any disloialtie and vnfaithfulnesse in vs towards him . z god , saith augustine , that hath wrought on vs to bring vs home to him , must also worke in vs , that we depart not againe from him . but this he doth by meanes ; which hee pointeth at , when he saith by the prophet , a i will put into their hearts such feare of me , that they shall neuer depart againe away from me . b faith breedeth feare , and feare breedeth care ; and carefulnesse causeth perseuerance . the deuill could neuer preuaile with our first parent to withdraw her from god , till he had c wrought this feare out of her . nor had he euer beene able so to preuaile with her , had she beene carefull to keepe this feare fresh in her soule . 9. take heed of standing still . thinke not with thy selfe , that hauing runne thus long , thou maist now stand still a while ; or hauing gotten thus far , thou maist now sit downe and breathe thee . d take heed , saith st peter , l●st you bee drawne aside , and fall from your stedfastnesse . and if you aske him , what you must doe to preuent it : e but grow , saith he , in grace . f if we be not growing , we are decaying : if we be not making on , wee are going amaine back . as g in rowing vp a riuer , that runneth with a strong current , if the oares doe but stay , the boat falleth backward . there is no staying of our hands : h there is no standing at a stay . i betweene mending and pairing there is no medium , saith bernard . * that we haue will be gone , vnlesse we striue to get more . 10. k walke in humilitie . when we haue done all this , take heed of pride : ( remember l vzziah ; remēber m ezekiah : ) it is a deadly poison that spoileth and killeth all where it commeth ; so dangerous , that n of another poison is a counter-poison confected , to preserue st paul from it . and o we are neuer more in danger of it than when we haue done most , and made greatest progresse in the profession and practise of pietie . for it is as p the spleene in the bodie , that groweth most when the other parts waste ; q it groweth fastest oft , when other euils decay , and out of the decay of them , sucketh matter to feed & foster it selfe with . this therefore must be carefully eschewed and auoided . when wee haue done well , wee must take heed , how in that regard we begin to think highly of our selues . r if we doe so , all is gone , s we are vndone . be affected rather as paul was . after hee had gone so farre , done so much : t i make account , that i come not short , saith he , of the very chiefe apostles . yea , u i haue laboured more than them all . for , x from ierusalem round about , euen vnto illyricum , ( that is , from syria to sclauonie ) haue i plentifully preached the gospell : yet , a i forget , saith he , what is past . i regard no more what i haue done , than as if yet i had done nothing , or had cleane forgotten what i did . and b i put on forward to what is before ; pressing on toward the high calling of god in christ iesus . he did as men in a race that c looke not backe to see how many they haue out-stript , or how farre they haue gotten , but haue their eies fixed on those that haue got ground of them , and on the ground before them , that they are to measure , ere they can come to the marke . let vs d not consider so much how far we haue gone , and how many others come short of vs , but e how farre we are to goe , and how farre wee come farre short of that christian perfection , that we should all striue and contend to attaine vnto . and as our sauiour aduiseth vs , f when we haue done all that we can , let vs say , that we are but vnprofitable seruants ; we haue done no more , nay g farre lesse , than we ought to doe , than was our dutie to haue done . 11. consider we the short stint of time , that this laborious course is required of vs ; it is but till death . and since that our h life here is not long ; ( it is but a point , saith the heathen man , or lesse than so , that we liue here ) that emploiment cannot be long that must end with it . for what can be long in that , that is not long it selfe ? it is but till death onely that our sauiour christ requireth this of vs. it is a note of stint , as well as of extent , here . not that our fidelitie & loialtie vnto christ shall not last longer ; but * because after that there will be no difficultie in our loialtie , no danger of disloialtie , if till then we hold out . k all scandals , stumbling blocks and impediments being then remoued ; and all occasions of prouocation and temptation to the contrary being thē vtterly abolished . it is but for a spurt therefore , to speak of , that this is required of vs , it is but l a spurt , in comparison of that that after ensueth . and who would not for a spurt , for a short brunt endure any difficultie , any hardnesse , to liue at hearts ease for euer after ? who would not serue , euen an hard and an vnkinde master , and much more then so kinde and liberall a one as our lord and master christ is , ( that m came to serue vs and for vs , ere he required this seruice of vs ) with all fidelitie and diligence for a day or two , that hee might after be a free man , yea an happy man for euer ? n it is not long , and it is but light , that is required of vs , in respect of that that is expected for it , and is promised thereunto . for o this light hardship that is but for an instant , saith the apostle , procureth vnto vs an exceeding excessiue euerlasting weight of glorie . 12. be oft * eying , and meditating on the roiall reward , that is both here and else-where propounded and promised to all those that thus perseuer . this made moses hold out the rather , and p endure not constantly onely , but cheerefully , chusing rather to suffer hardship with the people of god , than to enioy some sinfull delights for a season ; and esteeming the reproach , that for christs sake hee suffered , greater riches than all the aegyptian treasures ; because he had an eie to the recompence of reward . and q therefore we faint not , saith the apostle , though we bee straitned on euery side ; and beare about with vs in our bodie the dying of the lord iesus , being deliuered vp daily for him to death ; because wee looke not on the things that are seene , but on the things that are not seene : for the things that are seene , are temporall ; but the things that are not seene , are eternall . for though gods children be r no hirelings , to serue him onely for hire sake , but out of loue , s dutie , and good-will ; yet are they animated and encouraged , the rather to doe that they doe the more cheerefully , comfortably , and constantly , when they consider what a blessed issue their l●bours , endeuours and sufferings are like , nay , are sure to haue , if they hold out in them . for , t we shall reape in due time , saith the apostle , if we faint not : yea , of our sauiour himselfe it is said , whom we are will●d therein also to imitate , that u for the glorie set before him , he endured the crosse , and set light by the shame of it , and is now seated at the right hand of god. and x cast not therefore away your confidence , saith the apostle , nor giue ouer , say i , your fidelitie , that you owe vnto christ ; since that it hath so great recompence of reward . yea , consider we as well what we lose , if wee giue ouer , as what we win and gaine , if we perseuer . for the former ; a hold fast what thou hast , saith our sauiour , lest the crowne be taken from thee . and it is a question canuased to and fro among the schoolemen , b whether is the greater euill to forgoe the ioyes of heauen , or to vndergoe the paines of hell. but how soeuer it be , an heauy thing it will be , if we faint and faile now , hereafter to thinke , as he sometime said , who for a draught of drinke in distresse gaue vp his command ; for what a trifling matter haue wee bereft our selues of a great command , of a crowne , of a kingdome ? for what a toy ( to speake of ) haue we depriued our selues of eternall felicitie ? for the latter ; bee faithfull , saith our sauiour here , vnto death , and i will giue thee a crowne of life . the latter clause whereof , containing a free and a large promise , annexed to the precept , which hitherto we haue handled , albeit it might well minister much matter of further consideration , yet for the present we will consider it onely , as a motiue , in its seuerall branches , to induce to , and enforce on vs , such constant fidelitie , and faithfull perseuerance , as we haue shewed to be here required . 1. he that promiseth , it is d christ. i will giue . i will giue that haue power to giue ; that haue abilitie and authoritie so to doe . e i will giue thee all these , said he sometime to our sauiour , who had no power to make good what he said : but he that speaketh it here , is able to performe what he here promiseth . f as i haue receiued power , so i will , saith he , giue them power . for g all power is giuen mee in heauen and earth . and , h to him therefore that ouercommeth , will i giue to sit with me in my throne ; as i haue ouercome , and sit now with my father on his throne . againe , i will giue , who am i amen , true and faithfull . he that is faithfull to me , shall finde me faithfull to him . k let vs keepe the profession of our hope without flitting and wauering , saith the apostle , for he that hath promised is faithfull . what he saith , he will make good : he will performe what he hath promised . he will doe it ? yea , hee hath done it . he is not like that antigonus , whom they vsed to call l antigonus that would giue . he will giue ; and he hath giuen . we tread but in the steps of those that alreadie m haue inherited these promises . 3. he will giue . what hee doth , is of free gift , not of due debt . such is his goodnesse , that though * we owe vnto him whatsoeuer we doe or can doe , n nor can wee claime ought as of right from him for all that we doe for him ; he oweth vs not so much as thankes , as o himselfe else-where sheweth , for it : yet p of his meere bountie he will not suffer vs to goe vnrewarded ; but of his free goodnesse will giue vs , what we could not otherwise require . 2. the gift , or the thing promised , it is q a crowne ; it is r a kingdome . * who would not straine hard for a crowne ? “ who would not endure much for a kingdome ? who would stay by the way , or giue ouer ere he came at it , if hee saw a crowne at the goale , and were sure to haue it , if hee held but out , till he came there ? 3. this crowne , it is s a crowne of life . it is not like the crownes that worldly kings weare , that cannot t free them from diseases , much lesse saue them from death . they may die , and u doe die , for all their crownes , and returne to their dust . but this is a crowne that giueth life to him that hath it . it is a crowne that keepeth him in life that weareth it . 4. the life that this crowne giueth ( though it be not expressed here ) is x an eternall , an euerlasting life . y they striue for a corruptible , wee for z an incorruptible crowne , saith st paul. it is a crowne or a a garland of b amarantum , or of euerlasting , saith st peter , alluding to a flower , or a tuft ra●ther , commonly so tearmed . therefore so tearmed , because by it , as wee are now c kept vnto , so we shall hereafter be kept , and preserued in , a kingdome d incorruptible , vntainted , that neuer withereth away , reserued for vs in the heauens . all which laid together ; the giuer so able , so free , so faithfull ; and the gift it selfe so great ; a crowne , of life , and euerlasting life : so glorious and excellent an estate , e that all that euer wee doe , or can endure here , is not worthy once to bee named with it ; should perswade and encourage vs with all constancie and cheerefulnesse to goe on and hold out in the faithfull seruice of our sauiour , f whatsoeuer it should cost vs , though we should lose libertie , liuing , life by it , and all that euer wee were worth ; that so continuing faithfull vnto death , he may bestow vpon vs a crowne of life . now it is , i know , expected that i should , as the manner is , say , somewhat concerning our christian brother deceased , to whose corps we performe now g the last christian office . it shall not be needfull to say much of him to those that knew him , as i suppose the most here did . as bernard saith of one humbert ; his whole life was h a reall and vitall sermon of that , whereof you haue had a verbal and vocall one now ; to wit , of pietie and godlinesse , of fidelitie and faithfulnesse to his lord and master christ iesus . hee had beene an ancient professor : nor was he one ( as i too many there are ) that did staine and blemish his christian profession , either by vnchristian courses , or vndiscreet carriages ; but by his pious and prudent behauiour rather k graced and adorned it . it had pleased god to endow him with singular gifts and parts ( for a priuate man especially ) of vnderstanding , memorie , and speech ; which hee was not slothfull or negligent to improue and employ , to the glorie of gods name , and l the edification of others : as the maine course of his life and conuersation , so his ordinarie speech , conference , and communication being m seasoned with salt , sauouring of sound sanctification , and such as might n minister much grace to the hearers . and albeit , god saw it good to affoord him but a meane estate for o the things of this life , ( hee will stirre vp those , i doubt not , that p out of their religious disposition and affection to him , will doe for those that hee hath left behinde him ) yet he had made him q rich in grace ; and by helpe of that grace he liued with that small pittance r more cheerefully and comfortably , than many doe with large and ample estates . nor saw i him euer more cheerefull , than in this his last sicknesse . as ambrose said sometime when he lay a dying to his millainers ; s i haue not so liued among you , that i am ashamed to liue longer with you ; nor yet am i afraid to die , because we haue a good master : and martine of tours being now neere his end , when his friends stood abou● him , lamenting their losse of him , t lord , if i may doe thy people yet any seruice , i thinke not much of my paines , thy will be done : so was it one of this blessed seruant of god his last speeches vnto me , willing to be disposed of by god , though u desirous of departure in regard of his owne good ; if god haue any more worke for me , i am well content to liue longer , though my life should be neuer so tedious vnto me : but if my worke bee at an end , i am most willing to bee gone , well knowing , though i be altogether vnworthy of ought , what hee hath in store for me . what should i say more of him , but as it is in my text ? hee was faithfull to christ his master vnto death ; and hee hath now receiued from him a crowne of life . which that we may also , in gods due time attaine , he vouchsafe vnto vs , x who hath purchased and procured it for vs , iesvs christ , y to be blessed for euer . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01528-e190 a frustra est 〈◊〉 origenes , qui de spiritibus coelestibus interpretatur 〈◊〉 luc. h●m . 13. & 3● b vers. 8. parts 2. precept . promise . part 1. branches 2. 1. dutie . 2. stint , extent . part 2. branches 2. 1. giuer . 2. gift . part 1. branch 1. dutie . fidelitie . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . faith twofold . creduli●ie , confidence . d act. 24.25 . e act. 3.16 . fidelitie . faithfulnesse . f matth. 23.23 . g tit. 2.10 . faithfull two waies . in regard of beliefe and confidence . h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i iohn 20.27 . k 2 cor. 6.15 . in regard of fidelitie and faithfulnesse . l matth. 24.45 . m 1 cor. 7.27 . n non quia ●ram , sed ut essem , ne meritum fidei dei misericordiam praeveniat . aug. de grat . & lib. arb . c. 6. & 14. & de praedest . sanct . c. 2. & 3. de fide iustificante intelligens . o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , contractum ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : sicut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lucius , lucas . ar●emidorus , artemas . numerius , numas , &c. vise var. de ●ing . lat. l. 7. & scalig. ad catul. p vers. 13. q vers. 26. mea●ing . point i. r apoc. 14.17 . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . t ver. 19. c. 14.12 necessitie of fidelitie . reason 1. u prou● . 17 ho●● . 3.3 . ier. 3.20 . x tit. 2.10 . y ephes. 5.23 . z hosh. 2.19 , 20. a 1 cor. 8.6 . b matth. 23.8 . c iohn 13.13 . d 1 cor. 4.1 , 2. 1 pet. 4.10 . e 1 cor. 6.19 , 20. f 1 cor. 3.23 . * heb. 4.2 . g vt enim i●se fidelis est in reddendo , ita fidelem exigi● de promisso , chrysost. nom . de fide , spe , char . reason 2. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 tim. 1.5 . 2. tim. 1.5 . i fides enim ab eo dicitur , quia id fit quod dicitur . ex cicer. de repub . l. 4. offic . l. 1. & ad tir●n . ep . 10. nonius de propr . serm . aug. de mend . c. 20. & ad hieron . ep . 6. herv . in rom. 7. haimo ibid. 1. & 5. ergo ubi non fit quod dicitur , non est fides . petr. cāt. de ver . abbrev . c. 7. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de ●●ulat . l infidelis quaedā fiducia . bern. de temp . 50. * ierem. 7.8 . m esai 36.7 . reason 3. n 2 tim. 2.13 . o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . vide notas piscat . p rom. 3.3 . q fidem cum haereticis non esse servandam . videantur quae ex simanch . institu● . catholic . habentur in . thesib . romano-cathol . à d. thom ▪ mort●no editis . & in alex . cookes more worke for a masse-priest , num . 7. r etiam infideli rectè servatur fides . taxatq●e cic. offi● . l. 3. atrei illud apud accium . neque do infideli , neque dedi , cuiquam fidem . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. in lysand. & aemyl . t gen. 21.32 . & 26.28 , 29. & 31.44 , 53. u frustra sibi fidem quis postulat ab eo seruari , cui fidem à se praestitam servare recusat . bonifac . pp . in 6. reglur . 75. frangenti fidem fides frangatur eidem . fidem frangenti l●citum est fidem frangere . petr. fous reg . iur. ff . de inoffic . testam . quanquam hoc revera non est fidem fallere . reason 4. x heb. 8.9 . y viri f●●deris tui praevaricati sunt . obad. 7. x ps. 55.12 , 13 , 14. y esay 24.5 . ier. 3.20 . & 5.23 . & 11.10 , 11. z ierem. 34.17 , 18. a ritus , qualis ille genes . 15.9 , 10 , 17. b eccles. 5.5 . vse 1. examination . c 2 cor. 13.5 . d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysostom . in 1. cor. hom . 2. fides deum indiuiduat . f iohn 20.28 . g galat. 2.20 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . “ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h psal. 27.8 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. ad stelech . & in gen. hom . 34. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . act. 6.7 . h rom. 6.17 . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 1.5 . & 16.26 . l rom. 8.9 , 14. galat. 2.20 . & 5.25 . vse 2. conuiction . m mark. 6.24 . n 2 thess. 3.2 . o rom. 10.17 . p 2 thess. 1.8 . q ephes. 4.18 . philip. 3.18 , 19. rom. 16.18 . christum l●ngua si crepat , cum vita neget , non est fides , sed hypocrisis . cypriani nomine de dupl . martyr . r ita quidam omnibus fidem christianam etiam cum mala vita tenentibus salutem promittebāt : teste aug. de ciuit. l. 21. c. 21. s ierem. 7.8 . vse 3. admonition . t christiani nomine , non vita , non moribus . aug. in psal. 30. u aliud est enim esse quod diceris , aliud dici quod non ●s . chrysost. n●m . de sp● , fid . char . quid autem proderit appellari quod non es ? quid nomen prodest , ubi res non est ? aug. in 1. ioan. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . di●n . chrys●st . orat . 38. x psal. 25.10 . y psal. 103.18 . z hosh. 2.5 , 8 , 9. branch 2. extent . * non ad annum , vel ad tempus , sed in aeternum divino te mancipasti famulatui . bern. epist . 254. a rom. 7.2 . 1 cor. 7.39 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. in protraept . b vers. 25. c vers 26. point 2. d psal. 119.112 . e hebr. 3.6 . f heb. 3.14 . g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ut cap. 1.9 . h. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 8.17 . socij . consortes . piscat . h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : quae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse dicitur , cap. 11.1 . idem . principium autem sive initium fidei , i. quam profiteri c●pimus , & qua initiati sumus fide . i vers. 26. * psal. 44.17 , 18. necessitie of perseuerance reason 1. k non perseuerare cultus est mutilus . bern. epist. 24 & 165. & de temp . 56. l leuit. 22.21 , 22. m psal. 69.31 . n leuit. 3.9 . o caudam hostiae offerre praecipimur , ut omne bonum quod incepimus , etiam perse●eranti sine compleamus . greg. mor. l. 1. c. 40. bene immolat , qui sacrificium boni operis ad finem perducit . idem in euang. 25. caput cum cauda offerri jubetur , quia sine perseuerantia nihil placet . rad. ardens . in 1.40 ● . p indicium maximum est malae mentis st●ctuatio . sen. epist. 120. q prou. 17.17 . r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot. rhet . l. 2. c. 21. & eudem . l. 7. c. 2. non est amicus jugiter qui non amat . amicitia quae aliquando desmere potuit , nunquam vera fuit . martin . dum. de morib . ex aug. ad iulian. com. de poen . d. 2. reason 2. s psal. 78.8 , 10 , 37 , 57. reason 3. * christus perseveravit pro te . tu ergò pro illo perseveres . bern. de temp . 56. & de ●on . deser . ibi tu figas cursus tui metam , ubi christus posuit suam . idem . ep . 254. t iohn 13.1 . u heb. 12.2 . x consummatū est . iohn 19.30 . reason 4. a factum no● dicitur , quod non perseverat . pet. fon● reg. iur. b nihil dicitur fuisse factum , quamdiu aliquid agendum superest . ibid. ex cod. iustin. incassum bonum agitur , si ante terminum vitae deseratur . greg. m●r . l. 2. c. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. cas. hom . 5. * testamentum 〈◊〉 perfectum fuerit , nullum est . gloss. ad grat. de poen . d. 3. ex cod. iustin. c nisi totum soluatur , nihil soluitur . neque enim absolutus est debitor , qui multa reddit , sed qui omnia greg. mor. l. 22. c. 6. * cedunt prima postremis . tacit. annal . l. 13. vltima primis cedunt . bern. de pass . dom. c. 14. reason 5. d vita posterior priori praeiudicat . hieron . ad furiam . e ezech. 18.21 , 22. f ibid. 24. neque enim ex praeteritis , sed ex praesentibus judicantur . hieron . in ezech. c. 26. vides profunda oblivione sepeliri , quae perseuerantia non insignivit . bern. de grad . obed . reason 6. g terminus ad quē dat appellationem . non quaeruntur in christianis initia vel exord●a , sed finis & perseverantia . paulus male co●pit , sed benè finivit . iudas benà coepit , sed malè finivit . ex hieron . bern. ad sororem . c. 20. h psal. 37.37 . i psal. 73.17 . * cu●us finis bonus est , ipsum quoque bonum est . bern. in psal. 91. ser. 17. k h. smith on psal. 90.12 . tota vita discendum est mori . sen. de brev . vit . c. 7. l 2 pet. 3.14 . m perseverantia sola virtutum coronatur . bern. epist. 32. & 109. & 129. & 353. & de 〈◊〉 . 56. & 114. * finis , non p●gna , corona● . id●m . de pass . dom. c. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . themistocles . plut. apoph . reason 7. n heb. 12.1 . o 1 cor. 9.24 . p non qui primus ven●●●t , sed quicunque pervenerit . chrys. nomine de fide , spe , char . tom . 4. q matth. 24.13 . marke 13.13 . non qui ●●perit , sed qui perseveraverit . bern. de grad . 〈◊〉 . non in hoantibus , sed p●rseverantibus praemium promittitur . isidor . de sum . bon . l. 2. c. 7. nec coepisse , vel facere , sed profi●ere virtutis est . hier. gloss. ad matt. 10. r galat. 3.4 . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. caes. hom . 5. nec ad bravium victoriae pervenit , qui in magna parte sp●ctaculi velociter currit , si juxta metas veniens , in hoc quod reliquum est , deficit . greg. mor. l. 22. c. 6. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. caes. ibid. nec ad quaelibet des●●nata loca pergentibus ●nch●●ndo pr●desset longum iter carpere , si non etiam totum valerent consummare . greg. ibid. reason 8. * deus aeter●us : praemia aeterna . quid levitati & aetern●tati ? aug. u aeternitatis ●maginem perseverantia prae se fert . sola est cui aeternitas redditur . bern. de consider . l. 5. x gaudium in fine , sed gaudium sine fine . id●m de divers . 19. vse 1. information . a apoc. 2.4 , 5. b galat. 5.7 . c frusta velociter currit , qui priusquam ad metas venerit , deficit . greg. mor. l. 2. c. 40. d galat. 3.3 . e luke 9.62 . retro post aratrum aspicit , qui post exordia boni operis ad mala revertitur quae dorel ▪ quit . gre. in ezech. 1. hom . 6. f luke 17.32 . gen. 19.26 . g coloss. 4.14 . phil●m . 24. h 2 tim. 4.10 . i 2 pet. 2.20 , 21 , 22. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prou. 26.11 . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●ambus est , & poeticum spirat . m ephes. 2.1 , 2 , 3. & 4.17 , 18. n 2 pet. 2.20 . matt. 12.45 . vse 2. admonition . o vers. 25. chap. 3.11 . p acts 11.23 . q hebr. 6.11 . * ille plus delinquit , qui interruptam causam dimittit , quam qui nunquam ad illam perveni● . bromyard in oper . trivio ex authent . collat . 8. de litig . r 2 pet. 3.17 . s ing●us praeiculum ad deteriora redeundi . sen. ep . 72. iohn 5.14 . gravius aegrotant , qui cum levati morbo viderentur , in eum de integro incidunt . c●c . famil . l. 12. ep . 30. t quid ista proderit praenosse , si non contingat evadere ? greg in euang. 36. rules for furtherance . meanes of perseuerance . meanes 1. a luke 14.28 , 29 , 30. b et aequissimum ●●era ; & ad iniquissimum te para . sen. ep . 24. c luke 14.33 . d quantum ad affectum , licet non quantum ad effectum . ludolf . de vit. christ. proposito tenus . adrian . qu●dlibet . q. 10. e luke 14.26 . “ nondum era● tempestas , sed ja● inclinatio maris , 〈◊〉 subinde crebrio● fluctus . cepi guber●natorem rogare , 〈◊〉 me in aliquo litor● exponeret . senec epist. 53. * nausea me segni torquebat . instit itaque gubernatori & illum , velle nollet , coegi ut l●●tus peteret . ibid. † cui propositum 〈◊〉 navem ▪ in portun● perducere . idem e●pist . 85. meanes 2. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg ▪ naz. nihil fictu● diuturnum . amb● offic . l. 2. c. 22 ▪ caduca sunt quae● cunque fucata sun● cyprian . ad donat ▪ g psal. 78.37 . hosh. 6.4 . h mattth . 13.20 ▪ 21. nam quod ra● dicatum est etiam ardente sole ares● cere non potest . so●le nutritur & vi●rescit , non arescit aug. in psalm . 43 ▪ & in 1 ioan. ●r . 3. i 1 tim. 4.1 . k 2 tim. 3.1 . l 2 tim. 3.5 . reade the 〈◊〉 of sanders and ●ndleton , in 〈◊〉 acts and mo●●ments . meanes 3. 1 tim. 1.19 . ●ebr . 13.18 . 1 tim. 3.9 . 1. tim. 1.19 . perkins of conscience . rectè itaque con●ra papam ratio●natur nilus ep . ●●ess . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . meanes 4. t nihil leve quo deus laeditur . salvian . de provid . l. 2. u matth. 7.3 , 4. x terram hanc cum populis , & urbibus , fluminibus , atque ambitu maris puncti loco ponimus , ad universa referentes . sen. ad marc. c. 20. y ier. 31.37 . ambitus terrae totius , quae nobis immensa videtur , ad magnitudinem universitatis instar brevis obtinet puncti . ammian . hist. l. 15. a peccatum quodque in se & ex natura sua mortale esse docet gersees de vit . spirit . lect . 1. idemque fatetur ioan. fisher roff. ep. in re●ut . luther . ar●ic . 32. v●dentur vasquez . in thom. tom . 1. disput . ●42 num . 7● . b 1 cor. 15.55 , 56. c pro● . 10.23 . & 14.9 . d autor oculi moralis . e idem . ibid. f easly on esay● . 5 . g luke 16.10 , 11. h 1 tim. 6.1 . tit. 2.10 . rom. 2.24 . i matth. 26.33 , 34 , 35. iohn 13.37 . praesumps●t nescio quid , quod in illo nondum erat . aug. in psal. 55. pos●e se putavit , quod nondum potuit . ber. de temp . 88. meane 5. k matth. 26.73 , 74. l vt ●uina majorum si● cautela minorum . greg. mor. l. 33. c. 15. scr●p●ae sunt enim ruinae priorum ad cautel●m poster●erum . rad. ardens post trinit . 9. 〈◊〉 naque debet reddere , non s●qu . 〈◊〉 error ali●nus . c●ssiod . var. l. 7. ●p . 2. * multos imp●dit a firmitate praesumptio firmitatis . aug. de verb. d●m . 13. infirmior is est , qui suam non considerat infirmitatem . greg. registr . l. 6. indict . 15. ep . 4. meanes 6. m stella in luc. c. 11. n non vitat peccatum , qui non vitat occasiones peccatorum . stell . in luc. 11. & melanchth . loc . commun . 22. exponens se periculo peccati mortalis , peccat mortaliter . gersonde vit . spirit . lect . 4. o 2 pet. 2.20 . p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . saepe familiaritas implicavit . saepe occasio peccati voluntatem fecit peccandi . isidor . soliloq . l. 2. q ps●l . 142.3 . r omne iter istius vitae plenum laqueort mest . ambr. de bon . mort . c. 6. s iob 22.10 . t prou. 4.25 , 26. u ephes. 5.15 . x hebr. 12.13 . y nam vitare plagas in ●moris ne laciaris non ita difficile est , quàm captum retibus ipsis exire , & validos veneris perrumpere nodos . lucret. de rer . nat . l. 4. z non avis utiliter viscatis ef●ugit alis : non bene de laxis cassibus ●xit aper . saucius arrepto piscis retinetur ab ham● . ovid. art . l. 1. a gen. 3.7 . oculos tendo , non manum . non est interdictū ne videam , sed ne comedam . bern. de humil . grad . 4. b etsi culpa non est , culpa tamen occasio est ● & indicium est commissae , & causa commit tendae . bern. ibid. c hausit virus peritu●a , & perituros paritura . ibid. d esay 33.14 , 15. e psal. 15.2 . f d●ut . 16.19 . ne iniquos accepto munere , si non ●●verit , ingratus ; si foverit , i●●quus habeatur . autor ocul . mor. c. 6. g sep● spinis aures tuas . s●rac . h iob 31.1 . psal. 119.37 . vitijs nobis in animum per o●ulos est v●a . quint●l . declam . itaque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. paedag . l. 3. c. 11. meanes 7. i luke 18.1 . rom. 12 , 12. coloss. 4.2 . 1 thess. 1.17 . k matth. 26.41 . l psal. 127.1 . m ephes. 6.10 , 11 , 13. n rom. 8.37 . phil. 4.13 . o 1 pet. 1.5 . p ephes. 3.16 . colos. 1.11 . q ephes. 6.18 . r psal. 86.11 . s psal. 14.3 , 4. meanes 8. t psal. 86.11 . u deut. 10.20 . x deut. 6.2 , 13. & 5.29 . eccles. 12.13 . y iob 1.1 . & 31.13 , 14 , 21 , 22. nehem. 5.15 . prou. 8.13 . & 16.6 . z qui op●ratur ut accedamus , id●m operatur ne discedamus . aug. de bon . persever . c. 7. a i●rem . 32.40 b fides facit formidinem : sormido facis solicitudinem : solicitudo parit perseverantiam . tertull . ad marc. c gen. 3.4 . meanes 9. d 2 p●t . 3.17 . e ibid. 18. f vnum ● duobus necesse est , aut semper proficere , a●t prorsus desicere . bern. de divers . 36. qui non proficit , deficit ; qui non progreditur , regreditur . nolle proficere , deficere est ▪ idem epist. 25.4 . g non aliter quam qui adverso●● flumine l●mbum re●●g●s subigit , si brachia forte remisit , atque illum in praeceps pron● rapit ●●veus amni . virg. georg . l. 1. & apud g●ll. noct . attic. l. 10. c. 29. vide greg. mor. l. 11. c. 8. h n●hil stat , nihil sixum manet . aug. in ioan. 31. i inter profectum & desectum nihil medium invenitur . bern. ep . 254. * damnum parata sentient , si para●e cessaveris . pelag. ad demetr . k mica . 6.8 . l 2 chron. 26.16 . m 2 chron. 32.25 , 26. meanes 10. n 2 cor. 12.7 . o a●a quaecunque iniquitas in malis operibus exercetur , ut fiant : superbia verò bonis operibus insidiatur ut pereant . aug. epist. 109. p quod de fisco iulianus imper. fiscus ut lien . ammian . hist. l. 25. q multis quippe vitia conculcasse , & virtutes acquisivisse fit occasio superbiae . rad. ardens post trinit . 5. r humilitas est conservatrix virtutum . et qui sine humilitate caeteras virtutes congregat , qua●i pulverem in ventum portat . idem . ibid. ex greg. mor. s qui gloriantur vitia devicisse se , ipsi devincuntur . ardens ibid. t 2 cor. 11.5 . u 1 cor. 15.10 . x rom. 15.19 . a phil. 3.14 . b ibid. c instat equis auriga suos vincentibus , illum praeteritum temnens . horat . satyr . 1. d more viatorum nequaquam debemus aspicere quantum jam iter egimus , sed quantum superest ut peragamus : ut paulisper fiat praeteritum , quod indesinenter & timidè adhuc attenditur suturum . greg. mor. l. 22. c. 6. oblivis●ere omne praeteritum : & quotid●è inchoare tepu●a : ne pro praesenti die , quo debes servire deo , praeteritum imputes . pelag. ad demetr . e summun illud bonum imitari ●onemur : quod quantumvis quis in hac vita vires protenderit , neutiquam tamen consequi poterit . stella in luc. 1. f luke 17.10 . vide chrysost. in oziam serm . 3. g iob 9.3 . rom. 7.17 , 23. galat. 5.17 . meanes 11. h psal. 39.4 , 5. & 89.47 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hippocr . aphor . 1. quid tam circumcisum , tam breve , quam hominis vita longissima ? plin. ep . 7. lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. paedag . punctum ●st quod vivimus , & adhuc puncto minu● . sen. ep . 49. minorem portionem aetas nostra quam partem puncti habet , si tempori comparetur omni . id●m ad marc. c. 20. * ●inem dico qua vita ista finitur , in qua tantumm●do periculum est , ne cadatur . aug. de persever . c. 1. k matth. 13.41 . vbi omni & hoste & peste carebimus . aug. nom . de continent . c. 14. l propone profundi temporis vastitatē , & universum complectere : deinde hoc , quod aetatem vocamus humanam , compara immenso ; videbimus quam exigu●m sit , quod optamus , quod extendimus . sen. ep . 9● . omnia humana brevia & caduca sunt , infinui temporis nullum spatium occupantia . idem ad marc. c. 20. m matth. 20.28 . philip. 2.7 . luke 22.27 . n vt non sit hîc necessarium epicuri solamen illud , si longus , levis est ; si gravis est , brevis est . cic. tuscul. l. 2. sen. epist. 24. & 30. & 78. & 94. moras & i●lius in epigr. o 2 cor. 4.17 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys. de compunct . 1. * op●s te terret , merce●e vide . aug. de verb. dom. 6. meanes 12. p heb. 11.25 , 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrystom . 8. ser. 13. q 2 cor. 4.8 , 10 , 16 , 18. r galat. 4.7 . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gr●g . nazianz. de bapt. t galat. 6.9 . u heb. 12.2 , 3. x heb. 10.35 . considerations 2. consider . 1. losse . a apoc. 3.11 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. in matth. ●●m . 24. b vide thom. sum. par . l a. 2 ae . q. 88. ● . 4. dura●d . in sut . l. 2. d. 33. q. 3. al●x . ales sum . p 1. q. 39. m. 3. a. 4. §. 1. & p●r . 2 q. 114. m. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. in matth. ●om . 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; ly●●macl● apud plut. in ap p●●b . vel u●idem in prac . salubr . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . consider . 2. gaine . part 2. promise . motiue . branch . 1. giuer . d vers. 8. point 1. ability . e mat●h . 4.9 . f ap●c . 2.16 , 18. g matth. 28.18 . point 2. fidelitie . h apoc. 3.21 . i apoc. 3.14 . k heb. 10.23 . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. in paul. aemyl . m hebr. 6.11 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. paedag . l. 3. c. 8. point . 3. liberality . * rom. 8.12 . quicquid es , qu●cquid pot●s , d●bes creanti , d●bes redim●nti . bern. de divers . 19. n rom. 11.35 , 36. o luke 17.9.10 . p o magna dei b●nitas , cui cum pro conditione reddere d●beamus obsequia , vt servi domino , famu●● deo , subiecti potenti , mancipia redemptori , amicitiarum nobis praemia repromittit . aug. de ●erb . dom. branch 2. gift . point 4. crowne . q 2 tim. 4.8 . r luke 12.32 . matth. 25.34 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . euripid. phoeniss . nam si violandum est jus , regnandi gratia violandum est . c●c . offic . l. 3. “ perpessi sunt exercitus inopiam rerum omnium , vi●erunt herbarum radicibus , & dictu foedis tulerunt famem . haec omnia passi sunt proregno , & ( quô magis mir●ris ) alieno . sen. op . 17. s iam. 1.12 . t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de tranq . point 5. life . u psal. 82.7 . & 146.3 , 4. x matth. 26.46 . galat. 6.8 . y 1 cor. 9.29 . z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 pet. 5.4 . b est spica purpurea verius quam flos . mirum in eo gaudere decerpi & laetius renasci . mi●eque , postquam defecere cuncti flores , madefactus aqua reviviscit & hibernas coronas facit . summa eius natura in nomine est , appellato , quoniam non marcescat . plin. hist. nat . l. 21. c. 8. point 6. euerlasting . c 1 pet. 1.4 . d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . conclusion . vse . perswasion , and encouragement . e rom. 8.18 . f matth. 19 . 2● , 28. marke 10.28 , 29 , 30. luke 14 , 26 , 33. the testimonie giuen to mr ▪ william winter deceased . g acts 8.2 . 2. sam. 3.31 . h factitium vobi● sermon●m in omni forma sanctitatis dei servus exhibuit . bern. in obit . humb. i rom. 2.24 . k tit. 2.7 , 8 , 10. l many , i doubt not , may say of him , as bernard of humbert , separavit à nobis dulcem ami●●● , prudentem consil●arium , sor●ē auxiliarium : god hath taken from vs , a sweet friend , a wise counseller , a strong helper . m coloss. 4.8 . n ephes. 4. ●● . o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 cor. 6.4 . p 2 sam. 9.3 , 7. q iam. 2.5 . r quod de cratete plut. lib. de tranq . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s non sic vixi , ut ●e pud●at intervos vivere : nec mori timco . qu●a bonum dominum hab●mus . ambros. test● paul ●o in vita ambr. t domine , si adhuc topu●o tuo sum necessarius ; non recuso laborem ; f●●t volu●tas tua . sever . de martin ep . 3. & bern. serm . in fest . mart. u as paul , philip. 1.25 . as simeon , luke 2.29 . x apoc. 1.5 , 6. & 5.9 , 10. y rom. 9. ● . a sermon preached at the parish church of solihull in warwickshire, december 21. 1690 on occasion of the death of anne, the wife of the reverend and worshipful henry greswold; precentor of the cathedral of lichfield, &c. and rector of solihull aforesaid. by john wright master of arts. wright, john, 1665 or 6-1719. 1691 approx. 66 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67164 wing w3701 estc r221256 99832590 99832590 37064 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a67164) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37064) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2105:15) a sermon preached at the parish church of solihull in warwickshire, december 21. 1690 on occasion of the death of anne, the wife of the reverend and worshipful henry greswold; precentor of the cathedral of lichfield, &c. and rector of solihull aforesaid. by john wright master of arts. wright, john, 1665 or 6-1719. [4], 24, [4] p. printed for w. crooke at the green-dragon without temple-bar, london : mdcxci. [1691] with two final advertisement leaves. copy closely trimmed; with some print show-through; ms. note following imprint: "11. may.". reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons, english -17th century. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the parish church of solihull in warwickshire , december 21. 1690. on occasion of the death of anne , the wife of the reverend and worshipful henry greswold ; precentor of the cathedral of lichfield , &c. and rector of solihull aforesaid . by john wright master of arts. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isoc . ad demonic . london , printed for w. crooke at the green-dragon without temple-bar . mdcxci . to the reverend and worshipful henry greswold . precentor of the cathedral of lichfield , &c. honoured sir , your late dear consort when she discern'd the time of her departure to draw near , desired that what was to be preached at her funeral , might first entertain her own retired meditations in the chambers of death , while her soul was dressing up for eternity . but since it pleas'd the allwise god , to take her unto happiness , before i could minister to her piety herein , i now bring these leafs to lay upon her herse . i confess she deserv'd the greatest honour that can be done to her memory , and mine is the least . but because the design relates to one who was so near a portion of your self , i am willing to hope that you will give it some entertainment , and favourably resent my writing your name at the entrance . no body sure , can expect accuracy and fineness from one who is but an underbuilder in god's house . yet how mean soever it appears , i must acknowledge with all thankfulness , that the leisure i have for this and my other studies , together with most of my support , i owe to your bounty and favour . and besides my publickly declaring so , i can make no other return , but to beg of god almighty , that he will please to prolong your days upon earth , for the good of his church , the benefit of your country ; and the more particular comfort of your relations and friends : and at the end of a life full of years and honour , to receive your soul into that heavenly choir , whither she is already gone , with whom you will rejoyce to sit and sing allelujahs for evermore : which is the sincere and affectionate prayer of sir , your mightily obliged , and most faithful humble servant . john wright . heb. ix . 27. it is appointed for men once to dye . the first thing which these words suggest to our meditations is death , a very affrighting thing , formidable to human nature , the mere mentioning of which , is enough to damp our spirits , and the caresses of all sensual delights and satisfactions , quash all the glee which we can find in any wild frolicks or riotous jollities ; dim the lustre of all earthly grandeurs and beauties ; over-cloud and darken all the splendor and glories of this world. and yet dye we must , it hath pleas'd god , by reason of sin , to bring it upon all mankind , to make it the necessary condition of our nature in this life , for it is appointed for men once to dye . that we may make the best improvement of these words we can . 1. let us meditate what it is to dye . 2. of the assuredness of death to us all , it is appointed for men. 3. the time when this shall befal us , we are once , at a certain time to dye . lastly , what may comfort us against the fear of death . 1. what it is to dye ; how we are to understand death . now this , according to the sense of all mankind , confirm'd by the gospel , is our removing out of this life , our going into the next world , and our leaving these earthly tabernacles behind us , to return to the dust of the earth whence they had their original . 1. it is our removing out of this life . linquenda est tellus , * saith the poet , & domus & placens uxor atque harum quas colis arborum te praeter invisas cupressos nulla brevem dominum sequetur . thou must leave thy land , and thy dwelling , and thy pleasing wife ; and of all thy trees , none shall attend thee to thy grave , but oak for thy coffin . † a black shirt was all that celadine the great carried to his grave . ‖ and when ninus went to hell he took with him neither gold , nor horse , nor silver chariot . we are here but as strangers and pilgrims upon the earth . this world is not our home and country , we are only to pass through it , where we have no abiding city . this should teach us to bear all the evils of this life with an even mind , as remembring that we are upon our journey , and have so fair a country in our prospect , where we shall be happy , past all the storms and tempests ; all the doubts and fears ; all the sins and temptations ; all the pains and cares of this troublesom pilgrimage , shall be safely landed in heaven , where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes , and death and sorrow shall be no more . we should hence also be careful , that we do not carry away out of this life , ( which we cannot always enjoy ) such earthly affections to it , such gaspings for it , such lookings back after it , as may make us miserable in the next , when we are parted from it . the other world does not alter the temper and disposition of mind which a man carries with him : he that is filthy will be filthy still , and he that is unrighteous will be unrighteous still . and we are not certain that we shall not take with us sensual appetites , when we remove from sensible objects . old age does not cure wanton desires in bad men ; nor envious passions , nor worldly affections ; nay , these rather encrease as the body decays . and then we may well believe , that a man carries the earthly passions and inclinations of his mind along with him ; and it must needs be a torment in the other state , and possess the soul with vexation and restlessness , to despair of ever enjoying that which only it has an ardent affection after . 2. ' t is our going into the next world , our entring upon a new state of life , where there will be neither marrying nor building , nor food nor raiment , nor ploughing nor sowing , nor buying nor selling , nor sitting nor walking , nor heat nor cold ; but a new world of spiritual beings . we are told glorious things of the happiness of that state , but withal , that it is like nothing which we have seen or heard , or can conceive . and no wonder , since 't is the entertainment and employment of angels and spirits , whereas all our notices come by sense . while we are in this body , we can have no notions from any thing but what is material , and can affect our senses ; and can no more understand an invisible world , and immaterial inhabitants , than a man born blind can colours ; he may believe there are such , and may hear persons discourse learnedly about 'em , but they cannot be represented to him any way , whereby he can have an idea of them . so that we cannot conceive how we shall be when we have parted with our bodies , and left them behind us ; what will be our employment , or shall so much as first present it self to us ; how we can be able to discern and distinguish spirits , or converse with 'em ; whither it is we are to go , since no place as such can affect a soul ; wherein the happiness of that state consists . the knowledge of which things , while all our intelligence is to come by sense , cannot be conveyed to us . hence then were it wise in us to comply with all our saviour's directions , for the fashioning of our minds , and to practise all those graces and vertues he requires of us ; as easily supposing , that such habits and dispositions of mind are necessary for us to rellish the happiness of that state . for there are many degrees and instances of vertue required from us , which are not necessary to , nay , scarce consistent with the happy and prosperous condition of this world , or our living in it : for we are not to love it , we are to live above it ; to stifle and suppress not only the extravagant and irregular , but even the natural appetites of the body , and to despise the pleasures of it , subduing the flesh to the spirit ; to enjoy this world with that great indifferency , as if we enjoy'd it not ; to have our conversation in heaven , all our joys and affections , our treasure and hearts there ; to love our enemies , and those who hate us and despitefully use us ; to forgive injuries ; not to retaliate evil for evil , but the contrary : which things we cannot think why our saviour should require from us , were it not that that temper of mind which these vertues form in us , is necessary to prepare us for the happiness of the other life ; and so far as we abate of them , so far shall we fall short of our felicity in that state. as for the miseries of it , we may well believe , that they also are more than any thing we have seen , or felt , or can conceive . they are represented by * lakes of fire and brimstone ; and though fire cannot hurt a soul , yet if such expressions be metaphorical , what will those sufferings be that are real ! thus to dye is to enter into the strange regions , and new state of the other life . 3. 't is our leaving these earthly tabernacles behind us , to return to dust ; our bodies to sleep in the earth , tho' our souls have taken their flight from it . with reference to these was it said , * dust thou art , and to dust shalt thou return . yet 't is but for a time , and † though it be sown a natural body , it shall be rais'd a spiritual ; for * flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god , neither can corruption inherit incorruption . these earthly bodies which we live in , cannot subsist in that pure light and glorious region where god dwells ; and therefore to be fit to inherit glory , they must at the last day be spiritualiz'd , free from all sublunary passions , to rellish none of the pleasures of flesh and blood ; and the more they are refin'd here from fleshly appetites and earthly inclinations , the more glorious will they rise again . 1. this again should wean our minds from all sensual pleasures and worldly affections . for if we can like nothing but these things , what shall we do when we come to leave 'em , when they cannot be had ? for whatever clothing our souls may have , yet flesh and blood they shall not . and altho' when our bodies fall from us into dust , the particular desires and slighter inclinations of 'em may possibly depart from us , ( as we see in long and tedious sicknesses and austerities , men care not much for bodily pleasures : ) yet when the soul is sensualiz'd ( as it is in old sinners , tho' the body be decay'd ) and can esteem no other ; 't is uncapable of any happiness among spirits , or in a body that is spiritualiz'd and glorified . by how much therefore our inclinations are sunk into flesh and sense , by so much are we indispos'd for the happiness of the next life , which doth not consist in 'em ; and the more spiritual our nature is , the more is it prepared for the glories that shall be revealed . 2. we should not hence pride our selves too much about our bodies , — either as to their descent , since our pedigree is all alike antient , and no one knows what sort of persons his ancestors may have been , however we know what we all in a short time must be . or as to their beauty , which if it be not overvalued , but real , soon whithereth away like grass ; whereas grace and goodness gives the most pleasing air to our very aspect , such as no beauty natural or artificial can come near . however 't is but a little while till we shall not know the difference betwixt the dust of one person and another . or as to their apparel , which besides that it often but indifferently sets off the person ( the plainest dress according to peoples quality being most becoming ) can be of no use in the other life to cover a man's soul. or that we have an estate to provide more largely for them than others have ; or can pamper them more : yet for all this they will fall into dust , and the sooner ordinarily for our too much indulging . lastly , we should believe according to the scriptures , that our bodies shall spring up again more glorious at the resurrection , and in the mean time they are said in scripture to be asleep . the soul must all the while be in an imperfect state without the body , and is not compleatly happy till they meet each other again , to live in perpetual harmony and pleasures , to which glorified bodies will be highly instrumental . but if we make our bodies the servants of sin , and they carry to their graves fleshly lusts and sensual affections , * they will rise to shame and everlasting contempt . thus we have heard what it is to dye . in what sense we are to understand death , that we do not then cease to be . and methinks when we see the body of a worthy friend or relation lie before us , pale and without sense or motion , who but few hours since , may be , was our support and comfort ; we cannot conceive that this must be all of the person , but that the soul is alive somewhere , tho' we did not see it go , nor what company did attend it , nor what a state or place it pass'd into . 2. i proceed to the next thing , the assuredness of death to us all , it is appointed for us . of this all mankind is a proof by the succession of generations . and our selves see that those who live the oldest , yet death follows them close at the heels , and at last gives them the fatal stroke . there have been two indeed excepted since the beginning of the world ; but no more will till the end of it , and then saith st. paul , * we that are alive shall be changed . sin is the cause of this , for † death came into the world by it , and * in adam all dye . had we been made spirits at first , we had had no principles of mortality in us ; and it had been hard to have depriv'd us of our natures , and to have made us mortal for one man's sin , without our fault . but we were made of flesh and blood , of the dust of the earth , and subject therefore by nature to dissolution and corruption ; for that which is made of dust , may sure be resolv'd into it again . and since it pleas'd god to deprive our first parents , because of their sin , of that supernatural priviledge of the tree of life , which was granted them alone for a sacrament or an assurance of immortality , we have no wrong done us . for human nature is , and always was , in its frame mortal . adam's body , even in paradise , was in it self as vulnerable , as capable of a violent death , or being prejudic'd by infectious airs as ours are ; tho' it was more secured from them . but now since sin is come forth into the world , and men have corrupted their nature by it , and are left to their own counsels , to injure themselves and one another by violence and excess , and to the contingencies of things , there must needs be death , tho' we could get a preservative against all the decays of nature . so true is it that sin brought death into the world . and 't is as true , that he will now never leave coming to our doors , till he has fetcht us one after another all away . and indeed considering this fallen and apostate state of the world , an immortal life were not desireable in it , tho' our bodies might be preserv'd by a miracle , and mankind did not too much encrease . for short as it is , a little while gives wise men enough of it , but then it would be intolerable , and it has pleas'd god to provide a better place for us . now the assuredness that we must all dye , that the pale messenger must shortly close our eyes , and fill us full with dust and clay , should cool our desires after this world ; teach us when we have enough ; shew us that these are not the riches of a soul , which must shortly change this life ; and put us upon an early preparation for death , lest we render our lives uncomfortable for fear of it , and be affrighted and in agonies , when it comes within view , and we see it approach us . 3. the time when death will befal us . we are once , at a certain time to dye . it is appointed for men once to dye . when and where , and how each of us shall depart this world , the all-knowing god foresees , and has certainly determined . for we cannot suppose it to be unknown or unresolv'd with him , how he will proportion our lives , and what our death shall be . and , * if the very hairs of our head , then assuredly all our days are numbred . therefore with reference to the period of human life we are told , job 14. 5. that the days of man are determined , the number of his months are with thee , thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass . and job 7. 1. is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? are not his days like the days of an hireling ? and if we will allow god , who governs the world , to order and dispose all events in it , according to his will and counsel , and by his disappointing or giving success to things , to be the author of all the good or evil which happens to mankind ; ( as the scripture makes him ) * if a sparrow does not fall to the ground without him , much less shall man , who , as our saviour teacheth , is of more value than many of ' em . † my times , saith david , are in thy hands . no man can depart from this world , no more than he can be born into it without his particular providence . no one can be guilty of his own murder , but by god's forsaking him and giving the man up to himself ; no sickness or distemper shall prove mortal , but when god pleases it shall ; no wrath or malice of men can destroy us but when god permits them , and then he is said to deliver up a man into the hands of his enemy ; no wars , pestilence and famine but are sent by god , and directed by him where to strike . since then the providence of god does peculiarly over-rule and determine all events , and especially the end of man's days here on earth , and withal foreknows whatever shall come to pass ; we are then to believe , that all things shall move on in that certain track which god foresees and has appointed , and that no one shall dye sooner , nor live longer than that period which god in his wise predestination has determined for us . not but that god often prolongs the life of the righteous , and cuts off the wicked doers , as the scriptures frequently assure us . but then they assure us too , that god hath ordain'd the righteous to be such , and to leave the wicked to their own devices , as the means of that their longer or shorter time , which accordingly god hath fore-determined . so that our using or neglecting those of religion and a holy life , as well as other ways of self-preservation are neither in vain for the lengthening or lessening our race here , nor yet alter , but pursue and compass the goal which god hath prefix'd us . thus is that matter resolv'd which beverovicius the learned physician was so much concern'd about . but then it is a thing which some would be glad to know , viz. the number of their days , and the time we have for yet to live ; and could we tell them , they were to hold out yet fifty or sixty years , it might be glad tydings ; and then they would let loose all the reins to sin. but if all that must dye betimes knew so , how would it damp and chill their spirits , fill the rest of the world with mourning , cast a veil over all the comforts of life , and put a stop to all their industry in it ! for what would become of all arts and sciences , trades and education , if persons knew they were to dye , by that time they had made any improvement or progress ? and so a great part of mankind would lay aside the necessary business of life , which i believe no dying persons would much concern themselves for ; and religion be little minded but against the time of death . as to the bounds which god has set to human life in general ; moses tells us that in his time * the days of man's age were seventy years . and in the ordinary course of nature , our bodies cannot hold out much more ; all beyond is labour and sorrow . when mankind were few they liv'd longer ; but now the world is stockt with inhabitants , should our ancestors , who liv'd seven or eight hunder'd years ago , and their immediate children and grand-children , down to our times , be alive now to enjoy their estates , the present generation must needs be beggars , would not know where nor how to live ; and wickedness might come to the same pass as it did in the old world , when there was but one righteous family left ; the most probable cause whereof was the length of their lives . whereas the shortning of them , has made men more governable ; sets heaven and hell at a nearer distance , encourages good men thereby to persevere , and sooner removes those who are bad . in a word , our lives are long enough to prepare our selves for heaven , and if we are soon removed thither i hope it is no loss , especially to so great a part of mankind who live in pains and sorrows , want and drudgery , to whom the shortness of life is a comfort . for so we find job most passionately expressing himself , wherefore is light given to him that is in misery , and life to the bitter in soul ? which long for death , but it cometh not , and dig for it more than for hid treasures ; which rejoyce exceedingly , and are glad when they can find the grave , job 3. 20 , 21 , 22. my soul chuseth strangling and death rather than life , i loath it , i would not live alway ; let me alone for my days are vanity , job 7. 15 , 16. since then it has pleas'd god to bring down the ordinary term of our life to seventy years or thereabouts , if we could attain unto it , as few do . 1. we should hence learn some end of our cares , and not have our hearts and desires constantly intent and eager after money , and increasing our estates to the last gasp , as if there were no life but in them . for this exceeds the covetousness of that laborious rich man in the gospel , who knew when he had enough , and * to take his ease . but bethink our selves what provision we have made for our souls , against they † are turned out of these earthly habitations ; what * treasures we have laid up in heaven ; what good we have done in the world ; how useful we have been in our generation ; how kind to our neighbours ; or rather , how few naked backs we have clothed ; how few empty bellies we have filled ; how few languishing bowels we have refreshed ; how few good works we have rewarded . and yet how many rich men may we observe in the world , who part with money to the poor as it were blood out of their veins ; repining at ordinary expences ; raging at a loss or mischance ; tenacious and narrow to those about them ? what sordid practices and dishonourable shifts they 'll take up with to save ? how tamely they can sit under the lash of tongues , and content under an ill name ? in a word , what slaves they can be to worldly things ? not forbear god's own day , nor , as solomon speaks , are they * suffer'd to take rest in the night . and lastly , what glory has god had from all ? whereas a little will serve us while we live ; and such a competent provision for children , as may encourage their industry and vertue ( tho' not maintain them in idleness and vice ) may be a just reason for our care ; but to make them rich and great is not : and yet many persons are never contented with earth till they are laid in it ; neither live belov'd , nor dye lamented . and this is the more to be pitied , when it befalls any of those who , for their other endowments , might have been the delight and pride of their country . 2. we should likewise bethink our selves , how our lives shorten every day ; and how near we may be got to the common period of man's life . it may be there are but a few years behind , and then at least we must begin to mind what we came hither for , and to do it , or else we shall soon be in everlasting torments . and when we have past through the remaining scenes and stages of life in vertue and honour , and have got the taste and rellish of this world out of our minds , have no hankerings after it , and can live without it , and are approaching into the confines of eternity ; we should not be apt to think of the melancholy state of our bodies , which are left to putrifie in their graves till the resurrection ; but of the glories and pleasures of another life to which we are a going , which will raise our desires after it , and take off the natural aversions to death . we must once dye , saith the text , after that we shall dye no more , death hath no more dominion over us . some we read of in the gospel , who were rais'd from the dead to live here anew , and such were fain to dye again . but this we must not expect , after once we are dead , have parted with these earthly bodies , gone into another life , ever to return into this world again to amend . we then pass into an immortal and irreversible state of rewards and punishments . the only time then we have to work out our salvation , is while we are in these bodies , * for we must be judg'd according to the things done in them . let wicked men therefore look to it betimes , and get such habits and dispositions of mind , as may make their souls happy when they depart hence . for if mens earthly natures are to be spiritualiz'd and refin'd , before they can be fit to live in the presence of god in glory ; it must be only those graces and vertues which come from heaven to adorn our souls here , as must carry us up thither . but if † with prophane esau they will for worldly enjoyments sell their birth-right ; i. e. their right and title to eternal glory , when they come to inherit the blessing annexed to it , they 'll find no place for repentance , i. e. no altering god almighty , no changing or reversing their case , tho' they seek it carefully with tears ; for so neither could esau make isaac reverse his . indeed men may so far harden themselves in sin , and reject all the means which god uses for their amendment , as that at last he may before death withdraw his spirit from them , give them up to their own counsels , and the government of evil spirits . and the hardness of the israelties ▪ was such that god cast them out of the care of his good providence , left them to wander , and at last to dye in the wilderness , and * sware in his wrath that they should never enter into his rest . of like persons did our saviour speak , † that the kingdom of god should be taken from them , and given to a nation bringing * forth the fruits thereof . we are likewise told of apostates from the christian religion to paganism ; that 't is † impossible to renew their baptismal grace , and receive them again to repentance ; that * there remaineth no more sacrifice for their sin , but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation : and s. john discourages christians from † praying for those who were fallen into it , calling it a sin unto death ; and thereupon disswades us from the * pagan idolatry ; but otherwise god does not deny his grace and mercy to any one in this life who will accept of it . nay , if a man believes god's mercy in christ to penitent sinners , and upon such a belief repents and lives a holy life ; if the man should dye desponding his own case , and hope for no salvation by jesus christ , we have no reason to think that god will condemn him , because he upon a mistake will condemn himself , no more than he will save that wicked person who dyes , believing all shall go well with him . but now death puts a stop to all our opportunities , and cuts off the hopes of wicked men : they must then abide under the wrath and vengeance of god for ever ; and are reserved in a miserable estate for the judgment of the great day ; when there will be the final consummation of rewards and punishments for evermore . this should therefore put us upon doing all the good we can , while the day of salvation lasteth , before the dismal night comes upon us , which for ought we know , may be within this week , and after that no more trial , for we must dye but once . † be ye therefore ready , saith our saviour , for the son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not . we may be cut off on a sudden , seiz'd with distraction or dulness , so as not to be able so much as to set our house in order . and tho' men by a strange partiality , are apt to fancy to themselves that they shall live as long as any body uses to do ; yet we see they are often mistaken . when and where , and in what manner we shall dye god has conceal'd from us , to engage us to constant watchfulness and an early piety . and who then would have his heart set upon this world , who knows not how soon his head may be laid low , how soon he may be turn'd out of his earthly tenement ? it may be to morrow for ought he knows , yea * this night his soul may be taken from him ; and then with our life the day of grace ends . † wherefore , as the holy ghost saith , to day if ye will hear his voyce , harden not your hearts . and since our blessed lord will reward all the good offices we do for him , so that a cup of cold water given for his name sake , shall not lofei its reward . we may get to be rich in good works ; for the more we do , the more we shall be rewarded ; and god will proportion our glories , according as we have improv'd our talents and opportunities to do good here , and have laid up our treasures with him . now this shews men , besides the hazard they run , what they lose , by not beginning the service of god early . nor can they rationally think , that they who begin to live well at the latter end of their time , should have an equal reward with those * who have , as the gospel says to another purpose , born all the heat of the day , have served god all their life : nor that they who do but little , should be as well rewarded , as they who have done a thousand times more good : which is also contrary to what our lord delivers in those parables concerning † a nobleman travelling into a far country , who delivered to his servants his goods , to each according to his several ability to improve for him , and at his return rewarded every one proportionably according to his works . but tho' some men are contented to be least in the kingdom of heaven , and care not how late they prepare for it , nor how little a share they have in the glories there , so they can have any ; and it is well if such indifferent persons ever can . yet there are others who do not mind it so much , and scarce ever in good earnest think of another life , till their souls are pasting into it ; and then , it may be , they sadly lament their folly , in that they prefer'd the deiuding scenes of this world , before the compleat and endless glories of the other ; and this they are apt to call repentance , but is too often only a conscience distracted with a sense of its own guilt , and the fearful expectations of the divine vengeance . these men part with their sins , as many do with their charity ; not while they live and can keep it themselves , but when it cannot be reckoned among the actions of their lives . lord , what horrors and agonies are they many times in ! what vows and promises of better obedience ! and no doubt , sometimes sincere and hearty , as is plain in some few who have recover'd . now in this case there is certainly very great hazard , and therefore no less madness for any of us to leave our salvation to it ; as the world of christian writers do generally , ( i suppose ) conclude , and divers of them and those of the first magnitude , that it is at least next to desperate . and i confess justification by faith only , seems principally to respect our entring the baptismal covenant , yet sure charity will not determine that it does so absolutely and solely , but rather find reason to hope that the all-wise god , who foreseeth all future contingencies , and the effects of things in their causes , while he discerneth in a penitent sick person a true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or change of mind , such as if the man liv'd would be productive of a good life , will mercifully accept according to what a man hath , and not according to what he hath not ; as he graciously does of the faith and repentance of those who fall into sin after baptism , but through an unexpected death , do not live to pursue their good purposes and resolutions . and why should that be such a difference in the state of a man's soul , where the principle of a new life is arriv'd to a like degree in both ; that their deaths are alike near , but in the one not thought so ? we read of the sick * whose sins shall be forgiven before recovery . and our own church obligeth us to absolve the sick person after confession , if he humbly and heartily desire it , though his conscience be troubled with weighty matters . and this we do not only for those who may recover ( though if they do the absolution is past ) but in the case of such malefactors who we are sure will not . and there are many promises in the gospel to encourage us in so doing † if any man sin , saith st. john , we have an advocate with the father , jesus christ the righteous , and he is the propitiation for our sins * so god loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , to the end that all that believe in him should not perish , but have everlasting life . and all those places of scripture which represent † jesus christ to come into the world to save sinners . and if this be meant of penitent sinners believing on him , who renounce every evil way , and will effectually serve him in a good life , if they live ; why , such are those suppos'd to be we speak of : and yet their end must needs be very tragical , since no man can be sure ( tho' god is ) at that time , whether he is one of them . 4. we proceed to the last thing , what may comfort us against the fear of death . now this may be resolv'd according to those several notions wherein men fear it . 1. if we consider death , as 't is a leaving these earthly tabernacles behind us to dissolution . men are loth to dye ; nature shrinks at it ; body and soul are not willing to part ; * skin for skin , saith satan truly , yea all that a man hath will he give for his life . men would naturally fain live ; † light is sweet , saith the wise man , and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun ; but very unpleasant to have our life go from us ; to return unto the earth ; to be distolv'd ; 't is against the decency which human nature delighteth in , for us to fall into corruption , and the deformities of death , and the dishonours of a grave ; and it is against the most natural and general instinct of self-preservation . now if we enquire into the bottom of all this ; we shall find , men are chiefly afraid that death puts an end to their being , or that the next life will not please them . but they need not fear , since our saviour hath discovered to us , that there is another glorious world , which our souls shall pass into ; and a state of happiness above any thing we can conceive here , which we shall enjoy , without dying any more . we are assured , that when we leave this tabernacle of flesh , we shall enter upon a more glorious scene of things ; new and suprizing wonders will present themselves to our view , upon our first passage into it , which are here concealed from us ; and * we shall have building of god , a house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . we should not therefore have our thoughts always dwell amongst tombs , and of the condition of our bodies for a while in the grave ; but upon that blessed country we are design'd for , and the happy world to which we are going ; and this will make our leaving this life easie to us , when we must change it for heaven ; and to be of st. paul's mind , after he had a glimpse of the heavenly glory , desirous to be dissolv'd , and to be with christ , which is far better . and although we cannot form any notions of the condition or happiness of the next life ; for 't is above any thing we can think , and flesh and blood cannot inherit it ; yet we may be well assured , that god will provide such pleasures as will be suitable for us in that state , and shall make us happy for ever . as for our bodies , they will be in the mean time without sense , and so not capable of any enjoyments or misery ; but god will take care of them , and * though they be sown in corruption , he will raise them in incorruption ; tho' they be sown in dishonour , they shall be rais'd in glory . 2. if we consider death , as it is our removing out of this life ; men are loth to leave it , would be very willing to stay , especially if their condition be any thing comfortable in it : here they meet with what an earthly nature chiefly desires and delights in ; what supplies all their needs , and pleasures all their senses ; and are therefore well contented as they be ; do not desire to remove , or to change worlds ; unwilling to be taken from their beloved enjoyments , estates , dwellings , business , family , recreations ; and to leave behind them all which their nature takes pleasure and satisfaction in ; and therefore who can blame them , that they are afraid of death , which takes them away from all their comforts in this life ? but alass , these men should consider , that we are to be here but as travellers or inmates ; we are not to tarry ; it is not our abiding place ; this is not our inheritance , but a transitory scene which cannot last . our bodies themselves do soon fall to decay , and in a while to dust , and the * whole world will at last break out into a universal flame . therefore we should have a care , that we do not set our hearts too much upon it , lest lakes of fire be prepared for us . and this makes afflictions sometimes necessary : yet if it should please god to send us none , but that we had all the happiness which could be heaped upon us here ; we have no cause to complain , if we must change the transitory satisfactions of this world , for the more noble and lasting pleasures of the next . and what disadvantage is it to be removed to a better place and more happy life ? as soon as ever the soul has taken her flight from the body , and has left this life , she enters into a new and more glorious state than ever the sun saw ; enlarges her prospect , and views and admires the glories and beauties of that happy place ; and so rejoyces in the pleasures of it , that it were worse than death to return hither again . 't is said of the new jerusalem , that * there shall be no curse in it , nothing to imbitter that state , but the throne of god , and of the lamb shall be in it , and his servants shall serve him . and they shall see his face , and there shall be no night , nor need of a candle , neither light of the sun , nor of the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of god lightens it , where they shall reign for ever and ever . and altho' we cannot tell now how these things will affect us ; to be sure no wicked man can be happy in god's presence , for there is such an unlikeness and contrariety in impure and polluted souls to the infinitely holy god , that 't is impossible there should be any friendly communication between them : he is not a god , saith the psalmist , who hath pleasure in wickedness , neither can evil dwel with him ; and ‖ what communion , saith the apostle , hath light with darkness ? but yet to a generous and vertuous mind , what can be more delightful , than to have our understandings entertain'd with a clear sight of the first and best being ? to admire his wisdom , and to behold his glory , to dwell immediately in his presence , and continually attend upon his throne ? to be in special favour with our blessed lord in the place he hath prepared for us ? to enter into the perpetual society and friendship of the holy angels , to whom we shall be made equal , and * the spirits of just men made perfect , many of our dear relations and intimate acquaintance , whom probably we shall know again ; with all those brave and worthy souls whom we have seen or heard of ; and all the blessed inhabitants of those most glorious regions ? to converse with them freely , without any folly or disguise , or those passions which spoil the comfort , and disturb the peace of mankind ? nay , when we enter into our master's joy , we shall have cause to say , as the queen of sheba of the glory of solomon , that not the half of it was ever told us . and as heaven is an exceeding , so 't is an eternal weight of glory ; as in god's presence there is fulness of joy ; so at his right hand there shall be pleasures for evermore . now since we cannot see god and live , ( for who ever could see a spirit ? ) since these joys are too big for our poor capacities , too pure for flesh and blood , too strong for our weak natures to bear ; this should reconcile us to death , and welcome that blessed hour , when we shall pass into the next life with comfort , have our souls rais'd to their full strength and activity , enter the promised land , meet our blessed saviour with crowns of glory in his hands for us , and then we shall ever be with the lord. this is not only enough to mortifie all our affections for this world , but necessarily requires it . for the kingdom of god is not meat and drink , consists not in such entertainments which this world gives us ; we shall find nothing there to gratifie sensual appetites and worldly inclinations . we should therefore procure to our selves such dispositions of mind , as god thinks meet for us to be made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light ; endeavour to be like god , if we would see him as he is ; and * he that hath this hope in him , saith the apostle , purifieth himself even as he is pure ; have our conversation in heaven , and not upon the earth ; set our affections on things above , and not on things below ; use this world , with that indifferency , as if we used it not , because the fashion thereof passeth away ; and then we shall be contented and fit to leave it , as a wayfaring traveller to return into his own country . 3. if we consider death , as our going into the next world , men are apt to be afraid of it , not knowing what may become of them , how god may dispose of their souls . now this can no way be helpt , but by giving all diligence to make our calling and election sure ; by ceasing to do evil , and learning to do well ; by leading innocent and vertuous lives ; by laying up treasures in heaven , which may provide for us , when we are turned out of these earthly habitations . in a word , to live so , that our hearts may not condemn us ; and then we shall have confidence towards god. thus when a man who has lived well all his time , comes to die , with what peace and comfort can he resign his soul into the hands of god! with what ease can he part with this life ! how vain and empty , how like pageantry and a shew do these things appear as they pass from him ! how wean'd from all the pomps and vanities of this world ! with how little terror can he behold death approaching ! or rather , with what joy does he go to meet the bridegroom of his soul ! how willing to go to the place where our blessed saviour is , who died for him ! no melancholy fears , nor storms of conscience discompose his inward peace : he takes a religious farewell of his family and neighbours that come to see him , with a charitable concern for all his fellow christians ; and the present calmness and tranquility of his mind , are the joyful beginnings and dawnings of that everlasting rest he is going to . o , who would not so live that he may die the death of the righteous , and have his latter end like his . and now my discourse upon the text must needs cease , this so naturally carrying my thoughts to the consideration of another in exemplification of it : i mean the deceased gentlewoman , whose funeral we here commemorate . ye have heard of death in the theory ; but she presents it to the life : and should not only affect , but warn us ; because we shall all enter into the like darksome shades . i confess i find funeral panegyricks to be very ancient . for according to anaximenes , solon , that wise grecian , instituted them to the atheuians : and plutarch tells us , that valerius publicola begun the same among the romans ; which were so approved , that in the days of camillus they were appointed to adorn the obsequies of honourable women by an order of the senate . and when they are for deserving persons , bring great glory to god , are a meet reward to the memory of the deceased , and both an admonition and encouragement to those who survive . and here i had a large field before me to have expatiated in for these purposes ; but must disappoint peoples expectations of my saying much , being more than once particularly desired by her that i would not : hereby shewing her self ( suitable to all the rest of her life ) free from any desire of applause or ostentation i shall therefore only describe some of those greater lines of her conversation , wherein she was extreamly commendable . 1. such as have been observed ( tho' rarely together ) in other vertuous women , namely , an extraordinary diligence in her family ; was discreet and thoughtful in the government of it ; a prudent and faithful wife ; a tender mother to her children ; willing to provide for them , as far as was consistent with the obligations of piety and charity : otherwise as for her self , she could be content , if it so pleased god , ( she has sometimes said ) to live in a cottage , often commending the happiness that mightattend such a retired state ; and would upon due occasions manifest a generous contempt of worldly things . but as one that was the * grand-daughter , ‖ daughter , and wife of a minister , was most especially regardful of her childrens souls , instructing them in religion , and the duty which god requires from 'em ; particularly cautioning them from time to time , never to take to that unbred and unchristian disposition , which has been too peculiar to many persons , if not families of this place , to love to hear and tell evil stories of the vices or misfortunes of one another ; which if true , were fitter to be lamented ; and yet when they have not known the truth of things , would be willing to believe and speak the worst ; a quality she had ever a just resentment against . she was glad of any opportunity to hear the younger read , duly minding them of their prayers ; enjoining this in her will to all her children , as a condition of her legacies , that they shall say their prayers upon their knees , at the least twice every day . she was kind to her servants ; careful of them when they were sick ; apt to advise them . was mightily helpful and good to her sick neighbours , or when they were otherways amiss ; always coveted to make peace among them ; her self shewing them a good example of forgetting injuries . of an affable and gentle carriage , obliging persons by the much becoming modesty and handsomness of it : very lowly and mean in her own eyes , rather too much distrusting her own abilities . so exactly just , that she would sometimes rather pay twice , than lie under the suspicion of wronging any one once . as to her charity in giving , that we may well speak to , since twice a week all are served that come . fair in her dealings ; seldom , if ever , reckoning with the parishioners , but would return 'em some of her own rights again , ( being willing to please 'em ; ) and to many of the poorer , the whole , often to her own loss , keeping off trouble from them ; ready to advise and assist them in any emergency that needed to be brought to her , or wherein she thought she could serve them . seldom made unnecessary visits , having business enough in her family , and the care of her own soul to mind , so that she had little time to spare . and on every occasion apt to express the resignation of her will to the divine pleasure ; as she especially did in her long and languishing sickness , which was many times very painful ; being extraordinary meek and patient under it to the last minute of her life , as little troublesome certainly to those about her , as ever any one was . and as she shunn'd all pomp and ceremony through the whole course of her life , so at her death , she desired to be carried to her grave in quiet , without noise or the attendance of any but the bearers and her own servants ; tho' we could not procure that for her . 2. such as have exceeded all that ever i knew of either sexes , namely her constant fastings and prayers . by the former she too much weakned her nature ; and the latter was in a manner her continual employment , when she could get leisure from business . some of the family have suppos'd , she always kept to six stated times of prayer every day ; but i have generally known it to be much oftner , especially against a sacrament . and she rarely missed the publick prayers in her own house , or at church , for all those seven last years that i have had the honour to serve her in them : and her coming was not to gaze or muse , but to join with the whole service . in such a frame of mind continued she on to her death ; disposing her self into an humble posture , when she was not able to kneel , nor rise when she was down . lastly , having receiv'd the absolution of the church , which she earnestly desired , together with the sacrament of the lord's supper , she departed this life the 27th of november last past , in great peace of conscience , and universal charity to all people . i conclude all with the words of our saviour , highly applicable in this case , blessed is that servant , whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing . finis . books printed for w. crooke , at the green-dragon without temple-bar . 1691. 1. the london practice of physick , or the whole practical part of physick , contained in the works of dr. tho. willis ; faithfully made english , and printed together for the publick good : to which is bound his new book , being a plain and easie method for preserving from , and curing of the plague , and all other contagious diseases , in 8o . price bound 7 s. 6 d. 2. the christians manual , in three parts . 1. the catechumen , or an account given by the young person of his knowledge in religion , before his admission to the lords supper , as a ground-work for his right understanding the sacrament : alone price 8 d. 2. an introduction to a plain and safe way to the communion table , with prayers fitted for the communicant , before , at , and after the receiving of the lords supper : alone price 1 s. 3. the primitive institution , shewing the great benefit and necessity of catechising , to save the souls of particular persons , and to heal the present distempers of the church , in 12o . price bound 1 s. but the whole together 2 s. bound . 3. the historians guide , brittain's remembrancer ; being a summary of all the actions , battels , &c. preferments , changes , &c. that happened in his majesties kingdom , from an. dom. 1600. to 1690. shewing the year , month , and day of the month each was done in ; with an alphabetical table , for the more easie finding out any thing in the book , in 12o . price bound 2 s. 4. compendium geographicum , or a more plain and easie introduction into all geography than yet extant , after the latest discoveries and alterations ; with two alphabets , 1. of the antient , and 2. of the modern names of places , &c. by p. c. chamherlain of the inner-temple , in 12o : price bound 1 s. 5. bucaniers of america , or a true account of the most remarkable assaults , committed of late years upon the coasts of the west-indies , by the english and french ; with the unparallel'd exploits of sir h. morgan , captain cooke , captain sharp , and other english men : also the great cruelties of the french bucaniers , as of lolonois , barti , portugues , rock brasiliano , &c. in two volumns ; both bound together price 10 s. in 4to . 6. the works of homer , viz. his illiads and oddises , translated out of greek into english by tho. hobbes of malmsbury : price bound 5 s. 7. nine treatises of tho. hobbes of malmsbury , bound in two volumns in octavo , viz. 1. his behemoth , or civil wars of england . 2. his historical narration of heresie . 3. his answer to bishop bramhall in defence of his leviathan . 4. his seven problems , with an apology to the king , for his writings . these four were printed all at one time , and called his tracts : price bound 5 s. — — — 5. his life in latin , writ part by himself , and finished by dr. b. 6. his consideration on his own , religion , loyalty , &c. 7. his art of rhetorick in english. 8. his dialogue about the common law of england . 9. his ten dialogues of natural philosophy in english. these five last were printed at several times , and sold single ; but for conveniency , also bound in a volumn together , and sold for 7 s. 6. d. 8. a modern view of such parts of europe that hath lately been , and still are , the places of great transactions , viz. italy , with all its principalities : france , with all it provinces and bishopricks ; germany , with the dukedom of lorrain , and all the electorates and lordships of the empire ; spain , with all its dominions , &c. wherein is shewed the present state of all those countries , with curious remarks of antiquity interwoven , in 8o . price bound 2 s. 6 d. 9. the case of the resistance of the supreme powers stated and resolved , according to the doctrine of the holy scriptures , by w. sherlock , d. d. master of the temple , the second edition , in 8o . price bound 2 s. 10. a plain and easie method , for preserving those that are well from the infection of the plague , or any contagious distemper in city , country , camp , fleet , &c. and for curing such as are infected with it ; written in the year 1666. by dr. tho. willis , never printed before this year 1691. and now printed by the authority of the colledge of physicians : price bound 1 s. 6 d. 11. de mirabilibus pecci , being the wonders of the peak in darbyshire , commonly called the devil's arse of peak , in latin and english , by tho. hobbs of malmsbury , in 12o . price bound 1 s. 12. britains glory , and englands bravery , wherein is shewed the degrees of honour from the prince to the peasant ; the precedency of all persons , from the throne to the bond-man , useful for all , especially for feasts , funerals , processions , and all great assemblies , &c. with heralds duty and power ; and a dictionary of the terms in heraldry , and an account of all the orders of knighthood in christendom ; and of the weights and measures of england , by b. smithurst , in 12o . price bound 1 s. 6 d. 13. the court of curiosity : being the most exact and curious book of dreams and fortune book that is extant . much enlarged and explained in this edition , 12o . price bound 1 s. 6 d. 14. peppa , or the reward of constant love , a novel . done out of french by a young gentlewoman : with the several songs set to musick , for two voices , in 12o . price 1 s. 6 d. 15 dr. hascard , dean of windser his three sermons . 16 mr. maningham's six sermons , 4to . 17 — his two discourses , 8vo . 18 mr. budgell's sermon of prayer , 4to . 19 mr. lightonhouse's sermon on the sacrament , 4to . 20 mr. buckly's sermon at hereford , 4to . 21 dr. harrison's sermon on the plot , 4to . 22 mr. wright's discourse of schism , 4to . 23 mr. chillingworth against the papists . 24 des escotai's sermon at the savoy , french and english. 25 mr. ellesby's sermon on jan. 30. 4to . 26 — discourse of conscience , 4to . 27 mr. howell's visitation sermon , 4to . 28 grotius . catechism , greek , latin , and english , 8vo . 29 mr howell's spirit of prophecy , 8vo . 30 dr. addison's state of the jews , 12o . 31 — modest plea for the clergy , 8vo . 32 — first sate of mahumetism , 8vo . 33 — on the sacrament , 12o . 34 primitive institution , 12o . 35 — moors baffled in tangier , 4to . 36 catechumen 12o . 37 — souls communion with her saviour . 12o . 38 kitchin 's jurisdiction of courts , 8vo . 39 clarke's praxis admiralitat . angl. 8vo . 40 lord hobart's reports . 41. coke's institutes , 2d , 3d , and 4th parts . 42 duke's law of charitable uses , fol. 43 officina brevium , fol. 44 several statutes of bankrupts 45 compleat clerk. 46 lord littleton's reports . 47 compleat sollicitor and attorney . 48 lord saunder's reports . 49 mr. hansard's book of entries . 50 doctor and student . 51 fitzh . natura brevium . 52 keilway's reports , with new references . 53 wingate's abridgment . 54 leonard's reports . 55 bulstrode's reports . 56 register of writs : new additions to it . 57 dr. howell's history of the world. 58 clelia , a romance . 59 scarroon's comical romance . 60 journal of the house of peers . 61 journals of the house of commons . 62 townsend's queen elizabeth parliaments . 63 last seventeen years of queen elizabeth . 64 the connexion in king james i. reign . 65 fathers advice to a son on a voyage . 66 flower garden , and compleat vineyard . 67 plutarch's lives english , in five volumes 8vo . 68 king killing doctrine of the jesuits . 69 brevis demonstratio . 70 blunt's voyage into the levant . 71 bridali's present state of london . 72 saunder's astrological physick . 73 clark's manual . 74 hobb's homer in english. 75 — travels of ulysses , eng. 76 — civil-wars of england 77 — natural philosophy . 78 — vita per dr. blackborn . 79 — poem on his life , in english. 80 — poem on darby peak , latin and english. 81 — narration of heresie . 82 — answer to bramhall's defence of leviathan . 83 — letter of liberty and necessity . 84 — seven problems . 85 — whole art of rhetorick , english. 86 — dialogue of the laws of england . 87 — consideration on his loyalty , religion , &c. 88 — leviathan in 4to in latin. 89 — de principiis & ratiocinatione . 90 — de duplicatione cubi . 91 — quadratura circuli . 92 — rosetum geometricum . 93 — principia & problemata . 94 — epistola ad ant. a wood. 95 — lux mathematicus . 96 — historia ecclesiastic . 97 heath's chronicles of the civil wars , fol. 98 popish cruelty's , being dr. parry's tryal . 99 mr. hallely's golden rule of arithmatick . 100 the true englishman , 4to . 101 the queens birth-day song , for 1691. in the press , and will be out this easter term. — cicero's laelius , or a discourse of friendship . translated into english : with a pastoral dialogue of friendship and love , by the same hand , 8vo . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a67164-e300 * horat. carm. lib. 2. od. 14. † fuller's holy war. ‖ dr taylor 's holy dying , cap. 1. sect. 2. 1 pet. 2. 11. rev. 21. 4. rev. 22. 11. * rev. 20. 15. & 21. 8. * gen. 3. 19. † 1 cor. 15. 44. * ver. 50. * dan. 12. 2. * 1 cor. 15. 51. † rom. 5. 12. * 1 cor. 15. 22. * mat. 10. 30. * ver. 29. † psal. 31. 15. * psal. 90. 10. * luk. 12. 19. † luk. 16. 9. * mat 6. 20. * eccles. 5. 12. * 2 cor. 5. 10. † heb. 12. 16 , 17. * heb. 3. 11. psal. 95. 11. * mat. 21. 43. † heb. 6. 4 , 5 , 6. * heb. 10. 26 , 27. † 1 joh. 5. 16. * verse 21. † mat. 24. 44. * luk. 12. 20. † heb. 3. 7 , 8. mat. 10. 42. * mat. 20. 12. † mat. 25. 14. luk. 19. 12. * jam. 5. 15. † joh. 2. 1 , 2. * joh. 3. 16. † 1 tim. 1. 15. * job 2. 4. † eccles. 11. 7. * 2 cor. 5. 1. * 1 cor. 15. 42 , 43. * 2 pet. 3. 10. * rev. 21. 23. & 22. 3 , 4 , 5. ‖ 2 cor. 6. 14. * luk. 20. 36. heb. 12. 23. psal. 16. 11. 1 thes. 4. 17. rom. 14. 17. * 1 joh. 3. 2 , 3. isa. 1. 16. 17. 1 joh. 3. 21. * of mr. john richardson , minister of ratcliffe upon the reake in leicestershire . ‖ of mr. samuel marshal , minister of dodford in northhamptonshire . mat. 24. 46. a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful minister of christ, mr. john corbet with his true and exemplary character / by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. 1680 approx. 83 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a27044 wing b1416 estc r17576 12395210 ocm 12395210 61124 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a27044) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61124) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 269:8) a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful minister of christ, mr. john corbet with his true and exemplary character / by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. [2], 36 p. printed for thomas parkhurst ..., london : [1680] date of publication from nuc pre-1956 imprints. errata on p. 36. advertisement on p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in university of chicago library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng corbet, john, 1620-1680. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2005-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful minister of christ mr. john corbet . with his true and exemplary character . by richard baxter . london , printed for thomas parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns at the lower end of cheapside . a funeral sermon . 2 cor. 12. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. it is not expedient for me doubtless to glory : i will come to visions and revelations of the lord. i knew a man in christ above fourteen year ago ( whether in the body i cannot tell , or whether out of the body , i cannot tell , god knoweth ) such an one caught up to the third heaven . and i knew such a man ( whether in the body , or out of the body , i cannot tell : god knoweth ) how that he was caught up into paradise , and heard unspeakable words , which it is not lawful for a man to utter . of such an one will i glory ; yet of my self will i not glory , but in mine infirmities . for though i would desire to glory , i shall not be a fool ; for i will say the truth : but now i forbear , left any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be , or that he heareth of me . and lest i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations , there was given to me a thorn in the flesh , the messenger of satan to buffet me , lest i should be exalted above measure . for this thing i besought the lord thrice , that it might depart from me . and he said , my grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is made perfect in weakness . most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities , that the power of christ may rest upon me . it is but lately that we were here lamenting the loss of this city and the church of god , in the removal of an excellent saint ; we are now come on the like occasion . it is a year of jubile for holy souls , and a harvest for heaven , the ripest are gathered , and the green and sowre fruit is yet left on earth : but oh what a heavy judgement is it , to the needy world , which wants such lights , as god is taking in . but we are not the choosers ! it s well if we be obedient learners , and can follow such to life in the holy path . the text read to you hath so much matter of instruction that will excuse me if i scarce name the most . it is part of pauls vindication against the accusers of his person and ministry , which were some erroneous judaizing teachers . he confesseth that glorying is an unexpedient thing , and sounds like folly ; but yet in case of necessary defence , it may be modestly and sincerely done : especially the opening of those divine revelations and gifts which makes for the strength of the faith of others . the explication shall be taken in as we go . observ . 1. it is no new thing for the wisest and holiest of christs ministers to be accused even by the teachers of christianity . for 1. there are many erroneous teachers , that are confident they are in the right , and oppose the teachers of truth as if they were the erring men . 2. and there are worldly , proud , malignant hypocrites , who bring their unsanctified hearts into the sacred office , and manage it as men do common trades , but with greater enmity and strife . 3. and there are abundance of ignorant or halfwise injudicious men , who have self conceitedness enough to be peremptory and confident , but neither knowledge nor humility enough to perceive their own weakness and mistakes . vse . 1. therefore let it not become a scandal to you if you hear some teachers accusing and vilifying others . 2. and think not that a minister is erroneous or faulty , meerly because others , though of great name , do accuse him , or so represent him . it hath still been so , and while satan is satan , and man is corrupt man , and there is so much darkness and so much worldly temptations , and cross interests , it will be so : and preachers will be made the common and dangerous hinderers of preachers ; and where they have power will silence them , and disgrace their work . observ . 2. glorying or boasting is in it self an inexpedient thing . it savours of pride , and selfishness , and folly , when it is not necessary and just . and therefore all christians should be backward to it . observ . 3. yet that which is so inexpedient , may on just occaons become good , and a duty . that is , 1. when it is made needful to gods honour , and the vindication and success of our ministry and the truth . and , 2. vvhen these are our true ends . and , 3. vvhen we speak nothing but the truth . vse . iii. o that men knew how great a sin it is , by their confident errors and rash accusations , to put christs ministers upon such a defence ; much more to seek their silence and destruction . 2. and here you see that inconveniencies will not excuse us from necessary duties ; nor prove that all is unlawful which hath such . what is it in this confused and imperfect vvorld that hath not its inconveniencies ? in government , both monarchy , aristocracy and democracy , absolute and limited , have their many inconveniencies . in churches , the power of people and pastors , equality and subordination , riches and poverty , severity and lenity ; to use discipline or neglect it , have their inconveniencies . in worship , imposed words of free , and all humane forms and modes have their inconveniencies . in houses , a marryed life and a single , to have children and to have none , to have servants or none , to have much business or little , to be high or low , rich and poor , to rule greatly or severely , have all their inconveniencies . in our conversations to be yielding or not , to converse with few or many , with high or low , to speak or to be silent , have all their inconveniencies . and yet there are men that on one side can silence christs faithful ministers by hundreds or thousands and persecute the true members of christ , and cast out true discipline , and corrupt the churches , and justifie all this by urging some inconveniencies . and there are others that can unchurch most churches in the world , and separate from their worship , and think the charge of inconveniencies will justifie all . and so we should have no government , no ministry , no worship , no families , wives or children , or servants , no books , no trades , no food , no physick , if all meer inconveniencies forbid them . by this our instance solomon may be understood , what it is to be wise and righteous overmuch , some are so wise and righteous ( materially not formally ) that they can find faults in all persons , all duties , all speeches , all actions , and on pretence of doing all better , would hinder us from doing what we can , and undo all as if it were for amending , not but that inconveniences may make actions sinful . but the great part of christian prudence lyeth in holding the ballance , and trying wisely whether the good or hurt , the benefit or inconvenience do weigh down ; we shall never preach or pray , nor converse with mankind without some inconveniency . observ . 4. divine revelations acquainting the soul with heaven , are matters most worthy of lawful , humble , modest glorying . it was pauls heavenly visions which he gloryed in as his advancement , when he had mentioned his many persecutions and sufferings in the way . these tend to that perfection and felicity of souls : in these men have to do with the glorious jehovah , the angelical chore , the heavenly society , our glorified head , our highest hopes , and matter of the greatest everlasting joys . o if god would but give you and me this heavenly sight , and let us but once see what paul saw , what little things would crowns and lordships seem to us when we look down from such an height ? what trifling should we think most of the busles of this world ? what toyes and dreams , their wealthy honour and sinful delights . i should then say , now i see what it is that we seek and hope and suffer for , what it is to enjoy god and our redeemer : and therefore now i know , what it is to be a beleiver , a saint , a man indeed . o what a help to mortification would such a sight of paradise be ? how easily should we after resist temptations , deny the flesh , contemn the world , and hate our sins . o how it would overcome all these distrustful trembling fears of death , and make us long , and grown and cry , to be with christ ? vvhat life would it put into all holy duty ? how easily should we bear our short afflictions ? how would it mellow our sowre contentious minds toward one another , and teach us better whom to love and live in peace with , than pride and vvorldliness or faction will teach us . fellow christians , though you and i may not expect such raptures , and extasies as paul's ; yet we have the gospel of jesus , a divine revelation of this same heavenly glory ; not to be set light by , because we see it not our selves , it is by the son of god that saw it , and now is there preparing it for us ; it is by a sealed certain word . and the heavenly beams are sent down from him upon our hearts , to shew it us and lead us up . vve are capable of a lively beleif of the full assurance of hope , of the pledges , earnest , and first fruits ; and of rejoycing with unspeakable glorying joy . we are capable in our manner , and are sure of traffick for heaven , and with heaven , of sending up our treasures , and there conversing in spirit as in the city which is our home , and hearing by faith the joyful harmony of the heavenly songs and praises of jehovah . here we are capable of such a powerful touch with the loadstone of divine love , or to have our spirits so refined and sublimated , as shall make it as natural to them to make upward towards christ , and long for full and perfect union . o had we lived as beleivers should have lived , how much more of heavenly mindedness , and delight might we have attained than we have done ? o thank god for the gospel revelation , and beg grace to bring it in power on your hearts ; and then , let worldlings take their earthly portion ; vve can spare them all that hindereth not the gathering and edification of the church , and the heavenly interest of souls . observ . 5. there is a third heaven and heavenly paradice , where are the concerns and hopes of holy souls . paul was thither taken up ; had he no interest there , no hopes , no friends , no business there ; vvhy then should he have been rapt up thither ? how many heavens there be , and why it is here called the third , i will not interrupt your more necessary thoughts , by conjecturing enquiries : most say the air is called the first , the starry heaven the second , and the place of the glorified spirits , the third ; but these are vain conjectures . no man knoweth how many there be , the globes or stars are at vast distance from each other , some great philosophers have been tempted to think that vvorld is infinite as an adequate effect of infinite power , because god hath no unactive power ; all this is prophane rashness . the heavens which are our inheritance are the place where perfect glorious spirits shall live in blessed society with christ and one another ; joyfully beholding the glory of god , and feeling the delights of mutual love ; and yet there are different degrees of glory from the different degrees of the capacity of spirits : whether also from any difference in the place and communicating causes , we shall shortly better know . there are more sorts of spirits thatn we can now know . though i know not how to receive aquinas's doctrine that no two angels are of the same species ; the diversity as well as the incomprehensible glory and numbers , are unknown to us . those that god employeth under christ as his pursuivants , messengers , and servants for his church , are called angels : whether there be orders over orders quite above angels , and how angels differ from the perfected spirits of the just , we know not . as it is designed for saints , its glory consisteth , 1. in the glory of the place . 2. in the perfecting and glorifying the natures and persons that enjoy it . 3. in the glory of the heavenly society , christ , angels and saints . 4. in the glory of their high and excellent work , to love and magnifie god for ever . 5. in the communication of the joyful love , and light and life of god , upon these glorified spirits . o what doth every one of these words signifie ! is not this a paradise indeed , that is a place of purest greatest pleasure ? vse . 1. and are we not taught by such a glass as this , how great and how good a god we serve ? o look up to the heavens , and see what he is by that which he hath made . yea , it s said psal . 113. 6. that he humbles himself to behold the things in heaven ; as well as upon earth . o sinners ! what a god do you despise , neglect , and forget ! and what a heaven do you fell for fleshly lust , and to feed a corruptible body for the grave ! o christians , what a god have we to serve and fear ! and how zealously and purely should we serve him ! what a god have we to trust and hope in , and how great a sin is it to distrust him ! what a heaven have we to seek and hope for , and how chearfully and constantly should we do it . alas , our cold hearts , and slothful lives , and worldly cares , and sinking spirits , beseem not such a god and heaven . were we designed but to inhabit the sun , or some resplendent star , how high is it above this earth ? shall we creep only on earth and feed on dust , and defile our souls as if we were preparing them by sin for hell , when we have a third heaven , and paradise to look up to , and seek and hope for ? doth satan say , what is that to thee , that is so far above thee . it is to us ; it is the place where the glory of god is which we seek ; where our glorified head is . the place of holy spirits , whither also henoch and elias were translated : where abraham , isaac and jacob live ; whither christs spirit went at death , and where he received the believing thief ; where lazarus is in abrahams bosom ; which stephen foresaw , and to which he was received . it is the place which we are set on earth to seek ; dearly purchased ; surely promised ; to which gods spirit is now preparing us : and of which it is our pledge and seal . were it not for such an end and hope , how vain were man , and what a dream this world. take heaven from us , aud take our lives , our joyes , yea , more than many such lives as these : o that we could be more deeply sensible for what we are christians , and for what we hope ! what holy , patient , joyful christians should we then be . but it is not a wavering belief , a divided heart , and a few cold strange and staggering thoughts of heaven , that will do this , as we desire it . observ . 6. souls are not so closely tyed to the body , but now they may be rapt up into paradise , or the third heavens . when paul could not tell whether it was in the body or out of it , it sheweth some how the soul was there , and that its possible it might be out of the body . obj. if it were in the body , the body must go with it : if out of the body it must leave the body dead . ans . it might be in the body and not take up the body : if man were born blind , the iucid spirits , and visive faculty would act only within : but as soon as a miracle opened his eyes , he would see as far as the sun and stars . and the sun sends down its beams even to this earth . should god open this dark lanthorn of the body , we little know how far a soul may see without any separation from the body : did not stephen's soul in the body see christ in glory ? and if it went out of the body , it followeth not that it must be separated from the body and leave it dead . when london was on fire , how high did the flame go above the fuel , and yet it was not separated from the fuel : a soul can stay in the body , and yet not be confined to it as a chicken in the shell ; but may see , and mount above it to the heavens . vse . therefore think not of souls as you do of bodies , which are circumscribed in their proper places . we know not what formal thoughts to have of the dimensions or locality of spirits : somewhat such eminenter they have , ( for they have individuation and numeral quantity , and some passivity ) but not formaliter as gross bodies have : while the soul is in the body , it worketh on it , and is a substance distinct from it , and such a form as hath also its own form ; even it s formal power or virtue , of vital activity , sensitive and intellective perception , and sensitive and rational appetite . it is active life it self , as the principle : it perceiveth it self , and loveth it self , it understandeth what other spirits are , by it self ; it remembereth innumerable things past : it riseth up to some knowledge of god. it can seek , love , and obey him , and all this though not out of the body yet above any efficiency of bodily organs . o what a sad part of mans fall is it , to lose so much as the world hath done , of the knowledge of our selves . and to begin to know our selves , our souls , and how man differs from a beast , is the first part of recovering knowledge , leading up towards the knowledge of god , which is the highest . o then , sirs , do not only own the heavenly dignity of souls , but use your souls accordingly . are they good for no better ▪ than to serve the body in lust and appetite , and keep it in motion and some pleasure , or at least from stinking a while in the world , sinners , hear and consider , if you willfully condemn your own souls to beastiality , god will condemn them to perpetual misery . yea , you do it your selves , and pass from bruitishness to the devilish nature and woful state. observ . 7. the things of the heavenly paradise are to mortal men unutterable . that is , 1. such as cannot be uttered . and , 2. such as must not be uttered . it is not lawful to paul that saw them . not that nothing of it may or must be uttered : christ hath brought life and immortality to light : they are great things and glorious which are by him revealed . enough well believed and used to overcome the temptation of this flesh and world , and to raise us to a holy life , and joyful hope , and comfortable sufferings and death . christ best knoweth the just measure of revelation meet for earth . candles must serve for narrow and dark rooms , and are more worth than all the gold on earth : the sun by day must not come too near us lest it burn us up , but send us its beams at the distance that we can bear them . and all souls are not here meet for the same measures ; much less for that sight which the glorified enjoy . the pure in heart do see god , mat. 5. and even here more than impure souls . 1. there is no humane language that hath words fit to reveal that part of the heavenly things which god hath shut up from us as his secrets . mans words are only fitted to mans use and to mans concerns , and not to angels and the secrets of heauen : we speak not a vvord of god himself , which signifieth formally what god is , but only analogically or by similitude , and yet not in vain . paul saw , and holy souls see , that which no humane language can properly express . 2. and if it could , yet mortals could not understand it : no more than a language which they never heard . 3. and paul had it revealed in a manner suited to his own use , and not in a manner meet for communication . 2. and it was unlawful also to utter it . for god saw not all that meet for the dark world of undisposed sinners , which was allowed to one eminent saint . 2. nor would he have so much more revealed by a minister than the son of god from heaven ; had himself before revealed . 3. and the revelation is to be suited to the fruition . full knowledge is fit only for those that must fully enjoy it . vse . therefore remember with what measures of heavenly knowledge , we must be here content , so much as christ hath revealed and is suitable to a distant life of faith. i have known some that have run into greater calamities than i will mention , by an expectation of visible communion with angels ; and others by rash conceits of visions , dreams and prophetical revelations : but the common errour of christians is , to content themselves with a feeble faith ( or at least get no better ) and then think it should be made up by somwhat like to sight or corporal sense , and to be unsatisfied because they know no more than by beleiving they can reach to : as if beleiving were but an uncertain apprehension , ( with which we are unsatified ) and we are not content to live on that which god hath revealed , but we would fain know more , before we are ready for it ; whereas we must explicitly beleive all that is explicitly revealed , and implicitly beleive and trust god for the rest . vve are here used to live by sight and sense , and the soul is strange to such apprehensions as are quite above sense and without it . and fain we would have god bring down the unseen things to these sensations and perceptions : and we would fain have distinct and formal knowledge , of that which god hath but generally revealed . it is somewhat excusable for a soul to desire this , as it is the state of perfection to which we do aspire . but it is not well that we remember not more that sight and full fruition , are reserved together for the life to come ; and that we live no more thankfully and joyfully on so much as we may in the body by beleiving know . quest . what may we conjecture those things are which paul had seen and must not utter ? vvhy should we enquire , when they must not be uttered ? vve may mention a possibility to rebuke our bold unquiet thoughts . our souls would fain have not only analogical , but formal conceptions of the essence , substance , glory , immensity , eternity of god. hope for much in heaven ( but never for an adequate comprehension ) but this is the very highest of all those things which are not to be uttered , and therefore not to be here attain'd . our souls would fain be perfect extensively and intensively in philosophy , and know heaven and earth , the spheares , or orbs , or vortices ; the magnitudes , number , distances , motions , and the nature of all the stars , and the compagination of the whole frame of being . but this is unutterable , and not here to be known . our souls would fain know more of the angelical nature ; what such spirits are , whether absolutely immaterial as meer acts and virtues ; or substances which are pure matter , and what their number and differences are , and how vast and many and distant their habitations , and what are their offices on earth or elsewhere ; and how much they know of us and our affairs , and in what subordination men , churches and kingdoms stand to them , and they to one another , and how they are individuated , and how farre one : but all these are unutterable , and lockt up from us . our souls would fain know whether there was any vvorld before this earth , and the creation of the six dayes ; and whether there was any spiritual being , which was an eternal effect by emanation from an eternal cause , as light from the sun : and whether the sun , and stars are intellectual or sensitive , and exceed man in form as well as in matter , and what the noble nature of fire is . but these things are unutterable and so not knowable to us . our souls would fain have more sensible perceptions of themselves , as to their substance , and their separate state ? whether they are substances utterly immaterial , how they are generated ? how they subsist , and act out of the body ? and how they do enjoy ? how they are indivuate , and yet how far one ? how far one or not one with christ , and one another ? whether they are divisible in substance as continued quantities , as well as in number as quantitates discretae : what place and limits do confine them ( being not infinite ) ? how far they have still sensation ? and how they see , praise and enjoy god ? and how they converse with one another ? and how farre they know the things on earth ? and how their state before the resurrection differs from what it will be after ? and how far the soul will be instrumental in the raising of the body : but all these are unutterable things . we would fain know more of the decrees of god , and how all his acts are eternal , and yet produce their effects in time ? how they are many , and yet but one , producing divers and contrary effects . many such things inquisitive nature would fain know which are unutterable . but this must satisfie us . 1. that sinful souls , and dark , in a dark body , and a dark world , are not fit for so great a light , nor capable of it ; it will put out our eyes to gaze so neerly on the sun. 2. that christ hath revealed so much of the greatness and certainty of the heavenly glory , as he seeth meet and suitable to gods holy ends and us . 3. that the church hath so much clearer a revelation than the heathen and infidel world , as should make us thankful for our light. 4. that if we believe the revelation of the gospel soundly , we may live a holy joyful life , and die in the peace and triumph of our hopes . 5. that it is not by sight , but by faith that we must here live , in our vvilderness expectant state . 6. that the more we cleave to god , and live by faith above the flesh and world whilst we are in it , the clearer and sweeter our apprehensions of heaven will be . 7. that god must be trusted implicitely about that which is yet unknown to us , as well as explicitly for what we know . and , 8. that what we know not now , we shall know hereafter and the day is neer . let these things quiet our souls in health and sickness , though we are yet in darkness as to the unutterable things . 9. and always adde , that what we know not , christ knoweth for us , to whom it belongeth to prepare the place for us , and us for it , and to receive us . had we but a friend in heaven whom we could trust , we could partly , take up with their knowledge . our head is there , and the eyes that we must trust to are in our head. but how was paul in danger of being exalted above measure , by the abundance of revelations ? answer , 1. it might have been above the measure meet for man in flesh , and so unsuitable to his present state . 2. it might have been unto sinful pride , as the angels fell from god , and as adam fell , desiring to be as a god in knowledge . observ . 8. even heavenly revelations may be made the matter and occasion of unmeet and sinful exaltation . for , 1. it is the nature of sin to turn all our objects into it self to feed it . not as they are without us in esse reali , but within us in esse cognito , the idea's in our minds . austin saith indeed , that grace is that quo memo male utitur , but he must mean it . 1. as in it self . 2. and efficiently , grace never doth evil . but objectively in the idea or remembrance of it , it may be abused to pride . 2. and the greatest and most excellent objects as ours , give pride the greatest advantage . heavenly revelations are far more excellent than gold , and dominion and vvorldly pomp. children are proud of fine cloths , and vvordly fools of vain-glory ; but saints may be more tempted to be proud of vvisdom , holiness and things above the reach of others . 3. and satan knoweth how to fetch . temptations from the highest , best , and holiest things : and his malice being as much against them as against us , he will be here most malignantly industrious . vse vve see then that pride is such a sin , as the holiest saint is not fully secured from , no not when he hath been hearing unutterable words , and seeing the heavenly paradise it self : no not if he came down from the third heavens , ( and bring his unperfect nature with him ) though he came newly from converse with angels ; much more when he cometh from the most fervent prayers , or holiest meditations , or most heavenly and successful studies , and from hearing the most seraphick preacher , or preaching as such an one himself : he is not out of danger , when he newly cometh from the most self-denying acts of mortification , or the greatest victory against temptation , or the greatest suffering for christ . vvhat a sad description do cyprian and epiphanius make of the miscarriages of some confessours that had offered to die for christ . let none therefore abuse the grace of christ , and the doctrine of perseverance , by thinking that it sets him above all danger or fears of falling , unless he can say that he is better than paul was , and hath seen and heard more than he did in paradise , or than peter did with christ , and moses and elias on the holy mount. o that this age did not loudly tell us , how much the real or supposed knowledge of divine things , may be abused to sinful exaltations ! by one side , even by most famed teachers , to contempt of others , and lording it over the heritage of god , and wracking and rending his church by their needless , yea wicked comvulsive imposing devises . and by other side , by hurtful unwarrantable censures and separations , and speaking evil of the things which they know not . have you heard and seen more of heaven than others ? be then more holy , loving , merciful and peaceable , and liker those in heaven than others : read over and over jam. 3. shew out of a good conversation your works with meekness of wisdom : for the wisdom from above neither befriendeth enmity to piety or peace , but is first pure , then peaceable , &c. but how is paul kept from being exalted above measure ? god gave him a thorn in the flesh . note , observ . 9. god seeth our danger when we see not our own , and saveth us from that which we saw not , or had not else prevented . thanks to him , and not to us . but how doth god do it ? by a thorn in the flesh . observ . 10. it is better that the flesh smart , than the soul be overmuch exalted . no pain or suffering of the flesh is so bad as pride , nor hath so bad effects . vse . why then do so little fear exaltation . how greedily do some religious people desire it ? how impatient of any thing that crosseth it and humbleth them : how little do they lament it and confess it . is pride so rare or so small a sin ? even among preachers and zealous men . and why do we so much fear every thorn in the flesh : every sickness , pain , or cross , as if pride could be prevented or killed at too dear a rate ? and why do we quarrel with god for our sufferings as if our disease were not so bad as his remedy . who ever heard you in health cry out of your pride , as in sickness you do of your pain . it 's a happy thorn which lets out this corrupt aud pestilent blood . but what was this thorn in the flesh of paul. answ . the greek word signifieth a sharp stake , pale , nail , stub , or thorn , or any such sharp thing that runs into the flesh , as it falls out with barefoot travellers among such thorns and stubs . it s strange how many expositors came to take up that injurious conceit that it was fleshly lust ; which hath not the least colour in the text. 1. lust wou'd be rather likened to a fire or itch , than to a thorn. 2. it would be called an alluring rather than a buffeting . 3. paul had a life of labour and suffering , which would keep down flesly lust . 4. this thorn is given him , as sent from god to save him from sin ; but where is god said to give men lust to save them from pride . 5. this thorn was the buffeting of a messenger of satan . but it is not like , that satan could so excite lust in paul. 6. paul prayeth thrice that it might be taken from him : it is not like that satan could so follow him with lustful motions , and that paul would not have mentioned fasting and other means of cure. 7. god doth not yet say that he will yet take it from him , but under his weakness manifest his sustaining grace : which sounds not like an answer of a prayer against lust . 8. paul is vindicating his ministry against accufers , by mentioning his infirmities , that is , his bodily sufferings and his revelations ; and is the telling them of his lust a meet means for this ? 9. it is called his weakness ; which is his usual title for his sufferings ; but you may see rom. 7. that he calleth lust by more odious names . i doubt not but it was some bodily suffering which was this thorn , but whether by persecutors or by a disease is the chief doubt : many think that it was by persecution . 1. because it was by a messenger of satan . 2. because wicked men are in scripture likened to thorns . i more encline to think it was a fit of some violent pain in the flesh , and most likely the stone ( or some such thing ) which indeed is a tormenting thorn in the flesh . for 1. vve read of his frequent persecutions , but never that he so named them , or that he so much prayed against them , but rejoyced , as christ bids such , with exceeding joy : mat. 5. 11 , 12. and when he and all the apostles so much exhort believers to rejoyce in such sufferings for christ , is it like he would here tell men how he prayed against it ? and as to the reasons for the contrary sense , 1. vvicked men are called thorns as hurtful , and so are other hurting things . christ had a crown of thorns on his head , joh. 19. 5. and paul must feel one in his flesh . job 41. 2. prov. 26. 9. & 22. 5. hos . 2. 6. & 9. 6. any thing hurtful is likened to thorns . 2. and satan is in scripture usually mentioned as gods executioner , even in trying his children . it was into his hands that job was put : hurting work is fittest for an evil and destroying angel. he would sift the apostles as wheat , by outward affrighting as well as inward tempting . however suffering it was . observ . 10. a thorn in the flesh is one of gods means to keep the best from being overmuch exalted . you have heard that the best may need it ; 1. and the flesh hath so much hand in our sin , that it is fit to bear its part of suffering . 2. and it is the most ignoble part , and therefore its suffering hath less of hurt , and less to signifie gods displeasure . soul sufferings are the sore sufferings . and it is the soul that is the chief agent in our duties , and therefore where it is spared we are least disabled for gods work , and our communion with him . 3. and the nearness of body and soul is such , that god can use the body to keep the soul in a humble , and a safe condition . vse . mistake not the nature and meaning of the flesh's sufferings . grudge not at god , if he exercise thus his greatest saints : vvonder not if the best men have sharp persecutions , pinching wants , and painful sickness , a long and sharp tormenting stone , or other such like thorn in the flesh . 1. it is but the flesh , in our british part ; common to beasts : if flesh must die and rot , why may it not first feel the thorn. 2. vve grudged not at that health and youth and ease and pleasure of it , which was the danger and temptation to the soul , why then should we grudge at the pain which tendeth to our cure. 3. if you feel not the need of suffering , you know not your selves : did you know your pride , and overmuch love of flesh and ease , you would say that pain is a physick which you need , were it but to help on your willingness to die . 4. pain here depriveth us of none of our true felicity ; it hindereth not gods love to us ; it keeps us not from heaven : lazarus was in a fairer way than dives . it takes nothing from us , but what we covenanted to forsake for christ . 5. do we not find that we are better when we suffer than when we are high ? were religious people better when victories and successes did lift them up than they have been in their sufferings . did they live then more humbly , peaceably and heavenly ? 6. the thorn will soon be taken out ; flesh will not endure long and therefore this pain will not be long ; a few more painful nights and days , and the porter which we fear , will break open our prison doors , and end these weary grievous sufferings . vse . 2. and think not the thorn is a mark that such are worse than others . paul was not worse ; and shall we censure such as he . vse . 3 but let us all know the use of suffering , what cure hath this medicine wrought ? blessed be our wise and gracious physician , we find it a powerful though unpleasant remedy . it keepeth lazarus from the sins of dives ; from living a worldly sensual life ; and loving the prosperity of the flesh instead of heavenly true felicity : it keepeth us from a beastly living to our appetites and lust ; which would divert and deprave the spiritual appetite : it keepeth us from being deluded by worldly flatteries , and looking for a portion in this life , and laying up a treasure on earth , and from growing sensless and impenitent in sin. it awakeneth the soul to serious expectations of eternity , and keepeth us as within the sight or hearing of another world , and tells us to the quick that we must make ready to die , and to be judged , and that we have much more to do with god than with man , and for heaven than earth ; it taketh down pride , and all excessive respects to humane approbation , and keeping us still in the sight of the grave , doth tell us what mans body is , mors solae fatetur , quantula sunt hominum corpuscula , juv. what faithful soul that hath been bred up in the school of afflictions doth not by experience say that it was good for him ? how dull , how proud , how worldly might we else have been , and trifled away our lives in sloth and vanity . and it is not for nothing that our thorns ( or nailes ) in the flesh are kin to the nailes that pierced our saviour on the cross , and that we tread in his steps , and as cross-bearers are thus far conformable to his sufferings . be patient than under the pain , and careful to improve it , and thankful for the profit . and let not the soul too much condole the flesh , as if it had not at hand a better habitation and interest . it is but this vile body , phil. 3. 19. lent us for a little time , as our clothes till night , or as our horse in a journey ; when we have done with them , be content of gods separation ; and till then let us not take our corrector for our enemy . i groan too much , lord , i complain too much , i fear too much : but my soul doth acknowledge the justice and love and wisdom of thy dealings , and looketh that this thorn should bring forth sweet and happy fruit , and that all the nailes of my cross being sanctified by the blood of my crucified redeemer should tend to make me partaker of thy holiness . but who put this thorn into pauls flesh ? it was one of satans messengers . observ . 11. the sufferings of the holiest persons in the flesh , may be the buffettings of a messenger of satan . no wonder ! he that hath got somewhat of his own in us all , defiling us with sin , if he also may answerably be permitted to afflict us : he possessed many in christs time , and it was devils that made them dumb , and deaf , and mad ; whom christ at once delivered from devils and diseases . he is called the accuser and destroyer , and he that had the power of death . heb. 2. 14. whom christ by death and resurrection conquered . christ calleth his healing the palsie man , the forgiving of his sin ; and james saith , upon prayer and anointing , the sick should be healed , and his sins forgiven . and for the cause of sin , many christians were sick and weak , and many fallen asleep . i cannot say that good angels may not hurt men , and execute gods judgments ; but scripture maketh evil ones his ordinary executioners . vse . therefore it is no proof that a man is not a child of god , though the devil have permission to torment his flesh , rev. 2. 10. the devil shall cast some of you into prison . please god , and satan hath no power ; and christ will take take out the thorn ere long , which satan is permitted to put in . but how doth paul endure the thorn ? he prayeth that is might depart from him . observ . 12. the best men are sensible of the suffering of the flesh , and may pray god to take it from them . grace doth not make the flesh insensible ; nor separate the soul from it , though it set us above it ; nor make us despise it , though it shew us a higher interest and better habitation , and teach us to bear the cross , and resign the body to the will of god. a godly man may groan under his pain , and take it as a fruit of sin , and an act of the chastizing justice of an offended father , and pray against it as hurtful , though not as a remedy . they that ignorantly dispute that because christ hath suffered all our punishment , therefore there is no penal hurt in pain or death , confute themselves if they complain under it , or pray against it , or desire such prayers from the church or any . yea , one use of the thorn is to awaken and quicken us to prayer : like jonas's storm . vse . go then to god in all affliction , but not with carnal discouraged hearts . he maketh you thus feel the need of his mercy , that you may with the prodigal think of home and cry for mercy , and abuse it no more . christ did not blame the blind and lame for crying out , jesus , thou son of david have mercy on us . nor the canaanite vvoman for begging for the crums ; is any afflicted let him pray , and send for the elders prayers . the thorn in the flesh will make us feel ; and feeling will teach us to repent and pray , and prayer is the means of hope for the deliverance of body and soul. grace maketh us not stupid , yet there are some that think a man behaveth not himself like a believer if he cry and pray that the thorn may depart ! what think they of david , in psal . 6. and 17. and 88. and many more ? what think they of christ that prayed , that if possible the cup might passe by him . he did it to shew that even innocent nature is averse to suffering , and death through grace makes us submit to the will of god ; ( we continue men when we are beleivers , we must mourn with them that mourn , and yet not love others better than our selves ; nor feel their thorns more sensibly than our own . vve must neither despise chastenings , nor faint . but how doth paul pray ? doth he make any great matter of of his thornes , he besought the lord thrice , that it might depart . observ . 13. even earnest and oft prayer is suitable to sharp afflictions . there is a kind of devils , and so of satans thornes , which go not out but by fasting and prayer , no not by christs own apostles . the sense and means must be suited to the malady . god can do it upon one prayer , or upon none , but we are not so easily fited to receive it . and paul in this also is conformed to christ , who in his agony pray'd thrice against his cup , though with submission vse . 1. you see here that the apostles gift of healing , was not to be used at their own will , nor for their own flesh that it might not suffer ; but for the confirmation of the faith , when it pleased the holy spirit . troplainus and epaphroditus might be sick , and timothy need a little vvine with his vvater , though paul had the gift of healing . vse . 2. o let our pains drive us all to god , who hath not some ? sicknesses are all abroad , what house , how few persons have not some ; and yet is there a prayerless house , or person ? if faith have not taught you to pray as christians , methinks feeling should teach you to pray as men ? i say not that prayer must shut out food and physick , but food and physick will not do , if prayer prevail not with the lord of all . vse . 3. and think not thrice or continued praying to be too much , or that importunity is in vain , luk. 18. 1. christ spake a parable to this end , that men ought always to pray and not wax faint . vvhether god deliver us or not , prayer is not lost , it is a good posture for god to find us in , we may get better if we get not what we ask . obey and pray , and trust god. but what answer doth the lord give to pauls thrice praying . he said , my grace is sufficient for thee , and my strength is manifested in weakness . 1. it was not a promise that the thorn should depart . 2. it seems to be rather a denial at the present , and that paul must not be yet cured of his thorn ; for it is called a weakness that must continue for the manifesting of gods strength : and what was the sufficiency of grace and strength for , but to endure and improve the thorn ? 3. but this promised grace and strength is better than that which was desired . obs . 14. even oft and earnest prayer of the greatest saint , for deliverance from bodily pains , may not be granted in the kind , or thing desired . for , 1. we are not lords , but beggars , and must leave the issue to the donor . and god hath higher ends to accomplish , than our ease or deliverance . it 's meet that he should first fit all his actions to his own will and glory , and next to the good of many , and to his publick works in the world ; and then to look at our interest next . 2. and we are utterly unmeet judges of matter , manner , time or measure what god should give us for the body , and how much , and how , and when . when should we be sick , or pained , or persecuted , or dye , if all our prayers must be absolutely granted . we know not how much better god is preparing us for by pain , and bringing us to by dismal death . he will not keep us from grace and glory because our flesh is loth to suffer , and to die . 3. and in this paul also was conformed to christ : he was heard in the thing that he feared , when in his agony he prayed with strong cryes : but it was not by the removing of the bitter cup , but by divine strength and acceptance : and so it is with paul ; sufficient grace and strength to bear , is the thing promised . vse . 1. we see then that they are mistaken that think christs promise of giving believers whatever they ask , will prove him a breaker of his promise , if the strongest believer receive not all that he asketh for the body . was not paul a strong believer ? all that god hath promised , and we are fit to receive , god will be sure to give . 2. let not unbelief get advantage by gods not granting such prayers for the body . say not , why then is it my duty to pray ? 1. you know not before-hand but god may give it . possibility bids you beg . 2. why did christ pray against his cup ? 3. you lose not prayer : you draw nearer god : you exercise repentance and desire : you signifie your dependance : you are prepared for much greater gifts . obs . 15. when god will not take the thorn out of our flesh , and deliver us when we pray , from bodily sufferings , he will be sure to do better for prepared persons , even to give them his sufficient grace , and manifest his strength in their pain and weakness . it is not for want of love or power that he lets us tumble on our beds in pain , or lie under slanderers or persecutors rage . he that with a word could make the world , with a word can save us from all this . but if we suffer not , how shall suffering-graces be exercised , faith , patience , self-denial , and hope ? is not grace better than ease or life ? how shall we get the benefit of suffering , if we feel it not ? how shall grace and divine strength be manifested to our selves and others ? quest . what is it that grace is sufficient for ? ans . 1. not to set us up above the frailties of humanity and mortality ; nor to raise us to the joy that souls in heaven have . 2. not to every one alike , but in our several measures : some fear pain and death more than others : some have greater patience and joy , and long to depart and be with christ . but to all the faithful it shall suffice , 1. to keep them from revolting from christ , and repenting of their choice and hope . 2. to save them from charging god foolishly , as if he did them wrong . 3. it shall keep them from damning despair . when satan sifteth them , christs intercession shall keep their faith from failing : grace shall humble them , and save them from sin , and the flesh and world : they shall cast soul and body upon christ , and trust him in hope in their several degrees . and those that have been more believing , heavenly and fruitful than the rest , are likest to have the greatest peace and comfort , especially in their greatest need . quest . and how is gods strength manifested in our weakness ? ans . 1. it is manifested to our selves , by keeping us from sin , and sinking into despair , and enabling us to bear , and trust , and wait , and usually in the peace or joy of hope : we know we are insufficient for this our selves : when flesh and heart , as natural , fail us , god is the strength of our hearts , and our portion for ever , psal . 73. 26. we do not think oft before that ever we can bear and overcome , as grace enableth us . 2. and it 's manifest oft to others , who shall see that power of grace in the sufferings of believers , which they did not see in their prosperity . vse . 1. let not then our own weakness and insufficiency too , much distress us with fears of suffering and death ; yea , when we feel the thorn , let us not forget our help and strength . by grace here is meant , the living and merciful help of god , especially giving us the inward strength by which we may not only bear , but improve the sufferings of the flesh . this body was not made to be here incorruptible or immortal ; we were born in sin , and therefore born to pain and death . we have lived in sin , and no wonder if we live in sorrow : but the sufferings of our redeemer have sanctified our sufferings . the cross is not now such a cursed thing , as guilt had made it . he took our suffering flesh and blood , that he might destroy by death , the devil that had the power of death , and deliver us who by the fear of death , were all our life-time subject to bondage , heb. 2. 14. our pain prepareth us for endless pleasures , and our sorrows for our masters joy . when we have suffered with him , we shall reign with him : he liveth , and we shall live by him : he is risen , and we shall rise by him : he is in glory , and we must be with him . in the mean time his grace is sufficient for us , not only in health and ease , but in all our pain and sickness : he is not so unskilful or unkind , as to give such physick to his own , which shall do them more harm than good . though it be grievous at the present , it brings forth the quieting-fruit of righteousness : but we must first be exercised therein . let us not then be his impatient patients : grace can support us and overcome . men are not sufficient : our wit , our power , our worthiness are not sufficient : but god's grace is sufficient : if ease and life had been better than grace and glory , we might have had them : but god giveth us better than flesh would chuse . though the body be weak , the head weak , the memory weak , the stomack weak , and all weak , yet god is strong , and his strength will support us , and bring us safe to our journeys end . lazarus lay among dogs in weakness at the rich mans doors , but the angels convey'd him in strength to abrahams bosom . we must lie , and languish , and groan in weakness , but omnipotence is engaged for us : we must die in weakness , but we shall be raised in power , by him who will change these vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , by the power by which he can subdue all things to himself , phil. 3. 20 , 21. let us therefore lift up the hands that hang down , and the feeble knees , heb. 12. 12. looking to jesus the author and finisher of our saith , who for the joy that was set before him , endured the cross . and let us beg more for divine grace and strength , than for the departing of the thorn . grace is better than ease and health . if the soul be our nobler part than the body , the health of it is more desirable . bodily ease is common to bruits and wicked men : strength of grace is proper to saints : ease and health in this life are short ; but holiness will be everlasting . health fits us for fleshly pleasure , but holiness for communion with god. o pray not carnally , for the flesh more than for the spirit , for earth more than for heaven . pray , that while the outward man is perishing , the inward man may be renewed day by day ; and that our light afflictions , which are but for a moment , may work for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory , while we look not at the temporal things which are seen , but at the eternal things , which are unseen to us , 2 cor. 4. 16 , 17 , 18. why should we grudg at any sufferings , which are for the glory of gods grace and strength : as christ said of lazarus , this sickness is not unto death ( that is , the end of it is not to end his life , though he dye ) but that the glory of god may be revealed . so pain and death are not gods ends , but the manifesting of his grace and strength . but , alas , it is not only the flesh that is weak , but grace it self , ( as it is in us , though not as it is in god and of god ) ; nor is it flesh only that hath the thorn , but the heart or conscience also hath its part . the spirit of a man ( if sound and well ) will sustain ( his bodily ) infirmities : but a wounded spirit who can bear ? if faith were not weak , if hope , and love , and desire were not weak , the weakness of the body might well be born . if sin and guilt were no wound or thorn in the soul and conscience , we could be more indifferent as to the flesh , and almost as quietly bear our own pain and death , as our neighbours . though it 's hard to say is tertullian nihil crus sentit in nervo , cum animus est in coelo ; yet our content and joy would overcome the evil of our suffering . but , alas , when soul and body must be both at once lamented , this , this , is hardly born ! lord ! seeing it is thy sufficient grace , and not my bodily ease which i must trust to , and my weakness must manifest thy strength : o let not grace also be in me insufficient and weak ! o let not faith be weak , nor hope , nor love , nor heavenly desires and foretasts be weak ! nor patience and obedience weak ! head is weak , and heart is weak ; but if faith also be weak , what shall support us : at least let it be unfeigned and effectual , and attain its end , and never fail . flesh is failing , and health ( as to its proper strength ) is failing . but be thou my god , the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . and what ever thorn the flesh must feel , yet let me finish my course with joy . amen . i have run over many things in a text so suitable , that i could not well spare any of them . those that well knew our deceased friend , will say that except pauls extraordinary rapture , and apostolical priviledges , in pauls case i have been describing his . i come not to gratifie the interest of any of his relations , to speak to you according to custom of a stranger whom i knew not ; but for the honour of gods grace , and our own edification , to tell you what i knew by my most faithful and familiar friend . it is almost forty years since i heard him preach in the city of gloucester ; there was his enterance , and there he lived ( under a papist bishop of the protestant church , godfry goodman , as his last testament in print professed ) there he abode during the civil wars , and wrote the history of what happened there . he was after removed to the city of chichester , and from thence to bramshot in hamshire , and silenced with the rest , he was cast out , where he continued till 1662. he lived peaceably in london without gathering any assembly for publick preaching . dwelling in totteridg with alderman web , his great love drew him there , to remove to me , with whom a while he took up his habitation . in all the time that he was with me , i remember not that ever we differed once in any point of doctrine , worship , or government ecclesiastical or civil , or that ever we had one displeasing word . the kings licenses encouraged his old flock at chicestor to invite him thither , though they had the help of another nonconformist before , with whom he joined with love and concord . god many years afflicted him with the disease that was his death ; while the pain was tolerable to nature , he endured it , and ceased not preaching till a fortnight before he was carried up to london to have been cut . but before that could be done , in about a fortnight more he died . this is the short history of his course . but i will next give you his true character , and then tell you how like his case was to pauls here in my text , and then tell you to what use i do all this . i. he was a man so blameless in all his conversation , that i may say as i did here lately of another ( alderman ashurst ) that i never heard one person accuse or blame him , except for nonconformity , and that difference from others in these divided times , which his book expresses . of which more anon . ii. were it not that i have said we never differed , and so made my self an incompetent judg , i should have said that i thought him a man of great clearness and soundness in religion , much by the advantage of the calmness and considerateness of his mind . iii. he was of so great moderation and love of peace , that he hated all that was against it , and would have done any thing for concord in the church , except sinning against god , and hazarding salvation . in the matter of the five articles , or arminianism , he went the reconciling way , and i have seen a compendium of his thoughts in a manuscript , which is but the same with what i have delivered in my cath. theol. but better fitted to readers that must have much in a few words . he constantly at totteridg joined in all the worship with the publick assembly , and had no sinful separating principles . he was for catholick union , and communion of saints , and for going no further from any churches or christians than they force us , or then they go from christ . he then preached only to such neighbours as came into the house between the times of the publick worship . he was for loving and doing good to all , and living peaceably with all as far as was in his power . something in episcopacy , presbytery , and independency , he liked , and some things he dislikt in all ; but with all sorts lived in love and peace , that did seek the furtherance of mens salvation . many parts of conformity he could have yielded to , but not to all , nothing less than all would satisfie . iv. in all he was true to his conscience , and warpt not for a parties interest or faction . if all the nonconformists in england had refused , he would have conformed alone , if the terms had been reduced to what he thought lawful . and he studied that with great impartiality . v. he managed his ministry with faithfulness and prudence : he took it for heinous sacriledg to alienate himself from the sacred office to which he was devoted , though men forbad it him . but he thought not the same circumstances of ministration necessary to all times and places : he was not for open preaching to great numbers , when it was like by accident to do more hurt than good : nor yet for forbearing it , when it was like to do more good than hurt . he spared not his flesh , but held on from year to year under his great pain of the stone in the bladder , till within a month before he dyed . much less would the prohibition of any restrain him , to whom god gave no such forbidding-power . vi. he served god with self-denial , not with any selfish or worldly designs : he never lookt after preferment or riches , or any great matters in the world : he had daily bread , and was therewith content . vii . he suffered his part in our common lot 1662. aug. 22. ( ejected and silenced with about 2000 more ) with as little murmurring as any man that i knew : i never heard him dishonour the king , nor speak much against those by whom he suffered , or rip up their faults , unless a rare and necessary self-defence be called an accusing them . i never heard him so much as complain how much church maintenance he was deprived of , nor of the difficulties of his low dejected case . viii . he was great hater of that base pride and envy , which possesseth too many of the sacred office , who grudg if others be preferred before them ; and if the people go from them to others for their greater edification , and think themselves wronged if they be not followed and applauded , either above , or equal with more worthy men : he was very careful to preserve the reputation of his brethren , and rejoyced in the success of their labours , as well as of his own , and a most careful avoider of all divisions , contentions , or offences . and he was very free in acknowledging by whom he profited , and preferring others before himself . ix . he was very much in the study of his own heart , by strict examination , as his cabinet-papers , which may come to light , make known , as i had also occasion otherwise to know . x. by this examination he was confidently assured of his own sincerity in the true love of god , and of holiness for it self , and such-like evidences which he wrote down , renewing his examination as occasion required : and though he had known what it was to be tempted to doubt of the life to come , he was fully setled against all such doubts and temptations . xi . but though he had a setled assurance both of the truth of the gospel , and the life to come , and of his own satisfaction and sincerity : yet so lively were his apprehensions of the greatness of his approaching change , and the weight of an everlasting state , and what it is to enter upon another world , that he was not without such fears , as in our frail condition here , poor mortals that are near death are lyable to . and indeed fear signifieth a belief of the word of god , and the life to come , much more than dull insensibility : but he signified his belief both by fear and hope , and strong assurance . xii . he had the comfort of sensible growth in grace . he easily perceived a notable increase of his faith , and holiness , and heavenliness , and humility , and contempt of worldly vanity , especially of late years , and under his affliction , as the fruit of gods correcting-rod . i have truly given you the description of the man , according to my familiar knowledge . i shall yet review the similitude of his case with this of paul described in my text. i. paul was accused by envious , contentious teachers : and so was he ; though i never heard any one person else speak evil of him ; as is said , they that upbraided not paul with his former persecution , nor had any crime to charge him with , yet accused his ministry : as they said of daniel , we shall find no fault against him , except it be concerning the law of his god. his preaching and writings , though all for peace , were the matter of his accusations : the bishop blamed him for preaching , even when the king had licensed him : and a nameless writer published a bloody invective against his pacificatory-book , called the interest of england , as if it had been written to raise a war. the enemies of peace were his enemies . ii. he took boasting to be inexpedient , as paul did : and when he was silenced as unworthy to be suffered in the ministry , he once offered a modest defence to the bishop , and wrote a short and peaceable account of his judgment about the sin of schism , in his own vindication . iii. he had ( though not the extasie of paul , yet ) great knowledge of things divine and heavenly to have been the matter of his glory . iv. the heavenly paradise was the place of his hopes , where he daily studied to lay up his treasure , which had his chiefest thoughts and care . v. he found by experience that an immortal soul is not so tyed to this body of flesh , but that it can get above it , and all its interest and pleasure , and live on the hopes of unseen glory . vi. as he knew the incapacity of mortals , to have formal and adequate conceptions of the state of the heavenly paradise and separated souls ; so he submitted to gods-concealing will , and lived on the measure of gospel-revelation . vii . he knew the danger of being exalted above measure , by occasion of holy knowledge ; and how apt man is to be so puffed up . viii . god himself saved him from that danger , by his humbling wholesome sharper remedy . ix . a thorn in the flesh was gods remedy to keep him in a serious humble frame : three great stones were found in his bladder , and one small one in a corrupted kidney : and how painful a thorn these were for many years , it is easie to conjecture . x. satan was permitted to try him as job , not only by the pain of his flesh , but also by reproaches , as aforesaid , and by casting him out of his ministry , as unworthy to preach the gospel of christ , unless he would say , swear , and do all that was by men imposed , and the rest of those afflictions which are contained in such an ejected , impoverished , calumniated state , are described in the late and former experience of may such . xi . though i never heard him pray against poverty or reproach , yet for the liberty of his ministry he did , that he might preach that gospel of salvation . and pain forced him to have recourse to god for deliverance from the thorn in his flesh . and if christ and paul prayed thrice with earnestness , no wonder if continued pain made him continue his suit to god. xii . as christ was heard in the thing which he feared , and yet must drink that cup : and paul instead of the departing of the one , was promised sufficient grace , and the manifesting of gods strength in his pain and weakness ; so it pleased not god to take away the thorn from our dear brothers flesh , but he did better for him , and gave him his supporting help , and an increase of grace , and shewed his own strength in all his weakness ; and also hastened his final deliverance , beyond expectation . and now he is past all , at rest with christ , and all the blessed : we see not them , but they see god , and god feeth us , and is preparing us for the same felicity : and if it be by the same means , and we must bear the cross , and feel the thorn , it will be wholesome and short , and good is the will and work of god. lord , let me not account ease , honour or life dear to me , that i may finish my course with joy , and the ministry received of the lord , and come in season and peace to thee . and is not this providence of god , and this example of our deceased friend of use to us ? yes , no doubt of manifold use . i. it is of great use to all the land , to good and bad , to observe gods threatning in the removal of his servants : o how many excellent christians and faithful ministers of christ , have been taken hence within a few months : the same week we hear of four or five more besides our brother , and some of them the most excellent useful men . and is it not time , 1. to repent of our neglect of such helps as god is now removing ? 2 and to be presently awakened to use them better before the rest be taken away ? alas , poor souls , what a case are you in , if you dye , or the word be taken from you , before you are regenerated and prepared for a better life ! it is not so much their loss and hurt as yours , which satan endeavoureth in silencing so many hundred such : and it is your heavy punishment more than theirs , which god inflicteth by their death . o speedily repent , before that death have stopt the mouths which call'd you to repentance . and it should awaken the best to prepare for death , and for publick suffering : it seems there is some great evil to come when god thus takes away the best . yea , if it should be a forerunner of a better state , yet all save two of the old stock that dishonoured god in the wilderness must fall , and it was by bloody wars ( a dreadful means ) that joshua and the new generation were to possess the land of promise . ii. it is of use to us unworthy ministers of christ who yet survive . 1. it calleth loudly to us to work while it is day , for our night is near when we cannot work : death will shortly silence us all more effectually , than men have done . do gods work prudently , do it patiently , peaceably , and in as much concord and true obedience as you can : but be sure you do it , whoever forbid it , or be against it , as long as god or your selves have not rendered you uncapable . whatever silencers say against it , necessity is upon you : god calls for it : souls call for it : the charge is dreadful , 2 tim. 4. 1 , 2. your vows call for it : satans malice , and the number of soul-betrayers and murderers must provoke you : our time is short : souls are precious : christ the chief shepherd dearly purchased them , and will judge you according to your works : it will not justifie your neglect to say , men forbad me : sufferings were prepared for me : bishops and famous divines wrote learned books to prove that preaching was to me a sin , and that i was bound to forbear it when forbidden . 2. and it telleth us that we as well as others must prepare for the sharpest tryals from god. no thorn in the flesh so sharp and painful , which we may not feel . no death so violent or sudden but we may undergo . love and hatred are not known by outward events , prosperity or adversity . a great difference solomon acknowledgeth between the good and the bad , the righteous and wicked , him that sacrificeth ( or worshippeth god ) and him that doth not ; him that sweareth ( perjuriously or prophanely ) , and him that seareth ( such ) an oath : some are loved of god , and some are hated : and this difference is manifest in such disposals , even of prosperity and adversity , as tend to their greater holiness and happiness , which shall manifest the difference fully and for ever . but outward events manifest it not in themselves : all such things come alike to all : yea , the cross is more laid on the godly , than the wicked . o therefore away with the two disciples desires of church-preferment and worldly dignity , and prepare to drink of christs cup , and be baptized with his baptism , eccles . 9. 1 , 2 , 3. matth. 20. 22 , 23. learn daily how to bear slanders and persecutions from men , even from christian teachers ; and how to lie in fleshly pains night and day , and how to die : and all this in faith , and peace , and joy , at least in the quiet hope of everlasting joy . iii. and without any disgracing or provoking design , but meerly in conscience and compassion to the souls of the people , and of our reverend brethren themselves ; i do humbly intreat the right reverend and reverend imposing clergy , to lay by a while , if possible , all unrighteous prejudice and partiality , and worldly interests and respects , and consider that they also must die , and as they will stand to it at last , to resolve these questions : i. whether those terms of church-concord and peace be wisely and justly made , which are too narrow to receive such men as this ( for faith , knowledge , peaceableness , blamelesness , holines , &c. ) into the ministry , communion of their church , or to endure themout of a jayl ? whether wise and good men could find no better ? and whether christ ever directed the church to exclude such , or did not plainly require the contrary ? and whether the apostles ever excluded such , or made such rules ? ii. whether they think in their hearts that it were better all the good were undone , which hath been done by nonconformists these 18 years to the ministerial furthering of knowledge , repentance , holiness and salvation , than that such should have preached the gospel when forbidden ? iii. whether it will be peace to your consciences at the judgment of christ , that any of you have furthered the silencing of such , and their other sufferings ? iv. whether they that have written and preached against their preaching , or for their silencing , and the execution of the laws against them , or perswaded them to give over their work themselves , and reproached and accused them for doing it , be not engaged in this frightful cause ? v. is it not gross partiality , if you will cherish men of ignorance , vitiousness , or far less worth , while such as these are thought intollerable , meerly because the former are more obedient to you , than fear of sinning will suffer these to be . vi. was that church therein guided by the spirit of christ , which made the canon which ipso facto excommunicateth such ? vii . if you had known as many of the ( about ) 2000 silenced , and as well as i have done , how much of the grace of god shined in them , is it possible that any man that hath the true fear and love of god , and sense of everlasting things , could ever by any pretences of church government or order , or upon any byas of interest , have consented to their silencing and sufferings ? some will think that in partiality i over-magnifie men , because they were of my own mind and party : i have ( besides some pious women ) written the characters , and published the praises of divers ; of mr. rich. vines , mr. john janeway , mr. joseph allen , mr. henry stubbs , mr. wadsworth , and now mr. john corbet , and lately one layman , alderman ashurst ; and he that hath now received them , whom such as you cast out or villified , knoweth that i have in knowledge of them , and love to christ , whose grace shined in them , spoken simply the truth from my heart ; and it is in a time and place where it is fully known , and feareth no confutation . and the history shall live to the shame of church-dividing tearing principles , and all thorny hurtful dispositions , and to the encouragement of the faithful , and the imitation of those that in time to come , shall by saith , patience , and well-doing , seek for immortality and eternal life , by serving our redeemer , and pleasing god. finis . errata . pag. 3. line 26. for great , read gentle . pag. 4. l. 1. for our , r. one . l. 34. for grown , r. groan . p. 5. l. 11. for are sure , r. measure . l. 37. after that , r. the. his writings published are , 1. his history of col. massy's military-actions at and near glocester . 2. the interest of england , 1st and 2d part. 3. a discourse of the religion of england , asserting , that reformed christianity , setled in its due latitude , is the stability and advancement of this kingdom : in two parts . 4. the kingdom of god among men : with a discourse of schism : and an account of himself about conformity . 5. his secret self-employment is now to be printed . containing , 1. memorials for his own practice . 2. his evidences upon self-examination . 3. his thoughts in his last painful afflictions . what else may hereafter see the light , we yet know not . besides his labour in compiling mr. rushworth's first volume of historical collections . a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benj. calamy, d.d. and late minister of st. lawrence jewry, london, jan. 7th, 1686 by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. 1686 approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59876 wing s3347 estc r21708 12568027 ocm 12568027 63396 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59876) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63396) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 703:16) a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benj. calamy, d.d. and late minister of st. lawrence jewry, london, jan. 7th, 1686 by william sherlock ... sherlock, william, 1641?-1707. [6], 34 p. printed for john amery ..., and william rogers ..., london : 1686. advertisement: p. 34. reproduction of original in duke university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng calamy, benjamin, 1642-1686 -death and burial. clergy -office. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend benj. calamy d. d. and late minister of st. lawrence jewry , london , jan. 7 th . 1686. by william sherlock , d. d. master of the temple , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . london : printed for john amery at the peacock , and william rogers at the sun ; both against st. dunstan's church in fleetstreet . 1686. imprimatur . jan. 11. 1685 / 6 ; . c. alston r. p. d. hen. episc. lond. à sacris domestics . to his much esteemed friends the church-wardens and parishoners of st. laurence jewry , and st. mary magdalane milkstreet . gentlemen , though i had no intention to make this sermon publick , yet i could not with any modesty deny your request , when you had paid so great a regard to the counsel given you in it . i heartily congratulate your happy agreement in the choice of so excellent a person to succeed the not-to-be-forgotten dr. calamy , who , i doubt not , will deserve all that honour and kindness , which it is so natural to you , to show to your ministers . i here present you with the sermon , as it was preached , excepting some few things at the beginning , which were left out in speaking , to shorten it , as much as i could , without injuring the sense . i am sensible the character falls very short of what our deceased friend deserved , but it is every word true , and i thought , had been as inoffensive too as it is true ; and so i believe it will appear to wise and considering men , and others may judge as they please . if it will contribute any thing to make both ministers and people more faithful in the discharge of their several duties , i have what i aimed at , both in preaching and printing it , especially if you please to accept of it as a testimony of the sincere respects of gentlemen , your very humble servant , will. sherlock . 24 matth. 45 , 46. who then is a faithful and wise servant , whom his lord hath made ruler over his houshold , to give them meat in due season ? blessed is that servant , whom his lord when he cometh , shall finde so doing . in this and the fore-going chapter , our saviour acquaints his disciples with the signs and prognosticks of his coming ; which plainly have a double aspect , both upon his coming to destroy jerusalem , and upon his coming to judge the world : but the application he makes of it , is of universal use ; watch therefore , for ye know not what hour your lord doth come . v. 42. which is excellent advice , in what sense soever we understand the coming of our lord ; for the coming of our lord signifies his coming to take account of us , and whether we apply this to the hour of our death , or to the last day of judgment , still it concerns us to watch ; that is , to be always diligent and careful in doing our duty , and discharging that trust which is committed to us , that whenever our lord comes , we may give up our accounts with joy . the words , i have now read to you , concern the apostles of christ , and their successors , the bishops and pastors of the whurch , who are as much obliged to this watchfulness , as any other sort of persons , because as they have a greater trust , so they have a greater account to give . this we learn from 12 luke 42 , 43 , v. where our saviour having given that general advice to all his disciples , to watch for the coming of their lord , st. peter particularly enquires , how far he , and the rest of the apostles were concerned in it : lord , speakest thou this parable unto us , or even to all . v. 41. to which our saviour answers , who then is that faithful and wise steward , whom his lord shall make ruler of his houshold , to give them their portion of meat in due season ? blessed is that servant , whom his lord , when he cometh shall find so doing . wherein our saviour does particularly apply that general advice to his apostles and their successors , his servants , stewards , and ministers of the gospel : and indeed those particular expressions which are here used do sufficiently acquaint us , to whom this advice belongs . we need not question , who is here meant by the lord , which is the peculiar title of christ in the new testament , and it is as evident , what this houshold is , which is the church of christ , the house and temple of the living god , the houshold of faith , the houshold of god. and christ is said to be faithful as a son , or lord , over his own house , whose house are we , if we hold fast the confidence , and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end , in distinction from moses , who was faithful as a servant . the rulers of the houshold , or the stewards in st. luke , are the apostles , bishops , presbyters , who are the governours of the church , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the overseers , the ministers of christ , the stewards of the mysteries of god. the meat , which they are to give in season , is the word of life , which with respect to the different degrees and perfection of knowledge is compared to milk , and to strong meat : and therefore they are commanded to feed the flock , to preach the word , to be instant in season , out of season , to reprove , rebuke , exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine . this is sufficient to shew you , that my text does principally concern the bishops and ministers of the church , who are in an eminent manner the servants of christ in the instruction and government of his church , which is his house ; and in speaking to these words , i shall observe this following method . i. consider the duty of gospel-bishops and pastors , which is to feed , and to govern the houshold of christ. ii. the qualifications of gospel-ministers , which are faithfulness and prudence , a faithful and wise servant . iii. the great rewards of such men , blessed is that servant . i. the duty of gospel-ministers whether bishops or others , and that consists of two parts . 1. to feed . 2. to govern the houshold or church of christ. they are appointed rulers of his houshold , to give them meat in due season . i. to feed the flock of christ. this command christ gave to peter , and repeated it three times ; simon , son of jonas , lovest thou me more then these ? then feed my lambs , feed my sheep . now to feed , signifies to instruct men in the knowledge of christ , for knowledge is the proper food and nourishment of the soul , by which it grows in spiritual wisdom , and all vertue and goodness ; and is as necessary to our spiritual life , as natural food is to the life of our bodies . this is life eternal , saith our saviour , to know thee the onely true god , and jesus christ , whom thou hast sent . for this reason our saviour appointed stewards and dispensers of the mysteries of his kingdom , whose whole business it should be to study the divine will themselves , and to instruct others . for this is a knowledge which must be taught ; nature may instruct us in the being of a god , and the differences between good and evil , and the plain rules of morality ; but the mysteries of the kingdom , the whole oeconomy of mans salvation by jesus christ , is to be known onely by revelation . christ came down from heaven to reveal this to us , and he instructed his apostles , and his apostles by their preaching and writings instructed the church , and have left us a standing rule of faith and manners ; but yet it is necessary , that there should be some men peculiarly devoted to the service of religion , the study of the scriptures , and the work of the ministry , to instruct and teach those who have neither leisure nor opportunities for enquiry , nor capacity to learn without a guide , which is the case of the generality of christians ; especially since religion has been clogged with such infinite disputes , and there has been so much art used to make the plainest truths difficult , obscure , and uncertain , to corrupt the christian faith , and to make it comply with mens sensual lusts , or secular interests . a guide and instructor is absolutely necessary , when there are so many turnings and labyrinths , wherein men may lose themselves , and their way to heaven . but though there were no disputes in religion , no difficulty in understanding it , though all men were agreed about the way to heaven , though the meanest christian understood the mysteries of christianity , as well as the greatest divine , yet there would be constant need of a spiritual guide , while men are apt to be unmindful of their duty , and careless in the practice of it . the work of an evangelical pastor is not meerly to instruct the ignorant , but to exhort , to reprove , to admonish , to watch over the lives and manners of christians , to make seasonable applications to their consciences , to administer comfort to afflicted spirits , to excite and quicken the slothful , and to encourage the fearful and timerous , and to assist and direct men in their spiritual warfare , how to obtain a glorious victory over the world and the flesh. this is to feed the flock of christ , and to give them meat in due season , to instruct them in those things of which they are ignorant , and to put them in mind of those things which they already know , that their faith may be turned into a principle of life and action , and this heavenly food may be digested into bloud and spirits , to the edifying of the body of christ in all christian graces and vertues . 2. another part of the ministerial office consists in acts of discipline and government ; christ has made these ministers and servants , rulers over his houshold . no society can be preserved , without order and government , which is as absolutely necessary in the church , as in the state. christ is the head of the church , the husband , the shepherd , the lord , which are all names of authority and power ; and the church is his body , his spouse , his flock , his houshold , and family , which are names of subjection , and denote a regular and orderly society ; but christ has now left this world , and does not visibly appear among us , to direct and govern the affairs of his church ; he is ascended into heaven , where he sits at the right hand of god , and exerciseth an invisible power and providence for the defence and preservation of his church on earth : he governs us by his laws , and by his spirit , and by his ministers : for when he ascended on high , he led captivity captive , and gave gifts to men . and he gave some , apostles : and some , prophets : and some , evangelists : and some , pastors and teachers . for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the edifying of the body of christ : till we all come in the unity of the faith , and of the knowledge of the son of god , to a perfect man , unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of christ. when our saviour was risen from the dead , he tells his disciples , all power is given unto me both in heaven and in earth . go ye therefore , and teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you : and lo , i am with you alway , even unto the end of the world. this is their commission to preach the gospel , and to govern his church ; which was not meerly a personal commission to the apostles , but extends to all their successors , as appears from christ's promise to be with them in the discharge of his ministerial authority to the end of the world. thus st. john acquaints us , that christ after his resurrection appeared to his apostles , when they were met together , and said unto them , peace be unto you , as my father hath sent me , so send i you . and as he had said this , he breathed on them , and said unto them , receive ye the holy ghost . whose soever sins ye remit , they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain , they are retained . this invested them with authority , but then the actual communication of power , which , especially at that time , was necessary to the discharge of their office , was reserved for the descent of the holy ghost ; and therefore our saviour commanded them , not to depart from jerusalem , but to wait for the promise of the father , that is , the gift of the holy ghost . for says he , ye shall receive power after that the holy ghost is come upon you , and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem , and in all judea , and in samaria , and unto the uttermost parts of the earth . and accordingly we find , that during the time of the apostles , the supreme authority of the church was in their hands , which they committed to their successors , and has ever since been exercised by christian bishops and presbyters , with regard to their different order and power . but what is this power which christ hath given to his ministers ? they have no rods , nor axes , as secular princes have , to compel men to the faith of christ , and to force their obedience . no , this is contrary to the genius and spirit of christianity . if men will be infidels , if they will be wicked , we cannot help it : for though we walk in the flesh , we do not war after the flesh : for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal , such as earthly princes use , but mighty through god , to the pulling down of strong holds , casting down imaginations , and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of god , and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of christ. our saviour in my text acquaints us what this power and authority is ; he makes them rulers over his houshold , to give them meat in due season . this is the authority christ hath given to his ministers , to instruct , to exhort , to advise , to admonish , to reprove , and that with sharpness too , when there is occasion for it , according to the power which the lord hath given to edification , and not to destruction ; as st. paul speaks . but what authority is this ? may not every christian do the same ? is it not the duty of us all , as we are able , to instruct , exhort , reprove one another ? yes , it is ; and i would to god it were more generally practised : but yet every private christian cannot do this with the authority of a bishop , or a gospel-minister : the instructions and exhortations of private christians , are acts of friendship and charity ; and the obligation to it , is that mutual concernment and sympathy which the members of the same body ought to have for each other : in gospel-ministers it is an act of authority , like the censures of a father , a magistrate , or a judge . we do not pretend indeed , as st. paul speaks , to have dominion over your faith , to exercise a kind of soveraign authority , to oblige you to believe any thing meerly because we say it ; but yet our authority is such , that if in the exercise of our office we explain the articles of faith and rules of life to you , it lays an indispensible obligation upon you , carefully to examine what we say , and not to reject it , without plain and manifest evidence , that what we teach you is not agreeable to the will of god revealed in the scriptures . for when we come in the name and authority of christ , that man who rejects our message , without being sure that we exceed our commission , rejects the authority by which we act ; and he that despiseth , despiseth not man , but god. it is our work and our commission to instruct you , and it is your duty to be instructed ; and whoever shall wantonly reject any doctrines which do not suit with his humour and interest , or oppose some popular mistakes and prejudices against the instructions of his guide , or turn away his ear from instruction , and heap to himself teachers , having itching ears , such a man must give a severe account of this neglect and contempt to the great bishop and shepherd of souls . while we are careful to discharge our office in pursuance of that trust our great master hath committed to us , what our saviour tells his apostles is true of the meanest of us all ; he that heareth you , heareth me : and he that despiseth you , despiseth me : and he that despiseth me , despiseth him that sent me . the like may be said of the exhortations , and counsels , and directions , and reproofs , of our spiritual guides , they carry great authority with them ; they are not like the private admonitions of our friends , who exhort and reprove out of kindness , and their particular concernment for us : to reject such counsels as these , does mightily aggravate our sin and our condemnation , as every thing does , which makes our sin more wilful and obstinate ; but to reject the counsels and reproofs of our guide , is a new act of disobedience to that authority which christ has set in his church . whether you will hear , or whether you will obey , we must exhort , reprove , advise ; and wo be to us , if we do not , and wo be to those who will not hear , who will not obey . our great master looks upon this as a contempt of his own authority , and this is all the authority we have . we cannot force you to obey our counsels or reproofs , but ours and your master will severely punish you , if you do not . in a word , the instructions , reproofs , and censures of christ's ministers , carry such authority with them , that they can receive into , or shut out of the communion of the church , which is the onely visible state of salvation . remission of sins , and eternal life , is ordinarily to be had onely in the visible communion of the church , and therefore the power of receiving into the church by baptism , and of casting out of the church by excommunication , which is the onely authority christ hath given to these rulers of his houshold , to receive in and cast out of his family , is called a power of remitting or retaining sins , because the forgiveness of sins is to be had onely in the communion of the church , and no man belongs to the invisible church , who does not live in communion with the visible church , when it may he had . the authority of christs ministers is to feed those , who are of his houshold , to give them their meat in due season , and to judge who shall belong to this houshold , who shall be received in , or cast out of christs family : this is the highest act of church authority on earth , and the onely sanction of all our instructions , counsels , and reproofs ; and therefore this authority is not intrusted with every gospel-minister , but is committed to the chief governours of the church , the bishops who succeed into the ordinary apostolical power . ii. let us now consider the due qualifications which are required in gospel-ministers , and they are two : faithfulness and prudence , who is that faithful and wise servant ? first , faithfulness : now faithfulness in a servant consists in being true to his trust ; and when this is applied to preaching the gospel , it signifies , that he is extreamly careful to publish the whole mind and will of god ; which as it concerns us in this age , includes these following rules : 1. to be careful to acquaint our selves with the will of god , that we may be scribes which are instructed unto the kingdom of heaven , who are like unto a man that is an housholder , which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old . the priests lips must preserve knowledge , but we must first have it , before we can teach it others ; and since none of us now pretend to immediate inspirations , this is a work of difficulty and labour , and requires as much faithfulness in our studies , as in the pulpit . it is no argument of faithfulness , whatever it may be of diligence , to run like ahimaaz without tidings , to vent some crude and indigested thoughts for the oracles of god. 2. faithfulness requires us to preach nothing for the will of god , but what we are sure to be so ; to deliver no message , but what we have received in commission ; not to indulge our own private conjectures and fancies , nor think to mend and sublimate religion by philosophical speculations , but to content our selves with the simplicity of the gospel , to preach christ jesus , and him crucified . nothing has done greater mischief to religion , than when the very teachers of it have been ambitious to be wise above what is written . all the articles of the christian faith , as distinguisht from the principles of natural religion , can be known onely by revelation ; and therefore there is no reasoning about them any farther , than to know what is revealed , and what is not revealed , is so uncertain , and so useless , that it is not worth the knowing . since we preach in the name , and by the authority of christ , we ought not to instruct our people in any thing but what we have his authority for , for this is to exceed our commission . other nice speculations may entertain us in private conversation ; but when we preach in the name of christ , let us onely preach his gospel , and teach them to observe and do whatsoever he hath commanded us . 3. faithfulness requires , that we preach the whole will of god ; that we instruct men in all the articles of the christian faith , especially where there is any apparent and present danger of a mistake ; and that we teach them every part of their duty to god and men , especially such duties as they are most unwilling to learn , and most averse to practice . this is an essential part of faithfulness , & requires no small courage too . there are no times so bad , no hearers so captious , but they will very well bear some general commendations of religion , or some common topicks about vertue or vice ; which are of great use too , especially in such a sceptical and unbelieving age , as this . but a faithful discharge of our ministry requires somewhat more ; a particular application to the consciences of men , according to their wants and necessities , not so much to consult what will please them , as what will do them good . it mightily concerns a gospel-minister , as far as he can , to maintain a fair reputation in the world , but a good name is nothing worth , when we can do no good by it , when we cannot get or maintain a good name without neglecting our duty , or betraying the souls of men . i had a thousand times rather , that men should reproach and revile me for instructing them in such duties , as they cannot with patience hear of , than that they should commend me for my silence . it is hard to live in any age , wherein there are not some popular errors , or some popular vices to be corrected ; and it is a very dangerous thing to meddle with any thing that is popular . but what is danger to that man , who is in a greater danger by the neglect of his duty ? shall any man call himself a minister of the gospel , and a servant of jesus christ , and in such an age , as we now live in , be ashamed or afraid to cenfure or consute the errors of popery or fanaticism , or to reprove schism and faction , because they are very popular vices . let a man so account of us , as the ministers of christ , and stewards of the mysteries of god. moreover , it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful . but with me it is a very small thing that i should be judged of you , or of mans judgment : as st. paul speaks . when we leave our several flocks , it will be infinite satisfaction to us , to be able to say , as st. paul did to the asian bishops ; i take you to record this day , that i am pure from the blood of all men . for i have not shunned to declare to you all the counsel of god. secondly , prudence is as necessary in a gospel-minister , as faithfulness is : by prudence i do not mean cunning and subtilty , artificial insinuations and addresses , which are more like the arts of seducers , than of gospel-ministers , who by good words , and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple . prudence will not allow us in the neglect of any part of our duty , whatever the event be ; but we must renounce the hidden things of dishonesty , not walking in craftiness , nor handling the word of god deceitfully , but by manifestation of the truth , commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of god. wisdom and prudence , as it is consistent with faithfulness and honesty in the discharge of our trust , can signifie no more but this ; to instruct , exhort , perswade , and perform all the parts and offices of a gospel-minister , in such a manner , as may render our instructions and perswasions most effectual ; to take the most convenient seasons , when men are most apt to be wrought on ; to teach them such things as are of most present use to them ; to use such arguments as are most likely to prevail ; to avoid all unnecessary provocations , when the duty it self , which we are to teach them is not the matter of the provocation ; for if men will be provoked with hearing of their duty , there is no help for that . prudence never dispences with any part of our duty , but directs to the best way of doing it : a faithful servant does what he is commanded , and a wise servant does it in the most effectual manner . iii. the last part of my text concerns the great rewards of such faithful and wise servants ; blessed is that servant . what this reward is , we are not here particularly told . all good men , we know , shall be very blessed and happy in the other world , and we may reasonably presume , that christ , who is the great judge of the world , has reserved some peculiar marks of honour for his immediate servants : this he plainly intimates to us , in that distinction he makes between the reward of a prophet , and of a righteous man : he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet , shall receive a prophets reward : and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man , shall receive a righteous mans reward . our reward in heaven will bare some proportion to the nature of our work , and to that service we do for god in this world. now we cannot do any more acceptable service , than to serve god in the gospel of his son : to use our utmost endeavours to propagate religion in the world , and to make other men wise , and good , and happy . our saviour himself came into the world on this very design , and was advanc't to the right hand of glory and power , as a reward of it ; and those who are workers together with him , as st. paul speaks , will receive some proportionable reward also . the faithful discharge of this duty is a work of infinite care and difficulty , that it made an apostle himself cry out , who is sufficient for these things . it requires the exercise of great care , and great prudence , and great patience ; it is abundantly enough to employ our whole time and thoughts either in studying the will of god , or in attending the publick ministries of religion , or in private addresses and applications to men who want our advice and counsel ; we must contentedly bear all the affronts and insolencies of bad men , the frowardness and peevishness of many profest christians , the gain-sayings and contradictions of sinners . we must go on and persevere in our work , though our persons and our ministry be despised : when we are reviled , we must bless : when persecuted , we must suffer : when defamed , we must entreat : yea though we are made as the filth of the world , and the off-scouring of all things . this is not very pleasing to flesh and bloud , but the harder the work is , the greater will our reward be , if we be found faithful and wise servants . nay , there is no work does so ennoble the mind as this , and qualifie us for an excellent reward . no man can faithfully discharge this work , but it must purge and refine his mind , and set him vastly above this world , and the little concernments of it : it gives us a more clear distinct comprehensive knowledge of god and divine things , which is an angelical perfection of the mind and understanding ; and he must be a strange man , who can be so constantly employed in the contemplation of god , and the things which relate to another and a better life , and not find his soul ravisht with those unseen and unspeakable glories ; who is so constantly employed in taking care of other mens souls , and takes no care of his own ; who is so frequent in his devotions , as the very nature of our work exacts from us , and not live a most divine and heavenly life : there are indeed some , who in the most divine employment are no great examples of such a divine conversation ; but i fear they will not be found in the number of these faithful and wise servants . whoever heartily applies himself to the care of souls , will in the first place take care of his own ; and the faithful discharge of this duty , will raise us so much above the ordinary level and attainments of christians , as will prepare us for a greater reward , and advance us to a more perfect state of glory . nay , that immediate relation we stand in to christ , who is the soveraign lord and judge of the world , if we approve our selves faithful and wise servants , will secure us of a more excellent reward . the church on earth and the church in heaven , is but one church , one houshold and family ; and those whom he has made rulers of his houshold here , to whom he has committed the greatest places of trust and dignity , need not fear being degraded in the other world , if they adorn their office , and faithfully discharge their trust here : and therefore our saviour tells his apostles , verily i say unto you , that ye which have followed me in the regeneration , when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory , ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones , judging the twelve tribes of israel : that is , that their reward and glory in the other world , should answer to that place of trust , and power , and dignity , which they had in the church on earth ; and this promise is no more peculiar to the apostles , than their office was . in a word , if we consider what the state of the other world is , and who is king there , that it is the blessed jesus , our great high priest , king of salem , or the new jerusalem , and priest of the most high god , how mean and contemptible soever our office is thought here , we need not doubt but the scene will be mightily chang'd , when we come into that kingdom where the king is a high priest. let this then , beloved brethren of the clergy , be a mighty encouragement to us to be very diligent and faithful in the discharge of this great trust ; whatever difficulties we meet with , whatever scorns , reproaches , or sufferings , it is but expecting a while , and our lord will come , and his reward is with him : and blessed , for ever blessed , is that servant , whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing . yea blessed , for ever blessed , as my text gives us reason to hope , is this our dear brother , whose remains lie here before us , who , when his lord came , was found thus doing . we may lament the loss of so kind a relation , so true a friend , so faithful a pastor , and fellow-labourer , according to the several interests we had in him ; but he , blessed soul , has fought a good fight , and finished his course , and kept the faith , and is now gone to receive a crown of righteousness , a crown of immortality and glory . he is now gone to that great bishop and shepherd of souls , whose flock he has so carefully and diligently fed , and whose wandring and stragling sheep he has reduced into the fold . to that kind shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep , and therefore will not fail to reward those who have spent their lives , and were ready to have sacrificed them too , for the service of souls . when we speak of so great a man , it is below his character to mention such things as would be thought considerable attainments in meaner persons ; though indeed a truly great man does nothing meanly . a great mind gives a peculiar grace and decency to common actions , as it was easie to observe in his very mirth and freest humours , that he never gave the reins out of his hands , but governed himself by the strictest rules of prudence and religion . but i shall confine my self to the subject of my text , and consider him onely as a faithful and wise steward , and therefore have very little to adde ; for i doubt not , but you who knew him , especially you who have enjoyed the benefit of his ministry , and have lived under his care and conduct , have already applied what i have discoursed on this argument , to your deceased pastor ; and would i have chosen any particular man to have drawn the character by , of a wise and faithful steward , there are not many men i should sooner have thought on , than dr. calamy to have been the pattern . that he did take care to give you meat in due season , i need not tell you , because you all know it . if preaching in season and out of season , if publick instructions and private applications , where they were needful or desired , be to feed the flock of christ , & to give meat to his houshold and family , this he did , and that very faithfully and wisely too . in the first place , he took care to inform himself , and to furnish his own mind with all useful knowledge ; and his constant preaching , though without any vain affectation of learning , which serves onely to amuse , not to instruct , did sufficiently discover both his natural and acquired abilities . he had a clear and distinct apprehension of things , an easie and manly rhetorick , strong sense conveyed to the mind in familiar words , good reasons inspired with a decent passion , which did not onely teach , but move and transport the hearers , and at the same time gave both light and heat : for indeed he was a good man , which is necessary to make a good preacher ; he had an inward vital sense of religion , and that animated his discourses with the same divine passions which he felt in himself . he did not entertain his hearers with school-subtilties , or a coniectural divinity , with such thin and airy speculations , as can neither be seen , nor felt , nor understood , but his chief care was to explain the great articles of faith , and rules of life , what we must believe , and how we must live , that we may be eternally happy . and he did ; as a faithful servant ought to do , as he declared a little before his death , that he never preached any thing , but what he himself firmly believed to be true . i need not tell you what a troublesome world we have lived in for some years past , such critical times as would try the principles & spirits of men ; when a prevailing faction threatned both church and state , and the fears of popery were thought a sufficient justification of the most illegal & irreligious methods to keep it out ; when it was scandalous to speak a word either for the king or the church , when cunning men were silent , and those who affected popularity swam with the stream ; then this great & good man durst reprove schism and faction , durst teach men to conform to the church , and to obey & honor the king ; durst vindicate the despised church of england , and the hated doctrine of passive obedience , though the one was thought to favour popery , and the other to introduce slavery ; but he was above the powerful charms of names , and liked truth never the worse , because it was miscalled . his publick sermons preached in those days , and printed by publick authority , are lasting proofs of this , and yet he was no papist neither , but durst reprove the errours of popery , when some others , who made the greatest noise and out-cry about it , grew wise and cautious . this was like a truly honest and faithful servant , to oppose the growing distempers of the age , without any regard either to unjust censures , or apparent danger . and yet he did not needlesly provoke any man ; he gave no hard words , but thought it severe enough to confute mens errors without upbraiding or reproaching their persons . his conversation was courteous and affable to all men , soft and easie , as his principles were stubborn ; he could yield any thing but the truth , and bear with any thing but the vices of men . he would indeed have been the wonder of his age , had he not lived in such an age , as ; thanks be to god , can shew many such wonders , and yet in such an age as this he made an illustrious figure ; though he had his equals , he had not many superiours . thus he lived , and thus this good man died , for thus he was found doing when his lord came . the first symptoms of his distemper seized him just before his last sermon at white-hall , but gave him so much respite as to take his leave of the world in an excellent discourse of immortality , which he speaks of with such a sensible gust and relish , as if his soul had been then upon the wing , and had some fore-tast of those joys it was just a going to possess . and indeed he encountered the apprehensions of death , like one who believed and hoped for immortality ; he was neither over-fond of living , nor afraid to die . he received the supper of our lord , professed his communion with the church of england , in which he had lived , and in which he now died , and having recommended his soul to god , he quietly expected how he would dispose of him . but i must not forget to tell you , that he died like a true and faithful pastor , with a tender care and affection for his flock . when he imposed this unwelcome office upon me , he told me , he did not desire any praises of himself , but that i would give some good advice to his people , who , said he , are indeed a very kind and loving people . and this was not the first nor the onely time i have heard him own not onely your kind reception of him at first , but the repeated and renewed expressions of your affection , which did signally manifest it self in his late sickness , and now accompanies him to the grave . a character , which to your honour i speak it , you have now made good for several successions , and which , i hope , you will never forfeit . but what that good counsel is , he would have me give you , he told me not ; and therefore i can onely guess at his intentions in this . were he now present to speak to you , i believe he could not give you better counsel than he has already done : and therefore my advice to you is , 1. to remember those counsels and exhortations , which you have heard from your deceased pastor . though the sower be removed , yet let that immortal seed , that word of life which he has sown , live and fructifie in your hearts , and bring forth the blessed fruits of righteousness . he has shewed you the plain way to heaven , have a care you do not forget it , have a care you do not wander out of it . he has recommended the communion of the church of england to you . he has taught you to be loyal to your prince , and to be true to your religion ; take care then , that neither your religion destroy your loyalty , nor your loyalty corrupt your religion : remember that beloved person , whose memory is dear and sacred to you , was neither a rebel , a papist , nor a fanatick . 2. since you have lost your guide , a faithful and a prudent guide , and the choice of a successour is in your selves , be very careful , as the concernment of your souls requires you should be , of your choice . consider what an age we live in , which requires an experienced and skilful pilot to steer a secure and steady course . have a care of dividing into factions and parties ; let not meer private interests or friendships govern you ; if it be possible , admit of no competitions , much less of pulpit-combats , which do oftner occasion lasting and fatal divisions , than end in a wise choice . remember what a succession you have had of great and good men in this place , and let it be your ambition still to equal and out-do it , if you can . and now i shall conclude with one word to you my brethren of the clergy . we have lost a faithful and diligent labourer in gods vineyard , in a time when we could ill have spared him ; let us then , who still survive , double our diligence , and express a greater zeal and concernment in the defence of religion , and in the care of souls . let us remember that we are all mortal , and how little time we have to work in , we know not ; but let us so improve the remainder of our days , that when our lord comes , he may own us for faithful and wise servants , and bestow on us a crown of righteousness and immortality . which god of his infinite mercy grant , through our lord jesus christ ; to whom , with the father and the holy spirit , be honour , and glory , and power , now and for ever . amen . finis . advertisements . ☞ a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons , by w. sherlock d. d. price 6 d. a vindication of that sermon from a popish remonstrance , 4 o. price 6 d. both sold by john amery at the peacock in fleetstreet . a discourse against transubstantiation . price 6 d. doctrines and practices of the church of rome truly represented , in answer to a papist mis-represented and represented . both printed for w. rogers . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a59876-e390 1 cor. 3. 16. 2 cor. 6. 16. 6 gal. 10. 3 heb. 5 , 6. 20 acts 28. 1 cor. 4. 1. 1 cor. 3. 2. 5. heb. 12 1 pet. 2. 2. 2 tim. 4. 2. 20. acts 28. 21. john 15 , 16 , 17. 1 pet. 2. 2. 17. john 3. 5 eph. 23. 10 john. 14. 4 eph. 8 , 11 , 12 , 13. 28 mat. 18 , 19 , 20. 20 joh. 21 , 22 , 23. 1 act. 4. 8 , 9. 2 cor. 10. 3 , 4 , 5. 2 cor. 13. 10. 2 cor. 1. 24. 10 luk. 16. 13. mat. 52. 2 sam. 18. 22. 1 cor. 4 , 1 , 2 , 3. 20. acts 26 , 27. 16 rom. 18. 2 cor. 4. 2. 10. mat. 41. 2 cor. 6. 1. 2 cor. 2. 16. 1 cor. 4. 12 , 13. 19 mat. 28. a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably. delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick. who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and was honorably buried, may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex. by edmund calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a79008 of text r207615 in the english short title catalog (thomason e947_1). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a79008 wing c262 thomason e947_1 estc r207615 99866656 99866656 118934 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a79008) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118934) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 141:e947[1]) a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably. delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick. who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and was honorably buried, may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex. by edmund calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 39, [1] p. printed for edward brewster, at the crane in pauls church-yard., london : 1658. title page in two states: line 12 reads (1) "who aged [blank] died april 19. and was" or (2) "who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and". state 1 "[blank]" indicates a space left for the age to be inserted; "70" is inserted in ms. in thomason copy. annotation on thomason copy: "june 2d". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng warwick, robert rich, -earl of, 1587-1658 -early works to 1800. sermons, english -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. a79008 r207615 (thomason e947_1). civilwar no a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably.: delivered in a sermon prea calamy, edmund 1658 16792 87 110 0 0 0 0 117 f the rate of 117 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-09 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a patterne for all , especially for noble and honourable persons , to teach them how to die nobly and honourably . delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick . who aged 70 died april 19. and was honorably buried , may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex . by edmund calamy b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury . psal. 82. 6 , 7. i said , ye are gods , and all of you are children of the most high , but you shall dye like men , and fall like one of the princes . rev. 14. 13. i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord , &c. illius est nolle mori , qui nolit ire ad christum . aug. nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus . de imperatore theodosio fertur magis se gaudere quod membrum ecclesia dei esset , quam caput imperii . aug. ultima verba morientis grynnaei . ut nunc triste mori est , sic dulce resurgere : quondam christus ut in vitâ , sic quoque morte lucrum . in terris labor est , requies sed suavis in urnâ , in summo venient gaudia summa die . london , printed for edward brewster , at the crane in pauls church-yard . 1658. to the right honourable robert earle of warwick , baron of leeze . right honourable , the noble favours which i received from your deceased father , are so many , that i can never sufficiently expresse them , and ( i hope ) shall never be so ungrateful as to forget them . the chiefest requital i can now make for them , is to pray for your lordship , that as you are his heire , and inherit his estate , so you may also inherit his virtues ; and that whatsoever was good in him , may live in you . for as it is a happinesse , when a sonne is descended from religious ancestors ( he being hereby made partaker of their good counsels , prayers , and pious examples ) so also it is an invaluable blessing , when a father hath religious and virtuous children . it was a sad complaint of augustus , o that i had lived a bachelor , or dyed childlesse ! and concerning marcus aurelius antoninus , that he had been perfectly happy , had he not begotten such a wicked sonne as commodus was . and that he did injure his country in nothing , but in being the father of such an ungodly child , hoc solo patriae , quod genuit , nocuit . some children are blots and blemishes to their parents , as manasseh was to hezekiah . my prayer for your lordship is , that you may be an honour , glory , and crown of rejoycing to your family , and by your godly and virtuous life make your father ( though dead ) to enjoy a kind of happiness upon earth while you live . and that you may embalme his memory to posterity by the spices , and sweet odours of your godly life , and conversation . it ought not to be forgotten , but for ever to be remembred , that your lordship may not unfitly be called the lords passeover . for when he took away by death your only sonne and heire , he passed over you , and instead of the father took to himselfe the grand-father . this remarkable providence is alone sufficient to teach you to pass the time of your sojourning here in feare ; and to purge out the old leaven of sinne and iniquitie , that you may be a new lump of sincerity and truth ; and thereby have an undoubted interest in christ your passeover , who was sacrificed for you . this ensuing sermon was preached at your fathers funeral , and it is now dedicated to your lordship as yours by birth-right , and by many other obligations . it will much conduce ( if put in practice ) for the encouraging of you in wayes of holiness , and righteousness . for it teacheth wherein true nobility doth consist , and that nothing makes a man truely noble , but pietie , and godlinesse . sinne defiles a person and makes him vile and loathsome , though otherwise never so honourable . david calls a sinner a vile person , and his sonne solomon calls him a loathsome person . antiochus the great because of his wickednesse , is stiled by daniel a vile person . sinne makes us not only like unto dogs , vipers , and swine , but unto devils : nay , sin makes us devils . christ himselfe calls judas a devil : and saith , revelations● . 10. the devil shall cast some of you into prison , &c. meaning thereby wicked and devilish men . he that is a slave to his lusts is base , and ignoble though a king or emperour . nobilitie without virtue is but as a scarlet roabe upon a leaprous body . a true christian is of a noble extraction . he is the adopted sonne of god , brother to jesus christ , heire of god , and co-heire with christ . he is partaker of the divine nature , and without all controversie the noblest man in the world . the lord give you grace to believe this , that as you are nobly borne in reference to your earthly extraction , so you may be borne from above , and borne of god in reference to your heavenly original . this sermon will likewise instruct your lordship how to dye nobly and honourably . and that is , to dye in the faith . he that dyes in his sinnes , must of necessity be condemned for his sinnes : but he that dyes with a true faith in jesus christ , shall certainly live for ever in heaven with christ . it will teach you to build your sepulchre in your earthly paradises , and in the midst of your pleasures to remember your latter end . this will be a golden bridle to keep you from unlawful , and to moderate the use of lawful pleasures . it sets before you a double patterne for your imitation . the lives of the ancient and religious patriarcks , and many commendable , and praise-worthy things in your fathers life . and if your lordship will endeavour to write after these excellent copies and live as they lived , you will be happy both in life and death , which that you may be , is , and shall be the prayer of my lord , your humble servant in christ jesus . edmund calamy . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable robert earle of warwick . heb. 11. 13. these all dyed in faith . these words are a description of the constancy and perseverance of the old testament saints in holinesse , notwithstanding all the difficulties and discouragements they met with . they did not only live in the faith , but they continued in it till death , and dyed in the same faith in which they lived . all these dyed in the faith . in the words we have two parts . first , the persons mentioned . secondly , the things mentioned concerning these persons . 1. the persons mentioned , these all . that is , ( as some would have it ) all the forementioned saints , abel , noah , abraham , sarah , &c. ( except enoch who dyed not , and yet continued in the faith , and in that faith was taken up ) these all . but i conceive that the holy ghost principally and directly , intends only such of the forenamed saints , who were heirs of the land of promise , and sojourned in canaan as in a strange country . these all . that is , all those who lived in the second world after the flood , abraham , and sarah , isaac , and jacob ; the husband , and the wife ; the father , the son , and the grandchild . these all . 2. the things mentioned concerning these persons . 1. it is said they dyed . these all dyed {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . though they lived long , and many score of years longer than we now do , yet they dyed at last . though they were very godly , and religious persons , though very noble , and honourable persons , yet they dyed . these all dyed . 2. it is said , that they dyed in faith , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . they died according to the faith in which they lived , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is here put for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as ver. 9. 11 , 17. they died according to the faith ; that is , in the faith , in ●ide , seu ●ide , seu per fidem . if you would know what this faith was in which they died , you must take notice of what followeth in the text — not having received the promises , but having seen them afar off , and were perswaded of them , and embraced them , and confessed that , &c. god had promised that the messias should come of their seed , and that in him all the nations of the world should be blessed . god had promised that he would give them the land of canaun , and not only an earthly , but an heavenly canuan . now all these died , perswaded of the truth of these promises , embracing , or ( as the greek word signifieth ) kissing them . they saw them afar off , and beleeved them . even as a mariner that hath been long at sea , when he seeth afar off the desired haven , claps his hands , and skips for joy . so did these holy men . by the prospective glasse of faith , they saw the performance of that which came not to passe till foure hundred years after , and rejoyced in it as if already fulfilled . they died in the faith of the messias , beleeving not only that he should come in the flesh , but expecting salvation , and life everlasting by him only . they died perswaded of salvation by christ , and embracing , saluting , and kissing the lord jesus . they died in the faith of the promised land of canaan , and they died looking , waiting , and resting upon god in christ for a better country , which is an heavenly , ver. 16. in a word , they died beleeving they should go to that city which hath foundations , whose builder , and maker is god , ver. 10. this was that blessed , happy , and noble close , and end of daies which these godly and honourable patriarks made . these all dyed in faith . from the words thus expounded i shall gather these following inferences . doctrine 1. that though a man liveth never so long , yet he must die at last . these all dyed though they lived long . abraham lived one hundred seventy five years , isaac one hundred eightie , jacob one hundred fourtie seven , and yet died at last . before the flood , some lived seven hundred , others eight hundred , others nine hundred years ▪ but it is added as the common epitaph of them all , mortuus est , he dyed , gen. 5. 8 , 14 , 17 , 20 , 31. death is the haven of every man , whether king , or beggar , rich , or poor . death is the gulfe which will swallow us all up . length of time cannot prescribe against death . the longest day will have a night , and the longest life a death . this life is nothing else but prolixitas mortis ( as one saith ) or tendentia ad mortem . a lingring kind of death , or a pacing , or journeying to death . some have a longer journy than others , but all must come to their journies end at last . there is a statute in heaven for it , heb. 9. 27. it is appointed for all men once to dye . and death is called the house appointed for all living , job 30. 23. and the way of all the earth , 1 king. 2. 2. all flesh is grass , isa. 40. 6. now then , if they who lived so long died at last , much more must we , who are dwarfes in years in comparison of them , and who are nearer death when first borne , than some of them were when an hundred years old . let me beseech you frequently , solemnly , and seriously to consider , that though we live never so long and labour by physick , and temperate diet , and wholesome aire to prolong our lives , yet we must die at last . as the king of persia told constantine the emperour , when he had shewed him all the wealth of rome ; these are indeed ( saith he ) wonderful things which you shew me , but i plainiy see , that as in persia , so in rome also men are subject to death . for dust we all are and to dust we must all returne . we must say to corruption thou art my father , and to the worme , thou art my mother and my sister . we have here no abiding city . as we had a day to come into the world , so we shall have a day to go out of it . the nature of man is wonderful prone to dreame of an eternal abode , and of a lasting happiness here upon earth . saint austin tells us of certain hereticks called aeternales , because they held the world to be eternal . we have many such eternalists , who phancy to themselves a kind of eternitie here upon earth , and are ready to say with the rich foole in the gospel , soul take thy ease , eat drink and be merry , thou hast goods laid up for many years , and in the mean time forget what god said to him , thou foole , this night thy soul shall be required of thee , then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? it is said of wicked men , psalm 49. 11. their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever , and their dwelling places to all generations , &c. they are ashamed to utter any such thing , but their inward thought is that they shall abide for ever . then it followeth , ver. 13. this their way is their folly , yet their posteritie approve their sayings . nevertheless man being in honour abideth not , &c. though he thinks he shall abide , yet neither he , nor his heires shall be continued , but he shall be like the beasts that perish . therefore we had all need to pray davids prayer , lord make me to know mine end , and the measure of my dayes what it is , that i may know how fraile i am . there are few who know practically and applicatively how fraile they are . most men say they are mortal , magis usu quam sensu , more out of custome than feeling ; for they live as if their lives were riveted upon eternitie , and as if they should never come to a reckoning . heu vivunt homines tanquam mors nulla sequatur , aut velut infernus fabula vana foret . let us supplicate unto god , that he would teach us effectually to remember our frailtie , and to consider that there will come a dying time , and that it will come certainly , shortly , uncertainly , suddenly and irresistibly . 1. that it will come certainly . there is an oporte● for it . we must all appear before the judgement seat of christ , &c. there is nothing certain in life but death . 2. that it will come very shortly . it is not long , but we must all go down to the house of rottennesse . this life is but as an hand-breadth , as a vapor , &c. swifter than a post , and passeth away as the swift ships , and as the eagle that hasteth to the prey , it is nothing else but a salve vale . 3. uncertainly , as to the time when , the place where , and the manner how . your almanacks will tell you when the next eclipse of the sunne and moone will be . but there is no almanacks will tell you when the eclipse of your lives will be . this comes uncertainly ; and therefore uncertainly , to provoke us to be always ready , because we know not in what hour the son of man will come , matth. 24. 42 , 44. 4. that oftentimes it comes suddenly like a thiefe in the night , 1 thef. 5. 2. like an evil net in which the fishes of the sea , and a secret snare in which the birds of the aire are suddenly caught , eccles. 9. 12. luk. 21. 35. psal. 73. 19. 5. that it comes irresistibly like paine upon a woman with childe , 1 thes. 5. 3. death will not tarry till we be ready for it . the young man as gregory the great relates it ) when he saw he must die cried out , inducias domine usque ad mane , lord tarry till to morrow ; but god would not heare . death comes unavoidably , and if it findes us unprovided , it sends us to hell without remedy . adde to this 6. it comes but once . it is appointed for all men once to die . when once dead , no living againe to provide better for death . and therefore we had need be careful ut semel pie moriamur ( as paraeus saith ) that we may once die well ; for we cannot live again upon earth to live better . 7. that after death comes judgement , and after judgement everlasting happinesse , or everlasting misery . death is nothing else but a passage to judgement . a thorough-fare to heaven , or hell . did we consider these things , and consider them seriously as we ought to do , it would work very many gracious and most glorious effects in us . therefore moses saith very emphatically : o that men were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end ; and prayeth very earnestly . so teach us o lord to number our dayes , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . the very heathens have been much in the meditation of death . plato tells us , that true philosophy is nothing else but a meditation of death . the egyptians in all their great feasts had a deaths-head served in as one dish , to teach them sobrietie and temperance in eating and drinking . this meditation if sanctified will be 1. a soveraign antidote against all sin . sume hoc remedium contra omnia peccata . would you have a preservative against all sin . remember thy latter end and thou shalt never do amisse . as a copy is then safest from blotting when dust is cast upon it , so are we from sinning while we remember that we are but dust . jerusalems filthiness was in her 〈◊〉 , because she remembred not her latter end , lam. 1. 9. 2. it will marvellously weane us from the love of the world . it is the apostles argument , 1 john 2. 15 , 16 , 17. love not the world , nor the things in the world ; — for the world-passeth away . it passeth away as jonas his gourd when he had most need of it ; and as absoloms mule which passed from under him , and left him hanging on the tree . to what purpose do we provide multum viatici , when we have but parum viae ; much victuals , when we have but a short journey ? the like argument is used , 1 cor. 7. 29. 30 , 31. 3. it will make jesus christ and his righteousness very pretious to us . for it is christ only that can unsting death , and sweeten it , and make it comfortable and desirable . and therefore the apostle accounts all things dung and drosse , that he might gaine christ and be found in him at that great day , not having his own righteousnesse , but that which is through the faith of christ , the righteousuesse which is of god by faith . and st. john saith , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , for they rest from their labours , &c. he that dies in christ , shall certainly go to christ . 4. it will exceedingly quicken us to provide effectually , and to speed and hasten our provisions for heaven . there is nothing will more provoke us to labour for that life which never shall have an end , than the serious consideration that this life will shortly have an end . these all died . this is the first inference . the second doctrine . that the best of men must die as well as the worst of men . these all died . these godly persons died , as well as others . abraham the father of the faithful , and sarah the mother of the faithful . godly isaac , 〈…〉 jacob . these all died . the husband , and the wife . the father , the child , and grandchild , all godly , and yet all these died . the first that ever tasted of death was a godly man , even godly abel . for the godly have the same principle of mortality within them which others have . they dwell in houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust . and they have the same remainders of sinne in them to make them liable to death which others have . they have idem fundamentum mortis , & idem demeritum . but besides these , there are proper and peculiar reasons why the godly must die not only as well , but rather than others . for , 1. they shall never be freed from sicknesse , sorrow , and laborious employments . they shall never have all teares wiped from their eyes till they die . 2. they shall never be free from the persecutions of wicked and ungodly men , and from the temptations of the devil till they die . 3. they shall never be rid of the body of sin , till they put off the body of the flesh . 4. they shall never be perfected in grace till they die . 5. they shall never see god face to face , never be with christ in glory till they die . they shall never be cloathed with the house which is from above , till they be uncloathed of their earthly tabernacle . therefore blessed be god that they must die . for if they had hope only in this life , they were of all people most miserable . o that i could perswade the people of god to look upon death with a paire of scripture-spectacles . death in it selfe considered , is the king of terrors , and of all terrible things most terrible . it is as a fiery serpent with a biting and destroying sting . but to you that are in christ 〈…〉 all comfortable things most comfortable . it is as a 〈◊〉 without a sting . it is ( as the brazen serpent was to the isralites ) not a hurting , but a healing serpent . it is your birth-day . the birth-day of heavens eternity . it is not an annihilation , or utter extinction of you , but an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as the apostle peter calls it , a going out of egypt into canaan . an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as the apostle paul calls it . an hoysing up ( as it were ) of the sailes for heaven , a letting out the soul as a bird out of the cage of the body , that it may fly to heaven . an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as old simeon calls it , a departure from earth to heaven : a going from your own houses , to your fathers house : a putting off of the ragges of mortalitie , that you may be cloathed with the robes of immortality . in a word . it is an out-let to all misery , and an in-let to perfect and perpetual happinesse . it is sepultura laborum , vitiorum & lachrymarum . the burying of all troubles , sins , and teares . when a godly man dies , homo non moritur , sed peccatum hominis . the man doth not die , but the mans sins . nothing dies in him totally and finally but sin . for the soul doth not die at all , but goes to live with god in endlesse happiness . and the body ( though turned to dust ) shall rise againe unto the resurrection of life , and be made glorious , like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . but the bloody issue of sin is totally and finally dried up by death in every true childe of god . let all that feare the lord comfort themselves against the feare of death with these considerations . this is the second inference . doctrine 3. that rich , great , noble , and honourable persons must die , as well as others . these all died . abraham a lord and a mighty prince or a prince of god , as he is called , gen. 23. 6. one who had three hundred and eighteen trained servants in his family . gen. 14. 14. one who was very rich in silver and gold and in cattel , gen. 13. 2. even he died . and isaac his sonne and heire a person not only gr●●● , but very great , even to the envy of those who dwelt near him , as it is gen. 26. 13 , 14. even he died . and so did jacob the grandchilde , a man of honour , and great renown , one who is called a prince , and as a prince had power with god and with men and prevailed over both . these all died . the cardinal of winchester ( commonly called the rich cardinal , who procured the death of the good duke of glocester in the raign of king henry the sixth , and was shortly after struck with an incurable disease , ) when he understood by his physitians that he could not live ; murmuring and repining thereat , cried out , fie ? will not death be hired ? will money do nothing ? must i die that have so great riches ? if the whole realme of england would save my life , i am able either by policy to get it , or by riches to buy it . but yet all would not availe , to keep him from dying of the same disease . what man is he that liveth ( saith david ) and shall not see death ? the hebrew is , what strong man liveth and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? what 's become of alexander the great ? pompey the great ? charles the great ? are they not all dead ? this day we have a sad example before us of the death of a very great , and most noble person . wise men die ( saith david ) as well as fools , and great , as well as small . the mortal sithe ( saith one ) is master of the royal scepter , and it moweth down the lillies of the crown as well as the grasse of the field . these all died . and die they must though never so unwilling . i could tell a doleful story of a great man , who when he saw there was no remedy but he must die , cried out in a lamentable manner , let me live the life of a toad rather than dye . but yet he died . and of another , who when he saw he must die , caused himselfe to be carried to the place where his baggs of gold and silver were , and taking them up in his armes , and hugging them , was heard to say , must you and i part ? but part they did though unwillingly . rich men , and noble-men must die whether willing or unwilling . and when they die they must carry nothing out of the world with them . naked they came out of their mothers wombe , and naked they must returne thither . they brought nothing into this world , and it is certaine they can carry nothing out . and therefore when a rich man dies the ordinary saying is , what hath he left behind him ! for he cannot carry any thing with him . there is a famous story of saladine the great sultan of egypt , who when he was dying caused his coffin to be carried thorough the campe where all his souldiers were , with this saying , saladinus totus asiae dominator ex tanto imperio tantisque opibus , &c. saladine the great ruler of all asia , of all his empire , and all his wealth carrieth nothing out of the world with him , but his coffin and his winding sheet . death is the greatest of levellers . it levels the mountains with the valleyes . the skeletons and bones of great men have no inscriptions , or titles of honour put upon them . diogenes told alexander that he could finde no difference between the bones of his father philip , and other mens bones . when the chesse-men are put into the bagge they are all alike . there is no difference between the dust of an earle , and of a beggar . the only use i shall make of this is , to beseech those who are great in estate and in honours to remember that they must die as well as others . though they be as gods upon earth , yet they must dye like men . it is no easie matter to perswade rich and noble persons to remember their mortality . lewis the eleventh king of france in his last sicknesse commanded his servants not to name the word death unto him ; but when he saw there was no remedy , he sent for the holy water from rhemes , together with aarons rod , as they called it , and other holy reliques , thinking therewith to stop deaths mouth , and to stave him off ; but it would not be . o miser ( saith one thereupon ) hoc assidue timés quod semel faciendum est ? hoc times quod in tuä manu est ne timeas ? pietatem assume , superstitionem omitte ; mors tua vita erit , & quidem beata & aeterna . o miserable wretch , why doest thou daily fear that which one day must come to passe ? why doest thou feare that which is in thy power not to feare ? leave off thy superstitions , labour after true piety , and then thy death will become life , yea a most blessed and eternal life . if i be not mistaken this was one reason why ahashueroah would not suffer any cloathed with sackcloath to enter his courtgates ; least his excessive mirth and jollity should be damped , and interrupted by the sad thought of death . the wise man tells us , o death how bitter is thy memory to one who hath great possessions ! and indeed if the not thinking of death , could free you from the stroak of death , it were worth the while not to think of death . but whether you think of it , or not , death will come , and by not remembring of it your lives prove to be full of abominations , and death is made a trap-door to let you down into eternal damnation . and therefore let me beseech you to imitate philip king of macedon , who appointed a boy every morning to come to him and to say to him , remember thou art a man and must die . and the emperors of constantinople , who on their coronation day , had a mason appointed to present unto them certaine marble stones , using these ensuing words , elige ab his saxis ex quo ( invictissime caesar ) ipse tibi tumulum me fabricare velis . choose ( mighty sir ) under which of these stones your pleasure is ere long to lay your bones . or if you will have a scripture-example , let me beseech you to imitate that rich and great person , joseph of arimathea who built his sepulchre in his garden . in the midst of all your pleasures and pastimes remember you must shortly leave them . it was a wise speech of charles the fifth to the duke of venice , who , when he had shewed him the glory of his princely palace , and earthly paradise , instead of admiring it , or him for it , only returned him this grave and serious memento , haec sunt quae faciunt nos invitos mori . these are the things which make us unwilling to die . to prevent this unwillingnesse , build your sepulchres in your earthly paradises , and remember that you must very shortly die , and that after death comes judgement . and that you must all appeare before the tribunal seat of christ to give a strict and impartial account of whatsoever you have done in the flesh , whether it be good or evil . let great men remember , that great , and small must stand before the great god of heaven and earth at the great day of judgement , and that their greatnesse will nothing at all availe them at that day . greatnesse without goodnesse will be but as a great fagot to burne them the more in hell . they that are great in place , and greater in sin , shall have great damnation . where god hath bestowed great benefits , if they be accompanied with great iniquities , god will plague them with great punishments . it is said , rev. 6. 15 , 16. the kings of the earth and the great men , and the rich men , and the chief captaines , and the mightie men , &c. hid themselves in the dens , and in the rocks of the mountains : and said to the mountains ▪ and rocks fall on us , and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb , &c. therefore let rich men labour to be righteous as well as rich , and great men to be good as well as great ! for riches without righteousnesse is but as a golden jewel in a swines snout , and greatnesse without goodnesse is , but as the greatnesse of a man sick of the dropsie which is not his happiness , but his disease . remember abraham ▪ who though he was a lord and a mightie prince , yet he was also a friend of gods , and the father of the faithful : though he was rich in gold and silver , yet he was richer in faith and obedience . and though he had three hundred and eightteen trained servants in his house , yet he was exactly carefull to traine them all up in the wayes and commandements of god . and remember jacob , and how god himselfe changed his name , and called him israel because he wrestled with god , and as a prince had power with god and man , and by prayers and teares prevailed over them . when greatnesse and goodnesse meet together , it is like apples of gold in pictures of silver ; it is as an embroidery upon an embroidery . and therefore let great men labour to be good men . the more you have of holiness the fitter you will be for happiness . the more you have of grace , the fitter you will be for glory . this is the third inference . doctrine 4. that it is not enough for a christian to live in the faith , but he must also die in the faith . this text takes notice of the constancy and perseverance of these holy men . they persevered in the faith unto the end maugre all oppositions and temptations to the contrary . they did live in the faith , and continued living in the faith , and as they lived so they died . these all dyed in faith . perseverance in grace is maximum donum dei ( saith austin ) the greatest of gods gifts , or graces , without which no other gift , or grace , will availe unto salvation . therefore christ saith , he that endureth to the end shall be saved . and be thou faithful unto the death , and i will give thee the crown of life . no grace will make us worthy to obtaine the crown of glory , but perseverance : he that would go to heaven must not only live well , but die well . though a man continue never so long in holinesse , yet if he fall away before his death , all his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not be mentioned ; in his trespasse that he hath trespassed , and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he dye . if methuselah who lived nine hundred sixty nine years had fallen away from grace the last year of his life he had been undone for ever . wherefore my beloved brethren let me beseech you not only to beleeve , but to persevere in beleeving , not only to be holy but to persevere in holinesse , and as the apostle saith , to perfect holinesse in the feare of god . the greek word is to finish holinesse . the beauty , glory and goodness of every thing is when it is finished . a garment till it be finished is of no use , nor a shop , nor a house till finished . a house halfe built , and halfe unbuilt is good for nothing . the excellency of a christian is not only to be holy , but to finish holinesse , not only to have a good beginning , but a happy closure , and conclusion of his life . this is a necessary lesson in this apostatizing age wherein so many sons of the morning , and children of high illumination are fallen into the darknesse of sin , and errour : and many , who in outward appearance were as fixt starres , are now proved falling starres ; in so much , that if mr. fox were alive againe , he would see cause rather to write a book of apostates than a book of martyrs . and there are also some risen up amongst us , who ( being many of them apostatized themselves ) begin to preach the doctrine of the apostacy of the saints . give me leave therefore to perswade you , 1. to be rooted and established in the doctrine of perseverance . 2. to practise the doctrine of perseverance . 1. to be rooted and established in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints . and to beleeve that whosoever is truly united unto jesus christ by a lively faith , shall be so preserved by christ in the use of all gospel-means , that he shall never totally and finally fall away . christ jesus at the day of judgement will have a compleat body mystical , as well as natural . he will not loose any of his real members , for then his body should be incompleat . there was a book written in king james his dayes by bertius , of the apostacy of the saints . this book the forenamed king calls ( in a letter written to the states of holland ) a book with a blasphemous title . and a learned professor of oxford calls it a book with an execrable title . and surely if it was blasphemous and execrable then , it is as bad now . i will notenter upon the controversie : there are books lately written to very good purpose for the justification of the doctrine of perseverance . to me it is sufficient ; that god hath said it ; and shallnot he do it ? he hath said , whom he justified , them he also glorified . he hath said , the servant abideth not in the house for ever : but the son abideth ever . he hath said , my sheep heare my voyce and i know them , and they follow me , and i will give unto them eternal life , and they shall never perish , neither shall any pluck them o●t of my hand . my father which gave them me , is greater than all , and no man is able to pluck them out of my fathers hand . he hath said , i will put my feare in their hearts , that they shall not depart from me . he hath said , neverthelesse the foundation of god standeth sure , having this seale , the lord knoweth who are his , &c. though hymeneus and philetas have not stood sure , yet the foundation of god standeth sure . he hath said , being confident in this very thing , that he that hath begun a good work in you will performe it untill the day of christ . and that we are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation . and whosoever is borne of god doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him , and he cannot sin because he is born of god . he hath said , i have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not . and he is now in heaven at the right hand of his father making intercession for us . and the chief end of his intercession is , that god would uphold and continue us in his favour unto the end : christ doth not intercede ( as some would have it ) that god would save us if we persevere . ( there is little need of this , and lesse comfort in it ) but he intercedes , that we may persevere . and god in the covenant of grace , doth not only promise to give us heaven if we beleeve , and persevere ; but also to give us in the use of means to beleeve and persevere . now then , if god the father hath decreed the perseverance of the saints ; if he hath promised that they shall persevere , and that he will enable them by his power unto it . if god the son hath prayed that the faith of all those who were given to him by the father should not faile , and if he ever liveth to make intercession for them , that they may never utterly fall . if god the holy ghost be given to the saints to abide in them for ever , and if the seed of god abides in them to keep them from total and final apostacy ; then we may safely conclude ; that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is most agreeable to scripture , and that it is our duty to be stedfast and unmoveable in it . quest . did not saint austin himselfe the great champion of free grace , against the pelagians , hold the doctrine of the apostacy of the saints ? for though he saith , that an elect justified person shall never finally fall away , yet he seems to say , that there are many truely justified who are not elect , and that justification , and election are not termes convertible . and that many are justified by a faith working by charity , who ( not being elected ) fall away totally and finally . answ. i must not deny but that this opinion is charged upon st. austin by some learned men ; and a reverend divine hath lately in a book printed about this subject asserted it as a thing undubitable and without controversie , and for this end he brings many sayings out of his works which favour this opinion . but this learned brother may , if he please , read an answer to most of those quotations long ago given by bishop abbot in his animadversions upon tompsons diatriba de amissione & intercisione justificationis & gratiae . and he may likewise find many sayings brought out of st. austin which do most fully and clearly prove , that he held not only that no elect man can finally fall away , but also that none but the elect are justified , and that those who are truely justified can never fall away . as for example . god ( saith austin ) calleth none with that calling which is according to his purpose , but such whom he hath predestinated ; and he justifieth none , but those whom he thus calleth ; and glorifieth none , but those whom he hath predestinated , called , and justified , &c. againe , speaking of the vessels of wrath and of the reprobates he saith , that god brings none of them to sound and spiritual repentance , by which a man is reconciled to god in christ , whether he waites longer on them , ( then on the elect ) or shorter . in another place he saith , that god doth not forgive the sins of all men , but only of those whom he hath foreknown and whom he hath predestinated . againe , he saith in another place . that the gift of the holy ghost , to wit , the love of god shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost is given only to those who shall raigne with christ for ever in heaven . strangers ( saith he ) that is such who shall never inherit the kingdome of heaven , have some of those things which are given to the house of god . but the gift of the holy ghost is proper to the saints , of which no stranger doth communicate , that is , no man that shall never inherit the kingdome of heaven . this is wanting to all the malignant , and sons of hell , although they are baptized with the baptisme of christ as simon magus was . therefore he calls that a peculiar fountaine of waters running down the streets of the saints , and no where else . in other places he saith , that christ justifieth none but those who are members of his body . and no man is made alive by the spirit of christ , but he that is a member of his body . and that no man is indeed and in truth a member of christs body , who shall not be with him in heaven to all eternity . these places and many more which might be brought and are brought by the forementioned author , are sufficient to prove that according to the mind of st. austin none but the elect of god are in time effectually called , and really justified and pardoned , and made partakers of the holy ghost and become real members of christs body , and therefore the effectually called , and justified , &c. can no more fall away than the elect , which all confesse to be under an impossibility of apostacy in st. austins judgment . 2. let me perswade you not only to beleeve , but to practise the doctrine of perseverance : for there are divers learned men that are so much scandalized at the great apostacy of some eminent professours in our unhappy dayes , that they begin to be stagger'd , and to doubt of the truth of the doctrine of perseverance . but these men forget the saying of the apostle , they went out from us , but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us : but they went out that they might be made manifest , that they were not all of us . for my part , i conceive , that these reverend and learned men should rather doubt of the truth of their graces whom they see thus foully to a postatize , than of the truth of the doctrine of perseverance . but howsoever , let us take heed of laying this stumbling block : least by our practical apostacy men should begin to turne doctrinal apostates . let us labour to dye well , as well as to live well , to continue and persevere in wel-doing . it is the great commendation of the saints in the text , that they died in the faith . these all dyed in faith . remember what christ saith , no man having put his hand to the plough , and looking back is fit for the kingdome of god . and what the apostle paul saith : if any man draw back , my soul shall have no pleasure in him : but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition , &c. and what the apostle peter saith ▪ it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousnesse , than after they have known it , to turne from the holy commandment delivered to them , &c. remember also lots wife . she did only look back , she did not go back , and yet she was turned into a pillar of salt . as god hath fire and brimstone for a sodomite , so he hath a pillar of salt for an apostate . but why do you exhort us to persevere when as you tell us , that if we be true saints we cannot but persevere ? 1. we do not say , it is simply and absolutely impossible for a saint not to persevere . ( for if you consider the saints as they are in themselves , and the mightinesse and multitude of their spiritual enemies , it is impossible for them not to fall away ) but we say it is impossible upon supposition . considering the unchangeable nature of god , and the unchangeable decree and purpose of god , and the unchangeable covenant , promises and oath of god , in this respect we say it is impossible . 2. scripture exhortations are divine motives and meanes to perswade and enable the saints to persevere , and they are so farre from interfering with , or nullifying of the promises of faith and perseverance , that they are ( many of them ) built and grounded upon them . phil. 2. 12 , 13. 2 cor. 7. 1. what meanes must i use that i may hold out and continue unto the end , and not only live in the faith , but also dye in it . 1. dig deep in humiliation . the stony ground fell away for want of depth of earth . humility is the best preservative of grace . the lower the foundation , the surer the building . spiritual pride paves a causey to apostacy . a chesnut put whole into the fire will fly out . it is the broken heart only that will persevere . 2. labour for sincerity and uprightness of heart . as the firmnesse of a pillar is in the uprightnesse of it ( if once it begins to bow , it will quickly break . ) so the firmnesse and stability of a christian is in his sincerity and uprightnesse . rottenness of heart betrayeth a man into apostacy . a rotten apple will quickly appeare so outwardly ; so will a rotten christian . if ever you would persevere , take heed of making use of religion for the promotion of your carnal interest . he that serves god for an earthly kingdome , when he bath got what he sought for , will forsake god as jehu did . he that followeth christ only for the loaves , will leave christ when he hath got them . 3. labour for a tender conscience . this will keep us from the least degree of apostacy . as hot water grow's cold by degrees : first it is luke-warme , before it is starke cold : so a christian declines into apostacy by degrees . lots wife first lingred , and then afterwards lookt back : first we slack our pace in religion , then we stand still , and at last turne back . but now a tender conscience will keep us from the least abatement of zeale and forwardnesse in religion . 4. be not high minded but feare . i speak not of a feare of diffidence and distrustfulnesse , but of a feare of diligence and watchfulnesse . he that would be secure from feare , let him feare to be secure . mr. saunders by his feare of falling away kept himselfe from apostacy : whereas dr. pendleton by his notorious presumption , and over-bold confidence fell away . 5. take heed least there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} will end in {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : apostacy is the child of unbelief . faith will set us upon a rock higher than us , even such a rock against which the gates of hell shall never prevaile . 6. take heed of the inordinate love of the world and of the base feare of men . the love of mony is reckoned by the apostle as the root of all evil in general , and more especially of apostacy , 1 tim. 6. 10. — which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith , &c. and the base feare of men was the cause which made thousands apostatize in queen maries bloody dayes . and therefore if ever you would persevere , you must labour to love god above your corruptions , relations , and possessions , and to feare sin more than the losse of estate , or life . he that loves god above the world , will never forsake god to gaine the world . he that feares sin more than death , will rather dye than sin . 7. pray unto god the father , son , and holy ghost , that they would uphold you and enable you not only to live , but to dye in the faith . pray to the father that he would keep you by his power through faith unto salvation : that he would uphold you by his mighty hand and keep you from falling , as it is psalm 37. ●4 . psalm 94. 18. that he would put his feare in your hearts that you may never depart from him . pray to the son , that he would apprehend you and hold you so fast in his armes that none may pluck you out of his hands , and that you may every day enjoy the benefit of his intercession . pray unto the holy ghost that he would abide in you for ever , and give you the earnest of your inheritance , and seale you up unto the day of redemption . so much for the fourth inference . doctrine 5. that to dye in the true faith , is a noble , gallant , blessed , and happy ●anner of dying ; these all died in faith . herein especially consisted the happy condition of these godly patriarks , that they lived , and dyed in the faith . it is put down by way of commendation , and left upon record as a patterne for us to learne to die by . they died in the faith of the messias , expecting salvation by him only . they died perswaded of the promises and embracing the lord jesus . looking , waiting and confidently hoping for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god . there is a double manner of dying . 1. a dying in sin . 2. a dying in faith . 1. a dying in sin . of this we read , john 8. 24. if you beleeve not that i am he , ye shall dye in your sins . this is a said manner of dying . if any should desire me to give him a character of a man in a cursed condition , i would answer , he is one who is dead in sin while he lives , and dies in his sins when he dies . it is a happinesse to be dead to sin , but to die in sin is misery unexpressible . for he that dieth in his sins shall certainly go into everlasting damnation . he that dies in his sins dies out of christ ; and he that dieth out of christ shall never go to christ . 2. a dying in faith . this is a noble , gallant and blessed manner of dying ; heaven it selfe beares witnesse to this , rev. 14. 13. i heard a voyce from heaven , saying unto me write , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , that is , united unto the lord jesus christ by a true and a lively faith . such as these are happy , if you will either beleeve a voyce from heaven , or the voyce of the spirit , for it followeth in the text — so saith the spirit . and they are blessed from the very instant of their death . so it is in the same place — from henceforth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from that very minute : for their souls go immediately to god to enjoy perfect and perpetual rest and happinesse , and their works follow them . it is a greater happinesse to die in the lord than to die for the lord . if a man die for the lord , and be not in the lord , he is not blessed in his death . a man may die for the lords cause , and not for the lords sake , but out of vain-glory . this is hinted by the apostle , though i give my body to be burned , and have not charity , it profiteth me nothing . if i do it not out of love to god , but out of love to my selfe and mine own praise , it is nothing worth . but he that dyeth in the lord is certainly blessed . the only use i shall make of this , is to beseech the new testament saints to follow this old testament copy and patterne . you have been often taught how to live well , give me leave to teach you this day how to dye well . it is not long but you must all die . let it be your care , that when you come to die , you may die in the faith of the lord jesus . there is a double faith in which you must labour to die ; in fide quae creditur & quâ creditur . 1. in the true doctrine of faith . 2. in the saving grace of faith . 1. in the true doctrine of faith . for there are damnable doctrines as well as damnable practices . there are doctrines of devils as well as works of devils . a man may go to hell for heresie as well as ●or iniquity . the scripture tells us of some opinions which subvert the soul , and overthrow the faith : which t●rtullian calls doctrines devouring a mans salvation , and the cankers of christian religion . and therefore let it be your care to avoid all soul-subverting doctrines , to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints , and to hold fast the ancient catholick and apostolical faith . now if you ask me in what religion i would have you to die ; i shall quickly returne an answer without the least haesitation . in the true christian protestant reformed religion . this is via tuta ad vitam aeternam , a safe way unto eternal life , as a learned knight hath sufficiently made known to the world : my soul for yours he that dies in this religion , wants nothing in point of doctrine necessary to salvation . for it is built wholly & only upon the scriptures ; it is purely apostolical , and teacheth us to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts , and to live godly , soberly and righteously in this present world . it requires us to beleeve in christ for justification , and to manifest the truth of our faith by our holinesse towards god , and our righteousnesse , mercy and charity towards our neighbour . and when we have done all to account our selves but unprofitable servants , and to trust only to the merits of christ for salvation . it hath been sealed by the blood of many martyrs ; and he that professeth it and liveth according to the directions of it , may die with a tribunal-proofe confidence of everlasting salvation . let us therefore be stedfast and unmoveable in this faith : and take heed of the arrian and socinian heresies which unchristianize a man , and of all doctrines that are contrary to godliness , which drown the soul in perdition and destruction . let us abhorre the heresie , idolatry and tyranny of the romish synagogue , alwaies remembring that sad text , if any man worship the beast and his image , and receive his mark in his forehead , or in his hand , the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god , which is poured out witbout mixture , into the cup of his indignation , and he shall be tormented with ●●re and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels , and in the presence of the lamb . let us be sure , that when we come to die , we may be able to say with the apostle paul , i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith . though i have lost my liberty , wealth , and honours , yet i have kept the faith ; and with that reverend bishop , i can deny my selfe , my estate , my reputation , but i cannot deny my faith . 2. in the saving grace of faith . he that dieth with faith in christ , shall certainly go to live in heaven with christ . he that dieth embracing christ , shall go from christ , to christ ; from christ by grace , to christ in glory . but then you must be sure that this faith be a true justifying-faith . a heart-purifying , sanctifying , and world-overcoming faith . a painted faith will never bring you to a real heaven . a dead faith will never please a living god . faith without works will send a man merrily to hell instead of lifting him up to heaven . it is faith unfaigned , the faith of gods elect , the faith which worketh by lov● , which will make the houre of death desireable and comfortable . and let me adde that you must not only labour to die with a true faith , but with a full assurance of faith ; not only to die bel●eving , but fully assured that your faith is of a right stamp . this is a heaven upon earth . this will put you into heaven before you come to heaven . this will cause you to die rejoycingly and triumphantly , as stephen did , when he saw the heavens opened , and christ standing at the right hand of god ready to receive him ; and as old simeon did with christ in your spiritual armes , and singing a nunc dimittis , now lord let thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . this then is thy great work o christian , industriously to endeavour , that when thou comest to die thou mayest die in the true doctrine , and true grace of faith , and in the full assurance of faith , that so thou mayst have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdome of our lord and saviour jesus christ . but what must i do that i may be able to make this gallant and noble end ? he that would die in the faith , must first live in the faith . for if you observe it , it is not said in the text , that all without limitation died in faith . but all these : that is , all those who lived in the faith , died in the same faith in which they lived : these blessed patriarks had not their faith to get when they came to die , but they had got it in health . they lived a holy life , and died a happy death . life and death for the most part are like the voyce and the echo , the body and the shadow . such as the voyce is , such is the echo . such as the body is , such is the shadow . qualis vita , finis ita . if we would die happily , we must live holily . if we would die gloriously , we must live graciously . if we would go to christ when we die , we must get into christ while we live . if we would die with assurance , we must while we live labour to get assurance ▪ woe be to those who have their faith to get when they are dying , that begin to amend their lives when they are putting an end to them . woe be to those who begin to serve god when they can do him no service . that begin to live when they are ceasing to live . and sad is the condition of those , who have their evidences and comforts to seek when they are going out of the world . and yet i will not absolutely deny ( as some rashly do ) but that it is possible for a man to live a thiefe and die a saint , to live wickedly and to repent at death . we have one , and but one example of this . but this is not gods ordinary way ; and if i had ten thousand souls , i would not adventure one of them upon a death-bed repentance . we must not think to dance with the devil all day , and to sup with christ at night . to live all our life-time in dalilah's lap , and to go to abrahams bosome when we die . the ordinary way to die well , is to live well . in a word , if you would die as abraham did , you must live as he did : you must imitate abrahams faith , obedience , and heavenly-mindednesse . if you would die as jacob did , you must wrastle with god in prayer as he did . if you would partake of their happinesse when you die , you must be followers of their holinesse while you live . this is the fifth inference . doctrine 6. that it is an unvaluable blessing when husband and wife , father and child , and childs child live and die in the true faith . these all died in faith . not only some of them , but all . abraham the husband , and sarah his wife . abraham the father , and isaac his son , and jacob his grand-child . all these died in the faith . behold a true noble blood , a holy kindred , a blessed generation . worthy is abraham of all honour who was the roote of such a noble and blessed brood . and worthy are isaac and jacob of so good a father , who stained not their blood by forsaking their faith , but held it as they received it , and lived and died in the true faith handed to them by their father . behold here you that are great in place and birth ; behold , i say , wherein true nobility and gentry doth consist ; and what is the fountaine of all true honour . it is to live and die in the true faith . in this faith abraham died : and isaac his son and heire did not only inherit his fathers estate , but his fathers religion also . and jacob the grand-child follows both his father and grand-father , and dieth in the same faith with them . behold here jacob a true gentleman in blood . his holinesse and religion is in the third descent . let great men learn to adorne their gentility and nobility with these ensignes of true honour . it is a rare blessing when there is a succession of godlinesse in a family ; when godlinesse is entailed upon children , and childrens children . when a man can say to god as moses : o god thou art my god , and my fathers god , and my grand-fathers god . there are many families in which there is a succession of drunkards , swearers , and adulterers , &c. in which sin and iniquity is entailed , of whom it may be said , my father was an adulterer , a drunkard , a scoffer at religion , so was my grand-father and so am i . this is a sad pedegree . o labour for a holy succession . let parents write a faire copy to their children , let them live and dye in the true faith , and let children learne to follow such a copy . let husbands be patternes and examples of godlinesse to their wives ; and let wives follow their good examples . let wives imitate sarah , parents abraham , and children isaac and jacob . let us and ours so live , that when we come to die , it may be said of us , not that we died in our sins , but as it is in the text that we died in the faith . these all died in faith . i have done with the text . but there is another text of which i must of necessity speak something . and that is concerning the sad occasion of our meeting here this day . give me leave to speak to you in the language of david concerning abner : know you not that there is a prince , a great man fallen this day in israel ? and in the language of the children of seth concerning abraham , a lord and a mighty prince is this day to be buried : one who had so much worth and excellency in him , that whosoever will undertake to speak of him needs not feare ( as nazianzen saith of his sister gorgonia ) least he should spea● too much , but rather least he should speak too little , and by coming so farre beneath his due deserts , should dispraise him , even whil'st he is praising of him . for without all controversie he was a person who had not only noble and honourable titles , but was truly noble and honourable . it is an observable speech of gregory the great , a king may cause a man to be called a nobleman , but he cannot make a man truly noble . he may command such a man to be called an earle , or a lord ; but it is the noble minde which makes the man truly noble . such a noble-man was the earle of warwick . he was not only a noble-man by parchment , but he had a noble mind , a large heart , an intrinsecal worth and excellency in him . his nobility was inameled with humility . he was great in place , but humble in carriage , as all who knew him will testifie . there was in him a blessed constellation , and consociation of nobility , humilitie , pietie , and charitie . he was not only a great man , but that which is above all , he was ( i hope ) a godly and religious man . i should be loth to give flattering titles to any man whether alive or dead ; for in so doing my maker would soon take me away as job saith . it was well spoken by that learned minister who preached at the funeral of the earle of essex ( a kinsman of this earles ) that funeral encomiastickes of the dead do often prove confections of poyson to the living ; for many whose lives speak nothing for them , will draw the example into consequence , and be thereby led into hope , that they may presse a hackny funeral sermon to carry them to heaven . and st. austin if i be not much mistaken , doth somewhere bitterly enveigh against those ministers who were overlavish in the commendation of the dead , telling us , that there are many who are commended where they are not , and in the mean time tormented with fire unquenchable where they are . sure i am that a learned bishop doth quote a sharpe censure ( though in another case ) of a popish casuist concerning noblemens chaplianes , saying , that few confessors of great men went to heaven , because by their base flattery they became guilty of soul-murder , and for want of telling them of their faults , destroyed both their own , and their patrons souls . and therefore god forbid that i should say any thing this day for the hurt and disadvantage of the living , whil'st i am speaking in the praise and commendation of the dead . and yet notwithstanding all this i should be loth to offend in the contrary extreme . for i am not so strait-laced or superstitious , as when any mans life hath been eminently remarkable and exemplary , lest i should be guilty of idolatry in adoring him , to commit sacriledge in robbing both the dead of his just praise , and the living of an useful patterne for their imitation . and besides , ( as the forementioned author saith ) though common graves have no inscription , yet marble tombes are not without some epitaph . heroical examples should not go with a common passe , but with a trumpet . and therefore i doubt not , but i may safely say without the lest suspicion of flattery or falshood concerning this honourable person , that i have just ground in charity to beleeve , that this noble earle was not only under the awe of religion , but that he had the substance , and power of it in his heart . and therefore his death is the more to be lamented by us , because that goodnesse and greatnesse do so seldome center in one and the same person . in the god of heaven they both meet . he is optimus , maximus ; infinite in goodness , as well as in greatnesse . but in the gods upon earth they rarely meet : they are many of them pessimi maximi , greater in vices than in riches . it was a bold speech of buchanan to king james , who sent a messenger to him when he was dying to visite him , and to know how he did ; buchanan desired the messenger to tell the king , that he was going to a place where few kings come . indeed the scripture saith , not many wise men after the flesh , not many mighty , not many noble are called . but yet some are , though not many . such a one was job , the greatest , and the best man in the east . such were abraham , isaac and jacob . such was joseph of arimathea . and such a one was ( i hope ) robert earle of warwick : and therefore the losse of him is the greater . for great men are like looking glasses according to which all the country dresse themselves , and if they be good they do a world of good . when crispus the chiefe ruler of the synagogue beleeved , many of the corinthians hearing of it beleeved also . when schechem and hamor were circumcised they quickly perswaded their people to be circumcised . let me tell you , that we have lost this day one of the best natur'd noble-men in england , & one who had not only a good nature , but ( as i verily beleeve ) gracious principles , and religious inclinations , and dispositions . he was religious , 1. in his own person : for he was very exact in closet duties . i have been often with him at private prayer in his closet in which he was very zealous and devout . and he hath left behinde him reall manifestations of his personal piety , by many religious collections written with his own hand for the good of his soul . 2. in reference to his deare and neare relations , both by giving them a good example , and good instructions . and my prayer to god is ; that though the instructor be deceased , yet the instructions may live , and never die . 3. in his family-government . for he was very constant in his morning and evening publick service of god , and herein a rare patterne to the gentry of the country : he would not suffer any sports or pastimes to divert him from his dayly publique devotions . it is a great honour to god , and credit to religion when there is a forme and outside ( though but a forme and outside ) of godliness in great families . this is like a candle set upon a hill to illighten all inferlour families . it is reported of theodosius the emperour , that by his religious carriage in his family , he made all his court a nursery of religion . and it is said of the house of george prince of anhalt , that for the good orders therein observed it was a church , an academy , and a court . 4. in his conscientious observation of the lords day , and in causing the sermons preached to be repeated in his presence to the whole family . in his frequent attendance when he was at london upon weekly lectures , and by his example and encouragement , drawing many persons of quality to our congregations . and ( which is very remarkable ) in the moneth in which he died , he went constantly to the morning-exercise at st. martins in the fields , thereby ( as by a secret instinct ) fitting and preparing himselfe for his death , which hapned towards the end of it . 5. in his extraordinary care and diligence in preparing himselfe for the receiving of the sacrament of the body and blood of christ . herein he was very exact in setting apart a sufficient space of time for selfe-examination . and besides this , give me leave ( without offence ) to relate a passage which in my opinion conduceth much to his honour , and may through gods blessing become an example to his relations , and to the noble-men and gentlemen of the nation . when he first came to the sacrament at aldermanbury , he freely presented himselfe to the minister and elders to be examined : and although he gave ample satisfaction , yet being at that time indisposed in body by reason of a sudden distemper , he afterwards wrote me a letter in which he signified , that if we were not satisfied , he would rather come againe , than come without giving full satisfaction ; here was humility in a high degree ; here is a patterne to be admired , and imitated . 6. in his faithfulness to the trust committed to him as in other things , so more especially in disposing of his church-livings . herein he was very eminent , and very exemplary , being alwayes exactly careful to preferre able , godly , and painful ministers to them . and i doubt not , but there are thousands blessing god in heaven for the good they have got by the ministers put in by this noble earle . the truth is , he was a great patron and mecaenas to the pious and religious ministry . we ministers may say of him as they did of the centurion , he loved our nation ; we have great cause to weep over his herse , and to bemoane his death : for we have this day lost one of the greatest friends that the godly and painful ministers had in england . 7. i might adde ( if need were ) as a further , and a most signal testimony of his godlinesse , his singular care , that not only while he was living , but that after his death also his church-livings might be rightly disposed , but i forbeare . 8. there are three things yet behind which i must not omit . 1. he was bountiful and prince-like in his hospitality and house-keeping . 2. he was very merciful and charitable to the poor members of jesus christ . i have often and often been his almoner to distribute considerable summes of money to necessitous and pious christians . 3. he was a liberal and most loving master to his houshold-servants , and hath given competent pensions to all his old servants during life . 9. in a word : he was one who did not make use of religion for his own private gaine and interest ; he had no politick designe in professing godlinesse : his whole aime both by sea and land , both in parliament and in private was , to be serviceable to church and state , and in this particular he was a true nathaneel in whom there was no guile : he was a countenancer of religion in the worst times , : he appeared for god and for his cause and servants , when it was both dangerous and disgraceful in the eyes of the leading men of the nation ; he received mr. burroughs ( that eminent minister of christ ) into his family , and protected him for a long while , till at last he was forced to fly out of the land . he was a very special friend unto that man of god of famous memory dr. sibbs . to summe up all in a few lines , as it is said of socrates ( as i remember ) that he was so good a man that all that knew him loved him ; and if any man did not love him , it was because they did not know him . so it may be said of the earle of warwick : all who knew him loved him , and if any man did not love him , it was because he did not know him . as for the manner of his death , it was somewhat sudden : but you must know , that a child of god never dies suddenly , though he die never so suddenly ; though he may dye suddenly in regard of time , yet he never dyes suddenly in regard of preparation . a wicked man dies suddenly though he dyes never so lingringly , because he dyes unpreparedly ; but he that dyes with grace in his heart , cannot be said to die suddenly though he die never so suddenly . and yet this sad stroak of death was not altogether unexpected . for when the funeral of his grand-child was delayed longer than he desired or expected , he was heard to say , that if they tarried a little longer , they should carry him down also to he buried with him . my hope is , that he dyed as these noble patriarkes in the text , he died in the faith in which he lived . he dyed professing the true doctrine of faith , and ( i hope ) having his heart adorned with the grace of faith . and let me assure you ; that as he lived much desired , so he now dyeth much lamented , especially by men professing godlinesse . i have heard a memorable story of an ancient and religious gentleman mr. knightly of northamptonshire ( well known to some here ) who coming to leeze , and beholding the brave parkes , and goodly gardens , and other such-like accommodations there to be enjoyed , was heard to say to this our earle , my lord , you had need be very good , it is ill going to hell from such a paradise : it will be a doleful and dismal exchange . or as others relate it ; my lord , you had need make sure of heaven , or else when you dye you will be a great loser . a rare speech worthy to be laid to heart by all noble persons . now i verily perswade my selfe , that this our dear and honourable christian brother is no loser , but a great gainer by his death . he is gone ( i hope ) from earth to heaven , from an earthly paradise to a heavenly pallace , from a house made with hands to a house made without hands eternal in the heavens . it is true ( and it must be confessed least i should be accounted a flatterer ) he had his failings , and his many infirmities ; which i trust jesus christ hath covered with the roabe of his righteousnesse . my prayer to god is , that all his infirmities may be buried in the grave of oblivion , and that all his virtues and graces may supervive , and live in his son and heire ; that as he inherits the estate , so he may also inherit the vertues of his father . and that religion , piety , and godlinesse may be entailed upon the noble family of the riches , from one generation to another till the coming of the lord jesus christ unto judgement ; that while they live they may be professors of the true faith , and indued with the heart-purifying grace of faith : and when they come to dye , they may make that gallant , noble , and blessed closure and conclusion of their dayes which these godly patriarkes in my text did , of whom it is said , these all dyed in faith . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a79008e-340 utin●m caelebs vixissem , aut orbus periiss●m . prorsus faelicem suturum fuisse ( inquit ausonius ) si hunc filium n●n generass●t . 1 pet. 1. 17. 1 cor. 5. 7 , 8. psalm 15. 4. prov ▪ 13. 5. dan. 11 , 21. john 6. 70. notes for div a79008e-1640 perkins in locum . paraus in locum . vetus juxt● fidem . beza , secundum fidem . gen. 22. 18. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . n●●pe sicus navigantes terram , abraham didicerat expectandos quadringentes annos . grotius in locum . per fidem illi morituri videbant & spe quadam amplexabantur promissa quae non acceperant . metaphora à navigantibus qui portum eminus conspicati , laetis acclamationibus salutant , & contingere gaudent . paraeus . tria participia , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , refero ad promissionis rem significatam , patriam coelestem , quam unice desiderabant . hanc , inquit , in suâ peregrinatione eminus conspicati sunt , consisi sunt , amplexati sunt side . paraeus . doct. 1. joannes de temporibus armour-bearer to charles the great , l●ved 361 years , but yet dyed at last in the year 1139. so the old man of bengala in the east indies , who was 335 years old when he came to the portugals , from whom for his miraculous age he received a yearly stipend , dyed at last . use mira quidem haec , se● ut video sicut in persiâ , sic romoe hom●nes moriuntur . gen. ● . 19. job 17 14. heb. 13. 14. pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum , &c. luk ▪ 12 19 , 20 ver. 12. psalm . 39 ▪ 4. 2 cor. 5. 10. punctum est quod vivimus , et puncto minus . psalm 39. 5. jam. 4 14. job 9. 25 , 26. ideo dies unus celatur ut expectentur omnes . babilus the rom●n general in the very day of his triumph , was killed with a tile from an house . heb. 9. 27. si semel moriendum est omnibus , ne igitur immortalitatem in h●c vita sam●●em●●… sisemel ta●tum moriendum ▪ ut semel pie moriamur operam demus , atque ad {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} omenta nos praeparemus . deut. 32. 29. psal. 90. 12. mr. ward in one of his sermons in print tells a story of one who gave a prodigal a ring with a deaths-head , with this condition that he should one houre daily for seven dayes together look and think upon it ; which bred a strange alteration in his life . in the popes inthronization before he is set in his chaire , and puts on his triple-crown , a piece of tow , or wad of straw is set on fire before him , and one appointed to say , sic transit gloria mundi . phil. 3. 8 , 9. rev. 14. 13. doct. 2. 1 pet. 3. 6. enoch the best man in his generation lived the shortest time ; when others attained some to above 900 , others above 800 , the least above 500 , years of him the text saith , all the dayes of enoch were 365. yea●es , g●● . ● 23. job 4. 19. use {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 pet. 1. 15. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . phil. 1. 23. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . luk. 2. 29. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a godly man never begins to live till he dies , and then he lives eternally . it was the epitaph upon the tombe of joachimus camerarius , vita mihi mors est , mors mihi vita nova . doct. 3. gen. 32. 28. hos. 12. 4. psalm . 89. 48. job 1. 21. 1 tim. 6. 7. ●everus the emperour looking upon his urn had this expression , tu virum capies quem orbis terrae non capit . thou shalt containe him whom the whole world oun ot containe . sceptra ligonibus aequat . use psal. 82. 6 , 7. epit. hist. galt . ester 4. 2. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . john 19. 38. rev 10. 12. p●tentes potenter torque●untur . ingentia b●eficia , ingentia vitia , ingentia supplicia . gen. 2. 23. gen. 18. 20. gen. 32. 28. doct. 4. mat. 24. 13. rev. 2. 10. perseverantia sola coronat . nemo christianus nisi qui ad sinem usque perseverave●it . ter●●l . de praescript . fz●k . 18. 24. use 2 cor 7. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . impossibile est quod somel vivificavit deus , ab ●odem vel ab alio occidi . origen . in jerem. hom. 1. repertus est ja● pridem petrus quidam bertius cacotheologus leydenfis qui librum edere baud veritus est titulo ●●rte ipso ex●crabile● de apostatiâ sanctorum . robert . abbot professor regius dr. owen . dr. kendal . rom. 8. 30. john 8. 35. john 10. 27 , 28 , 29. jer. 32. 40. 2 tim. 2. 19. phil. 1. 6. 1 john 3. 9. luk. 22. 32. sanctam ecclesiam christus secundum praescientiae suae gratiam de in aeternum permansuris sanctis construxit . greg. in cantic. cap. 3. aurum , quod pravis diaboli persuasionibus sterni , ficut lutum , potuerit , aurum ante oculos dei nunquam suit ; & qui seduci quandoque non reversuri poss●nt , quasi habitam sanctitatem ante oculos hominum videntur a●ittere , sed cam ante oculos dei nunquam habuerunt . gr●g . mor. lib. 34. cap. 13. cap. 8. non ergo alios , sed quos praedestinavit , ipsos & vocavit ; ill● s●ilicet vocatione secundum propositum ; nec alios sed quos ita vocavit , ipsos & justificavit ; nec alios , sed quos praedestinavit , vocavit , justificavit , ipsos & glorificavit , illo utique fine , qui non habet fiuem . depraedestin . sanct. cap. 17. istorum ( id est vasorum irae five ●eproborum ) ●eminem adducit deus ad poenitentiam salubrem & spiritualem , quâ homo in christo reconciliatur deo , sivem illis longior●m ▪ patientiam ( quàm electis . ) sive non imparem pr●beat . aug. contra . julian . pelug . lib. 5. cap. 4. non ●mnium deus , s●d corum quos praescivit , & praedestinavit , delicta dimittit . aug. contra . adversar . leg. & prophet . lib. 2. cap. 11. — non visibilem baptismum quem possunt habere & alieni qui regnum dei non possidebunt , sed hoc donum commendat spiritus sancti , quod proprium est eorum tantum , qui reg●abunt cum christ● in aeternum . — et poste● multa eni●s munera dei possunt habere & alieni , &c. ipsa etiam quae domui doi data sunt ▪ nonnulla ex eis habent alieni , id est , non possessuri regnum dei , &c. hoc est ergo donum spiritus sancti proprium sanctorum , unde nem● communicat alienus . hoc deest omnibus malignis & gehennae filiis , etiamst christi baptism● baptizentur , sicut simon ●uerat baptizatus , &c. aug. de unitato eccl. cap. 23. non justificat christus nisi corpus suum . aug. ep. 5. de spiritu christi non vivit nisi corpus christi . iden in joan. traictat . 26. non est autem rever a corpus christi , quod non erit cum ●o in aeternum . idem de doctrin . christ . lib. 3. cap. 32. 1 john 2. 19 ▪ luk. 8. 62. heb. 10. 38 , 39. 2 pet. 2. 21. luk. 17. 32. ob. answ. mar 24. 24. quest . answ. eph. 1. 14. eph. 4. 30. doct. 5. 1 cor. 13. 3. use 2 pet. 2. 1. 1 tim. 4. 1. gal. 5. 19 , 20 , 21. acts 15. 24. ● tim. 2. 18. dogmata salutis devoratoria & christianae religionis carcinomata . jude 3. heb ▪ 10. 23. sr. humphry lynd● . rev. 14. 9 , 1● . bishop jewel in his life . o quam ●ulti ●um b●c van . î ●ide ad ater●os labores desce●d●●t . heb. 10. 22. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 pet. 1. 11. quest . answ. doct. 6. exod. 15. 2 sam. 3. 31. gen. 23. 6. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . job . 32. 22. mr. vines . laudantur ubi ●on sunt , & t●rquentur ubi sunt . bishop halt . dr. tuckney at the funeral of dr. hill . mr. vines . 1 cor. 1. 26. acts 18. 8. gen. 34. ecclesia , academia , curia . a sermon preached at the funerall of m. christopher love, in st. laurence church, august, 25. 1651. by thomas manton, minister of the gospell at stoak-newington near london. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a89505 of text r206708 in the english short title catalog (thomason e641_7). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 20 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a89505 wing m535 thomason e641_7 estc r206708 99865821 99865821 118072 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a89505) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118072) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 98:e641[7]) a sermon preached at the funerall of m. christopher love, in st. laurence church, august, 25. 1651. by thomas manton, minister of the gospell at stoak-newington near london. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. [4], 12 p. printed by j.b., london : 1651. annotation on thomason copy: "septemb: 8". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng love, christopher, 1618-1651. funeral sermons -17th century. a89505 r206708 (thomason e641_7). civilwar no a sermon preached at the funerall of m. christopher love,: in st. laurence church, august, 25. 1651. by thomas manton, minister of the gosp manton, thomas 1651 3793 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-06 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funerall of m. christopher love , in st. lavrence chvrch , august , 25. 1651. by thomas manton , minister of the gospell at stoak-newington near london . isaiah 517. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evill to come . london : printed by j b. 1651. to the reader . courteous reader , thou hast here presented to thy view a short , but yet a sweet sermon ; in it is comprehended among other things , the right way of dying well . if ever you would die comfortably , you must first live holily , get an assurance that your sinnes are pardoned , that god is reconciled unto you through jesus christ , that so you may be perswaded by the holy spirit of god , as soon as ever you goe out of this world , you shall then be received into an eternall . reader , if this sermon may prove for thy spirituall advantage , for the mortifying of sinne , and the renewing of grace in thy heart , blesse god for it . thou mayest bee confident it shall be the daily prayer of him that is thy friend in the lord , d. r. a sermon preached at the funerall of m. christopher love in st. laurence church , august 25. 1651. 1 cor. 15. 57. but thankes be to god which gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ . the words in themselves needs no explication ; they are the triumphing song of s. paul , partly directed to the enemies themselves , and partly to the giver of victory , thanks be to god , that gives us victory through jesus christ . 1. it is sinne that is the sting of death , when the conscience is awakened , and all disguises are taken away , then sin will be sin indeed . 2. in regard of the obligation , the law binds us over unto death . 3. sin aggravated labours to strengthen sin , and sets them all in order in their proper colours before our face . but now the great question will be , what shall we do that we may come out of this horror and terror ? the apostle tells us , christ hath given us victory in christs victory ; he hath overcome the law , death , and hell ; he foyled death in his own person , when he was upon the crosse ; he left death in the grave , when he himselfe arose againe ; he hath given us victory through jesus christ ; and yet all christs work was not done upon the crosse , there is much to be done in our hearts , the god of peace shal bruise satan under your feet shortly , rom 16. 20. hee will make you fellow-conquerors with his sonne jesus christ ; christ hath got a victory for us , and he will get also a victory in us . from the words observe this doctrine : that christs victory over death may serve for the incomparable comfort of all true believers . death is either temporall or eternall ; now wicked men are subject unto both ; the wicked mans temporall death it makes way for his eternall ; the taking them away out of this life , is but the bringing them into eternall wo and misery . for the opening of the point , he would 1. shew how christ delivereth us from death . 2. how far he hath delivered us from death . for the first , that christ hath delivered us from death , heb. 2. 14. by death he destroyed him that had the power of death : if you consider christs death by way of merit , or if you consider him as a conqueror , by his death he destroyed death , he grapled and overcome death . whether you look upon it as the act of a redeemer in dying for our sinnes , christ died in our room , or in our stead , he died that the creature might be spared , iob. 33. 19. deliver him from going down into the pit , for i have found a ransome ; the sinner must die , or else the surety must die ; by christs death the wrath of god is expiated , the law of god is satisfied , the justice of god fulfilled , and the jawes of death are broken . 2. looke upon it as the act of a conqueror , and so christ hath foiled death in his owne person ; for christ is called the first fruits of them that sleep in the lord jesus christ , 1 cor. 15. 20. yea , he is called the first-borne of the dead ; death is satans last beast of prey , and christ hath grapled this beast . 1. be pleased to consider , the quality of the grave is quite altered to wicked men ; it is the king of terror ; but to every beleever it is a bed of ease , isai. 57. 2. the righteous are taken from the evill to come , and rest in their beds . 2. the second question is , how far he hath delivered us from death ; i might answer , that it is sufficient the second death hath no power over us ; there is no condemnation unto them that are in christ jesus , rom. 8. 1. but this is not all , the very nature and habit of death is changed ; death is not a destruction , but a deliverance ; we are apt to have wrong thoughts of death , death is to us a blessing , it is one of christs legacies bequeathed to his church ; while death was in the devils hand , it was our enemy ; but now it is in christs hand , it is our friend ; it is now but our passage into the land of canaan , our entrance into the heavenly jerusalem : a wicked mans death is his executioner , but to the godly ; it doth but fever us from our friends upon earth , and then we are united unto jesus christ our head ; now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , wicked men are taken away . this night shall thy soule be taken away , luke 12. 20. now what hope can a wicked man have when god takes away his soule ? the godly man resignes up his soule unto jesus christ . the beleever dyeth not because he must dye , but because he would dye : the funerals of the godly are but the funerals of their sinnes ; it is not the man that dyeth , but his misery and his sinnes that dyeth . when god justifieth a sinner , he takes away the condemning power of sinne ; when he sanctifieth , he takes away the reigning power of sinne ; but when he takes him away by death unto himselfe , he takes away the very being of sinne : death is our cure , sinne brings in death , and death by way of revenge destroyeth sin . 2. by death there is way made for a present union of the soule with jesus christ ; i desire to be dissolved , and to be with christ , saith st. paul ; it is better the soul should be seperated from the body , then to be absent from christ , we have an union here , but whether is it better to be present with your friends , or present with jesus christ ? the soul goeth away to god that gave it , immediately as soon as ever the body is destroyed ; the body came from adam , and must be purified in the grave , but the soul is a supernatural light and flyeth to god again . 3. the body that seemeth most to suffer , hath great advantage . a shed is taken down to raise up a better structure ; it is sowed a natural body , but it is raised a spiritual body ; here it is not capable of high enjoyments , it is humbled by diseases ; it is sowed a corruptable body , but it shall be raised an incorruptable body , 1 corinth . 15. 54. the next degree is , how far christ hath conquered death , the hurt of death is taken away . death may kill you , but it cannot hurt you ; it cannot have any power over your better part , jesus christ is your head in the grave ; ye are raised by the spirit of holiness , rom. 8. 11. the holy-ghost can never leave his temple ; you belong to christ in the grave . 1. oh consider what ground of comfort we have against the mortality of the body : christ hath united body and soul , christs mystical body shall not want the least member or joynt . 2. god is in covenant with your body and soul , god is the god of your flesh , though it remain with the dust of the wicked . 3. christ hath purchased your body and soul , 1 corinth . 6. 20. yea are bought with a price , therefore glorifie christ in your bodies ; christ will not loose one whit of his purchase : therefore here is your comfort against the mortality of the body ; god will call the grave to an account , what is become of my abraham ? my isaac ? and my jacob ? the grave shall give up their dead , when christs commands it : the grave is but a chest ( and with reference be it spoken ) christ wares the keys at his own girdle ; god hath a special care of your dust , when your friends and neighbours have left you in the grave , yet christ hath not left you there . 4. we are eased from the terror and horror of death . now death is terrible , as it is a natural evil , a dissolution of the soul from the body . death is the king of terrors , morral phylosophy could never finde any remedy against the fear of death . but god by his holy spirit , he fills the soul with a hope of a better life , by which it is strenthened against the fear of death ; nature may shrink when we see the pail horse approaching , yet we way rejoyce in this it is but to carry us home to our fathers house , and who would be affraid to be happy ? let them be affraid to dye , which are loath to go to christ . st. stephen saw the heavens opened for him , when he was stoned to death , at the very hour of their departure they are exempted from fear and terror , by reason of that comfortable perswasion , which they have in their breast , that their sins are pardoned through the blood of jesus christ ; that god is reconciled unto their souls , that as soon as they go out of this miserable would , they shall be received into eternal glory : the sting of death is sin , the day of death is a black and glomy day to wicked men ; wicked men they drop like rotten apples into that lake that burns with fire and brimstone for evermore ; wicked men have many accusations laid to their charge , many sins that fly in their face , which most commonly perplex a dying soul ; but godly men are freed from all this : this made luther cry out percule domine percule , peccata remissa sunt , strike lord strike , my sins are pardoned : so may every true believer say , lord do what thou wilt with me , my sins are forgiven . 5. christ hath utterly abolished death , 1 cor , 5. 16. then death shall be utterly abolished to the elect , the dominion and power of death is overcome , but for the wicked they must be kept under a dying , and yet under a living death , death shall be no more unto gods people , they may then triumphantly say , oh death , where is thy sting ? thus much for the doctrinal part of the text : there remains nothing but the useful application unto our souls . vse . first let this serve for terror to wicked men , jesus christ hath conquered death onely for his elect : for the present wicked mens condition is sad , in death it is worse , and in hell it is worst of all . 1. for the present their condition must needs be sad ; they cannot so much as think of death or hell without a great deal of terror and fear : it is like the hand writing against belshazer upon the wall , it will mar all their jovial company , but with the righteous death makes way for their eternal happiness , though i walk in the vale and shadow of death , saith david , yet will i fear none ill . it is a sad walk to walk at deaths right hand . 2. in death it will be worse , the nearer you come to your everlasting estate , the more your conscience will be troubled , and your sins will fly in your face : every man doth not dye thus sensible , some there are that sacrifice their bodies with great courage , but mark this in them all , they oftentimes dye anxious of their spiritual condition : a wicked man is like one that leaps over a great gulph in the dark , but usually their death is full of terror . oh consider what a sad case you will be in , when your sins shall stare you in the face , your conscience accuse you , the law binde you over to hell , hell open her mouth for you , and heaven be shut up against you ; how will you be able to appear before the judgement seat ? what a hideous cry will it be to hear the sinner curse his body , and his body to curse his soul , because he did not make sure of heaven . it is quite contrary when the godly man dyeth , he takes fare leave of his flesh , flesh farewell , and rest in hope , god will not suffer his holy one to see corruption . 3. in hell it will be worst of all , envy will be a part of your sorrow , as well as dispare , when you shall see the godly in heaven , whom you have scorned , dispised , and thought not worthy to love among you , when your selves shall be tormented in hell fire with the devil and his angels for ever , there is a special conviction upon the damned soul in hell . here you would not live , and their you shall not dye : oh miserable will be your condition ! when conscience , that worm that never dyeth , shall gnaw your soul to all eternity . you are now fallen into the hands of a living god , who liveth for ever to see vengeance executed upon his enemies . the second use is to labor to get an interest . 1. in jesus christ , and first you must take care to get your sins pardoned ; all the power of the devil and death , depends upon this particular , you can never have any true or real solid comfort , when you come to dye , unless you are assured that your sins are pardoned , unless that you are confidently assured by the spirit of god , that when you go out of this life , you shall be received into a better . there are two pits which god hath digged , that are deep enough to bury your sins in that they shall never beable to hint you , vid. the ocean of divine mercy , and the grave of jesus christ , see your sins buried in one of those graves , and then be sure they shall never trouble your soul again . it is the great fault of christians , that when they come to dye , they come altogether naked : it is an ill favoured thing to see a man stark naked ; christians should come cloathed with the white robes of christs righteousness , for the grave hath no power over them . 2. strive for an assurance of gods love ; mine eyes have seen thy salvation , therefore now let thy servant depart in peace ; now let me dye saith old jacob , when he had seen his son joseph ; when you have seen jesus christ , when you can say experimentally he is my portion ; then you may bid welcom to any death : death never comes untimely to such a man , though he may be cut off by some sudden stroak , if he hath an interest in jesus christ . a sinner though he live to be an old man , yet he is accursed . 3. mortifie corruption : he dyeth well that mortifieth corruption first ; see your sins dead before you come to dye : either sin must dye , or we must dye , what should an unmortified man do with heaven ? that would be no place for his abode , because there are no carnal bestial delights there ; when wicked men go howling to hell , then might god say , go see whether your vain delights can save you . 4. there must be a holy life and conversation . men live as though they never thought to dye , and then they dye as if they never thought to live ; they that are not ashamed to live are not affraid to dye . we have a singular instance of this in our deceased brother , balaam would fain dye the death of the righteous , but he would not live the life of the righteous : if we are careful to observe these directions , then our last hour will be our best hour . the third use is to improve the comfort of christs victory , 1. improve it for your friends , that are departed in the lord : why should we weep in the day of their preferment ? christians in the primitive times , at the solemnizing of their friends funerals , had wont to light tapar , sing psalms , and rejoyce in the lord ( but may some say ) sir do you not read , when stephen was stoned to death , that certain devout men carried him , and made great lamentation for him , acts 8. 2. but for answer to this , mourn for your friends deceased , but not distractedly mourn for them as those that know they shall meet their friends in glory : when you weep for your friends it should be like rain upon earth , when the sun shines . 2. improve it for your selves , and that in your life time . 1. in your resolutions , that you may be willing to dye : we are apt to linger ond linger , and fain we would live a little longer ; but alass what prince would be willing to be uncrowned : this argueth a great deal of carnallity . christians are begotten to a lively hope . 2. improve it in your death against the fear of death : death it self startles the creature . when once you come to heaven , death shall molest you no more , believers , when they come to heaven , shall have the same welcom that jesus christ had , the angels shall carry your soul into abrahams bosom , luk. 16. 22 , there shall a train of angels carry your soul into eternal glory . lastly , bless your redeemer , that hath freed you from the fear of death . jesus christ hath given himself a ransom for thy soul ; he hath satisfied divine vengeance for thy sins : many men give their lives to death for their prince ; but here is a prince , that gives his life for his people . it remains that we speak a little concerning this our deceased brother : i might speak much concerning those ravishing comforts , that he had in his soul : what a rare assurance he had of heaven , as a patern most worthy of your imitation . he was a man eminent in grace , a man of a singular life and conversation . when he was to dye , he professed high thoughts of his congregation ; therefore i pray do not frustrate his expectations ; when he looks to finde you among the sheep , the lord grant you be not found among the goats ; do not think that now he is gone , his truths are gone too ? for god will require them at your hands . god takes an exact account , how long a minister hath been in such a place , what good a people hath got under his ministery : the lord grant that you may now reap the fruit of all his labours . i might speak much more , but i will forbear . the lord bless what you have heard , and give you understanding in all things . finis . august 30 , 1651. imprimatur john downame . a funeral sermon occasioned by the death of mr. william rathband an aged and learned servant of christ, and preached octob. 13. 1695. at highgate. by samuel slater, m.a. minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1695 approx. 76 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60347 wing s3965 estc r220549 99831945 99831945 36412 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60347) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 36412) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2098:11) a funeral sermon occasioned by the death of mr. william rathband an aged and learned servant of christ, and preached octob. 13. 1695. at highgate. by samuel slater, m.a. minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. [4], 28 p. printed for thomas cockerill, senr and junr, at the three legs in the poultrey, over-against the stocks-market, london : m dc xc v. [1695] copy has slight print fade. reproduction of the original in dr. williams' library, london. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng rathband, william, d. 1695 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon occasioned by the death of mr. william rathband , an aged and learned servant of christ , and preached octob. 13. 1695. at highgate . by samuel slater , m. a. minister of the gospel . london : printed for thomas cockerill , sen r and jun r , at the three legs in the poultrey , over-against the stocks-market . mdcxcv . to the much esteemed mrs. sarah rathband in highgate . dear sister , that stroke which the wise god lately gave to 〈…〉 family , did , and yet doth , as i doubt not , sma 〈…〉 on your back , and pain you at the very heart . the wresting of a loving husband out of the bosom of an affectionate wife , is not much unlike tearing the flesh from the bones . where indeed there is unsuitableness and discontent , a galling yoke between persons so nearly related , cohabitation is more uneasy than dissolution . they are not like to grieve much for parting , who were a mutual vexation and torment . but i am persuaded there was between you conjugal love , kindness and delight , and walking together as heirs of the grace of lise ; whereupon separation by death , cannot but be a sore affliction to you who are left behind . yet , a reflection upon such a life , and the blessed consequences of that death which was the period of it , may very well prove a sovereign cordial to you , carrying along with it strength and sweetness , support and comfort . god hath been graciously pleas'd to carry him through those difficulties which he did encounter in his way , and to employ him in that honourable work of the ministry which he lov'd and faithfully did , notwithstanding there were many adversaries , and but very small encouragement he received from the hands of men who will give more to their houshold servant , than to an embassador of christ ; and he continued him in the world , and in his work , to a good old age . when at last he had finished his day and his work together , he entered into peace and rest . and now while he rejoiceth in fruition , do you rejoice in hope . long it will not be , ere he that shall come , will come , and carry us away too to our eternal home ; therefore instead of an impotent mourning over our dead relations and friends , it is our main wisdom and interest to prepare our selves for death , that we may be found in a fitness for a better life , in a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light . hearing it was my dear brother's desire upon his death-bed , that i would preach the funeral sermon , i did most readily apply to the work ; and your self afterward desiring that what had been preached might be printed , i complied therein also , notwithstanding multitude of business lying upon my hands ; here you have it in the following sheets . the good lord accompany it with his spirit and blessing upon you and others that heard , or shall read it , and thereby my desire and design will be accomplished . your self i commend to the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. may the ever-living and ever-blessed god be your husband , comforter and portion . dear sister , novemb. 8 : 1695. i am yours in the best bonds , sa . slater . john xvii . 13. and now come i to thee . in the thirteenth chapter of this holy gospel we find our lord jesus ( in whose heart it was to fulfil all righteousness ) had celebrated the passover with his disciples ; at which iudas having received the sop , went out immediately , leaving christ and them behind him , but carrying the devil in him . it was night , and therefore , as he thought , a fit season for that work of darkness , the betraying of his lord and master into the hands of his enemies , who thirsted for his blood. the traitor being thus of his own accord withdrawn and gone , and our saviour having none about him , but those whom he knew to be his faithful and fast friends , preached unto them this his last , most sweet and excellent sermon , wherein his lips dropt as an honey-comb ; beginning it at the fourteenth chapter , and continuing it to the end of the sixteenth . therein he unbosoms himself to them , and speaks his very heart in the language of love , affording to them precious and strong cordials for the bearing up of their hearts under his own departure from them ( which he well-knew would be sorely afflictive to their spirits ) and also under those many and great tribulations they would , during his absence , meet with in the world , being sent as a little flock of sheep among a company of ravenous wolves , that would be set for fleecing and devouring them . the sermon being ended , which he delivered , that in him they might have peace , knowing they had to do with a conquer'd enemy , the world being overcome by him ; we have him in this chapter putting up a prayer to his father , wherein he first asked something for himself , ver . 9. that his father would glorify him with his own self , with that glory which he had with him before the world was . he desires the manifestation of that glory which he had before the world was , and his having it before the world was , speaks his subsistence or being before the world was , and by consequence his being from eternity , and therefore god. he also prayed for his people , both those that did at that time believe in him , and likewise those that should afterwards believe in him through their word . the things he asked for them , were 1. that they might be sanctined through the truth ; and while in the world , kept from the evil. 2. that they might be united and made one , yea , perfect in one. and 3. that at last they might all be with him where he is , and behold his glory , taken up to the beatifical vision , to a constant and close communion , to a full and perfect fruition of him . and the reason of these his desires , is , because he himself was to be no longer with them in the world by his bodily presence , verse 11. now i am no more in the world , but these are in the world , and i come to thee . the work that he came into the world for , was at that time almost finished ; and the work which he had to do elsewhere , viz. in heaven , called him away . i am , saith he , no more in the world . the world and i cannot agree . it is a vain , empty , sinful , wicked , and a malicious world , it refuseth to be mended , and it cares not to be saved , and i have been long enough in it ; since we cannot agree , we will part . it is weary of me , and i am as weary of it , yea and more weary too : i never tasted of its pleasures , and i care not for its profits ; that work which my father gave me to do , being done , i will be gone . i come to thee ; with whom it is best being , for in thy presence there is fulness of joy , and at thy right-hand pleasures for evermore . to thee , with whom i was from everlasting , rejoycing always before thee , and being daily thy delight , having a mutual delight and compleat satisfaction each in other . to thee , with whom i desire and long to be . father , i come ; as soon as ever i have drunk off that cup which thou hast given me to drink of , i come ; and how am i straitned till that be accomplished , and glad i am at my very heart , that thereupon i come to thee . now i come , it will be but a little while first , and the sooner the better . i am willing to leave all for thee , to leave the world for thee , yea , to leave my dear disciples for thee , tho they be my friends , the men of my choice , the purchase of ray blood , the members of my mystical body , yet do i freely leave them for thee ; only , father , i consider where i leave them , in a world that hates me , and will be sure to hate them for my sake ; and therefore while i leave them for thee , i would leave them with thee . i put them into thy hand , let that uphold and defend them ; i shelter them under thy wing , let that secure and comfort them . i have kept them while i was with them ; when i shall be gone , do thou undertake and be surety for them for good , that they may be safe in the midst of enemies , and stedfast in the midst of temptations and assaults ; yea , and chearful too in the midst of sufferings and troubles , having my joy fulfilled in themselves . and now come i to thee . the doctrine which from hence i shall observe and speak to in the following discourse , is this , doct. an holy soul is , and very well may be willing , yea , heartily glad to leave the world ; because when it doth so , it will go to god. i look upon the words of the text , as the words of one rejoycing ; the language of one whose heart did even leap within him ; of one whose soul was upon the wing of holy desires , longing to be at its home . now come i to thee , and when i once am with thee , i shall be where i would be , and with whom , i would be ; in the best place , and with the best company ; what suits me most , and therefore must needs please me best . now i come to thee , whom i like abve all , being infinite in all perfections , and whom therefore i love and prefer before all . now i come to thee , who art mine eternal father , and wilt be my eternal satisfaction . our saviour had before told his disciples in john 14. 28. that if they loved him , they would rejoice because he said , i go to my father ; because that his departure would be glorious to himself , and advantagious to them ; but whether they through want of a judicious love would rejoyce in it or no , he himself would perfectly , understanding how things were and would be . now come i to thee . once i came from thee to do thy will , and that was pleasing to me ; i delight to do thy will , o my god , thy law is within my heart . now i come to thee to enjoy thy presence , and that will be to me incomparably , inexpressibly sweet . thus it was with our dearest lord and saviour , this was the frame , these the actings of his spirit ; and thus likewise it ought to be with all his people , who were predestinated to be conformed to his image , and who ought to have the same mind in them that was in him , for he acted and suffer'd , he liv'd and died , leaving us an example that we should tread in his steps . in the doctrine which i have laid down , there are three things , which we ought to take notice of . first , that gracious and holy souls must leave this world. the world to come will be their eternal habitation , but in this present evil world they will have but a short stay . those that have the largest share of its good things , those that are most useful in it , and live to the best purpose , serving their generations according to the will of god , must leave it . their loving father never intended this for the place for their constant residence , nor the comforts and enjoyments here for their portion . the highest heaven in his throne , the habitation of his holiness and glory ; and he was always resolved to have his children about him there . this world is but your school to learn in during your minority ; your house to work in till you have finished what was given you to do ; your tyring-room to dress in , that you may be ready for the marriage of the lamb ; a stage to act your part upon , see that you so quit your selves as to be at last found to praise and honour ; but it is not to be your rest , because it is polluted . god hath too much of the heart of a father , and loves his children too well to keep them always in a vale of tears , where they shall be frequently suffering and sighing , complaining and groaning ; always in a wilderness that is over-run with briars and thorns , and an innumerable company of beasts of prey ; the wicked of the world are their irreconcilable enemies , and implacably hate them , therefore they shall not always have them to wreak their malice and rage upon . they will for ever envy and gnash their teeth at them , because of their happiness in heaven , but they shall not for ever exercise their patience , and disturb their peace upon earth . often o saints ! repeat in your thoughts , that this world is but the house of your pilgrimage , therefore let not any of you love it too well ; but while you live in it , be you weaned from it ; remembring there is a better place prepared and taken up for you , whither the forerunner , even jesus , is entred , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , whose builder and maker is god. secondly , whensoever gracious and holy persons leave this world , they go to god. the decayed and crazy body doth no sooner cease to be any longer capable of housing so noble and excellent a guest as the soul , and the soul doth no sooner dislodge and leave that once-beloved structure , but that it doth immediately take its flight , and mount up with a swift and speedy motion , and a direct tendency ( without the least and shortest digression ) to its great creator , even to him who alone is the father of spirits . it cares not for any further converse with things below , being intirely set for communion with him , by and for whom it was made , and on this side of whom , it is , and cannot but be , resiless and unquiet . gen. 5. 24. enoch walked with god , and he was not , for god took him , i. e. he took him home ; he took him to himself , into the presence of his glory , into the bosom of his love. and thus it hath been , is , and will be with all those who walk as enoch did , who tread in the same steps , and keep up the same communion ; tho indeed they do not all go the same way , yet they go to the same place , and to the same god. enoch was translated that he might not see death , hebr. 11. 5. he was presently carried up to heaven , having his soul purified , and his body freed from corruption . he was soon cloathed with a glorified body ; as for other holy ones , tho they see death , yet they are translated too , carried from earth to heaven , from creatures to god. the body must descend into the grave , and there lye putrifying , corrupting , crumbling , until it return to dust as it once was , but the spirit returns to god that gave it . i desire you all frequently to call this to mind , and consider it with the greatest seriousness , and see that you have sanctified souls , souls rightly prepared , brought into such a frame as may be fit to appear in so glorious a presence , and converse with so pure and holy a majesty ; that when they return to god they may be welcome to him , and being come into his presence , for ever dwell and abide there , and not afterwards cast out and banisht as the object of his loathing . thirdly , holy souls may very well be willing , yea glad to go to god. as a bride is to go to her endeared husband ; and as a child at school under severe discipline is to go to his most affectionate and tender parents , from whom instead of hard blows , he shall meet with soft embraces . some saints upon record in scripture , we find , were in such a frame . good old simeon was in haste and prayed for his dismission , luke 2. 29 , 30. lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . having seen christ , he would sain see the father too . having got christ in his arms , he would have the world on his back . he reckon'd that he had liv'd long enough here , and would needs be gone . he had now got his full freight , and therefore desired to set up his sail for the other world. having beheld so great a sight as the lord of glory , tho but in his infancy and swathing-bands , he was loath that his eyes should be embased with the beholding of earthly vanities any more . paul likewise had the same thing in his desire ; so he told us in phil. 1. 23. i have a desire to depart , and to be with christ. he would go from all , that he may go to him ; and leave all , that he might be with him ; and he understood himself , and acted rationally in this desire ; for it is , saith he in the next words , far better . heaven is inconceivably better than earth , when it is in the greatest peace , when it expresseth the greatest kindness . he very well knew what he said , he was a competent judge , having been an eye-witness of the felicity and glory above , taken up into paradice into the third heaven . and tho others have not been partakers of that priviledge , not so rapt as paul was , yet they are of the same judgment , and have the same desires working in them ; therefore he speaks of it as a spirit and disposition common to all the saints while they are in this tabernacle . their hearts stand heavenward , as the needle doth to the north-pole , when it hath been once touch'd with the loadstone ; as you may see in 2 cor. 5. 2. in this we groan earnestly , desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven . they had not only some small inclinations that way , and languid faint desires , but earnest groans . and again , verse 8. we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. we are willing , not only out of necessity , because this is a thing must be , but out of choice , we had rather leave the body that we might go to god. but now we are to enquire , why it is thus . and you will find there is sufficient , yea abundant reason for it , if you do consider these four following particulars : first , in going to god , they go to their father . this was the comfort and joy of our saviour's heart ; with this he comforted himself , and with this he comforted his disciples , looking upon it as a cordial strong enough for them all , john 20. 17. go to my brethren , and say unto them , i ascend unto my father and your father , and to my god and your god. mine by nature , yours by adoption . i am now going to one that i am most nearly related to , and most fully interested in . and in iohn 17. we find him insisting and dwelling upon this , as that which he took singular delight in , and suckt a great deal of sweetness from , verse 1. father , the hour is come . verse 5. o father , glorify thou me with thine own . verse 11. i come to thee , holy father . verse 21. thou father art in me , and i in thee . verse 24. father , i will that they whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am . verse 25. o righteous father , the world hath not known thee , but i have known thee , &c. it is certain , that when wicked men , the worst and vilest of them , dye , they go to god. did i say , go ? rather , they are forc'd and drag'd against their will ; they cannot help it . it is to a god that many of them did not believe , but laboured with all their might to obliterate the notion of his being , because troublesome and tormenting to them , psalm 14. 1. the fool hath said in his heart , there is no god. it is to a god , that none of them cared to know , and be acquainted with ; job 21. 14. they say unto god , depart from us , for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways . neither of his ways , nor of himself . they go to god as their righteous judge , but not their reconciled and gracious father . they are brought before his tribunal as malefactors to receive their doom , but they do not enter into his kingdom as children to take possession . whereas those that are truly gracious , go to him as a father ; as a father of mercies , yea , and as their father in christ ; to him as a god , yea , and to their god in covenant ; to a god and father , by whom they were begotten , of whom they were born , whose spirit they have received , and whose image they bear . wicked men go to god to give an account of what they have done in the body ; and when once sentence is past upon them , and they adjudged to their place and eternal state , they go to devils , matth. 24. 41. depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels . you followed his conduct , you did his drudgery , now take your wages with him . where he is , there shall his servants also be . when the saints go to god , they go to stay , and to take up their everlasting abode with him , rev. 3. 12. him that overcometh , will i make a pillar in the temple of my god , and he shall 〈◊〉 no more out . as they shall be exalted , so fixed ; their happiness shall never be abated , their glory never eclipsed . once in christ , and ever in christ , there is no total and final falling from grace ; they that are indeed planted in the house of the lord , shall never be pluckt up ; and so in the present case , once in heaven , and in heaven to eternity : 1 thess. 4. 16 , 17. the dead in christ shall rise first ; then we which are alive and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air , so shall we ever be with the lord. after that meeting , there shall not be a parting any more . secondly , when holy souls go to god , they shall he heartily welcome , and find as loving and gracious a reception as they can desire . when a sinner doth here in this life by a sincere repentance break off from his sins , and returns to god , there is rejoycing above , luke 15. ● , and 10. there is joy in the presence of the angels of god over one sinner that repenteth . where upon bernard said , the tears of a sinner are the wine of angels . at such a time indeed , and upon such an account , hell is in an uproar , and the devils fret and rage ; they cannot endure to think that they should lose any of their prey , and that one of their vassals should be brought into the liberty of the sons of god : but in heaven there are triumphs , and singing of allelujahs . this our lord sets out in the parable of the prodigal son , upon whose return to his father and his duty , there were kisses and embraces , feasting and making merry : the good old man forgot his age , and found his legs , ran to meet him ; and the family following so good an example , was in a transport . just so there is in heaven , upon a gracious soul's arrival there after its dissolution : the great god doth welcome it ; even the whole trinity ; the father who elected it , the son who redeemed it , the holy ghost who sanctified it . it s old relations and godly friends do welcome it , for they will not then be strangers to one another , but both know and be known . it shall be welcom'd by an innumerable company of angels , who are now ministring spirits unto the heirs of salvation , and by the general assembly and church of the first-born , by all the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven . whatever weeping and mourning , bitter sighs and lamentations there are here , for being deprived of a faithful friend ; a comfortable yokefellow ; a pleasant and hopeful child ; a learned , orthodox and painful minister ; an useful , warm and exemplary church-member , that did adorn religion , and credit his holy profession , there are triumphs above for the addition of another star that will for ever gloriously shine in that celestial orb. then indeed is that fulfilled which is written in psal. 45. 14 , 15. those thrice-happy souls are brought unto the king in rayment of needle-work , a curiously embroidered garment , a spotless beautiful robe of righteousness wrought for them by the hand of christ himself ; with gladness and rejoicing are they brought , they do enter into the king's palace . so shall they be received with the highest demonstrations of affection . christ hath most graciously and faithfully promised , that when sinners do now come unto him , he will in no wise cast them out . and when saints do at death come to him , he will in no wise shut them out , but an abundant entrance shall be ministred to them into the glorious kingdom of their god and saviour : yea , and when the lord jesus shall have delivered up his mediatorial kingdom to the father , they shall still keep the mansions prepared for them in their father's house , and god himself shall be all in all to them . thirdly , these holy souls shall not only meet with an hearty welcome from god , and all the blessed inhabitants of that region of light and love ; but also they shall find a most splendid and glorious entertainment , such as will evidently shew forth the love , and greatness , and glory of god himself ; and not only issue in their full satisfaction , but likewise excite and keep up in them eternal admirings . there are many mansions , and a place provided for every one of them , in which they shall have room enough , and whatsoever will be pleasant to them for delights . a throne , a robe of glory , a crown of righteousness , hidden manna , the tree of life , which is in the midst of the paradise of god ; and to render their happiness complete , those bodies of theirs , which are now bodies of vileness , when they come to be raised out of their bed of dust by the divine power , and reunited to their souls , shall be made like unto christ's own most glorious body , philip. 3. 21. what shall i say ? had i the tongues of men and angels , i could not speak more than is , the largest descriptions will fall unspeakably short ; when you come there , you will say not one half was told you . i may say this in general , in heaven you will meet with that , which will far more than defray all the charges you were put to here ; that which will abundantly compensate and make amends for all the hardships you endured here . those that have been the greatest sufferers in this world , when they come into the next , will thankfully and chearfully acknowledge they are no losers . they shall receive that which shall richly reward all their pains ; so that instead of complaining their labour is lost , they shall wonder such sorry services should be so recompenced , and cry , grace , grace to it . they shall have the accomplishment of all their hopes , their former askings and thoughts being outdone . that which is laid up for them , and shall be given out to them , will transcend their highest expectations , be a full and complete answer to all their prayers , satisfy , silence , and put an everlasting period to all their desires ; for their enjoyments will be so great , and their capacities so fill'd , that there will be no room left for more . god will then make good all his promises , which are exceeding great and precious , so that not one tittle of them shall fail ; and by this means all tears shall be wiped from their eyes , sorrow and sighing shall flee away , never more to return , and they shall enjoy an endless sabbath , an everlasting triumph , being fill'd with joy unspeakable , and full of glory . in short , there is that which mortal eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor hath it entred into the heart of man ; and though the holy and blessed angels , which kept their standing , and continue to be heaven's courtiers , do both see and enjoy it , yet they are not able to express it ; there is all that which our dearest lord jesus did purchase at the inestimable price of his own heart-blood . now from all this which hath been spoken , there is abundant reason to conclude lastly , that those holy and truly happy souls are better with god in heaven , than they were while here , or could ever possibly have been . true love is free and liberal to its endeared object , it studieth to be so , and takes singular pleasure in it . those that are kind and affectionate husbands , and live up to the law of their relation , do and will make it their business and endeavour to make the lives of their yokefellows not only easy to them , but as comfortable as they can . but alas ! how short is their arm , how many outward and inward troubles are there which their skill and power cannot reach ? but it must be granted , all that which they can do , is not comparable to that which god doth for his people , nor to be named in the same day with it . all that own a god , must acknowledge he is infinitely beyond the greatest of men in power , infinitely above the highest and best of creatures in love . what is a broken cistern that will hold no water , to the well of salvation , the fountain of living waters ? what is a pitiful little drop , but one remove from nothing , to the boundless , bottomless ocean of being and goodness ? suppose there were ten thousand thousand worlds , and put them all together , what would they all be to one god ? and then though the enjoyment which the saints have of god now , doth far exceed all the sinful and sensual enjoyments of carnal and profane worldlings , which was the reason why moses did esteem the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures of egypt , and rather chose to suffer affliction with the people of god , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; and made that noble italian marquis galeaceus say , cursed be that man who counts all the world worth one hours enjoyment of iesus christ. yet compare the best , and fullest , and sweetest of the saints enjoyments here , with those in the mansions above , and they fall exceeding short of them ; for , what is sitting under the shadow of christ , to the beholding of his glory ? what is the joy of faith , to that of sight ? what is a love letter , or message of peace , or kind token from god now and then , to a lying in his bosom , to a being and continuance in his joy ? what is seeing of his power and glory in the sanctuary , to the beatifical vision ? what is seeing in a glass darkly , to a seeing face to face ; seeing as we are seen , and knowing as we are known ? what are the first-fruits of the spirit , to the whole harvest ? what some praelibamina , foretastes , to a sitting down with abraham , isaac , and iacob , in that kingdom of god at the feast of glory , and there taking the fill of love to all eternity ? while the saints are present in the body , they are absent from the lord , and a state of absence neither doth nor can afford satisfaction ; the holy soul during that , will with the enamoured spouse be longing and crying , make haste my beloved , and be thou like a roe or young hart upon the mountains of spices . it is only in the glorious presence of god that such an one will find a fulness of joy , and at his right hand those pleasures which are for evermore . let us now come to the improvement of this point in a way of application , and the first use shall be for information , in three things : if it be just matter of rejoicing to holy souls , that at death they go to god ; then from hence , first , we may learn the folly and misery of those who do now depart from god ; whose lives are nothing else but a continual departure from him . yea , in the very acts of worship , when they draw nigh to him with their lips , their hearts are estranged and far from him , running after their covetousness . the folly that is in this course of life is very apparent , and the misery that certainly attends it , will be one day no less sensible ; but there are too too many among us guilty hereof ; some through the principle and power of unbelief ; their not giving credit to the reports of the word , neither to its dreadful threatnings , nor to its sweet and gracious promises . do you , i beseech you , look carefully to it , that there be not in any of you an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god. others , yea and the same persons too , make this departure from god out of love to the world ; for if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . and it is no wonder to see men going from that place and company where and with whom they do not love to be ; have a care of the world therefore , let it not bewitch you . while ye live in it , be ye not devoted to it , but weaned from it . if you do set your hearts upon the world , you will turn your back upon god. demas , saith the apostle , hath forsaken me ; and in forsaking him , he forsook christ : what was the reason of it , but his embracing this present world , 2 tim. 4. 10. how powerful and prevalent are these two things , unbelief , and love of the world , with the generality of men ! what a vast multitude of persons do they carry away from god! what is there that in a moral way he could have done more , than that which he hath done ? he hath frequently and loudly called them by messenger after messenger ; he hath most graciously invited them , most lovingly and sweetly allur'd them , and used variety of means and arguments to conquer their aversness , to convince their judgments , to gain their hearts , and bring them to him ; yet , after all , he hath cause to complain , ye will not come to me that ye may have life . nay , in stead of coming to him , they are running further and further from him , as if they thought they could never be at too great a distance ; whereas they have no cause to run from god , for in so doing they run from life , and rest , and happiness , and into the mouth of ruin and destruction , and are too far removed from him already . they are already without god in the world , ephes. 2. 12. they were born with their backs upon god , were transgressors from the womb , going astray , speaking and seeking lyes , and so they continue to do , for every wilful sin is a step from god. now i would desire such to consider , and that seriously , whether this their way be not their folly . the scripture doth expresly tell us , they that are far from him shall perish , psal. 73. 27. and that he hath destroyed all them that go a whoring from him . and as he hath done , so he will go on to do ; for he is in one mind , and in this case repentance shall be hid from his eyes . and to this add one consideration more , you must appear before him at the last whether you will or no ; though you should call to the rocks to cover you , and the mountains to fall upon you , and hide you from the wrath of the lamb , and from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne , yet you must appear . now you will not be invited to him as a saviour ; then you shall be dragged before him as a judge . suppose you should then beg and plead , lord , lord , open to us ; what answer can you look for at his hands but this , depart from me , for i know you not . and how do you think he should know you , since as long as you liv'd , you would never acquaint your selves with him . oh poor sinners ! be wise while you may , and know assuredly , it is best going to him now for a pardon , and grace , and acceptance , before you go to him to receive your final sentence . if you will not now go to him as humble penitents , with confessions and supplications , that your sins may be blotted out , you shall come to him as criminals in order to execution ; and if you desire to know aforehand what your punishment will be , you may read it in 2 thess. 1. 8. everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord , and from the glory of his power . secondly , we may from hence learn , what our life in the world should be : it is a matter of very high and near concernment for men and women to understand themselves well in this particular , to know what they should be and do , and how they should live , that they may be approved ; and truly our life should be a coming to god , and a walking with him . in the first conversion there is a facing about , a turning of the mind and heart to god. christ sent paul to the gentiles , to turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of satan to god. and after the first turn is made , there should be a further returning ; all the actions of the life should be so many steps back to god. this was the great design and end of our lord iesus in his dying , not only that he might bring pardon and peace to men , but also that he might bring men to god , bring them into favour with god , yea , and into obedience and conformity to him , and into a communion and conversation with him , 1 pet. 3. 18. he suffered , the just for the unjust , that he might bring us to god. now since that was the gracious design of christ , the blessed and noble end he had in his eye , and was willing to be at so much cost for the accomplishment of , shall not we comply with him therein ? shall it not be in our heart , as well as in his ? and since we have so great an excellent person to take us by the hand and introduce us , and bring us in and present us to the father , let us go , let us not draw back , let us not stand questioning and disputing , and saying , shall i , shall i ? this is a meer loss of time , let us go presently , the sooner the better . you have heard that you must go at last , yes , you must , there is no possibility of avoiding it , and therefore let us all be persuaded , and heartily willing to go now . to day if you will hear his voice , harden not your hearts . go now to god in your mind and thoughts , in your hearts and affections , before you go in your persons . get as much of heaven as you can before-hand . the psalmist said , psalm 73. ult . it was good for him to draw night to god. and without peradventure , it is full out as good now as it was then , as good for us as it was for him . it is both a pleasant good , and a profitable one . let us therefore do it , yea , and be drawing nearer and nearer to him every day , never thinking our selves near enough so long as we are in a far country , and till we come to be with him in heaven . and yet again , let us not think it enough to to be making frequent approaches to him in holy duties , and in gospel ordinances , which are as a iacob's ladder , upon which the holy soul ascends and makes its spiritual advances , but keep up a daily walk with god , as enoch and noah did in their generations ; maintain an intimate and constant communion with him , that you may be able to say with paul , our conversation is in heaven . and with iohn , truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son the lord iesus christ. oh how noble is it to converse with god! it meliorates and raiseth , and spiritualizeth the soul ; it never is with him , but it comes away better from him ; and how sweet is it , god being pleasant for delights ; for certain you will find and judge it so , when you do once come by experience to know what it is , you will then say as peter did upon the mount of transfiguration , it is good , lord , to be here . thirdly , we may from hence learn that , it is very much our interest , and therefore our wisdom to bid god heartily welcome , whensoever he is geaciously pleased so far to condescend as to come to us . you have heard , and i hope you believe , that it is appointed for all men once to dye , and when we do dye , let it be in what way it will , and by what stroke it will and let us be in what state and frame we will , we must all of us go to god , all appear before the judgment-seat of christ. and let us think with our selves what entertainment we would have then ; how we would have christ carry toward us . do not we desire that he should receive us graciously , and bid us welcome as some of his old friends and acquaintance ? would we not be glad to hear him owning us before his father and the holy angels , and saying to us , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you ? i do not in the least question but you would . then i counsel you , that in order thereunto , you would now carry kindly toward god , and receive him as it becomes an infinite great , holy , and glorious majesty to be received . know this , such is his goodness that he often comes to you . frequently in his word , therein he discovers and reveals his mind and will concerning you , opens to you the mysteries of his kingdom that were kept hid from ages and generations , from the wise and prudent of the world. bid him welcome , and his word welcome , say with hez●kiah , good is the word of the lord ; yea , those precepts of it that are most contrary to corrupt nature , and those threatnings of it that are most tremendous and startling . receive it into your hearts as well as into your heads , and let it dwell richly in you . do not imprison any word of god , as asa did one of the messengers that brought it ; do not rebel against the light ; do not hold any truth in unrighteousness . sometimes he comes to you by his spirit , in such and such an holy motion , awakening you out of your sleep and sloth , reducing you from such a wandering , calling you to such a word and duty . now , do not you resist him , but submit and comply ; do not you quench him , but bring fewel rather ; do not grieve him , but labour to be his delight and joy. carefully listen to his voice , and make speed to follow his ducture , as paul did immediately , not consulting with flesh and blood when god had once revealed his son in him . the spouse was guilty of vile ingratitude , and sinn'd grievously in lying lazily , and asking her self a company of simple questions , i have put off my coat , how shall i put it on ? i have washed my feet , how shall i defile them ? which spake her loath to stir , when her beloved who had done a great deal more , and deserved much better at her hands , stood all the while without knocking at the door , calling and begging for admission , cant. 5. 2. open to me my sister , my love , my dove , my undefiled . one would have thought such language of love should have melted , should have raised her . do not you contract upon your selves guilt of the same kind ; therefore my advice to you shall be the same with what you find in psalm 24. 7. lift up your heads , o ye gates , and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors , and the king of glory shall come in . follow this advice , will you ? oh that you would , remembring that you your selves must one day go to god , and let that influence you to such a demeanour of your selves toward him now , as that you may not at last find the door shut against you , and be forced to stand without calling and crying in the bitterness of your souls , lord , lord , open to us , but may have an entrance ministred to you abundantly into the glorious kingdom of your god and saviour ; know for certain , the very same measure you mete out , shall be meted into you again ; with the pure he will shew himself pure , and with the froward he will shew himself froward . if you will be deaf to his call now , he will not hear yours at last , prov. 1. 24 &c. because i have called , and ye refused ; i have stretched out my hand , and no man regarded . when your fear cometh as desolation , and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon you , then shall they call upon me , but i will not answer ; they shall seek me early , but they shall not find me . the second use that i shall make of this point , shall be for examination : let you and me fall to work , and put our selves upon the scrutiny , for i can assure you , it will be no lost labour to search and try our selves , whether we are such , and our state such , as may at a dying hour be willing to go to god , and may at the present rejoyce in the thoughts of it ; and so , tho we must expect to fall by the stroke of death , yet we are deliver'd from the fear of death . and in order to the resolving of this great case , let us propound to our selves these three questions , and deal faithfully with our own souls , for it is dangerous , yea ruinous to be deceived in a matter of so great importance . first , hath there been reconciliation made between god and you . is it peace , o my soul , is it peace ? there was a b●each , that breach sprung up to an enmity , that enmity produc'd a war ; you have been fighters against god , there have been acts of hostility , how is it now ? is that breach made up , is that enmity taken away , and the war at an end ? there hath been peace offered to you , and most condescending gracious terms propounded , have you accepted and closed with them ? it cannot but be a most dreadful thing for a poor creature to find it self at last no other than a vessel of wrath fitted for destruction , one in whom god can have no pleasure . it is a dreadful thing for one that lived a pitiful life , and had little else but trouble in this world , to find it unspeakably worse in the next , trouble here , and torment there . a dreadful thing for one that was cloathed with silk and velvet , far'd deliciously every day , swam in pleasures , and had the world at will , to lie down in sorrow upon a bed of flames , where throughout eternity he cannot procure a moment's ease , nor a drop of water to cool his tongue . how sad will it be , when a poor soul is deprived of those comforts and delights which it eagerly hunted after , and plac'd its happiness in , and is turned out of house and home ; its old tabernacle of the body being so weak and crazy , that there is no possibility of continuing there any longer , and goeth naked to god , who alone is able to afford it succor and relief , and then it findeth that he is an enemy to it , and will not give it one good word or look , nor receive it into everlasting habitations . well , do you now think seriously of it , god is in christ reconciling the world to himself , and he hath committed to us the word of reconciliation , and we as the embassadors of christ , and messengers of peace , have sounded this word in your ears ; and as tho god did beseech you by us , we have often and often prayed you in christ's stead that ye would be reconciled to god. now enquire how hath this word wrought upon you ? hath it come to you not in word only , but also in power ? what effect hath it had ? is the enmity that was in your hearts and natures to god slain ? have you thrown down your weapons of rebellion ? are you reconciled unto god ? have you laid hold by an hand of faith upon christ , who is his strength , in order to the making of peace with him ? he hath promised that in that way you shall make peace with him , otherwise never expect it , for it will be but in vain ; to persons out of christ , he is a consuming fire , and everlasting burnings . have you submitted to god , and stoop'd and bow'd to his government ? do you like and love his law ? are you desirous that he should reign over you , and erect his throne in you ? set this down with your selves as a most certain truth , that unless you receive him for your lord and king , you will never find him your friend . secondly , can you say as christ did in this chapter , that you have glorified god upon earth ? all the glory that great personages , lords and ladies , kings and queens have now , will not stead them , nor comfort them at the last , but their having brought glory to god in their generation , and several places . christ did this , and he found the thought of it sweet to him , he reflected upon it with joy ; and this all of us should do too in cur measure , and to the utmost of our power : for this was the end of our creation , for this we were sent into the world , without this we live to no purpose ; and without this we cannot rationally expect to be accepted of him , or glorified by him . but here some poor humble christian may object against its self , and say , when you speak of my glorifying god , it strikes all my hopes dead , for i have not done it , nay , i have not been in a capacity of doing it . what glory can the infinitely great and ever-blessed god ( who is exalted above all blessing and praise ) possibly receive from such a sorry contemptible worm , such an earthen vessel , such a broken potsherd as i am ? i do with grief and self-abhorrence own and acknowledge that i have highly dishonour'd him , being a discredit to his holy and reverend name while i was called by it , and a disparagement to religion while i made a profession of it . but let me ask thee , was not the glory of god dear to thee , and his name precious ? was he not highest in thy esteem , valued above all the world , set up in the throne , all other things being made his footstool ? canst thou not with all thy heart say after the prophet in psal. 73. whom have i in heaven but thee , and there is none upon earth that i desire beside thee ? hast thou made him thy choice , and desired to live in an obedience to him , and expressiveness of him ? hast thou commended him to others , thy relations , friends and neighbours , and endeavoured in thy place to enlarge his kingdom , and submit themselves to his government ? hast thou offered thy self and thy praise to him ? he himself tells thee , psal. 50. 23. that is a glorifying him . hast thou had thy fruit unto holiness , and was thy heart set for the bringing forth much fruit ? our saviour tells you , iohn 15. 8. herein his father is glorified . if thou dost find these things in thy self , tho thou dost also find too much of that which should not be , and is matter of grief to thee , thou may'st meditate terror without being terrified , thou may'st be very willing , yea glad to die , whensoever god calls thee to it , being fully persuaded that he will with an hand of grace put a glory upon thee , when at the same time he will extort glory from others in a way of wrath and vengeance . thirdly , can you say as our saviour did , i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do ? he had work given him by the father , good and great work , in which his father , himself , and all his people were concerned , it being for his fathers and his own glory , and for his peoples salvation and everlasting happiness . and he was intent upon it , industrious and diligent in it . i must , saith he , work the works of him that sent me while it is day . and at his giving up of the ghost , he could say , it is finished . now none of us were made and sent hither to be idle , nor to sport upon the earth as leviathan doth in the sea. no , no , we all have work to do , work that our heavenly father hath given us . there is the general work of godliness and religion , and the particular work of our several stations and relations . none need sit still and study how to pass away the time , for they have enough to do if they will but mind it . now if our work be not done , how shall we with any comfort or boldness look our great lord and master in the face . it was a terrible sentence that past upon the lazy servant that had buried his talent in a napkin . but here again , a poor humble christian will presently object against its self ; for such an one needs none accuser , he can and will do that work fast enough . and in this case he will take shame as his portion , and declare he is very far from finishing the work which god gave him to do . you have minded other things of less concern , yea of no concern , and neglected that . you have lived in the world to very little purpose , led unprofitable lives , and suffered your days , your precious seasons , your golden hours to run out at waste . you have done but very little for god , and for your souls , and in order to your everlasting happiness ; and that which you have done , hath been so pitifully done , that you are asham'd to look upon it ; you have botcht and bungled at it . and i do readily grant , your best works do not deserve acceptance with god ; he may justly reject and abhor them , and cast them as dung into your faces , because of the iniquities which adhere or cleave to them . but let me ask you , and do you ask your own souls when you are in your retirements and greatest seriousness , hast thou loved the work of god , and preferred the hardest and most unpleasing pieces of it before the most facil and pleasant parts of the devil's ? hast thou counted his service perfect freedom , but that of sin the basest of drudgeries ? have you been pleased and delighted when you did at any time find your hearts raised in it , and enlarged , and more than ordinarily carried out ? hath it been your grief and trouble when you found in your selves straitness , deadness , and dulness ? have you been angry with your selves , because you have done no more and no better for god ? have you often and often with earnestness begg'd of god that he would give you more grace and greater strength in order to your doing him better service , and bringing him more glory ? then you need not be afraid to appear before him , for he will spare you , as a father spareth his son that serveth him ; and you shall be accepted in the beloved ; and your gracious and prevailing advocate will appear on your behalf , and plead your cause , saying , as once he did on the behalf of the good woman , whom the disciples in their discontent quarrel'd , they have done what they could . and he will cover all your failings , and fill up all your vacancies and defects with his own most full and perfect obedience ; for to your comfort know , tho thy duties be weak , and deficient , and defiled , yet his obedience was compleat and perfect ; nay more , it was satisfactory too , and of a meritorious nature too , and the merit of it is sufficient for thee , and for all his people . and therefore if that which i have spoken be the frame of your spirits , you may at a dying hour with triumph say , now , father , come i to thee . we will now proceed to the third use of this doctrine , which will be by way of exhortation ; and it shall be divided only into two branches . my first exhortation is this , do not mourn immoderately over your deceased friends and relations . those of them i mean , who while they were here , lived unto the lord ; and when they had finished their course , and came to the period of their days , those bounds which they could not pass , died in the lord , and in the faith . as to the business now in hand , it is no matter by what they died , whether a natural death or a violent one , by the hand of an enemy or an executioner ; consumed by the merciless flames , or swallowed up by the mighty waters ; whether they died a short and easy death , and having serv'd their generation according to the will of god sell asleep , or a tedious and lingring one , cast upon beds of languishment , and having wearisom days , nights , and months , numbred out unto them . nor is it as to this any matter in what manner they died , whether under a dark and thick cloud , having many questions , doubts , and fears ; or under the smiles of god , the light of his countenance , and the bright sweet shining of his face ; whether they came to their harbour in a pleasant calm , or in a blustering storm . in a word , whether they had the perfect use of their understanding and reason to the last , or were under a delirium and distraction . these things are not so much to be insisted upon . were they holy and gracious ? were they born twice before they died once ? were they partakers of the holy ghost in his renewing influences ? was their walk with god , and their motions toward heaven ? did they carry grace along with them into the other world , and leave good ground of hope in this concerning them ? then keep your grief within its due bounds . you may , yea you ought to be sensible of god's hand , and of your own loss , and of the nations and churches loss . god would not have his children stupid , he allows not in them a stoical apathy . paul doth not forbid all mourning upon this account , but would not have yours like that of theirs who mourn without hope . you may be sensible , but not sink ; drop some tears over such an o 〈…〉 s herse , but not be drown'd in sorrow . while by your sorrow and tears you express the dearness of your affection to your deceased friend , be sure that by your patient submission and humble silence , you do equally manifest your faith and hope . and to that purpose i offer these four following particulars to your consideration . first , your departed relations and friend● are gone to him that loved them best , and that both can and will do most for them . to him that is all love , and hath all power . to him who hath earth with all its fulness , heaven with all its glory at his own dispose , and is himself alone better than both . they are gone indeed , and shall not return ; their places here will know them no more . oh! saith one , my husband is gone , and he was my guide and my support . he lived with me as a man of knowledge , and helped me on in the way everlasting . and saith another , my wife is gone , and she was a suitable yoke-fellow , a delightful companion , the desire of mine eyes . and saith another , my child is gone , and it was a pleasant one , the child of my hopes , but now that is gone , that bud is nipt , and those hopes are blasted . and say others , our shepherd is gone , who led us by the skilfulness of his hands , brake to us the bread of life , and sed us with sound knowledge and understanding . these are gone , and gone for ever , and they will not return any more ; and you say true , for they cannot , job 14. 14. if a man dye , shall he live again ? yes , in another world , ( iob did not question that , but rejoyced in the faith of it ) but not again in this world. the most holy persons that lived best , and pleased god most , cannot return to live again here ; and indeed as they cannot , so they would not ; if they could , they would not . for remember this , as they are gone from hence , and from you , so they are gone to god , and to heaven . they are gone , but it is from their labour to their rest , to an undisturbed and everlasting rest , after a wearisome and tedious life . they are gone , but it is from the work of their lord , in which they were faithful and industrious , to the joy of their lord , which nothing shall imbitter , neither can any take it from them . god will not , enemies shall not . they are gone , but it is from a life of conflicts which they had with the corruptions of their own hearts , and the temptations of satan , to maintain an everlasting triumph with the lord jesus , the captain of their salvation . in short , they are gone , but it is out of the wilderness which was over-run with pricking briars and vexing thorns , and full of beasts of prey , lyons roaring , and serpents hissing , the devil and his instruments creating them all the trouble they can ; and now they are entred into the coelestial canaan , a land flowing not with milk and honey , but unspeakably better . enjoyments , infinitely purer and higher delights . do but you tread in their steps , and follow them in their faith and holiness , considering the end of their conversation , and then you shall meet them again , and that meeting shall be with joy. secondly , tho they be gone , yet their time of going was first come . the apostle paul speaks of a time of departure , 2 tim. 4. 6. i am now ready to be offered , and the time of my departure is at hand . the time which god in his infinite wisdom and goodness had ordained and prefixed by an eternal and unalterable decree . they liv'd till the last sand in their glass was run out , till they had reached those bounds which they could not pass . there is one thing which some surviving relations do most unreasonably afflict and torture themselves with , notwithstanding all the care they have taken , it is this ; they think if this or that had been done , their deceased relation might have been still alive ; but that is a foolish fancy , and i am apt to think it a suggestion of the devil , who thereby would pour vinegar into that wound which providence hath made ; for if this and that , and an hundred , nay , a thousand things more had been done , they all would not have kept them here . it is indeed unquestionably our duty to be in the diligent use of all lawful means for the preservation of health , the cure and removal of diseases , and the continuance of our own and our relations lives , and a known wilful neglect of any doth bring guilt with it , and may breed a painful sting in the conscience ; but all the means that can be used cannot possibly hinder the accomplishment of any of the divine purposes ; who hath resisted his will ? and who can resist it ? will you consider this , and work it upon your hearts by repeated thoughts ? such friends and relations of yours are gone , but not before they were sent for . god bid moses go up to mount nebo , and die there ; the same god ( in whose hand our times are ) did also bid them lie down upon such a bed , and die there . death was god's messenger , he commission'd it , and gave it his order , its work was to cut off the thread of their lives , and fetch them home ; and that work must be done , how unacceptable and afflictive soever it is to any , yea , and it must be done at that very time too . tho in other things god exerciseth admirable patience , waiting that he might be gracious ; and being exulted , that he might have mercy upon sinners ; yet in this case he will not stay , nor is it at all fit that he should , nor is it lawful for any to desire it . what reason can be given why infinite wisdom should give way to humane weakness and folly , or why god should in the most minute and smallest circumstance act counter to his own most holy will and purpose for the gratifying of our humour and imprudent desires ; let us leave god to chuse and order , as being best able , and learn our selves to submit and accept ; and since death must and will do its work at its time , let us be before-hand , and do our work in our time ; since death will not stay for us nor any body , let us so prepare and get ready , that we may not have cause to desire its stay . thirdly , though they be gone , yet it was not before they were fit to go . some of thm liv'd but a little time , but they liv'd much in a little time ; and how are they to be commended , and the grace of god to be admired in them , who do happily dispatch that work in twenty years or less , which others , and those holy souls too , are threescore or seventy years about . some die young , it is a sign they ripened apace . the husband man careth not when he plucks up his weeds , because they are either for the furnace or the dunghil ; but his corn shall be white to the harvest before he puts in his sickle . so a wise man will let the fruit of his orchard hang till it be ripe , and when it is so he gathers it . so doth the wise and ever-blessed god ; as for wicked men he is not so curious about them , they only cumber the ground , they bring forth wild grapes , down with them , saith justice , it will be a good riddance , let better be planted in their room ; but he doth otherwise with the trees of righteousness , the souls of holy persons are prepared for glory by that time their bodies drop into the grave . the marriage of the lamb will not come , before his bride hath made her self ready . now is not this enough to satisfy you ? give one good reason if you can , why any should remain upon earth , after they are once truly fit for heaven ? why they should have their days prolonged , when their work is finished ? they shall not die before it , why should they live here after it ? why should they not receive the crown of righteousness , when they have fought the good fight , and finished their course , and kept the faith ? to what purpose , i beseech you , should they live , when they have no more grace to get here , and no more good to do ? to such an one as loves god dearly , and is set for his glory , an useless , barren , and unprofitable life would be an heavy burden , and a great deal worse than death : such an one in such a case would not know how to enjoy himself an hour , but would long and pine , and cry out for the coming of death , as the mother of sisera did for her son , why is his chariot so long in coming , why tarry the wheels of his chariot ? fourthly , as they are gone to god , so they had excellent company by the way . it is not a little distance between this earth which the saints now inhabit , and the highest heaven unto which at death they go , the habitation of god , and seat of the blessed ; and tho the holy soul be exceeding swift in its motion , when it is once freed from the heavy clog of dull flesh , and got upon the wing , yet will it be some time before so long a journey can be dispatch'd , and it arrive at its desired home . at the beginning of daniel's supplication the commandment came forth , and the angel gabriel was caused to flee swiftly , yet he came not to him till the time of the evening oblation . and there is an innumerable number of wicked spirits in the way , legions of devils in the regions of the air , which envy the happiness of those who are to have an everlasting abode in those places out of which they themselves were cast , and therefore will be sure to do their utmost for the disturbing them in their ascent . but for the preventing of it , the great and holy god hath appointed them a strong guard , in hebr. 1. 14. the holy angels are said to be initistring spirits , sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation , and they take pleasure in doing so . little do we know the obligations we lie under to them , how much we are beholden to them , how they watch over us , and pitch their tents about us , and are assistants to us . many and many are the good offices which the good angels do for the saints while they live , and when they die , they are a strong convoy to their souls , that will keep off from them all enemies and dangers , and bring them with safety and honour into the king's palace , the presence-chamber of their god and father . upon all these accounts i counsel you not to lay the reins upon the neck of your passions , nor to mourn over them who died in the lord , as those who have no hope , for they are blessed . when they lived , they were the habitations of god through the spirit ; when they died , they died in the lord , and their bodies sleep in iesus ; their souls upon dissolution , are the charge of angels . it was they that carried the soul of poor , but precious lazarus into the bosom of abraham , tho the rich glutton suffer'd him to lie in his rags and sores , starving at his door , neglected and despis'd ; and both their souls and bodies , at the resurrection of the just , shall have a consummate happiness in the full , uninterrupted , and eternal enjoyment of god. therefore , i say again , mourn not for them , there is no cause , they are in a far better condition than you ; turn your grief into another channel , and , as our saviour directed , weep for your selves , and for your children , on the score of what you have lost , and what you may feel in this world of sin and uncertainty . the second branch of this use of exhortation will be this , be you willing to go to god also , whensoever he shall please by death to send for you . you , i mean , who have been indeed made partakers of grace ; who love god , and have made him your choice , and have good hope , yea , assurance of your interest in him . it would be a shame for any of you to be unwilling and loth to die , god may very well take that unkindly at your hands , and you for it have reason to be displeas'd and angry with your selves . what is there upon earth that should make you unwilling ? what is there in death that should affright and scare you ? have you great affliction and trouble here , would it not be better for you to be out of it ; to exchange a tempestuous sea for an haven of peace ? do you now swim in delights , and abound with creature comforts , shall you not find better in heaven , than those you leave behind you ? would you stay yet longer , that so you might provide for your children , and see them setled well and comfortably in the world ? will you not commit them to the care of your heavenly father , who is their god in covenant as well as yours ? can you trust god with your souls , and will you not trust him with your seed ? do you think it is an hard thing to die , cannot god strengthen you for it ? is there a bitterness in it , cannot god sweeten it to you ? cannot he make it easy to you , as he hath made it to many of his people ? cannot he by the light of his countenance , and the witness of his spirit , and the shedding abroad of his love in your hearts , mitigate and abate the sense of pain ? look to it that you do not leave him while you live , and then rest confident of this , that he will not forsake you when you come to die . david could say , psal 23. 4 tho he did walk through the valley of the shadow of death he would fear no evil ; for god's rod and staff did comfort him . i am apt to think the pains of death are worst at a distance , and not seldom more terrible to the spectators than to the patient . and i do not in the least question , but the throws and agonies of many poor women in child-bearing , and those pains also which are caused by the cramp , the gout , the stone or strangury , are far greater and more severe than the pains of death usually are . but however , we may be sure of this , those pains , be they what they will , are but short , if compared with that blessed eternity which shall succeed them ; and so light , as not worthy to be mention'd the same day with that far more exceeding weight of glory which shall be graciously bestowed upon them that overcome . so the holy apostle paul saith , rom. 8. 18. i reckon that the sufferings of this present life , take them altogether from the first to the last moment , are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us . therefore by prayer earnestly beg of god a willingness to go to him , and take pains with your own souls , in order to the working of them up thereunto . humbly and freely leave it to him , who is infinite in wisdom to chuse , the time when it shall be ; to him who is love it self , and whose compassions do not fail , to order out the manner how it shall be ; only be you careful to prepare and get ready ; labour to be fit to die , and meet for the inheritance of the saints in light ; and when that grim messenger comes , bid him welcome , and let your hearts be glad , and your glory rejoice . do your souls now at any time wander from god , call them in , and chide them home ; and when you come to die , sing them home , and the good lord enable you by being with you while you walk in the valley of the shadow of death , comforting you with his rod and staff , giving you to look within the veil , and to see your advocate and mediator jesus at the right hand of god ready to receive you , that so you may , as the protomarryr stephen did , commend your spirit into his hand ; and besides what hath been already said , before the time of your departure come , lay your selves in with these comfortable meditations . first god , whom you go to , is the best and dearest friend . in him there is infinite fulness and everlasting love. as the sun when up and shining forth in his glory , doth so obscure and darken all the stars , that in his presence they hide their heads and disappear ; so doth the glory of god prevail and triumph over all the beauty and glory of the creature . he hath all perfections , and is pleasant for delights . it is his glory to be self-sufficient and all-sufficient . he hath enough for himself , and for the holy angels , who look no further and desire no more ; therefore he cannot but have enough for you . and as there is all fulness in him , so all-sweetness too . here indeed a gracious soul may sometimes discover that in god which strikes a terror in it . the psalmist remembred god , and was troubled , psalm 77. 3. the prophet cried out , i am undone , for mine eyes have seen the king , the lord of hosts , isa 6. 5. but in the other world , where the sight will be clear and full , you shall see nothing in him , save that which will be your comfort and joy. then every sight of him will be ravishing , and every thought of him precious . he will then be in your account altogether lovely . you will then see he hath such a glory as knoweth no blemish , such a fulness as knoweth no defect , so that you cannot desire him better than he is , nor would you have him other than he is ; for , as all his attributes are his own glory , so they will all contribute to , and issue in your satisfaction . secondly , heaven is the sweetest place that you can be in : we have reason to conclude it must of necessity be so , since god hath chosen it for his own seat , the place of his own residence . this world is but a wilderness since sin entred into it , that is a paradice far beyond the terrestial one , out of which our first parents were driven . this world is but a dunghil , that is a mountain of myrrhs , there be the beds of spices . there is nothing to pollute , nothing to offend , no danger of falling , no fear of losing , nothing to disturb the spirit , to break the peace , or damp the joy. read and consider that excellent description which is given of the new ierusalem in that rev. 21. 10 , &c. some passages whereof are these , the foundations of the wall garnished with all manner of precious stones , the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; the city , yea , the very street of it is pure gold ; the lord god almighty , and the lamb , are the temple of it ; the glory of god doth lighten it , and the lamb is the light thereof . and if there be such a glory in that great city , which descends from god out of heaven , what do you think , and how great is the glory of that great city which is in heaven ? what words are big enough to express it ? what mind large enough to conceive it ? deus & coelum non patiuntur hyperbolem . god and heaven are incapable of an hyperbole ; our most raised and inlarged thoughts will be too narrow , short and low . i will add but one thing more , and shut up this discourse . lastly , when once you come to heaven , you will never be weary of being there . here indeed we are quickly weary and tir'd out at the best of our comforts . a man may lie in a bed of down till he is weary , and his bones ake . he may sit at a noble and sumptuous feast till he is weary , and would be glad of a dimission . we may pray , and preach , and hear , till we are weary , tho we should not be weary of gospel-ordinances and religious duties , yet we may be weary in them . but there is no such thing as this in heaven ; no , nothing like it throughout eternity . the saints there will neither be weary of god , nor of heaven , nor of themselves , nor of one another . their eye will not be weary of beholding god , and contemplating his glory , nor the tongue weary of blessing and praising him , nor soul and body weary of maintaining a close and intimate converse , with him . as there will be a compleat enjoyment , so constant and fresh delight . a fulness and all fulness of joy , and that will infallibly afford pleasures for evermore . god hath made a great breach among you , who meet in this place , by taking away his servant , who labour'd in the word and doctrine . it is above fifty years since our first acquaintance , we having been of the same college , and under the same tutor . he was a learned man , and as i am persuaded , truly godly , one that denied himself , and suffered much for conscience-sake . i came hither to do you good , not to commend him , for that is needless , you having known his doctrine and manner of life . his course is finished , and god hath call'd him home , so that you shall see his face no more . i beseech you to live the truths he brought you ; and since you are taken with the goodness of this air , and the pleasantness of this place for the health of your bodies ; see that you neglect not you souls , but chearfully allow to the procuring and setling one among you , that may fe●d you with sound knowledge and understanding ; by your liberality therein manifest the value you have for the gospel ; and the good lord send one , in whose light you may rejoyce . finis . the everlasting covenant, a sweet cordial for a drooping soul, or, the excellent nature of the covenant of grace opened in a sermon preached january the 29th, at the funeral of mr. henry forty, late pastor of a church of christ, at abingdon, in the county of berks, who departed this life jan. 25th 1692/3 and was interr'd at southwark ... : to which is added, an elegy on the death of the said minister / by benjamine keach ... keach, benjamin, 1640-1704. 1693 approx. 158 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47489 wing k62 estc r10226 12425033 ocm 12425033 61807 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47489) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61807) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 944:5) the everlasting covenant, a sweet cordial for a drooping soul, or, the excellent nature of the covenant of grace opened in a sermon preached january the 29th, at the funeral of mr. henry forty, late pastor of a church of christ, at abingdon, in the county of berks, who departed this life jan. 25th 1692/3 and was interr'd at southwark ... : to which is added, an elegy on the death of the said minister / by benjamine keach ... keach, benjamin, 1640-1704. [2], 44, [6] p. printed for h. barnard ..., london : 1693. reproduction of original in british museum. advertisement: p. [2]-[6] created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-08 john cords sampled and proofread 2005-08 john cords text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the everlasting covenant , a sweet cordial for a drooping soul : or , the excellent nature of the covenant of grace opened : in a sermon preached january the 29th . at the funeral of mr. henry forty , late pastor of a church of christ , at abingdon , in the county of berks. who departed this life jan. 25th . 1692 / 3. and was interr'd at southwark . wherein the arguments urged to prove the covenant of redemption a distinct covenant from the covenant of grace , are examined , weighed , and found wanting . to which is added , an elegy on the death of the said minister . psal. 89.33 . my covenant i will not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. by benjamine keach , pastor of a church of christ , meeting at horsly-down , southwark . london , printed for h. barnard at the bible in the poultrey , 1693. to the congregation at horsly-down , who were the auditors of this sermon , the author wishes all the blessings of the everlasting covenant , even the sure mercies of david . beloved , the subject treated on , in this ensuing discourse , is of the highest concernment ; and tho' the substance of what is herein contained , you have heard from the pulpit , yet i am persuaded , it will not be unpleasing to you , to see those great truths presented to your view from the press . some of you know , that i had not time to go through the whole of my work the first time , therefore i insisted again on it , the lord's day following ; and yet some things i have added , which was at neither of those seasons delivered , the better to perfect the work. i told you , the text was left me by our honoured brother deceas'd , on his death-bed ; this covenant being all his support , salvation , and consolation , ( as it was david's ) both in his life , and at his death . nothing like experience , no doctrine like to this to die in , ( as some of the papists themselves have confessed . ) men may talk of their own righteousness , and gospel-holiness ; yet i am persuaded , they will not dare to plead , in point of justification , on their death-beds , nor in the judgment-day : no , no , 't is nothing but christ , and his righteousness , his merits , can give relief to a wounded , and distressed conscience . i have endeavoured to shew , that the distinction some men make between the covenant of redemption , and the covenant of grace , is without ground , being but one and the same covenant ; and , that the covenant of grace , comprehendeth that between god , and christ for us , as mediator about our redemption , which was as full of grace , in the first making of it , as in the revelation , and application thereof , according to what was promised thereupon , 2 tim. 1.9 . tit. 1 , 2. its rise , and constitution , was from eternity , tho' the revelation , and publication , was in time : christ did not ( as one observes ) purchase a covenant of grace for us , to enter into with god ; for the covenant it self , christ , and all the grace , and glory thereof , lay in the eternal counsel of god's will , and accordingly transacted with christ , as the representative of all the elect. this covenant is the only city of refuge , for a distressed soul , to fly to for sanctuary , when all the the billows and waves of temptations run over him , or satan doth furiously assault him : if we fly to this armory , we can never want weapons to resist the devil , nor doubt of success against him . and now that it may be of use to you all who shall read it , shall be the prayers of your unworthy servant , in the gospel , benjamin keach . the everlasting covenant . a sweet cordial for a drooping soul : or , the blessed nature of the covenant of grace opened . beloved , the solemn occasion of this assembly , may put us all in mind of our mortality , death is certain ; all must dye ( as the psalmist says ) what man is he that liveth and shall not see death ? can he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? psal. 89.48 . wicked men dye , so do the godly , and as do the people , so do their ministers , the fathers , where are they ? and the prophets , do they live for ever ? yet there is a vast difference between the death of the ungodly , and the death of the godly , &c. but to proceed , the text i am to speak to , was left me by our honoured brother deceas'd , which shews the comfortable hopes he had in death , which is that in the 2. of sam. 23.5 . although my house be not so with god , yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant , ordered on all things and sure : for this is all my salvation , and all my desire , although he make it not to grow . my text contains some of david's dying words , or words which he uttered upon the near approach of his death , see vers . 1. now these be the last words of david the son of jesse , and the man who was raised up on high , the anointed of the god of jacob , and the sweet psalmist of israel . tho' it may be doubted , whether these words , contained in the first verse , were uttered by david or not , but rather by the sacred pen-man of this book , yet the words following , 't is evident , were spoke by him , verse 2. the spirit of the lord spake by me , and his word was in my tongue . i utter not these words ( as if he should say ) as by my own spirit , but the matter is dictated and given to me , by god's spirit , which is the great teacher of his prophets and people . vers . 3. the god of israel said , the rock of israel spake to me ; he that ruleth over men must be just , ruling in the fear of god. here are laid down the two great and principal parts of the duty of kings , and supream rulers of people and nations , justice towards men , and piety towards god. vers . 4. and he shall be as the light of the morning , when the sun riseth , even a morning without clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain . these words may be applyed to the good and righteous government of any godly king , &c. but chiefly , no doubt they contain a prediction of the blessed effects of the reign and kingdom of the messias , of whom david ( but more-especially solomon his son and his peaceable kingdom ) was a type or figure of . and thus i hasten in order to my text , with what speed i well could . although my house be not so with god ; a little first by way of explication : although my house be not so with god , how is that ? i. e. 't is not as a morning without clouds , nor as the tender grass springing out of the earth , by clear shining after rain ; for my morning ( as if he should so say ) has been over-cast , dark and dismal clouds seem to attend my kingdom , and my children have not hitherto been like the tender grass springing out of the earth , by the sweet influences of the sun , and distillation of rain , but rather like the grass that withereth away , or is cut down before its due time : i have not so walked with god , as his infinite mercies obligeth me to do ; but have had many weaknesses and infirmities attending me , yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant . tho' i have broke covenant with god on my part , yet god will perform his covenant with me , my sins ( as if he should so say ) he hath pardoned , his covenant is everlasting , on his part he will keep it , and the messiah shall come of the fruit of my loins , whose kingdom shall be as a morning without clouds , &c. and his covenant with me he will not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth , see psal. 89.32 , 33 , 34. he intimateth , that his house or family , god had not made to grow , increase , or flourish with that glory , peace and prosperity , as he expected ; nor had he such clear evidences of god's gracious presences , and communion with him in his soul , as he might have had , had he not sinned , and grieved his spirit ; but tho' it was thus , yet he saw he was in covenant with god , and in an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things , for god's glory , and for his eternal good ; and this was all his hope , he foresaw christ's blessed day , with whom this covenant stands fast , and this was all his desire , my soul only hath comfort in this covenant , and desires to build alone upon it : for it is ( saith he ) all my salvation , i expect salvation no other ways ; 't is not a part of it , but the whole of it from first to last ; here began my hope , and here i stay my self , and will close my days in the faith of a dear redeemer , that shall in due time be revealed , who is my lord as well as he , shall be , according to the flesh , my son , or off-spring , and this shall be accomplished , although it do not seem to grow , or but small appearances are manifested as yet , either in me , or in my house or family . in the words are three parts . 1. something supposed , ( or taken for granted ) wherein is implyed david's great grief and trouble , viz. although my house be not so with god. 2. something asserted , which signifies his faith and confidence in god , yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things and sure . 3. a comfortable inference , or conclusion from thence ; for this is all my salvation , and all my desire , although he make it not to grow . and from hence i shall observe three points of doctrine , 1. doct. that darkness , troubles , and afflictions , with a decay of grace , or spiritual liveliness , may attend the state of christians sometimes , while in his life , which they cannot but acknowledge and mourn under the sight and sence of . 2. doct. that god hath made with true believers a blessed and well ordered covenant . 3. doct. that the covenant of grace which is made with believers in christ , is an everlasting covenant , order'd in all things , and sure , and is the only spring or fountain of their salvation , hope , desire and consolation , both in life and death . it is the last proposition or point of doctrine i shall now prosecute , ( judging it may most fitly answer that which was the chief design and end of our honoured brother deceas'd , in chusing this text to be opened at his funeral , from whence he doubtless found so much comfort under those grievous afflictions and trials in his life , and also at the time of his death ) four things i purpose to do . first , shew you what this covenant is , and with whom it was primarily made , and for whom . secondly , open the excellent nature of the covenant of grace . thirdly , shew how all a believer's salvation , hope , desire and consolation in life and death , lies in this covenant . fourthly , shall make some application of it . beloved , this covenant was primarily made with jesus christ , the second person of the blessed trinity , as mediator , and as the root , common head and representative of all the elect , or all that the father hath given to christ , we read of two covenants , an old , and a new , a first , and a second , a covenant of works , and a covenant of grace . the first covenant was made with the first adam , for himself and his posterity , as the common head of all mankind , and so also there was a covenant made with the second adam for himself , and all those chosen in him , or all his seed ; and though this covenant ( as to revelation of it ) is called the second covenant , yet it was made with christ for all the elect seed , before the world began ; god foreseeing man would fall from his first estate , and break his covenant , and so plunge himself and all his posterity under divine wrath and misery . now that there was some gracious covenant transactions , between the father and the son , from before all worlds , about the bringing in and establishment of this blessed covenant of grace , for the redemption of fallen man , appears evident from many texts of holy scripture ; see that in zach. 6.12.13 . and speak unto him , saying , thus saith the lord of hosts , saying , behold the man called the branch , and he shall grow up out of his place , and he shall build the temple of the lord , ver . 12. even he shall build the temple of the lord , and he shall bear the glory , and he shall sit and rule upon his throne , and he shall be a priest upon his throne , and the counsel of peace shall be between them both , ver . 13. i know , some understand by them both , the kingly , and priestly office of jesus christ ; first , that as our great high-priest , he should offer the great sacrifice to god , to make an atonement and reconciliation for us , and rule as king , and give laws ; and thus ( say they ) the peace made for god's people , shall rest between these two , viz. the kingly , and priestly office of christ ; by his priestly office , he shall make their peace with god , and by his kingly office , he shall deliver them from the tyranny of sin , and satan , &c. by priestly operation and undertakings , he shall expiate sin , and by his kingly office he shall subdue and extirpate sin ; as a priest he makes peace , and as a king he maintains that peace he purchased as a priest , and protects as a king ; and thus say they , the covenant of peace is between them both . — i will not deny , but that this may in part , be intended in the text , — yet i doubt not but by them both , is also meant the persons spoken of , viz. the father and the son , the lord of hosts , and the man called the branch ; for , by them , 't is most congruous certainly , to take it for the persons , or the two parties mentioned ; and the covenant of peace , it is plain from other texts of scripture , was between the father and the son ; although i grant the son on his part , brings it about by his being a priest , and as a king , sitting and ruling on his throne , he maintains our interest : compare this with isa. 49.3 , 4 , 5 , 6. god calls christ forth by the name of israel , ver . 3. thou art my servant o israel , in whom i will be glorified , ( the name of the body being given here to the head , as sometimes the church bears christ's name , so here he bears the name of the church , that the church in union with christ , is called christ ; see 1 cor. 12.12 . ) as if the father should so say to the son , i have fix'd my thoughts upon thee to be the great sponsar , and surety for my chosen ; and i will enter into a covenant no more with them , without thou wilt undertake for them , and in their nature and stead , satisfie for their sins , and accomplish all my pleasure ; so isa. 42.6 . i the lord have called thee , and will hold thy hand , and will keep thee , and give thee for a covenant of the people , for a light of the gentiles , to declare my righteousness ; or , as 't is said , rom. 3.26 . that god might be just , and the justifier of him that believes in jesus ; that i ( as if god should say ) may appear a pure , just , and righteous god , and so magnifie the attribute of my infinite holiness , which shines forth in my just and righteous law , and yet appear also , as i am a merciful and gracious god ; therefore i have called thee whom i long ago entered into a covenant with , for , and in behalf of them , whether jews or gentiles , who are chosen ; and i will give thee to be for a covenant , or , the angel of the covenant , and the mediator and surety thereof , in and by whom the covenant of my grace is made and confirmed with my people . to this purpose , speaks also reverend mr. pool , in his annotations on this place . 2 dly . also , christ declares his agreement and hearty consent , to undertake in this covenant as 't is hinted , heb. 10.7 . then said i , lo i come ( in the volume of thy book it is written of me ) to do thy will , o god , thy law is in my heart ; my delight ( saith he ) was with the children of men , prov. 8.31 . and this , before the mountains were settled , before the hills were brought forth , i was set up from everlasting , from the beginning , or ever the earth was . he was ordained as the head , and great representative of all that shall be saved , to undertake for them , and dye for them , and to bring many sons to glory : he therefore said , he laid down his life as the father gave him commandment ; he was obedient as a servant , willingly undertook this work and office upon him , and so consented , and struck hands with his father , not for himself but for us , to dye and make an end of sin , and bring in everlasting righteousness , dan. 9.24.26 . he consented to take our nature on him , a body hast thou prepared me , and to pay our debts , to perform the righteousness of the law , and to be made a curse for us , to deliver us from the curse of the law which we had broke , gal. 4.4 , 5. the lord god hath opened mine ear , and i was not rebellious , isa. 50.5 . i readily did and suffered all that he enjoined upon me , i have not turned away mine ear from any of god's commands , nor my feet from going where he would send me , how difficult or hard soever my work was ; i gave my back to the smiters , and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ; i hid not my face from shame and spitting , ver . 6. question , is not that covenant which was made between the father and the son ( considered as the latter , is mediator ) called the covenant of redemption , made from all eternity a distinct covenant from the covenant of grace ? answ. i answer , the stores of sacred wisdom , grace , and truth , which are treasured up in divine revelations , concerning the nature of god's covenant , is so mysterious and difficult for us to know , or find out , that it behoveth us to take heed how we too boldly speak , or write about it ; and , yet nevertheless , though the thing is in it self so sublime , the mystery of it so great , the declaration of it in the scripture so extensive , and diffused through the whole body of it , yet the concernment of it is such , as to our faith and comfort , and for the prevention of errors and mistakes , none can be blamed according to their light , to pry and search into it . i must confess , i have formerly been inclined to believe the covenant , or holy compact between the father and the son , was distinct from the covenant of grace ; but upon farther search , by means of some great errours sprang up among us , arising ( as i conceive ) from that notion , i cannot see that they are two distinct covenants , but both one and the same glorious covenant of grace , only consisting of two parts , or branches ; for as that blessed compact doth peculiarly respect christ's person as mediator ; and as he is so considered in the covenant , i do not say it was a covenant of grace to him , for he obtains all by desert and merit ; yet seeing god entered into that covenant with him , for us , as our head , surety and representative , and not for himself singly , considered , it cannot be any thing else but the covenant of grace , as well as the foundation , or primary spring of all that grace , and divine goodness , that the elect had , or ever shall partake of , or receive from god ; for 't is ( as i may so say ) the opening the sluces or floodgates of all divine love and mercy , to poor lost and undone mankind , nay , the grace of god to us in entering into this covenant with christ , as our mediator from before all worlds , is doubtless , ground of the highest admiration to saints and angels . and therefore i see not ( i say ) but that they are but one and the same covenant of grace , yet so as that christ has his part , work and reward distinct from us ; he hath all by hard work , and merit , that we might have the blessings he merited freely by grace alone ; christ in the covenant of grace , is the mediator , we are those he mediates for ; christ is the head , we are the body , the covenanted for ; christ is the surety , we the poor debtors and criminals , he struck hands to satisfie god's justice for ; christ is the redeemer , we the redeemed ; christ the saviour , we the saved ; christ is the purchaser , we are the inheritance he purchased , and that it might be thus , christ entered into this covenant with the father for us , out of his infinite grace and divine goodness ; and it was even like inconceivable grace and mercy in god the father , to find out in his infinite wisdom , this way , and substitute his own son in our stead , accept of his son , prepare a body for his son , enter into a covenant with his son , anoint and send his son to redeem us from sin , wrath , and hell. if this covenant be not the covenant of grace , where shall we find it ; god's actual taking us into covenant , 't is but that we might drink of this fountain , or rather , that we might have actual interest in this covenant , and whatsoever christ did in time ; or when the fulness of time was come , it was but to put into execution this covenant , and to ratifie and visibly confirm this blessed covenant , that god had made with us in him , before the world began . the covenant of grace ( saith mr. petto ) was made or established , not only with us , but jointly with christ and us in him , so as both are within one and the same covenant ; for the great transactions with jesus , yea even the giving and sending of him , and his accepting the office of a redeemer , and undertaking for us ; these are all of grace , as well as what is promised to us , through him . therefore the covenant of grace ( saith he ) must take in all that conduceth ( otherwise than by a meer decree ) to our restoration and eternal life . petto on the covenant ; which is recommended by dr. owen , pag. 18. 2. where do we read in all the holy scripture of three covenants , viz. 1. a covenant of works , 2. a covenant of redemption , 3. a covenant of grace : evident it is to all , that the holy ghost only holds forth , or speaks but of two covenants , a covenant of works , and a covenant of grace ; the first is call'd , the old covenant , the second , the new covenant , although both these covenants had several revelations , ministrations , or editions ; as first , the covenant of works was primarily made with the first adam , and all mankind in him ; by vertue of which , he was justified by his own perfect obedience , before he sinned : true , there was another edition or administration of it given to israel , which tho' it was a covenant of works , i. e. do this and live , yet it was not given by the lord to the same end and design , as the covenant was given to our first parents , viz. it was not given to justifie them , or to give them eternal life ; for if righteousness had been by the law , then christ is dead in vain , gal. 2.21 . and again saith paul , for if there had been a law given , that could have given life , verily righteousness should have been by the law , gal. 3.21 . but indeed , it was impossible life , justification , or righteousness , could be by the law , or by any law , because man hath sinned , and is now unable to answer the law of perfect obedience , all have sinned and come short of the glory of god : we must therefore now be justified by the grace of god , through the redemption which is in jesus christ ; but tho' man had lost his power to obey , yet god hath not lost his power to command . therefore , as dr. owen shews , it ( was added or ) revealed in the wisdom of god , as instructive ; as also , to shew the excellency of that state and condition , in which we were created ; with the honour that god put upon our nature : from whence directions unto a due apprehension of god and our selves , may be taken or derived . it served to shew what a righteousness man once had , and by his transgression lost , and also what a righteousness 't is , which the holiness of god doth require , in order to our justification in his sight ; for the law , doubtless , results not from god , as a simple act of his sovereignty , but also as a transcript of the holiness of his nature and rectitude of his will ; for without a sinless , or perfect righteousness , no flesh can ever be justified in god's sight ; and therefore , such a righteousness must either be inherent in us or else , according to the wisdom and grace of god be imputed to us and therefore , he chose his beloved son , and entered into a gracious covenant for us , with him , that he in our nature and stead , as our head and surety , might yield perfect obedience to the law which we had broke and for which breach , his justice , by christ's death , must be satisfied also therefore the compact , or gracious covenant , that was before all world 's made between the father and the son , was part of the covenant of grace , respecting poor lost and perishing man , since there was no redemption without the shedding of christ's blood ; hence the blood of christ , is called the blood of the new covenant . the father ( saith mr. petto ) is contracting with the son , isa. 41.6 . i will give thee fo● a covenant of the people ; therefore that with the son ( saith he ) and with the people , is one and the same covenan● ▪ indeed as that which partaketh of the nature , or is a part , is put for the whole ; so that with the people alone , even here , beareth the name of a covenant , with in the grand contract with jesus christ , as a branch or parcel thereof yet both together make up that one covenant of grace , as appeareth thus , 1. there is no scripture evidence for making these two covenants distinct one of suretyship or redemption with christ , and another of grace and reconciliation with us : that distinction which some use , is improper , for the parts of it are co-incident , seeing that , as with christ , was out of mee grace also , joh. 3.16 . and it was promised , that jesus christ should be given for a covenant ; and therefore , it is of grace , that we are redeemed by him , 2. tim. 1.9 . there was grace before the world was , and that must be in the covenant , as with jesus christ which was for reconciling the world unto the father , 2. cor. 5.18 , 19 ▪ col. 1.20 , 21. it is true , christ is our surety and redeemer , not we in our own persons ; yea , he is our head , our lord and king ; and on that account of his standing in those different capacities , he hath some peculiar precepts and promises appropriated to him , which are not afforded to us in the same manner and degree , yet this hindreth not the oneness of the covenant with him and us , &c. 3. that holy agreement or compact between the father and son , was the rise , or spring of the covenant of grace , it was made with jesus christ , and with us in him ; therefore i see no reason to call them two distinct and compleat covenants , but two subjects ( as the same author intimates ) of the same covenant as with jesus christ , it had its constitution from before all worlds , or we had a being , tho' as with us , it has its application in time after we exist , and are actually in christ , as part of the promised seed . 1. the work of redemption to expiate sin , and make reconciliation ; this was christ's work for us . 2. for application , this is with us by him . 3. he was chosen , mediator , and undertook the work of redemption , and so struck up the covenant from eternity ; but in time he executed it , and intercedes for our participation in it , petto p. 21. 4. therefore as adam being a common person or head of all his seed , and we in him fell under sin , death and condemnation , by vertue of the covenant of works : made with him ; even so in jesus christ all the elect partake of grace and justification unto life by that one covenant of grace made with him ; and in him with all his seed , he being ( i say ) a common person or head to all the father hath given to him , in the said covenant ; and indeed , whatsoever was necessary unto our redemption and reconciliation he agreed to work it out ; they agree in their end , which was god's glory , and our good , ( as by and by i shall , god assisting , shew ) salvation of the seed is the grand design of it , and therefore the highest grace and goodness imaginable to us ; and whatsoever we stood , or do stand in need of , in order to interest by way of application , is also contained in this covenant , as it was made with christ ; as 1. justification by his knowledge ( or by the knowledge of him ) shall my righteous servant justifie many ; for he shall bear their iniquities , isa. 53.11 . and that all his seed shall have such a knowledge or faith , god saith , they shall all know me , &c. for he shall bear their iniquities ; that is , he shall satisfie the justice and law of god , and therefore they must be justified or acquitted , otherwise saith mr. pool , the same debt should be twice required and paid : a new heart is promised to us , jer. 31.31 . and was not this promised to christ for us , in the text i last mentioned , isa. 53.11 . ( in knowing of god ) is not a new heart comprehended , in these words he shall see his seed , the fruit of his travel and anguish he pass'd through ; that is , they shall be made his , by regeneration , or renovation , &c. 5. is not union with christ , the only way to the promised blessings ? and therefore i must say with some of our late worthy writers , the covenant is made joyntly with him and us , all the promises of god are in him , ye , and in him amen , 2 cor. 1.2 . and shall infailably be made good and accomplished . 6. as mr. petto well observes the covenant expressure from the beginning ran first to christ , and in him to us . 1. the promise to adam , primarily runneth to christ , as the woman's seed , and so to us in him . 2. to abraham , in thee , and again , in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed , gen. 12.3 . gen. 22.18 . that this promise refers to christ , see gal. 3.16 . and to us in him , see vers . 29. 3. the covenant with david runneth to christ , and also in him to us , psal. 89.20.28 , 29. i have found david my servant , my covenant shall stand fast with him ; when did god find him , was it not before the world began ? christ we know , is often called david . but i can't further enlarge on this , i shall therefore in the next place consider what is brought in opposition to what i have said upon this account . object . 't is objected , first , that the parties are distinct , in the one covenant , the father and the son are the covenanting parties ; in the covenant of grace , god and man ; in the mediatory covenant , there are two persons equal : in the covenant of grace , there is a superiour god , and an inferiour man. answ. 1 st . i would know whether all the elect were not considered in christ , and was it not for us that he entered into that covenant ? is not the debter a party with the surety , and so the elect a party with christ ? did christ enter into a covenant for himself ? tho' we say he is the saviour , the redeemer , the surety , and not we ; yet he entered into that covenant for us , i. e. as our saviour and surety , to satisfie for our sins , and perfect our redemption ; make us no party in the salvation of this covenant ( tho' not the saving or satisfying party ) and all our hopes are gone for ever . sirs , we shall find the top glory of the covenant of grace to lie here ; was it not infinite grace and goodness that moved god to fix upon this way to redeem us , i. e. to propound , offer and accept of a surety for us , when he might justly have exacted satisfaction from us , the guilty debters and criminals ? nay , and to chuse his own son to be our saviour and surety , and was it not infinite grace in christ to accept so readily and heartily of it : 't is plain , here began the covenant of grace , i. e. god's entering into a covenant with his son for us , and thus is god the father the efficient cause of our redemption . 2. i would know whether in the covenant of grace god is said to enter into covenant with man , simply considered as in himself ; or whether 't is not with christ , and so in him with us ; if christ be the surety of the covenant of grace , then god doth not take christ distinct from us into covenant with himself : and certainly , our credit was so lost and gone with god , that he would not trust us , with any covenant-transaction any more without a surety , they continued not in my covenant , and i regarded them not saith the lord , heb. 8.9 . i would have no more to do with them in a covenant way ; therefore all the promises of grace are in christ , all is managed in christ , even all the whole will of god , concerning our salvation ; we are dead till he quickens us , blind till he opens our eyes ; have stony hearts , and unregenerate , till he breaks our hearts and renews us by his spitit : and was not all this comprehended or included in that covenant our brethren call the covenant of redemption ? how then can that be a distinct covenant from the covenant of grace ; is dead man , vile , and depraved man , capable to enter into a covenant with god ? and is not the quick'ning and changing of his heart one great part of the covenant of grace , that god promised upon christ's undertakings , that he would do for us , as i have shewed . object . 2. the time of making these covenants is different , the covenant of grace was made in time after man had broken the covenant of works ; but the covenant of redemption was made from eternity , i was set up from everlasting , &c. the revelation of the covenant of redemption was in time , but the stipulation was from eternity , the father and son being actually in being , and so stipulators ; the decree of making the covenant of grace was from eternity , but not the actual covenant , because there was no soul to covenant with . answ. i wonder at this expression : was not the covenant of grace , ( as i said before ) made with us in christ , as our head and representative before the foundation of the world ? and was not those covenanting transactions as well as the spring or fountain of the cause of all the grace we receive in the covenant of grace , upon the account of what christ covenanted to do , and suffer for us , or in our room and stead : true , the members were not actually in being , but the head was ; and if it be not thus , what doth the apostle mean ? tit. 1.2 . in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began . it could not actually be promised to us , we ( as they say ) having then no being ; therefore it was promised to us in our head : with whom the covenant was then for us made ? was not christ set up as mediator from everlasting ? was not then the covenant of grace as ancient ? we were consider'd in him , because chosen in him ; tho' christ's redemption was not the cause of our election , yet we were chosen in him as our head and redeemer ; therefore i say , the stipulation of the covenant of grace , was from eternity , and the revelation of it was in time , and not till man had sinned , and broke the covenant of works : so that it was more then by decree and purpose ; the covenant of grace in my text , is called an everlasting covenant , and it may referr before time , as well as after all time ; even from eternity to eternity . for none can doubt , but david was a type of christ , and so represented in my text ; the covenant here spoken of , is that they call the covenant of grace , and tho it was primarily made with the true david , yet so as in him with david the son of jesse also ; the very same thing we may see in psal. 89. i have found david my servant , with my holy oyl have i anointed him , v. 20. he is said to be one chosen out of the people , and one that is mighty , v. 19. and with him this covenant is said to be made : my mercy will i keep with him for evermore , and my covenant shall stand fast with him ; his seed also will i make to endure for ever , and his throne as the days of heaven , ver . 26 , 29. now this they confess chiefly respecteth christ , of whom david was a figure , and also referreth to that which they call the covenant of redemption ; if so , then say i , this covenant must be the covenant of grace , because it was made with david the son of jesse , i mean it refers to him in christ , and the like with all believers also , as all their salvation and desire ; it cannot rationally be supposed , but that david in my text doth allude to the covenant mention'd in this psalm ; although none are actually brought into it , until they believe , or have actual union with christ ; yet made with all believers in christ from eternity . i cannot think they will deny that the covenant of grace , that well-ordered covenant in all things and sure , was primarily made with christ and with us , in him as our head ; and if so , then say i , if that which they call the covenant of redemption be distinct and not this , when was the covenant of grace made with him for us ? it must either be made before time , or after time. besides , 't is evident , that 't is by the blood of christ's covenant that we are redeemed . the father sends out the prisoners by the blood of christ's covenant ; that is , according to the sacred terms and conditions agreed upon between them both , and sure i am , the blood of christ's covenant , is the blood of the new-covenant ; therefore i cannot see that that which they call the covenant of redemption , is a distinct covenant from the covenant of grace . object . 3. the conditions are different , death and satisfaction for sin was the condition of the covenant of redemption . faith is the condition of the covenant of grace : death required on christ's part , faith required on man's part ; the giving christ a seed , and eternal life to that seed , is the condition on god's part to christ ; the giving eternal life only to the party believeing , is the condition on god's part in the other . so that the reward in that covenant , is larger than the reward promised to us in the covenant of grace . in the covenant of grace , the condition runneth thus ; believe in the lord jesus christ , and thou shalt be saved ; in the covenant of redemption , the condition runs thus : make thy soul an offering for sin , and thou shalt see thy seed . answ. i wonder at the learned author , who makes these distinctions , i cannot be of his mind , i rather judge the difference in the covenant of grace or covenant of redemption lies here , viz. christ had some great work to do , ( as the condition of this blessed compact with the father ) on , and in the behalf of his elect , which was peculiar to him , i. e. he was to die , and make satisfaction to offended justice ; he , in the covenant of grace or gospel-covenant , merited all for us , so that we might have all freely given to us through the redemption of his blood , &c. 1. christ work'd for life , but we work not , but believe on him that justifies the ungodly . 2. christ hath not what he hath by grace , but by desert ; but tho' our saviour had his reward in the covenant on meriting conditions , viz. upon his perfect obedience to the law of works , and being made a curse for us , and so made a plenary satisfaction to god's justice for our sins : yet pray what was his reward ? was he sure or certain of any one soul , as the reward of all this hard work and sufferings ? &c. why , this author tells us , he shall see his seed , or have a seed ; that is , he shall have all the elect brought in , and united to him , viz. be sure of them , or have this certain reward , ( and not left on uncertain conditions of faith and obedience to be performed by the miserable , depraved and wretched creature , ) which condition we could not perform ; and if this be so , then the father must bring us in , or draw us to christ ; for except he does that , no one soul can come to him as christ himself positively affirms , joh. 6.44 . no man can come to me , except the father which sent me , draw him : and from hence i ask , whether power to perform that , which they call the condition of the covenant of grace was not included , or comprehended in the covenant of redemption ? and if so , how could they be two distinct covenants ? certainly , in it there was infinite grace shewed towards us . 3. as to the other condition in the covenant of redemption , it being larger to christ , than that in the covenant of grace . i answer , as the covenant was primarily made with christ , it was made with him for all the elect , as their head and surety ; and therefore , it must needs be larger as well as it was a meriting reward : but as we are concerned in the same covenant , we have nothing as a reward , because we work not ; and as considered as particular persons , 't is enough our own particular souls and bodies shall be eternally saved , who are united to him as the reward of his work : the condition therefore being made to him as the head of the whole body , it must needs be so large and extensive ; but as to the particular members , that can't comprehend more than he or she that believes as a part of the seed which he was to see ; 't is enough therefore , that we are the saved , the redeemed , and not the saviours or redemers of others . but if by vertue of the covenant of redemption we are not redeemed , call it no more the covenant of redemption — therefore — 1 st . i would know whether faith which is called the condition of the covenant of grace , was not the fruit of christ'd suffering in pursuit of that holy compact ? and is it not particularly implyed in those words , he shall see his seed ? but if they be adult persons , he can never see them if faith be not given to them ( unless the holy spirit , that great promise of the father be given to them ) whereby they are enabled to believe , i will put my spirit within them , ezek. 36.27 . i will put my fear into their hearts , a new heart will i give them , and a new spirit will i put within them ; i will pour my spirit upon thy seed , isa. 44.3 . thy seed , who doth he speak to ? why , to his servant , doth not these promises referr to that covenant made with christ , which you call the covenant of redemption ? and was not christ assured by the father , that these promises should be made good to his seed ; and yet t is evident they belong to the covenant of grace , therefore i see not how they can be two covenants distinct from each other . obj. 4. christ is the mediator of the covenant of grace , but not the mediator of the covenant of redemption , but a party ; he was the surety of the covenant of grace , the covenant of redemption had no surety , the father and the son trusted one another upon the agreement : the covenant of grace is confirmed by the blood of christ ; but we cannot say that the covenant of redemption was confirmed properly by that blood , any more than as it was a necessary article in that covenant . answ. all that can be said ( as i conceive is this ) viz. our lord christ when he first entered into the covenant with the father for us , to bring in , and accomplish the covenant of grace , agreed then to be mediator and surety of this covenant : there are some transactings where suretyship is requir'd , which a surety must do , i. e. he must accept and freely and readily agree to do all that is necessary to be done which the creditor requires , and the nature of the said covenant calls for : yea , and some things that peculiarly belong to him , as surety . and so it might be here about those glorious and gracious transactions between the father and the son , about the compleating the covenant of grace concerning the elect , and ( indeed the greatest expressions and demonstration of god's grace to us appeared in those covenant transactions , and all the good we receive ( i say again ) by he covenant of grace are but the fruits and product of the covenant , as it was made with christ our head , mediator and surety ; but among men , those things and covenant transactions between the creditor and the surety , which peculiarly appertain to him ; in which , nevertheless the poor debtor is mainly concerned ▪ it being such things that must be performed by the surety for him , or he can have no benefit by the said covenant ) are never called a covenant distinct in it self from that it refers to , and is a branch of ; or however there is no need of such a formal distinct covenant , between each covenanting parties ( as primarily considered ) when the covenant which those transactions refers to , was immediately made . for i know not of any other covenant of grace made with christ for us about our salvation , but that which they call the covenant of redemption , distinct from it , and to say that god entereth into a covenant of grace with us , as simply considered in our selves , without christ being the chief and primary covenanting party , in our behalf , is of a dangerous nature to ●ffirm , and must not be admitted of , as will appear hereafter . besides , the mediatory covenant , or that in which christ is mediator , is called the new covenant , or covenant of grace , as the term mediator clearly holds forth ; which covenant to confirm , he shed his own blood , and the original making of that covenant , was at that time , and by that compact between the father and the son for us ; for christ , for himself , had no need to become a mediator , or to enter into any covenant with the father ; therefore , i know not what these mens nice distinctions signifie , unless it be to amuse the world , except it be for a worser purpose , viz. to confirm their new notion of a conditional covenant of faith , and sincere obedience . 3. the distinction lies not in two covenants , but in the distinct parts of the said one entire covenant ; one part as it referrs to christ , the other as it respecteth us in the applicatory part of it by his grace . 2. also , in respect of the time of the making of the covenant , and the revelation , execution , and the application thereof . 1. christ in the covenant , first articled with the father , to be a mediator , and in the execution of the covenant , actually discharges that office , and the like , as a surety . obj. 5. christ performed his part in the covenant of redemption : and by vertue of his mediatory covenant , performed the covenant of works , but he did confirm , not perform , the covenant of grace . answ. this is the worst of all , and it seems to be calculated , rather to unfold arminianism , then to establish sound divinity . 1 st . hath christ performed his part so in the covenant of redemption , that he hath no more to do , by vertue of his mediatory covenant ? god forbid , he hath not yet delivered up his kingdom to the father . i shall now give you my reasons ( under this particular branch ) why i accept and argue against the notion of two distinct covenants . what says the arminian , viz. christ hath performed or fulfilled the covenant of works , and made such a full satisfaction for the breach of the law , so for all the whole world , that no man is under the curse of it , but that all are justified from that ; and he hath put all men into a capacity to be saved , if they perform the condition of the gospel , i. e. repent , believe , and live a godly life to the end of their days , which god hath given all men power to do , if they do but exercise that power : christ hath put all men on their feet again , and hath made the condition possible , if not easie , for all to be saved . christ is not to perform the condition of the covenant of grace , tho' he did perform , and so take away the law of perfect obedience , or is the end of the law , for righteousness ; but let them read the whole verse , 't is but to every one that believes , and sure they forget that all men are dead in sins and trespasses , and must by christ have a principle of spiritual life insused into them , before they can live , move , or believe in him , can man change his own heart ? or , will that grace , god affords to all men do it ? what short of almighty power can form the image of god in the soul , or create us again in christ jesus ? 2 dly , and what is it , which our new doctrine ( in opposition to the antient doctrine , on which saints formerly built all their hope and salvation ) doth hold forth ? why , is not the purport of it this ? i. e. christ as mediator , hath so far satisfy'd for the breach of the law of perfect obedience , or given to god such a valuable recompence , that he might justly wave , and not exact or execute the law of works , or hath relaxed the severity thereof , and taken it away , and hath obtained and given , as he is a law-giver , or govenour , a milder law of grace ; and if men perform the conditions of faith , and sincere obedience , or faith and gospel holiness , they shall be justified and saved ; so that our right to life , and the favour of god , peace of conscience , and hope of salvation , do depend upon our obedience to the gospel , or new law , and this christ hath purchased , should be accepted as our righteousness , by which we must be judged . they deny not , but that the merits of christ are the cause of this gospel law ; his righteousness imputed , is the cause for which we are justified ( or rather , 't is for his sake ) we are justified and saved , when we do answer the rule of the gospel . i have heard them preach and have read their books , and if this be not , in part , what they say , i do not understand them , 't is such a mystery of , &c. however , christ hath done and performed his part in the mediatory covenant ; the law of perfect obedience cannot hurt us , if we conform to the rule of this milder law , which christ doth not perform for us , &c. what do they mean ? is it this ? i. e. christ doth not believe for us ; who says he doth ? but 2 dly , hath not he obtained grace for us , to enable us to believe ? is not he the author and finisher of our faith ? doth not he begin the good work in us , and will he not perform it unto the end ? st. paul affirms his confidence in him , that he would do it , phil. 1.6 . and doth not performing imply a covenant or promise he has made to do it ? if so , then it appears christ hath more to do for us , then only his performing the covenant of works , and confirming the covenant of grace . doth he not say , other sheep i have , which are not of this fold , and them i must bring , joh. 10.16 . must bring , doth not that obligation that was upon him , referr to the covenant made with the father ? and again , he saith , all that the father hath given me , shall come unto me , joh. 6.37 . and that it is his father's will that sent him , that of all that the father hath given him , he should lose nothing . is not christ the mediator ? ( as i have said before of two ) i. e. is he not to bring us to god , as well as god to us ? who can remove that enmity that is naturally in our minds against god , rom. 8.7 . but he only ? why is christ called a quickening spirit , and so full of grace ? is it not that he might quicken us , and communicate of his grace to us , as he is our head and ( mediator ) and we his members ? can we subdue the powers of darkness , or break satan's chains ? are we stronger than the strong man ●rmed ? math. 12.29 . must not christ perform all these things for us ? or , doth not the performance of all this , belong to the covenant of grace . 3 dly , i suppose the mistake lies here , viz. our authors do only insist upon , or speak of the application of the covenant of grace ; true , christ as mediator , performed the covenant of works for us , without us ; he alone , in his own person , did that , and i must say , he doth not so perform the applicatory part of the covenant of grace , for we act with him , but how ? even as we are acted and moved , like as when our saviour , quickened lazarus , he then arose and had life and motion , and could come out of the grave ; so when he hath quickened us , who were dead in sin , when the dead hear the voice of the son of god , by his spirit they then can act and move , can believe and obey , and do for god from a right principle , and to a right end. is it not said 't is god that worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure , phil. 2.13 . and doth not david say , he would cry to the lord that performed all things for him , psal. 57.2 . pray let me here note four things , as touching the covenant of grace . 1. the time when 't was made with christ for us : and that was from eternity . 2. when it was first revealed ; and that was to our first parents as soon as they fell , and broke the covenant of works . 3. when it was executed , confirmed , and touching the outward dispensation of it , took its rise or beginning ; it was executed by christ as our head , when he came into the world , in part , i. e. in his life , and ratified and confirmed by his blood : and the rise or beginning of the outward dispensation of it , was at his death and resurrection , when the old covenant ceas'd or was abrogated . 4. when and how are we said to have it made with us , or performed to us actually and personally , so as to have real interest in all the blessings and privileges thereof ? ( for as it respecteth us , it only contains free and absolute promises , like the waters of noah : and not a law of conditional faith and obedience to be performed by us ) now we have not actual interest in it , and so personally it cannot be said to be made with us , until we have actual union with christ , and do believe in him : for want of these distinctions , i fear some men run astray . for it seems as if some men would have us believe , that the covenant of grace in the latitude of it , is but that merciful conditional covenant of faith , and gospel holiness , that god is pleased to enter into with us , and we with him , in our baptism , and if we perform that covenant to the end , we shall be justified and saved ; nay , and so far as we do act in sincere obedience , so far , we are already justified ; and if this be the notion of these men and that we must believe , as they do ) then say i , we are not under grace , but under a law that will keep us in doubts and bondage as long as we live ; and if we have no other righteousness than this , which is either within us , or wrought by us , we shall certainly drop down into hell when we come to die . 4thly . and by making the covenant of redemption distinct from the covenant of grace , ( in respect of what i am now speaking of ) i fear it lay● a foundation for those errors which are got among us ; as if we are to enter into a covenant with god without christ's undertaking for us , as our surety : for say they , christ did perform the covenant of works , but doth confirm , not perform the covenant of grace . what is the purport of this doctrine , as it is improved by our new methodists ? why , this , viz. in the mediatory covenant , christ made god amends for our breach of the law of perfect obedience by himself alone and for himself , that so he might be a fit mediator , and merit a new law of grace of sincere obedience ; which new law or covenant he confirmed by his death , ( so that god now enters into a covenant with mankind again ) and if we perform the conditions of it , we shall thereby assuredly have justification and eternal life . not that christ in the covenant of grace hath undertaken to perform it for us , but hath left us to work out our salvation our selves , though not without the assistance of the holy spirit ; and thus christ is our legal righteousness in his mediatory covenant , yet so too , that by his merits we have all gospel-blessings — how is that ? why thus , i. e. he merited the new law of grace , by satisfying for the law of works , or as mediator , gave god a satisfying recompence for our breach of it : but our inherent faith and gospel-holiness with christ's merits ( as before ) is our evangelical righteousness , by which we are justified . and this is the dangerous consequence ( which i perceive ) does attend the allowing of the distinction of two covenants , which at once ( in my judgment ) tends to overthrow the nature of the free-grace of god in the covenant of grace , which is ordered in all things and sure , as it was made with christ for us . obj. 6. by the covenant of redemption , christ could challenge his reward upon his own account ; but in the covenant of grace , believers have a right to the reward only upon the account of christ ; there is an intrinsick worth in the obedience of christ , whereby he merited ; for there was a proportion between it , in regard of the dignity of his person : but there is no intrinsick worth in that grace , which is the condition of the covenant of grace , to merit any thing : there was a condition of a valuable consideration required of christ : the condition required of us hath no valuable proportion to the greatness of the reward , the reward was of debt to him , &c. 1. answ. i would know what that reward is which christ doth challenge , is it not grace , righteousness and eternal life for all the elect ? true , we merit nothing ; but did not christ merit all for us ? did he merit for himself , and for us only a conditional covenant ? as i shewed before . 2. and may not believers in christ lay claim to christ's reward ? i. e. the blessings purchased by him as the fruits of his merits in a way of righteousness and justice , upon the account of christ's undertakings , as well as in a way of grace and mercy : what saith the apostle , 1 joh. ● . 9 . god is faithful and just to forgive us , &c. which ( saith our annotators ) more strictly taken , permit him not to exact from us a satisfaction , which he hath accepted in the atonement made by his son , in his own way ●●plyed , and on his own terms to be accounted to us , that he will not fail to forgive us our sins , &c. 3. still the distinction must ( as i conceive ) run thus , i. e. christ had his part in this one covenant , by merit he is the saviour , we have our part in it freely by grace , being the saved ; and what though there is no intrinsick worth in that grace which we receive in the applicatory part of the covenant , in order to our actual interest therein : yet there was an intrinsick worth in his merits that purchased that grace for us , and doth not the intrinsick worth and merits of christ appertain to the covenant of grace , as it was with him for us as our mediator and redeemer ? nay , and is it not from hence faith and all other grace is given to us , and cannot christ challenge of the father all those he became a surety and a redeemer for in the covenant ? the chief grace still ( say i ) lies in that you call the covenant of redemption , and distinct from the covenant of grace . obj. 7. the mediatory covenant respects others as well as christ , viz. his seed ; and giving them glory : but in the covenant of grace , the promise respects only the particular person that believes , answering the terms of the covenant , &c. answ. 1. i see not but here they give away their cause , and contradict themselves in respect of their first objection ; it appears now they see there were more than two single parties concerned in the covenant of redemption : they here assert , it respects others as well as christ , viz. all his seed . 2. we have shewed how none but particular persons who believe , are concerned in the application of the covenant of grace . — but 3. doth not the scripture say christ is the mediator of the new covenant , viz. the covenant of grace ? and doth not this respect as they confess , all his seed ? and can any perform the terms of this covenant without christ , in the execution of his office as our mediator and surety ? he is our saviour in the covenant of grace , that was his work , his part ; and so consequently he ingaged , and will quicken us , renew us , save us , and bring all the father gave him , to glory . obj. 8. if the covenant of grace and that of redemption were the same , then christ should be both the testator and a party : a testator maketh not a will to bequeath legacies to himself . answ. there are divers disparities between other testators and the testatorship of christ. 1. a testator among men , cannot be a witness to his own last will and testament ; but so is christ : he is given by the father for a witness to the people of all those gospel or covenant-blessings , he himself a testator of his own last will and testament bequeathed to all believers● he witnesseth these things are his will , as well as the father's , and he is the true and faithful witness . 2. a testator among men , cannot enjoy or possess that kingdom ▪ estate or inheritance himself after his death , which he hath given away ▪ but christ the spiritual testator , tho' he hath given the possession of glory , &c. to believers by his last will and testament ; yet is he a co●heir of the same glory and blessed inheritance himself , and shall possess it joyntly with them . a testator among men , can't see his own will executed , but he leaves it to others to be executors of it : but christ , by his spirit , sees his will executed for tho' he was dead , he is alive ; and behold , he liveth for evermore : he is also a party with us , he is the head , we are his members ; and now to close with this , consider the covenant of grace was first made with christ , and with us in him ; thus it runs , i. e. christ purchases and we possess ; christ in this covenant obtains all by his work and merits , we have all of meer grace : 't is grace in the original , in the first making of it with christ for us ; 't is of grace in the execution of it , confirmation , publication , and in the application , in order to our actual interest . from the whole , it appears that covenant they call the covenant of redemption , contains the whole summ ; even matter and form ▪ condition and promises of the covenant of grace : in that covenant is contained all the grace god hath promised , and which we receive ; all is obtained upon the account of christ's satisfying for our sins , and so all the promises of grace and salvation run to us in him : no love , nor divine goodness is manifested to us but in and through that covenant : therefore not two , but one and the same covenant ; so that the covenant of grace it appears , was made by the holy god , in the person of the father , with us in the person of the son ; mind that text , who hath saved us , and called us with an holy calling , not according to our works , but according to his own purpose and grace , which was given to us in christ jesus , before the work began , 2 tim. 1.9 . but to proceed 2dly . i shall open the excellent nature of this glorious and everlasting covenant ▪ 1. 't is , you have heard , all of grace , as it respecteth us , tho' jesus christ paid dear for it ; he procured all the blessings of it for us , by his merits ▪ i. e. by his perfect obedience and suffering : by grace ye are saved through faith , and that not of your selves , it is the gift of god , ephes. 2.8 . not of works ; lest any man should boast : for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus to good works , r. 10. not by works of righteousness that we have done , but by his mercy he saved us , tit. 3.5 . 2. 't is as it appears from hence , an absolute , and not a conditional covenant : not if we do this and that , viz get a new heart , and perform the condition of gospel-holiness and obedience , we shall have pardon and ●e justified ; no , but otherwise : he that worketh not , but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly , his faith is counted for righteousness , rom. 4.5 . all is freely of grace through christ's merit , i will take away the heart of stone , and give them a heart of flesh , a new heart i will give them , and ● new spirit i will put within them : i will be their god , and they shall be my people . now 't is question'd , ( saith reverend cotton , ) whether the promise wherein the lord giveth himself , be absolute or conditional ? faith to receive christ is ever upon an absolute promise . if you will say , it is a promise to a condition , what kind of condition was it ? there is no condition before faith , but a condition of misery , a lost condition ; or if a gracious condition , it is a condition subsequent , not pre-existant , no condition before it , whereby a man can close with christ : and if it was a condition after faith unto which the promise was made , then faith was before ; and thatsoever followeth conversion , is no ground of faith , but a fruit and effect of it : therefore i say , our first coming to christ cannot be upon a conditional , but an absolute promise . and indeed ( saith he ) if ever the lord minister comfort unto any man , true comfort upon good grounds , it is built upon a promise of free grace , 〈…〉 be unto justification received : it is true indeed , a gracious qu●●●●●tion and a promise to it , may give a good evidence of its aposteriore : cotton's treatise of the new covenant , p. 56 , 57. and again ( he saith ) god doth give himself in working faith , before faith can be there ; and therefore it is the fruit of the spirit that faith is wrought in the soul , and this faith doth receive the presence of the lord jesus christ himself by his spirit , and doth receive also justification and adoption : again ( saith he ) a man is passive in his regeneration as in generation , only the lord giveth us his spirit and that doth unite us unto christ , which is received by faith , together with justification ; and yet by the act of believing we are justified , also gal. 2.26 . that is manifested to be justified in our own consciences , p. 55. thus far mr. cotton . what are we able to do , when dead in sin and trespasses ? can we believe before the habit is infused from whence the act proceedeth ? or move before we have life or are quickened ? 3. it is a well ordered covenant : for that covenant that is ordered in all things , is well ordered , &c. but to make this further manifest , i shall shew you that 't is well ordered , 1. in respect of god ( i mean ) for his glory , in all his glorious attributes . 2. 't is well order'd in respect of the glory clear revelation , and manifestation of the three persons in the god-head , that bear witness in heaven , the father , the word and the spirit ; these three are one in essence , yet three subsistances . 3. 't is well order'd to confound and destroy the grand works and design of the devil . 4. 't is well order'd in respect of god's holy law , that the sanction and honour of the law might not be lost or suffer the least eclipse . 5. and lastly , 't is well order'd for our good . a little briefly to each of these . first , his covenant is well order'd , in respect had to the glory of all god's attributes . 1. the sovereignty of god shines forth gloriously in the contrivance and bringing in this covenant ; for god he having absolute dominion for ever over the works of his hands , to dispose and determine them as seemeth him good ; and doubtless to manifest his own sovereignty , he created both angels and men ; and part of the first sinning against him , he leaves for ever under that wrath and misery they brought upon themselves ; and the other he determined out of his sovereignty to confirm in their primitive state. and also part of mankind he left under that wrath they brought upon themselves by original and actual iniquity , and affords no eternal redemption to ; and indeed , 't is only sovereign grace he afforded a saviour for any of the off-spring of fall'n man : for he was not under any obligation to enter into a covenant for any of them , any more than he was not to redeem the fall'n angels : he would therefore have been just , if he had let us all have perished under sin , and his own fearful wrath , as he dealt by them . 2dly , his infinite wisdom shines forth in this gracious covenant , and hence the gospel is called the manifold wisdom of god , eph. 3.10 . which may refer to the whole oeconomy of our redemption , as also to the several forms and manners of god's revealing of it to his church and people : 't is called the wisdom of god in a mystery , even his hidden wisdom which was ordained before the world began to our glory , 1 cor. 2.7 . divine wisdom hath admirably in this covenant mixt all the attributes together with unexpressible sweetness and exact harmony , that justice cannot triumph over mercy , nor mercy glory over justice , but they meet together and sweetly kiss each other , and it was infinite wisdom , ( i say ) that found out this way : therefore 't is hereby wonderfully glorified in the sight of men and angels . 3ly . god's divine love , mercy and goodness to lost man , to admiration is displayed hereby , god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , &c. joh. 3.16 . rather than mankind should be utterly lost , he will enter into a covenant with his own son , and substitute him our mediator , head and surety to satisfie for our sins ; and be made a curse for us : that so by his own free-grace through the redemption that is in jesus christ , we might be reconciled , justified and eternally saved i. e. by his merits and righteousness imputed to us : there was nothing in man to oblige god to pity him , we were his enemies , when christ died for us ; and he offered and propounded this glorious contrivance of his wisdom to his beloved son in the covenant of our peace , out of his infinite love and goodness , as seeing us fall'n , and lying in our blood , it was as we were in that woeful condition he first loved us , and as the effects of that love entered into a covenant with the son for us . 4thly . his divine justice and infinite holiness shines forth hereby also , that god might be just , and the justifier of him that believeth in jesus , rom. 3.26 . that is , that god might appear to be just as well as gracious : true , god had been just if mankind had been left for ever under his divine wrath and vengeance ( as it is upon the fall'n angels ) but then his mercy had for ever been veiled , and had never appeared to any of his creatures ; and yet that justice might not suffer the least eclipse or lose any of its glory , christ shall bear our sins upon his own body on the tree , and suffer that wrath that justice denounced upon the sinner for the breach of the holy law. god can as soon cease to be god , as cease to be just ; nor could any justice or righteousness justifie us , but that which is pure and spotless , or without sin , ( justice is not to be consider'd in god , as 't is in man ; who can forgive , without requiring satisfaction wherein he hath been wronged ? ) the law was but a transcript or written impression of his holy nature , and discovers what a righteousness it is we must be found in , if we are ever justified in his sight . if god had not been gracious , he had not accepted of a substitute , and if his justice had not been satisfyed , and his wrath appeased , he had never raised this substitute from the dead . this crucified redeemer ( saith reverend charnock ) only was able to effect this work ; he was an infinite person , consisting of a divine and humane nature , the union of the one , gave value to the suffering of the other ; the word of god was past in his threatning , his justice would demand its right of his veracity : a sacrifice there must be to repair the honour of god , &c. justice must have satisfaction , the sinner could not give it without suffering eternal punishment : christ then puts himself into our place , to free us from the arrest of justice — so that now god can pardon the sins of believers with the glory of his righteousness , as well as of his grace ; and legally justifie a believing sinner without the least impeachment of his justice . 5thly . god's divine power and omnipotence also , is exalted by this covenant ; in his raising up a poor fall'n and lost creature , sunk as low as hell ( under the weight of fearful guilt and wrath , lying under the powers of infernal spirits ) to dwell with him in the highest heavens for ever : but god's power , doth not only appear in respect of that glorious conquest christ obtain'd over sin , satan , and death , at his resurrection , in the actual execution and accomplishment of his holy compact , with the father without us ; but also in working in us , by his putting forth his almighty power in working faith in our souls , after the same manner that he wrought in christ , when he raised him from the dead , eph. 1.19 , 20. he raised us with christ from the dead , when christ was rais'd vertually , as he was our head ; and also doth actually quickens us , and raises us up by his spirit , eph. 2.1 , 2. destroying those evil and vicious habits , sin and satan had infused into us , and so bingeth us out of darkness into light , and from the power of satan , unto god. 6thly . god's veracity and faithfulness shines forth also hereby : his threatning is made good upon us in christ's undergoing death and the curse , due to us for our sins ; as also in making good what he sware to the true david , and promised to his seed , in sending of his son , when the fulness of time was come , made of a woman , made under the law , to redeem them that were under the law , gal. 4.4 . the woman's seed hath bruised the head of the serpent : so much as to this . — but , secondly , in this covenant there is a clear revelation or manifestation of the three persons in the deity , and their glory doth equally and joyntly shine forth : every one acting a part in it under the old covenant , there was but a dark discovery of god personally considered , tho' it was made known as soon as the covenant of grace was manifested to man ; in the gospel , is a full declaration of their distinct personality ; the father sending the son as a mediator , the son dying for our sins , and the spirit sanctifying our souls : the father by eternal generation begetting the son , the son begotten of the father , and the spirit proceeding from the father and the son ; yet all three are but one and the same god. but to proceed . 1. the glory of god the father shines forth in the covenant of grace ; for the father is holden forth as the primary , and efficient cause , ( in his wisdom , grace and love ) of our salvation , and of all those blessings of peace and reconciliation we have therein : all things are of god , who hath reconciled us unto himself by jesus christ , 2 cor. 5.18 , 19. god was in christ , reconciling the world to himself . tho' the whole trinity are concerned in our salvation , yet ( as our protestant writers observe ) each person acts a distinct part in it , the father chose and substituted christ to do this glorious work , and accepted him in our stead , as our surety and saviour ; god the father prepared him a body , a body hast thou prepared me , heb. 10.5 . he sent him also into the world , ( as our saviour asserts ) many times in the gospel recorded by st. john , the father anointed him with the holy spirit above his fellows , to undertake for us in this covenant , the spirit of the lord is upon me , because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor , &c. luk. 4.18 . the father calls him his servant , whom he upheld and strengthened in doing that great work , and he is said to be raised up from the dead by the power or glory of the father : the father is indeed represented as the injured person , he had therefore the only right to offer and fix on such terms which the purity of his holy nature , and honour of his sovereign majesty , required as rightful judge and governour ; had not the father chosen , accepted and approved of him for doing of this great work , his undertakings could not have availed us to the salvation of our souls ; besides the glory of god the father must not be eclipsed , while we exalt the eternal son in our redemption : all the benefit therefore we receive by the blood and merits of christ , are ascribed to the free grace of god the father , after that the kindness and love of god our saviour appeared , tit. 3.4 . the father chose us in christ , as well as gave him for us , and commanded him to lay down his life to redeem us . 2dly . this covenant is so well ordered , that the glory of jesus christ is magnified herein wonderfully . 1. in that herein he is proclaimed the only true god , by whom the world was made the brightness of the father's glory , and express image of his person , heb. 1.3 . and when he brought him into the world. he saith , and let all the angels of god worship him . now divine worship appertains to none but to him that is god by nature . 2 , christ's love shines forth in this covenant , as well as his deity , or godhead ; in his ready , gracious and voluntary acceptation of that glorious design of saving us miserable creatures ; it was christ who wrought out the garment or robe of righteousness for us , tho' the father prepared him a body to do it : christ kept the law of the first covenant , for us , and overcome all our enemies hence he said , be of good chear , i have overcome the world , joh. 16.33 . why should we be of good chear upon his overcoming the world , if it was not for us , and to assure us that we shall overcome it ? nay , and we did overcome it in him , he overcame sin , made an end of sin as to its killing and soul-condemning power , dan. 9.24 . he shed his blood to make our peace with god the father ; he received the spirit without measure , to communicate it to us . christ loved us , and washed us from our sins in his own blood , rev. 1.5 . he makes intercession for us , who is he that condemneth , it is christ that dyed ; yea , or rather , that is risen again , who is even at the right hand of god , who also maketh intercession for us , rom. 8.34 . he pleads his own sacrifices with the father for us , he presents our persons ( as the high-priest under the law did the names of the children of israel , when he appeared before the lord , on the breast-plate of judgment ) before the father , and in him also our spiritual services are accepted : we are justified in him , he is the lord our righteousness , we have pardon of sin through his blood , he is our bridegroom , he came from heaven to offer his love to us , and to espouse us for himself ; he that has the bride , is the bridegroom ; 't is he that offers up our prayers as sweet insense to the father , he is the author and finisher of our faith , he is the covenant it self , our head , our mediator , our priest , our king , our prophet , our surety , our shepherd , our captain ; he is made of god , unto us wisdom , and righteousness , sanctification , and redemption , 1 cor. 1.30 . christ is all , and in all , in this covenant , so that his glory shines forth admirably in it ▪ 3dly , the glory of the holy ghost , the third person in the blessed trinity shines forth in this covenant also . 1. the holy ghost is positively declared in the gospel to be god : st. peter told annanias , he had not lyed unto men , but to god , act. 5.3 . his sin was against the holy spirit ; and to aggravate it , the apostle told him , the holy spirit was god , to whom he had lyed . ye are the temple of the living god , as god hath said , i will dwell in them ; and again , know ye not , that ye are the temple of god. all acknowledge , god in these places , referrs to the holy ghost ; moreover , we are baptised in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy spirit ; and so we dedicate and devote our selves in baptism , to serve and worship the holy ghost , as well as the father and the son. doth not paul close his epistles , with a sort of prayer , to the holy spirit , as well to the father , and to the son ? the grace of the lord jesus christ , and the love of god , and the communion of the holy ghost be with you all , amen . 2. cor. 14.14 . 2. as touching his work and operations , the holy spirit convinceth of sin , this is his office in this covenant , he shall convince the world of sin , of righteousness , and of judgment , john 16.8 , 9. the spirit convinces our souls of the great evil of sin , ( as 't is against a holy , gracious , and good god ) he convinces the soul of all sin , of secret and heart sins , and particularly of the sin of unbelief , he shall convince the world of sin , because they believe not in me : the law cannot do this , nor the light within ; also , the spirit convinceth us of that great enmity , that is in our hearts naturally against god , rom. 8.7 . he convinceth us of the guilt of sin , and of the pollution of sin ; the holy spirit convinces sinners of the want of god's image , and shews them how unlike god they are naturally , and how much like the devil : the holy spirit convinceth sinners of the prevalency of sin , his servants you are , to whom you yield your selves up to obey ; he convinces of the danger of sin , of the soul-killing and damning power thereof : also , the holy spirit convinceth us of the want of righteousness in our selves to justifie us in god's sight ; and also convinceth us , that christ's righteousness is able to justifie and save us ; because christ thereby went to the father , his righteousness carryed him to the father , ( as our representative ) and that righteousness that carried him to the father , as mediator , will bring us thither : who believe in him , or are of his seed . 3. the work and office of the spirit , in this covenant , is to quicken all that the father hath given to christ. 4. the spirit renews , regenerates , or renovates our souls ; 't is the spirit that works god's image in us , we are changed from glory to glory , even as by the spirit of the lord , 2. cor. 3.18 . 5. the glory of the holy ghost shines forth in the covenant of grace , ●s our sanctifier ; for it is the spirit that infuses new habits , divine and gracious qualities in our souls , new thoughts , new desires , new and holy affections , new delights , joy , peace , and consolation ; the spirit is an earnest of future glory , 't is the spirit that is our comforter , 't is he that strengthens us , and bears up our souls in trouble . 6. the holy spirit puts on the robe of righteousness upon us , by uniting of our souls to jesus christ. 7. the holy ghost works all grace in us , faith is called , the faith of the operation of god ; ( the spirit is god ) likewise , faith is called , a fruit of the spirit , gal. 5.22 . the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts , also by the holy ghost , rom. 5.5 . in a word , all the graces are by , and from the spirit ; hence he is called , the spirit of grace : but we had never drank of this sweet stream , had not christ , in the covenant , opened the fountain . the spirit was not yet given , because jesus was not yet glorified , joh. 7.39 . the spirit is promised first to christ , and then to his seed : thus ( and in many other respects ) the holy spirit is glorified , and his excellent operations shew themselves , and shine forth in the covenant of grace ; the ministration of the gospel , is called , the ministration of the spirit . so much as to this . 3dly , i shall proceed to shew you , that the covenant is well ordered to confound and destroy the works and grand design of satan . to this purpose was the son of god manifested , that he might destroy the works of the devil , 1 joh. 3.8 . 1. by this covenant , satan is defeated , and his hopes overthrown ; who , doubtless , thought to have trodden mankind under his feet for ever . how would he have gloried and have blasphemed god , had not this covenant been provided ? would not he have said , where is thy creature man , that thou madest but a little lower than the angels , and made a ruler over thy nether creation ? have not i done his business for him ? lo ! he is become my creature , he hath cast thee off , and his obedience to thee . where is that image now which thou stampt on his soul ? 2. is it not said , the seed of the woman shall bruise his head ? this was one grand cause , why god entered into this covenant with christ ; and remarkable it is , and ever to be remembred , that satan entered into judas to betray our saviour ; he concluded , doubtless , if he could bring christ to death , he should do his business ; but that way the devil thought to gain all , he lost all , and overthrew himself , and his kingdom , for ever . christ by death , destroyed death , and him that had the power of death , which is the devil , heb. 2.14 . he hath led captivity captive , eph. 4.8 . and having spoiled principalities and powers , he made a shew of them openly , triumphing over them in it , col. 2.15 . 4. by the new covenant , god hath greatly honoured his holy and righteous law ; that receives no damage hereby , nor doth its glory suffer the least eclipse , but contrarywise , 't is magnified to the wonderment of men , and angels , and that two ways . 1. in respect of christ's perfect conformity to it , in his holy and spotless life , in our nature and in our stead ; who , by reason of sin , could not fulfill the exact righteousness thereof ; but rather than it should lose the least part of its glory , the second person of the trinity shall come from heaven , and assume man's nature , and discharge the whole active obedience which it did require of us . — and then 2 ly , in his cursed and bitter death , by which he answer'd for our breach of it , and considering the dignity of his person , he being god , as well as man , his death and suffering was a far greater satisfaction for our sins then if we had suffered in hell , because we thereby should have always been a paying , but never could have paid our debt to satisfie divine justice and therefore , must have lain in prison under incensed wrath , to the day of eternity : and thus he answered the law , and silences the condemning power thereof , and break all his strong cords and bands to pieces , that kept us down under wrath ; and thereby dissolv'd all its grievous anathema's ; for christ being made a curse for us , hath redeemed us from the curse of the law , gal. 3.13 . viz. from that amazing sentence of the holy god , denounced in his law against us offending and guilty sinners : so that now there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus , rom. 8. ● because they are , by the body , and sufferings of christ become dead to the law ( or rather , that dead to them ) which was fully effected at his glorious resurrection ; it was indeed the law , respecting the penalty of it that brought christ to death , whose full sentence in the execution of it he endured on the cross , as he was substituted in our place , that so we in a way of righteousness , might be justified , as well as be pardoned in a way of free grace : ( because god , and not we , found out the surety , way and manner of the satisfying both the law , and his own infinite justice , we have all freely , without money , or price . ) and thus god , in and by jesus christ , as he before purposed , did magnifie his law , and make it honourable . do we ( saith the apostle ) make void the law through faith ? god forbid : yea , we established the law , rom. 3.31 . god did not repent , he gave the law of perfect obedience ; for what could suit better with the purity of his holy nature ; nor could any righteousness , short of a perfect righteousness , justifie us : he did not therefore design , by the mediation and obedience of christ , to destroy the law , or take any recompence in the room of it , that every way did not answer the righteousness it required , and make satisfaction for the breach thereof : therefore , by faith ( that is ) by having christ's perfect righteousness imputed to us , in his exact conformity to the law , by his active and passive obedience ; we establish the law , and make it honourable . if by any law , as god is a rector or governour , justification , or eternal life , is to be had , it must be a law of perfect obedience , god's holy and righteous nature requiring it ; and no law of imperfect obedience , tho' never so sincerely performed , can answer god's justice , nor be agreeable with the purity of his nature , infinite wisdom and holiness : for , if such a law could have been consistent with the wisdom , holiness , and justice of god , certainly he would never , at first , have made a law of perfect obedience , which , to remove out of the way , ( that he might bring in the latter ) must cost him the blood of his own dear son. 1. therefore , it was the law of innocency , the law of works , or that law which required perfect obedience , given to israel , which jesus christ fulfilled for us ; and not a peculiar law of his own mediation , made up of some moral commands , some jewish , and some peculiar to his own person , ( as some assert ) and 2 dly , that he did obey , and suffer in obedience to the law , in our stead ; and we are accepted by , and for that obedience of his , ( for else , the glory of that law is darkened ) and not that his obedience did only procure , or merit a milder law , or easier terms of life , and righteousness , and we not be dealt with , according to the law of works , but according to the new law of grace ; and in the third place . 3 dly , the righteousness , and benefits of christ's righteousness , is made ours , when we relye , or trust to god's free promise , as the immediate and sole cause of pardon and life , ( as all true protestants formerly affirmed ) and not by christ's procuring a new covenant for us to enter into with god , which if we answer the condition thereof , i. e. repent and believe , we shall be saved ▪ which faith ( as mr. baxter , mr. w , &c. assert ) taken in the full extent and latitude , is nothing else but universal obedience , and that so it is to be understood , when 't is said , that faith , alone justifies , viz. faith and all other graces , both in habit and exercise , mr. baxter's aph. 65. and they that thus believe and obey the gospel , shall be saved , though their obedience be not perfect ; but if christ fulfilled the law for us , then ( say i ) that obedience of his , must be imputed to us , as if we had wrought it , and so we , by the application of that righteousness , are justified in god's sight , from the accusation of the law , without any works , or procuring conditions , performed by us . but ( as one observes ) when these men speak of faith , as a single grace , 't is defined to be a sincere acceptance of christ , as lord and saviour , and so it justifies meerly , as it is a consenting , to be ruled and saved by christ ; which is , ( saith he ) neither an assent to the truth of the promises , nor assurance or trust in them ( one , or both of which , all men understand by faith , both in scripture and common speaking ) but it is an act of obedience , or rather a covenant , or promise of obedience , whereby a man engageth , that he will seek after salvation , in ways of obedience to christ's commands ; and indeed , they referr to the baptismal covenant made in infancy : and thus faith justifies , ( as they intimate ) as it doth in part , fulfill the new law , by engaging us to obedience ; and in all this , christ is look'd upon as king or rector chiefly , and not as a saviour ; for , ( as mr. troughton notes ) if christ's righteousness doth not immediately justifie us , and is made ours , then he is a saviour but remotely as the word is usually taken , to denote his making satisfaction for us , as a priest , viz. as by his death he procured a possibility of pardon , and makes way for a new covenant to be made with man ; so that christ's main business , as a savour , by this opinion , is to grant new and tolerable terms of salvation , to command faith , repentance and obedience , and to annex a promise of eternal life to them , and so to justifie and save us , if we fulfill these conditions to the end of our days ; and that god , as a just and impartial judge , will give sentence for , or against us , according to this law , so that we are justified by our obedience to this law , and saved by a king , proceeding according to his own law ; and faith is nothing else but a submitting to this law , and to the terms required in it ; which things , ( saith he ) certainly make a covenant of works , tho' it differs from the first covenant of works ; and this , if i mistake them not , is their covenant of grace ; by which i never expect to be saved . but to proceed , 5thly , the covenant of grace is well ordered , in all things , for our good ; for all things which we need , are contained in it , either in respect of deliverance from present and future evil , and to our being possess'd , or invested with all true spiritual and eternal good. 1. we were enemies to god , by sin , and god an enemy to us , but by this covenant , god is reconciled to us : jesus christ hath so pacified his wrath , that now god says , fury is not in me , isa. 27. when we were enemies , we were reconciled to god by the death of his son , rom. 5.10 . the angels that first brought the tydings of our saviour's birth , cryed , peace on earth , good will to men . christ by the blood of this covenant , hath made up that breach , and reconciled god to us ; and by his spirit , he removes that enmity , that naturally is in our hearts against god , and so reconciled us to god ; he is our days-man , that lays his hand upon both ; he is not a mediator of one , that is , not of god only , but of man also ; he brings god to man , and man to god. 2. we were the children of wrath , and under the curse of the law ; but by the grace of this well ordered covenant , we are made the children of god , and we are delivered from the curse of the law : christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law , being made a curse for us — that the blessing of abraham might come on the gentiles , through jesus christ , gal. 3.13 , 4. 3. we had lost the image of god , but by this covenant 't is restored to us again , and so restored , that we shall never lose it any more . 4. we were dead , blind , naked , in bonds , in prison , but by the grace of god , in this covenant , we are quickened , eph. 2.1 , 2. have the eyes of our understandings enlightned , eph. 1.18 . have our naked souls cloathed with the robe of righteousness , are brought out of prison , and all our wounds are healed , sent out of the pit wherein was no water , by the blood of the covenant , zech. 9.11 . 5. we were guilty and filthy creatures , but by this covenant , we are justified and sanctified , we are acquitted , pronounced righteous , and all our sins pardoned , and washed away in the fountain of christ's blood , 1 cor. 6.11 . rev. 1.5 . 6. we were condemned , and ready to have the sentence executed upon us , and cast into hell , to be burned alive for ever and ever , even there , where the worm dyeth not , and the fire is not quenched ; but by the grace of this covenant , we are saved , and shall be eternally ; we are not only delivered from all evil , or from whatsoever was hurtful to us , but are invested with all true internal and eternal good. we by this covenant , have union with god , adoption , free access to the father , yea all things that appertain to life and godliness , and when this life is ended , eternal life and glory in heaven ; therefore , 't is well ordered , in all things , for our good . fifthly , it is a sure covenant , ordered in all things , and sure . 1. 't is a sure covenant : because it was made in , and with our blessed surety , jesus christ , the lord would not enter into covenant with us , any more , nor take our bond for that great summ of ten thousand talents , that vast debt , which we had contracted , and were never able to pay ; for we had nothing , no not one farthing : and therefore , unless a surety could be found , who was able and sufficient to enter into bond with god , for us , we must have perished for ever ; we were arrested by the justice of god , for breach of his holy law , and in prison , and must suffer infinite wrath , and divine vengeance , for the just demerit of our sin , had not the wise and almighty god , sought out a surety to pay our debt , and undertaken this new covenant for us : now jesus christ stept in , and undertook for us , and put his name into our bond and obligation . jesus christ was made a surety of a better covenant , heb , 7.22 . reverend dr. owen , most excellently resolves this doubt , viz. whether christ be a surety to god for us , or of us to god , and shews god needs no surety , nor is he capable of having any surety , properly so called , neither do we need any , on his part to confirm our faith in him . but we , on all accounts , stand in need of a surety for us , or on our behalf ; neither without the interposition of such a surety ( saith he ) could any covenant , between god and us , be firm and stable ; or , an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things , and sure : dr. owen , on the hebr. 7.22 . p. 223. god never broke at first with man , therefore needs to give us now no surety ; but we broke and failed in our covenant with him . the first adam had , indeed , no surety ; and hence it was , that he failed , therefore god hath found out a way to prevent the like danger of miscarriage on our part , any more : and evident it is , that god entered into this covenant with us in christ , before the world began and substituted christ , then in the covenant , our surety and mediator , &c. the assembly , in their catechism , confirm this blessed doctrine : take their words . quest. with whom was the covenant of grace made ? answ. the covenant of grace was made with christ , the second adam ; and in him , with all the elect. thus christ , and his seed , are but one party in the covenant of grace , as it was primarily made between the father and son , who was set up from everlasting , as our head. and thus , in christ , grace was gave to us before the world began , as the apostle saith , 2 tim. 1.9 . who hath saved us , and called us with an holy calling , not according to our works , but according to his own purpose , which was given to us in christ , before the world began . christ therefore became surety for us , to make firm and sure , all covenant blessing , to us ; indeed if man could not , did not stand , but break covenant with god , when he had no sin , no depraved nature , when he had power to have performed his covenant with his maker , how unlikely was it , that we ( who are so corrupted , so weak and feeble , so depraved in every faculty , no power to do that which is spiritual good , that are attended with such a body of sin and death , rom. 4.24 . ) to undertake to enter into covenant with god any more ? or , what reason is there for us to think , god would trust us without security , and the suretyship of another person , whom he knew well , could not fail ? he said , that he would lose nothing that was given him ; none of his sheep shall perish , joh. 10.38 . and ver . 28. 2. this covenant is made upon the unchangeable decree and council of god , and his decrees are compared to mountains of brass , psal. 89.28 . to the 34 my mercy will i keep with him for ever , and my covenant shall stand fast with him , his seed shall endure for ever , &c. ver . 28 , 29. my covenant i will not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth , ver . 34. if you can break my covenant of the day and night , then may also my covenant be broken with david , jer. 33.20 , 21. 't is the free promise of god , like the covenant of day and night ; and this stands upon the pass of god's eternal counsel ; therefore , 't is sure . 3. 't is confirmed by the highest witnesses in heaven and earth . 1. god the father is a witness to it himself ; he bore witness to christ , in the gospel , and to every precept and promise therefore the father himself which hath sent me , hath born witness of me , joh. 5.37 . 2. the son also , though the surety of the covenant , yet he is a witness to this gospel-covenant also , ( tho' this is not so , cannot be so among men , i. e. the surety can be no witness , but 't is otherwise here ) to this end was i born , and to this end came i into the world , that i should bear witness unto the truth , joh. 18.37 . that he is a king and head of his church ; that he is mediator , and surety ; that he is our saviour ; and , that the covenant of salvation is made with him , and established in him . this he is a witness of , and to these , and other great truths of the covenant , he was born , and came into the world to bear witness to , and he is called the faithful and true witness . rev. 1.5 . and jesus said , though i bear record of my self yet my record is true , for i know whence i came , and whither i go . 3. the holy apostles were also witnesses to this new covenant , touching the truth thereof in the execution , declaration , and publication of it ; and we are witnesses of all things that he did , act. 1.39 . and again , they are called chosen witnesses , ver . 41. whatsoever precept or promise is made in the gospel , or threatning , they witnessed to the truth thereof , as well as to the sufferings and resurrection of christ ; god speaking of paul , saith , he shall be a witness unto me , act. 26.16 . 4. all those wonderful miracles our saviour wrought , bear witness to christ , and the truth of the gospel ; and in them the holy spirit is a witness also , as well as many other ways . the works that i do , they bear witness of me , joh. 5.36 . 4 thly , 't is a sure covenant , because it was confirmed by blood , even ratified and confirmed by the blood of the testator , jesus christ : certainly , that covenant that is ratified by the blood of christ , must needs be sure to all the seed . hence we have for a sign and token of this confirmation , the ordinance of the lord's supper : this is the blood of the new covenant that is shed for you , to make peace for you , to procure justification , reconciliation , pardon of sin , and eternal life for you , and 't is sealed to you by my blood : this is a sign or token of it ( as if he should so say ) there is no altering a covenant that is confirmed by the death of the testator ; all the legacies bequeathed in this covenant , are sure to the legatees , as the ordinances of heaven by this means . 5 thly , the covenant of grace is sure , and all the blessings thereof , because the execution of christ's last will and testament , is put into the hands of the holy spirit ; he is the great executioner of this covenant . i have not time , nor room to open this . 6 thly , the covenant is sure , by vertue of the promise of god the father , he promised christ , that he should see his seed this was abraham's title to the blessings of the covenant of grace , heb. 6.13 . and so to david , and in them , to all the true heirs of the same grace , and promise : 't is promised by god , that cannot lie , to christ , and to us in him ; for all the promises of god , in jesus christ , are not yea and nay ; but yea and amen , unto the glory of god the father , 1 cor. 1.20 . god hath engaged his very faithfulness , as touching the performances of them . 7 thly , they are sure , because not only made to us by the father , but he hath confirmed them by his oath , heb. 6.13 . because he could not swear by no greater , he swear by himself , wherein god is willing , more abundantly , to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel , confirmed it by an oath , ver . 17. that so , by two immutable things , in which it is impossible for god to lie , we might have strong consolation , ver . 18. what god promised , nay swear to give to abraham , in the covenant of grace , he promised and swear to to all his believing seed , or to all the elect ; and if this doth not make sure the new covenant , and all the blessings thereof , and eternal life to every believing soul , tho' he or she has but the least dram of grace ; nothing can make any thing more sure in heaven nor earth ; 't is far more firm and sure than what any man or angels can make any matter or thing . soul , whatever grace thou need'st , god will and must give it ; how when , and in what degree he pleases , and to heaven thou must come at last i might add , 7 thly . 't is sure , because we have received , who do believe the earnest all covenant blessings and eternal life , which is the holy spirit , see eph. 13.14 . the spirit is called there the earnest of our inheritance , until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory . 8 thly . we have the holy spirit also to make it sure to us , as a witness o● this covenant , the spirit also bears witness with our spirit , that we are the children of god , and if children , then heirs , heirs of god and joint , heirs with christ rom 8.16.17 . the holy spirit witnesses by it self , by an inward an secreted persuasion or suggestion , that god is our father , and we his children , and also by the testimony of his graces and powerful operations , tho' not in the like degree and clearness to all believers : yet christ in us is our hope of glory and if any man hath not the spirit of christ , the same is none of his rom. 8.9 . 9 thly . after all , if any thing can be added to make it yet more sure to us , god will in his abundant grace and goodness let us have it : and therefore we have this covenant and all the blessings of it , and eternal life sealed to us also by the holy ghost : after ye believed , ye were sealed with that spirit of promise , eph. 1.13 . and again , grieve not the holy spirit of god , by which you are sealed to the day of redemption , eph. 4.30 . god hath set his mark , and his seal upon us . sixthly . 't is an everlasting covenant , he hath made with me an everlasting covenant it shall never ; can never be broke : see that in isa. 54.9 , 10. for this is as the waters of noah unto me : for as i have sworn the waters of noah shall no more go over the earth , so i have sworn that i would not be wrath with thee , nor rebuke thee ; for the mountains shall depart , and the hills shall be removed , but my loving kindness shall not depart from thee ; neither the covenant of my peace be removed ( saith the lord ) that hath mercy on thee : compare it with isa. 55.3 . so much to the second general head. thirdly , i shall shew you how this covenant is all the hope , desire , salvation and consolation of every true believer in life and death . by what i have already said , all may perceive how , or which way , all their salvation and comfort lies in this covenant , so that i need say but little to this . but to proceed . 1. 't is all our hope , desire , salvation and consolation ; because this covenant was the contrivance of the infinite wisdom of god , the top glory of all his transactions , for , and in the behalf of man from all eternity : nay , such manifold wisdom , such depth of wisdom shines forth in it , that the glorious angels desir'd to pry into it , 1 pet. 1.12 . the word signifies ( as our annotators intimate ) a bowing down the head , or stooping to look into a thing ; o! they behold this mystery of salvation by christ , in this covenant with holy amazement , and are willing to learn by the church : and this mystery is to this end , in part , manifest by the gospel , that they might make it the subject of their thoughts , contemplation and meditation and vvondermenti ( as i may so say ) 't is to affect those glorious spirits ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church , the manifold wisdom of god , eph. ● . 10 . angels , sirs , do attend our assemblies , to know , and hear , and understand the mysteries of this covenant and redemption by christ : is it then any wonder ? 't is all the desire , hope and delight of believers , who are so eminently concerned in this salvation , christ is not a redeemer of the angels , for they who stood needed none . yet as our divines shew , he is their confirmer , he is the head of angels , as well as of the church , and they worship him , as well as we . 2. 't is the saint's desire and delight , because 't is suited so admirably to exalt god in all his holy attributes , and abase , sinfull man ; to exalt christ , put the crown on his head , and lay us at his feet : this is that jehovah , design'd and aim'd at , and this all believers and truly gracious souls aim at also ; this is all their desire , and therefore they are so taken with this covenant . o let such look to it , that any ways go about to lessen or eclipse the glory of god's grace in this covenant , or magnifie and exalt sorry man in the least degree . 3. 't is because 't is a great , a full , and compleat salvation that is contained in this covenant : this is all my salvation , 't is not a part of it ; christ in this covenant did not work out a piece of it , and leave us to work out the rest : all our salvation is of grace , whatever we as sinners , or as saints do want , 't is contain'd in this covenant . christ is not only given for us , but also given to us ; not only the medicine , and but a hand also whereby 't is applyed . faith is the gift of the promise , therefore not the condition of it ; they are foederalia relata : can a promise or a gift be a condition of it self ? this exalts christ , and abases man ; christ hath no co-worker with him , tho' he hath some poor instruments ( that he applies in his hand ) yet he alone is the only agent that doth all : we have this treasure in earthen vessels , that the excellency of the power may be of god , and not of us , 2 cor. 4.7 . the redemption in the covenant of grace , is by a price which christ as priest laid down to satisfie the law and justice of god , and which as a king , he applies by his conquering of the power , of sin and satan : can a man be redeemed and saved from slavery in turkey by a ransome paid or laid down , and yet he abides under the power of a cruel tyrant that holds him in strong chains , and will not let him go , untill the redeemer hath subdued his merciless master ? now sinners are in satan's chains and fetters , and under the power of sin , and until christ destroys and overcomes those cruel enemies , they are not redeemed ; this salvation therefore in this covenant is compleat , i. e. we are not only redeemed out of the hands of justice and divine wrath , but out of satan's hands likewise , and from the power of sin : nay , redeemed from a vain conversation by christ's blood , 1 pet. 1.18 . for as a priest he purchased subduing and cleansing grace for us , tho' as a king he applies that grace to us . to this very purpose , christ gave himself i. e. to redeem us from all iniquity , and purify'd to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works , tit. 2.14 . sirs , assure yourselves , all that christ came to redeem , shall be redeemed ; he cannot be said to be a redeemer of such who never were , nor shall be redeemed by him : not one drop of his blood was shed in vain , he will have his whole purchase . here is grace the holy spirit , a broken spirit , a new heart , justification , adoption , regeneration , final perseverance , and eternal life , and all we want is in this covenant ; therefore 't is a compleat and full salvation , and so all our salvation . 4 thly . this covenant is all our desire , all our hope and salvation , because there is no relief , no justification , no pardon , no salvation any other ways : there is no water of life , but in this fountain , no justification , but by this righteousness ; nor riches , but in this treasury ; no corn ; but in this garner ; no light , but in this sun of righteousness that is given to us for a covenant , and to be a light unto the gentiles . no pardon of sin ; but by this redemption ; no grace , but at the throne which god hath erected in this covenant . no strength , but by this arm of the lord : no cure , but by the balsom of this covenant , and covenant physician : no sanctification , no cleansing from sin and pollution , but by washing in this river . 5 thly . this covenant is all our desire , hope , delight , consolation and salvation , because 't is a try'd covenant : it never failed one man that ever laid hold of it , or applyed the blood thereof by faith to his own soul ; he that believeth on christ , builds on this precious stone , this sure foundation , shall never be ashamed , nor confounded : he that builds on this covenant , or doth venture his soul thereon , must be saved , and ever were saved . let them be never so great sinners it will not fail them ; this covenant hath provided for the chiefest of sinners , and for the weak saints : here is a pardon for all manner of sinners and blasphemers , against both the father and the son : o what black , what guilty , what filthy , and what bloody sinners have been saved by the grace of , and blood of this covenant . such were some of you , what an abominable such were they , see 1 cor. 6.9 , 10 , 11. 6 thly . this covenant is all a believer's desire , consolation and salvation ; because of those glorious and mighty gifts that are given to them in this covenant : nothing can the holy god give which is greater , for he hath given us himself , and all he is , and all he has ; as far forth as it is communicatable , he gives himself to them by way of special interest , ( not as he was the god of the whole house of israel , in that legal covenant made with them as they were the natural seed of abraham as such ) god gives himself , and in himself , his son , his spirit , his ordinance , his ministers , paul , peter , all is ●rap'd up in this covenant : grace here , and glory hereafter , all is yours ; ● christ in this covenant is yours , you have god and christ , and god for ●●er , christ for ever . you shall not lose him again , the covenant is ordered in all things and sure , and so are all the gifts and blessings thereof , such that can't be lost , they are even the sure mercies of david . 7 thly . because this covenant is so comfortable in all states and conditions a poor child of god can be in , 't is suited to relieve us under all outward afflictions , tryals and calamities we meet with here in this world : o this ●ur honoured brother deceas'd , found by sweet experience , this was all his hope , and all his desire , all his comfort under all his former sore sufferings ; when for more than twelve years he lay in prison for jesus christ's sake , and under all his late heart-breaking sorrows and bodily distempers , that but a few were acquainted with , had it not been for this covenant , he had ●ainted in his afflictions : this bore up the spirit of poor david , he found all his relief and support lay in this covenant . when saul pursu'd him , when his friends forsook him , and talk'd of stoning him , here , and in this covenant , and in his god , given to him in this well ordered covenant he comforted and encouraged himself , 1 sam. 30.6 . 8 thly . and lastly , all the desire , hope , consolation and salvation of a believer lies in this covenant , because 't is so well ordered and suited for our support and comfort , under all inward trouble , fears , doubtings , temptations and spiritual dissertions , whatsoever . no cordial like what this covenant hath provided for us , to bear up and revive our drooping spirits ; and whoever you are , that under your fears , doubtings , temptations or despondings , that seek relief any where else , will but deceive your own poor and deluded souls : will your own righteousness chear your spirits ? dare you plead it at god's bar ? will you venture your souls upon it ? will you plead your sincere obedience ? your fervent prayers you have made , the many good sermons you have heard , the many good works and good deeds you have done , will not satan shew you notwithstanding all your sincerity you have in your hearts , great hypocrisie ? and for all your faith and constant trusting in god , you have much unbelief , and many fears and doubtings arising in your spirits : tho' you have prayed often , and have not fainted ; yet with what deadness , with what coolness , with what wanderings of heart and vanity of thoughts ; and tho' you have done much good , will not your consciences tell you , you might have done much more ? you gave a shilling may be to this poor , and that poor and distressed object , when may be you ought to have given a pound . o sirs ! your relief lies in christ , and in the covenant of grace , in christ's perfect and compleat righteousness in his death , or you have none , nor never will. you must take the directions that anselm gave to a poor sick and tempted soul , as i find it quoted by reverend dr. owen on just. p. 13.14 . quest. dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved , but by the death of jesus christ ? the sick and distressed person answered yes . then let it be said unto thee , go to then , and whilst thy soul abideth in thee , put all thy confidence in this death alone , place all thy trust in no other thing ; commit thy self wholly to this death , cover thy self wholly with this alone , cast thy self wholly on this death , wrap thy self wholly in this death : and if god would judge thee , say , lord , i place the death of our lord jesus between me and thy judgment , and other ways i will not contend with thee : and if he shall say unto thee , that thou art a sinner ; say , i place the death of our lord jesus christ between me and my sins ; if he should say unto thee , that thou deservest damnation , say , lord , i put the death of our lord jesus christ between thee and all my sins , and i offer his merits for my own which i should have , and have not : if he say that he is angry with thee ; say , lord , i place the death of our lord jesus christ between me and thine anger . o soul ! here 's thy relief , even in the blood of this covenant in christ's death ; under all thy fears , and temptations of satan , and under the sad accusations of thy own conscience : o! at the hour of death , how canst thou lift up thy hands to plead thy own sincere obedience , when thou art just going to stand before the tribunal of god ; thy hands will be weak and thy heart faint , and thy confidence will deceive thee , and fail thee : if thy hope and desire , thy faith and dependance be on any thing else , then on christ in this covenant ; but here is succour in his covenant , here is a salve for every sore ; what tho' thou hast sinned , what says god in this covenant ? i will be merciful unto their unrighteousness , and their sins and iniquities i will remember no more , heb. 8. if thy conscience say , thou hast backsliden from god , he says ; i will heal all their backslidings , and love them freely , hos. 14.4 . if thou wants righteousness and strength , say , christ is thy righteousness , in the lord have i righteousness and strength : thus there is relief in this covenant for poor doubting and desponding souls in all their troubles and temptations . application . first by way of reprehension . first . this reproves those ( and may serve to convince them of their horrid blindness and unbelief ) that look on sin as a trivial thing , a small matter ; and so go on in a wicked and ungodly course of life , who add drunkenness to thrist ; and yet say they shall have peace : o souls ! do you not tremble to think of the evil of sin ? when you hear nothing but the blood of the son of god can atone for it , nor satisfie god's offended justice and injured law , do you think god will spare you ? pardon you while you live in your sins , and make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof , did he not spare his own son , when he stood in our place , charged with our iniquities ? but let out his wrath upon him , and will he spare you ? that have your own sins and horrid guilt and pollution charged upon your own souls ? if you refuse the lord jesus christ , and the merits of his ●lood , and do not fly to him , cleave to him , imbrace him , and the tender ●f god's grace in and by him , but do neglect so great salvation , and the means of it , down to hell you will be brought every soul of you with vengeance . nothing shews the evil of sin more than the bleeding sides , bleeding heart , and bleeding hands , and bleeding feet of the son of god : and did he suffer thus to satisfie for our sins ? for your sins ? and shall any soul alive think , if they slight him , believe not in him , he shall escape divine wrath ; how can your hands be strong in any way of wickedness , whilst you look up and see jesus christ hang languishing on the cross , and crying out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? 2. this reproves all those ( and may tend to convince them of their fol●y and ignorance ) whose hopes lies in something else , and not in this covenant . those whose hope lies in their sober and civil lives , they conclude all is well with them , because they are not guilty of those immoral impieties and greatest wickedness which others are defiled with : alas ! what good will this do you ? when one evil thought is a breach of that holy law that lays you under wrath and the fearful curse thereof ; will you trust to your honest moral lives , and sober conversations , and so slight and neglect the grace of god offer'd by jesus christ in this covenant : why sirs , do you think god sent his son into the world ? if by leading a moral and sober life men might be saved . 3. this reproves also those who mixt their own inherent holiness and evangelical obedience with christ's righteousness , in point of justification and acceptation with god , who make faith in the large extent , i. e. faith withal the concomitants of it , a condition of justification , who distinguish between christ doing for us , as a redeemer in the flesh by dying , and render that more extensive , than what he does by the spirit ; as if he was the head of all mankind in dying , and all , as so consisidered , have union with him : but that many of those he dyed for , shall never be saved by his life ; because they do not answer the condition of faith and sincere obedience ; intimating , that faith is not a fruit of christ's death , but is wrought out by the creature through the help of the spirit ; tho' we have faith for christ's sake , for christ's merits ( in a remote sense ) as we have fair weather , pacifick paper , p. 5. for had not christ atoned an satisfied for sin , and the breach of the law of works , we could not have had any blessings either temporal or spiritual : but if it were only thus , then the covenant of grace is not so well ordered and sure as we believe it is , but how do they understand that text , rom. 5.10 . for if when we were enemies , we were reconciled to god by the death of his son , much more being now reconciled , we shall be saved by his life . vvere not all the elect , or all christ dyed for , vertually ( as in our head ) reconciled to god by the death of christ ? and doth not the apostle assure us that we shall much more be saved by christ's life , if he reconciled us to god by his death ? was not the gift of christ in his death for us a greater gift than the gift of the spirit to us ? did not we all rise from the dead with christ , vertually when he was raised ? and doth not that give us assurance that we shall be actually quickned and raised ▪ first from a death in sin , respecting our souls ; and also be all raised to eternal life and glory , at the last day respecting our bodies . he that spared not his own son , but delivered him up for us all , how shall he not freely give us all things , rom. 8 32. may it not from these two scriptures be confidently asserted , that all christ dyed for shall be saved , i. e. shall have grace here and glory hereafter ? doth not the apostle argue from the greater gift of god's grace to the lesser gift ? and that he that gave the greater will not stick to give the lesser . were not all that christ died for , chosen in him before the foundation of the world ? that they should be holy , and without blame before him in love , ephes. 1.4 , 5. and did not the father promise him that he should see his seed and doth not christ say , all that the father gave to him , shall come to him ; that is , shall have faith : and can any come that were not given to him ? if faith and repentance be given to the elect , who are saved ? can others come to christ who have not the like faith and repentance given to them ? doth not faith flow from a principle of divine life ? and can there be such a noble effect without the cause from whence it proceeds ? can a dead man quicken himself ? or can he refuse to live that has life infused into him ? thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power , psal 100.3 . in the beauty of holiness : is christ a true and proper redeemer of all ? and yet a multitude are left under sin and wrath , and never redeemed , nor many of them never hear of this saviour or redeemer at all . 4. this also reproves all such who render the covenant of grace in its nature like the covenant of works , i. e. if we perform the condition we stand , if we perform it not we fall ; it being made with us , and so our covenant : god expects we discharge our obligation therein , for 't is evident , as we enter into covenant with god , according to these men's notions at our baptism , ( or be it before , and baptism be but a sign or token of it , ) there is no surety here to engage for us ( unless it be as it is among some of this sort , those they call god-fathers and god-mothers ) o! what a dangerous state are we in ? if this be so , i. e. if christ be not to perform his obligation for us , as our surety to god , that we may not be lost nor miscarry ; but that all depends upon our own performances on our holy watchfulness and sincere obedience , for if man at first did not stand , when he had no sin , no corrupt nature , no body of sin and death , how should we stand and weather the storm , now we are so corrupted , so depraved , and have a thousand snares laid for us in every place , that have such a deceitful heart , such a deceitful devil , and a bewitching world to encounter ●t withal : if , as doctor goodwin hints , man suffered shipwrack , when he ●●d so firm , so strong , and well-built ship ; and when he had so good a ●●lot , as his will was to him before he fell , and a calm sea ; who will be 〈◊〉 mad to venture to sea now , on such a leaky and rotten vessel ? and ●●ve no better a pilot , than his own base , depraved , and corrupt will to ●●eer this ship on such tempestuous and dangerous seas . the truth is , the covenant of grace is not ordered in all things and ●●e , if what these men say be true ; that a man may be a child of god 〈◊〉 day , and a child of the devil to morrow ; and that justified persons ●ay so fall away , as to perish for ever . 5. this reproves all such , who when convinced of their sinful and lost condition by nature , then presently set upon a work of reformation , and 〈◊〉 on duties of humiliation , and then begin to see ( as they think ) a great change is wrought in them , and on that rest , and hope all is well . like 〈◊〉 herod who heard john and reformed many things , mark 6.20 . alas sirs ! ●●l this building will fall to the ground ; is this to take hold of the covenant ? is this to get union with christ ? is this regeneration ? is this to believe on the lord jesus , act. 16.31 . that you may be saved , ●our own works be they what they will ; like chaff they shall be bur●ed up . true , if you reform not your lives ( which the terrors of the ●aw , and laws of the land may force some of you to do , or shame , and reproach , and fear of hell torments ) you shall certainly be damed : yet his you may do , and yet never be saved , 't is so far from a bare reforma●ion of life ; that will stand you in stead , that a saint's salvation , hope and desire lies not in a changed heart , nor in inherent grace , nor ●●ncere obedience , but in christ , in his righteousness , it lies in this covenant , not in their baptismal covenant , not in being church-members , not in praying , and hearing sermons , and breaking of bread , but in christ , and in the covenant of grace ; this is all my salvation , and all my desire , &c. 6. this reproves such likewise that remain under the spirit of bondage , and slavish fear , after god hath graciously awakened them , convinced them of their sins and lost condition without christ , and hath let out a spirit of burning upon them , that has burned up all their former hopes , faith and confidence , which they once had in the flesh , and are bro●en into pieces in the sight and sense of the evil of sin. souls what aileth you ? what 's the cause of your disquietments and sorrow ? is there no help ? no relief for your souls in this covenant ? dare you not venture on christ ? is there not all things that you want in christ , and ●n this covenant ? may be you will say , o! your sins are great , what tho' there is great pardoning mercy in this covenant , a great saviour ●or you ; are you sinners , wounded sinners , sin-sick sinners , lost and undone sinners ? then i declare , nay , proclaim peace to you in christ ; good news , o soul ! is brought this day to your ears ; here is a christ for you , pardon for you in this covenant , i will forgive their iniquities , their sins i will remember no more . will you make god a liar ? and not believe the record he hath given of his son ? joh. 5.10 . secondly , by way of exhortation , i must exhort you that lead ungodly ▪ lives to tremble , you who are condemned , and refuse the offers of god's grace by christ , in this covenant : what do you mean ? will you value your base lusts above god ? above christ , above the salvation of your souls ; can you think god will give himself to you ? or christ espouse you , that live in , and love your sins , your dishonouring and soul-damning pride , covetousness , uncleanness , drunkenness , &c. or any deeds of darkness , which god's soul loaths ; be exhorted to adhere to the truth of god's justice , the veracity of his word , the denounciations of his wrath , which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men , rom. 2.18 . shall christ and all covenant mercies be offered to you ? a feast of fat things provided for you , and will you make light of this offer ? and gracious tender of salvation . 2. you heart-broken sinners be exhorted to look up to christ , behold him whom the father hath chosen and laid help upon , one mighty to save , look to your physician , he is come to ease your burthened consciences , to heal your wounded souls , to pour in his oyl and wine , he will do it all freely , tho' you have no money , no price or mony-worth ; yet in this covenant , here is wine and milk for you also , and your souls shall live , and you shall be taken into his covenant , and have interest in the sure mercies of david , isa. 55.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. 3. let such be exhorted , to lay to heart and repent , who darken the doctrine of god's free-grace , and eclipse the glory of the everlasting covenant , that turn it into a law of conditional obedience , and mixt works , done by the creature with christ's merits ; have they not stumbled many an honest christian already , and filled others with many fears and doubtings , whilst they set them to seek after-justification by their own sincere obedience and gospel-holiness , and join that ( some way or another ) with the merits and righteousness of christ , and would have them not to count their own personal holiness ( as paul did ) even dung , that they may be found in christ not having their own righteousness ▪ but the righteousness of god which is by faith , whether their doctrine tends most to promote true gospel-holiness , and the honour of god , or ours ; will appear at the last day . i hope they may mean well , but may they not fear they mistake ? in going about to remove the ancient land-mark : why should that glorious doctrine of justification , that shone forth in the days of martin luther , and has been the ground of so many godly christian's hope ; nay , martyrs , now be struck at ? and by which means , new animosities and divisions are let in among god's people , to the reproach of his holy name , and grief of thousands of faithful christians . 3. consolation , this may be much improved in the last place , by way of comfort and consolation to christians in every condition , both in life , and at the hour of death . 1. is the covenant of grace made with christ for us ? and has he undertaken for our souls as our surety ? is it ordered in all things and sure ? then poor doubting soul , here is a foundation of comfort for thee ; o! how doth the love of the father abound towards us ? as to enter into a covenant for us , with his own son ; here 's infinite love , and condescen●●on : know , christ equally engaged for all the father gave him ; care is ●●ken for the weakest saint , as for the strongest ; nay , christ therefore ●●rries his lambs in his arms , lays them in the bosome of his covenant . souls , ●emember god calls it his covenant , where is it called our covenant ? we may break with god , but he will not break with us ; altho' my house be not 〈◊〉 with god , yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant . this covenant stands firm , this foundation of god is sure , it was e●tablished from all eternity by an eternal act of god , that cannot be repealed , altered or changed : god is thine , christ is thine , if thou hast union with him , all is thine ; and the oath of god , the truth and faithfulness of god is engaged for the making good all the blessings that are contained in this covenant ; god is thine , and christ is thine for ever . thou art given to christ , and christ will not lose any one soul the father gave unto him ; none can pluck thee out of his hands , joh. 10.28 . 2 art thou afflicted for thy sins ? look into this covenant , here is a cordial for thee , his seed also will i make to endure for ever , and his throne as the days of heaven , ps. 89.29 . if his children forsake my law , and walk not in my judgments , v. 30. if they break my statutes , and keep not my commandments , v. 31. then will i visit their transgressions with the rod , and their iniquities with stripes , v. 32. but my loving kindness will i not utterly take from him , nor suffer my faithfulness to fail , v. 33. my covenant will i not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth , v. 34. is not here relief for thee , if thou art afflicted ? 't is a sign thou art beloved ; t is for thy profit , than thou mayest partake of his holiness , heb. 12.10 . 3. art thou backsliden from god ? see that in hos. 14. i will heal their backsliding , i will love them freely , for mine anger is turned away from him , v. 4. 4. art thou like a dry withered tree ? see his promise in this covenant , i will be a dew to israel , he shall grow as the lilly , and cast forth his root as the lebanon , they shall revive as the corn , and grow as the vine , v. 7. tho' i walk in the midst of trouble , thou wilt revive me , saith david : this he saw was in god's covenant , psal. 138.7 . 5. do thy sins appear grievous to thee ? he has ( as you heard promised in this covenant ) to be mercifull to their unrighteousness , their sins and iniquities will i remember no more , heb. 8 12. heb. 10.17 . 6. but o the power of them ! soul , mind his promise in this covenant , sin shall not have dominion over you , because you are not under the law , but under grace , rom. 6.14 . 7. art thou tempted ? look into the covenant , there hath no temptation taken you , but such that is common to man , and god is faithfull , who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able , but will with the temptation make way to escape , that ye way be able to bear it also , 1 cor. 10.13 . christ having suffered , being tempted , is able to succour them that are tempted , heb. 2.18 . 8. art poor ? and afraid thou shalt want bread ? either for thy body , or for thy soul ; see that in psal. 111.5 . he hath given meat to them that fear him , he is ever mindful of his covenant , he will abundantly bless her provision , and satisfie her poor with bread , psal. 132.15 . 9. art thou afraid thou shalt sometime or another depart from god , or fall away from him ? mind his covenant , i will put my fear into their hearts , and they shall not depart from me , jer. 32.40 . tho' they fall , they shall not utterly be cast down , for the lord upholdeth him with his right hand , psal. 37.24 . 10. dost thou fear satan will be too hard for thee ? look into this covenont , god shall bruise satan under your feet shortly , rom. 16.20 . o the comfort this covenant affords to us in every condition , he will give grace and glory , and no good thing will be with-hold from them that walk uprightly . christians . what remains for you to do , that you may have the comfort that is in this covenant , but to go to god by christ your mediator , he pleads his own merits and righteousness for us . i took flesh , o my father , i suffered death according to thy good pleasure ; in their stead i gave my soul a ransome for them , i was made a curse for them , wounded , to heal their wounds , i bore their sins , and carried their sorrows ; o condemn them not for their iniquities which met in me : they are my purchase , my members , i have paid their debts , and brought in everlasting righteousness for them : he is heard all ways , o! pray in his name , and all your wants shall be supplyed . 2. let the fruits of god's grace shine forth in your lives : what shall we render to god for all his covenant-blessings ? you are bought with a price , and are not your own , therefore glorifie god in your body , and in your spirit , which is the lord's , 1 cor. 1.19 , 20. quest. but methinks i hear some poor sinner crying out , how may i come to be in this covenant ? answ. soul , it is by thy being united to christ , or by union with him through the spirit , 't is by faith : o close with christ , cry to god for his spirit , attend on the means of grace , see if thou canst find in thy heart to love christ , to espouse him , enter into an holy contract with him , to this end he sends his ministers . o that thou didst but see the w●●t of him ! and behold the beauty that is in him , he that has the son , has life , he is actually in this covenant , but know this is the work of christ ; 't is he must make thy heart willing , and dissolve those bonds thou hast ty'd with other lovers . thou art not first to enter into a covenant with god , or offer thy terms of gospel-faith and holiness , so as on that condition , to oblige god to enter into a covenant with thee : no , christ is first given , and then god gives us to him ; nay , himself with him : christ's love is first set on us , before we can love him , and when we were in our blood ( not washed ) that was the time of his love , and then he entered into a covenant with us , ezek. 16. reverend mr. cotton saith , the lord is the first thing that he giveth by his covenant , and with himself all things else , rom 8.32 . and there is the precedency , christ is given , and in him all spiritual blessings , eph. 1.3 . and this for the order of nature in giving in the covenant : not obedience first , nor faith first , nor any thing else first , but himself : donum primum & primarium , and in him all his goodness . p 14. on the covenant . art thou weary ? dost thou thirst ? art a wretched sinner ? then take christ , go to him and drink . thou art not o sinner ! first to wash thy self from thy wickedness , and get a clean heart , and then come to the fountain of christ's blood ; but as a poor , vile , lost sinner to come unto him : believe in him that justifies the ungodly , rom. 4.5 . also 't is christ who is thy physician , 't is he that has undertaken thy cure , and must apply the remedy , and none can do it but he , and tho' thou hast no money , yet this physician is to be had , and his medicines too , and all freely , isa. 55.1 , 2. but to close , let us reflect a little on the deceased , my brethren , whose corps is it we are to follow to the grave this evening : sirs , 't is the corps of a godly man ; nay , a minister , an ancient minister : one who long and faithfully served jesus christ , under many afflictions , great tryals and sufferings : o how many of late have we lost ? and how few raised up in their stead ? the harvest is great , but the labourers are few , one drops here , and another there ; some by distempers of body made unable to labour before death comes , ( as it was with our honoured brother deceased ) while others are taken away in their full strength : have we not cause to fear what is coming on ? see that in isa. 57.1 , 2. god calls home his ambssadours , a-pace , what may we expect ? o look for approaching judgments , god hath given us divers ways warning , before wrath breaks out upon us ; the sins of the nation are near fully ripe , and the sins of god's people tend to fill up the measure . but tho' we must all die , as well our painful ministers as the people , yet in this covenant death is ours , 1 cor. 3.22 . 't is a blessing , it is gain , the sting is taken away by the lord jesus ; so that we ought not to mourn for our godly friends that die , ( as such who have no hope ) for the righteous ( in this covenant ) have hope in their death : this god is our god , and he will be our guide even unto death . thus is the covenant of grace , all the desire , hope , and consolation of relievers , both in life , and death . our honour'd brother is fall'n asleep in the lord , i. e. in union with christ ; and as death has put an end to all his sorrows , so now his spirit possesses all eternal joy and comfort : for tho' ( he as well as we ) was attended with weakness , and many infirmities , yet he could say , god had made with me an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things and sure , and this is all my salvation , and all my desire , altho' he makes it not to grow . finis . an elegy upon the death of that reverend and faithful minister of the gospel m r. henry forty , late pastor of a church of christ at abingdon , in the county of berks , who departed this life in the 67 th . year of his age , and was interred in southwark , jan. 27 th . 1692 / 3. mourn , mourn , o sion ! thou hast forty lost , wave upon wave , with tempest thou art tost our sorrow's great , and worser things draw near , sad symptoms of most dismal days appear : christ's blest ambassadors are call'd away , and few these things unto their hearts do lay . many we lost before , for which we mourn , and shall we forty lose without a groan ? shall we not sigh for him who lately fell ? or not deem him a prince in israel ? say if you can , what cause gave he to fear , he was not ev'ry way a man sincere ? how many years did he his master serve ? and never from christ's truth did start or swerve shall envy then his name or glory stain ? or prejudice wound him to death again ? o let his name ! his precious name still live , and to his ashes no abuses give . near twelve long years he did in prison lie , as exeter can fully testifie , for witnessing unto god's holy truth , which he most dearly loved from his youth ; an instrument was he in jesus hand in his converting many in this land : nay , his own father and his mother were ev'n both converted by him ( i do hear ) i think without offence , i may declare few godly preachers , gone more spotless were ; or with more clearness did the gospel preach , and in his life shone forth what he did teach . he was no flas● , he lik'd no upstart strains , new schemes he loath'd , which now our glory stains : by the text he left to be insisted on , and opened when he was dead and gone ; you may perceive on what foundation he did build his hope of bless'd felicity . altho' my house is not ev'n so with god , my heart is dead , and i under the rod : tho' grace in me do's greatly seem to fade , and many deaths and sorrows me invade ; tho' friends seem strange , and wants do theaten me , and pain and anguish much increased be ; altho' i faint for the sweet water streams , and feel not those soul-warming sun-like gleams , tho' in my father's house i can't appear , to have communion my poor soul to chear at the bless'd table of my dearest lord , which formerly did so much strength afford ; tho' i sit all-alone and weep each day , and nights seem grievous rest b'ing took away , altho' my heart is alost broke with grief , sin so abounds , and sion wants relief ; her sorrows still abide on ev'ry hand , her sons divided are , so is the land ; sad wars without , and wars also within such wars 'mongst saints has scarcely ever been . both earth and heav'n too , now shaken be plain signs of some dismal catastrophe : altho' my faith is small and love is cold , and am distressed by what i behold ; and tho' the pillars of my house do shake , my eyes grow dim , and hands grow very weak , and tho' in my own self i nothing am , and for my sins ▪ god might me justly damn : yet he a covenant hath made with me , which is eternal , cannot broken be ; for it is order'd well in ev'ry thing , and 't is from hence my hope and joy do's spring . nay , this is all my hope , and my desire , 't is this that raises up my soul yet higher . and when on this i do contemplate i neither matter mens nor devils hate : this covenant affords me such relief it strengthens me , and kills my unbelief : i hereby see , and know god is my god , and tho' i for my sins do bear his rod ; yet he his loving-kindness won't remove , altho' he doth me fatherly reprove . after this sort , methinks i heard him speak , whilst he was here , and lay so sick and weak ; but now he 's gone to that sweet place of joy , where sin nor sorrow shall him more annoy : he fell asleep in jesus , and shall lie in his sweet arms unto eternity . this covenant hath set upon his head that glorious crown his saviour merited ; a morning without clouds his soul do's see , which so shall last unto eternity . like to the sun 's sweet shining after rain , or , like a captive prince turn'd home again that has in bondage been for many year and when christ comes , his glory will appear which now approaches and draws very near . his body therefore tho' intomb'd in earth , shall quickly rise and gloriously shine forth . awake ye virgins then , and sleep no more prepare with speed , the bridegroom 's at the door ; o watch ! look out ! ye little think or know , what things the mighty god's about to do . epitaph . here forty lies a little while asleep , 't will not be long before he shall awake ; forbear therefore his friends and do not weep for of great glory does his soul partake . he 's gone before , see you as ready be for joy above , and bless'd felicity . advertisement . neanomianism unmask'd ; the 1 st . 2 d. and 3 d. part , being an answer to mr. d. william's book , entituled , gospel-truth stated and vindicated , by isa. chauncy . a rejoynder to mr. d. william's . reply . examen confectionis pacificae , or a friendly examination of the pacifick paper , by the same author . the banquetting-house , or a feast of fat things ; opening many sacred scripture mysteries , profitable for all who would attain to the saving knowledge of christ. by b. keach . sold by h. barnard , at the bible in the poultrey . the ax laid to the root , on mat. 3.10 . in two parts , printed for j. harris , at the har●● in the poultrey . by b. k. reader , these errata's that have escaped the press , thou art desired to correct with thy pen. page 14. line 19. blot out the. p. 14. l. 30. for ( he ) read the. for are , r. is . in p. 32. l. 29. for pass , r. basis . p. 33. l. 38. blot out not ; in p. 35. l. 7. for wonderment , r. wonderment . in p. 35. l. 30. blot out ( and. ) l. 35. for applies , r. implies . p. 34. l. 28. for everlashing , r. everlasting . p. 36. l. 32. for ( were ) . r. be saved . p. 40. l. 27. for nor , r. nay . in p. 42. l. 19. add hear ; hear and your souls shall live ; hear , is left out . p. 40. l. 26. for silled , r. filled . there are also many false pointings , that greatly spoil the sense ; which , reader , likewise thou art desired to correct with thy pen. these books next following , are published by benjamin keach . singing of psalms , proved to be a gospel ordinance , price bound , one shilling six pence . 2. rector rectified , and corrected ; being an answer to mr. william burket's treaty of infant baptism , rector of mildin ; in suffolk . price bound , one shilling . 3. answer to the athenian society , concerning infant baptism . 4. the counterfeit christian ; containing two sermons : being an exposition of that parabolical text , mat. 12.43 , 44. when the unclean spirit is gone out , &c. these four printed and sold by the author , at his house , near horsly-down . 5. the everlasting covenant : a sermon , preach'd jan. 29 th . 1692 / 3. at the funeral of mr. henry forty , minister of the gospel . printed for h. barnard , at the bible , in the poultrey . 6. the ax laid to the root , 1 st . part : containing two sermons , by way of exposition , on matth. 3.10 . proving , that god made a two-fold covenant with abraham ; and , that circumcision , doth not appertain to the covenant of grace , but to the legal covenant god made with abraham's natural seed as such . 7. the ax laid to the root , 2 d. part : wherein the last arguments of mr. john flavell , in his reply to mr. philip cary , are answered ; also , a brief answer to mr. rothwell's book , intituled , paede-baptismus vindicatus , as to what seems most material : to which is added , some reflections , by way of reply , in confutation of a new book , called , plain scripture proofs , that john baptist did certainly baptise infants , as the adult . written by one mr. exell minister of the gospel . these two sold by john harris , at the harrow , in the poultrey . 8. the marrow of justification : two sermons , on rom. 4.5 . but to him that worketh not , but believeth , &c. printed for dorman newman , at the king's-arms in the poultrey . these six last , in quarto , stitched , may be had all bound together , and sold by john harris , and h. barnard . 9. mystery babylon , proved to be the present church of rome : together with the time of the end. price bound 1 s. sold by n. crouch , and the author . 10. the old man's legacy to his daughters . wherein the hidden mysteries of faith , and experience , are briefly discussed and laid down . in a plain and familiar dialogue , in six several conferences , betwixt the authors two daughters , elizabeth , and margaret . to which is added , some choice discoveries of the author 's most excellent experiences . in two parts . written by n. t. deceased , when near ninety years of age , for the private use of his daughters aforesaid , and now made publick at the request of many . 11. chirurgus marinus : or , the sea-chirurgion . being instructions to junior chirurgic practitioners , who design to serve at sea in this imploy . in two general parts . the first part contains necessary directions , how the chirurgion should furnish himself with medicines , instruments , and necessaries , fit for that office ; together with a medicinal catalogue , and an exemplary invoyce . the second part contains the surgions practice at sea , both chirurgical and physical ; which practical part serves as well at land as at sea. by john moyle , sen. one of their majesties superannuated sea chirurgions . 12. the history of madamoiselle de st. phale . giving a full account of the miraculous conversion of a noble french lady , and her daughter , to the reformed religion . with the defeat of the intriegues of a jesuite their confessor . translated out of french. 13. christ alone exalted in dr. crisp's sermons , partly confirmed in answering mr. daniel william's preface to his gospel truth stated ; by alledging testimonies from scripture , and the doctrine , of the church of england , in the book of homilies establish'd by law , and other orthodox authorities : shewing , how he had wronged as well the truth , as the said doctor in the great point of justification , by the neonomian doctrine . these four last books , are to be sold by henry barnard , at the bible in the poultrey : where is to be sold , at the same place , the book , entituled , christ made sin. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47489-e450 reader , this head is added , it was not deliver'd in the sermon . advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations in a funeral sermon long since preach'd / by the late reverand dr. thomas manton ... and now occasionally published on the much lamented death of mrs. ann terry, who died the 9th of november, 1693. with a short account of some passages of her life, and papers left under her own hand. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. 1694 approx. 158 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 65 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a51833 wing m517 estc r32908 12778762 ocm 12778762 93798 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51833) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 93798) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1036:17) advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations in a funeral sermon long since preach'd / by the late reverand dr. thomas manton ... and now occasionally published on the much lamented death of mrs. ann terry, who died the 9th of november, 1693. with a short account of some passages of her life, and papers left under her own hand. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. xxviii, 100 p. printed by j.d. for jonathon robinson ... , london : 1694. imperfect: pages faded with loss of print. preface signed by matthew silvester. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-05 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations . in a funeral-sermon , long since preach'd by the late reverend dr. thomas manton , d. d. and now occasionally published on the much lamented death of mrs. ann terry , who died the 9th of november , 1693. with a short account of some passages of her life , and papers left under her own hand . london , printed by i. d. for ionathan robinson , at the golden lion in st. paul's church-yard . 1694. the preface . reader ; that which occasioned this discourse and preface , is a late stroke of providence , in translating a daughter of abraham from hence to abraham's bosom , where she now rests in the delightful expectations of her full resurrection unto life eternal . she was a person whom i well knew , and greatly valued , and that i did discern by free and frequent conversation with her , treasures of knowledg and grace richly abiding in her ; and with great iudgment and savour pertinently brought forth by her , in order to her fuller satisfaction and edification in what concern'd her soul , as to its duty whilst embodied , and its full bliss when it was to be removed hence . she ever was concern'd to know her duty , and the true matter , grounds and usefulness of her christian hope , in order to the effectual influencing of her concerned spirit in her determined services and station . she ever was solicitous to know her vvork , and to discharge her trust as a christian , and answerably to her relations and family , wherein she behaved her self not as without law to god , but as under law to christ ; and so deported her self with true and commendable exemplariness as a vvife , a mother , and a mistress , and as one full of thoughts and care therein to abide with god , and to approve her self to him in his own solemn day of iudgment . she was a person of great exercises through the tedious urgencies of her long and many bodily infirmities , which she bore with patience , and providently improved unto the great advantage of her better part. she would not suffer sense to sit in iudgment upon providence , but fetch'd her measures of god's dealing with her from that faith , and from those thoughts which took their directory from god's own sacred oracles . she concealed her resentments of her troubles ( so far as i could see ) from all save only such as she judged able judiciously to minister to her satisfaction . her objections were not trivial , but such as did require considerable resolutions of , which she was very apprehensive , observant , and ( i think ) tenacious of . her troubles hindered not her converse with god in solitudes , nor the fit indearments and improvements of both relative and friendly converse . she is now gone to the felicity and imployments for which she was , through grace and holy industry , considerably prepared . and what her spirit breath'd for and after , may be discerned in part by these few instances of her closet-work , which her sorrowful husband hath thought fit to communicate to the world. 't is such a wife as he has lost , as that the sense and unavoidable remembrances of that loss may well urge sorrowful nature to its tears and groans . and of these , considerable measures are needful and allowable , but provocations to excessive grief , through such a stroak , render it needful that christian bounds and limits to such sorrows be seasonably proposed and well considered . and therefore this funeral text is fitly offered to the mourners thoughts by the apostle that recorded it , and by the reverend author who has fitly insisted upon that clause . the serious perusal whereof , and of these few memoirs of the deceased , so devoutly contemplative for her own good , and for the benefit of others , is really judged worthy of due consideration , both by the publisher , and by thy true friend , in and for the great disposer of times and lives , whilst , i am thine , in all christian services , matthew silvester . it being thought necessary to make some particular ( though short ) mention of the party , on the account of whose death this sermon and papers are published ; it naturally follows from a principle of gratitude , honour and iustice that 's due to the dear and precious memory of mr. terry's first vvife , to take notice also of some of those indearing qualifications that were very conspicuous in her . the less indeed will be said of either , because what is related of the one is so applicable in all respects to the other . it is no small part of the honour that 's due to her memory that she was a daughter of that excellent divine dr. thomas manton , and bestowed in marriage to mr. terry , by his peculiar choice , out of that most kind and cordial respect that he had for him . she was , as to her person , very lovely , of most curious and excellent parts , of a ready and quick wit , and good understanding , and such a transcendent sweetness of temper , joined with true religiousness , that she was highly valued and esteemed by all that knew her . in all relations she answered her pious education , as a child , a mother , and wife , never any went beyond her . it hath been often said , that she was made up of love , which character she fully answered : she had love sufficient for ten good wives ; it 's impossible for any in that relation , to express more than she did to her dear husband , ( who was , as to her , the life of all her other comforts ) and this express'd not with childish fondness , but with prudence and discretion . to the day of her death she would say , that her love was still increasing , and she found that every day she lov'd him more and more . she carried her self with all imaginable duty and respects to her relations , to whom she was very dear . great was her prudence and conduct in the management of her houshold-affairs . she had the bowels of a tender mother to the souls as well as the bodies of her dear children , and did endeavour , by counsel and instruction , to instil in them the principles of true godliness . she had that true piety towards god , and publickness of spirit to do good , that she was beloved of all that knew her ; she was of that free and generous temper , that she thought no pains too much to serve her friends to the utmost of her power , as many can witness in the late publick troubles . she had a most indeared respect to all the ordinances of the gospel , which she frequently attended on , and that many times when she was more sit to be confin'd to her chamber . she had many mercies to bless god for , for many years together , but not without her sore troubles ( which did not apear to every one ) both outward and inward ; but under them all there was no abatement or decay in respect of her duty , either to god or man. the death of several of her children was the beginning of her sorrows ; and afterwards that of her dear father , whom she loved with a most passionate love : this bore hard on her tender spirit , and brought her into a great melancholy : her troubles continued more or less ( though with some abatement ) to her dying day , by which her life was many times a very burden to her . her doubts , as to her eternal state , were sometimes very grievous ; but yet through the goodness of god she still kept up this resolution , to venture her soul in the hands of her redeemer . having one time ask'd very earnestly , will not christ receive me if i come to him ? receiving some encouragement in this matter , she replied with chearfulness , then will i come to him . she took great delight in reading her father's sermons , especially those of the life of faith under our affliction : and very comfortable was the insuing passage of one of them to her under her doubts and fears , viz. the question being propounded by poor doubting souls thus , how shall we know whether god be our god ? answ. why , do you love him as your chiefest good ? do you seek his glory as your utmost end ? do you obey him as your highest lord and law-giver ? and do you depend on him as your paymaster and benefactor ? but if all this will not help you to judg your hearts , there are but two things will give you comfort , and those are your choice and your resignation : do you chuse god for your portion ? though you cannot say god has chosen you , and that he is yours , yet you will chuse him : do you by an holy importunate faith thus fasten your selves upon god , and say , lord , if thou wilt not honour me , love me , bless me as thine , for i am resolved to be thine ; and if i perish , one must perish that desires to be thine . and this she would often repeat . the night before she died , her husband earnestly and humbly besought the lord , that he would graciously be pleased to give her some comfortable manifestations of his love to her poor soul , ( o let it never be forgotten , the gracious condescension of god to his unworthy creature . ) the next morning her faithful and loving servant ( who attended her in all her ilness ) brought him word that now the case was altered with her mistress ; she was now reconciled to the thoughts of death , and was refreshed with the sense of god's love , and desired to have no more cordials given her , she had better comforts to refresh her soul. this was on the lord's day in the morning . she spake not much after , but lay in a quiet composed frame of spirit , softly groaning under the pains of death , that made his nearer approach to her every hour : but even then when she heard her husband speak to her , she would answer with a very pleasing and chearful voice . a dear friend lay on the bed by her a very little space of time before she expired , and heard her utter distinctly , though softly , full of comfort . soon after she ended her life with the sabbath , and went to rest on the 16th of march , 1689. the person that succeeded her in this relation , was also the daughter of that reverend and worthy divine mr. thomas burroughs , minister at cotsbrook in northampton-shire , till the year 1662 , when he , with some hundreds more , were turn'd out for non-conformity . after a convenient and decent space of time ( of her continuing a widow ) she chang'd her condition into a married state , though much against her own inclination and temper , but purely out of her respect and kindness to mr. terry , whom she knew intirely lov'd her . but when once the nuptial knot was tied , her carriage , as a wife , was with all imaginable respect accompanied with most indearing tenderness , often expressing how much her love was increased to her husband , much more than she thought it could have been , though before as a friend she equally preferr'd him to all others of that rank . her domestick affairs she managed with great prudence ; and in that station she gain'd love and respect from all . she had a most tender and compassionate regard for the souls of her dear children . she took great care to instruct them in the principles of religion , and incouraging them to read and learn the holy scriptures . this her care also did extend to her servants , whom she would on all occasions be ready , either by her advice , or by reading some good book to them her self , when their business would permit , and endeavour to beget in them a true sense of their sin and misery , and the worth of their precious souls . god , who is the god of nature as well as of grace , was pleased to endow her with a great proportion both of natural and spiritual excellencies . she was a very beautiful and lovely person in her younger years , few exceeding her , and of most excellent parts , and of great understanding , yet of a very humble spirit , and very mean in her own eyes , though deservedly valued by those that knew her : such was the sweetness of her temper , accompanied with true godliness , that she was an ornament to her profession . to speak of her as a christian , would exceed the limits of these papers : god had greatly adorn'd and beautified her soul with the graces of his holy spirit ; and agreable thereunto she lived in some holy proportion answerable to the vows of her consecration , and to the godly education she received from her pious relations : she intirely devoted her self to god , to be wholly his , and at his disposal . she had a singular value for the holy scriptures , which she constantly made conscience of reading , and would sometimes write them out with profitable remarks on them , for her own spiritual use. other good books also had their due esteem and use ; but she would often say , none ( of that kind ) yielded her more comfort and satisfaction than dr. manton's . it was very usual in her own bible and books , to give some little mark at those passages that were of particular concern to her self , under the variety of the dispensation that she passed through . she had a most high esteem for the publick worship and service of god , which she never , or rarely , omitted to frequent , unless hindred by some unavoidable occasion . the sabbath was a day of delight to her ; she made conscience as of seeing religious duties performed in the family , so also of redeeming time for her private converse with god : and this was resolved and subscribed to under her own hand , many years ago , that she would spend some time in prayer and meditation ; and herein followed the method she received from the directions of worthy mr. daniel burgess , to help her in that work , viz. to go over the creed , the lord's prayer , and commandments ; all which she did perform , with many other portions of scripture , as appears from the many papers left under her own hand . she was much pleased with what she heard a worthy divine relate ( in pressing his hearers to private prayer ) of a holy man that would never omit this duty , but when like to be hindred by any company , would make this honest excuse , i must take my leave of you for a while ; there 's a friend above stays to speak with me , meaning god , that has commanded this duty . and indeed private prayer , conscientiously and constantly performed , is a notable sign of a gracious heart , for i think an hypocrite can rarely be constant and uniform in this duty ; for that of iob may be very applicable to this , will he delight himself in the almighty ? will he always call upon god ? i neither do nor dare i censure all those that make such a bustle about their ten and three a clock devotions ; i hope and believe that many serious and godly christians may in all sincerity perform them ; but i think , as they are now ordered , they come not so near that command of our saviour , when thou prayest , enter into thy closet . besides , there 's too much ground to fear they shut out both private and family-prayer too in many places : and it 's too too common a practice in this city , to go from the temple to the play-house , from the house of god to the house of belial . it 's very observable that such as are most zealous this way , accompanied with the neglect of family and private prayer , are generally very loose and irregular in their conversation . as to her deportment under afflictions , which she was exercised withal , both spiritual and temporal , ( for god chastens every son whom he receives ) it was accompanied with great humility and self-judging , often expressing her unworthiness of the least of the mercies that god vouchsafed to her . she was far from a querulous or murmuring temper , endeavouring after a humble submissive frame of spirit : and under these afflictions that sometimes did greatly depress her sweet and tender spirit , she would frequently express how much comfort and reviving she received from god's holy word , and not only under her troubles , but also when freed from them , in the most quiet and sedate frame of spirit . she would bless god that this life would not last always . she had frequent illness , and was once thought by her friends past recovery , but when restored again ( though thankful to god for his favour to her ) she did seem to bewail her infelicity : i thought , said she , that i was going off the stage of this evil world , to the place where i should sin and sorrow no more ; but i now see i must again be toss'd on the waves and billows thereof . when it was told her , that according to the course of nature she might yet live thirty or forty years ; this was so far from pleasing her , that nature that usually abhors the thought of death , did as it were shrink and recoil within her , to think of being so long kept out of heaven . under her last ilness , ( being with child ) in which there were some more than ordinary symptoms of her danger , at which she was not at all dismayed , but said , as to application of means , i am willing to submit to any thing for the satisfaction of my friends ; but as for my self , i am content without any . this cutting expression she utter'd to her dear husband with great chearfulness . she was so far from desiring to live , that she much rather desired to be dissolved , and to be with christ. the night before she died she had spent some time in secret , and read one of dr. manton's sermons ; but such was her humble and self-condemning temper , that she to her very last bewail'd her not improvement of her last days mercies , as she thought she ought . her death was very surprizing to her friends , though not to her self . she always believed her approaching change was near , though her friends had some hopes of her recovery , till by a sudden and surprizing stroke they found her desire accomplished , and her words true , to their astonishing grief and trouble . she died the 9th of november , 1693. in the 38th year of her age. no more shall be here mentioned of her , but refer you to the perusal of some few ( amongst many ) of her manuscripts , in which you will perceive a vein of vertue and piety running through all the course of her conversation ; an humble avouchment of god to be her portion ; and a thankful recounting of god's mercy to her , from her very infancy ; her tender regard to the souls of her dear children ; her humble and submissive temper under her afflictions ; her earnest perswasion to others and her self , to work the work that god has given them to do ; with a sense of the sins and judgments deserved and expected on the nation ; her awful sense of the day of death and judgment , with the happy state of glorified souls ; with her fear and hopes in relation to these . a pindarique ode , to the ever glorious memory of my honoured aunt , mrs. ann terry , who put on her immortal robes , and incorruptible crown , march the 16th , 1689. in the 36th year of her age. stat sua cuique dies : breve , & irreparabile tempus omnibus est vitae ; sed , famam extendere factis , hoc virtutis opus . — — — — virgil. stanza i. my melancholy muse , so ost imploy'd on the ungrateful themes of death , hop'd now a vacancy to have injoy'd , and for a while t' suspend her mournful breath . but , lo ! a recent scene of grief appears , ponderous , overwhelming grief , without allay , without relief , too great to be express'd by any poets tears . for who amongst the sons of harmony can give due praises unto thee ? or can sufficiently deplore the loss of such in vulgar excellence , as took its flight , in thee , from hence , and will ( perhaps ) bless the unworthy world no more . ii. ah! how unequally does heaven bestow its favours on poor mortals here below ? sometimes it suffers us to be o'recharg'd with surfeiting felicity . grown big with ioy , we think our selves secure of the much-wish'd-for blessing ; but alas ! we little know how soon from us 't will pass : a sudden metamorphosis deprives us of our charming bliss ; bliss too soul-ravishing long to endure : else had we not been summoned now by fate ( with overflowing eyes ) to sing thy much too early obsequies , and godlike vertues to commemorate . iii. from the illustrious manton sprung , ( too great a theme for my mean song ) and fit alone for his , who david's glorious actions so di in whom the graces all conspir'd ( vinely sung : to render him belov'd , admir'd ; who firmly has enroll'd his name in the most durable records of fame ; who with such wondrous art conjoins solidity and sweetness in his lines . great by thy birth , yet greater by thy merit ; thou didst more of his worth than wealth inherit . such was thy generous st●●k ! nor didst thou any lustre thence derive , thou didst not back again ( wich greater int●rest ) give . iv. thy spring with beauties did abound , with them thy riper years were crown'd : thou all perfections hadst , and more than any of thy sex before . the composition of thy heavenly mind , in which iudgment , fancy , and wit , did every one enthroned sit , was fra●'d to vertue , and from vice refin'd . a kinder wife no husband e're cou'd boast ; a more indulgent mother never children lost . tender thou wast , to an hyperbole , to all thou knew'st in misery : so very ready to relieve , they scarce could ask faster than thou didst give . friendship in others but a name , a mere pretence , an empty sound , in thee reality became ; in thee ( and scarce in any else ) was sound . many of wisdom's daughters have done well ; but thou ( great heroine ! ) didst all excel . v. by sharp and long continu'd pains to thee this world embitter'd was : that chear with which god entertains those whom he has appointed to a better place . thither ( at length ) thou' rt gone ; allow'd to be one of that heav'nly royal society . eight lovely babes before thou sentst from hence , to take possession for thee , of thy bless'd inheritance . there dost thou shine in robes of uncreated light , whose dazling lustre than the sun 's more bright . there dost thou with a tuneful voice , and more melodious heart , rejoice : for ever love , for ever sing the praises of thy glorious king. yet give us leave , though we congratulate thy never-fading happiness , and scenes of unpoluted bliss , our own loss to regret . thou wast so well belov'd , death's fatal dart wounded ten thousand others when it pierc'd thy heart . vi. heaven knew thy worth , and call'd thee hence , lest we ( too ready to commit idolatry ) at thy vertues amaz'd should prostrate fall , court the idea , and contemn the great original . let those aspiring ones erect a tomb , and with a fruitless cost adorn some stately , though decaying , urn ; who only great by being buried would become . thy fame , by pure desert , is rais'd so high , that ' spight of time and fate it shall not die ; but ( as it well deserves ) live to eternity . sic raptim cecinit . hen. cutts . her epitaph . here lies ( or rather lives ) a saint , whose worth no heraldry's able to blazon forth : perfectly fair , as to her outward form , but greater beauties did her soul adorn : good to a miracle ; in temper even , always submissive to the will of heaven . by her own deeds she most her self commends : the best of wives , of mothers , and of friends . precious in ours , but in her maker's eyes a pearl of most inestimable price : much too angelick long on earth to stay , to heaven ( her blessed home ) she 's flow'n away , there 's her immortal part ; her frailer dust shall have the resurrection of the just. to sum up all her vertues , this is she that was what others should , but cannot be . henry cutts . on the greatly lamented death of mrs. ann terry , my most dear aunt , who departed this mortal life on the 9th of november , 1693. in the thirty eighth year of her age. a pindarique ode . o faciles dare summa deos ! eademque tueri difficiles . — — — — — lucan . stanza i. in vain do mortals court eternity ; in vain do they attempt to baffle fate , and hope by actions worthy praise themselves to immortality to raise : no : they are all to death predestinate . for both the vertuous and the vitious must fall , alike , undistingaish'd in the dust : else thou , bright mirror of thy sex , had been preser●'d ali●e to endless ages ; but thy glorious fame thy fading ahes shall survive , and with arabian sweets persume thy fragrat name . ii. o that my ( long since bed-rid ) muse cou'd somewhat worthy thee produce ! but how ( alas ! ) can she , enfeebled , sing the praises of an earthly cherabim ? how can she he prepar'd for such a losty theme ? or such rapturous strains bring forth as may be adaequate to thy immensurable worth ? he that unto thiue altar comes , must bring no less than hecatombs . thy vertues do require a nobler pen : vertues above the reach of mortal verse , and all that the sublimest flights of fancy can rehearse . but yet , ( methinks ) though not inspir'd , i may be suffer'd to attend unto her melancholy urn , so dear an aunt , so much esteem'd a friend . thy bed of rest with briny tears i 'le strow , and on thy gloomy hearse my wreath of cypress throw . iii. thy outward beauty was so exquisite it claim'd , at once , both wonder and delight . hadst thou but lived in apelles time , ( and thy corporeal graces in their prime ) he had not pick'd up features , here and there , to limn a goddess , all in thee collective were . nature thy form thus elegant ●●●●iv'd , as if that ( yet more ) radiant gem thy mind disdain'd , in a less glorious case , to be confin'd . but o! who can express th' immensity of thy ubounded tenderness ? a temper so for obligations frram'd , requests were ever granted , soon as nam'd . a general philanthropy thou hadst , and so th' whole universe thy debtor mad't . for thy surprining goodness did extend beyond the narrow limits of a relative or friend . thus we in thee a female * titus find , born to be the delight of all mankind . iv. but still those had the best pretence to thy distributive benevolence , as were afflicted , tatter'd , poor , who up and down the world , by want , were thrown ; and unjust fortune's langhing-stock become : rarely did they go unrelieved from thy door . nor didst thou hereby aim at praise , ( the wise man's scorn , though pride of fools ) or strive vain-gloriously to gain applause . thou wast too gen'rous , such mean ends to have , thy left hand seldom knew what 't was thy right hand gave . vertue , that 's so transcendent , wants a name , exceeding wonder , and surpassing fame . such was thy exemplary piety , so imaffected , and so void of art , as made appear , sincerity had livery and seisin of thy heart . what , didst thou not attempt to be a denizon of immortality ? whilst here on earth , in thee we might have seen a citizen of new jerusalem . thou couldst not with inglorious sloth dispense , but stormedst heaven with a holy violence : inflamed with seraphick fire , thither thou didst , from whence thou cam'st , aspire . thither thou didst both aims and actions bend , and to that blessed port did all thy steerage tend . v. knowledg , the richest boon that can be given , to earth's possessor , by indulgent heaven ; which others ( often ) labour for in vain , and reap no fruit to recompense their pain , thou hadst , without a stint ; dispensed with such liberality , that t was not difficult to find a whole * encyclopaedia in thy mind . it came so swift , we ( almost ) did believe 't was not acquir'd by study , but intuitive . yet so transcendently immense was thy , not to be parallell●d , humility ; as is that vast illustrious magazine of worth that with so great a splendor did shine sorth , and unto all that knew thee was reveal'd , were only from thy modest self conceal'd . thus , o're his radiant face , a vail the god-like moses drew , and shrowded glories much too bright for mortal eyes to ( view . vi. yet so divinely great a life found not uninterrupted ease : thy conduct in full lustre did appear , when thou , by fate , wast summoned to steet thy fluctuating bark in most tempestuous seas . heaven saw it fit to exercise thy passive vertues , that afflictions should imbitter a vain world to thee , ( a world made up of vanity ) and from its ore refine such precious gold. this blessing only didst thou want ; before thou wast a saint , but now almost a consessor . at length ( too good for earth ) thou' rt called hence , a member of the church triumphant to commence . but why , ( invidious death ) o why so soon ? why must her night come , e're sh 'as ended noon ? well may those wretches fear to die , whose ill-spent life no prospect , but eternal wee does give . thou calmly didst surrender up thy breath , unterrify'd at the approach of death . nor did emasculating grons betray thee , emulous of any farther stay , or loth the gastly summons to obey . thy life was wondrous , but its exit is a glorious * apotheosis . thus though with splendor phoebus gilds the morning of his race , yet are his brightest beams reserv'd the setting sun to grace . feb. 19. 1693 / 4. sic moerens deflevit , hen. cutts . the contents of the papers . paper i. an humble avouchment of god to be her portion , pag. 34. paper ii. an earnest expostulation with her self in reference to the great concern of her pretious and immortal soul , p. 37. paper iii. her most serious thoughts on this passage , you will not come unto me that you may have life , p. 44. paper iv. her grave and godly advice to her children , p. 47. paper v. her humble and chearful deportment under afflictions , p. 53. paper vi. a thankful recounting of many particular mercies vouchsafed to her , p. 55. paper vii . the scriptures of great use and comfort , p. 63. paper viii . serious reflections on the late earthquake , p. 67. paper ix , & x. an awful sense of death and her own approaching dissolution , p. 71 , & 76. paper xi . a delightful contemplation of the blessedness of the saints in heaven , p. 82. paper xii . texts of scripture that yielded great comfort and support under her desponding thoughts , p. 90. paper xiii . an earnest desire to be fitted for and brought unto heaven , p. 99. a funeral sermon . 1 cor. 7. 30. and they that weep as though they wept not . i shall insist upon that clause at this time . in it i shall observe , 1. a concession . he grants them some kind of sorrow and grief . 2. a correction . he moderateth it . 1. he grants them some kind of sorrow , in that he puts weeping for adversity ; the affection for the condition ; the effects for the cause ; as allowing them an holy sensibleness of their misery , they that weep . then he correcteth and moderateth this sorrow , as if they wept not , because he will not trust such a dangerous weapon in their own hands , and leave the corinthians to the vileness and waywardness of their own affections ; though i allow you to weep , yet 't is as if you wept not . the points are two . i. that god alloweth , yea requireth of his people some sorrow and sensibleness of their condition . ii. that the heart must be so managed under this sorrow , that we may be said not to weep , rather than to weep , at the same time ; it must be with such moderation . or thus ; christians should so sorrow under the sense of their condition , as if they did not sorrow . i shall speak briefly of both these . doct. i. god requireth and alloweth some sorrow : they that weep . i shall , 1st . shew you that god doth so . 2dly . shew you what this sorrow is . 1. to prove that so it is , i will not stand to instance places of scripture in a point so familiar . the reasons are ; 1st . this is the end why we have affections , that they may be exercised in their season . god hath planted in every man affections sutable to every condition in which he placeth him . it is said , the stars in their order fought against sisera ; so affections . we have joy for prosperity , sorrow for adversity . what did god mean , to give us such contrary affections , if not that they should be acted in their order and time ? that these affections should , like the spokes , turn with the wheel of providence ? and therefore god complaineth much , as if he were frustrated of his end , when we do not answer providence by an exercise of those affections that are sutable to it ; as ier. 5. 3. i have smitten them , and they have not grieved . god wondereth they should be so unnatural , as not to grieve when stricken by him . so for mercy ; hos. 11. 3. i taught ephraim to go , taking them by their arms ; but they knew not that i healed them : that is , they were not sensible of it , did not take notice , and were not sutably affected with the love of god : they are ranked among the rest of men that are under their natural condition , who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , without natural affection ; to be flinted , hornyhearted , such as have no smartness , no quickness of affection ; especially when the misery is of such a nature , that near friends are taken from us , is very displeasing to god. 2dly . because that due exercise of sorrow under affliction is very serviceable and beneficial to the soul : ( 1. ) to help spiritual duties . anima nunquam melius agit , quam ex impetu insignis alicujus affectus : the soul works best when it hath the advantage of an affection . when the soul is made better by the bitterness of grief we feel , and the soul maketh the affection of sorrow to be vehiculum , a kind of a chariot to carry on the work of repentance ; ier. 2. 19. know and see that it is an evil thing and bitter , that thou hast forsaken the lord thy god. when the iron is hot , if you strike in , you may get good ; take the advantage of your hearts under your sorrows . 3dly . to make it serious . sorrows gather the soul together , and make it more it self : a man cometh to himself in his grief . usually god taketh this course with his people ; though they begin in the flesh , they end in the spirit . sorrow maketh reason to stand still . solomon speaketh of bethinking themselves in the land of their afflictions , 1 kings 8. 57. jolly persons are slight , never think upon any thing . those that wallowed in pleasures did put far away the day of the lord , amos 6. 3. till the prodigal was tamed by outward grief and want , he never had thoughts of returning . they that did not grieve when god struck them , ier. 5. 3. refused to receive correction . the more sorrowful the mind is , the more serious . sorrow drieth up all those swimming thoughts and pleasing imaginations , by which men drive away their time , and divert their care : and therefore there is a great deal of benefit comes by it ; it puts the soul in an advantagious way of receiving good. 4thly . this would double the affliction , not to grieve for such things as nearly touch us . to break the bent and course of nature is dangerous . affections , when strongly stirred , must have their exercise , for fear of greater harms . it is an ease sometimes to mourn : strangled grief choaks the heart : 1 sam. 25. 37. nabal's heart became as a stone within him , when he heard tidings that mightily affected him ; it had been better he had wept and mourned . as chirurgeons first let the sore soften , before they begin to draw it . iob 2. 13. iob's friends said not a word to him the first seven days , for they saw that his grief was great : they let sorrow have its course for a while . stop floods in their full career , and they rage and swell . when the death of a near friend hath opened the sluces , let the waters play a little in the channel , till it be calmer . passions spend and tire themselves in their exercise . grief is sometimes eased by the expression of it . there is reason too for it , if that of cardan be true , that an heavy heart is eased by nothing so much as by sighs and tears ; because tears empty the head of some vapours with which it is surcharged , and sighs lighten the heart of some fuliginous damps that oppress it . these are nature's offers for ease . you see the reasons . 2. what grief and sorrow this is that god alloweth and approveth . what is sinful grief i shall shew you in the next point : here what is lawful and required . i answer ; not every sorrow : for there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; a godly sorrow , and a worldly sorrow ; 2 cor. 7. 10. godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation , not to be repented of ; but the sorrow of the world worketh death . in the general it must be a godly sorrow . in these respects ; ( 1. ) you must see somewhat of god in the affliction . it is a motive this on both hands , both to sensibleness and patience , that it is from god : heb. 12. 5. my son , despise not thou the chastening of the lord ; because it is from god. a man slights every ordinary chance ; but when it is from god , then it worketh more effectual upon the spirit : as we see in the case of the philistines ; 1 sam. 6. 9. if that stroke that happened upon them were a chance , they would trouble themselves no further about it ; but if it were from the god of israel , they would advise about sending home the ark. ( 2. ) it must be serviceable sorrow , to set you the nearer to god. sorrow is of the nature of those things that are required , not for themselves , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for some farther thing . you must not rest in your sorrow , but make use of it ; that it may work kindly , employ it about the work of the sanctuary . do not cherish your affections for their own sakes , but so as they may be helpful to the soul. do not go about to still the affection , to think that 's all that is required ; let it do the soul service , and be glad you have your hearts under such an advantage . you know how ioshua served the gibeonites , he did not slay them , but condemned them to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the sanctuary . grief and sorrow , well managed , will make a good drawer of water for the sanctuary . make your sorrow your servant now to draw water for you , to make you smart and bleed for a good use and purpose . there is a gracious promise to them that sow in tears ; psal. 126. 5. they that sow in tears , shall reap in ioy. now we are in tears , but we do not sow tears ; tears are not seed , we have not the crop. but what shall we do to make them seed ? spiritualize them , make them spiritual tears ; let the water run in a holy channel , and then , like the waters of the sanctuary , they will be healing waters . the death of a friend , though never so dear to us , will never cause any but carnal tears ; they minister a good occasion of mourning , but they do not minister a cause and ground of mourning . it is good to distinguish between the cause and the occasion . at such a time god calleth for more than ordinary sensibleness and sorrow ; but not because he hath declared his pleasure concerning our friends , that is murmuring , not mourning . we should take this occasion indeed , but our sorrow should work upon a spiritual ground and object . 1st . we should take this occasion to mourn for our own sins . miseries are but the effects of sin. you should labour to make sin bitter by your present feeling . there should be , i say , a special renewing of our repentance by such providences . experience teacheth best . now you see what sorrow sin bringeth . if men would but improve their occasions of sorrow thus , their hearts would be more keen against sin. it is a great argument to make men continue in a course , when it never proveth evil to them : therefore god challengeth them , ier. 2. 5. what iniquity have you found in me , that you depart from me ? just as a martyr said , i have served jesus christ thus many years , and should i deny him now ? but if men would thus observe these experiences , sin cannot make this challenge : we can say of sin , thou hast killed my husband or wife at such a time , my daughter , my brother at such a time , &c. consider and say , have not i provoked god to remove the comfort of a parent or near relation from me ? it is said of gideon , iudg. 8. 16. that with briars and thorns he taught the men of succoth . so god many times teaches us . 2dly . we should take this occasion to weep for the publick abominations . when polus the tragedian was to act a mournful part , he brought in the urn , or the pot of ashes of his own dead son , that drew real tears from him . we are all to act a mournful part now , even to mourn for our abominations before the lord. it may be your grief is flat and low , awaken it by these private instances . but take heed , let it not stay there ; this is but to give the occasion , some other thing must be the cause and the object of it . o pour out a little water upon the publick sins , they are sparks that we have kindled ! as the prophet speaks , isa. 50. 11. behold ! all ye that kindle a fire , and compass your selves about with sparks . it is meant of sins ; not , as it is wrongly expounded , of walking in our own duties . well , pour out this water upon these sparks . when a town is on fire , every one will bring his bucket . why when the whole kingdom is compassed about with these sparks , god giveth you these private occasions , that you may bring your bucket to quench the common flame . so luke 23. 28. weep not for me , but weep for your selves and for your children . alas , who could choose but shed tears , to part with such a blessed companion as our saviour ? yet not for me , saith he , but for the survivors : weep for your sins and calamities that are coming upon you : let such an occasion open the flood-gates ; but then cut out a passage for them , that they may run this way . 3dly . for the publick miseries . private sorrows should be swallowed up in the publick . look , as private mercies are no mercies , unless it be well with sion ; and therefore it is annexed as a special blessing , psal. 128. 6. that they should see their childrens children , and peace upon israel . descensive love is strong always , but in these times more strong , because every one expected the messiah to come of his race ; but that is nothing without peace upon israel , it is not a consummate mercy without that . private griefs are nothing in comparison of the miseries of sion ; 1 sam. 4. 21. the glory is departed ! the glory is departed ! though she lost a father , lost an husband , that was sad ; but she reflects upon the principal cause of grief , the misery of the church of god. so see ier. 22. 10. weep ye not for the dead , neither bemoan him ; but weep sore for him that goeth away , for he shall return no more to his native country : not for good iosiah , but the misery of wicked shallum . thus it must be godly in respect to the end , to draw you to god these ways . use 1. it condemneth that slightness of spirit that is in most persons . god entereth into their families , and taketh thence a principal pillar , a husband or wife , but they are not affected with it ; they carelesly slight it , as if nothing had been done , or some chance had befallen them . a roman bragged , se nunquam cum matre , &c. they may say they were never comforted , they never needed it , they lay nothing to heart . brethren , the use of divinity indeed is to compose and still the spirit , not to make it stupid . i am sorry that i am forced to speak any thing to trouble you , i had rather comfort : but there is no true rest where there hath not been a due trouble ; therefore i must a little speak against this stoical patience and insensibleness . and because discovery of sin doth more wound the heart , than all the forcibleness of expression we can use , i shall not cudgel it with barren invectives , but labour to discover this sinful careless insensibleness to the heart , and distinguish it from an holy patience . i have been often upon such like subjects , therefore shall say the less now . i shall difference it chiefly in their grounds . 1. this slightness proceeds ; 1st . from want of consideration . there can be no patience where there is no sense of evils . they will not give their thoughts leave to work upon such objects . i do not say , we must make it the cause or object of our mourning ; yet i say , we must make it the occasion : this must awaken sad thoughts in us about our own sins , or others sufferings ; but they will not think of it . these are such as are described by the prophet , to put far away the evil day , amos 6. 3. that is , all consideration of god's dealings with them , or others . 2dly . from indulging pleasure . a voluptuous spirit is an insensible spirit ; eph. 4. 19. who being past feeling , give themselves over to work uncleanness with greediness . so it is said , hos. 4. 11. whoredom and wine do take away the heart ; that is , all smartness and quickness of affection . when the soul is sleeping in pleasure , there is a brawniness brought over it . pleasure is the drunkenness of the soul , and a drunken man feeleth nothing ; prov. 23. 35. they have stricken me , shalt thou say , and i was not sick ; they have beaten me , and i felt it not . 3dly . vain thoughts ; ier. 4. 14. how long shall vain thoughts dwell within thee ? evil workings of spirit , either seeking a way how they may get out , or contriving how it maketh for their worldly advantage . the devil darts evil thoughts in us , how a cross by some sinful course may work for our temporal good , our state augmented thereby , or capable of farther contentment and advancement in the world. 2. christian patience cometh from this ground ; it doth not exclude a sense of evil , but a quieting of the heart against evil. these are the grounds and workings of the thoughts . 1st . it seeth god in it : 1 sam. 3. 18. it is the lord , let him do what seemeth him good . psal. 39. 9. i was dumb , and opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . 2dly . it seeth god acting with soveraignty : dan. 4. 35. none can stay his hand , or say to him , what dost thou ? job 9. 12. behold , he taketh away , who can hinder him ? who will say to him , what dost thou ? job 33. 13. what , dost thou strive with him ? he giveth no account of his matters . 3dly . this soveraignty mollified with attributes . as ; ( 1. ) with infinite justice ; dan. 9. 14. the lord our god is righteous in all the works which he doth : just and righteous in all his ways . it is just , because god doth it : his will is the measure of his actings ; deut. 27. 15. all the people to say , amen ; it is just , lord. ( 2. ) with infinite wisdom ; isa. 28. 29. he is wonderful in counsel , and excellent in working : he knoweth what is better for you than you your selves ; for god hath the bowels of a mother , so the wisdom of a father . ( 3. ) with infinite love : it looketh upon god as a father ; iohn 18. 11. the cup that my father hath given me , shall i not drink of it ? though a bitter cup , it is from my father . ( 4. ) with infinite faithfulness ; psal. 119. 75. i know thy iudgments are right , and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me . it looketh upon afflictions as a means in god's hands . i proceed to the second point . doct. ii. that christians ought so to sorrow under the sense of their afflictions , as if they did not sorrow . their affections must be moderately exercised . having in the former point shewed what sorrow may be allowed , or is required of a christian , i shall shew you here what sorrow is disallowed or unlawful . 1. such as overwhelmeth and dejecteth the spirit , so as you are not your own man. this is called a fainting , or a sinking of the soul under affliction ; heb. 12. 5. faint not when thou art rebuked of the lord. as we must not slight it , so we must not faint under it ; fainting is , quando anima dejicitur de statu , when the soul is put out of the condition of a free soul , and delivered over to the possession of another . god hath given every man this fee-simple , to possess himself . now we are not our selves when we are overcome with grief and sorrow ; and therefore it is said , luke 21. 19. in patience possess your souls : implying , that a man hath not the use and command of his soul , when he is overcome with grief ; it doth as it were dispossess a man of himself . you know of a drunken man we say , he is not himself , because he hath not the free use of his reason . now this being overwhelmed with sorrow , is expressed in scripture by this very term , being drunk ; as isa. 63. 6. i will tread them down in mine anger , i will make them drunk in my fury : that is , bring such affliction as they shall not be able to injoy themselves under it , to have the free use and exercise of their reason . 2. such as is peevish . when men indulge themselves in their disquiets , and will not hearken to what might make for the settlement of their souls . when the heart yieldeth to passion , and huggeth grief , and will not let it go . there is a great deal of pride and stomach in men against god's dispensations , and therefore the prophet expresseth that intolerable misery that should light upon her children by the stomachfulness that was in rachel : jer. 31. 15. weeping for her children , she would not be comforted . men have no ear to hearken to what may be said for god , and therefore are resolved to hold the bitterness of their own thoughts . this stubborn pettishness and wilful grief may be sometimes in god's own chosen : it was in iacob , gen. 37. 35. he refused to be comforted ; for he said , i will go down into the grave unto my son mourning . i will ; it was a stomached wilful grief . christians , by a perverse peevish justifying of their passions , they say of their sorrows , as ionah did of his anger , ionah 4. 9. i do well to be angry . when men take it for granted , they do well in it , they resolve then to shut their ears against whatever might appease and quiet their thoughts . 3. such as are impatient and discontented , as if god had not dealt wisely or worthily with them . when a full vessel is shaken , the water will plash over : and when there is such a tumult in the heart , unseemly expressions will drop from us ; as if god should not have dealt thus with us , as to take away these comforts in which were all our solace , the staff and the stay of the family . we that are neighbours are apt very often in discontent to say , what a serviceable and useful person hath god taken away , and so many bad ones left ? as if god had not made a right choice . foolish man would be accounted wiser than god. but if a man were well skilled in god's attributes , he would never murmur , especially if he did but consider , this cometh from a wise god. the cause of all the disorder in the heart , is the want of fearing god's name , we are not skilled in his attributes . alphonsus blasphemously said , si in principio mundi ipse deo adfuisset , multa melius ornatiusque condenda essent ; things should have been ordered better , if he had been of god's council . many of you do not utter such expressions , but yet too often conceive such thoughts in your hearts ; you will not think so ; ay , but what mean the bleating of the sheep , and the lowing of the oxen ? such expressions as these , o! would to god i had died first ; as david , 2 sam. 18. 33. o absalom , my son , my son ! would to god that i had died for thee ! and again ; would to god i had been dead a long time ago , rather than to survive my happiness ; all my estate gone in an instant , as ( brethren ) in these empty trying times it is many a man's case : but remember , foolish man , the all-wise god thought it fittest for thee . yet thus doth the prophet elijah , when he was driven into the wilderness by jezebel , 1 kings 19. 4. in a discontent requests for himself , that he might die ; it is enough now , o lord , take away my life . 4. such as unfit for duty . affections are no further lawful than they fit for duty . when grief taketh off our hearts from the duties of our general or particular calling , it is an evil grief : see gen. 35. 19 , 21. rachel died , and was buried ; and israel journied and spread his tent. having lost so dear a wife , he doth not stand puling by the tomb ; but israel journied , he went on about his business . we ought so far to be sensible of providence , as may serve to quicken us to duty , not to hinder us . there is a great question now , whether we ought to fear or hope in our misery ; some of one side cry down fear ; some on the other side cry down hope : why , brethren , there is not much matter in the exercise of either of these affections , but according as they do more or less quicken you to duty . if you be the more earnest in prayer , because you hope success is near , truly that is a good disposition of heart ; if because fear , that is the most unchristian . i confess , fear is good when it ends in duty : iehosaphat feared , and set himself to seek the lord , 2 chron. 20. 3. and noah moved with fear , prepared an ark , heb. 11. 7. brethren , the bare exercise of affections is but a natural and an indifferent thing ; the great trial of them is when they fit you the more for the service that god requires of you . therefore when persons grieve so for the loss of an husband , wife , children , or estate , that they have no mind to pray , no mind to go about their callings with any comfort , that is an evil grief . it is true that god winketh at some omissions of duties for a small while , in such cases , till we are able to manage our thoughts , and digest our sorrow ; and the letter of the law giveth place to such great necessities : as aaron's excuse is but reasonable ; levit. 10. 19. such things have befallen me this day , that if i had eaten the sin-offering , should it be accepted with the lord ? the death of his two sons , though he held his peace , he could not tell how for the present to frame his heart to a joyful duty : as if a minister cannot tell how to bring his heart to preach , if god hath entered upon his family , taken away a wife or children thence . i confess this cometh from corruption , but in such cases god winketh at it for a short time . the reasons are : 1. because otherwise our carriage would be very dishonourable and derogatory to jesus christ , as if he were not better to us than all the comforts that we lose ; 1 sam. 1. 8. as elkana said to hannah , why weepest thou ? am not i better to thee than ten sons ? so why weepest thou ? is not christ better to thee than ten wives , ten children , ten parents , a thousand times as much as thou hast lost ? if we had but faith to see it , christ is to a believer whatever he wanteth . the people of god in the wilderness wanted houses ; psal. 90. 1. lord , thou art our habitation . a christian hath never more comfort than when he seeth that particular thing made up in christ , which was taken from him by the providence of god. if a believer has lost her husband , she seeth christ her husband . so for any other relation ; if a parent , seeth christ his parent ; if a brother , christ's a brother . we are to christ instead of all these relations , and therefore why should not christ be so to us ? see matth. 12. 50. whosoever doth the will of my father , the same is my brother , and sister , and mother . mark , we are so to him , and therefore why should we not account christ to be so to us ? certainly it is a great dishonour and disparagement to him , if we do not see all our losses abundantly made up in him . 2. it would be a dishonour to our profession . it is a credit to christianity , that the professors of it can be joyful in all conditions ; heb. 10. 34. ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; though all they had were snatch'd from them by rude hands , yet they were joyful . let guilty cains look with fallen countenances , gen. 4. 6. let the pharisees please themselves in their sowr looks , mat. 6. 16. a christian's countenance should shew him to be above his misery , sprightly and chearful ; though you take away their coat , as ioseph's mistress did , you cannot take away their comfort ; they are glad they can escape with their conscience , though they should leave their coat behind them . i remember scaliger playeth the critick with homer , because champion achilles is brought in weeping , his beloved briseis was taken from him . so it is a disgrace to our high profession when a christan is brought in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , weeping , it is beneath you . it is said in acts 5. 41. they departed from the presence of the council , rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for christ. philpot's stocks in the bishop of london's coal-house was but a pair of organs , as he saith . nor is it true only in these honourable sufferings for the glory of our religion , but in the strokes of providence in this very business of deceased friends . the apostle makes it the property of pagans to mourn excessively , 1 thess. 4. 13. sorrow not as those that have no hope , i. e. as pagans ; they did abound in it : as see gen. 50. 3. compared with v. 10. ioseph mourned for iacob but seven days , the egyptians seventy , even ten times as much . nay , pagans err so much this way , that if they could not find grief , they would force grief ; and therefore at their funerals , if they had no sympathy , they would slash their faces , and cut their flesh , that they might be sorrowful . and therefore god saith , deut. 14. 1. ye shall not cut your selves , and make baldness in your eyes for the dead ; ye are the children of the lord your god ; that is , you have higher principles , you know such sorrow needless . and hence was it that the primitive christians were wont to sing triumphant psalms at funerals , as it appeareth out of many places of chrysostom , to shew they had higher hopes of their departed friends . 3. it is very prejudicial . you have no benefit , but a great deal of hurt by it ; 2 cor. 7. 10. there it is summed up in one word , worldly sorrow worketh death ; that is , chiefly ; sorrow for worldly things , that works death temporal and eternal in its desert ; temporal death , as it exhausteth the spirits , wasteth the marrow . worldly sorrow leaveth a very strong impression upon the body , as solomon saith , prov. 17. 22. a broken spirit drieth the bones ; it dulleth and deadens the heart . if a man would not save his tears , yet he should reserve them , keep them up for holy uses : god may give you many spiritual occasions to empty your bottle , do not be over-free of them . affections over-exercised are usually restrained against the next occasion . and as they procure death in respect of the vigour of the body and soul ; so an eternal death too , it deserveth it . and so the apostle is to be understood ; for he opposeth it to godly sorrow , which hereafter you shall see you have no cause to repent of , as you have of worldly . grief is a most serious passion : and though a man may forget himself in his joy , he should not forget to think of the danger ; worldly sorrow worketh death . 4. it is very unreasonable . if men would cite their affections before the tribunal of reason , and ask them what 's the matter why they are so violently stirr'd ? they might discern much of their folly ; psal. 42. 5. david calleth himself to an account , why art thou so disquieted , o my soul ? why art thou cast down within me ? ask why it is , and you will see either no reason , or a corrupt one . iniqua lex est quae se examinari non patitur , saith tertullian . and so it is an evil heart that will not be called to an account . suspect those passions that are loth to be examined . do but ask your selves , why do i grieve now ? you shall see the answer will be foolish , unreasonable , unthankful , or savouring of discontent . why , it may be you will say , many dear comforts are taken from me . o brethren , that is an ill expression , no outward comfort can be taken from a christian . we should live in such a continual waiting for god's pleasure , and in such a quiet submission thereunto , as not to look upon our comforts as taken from us : iob indeed useth the word , iob 1. 23. the lord hath given , the lord hath taken : but he useth it so as if he would be understood , as if the lord had accepted of the resignation ; for he blesses god for it : even our highest comfort , our lives , the lives of the saints are not taken from them ; god doth but as it were accept of the resignation : as stephen , acts 7. 59. lord iesus receive my spirit . so rev. 22. 20. even so , come , lord iesus , come quickly . it is said of the wicked indeed , that their lives are snatched , or taken away ; as iob 27. 8. what hope hath the hypocrite , when god taketh away his soul , or snatcheth it away ? so luke 12. 20. thou fool , this night shall thy soul be required of thee , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; they shall challenge and get away thy soul from thee . therefore we should resign up our holy friends to god , as well as they do themselves . but let us see how unreasonable this very particular is of mourning for the dead . is it to do them good ? they are not the better for our tears , they are past recovery by our weeping . is it not to envy their blessedness , to wish them alive again ? 2 sam. 12. 23. wherefore should i fast ? can i bring him back again ? i shall go to him , he shall not come to me . is it because they were so good that we mourn ? the better for god , they are gone to their own home . is it because so bad ? 2 sam. 13. 39. david was comforted concerning anmon , because dead , though he died in sin : or is it because they died so soon , which heightens your loss ? consider who decreed it ; are you wiser than god ? is it for your own good you weep ? that is an holy weeping : weep as if you wept not . thus if men would expostulate with themselves , they would see the unreasonableness of their sorrow ; it is to no purpose . we express things to no purpose by water spilt on the ground : certainly tears in such cases are but spilt water . use 1. to instruct you to take home this lesson ; so to sorrow under the sense of your afflictions , as if you did not sorrow , be it the loss what it will ; though i shall chiefly speak to the present occasion . do not let the grief oppress your heart . ay , but how shall we do so ? i shall give you some motives : as , 1st . be sure to get an interest in spiritual mercies . the doctrine saith , christians ought so to sorrow , as if they sorrowed not . we cannot speak to others in this language , unless we should perswade men to slight the hand of god. we throw bones to dogs , but bread to children . we cannot comfort you in a carnal way ; psal. 94. 19. in the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts refresh my soul. mark , thy comforts . to comfort a man's self upon carnal grounds , argueth an insensibleness of god's hand , and it is a shrewd sign that god gives us over to our selves . therefore if you take comfort , take it from your interest in spiritual mercies . if you cannot look upon them under a condition of propriety as yours , ( as every christian cannot ) yet at least so far look upon them , that from thence all your comfort must be fetched . it is a neglect of providence to go away with a general thought . we must not sorrow too much , and yet we are to consider whether we have good ground why we should be comforted . god giveth wicked men these experiences of sorrow , that he may awaken them , and shew them there is no comfort to be had thence whence they would fetch their comforts in carnal delights ; isa. 57. 21. there is no peace , saith my god , to the wicked . there is a peace in their fancies and conceits , but no peace , saith my god. there is a great deal of hurt done this way by sermons , ministers instruct men in a moral way , that they should not grieve too much ; but they do not instruct a man upon what grounds he should not grieve : you must be sure of better mercies , or at least look after them for your comfort . a man that has an interest in christ , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a four-squared man , unmoved in all conditions . there can be no peace between a man's affections and condition , till there be a peace between him and god. mark that , eccles. 9. 7. go thy way , eat thy bread with ioy , and drink thy wine with a merry heart ; for god now accepteth thy works . when god accepteth us , we may then eat our bread with a merry heart , let things fall out how they will. 2dly . live in a continual expectation of the creatures change. things are not half so burdensom when we look for them . a burden cast upon a man's back breaketh it ; but when it is compacted and fitted for his shoulders , he goeth away well enough with it . it was some solace that iob could say , iob 3. 25. the evil that i feared is come upon me . suppose it be your own , or your friends dissolution , live in a continual readiness to part with life , or any thing else at god's call and intimation , and it will not be so grievous to you when it comes . 3dly . learn an holy greatness of mind , to be able to live above the creature . consider , the happiness of man is in god alone : all happiness consisteth in conformity to , and communion with god the chief good ; so that though the creature be gone , your happiness is not gone . that troubleth a man most , when his happiness is gone , he will not care so much for other things . it is good to see by what injoyment they reckon themselves happy ; if to have husband , wife , or a house well furnished , every thing to our command ; then when god taketh away these things , your comfort is gone . there is much of peoples conceits this way : but consider , what do you reckon the best of your injoyments ? that you have god for your portion ; psal. 144. 15. happy is the people whose god is the lord. so see psal. 30. 7. thou didst hide thy face , and i was troubled . set but the heart right in this point , and it will be well . grace is but the change of a man's chiefest good and utmost end ; that is only the difference between a natural man and a spiritual man , about the conceits of happiness . there are other considerations , as the shortness of our misery ; the continual abode of other comforts with us ; though some be gone , we are not left naked to the world ; the happy end of all the good of our souls . but this for a taste . men will think a sermon is to no purpose that is spoken to comfort persons in this kind . to this end ; 1. consider , there is none of us but may have need of comfort one time or other ; though our mountain standeth strong for the present , it may be removed : and it is good to lay up against a dear year . such truths are most welcome when they come in their season . 1st . consider , you may have a season when it will be necessary for you . who knoweth what a day may bring forth ? the woman that entertained the prophet , he would fain do her good ; no , saith she , 2 kings 4. 13. i dwell among mine own people . but now that very woman , as in 2 kings 8. 5. she cried to the king for her house , and her land : she that did not stand in need of the prophet , stood in need of the prophet's man. you have your wife , your children and friends about you ; o there may a time come when you will be glad of one drop of this comfort to support you when they are gone . 2dly . consider , when it is upon you , you will find it the hardest thing in the world truly to asswage your grief , to grieve so as if you did not grieve . afflictions are evil , and we are apt to make them worse , to turn wormwood into poison : heb. 12. 11. no chastening for the present but will seem grievous . seneca could slightly speak of miseries when he had the use of rich gardens about rome ; but when he had lost all , he was as much to seek as others . now i shall apply all that hath been spoken to this present occasion : 1st . to shew you why we should mourn . 2dly . why mourn so , as if we did not mourn . first ; why we should mourn : consider , we have lost a pious neighbour , and that deserveth sensibleness . 1. because such are a great loss : we have lost her service , help , and the benefit that we might have had by her . there is no member of christ , but one way or another is useful to the community . and indeed we found her to be so ; we lose an example , we lose useful conference , we lose the pledg of a blessing to a family , to a neighbourhood : may we not say of her , as of david , acts 13. 36. after he had served his generation by the will of god , he fell asleep ? she did serve her generation , and it was her grief that she did it no more and better , it should be ours that she did it no longer . serviceable christians are a great loss , especially in these times of need . 2. it is a sad intimation to us , and therefore we ought to be very sensible of such a loss : isa. 57. 1. the righteous perish , and no man layeth it to heart , none considering that they are taken away from the evil to come . wicked men think they are the bane of a place : plurimos defecit christiani nominis gratia ; christianos ad leones : wicked men are but preserved in reference to the godly ; they are but as a fence of thorns about a garden of roses : now when the roses are cropp'd off , what shall become of the thorns , but be cast into the fire ? god will dash the potter's vessel : gen. 19. 22. haste thee , scape to zoar , for i cannot do any thing till thou be come thither . i cannot , mark that . exod. 32. 10. let me alone , and i will make of thee a great people : god offereth moses composition . acts 27. 24. the lord hath given thee all them that sail with thee . these are the staff and the stay ; therefore we have reason to be sensible of their removal from us . use 2. we have reason also to be comforted . 1st . for the glory that cometh to god by her sweet departure . those that have envied her life , may wish for her death , even such solace as she felt in the most bitter agonie , : numb . 23. 10. let me die the death of the righteous , and let my latter end be like his . it is a great comfort that wicked men have not wherewithal to blast religion , when they see how the love of god can compose our spirits in the greatest extremities that befal us either in life or death . 2dly . that she hath left us for glory . it was indeed through many throws , and pains , and sorrows ; but death played the midwife , to help her into glory . it is the apostle's exhortation to the thessalonians , 1 epist. chap. 4. ver . 13. that they should not sorrow , even as others which have no hope concerning them which are asleep in jesus ; but admonish them , to comfort one another with these words , that at christ's coming , they which survive and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we be ever with the lord. wherefore comfort one another with these words . finis . paper i. i hope i have avouched the lord to be my god , and resolve to walk in his ways , and to keep his statutes , and his commandments , and his judgments , and to hearken unto his voice . and i humbly implore , that the lord would avouch me to be one of his peculiar people , and that he would enable me to keep all his commandments . i often question whether i have any interest in the eternal god , or whether he will own me as one of his ; but , lord ! i humbly say , i have and do avouch thee to be my only god and saviour ; ( o cast me not off ! ) and i earnestly beg grace to walk in thy ways . help me to keep thy statutes continually : let me not dare to offend thee : o that i might never provoke thee my good god to be angry or displeased with me ! but let me , o lord , be a doer of thy commandments , that so i may have right to the tree of life : lord , i have no right , i can plead no right , i fall infinitely short of my duty ; but have not i a blessed saviour to plead for me , who died for the chief of sinners ? and he hath promised that none that come to him , he will in any wise cast out . i know he is able to save to the utttermost , all those that come to god through him : in his prevailing name , and for his sake i implore divine assistance to enable me to persevere and hold out to the end , that at the last i may enter in through the gates into the city , into the heavenly ierusalem , where the saints , and angels , and cherubims , and seraphims are continually singing hallelujahs to their king , holy , holy , holy lord. i acknowledg my unfitness , my unworthiness for this great inexpressible , inconceivable privilege : but though i am unworthy , if thou my god wilt count me worthy through the merits of my dear saviour , i shall have cause for ever to bless thy name in the highest heavens , world without end. though i have no right , if thou wilt give me right to those treasures and pleasures which are at thy right hand for evermore , this will be matter of thankfulness to eternity . give me some hopes that i have an interest in these invisible things , by my care to please thee , and my fear to offend thee ; by my unfeigned respect to all thy holy , righteous , and just commandments , and by my harkning to thy voice , the voice of thy word , and the voice of thy rod. thy dealings are variously dispensed towards me . i met with many contrary winds ; o let them all blow me nearer to thy blessed self . lord , i humbly say , i have avouched thee to be my only god , my salvation , my portion , my rock , my fortress ; o be thou my reconciled father , to whom i may continually resort : and when my flesh and heart here fail me , ( as frequently they do ) be thou the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . o god , my god , do not forsake me , nor cast me utterly out of thy sight . the things of this world they do not , they cannot , they will not content me . o give me some comfortable hopes that i am thine , that thou hast adopted me , and that thou wilt sanctify me , and make me meet for thy blessed self ! i would be every day sitting and preparing my self for my last day , for my accounting day , when i must be summoned before thy tribunal seat , to give a strict severe account for all my thoughts , words and actions , whereby i have offended thee , my gracious and good god : but i find my self unfit for any spiritual duty . lord , help me to mind the work of time while time lasts : furnish me with divine assistance to enable me to do my duty , without which i am utterly uncapable of serving or pleasing thy blessed majesty . death is hastning , eternity approaching , the particular day of judgment near ; and yet for all this , how inconsiderate art thou , o my soul , to neglect the things that belong to thy everlasting peace ! i am often thoughtful what will become of me here , and how matters will go with me here in this life ; ah but when is the time to provide for eternity , to get my title to heaven cleared , to get an undeniable interest in christ jesus , which will yield me comfort in the greatest worldly distresses ? lord , give me some hopes that thou hast avouched me to be thine ; and that i have sincerely , without reservation , or power of revocation , avouched thee to be my god. paper ii. do thou , by a patient continuance in well-doing , seek for glory , and honour , and immortality , and eternal life . be not weary of well-doing , for in due time thou shalt reap if thou faint not . is there glory , honour , immortality , and eternal life set before me , and yet shall i tire and wax weary ? dare i be impatient and fret at any of the lord's dealings towards me ? if heaven were oftner in my eye and view , i should be more calm and composed in the midst of all trials , troubles and afflictions that do or may overtake me during my abode in this distracting and sin-defiling world. is there glory to be had hereafter , and shall not i endeavour to be a sharer therein ? is there honour to be conferr'd upon those that are true worshippers of the lamb , and shall i be dull , and dead , and sluggish , and unmindful of the honour that shall be bestowed upon the saints ? is immortality set before me , and yet i so glued to this mortal life , that the interests and concernments thereof so fill up my time and thoughts , that these heavenly objects are too seldom thought of , and presented to my mind ? an eternal life is offered in the gospel to all those that by faith lay hold on it , and yet i , fool that i am , so solicitous for this temporal life , this animal , this perishing , this fading life , so that i do too too much neglect my precious , immortal , never-dying soul ? so that should i hereafter be banished thy comfortable presence , and excluded from those joys and pleasures that are injoyed by those admitted to thy kingdom and glory , i could blame none but my self , who have not in a due manner sought the welfare of my soul. i have a blessed hope of the glorious appearance of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ , which i pretend to look , long , and wait for : but do i live as an expectant of such tremendous appearances ? can i , with comfort , and confidence , and hope , look for this glorious appearance of the great god , when he shall come in flaming fire , taking vengeance on them that know him not , nor obey his gospel ? if i be found in this number , how sad and deplorable will my case be ? help me , o lord , to search and see how matters go with my soul : if thou art not in christ ; if i have not got an interest in god the father , son , and spirit , there will be no blessed hope for me , but a fearful expectation of the fiery indignation that shall consume his adversaries : o! to be found an enemy to god , and he an enemy to any at death and judgment , is an astonishing thing ! therefore fly for refuge , lay hold on the hope set before you . christ is the only refuge for a poor undone sinner to fly to : in his name , and for his sake , thou mayst be accepted , and not only pardoned , but restored to favour and friendship : not only be delivered from the terrors of hell , but be made an heir of eternal life . o blessed are those that have secured an interest in the eternal god ; for to those he will be a sun and shield , he will give grace and glory : and though they may meet with many troubles in this life , many ups and downs in the world , yet if they bear it with patience , heaven will make amends , and will pay for all . i am sensible , o lord , that i stand in need of a great almighty power to keep me from falling ; let me be kept through faith unto salvation : let me not be frustrated of that blessed hope that thy word reveals , whereof many shall be partakers : o let not me be excluded , but permit me to be a beholder of those glorious appearances that shall be revealed to all those that love , serve and obey thee . if thou shouldst say unto me . i know thee not , depart from me , thou hast wrought iniquity , and done foolishly , therefore depart , depart into everlasting fire : though this sentence would be severe , it would be but just , for i have deserved a perpetual banishment and separation from thy comfortable presence . but , lord , suffer me to plead with thee : is there not a refuge for poor distressed sinners to fly to , even the blood of christ , which cries louder for mercy than my sins can cry for vengeance ? in him alone i desire to be found ; for his sake only i desire acceptance . o let not my name be blotted out of thy book , but give me some comfortable and sure evidence that i am thine , that so i may run the ways of thy commands , and not tire and wax weary , but may , by a patient continuance in well-doing , seek for that glory , honour and immortality , and that eternal life which thou hast laid up for those that persevere in holiness , and go from one degree of grace to another , till they come to appear before thee their god in sion . hold out faith , hold out patience , it will not be long , o my soul , e're thou be at thy journey 's end ; therefore do and suffer the will of god patiently : if he see sit to deprive thee of those comforts that thou hast and dost now injoy , be content ; e're long it will not be a pin to choose what part thou hast acted here upon the stage of this world. you must ( shortly ) appear before the judgment-seat of christ , that you may receive according to the things done in the body , whether it be good or bad . o what a dreadful and fearful account have i to give ; the sins of my youth and riper age are so many and so great , that i am confounded and amazed when i ( though slightly ) take a view of them . my omissions , and my commissions , my original and my actual sins are such , that i cannot bear the scrutiny of my own conscience , how then shall i do when the almighty contends with me ? my sins of ignorance , and sins against knowledg , my presumptuous sins , my abuse of mercies , my incorrigibleness under judgments , my unthankfulness for former mercies , and my distrust of the goodness of god for the future ; these may justly provoke god to depart from me , and say , he will have no more to do with such a vile wretch as i am . but blessed father ! i humbly implore , that thou wilt not leave nor forsake the work of thy own hands : thou canst make me clean ; o when shall it once be ? let my sins be all done away , and let me ( me poor sinner ) be made meet to partake of thy kingdom and glory . o that my saviour would say , as paul did of philemon , what he oweth , put that on mine account . lord , my sins are so many and so foul , that i cannot answer for one of a thousand ; how then shall i appear before thy tribunal , where i must give a strict account of all i have done in the body , whether it be bad or good ? lord , i cannot answer for my numberless number of sins : since thou hast ( dear redeemer ) died for sinners , let me not die in my sins . thou hast paid a sufficient price for the sins of the whole world ; let not mine be laid to my charge , nor rise up against me in this world to shame me , nor in the other to condemn me . remit my debt , too vast for me to pay , before the last accounting day . let me have some well-grounded hope , that the state of my soul is in good plight ; that however it goes with my body and bodily concerns , that i may be assured it will go well with me to all eternity , and then i may be inabled to bear the inconveniences of my pilgrimage-state . lord , i humbly beg thou wouldst take care of me , and provide for me what thou in thy infinite wisdom and goodness seest fit for me , and let me be perfectly willing to be , do , and suffer what my god seeth good : not my will , but thine , o lord , be done in all things ; only i beg i may not be left to unsupportable difficulties . let me have thy love to sweeten all , and carry me patiently through the remaining part of my days and trials . be with me when i pass through the fire , and through the water , for my eyes are unto thee , o lord my god ; in thee is my trust , leave not my soul destitute . paper iii. ye will not come unto me that ye may have life . o the stupidity of poor , careless and secure sinners ! what , will you not come to christ , who alone can give you life , natural life , and spiritual life , and life eternal ? we spare no pains nor cost to save the life of the body ; but o what fools , what sensless and sottish creatures are we , not to provide for eternal life ! what is this momentary life given us for , but to provide for our departure hence , to labour to get an interest in god and christ ? our time was given us that we might have an opportunity of working out our salvation with fear and trembling , and that we may make our calling and election sure ; that we may get some comfortable hopes that we do belong to the election of grace . o get your title to heaven cleared , that you are born again , that your sins are pardoned , that your person is justified , and that you are truly sanctified and cleansed from all ( wilful ) filthiness of the flesh and spirit : don't indulge your self in any known sin , not in omitting any known duty , nor in the commission of any known sin. the least sin , without repentance , is damnable ; but the greatest sin , upon true repentance , is pardonable : for the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sins , even those that are of a crimson die ; if our sins be as scarlet , god can make them as white as snow , if we do but truly repent of them , and forsake them . let not that complaint of the prophet , hos. 5. 4. be verified in you , that you will not frame your doings , to turn unto the lord. what , will you not do what in you lies , to frame your doing to please the lord ? what , will you not avoid some petty sins that do highly offend your good god , and may cause him to hide his face from you ? thus saith the lord , seek ye me , and ye shall live . but may not our conscience condemn us , and tell us , that that precious time that our good god hath given us to seek him , and to be reconciled to him , and to make our peace with him , even that time hath been spent in sin and very vanity , in adding iniquity to iniquity . we are commanded to keep our selves in the love of god , looking for the mercy of our lord iesus christ unto eternal life . it is to no purpose to expect mercy from christ , or to hope for eternal life , if we do not what we can to keep our selves in the love of god. o then ! let it be your study day and night to approve your selves to the lord , chearfully obey his commands , patiently submit to afflictions , thankfully receive mercies , and make a holy improvement of them : look to your selves , that you lose not those things which ye have wrought , but that ye receive a full reward . allow not your selves in any sin , though never so small in your own eyes , lest god should say , as unto the church of ephesus , though thou hast made a profession of my name , and hast made conscience of some gross sins , nevertheless i have somewhat against thee , because thou hast left thy first love. remember therefore from whence thou art fallen , and repent , or else i will come unto thee quickly , and will remove thy candlestick out of his place , except thou repent . if our love to god and his ordinances be not as fervent as formerly ; if our hatred of sin , or sinful courses be lessened ; if our care to please god , and our fear to offend him , be less than heretofore , we have just reason to fear that god will deprive us of our forfeited gospel , or harden our hearts that we shall not profit by it ; ( which dreadful judgment , o lord , in mercy prevent . ) if our outward carriage before men should seem never so well ; nay , if we can approve our selves to our own consciences in many respects , yet the all-searching god may truly say , not only that he hath a few things against us , but many things against us ; therefore it is our wisdom to search and try our selves , and turn again to the lord , from whom we have too deeply revolted . paper iv. god hath been pleased to deprive me of my dear husband ; so that my care ought to be doubled in the education of my poor children , when i must discharge his part , and my own duty too : i know not how soon god may call me out of this world , i have frequent warnings of my mortality by the death of others , and my own often indisposition . my children are now young , and therefore what i say may not make due impressions on them , by reason of their tender age ; and when i come to die , i know not whether i shall have time , opportunity , or my senses , then to speak to them of the things that belong to their everlasting peace : for ought i know , i then may be seized ( as often i have been ) with convulsion-fits , which may soon carry my soul out of this into an endless life ; so that i may not have any leisure to counsel , instruct or charge them to take care of their dear , precious and immortal souls : therefore i shall leave my charge and commands in writing , that they may often take a view of them , as being the commands of their dying mother . dear children , i charge you , as you hope to meet me with comfort at the day of judgment , that you avoid all sins , as lying , swearing , taking god's holy name in vain , ( which i particularly mention as incident to your age ; ) i charge you make conscience of keeping the sabbath-day holy : do not think your own thoughts , nor speak your own words , nor do your own actions ; remember it is god's day , and must be spent in his service . before you go to church , bless god for the mercies of the night past , for giving you leave to see the light of another day , especially another sabbath-day , wherein you may have an opportunity of waiting upon god , and getting good to your poor souls . when you are in the solemn assemblies of god's people , let your carriage be grave , serious and awful , as remembring god sees you ; and let your minds be attentive to what the minister saith : hear so that your souls may live : be not forgetful hearers , but be ye doers of the word , and so shall ye be blessed in all that you do . do not spend any time in idle recreation , or walking in the fields upon the lord's day , for the profanation of that day is an inlet to many other sins . my dear children , spend some time every day in reading god's word , and in prayer ; you know not what a blessing it is to have the bible , therefore do not slight it , but make a good use of it : do not squander away your time in reading plays and romances , and filthy books , which will corrupt your fancies , and make you unfit for the service of god. i say to you , as david to his son , and thou solomon , my son , know thou the god of thy fathers , and serve him with a perfect heart , and with a willing mind ; for the lord searcheth all hearts , and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts : if thou seek him , he will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake him , he will cast thee off for ever . children , as soon as you are capable of knowing any thing , i would have you labour to know god , own him , love him , obey him , and serve him , and that with a willing mind , knowing that he searcheth your hearts ; you cannot deceive him , for he knows the imagination of all your thoughts better than you know them your selves . if you seek him , he will be found of you : you may seek earthly friends , and at last be disappointed : you may seek riches , and lose your labour : but if you do rightly seek god , he will be found of you , and then happy are you for ever . you see that if you forsake him , he will cast you off for ever . o miserable and wretched are they that are cast off by god ; where shall they go for comfort that have lost his friendship and favour ? children , if you lose all you have in the world , it is nothing to the loss of god's favour : if you lose father and mother , yet if god will take you up , you are happy : if all friends fail you , if god do not fail nor forsake you , nor cast you off , still you may be happy : your true felicity lieth not in the things of this life , but in your portion in the everlasting god. my children , if you honour god , he will honour you ; but if you despise him , he will lightly esteem you : he will be with you while you are with him ; but if you forsake him , ( wonder not if ) he will forsake you . draw nigh to god , and he will draw nigh to you . children , honour god by chusing his word for your rule and guide , by chusing him for your alone portion : prefer him before all the world ; so that if the devil should come to you , as once to your blessed saviour , and tell you of giving you great matters if you will but serve him , yet resolve to serve and please god : though he see fit to afflict you , yet love him and cleave to him , trust in him , and rely upon him : honour god , by keeping his commandments , by believing his promises , by walking in his ways ; rather choose to die at a stake for your religion , than to deny god or his cause . hath god said , he will be with you while you are with him ? o then keep close to god , beg him to keep you from falling , to preserve you blameless and unreproveable unto his heavenly kingdom : implore him to keep you by his mighty power through faith unto salvation . draw nigh to god in a way of duty , and he will draw nigh to you in a way of mercy . my dear children , i charge and command you to love god , and keep his commandments ; his commandments are not grievous , but his laws are all holy , just and good . let it be your aim and end , living and dying , to approve your selves to god : let his word direct and guide , counsel and comfort you in all conditions and state of life , whether high or low , rich or poor , in health or sickness : whatever your conditions be in the world , if you belong to god , he can and will order it for your good ; therefore let that be your first care that you are his : you are his by creation , you are his by redemption and purchase ; therefore give up your selves intirely to him , to be ruled , and guided , and disposed of as your heavenly father thinketh meet . say , lord , here we are , do with us as seemeth best to thy godly wisdom : do but love us , and delight in us , and own us , and approve us , and take us for thine own ; and then take what method thou pleasest to bring us to glory . dear children , you were both dedicated to god in your infancy , remember to renew and keep your baptismal covenant , wherein you did promise before god , men , and angels , to renounce the world , the flesh , and the devil , and to be intirely the lord's , and his only ; to keep his laws , and commandments , and statutes , all the days of your life : dare not to live in the breach of any of them ; watch and pray , that you enter not into temptation . take heed of taking god's name in vain , of playing on the lord's day , of lying , swearing and idleness . i repeat these again , as being very common , and little taken notice of in the world. my dear children , remember this counsel of your dear , deceased , mother , as one that had a great concern for your precious and immortal souls . paper v. when my spirit is overwhelmed , lead me , o lord , to the rock that is higher than my self ! if i had no supports now to fly to , more than this vain world affords , i were a miserable creature ; but god hath been pleased , in some measure , to bless me with the knowledg of himself , whom to know , to love , and to injoy , is life eternal . i cannot express the comfort that the word of god doth yield me , even now in my distress ; so that i can say with the psalmist , that thy word is better to me than thousands of gold and silver . what though the fig-tree should not blossom , neither should there be any fruit in the vine : if the labour of the olive shall fail ; if the fields shall yield no meat ; if the flock shall be cut off from the fold ; if there be no herd in the stalls ; if dear relations and friends die ; if husband and children are taken away ; yet if thou canst rejoice in the lord , and joy in the god of thy salvation ; if thou canst but say , that the lord god is thy strength , thy portion , thy refuge , and thy deliverer , thou mayst be happy , whatever thy condition be in this world. if thy good god will but say , as unto israel of old , in isa. 43. 1. but now thus saith the lord that created thee , and he that formed thee , fear not , for i have redeemed thee , i have called thee by thy name , thou art mine . lord , i know i am thine by creation , it was thou alone that formed me ; i beg that i may be thine by redemption ; let me be effectually called . o blessed lord , assure me that i am thine ; and let me know that thou lovest me , though thou afflictest me ; that thou art not angry with me , though thou chastisest me sorely . there is much bitterness , let there be no wrath in this cup : give me some hopes thou wilt be with me when i pass through the water , and through the fire . lord , if thou wilt be but with me , i will fear no evil : lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me , and then it will put more gladness into my heart than if i were possessed of all the good things in the world. deal with me as thou usest to do to those that love thy name . lord , i hope i love thee ! lord , i desire to love thee , and to be beloved by thy blessed majesty ; and then all the afflictions that i meet with , will make no breach between thy self and my poor soul. thou art pleased to afflict me very sore , but i do not , i dare not , i will not say unto thee , what dost thou ? for thou givest no account of thy matters . it is my duty to submit , admire , not to quarrel at thy providences ; therefore with all humble submission , i acquiesce to thy sovereign will , saying , as my blessed saviour , not my will , but thine , o lord , be done . paper vi. i am willing to recount some of those many mercies god hath been pleased to bestow upon me , to excite my self to thankfulness , and to incourage me still to trust in , and wait upon that good god , who hath bestowed so many mercies upon me , the least of which i am altogether unworthy of . i may say with david , while i live will i praise the lord : i will sing praises to my god while i have any being ; to that god who hath bestowed my life , health , my strength , my memory , my reason , my understanding , and all the blessings of this life upon me , and hath , through grace , given me hopes of dwelling with himself in glory , when this miserable life shall be ended . o my soul , praise thou the lord ; o give thanks unto the lord , for he is good , for his mercy endureth for ever . remember the goodness of god to thee , from the very womb to this very day ; nay , before thou hadst a being in this world , god was pleased to form thee , and write all thy members in a book ; or else what an imperfect creature might i have been , if there had been an eye , or an ear , or any part wanting ? o that i could be truly thankful for these mercies ! i desire with thankfulness to remember the dealing of god to me in my infancy and childhood : how many dangers and accidents have i been liable and exposed to , and yet god hath been pleased to take care of me , and preserved me from innumerable mischiefs that have compassed me about ? i look upon it as no small blessing , that i was born of christian , religious , and pious parents , such as did truly fear god , and did what in them lay to instruct their posterity in early piety : they were those that frequently addressed themselves to the throne of grace , the benefit of whose prayers i hope to reap , both in life and death . i desire with thankfulness to own the goodness of god in taking care of me , and providing for me when i was left motherless in my tender age , when i was uncapable of minding my self ; yet then was god pleased to raise me up friends that were careful , kind and tender of me ; some of which did instruct me in the best things , and were very solicitous for the good of my poor soul , and did daily counsel , instruct and admonish me , to mind my creator in the days of my youth , and to live continually as one that must one day give an account of all the good or evil done in the body . and that you may see how the goodness of god hath followed me all my days , i will endeavour to recollect those many comfortable places of scripture which have been of most excellent use to me , to comfort , support and incourage me in many difficulties and troubles i have met with ( some of which , i hope , will ever keep my spirits from sinking . ) in my younger years being seized on by a severe fit of illness , that comfortable place was a support to me , heb. 13. 5. be content with such things as you have , for he hath said , i will never leave thee nor forsake thee . i was well satisfied with my present condition , ( though painful and sick enough ) hoping that god would not leave me nor forsake me . some time after , being in great fear and danger of some approaching evil , that incouraging place was brought to my mind , isa. 41. 10. fear thou not , for i am with thee : be not dismayed , for i am thy god : i will strengthen thee , yea , i will help thee ; yea , i will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness . this place vanished all my fears , and caused me to put my trust and confidence in the almighty god , who never faileth those that rely on him . afterwards , when i came to part with children , though this affliction was very heavy , god was pleased to mitigate it by the consideration , that there was a name better than that of sons and daughters : and though god saw fit to deprive me of them , ( for wise reasons i doubt not ) yet he was pleased to silence me under his hand , by the considerations of heb. 12. 5 , 6. my son , despise not thou the chastening of the lord , nor faint when thou art rebuked of him ; for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth , and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth . i have sometimes thought , that if i were assured of the love of my heavenly father , i could then bear any affliction . lord ! i beg i may be truly humbled , that i have deserved so many severe scourges , and yet , lord , i would be thankful that thou art pleased ( though by the rod ) to bring me home to thy blessed self . when my dear husband hath met with many losses and crosses , i have been apt to be desponding and cast down ; but god hath mercifully composed me by the consideration of matth. 6. 25 , 26 , &c. there i see that god clothes the grass , and feeds the fowls , and hath bidden poor creatures not to be anxious for these outward things , assuring us , that our heavenly father knoweth we have need of these things , and that he will graciously supply the wants of those that seek to him . phil. 4. 6. he hath bidden me to be careful for nothing , but in every thing by prayer and supplication , with thanksgiving , to let my request be made known unto him : and god hath incouraged poor souls to cast their care on him , letting them know he careth for them . what should i go to for comfort , if i had not the word of the eternal god to fly to ? it would be endless to reckon up the thousand parts of those refreshing , comforting , and quickning places that are to be had in the word of god , to comfort poor disconsolate souls in all conditions of life : and it ought to be took notice of how god is pleased to sute them to our present conditions of life . i was once so perplexed with groundless fears of troubles , that i was for some time unfit for any thing ; but my good god was pleased to fix upon my mind psal 23. 1. the lord is my shepherd , i shall not want . there was then no room left for any tormenting fears , but they all vanished away at the consideration of the happiness of those that have so careful a shepherd . it is my earnest request that god will own me as one of his flock , however he deal with me as to worldly matters . i was not a little comforted and refreshed also by the last verse of that psalm , which saith , surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life , and i will dwell in the house of the lord for ever . i am sure goodness and mercy have followed me to this very day , therefore i will not distrust the merciful kindness of god to me to my life's end. but if i should be stripp'd of earthly blessings , i beg i may have the liberty of god's house here , and the happiness of dwelling with him for ever hereafter : if i should with lazarus be clothed with rags , and fed with crumbs , all my days ; if my body should be full of sores , yet if god will own me , and approve me , and at death receive me to himself , i may with tolerable patience bear the inconveniencies of my pilgrimage-state , knowing that they will not last long . and that i may with the more confidence cast my poor fatherless children upon god , i will call to mind those places that did quiet me under the loss of my dear , and loving , and tender father , which were these ; that god was pleased to promise to be a father to the fatherless ; and that when father and mother forsake , then the lord would take them up . god hath bidden poor creatures to cast their burden upon him , assuring them , that he takes care of them , and sustains them . and the forementioned place , isa. 41. 10. is a sufficient cordial to keep any soul from fainting and sinking under any distress whatsoever ; therefore i hope , and trust , and believe , that the good god , who hath been so bountiful , so merciful , and so kind to me , to extend so many favours to me , will also take pity of my fatherless babes . with him the fatherless find mercy : lord , i therefore commit them into thy hands , as unto a faithful creator and redeemer , and beg that thou wouldst here guide them with thy counsel , and afterwards receive them to glory . sometimes when my children have been taken very ill , so that there was no room for hope of life , to outward appearance , yet even then hath my good god supported me by some comfortable portion of his holy word . once one of my children being given over , i was in great perplexity of mind ; that place came to my thoughts , call on me in the day of trouble , and i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorify me . i was extremely revived at the consideration of that place , for that was then a time of trouble to me : and then being incouraged , that if i called upon god he would deliver me , i did then , with firm hopes and confidence , rely upon my merciful god and father , whom i have found ready to help and deliver me out of many distresses . blessed , and for ever blessed be his name , who was pleased to hear the cries and groans of his poor , unworthy , undeserving , ill-deserving , and hell-deserving creature . and seeing god was pleased to deliver me from my great fears , my next inquiry should be , how i may glorify this good god : lord , help me to make it the care , and business , and study of my life , how i may please thee , and honour thee , and serve thy blessed majesty the remaining part of my days . amen . amen . paper vii . what a cordial to the godly is the first of peter , the first chapter , the second verse , and so on ? where we find that god intends heaven for them , and is graciously pleased to reserve and preserve them for it ; it being a reviving consideration to me , sometimes , to see how god deals with his poor children , and what steps he takes to bring them to glory . i will , for the benefit of my ( too often ) desponding soul , ruminate on this place of scripture , where i find these words of peter , an apostle of iesus christ , who writes to the strangers scattered throughout pontus , galatia , cappadocia , asia , and bithynia ; elect according to the fore-knowledg of god the father , through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience , and sprinkling of the blood of iesus christ ; grace unto you and peace be multiplied . in this verse i observe how the whole trinity are imployed in the salvation of sinners : god the father , he elects , he fore-knoweth whom he will bring to himself : then the spirit sanctifieth those whom god hath elected , and makes them obedient to their heavenly father ; and they are sprinkled with the blood of jesus christ , their sins for his sake are all done away ; therefore the apostle may well say , grace unto you and peace be multiplied : for who can want grace or peace , whom god the father , son , and spirit , are contriving how to bring them to glory ? we may well go on with the apostle , blessing god for his unspeakable mercies , saying , blessed be the god and father of our lord iesus christ , which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope , by the resurrection of iesus christ from the dead , to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled , and that fadeth not away , reserved in heaven for you ; who are kept by the power of god , through faith , unto salvation . o blessed , blessed , blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ. here in this life we want time and hearts to bless the lord for his abundant mercy towards us . eternity will be little enough to sing forth the praises of the king of kings ; for giving us a lively hope , that one day we shall be so happy to be admitted into the heavenly society , that are continually viewing the face of the lamb , and contemplating his glory . this inestimable privilege is only procured and purchased by the sufferings , death , and resurrection of our alone saviour the lord jesus christ , who hath provided an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled , and that fadeth not away . o the emphasis of these words , an inheritance ! what , a poor mortal to be an heir of heaven ! and this inheritance is incorruptible , not subject to corruption , alteration , or change ; and it is undefiled . the things of this world are defiled with sin , they are vile , contemptible and vain , ( nay vanity it self ) but this heavenly inheritance we see is incorruptible and undefiled . and to compleat our fruition , it fadeth not away , but continueth throughout all successions of ages : there is no probability nor possibility of decay or end ; for the immutable and eternal god hath assured us , that they fade not away , but are reserved in heaven , a secure place , beyond the reach of men or devils : it is not in the power of friend or foe to dispossess the children of god of this heavenly inheritance . when i consider the happiness , the inconceivable felicity of the saints above , that are now possessors of this inheritance , that is incorruptible , undefiled , and that will never fade away , i am apt to say with austin's mother , when she had heard a discourse of the glory above , what do i here then ? so am i reflecting , what do i here in this defiling world , sinning against , and offending god , when many are got safe beyond the reach of sin and sorrow , and are now possessors of this blessed inheritance ? we are told it is reserved , but for whom ? for those who are kept by the power of god , through faith , unto salvation . lord , it is thy work from first to last ; it is thou that preparest this inheritance , and thou alone canst make thy people meet to be possessors of it . let me find the comfortable effects of thy almighty power , which may enable me , through faith , to attain salvation ; that at the end of my days i may receive the salvation of my poor , precious , and immortal soul , for his sake , who i hope loved me , and washed me , and died for me , and is now at thy right hand , interceding for poor penitent sinners . let me have a share of those benefits he hath purchased for his elect people . do thou , o blessed father , prepare heaven for me , and make me meet for it ; and however thou dealest with me in this world , do not deny me heaven at last ; the hopes of that alone doth sweeten my pilgrimage , and make my passage through this world tolerable : therefore i humbly beg that whatever i miss here , i may not be excluded from thy comfortable presence , but may be of the number of those blessed ones , for whom thou hast prepared an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance , which fadeth not away , but is reserved in heaven , for all those that infinite grace qualifies for , and makes meet to be partakers of . paper viii . when thy iudgments , o lord , are abroad in the earth , the inhabitants should learn righteousness . what 's the lesson that i and all persons ought to learn by the late dreadful earthquake ? hath it not a voice ? doth it not cry aloud , and tell us , that our sins have reached heaven ? that god is angry and displeased with us ? and that , except we repent , we shall likewise perish ? we are as grievous sinners as any , therefore have just cause to think god hath a controversy with us in this kingdom . in a neighbouring nation god hath seen meet to lay his afflicting hand in a tremendous manner ; he hath visited them with a sore , amazing , and dreadful judgment , in permitting thousands to be destroyed by a lamentable earthquake and inundation of water . and who , or what are we , that we should expect to be exempted from the same or worse judgments ? we , whose sins have exceeded theirs , may rationally look to drink the dregs of their cup ; for we in england have had more means of grace than they , but we have not improved them : we have had the gospel , but we have slighted it : we have had the offers of salvation , but we have rejected them : we have had sabbath upon sabbath , sermon upon sermon , and yet have not made a due improvement of these precious opportunities . so that it 's but just with god to destroy us , and our habitations , in which we have too too often dishonoured our good god , and brought a scandal on that holy profession which we have made : we have the name of christians , but too many amongst us live like devils incarnate . how much swearing , lying , stealing , killing , and filthy lewdness is to be found in this land and nation , and especially in this city ? o the horrid oaths and imprecations that are every minute uttered , is dreadful to consider ! what little conscience is made of keeping the sabbath , that is as a day of recreation to most ; and those that spend it best , do too much think their own thoughts , and speak their own words , and do their own actions ? so that every one must lay their hand upon their mouth , and cry , guilty , guilty . have not we in this nation cause to expect great and amazing judgments , when in our land those sins are found , that a moral heathen would blush to commit ? our sins , as well as the ninivites , have reached to heaven . o that our repentance was as real , universal , and unfeigned as theirs ; and then there might be still some hopes that god in judgment would remember mercy , and would not stir up all his wrath , though we are an undeserving , ill-deserving , and hell-deserving people . lord , we are in the dark , and know not what thou art adoing with us : thou hast lately let us see what thou canst do in a minute : thou hast shaken the earth , and it trembled ; and it was of thy infinite mercy that we were not all destroyed , and sent quick to the lowest hell. thou art god , and not man , therefore is it that we are not consumed . it 's of the lord's mercy that we are yet spared . help us , o lord , to make a good use of this reprieve , for we are as brands pluck'd out of the burning . what jeopardy were we in when the earth of late trembled under us , and our houses seemed to be tumbling about our ears ; our hearts failing us , no place left to run to for shelter : how dejected and astonished did people look one upon another ? what fears possess'd the breasts of many , all in expectation of sorer calamities than yet felt : but god hath hitherto spared us ; we are yet in the land of the living , on this side the grave and everlasting burnings ? god hath of late shook the earth , o that we poor mortals could get a title to those unshaken regions above , which are not obnoxious to those vicissitudes and changes that here in this lower world we are liable to . we ought to make a good use of the late earthquake ; it should awaken every one in particular to see in what posture of readiness we are in to meet our god. what if he should repeat this amazing judgment , and not only threaten , but actually destroy us ? it were but just with god to deal with us , as lately with iamaica . how insensible have we been of their judgments and calamities ? how unreform'd are we , though we see how god deals with others of our fellow-creatures ? we , in probability , are as great offenders as they ; we spared , they consumed ; god gives us space to repent ; o that he would not deny the grace of true repentance ! we may look upon this late warning , like ionah's message , that within a little while this city and inhabitants shall be utterly destroyed . without dispute our sins have reached heaven ; the cry of them is very great : and should god deal with us as we have deserved , we might long since have been consumed , our bodies been sent to the grave , and our souls to hell. but we have a god whose compassions fail not , therefore is it that we are not utterly forsaken . he is god , and not man , wherefore it is that we are not monuments of his justice : but his mercies are still extended to us , a sinful rebellious nation . o that they may lead us to repentance , and that the effects of his goodness may be shewed in our thankful lives , for this , and all other mercies which the bounty of his providence still vouchsafeth us . paper ix . death seemeth to make its near approach to me ; and i am of all persons most inexcusable , who have frequent warnings of my departure hence , if i do not in some measure bethink my self , and consider my latter end. lord , i have reason to conclude , that few sands remain in my glass to run : with what astonishment , anguish , and trouble , may i review my life past ; not one thought , word or action , but needs a pardon : i blush to see how vile i have been ; and if i cannot bear the scrutiny of my own conscience , how shall i abide thy severe trial , who hath kept an exact account of all my sins and offences ? a numberless number of sins may be charged upon me , which i confess i have been guilty of . to whom shall i betake my self for relief and mercy but to thee , o my gracious god ? for that i have heard that the god of israel is a merciful god ; that he is slow to anger , and plenteous in mercy ; that he doth abundantly pardon and forgive the sins , offences , and provocations of his poor creatures ; and therefore as i would not presume , so i dare not despair . lord , i fly from the throne of thy justice to the throne of thy mercy , and humbly implore pity , pardon and compassion , for thy son's sake . magnify thy grace in pardoning me : though my sins have abounded , let thy free grace superabound . blot out all my sins out of the book of thy remembrance , and let my name be written in the book of life : let me be meet for the inheritance of the saints in light , when this earthly cottage shall crumble to dust. let me be admitted to that building , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . let not me , though unworthy , be excluded from thy presence . look on me in and through thy well-beloved son , in whom only thou art well pleased , and for his sake be reconciled to me a vile wretch : by his stripes let me be healed . i have nothing to plead for my self , only the satisfaction of my blessed saviour , on whom alone i rely for pardon and life . give me some undeniable evidence that i do belong to the election of grace ; and that within a little while i shall be released from this body of sin and death , and shall be made perfectly blessed in a full injoyment of thee to all eternity . let me have some comfortable hopes and foretaste of a blessed immortality , to sweeten my passage through and out of this world. i am hastning and posting apace into an endless eternity ; o that i were ready for my appearance at thy bar. ah lord ! if my judg be not my advocate , with what dread and astonishment must i needs think of thy tribunal , where i must appear before a heart-searching , and a sin-revenging god! there is not one sin in my whole life but is seen to thine all-seeing eye , and is all naked and open to thee . lord , i would humbly beg that my sins , though many and great , may all be pardoned and forgiven . many horrid sinners have been received to mercy ; and though my sins are of a crimson and scarlet dye , yet the blood of an all-sufficient saviour can wash them white : he is able ( and willing ) to save all those that come to god through him , and he ever lives to make intercession for them . help me , by faith , to lay hold on this redeemer , who came into the world on this very errand , to save poor sinners , and reconcile them to god. if so , i dare not , i will not despair : yet , lord , i beg i may not presume . help me humbly to cast my self prostrate at thy feet , and implore thy heavenly benediction . bless me ( even me ) in turning me away from all my sins ; let them never separate between thee and my poor soul : let them all be remitted , and then it will be as if they had never been committed . in my last and sorest agonies let me see thou art reconciled to me . be with me till i die ; and when i die , and when this world can yield me no help , comfort , or support , let me find it all in thee . i know thy presence can sweeten all the troubles of this life , and death it self : then let me not be dismayed at that last and great enemy . when i pass thorow the valley and shadow of death , i will fear no evil , for thou wilt be with me . o lord , i beg thou wouldst not ( then ) be a terror to me : thou art my hope in the day of evil : help me then to hold up my head with comfort , hoping my redemption draweth nigh . let not this world have such possession of my heart and affections , as to make me unwilling to dislodg and go hence when thou callest me off the stage of this life . let the last scene of my life be the best part of my days . let me honour thee by doing thy will , and submitting to whatever thou my god shalt think fit to lay on me . help me to bear patiently thy afflicting hand , either sickness , or worldly crosses , or death it self . let me not dare to murmur , grumble or complain when death looks me in the face : let me not be too much daunted , startled , and affrighted at its approach . thousands , and ten thousands have gone through that dark passage , and shot that gulph , and there is no escape for any of the children of adam : they that have deserved death eternal , have no cause to grumble at death temporal , especially if it be unstung ; nay , then there 's cause of triumph , for it is an entrance into life , and messenger to glory ; therefore i hope , and firmly believe and trust , that that god who hath conducted so many safe through those dark regions , will not leave my poor soul in its last conflicts . paper x. i sensibly find my outward man perish and decay , but how comfortable would it be to me , if i could as easily perceive the inward man to be renewed day by day ? this earthly tabernacle is tottering , and e're long will tumble down ; but in what plight is the poor soul that now inhabiteth this ruinated cottage ? what provision hath it made against that day when it must be turned out ? hath it got an interest in , and a title to an enduring substance ; a house above , eternal in the heavens ? this life of mine is but a vapour , it appeareth but for a little while , and then vanisheth away . lord , teach me to number my days , that i may know how frail i am . this outward man is daily consuming , wasting , perishing and decaying , and shall i be careless , negligent , remiss and unconcerned about my future state , how it will go with me hereafter in the other world ? though my bodily strength abate , yet let the inward man be renewed every day , and wax stronger and stronger : when the comforts of this life are , as iob saith of the white of an egg , unsavory , have no relish , and are no satisfaction to me , let me have comforts and cordials that this world knoweth not of , even the light of thy countenance , and that will put gladness into my heart , more than all the treasures and pleasures of this vain world. whatever thou deniest me , deny me not thy self to be my god and portion ; and let me have an interest in thy son , my only saviour and redeemer : and do thou graciously give thy holy spirit to direct , guide , quicken , counsel and comfort me the remaining part of my sojourning here . how few days may put a period to my life , i know not : in all probability it will not be long before i leave the stage of this world , and be summoned before the bar of god , to give a strict and impartial account of my past life . o it is an awful thing to die and come to judgment ! i beg , o lord , i beg that i may be made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. sanctify me wholly ; let my whole spirit , soul and body , be preserved blameless unto the coming of my lord jesus christ. o be thou pleased to preserve me unto thy heavenly kingdom . many fears , and much ground for fears have i , that i shall never enter into rest : but blessed lord , do not exclude me from thy comfortable presence hereafter : do thou make me fit to be a member of those blessed inhabitants of the new ierusalem . though i am altogether unworthy , yet if thou , o lord , please to account me worthy , i may then be so happy as to stand before the son of man with courage and comfort . keep thou me by thy almighty power , through faith , unto salvation . let me be preserved from fainting , sinking , and desponding in my last conflicts and agonies . let me see thee who art invisible , and with an eye of faith look within the vail , whence i look for the saviour , the lord jesus christ , to change this vile body ( of mine ) that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body . let this saviour be my saviour and redeemer , even the lord jesus christ : and let me be assured that he is mine , and i am indeed his ; and that this vile , contemptible , wretched body shall be changed , and made like to his glorious and blessed body . this is such an honour and privilege , that i have hardly a face to ask : but i find a warrant in thy word , to look , long , expect , pant , and wait for so happy a day and time , as to be in a sinless state and condition , where we shall see our saviour , and be like him ; where earthly troubles and sorrows shall vanish and decay ; where the world , the flesh , and the devil , shall have no power to tempt , molest or disturb those that thou , o lord god almighty , shalt admit into thy heavenly kingdom and glory . o blessed souls that are here owned by thee , approved by thee , and shall at last be received by thee into those eternal mansions above . lord , i humbly put in for a share in these inestimable mercies and privileges : earthly things cannot content me , without some hopes , some prospect , some glimpse of thy love and favour : if thou afford me this , i may then bear the inconveniencies , the hardships , and ill usage i meet with here in this howling desart . let not my unworthiness be a bar and hindrance to hinder good things from me . look not on me as in my self , a vile , polluted , wretched , undone creature ; but behold me in and through thy well-beloved son , and for his sake alone be gracious and merciful to me . i have been guilty of black and horrid sins , and millions of sins have i been committing daily , without sense , sorrow or remorse . o may such a sinner as i find mercy ! lord , i sometimes doubt and despair , and conclude there is no hopes for me ; i fear heaven-gate is shut against me ; and though i cry and knock , it may all be in vain . lord , i cannot bear such a thought as to think i am rejected , forsaken , and cast off by thee . i e'n cry out with the jailor , what shall i do to be saved ? what shall i do to obtain eternal life ? i find many comfortable promises in thy word to repenting and returning sinners , that those that come to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out ; and that the blood of jesus christ thy son cleanseth from all sins . lord , i desire to come to thee , and come in a right manner , and humbly beg thou wilt not cast me out , nor cast me off , as one whom thou no more canst love . let me have the benefit of that healing , cleansing , peace-speaking blood of the lamb of god , which taketh away the sins of the world. i find in thy word a black catalogue of sins , and sinners too , who have been guilty of gross offences , whose crimes would certainly exclude them heaven , unless thy unlimited mercy and compassion had inclined thee to look with pity on them . when the apostle had mentioned those foul and horrid sins that should deprive poor souls of the joys of heaven , he immediately , for the benefit of after-ages , and the comfort of desponding souls , adds , but such were some of you , but ye are washed , but ye are sanctified , but ye are justified in the name of the lord iesus , and by the spirit of our god. lord , thou alone knowest what numberless numbers of sins i am guilty of , and for which e're long i shall be summoned to give a strict and severe account . lord , i have nothing to plead for my self why i should not be condemned , but i humbly cast my self at the throne of thy grace , and implore mercy ; mercy , lord , mercy i need , without this i cannot live comfortably , nor die safely . o let me ( even me ) be washed , let me be sanctified , let me be justified ; in the name of the lord jesus let me be a partaker of the benefits of his death , resurrection , ascension , and intercession ; and let me be assured i am one of those that shall live and reign with him , world without end . in my sorest distresses , and last agonies and conflicts , let me see thee , a god in covenant , and reconciled to me : let not my evidences for heaven be then to get . when i come to die , let me have nothing to do but to die , and surrender up my soul into the hands of that god who gave it me . let not the foresight or prospect of death be so terrifying as to overwhelm me , and cause me to fall from thee . be with me when i pass through the dark and dismal passage of death : when flesh , heart , and all creature-comforts fail and forsake me , o blessed lord , be thou the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever-more . paper xi . work while it is day , the night is coming in which none can work . now is the day of god's patience and forbearance ; this is the only time that god hath allotted for work and service : he that doth the work for which he came into the world faithfully and carefully , shall in the evening of the day receive a bountiful reward ; but if he neglects his opportunity , and squanders away his time in idleness and sloth , the night will surprise him , and then it will be too late to begin that work which before he would not be perswaded to set about . this counsel is serious and grave , every one hath work to do ; ( o that all would be convinced of this great truth ! ) we have souls to save , heaven to secure , an interest in christ to get , and yet we are stupid and negligent , as if this were a matter of no great moment . o my god , give me wisdom that i may see the necessity of looking after my soul , that it may go well with that , however it fare with the body and worldly concerns . now is the day , now is the time to provide for a happy eternity : to day if you will hear his voice ; to morrow may be too late , therefore now set about this work in good earnest ; see how it stands with thy poor soul , is god and thy soul friends ? or are they still at a distance ? is god dearer to thee than all the world ? dost thou think thy self happier in being a child of god , an heir of heaven , than if thou wert possessed of all the things of this lower world ? dost thou not prize and value god as thy chief friend , and rather have his favour and friendship , than to have the greatest monarchs on thy side ? dost thou humbly resolve to be the lord's , and his only ; and that thy time , thy heart and strength , thy memory , understanding , shall be all exercised in thy maker's service ? study his mind and will , and then readily comply with his commands : fear his threatnings , believe his promises , obey his precepts , and resolve with iob , that though he slay thee , yet thou wilt trust in him . resolve to follow god through all difficulties ; beg of him to own thee for his , to avouch thee to be one of his peculiar people . secure a title to heaven : this world is passing away apace ; the day is spending , and the night approaching , in which i cannot work . i am sensible of the greatness of my work , and know not how short my time may be ; it may be shorter than i or the world imagine . my work is so great and difficult , that in my own strength i can do nothing . lord jesus , i implore thy aid and assistance ; for thy merit sake let my sins all be done away ; let me be sanctified , justified , pardoned , and be made meet to be received into those blessed mansions that are prepared for thy redeemed ones . let me have those qualifications that are requisite in all those whom thou admittest to live and reign with thee for ever , that holiness of life , that purity of heart , that sincerity , that heavenly-mindedness , that weanedness from this world and worldly injoyments , which is required in all those that love and fear thee . let me have those divine qualities that may render me amiable in the eyes of my judg. o blessed jesus , let thy righteousness be imputed unto me , and my sins washed away with thy precious blood. deny me not an interest in thy meritorious death and sufferings . i cannot be happy here nor hereafter , without some comfortable hopes that i do belong to the election of grace . lord , if it be thy will , let me know assuredly that i am one of them for whom christ died ; seeing he died for sinners , let me never die in my sins . and as i trust christ died for me , so let thy holy spirit live and reign in me . let me be guided , directed , counselled , comforted , strengthned , and supported , the remaining part of my days , that whether they be few or many , they may be so spent , that when i come to lie upon a sick and death-bed , i may lift up my head with joy unspeakable , hoping my redemption draws nigh . in my last agonies be not thou far from me ; thou art now ( and i am sure wilt be then ) my only hope , therefore be not a terror unto me . let me then find that the eternal god is my refuge , and that underneath are his everlasting arms. i do expect to have my flesh and my heart ( within a little while ) to fail me ; but lord , be thou the strength of my heart and my portion for ever . lord , i hope i have chosen thee ( long ago ) for my portion , and am resolved by thy grace enabling me , to stick to my choice ; therefore be thou pleased to be with me in my sorest conflict , at the hour of death , and in the day of judgment . let me not then be left by thee , or forsaken and rejected by thee the great judg of all the world , whose irreversable dreadful sentence will e'r long be pass'd upon all those that forget and neglect thee ; in which number i beg i may not be found . seeing time is posting away , and eternity appoaching , and none knows how soon death may arrest them , it is highly necessary to be often considering what will do us most good , and stand us most in stead at a dying hour , when this world and all its injoyments will ( as iob saith of the white of an egg ) have no relish nor 〈◊〉 in them . when we come to the brink of eternity , all our earthly comforts will vanish and disappear , our friends and nearest and dearest relations will bid as adieu , they cannot help us , nor hinder death one moment : our riches , though we had gained never so much , cannot ease one pain , nor find one remedy for our mortal disease ; the serjeant death will not be bribed to stay till another year , or day , or hour ; no , they must be gone , nill they will they , they must into the other world. let me , o lord , be in a posture of readiness , that when thou shalt summons me to appear before thy dreadful throne , i may not be found naked , but may be found in christ , and not in my sins . let me by every sabbath , sermon , prayer , and sacrament , be brought nearer to thy self , whose i am , and whom i hope to serve here , and injoy hereafter in thy heavenly kingdom , where are an innumerable company of angels , and the general assembly and church of the first-born , which are written in heaven ; where is god the judg of all , and the spirits of just men made perfect , and jesus the mediator of the new covenant , and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of abel . who can think of these glorious inhabitants , and not long to be with them ? o happy and blessed souls are they that are safe got home , and are now with god and his angels ; and this assembly and church of the first-born , whose names were written in heaven . who would not desire to be with the spirits of the just men , who are made perfect ? o the goodness of god to make men perfect , and then receive them to himself , because they are so ! o what thanks should be ascribed to our dear lord jesus , the mediator of the new covenant , for purchasing at so dear a rate such inestimable privileges and blessings for such vile worms as men ! this blood of sprinkling cries louder for mercy than the blood of abel did for vengeance . these holy ones have washed their robes , and made them white in the blood of the lamb. the lamb's blood can wash the foulest sinner white , therefore are they brought before the throne of god , and serve him day and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them : they shall hunger no more , neither thirst any more , neither shall the sun light on them , nor the heat ; for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them , and shall lead them unto living fountains of water : and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes . o what blessed imployment are the saints ingaged in , in serving god day and night in his temple , where the everlasting jehovah , that sitteth on the throne , shall eternally dwell among them : the bliss of these heavenly inhabitants is inconceivable . well may the apostle say , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , what god hath laid up for them that love him . it is exceedingly above what we can think , or imagine , or conceive : who can tell what it is continually to injoy the comfortable presence of the great god and the lamb ? when god's people have had but some glimpse of his favour and friendship , and some hopes of dwelling with him , they have impatiently longed for a dissolution : they count this world as a prison in which they are separated from their god , their christ , and the holy angels , which will be their everlasting companions . those that god will admit into his everlasting glory , he hath told us , they shall be exempted for all hurtful evils ; never shall they hunger more , nor thirst any more . lord , too too many thoughts do i spend about these outward supplies of meat , and drink , and raiment . o when , when wilt thou bring me to heaven , where these things will be of no use nor value to me ? happy , and only happy are they whom the lamb , which is in the midst of the throne , will feed , and lead to the fountain of living water , from whose eyes all tears shall be wip'd ; they shall know no more what death meaneth . in heaven there is no sorrow , nor crying ; nor shall there be any more pain , for all old things shall be done away : the former things are passed away , past and gone ; nothing remains but joy and gladness , and praising of our great creator , sounding out continual halleluja's to the king of kings . lord , is it my duty to be fitting and preparing my self for this blessed state , and for my approach before thy awful tribunal ? and dare i still neglect it ? help me to remember that i must work while it is day ; the night of sickness , sorrow , and death are approaching , and then i cannot work . lord jesus , make me meet , make me fit for thy blessed self , that when i come to leave this base world , i may be admitted to the heavenly society of saints and angels , cherubims and seraphims , where are ten thousand times ten thousand , saying , with a loud voice , worthy is the lamb that was slain , to receive power , and riches , and wisdom , and strength , and honour , and glory , and blessing . every creature in heaven and earth shall then say , blessing , honour , and glory , and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne , and unto the lamb , for ever and ever . amen and amen . paper xii . i am frequently assaulted with this sore temptation , that i shall never persevere and hold out to the end , but shall tire and saint , and grow weary , so that every trial shall master and overcome me ; so that i sometimes fear there is no hopes for me of entring into rest : i fear i shall fail short of eternal life , which is a cutting consideration to me , and sometimes sinks me into the depth of misery . but that i may not wholly despond , i will here recite some places of scripture which consist of precepts and promises ; and which , i hope , may be of use to me , and may make me stir up my self to do what in me lieth to lay hold on the hope set before me ; and may cause me to look to thee , o blessed father , for grace and strength to hold out to the end of my days . let me not grow weary in well-doing , for in due time i shall reap if i faint not . in rev. 2. 10. it is said , fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold , the devil shall cast some of you into prison , that ye may be tried , and ye shall have tribulation ten days . be thou faithful unto death , and i will give thee a crown of life . doth god say , fear none of those things which ye shall suffer ? and yet shall i be overwhelmed , and dejected , and distracted , for fear of troubles and calamities ? here is mentioned the worst of enemies , the devil ; he shall afflict some , and cast them into prison ; but at this we ought not to be terrified , for sometimes god doth it to try his poor people , and he doth permit them to be in tribulation : but god limits the time , it is expressed here ten days , that is a certain for an uncertain time ; it implies but a short time : were it at our adversary's , the devil's disposal , we might be as many years as here are mentioned days , yea all our life-time in continual sorrow ; but we are in the hands of a merciful god : and though he see meet sometimes to scourge and try us , yet he will not let us be tempted beyond what he will enable us to bear ; and for our incouragement he hath said , if we be faithful to death , he will graciously reward us . he that saith , be thou faithful , make me faithful , and then i need not doubt but he will give me this crown of life : it is not , nor cannot be merited by us ; it is the free gift of god. here are several promises he hath graciously made to those that hold out to the end ; as in ver . 7. to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god. who would not strive to overcome , that at last he may be admitted into the paradise of god , where he shall eat of the tree of life , and then shall hunger and thirst no more , but shall be happy in the injoyment of god and the lamb , to all eternity ? ver. 11. he that overcometh , shall not be hurt of the second death . what a comfortable promise is this ! the first death is nothing in comparison of the second : what 's death temporal , if compared to death eternal ? when we die , we are deprived of earthly friends , and earthly comforts ; but if the second death hath dominion over us , then there is an eternal banishment from the comfortable presence of god , and an eternal separation between god and the poor soul , ( which is hell it self . ) o lord , give me grace that i may so fight , strive , run and conquer , and at last overcome , that i may not be hurt of the second death . ver. 17. to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the hidden manna , and will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written , which no man knoweth , saving he that receiveth it . this is an unspeakable privilege indeed , to have the bread of life : this hidden manna , it is hidden from the world , and given only to those who through faith and patience lay hold on eternal life . how happy are those that have the white stone of absolution , and have in it a new name written ? once indeed they were children of darkness , children of this world ; but now , through grace , they are made children of light , they have the image of god impress'd upon their souls ; and though the world know it not , yet the persons that receive this inestimable privilege , find ( at least sometimes ) a change in their heart , and can rejoice in their future hopes , that however it goes with them here , yet they can be contented , knowing it will not be long e're they be past the inconveniencies of their present pilgrimage , and shall then be admitted into the heavenly canaan , where all troubles , and sorrows , and calamities , shall be done away , and they shall injoy god world without end. amen . chap. 3. v. 5. he that overcometh , the same shall be clothed in white raiment , and i will not blot out his name out of the book of life , but i will confess his name before my father , and before his angels . how many motives are here to perseverance ? just now a promise of hidden manna to eat , now of white raiment to clothe the person that overcomes . this white raiment is the righteousness of jesus christ , in which poor sinners must be clothed : if they should have nothing but their own righteousness to appear in , they would not be able to stand in the judgment . how blessed and happy are all those for whom this white raiment is prepared ? they are assured that their name shall not be blotted out of the book of life . it is an inestimable privilege to have their names register'd in heaven , for to them christ saith , that he will confess them before his father , and before his angels , to be owned , approved , and commended before men and angels , and the great assembly of the just. this should excite us to be diligent and faithful to the end , that at the last we may overcome , and be sharers of these great benefits that are promised unto those who are clothed with this white raiment . ver. 11. behold , i come quickly ; hold that fast which thou hast , that no man take thy crown . we not knowing how soon our saviour may come , ought to be watchful , careful and diligent , and hold fast faith and a good conscience , that so we may hold out to the end , that none may deprive us of our crown . him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god ; and he shall go no more out : and i will write upon him the name of my god , and the name of the city of my god , which is new jerusalem , which cometh down out of heaven from my god ; and i will write upon him my new name . to be a pillar in god's temple is an high honour , it is a fixed place ; no danger of being removed , if once set there : and god will write his name upon it , and own it for his own , and ingrave the name of the city ierusalem which is above , as a token that they are denisons and inhabitants of the new ierusalem , and then the lord will write upon him a new name . the lord knows them that are his , he distinguisheth them from the rest of the world : happy are those that be in such a case : blessed are those whom god hath chosen to be a pillar in his temple . to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me on my throne , even as i also overcame , and am sat down with my father on his throne . who would grudg at a little pains , and labour , and difficulties , if at last he may overcome his spiritual enemies ? here 's a gracious promise that our blessed saviour makes , that if we do overcome , ( though it must be by his grace , his strength and assistance ) he will grant us to sit with him on his throne . what an honour is this to be conferr'd upon poor mortals ? what , to sit with christ and his holy angels upon a throne ! well may we say with the apostle , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , what god hath prepared for those that love him . if we do overcome a few difficulties , and deny our selves some small things for christ's sake , will he thus amply reward us , by admitting us to be sharers with him in the glories of heaven ? he hath said it , and his word shall stand , that if we overcome we shall sit with him , even as he hath overcome , and is set down with his father . our saviour indeed did the whole will of his father , and overcame all the hardships and difficulties that he met with , in accomplishing his father's good pleasure . he was despised of men , he was spit upon , he was mocked and buffeted , and at last crucified ; and yet how meekly did he submit to all this ! we find him in his greatest agonies saying , not my will , but thine be done ; and , the cup that my father hath given me , shall i not drink it ? and shall i dispute his will and pleasure ? our saviour he indured the cross , despised the shame , and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of god. he bore all the various difficulties , he pass'd through here with an invincible courage and constancy ; and now we are assured that he is set down on the throne of god , and hath promised that those that are true followers of him , shall in due time inherit eternal life , and shall sit down with him on the throne of god , as certainly as he is already set down with his father . chap. 21. v. 7. he that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and i will be his god , and he shall be my son. here are several particulars instanced , in what those shall possess that overcome : and here , to conclude , it is said , he shall inherit all things , all things necessary for this life , or a better ; all things conducing to this life and the other . but to compleat the happiness of the godly , god hath promised to be his god , and that he will own him as his son : and i am sure none can be miserable that have this god for their god and portion . seeing here are so many comfortable promises to those that overcome , help me , o my god , that i may not seem to fall short of entering into thy rest , but help me to persevere and hold out to the end. do thou strengthen me against all needless fears . thou that saidst , fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer , give me an undaunted spirit against all earthly troubles . what though thou meetest with many troubles and trials , yet thy god hath told thee , they shall not last long . if thou sink under thy burden , thou art undone ; but if thou couragiously overcomest , these promises to thy comfort thou mayst lay hold on . be faithful to the death , and then thy good god will give thee a crown of life , which fadeth not away , but is reserved in heaven for these that love and fear him . paper xiii . o lord , i beg a meetness for heaven ; make me meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. i am unmeet , unfit , unprepared , unworthy to be a partaker of those privileges that are injoyed above at thy right hand by thy redeemed ones : but , lord , i humbly desire thou wouldst sit , prepare and qualify me for communion with thy self in glory . help me to be getting dispositions for heaven , to be meet to live above . i often desire to be at home at my father's house , to be there where god and christ is , where the saints and angels , and all the host of heaven are continually lauding , blessing , praising , and magnifying thy great and holy name . o holy , holy , holy lord god of hosts , shall ever such a poor worm as i be admitted to dwell with thee in thy heavenly temple ? i that am so ill-deserving ; i that am so undeserving , dare i presume ? can i hope upon good grounds that i shall be of the number of those happy ones who shall be called unto thy kingdom and glory ; there to live and reign with thee , world without end ? sometimes i am overwhelmed , and utterly despair of this high honour , when i consider what a vile wretch i am by nature . and when i reflect on the sins of my life , that my whole life hath been one continual provocation against thy divine majesty , i can hardly find day or hour wherein i have not offended thee : nay , i fear my very prayers are sins and abominations to thy pure eyes : and if my condition be such , how is it like to fare with me to all eternity ? who will be my companions in the other world , if i am cast off by thee , and excluded from thy presence ? ( which , lord , i earnestly implore may never be my portion . ) give me leave to plead with thee ; i find in thy word that the blood of christ cleanseth from all sins , those of a crimson and scarlet dye : and also i read that he came to save the chief of sinners that are sensible of their lost and undone condition , and that fly to him for help . he hath said , those that come to him he will in no wise cast out . being incouraged by thy holy word to come to thee in thy son's name , i humbly beg , for his sake , that all my sins may be pardoned , and done away ; that i may be sanctified , washed , and cleansed in the laver of his righteousness . let me have a meetness and fitness for heaven , where i long to be : help me to be laying up a good foundation against the time to come , that i may lay hold of eternal life . let me be kept by the mighty power of god through faith unto salvation . o keep me from falling , and preserve me blameless to thy heavenly kingdom , for christ jesus's sake . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a51833-e2050 * titus vespasian the roman emperor . * the circle of instruction . * taken up amongst the blessed . some remarks on the life, death, and burial of mr. henry cornish, b.d., an eminent dissenting teacher who died on sunday, dec. 18, and was interr'd on thursday, dec. 22, 1698, in the church of bisiter in the county of oxford as received in a letter from a friend. kennett, white, 1660-1728. 1699 approx. 30 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47258 wing k304 estc r3388 13672811 ocm 13672811 101189 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47258) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101189) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 792:14) some remarks on the life, death, and burial of mr. henry cornish, b.d., an eminent dissenting teacher who died on sunday, dec. 18, and was interr'd on thursday, dec. 22, 1698, in the church of bisiter in the county of oxford as received in a letter from a friend. kennett, white, 1660-1728. 15 p. printed for john nutt ..., london : 1699. written by white kennett. cf. dnb. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng cornish, henry, d. 1698. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-03 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion some remarks on the life , death , and burial of m r. henry cornish , b.d. an eminent dissenting teacher : who died on sunday , dec. 18. and was interr'd on thursday , dec. 22. 1698. in the church of bisiter in the county of oxford . as received in a letter from a friend . london , printed for john nutt near stationers-hall , 1699. sir , on sunday last in the evening died old mr. henry cornish , a chief teacher in the meeting of dissenters at bisiter . the next morning one of those brethren came to the vicar , to desire the use of his pulpit for a funeral sermon , to be preacht either by dr. w — of oxford , or mr. o — rector of d — in the county of bucks . the vicar , as i hear , made a kind and prudent answer ; that his pulpit should be at the service of any regular church-divine , and especially of dr. w — on whose character and station he could safely depend upon that occasion ; whether they declin'd to ask the doctor , or whether he decently wav'd the office , i cannot tell . the funeral was on thursday after noon ; a grave was op'ned in the south-isle of the church , near the place where mr. troughton , a considerable teacher of that party , had been interr'd in the year 1681. the appearance was as great as affection and curiosity could make it . the pall was held up by six teachers of the separation , with all other ceremonies which remain indifferent . the corps was receiv'd at the church-gate , by the minister in his surplice , with the form by the liturgy prescrib'd . the preacher select mr. o. took his text from rev. 14. 13. and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth ; yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . for near two hours discourse , he betrayed nothing of the particular occasion , unless ( as some think ) in tone and familiar expressions . he then fell upon the subject of our deceased brother , and spoke to this effect and now into the possession of that perfection of blessedness , which i have been describing , i do not only hope , as i would of every common christian , but i do confidently believe this reverend good old man is entred , the solemnizing whose funeral is the occasion of our present meeting together . i , for my part , cannot say so much of him , as his character deserves ; my acquaintance with him having been once interrupted for many years ; but yet i cannot omit saying something of him . when i began my acquaintance with him , he seem'd an ancient man ; but , by his temperance and wary life , and his peaceable disposition , he had extended his life to half the age of man farther , it being thirty years since i first knew him . what i always observ'd in him , as peculiar to his temper , was a great goodness and benignity of mind , a great humility to the lowest and the least of people , a cordial and sincere friendship , and a readiness to do all the good he could , to all men , not only of his own but of other perswasions . for he did not think that a difference in things not fundamental and circumstantial , ought to alienate the affections of christians from one another , where there was a good agreement as to the main doctrines and substantials of religion . he was always therefore of a healing spirit , and by that means kept himself free from those heats and passions , which are the blemishes of overmuch zeal in all parties . he loved not a disputative and wrangling divinity , but only that which express'd the life and power of religion , and which tended to make good and heavenly-minded men. he was of that extraordinary modesty and self-abasement , as often to give the preference to the performances of younger men , before his own grey-headed knowledge and experience . yet how earnest he was in the great work of promoting men's eternal welfare , his unwearied diligence and perseverance in the ministry was a sufficient testimony . ae was very affectionate in praying , not only for others , but with others , as i my self have often heard him in a private , but a very honourable , family . much more may be said of him , but this i could not forbear saying , though i know not what reflections may be made upon it . common justice , and my gratitude to his memory , demanded thus much of me . for i must confess he has been a friend , and a patron , and a kind of father to me . it was from him i received my instructions when i first entred upon my ministerial office — you , young men , must not hope to reach to the age of this holy man of god — i do not , perhaps , remember all the character , nor can i so far pretend to have repeated the very words ; but i am confident it was to this sense , and in most of these expressions : i may have omitted somewhat , but , to my knowledge , have invented nothing . it rais'd my indignation , i must own , to hear this harangue upon a profess'd maintainer of division and schism : to hear it delivered in that very church from which he had detain'd so many ignorant people : to have it spoke in triumph over the head of the parochial minister , a diligent and sober man : to proclaim it with as much noise and assurance as lungs and liberty could take ; and all this by a benefic'd church-divine , without distinguishing between his charity and his judgment ; without a word of exhortation to unity and peace ; without so much as wishing those people to come more frequently to that holy place , where they were now assembled , and where their late beloved teacher chose to lie at rest. nothing but applause of the person , and then a silent consent to the merits of the cause . this , no doubt , was a more than common joy and insult to that party ; and might be apt to strike some damp upon the regular and well-affected members of the church ; since one of their own reputed ministers could make conformity and separation such indifferent things ; and pronounce the man blessed , who had been the voice and the soul of the schism in that town . to give you , sir , my own thoughts , i am really as much against a persecuting spirit , as any of those men , whose interest or coldness it is to be , for what they call moderation . i can freely converse , and exchange any offices of humanity with a well-meaning dissenter , of what name soever . i am as much by temper , and by conscience against rudeness and railing on the one hand , as against fawning and flattery on the other . especially , i would have all justice and all charity shewn unto the dead of all perswasions . for i believe there be some laudable qualities in men of the most desperate sects and factions . goodness of nature can sometimes break through ill principles ; and the signal virtues of morality , seem in some well disposed people to atone for their mistakes in religion . even the pharisees had a right to be commended for some punctual observances of charity and justice : nay , the most deplorable hereticks in the christian church , were none of them so lost to god and goodness , but that they said and did some things praise-worthy , and of good report . and therefore i am by no means angry , that this grave ancient man was publickly treated with so much respect and honour . the funeral orations were always heard with some allowance to grief and affection : and sermons , on the like occasion , ought to be interpreted with candour and concession ; especially , when he who performs that last office , lies under particular obligations to the party deceased . as it was in this case ; where the speaker is said to be possess'd of a very plentiful benefice , chiefly by the interest and recommendation of mr. cornish , in whose opinion he was a moderate and peaceable man : and therefore he did well to intimate his great engagements to him ; and to call him expresly his father , his friend , and his patron . this was ingenuous and proper ; but then he should have temper'd his gratitude with discretion and truth . he should first have considered his own character , which was , by no means , to be an advocate for indifference in communion , nor cowardly to betray that altar , to the service whereof he had been legally ordain'd . he should have consider'd the place , wherein he stood upon courtesie and sufferance , and should in good manners have said nothing offensive to the person , by whose leave he came there . he should have considered , that the greatest part of the audience were already prejudiced against the church , and the ordinary means of salvation in it ; and to be now taught to have men's persons in greater admiration , would but seal up the obstinate , and confirm them in the error of their ways . he should too have considered , that in the mixt multitude , there were some regular and conscientious members of the church of england , who must needs be offended to hear their church , in effect , delivered up by a professing disciple of it : and to find a leader of misguided separatists to be , as it were , sainted in that place , where unity and conformity are yet established by law. and , above all , he should have considered , how he can answer it to god or man , to countenance disorders and divisions , to daub with untemper''d mortar , to speak smooth things , and to prophesie deceits ; however the people may love to have it so . most certainly , the preacher , on this solemn occasion , had been more true to the rights of his own function , if he had took this fair opportunity , first to commemorate the great charity of the church of england , which , like a natural and indulgent mother , has always open arms to receive even her froward and rebellious sons . and tho' , like the other true parent , she had rather have the living child than the dead ; yet in pity she allows her offices of christian burial , to those who despise her other ordinances : why should not this tenderness and compassion of hers , work upon the hearts of the disobedient ? why should it not make them sensible , there be some returns due of silial respect and love , for her bowels of affection to them ? did she imitate the dire severities of the church of rome : did she curse and exclude from salvation all that forsook the pale of her communion : did she cast out their bodies to the fowls of the air , or rake into their graves , and condemn their very bones to be burnt ; as is known to be the frequent practice abroad . why then , these unmerciful doings might well create aversion and abhorrence in all that differ'd from hor ! but when she patiently waits their submission , while they live ; and affords them the last offices of piety , when they come to die , this sure might win upon all ingenuous spirits , to oblige her with conformity and obedience in all reasonable service . he might then have took an opportunity to infer , that our dissenting brethren do not die so much out of charity with the church , as is commonly imputed to them . when there has been any variance between friends or relations , if the deceasing party bequeath a legacy to him or her that survives : this is justly thought a sign and seal of reconciliation and and perfect love. why do we not in this case make the same reasonable inference ? we see those brethren live many years as strangers and aliens to the church ; yet when they come to depart out of this world , they leave their bodies as a legacy to be there deposited in peace . tho' , by strength of prejudice , and force of ill example , they chose to serve god in a common and unhallowed barn , rather than in the place solemnly devoted to be his house of prayer : yet on death-bed thoughts , they cannot will their bodies to be committed to the threshing-floor ; but make it their last option to be buried with their forefathers , and let their sepulchres at least be on the good old consecrated ground . we ought to put the kindest sense on this their dying disposition . we know it was a prevailing error in the primitive church , for the novices and catechumens in the faith , to defer their being baptiz'd to the very point of death ; upon a false conceit that every sin committed after baptism would be mortal ; and , upon a charitable surmise , that just dying in the communion of the church would absolve them from all the errors of their past course of life . who knows , but the better sort of dissenters have these scruples on them ? that if they should be too soon admitted into the bosom of the church , they could by no means live up to the rules and orders of it ; and so , by being unworthy members , should be the greater sinners : whereas delaying their admission to the last , they may possibly suppose , that such a final action determines their salvation ; and to be buried in the church , is a sufficient atonement for long absence from it . charity thinketh no evil. then he might have took occasion to perswade the brethren there preseut , that they would be as well affected in their life and health , as they generally come to be in their last sickness , and point of death ; i. e. to bring their bodies to the church , while their souls are yet in them . for souls and bodies united , might be offer'd as a more acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to christ , and his spouse , the church ; more acceptable , than the bare carcass , and the refuse of mortality . why should they desire to be interr'd within the precincts of the church ? unless they naturally think it their own last home , and their proper place . would any of us request , that our dead bodies should be carried into an enemy's country , rather than be laid up in our native land ? it must argue some affection to that spot of earth , where we resolve to lay down our mortal man , and mix our common dust. many of the good old christians , in the times of persecution , when they had fix'd upon their place of sepulture , in rocks , suppose , or dens , or caves of the earth ; when they had fix'd , i say , upon the pla●● ; they used often to visit it , to retire to it , to spend hours of devotion at it , to put them in mind of mortality , and prepare themselves to depart in peace . it could be no superstition in our dissenting friends , to use the like preparatory methods of holy dying ; i mean frequently to visit the sacred place allotted for their burial , and there exercise themselves to that godliness which will be profitable for them . he might further have thought fit to encourage those brethren , not to forsake the assembling themselves together in that holy place , where the mournful occasion had now brought them . for they might perceive , there was no such harm in the church , or the service of it . the ground was not polluted with idolatrous worship ; if it had , their reverend teacher would not have desir'd to find there an ark of rest for his earthly tabernacle . the surplice , and the liturgy , were no such abominable things ; for they had now seen them innocently us'd in the conduct of their good old pastor to the grave : nay , and they had seen six of their living teachers walking after them bare-headed , with as much decency and respect , as good manners , and good conscience could advise . what false spies are they , who have brought this evil report upon the church , as if it were hideous and intolerable , and would eat up the inhabitants ? we see no such thing : the ceremonies are few and inoffensive : the prayers are devout , and pathetically good : the sermons are practical and plain . the people seem generally sincere and without hypocrisie . let us dwell with them together in unity . i was glad when they said unto me , we will go into the house of the lord. our feet shall stand in thy gates , o jerusalem . and when he had come to speak more expresly of the person and character of the dead , he should have made a fair and ingenuous apology for those strokes of life and conversation , which some people had objected , as blots and blemishes to him. he might have plausibly said ; that his being cast into those ways of separation , seem'd not so much his choice , and his judgment , as his birth , and his breeding , and his engagements in the world : for that he was born of puritanical paients , and taught from a child to censure , and condemn , what he could not understand : that with these prejudices , he was admitted in oxford under the government of a noted admirer of that way ; and being there imploy'd in a servile office , he was the more oblig'd to let his conscience be at the command of his superiors : that he took orders at a fatal juncture , when it was popularity and gain to preach down the king and the church : that his zeal in this cause had recommended him to the parliament , so call'd , who sent him back with other chosen brethren to preach up reformation in oxford : and , for his pains there taken , did soon reward him with a canonry in christ-church , one of the best preferments in england , which the iniquity of those times had left capable to be enjoy'd . that these obligations were enough to contract him to that cause , by which he got his wealth and honour ; whereas the church had offered little or nothing to retain him at first , or to bring him back again . for when he was forc'd to leave his own ( i. e. another's ) place in the college , he saw afterward no i emptation to conform . he fell under the near influence of a gentleman , who encourag'd and supported his nonconformity ; and made him perhaps dream of the glorious times of restitution . in the mean time , he was drove on the necessities of teaching in separate congregations ; which course of life put him upon some troubles and afflictions , that might incense humane nature , and provoke him to be more dis-affected to the church , by which he seem'd to have suffer'd much , and to have lost all. but herein he purchas'd , what really deserves to be call'd a good report : for notwithstanding these many disadvantages of education and interest , and resentment ; yet , after all , he was no bigot , no violent angry man : he had really a meekness of disposition , that kept him much from wrangles and disputes : he had a goodness of nature , that inclin'd him to a fair correspondence with some church-divines ; and it seem'd his peculiar frame of spirit to be reserv'd and inoffensive . in the short discourses , which i know to have been held with him , like a wise and good man , he took only the defensive part . he never , in my hearing , rail'd at , or run down the constitution of the church ; but pleaded calmly for moderation , and liberty of conscience , and bearing with one another . he would often chuse to make , as it were , some apology for keeping up a separate meeting in opposition to the church . he would say , he was brought thither by the invitation and importunity of such , as he thought good people . that it was not his intention to keep them altogether from the church ; but should sometimes set them the example of going thither himself . and he did at first resolve to begin , and end , his publick exercises at such hours , as should not interfere with the solemn service of the church ; but dismiss them from one place , to attend at the other . he seem'd to desire no better character , than what had been truly given of his predecessor in that town , mr. john troughton . he was not of so busie , turbulent , and furious a spirit , as those of his perswasion commonly are ; but very moderate . and although he often preached , as occasions offered themselves , in prohibited assemblies ; yet he did not make it his business , by employing all the little tricks and artifices , too frequently practised by other hot-headed zealots of his fraternity , viz. by vilifying and railing at the established ordinances of the church , libelling the conformable ministry , by keeping their meetings at that very time when the services and administrations of the church are regularly performing , &c. he did not , i say , by these , and such like most unwarrantable contrivances , endeavour to withdraw weaker persons from the sacred bosom of the church , in order to fix and herd them in associated defying conventicles . he was respected by , and maintain'd an amicable correspondence with some of the conformable clergy , because of his great knowledge and moderation . mr. john troughton had this good character given him by a writer , that had not the custom of flattering that party ; nor used he to speak better of persons , than they commonly deserv'd . and truly such , in most respects , mr. henry cornish seem'd to be , peaceable and quietly dispos'd . he was known to have valued himself on this happiness , that he had receiv'd holy orders from a bishop of the church of england ; and therefore could not be thought an intruder into the ministerial office. i remember he has , upon several occasions , call'd himself , and wrote himself , episcopally ordain'd ; and , under that character , would distinguish himself from other ordinary dissenting teachers . he married one of his daughters to a conforming divine , and used his interest to possess him of a better benefice , under the conditions of subscription and declaration which the laws requir'd . he has , in private conversation , told the minister of the place , that though he hop'd to continue preaching to his congregation for his own life ; yet he thought to perswade them all after his death , to let fall the separate meeting , and come unanimously to the church : which , i hope , the honest man sincerely meant . for when the minister afterward charg'd him with this promise , and seem'd to fear the breach of it ; because he had taken in a young assistant to carry on the same work , and to keep up the same assemblies of opposition . the old gentleman excus'd the matter , and declar'd , that the said young person was sent for without his orders and advice , and fetcht up from another part of the land , before he consented to it . now if these instances of his charity and condescension had been faithfully related by the funeral preacher , he had done more justice and more honour to the memory of his friend and patron . god forbid that he should have rudely rak'd into his ashes , for faults and reflexions on them : he should rather again vindicate him from any matters of fact , or fame , that had been objected against him. that , from his youth , he was blown up with that unhappy ferment of innovation , that quickly ruin'd a once glorious church and state : this might be imputed to that want of age and experience , that drew him away , before he could distinguish between good and evil. that he left oxford , when it was garrison'd for his majesty , and join'd himself with those that were in rebellion : this might be ascrib'd to the impetuous tide and tumult of those unhappy times . that he was remanded to the same university to preach the scholars into obedience to the usurping powers : this might be resolv'd into the same cause , the running stream , and the madness of that age. that he took the dignity , from whence the great dr. sanderson was , for orthodoxy and loyalty , ejected ; and so was said to eat the bread of one of the profoundest scholars , and most pious divines in this nation : this too might be a little excus'd from the innate principles of self-love and preservation . that he was even in those times ridicul'd and made contemptible for a puling saint , and sneaking hypocrite , in drollery and rhimes , entitled , zeal over-heated : or , a relation of a lamentable fire in a religious brother's shop , where holy cornish teached , &c. this might be the common genius of poetry and profaneness . that he afterward put himself into a very swimming humour , and scarce knew whether to dissent , or to conform : this might be his comprehensive charity , and latitude of love. that his own old friends have been heard to complain , that he was too cold and silent , that he had wrote nothing for the cause : this might arise from his modesty and distrust of his own talents ; or perhaps from a better sense , that such controversial writings had only inflam'd the world , and turn'd away the spirit of religion . that he was reported to have little or no learning , and that some of his letters are said to remain a testimony of his writing what was scarcely sense and not english : this sure must have been the imperfection of his declining years , when he had outliv'd the sight of his eyes , when in his sermons and epistles he was forced to use the pen of his maid-servant ; and when perhaps ( as a notable old professor said ) he had forgot more than others ever learn'd . stories and scurrilous reflexions are not so much the talent of men of our communion . integrity and truth need nothing but themselves , to support themselves . far be it from us , to invent libels and slanders even against our greatest adversaries , much less against him , who at some times , and in some things , profest to be our friend . there is indeed a late historian , who wrote for no interest , and has therefore among some persons gain'd the reputation of a plain and undissembling teller of truth , one that really knew as much of modern things and men , as any one writer of this age and nation . this historian , i say , made bold to draw up and publish the character of mr. cornish , while he liv'd ; which was the more ingenuously done , that he might have pleaded his own cause , and vindicated himself from any false aspersions . perhaps , sir , in your retirement , you have not the book by you ; and therefore i'llcite you the words at large . but i beg your pardon ; i would be only the transcriber , and leave the truth and propriety of it to your better enquiries , and to the credit of the author . an. dom. 1649. about the same time , when the two last persons were created ( i. e. john wilkins and henry langley ) it was granted to henry cornish , batchelor of divinity , and canon of christ-church , that he , if he please , might be actually created doctor of divinity ; but he refused it , and was not . this person , who was son of will. cornish of ditchet in somersetshire , was originally a poor scholar of new-inn , and an assistant to the butler there to put on ( or enter battles ) in the buttery-book : and as he had been puritanically educated at home , so more under dr. rogers principal of the same inn. afterwards he took the degrees in arts , and became a puling preacher , left oxon when it was garrison'd for his majesty , preached among the godly party , and was appointed by the parliament , with langley before-mention'd , corbet , cheynell , &c. to preach the scholars into obedience to the then powers : for which his service , he was made canon of christ-church , in the place of dr. robert sanderson ejected . after his majesty's restauration , he was remov'd , and preached in those parts as a nonconformist , till the five mile act was made ; and then retiring to stenton harcourt in oxfordshire , where he was patroniz'd by sir philip harcourt , a favourer of such like persons ( as having been educated in their principles by one of the parliament-generals , named sir william waller , who had married his mother . ) he lived , and carried on the trade there for many years , and took all occasions elsewhere to preach , when the indulgences for tender consciences were granted ; and did sometimes ( after k. william iii. came to the crown ) preach in an antiquated dancing-school just without the north-gate of oxon : to which place many people did usually resort . afterwards this meeting was translated to a house in st. ebbe's parish , where it now ( 1691. ) continueth , and is chiefly carried on by a certain person , who had received some education in cambridge , &c. in the year 1690. mr. cornish left stanton-harcourt , and translated himself to a market-town in oxfordshire , called bisiter , where he now holds forth . so that he who had been a licensed preacher by the blessed parliament , as it was by the brethren , so call'd ▪ and had been canon of christ-church , and much respected by those of his perswasion , while he lived in oxon , for a godly man , doth now in his old age , being now about 80 years old , preach in a barn in the said town of bisiter , for profit-sake , to silly women , and other obstinate people ; such is the poor spirit of the person . i have , sir , already intimated , that it shall be none of my business to justifie , or refute this character , which stood upon publick record , for several years , before the reverend man here describ'd did depart this world. i have no more to add , but my prayers , and a desire of yours , that while there seems so fair a prospect of universal peace abroad , god would bless us with unity and concord here at home , and grant us all to be first honest , and prudent , and then religious : and i verily believe , that men , so qualified , could never desert or betray the excellent communion of the church of england . your most humble servant . decemb. 23. 1698. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47258-e170 athen. oxon. vol. 2. p. 512. by tho. weaver . printed 1654. athen. oxon. vol ● . p. 771. a funeral sermon after the interment of mrs. sarah lye. the late wife of mr. thomas lye of clapham. by phil. lamb, minister of the word. together with the scriptual evidence and experiences of the grace of god towards, and in her, left under her own hand lamb, philip, d. 1689. 1679 approx. 103 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 71 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48438 wing l206 estc r213605 99825942 99825942 30334 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48438) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 30334) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1796:6) a funeral sermon after the interment of mrs. sarah lye. the late wife of mr. thomas lye of clapham. by phil. lamb, minister of the word. together with the scriptual evidence and experiences of the grace of god towards, and in her, left under her own hand lamb, philip, d. 1689. lye, sarah, d. 1678. [2], 126, [4] p. [s.n.], london : printed in the year, 1679. with two final advertisement leaves for thomas parkhurst. reproduction of the original in the congregational library, london. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lye, sarah, d. 1678. bible. -o.t. -proverbs viii, 17 -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons, english -17th century. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2004-07 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon after the interment of mrs. sarah lye the late wife of mr. thomas lye of clapham by phil. lamb , minister of the word . together with the scriptural evidence and experiences of the grace of god towards , and in her , left under her own hand . london : printed in the year , 1679. prov . viii . 17. i love them that love me ; and those that seek me early , shall find me . our dear deceased friend ( whose death occasioned this diversion from our wonted course ) as often as she thought ( as indeed she did often think ) of her great change approaching , and as she was going to her fathers house ( where doubtless she is now in glory ) desired her dearest friends , that these words might be the text , or theme of her funeral sermon , being ( as we may very well conceive ) willing to tell her surviving friends o● that love of god of which she had tasted in her wilderness state and of which she hath now ( undoubtedly ) her fill : we enjoy few drops , but she is got to th● fountain-head . she desired tha● all hers , and all you , might know the way to the enjoyment of this love , as well as her self . the text she chose is a worthy text perhaps you may think 't is not so suitable to a funeral occasion but let me tell you . funeral sermons are not subsidia mortuorun● sed solatia vivorum , they are not they cannot be for the help of dead saints , they need no such little things : but they are for the comfort and solace of living saints . the words are the words of wisdom , they are ( i say ) the words of wisdom it self . i love them that love me ; and those that seek me early shall find me . in which , i shall only take notice of these two parts , or branches . 1. in the first part , there is a most glorious display of divine grace and love , in an act of wonderful condescension , enough to astonish men and angels : i love them that love me . 2. here is a most gracious promise , the product of that glorious infinite love ; and those that seek me early shall find me . the first part of the text is a fair preface and introduction to a most excellent promise . the second part is a promise every way suited to the glory and excellency of such a preface . 't is true indeed , it begins with some kind of limitation and straitness : those that love me , those that seek me early . but then it hath a most pleasant and desired exit with abundant satisfaction , they shall find me . there is your glory , your heaven , your eternal happiness ; here is the work of your lives . i beseech you remember it , and let not this text , or sermon , be ever forgotten by you . here ( i say ) is the work of your lives , to seek early ; the happiness of eternity , to find god , and to enjoy him for ever . before i come to the observations , give me leave to speak a little to these two things . 1. to the author of these words , that i may not leave one soul here at an uncertainty . and 2. i would speak a little to the form of the words , that i may leave none of you under any mistakes . 1. the author of this great and glorious text ( if you look into the beginning of the chapter ) is wisdom uttering her voice . vers. 1 , doth not wisdom cry ? and understanding put forth her voice ? vers . 2 , she standeth in the top of high places , by the way , in the places of the paths . vers. 3 , she crieth at the gates , at the entry of the city , at the coming in at the doors . behold , i stand at the door and knock , rev. 3. 20. wisdom knocks , wisdom calls , wisdom cries , and uttereth her voice . the acceptations of wisdom in the holy scriptures , in the word of god , are various . 't is sometimes taken for the god of wisdom himself . sometimes for the son of god , the wisdom of the father . sometimes for the spirit of christ , who reveals wisdom to the saints of god , the spirit of wisdom and illumination . sometimes for the grace of wisdom , and spiritual knowledg . and sometimes for the word of wisdom , the gospel of christ , as he says himself , matt. 11. 19 , wisdom is justified of her children . that is , the gospel of jesus christ , wherein the wonderful wisdom of god is displayed . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ephes. 3. 10. but to wave the rest ( as having many things to speak to you this day , that concern the happiness of your precious and immortal souls to eternity , and therefore i hope , that you will not only bear with me , but also bear me up by your prayers . ) doubtless by wisdom here in this text , is meant the interna sapientia , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , filius dei ; and we are to understand the internal , eternal wisdom of god , that is called in scripture , the word of god , the word that was made flesh , wisdom speaking , the speaking wisdom , the son of god , the son of god ( in quo , & a quo omnis sapientia ) in whom and from whom is all wisdom , all counsel and spiritual understanding , without whom we cannot know god the father , or the truth as we should do ; and by whom we know the truth as it is in jesus . in the first verse of this chapter , wisdom is intituled to this great speech , and indeed in the whole chapter ( if you will but take the pains , when you are gone from hence , to read it seriously ) before you come to the end thereof , you will be convinced , as well as i , that this wisdom is the son of god , the lord jesus christ , making this great proclamation to all the world , i love them that love me ; and those that seek me early shall find me . 2. i told you , that i would shew you somewhat concerning the form or manner of this expression , i love them that love me : to prevent the mistakes , and errors , as we have need to do , especially in this age , wherein the minds and hearts of men , like spiders suck poyson from the most precious and most glorious truths of the gospel . i love them that love me , doth not in the least , 1. intimate , that our love , or the love of the creature , is the cause of the love of god to our souls ; nor doth it in the least imply that our love is antecedaneous ( the least moment of time ) to the love of god ; which will the more clearly appear , if we curiously observe the manner of expressing it : 't is not said , i will love them that will love me , but i love them that love me . besides , the apostle john clears the text , and puts all out of doubt , in 1 john 4. 10 , herein is love , not that we loved god , but that he loved us . and vers . 19 , we love him , because he first loved us . 2. as it doth not at all any way intimate , or suggest the precedency of our love to god , before he loved us ; so in the next place , i must tell you , that it is a most excellent truth , a golden maxime , fit to be written on your door-posts ; yea , on your very hearts , wisdoms thus saying to you , i love them that love me . and it may serve especially for these four great ends : 1. for the support and comfort of poor doubting souls , that now lye very low , in a dark day , in a time of sickness , under great afflictions ; perhaps god hath come , and snatcht away a dear wife out of an husbands bosom , or hath taken away the child of his delight ; it may be many and long continued afflictions lye on him , and he looks upon these bitter and severe providences , and begins to question now , whether god doth love him : time was , when all things went well with me , and i had peace within , and comfort without , a house full of enjoyments ; but now 't is a dark day , god hath smitten me with the strokes of an enemy , the chastisements of a cruel one are upon me , so that i doubt whether god loves me . thus the poor doubting soul is apt to reason . but says god , look not at my providences , on thine own losses , crosses , troubles , and on these outward dispensations ; look rather into thy own heart , and if thou canst read there but one line of love to my name , if thou canst read there any true love to jesus christ , then thou maist conclude with thy self , that whatever providences thou hast met ( or maist yet meet with ) shall be for thy good . i love them that love me . and these providences are not the fruits of wrath , but rather the effects of pure love . rom. 8. 28 , and we know ( says the apostle ) that all things work together for good to them that love god. i can chastise , correct , smite , but cannot hate my sons and daughters , says god. whom the lord loveth , he chastneth , and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth , heb. 12. 6. i love them that love me . 2. for the relief of despairing souls , that are affected , deeply affected with their sinning against god , and their utter unworthiness , by reason thereof , of any smile from heaven ; but are ready to reason against their own souls , and to say , that surely god can never love such a treacherous apostate , and backsliding sinner as i have been , and am ; it 's in vain for me to expect any love from heaven , but rather in fury to be turned into hell , and to be for ever rejected ; my case and condition is worse than that of cain . but for the relief of such , god reasons thus , didst ever love me ? didst ever love jesus christ , and the children of god ? if so , take comfort to thy soul : for certainly , i love them that love me . though it be so low , as it is , though thou canst see nothing but wrath , and vengeance , and hell ; yet , if thou hast any love to me , to jesus christ , and the saints , thou maist be assured , that i love thee . i love them that love me . 3. for the help , wonderful help , and encouragement of poor sinners to duty : how is this glorious proclamation of love and grace accommodated for the help of poor souls , through their whole lives ? have you any true love for god ? you say , you have no strength , no might , so that you are not able to do any thing to please god : why , what is the matter ? you cannot see , that you have any share of the love of god. look into the transcript , look into the copy in your hearts , and if you can see any true love to god there , go and pray , and hear , and suffer what 's alotted for you , and you shall find all sweet and easie to you . 4. and lastly , and that undoubtedly , this great truth from the mouth of wisdom , i love them that love me , is intended for a general proclamation of sovereign grace and mercy to all the sons and daughters of men , and a sweet invitation to all persons , to perform the duty contain'd in the next words , namely , to seek early after god : here is wonderful freeness and fulness of divine grace ▪ large enough for all men ; and 't is enough to encourage those persons ( that are naturally haters of god in their minds ) to return , and enquire after him ▪ because god is ready to meet them , and requite them with reciprocal love : do your duty , and if you love me , and seek me , be sure i have a love for you . but i will detain you no longer among the terms and words of the text , though to keep my usual ●ont and method , i must always endeavour to make the way plain before you . the text i told you had two branches , and ' it s my purpose ( if the lord enable me ) to gather some fruit from each of them . from the first part , i love them that love me . i would offer this to you , doct. 1. that there is a mutual and reciprocal love between christ and his saints . i told you , that it was a proclamation of the love of christ , and where he loves , he begets love ; so that whensover a saint truly loves christ , he may be sure , that christ doth intirely love him : i am my beloveds , and my beloved is mine . the believing soul says so ; and who can but live and dye on such a word as this is ? especially when christ says , as in the text , i love them that love me . i love this saint , and he loves me . that is the first observation . the second is much like it , and that is , doct. 2. that they that seek the lord early , shall certainly find him , shall certainly enjoy , eternally enjoy him , shall find him a god of grace and mercy , and shall enjoy him for ever . but first , of the first of these : that there is a mutual and a reciprocal love between christ and his saints . to dispatch this , ( and yet not ●o make more haste than good speed ) that you may understand it , shall endeavour to shew you here , 1. that christ loves his saints . 2. how he discovers , and manifests his love to them . 3. that the saints of god do love the lord jesus . 4. how they do express and manifest their love to him : that by all this put together , you may easily conclude , that there is a mutual , and reciprocal love between christ and the saints . 1. first of all , that jesus christ hath a peculiar , a special , dea● love to his saints ; jer. 31. 3 , ● have loved thee with an everlasting love . ephes. 5. 25 , 26 , 27 , wh● loved his church , and gave himself for it ( that is evidence enough 〈◊〉 that he might sanctifie , and clean 〈◊〉 it , with the washing of water , 〈◊〉 the word . that he might prese●● it to himself a glorious church , 〈◊〉 having spot , or wrinkle , or any su●● thing ; but that it should be 〈◊〉 and without blemish : and this text i mention the rather , because it is one of the last scriptures that our deceased friend insisted on , when she took her last farwel of me ; who loved his church ( said she ) and gave himself for it , &c. 2. for the manner , how the lord jesus christ doth express and discover his love to his saints . though i might instance in many methods and ways of his discovering his love to them ; yet i shall confine my self to these three particulars , by which he eminently makes known the intireness of his indeared love to his saints ; and by the same ways i shall shew you by and by , that the saints of god 〈◊〉 express their love to jesus christ. 1. first of all , he discovers and makes known his love to his saints , in denying himself of all the glory he had with his father , in leaving those regions above , that he might come down , and gather his saints together , that he might redeem them out of the hands of hell , and deliver them out of the house of their prison and bondage . rev. 1. 6 , vnto him that loved us , and washed us from our sins in his own blood ; he gave his heart blood for us . phil. 2. 5 , 6 , 7 , who being in the form of god , thought it no robbery to be equal with god , gods fellow , coequal with the father : what did he do ? why , he made himself of no reputation , and took upon him the form of a servant , and was made in the likeness of men . and being found in fashion as a man , he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death , even the death of the cross . was not here love ? greater love hath no man than this , that a man lay down his life for his friend ; yet this was greater love , for christ laid down his life for his enemies , rom. 5. 10. 2. he manifests his intire love to his saints , in the delight he hath in their communion , and in fellowship with them : christ is never better pleased , or more delighted , than when his saints are in communion and fellowship with him . when , and where-ever two or three are gathered together in my name , there is my heaven , here i delight to dwell : if you read over this 8th chapter of proverbs , it the 31 verse , you shall see the ●edundancy of christs love to his people , before ever he had a people ; they were his contemplative delight , that he should come down and be with them , and give himself for them . rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth , and my delights were with the sons of men . do but read cant. 7. 5 , and there you shall see how the spouse her self takes notice of the delight her beloved takes in communion with her ; the king ( says she ) is held ( or bound , as in the margin ) in the galleries . what are the galleries ? why , they are the ordinances , wherein he promises to meet his saints : the king will sit at his round table , he will walk with them in the galleries , in private communion ; he is held or bound there : that is , he takes so much pleasure and delight , he is taken so much with the beauty he hath put upon his saints , that ( to speak it with reverence ) he cannot tell how to go from them , and leave them ; as a man with his best beloved is bound ( as it were ) with chains of love . 3. and lastly , christ manifests his love to his saints , in the earnest longing he hath to have them with him in his glory . when any one sinner is converted , it is said there is joy in heaven , the king of saints rejoyceth , all the angels and saints sing together ; there is ( i say ) joy in heaven when one sinner comes in ; christs sends forth his angels to entertain them , and to bring them into his fathers presence ; nay , he leads them in , himself . in joh. 14. 2 , 3 , christ tells his disciples , in my fathers house are many mansions ; if it were not so , i would have told you ; i go to prepare a place for you . and if i go and prepare a place for you , i will come again , and receive you unto my self , that where i am , there y●● may be also . and you may read at your leisure that ravishing chapter joh. 17 , and if you read it with understanding , and your souls go with your eyes ( be it spoken with reverence to such a glorious god and king as he is ) you will perceive , that he seems not satisfied with his own glory at the right hand of the majesty on high , without the company of his dear-bought saints , that he hath bought with his own blood ; read especially the 22 , 23 , 24 verses ; and the glory that thou gavest me . i have given them ; that they may be one , even as we are one . vers. 23 , i in them , and thou in me , that they may be made perfect in one , and that the world may know , that thou hast sent me , and hast loved them , as thou hast loved me . vers. 24 , father , i will , that they also whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world . then christs mediatory kingdom will be compleated , and the shame and sufferings that were undergon by him , will be answered , when he hath gathered his saints to himself , to behold his glory . 3. and now i shall shew you the second part ; if we turn the table , then we shall see , that the saints of god , in their measure , and according to their strength , those that are truly such , do love the lord jesus with all their hearts ; and you find it not thus with you , you have reason to be jealous of , and to suspect your selves ; i say the true saints of god do love the lord jesus with all their hearts ▪ whom having not seen , ye love : i● whom , though now you see him not yet believing , ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory , 1 pet. 1. 8. whom having not seen ye love , with such a love as raises your hearts ; it is , amor vulnerans ligans , &c. a love ( as one says ) that wounds , that strikes them to the very heart ; a love that binds their souls to christ ; which made the spouse cry out , cant. 2. 5 , stay me with flagons , comfort me with apples , for i am sick of love . the truth is , you may imagine that it is an hyperbolical expression ; but indeed there is no expression that can fully set it out ; and therefore you see , how the spouse hangs , as it were , on the lips of christ , cant. 1. 2 , let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth : for thy love , or loves , is better than wine . and every saint , while he is in the wilderness , in his wilderness-state , leans on his beloved : what would a saint have in any condition ? none but christ , christ is his all in all . 4. and therefore in the second place i shall shew you , that the saints of god do mutually and reciprocally express and discover their love to jesus christ , in their measure , in their degree , as he makes known his love to them . as , 1. they express their love to christ , in denying all for him . christ left a kingdom , and all the glory of his fathers house : but alas ! the saints of god they have nothing to leave in comparison of what he left . they that leave houses , lands , mannors , kingdoms for christ , all this is little ( i say ) in comparison of what christ left for them ; but the truth is , whatever the saints have , all that they have , they will lay at the feet of christ when he calls them to it , and this , as soon as ever they apprehend that love of christ to them ; as soon as ever they come to be made sensible of the worthiness of christ , of the all-sufficiency that is in christ to do them good , away goes the world , they sit loose to it , as loose as elijah's mantle , 2 kings 2. 13 , which fell off when he was taken up to heaven : thus said , and thus did the disciples of christ , we have left all and followed thee . but i shall only add the example of one eminent saint , who left all for christ ; and if all the princes in the world had thrown their crowns into his lap , he would have left them all . phil. 3. 7 , 8 , what things were gain to me , those were counted loss for christ. yea doubtless , and i count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledg of christ jesus my lord : for whom i have suffered the loss of all things , and do count them but dung that i may win christ. v. 9 , and be found in him , &c. 2. as christ discovers his love to the saints , in his delight of communion with them , so the people of god do intirely love , earnestly desire , and delight in communion with the lord jesus christ ; the● would be in fellowship with christ where-ever they be , cant. 1. 1● a bundle of myrrh is my well-belove● unto me , he shall lye all night betwixt my breasts , that is , near my heart . and therefore is the spous● brought in , cant. 2. 7 , breaking ou● after this strange kind of manner i charge you , or i adjure you , o y● daughters of jerusalem , by the roes and by the hindes of the field , that ye stir not up , nor awake my love , till he please . the lord christ ( as i● she had said ) is come to abide with me , and i take so much delight in communion and fellowiship with him , that i charge you not to disturb him : i would not have the dearest lust , i would not have any sin whatsoever to interpose betwixt christ and me . 3. as christ discovers the greatness of his love to his saints , in longing to injoy them with himself in his glory ; so the saints of god , here upon earth , do long ( earnestly long ) to injoy him in his fathers presence , in the house of his glory , to be in those mansions that he hath provided for them , in those regions of glory above : they look earnestly for the glorious appearance of the great god , and the lord jesus christ , as the apostle to titus expresses it , titus 2. 13 , 14 , looking for that blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ , who gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purifie unto himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works . they look out , as sisera's mother , out of her window , and cry through the lattice , judg. 5. 28 , why is his chariot so long in coming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariots ? so the soul of a saint looks out at every cranny , at the eye , and at the ear , and cries out , why tarries his chariot ? why is he so long in coming ? that dear saint that is gone before us , was wont to tell me , that she had waited a long time for her great change , and did continue waiting : and the truth is , it cannot be otherwise , when once a soul is espoused to jesus christ , and hath been kissed with the kisses of his mouth , and knows any thing of his love , and loveliness ; from the very day of espousals , there will be , there must be a longing desire of enjoyment ; as it is with young lovers , when once true love is between them , all the time after is a time of desire and longing : make haste ( says the soul to christ ) and come away ; egredere anima , says the longing saint ; go out , soul , to meet jesus christ : this is the case , as it is between christ and a believing soul : says the soul to christ , either come down to me , or take me up to thee ; dear jesus christ , when shall i come , and appear before god ? i desire to be dissolved , and to be with christ , which is best of all . i would also observe to you , that passionate out-cry of the spouse to jesus christ , cant. 8. 14 , make haste , my beloved , and be thou like to a young roe , or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices . it is the voice of a believer to jesus christ. i should now make a transition from hence to the next observation ; but let me first a little , improve this . and the use i shall make of the first doctrine is this , vse . 1. to stand a while , together with you , admiring at the infinite , sovereign , and free grace of god , who hath set his love upon man , and hath done poor creatures that honour , as to engage their hearts to love god , and the truths of god. god is not beholding to us for our love ; for he is an object infinitely above our love , and 't is a wonder of mercy , that god accounts us worthy to love him , and to love jesus christ : what a mercy is this , that god should beget in us any love to himself , by revealing his infinite love to us ! that his love should be shed abroad in our hearts ! oh! stand amazed at this ! especially when you hear god saying , isa. 65. 1 , i am sought of them that asked not for me ; i am found of them that sought me not : i said , behold me , behold me , unto a nation that was not called by my name . but more of this anon , when i come to the second branch . only here we may go away with admiring thoughts into heaven , at this infinite , free , and condescending love of god to our poor souls : and to raise up our hearts to the greater admiration , consider , 1. what a great , what a wonderful and immense love this love of god is , that he bears to poor creatures , his favour is better than life it self . psal. 63. 3 , because ( says the psalmist ) thy loving kindness is better than life , my lips shal● praise thee . what shall we call it a fountain , a fountain without brim or bottom : amor dei est infundens & creans bonitatem . the love of christ ( as one says ) 't is that which creates and infuseth goodness , all manner of good , temporal , spiritual , and eternal . 2. would you see the fruits and effects of this love ? alas ! 't is not a small matter for the great , and glorious , and holy god , to tell a poor soul , i love thee . men may say so , and it may signifie little : but god never says so to any , but it creates a heaven in the soul , it fills the soul with all the joys and delights of heaven , it leads him into the regions of life and peace , peace , peace , and assurance for ever , isa. 26. 3. and 32. 17. in all your duties , this will be your delight , that god loves you : in a time of darkness , this will be your light ; and in the pangs of death , this will be your living comfort , that god loves you , and that you have had an heart truly to love god ; and you know that he loves you by your love to him , and your love to god being ( as it were ) the transcript of gods love to you in your souls . and indeed , ( which may raise your admirings ) where god loves , and whom he loves , he never leave , he never ceases to love . rom. 8. 38 , 39 , for i am perswaded ( saith the apostle there ) that neither death , nor life , nor angels , good or bad angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come : nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature shall be able to seperate us from the love of god , which is in christ jesus our lord. 2. use of exhortation to them that truly love the lord jesus : dear saints , you that have indeed a true love to god , and do by that see his love to your souls ; oh , keep your selves in the love of god. to that end , direct . 1. set a high price on this grace that is wrought in you , and ( as the apostle says ) let it be your great care to preserve , and to keep life in this love of yours to jesus christ. jude vers . 21 , keep your selves in the love of god , looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life . and for this purpose . 1. first of all consider the worth of this love to christ , what an excellent and wonderful grace this is , to have a heart truly to love the lord jesus christ. 1. it is that , which is the clearest evidence of the love of god , it gives you all your life and comfort in a time of darkness , in a dark day , to know by your love to jesus christ , that he loves you , and that the father loves you ; there is no such clear evidence as this in all the world : if a man had all the treasures of gold and silver in the world , he could not read the love of god in them ; but in your true love to jesus christ you may . when you walk in darkness , and can see no light , this is that spark of light that will give you light when you are at a loss . when it is dark round about us , when we can see little or no faith , little or no hope , little or no strength that we have ; let us then inquire , and see whether we have any love , and if we have any true love to christ , this will give us light and life . rom. 8. 28 , we know that all things ( says the apostle ) work together for good , to whom ? to them that love god. if one should ask me this question , why is the promise made to those that love god ? i answer , because the saints do want somewhat to comfort , to support , and relieve them in a dark day ; and when all other light fails , and we can see no faith , find no holiness , this will never fail them : if there be once true love to christ , there will be some spark remaining , that will administer comfort to them in the darkest day . 2. consider with your selves , that if you preserve and keep up this love , this love to jesus christ in your hearts , it will work in you a likeness to christ ; and can you desire to be like any person that you love better ? or that is more exactly and perfectly pure and holy , that is , more lovely than christ ? this true love is a fire that makes all things like it self ; true love to god is of an assimilating vertue , it will make us like to god , and like to christ , whom we love : love is like a looking-glass , if you turn the glass downward , there will appear nothing but the representation of earth , and terrestrial creatures , all earth ; but if you turn it upward , then there will appear heaven , and celestial , and the urseen glory of another world , unseen as to our bodily eyes , but visible to the eye of faith : if we give forth our love to christ , why then all christ , all heaven , and all holiness is on the soul. direction 2. be diligent and exact on your watch : if you do prize , and set any value upon this love to jesus christ , endeavour to keep it , as you would keep your lives ; keep it as you would keep the best jewel in the world ; nay , the world cannot give , cannot afford you such another jewel : this christ hath bought for you with his own most precious blood , by his death , his shameful and accursed death ; and therefore you have reason , great reason to keep it safe , for its own worth , and because it is of so great use , as hath been before mentioned , because it will be a light to you in a dark , in the darkest day , and because it will make you like god , and like christ ; take heed therefore , lest it be stoln from you , or abated in you . as persons that have a jewel of great price and value , will be often looking into the place where they laid it up , to see whether it be safe ; so this spark of divine fire , which is put into , and laid up in our souls , is a jewel of matchless and inestimable price ; how therefore should we inquire concerning it , how it is with us , as to our love to god and christ ? we should be trying and examining our selves , whether wives , or children , or any earthly relations , or worldly concernments or enjoyments , have not stoln away our hearts , or abated our love : we should say to our own hearts in this case , as christ to peter on another account , lovest thou me more than those ? joh. 21. 15 , 16 , 17. so we should say to our hearts , dost thou love jesus christ ? dost thou love him indeed and in earnest ? dost thou love him better than these , than these children , these pretty little idols that are set up before our eyes ? dost love him better than all creature-comforts and relations ? dost love him better than all earthly treasures , better than thy estate , better than all the world , better than all these ? yea , better than heaven it self without christ ? thus i say , we should still be examining our hearts , and see how it is with us , as to our love to christ : for to tell you the truth , our hearts are very treacherous : i know not how it is with yours , but i find it so with mine , and that it is a very hard matter to keep up that height of love to jesus christ as there should be . the prophet jeremiah tells us , jer. 17. 9 , that the heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked , who can know it ? and as it is so in general , so especially with god , the heart is more inclined to be treacherous with god , and in things relating to god , than in any other things ; and therefore we have great need to look well to them , to be diligent , and exact upon our watch , in reference to this love to christ. direct . 3. if god hath vouchsafed this grace to you , as he hath made you partakers of his love , and given you the transcript or reflection thereof , be you sure that you love him again , and be you sure also to keep off every thing that may stifle or quench the heat of your love ; take heed of those strong blasts , those wicked and cursed temptations that arise from hell ; take heed also of those damps that arise from the world ; if you set your affections there , those cold vapours arising thence , will either abate or extinguish the heat of this pure heavenly fire of love ; take heed of being servants , with the world , to the lusts of the flesh ; beware of these things : sin , the lusts of the flesh , the love of the world , and christ , are , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , inconsistent , they cannot dwell together in one soul. 1 joh. 2. 15 , if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . these are like two fires in one chimney , the one will extinguish the other . direct . 4. fourthly and lastly , be sure to add fuel to this fire , and keep this heat you have received from heaven warm , take heed that your hearts never get cold ; i must confess , that we live in a cold and frozen age , in the worlds old age , in an age wherein there is little love to god , to jesus christ , and to the saints ; and if you would in this cold season keep up the height of your love to christ , i would advise you , 1. to be much in communion with him ; the nearer you are to the sun , the more heat you will have . 2. be diligent , and active , and vigorous in the performance of every duty , clothe your selves well with the constant performance of duty ; tender bodies , delicate persons , if they leave off a garment , are very apt to catch cold , and so it will be with us if we neglect the constant performance of duty ; the neglect of praying morning and evening , the neglect of praying constantly in your closets , the neglect of hearing sermons , the neglect of the due observation of the sabbath , in the neglect of these things you will be apt to get cold ; yet it is not enough barely to attend these duties ( which is too common a folly and sin ) but there is one thing more to be done , and that is , when you have been in the exercise of your love , and in communion with christ , when you have warmed your selves in your closets , or at an ordinance , go not too soon into the world ; this care we do usually take for our bodies , when we are warm , when we are hot , we do not presently expose our selves to the cold ; and thus we should do in reference to our souls , when we have been at an ordinance , and have been warmed and heated there , we should not too soon adventure abroad into the world ; this hath done a world of mischief , and persons have thereby cool'd and dampt their love . 3. and one thing more : when you meet together , not to be quench-coals one to another , not to abate the love and zeal one of another , but ( as the apostle exhorts , heb. 10. 24 , ) consider one another ; what to do ? to provoke unto love and to good works , love to god , love to christ , love one to another , love to the ordinances of god : when you meet together , do not meet together ( i say ) to cool one another , but meet as so many live-coals , that will kindle and enliven one another , that you may make the greater heat , that you may warm your selves , and one another , and so keep your hearts and affections continually warm for god. vse . 2. i have yet a word to another sort of people by way of application , and that is , to such as have never yet tasted of the love of god , nor never yet have found any love to christ in their souls ; i hope there are , or may be none , or few such here , and therefore i shall speak but little to this ; if there should be any such here , or any of yours at home should be such , their case is as bad as that of cain or judas . if they have yet no love to god , and to christ , i tell them that are here , and do you that are here tell them that are at home , that they must never content themselves without it any longer , without which they can never be able to say , truly to say , that god loves them : for if they hate christ , christ will hate them , and set himself against them ; yea , there is a curse gone out , and pronounced against them already , 1 cor. 16. 22 , if any man ( says the apostle ) love not the lord jesus christ , let him be anathema maranatha . and therefore you that are such as i am now speaking to , be you perswaded from henceforth to love christ , and in order thereto , wait upon the means of grace , where god hath promised to shew forth his love , and to inkindle it , and inflame their hearts with a greater and higher love to himself . in job 22. 21 , says eliphas to job , acquaint thy self with him , that is , with god , and be at peace : thereby good shall come unto thee . and this brings me now at last ( though i have staid long from it ) to the second observation from the text , wherein lies much comfort for poor souls , though you have had hitherto but a little light and love from god , and but little love to god ; and that is , doct. 2. that they that seek the lord early , shall certainly find him , and shall find him a god full of grace and mercy , and shall certainly enjoy him eternally in heaven . our deceased friend ( that precious saint of god that is gone before us ) having found the benefit of an early seeking after god and christ in the way of his ordinances , desired that her nearest friends , relations , and children , might be ( and indeed by chusing this text doth advise us all to be ) a generation of seekers ; and oh that god would make every one of us such , as may seek thy face , o jacob , o god of jacob ; that is , that may seek after jesus christ : this is the work of our lives , and it is well for us that jesus christ came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost , and to put this great advantage into our hands , that we could never have had without him . in matt. 7. 7 , 8 , christ exhorts us , ask , and it shall be given you : seek , and ye shall find : knock , and it shall be opened unto you . for every one that asketh , receiveth : and he that seeketh , findeth : and to him that knocketh , it shall be opened . under the covenant of works you might seek , and seek , till your eyes sunk into the holes of your heads , and never have found christ nor god ; but now he tell us , that he is come into the world , and that if we seek him with our whole hearts , in the way of his ordinances and appointments , we shall find him ; and that if we knock there , it shall be opened unto us . in the prosecution of this observation , i shall only speak to these three things . 1. first of all i shall shew you , that man is born in a natural estrangement from god , every man , every individual person , every mothers child is brought into the world , naturally estranged from god. in psal. 58. 3 , the wicked are estranged from the womb , they go astray as soon as they be born , speaking lies . there is the very character and picture of a man in a natural state , he is born with his back upon god , and going with his face towards hell ; before he can walk with men , he can run away from god. 2. i shall shew you , that they that would escape that sin and misery that attend this estate of estrangement from god , must seek him early ; for they are in the regions of darkness , and in a state of sin and misery ( as the apostle expresses it , ephes. 2. 12 , ) being without christ , aliens form the common-wealth of israel , strangers from the covenant of promise , having no hope and without god in the world . and the apostle speaking of such , so living , and so dying , in 2 thes. 1. 9 , says , who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord ▪ and from the glory of his power . and there is no way to escape this , but by seeking early after god , by seeking early after jesus christ. and this is that which i shall now speak to , and which the prophet isa. 55. 6 , 7 , offers to us in the like terms . seek ye the lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him while he is near . now is the accepted time , now is the day of salvation , 2 cor. 6. 2 , you cannot tell how soon it may be , that you may seek , and god will not be found ; that you may call , and he will not answer ; that you may knock , and yet it shall not be opened to you : for i tell you , ( yea , christ himself tells you ) luke 13. 24 , that many shall seek to enter in , and shall not be able : and it must be , and is spoken of such kind of persons as we be , of persons that make a high profession , that injoy the ordinances of god ; mat. 7. 22 , 23. many ( says christ ) will say to me in that day , lord , lord , have we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ? and then will i profess unto them , i never knew you : depart from me ye that work iniquity . now is the time of your seeking . and because there is the greatest emphasis intended in this term early , early seeking after god , i shall wave all the rest , and apply my self to a timous , to an early seeking after god , if god shall give us the wisdom of the swallow , the turtle , the stork and the crane , jer. 8. 7 , to let us know our season , and the things that belong to our peace . and in reference to this , i should have thought it most proper for me to have spoken more largely to five or six particulars ; but the time will not give me leave , and therefore i shall but only name them . 1. i should have shewed you , what it is to seek , what is meant by the act of seeking . 2. what it is to seek god , considering the act with the object , what it is to seek christ : and that under these four heads . 1. to seek the lord , is to seek an acquaintance with god , to seek after the knowledg of christ : this we should do early ; and because we cannot do it more early , we should do it now ; and it is our great concern to get an acquaintance with god ; we should seek now to know god and christ ; this is of so great weight , that christ himself tells us , joh. 17. 3 , this is life eternal , that they might know thee the only true god , and jesus christ whom thou hast sent . 2. to seek god , is to seek reconciliation with god : for there is enmity and hostility between god and us poor sinful wretches ; every one of us , as we are sinners by nature and by practice , ought to seek reconciliation with god , and an interest in christ , aud to make him our friend ; and for this we are ambassadors ; the whole gospel serves for this end ; it is the ministry of reconciliation . 2 cor. 5. 18 , 19 , 20 , all things are of god , ( says the apostle ) who hath reconciled us to himself by jesus christ , and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit , that god was in christ , reconciling the world unto himself , not imputing their trespasses unto them , and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation . now then , we are ambassadors for christ , as though god did beseech you by us ; we pray you in christs stead , be ye reconciled to god. 3. to seek the lord , is to seek communion with god , and to seek communion with jesus christ , to seek him in his ordinances , in his publick ordinances , institutions , and appointments ; to seek him in our private duties , in our closets , to have close communion with god , and with christ there : if any man love me , he will keep my words : and my father will love him , and we will come unto him , and make our abode with him ( says christ ) , joh. 14. 23. so that it is a duty that lies on us to seek god more in secret duties , and more in publick ordinances night and day , wherever we be , to have further rnd more intimate acquaintance with him , and to have a more clear interest in christ , and more intimate communion with him : by night on my bed , says the spouse , cant. 3. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , i sought him whom my soul loveth , i sought him ( on her bed , but that perhaps may be drowsily , it was a kind of drowsie seeking ) and i found him not . what then ? i will rise now and go about the city in the streets ▪ and in the broad ways i will seek him whom my soul loveth : i sought him , but i found him not : the watch-men that go about the city , found me : to whom i said ▪ saw ye him whom my soul loveth ? it was but a little that i passed from them , but i found him whom my soul loveth : i held him , and would not let him go , &c. thus should we seek jesus christ , thus should we seek communion and fellowship with him . and in cant. 1. 7. she thus bespeaks the lord jesus , tell me , o thou whom my soul loveth , where thou feedest , where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon : for why should i be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions ? and this scripture i mention the rather , because i now it was much the spirit of our deceased friend , that precious saint now with god , who did seek jesus christ in pure ordinances , and desired to wait for him in the most uncorrupt , and purest ways of communion ; for which she had a great zeal , to my certain knowledg . 4. and lastly , to seek the lord , is to seek the eternal injoyment of god , and so to seek the lord jesus christ , as that we may injoy him in his glory , setting our faces heavenward , as in jer. 50. 4 , 5 , it is said of the children of israel , and the children of judah , that they shall come together , going , and weeping ; that they shall go and seek the lord their god. and that they shall ask the way to zion , with their faces thitherward , &c. they did not only look , but they went ; they did not look one way and go another , but they looked , and went where they might find god ; for they said , come , and let us joyn our selves to the lord , in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten . i should have also shewn you 3. where you should seek the lord jesus . 4. how you should seek him . and then 5. why you should seek him . but the time constrains me to retire to that one single term ( early ) to that circumstance of time , because in it lies the greatest emphasis ( as i said before ) and may be of great use to us at this day : and here i shall shew you , what is intended by early seeking of god. i am sure , those that have lived longest , are most concerned herein ; the youngest , yea , every one of us should account it our greatest concern , early to seek the lord. but what is it that is intended by this expression , early to seek the lord ? this i shall shew you in three particulars . 1. it seems to have reference unto a day of gods severe dispensations , when he goes forth to correct the nations , to afflict families , and persons ; there is such a day , and that is the day of the lord ; and in this day , as it is our duty so it should be our wisdom to seek the lord early , before he kills and destroys us , before he makes an utter end by the severity of his stroke . in zeph. 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , says the prophet , gather together , o nation not desired . before the decree bring forth , before the day pass as the chaff , before the fierce anger of the lord come upon you , &c. seek ye the lord , all ye meek of the earth , seek righteousness , seek meekness , it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the lord's anger . and in this sense , this is the most seasonable word that i could have offered you in such a day as this is , when god is gone forth to contend with the nations ; we hear of much sickness and death both in city and country ; god is shaking his rod , now therefore it is time early to seek the lord : it is a hard matter for a man that is secure , to be awakened though the rod be coming upon him , though the lion roar , though judgments are breaking in upon us ; as long as we can tell what shift to make , ( with the prodigal son ) we never think of returning to our fathers house , we never think of seeking unto god. 2 sam. 14. 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , when absalom set joabs corn on fire , he then made haste to come to him . and thus it is with us , we will not seek after god ; but if he set our houses on fire , our bodies with burning fevers ; when he comes , and consumes , and scorches our comforts , then it may be we make haste , and seek after him . in isa. 26. 16 , lord , ( says the prophet ) in trouble have they visited thee : they poured out a prayer , when thy chastening was upon them . and so in hos. 5. 15 , in their affliction they will seek me early , says the lord by the prophet . when they saw their sickness , and their wound , they sought other means : when none would do , and their case was desperate , they will then plead guilty , acknowledg their offence , and seek my face . in their affliction they will seek me early . and so likewise in psal. 78. 34 , when he slew them , then they sought him , and they returned , and enquired early after god ; here were a people ( methinks ) much of the spirit of the people of england ; when he slew them , then they sought him , and they returned , and enquired early after god ; early , that is in respect of themselves , though too late in respect of others that were already consumed and destroyed ; early , that is , before they themselves were destroyed : though it was not early absolutely , yet comparatively so ; though it was late , yet the lord accounts it for an early seeking . but 2dly , to enquire and seek early after god , may have respect to the morning of every day of our lives , and then the duty lies thus upon us , they that seek me early shall find me ; that is , if we seek god in the morning , we shall find him all the day long with us . early in the morning ( says david ) will i direct my prayer unto thee , and will look up . and in another place ( says he ) i prevented the dawning of the morning . and if we would learn this lesson this day , and constantly practice it , we shall find greater advantages thereby , than we are aware of . the poets say , that aurora musis amica , the morning is a friend to the muses ; and doubtless the saints of god will find the morning as much a friend to their graces , as the poets did to the muses . when i awake , says david , psal. 139. 18 , i am still with thee ; when i awake , i season my self with the thoughts of god. 3. in the 3d place , and that which doubtless is most properly to be understood , and is especially intended here is , as it hath respect to the day of our lives , and the morning-part of that day . now then , you that are young , awake betimes , improve your morning , make use of it before it pass away ; consider seriously your follies and neglects , what they have been , and be ashamed : it is well for you that you are in the morning of your day ; look out therefore early after jesus christ , study to know god betimes , study to know jesus christ while you be young . in matt. 6. 33 , the lord jesus exhorts to seek first the kingdom of god , and his righteousness ; and doubtless he there intends this , namely , seeking after god and his kingdom in youth ; do not first seek your pleasures , do not first seek to fulfill your lusts and vain delights , and think it will be time enough to seek the kingdom of god afterwards : no , you ought to seek that in the first place , before , and above all other things whatsoever . it is a maxime of hell , quaerenda pecunia primum , virtus post nummos , ( but the sons and daughters of men are too apt to take it up ; yea , it is their rule they walk by ) first to get an estate , and to grow rich , and when they have done that , then ( if they can find leisure ) to serve god , and to seek after christ. but i say , that it is good to begin betimes , and so did this servant of god that is gone to heaven before us ; she began betimes to seek after christ , and hath left upon record her early enquiries after the ways of god , after the knowledg of christ : and oh what an honour is it to be like obadiah ? who says of himself , 1 kings 18. 12 , that he feared the lord from his youth . children , hear me , possibly i may never speak to you more ; do you , as obadiah did , fear the lord from your youth . do as timothy did , in your childhood ; hear this children , your souls are precious and immortal , 2 tim. 3. 15 , it is here said of him , that from a child , he had known the holy scriptures , which were able to make him wise to salvation : oh let it be truly so said of you . vse 1. of information . the folly and inadvertency of the most of the sons and daughters of men , who seek the world , serve their lusts , pursue lying vanities , and forget god , and seek him not . oh what cause have we to complain of children , of parents , and masters of families , how little care there is among any of an early seeking after christ ? parents ( generally ) teach their children to seek pride , to seek the lusts and pleasures of this world , and their carnal delights : but who is there that goe● forth early to seek the lord ? we can rise early for the world , go from mountain to hill to seek after the profits thereof . isa. 5. 11 , the drunkard will rise early that he may follow strong drink ; the thief watches the twilight , but none seek the lord. vse 2. exhort . to those that have sought the lord while they were young , and do yet continue to seek him , i have a word or two to you . 1. the first is , to advise you to admire ( exceedingly to admire ) the goodnefs of god to you , in that he ever gave you hearts to seek him : oh wonderful grace , that you that were born at the same time with others , have sate under the same means with them that never yet have lookt towards heaven , and their souls are now perhaps dropt into hell. oh ( i say ) admire , exceedingly admire , that god gave you , and not them , an heart to seek after him , to mind christ , and heaven , and the great concern of your souls ; and surely you cannot but admire it , if you consider how little of man there was in it , and how much of man there was against it . when did ever a straying sheep seek the shepherd ? when ever did the wild-goats look after one to lead them ? if jesus christ had not found you first , you would never have sought after him ; if he had not found you , you would , or could never have found him ; if he had not took hold of your hearts , it had been impossible for you to lay hold on him : it is utterly impossible for any man in his natural estate and condition , to seek after jesus christ ; this is a work that never will or can be done , unless god give a new heart , and a new spirit ; there wants something within to promote and effect this work , which god only can , and must give . 2. you that have so done , you that have sought the lord early , i would advise you to go on , and to persist in seeking christ ; and as you go on , forget not what sweet experiences you have had of the love and kindness of jesus christ , what discoveries of light and grace , what comforts and revivings , what refreshing joys and delights you have met with in your seeking of him ; these things ought not to be forgotten by you . and here i shall set before you the worthy example of a knight of 80 years of age , who two or three days before he dyed , set a-part a day on purpose to call to mind the former experiences he had of god , and of what kind , and how god had dealt with him in his waiting upon him in his ordinances from time to time . and i am informed that this dear servant of god that is now gone , hath left behind her a diary written with her own hand , what experiences she had of god in her waiting upon him in his ordinances ; and how , and what god had spoken to her , and by what ministers . and these examples are worthy both of your serious consideration , and also excellent patterns for your imitation . but 3. you that have so done , you that have sought god and christ early , i would advise you to go on in seeking the lord till you have found him in his glory : as you have in your seeking , found him in a way of grace here ; so go on ( i say ) till you have found him in his glory hereafter , what darkness and difficulties soever lye in the way of your waiting upon him in his ordinances and appointments ; that you may be like the church of thyatira , and that it may be truly said of you , as it is said of that church ; rev. 2. 19 , i know thy works , and charity , and service , and faith , and thy patience , and thy works , and thy last to be more than the first . this testimony christ himself gives concerning this church . the nearer you come to christ , and to enjoyment of him in glory , the more haste you should make ; every thing in nature does so ; a stone , the nearer it comes to the center , the swifter is its motion : and the sun seems to move swiftest , when it is near setting : trees of gods planting , bring forth more fruit in old age . psal. 92. 13 , 14 , those that are planted in the house of the lord , shall flourish in the courts of our god. they shall still bring forth fruit in old age : they shall be fat and flourishing . see isa. 49. 29 , 30 , 31. 2. i have a word of advice to them ( if there be any such here ) that are full of days , and it may be full of the world ; but empty , very empty , of the knowledg of god , and have had little , or it may be no acquaintaince at all with jesus christ , nor did ever look after any . we may perhaps say , as job said , job 12. 12 , 13 , with the ancient is wisdom ; and in length of days , understanding . with him is wisdom and strength , he hath counsel and understanding . but is it always so ? is there wisdom and understanding always among the aged ? be there not among them such , as are like ephraim ? of whom it is said , hos. 7. 9 , 10 , gray hairs are here and there upon him , yet he knoweth it not . and the pride of israel testifieth to his face , and they do not return to the lord their god , nor seek him for all this . they do not consider the grave , whither they are going . be there not careless men and women among us , that do not yet look out after christ ? that do not provide for the welfare of their souls , but are cumbred about many things , as martha was ? yea , many aged men and aged women , who have lived all their days pudling in , and about the world , and worldly concerns , and have hitherto neglected the one thing necessary , viz. seeking after christ , and the knowledg of him , and to get an interest in him . do you not yet know , that you are going to appear before the judgment-seat of christ ? and will you not yet come off from this world , but the longer you live , you will love the world so much the better ? is it not high time , that something of the concernments of another world should interpose between your life and your death ? i shall offer you only two or three considerations in reference to this , 1. and first , i would beseech you , and perswade you , as i would be perswaded my self , that seeing you have hitherto neglected your souls , your precious and immortal souls , your spiritual ( which are your greatest ) concernments till now you are grown old , i would perswade you , yea , even beseech you to consider , that now you have but a little time left to do your greatest work ; you have now but one hour . in matt. 20. 6 , it is said , that christ went out about the eleventh hour , ( when there was but one hour more to night ) to hire labourers into his vineyard . so it is with you , it is the eleventh hour , your last hour . besides , have you no eyes , no ears , to see , and hear , that many dye dayly and weekly ? how many goodly plants , ( that god had planted in his own house ) have of late been plucked up by the roots , and laid in their graves ? yea , every day the death of young and old do ring a peal in our ears , to awaken us to consider what is to come ; and will not conscience it self ( think you ) ring a dreadful peal in our ears , when we come to dye , for that neither a voice from the grave , nor yet a voice from the temple , have yet prevailed with us to seek , and secure to our selves an interest in god and in christ ? younger persons than our selves are often taken away , and may we not thereby see and read that death it self is coming to teach us all to be prepared and in readiness for this our great change ? death lies ( as it were ) in ambuscado for us , and sometimes men are taken away by it in the field , and sometimes at home , sometimes by this , and sometimes by that disease ; but death comes to old age , aperto marte , in the plain and open field ( as it were ) ; and old men and old women cannot imagine that death is many days march from them ; and therefore they ( of all persons ) had need to seek after god , and an interest in christ night and day ; seek after this in your houses , in your closets , in your beds , in his ordinances ; yea , where-ever he is to be found , and not to give over seeking , till ( with the spouse before mentioned ) you have found him . 2. consider how christ calls on you in the text. read the begining of the chapter , doth not wisdom cry ? and understanding put forth her voice ? vers . 1. from whence ? she standeth in the top of high places , by the way in the places of the paths , vers . 2. she cryeth at the gates , at the entry of the city , at the coming in at the doors , vers . 3. to whom doth she cry ? vnto you , o men , i call , and my voice is to the sons of men , vers . 4. what doth she call to them for ? that they would come and seek wisdom of christ , that they would come and get understanding of him , that they would come and get knowledg of him , which is wisdom indeed ; the fear of the lord , that is wisdom indeed . doth christ thus call , and will you not regard , nor answer this call ? what then will be his next call ? for ought i know it may be this , arise from the dead , and come to judgment . consider this . 3. and lastly , consider your grand inducement and incouragement , they that seek me early , shall find me : they that will yet seek him , that is your early , and god acconnts it so . in psal. 78. 34 , when he slew them , then they sought him , and they returned , and enquired early after god. while grace is proclaimed , while god says , they that seek me early , shall find me ; this ( i say ) is your early , and that which god himself accounts so ; and will god yet be found of you , if you seek him ? oh! what cause have you to bless god , that ever he made such a promise as this , which is , tabula post naufragium . and that in isa. 55. 6 , 7 , seek ye the lord while he , may be found ; call upon him while he is near . oh wonderful grace ! that such promises should be published to you and me ! i love them that love me ; and those that seek me early shall find me . and now i shall no longer be burdensom to you , but shall beg of you children , for whom i have provided a few words , a short sermon , to hearken to your own sermon , &c. thirdly , a word of exhortation , or , a short sermon to young ones : children seek the lord early , whiles you are yet tender and young . the children of their dear deceased mother , should hear her always saying what the lord said to her , they that seek me early , shall find me . o little children ! you lye much upon my heart , remember your creator in the days of your youth , and seek him betimes , eccles. 12. 1. 1. consider you must dye , it is appointed to all men once to dye , heb. 9. 27. and you may dye whiles you are children . how many pretty little ones are every day taken away before your eyes ? and if you be snatcht away by the cold hand of death , before you know god , and have found christ , what will become of your precious and immortal souls ? would you be willing to dye , and be damn'd ? would you leave this world , and be content to be turn'd into hell , and be punished with the devil and his angels ? can you think of losing your friends , and your god too for ever ? 2. consider what was the great errand upon which god sent you into the world ? not to gratifie your lusts , nor to pursue lying vanities ; but to know god , and jesus christ. and will you , dare you neglect your special work ? o! whiles you are in your prime , mind what you have to do for your souls . can you think it reasonable , that the devil should have your youth , the flower and strength of your days , and god be serv'd only with a crazy body , or the rottenness of old age ? o , then , delay no longer , but seek the lord. and. 1. do it speedily , the mannagatherers must go forth betimes , exod. 16. 21 , so must the christ-seekers , before the sun be up , before the heat of youthful lusts , or earthly cares , hinder your diligent seeking . 2. do it in earnest , with all your hearts : psal. 119. 2 , blessed are they that keep his testimonies , that seek him with their whole heart . 3. resolve to seek the lord till you find him in glory ; not only while your father , mother , or friends live , but as long as you live . it was a sad story in gen. 35. 19 , that rachel dyed , when she was but a little way from ephrath : but more sad , luk. 13. 24 , when many shall seek to enter into heaven , and not be able . 3. consider , that if you seek him early , you shall be sure to find him ; i would bespeak you , as david did his young solomon , 1 chron. 28. 9 , and thou solomon , my son , know thou the god of thy father , and serve him with a perfect heart , and with a willing mind : for the lord searcheth all hearts , and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts : if thou seek him , he will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake him , he will cast thee off for ever . it was a very serious speech of azariah to asa , and to all judah and benjamin , 2 chron. 15. 2 , the lord is with you , while you be with him ; and if you seek him , he will be found of you : but if you forsake him , he will forsake you . quest. but what shall we do to seek him ? ans. if you will seek , you must forsake sin , and flee youthful lusts , 2 tim. 2. 22. 1. especially take heed of lying , that 's the devils chain , by which he holds poor children from christ ; lies are the refuge of guilt ▪ and folly , where the inconsiderate youth hides himself from man , and is kept from god ; as adam , when he knew he was naked , gen. 3. 7 , sewed fig-leaves together ; a poor shift to hide his nakedness ! so the sons of adam , when they become guilty , make lies their covert ; and instead of seeking , fly further from god , and bring a double guilt and punishment upon their heads . 2. beware of pride ; the wanton youth is like the wild asses colt , or as jer. 2. 23 , 24 , the swift dromedary traversing her ways , or a wild ass used to the wilderness , that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure . the souls not seeking god , is charged upon his pride , psal. 10. 4 , the wicked through the pride of his countenance ( his looks testifie his pride ) will not seek after god , god is not in all his thoughts . 3. be not of a stubborn or disobedient spirit to the counsels of parents and teachers ; but hearken to their instruction . it is the most sad and certain presage of the ruine of your souls , if you refuse the serious and early advice of your natural and spiritual fathers . that 's a dreadful saying , 1 sam. 2. 25 , concerning eli's sons , they hearkened not unto the voice of their father , because the lord would slay them . 2. go read the scriptures ; the eunuch found christ there , and augustine found him there while he was reading rom. 13. 13. go , ask your teachers , and they will direct you in the way ; go hence into your corners , and weep , and pray , and god will come to you ; and when you hear the word preacht , mind what is spoken to you ; it is god that speaketh , whom you should seek . 4. consider , if you will seek the lord early , you will lay the foundation of your own peace and comfort , living and dying ; o how may you prevent the sighs , the groans , the repentings , the heart-akings that have fill'd up our days , for want of an early seeking after god : what a comfort was this to our dying friend , as also to her surviving friends and relations , that she did , and could truly say , that she began to know god betimes , and her great preparation-work for death ( to use her own words ) was not now to do : and as that was your comfort then , so let it be your copy now . what a great advantage was that to david , psal. 71. 17 , 18 , that when he was old , he could plead an old acquaintance with god ? o lord , thou hast taught me from my youth . now also when i am old , and gray-headed ( o god ) forsake me not . two things more i would briefly shew you . 1. what will be the difference between them that made it their business early to seek the lord , and them that sought him not , or sought him too late ; and that with reference to eternity , in a dying hour ? 2. whence that difference doth arise ? 1. what will be the difference betwixt saints and sinners , with respect to death at last ? 1. the wicked and ungodly sinner , that would seek the world , his own pleasure and sinful lusts ; when he comes to dye , conscience rings a dreadful peal , and makes him cry out in the bitterness of his soul , alas ! friend , i must dye , animula , vagula , blandula , quos nunc ad ibis locos ? poor flitting , dear departing soul , whither art thou going ? christ is an enemy , god is a stranger , i have no friend to save me , i must be damn'd , i am undone , i am undone for ever . but the dying saint , when he hath the sentence of death in him , hath the hopes of life before him ; i must dye ( says he ) o welcom death , i am now going to enjoy him whom i have loved ; to possess him whom i have sought ( as this precious saint said to me a little before her death , i know whom i have trusted ) i am my beloveds , and my beloved is mine , says the believer , now shall i ever be with the lord. 2. the careless sinner that would not seek the lord , when he comes to dye , bids a doleful adieu to all his comforts ; farwel friends , relations , pleasures and delights , for ever , i shall never see a good day more . but he that sought the lord while he liv'd , when he comes to dye , says , behold , i dye , now farwel troubles , temptations , sin , and sorrow for ever ; i am lanching forth into a glorious eternity , i shall never see a sad day more . 3. the wilful sinner , when he is about to dye , ( after all the counsels he hath slighted , and now time shall be no more ) cries out with horrour , i have for ever lost my opportunities of seeking god , it is now too late , i am left to perpetual howlings . but the gracious soul , who hath sought , and found god in seeking , when he is about to dye , looks back with delight upon all the ordinances , wherein he hath many times met with christ , and found god nigh to his soul , and says , i am going where i shall need ordinances no more , but god shall be all in all ; i am going to mine eternal rest , to an everlasting sabbath-keeping in heaven . 2. whence doth that difference arise ? from the wisdom of the one , and foolish inadvertency , or rather obstinacy of the other ; one knew his season , and did the things that did belong to his peace ; the other had his season , but knew it not , and now his misery is great upon him ; one sought after christ , that he might have an interest in him , and make god his friend ; the other refused christ , and now god is his enemy , and so death is to him the king of terrors : but the believing soul can ( to allude to that in isa. 11. 8 , ) play upon the hole of the asp , and put his hand on the cockatrice den ; and when the pains of an irksom disease are upon him , and pangs of death before him , he says , all these rackings and grievous aches , be but like the ratling of the charriot-wheels that joseph sent to fetch his father and his brethren to him ; and all his wearisom waking nights , be to him as the valley of achor , or door of hope . 1. because he knows death is no death to him , but a passage unto a glorious life with god , whom 〈◊〉 hath sought and serv'd all his days he is but going unto his beloved the lord jesus , who is gone 〈◊〉 way before him . 2. because he looks on the grave not as his prison , but a bed of spices ; or rather the saints tyring-room , where they throw off mortality , to put on immortality ; and lay aside corruption , to put on incorruption . i thought here to have spoken a word to the nearest friends and relations of this deceased saint , to let them see how little cause they have to mourn and to afflict their souls ; but the lord , who knows how to speak comfort infinitely better , hath been with their hearts . only let not the husband grieve , and say , ah! what a dear wife have i lost ! nor the children say , what a dear mother have we lost ! but rather , 1. consider , what she hath found ; she hath found that , which ●he hath been seeking all her days ; ●he hath found that god , that christ , that heaven , that bosom , and those embraces that she waited and long'd for . 3. consider , you will never be happy till you be where she is gone before you . 3. consider , it is but a very little while and you shall see her again ; as augustine comforted his italica concerning her dead husband ; and let you , and i , and all of us mind our work , and be upon our march towards heaven , taking our encouragement from the text , where the lords makes a proclamation of grace , i love them that love me ; and those that seek me early , shall find me . finis . postcript . now though the husband of our deceased friend has been somewhat averse from publishing any thing of her own ; yet being at last prevail'd upon , i shall commend to the reader some particular experiences of the lords early dealing with her soul , as i have found them written by her own hand . first , i find this position laid down by her in her own book , viz. that very many scriptures do imply a possibility , that a believer may know that he is elected of god , and that his election is of free grace through our lord jesus christ unto holiness , which shall end in glory , phil. 2. 12 , 13. 2 cor. 13. 5. 2 pet. 1. 10. with very many more , which i shall forbear to mention . on which ground she proceeds to take a particular account of her own spiritual estate , as follows . it hath been much upon my thoughts to write some of those scriptural experiences which i have found and received great comfort in from the word of god ; being , as i judg , brought home to my soul , by the spirit : and being now past the fortieth year of my age , not knowing how soon the lord may call , having always had a desire to be on my watch , that i may be found ready and willing when ever my lords time is ( this mercy i have been begging many years ) . i can truly say , for some months past i have had no rest in my spirit till i began to write these things ; and after fasting and prayer by my self , while in doubt what to do , fearing the falsness of my own heart , i was encouraged by a sermon that i heard on these words in psal. 77. 1● , i will remember the works of the lord ; surely i will remember thy wonders of old . where was much pressed the duty of christians , to relate what god had done for them . and out of the longing desire i have for the good of you my dear little ones , that you may value the precious word of god wherein your mother hath found so much comfort ; you two , that is , sa . and ma. are the only remnant that god hath spared ( and blessed be god that hath left us as to this day a berry or two ) : you are the children of many prayers ; the lord grant you may be blessed with all spiritual blessings in christ jesus ; and make you serviceable while you live , and fit you for an inheritance among the saints in light . in order to that , i beg you in the name and fear of god , that you highly prize the word of god , and every ordinance of jesus christ appointed in his word : i would say with david , come my children , hearken unto me , and i will tell you what he hath done for my soul , psal. 34. 11. psal. 66. 16. i have found the word read and preached , yea many a scripture that i could not remember i read or heard preached on ; yet it hath pleased my gracious god to send many a word to relieve and comfort my soul : his word hath been to me a convincing word , a reproving , an instructing , and a very comforting word , and that my soul knoweth by great experience . i intend , if the lord permit , and will send his spirit to bring things to my remembrance ( without that i can do nothing ) to set down the kindness of the lord from my childhood , that was pleased to begin with me be-times . o the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of god , &c. rom. 11. 33 , 34 , 35 , 36. i can remember , while a girl at school , about the age of nine or ten , i took great delight in reading the stories in the scripture , which did much affect me . afterward i was more taken with the new testament , that did reveal more of christ to me . then i began to pray as i was able . i do not remember , that i ever did make use of any written or printed form . the first sin that i remember troubled me , was telling my father a lye ; and it had this aggravation with it , that he told me , if i would tell him how it was , he would believe me rather than my brothers and sisters ; and out of fear of them , i said as they did ; but with a very trembling heart , which much troubled me some years after this , when i begun to hearken to the word preached , where i heard that sin set out . i was much affected , and mourned much under the sense of sin ; seeing a burden in it , i desired to look after a remedy . the first minister that i remember , i hearkned to , was mr. h. of kensington , where my father was , in the summer . i did then begin to understand my state by nature , how under the wrath and curse of god. then i began to see my need of , and did desire after jesus christ , being , as i thought then , willing to take him on his own terms . jesus christ was then , as i thought , precious to me ; and being willing to understand my own case and condition , it pleased the lord to open my heart , to hearken diligently to the word preached , wherein i found much comfort , which ingaged my heart unto the lord , and made me unwilling to neglect any duty which he commanded , or to commit any sin which the lord forbids . this i well remember to be the frame of my spirit near thirty years ago . hearing much , that it was the end of life to glorfie god , it made the earnest breathings of my soul to be this ; oh , but how shall i glorifie god! after this , by a providence i heard mr. m. at westminster , my father being there for some months ; he was on that scripture , 2 chron. 15. 17. nevertheless the heart of asa was perfect all his days . i took great delight to hear him , being often angry he had done so soon . my soul was much refreshed by the signs and marks he gave of a perfect heart . i did usually go from hearing , into my chamber , and beg earnestly of god for a perfect heart , in which as i thought , i saw more of value , than in any injoyments whatever ; it was what did concern my spiritual estate . i begun to be much troubled about , how such a poor sinful creature that was by natnre under the wrath and curse of god , should escape this . i did believe as i had been taught , it was by a redeemer ; i did also believe that there was no name given under heaven , by which i must be saved , but the lord christ jesus . i did also much hearken to the tenders of christ in the gospel , and how he invited sinners to himself , and that he offered himself freely : this gave me encouragement . but as i had read and heard it was a strait gate , and a narrow way , few that find it : this made me very careful , lest i should be deceived . and here came in the great question , but how shall i know that god in christ will accept me ? for many are called , but few chosen ; god hath mercy on whom he will , and it is not of him that willeth , nor of him that runneth , but of god that sheweth mercy . this made me very diligent to hearken to marks and signs of grace . the first that i remember troubled me , was this ; understanding it was the common lot of all gods people , through many afflictions to enter into heaven : this did much trouble me at that time , and i was apt to think i should be able to bear any thing that god would lay on me , so it might evidence to me the love of god to my soul : but fool that i was ! i judged too soon ; for when it pleased the all-wise god to try me , i quickly saw that my strength was but small , by my fainting so much as i did in a day of adversity , which by many sad experiences i can shew , how unable to bear any thing when tryed . however then i thought i could bear any thing from with out , so all might be well within . after this , by a providence , i came to hear mr. v. at st. olaves ; the first sermon that i heard him , was on these words , and all the things thou canst desire , are not to be compared unto her , prov. 3. 15. wherein was set out the value of jesus christ above all that the world afforded , which very much wrought on my heart , with great longing after this christ ; but still came this question , how shall you know your interest ? however , it pleased god so to bless his ministry to me , that usually i found my doubts so resolved , and my heart so opened , that i went away with great joy and comfort ; but for all this i was perplexed with dreadful thoughts ; after i had such peace and joy , then satan begun to work indeed : i , but is there such a god , and such a christ to be believed in ? how to answer this temptation , i was at a great loss , and would tell none what did ail me ; i mourned much under it , and thought , i questioned whether there was a god or no ; yet then i did not neglect praying , and did as it were pour out my soul daily unto god for victory , that he would not give me up to an unbelieving heart , and of his free-grace ( who knew my soul in adversity ) by his word to send me relief . going to hear on a lecture-day , he then preached on these words , hos. 2. 7. i will go and return to my first husband , for then was it better with me than now . it pleased god so to order it , that he gave great caution against such thoughts , saying , take heed , poor soul , when the devil casteth in such thoughts : is there a god , or a christ ? take heed , for then satan will have you in his snare . this , with many other things was set home on my heart ; then he did convince me , by appealing to the saints experience , is it not better to entertain good thoughts of god , and of christ ? was it not better with you then , than now ? the lord gave me so to close in with the truth of that word , that i had great joy and peace through believing , and went home full of comfort , that god had so met me with a word . by that means it pleased the lord to give check to those unbelieving thoughts that so overcame me . and yet to this day , i have great cause to mourn , for that unbelief i find in my heart , notwithstanding all the experiences that god hath given me ; that scripture doth often reprove me , heb. 3. 12. take heed , lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god. after this i kept waiting at the posts of wisdoms gate , that i might understand the state of my soul , which was the one thing necessary that i desired to look after ; and finding by the word preached , that the usual way and method of god , was to strike the soul down , as he did them in the second of the acts , and the jaylor , and the like ; this did raise in me great doubts what to think of my self , because i could not find in my self such convictions of , and humiliation for sin , as was pressed ; and as to original sin , it did not seem much to affect me ; this did bring me into great fears : however , i took that way i had found comfort in , which was by prayer to the lord , to bless his word to me . mr. v. was then on this text , ephes. 2. 8. by grace are ye saved through faith , and that not of your selves , it is the gift of god. to this i diligently hearken'd , and received great support , for all my objections seemed to be answered ; yet for all this i did as it were refuse to be comforted : he being on signs of grace , closed the text with these two marks : 1. a souls going on in a way of duty , was a very hopeful sign . 2. but the spirit of god was the only infallible witness : the spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of god. the first did comfort me , the second did very much trouble me ; for i could not understand the meaning of the spirits witness , which fearing lest i should be deceived in a matter of so great a concern , made me give all diligence in reading and hearing , that my doubts might be resolved ; but as yet no rest in my spirit : and the more increased , being the time to go into the country , where usually our family was ; this added much to my grief to be taken off from hearing mr. v. i began to look more into the scriptures , and to pick up whatever did come suddenly into my mind ; and it pleased god to cast in many that seemed to comfort me , which i wrote down in that year . but then came this question , these are marks and signs that belong to such and such saints in scripture : but what is this to thee ? these thoughts much cast me down ; what to do i knew not , but kept still praying and waiting on god , and i found speedy relief , when i least thought of it . my father being at hammersmith , i went constantly to hear there , and that summer several city-ministers did supply the place ; and among the rest , i heard mr. g. on these words , lord , to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life , joh. 6. 68. as i remember , this was his observation , that soul that had once given up it self to , could never bear a going off from jesus christ. his arguing thus with a doubting soul ; try thy self ; cannot you bear a leaving of god ? then doubt not that he will leave you : would you know whether god loves you ? consider , do you love god ? for you could not love him , unless he loved you first . by these and several arguments , the lord was pleased so to set it home on my heart ; i may well forget the words , my heart being so full of peace and joy through believing , 1 pet. 1. that i cannot express it , being as i judg , better felt than exprest ; it did seem at that time to me , as if i had tasted of that joy unspeakable and full of glory . i know not what to make of it , except it were a sealing unto the day of redemption . i thought then my joy being so great , i could willingly have gone out of the body , to have been with the lord. i remember i went home and fell on my knees , admiring the freeness of grace to such a worm as i ; crying out with the apostle , o the depth ! the sense of free-grace and rich mercy did much overcome me ; the which , i hope , i shall admire to all eternity : o the goodness of god! when i had again and again refused to be comforted , yet he waited to be gracious to me ! this i write and speak , that god the father , and god the son , and god the holy ghost may have the glory of their own work . when under my doubts and fears , i seldom went to hear , but the word did seem to speak unto me ; and several scriptures came suddenly to my mind , that did reprove , and quiet , and comfort me , such as these , why art thou cast down , o my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? hope in god , for i shall yet praise him . this hath been made good unto me ; and that in the psalm ; in the multitude of my thoughts within me , thy comforts delight my soul ; and that it is good for me to draw near to god , psal. 73. 28. and that a day in thy courts is better than a thousand , psal. 84. 10. and i can truly say as david did , i had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my god , than to dwell in tents of wickedness . experienced i have that of job , i have esteemed thy word more than my necessary food , job 23. 12. i have had great support from that scripture , all that the father giveth me , shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me , i will in no wise cast out , joh. 6. 37. i have often thought of that scripture with joy , lord , how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto me , and not unto the world ? for who maketh thee differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? i have again and again in these words , and many more , admired freeness of grace towards such a poor doubting soul as i was ; i doubt not , but he which hath begun , will finish his own work on sarah lye. amen , amen . thus far i have written a relation of the first 20 years of my age , what was the great thing that most troubled me ; it was , that i might have assurance of the love of god , and a well-grounded hope of an interest in christ ; that what the lord jesus had done and suffered , might be applied unto me ; and having hopes through grace , and rejoycing much in hopes of the glory of god , which hope maketh not ashamed . after this i began to have great tryals , as to the loss of my relations ; my parents ; that were very dear to me , both dying within four months ; this with many more troubles much cast me down ; yet to observe the providences of god to me , and how by his word he sent me relieving experiences , should i set it down in order , would swell to a great volume . only thus much i may speak to the praise of god , that when father and mother forsook , god took me into his care , and hath graciously provided for me , and hath given me an agurs portion , which i beg'd of the lord when but a girl : i can truly say , all the ways of the lord are , and have been to me mercy and truth : for this god i have chosen to be my god , for ever and ever ; and i doubt not , but he will be my guide even unto death . and now , my dear child , or children , that shall read of this way and method that the lord did use in bringing me off from all things to himself , take heed , pray , take heed you do not limit the holy one of israel ; nor tye up god to this , or any way of working ; the lord worketh all things after the counsel of his own will : but we are commanded to search our hearts , and try our ways , and to examine our selves , and to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure . look that the work of conversion be wrought , and leave time and way to the all-wise god , that governs the world , and orders all things , to whom be glory for ever and ever , amen , and amen . all that i have written in these few sheets , is not out of any book but that of my own conscience ; no assister , but the spirit ; and to no end , but that god in all things may have glory , for i will not dare to speak of any of those things which christ hath not wrought in me . finis . books sold by tho. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns in cheapside . one hundred select sermons , upon several occasions , by tho. horton , d. d. sermons on the whole epistle of saint paul to the collossians , by mr. j. daille , translated into english by f. s. with dr. tho. goodwin's , and dr. john owens epistles recommendatory . an exposition of christs temptation on matth. 4. and peters sermon to cornelius ; and circumspect walking . by dr. tho. taylor . a practical exposition on the third chapter of the first epistle of saint paul to the corinthians , with the godly mans choice , on psalm 4. v. 6 , 7 , 8. by anthony burgess . forty six sermons upon the whole eighth chapter of the epistle of the apostle paul to the romans . both by tho. horton , d. d. late minister of saint hellens . an analytical exposition of genesis , and of twenty three chapters of exodus , by george hughes , d. d. books 4to . the door of salvation opened by the key of regeneration , by george swinrock , m. a. a discourse of actual providence , by john collings , d. d. an exposition of the five first chapters of the revelation of st. john , by charles phelpes . an antidote against quakerism , by step. scandret . an exposition on the five first chapters of ezekiel , with useful observations thereupon , by william greenhil . the gospel-covenant opened , by pet. bulkley . gods holy mind touching matters moral , which he uttered in ten commandments : also , an exposition on the lords prayer , by edward eston , b. d. the fiery-jesuit , or an historical collection of the rise , encrease , doctrines and deeds of the jesuits , exposed to view for the sake of london . horologiographia optica ; dyalling , universal and particular , speculative and practical ; together with a description of the court of arts , by a new method , by sylvanus morgan . the practical divinity of the papists discovered to be destructive to true religion , and mens souls , by j. clarkson . the creatures goodness as they came out of gods hand , and the good-mans mercy to the bruit-creatures , in two sermons , by tho. hodges , b. d. certain considerations tending to promote peace and unity amongst protestants . mediocria , or the most plain and natural apprehensions which the scripture offers , concerning the great doctrines of the christian religion : of election , redemption , the covenant , the law and gospel , and perfection . the vanity of man in his best estate , in a discourse on psal. 39. 5. at the funeral of the lady susanna keate , by richard kidder , m. a. the morning-lectures against popery , or the principal errors of the church of rome detected and confuted in a morning-lecture ▪ preached by several ministers of the gospel in or near london . four useful discourses : ( 1 ) the art of improving a full and prosperous condition for the glory of god ; being an appendix to the art of contentment in three sermons on phil. 4. 12. ( 2 ) christian submission , on 1 sam. 3. 18. ( 3 ) christ a christians life and death is gain , on phil. 1. 21. ( 4 ) the gospel of peace sent to the sons of peace , in six sermons , on luk. 10. 5 , 6. by jeremiah burroughs . dr. wilds letter of thanks and poems . a new copy-book of all sorts of useful hands . the saints priviledg by dying , by mr. scot. the vertuous daughter , a funeral sermon , by mr. brian . the miracle of miracles , or christ in our nature : by dr. rich. sibbs . the christians advantage both by life and death discovered in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful and eminent servant of the lord, joseph jackson, late esq. and alderman of the city of bristol, on the 17th day of january, an. dom. 1661, by fran. roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. 1662 approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57376 wing r1582 estc r32381 12653018 ocm 12653018 65313 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57376) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65313) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1535:5) the christians advantage both by life and death discovered in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful and eminent servant of the lord, joseph jackson, late esq. and alderman of the city of bristol, on the 17th day of january, an. dom. 1661, by fran. roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. [8], 31 p. printed by edw. mottershed, london : 1662. imperfect: print show-through with some loss of print. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jackson, joseph, d. 1661. funeral sermons. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-02 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the christians advantage both by life and death . discovered in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful and eminent servant of the lord , joseph jackson , late esq and alderman of the city of bristol , on the 17. day of january , an. dom. 1661. by fran. roberts d. d. rector of the church at wrington in the county of somerset . phil. 1.21 . — to me to live , is christ : and to die , is gain . hieronym . ad eustoch , in epitaph . paulae , tom . 1. non moeremus , quòd talem amisimus : sed gratias agimus , quòd habuimus , imò habemus . deo enim vivunt omnia : & quicquid revertitur ad dominum , in familiae numero computatur . hieronym . ad theodor. in epitaph . lucinii , tom . 1. nos dolendi magis , qui quotidie stamus in praelio peccatorum , vitiis sordidamur , accipimus vulnera , & de otioso verbo reddituri sumus rationem . london , printed by edw. mottershed . 1662. to my much honored , and entirely beloved friends , in the lord , the children , brethren , sisters , and others in near and dear relation to joseph jackson , late esq and alderman of the city of bristol , now sleeping in jesus , yea living and triumphing in bliss with ijsus : grace , mercy and peace in this life , and eternal glory in the life to come . my dear christian friends , how brittle , frail and fading is the most flourishing life of man here on earth ! the holy scriptures compute it , by 70 or 80 years , psal. 90.10 . by a few years , job 16.22 . by moneths , job 14.5 . by dayes , job 14.5 . by a few dayes , job 14.1 . by one day , job 14.6 . by all , denoting the extreme brevity of it . and they compare his life and time of abode here below , to a vanishing vapour , jam. 4.14 . to a transient wind , job 7.7 . to a perishing puff of breath , psal. 146.4 . isa. 2.22 . to a fading flower , psal. 103.15 , 16. job 14.2 . to a momentary meditation , thought , or tale told , psal. 90.9 . to withering grass , psal. 90.5 , 6.1 pet. 1.24 . to a speedy irrevocable flood , psal. 90.5 . to yesterday , when past and gone , psal. 90.4 . to an hastening post , job . 9.25 . to a swift weavers shuttle , job 7.6 . to short handbreadths , psal. 39.5 . to a weavers web , soon brought to the thrum to be cut off , isa. 38.12 . to a watch in the night , but three hours long , psal. 90.4 . to a vanishing shadow , job 4.2 . & 8.9 . psal. 102.11 . to crumbling dust , psal. 103.14 . to a sleep , insensibly passing , psal. 90.5 . to an apparition , or image , psal. 39.6 . and ( as if all these reached not home , ) to meer nothing , (a) psal. 39.5 . by all these emphatically describing the extreme lubricity , uncertainty , and vanity of man's life . vvhereupon we may with the psalmist justly conclude ; surely , every man , at his best state , is altogether vanity . selah . psal. 39.5 . not only man , but every man : not in some state only , as of childhood , sickness , old age , &c. but at his best state , heb. when setled : is not only vain , but vanity it self : not only vanity in part , or in some regard , but in whole , altogether vanity : and all this with a [ surely ] prefixed , for the more undoubted certainty ; and with a [ selah ] suffixed , for the greater observableness . it is not long since his late dear yokefellow was by natures dissolution divorced from him : and now himself ● by death separated and removed from you . oh what is man ! little did i think to have preached at the funeral of either : and lo , so hath the lord disposed things , that i have ( not without much reluctancie and grief ) performed this last office for them both , not many years interposing . (b) they have prevented both you , and me : our work is to prepare to follow after . the good lord teach us so to number our days , that we may apply our hearts to wisdom , psal. 90.12 . to true spiritual wisdom ; to wisdom for our selves , for our souls , for our eternal estate with our dearest saviour iesus christ in heaven . we have here no continuing city : let us diligently seek one to come ; a city that hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god , heb. 13.14 . & 11.10 . let us so manage our earthly pilgrimage , that we may make sure of the heavenly heritage : let us so improve this mortality , as not to miss of that immortality : and so live on earth a while , that we may undoubtedly live in heaven for ever . as for you that are surviving , my conscience and affection ( i cannot but affectionately love those that belong'd to him , whom i so intensively affected for christ in him , ) prompt me to present a few requests unto you by way of advice : and i hope you will resent them with christian acceptation . 1. be pleased to peruse and practise those ten instructions or practical directions , published in my instructive and hortatory epistle prefixed to my sermon (c) preached at the funeral of mary jackson , his late religious yokefellow . you have the printed books and directions : i need not mention any particulars , but compendiously refer you to them . i heartily recommend them to your faithful practice ; beseeching the god of all wisdom to give you salvifical understanding in all things . 2. endeavour to comfort your selves in this your great loss of him , and deep affliction for him , by christian considerations . and what consolatory arguments may you not readily suggest unto your selves ? his life was so christian , that his death must needs be comfortable . (d) of a good life there cannot come a bad death ; as of a bad life seldom comes a good death . life and death were his , for all manner of spiritual advantages . he liv'd to the lord , and died to the lord : both living and dying , he was and is the lords , rom. 14.8 . his body ( as hierom said of nepotianus ) is returned to the earth ; but his soul is restored to christ. (e) his sins and sorrows are all ended ; his graces are perfected ; and his eternal joyes are begun . vvhile you are lamenting in black , he is triumphing in white . are we born ( that i may use hierom's words to paula upon the death of her daughter blesilla , ) that we should here abide eternally ? abraham , moses , isaiah , peter , james , john , paul the chosen vessel , and above all , the son of god , died : and are we grieved , that one depart the body , whose soul was so accepted of god , as to be snatched out of the midst of iniquity and error ? let that dead person be lamented , whom hell receives , whom the infernal pit devours , for whose punishment everlasting fire doth burn . as for us whose end the angels accompany , whom christ meets , let us rather grieve , that we are kept so long in this tabernacle of death , [ and may not meet christ sōoner : ] seeing while we are present in this body , we are absent from the lord. (f) let faith , hope , and love be your comforters : ( as augustine (g) sometimes advised an italian widow , upon the death of her husband . ) faith ; for you are not desolate , so long as christ dwells in your hearts by faith. hope ; for you cannot but confidently hope , that he is not lost , but only sent before you ; that he is in heáven with christ , which is far best of all , phil. 1.23 . that at the last day his body shall rise again , to be glorified together with his soul for ever . and , the dead's resurrection , is the christians confidence and consolation . (h) love ; for the more entirely you loved him while he was with you , the more exceedingly should you rejoyce at his happiness , now he is with the lord. and the time is hastening apace , when all that are christ's shall meet again , and never part more . 3. turn all your lamentation for him , into imitation of him . he was a fair copy to write after : follow him , as he follow'd christ , 1 cor. 11.1 . i have laid down here after my sermon , a short touch at his exemplary vertues : both you and i know more of his true christian worth . strive to be like him in grace , that you may be like him in glory . and you , that are sharers in his plentiful earthly estate left behind him , you especially are to be put in remembrance of his great charity , bounty and liberality , which with that estate he was wont to exert upon all good occasions ; that you may tread in his steps . the backs and bellies of many and many poor distressed creatures , had long and frequent occasions of blessing him : let them have like causes of blessing you , and god for you . so shall they say ; our almner is not lost , but changed , for the stream of charity is still continued . his alms-deeds were doubtless one eminent way of sanctifying all his great enjoyments on earth , luk. 11.41 . and of augmenting his reward in heaven , 1 tim. 6.17 , 18 , 19. luk. 16.9 . and like charitable courses in you , shall doubtless be crowned with like happy advantages . 4. endeavour , i beseech you , with all faithful care , the right christian and gracious education of his son and daughter , his two small orphans , left in trust among you . you are trustees of the dead , and you are intrusted with his choisest jewels , his children ; and that not only with their estates and bodies ▪ but especially with their souls : oh study to be faithful to the uttermost , engage them in the true knowledge of god , jesus christ , and christianity ; as also in the right religious practice of godliness , betimes ; that when they are old , they may never depart from it . (k) 1 chron. 28.9 . eccles. 12.1 . prov. 22.6 . ephes. 6.4 . god hath , by his providence , made you pro-parents to them : oh still express a christian parental affection towards them . that so at last , in this young joseph the son , old joseph the father may in a sort remain alive , by inheriting and exerting his fathers vertues . 5. finally , vouchsafe , in reference to your selves , to reduce this ensuing sermon into practice . as here both life and death are discovered to be theirs , that are christs : so in every point endeavour you , that both may be yours , as being christ's . for particulars , i refer you to the sermon it self . it was preached under some inevitable confinement to time , because the assembly was very great : therefore here and there i have interposed some few passages for the necessary illustration of what was then spoken briefly and more obscurely . love , hope , and fear , have at last inclined me to consent to the publication of it . love , to many christian friends ; whose importunities herein i could not well withstand : hope , that being made publique , it may possibly , by directing , comforting , and quickening in some measure , help some poor souls onward in their heavenly journey , even after my decease : and fear , lest by the help of some imperfect notes taken at the preaching of it , it should have been ( as was suggested to me ) sent abroad into the world immaturely in an extraneous dress , to my prejudice , and others disservice . and now , such as it is , i present and dedicate it to you more especially , as a peculiar token of my great respect and love , both to him that is departed , and to his that do remain . that his blessed memory may yet live a little among you in these my ensuing lines : (l) and that you may yet further be incited so to live and die , as that after death you may live with christ ▪ and with him , and with all that are christ's eternally . which is the earnest desire and prayer of — wrington , from my study there , feb. 2● . 1661. your affectionate brother , friend and servant in the lord , for the furtherance of your ha●h and joy , fran. roberts . a true christian' 's manifold advantage in christ , both by life and death . 1 cor. 3.21 , 22 , 23. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — for all things are yours : whether paul , — or the world , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come ; all are yours : and ye are christ's , and christ is god's . of whom speaks the apostle these high things ? of them that are sanctified in christ jesus , called to be saints . for , to such he wrote this excellent epistle , 1 cor. 1.2 . what ? are all things theirs : whether paul , or apollo , or cephas , or the vvorld , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come , are all theirs ? and they christs ? and christ god's ? happy are the people that are in such a case ! yea , thrice happy is that people , whose god in christ is the lord . (a) some think , and say , that they are rich , and increased with goods , and have need of nothing : who yet know not that they are wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked . (b) but here they that are christ's , are declared to be rich indeed by christ ; forasmuch as in christ , and through christ , all things are theirs . the words are very emphatical , and comprehensive , and mysterious . let us view them in their 1. connexion , 2. contents , and 3. propositions thence resulting . the connexion of these words with the context , is hinted in the particle [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for ] ver . 21. this particle [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for , ] is of various use in the new testament . it is 1. sometimes expletive , denoting the meer emphasis of any expression or phrase : as in matth. 1.18 . 2 tim. 2.7 . 2. sometimes declarative , setting forth some matter or thing more fully : as in luk. 2.10 . 1 thess. 2.14 . and often . 3. sometimes causal and argumentative , giving a reason for confirmation of any thing propounded or asserted : as in rom. 14.7 , 8 , 9. and in this sense it 's used here 1 cor. 3.21 . as a reason why the corinthians should not glory in men , in any of their ministers : because they and the church were not for the ministers ; but the ministers , and all things for them ; and they for christ , &c. vers . 21. and the argument seems to be a majori ad minus affirmativè , (c) from the greater to the lesser affirmatively : thus ; christ is god's , ye are christ's , and all things are yours , for your good , for your happiness . all things ( as beza (d) well-illustrates it ) are yours , as your helps and fartherances unto christ , and by christ unto god : and consequently , all your teachers , with all their variety and eminency of gifts , are yours also . therefore , you must not acquiesce , nor finally rest in any of these ; you must not terminate nor glory in any of them ; but only in christ , and in god. otherwise ( as beza well expresseth it ) they are not so much yours , but rather you are theirs . these corinthians carnally gloried in the gifts of their teachers , some in one respect , some in another : whereupon contentions and divisions increased amongst them , 1 cor. 1.10 , 11 , 12. therefore paul , by many arguments , and by this in the text after the rest , endevours to quench these heats , and to cure these unchristian distempers . but i may not any further look back to the context , having many steps to make forward in the text. nor intend i to handle these words in their relative , but in their more absolute consideration . the contents wrapped up in these words , are most observable and eminent . for , herein is a rich magazine of treasure . and this treasure is especially tripartite , viz. 1. god's treasure . and that 's christ the mediator ; christ is god's . 2. christ's treasure . and that 's his saints , his mystical body ; ye are christ's . 3. the saints treasure in christ. and that 's all things ; all things are yours . these three are well explicated by oecumen . saying ; all things are yours : as your benefits and gifts . ye are christ's : as his creatures and workmanship . christ is god's : as his generation and son. (e) now , the saints treasure in and by christ , is ( 1 ) more generally propounded ; all things are yours . and this , after sundry instances , is again reduplicated and repeated , for the greater emphasis . ( 2 ) more particularly expounded and illustrated , by an induction of particular instance , viz. 1. all the ministers and teachers are yours . therefore glory in none . 2. the world is yours . therefore , serve it not ; but make it serve you . 3. life is yours . therefore use it aright : live unto the lord. 4. death is yours . therefore dread it not ; but prepare for it , and die to the lord. 5. things present are yours : for your benefit and consolation in this world . 6. things to come are yours also : for your bliss and glorification in the world to come . or , here 's an excellent scale or series of ends subordinate ; and of things referred unto these their ends respectively , whereunto they have more immediate tendency and subordination : and these ends are especially three , viz. 1. the saints and members of christ ; ( for to such be here wrote , 1 cor. 1.2 . ) they are the first and lowest end , here mentioned . to them , as to their immediate end , are subordinated , the ministers , the world , life , death , things present , things to come , and all things . all these are made contributory and subservient to the saints , for their benefit , edification , and eternal salvation , ver . 21 , 22. 2. christ. he ( as mediator ) is the second end , and superior to the former . to him , his service and glory ; as to their immediate end , all the saints and whole body of christ , is , and ought to be subordinate , vers . 23. 3. god. he is the third and supreme end. to him , as to his immediate end , jesus christ the mediator is subordinate , that god in all things may be glorified , vers . 23. propositions , hence resulting , are many . especially these , viz. 1. christ the mediator is god's : and god is his end. 2. the saints are christ's : and christ is their end. 3. all things are the saints : and the saints are their end. and under this third more particularly are comprised these propositions , viz. 1. they that are christ's , have all his ministers theirs . 2. they that are christ's , have the whole world theirs . 3. they that are christ's , have life and death theirs . 4. they that are christ's , have things present , and things to come theirs . 5. they that are christ's , have all things theirs . thus you may see , here 's an ample field of matter discovered . to treat of all these at this time , is neither possible , nor pertinent to this solemnity . from among all the rest , i shall single out only one doctrinal proposition , as being more peculiarly apposite to the present occasion , viz. they that are christ's , have life theirs , and death theirs . they that are christ's ; indeed and in truth . 1 not only in name , but also in nature : being new creatures , 2 cor. 5.17 . and partaking the divine nature , the true image of god , 2 pet. 1.4 . ephes. 4.24 . with col. 3.10 . 2 not only in form outwardly by a meer visible profession ; but also in power inwardly by an holy constitution , attended with an answerable conversation , matth. 25.3 , 4. 2 tim. 3.5 . rom. 2.28 , 29. 1 joh. 2.6 . these , have life theirs , and death theirs . 1 life , their day to labour in : death , their night to rest and sleep in . 2 life , their race to run in : death , their goal to obtain the prize in . 3 life , their sea to sail in : death their haven to land in . 4 life , their egyptian pilgrimage under the many oppressions of their enemies : death , their red-sea , delivering them , but overwhelming all their oppressors . 5 life , their long wilderness-progress towards the heavenly canaan : death , their roaring jordan to be pass'd through at their entrance into the heavenly country flowing with milk and honey . 6 life , their time of conflict and tribulation : death , their time of conquest and coronation , 7 life , their holy time of preparation for the lord : death , their happy time of transmigration to the lord. but waving generalities , let 's come to a more particular illustration of this proposition . and here we shall enquire , 1. what 's here meant by life and death ? 2. how life is theirs ' , that are christ's ? 3. how death is theirs , as well as life ? 4. whence it comes to pass , that life and death are thus theirs , who themselves are christ's ? what 's here meant by life and death ? chrysostom seems by these to understand , the life and death of their teachers : that as they live , so they undergo perils and death it self for the body of christ , his church . — and further he thinks it may be said as to death ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is to say ; that adam's death was for us , that we may be corrected ( or nurtured . : ) christ's death , that we may be saved . (g) but ( pace tanti viri , by the good leave of so grave an author : ) life and death here are not intended either of their teachers , or of adam , or of christ : but of the life and death of the saints and members of christ : as the current of the words evidently imports . besides , that phrase [ all things are yours , whether paul , or apollo , or cephas ] sufficiently comprehends all things in their ministers ; office , gifts , graces , life , death , &c. here asserted to be theirs . and as for the death of adam , or of christ : nor text , nor context afford the least colour for any such interpretation . but they that are christ's , life is theirs , and death theirs . the life which themselves shall here live , and the death which themselves shall die : both are theirs for their great good and manifold advantage . but note ; life and death are of three sorts , viz. 1 natural , corporal , or temporal . (h) ( i list not to be too critical upon terms , ) stile it which you will , so you rightly understand the thing . 2 spiritual . (i) 3 eternal . (k) now here we are not to understand life and death , spiritual , or eternal : but only life end death natural , corporal or temporal . life natural or temporal , is one of our dearest temporal enjoyments in this present world . all that a man hath will he give for it . (l) it consists generally , in the vital union of matter and form , of body and soul. life ( said one ) is the souls abode in the body : (m) but here three things must be distinguished , viz. principium vivendi : esse viventis : operationes vitae . 1. principium vivendi , the principle of living . and that 's the form , or soul : vegetative , in plants ; sensitive , in bruits ; intellective or rational ; in man. 2. esse viventis , the being of the living : which is properly such a nature in the living creature , while the principle of natural life is in it , as whereby it is disposed to exert and exercise acts of life . (n) 3. operationes vitae , the operations or acts of life . properly and formally these are not life ; but the effects , fruits , and evidences of life . these acts of life may be reduced to motion . — in him we live , and move , — act. 17.28 . every creature that lives , moves . and as the motion in any creatures is more or less perfect ; so the life of them is more or less perfect . thus , living plants do move , by nourishing themselves , growing , fruit-bearing , and breeding their like . thus , living bruits do move by all the said motions of plants , and over and above them ; by outward senses . seeing , hearing , &c. by inward senses , the common-sense , phantasie , and memory ; and by loco-motion , or moving from place to place . thus , living man moves by all the motions of both plants and bruits ; and above them all , by understanding , conscience , and will. the motion of bruits is more perfect than that of plants : and consequently , the life of bruits is more perfect than the life of plants . but the motion of man is more perfect than the motion of plants or bruits : and therefore mans natural life is incomparably more perfect , noble and excellent than theirs . death natural or temporal , is , the privation of life natural , through the separation of the matter from the form , of the body from the soul. (o) in the death of plants or bruits , the form or soul is so severed , that it 's destroyed with the body , goes downward : but in the death of man , his soul is so separated , that it separately subsists without the body , goes upwards ; (p) returns to god , to be immediately disposed by him , unto eternal weal or woe , eccles. 12.7 . 1 king. 17.21 , 22. heb. 9.27 . & 12.23 . luk. 23.43 . & 16.22 , 23. 1 pet. 3.19 . now , they that are christ's have life and death , natural , corpo●al or temporal , theirs . theirs peculiliarly ; their 's advantagiously , beneficially , salutiferously . how is life theirs , that are christ's ? resol . they that are christ's , have natural life theirs , in a far and more excellent sort , than any christless persons have it , viz. i. as a token of gods paternal favour . they that are christ's , have life , not only from god as a common creator , but also from god as a peculiar tender father in christ. — your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things . — our father which art in heaven , — give us this day our daily bread . (q) again ; he that spared not his own son , but delivered him up for us all : how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? (r) they have life , not only with gods leave and permission ; but also with gods love and approbation : not only by gods general providence and common donation ; but also by gods special providence and peculiar dispensation . now the affectus amantis , the affection of the loyer , is that , which highly commends the munera dantis , the gifts of the giver ; and is more than the gifts themselves . this makes the present life of the saints double sweet . ii. as an additional mercy in and with jesus christ. jesus christ is , the gift of god , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the primary , transcendent , supereminent gift of gifts , (s) joh. 4.10 . & 3.16 . all others are but additionals , accessories , appurtenances , attending upon him . accessories follow the principals . christ is the grand mercy , the mercy of mercies . till we have obtained him , we have in effect obtained no mercy , 1 pet. 2.10 . but to whom god gives christ , to them he gives freely both life , and all things with christ , rom. 8.32 , mat. 6.33 . he is the inheritance : these are but th' appurtenances . he is the fountain : these but the streams thence flowing . to them that are christ's , he brings all blessings in his arms . as christ's blood flows freely to them ; so life and all things come sweetly swimming to them in the blood of a saviour . iii. as a fruit of gods precious promises , (t) christless men have life and all their enjoyments only by common providence : but they that are christ's , have and hold life andall things by covenant and promise . godliness hath the promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come , 1 tim. 4.8 . again , the promise is ; seek ye first the kingdom of god , and his righteousness , and all these things shall be added unto you , mat. 6.33 . they that are christ's , are children of the covenant which god made with abraham , &c. act. 3.25 . they that are christ's , are abraham's seed , and heirs according to the promise , gal. 3.28 , 29. & 4.28 , whilst all others are strangers from the covenant'● of promise , ephes. 2.12 . now to hold life by promise , is both a sure and sweet tenure : for , god that promised cannot lye , tit. 1.2 . yea , gods promise and oath are those two immutable things 〈◊〉 it is impossible for god to lye : and this ministers ●o ais strong consolation , heb. 6.18 . and , all the promises of god in christ are yea , and in him amen , 2 cor. 1.20 . oh what an advantage is this to them that are christ's , that hold life and all of god in christ by promise ! god hath ( as augustine notes ) made himself their debtor , not by receiving from them , but by promising to them . (u) they may by faith confidently rest and rely upon his promise : they may by prayer in all wants and dangers plead gods promise , and sue him ( as it were ) upon his own covenant and bond. he will not , he cannot deny himself , 2 tim. 2.13 . iv. as an onely happy season divinely blessed and sanctified to all that are christ's , for their salvifical furtherance in spirituals and eternals , tit. 1.15 . 2 cor. 6.2 others have life , but not in such sort sanctified . they ( as one said ) not so much live , as are in life . (x) life unto them is , as the quaits were to israel , a curse rather than a blessing : (y) or as the pearl is to the muscle or oyster , on the precious stone to the serpents head , their disease , rather than their perfection . hereafter the wicked shall say , it had been good for them they had never lived , they had never been born , mat. 26.24 . or that assoon as they were born alive , they had instantly dyed . but to the godly , life and all things are sweetly sanctified ; the curse is removed ; the free , lawful , comfortable and beneficial use is restored , 1 tim. 4.4 , 5. gal. 3.9 , 10 , 13 , 14. unto the pure all things are pure ; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving , is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled . (z) now , unto them that are christ's , this temporal life here on earth is so sanctified and blessed , as ( in reference to spirituals and eternals ) to be , 1. their holy seed-time : their seed-time of grace and glory . in this life they have their season or time accepted , their day of salvation . (a) in this life , their eternal life is begun , joh. 3.36 . & 17.3 . the foundation stones of their salvation are laid : their eyes are opened , and they are turned from darkness to light , and from the power of satan , unto god , that they may receive forgiveness of sins , and inheritance among them that are sanctified through saith that is in christ. (b) in this life they are called , justified , and in some measure glorified : as they were before the foundation of the world was lai● , eternally predestinated (c) 2. their spiritual trading-time . in this life , they that are christ's , have an excellent opportunity of driving their spiritual trade to their eternal advantage . their lord and master jesus christ is gone into a far country to receive a kingdom , and to return ; and he hath committed a stock of talents , of graces , gifts , endowments , opportunities , &c. to every of his servants during his absence , that they may winde and turn them , imploy and improve them in their spiritual trade , for their masters benefit . to some five , to some two , to some one talent . of all which he will require an exact account at his return ; and will according to their works remunerate them respectively , matth. 25.14 , to 31. in this life they , as wise merchants , have the happy season of traffiquing for spiritual pearls and treasures of greatest price , matth. 13.44 , 45 , 46. now , now , they buy of christ gold tryed in the fire , that they may be rich , and eye-salve that they may see , and white raiment that they may be clothed , and that the shame of their nakedness do not appear , rev. 3.18 . the gold of christs pure doctrine , o● of unfained faith , both of them more pure and precious than gold tryed in the fire : the eye-salve of saving illumination ; and the white-raiment of christs righteousness . of all these spiritual commodities , christ alone hath the monopoly . (d) therefore of him alone they buy them ; and of him they have them without money and without price , isa. 55.1 , 2 , 3. 3. their striving time . in this life , they that are christ's , have a seasonable opportunity , 1. of striving to enter in at the strait gate , leading to life , which few do find , luk. 13.24 . 2. of contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints , jude v. 3. 3. of striving , 1 as wrastlers against all spiritual antagonists , eph. 6.12 . 2 as soldiers to fight the good fight of faith against all spiritual enemies , the world , flesh and devil , 2 tim. 4.7 . ephes. 6.11 , 12. 3 as racers , to run with patience the race that is set before them yea , so to run , as to obtain the crown , heb. 12.1 . 1 cor. 9.24 . forgetting those things that are behind , and reaching forth to those things which are before , they press towards the mark for the prize of the high●calling of god in christ jesus , phil. 3.13 , 14. 4. their trying time . in this life , they that are christ's , have many tryals : but all for their good . 1 they are tryed by temptations , to discover the good that 's in them : as abraham was tryed , gen. 21.1 , &c. heb. 11.27 . 2 they are tryed by tribulations , to refine and purge away the evil that is in them , zech. 13.9 . isa. 27.9 . 3 they are tryed by persecutions and fiery tryals ; that they may be partakers of christs sufferings , and so may have the greater joy and crown at christs appearing , 1 pet. 4.12.13 . revel . 2 10. the wheat will not be clean , without the fan ; the gold will not be pure , without the fire and fining-pot ; the pomander smells the better for rubbing ; the spice becomes the more fragrant by bruising ; and the strings of the musical instrument , when stricken , makes the sweetest melody : thus are they that are christ's , exceedingly bettered by all variety of their temptations and tribulations , heb. 12.6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. rom. 5.4 , 5. & 8.28 . 2 cor. 4.17 . 4 yea , this life is the saints most-happy season for searching and trying their own hearts and ways : that so they may make their calling and election sure ; may know that christ is in them , and that they are no reprobates , 2 pet. 1.10 ▪ 2 cor. 13.5 . 5. their growing time . in this life , they that are christ's , have an excellent opportunity of spiritual growth in grace , and in the knowledge of jesus christ our lord , 2 pet. 3.18 . as did those eminent . thessalonians ; of whom paul testified , your faith groweth exceedingly ; ( gr. over-groweth , abundantly-groweth , ) and the charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth . (c) and no wonder that in this life , they that are christ's so grow and shoot forth : for ▪ ● now it is , that they have the ministers of christ of all sorts planting and watering them , 1 cor. 3.6 , &c. 2 now they have the gospel-ordinances moystening and feeding them , 1 pet. 2.2 . 3 and , which is most of all , now they have the enlivening sun-shine of gods favours from heaven influencing them and causing them to increase , 1 cor. 3.6 , 7 , &c. and all this makes them exceedingly grow and flourish in all spirituals day by day . 6. their fruit-bearing time . in this life , they that are christ's have the very season of spiritual fruitfulness . now they are as trees planted by the rivers of waters , giving forth their fruit in due season , psal. 1.3 . now the north-wind awakes , and the south comes and blows upon their garden , that the spices thereof may flow out ; that christ their beloved may come into his garden , and eat his pleasant fruits , cant. 4.16 . viz. the fruits of holiness , righteousness , sobriety ▪ of faith , love , meekness , humility , &c. even all the precious fruits of the spirit ; together with all those pious exercises of hearing , praying , meditating , almsgiving , and all good-works , rom. 6.22 . ephes. 5.9 . gal. 5.22 , 23. now they are an orchard of pomegranates , with pleasan● fruits ; camphire with spikna●d , spiknard and saff●on , calamus and cynamon , with all the tr●es of frankincense , mirrh and aloes , with all the chief spices . cant. 4.13 , 14. now , now in this life ( o christians ! ) is all your fruit-bearing time : this is your golden season for believing , repenting , mortifying of sin , vivifying of grace , &c. there 's no place for any such thing in the grave . i t●● grave cannot praise god , death-cannot celebrate ●im ; they that go down into the pit , cannot hope for his truth ▪ the living , the living he shall praise him ▪ — the father to the children shall make known his truth , isa. 38.18 , 19. therefore now let the councel of solomon sink deep into every true christians heart ; whatsoever thine hand findeth to do , do it with all thy might ; for there is no work , no● device , nor knowledge , nor wisdom in the grave whither t●●● goest , eccles. 9.10 . 7. finally , their hoarding time for eternity . in this life , they that are christ's , lay up for themselves treasures in heaven , where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt , nor thieves break through and steal , matth. 6.20 . now they treasure up gifts , graces , prayers , tears , promises , experiences , evidences for heaven , &c. now they may be rich in good-works , ready to distribute , willing to communicate ▪ laying up in store for themselves ( bags that wax not old , and ) a good foundation against the time to come , that they may lay hold on eternal life , 1 tim. 6.19 . now they may make themselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness , that when they fail , they may be received into everlasting habitations , luk. 16.9 . now they may meditate of their mortality , and prepare for their immortality . now they may ponder upon their first , middle , and last things , ( as bernard ranks them . ) those bring shame , those grief , and these fear . they may think whence they came , and blush : where they are , and groan● whither they go , and tremble . (f) they may remember their latter end , that they may not easily do amiss . thus , life is theirs . how is death theirs , that are christ's ? resol . as i have discovered the bright day of life to be theirs ; so now i shall shew , how the dark night of death is theirs also . it 's appointed to all men , godly and wicked , once to die . (g) but oh , what a vast disparity is there , betwixt the godly that are christ's , and the wicked that are christless in death ! to the wicked belong , 1 the terrors of death , (h) that king of terrors ▪ as bildad calls it ; (i) that most terrible of terribles , (k) as the heathen stiled it . the enmity of death , 1 cor. 15.25 , 26. 3 the sting and venom of death , 1 cor. 15.56 . 4 the curse and bitterness , gall and wormwood of death , gal. 3.10 . 5 the woful followers of death , viz. the judgment of condemnation , heb. 9.27 . joh. 5.29 . and everlasting torments in hell , matth. 25.41 , 46. luk. 16.23 . but from them that are christ's , all this evil and mischief of death is sweetly removed away by christ. ● . they fear not death , but can desire it , and groan after it . — having a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is much more best . (l) — lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , according to thy word (m) — ▪ for in this we groan earnestly , desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven . (n) 2. of a● enemy , death is become their friend : of loss , their gain , phil. 1.21 . 2 cor. 5.1 . 3. of an hornet , death is become a drone ▪ the sting of death is plucked out by christ , who hath given them the victory , 1 cor. 15.54 , 55 , 56 , 57. 4. the curse of death is turned into a blessing ; blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them , rev. 14.13 . 5. and the consequents of death are to them most comfortable , viz. the judgement of absolution , heb. 9.27 . with matth. 25.34 . and eternal life in heaven , matth. 25.46 . luk 16.22 . thus , to them that are his , jesus christ brings light out of darkness , good out of evil , life out of death . he turns this venemous viper , death , into a soveraign treacle . death is as sampson's roaring lyon , slain by christ our true sampson ; out of whose carkase he gives his members the sweetest honey-combs (o) of spiritual advantages . more particularly , let them that are christs know , that 1. death is their sweet sleep in jesus . it 's often stiled , their sleep , as joh. 11.11 , 12 , 13. acts 13.36 . 1 cor. 15.51 . & 11.30 . and sometimes , their sleep in jesus . as ; — them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him , 1 thes. 4.14 . — then th●y also which are fallen asleep in christ , are perished , 1 cor. 15.18 . the grave is their bed. — they shall rest in their beds — isa. 57.2 . it is said of godly king asa ; — they buried him , — and laid him in the bed , which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries art , 2 chron. 16.14 . but the saints last bed , the grave , is perfumed with better sweets than spices and odors , even wi●h the burial of christs own blessed body , matth. 27.59 , 60. in these beds they rest from all their labours , of sin and sorrow , rev. 14.13 . here they sweetly sleep as in the bosom of christ , unto whom even their dead dust remains still mystically united , and therefore is of precious account with him . and out of this last sleep they shall again awake at christs glorious appearing , dan. 12.2 . 1 cor. 15.23 . 51 , 52 ▪ &c. 1 th●ss . 4.14 , 15 , 16. 2. death is their alteration , not their abolition ; their change , not their confusion . thus ●ob accounted it ; — all the days of my appointed time will i wait , till my change come , job 14.14 . and of all men in the world , they that are christ's , do at death make an happy change : they change earth for heaven ; an earthly clay-tabernacle , for celestial mansions in the heavenly fathers house , 2 cor. 5.1 , job 14.2 . rags of mortality , for robes of immortality , 2 cor. 5.4 . 1 cor. 15.53 . society of saints imperfect , for the company of blessed angels and of the spirits of just men made perfect , heb. 12.23 . as hierom said of nepotianus ; he did not so much die , as remove : not so much leave his friends , as change them . (p) in all respects they change every way for the better . 3. death is their departure , not their destruction . their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or dissolution , not their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or reversion . — having a desire to depart , — phil. 1.23 . their loosing from this earthly shore , to set sail for heaven . good old simeon said ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. lord , now loosest thou thy servant , or lettest thou loose thy servant , &c. luk. 2.29 . they depart , from this egypt and wilderness , to that canaan : from this earthly , to that better and heavenly country : from this decaying city below , to that continuing city above , heb. 13.14 . from visibles , to invisibles : from transitory and finite creatures , to god the creator , and jesus christ the redeemer , blessed for ever , amen . joh. 20.17 . phil. 1.23 . 1 thess. 4.17 . rom. 9.5 . 4. death is their gain , not their loss . so the apostle judged it would be to him ; for , to me to live is christ , and to die is gain , phil. 1.21 . what gain ▪ they that are christ's , when they die , lose their dearest natural lives , and therewith their earthly relations and acquaintance , their friends , houses , lands , livings , honors , riches , pleasures , even all these temporal enjoyments . true. but what are all these ? painted shadows , vanishing bubbles , magnifi'd nothings . they gain by dying , other manner of treasures : as , perfection of grace , possession of glory , the inheritance of heaven , the society of saints and angels , the immediate fruition of christ , and beatisick vision of god for ever face to face , heb. 12.23 . job 17.24 . 1 thess. 4.17 . matth. 5.8 . 1 joh. 3.2 . all their losses are nothing to these gains . 5. death is their red sea , affording them an eternal es●ape from all evils and dangers , but swallowing up all their enemies for evermore . then they cease from sin , which shall no more defile them , rom. 6.7 . then they rest from their labours , which shall no more weary them , rev. 14.13 . then god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes , and there shall be to them no more death , pain , sorrow , nor crying , rev. 21.4 then no fiery darts of diabolical temptations shall ever more reach them : then the wicked shall cease from troubling , and the weary shall be at rest , job 3.17 . 6. death is their bodies seed-time , for an hopeful crop at the harvest of the resurrection . tertullian said excellently ; the confidence of christians , is the resurrection of the dead (q) but the apostle paul most sweetly ; — that which thou sowest , is not quickned except it die . and that which thou sowest , thou sowest not that body which shall be , but bare grain , it may chance of wheat , or of some other grain : but god giveth it a body as it hath pleased him , and to every seed his own body . — so also is the resurrection of the dead : it is sown in corruption , it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonour , it is raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness , it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body . 1 cor. 15.36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 43 , 44. a wet and sad seed-time ; but a joyful and happy harvest . 7. finally , death is their souls birth day of eternal bliss . as it is the omega to all their miseries in this world present ; so is it the alpha to all their felicities in that world to come . then the voice from heaven saith unto them , rome up hither (r) . oh , the day of their dissolution will to them be a great , an happy , a glorious day indeed ! their redemption from all their sin and sorrow , rom. 6.7 . rev. 4.13 . their translation into the better country , that is , the heavenly . their entrace into their masters joy , mat. 25.21 , 23. the day-break of their endless sabbath , heb. 4.9 . rev. 14.13 . the inchoation of their eternal jubilee . their heavenly coronation-day , with that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory , 2 tim. 4.7 . 2 cor. 4.17 . yea , their blessed marriage-day with the lamb , in whose immediate vision and fruition their ravishments shall be unutterable , and their intrancements unspeakable , joh. 17.24 . the enjoyment of christ in heaven , is the very heaven of heaven . (s) thus , to them that are christs , out of death that great eater comes meat ; and out of strength comes sweetness . whence is it , that thus life and death become theirs that are christ's ? resol . all this comes to pass , 1. from the all-ordering purpose and providence of god towards them that are christ's ; who love him , and are the called according to his purpose . he makes all things , good and evil , prosperity and adversity , life and death , &c. cooperate for good unto them . all things , not only some things . all things , not divisim , but conjunctim ; not severally , but jointly , one with another , and all with the influence of divine benediction . as all the wheels in a w●●ch work together to tell the hour ; and as all the ingredients in a medicine work together to effect the cure . we know that all things work together for good to them that love god , that are the called according to his purpose , rom. 8.28 . the lord makes every wind to blow them profit ; every thing do them good . 2. from christ's meritorious purchase among many other the glorious atchievements of christ , there are three very observable in reference to our present purpose , viz. ( 1 ) christ hath obtained , regained , restored all good to his , which the first adam had forfeited and lost , col. 1.20 . mat. 6.33 . rom. 8.32 . tit. 1.15 . ( 2 ) christ hath removed all the evil from his , which the first adam had procured . tit. 2.14 . gal. 3.13 , 14. heb. 2.14 , 15. ( 3 ) christ turns that evil unto good to his , which is not totally removed . their sin makes them so much the more see the need and worth of a saviour , rom. 7.23 , 24 , 25. their afflictions become great spiritual advantages , rom. 5.3 , 4 , 5. heb. 12.6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 2 cor. 4.17 . yea , their death it self is rendred to them a glorious gain , phil. 1.21 , 23. 2 cor. 5.1 , 2 , 3 , 4. one well observed ; the covenant of grace made no death , but found it in the world . christ made , of an old enemy death , a new servant : it 's now the kings ferry-boat to carry the children over the water . (t) and i may adde ; through christ's merit , to them that are christ's , death is but a dark entry into their heavenly mansions : a churlish porter , ushering into the glorious paradise : a fiery chariot and whirlwind , conveying them speedily unto heaven . (u) 3. from the predominant and inviolable concatena●ion of the causes of their salvation . they that are christ's , are predestinated , called , justifi●d , and in some measure glorified , rom. 8.29 , 30. therefore , if god be thus for them ; what shall prevailingly be against them ? he that spared not his own son , but gave him up freely for them ; how shall ●e not with him also freely give them all things ? ver . 31 , 32. shall not life be theirs , and death theirs , and all things theirs for good ? this indissoluble chain of salvation cannot be broken , by life , death , or any thing : therefore life , death , and all things must comply to it , contribute to it , be wholly and universally subordinate and every way subservient to the accomplishing of it . thus we see , how life and death are theirs , that are christ's : and whence this comes to p●ss . now come we to certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to certain consectaries or inferences hence , by way of application . hence , what priviledged-persons are true christians , above all christless wretches , both in life and death ! parallel them a little according to former discoveries ; and see what the lord christ hath done for his , more than for all others . they that are christ's , 1. have life theirs . their holy seed-time : their spiritual trading-time : their striving-time after best enjoyments : their trying-time in their spirituals : their growing time in grace and knowledge : their fruit-bearing time in all good works : and their hoarding time for life eternal . 2. have death theirs also . their sweet sleep in christ jesus : their perfective alteration , not their abolition : their happy departure , not their destruction : their great gain , not at all their loss : their red-sea , delivering them , but drowning all their enemies : their bodies seed-time for the glorious harvest at the resurrection : and their souls birth-day of eternal bliss . they that are christless , on the contrary , are naked and destitute of all these advantages both by life and death . nor life , nor death are thei●s , for good , but for harm : not their advantages , but their disadvantages : not their sanctified mercies , but their mischiefs , &c. to them that are defiled and unbelieving , is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled , tit. 1.15 . to them that are christless and ungodly , 1. their life in this world , what is it else , but their sinful seed-time to the flesh ? gal. 6.8 . their wretched working and trading time in iniquity ? matth 7.23 . luk. 13.27 . psal. 6.8 . their striving time onely after earthly enjoyments ? matth. 6.31 , 32. 1 tim. 6.9 , 10. their trying time , to detect and draw forth their vileness ? exod. 3.19 , 20. & 14.17 . job 12.4 , 5 , 6. their declining time , wherein they waxe worse and worse ? 2 tim. 3.13 . their barren time , wherein they bring forth nothing but briars and thorns , fruits of sodom and gomorrha , and all pernicious works of the flesh ? hab. 6.8 . deut. 32.32 , 33. gal. 5.19 , 20 , 21. and their unhappy se●son , wherein after their hardness and impenitent heart , they treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath , and revelation of the righteous judgment of god ? rom. 2.5 . 2. and their death from this world , what is it else , than , the rotting of their flesh and bones , full of the sins of their youth , which shall lie down with them in the dust ? job 20.11 . their woful change of painted felicities , for real miseries ? luk. 16.19.22 , 23. their wretched departure from their wicked bodies , till both souls and bodies shall depart from christ ? luk. 16.22 , 23. matth. 25.41 . their utter loss of all enjoyments on earth , and of all hopes of heaven ? luk. 12.20 , 21. heb. 9.27 . eccles. 9.10 . their fatal red-sea , overwhelming them for ever ? luk. 16.22 , 23 , 26. their body's bondage in the cursed grave ; and their soul's enthralment in the prison of hell , till the day of the lords vengeance shall overtake them both at his second appearing ? 1 pet. 3.19 . heb. 9.27 . oh then , let every one consider these things ; and say : how happy are all that are christ's , both in life and death ! how wretched are all that are christless , both alive and dead ! hence , who would not now study and strive to become christ's indeed ? this , this is the onely way to be truly rich , to be eternally happy : if the world , life , death , things present , things to come , all things , and all this theirs in christ , be able to do it . he that hath christ his , and himself is christ's , may sweetly say ; christus meus , & omnia : christ is mine , and all 's mine . therefore , when others say ; who will shew us good ? do thou sa● ; lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon me , psal. 4.6 , 7. lord , give me christ , and then i have all . hence , what a shame is it for christians to have the least irksom or undervaluing thought of christianity ? when corruption within rebels against the spirit in us , temptation from without perplexeth us , afflictions toss and tire us , persecutions puzzle us , and the prosperity of the wicked amaze and dazle our apprehensions : how are we then distempered and discomposed ! then , we have cleansed our hearts in vain , and wished our hands in innocency . then , we bless the wicked whom god abhorrs ; and speak against the generation of gods children , as once the psalmist (x) then we loath our spiritual mannah ; and ( like israel ) run back in our hearts again unto egypt , &c. o let us enter into the sanctuary of god ; and then all our misdeeming thoughts shall be reformed . o all ye that are christ's , consider this text , and check your selves for these your imprudent and ingrateful misapp●ehensions . christ is yours , and ye are christ's : therefore in christ , life and death are yours , and all things yours , for your manifold advantage . o bless the lord ▪ that ever you were savingly acquainted with , and interessed in , christ and christianity . christ turns all your darkness into light ; makes all your gall and wormwood , honey ; turns all your poysons into medicines ; makes both your life and death both profitable and pleasant , like the land of promise flowing with milk and honey . christianity is the right philosophers-stone indeed ; turns all it touches into spiritual gold. say , oh say it with much rejoycing ; (y) we are christians : therefore we are happy , both living and dying . whether we live , we live unto the lord ; whether we d●e , we die unto the lord. whether therefore we live , or die , we are the lord 's . (z) hence ; why should they that are christ's , be either weary of life , or afraid of death ? are not both theirs ? and theirs for the best ? what wise man is weary of his welfare ; or afraid of his advantages ? especially when both of them are of a spiritual and eternal concernment ? it 's happy for christians , that they may live a while on earth , to be prepared for life eternal . and it 's happy again for them , that they may die and depart from earth , that they may go to possess their life eternal , for which they are prepared . hence , how silently , self-denyingly and contentedly should all that are christ's submit to gods disposal of them in all conditions ; yea both in life and death ! why ? because life's theirs , death 's theirs , all 's theirs . every wind blows them profit : all things cooperate unto their good (a) . murmure not then at any divine dispensations : but be silent , yea contented , yea thankful in all . consider how the saints of old behaved themselves in all , even the worst conditions : as , job , ch . 1.20 , 21. eli , 1 sam. 3.18 . david , psal. 39.9 . hezekiah , isa. 39.8 . paul , phil. 4.11 , 12 , 13. yea , jesus christ himself , joh. 18.10 , 11. matth. 26.39 , 42 , 44. walk thou as christ walked , 1 joh. 2.6 . and follow the saints , as they follow christ , 1 cor. 11.1 . hence , finally , how thankfully should we rejoyce in the life , and how patiently , yea comfortably should we be● the death of dearest friends and relations , that were truly christian ! whether of father , mother , husband , wife , &c. are they alive ? life is , their spiritual seed-time , to sow in ; their mart-time , to trade in ; their rare-time , to run in ; their spring-time , to grow in ; their summer , to bear fruit in : their autumn , to treasure up in for eternity ; and their winter to be tryed in , that they may be found more precious than gold . are they dead ? mourn moderately . comfort your selves with this ; that even death is theirs also : their sweet sleep in jesus ; their blessed change ; their happy departure ; their great gain ; their red-sea to all their evils and enemies ; their bodies seed-time for the eternal harvest ; and their souls birth-day of everlasting bliss . thus i have done with my text. and now i know you expect i should superadde something in reference to this worthy person deceased : of whom we were unworthy . should i say nothing of him , i doubt i should offend you : should i say much , i should offend my self . he was one of the most eminent members of this famous city : (b) well known to you all , but more intimately to some , and particularly unto me . and did i not verily believe , that he was one of christ's , and that life and death were his , ( as hath been now explained ) i should draw a veil of silence over him , and hold my peace . promiscuous funeral-eulogies touching both good and bad deceased , is both against my judgment and practice . for , 1. hereby such praises are oft misplaced upon the unworthy . and ( as one said ) many are commended [ on earth ] where they are not ; whilst they are tormonted [ in hell ] where they are . (c) 2. hereby , the wicked are encouraged and hardned in their wickedness , that they should not depart from it ; the godly grieved , whom the lord would not have made sad ; the ministry reproached ; and god dishonored . but when persons eminent for piety and goodness are commended , 1. not so much they , as the gifts and graces of god in them are commended . and such praises christ himself approves of , matth. 26.13 . mark 14.9 . 2. they are propounded as patterns , for the imitation of the living . and we ought to walk in the way of good men , pro. 2.20 . and to follow them , as they follow christ , 1 cor. 11.1 . and , in what i have to say as to this happy soul , i shall especially aim at these two ends , viz. 1 to exalt the gifts and graces of the lord in him . 2 and to incite you to a christian imitation of him . his life was such , that it rather calls for our imitation , than our commendation : as augustine (d) once spake in a like case . to this end ( always excepting his known frailties and infirmities , which yet were a burden unto him , and for which he was wont quickly to check himself , discovering his error : and which of all , even the best of gods people , are wholly exempted from failings in this sinful life ? (e) happy he , that hath the fewest : ) (f) i may justly borrow some of the exemplary characters of gods people of old , in whose steps he walked , to set forth his vertues : wherein you shall do well to follow him . with cornelius ; he was a devout man , that feared god , — and gave much alms , and prayed to god alway . (g) with nathanael ; he was an israelite indeed , in whom was no guile . (h) with david ; he desired to behave himself wisely in a perfect way . — to walk within his house with a perfect heart . (i) with joshuah ; he resolved , whatever others did , that he and his house should serve the lord . (k) with job ; he was upright , one that feared god , and eschewed evil . (l) with abraham ; he commanded his children and household after him , to keep the way of the lord . (m) with noah ; he was upright in his generation , and he walked with god. (n) with enoch ; he walked with god , and he is not , for god hath taken him . (o) and because god hath taken him , the children and family left behind him are weeping ; his friends and neer relations are mourning ; the ministry sighing , nor can i among the rest ( as hierom said in a like case ) dissemble my sorrow ; (p) the poor , refreshed often with his bounty , bewailing ; and the generality of the city lamenting him . i verily believe , that here are present this day many moe mourners in heart , than mourners in habit , for the loss of this eminent christian. yet let us recollect our selves , and allay our grief a little : considering ; that , our great loss , in his greatest gain , phil. 1.21 . that , he is not amissus , but praemissus : he is not lost , but sent before us : we must , we know not how soon , follow after . that , the lord in great mercy hath lent us him so long . therefore let us not so much mourn , that we have now lost such a one ; as rejoyce and bless god , that thus long we have had such an one ; as , hierom once comforted heliodorus . (q) and to speak of him a little , with reference had to our present text : life was his ; and death is his . 1. life was his . and how christianly did he improve it ! as a magistrate and citizen . he desired , to govern religiously and righteously : to suppress wickedness and prophaneness , and particularly sabbath-prophanation : to encourage the good , and deter the evil doers . he knew well the state of this city's affairs , and aimed much at the publique weal thereof , without self-seeking . he was a man of a very publique spirit , desiring the publique good : and what evil he was not able publiquely to redress , he was wont privately to lament . as a merchant . he walked righteously and self-denyingly : the ballances of deceit were not in his hands ; nor a double tongue in his mouth . he was as a father of merchants . he fetched his merchandise from far , but traded most for heaven . he was sometimes jealous and afraid , ( so abundantly god had blessed him ) that these temporals did flow in too fast upon him : and , like luther , much desired the lord , that he would not put him off only with these earthly things . as an housholder . he kept the way of the lord in , and with his houshold : by due sanctifying of the lords-day-sabbath ; daily reading of the holy scriptures ; daily presenting of his morning and evening-incense of praise and prayer with his family unto his god ; and by frequent instructing of his houshold in the things of christ. as a christian. he was sound in the faith , in erroneous times ; blameless and exemplary in his life , in corrupt times ; and an ornament to the gospel and doctrine of god our saviour . his search and enquiries into the deep mysteries of religion , were many , and considerable . his devotion in secret , was much . his humility in midst of all his ample enjoyments , was great and very observable . and his charity , yea his bounteous liberality , to the distressed poor and needy , was well known to be overflowing even unto admiration . thus , (r) he lived much in a short time , ( as hi●rom , said of lucinius : ) . and so , lived long , by living well . for , to live well , is to live twice . 2. death now at last is his also . his sweet sleep in jesus ; his happy change ; his blessed departure ; his rich gain ; his red-sea to all his enemies ; his body's seed-time for a better resurrection ; his soul's coronation-day , marriage-day , and entrance into his everlasting jubilee . after a short , but sharp conflict with a violent putrid fever , for about eleven dayes space , he put off this tubernacle , to be clothed upon with his house from heaven . during the time of his sickness , as his thoughts , so his discourses were much upon spirituals ; and his jaculatory requests to the lord , for himself , his family , and for the publique , were very fervent . this was one of his wishes in his extremities : — oh that all the rich men in the city here beheld my condition , and how little gold and wealth can help in such a day of distress ! this was one of his ejaculations : — o lord ; do what thou wilt with this my mortal body , so thou wilt shew mercy and salvation to my poor immortal soul ! his last words were these , or to this effect , but with much more amplification : — . into thine hands , o lord , i commend my soul and body , (s) both now and for evermore , through jesus christ mine onely saviour and redeemer , amen : i have done . and having said this , he sweetly fell asleep in jesus : in whose blessed bosom we leave him , until his second coming . life was his ; death is his : he is christ's ; and christ is god's . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 finis . josephus jackson armiger & aldermannus civitatis de bristol , annorum 57. faeliciter obdormivit in domino , die dominico januar. 5. circa horam 5. pomerid . et perplurimis impensè lugentibus , in eccles. de warborrough's in ead . civit. decenter inhumatus est , januarii die 17. an. dom. 1661. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57376-e280 (a) these resemblances i am wont to express in this ensuing memorial : vita , vapor , ventus , flatus , flos , fabula , faenum , flumen , heri , cursor , radius , palmaria , textum , excubiae , umbra , cinis , somnus , imago , nihil . (b) mary his late wife deceased april 24. and was buried may 5. 1657. joseph jackson himself slept in the lord jan. 5. and was interred jan. 17. 1661. (c) the sermon is entituled , the checquer-work of gods providences towards his own people . — london , 1657. (d) qualis vita , finis ita . (e) corpus terra suscepit : anima ch●isto reddita ●st . hi●ron , in epitaph . n●potian . p 29. b. tom . 1. (f) ad hoc enim nati sumus , ut maneamus aeterni ? abraham , moyses , esaias ▪ petrus , jacobus , joannes , paulus electionis vas , & super omnia filius dei , moritur : et nos indignamur aliquem exire de corpore , qui ad hoc forsitan raptus est , ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus ? placita v. deo erat anima ejus . propter hoc properavit educere eam de media iniquitate , ne longo vitae itinere , deviis oberraret aufractibus . lugeatur mo●tuus , sed ille , luem gehenna suscipit , luem tartarus devorat , in cujus poenam aeternus ignis aestu at . nos quorum exitum angelorum turba comitatur , quibus obviam christus occurrit ; gravemur magis , si diutiùs in tabernaculo isto mortis habitemus ; q●ia quamdi● hie moramur , peregrinamu● à domino . hi●o●ym . ad paulam super obitu blesill●e filiae , p. 158. d. tom. 1. basil. 1553. (g) consol●tur autem te fides , & spe●tua , & ipsa charitas . — non enim te desolatam puta●e debes , cui in interiore homine habeas praesentem christum per fidem in corde tuo . aut sic te contristari oporter quemadmodum gentes quae spem non habent , cùm veracissima promissione speremus nos de hac vita , unde migraturi quosdam nostros migrantes non amisimus , sed pr●misimus . — aug. i●●licae . vid. epist. 6. ad init . tom . 2. (h) fiducia christianorum , resurrectio mortuorum . tortul . de resur . carnis . c. 1. ( i ) egregiae virtutis exempla , veluti lumen , in edito ponenda sunt , ut omnibus praeluceant , multosque ad sui emulationem accendant . erasm. in epist. ad archi. tolet. praefix . augustini operibus , p. ult . (k) quo semel est imbura recens , servabit odorem , testa diu . — horat. (l) illum nostra pagella decanter ; illum nostrae literae sonent . quem corpore non valemus , recordatione teneamus : et cum quo loqui non possumus , de eo loqui nunquam desinamus . hieron . in epitaph . nepot . p. 27. in fin . tom . 1. notes for div a57376-e2440 (a) psal. 144.15 . (b) rev. 3.17 . (c) sic ▪ joan. calvin , in comment . ad 1 cor. 3.21 , 22 , 23. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] id est , adminicula vobis destinata , ut ad christum , & à christo ad deum subvehamitis , non autem ut in illis adminiculis haereatis : ita enim fieret , ut non vestra essont illa , sed illorum potius essetis : bez ▪ in annot. ad 1 cor. 3.22 . (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oecum . in comment . ad 1 cor. 3. doctr. ( f ) joh. in . chrysost. in 1 cor. 3. hom. 10. p 99● d.e. (g) chrysost. ibid. (h) rom. 14.7 , 8 , 9. (i) ephes. 2.1.5 . (k) mat. 25.46 . (l) job 2.4 . (m) vita est mansio animae in corpore . la●g . ● . (n) vivere , viventibus est esse . (o) eccles. , 12.7 . (p) eccles. 3.21 . (q) mat. 6.9 . — 11.32 , 33. (r) rom 8 32. (s) christus iple est donum dei primarium & maximè principale : caetera omnia sunt tantummodo accessoria . accessorium autem sequitur principaie . s.s. (t) 2 pet. 1.4 . with 11 tim. 4.8 . mat. 6.33 . (u) fidelis deus qui se nostrum debitorem fecit : non aliquid à nobis accipiendo , sed ranta nobis promittendo . paruin ●rat promissin : oriam scriptose reneri voluir , veluti faciens nobiscum chirographum promissorum suorum , 〈◊〉 . aug. enarr●tt . in psal. 109. ad init . tom. 8. (x) non tam vivunt , quàm in vita sunt . s●n. (y) psal. 78 27. to 32. & 106.14 , 15. (z) tit. 1.15 . (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 2 cor. 6. ● . (b) act. 26.18 . (c) rom. 8.29 ▪ 30. (d) christus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ille , qui merces salutis caelitùs venalts●nobis promit & offert in evangelio , non precio vel hie●itis parandas , sed precibus & fide gratis à deo accipiendas . hoc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est christi , extra quod nulla est salu● . f●lluntur ergo qui à sanct●s salutem petunt . impostor est papa , qui indulgentias & goelum ●uro vendit . d. pa. ●us in comment . ad apocalyps . c 3. ver . 18. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 thes. ● . 3 . (f) fili , memorare novissima tua , & in aeternum non peccabis . revole primordia ; attende media ; memorare novissima tua . haec pudorem adducunt , ista dolorem ingerunt , illa metum incatiunt . cogita unde veneris , & erub●sce : ubi sis , & ingemisce : q●ò vadas , & contremisce . d. bernard . serm. de primordiis & novissimis nostris , ad is p 376. antuerp . 1616. (g) heb. 9.27 . (h) heb. 2.15 . (i) job 18.14 . (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aristot. (l) heb. 2.14 , 15. phil. 1.23 . (m) luk. 2.29 . (n) 2 cor. 5. ●● , 2 , 3 , 4. (o) ecce favas mellis st●llat de ventre leonis . s.s. (p) intelligeres il um , non emori , sed emigrare : & mutare amicos , non relinquere . hier. in epit. nepot . tom . 1. p. 25. a. basil. 1553. (q) fiducia christianorum , resurrectio mortuorum . tertul. lib. de resur . carnis , cap. 1. p. 314. fra●e●●● 1597. (r) rev. 11 , 12. (s) — ah! we want ( christ ) himself : and i should refuse heaven , if christ were not there . take christ away from heaven , and it 's but a poor , unheartsom , dark , wasle dwelling . heaven without christ , should look like the direful land of death . — mansioris are but as places of briars and thorns , without christ : therefore i would have heaven for christ , and not christ for heaven . formal blessedness is created ; but objective happiness is an increated godhead , &c. s. rutherford in his christ dying , &c. epist. to the reader , p. 10 , 11. (t) s. r. in his treat . of the covenant , &c. p ●● . 1. chap 8. p 47. (u) 2 king. 2.11 . (x) psal. 73. throughout . (y) christiani sumus : beati sumus , tam morientes quaàm viventes . s.s. (z) rom 14.7 , 8 , 9. (a) rom. 8.28 . (b) an alderman of the city ; and had been mayor in an. 1651. (c) multi laudantur ubi non sunt , dum torquentur ubi sunt . au● . (d) illa quidem anima in societatem fidelium recepta , laudes nec curat nec quaerit humanas : — tu imitationem , ego laudem : quanquam , sicut supra dixi , laudem ab hominibus jam non quaerat , imitationem verò tuam tantum quaerit , &c. august . in epist. 125. p 637. c.d. & 638. d. & 639 a. tom. 2. basil. 1569. (e) jam. 5.17 . jon 4.1.3.8 , 9. (f) nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur : optimus ille est , qui minimis urgetur . horat. (g) act. 10.2 . (h) joh. 1.47 . (i) psal. 101.2 . (k) josh. 24.15 . (l) job . 1.1 . (m) gen. 18.19 (n) gen. 6.9 . (o) gen. 5.22 , 24. (p) volvuntur per ora lachrymae , & obfirmato animo non queo dolorem dissimulare quem patior . hi●ronym . in epitaph . n●pot . p. 25. tom . ● . (q) nec doleas quod talem amiseris , sed gaudeas quòd talem habueris . hicronym . ad h●l●odor . in ep●t . n●potian . p. 23. tom . 1. (r) placita enim crat deo anima illius : & in brevi spatio tempora multa complevit . hie. 〈◊〉 . in epitaph . lucinii ad theodoram , p. 195. b , tom . 1. basil. 1553. (s) luk. 23.46 . joh. 19 30. act. 7 59 60. the patriarchs portion or, the saints best day deliuered in a sermon at the funerall of sir thomas reynell of ogwell in deuon. knight, aprill. 16. 1618. wherein may be seene, 1 the shortnesse of mans life. 2 a christians combat against 1 sathan. 2 the world. 3 the flesh. 4 sinne. 3 a preparation to die well. 4 the reward of glory after warfare. by iohn preston, preacher of gods word at east-ogwell, in deuon. preston, john, minister of east ogwell. 1619 approx. 95 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 40 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a10033 stc 20282.3 estc s114305 99849531 99849531 14683 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a10033) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 14683) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1528:2) the patriarchs portion or, the saints best day deliuered in a sermon at the funerall of sir thomas reynell of ogwell in deuon. knight, aprill. 16. 1618. wherein may be seene, 1 the shortnesse of mans life. 2 a christians combat against 1 sathan. 2 the world. 3 the flesh. 4 sinne. 3 a preparation to die well. 4 the reward of glory after warfare. by iohn preston, preacher of gods word at east-ogwell, in deuon. preston, john, minister of east ogwell. [10], 68 p. printed by a. m[athewes] for roger jackeson, and are to be sold at his shop in fleetstreet neere fleete conduit, london : 1619. printer's name from stc. ornamented factotum on a6r, first page of text. formerly stc 20248. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. identified as stc 20248 on umi microfilm reel 1528. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-11 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the patriarchs portion . or , the saints best day . deliuered in a sermon at the funerall of sir thomas reynell of ogwell in deuon . knight , aprill . 16. 1618. wherein may be seene , 1 the shortnesse of mans life . 2 a christians combat against 1 sathan . 2 the world. 3 the flesh. 4 sinne. 3 a preparation to die well . 4 the reward of glory after warfare . by iohn preston , preacher of gods word at east-ogwell , in deuon . london , printed by a. m for roger iackeson , and are to be sold at his shop in fleetstreet neere fleete conduit . 1619. to the right worshipfull , richard reynell , esquire , and thomas reynell , and walter reynell , his brethren , grace , happinesse , and peace , &c. right worshipfull , the world may well woonder what winde hath driuen these papers of mine to the presse , or what should presse me to send these vnpollished meditations 〈◊〉 the censure of the world , which ●ere conceiued and brought forth in fewer dayes then a weeke affords , but ( being sent abroad ) why i should bequeath them to your protections , none need to wonder ; considering the many encouragements and continuall kindnesses i receiued frō your worthy father , whose funerals these are , and vnto whose fauour , next vnder god , i ascribe , the greatest part of my worldly wel-being . i am ●ot● to r●bbe vp and open 〈◊〉 ●ound of griefe , which o●r co●ntrey recei●●d ; but you most of all by the death of the right worshipfull , your deare father . the griefe will bee the lesse to you , for the losse of his person , if you follow his footsteps in that religious course of life which he hath trodde forth before you . for i may say of him as austin● o● 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 quidem ●…ma in ●ocieta 〈◊〉 fidelium & c●●t●rū recepta , laudes nec curat nec quaerit humanus imitationē tantū quaerit : the imitation of his vertues will be more pleasing and praise-worthy , then either my commendation of his life or your lamentations for his death . children wil most willingly writè after their father's copy , and few fathers can set fairer copies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 childre● 〈◊〉 yours hath done to you if you write not well , the world will wonder : but ●old on as you haue begun & you ●il make it doubtful 〈…〉 ; whether 〈…〉 happy , the children who had such a father 〈…〉 them , or the 〈◊〉 , who had such● children to follow fast after him ; my due respect for that vndeserued loue which i haue alwayes found from your 〈…〉 these papers ●●to your hands , wherein you may find something which may helpe forward your happy course towards heauen , it hath pleased god to set some of you in places of authority , to serue 〈…〉 countrey , others he hath sent to serue his prince at the court , and you haue need both of good heads and good hearts too , that you may hold out in these high places . if these poore meditatiōs of mine may serue as phillips boy , to put yo● in mind of your mortality , which it m●y make you di● the happier , but neuer● whit the sooner ; i shoul● thinke my smal labor ful ly recompenced , and m● maine end , which is god : glory ▪ somwhat furthered , to your honorable acceptance therfore , i commē● these short meditations , and both you and them t● gods blessing . yours in the lo●d . i. p. the patriarchs portion , or the saints best day . iob 71. is not time determined of warfare to man vpon earth ; and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling ; that which god somtime said of his holy city ierusalem , many excellent things are spoken of thee thou citie of god ; the same we may say of holy iob , many excellent things are spoken of thee thou seruant of god : yea more , many excellent things are spoken by thee . his piety and his patience are most remarkeable : for the former is praised by god a : the other proposed as a patterne to bee practised by men b : hee spake of mans entrance into the wo●lde , naked came i into the world , and of his passage out of this world , naked shall i go out againe c : of mans short continuance in this world , and of the many miseries that meete him while hee doth continue : man that is borne of a woman , is of short continuance , and full of t●oubl d : that profession which the good patriarch iacob makes before pharaoh . e few and ●uill are the dayes of my pilgrimage , might iob as truely take vp , few in comparison of his fathers , for abraham liued 175. yeares , f isaack liued 180. yeares , g whereas ●●cob liued but 130 yeares . and are not my dayes few saith iob h : and as for the quantity they were few , so for the quallity they were euill , in regarde of the misery and sorrow which in these few dayes he indured . for who more exercised in miseries then iob was , who was harder held vnder the correcting hand of god then hee . for first , god deliuered all that hee had into the hands of sathan i who did not abate him an inch of all the ill he could doe , him but by degrees brings him to the height of misery the sabeans tooke away his oxen and asses , k which we must needes grant was a great losse . the fire burned his sheepe and seruants l , and this was more fearefull then the former . then the caldeans fell vpon his cammels , a greater crosse in his commodity then all the former . then a wind from beyond the w●lderness● blowes downe the house ouer the heads of his sonnes and daughters , and they are all dead in one day , a greater heart ▪ ●reake then all the rest : and yet the diuels spite doth not rest , but gets leaue from the lord to f●nite iob with boyles , from the sole of his foot to the crowne of his head m : whether it were a l●prosie as some say , or the french disease as others thinke , or some other more loathsome disease , and such as neuer man before him felt , doubtlesse it was fearefull and foule . in all these , it was not the least part of his misery , that these come so thicke one in the necke of another , before the former haue done his full spite . but what comfort hath hee in the midst of these crosses , a man would imagine his wife should comfort him , but alas shee addeth vnto his crosse , and prooues the sharpest corrasiue vnto his soule , when shee bids him blaspheme god and die n : and what comfort he had from his friends we finde , o miserable comforters are you all . hereby i hope you see what cause iob had to say , is there not a time of warfare appointed to man vpon earth , and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling , as wee haue it in my text : in which words two things are obseruable , 1. the sharpnesse of mans life , subiect to many troubles , in these words : is there not a time of warfare to man vpon earth . 2. the shortnesse of mans life , in these words : are not his daies as the daies of an hireling . for the meaning of the words , you may conceiue them better , if wee enlarge them a little , as if iob had in more words said thus . as god hath appointed how long euery man shall liue , of which time he cannot come short if hee would , nor go beyond it : so it is gods pleasure that they shall finde little pleasure , this short shall not be sweete , but as a warfare wherein hee must fight against his enemies , the diuel , the world , and his owne flesh : neither may hee giue ouer when he sees good ; for as he that is hired , must looke to doe some worke for his wages , for that short time that he hath vndertaken : so must we in the dayes of our liues ; they may not bee spent vainely and idely , but in doing good . i must yet come nearer the words . is not time determined of warfare to man vpon earth : some reade thē thus , the life of man is a warfare vpō earth : some thus , is there not a certaine time of warfare determined vnto man vpon earth : som thus , is there not a day of warfare to mortall man vpon earth : others thus , is not time determined to man vpon earth . the world signifies an armie a w●rfare an end or determinate time , as god hath appointed that men shall die p : so he hath determined a time how long to liue , and then to die : are not mans dayes determined , the number of his monethes are with thee ; thou hast appointed his time , which ( if hee would ) hee cannot passe q : all the dayes of my appointed time , will i wait till my changing come , iob 14. 14. henc● then we may draw this doctrine . th●t god hath decreed how long euery man shall liue ; no man can liue beyond the time determined by god. dauids childe doth die young r : but god had determined it should then die . methus●●la● doth die aged s and god had determined hee should not die till then . the one in his infancie , the other in his old age ; both in the time determined by god. to all things ( saith salomon ) there is an appointed time , and a time to euery purpose vnder the sunne , a time to be borne , and a time to di● t . let men vse what meanes they will to bring matters to passe purpose and plot all is to small purpose : for b●…ore the time they shall be frustrate , but if the time be come wherein god will haue his will and worke effected , it is neither force nor fraude , neither power nor pollicie , neither money nor might , that can hinder it . the israelites could not bee deliuered from egypt , before the time appointed , foure hundred years they must be in bondage u : but when the date of this indented time is out , pharaoh cannot keep them one day longer , for euen the selfe same day that it came to passe , that all the hoast of the lord went out of the land of egypt , x , yea for the performance of gods purpose at his appointed time , the course of nature shall giue way to the cause of nature , i meane the god of nature . the deep sea shall become dry land , and the liquid waters shall become a wall to make way for gods people to passe at their appointed time : of this miracle asaph may sing ; o god thy way is in the sea , and thy pathes i● maine waters , and thy footsteps are not knowne y : a like maruelous worke was at the riuer iordan , when israel entred into canaan , then the waters that came downe from aboue , stayed and rose vpon an heap , so the people went right ouer iericho . iosh. 8. 16. the israelites wandred vp and downe in the wildernesse forty yeares , being oppressed of their enemies , et in ipso articulis tēporis , in the very instant of time which god had decreed , they were deliuered . dauid was tossed hither and thither , yet could not obtaine the kingdome before the time appointed came . the iewes could not bee deliuered from the babylonish captiuitie , til the seuenty years were expired . the godly expected the comming of christ , as was foretolde by the prophets ; but he came not till the fulnesse of time was come z : when our sauiour taught and wrought myracles , the scribes and pharisees sought to take him , but they could not till the time appointed of god. the people tooke vp stones to cast at him , a they gaue a commandement , that if any man knewe where hee was hee should shew it , that they might take him b : but when the time appointed by god was come , hee offers himselfe , saying , whom seeke yee c . the souldiers could not keepe the body of christ , in the graue , beyond the appointed time , and then , notwithstanding watch and warde , and stone , and seale , they see , and an angell sayeth it , he is not here , for hee is risen d : why doe the sunne and the moone keepe their true turnes and times of rising and setting , the summer and winter , and atumne , and spring , their settled seasons , but because god hath appointed them e : and can wee doubt then but that god himselfe doth keepe his due times , or may wee thinke that that is not the most due time which god hath determined . the very plough-man is taught by experience to take his time , when to plough , & when to sow ; when to reap and when to gather into the barne , and shall not god that great husbandman of the whole world , both know and keepe his time , to plant , and plucke vp as hee hath determined ; or hath hee not determined a time for man , both to be borne and to die ; or hath hee left it in the power of man to liue when he list , and die when he will , doubtiesse no. the time of death none can preuent before it come , none passe it when it doth come . the shortnesse of mans life . thou hast numbred my steps saith iob f & whē dauid desires of god to teach him that heauenly arithmatick to number his dayes , hee did not doubt but god had done it , hee knowes not the number onely , but the measure , both how many and how long the dayes are which wee must liue , as you may see g : yea hee that hath numbred the haires of our heads h , hath numbred not onely the yeares of our life , but the monethes of our yeares , & the weekes of our monethes , and the dayes of our weekes , and the houres of our dayes , & the minutes of our houres , which point wee cannot passe . indeed , god doth diuers waies take men out of this life : some by murther , as abel i , some by drowning , as the olde world ▪ k : some by burning , as the sodomites ▪ l : some by stoning , as the sabbath breakers , and achan m : some by being cut in peeces n : some by the fall of an house , as the philistims o , and such as they vpon whom the tower of siloam fell p : some by a nayle as sisera q : some by lyons , as the young prophet r : some by beares , as the scoffing children s : some sawen to death , as esay : some hanged , as the good theefe t : some crucified , as christ : but none of these sooner or later then the lord hath appointed . the same god that hath determined the manner how , the meanes where , had likewise determined the time when they should die . the consideration of this , may first comfort the godly , in that their liues lie not in the power of men , or malice of satan , for these indeed would swallow them vp quicke when they are displeased at them , and the godly neuer want the wicked or the diuels displeasure ; you shall see some of the iewes band together , and binde themselues by an oath , that they will neither eate nor drinke , till they haue killed paul u , but their plot shall bee preuented , and paul preserued till the time appointed of god. tyrants may take away the life of the godly , but they cannot cut off the lappes of their coats , nor touch the skirts of their garments without gods permission , and he will neuer permit them before the appoynted time . pharaoh would haue taken away moses his life often , but god had not appointed it so , for moses died in the land of moab x , saul thought to make sure worke with dauid when he ran at him with a speare , but god had appointed that dauid should die a naturall death , in his bedde as he did y : wee see such men as are grieuously wounded , oftentimes doe not die , as on the contrary , the cutting of a corne doth kill some , what is the cause but the performance of gods appoynted time in both . asaph was but sick in his feet , farre from the heart ; he ●…s to seeke helpe of the phisition , yet dies of the disease z : hezechiah was sicke at the heart , and at the poynt of death , yet liues many yeares after , because his time determined by god was not yet come when he should die , though in regarde of his disease in the sight of man , the day was come that hee should die . one lies long sicke , yet recouers because his time is not come , another as hee walkes in his chamber , or sits in his chaire , drops downe and neuer riseth because his time is come . to conclude this vse for the comfort of the godly , though their enemies that seeke to spill their blood be many , and those mighty and malicious withal , yet all these cannot diminish one day of this life which the lord hath decreed . secondly , this may serue for reproofe of such as dreame & dote only vpon second causes , and neuer looke to gods councell and decree . this makes these men cry out and say , when their friends are taken away , oh it was for want of learned phisitians about him , yet died of no dangerous diseases , while hee looked to second causes and not to the lord without whose appointment nothing can come to passe . a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without gods guiding prouidence a : nor a bird fall into a snare where no fouler is b : in the pestilence they cry out of the infection of the ayre , in consumptions of sorrow and griefe , in feuers of cold , in famine of foule weather , in warre of the malice of the enemies , but moses would haue men to looke to a higher hand in all these ; for it is the lord , saith hee , that shall smite men with consumptions , and with the feuer , and with the burning ague , and with feruent heat , and with the sword , and with drought , & with the mildew . c the second causes i know , that is such meanes as god hath appointed for the preseruation of life , must not bee despised , yet they must not be doted vppon ; vse these carefully , but commit the successe to god , who onely can blesse these meanes , and will , whensoeuer they may serue for the performance of his purpose and his time appointed , which can by no meanes be either preuented or auoyded . thirdly , this may teach vs to waite with patience , expecting when our changing shall come , d it is not for vs to know the time and season , the yeere or moneth of our appointed time which god hath kept secret to himselfe . it is comfort enough , and powerfull to perswade a patient expectation of our change , to thinke how happy a change we shall haue ; christ shall change our vilde bodies , that they might be like vnto his glorious body e : when we haue the world at will , and nothing comes crosse vnto vs , we can be content ; wee say to liue as long as the lord hath appointed , but when we are pinched with pouerty or surcharged with sickenesse , or vexed with sorrow and griefe , then most impatiently we pray , and wish that wee were out of the world , and wee will not waite the lords leisure ; but with the king of israel we wickedly resolue , be hold this euill is of the lord , what should i wait for the lord any longer ? f in these cases , we can alledge scripture , that it is better to die , then to liue ; because salomon saith , that the day of death is better thē the day of our birth . g salomon doth not say that the day of death is good simply , but by way of comparison better then the day of birth ; and yet this may seeme in humane sence and reason to be absurd , for there is ioy when a man is born into the world . h the number of the children of god is increased , life is the gift of god ; i how thē can the day of death be better then the day of life . the meaning of salomon is , that life is attended with many miseries , for we are borne to labour and trauell , subiect to sickenesses and sorrow , and sinne , nothing but death can deliuer vs from all these ; and therefore better is the day of death then the day of birth ; yet be it neuer so good , be it better then life , yea , be it best of all to be with christ : k though we haue here no abiding citie : l though we be strangers and pilgrimes : m though soiourners , as all our fathers were : n dust and ashes , o wormes of the earth ; p though wee were worse then all these ; yet we must wait gods appointed time . though the euer-liuing god hath condemned mankinde to death , which is the wages of sinne : and to the graue , q which is the house appointed for all the liuing , r yet may we not either hasten our death , or digge our own graues , and descend into them before we be dead . though our bodies bee but houses of clay , s earthly houses or tents rather , t yet may wee not pull downe these houses ouer our heads , or remoue these tents before our generall giue command , but waite till our changing come . in a word , god hath determined that we must die , and therefore death should be welcome , when it doth come , but he hath determined withall when we must die , and therfore nothing should make vs weary of waiting , till it doe come . fourthly this point duly considered may reprooue such that goe about to shorten their liues , these men presume to appoint their own time , & with a fals key to open this prison of their body , and let their soules depart before god call for it , or giue them any commission vnto it . it is true that god hath appointed this time for these mens deaths in his secret counsell , but it is more then they know ; and for ought that they see , they might liue longer if themselues were not the cause , and so they crosse the reneiled will of god , which onely can bee our warrant in all our actions . againe , though they were so much of gods secret counsell , as to know that god had appointed this to be the time , yet they know that god hath not appointed either themselues or such violent meanes to make good his purpose at his appointed time . no , no : it is misery that makes these men weary of their liues ; and therefore like the foolish fish , they will leape out of the frying-pan , into the fire ; out of short trouble here , into eternall torments hereafter . he that will liue godly , must suffer persecution ; u hee that will come into heauenly canaan , must passe through this earthly egypt ; through many afflictions , we must enter into heauen , x and shal we then cut off the thred of our life , because wee finde some knots in it . abimelech cut off his owne life , y so did saul , z so did ahithophell , a so did iudas , b and so doe many in their desperate humour now a dayes , by the cunning of satan , but not without the secret vnsearchable and iust iudgement of god. fiftly , and finally if our time be determined , and that time known to god , vnknowne to man , certaine to him , vncertaine to vs , we must prepare against that time come , we are men , and therfore mortall ; weake men , and therefore secure , for we are euery day dying , and cannot long liue , as old men haue death before their eyes , so yong men haue him behind their backs : and betwixt old and yong , i desire no other difference but this , that yong men may die quickly , and old men cannot liue long , and therefore all must be prepared . be ye prepared therefore , for the sonne of man will come in an houre when ye thinke not : c all must prepare , old and yong , rich and poore , great and small , noble and ignoble ; old men must prepare , for they must shortly die , they should put their houses in order , d they should with sence and sorrow , confesse their sinnes to god , saying , against thee , against thee onely haue we sinned , e they should labour for life to be at peace with god and their owne consciences , and if it be possible to haue peace with all men f . yong men should prepare , for they may die before those that goe crooked with age : they haue no charters of their liues . it is not policie , nor gay and gorgeous apparell ; not eloquence of an angels tongue , not strong castles and stately houses , not pompe nor promotion , can take day with death , or perswade the wormes to pitty them , nor preserue their names from perpetuall infamy . these things may procure honour on earth , but no happinesse in heauen . if all were not subiect to death , yong men might hope to be exempted , but a new ship may as soone be dasht in pieces meeting with a rocke , as one that is old and weather-beaten , a yong tree may be ouerturned with a whirlewind , as soon as that which is old and blasted , many old men haue out-liued these tha● were yong , but neuer any yong or olde that liued and did not die : doth not euery man beare about him in his own bosome , that which will bring him to his end : are wee not all sick of the same disease , euen the consumption of our daies . time , pretious time , passeth away swiftly , and with it wee passe towardes our end , and like those in a ship , we perceiue it not , and therefore prepare not for it , or thinke not of the danger of it ; for as death leaueth vs , so the day of iudgement shall finde vs. they that build faire and sumptuous houses , are not certaine how long they shall hold them ; they that purchase lands and liuings , cannot tel how long they shall possesse them ; they that haue gathered in a great haruest , cannot tell whether they shall bee better by it ; they that plant , cannot tell whether they shall eate of the fruit of it ; yet all these men are prouident to prepare for life that is vncertaine , and forget death which is most certaine shall come , & more vncertaine when it shall come . prepare then in health , for it may hardly bee done in sicknesse , or at the houre of death . sicknesse may be so full of extreame sorrowe and paine , and death so sudden and present , that thou canst not prepare thy selfe if thou would ; or if thou doe , yet not so well as thou wouldest : many neglect to prepare themselues when they may , and when they would cannot . so the fiue foolish virgins might haue had oyle in their lamps , if they had lookt to it in time ; but afterward , when willing they would , could neither buy nor borrow any . these men consider not how dangerous it is to procrastinate , and p●…●ff their repentance from day to day , a●… that for two causes . first , god doth leaue the wicked destitute of diuine helpe in that howre , i haue called , saith the lord , but ye refused , ye were in health in the prime of your time , in the flower of your age , in the heat of lust , hauing by nature corrupt hearts and carnal affections liuing in pleasure , passing the time in mirth , subiect to youthfull wantonnesse and to vnstaidnesse of affection , full of loosenesse , which is the way to lewdnes ; of weakenesse , which is the way to wickednesse , then you would not heare , now in your death-bed , ye shall call , but i will not heare , but laugh at your destructiō , g they that forget god liuing , god will forget them dying . secondly , in the time of death men are more grieuously tempted , and therfore it is dangerous to deferre repentance to the dying day . remember ( saith salomon ) thy creator in the dayes of thy youth , h why should wee remember god in youth , because if youth be spent in vanity , commonly old age will end in prophanenesse . the prophet speaketh of crimson sinnes , sinnes of a double die , if it bee right crimson or purple , it is dyed in thred & in the wooll , and that is euer a deepe dye , so if satan dye vs in our wooll , in our youth before we be men , before wee be made cloath , it is like to sticke by vs , and to go with vs to our graue . if sathan make thy youth vnprofitable , of all the ages after , there can hardly any good be hoped for ; if the blossome be nipt , where is the hope of the autumne . thus much for the first point , that god hath determined the dayes of man how long hee shall liue . a christians combat against 1 sathan . 2 the world. 3 the flesh. 4 sinne. the second point of doctrine which doth arise frō these words , is this ; that the time appointed by man to liue vpō earth , is a time of warfare . men must liue souldiers , and die conquerours ; liue fighting , and die ouercomming ; from the cradle to the graue is a time of warfare ; wee haue many enemies , all fierce and furious : 1. the diuell . 2. the vvorld . 3. the flesh. 4. sinne. all these we must encounter and ouercome too , if it goe well with vs ; and woe is vnto vs if they ouercome . conquerors shall be crowned , but c●wards shall bee shamed , and the conquered shall be captiuated . the first enemy is the diuell . sathan is a great enemy , a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may deuour i : a lion for his might , roaring for his malice and wrath , with a hungring desire to hurt , going about without wearinesse , seeking through his studiousnesse to deceiue , whō he may deuour with an implacable wrath , to wreake his malice both vpon god and man ; for all his paines and pollicy , all his force and fraude aymes at this , that neither god may bee serued , nor man may be saued . when he cannot secretly deceiue by the subtiltie of a fox , hee runnes vpon men with open mouth , like a deuouring lion ; in peace hee is craftie , in persecution cruell . you may perceiue the lion by his claw , and iudge of his nature by his names : hee is called a serpent , k and therefore subtile , wise , and craftie : a tempter , the tempter l to perswade , & a diuell to destroy m whom hee doth perswade ; before the sinne we shall finde him a tempter , after the finne wee shall finde him a diuell ; kinde in the entrance , cruell in the end . he prooues a tempter that he may play the diuell , and that in euery place ; hee made warre in heauen , practised fraud in paradise , sowed hatred amongst the first brethren , and tares in the wide field of the world . we know tares will grow fast enough of themselues without fowing , yet in hope to haue fewell enough for hell fire , hee will take paines to sow them , and that in the night when others sleepe . in eating hee hath surfeting , in drinking drunkennesse , in generation wantonnesse , in labour idlenesse , in conuersation enuy , in gouernement couetousnesse , in correction anger , in promotion pride , in honours ambition , in talke vaine ostentation , in profession hppocrisie , and backsliding in the christian race , and in euery blessing of god some secret baite to draw men to sinne . into the heart hee doth iniect e-euill thoughts , into the mouth euill words , into the members euill workes : he mooueth the merry to be dissolnte , and the mournefull to bee desperate . what then shall wee doe ? shall wee faint and feare , and fly from him ; no , then wee are sure to bee foyled ; wee must fight it out with him , and resolutely resist him , and he will flie . indeed wee cannot doe it by our owne strength , flesh and blood are but vnequall matches for spirits of the ayre , as these are . what then , wee must put on the whole armour of god , that we may be able to resist in the euill day , and hauing finished all things stand fast n : the first weapon is the truth of god , with this the minde must bee so confirmed and strengthned , that sathan doe not keep vs continually in doubting . the second weapon is innocency of life , that sathan doe not extinguish all heat and light of religion in our soules & seruice of god. the third is an allacrity and chearfulnesse to embrace the gospell of peace . the fourth is faith , which the diuell desires to robvs of , because it is the casket , yea the castle of all our comfort ; and in this warfare both sworde and buckler . resist stedfast in the faith o : and this is our victory wherby we ouercome the world , euen our faith p : and the apostle saith , watch yee , stand fast in the faith , gird you like men and be strong q : vvatch , sleepe not in sinne ; stand , flie not to sin● stand fast , fall not through sin ; watch , for the lord commeth to iudge ; stand , for sathan commeth to tempt ; stand fast , for the flesh perswadeth to yeeld ; in faith , for sathan would winnow vs like wheat r : and not winnow vs onely , but also win vs from god. the fift weapon is hope , which in this skirmish must holde vp our hearts . the sixt , is the word of god , which is powerfull to saluation s : which is sharper then a two edged sword t : which is a lanterne to our feet u : which is able to make vs wise vnto saluation x . the last spirituall weapon is prayer , which to the partie that prayeth is ayde , to god a sacrifice , and to the diuell a scourge . in sicknesse , prayer is a medicine . hezechias prayed in his sicknesse vnto the lord y . in sorrow it is a sollace z . in trouble it is a comfort a : prayer ouercommeth the diuell , and stayeth the hands of god , it is the messenger which relateth our affaires to god faithfully , and bringeth his answere wished for , speedily . god that would not be ouercome with the brags of the proud pharisie , was ouer entreated by the prayers of the humble publican b : to conclude , all these weapons we must haue if we conquer satan ; and all these weapons wee shall haue if we put on christ. the second enemy is the world. the second enemy is the world , and there is a world of enemies in the belly of this beast , worldly pleasures , and worldly pompe , and worldly pride , and worldly prophanonesse , and worldly profits , which all fight together against our poore soules , and fight amongst themselues which shall haue the first blowe at vs. but the loue of the world is the captaine of them all , which hath carried many captiue . demas louing the world did forsake the world c : nay it makes men forsake god himselfe , and become gods foe ; for he that will be a friend of the world , maketh himselfe the enemy of god d : and loue not the world saith saint iohn , for whosoeuer loueth the world the loue of god is not in him e . this world is a strumpet which by her beauty doth bewitch vs ; a staffe of reede which by his brittlenes doth deceiue vs , when we lie or relie vpon it . the world doth promise vnto men mountaines of gold , huge & high towers of honours , but these are but towers of babell , which will fall vpon the heads of the builders , and bring them to confusion . the sea somtime doth hoise vp the ship towards heauen , but presently it is plunged down in the deep ; so doth the world lift vp many men for a time , but ere long they faile of their footing , and fall downe to the bottome of basenesse or beggerie . that part of the wheele which is one while highest , is presently down againe in the durt ; so they that to day are in the top of honour , before to morrowe may be brought to deep disgrace . agathocles of a potter became a potentate , being aduanced from the dirty clay to the crowne & diademe : on the contrary dionisius fell from his princely throne to a poore pedagogue in corinth , god hath put downe the mighty from their seate , and hath exalted the humble and meeke f : god taketh the simple out of the dust , and lifteth the poore out of the mire , that hee may set him with princes , euen the princes of the people g : wrastlers vse to list thē vp on high whom they purpose to cast downe on the ground , with greater violence : such a wrastler is the world , that hath hoysed many , but to giue them a greater fall . the world is troublesome as the sea which cannot rest esay 57. 20. such tossing and troubling there is in it ; it is as brittle as glasse , very bright but quickly broken ; the world passeth away and the lust thereof h : the world is a swelling sea through pride , blew thorow enuy , feruent through anger , deepe through dissembling , vnquiet through couetousnesse , fomie through wantonnesse , supping vp all through the care of the belly . where the greater fishes eat vp the lesse . is the world so turbulent and transitory , what madnesse is it then to bee so fast nayled to it in our affections , that wee can hardly bee knockt off from it , or as wee did verily beleeue there were no other world to come . wee suffer a great deale of trouble which is certaine to prolong our dayes a little time , which are vncertaine ; for this world is not our mansion house ; or permanent ; but an inne or rather but a thorow-fair , through which we must passe to our owne house and home : heere we must so lodge this day , as that we must be ready to depart the next ; and though wee loue it neuer so well , and liue in it neuer so long , we shall finde , and be forced to confesse at last , when wee must leaue it ; that it hurts many , heales few ; promseth much , performes nothing . let worldly men vaunt of their knowledge , how to get , and keepe , and saue , and thriue ; the knowledge is little worth while the world knoweth not god i : they may speak of their quicke and stirring spirits , but a better spirit then theirs hath spoken it , that the world receiueth not the spirit of truth k : they may reprooue the saints of god for singularity , but the holy ghost reprooueth the world of sinne l : they may thinke themselues iolly wise men , but the wisedome of the world is but foolishnesse with god m : they may prey vpon the poore , but our sauiour did not pray for the world n : they may play rex , and domineere as kings here , but christs kingdome is not of this world o : now if any godly soule shall say , how may wee ouercome this world ; i will tell him in a word or two , but it is sooner sayd then done : first , wee must not loue this world , nor the things of this world more then god. secondly , wee must not liue after the fashions of this world , which are all either vaine or wicked p : thirdly , wee must vse this world as though wee vsed it not q : fourthly , wee must not bee seruant to our seruant the worlde . fiftly , if we truely iudge of the world , of all the pleasures , and profits , and dedelights thereof , as salomon hath taught vs , who had tryed it well , that all is vanity and vexation spirit . the best but vanity , and the most vexation ; and so much for our second maine enemy which is the world . the third enemy is the flesh. the third enemy is our flesh , an enemy in our owne house which lies betwixt our brests and bosome , and therefore more dangerous . this flesh of ours is a iudas which doth kisse , but it is to kill ; a dalilah in sampsons bosome , a caine to abel , an absolon to ammon , a ioab to amasa , and in a word the common cut-throat of our soules . as a moath which is bred in a garment and nourished by it , doth notwithstanding fret and spoyle it , so the flesh doth goe about to eate out our soules , and doth fight against the spirit which giues life & beeing to it r : ciuill warres you know are farre more fearefull then forraine innations : such is this fight of the flesh against the spirit , it is inward , and neare at hand to hurt vpon all occasions , wee beare about with vs our greatest enemy , which will stab the soule , or rob it of all rich graces of the spirit ; darken the vnderstanding , dull the memory , fatte the heart , blind the eyes , stop the eares , and strip the soule starke naked of all goodnesse . if wee haue a pharaoh a bloody tyrant abroad , wee shall haue a iudas a plodding traytour at home , and how hard is it to preuent the harmes which such an insinuating and close aduersary may pull vpon vs. hee that ruleth his owne minde , is better then hee that winneth a citie s : he that represseth & keepeth vnder his intemperate passions and violent affections , doth a greater exploit , and more praise worthy , then hee that conquereth cities , and castles , and townes , and towers , anger , wrath , couetousnesse , and such corrupt affections are our capitall enemies ; i may tearme them our turkes against whom wee must dayly warre and fight , and that without fainting , least they bring vs into bondage , for of whomsoeuer a man is ouercome , euen vnto the same is he in bondage t : sampson did much hurt to his enemies the philistims , yet himselfe was ouercome , if not with filthy , yet with fond and foolish loue . alexander the great conquered a great part of the world , yet would hee not conquer his owne anger , or command his drunken desires . many rule and gouerne cities , armies , and families , yet are seruants to their sensuall pleasures and delights . that emperour therefore is worthy praise , which ruleth his owne propper affections ; if thou wilt haue all subiect to thee , subiect thy selfe to reason . thou shalt gouerne many , if reason gouerne thee , and rule many , if thou be ruled by reason , but if thou suffer the flesh , to haue the soueraignty , & set the crowne on her head , thou shalt be sure to liue like a slaue , and die no better then a beast . but how shall wee ouercome this enemy that is alwayes at home ? i will tell thee , by these meanes , and with these weapons . first , we must obstaine from fleshly lusts which sight against the soule u . secondly , we must tame our bodies by fasting and bring them into subiection x . thirdly , we must mortifie our members y . fourthly , we must abstaine from all appearance of euill . fiftly , wee must not pamper the flesh . sixtly , we must reiect such motions as the flesh doth iniect , and that at their first entrance , the serpent must be crushed in the shell , the foxe must bee taken while he is a cubbe . the last enemy is sinnne . the last enemie with whom we are to make warre in this world , is sin , a busie enemie , because he is a borderer , an inhabitant , an innmate ; one that eateth with vs , sleepeth with vs , walketh with vs , rideth with vs , and meeteth vs at euery turning : as fire in the flint , so sinne is in the seede , it is bred in the bones , and will not out of the flesh , vntill iosephs bones be carried out of aegypt ; that is , vntill we be out of this world. sinne is a iebusite , a seditious neighbour , and an insinuating mate , so hath it eaten into the nature of man with its canker and contagion , that his affection is infection , his reason treason , and his will wayward altogether , and auerse from good . the more the law of god doth forbid sinne , the more doth man commit sinne ; we run with all might and maine to that which is forbidden , for it falleth out commonly with sinners as it doth with sicke men : commonly the meats that are forbidden by the phisitian , are a kind of sauce to prouoke appetitite in the patient , most of all to desire these meats . as swelling waters , the more they are barred their course , the more they rage and swell , and ouerflow and beare downe all before them ; so the more the law doth seeme to barre and bolt the current of committing sinne , and to set the bounds which they should not passe ; the more is sinfull mans nature enraged , and the more the swelling waues of wickednes do ouerflow & make their fultide ; the more shold be our care & courage to encounter it , and set our selues to fight against it . of our selues indeed we cannot ouercome it , but if we follow our captaine christ iesus , it shall neuer ouercome vs. saint paul had experience both of his conflict with sinne , and conquest ouer sinne . o wretched man that i am ( saith he ) who shall deliuer me from the body of this death . i thanke god through iesus christ our lord z . he it was , that was made a sacrifice for sinne a , as ioshua shut vp kings and princes in caues of the earth , and rolled great stones on the mouth of the caues b : so sinne shutteth vp greatest emperours prisoners , and rowleth stones , and layeth great stumbling blocks in their way : and as none could ouercome the roaring lyon , but the lyon of the tribe of iuda c : so none could free men , out of the prison whereinto sinne had cast them , but onely christ ; for this cause christ tooke flesh vpon him , that so hee might die in his flesh , & through death destroy death , and him that had the power of death that is the diuell d . so that christ hath carryed away the gates of death , as sampson sometime did the gates of azzah e , and hath by his power preuailed ouer those vncircumcised philestims , euen sinne and death , and the diuell and hell ; and though we be too weake of our selues to conquer sinne , yet we must follow our captaine christ , as fast as we can , and as farre as wee may . first , by flying from sinne . secondly , by dying vnto sinne . thirdly , by hating all sinne , yea the very garments spotted with the flesh f . fourthly , by true faith , for that doth purifie the heart g . and thus much for the fourth enemie , now take a view of all these together , consider their malice , their might and the multitude of souldiers which fight vnder them , and we shall plainly see the truth of the point proposed , that while we liue in this world , wee must looke to fight and prepare our selues for this warfare . a preparation how to die well . the first vse is for instruction , in that we haue so many enemies to stand vpon our guard , let vs keep watch and ward continually , let vs be as carefull to resist , as our aduersaries are to assault . a carefull watch is the chiefest point in warre , and therefore this is often commanded in the word of god ; watch , for you know not what houre your master will come h : vvatch and pray i , awake to liue righteously , k , be sob●r and watch l . vnto this command , god had for our incouragement annexed a promise of no lesse then blessednesse . blessed is the seruant whom the master when he commeth shall finde watching m . blessed is he that watcheth n . blessed is the man that watcheth daily at my gates o . christ will cause them that watch , to sit downe at table with him , where they shall be at ease from paine ; at rest , from labour ; full without hunger , healthy without sickenesse ; and haue fulnesse of ●irth and solace , without any mixture of sorrow or mourning : god is the center of the soule , as euery thing doth rest in his center , so our soules shall rest in god : my people , saith god , by his prophet , shall dwell in the tabernacle of peace , and in sure dwellings , & in safe resting places p . thirdly , as we haue precept to watch , and promise of blessednesse if we doe watch ; so wee haue a patterne and example of watching , worthy to be imitated , for it is christ himselfe . what souldier will not be glad to watch with his captaine ? what christian will not runne to watch , when they heare christ thus kindly calling them ? could ye not watch with me one houre q . vvatch , behold the easinesse , i bid you not fight for mee , or die with me ; but watch onely , and that an houre : behold the easinesse , not a yeere , or a weeke , or a day , but an houre . lastly , by watching as wee follow christs patterne , so we shall be prepared hereby for christs comming , which will be in an houre that we know not r . the second vse serues to teach vs to cast off all carnal security seeing we haue so many enemies to encounter withall . the diuell is another herod ; the world is a flattering pharasie , the flesh a treacherous iudas , and sinne a seditious iebusite ; and therefore little cause haue wee to walke without our weapons , or sleep in security . whē the old world was secure , it was drowned s . when sodome and gomorrha were secure , they were burned t . whē sampsō was secure , his eyes were put out u . when ionah was secure , and slept in the side of the ship , hee is shaken with the waues , and the lo● doth designe him to bee cast into the sea x . when the rich man was secure , his soule was taken from him y . as bankrupts neuer care to pay their debts till the serieant bee vpon their backs ; so many secure men neuer thinke how farre they runne daily in arrerages with god , till they be arrested by death , at the suite of the great iudge , and so be cast into prison . this security is the mother of negligence , and high way to destruction ; for as the oxe when he is driuen to the slaughter , goeth willingly , because his hope is ( if i may so speake it ) that he shall goe to grasse in some better pasture , and neuer feare , till the axe be ready to fall vpon his head ; or as a foole , when he is led to the stoak● , goeth cheerefully , and neuer shrinketh vntill his feet bee fast snared therein ; euen so many men goe securely forward , wandring in the broad way without remorse of conscience , perswading themselues they are safe , when indeed they are secure , and neuer perceiue their owne folly ; till they be insnared in destruction : many are carefull for others , but secure for thēselues ; they looke on other mens faults with both eyes , but scarcely with one on their owne ; either they will not see their sinnes , or if they see them , they wil slightly passe them ouer without any serious consideration : they cry peace , peace , when destruction is at their doores z . they that finde themselues in good health , neuer seeke or send to the phisitian ; and they also that are soule sicke , and dangerously diseased , but feele it not , doe neuer cry after christ , they seeke little after him , and set lesse by him : thirdly , the hope of a happy reward should encourage vs to wage warre against those our enemies ; he that neuer comes forth to fight , can neuer conquer ; & he that doth not conquer , shal neuer be crowned ; he that ouercommeth , will i giue to eate of the manna that is hidde , and will giue him a white stone , and in that stone , a new name written , which no man knoweth , sauing he that receiueth it a . he that ouercommeth and keepeth my words to the end , to him will i giue power ouer nations b . to him that ouercommeth , will i giue to eate of the tree of life , which is in the midst of the paradise of god c . and so often in the same chapter you may see it to be the posee of all the epistles ; to him that ouercommeth will i giue , either grace , or glory , or both ; not to him that steppeth forth into the battel , and starts backe againe ; nor to him that draweth his sword , or giue a blow , or looseth some blood ; but to him that ouercommeth , that fights it out till hee haue foiled his enemy and wonne the field . so if wee suffer with christ , we shall raigne with him ; suffer here , raigne in heauen ; suffer misery , raigne in glory ; for , from the crosse , wee must come to the crowne . a souldier must fight before he can winne the victory ; he must be a souldier , before he can bee a captaine . there is a crowne of righteousnesse laid vp ; but for whom ? for such as haue fought a good fight d ; and it is not a good fight , vnlesse we ●uercome . the penny of eternall life is promised to labourers , not to loiterers , to workers , not to idle ●wanderers ; to those that are in the vineyard , not to such as stand staring in the market place . suffer affliction , saith the apostle , as the good souldier of iesus christ ; no man that warreth , entangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life , because hee would please him that hath chosen him to be a souldier ; and if any man striue for a mastery , hee is not crowned vnlesse he striue as he ought to doe e , and can wee then hope to bee crowned , if we striue not at all . worldlings wrastle for a corruptible crowne , as vncertaine whether they shall obtaine it or no ; but it is not so with the true christian , he runneth not as vncertainly , he fighteih not as one that beateth the ayre f : some will say that afflictions and troubles doe hinder many souldiers that they cannot fight as they would : but the apostle puts them both together . suffer thou affliction , as the good souldier of iesus christ , looking to the reward that christ is ready to giue thee as soone as the battell is ended . thy fighting is but for a moment ; thy triumph is for euer ; thy fighting is light , thy reward heauy ; a waight , and excellent waight ; a more excellent , a farre more excellent and eternal wayght of glory g . where god purposeth to heale , he spareth not to launce ; he ministreth bitter pils to purge corrupt humours , and sendeth embasies of death and renenge where he meanes to preserue , and where he purposeth to bestow eternall life and felicitie . ioseph accused his brethren as spies , when he meant them least hurt , and restrained little beniamin as guilty of that , whom he knew full well to bee a guiltlesse innocent ; but these accusatious were like water in a smiths forge , which serueth to kindle , not to quench ; it was a rough entrance , to a most kinde vsage ; an outward shew of suspition , the more plainly to vtter his entire affection ; so dealeth god with his children for they haue gone through fire and water , but he hath brought them out into a wealthy place h . many goe out of prison and chaines , but their iourneyes end is to a kingdome , many in few things are vexed , but in more they are well considered . though the godly are tryed like gold in the furnace , yet god loues them neuer the lesse for it , but makes them the purer by it : if afflictions be grieuous , yet at the least the godly gaine this by it , that it makes the soule more sober : if god beginne , with i haue afflicted thee , he will doubtlesse end with i wil afflict thee no more i . and as we are partakers of christs suf●erings , so wee shall be also of his consolation k : if we die with him , with him shal we liue : and if we bear his crosse we shall weare his crowne , god woundeth vs sometimes , but his wounds are the wounds of a friend , for whether hee denounce iudgement , or inflict it , all is for our good in the end . he sent ionah to ni●●neh to threaten and ouerthrowe , but his intent was to bring them to repentance , that hee might manifest his greater mercies . he sent esay to hezekiah to tel him of his dying day l : but his meaning was to mooue him to amendment that he might adiourne his life yet longer : hee suffered daniel to bee throwne into the denne of lions but it was to aduance him to greater credite . hee that had seene ioseph in prison vniustly ; mordacay with a gibet before his eyes , would haue bewayled there case , but had hee knowne that iosephs prison would haue ended in a princedome , and mordecay his perill with royall preferment : hee would rather thinke them much beholding to god for the ensuing felicitie , then greatly to be pitied for their present misery . the musitian straineth not his strings to high for feare of breaking , neither doth let them to low , for feare of discord ; so god will keepe a meane , neither suffering vs to bee carelesly secure , nor driuing vs for want of comfort to dispaire . who then wil not warre when hee shall be sure to triumph hereafter ; if wee ouercome , we shall goe home to our fathers house m : to the citie of the liuing god , the heauenly ierusalem : heb. 12. 22. lastly , we must fight for feare wee be ouercome , for then what mercy can bee expected at the hauds of our spirituall pharaoh , what delight in the prison , where there is nothing but : howling for griese , gnawing of the tongue for sorrow , gnashing of the teeth for feare & paine n : there is neither hope , nor helpe , nor ease , for the fire is vnquenchable , & the worme shall not die o : there is no end , for the paine is euerlasting ; there is no light but darknesse , nay a land of darkenesse more palpable then that of egypt p : it is violent fire which shall deuoure the adnersary q : a lake of fire burning with brimstone r : in which lake the men that are ouercome are cast , and shall lie burning day and night for euermore s : where insteed of order , there shall bee confusion ; insteed of halaluiah , there shall be cursing ; insteed of mirth , mourning ; insteed of ioy vnspeakeable , vnconceiueable , and which is worst of all , eternall torments . in that place the sweetest harmony shall be howling , and the greatest cōfort confusion of faces . when adeni-zedeck was taken the men of i●da & simeon cut off the thumbes of his hands , & of his feet t : so our spirituall enemies will deal with vs if they ouercome vs , and farre more cruelly . they will put out our eyes that wee shall not lift them vp to the heauens from whence our help doth come ; they will cut off our hands , that wee shall not lift them vp in prayer vnto god , as the apostle exhorteth u : they will pull out our tongues , that we shall not speake to god in prayer , and they will binde vs hand and foot that we shall not be able to helpe our selues , or goe to other to seeke for helpe x : thus wee haue seene the quality of mans daies , how they are sharpe ; the second generall point notes the quantity of our dayes , that they are short in these words , are not his dayes as the daies of an hireling . the christians crowne of glory after warfare . are not his dayes as the dayes of a ●ireling , an hireling hath a time appointed and limited how long hee shall labour , and then to haue his wages ; so man hath a time appointed to warre and fight , and then to haue his reward , which is promised by him that di● neuer deceiue any , the grand captaine , christ iesus , who will confesse such as serue him before his father , and before the holy angels y : an hireling looketh and waiteth when his day will end that hee may haue his hire ; so the godly , desire to bee dissolued and to bee with christ , that they may receiue the crown , of glory prepared for thē . many profitable points might hence bee collected , but the time will not giue me leaue to stand vpon all , onely this i will briefly vrge . that man shall then receiue his rewarde when hee hath ouercome , when he hath done his worke , god will not denie his wages , this rewarde is not carnall but spirituall , not earthly but heauenly , not mans but gods , not merited but giuen of mercy . this reward is layd vp z : and it is a crowne , not of thornes , as on christs head , nor of gold , as on earhly kings heads , but a crowne of righteousnesse , so paul cals it a crowne of life ; so iames names it a : a crown of glory ; so peter stileth in b : yea a crowne incorruptible and euerlasting . when thou hearest of a crowne conceiue a triumph , for crownes are layde vp for them that after victory triumph ouer the enemy . there is no garland where there is no gole to runne to , there is no victory , where there is no enemy ; there is no hire , where there is no labour ; and there is no happinesse , where there is no tryall by temptation : and rather then such as fight the lords battels against sin and sathan , the world and the flesh , shall want either credit or comfort , god himselfe shall be their crown . in that day shall the lord of hostes be for a crowne of glory , and for a diadem● of beauty vnto the residue of his people , esa. 28 5. so runne that you may obtaine this crowne . such as wrastle or runne in a race , will diet themselues before hand , and endure much when they come to fight or runne , euen sweate , and pant , and blow , and bleed ; how much more should christians in this course & conflict of christianitie ; especially , considering the enemies with whom wee are to fight and wrastle are farre mightier ; for they wrastle but with men made of the same mould and mettall that wee are : wee with principalities and powers , and wicked spirits : the time that we are to fight is farre longer , they but for an houre or two ; but we al the daies of our life , the crowne for which wee striue is farre better : they did wrastle for the applause and commendation of men , or for a garland of flowers , which did fade in a day : we for an incorruptible crowne of glory , which god shall giue vs in his kingdome . let no man looke for his reward in this world , but in the end of the day , that is , after death : then the wages shall bee paid , when wee rest from our worke . as l●…ch called his sonne noah because he should comfort him , and make all his labour and sorrow to eease and end c : euen so all iust and righteous men may call death their noah , the sonne of their rest , and end of there labours , and sorrowes , and sicknesses , and sinne , and shame ; for then these and all other miseries shall bee done away , and shall neuer be againe , and then shall hee be crowned that hath ouercome . this may serue to let christians see what a gracious master they serue , who will not see their worke vnrewarded . the wicked indeed in a pow●ing and repining humour , will say as iob settes it downe d : vvhat is the almighty that we should serue him , and what profit should we haue of we pray vnto him : but the christian will gladly confesse , that their wages is farre beyond their worke , for if wee ouercome , the crowne is not due of debt : heauen is no purchase of ours , but a free inheritance giuen to the godly for christs sake . eternall life it the gift of god through iesus christ our lord e : euery man shall receiue according to his workes , but not for the worth and merit of his workes . the crowne is of mercy , not of merit , and where there is need of mercy ( as what man doth not need it ) there is no standing vpon merit . the apostles reason in this point is plaine : if saluation bee of grace , it is no more of workes , for else were grace no more grace , and if it be of workes it is , no more of grace , for else were workes no more workes f : but saluation is of grace , as the same apostle hath plainely deliuered g : by grace are you saued through faith , and that not of your selues , it is the gift of god , not of workes least any man should boast . indeed we are created in christ iesus vnto good workes , that wee should walke in them , as it followes in the same place ; that we should walke in them , not that we may merit by them . for good workes are the way wherin wee must walke to the kingdome of heauen , but they are not the cause that wee are crowned when wee come there . good workes wee all know proceed from the grace of god and therefore god cannot any way be indebted to vs for his owne which he giues vs. doth not dauid say , all things come of thee , and of thine owne hand , we haue giuē thee h . who hath giuen vnto him first , and hee shall be recompenced i . we are borne to doe good , and our whole course must be to walke in gods commandements , and a speciall commandement is , to bee fruitfull in good works k : as hirelings are busied all day , so must wee as long as we liue here exercise our hands vnto good works . these are the best apparell of christians , and their most durable riches and treasures . what one point doth god more presse vs vnto , then this duty of doing good workes , bring forth workes worthy amendment of life l . be zealous of good workes m . and this wee cannot be till we be in christ ; without me , saith our sauiour , ye can doe nothing n . as a graft can bring forth no fruit which is not set into a stocke : so no man can possibly turne his hand to any thing that is truely and formally good , till he be ingraffed into christ : and therefore it should be our wisedome and comfort to shew by good conuersation our works o , and our loue to prouoke one another to good works p . a faith busie in obedience , and fruitfull in good works , is the fruits of profitable preaching , and conscionable hearing ; a godly life is the christians badge whereby he is knowne , it is the ensigne , shewing whose souldier he is , and to whom he belongeth . as the pleasant and delghtfull fruit which the spies brought out of the promised land ; shewed that that was pleasant and profitable , so a godly conuersation , sheweth that a man is the child of god , and seruant of christ. last of all , let this serue to exhort all true christians to liue godly in this present life , & alwayes to look for , yea , and long for death ; to welcome and embrace it when it doth come , for there is no other meanes to put an end vnto our troublesome warfare , and to put vs in possession of our promised reward , but onely death . the poore apprentice counts when the date of his indentures ende , that hee may bee made free ; the day-labourer lookes when the sunne will set , that he may leaue worke ; the seafaring man and passenger is faine when they come within kenne of land , that they may attaine the hauen ; and shall not we , whose indentures end not but by death ; who must not leaue working till the sunne of our life be set ; and who can neuer come within ken of the hauen of heauen , till we see some signes of death , welcome it with all our hearts . it is no wonder indeed , if the wicked looke pale and wanne at the warning of death , because they discry beyond death , a day of iudgement , and beyond that , they behold hell ; well may they be deiected , when they feele sicknesse , and almost desperate , when they finde the pangs of death vpon them ; for besides the paine of death , euery sinne serues as a fury to torment the soule , and to make it loath to depart out of the prison of the body . but the godly who haue wrastled and made warre here with their spiritual enemies , are glad to heare that the time is come when they shall be crowued . it was a cleare heart , nothing els could doe it , that gaue so bold a f●rehead to that good bishop , who durst on his death-bed professe ; i haue so liued , as i neither feare to die , nor shame to liue ; for if we so l●… , as alwayes looking when we shall die ; we shall so die , as not doubt but be crown●d with christ in his kingdome . the commendations of the deceassed partie . and now blessed and beloued brethren ; that little boxe of oyntment which i haue brought for the buriall of this worthy and worshipfull knight ; i hope you will giue mee leaue to powre forth ( for a good name is like a pretious oyntment powred out ) and i doubt not but to fill the house with the sauoure of it ; and though i cannot sufficiently set forth his commendations , yet i dare not so much wrong him that deserued it , or you that expect it , or my selfe that owe it , as to be altogether silent ; lend me your patience then a little , till i discharge this due debt of deserued praise , not to be denyed vnto the dead . to liue well , and to die well , as they are inseperable companions ; so they are the most certaine tokens of a true christian , and the greatest commendations that in fewest words can bee giuen a man ; which whether they bee not due to the deceassed partie , those that knew him best can well witnesse , and you will confesse when you shall haue heard the particulars which i can but onely point at . the hebrew doctors say of their meanest magistrates , whom they call the court of three men , that there must be in euery one of them these seuen properties ; vvisedome , meekenesse , the feare of god , hatred of mammon , loue of the truth , loue of their fellow creatures ; that is , of other men , and that they be men of good name ; and these seuen are indeed the same in effect with those that we finde mentioned in exod. 18. 21. and deut. 1. 13. and did sweetly concurre in this man menaging the affaires of the common wealth wherevnto he was called ; and did carefully and consciouably discharge . i. his wisedome . for first his wisedome was well tryed and prooued to be sound in his singular dexterity to search into , and his happy successe in putting an ende , to such causes and controuersies as were committed to him ; which commonly were as many and materiall , us to any one man ; and what was it but his wisedome and mature iudgement which made cunning and crafty companions , by all meanes feare to come before him , lest they should be detected ; and poore ignorant and innocent people so fast to flocke vnto him , that they might be directed , by his direction . ii. his meekenesse . and how could hee chuse but bee wise , who was so meeke ; and so mildely and calmely did he ●●rry himselfe : that as the heathen hit●ites , when they saw abrahams meeke and milde carriage towards them ; saide , surely thou art a prince of god amongst vs : so stubberne and sturdy malefactors were almost well pleased with those punishments he inflicted vpon them , so sweetly tempered with meeke and soft answers to their doubts and admonitions for their well doing : thus did he carefully practise that precept of the apostle ; which as it concernes all christians , so particularly ministers and magistrates . gal. 6. 1. brethren , if a man be fallen by occasion into any fault , ye which are spirituall restore such one with the spirit of meekenesse , considering thy selfe , least thou also bee tempted . iii. his feare of god. and how could he chuse but be both ●ise & meeke , whose soule was seasoned with the fear of god , which is both the beginning of salomons prouerbs r : the feare of the lord is the beginning of wisedome : and the end of salomons preaching s : heare the end of all , feare god and keepe his commandements , for this is the whole man : without this i know not whether men be more foolish or fierce , by this they are made both wise and meeke , and for his feare of god ( though this be a sparke which the firy eyes of god can discerne , the fleshly eyes of men may be deceined ) yet those that knew him , how duely and daily he obserued his deuotions , both for prayer and reading ; how willingly and feelingly , hee would conferre of matters of religion ; how deepely hee detested all poperie and superstition ; how diligently he frequented the gates of gods house ; how attentiuely hee hearkened to the preaching of gods word , and for the helpe of his memory , would note downe many worthy sayings deliuered by diuers preachers , which were found in his studie after his death : how wisely he made choyce of such bookes , as may help forward our mortification , wherein hee could not too much commend master perkins workes , the deceitfulnesse of the heart , and the practice of pietie : must needs confesse that hee did indeed truely feare god iiii. his hatred of mammon . couetousnesse & contentednesse , can no more agree together , then fire and water ; & how could he but bee content whose delight was in the lord ; which as dauid saith , wil bring a man his hearts delight : godlinesse is great gaine with contentation , not if a man can bee content , for that brings contentation with it , wheresoeuer it comes : and as impossible it is for a godly man not to bee contented , as it is for a contented man to be couetous ; his feare of god therefore frees him from this breeding sinne of couetousnesse : couetousnesse is cruell , so was not hee ; but kind hearted towards all . what tenant can complaine that hee did ouer rack their rents ? what neighbour can iustly accuse him that hee did ouer-beare them in their right ? or ouer-burden them with his might ? couetousnesse is alwaies complaining of some thing that it wants ; so was not hee , but most thankefully acknowledged gods goodnesse for that hee had . couetousnesse keepes no hospitality , hee did ; and that not onely vpon good dayes , like some that will kill an oxe or two at christ-tide , that scarce kill a sheepe all the yeare after : but all the yeare long , yea many yeares together , without euer seeking to liue in some corner of a city to saue charges , as too many far more able then he , daily doe . couetousnesse is ●unning and crafty , so was not hee ; but like a true nathaniel in whom there was no guile ; hee louing nothing better in others , nor practised nothing more carefully in himselfe , then plaine downe-right honest dealing . v. his loue of the truth . and this is not ouely the worde of truth , as the gospell is called ; as heere it is taken , that is , true dealing both in word and deed . hee who knew that dauid would not endure a lyer to tarry in his sight , and that god will not suffer a lyer to come in his kingdome , made it his christian 〈◊〉 that neither his tongue might belie his heart by speaking otherwise then he thought ; nor his hands belie his tongue , by doing otherwise then hee spake . li● not one to another , saith the apostle t : for you are members one of another . vi. his loue . and indeed such was his loue to his fellow mēbers , that he took as tenderly what did touch thē , as if himselfe had felt it ; his sympathie & fellow-seeling of his brethrens wrongs , made him ready to heare any poore mans complaint , and to helpe them if hee could : sometimes speaking for them , sometimes writing for them with his owne hand ; alwayes in his heart pittying the poore and oppressed . hee knew how fatall it is for members of the same bododie to fall out amongst themselues , and therefore hee was alwaies busie in that blessed worke of making peace : composing controuersies , and ending sutes of law ; sometimes by faire words , intreating ; sometimes by giuing counsell , aduising ; sometimes by plaine and and pregnant places of scripture , conuincing the wilfull : there were not many dayes in the whole yeare ( excepting the sabbath ) wherein hee was not sought vnto : and many times would hee sit from morning till night , hearing and examining such matters as came before him , being demanded by some why hee would sit so long , so tyring out himselfe , spending his spirits , and endangering his health : his answer was , that by his place and calling , and good of his countrey hee was to doe it : and for himselfe hee said hee was as a candle , wasting himselfe , to giue light to others ; disquieting himselfe , to quiet others ; and troubling himselfe , to free others from trouble . to conclude , this particular , there are more then many that can witnesse , that as it was said of iob u : so wee may say of him , that he was eyes to the blind , feet to the lame , a father to the poore , and a friend to all . finally , for his good name , the sweet sauour of it spread it selfe further then himselfe was knowne , and begins now after his death to grow stronger and stronger . iacobs body was neuer embalmed with so sweet spices , as this mans name and memory is seasoned with the sauour of his vertues ; and euer shall be honoured with variety of fresh praises , which not only his godly life which you haue heard , but his gracious death which in a word you shall heare , will alwaies afford . it is the nature of naturall motions , that the nearer they come to their end , the swifter they are : surely we may easily imagine that this mans motion to heauen was come naturally ; such haste he did make thither , now towardes his end . hence it was that he professed that he was wearie of this world , wherein he neuer found any sound comfort or content : that hee was desirous to goe to his owne home , for here hee sayde , he was but a stranger and pilgrim ; not long before he fell a sleep , he cited two verses of the 39. psalme . the words are these , heare my prayer o lord , and hearken vnto my cry , keepe not silence at my teares ( and with those wordes wept ) for i am a stranger with thee , and a saiourner as all my fathers were , stay thine anger from me , that i may recouer strength before i goe hence , and bee no more seene : what shal i say of his humble confessiō , that hee was a great sinner , his strong considence in christ his sauiour , that sweete peace of conscience which hee did finde in his foule , by the assured remission of his sins , and that infallible assurance of saluation , that hee should l●●e for euer with god : of which , and other points he sweetly discoursed fiue dayes before his death , not without sighes and teares , the true messengers and best orat●rs of a penitent soule . thus might he at his death make as bolde a profession as that good bishop : i haue so liued , that i am neither affraid to die quickly , nor ashamed to liue l●nger : hee need not indeed , for a good life is the forerunner of a good death : as i●r●● saith , i haue not read nor heard , but that hee who liued well , died well . thus wee know this worshipfull knight , and worthy gouernour in his country liued ; and thus , we doubt not but he died in the lord , and liueth with the lord. the lord grant vs all grace to liue and die in him , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a10033-e340 a iob. 1. 1 b iam. 5 , 11 c iob. 1 , ●1 d iob. 14 , 1 e gen. 47 , 9 f gen. 25. 7 g gen. 35 , 28 h iob. 10. 28 i iob. 1 , 12 k ver. 4. l v●● . 17. m iob. 2 , 7 n iob. 2 , 9 o iob. 16. 2 p heb. 9 , 27 q iob. 14 , 5 r 2 s●m . 12 18 s gen. 5 , 27 t eccl 3 , 12 u gen. 15 , 13 x exo. 12 , 41 y psal. 77 , 19 z gal. 4 , 4 a ioh 8 , 59 b ioh. 11 , 57 c ioh. 18 , 4 d mat. 28 , 6 e gen. 8 , 22 f iob. 14 , 16 g psal. 39 , 4 h mat. 10 , 30 i gen. 4 , 81 k gen 7 , 21 l gen. 19 , 24 m num. 15 36. n iudg. 19 , 29 o iug. 16 , 30 p luk. 13 , 4 q iug. 4 , 21 r 1 king. 13 24 s 2 king. 2 24 t luk. 23 , 39 vse 1. u act. 23. 12 x den. 34 , 5 y 1 kin. 2 , 10 z 2 chro. 〈◊〉 12 use 2. a mat. 10 , 29 b amos 3 , 5 c deut. 28. 21. 3 vse . d iob 14. 14. e phil. 3. 21. f 〈◊〉 kin , 6. 23. g eccles 7. 4 h ioh. 16 21 i 1. sam. 2. 6. k phil. 1. 23. l heb. 13. 14. m 1 pet. 2. 1. n psal. 39. 12 o gen. 18 , 27 p psal. 22. 6. q rom. 6. 23 r iob 30. 23 s iob 4. 19. t 2 cor. 5. 1. 4 u 2 tim. 3. 12. x acts 14 , 22 y iug. 9 54. z 1 sam. 31 4. a 2 sam. 17. 23. b mat. 27. ● . 5 c luk. 12. 40. d isa. 38. 〈◊〉 . e psal. 51. 4. f rom. 12. 18 g p●o. 1. 24. h eccles. 12 , 1. doct. 2. i 1 pet. 5 , 8 k gen. 3. 1 l mat. 4 , 3 m luk. 4 , 2 n eph. 6. 15 o 1 pet. 5 , 9 p 1 iob. 5. 4 q 2 cor. 16 13 r luk. 22 , 31 s rom. 1 , 16 t heb. 4 , 11 u psal. 119 , 105 x tim. 3. 15 y 2 kin 20 , 2 z iona. 2 , 1. a psal. 50. 15 b luk. 18. 13 c 2 tim. 4 10 d iam. 4 , 4 e 1 ioh , 2. 15 f luk. 1 , 52 g psal. 1 ▪ 3 , 7 , 8 h 1 ioh , 2 , 19 i iob. 1. 10 k ioh , 14. 1● l ioh. 16 , 8 m 1 cor. 1● 20 n ioh. 17 , 9 o ioh. 18. 36 p rom. 12. 2 q 1 cor. 7 , 31 r gal. 5 , 17 s pro. 16 , 32 t 2 pet. 2 , 19 u 1 pet. 2. 11 x 1 cor. 9. 27 y col. 3. 5. z rom. 7. 25 a 2 cor. 5. 21 b iosh. 10. 27 c reu. 5. 5. d heb. 2. 14 e iug. 16. 3. f iude 23. g acts. 15. 9. vse 1. h matth. 24. 42. i mat 26. 4 k 1 cor. 〈◊〉 34. l 1 the. 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 m mat 26 46. n reu. 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . o pro. 8. 33. p isa. 32. 18. q mat. 26. 38. r luke 12. 40. use 2. s gen. 7. 23. t gen 19. 24. u ●ug . 16. 21. x ion. 〈◊〉 . ●5 . y lu● . 12. 1● . z 1 thess. 5. 3. a reu. 2. 17. b reu. 2. 26. c reu. 2. 7. d 2. tim. 4. 7 e 2 tim 2. 34. f 1 cor. 9. 25 g 2 cor. 4. 17. h psal. 66. 12 i nah. 1 , 12 k 2 cor. 1 , 7 l esa. 38. 1 m ioh. 14 , 〈◊〉 n re. 16. 10 o mat. 3 , 12 p iob. 10 , 21 q heb. 10 , 17 r reu. 9 , 20 s reu. 20 , 10 t iudg. 1 , 6 u 1 tim. 2 , 8 x mat. 22 , 13 y reu. 〈◊〉 . 6● z 2 tim. 4 , 8 a iam. 1. 12 b 1 pet. 5 , 4 c gen. 5 , 29 d iob. 21 , 15 e rom. 6 , 23 f rom. 1. 6 g eph. 2 , 8 h 1 chro. 29 14. i rom 11. 35 k coll. 1. 10. l acts 26. 20 m tit. 2. 14 n ioh. 15. 5● o iam. 3. 13 p heb. 10. 24 r pro. 1 , 7 s eccl. 12. 13 t eph. 4. u iob 24 , 15 16. a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend mr thomas gouge, the 4th of novemb. 1681 at s. anne's blackfriars with a brief account of his life / by john tillotson ... tillotson, john, 1630-1694. 1682 approx. 80 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 47 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a62597 wing t1234 estc r17437 12210454 ocm 12210454 56294 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a62597) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56294) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 617:5) a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend mr thomas gouge, the 4th of novemb. 1681 at s. anne's blackfriars with a brief account of his life / by john tillotson ... tillotson, john, 1630-1694. [6], 103 p. : port. printed by m.f. for brabazon aylmer ..., and william rogers ..., london : 1682. imperfect: frontispiece lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gouge, thomas, 1605-1681. bible. -n.t. -luke xx, 37-38 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-09 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-09 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the reverend m r thomas govge , the 4th . of novemb. 1681. at s. anne's blackfriars ; with a brief account of his life . by john tillotson , d. d. dean of canterbury , and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty . london , printed by m. f. for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill , and william rogers , at the sun against s. dunstan's church in fleetstreet , 1682. to the right worshipfull the president , the treasurer , and the rest of the worthy governours of the hospital of christ church in london . when upon the request of some of the relations and friends of the reverend mr. gouge deceased , and , to speak the truth , in compliance with mine own inclination to doe right to the memory of so good a man , and to set so great an example in the view of all men , i had determined to make this discourse publick ; i knew not where more fitly to address it than to your selves who are the living pattern of the same vertue , and the faithfull dispensers and managers of one of the best and greatest charities in the world : especially since he had a particular relation to you , and was pleased for some years last past , without any other consideration but that of charity , to employ his constant pains in catechising the poor children of your hospital ; wisely considering of how great consequence it was to this city , to have the foundations of religion well laid in the tender years of so many persons as were afterwards to be planted there in several professions ; and from a true humility of mind , being ready to stoop to the meanest office and service , to doe good . i have heard from an intimate friend of his that he would sometimes with great pleasure say , that he had two livings which he would not exchange for two of the greatest in england , meaning wales and christ's hospital : contrary to common account , he esteemed every advantage of being usefull and serviceable to god and men a rich benefice , and those his best patrons and benefactors , not who did him good , but who gave him the opportunity and means of doing it . to you therefore as his patrons this sermon doth of right belong , and to you i humbly dedicate it ; heartily beseeching almighty god , to raise up many by his example that may serve their generation according to the will of god , as he did . i am your faithfull and humble servant jo. tillotson . a sermon preached at the funeral of m r thomas govge , with a short account of his life . luke xx. 37 , 38. now that the dead are raised , ever moses shewed at the bush , when he calleth the lord the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of jacob. for he is not a god of the dead , but of the living : for all live to him . the occasion of these words of our blessed saviour was an objection which the sadduces made against the resurrection , grounded upon a case which had sometimes happened among them , of a woman that had had seven brethren successively to her husbands . upon which case they put this question to our saviour ; whose wife of the seven shall this woman be at the resurrection ? that is , if men live in another world , how shall the controversie between these seven brethren be decided ? for they all seem to have an equal claim to this woman , each of them having had her to his wife . this captious question was not easie to be answered by the pharisees , who fancied the enjoyments of the next life to be of the same kind with the sensual pleasures of this world , onely greater and more durable . from which tradition of the jews concerning a sensual paradise , mahomet seems to have taken the pattern of his ; as he did likewise many other things from the jewish traditions . now upon this supposition , that in the next life there will be marrying and giving in marriage , it was a question not easily satisfied , whose wife of the seven this woman should then be ? but our saviour clearly avoids the whole force of it , by shewing the different state of men in this world , and in the other . the children of this world ( says he ) marry , and are given in marriage ; but they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world , and the resurrection from the dead , neither marry , nor are given in marriage . and he does not barely and magisterially assert this doctrine , but gives a plain and substantial reason for it ; because they cannot die any more . after men have lived a while in this world they are taken away by death , and therefore marriage is necessary to maintain a succession of mankind ; but in the other world men shall become immortal and live for ever , and then the reason of marriage will wholly cease : for when men can die no more there will then be no need of any new supplies of mankind . our saviour having thus cleared himself of this objection by taking away the ground and foundation of it , he produceth an argument for the proof of the resurrection , in the words of my text ; now that the dead are raised , moses even shewed at the bush , when he calleth the lord the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of jacob , that is , when in one of his books god is brought in speaking to him out of the bush , and calling himself by the title of the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of jacob. from whence our saviour infers the resurrection , because god is not the god of the dead but of the living : for all live to him . my design from these words is , to shew the force and strength of this argument which our saviour urgeth for the proof of the resurrection . in order whereunto i shall , first . consider it as an argument ad hominem , and shew the fitness and force of it to convince those with whom our saviour disputed . secondly , i shall enquire , whether it be more than an argument ad hominem ? and if it be , wherein the real and absolute force of it doth consist ? and then , i shall apply this doctrine of the resurrection to the present occasion . i. first . we will consider it as an argument ad hominem , and shew the fitness and force of it to convince those with whom our saviour disputed . and this will appear if we carefully consider these four things . 1. what our saviour intended directly and immediately to prove by this argument . 2. the extraordinary veneration which the jews in general had for the writings of moses , above any other books of the old testament . 3. the peculiar notion which the jews had concerning the use of this phrase or expression of god's being any one 's god. 4. the great respect which the jews had for these three fathers of their nation , abraham , isaac and jacob. for each of these make our saviour's argument more forcible against those with whom he disputed . first . we will consider what our saviour intended directly and immediately to prove by this argument . and that was this , that there is another state after this life , wherein men shall be happy or miserable according as they have lived in this world . and this doth not onely suppose the immortality of the soul , but forasmuch as the body is an essential part of man doth by consequence infer the resurrection of the body ; because otherwise the man would not be happy or miserable in the other world . but i cannot see any sufficient ground to believe that our saviour intended by this argument directly and immediately to prove the resurrection of the body , but onely by consequence , and as it follows from the admission of a future state wherein men shall be rewarded or punished . for that reason of our saviour , that god is not a god of the dead but of the living , if it did directly prove the resurrection of the body , it would prove that the bodies of abraham , isaac and jacob were raised to life again , at or before that time when god spake to moses and called himself the god of abraham , isaac and jacob : but we do not believe this ; and therefore ought not to suppose that it was the intention of our saviour directly and immediately to prove the resurrection of the body , but onely ( as i said before ) a future state . and that this was all our saviour intended will more plainly appear , if we consider what that errour of the sadduces was which our saviour here confutes . and josephus , who very well understood the difference of the sects among the jews , and gives a particular account of them , makes not the least mention of any controversie between the pharisees and the sadduces about the resurrection of the body . all that he says , is this . that the pharisees hold the immortality of the soul , and that there are rewards and punishments in another world : but the sadduces denied all this , and that there was any other state after this life . and this is the very same account with that which is given of them in the new testament , ver . 27. of this chap. the sadduces who deny that there is any resurrection . the meaning of which is more fully declared , acts 23. 8. the sadduces say that there is no resurrection , neither angel nor spirit ; but the pharisees confess both . that is , the sadduces denied that there was any other state of men after this life , and that there was any such thing as an immortal spirit , either angels , or the souls of men surviving their bodies . and , as dr. hammond hath judiciously observed , this is the true importance of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , viz. a future or another state ; unless in such texts where the context does restrain it to the raising again of the body , or where some word that denotes the body , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is added to it . secondly . the force of this argument against those with whom our saviour disputed will further appear , if we consider the great veneration which the jews in general had for the writings of moses above any other books of the old testament ; which they ( especially the sadduces ) looked upon onely as explications and comments upon the law of moses : but they esteemed nothing as a necessary article of faith which had not some foundation in the writings of moses . and this seems to me to be the true reason why our saviour chose to confute them out of moses , rather than any other part of the old testament : and not as many learned men have imagined , because the sadduces did not receive any part of the old testament but onely the five books of moses ; so that it was in vain to argue against them out of any other . this i know hath been a general opinion , grounded i think upon the mistake of a passage in josephus , who says the sadduces onely received the written law. but if we carefully consider that passage , we shall find that josephus doth not there oppose the law to the other books of the old testament , which were also written ; but to oral tradition . for he says expresly , that the sadduces onely received the written law , but the pharisees , over and besides what was written , received the oral which they call tradition . i deny not but that in the later prophets there are more express texts for the proof of a future state , than any are to be found in the books of moses . as daniel 12. 2. and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake , some to everlasting life , and some to shame and everlasting contempt . and indeed it seems very plain that holy men among the jews , towards the expiration of the legal dispensation , had still clearer and more express apprehensions concerning a future state than are to be met with in the writings of moses , or of any of the prophets . the law given by moses did suppose the immortality of the souls of men , and the expectation of another life after this , as principles of religion in some degree naturally known ; but made no new and express revelation of these things : nor was there any occasion for it , the law of moses being a political law , not intended for the government of mankind , but of one particular nation ; and therefore was establish'd , as political laws are , upon temporal promises and threatnings ; promising temporal prosperity to the observation of its precepts , and threatning the breach of them with temporal judgments and calamities . and this i take to be the true reason why arguments fetch'd from another world are so obscurely insisted upon under that dispensation ; not but that another life after this was always suppos'd , and was undoubtedly the hope and expectation of good men under the law , but the clear discovery of it was reserv'd for the times of the messias . and therefore as those times drew on , and the sun of righteousness was nearer his rising , the shadows of the night began to be chased away , and mens apprehensions of a future state to clear up ; so that in the time of the maccabees good men spake with more confidence and assurance of these things . it is likewise to be consider'd , that the temporal calamities and sufferings with which the jews were almost continually harass'd from the time of their captivity had very much wean'd good men from the consideration of temporal promises , and awaken'd their minds to the more serious thoughts of another world . it being natural to men when they are destitute of present comfort , to support themselves with the expectation of better things for the future , and as the apostle to the hebrews expresseth it , c. 6. v. 18. to fly for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is before them , and to imploy their reason to fortifie themselves as well as they can in that persuasion . and this i doubt not was the true occasion of those clearer and riper apprehensions of good men concerning a future state , in those times of distress and persecution ; it being very agreeable to the wisedom and goodness of the divine providence not to leave his people destitute of sufficient support ▪ under great trials and sufferings : and nothing but the hopes of a better life could have born up the spirits of men under such cruel tortures . and of this we have a most remarkable instance in the history of the seven brethren in the maccabees , who being cruelly tortured and put to death by antiochus , do most expresly declare their confident expectation of a resurrection to a better life . to which history the apostle certainly refers . heb. 11. 35. when he says , others were tortured , not accepting deliverance , that they might obtain a better resurrection : where the word , which we render were tortur'd , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is the very word used in the maccabees to express the particular kind of torture us'd upon them ; besides that being offer'd deliverance they most resolutely refus'd to accept of it , with this express declaration that they hop'd for a resurrection to a better life . but to return to my purpose , notwithstanding there might be more clear and express texts to this purpose in the ancient prophets , yet our saviour knowing how great a regard not onely the sadduces , but all the jews had to the authority of moses , he thought fit to bring his proof of the resurrection out of his writings , as that which was the most likely to convince them . thirdly . if we consider further the peculiar notion which the jews had concerning the use of this phrase or expression of god's being any one 's god. and that was this . that god is no where in scripture said to be any ones god while he was alive . and therefore they tell us that while isaac lived , god is not called the god of isaac , but the fear of isaac . as gen. 31. 42. except the god of abraham and the fear of isaac had been with me ; and ver . 53. when laban made a covenant with jacob , 't is said that laban did swear by the god of abraham , and the god of nahor , and the god of their fathers , but jacob swore by the fear of his father isaac . i will not warrant this observation to be good , because i certainly know it is not true . for god doth expresly call himself the god of isaac , while isaac was yet alive , gen. 28. 13. i am the lord god of abraham thy father , and the god of isaac . it is sufficient to my purpose , that this was a notion anciently currant among the jews . and therefore our saviour's argument from this expression must be so much the stronger against them : for if the souls of men be extinguished by death ( as the sadduces believed ) what did it signifie to abraham , isaac and jacob to have god called their god after they were dead ? but surely for god to be any ones god doth signifie some great benefit and advantage ; which yet ( according to the notion which the jews had of this phrase ) could not respect this life , because , according to them , god is not said to be any ones god till after he is dead : but it is thus said of abraham , isaac and jacob after their death , and therefore our saviour infers very strongly against them , that abraham , isaac and jacob were not extinguished by death , but do still live somewhere : for god is not the god of the dead , but of the living . and then he adds by way of further explication , for all live to him . that is , though those good men who are departed this life , do not still live to us , here in this world , yet they live to god ; and are with him . fourthly . if we consider the great respect which the jews had for those three fathers of their nation , abraham , isaac and jacob. they had an extraordinary opinion of them , and esteemed nothing too great to be thought or said of them . and therefore we find that they looked upon it as a great arrogance for any man to assume any thing to himself that might seem to set him above abraham , isaac or jacob . with what indignation did they fly upon our saviour on this account ? john 4. 12. art thou greater than our father jacob ? and chap. 8. ver . 53. art thou greater than our father abraham : whom makest thou thy self ? now they who had so superstitious a veneration for them , would easily believe any thing of privilege to belong to them : so that our saviour doth with great advantage instance in them , in favour of whom they would be enclined to extend the meaning of any promise to the utmost , and allow it to signifie as much as the words could possibly bear . so that it is no wonder that the text tells us that this argument put the sadduces to silence . they durst not attempt a thing so odious , as to go about to take away any thing of privilege from abraham , isaac and jacob. and thus i have , as briefly as the matter would bear , endeavoured to shew the fitness and force of this argument to convince those with whom our saviour disputed . i come now , in the ii. second place , to enquire whether this be any more than an argument ad hominem ? and if it be , wherein the real and absolute force of it doth consist ? i do not think it necessary to believe that every argument used by our saviour , or his apostles , is absolutely and in it self conclusive . for an argument which doth not really prove the thing in question , may yet be a very good argument ad hominem ; and in some cases more convincing to him with whom we dispute than that which is a better argument in it self . now it is possible , that our saviour's intention might not be to bring a conclusive proof of the resurrection , but onely to confute those who would needs be disputing with him . and to that purpose an argument ad hominem , which proceeded upon grounds which they themselves could not deny , might be very proper and effectual . but although it be not necessary to believe , that this was more than an argument ad hominem ; yet it is the better to us , if it be absolutely and in it self conclusive of the thing in question . and this i hope will sufficiently appear , if we consider these four things . 1. that for god to be any ones god doth signifie some very extraordinary blessing and happiness , to those persons of whom this is said . 2. if we consider the eminent faith and obedience of the persons to whom this promise is made . 3. their condition in this world . 4. the general importance of this promise , abstracting from the persons particularly specified and named in it , abraham , isaac and jacob. first . if we consider , that for god to be any ones god doth signifie some very extraordinary blessing and happiness to those persons of whom this is said . it is a big word for god to declare himself to be any ones god : and the least we can imagine to be meant by it , is that god will in an extraordinary manner imploy his power and wisedom to doe him good : that he will concern himself more for the happiness of those whose god he declares himself to be , than for others . secondly . if we consider the eminent faith and obedience of abraham , isaac and jacob. abraham left his country in obedience to god , not knowing whither he was to go . and , which was one of the most unparallel'd and strange instances of faith and obedience that can almost be imagined , he was willing to have sacrificed his onely son at the command of god. isaac and jacob were also very good men , and devout worshippers of the true god , when almost the whole world was sunk into idolatry and all manner of impiety . now what can we imagin , but that the good god did design some extraordinary reward to such faithfull servants of his ? especially if we consider , that he intended this gracious declaration of his concerning them , for a standing encouragement to all those who in after ages should follow the faith and tread in the steps of abraham , isaac and jacob. thirdly . if we consider the condition of abraham , isaac and jacob in this world . the scripture tells us , that they were pilgrims and strangers upon the earth ; had no fixed and settled habitation , but were forced to wander from one kingdom and country to another : that they were exposed to many hazards and difficulties , to great troubles and afflictions in this world ; so that there was no such peculiar happiness befell them in this life above the common rate of men , as may seem to fill up the big words of this promise , that god would be their god. for so far as the scripture history informs us , and further we cannot know of this matter , esau was as prosperous as jacob ; and jacob had a great many more troubles and afflictions in this life than esau had . but surely when god calls himself the god of abraham , isaac and jacob , this signifies that god intended some very peculiar blessing and advantage to them above others : which seeing they did not enjoy in this world , it is very reasonable to believe that one time or other this gracious declaration and promise of god was made good to them . and therefore the apostle to the hebrews , chap. 11. from this very expression , of god's being said to be the god of abraham and others , argues that some extraordinary happiness was reserved for them in another world : and that upon this very ground i am now speaking of , namely , because the condition of abraham , and some others , was not such in this world as might seem to answer the fulness of this promise . all these , says he , died in the faith , not having received the promises , but having seen them afar off , and were perswaded of them , and embraced them , and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon the earth . from whence he reasons very strongly that these good men might reasonably expect something better than any thing that had befallen them in this world . for they , says he , that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country ; which at the 16. verse he calls a better country , that is a heavenly . they that say such things , that is , they who acknowledge themselves to be strangers and pilgrims in the earth , and yet pretend that god hath promised to be their god , declare plainly that they expect some reward beyond this life . from all which he concludes , wherefore god is not ashamed to be called their god , because he hath prepared for them a city : intimating that if no happiness had remained for these good men in another world , this promise of god's being their god , would shamefully have fallen short of what it seemed to import , viz. some extraordinary reward and blessing worthy of god to bestow ; something more certain and lasting than any of the enjoyments of this world : which since god had abundantly performed to them in the happiness of another life , his promise to them was made good to the full , and he needed not be ashamed to be called their god. but if nothing beyond this life had been reserved for them , that saying of old jacob towards the conclusion of his life , few and evil have the days of the years of my life been , would have been an eternal reflexion upon the truth and faithfulness of him who had so often called himself the god of jacob. but now , because to all this it may be said , that this promise seems to have been made good to abraham , isaac and jacob , in this world : for was not god the god of abraham , isaac and jacob when he took such a particular and extraordinary care of them , and protected them from the manifold dangers they were exposed to by such a special and immediate providence , suffering no one to doe them harm , but rebuking even kings for their sakes ? was not he abraham's god , when he blest him so miraculously with a son in his old age , and with so considerable an estate to leave to him ? was not that saying of jacob a great acknowledgment of the gracious providence of god towards him , with my staff passed i over this jordan , and now i am become two bands ? and though it must needs be a very cutting affliction to him to lose his son joseph , as he thought he had done , yet that was more than recompensed to him in joseph's strange advancement in aegypt , whereby god put into his hands the opportunity of saving his father and his whole family alive . and was not god the god of abraham , isaac and jacob , in making them fathers of so numerous an off-spring , as afterwards became a great nation : and in giving them a fruitfull land , and bringing them to the quiet possession of it by such a series of wonderfull miracles ? what need then is there of extending this promise to another world ? doth it not seem abundantly made good in those great blessings which god bestowed upon them whilst they liv'd , and afterwards upon their posterity , in this world ? and does not this agree well enough with the first and most obvious sense of these words , i am the god of abraham , isaac and jacob , that is , i am he that was their god while they were alive , and am still the god of their posterity for their sakes ? i say , because the three former considerations are liable to this objection , which seems wholly to take off the force of this argument ; therefore for the full clearing of this matter , i will add one consideration more . fourthly then , we will consider the general importance of this promise , abstracting from the particular persons specified and named in it , viz. abraham , isaac and jacob ; and that is , that god will make a wide and plain difference between good and bad men ; he will be so the god of good men as he is not of the wicked ; and some time or other put every good man into a better and happier condition than any wicked man : so that the general importance of this promise is finally resolved into the equity and justice of the divine providence . and unless we suppose another life after this , it will certainly be very hard , and i think impossible , to reconcile the history of the old testament , and the common appearances of things in this world , with the justice and goodness of god's providence . it cannot be denyed , but that abraham , isaac and jacob , and several good men in the old testament , had many signal testimonies of the divine favour vouchsafed to them in this world : but we reade likewise of several wicked men , that had as large a share of temporal blessings . it is very true that abraham , isaac and jacob had great estates , and were petty princes : but pharaoh was a mighty prince in comparison of them ; and the kingdom of aegypt , which probably was the first and chief seat of idolatry , was at the same time one of the most potent and flourishing kingdoms in the world ; and was blest with a prodigious plenty , whereby they were furnished with store of corn , when good jacob and his family had like to have perished by famine . 't is true , joseph was advanc'd to great power in egypt , and thereby had the opportunity of saving his fathers house , by settling them , and feeding them in egypt : but then it is to be considered again , that this cost them very dear , and their coming thither was the occasion of a long and cruel bondage to jacob's posterity ; so that we see that these good men had no such blessings , but what were common with them to many others that were wicked : and the blessings which god bestowed upon them had great abatements by the intermixture of many and sore afflictions . it seems then , upon the whole matter , to be very plain , that the providences of god in this world towards good men are so contrived , that it may sufficiently appear , to those who wisely consider the works of god , that they are not neglected by him ; and yet that these outward blessings are so promiscuously dispensed , that no man can certainly be concluded to be a good man from any happiness he enjoys in this life : and the prosperity of good men is usually on purpose so shadowed and mixed with afflictions , as may justly raise their hopes to the expectation of a more perfect happiness and better reward than any they meet with in this world . and is so , then the general importance of this promise , that god will be the god of good men , must necessarily signifie something beyond this world : because in this world there is not that clear difference universally made between good and bad men which the justice of the divine providence doth require , and which seems to be intended in the general sense of this promise . for if this promise ( though personally made to abraham , isaac and jacob ) be intended , as the scripture tells us it was , for a standing encouragement to good men in all ages , then it still contains in it this general truth , that god will some time or other plentifully reward every good man , that is , he will doe something far better for him than for any wicked man : but it is impossible to reconcile this sense of it with the course of god's providence , and with the history of the bible . and to make this out fully and at once , i will onely produce that single instance of abel and cain . abel offered to god a more excellent sacrifice than cain , and he had this testimony , that he pleased god ; which was in effect to declare , that god was the god of abel and not of cain ; so that by virtue of the general importance of this promise , it might justly be expected that abel's condition should have been much better than cain's : but if there be no happiness after this life , abel's was evidently much worse . for upon this very account , that he pleased god better he was killed by cain , who had offered to god a slight and contemptuous offering . and cain lived a long time after , and grew great , and built cities . now supposing there were no other life after this , this must have been a most horrible example to all ages , from the beginning of the world to the end of it , and have made men for ever afraid to please god upon such hard terms ; when they were sure of no other reward for so doing , but to be oppress'd and slain by the hands of the wicked . so that if this were really the case , it would puzzle all the wit and reason of mankind to vindicate the equity and justice of the divine providence , and to rescue it out of the hands of this terrible objection . and thus i have as briefly as i could , endeavoured to clear to you the force of this argument used by our saviour for the proof of the resurrection . and have the longer insisted upon it , because at first appearance it seems to be but a very obscure and remote argument : and yet so much the more necessary to be clear'd , because this in all probability was that very text upon which the jews in our saviour's time grounded their belief of a future state , in opposition to the errour of the sadduces ; and which they call'd by way of eminency the promise made of god unto the fathers . as will plainly appear , if we consider what s. paul says to this purpose , when he appeals so often to the pharisees for his agreement with them in this article of the resurrection , and likewise in the ground of it from the promise made of god unto the fathers . acts 24. 14 , 15. but this i confess unto thee , that after the way which they call heresie , so worship i the god of my fathers , believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets ; and have hope towards god , which they themselves also allow , that there shall be a resurrection of the dead . from whence it is clear , that they both grounded their hope of the resurrection upon something written in the law and the prophets ; and what that was he expresseth more particularly c. 26. v. 6 , 7. and now stand , and am judged for the hope of the promise made of god unto our fathers ; unto which promise our twelve tribes , instantly serving god day and night , hope to come . by the promise made of god unto the fathers he means some promise made by god to abraham , isaac and jacob ; for so s. luke more than once , in this history of the acts , explains this phrase of the god of their fathers , acts 3. 13. the god of abraham , and of isaac , and of jacob , the god of our fathers ; and c. 7. v. 32. i am the god of thy fathers , the god of abraham , and the god of isaac , and the god of jacob. now what was the great and famous promise which god made to abraham , isaac and jacob ? was it not this of being their god ? so that it was this very promise upon which s. paul tells us the jews grounded their hope of a future state , because they understood it necessarily to signifie some blessing and happiness beyond this life . and now having , i hope , sufficiently clear'd this matter , i shall make some improvement of this doctrine of a future state , and that , to these three purposes . 1. to raise our minds above this world and the enjoyments of this present life . were but men thoroughly convinced of this plain and certain truth , that there is a vast difference between time and eternity , between a few years and everlasting ages : would we but represent to our selves what thoughts and apprehensions dying persons have of this world ; how vain and empty a thing it appears to them , how like a pageant and a shadow it looks as it passeth away from them : methinks none of these things could be a sufficient temptation to any man to forget god and his soul ; but , notwithstanding all the delights and pleasures of sense , we should be strangely intent upon the concernments of another world , and almost wholly taken up with the thoughts of that vast eternity which we are ready to launch into . for what is there in this world , this waste and howling wilderness , this rude and barbarous country which we are but to pass through , which should detain our affections here , and take up our thoughts from our everlasting habitation ; from that better and that heavenly country , where we hope to live and be happy for ever ? if we settle our affections upon the enjoyments of this present life , so as to be extremely pleas'd and transported with them , and to say in our hearts , it is good for us to be here ; if we be excessively griev'd or discontented for the want or loss of them , and if we look upon our present state in this world any otherwise than as a preparation and passage to a better life , it is a sign that our faith and hope of the happiness of another life is but very weak and faint , and that we do not heartily and in good earnest believe what we pretend to do concerning these things . for did we stedfastly believe and were thoroughly persuaded of what our religion so plainly declares to us concerning the unspeakable and endless happiness of good men in another world , our affections would sit more loose to this world , and our hopes would raise our hearts as much above these present and sensible things as the heavens are high above the earth ; we should value nothing here below , but as it serves for our present support and passage , or may be made a means to secure and increase our future felicity . 2. the consideration of another life should quicken our preparation for that blessed state which remains for us in the other world . this life is a state of probation and tryal . this world is god's school , where immortal spirits clothed with flesh are trained and bred up for eternity . and then certainly it is not an indifferent thing and a matter of slight concernment to us , how we live and demean our selves in this world : whether we indulge our selves in ungodliness and worldly lusts , or live soberly , and righteously , and godly in this present world : no ; it is a matter of infinite moment , as much as our souls and all eternity are worth . let us not deceive our selves ; for as we sowe so shall we reap : if we sowe to the flesh , we shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but if we sowe to the spirit , we shall of the spirit reap everlasting life . light is sown for the righteous , and gladness for the upright in heart . the righteous hath hopes in his death . mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . but the ungodly are not so : whoever hath lived a wicked and vicious life feels strange throws and pangs in his conscience when he comes to be cast upon a sick bed . the wicked is like the troubled sea ( saith the prophet ) when it cannot rest ; full of trouble and confusion , especially in a dying hour . it is death to such a man to look back upon his life , and a hell to him to think of eternity . when his guilty and trembling soul is ready to leave his body , and just stepping into the other world , what horrour and amazement do then seise upon him ? what a rage doth such a man feel in his breast , when he seriously considers , that he hath been so great a fool as for the false and imperfect pleasure of a few days to make himself miserable for ever ? 3. let the consideration of that unspeakable reward which god hath promised to good men at the resurrection , encourage us to obedience and a holy life . we serve a great prince who is able to promote us to honour ; a most gracious master who will not let the least service we doe for him pass unrewarded . this is the inference which the apostle makes from his large discourse of the doctrine of the resurrection , 1 cor. 15. 58. wherefore , my beloved brethren , be ye stedfast and unmovable , always abounding in the work of the lord , forasmuch as ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the lord. nothing will make death more welcome to us than a constant course of service and obedience to god. sleep , saith solomon , is sweet to the labouring man : so after a great diligence and industry in working out our own salvation , and ( as it is said of david ) serving our generation according to the will of god , how pleasant will it be to fall asleep ? and as an usefull and well-spent life will make our death to be sweet , so our resurrection to be glorious . whatever acts of piety we doe to god , or of charity to men ; whatever we lay out upon the poor and afflicted and necessitous , will all be considered by god in the day of recompences , and most plentifully rewarded to us . and surely no consideration ought to be more prevalent to perswade us to alms deeds and charity to the poor , than that of a resurrection to another life . besides the promises of this life which are made to works of charity , and there is not any grace or vertue whatsoever , which hath so many and so great promises of temporal blessings made to it in scripture as this grace of charity ; i say , besides the promises of this life , the great promise of eternal life is in scripture in a more especial manner entail'd upon it . luke 12. 33. give alms , saith our saviour , provide your selves baggs which wax not old , a treasure in the heavens that faileth not , and c. 16. v. 9. make to your selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness , that when ye shall fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations . and 1 tim. 6. 17 , 18 , 19. charge them that are rich in this world , that they be not high minded , &c. that they doe good , that they be rich in good works , ready to distribute , willing to communicate , laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come , that they may lay hold on eternal life ; the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which our translation renders foundation according to the common use of it , seems in this place to have a more peculiar notion , and to signifie the security that is given by a pledge , or by an instrument or obligation of contract for the performance of covenants . for besides that the phrase of laying up in store , or treasuring up a foundation , seems to be a very odd jumbling of metaphors ; this very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 almost necessarily requires this notion as it is used by the same apostle , in his second epistle to timothy , chap. 2. ver . 19. where it is said , the foundation of god stands sure , having this seal , &c. a seal being very improper to strengthen a foundation , but very fit to confirm a covenant . and then surely it ought to be render'd , the covenant of god remains firm , having this seal . and so likewise in the foremention'd text , the sense will be much more easie and currant if we render it thus , treasuring up , or providing for themselves a good security or pledge against the time to come ; i add pledge , because that anciently was the common way of security for things lent : besides that the apostle seems plainly to allude to that passage , tobit , 4. 8 , 9. if thou hast abundance , give alms accordingly , &c. for thou layest up a good treasure for thy self against the day of necessity , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for thou treasurest up for thy self a good pledge ; to which this of the apostle exactly answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , treasuring up , or providing for themselves a good pledge or security , &c. the sense however is plain , that the charity of alms is one of the best ways of securing our future happiness . and yet further to encourage us to abound in works of charity , the scripture tells us that proportionably to the degrees of our charity shall be the degrees of our reward ; upon this consideration the apostle exhorts the corinthians to be liberal in their charity , 2 cor. 9. 6. he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly , but he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully . so that whatever we lay out in this kind is to the greatest advantage , and upon the best security ; two considerations which use to be very prevalent with rich men to lay out their money . we certainly doe it to the greatest advantage ; because god will consider the very smallest thing that any of us doe in this kind . he that shall give so much as a cup of cold water to a disciple , in the name of a disciple , shall not lose his reward ; these last words , shall not lose his reward , are a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and signifie much more than they seem to speak , viz. that he shall have a very great reward , infinitely beyond the value of what he hath done . and we doe it likewise upon the best security ; so solomon assures us , prov. 19. 17. he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the lord , and that which he hath given will he pay him again : and we may be confident of our security where god is surety ; nay , he tells us that in this case he looks upon himself as principal , and that whatever we doe in ways of mercy and charity to the poor he takes as done to himself . so our lord hath told us , matt. 2. 5. 40. and we shall hear the same from him again out of his own mouth when he shall appear in his majesty to judge the world , then the king shall answer , and say unto them , verily i say unto you , inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren , ye have done it unto me . and on the other side , the scripture no where passeth a more severe doom upon any sort of persons , than upon those who have no bowels of compassion towards their brethren in distress . that is a fearfull sentence indeed , which the apostle pronounceth upon such persons , jam. 2. 13. he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy . and this our saviour represents to us in a most solemn manner , in that lively description which he makes of the judgment of the great day , matt. 25. 31. &c. when the son of man shall come in his glory , and all the holy angels with him , then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations , and he shall separate them one from another , as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats . and he shall set the sheep on his right hand , but the goats on the left . then shall the king say unto them on the right hand , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you , before the foundation of the world : for i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat ; i was thirsty , and ye gave me drink ; i was a stranger , and ye took me in ; naked , and ye clothed me ; i was sick , and ye visited me ; i was in prison , and ye came unto me . then shall he say also unto them on the left hand , depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels : for i was an hungred , and ye gave me no meat , &c. and these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eternal . and if this be , as most certainly it is , a true and proper representation of the process of that day , then the great matter of enquiry will be , what works of charity and mercy have been done or neglected by us , and accordingly a sentence of eternal happiness , or misery , will be pass'd upon us : i was hungry , did ye feed me or did ye not ? i was naked , did ye clothe me or did ye not ? i was sick and in prison , did ye visit me or did ye not ? not but that all the good or evil of our lives , in what kind soever , shall then be brought to account ; but that our saviour did chuse to instance particularly , and onely in things of this nature , should methinks make a mighty impression upon us , and be a powerfull consideration to oblige us to have a very peculiar regard to works of mercy and charity , and to make sure to abound in this grace ; that when we shall appear before the great judge of the world we may find that mercy from him which we have shew'd to others , and which we shall all undoubtedly stand in need of in that day . and among all our acts of charity , those which are done upon least probability and foresight of their meeting with any recompense in this world , either by way of real requital or of fame and reputation , as they are of all other most acceptable to god , so they will certainly have the most ample reward in another world . so our lord hath assur'd us , and accordingly adviseth us , luke 14. 12 , 13 , 14. when thou makest a feast invite not the rich , because they will recompense thee again : but call the poor , the maimed , the lame and the blind , for they cannot recompense thee , but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just . if we be religious for worldly ends , and serve god , and doe good to men , onely in contemplation of some temporal advantage , we take up with present payment , and cut our selves short of our future reward : of such , saith our lord , verily i say unto you , they have their reward ; they are their own security , and have taken care to satisfie themselves , and therefore are to expect nothing from god. but let us who call our selves christians doe something for god , for which we have no hopes to be recompensed in this world ; that we may shew that we trust god and take his word , and dare venture upon the security of the next world and that recompense which shall be made at the resurrection of the just . and how great and glorious that shall be , our saviour tells us immediately before my text. they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world , and the resurrection from the dead , they can die no more , but they are equal to the angels , and are the children of god , being the children of the resurrection . if then we be heirs of such glorious hopes , and believe that he who is the god of abraham , isaac , and jacob , will also be our god ; let us live as it becomes the candidates of heaven , and the children of the resurrection , and such as verily believe another life after this , and hope one day to sit down with abraham , isaac and jacob , in the kingdom of god. and now that i have represented to you what encouragement there is to well-doing , and particularly to works of charity , from the consideration of the blessed reward we shall certainly meet with at the resurrection of the just : i shall crave your patience a little longer , whilst i propose to you one of the fairest examples of this kind which either this or perhaps any other age could easily present us withall : i mean our deceased brother to whom we are now paying our last solemn respects , the reverend mr. thomas govge ; the worthy son of a reverend and learned divine of this city , dr. william gouge , who was minister of this parish of black friars six and forty years ; he died in 1653. and still lives in the memory of many here present . i must confess , that i am no friend to funeral panegyricks , where there is nothing of extraordinary worth and merit in the party commended to give occasion and foundation for them : in such cases , as praises are not due to the dead , so they may be of ill consequence to the living ; not onely by bringing those of our profession that make a practice of it under the suspicion of officious and mercenary flattery , but likewise by encouraging men to hope that they also may be well spoken of , and even sainted when they are dead , though they should have done little or no good in their life : but yet on the other hand , to commend those excellent persons the vertues of whose lives have been bright and exemplary , is not onely a piece of justice due to the dead , but an act of great charity to the living , setting a pattern of well-doing before our eyes , very apt and powerfull to incite and encourage us to go and doe likewise . upon both these considerations , first to doe right to the memory of so good a man , and then in hopes that the example may prove fruitfull and have a considerable effect upon others to beget the like goodness and charity in them , i shall endeavour , in as narrow a compass as may be , to give you the just character of this truly pious and charitable man , and by setting his life in a true light to recommend with all the advantage i can so excellent a pattern to your imitation . he was born at bow near stratford in the county of midlesex the 19th . day of september 1605. he was bred at eton school , and from thence chosen to kings college in cambridge being about 20 years of age , in the year 1626. after he had finish'd the course of his studies , and taken his degrees , he left the vniversity and his fellowship , being presented to the living of colsden near croyden in surrey , where he continued about 2 or 3 years ; and from thence was remov'd to s. sepulchres in london , in the year 1638. and the year after thinking fit to change his condition match'd into a very worthy and ancient family , marrying one of the daughters of sir robert darcy . being thus settled in this large and populous parish , he did with great solicitude and pains discharge all the parts of a vigilant and faithfull minister , for about the space of 24 years . for besides his constant and weekly labour of preaching , he was very diligent and charitable in visiting the sick , and ministring not onely spiritual counsel and comfort to them , but likewise liberal relief to the wants and necessities of those that were poor and destitute of means to help themselves in that condition . he did also every morning throughout the year catechize in the church , especially the poorer sort who were generally most ignorant ; and to encourage them to come thither to be instructed by him he did once a week distribute money among them , not upon a certain day , but changing it on purpose as he thought good , that he might thereby oblige them to be constantly present : these were chiefly the more aged poor who being past labour had leisure enough to attend upon this exercise . as for the other sort of poor who were able to work for their living , he set them at work upon his own charge , buying flax and hemp for them to spin , and what they spun he took off their hands paying them for their work , and then got it wrought into cloth , and sold it as he could , chiefly among his friends , himself bearing the whole loss . and this was a very wise and well chosen way of charity , and in the good effect of it a much greater charity than if he had given these very persons freely and for nothing so much as they earned by their work ; because by this means he took many off from begging , and thereby rescued them at once from two of the most dangerous temptations of this world , idleness and poverty ; and by degrees reclaim'd them to a vertuous and industrious course of life , which enabled them afterwards to live without being beholden to the charity of others . and this course so happily devis'd and begun by mr. gouge in his own parish , was i think that which gave the first hint to that worthy and usefull citizen mr. thomas firmin of a much larger design , which hath been prosecuted by him for some years with that vigour and good success in this city , that many hundreds of poor children , and others who liv'd idle before , unprofitable both to themselves and the publick , are continually maintain'd at work and taught to earn their own livelihood much in the same way : he being , by the generous assistance and charity of many worthy and well-dispos'd persons of all ranks , enabled to bear the unavoidable loss and charge of so vast an undertaking ; and by his own forward inclination to charity , and his unwearied diligence and activity , extraordinarily fitted to sustain and go through the incredible pains of it . but to return to our deceased friend ; concerning whom i must content my self to pass over many things worthy to be remembred of him , and to speak onely of those vertues of his which were more eminent and remarkable . of his piety towards god , which is the necessary foundation of all other graces and vertues , i shall onely say this , that it was great and exemplary , but yet very still and quiet , without stir and noise , and much more in substance and reality than in shew and ostentation ; and did not consist in censuring and finding fault with others , but in the due care and government of his own life and actions , and in exercising himself continually to have a conscience void of offence toward god and toward men ; in which he was such a proficient , that even after long acquaintance and familiar conversation with him it was not easie to observe any thing that might deserve blame . he particularly excell'd in the more peculiar vertues of conversation , in modesty , humility , meekness , cheerfulness , and in kindness and charity towards all men . so great was his modesty , that it never appear'd either by word or action that he put any value upon himself . this i have often observ'd in him , that the charities which were procur'd chiefly by his application and industry , when he had occasion to give an account of them , he would rather impute to any one who had but the least hand and part in the obtaining of them , than assume any thing of it to himself . another instance of his modesty was , that when he had quitted his living of s. sepulchres upon some dissatisfaction about the terms of conformity , he willingly forbore preaching , saying there was no need of him here in london where there were so many worthy ministers , and that he thought he might doe as much or more good in another way which could give no offence . onely in the later years of his life , being better satisfy'd in some things he doubted of before , he had license from some of the bishops to preach in wales in his progress ; which he was the more willing to doe , because in some places he saw great need of it , and he thought he might doe it with greater advantage among the poor people , who were the more likely to regard his instructions , being recommended by his great charity , so well known to them , and of which they had so long had the experience and benefit . but where there was no such need , he was very well contented to hear others perswade men to goodness and to practise it himself . he was clothed with humility , and had in a most eminent degree that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which , s. peter says , is in the sight of god of so great price : so that there was not the least appearance either of pride or passion in any of his words or actions . he was not onely free from anger and bitterness , but from all affected gravity and moroseness . his conversation was affable and pleasant ; he had a wonderfull serenity of mind and evenness of temper , visible in his very countenance ; he was hardly ever merry , but never melancholy and sad ; and for any thing i could discern , after a long and intimate acquaintance with him , he was upon all occasions and accidents perpetually the same ; always cheerfull , and always kind ; of a disposition ready to embrace and oblige all men ; allowing others to differ from him , even in opinions that were very dear to him ; and provided men did but fear god and work righteousness , he lov'd them heartily , how distant soever from him in judgment about things less necessary : in all which he is very worthy to be a pattern to men of all perswasions whatsoever . but that vertue which of all other shone brightest in him , and was his most proper and peculiar character , was his cheerfull and unwearied diligence in acts of pious charity . in this he left far behind him all that ever i knew , and , as i said before , had a singular sagacity and prudence in devising the most effectual ways of doing good , and in managing and disposing his charity to the best purposes , and to the greatest extent ; always , if it were possible , making it to serve some end of piety and religion ; as the instruction of poor children in the principles of religion , and furnishing grown persons that were ignorant with the bible and other good books ; strictly obliging those to whom he gave them to a diligent reading of them , and when he had opportunity exacting of them an account how they had profited by them . in his occasional alms to the poor , in which he was very free and bountifull , the relief he gave them was always mingled with good counsel , and as great a tenderness and compassion for their souls as bodies ; which very often attain'd the good effect it was likely to have , the one making way for the other with so much advantage , and men being very apt to follow the good advice of those who give them in hand so sensible a pledge and testimony of their good will to them . this kind of charity must needs be very expensive to him , but he had a plentifull estate settled upon him and left him by his father , and he laid it out as liberally in the most prudent and effectual ways of charity he could think of , and upon such persons as , all circumstances considered , he judg'd to be the fittest and most proper objects of it . for about nine or ten years last past he did , as is well known to many here present , almost wholly apply his charity to wales , because there he judg'd was most occasion for it : and because this was a very great work , he did not onely lay out upon it whatever he could spare out of his own estate , but employ'd his whole time and pains to excite and engage the charity of others for his assistance in it . and in this he had two excellent designs . one , to have poor children brought up to reade and write , and to be carefully instructed in the principles of religion : the other , to furnish persons of grown age , the poor especially , with the necessary helps and means of knowledge , as the bible , and other books of piety and devotion , in their own language ; to which end he procur'd the church-catechisme , the practice of piety , and that best of books the whole duty of man , besides several other pious and usefull treatises , to be translated into the welch tongue , and great numbers of them to be printed , and sent down to the chief towns in wales , to be sold at easie rates to those that were able to buy them , and to be freely given to those that were not . and in both these designs , through the blessing of god upon his unwearied endeavours , he found very great success . for by the large and bountifull contributions which chiefly by his industry and prudent application were obtain'd from charitable persons of all ranks and conditions , from the nobility and gentry of wales and the neighbouring counties , and several of that quality in and about london ; from divers of the right reverend bishops , and of the clergy ; and from that perpetual fountain of charity the city of london , led on and encourag'd by the most bountifull example of the right honourable the lord mayor and the court of aldermen ; to all which he constantly added two thirds of his own estate , which as i have been credibly inform'd was two hundred pounds a year : i say , by all these together there were every year eight hundred , sometimes a thousand poor children educated as i said before ; and by this example several of the most considerable towns of wales were excited to bring up at their own charge the like number of poor children , in the like manner , and under his inspection and care . he likewise gave very great numbers of the books above mention'd , both in the welch and english tongues , to the poorer sort , so many as were unable to buy them and willing to reade them . but which was the greatest work of all , and amounted indeed to a mighty charge , he procured a new and very fair impression of the bible and liturgy of the church of england in the welch tongue ( the former impression being spent , and hardly twenty of them to be had in all london ) to the number of eight thousand ; one thousand whereof were freely given to the poor , and the rest sent to the principal cities and towns in wales to be sold to the rich at very reasonable and low rates , viz. at four shillings a piece well bound and clasped ; which was much cheaper than any english bible was ever sold that was of so fair a print and paper : a work of that charge , that it was not likely to have been done any other way ; and for which this age , and perhaps the next , will have great cause to thank god on his behalf . in these good works he employed all his time and care and pains , and his whole heart was in them ; so that he was very little affected with any thing else ; and seldom either minded or knew any thing of the strange occurrences of this troublesome and busie age , such as i think are hardly to be parallel'd in any other : or if he did mind them , he scarce ever spoke any thing about them . for this was the business he laid to heart , and knowing it to be so much and so certainly the will of his heavenly father , it was his meat and drink to be doing of it : and the good success he had in it was a continual feast to him , and gave him a perpetual serenity both of mind and countenance . his great love and zeal for this work made all the pains and difficulties of it seem nothing to him : he would rise early and sit up late , and continued the same diligence and industry to the last , though he was in the threescore and seventeenth year of his age . and that he might manage the distribution of this great charity with his own hands , and see the good effect of it with his own eyes , he always once , but usually twice a year , at his own charge travelled over a great part of wales , none of the best countries to travel in : but for the love of god and men he endured all that , together with the extremity of heat and cold ( which in their several seasons are both very great there ) not onely with patience but with pleasure . so that all things considered there have not , since the primitive times of christianity , been many among the sons of men to whom that glorious character of the son of god might be better applied , that he went about doing good . and wales may as worthily boast of this truly apostolical man as of their famous s. david ; who was also very probably a good man , as those times of ignorance and superstition went. but his goodness is so disguised by their fabulous legends and stories which give us the account of him , that it is not easie to discover it . indeed ridiculous miracles in abundance are reported of him : as , that upon occasion of a great number of people resorting from all parts to hear him preach , for the greater advantage of his being heard a mountain all on a sudden rose up miraculously under his feet , and his voice was extended to that degree that he might be distinctly heard for two or three miles round about . such phantastical miracles as these make up a great part of his history . and admitting all these to be true ( which a wise man would be loth to do ) our departed friend had that which is much greater and more excellent than all these , a fervent charity to god and men ; which is more than to speak ( as they would make us believe s david did ) with the tongue of men and angels , more than to raise or remove mountains . and now methinks it is pity so good a design so happily prosecuted should fall and die with this good man. and it is now under deliberation , if possible , still to continue and carry it on , and a very worthy and charitable person pitched upon for that purpose , who is willing to undertake that part which he that is gone performed so well : but this will depend upon the continuance of the former charities and the concurrence of those worthy and well disposed persons in wales to contribute their part as formerly ; which i perswade my self they will cheerfully doe . i will add but one thing more concerning our deceased brother , that though he meddled not at all in our present heats and differences as a party , having much better things to mind ; yet as a looker on he did very sadly lament them , and for several of the last years of his life he continued in the communion of our church , and , as he himself told me , thought himself obliged in conscience so to do . he died in the 77th . year of his age , octob. 29th , 1681. it so pleased god that his death was very sudden ; and so sudden , that in all probability he himself hardly perceived it when it happened , for he died in his sleep ; and as it is said of david , after he had served his generation according to the will of god , he fell asleep . i confess that a sudden death is generally undesirable , and therefore with reason we pray against it ; because so very few are sufficiently prepared for it : but to him , the constant employment of whose life was the best preparation for death that was possible , no death could be sudden ; nay , it was rather a favour and blessing to him , because by how much the more sudden so much the more easie : as if god had designed to begin the reward of the great pains of his life in an easie death . and indeed it was rather a translation than a death ; and , saving that his body was left behind , what was said of enoch may not unfitly be applied to this pious and good man with respect to the suddenness of his change ; he walked with god , and was not , for god took him . and god grant that we who survive , may all of us sincerely endeavour to tread in the steps of his exemplary piety and charity ; of his labour of love , his unwearied diligence and patient continuance in doing good , that we may meet with that encouraging commendation which he hath already received from the mouth of our lord , well done good and faithfull servant , enter thou into the joy of thy lord. now the god of peace that brought again from the dead our lord jesus christ , that great shepherd of the sheep , through the blood of the everlasting covenant , make you perfect in every good work to doe his will , working in you always that which is pleasing in his sight , through jesus christ ; to whom be glory for ever . amen . the end . a catalogue of books . single sermons preach'd and publish'd ( since the two volumes in octavo ▪ ) by the reverend dr. tillotson , dean of canterbury , viz. 1. a sermon , preached on the fifth of november , 1678. at s. margarets westminster , before the honourable house of commons , upon this text : luke 9. 55 , 56. but he turned , and rebuked them , and said , ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of ; for the son of man is not come to destroy mens lives , but to save them . 2. a sermon , preached at the first general meeting of the gentlemen , and others in and near london , who were born within the county of york . in the parish church of s. mary-le-bow , dec. 3. 1678. upon , john 13. 34 , 35. a new commandment i give unto you , that ye love one another ; as i have loved you , that ye also love one another : by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another . 3. a sermon , preached before the king , at white-hall , april 4. 1679. upon 1 john 4. 1. beloved , believe not every spirit , but try the spirits whether they are of god : because many false prophets are gone out into the world . 4. the protestant religion vindicated , from the charge of singularity and novelty : in a sermon , preached before the king at white-hall , april 2. 1680. upon , joshua 24. 15. if it seem evil unto you to serve the lord , chuse you this day whom you will serve . 5. the lawfulness , and obligation of oaths . a sermon , preached at the assizes held at kingston upon thames , july 21. 1681. upon , heb. 6. 16. and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife . 6. a sermon , preached at the funeral of the reverend mr. thomas gouge , novemb. 4. 1681. with an account of his life : upon , luke 20. 37 , 38. now that the dead are raised , even moses shewed at the bush , when he calleth the lord the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god jacob ; for he is not a god of the dead , but of the living : for all live to him . printed for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill : and william rogers , at the sun against s. dunstan's church in fleetstreet . books writ by the learned dr. isaac barrow , late master of trinity college in cambridge . viz. a learned treatise of the pope's supremacy . to which is added a discourse concerning the vnity of the church , in quarto . the said discourse of vnity is also printed alone , in octavo . twelve sermons , preached upon several occasions : in octavo , being the first volume . ten sermons , against evil speaking : in octavo , being the second volume . eight sermons of the love of god and our neighbour : in octavo , being the third volume . the duty and reward of bounty to the poor : in a sermon , much enlarged , preached at the spittal , upon wednesday in easter week , anno dom. 1671. in octavo . a sermon upon the passion of our blessed saviour : preached at guild-hall chapel , on good-friday , the thirteenth day of april , 1677. in octavo . an exposition of the lord's prayer , the ten commandments , and the doctrine of the sacraments , in octavo . all the said books of the learned dr. isaac barrow , ( except the sermon of bounty to the poor ) are since the authour's death published by the reverend dr. tillotson , dean of canterbury . the true and lively effigies of dr. isaac barrow , a large print ; ingraven ( from the life ) by the excellent artist d. loggan : price without frame six pence . several other pieces of the learned remains of dr. barrow may be suddenly expected . all printed for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill . the necessity of regeneration , in two sermons to the university of oxon. by john wallis , d. d. professor of geometry in that university , and a member of the royal society . quarto . light in the way to paradise , with other occasionals . by dudley the 2 d , l d north. printed for w. rogers , at the sun against s. dunstan's church in fleetstreet . finis . a funeral sermon preached at the obsequies of the right reverend father in god, jeremy, lord bishop of down who deceased at lysburne august 13th, 1667 / by dr. george rust. rust, george, d. 1670. 1668 approx. 55 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57957 wing r2362 estc r17604 10767520 ocm 10767520 45741 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57957) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45741) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 804:1e, 821:21, 1410:7) a funeral sermon preached at the obsequies of the right reverend father in god, jeremy, lord bishop of down who deceased at lysburne august 13th, 1667 / by dr. george rust. rust, george, d. 1670. [2], 41, [1] p. printed by e. tyler for richard royston, london : 1668. item at 804:1e is the fifth title in: eniautos / jeremy taylor. london, 1668 ( wing t331). reproduction of originals in the cambridge university library and the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 kirk davis sampled and proofread 2002-06 kirk davis text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon , preached at the obsequies of the right reverend father in god , jeremy lord bishop of down : who deceased at lysburne august 13th . 1667. by dr. george rust , dean of connor . london , printed by e. tyler for richard royston book-seller to the king 's most excellent majesty , 1668. imprimatur . tho. tomkyns rrmo in christo patri ac domino domino gilberto divinâ providentiâ archi-episcopo centuar●en● à sacris domesticis . ex aedib . lambethanis octob. 26. 1667. a funeral sermon . 1 john 3. 2. it doth not yet appear what we shall be . glorious things are spoken in scripture concerning the future reward of the righteous ; and all the words that are wont to signifie what is of greatest price and value , or can represent the most enravishing objects of our desires are made use of by the holy ghost , to recommend unto us this transcedent state of blessedness : such are these ; rivers of pleasures , a fountain of living water , a treasure that can never be wasted , nor never taken from us , an inheritance in light , an incorruptible crown , a kingdom , the kingdom of god , and the kingdom of christ ; the kingdom of glory , a crown of glory and life , and righteousness , and immortality ; the vision of god ; being fill'd with all the fulness of god , an exceeding eternal weight of glory , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , words strangely emphatical , that can't be put into english ; and if they could , they would not be able to convey to our minds the notion that they design : for it is too big for any expressions ; and , after all that can be said , we must resolve with our apostle , it does not yet appear what we shall be . at this distance we cannot make any likely guesses or conjectures at the glory of that future state . men make very imperfect descriptions of countries or cities , that never were there themselves ; nor saw the places with their own eyes . it is not for any mortal creature to make a map of that canaan that lies above : it is to all us that live here on the hither-side of death , an unknown countrey , and an undiscover'd land. it may be , some heavenly pilgrim , that with his holy thoughts and ardent desires , is continually travelling thitherward ; he arrives sometimes near the borders of the promis'd land , and the suburbs of the new jerusalem , and gets upon the top of pisgah , and there he has an imperfect prospect of a brave countrey , that lies afar way off ; but he can't tell how to describe it , and all that he hath to say , to satisfie the curious enquirer , is only this , if he would know the glories of it , he must go and see it . it was believ'd of old , that those places that lie under the line , were burnt up by the continual heat of the sun , and were not habitable , either by man or beast : but later discoveries tell us , that there are the most pleasant countries that the earth can shew ; insomuch that some have plac'd paradise it self in that climate . sure i am , of all the regions of the intellectual world , and the several lands that are peopled , either with men or angels , the most pleasant countries they lie under the line , under the direct beams of the sun of righteousness , where there is an eternal day , and an eternal spring ; where is that tree of life , that beareth twelve manner of fruits , and yieldeth her fruit every month : thus we may use figures , and metaphors , and allegories , and tell you of fruitful meads , and spacious fields , and winding rivers , and purling brooks , and chanting birds , and shady groves , and pleasant gardens , and lovely bowers , and noble seats , and stately palaces , and goodly people , and excellent laws , and sweet societies ; but this is but to frame little comparisons to please our childish fancies : and just such discourses as a blind man would make concerning colours ; so do we talk of those things we never saw ; and disparage the state whilst we would recommend it . indeed it requires some saint or angel from heaven to discourse upon this subject ; and yet that would not do neither : for though they might be able to speak some thing of it , yet we should want ears to hear it . neither can those things be declar'd but in the language of heaven , which would be little understood by us , the poor inhabitants of this lower world ; they are indeed things too great to be brought within the compass of words . saint paul , when he had been rapt up into the third heaven , he saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , things unlawful , or unpossible to be uttered ; and , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive , what god hath prepared for them that love him ; and , it does not yet appear what we shall be , said that beloved disciple , that lay in the bosom of our saviour . you will not now expect , that i should give you a relation of that which cannot be uttered , nor so much as conceiv'd ; or declare unto you what our eagle-sighted evangelist tells us does not yet appear : but , that you may understand , that that which sets this state of happiness so beyond the reach of all imagination , is only its transcendent excellency ; i shall tell you something of what does already appear of it , and may be known concerning it . first of all we are assur'd that we shall then be freed from all the evils and miseries that we now labour under : vanity and misery they are two words that speak the whole of this present world ; the enjoyments of it are dreams and fancies , and shadows , and appearances ; and , if any thing be , it is only evil and misery that is real and substantial . vanity and folly , labour and pains , cares and fears , crosses and disappointments , sickness and diseases , they make up the whole of our portion here . this life it is begun in a cry , and it ends in a groan ; and he that lives most happily , his life is checker'd with black and white , and his dayes are not all sun-shine , but some are cloudy and gloomy , and there is a worm at the root of all his joy , that soon eats out the sap and heart of it ; and the goard in whose shade he now so much pleases himself , by to morrow will be wither'd and gone . but heaven is not subject to these mixtures and uncertainties ; it is a region of calmness and serenity , and the soul is there gotten above the clouds , and is not annoyed with those storms and tempests that are here below . all tears shall then be wip'd from our eyes ; and though sorrow may endure for the night of this world , yet joy will spring up in the morning of eternity . we are sure we shall be freed from this earthly , and cloath'd with an heavenly and glorified body . these bodies of ours they are the graves and sepulchres , the prisons and dungeons of our heaven-born souls ; and though we deck and adorn them , and pride our selves in their beauty and comeliness , yet , when all is done , they are but sinks of corruption and defilement : they expose us to many pains and diseases , and incline us to many lusts and passions , and the more we pamper them , the greater burden they are unto our minds ; they impose upon our reasons , and by their steams and vapours cast a mist before our understandings ; they clog our affections , and like a heavie weight depress us unto this earth , and keep us from soaring aloft among the winged inhabitants of the upper-regions : but those robes of light and glory , which we shall be cloath'd withall at the resurrection of the just , and those heavenly bodies which the gospel hath then assur'd unto us , they are not subject to any of these mischiefs and inconveniences , but are fit and accommodate instruments for the soul in its highest exaltations . and this is an argument that the gospel does dwell much upon , viz. the redemption of our bodies , that he shall change our vile bodies , that they may be like unto his glorious body ; and we are taught to look upon it as one great price of our reward , that we shall be cloath'd upon with our house which is from heaven ; that this corruptible shall put on incorruption , and this mortal immortality : that , as we have born the image of the earthly , so we must bear the image of the heavenly adam , who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of heaven heavenly ; as the first man was , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of the earth earthy . and therefore , i think , the schools put too mean a rate upon this great promise of the gospel , the resurrection of our bodies ; and , i believe , it might be demonstrated from the principles of sound philosophy , that this article of our christian faith , which the atheist makes so much sport withall , is so far from being chargeable with any absurdity , that it is founded upon the highest reason ; for , seeing we find by too great an experience , that the soul has so close and necessary a dependence upon this gross and earthly mass that we now carry about with us ; it may be disputed with some probability , whether it be ever able to act independently of all matter whatsoever : at least , we are assur'd , that the state of conjunction is most connatural to her ; and that , intellectual pleasure it self is not onely multiplied , but the better felt , by its redundancy upon the body and spirits : and if it be so , then the purer and more defecate the body is , the better will the soul be appointed for the exercise of its noblest operations ; and it will be no mean piece of our reward hereafter , that that which is sown 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an animal , shall be raised a heavenly body . we are sure , that we shall then be free from fin , and all those foolish lusts and passions that we are now enslaved unto . the life of a christian , it is a continual warfare ; and he endures many sore conflicts , and makes many sad complaints , and often bemoans himself after such a manner , as this : wo is me , that i am forc'd to dwell in mesech , and to have my habitation in the tents of kedar ; that there should be so many goliah's within me , that defie the host of israel ; so many sons of anak that hinder my entrance into the land of promise , and the rest of god ; that i should toil and labour among the bricks , and live in bondage unto these worse than egyptian task-masters . thus does he sit down by the rivers of babylon , and weep over those ruines and desolations that these worse than assyrian armies have made in the city , and house of his god. and many a time does he cry out in the bitterness of his soul , wretched creature that i am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ? and though , through his faith , and courage , and constancy , he be daily getting ground of his spiritual enemies , yet it is but by inches , and every step he takes , he must fight for it ; and living as he does in an enemies countrey , he is forc'd alwayes to be upon his guard ; and if he slumber never so little , presently he is surpriz'd by a watchful adversary . this is our portion here , and our lot is this ; but when we arrive unto those regions of bliss and glory that are above , we shall then stand safely upon the shore , and see all our enemies , pharaoh and all his host , drown'd and destroyed in the red sea ; and being delivered from the world , and the flesh , and the devil , death , and sin , and hell , we shall sing the song of moses , and of the lamb , an epinicion , and song of eternal triumph unto the god of our salvation . we shall be sure to meet with the best company that earth or heaven affords : good company it is the great pleasure of the life of man ; and we shall then come to the innumerable company of angels , and the general assembly of the church of the first-born , and to the spirits of just men made perfect , and to jesus the mediator of the new covenant . the oracle tells amelius , enquiring what was become of polinus's soul , that he was gone to pythagoras , and socrates , and plato , and as many as had born a part in the quire of heavenly love . and i may say to every good man , that he shall go to the company of abraham , isaac , and jacob ; moses , david , and samuel ; all the prophets and apostles , and all the holy men of god that have been in all the ages of the world. all those brave and excellent persons that have been scattered at the greatest distance of time and place , and in their several generations have been the salt of the earth to preserve mankind from utter degeneracy and corruption ; these shall be all gathered together , and meet in one constellation in that firmament of glory . o praeclarum diem , cùm ad illud divinorum animorum concilium , coetumque proficiscar , atque ex hac turba ac colluvione discedam ! o that blessed day , when we shall make our escape from this medly and confused riot , and shall arrive to that great council and general randevouz of divine and godlike spirits ! but , which is more than all , we shall then meet our lord jesus christ , the head of our recovery , whose story is now so delightful unto us , as reporting nothing of him , but the greatest sweetness and innocence , and meekness and patience , and mercy and tenderness , and benignity and goodness , and what ever can render any person lovely or amiable ; and who out of his dear love and deep compassion unto mankind , gave up himself unto the death for us men , and for our salvation . and if st. augustine made it one of his wishes , to have seen jesus christ in the flesh ; how much more desirable is it , to see him out of his terrestrial weeds , in his robes of glory , with all his redeemed ones about him ! and this i cannot but look upon , as a great advantage and priviledge of that future state ; for i am not apt to swallow down that conceit of the schools , that we shall spend eternity in gazing upon the naked deity ; for certainly the happiness of man consists in having all his faculties , in their due subordinations , gratified with their proper objects ; and i cannot but believe , a great part of heaven to be the blest society that is there ; their enravishing beauty , that is to say , their inward life and perfection , flowring forth and raying it self thorow their glorified bodies ; the rare discourses wherewith they entertain one another ; the pure and chast and spotless , and yet most ardent love , wherewith they embrace each other ; the ecstatick devotions wherein they joyn together : and certainly every pious and devout soul will readily acknowledg with me , that it must needs be matter of unspeakable pleasure , to be taken into the quire of angels and seraphims , and the glorious company of the apostles , and the goodly fellowship of the prophets , and the noble army of martyrs ; and to joyn with them in singing praises , and hallelu-jahs , and songs of joy , and triumph unto our great creator and redeemer , the father of spirits , and the lover of souls , unto him that sits upon the throne , and unto the lamb for ever and ever . we are sure we shall then have all our capacities fill'd , and all our desires answered . they hunger no more , neither thirst any more ; for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne , shall feed them , and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters . what vast degrees of perfection and happiness the nature of man is capable of , we may best understand , by viewing it in the person of christ , taken into the nearest union with divinity , and made god's vice-gerent in the world , and the head and governour of the whole creation . in this our narrow and contracted state we are apt to think too meanly of our selves , and do not understand the dignity of our own natures , what we were made for , and what we are capable of : but , as plotinus somewhere observes , we are like children , from our birth brought up in ignorance of , and at a great distance from , our parents and relations ; and have forgot the nobleness of our extraction , and rank our selves and our fortunes among the lot of beggers , and mean and ordinary persons ; though we are the off-spring of a great prince , and were born to a kingdom . it does indeed become creatures to think modestly of themselves ; yet , if we consider it aright , it will be found very hard , to set any bounds or limits to our own happiness , and say , hitherto it shall arise , and no further . for that wherein the happiness of man consists , viz. truth and goodness , the communication of the divine nature , and the illapses of divine love , it does not cloy , or glut , or satiate ; but every participation of them does widen and enlarge our souls , and fits us for further and further receptions ; the more we have , the more we are capable of ; the more we are sill'd , the more room is made in our spirits ; and thus it is still and still , even till we arrive unto such degrees as we can assign no measures unto . we shall then be made like unto god 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; said the areopagite , salvation can no otherwaies be accomplish'd , but by becoming god-like ; it does not yet appear what we shall be , but when he shall appear we shall be like him , sayes our evangelist ; for we shall see him as he is . there is no seeing god as he is , but by becoming like unto him ; nor is there any enjoying of him , but by being transform'd into his image and similitude . men usually have very strange notions concerning god , and the enjoyment of him ; or rather , these are words , to which there is no correspondent conception in their minds : but if we would understand god aright , we must look upon him as infinite wisdom , righteousness , love , goodness , and whatever speaks any thing of beauty and perfection ; and if we pretend to worship him , it must be by loving and adoring his transcendent excellencies ; and if we hope to enjoy him , it must be by conformity unto him , and participation of his nature . the frame and constitution of things is such , that it is impossible that man should arrive to happiness any other way . and if the soveraignty of god should dispense with our obedience , the nature of the thing would not permit us to be happy without it : if we live only the animal life , we may indeed be happy , as beasts are happy ; but the happiness that belongs to a rational and intellectual being , can never be attain'd but in a way of holiness and conformity unto the divine will : for , such a temper and disposition of mind is necessary unto happiness , not by vertue of any arbitrarious constitution of heaven ; but , the eternal laws of righteousness , and immutable respects of things , do require and exact it : yea , i may truly say , that god and christ without us cannot make us happy : for we are not conscious to our selves of any thing , but only the operations of our own minds ; & t is not the person of god and christ , but their life and nature , wherein consists our formal happiness : for , what is the happiness of god himself , but only that pleasure and satisfaction that results from a sense of his infinite perfections ? and how is it possible for a creature to be more happy , than by partaking of that , in its measure and proportion , which is the happiness of god himself . the soul being thus prepar'd , shall live in the presence of god , and lie under the influences and illapses of divine love and goodness ; father i will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory . they that fight manfully under the banners of heaven , and overcome their spiritual enemies , they shall eat of the hidden manna , and become pillars in the temple of god , and shall go no more out : they shall stand before the throne of god continually , and serve him day and night in his temple , and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell amongst them ; god shall put under them his everlasting arms , and carry them in his bosom , and they shall suck the full breasts of eternal goodness : for now there is nothing can hinder the most near and intimate conjunction of the soul with god ; for , things that are alike , do easily mingle with one another : but the mixture that is betwixt bodies , be they never so homogeneal , comes but to an external touch ; for their parts can never run up into one another . but there is no such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or resistance , amongst spiritual beings ; and we are estranged from god ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) not by distance of place , but by difference and diversity of nature ; and when that is remov'd , he becomes present to us , and we to him : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. like the magnitudines congruae in mathematicks , quando prima primis , media mediis , extrema extremis , partes denique partibus usquequaque respondent , each of whose parts do exactly answer one to the other . this therefore is the soul's progress from that state of purgation to illumination , and so to union . there are several faculties in the soul of man , that are conformed to several kinds of objects ; and , according to that life a man is a waked into , so these faculties do exert themselves ; and though whilst we live barely an animal life , we converse with little more than this outward world , and the objects of our senses ; yet there are faculties within us that are receptive of god , and when we arrive once unto a due measure of purity of spirit , the rayes of heavenly light will as certainly shine into our minds , as the beams of the sun , when it arises above the horizon , do illuminate the clear and pellucid air : and from this sight and illumination , the soul proceeds to an intimate union with god , and to a tast and touch of him . this is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that silent touch with god that fills the soul with unexpressible joy and triumph : for , if the objects of this outward world that strike upon our senses do so hugely please and delight us ; what infinite pleasure then must there needs be in those touches and impresses , that the divine love and goodness shall make upon our souls ? but these are things that we may talk of , as we would do of a sixth sense , or something we have no distinct notion or idea of ; but the perfect understanding of them belongs only to the future state of comprehension . lastly , we shall have our knowledge , and our love , which are the most perfect and beatifying acts of our minds , employed about their noblest objects in their most exalted measures ; for a man to resolve himself in some knotty question , or answer some stubborn argument , or find out some noble conclusion , or solve some hard probleme , what ineffable pleasure does it create many times to a contemplative mind ? we know , who sacrific'd a hecatomb for one mathematical demonstration ; and another that upon the like occasion cry'd out , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in a kind of rapture : to have the secrets of nature disclos'd , and the mysteries of art reveal'd ; but above all , the riddles of providence unfolded , are such jewels as i know many searching and inquisitive spirits would be willing to purchase at any rate ; when we come to heaven ( i will not say , we shall see all things , in the mirror of divinity , for that it may be is an extravagancy of the schools ; nor , that any one true proposition through the concatenation of truth , will then multiply it self into the explicit knowledge of all conclusions whatsoever , for i believe that a fancy too , but ) our knowledge shall be strangely enlarg'd , and , for ought i can determine , be for ever receiving new additions , and fresh accruements ; the clew of divine providence will then be unravell'd , and all those difficulties which now perplex us , will be easily assoyl'd , and we shall then perceive that the wisdom and goodness of god , is a vast and comprehensive thing , and moves in a far larger sphear than we are aware of in this state of narrowness and imperfection : but there is something greater and beyond all this ; and s. john has a strange expression , that we shall then see god even as he is ; and god , we know , is the well-spring of perfection and happiness , the fountain and original of all beauty ; he is infinitely glorious , and lovely , & excellent ; and if we see him as he is , all this glory must descend into us and become ours : for we can no otherwaies see god ( as i said before ) but by becoming deiform , by being changed into the same glory . but love , that is it , which makes us most happy , and by that we are most intimately conjoyn'd unto god , for he that dwelleth in love , dwelleth in god , and god in him : and how pleasant beyond all imagination must it needs be , to have the soul melted into a flame of love , and that fire fed and nourish'd by the enjoyment of it 's beloved ; to be transported into ecstasies , and raptures of love ; to be swallowed up in the embraces of eternal sweetness ; to be lost in the sourse and fountain of happiness and bliss , like a spark in the fire , or a beam in the sun , or drop in the ocean . it may be you will tell me , i have been all this while confuting my text , and giving you a relation of that which s. john tells us , does not yet appear what it is ; but my design has been the same with the holy evangelist's ; and that is , to represent unto you , how transcendently great , that state of happiness must needs be ; when as , by what we are able to apprehend of it , it is infinitely the object of our desires , and yet we are assur'd by those that are best able to tell , that the best and greatest part of the countrey is yet undiscover'd , and that we cannot so much as guess at the pleasure of it , till we come to enjoy it : and indeed it is impossible it should be otherwise ; for happiness being a matter of sense , all the words in the world cannot convey the notion of it unto our minds , and it is only to be understood by them that feel it ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . but though it does not yet appear what we shall be ; yet so much already appears of it , that it cannot but seem the most worthy object of our endeavours and desires ; and by some few clusters that have been shewn us of this good land , we may guess what pleasant and delightful fruit it bears : and if we have but any reverence of our selves , and will but consider the dignity of our natures , and the vastness of that happiness we are capable of ; methinks we should be alwayes travelling towards that heavenly countrey , though our way lies through a wilderness , and be striving for this great prize and immortal crown , and be clearing our eyes , and purging our sight , that we may come to this vision of god ; shaking off all fond passions , and dirty desires , and breathing forth our souls in such aspirations as these : my soul thirsteth for thee , o lord , in a dry and barren land , where no water is ; o that thou wouldst distill , and drop down the dew of thy heavenly grace into all it's secret chinks and pores ; one thing have i desired of the lord , that will i seek after , that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the dayes of my life , and behold his glory , for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand , and i had rather be a door-keeper in the house of the lord , than dwell in the tents of wickedness . all the kings of the earth , they are thy tributaries ; the kings of tarshish , and of the isles , bring presents unto thee ; the kings of sheba and seba offer gifts ! o that we could but pay thee , that which is so due unto thee , the tribute of our hearts ! the heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy temple have they defi'ld : help us , o god of our salvation , and deliver us , and purge away our sins from us , for thy name 's sake ! o that the lord whom we seek , would come to his own house , and give peace there , and fill it with his glory ! come and cleanse thine own temple , for we have made it a den of thieves , which should have been a house of prayer ! o that we might never give sleep to our eys , nor slumber to our eye-lids , till we have prepar'd a house for the lord , and a tabernacle for the god of jacob ! the curse of cain it is fallen upon us , and we are as vagabonds in the earth ; and wander from one creature to another ! o that our souls might come at last to dwell in god , our fixed and eternal habitation ! we , like silly doves , fly up and down the earth , but can find no rest for the sole of our feet ; o that after all our weariness and our wandrings , we might return into the ark , and that god would put forth his hand and take us & pull us in unto himself ! we have too long lived upon vanity and emptiness , the wind and the whirle-wind ; o that we may now begin to feed upon substance , and delight our selves in marrow and fatness ! o that god would strike our rocky hearts , that there might spring up a fountain in the wilderness , and pools in the desart ; that we might drink of that water , whereof whosoever drinks , shall never thirst more ; that god would give us that portion of goods that falleth to us , not to waste it with riotous living , but therewith to feed our languishing souls , lest they be weary and faint by the way ! we ask not the childrens bread , but the crums that fall from thy table ; that our baskets may be fill'd with thy fragments , for they will be better than wine , and sweeter than the hony , and the hony-comb , and more pleasant to us than a feast of fat things ! we have wandred too long in a barren , and howling desart , where wild beasts , and doleful creatures , owls and bats , satyrs and dragons , keep their haunts ; o that we might be fed in green pastures , and led by the still waters , that the winter might be past , and the rain over and gone , that the flowers may appear on the earth , and the time of the singing of birds may come , and the voice of the turtle may be heard in our land ! we have lived too long in sodom , which is the place that god at last will destroy : o that we might arise and be gone ; and while we are lingring , that the angels of god would lay hold upon our hands , and be merciful unto us , and bring us forth , and set us without the city ; and that we may never look back any more , but may escape unto the mountain , and dwell safe in the rock of ages ! wisdom hath killed her beasts , she hath mingled her wine , and furnish'd her table ; o that we might eat of her meat , and drink of the wine which she hath mingled ! god knocks at the doors of our hearts ; o let us open unto him , those everlasting gates , that he may sup with us , and we with him ; for he will bring his chear along with him , and will feast us with manna , and angels food ! o that the sun of righteousness might arise and melt the iciness of our hearts ! that god would send forth his spirit , and with his warmth and heat , dissolve our frozen souls ! that god would breathe into our minds , those still and gentle gales of divine inspirations , that may blow up , and increase in us the flames of heavenly love ! that we may be a whole burnt offering , and all the substance of our souls be consum'd by fire from heaven , and ascend up in clouds of incense ! that as so many sparks we might be always mounting upward , till we return again into our proper elements ! that like so many particular rivulets , we may be continually making toward the sea , and never rest till we lose our selves in that ocean of goodness , from whence we first came ! that we may open our mouths wide , that god may satisfie them ! that we may so perfectly discharge our selves of all strange desires and passions , that our souls may be nothing else but a deep emptiness , and vast capacity to be fill'd with all the fulness of god! let but these be the breathings of our spirits , and this divine magnetism will most certainly draw down god into our souls , and we shall have some praelibations of that happiness ; some small glimpses , and little discoveries whereof , is all that belongs to this state of mortality . i have as yet done but the half of my task : and i have another text yet to preach upon , and a very large and copious one , the great person , whose obsequies we here come to celebrate : his fame is so great throughout the world , that he stands in no need of an encomium ; and yet his worth is much greater than his fame ; it is impossible not to speak great things of him , and yet it is impossible to speak what he deserves ; and the meanness of an oration , will but sully the brightness of his excellencies : but custom requires that something should be said , and it is a duty and a debt that we owe unto his memory : and i hope his great soul , if it hath any knowledge of what is done here below , will not be offended at the smallness of our offering . he was born at cambridge , and brought up in the free-school there , and was ripe for the university , afore custom would allow of his admittance ; but by that time he was thirteen years old , he was entred into caius-colledg ; and as soon as he was graduate , he was chosen fellow . had he lived amongst the ancient pagans , he had been usher'd into the world with a miracle , and swans must have daunc'd and sung at his birth ; and he must have been a great hero , and no less than the son of apollo , the god of wisdome and eloquence . he was a man long afore he was of age ; and knew little more of the state of child-hood , than its innocency and pleasantness . from the university , by that time he was master of arts , he removed to london , and became publick lecturer in the church of st. pauls ; where he preach'd to the admiration and astonishment of his auditory ; and by his florid and youthful beauty , and sweet and pleasant air , and sublime and rais'd discourses , he made his hearers take him for some young angel , newly descended from the visions of glory ; the fame of this new star , that out-shone all the rest of the firmament , quickly came to the notice of the great arch-bishop of canterbury , who would needs have him preach before him ; which he perform'd not less to his wonder than satisfaction ; his discourse was beyond exception , and beyond imitation : yet the wise prelate thought him too young ; but the great youth humbly begg'd his grace to pardon that fault , and promis'd , if he liv'd , he would mend it . however the grand patron of learning and ingenuity , thought it for the advantage of the world , that such mighty parts should be afforded better opportunities of study and improvement , than a course of constant preaching would allow of ; and to that purpose he plac'd him in his own colledge of all-souls in oxford ; where love and admiration still waited upon him : which so long as there is any spark of ingenuity in the breasts of men , must needs be the inseparable attendants of so extraordinary a worth and sweetness . he had not been long here , afore my lord of canterbury bestowed upon him the rectory of vphingham in rutland-shire , and soon after preferr'd him to be chaplain to king charles the martyr of blessed and immortal memory . thus were preferments heaped upon him , but still less than his deserts ; and that not through the fault of his great masters , but because the amplest honours and rewards were poor and inconsiderable , compar'd with the greatness of his worth and merit . this great man had no sooner launch'd into the world , but a fearful tempest arose , and a barbarous and unnatural war , disturb'd a long and uninterrupted peace and tranquillity ; and brought all things into disorder and confusion ; but his religion taught him to be loyal , and engag'd him on his prince's side , whose cause and quarrel he alwayes own'd and maintain'd with a great courage and constancy ; till at last , he and his little fortune were shipwrackt in that great hurricane , that overturn'd both church and state : this fatal storm cast him ashore in a private corner of the world , and a tender providence shrowded him under her wings , and the prophet was fed in the wilderness ; and his great worthiness procur'd him friends , that supply'd him with bread and necessaries . in this solitude he began to write those excellent discourses , which are enough of themselves to furnish a library , and will be famous to all succeeding generations , for their greatness of wit , and profoundness of judgement , and richness of fancy , and clearness of expression , and copiousness of invention , and general usefulness to all the purposes of a christian : and by these he soon got a great reputation among all persons of judgement and indifferency , and his name will grow greater still , as the world grows better and wiser . when he had spent some years in this retirement , it pleas'd god to visit his family with sickness , and to take to himself the dear pledges of his favour , three sons of great hopes and expectations , within the space of two or three moneths : and though he had learned a quiet submission unto the divine will ; yet the affliction touch'd him so sensibly , that it made him desirous to leave the countrey ; and going to london , he there met my lord conway , a person of great honour and generosity ; who making him a kind proffer , the good man embrac'd it , and that brought him over into ireland , and setled him at portmore , a place made for study and contemplation , which he therefore dearly lov'd ; and here he wrote his cases of consciences : a book that is able alone to give its author immortality . by this time the wheel of providence brought about the kings happy restauration , and there began a new world , and the spirit of god mov'd upon the face of the waters , and out of a confused chaos brought forth beauty and order , and all the three nations were inspir'd with a new life , and became drunk with an excess of joy : among the rest , this loyal subject went over to congratulate the prince and people's happiness , and bear a part in the universal triumph . it was not long ere his sacred majesty began the settlement of the church , and the great doctor jeremy taylor was resolv'd upon , for the bishoprick of down and conor ; and not long after , dromore was added to it ; and it was but reasonable that the king and church should consider their champion , and reward the pains and sufferings he under-went in the defence of their cause and honour . with what care and faithfulness he discharg'd his office , we are all his witnesses ; what good rules and directions he gave his clergy , and how he taught us the practice of them by his own example . upon his coming over bishop , he was made a privy-councellor , and the university of dublin gave him their testimony , by recommending him for their vice-chancellor ; which honourable office he kept to his dying day . during his being in this see , he wrote several excellent discourses , particularly his disswasive from popery ( which was receiv'd by a general approbation ) and a vindication of it ( now in the press ) from some impertinent cavillers , that pretend to answer books , when there is nothing towards it , more than the very title-page . this great prelate improv'd his talent with a mighty industry , and mannag'd his steward-ship rarely well ; and his master , when he call'd for his accounts , found him busie and at his work ; and employed upon an excellent subject , a discourse upon the beatitudes ; which , if finisht , would have been of great use to the world , and solv'd most of the cases of conscience that occurr to a christian , in all the varieties of states and conditions . but the all-wise god hath ordain'd it otherwise , and hath call'd home his good servant , to give him a portion in that blessedness that jesus christ hath promised to all his faithful disciples and followers . thus having given you a brief account of his life , i know you will now expect a character of his person ; but i fore-see , it will befall him , as it does all glorious subjects , that are but disparag'd by a commendation ; one thing i am secure of , that i shall not be thought to speak hyperbolies ; for the subject can hardly be reach'd , by any expressions ; for he was none of gods ordinary works , but his endowments were so many , and so great , as really made him a miracle . nature had befriended him much in his constitution ; for he was a person of a most sweet and obliging humour , of great candour and ingenuity , and there was so much of salt and fineness of wit , and pretiness of address in his familiar discourses , as made his conversation have all the pleasantness of a comedy , and all the usefulness of a sermon ; his soul was made up of harmony , and he never spake , but he charm'd his hearer , not only with the clearness of his reason ; but all his words , and his very tone , and cadencies were strangely musical . but , that which did most of all captivate and enravish , was , the gaiety and richness of his fancy for he had much in him of that natural enthusiasm , that inspires all great poets and orators ; and there was a generous ferment in his bloud and spirits , that set his fancy bravely a work , and made it swell , and teem , and become pregnant to such degrees of luxuriancy , as nothing but the greatness of his wit and judgment , could have kept it within due bounds and measures . and indeed it was a rare mixture , and a single instance , hardly to be found in an age ; for the great tryer of wits has told us , that there is a peculiar and several complexion , requir'd for wit , and judgment , and fancy ; and yet you might have found all these , in this great personage , in their eminency and perfection . but that which made his wit and judgment so considerable , was the largeness and freedom of his spirit , for truth is plain and easie to a mind dis-intangled from superstition and prejudice ; he was one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sort of brave philosophers that laërtius speaks of , that did not addict themselves to any particular sect , but ingenuously sought for truth among all the wrangling schools ; and they found her miserably torn and rent to pieces , and parcell'd into raggs , by the several contending parties , and so disfigur'd and mishapen , that it was hard to know her ; but they made a shift to gather up her scatter'd limbs , which as soon as they came together by a strange sympathy and connaturalness , presently united into a lovely and beautiful body . this was the spirit of this great man ; he weighed mens reasons , and not their names , and was not scar'd with the ugly vizars men usually put upon persons they hate , and opinions they dislike ; nor affrighted with the anathema's and execrations of an infallible chair , which he look'd upon only as bug-bears to terrifie weak , and childish minds . he consider'd that it is not likely any one party should wholly engross truth to themselves ; that obedience is the only way to true knowledge ; ( which is an argument that he has manag'd rarely well , in that excellent sermon of his , which he calls , via intelligentiae , ) that god always , and only teaches docible and ingenuous minds , that are willing to hear , and ready to obey according to their light ; that it is impossible , a pure , humble , resigned , god-like soul , should be kept out of heaven , whatever mistakes it might be subject to in this state of mortality ; that the design of heaven is not to fill mens heads , and feed their curiosities , but to better their hearts ; and mend their lives . such considerations as these , made him impartial in his disquisitions , and give a due allowance to the reasons of his adversary , and contend for truth , and not for victory . and now you will easily believe that an ordinary diligence would be able to make great improvements upon such a stock of parts and endowments ; but to these advantages of nature , and excellency of his spirit , he added an indefatigable industry , and god gave a plentiful benediction ; for , there were very few kinds of learning , but he was a mystes , and great master in them : he was a rare humanist , and hugely vers'd in all the polite parts of learning ; and had throughly concocted all the ancient moralists , greek and roman , poets and orators ; and was not unacquainted with the refined vvits of the later ages , whether french or italian . but he had not only the accomplishments of a gentleman , but so universal were his parts , that they were proportion'd to every thing ; and though his spirit and humour were made up of smoothness and gentleness , yet he could bear with the harshness and roughness of the schools ; and was not unseen in their subtilties and spinosities , and upon occasion , could make them serve his purpose ; and yet , i believe , he thought many of them very near akin to the famous knight of the mancha , and would make sport sometimes with the romantick sophistry and phantastick adventures of school-errantry . his skill was great , both in the civil and canon law , and casuistical divinity ; and he was a rare conductor of souls , and knew how to counsel , and to advise ; to solve difficulties , and determine cases , and quiet consciences . and he was no novice in mr. i. s. new science of controversie ; but could manage an argument , and make reparties with a strange dexterity ; he understood what the several parties in christendom have to say for themselves , and could plead their cause to better advantage than any advocate of their tribe : and when he had done , he could confute them too ; and shew , that better arguments than ever they could produce for themselves , would afford no sufficient ground for their fond opinions . it would be too great a task to pursue his accomplishments through the various kinds of literature : i shall content my self to add only his great acquaintance with the fathers and ecclesiastical writers , and the doctors of the first and purest ages both of the greek and latine church ; which he has made use of against the romanists , to vindicate the church of england from the challenge of innovation , and prove her to be truly ancient , catholick , and apostolical . but religion and vertue is the crown of all other accomplishments ; and it was the glory of this great man , to be thought a christian , and whatever you added to it , he look'd upon as a term of diminution ; and yet he was a zealous son of the church of england ; but that was because he judg'd her ( and with great reason ) a church the most purely christian of any in the world. in his younger years he met with some assaults from popery , and the high pretensions of their religious orders were very accommodate to his devotional temper ; but he was alwayes so much master of himself , that he would never be governed by any thing but reasons , and the evidence of truth , which engag'd him in the study of those controversies ; and to how good purpose , the world is by this time a sufficient witness : but the longer , and the more he consider'd , the worse he lik'd the roman cause , and became at last to censure them with some severity ; but i confess i have so great an opinion of his judgment , and the charitableness of his spirit , that i am afraid he did not think worse of them than they deserve . but religion is not a matter of theory and orthodox notions , and it is not enough to believe aright , but we must practise accordingly ; and to master our passions , and to make a right use of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and power that god has given us over our own actions , is a greater glory than all other accomplishments that can adorn the mind of man ; and therefore i shall close my character of this great personage with a touch upon some of those vertues , for which his memory will be pretious to all posterity . he was a person of great humility ; and notwithstanding his stupendious parts , and learning , and eminency of place , he had nothing in him of pride and humour , but was courteous and affable , and of easie access , and would lend a ready ear to the complaints , yea to the impertinencies of the meanest persons . his humility was coupled with an extraordinary piety ; and , i believe , he spent the greatest part of his time in heaven ; his solemn hours of prayer took up a considerable portion of his life ; and we are not to doubt , but he had learn'd of st. paul to pray continually ; and that occasional ejaculations , and frequent aspirations and emigrations of his soul after god , made up the best part of his devotions . but he was not onely a good man god-ward , but he was come to the top of st. peter's gradation , and to all his other vertues added a large and diffusive charity : and , whoever compares his plentiful incomes , with the inconsiderable estate he left at his death , will be easily convinc'd that charity was steward for a great proportion of his revenue . but the hungry that he fed , and the naked that he cloath'd , and the distress'd that he supply'd and the fatherless that he provided for ; the poor children that he put to apprentice , and brought up at school , and maintain'd at the university , will now sound a trumpet to that charity which he dispersed with his right hand , but would not suffer his left hand to have any knowledge of it . to summ up all in a few words ; this great prelate he had the good humour of a gentleman , the eloquence of an orator , the fancy of a poet , the acuteness of a schoolman , the profoundness of a philosopher , the wisdom of a counsellor , the sagacity of a prophet , the reason of an angel , and the piety of a saint : he had devotion enough for a cloyster , learning enough for an university , and wit enough for a colledge of virtuosi 〈…〉 ; and , had his parts and endowments been parcell'd out among his poor clergy that he left behind him , it would perhaps have made one of the best diocese in the world. but alas ! our father , our father , the horses of our israel , and the chariot thereof ; he is gone , and has carried his mantle and his spirit along with him up to heaven ; and the sons of the prophets have lost all their beauty and lustre which they enjoy'd only from the reflexion of his excellencies , which were bright and radiant enough to cast a glory upon a whole order of men. but the sun of this our world after many attempts to break through the crust of an earthly body , is at last swallow'd up in the great vortex of eternity , and there all his maculae are scatter'd and dissolv'd , and he is fixt in an orb of glory , and shines among his brethren-stars , that in their several ages gave light to the world , and turn'd many souls unto righteousness ; and we that are left behind , though we can never reach his perfections , must study to imitate his vertues , that we may at last come to sit at his feet in the mansions of glory ; which god grant for his infinite mercies in jesus christ : to whom , with the father , through the eternal spirit , be ascribed all honour and glory , worship and thanks-giving , love and obedienee , now and for evermore . amen . finis . books and ser 〈…〉 written by jer. ta late lord bishop of down and conor . eniautos , a course of sermons for all the sundays of the year ; together with a discourse of the divine institution , necessity , sacredness and separation of the office ministerial , in folio . 2. the history of the life and death of the ever-blessed jesus christ , the 3d. edit . in fol. 3. the rule and exercises of holy living , in 8. 4. the rule and exercises of holy dying , in 8. 5. the golden grove , or 〈◊〉 of daily prayers , fitted 〈◊〉 days of the week , together with a short method of peace and holiness , in 12. 6. a collection of polemical and moral discourses , in 〈◊〉 newly reprinted . 7. a discourse of the nature , offices , and measure of friendship , in 12. new . 8. a collection of offices or forms of prayer , fitted to the needs of all christians , taken out of the scriptures and ancient liturgies of several churches , especially the greek , together with the psalter or psalms of david after the kings translation in a large 8. newly published . 7. ductor dubitantium , or the rule of conscience , fol. in two volumes . 10. the doctrine and practice of repentance , describing the necessities of a strict , a holy and a christian life : serving as a necessary supplement unto the rule of conscience . 11 , ` 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a supplement to the ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or course of sermons for the whole 〈◊〉 all that have been 〈◊〉 published ( since the 〈◊〉 ) to which is adjoyned , his advice to the clergy of his diocese . 12. the worthy commu 〈…〉 cant , or a discourse of the nature , effects , and blessings consequent to the worthy receiving of the lord's supper , printed for j. martin . 13. a discourse of confirmation in 8o. new . 14. a dissuasive from popery , in 8o. new . first part : 15. the second part of the dissuasive from popery : in vindication of the first , in 4o. new . a funeral sermon , preached at the obsequies of the right reverend father in god , the lord bishop of down . all sold by r. royston . a sermon preached at stanton-harcourt church in the county of oxford, at the funerall of the honourable the lady ann harcourt, who deceased aug. 23, 1664 together with her funerall speech. hall, edmund, 1619 or 20-1687. 1664 approx. 91 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44880 wing h329 estc r20425 12677481 ocm 12677481 65595 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44880) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65595) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 356:5) a sermon preached at stanton-harcourt church in the county of oxford, at the funerall of the honourable the lady ann harcourt, who deceased aug. 23, 1664 together with her funerall speech. hall, edmund, 1619 or 20-1687. [6], 64 p. printed by a. & l. lichfield ..., oxford : 1664. epistle dedicatory signed: e. hall. errata: p. 64. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng harcourt, ann, -lady, d. 1664. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2004-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at stanton-harcourt church , in the county of oxford ; at the funerall of the honourable the lady ann harcovrt , who deceased aug. 23. 1664 together with her funerall speech . oxford , printed by a. & l. lichfield , printers to the vniversity , anno dom. 1664. to the right worshipfull sr philip harcovrt kt. of stanton-harcourt , in the county of oxford . sir in obedience to your commands ( for such to me are your requests ) and that i might give a publike testimony of my gratitude for all your favours , and bounty towards me , i have pressed the ensuing sermon for your service , & prefixt your name , as having the greatest right thereto . t is the first sermon , of this kind , that ever i made , and i hope 't will be the last on so sad an occasion . i acknowledge that not long before , at the intreaty and tears of two poor orphans , and the importunity of their friends , i ( having , god is my witness , no other end then charity , to save the distressed orphans charges , and bury their dead father decently ) preached at his funeral , a sermon made long before upon another occasion . this innocent act , some have endeavoured to asperse , pretending ( as you have heard ) that some men of worth and note , have highly censured me for it . which i cannot believe ; 't is below their worth to wrong open innocence . indeed we read of a man of a great name ( alexander ) that wronged st paul ; but of no worth , he was a copper-smith . i cannot think men of worth , let their names be never so great , will take up here the tinkers office , 't is too smutty for them . sir , the coare lies here ; your pitching upon so worthlesse and inconsiderable a person as my self , for such honourable imployment as this , has begot a heart-burning in some narrow breasted persons , which breakes out into such kind of groundless aspersions : as if i affected popularity , and pharisee like desired to be seen and heard in publick : whereas ( the lord knowes ) i no more delight in it , then the deformed cripple , to be seen on a theatre . had i sought this honour , so much grudg'd me , i acknowledge i had justly deserv'd the censure of being arrogant : had i deny'd you , who , that knowes my obligations , could accuse me of lesse then high ingratitude ? i am confident , persons of farre higher worth were invited first to this noble task , and t is our unhappyness we injoy'd them not ; their high parts would farre better have become this scene : but , but let me say , none could have more pathetically performed the part of a mourner then my self . many might have done it with greater skill and parts , but none with stronger affection . sir what i here have brought , is so mean , that with greif and blushing i present it . i know your goodness will bate it something , upon the score of grief , that stupefyes , and at that time i was overwhelmed with . you must expect nothing that 's florid either in sermon or ensuing speech . non est conveniens luctibus ille color . i presume you 'l find truth plain and pertinent in them both . the last is justly culpable , non in regard of what is , but what is not ( that ought to be ) said : all there is generally known to be truth ; but that all , amounts not to half of what 's due to her you justly loved so dearly . however , knowing that your modesty had rather i erred on this , then the other extreme ; and presuming your generosity will courteously accept of weak things well meant ; i humbly put my self at your feet , and this poore thing into your hand , and begge nothing but your pardon for it : doe your self , and it that right , in reading it as to agnoscere quod dei est , and vouchsafe the authour the favour as to ignoscere quod hominis est , so will you eternally oblige sir your most humbly devoted servant e. hall. ezekiel 24. v. 16. son of man , behold , i take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroak . this sable sceane bespeakes our sorrow and has drawn us hither , as you see , to tread the mournfull stage this day in a drooping stateliness , whether we are come to pay the last kisses of an honourable farewell , in a tribute of tears , justly due to the herse of the lady ann harcovrt . for this end , i have chosen this apposite text , which when i have repeated , i may close my book , sit down in sorrow , and in tears take up our saviours words and say , this day is this scripture fullfilled in your eies . it sounds like thunder in all our eares , and like a thunder bolt thrown from the hand of the almighty , seemes to shiver that soul of her nearest relation , who erst while was giving it up to her , that she might live . but that must not be , heaven's decree must be as well obey'd as fear'd , which speaks this day , as it did to this holy man of god here in my text ; son of man behold i take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroak . the text is a sorrowfull and unexpected , but peremptory message from god to the prophet . in it we may observe , the agent , and the patients . the agent , god. the patients are , 1 the prophet the looser , and the person lost his wife . but we shall take the words as they fall , wherein there are these five things observable . 1. the title given to the prophet son of man. 2. his duty injoyned him , imply'd in the word behold . 3. the authour of this , l. 4. the sad message exprest take away the desire of thine eyes . 5. the manner how , with a stroak . of these i shall breifly touch in their order . 1. of the title given to this eminent servant of god , son of man , in the hebrew tis ben adam . adam , was the name of the first man , the father of mankind , and he had his name from red earth , out of which he was formed . this name , though it be common to his posterity , yet since the fall , the scripture useth thereby to denote the weakness or the wickedness of man , as iob 25.6 . bildad styles ben adam , a worme , i. e. a weak inconsiderable creature , non solum quia sicut vermis ex corruptione nascitur ; sed quia abibit tandem in vermes . pineda ex philip. a creature of no continuance , or stability , wormes meate . in 1 sam. 26.19 . there , ben adam , signifies a wicked man : if they be children of men that have stir'd thee up against me , cursed be they : there bene adam signifies wicked men , the incendiaries of a king against his loyal subjects are wicked men , and deserve to be accursed . likewise in ps. 57.4 . my soul is amongst lyons , even the sons of men , i. e. wicked men . the hebrew language wants not words to set forth a man of worth ; they style him ish , from esh , fyre , importing life , spirit , and vigor inhi ps. 49.2 . we find both here mean men , and men of worth set down under a various expression : gam bene adam gam bene ish ; which our english for want of fit words have in our language rendred both high and low , but learned tremelius more aptly in the latine , tum nati plebeo homine , tum nati praestanti viro. after the same manner the grecians distinguish of men ; they call the vulgar men by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a suspiciendo sursum . i. e. he looks upward for help , being helplesse in himself , but men of worth and quality , they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vitruous . we find both these in herodotus speaking thus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . there are ( saith he ) many men , but few virtuous magnanimous men in the world . but can there no better title be found for ezekiel , then ben adam , which is a diminitive title at the best ? his name , birth , worth , and parts be speak him great ; his name , saies origen and hierom , signifies dei imperium , seu fortitudinem dei , and such as his name was , such was he , strengthned by god , and mighty with him ; his birth was honourable , and his parts , and piety answerable to his birth ; st. hierom on ezek. c. 47. calls him for his profound parts , scripturarum oceanum & mysteriorum labyrinthum , & in another place , sui seculi portentum . epiphanius and adricomius say he was an eminent martyr : certainly with men , he was great ; but now god comes to speak to him , he 'l make him know that he is but ben adam , a poor , weak , helpless , inconsiderable creature , full of sin , and imperfection . obs. 1. when god comes to deal with men of high degree , and eminent parts , he 'l make them know they are but low , worthless , meane and helpless creatures . great men in learning , are apt to idolize their guifts and indowments ; they , for the most part , sit without the gunshot of controll ; few dare say to them , what dost thou ? they have more flatterers then friends , who , as sutors for their favour , by their flattering applauses , stand like magnifying glasses before them , and make them seem bigger then they are . thus herods eloquence must be extold to the skies , and he deified . a scholer that by his parts has got the popular applause , how strangely , oft times , may we observe him to be puffed up , how he states it , and struts it in his fancy , thinking the heads of his betters , scarce ground good enough for him to put the sole of his foot upon . t is not only so , with men of great guifts , but graces also ; which made our learned and religious fox say , he got hurt by his graces , and good by his sins , his graces puffed him up . thus also t is with men of great wealth , as solomon observes , the rich mans wealth is his strong city , which he opposeth to any right or reason ; it exalts them in their thoughts and words ; might , and power , and honour , and majesty , is the common dialect they discourse in . dan. 4.30 . is not this great babylon that i have built by the might of my power , and for the honour of my majesty . hence it comes to pass , that they quite forget themselves ; and now god comes as their remembrancer . iob was a man eminent in guifts and graces , and so highly confident he was of them , that in the end of his last defence iob 31. he challengeth god to come forth against him : and in c. 38. god comes forth to coole the courage and pull down the confidence of iob ; now you find iob chap. 24.6 . alter'd of a sudden . he that shone in his integrity before , like the sun ; when devine brightness appeares , now goes out , he shrivels himself now to nothing , and creeps into the dust again from whence he came . * i abhorr my self in dust and ashes . thus doth god , when he comes to deal with men of great power and wealth , he humbles them , he makes them know themselves . so he dealt with that lofty king nebuchadnezar , he made him know that all his honour and wealth and power , was not in his own keeping , and he makes him confess it . st hierom observes in his hebrew questions on 2 chron. 24.17 . that king ioash being exalted to the throne , became so proud , that he permitted himself to be worshiped as god. and cassian observes , that god punish'd him with such loathsome diseases that all his freinds forsook him , and god did it , saith he , instit. lib. 16. cap. 21. ut carnis ignominiosa contagio patefaceret immunditiam cordis ejus occultam , quam superbiae mal● contraxerat , ac manifesta pollutione corporis probaretur impurus , qu● elatione spiritus factum se non sentiebat immundum ; that the ignominious contagion of his flesh , might open the secret uncleaness of his heart , which by the evil of pride he had gotten , and by the manifest polution of his body , he mihgt be prov'd impure , who by the pride of his heart did not perceive himself to be capable of polution . when great men wil make themselves gods , god will make them know they are but a lye , they are bene adam , gods of red earth , and unto that their godships must return : and when god comes to sit amongst these gods , he 'l make them know so much . psal. 82. i have said ye are gods , but ye shall dye like men . this should teach men of great guifts and graces , and those of high place and eminency , to carry themselves humbly , remembring always that ther 's one higher than they , that always eyes them . he is no respector of persons , he hates pride in great men as much as in men of low degree , and when he comes to deale with the mighty monarches of the earth , he 'l make them confess as nebuchadnezar did , that those that walke proudly , he is able to debase them ; he 'l not spare any be they never so neare or deare to him . the blessed virgin herselfe the mother of our lord , if she meddle with things to high for her , though christ as man be her obedient son , yet as god he will sharply rebuke her , 2 ioh. 4. woman what have i to doe with thee ? these words ( what ever the papists and some other say ) are acknowledged by the fathers to be a sharp rebuke . 't is v●x indignationis says athanasius and chrysost. 't is vox reprehensionis , says augustine : 't is vox repulsae , says irenaeus . i conclude this then with the words of the psalmist , blessed is he that feareth always ; 't is the safest way for great men in gifts and eminency to walk in a reverential feare , and holy awe of him who is higher than they . i pass from the title given to the prophet to the duty injoyned him . 2. behold , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hinne god was now about to bring the dreadfullest national judgment that ever befell judah . the temple of solomon , the arke of the covenant , together with the city and its glory , are now to be taken away from them , which was the delight of their eyes , and the crown of their glory . and as a certain and infallible signe of this , god will by a sudden and heart cutting stroake upon the prophets family make that the type of it ; and therefore the lord injoynes the prophet here to behold it . behold . it implyes attention joyned with trembling & wonder . and then , behold , so as certainly to be assured of what i am about to doe : so much the word in scripture carryes in it . 2 , obs. god's severe judgments upon a family or nation call for our most serious attention . this is that god looks for from his people when he afflicts them , isay. 22.12 , 13 : at such a time the lord by his afflictions calls for weeping and mourning and guirding with sackcloath . this the saints have practised , ps. 119.120 , my flesh trembleth for fear of thee , and i am afraid of thy judgments . if the lyon roare the beasts of the forrest tremble , and shall not the creature tremble when the creator thunders out with his judgments upon them ? 't is sensless stupidity , madness , and folly to be smitten by god in our persons , relations , or families and not to feel it , not to grieve for it , nor bewaile it . he that thinks to gain the name of valiant by a sturdy outfacing his greif under the afflicting hand of god , is quite mistaken , for he shall but gain amongst the wise the name of frantick and fool hardy mad-man ; so says st. augustine , gloriatur de viribus propria voluntatis tanquam de stupore morbi , non de robore sanitatis , insania oft ista gloriatio , non est patientiae sed dementiae , august . de patient . cap. 23. hear how the prophet ieremiah complain● of such , cap. 5. vers . 3. thou hast smitten them but they have not sorrowed , they have made their faces harder than a stone , there is no stone so hard but the hammer will break it , but god's hammer of affliction did not break them ▪ moses smote the rock and it gushed out water ; but god smits the hard harted sinners in their relations , estates , and no penitential waters flow from them ; these are such desperate sinners , that they seem to be past hope of recovery ; there is as much hope of a clod of earth to be made rational as these to be reclaimed , and the same prophet insinuates as much , 22. ier. 30 : when he leves sensless sinners and cries out , o earth , earth , earth , hear the word of the lord , what 's the word ? why write this man childless , a man that shall not prosper ; he is rather an inanimate clod , than a man hat takes not to heart such judgments ; yet such stocks there are that are twice dead , the●r consciences being feared with hot irons of hell ; mark the doome of such desperate contemners of god's judgments ; since god intended them as instruments of their convertion , and they abuse them , 22 isay 13 ; insteed of mourning and weeping there was joy and gladness , slaying of oxen , and killing of sheep , eating flesh and drinking wine , let us eate and drink for to morrow wee shall dye . surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till yee dye ; after contempt of god's judgments upon us comes death . oh beloved take heed how you carry your selves under the hand of god afflicting you . behold it with such serious meditation of the goodness and severity of god , as that it may raise up sutable affections in you , rom. 11.22 . eye his severity with submission , fear and trembling ; eye his goodness with adoration and thankfulness . behold them so as to bewaile them , chiefly the cause of them . though fooles may make light of such doleful dispensations , yet the prudent will lay them to heart , amos 3.6 . but what is it , the prophet is injoyned to behold ? this leads me to the third thing observable in the text ; which is the object matter of the injunction , which is : the judgment exprest , with the author and the manner of it : we cannot seperate them . the agent , is the lord , i , the soveraign of the vniverse : the judgment express'd , is , take away the desire of thine eyes : the manner how , with a stroak . the desire of thine eyes . i 'le omit the various readings of the phrase , since they all agree in the sense ▪ the desire of thine eyes , is thy wife , a wife being to every virtuous man the delight of his eyes , the only amiable and delightfull object god in the world hath given him ; nihil enim ( saies hierom on the place ) vire , vxore bonâ amabilius , quae a deo homini providetur . she might be the desire of his eyes , as a beautiful person ; and without sinne , since by instinct of nature all men owe a kind of homage to it ; beauty being the guift of god , as heathens and christians grant ; * hac tua sunt , domine , bona sunt , quia tu bonus ista creasti . 't is the bountiful advantage of divine creation says tertullian , and the comely ornament of the soul ; 't is to the gracious soul as a rich enamel to a choise jewel . as she was ( which in charity we may judg , being a prophets wife ) a gracious woman , she might be the desire of his eye , and joy of his heart . or merely as she was his wife , she might justly be the desire of his eyes , 1 cor. 11.7 . st. paul says , the woman is the glory of the man. how his glory ? that he should be the head of a creature equal to him , in understanding , will , liberty , and in all other divine privileges , as wisdome , grace and glory , of which she is capable . to be the head of so excellent divine a creature , is the top of his glory . she is ( says salmeron ) in●●gne viri ornaementum . so that she might well be , as his wife , the desire of his eyes . well , be she so to him , however , god is now about to take her away , but how ? by a stroake , morte repentina , suddenly , some think by the plague , but that 's uncertaine , the word being of general use for all the plagues in egypt . however t was suddainly , for vers . 18 ; he preacht in the morning to the people , and she dyed in the afer-noone . now lay all this together , and what a sad face of sorrow will here appeare ? that she who was his wife , and the bosome friend , the cabinet of his heart , where he safely layd up all his secrets , his comforter in sorrow , his physician in sickness , his loving and pleasant friend in prosperity , and his sure and trusty friend in adversity : that she should suddenly , unexpectedly , be taken from him ; that she who last night layd her lovely face in his bosome , and with her loving armes embraced him , should this night lay them in the grave ; what can we gather hence ? will fruit be found upon such thorns as these ? yes , from these thorns we may gather these grapes . 3. obs. that the choisest comforts and the dearest imployments of this life are uncertaine and mutable . and then for the circumstantial aggravation of this affliction , 't is on a sudden , and the prophet is cal'd upon to attend . who would not have gladly shut his eyes , and stopt his eares at this ? but 't is otherwise , the prophet is call'd as 't were to stand at the block while the fatal blow is struck , he must behold it ; the good man nearest concern'd , must be the chief spectator . 4. obs. that god oft times exerciseth his choise and eminent servants with most sharp and sore temporal losses and afflictions . lastly , as this affliction was a type of future judgments to come upon the nation observe . 5. obs. that many times sharp afflictions on the godly are certain presages of the wickeds judgment at hand . we return to the 3d obs. 3. obs. that the choisest saints of god can call none of these earthly enjoyments certain good things : god can take them away by a stroak , they are mutable . riches are god's blessings , but they make them selves wings and fly away as wel from saints as sinners , as well from iob as nebuchadnezar . he that to day had his table spread with dainties , that could wash his footsteps in butter , to morrow may have none to put in his belly . this word , take away , spoiles all . if god the great hous-keeper of the world say , take away , before we have halfe satisfied our selves , the full table is presently voided , and then ( as hugo victor , in psal. 24. ) dum gustu appetitum provocant , transitu desiderium fraudant . whiles they provoke the appetite to tast of them , they deceive the desire in their sudden departure . a good wife is a great blessing and guift of god , but they we see are uncertain to . faithful abraham's sara the wife of his bosome dyes away from him . and holy iacob's rachel , beautiful , and best beloved rachel , fruitful rachel , this fruitful tree is cut down in the time of fruit bearing . a good name is the greatest of temporall blessings ; christ had it most deservingly , yet he could not keep it ; they counted him a wine-bibber , a friend to publicans and sinners . they layd to his charge two of the higest crimes against first and second table ; blasphemy , and usurpation . they accounted of him but as a magician , on that wrought by the divels help . our time of living here , 't is the choisest tallent that we have , upon it depends our eternal woe or welfare . life , it is that which gives the main injoyment to all the comforts we possess . who can define it ? he best defin'd it that did not define it , that sayd , 't was nescio quid , a certain sweet thing i know not what , 't is beyond all paralel ; yet see what the scripture says of its uncertainty ; 't is compared to grass , to the flower of the field , that is subject to be eaten up by cattel , or trodden down , or gathered by the passenger . if it outstand these , ere long it blossoms , withers , and dyes ; such is our life , in our best estate we are altogether vanity , because uncertain and mutable , psal. 39.5 : therefore solomon in prov. 31.8 . calls the sons of men , bene haloph children of chang . iob compares our life to a post , a ship , and an eagle hasting to her prey . observe the climax : a post makes hast , stays not , rides night and day ; but he will at last tyre , and then he must ly down : therefore he takes up a stronger comparison , and compares our life to a ship sayling , that tyres not : but wind and tyde may faile and then she stands still ; therefore he compares our life to an eagle , sharp set in pursuing her prey . an eagle is the swiftest and strongest of long wing'd hawkes , what flyes stronger and swifter than she ? such is our time here , it flyes away upon a swift wing , and death when it makes a stoop at us maks no canceleire . well then , since all our earthly injoyments are of no certain continuance , le ts learn hence these three lessons . be not vainly confident in the possessing of them ; 't is a vanity in a great person to build strong presumptions upon worldly props that are tottering and weak ; the psalmist excellently turnes their hearts outward , ps. 49.11 that the posterities to come may decline that vanity ; he speaks of worldly rich men , and tels you their purposes , thoughts and designes ; god has blest them with estates and prosperity ; and now their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever ; doe they think to live for ever ? no , but they intend their posterity shall live for ever , and keep up the state and grandure of the family , therefore they call their houses after their name , says he ; they think , now god has blest them with a numerous off-spring , that nodosa quadam aeternitate , their name shall be kept up for ever : but what says the psalmist , this their way i. e. their contrivance , is their folly , vers . 13 : to build such high presumptions on such rotten props is their folly : and they find it so , for in the next words , says he , they goe down to hell like sheep , and death feeds on them : how like sheep ? why , like as silly sheep in a fat pasture , feed and play , and fear nothing , though the butcher come and fetch away , now one , then an other ; which startles them for the present , but that being over , they fall to feed and play again , until the butcher by little and little fetch them all away at last . so doe these worldly confident men , who are fed to the full , and have enough to keep up greatness to posterity , who securely , wantonly and haughtily , vant it in their thoughts that they shall continue for ever ; find death like a slaughterman ever and aanon come amongst them , now taking a daughter , then a son , anon a wife , 'till at last all the props they trusted in be taken quite away . how oft doe we see it come thus to pass , that many great families are quite taken away from their great estates ( like sheep out of a fat pasture ) and the estate passes into an other name and family . i will conclude this with that wise king's counsel , pr. 27.1 . boast not thy selfe of to morrow , for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth . the word halal signifying to boast , signifies also to be madd . q. d. 't is madness and folly in men of wealth and greatness , to think to build their nests among the stars , when they are not sure of injoying any thing they have a whole day . the family of eli , which was the greatest in israel in the morning , its props were cut down ere night , and the rest destin'd to perpetual beggery ; and iob liv'd to see himselfe in one day stript of all that he could call good in this world . the chaldee therefore reads the text thus , for thou knowest not what this day may bring forth . that day that belshazar was priding himselfe in his greatness , he fell . let me speak then to you rich and great men in the apostles word , charge the rich in this world that they be not high minded ▪ nor trust in uncertain riches . the more confident you are , the less secure , especially if you belong to god , qualibet elatio tanto citius rumpitur , quanto amplius inflatur . greg. ep. 2. moderate your affections to the world , and the things of the world . you are certain of nothing but this , that you have not long time in them . we are no free-holders here , at most but tenents at will. you that are great lords of lands you may set for three lives : but you your selves have but one in your estates , and that a short uncertaine one . observe the inference , paul draws from this , the time is short , 1 cor. 7.29 . what then ? not , let us eate and drink , for to morrow we shall dye ; but , let them that have wives be as if they had none , and they that weep , as if they wept not , and they that rejoyce , as if they rejoyced not , and they that buy , as if they possessed not , and they that use this world as not abusing it , for the fashion of this world passeth away . the time is short , for so much as remaines of it to be folded up ; so learned beza and pareus read it , making no comma in the words , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . beza so reads it from the authority of many ancient copies . paraeus saith , the apostle useth here a metaphor taken from sayles ( quae cum navis prope portam est , contrahi solent . when the ship comes neare her port , the saylors take in the main sayles , leave only one small one abroad then . ) so that the meaning seems to be this , that time which hath for 5000 yeares been furling up , is now drawn into a narrow compass , the end is at hand , we are entring the haven of eternity : if time be short , then all the things that depend upon it are short : if time it selfe shall be no more , after a few dayes , then all these things we injoy must be no more : then 't is high time to moderate your affections towards houses , lands , children , wives , and every thing you possess , for they are not to be yours after a few dayes ; use the world as a pilgrim his inn , saith augustin tract . 40. in iohan. utere mundo quemadmodum viator in stabulo ; utitur mensa , calice , urceo dimissurus non permansurus : and the argument in the close of the apostles words is cogent ; for the fashion of this world passeth away , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ the pageantry , the shew , the things of this world are but mere outside things ; like a pageant , gold without and pastboard within ; and then , they pass by as a shew that goes along the streets : it s soon gone ▪ the heathen could say of worldly things , hoc unum scio omnia mortalium opera mortalitate damnata : inter peritura , vivimus : sen. ep. 91. oh beloved , think oft with your selvs what it is you so dote on , you so love , so insatiably thirst after ; why t is that that is vanity , & of no continuance . who would venture his life , for the gathering a flower that he knowes will soon wither in his hand ? tertullian wonders at the romans , that they should indure such hardship , and run such hazards , to gain a consulship , which was but for a year ; 't was but , saith he , unius anni volaticum gaudium ; may not we much more wonder at christians , who spend all their time , wits , strength and spirits , to enjoy that which for ought they know , is but unius horae volaticum gaudium ; for ought they know , god may say , this night shall all be taken from thee . 2. since the choisest of our earthly enjoyments are perishing , mutable and uncertain : let this teach us to put a true estimate on those things that are eternal , that are perminent . had the young man in the gospel , but consider'd , what was promised him , if he would sell all , he would , no doubt have cheerfully performed what christ required . t was treasure in heaven was promised him . the least treasure of heaven is worth all the worlds possession , because eternall : had the young man put eternal into the scale with his great possessions , they would have seemed no more great in his eye ; but this curse of the young mans , is that which falls upon us ; men are like bruit beasts , wholely taken up with sensuality , and devoted to temporall things ; but the things which are not seen , which are eternall , are contemned and slighted and laught at ; their carnall minds are enimies to such things , they are foolishness to them : the reason is , because they see no farther then what they sensually apprehend , they cannot see ( as st. peter says ) a farre off ; and therefore men affect , what they sensually apprehend , which can goe no higher then sensuall things , things which are seen , which are temporall . pray therefore , again and again , that god would inlighten your minds , by faith , to see the excellency of things that are eternall ; nothing but this , will lessen the world to you ; what are great possessions , honours , crowns , to eternity ? to be made a king for a day , and ever after a begger ; what comfort can this be ? but he that hath an interest in christ , is made a king for ever ; what is it to have an hour , or two's pleasure , and ever after live in a dungeon ? these profits , pleasures , honours , riches , are but for a moment , and leave a sting behind them , but the pleasures , profits , honours , of heaven are eternall ; life eternall , ioyes and pleasures at his righ hand for ever more , crowns incorruptible , and many such scripturall expressions . this made moses throw away his honours , titles , court favours . heb. 11.24 . aegypts treasures : and what did he exchange these things for ? he exchanged these things for suffering , v. 25. for reproaches , for the wrath of the king. reason would think the man madd . indeed had this been all he had exchanged for , he had been of all men most foolish and miserable ; no , moses could see that aegypts greatness , power , dignity , was uncertain ; had he been invested in it all , it could not long have continued : that would have gone from ●im , or he from that . but he , v. 27. saw him that is invisible , by faith he looked to an eternall reward , to the favour of an eternall king. how little doe wives , houses , honours , seem to that soul , that by faith , sees an eternall bridgroom , a house eternall in the heavens , and an eternall crown fitted for his head ; they seem no more then mole hills to mighty mountaines . from the circumstantial aggravations of the affliction to this holy prophet , as the nearness , and dearness of the person taken from him , the suddenness of it , with a stroak , and the certainty of it , god himself saith it , and who can reverse ? and the prophet that was nearest concern'd , must be the first informed of it , and the chief spectator of this dreadfull blow . obs. 4. that god oftimes exerciseth his choisest servants with sharpest afflictions , with heart cutting lashes of providence , and that suddenly , unexpectedly , , and very heavily . in handling this ( which i cheifly intended ) i le doe these three things : 1. shew that 't is so , 2. why 't is so , 3. apply it . 1. that it is so , scripture examples prove it . examples of this , are as old as the world . so soon as god set up a school , a church , in the world , we find a severe rod in it ; 't was signed with the crosse in its infancy . we may begin with adam and eve ( the true servants of god we beleive : ) when god had blest them with an off-spring , the greatest of temporall blessings , therein sweetning their sorrows with the pleasure of society ; no sooner are the two sons ( the crown of their parents glory , and the ground of their future hope ) grown to be usefull to their parents , but they are both in a moment taken from them ; the one by murder , the other , by banishment : thus their sun sets at noone : abel the delight of their eyes , is become the mornfull object of their tears ; probably this their dear son , was one of the first gastly sights of death that they had seen , which must needs be irksome : the son of their joy , is become the subject of their sorrow , their cro●n of glory , is quickly turned into a crown of thorns . abraham a faithfull servant of god , a choice one , yet we find him loaded also with the cross , has he rich kindred , and great and fair possessions , richly seated ? he must leave them all , and turn pilgrim : has he a beautifull and beloved sarah , the wife of his bosome , the desire of his eyes , the one half of himself ? we find gen. 12.1 to 10. his fear to be such ( amongst barbarians not groundless ) that he sacrifices this half of himself to their lusts , to keep his other half secure : this must need be a heart cutting act : how hard was his condition that whiles , think you , that was inforced upon such inconveniencies to seek his bread . trace him on in the passage of his life , and every step he treads , almost , is upon a thorne . pregnant hagar , from whom he hoped to have issue , must be turned out of doors ; no fruitfull tree must stand in his orchard long : lot his kinsman and companion , growes to great to stay with him , they must part to prevent further mischeif . hagar's receiv'd again , she brings forth an ishmael , abrahams joy ; but of a sudden root and branch muh be pluckt up , and thown away , they must goe into perpetual banishment . but now the heart peircing affliction of all coms upon him ; isaac the son of the promise , the prop of his future hopes , the delight of abraham ; and sarah's eye , the joy of their lives , and the very marrow of their souls , must now by the command of god be sacrificed , and who must cut his throat , but the father that begat him . iob the servant of god , none like him for piety , nor any like him for sufferings . he that was so rich in outward good things , was in a day bereftof all , and made poor even to a proverb . but the soul peircing affliction was , the taking away his seven sons & three daughters with a sudden stroak ; the staff and comfort of his old age was broken in a moment . reflect a little , you that are parents , upon this affliction . would it not be think you , a sad sight to see one of your godly neighbours following ten of his childrens herses to the grave at once ? iobs case is yet worse , for he must first pull his childerns torn limbs out of the jawes of this cruell lyon , he must repleive them out of deaths hold , before he could lay them in natures bed , the grave : he must go forth now to stare on grisly death drest in its most gastly shapes : here he must pluck out one dear child in his gore blood , there another with his limbs broken and mangled , here a daughter ded in her brothers armes , there another , but which he knows not , her wounds have so disfigur'd her ; perhaps another , or two anon he finds gasping out their last , and then expiring for want of timely succour ▪ are not these things probable : but throw away these black surmises , and at the best , judge how sad would it be for a man to have ten children all alive and lusty in thee morning , and all of these to be laid dead at his feet before night ! this was holy iobs case this to our purpose is observable as an aggravation of all his afflictions , they are brought in with a kind of behold , to the good man ; one still is let escape , to bring the unwellcome news to him . read iob 1. david a man after gods own heart , design'd for greatnesse from his youth : he had as fair a stock to begin with , as ever man had , he was both honoured and beloved at once of all the people , the city and the country , the army and the court , all they cry up david for the only worthy , and high deserving man , they all put the garland upon his victorious brow , the king gives him his daughter to wife . who in his condition would have dreamed of crosses ? but alas ! his rise is intended for his ruine . saul intended to make a halter of his garland ; the court had like to have been davids charnall house ; davids fingers did not play there so quick upon his harp-strings , as sauls envy plaid upon davids heart-strings . on a sudden the desire of his eyes , his new betrothed wife is taken from him , he banished the court , and inforced to fly for his life ; he that was yesterday the kings son in law , is to day proclaimed traytour . thus t is evident , that god hath exercised his choisest servants , with sore and unexpected crosses and afflictions . reas. the second thing to be inquired into , is , why god thus exerciseth them ? to give a reason of the various dispensations of his providences to men here below , is so grand a mystery that reason cannot find it out . this iob excellently cleares . c. 28. v. 12. he propounds the question , and in the following verses answers it , that t is not by humane invention to be found out , the depth saith t is not in me , and the sea saith t is not in me , neither can gold or precious stones purchase this knowledge . that it should goe well with the wicked , and ill with the godly , hath not only stagger'd the heathens , but hath made sometimes the saints in a pett to quarrell at it . psal. 73. v. 2. to 13. it made david repiningly say , i have cleansed my heart in vain , for all the day long have i been plagued ; and when he seeks to know the reason of this , v. 16. he confesseth 't was to hard for him . what does he doe in this case ? v. 17. he went into the sanctuary of god. so let us , to find a reason of these things , and there we shall find that the alwise and gracious father , sees affliction necessary for his choisest servants , in order to their good . nulla causa ( saith august . ) probabiliter occurrit , cur justi homines in hac vita laborant , nisi quia hoc iis expedit . t is needfull for them to be afflicted . ther 's a twofold good , privative , and positive that god aimes at in afflicting his servants . 1 in order to their privative good , a necessity of afflicting them ariseth from two evils that the best of saints are infested with in this life : sin within , and temptations without . 1. sin with in them : originall sin is still an inmate in the regenerate ; though it be pardoned & mortified that it shall not reign in them . they attain ( saith aug. ) to a ne regnet , yet they doe not ( as he saith ) attaine to a ne sit of s●n : the reliques of the old man still remaine in us , it came with us from the womb , and 't will bear us company to the grave , till death part us . though the tree be cut down , the root remains , and will without diligent watching sprout , and bring forth bitter fruit to our sorrow : as it did in david and pe●er , and other saints . god whose spirituall eye lookes through and through us , sees in the best of us many secret enormous lusts , as pride , covetousnesse , luxury , spirituall sloth , hypocricy , security and the like , which we in our prosperity discerne not ; that lye in our breasts secretly and hiddenly , like toads and noisom vermin in dark sinks and sells , which we walk over unconcerned , because we see them not . now god calls to saints in their prosperity by his providences , ( for they have a voice ) and by the ministry , to clense these hearts and cast out these vermin , that are a provocation to the pure eyes of his holynesse . how oft has god by his word called to us , love not the world , nor the things of the world ; let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouthes , no vnclean person shall enter into the kingdome of heaven , remember thou & all thy family to keep holy the sabbath , pray more constantly , be more fervent in prayer : god calls but we turn the deaf ear , and slight these calls of god , and god observes it . ier. 22.21 . i spake to thee in thy prosperity , and thou saidest , i will not hear : now god in mercy for prevention is inforced to take his rod into his hand . 2. god is necessitated to afflict his people for the prevention of evil that would arise from temptations without us ; for saints are not free from temptation neminem prorsus dei gratia facit intentabilem , saith gratian. there are two tempters , the divil and the world , without us . 1. the devil , 1. pet. 5.8 . he goes about like a roaring lyon seeking whom he may devour , like a lyon he 's greedy , subtill , active , and powerfull , he lies alwaies at the catch for us ; but because he has not immediate power over us , he useth , as his bait , 2. the world , the other temptation , which holds out , as a rich marchant its guilded ware , the lust of the eye , the lust of the flesh , and the pride of life ; this holds out the baite , that layes the snare : the divel baites his hook with that he thinks our constitutions will soonest bite at , and so catches us : so he caught david with the lust of the eye , so he caught solomon with the pride of life , and lust of the flesh . these pleasures , and profits , and honours of the world , are usually the saints greatest tempters ; for the concomitants of ease and plenty , are luxury , carnall confidence , security , which draw off the heart from god , dull their appetite to spirituall things , take off their hunger after a sacrament , and make them neglect coming to it , coole their affections , and allay that ardency which should be in prayer . as the best ground brings forth the rankest weeds in the heat of sommer , when the plow is still & comes not over it ; so many times , doth the warmth of prosperity , cause many lusts to break forth in the lives of the saints . raw fruit breeds worms in healthy persons : so doe worldly pleasures excite lusts in the best saints many times , as loosnesse , wantonnesse , and pride ; let david have but a little ease , and his mole-hill presently growes , in his proud fancy , to be a mountaine . i said in my prosperity i shall never be moved ; what ranck blood , did a little prosperity breed in this holy man ? his successe in warre , and strength of allyes raised in him presumption , that nourish'd lust , lust stole his ardency of affection from god , and that intercepted his confidence ; and now his mountaine has stole his heart from god , was it not time for god to set his mountaine on fire about his eares , in raising absolom against him , that he might fly back to the rock of his salvation . you see god is necessitated f●om the evils that are within the saints , and from the tempters without them , to afflict them for their good privatively . now from gods afflicting the saints , there ariseth a threefold privative good . 1. god by afflicting them , redresses sin in them , it makes them feel what an evil and a bitter thing it is to sin against the lord , it makes the saint to search his waies and turn unto the lord ; so it wrought upon david , before i was afflicted i went a stray , but now i have learned thy word ; afflictions like hard weather kill those sinnes , that the warmth of prosperity nourish'd . the devill by pleasures and profits invites us , as absolom did the kings sonnes to his banquet , purposely to murder ammon : so he invites us to our ruine in the gluttonns language , eat , drink , and be merry , thou hast enough , wealth enough , time enough , opportunity enough , rejoyce o young man and let thy heart cheare thee : now god in mercy to us , when he finds we are sate down to banquet , riot , and frolick it in the world , he by a rousing affliction unexpectedly comes amongst us , as absoloms murderers came in , when their hearts were merry , and made all the kings sons fly to the king their father to jerusalem ; so god sends afflictions to drive us from our lusts and deceitfull pleasures , unto him , oculos quos peccatum claudit , poena aperit , 2. another privative good that comes by gods afflicting of the saints , is , hereby sin is prevented , he like a mercyfull father and most wise physitian knowes our tempers , and what our spirituall diseases are , better then our selves , and therefore to prevent them he bloods them in the right vein ; when a saint immoderately loves any earthly injoyment , so that god seeth it drawes his affections from heaven and glory ; and from himself ( which he takes grievously ) then god in wisdome and mercy takes away that earthly comfort that his affections may turn into the right channell again ; hereby god shewes us the mutability , inconstancy & vanity of these things , and that there is no safe footing for our affections upon them . god many times dashes our designs all in peices , to prevent that security and carnall confidence , which he wisely foresees would follow , if they should take . god in mercy provides a thorne for paul to prick the tympany of pride , if it should rise in him . 't was an excellent pious speech of our king henry the sixth , i thank god , saith he , that hath given me a weake , and infirme body , that it might not be a lustfull body . a saint has as much cause to blesse god for his afflictions , as for his ordinances , we shall never be able to understand the one half of our privative mercyes which afflictions have been the cause of , till we come to heaven to account them there , to the praise of his grace and wisdome that mercifully did inflict them : lord whether would our lusts haue carried us , hadst not thou by thy corrections called us back . 3 by afflictions god prevents our damnation 1 cor 11 32 we are chastned of the lord , that we may not be condemned with the world : god hates the men of the world , and therefore chastens them not here so often as his children ; he throwes the reignes in their necks , and bids them fil up the measure of their iniquity : which is the greatest curse that can befall them ; in this sense that saying is true , tum deus irascitur cum non irascitur . the heathen could say , nothing is more unhappy to a man , then to be free from affliction , nihil mihi videtur infoelicius eo , cui nihil unquam evenit adversi , senec. de provid . here it is true , there can no greater evill befall a man , then to have his heaven here . son remember that thou receivedst thy good things in this life ( saith abraham to dives in hell ) and lazārus evill : now thou art tormented and he is comforted . god gives his saints their hell here , but their heaven hereafter ; purposely casts them into the furnace of affliction here , that he may keep them out of the firy furnace of hell hereafter . a saint may take this for his motto , periissem nisi periissem , had i not been undone in this world , i had been undone to eternity : the prodigals poverty brought him back to his fathers family . thus you see a necessity for the best saints afflictions in order to their good privatively . 2. god exerciseth his saints with smart afflictions , in order to their positive good , and that , these three waies . 1. as they are instrumentall to the turning them to god. 2. as they are exercises of their graces . 3. as they are the meanes of increasing grace . 1. god useth them as a meanes to call home and convert the elect to him . i doe not say they physically operate , for many men are the worse for affliction : but they by the gacious ordination of a divine hand , have a morrall influence upon men to their conversion . acts 16.26 , 27 , 30. by an earthquake on a sudden that shooke the foundations of the prison , and threw open the prison doores , and knockt off all the prisoners fetters ; the keeper at first apprehension of this astonishing providence would have killed himself , his conscience was so overborn with fear , but when his judgement had got the throne , he considers this could be no other but the mighty hand of god , and in the full conviction of this his will is resolved to fall down to the command of god , & now with trembling he askes what he shall he doe to be saved . oh blessed earthquake , might the goaler say , that wrought such a heart-quake in him as to make him turn to god. thus saul acts 9.3 , 4. by a sudden stroak from heaven , which struck him to the ground , v. 6. and filled him full of trembling & astonishment , it was the instrument of his conviction : hereby conscience being fill'd with fear , made the mind serious , and being under full conviction , it in an instant raised his will to a resolution , and that resolved , now commands all the affections to attend its motion , & now he cryes lord what wilt thou have me to doe ? thus afflictions , they are like a gun discharged amongst wild fowles , it startles all but it makes some fall into the fowlers hands , into christs , that by these afflictions brings them to his hand . god by sudden and unexpected afflictions comes upon a soul , as samuel came upon the bethlehemites , 1 sam. 16.4 . he makes them tremble at his comming , but he makes a king in the family ere he depart . 2. god hereby tryes and exercises his saints graces . although god doth never afflict any , but where sin is , yet he hath other ends besides afflicting them for sin ; therefore gen. 22.1 . god tempted or tryed abraham , t is not said he corrected abraham , when he said offer up thy son isaac . so god permitted all those afflictions to come upon iob , for the tryall of his graces and the exercise of them : you have heard of the patience of iob , saith the apostle , had not god exercised him with such great afflictions , we had never heard of such an eminent saint , he would have stole to his grave without being taken notice of . therefore peter saith ( 1 ep. c. 1.7 . ) to the afflicted saints , ye are now in heaviness for a time throw manyfold temptations , for what purpose ? that the tryall of your faith might be found to praise , and honour , and glory ; the saints that shall hear and see your heavenly , meek , self-denying frame of heart under all your afflictions shall praise you , & praise god for you , you shall honour the gospell , the cause you suffer for , and god shall be glorified by you , and in you . as mutius scaevola got more renown & glory to the romans by his sufferings then by his actions . so doth a saint to the cause of the gospell . a saint by sufferings seemes to say to all the world , as he , tam vile est corpus gloriam spectantibus . so contemptible are all those terrene things to us , who seek after eternal glory . if god should not thus try a christians graces , we should never come to know half their worth , nor they their own . senecae counts him an unhappy man that never was in affliction ; because neither he nor any other could know his worth . miserum te judico quod nunquā fuisti miser , transiisti sine adversario vitam ; nemo scit quid potueris , ne tu quidem ipse . as sharp incounters prove who are valiant , who cowards ; so do afflictions , who are sound , who rotten , who are built upon the sands , who on the rock . a saint has cause , as to praise god for bestowing grace , so for sending him afflictions to try the truth of his grace , for this brings him in unspeakable comfort that he is sincere . if the heathen could say , egi gratias fortunae quod experiri voluisset quanti aestimarem fidem , i thank fortune that she would try me , how much i esteemed honesty ; this i ought ( saith seneca ) to prize at a high rate , non debet mihi parvo res tanta constare ; if he a heathen could say thus , how much more ought we to praise god , that hath been pleased by his tryals of us to manifest to our own consciences and the world , that our faith and patience and selfe denyal is sincere ; a tryed christian is a happy christian , and god by afflictions tryes them . 3. god exerciseth his choice servants with great afflictions for the increase of their graces . as strong and great winds and stormes make trees fruitfull , so doe sharp afflictions make christians . every branch in christ must bring forth fruit , and god by afflictions will prune them that they may bring forth more fruit . christians that have grace in the habit , st. bazil compares to the earth , which though in its nature it be fruitful , yet unlesse the plow and harrow break and teare it , it will not only not be fruitful , but it will bring forth bryers and thorns : so will christians , unlesse god exercise them with afflictions grow secure , lazie and sensual . this made chrysostome say , that affliction is the mother of christian virtues , because it exerts the habit into act . christians that have grace in the habit , are like an organ that is well in tune ; but for want of bellows to blow , and an hand to play , they make no musick . therefore god raiseth his east wind of affliction to blow , and layes his hand upon them , and then they are melodious . as birds sing sweetest in wet weather , so doe the saints sing most melodiously amidst the storms and showres of afflictions . sharp sauces doe best quicken the appetite , heb. 12.11 : noe chastisements seem for the present to be joyous , but grievous , nevertheless afterwards it yeildeth the peaceable fruits of righteousnesse unto them that are exercised therewith ; like soile that 's unpleasant in the carrying forth , yet returnes a fruitful crop . by affliction a saint gets this farther advantage of increase , that not only the habit of grace is excited into act ; but by those frequent acts the habit also is inlarged . what st. hierom sayes of the cedar ( may be said of the saint ) that for every branch it sutes out above , it sends forth a root beneath , and this advantage it hath from the strong winds which by shaking the body , loosens the earth and makes way for the root to spread . so that by one storme it gathers strength to stand against the next . thus t is with the saint in the valley of bacor , he grows from strength to strength ; afflictions make him increase both in the habit and acts of grace ; he grows downward in the habit as well as upward in the acts of grace by affliction . thus god sees afflictions good for his saints both privatively and possitively ; give me leave briefly to add this one more . 3. god sees afflictions necessary for his saints in order to their eternal good , and that upon a twofold account . 1. by afflictions he fits and prepares them for glory , and that by drawing up their hearts and affections where their treasure is ; should not god imbitter egypt to us by heavy burdens , we should never long for , nor prepare to goe into the promis'd land , god makes our good things here mutable and fading , that we may set our affections on things above , which are permanent and unchangable . 2. afflictions sweeten and the more indear glory to come : the sharper our sorrows here , the sweeter our glory hereafter , 2 cor. 4.17 . our light afflictions work for us a farr more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . since we find this doctrine to be an evident truth , and this vast congregation are sealing it with their teares ; god hath taken away an eminent servant of his by a stroak , a stroak to the rich , and a stroak to the poore , a stroak and a heavy one to stanton harcourt ; but especially to the family of the harcourts , what should this teach us ? let not me , but the apostles exhort you , heb. 12.5 ; my son despise not thou the chastning of the lord , nor faint when thou art rebuked of him . this exhortation branche it selfe into two heads . 1 : despise not , 2 : faint not : the first you may think needlesse , and at this time i may think so to ; but such is the deceitfulnesse of our hearts , and the hardnesse of them , that though they now drop tears like rocks in a sudden storm , yet when the storm is over , they are soon dry again , and as hard as ever ; therefore the first branch is not unseasonable : despise not , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ne parvi facito . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is as if you should say , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , parvam curam habere , to slight and never mind a thing , to make light of it , as servants doe of their masters chiding : they stand demurely and look sadly for the present ; but when the masters back is turn'd , they laugh and make light of it . of all things beware of this ; god hath a farther end in such dreadful stroakes as these , than to make us hang down our heads for a week or two , and then forget all ; this is indeed to make light of god's correcting hand upon us . there are a sort of epicureans in this age , that professedly against all sense and reason , indeavour to deface what of man they have in them , natural affection ; like the brutish stoick that made no more of the death of his son , than of the breaking of a jugg ; heri vidi fragilem frangi , hodie vidi mortalem mori ; they contemne god and his providence , they say all things come alike to all , and sooner or later we must all dye , and what should we sorrow for that we cannot remedy . upon such mens foreheads you may write fool ( if the rule hold true ) without injuring them ; for consideration , and fooles are alwaies contraries . well let us in the fear of god learne this wisdome , not to despise or disregard god's judgements and chastisements upon us . then a christian may be said not to despise god's corrections , when he learnes those lessons god points him to by the chastisement ; as 1 : seriously to search after the cause why god afflicts us , 3 lam. 39.40 : this the holy ghost points us to , why doth living man complain , i. e. repiningly , man for the punishment of his sinne ? while 't is for his sinne that he is punish'd ; 't is but just that he should be punished : le ts therefore search our ways and turne unto the lord our god ; that 's the lesson punishment should teach us : so in the 7th iosh. 6. up says god to ioshua , search for the sinne that hath caused me to smite you ; thus a christian should search when god's hand is on him ; what personal sins , what relation , what family sins , as a husband , master or father he is guilty of , and stone those achans , that so god may graciously return in his favours again to us . 2. in a humble submission to vindicate god's justice in all that befals us , and with the church to say , thou hast smitten us lesse than our deservings , and o lord thou art righteous in all that is come upon us , isay 9.13 . 3. patiently to submit to the hand of god upon us . i was dumbe ( says david ) and opened not my mouth , because it was thy doing , 10 levit. 3. when god took away two of aron's near relations , his sons , with a dreadful stroak the text saith , aron held his peace ; proprobably aron was faulty in not restraining his sons presumption , and therefore think it but meet & just , that he that had been sinfully silent under gods dishonour , should now be submissively silent under his displeasure . 4. to buckle on our armour , and to stand always prepared to incounter afflictions ; through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdome of heaven , not through two or three but many , god knows what our next tryal will be ; le ts therefore by this affliction , be so armed with faith and love , and patience , and selfe-denyal , that we may be able with more facility to stand against the next : iob now finding the world to ring none but changes , and sad ones too , in his eares , hath learned to wait all the days of his appointed time , ' til his chang come . 5. often and seriously to reflect upon our soules , what privative or positive good they have got by afflictions ; for they make us better , or leave us worse . these are some of the lessons god sets us to learne by our afflictions ; which who so learns may truly be said , not to despise the chastisements of god. 2. the last clause of the exhortation speaketh to us thus [ nor faint when thou art corrected of him ] this is the other extreame we must avoid . extreams are dangerous , fly not one so as to fall into the other , this nature condemns as folly , stulti dum vitant vitia in contraria currunt , saith horace . aristotle defines virtue to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the middle of two evils ; nature teacheth us to grieve , let not the sensual facultes swallow up the rational ; let not the servant overtop his master . 't is a wise mans character , that as he seeth farther into evils than other men , so he can better command his passions than others : hence aristostle l. 4. c. 3 ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; a magnanimous man cannot be overcome with sorrow and passion , because the rational faculties keep the sensitive within their bounds . should i goe about to stop your eyes for so great a loss ; i should but indeavour contra torrentem brachia : but let me perswade you to mourne as christians : though the chastning be greivous , yet 't is no worse than what god's saints and prophets of old have undergon . are we better than they ? or have wee deserved better than they ? le ts comfort our selves in the text , that god owns us for sons under all our afflictions , and intends our good by them ; let us then take courage that god is our father still , and though death like a lyon hath come amongst us and devoured our glory ; yet out of this eater there will come forth meat , and out of the strong sweet ; if we by faith and patience can wait upon the lord , in this his way and method of dealing with us . a funeral speech . and is this scripture fulfilled this day in our eys ? is the crown of our glory , the lady anne harcourt , that curious piece of grace and nature taken from us by a stroak ? and must her virtues be closed up with her eyes ? must they be coffin'd up with her corps in the silent grave ? was not her name as precious oyntment ? & must it not be powred forth to give a fragrancy to posterity ? shall we let her goe unmention'd , unlamented ? it may not , it cannot be ; the country and the city too , yeild praficae aboundant , to ring aloud in all mens eares her funeral knel in doleful threanes : besides , each sad face in this doleful assembly , seems to bespeak it selfe , should i be silent , her funeral orator . 't is pitty we have not here an eloquent ambrose to performe so lofty an undertaking . i am sorry i have not skil answerable to my affections ; but must , when i have done my utmost , leave her , as that painter left antigonus , drawn , imagine lusca , with a halfe face . i must acknowledge with the comedian , de illâ non possum ita magnificè loqui , id virtus quin superat sua , so that you that knew her , will have just cause to say , much like that of the queen of sheba concerning solomon , the one halfe hath not been told us of what we know ; to which i can only thus reply in the poets words ; quod si digna tuâ minus est mea pagina laude . at voluisse sat est . — in order to what i have to say , i must goe one step retrograde ; for when i consider what two glorious luminaries have successively rose in this noble & ancient family of the harcourts , & how suddenly , & unexpectedly they have set , i cannot but adore the goodness , and tremble at the severity of god towards it ; i am at a stand with valer : max : on the death of cornelias husband , whether to say , it was more happy in the once injoying of them , or unhappy in the losse of them . the first was a daughter of the right honorable family of the pagets , and wife to the famous souldier sr. simon harcourt ( to whose tutelary sword the protestants in jreland owe much ) she set at high noon , in the prime of her age , and left only one son as the inheritor of both their virtues and honors . this last ( being the wife of the now sorrowful sr. philip harcourt ) she set in the morning of her youth , before she had compleated twenty yeares , and hath likewise left one son behind her , god make him the inheritor of her virtues . both of these ladies for beauty , breeding , parts , prudence , and piety , were eminently known to be as honourable and princely dames as have trod the stage of english earth for many ages ; each of their goodnesse which made them great , was as high as their extract , which made them honorable . this last was in all probability like to outshine the first , from whose raise she received her first light and heat . her natural and moral indowments of body and mind were both amiable , and admirable ; what is sayd of king david's darling , 2 sam. 14.25 : was the voge of all who e're had seen her ; that in all the land there was not one to be so much praised for beauty as she ; from the sole of her foot to the crown of her head there was no blemish in her . and as her person , such were her parts : her deportment was courteous , humble , and affable , yet with all , majestick ; she was skild in every thing that became so high a lady ; she was knowing in history , in physick , in musick , in what not , she was more full of spirit and life than language ; yet was her discourse for the most part weighty and witty : she perfectly hated idlenesse ; she was all the day time either retir'd in her closet at her devotions , or else writing , or reading , or playing on some musical instrument , or ordering the affaires of her house , or busied in making medicines for the poore that had no helper : her apprehension was so quick , that a worthy gentlewoman her neighbour , with whom she much conversed , told me that she admired her above all persons for her exact knowledge in all domestick affaires ; there was nothing within or without doores that concerned a family , but she had an insight in it . but oh ! this heart cutting word ( she 's dead ) has shipwrackt all our hopes , and fild us full of deep despondency ; like a new rigg'd ship richly freighted , no sooner is she lanched forth into the world , but sinks with all her store ; she had but newly shaken hands with childhood , and now , behold ! grisly death like a churlish and ( may we say ) unwelcome sargeant arrests her , and she must forthwith shake hands with husband , child , kindred , and bid us , and all the world eternally farewel . what heart relents not here ? 't is worse than marble if it doe not : marble it selfe will weep at change of weather , and shall not we at such a change ? especially we that knew how sweet her disposition , how gracious her conversation was among us . wonder not then if i your orator make teares my fluentest rhetorick at this funeral ; broken sentences , ●nd inconsistencies may passe , at this time excus●ble , if not commendable , from him , whose eyes make up the paragoge . the person that here lyes in state before us , and is thus become the sad object of our sorrow , was of no low extract , she was the daughter of the honourable sr. william waller . on the mothers side , she descended of the right honourable family of the finches , the earles of winchelsie . but these things she counted but membrana dignitatis , she no more valued the gaudy pageantry of the world , than her body now minds this her pompous funeral , being dead , and herein she shewed her selfe , like that honorable lady and st. marcella ( of whom st. hierom thus speaks ) quod facta est contempta nobilitate nobilior , that she did the more innoble her selfe in disregarding her noble birth . that which she most delighted , with a holy kind of boasting , to triumph in , was the truly noble and religious education she received from her mother in law , ( for her own mother dyed in her infancy ) of whose excellent virtues she never thought she could spake enough ; i have oft heard her most devoutly blesse god for that mother in law : like alexander the great that praised his instructor beyond him that got him . 't is highly probable she was the instrument of instilling grace into her heart in her tender years , which made her , so hartily praise the god of grace for her ; nor was there any love lost betwixt them ; for so highly did the mother in law prize this her daughter in law , that she bestowed the chiefest jewel she had in the world upon her , her only son ; as conceiving her son could be in none more happy , than in this person : she really being for sweetnesse of nature , amiablenesse of person , quicknesse of wit , solidity of judgment , noblenesse of spirit , innocency of life , & heavenlinesse of affection , the crown and glory of her age and sex. what single excellencies made other ladies eminent , as this for wit , that for beauty , one for modesty , the other for affability , you might have found them all concentred in this single person , and shining there in their full lustre . take her in any , in every of her relations , as a daughter , sister , wife , mistresse , freind , she fild up each of these to the top . i must but touch on these . as a daughter how full of duty and affection ? who can come forth and tell the time that ever she willingly displeased either her father or mother in all her life time ? as a sister from the nurses brests to natures bed , the grave , she lived and dyed top-full of hearty love and tender respect to them , their teares for the losse of her , sufficiently testify to the world this truth . as a wife she was so full of respect , tendernesse and overflowing love to her dear , ( as she call'd her husband ) that you would have deemd their whole life to have been but one wedding day . there was no ebb to be seen in the tide of her affections , 't was always high , they seemd always ravisht in each others love , she was to her husband as the pleasant hynd , the desire of his eyes , and the joy of his heart . i may truly say of them , as david said of ionathan and saul , they were lovely and pleasant in their lives , and i may adde this too , in their deaths they were not divided , for at her departure , his soule as unwilling to stay , now strugled in a tyde of teares to launch out after her . this current runs still too strong , which cals rather for our pitie than our blame , and of the two extreames , this is the more alowable , as bespeaking the person , generous and noble hearted ; for none but fooles , and sordid cowards are hard-hearted . therefore homer describes his valiant men , his heroes , to be , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , tender hearted compassionate men , men full of teares : but what need excuses here ? she was his wife , the one halfe of him selfe , the comfort of his life , the crown of his glory ; how many losses are comprehended in this one ? the losse of a good and gracious wife ? none can tell but they that feel it . as a governesse of a family , her prudence and piety was eminent , she had such a provident and diligent inspection into every thing , that she seemed to be every body in it : and with such facility and sedatenesse she ordered all things , as if she had been no body in it . i know many great families , but never yet did i see any that was govern'd with so little noise or tumult , and so free from disorders ; no oathes , no drunkennesse , no railing or dissentions to be heard or seen amongst any . 't is true , the family was extraordinary happy in a stock of civil , knowing , faithful , and religious servants ; and 't was her goodnesse made them so . such was her pious care of her family , that she desired that all her servants might be the lords ; and therefore twice a day she commanded every one ( all businesse lay'd aside ) to be present in her chappel at prayers , and the hearing of god's word read ; and once a week every servant from the chiefest to the meanest , she had chatechized in the principles of religion by her chaplain in the open chappel . on the lord's day her care was , that she and her house might serve the lord , therefore she strictly commanded all that possibly could , to attend her to the publick ordinances , whether she constantly resorted to hear the word of god ; and if any servant were negligent or tardie , i have heard them sharply rebuked . after the publick ordinances were over she commanded all her maid servants into her chamber , where she examined them all what they remembred of the sermon , and would incourage the diligent hearers . after this she would repeat the sermon for the help of their memoryes , & then she would conclude with prayer . thus this princely lady , to her eternall honour , disdained not ( as too many great ladies doe ) to become the hand-maids of the lord in using all good means to save others souls as wel as her own . as a neighbour , she was so familiar , humble , courteous and compassionate , that you need not wonder to see stanton harcourt so full of teares for the losse of her . such was her charity to any in distresse , especially to those that were religeous , ( and therefore modest , ) that when she heard or supposed they were in distresse , she would send privately to them , not pence , but pounds . such was her privasy in it , that nothing , but the gratitude of the receivers , since her death hath informed me of this truth . by this we may guesse at her inlarged noble heart ; we shall never hear all her good deeds of this nature , till god call her out & reward her openly . that of her publike charity , you that hear me of this parish can witnesse , and my eyes have seen , that there was not a day in the week , but severall hungry bellyes were filled from her kitchin ▪ once a week there was purposely made provision for them , and once a year six of the poor of the parish were new cloathed by her , so that we may aply iobes words to her , the blessing of those that were ready to perish came upon her . how oft has she sent and come to your houses when you have been sick to visit , succour and comfort you ? what good office did she ever neglect amongst you ? she was as eyes to the blind , feet to the lame , a physician to the sick , and a mother to the poore . i may apply st hieroms words of nepotian to this lady , ita curam gessit pauperum quasi ab eos genuisset , ita servivit quasi ab iis geni●a fuisset ; she wasso tender of the poor as if she had been their mother , so serviceable , as if their daughter . as a private christian , she was ( by report of her chaplain and others most intimate with her ) one of a thousand , her discourse would be so spiritual & heavenly , that the godly hearers have profess'd themselves even ravish'd with it . she was much in fasting and prayer , in reading , meditation , & searching her heart . i might here insert all which that learned oratorin his funeral speech hath said of the mother in law , so exactly did she tread in that holy lady's steps . she kept in her cabinet a large paper booke , so privately that none , no not her husband knew of it ; since her death i have seen it , and only seen it . t was a book , i perceived , designed to be her souls looking-glas , or rather her souls recreatory , both ; in this book ( i perceived by the severall heads in it ) she laid up het spirituall cordials , to refresh her soul in time of need : here she had set down gods gracious and remarkable providences to her and her family , to excite her soul to thankfulnesse : here she laid up spirituall directions how to order her life . one paper being loose i obtein'd it , i will give it you word for word , & by this you may guess at the rest . april 14 , 1664. i have this day upon serious examination of my heart , found this to be my condition . 1. that i doe desire to love god , and to love him for himself above all things . 2. that i am ( if my heart deceive me not ▪ extreamely more in love with the wayes of god then ever . 3. that i find my heart unfainedly sorry for all my frailtyes and sins committed , and duties omitted , and i doe here in the presence of god promise , & engage to strive against all my beloved sins , and serve him more constantly then i have done , & i hope through gods grace , that as he has begun that good work in me , so he will according to his promises perfect it in me . thus i have given you a glimps of this young saints closet works ; she was not perfuming her self with essences , painting her face , or trying where a black patch would set with most advantage , and best insnare the eye of the wanton ; but she was tyreing her soul for her lord the bridegroomes comming . oh thou blessed soul ! hee whom thou hast served so secretly , will one day reward thee openly . i cannot omit one remarkeable thing , which happened a little before god called this young saint to her sick bed : i received it since her death from a person of good credit , who heard her tel it : she had a dream that an angel came to her , and told her she must suddenly dye , whereat she was affraid and trembled , but the angel told her , she need not fear , she should goe to heaven to christ , who would wellcome her there , whereat she was fill'd with joy . now though i lay little stresse upon dreames , as knowing it to be dangerous , it being hard to discern them from diabolicall delusions ; the papists ridiculously impose upon the world their fryers dreames , to prove their fopperies , and erronious opinions , as if with the heathen , we were to believe . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every dream came from god , whe●eas the devill many times is the authour of them : a wicked man may dream he shall goe to heaven , caesar a little before his death , may dream he shall goe to the immortal god , but no wicked man , shall ever goe thither . yet for all this it must not be denyed , but that god doth many times foretell to his saints their deaths in dreames : polycarp that saint and martyr ( you may find him in the book of martyrs ) had his death foretold him , & the kind of it ▪ he dreamt that his bed was on fire under him ; and st. cyprian foresaw in a dream the pro-consul writing his sentence to be beheaded , whereupon he desired him to set his house in order , and t was granted him ; and just so it fell out as he had dreamed . we might instance in many more if it needed . for my part i believe this dream of this holy ladys , was a favour extraordinary from god to such a precious young saint . and i the rather think so , because it so fell out as she had dreamed ; for soon after this , she unexpectedly fell sick of a violent feaver , which was the forerunner of death at hand . and although she did not dye of that feaver , yet before she had recovered her strength she lost by it , god in his wise providence ( resolving to exercise her graces before she went hence ) call'd her back again to her sick bed , which at last proved her death bed . in this sicknesse god exercised her with more tormentive pangs , both in her back and bowels then before ; which inforced most bitter groanes and sighs from her , to the peircing of the hearts of those about her : yet under all those heavy pressures she did not charge god foolishly , though she groaned , yet she did not murmur or repine , but in the midst of those pangs she still lifted up her hand and eyes to the god of her salvation : that time of ease god gave her between her fits , she was carefull to redeem by prayer , and other holy exercises with her chaplain , whom she highly prized in her health , for his singular good parts and piety . some few dayes before her death , when her excessive pangs had so devoured her strength , that they left her speechlesse , and the company gave her up for a dying , departing person , i came to her bed side , and perceiving her to move her head and her eyes , which was more then she had done for some hours before , i asked her ladyship whether she were capable of discourse , and she answered me , yes , but let it be good , let it be heavenly : so carefull was she to redeeme her sick bed time ; you may guesse where her treasure was by her heart . the day before her death was ( to all our joy and admiration ) the most refreshing day she had had in all her sicknesse . sic phoebi j●mj●m cadentis dulcius esse solet lumen : as a fair day often rears exhalations into a cloud , which next day returns in showers upon us , so did this pleasant monday returne its dark clouds of sorrow and showres of teares on tuesday ; for then her disease seizing her head took away her speech , and so depriv'd us , no doubt , of many gracious speeches which would have fallen from her dying lips . yet what she could not doe in words , she did in signes . she some houres before her death took her woman by the hand , and shooke it , to let her know she was heartily reconciled to her notwithstanding some tart words , that had some dayes before passed betwixt them . in the afternoon of aug. 23. 1664. god was pleased graciously to release her of all her pangs : her soul willingly and joyfully departed , and hath left behind , what of mortality it had for us to lay up in the house of all the living . and now , what can alleviate our sorrows for so great a losse ? but , is she lost ? no , the losse is ours , she 's the great gainer . as l. florus saith of the city alba , t was pulled down , to be set up in rome to its higher honour & advantage : this lady is but taken down here , to be set up in heaven to her unspeakeable honour & advanceme●t . let us not then too deeply lay ●o heart this blessed saints translation ; could we but stil our sorrowes a little while , & lend an ear to listen what the saints on the otherside the lake of death do say , it would not be the voice of those that cry for being overcome , but the voice of those that sing , the voice of those that shout for victory , that we should hear . doe we believe the person that 's departed was a true servant of god ? i think you doe : and we may as confidently say of her , a st. hierome does of nepotian , scimus nepatianum nostrum esse cum christo ; we verily believe she is with christ. why then doe you so immoderately grieve ? cur doleas ( saith tertullian ) si periisse non credis , cur impatienter feras subductum interim quem credis reuersurum esse ? so say i , why doe we so take on for her who we know is not gone to be lost , but only with drawn for a time , and we believe will return again ? did the church mourne when peter was delivered out of prison , and his shackles knock'd off ? a saint at death is freed from prison , and all his fetters are then knockt off . did mordicai weep and grieve , or had he cause , when the emperour of the world tooke his niece from him out of love he bare her , to advance her above all other weomen , and make her queen ? this this is the case ( only the former paralel is too short ) the great creatour of the world in great compassion and tender love to this young lady , has taken her betimes from the dirty country to preferre her at court , he has called her early from this beggarly low earth , to advance her amongst the mighty in the heavens . the heathen menander could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whom god loves best he ●akes soonest . her soul being fledg'd betimes , tooke wing for heaven , and this curious robe of mortality , which she put off at her departure , we now are carrying with all solemnity into the suburbs of heaven after her ; for saints graves are no otherwise , they are next door to heaven . they are the saints sleeping chambers for a little while , till god call them up again . the silence of the grave is but a kind of pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a restraint only for a time , and that but a little time , the time is short . death the last enimy , shall reign but a little longer ; he must resign his keyes ere long . when the trumpet sounds , death triumphs cease , till then the saints bodyes in the grave are in the safe custody of christ , as their souls in heaven , and christ at his coming will as certainly unite them and clothe them with immortality and glory . wherefore let us comfort one another upon this sad occasion with these meditations . one living relict of this lady , now with god , remaines still with us , ( her son ) and is her lively picture ; for whom i pray , as eloquent st ambros at the death of theodosius , the emperour , ( only changing one article ) tu solus domine , invocandus , tu rogandus es , ut eam infilio repraesentes . that he may resemble her in soul , as well as in countenance . god make him virtuous , as she , in this life , and let the glory of his famous ancestors rest upon him . that he may keep up religion in the family ( which is the crown of its glory and the true innobling of it ) as his mother , his grand mother and other his ancestors have done before him : that so after a happy and holy life here , he may goe with honour , to them , who are now with christ , god blessed for ever , in unspeakable glory . errata . pag. 1. l. 15 r. the. p. 13. l. 25. r. injoyments . p. 15. l. 22. r name . p. 32. l. 16. r. he . p. 34. l. 26. r. here. p. 35. l. 28. r. shooke . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44880-e320 * nihil me facio· chrisost. verbum originale significat nauseare , reprobare , cum fastidio abjicere . pined . in loc . adoraverunt eum ut deum , & acquievit eorum obsequiis delinitus , ut se ut deum coli permitteret . hierom. athan. serm. 4. adv . arian . chrysost. hom. 4. in l●c . aug. l. 2 de symb. c. 6. irenae . l. 3. cap. 18 ▪ * forma dei donum , ovid. de am. aug. de civ . dei l. 15. cap. 28. turtul . de cultu foem . notes for div a44880-e4830 pont. diaco . in vit . cyp. abrahams decease a meditation on genesis 25.8. deliuered at the funerall of that worthy seruant of christ, mr. richard stock, late pastor of all-hallowes bread-street: together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. 1627 approx. 186 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 38 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01523 stc 11647 estc s102880 99838642 99838642 3028 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01523) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3028) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1099:05) abrahams decease a meditation on genesis 25.8. deliuered at the funerall of that worthy seruant of christ, mr. richard stock, late pastor of all-hallowes bread-street: together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. [6], 62, [2] p. printed by iohn haviland for fulke clifton, and are to be sold at his shop on new-fishstreet hill, vnder st. margarets church, at the signe of the holy lambe, london : 1627. with a final errata leaf. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng stock, richard, 1569?-1626. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2004-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-09 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-09 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion abrahams decease . a meditation on genesis 25. 8. delivered at the fvnerall of that worthy seruant of christ , mr. richard stock , late pastor of all-hallowes bread-street : together with the testimonie then giuen vnto him . by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith . london , printed by iohn haviland for fulke clifton , and are to be sold at his shop on new-fishstreet hill , vnder st. margarets church , at the signe of the holy lambe . 1627. to the right worshipfvll sir henry yelverton knight , one of the iustices of his maiesties court of common pleas. right worshipfvll ; yovr speciall interest in that worthy seruant of christ , whom this weak work concerneth , by your singular fauours to him and his deseruedly procured , cānot but giue you interest in the worke it selfe before any . vnto your worship therefore i addresse and direct it , as to one that may iustly lay best claime to it : not doubting but that , as you did in more than ordinary manner respect his person while he liued , so you do no lesse honour the memory of him now deceased . the worke i wish were worthy either you or him . but , how little time i had for the composing and peecing vp of these broken meditations , cannot be vnknowne to those , & from them may be made knowne to others , that either sent or brought me the first word of his decease , being newly allighted from a wearisome iourney , not aboue two daies before the funerall was to be performed . besides that so sudden and vnexpected tidings of the losse of so deare a friend , causing much griefe and distractiō , could not but produce withall as great an indisposition to the minding of that that this office imposed on me did necessarily require of me ; and defeat consequently that second a helpe of redoubled diligence , which others are wont to vse ( as the sea-man his b oares , when the wind slacketh or scanteth ) to redeeme the want of time with . that which made me ( as conscious of the rawnesse of it ) the more backward at first to yeeld to the importunitie of those , ( not a few ) who both by letters and by word of mouth were very instant and vrgent for the publishing of it . nor haue i had much loisure since to reuise and digest my confused notes ; nor yet desire to adde or alter much , lest ( to those that then heard it ) it might seeme not the same . one short passage or two onely i haue inserted , that my memory then failed me in . else the substance of all here was then deliuered . which if , especially in the testimony then giuē vnto him , whom this office was performed vnto , it seeme slight and slender , to that it ought or might haue beene : besides the former considerations , which might well sufficiently excuse , let it be remembred ; what a great oratour sometime said , that c an exact face is very seldome drawn but with much disaduantage : how much more when a bungler but hath it in hand ? i may well say of him , as he sometime of basile , d there wanted but his owne tongue to commend him with . a better i wish there had been employed therin than mine owne ; or that mine owne ( if but for his sake ) had ( at least then ) been better . but the best is , the sea needs not the riuers , that yet runne into it ; nor he either mine , or any other mans praise ; that due honour and reuerent estimation of him remaining in the mindes of so many , that neither mine , nor any other mans , commendation of him , either need to adde ought , or can adde much therunto . howbeit this may bide , when they are gone . which whatsoeuer it is , presuming that your worship will accept of , if not for it owne sake , yet for his , who liueth yet with you , and you desire ( i know ) should doe so also with others , i recommend it to your patronage , and your selfe with all yours to the protection of him who hath promised to be f sunne and shield to all those that sincerely rely on him ; and rest . your worships to be commanded in the lord iesus , tho. gataker . the testimonie given to that worthy seruant of christ , master richard stock , at his funerall . all a christian mens bodies are b members of christs body , c and temples of gods spirit ; and are therefore in decent and comely manner to be laid vp in their d sleeping chambers or their e resting places , as the prophet esay termeth them . a decent and comely sepulture then is due to all christian corps . but more then so , with some solemnitie may this office well bee performed to those , in whom the holy ghost manifested a more speciall residence by f a more plentifull measure of spirituall endowments , and more powerfull operations flowing from the same , while they liued ; and whom , hauing obtained g a more eminent place in christs body , god hath made instruments of more than ordinary good to his portion and people here . h samuel dyed ( saith the storie ) i a prophet of god , k and ruler of gods people , and all israel assembled to his buriall , and mourned for him . this being apparant , good ground there is for this solemne assemblie , which the decease of our right worthy , and deseruedly beloued , and much respected christian brother , m. richard stock , a graue and reuerend father in this our church , a faithfull minister and seruant of iesus christ , and the vigilant pastor of a neighbouring congregation , for the performance of this last christian office to the l remainders of him with vs , hath occasioned at this present . concerning whom & his deportments , howsoeuer very much might iustly be spoken , and be spoken iustly by my selfe , not frō others reports , but of mine own knowledge , hauing bin m an eye witnesse of them , as hauing beene familiarly and inwardly acquainted with him ever since the fourth yeere of his abode in the schooles of the prophets , and shortly after the time of my first accesse thither ; ( for there was no more distance betweene our two standings ) yet neither will the streights of time permit it , nor will it be very needfull so to doe ; his life , and courses , and constant labour in the worke of the word , being so well knowne , not in this , or the neighbour places onely , but thorow-out the whole city , wherein he constantly continued the worke of his ministery by the space of well neere thirty yeeres . i will endeuour therefore to contract ( what i well may ) that which i shall speake of him , and hasten to those things that more neerely concerne our selues . and to beginne with the times of my first notice of him . as in his first beginnings he was of eminent note in the colledge he liued in , both for his vnweariable industry , and his singular proficiency in those studies of humanitie , that are as n handmaids to diuinity , and helpe to lay a good ground for any future profession ; so his care was so o to entertwine pletie and humanitie the one with the other , that p as web and woofe they ranne on euer along together through the whole course of his studies . nor was he carefull onely of this practise himselfe , but ( according to that of the apostle , q obserue one another , r to whe● on to godlinesse and well-doing ; ) hee was no lesse forward to incite others thereunto ; and not to incite them onely thereunto , but to assist them therein , and to afford what helps he could ( which well also he could doe ) unto any that were either desirous , yea , or willing , but to imbrace them . in which kinde i cannot without iust note of ingratitude but acknowledge my selfe much indebted vnto him ; and haue cause ( with many others , beside my selfe , much my betters ) to blesse god that euer we came acquainted there with him . in a word , while he staied in the colledge ( which his desire was to haue done longer then he did , if opportunity had serued ) s he gaue before hand , ere he came to it , euident signes of one likely to proue t a skilfull master-builder in gods worke , and u a winner of many soules to god. nor was he one of those a rathe-ripe wits , that promise faire in the blossome , but faile in the fruit ; that like comets , blaze brighter than the fixed starres for a time , but after a while vanish and come to nought , the matter of them being wholly either spent or disperst . but his proceedings in publike were correspondent to his beginnings in priuate . when it pleased god b to call him out and set him apart to that imploiment that he had ordained him to before , he proued a painfull , a faithfull minister of christ , a skilfull , a powerfull dispenser of gods word . if any demand proofe hereof : not to insist vpon his constant and incessant imploiments , with generall approbation and applause both of religious and iudicious , continued for so many yeeres ( as was before said ) together , not a sabbath intermitted , wherein ( if health serued ) he preached not twise , either in his owne charge ( where he was frequentest ) or elsewhere abroad ; besides his catechisings of the younger sort at certaine times in the weeke dayes , and other such offices as to the pastor all function are necessarily annexed , and are priuately to bee performed ; wherein also he was no lesse diligent than in the execution of his publike ministery . not to insist ( i say ) upon this ; ( which yet were sufficient proofe of it : ) as the apostle saith to the corinthians , c you are d the seale of my apostleship , and e my f letters testimoniall . so may i well say of this our reuerend brother : so many christian soules professing themselues to haue had their first effectuall calling and conuersion from him , ( in which kinde , i suppose , not many in this city may compare with him ) besides the multitudes of those that acknowledge themselues to haue been edified , built up , and bettred by him , are the seale of his calling , and of g christ speaking in him , and not verball or vocall , but reall letters testimoniall of the efficacy of his ministery , through h gods blessing thereupon . an i obscure author saith , that the apostles were like fishermen , the succeeding ministers like huntsmen : k the apostles like fishermen that catch many at one draught ; l the succeeding . ministers like huntsmen , that with much toile and clamour , running up and downe all day , scarce take one deere or hare ere night . and such indeed is the hard condition of many of gods seruants , that notwithstanding their faithfull and painfull discharge of their duty , they are enforced to complaine with the prophet , m who beleeueth our report ? and , n i haue laboured in vaine ; scarce able to produce or instance in any one , of whom they can with some good ground of assurance presume , that they haue gained him at least to god. but well might this our brother , through gods blessing vpon his labours , stand out and say , not of one or two , but of troupes , in the words of the same prophet , o behold i and the children , that god hath giuen me ; and with the apostle , p these haue i begotten to god by the gospell of christ iesus . yea more than that ; well assured i am , that diuers now famous lights in gods church , and faithfull ministers of his word , doe professe to haue lighted their candles at his lampe , yea some of them to haue receiued their first beginnings not of light only , but of spirituall life and grace , ( without which all light be it neuer so great , is no light , but meere darknes ) from his ministery . it is no small honour for a man to winne , and it were but , any one soule : ( q he hath saued a soule , saith st. iames ; as a matter worthy the glorying in . ) for r to win a soule is to win more than the whole world againe is worth . but what an honour is it then to be , not the winner of a soule , but the winner of such as proue winners of soules , and so s by winning of some one immediatly , to be a mediate meanes of winning many others by him ? t they shall shine ( saith he ) as the heauens , u that instruct ; and they x that conuert others , as the stars . and how gloriously then ( suppose we ) doth this our y blessed brother z shine now in the kingdome of god , that was an instructer of those that were instructers of others ; that was a conuerter of those that were conuerters of others themselues ? many then ( as a the holy ghost saith of iohn the baptist ) did this our brother winne to the lord. many ( i say ) he wonne ; though all he could not : that was more then b the apostle himselfe was able to doe . but many yet he wonne , and his desire and endeuour ( with c the same apostle ) was to win all ; his own especially , of whom he vsed to protest , that it was more comfort to him to winne one of them , than to winne twenty other . but some refractary spirits ( as d who almost doth not ? ) he met withall , that would not be reclaimed ; that by their crosse carriage were as e thornes in his eyes , and as goad●s in his sides , and f a vexation of heart to this faithfull seruant of christ : whom , if any of them bee yet liuing , the lord vouchsafe mercy , and better mindes to , and g lay not this sinne of theirs to their charge . and if there be any of those that liued any long time under so painfull and powerfull a ministery as his was , that remaine still vnconuerted , vnreclaimed , vnreformed , let them feare and beware of that dreadfull censure of the apostle , h if our gospell be yet hid , &c. and let such know , that not i the dust of his feet , but the sweat of his browes , and the teares of his eyes , and his k strength wasted with them , and his spirits spent vpon them , shall one day rise vp in iudgement against ●hem to make their doome l the heauier , if by timely repentance it be not preuented . but because a man may winne others , and yet lose himselfe ; m he may saue others , and yet not saue himselfe : ( n they may beget life in others , that haue none in themselues . ) the word may worke by a man , and yet not worke on him : he may be o like a treene or a stonegutter ( saith augustine ) that conueigheth water into a garden , but receiueth no benefit thereby it selfe ; or like p the hand on the high way that pointeth others the way , which yet it neuer walketh it selfe ; or † like an harpe ( saith the heathen man ) that maketh others melody , or * a trumpet , that soundeth loud , but heareth nothing it selfe ; or “ like to the baptisme water ( saith gregory ) that helpes men to heauen ward , and goeth after downe to the sincke it selfe : he may q preach to others , and not preach to himselfe ; he may conuert others , and yet r prooue a s castaway himselfe . ( and yet it is t seldome seene , that much good is done , where a due u concent is not betweene tongue and hand , betweene lip and life . ) this our brother therefore was none of those x that say and doe not : but y as he taught , he wrought : his z doctrine and his practise concurred , and went hand in hand together : his actions were , though a silent , yet reall and effectuall sermons of that he preached in the pulpit : the course of his b life was consonant to the tenour of his teaching . and c both ioyning and conspiring in one , were a meanes to draw on many , who d by the one alone paraduenture had not easily beene wonne . in a word ; for his teaching , i doubt not but that they will giue him the best testimony that heard him oftest ; and for his life they that knew him best . for he was not a flash ; one of those that shew all in a sermon , or that spend all vpon some one curious good worke , that they minde to make their master-piece . but both in his life and teaching he held on such a tenor , that the more men , e wise and iudicious at least , were acquainted with either , f the more they reuerenced and admired him for either . there are two things ( saith one ) that make a compleat man. g ●ntegritie and iudgement : the one whereof 〈◊〉 but h lame and maimed without the 〈◊〉 ; and in many oft they doe not meet . but an happy coniunction of them both was there in this our brother . for the proofe whereof i may well referre my selfe to the iudgement , both of those that so frequently desired to make vse of him , for the ouersight of their last wils , and for his assistance by way of direction , in the disposing of their estates : ( and we know all , how cautious men are wont to be in that kinde : ) as also of those reuerend brethren , of the ministerie as well as other , who , either by letters or otherwise , out of all parts of this realme ( i speake what i know ) did vsually seeke to him , as to one more then ordinarily able to giue them satisfaction , for the resolution of their doubts . these two then ( as he saith ) make a compleat man indeed . but there is somewhat more required to make a compleat minister , to wit , i that he can k speak his mind fitly , ( for what vse of l a mute messenger ? ) and that he m dare doe it freely . ( for n of whom is courage and freedome of speech required more then of gods messengers ? ) nor was this our worthy brother defect 〈…〉 e in either . for , as for the former , how well able he was , not to expresse only , but to v 〈…〉 sse to , nor to confirme alone , but to commend also , that that he deliuered , with cleere method , sound proopes , 〈…〉 je words , fit phrase , pregnant similitudes , plentifull illustrations , pithy perswasions , sweet insinuations , powerfull enforcements , allegations of antiquitie , and variety of good literature ; that both the learnedst might receiue satisfaction from him , and the very meanest and dullest also might reape benefit by him : and so as might well o leaue an impression in the hearts and mindes of his hearers ; they cannot bee ignorant , that for any space of time heard him . in a word , in this kinde he was such an one * as many stroue to imitate , not many of them matched . againe , because it is in vaine to be able to speake to good purpose , if a man dare not vse his tongue ; if , as he said sometime of the eretrians , he be p like the sword-fish , that q hath a sword , but hath no heart ; or like some cowardly companion , that carrieth a weapon about him for a shew , but dare not draw it , or make vse of it , though iust occasion thereof bee offered : for his freedome of speech therefore in reprouing of sinne , and that euen to the faces of the gr 〈…〉 est , both in publike and priuate , when occ 〈…〉 on required it , i doubt not but there are many here that are well able to testifie , and some accidents made it to bee more publikely knowne , then his desire was that it should haue beene . much hath beene spoken , and much more then i entended ; and more time taken vp then i made account of . and yet much more might be added , then hath beene spoken , if time and strength would permit . many things i haue touched , and rather pointed at then insisted on . and yet many things ( i know ) many among you will misse , that might as iustly haue beene spoken of , and that ( it may bee ) some of you will deeme should not haue beene omitted . one , his zealous and earnest pursuit of reformation of some prophanations of the sabbath ; wherein he preuailed also for alteration of some things in that kinde offensiue , as well r with the maine body of the city , as s with some particular societies : an other his discreet carriage in the catechizing of the younger sort ; the males apart one day , and the females another ; the riper and forwarder first in the presence of the ruder and rawer , and the ruder and rawer apart by themselues after the departure of the former , that they might both reape what fruit might bee by hearing them , and yet receiue no discouragement by being heard of them : a third his pious care and diligence in the religious instruction and education of those that were vnder his priuate charge , children and others : some one thing , some another . and i co 〈…〉 sse , with nazianzene in somewhat the like case , 〈…〉 at it is herein with me , t as with one in a field or a 〈◊〉 , replenisht with faire flowers of all sorts , who w 〈…〉 casteth his eye on one , another offereth it selfe to him , and while he is catching at that , another commeth in his way , and while that pleaseth his eye , another withdraweth it to it selfe : and as the rings or circles that rise on the surface of the water , when a stone is cast into a standing poole , they come so thick one vpon the neck of another , that , as if they stroue for place , they iustle out either other : so such variety of passages presenteth it selfe to me , that while i looke after one , i lose and let slip another , and when i would fetch that vp againe , another choppeth in , as contending for roome with it : and if i should pursue and insist vpon euery particular , that either others might expect , or that might iustly challenge a place here time and speech would faile mee before matter to speake of . to draw toward an end therefore together with his end ; the end of his labours , but the beginning of his resi , the end of his worke , but the receipt of his reward : in these and the like imploiments publike and priuate , hee spent his time , he spent his strength , x like a torch or taper , wasting and consuming himself , for the behoofe and benefit of others , y ha 〈…〉 g his worke with god then , and his reward for it from god now . and for these emploiments principally it was that he desired recouery of health and strength ; vnto the performance whereof also ( though therein iniurious to himselfe , and contrary to his owne desires ) he oft strained himselfe , and that in the middest of his infirmitie and weaknesse , not to the vncertaine hazard onely , but to the euident impeachment and impairing of either . z what is the signe , said ezekias , when he was promised recouery , that i shall goe vp to the house of the lord ? as desiring continuance of life and recouery of health for no one end more then that . and therfore also was this our brother so desirous of recouery , that he might repaire to gods house againe , that he might returne to gods worke againe . to which purpose the very last lords day before his decease , hauing after many relapses recouered a little strength , he made shift to get out to a neighbour congregation , there to ioine with gods people in publike performance of such solemne seruice of god as that day is vsually spent and emploied in . and hauing held out to the end with them in both parts of the day , he reioiced much therein , that he was able so to doe ; the rather because thereby he conceiued some good hope , that hee should be strong enough ere long , to returne to his wonted worke and employment againe . but the lord saw it better ( for * his will appeareth by his worke ) to put an end to his incessant labours here , and to translate him to the place of his endlesse rest else where . the gaine is his ; the losse ours , min●●wne ( among others ) not the least . the lord sanctifie it vnto vs , and to those whom any way it concernet 〈…〉 ; and vouchsafe in mercy to repaire it , by raising vp many alike qualified and endowed in his roome . with whom now leaue we him , and returning home to our selues , afford we a reuerent and religious care to those instructions , that for the fitting and preparing of vs vnto the way that he is gone before vs , shall out of gods word be deliuered vnto vs. abrahams decease . gen. 25. 8. and abraham gaue vp the ghost , and died , in ●good old age , an old man , and full of yeeres ; and he was gathered to his people . before was a long discourse of abrahams life : here is a report in few words of his death . wherein ( to come to them directly without further preface , because much time is already spent ) wee may consider these particulars : 1 who died ; 2 how he died ; 3 when he died ; and 4 whither he went when he died . first , who died ; abraham . whence we may obserue , that no state or condition here freeth men from death . for who might sooner or better haue expected to haue beene freed from it then abraham ? abraham ( i say ) a a prophet of god ; b a prince of god ; c a speciall friend of god ; d the father of the faithfull , &c. and yet of this abraham , a prince , a prophet , gods friend , his fauourite , the father of the faithfull , is it here said , that he died ; and by the iewes to our sauiour , e abraham is dead . so f lazarus christs friend ; and yet , g this our friend ( saith christ ) sleepeth ; that is ( as afterward he there e 〈…〉 eth himselfe ) h hee is dead . the i apostles likew 〈…〉 christs friends ; and yet they are k all dead : ( for it was no true l word that went among the disciples concerning iohn , from the words of our sauiour either n mistaken or misinterpreted , that that disciple should not die . ) dauid o a man after gods owne m heart : and yet p he goeth the way of : all flesh . q your fathers ( saith the prophet zachary ) where are they ? or doe the prophets liue for euer ? and the iewes answer him in the negatiue , no ; r the prophets are dead . in a word ; as the psalmist saith , that s wise men die as well as fooles : so t good men die as well as bad : yea , the good goe oft before the bad . x the righteous ( saith he ) are taken away from the euill to come . and of ieroboams young sonne it is said ; y he shall die , because there is some goodnesse in him . now the reason why the godly die as well as the wicked , is , first , if we regard naturall causes , 1. because they are made of the same mould and mettall that others are : a we haue this treasure ( saith the apostle ) in b earthen vessels : they are but c earthen p●ts as well as d others . 2. because they are subiect to the same casualties that others are . for , e all things come alike to all : the same f chance betideth the good and the bad ; the cleane and the vncleane ; g the sacrificer and him that sacrificeth not ; h the swearer , and him that i feareth to sweare , that maketh conscience of an oath . secondly , if we regard spirituall respects . 1. the godly die also that they may rest from their labours : for , k they rest from their labours that are deceased in christ. 2. they die that they may receiue their reward ; to wit , l the crowne of righteousnesse ; which they must m not expect , till they haue n finished their race . 3. they die , that they may be rid of sinne : o they die for sinne , saith the apostle : yet not to pay for it , as the wicked doe , but to be p freed from it : for , q he that is dead , is freed from sinne . 4. they die , that they may be r freed from death it selfe : s that mortalitie ( saith the same apostle ) may be swallowed vp of life . 5. they die , that they mayt goe to god : for , u while we bide here in the body , wee are absent from the lord : and x we desire therefore to remoue hence , that we may goe home to him . 6. they die , that they may be with christ : y i desire ( saith he ) z to loose , or to be loosed , and to bee with christ. but against the truth of this point , may some obiection be made . for first , if no state or condition free men from death , how ( may some say ) it is said of enoch , that a he neuer saw death ; and of elias , that b he was taken vp aliue into heauen ? to this i answer , that c singular and extraordinary priuiledges neither make a rule , nor marre a rule . it followeth not , because some one or two of this or that estate or condition haue by speciall fauour beene some time exempted from this generall sentence , that therefore the estate or condition it selfe exempteth any , or that all of the same estate are exempt and freed therefore therefrom . e ezekias walketh with god as well as f enoch , and yet g he died , when his lease of h fifteene yeeres expired . eliseus was i a prophet of god as well as elias ; and k the spirit of elias ( it is said ) rested vpon eliseus : and yet l he died , and was buried ; as appeareth by the m miracle , that god wrought by his corps sometime after his decease . these were personall priuiledges : and n personall prerogatiues passe no further than the persons of those , whom they are conferred on . but secondly , if euen o the faithfull die also , ( for how should the faithfull looke to escape death , when p the father of the faithfull , as wee see here , himselfe dieth ? ) how ( may some say ) are the words of our sauiour made good where he saith ; q if any man keepe my sayings , he shall neuer r see death ; and , s he that liueth and beleeueth in me , shall t neuer die ? to this i answer , that there is as a a twofold life , so b a twofold death : a twofold life ; to wit , c a naturall life issuing from the coniunction of the soule to the body ; and d a spirituall life arising from the coniunction of god to the soule . and a twofold death ; to wit , e a naturall death arising from the disiunction of the soule from the body ; and f a spirituall death arising from the disiunction of god from the soule . for looke g what the soule is to the body , the same is god to the soule . h as the soule is the life of the body , so is god the life of the soule . and i as the naturall death ensueth , when the soule departeth from the body ; so the spirituall death followeth , when god with-draweth himselfe from the soule . the faithfull then may dye the naturall death : but they neuer dye the spirituall death . u death may seuer their soules from their bodies : but x death cannot cut off either soule or body with them from christ. the faithfull may die ; and yet our sauiours words true . for a they die not , euen when they die . b wicked men ( saith chrysostome ) are c dead euen while they liue : good and godly men d liue euen when they be dead . the life of the one is nothing but e a passage to death : the death of the other is nothing but f an entrance into life . for it is g no life but death , that seuereth a man from christ while he liueth : it is h no death but life , that bringeth a man home to christ when he dieth . and thus much briefly for answer to these two obiections . now for the vse of the point . first , it may serue to hearten and encourage vs against the feare and dread of death . for doe all , euen the godly and faithfull die ? why should wee be loath to come to that , that so many saints of god haue come to before ? as phocion said to one that was to die with him ; i art thou not glad to fare as phocion doth ? so , why should any be loath to doe as abraham doth ? or why should we be afraid to goe that way , that all the holy men of god haue gone before vs ? it is true indeed , there might be some colourable cause of feare , if wee were to goe some k vncouth and vntrod way , such as none euer went before vs ; as l abel did when he died . or if none but the wicked had gone this way before vs , we might iustly feare , that it were indeed the high way to hell . but now when the blessed saints and the best beloued of god haue , either all or the most of them at least , gone this way before vs ; yea when he was no wicked but m a iust man , that n went first of all this way : we may well and boldly follow him and them in it without feare , as being o the high way to heauen too ; nor neede we dread or suspect any p euill in that , that q god , who loued them so deerely , would neuer haue suffered to befall them , if it should haue beene any way preiudiciall vnto them . secondly , doe euen such also die . this should teach vs r not to mourne or bee grieued for the faithfull deceased , as if any euill had befallen them . for if they s died in the lord , if they t deceased in the faith ; they are but gone the same way that gods best beloued went before them that liued in former times . they are rather u departed , than deceased ; x sent before vs , whither y we must follow , z leaft onely , not lost . their death is rather a a departing , or b a going out of this world , or c a passage to heauen , or d a returne to god , then a e deceasing , or f surceasing , or g intermission , or h intercision , yea , or i diminution , either of l●fe , or of their good or happy estate . there is no cause therefore to mourne for those that die in christ ; there is cause rather to mourne for those that liue out of christ. for the one liueth still though he die : the other is dead , though he yet liue , and shall one day die eternally , if he continue as he now is . k doest thou mourne ( saith augustine ) ouer the body that the soule hath leaft : mourne rather ouer the soule that god hath forsaken ; as l samuel did for saul ; and as m the apostle saith , he should doe for such as had liued in lewd and loose courses , and not repented yet of them . n such there is cause therefore indeede to mourne for : but no cause in the world to mourne for those that are in no worse case , than abraham and isaak , and all the faithfull are , that liued in former times , or than others of the same ranke shall be hereafter to the worlds ends . thirdly , are o all of all sorts subiect to death , as well good as bad , prophets as priuate men , & c ? this then should admonish vs to make the best vse we can of our religious friends , neighbours , acquaintance , husbands , parents , pastors especially , while they are with vs , ( p walke , yea and q worke too , by the light , while you haue it with you , saith our sauiour ) since that r we know not how soone they may be taken away from vs. it is that wherein most men are generally faulty , that as he saith of rarities and strange sights , s when they are neere at hand with vs , we regard not so much to see them , as we would , if they were further off , and wee should come occasionally where they were , or as strangers are wont to be , that come out of other parts , whither they are after a while to returne againe ; because hauing them at hand , we thinke we may see them when wee will , whereas the strangers , vnlesse hee see them now , while hee is here , thinketh hee shall neuer haue the like opportunity againe : so we t neglect oft to make that good vse that wee might , of the meanes and the ministery that god hath setled among vs , and of our religious friends that he hath setled vs with , in hope that wee may long enioy them , and hauing them at hand with vs , we may make vse of them when wee will. by meanes whereof it commeth many times to passe , that meere strangers , that visit them but by starts , profit more by them , than the most of those doe , that constantly liue and abide with them , and that * when it is too late now , we come to see and consider to our griefe , what opportunitie we haue ouerslipped of our owne good . it is with vs in these c●ses as it is with vs for our bookes . a booke of good vse borrowed , which we know not how soone the owner of it may call for , wee are carefull to make present vse of , whereas it might chance to haue lien long by vs , ere we looked on it , if it had beene our owne . well it were therefore for vs , if wee could seriously consider , that u our religious friends and pastors , ( as x all other things of this life , yea , and y life too it selfe ) are not so much giuen vs of god , as lent vs to vse , and that z for no longer than he shall see good ; and therefore labour to make the best vse we can of them , while we haue them ; as we would doe of some toole or vtensile , that being lent vs , we know not how long wee shall haue the vse of . and thus much for the first particular , the person that died , abraham . the second followeth , and that is the manner how he died , noted in that it is said , a he breathed out , or , he gaue vp the ghost . that which some expound of b a willing end , of a willingnesse to depart : as it is said of our sauiour , that c hee bowed his head downe , when all was finished , and d gaue vp his spirit . and true it is , that as the heathen man saith , e it is the part of a wise man , rather willingly to goe out , than to bee thrust out against his will , so it is the f vsuall practise of gods children willingly to resigne and giue their soules vp to god , when he pleaseth to call for them . others vnderstand it g of a quiet end , or an easie end , of dying without difficultie : as it is said of iacob , that h when he had done blessing his sonnes , he plucked vp his feet , and so gaue vp the ghost . and it is true also that i old men vsually die with much ease ; k like an apple that being come to full maturi●y , doeth without force or stresse vsed to it , drop downe of it selfe ; or like a lampe , that l of it selfe goeth out , when the matter that fed it faileth . but because i finde the word vsed m generally and indefinitely , as well of n young as of old , as well of such as die o strong and violent , as that die voluntary or easie deaths : i take it rather , that there is in this phrase of speech an intimation of mans frailtie , and of the frailtie of mans life . p hee puffed out , or , q hee breathed out ; that is , r his breath failed , or , s his breath went away , and he died . so that the point that hence i would obserue then is this , that the life of man is but a breath , but a blast : and so consequently the frailty and the vanitie of mans life . that which may the better appeare vnto vs , if we shall consider , 1 what it is compared vnto ; and 2 what it may be taken away with . first ( i say ) what it is compared vnto . a what is man ? saith the heathen man. why ? hee is euen the dreame of a shadow . what hath lesse b truth in it than a dreame ? what lesse substance than a shadow ? what either vanisheth away more suddenly , than the one ; or is dispelled sooner than the other ? nor came another of them much short of him , who compared mans state , as the former did his life , not to the dreame of a shadow , but to the c shadow of a smoake . they seemed ( it seemeth ) to them to haue said little or nothing to speake of , that compared it , either to d a dreame , or to e a smoake , or to * a shadow alone , when yet to minish the weight and adde to the vanitie of it , ioyning two of them together , they make it , not a smoake onely , but the shadow of a smoake , that is farre lesse ; nor a dreame barely , but † the dreame , not of some substance , which yet were a thing of nothing , but of a shadow . and , what is man saith one of the ancient fathers . why ? he is f soule and soile ; or breath and body : g apuffe of wind the one , and h a pile of dust the other : no soliditie in either , if you consider them apart ; and most vnlikely to impart any such thing either to other , if you consider them in themselues . i might adde what they say , that compare men to the i leaues of trees that soone shed ; to k bubbles on the water , that fall as fast as they rise ; to * bladders puffed vp of wind , that may be let out with the pricke of a pinne , and the like . but because these may peraduenture seeme vnto some to haue spoken somewhat l hyperbolically or excessiuely in the point : let vs heare the spirit of god , that speaketh no otherwise of things than as they are indeede , speake . if we demand then of the mouth of god himselfe , what man is ; he maketh vs answer euen in effect as they did : to wit , that m adam is as abel , or abels mate : ( for to the names of those two patriarches there is an allusion in the originall : ) that is , man ( as it is translated ) is as n vanitie , or , o a thing of nought : his daies passe away like p a shadow . he is q as a dreame that vanisheth when one awaketh : as r a wind , s that goeth away and commeth not againe . t his breath is in his nostrils ; ready euer and anon to puffe out : and u when that breath of his is once gone , x hee returneth instantly to his dust ; to that dust , y of which he was formed at first . his life is a as a cloud , that is soone disperst with the wind ; or b as a vapour , that appeareth for a while , and then vanisheth away . in a word : c all man is all abel ; and that euen then , when he is at the very best ; that is , euery man , d be he neuer so well vnderlaid , neuer so surely and soundly setled , he is nothing but vanitie , that hath no soliditie at all in it ; or ( as he saith elsewhere ) but e alye , that hath no truth at all in it ; or f as nothing 〈◊〉 yea , g lighter ( if ought may so be ) than vanitie it selfe ; and ( if more than so may be yet ) euen h lesse than nothing . which speeches ( i suppose ) come not an ace short of those other . againe , the frailtie and vanitie of mans life may appeare , if we shall consider what it may be taken away with . and it is strange to think , i how small a matter may put an end to mans life . when a great man sometime threatned a philosopher with death , k what is that more ( quoth he ) than à spanish flie may doe ? and he might well haue added , not to me onely , but to thy selfe . yea , to passe by that of cleopatra , who when to preuent publike disgrace , she had made her selfe away with the helpe of an aspe , yet had nothing to be seene on her , saue l two small pricks , that could hardly be seene , made with the wormes tooth on the one of her armes ; which yet were enough ( it seemeth ) to make an end of her , and m might as well haue done of any other . to let that passe , i say , not a spanish , but n an ordinary flie or a grat , flying casually into his mouth , is said to haue stifled that proud pope , that made the highest state then in the christian world stoope euen to the holding of his stirrop . and indeed , o what is there so small , that may not bee a mans bane ? the p paring of a toe , the cutting of a corne , the scratch of a naile , the pricke of a pin , haue beene sometime , and q may againe be , the meanes of a mans end . a r fish-bone , a s grape-kernel , some t one haire , a u drop of water , x his owne spittle , let down vnwarily , may choake him . a bad or vnwonted aire , an euill smell , a little smoake may soone stifle him . man is as the grasse , or as a flower ( saith the b prophet and the c psalmist ) which if the wind blow but on it , it is by and by gone : and his life is as a candle , or a taper , a weake light , that euery light , not gust , but puffe of winde is ready to blow out . yea not some malignant blast , or some euill breath onely , but euen the want of breath ; nor the aire , if it bee infected , onely , but the very d want of it to breathe with , will soone make man cease to be , and put a period to his life . e if thou withdrawest ( saith hee ) from them their breath , they die , and returne againe to their dust . and what may this frailtie and vanitie of mans life then teach vs ? surely ; first , not to f make flesh our arme ; not to relie vpon so g feeble , so fraile , so fickle a stay , as the life euen of the greatest , or what euer he be , h cease from man ( saith the prophet ) whose breath is in his nostrils : for what excellency is there in him ? and , i trust not in princes ( saith the psalmist ) nor in any sonne of man : for there is k no certainty of helpe by them . for their life is but l ablast , and m whe● their breath goeth they die , and returne to their dust , euen n as others doe ; and then all their proiects perish with them . men thinke themselues safe commonly , if they can get into fauour with some great man , or if they can by any meanes procure but the protection of such an one . but , not to presse that which some yet well obserue , that these proue oft but o vntoward shelters , but v●safe sa●egards ; like the tree to the passenger , that flieth to it for succour in a storme , p that either braineth or ●ai●eth him with the fall of a bough , who might haue beene safe enough , had he not shrouded himselfe vnder it : yea that q many are ruined together with them by their fall , as the vnder-woods by the oke or the cedar when it is felled , who neuer got by them while they stood . what surety of helpe or safety canst thou haue from those , who haue no suretie , r no more than thou hast , of themselues ? or what suretie or certainty can they haue of themselues , whose life dependeth vpon so fickle a stay , as is a puffe of wind , or a blast of breath onely ? s make god thy stay , therefore , who is t a rocke of eternitie , or an euerlasting rocke : not man , who is u so fraile , so feeble a fabricke , as being supported and held together but with x a little breath , may with y as small a matter againe bee throwne downe and dissolued . and z take heed how for the procuring of the fauour of the one , thou either watue the fauour , or incurre the dispeasure of the other . secondly , the consideration hereof should admonish vs with a iob , to liue in continuall expectation of our end , in continuall preparation for the time of our decease ; since that b we know not how soone or how sodainly , we may be smitten ; and wee know withall , how small a matter is enough to make an end of vs. it was no euill counsell therefore , that besides c christian diuines , euen some d heathen haue giuen , that a man should doe well to make euery day his dying day . which yet is not so simply to be vnderstood , that a man should euery day doe the same duties , or be imployed in the same workes , that hee either would or should , if he knew it to be the last day of his life : but that in some other speciall respects he should make each day to be so ( to wit , as his dying day ) to him . 1. in the dispeeding of his repentance and e not delaying it a day longer . be as carefull to f breake off thy sins this day and euery day , as if it were to be thy dying day . make euery day thy dying day , by g dying vnto sinne euery day . it is an heathen mans counsell ; and it is good and wholsome counsell ; h let thy sinnes die in thee before thou diest . let them dye before thee ; for i if they stay till death with thee , if k thou diest before they die , thou art sure to die eternally . and how knowest thou but that thou maist die before they die , if they die not in thee this day ; when l thou hast no certainty of thy liues continuance till the next day ? and it is the aduice of a iewish rabbine , and might well haue come from any christian ; m repent thee a day before thou diest . not meaning thereby , that a man should deferre and put off his repentance , till he lay , as hee thought , now a dying , or not like to liue aboue a day longer : but that n he should this present day repent , and o not put it off till the next day ; because before the next day , for ought he knoweth , he may die ; p hee knoweth not what or where he shall be to morrow . as solomon therefore aduiseth him , that hath intangled himselfe by suretiship , so doe thou much more ; ( for the matter more concerneth thee ) q giue no sleepe to thine eyes , nor flumber to thine eye-lids , before thou hast r by sincere and serious repentance wound thy selfe and thy soule againe out of those snares of satan , s which by the practise of sinne thou hast entangled thy selfe in . 2 in the shunning and auoiding of all euill . be as carefull to shunne sinne e●ery day , as thou wouldest be , if it were to be thy dying day , t doe not that ( saith he ) to day , that thou maist repent thee of to morrow . yea , doe not that , ( say i ) to day , that it may be too late to repent of tomorrow . there is hardly any man to be found so desperate , if he beleeue at least that he hath a soule to saue , that u would wilfully abandon himselfe to any euill act , if he thought but that he should or might die instantly vpon the deed done . when thou shalt therefore be incited to the doing of ought , that thy conscience enformeth thee to bee euill , doe but thinke thus seriously with thy selfe ; would i doe this , if i were to die to day , or if i were to die as soone as it is done ? and yet how knowest thou , but that thou maist die in the doing of it , but that this puffe of thy life may puffe out , ere it be done ? thou maist be taken with a bal●asar , b ammo● , and c ela , besides d others , amids thy cups , or vpon thine ale-bench : thou maist with e zimri and cozbi ( and the like hath befallen others too ) be smitten f in thine vncleane bed , yea in the g act of thine vncleannesse : thou maist with * core and his complices , be swept away , in thy rebellious courses against minister or magistrate ; or amids thy friuolous suites , and malicious pursuits of thy brethren . thy lie , or thy vaine oath may bee thy h last word ; thy drunken health thy i last draught ; thy fraud , or thine oppression thy last deed . in k the twinckling of an eye , in the turning of an hand , while thou art but l looking after some sinne , as m lots wife looking to sodome ward , ( n she turned her but , and she was turned ) maist thou sodainly be snatched away , with thy p minde defiled , though thy hand yet vnsoiled . and certainly q no meanes would be more effectuall to keepe vs continually within compasse , than the serious consideration of the frailtie and the vncertaintie of our life , how soone and how sodainly it may r flit away from vs. 3. in embracing of all good occasions . be s as carefull euery day to entertaine any occasion of wel-doing , as thou wouldest be , if it were to bee thy dying day . t let vs doe good ( saith the apostle ) while wee haue u time , and opportunitie so to doe : considering that if we neglect it now , when it is offered , wee know not whether it will euer be offered vs againe . x say not ( saith solomon ) to thy neighbour , goe and come againe to morrow , if thou hast that by thee wherewith thou maist helpe him . and , a whatsoeuer thou doest ( saith he ) doe it , as with all diligence ; for there is no worke , nor wisdome in the graue that thou goest to : so without delay ; because b thou knowest not what euill may come , that may cut off all future opportunitie of wel-doing , either by taking thee from the meanes , or the meanes from thee . and as c he that obserueth the wind shall neuer sow ; so hee that regardeth the clouds shall neuer reape . but especially d neglect not the meanes of that maine worke , ( f to day , saith he , if you heare his voice , harden not your hearts , but g hearken : and , h now while the acceptable time is , while it is the day of saluation , we beseech you , receiue not the grace of god offered you in vaine . ) of i laying a good foundation for the obtaining of life eternall ; and the k laying hold of all opportunities that may tend thereunto . for this , if it bee not first done , dismall and desperate will thine estate be , if death sodainly surprise thee . whereas if it be once well and substantially done , l death shall neuer be able to raze or to rip vp thy worke , come it neuer so soone after , or so suddenly vpon thee . it is with vs in this case , as it is for our wills . a man that hath not his will made before hand , if hee bee sodainly taken with dead palsie or lethargie , is m thereby vtterly disabled to doe ought therein , or to settle his estate . whereas if a man haue before time made and finished his will , though he haue no time or abilitie , being so taken , now to recognize it , yet n his will standeth firme and good still for all that , and shall as well take effect as if he had seriously now againe considered of it , and signed and sealed it the second time . in like manner , those that neglect now the meanes of their saluation , in hope of hauing them , and making vse of them time enough hereafter , if either death , or some o such disease , soduinly smite them , as is wont to depriue of , or disturbe the vse of vnderstanding and reason , they are thereby vtterly disabled to do ought therein . whereas those that are now carefull to make a good vse of them , and neglect not the grace and mercy of god therein now vouchsafed them , hauing p reconciled themselues to god once , and made their peace with him ; though death should take them so suddenly , that they haue not time so much as to thinke on it , yet their q peace with god shall stand firme and sure ; nor shall the want of opportunitie or abilitie to doe ought then , any whit impeach or impaire their euerlasting wel-doing . 4. in the manner of doing all that we doe . bee carefull to doe , whatsoeuer it is that thou doest , r as sincerely , as vprightly , as thou wouldest doe it , if thou wert to doe it , when thou art a dying ; or as thou wouldest doe it , if thou thoughtest thou shouldest die as soone as it were done , that presently after the doing of it , thou shouldest depart this world , and goe to giue an account of the doing of it to god. so doe , i say : for s so ( for ought thou knowest ) thou maist doe . and therefore , not only , when thou hearest now , so heare , as if this were the last sermon thou should heare , as with t eutychus it had like to haue beene ; so pray , when thou praiest , as if that might proue the last prayer thou shouldest make ; ( for the manner of preferring and commencing of it , i meane , though not for the matter of the suit commenced ) but so u eat and drinke too , as if that might bee thy * last meale ; so buy and sell too , as if euery bargaine thou makest , might be the last that euer thou shouldest make : yea , so follow not thy serious affaires onely , but thy lawfull disports and delights too , as one that maist x in an instant as well be taken away , ( thy life lying in thy breath , and thy breath being but a blast ) as others not a few before thee haue beene , either y in the one , or z in the other . and thus much also for the second particular here considerable , the manner how hee died , and the frailtie of mans life in the phrase here implyed . the third particular followeth ; and that is the time when he dyed . he dyed , ( saith my text ) . 1. a in a good old age , or with a good hoary head ; for that the b word properly and primarily soundeth ; and it is accounted c a further degree than the former . good ( i say ) not ( as some ) morally ; as d well spent , well employed , replenisht with deeds and emploiments spiritually good : ( albeit , no doubt , abrahams old age also , as well as his younger time so was : ) but good rather naturally ; that is , either e great : for in length and greatnesse in part consisteth the goodnesse of age ; and f goodnesse in that sense goeth sometime for greatnesse : or g quiet , happy , and prosperous ; as it is said elsewhere , h in peace and prosperitie : or i haile and healthy , as wee say ; k free for the most part from such l annoiances and troublesome infirmities , as that age is wont to be infested withall : though not , it may be , so fresh and vigorous as m moses , or so able and actiue as n caleb , are neere their ends said to haue beene : or o all these ; for the word may well include them all . 2. p old and full ; not q of grace and goodnesse , as some : ( that is most true indeed also of abraham , but seemeth not here intended : ) but of daies , or of yeeres ; as it is expressed r elsewhere : hauing liued euen as long as s himselfe desired , or so long ( as we say ) as heart could wish . whence the point , that in the generall wee may obserue , is this , that euen the longest liuers die at last . a the daies of mans life are seuenty yeeres ; saith the psalmist . but abraham had liued a whole b hundred to that , and yet at length , you see , he dieth . yea that is the conclusion still ( c one onely excepted ) with all those ancients that liued so long before the floud , ( not three or foure times , as they say of d nestor and some e other , but nine or ten times as long as the longest ordinary liuers liue now adaies ) f and hee died . nor is it any maruell , that they so doe . for first , we are of g a glassie matter , of a very brittle mettall : h ready with euery light dash to cracke asunder , to fl●e in pieces . and * wee walke amids many casualties ; ready euer anon to seize on vs ; and any one alone enough to make an end of vs. and i the pot ( as the prouerbe is ) goeth so of● to the well , that at length it commeth home broken ; or rather , that it neuer commeth home againe . k death lieth euery where , in euery corner , in waite for vs ; euen l in those things themselues that are h the meanes to maintaine life . not m a crum of that bread we eat , nor n a drop of that we drinke , but , if it goe but an haires bredth awry , it may be our bane . there is not o a bare step , or a pace only betweene death and vs , as david speaketh ; or an p hand-bredth , some few inches , as it is said of those that be at sea : but euen scarce a nailes bredth , yea or an haires bredth betweene vs and it , if not q at all times , yet at many times more at least , than wee are vsually aware of . and it is no maruell therefore if r death meet with vs , or light vpon vs at length : it is maruell rather that it misseth of vs so long . besides that , s wee our selues also helpe oft to hasten our owne end , while wee betray our selues to him , who lieth thus in wait for vs , by wilfull distemper , by disorder , by misdiet . as not one apple therefore of an hundred hangeth on the tree to full maturitie , or so long , till it drop downe with ripenesse alone and its owne weight , but either it is pluckt off with the hand , or blowne downe with the wind , or preuented of its maturitie by some one meanes or other : not one glasse , or earthen pot of an hundred , that lasteth so long as it might , but by some mischance or other it commeth to its bane : so t not one man among an hundred ( what and i should say a thousand ? ) that u fulfilleth his naturall course , that liueth so long as in course of nature he well might , but hath his life shortned , and his end bastned x by sword , by stresse , by sorrow , by sadnesse , by surfet , by sicknesse , by some one such casualty or other . 2. a we carry euery one of vs our owne bane about vs. euery one ( say some chymicks ) hath his owne balsome within him : but b euery one of vs ( sure i am ) hath within him his own bane ; and that that will be sure at length to make an end of him , though no such casualtie , as before wee spake of , should befall him . c we are of a glassie matter ; ( saith he ) nay , d were it so onely , we were better and safer th●n now we are . for e a venice glasse , as brittle as it is , yet if it be charily kept , if it be carefully set vp , if it stand shut vp vnder locke and key , out of vse , out of harmes way , it may hold out many ages , it might last peraduenture euen as long as the world it selfe is like to last . but f shut you vp man neuer so charily , keepe him neuer so carefully , hee may , nay he will drop away for all that , he hath poison within him , that will at length make an end of him . he was bred and borne with a dangerous , with a desperate disease on him , and such as by no care or art of man he can be cured of or recouered . g old age ( said he sometime ) is it selfe a disease ; and h a disease that cannot he cured . but i this life it selfe ( saith an ancient father ) is a disease ; and such a disease as we must all of vs needes one day dye of . l thou art sure to die ( saith he ) not because thou art sicke , but because thou liuest . for m sicke a man may be , and yet not die of it : ( not to adde , that n a disease hath sometime delaid death . ) but o what man liueth , and shall p not see death ? that is , who liueth , and shall not die ? q the whole course of our life is nothing else but a passage to death : the seuerall r ages of our life so many seuerall degrees of death : s we are dying daily t by degrees . no sooner are we ( i say not , u borne , but euen ) * bred , but wee are dying and decaying . euery x minute and moment that seemeth added to our life , y taketh from it . for our life it is as a taper , that being once lighted , neuer linneth spending , till it be wasted all at last : as the houre-glasse , that being once turned and set a running , neuer staieth , till the sand be all out . so that considering as well the varietie of casualties , that we are all subiect vnto , as our owne frailty and mortalitie , that we are brod and bor●e z with , it is no maruell if the longest liuers of vs die at last , it is maruell rather that any of vs liue so long . now this may first teach vs , not to please our selues with a conceit of long life , why may not wee liue as long as such and such ? to omit , that it is a thing altogether a vncertaine . for b who can tell a man what shall be ? certaine it is , that c first or last , d die we must , liue wee neuer so long . as nothing more vncertaine than how long we shall liue : so e nothing more certaine than that once f wee shall die . g as sure as death : we say . and h it neuer stayeth long , that commeth at last . stay death neuer so long , before it come , it will seeme to come ouer-soone when it commeth , to those that desire it not , and at last come it will. and i last life neuer s● 〈…〉 ng , it will seeme but short , when it is once ouer . k when it is gone , ( saith the psalmist ) it is but as l a watch in the night . secondly , it should admonish vs to take heed how we grow too farre in loue , either with this life it selfe , or with the things of this life . since that , though we enioy them neuer so long , yet wee must leaue them at last . for m we brought them not with vs into this world ; and it is certaine that n we cannot carry them out of the world with vs. if they leaue not vs while we liue here , o which oft also they doe ; yet p we cannot but leaue them when we goe hence . for all the things of this life must needs leaue vs , when our life it selfe leaueth vs , whereupon they depend . let vs so hold , and vse these things therefore , that we q set not our hearts on them ; that we suffer not our r affections to be glewed to them . let them s hang loose about vs , that when wee shall come to be stript of them , they may , as our garments , goe off with ease . otherwise if they t cleaue and sticke fast to our soules , as cloathes are wont to doe to an vlcerous body , the parting one day , with them , which we can by no meanes auoid , will be u as painfull vnto vs , as if our skin were pulled from our flesh , or x our flesh ●orne from our bones , or rather y as if some peece of our soule were reaft away together with them . yea for life it selfe , if we loue it , ( as a who loueth not life ? ) let vs loue that life , that is b life indeed , and deserueth well that name . for this life that we liue here , is in a manner c no life ; it is d life in name , but in deed and truth e death . it is no true life that cannot ouercome death ; that yeeldeth to , that ●endeth to , that endeth in death . thirdly , the consideration hereof should cause vs to f surcease and cast off this our immoderate care for the things of this life . as it hath beene said by way of reproofe of some people , that they vsed to g build as if they looked to liue for euer : so it may well be said of many among vs , that they h purchase , and i build , and k gather goods together , as if they made full account to l liue euer to enioy them . whereas neither are these things able to lengthen their liues : for m haue a man neuer so much of them , his life dependeth not thereupon : nor to keepe them from death : for n no price can procure any immunitie from it : nor to saue them in death ; for o riches auaile not in the day of wrath : nor to auaile them after death ; for there will then be no vse of them . and for men therefore p to beat their braines so much with thought and care for these things , and q to take such paines , as so many doe , for the compassing of them , is but r to t●ile and moile about that , that they must leaue to others at length , and to inherite s nothing but t folly and u vanitie themselues , when others , x they know not who , y inherit the fruit of their labours . lastly , this might teach vs not to feare death . a it is a fond thing ( saith he ) to feare that , that cannot be auoided . a folly it is to trouble & turmoile our selues with feare and care about that , that by no thought or forecast wee can shunne or shift off . but such is death . b delayed it may be , but auoided it cannot be . and c be it nouer so long put off , yet d it will come at last . as an ancient father therefore well and wisely aduiseth ; e feare not that , which whether thou wilt or no , will be ; feare that rather , which if thou thy selfe wilt not , shall neuer be . that is , feare not this temporall death , the death of thy body , which of it selfe cannot hurt thee , and by no meanes or care of thine can be preuented : but feare that eternall death , the death of thy soule , f the greatest of all euils that can possibly befall thee , which by mature care and diligence now vsed , may be preuented . but we are ( as another well obserueth ) herein , the most of vs , g like children , that are h afraid of a visour , but feare not the fire ; shreeke and start at the one , but thrust their fingers into the other . * wee feare the bodily death , but not the spirituall death , the death of the soule , the death in sinne , and dying in sinne , without which the other cānot hurt . the feare of death troubleth and distracteth much our minds : but the feare of future matters , that are truly fearfull indeed , and but for which death needednot at al to be feared , doth no more trouble or affect the most , than as if no such thing were at all , or they were i babes only that beleeued them . and thus much for the generall , that from this third branch we obserue : some particulars follow ; which i will point at rather than insist on . more specially therefore we may hence further obserue ; first , that in some cases to liue long is a blessing . it was foretold abraham , as a fauour , that hee should k die an old man : and it is here recorded that so he did . and it was foretold eli , as an heauie iudgement that should betide his posterity , that there should l neuer be any old man in his house . long life , as in the m law it is promised oft as a blessing : and god where he describeth by the prophet the flourishing estate of his people , saith , n there shall no more be , o from them , or goe thence , an infant of daies ; that is , none of them shall die young or in infants estate ; nor any old man that hath not fulfilled his daies ; that is , p liued so long as in course of nature he well might : but the childe shall die an hundred yeares old ; that is , he that is now a childe shall liue till he be so many yeares old : ( which place the rather i recite & open at large , in regard of some friuolous q crotchets that not a few haue fisht out of it , cleane beside as well the meaning as the drift of gods spirit : ) so the shortning of mans life is threatned oft as a curse . r hee shall die s before his time , as the greene grape is nipt off the vine , and the oliue blossome shake off the tree ; saith eliphaz of the wicked . and , t hee shall not liue out halfe his daies ; that is , u halfe the time that he might in the course of nature haue attained to ; saith the psalmist of deceitfull and bloudie men . and well may it be so deemed . for first , a old age is honourable . yea , as the apostle saith of b mariage , it is honourable c among all men . it is d a resemblance of gods antiquitie , who is called e the ancient of daies . f the glory of young men is their strength : ( saith solomon ) and the beauty of old men is the gray-head . and , g old age , or the gray-head , is a crowne of glory , that is , h a glorious crowne , where it is found in the way of righteousnesse . secondly , it is a blessing to liue to see posteritie , especially to liue to see withall gods blessing vpon it . i blessed is the man that feareth god ( saith the psalmist ) k for ( among other things , though it come last , yet not the least ) he shall liue to see his childrens children , ( that which is recorded also , as a part of l iobs happinesse ) and peace upon israel . thirdly , it is a matter of griefe to men * more than ordinary , when friends are taken away from them by m immature death : when the ordinary course of nature is inuerted , and they n burie , those by whom they ought rather to haue beene buried . fourthly , it is a great grace to a godly man , that he may doe god any good seruice . such account it their greatest honour , as o to suffer in gods cause , so to be employed in gods worke . but the longer a man liueth , the more glory may he bring to god , the more seruice may hee doe to the church and children of god , be he a publike person , or a priuate ; not in regard of occasions and opportunities onely , but in regard also of aptnesse and abilitie thereunto : since that continua●ce of yeeres bring●th p wisdome and experience ; and antiquitie carrying a kinde of q authority with it , procureth reuerence and respect : the former whereof fitteth men for the doing of the more good to others , the latter others for the receiuing of the more good from them . long life in these respects therefore may well be deemed a blessing . secondly , we may hence obserue , that it is a great mercy of god to haue a good old age . it is a mercy more than ordinary for men at those yeeres to be kept free in some good measure , though not from such weaknesse as the decay of nature necessarily importeth , yet from such aches , and paines , and grieuances , and diseases , and annoiances , as that age is wont commonly to be annoied and pestered with . for first , r health and the enioyment of it , is at all times a great mercy ; ( s no outward thing being comfortable or delightfull without it ) that which nothing sheweth so well as t the want of it at some times , and the inconueniences that ensue thereupon . and if to enioy it at any time then be no small benefit , euen at such times wherein others are wont vsually to enioy it : how much more is it a great mercie to haue it at that age , wherein most men are wont to finde a much more than vsuall want of it ? the more infectious the times and places are that we liue and abide in , the greater goodnesse of god it is to vs , if we keepe free from infection : so the●ore u old age is subiect to diseases and disasters , the greater mercy it is for old men to be kept free then from either . againe , it is not so much the bare decay of nature or ab●tement of bodily strength , as either maketh old age so x cumbersome & burdensome to men , and depriueth them of all alacrity and cheerefulnesse of spirit ; ( you shall see old men , though so weake and feeble , that they can scarce stir from the place where they are set , yet as y cheerefull and frolicke , as we say , and as heartie , yea much more lightsome many times , than many farre younger than themselues ) or that disableth them to doing good , and to the performance of good offices for the behoofe and benefit of others : ( for such albeit their bodily strength be most past , yet their z wits may be still fresh : and though they cannot afford much helpe of the hand , yet a by sage counsell and graue aduice , they may further affaires more either publike or priuate , b than many younger and stronger are able●●doe with their hands : * a few gray haires , saith on● ; may be more worth , than many young lockes ; and a few gray beards doe more than many greene heads . it is not that decay of nature or bodily strength so much , i say , as such c paines and diseases as vsually accompany old age , that are wont to make it to be either so tedious to them themselues , that they grow d weary oft euen of their liues , or that ma●eth them so unprofitable to others , yea and oft so f burdensome too , that they grow as weary of them , as they are themselues of their liues . which to be freed therefore from , either for the most part , or in some good measure , in that age , must needs bee counted no small merey . thirdly , obserue wee hence , that there is a kinde of satietie and fulnesse of life : not so much , i say , an g irkesomnesse , and tediousnesse , e as h a satietie and fulnesse ; when a man , though not weary of a thing , yet he hath his i fill , so much as he desireth , of it ; to the godly especially ; for i finde not the phrase vsed in the word but of them onely ; as of abraham here , of k isaak , of l iob , of m iehoiada , of n dauid , of whom it is said also , that he died o with a good gray head , full of daies and riches , and honour . now this satietie and fulnesse of life commonly befalleth such ; first , when some speciall promises of god haue beene made good to them , or some speciall p blessings of god enioyed by them , correspondent to their owne desires . so simeon , when he had liued so long ( q which it was foretold him he should doe ) as to see our sauiour in the flesh , he hath euen enough of this life , he desireth not now to liue an houre longer . r lord ( saith he ) now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace ; since that mine eyes haue once seene thy saluation , my sauiour , and the sauiour of all mankind . so iacob , when he saw his sonne ioseph againe , whom he had s giuen vp for dead and gone long agoe , not aliue only , but in honour , and not him alone , but his issue too ; t let me now die ; ( saith he ) i haue liued long enough ; i desire life now no longer ; since i haue seene thy face , and that thou art yet aliue . for u i made full account neuer to haue seene thy face ; and behold god hath made me see thy seed . secondly , where their a employments here are at a full point , at a period ; when they haue done their taske that god had assigned them , and there b seemeth to be now here no further work for them . c dauid ( saith he ) when he had serued his set time by god assigned him , slept . and the apostle paul , as d he was content to stay longer in the flesh for the good of the philippians , and the furtherance of their faith , then he desired otherwise to doe : so hee saith on the other side , that e his life was not deare to him , he cared not how soone he laid it downe , if so be that he had fulfilled but the course of his ministery , and that his worke it were once at an end . the vse of which seuerall points in a word , may be , first of the two former , to admonish old men , and such more specially as through the goodnesse of god enioy a commodious and comfortable time of it , free from many such griefes as they heare others of their yeares oft complaine of , to acknowledge gods great mercy and goodnesse to them therein ; as f in lengthening out their life , and satisfying them with a greater number of daies then others ordinarily attaine vnto , by means whereof they may liue to see those brought vp vnder them , and bestowed by them , that are of their charge , and whom god hath here blessed them with : so g in freeing of them from such annoiances , as are vsually attendants of that age , and which might make their continuance here the more tedious and vncomfortable to them : and h to apply themselues therefore to such holy and religious employments , so farre forth as their present estate and condition shall permit , whereby they may bring glory to god , and doe some seruice to him , who is so good and gratious to them aboue many others in that kinde : remembring withall , that howsoeuer i old age of it selfe be an honour ; yet it is nothing lesse , if it be not k found in the way of righteousnesse , as the wise man speaketh , if it be not religiously imployed : and that , howsoeuer to the godly long life may be a blessing , yet l the wicked man , ( saith the prophet ) though he liue an hundred yeeres , shall be but an accursed wretch . secondly , the vse of the last of these points may be to shew a difference betweene godly and worldly men . the godly haue oft euen a satietie of life : m as willing they are to leaue the world , as men are wont to be to rise from the bord , when they haue eaten their fill , or so much as they desire . but with worldly men for the most part it is farre otherwise : they haue neuer enough , as of n the wealth of this world , so of o this present life : by their good will they would neuer die . it is true indeed , that sometime , either crosses and calamities , extraordinarie disasters , or sore torturing paines and long lingring diseases , out of a kinde of impatiencie , may make them p weary of their liues and q desirous of death , which but for those grieua●ces and a●●oia●ces they would else be farre from : whereas the godly , with abraham & dauid , euen then also , r when they haue a good and a comfortable continuance of life , accompanied and attended as well with health of body , as with s honour and wealth , yet haue their fill of it , and are as well willing to leaue it , as the other are some dish of meat that they haue eaten their fill of . yea t so fondly are worldly men herein oft affected , and their hearts so possessed with the loue of this life , that though they know not how to liue , yet they are not willing to die ; though their life be so irkesome and painfull unto them , that they seeme to be u long a dying rather than to liue long , and x the delay of death farre worse with them , than death it selfe could be to them , yet they desire y to endure rather any extremitie of griefe and torture with life , than to haue an end put to their paines and torments by death . but let vs rather herein striue to be affected as gods saints are , especially when it hathpleased god to blesse vs with long life , with many yeeres more , than the greater number of folke are wont to attaine to ; * labour to finde and feele in our selues this satiety and fulnesse of life ; and be willing and content to leaue it , when god shall please to call for it , though no speciall affliction or paine enforce thereunto , not z as a meat loathed , ( which the naturall man oft doth ) but as 〈◊〉 dish , though well liked , that we haue fed our fill of . and hitherto also of the third particular , to wit , time when he died . the fourth and last followeth , and that is whither hee went when hee died ; whereof the text saith here , that he was gathered to his people ; and in another place of him , that a he went to his fathers . and there is nothing more frequent and common in scripture than these and the like phrases vsed of persons deceassing , that b they sleepe with , c they goe to , d they are gathered vnto , either their people , that is , their countrimen , or their ancestors , for that is , e their fathers . so that , men , when they die , they goe to their people , to their 〈◊〉 fathers . that which may well be vnderstood two waies ; and the holy ghost might well therin aime at both , because both goe vnder one generall , and the phrase as it may fit either , so f it may well include both . first in regard of the body : because g it returneth to the earth , the common h receptacle of all . as it is said of dauid , that i he was laid vnto , or laid vp , with his fathers . for howsoeuer of abraham it k seeme to some , that it cannot be so meant , because l his corpes was enterred in the land of canaan , ( m so generally termed ) in a strange countrey , where his countrey-men in likelihood none of them lay : yet it followeth not thence , that it may not euen in that sense also be said of him too : since that the graue in generall , n not the artificiall one , but the o naturall , ( which p the hebrewes also well distinguish ) is ( as iob fitly termeth it ) q the congregation house of all liuing , that is , the place wherein they all meet together after decease , be the places of their sepulture neuer so farre asunder ; yea whether they haue any sepulture or no , as iacob supposed that ioseph had not , whom hee yet saith , hee would die , and r goe downe to , to the graue . and as well might abraham , for his body also , be said , to be gathered to his people , though hee were buried in some other place then the most of them were , as jacob might be said to goe to ioseph , because s he was to be laid in the ground when he died , ioseph being , as he supposed , t buried in the bowels of some beast : since that , as solomon saith , u all goe to one common place ; all returne againe to their dust . secondly , in regard of the soule . first a in generall : because it departeth hence indefinitely into another world , not proper and peculiar , as he said b each one did when hee slept , but c common and generall : it goeth hence to the d vnseene world , as the heathens termed it , or to the e world of soules , as the hebrew doctors call it ; to that other world , ( including both heauen and hell ) in generall , that is the congregation house of soules , as the graue is of corpses : as f the supposed samuel told saul , ( though he meant not , nor intended it so to be taken , that saul should be in the same speciall state or place that samuel was then in , when he died ) g to morrow shalt thou be with me ; that is , in the other world , wherein both thou and i , and all other good and bad are after decease . secondly , more specially ; the soules of gods saints and seruants may well be said to go to their people and their fathers , when they die ; h because they goe to that peculiar place , where all their godly country-men and ancestors are ; to the i congregation house ( as the apostle termes it ) of the first-borne , and of the spirits of the iust. nor doth it hinder , but that of abraham it may so also be vnderstood , albeit that both his country-mē , the most , it may be of them , and his ancestours also , many of them , might be idolaters , as k himselfe also at first was ; since that many yet no doubt of both those rankes , both were pious , while they liued , and went to god , when they died : besides that , wel also may they all be termed and stiled l his people , or country-men , though little of kinne to him otherwise , that were the people , while they liued , of the same god that he serued : yea as well might m all the faithfull that went before him , be termed his fathers , whether he were lineally and carnally descended of them or no , as n all the faithfull that came after him , are termed his sonnes . but to hasten to an end : first , this may serue to strengthen vs against the feare of death , or of what shall become of vs when we are dead : since that , as a we goe not any strange way when we die , such as none haue gone before vs , but a beaten path , that b all , euen good , haue gone ; so we goe not to any strange place , where either none are already , or none that we haue any acquaintance withall ; but we goe to our christian friends , to our religious fore-fathers , c to a place , where we shall meet againe with all those , that wee d sent from hence before vs , hauing deceased in the faith . it is that indeed that much troubleth men and women many times , when they are enforced to trauell into strange countries , and to change the places of their wonted and ancient abode ; to fore-thinke , what an vncouth thing it wil be , to come among a strange people , where they know none , and none know them . it would haue troubled iacob not a little to haue remoued into aegypt , had he not beene * sure to finde ioseph there . but the godly need not be troubled with any such thoughts , when they are to remoue hence : for they shall goe to their owne people , their friends , their fathers : they shall be sure to e finde country-men , kindred , acquaintance enough in heauen , that will be f readie to receiue them , to welcome them thither , to giue them the best entertainment that can be there . yea this should make vs the rather desirous to die and to go hence , g that we may goe to , and be with those worthies , whom either hauing knowne here our selues , or hauing read of , or heard report of from others , we haue admired , and desired either to see , or to liue with , while they liued here . and lastly , if we desire to goe to them when we die , let vs be sure to follow them while we liue . h adioine thy selfe to them , associate thy selfe with them , while thou liuest here , if thou desirest to be with them , and to partake with them , when thou departest hence . i walke thou must in the steps of faithfull abraham , while thou liuest , if thou lookest to haue a place k in abrahams bosome , when thou diest , and l sit downe with him , after this life , in the kingdome of heauen . oh ( it may be that some of you will s●y of this our blessed brother now deceased ) that my soule were where his is : that i might be sure to die as he did , and to goe whither he is gone , when i die . heare what the apostle saith ; he pointeth thee the way , he telleth thee how it may so be , how thou maist haue thy desire . m think vpon those ( saith he ) that haue had the ouersight of you , and that haue declared the word of god vnto you ; and follow their faith , considering what the end of their life hath beene . be not like balaam , n that wished to come where the godly were , but o had no minde to goe the way that they went. but p follow the rules that he taught thee , q goe the way that he led thee , by life as well as by lesson , while he liued ; and then shalt thou be sure to go to him when thou diest , and to enioy there with him and other the faithfull gone before thee , those ioyes and that blisse , that with god and christ they are there fully possessed of alreadie . finis . faults escaped . page 18. line 21. reade walked . p. 32. l. 11. r. stranger . p. 27. l. 2. r. with wind . p. 28. l. 18. r. hardly he discerned . in the margine . page 20. l. a peritat . p. 22. l. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 23. l. s seu quod . p. 25. l. k sicut cum . p. 26. l. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 27. l. a dissip●● . p. 28. l. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 29. l. a sap●rque &c. & ibid. famil . a●rae . p. 30. l. ● caet●rorum . p. 32. l. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . adde p. 49. l. 9. after , haue beene buried . in regard whereof that * great king sometime , though then none , preferred † peace before warre ; for that “ in time of peace vsually children burie their parents , whereas in time of warre parents are wont to bury their children . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01523-e110 a diligentia subdium . cicero pro quinct . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c pictores pulchrā absolutamque faciem rarò nisi in peius effingunt . plin. sec. lib. 5. epist. 10. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. in basil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sol & seutum . psal. 84. 12. notes for div a01523-e1190 a christianor 〈…〉 corpora christi membra , dei templa . tertul. de resurr . carn . b 1 cor. 6. 15. c 1 cor. 6. 19. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dormitoria . vide durant . de ritib. lib. 1. cap. 23. e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cubilia . esai . 57. 2. f 1 cor. 12. 4 , 6 , 11. g 2 cor. 12 , 27. 30. h 1 sam. 25. 1. i 〈◊〉 sam. 3. 20. k 1 sam. 7. 15 , 16. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . resiquiae . hinc i●l . scaligeri epit●ph . scaligeri quod reliquum esi . m test●s oculatus : qu 〈…〉 auritis d 〈…〉 m praefer plaut . trucul . 2. 6. quos sccundae notae testes appellat . sen. quaest . n●t . l. 4. c. 3. nam & serur 〈…〉 & sia●er●us visa solent , quam audita narrari , & in tertium nas transf●sa facilius coaces●unt . goff●id . vit be●n . l. 1. prae●●t . contra quam apuleius : cui florid . 1. pluris est . au 〈…〉 us t●s●is uni● , quam ocula● de●e . n theologiae anc●llari . o pietatem huma●ita●i intercalarem facere . p tanquam subtemen & stamen . q hebr. 10. 24. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . quod ex prou. 27. 17. tractum vid●tur . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. in b●sil . t 〈…〉 . u ●uk 〈◊〉 16 a 〈…〉 . b 〈…〉 . c 〈◊〉 cor. 〈◊〉 . 1 , 2. d 〈…〉 . e 〈◊〉 co● . 9. 〈◊〉 , f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g 2 cor. 13. 3. h 1 cor. 3. 6 , 7. i iacob . de vorag . in a●dr . s●rm 4. k pis●atores praedicatores primitiu● , matth. 4. 19. qu● vno 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multitud 〈…〉 capiunt , ●uc . 5. 6. ioan. 21. 6. act. 2. 41. & 4. 4. l praedicatores moderni vt venatores , ier 9. 16. qui cu● clamo●ibus & laboribus multis vix vnam feram capi 〈…〉 m es●● . 53. 1. n es●i . 49 4 o esai . 8. 18. p 〈◊〉 cor. 4. 15. q iam. 〈◊〉 ●0 . r matth. 16. 26. s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plut. de 〈◊〉 . 〈…〉 ct . cum princip . t dan 12. 3. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iun. x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iustifi 〈…〉 . ian. ad 〈◊〉 cōuertentes . geneu . & reg. bibl. angl. y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . z matth. 13. 43. a 〈◊〉 . 1. 16. b 〈◊〉 18. 6. 〈◊〉 . 19. 〈◊〉 thess. 3. 2. c rom 10. 1. 1 cor. 9. 19. 22. & 10. 33. d psal. 58. 3 , 4 , 5. 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . ier. 6. 16 , 17 , ●8 . ●9 . 30. e quod de cananaeis , iosh. 23 13. f quod de sodomitis , 2 pet. 2. 7 , 8. de hebraeis , psal 106. 33. g act. 7. 60. 2 tim. 4. 16. h 2 cor. 4. 4. i mat. 10. 14 luk. 9. 5. & 10. 11. act. 13. 51. k esai . 49. 4. l matth. 10 15. m non salutis esse dispensatorem , hoc est salutis etiam esse participem , aug. epist. 140. n animam faciunt , etiam qui non habant . contra quē sen. non faciunt animum , quia nec habent . o per lapideum canalem transit aqua ad arcolas , in canali lapideo nihil generans , sed tamē hortis plurimii fructum affert . aug. in ioan. ●r . 5. p hermae , siue statuae mercuriales . ier. 31. 21. † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diogenis dictum . stob. c. 23. quod & de peripateticis cleanthes ●sur●auit . laert. * antisthenem diogenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dixit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . din prus. orat . 8. “ aqua baptismatis baptizatos ad regnum caeleste mitt●t , & ipsapostea in cleacam descendit . gregor . in euang hom . 17. r 〈…〉 s 〈…〉 t 〈…〉 u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . method . apud epishan . haeres . 64. x qui dicunt & non faciunt . m●tih . 23. 3. y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. in psalm . 63. quod iussit & gassit . bern. epist. 42. & in cant. 20. non verbis solum praeduans , sed exemplis . idem de temp . 51. 〈◊〉 de origen● euseb. hist. lib. 6. cap. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isider . pelus . lib. 2. 〈…〉 st . 251. & 〈…〉 st . 271. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . itaque menander . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . suadet loquentis vita , non oratio . plutare . de leg . poet . & praecept . pol t. et gregor . nazian . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . qui docent tantum 〈◊〉 faciunt , ipsi praeceptis suis detrahunt pondus . bonum quidem est recta & honesta praecip●re : sed nisi & facias , mendacium est . lactant. instit . lib. 3. cap. 16. nisi & 〈◊〉 que praecipit , soluta praecepta sunt . qui praecipiunt , nec saciunt , abest ab cis sides . praeceptus 〈◊〉 suis fidem de●abit , qui quod verbis astr●re conatur , r●●psa resoluit . ibid. lib. 4. cap. 23. z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid . 〈◊〉 l●b . 2. epist. 275. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gregor . nazian . in easil . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pluta●e . de stoic . repugn . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . si 〈…〉 cat . epist. 37. concordet sermo cu● vita . s●nec . epist. 75. ad legem suam quisque vi●at , 〈…〉 vita d●ss●ntiat . idem epist. 20. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid. pel. lib. 3. ep . 3●● . d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. qu●● erimobten p●ret , 〈…〉 . 235. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot. ethic. lib. 10. cap. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e vt enim de pictore , scalptore , fictore nisi artifex iudicare ; ita nisi sapiens non potst perspicere sapientem . plin. l. 1. epist. 10. f miror magis , quô magis intelligo . idem de euphrate ibid. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid. l. 2. ep . 131. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. ep . 175. ex . mat. 10. 16. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idē ibid. nō est vera simplic●as , nisi animiocul● , et plus sit , qui fallere nolit , et cantus sit , quo falli non possit . bern. de praecept . & dispens . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . vt animi scasa elequt , & apte possi , & li● err a●●deat . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . t 〈…〉 . 3. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 tim. 2. 2. t it 1. 6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g●eg . n●k . in ba●il . & is●● . peld . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 302. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . mat. 5. 19. isid. ib 〈…〉 . cp . 235. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greg. naz. ib d. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . schol. a●siaph . plut. muti siquidem 〈…〉 est ? esai . 56. 10. innocens & absque sermine conuersatio , quantū exemplo prodest , 〈…〉 no● 〈◊〉 hier●ad ocean . m ier. 1. 17. act. 4. 29. ephes. 6. 19. tit. 2. 15. n quis tibi 〈…〉 dei non audebit ? ambr. ep . 29. itaque greg. naz. ad eunō 5. oij 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . n●si sid●liter dixcrim , vobis erit 〈…〉 sum , mibip 〈…〉 o , 〈◊〉 . tuneo itaque damnum vestrum , timeo damnationem m●am , fi tacuero . 〈…〉 . 99. o d 〈…〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plin. see. l. 1. cp . 20. & 〈◊〉 relinqu●bat . val. max l. 8. c 9. * quem imitari plurimi concupiscant , poucissimi pussint . plin. de ●●nton . l. 5. cp . 10. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . themislod●● apud plut. in them. & in a● ophth . q nam & gladio lingua consern solet . diogenes de spur●a di●●i●ne à pulchro pros●cta , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l●●rt . et apul . florid . 3. vt gladius vsu splendescit , situ rubiginat . ita vox in vagina silentij condita diutino torpore hebttatur . sed & s●r●o diuinus glad●us dicitur , esai 49. 2 , ephes. 6. 17. r for their meetings on st. themas day . s for their moonday feasts . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . dep●up●●t . id 〈…〉 que in a 〈…〉 al. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . quibus gemina sunt philostrati illa cp . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. itaque quod plin. l. 6 cp 27. facilis 〈◊〉 ; nonfacilis electio . est enim ex 〈…〉 s eius l●rga materia . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. in patrem . x sicut l●●erna se consumit in seru 〈…〉 um al●orum . iac. de vorag . de ioan bapt. 6. y esai . ●9● . z esai . 38. 2● . * psal. 135. 6. ephes. 1. 11. notes for div a01523-e8380 abrahams death . of it foure particulars . 1 quis , who. 2 quando , when. 3 q●omodo , how. 4 quô , whither . particular 〈◊〉 . quis person , who. point 1. a gen. 20. 7. b gen. 23. 6. c i●m 2. 23. 2 chron. 20. 7. esai . 41. 8. d rom. 4. 16. e iohn 8. 54. f iohn 11. 〈◊〉 , 36. g iohn 11. 11. h fohn 11. 14. i luke 12. 4. iohn 12. 14 , 15. k matth. 20. 23. luke 21. 16. iohn 2● . 19. act. 12. 2 , & 20. 29. l iohn 21. 23. n sic eum volo manere , &c. vulg. perperam . quod sequ●●tur tamen ambros . in psal. 45. & . 118. aug. in ioan. 124. & de temp . 149. b●da , lyra , rupert . &c. propugnat georg. trapez . oppugnat card. bessarion . graeci codices resellunt . o 1 sam 13. 13. m iohn 21. 22. p 1 king. 2. 1. q zech. 1. 5. r iohn 8. 52. s psal. 49. 10. t ezek. 21. 4. x esai . 57. 1. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menand . plut. ad apollon . god taketh the●● soonest , whom hee loueth best . mo●●ce t● epitaph . sui . y 1 king. 14. 12 , 13. reason . natural . 1. a 2 cor. 4. 7. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . testacea vasa . hier. de virgin . fictilia . greg. mor. l. 3. c. 6. natural . 2. c esai 64. 8. d ier. 18 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . prov. graec. — vulgus fictilis , qu● simul offendit ad fortunam , frangitur . phaedr . fab . 72. spirituall 1. e eccles. 9. 2. cuiuis potest accidere , quod cuiquam potest . p. syr. spirituall 2. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 casus . g malac. 3. 18. h zech. 5. 3 , 4. spirituall 3. i iuramentum reuerenti . iun. timenti . pisc. spirituall 4. k apoc. 14. 13. l 2 tim. 4. 7 , 8. m 2 tim. 2. 5. iam. 1. 12. n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarc . contr . epic. o rom. 8. 10. p rom. 7. 24. q rom. 6. 7. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antiphan . moriar ? desinam alligari posse , desinam aegrotareposse , desinam posse mori . sen. epist. 24. s 2 cor. 5. 4. u 2 c●r . 5. 6. spirituall . 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gre naz. in basil , spirituall 6. x 2 〈…〉 58. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gr●g . naz. in patr. y philip. 〈◊〉 23. obiect . i. z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vti homer . ody 〈…〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . solu●re , v●l●ram soluere : vt fab. instit . l. 1. p●rm t●amus vela ventis , et oram soluentibus bene pre , emu● . et l. 4 solu●mus oram , prosecti sumi●s . vtà nau●gatur●s tract● sit uid . p●sc . in luc. 12. 36. hinc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 2 tim. 4. 6. a hebr. 1● . 5. b 2 king. 2. 11. answ. c pr 〈…〉 a siagularia regulam non fa iunt , regulam nō i●f●ingunt . priuil●gis sing●●orum le 〈…〉 me mmunem ●o s 〈…〉 t. h 〈…〉 on . in 〈◊〉 1 bed. n act. e esai . 38. 3. f gen. 5. 24. g 2 king. 20. 21. h 2 king. 20. 6. i 2 king. 〈◊〉 . 7. k 2 king. 2. 15. l 2 king. 13. 20. m 2 king 13. 21. n pers●nasi● ▪ ●ctio moritur cum i 〈…〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . 〈…〉 uris sunt pr 〈…〉 legia . n●n sunt amplianda priuil●gia . ibid. d heb● 9 26. o apo. 2. 10. 13. obiection 2. p rom 4 16. q i●bn 8. 51. r mortem videre . i mori . psal. 49. 9. & 98. 48. ●eb● . 11. 6. sicut vid●re vi●am ●i . viuere , i●bn 3. 36. ineptum est enim quod c●rysost . nom . nescio quis in marc 10. distinguit inter mortem gustare & videre . answ. s iubn 11. 26. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a 1 ●or . 15 45. b luke 9 60. c g●n . 2. 7. d rom 8. 10. e ia● . 2 26. f ep 〈…〉 s 2. 1 , 12 & 4 18. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g●eg . n●z . a 〈…〉 g. q●od an 〈…〉 a ●oc deus est an●mae . bern. s●rm . par● 3. h 〈…〉 a 73 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isia . p 〈…〉 3. ep . 252. sicut anim● v●●a est co●poris 〈…〉 ita deus vita est an●mae . ber. ser part 3 v 〈…〉 nis an ma est , vita animae deus est aug. deci●it . l. 19. c. 6. & de v●rb . apost . ●8 . & 〈◊〉 sanci . 16 a●esse debet , vt viuat corpus , anima , vt viuat anima , d●us . ibid. i psal. 73 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid. ibid. moritur corpus cum re●edit anima : mo●●tur anima , si re●●da deus . aug. de verb. apost . 28. corpus mortu●m est sine anima ; anima m 〈…〉 sine deo. idem de sanct. 13. mors co poris a spiritu deser● ; mors spirit ' à deo. idem de c●ui . l. 19. c. 26. u eccle 12. 7. x rom. 8. 38 , 39. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . callimach epigr. 14. qu●p●● virtutem 〈◊〉 , ba●d ●s interit . plaut . capt. 3. 5. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. in philip . hom . 3. quod a iudaeo●um doctoribus tractum docet 10. capnio in cabal . lib. 1. pag 755. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 tim. 5. 6. d viuunt . omnes deo , luke 10. 38. e per vitam ad mortē 〈◊〉 est . f per mortem ad vitam reditus est . ambr. de bon . mort . g non est vita sed mors dicenda , quae viuentem à christo separat . h non est m. sed v. dic . quae morientem christo sociat . idem de abel . l. 2. c. 9. vse 1. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; plut. in apophth . & de laud. sui . isid. pel. l. 3 〈…〉 . 154. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oppian . venat . lib 1. auia — peragro loca , nullius ante trita solo . lucret. lib. 1. & 4. l qui cum horat. lib. 1. ep . 19. dicere poterat ; libera per vacuum posui vestigia princeps : non 〈◊〉 meo press● pede . m matth. 23. 35. iustitiae princeps : cui christus iustitiae primatum tribuit . aug. nom . de mi●ab . ssae . l. 1. c. 3. n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost in gen. 21. o hac iter ad superos , magnique ad tecta tonantis . ouid . met. l. 1 ianua vitae , portagloriae . bern. de temp . 48. p si quid incommodi aut motus in hoc negotio est , ●●orientis vitium est . bassus apud senec. epist. 30. q quomodo malū , quod a deo pro bono maximo datum est ? cic. tuscul l. 1. r 1 thess. 4. 14. non est lugendus qui antecedit , sed desiderandus , &c. cur enim immoderate feras abisse , quem mox consequeris ? tertul. de patient . quod latius cypr. de mortal . non sunt lugendi fratres nostri accersione don inica de seculo liberati , cum sciamus eos non ami●●i sed praemitti , recedentes praecedere ; ut pro 〈…〉 es & 〈◊〉 desiderari eos debere , non plangi . s apoc. 14. 13. t hebr. 11. 13. vse 2. u ab●erunt non ob●●runt . ambr. in theodos. x praecesserunt , non decess●runt . aug. de diuers . 43. pro●ecti , non omissi . ●i●●ron . ad saluin . y 2 sam. 12. 23. z dimissi , praem ssi , non amissi . cypr. sup . aug. cp . 6. & ●20 . sen. ep . 63. & 99. & ad marc. c. 19 a abitus , luke 2. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato apolog 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . simocat . ep . 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. tom . 6. ser. 43. profectio est , quam mortem putamus . tertul. de patient . b exitus . luke 9. 31. 2 pet. 1. 15. excessus de corpore . tertul de resur . de mundo digredi . ammian . l. 29. mors migratio est . cic. tuscul. l. 1. migrare magis quam mori . vell●iusl 1. non emori , sed emigrare . hieron . in nepot . c transitus , iohn 13. 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. & theophil . morstransitus est . sen. ep . 65. non est 〈◊〉 sed transitus . cypr. de mortal . d reditus . eccles. 12 7. ●●p●triasse erit b●c . bern de consid . 〈◊〉 . 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 epcharm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ar 〈…〉 . epict 〈…〉 r●uerti , vnde vene 〈…〉 s , quid graue est ? s 〈…〉 tranq . c. 11. itaque pl 〈…〉 us exp●sans , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s 〈…〉 s. epist. 139. e obitus . non obiit . ambr. de th●od . f int●ritus . i●teritus non est . ambr. de bon . mort . 〈◊〉 . 8. & cic. tus● . l. 1. mors non interimit . lucret . l. 2. h●ud is in●●rit . plaut . sup . g intermissio . mors intermi●●it vi●am , non erip●t . sen. ep . 36. nee illud qu 〈…〉 e. h intercisio . i diminutio . k luges corpus , i quo recessit anima ? luge animā , à qua recessit d●us . aug. de sanct. 13. l 1 sam. 15 35. m 2 co● . 12 21. n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chryso●● . in philip. ●om . 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid. pel. l. 1. cp . 334. vse 3. o 2 sam. 14 14. rom. 4 12. heb. 9. 26. mors per o●nes it . sen. epist. 95. mors omnes aequè vocat . ir●tis d●js propi●jisque mori●dum est . idem quaest . nat . l. 2. c. 59. p io●● 12 35. q iohn 9. 4. r nostros omnes sic habeamus , tanquam nihil nobis de p●rpetuitate , imò nihil de diuturnitate eorum promissum sit . tanquam v●●essuris , imò iam recedē ibus fruamur . tanquam extemplò abituros possideamꝰ . sen. ad marc. cap. 10. s ad quae noscenda iter ingredi , transmittere maria solemus , ea sub oculis posita negligimus : 〈◊〉 quia ita comparatum est , ut proximorū incuriosi longinqua sectemur , sed quod omnium rerum cupido languescit , cum facilis occasio est ; seu quod differimus , tanquā saepe v●suri , quod datur videre , quoties v●lis cernere . plin. sec. l. 8. ep . 20. t si●nter eos quos nunquam vidimus , floruisset , non solum libros eius , verum euam imagines cōquireremus , ciusdē nunc honor praesentis & gratia , quasi sati●tate . languescit . idem lib. 1. epist. 16. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sophocl . a●ac . u rerum natura tibi illum non mancipi● dedit , sed commodavit sen. ad polyb. 〈◊〉 . 19. homo commodatus vitae , non donatus est . p. syr. x non tam data , quàm commodata . pri●as . in 1 cor. fortuna vsu dat multa , mancipio nihil . p. syr. nihil horum dono d●tur : collat 〈…〉 ijs & ad dominos redituris instrumetis scena adornatur : mutuò accipimus in incertum diem ; ●sus fructus tantiem noster est . sen. ad marc. c. 10. exposition 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. phoeniss . y vita data est vtenda ; data est sine foenore nobis mutua , nec c●rto persolüenda die . pedo ad liu. vsuram vitae natura dedit , ●●nquam pecuniae , nulla pr●stituta die . cic. tusc. l. 1. vitaque mancipio nulli datur , omnibus vsu. lucret. l. 3. vsu & fructu nobis est vita , non mancipio tradita . arnob. l. 2. z cuius tempus ille ar 〈…〉 er muneris tui temperat . sen. ad marc. c. 10. particular 2. quomodò . manner how. exposition 1. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expirauit . b aequo ani●o . caluin . c iohn 19. 30. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e sapientis est ●xire , non & e●●ci . sen. ep . 70. f luke 2. 29. act. 7. 59. 2 sam. 15. 26. 1 pet. 4. 19. g de l●ui & leni morte , d. kimchi & aben-ezra . h gen. 49. 33. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pl●t● ti. exception . maeo . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s●pbocl . hinc themist . exposition 3. de anima . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 point 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . senectu● leniter emittit , non repente auulsum vitae , sed minutatim subduct●m . sen. ep . 30. animam senilem mollis exoluit sopor . sen. o●dip . 4. 2. proofe 1. k adolescent●s m●ri sic mi●● vi 〈…〉 , vt cum aquae multitudine vis flam 〈…〉 opprimitur : se●es autem , sicun cum sua sp●nte nulla adhibita vi consumptus ignis extinguitur . et quasi poma ex arboribus , si crudasunt , vi auelluntur , si matura & cocta , decidunt ; sic vitam adolescentibus vis aufert , senibu● matu●itas . cic. de se●ect . l ignis qui alimentis deficitur , sua sponte subfidit . sen. epist. 30. m gen. 6. 17. & 7. 21. numb . 17. 12 , 13. & 20. 3. n iob 3. 11. & 10. 18. o iosh. 22. 20. psal. 88. 15. z●ch . 13. 8. p expiraui● . q spiritum efflauit . r spiritus defecit . s spiritus ab●js . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pindar . pyth. 8. plutarc . ad apollon . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p●u● 〈…〉 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aes●hyl stob. cap. 96. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greg. naz. ad iulian . e vt calidus fu 〈…〉 abignibus vanescit per spatium brcue sord dus : sic bic quo ●egimur , spiritus ●ff●uit . sen. troad . 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . soph●●l . aiac . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. ad apollon . f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. ex gen. 2. 7. g psal. 78. 39. esai . 2. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & venti flatum & spiritū hominis designat . eccles. 1. 6. & 12. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 item vtrumque denotat . ioan. 3. 8. & 4. 24. sed & anima & animus quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dictus , cassiod canin . alij . & pro vento etiam vsurpatur . seru. in aen. ●1 . h gen. 3. 19. & 18. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dust and ashes . i sirac . 14. 18. & aug. in psal. 101. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . musaeus . clem. strom . l. 6. et ab ills homer . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. quod laudat zeno. laert. citant clem. strom . l. 6. plut. ad apoll●n . & lucian episcop . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de tard . vindict . & de vit . epicur . sed & m mueru●●ss , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. stob. c. 96. et aristoph . auib . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. airom . l. 5. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. luc 〈…〉 . episc●p . h●mo bulla . varr● . rust . l. 1. c. 1. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epicharm . clem. strom . lib. 5. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutar● . sup . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adam abei● compar est . ps. 144. 3 , 4. n geneu . & reg. bibl. o vet. bibl. angl. p iob 8. 9. psalm . 102. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristoph . auib . clem. strom . l. 5. q psal. 73. 20. & 90. 5. iob 20. 8. r iob 7. 7. s psal. 78. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . soph●cl . aia● . t esai . 2. 22. quod de senibus sen. ep . 30. anim● senilu cum in primis fit labijs , haud magna vià corpore distrahitur . u psal. 146. 4. x eccles. 12. 7. y gen. 2. 7. & 3. 19. a iob 7. 9. vt ●ubes , grauidas quas m●do vidimus , arctoi borgae dissipat impetus . so● . tr●ad . 2. b iam. 4. 14. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnis adam totus abel . psal. 39. 〈◊〉 , 12. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fundatus , constitutus . g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 psal. 62. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 psal. 62. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esai 40. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sophocl . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . iambl . hortat . c 8. proofe 2. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esai . 40. 17. i ti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. de baptism . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . diogenes perdiccae . laert . et theodorus lysimacho ; enimuerò magnifi●a res tibi contigit , quia ●antharidis vim assecutus es . cic. tusc. l. 1. & val. max. l. 6. c. 2. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. anton. m tu qui te deum credis , successu aliquo elatus , quantulo serpētis dente perire potes ? plin. l. 7. c. 7. n conrad . visperg . na●cler . ex ioan. cremon . & io. bal. in adrian . pp 4 qu● a 〈…〉 papatum nicholas breake-speare dicebatur . o nihil tam exiguum est , quod non in ●●r●●iem generis humani satis val at . sen. nat . quaest . l. 6. c. 2. p v●gi●uli nos , & ne toti●s quidem dolor , sed aliqua 〈◊〉 latere eius s●issura conficit . ibid. q quicquid enim fieri potuit vnquā , & potest . idem . r tarquinius priscus piscis spina inter coenandum susfocatus es● . guide bitur . s anacr contem vuae passae succo exiles virium reliquias fouentē vnicus granipertinacior in aridis faucibus humor absumpsit . val. max. l. 9 c. 12 & plin. l 7. c. 7. quod de sophocle etiam sotades . stob. c. 96. t fabius senator poto in lactis haustis vno pilo strangulatus est . plin. ibid. u est quos potio strangulauerit malè lapsa per fouces : stillicidio perire potes . sen. q. nat . l. 6. c. 2. vse 1. x saliua crassior suff●cat . ibid. a abortus causa sit odor a lucer●●rum extinctu . plin. l. 7. c. 7. nunquid vt homo concidatres magni molimenti est ? odor illisoporque , &c. mortisera sunt . sen. ad marc. c. 11. animal aquarum nouitatibus , flatuque non familiaris aquae , & tenuissimis causis atque off●nsionibus morbidum , putre , cassum . ibid. iouinianus imp. foetore prunarum & nidore parietum recens calceillitorum extinctus est . hieron . in nepot . ammian . l. 25. & aur. victor . fato gemino & q. catulus ob●jt . vell●●us l. 2. b psal. 40. 6 , 7. c psal 103. 15 , 16. d suppresso tantum spiritu esse desierunt licinius macer , zeno cittieus , metrocles cynicus , com●latro . val. max. l. 9 c. ●2 〈◊〉 . ●●l . suid. hinc & plin. l 31. c. 1. nubes obtentu vital●m spiritum strangulant . e psal. 104 29. f ier. 17. 5. g vti laco de athenis , quas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pindarus dixit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h esai . 2. 22. i psal. 146. 3. k psal. 60. 11. l psal. 78. 39. m psal. 146. 4. n psal. 82. 7. verum nos homunculi sali●● 〈◊〉 animae , qui cum extempso amisimus , aequo mendicus a●que ille opulentissimus censetur censu ad acherontem mortuus . plaut . trinum . 2. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lu●ian . impares nas 〈…〉 r , pares mori●ur : aequat omn●● cinis . sen. epist. 91. 〈…〉 rs exaequat ●m●ia . idem ad marc. c. 10. quis discer●at species mortuorum ? redoperiterram , & diuites , si potes , depre 〈…〉 e. ambr. de nabuth . c. 1. hinc illud antholog . lib. 3. cap. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . o sunt infirma ( infida ) quaedamrefugia ; ad quae cum quis fugerit , magis infirmatur , quam confirmatur . aug. in psal. 45. p multi c●dentibus eis ad qu●s confugerant , & ipsi quae siti sunt , quos nemoquaereret , si non ad eos confugissint . aug. ibid. quid ego de regum familiaribus dicam , quos quidem regia saepe incolumis , saepe ●u●ē lapsa prosternit . ●●eth . consol . l. 3. c. 5. q esai . 30. 3. & 31. 1 , 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de amic . r ad omnia patienda pares sumus : nemo alter● f●agilior est : nemo in crastinū sui certior . sen. ep . 91. vt caetorū hominū , ita principū illorum omniū , qui dij sibi videntur , aeuum omne & br●ue & fragile est . p 〈…〉 n. paneg. psal. 82. 6 , 7. s psal. 62. 8. & 84. 12 , 13. & 146. 5. ier. 17. 7 , 8. t esai . 26. 4. & 54. 10. u quid est 〈◊〉 ? vas fragile , quassum , ia●●atu , non tempestate magna , vt d●ssipetur , est opus : vbicunque arietauerit , soluitur . s●m . ad mar● . 〈◊〉 . 11. x salillum animae . plau● . sup . y anxiae , solicitaeque tutelae , precarij spiritus , & malè inhorentis , quem pauor repentinus , aut ex improuiso sonus auribus grauis ex-vse 2. cutit . sen. ibid. cuius caduca possessio tam leu●afflatu c●cussadilabitur . val. max. l. 9. c. 12. z esa● . 8. 12 , 13 , 14. & 51. 6 , 7 , 8 , 12 , 14. matth. 10. 28. & 16. 25. a iob 14. 14. b gen. 27. 2. eccles 9. 1● . c sic quotidiè vinamus , quasi die illa iudi●andi simus . h●eron . in matth. 23. dies omnis pr● v●●im● habeatur . martin . du●iens . de morib . respect 1. d omnem creded●ē tibi diluxisse supremum . horat. l. 1. ep . 4. sic ordinandꝰ est dies omnis , tanquā cogat agmen , & cōsummet atque expleat vitam . sen ep . 11. qui omnes dies tanquam vltimum ordinat , nec optat crastinum , nec time● . id 〈…〉 de breu . vit . c. 7. sic diem omnem aspi 〈…〉 , tanquam esse vel vltimus possit . paratus exire sum . idem 〈◊〉 61. e sirac . 5. 8. f d 〈…〉 . 4. 27. g rom. 6. 2 , 11. h hoc citra diem●mortis praesta : morian 〈…〉 r ante te vitia tu● . sen. ep . 27. i ier. 6. 29. 30. vl 〈…〉 sne est criminum modus ? & non prius est vt de vitâ hamines quam de iniquitate d●scedāt ? quis enim non cū suis iniquitatibus moritur ? & 〈◊〉 ipsis ad●odum a●que in ipsis sceteribꝰ 〈…〉 pelitur ? sal. de prou . l. 5. c. 8. non cessant vitia ciuiū vsque ad excidia ciuitatum . pr●● est interire qu● co●r●gi : prius ipsos , quam in ipsis vitia , non esse . ib. l. 6. c. 12. k iohn 8. 22 , 24. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , eurip. alcest . qu●s enimest tam adolesc●ns , cui fit exploratum se ad vesperū esse victurum ? cic. de sen. quis s●it an adijciant hodiern● tempora vitae crastina dijsuperi ? horat. carm . 4. 7. nemo tā respect 2. diuos habuit fauentes , crastinum vt possit sibi polliceri . sen. thyest. 3. nihil dehodierna die promittitur , ni●il de hac ●or● . sen. ad mar● . c. 10. m vn● die ante mortem agas poenitentiam . r. eleazar . drus. apopht● . l. 1. n hodiè resipiscendum , ne forte cras moriamur . ibid. o quomodo enim de die in diem disferendo peccas , ●um extremum diem tuum nescids ? aug. ep . 145. p prou. 27. 1. iam. 4. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; anacrcon . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pindar . isth 8. — aetas quid ●rastinavoluat scire nefas homini . stat th●b . l. 3. ney●is quid serus vesper vehat . varro . liu. l. 45. gell. l. 1. 〈◊〉 . 22. q prou. 6. 4 , 5. r 2 tim. 2. 25 , 26. s prou. 5. 22. & 29. 6. t vt quotidiè pridiè caueat , ne faciat , quod se pigent postridiè . plaut . sti●h . 1. 2. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . zaleuc . legum prooem . nuper me amicicuiusdam langu●r admonuit , optimos esse nos , dum infirmi sumus . quem enim infirmum auaritia aut libido solicitat ? non am●ribus seruit , non adpetit honores , opes negligit , nemini inuidet , neminem desp●cit ; a● ne sermoni●us quidem malignis aut attendit aut alitur . innoxiam in posterum , si contingat euadere , vitam destin●t . plin. sec. l. 7. ep . 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . tyr. max. dissert . 41. a dan. 5 6. b 2 sam. 13. 26 , 29. c 1 king. 16. 9 , 10. d ita archias caetèr●qu● tyranui thebanioppressi sunt , cum is vino plenus , literas coniurationis indices puluino subi●cisset . plut. de socrat. gen . & sympos . l. 1. c. 3. & in pelopid . e numb . 25. 8. f ita periere spousippus philos●phus . tertul. apolog . rodaldus long●bard . rex . paul. diac. lib. 4. cap. 17. ioan. 12. pp. luitprand . lib. 6. cap. 11. g quosdam concubitus extinxit . sen. epist. 66. inter vsum veneris absumptisunt . corn. gallus praetorius , & t. haterius eques rom. plin. lib. 7. cap. 53. & val. max. lib. 9. cap. 12. bellrandus ferrerius hispan . pontan . de obed . lib. 1. cap. 10. et giachet . salucianus vna cu●scortosu● . fulg. lib 9. cap. 12. sed & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philetaer . in venatr . athen. lib. 13. * num. 16. 32 , 35. h dan. 434. i accadion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sed & erasi 〈…〉 us sari fato 〈…〉 . ath●nd . 10. a●ginascil . vi 〈…〉 , vt f●stus , q ā 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erasm. ch 〈…〉 . 4. ce●● . 8. adag . 2. l. valla m●d●c 〈◊〉 , dumm ●sip ●●o●em haurit ; ap. s 〈…〉 seius , c 〈…〉 hausisset . p 〈…〉 . 7. 〈◊〉 . 53. k dum resp 〈…〉 s , quod aiunt , v●●sa ▪ respect 3. musque nos , iam murtal 〈…〉 aderit . sen. de ●ra . lib. 3. cap. 43. l psal. 66. 18. m gen. 19. 26. ius . 17. 32. n dr. wilkinson sermon . p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. orest . impura m●n●e , pura manu . apul. ap●log . q nulla res magis proderit , quam c●gitatio mort●litatis . s●n. de●ra . l. 3. c. 42. nih●l ●què profuerit ad temperantiam 〈…〉 ●erum , quam srequens cog●tat●o breais au● , & huius inc●rti . idem ep . 114. r excisa sestine auolat . psal. 90. 12. anima a ●orpore segregata , vento si niles auolamus . hieron . ep . de psal 90. s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lucian . in nigrin . sed propera , nec te venturas differ in horas . qu● non est ho●iè , cras minus ap●us erit . ouid. remed . l. 1. t gal. 6. 10. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . tempus vt noris , iubet . sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iste tempestiuum tempus est . auson . ex p 〈…〉 i sent . x prou. 3. 28. praeceptum de 〈…〉 icordiae operibus non differendis . aug. de verb. dom. 59. cum potes henefa●●re , noli differre . polyc●rpi nom , ep . ad philip. psal. 50 22. a eccles. 9. 10. quicquid agis , agas pr● virlbus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . des●● . b eccles. 11. 2. c eccles. 11. 4. incipe : virendi rect● qui prorogat ho 〈…〉 , rusticus expectat dum defluat anmis : at ille labitur , & labetur in omne volubilis aeuum . horat . l. 1. cp . 2. f psal. 95. 7 , 8. hebr. 3. 7 , 8 , 11. & 4. 7. g psal. 81. 8 , 13. h 2 cor. 6. 1 , 2. i 1 tim 6. 19. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 tim. 6. 12. l rom. 8. 38 , 39. m quia in eo qui testatur , cius temporis quo testamentum facit , integritas mentis exigitur . digest . l. 28. tit . 1. l. 2 et cod. iust. l. 6. tit . 22. l. 9. sancimus tale testamen●ū hominis , qui in ipso actu testandi aduersa vasetudine t 〈…〉 us est , pro nihilo esse . n surdus & mutus testamentū fa●ere non potest : sed si qu●s post testamētum factum , valetudine aut quolibet alio casu talu esse ceperit , ratum nihilominus permanet testamentum digest . 〈◊〉 , 28. ●●t . 1. l 6. q●od ment● sana factum est , stat testamentum , etiam si furor mox sec●tus fu●rit . cod. iust. l. 6. tit . 22. l. 9. o m●rhus 〈◊〉 ●●abilis , qui 〈◊〉 officiat , mentem con●utiat . se● . cp . 58. p rom. 5. 1 , 2. q esai , 54. 10. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respect 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . zaleuc . leg . prooem . st●b . tom . 2. c. 42. ita se● ep 61. hoc ●nimo tibi hanc epistolam scribe , tanquam cum maximè scribentem m●rs eu●●atura fit . s dic tibi dormitur● ; potes non expergis●i . dic experrecto ; potes non dormire amplius . d●c exeunti ; petes non reuerti . dic reuertenti ; pates non exire . se● . cp . 49. t act. 20. 9. u 1 cor. 10 31. * ob●jt repente 〈◊〉 . manlius torquatus , cum in coena plac●ntam appeteret ; p. quint us scapula , cum apud aqu lium gallum coenare● ; d 〈…〉 s sauf●ius cum domi s●ae pranderet p 〈…〉 n. lib. 7. cap. 53. ier●m . 41. 1 , 2. x nullis evidentibus causis ob●e●e , dū calceantur matutino , duo caesares ; &c. omnes vsque ndeò sani atque tempestiui , vt de progr●d●endo cogitarent . pl● . ibid. particular 3. quando . time when. branch 1. exposition 1. y cn. bcbius , cum à puero hor●e quaesisset ; c. serui●●us , cum in soro ad tabernam flaret in fratrem innixus ; bcbi●s iud●x dum vnd●monium differri iub●t , m. terentius dum in soro tabellas s●rihi● ; c. iulius medicus , dum inungit , specillum per oculos ●rabens . pliu. ibid. z risu exanimatus est philemon co●ius . val. max. lib. 9. cap 12. terpander ficu per lusum in esingesta . trypho . antholog . lib. 1. cap. 37. drus●us claud●j imp. sil●us pyro . sueton. claud. cap. 27. mr. h. mor●●s in the tennis-court with the racket in his hand . a in bona canitie . gen. 15. 15. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distinguitur iob 15. 10. 1 sam 12. 2. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plus est quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . d. ki 〈…〉 hi. vide d●us . obs●r● l. 6. c. 13. sencctus l●ssae aetatis , non f●actae nomen est . sen. ep . 26. d dis●●dens in grat●a . 〈◊〉 in gen. 15. quo etiam abire vid●tur c●rysest . b●m . 37. & philo , sed & hugo . boni in●p ent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bonis o●eribus ; & implentur m●ritis operum suorum . e multa , prouecta . pet. martyr . long● , diuturna . o 〈◊〉 . iun. exposition 2. f sicus dicimus , bona pars homini● , ●magnap●●s mart. quinqua sci e●p●st 〈◊〉 zeno , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laert. sed & demosthenes . stob tom . 2. ● 4. g placida , tranquilla . par. prospera ac 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . mus●ul . h gen. 15. 15. i integra . oleast . commoda . pisc , facili , bona valetudine . mart. branch ● . exposition 1. exposition 2. k morlis , doloribꝰ , ●uris vacua . par. point . generall 3. l vide obseru . 3 rat . 2. & spec. 2. rat . 1. m deut. 34 7. n i●sh . 14 11. talis & cyrus . xenoph . p●d . l. 8. & metellus . cic. de sen. o ol●ast . par. &c. p senex , satur . q plenus plenitudine eius de quo ioan. 1. 16. procop. vide hugon . sup . r gen. 35. 29. 1 chron. 23. 1. s vt non appeteret vitae pr●rogationem . oleast . ●●lu . m●rt . &c. a psal. 90. 10. b 175. vers. 7. c enoch . gen. 5. 24. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 homer . odyss . 〈◊〉 . e vide pl●n . h●st . n●t . lib. 7. c. 48. & l●cian . de m●●rob . f et mortuus est . gen. 5. 5 , 8 , 27 , &c. reason 1. g vitrei sumus . august . de verb. dom. 1. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . qui simul ossndit ad fortunam frangitur . pbaedr . fab . 72. vbicun pue a●ietaueri● , solu●tur . sen. 〈◊〉 . ad marc. cap. 11. i hydria tandé ad font●m srangitur . eccles. 12. 6. k mors obique ●e exp 〈…〉 : 〈◊〉 , si sapis , eam vbique expectabis . august . nom . despir . & anim . c. 51. bern. m●d●t . c 3. & o 〈…〉 . mor. c. 7. se●ibus in i 〈…〉 is , ad descent bus in msidij● est . bern. de 〈◊〉 . 14. l e 〈…〉 a quib●s hic 〈◊〉 administratur , a ●ua , terra , spiri 〈…〉 , omnia tam causae viuend● sunt qua● 〈◊〉 ●ortis . sen. ep . 117. non ●ibus nobis , non hamor , non vigilia , non somnus sine mensura quadam 〈◊〉 sunt . idem quaest , nat . l. 6. 〈◊〉 . 2. o●or , sapor , humor , c●bus , & sine quibus viu●re non po●es● , sunt 〈…〉 mini morlifera . idem ad marc. c. 11. h inter v●rios casus am 〈…〉 ꝰ . aug●st . ibid. & 〈◊〉 . 28. sub 〈◊〉 casibus quotid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ambulamus . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. d● bapt . n potio●is stilla ma●e lapsa strangulat . sen. quaest nat . l. 6 c. 2. o passus inter me & m●rtem . 1 sam. 20. 3. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . anath 〈…〉 〈◊〉 morteremotus quatuo● , &c. iuuen 14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . d●o prus. orat . 74. e● prope tam letum quam prape cernu aquam . o●d . pont. l. 2. inter v 〈…〉 ae mortisquevias n 〈…〉 gracililim●●e ducto . sen. med 2. q ●●ras si in n●uigat●one tantum existimas minimum esse quo mortevita diducit●r . in ●mni loco aeque tenue interuallum est . non v●●que se mors tam prope ost●ndit , nbique tam prope est . s●nec . epist. 50. a morte semp●r ●atundem absumus . quod enim tempus morti exemp 〈…〉 est ? a quo prope non est , parata omnibus locis , omnibus mom●ntis ? id●m epist. 30. r quem saepe casus transit , aliquado inuenit . p. syr. circuit fatum ; & si quem diu praeterijt , rep●rit . sen●c . quaest . nat . l. 6. c. 1. mors propter incertos casus quotidiè imminet ; propter breuitatem vitae nunquam pot●st longè abesse . ●●c . tuscul. l. 1. nemo p●riculo proximus , iutus diu . cyp. nom . de singul . cler . s stygias vltrò quaerimus vndas . senec. herc. fur . 1. plures dentibus suis , quam alient ensibus perierunt . vide iun. p●ov . 23. 2. t pauci ad senectutem p●rue●sunt . cic. de sen. quota pars moritur tempore fati ? senec. her● . o●t . 2. 2. u implet dies suos . esni . 65. 20. x multas natura mortis vias aperuit : multis itineribus fata decurrunt . uno modo nascimur : multis morimur . cestius . senec. controu . 16. vnum natura nobis introitum ad vitam dedit , exitus mul●os . senec. epist. 70. mille modis leti miseros mors vn● fa●igat . sil. theb. lib. 9. a casus nostros . nobiscum in hac carne por●amus . aug. hem . 28. innumerabilia pericula in ipso sunt . sinu . sen. quaest , uat . l. 6. c. 2. reason 2. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . metrodor . stob. 〈◊〉 . 16. c vitrei sum● . aug. sup . d si vitrei essemus , casus 〈◊〉 timere 〈…〉 s. fragiliores sumus quam si vitrei essemus . idemibid . e quid fragilius vase vitre● ? & tamen seruatur & durat per secula ; & inuenis calices ab auis & proauis reliotos , in quibus bibunt nepot●s & pronepotes . etsi enim casus vitreo vafi timentur , se●ectus ei & feb●is non timotur . ibid. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . demost. clem strom. l. 6. ipse situ & otio in tabem iturus est . sen. ad marc. c. 11. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . apollodor . donat. ad illud ter. phorm . 4. 1. senectus ipsa morbus est . h senectus insanabilis morbus est . sen. ep . 10● . senectus m●rbus mgens . nullis arcerive potest , pellive medelis . erasm. desen . i ista vita morbus est . l morieris , non quia aegrotas , sed quia viuis . sen. ep . 78. m medici , cum aegrotos inuisunt , phthisicus est , inquiunt , aut bydrop●cus , moriatur necesse est : deinde moritur tamen . aug. ibid. k morbus hic necesse est vt ad m●rtem perducat . aug. de temp . 74. n mu 〈…〉 morte● m●●bus d 〈…〉 lit . s●● . ib : l. o psal 89. 48. p vt psal. 49. 〈◊〉 . q totus ist us vitae 〈…〉 rsus n●●●l aliud quam ad mortem de ●ursus est . aug. ciuit. l. 13 c 10. ●ola vita ad mor●●m iter est . sen. ad polyb . c. 30. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de ei delph . agunt opus suum sata : nobis sensum nostrae necis auferunt . quoque facilius obrepat mors , subipso vi●ae nomine lat●t . infantiam ins● pueritia conuertit , pu●ritia 〈…〉 pub●rtas , 〈…〉 ntututem senectus abstulit . s●n. m 〈…〉 c. c. 10. s quotid è morimur : qu●t commutamur . hieron . nepot . quot . mor. quotidit d●mi●ur a 〈…〉 qua pars vitae . seu. ep . 24. t ad mortem dies e●tre●us p●ruenit , a●ced●t omnis , ●arpit nos ii , non corripit . non repen●● nos in mortem incid 〈…〉 , sed minutatim procedi●us minutatim subducimur . sen. ep . 24. & 30. & 120. u nasce●tes mo 〈…〉 w ; finisque borigine peudet . manil. l. 4 exquo primu● lucem vidit , 〈…〉 r mortis ingressus est . sen. m●rc . cap. 20. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. plut. de ei. x momentis singulis moximur . august . nom . ●●dit . cap. 24. qu●d 〈…〉 aliud singulis momentis agitur , donec ea cons 〈…〉 mata mors quae agebatur impleatur , &c. august . ci●it . lib. 13. cap. 10. y i 〈…〉 ipsa , si bene comsutes , damna sunt . et illi ipsi qui addebantur adol●s●entiae anni , vitae detrahcbantur . sen. marc. cap. 20. cum cressunt puers , quasi accedunt illis dies , cum reuerá decedant . quicquid enim vixit , de summa minuit . qua●do prodi . citur 〈◊〉 non aug●tur , nec addendo crescit , quia veniendo recedit . august . de verb. dom. 1. & 17. ●o● . 1. 〈◊〉 de temp . 113. ipsa suis augmentis vita ad detrimenta impellitur ; & inde deficit , vnde proficere creditur . greg. mor. l. 13. c. 27. illa eadem vitam quae inchoat , bora ●apit . camil. epitaph . et 〈…〉 psit bora vitam prima quae dedit . sen. her● . fur . 3. 3. z quemadmodum clepsydram non extremum stillicidium exbaur . 〈◊〉 , sed quicquid ante destuxit : sic vllima h●ra , qua esse des 〈…〉 nus , non sola mortem facit , sed sola confummat . sen. ep . 2● . vse 1. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isocr . ad demon . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. in epicur . b eccles 3. 22. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . archin . clem. strom. l. 6. omnes ●odem cogimur : omni●m versatur vrná serius ●cyus sors exitura , &c. horat. carm . 2. 3. vse 2. d 2 sam. 14. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antholog . debemur m●rti nos nostraque : horat . art . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e●rip . alcest . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. e morte nihil ●ertius . be●n . epist. 10. & medit . c 3. f hebr. 9. 27. g incerta omnia : sola mors certa est . august . in psalm . 38. & de verb. dom. 21. h quid diu est , vbi finis est ? aug. d● verb. dem 42. quicquid finitur parum est . greg. moral . lib. 7. c. 20. nulla longa mora est eius , quod aliquando e 〈…〉 ict . t 〈…〉 tull . mihi ne 〈…〉 turnuni quidem qu●cquam videtur , in quo est aliquid extremum . cic. de s●n . & aug. ciui● . l. 12. c. 11. i si nongentos vitae excede● 〈◊〉 annos , vt ante dil●●ium viu●b●t●r , & math● sal●m nobis tempora donarentur , tamen nihil esset praeterita longitudo , quae esse desisset . et 〈…〉 inter eu● qui de●em vixit annos & eum qui mille , post quamid●m vitae sinis aduenerit , &c. tra●sactum omne tantundem est . hier. in nepot . k psal. 90. 4. l quarta pars nectis . m 1 tim. 6. 7. iob. 1. 21. e●cl●s . 5. 14. nihil intulis●i , ni●il hinc auferes . aug. de verb. dom. 5. & 41. e 〈…〉 red●untem natura , sicut intrantem . non licet plus inferre quam intuleris . sen. ep . 102. n psal. 49. 17. cedes co●mptis salt●bus , & do 〈…〉 , villique ; & extructin al●um d 〈…〉 poti 〈…〉 . linquenda ●●llus , & d●mus , & placeus vxor : ●eq harum , qu 〈…〉 s , a borum te pr●ter 〈◊〉 cup ●ss●s vlla breuem d 〈…〉 seq 〈…〉 tur . horat. car . 23 & 14 o p●ou . 23. 6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ch●yso● . 〈◊〉 . 5. ser. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. 19. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lucian . anthol . lib. 1. c. p. 13. finem sunt habitura , aut tuum , aut suum . bern. de bon . deser . et sen. quaest . nat . l. 3. aut p●ssi●ent●m des●ru●● , aut à possidente d●seruntur . al●uin . in eccles . praef . q ps●l . 62. 10. sap●●ns d●uitias non in animum , sed in domum recipiet . sen. de b●at . c. 21. r coloss. 3 2. s omniaista nobis acceda●t , non adhaereant ; vt si abducantur , sine vlla nostra ●acerationed d●s●edant . sen ep . 74. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. caes. hom . 7. x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antipho . s●●b . c. 10. quibu● 〈◊〉 p 〈…〉 sua obhaesit , sine sensu au●lli non potest . sen. de tranq . cap. 8. y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hesiod . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aesop. fab . quis vitam non vult ? aug. hom . 4. b 1 tim. 6. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aeterna vita , veravita . aug. de pec . mer. l. 1. c. 11. vera vita quae animam de morte eruit . idem ep . 121. c. 2. uita si diligitur , ibi acquiratur , 〈◊〉 nulla morte f 〈…〉 r. idem ep . 45. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; eurip . hanc esse morsem quā 〈…〉 s vita● du●imus , vitam il-vse 3. lam quam pro morte nos f●rmidamus . lactant. instit . l. 3. 6. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip . ista v●●que quae tantum amatur vita , quamlibet iucūda asque prodicta sit , nec vita d●cēda est . aug. ep . 121. vita falsa est . idem de verb. dom. 5. hom . 13. et de temp 212. d quod de arc●● herac●●t . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eustath . ad i●ad . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. ad apollen . e mors est potius d●cenda quam 〈…〉 a , vel mortis quaedam pro●xitas . gr●g . in euang. 36. hae● vita qu● v 〈…〉 ꝰ , magis mors est , &c. bern. in psal. 90. ser. 17. f luk. 12. 15 , 22. g de acragan●●●is empedo●●●s ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lac●t . l. 8. de rhodijs stratonicus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de auar . ideque ferè de megarensibꝰ diogenes . tertul apolog . h esai . 5. 8. i jer. 22. 14 , 15. k eccles . 4. 8. l psal. 49. 11. m luk. 12. 15. n psal. 49 7 , 8 , 9. o prou. 11. 4. ezck 7. 19. p eccles. 5. 17. q eccles. 4. 8. r psal. 39. 6. s psal. 49. 17. eccles. 5. 15. t ier. 17. 11. luk. 12. 20. u l 〈…〉 s. 5. 16. & 6. 2 , 4. x psal. 39. 6. eccl. 6. 2. y eccl. 2. 18 , 19. a s●ultum est timere , quod vitari non potest . p. syr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arrian . 1. epict. l. 1. c. 27. vse 4. b differri potest , auserri non potest . aug. de diuers . 36. mortem differunt ista , non au●●runt . idem de verb. apost . ●8 . c sed etsi tardius quis moritur , nunquid ideò non moritur ? idē de temp . 74. d quid autem ad rem pertinet , quadiu vites , quod euitare non possis ? sen. epist. 93. e noli timere , quod velis , ●olis , e 〈…〉 : id time , quod , si nelueris , non erit . aug. de diuers . 36. f de hoc verè dici potest , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot . ethic. l. 3. c. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ep 〈…〉 . la●rt . timor●m maximus leti metus . lucan . ●b . 1. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. chrysost. tom . 6. serm . 43. h persona 〈◊〉 deformis 〈◊〉 ●um facit . sen. de constant . sap . cap 4. laruam timent , lucernam non timent . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arrian . epict. d 〈…〉 t. l. b. 1. cap. 5. i esse aliquos manes , &c. nec pueri credunt , nisi qui nondum ●relauantur . iu●enal . sat. 2. nemo tam p●e● e 〈…〉 , vt ista ●●meat . sen. epist. 24. point . speciall 1. k gen. 15. 15. l 1 sam. 2. 32. m exod. 20. 12. ephes . 62. deut. 4. 1 , 40. & 6 2. n esai . 65. 20. o potest & verti , ex eis , vt ad vtrūque tam infantulū quam senem , r●●eratur illud , qui n● impleat dies suos , quod & piscatori placet ; ●iue , cuius dies deus non impleat , vt iun. p viuendi sinis est optimus , cum integra mente caeter . sque sensibus op 〈…〉 . 〈…〉 sa suum eadem , 〈◊〉 coagmentau●● , 〈…〉 tura d●ssoluit . 〈◊〉 de sen. q vise ●is hieron . in esai . 65. greg. mor. l. 1● . c. 24. hug. card. & piscat . in esai . &c. hinc emanauit prouerbium , puer centum annorum . quod mirum est drusium non aduert●sse a● hoc loco , sed perpera● accept● , mutuatum . r iob 15. 32 , 33. s die non s●o , i. quem per naturam attinger● pote●at . ita firm. l. 8. c. 19. ●rit longaeuus , in senecta soelix , & qui sua ●or●e moriatur . et de c●s●r●s percussoribus sueton . nemo sua mor. reason 1. ●●d functus est . et sen. ●p . 69. alioqui certū est quod ibid. sen. nemo nisi suo d●e moritur . t psal. 55. 23. u in medio dierum suorum tolletur , vt psal. ●02 . 24. a leuit. 19. 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . phocylid . b hebr. 13. 4. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato leg . l 9. apud antiquissimos romanorum , neque generi , neque pecuniae praestan●●or honos trib●● quam aetati solitus : maioresque natu à minoribus colebantur ad deum prope & parentum vicem ; atque in omni loco , inque omni spec●● honoris potiores prioresque habiti . gell. l 2. c. 15. senect 〈…〉 〈…〉 uentus ita cumulatum & circumspectum honorem reddebat , tanquam maiores nat● adolescentium communes ●atres essent . val. max. l. 2. c. 1. magna ●uit quondam capitis reuerentia cani . quid fast . l. 5. credehant tunc grandenesas , & morte pian●um , si v●tul● iuuenis non assurrexerat . iuuen. sat . 13. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. clem. paedag. l. 3 〈◊〉 . 3. e dan. 7. 13. f prou. 20. 29. g prou. 16. 31. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de sen. polit . i psal. 128. 1. k psal. 128. 6. l iob 42. 16. reason 3. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. alcest . m in ●tatis flore morientur . 〈◊〉 sam. 2. 23. hinc illa qu●reason 4. rela , immaturu●●bij● . senec. ad marc. c. 20. dol●● illū immatura morte indignissimè raptum pl●● . l. 6. ep . 6. n nullum non acerbum funus est , quod parens sequitur . sen. ibid. c. 17. quod decuit natū patri praestar● sepulto ; hoc contra nato praestitit ipse paren● . epitaph . olim parentū defunctorum liberi laudes dicebant . en rerum in nobis ordo mutatus est ; & in calamitatem nostrā perdidit sua iura natura . quod exhibere senibus i●uenis debuit , hoc iuueni exhibemu● senes . hieron . ad nepot . o act. 5. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . elegantissimum oxymorum . casaub . s● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . phil. 1. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ignat. ep . 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem ep . 11. est & confusionis gloria , & confusio gloriosa . ambr. in psal. 43 hac tempestate ( d●o●l●tiano ●●uiente ) certat 〈◊〉 in glo 〈…〉 sa certamina ruebatur , multoque auidius martyria gloriosis mortibus quaerebantur , quam ●unc epis●opatus ●●auis ambi●ionibus appetuntur . seuer . hist. l. 2. rom. 5. 5. intribulationibus glorian●●r , contum 〈…〉 gloriam reputantes , opprobrium gaudium , d●spectionem exaltationem . bern. de temp . 71. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. p●d . l 3. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. p 〈…〉 . o● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i 〈…〉 beller . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . soph. o●dip . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p 〈…〉 . paedag . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem de sen. polit . non omnia grandi●r aetas quae fugiam●● habe● : seris venit vsus abannis . quid. met. l. 6. quisquis adsapientiam peruenit , annis peruenit . sen. ep . 69. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. hippolyt . q iob 32. 4 , 6 , 7. philē . 9. apex se●ectutis est aut ●ritas . cic. de sea . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plut desen . senatus ergo à senib 〈…〉 hin 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 stus , aud●te iuuenes sen●m , quem audiuere iu●en●m s●nes . ibid. point . sp●ciall 2. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sclcrias s●ob . cap. 101. scolio● hoc citat & pl●●o in gorg. & a 〈…〉 ot . rhet. l. 2. c. 22 sed & plat. leg . l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e● ibid. l. 2. idem ferè babet . quin & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deliacamcitat aristot. ethi● . nicom . l 〈◊〉 . c. 8. & eadem l. 1. c. 1. quá 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicitur . senar . grae. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i. mens sana in corpore sano . iuuen. sat . 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; plato gorg. s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ plut. de sanit . & de tranq . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ifidor . pel : l : 3. ep . 192. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ariphron . athen. lib vlt. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hera 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil. caes , hom . 〈◊〉 . quid boni hav●at sanitas , languor ostendit . hier. n. consol . pa 〈…〉 . u eccles. 12. 1. ●8 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . reason 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antiph . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i●● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . bion. i●ert . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. o●nom . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. glauc . objicit innumeris c●rp●s lacerabile morbis . auson . idyl . 15. circumsilit agmi 〈…〉 sacto morborum omne genus . iuuen. sat . 10. x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : onus aetna grauius . cic. de sen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; eurip. bacch . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; pherecrat . y plena ●st voluptatis senectus , fi illa scias vti . sen. ep . 12. his mihi rebus le●is est s●nectus ; nec solum non mol●sta , sed etiam iucunda . cato . q●●d est enim iu●undius senectute stipata stud 〈…〉 t is ? ●ic . de sen. z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eurip. peleo . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plu● . de sen. pol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menand . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. ione . non sentio in animo 〈…〉 is iniuriani , cum sentiam in corpore . vigetanimus : illius flos senectus . sen. ep . 26. — nec tarda senectus debilitat vires animi , mentis●ue vigorem . virg. aen. lib. 9. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plu● . de sen. pol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. melamp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . b●o● . la●r . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sophocl . thyest. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antiphan . philoct . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip . a●tiop . polyb. lib. 1. plut. de sen. pol. galen . de art . stob. 〈◊〉 . 52. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oppian . pisc . l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . agatho . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menand . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . gabr. fab. hinc agamemnon decem nestores potius quam aiaces optat . iliad . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cic. de sen. plut. de sen. pol. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristoph . vesp . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pl●t . ibid. non proprium senectutis est vit●um , sed commune valetudinis . cic. de●en . d iob 7. 15 , 20. nunc quia longa mihi grauis est & inutilis aetas , viuere cum nequeam , sit mihi posse mori . maxim. eleg , 1. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menand . tum equidem in senecta hoc depuso miserrimum , sentire ea aetate esse odi●sum alteri . caecil . vsque adeo grauis vx●ri , natisque , sibique , vt captatori moueat fastidia cosso . iuuen. 10. g quosdam subit eadem videndi saciendique sati●tas , & vitae non odium , sed fastidium . sen. ep . 24. e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; eurip. menalip . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . soph. s●yr . h habet enim natura , vt aliarum omnium rerum , sic viuendi modū . cic. de sen. i vixi quantum satis er at : mortem plenus expecto . sen. epist. 62. k gen. 35. 29. l iob 42. 17. m 2 chron. 24. 15. n 1 chron. 23. 1. o 1 chron. 29. 28. reason 1. p omnino rerū omnium satietas vitae facit satietatem . vitae autem satietas tempus maturum mortis assert . cic. de sen. q luke 2. 26. r luke 2. 29 , 30. s gen. 37. 33 , 35. & 42 36 , 38. t gen. 46. 30. u gen. 48. 11. a sunt pueritiae certa stud●a ; sunt & ineuntis adol●scentiae ; sunt & cōstantis aetatis ; sunt & extremae sene-reason 2. ctutis : istaergò 〈…〉 occidunt , fit vitae sa 〈…〉 , 〈◊〉 . desen . b non acerbum iam iudicant viuere , sed supersluum . senec. epist. 24. c act 13. 36. d philip. 1. 24 , 25. ita martinus decumbens ; domine , si adhuc populo tuo sum necessarius , nō recuso laborem , &c. seuer . epist. 3. & b●rn . ser. de mart. e act. 20. 24. vse 1. f psal. 91. 16. g psal. 103. 5. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. desen . polit . & de vit . epicur . senectus non modò languida & iners non sit , verum etiam sit operosa , & semper pro eis , qua● habet viribus , agens aliquid & moliens . cic. d● sen. i cognatasunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , v● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eustath . il 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e●ymolo● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pythag. l. acrt . vse 2. k prou. 16. 31 venerabilis senectus ; verum virtutum , non anno●ū numero computata . guil. de theodor. de amor . dei. c 9. alioqui nihil turpius quam grandis natu senex , qui nih . l habit , quo se prob●t diu vixisse p●aeter aetatē . sen. de t●āq . c. 3. non enim cani rugae que , sed honeste acta aeta● , autoritatē afferunt . ci● . d●sen . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philo antholog . l 1. c. 16. l es●i . 65. 2● . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . bion. stob. c 1. rarus qui exacto con en●us tempore vitae , cedat , vti con 〈…〉 a satur . hor. sat 1. cur non vt plenus vitae c●nuiuareced s lucret. l. 3. n prou 30. 13 , 14. hab. 2 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . solon . arist. polit . l. 1. c. 5. plut. de auar . basil. hom . 24 stob. c. 10. nemo est , cui foelicita● sua , etiamsi cursu veniat , satisfaciat . seu. ep . 115. non potest cupjditatibus , etiamsi expleatur diui 〈…〉 . ambr. de bon . mort . c. 1. auarus an mus nullo satiatur lu●ro . p. sjr. seu. ep . 49. fortuna multis dat nimis , nulli satis . martial . l. 12. ep . 10. o deinde animi ingrati naturam p s●ere semper , atque explere bonis rebus , satiareque numquam ; qued faciunt nobis annorum temp●ra , circum cum redeunt , foetusque serunt , variosque lepores , nec tamen explemar vita● sruct . bus ●nquam . lucret. l. 3. p hae res vitae me , soror , saturant : hae m●hidiuidiae & s 〈…〉 osunt . plaut . stich. 1. 1. q taedio vitae ad ●ortem curritur . epicur . sen. ep . 24. mo●bi . plin. sec. l. 3. ep . 3. liboris . cu●t . l 5. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . muson . stob. c. 1. ill 〈…〉 lauda & imitare , quem non piget inor● cum iuuat v●uere sen. ep . 54. cum v●uere aceroum nō si● . idem ep 24. s 1 chron. 29. 28. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarc . d● tranquil . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem de clar . foem . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epi●tet . s●●b . c. 120. inter mortis metum & vitae tormenta miseri fluctuant : & viuere no●unt , & mori nes●iunt . sen. ep . 4. pati non vultis , exire timetis : quid faciam vobis ? cypr. de mortal . u de ●●redico plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de tard . vind . quid buius viuere est ? d●u mori . sen , ep . 101. mortis habet vices , lentè cum trahitur vita dolentibus . sen. herc. o●t . 1. 2. x morsque minus p 〈…〉 nae quam mor● mortis habet . onid . ep . 10. y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . homer . odys . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. aulid . debilem facito manu , deb. lempede , coxa : tuber adstrue gibberum ; lubricos quate dentes . vita dum superest , bene est , me●aenas . quod miserrimum erat , si incidisset , optatur , & tanquam vitapetitur , supplicij mora . inuenitur qui malit inter supplicia tabescere , & perir● 〈…〉 mbratim ; & t●ties per stillicidia ●mittere animam , quam semel exhalare ? inuenitur , qui velit trahere 〈◊〉 ●o● tormenta tracturam ? est tanti habere animam , ut agam ? sen. epist. 101. * id agendum est , vt satis vixerimus . sen. epist. 23. vt satis vixerimus , nec anni , nec d●es facient , sed animus . idem epist. 62. z fastidio illis esse cepit vita . sen. de tranq . 〈◊〉 . 2. est etia● vitae ipsius nausea quaedam . idē ep . 24. et de abr. in hunc locum paraeus , pertaesus vitae aerumnosae . quod minus buc quadr●t . particular 4. quo. place , whither . a cap. 15. 15. b 1 king. 2. 10. & 11 43. & 14. 30. & 15. 8 , 24. c gen. 15. 15. d gen. 35. 29. & 49. 33. num. 20. 24 , 26. & 27. 13. & 31. 2. deut. 32. 50. e act. 13. 36. point . generall 4. f statum mortuorum in genere . vnde dieu●t hebr. qui moritur , ambulat per viam , per quam ambularunt patres cius . oleast . g gen. 3. 19. eccl. 12. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epicha●m . ced●● enim re●rò , de terra quod fuit an●e , in terras : & quod missum est ex aethor●s oris , id r 〈…〉 sum coeli rellatum templa rec●ptant . lu●ret . l. 2. h sic hominū terra , vt ●oelum de● ; quae nos nas●entes excipit , natos abt , semelque , editos sust●net s●mper , nou●ssime ●o●plexa gremto j● a reliqua natura abdicates , tū maxime , vt mater , operiens . plin. l. 2. c. 63. t●rra quae dedit , ipsa capit , n●que d●spendi facit hilum . haec enim gentes omnes pepe●●t , & r●sum●t denuo . ennius epithar . varro deling . lat. l. 4. capit omnia tellus quae g●nuit . 〈…〉 can . l. 7. reason i. i act. 13. 36. k paraeus . l gen. 25. 9 , 6. m psal. 105. 11. n see the worthie primate of armaugh answer to iesuites challenge , pag. 291 &c. o omnibus natura s●pulturam dedit . nausragos idem fluctus , qu● expul●● , s●peht : sussixorum corpora 〈…〉 bus in sepulturam suam d●stuunt : e●s , qui v 〈…〉 vr●n●ur , poena sunerat . sen. controu . 4. l. 8. sepelit natura relictos , me 〈…〉 apud sen. epist. 92. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iob 30. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. naz. ad av●an . omniparens , eadem re●um commune sepulcrum . lucret. l. 5. sic ca 〈…〉 . ad madl . tro 〈…〉 as , commune sepul rum asiae europaeque . r gen●s . 37. 37. v●se drus. obs●ru . lib. 4. cap. 23. in luctu permanebo donec me terra suscipiat , vt filium meum sepulcrum 〈◊〉 sus 〈…〉 . al●um . s●pul●ra enim in scripturae locu mul●is intelliguntur , non ea solum quae ad d 〈…〉 nem humanorum corporum videntur esse constructa , vel in saxis excisa , aut in terra d●s●ssa ; sed om●●s lo●us in quo●umque vel integrum 〈…〉 pus humanum , vel ex par●e aliqua iacet , etia●●si 〈◊〉 d●t vt vnum corpus per loca ●●lta a●sp rsum sit . origen . in esai . lib. 8. euseb. apolog . 〈◊〉 plin. lib. 7. cap. 54. sepultus d●citur qu●quo modo conditus ; humatus , humo con 〈…〉 . s gen. 50. 13. t and● . caes. in apo 〈…〉 16 à cambus de●oratos , conum vent●es viua stpul-reason 2. generall . cra sortitos . qued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diogenes di 〈…〉 it . stob. c. 123. a 〈…〉 t cadauer alites , alit fera●vivum sepulcrum mortuo sic obtigit . et a●us atreo ; natis sepuicrum est ●pse pa●es . cic. offic . l. 1. u eccles 3. 10. a de commun● generis humani ( quoad vitam futuram ) societate . calu 〈…〉 . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de superst●● . speciall . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . an bo 〈…〉 . lib. 3. cap. 6. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . anár . in apoc. c. 63. dicunt animas corpore liberatas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 petere . i. licum qui non videtur . ambr. de bon . mort . c. 10. vide platon . in phaedone . e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qued christian● seculum futurum , iudaei s●c●uum animarum d●cunt . brought . in symbol . & s●●indler . lexic. pentaglot . f augelum tuiis simulans se satanas , non samuel . aug. ad simplic . l. 2 q. 3. & de wirab . l. 2. 6. 11. g i sam. 28. 19. s●v definit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . greg. nyss. in macrin . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 theophyl . in luc. 16. h ex hebraeorum sententia pet. mar. tyr , & paraeus . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . heb. 12. 23. q 〈…〉 m 〈◊〉 doctores 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 . che●adam . alphab . mystic . c. 1. k iosh. 24 2. l ruth . 1. 16. m eorum filij dieimur , quorum fidem & mores ●mitamur . orig 〈…〉 ezik. hom . 4. & 6. omnes hi matorcs tui sunt , si te illis dignum ges . seris . sen. epist. 44. n mat. 3. 6. rom. 4. 16 , 18. gal. 3. 29. a ambulat per viam , per quam ambulauerunt pa●res c●us . hebr. ex psal. 49. 19. o 〈…〉 st . sup . vse 1. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iosh. 23. 14. 1 king 2. 2. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antiphan . st●b . cap. 124. d consecuturi prae misimus . senec. ad marc. c. 19 eô cito peruenturi , qu● illi peruenerint . idem ep . 63. 2 sam. 11. 23. * gen. 45. 58. & 46. 3 , 4. e mutamus amicos , non r●linqu●m● . hieron . in nepot . f praestolatur n●s ecclesia primitiuorum : de siderant no● sancti ; expectant nos iusti . desideremus ergò de siderantes nos : pr●p●remu● ad praestolātes nos : expectantes nos votis prae 〈…〉 upemus . bern. de temp . 98. vse 2. g equidem efferor studio patres vestros , quos colu● & dilex● , vid ndi . neque verò eos solum conu●nire aueo , quos ipse cognoui , sed illos etiam de quibus audiut & legi . cie . de . sen. h psal. 119. 63. i rom. 4. 12. k luke . 16. 22. l matth. 8. 11. m hebr. 13. 7. n n●m 23. 10. o imp●s & foelix si● simul esse cu 〈…〉 t , v 〈…〉 , ius esse , velit tamen ess● bea●us : quod nitura negat , 〈◊〉 ratio patitur . de maeria . apud iul. capitol . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isidor . pel. l. 〈◊〉 . epist. 168. bonum quaeris ; malum facis ; in contrarium curris : quando pernenis ? aug. nom . de stoic . & epic. c. 3. p hebr. 13. 17. q philip. 2. 17 , 20. notes for div a01523-e36900 * craesus apud herodot . lib. 1. † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . “ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a sermon preached at the funeral of the rt honorable john earl of rochester, who died at woodstock-park, july 26, 1680, and was buried at spilsbury in oxford-shire, aug. 9 by robert parsons ... parsons, robert, 1647-1714. 1680 approx. 68 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 27 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a56470 wing p570 estc r4950 12187542 ocm 12187542 55846 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a56470) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 55846) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 615:2) a sermon preached at the funeral of the rt honorable john earl of rochester, who died at woodstock-park, july 26, 1680, and was buried at spilsbury in oxford-shire, aug. 9 by robert parsons ... parsons, robert, 1647-1714. [4], 48 p. printed at the theater for richard davis and tho. bowman, oxford [oxfordshire] : 1680. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng rochester, john wilmot, -earl of, 1647-1680. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the r t honorable john earl of rochester , who died at woodstock-park , july 26. 1680 , and was buried at spilsbury in oxford-shire , aug. 9. by robert parsons m. a. chaplain to the right honorable anne countess-dowager of rochester . oxford , printed at the theater for richard davis and tho : bowman , in the year , 1680. to the right honourable anne , and elizabeth , dowager-covntesses of rochester . right honorable , your ladiships , or any else , cannot think meaner of this performance than i my self do ; for besides the great hurry and disorder that i was in upon the loss of such a patron us my lord , i am sufficiently conscious how unfit i am to appear in public , especially upon such a nice and great subject . as his lordships particular commands brought me to the pulpit , so yours only have brought me to the press . and therefore i hope , whatever usage the following discourse may meet with abroad ; i shall always find a shelter in your ladiships favours : and the rather , because you can , both of you , largely attest the truth of most of the remarkable occurrences that i have taken notice of during his lordships penitential sickness . i shall adde nothing more , but wish you may never forget the goodness of almighty god , who ( through this whole melancholy scene ) has signalized his good providences to you both : and that you may ever live under the special protection thereof , is the constant prayer of your honors most faithful and most obedient humble servant , robert parsons . adderbury , aug. 30. 1680. st. luke 15.7 . i say unto you , that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance . if ever there were a subject that might deserve and exhaust all the treasures of religious eloquence in the description of so great a man , and so great a sinner as now lies before us ; together with the wonders of the divine goodness , in making him as great a penitent ; i think the present occasion affords one as remarkable as any place or age can produce . indeed so great and full a matter it is , that t is too big to come out of my mouth , and perhaps not all of it fit or needful so to do . the greatness of his parts are well enough known , and of his sins too well in the world ; and neither my capacity , nor experience , nor my profession will allow me to be so proper a judge , either of the one or the other . only as god has been pleased to make me a long while a sad spectator , and a secret mourner for his sins ; so has he at last graciously heard the prayers of his nearest relations , and true friends , for his conversion and repentance : and t is the good tidings of that especially , what god has done for his soul , that i am now to publish and tell abroad to the world , not only by the obligations of mine office , in which i had the honour to be a weak minister to it , but by his own express and dying commands . now altho , to describe this worthily , would require a wit equal to that with which he lived , and a devotion too , equal to that with which he died , and to match either will be a very hard task ; yet besides that i am not sufficient for these things , ( for who is ? ) and that my thoughts have been rather privately busied to secure a real repentance to himself , whilst living , than to publish it abroad to others in artificial dress after he is dead ; i say , besides all this , i think i shall have less need to call in the aids of secular eloquence . the proper habit of repentance is not fine linnen , or any delicate array , such as are used in the court , or kings houses , but sack-cloth and ashes : and the way which god almighty takes to convey it , is not by the words of mans wisdome , but by the plainness of his written word , assisted by the inward power and demonstration of the spirit : and the effects it works , and by which it discovers it self , are not any raptures of wit and fancy , but the most humble prostrations both of soul and spirit , and the captivating all humane imaginations to the obedience of a despised religion , and a crucified saviour . and t is in this array i intend to bring out this penitent to you ; an array which i am sure he more valued , and desired to appear in , both to god and the world , than in all the triumphs of wit and gallantry , and therefore ( waving all these rhetorical flourishes , as beneath the solemnity of the occasion , and the majesty of that great and weighty truth i am now to deliver ) i shall content my self with the office of a plain historian , to relate faithfully and impartially what i saw and heard ; especially during his penitential sorrows ; which if all that hear me this day had been spectators of , there would then have been no need of a sermon to convince men , but every man would have been as much a preacher to himself of this truth , as i am , except these sorrows : and yet even these sorrows should be turn'd into joys too , if we would only do what we pray for , that the will of god may be done in earth , as it is in heaven : for so our blessed lord assures us ; i say unto you , that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , &c. from which i shall consider , 1. the sinner particularly that is before us . 2. the repentance of this sinner , together with the means , the time , and all probable sincerity of it . 3. the joy that is in heaven , and should be on earth , for the repentance of this sinner . 4. the comparative greatness and preeminence of this joy , on the account of his example , that is , and should be for the repentance of this sinner , more than for the constant and uniform virtuousness of any good liver ; which will naturally lead me to my fifth and last particular , to a speciall address or application to all that hear me ; that they would all joyn in this joy , in praise and thanksgivings to god for the conversion of this sinner ; and if there be any that have been like him in their sins , that they would also speedily imitate him in their repentance . and 1. let us consider the person before us , as he certainly was , a great sinner . but because man was upright before he was a sinner , and to measure the greatness of his fall , it will be necessary to take a view of that height from wich he fell ; give me leave to go back a little to look into the rock from which he was hewn , the quality , familie , education , and personal accomplishments of this great man. in doing of which i think no man will charge me with any design of customary flattery , or formality ; since i intend only thereby to shew the greatness and unhappiness of his folly , in the perverting so many excellent abilities and advantages for virtue and piety in the service of sin , and so becoming a more universal , insinuating , and prevailing example of it . as for his family , on both sides , from which he was descended , they were some of the most famous in their generations . his grandfather was that excellent and truly great man , charles lord wilmot , viscount athlone in ireland . henry his father , who inherited the same title and greatness , was by his late majesty king charles the i. created baron of adderbury in oxfordshire , and by his present majesty earl of rochester . he was a man of signal loyalty and integrity indeed ; and of such courage and conduct in military affairs as became a great general . but my endeavours of this kind are superseded , tho i had time , by my want of abilities to declare it worthily , as well as by the notoriety of these severals ; and that person must be very ignorant of the late transactions in the three kingdoms , and the misfortunes of our present king , who understands not the service and value of that eminent subject . his mother ( of whom i might speak great and worthy things , were it not that i avoid the imputation of flattery ) was the relict of sir francis-henry lee of ditchly in the county of oxford baronet , grandmother to the present right honourable earl of litchfield , and the daughter of that generous and honourable gentleman sir john st. johns of lyddiard in the county of wilts baronet , whose family was so remarkable for loyalty , that several of his sons willingly offer'd themselves in the day of battel , and died for it ; and whilst the memory of the english or irish rebellion lasts , that family cannot want a due veneration in the minds of any person , that loves either god or the king. as for his education , it was in wadham college in oxford , under the care of that wise and excellent governour dr. blanford , the late right reverend bishop of worcester ; there it was that he laid a good foundation of learning and study , though he afterwards built upon that foundation hay and stubble . there he first suck'd from the breasts of his mother the university those perfections of wit , and eloquence , and poetry , which afterwards by his own corrupt stomach , or some ill juices after , were turn'd into poison to himself and others : which certainly can be no more a blemish to those illustrious seminaries of piety and good learning , than a disobedient child is to a wise and virtuous father , or the fall of man to the excellency of paradise . his quality i shall take no notice of , there being so much of what was excellent and extraordinary in this great person , that i have no room for any thing that is common to him with others . a wit he had so rare and fruitful in its invention , and withall so choice and delicate in its judgment , that there is nothing wanting in his composures to give a full answer to that question , what and where wit is ? except the purity and choice of subject . for had such excellent seeds but fallen upon good ground , and instead of pitching upon a beast or a lust , been raised up on high , to celebrate the mysteries of the divine love , in psalms , and hymns , and spirtual songs ; i perswade my self we might by this time have receiv'd from his pen as excellent an idea of divine poetry , under the gospel , useful to the teaching of virtue , especially in this generation , as his profane verses have been to destroy it . and i am confident , had god spared him a longer life , this would have been the whole business of it , as i know it was the vow and purpose of his sickness . his natural talent was excellent , but he had hugely improved it by learning and industry , being throughly acquainted with all classick authors , both greek and latin ; a thing very rare , if not peculiar to him , amongst those of his quality . which yet he used not , as other poets have done , to translate or steal from them , but rather to better , and improve them by his own natural fancy . and whoever reads his composures , will find all things in them so peculiarly great , new , and excellent , that he will easily pronounce , that tho he has lent to many others , yet he has borrowed of none ; and that he has been as far from a sordid imitation of those before him , as he will be from being reach'd by those that follow him . his other personal accomplishments in all the perfections of a gentleman for the court or the country , whereof he was known by all men to be a very great master , is no part of my business to describe or understand : and whatever they were in themselves , i am sure they were but miserable comforters to him , since they only minister'd to his sins , and made his example the more fatal and dangerous ; for so we may own , ( nay i am obliged by him not to hide , but to shew the rocks , which others may avoid ) that he was once one of the greatest of sinners . and truly none but one so great in parts could be so ; as the chiefest of the angels for knowledge and power became most dangerous . his sins were like his parts , ( for from them corrupted they sprang , ) all of them high and extraordinary . he seem'd to affect something singular and paradoxical in his impieties , as well as his writings , above the reach and thought of other men ; taking as much pains to draw others in , and to pervert the right ways of virtue , as the apostles and primitive saints , to save their own souls , and them that heard them . for this was the heightning and amazing circumstance of his sins , that he was so diligent and industrious to recommend and propagate them ; not like those of old that hated the light , but those the prophet mentions , isaiah 3.9 . who declare their sin as sodom , and hide it not , that take it upon their shoulders , and bind it to them as a crown ; framing arguments for sin , making proselytes to it , and writing panegyricks upon vice ; singing praises to the great enemy of god , and casting down coronets and crowns before his throne . nay so confirm'd was he in sin , that he lived , and oftentimes almost died , a martyr for it . god was pleased sometimes to punish him with the effects of his folly , yet till now ( he confessed ) they had no power to melt him into true repentance ; or if at any time he had some lucid intervals from his folly and madness , yet ( alas ) how short and transitory were th●● ? all that goodness was but as a morning cloud , and as the early dew which vanishes away ; he still return'd to the same excess of riot , and that with so much the more greediness , the longer he had fasted from it . and yet even this desperate sinner , that one would think had made a covenant with death , and was at an agreement with hell , and just upon the brink of them both ; god , to magnifie the riches of his grace and mercy , was pleased to snatch as a brand out of the fire . as st. paul , tho before a blasphemer , a persecutor , and injurious , yet obtein'd mercy , that in him christ jesus might shew forth all long-suffering , for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life . 1 tim. 1.13.16 . so god struck him to the ground as it were by a light from heaven , and a voice of thunder round about him . insomuch that now the scales fall from his eyes , as they did from st. pauls ; his stony heart was open'd , and streams of tears gusht out , the bitter but wholsome tears of true repentance . and that this may appear to be so , i think it necessary to account for these three things . 1. for the means of it : that it was not barely the effect of sickness , or the fear of death ; but the hand of god also working in them and by them manifestly . 2. for the time of it : that though it was a death-bed repentance , and therefore full of danger , and the utmost hazard ; yet was it not impossible to be true , nor absolutely desperate . 3. for the sincerity of it : that what was thus possible to be good and true , probably was so ; which though none but god that sees the heart , can tell certainly , yet man even also may and ought to believe it ; not only in the judgment of charity , but of moral justice , from all evident signs of it , which were possible to be given by one in his condition . and first for the means or method of it . that which prepared the way for it was a sharp and painful sickness , with which god was pleased to visit him ; the way which the almighty often takes to reduce the wandring sinner to the knowledge of god and of himself : i will be unto ephraim as a lion , and as a young lion unto the house of judah ; i even i will tear and go away , and none shall relieve him ; i will go and return to my place , till they acknowledge their offence , and seek my face ; and in their affliction they will seek me early . hos. 5.14 , 15. and tho to forsake our sins then , when we can no longer enjoy them , seems to be rather the effect of impotency and necessity , than of choice , and so not so acceptable or praise-worthy ; yet we find god almighty uses the one to bring about the other ; and improves a forced abstinence from sin , into a settled loathing and true detestation of it : of which i shall give two noted instances . the first out of the old testament , in that famous case of manasseh , 2 chron. 33. ( the nearest parallel that i can find , both to the sin , and repentance of the person now before us , ) when he did that which was evil in the sight of the lord , more than all the kings of judah before him , and had made judah and all the inhabitants of jerusalem to erre , and do worse then the heathen whom the lord had destroyed before them ; yet we see god made use even of this way to reduce him to true repentance , for we read at the 11. v. of this chapter : wherefore the lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of assyria , which took manasseh among the thorns , and bound him with fetters , and carried him to babylon ; and it follows in the next verse , when he was in affliction he besought the lord his god , and humbled himself greatly before the god of his fathers , and prayed unto him , and he was entreated of him , and heard his supplication , and brought him again to jerusalem , and unto his kingdom ; then manasseh knew that the lord was god , v. 13. and the truth of his repentance , tho occasioned first by his affliction , appeared afterwards by the following reformation which he wrought ; for he took away the strange gods , v. 15. the second instance i shall give of a true , tho forced repentance , is in that well known case of the prodigal son , which follows my text in this chapter : tho he had wasted all his substance with riotous living , and was forced back to his fathers house only by extreme hunger and necessity ; yet was he joyfully received by him , for his father ran and fell upon his neck , and kissed him , v. 20. and the fatted calf was killed for him ; and when his elder brother was angry at it , the good father justifies his procedure , v. 32. it was meet that we should make merry and be glad , for this thy brother was dead , and is alive again , was lost and is found . and truly t is one good sign , that god is now taking men into the number of his children , when he is fixing upon them one of the greatest badges and characters of them ; for therefore saith the apostle , we are chastened of the lord , that we should not be condemned with the world ; whilst those who are reserv'd for destruction hereafter , do usually in this life come into no misfortune , nor are plagued like other men . for god , does not afflict any willingly , nor grieve the children of men : but as he is grieved himself for the sufferings of his children , ( for in all their affliction , saith the prophet , he was afflicted , ) so he doth not usually punish wicked men both here and hereafter : and therefore they who are to be punished with everlasting destruction , god suffers to enjoy their portion in this life without disturbance . and because the days of darkness must be many , therefore does he suffer the sinner many times to die an hundred years old , that he may take his full swinge of what he hath set his affections upon ; and after a long and prosperous life here , without any check in his career of wickedness , he lets him drop down into hell , without the least apprehension of danger . so that in that sense it is true which the poets say , when they tell us , that the descent into hell is easie and pleasant . and therefore on the contrary we may reasonably presume , that tribulation and anguish , when it is born with patience , and resignation to god , and when it works a serious reformation , will certainly minister to us an entrance into everlasting rest ; and that the greater our sufferings have been , the more abundant and much more grateful shall the rest be . affliction , as it rises not out of the dust , but descends from that god , at whose hands we receive evil as well as good ; so neither is it design'd to deject us thither , but to raise us up to god from whence it self comes . the pains of the cross , as well that cross which we must bear our selves , as that which our saviour bore , do in some sense open the kingdom of heaven to all believers ; and to some , as the penitent thief , the hope of paradise is not given till their last hour ; and those who come in then , god is often pleased to make equal to them who have born the burden and heat of the day ; nay oftentimes to give them more , for he will love much to whom much is forgiven . it is true , there are such stubborn natures , that like clay are rather hardned by the fire of afflictions ; ungracious children , that fly in the face of their heavenly father in the very instant when he is correcting them ; or , it may be , like those children under the rod , who promise wonders then , and presently after forget all . such as these we have described ps. 78.34 , 35 , 36 , 37. when he slew them , then they sought him , and they return'd and enquired early after god ; then they remember'd that god was their rock , and that the high god was their redeemer : nevertheless they did but flatter him with their mouth , and lied unto him with their tongues , for their heart was not right with him , neither continued they stedfast in his covenant . and t is probable this has been the case formerly of this person . but there was an evident difference betwixt the effects of this sickness upon him , and many others before : he had other sentiments of things now , ( he told me ) and acted upon quite different principles ; he was not vext with it as it was painful , or hinder'd him from his sins , which he would have roll'd under his tongue all the while , and long'd again to be at it ; but he submitted patiently to it , accepted it as the hand of god , and was thankful , blessing and praising god not only in , but for his extremities . there were now no cursings , no railings or reproaches to his servants , or those about him , which in other sicknesses were their usual entertainment , but he treated them with all the meekness and patience in the world , begging pardons frequently of the meanest of them but for a hasty word , which the extremity of his sickness , and the sharpness of his pain might easily force from him . his prayers were not so much for ease or health , or a continuance in life ; as for grace , and faith , and perfect resignation to the will of god. so that i think , we may not only charitably but justly conclude , that his sickness was not the chief ingredient , but through the grace of god an effectual means of a true , tho late repentance . 2. and for that i am to account in the next place , i mean the time of it ; and to make out to you , that tho it was a death-bed repentance , and therefore full of danger , and the utmost hazard , yet it was not wholly impossible to be true , nor absolutely desperate . that it was hugely dangerous , and of the utmost hazard to defer it so long , must needs be granted by all all wise and considering men : i wish all men were so wise as seriously to consider it , and provide for it . for should god have snatch'd him away in the very act of his sin , and that , like zimri and cozhi , dathan and abiram , ananias or sapphira , he had gone down quick into hell ; yet we must have acknowledged , that righteous art thou , o lord , and clear when thou art judged . if god had taken him from the land of the living , either by some sudden accident , by a raging feaver , or by some stupid lethargy or apoplexie , when he had had no time for reflection or repentance ; in what a dreadful condition had his soul been for ever ? or if god had vouchsafed him ( as he did ) some sharp lingring sickness , when he might have had leisure to repent ; yet what assurance was there that such a repentance would have followed ? or if it had , that it would have been accepted ? was it not more likely that he would still have cried with the wise man's sluggard , yet a little sleep , and a little slumber , till poverty , a dismal poverty , came upon him . but if he had resolved at that time to break off his sins by repentance , yet alas how improper a time was that for it ? t is not easie to be present and consistent to our selves , when we are surrounded with disquieting if not stupifying pains , when there is a necessary decay and dulness of spirits , a short memory , flat and low affections ; and at the same time a more then ordinary hurry and surcharge of worldly business ; a house to be set in order , children to be provided for in their fortunes and education ; creditors to be satisfied , and all this amidst the cries and mournings of our nearest relations and friends about us . and certainly we must think repentance a very easie task , if we reckon ordinarily , that he that is disabled from all other things else , shall yet be fit to perfect and complete it . but allowing our thoughts to be as clear or clearer in our sickness than in our calmest and strongest seasons , ( which yet i think no man in his wits will believe ) yet after all , what security have we that we shall be able to improve or employ it to a true repentance ? it may be , before we come to that , the measure of our iniquities is fill'd up already , and the irreversible sentence is gone out , tho not executed against us : my patience shall not always strive ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the lxx ) with men ; cut it down , why cumbreth it the ground ? it may be curs'd and devoted , tho we do not see it actually wither'd and destroy'd . but supposing this also , that we are allow'd a farther time and means for repentance ; yet alas , no ordinary means will serve us , when we have been thus harden'd by customary sinning : and i am sure , should god proceed with us by the measure of strict justice , he might rather take from us even that which we have , then give us any extraordinary assistances which we have so abused . and after all this , if god shall give us such extraordinary assistances , whatever allowances god may make , yet there is still no certain security or comfort to any dying death-bed penitent ; charity hopeth all things , and believeth all things , and the relaxations of the censures of the church in absolution on probable signs of repentance , must follow the judgment of charity ; yet the certainty of the sinner's absolution with god in heaven , depends only upon the inward real sincerity of his repentance , and consequently upon the approving of it by his future conversation ; and therefore god almighty , who only knows what the one is at present , and what the other will be , can be a competent judge of it . and certainly t is enough for such a penitent if he be secured at last of entring into the kingdom of heaven , tho he has very rarely , if at all , the present comfortable experience and assurance of it on a death-bed repentance , which indeed is reserv'd as the reward of a constant virtuous , and holy life . but tho what i have said be enough to conclude a death-bed repentance infinitely hazardous , and therefore hugely unfit for any wise man to depend upon ; yet will it not be sufficient to prove it absolutely impossible . no sober man certainly would hazard his life upon the chance of a die , when t is a thousand to one but he miscarries ; or venture into a crazy cock-boat out of a sound ship , when t is but barely possible he may be saved ; and yet no wise man neither but will allow a possibility of being sav'd both for the one and the other : and it is only this bare possibility of a death-bed repentance that i am now pleading for . and that this possibility was produced into act , and so render'd very probable also in the case of this person here before us , will best be judged by the marks i am now to give you of the sincerity of his repentance ; for which i am in the next place to account . 3. and t was the power of the divine grace , and of that only , that brake through all these obstacles that i have now mention'd ; that god ( who is a god of infinite compassion and forbearance ) allow'd him leisure and opportunity for repentance ; that he awaken'd him from his spiritual slumber by a pungent sickness ; that he gave him such a presence of mind , as both to provide prudently for his worldly affairs , and yet not to be distracted or diverted by them from the thoughts of a better world ; that lengthened out his day of grace , and accompanied the ordinary means of salvation , and the weak ministry of his word , with the convincing and over-ruling power of his spirit to his conscience ; which word of god became to him quick and powerful , sharper than any two-edged sword , piercing even to the dividing asunder of his soul and spirit ; and at last the spirit of god witnessed to his spirit , that now he was become one of the children of god. now if the thief upon the cross ( an instance too much abused ) was therefore accepted , because accompanied with all the effects of a sincere convert , which his condition was capable of ; as confession of christ in the midst of the blasphemies of pharisees , and his own lewd companion , and desertion even of christ's disciples ; if his repentance be therefore judged real , because he seems to be more concern'd in the remembrance of christ's future kingdom than his own death ; if st. paul was approv'd by the same more abundant labours which he commended in the corinthians , yea what zeal ? what fear ? what vehement desire ? 2 cor. 7.11 . i think i shall make it appear , that the repentance of this person was accompanied with the like hopeful symptoms : and i am so sensible of that awful presence both of god and man before whom i speak , who are easily able to discover my failings , that i shall not deliver any thing , but what i know to be a strict and a religious truth . upon my first visit to him , ( may 26. ) just at his return from his journey out of the west , he most gladly received me , shew'd me extraordinary respects upon the score of mine office , thank'd god , who had in mercy and good providence sent me to him , who so much needed my prayers and counsels ; acknowledging how unworthily heretofore he had treated that order of men , reproaching them that they were proud , and prophesied only for rewards ; but now he had learnt how to value them ; that he esteem'd them the servants of the most high god , who were to shew to him the way to everlasting life . at the same time i found him labouring under strange trouble and conflicts of mind , his spirit wounded , and his conscience full of terrors . upon his journey he told me , he had been arguing with greater vigor against god and religion than ever he had done in his life time before , and that he was resolved to run 'em down with all the argument and spite in the world , but , like the great convert st. paul , he found it hard to kick against the pricks . for god at that time had so struck his heart by his immediate hand , that presently he argued as strongly for god and virtue , as before he had done against it . that god strangely open'd his heart , creating in his mind most awful and tremendous thoughts and ideas of the divine majesty , with a delightful contemplation of the divine nature and attributes , and of the loveliness of religion and virtue . i never ( said he ) was advanced thus far towards happiness in my life before , tho upon the commissions of some sins extraordinary i have had some checks and warnings considerable from within , but still struggled with 'em , and so wore them off again . the most observable that i remember was this : one day at an atheistical meeting , at a person of qualitie's , i undertook to manage the cause , and was the principal disputant against god and piety , and for my performances received the applause of the whole company ; upon which my mind was terribly struck , and i immediately reply'd thus to my self . good god! that a man , that walks upright , that sees the wonderful works of god , and has the uses of his senses and reason , should use them to the defying of his creator ! but tho this was a good beginning towards my conversion , to find my conscience touch'd for my sins , yet it went off again ; nay , all my life long i had a secret value and reverence for an honest man , and lov'd morality in others . but i had form'd an odd scheme of religion to my self , which would solve all that god or conscience might force upon me ; yet i was not ever well reconciled to the business of christianity , nor had that reverence for the gospel of christ as i ought to have . which estate of mind continued , till the 53d . chapter of isaiah was read to him , ( wherein there is a lively description of the sufferings of our saviour , and the benefits thereof ) and some other portions of scripture ; by the power and efficacy of which word , assisted by his holy spirit , god so wrought upon his heart , that he declar'd , that the mysteries of the passion appeared so clear and plain to him , as ever any thing did that was represented in a glass ; so that that joy and admiration , which possess'd his soul upon the reading of gods word to him , was remarkable to all about him ; and he had so much delight in his testimonies , that in my absence he begg'd his mother and lady to read the same to him frequently , and was unsatisfied ( notwithstanding his great pains and weakness ) till he had learned especially the 53. of isaiah without book . at the same time , discoursing of his manner of life from his youth up , and which all men knew was too too much devoted to the service of sin , and that the lusts of the flesh , of the eye , and the pride of life , had captivated him : he was very large and particular in his acknowledgments about it , more ready to accuse himself then i or any one else can be ; publicly crying out , o blessed god , can such an horrid creature as i am be accepted by thee , who has deny'd thy being , and contemn'd thy power ? asking often , can there be mercy and pardon for me ? will god own such a wretch as i ? and in the middle of his sickness said , shall the unspeakable joys of heaven be confer'd on me ? o mighty saviour ! never but through thine infinite love and satisfaction ! o never but by the purchase of thy bloud ! adding , that with all abhorrency he did reflect upon his former life ; that sincerely and from his heart he did repent of all that folly and madness which he had committed . indeed he had a true and lively sense of god's great mercy to him in striking his hard heart , and laying his conscience open , which hitherto was deaf to all gods calls and methods ; saying , if that god , who died for great as well as lesser sinners , did not speedily apply his infinite merits to his poor soul , his wound was such as no man could conceive or bear , crying out , that he was the vilest wretch and dog that the sun shined upon , or the earth bore ; that now he saw his error in not living up to that reason which god endued him with , and which he unworthily vilify'd and contemn'd ; wish'd he had been a starving leper crawling in a ditch , that he had been a link-boy or a beggar , or for his whole life time confin'd to a dungeon , rather than thus to have sinned against his god. how remarkable was his faith , in a hearty embracing and devout confession of all the articles of our christian religion , and all the divine mysteries of the gospel ? saying , that that absurd and foolish philosophy , which the world so much admired , propagated by the late mr. hobbs , and others , had undone him , and many more , of the best parts in the nation ; who , without gods great mercy to them , may never , i believe , attain such a repentance . i must not omit to mention his faithful adherence to , and casting himself entirely upon , the mercies of jesus christ , and the free grace of god , declared to repenting sinners through him ; with a thankful remembrance of his life , death , and resurrection ; begging god to strengthen his faith , and often crying out , lord i believe , help thou mine unbelief . his mighty love and esteem of the holy scriptures , his resolutions to read them frequently , and meditate upon them if god should spare him , having already tasted the good word ; for having spoken to his heart he acknowledgd , all the seeming absurdities and contradictions thereof , fancied by men of corrupt and reprobate judgements , were vanished , and the excellency and beauty appeared , being come to receive the truth in the love of it . his extraordinary fervent devotions in his frequent prayers of his own , most excellent and correct ; amongst the rest , for the king , in such a manner as became a dutiful subject , and a truly grateful servant ; for the church and nation , for some particular relations , and then for all men ; his calling frequently upon me at all hours to pray with him , or read the scriptures to him ; and towards the end of his sickness would heartily desire god to pardon his infirmities , if he should not be so wakefull and intent through the whole duty as he wish'd to be ; and that tho the flesh was weak , yet the spirit was willing , and hoped god would accept that . his continual invocation of god's grace and holy spirit to sustain him , to keep him from all evil thoughts , from all temtations and diobolical suggestions , and every thing which might be prejudicial to that religious temper of mind , which god had now so happily endued him withall , crying out , one night especially , how terribly the temter did assault him , by casting upon him lewd and wicked imaginations , but i thank god ( said he ) i abhor them all , and by the power of his grace , which i am sure is sufficient for me , i have overcome them ; t is the malice of the devil , because i am rescu'd from him ; and the goodness of god , that frees me from all my spiritual enemies . his great joy at his ladies conversion from popery to the church of england , ( being , as he term'd it , a faction supported only by fraud and cruelty , ) which was by her done with deliberation and mature judgment ; the dark mists of which have for some months before been breaking away , but now cleared , by her receiving the blessed sacrament with her dying husband , at the receiving of which no man could express more joy and devotion than he did ; and having handled the word of life , and seen the salvation of god , in the preparation of his mind , he was now ready to depart in peace . his hearty concern for the pious education of his children , wishing that his son might never be a wit , that is , ( as he himself explain'd it , ) one of those wretched creatures , who pride themselves in abusing god and religion , denying his being , or his providence , but that he might become an honest and religious man , which could only be the support and blessing of his family ; complaining what a vitious and naughty world they were brought into , and that no fortunes or honours were comparable to the love and favour of god to them , in whose name he blessed them , pray'd for 'em , and committed them to his protection . his strict charge to those persons , in whose custody his papers were , to burn all his profane and lewd writings , as being only fit to promote vice and immorality , by which he had so highly offended god , and shamed and blasphemed that holy religion into which he had been baptiz'd ; and all his obscene and filthy pictures , which were so notoriously scandalous . his readiness to make restitution to the utmost of his power to all persons who he had injur'd ; and for those whom he could not make a compensation to , he prayed for gods , and their pardons . his remarkable justice in taking all possible care for the payment of his debts , which , before , he confessed he had not so fairly and effectually done . his readiness to forgive all injuries done against him , some more particularly mention'd , which were great and provoking ; nay annexing thereto all the assurance of a future friendship , and hoping he should be as freely forgiven at the hand of god. how tender and concern'd was he for his servants about him in his extremities , ( manifested by the beneficence of his will to them , ) pittying their troubles in watching with him , and attending him , treating them with candor and kindness , as if they had been his intimates ! how hearty were his endeavours to be serviceable to those about him , exhorting them to the fear and love of god , and to make a good use of his forbearance and long-suffering to sinners , which should lead them to repentance . and here i must not pass by his pious and most passionate exclamation to a gentleman of some character , who came to visit him upon his death-bed : o remember that you contemn god no more , he is an avenging god , and will visit you for your sins ; will in mercy , i hope , touch your conscience sooner or later as he has done mine ; you and i have been friends and sinners together a great while , therefore i am the more free with you ; we have been all mistaken in our conceits and opinions ; our perswasions have been false and groundless , therefore god grant you repentance . and seeing him the next day again , he said to him , perhaps you were disobliged by my plainness to you yesterday ; i spake the words of truth and soberness to you , and ( striking his hand upon his brest ) said , i hope god will touch your heart . likewise his commands to me , to preach abroad , and to let all men know ( if they knew it not already , ) how severely god had disciplin'd him for his sins by his afflicting hand ; that his sufferings were most just , tho he had laid ten thousand times more upon him ; how he had laid one stripe upon another because of his grievous provocations , till he had brought him home to himself ; that in his former visitations he had not that blessed effect he was now sensible of . he had formerly some loose thoughts and slight resolutions of reforming , and design'd to be better , because even the present consequences of sin were still pestering him , and were so troublesome and inconvenient to him ; but that now he had other sentiments of things , and acted upon other principles . his willingness to dye , if it pleased god , resigning himself always to the divine disposal ; but if god should spare him yet a longer time here , he hoped to bring glory to the name of god in the whole course of his life , and particularly by his endeavours to convince others , and to assure them of the danger of their condition , if they continued impenitent , and how graciously god had dealt with him . his great sense of his obligations to those excellent men , the right reverend my lord bishop of oxford , and dr. marshal , for their charitable and frequent visits to him , and prayers with him ; and dr. burnet , who came on purpose from london to see him , who were all very serviceable to his repentance . his extraordinary duty and reverence to his mother , with all the grateful respects to her imaginable , and kindness to his good lady , beyond expression , ( which may well enhance such a loss to them , ) and to his children , obliging them with all the endearments that a good husband or a tender father could bestow . to conclude these remarks , i shall only read to you his dying remonstrance , sufficiently attested and sign'd by his own hand , as his truest sense , ( which i hope may be useful for that good end he design'd it , ) in manner and form following . for the benefit of all those whom i may have drawn into sin by my example and encouragement , i leave to the world this my last declaration , which i deliver in the presence of the great god , who knows the secrets of all hearts , and before whom i am now appearing to be judged . that from the bottom of my soul i detest and abhor the whole course of my former wicked life ; that i think i can never sufficiently admire the goodness of god , who has given me a true sense of my pernicious opinions and vile practices , by which i have hitherto lived without hope , and without god in the world ; have been an open enemy to jesus christ , doing the utmost despite to the holy spirit of grace . and that the greatest testimony of my charity to such is , to warm 'em in the name of god , and as they regard the welfare of their immortal souls , no more to deny his being , or his providence , or despise his goodness ; no more to make a mock of sin , or contemn the pure and excellent religion of my ever blessed redeemer , thro whose merits alone , i one of the greatest of sinners , do yet hope for mercy and forgiveness . amen . declared and sign'd in the presence of anne rochester . robert parsons . jun. 19. 1680. j. rochester . and now i cannot but mention with joy and admiration that steddy temper of mind , which he enjoy'd through the whole course of his sickness and repentance ; which must proceed , not from a hurry and perturbation of mind or body , arising from the fear of death , or dread of hell only , but from an ingenuous love to god , and an uniform regard to virtue , ( suitable to that solemn declaration of his , i would not commit the least sin to gain a kingdom , ) with all possible symptoms of a lasting perseverance in it , if god should have restored him . to which may be added his comfortable perswasions of god's accepting him to his mercy , saying three or four days before his death , i shall die , but oh , what unspeakable glories do i see ! what joys , beyond thought or expression , am i sensible of ! i am assured of gods mercy to me through jesus christ. oh how i long to die , and to be with my saviour ! the time of his sickness and repentance was just nine weeks ; in all which time he was so much master of his reason , and had so clear an understanding , ( saving 30 hours , about the middle of it , in which he was delirous , ) that he never dictated or spoke more composed in his life : and therefore if any shall continue to say , his piety was the effect of madness or vapours ; let me tell them , t is highly disingenuous , and that the assertion is as silly as it is wicked . and moreover that the force of what i have delivered may not be evaded by wicked men , who are resolv'd to harden their hearts , maugre all convictions , by saying , this thing was done in a corner ; i appeal , for the truth thereof , to all sorts of persons who in considerable numbers visited and attended him , and more particularly to those eminent physicians who were near him , and conversant with him in the whole course of his tedious sickness ; and who , if any , are competent judges of a phrensy or delirium . there are many more excellent things in my absence which have occasionally dropt from his mouth , that will not come within the narrow compass of a sermon ; these , i hope , will sufficiently prove what i produce them for . and if any shall be still unsatisfied herein in this hard-hearted generation , it matters not , let them at their cost be unbelievers still , so long as this excellent penitent enjoys the comfort of his repentance . and now from all these admirable signs we have great reason to believe comfortably , that his repentance was real , and his end happy ; and accordingly imitate the neighbours and cosens of elizabeth , ( luke 1.58 . ) who , when they heard how the lord had shewed great mercy upon her , came and rejoyced with her . for so we must learn , like the ambassadors to some new prince , to turn our condolances into congratulations , in conformity to an heavenly example ; for there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents : 1. a joy to god the father , who has solemnly sworn , that he delights not in the death of a sinner , but rather that he should repent and live ; who would have all men to be saved , and come to the knowledge of the truth . 2. a joy to god the son , that good shepherd , mention'd in the verse before my text , who left the ninety and nine just persons in the wilderness , and went after that which was lost , till he had found it ; and when he had found it , he laid it on his shoulders rejoycing ; and when he cometh home , he calls together his friends and his neighbours ( on heaven and earth , ) saying unto them , rejoyce with me , for i have found my sheep which was lost . 3. a joy to god the holy ghost , after he had been so often griev'd , so despitefully treated , and so long resisted . and 4. a joy to the whole court of heaven in the presence of the holy angels , v. 10. those ministring spirits , sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation ; to see that now at last their labour is not in vain in the lord , but that there is one more subject gained to the obedience of their and our common lord , deliver'd from the slavery , and admitted to fill up the vacancy of apostate spirits . and as our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our proper or natural citizenship or conversation is in heaven ; so should our joys too be conformable to those of our fellow-citizens . and therefore after the relations and friends of this great person have paid their natural tribute of tears to so near a relation , they should then turn their sorrows into joys , by the comfortable consideration of his being a penitent upon earth , and a saint in heaven . thus his dear mother should rejoyce , that the son of her love and of her fears , as well as of her bowels , is now born again into a better world ; adopted by his heavenly father , and gone before her to take possession of an eternal inheritance . 2. his truly loving consort should rejoyce , that god has been so gracious to them both , as at the same time to give him a fight of his errors in point of practice , and her self ( not altogether without his means and endeavours ) a sight of hers in point of faith. and truly , considering the great prejudices and dangers of the roman religion , i think i may aver that there is joy in heaven , and should be on earth , for her conversion , as well as his. 3. his noble and most hopeful issue should rejoyce , as their years are capable ; not that a dear and loving father has left them , but that since he must leave them , he has left them the example of a penitent , and not of a sinner ; the blessing of a saint , in recommending them to an all-sufficient father , and not entailing on them the fatal curse that attends the posterity of the wicked and impenitent . 4. all good men should rejoyce , to see the triumphs of the cross in these latter days , and the words of divine wisdom and power . and bad men certainly , when ever they consider it , are most of all concern'd to joy and rejoyce in it , as a condemn'd malefactor is , to hear that a fellow-criminal has got his pardon , and that he may do so too , if he speedily sue for it . and this joy of all will still be the greater , if we compare it with the joy there is in the case of just persons , that need no repentance , viz. that need not such a solemn extraordinary repentance , or the whole change of heart and mind , as great sinners do : and of this my text pronounces , that there is greater joy in heaven over one such sinner that truly repenteth , than there is over ninety and nine just persons that need not such a repentance . and the reason we may conceive to be this ; that since all joy arises from admiration and surprize , as from something that is new and unexpected ; accordingly the joy that proceeds from the repentance and new life of a notorious sinner , must needs be greater then that which rises from the constant piety of a good man , which we have seen every day ; as a resurrection from the dead is more remarkable then our first life . besides , that such a penitent's former failings , are ordinarily the occasion of a greater and more active piety afterwards ; as our convert earnestly wish'd , that god would be pleased to spare him but one year more , that in that he might honour his name proportionably to the dishonour done to god in his whole life past . and we see st. paul laboured more abundantly than all the apostles in the planting of the church , because he had raged most furiously before in the destruction of it ; and our saviour himself tells us , that to whom much is given they will love much , but to whom little is forgiven they will love little ; and we know , a commander will love a soldier more that redeems his former cowardise , by doing some brave and daring action , then him , who never had that taint upon him , but yet never atchieved any thing remarkable . a husbandman more rejoyces at the improvement of briars and thorns into an excellent crop , from which once he had but little expectation , than for such a soil as was remarkable neither for the one or the other . t is certainly the more safe , indeed the only safe way to be constantly virtuous , and he that is wise indeed , i. e. wise unto salvation , will endeavour to be one of those that need no repentance ; i mean that entire and whole work of beginning anew , but will draw out the same thred through his whole life , and not let the sun go down upon any of his sins ; but then the other repentance is the more remarkable , and , where it is real , the more effectual , to produce a fervent and a fruitful piety ; besides the greater glory to god in the influence of the example . which may probably be a farther reason of the excessive joy of angels at the conversion of such a sinner ; because they , who are better acquainted with humane nature than we ; and knowing it apt , like the pharisees , to demand a sign from heaven , for the reformation of corrupted customs ; they discern too , that such desperate spiritual recoveries , will seem so many openings of the heavens in the descent of the holy dove , visibly to the standers by ; and accordingly will have the greater influence upon them . and t is this in the last place , that i am to recommend to all that hear me this day . and having thus discharg'd the office of an historian , in a faithful representation of the repentance and conversion of this great sinner ; give me leave now to bespeak you as an ambassador of christ , and in his name earnestly perswade you to be reconcil'd to him , and to follow this illustrious person , not in his sins any more , but in his sorrows for them , and his forsaking them . i hope better things of you , my brethren , then to think that all that now hear me , have need of such a repentance , tho all have need of some , and the best are most sensible of it . but if there be any in this place , or elsewhere , who have been drawn into a complacency or practice of any kind of sin from his example , let those especially be perswaded to break off their sins by repentance , by the same example ; that as he has been for the fall , so he may be now for the rising again of many in israel . god knows there are too many that are wise enough to discern and follow the examples of evil , but to do good from those examples they have no power ; like those absurd flatterers we read of , who could imitate plato in his crookedness , aristotle in his stammering , and alexander the great in the bending of his neck , and the shrilness of his voice , but either could not , or would not , imitate them in any of their perfections ; or like to those bad stomachs , that delight in dirt and charcoal , but nauseate savory and wholsome food . such as these i would beseech , in their cooler seasons , to ask themselves that question , what fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed , for the end of these things is death ? and if any incourage themselves in their wickedness from this example , resolving however to enjoy the good things that are present ; to fill themselves with costly wines , and to let no part of pleasure pass by them untasted , supposing with the gospel rich man , that when one comes to them from the dead , when sickness or old age approches , that then they will repent ; let such as these consider the dreadful hazard they run by such pernicious counsels . it may be ( and it is but just with god it should be ) that whilst they are making provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof , and are saying to their souls , soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years , therefore take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry ; perhaps just then at the same time the hand of god may be writing upon the walls of their habitations that fatal sentence , thou fool , this night shall thy soul be required of thee , and then whose shall all those things be , which thou hast provided ? and what sad reflections must such a one needs make upon his own folly , when he sees that all that mirth and ease , which he has promised himself for so many years , must be at an end in a very few hours ? and not only so , but that mirth turn'd into howlings , and that ease into a bed of flames ; when the soul must be torn away on a sudden from the things it loved , and go where it will hate to live , and yet cannot die . and were it not better for us to embrace cordially the things which belong to our everlasting peace , before they are hid from our eyes ? were it not better for us all to be wise betimes by preventing such a danger , then to open our eyes , as the unhappy rich man did , when we are in the place of torment ? be perswaded then with humble , penitent , and obedient hearts to go out of your sinful selves , and meet the blessed jesus , who is now on the way , and comes to us in the person and in the bowels of a saviour , woing us to accept those easie conditions of pardon and peace offer'd in his holy gospel , rather then to stay till he become our adversary and our judge too , when he will deliver us over to the tormentors , till we have paid the utmost farthing , i.e. to all eternity : when those who have made a mock at sin all their lives , and laugh'd at the pretended cheats of religion and its priests , shall find themselves at last the greatest fools , and the most sadly cheated in the world ; for god will then laugh at their calamity , and mock when their fear cometh , when it cometh as desolation , and their destruction as a whirlwind . and since they would not suffer his mercy to rejoyce over his justice , nor cause any joy in heaven , as the text mentions , in their conversion ; his justice will certainly rejoyce over his mercy , and cause joy in heaven ( as it did at the fall of babylon , which would not be cured , rev. 19.1 . ) in their confusion . and o that there were such a heart in them , that they would consider this betimes : that in the midst of their carnal jollities they would but vouchsafe one regard to what may happen hereafter , and what will certainly be the end of these things . for however the fruits of sin may seem pleasant to the eye , and to be desired , to make one seem wise and witty to the world ; yet alas , they are all but emty and unsatisfactory at present , and leave a mortal sting behind them , and bitterness in the later end ; like the book st. john ate , ( rev. 10.10 . ) which in his mouth was sweet as honey , but as soon as he had eaten it , his belly was bitter . and tho god should please at last to bring men back in their old age from their sinful courses , by a way of weeping , to pluck them as fire-brands out of everlasting burnings ; yet if men consider how rare and difficult a thing it is to be born again when one is old , how many pangs and violences to nature there must needs be , to put off the habits and inclinations to old sins : as difficult ( saith the prophet ) as for the leopard to change his spots , or the ethiopian his skin ; and then when that 's done , what scars and weaknesses even a cure must leave behind , i say , he that duly considers this , will think it better to secure his salvation , and all his present true comforts , by preserving his innocency , or alleviating his work by a daily repentance for lesser failings , then to venture upon one single chance of a death-bed repentance ; which is no more to be depended upon , for the performance , or acceptance , then it can encourage any man not to labour , because elias was fed by ravens , or the israelites with manna from heaven . if then there be any ( tho alas that need not be asked ) that have made the greatness of their wit , or birth , or fortune , instruments of iniquity to iniquity ; let them now convert them , in their own conversion , to that original noble use for which god intended them , viz. to be instruments of righteousness unto holiness . to these especially that are thus great , not onely god , but this great person also , by my mouth , being dead yet speaketh ; for as st. paul seem'd more especially concern'd for his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh ; and even the rich man in hell , tho sufficiently distracted by his own sufferings , yet seems hugely desirous that one might be sent from the dead to his brethren , that he might testifie unto them , lest they also come into that place of torment : so this illustrions convert , after god had open'd his eyes to see his follies , was more especially desirous of the salvation of those that were his brethren , tho not in the flesh , yet in the greatness of their quality , and of their sins ; passionately wishing , that all such , were not only almost , but altogether such as he now was , saving his bodily afflictions ; and of great force , me thinks , should the admonitions of a dying friend be . the ingenious michael de montaigne reckons him the best physician , who himself has had the disease which he pretends to cure ; and behold a greater than he says to st. peter , when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren ; which assures us , that they which have themselves been in a condition to need a remarkable conversion , are not uncapable thereby , but obliged , and the better qualified for such a charitable work . now these especially i would beseech , as the minister of christ , and as such , tho we are reviled we bless , tho we are defamed we intreat , to suffer the word of exhortation , that they would not terminate their eyes upon the outward pomp and pageantry that attends them , as the vulgar jews did upon their rites and ceremonies ; but ( as the wiser israelites , who esteem'd those glittering formalities as the types and images of heavenly things , ) be quickned by them to the ambition of original honours , and future glory . how much were it to be wish'd , that such persons especially would be followers of god and goodness , since whether they will or no men will be followes of them ; all of them according to their respective magnitudes , like stars , casting a good or bad influence upon their inferiors , and not only so , but oftentimes upon their superiors too ; as the corrupt bloud in the feet , in the course of its circulation , after some time passes upwards into the head . it is true , an eminent station is liable to several mischiefs , from which a mean condition is free ; but the god of order , who has made dignity in place , and affluence of riches necessary to the world , has proportion'd his supports : and if the incitements to sin do abound unto the rich and noble , the grace of god , if they are careful to improve it , will much more abound , both to gods glory and their own . thus if the temtations of great persons be more , and greater then those of inferiors ; their abilities and understandings are ordinarily greater too : and if they lie more open to the assaults of the devil , they have generally greater sagacities to foresee the danger , and more powerful assistances to go through it . nor is piety inconsistent with greatness any more then it is with policy , but is the best foundation and security both to the one and the other . the breeding of moses at court , without doubt contributed much even to his religious performances , at least so far , as to make them more useful and exemplary to others : but then he was sincerely virtuous all the while , as well whilst reputed the son of pharoh's daughter , as jethro's son in-law . the prophet isaiah was nephew to a king , and bred , as is supposed , in the court ; whence we may observe his style is more majestic then the other prophets ; as that of the great doctor of the gentiles , who was bred at the feet of gamaliel , is then the other apostles ; god making use of the natural tempers and educations of men , to be assisting to supernatural purposes . we find christians in cesar's household as soon as any where else in rome ; and when christianity had once gain'd constantine , it spread it self farther over the empire in a few years , then before it had done in some centuries : as waters running downwards spred themselves freer , then when forced upwards against nature . since then so much mischief depends upon illustrious examples , will it not better become men to draw the multitude after them to heaven , by their piety , then by infectious guilts be at the head of a miserable company of the damn'd ? t is this piety , a timely and exemplary piety , that will perpetuate to men of birth and fortunes , their honors , and their estates too , as well by deriving on them the blessing of god , who is the true fountain of honour ; as by creating an awe and a reverence for them from all orders of men , even to many generations ; a reverence which will be fresh and lasting , when all the trophies of wit and gaity are laid in the dust . t is this piety that will be the guide of their youth , and the comfort of their age ; for length of days are in her right hand , and in her left hand riches and honour . t is this , and this only , that can make all outward blessings comfortable , and indeed blessings to us , by making them the steps and means of attaining the never fading honours and incomprehensible glories of that kingdom which is above ; where there shall be no more sin , nor sickness , nor pain , nor tears , nor death , but we shall rest from our labours , and our works shall follow us . unto which god of his infinite mercy bring us , for the merits and for the mediation of jesus christ our saviour ; to whom with the father and holy spirit , ●et us ascribe all praise and adoration , now and for ever . amen . the end . the holy longing: or, the saints desire to be with christ: delivered in a sermon at al-hallows lumbard-street, aug. 24. 1658. at the funeral of mr. jacob stock. / by thomas watson minister of stephens walbrook in the city of london. watson, thomas, d. 1686. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a96103 of text r204059 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1864_2). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 58 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 31 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a96103 wing w1130 thomason e1864_2 estc r204059 99863769 99863769 115983 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a96103) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 115983) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 232:e1864[2]) the holy longing: or, the saints desire to be with christ: delivered in a sermon at al-hallows lumbard-street, aug. 24. 1658. at the funeral of mr. jacob stock. / by thomas watson minister of stephens walbrook in the city of london. watson, thomas, d. 1686. [8], 55 [i.e. 53], [1] p. printed by e.m. for ralph smith, at the sign of the bible in corn-hill, near the royal exchange., london, : 1659. pages 52, 53 misnumbered 53, 55. annotation on thomason copy: "sep". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng stock, jacob, d. 1658 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -philippians i, 23 -sermons. funeral sermons -17th century. a96103 r204059 (thomason e1864_2). civilwar no the holy longing: or, the saints desire to be with christ:: delivered in a sermon at al-hallows lumbard-street, aug. 24. 1658. at the funer watson, thomas 1659 9994 9 190 0 0 0 0 199 f the rate of 199 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-05 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-05 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the holy longing : or , the saints desire to be with christ : delivered in a sermon at al-hallows lumbard-street , aug. 24. 1658. at the funeral of mr. jacob stock . by thomas watson minister of stephens walbrook in the city of london . i would not live alwayes , job 7. 16. in this we groan earnestly , desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven , 2 cor. 5. 2. mors porta gloriae . bernard . london , printed by e. m. for ralph smith , at the sign of the bible in corn-hill , near the royal exchange . 1659. to the vertuous , his much esteemed friend , mrs. elizabeth stock . loving friend , though i was put upon some straits of time , ( other occasions intervening when this sermon was to be preached ) yet at your request to me to publish it , and the desire of some of your relations to whom i stand obliged , i knew not how in civility to deny . the subject of this following discourse , is , the saints desire to be with christ ; and surely if christ be all in all , col. 3. 11. all marrow and sweetnesse , no wonder that they who can claim a propriety , desire possession , and thirst after the embraces of that dear saviour , in whose presence is fulness of joy * as touching the present sad providence wherewith the lord hath exercised you , let not your heart despond ; though god allowes you tears , yet you may not mourn without hope , nor beyond measure ; let them that weep , be as if they wept not , 1 cor. 7. 30. if god hath given you christ , you have enough , you need not envy any living , or over-grieve him who is dead * ; the star-light of relations is superabundantly recompenced with the golden beams of this sunne of righteousnesse . if these few lines ensuing may do good to any , adding some holy oyle to the flame of their affections , ungluing them from the world , and fixing their hearts more upon the lord jesus , i have what i aimed at ; i shall leave all to the blessing of the almighty , and rest , from my study at stephens walbrook . novemb . 3. 1658. yours , in all christian service , thomas watson . errata . pag. 16. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} read {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. 17. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . philipp . 1. 23. for i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart , and to be with christ which is far better . we are met to solemnize the funerals of our friend deceased , and so performe the last office of love . a glasse of mortality is here set before us , wherein we may see our own fragil condition . there is a sentence passed upon us all ; statutum est , — it is appointed unto men once to dye , heb. 9. 27. so that our life is but a short reprieval from death , which is granted to a condemned man . a wise mans life ( saith plato ) is nothing else but a contemplation of death . the lord would have us inure our selves to dying thoughts , * and as it were by meditation often to stretch our selves upon our death bed . god clothed our first parents with skins of dead beasts , and feeds us with dead flesh , that so often as we see the death of other creatures , we might not forget our own . the text presents to us saint paul in an holy pathos , or fit of longing to be with christ . his heart was with christ , and he wanted only the swift wing of death to carry him thither . i am ( saith he ) in a streight betwixt two , having a desire to depart , and be with christ , which is far better . i shall briefly explain the terms as they lie in order . i am in a straight betwixt two . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i am hemm'd in , * it may allude to a castle which is so straitly beleaguer'd and hemm'd in , that it hath no way to make a sally out . * it fared now with saint paul , as with a woman that hath her children at home with her , and her husband beyond the seas , she would fain be with her husband , yet loth to leave her children : so paul would gladly have been with christ , but was loth to leave the philippians , his spiritual children . having a desire to depart . 1. the apostle doth not say oportet , i must depart , but cupio , i desire to depart . all men must depart . * — pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres . * — there is a dying principle in all ; the frame and contexture of their body is earthly , and tends to a dissolution . nebuchadnezzars image , though it had an head of gold , yet feet of clay , dan. 2. 23. take the strongest man , let him be sampson or hercules , of whom we may say as the poet , — illi robur & as triplex circa pectus erat . — yet he stands upon feet of clay ; he is but pulvis animatus , and must moulder away in time , death will come with an habeas corpus at last . tamerlain a scythian captain , the terrour of his time , died with three fits of an ague . * the grammarian who declines all other nouns , knows not how to decline death . is my strength ( saith job ) the strength of stones ? job 6. 12. suppose it were , yet , — gutta cavat lapidem , — the continual dropping of sickness would in time wear away this stone . there is no such thing as an earthly eternity ; death is called the house appointed for all living , job 30. 23. but though death be in it self necessary , to saint paul it was voluntary ; it was not so much a debt , as a vote ; * not so much pauls task , as his choice ; he doth not say , i must be dissolved , but i would be dissolved . having a desire to depart . 2. the apostle doth not say , having a desire to dye , but to depart ; [ a lenifying word ] which doth much take off the sharp edge of death , and make it less formidable . this phrase [ to depart ] {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} may refer 1. to souldiers that pitch their tents in the field , and upon the least word of command from their general , loosen the cords of their tent , and pluck up the stakes , and march forward . * so death doth but loosen the silver cord , * which fastned the soul in its earthly tent , and a christian marcheth forward to the heavenly canaan . or , 2. this word [ to depart ] may be a metaphor taken from mariners , who loosen anchor that they may sail from one port to another : * so paul desired to loosen anchor ; death to a believer is but loosning the anchor , and sailing from one port to another , from earth to heaven . beza renders this word [ to depart ] a putting off the harnesse . * hierom reads it , migrare ex hospitio . the world is an inne , we are travellers who take up our lodging here for a night , paul longed to be out of his inne . and to be with christ . the apostle had three great desires , and they were all centred upon christ . one was to be found in christ ; * the other was to magnifie christ ; * the third was to be with christ . * here observe two things . 1. paul doth not say i desire to depart and be in heaven , but to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} with christ ; it is christs presence makes heaven , * as the kings presence makes the court . 't is not the cherubims or seraphims which make paradise ; the lamb is the light thereof , rev. 21. 23. 2. from the connexion of the words , having a desire to depart and to be with christ ; we clearly see that the soul of a believer doth not sleep in the body after death , ( a drowsie opinion ) but goes immediately to christ . * upon the divorce of the soul from the body , there follows an espousal of the soul to christ , 2 cor. 5. 8. absent from the body , present with the lord . * it were better for believers to stay here , if they did not presently go to christ after death . for here the saints are daily improving their graces , here they have many praelibamina , sweet tasts of gods love , so that it were better to stay here ; and paul wished that which would be to his losse , if the soul should sleep in the body , and not go immediately after death to christ . * which is farre better . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a believer is no looser by death . his change is for the better ; a science that is grafted into a better stock , and planted in a better soil is no wayes damnified . a believer after death is set into a better stock , christ ; and is planted in a better soile , heaven ; this can be no losse , but an advantage . well therefore may the apostle say , to be with christ is far better . in the words there are these three parts . 1. saint pauls choice ; to be with christ . 2. the excellency of his choice ; it is farre better . 3. the nodus , or the strait he was in ; coarctor , i am in a strait betwixt two ; this holy man was in a great dilemma , he was straitned between service and reward . * he was desirous of glory , yet willing to adjourn his own happinesse , and stay out of heaven a while , that he might be a means to bring others thither . * from the words thus opened , there are three observations . 1. it is the desire of a true saint to remove from hence , and be with christ . 2. to be with christ is far better ; how much better it is , we shall better understand when we are in heaven ; some angel is best able to speak to this point . 3. that which stayes a saint here in the world , is a desire of doing service ; this did cast the ballance with the apostle , and was the only tempting motive to keep him here awhile , he looked upon his abode in the flesh , as an opportunity of service . * paul was willing to dye , yet content to live , that he might be a factor for christ upon earth . i shall at this time insist upon the first proposition . that it is the desire of a true saint to remove from hence , and to be with christ ; this proposition hath two branches ; of each distinctly . 1. it is the desire of a true saint to be gone from hence ; having a desire to depart . what a wicked man fears , that a godly man hopes for . i desire saith paul to depart ; a sinner cries loth to depart , he doth not say come lord jesus , but stay lord jesus ; he would live alwayes here , he knows no other heaven but this , and 't is death to him to be turned out of his heaven . * it was the speech of axiochus the philosopher when he was to dye , shall i be deprived of this light ? shall i leave all my sweet delights ? * david calls death a going out of the world , psal. 39. 13. a wicked man doth not go out , but is drag'd out ; he is like a tenant who hath gotten possession , and will not out of the house , till the serjeants pull him out . if a wicked man were put to his choice , he would never come where god is ; he would choose the serpents curse , to eat dust , gen. 3. 14. but not return to dust . if a wicked man might be voti compos , have his wish , he would serve no other god but his belly , * and to this he would ever liberally poure drink offerings . but a soul enlivened and ennobled with a principle of grace , looks upon the world as a wildernesse wherein are fiery serpents , and he desires to get out of this wildernesse . simeon having taken christ in his armes , cries out , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , luke 2. 29. he that hath taken christ in the armes of his faith , will sing simeons song , lord , let thy servant depart . david prayed to know the measure of his dayes , psal. 39. 4. because ( saith theodoret ) he desired to hear the good news of deaths approach . * the saints of god have looked upon themselves as imprisoned in the body , and have longed for a jayle delivery . * the bird desires to go out of the cage , though it be made of gold . * hiliaron chides himself that he was no more willing to die ; go forth my soul , what fearest thou ? * ignatius was desirous of martyrdom , that he might gain the presence of christ in glory . * a christian of the right breed is ambitiously desirous to put off the earthly cloaths of his body , & make his bed in the grave ; * how is this bed perfum'd with christs lying in it ? a pillow of down , is not so sweet as a pillow of dust ; a regenerate person looking upon himself as held with the earthen fetter of the flesh , and his soul put into a movable sepulchre , * cries out with david , o that i had wings like a dove , that i might flie away and be at rest . psal. 55. 6. and indeed no wonder a true saint doth desire a dismisse , and is so earnest to have his passe to be gone from hence ; * if we consider how beneficial death is to a child of god , it puts a period to all his evils : in particular , there are ten evils that death will put an end to . 1. death will put an end to a believers sinnes . sinne is the great incendiary , it doth us all the mischief . sinne may be compared to the planet saturn , which hath a malignant influence ; it is the wombe of our sorrows , and the grave of our comforts . * sinne is the sinners bond , acts 8. 23. and the saints burden , psal. 38. 3. how is a believer tyred out with his corruptions ? i am weary of my life ( saith rebecca ) because of the daughters of heth , gen. 27. 46. that which makes a child of god weary of his life , is his proud , unbelieving heart : saint paul could better carry his iron chain , than his sinnes ; o wretched man that i am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? rom. 7. 24. when grace spurs the soul forward , the curben bit of sinne checks it , and pulls it back again . there is much of the old man in the new man ; * there is a party in every regenerate heart that is true to the devil ; a party that will not pray , that will not believe . a christian is like a bowle with a double byas , he hath an earthly byas upon his will , and a spiritual byas , and these draw him several wayes ; the evil i would not , that do i , rom. 7. 19. sinne mingles it self with our holy things ; we cannot act either our duties or our graces without sin ; we are like children who cannot write without blotting ! the sweet rose of grace doth not grow without its prickles ? * no wonder then a believer desires to depart ; death will free him from his spiritual distempers ; when he hath done breathing , he shall have done sinning . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2. death will put an end to a believers tentations . our whole life ( saith austin ) is nothing but a tentation ; * we tread upon snares : satan is ever casting in the angle of a tentation , to see whether we will bite ; he knowes how to suit his tentations ; he tempted achan with a wedge of gold ; he tempted david with beauty ; we cannot lock the door of our heart so fast by prayer , but a tentation will enter : * sometimes satan comes more furiously , as a red dragon ; sometimes more slily , as a serpent ; sometimes he baits his hook with scripture , and tempts to sinne under a mask of religion , as when he tempts to evil , that good may come of it * . thus can he transform himself into an angel of light . is it not a grievous thing for a virgin to have her chastity daily assaulted ? is it not sad to have the devils bullets continually flying about our ears ? no wonder then a believer is willing to depart ; death will set him out of gun-shot , he shall never be troubled with satans fiery darts any more ; though grace puts a child of god out of the devils possession , it is death onely frees him from the divels tentation . 3. death will put an end to a believers fears . fear is the souls palsie ; there is torment in feare , 1 john 4. 18. cicero calls fear one of the three plagues of mankinde ; and the best of the saints {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , are haunted with this evil spirit ; they cannot rejoyce without trembling ; the believer fears lest his heart should put a cheat upon him , he fears god doth not love him he fears lest he should tire in his march to heaven ; the best faith may sometimes have its fears , as the best stars have their twinckling . these fears ( as socrates saith ) arme a man against himself ; they are very afflictive , leaving sad impressions of melancholy behind . no wonder then a believer longs to depart out of this life ; why should he fear that which frees him from fear ? the king of terrour makes all fear vanish . 4. death will dry up a believers tears , rev. 7. 17. and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; weeping is nothing but a cloud of sorrow gathered in the heart , dropping into water . a christian often hath none to keep him company , but his own griefs and sorrows ; he sits as israel by the rivers weeping ; as soon as the child is born , it weeps ; when moses was born , he was laid in an ark of bulrushes , where he did as it were baptize himself with his own tears , exod. 2. 6. and behold the babe wept ; ever since we looked upon the tree of knowledge , our eyes have watered ; there are many things to occasion weeping . — quidque facis lachrymis opus est . — 1. our sinnes ; who can look into his own heart with dry eyes ? 2. losse of relations , which is like the pulling a limb from the body ; joseph wept over his dead father , gen. 50. 1. well then , 't is not to be admired that a believer desires to depart from hence ; he shall leave the valley of tears ; the bottle of tears shall be stop'd ; his water shall be turned into wine , his mourning into musick , his lamentations into hallelujahs : death is the handkerchief to wipe off all tears . 5. death will put an end to a believers molestations ; man is born to trouble , job 5. 7. he is the natural heir to it . this life is subject to injury * ; we do not ( as seneca saith ) finish our troubles while we live here , but change them . quisque suos patimur manes . every one hath his crosse to carry ; sometimes poverty pincheth , sometimes sicknesse tortures , sometimes law-suits vex ; man is like a tennis-ball , bandied up and down by providence ; while wicked men are in the world , never look for rest . these troubled seas ( as the prophet calls them ) * will be casting forth their foam and mire upon the godly ; and well then may a believer say his nunc dimittis , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart . death gives a child of god his quietus est * , it sends him a writ of ease , job 3. 17. there ( that is , in the grave ) the wicked cease from troubling , and there the weary be at rest . 6. death puts an end to a believers cares . care is vexatious and anxious , it eats out the comfort of life ; the greek word for care {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , comes from a primitive that signifies to cut the heart in pieces ; care doth fret as a canker , it discruciates the minde , it breaks the sleep , it wasts the spirits , this is the wrack which the soul is stretched upon . 't is hard , i had almost said impossible , to shake off this viper of care while we live ; all our comforts are careful comforts ; care is to the minde , as a burden to the back , it loads the spirits , and with over-loading sinks them ; care is a fruit of the curse ; adams want of care , hath brought us to care ; have you not sometimes seen the bryar growing by the honey-suckle , so that you cannot well gather the honey-suckle , but you are scratched with the bryar ? thus in gathering riches , how is the head and heart prick'd with care ? and is there not great reason why a child of god should desire to depart ? is it good being among the briars ? death is the cure of care ; we are thoughtful and solicitous how to get such an estate , how to provide for such a childe ; now death comes to a believer as a friend , and saith , never perplex and distract thy mind thus , i will free thee from all these heart-killing cares ; i will strike but once , and that stroak shall relieve thee . 7. death will put an end to the night of desertion ; thou didst hide thy face , and i was troubled , psal. 30. 7. the soul in desertion , is within an inch of despair ; in affliction the world is against a man , in tentation satan is against a man , in desertion god is against a man . alstead calls desertion an agony of conscience ; * this made the prophet jonah call the whales belly the belly of hell , because he was deserted there ; jonah 2. 2 , 4. out of the belly of hell cryed i , then i said i am cast out of thy sight . heman grew distracted upon the suspension of gods favour , psal. 88. 16. while i suffer thy terrors , i am distracted ; but death will free from desertion : a believer after death shall never see any more eclipses ; god will draw aside the curtain , and pull off his vail , and the soul shall be for ever sunning it self in the light of gods countenance . 8. death will put an end to the imperfections of nature . our natural knowledge is very imperfect ; the most perceptive , intelligent person , may say as agur , prov. 30. 2. i have not the understanding of a man . since the fall , the lamp of reason burns dimme ; there are many arcana naturae , knots in nature that we cannot untie . why nilus should overflow in summer , when by the course of nature waters are lowest ; why the load-stone should incline to the pole starre ; why the sea should be higher than the earth , yet not drown it . how the bones grow in the womb , eccles. 11. 5. many of these things are riddles and paradoxes ; by eating of the tree of knowledge , we have lost the key of knowledge ; * how are we maim'd in our intellectuals ! by the fall we have lost our head-piece ; there are some diseases which would make galens head ake to finde out . the river euripus was too deep for aristotle ; the poet could say , felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas . * — socrates said on his death-bed , there were many things which he had yet to learn ; our knowledge is like the twilight , dim and duskish : the greatest part of our knowledge , is not so much as the least part of our ignorance , all which considered , no wonder to hear this language from a saint , cupio dissolvi , i have a desire to depart ; death crowns a christian with fulnesse of knowledge ; when he is snuffed by death , the candle of his understanding will burn brighter ; at death a child of god doth perfectly recover the use of his reason . 9. death will put an end to the imperfections of grace ; our graces are our best jewels , but here they are in their infancy and minority ; therefore the saints are said to receive but primitias spiritus , the first fruits of the spirit , rom. 8. 23. the best christian is like a childe put out to nurse , he is very weak in grace , faith is feeble , love luke-warm ; grace though it be not dead , it is sickly , rev. 3. 2. strengthen the things which are ready to dye ; grace is like gold in the oare , drossy and impure ; the most refined soul hath some dregs ; this motto may be written upon a christians graces ; — plurima desunt — he that shoots furthest in holinesse , comes short of the mark of perfection * ; well then may a believer desire to be dissolved , death will free him from all the imperfections of his holinesse ; it will make him pure as the angels , not having spot or wrinckle , ephes. 5. 27. 10. death will put an end to a weary pilgrimage ; we are here in a pilgrim condition , 1 pet. 2. 11. a christian walks with his pilgrims staffe in his hand , the staffe of the promise in the hand of faith ; * now death will put an end to this pilgrimage ; it takes away the pilgrims staff , and sets a crown upon his head ; no wonder that the gratious soul cries out with saint paul , having a desire to depart . object . but against this it may be objected , some of the saints have prayed against death ; hezekiah when the message of death was brought , pray'd against it , and wept sore , isa. 38. 2 , 3. so that hezekiah had not a desire to depart . answ . 1. hezekiah did not pray simply against death , but in a limited sense , at that time ; there might be several reasons assigned why at that time death was not welcome to him . as , 1. hezekiah desired to live awhile longer , that he might do more work for god , ver. 38. the dead cannot praise thee ; intimating , that if he had been then taken off by death , he was capable of doing god no more service ; he was loth to be cut down , till he had borne more fruit . besides , had he then died in the infancy of reformation , the adversaries of god would have insulted , and made songs of triumph at his funeral . 2. hezekiah was unwilling to dye at that time , because he wanted issue . god had promis'd to david , 1 king. 8. 25. that those of his line which were godly , should not want some of their seed to succeed them in the throne ; now in this respect it was a great discomfort to hezekiah to dye childlesse ; for he might have thought himself no better than an hypocrite , inasmuch as god had promised issue to the kings of davids line that feared him . upon these , and other considerations , hezekiah might pray against death at that juncture of time . and whereas it may be said that many of gods children are unwilling to dye . i answer , a christian is a compounded creature , flesh and spirit , and from this composition there may be a conflict between the fear of death and the desire of death , but at last the spiritual part prevails ; and as faith grows stronger , fears grow weaker ; thus it was with paul , having a desire to depart so much for the first branch of the doctrine , that it is the desire of a true saint to be gone from hence ; [ having a desire to depart . ] 2. i proceed now to the second branch of the doctrine , that it is a saints desire to be with christ . saint paul long'd to lie on that soft pillow where john the beloved disciple did , viz. the bosome of jesus * ; there had been little comfort in departing , if the apostle had not put in this word , to be with christ . death will make a glorious change to a believer ; 't is but crossing the mare mortuum , the dead sea , and he shall be with christ . death to a childe of god is like the whirl-wind to the prophet eliah , it blew off his mantle , but carried the prophet up to heaven . so death is a boisterous wind which blowes off the mantle fo the flesh , ( for the body is but the mantle the soul is wrapped in ) but it carries the soul up to christ ; the day of a believers dissolution , is the day of his coronation . though death be a bitter cup , here is sugar at the bottome , it translates the soul of a believer to christ ; though the flesh calls death the last enemy , * yet faith calls it the best friend , it brings a man to christ , which is far better . this word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to be with christ , implies three things , intuition . fruition . duration . 1. to be with christ , implies , intuition , 1 joh. 3. 2. we shall see him as he is ; here we see him as he is not ; he is not mutable , he is not mortal ; in heaven we shall see him as he is . when socrates was to die , he comforted himself with this , that he should go to the place where he should see homer and musaeus , and other worthies who lived in the age before him . a believer may comfort himself with this , that he shall see christ ; here we see him but through a glass darkly ; but what will it be , when he shall be bespangled in all his embroidery , and shall shew forth himself in his full glory to his saints ! * he in lucian said to his friend , i will shew thee all the glory of greece , when thou hast seen solon , thou hast seen all : so he that sees jesus christ , sees all the glory of paradise , christ being the mirrour of beauty , the quintessence of happinesse . some ask the question how and in what manner we shall see christ , whether we shall see his god-head with bodily eyes ? it is not good to be wise above what is written ; thus far i think may with modesty be asserted , that we shall with our bodily eyes , behold christs humane nature ! his glory as a mediatour shall be visible to the saints , and shall be beheld by glorified eyes ; in this sense that scripture is to be understood , job 19. 25. with these eyes shall i see god ; great and amazing will that glory be which shall sparkle from the humane nature of christ ; if his transfiguration was so glorious , * what will his inauguration be . austin wished that he might have seen three things before he died ; paul in the pulpit , rome in its glory , and christ in the flesh ; but what were that to this sight of christ in heaven ? we shall behold not a crucifyed body , but a glorifyed body . 2. to be with christ , implies fruition ; we shall not only see him , but enjoy him : therefore in scripture the saints are said not only to behold him , but to be glorified with him , rom. 8. 17. and glory is said not only to be revealed to us , but in us , rom. 8. 18. and enter thou into the joy of thy lord , mat. 25. 21. not only see it , but enter into it . a man may see a fair arbour drawn upon the wall , but he cannot enter into it ; this glory of heaven may be entred into ; as the spunge sucks in the wine , so there shall be a libation and sucking in of glory ; from this fruition of christ , a torrent of divine joy will flow into the soul . 3. to be with christ , implies duration , 1 thes. 4. 17. so shall we ever be with the lord ; the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the fashion of the world passeth away , 1 cor. 7. 31. earthly comforts though they may be sweet , they are swift ; plutarch reports of alexander that he caused to be painted on a table a sword within a wheele : implying , that what he had gotten by his sword was subject to be turned about with the wheele of providence ; if we had the longest lease of these things , it would soon be run out ; but this priviledg of being with christ , runs parallel with eternity : so shall we be ever with the lord . use 1. see from hence the difference between a believers departing and a wicked mans departing ; to a believer it is an happy departing , to a wicked man , it is a sad departing , there 's nothing but departing ; he departs out of this life , and he departs from christ , depart from me ye cursed ; he departs from beams of glory , into flames of fire ; he departs from the society of angels , into the fellowship of divels , mat. 25. 41. he hath never done departing ; 't is mors sine morte , the wicked shall be ever consuming , yet never consumed ; they may tremble to think of departing , well may the mourners go about the street when a wicked man dies ; hell may rightly be called bochim the place of weepers . * see how little cause a child of god hath to fear death , when it carries him to christ . this is a death-bed cordial ; we are naturally possessed with a strange kind of palpitation and trembling at the thoughts of death , as if we were in a shaking palsie * , whereas there is nothing more really advantagious to a christian ; death is a bridge that leads to the paradise of god ; all the hurt that death doth to a believer , is to carry him to christ , and is not that farre better ? death pulls off the rags of the body , and puts christs robes upon the soul . the serious consideration of this would make a believer above the desire of life , and the fear of death . object . but may a childe of god say , i could rejoyce at the gain of death , but i fear the pain of death . i desire the haven , but i tremble at the voyage . answ . 1. in other cases we do not refuse pain ; there is pain in the setting of a bone , in the launcing of a sore , yet we endure the pain contentedly , because it is in ordine ad sanitatem , in order to a cure . death is an healing thing , it will cure a christian of all his wounds ; by making one issue , it cures all the rest . 2. do we endure no pain at all in our life ? job felt so many miseries , that he did choose rather to die than live , job 7. 5. & 15. my flesh is cloathed with wormes , my skin is broken and become loathsome , so that my soul chooseth strangling and death , rather than life ; the life of man is a continual catastrophe and is interwoven with miseries : * some have felt more pain in their life , then others have at their death . 3. what are a few pangs of death , compar'd with the pangs of a guilty conscience , or with the flames of hell , which god hath freed a believer from ? how light is death ▪ compar'd with the weight of glory ? 1 cor. 4. 17. how short , in respect of eternity ? the present suffering is not worthy of the glory which shall be revealed in the children of god , rom. 8. 18. 4. we make death more than it is ; as the moabites thought the waters had been blood , when they received only a colour and tincture from the sun-beams , 2 king. 3. 23. we fancy death worse than it is , we look upon it through a multiplying glasse ; fear makes a christian see double ; shut the eye of sense , and open the eye of faith , and death will appear lesse formidable . use 2. let us then put our selves upon a scrutiny and trial whether we are persons that shall go to christ when we dye ? 't is certain we shall depart , but the question is whether shall we go to christ ? quest . how may that be known ? answ. if we are in christ while we live , we shall go to christ , when we dye ; union is the ground of priviledge ; we must be in christ , before we can be with christ * ; many hope to go to christ when they dye , but they are not in christ ; are they in christ that do not know him ? are they in christ that hate him in his ministers , in his ordinances ? oh labour to be in christ . quest . how is that ? answ. by faith ; faith is the uniting grace , it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as chrysostome speaks ; it is the vital , radical , cardinal grace : this gives the interest . faith is the queen of the graces ; by faith we take christ as a husband , and give up our selves to him as a lord ; faith is a christ approptiating grace ; it hath both a relying and an applying faculty ; christ is the ring , faith is the finger that puts on this ring ; faith opens the orifice in christs sides , and drinks in his blood * ; faith is both justifying and sanctifying ; it fetcheth blood out of christs sides to pardon , and water out of his sides to purge , 1 john 5. 6. oh with all gettings get faith . quest . but there is much deceit about this grace ? the cyprian diamond ( saith pliny ) looks like the true indian diamond , but it is not of the right kinde , it will break with the hammer . the devil hath his bad wares , and counterfeit graces to put off ; how therefore shall we know a true faith from a false and spurious ? answ. i shall give you two differencing notes . 1. true faith is ever found in an heart deeply humbled for sinne , acts 2. 37. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they were pricked at their hearts ; here was the first budding of faith ; you never saw a flower grow out of a stone , nor faith out of an heart of stone . faith is an hearb that grows alwayes in a moist soile , in a weeping eye and a broken heart ; mark 9. 24. the father of the childe cried out with teares , lord i believe . this flag of faith grows in the water . 2. true faith is operative ; the lapidaries say there is no precious stone but hath virtutem insitam , some vertue latent in it ; so we may say of precious faith ; it hath hidden vertue in it , 't is very operative , it works out sin , acts 15. 9. it works by love , gal. 5. 6. it is full of good works , james 2. 17. it makes the tongue speak for christ , the head study , the hands work , the feet runne in the wayes of his commandments ; faith comes with power upon the heart , 2 thes. 1. 11. the work of faith with power * , it hath a restraining and constraining power ; by this we may know whether ours be a true faith or no . i have read of a father who had three sonnes , and being to dye , he left in his will all his estate to that son who could finde his ring with the jewel which had a healing vertue ; the case was brought before the judges , the two elder sonnes counterfeited a ring , but the younger son brought the true ring , which was proved by the vertue of it , whereupon his fathers estate went to him ; to this ring i may compare faith , there is a counterfeit faith in the world , but if we can finde this ring of faith which hath the vertue in it , both purgative and operative , this is the true faith which doth interest us in and intitle us to jesus christ , and if we are in christ while we live , we shall be with christ when we dye ; where faith gives a propriety , death gives a possession . use 3. here is then comfort in the death of our religious friends , * , though they depart from us , yet {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they go to christ which is farre better ; we should mourne for them who are living , yet dead in sinne ; and rejoyce for them who are dead , yet live with christ ; this our dear brother interred , had holy pangs of desire which seemed no lesse strong than the pangs of he panted after god as his ultimate and supreme perfection ; he did often with joy repeat the words of the text , and seemed to roule them as honey under his tongue ; we may therefore entertain good hopes of him that he is placed in that paradise of god which he thirsted after , i wished him to look up to the merits of christ ; i must ( saith he ) rest there or no where . o what a comfort is this to think that our friends are not onely taken away from the evil to come * , but that they are with christ ; why should we be sad at their preferment ? they have their crowne , 2 tim. 4. 8. their throne , revel. 3. 21. their white robes , revel. 7. 9. why should we weep immoderately for them who have all teares wiped from their eyes ? they enter into the joy of their lord ; and why should we be swallowed up of grief for them who are swallowed up of joy * ; they that dye in the lord , are not amissi , but praemissi * , they are not lost , but sent a little before , we shall shortly overtake them . 't is but awhile when godly friends shall meet in heaven , and feast together at the supper of the lambe , revel. 19. 9. 't is but a while when the saints shall lie together in christs bosome , that hive of sweetnesse , that bed of perfume . blessed are the dead that die in the lord , revel. 14. 13. why should we mourn excessively for them who are blessed ? oh let us not weep at the felicity of our friends , but rather long to depart and be with christ , when we shall drink of those rivers of pleasure which run at his right hand for evermore . finis . an elegy upon the much lamented death of his dear friend mr. stock . muses avaunt , i need you not t' inspire my duller veins with your poetick fire . such an occasion as a doleful urn , cannot but make even parrots poets turn ; and dumb-born children speak like cro●sus son , to see their parents struck at ▪ every stone can then turn vocal mourner , such an herse ▪ will make tully himself to poure forth verse . oh happy they who knew thee not , if there be any such within our hemispheare ! 't was blessed ignorance thee not to know , that kept them from the knowledg of their wo ; from direful fears , from griefs soul-piercing dart , from restlesse palpitations of the heart . methinks i dare not represent thy worth , ( how vast it was ) nor set thy praises forth . friends , tell not cambridge that her crown is gone , nor london what great cause she hath to mourn . wake not that lion , grief ; and give no vent to those fierce streams of raging discontent : lest jordan like , they quickly overflow their banks , and drown us in this common wo . his parts so high , that if death had not shown thy mortal state ; i had not fear'd to own thee for some nobler creature ; and his fire of zeal was such as glows in that best quire of seraphims ; there was both light and heat , and all that here below is wondred at : was plato's doctrine true , this was the man , the idea of a solid christian ? when all the earth turn'd round , and wheel'd about , reeling now here , now there , ever in doubt , drunk with opinions , he still like the sun , stood firme and fixed in his station . his knowledge deep and large , yet never made him dare the preathers office to invade . he never lik'd to go beyond his reach , willing he was to learn , though apt to teach . i 'le adde no more , for if i should display his matchlesse treasures , i should fright away belief , and make doubtful posterity conclude , i did not write an history of what thou wast ; ( for who 'l believe one span could grasp of worth so vast an ocean ? ) but feign a person in whose name to shew what men should be , not what in thee was true . mat. pool . vpon the much to be lamented death of that hopeful gentleman , mr. jacob stock , who died in the flower of his age , &c. thus deaths devouring sythe stayes not for time , but cuts our choicest flowers down in their prime : with too much speed she antidates the day , and croppeth off our july flowers in may ; yea , with an avaritious hand to mock our future hopes , she robs us of our stock ; not mov'd with sweetnesse , piety or parts , with dearest friends , with wives sad eyes and hearts ; as if the plants of such rare use and show , might not in a terrestial garden grow ; i' th' highest paradise she hath him set , where the selectest nurseries of the earth are met . where like transplanted stemmes , he now redoubles his breadth and sweetnesse , being grown rich by troubles . so we our losses shall complain no more ; we 've lost our stock , but he increast the store . and to that glorious place such beauty brings , as decks * the garland of the king of kings . by a friend . the muses threnody , and faiths epinichion ; or a funeral elogy upon the worthy of all memory , mr. jacob stock . fa . — what! nought but weep , sad muse ? up , dry thine eyes , hang head no more , see how he winged flies among the cherubs ; once i saw him dwell within the microcosme of a shell : now perch't in heaven ; come , let 's up and look him , a feaver hatch't him , then the angels took him . mu. — ah! i 'me undone , he was my benjamin , my only son , idolatry i would not recontrive , or else i 'de call him moses redivive for skill in egypts arts ; methinks i see their hieroglicks in logometrie . great livye in small skins , or philadelph the old worlds wonder pi'ld up in a shelf . all euclids lines concentred in a point , and ptol'mys broken sphears right set in joynt . fa. — peace babling muse , dost thou think such man can grasped be within thy narrow span , or fully measur'd with thy pigmies feet , 'bout whom the widest orbs could never meet ? his soul 's a pledge in goshen , spare your grones , joseph will shortly send for jacobs bones . c. c. upon the death of my worthy friend mr. jacob stock . he only knows , who knows how thou didst live , how much for loss of thee 't is fit to grieve ; and yet our tears would fail us if we were to every vertue bound to pay a tear ; for all those vertues which dispersed shine in several lives , unite their beams in thine ; thou wast not only kind or liberal , modest or just , or temperate , but all ; and among all religion did sway , as the first sphear turns all the orbs one way . ah! why so soon snatch't hence ! 't is true by noon thy early vertue all its work had done ; but yet thou should'st have liv'd more leisurely , that we might have observ'd and follow'd thee ; not pent thy life up in so narrow space , where whil'st each vertue striving for a place , crowds to get in before it be too late , thou liv'st too fast for us to imitate . since then much of thy life is lost , wee 'l try some nobler thing , to live as thou didst dye . i. t. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a96103e-260 * ps. 16. 1● . * in uno salvatore omnes florent gemmae ad salutem . notes for div a96103e-590 * deut. 3. 2. 29. * in diversa trahor velasquez . * significat constringere , & coarctare , sicut sit in obsidionibus . chemnit . harm. note 1. * ea lege nati sumus . * hor. lib. 1. carm. ode 4. hor. * paulus jovius elog . lib. 2. * mori velit non ex debito , sed ex beneplacito . bern. note 2. * eo referri solet cum milites tentoriorum in quibus ad breve tempus commorati sunt , fuues dissolvunt . velasq. * eccles. 12. 6. * significat anchoram solvere . * metaphora ab iis sumpta , qui curru vecti cum ad locum destinatum pervenerint {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} dicuntur , quod equorum lora , & vincula solvere consueverunt . beza . * phil. 3. 9. * phil. 1. 20. * phil. 1. 23. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * dicunt anabaptistae animas usque ad resurrectionem corporum sopore quodam pressas , nec in bono esse nec in malo . estius . * justorumanimae , m●x us hujus carnis claustra exeunt , in caelestibus sedibus recipiuntur . anselm . * electis in morte datur vitae corona , hierom. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} chrysost. in loc. * egregium erga deum {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} specimen . ver. 24. doct. psa. 49. 11. * hac luce privabor , his orbabor bonis ? phil. 3. 19. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . theodoret . * corpus graeci {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vocant , quia in eo anima quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * stulti est compedes licet aureas amare . * egredere anima , egredere ; quid times ? * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ignat. epist. 7. ad ant. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. hom 5. ad antioch . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . plat. in cratylo . * ab hoc corpore suga & elapsio pro summo munere desideratur . austin . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . macar. hom 16. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . macar. hom 8. * t●nt●t error ut decipiat , tentat dolor ut frangat tentat libido ut accendat , tentat typhus ut extollat . austin . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * rom. 3. 8. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . socr. ovid . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . menand. * isa. 57. 20 * mors molestiam idimit . isidor . * agon conscientiae , anxietas infernalis . * luke 11. 52. * virg. geor. l. 2. * eccles. 7. 20. * considerandum est renunciasse nos mundo , & tanquam hospites & peregrinos isthic interim degere . cyprian de mortal . object . answ . 1. * joh. 21. 20. * 1 cor. 15. * in calesti vitâ sine aliquo taedio manens aternitas , inspectio sola divinitatis efficit ut beatius nihil esse possit cassidor . ep. l. 5. * mat. 17. 2. use 1. inform . branch 1. * mat 8. 12. 2. branch * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. object . answ . 1. * mors equidem non est mala , sed iter ad mortem miserum . ●rasm . use 2. trial. quest . answ . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ig● quest . answ . * per fidem christi sanguinem sugimus & iuter redemptoris nostri vulnera linguam figimus . cypr. quest . answ . * addit conatum quendam & elevationem animi . aquin. use 3. comfort . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrysost. * isa. 57. 1. * mors non est interitus sed introitus , non est exitus sed transitus . cypr. de mortal . austin epist. 6. * mors non est interitus sed introitus , non est exitus sed transitus . cypr. de mortal . austin epist. 6. the christians labour and reward, or, a sermon, part of which was preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady mary vere, relict of sir horace vere, baron of tilbury, on the 10th of january, 1671, at castle heviningham in essex by william gurnall ... gurnall, william, 1617-1679. 1672 approx. 187 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 93 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42350 wing g2258 estc r10932 13115260 ocm 13115260 97741 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42350) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97741) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 419:9) the christians labour and reward, or, a sermon, part of which was preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady mary vere, relict of sir horace vere, baron of tilbury, on the 10th of january, 1671, at castle heviningham in essex by william gurnall ... gurnall, william, 1617-1679. [15], 154, [14] p. printed by j.m. for ralph smith ..., london : 1672. running title: the labour and reward of a christian. various elegies at end each signed: charles darby, edward thomas, simon ford, anthony withers, richard howlett. errata: p. [15]. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng vere, mary, -lady, d. 1671. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 1st, xv, 58 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2008-02 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , robert grove . the christians labour and reward ; or , a sermon , part of which was preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady mary vere , relict of sir horace vere , baron of tilbury , on the 10 th of january , 1671. at castle heviningham in essex . the memory of the just is blessed , prov. 10.7 . by humility and the fear of the lord , are riches , honour , and life , prov. 22. ver . 14. by william gurnall , m. a. of emman . coll. now pastor of lavenham , suffolk . nobilis genere , sed multo nobilior sanctitate , hieron . epitaph paulae matris , ep. 27. london , printed by j. m. for ralph smith , at the bible under the piazzo of the royal exchange in cornhill . 1672. to the right honourable lady elizabeth , countess dowager of clare . madam , it was a very merciful providence , which brought your honour to your dear mothers assistance , in her dying sickness ; by which , as you had the pleasure of recreating her spirit with your presence , and of giving an high demonstration of your piety to her , in her low and weak state of body ( a vertue of great price with god , and remarkably rewarded by him , even in this life ) so also the happiness of being an eye witness to her christian deportment , in her sharpest pains and agonies ; how her faith and patience triumphed over them all ; which , no doubt , did much sweeten the sorrow , that her outward distress , inflicted upon your tender heart . and , indeed , it is no wonder so holy a life , should have so happy an end . mark the perfect man , and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace . this pretious saint had made her bed , before she was to lye down on it . long had she been gathering these spices ( graces i mean ) for her dying nest ; in the sweet odours of which , she at last so holily , and peaceably , breathed forth her gracious soul , into the arms of her beloved saviour . and , now madam , seeing god hath determined your will , by declaring his , it will highly become your honour to bear her decease , as saint hierom did the death of the noble paula , whom he so much honoured for her piety . not by mourning you have lost , but by praising god you had so pretious a saint to be your mother ; and that you had her so long , even to live to see , and give her blessing to your childrens children , before her departure ; yea , that you have her still . is there no way to have our friends , unless we have them in our sight ? she is not lost , that still lives . her death was the end of her mortality , but there is no end of her life . in her spirit , she lives in heaven with god , to whom she lived on earth . in her good name , she lives with all that knew her , or heard of her admirable piety . this like an after beam of the sun-sett , followed her , to her bed of the grave , and still shines to her honour . the memory of the just is blessed , though the name of the wicked rots , even while it is remembred ; as the name of pilate doth in the creed , to his reproach and curse . and as to her vertues , she lives in your self , and in as many other of her noble descendants , as imitate her piety . it joyed this blessed saint while alive , that she should leave her surviving children , and so many of her grand-children , walking in the truth . and if an heathen took such high content , that the honour which he arrived to , befel him , while his parents were yet living ; whereby they had a pleasure in seeing his happiness ; how much more may it comfort the pious relations of this saint , that this their pretious parent , had the joy of seeing them ennobled with divine grace , and so in their way to heaven , before her self went thither . i am sure , it hath been an heart-breaking-sorrow to some children , that they converted not to god , before their godly parents bodies , were converted into dust ; and thereby cause them to go sighing with sorrow to their graves ; who , might they but first have seen them reclaimed , would have gone down to them singing for joy . it is a blessed sight , to behold children , especially of noble persons , imitating their godly parents graces . god is no respecter of persons , yet saith saint bernard , i know not how it comes to pass , that vertue in a noble person , doth more please ; is it not haply , because it is more conspicuous ? and so more attractive . this consideration made me more readily obey your honours commands , in publishing these mean papers ; hoping that this great example of piety , in so noble a lady , together , with the honour that attended her to the grave for it , may cause some of high birth , a little more , to consider their great mistake , in thinking to overtake honour in the dirty paths of prophaneness and irreligion ; and so be moved , at last , to change their way , and turn into this clean road of piety ; wherein this good lady walking , lived with so much esteem , and dyed so wonderfully lamented . the character , that i have here given of her , is true , but not full ; nay , far short of her worth . her graces were of so high a strain , that i may truly say , what saint jerome did , concerning his commending marcella , a noble roman lady . i was afraid to speak all i knew of her wisdom , sanctity , charity , and other excellencies , lest i should seem to exceed the belief of some ; those , i mean , who knew her not ; for as any were more , and longer acquainted with her , so their estimate of her advanced higher . and must not that piece be admirably well drawn , which is most commended by those ( if able to judge ) that stand nearest , and look longest on it ? and none , i think , will deny , that famous light of his age , bishop usher , to have been as able to judge in this case , as any other ; and what an high esteem he had of this lady , and her noble lord and husband also , appears , from a letter written by him , to her , forty years ago , in which there is this passage . the thing that i have most admired in your noble lord , is , that such lowliness of mind , and such an high pitch of a brave spirit , should be yoaked together , and lodged in one breast . and on the other side , when i reflect upon you ; methinks , i understand that saying of the apostle better , than i did . that as the man is the image and glory of god , so the woman is the glory of the man. and to your comfort , let me add this , that if i have any insight in things of this nature , or have any judgment to discern of spirits ; i have clearly beheld engraven in your soul , the image and superscription of my god. thus wrote this excellent person , whose admirable judgment , may keep any sober person from thinking him in this high character , guilty of rashness and light credulity ; and his known integrity is enough to free him from all suspicion of abusing his pen to any servile flattery . and they , who knew the lowly spirit of this good lady , and how ready she was to be dejected from an over deep sence of her unworthiness , will find reason to believe , that this man of god , gave this testimony of her , to her , as a cordial to revive her humble spirit ; and therefore brings it in with , and this to your comfort i add . but i am too troublesom , i fear , to your honour ; my hearty prayers are , that as you have begun , so you may go on in living your mothers holy life ; and that then yon may , in a good old age , dye her happy death , with much peace and honour . and that so long , as you shall have a posterity live on earth , your good mother may never be dead ; but may from generation , to generation , have those descending from her , that will keep her name , and pretious example alive , by a due veneration of the one , and pious imitation of the other . madam , i am your honours most humble servant , w. gvrnall . evenham , march 13. 1671. errata . page 51. line 25. read bewrayed . pag. 87 l. 2o . r. on . p. 97. l. 22. r. sloughs . p. 110 l. 11. r. sin. 1 cor. 15.58 . for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the lord. what luther said of justification by faith , that may we concerning the resurrection of the dead , articulus est ecclesiae stantis , aut cadentis ; it is an article with which the church standeth or falleth ; yet so foul an errour had taken the head of some members in the church of corinth , as to deny this grand truth , which s t paul calls in another place , one of the principles of the doctrine of christ : how say some among you , there is no resurrection of the dead ? v. 12. and , is it not strange , that such who professed to believe the resurrection of christ should deny their own ! but much more , that any in the church of corinth ( especially in those early days ) should have such a darkness found upon their minds , who stood so near the rising sun ? and that while s t paul himself was yet alive , who had planted this church ; by this we see , though truth is errours elder , yet errour is not much truths younger . though the gospel-church was purest in the primitive times , yet it soon began to corrupt in its members . not unapt therefore was his saying , who compared ( in this respect ) the gathering of churches to the gathering of apples , which when first gathered , may appear all fair and sound , but then within a while , some amongst them begin to speak , and others to discover their rottinness . no doubt this church of corinth , and so others gathered by the rest of the apostles , appeared in their members very sound in the faith , and fair in their lives at their first embraceing of the gospel ; yet some we see did thus soon discover corruption in both . now to recover the tainted , and especially to preserve the sound from this dangerous infection , the apostle sets himself to defend this article of our faith , well knowing , that this was a blow made at the root of christianity ; which must needs fall to the ground , if this cannot be maintained ; and he doth it with such invincible arguments , that if any heretick shall now deny it , the reason cannot be deficiency in the proof here given , but rather a criminous conscience in himself , which makes him on his own defence , deny a resurrection , for fear of the judgment which attends it . now the apostle having done this , and withal shewn the glorious array , in which the saints shall arise out of their beds of dust : he then v. 55. sings his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or triumphant song over death , and out-braves this king of terrours to his face , that is wont to keep the hearts of poor mortals in the miserable bondage of a slavish fear . o death where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? as if he had said , death do now thy worst , we fear thee not : thou mayest indeed get us into thy hands , but thou canst not long keep us in thy power , fall we shall into the grave , but we fall to rise again , and when we arise out of our graves , then shalt thou death fall into thy grave , never to arise again . then v. 57. he sings with an holy ravishment of joy the praises of god , and christ our redeemer , by whose atchievement this glorious victory over death is won : the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law ; but thanks be to god , which giveth us the victory , through our lord jesus christ . this indeed is our david , who cut off the head of this goliah with his own sword , killed death by falling dead upon it ; he unstung this serpent by receiving its sting into his own blesed body . he overcame this great conquerour , by submitting himself for a time to be conquered by it ; when christ lost his life , then his whole army of saints won the day . death now to them is no death , that which was their punishment as sinners , is now their priviledge as saints . that which stood amongst the threatnings of the law , and was the most formidable of them all , hath now changed its place , and is got amongst the promises of the gospel . all things are yours , or life or death . 1 cor. 3.21 . so pretious an oyl doth our apostle extract from this slain scorpion ; so sweet an honey comb doth he find in this dead lyons breast , and gives it into the hand of the saints , to go eating of it , to their unspeakable joy and comfort : but , is this victory over death only matter of joy and comfort unto believers ? oh no ; blessed art thou o land , when thy princes eat for strength , and not for drunkenness ; and , blessed art thou o emanuels land , when thy saints feed on the priviledges and promises of the gospel , not to make them drunk with pride , nor to lay them asleepin sloth ; but to rèfresh them to run the race set before them , and the joy of the lord becomes their strength ; the apostle therefore goes on to improve and close up his discourse on this subject with an exhortation to duty ; therefore , my beloved brethren , be ye stedfast , always abounding in the work of the lord , that is , be stedfast in the faith of the gospel , and especially in the belief of this particular article of our christian faith , the resurrection of the dead , and then live up unto this belief ; walk and work as for god while you live , as believing you shall , when dead , rise again . now my text hath the nature of a powerful argument to inforce this exhortation upon them , for as much as ye know , that your labour is not in vain in the lord. in which words these two things are observable . first , the nature and quality of the service or work of god , it is a labour ; the apostle changeth the the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. work , which he had used in the exhortation immediately preceding into this of labour , and that not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies any ordinary labour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which imports the hardest of labour ; negotium , quod nos caedit & quasi vires frangit , saith an etymoligist , and this we may conceive to pre-occupate an objection of such that could be willing to do some work , but afraid of meeting with too much labour . secondly , here is the reward that sweetens this labour , and may make the christian more easily submit unto it . for as much as ye know your labour shall not be in vain in the lord. in which , first , here is the certainty of the reward , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , knowing , or ye know , your labour is not in vain . it is not an uncertain surmise , taken up by a self-flattering hope from some easie ground of a weak fortassis , or may be ; but ye know it upon infallible grounds ; ye doubt no more of the being of another world , where god will reward his faithful labourers , then ye do of the being of this which you see with your bodily eyes , and live at present in . here you know it , though here you do not receive it . secondly , the transcendency of this reward , 't is a great reward as well as sure . for there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this phrase , an elegant figure in rhetorick , wherein more is meant than is spoken : the words sound low , but the sense is high . you shall not lose your labour , that is , you shall be infinite gainers by it , you shall receive a reward greater than now you can conceive . thus in our own language we are wont to speak , when we would make one willing to do a work we set them about , we 'll say to him , you shall not repent doing of it , you shall not be a loser , or work for nothing ; in which we intend more than we express , that it shall redound to his great advantage . thus here under this expression , your labour is not in vain , is intended no less than heaven , that exceeding great and eternal weight of glory , which no tongue of men or angels can express how great it is . first of the first , the nature or quality of the christians work ; his work is a labour , and so will every one find it , that means to be faithful in doing of it . man is born to labour , and the christian is not born again to be idle ; god sends not his servants into the world as a play-house , but work-house ; and such a work it is which he appoints them , as is not an idle mans business , that may be done sitting at his ease on the chair of sloth , but requires his greatest pains and diligence ; therefore christianity is in scripture compared to the most toylsom imployments : is it a labour to run a race , which strains all parts of a mans body ; what is it then to run this spiritual race , which is every step of the way up-hill , and straineth not legs and lungs as the other doth , but faith and patience which is a harder exercise ? is the husbandmans work laborious to plow up his stiff ground , and with many a weary step to go sowing his heavy land , especially in a wet season ? what then is the christians labour , who is to plow on the rock , to break up an heart by nature , harder than stone , and whose whole life is a wet seed-time , he living in a valley of tears . is the souldiers work laborious and hazardous , who must be content to lye hard , and fair hard , and which is more , prepare for hard blows , and knocks , yea wounds , and death it self ? then the christians cannot be easie , who must deny himself , and take up his cross and follow christ , and that cheerfully , amidst all his losses and crosses . for this captain non amat gementem militem ? loves not a souldier that followeth him groaning and grumbling . but for the further clearing and amplifying this point , it will not be amiss to descend to some particulars , to discover what it is that makes the christians work so laborious and difficult ; and in the next place , why god hath charged religion with so much labour , and so many difficulties . first of the first , the vast circumference of his duty ; the more strings an instrument hath , the more art is required to handle it well ; the larger the field is , the more labour it will cost him that is to till it ; in a word , the greater the servants charge is , and the more business which lies upon his hánds , the more care is needful to tend it ; and where the care must be great , the labour cannot be little , because care is it self one of the greatest labours : o how great then is the christians labour ? whose care and duty has no less compass than the commandment of god , which is of such vast comprehension , that the psalmist , who saw an end of all perfections , could see no end of it . psalm 119.96 . i have seen an end of all perfections , but thy commandment is exceeding broad . the commandment here includes both law and gospel , and the christians duty extends to , yea , diffuseth it self over both . first , the law moral , this is bound upon the christian in point of duty to make it his rule , as strictly as it was upon innocent adam himself , though not upon such strait conditions , and dismal consequences . the christian is bound to it upon peril of contracting sin , though not of incurring death and damnation ; the christian hath no more liberty to transgress the law than adam had , though he hath a promise of pardon upon repentance , when he hath sinned , which adam had not ; how indeed can we imagine that christ , who was made a curse for sin , would come to be a cloak to sin ? now is it an easie work , for the christian to keep his heart in a sincere compliance with , and respect to , this law in his daily walking ? a law which is so large , as reacheth from heaven to earth , commanding us to keep a conscience void of offence to god and man ; a law so pure and precise , that forbids all sin , omissions of good , as well as commissions of evil ; that indites him for a murderer that doth not feed his brother ( yea his enemy ) as well as he that stabs him to the heart ; him that doth not pray to god , as well as him that doth curse him ; the barren heath without good fruit , as well as the dunghil-life of the profane sinner filled with the stinking weeds of gross crimes , that condemneth sudden passions , as well as deliberate sins ; that bindeth the soul to its good behaviour , as well as the hands . is it an easie thing to hate every false way ? to be ready to every good work ? to have respect to every command , which yet he must have that will not be put to shame , psal . 119.6 . willing in all things to live honestly . yet this he must do , that will keep a good conscience , heb. 13.18 . is not here enough to fill the christians head with care , and his heart continually with an holy fear and trembling ? but this is not all his work ; for secondly , the evangelical law is also bound upon the christian ; the sum of which the apostle gives us in these two comprehensive duties , repentance towards god , and faith towards our lord jesus christ ; and are these to be got , or exercised when got , without labour ? when the poor christian hath done his utmost to keep the law , how far short doth he fall of that exact rule ? now these deficiencies and obliquities call for repentance , and is it easie for him to comply with this duty ? is it easie to rifle his conscience , and search his own heart , so impartially , as if he forgot it was his own house he was searching , and his own shame he was to discover ; yet this is a necessary antecedent to the act of repentance : how can he correct the errata's or faults of a book , that never read nor examined it ? and to do it surely will cost some pains . i confess this review the christian is to make , is more easily done , when he doth it daily , and examines his life ( if i may so say ) sheet by sheet , as it is printed off in every particular days conversation : but even this is a labour too heavy for a slothful heart to endure , is it easie when the poor creature hath found out his many sins and failings , upon this review , to get his heart into a melting frame and sorrowful sense of his ingratitude and disingenuity to god in them , so as to throw up those sweet morsels with more bitterness of spirit , than they were swallowed down with pleasure . in a word , is it easie for the poor christian to get these inmates out of doors , which he hath so unadvisedly let in , to clear his affections of that poyson , with which these his sins have infected them ? is it easie to recover the strength of his resolutions , which his sins must needs have much loosned and weakned ? the second great duty of the gospel is faith , and this is as hard as the other ; for indeed the difficulty of believing makes that of repenting so hard . is it easie to assent to the truth of these mysteries of the gospel , which are contrary to the apprehensions of corrupt reason , and beyond the comprehension of the christians most elevated understanding ? is it easie for one of a wounded spirit , sunk and dejected as low as hell , under the heavy sense of his guilt , to lift up an eye of faith to the promise , and to conceive a hope , that such a wretch as he hath been , may ever find grace and favour in the eyes of a just and holy god ? verily , it is a wonder little less , than that of the prophets , in making iron to swim ; it is easie for a stupid sinner ( indeed ) to dream of a pardon , while conscience is asleep ; but when this is once throughly awake , only he that can still the waves and winds in a storm at sea , can pacifie this , can give either power to believe , or peace in believing . is it easie to repent , and bring forth the meet fruits of it , good works , and not to make them the idol of our trust ? not to relye on the first to procure our pardon here , nor on the other to purchase our reward hereafafter ; but to rejoyce only in christ jesus , as the sole entire object of our trust for both . secondly , the curious sculpture with which every duty in religion must be engraved , to render it acceptable to god , a miscarriage in any of which is ( like an hair on the writers pen ) enough to mar and blot his fairest copy , for bonum ex integris . first , every duty in religion , to render it acceptable to god must spring from a supernatural principle . it is not labour in the lord , except the labourer himself be in the lord. actio sequitur vitam , a carnal man can do no other than a carnal action , though the matter of it be spiritual . a dead state can have no other but dead works , a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit . mat. 7.12 . secondly , the christians work must be performed with an holy fervor , thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently . psalm . 119.4 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 valde , vehementer . the word is emphatical , importing an exerting the utmost force of our souls . zeal is the religious part of our affections , the first-born and strength of a mans spirit , and therefore god sets it apart for himself , as his peculiar portion , fervent in spirit serving the lord ; without this , he accounts himself slighted , not served , and accordingly deals with such cold servitours , giving them as cold welcom as they do him service ; cursed is he that doth the work of the lord negligently ; if we would repent , we must be zealous and repent , rev. 2. v. 2. if hear the word , we must be swift to hear ; if pray , it must be an effectual fervent prayer , or else it is but thuribulum sine prunis , a censure without fire . if we would give an alms , we must draw out our soul , as well as our purse to the hungry . now those imployments are counted most laborious , to which most strength and force must be put , and those which intend the powers of the soul , more than such as strain the limbs of the body ; the scholars labour in his study , is more spending , than the plow-mans in the field . what then is the christians labour , which exerts the zeal and heat of his spirit ? o how hard is it to kindle , or kindled , to keep this heavenly fire alive , on a hearth so damp and cold as our heart is ? thirdly , the christians work must be done from a right motive to a right end ; first , a right motive from obedience to the will of god , and that such as springs from the love of god ; he doth not gods work that doth not obey him , and he doth not obey him , that doth not love him , that only being true obedience , which is hearty obedience . ye have obeyed him from the heart ; and that only hearty obedience , which is loving ; for love hath the regency of the heart , and it goes only whither love carrieth it . o how hard is this , where there is so much of the slave , even in those that are children ? where hagar so oft overtops sarah's servile fear , our filial affection ; secondly , it must be to a right end ; it is in vain to wind up the watch , if it be not set to the right figure , or to draw the arrow ( though to the head ) if the archers eye direct it not to the right mark ; zeal winds up and draws forth the powers of the soul , it makes the christian act vigorously , and forcibly : but if sincerity ( which is the singleness of the souls eye ) be not present to direct it ultimately to the glory of god , the labour is in vain ; the faster a man goes , ( when out of his way ) the worse ; for the faster he goes , the further he hath to come back : he that is slothful in the lords work doth displease him , but he that makes a great bustle in religion , and by this his activity calls others eyes to behold his zeal , yet secretly intends his own , not gods praise , provokes him more , because more hypocritical in what he doth : hypocrisie being to sin , what putrifaction is to diseases ; the more of this in a disease , the more dangerous it makes it ; the more of that in a sin , the more abominable it makes it : nay further , though the aim be not false , yet if that which god allows to be our inferiour end , be made our ultimate , it depraves the action ; if i aim at the comfort and relief of a poor mans necessity in my alms ( which i may and ought ) yet if this be the highest i look , and my eye passeth not through this , to the glorifying of god , it becomes unacceptable ; a man may lose the prize by shooting short , as well as wide of the mark ; now how hard to keep our eye fixed on this ultimate end ? truly even as hard as to keep our eye fixt on a single object , through an optick glass , held by a trembling hand . fourthly , every duty must be timed aright ; the christians life is full of duties , and those very various ; now he is called to exercise himself in one , then in another ; now to pray , anon to meditate ; now to be in his closet , then to be in his shop about his worldly calling ; now to private , then to publick ; now to reprove , then to encourage or comfort his brother . as one that hath a shop full of divers tools , all necessary for his calling , but this for that purpose , and that for this in it ; now if he should cut with his axe , when he should smooth with his plain , he would soon spoil his work ; that which is at one time a duty , would , if done , at another be a sin. diligence in our worldly calling on the week day is the work of the lord ; but the same on the lords day would be satans ; no doubt as many a fair child hath been lost by an untimely birth , so many a good work spoiled by an unseasonable performance ; and to discern time and judgment for our actions , requireth both wisdom and care , and these labour and pains . thirdly , the difficulty the christian finds to order his conversation , so that his care for one part of his work may not hinder him in another . now the reason of this difficulty , is the seeming contrariety of some duties to others : seeming , i say , not real , indeed it is in satans service only ( not in gods ) that there is a real contrariety of work : errors have their opposites ; he that maintains one , cannot , if he understands himself , hold some others ; so in practical lusts , some are at such a feud , that when one is in the throne , the other is kept under , but all truths agree lovingly together , being all but one faith ; and so do the graces of a christian , being all the effect of one and the same holy spirit ; they do no more hinder one another in acting , than the several wheels in a well made clock do one anothers motions ; or the various members of the body , one the others operations and functions ; yet , i say , there is a seeming contrariety . and as it requires art and care to touch the several strings of an instrument , that have different sounds , so as from all may result one harmonious sound , so much more holy skill and care in a christian to exercise these many various graces , and perform so many divers duties , in such a sweet concurrence and fellowship , that from all , there may result an uniform holiness in the course of his life . the christian must be zealous , but leave room for discretion , or else like a ship that hath all sail and no ballast , he 'll grow top heavy ; he must fear to sin , and yet hope in the mercy of god , when he hath sinned and repents of it ; 't is his duty to draw near to the throne of grace with an holy boldness ; but it is his duty even then to preserve an holy awe and reverence ; he must be sensible of the hand of god when afflicted , or else he is not a man ; but then he must bear it patiently , or else he is not a christian ; he must be meek and lowly in his carriage to all , even the meanest , yet must keep an high courage and noble resolution , not to be turned out of the path of duty for the frowns of the greatest ; he must love his brother but hate the sin he commits ; how many such riddles are there in religion ? now is it an easie work for the christian to drive his charriot in so narrow a path , without justling one duty against another ; to hold a fair and friendly correspondence with all these duties , and not set one at variance with the other ? fourthly , the great opposition the christian meets with in doing the lords work , makes his labour still greater . other men can work in their shops quietly , and few or none will molest them , much less throw stones at them ; but the christian he 's hindred from all hands . first , the flesh within controuls him , lusting against every good motion and holy action which the spirit of god stirs him up unto ; so that he is forced to dispute his way before he can come at his work ; much ado to answer what the flesh objects against every duty he is to perform . would he pray , then the flesh begs time , and will be putting it off for a more convenient season , some other business it starts first to be done ; would he give an alms , the flesh asks him , whether he meaneth to be a beggar , and give that to others which himself may want before he dyes ? would he reprove a sinning brother , then why will he be a busie body in other mens matters , and lose a friend in doing a thankless office ? would he bear witness to the name and gospel of christ , then pity thy self is its counsel ? no duty but it either keeps from it , or disturbs in it ; so that he needs a sword as well as a trowel to lay every stone in his spiritual building . secondly , a body of flesh hangs heavy upon him ; the body was at the first , and shall again be at last in heaven a wing ; but now , alas , 't is a weight to mans soul , and that an heavy one ; it should indeed be the souls servant , but now the soul is fain to tend and wait upon that , to provide food to keep , and physick to restore its health ; yet when all is done , it proves no over meet help to the soul ; if it be strong and healthy , then like a pamper'd beast , it grows crank and wanton , ready to throw its rider , which made saint paul keep down his body ; yet if the soul discipline it but a little too severely , then 't is feeble and tyred . thirdly , the world , this makes no small opposition . first , the things of the world ; the christians worldly calling is ready to filtch the time which should be spent in the christians general ; martha is in the kitching , when she should be in the chappel ; the enjoyments of the world , how ensnaring are they ? sensual delights , so sweet wine , that when the cup is at our lips , we cannot drink little , and so heady and intoxicating that we cannot bear much : when troubles come , how hard to keep from extremes , making too light of them , or thinking them too heavy ; we are prone either to despise them , or to faint under them . secondly , the men of the world , these are oft a snare to draw the christian into sin , sometimes a whip in the lords hand to scourge him for his sins , but always a sore vexation to the christian by their sins . lastly , the prince of the world brings up the rear ; he like a roaring lion comes fell out of his den , and runs full month at him : such a bold and brazen faced enemy , that he is not afraid or ashamed to tempt the chastest soul to the foulest crimes : he that durst tempt christ himself to devil-worship and self-murder , what will he not dare to attempt upon the best christians ? and he is as sly as bold ; an art he hath of insinuating and winding in his head before the christian can discover his design ; he hath more baits than one to his hook and knows how to fit every ones pallat ; if he cannot make the christian wallow in the mire of fleshly lusts , then he tempts to spiritual sins : if he will not be so prophane as to live without religion , he 'll try to make him an hypocrite in religion ; if that succeed not , he 'll try to blow him up into a proud conceipt of his sincerity ; if that will not do , he 'll labour to abuse his humility into dejection , and make him think worse of himself than he is . lastly , he is as importunate and restless an enemy , as he is bold and sly ; like marcellus the roman captain , of whom hannibal said , he was the oddest man he ever met with ; for whether he did beat ; or was beaten , he would not be quiet : if satan gets a victory , he pursues it without mercy , never losing an advantage given him ; if he be worsted , he rallies and comes on again with more rage . thus he dogs the christian to the last breath , and never leaves till the christian be got into heaven it self , where he cannot come at him . now if any can go through all this work , and withstand all this opposition without labour , or with but a little , he hath learnt an art , and got a sleight , which the rest of his brethren never knew ; and we may bid him , as the emperour did acctius , set up his ladder , and go to heaven away by himself alone . quest . but why hath god charged his peoples work with so much labour , travel , and trouble ? answ . first , therefore they have so much labour here , because they shall have none at all hereafter ; they shall in heaven rest from their labours , therefore it is fit they should have some on earth ; otherwise , some graces could never be exercised , and so their excellency would not be known , and consequently might seem to be created in vain ; there resulting from them neither benefit to the saint , nor glory to god. to name but one , how should the excellent grace of patience ( which shall have no occasion for its exercise in heaven ) be ever seen , if no part were given it to bring it upon the stage in this world ? and what can discover patience , but labour and trouble ? we had never heard of job , probably , but for his patience ; and i am sure we could never have heard of his patience , if we had not also heard of his tryals : indeed there is a great decorum in this dispensation , that the christian should have his patience tryed in this world , where god himself hath his own patience so much exercised : that they should endure some affliction from god , where god bears with so much sin from them . secondly , god doth this , that his people may give good proof of their high esteem of the promised reward ; it was an unspeakable ▪ contempt which adam cast upon his happiness to sell it for a trifle ; how could he more deprize it ? god therefore resolved , that before he restored him , or any of his to their lost happiness , they shall first restore what he so vilified , to its due place in their estimation ; and because no more convincing argument can be given of the high price we value heaven at , than by the great labour we are willing to take , and trouble we are ready to endure for the obtaining of it ; therefore he hath charged the christians work with so many labours and difficulties , that by our digesting these , to obtain that , we may give , indeed , a real proof that we prize heaven at a rate superlative to all that is here below . thus caleb shewed his high account of canaan , when he was not cooled in his desire of it , nor quailed in his courage with the high walls , and high gyants upon them , which rendered the attempt difficult and hazardous ; but crys , let us go up at once and possess it , for we are able to overcome it . whereas the other faint-hearted israelites are said to despise the good land , and why , but because they valued their ease and safety at an higher rate than it ? thirdly , that he may make his peoples rest in heaven sweeter when they come to it : there are three joys mentioned in scripture , as the greatest this world hath ; the joy of harvest , the joy of victory , and the joy of a woman that hath brought forth a man-child ; now all these joys are ushered in with great labour and travel ; past troubles swell present joys ; for besides the pleasure which is sucked from the present good enjoyed , there is a further accession of joy made , from the remembrance of past labours and perils happily now conquered ; the more hazardous the battel was in the fight , the more pleasure the conqueror hath in his victory . it would ease the damned of some of their sorrow , could they forget the possibility they once had of being happy ; and it would deprive the saint of much of his accessory joy in heaven , did he not remember the danger he once had of falling into that misery , which there he needs not fear . i shall apply this point only to two sorts of persons . first , to those that have slighty thoughts of religion , who think it an easie thing to be a christian here , and no hard matter to be saved hereafter , secondly , to those that are so far from believing it thus easie , that ( through the suffusion of melancholy and satans art , who thickens this darkness ) apprehend it so hard a labour , as renders it next to impossible ; whereby they are dispirited from making any vigorous endeavours in religion , fearing they shall never overcome the difficulties which attend it ; and as good they think it is to set still , as rising to fall deeper at last into condemnation . thus , the ship cannot sail if it hath no wind , or too strong and violent a one . my desire is to undeceive those , and thereby to do a kindness to them both . those that think it so easie to be a christian , no hard matter to obtain salvation ; i would endeavour to shew these what a delusion they are under , and danger they run , by fancying the bridge to . heaven wider than it is : but where , may some say , dwell these men i am now directing my speech unto ? i wish they did not swarm every where , and made not the greatest number in most of our towns and congregations . i shall point at a few : first , he that conceits himself a christian , and nourisheth in him an hope of salvation , even whilst his life is prophane , he , no doubt , thinks it too easie to be a christian ; when a man shall think christ will own him as his , meerly for his christian name , and not reject him for his heathenish practices , thinks that his heart is good , though his life be wicked ; whereas his life could not be wicked , if his heart was not so ( for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh ) when men shall think they are gods servants , though they be the devils labourers ; that god is their friend , when they declare themselves every day his enemies . in a word , to think they shall leap at death , è coeno in coelum , out of delilahs lap , into abrahams bosom ; is not this to make it an easie thing to be a christian , and no hard matter to be saved ? and where is any one ( who hath not first been convinced from some work of the spirit ) so bad , that is not yet thus kind to himself ? yea , have they not commonly the strongest faith , who have the weakest grounds for it ? they build up sion with blood , and jerusalem with iniquity , yet will they lean upon the lord , and say , is not the lord amongst us , none evil can come upon us ? who knocks more boldly at heaven gate to be let in , than they whom christ will reject as workers of iniquity ? o what a delusion is this ! caligula never made himself more ridiculous , than when he would be honoured as a god , while he lived more like a devil . before you would have others take you for christians , for gods sake , prove your selves men , and not beasts , as you do by your bruitish lives . talk not of your hopes of salvation , so long as the marks of damnation are seen upon your flagitious lives . if the way to heaven were thus easie , i promise you the saints in all ages have been much over-seen , to take so great pains in mortifying their lusts , in denying to satisfie their sensual appetite , ad quid perditio haec , to what purpose did they make so much waste of their sweat in their zealous serving god ? and of their tears , that they could serve him no better , if they might have gone to heaven , as these men hope to do ? that fryar was far more sound in his judgment , in this point , who preaching at rome one lent , when some cardinals , and many other great ones were present , began his sermon thus abruptly and ironically . saint peter was a fool , saint paul was a fool , and all the primitive christians were fools ; for they thought the way to heaven was by prayers and tears , watchings and fastings , severities of mortification , and denying the pomp and glory of this world. whereas you here in rome , spend your time in balls and masks , live in pomp and pride , lust and luxury , and yet count your selves good christians , and hope to be saved : but at last you will prove the fools , and they will be found to have been the wise men . did ever any man arrive at london by going from it ? every sin is a step from god , and the more we sin , the further we depart from god. doth not he then take a wise course to come at last to the full enjoyment of god in heaven , who by a lend wicked life runs as far from him , as his legs can carry him ? secondly , they who think they are good christians , and fair enough for heaven , though they have no more then a negative holiness ; the best that can be said of them , is , they are not so bad as the worst ; they do not take so much pains for hell as others ; but none for heaven ; they labour not so much in the devils work ; but work not at all for god : like those in the gospel , they stand idle all the day long , and yet hope for a peny at night , though they never entred into christs vineyard : they are so far from labouring in the work of the lord , that they will not touch his work with one of their fingers . do not these think it very easie to be christians ? as if god was bound to save them , but they not bound to serve them . is not heaven called a reward ? and what reward can be expected where no work is done ? if some that work shall be denyed all reward , because they did not labour at it ; and some seek , that shall not be able to enter ; because they do not strive ; then miserable must thy condition be , who fallest short of those , who themselves fall short of heaven . thirdly , formalists and slothful christians ; and how many are these ? who will not be atheists to live without all religion , but resolve not to be zealots . they are more then key-cold , but are afraid to be too hot in their work ; they are not idle , but cannot be perswaded to be diligent ; they love such a temper in religion for their souls , as they do a climate for their bodies to live in ; it must be a very temperate one ; afraid to exceed only in piety and holiness , in which alone there can be no excess . oh what a delusion is this ! he that will chuse another temper for his religion , than god hath commanded , had need provide another heaven for himself , than god hath prepared ; for that is given to the zealous labourer , not the lazie loiterer . the violent are they which take this kingdom by force ; a man may be sure of hell with a little pains , but heaven will certainly be lost without our labour and diligence : and the reason is , because every man is born in a state of sin and damnation , and so needs no more than to fit still in that state , to bring inevitable destruction upon him ; to hell he will come soon enough , though he gallop not so fast as others in riot and excess . but , alas , we are born afar off from god and heaven ; much labour is required to get into the way that leads to life eternal ; and when we are in it , many a weary step to take , abundance of work to dispatch ; sins to mortifie , temptations to resist , afflictions to endure , impaired graces to repair , weak to strengthen , and to persevere in all this labour , till death it self takes us off . this we must do , or else ( as saint paul said of their abiding in the ship ) we cannot be saved . it is with the christians spiritual life , ( in this respect ) as with his natural ; his body hath within it self , that which is sufficient to cause the death of it , but not to maintain its life . this provision is without ; as a man , he will dye , though he make no use of knife or halter to dispatch himself : not taking food , or not using physick will do it alone : thus the christian hath enough within him to procure his spiritual death , and consequently his eternal ; but not to maintain his spiritual life . the provision for this is out of himself , his sufficiency is of god , 2 cor. 3.5 . and this sufficiency god gives not in an immediate way , but by appointed means , which he requireth their care to make use of ( as he did the israelites hands , to gather and bake their manna ) and so by blessing his means , and their care in using of it , their spiritual life is preserved and nourished unto eternal life . now , when any shall thus extend his care to the use of all appointed means , and intend the faculties of his soul industriously ( as he ought ) in the use of them , and shall have continued some considerable time in this exercise ; then , and not till then , will he be a competent judge , to tell us whether it be a slighty business , to be a christian indeed or not . secondly , a few words to those who will acknowledge the labour of christianity to be great ; but that is it which is their discouragement , and scares them from entring into that service , which will cost so much pains , and bring so much trouble . i shall leave some considerations to be pondered by them , which , i hope , may ease them of this too deep an apprehension of the christians labour . first , christianity , 't is confest , is a labour , but a necessary labour ; it is not , indeed , the part of a wise man , to labour , or hazard much for that he little needs ; yet for such things is it ( god knows ) that most men bestow their greatest toyl and travel ; to obtain that which they may have ( specie aut valore ) and spare this their pains also ; as cyneas told pyrrhus , when he said , after such and such kingdoms conquered by him , then we will sit down and live a merry life . but why , quoth cyneas , may we not do that already without all this trouble ? i confess ( considering the present frame of carnal mens hearts ) they are under a kind of necessity of what they inordinately desire . the covetous man must have his gold , the voluptuous man his pleasures ; or else they cannot enjoy themselves : but this necessity is no other than that of a dropsie man , for his unmeasurable drinking ; for was this mans disease , and the other mans lusts purged out , both their necessities would cease alike ; but heaven is absolutely necessary to all , whether they think so or no. better we had the soul of a beast , than having the soul of a man , not to have at last that perfection and happiness , for which this immortal soul was made . and this thou canst not have , except thou wilt take the pains to walk in the ways of holiness , which lead to it ; thy soul ( poor man ) is hastning apace to its last and eternal state , which will be either in heaven or hell : the happiness of the one invaluable , the misery of the other intollerable , and both interminable . if thou bestirrest not thy self , and that timely , to take hold of eternal life , hell is at thy back to take hold of thee . now is there any room left in this case for deliberation , when de vitâ aut morte aeternâ agitur ? is it now time to say , shall i labour to be saved , or shall i not ? it may in some cases be more eligible to lose our temporal life , than to be at pains to save it . if caesar told the marriner , in a storm , it was necessary he should sail , not that he should live ; then surely with much more reason may the christian say ; yea , must he say , it is not necessary i live here , but 't is necessary while i live , that i perform the voyage god hath imposed on me ; that i launch forth into his service , whereby i may make sure of eternal life , though with the loss of my temporal . but no worldly necessity can be such , as should controul our care in the other . get eternal life , and thou wilt find again that life thou didst lose in getting it ; but lose heaven , and in hell thou wilt see all those paltry gains lost , to keep which a while , thou didst lose heaven . secondly , consider , the greatest labour and trouble the service of god will put thee to , is incomparably less , than the least pain the sinner shall find and feel in hell. what is the trouble a christian is at in mortifying a lust here , to the torment which the enraged conscience of a damued soul will put him to there , for not mortifying of it when time was ? what is the sorrow which the saint feels here , whilst he mourns for his sins in hope of pardon , to the horror of a reprobrate anguish in hell , imbittered with despair : what is the christians loss to part with his temporals for christs sake , to the sinners parting with god and heaven , never to see his blessed face more ? in a word , what are the flouts and reproaches which the saint hath from a wicked world , to the sinners portion ; when god , with all the holy angels and saints , shall laugh at their destruction . if the love of heaven will not move you to submit to the short labour which attends the service of god , let the fear of hell do it . thirdly , though the christians labour be hard , yet there are many things alleviate the burden of it . first , the sumbleness of the christians work to his renewed nature ; the trouble of a work is much as the mans mind stands to or against it . it would be a tedious business to an ignorant rustick , to be locked up in a scholars study , and there be made to spend his time amongst his books ; but the true scholar needs not be forced or wagered to this work ; his delight in it , takes away the labour of it ; non inveni ( said one ) in hoc mundo requiem nisi in angulo cum libello ; it were a great calamity , to a slothful dastardly spirit , to be made to endure the labour and hardship of a souldier : whereas a generous soul , would prefer it before ease and gain at home ; mea sit laborum major pars , pecuniâ autem , abundet quis volet , was achilles his speech ; give me the labour , let who will take the money . to a sensual heart , what more unpleasing then heavenly meditations ? yet what more delighted david ? to a carnal heart , the commandments of god are all hard sayings , because , contrary to his unholy nature : but to a gracious soul , none of them are grievous ; he loves the law of god from the same reason , for which the other hates it , because it is pure ; he delights to do the will of god , because he hath a law within him , which corresponds with the law without ; his heart answers to it , as the eccho to the voice ; thou saidst seek my face , thy face will i seek : no wonder a cross lies heavy upon his shoulders , that hath no faith in god to sustain him under it ; but a paul , he can take pleasure in infirmities , in reproaches , in necessities , &c. 2 cor. 12.10 . secondly , the divine assistances which the christian hath in his work , alleviates the labour of it ; consider the christians work without this help , 't is heavy indeed , yea , too heavy for him to stand under ; but gods helping hand put to it , makes this heavy work light . the ship , which when lying on ground , all the teams in the country could not draw off ; how easily is it set a float when the tide comes in ? thus the heart which the christian , by no pains and industry of his own , can raise out of its dullness and indisposition to duty ? oh how soon is it elevated and inspirited , when god flows in with his secret aspirations and exuscitations of his blessed spirit and grace ! he who confessed that he could do nothing of himself , not so much as think a good thought , tells us also , he is able to do all things through christ who strengthneth him : now this help from the lord is promised ; but it comes not till the christians hand is put to the work ; let him be up and doing , and then god will not fail to be with him . 't is cheap travelling ( we say ) for a child in his fathers company : to be sure god will pay the charge the christian is at in his whole journey to heaven ; it is easie working while god holds our hand , yea , puts strength into it . art thou to pray his spirit will lift with thee , for so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifies , art thou tempted ? whilst thou art fighting in the valley below , christs hands are lift up in heaven above for thy victory . i have prayed that thy faith fail not ; yea he doth not only pray above for thee , but will be in the field with thee , and in thee , by the secret succours of his spirit . my grace is sufficient for thee , which is not meant of grace inherent in us ; that indeed is unsufficient of it self ; but the auxiliary grace , which he sends in to assist and excite that in a time of need . thirdly , though christianity be a labour , and many troubles and perils attend it , yet 't is not alike to all : every christian hath not hemans faith , jobs patience , or pauls courage ; neither shall all have hemans disertions , jobs losses , nor pauls persecutions ; the stoutest souldiers are put upon the hottest service ; the heaviest burden upon the strongest back : he knows every saints ability , and so he rates them ; he will not suffer any to be tempted above that they are able . when the israelites came first out of egypt , he knew they were raw souldiers , and therefore led them about , that they might not be put to fight , before he had hardned , and heartned them more to bear such a work . while christ was upon earth , he interposed his own body between his weak disciples , and the fury of the wicked world : but when he went to heaven , then he ventured them into the storm , but careful first to re-inforce them with power from above , before he let them take the field , acts 1.4 . being assembled together with them , commanded them that they should not depart from jerusalem , but wait for the promise of the father . fourthly , the merciful indulgence which the lord gives them as to their failings : hard work , indeed , god calls them to , but the harder the work is , the more his pity is expressed towards them ; in pardoning those invincible infirmities , which notwithstanding their faithful endeavour , will be found in their doing it . it was hard for the apostles to keep their eyes wakeful in the dead of the night ; christ considereth this , and apologizeth for them , even while he chides them ; the spirit is willing , but the flesh is weak . it is hard when afflictions are strong , and long , not to fall into some indecencies of speech and behaviour : we have heard of jobs impatience , as well as patience , yet the lord was graciously pleased to to take his part against his accusing friends ; ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right , as my servant job hath , job 42.7 . it is hard to act faith , when sense and reason are non-plust ; the lord therefore is pleased to overlook the weaknesses of his childrens faith , which in such deep plunges they bewray , so they strive against them , and be humbled for them ; in magnis tentasse aliquid , non parvum , in great and difficult enterprizes , an essay and endeavour is not little : peter shewed great faith in venturing to go upon the sea , but discovered infirmity when he began to sink ; therefore christ pitieth and succoureth his weakness . davids strait was in a manner as great at land , as peters was at sea. when at gath amongst his enemies , whose champion he had slain ; much fear and unbelief he borrowed in this his strait , yet some secret actings of faith were mingled with these his fears , as appeared by the prayer he then lift up to god ; and even this prayer attended with so many distrustful fears , found acceptance with god ; which made the good man bring this forth as an encouragement for others ; this poor man cryed , and the lord heard him , and saved him out of all his troubles , psalm 34.6 . a poor man , indeed , he was at this time , not only in his outward state , but his inward ; poor and low in the actings of his faith. o what encouragement is here to come into the service of god ; hard work thou mayst meet with , but not an hard master ; do but thou thy best , and god will forgive thy worst . beware of wickedness , in not doing what thou canst , and god will not reject thee for thy weakness ; like as a father pitieth his children , so the lord pitieth them that fear him , psalm 103.13 . i come now to the second part of the text , which presents us with the reward that attends the christians labour ; it is not in vain in the lord ; they shall not be put off with their labour for their pains : no , there is a reward laid up in heaven , which will abundantly compensate all the pain and pains they were put to on earth ; but we must not understand this , as if the christian received no gain or advantage , in this life , from the service of god , while he is labouring in it : godliness hath the promise of this life , as well as the other . there are promises of which payment is made here ; and though these be inferiour to what the christian shall receive hereafter ; yet be they so pretious , as prove religion even in this life , no hospes asymbolus . no guest that lodgeth on free cost , but such as pays well , and that in present coin for its entertainment . it affords bread to the eater , as well as seed to the sower ; there is fruit unto holiness , which the christian may now feed on to his comfort , as well as an hope of eternal life to be received at the end of this . the very vales which the christian hath given him , while at his work , afford him enough for his present expence , to maintain him in a port becoming his high hopes for afterwards . first , his conscionable labour in the lords work , will gain him more ability , and holy skill to do his work still better ; by exercising of himself daily unto godliness , he becomes more ready and prepared for every good work ; by daily combating with his corruptions , and resisting temptations , he learns more easily to overcome his enemy . and if in worldly trades this be accounted a sufficient reward to an apprentice , for serving out his time , to learn the mystery of his calling ; oh what a reward is it , by the daily practice of godliness , to learn more fully the mystery of it ? this i am sure holy david set down for great gains , i have remembred thy name , o lord , in the night , and have kept thy law ; this i had because i kept thy precepts , psal . 119.55 . and again , i understand more than the ancients , because i kept thy precepts , ver . 100. he did not grudge his own pains , nor envy others ease , so long as he might get more heavenly wisdom by it . secondly , the christians conscionable labour , interesseth him in the special providence of god for him : while he is at work for god , god will take care of him ; and what can he want , that hath god for his provider ? what , or whom need he fear , that hath god for his protector ? for though all the saints have a right in promises , yet none have a pleasant aptitude to apply the comfort of any one promise , while they are idle and negligent ; no , this is the portion of the laborious christian , that walks in the actual exercise of his grace : no good thing shall he want that walks uprightly . when god engageth to abraham his almightiness , it is to him , as walking before him , not as sitting in the chair of sloth . thirdly , the christians labour is rewarded here with inward peace of conscience , and serenity of mind ; great peace have they that keep thy law , and nothing shall offend them , psalm 119.166 . peace be on them that walk by this rule , as on the israel of god , gal. 6. these are they , in whose bosoms this bird of paradise sings her sweet notes , and her sweetest in foulest weather ; when sickness comes , and death approacheth . now he that hath the testimony of his conscience , for having been a faithful labourer in the lords work , will be able to make a comfortable reflection upon his past life : for mens expectations of what is coming to them at death , depends upon what their past lives have been . life is the time of sowing , and death of reaping ; as they have sown , so only can they expect to reap . life is a time for working , and death for receiving the reward , sutable to the work . hence it is , when death is approaching , conscience ( if not seared , and past all feeling ) is then carried back to review what the man hath been doing , for whom he hath been labouring ; and therefore must needs bring in heavy tidings to the sinner of his approaching misery ; then it rips up all the stitches of that false peace , which the ungodly wretch had been bolstred up with , and tells him , that now the righteous judge is at hand , to pay him the dismal wages due to him , for all the wicked works he hath done , which makes the thoughts of death a terror to him . but the sincere christian , who hath laboured faithfully in the lords work ; he then hath a pleasant prospect to behold , when he looks back upon his conscionable walking , and can thence make his humble appeal to god , and desire him to remember how he hath walked before him in truth , and with a perfect heart . oh what joy is this to his poor heart , that his conscience bears him witness , he hath endeavoured to walk before god , with godly simplicity , and not in guile ? and can cast himself upon the mercy of god in christ , and breathe out his soul with a joyful expectation , of being received into the kingdom of glory . this premised , i address my self to speak of the christians reward in the other world , this being principally ( if not solely ) in the text ; where it is set forth two ways . first , by its certainty , for as much as ye know . secondly , by its transcendency , your labour is not in vain in the lord. in which words , you may remember , i told you there is more intended , than exprest . first , of the first , the certainty of the saints reward intimated by this phrase , ye know : that is , ye know it for a certain indubitable truth ; ye make no doubt of this : thus is the saints future happiness spoke of , with the greatest assurance and certainty ; we know that if our earthly house of his tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , 1 cor. 5.1 . we know that when he shall appear , we shall be like him . the saints know this so well , that they dare venture the loss of all they are worth here , for the reward they expect there : ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods , knowing in your selves , that ye have in heaven a more enduring substance , heb. 10.34 . yea , they have refused their temporal life , when offered to the prejudice of their eternal , heb. 11.35 . not accepting deliverance , that they might obtain a better resurrection . if any should ask , how do they know so assuredly there is this reward ? i would ask such , how they know the sun to be , when they see it shine ? if they say , by seeing of it ; they may know , that the saint sees an heaven , as certainly , by an eye of faith , as they can do the sun , by an eye of sense ; faith is the substance of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen . the very light of nature , whereby the heathens knew a god , did let with it into their minds , some knowledge of another world , and of a double state therein ; of happiness to the good , and misery to the wicked ; being not able , otherwise , to reconcile the unevenness of providence in this world , with the righteous nature of god : but alas , what was this lesser light which god left in man to rule him , in the night of heathenish darkness , to the certainty of the saints knowledge , which comes in by the light of faith ? first , the christians faith is grounded on the testimony of god himself , in his word . humane faith is , indeed the weakest , and most uncertain kind of knowledge ; because mans testimony , on which it relys , is so fallible ; but divine faith the most certain , because the testimony of god , on which its weight bears , is infallible : one , who cannot deceive , because he is truth it self ; nor be deceived , because he is wisdom it self : so that , though faith be not reason , yet to believe what god saith is true , there is the highest reason . 2 ly , as the testimony on which the saints faith relies , is the infallible word of god ; so his very faith which relies on this word of god , is no other than the work of god ; the same spirit , who is the author of that , is the efficient of this ; for the christian believes not from the power of his own will , but the power of god , mightily working his heart up to this supernatural act . hence we are said to be saved through faith , and that not of our selves , it is the gift of god , ephes . 2.8 . and this faith is called a faith of the operation of god , colos . 2.12 . 't is wrought in us , not by us . not only the light of truth which the christian sees is divine , but the eye of faith by which he sees , this light is divine also ; how certain must that knowledge be , which in the light of gods spirit , beholds the light of gods truth ? now from this word of god , the christian is assured of this reward many ways . first , he is assured of it , by jesus christ , who , himself , came from heaven , and makes report thereof ; in my fathers house are many mansions , if it were not so , i would have told you , john 14.2 . as if he had said , you may belief me , for i speak it , that cannot lye ; and who loves you too well to put a cheat upon you . that there are such countries as france and holland , you do not doubt , though you never saw them , because some that have , assure you it is true : and shall the saint be blamed for relying on christs own faithful word ? who cometh from heaven , is above all , and what he hath seen and heard , that he testifyeth , john 3.32 . secondly , the christian knows it , by the purchase christ hath made of heaven for believers . mans sin had shut heaven door against him , and opened death and hells door upon him : now before god would ( or indeed could ) set open again this door of life to poor sinners , it was necessary that his glory should first be secured ; which to do , this admirable expedient , the divine wisdom contrived , that christ should dye for sinners , by which , both death , the punishment of mans sin , might be abolished ; and life , and immortality , which man had lost , might be restored , and brought to light again , 2 tim. 1.10 . hence it is said , it became him , for whom are all things , and by whom are all things , in bringing many sons unto glory , to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings , heb. 2.10 . mark that , it became him ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , there was a condecency for god thus to do . god never doth any thing that doth not become him ; in all his works he acts like himself ; every work declaring his glory , but not all alike . now god in the redemption of the world , intending to make the greatest manifestation of his glory , that ever he did : it became him to pitch on such a means , as was sutable to such an end ; and this of bringing his people to glory , by the abasement of his own son , to an ignominious and cursed death , was the expedient he resolved upon , as every way condecent to this design ; and indeed , never did all the divine attributes appear in all their glory , so as they do here . according therefore to this eternal council of gods will and love , in the fullness of time , the son of god was cloathed with our flesh , laid down his life , took it up again ; and further , to shew he had got a full triumph over death , and had opened heaven gates for believers . he opened the graves of many of the dead saints , and raised them to life , as a pledge , that he would do the same , in due time , for the rest . so that now to doubt , whether there be an eternal life for the saints after death , is to make the whole gospel a fiction . thirdly , they know it by the actual possession which christ hath already taken of heaven for them . a child thinks himself sure of an estate , when his father not only purchaseth it , but also taketh it up for him . thus did christ ascend to heaven , not only to sit down on his own throne , but to take and keep possession of heaven , for the behoof and benefit of believers . hence they are said , to sit together in heavenly places in christ jesus ; that is , in him as their head , which is a certain pledge to them ; they shall one day sit with him there , in their own persons : because i live ( saith christ ) ye shall live also . indeed he lives there to make intercession for them , and will never leave praying , till he hath prayed them up unto himself . i may say to believers , as once naomi to ruth , sit still for the man will not cease , till he hath finished the thing : christ will not cease his mediatory work , till he hath finished his peoples happiness , and got his betrothed spouse home to him , in his fathers house . 4 ly , he knows the certainty of this happy estate , by the many express promises made to believers of it . i cannot number them they are so many , neither need i name them ; there being no child of god so little ( i hope ) acquainted , with his saviours will and testament , as not to be able to turn on a sudden to many places , where this inheritance is setled on them . the greatest heir that lives , is the saint . he is heir to both worlds , having promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come : but the grand promise of all is , that which gives him title to his heavenly inheritance . in one place they are called heirs of promise , in another , heirs of salvation ; because this is the crowning promise . heaven it is called their hope , till this comes ; he hath not his portion ; all he hath here , is the least of what is promised . but when heaven comes , then all is paid ; the bond then is delivered in , faith and hopes work is done . the christian , who on earth , believes and expects promises , shall in heaven inherit promises ; there faith shall be turned into vision , and hope swallowed up in fruition . now though nothing can make heaven more sure to the believer , than gods promise , no not the oath of god it self , because it is as impossible for god to lye without an oath , as with it ; for being he can swear by no greater , he sweareth only by himself ; and so the strength even of his oath , lyeth in his veracity , which is engaged in his promise , as well as oath : yet he is graciously pleased , ex abundanti , consulting therein with our frailty , to superadd all those things to his promise ; by which men in contracts , amongst themselves , do conceive a further confirmation and security to to be given , for performance of their promises one to another ; as witnesses , seal , oath , and earnest ; that having these securities , which are wont to satisfie us in humane promises , the sin of distrusting gods performance of his , might appear the more unreasonable in us , and injurious to him : as , indeed , it is beyond all expression , when those securities will not assure our hearts , concerning the performance of gods promises , than which we cannot exact more from those men that are most unresponsable or deceitful . secondly , the saints reward is described by its transcendency ; your labour is not in vain in the lord. in the explication of which phrase , i shewed , that there is more implyed , than is exprest . that the christians labour shall be highly , unspeakably rewarded , the place where the reward is laid up , proves the transcendency of it , and that is heaven , heb. 10.34 . ye have in heaven a better , and an enduring substance ; and heaven is a place so excellent , as renders it uncapable of an hyperbole ; not so far above our heads , as it is above our thoughts : it hath not entred into the heart of man , the things which god hath prepared for them that love him . one may as easily draw in all the air of the world at a breath , as express , or conceive , how great and glorious the saints reward in heaven is . as it is , praemium reconditum pro nobis ; so it is , absconditum à nobis , as it is laid up for believers , so it is hid from them . we are now the sons of god , but we know not what we shall be . the apostle compares our apprehensions of heaven here , to the low apprehensions , which little children have of mens affairs , 1 cor. 13.11 . which you know is very low . that saint which knew least of heaven , while on earth , did the first moment he entred into that glorious place , understand more of it , than all the doctors of the church ever did , or could , whilst on earth : the scripture therefore presents it to us , as an object of our admiration , not comprehension . o how great things hath god laid up for them that fear him ? psalm 31. when saint paul had set forth the saints happiness , in that golden chain of salvation , whom he predestinated , them he called , whom he called , them he also justified ; and whom he justified , them he also glorified ; breaks forth like a man in an extasie , what shall we say to these things ? expressing thereby his inability , to express the greatness and glory of them . yet so much the saints know of this blessed state that waits for them , as will not suffer them to admire any thing they see here below , any more , than he would the light of a glow-worm , who hath seen the sun. i shall content my self at this time , in setting forth the transcendency of that happiness the saints shall receive as their reward in heaven , after their labour is finished on earth . to consider , first , the properties of that blessed state , to which they shall be advanced in heaven . secondly , to compare the saints work and labour on earth , with this their reward in heaven . first of the first , the properties of that blessed state with which their labour shall be rewarded in heaven . first , it is a state purely spiritual . the saints state on earth , is partly spiritual , and partly animal . he ceaseth not to be a mortal creature , when he becomes a new creature : his life is spiritual as a saint , but animal as a mortal man : and so his comforts and refreshings , are animal , as well as spiritual . he eats , he drinks , he sleeps ; and all these acts of nature have a pleasure , and sweetness proper to their kind , which is too low for that glorifyed state , to which they shall there be exalted ; they shall need neither meat , nor drink , where there is no hunger , nor thirst ; no time there lost in sleep , where the body shall never be weary , nor drowsie , but be as wakeful as the soul : no need of cloaths , where there shall be no shame , where the body it self , shall out-shine the sun in its noon-day glory . and is it not more desireable to be without these , than to need them and have them ? to have sound legs , then to be lame , and have crutches ? who had not rather have been with moses , beholding the face of god in the mount ( though all that time without food ) than feasting with the israelites at the bottom of the hill ? surely spiritual pleasures are more noble and sweet , than bodily ; or else we might say , that sensual men have more joy and pleasure in their life , than god hath in his . secondly , it is an accumulative state , wherein there is an aggregation , and concentration , of all those things , which are requisite to make their happiness compleat ; it is not esaus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but jacobs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not having much , but having all will make man happy . are here all thy children ? said samuel unto jesse , and would not sit down to the feast , till david , the only one wanting was come . thus mans soul cannot sit down to its feast , and be satisfyed , till it hath all that goeth to its perfection ; the absence of any one ingredient , keeps it in motion , looking and longing for it ; and that is inconsistent with compleat happiness , which consists in rest arising from satisfaction . now in heaven , there is a confluence of all , that the saint , even then , when his faculties will be stretched out and enlarged to their utmost capacity , can possibly desire ; he that overcometh shall inherit all things , and i will be his god. the glorifyed saint hath above him , the beatifying vision of god himself , and jesus christ , the purchaser of all his felicity , whom he so loved on earth , and longed to see . within him he shall behold his own soul , made perfect in all its noble powers , satisfyed with the image of god , as full of holiness as it can hold . upon him he shall see that body , which was once so vile and corruptible , made immortal , spiritual , and glorious , even like the glorious body of christ , the exemplar cause , after which it is fashioned : about him he shall see an innumerable company of holy angels , and glorifyed saints , his brethren ; not one of them envying his happiness , but all congratulating him for it , and rejoycing in it . beneath him , he shall see the infernal pit of hell ; wherein so many millions of lost souls are to spend a miserable eternity in unspeakable torment ; which must needs fill him with ineffable joy to think , how near once , he himself was falling into it ; but was happily prevented by the arms of free grace , seasonably interposing and ●atching him . in a word , he shall have joy without sorrow , health without languour , rest without labour , and life without end . thirdly , it is an entire state . there is not only all ingredients of happiness in heaven , but the saint enjoyeth all together : here on earth , the christian hath many pretious promises , sweet refreshings and comforts ; but he takes in the sweetness of them successively , not all in one draught . indeed , the largest heart , of the holyest saint on earth , is an house of too little receipt and roomth , to entertain so many guests together . no , now the christian entertains himself , first in the company of one , then of another promise . god comes in a little at this , and more at the next sermon he hears . he is as a leaky vessel under a runing cock , filling , but never full : but in heaven , the saint is filled , and that all at once ; as a vessel thrown into the sea , full as soon as it is in . this the apostles expression seems to import , that mortality might be swallowed up of life , 2 cor. 5.4 . in a word , the christian here is like some great man , that hath a vast estate , but he neither seeth all his land , nor receives all his rents together ; but in heaven , his whole felicity is present ; not one imaginary point of time , wherein he can be more , or shall be less happy to all eternity . fourthly , it is a consistent and fixed state , free from all changes and vicissitudes , which in this life he is subject to : here , alas , the christian is sometimes well , and sometimes sick ; now in prosperity , then in adversity ; rich and poor in the same day : in momento vertitur mare & ubi luserunt navigia sorbentur . in a moment , a storm arising , where the ship even now danced , it is wrackt . he is like one that travels in an april day , whose cloak is wet with the rain , and dryed again by the sun , and then wet again : neither do these changes only befal the saints outward state , but his inward also , both in point of grace and comfort . now his heart is up and lively in the performance of a duty ; anon so dead and down , as if he were not the same man. now the christians coat is on , ready to attend and follow his master ; anon it is off , and he on his bed of sloth . so in point of comfort ; one while the spouse hath her beloved in her arms , and is ravished with his company ; another while , she is setting up her , si quis , and enquiring if any can tell her tydings of him ; hora longa , brevis mora : the christian waits long for the comforter , and when he comes , he doth but look in , and then withdraws again : so that the joy which he hath at present , is much interrupted from the fear of losing it ; for , nemo fruitur solicito bono ; how much there is of fear , so little is then of enjoyment in what we have . indeed , what ever the saints refreshings are here , 't is but like a travellers entertainment in an inn ; the thoughts that he must to horse again in the morning , doth lessen the pleasure he takes in it . but in heaven , the journey is at an end , the saint is at home ; his labour is gone , and his rest is come ; he is in a kingdom that cannot be moved . fifthly , it is an eternal state , this is more than the former ; the property that crowns all the rest . there are some in this life ( and those none of the best ) who meet with no changes , and that for a long time ; who enjoy a continued summers day ; their sun of prosperity goes not in and out , but shines with a constant beam ; no black cloud of any great affliction , interposing , to hide their joy from them : but at last , death chops in upon them , and spoils all their mirth ; in a moment they go down to the pit , and with them all their thoughts perish . what joy remains to him that is in misery , to remember the years of pleasure he hath had ? a past felicity , is a present misery ; and to remember the pleasure we had , doubles the sorrow we have . this made saint bernard interpret that place of the psalmist , with long life will i satisfie him of heaven ; because he thought nothing was long that had an end . this , indeed , is the emphasis of heavens joy ; those blessed souls shall never sin , never weep more ; they shall not only be with the lord , but ever with the lord. this is the accent which is set on the elogies , given to heaven , in scripture . 't is an inheritance , and that an incorruptible one , that fadeth not away : it is a crown of glory , and that a weighty one ; yea , an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory . when once it is on the saints head , it can never fall , or be snatched off ; it is a feast , but such an one , that hath a sitting down to it , but no rising up from it . the second way i propounded for seting forth the saints reward , was , to compare the saints work and labour with the reward . for though the reward be great , yet if the labour bear any considerable proportion to it , so much of its greatness is taken away . but the christians labour here bears no proportion at all , with his reward hereafter ; and therefore the apostle saith , it is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed . his labour is finite , but his reward infinite ; and there is no proportion between finite , and infinite . there is but little proportion , you will say , betwixt a drop of water , and the sea ; yet there is some , because though vastly greater , yet not infinitely greater : but betwixt these finite , and infinite , there is none at all . the christians reward is infinite ; first , intensive , god himself is his reward , as well as his rewarder , who is infinite in all his divine perfections . and what proportion between a poor nothing creature , and his nothing service , to the having this infinitely glorious god his portion ? so far are these from bearing any proportion to god , that compared with him , they are denyed to be , i am , and there is none besides me , saith god , or to have any excellency ; he is the holy one , the only wise god. mans wisdom , is no wisdom ; his holiness , no holiness compared to god. secondly , it is infinite extensivè , or in duration . their reward is an everlasting life ; but their work and labour for the lord , how short ? how soon is it dispatched ? if there be no proportion between time , and eternity ; then none between the christians labour , which is performed in so little a point of time , and the reward which endures for ever and ever . the christian is a few hours in the field at his work , and then called into an everlasting rest in his fathers house . he carries a light cross , a little way on his back , which death at the furthest takes off ; and then an eternal crown of glory is set on his head. it aggravated king lysimachus his sorrow , that he had lost so great a kingdom , for so little a matter as a draught of water . how will it ravish the saints heart , to receive so great a reward , at the end of so short a labour ? jonathan wondered that a little honey , should cost him so dear as death . i did ( saith he ) but taste a little honey , with the end of the rod , that was in mine hand , and lo i must dye . how much more admiringly may the saint say ; 't is but a little , and that sorry service that i have done for my god on earth ; and lo i must live , yea , live with god ; yea , with god everlastingly in glory . well may the apostle say , that christ shall come to be admired in all them that believe , 2 thes . 2.10 . how can it but make them admire , to see so infinite a glory the reward of so poor a labour ? object . but why should not the christians holy labour and faithful service , bear the same proportion to his reward in heaven , as the wicked mans sin doth to his punishment in hell ? this deserves that , why not that this ? though the wicked mans sin be as little a time in committing , as the saints holy service is in performing ; yet there is an infinite evil in his sin ( that is , objective ) because committed against an infinite god. and why should there not be the same reason for the christians labour . answ . there is a vast difference betwixt these , the nature of sin , and the nature of good and holy actions . the evil of sin , bears proportion to the object , or person offended by it ; as the object is higher , and more excellent , so the offence is greater . the same offence done to a king , is far greater , than that which is done to a mean subject . every sin therefore being committed against an infinite god , comes to be an infinite evil ; and so deserves an infinite punishment . but the valour and worth of a good and holy action , ariseth not from the excellency of the object , but of the subject , whose act it is . this made christ his obedience meritorious , and satisfactory with god for us ; because his person , who performed it , was so excellent , of infinite worth and dignity . and for the same reason , the christians obedience can deserve nothing , his person being so mean and low , and performed to god , who is so infinitely great and glorious . secondly , the christians labour can deserve no reward at gods hands , as sin doth punishment ; because the service he doth is due debt ; he owes it to his god , and even men do not use to reward those who pay them a debt ; nay , not thank them : so saith our saviour , doth the master thank his servant , because he did that he commanded him ? i trow not , luke 17.9 . thirdly , the christians work and labour falls short of what is due ; it is blended with sin ; his silver is mixed with dross , and his wine with water ; yea , there is but parvum in magno , a little silver with an abundance of dross . our righteousnesses are as filthy rags , psal . 64.6 . surely that work deserves not a good reward , which deserves a punishment . lastly , that little which is found truly and spiritually good , is not the christians own ; but his , by whose power it was done . the christian may say of his best performed duty , what he of his axe , oh master it is borrowed : the act , indeed , is the christians own , in believing , repenting , and the rest ; he useth his own faculties , but the power by which he is enabled to do so , is christs . and therefore he is so far from deserving a reward , that he is indebted to god for his assistance ; and the greater the assistance is , the greater is the debt he contracts . instead therefore of expecting thanks from god , for what he hath done , he owes thanks , and praise to god , who helped him to do it . thus david , 1 chron. 29.13 . now therefore , our god , we thank thee , and praise thy glorious name ; but who am i ? and what is my people , that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ? for all things come of thee , and of thine own me have given thee : yet this is the work which god so wonderfully rewards of his free grace ; pugna & ego adjuvabo , vince & ego coronabo . fight and i will help , overcome and i will crown thee . god works all in us , and then rewards the work , as if all had been done by our selves ; oh free grace , never enough admired mercy ! quest . but if the reward be so glorious , what reason can then be given , why so few are found that will labour for it . answ . if you expect a good reason , there is none can be given : but if a true reason will serve , it is soon at hand . first , because heaven is a reward that is unseen to the eye of sense , and carnal men ( who make the most in the world ) have not such an eye , as the eye of faith , to make it evident to them : they have , indeed , an eye of sense in their head , but that like the sun , doth revelare inferiora , sed obsignare superiora . it shews the good of sensual objects here below , but leaves the glory of heaven unseen . secondly , heaven is a glorious reward , but 't is to come , we must wait for it ; and carnal mens desires are impetuous , that will not let them stay so long for their consolation . now the world that offers present pleasure , present profit , present ease ; and most men are like beggarly traders , who cannot sell for time , but must have ready money , though they put off their goods with loss ; thus do carnal men . give me my portion ( said the prodigal ) never thinks what he shall do , when that is spent . demas loved this present world , 2 tim. 14.10 . heaven is a great way off , they will put that to the adventure ; occidit modo imperat . let him kill me , ( said agrippina of her son ) only let him reign . this is the language of many mens hearts , fall back , fall edge , damned , or not damned hereafter , so i may have my present lust satisfyed thirdly , sinners do not like the nature and quality of heaven . some expressions , indeed , there are , with which it is set forth in scripture , that please them very well , were they true in the letter ; as when it is set out by a marriage feast , by rivers of pleasures , by a crown and kingdom . a feast the glutton likes , were the chear such in heaven , as is on his own table here on earth ; if the wine of that kingdom were such as is drawn at the tavern , the drunkard would be for it . but a feast without sensual fare , joy without jollity , musick without fidling , a crown and kingdom without worldly splendour or pomp , are such things as put them quite out of liking with it . so that they care for heaven only , when they can have earth no longer , and chuse it as a place only more desirable than hell. the application of this point followeth . first , to the carnal world . two ways . first , of conviction . secondly , of exhortation . first , of conviction . this convicteth some wicked men of a false slander . and , secondly , all of them of gross folly . first , some among them , of a slander and false report , they bring upon the holy ways of god ; as if it would not quit cost to be religious ; and to take pains in its work , were labour lost . this , i confess , is an high charge , and there is reason i should make it good , before i proceed to the refuting of it ; lest while i accuse others of slandering , my self be thought the slanderer ; and to set up an enemy to shoot at , when there is none , except in mine own imagination . but the proof is easie . the devils empire in the world , was founded first of a lye ; and as he got it , so he labours to keep it ; he found man at the first , happy in his willing subjection , and obedience to his god ; his only way therefore to undo him , was to inveigle him out of gods service into his own ; to effect this his policy , was to bring him into a dislike of his present state ; and to promise him , not only impunity , but strange advantages , accruing upon the change of his master . thus as enemies throw down castles , by blowing them up ; so he by puffing man up with a conceit of being like god , brought him down from the height of his felicity ; and instead of making him like a god , made him like himself , who is an accursed devil . speeding so well by this stratagem , he hath used it ever since , to keep sinners from returning to their first rightful lord and master , as he had done , to entice man , at first from his service ; that is , by slandering god and religion . he must be a hard master , that reaps where he doth not sow , or suffers not his servants to reap what they do sow . either he exacts more than he gives ability to do , or he doth not reward the work they have done , and so makes them labour in vain . both false slanders . the first i must pass over as foreign to my subject . but the second lies in my way ; and god knows , though it be as untrue , as he is true , yet it finds too easie credence among sinners , who are glad to have any pretence to excuse them from ▪ the service of god , which their own corrupt hearts do so much dislike . this , therefore , hath been the old plea , which wicked men have made for their aversation to religion , job 22.17 . which said unto god , depart from us , and what can the almighty do for them ? oh what sots doth sin make men ? their plea had been more plausible , if they had said , what can the unmighty do for them ? but to call him almighty , and then ask what he can do , shews they were sunk beneath reason . who , indeed , can exercise reason against god ? you see here this prejudice against piety , is as antient , as jobs time , who is judged to have lived about , if not before moses his age. yet was it not then novel , for eliphas speaks , ver . 15. hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden ? indeed , luther said right . cain would kill abel to the end of the world ; and so had they , and will have vile and cheap thoughts of religion . it held , i am sure , in malachi his time ; ye have said it is vain to serve god , chap. 3. ver . 14. and have we any reason to think , that the same prejudice against religion , continues not amongst many ungodly ones , in these last times ? wherein the world is grown as older , so colder to religion . old age , indeed , is not wont to cure , but rather increase diseases that are hereditary : the prodigious prophaneness , and filthiness , of our present age , with the scorn that is cast upon all serious endeavours , after holiness , is no good indication that it is ceased , but the contrary ; that such as these have a most vile and base opinion of religion ; how else were it possible they would dub themselves , while wallowing in their brutish lusts , for the wise and happy men ; and despise others , as doting fools , that dare not venture their souls in their company , by running with them into the same excess and riot ? if they did not first think religion an insignificant thing , piety a needless scrupulosity , and all the christians pains therein , in vain ; and those to be in the right , and go away with all the gains , who will have nothing to do with religion , but live in an open defiance of it . now , though what hath been said already of the glorious reward , which will certainly crown the christians labour , be enough to wipe of this dirt from the face of religion , and leave it on their own that throw it ; yet i shall a little , and ex abundanti , speak to the vindication of it in this point . and who , though but a stripling , would not venture to cope with such goliahs , or gyants of the earth ; that defie the living god , and his hosts of saints ? is it not strange that those poor wretches should not take notice in whose hand the pencil is , by the illfavouredness of the portraicture that here is drawn of god and religion ? who but the devil himself , would present him , and his holy ways , in such black lines and lineaments to their thoughts ? and is it not more strange , that any of mankind should so far forget , or go against those common notions of the divine goodness , which naturally are impressed upon their minds , as to believe god to be such an one , as the devil , his sworn enemy , tells them he is ? but most of all strange it is , that those who have read , or heard the gospel , where god , not only , more fully makes known the goodness and graciousness of his nature , but also opens the counsel of his will and mercy to poor sinners , and brings life and immortality to light , as the sure reward of those , who at his gracious call , receive christ as their lord and saviour , should after all this , sing the same old note with ignorant heathens ; 't is in vain to serve god. and sutable to such apprehensions of him , lead irreligious and flagitious lives , having nothing but the word of a lying devil to secure them from eternal misery . this is such an infatuation , as the world cannot shew the like ; but who so blind as he , whose eyes are put out with gospel-light ? into this righteous judgment upon them , for rebelling against light , we must resolve this their folly . for judgment i am come into this world , that they which see not , might see , and that they which see might be made blind , john 9.39 . but to reason a little with this sort of men ; can you think that the god of truth hath made so many promises to his people to deceive them with a false hope ? will he be unrighteous to forget their labour of love , after he hath made himself a debtor , if not to them , yet to his own faithfulness , by making his promise ? can he , that rewards even the wicked for any work , in which he useth them , let his own faithful servants lose their pains ? nebuchadnezzar had the land of egypt given him for his service against tyrus , ezek. 29.18.19 . cyrus had a great empire for his expedition against babylon : though these meant nothing less than the serving and glorifying of god , but aimed at the enlargement of their dominions , and satisfying their own ambition ; yet because they were instruments to accomplish his secret decrees , in fauour of his people , he gave them a reward . and did he reward them for his peoples sake , and will he let these his own people sit down with loss , who out of pure conscience and love to him , do his work , and fight his battels against flesh , world , and devil ? it cannot be , he doth indeed make them stay longer , than the other , for their reward ; but they are sure to speed better at last ; they , like ishmael , are sent away presently with bread and bottle . temporal rewards , they have their consolation here ; but when their portion is spent , then the saint shall receive his reward , an inheritance incorruptible , and eternal . be patient ( saith the apostle ) and establish your hearts , for the coming of the lord draws nigh . and when he cometh , their reward comes with him . again , do you not cross the experiences of all the saints , do they not they all give god and his service a good word ? proclaiming him the best master they ever served . in keeping thy commands is great reward , ( saith david ) and again , oh taste and see how good the lord is ; once , i confess , in the paroxism of a sore temptation , he spake like one of the foolish world ; i have cleansed my heart in vain , and washed my hands in innocency , psalm 73.13 . but will ye believe what a man saith , when his head is hot and light in the fit of a fever , rather than when he is in his true and right temper ? no sooner was this fit off , but he befools and be beasts himself , and blesseth himself in his approaching happiness . thou shalt guide me with thy counsel , and afterward receive me unto glory , verse 24. and from this hope takes faster hold of god and his holy ways ; but it is good for me to draw near to god , ver . 28. and surely one affirmative testimony of a saint , in vindication of god and religion , is of more weight than a thousand negative testimonies of the wicked world to the contrary , who speak evil of what they understand not ; condemn religion before they have tryed it , and disgrace that service they were never in . whereas the godly man hath served both masters , and speaks from his own experience , where most is to be got ; professing that he hath nothing to shew of his gettings in the service of sin , but shame . but in the lords service , present fruit unto holiness , and a hope of eternal life afterward . in a word , needs there any more to make this appear a false slander , than to observe , how these very wretches upon a sick-bed , when they apprehend themselves on the marches of death , do court religion ; which in their jollity they cart and scourge with their reviling tongues ? oh how glad would they then be to creep into a saints cloaths , and go by his name ; how desirous to dye the righteous mans death , and to have an end like his ? oh how afraid to look into another world , or to think of going hence as they are ? doth not all this speak , that they themselves secretly think there is more reality in religion , and the eternal consequences of it , than they will in their prosperity confess ? the truth is , god hath their conscience on his side , but their lusts have their hearts ; and these are they which gag their conscience , that it may not speak what it would : but at last , conscience is even with them , and revengeth the violence offered to it , upon them . and for stoping its mouth a while , opens it the wider at last ; both in accusing them for this their past wickedness , and terrifying them with the fearful expectation of the dismal tempest of fire and brimstone , ready now to pour down upon them . thus as the hardest frosts , when they break , leave the deepest slugs behind them : so doth the greatest dedolency and insensibility , in an irreligious life , leave sinners ( when conscience recovers its sense and feeling ) sticking fast in the deepest horror and desperation . secondly , this convicts the carnal world of gross folly , in refusing the service of god , where the reward of their labour is so sure and incomprehensibly great ; and for misplacing their pains and labour for that which is neither sure to be obtained , nor much worth the having , if it be gotten ; and so in both respects labour in vain . first , the sinner labours for what he is not sure to obtain . the world hath not to this day been able to give a certain rule whereby the covetous worldling , can be sure after all his toyl and drudgery , that he shall be rich ; nor the ambitious , that he shall get up the hill of honour , and not catch a fall in climbing it : the world is too like a lottery , where men know not whether they shall draw a prize or blank . though all come with heads full of hopes and projects into the world , yet most go out with hearts full of shame and sorrow for their disappointments . but in religion , there is such a certain rule laid down in the good word of god , that whoever walks by it , peace is upon him ; say ye to the righteous it shall be well with him . mark the perfect man , and behold the vpright , for the end of that man is peace , psalm 37.37 . they that wait on the lord shall not be ashamed , because not disappointed of their hope ; but some carnal men will tell you , whatever the world is to others , yet they can say their labour is not in vain . this worldling , who hath prospered in his way , can shew you his filled bags , and tell you how many hundreds a year he puts up as clear gain into his purse . the voluptuous person will tell you stories of the many merry meetings he hath been at , months and years of pleasure he hath enjoyed ; saying with the carnal jews , these are the rewards our lovers have given us , hosea 2.12 . how then say you , that we labour upon such uncertainties ? in the second place therefore , the prize that sinners get by all their labour , it is not so much worth , as to save them from losing their labour . for first , what they have got will ere long leave them . secondly , it will deceive them . thirdly , it will damn them . first , it will leave them . it is not in the power of mans wit to devise a way , how the ambitious man should keep his honour long , except his preferment could change his nature , and make him immortal ; he is , alas , still of the same clay with other men , as he was before . the rainbow is a common watry cloud , no more durable , than the rest , though painted for a time with gayer colours . that which hath been , is named already , and it is known that it is man , eccles . 6.10 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lump of red earth , that must return ere long to his first dust . as impossible it is for the covetous man to make his estate sure to him ; his riches will make wings to themselves , though he doth not as the prodigal , make wings for them ; fly away they will , and that toward heaven also , to accuse him , and be a witness against him at the last day . if he should not see them flown from him while he lives , yet to be sure when death's gun goes off , these , and all the sinners joys , will flye away at once . and how near a step it is to death , the very heathens can tell you , by their hyroglyphick of an open eye for life , and an eye shut for death ; intimating , that death may come , ictu oculi ; mans life may be closed up , as soon as an eye can be shut : and is it not folly and madness to bestow all a mans labour , to raise the hopes of his felicity on such loose ground , where his building may fall as soon as it is up ? this made solomon hate all his labour under the sun , eccles . 2.17 . because when he had done all , he must leave all . secondly , what carnal men labour for , will deceive them . satan and the world are both very free of their promises to their vassals and servants ; all these things , will i give thee , ( said he ) if thou wilt fall down and worship me . but alas , when the promised feast comes to be served in ; it proves , as we say , nothing between two dishes : they spend their money for that which is not bread ; they labour for that which doth not profit , yea , 't is worse than nothing . for bread they have stones , for fish scorpions given them ; instead of content , they have vexation , and a sting in their conscience . hence the wicked are said , to work a deceitful work , prov. 11.18 . deceitful , because it deceiveth the worker ; would not he be deceived , who labours hard all day , in hope of a good reward at night from his master , but is then paid with nothing but a good cudgel upon his bones ? this is the reward which sinners have even in this life ; many a blow and stripe laid upon him by his conscience , which others do not see , but he feels ; he expects a paradise , but finds a purgatory , and not only so , but sometimes god testifying openly against him in his judgments . no doubt gehazi pleased himself with his plot , whereby he might get in one day , more than he was like to do in many years service of his master . oh how brave should he be , when his new cloaths were on his back ? but , alas , he did not think of that other garment of leprosie , which god would bestow on him , a garment not like others , to cover his shame , but to discover and proclaim his sin ; a garment that should last him to wear , and his children , from generation to generation . thirdly , that which the sinner labours for , will not only leave and deceive , but also everlastingly damn him ; they do not only labour for vanity , but they labour in the fire for it , habak . 2. hell fire , i am sure , will be the end of their labour ; what the apostle saith of one sort of sinners , they that will be rich , fall into temptation , and a snare , and into many foolish and hurtful lusts , which drown men in destruction and perdition , is as true of the rest . he that will have pleasures , or he that will have honour ; an heart set violently on any thing here below , that makes it his treasure to enjoy , and therefore his chief labour to obtain ; this man must needs fall into temptation , and a snare , and many foolish and hurtful lusts , which ( without gods merciful hand , snatching him out of their clutches ) are sure to drown them in eternal perdition . was shimei unwise , who by going out of his precincts to recover his run-away servants , lost his own life ? how much more folly and madness is it , by hunting after the run-away vanities of the creature , that are but thy servants to lose the life of thy soul ? cur ea quae ad usum diuturna esse non possunt , ad supplicium diuturna deposces ? why wilt thou , oh man , make that which is but temporary in the use , eternal is thy punishment ? who would crave the sweetest morsel in the world , which after the short pleasure in swallowing of it down , would cause intollerable gripes in his bowels for but a month ? and wilt thou devour that , which thou must be digesting in hell with torments , as endless as easless ? secondly , of exhortation , to all that are at present in the service of sin , to be perswaded to change your master . oh come now into the lords service , that at death you may enter into your lords joy ; enter into his vineyard now , that you may have your penny at night amongst his faithful labourers ; labour for god in this world , that you may rest with god from your labours in the other . it is said of caesar , that when he had brought his army so near rome , that they might see it before them , he bad his souldiers look upon it wishly , saying , what think you ? is not yonder brave city worth fighting for ? i have been speaking of another guess place . let me desire you to look once again up to the heavenly jerusalem , the city and chamber of the great king , where is laid up this goodly reward spoken to ; is it not worth the labouring for , and going to , though every step of the way were to be trod on points of swords ? is it not a blessed thing to behold god face to face ? to be ever with the lord ? to bathe thy self in those pleasures that are at his right hand ? to drink the wine of the kingdom , in the kingdom of heaven it self ? wilt thou lose it , as lysimachus did his worldly kingdom , by staying to drink a draught of puddle water ? the muddy pleasures of sin for a season ? long thou canst not stay here . doth it not behove thee to make sure of an house above to receive thee , when thou art turned out of thy earthly tabernacle here ? and if it doth , must thou not become his servant , do his work , or never look for his reward ? and if thou wilt do it , when mean'st thou to set about it , if not now ? heaven is won or lost here , now and ever , now or never . when death takes thee off the stage , think not to have leave to return , that thou mayst act thy part better . times loss is the most irrecoverable ; thou mayst lose thy ring , and find it again ; thy house may be burnt , and built again ; but if time be lost , that never can be recovered . death is a change , that puts into an unchangeable state , the saint into a state of bliss , the sinner into a state of misery . heaven the reward of gods labourers , and hell the wages of wicked workers and loiterers . oh think , and think again , before it be too late , what rapping there will be at heaven gate , what calling , and crying to be let in ; yea , even by those , who now , when it stands open may , and will not ; and therefore then shall have no other answer , than that of our saviour , i never knew you , depart from me , ye that work iniquity ; let him pay you , that set you on work . sinners , you think that at present you have the odds and advantage of the saints ; they are macerating themselves with fasting , while you are pampering your selves with feasting ; they are mourning for their sins , while you are pleasurably committing yours ; they are afflicted , and you are at ease ; you get the world , and they lose it . but then the tables will be turned , they will recover all their losses here , and thou lose all thy gain ; their sorrows will take leave of them , never to trouble them more ; but thy joys will be at end , and thy sorrows come in the room of them . in a word , they shall be comforted , and you tormented . 2. to the saints . walk in the view of this your reward , and make an holy improvement of it in your lives . that which is the end of our faith , viz. salvation , should be propounded as the end of all our actings , and have an influence into our whole course . finis principium est omnium operationum ; it should have the nature of a direction what to do , and of a motive to inforce , and invigorate us in all we do . as the bird is guided by its train , and the ship by its rudder , so the christian should by his end . first , therefore let this glorious reward thou seest before thee , keep thee from accepting of the rewards of sin ; let them love the reward of iniquity , that look not for a reward of righteousness . abraham would not have it said , the king of sodom made him rich , who had god for his exceeding great reward . moses , who had respect unto the recompence of the reward , despised the pleasures of sin for a season . it dishonoreth the prince , when his courtier accepts a pension from a strange , much more from an enemy prince . when we yield to any sin , we do what satan tempted christ unto , even worship and pay an homage to him . i know no argument to repel the enemy , more forcible , nor more honourable , than this ; i will not disgrace my masters service , the hopes i have from him , to borrow a reward from his enemy . some nations are wont to sight in their richest cloaths and jewels , to make them more valiant , by considering how great their loss would be , by falling into their enemies hands . certainly , satan would not so easily foil thee ( christian ) if thou didst wear the rich bracelets of the promises , and by faith put on that robe of glory , with which thou shalt ere long be clothed . how would a glorified saint scorn a motion to sin , visio beatifica impotentes facit angelos & sanctos ad peccandum . what , they sin ? the sun might sooner be pull'd out of its orb , than they out of their obedience . what , they leave the fatness and sweetness they are satiated with , for any thing that is to be got by a base sinner ? such a thought never did , nor can enter into their holy heart . and we should be more like them , in our detestation of all sin , had we more raised apprehensions of the greatness of the heavenly reward , and stronger hopes for our coming to it . secondly , let it make thee stedfast , and unmoveable , always abounding in the work of the lord. this is the improvement which our apostle makes in this place , of this very point ; there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in religion , much pressed by the apostle upon believers , to walk as becomes the gospel , as becomes saints , to walk worthy of god , worthy of our holy vocation . now this becomingness lies much in the sutableness of our present actings , to the heighth of our future hopes . when we endeavour that the properties of our actions , may correspond , and bear a resemblance to the reward expected by us . as the impression on the wax , answereth to the sculpture of the seal ; or as the port and garb of a great heir , is to the vast inheritance he shall have . now the text , ( for i go no further ) presents us with two properties of the saints reward ; certainty , and immensity . and accordingly presses this double duty , stedfastness , or unmoveableness , and abounding always in the work of the lord , as bearing a resemblance unto it . first , therefore labour to be stedfast in thy profession of the faith ; holding fast ( saith the apostle ) the faithful word , titus 1.9 . how unsutable to a faithful word , is a faithless heart ? a wavering weak faith , to a sure word ? 2 pet. 1.19 . a sceptical judgment , to a doctrine that is indubitable , and without controversie , 1 tim. 3.16 . how unbecoming is it to be off and on , hot and cold , unstable and unconstant in an holy course , when thou lookest for a kingdom that cannot be shaken ? secondly , let it make thee abounding in the work of the lord. how unsutable is it to pinch god in thy service , who is so magnificent in his reward ? how unbecoming , to think any measure enough in thy duty , when the reward promised , is without all measure ? nay , do not only abound , but be always abounding in the lords work , who will make thee always happy . alas , what is our always in abounding here ; to the always of his rewarding hereafter ? the always of our service extendeth but to the end of a short life ; but the always of the reward to an endless eternity . were there no reward at all hoped for , yet we ought ; yea , the saint would ( for his new nature inclines him thereunto ) serve his god. we see even our children , do love and obey us their parents , though some of us have no portion or inheritance to leave them ? but it superadds a further argument to a rich mans child , to make him more abundantly dutiful and diligent , to consider what a great estate his father hath ; of all which he will make him heir , though he might not ( if he pleased ) have setled any thing on him at all . thus when a saint considers , that god , who might have made a law , binding him to obedience , without making a promise to reward the same . it must needs much affect his heart , to see god in his condescending grace , and immense bounty , thus to sweeten , and facilitate his obedience , with a promise of no less reward , than of the heavenly inheritance . think , oh christian , how little the greatest service thou canst now do thy god , will in a dying hour appear to thine own thoughts . i have observed , that the best of saints , whose eminency in grace , and serviceableness in their generations , others admired , have yet themselves , upon a sick and dying bed , complained of their barrenness and unprofitableness . not bragged of their zeal , but bewailed their coldness ; not applauded themselves for what they had done , but mournfully confessed , what they had left undone ; the sense of their deficiencies , quite hiding from their eyes the sight of their eminent diligence . as that famous light in our british church , and laborious servant of christ , bishop vsher , on his dying bed , thus prayed , oh god forgive my sins of omission : who yet was admired of all that knew him , for his laborious diligence in the pulpit , and out of it also . and one reason , i humbly conceive , why the best of saints , at such an hour , are more than ever sensible of their deficiencies , is , because they then standing nearest to eternity , have higher and wider apprehensions of the majesty of god , and the immense glory of heaven ; which apprehensions must needs cause them to see the vility and nothingness of their own sanctity , and all their services ; and consequently , fill them with an holy blushing and shame , that they have done so little for god , who hath laid up so much for them ; that they have no more glorified him on earth , who hope , so soon to be glorified with him in heaven . and if the highest measures of the most fruitful saints , which have done god more service , than an hundred such as thy self , shrink into nothing , in their own eye at such a time , and leave them full of shame and sorrow for their unsutable actings , to their high and glorious hopes ; how much more will it afflict thee with unspeakable grief and sorrow in the like hour ( if thou hast a dram of sincerity in thine heart ) to remember thy more palpable negligence and barrenness . oh what then wilt thou say of thy past life , which is so thin sown with holy actions ? now thou thinkest thy self religious enough , with thy infrequent devotions ; if thou canst get to the church once in a week , and into thy closet , for a few moments , once in a day , it is well : but when thou comest to dye , thou wilt then complain , how thou hast starved thy soul , and robbed thy god of much time , which might , and ought to have been imployed in communion with him , and working out thy own salvation . now a few pence out of thy great estate , passeth for charity ; but when death comes to sweep all away at once , then thou wilt complain thou hast been a niggard of thy purse , and didst not honour god with thy substance . now though thou speakest , but once or twice in a moon of god , and heaven in thy family ; and very seldom dost catechise thy children , and that but formally , without any affection , or with little desire to affect them , with the concernment of those truths , thou instructest them in , yet thou pleasest thy self , in having done thy duty to them so well . but when death's cold sweat shall warn you of your approaching dissolution , then thou wilt bewail , that religion was so seldom the subject of thy discourse , in your family , that you did not more constantly instruct your children and servants ; and when you did , that you did not more passionately endeavour to move their affections , and draw their hearts to the love and liking of religion in its truths , and the practice of them . thirdly , improve the hope thou hast for this reward , to make thee live above this present world . truly , thou mayst well be content with a little here , who lookest for so much hereafter . if the labourer hath but meat and drink at his work , he asketh no more , but stays willingly for the rest till night , when he is to receive his wages . if thou hast food and rayment here , and heaven at the end , doth not god deal well with thee ? oh , 't is for want of faith in the promise , and activity in our hope , to exercise it self on this blessed object , that we are so having and craving after the things of this world , and so dissatisfied with our portion here . we read of solomon , that he made silver to be in jerusalem , as stones , & cedars as the sycomore trees , 1 kings 10.27 . the christian might do more , had he a lively faith and hope ; he might make all this worlds glory , pleasures , and treasures , to be but as dirt and dung in his valuation , from what he expects to be preferred to , within a while in heaven . and he is the happier man , that can live above the world , than he that swims in all its abundance . it is for want of better metal , that leather and copper are stamped for coin ; and for want of faith , or exercising it on the promise , that we set too high a price of the things of this world . this would , and nothing else can take off our hearts from present things . our affections are too great a stream to be dryed up ; but turned , they may be , into another chanel ; and truly , the world is too narrow a chanel to contain them : but here is roomth enough , and more than enough for them all ; here is a place of broad-water , no fear of wanting sea-room . if we would launch out into the meditation of this blessed place , oh how should we find our hearts inflamed with longing desires to be there , and no more envy the carnal world , for what we leave them here to enjoy , than you would the swine his swill , if you were going to feast at a princes table ; which minds me of the next particular . fourthly , improve this glorious reward to reconcile death to thy thoughts , and make thee rather desire , than fear to be dissolved . many were the arguments , which the philosophers , among the heathens mustered up , to expel the fear of this king of terrors ; but the wisest of them were baffled in all their attempts therein . as it is said of cicero , a little before his death , that he confessed the remedies , which he had prepared against this enemy , proved , he knew not how , but too weak and feeble for that purpose . and one was bold to tell plato , when he spake much of the contempt of death , fortius loqueris , quàm vivis ; that he spoke higher than he lived ; and no wonder , if we consider , in how dark a light they saw the existence of a future state ; and much more , at what a loss they were for finding the right way which leads to the happiness of it . neither do i wonder , that any wicked man under the gospel , should be terrified at an approaching death , and go down to the grave , as , they say , bears go down an hill , backward ; afraid to see , or think of that state they are going into . for the more any knows of heaven , without a well grounded hope of arriving there , the greater must his dread needs be . he that increaseth knowledge here , will be sure to increase his sorrow ; but why any of the people of god , that have a hope of heaven , should not in some measure overcome the prevalency , at least of this fear of death , is strange ; and , indeed , casts a reproach upon christianity . the turks ( i have heard ) some of them should say ; they did not think christians believed there was an heaven , because they saw them so loth to go to it . labour christian , to wipe of this reproach , which these infidels cast upon our religion . first , look thou buildest thy hope of heaven , deep , and strong , upon a good ground ; which is regenerating grace , ( for a dead soul , cannot have a lively hope ) then labour to hold fast the rejoycing of thy hope unto the end , to which it would much conduce , to preserve a right notion of death in thy thoughts . what else ( christian ) is death to thee , but what jordan was to the israelites ? a passage from an howling wilderness , of a sinful miserable world , where thou hast been pinched with wants , and stung with fiery temptations , to a land of promise , where is safety to security , and fullness to felicity : where thou wilt find the absence of nothing , but sin and sorrow . look upon it , as the uncovering of the ark of thy body , wherein thou hast been tossed and tumbled sorely upon the waves of a restless life , to set thee on shore on heavens firm and peaceable land. is the betrothed spouse afraid of her marriage day ? or a prince loth to cross a narrow sea , to take possession of a wide kingdom , and a rich crown , that wait only for his coming ? no ( christian ) fear not thou death , but rather let thy heart revive with old jacobs , at the sight of this wagon or chariot , which is sent to bring thee over to thy heavenly fathers house . fifthly , let it moderate your sorrow , for the death of your pious friends , and useful instruments in their generations . indeed , the loss of such is great , to those that are left behind ; and therefore god allows us to mourn , when such breaches are made upon us ; but withal , he sets bounds to our sorrow , that we sorrow not even as others , which have no hope , nor mourn so as to refuse to be comforted ; to take our own loss so to heart , as not to rejoyce in their gain : is this thy kindness to thy friends ? wouldst thou have them labour , and never rest ? work , and never receive their reward ? they could not have had these here , but they have them where they are gone . oh be not unkind to them , by being over-kind to your selves . if ye loved me , ye would rejoice , ( saith our saviour to his disciples ) because i said i go to the father , joh. 16.28 . as if he had said to them , you are indeed ( my disciples ) too selvish . you think what you shall lose if i depart hence , but you do not consider , what i should lose , by my staying here : you see the poor condition i live in here on earth , and know the royalty and glory i am going to be possessed of in heaven ; and are you unwilling i should be advanced to my throne there ; and that after i shall have finished the work of your redemption here ? truly you are unkind , and shew but little love , in this , to me , your dear lord and saviour . nor do we express much love to our deceased friends , of whose happy change we have no reason to doubt , if their incomparable advantage doth not make us more rejoyce for them , than our loss , make us mourn for our selves . if we be , as they were , ( sincere and faithful christians ) our loss is but short ; ere long we shall recover it , by being taken up to them ; they are not lost , but gone a little before , whither the rest of their brethren , ere long , shall be called . and while we are left here behind , we have a god to live upon , who cannot dye , who will not leave us , and whose presence is sufficient to compensate , i trow , the absence , not of one , but all our friends . would elkanah be thought better to his barren wife , than ten sons ? may not god then look his children , when bereaved of any creature comforts , should count the having him better , yea , infinitely better than them all . let therefore every saint , in this , and all other bereavements , solace himself with this of david , psalm 18.46 . the lord liveth , and blessed be my rock , and let the god of my salvation be exalted . it is expected , i know , that i should now speak something of that noble ( and without offence , i hope , i may say ) elect lady ; the solemnization of whose funeral , occasioned this our sorrowful meeting ; which should i not do , without doubt , i should send you all away , very much dissatisfyed . but far be it from me , that i should by my silence , put her light ( now she is dead ) under a bushel , which shined , before all your eyes , so radiently , while she was alive , even as a great candle , on an high candlestick . it was said of john baptist , all men counted john , that he was a prophet indeed . and i am perswaded , that all who knew her , esteemed the lady vere a christian indeed . truly , if we may not think so of her , we shall be at a great loss to find such characters , by which we may judge any at all to be so . i shall begin to speak of her , where she her self began to be , her birth , i mean , and parentage , from which she had her extraction . and this was high and ancient on both sides . for by her mothers side , she sprang from the chief of the throg-mortons family ; and by the fathers side , was extracted of the ancient family of the tracies , at todington in gloucester-shire . she was the youngest of fifteen children ; born on the eighteenth day of may , anno 1581. being the 23. of queen elizabeth . her mother dyed three days after she was born ; and her father , when she was but eight years old . thus soon was she an orphan ; but , indeed , they only are orphans , who have no father in heaven . when her father and her mother thus forsook her , the lord took her up . the many experiences she had all along her life , of gods most tender care over her , occasioned her to chuse this for her motto ( which is found written by her , in the front of most of her books in her closet ) god will provide . she took much delight in speaking of one of her ancestors , as one of the greatest honours to her family . william tracy of toddington , esquire , mentioned by mr. fox in his martyrology , who in the reign of king henry the eighth , for the sound profession of his faith , made by him in his last will and testament , was after his decease , condemned to have his body taken out of the ground and burnt ; which sentence , accordingly was executed . she was twice married ; to mr. william hobby , her first husband , at nineteen years of age , by whom she had two sons , which were religiously educated by her ; the happy fruit of this her care , she reaped at their pious deaths ( for they both went young to heaven ) the younger dyed in the fourteenth year of his age ; the elder in his three and twentieth , much admired for his parts , and loved for his piety . her second husband was , sir horace vere , afterward baron of tilbury ; so noble and excellent a person , that i must not name him without some honourable reflection ; one whose coat armour made more renowned , than his coat of arms ; and his personal atchievements in the field , ennobled more , than the high blood he borrowed from his ancestors . but his piety gave him the highest character of all ; by the other he got a great name , like unto the great men , that are in the earth ; but by this he obtained a good name . and even tacitus , the roman historian , prefers a praise from goodness , before that which is obtained by greatness . and therefore speaking of a noble roman , saith , he was , inter claros potiùs quàm inter bonos censendus . this noble lord was one , who could wrestle with god , as well as fight with men ; and may be thought to have got his victories upon his knees in his closet , before he drew his sword in the field . and when he had overcome his enemies , he could overcome himself also ; being one of the humblest souls , in whom so much true worth lodged , that i have heard of . his good lady would say , she honoured him for his valour , but most , for the grace of god which shined in him . thus she did , coruscare radiis mariti , shined by the rays of her husbands excellencies ; but not only with these , for she had radient beams of her own , by which she cast like honour upon him , as she received from him . so happily was this noble couple suited , us in the high extraction of both their births , so also in the rest of their accomplishments , that they mutually illustrated each the others honour . but passing by all her secular prerogatives , we shall now present her to you , in some of her spiritual excellencies . these , indeed , give the intrinsick value to a person . he that would take the true height of of a man , must not measure him with the vantage-ground he stands on . i may say of this gracious lady , what nehemiah said of another noble person in his time ; she was a faithful woman , and feared god above many . some are so prodigiously wicked , that they seem to have wedded the vices of many others . but this good lady may be said to have collected the excellencies of many other christians . in her you might have seen these various graces , which grow to an eminency , but severally in others , met altogether in one knot ; i shall speak of a few . first , the fear of the great god , was very great in her ; wonderful tender she was of offending him . she hath been often heard to say , and that solemnly ; oh , i would not sin against my god. she professed , that she dreaded hell most , as a place where god was blasphemed . oh pretious saint , to dread hells sin , more than hells fire . secondly , her zeal to the worship of god , was eminent . first , to the publick , this was evidenced many ways . first , by her zeal , to get able and faithful ministers for those livings she had in her dispose ; and by improving her utmost interest , to procure the like for this parish , where she resided , in its several vacancies . and herein the noble patron , did most kindly gratifie her with the choice , deeply obliging , not only her honour , but the whole town thereby ; so that you in this place , have lived in a goshen of gospel light for a long season ; and are able also to tell , how comfortably she spake to those that taught the good word of the lord amongst you . what countenance , and real encouragement she gave them in the lords work , without sparing her purse to do it . secondly , by her constant attendance on the publick worship , so long as the lord vouchsafed her any health : yea , she did not only attend on it her self , but was careful that her family should do the same with her . they that would not serve god with her , were no servants for her . thirdly , she was no less devout in , than constant at the publick worship . she durst not trifle with holy things , which made one ( in this respect ) say of her , that this lady , by her solemn and reverent deportment in divine worship , would make one believe that there is a god indeed . as for the sacrament of the lords supper , which is so dismally neglected by many ; her desires were most ardent to partake of it frequently , saying , ( as the minister of the place informed me ) that she durst not neglect , no , not any one opportunity , that was offered for the enjoying this sacred ordinance . and , oh , how intent was she in preparation for it ? the whole preceding week was taken up by her for that work ; in which , she would always have a private fast with her family , or a secret one in her closet . was not this one that meant to go to heaven in good earnest ? secondly , the private worship of god. let us follow her from the church , to her own house , and we shall find , that she brought her religion and devotion home with her , and did not leave them in her pue behind her , till she returned to it again the next sabbath . some can complement god almighty , before their neighbours , on the sabbath , but care not to acquaint with god at home all the week after . but if ever any privite dwelling , might be called a chappel or little sanctuary , her house was such . there you might find her , and her family , twice every day , upon their knees , solemnly worshipping the great god ; there you might see them , humbly sitting , at his feet , to hear his most holy word read unto them ; concluding constantly their evening service , with singing one of davids psalms . what strangers soever were present , there was no putting by , or adjoyning the worship of god to a more convenient season . on the lords day , you might hear the sermons preached in publick , repeated to the family , the servants called to give an account before her , or what they remembred , the high praises of god sounded forth by the whole family together . after supper again , you might hear the servants in their room , exercising themselves in the same heavenly duty of singing psalms . and no sooner did the good lady hear them strike up , but away she would go to joyn with them in that duty . follow her up the stairs , there you should be sure to find her , twice every day , shut up some hours in her closet ( which was excellently furnished with pious books of practical divinity ) here she redeemed much pretious time , in reading the holy scriptures , and other good books , that might give her further light into them , and help to put more heat into that light she had obtained . here she poured out her devout soul , with such fervours of spirit in prayer , as could not be hid ( sometimes ) from those her maidens , whose occasions drew them , at any time , near her closet dore ; and yet are we not at an end of this good ladies devotions ; for every night she would , her self , pray with her maidens , before she went to bed . and now , is it any wonder , she grew so rich in grace , who drove so great , and constant a trade in the means of grace , and had so many ways to bring her in spiritual gains ? thirdly , her love to god ( besides what already hath been said ) did many ways make it self evident to be of an high degree . first , the mournful complaints she would make , that she could love god no more ; the reason of which indeed was , because she loved him so much . therefore she thought she loved him so little , because she knew she could never love him enough . the truth is , she had such raised apprehensions of gods glorious excellency , as caused her to think her highest affections unworthy of him . none , indeed , that have such high apprehensions of the divine greatness and goodness , can love him little , or think their love , when most , to be great . secondly , the vehement desires , and longings , she had to be gone hence , that she might be with christ . she was one of those very few christians , which stood in need of old mr. dods use of exhortation ; which i have heard he would make to the saints , in his preaching : that they would he content and patient , though they were not taken up to heaven so soon as they desired . this good man ( who was one of the most heavenly souls that this age knew ) finding to do this , was something difficult in his own soul , thought it was ordinary for others to do the like ; whereas ( god knows ) most christians , are of a lower form in christs school , prone rather to linger too much here , than to be too hasty of going hence ; so that they need rather spur than bridle , and ministers have more reason to take hold of them , with the strongest arguments they can find , to draw them out of the love of this world ( as the angels did lot out of sodom ) than to make them willing to continue here . but this gracious lady , knew so much of heaven , as made her stay here tedious to her : the earnest option of her soul was , come lord jesus , come quickly . she found to her great grief , that her imperfect state on earth , made it impossible to serve god here as she would , and therefore did wonderfully complain she was unprofitable and unserviceable ; and this deep sence of her unserviceableness ( while others admired her fruitfulness and usefulness ) did still increase her desires to be , where all these infirmities would be cured , and where she knew her ability should fully correspond to the height of her desires she had to serve and glorifie her god. thirdly , her love to the saints , who are born of god , and have his lively image stamped upon them . this in scripture , is made one of the fairest evidences for our love to god. every one that loveth the father that begat , loveth him that is begotten , 1 john 5.1 . a man may love the child , and not love his father ; but he cannot love him , because he is his child , and because he is like his father , but he must needs love his father . yea love him first and most , because his love to the child , springs from his love to the father . this good lady then , was a great lover , doubtless , of god himself , because she had so dear an affection to his children . she did not praise the dead saints , and persecute the living ; she did not pretend love to those that lived far from her , but shewed kindness to them that lived near her : she did not factiously love some of one party , and reproach those of another . in a word , she did not love the saints in an equality with others , from a natural tenderness , which disposeth some to be kind to all , good and bad ; but her love was a spiritual , cordial , special , and uniform love to them . where-ever she saw any thing of god , her love was drawn out towards them , and had the most love for those , that discovered most of god ; she loved them so , as to delight in converse and communion with them ; yea , and the chief of her charity was extended to them . as for the faithful ministers of christ , whose function lifts them above private christians , few ever exceeded her , in loving and honouring of them ; yea , she loved first the ministry , and then the ministers ; professing seriously , the great love and high esteem she had for them , was for their dear masters sake , whose embassadours they were . so that what i have heard concerning her worthy son-in-law , in norfolk , sir roger townsend , that for his love to the ministry , he got the title of being called , deliciae cleri , the ministers delight ; may be truly given to her . fourthly , her works of charity were remarkable , upon manifold accounts . first , the largeness of her charity , so great indeed it was , that it may well be admired , how this tree should not long ago have killed it self with over-bearing . the trees in our orchards yield their fruit but once a year , taking so long a time to be put in heart for bearing again . but her charity was dropping fruit all the year long . many ways it diffused it self ; she had silver for the moniless aliment for the hungry , medicaments for the sick , salves for the wounded . abundance of good she did this way , in town and country ; she did not only give , but devised liberal things . if her servants knew of any that were in great need , and did not tell her of it , she would ( when by otherways she heard thereof ) be very angry with them . it hapned , that an honest poor neighbour dyed , before she knew he was sick , for which being troubled , she asked her servant , whether he had wanted in his sickness , saying , with some earnestness , i tell you , i had rather part with my gown from my back , than the poor should want . secondly , in the prime objects of her charity , she cast her seed upon all sorts of ground , but especially on gods enclosure . the houshold of faith , had her fullest handfulls ; to such she never thought she gave enough . thirdly , her secresie in giving . when it might be , she did not give her charity , as some throw their money into a basin at a collection , so that it rings again , but it fell like oyl into a vessel , without noise . fourthly , her self-denying spirit in all this ; she was no merit-monger ; good lady , she never thought to purchase land in heaven , with the money she gave on earth . she was no merchant to sell her charity , but a faithful steward , acknowledging , what she gave , was not her own , but her lords money ; she was , notwithstanding all her charity , carried out to a naked christ , desiring to be found alone in him , and his righteousness , as earnestly , as if she had not done one good work in all her life . hear this , oh ye papists , and be ashamed for your notorious slander ; who would make the world believe , that protestant religion , is too cold a soil for charity to thrive in . behold here , a protestant dorcas , full of good works , and alms-deeds . though she had no opinion of merit to cherish the root of her charity , from which much of yours comes , had not hope of expiating some foul crimes , or conceit of meriting heaven , been at the bottom of the charity of many in your church , it may be believed , the first stone had this day been to be laid in some of your goodly hospitals and churches also . fifthly , her sincerity . this was as her under garment , which she wore nearest to her , and gave excellency to all her other graces . many notable testimonies there were for this in her . first , the uniformity of her holy walking ; her religion was not like a drift snow , which lyeth thick in one place , and leaves the ground bare in another ; the hypocrite hath some naked plot in his conversation , that renders him suspicious ; you may perswade him with herod , to do many things , but never make him with saint paul , willing in all things to live honestly . but in this good ladies conversation , one part corresponded admirably with another ; an happy symmetry appeared in her whole course , towards god and man , abroad , and also at home , among her domestick relations , those that lived constantly with her , who saw her ( as we are wont to say ) hot and cold , in her night-cloaths , as well as when dressed to go abroad . few , i believe , have had an higher testimony for piety , from those that have lived near , and long with them , than she hath from all that dwelt under her roof . secondly , the great freedom she gave her friends in speaking to her , of what they saw amiss in her ; she was wont much to applaud the priviledge of having a faithful friend , saying , others might see more by us , than we by our selves ; she would also say , 't is a great mercy to be convinced of any sin . thirdly , her faith , which was wont to be then strongest , when death appeared nearest . like that great souldier i have read of , who would tremble every joynt , whilst his armour was putting on in his tent , but without all fear , when he engaged in the battel . a little more than a twelve-month since , she fell into a long swound , which lasted about half an hour , without any visible hopes of her recovery ; but as soon as she came again to her self , she said , i know my redeemer liveth ; and being conveighed to her chamber , there , again , i know whom i have trusted : an hypocrites hope is compared , to the giving up the ghost , job 11.20 . and in this particular not unlike . as a dying man , his breath grows shorter and shorter , till at the last it is quite puffed out ; so commonly the hypocrites hope lesseneth , as death grows nearer , and commonly expires , before the man himself doth . sixthly , her humility . this we may call her upper garment , with which she strived to cover her other excellencies , though their beauty was rendered the more conspicuous and amiable , by casting this veil over it . grace , indeed , is like an oyntment , which the closer it is held in a mans hand , the more strongly it sends forth his sweet scent . oh how meanly did she think of her self ? she saw not how her own face shined , while others beheld and admired . ever complaining she was useless , and unprofitable , and did no good . never spake she of her perfections , but frequently other imperfections and unworthiness ; yea , she would often say , i abhor my self , indeed i do . how easie of access , for the meanest to come into her presence ? how affable , courteous , and lowly to the poorest ? many times , when her very servants had done a business well , she had set them about , she would say i thank you , to them . the law of kindness was in her tongue , to whomsoever she spake . i have but a word or two to speak of her gracious behaviour in her last sickness , and i shall say no more of this honourable person ; her pains was strong , but her patience stronger ; never was she heard to mutter , or utter any repining word ; but justified god in all his proceedings with her . yea more , she was much in admiring and blessing god for his mercies , in her acutest pains and greatest agonies . how doth this blessed soul now carol forth the praises of god in heaven ? who could sing them so sweetly , while these sharp thorns were at her breast ? that could keep her heart in tune for this high note , in her greatest bodily pains and dolours ? she was not without assaults from satan : it were strange indeed , if he should not have considered this pretious servant of christ , and not offered her some disturbance at this time , whom he had found so great and old an enemy to him , and his kingdom of darkness ; but he came only to be beaten back with shame , and to add more trophies to all her former victories over him . the last words which , i find , were observed to be spoken by her , ( before a sleeping lethargy seised on her poor spent body , ( which in two days carried her off the stage of this life ) were , how shall i do to be thankful ? how shall i do to praise my god ? thus she ended her life here , in the exercise of that duty , which was to be her constant endless work in that life she was now entring into . i have done speaking of this elect lady , and have now only some reflections to make from what i have said on her , upon our selves . first , let us all be stirred up to give god the praise of those his graces , which he so abundantly poured into this elect vessel ; her light hath shined very radiently before most of your eyes , her good works you have seen , and many of you been refreshed by them ; now glorifie your father which is in heaven ; think it not enough to go home and say , she was a good lady , a pretious christian indeed ; but as your eye passeth through the air , and stayeth not till it terminateth on the sun ; so let your thoughts not stay in the admiring other perfections , but pass from her , and fix upon god the donor , and father of all these good and perfect gifts . say not only , she was a good lady , but oh how good and gracious is god , to fill such a poor earthen vessel , with so much of his heavenly treasure . again , let us bless god , who hath so happily finished her course , and delivered her from the snares and miseries of this evil world . the souls of the deceased saints , are above our praying for them , being at rest in a glorified state ; they are beneath our praying to them , being still but creatures in heaven , though glorified ; but they may , and ought to be the subjects of our thanksgiving unto god. this is a duty , therefore , the greater , because it is for the greatest of mercies , that which crowns the whole series of gods gracious past providences to them . if you think your selves engaged to bless god for your friends , whom god hath brought safe home to you , after a long and dangerous journey , or recovered out of a perillious sickness ? how much more then should we be thankful , to see any of our godly friends , carried safe to the end of this great journey , and landed at their heavenly fathers house ? not recovered from a sickness , which is but an adjournment to death ; but to have shot deaths gulf , and to be set everlastingly above it ? secondly , let the radient excellencies that were in her , humble us for her deficiencies . a coorse piece of cloth , never appears to coorse , as when laid by a fine ; nor a dwarff so low , as when set by one that is tall . how may her knowledge in the scriptures , shame the ignorance of many of us ? her awful fear of god , the little reverence we have of the divine majesty ? her zeal for god , our coldness ? her reverence in the worship of god , the rudeness of many , who behave themselves therein , as if god almighty , and they were fellows ? her charitable spirit , and large heart , whereby she concerned her self in the wants and miseries of others , the narrow and selfish spirits of many ? who like the hedghog , wrap themselves up in their own soft wool , and turn out bristles to all others . or , who say with that fat monk , stroking his own filled paunch , if it be well here , all is well ; though others be shithering with cold , pining with hunger . how may her humility , which hid so great excellencies in her , from her own observance , put them to the blush , that are puffed up with their poor pittance of gifts or graces ? much more , those who are swelled with a fancy of having that , which none can see they have . in a word , how may her patience , under great afflictions , reproach the murmurings of many , when they feel but a little smart from a gentle correction ? as if they would turn again upon god , and snatch the rod out of his hand ? i might say , i fear too many , that seem here to mourn for the loss of this good lady , as christ to the jews , weep not for her , but wee for your selves , that you are so unlike to what she was . thirdly , let the high measures of grace , this pretious servant of god attained to , encourage all weak christians to press forward , after further degrees of grace . sit not still for shame , at the bottom of this hill , when you see how high she got in grace and godliness . she hath not drawn up the ladder after her ; take her course , tread in her steps , and by gods blessing , though thou mayst not come to her pitch here , yet thou shalt have far more than now thou hast . she did not grow thus rich in grace , with idleness and sloth , but by gods blessing on her diligence , in the use of means . she did not become so eminent by proudly thinking her self so to be , but by humility , and poverty of spirit . many had been better , if they had not thought themselves to be better than they were . fourthly , a word to you that had the priviledge to live in her family : for gods sake look to your selves ; happy you , if the holy example you had in her , and extraordinary means of grace you enjoyed under her roof , have had a kindly and powerful effect in you ; if they have produced a serious resolution for an holy life . but wo be to you , that shall bring a prophane and wicked spirit out of such a pious family ; think seriously , how sad it will be , to live so near heaven in this world , as there you did , and at last to miss of heaven in the other . fifthly , to those that are priviledged with noble birth , or gentile extraction , learn from this lady ; the best way in the world , to make the tribute of honour , which is your due , surely and chearfully to be payed you ; take but the same course that this gracious lady , and noble lord her husband did , and i dare promise , you shall obtain it . labour to be good , and to do good , be not afraid , or ashamed to be religious ; own god in his holy ways , and holy ones ; and then you shall be honoured of all , but by those that refuse to honour god himself : and who would accept of honour at their hands , who rob god of his ? you have the word of god for this , them that honour me , i will honour , 1 sam. 2.30 . by humility , and the fear of the lord , are riches , and honour , and life , prov. 22.4 . a place of scripture , which god fulfilled , remarkably , in the deceased lady . it fareth with gentlemens honours , as it doth with tradesmens wares , which while they are made true and good , their price keeps up in the market ; but when they are made with little care , and of bad stuff , then it falls , and they hardly go off . oh defile not your honours by any debaucheries ; dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto , saith salvian . what pity is it a scarlet cloak should be sopt in a swill tub ? the corruption of the best is the worst . i do not clear those of sin , who do not give him the honour due to his title and place , that is unworthy of them ; but methinks , that those whom god hath left so high in dignity above others , should consider , that it is their duty , and wisdom also , to shun all that may lead their inferiours into this temptation . how can he be free to complain of others , denying him his honour , who by his own prophaneness and wickedness , casts more dishonour on himself , than any other can do ? to be dishonourable , is worse than to be dishonoured , as much as a sin is worse , than an affliction . the good and pious , are sometimes dishonoured by those that are wicked , even for that which is their highest honour ; but it is sin and wickedness that makes a person dishonourable , as also it doth a nation , prov. 14.35 . but sin is a reproach to any people . finis . an epitaph on the right honourable , and religious , the lady vere , wife to the most noble , and valiant lord horatio vere , baron of tilbury , who dyed , decemb. 25. 1671. in the 90 year of her age. beneath this marble stone doth lye wonder of age , and piety . so old , so good ; 't was hard to say which striving in her won the day , or had most power to bow her down , her age , or her devotion . her piety made the world confess old age no bar to fruitfulness . her age again so wondrous great , prov'd piety never out of date . well may she then a wonder go , when as , to prove her to be so , the two grand topicks do agree , both scripture and antiquity . thus was she like ( none ever more ) that widow of above fourscore , who serving god both day and night , at last of jesus gat a sight . nay still , like her , in temple , she her saviour waits , once more to see . on her sleeping three days together , before she dyed . deaths brother , sleep , her senses ty'd three days , and then she waking dy'd . sleep was the essay of death's cup , which first she sipt ; then drank all up . thus swimmers first with foot explore the gelid stream , then venture o're . thus martyr , for a tryal , first into the fire his finger thrust , to snip a pattern of the flame , then clothes his body with the same . thus spies to canaans land are sent , to view the countries e're they went. sleep was the mask , in which she saw the promis'd land , incognita . which done , she only wak't , to tell by-standers , that she lik't it well . then , reader , if thou wonder'st at her three days sleep ; remember that three days to view the triple-heaven , ( one day spent in each court ) makes even . but , reader , when thou think'st upon her third days resurrection , if thou' rt amaz'd , wonder no more : her saviour did so before . on her dying just on the day of christ's nativity . long time she sleeping lay , but could not dye until the day of christs nativity . no wonder then she slept and slumbered ; it was because the bridegroom tarried . on her nobility . noble herself , more noble , ' cause so near to the thrice noble , and victorious vere . that belgick lyon , whose loud fame did roar , heard from the german to the british shoar . his trophies she was joyntur'd in . ( so say the lawyers ) wives shine by their husbands ray. see therefore now , how by his side she stands , triumphing midst the graves , those netherlands . rather in heaven . those only we confess , are truly call'd , th' vnited provinces . charles darby , rector of kediton in suffolk . vpon the death of the right honourable , lady mary vere . what marble heart can chuse but drop a tear , at the sad funeral of the lady vere ! whose death 's a publick loss ? our spring is dry that many an empty cistern did supply . god deckt her heaven-born soul with gems divine of various lustre , which did make her shine that all that stood about her saw the light ; she made it day , even in the darkest night . her bounteous hand , and truly noble heart did noble gifts to multitudes impart . she was a flowing spring , a mine of treasure . to serve her lord , and do good , was her pleasure . pattern of goodness , and a pillar too , a few such losses might the world undo . she gave her self to christ with heart and might , and was with him in spirit day and night ; and when his festival began on earth , but kept in heaven with purer joy and mirth . she longed to be there , which made her sing her nunc dimittis , and her soul took wing , to sing her carol among those that are without temptation , fault , offence , or jar . but when arriv'd , no mortal can declare what joys in heaven ; & what welcomes are for this devoted saint ; whilst here on earth we mix sin with our songs , tears with our mirth . she 's gone , but never perish shall her name , her works abide to eternize her fame . anagr. verè mira . mirrour of blessings ! for what tongue can tell , for grace and greatness where 's her parallel . edward thomas . in obitum nobilissimae lectissimaeque heroinae , mariae , illustrissimi fortissimíque ducis horatii vere baronis de tilbury , viduae , carmen epitaphium . nobilitas tibi vera fuit , prudentia vera ; vera tibi pietas , & tibi vera fides . vera dei cultrix fueras , & vera mariti : quaeque nitent , aderant omnia vera tibi . acciderit tandem quòd mors tibi vera , dolendum : excepto hoc , dete singula vera juvant . simon ford. s. t. d. on the death of the right honourable , and truly religious , the lady vere . marie vere ever i arme . a tribute who can here pretend to pay , but he who hath to spend whole indies of refined ore , ready to bring out of his store , which after all will prove to be too mean , yea bankrupt beggary . see name , relation , sate of grace do march in correspondent pace , daring all enemies to withstand her generous soul , or countermand , its resolution ne're to yield , but still to fight , and win the field . ever i arm , and so do wait my captains word , on foes deceit , or when he musters up his strength , hoping to vanquish me at length , yet then i faint not , but being arm'd through grace i stood and was not harm'd . here , here 's a she maintain'd the fight , remained conqueress in despight of all his forces , till at last praises and thanks were her repast ; thus faith , and hope , and patience , triumphant rode i' th' chariot hence . but how sounds this ever i arm suiting a lady once i' th' arm , of such general whose story embalms our nations dying glory ; embroiders records with his name , out-bids the narrow mouth of fame . gurnall display thy magazine , here thy whole armour may be seen bright and well us'd , well buckled on , a cuiraseer , who having won many a battel , now receives the crown which her great captain gives . maria vere jam re vera . jam re vera feror super astra , beata triumpho , expectansque diu spesque fidesque satur . anthony withers . on the much lamented death , of the worthy of all memory , the right honourable , the lady vere . through floods of tears my muse did wade , to seek these mourners , and this shade : that she , poor heart ! might sit and tell , a grief defrauding parable . if in the dark she chuse to walk , or with ambages mar her talk ; or too slow paces seems to go ; admit close mourner so to do . if speech , or memory , do fail , or if , perchance , she wear her veil , a day , a size or two too long ; wink at small faults in mourners song . unto a noble favourite , from holy land , by his own sp'rite , the king of glory , and renown , sent a choice jewel of his crown . a casket first he did prepare , wherein to put this jewel rare : then this large token of his love , he dropt into it from above . it was a cur'ous artifice ; of all brave works the master-piece ; most worthy of that skilful hand , which form'd all things on sea and land. it s substance was more pure than gold : more worth than thousands , though twice told . for kind the best , of fittest size ; which much in little did comprize . it in form a heart resembl'd , a single heart , that ne're dissembl'd ; a broken heart , that often trembl'd , a bleeding heart , most deeply humbl'd . upon the table of this heart , not in proportion , but in part ; the graver by divine impress , set th' image of his holiness . in it twelve pretious stones were set , ( none such in princes coronet ) in lovely order , and in place ; by three , and three , with goodly grace . i' th' first row faith , hope , charity ; next temperance , vertue , purity ; then meekness , kindness , verity ; i' th' last , love , zeal , and constancy . i' th' midst there stood a massy thing , fit for a royal spouses ring ; humility men did it call , this was the gracing grace of all . repentant tears , to pearls converted , in the borders stood well sorted : where they in greatness , and in show , in goodness too , did daily grow . in early times it took a fall , and thereby lost its graces all ; it fell into a lothsom lake , which did it foul and filthy make . yet a great prince did not disdain , to take it up and ope ' a vein in his own side , and with pure blood wash off the soyl , and make it good . this fall its glory did impair , this friend its breaches did repair ; ' cause mending would not serve , he knew , he melted , moulded , made it new . then like a glorious sun it shin'd , with rays most bright , enough to blind , presumptuous eyes which turn'd that way , to see what 't was out shin'd the day . this jem the owner of his grace , most freely lent us for the space , of somewhat more than ninety years ; so long this pendant deck't our ears . but now , alas ! for non-payment of tribute praise , an easie rent , it 's fetch'd away in great displeasure . oh what 's the loss of such a treasure ? put off thy vizard mask my muse , and don't our patience still abuse ; nor expectation higher raise : but name the person thou dost praise . content , for sure i am too blame , so long to smother that great name , which in all countries where it came , was crown'd with honour and with fame . the noble soul described here , was one to god , and man most dear ; who in devotion had no peer , the great good lady mary vere . epitaph . the casket of this jewel rare , with deep laments we here interre in hallow'd ground , which yet grows proud , of purer earth to be the shroud . and thou fair shrine , in whose close womb , this holy relick we intomb ; preserv't with care , and on it try what may be done by chimistry . that when the trump saith , dead arise , thou mayst send forth thy wealthy prize ; ev'ry particle well calcin'd , and every dust double refin'd . richard howlett . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a42350-e360 non maeremus quòd talem amisimus , sed gratias agimus , quòd habuimus , imò habemus deo enim vivunt omnia , & quicquid revertitur ad dominum , in familiae numero computatur . epist . 27. epitaph paulae matris . minimè quidem deus est acceptor personarum : nescio tamenquo pacto , virtus in nobili plus placet ; an fortè quia plus claret ? epist . cxiii . ad sophiam virginem . quid in illâ virtutum , quid ingenii , quid sanctitatis , quid puritatis invenerim ; vereor dicere , ne fidem credulitatis excedam . hieron . ep. 16. ad princip . virg. this letter was writ , an. dom. 1628. notes for div a42350-e1040 heb. 6.2 . acts. rom. 6.8 . numb . 13.30 . numb . 14.31 . mic. 3. 1 john 5.3 . hebr. 11.1 . eph. 2. heb. 6.17 . heb. 1.14 . 1 sam. 16.11 . rev. 21.7 . psal . 17.15 . psal . 55.19 . psal . 19.11 . psal . 34.8 . rom. 6.21 . gal. 6. isa . 3.10 . psal . 57.37 . prov. 25.5 . jam. 5.3 . mar. 11.32 . 2 sam. 2.19 . nehem. 7.2 . mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may the 30th and was interr'd at felstead in essex, june the 9th 1659 / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45557 of text r19289 in the english short title catalog (wing h735). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 69 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45557 wing h735 estc r19289 12398524 ocm 12398524 61222 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45557) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61222) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 941:4) mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may the 30th and was interr'd at felstead in essex, june the 9th 1659 / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [8], 28 p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford ..., london : 1659. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng warwick, robert rich, -earl of, 1587-1658. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a45557 r19289 (wing h735). civilwar no mans last journey to his long home a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of warwick, who died in london, may hardy, nathaniel 1659 10389 16 75 0 0 0 0 88 d the rate of 88 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2004-07 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mans last journey to his long home : a sermon preached at the funerals of the right honourable robert earl of vvarvvick ; who died in london , may the 30th and was interr'd at felstead in essex , june the 9th 1659. by nath. hardy , preacher to the parish of st. dionys. backchurch . ec. 1 . 1. man geetg to his long home , and the mourners go about the streets . psal. 1. 1 , 7. i have said you are gods , — but ye shall die like men . — aug. l. de nat. & grat. si de divitiis , & honoribus , & morum nobilitate jactas , de patria , & pulchritudine corporis , & honoribus , qui tibi ab hominibus exhibentur , respice teipsum , qui mortalis terra & in rerram ibis . london , printed by a. m. for joseph cranford , at the sign of the castle and lion in st pauls church-yard . 1659. to the right honourable charles earl of warwick , and baron of leeze . my lord : this plain discourse occasioned by the late funerals of your noble brother , was then preached and is now published by your honours desire , which shall ever have with me the authority and efficacy of a command . since i am sure it was not any thing extraordinary in the sermon which might enduce you to desire the impression of it , i have good reason to believe it was upon a double commendable design . the one of brotherly affection , that hereby you might preserve his memory who is gone to the land of oblivion . nor do i wonder at your regard of his memory , when i behold your respect to his posterity . those three noble ladies who ( i am confident ) will never want the care of a father , and the love of a mother , whilst your honour and your thrice noble lady survive . the other of piety and religion , that this sermon may be as a continued memoriall of him ; so a frequent monitour to you of your fraile and dying condition . no thoughts or discourses are more unwellcome for the most part to men in their flourishing prosperity , then those of their perishing mortality . skeletons , deaths heads , and funerall sermons , are rarely to be found at the palaces , on the tables , in the libraries , of great personages , who being set upon the pinacle of honour , cannot endure to look downward upon the pit of corruption . they are but few , very few , who when their table is prepared , their head annointed with oyl , and their cup runs over , with david , put themselves in mind , or love to be put in mind of walking through the valley of the shadow of death . of this small number your lordship may be justly reckoned one ; else you would not have desired to read what you heard . and since you seem to intend the sermon as a memento of your death , it will not , i presume , offend your honour , that the epistle be a remembrancer to you of an exemplary life . the hebrew noun {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth glory , cometh from the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth to be heavy : with which agreeeth that of the latins , honos onus , honour is a burden . of this i trust your lordship is sensible , that as divine providence hath advanced you to eminent dignity ; so divine command requireth of you proportionable duty , that by how much the greater you are , you ought to be so much the better ; and as god hath devolved the honour upon you ; you must endeavour to honour him , your self , your family , by magnificent and heroick actions of religion , justice , and mercy , every remembring that nobles are placed by god in this world , not as statues in a garden , or pictures in a gallery ; only to be looked upon , but as pillars in a house , to support the church and state , where they live , and as stars in the heavens , to let the light of their good works shine before men , from the severall orbes , wherein they are fixed . but i shall not need to enlarge on this subject , which is ( i trust already ) your lordships study and practice , and therefore after the returne of my humble thankes for your noble favours ; i shall betake my self to my earnest prayers , that you may have increase of grace as well as honour , that you may grow in favour with god & man , by being a choice instrument of his glory , and the publick good . finally , that as you have the blessings of wisdomes left hand , riches and honours , so you may have that of her right hand , length of daies , confer'd on your own noble person , your deservedly beloved and honoured lady , your hopefull son and heir , with those tender plants the remains of your deceased brother , and all your honourable relations , till you all in a good old age arrive at the fruition of a blessed eternity . so prayeth my lord , your honours most humble and affectionate servant nath. hardy . mans last journey . psalm . 146. 4. his breath goeth forth , he returneth to his earth : in that very day his thoughts perish . the text , a mournfull complaint , in which the severall clauses , non tam verba quam suspiria , sermones quam singultus , seem to be made up , rather of sobs and sighs then words . and no wonder since the matter of the complaint is mortality ; a theame fit to be commented upon with teares , so much the rather , considering whose mortality it is that is here deplored . if you cast your eyes upon the end of the foregoing verse , you shall find the antecedent of this relative , he , to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the son of man , of adam , and that is every man , all mankind being of his race and posterity , so that the he in the text is not singular , but collective , not some one , but every particular person , ( a very few excepted ) : and there is none of us here present , but if the question be asked who is this he ? may returne the answer of our saviour in another case , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i am he . nor is this all , but if you goe a little backward , in the same vease , you shall find this he to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as indefinitely the son of man , so eminently the great man ; the man of honour , the prince . know you not ( saith david concerning abner ) that a great man is this day fallen in israel ; intimating by that interogation , that the fals of high cedars call for deepe sorrw ; not only man the highest of visible creatures , but princes the highest of men were in the psalmists eye when these words dropt from his pen , his breath goeth forth , &c. if you take a more particular view of the text , you shall observe in it a double dying , the one of the person , and the other of his purposes ; the former in the two first clauses , his breath goeth forth , he returneth to his earth ; the latter in the last , in that very day his thoughts perish . that which in the two first clauses is asserted , and is most largely to be handled , is the dying of the person , and this is set forth with reference to his two constitutive and essentiall parts , soul and body ; the egresse of the one , his soul goeth forth ; and the regresse of the other , he returneth to his earth : the one whereof is verified , in ipso articulo mortis in the very point of death ; and the other is most evident , in sepultura corporis , at the time of his buriall . both which when i have handled by themselves , i shall discuss with reference to the quality of the person of whom especially they are spoken , and then close up this first and main part of the text , with a sutable of application . 1. begin we with mans egress in those words , his breath goeth forth . the hebrew word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} being derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( as also the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and the latin , spiritus , from spiro , ) most properly signifieth breath . in this notion the targum and our translators here render it ; nor is it incongruous to the psalmists design , which is to give us a character of death : yea calvin inclineth to this as the most genuine meaning of the word in this place . and thus it is a most evident truth , that when a man dyeth , his breath goeth forth . indeed it is not true , that when a mans breath goeth forth , he dyeth . since life is maintained , inspirando , & respirando , by taking in , and letting forth breath : but when we can no longer take in breath , we are said expirare , to breath forth our last and so dye . in this respect man is fitly resembled to a bladder , puffed up with wind , which being by any prick let forth , the bladder shrivels up ; when we cease to breath , we cease to live . upon how slender a thred doth our life hang ? it is but a puffe and we are gone ; we carry our lives in our hands , or rather in our nostrils ; that is the prophet isaiahs character , man whose breath is in his nostrils . how easily , how speedily , is a mans breath beaten out of his body , so quickly is he deprived of life ; our life doth not depend upon the soundness of our parts , strength of our joynts , ( one dyeth saith job in his full strength , ) but only upon our breath , which how soon are we bereaved of : no wonder if one philosopher being asked what life was , turned himself about , and so went out : and another resembles it by oculus clausus , and apertus , an eye shut and open , or rather open and shut ; we dye in the twinkling of an eye , and st. james putting the question , what is your life ? returneth this answer , it is a vapour which appeareth for a little while , and then vanisheth away . oh that as we continually live by breathing ; so we would be thereby put in mind of dying , when our breath shal go forth . but though this construction be true , yet i rather adhere to theodorets and hieromes gloss upon the place , who by spirit understand the soul , partly because when this word is applyed to man in holy writ ; it is most frequently so to be understood , and where the sense will bear , it is best to take words in their usuall acception , partly because the next clause is generally referd to the other part of man his body ; and therefore it is most congruous to refer this to his soul , chiefly because in that place of salomon the son , which may very well be looked upon , as fetched from , and parallel to this of david the father , by spirit can be meant no other then the soul of man . if you ask why the soul of man is called by this name of a spirit ? the answer is given both from the etymology of the word , and the nature of the thing . 1. the word as you have already heard , signifieth breath , and the soul of a man is a breath both passively and actively . 1. passively , quia spiratur , because it is breathed into us according to that of moses in the creation of man , god breathed into him the breath of life : and however it be a controverted question whither the rationall soul be propagated and infused , generated or breathed ; yet it suiteth best as with the dignity of the soul , so with the current of scripture to affirme that the soul of man is still breathed into the body immediately by god himself . 2. actively , quia spirat , because it is the fountain and originall of our breath , which begins with the ingresse , and ceaseth with the egresse of the soul , upon which consideration the former sense appeareth to be included in this latter , since together with the soul , the breath goeth forth . 2. the thing which this word spirit is used for the most part to signifie , is an invisible , immortall , incorporeall , immateriall substance : upon which account god is said to be a spirit , and angels are called spirits ; and in this respect the soul of man is a spirit , as being not an accident , but a substance and that void of gross corruptible matter . this spirit when a man dyeth goeth forth , for the further explication whereof it will be needfull to inquire the double term of this motion , whence and whither it goeth . 1. if you inquire whence the spirit goeth forth , the answer is , out of the body . conceive the body as an house or tabernacle , or rather with st. paul , to put both together , the house of our tabernacle , the soul as an inhabitant or sojourner in this house , into which when it enters , we begin to live , and out of which when it goeth we dye . the second death saith st. austin , animam nolentem tenet in corpore , detains the soul against its will in the body , and the first , animam d●lentem pellit●e corpore , driveth the sorrowfull soul out of the body , when this bold serpeant cometh with a writt from the divine majesty , he entreth in , and turneth this tenant out of doores . 2. if you would know whither the spirit goeth , the wise man giveth you the answer , where he saith , the spirit of a man goeth upward , and again , where he saith , it returneth to god that gave it , as it goeth forth , so it ascendith upward , sursum eam vocant initia sua , saith seneca , it goeth whence it came . to god it goeth , and that for this end to receive its doome , which being past , it accordingly remaineth in a state of weal or woe , to the day of the resurrection . by this it appeareth how dissonant both the epicucuraean and the pythagorean philosophers are to truth , the one whereof affirmeth that the spirit of a man goeth forth , that is , vanisheth away , as the soul of a beast doth ; and the other , that his spirit goeth forth from one body to another ; whereas in truth the spirit of man goeth forth , so as to subsist , and that by it self , till it be reunited with the body , tres vitales spiritus creavit omnipotens , saith st. gregory , to this purpose very appositely , the almighty hath created three living spirits , the one angelicall , which is neither covered nor perisheth with the body ; the second bestiall , which is both covered and perisheth with the body ; the third humane , which is covered , but doth not perish with the body , but goeth forth . where our blessed saviour saith , fear not them who kill the body , but cannot kill the soul . what doth he but clearly intimate , that when the body dyeth , the soul dyeth not , for else they who kill the body , would kill the soul too ; and where he faith again of abraham , isaac , and jacob , that they live to god , and therefore god is not the god of the dead , but of the living : it plainly implyeth , that though their bodies are dead , their souls still live . i end this with the gloss of cajetan upon my text , who conceiveth that this title of spirit , is here given to the soul in respect of its going forth . as it is joyned with , and giveth life to the body it is a soul , and as it goeth forth and exists apart from the body , it is a spirit , since in this partaking with other spirituall substances , which have a subsistence without any matter . 2. having given you this account of the egress of the soul : pass we on to take a view of the regress of the body , he turneth to his earth . had he only said he returneth , it might be understood of the spirit , which as it gooth forth , so returneth : and accordingly this very word is by salomon applied to the spirit . had the psalmist spoke of the resurrection , these words , he returneth to his earth , might have admitted a faire gloss in reference to the soul , it returneth ad terram corporis sui , to the earth of its body , to which it shall then be united : but it is manifest that these words are a periphrasis of dying . and therefore with st. jerome and theodoret , the sense is best given , that the soul or spirit going forth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , caro , the body , the flesh returneth to its earth : sutable hereunto is that note of the learned muis , who observeth that in the hebrew , whereas the verb goeth forth , is faeminine answering with the noun spirit , which is for the most part of that gender , the verb returneth , is masculine , and so not to be referd to spirit , but the son of man who in respect of his body , returneth to his earth . returning in its proper notion , is a going back to that place from whence we came , so that in this clause here is a threefold truth implyed , expressed , inferd . 1. that which is implyed in this phrase of returning , is that man in respect of his body came from the earth ; and as it is here implyed , so it is expressed concerning the first man by moses , the lord god formed man ( that is , the body of man ) of the dust , ( or according to the hebrew , ) dust of the ground , and by st. paul where he saith , the first man is of the earth , earthly . true it is , we are formed in our mothers womb , but yet inasmuch as we all came from the first man , we are truly said to come from the earth , only with this difference that he immediately , we mediately are framed out of the earth . this truth was engraven in full characters upon the name of the first man , who is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} adam , from a word that signifieth red earth , and that very word is here used , perhaps to mind us of that earth whereof man was first made ; yea , according to the usuall etymologie , the name homo , which in the latins is a common name to both sexes , is derived , ab humo from the ground . for this reason it is , that the earth is called by the poet , magna parens , the great parent of mankind , and in the answer of the oracle , our mother : and in this respect we are said by eliphaz , to dwell in houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust , 2. that which is exprest is , that man ( when he dyeth ) returneth to the earth , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} saith the poet , we are all dust when dissolved , as the white snow , when melted is black water : eso flesh and blood when bereaved of the soul , becom the dust and ashes : in which respect st. paul giveth this epithet of vile to our bodies . indeed , mans originall being from the earth , he had a naturall propensity to earth : according to that maxime , omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum , every thing hath an aptitude of returning to the principle whence it cometh ; but yet had he not turned away from god , he had never actually returned thither . it is sin which hath brought upon man a necessity of dying , and that dying brings a necessity of returning to the earth : in which respect it is observable , that the threat , thou shalt dye the death , which was denounced against man before his fall , being afterwards renewed , is explained ( as to temporall death ) by those words , to dust thou shalt return ; ●o that now the motion of the little world man , is like that of the great , circulare , ab eodem punct● ad idem , from the same to the same ; and that as in his soul from god to god , so in his body from the earth to earth . the rivers come from the sea , and they return thither . the sun ariseth out of the east , and thither it returneth . man is formed of the earth , and into earth he is again transformed : with which agreeth that of the poet , cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante . 3. that which is inferd in the emphaticall pronoune his , which is annexed to the noun earth , is that the earth to which man returneth is his ; this being that which ariseth out of both the former conclusions ; since it is therefore his earth , because he cometh from , and returneth to it . earth is mans genesis and analysis , his composition and resolution , his alpha and omega , his first and last , ortus pulvis , finis cinis ; earth is his , both originally and finally . so that our bodies can challenge no alliance with , or property in any thing so much as earth . for if we call those things ours , which have only an externall relation to us , as our friends , our houses , our goods , our lands , much more may we call that our earth whereof we are made , and into which we shall moulder ; no wonder if as here it is said to be his , so elsewhere he is said to be earth , as being called by that name . by this time you see how fitly death is described by the spirits going forth of the body , and the bodies returning to his earth , both which are the immediate consequents of death , and informe us what becometh of either part , when the whole is divided , of the soul and body when the man dyeth . it would be further observed , that this is here affirmed of princes and great men as well as others . aequâ lance necessitas sortitur insignes & imos , said the poet , death knocks at palaces as well as cottages , and cuts down the lillies of the garden as well as the grass of the field . it is not unfitly taken notice of , that the sacred historian mentioning the kings and dukes of esau's race , only nameth the dukes , but concerning every one of the kings it is said he died ; indeed it was needless to affirme it of the dukes , who may well be conceived mortall , when kings are so . even they who are rulers over men , must be subject to death , and though they have power to inflict it upon others , they are no way able to preserve themselves from it . it is reported of cardinall woolesy , that he expostulated with himself what might prevent death : ●f money could do it , he had enough to buy a crown ; if weapons , he had as many as would defend a kingdome ; if power , he had sufficient to conquer a nation ; but alas there is no weapon against death , it cannot be bribed by the richest , nor conquered by the greatest ; dye they must , and when they dye , their breath , their soul goeth forth , and their bodies returne to the earth . the souls of the greatest landlords are but tenants at will to their bodies , and that not their own , but gods , who many times against their wils , turneth them out : according to that of the psalmist , he cutteth off the spirit of princes : in which respect st. austin thus glosseth upon the text , numquid quando vult exibit spiritus , expirat quando non vult ? shall his spirit go forth when he will ? i , and when he will not . the bodies of the highest when the breath and soul is gone out of them , are but rotten carcasses , and must be laid in the earth . if you look upon their extraction , it is from no better an originall then the meanest , though their immediate descent be noble , yet the first progenitor of them as well as others , was the earthly adam . the prince and the peazant are of the same earth , only the one a little better mould , of the same wooll , only the one of a little finer thred ; out of the same quarry , only the one a little smoother stone ; so justly may great men take up those words in nehemiah , our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren . there is common dust and saw dust , pin dust , golden dust , and the pouder of diamons , and all is but dust . the beggar , the labourer , the tradesman , the noble man , the king are all but earth . if you look upon their end , it is the grave , the house of all living , like nebuchadnezzars image , notwithstanding their gold and silver , their feet are clay . the rich and the poore saith solomon , meet together , sometimes at one board , in one bed , certainly in one grave . the noblest are but as flowers which peepe out of the earth , and flourish for a time , and when the winter of death cometh they return thither ; they are but as dust , which is raised up in the aire for a while , but a few drops of rain lay it presently . it is the language of the french king in his epitaph , terra fui quondam , rursus sum terra , nihil sum ; i am again what once i was , earth . and among the spices of which the ointment for annointing the kings as well as priests was compounded , one was cinamon and that is , cinericii coloris , of the colour of ashes , perhaps to tell them what they must one day be . the meditation of this doctrine may be of excellent use to superiours and inferiours , and to all sorts . 1. oh that great men would in the midst of all their enjoyments entertain these thoughts , that custome of presenting the emperour on the day of his inauguration , with severall marble stones , desiring him to choose one of them for his monument , was designed no doubt for this end : and for the same reason , johannes eleemosynarius , and king philip had their monitors , to tell the one , that his monument was not yet finished , and bid the other , remember he was a man . i have read , that in biscay there are old ruinous places which they to whom they belong , often visit though they have else where stately palaces . oh that they who dwell in sumptuous buildings , would frequently visit the ruinous graves . it was a curse upon the serpent , that he should creep on his belly , and eat dust all the daies of his life ; but surely it were a blessing to the highest in this world , if they would learne to do it in a spirituall sense , by the consideration of that dust to which they must return . happy is that prince , qui non minus se hominem esse , quam hominibus praeesse meminerit , who no less mindeth that he himself is a man , then that he ruleth over men . more particularly , it is that which would be pondered by them for a double end , that it may both quell their pride , and curb their voluptuousnesse . 1. there is no sinne to which men are more prone then that of pride : it is ( like our shirt ) that sin we put on first , and put off lost : nor have any greater temptations to this sinne then great ones . in alto situm , non altum sapere difficile : usually men of high estates are high-minded . nor is any thing more common , then for the bunch of pride to grow upon the back of honour . among the many antidotes against this sinne , none more effectuall then this to consider that whilest they live , they are but enlivened clay , breathing dust , moving ashes ; and that when their breath goeth forth , they must return to the earth . they say that the tympany is cured by stroaking the part with a dead mans hand ; sure i am , the serious thought of death is an excellent means to allay the swelling of pride . if you put fire to gun-powder which is made of earth , it will blow up towers . the fire of meditation put to our earthy original and end , will blow up the turret of pride . it is well observed that one of the signes which samuel gave saul after he had anointed him king , was that he should find two men by rachels sepulchre : for this end perhaps , that whereas the being anointed king might puff him up , the sight of rachels sepulchre might humble him . oh that you who enjoy the honours and dignities of this world would often think with your selves , i must die , and when death comes , i must exchange my palace for a grave , my robes for dust ; i that am now atteded on by men , must have wormes for my companions ; i that am now so high , must ere long be laid low ; that so you may be meek and lowly in heart . that which may so much the more advance the efficacy of this thought in subduing the pride of great men , is that when once they are returned to the earth ; and this dunghill element hath set its foot upon their face , there is no difference between them and others . there ( saith job of the grave ) are the great and small . nor can we tell which is the dust of the great , which of the small . to this tended that surcasme of diogenes , when he told alexander that he had been seeking his father philips bones , but could not distinguish between them and others . and for this reason alphonsus putting the question , what it was that did make high and low equall ? answered , death . pliny writeth of a river in spaine wherein all the fish that are pnt , are of a golden colour , but being taken out of it , they are of the same colour with other fishes . they who whilest they live in this world glitter with gold and silver , when taken out of it , return to the same earth with the rest of mankind . whilest the counters are upon the table , one stands for five , another for ten : while the chasemen are upon the board , one is a king , another a queen , a third a bishop , a fourth a knight , and those have their several walks , but when put into the bag they are all alike . thus is it with men who ( though upon the earth they are of different orders and degrees , ) are alike , when they are cast into it . and as the several kinds of herbs which are thrown into the limbeck being distilled make one water , so they but one earth . epictetus when asked , what was common to the king with the begger ? answered , to be born , and to die : they come into , and go out of the world , one as well as the other . nor is there any difference between them in the womb , and the tomb . let not those that are above , insult over others , since this grand leveller death will one day put them in the same condition with others . 2. this meditation of the going forth of the soul , and return of the body , is a no lesse powerfull disswasive from a voluptuous life , then an haughty mind . oh that you who have vivendi voluptatem the pleasure of life , would contemplate moriendi necessitatem , the necessity of death : that you who have the world at will , would remember you have not death at command . i die ( said esau ) and what good will my birth-right do me ? oh that the voluptuous epicure would say , i die , and what good will my vain and sensual pleasures do me ! agathocles when a king , having been a potters sonne , drank in earthen vessels . it were not possible men should surfeit at their tables , carouse it in their cups , would they eat and drink ( as it were ) in earthen vessels , in the midst of their delicacyes remember that they are earth . consider this , you who spend your doyer in eating and drinking , in playing and sleeping , whose whole design is to pamper and feed , to deck and adorn your bedies to gratifie your senses , and glut your selves with the delights of the flesh . dic mihi ubi sunt amatores mundi ? nihil ex eis remanet nisi cineres & vermes : tell me what is become of those lovers of pleasures , of whom nothing remaineth but wormes and ashes : what will become of that body of thine which is so full fed , and richly clod , when it shall be laid in the grave ? they say of bees , that when they are buzzing and humming about our ears , making a great and angry noise , if you throw a little dust upon them , they are quiet , and hive again presently . surely it would still the roaring gallant in the midst of his joviall revellings , were the thoughts of dust frequently suggested to , and seriously pondered on by him . and yet were this all that the body returneth to the earth , the epicures plea might be good enough ; let us eat and drink , for to morrow we die . but if we die to morrow , as our body returneth to earth , so our soul goeth forth to god to give an account , to rereceive a sentence , either of absolution or condemnation . and oh think what fear will possesse thy spirit , when it apprehends it self going forth to be arraigned at the barre of divine justice ; yea , how dismall the account will be , of that time , and strength , and health , and wealth , which hath been expended upon carnal and sensual pleasures . 2. let those who are in the lower ranke of men , learn to look upon great ones as subject to death and the grave , and that for a double end ; so as not to fear them distrustfully , nor trust in them presumptuously . 1. their breath goeth forth , they return to their earth , fear them not . indeed , there is a fear which is due from inferiours to superiours . god and the king are set down by the wiseman as the joynt objects of our fear , and they will at last be found fooles , who divide them . when god saith , if i be a master where is my fear , he intimateth that fear is due from the servant to the master ; whilst they live they are above and over us , and therefore ought to be feared by us , but with a fear of reverence not diffidence , and that because their power and honour is soon laid in the dust . have we not sometimes observed a ball tossed up and down in the aire , eyed and observed by every one which way it moveth , least it should hit them ; yea , and when it passeth by , they ofttimes stoope to it , and yet it is nothing but the skin of a dead beast filled with wind , which is easily let out : a fit embleme of tyrants , who are so observed , and of whom we stand in so much awe , when yet they are but mortal men , whose breath quickly goeth forth . put them in fear , oh lord , ( is the prayer of the psalmist , ) that they may know themselves to be but men . indeed this consideration , that the greatest enemies of the church are but men , may put them in fear , and us out of fear ; no wonder if god bespake his church in that vehement interrogation , who art thou , that thou shouldst be afraid of a man , that shall dye , and of the son of man , which shall be made as grasse ? and therefore as david resolves , i will not feare what flesh can do unto me , so let us not fear what earth can do against us . 2. their breath goeth forth , they return to their earth , trust them not . this is the principall intendment of the psalmist , as appeareth by the former dehortation , put not your trust in princes , nor in the son of man in whom there is no help : to presse which this is annexed as a reason , namely their mortall condition . excellently doth st. chrysostome here enlarge , he that cannot defend himself , how shall he deliver another ? do not say he is a prince , for in this , he hath no greater priviledge then the meanest , but is subject to the same uncertainty of life : nay , that i may at once speak what is true and yet strange , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , for this reason especially he is not to be trusted , because he is a prince , for these earthly powers are slippery : great men are subject to more casualities and dangers then private , and when they fall they that trust to them are ruined with them , as the body of the church is beaten down with the fall of the steeple . how often is it seen that when men think to make great ones their shadowes and shelters , they vanish away and leave them to the scorching sun , by which meanes as jonah was by the withering of his gourd , they are disappointed and disquieted , yea , when the cedars fall , the lower shrubs which might have stood at a greater distance , being near to , and depending on , are crushed by them ; let therefore the prophet isaiahs counsell be acceptable , cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils , for wherein is he to be accounted of ? so much the rather , considering the curse denounced by the prophet jeremy against him who trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arme . the greatest man is but an arme of flesh , which must rot , nay , a bruised reed , upon which if you lean you fall ; say not therefore to a piece of clay , thou art my fear , or my hope : to be afraid of the power , or dote on the favour of great men , are alike , not only vain but cursed . 3. let all of all sorts lay this truth to heart , our breath will certainly , may speedily go forth ; let good works be in our hands , whiles the breath is in our nostrils . our souls goeth forth at the houre of death to be judged , let us labour for the renewing and sanctifying of our souls , that they may appear with boldnesse . we must return to our earth , respice , prospice oh homo ; let us look backward whence we came , let us look forward whither we are going , that we may be vile in our own eyes . it is our body that returneth to the earth , whilst our souls go forth to be happy or miserable ; let us prefer that part which goeth forth , before that which returneth to earth . merito poseit majora studia pars melior , the better and nobler part deservedly challengeth our best and chiefest care ; nor is any thing more absurd ( though it be too common ) then to have regard of our vile body , and neglect our precious soul . finally , every son of man is as sure to return to the earth , as that he came from it , and to breath forth the breath of his life , as that he received it in : let it be therefore his endeavour to provide for what he cannot prevent , and so ( by keeping faith and a good conscience ) to work out his salvation , that when death shall come , he may comfortably say , egredere anima mea , go forth oh my soul , go forth to that god whom thou hast served , to that jesus in whom thou hast believed , and his flesh which returneth to the earth , may rest in hope of a joyfull resurrection to eternall life . 2. there is yet one clause of the text behinde , of which i shall give a very brief account , namely , the dying of great mens purposes , as it is expressed in those words ; in that very day his thoughts perish . the thoughts which the psalmist here no doubt , especially intends , are those purposes which are in the minds of great men of doing good to those who are under , and depend upon them . the hebrew word here used , is derived from a verb that signifieth to be bright : cogitationes serenae , those candid , serene , benigne , benevolous thoughts which they have of advancing their allyes , friends , and followers . these thoughts are said to perish in that day wherein they are conceived ; so tremelius glosseth : in which sense the instability of great mens favour is asserted , whose smiles are quickly changed into frownes , love into hatred , and so in a moment their mind being changed , their well-wishing thoughts vanish . but more rationally , their thoughts perish in that day wherein their persons die , because there is no opportunity of putting their purposes in execution . they perish like the childe which comes to the birth , and there is no strength to bring forth ; or like fruit which is plucked up , before it be ripe . whilest they live , we may be deceived in our expectations by the alteration of their minds ; but however their condition is mortal , and when that great change by death comes , their designes ( how well soever meant ) must want success . from hence it followeth , which is by some looked upon as a part of the meaning of the words , that the thoughts or hopes of them who trust in them perish . it is a true apothegme , major pars hominum expectando moritur ; the greatest part of men perish by expectation . and good reason , inasmuch as their expectation being misplaced , perisheth . how strongly this argument serveth to presse the psalmists caution against confidence in man , though never so great , is easily obvious . it is true , princes and nobles being invested with honour , wealth , and authority , have power in their hands , and perhaps they may have thoughts in their hearts to do thee good , but alas how uncertain is the execution of those intentions , and therefore how foolish is it to depend upon them . trust in the lord jehovah ( saith the prophet ) for with him is everlasting strength . i , and with him is unchangeable goodnesse . it is safe building upon the rock ; trusting upon god , whose thoughts of mercy are ( like himself ) from everlasting to everlasting . but nothing more foolsh then to build on the sand , trust to men , whose persons together with their thoughts , perish in a moment . and therefore let our resolution be that of davids ; it is better to 118. 8 , ● . in the lord , then to put confidence in man : it is better to trust in the lord , then to put confidence in princes . to enlarge this a little further . it is no lesse true of their thoughts of evil against then of good to others . sometimes their minds are changed from malice to mercy , and by that meanes their thoughts perish . so were esau's towards jacob , and he embraced him in his armes , whom he designed to tread under his feet . oft-times they are cut off by death , so that they cannot bring their wicked devises to pass . thus pharaoh parsuing israel , with a resolved rage to make them and theirs his prey , is drowned in the red sea ; and in that very day all his malicious thoughts perish . in this respect there is as little reason to be afraid of the anger , as to confide in the friendship of great ones . and therefore m●●athias advised his sons ; fear not the words of a sinfull man , for his glory shall be dung and wormes : to day he shall be lifted up , and to morrow he shall not be found , because he is returned to his dust , and his thought is come to nothing . it is true of great mens , of all mens thoughts , in respect of themselves , as well as others . the hearts of the sons of men are full of designes about worldly things . apollinarius interpreteth the word in my text , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , carefull thoughts : such saith arnobius , quae cos non sinunt quiescere , which will not suffer them to be quiet . thoughts of buying , selling , building , purchasing , and a thousand such like , which death intervening breaketh off , and all such purposes prove to no purpose . theodoret upon my text , brings in the instance of the rich fool in the gospel , whose thoughts were to pull down his barns , and build greater , and thereto bestow all his fruits , and his goods ; and to say to his soul , soul , thou hast much good laid up for many years ; take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry : but that night was his soul required from him , and those thoughts perished . st. james speaketh of those whose thoughts were , that to day or to morrow they would go into such a city , and continue there , and buy and sell , and get gain , forgetting that their life was but a vapour , which appeareth a little while , and vanisheth away , and together with it all such thoughts . st. gregory upon those words , the eyes of the wicked shall fail , giveth this as the reason ; quia intenti●nes eorum & desideria occupantur circa transitoria : because their thoughts and desires are imployed about perishing objects . oh let it be our wisdome to six our thoughts and designes upon higher and better objects , how we may obtain an inheritance among them that are sanctified , and enjoy the beatifical vision ! these are those thoughts which being pursued in life , shall not be frustrated , but fulfilled at our death . he whose life hath been a continued meditation on heaven , and whose endeavoures have been to make sure an interest there , in that very day , when his body returneth to the earth , his soul goeth forth to the fruition of it , and so his thoughts receive a full , a joyfull accomplishment . once more , not only our worldly , but our charitable , our penitential , our religious thoughts perish in that day of death . how many have thoughts with themselves , when i come to such and such years , i will leave my sins , and lead a new life : when i have got this and that estate , i will give almes to the poor : but in the mean time , death hath unhappily prevented them . oh therefore let it be our prudence to lay hold on the present time , and when good thoughts are in our minds , if we have ability and opportunity to put them speedily in execution , lest we too late condemn our own folly , and be forced to say , non putaram , i did not think death would so soon have seized upon me . i shut up this with that excellent exhortation of the wise man ; whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it withall thy might ; for there is no work , nor device , nor wisdome , nor knowledge in the grave whether thou goest . the text is now finished , but my discourse must not yet end : what hath been from the text sounded in your eares , is by this sad occasion fulfilled in your eyes . we have before us a dolefull instance of great mens mortality in this noble earl , whose breath ( some daies past ) went forth from him , and whose body is now returning to this earth . indeed , it is that sad providence which i cannot but mention , as being fit to be laid to heart , how almighty god hath not only once , but again and again within a little circuit of time exemplified the truth of this doctrine in this noble family . no lesse then three persons of honour , the father , the son , the grandson , have in lesse then two years been taken away by death , and that in the three several ages of life ; the father in the evening of old age , the son in the noon of manhood , and the grandson in the morn of youth . it seemed good to the wise god , who doth not look in the church-book to see who is eldest , and take men out in the same order that they come into this world , to begin with the youngest of the three , by death lopping off from this goodly tree a blossoming branch , which might in probability have flourished long , and brought forth much fruit . but when his surviving relations consider what hath lately fallen out , and is too likely to befall this land , they may look upon it as a mercy , in that he was taken away from the evil to come . not long after , it pleased divine providence to strike at the very root , the aged father of the family , who having lived many years , was cut off in a few houres , and is gone to his grave in a full age , like a shock of corn in its season . and now one main arme of this tree which first sprung from that root , and from which that branch sprouted , is hewen down : the father of that hopefull son , and the son of that aged father is brought to be interred , together with them both , in the sepulchre of his ancestours . it was not my happiness to have either long or much knowledg of this honourable person , and therefore a large panegyrick cannot be expected from me , nor shall i say any thing concerning him more then truth , as not daring for fear of the great god to speak false and flattering words of the greatest man . to tell you how illustrious the family is whereof he is descended , were superfluous ; you can better tell me , who have for many years beheld its splendor : nor indeed doth that adde much to any mans commendation . i shall not stay long to mind you how happy he was in his conjugall relations , having been the husband of two excellent ladyes , whose memory is , and will be precious , though their bodies are rotted in the grave : by the former of whom he was the father of that only son who went before him , and by the latter , of three daughters ( ingenuous and promising ladyes ) which are left behinde him . it will be needless to enlarge upon , what all who knew him , will readily testifie , that he was a person of excellent natural endowments , of a sweet and loving temper , affable and courteous behaviour , and of a meek and lowly spirit , not only before , but after he was possessed of that dignity to which he was born : he was in honore , fine tumore , lifted up with honour , but not puffed up with pride . that which i cannot forbear to mention ( since thereby he became an honour to his family ) is , as his untained loyalty to his sovereign , so his faithfull constancy in adhering to the church of england , in her faith and worship . it pleased god in his latter dayes to visit him with many diseases , which as they were in mercy intended by god , so i hope in charity they were looked upon by him , as summons to the grave , and monitors of his frailty . in his last sickness i had the honour to wait upon , and administer to him in holy things , wherein my conscience beareth me witnesse , i dealt with him freely and faithfully , and i trust not without good success . having set before him the sinfulness of sin , and the necessity of repentance , he did with tears and sighs as well as words , acknowledge and bemoane the follyes of his youth and former life , implore forgivenesse of them from god , resolve if god should spare him , that he would ( through divine grace ) be more carefull of his wayes . and though it hath not seemed good to divine wisdome to give him opportunity of performing his pious and penitent resolves , yet i hope they were sincere , and being so , i am sure they are mercifully accepted by his gracious god . he was indeed willing to have lived longer , but for good end ; namely , to amend his own waies , and see jerusalem in prosperity , and withall he desired to submit to gods will , and did wholly cast himself on christs mertts for his salvation . if there be any who ( like fleas which bite most when we are asleep ) shall speak evil of this dead lord , i wish they would consider that it was one of solons prohibitions , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to stain the honour of the dead . god ( i trust ) upon his repentance , hath covered his sinnes , let us do so too : they were his earthly , dusty , ashy parts , let them be buried with him . this honourable person is dead , and going to his long home . but ( blessed be god ) the earl of warwick still liveth in his succeeding brother , who will ( i hope ) not only continue , but encrease the honour of his family , by endeavouring not only to equalize but excell his predecessours , in being a friend to the orthodox religion of this despised church , a pattern to his tennants , servants , yea , the whole countrey , of piety , charity , humility and all vertues . and may there long long be found one of this line fit to enjoy the revenue , and weare the title of this earldome . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45557e-310 ps. 23. 4 , 5. notes for div a45557e-1870 john 18. 6. 2 sam. 3. 38. gen. 1. calv. in loc. isai. 2. 22. job 21. 23. james 4. 14. theod. in loc. jerom. in loc. eccl. 12. 7. gen. 2. 7. john 4. 24. heb. 1. 5. 2 cor. 5. 1. a●g●e civit . de● . eccl. 3. 21. 12. 7. sen. epist. greg. m●● . matth. 10. 28. luke 20 38. cajet in ●oc . eccl. 12. 7. gen. 2. 7. 1 cor. 15. 41. ovid . job 4. 19. phocyl . phil. 3. 20. gen. 2. 17. 3. 19. lucr●● . horat. gen. 26. psal. 76. 12. aug. in loc. nehem. 5. 5. prov. 22. 2. gen. 3. 14. 1 sam. 10. 2. job . 3. 19. gen. 25. 32. prov. 24. 21. mal. 1. 6. psal. 9. 20. isai. 51. 12. psal. 56. 4. verse 5. chryso . in loc. isai. 2. 〈◊〉 . jer. 17. 5. trem. in loc. lor. in loc. isa 26. 4. psal. 〈…〉 1 maccab. 2. 62 , 63. luk. 1● . 18 , 19. jam. 4. 13 , 14. job . 11. 2● . eccles. 9. 10. tvvo funeral sermons much of one and the same subiect; to wit, the benefit of death. the former on philip. 1. 23. the latter on eccles. 7. 1. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. 1620 approx. 97 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a68088 stc 11679 estc s102925 99838685 99838685 3072 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a68088) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3072) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1066:06, 1099:13) tvvo funeral sermons much of one and the same subiect; to wit, the benefit of death. the former on philip. 1. 23. the latter on eccles. 7. 1. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. [16], 29, [7], 28 p. printed by edward griffin for william bladen, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the bible at the great north dore of paules, london : 1620. "pauls desire of dissolution, and deaths aduantage .. preached at the funerall of .. mrs rebekka crisp" and "the benefit of a good name, and a good end" each have separate dated title page; pagination and register are continuous. the first sermon identified as stc 11672 on umi microfilm reel 1066. reproduction of the originals in the british library and the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. appears at reel 1066 (british library copy--first sermon only) and at reel 1099 (university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library copy). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng crisp, rebekka. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-10 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-10 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion pavls desire of dissolution , and deaths advantage . a sermon preached at the funerall of that right vertuous and religious gentlewoman m rs rebekka crisp , togither with the testimonie then giuen vnto her . by t. g. b. of d. london , printed by edward griffin for william bladen , and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the bible , neere the great north dore of paules . 1620. to my loving vnkle m r nicolas crisp , and to my kind cosens m rs rebekka stroud , m rs anne skelton , m rs ester whitaker his daughters , with the rest of that familie ; happy imitation of the holy deceased both in life , and in death . my right deere , and deseruedly beloued allies ; finding among my loose papers the notes of that sermon that i made at the enterrement of that blessed saint , lately wife to the one , and mother to the rest of you , collected and transscribed not long after at the request of some of you for your owne priuate vse and benefit : i thought it would not be amisse to make it more publike ; ( the rather for that diuers seemed to desire it ) and to adde vnto it the testimonie then truly and vpon good ground giuen vnto her : partly for the propagating and perpetuating of the memory of so worthy a seruant of god , and partly also and more principally for the enciting and egging on of others , of that sex especially , to the imitation of her . a good examples ( as the heathen man obserueth ) are of great force ; and are therefore ( not without cause ) so frequently propounded b in gods word . c they preuaile oft more then precepts . precepts shew vs what we should do : examples goe further , and shew vs how we may doe it ; and d that the things enioyned vs may be done of vs , because they haue been done by others * like our selues before vs : and so they take away that obiection of impossibilitie , as if that were required of vs , that could not be done , or that none before vs euer did . againe , as examples in generall are vsefull ; so examples of this sex are in some respect of the twaine the more needfull . that popish conceit sticketh still in the mindes of many ; that knowledge and booke-learning is for great clarks onely ; meane men , and women much more then , haue no neede of it , neither indeed can attaine vnto it . yet god telleth vs that they must e all know him from the highest to the lowest , f whom he sheweth mercy vnto in the remission of their sinnes . and surely , if to know god in christ be life eternall ; then g to be ignorant of him , cannot be , or bring but eternall destruction . besides that h christianitie maketh no distinction of sex. i the same common saluation is propounded to both sexes : k the same meanes of attayning it are likewise common to either . l no saluation to man or woman but by christ : m no interest in christ but by faith , n exacted therefore of either : and o no faith without knowledge , the maine ground-worke of faith. now as there is a necessitie of knowledge , faith , feare of god , and other spirituall graces in either , so there is no impossibilitie of attaining them , and some good measure of them , vnto either . examples of the weaker sex apparantly prouing this , are in that regard the more effectuall ; for that , as they shame men , if they come short of such , so they giue women incouragement to contend , and good hope to attaine vnto , what they see others of their sex haue before them by like contending attained . but domesticall examples are of all other the most powerfull . and therefore whatsoeuer effect this shall haue with others , it ought in speciall manner to preuaile with you , who had so speciall interest in her , whose memorie is so sacred with all those that here knew her , and who were continuall eye-witnesses of those her gratious parts and godly courses , which most others had in part onely by heare-say . and doubtles that is the greatest honour we can doe to our religious auncestors deceased , if we endeuour so to resemble them in good●●s and godlinesse , that by our religious courses and cariage we may be knowne to haue come of them , and they may seeme to surviue in vs. the manner of her end , so sweet , so cheerefull , so comfortable , should the rather encite you hereunto , that , if you desire to finde that comfort then that she did , and to giue that comfort to others , that you had then in her , you take that course that you saw shee did , lay a sure foundation in life for comfort in death , and be continually building vpon it when it is once surely laid . now that this weake worke may a litle at least further you therein , he vouchsafe to grant , whose power appeares in our weaknesse , and who by weake meanes is able to effect weighty matters : to his blessing , i commend both you and it , and so rest your louing cosen tho : gataker . the testimonie giuen to m rs rebekka crisp at her buriall . the bodies of gods sants as well as their soules are a members of christs bodie , and b temples of gods spirit : and are therefore in decent and honest manner to be laid vp in the wombe of our common mother the earth . the performance of this last office to our right deare and deseruedly respected christian sister , m rs rebekka crisp , hath occasioned this assembly . concerning whose religious course of life and conuersation , togither with the conclusion thereof sutable and correspondent to the same , much might be said , and much be spoken , yea so much , that it might to strangers seeme either meere formalitie or plaine flatterie , yet by those that throughly knew her , would not onely be acknowledge for truth , but to come far short of that that 〈…〉 but neither 〈…〉 my wont , 〈…〉 i , 〈…〉 long in this kinde : 〈◊〉 rather , for that many take therin too much libertie , and this exercise being intended c more for the instruction of the liuing then for the commendation of the dead . that which i shall speake of her , to the glory of gods grace in her , and the prouoking of others to the imitation of her , shall be in few words , and referred to two heads , her piety , and her patience . for the former : it had pleased god to grace her with a measure more then ordinarie of spirituall grace , and of such graces as are not so ordinarily incident to that 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 , and soundnes of judgement● . which 〈◊〉 accordingly applied and imployed , ( part●y by constant frequenting of the publike ministerie , while god gaue leaue and libertie , and p●●tly : 〈◊〉 both then and during the times of 〈…〉 meditation and priuate conference with such as reforted vnto her , d and might that way further her , * to the searching out of the good and holy and acceptable will of god. in this hinde shee was a great questionist ▪ and ( as those religious romane e ladies were sometime to 〈◊〉 ) a whe●stone to my selfe , and i doubt not but the like also to others , f by her studious enquirie occasioning the mo●e diligent search , and the more exact discouery of many particulars : in regards whereof i may well , and doe freely and sincerely confesse , that , so oft as i resorted vnto her , i did tam proficere quàm prodesse , as well benefit by her , as benefit her . neither were these her questions , as with many , g tending to idle speculation ; meere curiosities , or vaine niceties , like a game at chesse ; rather quirks of wit , fit for disputation in schooles , then rules of vse for direction of life ; but of such points as bent and aymed at the practise of piety , the tryall of faith , and sound sanctification : that wherein shee principally desired and endeuoured to profit ; and so profited , that i may truly say of her , that shee had not h an outward shew and semblance of godlinesse , or a verball discourse of it , ( the common fault of too many professors among vs ) but the very power and efficacie of it in extraordinary manner and measure both imprinted in her heart , and expressed in her life : she had learned , i dicta in facta vertere , to turne words into works ; and as k to treasure vp with mary what shee heard and learned in her heart , so to worke it into the affection , and to bring it forth into action , to affect it with her heart , and to effect it in her life . this , among other things , her sincere piety , appeared in her singular patience . and it is patience indeede , that putteth piety to the proofe . god had trained her vp a long time in the schoole of affliction ; and shee was therein a good proficient : her afflictions being vnto her , as l the waters to noahs arke , a meanes to carry vp her thoughts and desires higher to heauen-ward . it pleased god to bruise her with paines and weaknes , and euen to m grinde to po●●der her vigor with continuance of affliction . which yet she euer sustained with great willingnes ofminde , hauing oft in her mouth that worthy speech of dauid , n behold , here i am , let him do with me what he will ; and o desiring euer , as she protested oft in the middest of her paines , not so much the remouall of the crosse , which shee esteemed but light , as patience to beare it , and grace to make vse of it : complaining of nothing so much in her afflictions , as that by meanes of them she was disabled to the performance of such duties as shee desired with her familie , and restrained in the intention of her spirituall meditation ; if in any thing impatient , impatient of ●ought that hindred that way . neither was this her patience such as proceeded either from some senselesnes and stupiditie , or from some kinde of immanitie and inhumanitie , p as in some ; ( for she was a woman made of meekenes and lowlines , of minde , as of a tender constitution her selfe naturally , and therefore soone sensible of paine and griefe , so full of bowels of mercy and tender compassion towards others , and free from all austeritie and harshnes of spira ) but q from an apprehension of gods hand in those things that befell her and a concoience of submitting her will to his pleasure whose wholly she acknowledged herselfe to be , and was content therefore wholly to be disposed of by him . but because r perseuerance , as bernard saith , is all in all ; and is that that carieth away the crowne or the garland from all : ſ as the rest of her life had bin , so her latter end was not vnlike ; full of piety and patience , of alacritie and cheerefulnes , wholy taken vp with holy and heauenly meditation , and longing exceedingly for the time of her dissolution . god shewed in her to all that were about her , that it is not in vaine sincerely to serue him ; and that a constant course of a religious life will minister aboundance of sweet comfort in death . about the beginning of her last sicknes , she sent for me to her , whom ( though the meanest of many that resorted vnto her ) in regard of some bond of alliance she desired to be , and made account shee might be boldest withall ; and before some few of her familiar frends , made a worthy and pithy confession and profession of her faith , too long to relate ; laid open the grounds and notes of her assurance fetched forth of gods word , of gods loue vnto her , and of her owne vnto god ; requesting either to be better informed , if in ought she were mistaken , or to haue further confirmed by pregnant proofes out of gods booke , what she rightly apprehended . and this was the worke that by her good will shee then desired to be continually taken vp with ; forgetting her paines and weaknes when she was about it , and neglecting her naturall rest to attend it . so that she might well say to god with dauid , ſ oh how loue i thy law ? it is my continuall meditation . and with iob , t i haue preferred the words of thy mouth , not onely before my most desired foode , but before my most needfull and naturall rest . yea so eager was she vpon these things , that i was enforced oft to perswade her to forbeare , considering her great weaknes , and to intermit the intention of her meditation , by giuing some way to rest and repose . and here i cannot passe by one speech vsed by her vpou such an occasion , which the rather i relate , to prouoke others by her example not to neglect the meanes of mercy and grace that god vouchsafeth them now , while they may follow them . after long discourse to and fro , perceiuing , as i thought , her eyes to wax heauy , and her spirits fainty , and well knowing what need she had of some refreshing , i aduised her to compose her self vnto rest , which her long want of it required , and her eyes seemed to incline vnto , that it was best to take it while she might , lest she should after , want it when she would . her answer was that this was her best rest , & that which she found best refreshing & sweetest repose in ; and that , said she , which you say of the one , may i much better say of the other : if to giue way to rest i forbeare those meanes of comfort that god by your presence now affordeth me , i may hereafter want them when i would , and shall neede them . some conflicts she had the day before her departure ; but such , through gods goodnes , as lasted not long , and ended in that comfort , that continued with her to her end : which was so quiet and peaceable . that her departure was scarce sensible to those that were neerest about her . i will add but a word , and that i speake vnfainedly : i know gods hand is not straitned , neither is his grace scanted : yet , considering mine owne obseruation & experience , but small , i confess ; as i haue not hitherto in all points met with her match , so i wish rather than hope to light oft on her like . but let vs leaue her with the lord in happines , in heauen : and apply our selues vnto that , that more principally concerneth vs , attending to such instructions as shall ( by gods assistance ) be deliuered , not altogither vnagreable to the present occasion , out of that portion of scripture , which i haue chosen to intreat of , concerning pavles desire of dissolvtion , and deaths advantage the ground of that his desire . philipp . cap. 1. vers . 23. desiring to be dissolued , and to be with christ ; which is by much more the better . the apostle paul was in a great strait , when hee wrote this epistle ; in doubt , it seemeth , whether he should rather desire life or death : affected as a louing and loyall wife , saith one , a whose husband in a far countrey aduanced to great honor , writeth to her to come to him , but to leaue her children behinde her , as deere to her as her selfe ; and in that regard distracted , on the one side desirous to enioy her husband , and on the other side loath to leaue her children behinde her , especially yet vnable to helpe themselues ; and in that regard content yet to defer her owne honor and ioy in her husband , till she see them better able to shift for themselues : or , as a beggar-woman , saith b bernard , who comming to a rich mans dore with a childe on her hand , is offered to come in and warme her and dine well , so she leaue her childe , because it is vnquiet , without ; whose bowels earning with naturall affection toward the fruit of her wombe , make her willing rather to accept of a small pittance without dores with her childe , then to dine largely and liberally without it , within . in like manner fared it with the blessed apostle at this present . he desired to be with christ his husband , his head in happinesse , in heauen . but the philippians his litle ones , whom he had newly c bred , and not throughly yet d nursed vp , they hung on his hands , and had neede still of his helpe : whom being loath therefore to leaue , e he was content for their gaine to defer his owne good , and to continue yet some longer time in this mortall and miserable life , for the helping of them forward on the way to eternall life f . and this his distraction and doubtfulnes of resolution he propoundeth in the former g verse , and in the former part of this verse : whereunto are annexed such motiues as endeuoured to draw his desires either way ; his owne felicitie on the one side , which made him rather desire death h ; their necessitie on the other side , that moued him rather to accept of then to affect life , to endure it than to desire it i . so that the hastning of his owne eternall good on the one side , and the furthering of their spirituall gaine on the other side ; wrought between them a great distraction in him . yet so , that the things themselues , life and death , simply considered ; if he should respect , and as he respected his owne good and gaine in either , his desire was rather to dissolution and departure by decease , that he might be with christ k . whereof a reason is also rendred , because that simply considered , or in respect of himselfe , was without all question or comparison , the far greater good of the twaine . now the maine point that hence we obserue then is this , that a christian man may lawfully and iustly desire death . which point so conceiued , diuideth it selfe into two branches , both of them arising necessarily from the words of my text . the one concerning the lawfulnes or warrantablenesse . the other concerning the equitie or reasonablenesse of this desire . for the former , that a christian man may lawfully desire death in some kinde and in some case , ( as did a elias , and simeon b vpon sight of our sauiour ) is apparent , in that the apostle not onely professeth it here of himself , but writing by the spirit of god , approueth it also , as in himselfe here , so in others as well as himselfe else-where c . and it may be further confirmed vnto vs , if we shall consider ; first , that death and departure hence by death , it is propounded as a blessing d , promised as a blesing e , and bestowed as a blessing f ; and therefore may as a blessing also lawfully be desired . secondly , that our deaths-day is our doomes-day g : that our going to christ h , as that his comming to vs i . now a christian may loue , and long after the one * , and therefore may lawfully desire also the other . in a word , wee pray or ought to pray daily k , that christs kingdome may be fully erected in vs ; that gods will may be prefectly fulfilled of vs : which can not be either of them wholy effected , but by dissolution and decease . but here may a question or two be moued . first , for what cause we may desire death : secondly , with what caution . for the former , i answer ; we may desire death : first , to be freed from mortalitie and the miseries of this life l ; that we may rest from our labours m ; that mortalitie may be swallowed vp of life n ; which can not be in ordinarie course but by death . secondly , to be freed from spirituall euils o , that will not leaue vs but by death p . and lastly , in regard of those benefits , that death further bringeth with it ; that we may come home to god q , and be for euer with christ r . to the latter question , i answer , that first this desire it must be without impatience : ( that was ionas his fault ſ : ) we may not desire death as weary of gods worke , of doing or enduring what he calleth vs vnto . secondly , it must be with submitting of our wils to gods will t ; content to wait gods leisure , and to abide gods pleasure for death or for life u . and thus , for these causes , with these cautions ; death may lawfully be desired . now for the latter branch , that euery christian man hath good cause & great cause to desire death ; ( besides that the apostle as he desireth it , so he hath good ground for his desire in that kinde x ; ) it may further more clearely appeare vnto vs , if we shall consider y the euils that death freeth vs from , togither with the benefits that it bringeth vs vnto . * the euils that death freeth vs from are either corporall or spirituall . the corporall euils may be referred to 4 heads : first , those iniuries and wrongs that gods children sustaine at the hands of worldly men that here oppugne and oppresse them . for all that will liue , godlily , while they liue here , must looke to suffer persecution 1 ; and the way to gods kingdome is through many tribulations 2 : the world hateth them , because though they be in it , yet are they not of it 3 : and this hatred will last so long as the world lasts 4 ; so long as the one is in it , and the other of it : neither will it cease to discouer it selfe in mischieuous attempts a , so oft as abilitie and opportunitie shall meete . in regard whereof , christian men , saith our apostle , had they hope onely in this life , were of all men the most miserable b . christian men therefore as they haue no cause to loue life ; so they haue no neede to feare death : yea as they haue litle cause to loue this life , considering the wrongs that here daily they endure ; so they haue great cause to desire death , that putteth an end to them all ; that setteth them and the wicked so far asunder , that they can not one come any more at the other c , to vex or molest or annoy one the other . in respect whereof it is well said by some of the ancients , that gods children are neuer better deliuered , then when deliuered by death : for that then they are deliuered not out of one , but out of all troubles at once d ; and so deliuered as they neede no further deliuerance any more e . secondly , those temporall corrections and chastisements , that the corruptions of gods children by way * of cure here require . for here god is oftentimes cōstrained to smite them with the wounds of an enemie , in sharpe and seuere manner , because their iniquities are many and their transgressions great and grieuous f ; to iudge them in this world , that they may not be condemned in the next g . but after this life , as there shall be no neede of naturall foode or physicke for the bodie ; so there shall be no neede of such spirituall physicke for the soule . as we shall be rid of corruption , so we shall neede no more correction . as there shall be no vse of preaching or sacraments , so there shall be no neede of such sharpe courses , as god is now faine to take with vs : for all griefe and paine shall be then done away h ; and all teares wiped away from our eyes i : we shall neuer feare then to taste of gods anger againe k ; nor euer know what his displeasure meaneth any more . thirdly , all laborious and painfull imployments : they rest then from their labours l ; which though the works themselues are not euill ; yet the paine and toile accompanying them is of the punishment of sinne m , and so euill in it selfe . martha shall not neede then to complaine of marie n : nor the prophet neede by preaching to waste his lights and his life o . as all misery , so all mercy and works of mercy shall then cease * . as there shall be then no hunger nor thirst , nor other necessities of nature p : so we shall not neede there either to feede the hungry , as we did here q , or to haue a fellow-feeling of their hunger ; that which maketh vs many times as miserable , as those themselues are to whom we shew mercy h . fourthly , all infirmities and bodily paines and diseases . death is the best physition 1 , the best physick for them 2 : it cureth vs not of one but of all , and of all at once ; not for once onely , but for euer 3 . and what speake i of diseases , or of other diseases ? death cureth vs euen of death . old age ; saith one , is a disease euill enough of it selfe i : yea our life it selfe is a disease k , and a deadly disease , a disease vnto death l : and there is no meanes to cure vs of this disease but by death . we 〈◊〉 freed from death by death ; as by death christ destroyed death m ; while mortalitie is swallowed vp of life n , and immortalitie , the only true health o , is atchieued by death . the spirituall euils that death freeth vs from , are also of 4. sorts . the first of satans temptations . the christian soule , while it is in this world , is in fight euer with satan p , who is continually labouring to worke our euill q , and to worke vs vnto euill r : and if he can not draw vs out of gods way , by beating and buffeting vs to vex and annoy vs ſ , and so to make gods way as tedious and troublesome , as he can possibly , vnto vs t . and this course he continueth with vs to our liues end , raging many times most furiously when we draw neerest to our end , because he knoweth his time then is but short u . but by death we preuaile against him , and get full victorie ouer him x ; when he is not onely so cast out of vs y , that he can not sway in vs , as before our conuersion sometime he did z ; but is so shaken off from vs , that he can neuer once returne againe , as with our sauiour he did sometime a , to tempt vs. for our soules are out of his reach , when they are taken vp into heauen b , whither that wicked one hath now no accesse c . the second sort is of worldly prouocations and euill examples . the children of god while they are in the world , can not but liue among , and conuerse with the wicked of the world d : and liuing among them , and conuersing with them , they can not but heare their blasphemous speeches e , and see their lewd courses f , whereby they abuse and dishonor god : that which is a matter of no small griefe and vexation to gods children g ; yea so great that it maketh them oft á-weary of their liues h . as indeed how can it be but a grieuous heart-sore to any faithfull subiect and well-affected to his soueraigne , to be constrained to abide in such a place , and among such people , where his lord and master is daily railed on and reuiled in his hearing , and those things done daily in his sight , that tend to the disgrace and dishonor of him , whom he deseruedly most respects ? but we are freed from all these euils also , when we go out of the world i . for howsoeuer here the graine and chaffe lye togither in one field k ; yet there the chaffe goeth one way , and the good graine another way l , the tares are cast one way , and the good corne is caried another way m , euen into gods garner , to a place where there shall be no matter of scandall n , to make them stumble and fall o or to vex and grieue p them any more . the third sort of spirituall euils is of sinne and corruption ; then which nothing is more burdensome and combersome to a christian soule q , not so much for feare of wrath , as for desire to please god , and for griefe that thereby he should shew himselfe vnkinde and vnthankfull to him , whom he hath euer found so gratious and good to himselfe . and if this be so heauy to a christian soule , that he should so displease and dishonor his heauenly father by his errors and ouer-sights r , whose honor ought to be deerer to him than all the worlds wealth , yea then his owne soule it selfe ſ ; how is death then to be desired of him , that freeth him from this burden ; that giueth an vtter ease from it , an eternall discharge of it ? for he that is dead , is freed from sinne t . death , it strippeth vs of our old man , our old skin , all at once , not , as sanctification doth it here , by degrees : yea it placeth vs in far better estate , then our first parents were in before their fall u . for they were so free from sinne , that yet they might haue will to sinne : we shall be so freed by death from sinne , that we shall neuer haue either will or minde againe therevnto . the fourth sort of euils spirituall is of diuine desertion , whereby god in this life , though he neuer indeede leaue his children x , yet sometime seemeth to forsake them y ; though he euer remember and regard them z , yet sometime seemeth to forget them * : he doth many times , for secret causes best knowne to himselfe , with-draw from them the sight and sense of his gratious presence and assistance , and looke vpon them with a frowning and a lowring countenance . which thing how grieuous and heauy it is to gods saints for the present , may appeare by those mournefull plaints that they powre out in such cases “ : euen so grieuous , that ( for the time ) they seeme to be in the very suburbs of hell . whereas by death they are freed from all such dreadfull desertions ; being placed in such a state thereby , that as god shall neuer be againe displeased with them , so he shall neuer in displeasure againe turne his face away from them # . and thus haue we seene the euils of all sorts , that death is a meanes to free vs from . now in the next place , consider we the benefits that death bringeth vs vnto : which may likewise be reduced to 4. heads . the first is the full consummation of grace , that is here but imperfect and in part h : as first fruits i , but an handfull k to the whole crop ; as an earnest-penny l giuen in pledge of full payment . but if the first-fruits be so pretious m , those small beginnings of grace , that the true christian , the wise merchant , would not take the world in exchange for them n ; that he counteth all the wealth of this world , but as trash , as dr●sse and dongue in regard of them o ; oh what will the full crop be ? if the earnest-penny be so pretious , what will the entire payment be ? and if we then thirst and long after growth of p grace , how should we desire death that bringeth with it a full consummation of q grace , that bringeth grace to it full growth ? the second benefit is a perfection of glory r ; such an excellencie as shall make vs not onely gratious in our selues , but most glorious also in the eyes of all that behold vs : that which the apostle calleth ſ an exceeding excessiue eternall weight of glory : and saith further , that all the afflictions of this life , are not worthy once to be named with that glory , that in the next life shall be manifested , not vnto vs onely , but euen in vs t . when the sunne of righteousnes shall shine full vpon vs u , and shining full vpon vs , shall make vs like vnto himselfe x ; so that we shall also shine as the sunne in the kingdome of heauen y . this we are not able to conceiue what it is . we can guesse somewhat at the former , because we haue the first-fruits of it here : but this we are not able to giue almost any guesse at . but the apostle peter , in christs transfiguration , seeing a glimpse of it ( oh it is good being here , saith he ) would faine haue stayed there still z . and the apostle paul that had seene it , could not vtter what he had seene 4 , but longed exceedingly after it , as one neuer well till he were there 5 . and vndoubtedly , enlarge we our mindes all that may be , we shall say , when we shall come to see and enioy it , as the queene of the south , when shee came and saw salomons royaltie 6 , the one halfe , nay the hundreth part of that we shall finde there , was neuer either reported vnto vs , or conceiued of vs here . the third benefit , is the inseparable company of christ . they shall follow the lambe there , whithersoeuer he goeth a . in this world is christ said to be with vs b : after this life are we said to he with him c . here he is said to be with vs , while we soiourne from him d : there are we said to goe to him , and to be at his home with him e . and if it be matter of much joy to haue christ with vs here , what will it be to abide for euer with him there f ? if christs presence by his spirit g be so comfortable here , that it is able to cheere vs vp in all our greatest afflictions h : what shall his glorious presence be eternally there ? conceiue we it by some comparisons . it were a great grace , and such as would minister much comfort to a courtier lying sicke at home of the gowt , to haue the prince not onely to send to him , but in person also to visit him : but much more comfort and joy would it be to him , to be able , being recouered , to repaire to the court , and there enjoy his princes presence , with such fauors and pleasures , as that place may afford . how much more then , in this case , is it a great grace and a comfort , that god vouchsafeth to visit vs here by his spirit i , sometime more familiarly and feelingly , but euer so effectually , as thereby to support vs euen in our heauiest afflictions ? but yet how much more exceedingly shall our ioy and comfort be increased , when being freed from all infirmities , we shall be taken home to him , that we may liue in ioy and blisse for euer with him ? as that courtier hauing assurance giuen him of recouery by such a time , would exceedingly reioyce to thinke of the ioy of that day , and count euery day a weeke , if not a yeere , to it , wherein he should being recoured returne againe to the court , and be welcommed thither in solemne manner by all his frends there , the prince himselfe principally : so well may the faithfull soule not a litle ioy to forethinke with it selfe , what a ioyfull howre that shall be vnto it , wherein by death parted from the body , it shall be solemnly presented before the face of christ , and entring into the heauenly palace , shall be welcomed thither by the whole court of heauen , by all the blessed spirits that there abide i . againe ; this life is the time of our contract with christ k after this life commeth our mariage-day l . now as a virgin espoused to one that is trauailed to the east-indies , if she do indeed faithfully and vnfainedly affect him , though she ioy to read a letter , or to see some token from him , yet it is nothing in that kinde that can giue her contentment m , but shee longeth for his presence , desireth to heare of his returne , and joyeth to thinke on that day , when meeting againe they shall be so matched , as they shall neuer more againe be so seuered . so here , though the christian soule contracted to christ , during the time of this contract , in his absence from her n , receiue many fauors and loue-tokens from him o , as are all the blessings she enioyeth here , be they spirituall or temporall p ; yet they can not all of them giue full contentment vnto her , but helpe rather to enflame her affection towards him , and make her , if she sincerely loue him , as she professeth and pretendeth to do , the more earnestly and ardently to long for that day , wherein she shall come inseparably to be lincked vnto him , and euerlastingly to enioy his personall presence , which aboue all things she most desireth . the fourth and last , but not the least benefit that death bringeth vs vnto , is immediate communion with god : when god shall be all in all and vnto all q : when we shall draw our delights from the fountaine of all r , from the well-head ſ : when god shall conueigh and minister vnto vs immediately by himself , whatsoeuer he now communicateth vnto vs by meanes t . this ( though it be the greatest benefit of all , x yet we can say the least of all of it . onely thus much : if the meanes whereby god now imparteth his mercies vnto vs , be so sweet to gods saints , ( the ministerie of his word , his holy mysteries , and religious offices ) that they earnestly thirst after them when they want them u , delight exceedingly in them when they haue them , seeme to be euen rauished and enamoured with them y , prefer the sweetnes of them before the sweetest sweets z , yea seeme to doate so vpon them , that they haue neuer enough of them a if the dimme beames , i say , of gods face and fauor shining through these thick clouds and veiles be so comfortable to them , that they esteeme all worldly ioyes and delights , as nothing in regard of them b : oh what shall god himself be , when we shall see him fully face to face c , when we shall finde all togither in him , draw all immediately from him , and enioy whatsoeuer our heart can desire or minde imagine , yea far more than either of them can possibly now reach to d , in him . and thus we haue seene the benefit of death , both in regard of the euils from which it freeth vs ; as also in regard of those good things that thereby accrew vnto vs : whence we may well conclude , that as gods children may lawfully desire it , so they haue iust cause and great cause earnestly to long after it . now the vse then of this point is first to ouerthrow the opinion of those that thinke it not lawfull in any case to wish or desire death , yea in regard of freedome from outward euils ; sithence it is promised , as we haue shewed , by god as a blessing , and as a blessing in that very kinde e . yea but , may some say , if we may desire it , we may do it : we may then hasten our owne end . it followeth not . a man may desire many things to be done , which yet he himselfe may not doe . a man may desire the ministerie f : yet he may not make himselfe a minister g . he may desire to haue some malefactors taken away by the sword of iustice : yet , being a priuate person , he may not do it himselfe . so a man may desire death , and seeke it at gods hands ; but not procure it or hasten it by any meanes of his owne h . secondly , it serueth to shame and condemne such as are so loth to dye , that they can not endure to heare of death and dissolution : so far from desiring that which they haue so great cause to desire , that they can not brooke or abide any mention or motion of it , can worst of any thing away with it : in so much that some forbeare the doing of some things , some matters of conueniencie , yea some necessarie duties , as making of their wils , out of a friuolous and superstitious conceit , that they shall dye shortly , if they do them . yea many though they can not liue , yet are vnwilling to dye i . though they liue in that miserie , that they can haue no ioy of their liues , that their life is rather a lingring death than a life k , yet would they rather continue still in such miserable plight , then be content to haue an end put to their intolerable torments , much more bitter than many deaths , by an easie dissolution , by a speedy dispatch . no paine , no torment , no pangs of death , can preuaile so with them , as to make them willing to vndergo what they can not auoide l , or content to goe to god. now for heathen , or such as haue no hope but here m , to be thus affected , were not greatly to be wondred at . but for christians , that professe themselues to be but pilgrims and strangers here n , this world a strange country to them , and heauen their owne countrey o , their home , their fathers house ; for them to be so vnwilling to leaue this world , to depart hence , to returne to their owne home , as if their fathers house were not an heauen but an hell , it is a foule shame , it is no small blemish to their christian profession . yea it sheweth such persons to be possessed still with a great measure of hypocrisie . for what is it but hypocrisie , when our prayers and our practise concur not , when the one is directly contrary vnto the other , when we are most vnwilling to that , that daily we would seeme to desire or how do not our prayers and our practise the one directly crosse the other , when we pray daily to haue , not our will , but gods will to be done q ; and yet when it commeth to the point , that god calleth vs to come to him , we hang back , and are vnwilling to do what he willeth vs r , would rather writh gods will to ours , than conforme our will to his , would rather haue our owne will done against gods will to our owne euill , then the will of our louing father wrought on vs for our good ? how do not our tongues and our hearts apparently and exceedingly jarre , when we pray daily to god , that his kingdome may come ſ , and yet we wish and desire rather to stay here still , where satans throne t and kingdome u is ; and where we our selues are in some degree still of thraldome x , then to be translated hence vnto that eternall kingdome y ; where we shall be absolutely free from all spirituall seruitude , and shall reigne in glory for euer with christ iesus our head ? and surely strange it is to see here , as * one well obserueth , how contrariwise we are in this kinde affected to our owne courses otherwise . for the labourer hasteth to repose himselfe z ; the mariner roweth with all might to gaine his port , and is glad at the heart when he is once come within kenning of it ; the trauailer is neuer quiet till he be at his wayes end . and yet we tied in this world to a perpetuall taske , tossed as on the sea , with continuall tempest , toyled and tyred out with a tedious and combersome passage , can not see the end of our paines but with griefe , view our port but with teares , thinke on our home but with horror and dread : seeme weary of our worke , of our waues , and our way ; and yet when death commeth to rid vs of them , to set vs at an end of them , and to put vs into our port , we shun it as a rocke , and cannot endure the sight of it a : do as litle children , that go crying out of some maladie all day , and at night when the medicine commeth that should heale and helpe them of their paine , or the barber-surgion that should pluck out the aking-tooth , haue no griefe more now , but are wel enough without it ; feare the meanes of ease more than the disease , : the medicine more than the maladie it self so we feare what we should wish for , and wis what we should feare ; yea feare most and abhorre what we haue most cause to desire 6 . oh but life is sweet , will some say : and man is a creature that loueth life c . do we loue life ? let vs loue true life , loue eternall life , loue that life that is life indeed d . for this life is no life , but a death rather than life 7 . it is no true life that yeeldeth to death , that tendeth to death , that endeth in death e : that is true life , that is eternall : that is true life , that cannot be dissolued by death f . if we desire such life then , let vs desire death : for there is no way to such life but by death g as a christian man therefore hath no cause to feare or abhorre death h , because it can neither bereaue him of spirituall i , nor debarre him of eternall life k : ( he dieth not , though he dye l : his death is no death : ) so he hath great cause to loue and desire death , because it bringeth him to perfection of spirituall life m , it placeth him in possession of eternall life n . as he hath no cause to dread death , because it cannot seuer him from christ o : so he hath good cause to desire death , because it bringeth him home vnto christ p . and it is no death , but life , to be joyned vnto him ; as it is no life , but death , to be seuered from him q vse 3 thirdly , this serueth to shew the efficacie and excellencie of faith : it maketh those things most cheerefull , most comfortable , most desirable , that are most dreadfull , & discomfortable , and terrible r in themselues : it altereth cleane the nature of things : it maketh the world irkesome to paul ſ , which all men naturally desire and delight in : it maketh death and dissolution desirable and delightsome vnto him , which all men naturally abhorre ; insomuch that though they be weary of life , yet they are vnwilling to dye ; though they haue no pleasure of their life , yet loath are they to leaue life , and to dye once , that they may liue euer . it is cleane contrary with paul. his life is not deere to him t : and death is desired of him u : yea so much desired , that he can hardly , but for others , induce himself to liue longer x : it is as hard a matter to make him patient of life , as it is to make other men patient of death y : it is a mastery with them to make them willing to dye ; it is a masterie with him to make himselfe willing to liue . and surely a great matter it must needs be , that maketh a man dye cheerefully , not as one weary of life z , but as desirous of death a ; as desirous of death , as other men are of life , because in death and by death he looketh for life b . fourthly , this should incite vs to the loue and desire of that , which we haue so good , so great cause to desire c ; for what should we desire rather than to be at rest , at an end of all our troubles and trauels ; to be freed from the burden and bondage of sinne , from satans assaults , from the present wicked world ; to be rid of infirmitie ; to be stript of our mortalitie ; to be made perfectly gratious , and vnspeakably glorious ; to be in ioy vnconceiuable , and in happinesse eternall ; to be present with christ , and for euer with god ? this was the end of christs descending , that we might ascend d : of his descending to vs , that we might ascend vnto him : he to misery , we to glory ; he to be crucified , we to be crowned ; he to be crucified for vs , we to be crowned with him . and if he were content to do the one , how much more we the other ? if he counted it meat and drinke to do that for our good e , how much more should we desire to do this for our own good ? and indeed his descending cannot be beneficiall vnto vs , vnlesse we ascend vnto him f . that was the end of his descending : and that is the end of his ascending . as he descended , so he ascended that we might ascend g : he went into heauen before vs , to prepare a place for vs h , and to draw vs vp to him i , that we might reigne for euer with him k . and shall we then be vnwilling to follow him to our eternall glory , to our endles good ? certainely with an euill will would wee accompanie him to the crosse , if we be so vnwilling to come after him to the crowne . oh let vs rouse vp therefore our dull and drowsie spirits ; let vs sharpen and whet on our affections and desires herevnto , that we may be willing to dye , that we may euen desire death . for , he liueth but euill , that cannot dye well * . and , it is one point of well-dying , to be willing to dye 1 . and no man dieth more willingly , than he that desireth death . now that we may ( with this blessed seruant and apostle of christ ) loue death and desire death , let vs so liue as we may not feare death . for how can a man desire what he feareth m ? wouldest thou therefore haue death to be not terrible and horrible , but desirable and delectable ; not lamentable , but comfortable ; not dreadfull , but cheerefull and delightfull vnto thee ? ( for it is not , neither can it so be vnto all , but vnto some onely n ; to those alone that are qualified so , as our apostle here was . ) then first suffer not thy soule to be glewed to this world . for it is the loue of this life that maketh death bitter 4 . therefore are so few content to be dissolued , beeause they are so wedded to the world 5 ; whereas to a minde that loatheth and misliketh the world , nothing is so welcome as death , that taketh him out of the world . yea take heede that the good blessings that god here vouchsafeth thee , cleaue not too close to thee . for euen they are often vnto vs , as absolom to dauid o , a meanes priuily to filch our affections from god , and to make vs more vnwilling to go hence vnto god. let vs remember that these things , though good things , are but as rings and loue-tokens that god wooeth vs here withall . and as it were but an harlotry loue in vs , to affect the present more than the party that sendeth it p ; so an absurd and a preposterous thing , that gods loue-tokens sent to vs , should lessen our loue to him , and make vs lesse desirous of the fruition of him . which that therefore they may not do , we must take heede that our hearts be not set too much on them q ; that we vse them so that we do not abuse them r ; that we be not so desirous still to retaine them , that they make vs more vnwilling , parting with them , to depart to him that sent them , when he shall call vs to come to him . let vs so possesse them , that they hang loose about vs : then when death commeth to strip vs of them , they will go off with ease , as we slip off our garments , when we lay vs downe to sleep . otherwise if they cleaue to vs , we shall not part but with paine ; as the shirt that sticketh fast to the vlcerous body , and pulleth skin and flesh away withall : as the tooth , that standeth fast in the head , commeth not out but with much difficultie , teareth the gum , or bringeth a peece of the jaw away with it ; when the tooth that is loose , commeth out with ease . secondly , hate sinne , and death will be delightfull vnto thee . it is the loue of their corruptions , that maketh men loth to leaue them ſ , and loath to appeare there , where they must be called to account for them . the loue of sinne maketh men feare death : and the hatred of sinne would make men loue and desire death . for he that hateth sinne in himselfe a , cannot but desire to haue the bodie of sinne wholy abolished in his soule b : which , because it will last with him as long as he liueth c , and will not be vtterly abandoned till death ; therefore the more he hateth it , the lesse he loueth life ; the more he abhorreth it , the more he desireth death . as the more impatient of sicknes , so the more impatient of sinne , the more desirous of death d . thirdly , lay a good foundation for life eternall e . labour to keepe a good conscience , and the comfort of a good conscience f , and death shall not be dreadfull but cheerefull vnto thee . for the godly hath hope euen in death g . the worldly man hath his hope , as his happinesse , in this life h alone . and therefore so long as life lasteth , some sory hope he may haue i but when he dieth , his hope dieth with him k . and therefore iustly feareth he death , that putteth a finall end , as to his happinesse , so to his hopes . whereas the godly man retaineth his hopes , euen when life decayeth l therefore iustly rifest then with him , because he approcheth then neerest to the accomplishment of them . and therefore litle reason hath he to feare or abhor death , much cause to affect it , and cheerefully to expect it ? for he that is in the state of grace and life , cannot be put beside it , or depriued of it by death m . and he may well cheerefully expect , and euen with triumph entertaine death n , that is to receiue and enioy a crowne of eternall life after death o . that therefore we may be confident in these our desires , in coueting to remoue hence , that we may goe vnto god ; let vs studie so to carry our selues , that both staying here , and remouing hence , we may be acceptable vnto him p . labour then for this : yea labour not onely for it ; but labour further , in the fourth place , to get assurance of it to thine owne soule q . labour ( i say ) to get assurance of gods fauour in thy life , and thou shalt not neede to feare death r . a man will neuer be afraid to go to god , if he know that in christ he is reconciled vnto god ſ . he will neuer be afraid to lay downe this cotage of clay , if he be assured that he hath an eternall housing , not made with hands , reserued for him in the heauens t . the want of the former , of the thing it selfe , maketh the vnfaithfull feare death ; and not without cause ; because they haue laid no foundation for life after death ; and therefore when they dye , they dye irrecouerably , they dye eternally , they passe not from death to life , but from death to death u , or from death to such a life , as is worse than any death , a dying life and a liuing death x . the want of the latter , to wit , of the assurance of it , maketh euen many faithfull feare death ; ( though that without iust cause ; ) because , though they haue laid a sure foundation for life , and therefore cannot miscary , but must needs doe well in death ; yet they want the comfort of it , because they do not apprehend it , because they are not assured of it y : which maketh them therefore with feare to expect death , as a sergeant that came to arrest them , and to carry them away to hell ; which , if they could consider of things aright , they had cause rather with great ioy to welcome , as gods messenger , sent to conueigh them hence to heauen . fiftly , learne to dye whiles thou liuest ; learne to dye before death a . forecast thine end b thinke oft on it 4 ; fit thy selfe for it ; that though it come neuer so soone , neuer so sodainly , it may not surprise thee vnawares , it may not finde thee vnfitted . he can not dye with alacritie , he can not in holy manner desire death , that hath not fitted himself for death , that hath not before hand seriously thought on his end , and addressed himselfe thereunto c . therefore men feare it , because they are not prepared for it : therefore they dread it , because it commeth ere they expected it d . as thou art wont therefore ere sleepe come vpon thee , to compose thy selfe vnto rest , by stripping thy selfe , lying downe in or on thy bed , drawing the curtaines about thee , closing thine eyes , acting sleepe as it were , before thou sleepest : so endeuor daily , before death seize on thee , to compose and addresse thy selfe vnto death 5 , by the serious meditation of thine vnauoydable end , as most certainely not farre of * , so vncertaine how neere , by labouring to work out of thy minde such secular , carnall , or satanicall conceits , as may bring thee out of loue with it , and by striuing to bring thy selfe acquainted with it , yea to worke thine heart to a loue and a liking of it , that when it commeth , thou maist entertaine it , neither as a foe , nor as a meere stranger , but as a wonted guest , as an ancient acquaintance , as a familiar frend e it is a matter , as of much consequence , for the furtherance of a cheerefull departure , so of great difficultie , not so soone atchieued , not so easily learned , f as many men imagine : yea it is that , that we may well all our life long be a learning ; g since it is , or ought to be the maine ayme of euery mans whole life , to prepare and fit him for death h . sixtly and lastly , when thou lookest towards death , looke withall euer further than it . when thou meditatest on death , meditate withall on those benefits that shall accrue vnto thee by death . oh could we see them , as paul did , when he was rapt into the third heauen i : we would neuer be well , vntill we were there . nay , could we see but some glimpse , as those three disciples did k , of that glory ; we would neuer lin longing till we were entred or entring into it . but this since we cannot hope for , till we come there ; let vs labour with moses the meane while , with the spirituall eye of the soule , with the eye of faith and meditation , to see him that cannot be seene l ; yea to see that , that cannot be seene m ; to see that with the spirituall eye , that cannot be seene with the naturall eye : with our apostle , to looke not on the things that are seene , but on the things that are not seene n : not consider death as it sheweth it selfe to the eye of flesh and blood , and as it is in it owne nature , as an enemie to man , as a punishment of sinne o ; but as it is manifested to the eye of faith out of gods word , as it is now altred and changed through gods mercy in christ , as a great benefit , as a blessing , as the messenger of god p ; as gods messenger , i say , for the good , yea for the endlesse good of all those that belong vnto god. open the eye of thy soule to looke not vpon it , but beyond it . muse oft vpon the happinesse that shall ensue vpon it , and cannot be attained but by it . that will make thee desire death , though not for it selfe , yet for it q ; yea it will make thee euen in loue with death , if thou beest in loue with it ; since thou canst not but by death attaine vnto it . fiftly , this helpeth to confute certaine erroneous conceits . first , the popish opinion of purgatorie . for what cause or reason should christian men haue to desire death , if they were to goe to such a place after death ? to passe not from paine to ease and rest , but from paine to paine , from lesser paines to greater paines ; to greater torments after death , then euer they did or could endure in this life r : not to goe vnto christ , bnt to goe further from christ ; not to conuerse with him immediatly after death , but to be depriued of those meanes , whereby they had spirituall society with him , and did comfortably enioy him by his spirit here vpon earth . a meere dotage of mans idle braine , hauing no shadow of ground or warrant out of gods word , teaching the saints of god to expect after death wo and paine and hell , where the spirit promiseth nothing but life a , rest b , ioy c , and heauen d . secondly , it confuteth likewise another vnsound assertion , to wit , of those that denie vnto the soules of the saints deceassed entrance into heau'n , and accesse vnto the presence of christ , vntill the last day . this erroneous conceit was of old broached by irenaeus f , and was of late againe reviued by pope iohn 22 g . but was then opposed by the most of his cardinals , and confuted by the diuines of the uniuersitie of paris , and the pope himselfe ( as some write ) constrained by philip the faire , then king of france , publikely to recant it h ; as also benedict 12. his next successor , solemnly condemned it i . and it is a point indeede directly contrary to the promise of christ , and to the desires of the saints . to the promise of christ made to the theife on the crosse ; this day shalt thou be with me in paradise k : which paradise this our apostle expoundeth to be the third heauen l , the present place of christs residence and abode m . to the desires of gods saints ; this our apopostle , and others , as well here , as else-where , who desire to remoue hence , that they may goe thither to christ n . but in vaine should they desire for that end to remoue hence , if when hence they departed , they should not go to christ , but wait without , i wot not where , secluded from all accesse to him , and from the sight of him . so that of necessitie either we must shut christ himselfe out of heauen , or else we must admit the soules of the saints , who by direction of the spirit of god ( which cannot mis-informe them , either delude or deceiue them , ) desire therefore to be dissolued , that they may goe immediately to be and abide with him where he is . lastly , it teacheth vs not to mourne excessiuely for the deceassed o . for how can we desire to goe after them , if we mourne for them , as if some euill had befallen them ? or what cause haue we to bewaile them , that are therefore happier than vs , because they are gone thither before vs p , whither we must once follow them , and can neuer be fully happy here , vntill we be there with them ? rather ; are they gone before vs , that were neere and deere vnto vs ? let their departure from vs , that were so much affected of vs , be a meanes to draw our affections more to the place whither they are gone before vs ; and to those courses , whereby we may be partakers with them , as in the grace of god here , so in glory hereafter . finis . praeclarè antiphanes apud stobaeum tom . 2. cap. 124. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . quae lipsius sic vertit . lugere amicos mortuos minimè decet . non mortui etenim sunt : sed illam ipsam viam , quam mox necessum inire nobis ●mnibus , illi praiuerunt : & ecc● postmodù̄m transgressi in vnum idemque diversorium coniuncti agemus quicquid eui relliquum est . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a68088-e100 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aristo● . ethic . l. 10. c. 1. exempla maximè mouent . cic. de orat . lib. 3. validiora sunt exempla quàm verba , & plen●us opere d●cetur quàm vcce . leo serm . de ieiun . b 1. cor. 11. 1. ephes . 5. 1 , 2. phil. 3. 17. hebr. 12. 1 , 2. & 13. 7. iam. 5. 10. c longum est iter per praecepta : breue & ●fficax per exempla . sen. epist . 6. d hoc plus valent exempla , quod fieri posse docent quod factum est . sermo quidam vinus & efficax exemplum operis est , facilè persuadens quod intendimus , deum factibile probat esse quod s●ademus . bern. de resurr . ser . 2. ex aliorum factis fieri poss● credunt , quod forte , dā putant non fieri posse , pigrescunt . aug. epist . 134. adiuvari se exemplie exoptat humana infirmitas , quo facilius ipsa etiam nunc faciat , quae ali●● fecisse ante cognoscat . saluian . ad eccles . cath . l. 3. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iam. 5. 17. lege bern. serm . de martino . e ierem. 31. 34. f iohn 17. 3. g si cognitio dei vita aeterna , tum ignorantia dei mors aeterna . bern. in cant. h galat. 3. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil . sel. hom . 2. i 1. tim 2. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clem alex. paed●g l. 1. c. 4. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 basil . l act. 4. 12. 1. cor. 11. 11. m mark. 16. 16. john 3. 16. n 1. tim. 2 15. iohn 11. 27. 2. tim. 1. 5. o rom. 10. 14 , 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. strom . l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . marc. de lege spir . 102. indiget fides cog●iti●ne , sicut & cognitio indiget fide : neque enim esse potest sides sine cognitione , neque est cognitio aliquid sine fide . theodor. de cur . graec. aff . l. 1. notes for div a68088-e430 a 1 cor. 6. 19. b 1 cor. 6. 19. c magis viuorum solatiae , quàm mortuorum subsidiae . aug. de cura pro mort . ger . d rom. 12. 2. e paula , marcella , & eustochium . legatur paulae epitaph : & hierenymi epistola ad easdem . f sic hieron . ad marcellam ; maguis pro●●cas quaestionibus , & torpēs acio ingenium , dum interr●gas , doces . g later unculis i●ditur ; in supervacuis sub●ilit as teritur . s●hol● , noes vitae discitur . sen. epist . 106. qu●scire magis i●vat quàm prodest ▪ ibid. in quibus ●ihil ali●d quàm acumen exercetur . ib. 109. quibus quisquis se tradidit , quaestiunculas quidē r●fras nectit ; cater●●● ad vitam nihil profici●● ibid. 111. quibus doce●●● magis disputare quàm viuere . ib. 9. 5. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 2. tim. 3. 5. i sen. epist . k luk 2. 19. l gen. 17. 7. m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esai . 53. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 psal . 90. 3. psal . 90. 3. n 2. sam. 15. 26. o ●rudir● cupiens flagell● , non erut● do job● bern. in cant. 33. p qualu stoicorū illa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . asfecti● humana ( vel inhumana potius ) canine aequanimitatis stupore formata tertuli depatient . indolentia ista nō sine magna mercede cantingit , immenitaris in , stuporis in corp . re . grantor apud oic . tuscul l. 3. et verè archytas in ethic . apud stab . tō . 2. c. ●●s ita enim ●mendandus est locus ille , qui nō sine mendo in vulgat ishabetur : nec corrigunt sed corrumpunt mentē autoris , qui pro substi●u●●t : sicut & ijde●● frustra sunt , dū●lausulam novissimam sine causa solicitant . q non et vera pa●ientia , vbi non est vera sapientla , ( vbi non est vera pietas . ) cyprian . de patient . r pers●uerantia sola virtutū coronatur . bern. de temp . 114. sola est cui aeternitas redditur . idem de consider . l. 5. non inch●antibꝰ sed perseuerantibus praemium propunitur . isidor . de sum . bon . l. 2. c 7. siquidem , non perseuerare cultus est mutilus . bern. in cant. ſ superest vt laudabile principium condignum consequatur finem , & cauda hostix capiti coniungatur . bern. ep . 24. & 165. caput animalis cum cauda in sacrificijs offerendū . lev. 3. 9. quia sine perseuerantia nihil placet . rad. ardens in 1 a. 40 a. ſ psal . 119 97. t job . 23. 12. notes for div a68088-e1040 a zanchius in philip. b bernard . in cant. c 1. cor 4 15. galat 4. 10. d 1. th●ss . 2. 7. e indalgenaū est hounestis affectibus : & interdū , etiemsi premunt caussae , spiritus in honorē suorum vel cum tormento retinendus est ; cum bono viro viuendum sit , non quamdiu iuvat , sed quamdiu oportet . delicatus est , qui mori perseuerat , qui 〈◊〉 amicos tanti putat , vt diutius in vita commoretur . etiā qui vult mori , qui cepit , vbi suorū vlilitas exigit , intermittat , & suis se cōmodet . ingentis animi est aliena causa ad vitam reuerti . sen. ep . 104. vitam tibi ipsi si negas , multis negas . sen. theb. f vise clem. alex. strom . l. 3. & am bros . ep . 12. qui & idem de acholio epist . 49. de martino seuerus epist . 3. & bern. de temp . 105. g vers . 22. h vers . 23. i vers . 24. k vers . 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . doctrine . branches 2. branch 1. a 1. king. 19 4. b luk. 2. 29. c 2. cor 5. 8. reason 1. d apoc. 14. 13. e 1. king. 14. 12 , 13. f esai . 57. 1. reason 2. g luk 16. 22 , 23. hebr. 9. 27. h eccles . 12. 7. 2 cor. 5. 8. i joh. 14. 3. 2. thess . 1. 10. & 2. 1 , 8. * 2. tim. 4. 8. hebr. 9. 28. reason 3. k matth. 6. 20. questions 2. question 1. l 1. king. 19. 4. m apoc. 14. 13. n 2. cor. 5. 4. o rom. 7. 24. p eccles 7. 22. rom. 67. question 2. q 2 cor. ● . 8. r 1. thess 4. 7. ſ jona 4. 3. ridiculum est ad mortem currere taedio vitae . epicur . apud sen. epist . 24. vir. fortis ac sapiens non fugere debet è vita , sed exire . et ante oīa ille quoque visetur affectꝰ qui multos occupauit , libido moriendi . sē . ibid. t matth. 26. 39. u 2 sam. 15. 26. confirmandus est anumꝰ . vel ad mortis , vel ad vitae patientiam , sē . ep . 24. branch 2. x 2. cor. 5. 8. and in this place . y ademptionē malorum , & aleptionē bonorum . * mors nulliꝰ mali est materia , multorum finis . sen de ben . l. 7. c. 1. malorum omnium remedium est . idē quaest . nat . l. 6. c. 32. reason 1. euils corporall 1. 1 2. tim. 3. 12. nunquā deerit persecutio christiano , sicut nec christo , si ergo pro christo pressuram nondum pateris , vide ne piè viuere in christo nōdū ceperis . aug. in psal . 55. fidenter dico , quia minus piè viuis , si minus persecutionem pertuleris . greg. ep . 27. l. 6. 2 act. 14 23. 3 joh. 15. 19. 4 luk 21. 12 , 16 , 17. troa . 29. 17. a joh. 16. 2. psal . 37. 12. 14. b 1. cor. 15. 19. c luk. 16. 26. d aug. in psal . 34. 17 , 19. e bern. in psal . 91. 15 , 16. corporall 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arist . ethic . l. 2. c. 3. f jerem. 30. 14. g 1. cor. 11. 32. h esai . 35. 10. i esai . 25. 8. apoc. 21. 4. mors omnium dolorū & solutio est , & finis ; vltra quam mala nostra non exeant . sen. ad marc. c. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aeschyl . k esal . 54. 9. corporall 3. l apoc. 14. 13. m gen. 3. 19. n luk. 10. 40 , 41. o esai . 49. 4. * ipsa cessabunt misericordiae opera , vbi nulla erit indigentiae miseria . p apoc. 7. 16. & 21. 4. q ma●. 25 . 35 , 36. aug. de 10. chord . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sophal . h heb. 10. 33 , 34. & 13. 3. mis● ricordia nonnall is q●od miserum cor faciat . aug. contr . aduers . l. g. l 1. c. 20. & isidor . orig . l 10. 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sophocl . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , aeschyl . vltimus & optimꝰ medicus morborum etiam immedicabilium mo●s . 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . euripid. mors omnibus finis , multis remedium , nonnullis votum . sen. ad marc. c. 20. 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euripid. i ipsa senectꝰ morbus est . terent. k ipsa vita morbus est . aug de tēp . 74. l psal . 89. 48. m hebr. 2. 14. n 2. cor. 5. 4. o ipsa immortalitas vera sanitas est . aug. ibid. p ephes . 6. 11 , 12. q 1. petr. 5. 8. r 1. chron. 21. 1. ſ 2. cor. 1 2. 7. t apoc. 12. 4 , 13 , 15 , 17. u apoc. 12. 12. euils . spirituall 1. x apoc. 15. 2. & 20. 4. & 12. 11. y ioh. 12. 31. z eph●s . 2. 2. a luk. 4 13. b apoc. 12. 5. c apoc. 12. 9 , 10. spirituall 2. d 1. cor. 5. 10. e psal . 31. 13. ier. 20. 10. esai . 36. 22. & 37. 23 , 25. f psal . 55. 9. & 119. 158. g psal . 119. 136 , 158. 2. pet. 2. 7 , 8. h genes . 27. 46. psal . 120. 5 , 6. ierem 9. 2 , 3. i 1. cor. 5. 10. k math. 13. 25 , 26 , 30. l math. 13. 12. luk. 3. 17. m math. 13. 30. n math. 13. 41. o rom. 14. 21. 1. cor. 8. 9. p rom. 14. 15. spirituall 3. q rom. 7. 24. 1. cor. 8. 12. r rom. 2. 23. 2. sam. 12. 14. ſ math. 5. 16. & 6. 10. exo. 32. 12 , 32. t rom. 6. 7. u ad●m acceper at posse quod vesset , 〈◊〉 velle quod posset : nos accipimus & posse quod volumus & velle quod poss●mus . ille posse non peccare ; nos non posse peccare . aug. de corrept . & grat . c. 11. spirituall 4. x ioh. 16. 32. hebr. 13. 5. y math. 26. 46. psal . 22. 1. z esai . 49. 14 , 15. * psal . 13. 1. “ psal . 6. 1 , 2 , 3. 6. & 13. 1 , 2. & 27. 9 , 13. & 30. 7. & 31. 16 , 22. & 77. 1 , 2 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. # esai . 54. 7 , 8 , 9. reason 2. benefit 1. h 1. cor. 13. 9 , 11. i rom 8. 23. k levit. 23. 10. l ephes . 1. 14. 2. cor. 1. 22. & 5. 5. m 1. cor. 2. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. 1. pet. 1. 7. 2 petr. 1. 4. n math. 13. 46. o philip. 3. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. p math. 5. 6. q 1. cor. 13. 10. viuere volunt vt perfecti s●nt . mori v●lint , & perfecti 〈◊〉 . aug. ●n mat. sig . 17. r psal . 84 11. benefit 2. rom. 2. 7 , 10. & 5. 2. 2. tim. 2. 10. ſ 2. cor. 4. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . themist . apud st●● . c. 119. t rom. 8. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in nobis , beza . neque enim erimus ●tiosi spectatores , sed participes gloriae . bern. de diuers . 1. u malac. 4. 2. x coloss . 3. 4. y math. 13. 43. 1. ioh. 3. 2. 2. cor. 3. 18. 2. thess . 1. 10. z math. 17. 4. bonum est nobis esse hîc . 4 2. cor. 12. 4. 5 2. cor. 5. 2. 6 1. king. 10. 6 , 7. benefit 3. a apoc. 14. 4. b psal . 91. 15. math. 28. 19. c iob. 14. 3. & 12. 26. & 17. 24. d 2. cor. 5. 6. e 2. cor. 5. 8. f 1. thess . 4. 17. g ioh. 14. 16 , 17 , 18. h rom. 5. 3. & 14 17. psal . 23. 4. philip. 4 4. 1. thess . 5. 16. 2. cor 1. 3 , 4 , 5. esse christum cum paulomagna securitas : esse paulum cum christo summa felicitas . bern. in psal . qui hab . i ioh. 14. 23. apoc. 3. 20 i hebr. 12. 22 , 23 , 24. k hosh . 2. 19 , 20 . desponsabo te mihi . l apoc. 19. 7. & 21. 2. m nil mihi rescribas : attamen ipse veni . penelope vlyssi . ovid. ep . 1. n luk. 19. 12. o ephes . 4. 7 , 8. p 1. cor. 3. 21 , 22 , 23. 1. cor. 12. 4 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. rom. 8. 32. benefit 4. q 1 cor. 15. 28. r jam. 1. 17. ſ psal . 36. 8 , 9. apoc. 7. 17. t apoc. 21 , 22 , 23. x esai . 58.13 . psal . 122. 1. & 63. 3 , 4 , 5. u psal . 42. 1 , 2 , & 63. 1 , 2. & 119. 20. y psal . 84 per totū . & 119. 97. 1 petr. 2. 2 , 3. z psal . 19. 10. & 119. 103. iob. 23. 12. a psal . 27. 4. & 63. 5 , 6. & 119. 62 , 57 , 147 , 148 , 164. c esai . 33. 14 , 15 , 16 , 27. 1. cor. 13. 12. 1. ioh. 3. 2. quis oculis glorietur , qui suspicentur diem ? quibus sol per caliginē splendet ? licet contentus interim sat effugisse tenebras , adhuc non fruitur bon● lucis . tunc animꝰ noster habebit quod gratuletur sibi , cum emissus his tenebris , in quibus volutatur , non tenui visu clara perspexerit , sed totum diem admiserit , & redditꝰ caelo ( deo ) suo fuerit . sen. ep . 79. quid tibi videbitur divina lux , cum illam suo loco videris ? tunc in tenebris vixisse dices , cum totam lucem totus aspexeris , quem nunc , per angustissimas oculorum vias , obscurè intueris , & tamen 〈◊〉 tam procul . ep . 102. d ephes . 3. 20. conclusion . 2 king. 22. 20. esai . 57. 1 , 2. apoc. 14. 13. vse 1. e 1 king. 14. 12 , 13. tuscul . lib. 1. f 1 tim. 3. 1. qu●ntots mperator terrae huius in peregrinis l●●is aut honoris specie aut muneris alicuius causa iubet degere ? nunquid hinc inconsulto imperator● discedunt ? & quāto amplius est 〈◊〉 parere quàm h●manis ? ambros . de bon . mort . c. 2. g habr . 5. 4 , 5. h vetat ille dominans in nobis deus iniussu hinc not suo demigrare , ci● . vse 2. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epictet . apud stob. cap. 120. inter mortis m● tum & vitae tormenta miseri fluctuant : & viuere nolunt , & mori nesciunt . sen. ep . 4. patinon vultis , exire timetis ; qui● faciam vobis ? cyprian , de mortal . k herodicum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato apud plut. de sera vind . quid huius viuere est ? diu mori . sen. epist . 101. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . homer . odyss . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eurip. iphigen . debilem facito manu , debil●m pede , coxa : tuber adstruegibberum ; lubricos quatedentes . vita du●● superest , benè est . mecaenas : qued miserrimum erat , ft incidisset , optatur ; & tanquam vita petitur , supplicij mora . invenitur qui malit inter supplicia tabescere , & perire membratim , & toties per stillicidia amittere animam quam semel exhalare ? invenitur , qui velit trahere animam tot tormenta tracturam ? vsque adeò ne mori miserum est ? est tanti , habere animā , vt agam . sen. epist . 101. interdū obnixè petimus , quod oblatnm re usar . mus . mulia videri volumus velle , sed nolumus . saepe aliud volumus , aliud optamus . & verum ne dijs quid●m dicimus . sen. epist . 95. ? m psal . 17. 14. 1. thess . 4. 13. n psal . 39. 12. 1. pet. 2. 11. o phil. 3. 20. q matth. 6. 10. meminisse debem● voluntatem not nō nostrā , sed dei facere debere , secundū quod nos deus iussit quotidiè orare . cyprtan . de mortal . r quam preposterum est , quamque peruersum , vt cum dei voluntatē fieri postulemus , quando evocat nos & aecersit de hoc mundo , non statim voluntatis eius imperio pareamus ? hoc nitimur & reluctamur , & pervicaciū more seruorum ad conspectū domini , cū tristitia & maerore perducimur , nō obsequio voluntatis ; & volumus ab eo praemijs caele stib● honorari , ad quē venim● inviti . idē ib. ſ matth. 6 10. t apoc. 2. 13. u 2. cor. 4. 4. joh. 12. 31. & 16. 11. x rom. 7. 14 , 23 , 24. y quid rogamus & petimus vt adveniat regnum coelorum , si captiuit as nos terrena delectat● quid precibus frequenter iteratis rogamus & poscimus , vt acceleret dies regni , so maiora desideria , & vota potiora sunt seruire isthic diabolo , quàm regnare cum christo ? cyprian . de mortal . * mornay of life and death . z job . 7. 1 , 2. ad polyb. cap. 28. iusto mors salut is portus . ambros . de bon . mori . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de tranquill . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sotades . in hoc tam procelloso & in oēs tempest ates exposito marl narigantibus , nullus portus nisi mortis est . sen. a nemo sine querela moritur : quis non recusans , quis non gemens exit ? morney ibid. sen. de benef . lib. 5. c. 17. quis non , vbi mors prope accesserit , tergiversatur , tremit , plorat ? idē epist . 78. 6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato apolog . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aesop . fabul . d 2. tim. 6. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . vel vt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , eurip. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato gorg. e gen. 5. 27. psal . 88. 48. f hebr. 7. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g 2 cor. 5. 1 , 4. quod interim morimur , ad immorialitatē morte transgredimur : nec potest vita aeterna succedere , nisi hi●c contigerit excire : 〈◊〉 est exitus , sed trāsitus , & temporali itinere decurso ad aterna trāsgressus . cytrian . de mortal . h quid ni non timeat , qui mori sperat ? sen. ep . 102. i math. 22. 32. k apoc. 20. 6. l ioh. 8. 51 , 52. & 11. 25 , 26. m 1 cor. 13. 10. n math. 25. 46. o rom. 8. 38 , 39. p 2. cor. 5. 8. q non est mors sed vita , quae morientem christo sociat : non est vita , sed mors , quae viuentē christo separat . ambr. 1. tim. 5. 6. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arist . ethic . l. 3. c. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epicur . ad menaec . apud laert. ſ galat. 6. 14. t act. 20. 24. u 2. cor. 5. 10. x philip. 1. 22 , 23 , 24 quod viuit , liberalitas est . sē . ep . y patienter viuit ; delectabilitur moritur . aug. in 1. ioā . tract . 9. z 2. cor. 5. 4. a net spe mortis patienter dolet , nec taedio doloris libenter moritur . hunc fert , illam expectat . sen. epist . 98. tam turpe putat mortem fugere , quàm ad mortem confugere . ibid. b prov. 14. 32. vse 4. c sapientis est totum in mortē prominere , hoc velle , hoc meditari , hac sempercupidine ferri . plato apud sen. ad marc. cap. 23. oi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato phaed. d descendit altissimus , & suo nobis descensu sis ●uem ac sa ! ubrem dedicauit ascensum . bern. de temp . 66. e ioh. 4. 34. luk 12. 50. & 22. 15. f ascendit qui descendit . descendit , vt sanaret te : ascēdit , vt leuaret te . aug. de diners . 12. g ephes . 4. 9 , 10. h ioh. 14. 3. i ioh. 12. 32. k apoc. 20. 6. * malè viuit , quisquis nescit bene mori . sen. de tranquill . c. 11. 1 benè mori est libenter mori . sen. epist . 61. m 1. ioh. 4. 18. n ad refrigerium iusti vocantur , ad supplicium rapiuntur iniusti . datur mors tutela fidentibus , perfidis poena . cyprian . de mortal . meanes 1. 4 vna est catena quae nos alligatos tenet , amor vitae . sen. ep . 26. 5 sic veteres inquilinos indulgentia loci & consuetudo ; etiam inter iniurias detinet , idē ep . 70. o 2. sam. 15. 6. p meretricius amor plus annulum quàm sponsum diligere . aug. medit . q psal . 62. 10. r 1. cor. 7. 30 , 31. meanes 2. ſ job . 20. 12 , 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. ●l . strom . l. 5. a rom. 7. 16 , 17. b rom. 6. 6. c eccles 7. 22. 1. joh. 1. 8. 1. knig. 8. 46. d rom. 7. 24. meanes 3. e 1. tim. 6. 19. f 2. cor. 1. 12. & 5. 8 , 9. g prou. 14. 32. h psal . 17. 14. i dum spirat sperat . eccles . 9. 4. aegroto dum aīa est , spes esse dicitur . cic ad attic. lib. 9. ep . 12. k prou. 11.7 . & 10.18 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 theocr. idyll . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eurip. troad . l prov. 14. 32. dū expirat , sperat . m ioh 5. 24. rom. 8. 37 , 38. n 1. cor. 15. 55 , 57. 2. tim. 4. 7. o 2. tim. 4. 8. apoc. 2. 10. p 2. cor. 3. 8 , 9. meanes 4. q 2. petr. 1. 10. r 1. ioh. 3. 14 , 19 , 20 , 21. ſ 2. cor. 5.5 . t 2. cor. 5. 1 , 2. u apoc. 20. 14 , 15. & 20. 6. x mors sine morte : mors semper viuit : semper occidit , nanquam peroccidit . greg. mor. l. 9. c. 38. & beru . de cōsider . lib. 5. y miser est beatitatcm qui nescit suam . meanes 5. a 1. cor. 15. 31. mortē , dum adbnc viueres , imitatus , ambr d : bon . mort . egrogia res est mortem condiscere . sen. epist . 26. b deut. 32 19. nulla res magis proderit , quàm cogitatio mortalitatis . sen. de●ra . l. 3. c 42. nullius rei melitatio tam necessaria est . l●em ep . 70. 4 meditare mortem . qui hoc d●cit , medi●ari libertalē iubet . idē . ep . 26. c mortē nemo hilaris excipit , nisi qui se ad ill●m di● compusuerat . sen. epist . 10. d i●●●pectata plus aggrauant . no vitas adijcst calamitatibus pondus . noc quisquam mor : aliū non magis , qu●d etiam miratus est , doluit . ideò nihil nobis im ; r●uisum esse debet . in 〈◊〉 p emittendus est animus . sen. ep . 91. 5 compo●e te ad diem illū . 〈◊〉 ep . 26. * dehemus animo pr●meditari , qu d aliquand● sut●ri sum●●● , & quod , velimus nelimus , abesse longius non potest . hierō . cpitaph nepo● . e effice mortē tibi cogitatione familiarem , vt possis , vbi fo rs tulerit , illi ( laetus & alacer ) obuiam exire . sē . ep . f magna res est , & diu discenda , cum adventat hora illa inevitabilis , aequ● animo exire . sen. epist . 30. g viuere totae vita discendum est ; & quod magis fortasse miraberis , tota vita discendū est mori . sen. de brev . vitae . cap. 7. h primus pythagoras dixit philosophiam esse meditationē mortis , quotidie de carcere corporis nitentem edu●er● animae libertatem . hi●ron . c●nt . ruffi● . philosophiā esse . socrates apud clem. strom . l. 5. plato apud plut. de plac . philos . oi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato phaedon . platonis sententia est , omnem sapientum vitam meditationem esse mortis . hieron . epit . nep●t . plato philosophiam meditationem mortis esse dixit : idem epit . marcel . philosophum nihil op●rtet sic agere , quam vt animum semper studeat consortio corporis separare , & ideò e●istimandum , philosophiam esse mortis affectum , ( conatum hieron . ) consuetudinemque moriendi . apul. de philos . i 2. cor. 12. 4. k matth. 17. 3. l hebr. 11. 27. m hebr. 11. 26. n 2. cor. 4. 18. o gen. 2. 17. rom. 5 12. & 6. 23. p lex est , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poena perire . sen. epigr. 7. vltimum diem , nō quasi poenam , s●d naturae legem aspicis . idem ad helv. mors naturae finis est , non poena . cic. pr● milon . & sen. suasor . 7. imò nec finis , nec poena bonis . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato in phaedon . vse 5. r constat enim poenas purgatorij esse atr● cissimas , & eti illes nullas poenas huius vitae comparandas . bellarm. de purg l. 2. c. 14. a 2. tim. 4. 8. b luk. 16. 25. c math. 25. 23. d luk 16. 22. & 23. 43. 2. cor. 12. 2 , 4. apoc. 2. 10. ioh. 5. 24. & 11. 25. apoc. 14. 13. esai . 35. 10. f in lib. 5. aduers . g guil. ockam in oper . 93. dierum . & adrian . in 4. dist . valent. cap. vl● . sed & tertull. idē habet adv . marc. l. 4. & in lib. de anim● prope finem . h erasm . in prefat . ad iren. gillius annal. franc. tom . 2. & gag●in . l. 8. i in extra . bened. deus . vise al●●ns . de castr● cont . haeres . l. 3. beatitud● . 7. & io. . gerson in serm de pasch . k luk. 23. 43. l 2. cor. 12. 2 , 4. m act. 5. 21. n 2. cor. 5. 6 , 8. o 1. thess . 4. 13. p premissi , non amissi : praecesserunt , nō decesserūt . aug. epist . 6. & 120. & de diuers . 43. abijt , non obijt . ambr. de theodos . quem putas perisse , pramissus est . quid autem dementius , quàm cum idem tibi iter emetiendū sit , flere cum qui antecessie ? sē ep . 99. dimisimꝰ illos , imò cōsecuturi praemisimus . idem ad marc. c. 19. cogitemus cito n●s eb perventuros , quo illum per venisse moeremus . quem patamus perisse , praemissus est . idem . ep . ● 3. non est lugendus qui antecedit , sed desiderandus . id quique desiderium patientia temperādum . cur enim imm●deratè feras abisse , quē mox subsequeris ? tertul●● de patient . nō sunt lugendi fratres nostri accersione dominiea deseculo liberati , cum sciamus eos non amitii sed praemitti , recedentes praecedere : vt proficis●ētes & nauigātes desiderari 〈◊〉 deberi non plangi . cyprian . de mortal . comfortable words to afflicted consciences together with a short advice to ministers how to handle them : and also mansio christiana, or, the christians mansion-house, being a sermon preached on the lords-day, 7th feb., anno dom. 1668 at the funeral of mrs. martha walmisley, the wife of mr. charles walmisley, minister of chesham magna in the county of bucks / by william jole ... jole, william, d. ca. 1702. 1671 approx. 122 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 76 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a46992 wing j887 estc r8442 12327816 ocm 12327816 59581 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a46992) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59581) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 189:2) comfortable words to afflicted consciences together with a short advice to ministers how to handle them : and also mansio christiana, or, the christians mansion-house, being a sermon preached on the lords-day, 7th feb., anno dom. 1668 at the funeral of mrs. martha walmisley, the wife of mr. charles walmisley, minister of chesham magna in the county of bucks / by william jole ... jole, william, d. ca. 1702. [6], 120 [i.e. 134] p. printed by john winter for samuel homes ..., london : 1671. title on p. 41: necessary advice to ministers how to handle aflicted consciences. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. "paul, the pattern of pardoning mercy": p. 101-120 [i.e. 134]. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng walmisley, martha, d. 1668. sermons, english. funeral sermons. conscience -religious aspects -early works to 1800. mercy -sermons. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-06 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2003-06 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion comfortable words to afflicted consciences : together with a short advice to ministers how to handle them . and also , mansio christiana , or the christians mansion-house . being a sermon preached on the lords-day , 7th . feb. anno dom. 1668. at the funeral of m rs . martha walmisley the wife of m r. charles walmisley . minister of chesham magna in the county of bucks . by william iole . minister of sarrett in the county of hertford . london , printed by iohn winter for samuel homes , at the sign of s. paul in little britain . anno dom. 1671. to the reader . if the matter be sound and seasonable , rest contented , and look not for any rhetorical expressions : these sermons would gladly stoop to the weakest capacities ; we like the receipt if it be proper for the distemper , fainting spirits will find but cold comfort from strong lines and elegancy of phrases ; afflicted consciences can gather but little sweetness from the flowers of rhetorick ; the virtue of a cordial doth not lie in the cup in which it is presented , but in the goodness of the ingredients ; we value the meat more than the garnishes about the dish ; if the meat be savory , do not sleight it because it is not served up in a silver dish ; and beware that you do not say as some are apt to say , ●at this day the world even surfeits by books of this nature ) we think there is safet● in the multitude of counsellors for our po●●●ick and civil state. how ●●mberless are the books and re●●●pts , yea , the physitian for o●r bodies grown , yet w●o says ( we have too many ? ) and y●t so foolish are we to thi●k , that in the distempers and unsettled cases of our souls , we may have too many books , too many counsellors , too many physitians , too many directions . i will add but this : oft times a poor countrey physitian does good , where many great doctors , either overlook or neglect . as a woman that was in a despairing condition , propos●d the doubts , and gave the first occasion of preaching this matter ; so the desire of some other women hath now occasioned the printing it , and for their sakes i have purposely avoided any phrases that might seem dark or difficult ; let not the whole despise that which is prepared for the sick , nor let the strong censure what was intended for the weak . vale. psalm 88 , ver. 6. thou hast laid me in the lowest pit , in darkness , in the deeps . this psalm fully answers the title given to it , ( a psalm containing a grievous complaint ) but the occasion of it is doubtful : some rerefer it to the babylonish captivity , because that is the lowest condition that the church can be brought unto in this world , and so figuratively may be called the lowest pit ; but others more properly make it relate only to heman's own private condition : some expound it of his outward afflictions , or of some sharp fit of sickness that brought him nigh to death , which occasioned those expressions , my life dr●●eth nigh to the grave , i am as a man that hath no st●ength . ver. 3 , 4. but methinks there are many expressions that must rather be interpreted of a wounded spirit lying un●e● the apprehensions of gods wrath . surely if there h●d been nothing but outward afflictions , we should no● have h●ard such deep expressions of inward sorrow , the complain● would not have been so mou●nful as now it is ; and therefore i rather accep● of their interpretation , who understand the 5. ver. to be the words of one that is ready to despair ; ( free among the dead ) as if he should say , the die is cast as to my eternal estate , there is no hope of mercy for me , and then this text doth second it , ( thou hast laid me in the lowest pit , in darkness , in the deeps ) namely as to mine own sense and apprehension . i look upon my condition as d●sperate as one that is condemned to eternal darkn●ss , as if my name were ent●●● among that cursed crue already , as if i were ready to drop into ●●at deep and bottomless pi● of darkne●s ; and so the 7 th . ver. seems to bear the same part . thy wrath byeth hard up●n me . i am under such dreadful apprehensions of wrath , and have so little hope of mercy , that i look o● my self as only not in hell , and also the 15 th . ver. while i suffer thy terrors i am distracted he doth not mean a distraction of madness , but a distraction of the mind , of one that was in doubt what would be●ome of his soul for ever ? i am hampered in such endless doubting that i am even like a distracted person : for division of the words here is , 1. an act , laid . 2. the subject , me. 3. the agent , thou . lastly , the place where . in the lowest pit , in the darkness , in the deeps . note by the way , that heman was one of the holyest and wisest men of his time : and now the doctrine i shall offer is this ; that the dearest of gods children may think themselves in a state of damnation . david is a full instance to confirm this doctrine , 51 psal. 11 , 12. cast me not away from thy presence , and take not thy ●oly spirit from ●e , restore ●nto me the joy of thy salvation . david had lost the comfortable sense and feeling of gods love , and began highly to question his salvation , asaph also , 77 psalm 7 , 8 , 9. shews what a great conflict he had with diffidence . will the lord cast off for ever ? will he be favourable no more ? is his mercy clean gone ? hath god forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? and so heman here in the text ; thou hast laid me in the lowest pit , &c. 1. because the spirit of bondage always goes before the spirit of adoption ; god doth break and bruise the souls of his servants , before he doth bind up and heal them ; he makes the sinner to hear the terrible voice of the law , before he hears the comfortable voice of the gospel ; he throughly convinceth us of sin , and mak●s us sensible of the odious and defiling nature of it , before he makes us apprehend christ as a saviour to procure us a pardon for it ; god makes us see and feel our selves lost , utterly lost , even in a state of dam●ation , before he give us any lively hope of salvation . all that are brought into heaven at last , are brought near hell-gates at first ; i do not mean all universally , but generally , the greatest part of those that are saved , apprehend themselves for a time to be damned ; the spi●i● of bondage worketh fear and horror ; a malefac●or , whose conscience within , and the witnesses without , convince of murder , when he h●ars the sentence passed against him , and sees the fetters on his legs , and himself thrust into the dungeon , he knows that execution follows ; what fear and horror must needs seize on such a condenmed person , ( unless he be a despera●e rogue ? ) that poor soul that is convinced of murdering the lord of life , and of many thousand sins against god , and heareth his sentence of condemna ion read out of the word of god , and sees the fetters on its soul , ( namely the terror of consc●ence , ) and satan standingready to to●ment him , & finds himself already in danger of despair , what fear and horror must needs surprize such a poor soul ? this is that which makes so many under the spirit of bondage , to fear that god will cast them off for ever , and to complain as though they were in hell already . and questionless , the great torment and mis●rie of a wounded spiri● hath been the reason that made any so bold to say , that there is no hell but that of conscience . the apostles words rom. 8. 15. for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear , do imply , that all the elect undergo the terrors of the spirit of bondage , before they receive the spirit of adoption . 2 reason is , because god may , and often doth leave his children for some time , under spiritual des●rtion . many pretious servants of god lie in the little-ease of an afflicted conscience a great while ; if christ complain as if god had forsaken him , it is no wonder to hear a christian complain of being forsaken . it is ●eported of one who lay in a despairing condition 12 years ; and some think that heman lay in that comfortless condition above threescore years , guessing from the age of his life when he spake those words , ver. 15. from my youth up while i suffer thy terrors i am distracted . the lord may forsake his children for a little moment , ( and though it be as long as they live , yet it is but a moment compared with eternity ) but reprobates are forsaken for ever . 3. a child of god may relapse into some sin which he had repented of , and that may cause terror of conscience ; god redeemed , and brought up israel out of egypt , but they would go back into egypt again , num. 14. ver . 4. and this foolish attempt caused god to forsake them for a long time . christ hath redeemed us from sin ▪ and though the christian have r●pented of sin , yet many times he hath thoughts of going back , and sometimes doth relapse into some sin formerly repented of ; and it is just with god to fright him out of such wicked attempt by the terrors of conscience ; if god shoot terrours into the soul , they will stick fast , and make us go heavily , if god set our ●ins in order before us , he can make the sense of sin to be more painful then the most acute disease , whether stone or srrangury : wracks and strapadoes are but ●asie punishments to the wracking of conscience ; to set out the misery of such a condition , the scripture tells us , the spirit of a man may bear his infirmities , but a wounded spirit who can bear ● 18 prov. 14. the courage and strength of body may wrestle with a disease , but the trouble of mind is insuperable and insupportable ; the grief of the soul , is the soul of grief . if we see the fits of an ague so easily master the greatest spirits , and make them quiver and quake in a cold fit , and burn and be distempered in a hot fit ; if a disease can so punish the bodie , then what terrours can the almighty dart into the soul , even to make our very knees to shake as belshazzar's did when he saw the hand-writing against him ; and for the ●ame reasons which occasioned h●s trembling , namely , because it was a hand from god ; and because the writings mentioned the loss of his kingdom . a wounded conscience is the more filled with horror , because the writing is from god , and it doth threaten the loss of the kingdom of heaven . what consternation was there , what sad thoughts , during the time of that devouring fire in london ? o then , when the soul looks on god as a consuming fire , and thinks it shall dwell with everlasting burnings , what horror and disquiet must it needs be seized with ? usually god dealeth with obstinate sinners , as men deal with sturdy rogues , ( put heavier irons upon them , and give them severer punishment ) the more we load our consciences with sin , the more god loads us with terrors of conscience , and so gives us sour sauce for the seeming sweet-meats of sin ; if we have been great and notorious sinners , god may chastise us with scorpions . manasseh was a great sinner , and it is said ( he was taken among the thorns , and bound in fetters , in the 2 chron. 33. chap. 11. ver. the more we have delighted in any sin , the more it will torment conscience when god reckoneth with us for it : paul a refractory persecutor , was strucken to the ground when god converted him . 4. reason why a child of god may think himself damned for a time , is , because the wisdom of god bringeth much good out of this evil ▪ this will make us more highly to prize both our redeemer and our redemption too : how sweet and comfortable is the sight of a pardon to a condemned person ? ho wpretious is a glimpse of christ's love in any promise to a sinner condemned in his own conscience ? how comfortable is the thought of christ to justi●ie , unto those souls that are ready to be swallowed up of despair ? what love , what thankfulness will such a sight beget in such a soul ? how thankful were the famishing egyptians to iosep● 47 gen. 25. thou hast saved our lives ( though they exchanged their land for bread , ) then what thanks is due to jesus christ who saveth our souls freely ? 2. this good ariseth from this evil of an afflicted conscience , that it will mightily increase our hatred of sin ; this is one of gods great designs in breaking our bones for sin , that he may break our souls from sin ▪ invite a christian that hath lain long in the stocks of the law , to commit any of his former sins , will he not answer , ( i will not buy repentance at so dear a rate ? ) had your soul been so long broken on the wheel of conscience as mine hath been , had you so long carried in your bosom the burning coals of an accusing conscience ; had you been thus scorched with the flames of hell , surely , like the burnt child you would dread the fire more , you would not dare to add sin to sin , and heap up more wrath . 3. we are made to pray more earnestly ; the prisoner at the bar begs heartily because he is begging for life ; a self-condemned sinner prayes heartily , because he is begging for the life of his soul. 4. the terrors of conscience will make us more humble and compassionate all our days , pride will not so easily breed in this bitter wood , the worm takes the sweetest wood soonest , the wormwood of conscience kills pride . 5. gods breaking and bruising is in order to a perfect cure , the last reason why a child of god may think himself damned : it may arise either from a neglect of a serious examination of our condition , or from a melancholy temper which contributes very much to such despairing thoughts . who hath not either read or heard what strange conceits melancholy hath caused some to have of their bodies ? some fancying themselves to be a fourm , and that every one would sit on them ; others thinking themselves to be a glass , and that every thing would break them ; or to be like nebuchadnezar , to have the soul of a beast , and to eat grass like a beast , ( which some say was but a strange effect of a strong melancholy , ) even such strange apprehensions may melancholy christians have of their souls , insomuch that many christians have thought themselves to be in h●ll , and for a long time have led most uncomfortable lives by that fearful expectation of of wrath and ●iery indignation to devour them . application is , 1. for information , we must not censure those too hardly that lie under a spirit of bondage ; those are not damned that may think themselves in a damned state , the new birth hath grievous pangs and throes ; those whose sin is ever before their faces , must needs cry out of a heavy burthen of wrath . before this spirit of bondage , we are like issachar , who is called a strong ass couching under two burthens , gen. 49. ver. 14. we have a burthen of guilt , and a burthen of wrath , and yet we are not sensible of either ; but the spirit of bondage shews the intolerable burthen of sin . that i may endeavour to speak something to afflicted consciences , although you say a spirit of bondage is a woful condition , yet i assure you your condition was much worse before you came under this spirit of bondage . to be hardned in sin , is a worse condition , then to be thus harrased by conscience for sin ; to be bold to commit sin , is far worse then to be bruised for sin committed : you are in a great deal worse condition then all hypocrites that go quietly to hell ; how many thousand in the world that are guilty of the same sins you complain of , and yet are senseless as stones ? it is good to hear christians roar in the sense of sin : to hear a man that is bruised with a fal sensibly complain , and tell where his pain lies , is a good sign that there is hopes of his recovery : it is the same in a christian , to complain of sin , and cry out in the fear of that wrath due to sin , is a good sign that conscience is alive , that conscience is awake . a seared conscience is far worse than an afflicted conscience ; a senseless condition is the very worst conditions : if you rightly consider , you have cause to bless god for a spirit of bondage , that while many millions are riding post to hell , god hath stopt you that were running the same road ; remember therefore for your comfort , that many have been lead to the place of execution , and have stood with the rope about their necks , having the sentence of death in themselves , and yet have been pardoned after so great a fright ; many christians are dealt with after the same manner ; god may leave them a long while in the jaylors custody , in fear of eternal execution , ( i mean buffe●ed by satan under temptations to despair ) and yet god may come in with a pardon at last , only he intends to fright us from sin by this means for the future . i have heard of one whose friends had got him a pardon , and yet suffered him to be lead to the place of execution , to make him be more afraid of lewd courses for the future : there may be a pardon for us in gods hand , and yet it may not so presently be given into our hand ; nay , if you have been very long under a spirit of bondage , though god give a pardon into your hand , yet you may not be able to read it , ( being under the dread of exe●ution ) many now living besides me , may remember a man in oxford , that was to draw lots for his life , and he ●rew that paper wherein was writt ( live , ) but he was so possess●d by fear of death , that he threw it away , supposing that he was to die , until some that stood nigh him read his lott , and told him that was to live ▪ so it may fare with an afflicted conscience , god may write ( live , ) and yet the fear of hell may so far stupify the soul , that it may not be able to read the writing ; in case of temptation it is safest to let some other christian read the writing for us , to let other christians judge of our condition . remember therefore , that you were under satans bondage , before you were under the spirit of bondage ; it is much better to be gods prisoner , than satans , a man hardned in sin , is a prisoner without hope ; but a man bruised for sin , is a prisoner of hope ; and though this terrifying work of a troubled conscie●ce be not grace , yet it is in order ●nto grace , all those terrours that do not end in final despair , are still in order to conversion , and the deep●r god cutts and launces the soul , the sooner it will be healed again . it is a great comfort to a patient to hear that there is good hopes of his recovery , although he be still kept in the chirurg●ons hands , or though they tell him it will be a very long cure , the hope of cure revives him , although he may endure much misery before the cure be perfected ; it is a great comfort to a travailer to hear that he is in his right way , although he may pass through many dirty lanes and rugged paths , and perhaps may be set upon by robbers : although the way be tedious and dangerous , yet this bears him up , it is the right way , and will bring him to his journeys end at last . although the way which the spirit useth , seem a tedious and unpleasant way , yet it is the right way to heaven ; and though you may think you are kept long in a course of spiritual physick , yet the hope of a perfect cure at last , may keep you from despair . and here it w●ll be needful to answer some objections which troubled consciences make . alas you speak all this while to a wrong party : i have no grace , and therefore there is no hope for me . answer , 1. it is a happy turn that you see the want of grace . 2. it is well that you are made desirous to have grace ; these are good steps towards grace . answer , 2. to have grace is one thing , and to know that we have grace is another ; that ioseph liveth is one thing , and that iacob knows that ioseph liveth , is quite another thing , for iacob thought he had been torn in pieces by some wilde beast , and made a solemn mourning for him , gen. 34. ver. 34 , 35. in the obscurity of a winters night all the wares remain in the shop , but we see them not except we have a candle , or tarry till day appear again ; there may be grace in the heart and we not discern it ; commonly those that say they have no grace , have more grace then those that so confidently proclaim themselves to be citizens of heaven . 2 objection . but can such a wretch as i expect grace , that have spent so many years in sinful courses , and have sinned so desperately as i have done ? answer . god s●ith , that if we condemn our selves here , we shall not be condemned hereafter , 1 cor. 11. chap. 31. ver . pre-judging of thy self is a good sign that god is fitting thee for mercy . although such is the froward disposition of men , that repeated affronts breed an irreconcileable alienation in our hearts ; yet so infinitely is gods mercy , that he called upon iudah to return to him , after he had played the harlot with many lovers , ierem. 3. ver . 1. and in the 12 ver . god bids back●●●ding israel to return , and in the 55 isa● . ver . 7. god promiseth mercy to the wicked and unrighteous man ; and because the poor self-condemning sinner says he hath abundance of sin , therefore god says that he will abundantly pardon , not only those that are sinners in their own reckoning , but even those whose lewd lives have deserved the name of wicked and unrighteous ; yet let them return to me says god and they shall be pardoned ; no matter how desperate we think our condition to be , if christ undertake the cure , if he be our physitian . nay , if we believe that christ is now in heaven , who had the sins of all the world laid on his back when he was on earth , we may the more easily believe gods readiness to pardon the greatest sinner , and also christs merit to be able to answer for the greatest fins . a 3 objection . but f●ith and repentance are the conditions of pardon ; but i cannot believe , nor repent , and he that belie●veth not is condemned already , iohn 3. ver . 1s . ans. that scripture speaks of a final unbelief , ●e that dies in unbelief ; to be earnest with god for faith , is a sign of some faith ; that man , mark 9. ver . 24. lord i believe , help thou my unbelief . he did not say , i can , or i cannot believe , but lord i desire to believe , and i believe that thou canst help my unbelief : our saviour seems to say unto troubled consciences , as he said to the blind man , matt. 9. ver . 28. do ye believe that i am able to do this ? and they said , yea lord , then says christ , according to your faith be it unto you ; here was faith enough to fit them for a cure . and for repentance , christ is exalted to give repentance , and remission of sins , acts 5. ver . 31. since you know that you cannot believe , nor repent , pray unto christ , and he will enable you : peter denyed his master thrice , and yet christ looked back upon him , and recovered him again ; let the greatest sinners look unto him , and they shall be pardoned . take heed of cain's unbelief , my sin is greater than i can bear ; or as the note in the margent of the bible , is greater than may be forgiven : he did not say so , because it was so ; but it proved to be so , because he said so : unbelief makes sin unpardonable . no sin can damn the soul , if final unbelief be not added to it ; and this made st. austin say , thou lyest cain , for the mercy of god is far greater than the greatest sin . you say you do not repent ; pray tell me , is sin your solace or your sorrow ? doth it make you mery , or doth it make you mourn ? do you love sin , or do you loath sin ? is it that evil which you allow , or that evil which you allow no● ? paul was a true penitent even when he complained of a body of sin , a law in his members , which made him do the evil which he hated . rom. 7. ver . 15. — 19. compared , it shews you do repent ; seeing that god hath made you so sensibly to bewail your impenitency ; therefore look unto christ whom the father hath exalted to give repentance , and remission of sins , acts 5. ver . 31. alass ! i cannot weep for my sins as i ought : outward sufferings ●etch more tears from my eyes , then my sins ; how bitterly did peter weep upon the remembrance of his denyal ? how plentifully did mary magdalen shed tears when we washed our saviours feet with them ? but alass i can scarce weep at all . answer . abundance of tears do not always declare true repentance ; we read of esa●'s tears , but not of his repentance . gen. 27. ver . 34. — 38. he cryed with an exceeding bitter cry , he lift up his voice and weptt . tears seem to us to be all of a colour , god only can put the difference ▪ esau's tears , and peter's , both wept bitterly , and yet both of them wept savingly . there may be true repentance without a flood of tears ; the thief on the cross was truly penitent , and yet we do not read of a tear that dropt from his eyes : david truly repented , and yet we find no mention of any tears when nathan told him of his sins , 2. sam. chap. 12. ver . 13. mr. perkins in his cases of conscience hath abundantly satisfyed us , that tears are not absolutely necessary to true repentance ; some are naturally more dry of constitution , and barren of tears than others . i knew a boy that was not able to shed a tear to save a whipping : true repentance is to be judged of , more by the inward sorrow of the heart , then by the outward sorrow that runs down the cheeks ; the greater the inward grief is , the fewer tears will fall ; as a high wind keeps back the showers off , the great combustion in the soul may keep back the showers of tears ; and so there may be true repentance with drie cheeks . there is great weeping and wailing in hell , but no true repentance . children are more easie to shed tears than grown men ; sighs and groans is the usual way of expressing the greatest sorrow . and whereas you say you cannot weep so much for sins as for outward sufferings : for ought that we can find , hezekiah wept more at the message of death , than when he humbled himself for the pride of his heart . isai. 38. ver . 14. david's sickness drew more tears from him than his sins , psal. 2. ver . 5 , 6. what bitter lamentation did he make when he received the unwelcome tidings of absalom's death ? 2. kings chap. 18. last ver . and 19. chap. 4. ver . those things that most press the outward senses , do squeeze out most tears : to see our house on fire , would more easily force tears from our eyes , than to hear a sermon of the fire of hell , although that be much more dreadful news . to conclude this particular ; a malefactor that is condemned to the gallows , may shed more tears than one that is pardoned ; and yet he that is pardoned may be more penitent than he that is executed . it is dangerous to make any standard to measure true repentance ; for if you will set any , it must be the highest of all : so that unless you are sure that you weep as bitterly as peter , or mary magdalen , the devil will still tell you it is not true repentance : besides it looks so like a papistical trick ( as if you thought that rivers of tears could wash away sin without the blood of ghrist : ) and when we have wept until we can weep no more , if faith be not mixed with our tears , it is but legal repentance . alass ! but i have committed foul facts since my first conversion . answer . so did both david and peter , and how did they recover themselves but by faith in jesus christ , and repentance from dead works ; therefore confess your sins to god , and think of that comfortable portion of scripture , 1. epistle iohn 2. chap. ver . 1. if any man sin we have an advocate with the father , iesus christ the righteous : it is not said , if any man sin not , but if any man sin ; thus poor sinners go loaded to heaven with abundance of experience of the riches of gods grace , and freeness of his mercy in pardoning their heinous transgressions . there are commonly three hindrances in the way of afflicted consciences . 1. looking only upon sin. 2. a proud kind of seeming humility . 3. a searching for the fruits of repentance , before we are sure of faith. 1. many look only upon their sins , and not to their saviour . alass sayes the afflicted conscience , my sins are crying sins , crimson sins , scarlet sins , scandalous sins , foul , frequent , committed against much light , much love , against much means , much mercy : if a wounded man should only look upon the bleeding wound , would it not make him faint for fear that he should bleed to death ? but when he seeth the skilful chirurgeon about to dress it , and considers his skill to cure it , this upholds his sinking spirits ; even so poor sinners must needs faint , and despair of pardon , while they look no further than their sins , which despairing thoughts would soon vanish , if then we could look up to our saviour , are not all sins easie to be pardoned by infinite mercy . it was an excellent answer that one returned the devil , when he told him of the heinousnefs of his sins , thy sins should be pardoned too , if thou couldst believe . christ can more easily pardon seventy offences to us , then we can seven to one another ; he delighteth to forgive much , so to engage us to love him much . when some ●old the ruler that his daughter was dead , and bid him not trouble the master , mark 5. ver . 35 , 36. christ bids him fear not , only believe ; and so to that other person , mark 9. ver . 23. if thou canst believe , all things are possible to him that believeth . when martha said , by this time he stinketh , for he hath been dead four days , ioh. 11. ver . 39 , 40. christ checks her , said i not unto thee , that if thou wouldst believe , thou shouldst set the glory of god ? these were all desperate c●ses , and therefore the more proper for christ the great physitian . christ ●an cure inveterate ulcers , aswel as green wounds ; therefore look up to christ , while you look down upon your sins ; see what power christ hath to save , while you behold what power sin hath to damn ; that so while you see in your selves great cause of despair , you may see in him far greater cause of hope . 2. hindrance to afflicted consciences , is , a proud humility , or a kind of seeming mannerlyness ; it may be like peter , thou thinkst it not good manners to let christ wash thy feet , iohn 13. ver . 8. thou shalt never wash my feet ; calvin's note on those words is , pride often lurketh under pretence of humility ; away with this destructive manners , seeing that the great work which god requireth of us , is , to believe in christ as our saviour , and to believe tha● he both can and will save us to the uttermost , surely we cannot do it too soon . 3 hindrance . it may be that thou searchest for the ripe fruits of repentance , before thou art sure that thou hast faith ; in the work of our spiritual ingrafting into christ , we are like crab-stocks newly grafted , which do not instantly bear fruit the same day , or week , or the same month that they are grafted ; if we be truly ingrafted into christ by faith , repentance , and the fruits of it will appear afterwards , but not the same hour that we are ingrafted , ( i mean not so as to be discerned by us ) look after faith first , before you search after repentance ; faith will help us to repent : paul did not bid the jailor to repent , but believe first , acts 16. ver . 30 , 31. he knew that faith would work repentance ; if the devil tell you ( that you should hav● repented sooner ) remember that true repentance can never be too late , christ dyed before you sinned ; if therefore you believe in christ now , you shall be as surely pardoned as if you had begun your repentance sooner : repent , for your deferring repentance so long , and remember that the repenting thief was 〈◊〉 rejected , though it were at 〈…〉 h●ur . 4. objection . but i am so continually h●un●ed with temptations , either to blasphemy , or self-murther , or one black and devilish temptation or other , that sleeping or waking i am a terror to my self . ans. so were all true saints more or less haunted with the like temptations that have lain longer under a spirit of bondage : this may be a good sign that we have not given satan a peaceable possession , when he thus strives to make a forcible entry , by such horrid temptations . the devil lets them alone of whom he thinks he hath made sure work , but he assaults those most with the greatest temptations , that ar● striving to get out of his clutches . 5. object . but alass , i have something that tells me , i have withstood my day of grace : answer . that something must be either from god , or satan : it cannot be from god , for he tells none , that they shall die in their sins , but such as obstinately reject jesus christ , and refuse to be saved by him ; indeed christ said to the pharise●s , ● go away , but ye shall die in your sins , io● . 8. ver . 21. but if you take notice of it , ' ●was spoken to them that blasphemed christ , and said , he had a devi● . iohn 17. ver . 20. this may be a comfortable note ; christ said to the penitent adulterer , iohn 8. ver . 11. neither do i condemn thee ; and yet he said to the self-justifying pharisees , ye shall die in your sins . that sinner that confesseth and bewaileth his guiltiness , him christ absolveth ; but that soul that thinks it self righteous without christs righteousness , he abhorreth . if sin be your burden , christ calls you to him ; and therefore this something that tells you you are damned , must be from satan that old lyer . you may know the devil to be a lyer in this , as well as in other things ; for god never made satan of his privie council , to know who are to be saved , and who are to be damned ▪ but pray tell me , suppose the devil should tell you that you should be saved , would you believe him then ? why then do you heed him now , that he sayes you shall be damned ▪ as you would mist●ust your condition more , if satan should tell you tha● you should be saved ; so now you have cause to mistrust it less , because he tels you that you shal be damned ; if the devil should possibly know that you should be damned , for certain he would never tell you so , for fear of awaking your conscience , and makeing you look after salvation ; if jesus christ do not tell us that we are damned , we need not regard what satan says , for whatever he saith , he is a lyer . this is not the first lie satan hath told in this kind , many are now saved in heaven , whom the devil told they should be damned : you may read two remarkable stories in mr. clar ●s description of the lives of mr. balsom , and mr. rothwel ; and because the latter story is apposite to this purpose , i have transcribed it ; the person that was possessed , his name was iohn fox : the devil spake thus to mr. rothwel ; say nothing to me of this man for he is damned : mr. rothwel answers , thou art the father of lies , nor art thou so well acquainted with gods mind concerning this man , which makes thee thus torment him ; therefore ● believe thee not , i believe he shall ●e saved by iesus christ. the devil replyed , he is a murderer , an● thou knowest no murderer must enter into the kingdom of heaven . mr. rothwel . thou ly●st again , for david was a murderer , and yet is in heaven ; and the iews with wicked hands crucified the lord of glory , yet , both christ prayed to his father to forgive them ; and peter exhorts them to repent , that their sins might be blotted out . devil . but this man hath not , cannot , shall not repent . mr. rothw . if he had not , thou wouldst not have told him so ; but if he have not , i believe god will give him repentance , and th●u shalt not be able to hinder it . 6 object . but you know there is a sin unto death , a sin that shall never be pardoned● and i fear i have committed that sin . answer . i am glad you fear it , for it is so much the more likely that you have not sinned that sin : indeed satan doth much perplex troubled consciences with the fear of sinning the unpardonable sin ; yea , i am perswaded , that most of the elect , if not all , are afraid they have , or shall commit that sin . troubled souls are to be disswaded from musing so much on that nice subject . no man can positively determine what the unpardonable sin is , and of all men you are the most unfit to search it out . 7 and last objection . alass , i have lain so long in this despairing condition , that i doubt i shall never get out of it . answer . many were under bodily distempers , and yet were healed at last . when ever christ commeth , he brings a cure with him : we read of a man that was impotent 38 years , iohn 5. ver . 5 , 6 , 7. and yet christ healed him . the woman that was bowed together by an evil spirit 18 years , and yet christ loosed her from her infirmity ; and that which is a comfortable word for thee to consider , christ calls her a daughter of abraham , although she was possessed by a dev●l . luke 13. ver . 16. the continuance of your temptation doth not hinder you from being a daughter of abraham . that i may draw towards a conclusion ; if you consider what hateful sins you have committed , and how long you have lived in sin without any sorrow for sin , you need not wonder that god sends you so long a time of sorrow now . absalom was greatly beloved of david , and yet when he had murthered amnon , he was bannished three years from ierusalem ; and when david recalled him from banishment , yet for two years more he saw not the kings face , 2. sam. chap. 13. ver . ult . and compare it with chapter 14. verse 28. david suffered him to dwell in his kingdom , but did not present●y admit him to his court , to shew his just displeasure against his abominable murder . god may bring a sinner home by converting grace , and yet not make him or her sensible that they are received into favour by comforting grace . god doth not welcom home all his prodigals with musick and feasting ; some one he may to declare his mercy , but not all , to shew his just abhorrence of our prodigality . the blessed spirit is first a refiner , before it prove to be our comforter ; he is a sanctifying spirit before he prove a witnessing spirit , he purgeth away our sin , before he sh●w us our pardon ; the holy-ghost first cleanseth us , then comfor●eth us ; he first removes our 〈…〉 he remove our sorrows . ●he apo●●● sp●aks of those that had received the spirit of adoption , when he ●aid ▪ the spirit it self beareth w●tness with our spirit , in 8 rom. 15 , 16. god may make us his children , and yet may not instantly dandle us on his knee . to shut up this matter : it is said , that israel in egypt did not hearken to the promise of de●iverance , by reason of their anguish of spirit , occasioned by their cruel bondage , a very remarkable scripture . 6. exod. 6 , 7. but though moses spake to them from god , yet they hea●kened not to the promise , for anguish of spirit , and for cruel bondage : the paralel is easie , lying long under a spirit of bondage may make us deaf for a while to all the promises of pardoning mercy , and free grace . now let me pe●swade you to read the promises more often , and more more seriously , study the nature of free grace more , pray more , although satan tell you you are unfit to pray ; for if the thoughts of our unfitness can drive us from prayer , he will always suggest that we are unfit , so to make us still more u●fit by our own neglect ; the more unfit we are to pray , the more need we have to use the words of that disciple in luke 11. ver . 1. lord teach us to pray , &c. the more we see our unfitness to pray , the more need we have to press god to make good that gracious promise in rom. 8. ver . 26. likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities , for we know not what we should pray for as we ought , but the spirit it self maketh intercession for us , &c. some advice is needful to ministers , how to handle tender consciences , and that follows in the short notes of the next sermon . nccessary advice to ministers how to handle aflicted consciences . luke 4. ver. 18. the spirit of the lord is upon me , because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted , to preach deliverance to the captives , and recovering of sight to the blind ; to set at liberty them that are bruised . these words are our saviours first text which he taught upon in nazareth , as you may see ver . 16 : god the holy spirit directed christ to that text of scripture , which might mind him of his office , and prove most comfortable to poor sinners . these words are taken out of the 16 of isa●●h , being very little altered , that being the prophecie of what christ now began to perform . for division , 1. here is something affirmed ; the spirit of the lord is upon me . 2. a reason assigned ; because he hath annointed me to preach the gospel , &c. 3. some particular duties of christs office repeated , to preach the gospel to the poor , to heal the broken hearted , to preach deliverance to to the captives , to preach recovering of sight to the blind , to preach liberty to them that are bruised . for explication . the spirit of the lord is upon me . christians receive a measure of the graces and gifts of the spirit , but christ received the spirit without measure , iohn 3. ver . 34. several saints are more eminent in several gifts and graces : moses had the spirit of meekness and miracles , all the judges of israel had the gift of government and fortitude ; solomon had the spirit of wisdom , the prophe●s had the spirits of prophecy , the apostles had the gift of tongues , and interpretation of gospel mysteries , but in jesus christ the fulness of all graces and guifts do meet as in their proper center : a christian may be said to be rich in grace and gifts , but christ only is full , he hath all fulness . because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel . here christ shews the world his lawful commission : be ashamed all ye that climb up into the ministry by any other way , then of lawful ordination ; christ shews his orders from heaven , and mark it ; our saviour doth not say , because the spirit of the lord is upon me , therefore he hath sent me ; but because he hath sent me , therefore the spirit is upon me . god bestows a measure of gifts upon every one whom he sends into the ministry , but he doth not send every one into the ministry upon whom he bestows a measure of gifts ; gifts without ordination , is no lawful commission . to preach the gospel to the poor . this tells for what end christ received the gifts of the spirit , to make him an able preacher of the gospel . to preach the gospel . moses was sent to preach the law , but christ is sent to preach the gospel ; moses the servant of god , handed the law to israel after the flesh : christ the only begotten son of god , handed the gospel unto the spiritual seed ; we have lost nothing ( but time ) by coming last into gods church , they were before us gentiles in time , but we are before them in priviledges . to preach the gospel to the poor . that is to say , to the poor in spirit , such as see and acknowledge their want of righteousness ; those that are sensible that they have provoked god , but they have nothing whereby to appease his wra●h , and need christ to stand their friend , to make peace between god and them . to heal the broken hearted . that is , such whose consciences are terrifyed and tormented with the guilt of sin ; according to the greek word , it is , those whose hearts are cut asunder , meaning with the sense of sin , and sorrow for fin , god hath sent me to purify and pacify such accusing consciences . to preach deliverance to the captives . he meaneth not those whom men have enslaved to their power , but those that see themselves in spiritual slavery to sin and satan . and recovering of sight to the blind . christ is the light of the world , he is the day star from on high that visiteth us who are walking in da●kness . the world without christ was a dark dungeon ; the heathens were like the sodomites when the angel had struck them with blindness : it is said that they wearied themselves to find the dore . gen. 19. ver . 11. christ is called in scripture : the dore of salvation : the blind-folded heathens wearied themselves in vain to find this dore . to set at liberty them that are bruised . those may be said to be bruised , that are struggling with sin , but cannot overcome sin , but get many falls by which their souls are sorely bruised , and their consciences full of pain and torment ; so that by all these expressions we are taught what the gospel offereth to us ; namely , christ offereth us his hand to pull us out of the lowest pit of sin , and out of the dark dungeon of ignorance , to give liberty and spiritual freedom to us that are oppressed with all kinds of miseries , that we that are poor may be enriched with his grace , that we that are blind may be enlightned by the light of his gospel ; that we who by nature are satans bo●d slaves , may be made free , and set at liberty by him . and as the father sent christ on this errand , so christ sends his ministers on the same errand : you see therefore what kind of people you have to deal with , such as are spiritually poor , broken hearted , blind , captives , and bruised . the doctrine i shall name is this . that christ hath an especial eye to those that are afflicted in conscience ; and the reasons may be such as these . 1. the reason in the text , because it is his office to take care of such , god hath sent him for that end and purpose . 2 reason is , the helplesness of such poor sinners , they can do nothing but weep and complain , sigh and mourn , and disquiet themselves more at the apprehension of their misery , but do not know what to do to ease their consciences ; therefore the merciful nature of christ makes him have a tender eye towards such . 3 reason . because such are prepared for christ to deal with , such are prepared to welcom the gospel : christ preacht to the scribes and pharisees , but they thought themselves to be whole and needed not a physitian , and therefore despised his help : but when he preached to the publicans and sinners , they followed him ; he preached to that mary noted as a sinner , and she followed him weeping . luke 7. ver . 37. all the publicans and sinners drew nigh to hear . luk. 15. ver . 1. whereupon the pharises murmured ▪ which gave an occasion to those parables in that chapter , of the lost sheep , the lost groat , and the lost son. christ is sent to save those that see their lost condition without him , and such only will bid welcom to the gospel . 4 reason why christ hath such an eye to afflicted consciences , is , because satan is so buisy with them , he seeks to drive them to final despair of mercy , and to suggest thoughts of self-murther : therefore as the devil hath an evil eye towards them to destroy them , christ hath an eye of pitie and compassion towards them , to deliver them , and to preach salvation to them , if satan desire to winnow peter , christ will take the greater care of him ; if satan ●empt peter to denie his master , christ will look back upon him to reclaim him again : now this is a pattern for christ's ministers to imitate ; have an especial eye to the sin sick souls , the broken hearted . in the close of the former sermon i hinted that some advice was needful unto ministers how to deal with afflicted consciences , i reserved it unto this place , where i might present them with such a blessed pattern to follow . afflicted consciences during the time of temptation , they are like blind men , therefore deal with them as such , lay no stumbling blocks before them , make your doctrine plain and obvious , be you instead of eyes unto them , perform the office of a good guide , and lead them to christ , and to the covernant of grace , and to the promises ; they are broken and bruised already , therefore deal gently with them , handle their souls with smooth , and not with rugged hands . we say a chirurgeon needs an eagles eye , a lyons heart , and a ladies hand : so we may say of a minister , he needs an eagles eye , to be of a piercing sight in the mysteries of the gospel ; he needs a lyons heart , having to do with wounded and ulcerous souls ; he needs a ladies hand , having to do with broken hearted sinners . afflicted consciences are thirsty , and ready to faint ; therefore lead them to the rock jesus christ , from whose side ( being struck by the rod of god , ) do only flow those waters that can allay the scorching heat of an i●flamed conscience , and can refresh and revive the drooping soul that boweth under his burthen of temptations ; hence do issue those waters that can cleanse the conscience , and wash away the guilt of sin , which makes it so disquiet and tormenting : after david had sinned ●ou●y , by adultery and murder , he came to these waters , psalm 51. ver . 2. wash me throughly from mine iniquity , and cleanse me from my sin . moses's rod struck the rock , that water might gush out to the thirsty israelites : god's rod struck the rock jesus christ , that mercy might flow out more freely to the thirsty sinner ; if they be thirsty , lead them to christ the fountain of living waters . a wounded spirit is shot with a poysoned arrow , ( i mean the sting of sin ) be you therefore that loving friend that may draw out the venome with your mouths ; ( i mean , by your godly council and seasonable advice . ) do not tell afflicted consciences of a god only , but of a god reconciled in christ : put them into the clift of this rock jesus christ , when you shew them any thing of the glory of god. they are bruised , therefore speak not all law unto them , but mingle gospel with it , least you break those whom god hath bruised . shew them the cleansing and comforting blood of jesus christ ; and if their trembling souls chance to propose any such questions as are in the 6 micah 7. will the lord be pleased with thousands of rams ? shew them the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world . while they cry out of their own sinfulness , set before them christ's perfect righteousness , and that he freely offers to cloath them with it ; shew them not only christs ability to save , but christs willingness to save ; for that is sound advice given by a late writer ; that soul which is disquieted for sin , must be pacifyed by something that is not sin : he that is sensible of his own unrighteousness , must be made to see a perfect righteousness somewhere else , even the righteousness of christ : if it were a prevailing argument with god , exod. 32. ver . 13. to press him to pardon israel for the sake of abraham , isaack , and jacob his servants , and his covenant made with them . then surely it must needs be a stronger argumen● , when a poor sinner shall be seech god to remember jesus christ his only begotten and well-beloved son that dyed for him , and his covenant made with christ : but as afflicted consciences will be much fingering their sore , and so put back their cure . the sight of sin is a thick cloud , which will much hinder the sight of a saviour ; therefore when they complain of great and manifold offenees , do you shew them gods great and manifold me●cies , psalm 51. ver 1. shew them davids argument , psalm 25. ver . 11. o lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great . here is our usual objection turned into an argument ; my sins are great , therefore i fear god will not pardon them , says the doubting sinner ; my iniquity is great , therefore lord pardon it , says the believing david ; even merciless men will do much to purchase them a great name ; the merciful god by pardoning great sinners , gets himself a greater name of being merciful ; shew them how to frame an argument out of gods own words , ier. 33. ver . 8 , 9. and i will cleanse them from all their iniquities whereby they have sinned against me , and whereby they have transgressed agains● me , and it shall be to me a name of joy 〈◊〉 praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth which shall hear all the good th●t i ●o unto them . press the lord with his own words , to exalt his great name by cleansing and pardoning thy sins ; and the more and the greater they are , the more will his mercy be glorifyed : seeing god designeth to be glorifyed in the great attribute of his mercy , we cannot glorifie it more , than by throwing our selves upon it . if satan aggravate our sins , ( as he never fails to do it to the purpose , when he finds a sinner despairing , ) then we must set all the true colours upon mercy , great mercy , glorious mercy , rich mercy , abundant mercy ▪ and that which is beyond all that satan can say of our sins ( infinite mercy ) shew them therefore , that by casting our souls upon gods free mercy , we do exceedingly glorifie the mercy of our god , and the merit of our redeemer . do not rob god of the glory of his mercy by your unbelief . but if the broken hearted sinner yet object against it self ; alas my sins are no ordinary sins , then do you put them in mind , that christ is no ordinary person , his blood is no ordinary price , his redemption no ordinary work , and gods mercy in christ is no ordinary matter . paul did not despair of pardon because he saw himself to be chief of sinners , 1 tim. 1 ch . ver . 15. but gloried so much the more in christs coming to save such as he was : a soul that is once enabled to look upon christ as his saviour , will not despair though conscience tell him he is a great sinner , but can be as willing to accuse ●t self as satan is to accuse it , and yet not despair of pardon , but imploy satans malice as an argument for greater love to jesus christ : those that despair of mercy , should be much pressed with the great injury done to gods infinite mercy , and to christs infinite merit by such as despair of pardon ; for it is as much as to make god an unmerciful god , and christ to be an impotent saviour : and it is a most dangerous sin in respect of us , ●or it blocks up the way to mercy ; ●ll other sins might be pardoned , if unbelief did not intercept our pardon , ●n the 3 io. ver . 18. he that believeth not ●s condemned already , because he believeth ●ot in the name of the only begotten son of ●od . it is not said , because he was a ●hore-monger , or a thief , or a ●runkard , but because he believeth not in the name of christ ; so that unbelief is the greatest sin of all other . satan holdeth many under despairing thoughts a long time , by telling them that they have not been broken enough yet by the terrors of the law , and therefore are unfit for pardoning mercy yet . pray is not this a strange reasoning , as if you should say to a sick man , you seek to be cured too soon ▪ your case must be more desperate , before you go to a physician . doth not reason tell us , that in a dangerous wound , the sooner we look for a chyrurgeon the better and that we cannot go too soon ▪ the longer we defer seeking unto christ , and laying on the sovereign plaister of his blood , we must needs be the longer before we can be healed . if any violent distemper seise on your bodies , you are ready to ask one another , why do not you go forth and seek help ▪ delays are dangerous in this case . now then ask your souls the same question , seeing sin hath made such a dangerous wound in thy conscience , why do not you go forth , why do not you seek after iesus christ ▪ delays are dangerous in this case i am sure . if faith be the condition of the the new covenant , we cannot believe too soon ; urge those that yield to despairing thoughts with those words of reverend dr. sibbs : judas did far worse in despairing of pardon , than in denying of christ ; in the latter ind●ed he destroyed christ's humane nature , but by despair he denyed his divine nature . who doubts but if cain had not despaired , he might have been pardoned . will you flie from christ because you are sinners ▪ will the sick man shun the company of the ph●sician because he is sick ▪ the pharisees upbraided christ , that he was a friend to publicans and sinners , matt. 11. ver . 19. to teach thee that he is no enemy to the vilest sinner that cometh to him for mercy . afflicted consciences are weak sighted ; or like the disciples , their eyes are held , luk. 24. ver . 16. christ is near them , but they see him not . therefore let all ministers , and also all good christians endeavour to help that defect , by leading them unto christ , and opening the promises of the gospel unto them ; end since they feel the sting of the fiery serpent in their souls , shew them their saviour , who is the truth of the brazen serpent ; help them to lean upon christ that tryed stone , so called isa. 28. ver . 16. christ is a tryed stone indeed , whom neither the weight of the sins of the whole world , nor the maliee of all the devils in hell , nor the rage of his persecutors on earth , nor the weight of gods wrath due for the sins of mankind , ( which was much heavier than all the former ) could once make to yield at all , or to fly out of its proper place ; and therefore christ is only fit to be the chief corner stone . he is the only immovable foundation , able to bear up the whole building of his church ; and whosoever builds his soul upon this foundation , ( jesus christ ) the gates of hell shall not be able finally to prevail against him . such as are afraid to fall , lead them to christ that rock of ages , that they may see themselves placed in a safe condition ; and do you carry those young lambs that cannot go : i have not written this as though i were able to advise my reverend brethren of the clergy , but to move them to consider the case of afflicted consciences , that they may labour more to heal the broken hearted , and to set at liberty them that are bruised , that 〈◊〉 people may have greater cause to 〈◊〉 , how beautiful are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of salvation ? mansio christiana , or the christians mansion-house . being a sermon preached on the lords-day , 7th . feb. anno dom. 1668. at the funeral of m rs . martha walmisley the wife of m r. charles walmisley . minister of chesham magna in the county of bucks . by william iole . minister of sarrett in the county of hertford . 2 ephesians 6. and hath made us sit together in heavenly places . london , printed for samuel homes , at the sign of s. paul in little britain anno dom. 1671. to his reverend brother in the gospel m r. charles walmisley , husband of m rs . martha walmisley deceased , grace and peace . worthy sir , that which is reported of egesias the philosopher , that he could so accurately decipher the miseries & wretchedness of life , as to make men out of love with it , and so colour over the grim face of death , as to make it desirable ; that is only really performed by this text : a little rhetorick may serve to perswade a poor man to forsake his thatch'd cottage , if you can assure him that by so doing , he shall have a better habitation : the most effectual way to make a christian to despise life , and desire death , is , to present him with a sight of his heavenly mansion , and then with s. paul , he can groan earnestly to leave this earthly tabernacle , when he knows he hath a building of god , a house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens ; for though nature abhor a dissolution , yet it covets happiness ; so that reason it self may well assent to the desire of being dissolved ; when faith hath rightly informed it that it is far better ; for it is wisdom to admit a change , when we are sure it shall be for our greater advantage . sir , if you thus look on death ( though as a dark entry ) yet as the ready passage to our heavenly mansions , then i shall need to say no more , either to quiet your spirit concerning the death of your dear wife , at whose funeral this sermon was preached , or to make you more willing to entertain more familiar thoughts of your own dissolution ; if it be far better to be with christ , than to linger still on earth , then what remains ? but that we patiently bear the departure of our dearest friends and nearest relations , and cheerfully expect our own ; that we may be so far from fearing death , as rather to welcom it : who baulks a friends invitation , because he imployes a blackamore to be the messenger ? what though christ send his negro ( death ? ) seeing it is to invite us to a feast with him in his kingdom ; we know christ is our best friend , and though at first we may startle at the messenger , yet the very message shews that death be-friends us too ; if god make this sermon useful to be your remembrancer in these great duties , let him have all the praise while you receive the profit . your affectionate brother in the gospel of our blessed lord and master iesus christ. vv. j. john 14. ver. 2. in my father's house are many mansions : if it were not so , i would have told you , i go to prepare a place for you . in occasions of great sorrow a single advice may not be sufficient to quiet and compose our afflicted minds ; christ had advised his disciples in the former verse not to be troubled at his absence , which he backs with a strong reason in this verse ; i go to prepare a place for you : consider the end of my departure , and you have no more reason to be troubled at it , than you have , if a friend that hath invited you to a feast , should say , i must go home before you to see all things set in a readiness for your entertainment : so great a necessity is there for my leaving you now ; christus non abit nos deserere , sed ut lautisimum convivium nobis praeparct . christ doth not mean to leave us , but he goes to make provision for us . christ seeing them troubled , seemed to neglect himself , that he might hearten them against the fear of his crucifixion . it is not unlikely , but that the minds of the disciples might be filled with such troublesome thoughts as these ; alass ! in what hole shall we hide our heads from a melitious devil ● persecuting world , now that our champion is taken from us ? where can we be secure if he suffer ? can we think to escape , if he be put to death ? what crosses must we look for , if innocency it self be crucified ? if they deal thus barbarously with our lord , what will they do , or what will they not do rather against his servants when he is gone ? what will become of us when the light of our eyes is departed ? yea , the very breath of our nostrils ? if the shepheard be smitten , what will become of the timorous sheep ? against all these carnal fears christ opposeth a greater cause of hope ; against all this matter of trouble , he seasonably opposeth a surer cause of spiritual joy & tranquility of mind ▪ bear my absence patiently , for it shall redound to your eternal advantage , i go to prepare a place for you . this text will not admit of such a methodical division , as other texts of scripture do . the first words are christs consolatory reason , why the disciples should not be troubled at his absence : in my fathers house are many mansions . the former words may be added to confirm that assertion , if it were not so i would have told you ; and that you may be sure it is so , i go to prepare ● place for you . in these word , is observable , 1. an act , go. 2. an agent , i go . 3. an end , to prepare a place . lastly , the person for whom , for you . explication , in my fathers house . heaven is called gods house ; because there god dwelleth , and there saints and blessed spirits shall dwell with god for ever : christ calls it his fathers house for our greater consolation , to shew us that he hath much power there , who is the only begotten son and heir of all things ; he is the dominus fac totum : heaven is a place where i have power to make you welcom , for it is my fathers house ; no son and heir can have so much priviledge at home to bid his friends freely welcom , as i have to make you my friends welcom in my fathers house , are many man●ions : there are mansions , not tabernacles , to denote the unchangeableness of the condition of saints in heaven ; here on earth you can have but moveable tents , but in heaven you shall have a settled condition , a mansion-house , even in our english phrase , signifies that house where we live most of our time : great men may have several houses , and yet but one of them is called their mansion-house ; that is to say , the place of their most constant abode , where they dwell the most part of the year ▪ it is but a short time that we spend on earth , but we shall dwell for ever in heavenly mansions . christians are here spoken of , as being great persons ( being made honourable by christ ) who , though they may have earthly tabernacles , yet have but one mansion-house , and that is heaven . many mansions ; there is not only room for me , but for all my members also . though there may be so many thousands of glorious inhabitants in heaven already , yet there is still room for every saint too . in scripture god is represented to us , as a great housholder , and the saints are called gods houshold or family ; every wise man provides a house according to the largeness of his family : aretius says , that the word mansions , is a word of diminution , where little is spoken of the greatest matter ; as if we would call the vast ocean , a great pond . we must not imagine that heaven is divided as the earth is ( into several habitations ) but heaven is fitly called a mansion , because there is a fulness of glory and happiness ; however men live in their flitting-houses , as i may call them , where they stay but a night or two ; yet in their mansion-houses they will far● plentifully , every saint in heaven shall have a fulness of glory and happiness . 2. in heaven there is a permanencie , and therefore called a mansion ; for the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the latine word mansiones , and the english word mansions , do all imply the eternity of the glory and happiness in heaven . 3. heaven is called a mansion-house , in respect of the different degrees of glory in heaven . in a kings court there are several offices , but all are contented , for all are courtiers ; in heaven , the house is the same , and the happiness is the same ; but there are different degrees of glory : but the saints in heaven shall be as free from envy , as the stars in the firmament are : one star differs from another in glory , yet they do not quarrel about their different degrees of light and lustre ; no more shall the saints in gods house : if it were not so i would not have told you ; i would not delude you , or feed you with vain hopes , promising that which i cannot perform : when you come to heaven you shall find much more than what you are able now to understand of the happiness you shall inherit there . i go to prepare a place for you ; the great end of christs ascending into heaven , is to prepare a place for his elect , to make way for their coming thither : take notice of our saviours consolations ; he doth not say , let not your hearts be troubled , for ere long i will make you earthly princes , and make you ●read on the necks of your enemies ; bu● he gives them comfort of another kind , i am preparing glory for you , let not your hearts be troubled . when by my death and resurrection i have fitted all things for your entertainment , i will come again , and receive you unto my self . it was the manner of bride-grooms , when they had made all things ready , to come themselves , and fetch home their brides to their fathers houses : i go to prepare , and i will come again and fetch you unto my self . o the wonderful tenderness and infinite condescention of divine love ; christ will do all himself . he came once from heaven already to make himse●f known unto us ; but his love engageth him to make one journey more to fetch us , and take us up unto himself : then he came to prepare us for heaven ; he is now gone to prepare heaven for us : i go to prepare a place for you . these may allude to travailers , ( as musculus notes ) where many travail together in a company ; they choose out some one to ride before , and provide lodgings , and a supper for them ▪ our saviour attempereth his speech to our understandings , the incomprehensible things of heaven are painted out in these humane colours , because we are much taken with these things and partly because the disciples did yet dream that christ would establish a worldly kingdom , and would have ruled some time as an earthly monarch ; christ therefore in a sweet and friendly manner works them off from expecting any such thing here , by telling them what he is going to prepare for hereafter : your expectations shall not be altogether disappointed ; you shall have honour and happiness , but it shall be in a better place , in heaven● for thither i go to prepare for you● the providence of god sent ioseph secretly before-hand to provide a place for his unnatural brethren ; christ the truth of iosep● , is gone into heaven to prepare a place for all his brethren , though by our sins we both sold him and crucified him , hebr. 6. v. 20 : christ is called the saints fore-runner , implying that the saints shall follow him into heaven . before christ ascended , he said , father , i will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where i am , iohn 17. ver . 24. therefore he is gone before to prepare a place for them : heaven is prepared already , but our sins had shut it against us ; christ is gone to provide admission for us . the doctrine i shall offer , is , that christians must look on heaven as their dwelling place . reasons of the doctrine are , 1. because god designeth heaven as our dwelling-place : a christian hath a body and a soul , an earthly and an heavenly part : a body formed of the earth , and a soul infused from heaven ; this earth was made for the delight of the body , here is beauty to delight the eye , and sweetness for the taste , and variety to delight the outward sences : but heaven was made for the soul ; in the body we resemble the beasts on earth , in the soul we resemble the angels in heaven ; the body is contented with the things of the earth , and thinks it good to be here ; but the soul finds nothing able to satisfy it here on earth and therefore is always mounting up to heaven by contemplation , and desirous to be dissolved from its earthly clay . god made man looking upwards towards heaven , and the beasts bowing downward towards the earth to shew us that the earth is the proper place for brute beasts ; but heave● is the place whither man should aspire . 2 reason why christians should look on heaven as their dwelling-place , lyeth in the text ; because christ prepares it for them : and where can he better provide a place than in his and our fathers house ? i asse●d to my father and your father , joh. 20. ver . 17. my father by nature , your father by grace , as s. austin interprets it ; where can he better prepare a place for his elect than in his own kingdom ? it 's the kingdom of our lord and saviour jesus christ , 2 pet. chap. 1. ver . 11. where can christ better prepare a p●ace for them , than in that kingdom which god the father hath freely bestowed on them ? luke 12. ver . 32. fear not little flock , for it is your fathers good pleasure to give you a kingdom ; fear not want or trouble here , but look on your selves as heirs of the kingdom of heaven . where can he prepare a place better than in that kingdom which christ also appointed for them ? luk. 22. ver . 29 , 30. and i appoint unto you a kingdom , that ye may eat and drink at my table , and sit on thrones ●udgeing the twelve tribes of israel ; and therefore you may be sure that this is meant of heaven : for here on earth saints do not sit on thrones , but rather on dunghils , as iob and lazarus did ; they do not judge here , but rather are judged and hardly censured . 3 reason why christians must look on heaven as their dwelling-place , is , because the word of god directs us so to do ; to s●t our affection on things above , and to seek those things : to look on the world but as our inne ; but on heaven as our home . 4 reason . because experience doth shew , that on earth christians have no certain dwelling-place , 1 cor. 4. ver . 11. here we travail and meet with troubles ; here we sojourne , here we suffer , here we have no continuing city , but we seek one to come , heb. 13. ver . 14. indeed neither believer , nor unbeliever have any settled condition on earth ; but it is more especially appropriated to believers . 1. because of the worlds ill dealing with them ; they are always driving them from post to pillar , as we say , from place to place ; moses was much longer a stranger in madian , then a courtier in egypt . 2. because believers do look upon earth as an uncertain place , where they cannot set up their rest ; they look on the world as a camp , where they wall meet with opposition , rather then as a city where they should expect safety and quiet . the christian expects his resting place to be in that city which abraham looked for , hebr. 11. v. 10. a city that hath foundations , whose builder & maker is god. all the cities on earth are so easily removed , as if they had no foundations , heaven only is an immoveable city . last reason why christians must look upon heaven as their dwelling place , is , to move them to a heavenly conversation ; such as our hopes is , such will our conversation be ; if your hope be only in this life , then your trade and dealing , your thoughts and actions shall be to get worldly things , your conversation will be earthly ; the prevailing degree of love in all you do , will be for earthly things ; or as the scripture doth phrase it , you will mind earthly things , philip. 3. ver . 19. all our aims , actions , and endeavours will be but to get money , to buy land , to build houses , to settle your rest on earth ; your discourses will be about dividing the inheritance like theirs , luk. 12. ver . 13. or about making more room for your worldly store like the fool in the gospel : but if your hope be in heaven , your conversation will be heavenly . hope is a deep dye that casts a tincture , and leaves its colour in the whole conversation of a christian. he that looks on the world as his pilgrimage , or place of travel , will provide only as for a traveller ; but he that looks on the earth as his dwelling place , will be providing as for an inhabitant : one room will suffice a traveller ; but an inhabitant wanteth a whole house ; a few things will suffice a man in his journey , but an inhabitant needs a great deal of furniture ; and therefore the scripture alwayes puts a difference between a man in the world , and a man of the world . iohn 15. ver . 19. . by our feet we walk on earth , but by our heart we dwell in heaven . application . 1. for information . to teach us what thoughts we must have of earth and heaven : we must look on the earth as david did , to be but the house of his pilgrimage , psalm 119. ver . 54. but we must look on heaven as our mansion-house , as the text doth represent it , a place prepared for us to dwell in for ever : and what a glorious place must heaven needs be , which the bridegroom of our souls hath now been 16 hundred years preparing for his bride ? we must look upon heaven as our home , our fathers house . if you ask what ground a christian hath for this confidence ? i answer , the text telleth us , christ is gone thither to prepare a place for them . christ entred into heaven as a common person in the name of his elect , and so is gone to take possession in their right , as a guardian takes possession of a house and land in the right of his ward ; but christ entred in his own right and ours both , as he is our guardian . the high-priest under the law entred into the holy of holies , with the names of the twelve tribes on his brest-plate , to shew that he acted there for them whose names were there written ; christ our great high priest is entred into heaven , whereof the holy of holies was but a type : thither hath he carryed the names of his elect , for whom he is to provide mansions ; and therefore christians are said to have an inheritancereserved in heaven for them . 1 pet. chap. 1. ver . 4. how should this make us high in our hopes , and lowly in our hearts ? heaven is ours in reversion ; great hopes , or hopes of great things beget great spirits , and keep men from doing any base or sordid things , which are below what they hope for : a christians hope keeps up his heart , and hinders him from doing any thing unbeseeming his hope : the eagle scorns to catch at flies ; a christias is that true eagle , that soareth above these petty things below ; the hope of heavenly mansions should should lift us above the earth . 2. it should make us lowly in our hearts , not to strive and fight for places here , but to be contented with any place , remembring that while we are in this world we are out of our proper place ; those that are neglectful to look after heavenly mansions , are most quarrelling for places on earth ; a christian may call all the things of this world esek , and sitnah , as isaack named those 2 wells , about which the philistines strove with him , gen. 26. 20 , 21. if god give house or land to a christian , it doth but make the men of the world strive with him and hate him for it , as the philistines did envy isaack's flocks & herds , gen. 26. 14. but a christian may call heaven rehoboth , by the name of isaack's well which they strove not for . now god hath made room for me , says isaack ; a christian hath one place which ugodly men will not strive for ; namely heaven : what an argument therefore is this , to remove our desires from earthly houses , and to fix them on our heavenly mansions ? in earthly houses we are always either wanting room , or furniture , or food , or peace in eating it , or assurance of continuing , but our heavenly mansions have all these properties . heaven is a good place , for it is of christ's own preparing ; heaven is a large place , there is many mansions , room enough , and provision enough of all things to make a saint happy . abraham's servant asked rebeckah , ( i● there room in thy fathers house for us to lodge in ? she answered , we have both straw and provinder enough , and room to lodge in , gen. 24 ver . 23 — 25. a christian need not make such an inquiry concerning heaven , there is room enough , and provision enough . god prepared the world for adams use , before he sent him to be there ; god built the house , and ready furnished it , and then raised up man. god our redeemer is gone to prepare heaven , before he carry his members thither . heaven is also a safe place ; where god dwelleth there can be no fear of enemies to molest us . israel in the earthly canaan had plenty , but not safety ; the cananites continually were invading them ; heaven only is the place of peace . the heavenly ierusalem is described to have a great wall , and high , and 12 gates , and 12 angels watching at the gates , and the city to be built upon a great and high mountain . revel . 20. ver . 10 — 12. namely , all things that may import safety . heaven is too high for danger to climb up to it ; it is so immured that there can be no scaling it , the gates are so strong , that there is no breaking them open , and the watchers so watchful that there can be no fear of surprize . and in heaven also is suitable company , there we shall dwell with god , the holy trinity , with holy angels , aud saints ; here on earth unsuitable company may make us weary of our habitations . lot chose the plain of sodom to dwell in , but what an uncomfortable place did it prove to that righteous man , by reason of the wicked company of those beastly sodomites ? no doubt had he known their evil manners before , nothing could have tempted him to have thought of dwelling there . christians that know and see this earth to be a sodom , must not choose it for their dwelling place . lastly , heaven is a place that abideth for ever ; worldly cities have no firm foundations , but the wall of heaven is described to have twelve foundations , rev. 21. ver . 14. earthly houses may be burned , or beat down either by accident or design , as we see a woful instance in london , that city most famed throughout the world ; but you know that the world it self is reserved for the general conflagration : will you make that your dwelling-place , which you know must be destroyed ? we linger like lot , and are loath to come out of this sodow ; but the lord is merciful by sending us many crosses , pulleth us hence . this sheweth us further how we come to neglect heavenly mansions ; we over-value earthly tabernacles , and that makes us undervalue heavenly mansions , earthly houses are visible , their gardens , and orchards , parks , and forrests , fish-ponds , and motes , arbors , and banquetting-houses ; but heavenly mansions , and what provision is made there , is only known to faith , 1. cor. chap. 2. ver . 9. as it is written , eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither have entred the heart of man the things which god hath prepared for them that love him ; which if it be true of those things prepared in the gospel , it is more true of those things prepared in heaven . this consideration of heavenly mansions may much quiet and com●ort those that either are not born to house and land , or that are driven from house and home by any sad providence ; your tents may be removed , but your mansions endure for ever . 2. use of exhortation to all that hope for heavenly mansions . 1. search the land where you hope ●o dwell for ever ; israel ●ent spies to ●earch for canaan , but the●r spies were of two sorts : some brought an evil ●eport on canaan ; saying , there were gyants , and yet brought of the good fruits of the land ; but caleb & ioshus told them the truth , if the lord delight in us , he will bring us into this land , numb . 14. ve . 8. hearken unto caleb and ioshua , unto the faithful spies and true ministers , which declare from the word of god what place heaven is , and hearken not unto any that endeavour to bring an evil report on this good land , where only is fulness of ioy , and pleasures for evermore ; indeed there are some difficulties will meet us in our way thitther , but no impossibilities ; say with caleb , the lord is with us , we are able to overcome them . numb . 13. compared with num● 14. ver . 9. 2. pray against earthly mindedness . the young man that seemed so earnest to get to heaven , as is set out by his postures of running and kneeling , and asking what to do yet his great earthly possessions hindred him from being prevailed with by the promise of heavenly treasure mark 10. ver . 2● . reuben and gad had so much cattle , that they are not eager to dwell in canaan ; iacob's flocks and herds made him drive slowly homewards , gen. 33. v. 14. though i grant his fear of esau might be a great cause also . those christians are in most danger of neglecting heavenly mansions , that are well seated in earthly places , haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori , these things make us unwilling to die . let us use the earth as the birds do , the air is their proper place , and they care not to descend on the earth but only for their times of feeding ; so long as they keep aloft they are secure ; but when they come to settle on the ground , there are nets or guns , or some snare to endanger them : so long as christians keep their thoughts on heaven , and the thing above , they are ●afe from temptation ; but when they ●et them hover too long upon earth , and the things ●●low , satan is ready to shoot at them , or hath one snare or other to catch them , though your daily bread grows on earth , yet look on heaven as your home , and send your thoughts & desires thither again , that it may appear though you table here , you expect to dwell in heaven . a few words more , and then i shall conclude . 1. be content though god allo● you but a low place , or no place in this world , seeing christ is preparing a place for you in a better world . 2. get your affections more weaned from earthly houses ( you that have them ) and fix your thoughts more on those heavenly mansions ; because children know no better things , they are so much in love with every painted gew-gaw ; it is our ignorance of the joys in heaven that makes us so greatly pleased with these toyes on earth . 3. be not immoderate in grieving for any relations or friends departed , ( no , though you have h●d them but a little while with you . ) so long as we are in the body , we are absent from the lord ; the apostle paul groaned earnestly in desires of enjoying his heavenly mansion , 2 cor. chap. 5. ver . 2. and he gives us his reason in the 1. ver . who would not go out of a thatcht cottage to inherit a pallace ? those that die in the lord , do but leave an earthly tabernacle , to inherit an heavenly kingdom ; and will you think it too s●on for them to be thus happy ? solon being asked who were happy ? tells a story of two youths , who out of affection drew their mothers chariot to the temple , and the gods to recompence them , caused them to die presently : those are happy that can number death among their priviledges , and bid it welcom ; if i could offer your wife or children , house , or land , would you say , ( no i thank you , i cannot spare them yet , they shall tarry with me one year longer before they go to possess it . ) we are wiser in earthly matters , why are we such fools in heavenly matters ? if we did cordially believe , and seriously meditate on the blessedness in heaven , we should grudge at every hour we ●arry on earth , we should think the shortest life too long , and like the next heir , be eagerly desirous to inherit . i say nothing of the party deceased ( though she hath left a good name behind her ) because i was totally ● stranger to her . finis . paul , the pattern of pardoning mercy . being a sermon on 1 tim. chap. 1. ver. 15. howbeit for this cause i obtained mercy , that in me first iesus christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting . 1 tim. 1. chap. 16. ver. howbeit , for this cause i obtained mercy , that in me iesus christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting . this verse referreth to the last words of the former verse , ( whereof i am chief ; howbeit for this cause i obtained mercy ; ) as if the apostle would say , although i was so heinous a sinner , yet iesus christ hath made me a pattern of mercy to all others . as god makes some stand as fearful monuments of his wrath to fright ●hose that are impenitent , ( like lot's wife tu●ned into a pillar of salt to season after ages . ) so god is pleased to set others as monuments of free-grace to invite all penitent sinners ; the apostle tells us what was gods aim in pardoning him that was so great an offender , to make a pattern of long suffering to encourage the greatest sinners to lay hold on his mercy . for division of the words , 1. here is an act mentioned ( obtained . ) 2. the thing mentioned , ( mercy . ) 3. the person mentioned . ( i that needed long sufferings , i the chief of sinners . ) lastly , the reason mentioned , ( for this cause , that i might be a pattern to them that shall hereafter believe , ) that is to say , that by my example the greatest sinners m●ght be encouraged to lay hold on the offer of free pardon , seeing such a desperate opposer of jesus christ as i was , received into favour , that none might hereafter despair of pardon , but all sinners might be encourag'd to come to god through jesus christ. the doctrine will be most comfortable thus rendred . that god hath set paul as a glorious pattern of mercy , to encourage all sinners by his example to seek for pardoning mercy . the orderly handling of this doctrine will be , 1. to see what a pattern is . 2. how paul may be said to be a pattern ? 3. why paul was made a pattern ? lastly , what excellent ●ncouragement all sinners hereafter may make of this glorious pattern of free-grace ? for the first , what a pattern is ? for on this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , lyeth the stress of the whole matter . a pattern is , materi● proposita ad imitandum , something that is laid before our eyes for us to imitate ; when a li●mner hath drawn some curious picture in which he thinks he hath shewed much of his art , he hangs it out for all passengers to look on , to shew them what he can do ; every piece is not fit to be a pattern , but the most exact pi●ces ▪ in the converting of paul ( who by his own confession was one of the greatest sinners in the world . ) god doth shew to all men in this pattern , what free grace can do , how he can pardon the greatest sinners ; god hath made paul fit to be a pattern of pardoning mercy , to shew all the world how much he can forgive . and this leadeth me to the next particular . how paul might be said to be a pattern . 1. consider his own confession what a kind of sinner he was , and that will lend some light into this phrase . 2. con●ider the manner of his conversion . 3. gods dealing with him after his conversion . 1. let us hear his own confession how great a sinner he was , chief of sinners ; not only sensu humilitatu , so in his own apprehension ; nor only salvandorum primus , chief sinner of those that shall be saved ; but as he was a proud pharisee that went about to set up his own righteousness in direct opposition to christs rightouiness : surely , ( except the unpardonable sin ) there cannot be a greater sin than this ; and in this sense christs words may be understood , that publicans and harlots were nearer heaven , than the self-justifying pharisees , mat. 21. ver . 31. for publicans and harlots did not deny that christs imputed righteousness was the only meriting cau●e of our justification ; but the pharisees denyed this . the apostle confesseth how exceeding mad he was against this doctrine so long as he was a pharisee , and persecuted all that professed to be justifyed by faith in jesus christ , acts. 26. from ver . 9. to ver . 12. he would not yield to cast away the thoughts of his own righteousness , and to relie upon the righteousness of christ imputed ; and this made him persecute unto the death all such as professed a contrary way of being justified ; and herein he was a greater sinner , than if he had been a thief , or drunkard , or any othe● kind of sinner , those are trespasses against the commands of the law , but this is the highest trespass against the great command of the gospel ; namely , that we should embrace christ as he is called , the lord our righteousness , ier. 23. ver . 6. there is more hopes of publicans and harlots , of theeves and murderers , than of those that reject christs imputed righteousness , except the devils & damned in hell ; christ can have no greater enemies , than those that cry up their own righteousness , and cry down the doctrine of his imputed righteousness . paul before conversion , was tooth & nail , as we say , against this doctrine ; so that we may see a most elaborate piece of the work of free grace , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , may be derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ) saith passor , nota incisa , insculpta , percussione , vel pulsatione facta . the chra●cter of free grace is deeply cut in this pattern ; paul , a proud pharisee , was beaten down to the ground ; and he that before so hotly persecuted the name of christ , is now made a preacher of it ; here is now the depth of humility , where there was the height of pride before ; here god hath wrought a curious frame out of a rugged knotty piece of timber . here is a lion-like nature changed into a lamb ; he that before was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , interpo●ito v , ) that is to say , unquiet like the sea , and turbulent , is now paul , quiet and peaceable ; see what free grace can do : here is a rare pattern indeed ! for a physician perfectly to cure one that is stark mad , and bring him to his right mind , this shews great skill indeed : this god hath done ; paul was exceeding mad , persecuting all wheresoever he met them , that professed to be justifyed by faith in christs righteousness ; and yet the grace of god hath perfectly cured him , and now makes him to seek to christ for righteousness , and count his own righteousness but dung , and to preach the same way of justification to others . if a chyrurgeon go into an hospital , and pick out those that are most desperately sick & lame , and cure them , is it not the greater argument of his skill ? so here in paul's conversion and pardon ; god doth shew what free grace can do ; for paul 〈◊〉 per●ect●y cured , that was most 〈◊〉 sick of pride and self-love . 2. consid●r the manne of his conversion , and then his name paul may be derived from the hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signisies wonderful , for the manner of his conversion was wonderful indeed , recorded , acts 9. ver . 1. while he was yet breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the church , he made himself accessory to the murder of stephen , by holding the garments of them that stoned him , acts 8. ver . 58. but this did whet his malice , and sharpen his rage the more , this did but flesh his fury , and make him more eager to persecute ; this was but a younger practice , to what he af●erwards intended ; he seeks to get a commission to impower him to persecute all that came in his way ; and being armed with authority , and come nigh to damascus , ( which was the end of his journey , ) god surprized him suddenly , and turned a p●oud saul into an humble paul , and made him a zealous preacher of christ , who came thither out of a design to shew himself a bitter persecutor of that name ; he that was prancing on horse-back before , is now fallen to the earth ; he that came to punish christs disciples , now owneth christ as his lord , and begs now to know wh●t he will have him do , acts 9. ver . 14. he that was r●ging before , is trembling and astonished now ; a little light from heaven , will tame the most furious persecutor , any discovery either of th● glorious majesty of jesus christ , o● of our vileness , will humble any sinner ; see here the irresistible power of grace , that can meet with a wol● seeking for his prey , and can suddenly change him into a harmless lamb. 3. consider how graciously god dealt with him after conversion , in imploying him as a prime officer in the church of christ ; yea , as a master-builder , and as a chief pillar of that church which he sought before to pull down . god sent him as an honorable embassador to bear christs name before kings , and the children of israel , whose great ambition before was to be the saints common executioner : christ intended that paul should suffer much for his name , who came to damascus to make all them suffer that professed christs name . it is remarkable , that of all the apostles , paul only was wrapt up in the thi●d heaven ; god dealt so graciously with him , that he that was the greatest enemy to christ before his conversion , is now used as the most indeared friend of christ after his conversion , and hath the most glorious discoveries of christ , and of the mysteries of his gospel of all others , and now his name may be called wonderful indeed ; for here is a scene on which before conversion , corrupt nature acted her outragious fury ; and after conversion , sanctifying grace sh●wed her sacred force , and both to such an extent , as few stories can parallel . in saul was seen as much as can well be in a man void of grace ; and in paul was discovered as much as need be looked for in the most eminent saint ; his former madness is equalled by his present zeal , and now all that ie●ish learning which he had raked together , intending onely thereby to defend the righteousness of the law , and the traditions of the elders , and to dispute against christ and his gospel ; god imploys it better , to make him more able to confound the iews , and to prove that jesus is the very christ , acts 9. ver . 22. none preach christ crucifyed so plainly , and the doctrine of justification by christs impured righteousness so powerfully , and so thorowly as paul does ; none beat so much on this string , as he , romans 3 ver . 27. galat. 2. ver . 16. and in galat. 3. ver . 10. none cry down the righteousness of the law so vehemently , nor cry up the imputed righteousness of christ so earnestly as paul does : thus as he was behind no man in wickedness before his conversion ; so was he not infer , or to the very chief apostles after conversion , but laboured more abundantly than they all , i cor. chap. 15. ver . 10. now he would preach nothing but christ crucifyed , 1 cor. chap. 2. ver . and would glory in nothing , but in the cross of our lord jesus , gal. 6. ver . 14. thus paul was even a miracle of mercy , and a glorious pattern of grace . the next particular is , why paul was hung out as a pattern of free grace ? 1. because he had been such a notorious persecuter ; and therefore as the noise of his mad and ignorant zeal had filled the world before , so now the news of his conversion would be the more wonderful , and he would be the more fit to be a pattern , because the example of so great a sinner , would be more encouragement for other sinners to seek for mercy , galat. 1. ver . 23 , 24. when the churches heard that paul preached the faith which he once destroyed , they glorifyed god in him . when sinners remember that paul was pardoned , they may glorify go●s mercy by seeking pardon too . 2. paul was made a pattern of free grace , because he was an eminent iew , and by sect , a pharisee , and so might prove a leading pattern to all the iews , and to that obstinat sect of the pharisees , to leave off per securi●g the church of chr●st , and to joyn themselves unto it , ●o follow his example in renouncing the righteousness of works , and embracing the righteousness of faith : paul was well read in all their jewish traditions , and was as zealous of them as they , and therefore they might see more of the power of grace in his conversion , that now made him h●zard his own life to advance that way , which before he persecuted unto death . 3. paul was chose to be a pattern , because in such a pattern the freeness of grace would appear more clearly , here all the world may see , that we are not saved out of any wo●ks foreseen ; here was nothing to fit him to receive grace ( unless making havock of the church be a preparatory work ) such works the romish saints are full of ; here was a raging persecutor tamed and pardoned . it is not our faith apprehending christ that saves us , but our christ apprehended by faith ; christ is the meriting cause , and faith is the instrumental . lastly , paul was set as a pattern of free grace , to encourage other sinners beholding the mercy of god unto him to look after mercy too , that as in a glass or mirrour , all men may see more clearly the freeness of grace , it is a good means to prevent our despair when we see such an instance of pardoning mercy before our eyes ; and this leadeth me to the last particular : what encouragement may other sinners draw from this great pattern of paul's obtaining pardon . my meaning is not , that others should expect to be miraculously converted , as paul was ; ( for you may as well expect to be caught up into the third heaven : ) but by paul's being pardoned , you may look after a pardon : paul believed and was obedient to the voice from heaven , and so obtained mercy . this voice from heaven was the voice of christ , why p●rsecutest thou m● ? and acts 9. ver . 5. i am iesus whom thou persecutest . the gospel now is christs voice from heaven , he that believeth this voice , and is obedie●● to it , shall as surely obtain pardon as ever paul did ; and he that will not obey christs voice in the gospel , shall n●ver be pardoned . it is remarkable , that christ did not tell paul by the voice from heaven , what he should do , but sent him to be taught by ananias , who was a minister of the gospel , acts 9. ver . 6. so now he doth not miraculously tell sinners what they must do to be saved , but sends them to his word and ministers to be instructed ; and therefore pray compare those two places together , hebr. 4 ver . 7. to day if you will hear his voice : what is that voice of christ ? luk. 10. ver . 16 ▪ he that heareth you , heareth me . christ spake this to his seventy disciples when he sent them out to preach the gospel ; christ gives his ministers the same power to preach , as he did them , though he hath not given them power to work miracles : he still says , he that heareth you heareth me ▪ for it is christs word , and not ministers to re●urn to the queston , how other sinners may draw encouragement from pauls obtaining mercy ? w●y this this a pattern for other sinners , ( ad imitandum paul● fidem ) to believe , and so they shall obtain mercy . when you see a very deformed person well married , you are apt to say , nay , then , none need ever hereafter despair of a husband ; other sinners may say so from this pattern of free grace . seeing that paul the chief of sinners is married to jesus christ ; seeing so great a si●ner is pardoned , no sinner hereafter need despair of pardon ; thus one begger encourage●h another ▪ by ●elling them , or shewing them what a good alms they have 〈◊〉 ; i sped well at such a door and 〈◊〉 enco●rageth others to go 〈◊〉 too . though indeed begging is now grown such a common trade , that you may be soon wearied out with beggers ; such is mans emptiness , that he cannot be always giving ; but such is gods fulness , that he delights to be dealing of his dole of mercy ; the oftner you come to the door of mercy , the better you shall speed , and therefore this is an encouraging pattern : and consider beloved , how great is gods goodness in giving us such patterns to invite us to the throne of grace ? to see matthew and zaccheus , two publicans pardoned , may encourage all publicans to look after pardon too ; to see mary magdalen , out of whom went seven devils ; and the woman taken in the very act of adultery , both pardoned , may encourage all sinners to seek pardon ; to hear paul say , i was a blasphemer , and a persecutor , and injurious , but i obtained mercy , may greatly encourage all sinners to follow god by prayer for to shew them mercy ; it is a very great mercy that we have not only promises of pardon , but also patterns of notorious sinners that have been pardoned . 1. because such patterns sufficiently declare the infinite merit of christs death : who could be fitter trumpets of christs power and mercie , then those blind , and lame , and leprous , and the woman cured of her bloody issue , and that other woman bowed together ; all which christ cured in the days of his flesh ? when the jews spake against christ , the man whom he had restor'd to sight pleaded hard for him , iohn 9. ver . 30. 33. if this man were not of god he could do nothing : the jews knew not what to object , but proudly asked him , dost thou undertake to teach us , ver . 34. ? what can any poor sinner object against the power & mercy of christ , when they see ten lepers cleansed at once ? but may be enforced to cry out with that leper , matt. 8. ver . 2. lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean : he that cured ten , can cure ten millions ▪ though it is not so with bodily physicians , their art is fallible , but christ is the infallible physician . to hear that christ came to save sinners , may not move us so much as to see it in the examples of manasseh , and the theef on the cross , and those others before-mentioned ; such remarkable instances do abundantly declare , that the merit of christs death is exceedingly beyond the demerit of our sins ; christs healing all manner of diseased that were brought unto him shews that he can heal all manner of diseased souls that come unto him now . 2. such instances do evince , that god is ready to deal out pardons to all sorts of sinners , let their sins be what they will , that come in christs name to ask pardon : the poor soul is apt to say , how shall i know that god will pardon such a wretched sinner as i am ? why you may believe it in such patterns as paul , and those before mentioned . 3. it is a great mercy to have such patterns of pardoning mercy ; for in these we may more clearly see what is the great design of free grace ? namely to set open the door of mercy , and invite all sinners to come freely , and to give pardons to all that will come to god in christs name : and therefore peter and paul the two greatest apostles and pillars of the church , are both set as patterns of free grace , to encourage other sinners to look after pardon ; peter denyed , yea abjured his saviour , and yet was pardoned . paul persecuted him , and blasphemed his name , and compelled others to do so to , and yet was pardoned : now as some prophane wretches in salvians time did presume to sin , because david , and noah , and lot sinned , si david , cur non & ego ; si noah , si lot , cur non & ego ? here the poor penitents may turn their presumption into a blessed hope , and say with an humble confidence , si petrus cur non & ego ? si paulus , cur non & ego ? si david , si noah , si lot , cur non & ego ? if all these were pardoned , why may not i follow god for pardon ? gods gracious design in suffering such examples to be registred of notorious sinners that were pardoned , is , that by such presidents of mercy , all other sinners might take encouragement to seek for mercy in such marv●●lous ex●mles as these , satans greatest obj●ction is answered to our hands . what doth such a wicked creature as you hope for pardon ? in such patterns of m●rcy , as manasseh , peter , paul ▪ and the like . god teacheth us how to answer the devil : god hath pardoned as great sinners as i am ▪ and therefore i am sure god can pardon me , and i believe god will pardon all that seek to him in christ for pardon ; and therefore i will ply the throne of grace in christs name to beg pardon ; in such patterns god doth as it were make a shew of his mercy , that we may see no sins are so great but they shall be pardoned , if we do not add unbelief unto them . mr. lightfoot hath an excellent note to this purpose on pauls conversion the most notorious persecuter that the gospel had yet found , is chosen of all others to be the doctor of the gen●●les , that 〈…〉 his own example , or rather the glorious example of gods mercy in his conversion , might be a comfortable doctrine to those notorious sinners of the gentiles , as well as his preac●ing . lastly , it is a great mercy to have such patterns of pardoning mercy , because such instances are a good means to keep all sinners from despair ; your case is not desperate if the counsellour can shew you a president of the like : if the physician can shew you many now living whom he hath recovered of the same distemper , this may be a good encouragement for you to hope for a cure too : this is paul's meaning when he calls himself chief of sinners , and says , that he obtained mercy for this cause , that he might be a pattern to others ; as much as to say , ●n me god shews as from an high tower , that all sinners may be pardoned as i was , if they seek to him in christs name as i did ; and as david said , they that fear thee , will be glad when they see me , psal. 119. ver . 24. it may be turned here , they that see david pardoned , and paul pardoned , they may be glad of such encouraging patterns to make them hope for pardon too ; the doctrine of free grace is the only doctrine to invite guilty sinners , if pardon be offered freely to all that will ●ome to god in christ : then if i go to pray to god for pardon in the name of his son jesus christ , i shall be pardoned as well as they ; and this consideration moves the poor sinner to go to the throne of grace to beg pardon . god who hath no respect of persons , can have no motive from within , but his own free love , to pardon a poor sinner ; and the word sinner , sufficiently declares that there can be no motive from without ; therefore , the same free grace that hath pardoned other sinners , will pardon all sinners that seek pardon ; yea , this is a good sign that god intends to pardon us , when he makes us with david pray ●arnestly to be pardoned . application ; is for exhortation , to press all sinners to draw that encouragement from this glorious pattern of paul's obtaining mercy , which god intends us ; why do we sit still , as the lepers said one to another , 2 kings chap. 7. ver . 3. why do not we pray for pardon ? there are three things which god doth most delight to glorify , his name , his son , his covenant , and then we most glorify these three things when we look after pardon . as for gods name ▪ he tells us p●ain enough , ier. 33. ver . 8 , 9. that he would exalt his name before all nations of the earth by pardoning his people israel ; therefore let us urge god with his own words , lord glorifie thy name of mercy in pardoning my sins , that all the world may be enforced to say in those words , 〈◊〉 7. ver . 18. who is a god like unto thee , that pardon●th iniquity , &c. concerning his son , god therefore named him iesus , that all the world might hear by that very name , that he was sent to be a saviour ; thus paul ●old the jews , acts 5. ver . 30 ▪ 31. that ●●sus whom they hanged on a tree , god had exalted to be their saviour , to give repentance to israel , and forgiveness of sins . and concerning the covenant , you know it is called , the covenant of grace ; pardon of sin is the great promise of the covenant of grace , ier. 31. ver . 34. last words , for i will forgive their iniquity , and remember their sin no more , then we glorify gods name of mercy , and christs name as a saviour , and the name of the covenant 〈◊〉 grace , when we are moved by these to pray for pardoning mercy ; reme●ber now is the day of grace ; that 〈◊〉 to say , now god is ready to give us pardon , if we seek pardoning grace : heaven is said to have twelve gates , rev. 21. ver . 12. intimating to us , that now there is free admission every way , to all sinners that come to the throne of grace ; but there is a day of judgement coming , then god will as much delight to glorifie his justice in damning all those that refused to seek for pardon in the day of grace . there are twelve steps that lead a sinner to the hope of pardon . 1. to see his absolute need of pardon . 2. to set a possibility of pardon ; for we can have no hope of that we judge impossible ; he sees it possible by the glorious patterns of such as have been pardoned . 3. to desire a pardon . 4. to admire the freeness of grace in all such as have obtained mercy . 5. to see that the only way of obtaining mercy , is , to believe in the lord jesus . 6. to see christs ability to pardon , and to begin to seek after him . 7. to read and eye the promises of pardon . 8. to believe the truth of those promises . 9. to desire to have an interest in those promises . 10. to venture our souls on the free offer of pardon . 11. to follow god by prayer in the name of christ to pardon us . lastly , now the sinner arriveth at the cape of good hope , and a good hope is the beginning of assurance . when the poor sinne● looks towards christ , then it begins to hope for pardon . no matter what the disease was , if the party had but faith to be healed , as is said of the man lame in his feet , acts 14. ver . 9. no matter what our sins are , if we ●ave but faith to believe in christ for pardon . physicians care not for medling in dangerous cases ; but such desperate cases bring more glory to jesus christ ; thus curing him that had been thirty eight years impotent . ioh. 5. to ver . 8. and healing her that had spent all upon physicians , mark 5. ver . 25 , 26. and raising lazarus that had been dead four days , ioh. 11. 39. working through these natural impossibilities , made christs power be more admired by all that saw his miracles : even so this high pattern of paul a persecuter , and a blasphemer , and one of the chief of sinners ; and yet obtaining mercy , doth much more advance the riches of free grace , and may be a greater encouragem●n● to all that hear of it to seek after pardoning mercy ; no matter how desperate our case seem to us , if we make use of christ as our physician . god hath set us two grea● 〈◊〉 in p●ter and 〈◊〉 , both great sinners , yet both obtaining pardoning mercy . the lord giye us his grace , that we may imitate peter's sincere repentance , and paul's saving faith , that we may also obtain mercy , through christ jesus that came to save sinners . saint stevens last will and testament a funerall sermon on acts 7. ver. 59. preached at the enterrement of the remaines of mris joice featly. together with the testimonie then given unto her by tho. gataker, b. of d. and rector of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. 1638 approx. 85 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01547 stc 11674 estc s117263 99852478 99852478 17802 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01547) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 17802) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1602:11) saint stevens last will and testament a funerall sermon on acts 7. ver. 59. preached at the enterrement of the remaines of mris joice featly. together with the testimonie then given unto her by tho. gataker, b. of d. and rector of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. [6], 31, [1] p. printed by e[lizabeth] p[urslowe] for nicolas bourne, and are to be sold at his shop at the south entrance of the royall exchange, london : 1638. the first edition printed in this format. printer's name from stc. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng featley, joyce, d. 1637. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2005-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-07 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-07 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion saint stevens last will and testament . a fvnerall sermon on acts 7. ver . 59. preached at the enterrement of the remaines of m ris joice featly . together with the testimonie then given unto her by tho. gataker , b. of d. and rector of rothfrhith . london , printed by e. p. for nicolas bourne , and are to be sold at his shop at the south entrance of the royall exchange . 1638. to the right worshipfull , his very kind and much honoured friend , daniel featly , doctor in divinitie . worthy sir , your earnest request , to have a transcript of this rude and raw discourse , sodainely conceived , and sorrily cemented , out of your affection to the partie , whom in speciall manner it concerned , could not but prevaile with me , to recollect it , while it was yet fresh in memorie , and to commit that to writing , as well as i could call it againe to mind , whereof i had no more then some generall heads and briefe notes scribled in a loose paper before : mine obligations to you , and your interest in me , of right affording you power to command from me a greater matter then that your request amounted unto . and how * powerfull requests are , backt with such engagements , it is both commonly well knowne , and generally acknowledged . but since your request therein satisfied , i have received it backe againe from you , with signification of the importunitie of divers friends , who out of that respect they bare to the partie deceased , while she lived , and desire of the continuance of the memorie of her with them , have beene no lesse earnest suiters unto you , to have copies from you of the same . which being a worke over-troublesome , to make so many transcripts , your second request was , that with my consent it might be made more publike . to which purpose also , you had remitted it to me , that i might , if i were content to condescend thereunto , upon review of it , adde or alter in it what i should thinke fit , ere it came out . now howsoever it was never intended by me for the presle ; nor indeed have i at present any desire or purpose , to adde ought in this kind to those things that i have published alreadie ; nor did your former motion to me concerning it , extend it selfe any further , then to have it as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , as i understand it , a private monument , to lye by you as a memoriall of her , whom not without good ground you so entirely affected ; nor can i yet deeme it ( being so indigested a piece ) such as may be exposed to so publike view , without some kind of censure : yet to give satisfaction to your selfe , whom i owe so much to , and those friends of yours , that seeme so much to desire it , i have layd a law upon my selfe , setting all disswasives aside , to give way thereunto , if your mind shall continue still bent that way . and upon occasion hereof , i have indeed reviewed it , but altred nothing at all of moment , in the maine body of it ; that those who were present at the deliverie in the pulpit , might not reade any other then what they then heard : onely the quotations of scripture , and such shreds or parcels of exotike language , as might be some rub to an english reader , but had beene indifferent to your selfe , i have removed into the margine , and set on a little more lace there , to make the piece somewhat sutable to the rest of my works , that are in hands abroad alreadie . so onely fourbished , i returne it againe entire to you , as by free donation your owne formerly ; * to be disposed of by you , either for your owne private use , ( which would best like me ) or for the publike , as your selfe shall please . and thus with heartie wishes of all health and happinesse to you , as well in your present condition , as in the alteration of it also , if any hereafter shall ensue , i take leave , and rest yours ever much obliged , tho. gataker . saint stevens last will and testament . act. 7. ver . 59. lord jesus , receive my spirit . this text may not unfitly be tearmed saint stevens last will and testament , made by him at the stake , being at point of death , for the faith of christ , whom he therein bequeatheth and commendeth his soule unto . and it is conceived in forme of an humble petition and supplication preferred unto christ ▪ entreating him , that he would be pleased to receive and accept of that , that he did therein bequeath to him , and entrust him with . in it , observe we may these particulars : 1. the legator , or the partie bequeathing ; blessed steven , now suffering for christs cause . 2. the legacie , his soule ; my spirit . 3. the legatee , or the partie to whom it is bequeathed , christ ; lord iesus . 4. a request to him , for the acceptance of it ; receive my spirit . lord iesus , receive my spirit . now hence , in the first place , in that s. steven here thus a invocateth christ ( for so the words fore-going precisely tearme it ) we might well against the arians observe the deitie of christ. a point , whereof very pregnant and plentifull proofes might be produced and pressed out of gods word . 1. from the titles given unto him . he is called god. b the word was god. elohim . c thy throne , o elohim , is for ever and ever : d by the apostle expounded of him , adonai . e the lord said to adonai , my lord : expounded likewise of him , as f by himselfe , so g by the apostle also . iehovah , ( the h peculiar name of the onely true god ) and that more then once ; i iehovah tsidkenu ; iehovah our righteousnesse . he is called k the true god , or very god ; l the great god ; m the mightie god ; n god above all , to be blessed for ever . 2. from the workes ascribed unto him : the worke of creation ; o by him all things were made : the worke of supportation ; p by him all things are upheld : the worke of sanctification ; q ye are sanctified in the name ( that is , by the power ) of the lord iesus : the worke of salvation ; r who saveth us from the wrath to come . 3. from the trust reposed in him : as by steven in this place , so ſ by other of the faithfull elsewhere , exhorted and encouraged by himselfe also so to doe . t ye trust in god ( saith he ) trust ye also in me . and whereas they are u denounced all accursed , that trust in any but god , they are pronounced x all blessed that trust in him . 4. from the honour exhibited unto him . first , of adoration ; and that not from the meanest onely , but from the most eminent creatures ; not some , but all of them : y worship him , all ye gods , that is , z all ye angels of god ; so explained , where it is also by the apostle applyed unto him . secondly , of invocation : it being in scripture made more then once the description of a christian , * one that calleth upon the name of christ : and practised by blessed st●ven , as we see , in this place . which , as it overthroweth that pestilent doctrine of arius , who denyed the deitie of christ : so it may serve to confirme us in the faith of christ , and in dependance upon christ , with full assurance of undoubted safetie unto all those that shall so doe . for if christ be god ( as undoubtedly he is ) and he be with us , as a he hath promised to be for ever with all those that be his ; then may we well say with the apostle , b if god be with us , who can be against us ? c they must overcome god himselfe , that prevaile against us , saith augustine : and with the psalmist , d though i walke through the vale of the shadow of death , i will not feare , as long as thou art with me : for , e where can any be , either well without him , or but well with him ? saith bernard . and upon this very ground doth our saviour give assurance to all his , that they shall never any of them miscarry , maugre the might and malice of all their adversaries whatsoever . f my sheepe heare my voice , and i know them , and they follow me ; and i give them life eternall , and they shall never perish , nor shall any be able to pluck them out of my hand : my father , that gave me them , is greater then all ; nor is any able to pluck them out of my fathers hand : i and my father are one . secondly , in that steven here calleth his soule , his spirit ; we might hence observe the dignitie , eminencie , and excellencie of the soule above the body : in that , g whereas the body is but flesh , common to us with the beasts , and h made of the same matter and mould that they were ; the soule , it is a spirit , common to us with the angels , who are also tearmed i spirits . yea , k by it we come as neere to the very essence of god , as the creature is able to approach the creatur . since that , as l god is said to be a spirit , so the soule is likewise tearmed a spirit ; as by steven here , so by m solomon , and n others , elsewhere . that which should teach us , to esteeme higher of our soules , to make more account of them , o to have more regard to them , then the most commonly have . for , p the better part justly challengeth the greater care , saith eucherius . and this should we be the more carefull of ; since that ( as we see in s. stevens example here ) the soule may subsist and doe well without the body , whereas q the body cannot subsist or doe well without the soule . as also it may justly reproove the foolish , sottish , and r preposterous practise of those , whose ſ whole care is for back and belly , ( as we say ) for the body , t with a totall disregard and neglect of their poore forlorne soule : many even of those that professe themselves christians , so living , u as if they knew not that they have a soule ; the most , as not knowing , or at least , x not considering , what a precious piece the soule is . thirdly , in that s. steven here freely rendreth up his soule unto christ ; it may informe and minde us , what the dutie of every christian man is ; to wit , willingly to give up his soule to christ , when he calleth for it . since that , as the heathen man well saith , a it is one part of well dying , to be willing to dye ; and to render up our soules readily , when they are called for away from us . yea , to be readie and willing , with blessed stephen here , not b to give up our soules onely in an ordinarie way , but c to lay downe our lives , as he did here , for christs cause , if god shall please at any time to call us thereunto . and thus in some sort , as bernard also well observeth , every christian man or woman , eve●● member of christ , may be , yea , must be , a martyr . for , d speaking of those words of our saviour to the two brothers , iames and iohn ; e you shall drinke of the cup that i drinke of : ( the f cup of martyrdome he meant ) how was this fulfilled , saith he , g when as s. john never suffered death for christ , but died ( as h the stories of him tell us ) a naturall death ? and hereunto he maketh answer , that there are two sorts of martyrs : there are i martyrs in worke , and martyrs in will ; martyrs in action , and martyrs in affection ; martyrs in dispatch , and martyrs in disposition ; martyrs in execution , and martyrs in resolution . k iames was one of the former , l iohn of the latter . in the former respect the apostle paul was but m once a martyr , in the latter respect , he was oft , yea , n every day a martyr : o i dye ( saith he ) every day ; to wit , p in regard of disposition , propens●tie , q purpose , readinesse , and resolution so to doe ; r expectation of it , and ſ preparation sor it . and the same doth our saviour himselfe require of all those that be his : t if a man ( saith he ) will follow me , he must hate his owne soule ; ( u his owne life , he meaneth ; that is , be as willing to leave it , and part with it , if occasion be , for my cause , as if he were wearie of it , and out of love with it ) or he cannot be my disciple . and againe , x if any man will come after me , he must renounce himselfe , and take up his crosse every day : not , take it up , and not dye upon it ; ( that is the manner and guise of hypocrites , saith y bernard ) but be content and readie every day to be crucified ; to dye dayly for christ , as the apostle did , in will , in disposition , in heart and affection , in readinesse and resolution at least . but the maine point that i shall pitch upon , and desire to insist most upon at present , is this ; to wit , that , it is the usuall practise of gods people , in times of danger or distresse , and especially at point of death , to commit and commend their soules unto god , and unto christ. so david , in time of distresse and danger ; a into thy hands , o lord , i commend my spirit : so our saviour , on the crosse , at point of death , using also the same words ; b father , into thy hands i commend my spirit : so blessed steven here , drawing now his last breath ; lord iesus , receive my spirit . so s. peter exhorteth all good christians to doe : c let them in well-doing commit their soules unto god. and so s. paul professeth that he had done : d i know whom i have trusted ( to wit , with my soule ) and to whom i have committed it . and it is , as a point of great equitie , so a point also of good policie , for gods people so to doe . reasons hereof , the very places before produced afford not a few . for first , he is their father . it is our saviours ground : e father , into thy hands i commend my spirit , and , f father , save me from this houre . and indeed , whom should children in distresse and danger resort and seeke to , for succour , reliefe , support , and protection , but to their parents ? or whom should gods children commend their spirits unto in the like cases , but to him , that is pater spirituum , the g father of their spirits , their spirituall father ? secondly , he is their creator . that is one of s. peters grounds : h let them commit their soules , saith he , to god the creator : it is i he that gave the soule at first ; k from him they have it . and to whom then should it be returned againe , but to him , from whom it came ? l the spirit , saith salomon , returneth to god that gave it . thirdly , he is their redeemer . m thou hast redeemed it , saith david . he hath redeemed it ; he hath payd deere for it , and hath therefore best right to it . n ye are bought with a price , saith the apostle , and ye are not your owne ; o christ hath bought it p with his bloud . and whom is the soule fittest to be recommended unto , but to him who hath most interest in it , having q payd such a price for it ? fourthly , he is their saviour . so r importeth the name iesus , that s. steven here useth : it is his office , his undertaking , ſ to save . and whom then may the soule better for safetie betake it selfe to , then to him , that hath undertaken to save it ? the rather , since that no safetie can be had for it by any other . for t there is no salvation by any name , but by this alone . fifthly , he is able to keepe and to save whatsoever in this kind he shall be entrusted with . u i know , saith the apostle paul , whom i have trusted ; and that he is able to keepe that that i have committed unto him : his soule , he meaneth , which he had trusted him with . it is said of our saviour , that x he sought unto him , that was able to save him . and well and wisely doe the saints and servants of god , in commending their soules to him , that is y able to save ; yea , z alone able to save , both themselves and their soules . sixthly , he is as able , so willing ; as powerfull , so faithfull : that is another of saint peters grounds ; a he is a faithfull creator : ( b not one that createth , and careth not for what he hath created , saith augustine ) and as a faithfull creator , so a faithfull redeemer ; ( c thou hast redeemed it , saith david , o lord god of truth ) one that d never failed any of those , that reposed trust in him . e the lord ( saith the psalmist ) redeemeth the soules of his servants ; and none that trust in him , shall perish . seventhly , it is their onely safetie so to doe . for , as bernard observeth , speaking of those words ; f the spirit of the lord departed from saul , and an evill spirit molested him ; g whom god leaveth , the devill taketh : so here , h whom the lord receiveth not , those satan surprizeth , to their endlesse woe , to their eternall undoing . lastly , it is not in vaine , or without good ground , that they so doe , but with assured hope of good successe ; they have good assurance of faith , that they shall speed in this their suit . i the lord , saith david , will save me from the hand ( k that is , the power ) of hell ; for he will receive my soule . and , l the lord will succour them , and deliver them : he will deliver them from the wicked ; ( from that wicked one , especially ) he will save them , * because they put their trust in him . by all which layd together , it may evidently appeare , that the people of god doe as well wisely and safely , as justly and equally , in the committing and commending of their soules unto god. now this may first serve to controule and condemne the vaine , fond , and inconsiderate course of those of the romish synagogue ; who , in such cases of danger and distresse , or when they lye a dying , are wont , passing by god and christ , ( whom the blessed saints and servants of god , as you have heard , use to seeke unto ) to commend their soules to the creatures , to the virgin mary , to this saint , and that saint ; as if they either were better able to save them then christ , or had better interest in them then he . but thus m they forsake the fountaine of living waters , and betake themselves to broken cisternes , that cannot affoord any ; while they seeke for safetie to those , who n themselves needed a saviour , being o not able to save themselves : and of whom we may well say , as those sometime of saul , p how shall this man save us ? how should such persons be able to save others , as had not might enough to save themselves ? secondly , this may give encouragement and heartiegrace to gods people , against feare of danger and distresse , yea , even of death it selfe ; since that they have a christ , a god , an almightie saviour , a most powerfull protector , whom they may commit and commend their soules unto , in such case , and upon such occasions . indeed , q the rich mans wealth is a strong tower in his conceit , saith solomon . but , alas , this his imaginarie fort faileth then , when he hath most need of it , when it should stand him most in stead . for , r riches availe not in the day of wrath ; and much lesse , at the houre of death . no , then it utterly faileth them , and their hopes fall to ground with it . for , howsoever the wicked ( and so the worldly ) man may ſ nourish hopes , and feed himselfe therewith , while he liveth ; yet t when he dieth , his hopes perish , and die together , with him ; being u founded wholly upon worldly things ; that then , at least , if not before , faile . but what finde we in the same place , and in the very next words ? x the name of the lord is a strong tower indeed ; the righteous have recourse to it , and are saved : and the righteous man therefore y hath hope even in death , because he hath z one even in death to entrust with his soule , and to undertake the charge of it ; who is able , not a to save it onely from death , but b to save it in death ; c to give issues even in death against death ; to make d death no death , but e a remedie against death ; and f an entrance into life . thirdly , it may serve to approve and justisie that received course of christian people , in making of their wills , of bequeathing of their soules to god , and to christ ; it being warranted , as you see , both by the approved practice of the faithfull , recorded in scripture , and by sundry incitements and encouragements therein given thereunto . but , because with many , yea , the most part , this is done g rather of forme and fashion , then of faith ; and that many that so doe , yet miscarry for all that , and are never a whit the neerer for the attaining of their desire in this kind , if they doe at least desire what they would seeme to doe , in it : the last vse shall be for caution unto every one of us , to admonish us , so to carry things while we live , that we may doe so with assured hope of good successe , when we die . and here i instantly and earnestly ( for it is a matter of no small moment , but as much as your soule is worth ) beseech every one of you , for gods sake , for christs sake , for your owne soules sake , seriously to consider before-hand with your selves , what it is that you intend to doe in this kind , and how likely you are to speed in what you shall doe . when therefore thou goest about the making of thy will , either in time of health , ( and that is indeed the most seasonable time for it ) or on thy sick-bed , if thou hast not done it before ; what will be the first thing that thou intendest to dispose of ? i suppose , it will be thy soule ; which is thy r preciousest jewell , whether thou esteeme it so , or no. and whom intendest thou to bequeath it unto ? i presume , unto god thy maker , unto christ thy saviour , whom thou professest to count thy dearest friend . yea , but here two questions may be mooved , and a two-fold doubt made : the one , whether thou hast power to dispose of it , or no ? the other , whether he will be willing to accept of it , or no ? first , i say , whether it be in thy power to dispose of it ? and for the clearing of this , give me leave to demand one or two things of thee . first , art thou a free-man ? for they are received rules in the civill law : ſ a slave , or a vassall , can make no will ; for t such an one is not his owne , but his lords ; and , u whatsoever he acquireth , it accrueth to his lord : nor can he therefore dispose of ought , because x he hath nought . for , how can he have ought as his owne , who himselfe is not his owne , but anothers ? if therefore thou beest not a freeman , but y a slave to sinne , z a vassall to satan , what power canst thou have to dispose of thy soule , or to bequeath it unto christ ? yea , but how may i know , whether i be so , or no ? the apostle telleth thee : a doe you not know , saith he , that whomsoever you obey , his servants you are , whom you doe obey ? our saviour telleth thee , who is b truth it selfe , and he bindeth it , for the more certaintie , with a double amen , and biddeth thee take it upon his word : c verily , verily , i say unto you ; d whosoever practiseth sinne , is a servant , or a slave to sinne . as long therefore as thou continuest in the practice of sinne , so long art thou no free-man , but a slave and vassall unto sinne , and hast no power to dispose of ought . wouldest thou then be free , and have power to dispose of thy soule , when thou art making of thy will ? take heed how thou e livest in any knowne sinne : for in so doing , thou shalt f enthrall thy selfe unto it , thou shalt make thy selfe a slave and a vassall to it , and to satan by it ; and so being , thou shalt have no more power to dispose of thy soule , then any slave or vassall hath to dispose of himselfe . secondly , hast thou not made sale of thy soule alreadie ? for can a man by will demise , devise , or dispose of that , that he hath mortgaged , yea , that he hath made sale of before ? * no , undoubtedly . no more hast thou power to dispose of thy soule , if thou have sold it to sinne , if thou hast made it over to satan before . thou wilt say to me , it may be , how may that be done ? or how should that be ? of witches it is true , that have dealings with the devil , it is a common saying , that they sell their soules to the devil : but for my part , i never had any dealing with him , nor intend by gods grace and helpe ever to have . yea , but many others as well as witches , sell their soules to the devill ; and those , such as never had any such dealing with him , as they have . it is said of ahab , among others , that g he sold himselfe to sinne . conceive it thus . they have a proverb in spaine of a woman , as ludovicus vives telleth us ; h if she give a gift , she giveth her selfe ; if she take a gift , she selleth her selfe . wee may thus apply it to our present purpose : i if a man give ought to god , he must give himselfe with it ; ( for k god regardeth the giver , not the gift ) if he receive ought from satan , he selleth himselfe for it . for example : when l the devill tendred to our saviour the whole world , and the glory of it , if he would fall downe and worship him ; had our saviour condescended to that his motion , and accepted of that his offer , he had sold himselfe to him for it . in like manner , when matter of pleasure is tendred to thee , that may be compassed by some sinfull or uncleane act , matter of profit and gaine , that may be attained by some indirect course , m by deceit , lying , perjurie , oppression , extortion , and the like : that pleasure , that profit , if upon such tearmes thou ad●● and accept of it , thou receivest from satan , thou sellest thy soule away for it . and here , i beseech you , n let me plead to you , and o prevaile with you , in the behalfe of your soules ; making that suit , in effect , to you for your soules , that david did sometime to saul ( though in another kind ) for his soule : p as thy soule , faith he , hath beene precious in my sight , so let my soule be precious in thy sight . so say i to you : as your soules have beene precious in gods sight , in christs sight ; in gods sight , that q sent his sonne to save them ; in christs sight , that r shed his bloud to redeeme them : so let them be precious in your owne eyes . be not so unthankfull to god , so ungratefull to christ , so injurious to thy selfe , as ſ to barter away thy soule for such toyes and trifles , eyther of momentanie pleasure , or of transitorie pelfe , as the flesh , or the world , satans brokers , and he by them , shall tender unto thee , to deceive thee , and bereave thee of t so precious a piece . consider seriously with thy selfe now before-hand , what a dis-heartening it will be to thee , when thou shalt lye on thy death-bed , to remember how oft thou hast , at such and such times , upon such and such occasions , made sale to satan of thy soule , which thou shalt desire then to dispose of otherwise . and when any such offer therefore shall be made unto thee , call to mind againe what now is told thee , and say to thy selfe ; oh , with what heart or hope may i hereafter be●●eath my soule unto god , if i sell it now away to satan ? ●●nd , as thou wouldest be free , to dispose of thy soule , when thou diest , take heed of bartering it away , while thou livest . imitate thy saviour ; refuse the whole world offred thee , in way of exchange for it : it is a more precious piece then the whole world besides , and u all the wealth of it to boot : more precious at least ought it to be unto thee , because x the whole world , if thou hadst it , cannot availe thee , without it ; y nor will be accepted in exchange for the redeeming of it , once lost , and the regaining of it againe . for , z what shall it avail● a man , saith our saviour , to win the whole world , if he lose his owne soule ? or what shall he give in exchange for his soule ? and so much for the first question to be considered of , whether thou hast power , or no , to dispose of thy soule ? the second question , that may be mooved , and doubt , that may be made , is , whether god will be wiling to accept of it , or no. for a a legacie , though bequeathed and given never so solemnly , yet may be refused : b none are bound to accept of legacies , unlesse themselves will ; and such as are matters of meere charge , we see many times refused . it is a question therefore not unworthy the discussing , to examine , whether god will be willing to accept of it , or no. for many commend their soules to him , and yet he accepteth not of them ; many bequeath them to god , and yet the devil surprizeth them , and carrieth them away with him to hell , for all that . and it is a point not unworthy our due and serious consideration , to understand , and be well and truly informed , what course we may take , to be assured of this , that god will be willing to receive and accept of our soules , when they shall be in such manner commended unto him : the rather , for that our eternall safetie and welfare dependeth mainely , yea , wholly hereupon . wouldest thou know then , how this so weightie a worke may be effected ? take it briefely in these few directions . first , addict thy selfe to the service of god , while thou livest , if thou wouldest have god to take charge of thy soule , when thou diest . for , c the lord , saith david , redeemeth the soules of his servants : and , d lord , save thy servant , that putteth his trust in thee . thou must be , with david , a servant of god , while thou livest , if thou desirest that god should take thy soule into his custodie , when thou diest . otherwise , if neglecting and rejecting the service of god now , thou shalt abandon thy selfe to the service of sinne and satan , to thy worldly courses , to thy fleshly lusts ; it shall be a just thing with god , when thou commest on thy death-bed , to commend thy soule unto him for safegard , in that dreadfull and e decretorie houre , to turne thee over to them , whom thou hast served and followed in thy life ; as f he doth the idolatrous iewes in scripture . secondly , reconcile thy selfe to him , while thou livest , if thou desirest to commend thy soule to him , when thou diest . for what hope can a man have , if he shall commend his children , his charge , on his death-bed , to one , whom he hath beene at enmitie with all his life long , that he will be content to accept of such a legacie as that ? as eliphaz therefore adviseth thee , g acquaint thy selfe with god , and make thy peace with him ; make a friend of him now , that thou mayest find a friend of him then . but that thou canst not , unlesse thou commest out of thy sinnes : for , h sinners and gods enemies are , in effect , one and the same . thou must therefore break off thy league with sinne and satan , ere thou canst enter into league of amitie with god ; i thou must fall out with them , ere thou canst fall in with him . thirdly , receive his word now , if thou wouldest have him to receive thy soule then . that is eliphaz his advice also . k receive , i pray thee , the law of his mouth ; and lay up his words in thine heart : not in thine head onely , but in thine l heart . heare him now , that he may heare thee then . as iotham to the sichemites ; m hearken to me , that god may hearken unto you ; so say i to you , that now heare me : n hearken ye , not to me , but to god , that god may hearken unto you : o hearken to god , now calling upon you , for obedience , for repentance , for reformation and amendment of life , for charitable and conscionable dealing , for just and upright cariage , for circumspect and * accurate walking before him ; if you would have god hereafter to hearken unto you , calling upon him , and crying unto him , for the safegarding of your soules . otherwise , if you will imitate p the deafe adder , that stoppeth his care against the charmer , that he may not heare the charme ; heare what solomon telleth you before-hand , and you will one day find too true , to your woe : q he that turneth his eare from hearing gods law , and god speaking to him in it , his very prayer shall be abominable : yea , what god himselfe fore-telleth thee ; and as he fore-telleth thee , thou mayest be sure it will be with thee : r because i called , and you refused ; i stretched out my hand , and you did not regard it ; you set at nought all my counsell , and would none of my reproofe : therefore will i also laugh at you , in your calamitie ; and mock you , when your feare surprizeth you ; when terror shall seize upon you , as a violent storme , and destruction as a whirlemind : then shall you call upon me , but i will not heare you ; ſ crie you never so long , and never so loud . and surely , as salvian well saith ; t what can be more just ? what can be more equall ? we regard not god , and god regardeth not us ; we refuse to heare him , and he refuseth to heare us : if u because we stop our eares against gods voice now , god stop his eares likewise against our suites then . lastly , cleanse thy soule : and having so done , be carefull to keepe it cleane , that it may be a fit gift to bequeath unto god : a come forth , saith god , from among them , and separate your selves , and touch no uncleane thing ; and i will receive you . how is that done ? may some say . reade but a verse or two further , and there thou shalt find it : b let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse both of flesh and spirit , and finish our sanctification in the feare of god : for , c every one , saith saint iohn , that hath this hope , doth purifie himselfe , as he is pure . and , i beseech you , consider this seriously with your selves . is there any man so vile , and void of shame , as that he dare presume solemnly to bequeath d to some honourable person , some greasie dish-clout , or some durtie shoo-clout , or some filthie , menstruous , materie ragge ? or so sottish , and void of common sense , as to imagine once , that such a person as he is would accept of such a gift ? yet e is not any such thing so vile and abominable in mans eye , but a sinful soule is much more vile and f abominable in gods sight . and g dare any then presume to tender such a present unto god ? or can he conceive the least hope , that god should accept of it ? what should god doe with a foule , a filthie , a prophane , an impure a sottish , a beastly , a brutish , a swinish soule ? is suc● a soule fit to be and abide with god in heaven , where i● h nothing but holinesse , where i no uncleane thing ca● enter ? doest thou intend then to bequeath thy soule unt● god ? k purge it and cleanse it , that it may be a fit gif● for him , who is l holinesse it selfe ; and having so done m be carefull to keepe it so . hadst thou some one choise jewel , that thou purposedst at thy decease , to leave to some speciall friend of thine , how chari● wouldest thou be of it ? how carefull to keepe it faire and cleane , when thou shouldest at some time , as occasion is , weare it and make use of it ? and , if it should , against thy will , and beside thy purpose , upon such occasion , by some occurrent or over-sight , take any soile , how diligent to wipe it , or burnish it , to get the soile off it , and to reduce it to its former lustre againe ? have the like care for thy soule , that precious piece , that thou purposest at thy decease to commend to thy god , to thy christ ; n make it cleane , and o keepe it cleane . and because that , by dayly occasions , while p thou livest here in the flesh , and q conversest in this r wicked world , ſ it will be gathering of soile , be thou never so carefull ; be ever and anon washing it with the teares of renewed repentance ; be ever and anon scouring it , and fetching off the soile that it so gathereth , by serious contrition and heartie remorse ; that , when the time shall come , which t thou knowest not how soone or sodainely may come , it may be u presented pure and spotlesse to him , whom thou intendest it now unto . to close up all in few words . wouldst thou resigne and give up thy soule unto god , at thy going out of the world , with good assurance of gracious acceptance with him ? then be thou now carefull , while thou livest here in the world , to addict thy selfe to the service of god , to reconcile thy selfe unto him by unfained repentance , to yeeld constant obedience to his knowne word and will in all things , to cleanse thy soule from all sinfull filth ; and having so done , to keepe it in an holy and pure plight . thus if thou shalt doe , assured thou mayest be , that thou shalt not be so forward to recommend thy soule to god , when thou diest , but * god will be as readie and forward to receive it , and accept of it , when it shall be by thee so recommended unto him . yea , suppose thou shouldest be taken so sodainely , that thou shouldest not have time and space in solemne sort to commend thy soule to god , yet shalt thou find him as readie and forward to accept it , and to take charge of it , as thou wouldest have beene to request so much of him , hadst thou had time , and abilitie , and opportunitie so to doe . and thus much for my text ; though not for the time. it remaineth , as is usuall , and not unusefull , if it be not abused , in these cases , and upon these occasions , to speake something concerning our right deare & deservedly beloved christian sister , m ●is i●ice featly , whose remaines we now performe this last office unto , to the praise and commendation of gods worke and grace in her , and the incitement of others to the imitation of her . and i could wish , that some other , better able then my selfe , were to performe this office ; or that mine owne abilities were better , for the performance of it according to her due desert . but it was her desire , which i might not say nay to ; and i might peradventure , in some respects , be deemed fitter for it then many others , though of better abilities then my selfe . what i shall speake of her , i shall speake the more freely and boldly , because i shall speake most out of mine owne observation ; having knowne her a long time in severall estates , a wife , and a widow , againe and againe , in the prime of her yeeres , in her decaying dayes , and in her last concluding times ; and having had speciall occasion to take notice of her and her carriage in each . it had pleased god to adorne her with outward endowments , such as are usually of a no small esteeme in the world , in that sex especially ; i meane , with comelinesse of person , and amiablenesse of countenance , above and beyond many , if not the most , of her sex. and , howsoever the heathen man hath well observed , and by experience over-common too oft it appeareth , that b beautie is a shrewd bait , and hath beene the c bane of not a few ; yet was it farre otherwise with this our sister : she passed the flower of her youth , d without fault or fable , as he speaketh , free from any the least aspersion or e imputation in that kind . it is true indeed that solomons mother saith , that f beautie alone is but vaine , and favour is oft g full of deceit . yea , it is true that another saith , that h beautie without vertue is no grace , but a disgrace to those that so have it ; a meanes , as i to draw more eyes after them , so k to expose them to the more disgrace & reproach , while their defects , by occasion thereof , are more eyed . but it is no lesse true on the other side , that the poet hath , and is generally acknowledged ; that , l where vertue and beautie doe concurre , they give much luster mutually either to other . and so was it with her ; her inside was sutable to her outside , or superiour rather unto it : god had dealt largely and liberally with her , in regard of either , and in that part especially , that is the more to be regarded . he had endowed her with a greater measure then ordinarie , in that sex especially , of wisdome , of discretion , of understanding , of knowledge how to behave her selfe so , as her behaviour should be , not inoffensive onely , but very gratefull and acceptable to those , that had either interest in her , or occasion to converse with her . and what god in this kind had bestowed on her , she was carefull accordingly to imploy and improve . for , for her cariage and courses , she was such an one as solomons mother describeth m in the last of the proverbs , as the apostle paul requireth n in the second to titus ; a constant o keeper at home ; nor idle in the house , but a diligent and industrious , a prudent and provident , directer and disposer of domestick affaires ; housewifely , without harshnesse or hastinesse ; quiet and peaceable , without sluggishnesse or sheepishnesse ; grave , without austeritie ; cheerefull , without levitie ; modest , without statelinesse ; kind and courteous , without either incivilitie on the one side or loose daliance on the other . in generall , such was her sweet , discreet , and well-tempered demeanure , as gave abundance of satisfaction and contentment , not to them alone , that it pleased god successively to joyne her unto , but to their friends , and those that had interest in them ; yea , to all , familiars or strangers , of what state and degree soever , that had occasion to repaire to them , and to be entertained with them . issue indeed she had none : it seemed good to god , to denie her that blessing . but to the children of some of them , that god had joyned her unto , she was no step-mother , but as carefull of procuring their good , and as forward to performe any good office for them , as if she had beene a naturall mother unto them : that , which some of them , were they surviving , i know , would freely testifie ; and those of them that doe survive , if they be not extremely unthankfull , cannot but right willingly acknowledge . and some of her first husbands kindred , beside others not a few , she brought up as carefully , as if they had beene her owne children . in a word , she was such an one , as p solomon could hardly sind one of a thousand ; a compleat woman , a compleat wife ; defective in nothing , that might be required in either . but to rise a step higher . morall vertue indeed , without grace , is , as ierome , after irenaeus and tertullian , telleth us , but q a glassie bugle , but a counterfeit pearle ; and all the acts thereof , unlesse they be sanctified , are but r glittering slips , as augustine speaketh . and yet let me tell you by the way , that even these helpe much to ſ adorne grace , where it is ; and that for want of these , to the no small t disgrace of grace , even such married persons as professe and pretend much grace , yet live many times lesse quietly , contentedly , and comfortably together , then many other meere naturall ones doe . but these things , in this our sister were seasoned with grace . she was a woman , as of a vertuous , so of a gracious disposition : and this her gracious disposition was manifested in two things especially , her pietie , and her charitie . to begin with the latter . for her charitie , a it began indeed at home ; ( both b reason and religion require it should so doe ) at her kindred and allies , i meane ; of whom , not a few ( as i touched in part before ) were relieved and supported by her ; there seldome or never wanting some or other of them , that were either educated with her , or maintained neere to her . but neither did her charitie stay and stint it selfe there , with them that were with her , as at the well-head ; but the streames of it issued out & dispersed themselves abroad to poore neighbours of all sorts , on every side of her . divers pensioners she had , that in a constant course received the fruits of her bountie ; but no other were excluded from tasting thereof , and that liberally and largely , when occasion so required . for she was ( which i take to be c two principall properties of charitie ) as very d pitiefull and prone to commiserate the wants and necessities of others ; so no lesse e bountifull and forward to communicate thereunto , as well by personall aides , as by free and liberall supplyes . and whereas she had pretie skill in matter of physick and chirurgerie , ( as indeed what was she not skilfull in ? ) in this kind she was exceeding helpfull , by waters and medicines , as well as advice , to such poore soules as were not able to entertaine physician , or to goe to the cost of procuring physick ; being not onely as physician , but as apothecarie also to them . in regard of which her charitable both disposition and practise , as i doubt not , but that she both had the prayers of the poore , that f blessed god for her , while she lived , and hath now the g reward of it from him and with him in heaven ; so i assure my selfe , that those poore soules in those parts doe find no small want of her , now she is gone , and will ●eele it dayly more and more . for her pietie , it appeared in her devotions , publike and private : publike , in her constant repaire to gods house , and the publike worship and solemne service there celebrated , when and while health & strength permitted . private , ( and howsoever there is a h promise of a more ample blessing upon the publike meanes ; yet peoples private devotions , i wherein fewest eyes are upon them , and which none are conscious unto but god and their owne soules , are a k surer seale and evidence of their , inceritie : l such are persons indeed , as in private they are ) as by her constant standing times of prayer , foure severall times each weeke-day , and six on the lords day : a course , which ( as i am informed ) she had constantly for many yeeres continued : so by her diligent reading , in the first place , of gods oracles , having within some terme of yeeres next before her decease , read the whole new testament twelve times over ; and that , not slightly and super●icially , but so , as m to observe somewhat that might be usefull unto her , either out of or upon every chapter she read ; that which by a multitude of notes left behind her in writing , may evidently appeare : as also by her frequent perusall , in the next place , of the pious workes of religious writers , that might further and forward her in the good wayes of god. among which , she professed her selfe to be much affected with some , because they seemed to her to write , as she said , not to shew their learning , but out of their owne sense and feeling ; of that , no doubt , that she felt also together with them , and which caused her therefore the rather so much to affect them . yea , one good proofe of her pietie may be this : that for her better advancement and improvement therein , in her last choice , among many matches moved to her , ( as one of her parts & meanes could not want motions ) yea , and some of them not lightly to have beene disregarded ; yet passing by all other , she pitched upon one , of whom , in regard of his presence , i will not say what i might ; onely this i will say , one that she justly deemed might be a prime instrument of procuring and promoting her spirituall progresse in the work & course of grace . and that this was her maine end and aime in that her choice , she manifested by a speech ( which i may not let passe ) uttered by her to him at the time of her enter-marriage with him , ( at what time she stated him for his life in the house she lived in ; that which his pastorall charge there afforded him not ) and remembred againe by her in the time of her late sicknesse ; i settle thee here for the earth , that thou mayest settle me for heaven . and as this was her maine end therein , so her desire and endevour was to make use of it accordingly , ( for she was not one of solomons fooles ) that o have a price in their hands to get wisedome with , but have no heart or minde , wit or will , to make that use of it . ) to which purpose , i remember , that repairing sometime to visit them , ( that which mine engagements to either of them required , and had beene more frequent , but that distance of place , necessary employments , & crasinesse of body restrained it ) when he and my selfe were in her presence talking together , of the occurrents of the time , and some points of schoole-learning , somewhat out of her element , and above her spheare , she strooke in with us , and requested us to discourse rather of somewhat , that she might also receive some benefit by , that might be usefull as well to her as to us . but i forget my selfe : the time spendeth , and my strength and speech with it ; and i must therefore of necessitie omit many things , that might else have well beene mentioned . i draw toward an end , together with her end . and the p end indeed is that , that is all in all . yea , the maine end of a mans whole life , should be to make a good end of his life . ( q we should be all our life long a learning to dye , ●aith seneca . ) r it is perseverance alone , saith bernard , that carr●eth away the crowne . and , ſ the latter part of a mans life carryeth it away from the former , saith another , if the latter be not answerable to the former . but it was not so with her . the close of her life was sutable to its fore-passed tenor , in renewed acts of pietie and charitie enter-woven together the one with the other . for , beside other legacies , to the value of three hundred and fortie pounds , and upwards , by the free consent of her worthy consort , disposed to pious and charitable uses ; she hath given to this parish , wherein she drew her first breath , the summe of foure pounds per annum for ever ; partly , for a sermon , a worke of pietie ; and partly , for the reliefe of the poore , an office of charitie . and to the church of lambeth , in which parish she spent the greatest part of her life , and gave up her last breath , she hath bequeathed a faire communion cup , to be raysed from the sale of some of her principall iewels ; that so those ornaments ( i give it you in her owne words ) that had adorned her , while she lived , might adorne the church of god , when she was dead . in her last and fatall sicknesse , her cariage was such , that her ●ietie and her patience might have seemed to contend for the superioritie , but that they were so sweetly combined together , that the one was expressed and appeared in the other . nor is it to be marvelled , if it were so with her ; for she freely professed to some of those that resorted to her , that she had alwayes beene carefull to lay up in store for the great day of her dissolution . patience she still prayed for , frequently using that sweet and pious saying of s. augustine ; t lord , give what thou commandest , and command what thou pleasesl . and patience she practised . for it is credibly reported by those that were most and neerest about her , that albeit her paines and torments were very great and grievous , yet no one idle word , or speech savouring of impatience , was ever heard to fall from her . and , when those that attended her , offred sometime to have removed her for her ease , ( and paine , we know , maketh persons usually desirous of oft removall ) she refused it , saying , that she should shortly be removed ; to a better place and state , she meant . the evening before her departure , she requested prayer ( of which alwayes she was much desirous ) to be continued by her , untill two of the clock ; about which time , ( which was not before understood what she meant ) as if it had beene some way revealed unto her , her senses so failed , as she could not longer be apprehensive of ought done about her . her last words were , not much unlike that of s. stevens here ; sweet iesus , helpe me : and , with the spouse in the apocalypse ; u come , lord iesus , even now . with which words her speech failing , yet ceased she not , so long as any use of sense continued , to lift up incessantly both hands , while abilitie so to doe lasted ; and the one of them still , when the other of them failed ; thereby giving notice of her heart inwardly lift up unto him , who by his gracious hand at length tooke her hence , and received her to himselfe . with whom leaving her at peace and rest , in joy and blisse , let us likewise lift up our hearts and hands to him ; humbly beseeching him , that he will be pleased to make the things now spoken usefull unto us , and to prepare and sit us for the like end . amen , and amen . finis . decemb. 10. 1637. perlegi concionem hanc funebrem cui titulus est [ s. stevens last will ] eámque typis mandari permitto . sa . baker . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01547-e130 * quod est potentissimum imperandi genus ; rogabat , qui jubere poterat , auson . idyl . 13. * sive tegenda habeas , sive legenda putes , auson . ad drepan . notes for div a01547-e510 summe of the text. parts 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . point 1. reason 1. b iohn 1. 1. c psal . 45. 6. d hebr. 1. 8. e psal . 110. 1. f matth. 22. 14. g hebr. 1. 1● . h deut. 6. 4. iohn 17. 3. i ●●r . 23. 6. & 33. 16. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 iohn 5. 20. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . tit. 2. 13. m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ esai . 9. 6. n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 9. 5. reason 2. o iohn 1. 3. col. 1. 16. p hebr. 1. 3. col. 1. 17. q 1 cor. 6. 11. r 1 thess . 1. 10. reason 3. ſ eph. 1. 1● , 13. 2 tim. 1. 12. t iohn 14. 1. u ierem. 17. 6 , 7. x psal . 2. 12. reason 4. y psal . 97. 7. z heb. 1. 6. & sic etiam lxx . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * act. 9. 14. 1 cor. 1. 2 ▪ vse 1. a matth. 28 , 20. b rom. 8. 31. c n●mo nos laesevit , nisi d●ū prius vicerit . august . de ●●rb . apost . 16. & inde b●da in rom. 8. d psal . 23. 4. e vbi enim aut ●ecum ma●e , aut sine t● 〈◊〉 poterit esse ? bern. in advent . 1. f ioh. 10. 27. 30. ●●●nt 2. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . galen . pro●●eptic . ● . 7. nostra omnis vis in animo & corpore sita est : alterum nobis cum d●●s , alterum cum belluis commune est . s●●us● . ca●ili● . h genes . 2. 7 , 19. i hebr. 1. 14. k quid ●l●ud voces ani●●● , quam deum quendam in humano corpor● hospitem ? senec. epist ▪ 31. divin● particulam a●●ae , horat. serm . l. 2. s●● . 2. l iohn 4. 24. m eccles . 12. 7. n psal . 32. 2. & ●42 . 3. ● cor. 2. 11 ▪ hebr. 12. ●3 . vse 1. o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . galen . ibid. p meritò pos●it studia majora pars melior , eucher . ep . ad valer . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , plut. de tranquill . itaque , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , chrysosttem . 8. ●●a● . ●7 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , democrit . apud stob. c. ● . q omne enim dignius trabit minus dignum , reg. iur. vse 2. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , plato in clitoph. & apud stob. c. 4. ſ eccles . 6. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . euseb . apud stob. c. 53. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato polit. l. 3. cultus magna cura tibi , magna virtutis i●curia . cato censor . apud ammian . l. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chrysost in matth. orat. 49. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de athletis galen . protrep● . c. 9 & de aliis ibid. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ut qui nec animam habere se sen●●a● . de dicaearcbo , cicer. tusc . l 1. x tal● ist● stupor me●s , — ipse quis sit , utrum sit , an non sit , hoc quoque n●scit , ca●ull . epigr. 17. p●● a b●nè mori ●●● lib●nter mori , scnec . epist . 61. b 1 pet. 4. 19. c act. 21. 13. d bern. de temp . serm . 23. & greg. in evang. hom . 35. e matth. 20. 23. f matth. 26. 39 , 42. john 18. 11. g cum corpore● passione non sit dominum s●cutus , bern. ibid. h euseb . hist . eccles . l. 3. c. 25. i martyres opere , & martyres ●ol●●●ate ; act● & assectu . k act. 12. 2. l non per martyrium vitam sinivi● , & martyr tamen e●●itit ; sed mente , non ca●e , greg. spiritu non corpore ▪ b●rn . m 2 tim. 4. 6. n 1 cor. 15. 31. o 2 cor. 4. ●1 . p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ch●●s . in psal . 95. & ad . ●ud . l. 5. q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ●sidor . fel. l. 3. ●p . 399. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , idem ibid. t luk. 16. 26. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , anima , pro vitâ , ut matth. 6. 25. x luk. 9 ▪ 23. y ferre crucem & non mori , bypocri●●rum est , bern. de temp . 56. point 4. a psal . 31. 5. b luk. 23. 46. c 1 pet. 4. ●● . d 2 tim. 1. 12. reason 1. e luk. 23. 46. f iohn 12. 27. g pater spirituū . hebr. 12. 9. reason 2. h 1 pet. 4. 19. i genes . 2. 7 k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an●onin . l. 12. §. 26 sedib● aethe●iis spiritus ille venit , ovid. art . l. 3. l eccles . 12. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , epicharmus apud p●●t . ad apoll m psalm . 31. 5. n 1 cor. 6. 20. o act. 20. 28. p apoc. 5. 9. reason 3. q ●●●● . 1. 18 , 19. r matth. 1. 21. reason 4. ſ matth. 18. 11. t act. 4. 12. reason 5. u 2 tim. 1. 12. x hebr. 5. 7. y esai . 63. 1. z esai . 43. 11. reason 6. a 1 pet. 4. 19. b non creat , & creata non curat . august . de verb. dom. 10. c psal . 31. 5. d psal . 9. 10. e psal . 34. 22. reason 7. f 1 sam. 16. 14. g quem dominus deserit , diab●lꝰ suscipit . bern. de ord . vit . h quem dominus ●●● recipit , diabolus a●ripit . reason 8. i psal . 49. 15. k a man● , i. à potestate , ut psal . 22. 20. l psal . 37. 40. * salvabit c●s . quare ? qu●b●s meritis ? a●di quod ▪ 〈◊〉 . quia 〈◊〉 it in co d●lcis ca ●sa , a●●amc● 〈◊〉 ▪ ●imirum hoc ●otū est hominis meritum , si totam sp● suam sonat in ●o , qui ●ot● homin●m salv● 〈◊〉 . bern. in ps . qui habitat . conc . 9. & 15. vse 1. m ierem. 2. 13. n luk. 1. 42. phil. ● . ●0 . o psal . 22. 29. p 1 sam. 10. 27. vse 2. q prov. 18. 11. r prov. 11. 4. ezck. 7. 19. ſ eccles . 9. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theocr. batt● . dum spirat , sperat . t pro. 11. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. cum expirat , ex●●es sit . u psal . 17. 14. x prov. 18. 10. y prov. 14. 32. etiam cum expirat , sperat . z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . socrates apud platon . apol●g iamblych . de pyth●g . l. 2. epictet . dissert . l 3. c. 26. theodor●t . therap . l. 6 ● ra compe●●●ssimo ha●eatur , quod dicturus sum . nec cuiquam bono quicquam mali eveni●e potest , nec vi●● nec ●●ortuo : nec unquam res ejus à deo immortali neg●●gentur . cicer. tusc . l. 1. a psal . 3● . 1● b psal . 19 15 c psal . 68. 20. d iohn 11. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chrysost . in psal . 48. e 2 cor. 5 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 antiphan . f per mortem ad vitam reditus est . ambr de bon . mort. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plut. de vit . epicur . dies mortis , aeterni na●alis est . senec. epist . 102. vse 3. g usu 〈◊〉 , quam 〈◊〉 quo mod● bern. usu magi● , quam sensu . vse 4. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. alcest . & greg. naz. invect . 1. doubts 2. 1. 2. doubt 1. demand 1. ſ servus non potest condere testamentum . t servus est in peculio & cōmercio domini sui , ex exod. 21. 21. u servus qui●quid acquirit , domino acquirit . x servus nihil habet proprium . y 2 pet. 2. 19. z eph. 2. 2. question . a rom. 6. 16. answer . b iohn 14. 6. c iohn ● . 34. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sicut 1 ioan. 3. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . & , artem puder● proloqui , quam ●actit●s . e rom. 6. 2. f 2 pet. 2. 19. demand 2. * nemo relinquit , quod non babet . baldus . nemo potest legare , quod suum jam non est . cod. de legat . l. 6. tit . 37. l. 15. question . answer . g 1 king. 21. 25. h munere dato , mulier se donat ; accepto , se vendil , ludov. vives instruct . mulier . christ . l. 1. c. 1● . i 2 cor. 8. 5. k genes . 4. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , basil . sel. orat . 3. in omnipotentis dei judicio , non quid datur , sed à quo datur , aspicitur . non offerens ● muneribus , sed munera ab osserente placuerunt . greg. in registr . l. 7. epist . 126. omne quod deo datur , ex dantis mente penlatar . ex dantis enim corde id quod datur accipitur , itaque non abel ex muneribus , sed ex abile munera oblata placuerunt . prius namque legitur dominus ad eum respexisse qui dabat , quam ad illa quae dabat . idem moral . l. 22. c. 12. l matth. 4. 9. m a diabolo datur , quod ●raud●bas acqu●ritur . n pro anim● vestrâ legatione apud vos sungimur . eucher . ad valer. o orator ad vos venio : smite exorator ut sum . terent. hecyr. p 1 sam. 24. 24. q iohn 3. 16. rom 10. 32. r act 20. 28. 1 pet. ● . 19 , 20. quam cha●as●●● christo animatua , pro quâ posuit animam suam ? iohn 10. 15. ſ cave , ne sorte dumacquiris pecuniam , perdas animam : nemo enim habet injustum luerum siae justo damno , august . de temp . 215. t vsque adeo charu● est hic mundus hominibus , ut vi●uerint ipsi sibi ? idem epist . 162. esto tu charior tibi quam tua , id quod es , quam id quod habes . eucher . ad valer. u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato apud plut. de util . ex immic . & adv . colo● . x non potest ulla compendri causa cōsistere , ●i co●stetanima intervenire dispendium ? ubi salutis damnum , illic utique jam lu●rum nullum est . quo enim lu●rum capiatur , nisi capiendi sede●inconcussa servetur ? eucher . ad valer. quid tibi proderit , si omnem mundum , aut ipse babeas , ●ut tuis relinquas , si salutis atque animae detriment● patiaris . damno enim ammae totū penitus secū auserunt : nec quicquā homo omnino habere poterit , qui seipsum damno animae percuntis ami●●● . salv. de avarit . l. 3. si enim puer infans , cum st dominus omnium quae jur● sunt ejus , nihil possidet mente sopita , quonam tandem modo quisquam quicquam mente possidebit amissâ ▪ aug. de trin ▪ l. 14. c. 24. y psal . 49. 7 , 8. 1 pet. 1. 18. z matth. 16. 26. doubt 2. a legato renunciari potest , a legatariis & fideicommissariis legatum relinqui potest . b legatum accipere nemo no●em cogitur . question . answer . direction 1. c psal . 34. 22. d psal . 86. 2. e heram illam decretoriam prospice , sene● . epist . 102. quâ scil . de ●tern● salute decernitur . f iudg. 10. 14. ierem. 2. 28. direction 2. g iob 22. 22. h peccatores & dei hostes , voces convertibiles . psol . 37. 20. rom. 6. 8 , 10. i nisi discordav●i● cū diabolo , pacem non habebis cum deo , august . nom . quest . n. test . 92. bellum ad diabolli , pacem patrat ad deum , orig. in rom. 5. direction 3. k iob 22. 22. l 1 sal . 37. 31. & 40. 8. v● figam orationem tuam in auribus meis ? fige in corde tuo legem meam , aug in psal . 85. m iudg. 9. 7. n qui audiri vult à deo , prius audiat deum , aug. hom . 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , debilies apud homer , i●ad . ● . o ne avertas aurem ●uam ● mondatis domini , ne avertat & ipe suam à pr●cibus tuis , lern. de temp . 29. quare i● non percipts auribus tuis●ver . ba ejus , ● quo vis percipi lachrymatuas ? august . de temp . 245. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , eph. 5. 15. p psal . 58. 4 , 5. vide august . inn. alios ibi . q prov. 28. 9. ejus enim deus precem i● tribulatione cōtemnit , qui legem ipsius in tranquill ta●e contempsit , greg. moral . l. 5. c. 30. r prov. 1. 24. 28. ſ esay 1. 15. t quid justius ? quid aequius ? non respeximus , non respicimur ; non audivimus , non audimur , salv. de provid . l. 3. u zach. 7. 11. 13. direction 4. a 2 cor. 6. 12. question . answer . b 2 cor. 7. 1. c 1 iohn 3. 3. d malach. 1. 8. e peccante nil est tetrius , nil tam leprosum aut putridum : cruda est cicatri● criminum ; olctque ut antrum tartari , prudent . de coron . 2. f psal . 11. 5. esay ●4 . 6. g indignum est dare deo , quod homo quilibet dedignetur . hieron . in mal. 1. h 2 pet. 3. 13. i apoc. 21. 27. k 2 tim. 2. 21 , 22. l 1 sam. 2. 2. m iam. 1. 27. n iam. 4. 8. ierem. 4. 14. o 1 tim. 5. 22. 1 iohn 5. 18. p 2 cor. 10. 3. q ioh. 17. 11 , 15. r galat. 1. 4. 1 iohn 5. 19. ſ nemo non aliquod nobis vititim , aut commendat , aut imprimit , aut nescientibu● allinit , sen. epist . 7. affricant nobis rubiginem suam . ibid. virus suum in vicinos transferunt . idem de irâ , l. 3. c. 8. t eccles . 9. 12. u 1 thess 5. 23. 2 pet. 3. 14. conclusion , with recapitulation . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , plato polit. l. 10. notes for div a01547-e11900 a iob. 42. 15. esther 2. 3. psal . 144. 12. itaque aristoteles qu●renti , quâ de causa pulchrarum consortio ▪ delectentur homines , respondit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , laert. l. 5. b rara est concordia form● atque pudicitiae . — iuvenal . sat. 10. l●s est cum formâ magna pudicitiae . naso ep . 15. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. apud galen . pro●rept . quas majora ●ranent discrimina , iuven. ib. c helena apud euripidem , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . d sine culp● , sine ●abul● , apul. apol . e quae ●asta est ? de quâ mentiri faina veretur , bias apud auson lud. sap. f prov. 31. 30. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , menander . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , galen . protrept . c. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theocrit . idyl . 23. — summ● nequicquam pelle decorus , pers . sat. 4. introrsum turpis , speciosus pelle decor● , flacc. l. 1. epist . 16. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , eustath . in iliad . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i inde homero , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eustath . in il. ● . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato menexen . proverb . 11. 22. l gratior est pulchro veniens è corpore virtus . maro aeneid . lib. 5. licet reclamante seneca epist . 66. m prov. 31. 10. 29. n tit. 2. 5. o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mukeris conjugatae symbolum , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ●lu● . conjug . praecept . p eccles . 7. 28. q vitreum marga●●tum . irenaeus ●rasal . adv . haeres . 1. tertull. ad martyr . c. 4. & ex cod hicron . ad demetr . & ad laet. r splendida ●eccata , aug. adv . i●●ian . l. 4. c. 3. & de nupt . & conclip . c. 3. ſ tit. 2. 10. t plus in he●● valere vires ingeni quam gratiam , insirmat valorem grati●● . a charit●●s incipit , ut a se , sic ● suis . b 1 tim. 5. 4 , 8. c 1 cor. 13. 4. d hebr. 13. 1. 3. e 1 tim. 6. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . f 2 cor. 9. 12. g matth. 10. 42. h matth. 18. 19 , 20 i matth. 6. 6. k psal . 63. 6. esa● 26. 9. ca● . 3. 1. l vere dolet is , qui sine teste dolet . martial . l. 1. epigr. 34. tal●s quisque est , qua'is apud se est ; qualis est r●mo●s a●bitris . m quod lucitio seneca , epist . 2. cum multa pe●curreris , ●num altquod excerpe , quod illo die concoquas . o prov. 17. 16. p termi●●● ad quem dat appellatien●m . q tot● vitâ discendum est ●ori . senec. de brevvit . c. 7. egregia res est , mortem condiscere , idem ep . 26. magn● i●s est , & diu discenda , cum advene●it hora illa inevitabilis , aequo animo abire , idem epist . 30 r perseverantia sola virtutum co●onator , bern. epist . 32. & 109. ſ cedunt prima postremis , tacit. annal . l. 13. vita posterier priori praejudicat , hier. ad furia● . t da quod jubes , & jube quod v● , august . de dono ●ersever . c. 20. u apoc. 22. 20. the labouring saints dismission to rest. a sermon / preached at the funeral of the right honourable henry ireton lord deputy of ireland: in the abbey church at westminster, the 6th. day of february 1651. by john owen, minister of the gospel. licensed and entered according to order. owen, john, 1616-1683. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a90272 of text r203087 in the english short title catalog (thomason e654_3). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 64 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a90272 wing o766 thomason e654_3 estc r203087 99863168 99863168 166049 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a90272) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 166049) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 100:e654[3]) the labouring saints dismission to rest. a sermon / preached at the funeral of the right honourable henry ireton lord deputy of ireland: in the abbey church at westminster, the 6th. day of february 1651. by john owen, minister of the gospel. licensed and entered according to order. owen, john, 1616-1683. [4], 24 p. printed by r. and w· leybourn, for philemon stephens, at the gilded lion in pauls church-yard, london : 1652. annotation on thomason copy: the "2" in the imprint date is crossed out and date altered to 1651. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng ireton, henry, 1611-1651 -death and burial. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -17th century. a90272 r203087 (thomason e654_3). civilwar no the labouring saints dismission to rest.: a sermon / preached at the funeral of the right honourable henry ireton lord deputy of ireland: i owen, john 1652 11233 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 b the rate of 2 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2007-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the labovring saints dismission to rest . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable henry ireton lord deputy of ireland : in the abbey church at westminster , the 6th . day of february 1651. by john owen , minister of the gospel . licensed and entered according to order . london , printed by r. and w. leybourn , for philemon stephens , at the gilded lion in pauls church-yard . 1652. to the honourable , and my very worthy friend colonell henry cromwel . sir , the ensuing sermon was preached upon as sad an occasion , as on any particular account hath been given to this nation in this our generation . it is now published , as at the desire of very many who love the savour of that perfume which is diffused with the memory of the noble person peculiarly mentioned therein : so also upon the requests of such others , as enables me justly to entitle the doing of it , obedience . being come abroad , it was in my thoughts to have directed it immediately in the first place to her , who of any individuall person was most neerely concerned in him . but having observed how neere she hath been to be swallowed up of sorrow , and what slow progresse , he who tooke care to seale up instruction to her soule by all dispensations , hath given her hitherto toward a conquest thereof : i was not willing to offer directly a new occasion unto the multitude of her perplexed thoughts about this thing . no doubt , her losse being as great as it could be upon the account of one subject to the law of mortality , as many grains of grief and sorrow are to be allowed her in the balance of the sanctuary , as god doth permit to be laid out and dispended about any of the sons of men . he who is able to make sweet the bitterest , waters , & to give a gracious issue to the most grievous triall , will certainly , in due time , eminently bring forth that good upon her spirit , which he is causing all these things to work together for . in the mean time , sir , these lines are to you : your neer relation to that rare example of righteousness , faith , holiness , zeal , courage , self-denial , love to his countrey , wisdom and industry , mentioned in the ensuing sermon , the mutuall tender affection between you whilest he was living ; your presence with him in his last triall and conflict , the deserved regard you bear to his worth and memory ; your designe of looking into , and following after his steps and purpose in the work of god in his generation , as such an accomplished patern , as few ages have produced the like ; with many other reasons of the like nature , did easily induce me hereunto . that which is here printed is but the notes i first took , not having had leisure since to give them a serious perusall , and upon that account , must beg a candid interpretation unto any thing that may appear not so well digested therein as might be expected . i have not any thing to express concerning your self , but only my desire 's that your heart may be fixed to the lord god of your fathers , and that in the middest of all your temptations and oppositions wherewith your pilgrimage will be attended , you may be carried on and established in your inward subjection unto , and outward contending for the kingdome of the dearly beloved of our souls ; not fainting , or waxing weary until you receive your dismission to rest , for your lot in the end of the dayes . sir , your most humble and affectionate servant john owen . ox. ch. ch. april . 2d . the labouring saints dismission to rest : dan. 12. 13. but go thou thy way till the end be , for thou shalt rest , and stand in the lot at the end of the dayes . the words of my text having no dependance ( as to their sense & meaning , but only as to the occasion of them ) on the verses foregoing , i shall not at all look backward into the chapter , but fall immediately upon them , that i be not hindred from my principall intendment ; being unwilling to detein you long , though willing to speak a word from the lord , to such a congregation gathered together by such an eminent act of the providence of god . the words are the lords dismission given to a most eminent servant , from a most eminent imployment , wherein these four things are observable . 1 the dismission it self in the first words , go thou thy ways . 2 the term allotted for his continuance , under that dismission , untill the end be . 3 his state and condition under that dismission , for thou shalt rest . 4 the utmost issue of all this dispensation , both as to his foregoing labour , his dismission and rest following , stand in thy lot at the end of the dayes . go thou thy wayes , &c. in the first , i shall consider two things . 1 the person dismissed , ( thou ) go thou thy wayes . 2 the dismission it self , go thou thy wayes . 1 the person dismissed is daniel , the writer of this prophecie , who received all the great visions of god mentioned therein , and i desire to observe concerning him as to our purpose in hand , two things . 1 his qualifications . secondly , his employment . for the first , i shall only name some of them that were most eminent in him , and they are three . 1 wisdome . 2 love to his people . 3 uprightnesse and righteousnesse in the discharge of that high place whereunto he was advanced . for the first , the holy ghost beareth ample testimony thereunto , dan. 1. 17 , 20. as for these foure children , god gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdome , and daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams . and in all matters of wisdome , and understanding that the king enquired of them , he found them ten times better then all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm . in all matters of wisdom , and understanding none in the whole babylonian empire full of wise-men and artists , were to be compared unto daniel and his companions , and ezekiel , 28. 3. rebuking the pride and arrogancie of tyrus with a bitter scorn , he sayes ; behold , thou art wiser than daniel , or thou thinkest thy self so , intimating that none in wisdom was to be compared unto him . 2 love to his people . on this account was his most diligent enquiry into the time of their deliverance , and his earnest contending with god upon the discovery of the season , when it was to be accomplished , cha. 9. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. hence he is reckoned amongst them , who in their generation stood in the gap , in the behalf of others , noah , daniel and job . hence god calls the people of the jews , his people , ch. 9. 24 seventy weeks are determined on thy people : the people of thy affections and desires , the people of whom thou art , and who are so dear unto thee , 3 for his righteousnesse in discharging of his trust and office , you have the joynt testimony of god and man : his high place and preferment you have ; chap. 6. 2. he was the first of the three presidents who were set over the hundred & twenty other princes of the provinces ; & the holy ghost tels you that in the discharge of this high trust and great employment , he was faithfull to the utmost , verse 4. then the presidents and princes sought to finde occasion against daniel concerning the kingdome , but they could finde none occasion nor fault : forasmuch as he was faithfull , neither was there any errour or fault found in him . which also his enemies confest , verse 3. then said these men , we shall not find any occasion against this daniel , except we finde it against him concerning the law of his god . these qualifications i say amongst others were most eminent in this person , who here received his dismission from his employment . secondly , there is his employment it self , from which he is dismissed , and herein i shall only observe these two things . 1 the nature of the employment it self . 2 some considerable circumstances of it . for the first , it consisted in receiving from god , and holding out to others cleer and expresse visions concerning gods wonderfull providentiall alterations in kingdoms , and nations , which were to be accomplished , from the dayes wherein he lived , to the end of the world . all the prophets together had not so many cleer discoveries , as this one daniel concerning these things . 2 for the latter , this is observable , that all his visions still close with some eminent exaltation of the kingdome of christ ; that is the centre where all the lines of his visions do meet , as is to be seen in the close almost of every chapter , and this was the great intendment of the spirit in all those glorious revelations unto daniel , to manifest the subserviency of all civill revolutions unto the interest of the kingdom of the lord christ . this then is the person concerning whom these words were used , and this was his employment . 2 there is his dismission it self , go thou thy wayes , now this may be considered two wayes , 1 singly , relating to his employment only . 2 in reference to his life also . in the first sence , the lord dischargeth daniel from his further attendance on him , in this way of receiving visions and revelations concerning things that were shortly to come to passe , although happily his portion might yet be continued in the land of the living : as if the lord should say . thou art an inquiring man , thou art still seeking for further aquaintance with my minde in these things , but content thy selfe , thou shalt receive no more visions ; i will now imploy haggai , zechariah , and others , thou shalt receive no more , but i cannot close with this sense , for ; 1 this is not the manner of god to lay aside those whom he hath found faithfull in his service , men indeed do so , but god chaneth nat : whom he hath begun to honour with any employment , he continueth them in it , whilest they are faithfull to him . 2 daniel was now above an 100 yeares old , as may be easily demonstrated by comparing the time of his captivity , which was in the third yeare of the reigne of jehojakim , chap. 1. 1. with the time of his writing this prophecy , which is expresly said to be in the reigne of cyrus the king of persia , chap. 10. 1. and therefore probably his end was very nigh ; and after this you heare of him no more ; who had he lived many dayes , it had been his sin , not to have gone up to jerusalem , the decree of cyrus giving liberty for a returne being passed . it is not then gods laying him aside from his office simply , but also his intimation that he must shortly lay down his mortality , and so come into the condition wherein he was to rest untill the end ; this then is his dismission , he died in his work , life and employment go together , go thou thy wayes . obs. 1. there is an appointed season wherein the saints of the most eminent abilities , in the most usefull employment , must receive their dismission , be their work of never so great importance , be their abilities never so choice and eminent , they must in their season receive their dismission . before i handle this proposition , or proceed to open the following words , i shall crave leave to bring the work of god , and the vvord of god , a little close together , and lay the parallel betvveen the persons dismissed , the one in our text , the other in a present providence , vvhich is very neare , only that the one lived not out halfe the dayes of the other . three personall qualifications we observed in daniel , all which were very eminent in the person of our desires . 1 wisdome . there is a manifold wisdome , which god imparteth to the sons of men ; there is spirituall wisdome , that by the way of eminency is said to be from above , jam. 3. 17. which is nothing but the gracious acquaintance of the soule with the hidden wisdome of god in christ , 1 cor. 2. 7. and there is a civill wisdome , or a sound ability of minde for the management of the affairs of men in subordination to the providence , and righteousnesse of god . though both these were in daniel , yet it is in respect of the latter that his wisdome is so peculiarly extolled . and though i am very farre from assuming to my self the skill of judging of the abilities of men , and would be farre from holding forth things of meere common report , yet , upon assured grounds i suppose this gift of god , ability of minde , and dextrous industry for the management of humane affairs may be ascribed to our departed friend . there are sundry things that distinguish this wisdom from that policie which god abhors , which is carnall , sensuall and devillish , jam. 3. 15. though it be the great darling of the men of the world ; i shall name one or two of them . 1 a gracious discerning of the minde of god , according to his appearance in the affairs wherein men are employed , micah 6. 9. the lords voice cryeth unto the city , the man of wisdom shall see thy name , heare the rod , and who hath appointed it . it is the wisdom of a man , to see the name of god , to be acquainted with his will , his minde , his aime in things , when his providentiall voice crieth to the city . all the works of god have their voice , have their instruction : those of signal providences speak aloud , they cry to the city ; here is the wisdome of a man , he is a man of substance , a substantiall man , that can see his name in such dispensations . this carnall policie enquires not into , but is wholly swallowed up in the concatenation of things among themselves , applying secondary causes unto events , without once looking to the name of god , like swine following acorns under the tree , not at all looking up to the tree from whence they fall . 2 such acquaintance with the seasons of providence , as to know the duty of the people of god in them , 1 chron. 12. 32. the children of issachar , men that had understanding of the times , to know what israel ought to do : this it is indeed to be a man of understanding , to know in any season the duty of israel , that they may walke up to acceptation with god in the performance thereof . a thing which is neither prescribed in the rules , nor followed in the practise of men , wise only with that cursed politie which god abhors : to have a minde suited unto all seasons and tempers , so as to compasse their own selfish ends , is the utmost of their aime . now in both these did this gift of god shine in this deceased saint . 1 he ever counted it his wisdom to look after the name of god , and the testification of his will , in every dispensation of providence , wherein he was called to serve : for this were his wakings , watchings , enquiries ; when that was made out , he counted not his businesse half done , but even accomplished , and that the issue was ready at the doore ; not what saith this man , or what saith that man , but what saith the lord ? that being evident ; he consulted not with flesh and bloud , and the wisdom of it , ( whereof perhaps , would he have leaned to it , he was as little destitute as any in his generation , i mean the whole wisdom of a man . ) the name of god was as land in every storm , in the discovery whereof , he had as happy an eye at the greatest seeming distance when the clouds were blackest , and the waves highest , as any . 2 neither did he rest here : what israel ought to do , in every season , was also his enquiry ; some men have a wisdome to know things , but not seasons in any measure ; surely a thing in season , is no lesse beautifull then a word in season : as apples of gold in pictures of silver : there are few things which belong to civill affairs , but are alterable upon the incomprehensible variety of circumstances . these alter and change the very nature of them , and make them good or bad , that is useful or destructive . he that will have the garment that was made for him one yeer , serve him and fit him the next , must be sure that he neither increase nor vvane . importune insisting on the most usefull things , without respect to alterations of seasons , is a sad signe of a narrovv heart . he of vvhom vve speak , vvas vvise to discern the seasons , and performed things , vvhen both themselves , and the vvayes of carrying them on vvere excellently suited unto all coincidences of their season . and indeed , vvhat is most wisely proposed in one season , may be most foolishly pursued in another . it had been vvisdom in joshua not to have made any compact , but to have slain all the gibeonites ; but it vvas a folly sorely revenged in saul , vvho attempted to do the same . he vvho thinks the most righteous and sutable proposals or principles , that ever vvere in the vvorld ( setting aside generall rules of unchangeable righteousnesse , and equity compassing all times , places , wayes and forms of government ) must be perform'd as desirable , because once they were so , is certainly a stranger to the affairs of humane kinde . some things are universally unchangeable and indispensable amongst mem , supposing them to live answerable to the generall principles of their kinde : as that a government must be , without which , every one is the enemy of every one ; and all tend to mutuall destruction , which are appointed of god for mutuall preservation , that in government some do rule , and some be in subjection , that all rule be for the good of them that are ruled , and the like principles that flow necessarily from the very nature of political society . some things again are alterable & dispensable , meerly upon the account of preserving the former principles , or the like : if any of them are out of course , it is a vacuum in nature politick , for which all particular elements instantly dislodge and transpose themselves to supply , and such are all forms of government amongst men , which if either they so degenerate of themselves that they become directly opposite , or are so shattered by providential revolutions as to become uselesse to their proper end , may and ought to be changed , and not upon other accounts : but now for other things in government , as the particular way , whereby persons shall be designed unto it , the continuance of the same persons in it , for a lesse or a greater proportion of time , the exercise of more or lesse power by some sorts , or the whole body of them that are ruled , the uniting of men for some particular ends by bonds & engagements , and the like occasional emergencies , the universal disposal of them is roll'd on prudence to act according to present circumstances . 2 love to his people : this was the second qualification , wherein daniel was so eminent . and our deceased friend , not to enter into comparison with them that went before , had cleerly such a proportion , as we may heartily desire that those who follow after , may drink but equall draughts of the same cup ; that as his pains , labour , travel , jeopards of his life , and all that was dear to him , relinquishment of relations and contentments , had sweetnesse and life from this motive , even intensenesse of affection to his people , the people of whom he was , and whose prosperity he did desire , needs no further demonstration , then the great neglect of self and all self-concernments which dwelt upon him , in all his tremendous undertakings : vicit amor patriae , or certainly he who had upon his brest and all his undertakings self-contempt so eminently engraven , could not have persisted wrestling with so many difficulties , to the end of his dayes : it was jerusalem , and the prosperity thereof , which was preferr'd to his chief joy . neither 3 did he come short in righteousnesse in the administration of that high place whereto he was called ? nay , then this , there was not a more eminent stone in that diademe which he had in the earth . if he lay not at the bottom , yet at least he had a signall concurrence in such acts of justice , as antiquity hath not known , and posterity will admire . neither was it this or that particular act that did in this bespeak his praise , but a constant will and purpose of rendring to every one his due . i shall not insist upon particulars , in these and sundry other personall qualifications , between the persons mentioned a parallel may lie . 2 as to employment , that of daniel was mentioned before : it was the receiving , and holding out from god , visions of signal providentiall alterations , disposing and transposing of states , nations , kingdoms , and dominions ; what he had in speculation , was this mans part to follow in action , he was an eminent instrument in the hand of god in as tremendous providentiall alteration , as such a spot of the world hath at any time received since daniel , foresaw in generall them all : and this , not as many have been carried along with the stream , or led by outward motives , and considerations far above their own principles and desires , but seeingly and knowingly , he closed with the minde of god , with full purpose of heart , to serve the will of the lord in his generation . and on this account did he see every mountain made a plain before-hand , by the spirit of the lord , and staggered not at the greatest difficulties , through unbelief , but being stedfast in faith , he gave glory to god . and to compleat the parallel , as daniel's visions were still terminated in the kingdom of christ ; so all his actions had the same aime and intendment . this was that which gave life , and sweetnesse to all the most dismall and black engagements that at anytime he was called out unto . all made way to the comming in of the promised glory . it was all the vengeance of the lord and his temple . a davidicall preparation of his paths in bloud , that he might for ever reign in righteousnesse and peace ; but be he so or so , the truth of our proposition is confirmed towards him . there is an appointed season when the saints of the most eminent abilities in the most usefull employments shall receive their dismission , &c. i shall briefly open the rest of the words , and so take up the proposition again , which vvas first laid dovvn . 2 then , there is the term allotted to him in this state of his dismission , untill the end be . three things may be here intended in this vvord end , untill the end be . 1 the end of his life , go thou thy wayes to the end of thy life , and dayes ; but this we before disallowed , not consenting that daniel received a dismission from his employment , before the end of his life and pilgrimage . 2 the end of the world , go thy wayes to the end of the world : till then thou shalt rest in thy grave ; but neither yet doth this seem to be peculiarly intended in these vvords . the vvords in the close of the text do expresly mention that , calling it the end of the dayes ; and in so fevv vvords , the same thing is not needlesly repeated : besides , had this expression held out the vvhole time of his abode in the state of rest here signified , it must have been , go thou thy wayes , for thou shalt rest untill the end be ; so that , thirdly , the end here is to be accommodated unto the things , whereof the holy ghost is peculiarly dealing with daniel ; and that is the accomplishment of the great visions which he had received , in breaking the kingdomes of the world , and setting up the kingdome of the holy one of god : daniel is dismissed from further attendance in this service , he shall not see the actuall accomplishment of the things mentioned , but is dismissed and laid , aside unto the end of them . the vvord , untill , in the scripture is not such a limitation of time , as to assert the contrary to vvhat is excepted , upon its accomplishment : untill the end , doth not signifie , that he should not rest after the end of the things intimated , no more then it is affirmed that michal had children after her death , because it is said , that untill her death , she had none , 2 sam. 6. 23. this then is that end that he is dismissed unto ; the appointed season for the accomplishment of those glorious things which he had foreshovvn . obs. god oftentimes suffers not his choicest servants to see the issue and accomplishment of these glorious things wherein themselves have been most eminently engaged . 3 the third thing ( that vve may make haste ) is his state and condition , during the time vvhich he lies under this dismission , in these vvords , for thou shalt rest . there is nothing of difficulty in these vvords , but vvhat vvill naturally fall under consideration in the opening of the proposition which they hold out ; which is obs. 3. the condition of a dismissed saint is a condition of rest , thou shalt rest untill the end be . what this rest is , and from what , with wherein it consists , shall be afterwards explained . 4 the last thing in the text is ; the utmost issue of all these dispensations , both as to his fore-going labour , and his present dismission , and following rest . thou shalt stand in thy lot , &c. here are two things considerable in these words , the season of the accomplishment of what is here foretold , and promised unto daniel , and that is in the end of the dayes , that is , when time shall be no no more , when a period shall be put to the dayes of the world : called the last day , the great day , the day of judgement ; that is the season of the accomplishment of this promise , the day wherein god will judge the world , by the man whom he hath ordained . obs. there is an appointed determinate season , wherein all things and persons according to the will of god will run into their utmost issue and everlasting condition . 2 the thing foretold , and promised , that is , that he should stand in his lot . obs. there is an appointed lot for every one to stand in , and measured portion , which in the end they shall receive . 2 there is an eminent lot hereafter , for men of eminent employment for god here . i shal not be able to handle all these several truths which lie in the words ; those only which are of most importance and most suitable , may briefly be handled unto you , and the first is , there is an appointed season wherein the saints of the most eminent abilities , in the most usefull employments must receive their dismission , zach. 1. 5. your fathers where are they ? and the prophets do they live for ever ? fathers , and prophets have but their season , and they are not : they have their dismission ; so old simeon professeth , nunc dimittis , luke 2. 29. now thou givest me a dismission : they are placed of god in their station , as a centinel in his watch-tower , and they have their appointed season , and are then dismissed from their watch . the great captain of their salvation comes , and saith , go thou thy wayes , thou hast faithfully discharged thy duty ; go now unto thy rest . some have harder service : some have harderduty then others : some keep guard in the winter , a time of storms and temptations , trials and great pressures : others in the sun-shine , the summer of a more flourishing estate and condition ; yet duty they all do ; all attend in the service ; all endure some hardship , and have their appointed season for their dismission : and be they never so excellent at the discharging of their duty , they shall not abide one moment beyond the bounds which he hath set them , who saith to all his creatures , thus far shall you go and no further . oftentimes this dismission is in the midst of their work , for which they seem to be most eminently qualified . the three most eminent works of god , in and about his children , in dayes of old , were 1 his giving his people the law , and setling them in the land of canaan . 2 his recovering them from the babylonish captivity , and 3 his promulgation of the gospel unto them . in these three works , he employed three most eminent persons ; moses . in the first ; daniel in the second , and john baptist in the third , and neither of them saw the work accomplished , wherein they were so eminently employed : moses died the yeer before the people entred canaan : daniel , some few yeers before the foundation of the temple : and john baptist in the first yeer of the baptisme of our saviour , when the gospel which he began to preach , was to be published in its beauty and glory . they had all but their appointed seasons , though their abilities were eminent : who like unto them , and their employment excellent , what like it in the earth ? yet at their seasons , they must go their ways to rest , and lie down , till they stand in their lot at the end of the dayes . reas. 1. the generall condition of their mortality doth require that it should be so : it is appointed to all men once to die , heb. 9. 27. there is a stable law fixed concerning the sons of men , that is not upon the account of any usefulness here to be dispensed withall , the number of our moneths are with god ; he hath fixed our bounds , which we shall not passe : our dayes are as the dayes of an hireling , that have a certain prefixed and determinate end : their strength is not the strength of stones , neither is their flesh of brasse , that they should endure for ever . see job 14 , 10 , 11 , 12. this ( i say ) requires that there should be an appointed season for their employment , for it is so for their lives : and yet there is more in it then this : for in the course of 5000 yeeres , god hath exempted two persons by his sovereignty from the condition of mortality , who walked with him in their generations . so that the bounds fixed to them were not upon the account of their lives , but meerly of the work they had in hand . 2 god doth it , that he may be the more eminently seen in the carrying on his own works , which in their season he commits to them . should he leave his work always on one hand it would seem at length to be the work of the instrument only . though the people opposed moses at the first , yet it is thought they would have worshipped him at the last : and therefore god buried him where his body could not be found . yet indeed he had but the lot of most , who faithfully serve god in their generations : despised whilest they are present , idolized when they are gone . i do not know of any great work , that the lord carried out the same persons to be the beginners and enders of . he gave them all their seasons , that his power and wisdome might the more evidently appear in carrying it from one hand to another . 3 god makes room as it were in his vineyard , for the budding , flourishing and fruit-bearing of other plants which he hath planted . great employments call for great exercise of graces . even in employments in and about providentiall things , there is the exercise of spirituall grace : as much faith and prayer , as much communion with god , walking before him and wrestling with him , may be used in casting down of armies , as in setting up of churches : god exerciseth all the graces of his , in the work he calleth them out unto . he principles them , by faith and fellowship with himself , for their employment ; and therefore he gives each individuall , but his appointed season , that others in whose hearts he hath lodged the same spirit wherewith they are endued , may come forth , and shew the fruits thereof . daniel lieth down in the dust , in rest and peace , and why so ? the spirit of prophecie is poured out on haggai and ze●hariah , &c. they must also carry on this work , and beare my name before my people . consider the use of this . vse 1. of exhortation unto all that are imployed in the work of god , especially such as with eminent abilities are engaged in eminent employments , you have but your alotted season for your work : your day hath its close , its evening : your night cometh , wherein none can work : the grave cannot praise the lord , death cannot celebrate him , it 's the living , the living that are fitted for that worke , isa. 38. 18 , 19. it is true , men may alot you your season , and all in vain , but your times are in the hand of god ; that which he hath appointed out unto you shall stand ; be you never so excellent , never so usefull , yet the dayes of your service are as the dayes of an hireling , that will expire at the appointed season : be wise then to improve the time that is in your hands ; this is the praise of a man , the onely praise whereof in this world he is partaker , that he doth the will of god , before he fall asleep : that he faithfully serves his generation , untill he be no more . for a dying man to wrestle with the rebukes of god , and the complaints of his own conscience , for meeting with the end of his dayes , before he hath attained the midst of his duty , is a sad condition . you have your season , and you have but your season , neither can you lye down in peace , untill you have some perswasion that your worke as well as your life is at an end ; what ever then you finde to do , do it with all your strength , for there is neither wisdome , nor power in the grave whither you are going , ecclesiast . 9. 10. some particular rules may direct you herein . 1 compare yonr selves with the saints of god , who were faithfull in their generations , and are now fallen asleep ; what a deal of work did josiah do in a short season ? what a light did john set up in a few yeares ? with what unwearied paines and industry did our deceased friend serve his generation ? it is said of caesar , that he was ashamed of his own sloth , when he found that alexander had conquered the eastern world , at the age wherein he had done nothing . behold here , one receiving his dismission about the age of 40 yeares , and what a world of work for god , and the interest of the lord christ did he in that season ? and how well in the close , hath he parted with a temporall life for him , who by his death procured for him an eternall life , and now rest is sweet unto this labouring man . provoke one another by examples . 2 be diligent to passe through your work , & let it not too long hang upon your hands : your appointed season may come before you bring it to the close ; yea search out work for god . you that are intrusted in power , trifle not away your season . is there no oppressed person that with diligence you might relieve ? is there no poor distressed widow or orphane , whose righteous requests you might expedite and dispatch ? are there no stout offenders against god and man that might be chastized ? are there no slack and slow counties and cities in the execution of justice , that might be quickened by your example ? no places destitute of the gospel that might be furnished and supplyed by your industry and wisdome ? can you not finde out something of these or the like nature to be dispatched with vigour and diligence ? nay do not innumerable particulars in each kinde lye upon your hands ? and is not your performance of them such a sacrifice as wherewith god is not well pleased ? your time is limited and appointed , you know not how soon you may be overtaken with it ; and would it not be desireable unto you , that you had done these things ? will it be bitternesse in the end , that you so laid out your endevours ? vse 3. all men have but their seasons in any worke , onely god abideth in it for ever : in every undertaking let your eye still be on him , with whom is the fulnesse and the residue of the spirit . jeremiah's great bewailing of josiah's death was doubtlesse made upon the account of his discerning that none would come after him to carry on the worke which he had begun , but the wickednesse of that people was come to their height : else god can raise up yet more josiahs : let him be eyed as the principall and onely abiding agent in any great undertaking . in the residue of the observations i shall be very brief . the next is . obs. 2 god oftentimes suffers not the choicest of his servants to see the accomplishment of those glorious things wherein themselves have been most eminently engaged . the case of moses is most eminently known , he had a large share in suffering the persecutions which were allotted to the people : 40 yeers banishment he endured in the wildernesse , under the reproach of christ 40 yeers more spent in wrestling with innumerable difficulties , dangerous perils , mutinies , wars and contentions . at the close when he comes to look upon the laud , when the end of all that dispensation was to be wound up , and the rest and reward of all his toile and labour to be had , which formerly he had undergone for tvvice 40 yeers ; go thou thy wayes , saith the lord , thou shalt rest , take thy dismission , thou shalt not enter into the good land , lie down here in the wildernesse in peace . john baptist goes and preaches the drawning nigh of the kingdom of god , but lived only to point out christ with his finger , cryes ; behold the lambe of god , i must decrease , and is cut off . david makes the great preparation for the temple , but he shal not see so much as the foundation laid . men must take their appointed lot . god will send by the hand of him whom he will send . daniel must rest untill the end be . it is said of some they began to deliver israel . the case of zerobbabel was very rare , who saw the foundation , and also the top-stone of the temple laid , and yet the work of jerusalem was not halfe finished in his dayes , as you may see , zach. chap. 1. reason 1. god oftentimes receives secret provocations from the choicest of his servants , which moves him to take them short of their desires . those of his own whom he employes in great workes , have great and close communion with him . god usually exercises their spirits in neer acts of fellowship with himself : they receive much from him , and are constrained to unburthen themselves frequently upon him ; now when men are brought into an intimacy with god , and have received great engagements from him , the lord takes notice of every working and acting of their soules in an especiall manner , and is oftentimes grieved and provoked with that in them which others can take no notice of : let a man read the story of that action of moses , upon which the lord told him directly he should not see the finishing of the work he had in hand , nor enter into canaan , numb. 20. 7 , 8 , 11. it will be a hard matter , to finde out wherein the failing was : he smote the rock with the rod , with some words of impatience , when he should onely have spoken to it , and this with some secret unbelief , as to the thing he had in hand : god deales with others visibly , according to their outward actions , but in his own he takes notice of all their unbelief , fears , withdrawings , as proceeeding from a frame in no measure answering those gracious discoveries of himselfe , which he hath made unto them , and on this account it is , that some are taken off in the midst of their work . 2 to manifest that he hath better things in store for his saints then the best and utmost of what they can desire or ayme at here below . he had a heaven for moses , and therefore might in love and mercy deny him canaan . he employeth some eminently , their work is great , their end glorious , at the very last step almost of their journey , he takes off one and another , le ts them not see the things aymed at : this may be thought hard measure , strict severity , exact justice , yea as job complains , taking advantages against them ; see but what he calls them to , in calling them off from their greatest glories and excellencies on the earth , and all this will appear to be love , tendernesse and favour in the highest . whilest you are labouring for a handfull of first fruits , he gives you the full harvest ; whilest you are labouring for the figure here below , he gives you the substance above . should you see the greatest worke , wherein any of you were ever ingaged , brought to perfection , yet all were but as a few drops compared with that fulnesse which he hath prepared for you . the lord then doth it to witnesse to the children of men , that the things which are seen the best of them , are not to be compared with the things that are not seen , yea the least of them , in as much as he takes them whom he will honour , from the very doore of the one , to bear them into the other . the meanest enjoyment in heaven is to be preferred before the richest on earth , even then when the kingdome of christ shall come in most beauty and glory . use 2. you that are ingaged in the work of god , seeke for a reward of your service in the service it selfe . few of you may live to see that beauty & glory which perhaps you aime at as the end of all your great undertakings for god , whereinto you have been engaged . god will proceed his own pace , and calls on us to go along with him , and in the mean time , untill the determinate end come , to wait in faith , and not make haste . those whose mindes are so fixed on , and swallowed up with some end ( though good ) which they have proposed to themselves , do seldome see good dayes , and serene in their own soules , they have bitternesse , wrath and trouble all their dayes : are still pressing to the end proposed , and commonly are dismissed from their station before it be attained . there is a sweetnesse , there is a wages to be found in the work of god it selfe : men who have learned to hold communion with god in every work he calls them out unto , though they never see the maine harvest they aime at in generall , yet such will rest satisfied and submit to the lords limitation of their time : they bear their owue sheaves in their bosomes . seeing god oftentimes dismisses his choisest servants , before they see , or taste of the maine fruits of their endeavours ; i see not upon what account consolation can be had in following the lord in difficult dispensations , but only in that reward which every duty bringeth along with it , by communion with god in its performance . make then this your aime , that in sincerity of heart , you do the work of god in your generation : finde his presence with you , his spirit guiding you , his love accepting you , in the lord christ , and when ever you receive your dismission , it will be rest and peace , in the meane time , you will not make haste . 2 see a bottome and ground of consolation , when such eminent instruments as this departed worthy , are called off from their station when ready to enter upon the harvest of all their labours , watchings , toylings , and expence of bloud , god hath better things for them in store , abiding things , that they shall not injoy for a day or two , which is the best of what they could hope for here , had they lived to see al their desires accōplished ; but such as in the fulnesse whereof , they may lie downe in peace to eternity . why do we complaine ? for our ovvne losse ? is not the residue , and fulnesse of the spirit vvith him , vvho gave him his dismission ? for his losse , he lived not to see ireland in peace , but enjoyes the glory of that eternall kingdome that vvas prepared for him before the foundation of the world , vvhich is the condition held out in the third observation . obs. the condition of a dismissed saint is a condition of rest , go thy way , untill the end be ; for thou shalt rest . the apostle gives it in as the issue of a discourse from a passage in the psalmes , there remaineth , therefore a rest unto the people of god , heb. 4. 9. it remains , and is reserved for them , this the lord hath solemnly proclaimed from heaven , revel. 14. 13. blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them : they go into a blessed condition of rest ; there is not any notion under which the state of a dismissed saint , is so frequently described as this , of rest , which indeed is the proper end and tendency of all things ; their happinesse is their rest ; their rest is all the happinesse they can be partakers of : fecisti nos ad te domine , & inquietum est cor nostrum , donec veniat ad te . now rest holds out two things unto us , 1 a freedom from what is opposite thereunto , wherein those that are at rest , have been exercised , in reference whereunto they are said to be at rest . 2 some thing which suites them , and satisfies their nature in the condition wherein they are ; and therefore they are at rest , which they could not be , were it not so with them , for nothing can rest , but in the full fruition , and enjoyment of that which satiates the whole nature of it in all its extent and capacity . we must then briefly inquire , 1 what it is that the saints are at rest from , and secondly , what it is that they are at rest in , which i shall do very speedily . 1 the many particulars which they are at rest from , may be referred unto two general heads , 1 sin . 2 labour , and travel . 1 sin ; this on all consideration , whatever , is the main disquietnesse of the soule ; temptations to it , actings in it , troubles for it , they are the very egypt of the soule , it's house and place of bondage , and vexation ; either the power of it indwelling , or the guilt of it pressing , are here still disquieting the soule . for the first , how doth paul complain , lament , yea cry out concerning it , rom. 7. 24. o wretched man that i am ! and what a sad , restlesse , and tumultuating condition upon this account doth he describe in the verses foregoing ? the best , the wisest , the holiest of the saints , on this account are in a restlesse condition . suppose a man a conquerour in every battel , in every combate that he is engaged in , yet vvhilest he hath any fighting , though he be never foiled , yet he hath not peace . though the saints should have successe in every engagement against sin , yet because it vvill still be rebelling , still be fighting , it vvill disturbe their peace . 2 so also doth the guilt of it ; our saviour testifieth , that a sense of it wil make a man to be weary and heavy-laden , mat. 11. 28. this oftentimes makes the inhabitants of sion , say they are sick , for though an end be made of sin as to the guilt of it in the bloud of christ , yet by reason of our darknesse , folly , and unbeliefe , and the hiding of the countenance of god , the conscience is oftentimes pressed with it , no lesse then if it lay indeed under the whole vveight and burthen of it . i shall not instance in more particulars , concerning this cause of want of rest , and disquietnesse , the perplexity of temptations , buffettings & winnowings of satan , allurements and affrightments of the world , darknesse and sorrows of unbeliefe , and the like do all set in against us upon this account . this in general is the first thing , that the dismissed saints are at rest from : they , sin no more , they wound the lord jesus no more , they trouble their own souls no more , they grieve the spirit no more , they dishonour the gospel no more , they are troubled no more with satans temptations without , no more with their own corruption within , but lie down in a constant enjoyment of one everlasting victory over sin , with all its attendants : saith the spirit , they rest from their labours , revel. 14. those labours which make them faint , and vveary , their contending with sin to the uttermost ; they are no more cold in communion , they have not one thought that wanders off from god to eternity : they lose him no more , but alwayes lie down in his bosome vvithout the least possibility of disturbance . even the very remembrance of sin is svveet unto them , when they see god infinitely exalted , and admired in the pardon thereof . they are free from trouble , and that both as to doing , and suffering : fevv of the saints , but are called out in one kinde or another to both these . every one is either doing for god , or suffering for god , some both do and suffer great things for him : in either of them there is pain , vvearinesse , travel , labour , trouble , sorrovv-and anxiety of spirit ; neither is there any eminent doing or vvorking for god , but is carried on vvith much suffering to the outvvard man . what a life of labour and trouble did our deceased friend lead for many yeers in the flesh ? hovv vvere his dayes consumed in travel ? god calling him to his foot , and exercising him to understand the svveetnesse of that promise , that they that die in him , shall have rest : many spend their dayes deliciously , vvith so much contentment to the flesh , that it is impossible they should have any foretaste and svveet rellish of their rest that is to come . the apostle tels us that there remains a rest for the people of god ; and yet vvithall , that they vvho believe are entred into that rest , those vvho in their labours , in their travels do take in the svveetnesse of that promise of rest , do even in their labour make an entrance thereinto . this then secondly , they rest from all trouble and anxiety that attend them in their pilgrimage , either in doing or suffering for god . heb. 4. 10 , 7. they enter into rest , and cease from their work ▪ god wipes all tears from their eyes , there is no more watching , no more fasting , no more wrestling , no more fighting , no more bloud , no more sorrow , the ransomed of the lord do return vvith everlasting joy on their heads , and sorrovv & sighing flyavvay . there tyrants pretend no more title to their kingdom ; rebels lie not in vvait for their bloud ; they are no more awakened by the sound of the trumpet , nor the noise of the instruments of death : they feare not for their relations , they weep not for their friends , the lambe is their temple , and god is all in all unto them . 2 this will not compleat their rest , something further is required thereto : even something to satisfie , everlastingly content and fill them in the state and condition wherein they are . free them in your thoughts from what you please , without this , they are not at rest . this then you have in the second place , god is the rest of their soules , psal. 116. returne to thy rest , o my sou . dismissed saints rest in the bosome of god , because in the fruition and enjoyment of him they are everlastingly satisfied , as having attained the utmost end whereto they were created , all the blessednesse whereof they are capable . i could almost beg for liberty a little to expatiate in this meditation of the sweet , gracious , glorious , satisfied condition , of a dismissed saint . but the time is spent , and therefore without holding out one drop of water to quench the feigned fire of purgatory , or drawing forth any thing to discover the vanity of their assertion , who affirme the soul to sleep , or to be nothing untill the resurrection ; or their 's who assigning to them a state of subsistence and perception , do yet exclude them from the fruition of god , without which there is no rest , untill the end of all , with such other by-perswasions , as would disquiet the condition , or abridge the glory of those blessed soules , which yet were a facile undertaking , i shall draw towards a close . there are 3 points yet remaining , i shall speak onely to the first of them , and that as an use of the doctrine last proposed , and i have done . 1 then you see there is an appointed determinate season , wherein all things and persons , according to the will of god will runne into their utmost issue and everlasting condition . thou art going , who ever thou art , into an abiding condition , and there is a lot appointed for thee , wherein lies an estate everlastingly unchangeable . it is the utmost end whereunto thou art designed , and when once thou art entred into that lot , thou art everlastingly engaged : no more change , no more alteration , if it be well with thee , it will abide : if otherwise expect not any relief . in our few dayes we live for eternity , in our mutable estate we deal for an unchangeable condition . it is not thus onely in respect of particulars , but god hath appointed a day , wherein he will judge all the world by the man whom he hath ordained . an end is comming unto all that whole dispensation under which we are . to you who by the riches of free grace have obtained union and communion with the lord jesus , rest and peace , when god shall everlastingly raine snares , fire and brimstone upon the workers of iniquity . some mock indeed , and say , where is the promise of his comming ? but we know , the lord is not slack , as some men count slacknesse , but exerciseth patience untill the appointed season , for the bringing about of his own glorious ends , which he hath determined concerning his creatures . why should we then complain , when any one , perhaps before our expectation , but yet according to gods determination , makes an entrance into the end of all ? all things work , to that season . this state of things is not for continuance . that which is incumbent , is in this uncertain space of time alotted to us , to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure , as also to serve the lord faithfully in our generations , wherein we cannot be surprized : we have an example in him who is gone before ; it is true , the lord jesus is our primitive pattern and example : but those also who have followed him , wherein they have followed him , are to be eyed and marked as provocations to the same labour of faith and love , wherein they were exercised . and that this use may be made by this assembly , i shall adde one word concerning him from whom is the occasion thereof . every man stands in a threefold capacity . 1 naturall 2 civill . 3 religious . and there are distinct qualifications , that are suited unto these severall capacities . to the first as the ornaments and perfections of nature , are suited some seeds of those heroicall vertues , as courage , permanency in businesse , &c. which being in themselves morally indifferent , have their foundations eminently laid in the natures of some persons , which yet hinders not , but that their good improvement is of grace . 2 to the second , or mans civill capacity , there are many eminencies relating as peculiar endowments , which may be referred unto the three heads of ability , faithfulnesse , and industry , that through them neither by weaknesse , treachery nor sloth the workes and employments incumbent on men in their civill state and condition may suffer . 3 mens peculiar ornament and emprovement in their religious capacitie , lies in those fruits of the spirit which we call christian graces : of these in respect of usefulnesse there are three most eminent , viz. faith , love , and selfe-deniall . i speak of them upon another account then the apostle doth , where he placeth hope amongst the first three of christian graces . now all these in their severall kindes vvere as eminent in the person deceased in his severall capacities , as perhaps is usually found in any one in a generation . my businesse is not to make a funerall oration . onely i suppose that without offence i may desire , that in courage and permanency in businesse , ( which i name in opposition to that unsetled pragmatical shufling disposition which is in some men ) in ability for wisdome and counsell , in faithfulnesse to his trust and in his trust , in indefatigable industry in the pursuit of the work committed to him , in faith on the promises of god , and acquaintance with his mind in his mighty works of providence , in love to the lord jesus and all his saints , in a tender regard to their interest , delight in their society , contempt of himself and all his for the gospel's sake , with eminent self-deniall in all his concernments , in impartiality and sincerity in the execution of justice , that in these and the like things we may have many raised up in the power and spirit wherein he walked before the lord , and the inhabitants of his nation . this ( i say ) i hope i may speake without offence he upnn such an occasion as this ; my businesse being occasionally to preach the word , not to carry on a part of a funerall ceremonie , i shall adde no more , but commit you to him , who is able to prepare you for your eternall condition . finis . a sermon preached at the funerall of that worthy knight sr. george dalston of dalston in cumberland, september 28. 1657. by j.t. d.d. taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a64130 of text r219166 in the english short title catalog (wing t392a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a64130 wing t392a estc r219166 99830680 99830680 35133 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a64130) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 35133) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2081:03) a sermon preached at the funerall of that worthy knight sr. george dalston of dalston in cumberland, september 28. 1657. by j.t. d.d. taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. [2], 36 p. printed for john martin, james allestrye, and thomas dicas, london : 1658. j.t. = jeremy taylor. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng dalston, george, -sir, d. 1657 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. a64130 r219166 (wing t392a). civilwar no a sermon preached at the funerall of that worthy knight sr. george dalston of dalston in cumberland, september 28. 1657. by j.t. d.d. taylor, jeremy 1658 16000 1 285 0 0 0 0 179 f the rate of 179 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funerall of that worthy knight sr. george dalston of dalston in cumberland , september 28. 1657. by i. t. d. d. london , printed for iohn martin , iames allestrye , and thomas dicas . 1658. 1 cor. 15. 19. if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . when god in his infinite and eternal wisdome had decreed to give to man a life of labour and a body of mortality , a state of contingency and a composition of fighting elements ; and having design'd to be glorified by a free obedience , would also permit sin in the world , and suffer evil men to goe on in their wickedness , to prevail in their impious machinations , to vex the souls , and grieve the bodies of the righteous , he knew that this would not only be very hard to be suffered by his servants , but also be very difficult to be understood by them who know god to be a law-giver as well as a lord , a iudge as well as a king , a father as well as a ruler ; and that in order to his own glory , and for the manifestation of his goodness he had promised to reward his servants , to give good to them that did good : therefore to take off all prejudices and evil resentments and temptations which might trouble those good men who suffered evil things , he was pleased to do two great things which might confirme the faith , and endear the services , and entertain the hopes of them who are indeed his servants , but yet were very ill used in the accidents of this world . 1. the one was that he sent his son into the world to take upon him our nature , and him being the captain of our salvation he would perfect through sufferings ; that no man might think it much to suffer , when god spared not his own son ; and every man might submit to the necessity when the christ of god was not exempt ; and yet that no man should fear the event which was to follow such sad beginnings , when it behoved even christ to suffer , and so to enter into glory . 2. the other great thing was , that god did not only by revelation and the sermons of the prophets to his church , but even to all mankinde competently teach , and effectively perswade that the soul of man does not die ; but that although things were ill here , yet they should be well hereafter ; that the evils of this life were short and tolerable , and that to the good who usually feel most of them , they should end in honour and advantages . and therefore cicero had reason on his side to conclude , that there is to be a time and place after this life wherein the wicked shall be punished and the vertuous well rewarded , when he considered that orpheus and socrates , palamedes and thraseas , lucretia and papinian were either slain or oppressed to death by evil men . but to us christians {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( as platoes expression is ) we have a necessity to declare and a demonstration to prove it , when we read that abel died by the hands of cain , who was so ignorant , that though he had malice and strength , yet he had scarce art enough to kill him ; when we read that iohn the baptist , christ himselfe and his apostles and his whole army of martyrs died under the violence of evil men ; when vertue made good men poor , and free speaking of brave truths made the wise to lose their liberty ; when an excellent life hastened an opprobrious death , and the obeying god destroyed our selves ; it was but time to look about for another state of things where justice should rule and vertue finde her own portion : where the men that were like to god in mercy and justice should also partake of his felicity : and therefore men cast out every line , and turned every stone , and tried every argument , and sometimes proved it well , and when they did not , yet they believed strongly , and they were sure of the thing even when they were not sure of the argument . thus therefore would the old priests of the capitol , and the ministers of apollo , and the mystic persons at their oracles believe , when they made apotheoses of vertuous and braver persons , ascribing every braver man into the number of their gods : hercules and romulus , castor , and pollux , liber pater , him that taught the use of vines , and her that taught them the use of corne . for they knew that it must needs be , that they who like to god doe excellent things , must like to god have an excellent portion . this learning they also had from pherecydes the syrian , from pythagoras of samos , and from zamolxis the gete , from the neighbours of euphrates , and the inhabitants by ister who were called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} immortalists , because in the midst of all their dark notices of things they saw this clearly , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; that vertuous and good men do not die , but their souls do go into blessed regions where they shall enjoy all good things : and it was never known that ever any good man was of another opinion . hercules and themistocles , epaminondas and cicero , socrates and cimon , ennius and phidias , all the flower of mankind have preached this truth . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the discoursings and prophesyings of divine men are much more proper and excellent then of others , because they do equal and good things until the time comes that they shall hear well for them , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . and this is the sign that when we die we have life and discerning , because though the wicked care not for believing it , yet all the prophets and the poets , the wise and the brave heroes say so ; they are the words of plato . for though that which is compounded of elements returns to its material and corruptible principles , yet the soul which is a particle of the divine breath returns to its own divine original , where there is no death or dissolution : and because the understanding is neither hot nor cold , it hath no moisture in it and no driness , it follows that it hath nothing of those substances concerning which alone we know that they are corruptible . there is nothing corruptible that we know of , but the four elements and their sons and daughters : nothing dies that can discourse , that can reflect in perfect circles upon their own imperfect actions ; nothing can die that can see god and converse with spirits , that can govern by laws and wise propositions . for fire and water can be tyrannical but not govern ; they can bear every thing down that stands before them and rush like the people , but not rule like judges , and therefore they perish as tumults are dissolved . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : sayes aristotle . but the soul only comes from abroad , from a divine principle ( for so saith the scripture ) god breathed into adam the spirit of life , and that which in operation does not communicate with the body shall have no part in its corruption . thus far they were right ; but when they descended to particulars they fell into error . that the rewards of vertue were to be hereafter , that they were sure of : that the soul was to survive the calamities of this world and the death of the body ; that they were sure of ; and upon this account they did bravely and vertuously : and yet , they that thought best amongst them believed that the souls departed should be reinvested with other bodies according to the dispositions and capacities of this life . thus orpheus who sang well should transmigrate into a swan , and the soul of thamyris who had as good a voice as he , should wander till it were confined to the body of a nightingal ; ajax to a lion , agamemnon to an eagle , tyrant princes into wolvs and hawks , the lascivious into asses and goats , the drunkards into swine , the crafty statesmen into bees and pismires , and thersites to an ape . this fancy of theirs prevailed much amongst the common people , and the uninstructed amongst the jews : for when christ appeared so glorious in miracle , herod presently fancied him to be the soul of iohn the baptist in another body , and the common people said he was elias , or ieremias , or one of the old prophets . and true it is , that although god was pleased in all times to communicate to mankind notices of the other world sufficient to encourage vertues , and to contest against the rencontres of the world , yet he was ever sparing in telling the secrets of it ; and when st. paul had his rapture into heaven , he saw fine things and heard strange words , but they were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , words that he could not speak , and secrets that he could not understand , and secrets that he could not communicate . for as a man staring upon the broad eye of the sun at his noon of solstice , feels his heat and dwells in light , and loses the sight of his eyes and perceives nothing distinctly , but the organ is confounded and the faculty amazed with too big a beauty : so was s. paul in his extasy ; he saw that he could see nothing to be told below , and he perceived the glories were too big for flesh and blood , and that the beauties of separate souls were not to be understood by the soul in conjunction ; and therefore after all the fine things that he saw , we only know what we knew before , viz. that the soul can live when the body is dead ; that it can subsist without the body ; that there are very great glories reserved for them that serve god ; that they who die in christ shall live with him ; that the body is a prison and the soul is in fetters while we are alive ; and that when the body dies the soul springs and leaps from her prison and enters into the first liberty of the sons of god . now much of this did rely upon the same argument upon which the wise gentiles of old concluded the immortality of the soul ; even because we are here very miserable and very poor : we are sick and we are afflicted ; we do well and are disgraced ; we speak well and we are derided ; we tell truths and few believe us ; but the proud are exalted and the wicked are delivered , and evil men reign over us , and the covetous snatch our little bundles of money from us , and the fiscus gathers our rents , and every where the wisest and the best men are oppressed ; but therefore because it is thus , and thus it is not well , we hope for some great good thing hereafter . for if in this life only we had hope , then we christians , all we to whom persecution is allotted for our portion , we who must be patient under the crosse , and receive injuries and say nothing but prayers , we certainly were of all men the most miserable . well then ! in this life we see plainly that our portion is not : here we have hopes , but not here only , we shall goe into another place , where we shall have more hopes : our faith shall have more evidence , it shall be of things seen afar off ; and our hopes shall be of more certainty and perspicuity , and next to possession ; we shall have very much good , and be very sure of much more . here then are three propositions to be considered . 1. the servants of god in this world are very miserable , were it not for their hopes of what is to come hereafter . 2. though this be a place of hopes , yet we have not our hopes only here . if in this life only we had hopes ( saith the apostle ) meaning , that in another life also we have hopes ; not only metonymically , taking hopes for the things we hope for , but properly and for the acts , objects and causes of hope . in the state of separation the godly shall have the vast joyes of a certain intuitive hope , according to their several proportions and capacities . 3. the consummation and perfection of their felicity , when all their miseries shall be changed into glories , is in the world to come , after the resurrection of the dead ; which is the main thing which s. paul here intends . 1. the servants of god in this life are calamitous and afflicted ; they must live under the crosse . he that will be my disciple , let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me ( said our glorious lord and master . ) and we see this prophetic precept , ( for it is both a prophecy and a commandment , and therefore shall be obeyed whether we will or no ) but i say , we see it verified by the experience of every day . for here the violent oppress the meek and they that are charitable shall receive injuries . the apostles who preach'd christ crucified were themselves persecuted and put to violent deaths ; and christianity it selfe for three hundred years was the publick hatred ; and yet then it was that men loved god best , and suffered more for him ; then , they did most good , and least of evill . in this world men thrive by villany , and lying and deceiving is accounted just , and to be rich is to be wise , and tyranny is honourable , and though little thefts and petty mischiefs are interrupted by the laws , yet if a mischief become publick and great , acted by princes and effected by armies , and robberies be done by whole fleets , it is vertue and it is glory : it fills the mouths of fools that wonder , and imployes the pens of witty men that eat the bread of flattery . how many thousand bottles of tears , and how many millions of sighs does god every day record , while the oppressed and the poor pray unto him , worship him , speak great things of his holy name , study to please him , beg for helps that they may become gracious in his eyes , and are so , and yet never sing in all their life , but when they sing gods praises out of duty with a sad heart and a hopefull spirit , living only upon the future , weary of to day , and sustain'd only by the hope of to morrows event ? and after all , their eyes are dim with weeping and looking upon distances as knowing they shall never be happy till the new heavens and the new eearth appear . but i need not instance in the miserabili in them that dwell in dungeons and lay their head in places of trouble and disease : take those servants of god who have greatest plenty , who are incircled with blessings , whom this world calls prosperous , and see if they have not fightings within and crosses without , contradiction of accidents and perpetuity of temptations , the devil assaulting them and their own weakness betraying them ; fears incompassing them round about lest they lose the favour of god , and shame sitting heavily upon them when they remember how often they talk foolishly , and lose their duty , and dishonour their greatest relations and walk unworthy of those glories which they would fain obtain ; and all this is besides the unavoidable acc●dents of mortality , sickly bodies , troublesome times , changes of government , loss of interests , unquiet and peevish accidents round about them : so that when they consider to what they are primarily obliged ; that they must in some instances deny their appetite , in others they must quit their relations , in all they must deny themselves when their natural or secular danger tempts to sin or danger ; and that for the support of their wills and the strengthening their resolutions against the arguments and sollicitation of passions they have nothing but the promises of another world ; they will easily see that all the splendour of their condition which fools admire and wise men use temperately and handle with caution as they trie the edge of a rasor , is so far from making them recompence for the sufferings of this world , that the reserves and expectations of the next is that conjugation of aids by which only they can well and wisely bear the calamities of their present plenty . but if we look round about us and see how many righteous causes are oppressed , how many good men are reproached , how religion is persecuted , upon what strange principles the greatest princes of the world transact their greatest affairs , how easily they make wars and how suddainly they break leagues , and at what expence and vast pensions they corrupt each others officers , and how the greatest part of mankind watches to devour one another , and they that are devoured are commonly the best , the poor and the harmless , the gentle and uncrasty , the simple and religious ; and then how many wayes all good men are exposed to danger , and that our scene of duty lies as much in passive graces as in active , it must be confessed that this is a place of wasps and insects , of vipers and dragons , of tigres and bears ; but the sheep are eaten by men or devoured by wolves and foxes , or die of the rot ; and when they do not , yet every year they redeem their lives by giving their fleece and their milk , and must die when their death will pay the charges of the knife . now from this i say , it was that the very heathen , plutarch and cicero , pythagoras and hierocles , plato and many others did argue and conclude that there must be a day of recompences to come hereafter which would set all right again : and from hence also our b. saviour himself did convince the sadduces in their fond and pertinacious denying of the resurrection : for that is the meaning of that argument which our b. lord did choose as being clearly and infallibly the aptest of any in the old testament to prove the resurrection , and though the deduction is not at first so plain and evident , yet upon neerer intuition , the interpretation is easie and the argument excellent and proper . for it is observed by the learned among the jews that when god is by way of particular relation and especial benediction appropriated to any one , it is intended that god is to him a rewarder and benefactor , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; for that is the first thing and the last that every man believes and feels of god ; and therefore st. paul summes up the gentiles creed in this compendium ; he that commeth to god must believe that god is , and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . [ heb. 11. 6. ] and as it is in the indefinite expression , so it is in the limited ; as it is in the absolute so also in the relative . god is the rewarder ; and to be their god is to be their rewarder , to be their benefactor and their gracious lord . ego ero deus vester , i will be your god , that is , i will do you good sayes aben esra : and philo , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the everlasting god , that is , as if he had said , one that will do you good ; not sometimes some , and sometimes none at all , but frequently and for ever : and this we finde also observed by st. paul : wherefore god is not ashamed to be called their god ; [ heb. 11. 16. ] and that by which the relative appellative is verified is the consequent benefit ; he is called their god [ for he hath provided for them a city . upon this account the argument of our b. saviour is this , god is the god of abraham , isaac and iacob ; that is , the gracious god , the benesactor , the rewarder ; and therefore abraham is not dead , but is fallen asleep , and he shall be restored in the resurrection to receive those blessings and rewards , by the title of which god was called the god of abraham . for in this world abraham had not that harvest of blessings which is consigned by that glorious appellative ; he was an exile from his country , he stood far off from the possession of his hopes , he lived an ambulatory life , he spent most of his dayes without an heir , he had a constant piety , and at the latter end of his life one great blessing was given him ; and because that was allayed by the anger of his wife , and the expulsion of his handmaid , and the ejection of ishmael , and the danger of the lad ; and his great calamity about the matter of isaac's sacrifice ; and all his faith and patience and piety was rewarded with nothing but promises of things a great way off ; and before the possession of them he went out of this world ; it is undeniably certain that god who after the departure of the patriarchs did still love to be called [ their god ] did intend to signifie that they should be restored to a state of life and a capacity of those greatest blessings which were the foundation of that title and that relation . god is not the god of the dead , but of the living , but god is the god of abraham and the other patriarchs ; therefore they are not dead ; dead to this world , but alive to god ; that is , though this life be lost , yet they shall have another and a better ; a life in which god shall manifest himself to be their god to all the purposes of benefit and eternal blessings . this argument was summed up by st. peter , and the sense of it is thus rendred by st. clement the bishop of rome , as himself testifies : si deus est juslus , animus est immortalis , which is perfectly rendred by the words of my text ; if in this life only we have hope , then are we of all men the most miserable ; but because this cannot be that god who is just and good should suffer them that heartily serve him to be really and finally miserable , and yet in this world they are so , very frequently ; therefore in another world they shall live to receive a full recompence of reward . neither is this so to be understood , as if the servants of god were so wholly forsaken of him in this world , and so permitted to the malice of evil men , or the asperities of fortune , that they have not many refreshments and great comforts and the perpetual festivities of a holy conscience : for god my maker is he that giveth songs in the night , said elihu ; [ iob 35. 10. ] that is , god as a reward giveth a chearful spirit , and makes a man to sing with joy , when other men are sad with the solemn darkness and with the affrights of conscience , and the illusions of the night . but god who intends vast portions of felicity to his children does not reckon these little joys into the account of the portion of his elect . the good things which they have in this world are not little , if we account the joys of religion and the peace of conscience amongst things valuable ; yet whatsoever it is ; all of it , all the blessings of themselves , and of their posterity , and of their relatives for their sakes are cast in for intermedial entertainments ; but their good , and their prepared portion shall be hereafter . but for the evil it self which they must suffer and overcome , it is such a portion of this life as our b. saviour had ; injuries and temptations , care and persecutions , poverty and labour , humility and patience : it is well ; it is very well ; and who can long for , or expect better here ; when his lord and saviour had a state of things so very much worse then the worst of our calamities : but bad as it is ; it is to be chosen rather then a better ; because it is the high way of the cross ; it is iacobs ladder upon which the saints and the king of the saints did descend and at last ascend to heaven it self ; and bad as it is , it is the method and the inlet to the best ; it is a sharp , but it is a short step to bliss : for it is remarkable in the parable of dives and lazarus , that the poor man , the afflicted saint died first , dives being permitted to his purple and fine linnen , to his delicious fare , and ( which he most of all needed ) to a space of repentance ; but in the mean time the poor man was rescued from his sad portion of this life and carried into abrahams bosome ; where he who was denied in this world to be feasted even with the portion of dogs was placed in the bosome of the patriarch , that is , in the highest room , for so it was in their discubitus or lying down to meat , the chief guest , the most beloved person did lean upon the bosome of the master of the feast , so s. iohn did lean upon the breast of jesus ; and so did lazarus upon the brest of abraham ; or else {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sinus abrahae may be rendred , [ the bay of abraham , ] alluding to the place of rest where ships put in after a tempestuous and dangerous navigation ; the storme was quickly over with the poor man ; and the angel of god brought the good mans soul to a safe port , where he should be disturbed no more : and so saith the spirit ; blessed are the dead which die in the lord ; for they rest from their labours . but this brings me to the second great inquiry . if here we live upon hopes , and that this is a place of hopes , but not this only ; what other place is there where we shall be blessed in our hope , where we shall rest from our labour and our fear and have our hopes in perfection ; that is , all the pleasures which can come from the greatest and the most excellent hope ? not in this life only ] so my text . therefore hereafter : as soon as we die : as soon as ever the soule goes from the body , it is blessed . blessed i say , but not perfect ; it rejoyces in peace and a holy hope : here we have hopes mingled with fear ; there our hope is heightned with joy and confidence ; it is all the comfort that can be in the expectation of unmeasurable joyes : it is only , not fruition , not the joyes of a perfect possession ; but less then that , it is every good thing else . but that i may make my way plain ; i must first remove an objection which seems to overthrow this whole affaire . s. paul intends these words of my text as an argument to prove the resurrection ; we shall rise again with our bodies ; for if in this life only we had hopes , then were we of all men most miserable ; meaning , that unless there be a resurrection , there is no good for us anywhere else ; but if they that dye in the lord were happy before the resurrection ; then we were not of all men most miserable though there were to be no resurrection ; for the godly are presently happy . so that one must fail ; either the resurrection or the intermedial happinesse : the proof of one relies upon the destruction of the other : and because we can no other wayes be happy , therefore there shall be a resurrection . to this i answer , that if the godly instantly upon their dissolution had the vision beatifical , it is very true , that they were not most miserable though there be no resurrection of the dead , though the body were turned into its original nothing : for the joyes of the sight of god would in the soule alone make them infinite recompence for all the sufferings of this world . but that which the saints have after their dissolution , being only the comforts of a holy hope , the argument remains good : for these intermedial hopes being nothing at all but in relation to the resurrection , these hopes do not destroy , but confirme it rather ; and if the resurrection were not to be , we should neither have any hopes here , nor hopes hereafter . and therefore the apostles word is [ if here only we had hopes ] that is , if our hopes only related to this life ; but because our hopes only relate to the life to come , and even after this life we are still but in the regions of an inlarged hope , this life and that interval are both but the same argument to inferre a resurrection ; for they are the hopes of that state , and the joyes of those , hopes , and it is the comfort of that joy which makes them blessed who die in the love of god , and the faith and obedience of the lord jesus . and now to the proposition it selfe . in the state of separation the souls departed perceive the blessing and comfort of their labours ; they are alive after death , and after death immediately they finde great refreshments . iustorum animae in manu dei sunt , & non tanget illos tormentum mortis . [ wisd. 3. ] the torments of death shall not touch the souls of the righteous because they are in the hands of god . and fifteen hundred years after the death of moses we finde him talking with our blessed lord in his transfiguration upon the mount tabor : and as moses was then , so are all the saints immediately after death , praesentes apud dominum , they are present with the lord , and to be so , is not a state of death , and yet of this it is , that s. paul affirms it to be much better then to be alive . and this was the undoubted sentence of the jews before christ and since , and therefore our blessed saviour told the converted thief that he should that day be with him in paradise . now without peradventure he spake so as he was to be understood ; meaning by paradise that which the schools and pulpits of the rabbins did usually speak of it . by paradise till the time of esdras it is certain , the jews only meant that blessed garden in which god once placed adam and eve : but in the time of esdras and so downward when they spake distinctly of things to happen after this life , and began to signifie their new discoveries and modern philosophy by names , they called the state of souls expecting the resurrection of their bodies by the name of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the garden of eden . hence came that forme of comprecation and blessing to the soul of an israelite sit anima ejus in horto eden let his soul be in the garden of eden ; ] and in their solemn prayers at the time of their death they were wont to say [ let his soule rest , and let his sleep be in peace untill the comforter shall come ; open the gates of paradise unto him ] expresly distinguishing paradise from the state of the resurrection . and so it is evident in the entercourse on the crosse between christ and the converted thief . that day both were to be in paradise : but christ himself was not then ascended into heaven , and therefore paradise was no part of that region where christ now and hereafter the saints shall reign in glory . for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} did by use and custome signifie any place of beauty and pleasure . so the lxx . read eccles. 2. 5. i made me gardens and orchards , i made me a paradise , so it is in the greek ; and cicero having found this strange word in zenophon renders it by [ agrum conseptum ac diligentèr consitum : ] a field well hedg'd and set with flowers and fruits . vivarium , gellius renders it , a place to keep birds and beasts alive for pleasure . pollux sayes this word was persian by its original ; yet because by traduction it became hebrew , we may best learn the meaning of it from the jews who used it most often , and whose sense we better understand . their meaning therefore was this ; that as paradise or the garden of eden was a place of great beauty , pleasure and tranquillity ; so the state of separate souls was a state of peace and excellent delights . so philo , allegorically does expound paradise . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for the trees that grow in paradise are not like ours , but they bring forth knowledge and life , and immortality . it is therefore more then probable , that when the converted thief heard our blessed saviour speak of paradise or gan eden , he who was a jew and heard that on that day he should be there , understood the meaning to be that he should be there where all the good jews did believe the souls of abraham , isaac and iacob to be placed . as if christ had said ; though you only ask to be remembred when i come into my kingdome , not only that shall be performed in time , but even to day thou shalt have great refreshment ; and this the hellenist jews called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the rest of paradise , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the comfort of paradise , the word being also warranted from that concerning lazarus {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} he is comforted . but this we learn more perfectly from the raptures of s. paul . he knew a man ( meaning himself ) rapt up into the third heaven . and i knew such a man how that he was caught up into paradise . [ 2 cor. 2. 3. ] the raptures & visions were distinct ; for s. paul being a jew and speaking after the manner of his nation makes paradise a distinct thing from the third heaven . for the jews deny any orbes to be in heaven ; but they make three regions only ; the one of clouds , the second of starrs , and the third of angels . to this third or supreme heaven was s. paul wrapt ; but he was also born to paradise ; to another place , distinct and separate by time and station . for by paradise , his countreymen never understood the third heaven ; but there also it was that he heard {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} unspeakable words , great glorifications of god , huge excellencies , such which he might not , or could not utter here below . the effect of these considerations is this , that although the saints are not yet admitted to the blessings consequent to a happy resurrection , yet they have the intermedial entertainments of a present and a great joy . to this purpose are those words to be understood . [ to him that overcomes will i give to eate of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god : [ revel. 2. 7. ] that is , if i may have leave to expound these words to mean what the jews did about that time understand by such words ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the tree of life does signifie the principle of peace and holiness , of wisdome and comforts for ever . philo expounding it calls it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the worship of god , the greatest of all vertues by which the soul is made to live for ever ; as if by eating of this tree of life in the paradise of god they did mean , that they who die well , shall immediately be feasted with the deliciousness of a holy conscience : which the spirit of god expresses by saying they shall walke up and down in white garments and their works shall follow them ; their tree of life shall germinate ; they shall then feel the comforts of having done good works ; a sweet remembrance and a holy peace shall caresse and feast them ; and there they shall walk up and down in white , [ revel. 3. 4 , 5. & 14. 13. ] that is , as candidates of the resurrection to immortality . and this allegory of the garden of eden and paradise was so heartily pursued by the jews to represent the state of separation , that the essens describe that state by the circumstances and ornaments of a blessed garden . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a region that is not troubled with clouds or shours , or storms , or blasts , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but a place which is perpetually refreshed with delicious breaths . this was it which the heathens did dream concerning the elysian fields : for all the notices {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} concerning the regions of separate souls came into greece from the barbarians ( sayes diodorus siculus ) and tertullian observes ; although we call that paradise which is a place appointed to receive the souls of the saints , and that this is separated from the notices of the world by a wall of fire , a portion of the torrid zone ( which he supposes to be meant by the flaming sword of the angel placed at the gates of paradise ) yet ( sayes he ) the elysian fields have already possessed the faith and opinions of men . all comes from the same fountain ; the doctrine of the old synagogue confirmed by the words of christ and the commentaries of the apostles ; viz. that after death before the day of judgment there is a paradise for gods servants , a region of rest , of comfort and holy expectations . and therefore it is remarkable that these words of the psalmist , nerapias me in medio dierum meorum . [ psal. 102. v. 25. ] snatch me not away in the midst of my dayes , in the hebrew it is , ne facias me ascendere , make me not to ascend or to goe upwards , meaning , to the supernatural regions of separate souls , who after death are in their beginnings of exaltation . for to them that die in the lord , death is a preferment ; it is a part of their great good fortune ; for death hath not only lost the sting ; but it brings a coronet in his hand which shall invest and adorne the heads of saints till that day comes in which the crown of righteousness shall be brought forth to give them the investiture of an everlasting kingdome . but that i may make up this proposition usefull and clear , i am to adde some things by way of supplement . 1. this place of separation was called paradise by the jews , and by christ , and after christs ascension , by s. iohn : because it signifies a place of pleasure and rest ; and therefore by the same analogy the word may be still used in all the periods of the world , though the circumstances , or though the state of things be changed . it is generally supposed that this had a proper name , and in the old testament was called abrahams bosome ; that is , the region where abraham , isaac and iacob did dwell till the comming of christ . but i suppose my selfe to have great reason to dissent from this common opinion ; for this word of abrahams bosome , being but once used in both the testaments , and then particularly applied to the person of lazarus , must needs signifie the eminence and priviledge of joy that lazarus had ; for all that were in the blessed state of separation were not in abrahams bosome , but only the best and the most excellent persons ; but they were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} with abraham ; and the analogy of the phrase to the manner of the jewish feastings , where the best guest did lye in the bosome of the master , that is , had the best place , makes it most reasonable to believe that abrahams bosome does not signifie the general state of separation , even of the blessed ; but the choicest place in that state , a greater degree of blessedness . but because he is the father of the faithful , therefore to be with abraham , or to sit down with abraham ( in the time of the old testament ) did signifie the same thing as to be in paradise ; but to be in abrahams bosome signifies a great eminence of place and comfort , which is indulged to the most excellent and the most afflicted . 2. although the state of separation may now also and is by s. iohn called paradise ; because the allegory still holds perfectly , as signifying comfort and holy pleasures ; yet the spirits of good men are not said to be with abrahams but to be with christ ; and as being with abraham was the specification of the more general word of paradise in the old testament ; so being with christ is the specification of it in the new . so s. stephen prayed , lord iesus receive my spirit ; and s. paul said , i desire to be dissolved and to be with christ : which expression s. polycarp also used in his epistle to the philippians {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are in the place that is due to them , they are with the lord , that is , in the hands , in the custody of the lord jesus ; as appears in the words of s. steven and s. paul . so s. ierome . scimus nepotianum nostrum esse cum christo & sanctorum mixtum choris , we know that our nepotian is with christ , mingled in the quires of saints . upon this account ( and it is not at all unreasonable ) the church hath conjectur'd , that the state of separate souls since the glorification of our lord is much better'd and advanc'd and their comforts greater : because as before christs coming the expectation of the saints that slept , was fixed upon the revelation of the messias in his first coming ; so now it is upon his second coming unto judgment , and in his glory . this improvement of their condition is well intimated by their being said to be under the altar , that is , under the protection of christ , under the powers and benefits of his priesthood , by which he makes continuall intercession both for them and us . this place some of the old doctors understood too literally , and from hence they believed that the souls of departed saints were under their material altars ; which fancy produced that fond decree of the councel of eliberis ( can. 3. 4. ) [ that wax lights should not by day be burnt in coemeteries inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt ] left the spirits of saints should by the light of the diurnal tapers be disquieted : this reason , though it be trifling and impertinent , yet it declares their opinion , that they supposed the souls to be neer their reliques which were placed under the altars * but better then this , their state is described by s. iohn in these words [ therefore they are before the throne of god , and serve him night and day in his temple , and he that sits upon the throne shall dwell among them ] with which general words , as being modest bounds to our inquiries , enough to tell us it is rarely well , but enough also to chastise all curious questions , let us remain content , and labour with faith and patience , with hope and charity to be made worthy to partake of those comforts , after which when we have long inquired , when at last we come to try what they are , we shall finde them much better and much otherwise then we imagine . 3. i am to admonish this also , that although our blessed saviour is in the creed said to descend {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} into hell ( so we render it ) yet this does not at all prejudice his other words [ this day shalt thou be with me in paradise ] for the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifies indefinitely the state of separation whether blessed or accursed ; it means only the invisible place , or the region of darkness whither who so descends shall be no no more seen . for as among the heathens the elysian fields and tartara are both {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : so amongst the jews and christians paradisus and gehenna are the distinct states of hades . of the first we have a plain testimony in diphilus . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . in hades there are two wayes , one for just men , and another for the impious . of the second we have the testimony of iosephus , who speaking of the sadduces , says , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they take away or deny the rewards and punishments respectively which are in hades , or in the state of separation : so that if christs soul was in paradise , he was in hades . in vain therefore does s. augustine torment himself to tell , how christ could be in both places at once ; when it is no harder then to tell how a man may be in england and at london at the same time . 4. it is observable that in the mentions of paradise by s. iohn , he twice speaks of the tree of life , but never of the tree of knowledge of good and evil : because this was the symbol of secular knowledge , of prudence and skill of doing things of this world which we can naturally use ; we may smel and taste them , but not feed upon them , that is , these are no part of our enjoyment , and if we be given up to the study of such notices and be immerged in the things of this world , we cannot attend to the studies of religion and of the divine service . but these cares and secular divertisements shall cease when our souls are placed in paradise : there shall be no care taken for raising portions for our children , nor to provide bread for our tables , no cunning contrivances to be safe from the crafty snares of an enemy , no amazement at losses , no fear of slanderings , or of the gripes of publicans , but we shall feed on the tree of life , love of god , and longings for the comming of christ . we are then all spirit and our imployment shall be symbolical , that is , spiritual , and holy , and pleasant . i have now made it as evident as questions of this nature will bear , that in the state of separation the spirits of good men shall be blessed and happy souls : they have an antepast or taste of their reward : but their great reward it self , their crown of righteousness shall not be yet ; that shall not be , until the day of judgement : and this was the third proposition i undertook to prove ; the consummation and perfection of the saints felicity shall be at the resurrection of the dead . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; at his coming ; so s. iohn expresses the time , that we may not then be ashamed . for now we are the sons of gods , but it does not yet appear what we shall be . but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like unto him and see him as he is . [ 1 iohn 2. 28. 1 iohn 3. 4. ] at his glorious appearing , we also shall appear glorious ; we shall see him as he is ; but till then , this beatific vision shall not be at all ; but for the interval , the case is otherwise . tertullian affirms puniri et foveri animam interim in inferis sub expectatione utriusque judicii , in quadam usurpatione et candida ejus ; [ lib. de anima , e. lib. adv. marcion . ] the souls are punished or refreshed in their regions expecting the day of their judgement and several sentences : habitacula illa , animarum promptuaria nominavit scriptura ( saith s. ambrose , ) [ de bono mortis cap. 10. ] the scripture calls these habitations , the promptuaries , or repositories of souls . there is comfort , but not the full reward ; a certain expectation supported with excellent intervals of joy : refrigerium , so the latins call it , a refreshment . donec consummatio rerum resurrectionem omnium plenitudine mercedis expungat tune apparitura coelesti promissione , saith tertullian , until the consummation of all things points out the resurrection , by the fulness of reward and the appearing of the heavenly promise . so the author of the questions ad orthodoxos [ quaest. 75. ] immediately after death , presently there is a separation of the just from the unjust ; for they are born by angels {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} into the places they have deserved ; and they are in those places {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} kept unto the day of resurrection and retribution . but what do they in the mean time ? how is it with them ? {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , sayes nazianzen . [ orat . funebr . caesar . fratris . ] they rejoyce and are delighted in a wonderful joy . they see angels and archangels , they converse with them , and see our b. saviour iesus in his glorified humanity ; so iustin martyr . [ ubi suprà ] but in these great joys they look forgreater . they are now in paradiso ; but they long that the body and soul may be in heaven together ; but this is the glory of the day of judgement , the fruit of the resurrection . and this whole affair is agreeable to reason , & the analogy of the whole dispensation as it is generally and particularly described in scripture . for when the greatest effect of the divine power , the mightiest promise , the hardest thing to christan faith , that impossible thing to gentile philosophy , the expectation of the whole world , the new creation , when that shall come to pass , viz. that the souls shall be reinvested with their bodies , when the ashes of dissolved bones shall stand up a new and living frame , to suppose that then there shall be nothing done in order to eternity , but to publish the salvation of saints of which they were possessed before , is to make a great solemnity for nothing , to do great things for no great end , and therefore it is not reasonable to suppose it . for if it were a good argument of the apostle , that the patriarks and saints of the old testament received not the promises signified by canaan and the land of promise , because god had provided some better thing for us , that without us they should not be made perfect ; it must also conclude of all alike ; that they who died since christ must stay till the last day , that they and we and all may be made perfect together . and this very thing was told to the spirits of the martyrs who under the altar cried how long o lord &c. [ rev. 6. 10. ] that they should rest yet for a little season , untill their fellow servants also shall be fulfilled . upon this account it is that the day of judgment is a day of recompence : so said our blessed lord himself [ thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just ] ( luke 14. 14. ) and this is the day in which all things shall be restored : for [ the heavens must receive jesus till the time of restitution of all things ] [ acts 3. 7. ] and till then the reward is said to be laid up . so s. paul . henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which the righteous iudge shall give me in that day : and that you may know he means the resurrection and the day of judgment ; he addes [ and not to me only , but to all them that love his coming : 2 tim. 4. 8. ] of whom it is certain many shall be alive at that day ; and therefore cannot before that day receive the crown of righteousness : and then also , and not till then , shall be his appearing ; but till then it is a depositum . the summe is this . in the world we walk and live by faith : in the state of separation we live by hope : and in the resurrection we shall live by an eternal charity . here we see god as in a glass darkly : in the separation we shall behold him ; but it is afar off : and after the resurrection we shall see him face to face , in the everlasting comprehensions of an intuitive beatitude . in this life we are warriors : in the separation we are conquerors : but we shall not triumph till after the resurrection . and in proportion to this is also the state of devils and damned spirits . art thou come to torment us before the time , said the devils to our b. saviour ; there is for them also an appointed time ; and when that is , we learn from s. iud. 6. they are reserved in chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day . well therefore did s. iames affirme , that the devils believe and tremble ; and so do the damned souls , with an insupportable amazement fearing the revelation of that day . they know that day will come , and they know they shall finde an intolerable sentence on that day ; and they fear infinitely , and are in amazement and confusion , feeling the worme of conscience , and are in the state of devils who fear god and hate him ; they tremble but they love him not ; and yet they die because they would not love him ; because they would not with all their powers and strengths keep his commandments . this doctrine though of late it hath been laid aside upon the interest of the church of rome and for compliance with some other schools , yet was it universally the doctrine of the primitive church ; as appears out of iustin martyr who in his dialogues with tryphon reckons this amongst the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} errors of some men who say there shall be no resurrection of the dead ; but that as soon as good men are dead {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} their souls are taken up immediately into heaven ; and the writer of the questions ad orthodoxos asks , [ qu. 76. q , 60. q. 75. ] whether before the resurrection there shall be a reward of works ? because to the thief paradise was promised that day . he answers , it was fit the thief should goe to paradise and there perceive what things should be given to the works of faith ; but there he is kept {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} untill the day of resurrection and reward . but in paradise the soul hath an intellectual perception both of her self and of those things which were under her . concerning which i shall not need to heap up testimonies ; this only : it is the doctrine of the greek church unto this day , and was the opinion of the greatest part of the antient church both latine and greek ; and by degrees was in the west eaten out by the doctrine of purgatory and invocation of saints ; and rejected a little above two hundred years agoe in the councel of florence ; and since that time it hath been more generally taught that the souls of good men enjoy the beatific vision before the resurrection ; even presently upon the dissolution . according to which new opinion it will be impossible to understand the meaning of my text , and of diverse other places of scripture which i have now alledged and explicated ; or at all to perceive the oeconomy and dispensation of the day of judgment ; or how it can be a day of discerning ; or how the reapers , the angels shall bind up the wicked in bundles and throw them into the unquenchable fire ; or yet how it can be useful or necessary or prudent for christ to give a solemn sentence upon all the world ; or how it can be that that day should be so formidable and full of terrors , when nothing can affright those that have long enjoyed the beatific presence of god ; and no thunders or earthquakes can affright them who have upon them the biggest evil in the world , i mean , the damned who according to this opinion have been in hell for many ages : and it can mean nothing but to them that are alive ; and then it is but a particular , not an universal judgment ; and after all , it can pretend to no piety , to no scripture , to no reason ; and only can serve the ends of the church of rome ; who can no way better be confuted in their invocation of saints then by this truth , that the saints do not yet enjoy the beatific vision ; and though they are in a state of ease and comfort , yet are they not in a state of power and glory , and kingdome till the day of judgment . this also perfectly does overthrow the doctrine of purgatory . for as the saints departed are not perfect , and therefore certainly not to be invocated not to be made our patrons and advocates : so neither are they in such a condition as to be in torment ; and it is impossible that any wise man should believe , that the souls of good men after death should endure the sharp pains of hell , and yet at the same time believe those words of scripture , blessed are the dead that die in the lord ; from henceforth ; yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours , and their works doe follow them . ( rev. 24. 13. ) if they can rest in beds of fire , and sing hymns of glory in the torments of the damned ; if their labours are done when their pains are almost infinite , then these words of the spirit of god , and that doctrine of purgatory can be reconciled ; else , never to eternal ages . but it is certain , they are words that cannot deceive us , non tanget eos tormentum mortis : torment in death shall never touch them . but having established the proposition and the intended sense of the text , let us a while consider , 1. that god is our god when we die , if we be his servants while we live ; and to be our god signifies very much good to us . he will rescue us from the powers of hell ; the devil shall have no part nor portion in us ; we shall be kept in safe custody , we shall be in the hands of christ , out of which all the powers of hell shall never snatch us , and therefore we may die with confidence , if we die with a good conscience : we have no cause of fear , if we have just grounds to hope for pardon . the turks have a saying , that the christians doe not believe themselves when they talk such glorious things of heaven and the state of separation : for if they did , they would not be so afraid to die ; but they do not so well consider that christians believe all this well enough , but they believe better then they live ; and therefore they believe and tremble , because they do not live after the rate of going to heaven : they knew that for good men glorious things are prepared ; but tophet is prepared for evil kings , and unjust rulers ; for vitious men , and degenerate christians : there is a hell for accursed souls ; and men live without fear of it so long , till their fear as soon as it begins , in an instant passes into despair and the fearful groans of the damned . it is no wonder to see men so unwilling to die ; to be impatient of the thought of death ; to be afraid to make their will , to converse with the solemn scarcrow : he that is fit to die must have long dwelt with it , must handle it on all sides , must feel whether the sting be taken out ; he must examine whether he be in christ , that is , whether he be a new creature . and indeed i do not so much wonder that any man fears to die , as when i see a careless and a wicked person descend to his grave with as much indifferency as he goes to sleep , that is , with no other trouble then that he leaves the world ; but he does not fear to die ; and yet upon the instant of his dissolution he goes into the common receptacle of souls where nothing can be addressed to him but the consequence of what he brings along with him , and he shall presently know whether he shall be saved or damned . we have read of some men who by reading or hearing strange opinions have entred into desperate melancholy , and divers who have perfectly despaired of the divine mercy ; who feeling such horrid convulsions in their souls , such fearful expectations of an eternal curse that not finding themselves able to bear so intolerable a fear have hang'd or drown'd themselves ; and yet they only thought so or feared it ; and might have altered it if they would have hoped and prayed : but then let it be considered ; when the soul is stripp'd of the cloud her body , when she is entred into strange regions and converses only with spirits , and sees plainly all that is within her , when all her sins appeare in their own natural ugliness and set out by their aggravating circumstances ; then she remembers her filthy pleasures and hates them infinitely as being such things to which she then can have no appetite : when she perceives she shall perish for that which is not , for that whose remembrance is intolerable ; when she sees many new secrets which she understood not before , and hath stranger apprehensrons of the wrath of god then ever could be represented in this life ; when she hath the notices of a spirit , and an understanding pure enough to see essences and rightly to weigh all the degrees of things ; when ( possibly ) she is often affrighted with the alarums and conjectures of the day of judgement ; or if she be not , yet certainly knows , not only by faith and fear , but by a clear light and proper knowledge , that it shall certainly come , and its effects shall remain for ever , then she hath time enough to bewail her own folly and remediless infelicity ; if we could now think seriously that things must come to that pass , and place our selves by holy meditation in the circumstances of that condition , and consider what we should then think , how miserably deplore our folly , how comfortless remember our ill gotten wealth ; with how much asperity and deep sighing we should call to mind our foolish pride , our trifling swearing , our beastly drinkings , our unreasonable and brutish lusts , it could not be but we must grow wiser on a sudden , despise the world , betake our selves to a strict religion , reject all vanity of spirit , and be sober and watch unto prayer . * if any of us had but a strange dream , and should in the fears of the night but suppose our selves in hell , and be affrighted with those circumstances of damnation which we can tell of , and use in our imperfect notices of things , it would effect strange changes upon a ductile and malleable spirit . a frequent , severe meditation can do more then a seldome and a phantastic dream ; but an active faith can do more then all the arts and contingencies of fancy or discourse . now it is well with us , and we may yet secure it shall be well with us for ever : but with in an hour it may be otherwise with any of us all , who do not instantly take courses of security . but he that does not , would in such a change soon come to wish that he might exchange his state with the meanest , with the miserablest of all mankind ; with gallislaves and miners , with men condemned to tortures for a good conscience . sed cum pulchra minax succidet membra securis . quam velles spinas tunc habuisse meas . avianus . in the day of felling timber the shrub and the bramble are better then the tallest firre or the goodliest cedar : and a poor saint whose soul is in the hand of jesus , plac'd under the altar , over which our high priest like the cherubim over the propitiatory intercedes perpetually for the hastening of his glory , is better then the greatest tyrant , who if he dies , is undone for ever . for in the interval there shall be rest and comfort to the one , and torment and amazement and hellish confusion to the other : and the day of judgement will come , and it shall appear to all the world , that they whose joys were not in this world , were not of all men most miserable , because their joys and their life were hid with christ in god , and at the resurrection of the just shall be brought forth and be illustrious beyond all the beauties of the world . i have now done with my text , and been the expounder of this part of the divine oracle : but here is another text and another sermon yet . ye have heard moses and the prophets : now hear one from the dead ; whose life and death would each of them make an excellent sermon , if this dead man had a good interpreter : for he being dead yet speaketh , and calleth upon us to live well , and to live quickly , to watch perpetually , and to work assiduously ; for we shall descend into the same shadows of death linquenda tellus , et domus , et placens vxor atque harum quas colis arborum te praeter in visas cupressos nulla brevem dominum sequetur . thou must leave thy rich land , and thy well built house , and thy pleasing wife , and of all the trees of thy orchard or thy wood , nothing shall attend thee to thy grave , but oak for thy coffin , and cypress for thy funeral : it shall not then be inquired how long thou hast liv'd but how well ! none below will be concerned whither thou wert rich or poor ; but all the spirits of light and darkness shall be busie in the scrutiny of thy life ; for the good angels would fain carry thy soul to christ , and if they do the devils will follow and accuse thee there ; and when thou appearest before the righteous judge , what will become of thee unless christ be thy advocate and god be merciful and appeased , and the angels be thy guards and a holy conscience be thy comfort . there will to every one of us come a time when we shall with great passion and great interest inquire , how have i spent my days , how have i laid out my money , how have i imployed my time , how have i served god , and how repented me of my sins : and upon our answers to these questions depends a happy or an unhappy eternitie : and blessed is he who concerning these things takes care in time ; and of this care i may with much confidence and comfort propound to you the example of this good man whose reliques lie before you : sir george dalston , of dalston in cumberland ; a worthy man , belov'd of his country , useful to his friends , friendly to all men , careful of his religion , and a true servant of god . he was descended of an antient and a worthy house in cumberland ; and he adorned his family and extraction with a more worthy comportment ; for to be of a worthy family and to bring to it no stock of our proper vertue is to be upbraided by our family ; and a worthy father can be no honour to his son , when it shall be said ; behold the difference ; this crab descended from a goodly apple-tree ; but he who beautifies the eschutcheon of his ancestors by worthy atchievements , by learning or by wisdome , by valour and by great imployments , by a holy life and an useful converlation ; that man is the parent of his own fame , and a new beginner of an antient family : for as conversation is a perpetual creation ; so is the progression of a family in a line of worthy descendants , a dayly beginning of its honour and a new stabiliment . he was bred in learning ; in which cambridge was his tiring room , and the court of queen elizabeth was his stage in which he first represented the part of a hopeful young man : but there he stayed not ; his friends not being desirous that the levities of youth should be fermented by the liberties of a rich and splendid court , caused him to lie in the restraints and to grow ripe in the sobrieties of a country life and a married state : in which as i am informed he behaved himself with so great worthiness , thiness , and gave such probation of his love of justice , popular regards of his countries good , and abilities to serve them ; that for almost 40. years together his country chose him for their knight to serve in all the intervening parliaments : magistratus indicatorium ; imployment shews the man ; he was a leading man in parliaments ; prevailing there by the great reputation of his justice and integrity ; and yet he was not unpleasant and hated at court : for he had well understood that the true interest of courts and parliaments were one ; and that they are like the humours of the body , if you increase one beyond its limit , that destroys all the rest and it self at last ; and when they look upon themselves as enemies and that hot and cold must fight ; the prevailing part is abated in the conflict , and the vanquish'd part is destroyed : but when they look upon themselves as varieties serving the differing aspects and necessities of the same body , they are for the allay of each others exorbitances and excesses , and by keeping their own measures they preserve the man : this the good man well understood ; for so he comported himself that he was loud in parliaments and valued at court : he was respected in very many parliaments ; and was worthily regarded by the worthy kings : which without an orator commends a man : gravissimi principis judicium in minoribus etiam rebus consequi pulchrum est ; said rliny . to be approved though but in lesser matters by the judgement of a wise prince is a great ornament to the man . for as king theodoric in cassiodore said , nequen . dignus est à quopiam redargui , qui nostro judicio meretur absolvi : no man ought to reprove him whom the king commends . but i need no artifices to represent him worthy ; his arguments of probation were within in the magazines of a good heart and represented themselves by worthy actions . for , god was pleased to invest him with a marvailous sweet nature ; which is certainly to be reckoned as one half of the grace of god : because a good nature being the reliques and remains of that ship wrack which adam made , is the proper and immediate disposition to holiness , as the corruption of adam was to disobedience and peevish councels . a good nature will not upbraid the more imperfect persons , will not deride the ignorant , will not reproach the erring man : will not smite sinners on the face , will not despise the penitent . a good nature is apt to forgive injuries , to pitty the miserable , to rescue the oppressed , to make every ones condition as tolerable as he can : and so would he . for as when good nature is heightned by the grace of god , that which was natural becomes now spiritual ; so these actions which proceeded from an excellent nature and were pleasing and useful to men , when they derive from a new principle of grace they become pleasant in the eyes of god : then obedience to laws is duty to god ; justice is righteousness , bounty becomes graciousness , and alms is charity . and indeed this is a grace in which this good man was very remarkable , being very frequent and much in alms ; tender hearted to the poor ; open handed to relieve their needs ; the bellies of the poor did bless him , he filled them with food and gladness ; and i have heard that he was so regular , so constant , so free in this duty , that in these late unhappy wars being in a garison and neer the suffering some rude accidents , the beggars made themselves his guard and rescued him from that trouble , who had so often rescued them from hunger . he was of a meek and gentle spirit ; but not too soft ; he knew how to do good , and how to put by an injury ; but i have heard it told by them that knew his life , that being by the unavoidable trouble of a great estate ingag'd in great suits at law , he was never plaintiffe , but always upon the defensive part ; and that he had reason on his side and justice for him , i need alledge no other testimony , but that the sentence of his judges so declared it . but that in which i propound this good man most imitable was in his religion , for he was a great lover of the church , a constant attender to the sermons of the church ; a diligent hearer of the prayers of the church , and and an obedient son to perform the commands of the church . he was diligent in his times and circumstances of devotion ; he would often be at church so early that he was seen to walk long in the churhyard before prayers ; being as ready to confess his sins at the beginning , as to receive the blessing at the end of prayers . indeed he was so great a lover of sermons , that though he knew how to value that which was the best , yet he was patient of that which was not so ; and if he could not learn any thing to improve his faith , yet he would finde something to exercise his patience ; and something for charity ; yet this his great love of sermons could not tempt him to a willingness of neglecting the prayers of the church ; of which he was a great lover to his dying day . oves meae exaudiunt vocem meam ( says christ ) my sheep hear my voice ; and so the church says : my sheep hear my voice , they love my words , they pray in my forms , they observe my orders , they delight in my offices , they revere my ministers , and obey my constitutions : and so did he ; loving to have his soul recommended to god , and his needs represented , and his sins confessed , and his pardon implored in the words of his mother in the voice and accent of her that nurs'd him up to a spiritual life , to be a man in christ jesus . he was indeed a great lover and had a great regard for gods ministers , ever remembring the words of god , keep my rest , and reverence my priests , he honoured the calling in all ; but he loved and revered the persons of such who were conscientious keepers of their depositum , that trust which was committed to them ; such which did not for interest quit their conscience , and did not to preserve some parts of their revenue , quit some portions of their religion , he knew that what was true in 1639. was also true in 1644. and so to 57. and shall continue true to eternal ages : and they that change their perswasions by force or interest did neither believe well nor ill upon competent and just grounds ; they are not just , though they happen on the right side . hope of gain did by chance teach them well ; and fear of loss abuses them directly . he pitied the persecuted , and never would take part with persecutors , he prayed for his prince and serv'd him in what he could : he loved god , and lov'd the church ; he was a lover of his countries liberties , and yet an observer of the laws of his king . thus he behaved himself to all his superior relatives ; to his equals and descendants he was also just , and kinde and loving . he was an excellent friend , laying out his own interest to serve theirs ; sparing not himself that he might serve them ; as knowing society to be the advantage of mans nature ; and friendship the ornament of society , and usefulness the ornament of friendship : and in this he was known to be very worthy . he was tender and carefull of his children , and so provident and wife , so loving and obliging to his whole family , that he justly had that love and regard , that duty and observance from them , which his kindness and his care had merited . he was a provident and carefull conductor of his estate ; but farre from covetousness ; as appeared toward the evening of his life ; in which that vice does usually prevail amongst old men , who are more greedy when they have least need and , and load their sumpters so much the more , by how much neerer they are to their journeys end : but he made a demonstration of the contrary ; for he washed his hands and heart of the world , gave up his estate long before his death or sickness to be managed by his only son whom he left since , but then first made and saw him his heir ; he emptied his hands of secular imployment ; medled not with money but for the uses of the poor , for piety , for justice and religion . and now having devested himself of all objections and in his conversation with the world , quitting his affections to it , he wholly gave himself to religion and devotion : he waken'd early and would presently be entertained with reading ; when he rose , still he would be read to and hear some of the psalms of david : and excepting only what time he took for the necessities of his life and health , all the rest he gave to prayer , reading , and meditation ; save only that he did not neglect , or rudely entertain the visits and kinde offices of his neighbours . but in this great vacation from the world ; he espied his advantages ; he knew well according to that saying of the emperor charles 5. oportet inter vitae negotia & diem mortis spatium aliquod intercedere ; there ought to be a valley between two such mountains , the businesses of our life and the troubles of our death ; and he stayed not till the noise of the bridegrooms coming did awaken and affright him ; but by daily prayers twice a day constantly with his family , besides the piety and devotion of his own retirements , by a monethly communion , by weekly sermons and by the religion of every day he stood in precincts , ready with oyle in his lamp watching till his lord should call . and indeed when he was hearing what god did speak to him of duty , he also received his summons to give his account . for he was so pertinacious an attendant to gods holy word and the services of the church , that though he found himself sick , he would not off , but stay till the solemnity was done ; but it pleased god at church to give him his first arrest , and since that time i have often visited him ; and found him alwayes doing his work with the greatest evennes and indifferency of spirit as to the event of life and death that i have observed in any . he was not unwilling to live ; but if he should , he resolved to spend his life wholly in the service of god ; but yet neither was he unwilling to die ; because he then knew he should weep no more , and he should sin no more . he was very confident , but yet with great humility and great modesty , of the pardon of his sins ; he had indeed lived without scandal , but he knew he had not lived without error ; but as god had assisted him to avoid the reproach of great crimes , so he doubted not but he should finde pardon for the less : and indeed i could not but observe that he had in all the time of his sickness a very quiet conscience ; which is to me an excellent demonstration of the state of his life , and of his state of grace and pardon . for though he seemed to have a conscience tender and nice if any evil thing had touched it , yet i could not but apprehend that his peace was a just peace , the mercy of god , and the price and effect of the bloud of jesus . he was so joyfull , so thankfull , so pleased in the ministeries of the church , that it gave in evidence where his soul was most delighted , what it did apprehend the quickest , where it did use to dwell , and what it did most passionately love . he discoursed much of the mercies of god to him , repeated the blessings of his life , the accidents and instruments of his trouble , he loved the cause of his trouble and pardoned them that neither loved it nor him . when he had spent great portions of his time of sickness in the service of god and in expectation of the sentence of his life or death , at last he understood the still voice of god , and that he was to goe where his soul loved to be ; he still increased his devotion ; and being admonished as his strength failed him , to supply his usual forms , and his want of strength and words , by short exercise of vertues , of faith and patience and the love of god ; he did it so willingly , so well , so readily , making his eyes , his hands , and his tongue as long as he could the interpreters of his minde , that as long as he was alive we would see what his soul was doing . he doubted not of the truth of the promises , nor of the goodness of god , nor the satisfaction of christ , and the merits of his death , nor the fruit of his resurrection , nor the prevalency of his intercession , nor yet doubted of his own part in them , but expected his portion in the regions of blessedness with those who loved god and served him heartily and faithfully in their generations . he had so great a patience in his sickness and was so afraid lest he should sin at last ; that his piety out-did his nature , and though the body cannot feel but by the soul , yet his soul seemed so little concerned in the passions of the body , that i neither observed , nor heard of him that he in all his sickness so much as complained with any semblance of impatience . he so continued to pray , so delighted in hearing psalms sung , which i wish were made as fit to sing by their numbers , as they are by their weight , that so very much of his time was spent in them , that it was very likely when his lord came , he would finde him so doing , and he did so ; for in the midst of prayers he went away , and got to heaven as soon as they ; and saw them ( as we hope ) presented to the throne of grace ; he went along with them himself , and was his own messenger to heaven ; where although he possibly might prevent his last prayers , yet he would not prevent gods early mercy ; which as we humbly hope , gave him pardon for his sins , ease of his pain , joy after his sorrow , certainty for his fears , heaven for earth , innocence and impeccability instead of his infirmity . ergo quintilium perpetuus sopor urget cui pudor & justitiae soror , incorrupta fides , nudaque veritas , quando ullum inveniet parem ? faith and justice , modesty and pure righteousness , made him equal to the worthiest examples he was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a good man , loving and humble , meek and patient , he would be sure to be the last in contention , and the first at a peace ; he would injure no man , but yet if any man was displeased with him , he would speak first and offer words of kindness ; if any did dispute concerning priority , he knew how to get it even by yeelding and compliance ; walking profitably with his neighbours and humbly with his god , and having lived a life of piety , he died in a full age , an honourable old age , in the midst of his friends , and in the midst of prayer . and although the events of the other world are hidden to us below that we might live in faith , and walke in hope and die in charity , yet we have great reason to bless god for his mercies to this our brother , and endeavour to comport our selves with a strict religion , and a severe repentance , with an exemplar patience & an exemplar piety , with the structures of a holy life , and the solemnities of a religious death , that we also may , as our consident and humble hope is this our brother doth by the conduct of angels pass into the hands and bosome of jesus , there to expect the most mercifull sentence of the right hand , come ye blessed children of my father , receive the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world . amen lord jesus , amen . grant this eternal god for iesus christ his sake ; to whom with thee o father , and the holy spirit , be all glory and honour , service and dominion , love and obedience , be confessed due , and ever paid by all angels , and all men , and all the creatures this day , henceforth and for evermore . amen . finis . of the happiness of princes led by divine counsel a sermon occasioned by the death of that most excellent princess, our late sovereign, queen mary / by thomas goodwin. goodwin, thomas, 1650?-1716? 1695 approx. 30 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41541 wing g1269 estc r1070 12884511 ocm 12884511 95008 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41541) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95008) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 381:4) of the happiness of princes led by divine counsel a sermon occasioned by the death of that most excellent princess, our late sovereign, queen mary / by thomas goodwin. goodwin, thomas, 1650?-1716? [4], 26 p. printed by j.d. for jonathan robinson ..., london : 1695. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694. bible. -o.t. -psalms lxxii, 24 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-01 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2008-01 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mr. goodwin's sermon on the death of the queen . of the happiness of princes led by divine counsel . a sermon occasioned by the death of that most excellent princess , our late sovereign , queen mary . by thomas goodwin . prov. 31. 29. many daughters have done vertuously , but thou excellest them all . london , printed by j. d. for jonathan robinson at the golden-lion in st. paul's church-yard . 1695. psal. 73. 24. thou shalt guide me with thy counsel , and afterward receive me to glory . if the great and wise god regards the meanest of his creatures , to provide for them in every exigency of their case , to relieve their wants , and help them in all difficulties and distresses , we may be assur'd that his kind and watchful providence is more peculiarly imploy'd about the persons of good and pious princes . while they live in this world , he guides them by his counsel , he steers the course of those kingdoms over which they reign : he by admirable and unaccountable methods , points to a discovery of those dark conspiracies which were aim'd at their ruin : he protects them , and is a safer defence than the greatest numbers of their armed guards . he influenceth their minds and thoughts to observe the wisest and best rules of government ; and he so disposeth the temper of their hearts , that kings become nursing fathers , and queens nursing mothers to his people and church ; when the most who have rul'd the nations of the earth , destitute of this divine care and direction , have been tyrants and oppressors : and when the date of the life and reign of good princes is ended , at the appointed period , god removes them from a low throne on earth , to an higher in heaven ; and he takes off a crown sharpned with troubles and cares , as so many thorns , to set one of undisturbed happiness and glory on their heads . this is the blessed state of just and good princes , so rarely found among men , that god will not only here guide them by his counsel , but lead and securely bring them to his eternal glory . the psalm , tho wrote by asaph , yet hath an apparent regard to david ; and of him as a king , whom god had established on the throne , and prosper'd his reign , guiding the whole course of it by the best and wisest counsels , the words of my text are meant ; which also express the firm confidence which this great king and prophet had in god , that to the latest moments of his life and reign , he would assist him with his successful directions , and that when his last day was ended , he would bring him to the possession of a glory infinitely exceeding all the splendor and magnificence of that royal majesty of which he must be disrobed . it is by these considerations he supports and solaces his soul ; which , upon first thoughts , was vex'd at the prosperity of wicked princes , who grew old in tyranny and oppression , who daily increas'd in greatness and power , tho founded on the blood and ruin of many nations ; who triumph'd in uninterrupted successes , when as his own just and good reign was perpetually disturb'd by the wickedness of his own ungrateful subjects , or the invasions of unjust enemies . but when he consider'd that the wicked counsels by which they acted , would not always be prosperous , for god would blast and confound them ; that all their arts of policy would fail for want of god's direction and blessing ; that all their supports of power would be suddenly broken , and that the ground on which they stood was uncertain and slippery , and so they would tumble into unexpected destruction : when this good king entertain'd himself with these wise and sober thoughts , the hurries of his mind were presently compos'd , and he no longer envied at the prosperity of the wicked , nor complain'd that god was pleas'd to fill his own life with difficulties and troubles . whatever tumults and combustions disquieted the peace of his reign , yet he enjoy'd an undisturb'd repose within his own breast ; and under god's protection and care , he was sure of being inviolably safe . as long as he was led by god's counsels , which never fail of success , he knew certainly that neither his kingdom , nor his own person , could be in danger . he knew that he should live gloriously , and die happy ; that god would receive him to a greater glory , than what he left here ; and that he would only take off an earthly crown , to set an heavenly one infinitely more bright and shining , on his head. thus good princes are entirely bless'd ; while they live , god is not only their guard to defend them , but their chiefest minister of state , to give them the wisest and most faithful counsel ; and when they die , they go off honour'd and lamented by all their people : nor do they leave only a glorious name behind them , but they go to possess a solid , and eternal glory , which fadeth not away . they but step out of one throne , to ascend another in heaven , which cannot be shaken , nor endanger'd . observ . that they are most certainly bless'd whom god loves , and takes care of ; whom he leads by his counsel through all the troublesome passages of their lives ; and after all storms and dangers , lands them safely on the shores of his glorious kingdom above . as he always gives the best advice , so they can never miscarry who follow it ; but if we trust to our own wisdom , and pursue counsels different from what he gives us , we renounce his care , we refuse his instruction , we blindly rush on without him , and so bewilder our selves , that we are fatally lost . he knows what is for our good , and kindly directs us to it . he sees a-far off the threatning danger , and warns us to avoid it . he discerns what may effectually promote our happiness and safety , which is not descry'd by us short-sighted creatures ; and all his counsels have a tendency to bring us unto blessedness : and if we are led by them , we shall not miss of arriving at glory . but he who forsakes this sure guide , most certainly loseth his way ; and is dismally benighted , and falls down a precipice into the place of everlasting night and darkness . i shall consider , 1. what counsel is in general . 2. who the person is , who so graciously offers us his help to conduct us safely by his counsels , through all the temptations , distresses , and dangers of this life . 3. i shall shew how the circumstances of our case make it necessary for us to be counsell'd and directed by god ; and that if we do not mind what he says to us , if we are obstinate and will not observe his directions for our happiness , we must unavoidably be miserable . 4. i shall display the blessed fruits , and effects of being led by god's counsels ; what peace and satisfaction of mind there is in following his guidance , what security in such a course ; what inward joys fill the heart from these thoughts , that we shall be safe through all the time of our lives , and shall be blessed and glorious whenever we die . 1. what is counsel . it is a wise advice to direct us what is fittest to be done according to the circumstances of case ; and what may be the properest , and most successful means to accomplish the intended and desired effect . such counsel all kings want , but few are so happy as to obtain it . thrice happy was our queen , who was not only directed by her counsel of state , but by that of heaven too . it is god the absolute disposer of all affairs both in heaven and earth , as universal monarch of both worlds , who gives out commissions to the kings of the earth ; and when they govern according to his orders , and are led by his counsels , they are fathers of their country , and publick blessings . it is this great and wise god , who alone can make any nation flourishing and prosperous , by instructing the prince , and the senators in wisdom . 2. if we consider the excellent perfections of this mighty counsellor , they all are so many convincing arguments to prevail on us to observe his instructions while we live ; and to have the strongest confidence and hope , that being pursued by us , they will make us happy when we die . 1st . the greatness of god gives authority to his counsel . we redily hearken to those who are above us , and every word which they speak carries a weight in it , and is forcibly impress'd on our minds . if a friend adviseth us to what we apprehend may be an advantage , we chearfully receive , and follow his counsel : but the direction of a superior is a command , and adds the obligation of duty to the consideration of our own benefit . god then who is the greatest above all , may very well guide all by his counsel ; and it is not more a duty than a privilege , to observe the measures of his conduct . within this circle our queen was secure , when in the management of all affairs , she was under the guidance of a power infinitely greater than her own . 2dly . the wisdom of god assures us that his counsels are not obnoxious to the least mistakes : and that by adhering to them , we can never be misguided . the greatest politicians may see their truest rules fail them , and their exactest measures broken ; for there are so many nice circumstances of affairs which indiscernably pass by , and cannot be fore-seen , that it is impossible for the wisest to provide against all events . the best-laid design may be frustrated by very slight unthought of accidents , which could not fall within the prospect of the most careful , and considering designer . but the all-knowing god , who sees the issues of things , before we can discern their beginnings , makes such effectual provisions , that nothing can interrupt , or disappoint his counsels . 3dly . the goodness of god gives us sufficient security , that he will not advise us to any thing for our hurt ; but that all his counsels come full charged with blessings to us . it is condescending goodness , that he will instruct his creatures , whom he might have left to wander and perish in their folly. since then , to prevent their ruin , he is so gracious as to advise them , we may be certain that he doth not direct them to any thing but what is mightily conducive to their welfare and happiness . 3. let us reflect how our weak and helpless condition makes it necessary for us to be counsell'd and directed . what is the greatest among men , without the care and aids of the almighty , but a poor wretched creature abandon'd to misery , and despair ? when encompass'd with amazing difficulties , all his presence of mind is lost , if god doth not reassure him ; and his thoughts are so disorder'd and perplex'd , that he knows not which way to turn himself , nor what knot he should first untie to loosen his intanglements : it is only the thought of his being under the care and conduct of the wise and good god , which can restore his spirit to him , and fortify his resolution . 4. what are the signal advantages of being protected by god's love and care , and guided by his counsels . 1. the assurance that we have of god's kind and careful regard to us , and that he will , sutably to the exigencies of our case , not only protect , but counsel us too , gives us the truest sense of pleasure in every state of life . there is no condition so prosperous , but the consideration of the vanity of its enjoyments , or the fears of a succession of misery , may imbitter it to us . we gain therefore , in the most flourishing circumstances of our days , a double advantage by our interest in god's care and wise conduct : for the experience of it represents to us those blessings we enjoy , not only as pleadges of his love , and testimonies of his favour , but as gifts which infinite wisdom thinks meet to bestow on us , and will teach us to make a right and good use of them ; and this encreaseth their value , and enhanceth the pleasures of enjoyment . the confidence also which we have in a divine providence , kind and indulgent to us , and carefully managing all our concerns for the best purposes of our happiness , doth fence us against too anxious fears of a change of our present easy condition : for tho we know that all things here are variable , yet we are undoubtedly certain that god never alters in the greatest revolutions , which toss this lower world , and wholly change the posture of it . that he continues the same care over those whom he loves , tho their condition is varied . that no extremities of misery , nor perplexities of affairs , can put his wisdom to a loss , but it is always able to shew us a way to escape ; and that therefore tho all the calamities should come upon us which men have either suffered , or do fear , yet we shall be secured by the benefit of divine counsel . the thoughts and hopes of this therefore can only afford us a solid comfort in the deepest plunges of misery : for what can support us in any sad moments of our lives , wherein all things may seem to conspire our destruction , when a storm threatens from all sides , and a wide ruin opens to swallow us ? where can we find ground for hope to settle upon , or from whence can we expect a rescue ? if in so sad and desperate a condition we look on all things about us , we have nothing in prospect but despair . it is the sense of that part which we have in the protection and conduct of god , to whose power all things are subject , and whose wisdom was never perplex'd by the greatest difficulties , which can here alone bear us up from sinking under our despairing thoughts . this faith supported david , psal . 62. 1 , 2. truly my soul waiteth upon god : from him cometh my salvation . he only is my rock and my salvation : he is my defence ; i shall not be greatly moved . and the same faith so strongly establish'd the heart of our queen , that no report of evil tidings , nor appearances of danger , could once move it from its due station , but she firmly bore all events with an equal mind . 2. the apprehension of being guarded by god's careful love , and guided by his counsel , will give us that entire satisfaction of mind , as we shall possess ease and joy within ; which is a rational , and therefore the best and purest pleasure . what greater torment is there , than a man 's own unruly passions when let loose , which rage with the utmost violence ? what delight doth a man feel , when those furies being quell'd , he enjoys an unclouded serenity of mind ? it is the pleasing reflections which we make on our being under the conduct of a good and wise god , which breaths this calm in our troubled breasts , and lays the storms which were rais'd there , either by our own blustering passions , or the impressions of outward accidents : for man is not only expos'd to all manner of present evils , but tormented with the fears of greater to come , which aggravates and sharpens the sadness of his condition : for as an addition to his present distresses , he anticipates those miseries which he apprehends will come upon him ; and all those evils which he yet sees but at a greater distance , are represented by his fears as present in the most horrible appearance . if he be therefore left wholly to the mercy of his present troubles , without any defence , and hath no hopes of his future being prevented , he cannot entertain one comfortable thought : the horror of so sad and dismal a condition , will eternally confound him , and he will always be distracted with his own fears ; prov. 28. 1. the wicked fly when no man pursues : they startle at the least appearance of danger , and fly from those terrible shadows which their own phancies have frightfully drawn : they have no interest in the care and counsel of god , which only can help a forlorn abandon'd creature , and relieve him in the most deplorable extremities : they have no strength to oppose against the dreaded danger , no refuge to fly unto for security . whither shall that man go for advice , whom god refuseth to lead by his counsel ? where can he be safe , whom god will not take care of ? to what power shall he have recourse to defend him , who wants the divine assistance ? or by what hand can be expect to have what he fears turn'd off from him , who hath not the least apprehension that god hath a kind regard to him , and will safely conduct him thrô all the wild and hazardous passages of this world , to eternal bliss and glory ? such a wretched man must necessarily be left to the fury of his own fretting thoughts , and to the violence of the deepest despair , who not only groans under present evils , but is wrack'd by fears of the future , without any hopes of relief . but the happy person , who knows that the whole course of his life is steer'd by a wise and skilful hand , which is so kind as to be careful of his welfare and felicity , may banish all fears and troublesom passions from his breast , reposing himself secure upon the love and care of his god. thus our queen was led by god's counsels ; and though in the administration of affairs she imploy'd that admirable wisdom with which god had endow'd her , and fitted her to sway the scepter of three kingdoms , yet with an entire confidence she committed all the events of government unto him . this made her always easy in her own mind , whatever occasions there were , which would have disquieted any soul less firm than hers ; and her thoughts were ever compos'd and serene . and as god answer'd that trust which she repos'd in him , in leading her by his counsels in the conduct of a reign , which though alas but too short , yet was very difficult , and in preserving her person and government ; so when the sad hour arriv'd , sad indeed to three nations , but glorious to her , in which a period was put to a life so dear to all good men , and which the worst could not but admire , god made good his own promise , and satisfy'd her hopes and earnest wishes , in bringing her to his glory . in the joyful assurance of this , the great soul took its flight to its redeemer , and is for ever with the lord. she is gone , and hath left us to our sighs and tears , to bewail a loss , of which every day will make us more and more sensible . she is retir'd out of sight , and our eyes will no longer be charm'd with the view of so many excellencies , as are the wonder of this age , and will difficultly be believ'd by the succeeding , to have been found in any one single person . she was weary of the troubles which infest this lower region , where nothing but sin and sorrows dwell , and silently withdrew to a safe and pleasant retreat . her calm and gentle soul was contrary to storms , though it was never disturb'd by them ; and by the direction of god's counsel it hath arriv'd in a quiet and smooth haven , while looking on this little world , it sees every shore cover'd with the sad scatter'd remains of innumerable shipwracks of princes and nations , whom god led not by his counsels , but left them to steer their own fatal course . she enjoys not only a perpetual peace , and uninterrupted pleasures for ever more , psal . 16. 11. after all her cares and labours employ'd for the happiness of her subjects , but god hath brought her to his glory ; a glory which , being above our highest thoughts , must necessarily exceed the compass of any words to express it ; an eternal glory which can never decay , and in comparison of which all the magnificence of the greatest earthly monarchs , is but the pageantry of an hour , and a transitory shew . but though she hath left this world , her great and honourable name and memory will never leave it ; that , immortal as her mind , will be had in everlasting remembrance , and princes in many ages to come , will strive to resemble her character , as the most exact pattern of an excellent queen . she was greater by her vertues , than by her birth and dignity ; and the blood of kings which flow'd in her veins , was one of the least things which enobled her. those extraordinary qualities by which she was so illustriously distinguish'd from all others among men , would have rendred her worthy of the greatest crown on earth , tho she had not been born to one : and if she had liv'd among nations , where not distinction of birth , but the suffrages of the people , place the crown upon the worthiest head , and the power of empire is conferr'd on the person , whose majestick presence , and great and noble mind , recommend him as the most deserving and fittest to command others , whom he so eminently excells ; her alone appearance among the assembled tribes , at the very first sight , would have determin'd the choice of the rejoicing people . never was in any finite person , such a due mixture of sweetness and majesty ; and royal greatness was never so equally lov'd and rever'd before . we saw , with a surprizing amazement , all those manly vertues in the softer sex , which we admire in a heroe ; wisdom in counsels , a steady firmness of mind amidst all the perplexing difficulties of government , and a resolution never startled by the sudden appearance of any sad accidents or unexpected dangers . but accomplishments of nature have been seen , and with wicked flattery have been ador'd in heathen princes ; though the greatest examples of them cannot , by many degrees , reach the height of our queen : she excell'd them in all the heroick vertues with which god hath been pleas'd ( that the designs of his providence might be effected ) to dignify sinful humane nature in several persons , who neither knew nor acknowledg'd him . a crown never shin'd so brightly before , though worn by many kings of the christian name , because the grace of god , which so very rarely sparkles there , hath never , since the time of david , spread such a lustre on any crowned head. our queen ( whose loss not only we , but many ages to come will deplore ) was not only great , but truly religious ; she had not meerly the vertues of an excellent princess worthy to command men , but the graces of a christian . she had not the empty title of defender of the faith , but knew , and heartily believ'd the truths of the gospel , and felt their lively influence on her heart , and the fruits were visibly apparent in the actions of her life . she wore a crown , not to glory in the pride of majesty , but to feel the weight of it ; and the regal power did not administer to her the luxuries and pleasures of a court , but the anxious cares of government ; and when other kings have been only solicitous to make the throne easy and delightful , and to indulge themselves in all things which the licentiousness of a scepter would afford , she alone burden'd her self with the affairs of three kingdoms ; and her constant thoughts were to provide for the welfare and safety of her numerous subjects in them all . this was her troublesome employment ; religion was her great and pleasing business , as those many hours which she spent in sacred retirement , and a spiritual converse between god and her own soul , did evidence . these happy moments solaced her amidst all the disquiets of her reign , and eas'd the burden of that crown which would otherwise have oppress'd her . as she lov'd her lord jesus , she made him her support , trusted in him , cast her care upon him , according to the direction of the apostle peter ; and her faith and hope in him , who is king of kings , made her soul calm and serene , when threatning storms arose , and the hearts of all the people trembled : her faith did not only establish her mind , but was fruitful in good works towards others ; and that remarkable and distinguishing character of a true christian , which could never be found in the most celebrated instances of ethnick vertue , was eminently discern'd in her. she lov'd and did good to them who hated her ; and they that could not be her enemies , without being so of their country too , felt the blessings of a government which they so eagerly endeavour'd to subvert . she reliev'd their wants , who would have rejoic'd to see her reduc'd to the condition of the meanest of her subjects ; and who not only murmur'd , but would have cut off the hand which fed them . they then who regarding only their private gain and interest , and insensible of the calamity of the country , triumph'd at her death , might yet with better reason have bewail'd their private loss in the publick one of the nation ; for they soon were sensible of the decay of those streams of bounty which refresh'd them , when the spring was dry'd up . as such instances of all princely qualities , join'd with the graces of a saint , are very extraordinary , we ought to acknowledg them as publick blessings , and most joyfully to praise god , that he hath favour'd this nation with such examples , as very rarely appear upon earth : we ought to value , love and reverence their persons , to do all that we can to ease the cares and weight of a crown , by our chearful obedience to all just commands ; and by our readiness to imploy our lives , and all that we have , for the support of their government . when god deprives a people of a wise , good , and pious king or queen , we should tremble at such a dreadful and portentous sign of his displeasure , as foreboding ruin to us , if we will yet be obstinately resolv'd to continue in sin , and refuse to be reform'd . we ought not only to bewail the loss of so much excellence in the death of the queen , but to lament it as a national calamity , and to feel the wound that is struck so deep into the very bowels of our country . when good princes die , the strong and healthy constitution of a good government is impair'd ; and the life and vigour being gone , with the departure of the universal soul by which it was animated , a kingdom lies expiring , when they resign their latest breath . this draws tears from all eyes at their funerals , and not only the court , but a whole nation goes into mourning . our sorrow should sharpen a just hatred and indignation against our sins , as the causes of that dismal calamity , which occasions it . the sins of a country shorten the lives of those , who are the fathers of it . they infect the air of a nation ; and good princes first fall , and then the unguarded people perish in whole multitudes . they destroy with a swifter violence than the malignant designs of secret , or the swords of open enemies . let us not put our entire trust in princes , though the best upon earth ; for none but god who cannot die , nor any of his perfections ever decay , but are unchangeable , is strong enough to bear up all the confidence we can put in him . we have sadly experienc'd how soon we may be disappointed in the best of creatures . what great , and just expectations had we from the reign of a princess , in whom regal power was join'd with goodness , and grace ? how did we promise to our selves from the vigorous constitution of her youth , not only happy influences , and prosperity of her government , but also a long continuance ? but how soon were our desires and expectations blasted on a sudden ? and when we did not suspect it , a cruel and treacherous disease in a few hours murther'd all our hopes . it is then in our lord jesus christ alone , who is king of kings , and lord of lords , and who presides not only over nations , but the persons of kings themselves , that we ought perfectly to confide ; and if we believe , and trust in him , be will here lead us by his counsel , and assuredly bring us to his eternal glory . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a41541-e170 isa . 9. 6. psal . 112. 6. 2 chron. 35. 24. the checqver-work of god's providences, towards his own people, made up of blacks and whites, viz., of their abasements, and advancements, their distresses, and deliverances, their sullying tribulations, and beautifying relaxations represented in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful servant of the lord, mary the late wife of joseph jackson esq, alderman of the city of bristol, on the 5 day of may, anno dom. 1657 / by francis roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a57375 of text r6081 in the english short title catalog (wing r1581). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 110 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 27 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a57375 wing r1581 estc r6081 11893674 ocm 11893674 50495 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57375) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50495) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 508:32) the checqver-work of god's providences, towards his own people, made up of blacks and whites, viz., of their abasements, and advancements, their distresses, and deliverances, their sullying tribulations, and beautifying relaxations represented in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful servant of the lord, mary the late wife of joseph jackson esq, alderman of the city of bristol, on the 5 day of may, anno dom. 1657 / by francis roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. [10], 40 p. printed by r.w. for g. calvert ..., london : 1657. reproduction of original in bristol public library. eng jackson, mary, d. 1657. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a57375 r6081 (wing r1581). civilwar no the checqver-work of god's providences, towards his own people, made up of blacks and whites: viz. of their abasements, and advancements; th roberts, francis 1657 19469 208 80 0 0 0 0 148 f the rate of 148 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-03 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the checqver-work of god's providences , towards his own people , made up of blacks and whites : viz ▪ of their abasements , and advancements ; their distresses , and deliverances ; their sullying tribulations , and beautifying relaxations : represented in a sermon preached at the funeral of that faithful servant of the lord , mary the late wife of joseph jackson esq alderman of the city of bristol ; on the 5. day of may , anno dom. 1657. by francis roberts , pastor of the church at wrington . job 23. 10. when he hath tryed me , i shall come forth as gold . acts 14. 22. we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god . london , printed by r. w. for george calvert , at the sign of the half-moon in pauls church-yard . 1657. to my much honoured friend ioseph iackson esque alderman of the city of bristol ; as also , to all the entirely beloved children of mary his late dear and gracious yoke-fellow , now sleeping in iesus , yea living with iesus ; grace , mercy and peace , from the father of mercies , and god of all consolation . my dear christian friends , when , upon your desires , i had preached this ensuing sermon at the late sad funeral of such a wife , of such a mother , as you not long since had , i thought my work about this particular had been at a period . since which , through the importunity of divers my near and dear relations ( whose request is to me a virtual command ) thinking better of it then i my self , i have been induced to publish it , for the benefit of them and other . the good lord add his blessing both to what was then spoken , and is now written : for furthering of their faith , and helping of their joy . and now i present the sermon a revised ( and where it was needful a little enlarged ) unto you : who , from her own designation , recommended the present text to me . the jewel in the words deserves a richer cabinet ; yea and her sacred dust a better monument : but till you meet with richer and better , let this be favourably accepted . not long since , b my self was ( by reason of a continuing fever ) not far from the c hand of the grave : but the living god d hath loved my soul from the pit of corruption . so that in this sermon i have preached , mine own experiences , and her expectations of deliverance . the gracious lord , ( whose methods of mercy are many ) hath released us both from our respective extremities , as from the e pots : me from death , that i might live to his praise a while on earth : her , by death , that she may live in his praise for ever in heaven . thrice blessed be the god and father of mercies , for all the mysteries of his mercies . may i now speak a few words of advice to you that survive : especially to you the dear and hopeful children of so happy a mother ? my sincere love to her , mine ●rdent longings after your salvation , constrain me : and i cannot hold my peace . let me stand a while as in your late mothers stead . o let my counsel be accepted and embraced . 1. become godly and religious betimes . f know , fear , love and serve god from your very youth . g remember your creator in the daies of your youth . early christians are happy christians . under the old testament god called for the h first-fruits of the ground , and the i firstlings of the flock ; much more he expects the firstlings of our daies , of our youth , of our strength . think of k samuel , l david , m solomon , n obadiah , o josiah , p john baptist , q timothy , and r jesus christ himself : how religios they were in their very youth , and tread in their steps . oh what sins and iniquities are prevented : what experiences of god are up-heaped : how large a seed● time of grace and good works is obtained : how long opportunities of s making our calling and election sure are enjoyed , by giving up our selves to god betimes . 2. be sincerely and entirely religious . hypocrisie , is a meer mockery in religion : which occasions t the deeper condemnation . content not your selves with u a name to live , but be alive indeed . rest not in x the form , but look to the power of godliness . y serve the lord with a perfect heart . seek , love , and obey him z with the whole heart . let the whole soul be as it were woaded in grace . fill your judgements with knowledge and truth , your consciences with purity , your wills with ●ractableness , your hearts and affections with heavenliness , &c. approve your selves throughout to god : that you may say as peter ; a lord thou knowest all things , thou knowest i love thee , i fear thee , i trust in thee , &c. 3. maintain sweet communion with god in jesus christ . walk closely with god every day , as b enoch , c noah , d abraham , e david , &c. think of him frequently ; desire him vehemently ; love him entirely ; be never well but in his presence . accept all stirrings of his spirit , glimpses of his face , tasts of his love . open with him every morning , shut with him ( like the sun-flower ) every night , turn towards him , and pant after him all the day long . say f whom have we in heaven but thee ? &c. thus you shall recover the lost paradise , thus you shall live as in an heaven on earth : and when you come to die , you shall but exchange one heaven for another and a better ; a spiritual heaven of grace for an eternal heaven of glory . 4. let jesus christ be your all : your g wisdom , to guide you : your righteousness , to justifie you : your sanctification , to cleanse you : your redemption , to save you . if you hunger , he is h mannah : if you thirst , he gives i living water : if you faint , he is k the consolation of israel : if you pray , he is l an advocate with the father : if you conflict with spiritual enemies , he is your m victory and triumph , : if you live , he is your n hope : if you die , be is your o gain : if you be buried also , he is your p life and resurrection . o let him be the q alpha and omega , the center and circumference , yea the very r all in all , your desires , loves , ioyes , delights , endeavours and undertakings . if you want christ , you want all things : if you have christ , you want nothing . in all your joyes , christ is the highest exultation : in all your sorrows , christ is the sweetest consolation : in all your gains , christ is the chief remuneration : in all your losses , christ is the richest compensation . in him make up the loss of wife and mother . all sweetness , dearness , tenderness , fulness , contentment , satisfaction , consolation and happiness is a thousand fold in him more then in these , or all the relations of the world . these are but glimmering lamps , he is the glorious sun ; these are but broken cisterns , he is the living fountain ; these are but little drops , he is the boundless ocean . now therefore turn all your desires and a●fections towards him , and be fully satisfied . one christ , is beyond ten thousand worlds . 5. strive after well-grounded assurance of a good spiritual state . labour not only , that god , christ , grace , and glory may be yours : but also , that ye may know assuredly they are yours . assurance is possible ; for s gods spirit is given to help us to it , &c. t many have attained it . assurance is necessary : for god hath charged us to endeavour after it ; u give diligence to make your calling and election sure , &c. and assurance is very comfortable , and advantagious to our x perseverance . this held up y job under all his misery . this cheared up z paul against approaching death . 6. contend exceedingly , that a grace may still be growing ; and sin be dying . the more grace , and the less sin : the less like satan , the more like god ; the further from hell , the nearer to heaven . the b abolition of sin , and the perfection of grace , are the suburbs of glory . 7. live to god , and upon god in christ , that you may live with god and with christ . c live to god , in all holy , heavenly , and blameless conversation ; d live upon god , in all constant faithful dependance : that you may e live with god and christ in immediate eternal enjoyments . 8. live in f love one to another , and towards all gods people . love entirely , love affectionately , love christianly in order chiefly to spirituals and eternals . sincere love is the g badge and character of christs disciples on earth ; and h love will be part of the crown of christs members in heaven . oh ye dear children that tumbled in the same bowels , still retain the i same mind , heart and affection one towards another . you shall have adversaries enough in the world : and therefore never be one anothers adversaries . so live in love together on e●rth , as those that look to live in ravishments together in heaven . 9 highly prize and frequent all the means of grace in publick and private gods ordinances are his sacred channels wherein alone in ordinary , his streams of grace do flow . haw did david k exult in the enjoyment of them ! how did he l lament in the want of them ! christians ought to m observe all christs commandments and ordinances . they n must not forsake the assembling of themselves together , as the manner of some is , ● o blessed is that people that know the joyful sound ! the p new covenant , and the administrations thereof are to continue till the end of this world : and therefore they ought still to be attended upon by all gods new covenant people . 10. be q constant , stedfast , persevering , and abounding in faith , obedience , and all goodness unto the end . be faithful to the death : then r you shall receive a crown of life ; then s you shall receive a full reward . t be not weary of well-doing , for in due time ye shall reap if ye faint not . how constant and stedfast to the end was your gracious mother in faith , patience and godliness , although no small tempest of pain and trouble lay upon her . the best of saints may be exercised with the worst of sorrows here : but the lord is u with them in the furnace of their tryals , yea , was with her to uphold her in the valley of the shadow of death . hence , though she was x troubled on every side , yet was she not distressed , though perplexed , yet not in despair ; though cast down , yet not destroyed . y we count them happy that endure . o let not sharpest tryals or troubles ever make you faint or flag at any time . they that z put their hands to gods plough , and look back , render themselves unfit for the kingdom of god . 11. lastly , mourn moderately in the loss of her , and other earthly comforts . when holy iacob dyed in egypt , a the israelites the children of jacob mourned seven daies , but the b egyptians seventy daies : this was not because the egyptians had more love to jacob then the israelites ; but because the israelites had more grace , and hope , and moderation , then the egyptians . natural affection is commended : c excess in mourning is condemned . d jesus himself wept at lazarus his grave : and yet christs members e must not mourn as others that have no hope for them that sleep in jesus . were she still lying among the sullying pots , in midst of her sighs , groans , dolours and extremities , you might well bleed over her and lament her ; but that she is delivered from all her sins and sorrows ; is as the wings of a dove , covered with silver , &c. hath laid aside her earthly sables , and is cloathed in heavenly white : is in f abraham's bosom , in g paradise , h with saints , angels , and with god in iesus christ , which is far best of all , &c. now rejoyce in her joyes , triumph in her triumphs , i she is not so much dead , as delivered by death : she hath ( as hierom said of nepotianus ) not so much lost her friends ; as changed them , and changed them for better : she is not so much k uncloathed , as cloathed upon , her mortality being swallowed up of life . let her have your imitations , rather then your lamentations . her graces and gracious deportments towards god and man , and more especially towards you , in her health and sickness , in her life , and at her death were very christian and exemplary . in all , l do ye follow her , as she followed christ . let her vertues still live in you : so shall she in some sense still live with you . and inasmuch as , m the resurrection of the dead , is the peculiar hope and consolation of christians , consider ; she n sleeps in jesus , she shall at last awake and be raised again by iesus : and ye shall meet again ; meet , and never part ; meet , not to sigh and mourn together , but to sing and triumph together . ye shall be caught up with her and with all the elect together , to meet the lord in the air , and so shall ye be ever with the lord . amen . so prayeth . your affectionate friend , and brother in the lord , for the furtherance of your faith and joy , fran : roberts . wrington iune 12. 1657. the checquer work of gods providences towards his own people , made up of blacks and whites : viz. of their abasements , and advancements ; their distresses and deliverances ; their sullying tribulations , and beautifying relaxations , &c. psal. 68. 13. though ye have lien among the pots ; yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold . god's dearest people , may for a long time a walk in darkness ; yet at last the b light of refreshing consolation shall shine upon them : may c sit down with job a great while among the ashes ; yet at length shall be lifted up , god turning their captivity : and may d lie with israel ( gods only people under the old testament ) among the pots , for many ages : but in fine shall safely escape , like silver-winged and golden-feathered doves , from all the blackish sulliedness of their afflictions . the sharpest storm ends in a grateful calm : and the darkest night hath its succeeding day . this mercy here promised , was ( according to the purpose of the most high ) performed to gods israel : and this blessing is in some sense accomplished to our late dear sister deceased , an israelite indeed . this was her condition : she long walked in darkness ; sate down with job in ashes : and lay with israel among the pots : but at last the gracious lord hath turned , her darkness into light , her ashes into beauty , her pots of sad affliction into glory . these words were first and immediately directed to the jewish church , which had been a long time exercised with very many and heavy afflictions : but are extensive also , in like condition , to the christian church which is incorporated into it , and e of the same body : yea and applicable also , in a due rule of proportion to any particular christian in a like parallel case of darksom distressing tribulations . a particular promise first directed to one single person is sometimes improved to the general consolation of christians : as that sweet promise to joshuah ; f — i will not fail thee nor for sake thee , is urged by the apostle , as a general ground of contentment to all christians in any troubles or oppositions . how much more may a general promise to the whole church , as here , be applyed to the comfort of a particular member . and therefore i cannot but impute it to the christian judgement and apprehensiveness of our deceased sister ( now with the lord , ) that she could appropriate the consolation of this more general promise , to her self in particular : and that , though the sense and comfort of this promise be wrapped up and infolded in obscure metaphorical expressions . the words were often in her heart and lips in the daies of her tribulation : whence doubtless she supported her self with pertinent and comfortable meditation . for , 1. here she had , ( in the churches abject , blackish , deformed , and despised condition , that had lien among the pots , ) a lively po●●traiture or delineation of her own extream distresses . and , if the whole church of god lay among the pots : why might not she ? this might administer to her much matter of patience , contentedness , and consolation , g it s some consolation , not to be alone in heavyest tribulation . 2. here she had , ( in the churches promised felicity , that should be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , and ●er feathers with yeallow gold , ) a foundation of hope touching her deliverance at last out of all her extremities . if the church should be brought from her black sullying pots , to the wings of a silver and golden-coloured dove : from darkest miseries to brightest felicities : why might not she , in gods due time , one way or other , expect the like happy transmutation ? this might sweetly nourish her f●ith , hope and christian expectation . this scripture was so suitable to her condition , and so much in her thoughts , that discoursing about her expected dissolution , she said ; i think this must be the text at my funeral ; h though ye have lien among the pots , yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold . and hereupon , i have been requested , by some of her nearest relations , to make these words the subject . matter of my discourse upon this sad occasion . this scripture , ( and so this psalm , ) is very mysterious and intricate : one thing being expressed , another intended : as is usual in metaphors and allegories . for removing the obscurity of the words , and improving them to our present utility , consider we ; 1. their coherence with the context . 2. their true sense and meaning . 3 the lessons or doctrinal propositions intended in them . we must take more pains then ordinary to attain the right meaning of these words . 1. the coherence of these words with the context , may be briefly represented as followeth , viz. of this psalm , ( most justly stiled by r. a. ezra , i a very excellent psalm ) 1. the penman : ● . matter : 3. occasion : and 4. parts are as followeth . i. the instrumental author , or penman , was david , that k sweet psalmist of israel . see , title of the psalm . ii. the subject-matter , is of a mixt nature : being made up of petition and gratulation , of doctrine and exhortation , of history and prophecy . and containing such an eminent prophecy of christs triumphant ascention into heaven , and of the benefits thereof : l thou hast ascended on high , thou hast led captivity captive , &c. it may deservedly be ranked among the prophetical psalms . iii. the occasion seems to be , 1. either davids m bringing up of the ark of god into the place prepared for it in sion , in the city of david : as some . 2. or , some n difficult and eminent expedition of david against his enemies : wherein he aforehand assures himself of desired success and victory , both from the assistant power of the mighty god , and from israels constant experiences of like nature : as other● . 3. or , some ●amous and renowned victory obtained : as others . 4. or , ( as to me seems most probable ) a complexive series and heap of victories over his and his kingdoms enemies subdued under him , even from n●lus to euphrates , recorde● in 2 sam 8. & 1 chron. 18. whereupon he is by some supposed to have penned two triumphant psalms , viz. psalm 47. see vers . 5. & psal. 68. see vers . 18. herein king david being a special type of christ , the king of kings , that subdues all our spiritual enemies , and captivates our captivity , as o part of this psalm applyed to and interpreted of christ , doth clearly intimate . and throughout the whole current of this psalm ▪ besides the immediate literal sense of it touching david and his temporal kingdom , there is easily observable a mediate , spiritual and mystical meaning touching christ the true david and his spiritual kingdom . let this be still remembered : lest we lose much of the spirituality of this heavenly psalm . iv. the parts or branches are chiefly three , viz. 1. petition , 2. exhortation , and 3. gratulation . 1. a prophetical petition . let god arise , &c. ver. 1 , 2 , 3. this was the p prayer at the moving of the ark , that singular token of q gods presence , type of r iesus christ , and s glory in israel . 2. a pathetical exhortation , or hortatory incitation , unto the high praises of god , ver. 4. to 19. 3. a grateful exultation in the lord , for his many blessings and victories , verse 19. to the end . this 13. verse falls under the second branch , viz. the exhortation . the psalmist exhorts to the praises of god , from two sorts of motives especially , viz. i. from gods more general and common acts of providence , 1. to the fatherless . 2. to the widows . 3. to the solitary . 4. to the captives . ver. 4 , 5 , 6. ii. from gods more special and peculiar providences towards his own people israel : and this chiefly in four observable intervalls of time that came over them , viz. ● . when they came out of egypt , and marched through the wilderness . ver. 7 , 8. 2. when they were newly possessed of , and planted in the land of canaan , ver. 9 , 10. 3. in the troublesom and unsetled times of the iudges , ver. 11 , 12. 4. in the more composed and happy daies of david , ver. 13 , to 19. in this last particular note two things , viz. ( 1 ) the preface to this matter of praise and thankfulness for gods providential goodness which should be to israel in the daies of david , more then in former times : though ye have lien among the pots , yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , &c. ver. 13. that is : in the three former times , in egypt and the wilderness , in canaan , and under the iudges , ye have lain as among the pots , low , debased , blacked , deformed , &c. with many , and sore afflictions : but now under davids dominion , especially under christs , ye shall be as doves wings and feathers of silver and golden colour : ye shall escape and be delivered , ye shall be advanced to a more joyous , prosperous and happy condition , and have better times then ever formerly . ye shall be taken from among the pots , and adorned with opposite beauty and glory . 2. the particular arguments inciting israel to praise and thankfulness hereupon , are drawn , 1. from gods victoriousness over his enemies , to his peoples prosperity , ver. 14. 2. from the eminency and fertility of gods hill , sion : especially of the church of god shadowed out by it , ver. 15. 3. from the lords constant residence in , and al-sufficient protection of , his own hill , his church and people , ver. 16 , 17. 4. from gods triumph over all his , and his peoples enemies : which was to have its chief t accomplishment in iesus christ ascending up into heaven , and leading captivity captive , &c. ver. 18. thus stands the coherence : by which you may receive much satisfaction touching the right meaning of the words . 11. the sense and meaning of the words will now be the more easily extracted . here 's one hebrew word in the original which especially renders the scripture intricate , viz. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} shephattajim : which , being a word of divers significations and translations , occasions various interpretations . it is rendered , 1. limits , or bounds . 2. lots , or inheritances . 3. pots , or pot-ranges . 1. some render it , two-limits , or two-bounds , ( the word being of the dual number , ) viz. the u two limits , bounds or coasts of the enemies , ready to afflict , vex , and infest them on each hand . or , two confines of the countrey where they fortified themselves against their enemies . this sense some later writers embrace . and its x one of the interpretations which ainsworth gives , though not in the first place . but , this version seems here very unsuitable : for that it quite destroies the elegancy and fitness of the opposition betwixt the two metaphors , representing israels different conditions , before and under davids government . 2. some render it : two-lots , or two-inheritances . so the lxx . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; that is , amidst the lots , or between the inheritances : inheritances ( as in canaan ) being antiently set out by lots . this hierom seems to follow , turning it ; si dormiatis inter medios cleros . and thus he expounds it , y when thou believest the two testaments , in both thou shalt find the holy ghost . and though there be a beauty , even according to the letter to know what thou readest : yet the force of all the comliness is in the sense . therefore the outward ornament of the words is demonstrated by the name of silver , but the more secret mysteries are contained in the hidden gifts of gold , &c. so that , with him ; the two lots , are the two testaments ; the dove , is the holy ghost ; her wings covered with silver , the outward letter of the testaments ; the feathers of yeallow gold , the inward ; spiritual , and mysterious sense . but this is rather a witty allegorical all●sion , then a judicious and solid exposition . z augustine also expounds the words much to this effect : but altogether as unsatisfactorily . the antient fathers are not alwaies the best expositors . 3. but most do render the word , pots or pot-ranges . thus ; although ye have lien among the pots ( or , between the● pot-ranges : or , between the two banks , or rows , viz. of stones to hang pots on in the camp or leaguer ) yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered ( or , decked with silver , & her feathers● with yeallow-greenish gold . and they observe in the words a double metaphor : 1. the one of israels lying among the pots , as scullions lie among the pots , kettles or cauldrons in the camp or leaguer in time of war , and so are blacked , soiled , smutted , deformed : denoting israels abject , low , mean , sullied , deformed and despicable condition under afflictions and extream distresses in time past in egypt , the wilderness , canaan , and in the time of the judges . 2. the other of israels being like the wings of a dove ( which is of very a speedy flight for escape ) of bright silver , and beauteous golden-colour : representing their escape and deliverance at last out of all their blacking , smutting and deforming afflictions , into the contrary , beauteous , prosperous and happy state , under the kingdom of david , especially of iesus christ the true david . blackness notes extream affliction and misery : doves wings , escape : white silver-colour and beauteous golden-colour , prosperity and felicity . thus , the metaphors are elegantly opposed one to another , and very significantly set forth the several conditions of israel , first as lying among the pots of deep afflictions in former times , but after as assured of deliverance , of better daies , and that they should be as a silver winged and golden-feathered dove , full of beauty , comeliness , prosperity and felicity . to this effect , b r. david kimchi , c pagnin , d calvin , e muis , f foord , g ainsworth , and h others expound these words . and in my judgement this exposition seems most genuine and proper : as being , without forcing , most agreeable both to the intent of the context , and propriety of the words . and thus they are very suitable to this present sad occasion . the words , thus explained , are 1. narratory , 2. promissory . for here 's 1. a narrative of israels former deep affliction and misery ; although ye have lien among the pots . they had been in former times , in egypt , wilderness , canaan and under the judges , as so many scullions among the pots , abased , smutted , spotted , made black and deformed with many and great tribulations . 2. a promise of israels future deliverance , prosperity and felicity ; yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove , covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold : they should not alwaies lie blacked and sullyed in the smoak and among the pots , they shall be as the wings of a dove , speedily escaping , they shall be delivered out of their dark and black condition , and be made bright , beauteous , and every way prosperous , as white silver-coloured and yeallow-greenish-golden feathered doves : most naite , pleasant and beauteous . iii. the third thing that remains , is , the observation of the i doctrinal positions , or lessons here intended . the words are somewhat like the cloudy pillar in the wilderness ; which had , 1. a black side , full of darkness : and 2. a bright side , full of light . in the black side we may read this lesson ; 1. that , sometimes gods israel , gods own endeared people , may lie , as it were among the pots , in deepest distresses and afflictions . in the bright side , on the other hand , we may read this instruction ; 2. that , gods distressed and afflicted people shall not alwaies lie among the pots , but at last , as with doves wings , escape out of all their distress and misery , and enjoy all contrary mercy , prosperity and felicity . let me speak a little briefly to both these observations ; which notably set forth the diversity of gods dispensations towards his own people . as it were the checquer-work of gods providence to them , their black and white conditions : god one while abasing them by sullying tribulations , and after advancing them by beautifying relaxations . doctrine i. that , sometimes gods israel , gods own endeared people , may lie , as it were among the pots , in deepest distresses and afflictions . this doctrinal lesson is evidently fluent from the first branch of the text . for unfolding and improving whereof , i shall chiefly manifest . 1. that , gods people being in deep distresse and afflictions , is like lying among the pots . 2. why god suffers his church and dearest people sometimes thus to lie as among the pots , in deepest distresses and tribulations . 3. what inferences may readily result here upon . i. that , the lying of gods endeared people in deepest distresses and afflictions , is like lying among the pots . for , 1. they that lie among the pots are in a very low , mean and abject condition ; scullions , of the meanest rank , are wont in the camp or leaguer to lie among the pots : so they , that are in deep distresses and afflictions , are in a very low , mean , and abject state , in the eye of the world . israel , in affliction , was in a very low condition : k — who remembred us in our low estate . low in egypt ; when they l toyled in the clay , and must make brick without straw . low at the read-sea : when nothing but m present death was before their eyes ; egyptians being behind them , the sea before them , and mountains on each hand . low in the wilderness ; when n they had neither bread to eat , nor water to drink , &c. low in the land of canaan : o when they were delivered into their enemies hands , which swarmed about them like bees ; yea when the ark of god was taken from them , yea when saul and jonathan were destroyed . low in babylon : when they were visibly as helpless and hopeless as people dead and p buried in their very graves . thus , joseph was very low in his affliction : when he was q clapt up in prison in egypt , and laid in irons , having not one friend in all egypt to help him out . job very low : when smitten with r sore boyles from the sole of his foot to his crown , so that he scraped himself with a pot heard , and sate down among the ashes . david very low : when he , in fear of his life , s changed his behaviour , feigning himself mad before achish king of gath : and when he t fled from absalom his son , going up mount olivet barefoot , weeping and having his head covered , &c. jonah very low ; when he u was as it were twice buried , once in the sea , and again in the belly of the whale , and the weeds were wrapped about his head . and lazarus extreamly low : when he x lay hunger-bitten , full of sores and ulcers at the rich-mans gate , desiring his crums , which none gave unto him , the dogs coming and licking his sores . 2. they that lie among the pots are apt to be spotted , fullyed , fouled , blacked with the pots : so they that are in deep affliction and distress are rendred in the eyes of others , deformed , sullied , black , tanned , sun-burnt , &c. distressed job said : y my skin is black upon me . the afflicted church confesseth ; z i am black , — as the tents of kedar : even as the black-hair-cloath-weather-beaten-tents of kedar . and again ; a look not upon me because i am black , because the sun hath looked upon me . great afflictions make the very church her self black , or blackish , and sun-burnt ; how much more her particular members . thus jeremiah lamented ; our skin was black like an oven , because of the terrible famine , lam. 5. 10. the nazarites visage is blacker then a coal , &c. lam. 4. 7 , 8. yea our blessed saviour iesus christ himself was in his comeliness deformed and marred extraordinarily by his sore afflictions and sufferings ; b his visage was so marred more then any man , and his form more then the sons of men . — he hath no form nor comeliness , and when we shall see him , there is no beauty that we should desire him . 3. they that lie among the pots , being deformed , sullyed and blacked , are wont to be slighted , despised , abhorred , men look strange at them , are ashamed of their company , cannot abide to come near them : so they that lie in deep distress and misery , are usually neglected , despised and rejected of others ; yea oft-times their very kindred , friends and familiar acquaintance are estranged from them , and stand aloof from their calamity . thus job in his extream afflictions complained ; c — he hath put my brethren far from me , and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me . my kinsfolk have failed , and my familiar friends have forgotten me . they that dwell in mine house , and my maids , count me for a stranger ; i am an alien in their sight . i called my servant , and he gave me no answer ; i entreated him with my mouth . my breath is strange to my wife : though i entreated for the childrens sake of mine own body . yea young children despised me ; i arose , and they spake against me . all mine inward friends abhorred me : and they whom i loved are turned against me . thus heman the ezrahite in his sad afflictions lamenteth ; d lover and friend hast thou put far from me , and mine acquaintance into darkness . and , though our blessed saviour bear , not his own , but our griefs and our sorrows , yet even for them he was exposed to extream contempt ; e he is despised and rejected of men , a man of sorrows , and acquainted with grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from him : he was despised , and we esteemed him not . oh how hard a thing is it for the dearest of gods saints to be deeply distressed , and not to be greatly despised ! ii. but , why is it , that the lord suffers his church and his own endeared people , thus to lie sometimes , as among the pots , in deepest distresses and tribulations ? the lord permits , orders , directs and over-powers the sharp afflictions and distresses of his own dear people for their manifold benefit . he lets them lie among the pots , then even this may turn to their f and g co-operate for their good , for their manifold good . for , 1. by these , the sins and failings of gods people are more clearly detected . he with-draweth not his eyes from the righteous : h — and if they be bound in fetters , and be holden in cords of affliction : then he sheweth them their work , and their transgressions , that they have exceeded . the distress of i josephs brethren in egypt , revived afresh upon their consciences , their old offences against joseph ; afflictions awaken their sleepy souls and drowsie consciences . as the suns ecclipse is best discerned in water : or as blots run most abroad in wet paper : so their sinful blots and ecclipses are most evidently discovered in their waters of affliction . 2. by these , they are more throughly melted and humbled for their sinful failings discovered . the fire melts the mettle in the furnace , that it will run into any mould . when k wrath was upon good hezekiah for the pride and lifting up of his heart , how quickly did he humble himself under the hand of god! that phoenix king l josiah exceedingly melted and wept before the lord , when he discerned the judgements of god but hanging over their heads for sin , in the clouds of the threatnings . 3. by these , their spots , stains and sins , detected and lamented , are very notably cleansed , rubbed out , and purged away , m by this shall the iniquity of jacob be purged , and this is all the fruit to take away his sin . dav●d himself acknowledged this advantage by his afflictions ; n before i was afflicted i went astray : b●t now have i kept they word . so true is that of elihu to job ; o then he openeth their ear to discipline , and commandeth that they return from iniquity . our afflictions do launce out out corruption ; scour away our spots and stains ; file off our rust and canker ; fan away our chaff ; segregate our dross ; and , like the p fiery furnace , burn off the bands and cords of our corruptions , that we may walk at liberty . even manasses , that monster of wickedness ) when taken among the thorns , and bound in fetters , &c. repented and reformed , 2 chron. 33. 1. to 20. 4. by these , their graces are tryed and proved , whether they be sincere ; not that god doth not know what is in us : but that we do not know what is in our selves . q think it not strange concerning the fiery tryal , which is to try you . r — that the tryal of your faith being much more precious then of gold that perisheth , though it be tryed with fire , might be found unto praise , and honour , and glory . some writings cannot be read but at the fire or in the water . so some gracious endowments and inscriptions on our hearts , as faith , patience , self-denyal , &c. cannot so well be discerned as in the fire and water of tribulations . the furnace tries the mettal ; the touch-stone tries the gold ; the storm tries the pilot ; the battle tries the souldier : so the furnace , touch-stone , storm and battle of afflictions trie the faith , patience , courage , constancy and graces of the christian . our true spiritual beauty becomes the more beauteous by this washing , when thereby paint and counterfeit colours are wiped away . 5. by these , their graces and spirituals are much advanced and improved . as the body by a growing ague , or as the grass by an april● shower . s tribulation worketh patience , and patience experience , and experience hope , and hope makes not ashamed , &c. what a rich and strange crop is this ! here 's grapes on thorns , and figs on thistles . by rubbing , the pomander smells far sweeter : by treading , the camomile grows the better ; by wearing , the nail becomes the brighter : so ou spirituals become more bright , fragrant and flourishing , by being exercised with afflictions . opposition and difficulties excite their activities . had not the afflictions of job been so extream , t the integrity and patience of job had not been so renowned . 6. by these , their spiritual activity in meditations prayer , self-examinations , self-denyal , obedience and all christian duties , is exceedingly actuated and awakened . when u jacob was in fear and danger of destruction by his brother esau , he wrestled all night by prayer with the angel of the covenant , and would not let him go without a blessing . while david was exercised under sauls oppressive persecutions , and other sad afflictions ; he breathed out to god his most coelestial devotions . then he said , x it s good for me that i have been afflicted that i might learn thy statutes . when david was lowest in affliction , he was highest in devotion . yea , jesus christ himself , y being in an agony , prayed the more earnestly . as the birds in the spring tune most sweetly , when it rains most sadly ; or , as a musical instrument , when the strings are struck , sounds most melodiously : so when god rains down troubles upon us , and by his chastisements strikes the very strings of our hearts , oft times our spirits make the sweetest melody in the ears of god . 7. by these , they are z conform to iesus christ their head and elder brother , who was a man of sorrows , acquainted with grief , and perfected , or consecrated through sufferings . and a if we suffer with him , we shall be glorified together . if now we be conform to him in his cross , we shall hereafter be conform to him in his crown . it s the perfection of the members to be conform unto their head . 8. by these , these child-like relation to the heavenly father is sweetly ascertained , while they are enabled to bear and endure his chastisements with filial patience and submission . b if ye endure chastening , god dealeth with you as with sons : for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? but if ye be without chastisement , whereof all are partaker● , then are ye bastards and not sons . the heavenly father will take pains with his own children to chastize , discipline and nurture them for their good ; when he will not wear his rods upon bastards and castawaies . and how useful is that his paternal affliction , which discries his fatherly affection unto us , and our son-like relation unto him ! i am well contented to be under the rod of the almighty ; that so i may be distinguished from the bastards of this world , and numbered among the sons of god . 9. by these , they are c chastened of the lord , that they should not be condemned with the world . and that 's an happy castigation , that helps to prevent eternal condemnation . who would not say with him ? d here burn me , here cut me , that thou mayest for ever spare me . 10. finally , by these sharp afflictions and distresses , god fits and prepares his afflicted servants for their eternal glory . christ was first e abased before he was exalted : and passed by his cross , unto his crown ; through f his sufferings , into his glory and his members must follow him : g through muc● tribulation we must enter to the kingdom of god . we shall meet with tribulation , much tribulation ; that 's the wa● we must go : but through this much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of god , that 's the blessed end of this way . if it were , tribulation , and much tribulation , and after that no entrance into heaven ; that were the tribulation of tribulation , a doleful way to a more doleful journeys end : but in that through this tribulation , yea through this much tribulation , we shall at last enter into a kingdom , and that the kingdom of god : this renders all our much tribulation , as in effect no tribulation at all . and , h the momentany lightness of our affliction worketh for us a far more exceeding ( gr. from hyperbole to hyperbole ; or an hyperbolical hyperbolical ) eternal weight of glory . our afflictions work this transcendent glory for us , by working and disposing us for this transcendent glory . and the sharper are our sorrows here , the sweeter will be our joyes hereafter . as health is most acceptable after the sharpest sickness : liberty most sweet after rigorous bondage : rest most delightful after toylsom weariness : and the harbour most welcome after the sorest storms : so heaven and glory it self will be most grateful and glorious after sharpest afflicting extremities . thus of the causes why the lord suffers his , to lie among the pots . iii. inferences or corollaries , hence resulting are divers . as , 1. hence , behold here the mysterie and wisdom of gods providential dispensations . his own people , ( though his jewels ) shall lie among the pots , and be most sadly afflicted : i when the wicked shall flourish like a green bay-tree , in all prosperity . this strange dispensation of gods providence did exceedingly puzzle and perplex holy david , till he went into the sanctuary of god ; then he saw the end of those wicked prosperous men , that they were set in slippery places , — that they are brought into desolation , as in a moment , &c. godly k lazarus lay full of sores , among the dogs at the rich mans gate , destitute of his very crums to satisfie his hunger : while the wicked rich man was in his purple and fine linnen , and sured sumptuously every day . assuredly , then , ( 1 ) no man knows gods peculiar l love or hatred by these external dispensations : by all that is before him . ( 2 ) happiness or misery consists not , in having or wanting of these outward blessings : nor in escaping , or enduring the sharpest sorrows or afflictions . 2. hence , saddest extremities of ou●ward afflictions and miseries in this present if , are not inconsistent with the gracious condition of god ▪ own people . yea , most usually gods own people in this world are of all other the most afflicted , when as others m enjoy the pleasutes of sin for a season . o what extremities of sufferings and deaths have the faithful undergone in all ages ! consult that little book of martyrs in the epistle to the hebrews , h they were tortured not accepting deliverance , that they might obtain a better resurrection . and others had tryal of cruel mockings and scourgings , yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment . they were stoned : they were sawn asunder : were tempted : were stain with the sword : they wandered about in sheep-ski●s , a●d goats-skins , being destitu●e ▪ afflicted , tormented . of whom the world was not worthy : they wandered in desarts , and in mountains , and in dens and caves of the earth . oh what strange similitudes , emblems and expressions are used in holy scripture for representing of gods peoples calamities ! as , a o smoaking furnace : to denote the affliction of abrahams seed in egypt . a p bush burning with fire , all on a light flame . : to express israels former and future sharp and fiery calamities . their q souls being bowed down to the dust , and their bellies cleaving to the earth . their being sore broken in the place of dragons , and covered with the shadow of death . yea the jews in babylons captivity , said ; r our bones are dryed , and our hope is lost , we are cut off for our parts . and they were as so many dead bodies that were buried in their very graves . and therefore extremity of distress in this present life , is not only consistent with , but very incident unto , the sincerest heirs by grace of the life to come . 3. hence , let christians learn patiently and contentedly to bear their heavyest pressures and afflictions , sith no temptation hath befallen them , but what is humane , 1 cor. 10. 13. yea sometimes it is the lot of the church of god , and of 〈…〉 , to lie even among the blackest pots . seest thou , joseph f laid in irons ; iob t sitting in the ashes ; lazarus , u lying among the dogs , full of sores ; and jesus christ himself so x full of sorrows : and dost thou think much at thine affliction ? oh fret not against gods dispensations , faint not , but endure thy tribulations : sith iesus christ himself , and his choicest members are therein thy companions . 4. hence , how unsafe and imprudent is it to despise , abhor or censure others of hypocrisie , or of a null●●y of grace , because of their sad , doleful and strange afflictions ! for , in so doing we may rashly condemn the generation of the righteous , before we be aware . gods own endeared people oft-times lie among these blacking pots . o think of david and y all his afflictions , how he was hunted as a partridge up and down the mountains , how all the day long he was plagued , and chastened every morning ; of paul , z in perils and distresses on every side ; of jeremiah , a cast into the myrie dungeon , and ( as some think ) sinking up to the arm-holes in the myre : of daniel b flung into the filthy and fatal den of the hungry lyons : of the prophets persecuted and slain by the iews , acts 7. 52. of the three jews c bound hand and foot and cast into the hot burning fiery furnace , heat seven times hotter then ordinary , for not worshiping the golden image ; of job , covered all over with d sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown : hierom thinks , e satan left only his tongue free , that therewith he might blaspheme his lord : of lazarus , f full of sores and ulcers ; of hezekiah , smitten with a mortal g boil : of the godly , h killed all the day long , and counted as sheep for the slaughter : of the martyrs , heb. 11. 35 , &c. of the cruel primitive persecutions : and of jesus christ himself the spot less son of god , i put to death , and crucified by wicked hands , and hung ( for the greater infamy ) between two thieves , upon the cursed tree , o think deliberately upon these instances , viz. of the unquestionable yea incomparable piety of thei● persons , and of the unutterable extremities of their passions and then take heed of the errour of jobs friends , of despising , abhorring or censuring any the servants of the lord , though lying among the pots , though implunged under heavy , unusual and extream calamities . do you think the worse of a piece of gold , because it is besmeared with soot ? or do you ever the less value * a jewel , because it s fallen into the myre ? it s gold still , though colleyed : its a rich jewel still , though bemyred . why then should we harbour more hard , mean , despising , undervaluing thoughts of afflicted david , paul , job , lazarus , or of any of the distressed saints of god ; which in gods account are precious gold still , rich jewels still , though besmeared and blacked with most deforming and amazing miseries ? 5. hence , finally , behold , one noted difference betwixt the condition of gods people in earth and in heaven . here gods endeared people may lie among the pots ; may be smutted , soyled , blacked , &c. in the eyes of men , with deep and sore afflictions : but when once the last messenger hath summoned them , and when once they shall set foot in heaven , they shall never lie among the pots any more ; they shall never be k black as kedars tents any more ; they shall never be tanned with misery , or sun-burnt with affliction any more . but they shall perfectly l rest from all their labours , of sin , temptation and tribulation . then , no more sea , no more pain , no more crying , no more tears , &c. then job , that here sate down m among the ashes , shall there set up among the angels . then n lazarus , that here lay among the dogs , shall there be lodged in abrahams bosom . then the endeared saints and servants of god , that here oft-times lay among the pots , o shall walk with christ in triumphant white , and be counted worthy . and thus i pass from the dark to the bright side of the text ; yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , &c. hence , note ; doctrine ii. that , gods afflicted and distressed people shall not alwaies lie among the pots , but at last ( as with doves wings ) shall escape out of their deepest misery , and enioy all contrary mercy , prosperity and felicity . they may for a time lie in distress ; but not alwaies . their outward misery may be great : but shall have an end . they p may for a few years be oppressed in egypt , and wander in the wilderness : but at last they shall come to canaan , the promised rest. q weeping may lodge for a night , but shouting-joy in the morning . r in a little wrath god may hide his face from his , for a moment : but with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on them . for a season they may lie among the pots , like black , soyled and deformed scullions : but at length they shall be as the wings of a dove , covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold . that is , they shall escape : escape harmless : escape beauteous , happy and prosperous . consider well the expressions in the text , viz. 1. they shall escape . this is noted by , wings . they shall be ( not as a dove , but ) as the wings of a dove . wings are swift : a doves wings are eminently swift . hereby the scripture sets forth a swift and speedy escape from distress and trouble ; s o ( saith david ) that i had wings like a dove , then would i flee away and be at rest , &c. thus , they that lie among the pots , shall at last be as the wings of a dove : they shall have a t way of escape . 2. they shall escape harmless and innocent . why else doth he mention the wings of a dove , rather then of any other fowl ? doves are commended by our saviour for their simplicity and harmlesness ; u be ye wise as serpents , and harmless ( or , unmixed ) as doves . gods people x when they are tryed in the furnace of affliction , shall come forth as refined gold and silver . they shall be y purified , and made white , and tryed . they shall leave their dross behind them . 3. this is not all . for , they shall so escape out of distresses , as to enjoy the contrary mercies and felicities . this seems to be imported in the doves white , silver-coloured , and golden-coloured feathers : or , as the hebrew word properly signifies ; z her feathers with a greenish yeallow gold ; which feathers in the dove are very shining , pleasant and beauteous . white , ordinarily in scripture denotes prosperity , felicity , triumph , glory , &c. as , judg. 5. 10. zech. 6. 3 , 6. rev. 2. 17. & 3. 4 , 5 , 18. and often elswhere . and gold , or golden , is often used to set forth that which is flourishing , prosperous , rich and happy . hence , the babylonish monarchy is compared to the head of gold , excelling all the other , dan. 2. 32 , 38. and babylon is called , the golden-one , viz. the golden city , isa. 14. 4. and the purest and choicest oyl is called , golden oyl , zech. 4. 12. o , this is a very bright , sweet and comfortable side of the text . for further clearing of this sweet lesson , note : 1. that gods afflicted shall at last escape out of their distresses into the contrary felicities . 2. why they shall escape . 3. how god is wont to bring about such their escape . 4. the inferences that offer themselves hereupon . 1. that gods afflicted shall at last escape and be set free from their distress , and be vested in the opposite felicities ; is evident , 1. by gods faithful promises to this effect , in all ages . and gods a promises are one sort of those two immutable things wherein it is impossible for god to lie . take a taste of such promises . god promised deliverance to abrahams seed out of all their egyptian afflictions . b — know of a surety , that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs , and shall serve them , and they shall afflict them four hundred years . and also that nation , whom they shall serve , will i judge : and afterwards shall they come out with great substance . — but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again , &c. in the daies of asaph and david god promised to his people : c — call upon me in the day of trouble ; i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . d because he hath set his love upon me , therefore will i deliver him : i will set him on high , because he hath known my name . he shall call upon me , and i will answer him : i will be with him in trouble , i will deliver him and honour him . how sweet also is the promise in my present text , psal. 68. 13. in the daies of isaiah ; e — the lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit , and a wife of youth , when thou wast refused , saith thy god . for a small moment have i forsaken thee , but with great mercies will i gather thee . in a little wrath i hid my face from thee , for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will i have mercy on thee , saith the lord thy redeemer . — oh , thou afflicted , tossed with tempest , and not comforted , behold , i will lay they stones with fair colours , and lay thy foundations with saphires , and i will make thy windows of agats , and thy gates of carbuncles , and all thy borders of pleasant stones , &c. oh what manner of stones are here promised for raising of this building ! what manner of expressions are here to set forth this deliverance and restauration ! thus their escape , &c. is certain by gods faithful promises . 2. by gods peoples frequent experiences in all generations , this their escape out of all their blacking troubles , is also very evident . we read much of their distresses in scripture , but we read much also of their deliverances . g many are the afflictions of the righteous : but the lord delivereth him out of them all . gods people have many afflictions : but their god hath as many deliverances for them . we read ; how h joseph was sold for a servant , clapt up in prison , hurt with fetters , laid in iron , &c. yet we read also , how he changed his prison-garments , how the king loosed him , let him go free , made him lord of his house , and ruler of all his substance , &c. how i israel was oppressed in egypt , and fourty years afflicted in the wilderness : and yet , how at last the lord , by a mighty hand and out-stretched arm , brought them out of egypt , through the wilderness , into the promised canaan , the land of rest. how k job sate down among the ashes and scraped himself with a potsheard : and how god also turned his captivity , restoring him to double prosperity . how l david was hated , persecuted and hunted up and down by saul , from place to place , from cave to cave , from hold to hold : and yet how at last the lord established david in peace and glory upon his royal throne . how m jeremiah was cast into the dirty dungeon , where he sunk into the myre : and also how jeremiah was lifted up again out of the dungeon . how n jonah was thrown into the sea , and devoured by the fish which god had prepared : and also how the third day the fish cast up jonah alive upon the dry ground . how o the three jews were bound and flung into the fiery furnace : and also how they were preserved in the furnace , and delivered out of it , without having an hair of their head singed , their coats changed , or the smell of fire upon them . how p daniel was cast into the den of lyons : and also how daniel was taken up again , alive , and without hurt , out of the lyons den . how q paul was full of afflictions , in many perils , yea sometimes pressed out of measure , above strength , &c. and yet how in his abounding tribulations , he had abounding consolations by christ , how he was delivered by the lord out of them all , yea sometimes from the mouth of the lyon , sometimes from the jaws of death . how r lazarus lay at dives gates , full of sores , licked by dogs , not vouchsafed the crums of the rich mans table ( the dogs portion ) so that he dyed : and yet how lazaruts immediately upon his death was carried by angels into abrahams bosom ; and what shall i say ? we read , how our dear redeemer s iesus christ , was a man of sorrows , and acquainted with grief , abasement and sufferings , from his manger to his cross , endured such contradiction of sinners , and at last was cruelly crucified on the cursed tree , and after buried in the darksom grave : but we read also , how he revived and rose again from the dead , ascended up far above all heavens , leading sin , satan , death , grave , and all our captivity captive , and is sate down on the right hand of god in supreme authority , majesty and glory , all angels , principalities and powers , yea all creatures being subject to him . now all these , and like experiences of the saints are most evident demonstrations , that , the lord t hath not despised , nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted : that , u verily there is a reward for the righteous , verily he is a god that judgeth in the earth . ii. but , why , or whence is it that gods afflicted shall , one way or other , at last escape out of all their afflictions , be taken from among those sullying pots , and partake the contrary mercies and felicities ? answ this comes to pass ; 1. because , their god exactly x knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and tribulations , though never so intricate and perplexing . oh the infinite wisdom of god! he knows how to bring his people into troubles , when they know not how they came thither : and he knows how to bring them out of troubles , when they know not how they came thence . he knows how to do this , with means , without means : by strong means , by weak means , and contrary to all means . thus , y by his angel he brought peter ( sleeping between two souldiers , bound with two chains ) out of prison , his chains falling off his hands , and conducted him through the keepers at the prison door , through the first and second ward , and through the iron gate of the city , which opened to them of its own accord , &c. though peter all this while wist not that it was true which was done by the angel , but thought he saw a vision . thus z by cyrus and darius he brought his captive iews out of babylon as strangely as if they had been fetched out of their graves . whence they said ; a when the lord turned again the captivity of his people , we were like them that dream . this deliverance was so wonderful , that it did transcend their faith , and almost surpass their admiration . the lord knows how to deliver us , ( us ( b willing and nilling , us knowing and not knowing , us waking and sleeping , &c. ) out of our distresses . 2. ●because , their god is infinitly able and powerful to rescue his people out of their lowest ebb of tribulation . when king darius cryed to daniel in the lyons den , c o daniel , servant of the living god , is thy god , whom thou servest continually , able to deliver thee from the lyons ? hark what daniel answered ; o king live for ever . my god hath sent his angel , and hath shut the lyons mouths , that they have not hurt me , &c. as if he had said ; yea , my god is able to deliver me from the lyons , for he hath delivered me . he that made the lyons , can easily shut the mouths of the lyons . o pagan king believe in this omnipotent god . 3. because , their god is infinitly loving , tender and compassionate towards them in all their afflictions . thus god spake to his zion , which dwelt with the daughter of babylon ; d he that toucheth you , toucheth the apple of mine eye . and the apple of the eye is a most tender part : the least touch , the least mote , the least hair is very painful and intolerable to it . and such was gods compassion to his afflicted israel of old , that isaiah saith ; c in all their affliction he was afflicted , ( viz he as it were smarted in their pains , sympathizing in their sorrows ; and what followed hereupon ? ) and the angel of his presence saved them : in his love and in his pitty he redeemed them , and he bare them , and carried them all the daies of old : because of his love , pitty , commiserations to them , therefore he redeemed , saved and delivered them lob was restored by god out of all his extremities : but why● even because of gods love and compassions to him ; f ●e have heard of the patience of job , and ye have seen the end of the lord ; ( viz. what an happy issue god gave of all his sufferings , and why ? ) that ( or , because , 〈◊〉 ) the lord is much-of-bowels , and commiserating . oh these yerning bowels and commiserations of god were such towards afflicted lob , that he would not suffer him still to lie among the ashes . how emphatically are they here expressed ! that passage of hezekia recovered is very sweet ; g behold , for peace i had great bitterness : but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption , &c. hebr. thou hast loved my soul from the pit of corruption . as if he had said ; o lord , the strength of thy love , the arms of thy love , the cords of thy love &c. have kept me , and rescued me from the grave into which i was sinking : i ascribe my life and recovery , meerly to thy love . oh gods dear love to his afflicted , is a sweet cause of their escape out of affliction . 4. because , their covenant god is ever nigh to , and present with , his people in all their deepest and darkest distresses . therefore they shall be supported under them , and seasonably released out of all : h i will be with him in trouble , i will deliver him and honour him . gods presence with us in trouble , is our deliverance out of trouble . he was the i burning lamp in midst of the smoaking furnace , abrahams afflicted seed ; he was the k angel in midst of the bush ( israel ) burning , but not consumed ; he was l with daniel in the den of lyons , with the m three jews in the fiery furnace , with jeremiah in the dungeon , &c. and therefore they all had such false escape . if the lord's presence be with his people : then safety is with them , deliverance is with them , &c. and in due time they shall be released . 5. finally , because their god is most faithful . this reason the apostle gives ; n god is faithful , who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able , but will with the temptation also make a way to escape , that ye may be able to bear it . iii. how , and in what way doth god take his people from the pots , deliver them from their distresses and afflictions ? answ. the lord effects and brings this about , variously , and sometimes very mysteriously . as , 1. oft-times by transmutations of his peoples condition . how oft doth he literally in this life turn , their darkness into light , their sorrow into joy , their sickness into health , their pain into ease , their poverty into riches , their bondage into liberty , their adversity into prosperity , their trouble into triumph , their miseries into mercies ! &c. as iosephs bondage into lordship ; iobs poverty into double prosperity ; hezekiahs sickness into health , &c. 2. sometimes by disarming their afflictions and miseries . this is an excellent way : when the sting , venom , mischief , malignity , &c. of affliction is taken out and suspended . in such case , gods people may be visibly in a state of affliction , and yet un-afflicted . o as chastened , and not killed ; as dying , and yet living ; as sorrowful , yet alwaies rejoycing ; as having nothing , and yet possessing all things . think it not a paradox . p the bush burned , but was not consumed . q daniel was in the lyons den , but had no hurt by the lyons . god disarmed the lyons paws , and shut their mouths . r the three jews were in the fiery furnace , but had not an hair singed , or their coasts changed , nor had the smell of fire passed upon them : because god suspended the burning property of the flames . thus the martyr cryed out in the fire , s behold ye papists that look for wonders , i feel no more pain in this fire , then in a bed of down , but it is to me as a bed of roses . thus gods dear people are sometimes without affliction , whilest under affliction : delivered from misery , whilest in misery ; god disarming their afflictions of their sting , venom and malignity . 3. sometimes , by remedying of one affliction or trouble with another . as he that by a wound was cured of an impostumation ; or , as physitians sometimes help a palsey or lethargy , by sorcing the patient into a burning fever : so sometimes the lord is pleased to deliver his people out of one affliction by another . thus ( t jonas cast over-board , was saved from the sea , by being devoured by the whale . he had been swallowed up , if he had not been swallowed up . he had been devoured , if he had not been devoured . he had been buried , if he had not been buried . the bottom of the sea had been his grave , if the belly of the fish had not been his grave . how admirable is this dispensation , when god makes one affliction an antidote against another ! 4. sometimes , by elevating his people above the bitterness of their afflictions , by the surpas●ing sweetness of his presence , and transporting consolations . great afflictions may be upon them , but greater divine refreshments may even drown and swallow them up . u our abounding afflictions are sweetly cured by christs abounding and superabounding consolations . the moon and stars are in the sky at mid-day , as well as at mid-night , but not one of them then appears ; because the sun shining in his strength , hath out-shined them all : so when jesus christ the glorious sun of righteousness shines in his strength of grace and consolation upon the hearts of his afflicted , he so shines away their troubles and distresses , that they scarce appear . if christ steel the spirit with faith , courage and magnanimity , and fill the heart with the consolations of god , which are not small ; how easie is it to trample upon the greatest tribulation , and count all afflictions as no afflictions , yea as great advantages ! holy x bradford martyr said ; i thank god more of this prison , then of any parlour , yea then of any pleasure that ever i had ; for in it i find god , my most sweet good god alwaies . and laurence sanders martyr confessed ; y i was in prison , till i got into prison . hierom hath a good note concerning job : that god came nearest to job in his extremities , and dealt with him then most familiarly . and he adds : z let strokes come , let all kind of punishments come : so that after these christ will come . 5. finally , if god release not his dear people from miseries and afflictions before death , yet he alwaies sets them at liberty by death , and brings them into the contrary felicities . a blessed are the dead that die in the lord — they rest from their labours . death cures all the saints diseases , ceaseth all their pains , tears , sighs and groans , and supplies all their wants whatsoever in christ immediately beheld and enjoyed , b which is far best of all . if the lord do not deliver us before death , he delivers us at death . and if he delivers us not from death : yet he delivers us by death . death is our great year of jubilee , our year of release , when we shall be set at liberty from all our bondage and thraldom , from all our debts and morgages , from all our sorrows and sufferings , because from all our sins . o therefore when death approacheth , then the saints may gladsomly lift up their heads , for their redemption draweth nigh . gods people in this world are like jonah in the tempest : this world is as the roaring and raging sea , still ready to drown and swallow them up ; but death , like jonas his whale , is prepared of god , and swallows them up from the sea of this world , so that to them c there shall be no more sea : and at last this great devouring whale , d death , shall be forced to cast them up again upon a safe shore of eternal rest and true felicity , at the general resurrection , e that they may be where christ is , to behold his glory , and live in his ravishing presence for evermore . thus you see how the lord delivers his afflicted out of afflictions . iii. inferences hence , by way of application . shall not gods afflicted and distressed people still lie among the pots , but at last ( as with doves wings ) eseape out of their deepest misery , into the contrary prosperity and felicity ? then , 1. hence , how different is the dispensation of gods providence towards the godly and the wicked , and how different is their condition ! the godly must f first lie here among the pots of blacking afflictions ; but afterwards shall be , through an happy deliverance , as the wings of a dove , covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold : first they are in their mourning sables ; but after they are cloathed with the garments of praise : first g they lie among the ashes ; then after the lord turns their captivity : first ( h they are in their dungeon of distresses ; after they receive deliverance : first i they have their evil things and are tormented ; but afterwards their good things and are comforted . but on the other hand , if you look upon the wicked , you shall find the scene is altered . they may at first be as covered with silver , and their feathers with yeallow gold : but at last they shall lie among the blackest pots of misery : first they may flourish and k spread themselves like a green bay tree ; but after they shall wither l like grass upon the house-tops : they may m now laugh ; but hereafter they shall mourn and weep : they may now n receive their good things ; but hereafter shall have their evil things : they may now be comforted ; but hereafter shall be tormented : they may first o spring as the grass and flourish , but at last shall be destroyed for evermore . o then , who would not triumph to be godly ? who would not tremble to be wicked ? the godly first receive their wormwood and their gall , but afterwards their milk and honey : but contrariwise , the wicked first receive their milk and honey , and then their wormwood and their gall . oh how much better were it , to begin with gall and end with honey , to begin with sorrow and end with joy : then to begin with milk and end with wormwood ; then to begin with vanishing comforts , and end with endless torments . 2. hence , let all gods afflicted people that lie among the pots of darkest fullying miseries , most patiently bear their present pressures , and hopefully wait for their desired deliverance . they shall be taken from among the pots , they p shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , &c. therefore , tarry the lords leasure . he that believes makes not haste . the lords time of relaxation will come : and his time is the best time . he doth all things in number , weight and measure . there 's no contradicting , diverting or directing of him in his proceedings . he knows best when , where and how to deliver his distressed ones . be their sufferings never so extream or long , they shall at last certainly escape , either from death , or by death : either in this world , to partake sweet temporany felicity ; or in the world to come , to enjoy sweetest everlasting glory : therefore patiently bear and q wait a while , and live by faith : the vision will not fail , at last it will speak and will not lie ; and he that cometh with salvation , will come and will not tarry . 3. hence , finally , this may much calm and quiet their spirits whose near relations lie among the pots : and also may excite their hearts to unfeigned thankfulness , whose endeared friends are released from distress and misery , to enjoy the contrary felicity . are your dear allies in deep afflictions , much blacked and disfigured as among the pots ? you bleed in their sufferings , and are exceedingly distressed upon their extremities . yet compose your selves , there 's hope in israel concerning this . such as belong to god , one way or other shall have deliverance : either from death , or by death . remember this and like promises , and quiet your hearts ; r although ye have lien among the pots , yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver , &c. are any of your near and sweet relations released from their distresses ; before death , or by natures dissolution ? bless god with thankfulness for his gracious dispensations . for , thus ; gods promises are performed : gods mercies are expressed : their miseries are removed , and their felicities exalted . and , as to the present case before us touching our dear sister deceased : though here 's much matter of sadness , yet here 's more matter of thankfulness . although it was her lot to lie a long time among the pots , in more sharp tormenting pains and miseries then many others ; yet now she hath obtained a full release . and , so holy was her life , so constant her faith , so stedfast her patience to the end , and so great her interest in god ; that we have no cause to doubt , of her coelestial felicity , or of her present triumphs in glory . it is true , our loss is great : but her gain is incomparably greater . her husband hath lost a dear , a sweet , a comfortable yoke-fellow ; her children have lost , a tender , a careful , and compassionating mother ; her allyes have lost a faithful and sincere-hearted friend ; the poor have lost a special and liberal benefactor ; the church of god hath lost an holy , heavenly and gracious saint ; yea and her self hath lost something among all these losses , she hath lost all her diseases , all her pains , all her sighs and groans , all her tears , all her sorrows and sufferings , all her troubles and temptations , and all her sins . but oh how much hath she gained , upon all these losses ! she hath f gained heaven , glory , eternal life , the spirits of just men made perfect , the society of angels , the immediate presence and embracements of christ , the beatifical vision and full fruition of god ; the joy of her lord , and unmixed pleasures at gods right hand for evermore . these , these are high matters of gratulation . i say of her , to you her near relations , as sometimes hierom said of nepotianus to heliodorus ; t o lament not so much that you have lost such an one , as rejoyce that you have had such an one : yea , again rejoyce and bless god that you have had such an one so long . consider ; her extremities on earth were intolerable ; but her enjoyments in heaven are unutterable . your losses of her may be abundantly made up in god : but what can compensate her present felicities ? her sorrow is turned into joy , her misery is swallowed up of felicity , her trouble is terminated in triumph . she hath passed from the dark side , to the bright side of my text . o bless the lord for her , and rejoyce with her ; that she u lies now no longer among the pots , but is become as the wings of a dove covered with silver , and her feathers with yeallow gold . finis . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . mary jackson the late dear and godly wife of joseph jackson esq , alderman of the city of bristol , having lived about fourty years , did sweetly fall on sleep in christ , april 24. was decently interred , may 5. 1657. and is at blessed rest , till christ's second appearing , to awaken , raise , and glorifie her with himself for evermore . reader , there is newly published an excellent book entitu●myst●rium & medulla bibliorum . the mysterie and m●● row of the bible : viz. gods couenants with man the first adam , before the fall : and in the last adam 〈◊〉 chri●● after the fall ; from the beginning to the end of 〈◊〉 world ; unfolded and illustrated in positive aphorisms● their explanations . wherein , the general nature , sev●● kinds , gradual discoveries , sanctions and administrations of gods holy covenants , from first to last , throughout the 〈◊〉 scriptures , together with their peculiar terms , occasions , 〈◊〉 , foederates , matter , form , end , properties , agreeme●● disagreements , and many other their noted excellencies largely and familiarly expounded : the blessed person and 〈◊〉 of jesus christ , the soul of all the covenants of faith , and mediator of the new covenant , is described : many 〈◊〉 fundamental points of christianity , are explained : sun practical questions , or cases of conscience , are resolved : 〈◊〉 puzzling controversies about the present truths are 〈◊〉 stated and determined : many obscure and 〈◊〉 scriptures are occasionally elucidated : and , in all , the 〈◊〉 supernatural mysterie of the whole sacred bible , touching gods 〈◊〉 wise , gracious , merciful , righteous , plenary , wonderful , eternal salvation of sinners by jesus christ through faith , 〈◊〉 couched and gradually revealed in his covenant express●● in all ages of the church , is disclosed and un-veiled . francis roberts , m. a. pastor of the church wrington , in the county of sommerset . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57375e-290 a revised , with the help of two distinct coples thereof taken in short-hand when i preached it lest any useful passages should be omitted ; there being a different gift in writing and preaching . b viz from jun. 22. till almost july 20. 1656. c psa. 49. 15. d isa. 38. 17. e psalm 68. 13. f 1 chron. 289 1 king. 18. 3 , 12. g eccles. 12. 1. h exod. 34. 22 , 26. i deut. 12. 6. 17. k 1 sam. 3. 4. to the end . l 1 sam 16. 7 , 11 , 13. & 17. 33 , &c. m 1 chron. 22. 5. & 29 ▪ 1. ●●am . 12. 24. 1 king. 3. 3. n 1 king. 18. 3. 12 o 2. chron. 34. 1 , 3. p luk. 1. 15. q 2 lim . 3. 15. r luke 2. 40 , 42 , 46 , 47 , 52. s 2 pet. 1. 10. t mat. 23. 14. & 24. 51. u rev. 3. 1. x 2 tim. 3 , 5. y 1 chron. 28. 9. z psalm 119. 10. a ●oh 21. 17. b gen. 5 ▪ 22 , 24. c gen. 6. 9. d gen. 17. 2. & 48. 15. e psal. 101. 2 ▪ &c. 1 king. 15 , 5. psal. 18. 22. acts 13. 22 ▪ f psal. 73. 25. g 1 cor. 1. 30. h iohn 6. 48 ▪ 51. i iohn 4. 10 , 14. k luke 2. 25. l 1 iohn 2. 1 , 2. m 1 iohn 5. 4 , 5. 1 ▪ cor. 15. 57. rom. 8. 37. n 1 tim. 1. 1. o phil. 1. 21. p i●hu 11. 25. q rev. 1. 8 , 11. r col. 3. 11. s 1 cor. 2. 12. t iob 19. 25 , 26 , 27. heb. 10. 34. 1 tim. 1. 16. 2 tim. 1. 12. u 2 pet. 1. 10. x 2 pet. 1. 10. y iob 19. 25. &c. z 2 tim. 4. 6 , 7 , 8. a 2 pet. 3. 18. col. 3. 5 , &c. b eph. 5. 27. & 4. 12 , 13. c rom. 14. 8. d habak. 2. 4. e iohn 14. 3 , 19. f 1 iohn 4. 7 , 8. g iohn 13. 34 , 35. h 1 cor. 13. 13. i phil. 2 ▪ 1 , 2. k psal. 84. 1 , &c. & 122. 1 , &c. l psalm 12. 1. to 5. & 63. 1 , 2. m mat. 28. 19 , 2● . n h●b. 10. 25. o psalm 89. 15. p heb. 1● . 20. mat. 28. 19 , 20. 1 cor. 11. 26. q 1 cor. 15. 58. r rev. 2. 10. s 2 ioh. 8. t 2 thes. 3. 13. gal. 6. 9. u dan. ● . 25. exod. 3. 2. isa. 43. 2. psal. 23. 4. x 2 cor. 4 ▪ 8 , 9● y iam. 5. 11. z luke 9. 62. a gen. 50. 10. b gen. 50. 3. c 1 thes. 4. 13. d iohn 11. 35. e 1 thes. 4. 13. f luk. 16. 22. g luke 23. 43. h heb. 12. 22 , 23. phil. 1. 23. i intelligeres ●llum non emori , sedemigrare ; & mutare amicos , nonrelinquere . hicr●nym . in epitaph . nepotian . p. 25. tom. 1. basil. 1553. k 2 cor. 5. 4. l 1 cor. 11. 1. m fiducla christiano rum , resurrectio mortuorum . tertul. de resurrect. c. 1. p. 31● . n 1 thes. 4. 14. 15 , 16 , 17. notes for div a57375e-3500 a isa. 50. 10. iob 19. 8 , &c. & 30. 26. b psal. 18. 27 , 28. gen. 15. 17. c iob 2. 8. with chap. 42. 10 , &c. d psal. 68. 13 ▪ e ●ph . 3. 6. f io●h . 1. 5. with he●b . 1● . 5 , 6. g solamen mis●ris soclos h●buisse dolo●ls . h psalm 68. 13. i non inter omnes conven●t de a gumento hujus psalmi , quem affirmat ●●zra valde esse excellen●e● . sim. de muis in ●rg . ad psal. lxv 〈◊〉 k 2 sam. 23. 1. l compare psal. 68. 18. with ●phel . 5. 8 ▪ &c. m compare psal. 68. 1 &c. with nu●b . 10. 35. n as that in 2 sam. 21. 15. to the end . see psal. 68. 1 , 2. o ps●l . 68. 18. with ●ph . 4. 8 , &c. p numb. 10. 35. q exod. 25. 21 , 22. r exod. 25. 2● . with o● . 3. 25. 1 ioh. 2. 2. s rom. 9. 4. 1 sam. 4. 21 , 22. t eph. 4. 8 , &c. u to this effect merc●rus & cev●l●rius in s. pagnin . thes. ad very . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & moller . com. in psal. 68. x or , we may understand it of the two bounds . and limits of the enemies . where they are continually assailed an● e●dangered . and t● is t●e greek seemeth to favour , tu●ning it ana meson toon cler●on amids , ( or between ) the inheritances ; even as they also translate the two bur●●ns o● limits between which isacha● couched ▪ gen. 49. 14 ▪ which tribe had the philis●ins at one end , and the ammonites on the other , that vexed them . h. amsworth in 〈◊〉 ●aword● , on psal. 68. 14. y si dormiatis inter medios ●leros , &c. cum duobus ●rediderls testamentis , in●enlcs in u●toque spiritum sanctun● ▪ et cet sit pul●htitudo elm juxta l●eram scire quae legas ; amen vis lecor●s omnis ●n sensu est . exter●or ltaque●e●borum orllatus in argenti nomine demonst●atur , occultiora vero mysteria in reconditis ●uri muleribus continentur . si dormiatis inter medios cleros ; hoc est , si quiescati● inter novum ●●ve us testamentum● invenietis in duobus testamentii gr●clum spiritus san●i . cle●i licuntur singuli lib● , &c. hi●r●ny● , in comment ▪ ad psal. lxvii . pag 94. ● . c. tom. 8. ●●sil . 15●3 . z augustin . in enarrat . in psal. lxvii . p. 702 , &c. tom ▪ 8. basil. 1569 ▪ a psalm 5● 6 , 7 , ● b r. david , un comment. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} sunt {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i. chytropodes , loca ubi ponuntur ollae , aut caldariae . l. in loco humili , & nigro , ut est hic locus . ac si dicat , ●i ambulastis hactenus nigris induti estibus ob inimicotum afflictionem , adhuc eritis albi sicut alae columbae , quae tect●est argenta . l. quae habet pennas albas sicut argentum . s. pagia . in thesaur. ad verb . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . c inter chytropodes . ] ● . in l●co humili , sicut est locus chytropodum : vel in loco obscuro & atro , l. in summa anxietate & rebus adversis constituti fueritis , &c. eritis adhuc sicut pennae columbae tectae argento . candor ▪ faelicitatem significat . pag● . & mercer ab . d nunc per modum correctionis addit , etiamsi fideles interdum contingat jacere in tenebris , deum nihilominus in tempore prodire liberatorem . — generaliter admonet , inter medias afflict iones arcana & mirifica dei vertute fideles quasi integros servai , vel subito restitui , ut nulla malorum signa appareant . utrumque enim sensum verba admittunt ; quod jacentes in suligine & tenebris , nitere tamen non desinant : vel quod liberatio contractum ex malis nigredinem dis●utia● . uirumvis eligas , summa huc redit , nunquam afflictionibus vel . consumi vel obrui sideles , quin sua illis maneat incolumicas , &c. joan. calvin . in comment . ad psal. 68. 14. e in priore membro metaphora est à calonibus & lixis castrensibus petita , qui ab aeris injuria utcunque se defendunt , delitescendo inter fuliginosas ollas , & lapides focarios , apta huic loco , ubi de bello sermo est , figura . in posteriore est metaphora à columbis desumpta , quae per medium aerem volitantes , nunc niveum atque argent●um , nunc aureum splendorem ejaculantur . significatur porro hoc versuex omnibus angustiis & periculis , quantumvis ingentibus , emersuros exiturosque salvos & incolumes . in sacris literis atror mala ; candor vero , incolumitatem & prosperitatem notat . simeon de muis in comment ▪ ad psal. 68. 14. f quamvis antea jacueritis , &c. ] quamvis tribus predictis temporibus , in egypto & deserto , interra cananes , & sub judicibus fueritis hactenus similes calonibus & lixis fuligine deformatis ▪ deinceps tamen eriti● similes pennis columbae . — nunc sub imperio davidis ampliorem habebant letandi occasionem quam unquam antea , &c. joan. foord in expos. psal. 68. 14. g b●tween the pot ranges ] or , b●tween the two banks or rews , to wit , of stones made to hang pots and kettles on in the camp or leaguer ; places where scullions lie , and so are black ; meaning hereby affliction and misery ; as on the contrary , by the doves silver-wings is meant prosperity . h. amsw . annotat. on psal. 68. 14. h though ye have ] — the meaning is , after that ye o people of god , shall for a long time have endured base slavery , and have been like scullion boyes lying upon he ground , dirty and smoaky ; you shall be again restored to glory and honour by gods deliverance . j. diodat . annot. on psal. 68. 14. among the pots ] though god suffer his church for a time to lie in darkness , like a black scullion among the pots ; yet he will restore it , and make it most shining and bright . large lond. annotat. on psalm 68. 13. i exod. 14. 20. k psal. 136. 23. l exod. 1. 13 14. & 5. 10 , 11. m exod. 14. 2 , 10 , 11 , 12. n exod. 16. 3 & 17. 1 , 3. o iudg. 4. 3. see that whole book . 1 sam. 4. 11 , 21 , 22. & 31 7 , &c. p ezek 37. 11 , 12 , 13. q gen. 39. 20. psal. 105. 18. r iob 2. 7 , 8. s psal. 34. ●i●le . 1 sam. 21. 11. to the end . t 2 sam. 15. 30. u lonah 1. 15 , 17 & 2. 2 , ● , 5 , 6 , 7. x luke 16. 20 , 21. y iob 30. 30. z cant. 1. 5. a cant. ● . 6. b isa. 52. 14. & 53. 2. c iob 19. 13. to 22. d psal. 88. 18. e isa. 53. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. f heb. 12. 10. phil. 1. 19. g rom. 8. 28. h iob 36. 7 , 8 , 9. i gen. 41. 21 , 22. k 2 chron. 32. 24 , 25 , 26. l 2 chron 3● . 16 , 17. m isa. 27. 8 , 9. n psal. 119. 67. o iob 36. 8 , 9 , 10. p dan. 3. 23 , 24 , 25. q 1 pet. 4. 1● . r 1 pet. 1. 6 , 7. s rom. 5. 3 , 4 , 5 t iob 2. 3 , 9 , 10. with iam. 5. 11. u gen. 32. 24. 25 , 26. x ●sal . 119. 71. y luke 22. 44. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . z rom. 8. 8 , 29. 30. 〈◊〉 . 53. 2 , 3 , 4. ●eb . 2. 9 , 10. a heb. 8. 7. b heb. 12. 6 , 7 , 8 , &c. c 1 cor. 11. 32. d hic ure , his seca : ut in ae●ernum parcas . e eph. 4. 9 , 10. f luke ●4 . 26. g acts 14. 22. h 2 cor. 4. 17. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. i psal. 73. ● . to 21. k luke 16. 19 , 20 , 21 , &c. l eccles. 9. 1 , 2. m heb. 11. 26 , 27. h heb. 11. 35 , 36 , 37 , 38. o gen. 15. 13 , 17. p ezod. 3. 2 , 3 , &c. q psal. 44. 25. r ezek. 37. 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. f psal. 105. 18. t iob 2. 7 , 8. u luke 16. 20 , 21. x isa. 53. 2 , 3 , 4. y ●sal . 13● . 1. & 73. 14. z 2 co● 11. 2 〈◊〉 the end . a 〈◊〉 38. 6. b dan. 6. 16 , 17. c dan. 3. 21 , 22 , 23. d iob 2. 7 , 8. e a planta pe●●s usque ad vi●●cem perc●sseit ●um vulnere pessimo , 〈…〉 . eleph antia . in●●●oto corpore vermes fl●eb●nt , & sinles & putredo . solam linguam integram ●l reservavi● , ut possi● dominum 〈◊〉 blasphemare , hironym in comment . ad psal. 66. p. 9. d. tom. ● . f luk. 16. 20. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . g ●sa . 38. 2● . h 〈…〉 8 ●6 . i 〈◊〉 23. 〈◊〉 , 17. 37 , 38. cra. 3. 13. * lucet marg●ritam in sordibus ; & fulgor gemmae purissimae etiam in luto radiat . hieronym . ad pammach . consol. p. 164. c. tom. 1. basil. 1553. k cant. 1. 5 , 6. l rev. 14. 13. m iob 2. 7 , 8. luk. 20. 36. n luke 16. ●0 , 21 , 22. o rev. 3. 4. p gen. 15. 13. to 17. q psal. 30. 5. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} jubilatio shoutingioy . r isa. 54. 7 , 8. s psal. 55. 6 , 7 , t 1 cor. 10. 13. u mat. 10. 16. 〈◊〉 i. e. vel {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 〈◊〉 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} misceo . x iob 23. 10. zech. 13. 9. y dan. 12. 10. z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} est aurum cu●us color nonniril ad virorem vergit . 〈…〉 in pag●● th●● . ad verb . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a heb. 6. 13 , 17 , 18. tit. 1. 2. b gen. 15. 13 , 14 , 16. c psalm 50. 15. d psalm 91. 14 , 15. e isa. 54. 6. to the end . g psal. 34. 19. h psal. 105. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. i gen. 15. 13 , 14 , 16. exod. 1. to chap. 15 , &c. iosh. 21. 43 , 44 , 45. k iob 2. 7 , 8. & 42. 10 , &c. l 1 sam. 18 , &c. 2 sam. 5. 12. m ier. 38 , 6 , 13. n ionah 1. 14. & 2. 10. o dan. 3. 21. to 28. p dan. 6. 16 , ●7 , 22 , 23. q 2 cor. 11. 23. to the end . & 1. 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 10. 2 tim. 4. 16 , 17 , 18. r luke 16. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. s is● . 53. 2 , 3 , 4. heb. 12. 2 , 3. acts 2. 23. 1 cor. 15. 4 , &c. eph. 4. 8 , 9 , 10. heb. 8 , 1 , phil. 2. 7. to 12. eph. 1. 19● 20 , 21 , 22. t psalm 22. 24. u psalm 58. 11. x 2 per. 1. 9. y acts 12. 6. to 12. z dan. 5. 30 , 31. ●z●a . 1 , 2 , &c. a psalm 116. ● , b nobis voentibus & nolentibus , selentibus & nesclentibus , vigilantibus & dormientibus , &c. c dan. 6. 20 , 21 , 22 , 27. d zech. 2 , 7 , 8. c isa. 63. 9 f iun. 5. 11. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ignisicat commiseratlonem five compassi●nem cum miseria alterius . jac. laurent . con. in lo● g sa. 38. 17. h psal. 91. 15. i gen. 15. 17. k exod. 3. 2 , 4. 5 , 6. l dan. 6. 22. m dan. 3. 2● . n 1 cor. 10. 13. o 2 cor. ● , 9 , 1● p exod. 3. 2 , &c. q dan. 6. 22. r dan. 3. 25 , 27. s acts and monuments , p. 301. vol. 2. lond. 1641. t jonah 1. 1● , 17. u 2 cor. 1. 5. x acts and monuments , p. 308. n. 50. vol. 3. lond. 1641. y acts and monuments , p. 139. vol. 3. lond. 1641. z veniant plagal , omnia paenarum genera : dum post plagas advenlat christus . hieronym . com . in psal. 66. p. 93. tom. 8. basil 1553. a rev. 14. 13. b phil. 1. 23. 2 cor. 5. 6 , 8 , 9. c rev. 21. 1. d rev. 20. 11 , 12 , 13. e iohn 17. 24. f psal. 68. ●3 . g iob ● . 7 , 8. ● 4● . 10 , &c. h ier. 38. ● , 13. i luke 1● . 25. k ps●● . 37. 3● , ●6 . l 〈…〉 m luke 6. 25. n luke 16 25. o psalm 92. 7. p psal. 68. 13. q habak. 2. 3 , 4. heb. 10. 35. to 39. r psalm 68. 13. gen. 15. 13 , 14 , 16 psal. 50. 15. & 91. 14 , 15. isa. 54 6. to the end . f ph●l . 1. 21. 2 c●r . 5. ● , &c feb. 12. 21 , 22. iohn 17. 24. phil. 1. 23. mat. 5. 8. 1 iohn 3. ● . mat. 25. 21 , 23. ●salm ●6 . 11. t nec doleas , quod talem am●●eris . sed g●ndeas , quod talem habue●is . hieronym . ad heliodo● . epitaph . nepotiani . p. 23. a. tom 1. basil. 155● . u psalm 68. 13. vincentius redivivus, a funeral sermon preached octob. 27, 1678 upon the occasion of the much bewailed death of that reverend and eminent servant of christ, mr. thomas vincent ... / by samuel slater. slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1679 approx. 105 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60357 wing s3979 estc r23647 07869687 ocm 07869687 40194 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60357) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 40194) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1213:6) vincentius redivivus, a funeral sermon preached octob. 27, 1678 upon the occasion of the much bewailed death of that reverend and eminent servant of christ, mr. thomas vincent ... / by samuel slater. slater, samuel, d. 1704. [3], 44 p. printed for tho. parkhurst and t. cockerill, london : 1679. reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng vincent, thomas, 1634-1678. bible. -n.t. -hebrews, xiii, 7 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-05 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion vincentius redivivus . a funeral sermon , preached octob. 27. 1678. upon occasion of the much bewailed death of that reverend and eminent servant of christ , mr. thomas vincent , formerly preacher at ma●dlins milk-street , london . by samuel slater , an unworthy servant of christ in the gospel . psal. 112. 6. the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . quae caecitas animi , quaeve dementia est , amare pressuras , & poenas & lachrymas mundi , & non festinare potius ad gaudium , quod nunquam possit auferri . arnob. london : printed for tho. parkhurst and t. cockerill , at the bible and three crowns in cheapside near mercers chappel , and at the three legs in the poultrey , over-against the stocks market , 1679. to my honoured friends mrs. mary vincent and that flock of christ over which th● holy ghost had made dear mr. thoma● vincent overseer . at your request this sermon was preached and is now published . such as it is , you ar● welcome to it , and much good may it do you 〈◊〉 the lord grant all those may meet with 〈◊〉 blessing in it , who shall read it out of a real desire to ge●● good for their souls ; other readers we care for none . 〈◊〉 take your invitation of me to this work , as an eviden● token of that love and esteem you have for me , howeve● unworthy : therefore i did not draw back , but humbl●● bless god for the assistance he hath afforded me in it 〈◊〉 all you find here according to his will , came from hi● spirit . i would be very , very low in mine own eyes yet i do neither dread the censures of men , nor am i 〈◊〉 vain as to court their applause by making apologies ▪ what i have here presented you with , are the truths o● god , which deserve your acceptance ; i desire you to tr●● them , and having seen their fathers name in their fore● head , give them a ready admission , a most friendl● and honourable entertainment . i shall speak nothing 〈◊〉 you here by way of advice , having said so much in th● sermon ; but only signifie to you , that you are much upo● 〈◊〉 heart , and in my prayers ; i will not be unmindful you at the throne of grace , but speak many a good ●●rd for you ; the lord comfort your hearts , and san●●ifie to you his hand , that out of the eater may come ●eat ; out of this providence which hath removed your ●everend pastor , special● advantage may come to your ●●ls ; the lord send you another , und●r whose shadow 〈◊〉 may sit with delight , finding his fruit sweet to your ●●ste ; the lord supply all your need according to his ●●ches in glory by iesus christ. my dear friends , wisely ●●d graciously improve this dispensation , submit to the ●●od pleasure of a taking god ; be much in the study of ●ur hearts and ways ; be you sincere and thriving chri●●ians . and the father of mercies bind you up in the ●●ndle of life , and grant you a glorious inheritance a●●ong them that are sanctified by faith in christ ; so ●●ayes , your friend and servant in our ▪ dear lord jesus . samuel slater . ●ctob . 29. ●1678 . hebr. xiii . 7. remember them which have the rule over you , who have spoken to you the word of god , whose saith follow , considering the end of their conversation . this excellent epistle is not without good reason reckoned to paul as its author , the great apostle of the gentiles , who having obtained mercy , burned with zeal for god , and had such yearning bowels over the blind , unbelieving , obstinate iews , his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh , that for their sakes he could have found in his heart to wish himself accursed from christ , rom ▪ 9. 3. which was a rapture of love , a pang of affection highly becoming him , who was a brand plucked out of the burning ; and of a chief sinner made an eminent saint ; of a cruel furious persecutor , a blessed and most successful apostle ; unto these iews he wrote this epistle , and for weighty reasons , without doubt , concealed his name . herein he made it his business so to set forth the lord jesus , and commend him to them , as that they might receive him with all acceptation , as the promised messiah , and high-priest over the house of god , and persevere in faith and obedience to him ; and likewise to lay down such rules for their lives and carriages in the world , as that by an holy and exemplary conversation , they might honour his name , and adorn his gospel : the union between faith and holiness is so strict , that they never were nor can be separated ; and it is pity they should , being most amiable in conjunction : faith giving encouragement unto holiness , and holiness reflecting a glory upon faith . several precious commands or exhortations you meet with in this chapter , which , though primarily ordered out to the hebrews , do remain a burden upon all persons in all ages who profess themselves christians ; unto them it is our duty to attend , and according to them to walk . the text is a fruitful bough , consisting of three branches : 1. remember them which have the rule over you , who have spoken to you the word of god. 2. follow their faith . 3. consider the end of their conversation . or if you please , you have here a double duty enjoyned , remember them that have spoken to you the word of god , and follow their faith ; and you have a choice means prescribed for the commending those duties to you , and encouraging you in their performance , consider the end of their conversation . of all these i shall ( god willing ) speak in the prosecution of this doctrine . doct. there is much duty incumbent upon people , upon the account of their deceased pastors . when ministers dye , their work is done , they have finished their course , and dispatched the business given them to do : they did shine among you in purity of doctrine , and holiness of conversation , as long as the lamp of life lasted ; when the oyl of that was spent , they were taken up to heaven , there to out-shine the sun in his greatest strength and glory . but your work is not then at an end , being of equal extent and duration with your lives : as you have time enough for your work , so have you work enough for your time ; none can say he sate idle one hour , because he had nothing to do ; put forth all your strength , use your utmost diligence , husband your days and minutes to the best advantage ; you will be happy men and women , you will have cause eternally to bless the hand above that help't you , if you can do your work by that time death shall come to take you off . i am not now to speak concerning the whole duty of man , but those particular duties mentioned in the text , relating to those servants of christ , who have laboured among you , one of which is remembrance . remember them who have the rule over yo●r . in which word two things must be considered , 1. the act , remember . 2. the object about which that act is to be exercised , them which have the rule over you . i shall begin with the object , those which have the rule over you , [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] your guides , such as are appointed by god to point out the way you should go , and do themselves go before you in it ; such as do not only shew the way , but lead the way : this is the primary signification of the word . and it hath been metaphorically translated and applied to them whose business lies in ordering and governing others , both in church and state , to persons in magistratical and ecclesiastical office . and without all peradventure , godly magistrates , whether supreme or inferior , who rule in the fear of god , and with prudence and righteousness manage the affairs of state , are worthy to be remembred . though a pharoah did rise up , who knew not ioseph , let not the man be found in israel who remembers not ioseph ; nor a protestant in england , to whom the memory of an edward and elizabeth is not precious . but it is evident from the words themselves , that the apostle here did not intend the civil magistrate , but gospel-ministers , whose work is not only to instruct , but also to rule in the church of god : they have power to command the rich in this world : they are to rebuke with all authority . paul had his rod too , which he knew how to use when need required : they are the masters of the assemblies , elders that rule , as well as labour in the word and doctrine : shepherds that are to feed the flock of god ; yea , and to order it , and to reduce those sheep that wander . yet let them remember , they are under authority ; though chief men among the brethren , yet but men ; though masters of the assemblies , yet servants of christ ; such as rule , but such as must be ruled by the word ; and in case of male-administration , are liable to censure : their authority is of no farther extent than their warrant ; they are to lead , and be followed , not blindfold , not as infallible persons , not as being above the possibility of erring ; but with caution and limitation ; follow your guides , christians , but look to your way , 1 cor. 11. 11. be ye followers of me , even as i am of christ ; just so , and no otherwise ; so far be sure to follow me , but not a foot farther . but we shall speak more particularly . 1. those whom you are to remember , are the ministers of the gospel , the embassadors of the glorious king of saints , the pastors and angels of the churches , in whom , though poor earthen vessels , god hath laid up heavenly treasure for the inriching of many . alexander , caesar , william the conqueror may be remembred ; but never let a paul , a calvin , an vsher , a caryl , a manton , a vincent be forgotten ; there is no need of canonizing them ; god made them saints while they lived , though the pope dubs his saints after they are dead ; as the heathen made gods , whose ape he is : it would be a sin to worship them , to pray to them , or to put up your prayers to god by them as his master of requests ; there is but one m●diator between god and man , the man christ iesus ; yet let them live , they do so in gods sight , let them do so in your remembrance and esteem . 2. those whom you are specially to remember , are your pastors , christs ministers in your congregations ; so the apostle directs , them that have the rule over you . it is the fashion of some to applaud and admire other preachers , while they despise and slight their own , which is a shrewd argument of a wanton spirit : it would be their wisdom , and is their duty to like the disposals which god hath made . accordingly , think you of them , honour them who rule over you , who have laboured among you , who spent themselves for you ; their relation to you was very near , being your spiritual fathers ; if not those that begot you , yet those that nursed y●● , and travailed for many among you , by preaching and prayer , with tears and groans , with earnest longings to see christ formed in you ; oh how dear w●s their love , answerable to their relation ; they watched over you , and watched for you ; they brake their rest , and wasted themselves in providing and dealing out food to you , when , it may be , some among you thought much of returning to them a sorry and pitiful acknowledgment or reward . however , let● such narrow souls remember them now ; that will cost them nothing . 3. those whom you are to remember , are your deceased pastors [ loquitur de iis qui jam obierunt . jun. ] ; the apostle here means those who had compleated their work , and were gone to rest . let those ministers of christ , who are alive and remain , who at this day live and labour among you , be in your thoughts , and esteem , and prayers ; count them worthy of double honour . trample not them under your feet , whose feet are beautiful , being messengers of peace , that bring and rejoyce to bring you glad tidings of great good , the very best that ever the world had . our saviour pronounceth a wo against those dissembling hypocrites , that build the tombs of the prophets , and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous , but despise the labours , and blow upon the reputations , and starve the bodies , and persecute the persons of those that are alive , matth. 23. 29. give unto both their due ; let it never be said , that dear mr. thomas vincent is out of mind , now he is out of sight . though now his place know him no more , though his family and pulpit know him no more , let it never be said his people had forgot him too : no , no , as god hath received and glorified his soul , and looks after his dust , of which he will not lose the smallest atom ; do you preserve his memory , and count his name a precious and fragrant oyntment . thus you see , pastors , your pastors , your deceased pastors are to be remembred . quest. but what , all of them ? be they never so erroneous or flagicious ? answ. i do not say so , the holy apostle doth not mean so ; if any be corrupt in their opinions , unsound in their doctrines , or disorderly in their lives ; if in their sermons they bring you any other gospel than that which christ and his apostles did ; or if preaching the same gospel , and holding to the form of wholesome words , they contradict it by an unsuitable carriage , and by an unholy life destroy what they build ; it had been well for the world , and the church , and themselves too , if they had never been born ; and the sooner they are forgotten , the better : when their bodies are laid in a bed of dust , let their ●●ames be buried in the grave of forgetfulness . may their memorial perish with them . those who are worthy to be remembred , have these qualifications , which you find in the text. 1. they are such as have spoken to you the word of god ; not the sentiments of philosophers ▪ nor the notions and counsels of learned and civilized heathen ; not aristotles ethicks , and plutarchs morals , or plato's divinity , though some good use may be made of them : doubtless natural light is beautiful and lovely . but what need have we of the glistering of a gloe-worm , or the blaze of a candle , who do injoy the help of scripture , that hath brought life and immortality to light ; who do through the riches of mercy injoy the gracious beams , the warming and quickning influences of the eternal son of righteousness ? let us not disparage the god of israel by repairing to the forges of the philistines , or borrowing their weapons for our spiritual warfare ; none like to the sword of the spirit , the word of god , which is mighty through god. we need not go to those puddles , since the lord hath been pleased to open to us the wells of salvation , out of which we may with joy draw living waters for the refreshing of thirsty , and reviving of fainting souls . those ministers are to be remembred , who bring not their own idle dreams , but gods truths ; not the precepts of men , but the doctrine of jesus ; who have determined ( as paul did ) to know nothing among you , but iesus christ and him crucified : those pastors which ( like the woman spoken of revel . 12. 1. ) were cloathed with the sun , and had upon their heads a crown of twelve stars ; the truth of christ , and the doctrine of the apostles ; in short , men sound in judgment . 2. they are such as did believe what they preached ; therefore you have mention made of their faith , whose faith follow . oh that i could say , all preachers are believers . but i cannot but tell you , though i desire to be very charitable , i have not faith enough for that ; all ages having sadly proved the contrary : the woful defections and apostac●es of many in the pagan , arrian , and antichristian persecutions , are undeniable demonstrations of the contrary . god forbid i should take upon me to judg any particulars , much less whole parties ; that very word [ party ] is exceeding bitter and unsavoury to me ; i heartily wish there were no such name , or thing ; and oh for that day ! when will that day come ( the god of love and peace hasten it ) , in which his people shall serve him with one shoulder , and with one consent in the beauties of holiness ! in the mean time i am firmly perswaded , that there are those who fear god , and work righteousness , and study to approve themselves by a sincere desire and care of walking up to scripture-rules , and the dictates of their consciences , among all those parties in england , which hold the head , and have not drunk in damnable heresies , as the apostle calls them ; yet , yet i fear , there are also those that have not faith : rest they do in floating notions , take things upon trust , are beholding meerly to education , or the profession of the countrey where they live , for their being protestants or christians . and i also tremble to think how many would be found stark rotten , if they should be shaken by a temptation ; found dross , if they should be cast into the furnace : those deserve to be remembred , who are rooted and grounded in the faith ; who can say , lo , this we have searched : this we have experienced , so it is ; those that see the truth in its own evidence , that have found it mighty in operation upon their own souls ; those that have held the mystery of faith in a pure conscience , and would not let it go upon any terms , or in any times , but chuse rather to venture all , to part with all , to throw all over-board , than to make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience . 3. they are s●ch as practic'd what they preach'd , and lived their own sermons ; such as exprest the virtues of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvellous light , and advanced them to be lights unto others . such masters of the assemblies as did drive home and fasten the nails of serious wholesome counsels a●d exhortations with the forcible hammer of a spotless , gracious and heavenly deportme●t in the world ; such as preached christ , and lived him too ; such as received him , and walked in him ; such as did [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] foot it right , and could boldly say to their flock , walk so as ye have me for an example : such as did not mind earthly things , nor hunt after the world , as if it had been their god ; did not sinfully serve the times , nor turn into all shapes , and wound their souls to save their skins ; did not prodigally spend their precious hours , nor unchristianly smite their fellow-servants , nor eat and drink with the drunken , but were the companions of them that fear the lord , and placed their highest delight , next to god , in the saints , those excellent ones of the earth ; and did shew out of a good conversation their works with meekness of wisdom , making it their inward desire , great care , and utmost endeavour in all things to adorn the gospel . holy men of god , who were good in the pulpit , and in the house too , and in all places , in all companies ; against whom there could be no exception , save in the matter of their god , abating them for those natural humane infirmities , which are inseperable from the most holy persons , whilest on this side of perfection , tabernacling in houses of clay : the good lord increase the number of such pastors in england , yea all the world over , in all places where he hath caused his holy name to dwell ; and unto them , mine honour be thou united ; unto them shall my soul adhere in sincere and most intire affection , whatever smaller and circumstantial differences are , or may be between us . may so much suffice to be spoken concerning the object , about which the following acts are to be exercised , unto which i now come . quest. next then , what is to be done by that people whom god did bless with such pastors ? answ. two things , remember them , follow their faith . of which in order , remember them . your memories are precious cabinets , too good for dung and trifles ; lay up nothing in them but what is excellent ; there is enough of that : remember your creator in the days of your youth , yea and in the days of your age , so shall you be satisfied as with marrow and fatness . remember your dear saviour , his love , his life , his death ; attend upon ordinances , and receive the sacrament in remembrance of him ; remember his love more than wine : remember the mercies you have received , so as to be thankful ; the promises you have made , so as to be faithful ; the sins you have committed , so as to be humble ; the experiences you have had , so as to be encouraged . remember them that are in bonds , as bound with them ; them that are in straits and necessities , so as to be compassionate and liberal to them . remember your latter end , so as to be diligent , and quicken your pace ; and withal , remember your deceased pastors , who obtained mercy to be found faithful : they , they are some of gods jewels , allow them therefore a choice room in these cabinets . quest. you will ask me , how●they are to be remembred ? answ. i answer in these following particulars : 1. remember them , so as to bless god for them . have not you had great benefit , soul-advantages by them ? oh! let god have praises from you . when you are under smarting rods , sore afflictions , pore not so much upon them , as to become by that means injurious to god : some that did too little mind , and prize , and improve mercies whilest they were in their hands , do view them , and curiously study them , when taken away , until their spirits be imbittered , and discontent raised up against the providence . but , christians , beware you of that ; i advise you to be sensible of your loss : let the widow be sensible what an husband she hath lost , the children what a father ( if their tender age will admit it ) ; the family , what a governor ; the society , what a shepherd ; i , and others , what a friend and brother . but let us all remember to bless god , that we had him once , that we had him so long ; let this congregation bless god that ever it was committed to the care and charge of such a minister , that ever such a shining and burning light was set up in this candlestick ; that ever such a labourer was sent into this vineyard . my dear friends , i do most earnestly beg this of you for my dear master , whatever your loss is , how great soever , how painful and afflictive soever , let not your and my god be a loser ; look carefully to that , as you love your selves ; gods loss is your loss . therefore how sad soever your case is , how dark soever your day , how low soever your spirits , do not now , do not at any time withhold from god those praises which are his due . truly he hath been good to you , and he is so now , and he will be so still , if you will but do your duty ; therefore be sure to love him , and bless him ; let the holy god ever inhabit the praises of israel . 2. remember them , so as to bewail the loss of them . you ought indeed to moderate your sorrow , keeping it within the bounds of reason and religion , as becomes those that have hope ; nay , let there be a mixture of joy with your sorrow , being sure it is well with them , perfectly , unspeakably , and everlastingly well ; their happiness doth exceed their thoughts , and not only afford satisfaction to them , but likewise raise admiration ; oh what am i that god should ever bring me hitherto ! yet mourn . it becomes you to be both affected and afflicted in your spirits . what! shall the father be smitten , and the children not grieved ? the shepherd taken away , and the flock not troubled ? that would be a grand solecism both in nature and religion . when samuel dyed , all israel were gathered together , and lamented him , 1 sam. 25. 1. the tears of an whole nation may well be poured out upon a samuels death . when stephen the proto-martyr was carried to his burial , there was great lamentation made over him , acts 8. 2. those devout and holy men broached their sorrow , they went on , weeping as they went. when elisha was arrested and confined to his bed by his last sickness , ioash the king of israel wept over his face , and said , o my father , my father , the chariots of israel , and horsemen thereof , 2 king. 13. 14. and well may there be such great sorrow , else it will hold no proportion with the occasion : losses of such persons are great , how little and vile soever in the worlds eyes while they lived ; for they were their peoples blessings , the nations pillars , the stakes in our hedg , and their death is not seldom ominous ; it speaks a storm-brewing evil to come . when they are hous'd in the silent and safe chambers of the grave , what may we look for next , but that the great god should come out of his place , cloathed with righteousness , and armed with vengeance , to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity . this know for certain , the lord is greatly offended , it angers him at his very heart , when he sees men stupid and insensible under such dispensations , specially when they become ordinary ; when the righteous perish , and are taken away , none considering or laying it to heart . it is true , there is now joy in heaven ; but let there be sorrow on earth , that will not be jarring : angels and perfect spirits above , welcome those departed saints with shouts and acclamations ; let us part from them with tears , at least with sighs . possibly there are some who do rejoyce at such a mans death ; but whether they will believe me or no , i will tell them , they have no cause ; god will make them change their note , even they shall mourn at the last . 3. with your remembrance of them , joyn heart-grief and trouble that you gained no more by them ; consult and listen to your own consciences , see what they will say , deal impartially and ingenuously . have not you been asleep in your seats , when they have been at work in their pulpits ? have not your minds been wandring after vanity , and your eyes gazing about upon this body and that ; this face , and that fashion , while they have been fixed and intent , wholly taken up about the good and salvation of your souls ? have not you been cold at heart , while they were fervent in spirit , serving the lord ? they have mourned , but you wept not ; they have piped , but you danced not ; when they poured out their souls in confession of sins , you were not humbled , your hearts not broken within you ; many a sad and foul story hath been told of you , yet you did not blush , neither were you ashamed : they have mightily wrestled with god , and tug'd hard for mercy , mercy for you , your pardon , and your lives , but you have sate and seen all this with a most wretched indifferency , as if you were persons altogether unconcerned , and did not care whether they prevailed or no. how have you slipt the precious truths they delivered to you , and been disobedient to the counsels they ordered out ; and have been little the better , though they came to you in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of christ ? they have come and blown upon your garden , now with the north-wind of dreadful threatnings , then with the south of gracious promises ; yet your spices have not flown forth ; nay , are not too many of you unto this very day like the dry and barren heath ? and surely you have cause to be troubled , and oh that you may be so , the good lord trouble you kindly ; let your souls have these losses and afflictions still in remembrance , and be humbled within you . 4. remember them so as to be quickned by that remembrance . think of their death , and go to their graves , and fetch life and liveliness from thence : we ministers should do so . when our fellow-labourers grow fewer , it stands us in hand to work the harder . what! shall some drop on our right-hand , and others upon our left , yea many round about us ; and shall any of us notwithstanding be idle , and lazy , and half asleep at our work ! oh that the ratling of deaths chariot-wheels might awaken and rouze us up . when elijah is taken up to heaven , let every elisha look out for a double portion of the spirit , and go forth in all their might to plead the cause of truth and holiness , and finish that great work their lord hath set them . you also that are the people of god , should double your diligence . you are not ignorant how your faithful pastors liv'd and labour'd , how they walked and wrought , what indefatigable pains they took for god , and for you , and with their own hearts : though you do not know half , yet let that which you do know be a spur to you . up , christians , up , shake off a supine sluggish temper ; work out your salvation with fear and trembling : give all diligence to make your calling and election sure . hasten , oh hasten to the kingdom of god ; lose no time , slip no opportunity , neglect no part of your duty ; fill up your days , relations , and places ; and so run , as that you may obtain ; you are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses ; lay aside therefore every weight that presseth down , and the sin● that doth so easily beset you ; gird up the loins of your mind , call forth all your strength , buckle in good earnest to your business , and on , on in that holy pleasant race that is set before you . 5. remember them , so as to be encouraged by them , and take heart . you live in a world that lyeth in wickedness , it is grievously polluted ; almost all places are so dirty , that we can scarce tread clean ; surely these are the dregs of time ; you are invironed with enemies and dangers . and speak seriously , do you not sometimes feel inward fears and faintings ? well , encourage your selves in the lord your god ; and take , my brethren , the prophets , who have spoken in the name of the lord , for an ensample of suffering afflictions , and of patience . you have seen what great things god hath done by them , and for them ; you have seen that god hath carried them through all their difficulties , so that they have overcome at the last . satan that roaring lyon hath pursued them , and come with open mouth , yet could not devour them ; he hath got some of them , and winnowed them as wheat , yet their faith did not fail . lusts and corruptions within their own bosoms have made frequent assaults , and furious batteries upon them , yet they could not prevail . these holy souls through christ strengthning them , have trodden down sins strength ; sometimes they have gone halting ▪ but always came off conquering . the world again hath one while fawned like a strumpet , and another while raged like a fury ; yet could not gain them by fair means , nor foul : though the archers have shot sore at them , their bow hath abode in strength , and the arms of their hands have been made strong by the hands of the mighty god of iacob . the waves have lifted up their voice , and dashed against them , yet have they stood like rocks unshaken ; some of them have had an hard passage , and met with many a violent storm ; yet at last they have got in a calm unto their desired heaven ; and being landed in the other world , ●re now feasting in the new hierusalem which is above , at the court of the king of glory . it is true , they died , and so must we , so must the strongest and the highest ; it is appointed for all men once to dye , yet these dye but once ; they did not dye before the time ; they did not dye before their work was done ; they did not dye before they were fit to dye , no , nor before they were willing to dye ; they were ripe fruit , and so dropt into the bosom of abraham . in a word , they dyed to live , and now they live to dye no more : be you therefore of good cheer , o ye holy ones , that god who did so much for them , can do as much for you ; his arm is not shortned , nor his ear heavy , nor his love less ; be you strong in him , and in the power of his might . 6. lastly , so remember them , as to think of theirs who are left behind . it is more than probable that some of their wives and children are in a low condition , and want conveniencies , if not necessaries : be you liberal to them , give them a supply out of your abundance ; pare off some of your superfluities for their relief ; you shall not suffer , nor be losers by it ; i dare ingage to you , there is one in heaven will take care of that . there be others , who , though not reduc'd to such straits as to need the help of your purses ; yet being now in a disconsolate condition , they do need your company and comforts . poor hearts ! their houses are left unto them desolate , they are turtles alone , and mourn sore like doves ; give a knock at their door● now and then ; when you can , turn into those widows houses , and speak comfortably to them ; the very sight of their husbands friends cannot but be cordial to them ; though for a time it will open the wound , and renew their sorrow ; yet it will revive and chear them too . thus much for the first part of your duty , remember your deceased pastors . yet before i pass on to the second , let me subjoyn to what hath been said , two things by way of caution . 1. while you remember them , be not unmindful of god , and do not forget to trust in god ; though they are dead , yet god still lives , yea he lives for evermore ; whosoever dyes , god cannot dye ; he necessarily is , and is necessar●ly what he is . as he is eternally , so eternally immutable , not having the least shadow of turning . and this ever-living god hath the residue of the spirit , and can pour it out upon whom he will , and furnish whom he pleaseth with ministerial gifts and graces ; and he never ceaseth to look after his interest and people . look you to it , that you be true to him , and he will be true to you : he will have a ministry in england , as long as he hath a church in england ; and may that be as long as the sun and moon endure , amen . this great lord of the harvest will lose none of his corn , not an ear , not a grain , for want of labourers to gather it in . this gracious and loving father of the family sees good now and then to pinch some of his children , but he will starve none . when israel was in a wilderness , he was pleased to work miracles , rather than they should not be provided for ; therefore let your faith live as long as god liveth in heaven , and you upon earth . and let me add this for your comfort ; let never so many good men , eminent men dye , your life , o believers , is secur'd and insured to you by the life of christ. hear his own words , iohn 14. 19. because i live , ye shall live also . 2. while you remember them , do not forget your selves . it is readily and joyfully acknowledged , that god doth not stand in need of ministers : he that could make heaven and earth by the word of his power , can accomplish all his pleasure without helps and instruments ; yet you do need them , and it is his will to employ them , and continue them to the end of the world . magistracy and ministry are two standing ordinances , and will be necessary so long as there are men on earth , and men to be sitted for heaven . therefore , my brethren , sit not down in this your orphan-condition . what i have told you is unquestionably your duty , but not the whole of it . keep together . though the shepherd be smitten , let not the sheep be scattered . look out for a good supply ; that your loss may be made up again , and your pastors place filled . no loss is irrepairable but the loss of god and your souls . be wise before you fix ; consult together , and ask advice of them who are both faithful and able to give it ; act with due deliberation , yet defer not too long . above all go to god , who holdeth the stars in his right hand ; and then look out for a man orthodox in judgment , and holy in life , who may not go about to raze , but wisely to build upon the foundation , which by my reverend brother hath been already laid . and my prayer is , that god would set a man over your congregation , even a man after his own heart . and so i come to the second duty incumbent upon you , which you have in these words , whose faith follow . holy imitation doth most highly become all that profess themselves christians . be careful in your chusing a pattern , and then curious in your imitation : you must not follow lying vanities , then you forsake your own mercies ; you must not follow vain fashions , that is not suitable to the gravity and seriousness of your religion . you must not follow a multitude to do ●vil , unless you have a mind to be damned with a multitude , and think hell is a desirable place , because most go thither : the most beaten road is not always the best ; you must not follow the world ; instead of being conformed , you ought to be crucified to it . you have far better copies set you , far more noble and excellent patterns before you . god ; be ye followers of god as dear children . christ , he hath left you an ensample , that ye should tread in his steps . the saints , who while here walked in their integrity ; and now they are above , sit in robes of glory : be ye followers of them that through faith and patience have inherited the promises . and among them , those that have held forth the word of life , and shined as lights in the world . be wise now in making these your choice , and follow them as close as you can ; live up to scripture-rules , and holy presidents . and truly , my brethren , since god and christ , godliness and heaven are as good , full out as good as ever they were ; i can see no just reason why professors should decline and decay ; why our gold should become dim ; why the saints of this generation should fall miserably short of those that went before them ; why the present christians should be so unlike the former , both for purity and zeal , as if they were not begotten of the same father , and did not suck the same breasts . but so it is ; ah ! so it is ; our nazarites were purer than snow , whiter than milk ; whereas now the visage of many of them is blacker than a coal ▪ they can scarce be known in the streets ; and let this be for a lamentation . oh that you would do your endeavour to revive the old godliness , which is the best godliness ; and to live over again the lives of the old saints , and in particular , those of your renowned pastors : follow them in all that is good , and within the compass of your sphere ; you must never go out of your places to follow your pastors ; the lord jesus himself is to be imitated by you only in his imitable works . that being premised , i say with the apostle paul , phil. 4. 8. whatsoever things you saw in them , true , honest , just , pure , lovely , and of good report , whatsoever there was of virtue , or of praise , think on those things , and follow them in those things : in no other ; for they were but men , imperfect men , subject to like passions , infirmities , and failings ; and these you must not draw into an example , nor use them as an argument why you should do so too , as too many argue from davids adultery to their uncleanness ; for certain god never put such things upon record for an encouragement unto sin , but for cautions to all ; you must not wander with them that wander , nor fall , because others have ; no , follow them as they followed christ , and only so , in all that is good , in all that is well-pleasing to god , and will be ornamental to the gospel . but i shall confine my discourse to the command in the text , follow them in their faith . and here i shall speak to these four particulars : 1. follow them in the doctrine of faith : be sound in your j●dgments , and suffer not your heads to be fly-blown with error . hold fast that which is good , for otherwise you will lose your crown : the age in which we live is a learned age , and it is a very inquisitive age , and an hot disputing , but with grief be it spoken , it is an error-broaching and imbracing age ; there are too too many among us that act industriously toward the shaking of our foundation , though the virgin-daughter of zion looks upon their attempts , and laughs them to scorn ; for god himself , the mighty god hath laid them , and they shall not be destroyed . but though our foundations are firm and lasting , yet many of our professors are feeble and wavering , yea some are removed to another gospel : they have rejected those great points , those main truths , which are the very vitals of christian religion , and you may see them wallowing in the blood of their apostacy : stick you to that faith which was delivered to you by your deceased pastors , who are now with god , that is , the faith which was once delivered to the saints , once for all : the doctrine which they held out to you , is the doctrine of the church of england , built upon the prophets and apostles , jesus christ himself being the chief corner-stone . hold to that , all that , specially the deity of christ , his satisfaction , justification by him , and faith in him , not by works which we have done ; and the spiritual mystical union that is between him and true believers . keep these things as the apple of your eye , yea as you would your lives . and though we or an angel from heaven should come and preach among you any gospel contrary to , or besides that which they have preached , and you have received , let him be accursed . 2. follow them in the grace of faith. they were believers , be you so too : look narrowly to it , that it be the true grace of god in which you stand . take not up , my brethren , with an empty name , a verbal profession , a company of bodily exercises , and heartless duties . mind , i beseech you , the power of godliness , and do not stop one hairs breadth on this side of it : painted hypocrites are as odious to that god who requires and searches the heart , as the openly profane : his soul hates them that secretly mock him , as well as those that publickly affront him . make sure work therefore for your precious souls ; see that you have that faith which is unfeigned , the faith of gods elect , that you do cordially imbrace the truths of the gospel , and ●lose with an offered jesus ; that you have that faith by which you may live , that faith by which you may walk until you come to walk by sight . i would not have any of you deceived , and cheated to your own destruction , as many poor creatures are , who run away with a lie in their right-hand , build hopes of heaven and happiness upon a sandy bottom , please themselves in a lifeless image of religion , which the holy one of israel will despise when he awaketh unto judgment ; their faith is no better than a fancy ; their godliness is not a godliness of gods making nor approving ; they walk about in the sparks of that fire which themselves have kindled , and at last lie down in sorrow . be you wise for your souls , and deal prudently ; get that faith which upon tryal will be found to praise and honour , much more precious than gold that perisheth ; be ye provided with that oyl which will keep your lamps burning when the blessed bridegroom cometh . 3. follow them in the actings of their faith . grace is given you not only for ornament , but also for use ; we are not only to be justified by faith , and saved by ●aith , but to live by faith . have you got it ? then suffer it not to lie dormant , but exercise it : act your faith upon christ , his mediation , merits , and intercession : he is a full christ ; it hath pleased the father , that in him should all fulness dwell , a fulness that is far beyond your emptiness ; live upon him therefore , and draw from him , you can never draw him dry : act your faith upon the covenant , it is an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things , and sure . god is ever mindful of it ; with it holy david comforted himself , in it he placed all his happiness , and sum'd up all his desires . act your faith upon the promises ; these are exceeding great and precious , you cannot measure them , nor over-rate them . in them there is an answerableness to every case , a complete suitableness to every condition , in which you either are or can be . and you cannot over-trust them , being yea and amen , of most sure and certain accomplishment : the womb of divine promise never miscarried , but shall bring forth at the time of life all the mercies and blessings with which it travails . ever count gods promise abundant security ; and believe that all mountains which lie in the way of its performance , shall be made a plain ; the darkest providences are still subservient to the promise . iosephs being sold for a slave , and clapt up in a prison , were steps to his being made the second man in the kingdom . act your faith upon the wisdom and power , the love and care of your heavenly father ; know , he endears you , and will look after you : his glory shall not be lost , nor given to another ; his truth is great , and shall overcome ; his church is built upon a rock , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it . iacob , though small , shall rise ; and though a worm , he shall thresh the mountains ; the beast and the false prophet shall be cast into a lake of fire , burning with brimstone , and the glorious victory shall be the lambs ; for he is king of kings , and lord of lords ; and they that be with him , are chosen , and faithful , and true . believe , and rejoyce while you believe , that when gods desperate enemies are at work , he himself is not idle , but observes them , is in the conclave and the cabal , undermines them , counter-acts them , and will turn their counsels backward or headlong , so that no weapon shall prosper which they form against his cause and people ; but he will accomplish the thoughts of his heart , which shall stand in all generations ; and effect his own designs , and be absolute master of all his ends , finishing all the work which he hath to do in the world , and that without losing either time or ground ; as our days go off , so gods work goeth on , it is never out of hand . thus act your faith upon god in all conditions , and under all dispensations ; when you are high , and when low , yea at the lowest , for still , still , still the everlasting arms , arms , are underneath . in these actings of faith those holy men lived , and so must you , otherwise you will never be established , much less in such gloomy , tottering , turning , and tumbling times as these are . 4. lastly , follow them in the fruitfulness of their faith . your gracious pastors were not , neither may you be solifidians : as they did believe , so they maintained good works , and by that means obtained a good report . while you know that faith justifieth you , you must also know , it is your duty to justifie your faith ; that faith which is alone , is stark naught , it is dead and rotten , and stinks above-ground ; shew me , and shew the world your faith by your works . if you ask me what fruits they are which grow upon the root of faith , and prove it genuine ? i answer , all the fruits of the spirit , in which you must abound , if you would have an abundant entra●ce into the glorious kingdom of our god and saviour . but i shall speak only to three , holiness , love , ioy. 1. follow them in their holiness . a wicked believer is as meer an impossibility as a gracious devil ; such a faith as will consist with the love , and life , and reign of sin , is no better than what may be found in hell among lapsed angels , and damned spirits , who , as the apostle iames tells us , believe and tremble . wheresoever true faith is , it purifies the heart , and reforms the life , and orders the footsteps according to the word : as it cloathes the soul with the beautiful robe of christs righteousness , so it subjects the soul to his governing scepter and law ; it lets christ in , and casts corruption out ; when christ dwells in the heart by faith , he shines in the life by holiness : the pearl of faith is never found in the dunghil of profaneness . study then , study holiness , and perfect it too in the fear of god ; think with your selves what manner of persons ye ought to be , how acurate and exact in your whole course ; remembring , that grace of god which bringeth salvation , and hath appeared unto you , teacheth you , that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , ye should live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present evil world , 2 tit. 11 , 12. and that you ought to be like your father , who is holy in all his ways , and righteous in all his works . when therefore a temptation to any sin assaults you , resist it with utmost indignation , and say as nehemiah did in another case , shall such a man as i do this ? or as ioseph , how shall i do this great wickedness and sin against god ? or as that good woman [ christiana sum ] i am a christian. this , my dear friends , this is the way to glorifie your god , to honour your religion , to credit your pastors . in this way you shall be their comfort while they live , their crown when they are dead , yea their joy and rejoycing in the presence of the lord jesus christ at his coming : the exemplariness of your carriages is the best commendation of the ministers you have , and of the sermons you hear ; whereas when you walk disorderly , and as enemies to the cross of christ , you are our shame and reproach , spots in our assemblies , goads in our sides , and burdens upon our spirits : let no man nor woman tell others they sit under my ministry , unless they resolve by the grace of god to depart from iniquity . 2. follow them in their love. true faith works love , and by it ; it kindles a pure flame of love , and then makes use thereof for the promoting and furtherance of all duty . have you not taken notice of your pastors love ? what did they think too much to do for you ? they have hazarded their liberty , and spent their strength , and broken their rest , and wasted their lungs for you : they mourned under the untractableness of some , and were humbled for the unreformedness of others , who had sinned , and had not repented ; they longed for your conversion to god , and progress in religion , and growth in grace : they had no greater joy than to see you walking in the truth ; oh! how did they prize god , and christ , and you ? how did they rejoyce in their work , though hard , yet sweet ? how welcome was a sabbath , upon which they might draw their breasts for your consolation , and open their treasures for your inriching ? imitate you them in their love ; give the best , the flower , the quintessence of it unto god. erect in your hearts a throne for christ ; love him as well as you can , and then mourn because you love him so little , and always pray that you may love him more : love one another dearly , for you are brethren , and so fulfil the law of christ , and prove your selves his disciples . have an universal love for all the saints , all in whom you can see [ aliquid christi ] any thing of christ ; yea so love all men , as to wish their good , and to do them all the good you can , even your enemies , your persecutors , those that hate you ; do you hate their sins and wicked ways , but love their persons , and pray for their conversion and salvation . 3. follow them in their joy. you read of the joy of faith , and of the saints rejoycing in believing , with joy unspeakable and full of glory . certainly it is a duty incumbent upon all the saints to rejoyce in the lord , and that evermore ; and call to remembrance the times that are past . have you not seen the faith of your pastors budding and blossoming with joy , when you have been sinking , and days have been dark , and fears many ? have you not seen a smile upon their brow , even then when there was a cloud upon their tabernacle ? you have indeed been acquainted with their sorrows , and their tears , because men hated to be reformed , would not keep gods law , but dishonoured his name , and opposed his gospel , and would break his bands asunder , and cast away his cords from them ; but you have also been privy to , and witnesses of their joys ; follow them in this : let them that are of a fearful heart be strong ; be you of a cheerful spirit , and let your brethren and others see you are so . you have , o saints , matter of rejoycing in your worst conditions ; nay , let me say this , you have much more matter of rejoycing than you now have , or ever shall have of sorrow and disquiet . for , if you be really what you profess your selves to be , god is the cause and matter of your rejoycing ; it is he that is your comfort and your glory , psal. 43. 4. i will go , saith that sweet singer of israel , unto the altar of god , unto god my exceeding joy : or as the margin tells you it is in the hebrew , unto god the gladness of my joy . now i beseech you , if you can , tell me , what can possibly be ; i ask you again , what can possibly be so great a cause of sadness and sorrow , as your god is of joy and rejoycing ? thou , o poor drooping soul , thinkest thou hast a great many sins in thy heart , and the church of christ hath a great many dangers at this day in poor england , city and country is full of them ; and doubtless all this is very true , too too true , the good lord help us . yet know , god is above them all , and greater than them all : he is greater than all thy sins , and so can both pardon and subdue them : he is greater than all his churches enemies , and so can either reconcile and change them if he pleases , or curb and conquer them . as he is greater than all our dangers , and so can easily obviate and prevent them : he can with a word command deliverance , and create peace , and place a defence upon and about all our glory . you have , my brethren , at all times , in the very worst times , more cause of joy in god , than you can have of sorrow and discouragement in any thing , nay in all things . this made the holy prophet take up that brave resolution , hab. 3. 17 , 18. to rejoyce in the lord , and to joy in the god of his salvation ; though there should be a famine in the world , and the staff of creature-comforts should be broken to pieces ; though earth should sink under him , yet he would by faith hang upon a god above him ; and as long as he had a god above to live upon , his joy should live and flourish : he knew not only how to make a meal , but how to feast it upon god alone . thus have i at large set before you that duty which is incumbent upon you in reference to your deceased pastors , who have preached to you the word of god ; it lieth in these two things , remember them — follow their faith . now i come to the last clause in the text , which you may look upon either as a third duty , or an excellent means for the commending of the two former , and facilitating them unto you ; and that you have in these words , considering the end of their conversation . here again you have the act , considering ; and the object , the end of their conversation . i will begin with the former . considering . we ought to be a considering people ; it would be our safety , our honour , our comfort and advantage every way , as i could easily shew you . we should sin less , if we would consider more . most , if not all our sins come in at this door , want of consideration . men do not consider , their ways lead directly to hell , going down to the chambers of death ; and therefore they go on in them : they do not look into the state of their souls , nor consider how affairs stand with them ; and so when they should mourn and weep , they live jovally , and frolick their days away , dancing and roaring upon the very brink of the burning lake : they do not consider the pearl of price , how orient it is , how excellent and inestimable ; and therefore they do not sell all , and buy it : they do not consider the worth of their souls , that they are immortal , and their ransom precious , and therefore they barter them away for a filthy lust and transient pleasure . men do not consider how sordid and odious a thing it is , how ill-becoming them , how hateful to god , and how exceedingly it inflámes their reckoning , and will one day add to their torments , 〈◊〉 swill like a swine , to be filthy like a goat , to curse like a devil , and to swear like a cutter ; to profane sabbaths , and 〈…〉 to hate the power of godliness , and 〈◊〉 ●hose that are peaceable in a land. due and serious 〈…〉 , my brethren , would correct all these things , 〈◊〉 ●ould reform a thousand disorders , and we should have another world . and until this be , the world will be the old world still ; we shall find it as bad as ever , a wicked , malicious , and troublesome world ; cain will kill abel still ; and they that are born after the flesh , will persecute them that are born after the spirit . i shall not at all wonder to see men carry like bedlams , to see them raging-mad in sin , so long as they live like fools , without consideration . well , my friends , if any will be vain and foolish still , let them be so : as for you , reckon upon it as your wisdom and interest to do nothing rashly , not to pass over things lightly , not to run on headily ; look before you leap , ponder your path , try all things . consider those things which we deliver to you in the course of our ministry , and require of you in the name of our god , whether they be not most holy , and just , and good . consider those things we propound to you , the great and gracious offers we make , whether you can any where else better your selves , and get a more gainful bargain ; see if we do not out-bid all the world , and offer you such a match for your souls , as is the chiefest of ten thousands , altogether lovely , without compare . o ye fools , be ye of an understanding heart . we would not have you embrace our counsels , and follow our directions blindfold . we can say this , we counsel you as we do our selves , and we lay no other burden upon you than upon our selves , and your souls are precious to us as our own , and it sorely troubles us to think of your eternal miscarrying , and our hearts would greatly rejoyce , even ours , if that danger were over , and that we did but see you in that tender and mighty hand , out of which none can pluck you : yet we would not have you take all upon trust from us ; an implicit faith , and a blind obedience do not please us : no , weigh things in right balances , compare the service of christ with the drudgery of a devil , and the service of sin ; peace of conscience , with roaring in a tavern ; the kisses of a saviours lips , with the caresses of a minion ; the favour of christ , with the smiles of a man ; a being filled with the spirit , with a being drunk with wine , in which is a brutifying excess . compare contrivances for god , with plots for rome , and conspiracies against princes ; an heavenly mind , with earthly affections ; an interest in promises , and an inheritance in heaven , with an ill-gotten estate in the world that hath a curse in it . compare , i say , these things together , and consider , and then chuse . let some men say what they will , their tongues are their own , only let them remember , they must at last be accountable for their words ; as for us , we would have you rational in your religion , rational in your believing and living ; use your reason in all things within its reach , only to call that to determine in matters too high for it , in points of faith , that could never have been known by us , but by divine revelation , hath much more absurdity in it , than to call a countrey-clown from following t●e plough , to sit down at the helm , and determine in the [ arcana imperii ] mysteries and riddles of state. use all the reason you have , only be not unreasonable in you reasonings ; and believe it , we are not afraid of having things brought to a tryal ; the cause of godliness is too good to be cast , when it hath its hearing before a prudent , impartial , and righteous judg. consider then , and that not only once , but often ; so the original word signifies [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] considering again and again ; frequently repeat this act ; think of it now , and think of it anon ; to day and to morrow , every day . the things of god , the matters of religion , the product and issue of an holy life , do deserve greatest seriousness , and most frequent thoughts ; there is nothing in the world so considerable in it self as these things are , and therefore nothing in the world is so worthy of your consideration . besides the merit of the things , the dulness of the hearts calls for it . ahlas i we are not easily wrought upon ; our minds are blockish , our wills stubborn , our hearts obdurate , our judgments do not readily assent to truth , nor our wills close with goodness . we are as the disciples were , slow of heart to believe , and submit and embrace the things of god. there must be precept upon precept , and line upon line ; and there had need be consideration upon consideration , and prayer upon prayer , and all this is little enough ; nay all this , and more than this would be too little , were not god pleased to bare his omnipotent arm , and to make it a day of power upon the obdurate and refractory sinner . slight thoughts and transient glances will make no impression , will kill no sin , nor kindle any holy heat ; it is the fixed eye that doth affect the heart ; as the burning-glass must be for some time held with a steddy hand in the beams of the sun , before it will fire combustible matter . be much then in the work ; let not vain thoughts lodg , but let holy thoughts abide and dwell within you . so much for the act. i now come to the object , what is it that we are to consider ? what ? truly you need never be at a loss for matter of consideration , most choice and excellent matter , viz. god himself , and the operations of his hands , in creation-work , and acts of providence ; specially that admirable master-piece , sinners redemption and salvation . consider your selves , your hearts and ways , and latter end ; together with that infinite ocean of eternity into which you must lanch ; and those two places , heaven and hell , into which all intellectual and rational beings shall be gathered . consider the sermons you hear , and search the scriptures daily ; bring all that is said in the pulpit to the law and to the testimony ; and see whether those things be so or not . in prayer consider in what a presence you are , and with what a glorious majesty you have to do ; what great mercies and blessings you have to seek , and do not offer the sacrifice of fools . consider the worship you perform , whether the word will warrant it , and god accept it ; many things that are very pretty in the account of men , are very ugly in the sight of god. consider the opinions you take up , the doctrines you believe , whether they be truths of god , what foundation they have in the scripture , with what evidence they come upon your minds , and what work they have made within . i might multiply particulars to this purpose , but shall forbear . the text directs you to a very proper object , consider your pastors , in the end of their conversation . king solomon was a very wise man , and very considerate ; he went too far in his trial and search for an happiness under the sun ; and being out of his way , he was often in the ditch ; yet wheresoever he was , he took consideration with him : you find him one while returning and considering oppression , eccles. 4. 1. another time you find him returning and beholding vanity under the sun , eccles. 4. 7. and at another time he is busily taken up in the sluggards field , prov. 24. 30 , he went by the field of the slothful : he saw and consider'd it well , and lookt upon it . what did he observe there ? two things ; the posture of the field , and the issue of the owner . the field lay over-grown with thorns , covered with nettles , having its stone-wall broken down ; and as for the end of its owner , that was beggary ; he had not so many rags to his back , as he had nettles in his ground . poverty and want came upon him as an armed man. king solomon consider'd all this , and receiv'd instruction . he was the better for it while he liv'd . if we would be wise , we might get good out of nettles ; turn every thing we see , into spiritual advantage . honey is by the industrious bee suckt out of nettles and weeds . but , i am calling you to turn , not into the field of the heavy and lazie drone , but into the field of the diligent and laborious husbandman . and do you consider it well , observe how it is watched , and manur'd , and kept ; how curiously it lies , and how fertil it is ; what pains the industrious owner took in sowing , and what comfort he hath in reaping ; observe his harvest joy , when he goes home at night carrying his sheaves with him . we will consider here two things . 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , their conversation . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the end of their conversation . 1. consider their conversation , all the windings and turnings of their lives , take special notice of the whole , and of each particular . consider them in all their capacities , private and publick , as men , christians , ecclesiastick governours . in all their relations , as neighbours , friends , masters , parents , husbands , ministers . in all times , serene and cloudy , halcion and tempestuous . in all conditi●ns , high and low , prosperous and adverse , in honour and disgrace . in all these consider the evenness of their spirits , the stedfastness of their faith , the holiness of their walking , their industry and patience , their self-denial and submission , their meekness and contentation , their purity and zeal . consider how in simplicity and godly sincerity , not with fleshly wisdom , but by the grace of god they have had their conversation in the world , 2 cor. 1. 12. 2. consider the end of their conversation . a two-fold end , which i shall give you up in these termes , since better do not occur at present . 1. the end of their desires . 2. the end of their days . 1. consider the end of their desires , what they propound to themselves , and aim at in all they do , and which indeed their hearts are very much upon . would you know what it is , i answer negatively ; not a name among men , to be carried aloft by the ●ading breath of popular applause . alas that is a vain thing that will please and satisfy none but a light and empty spirit . with them it was a very light thing to be judged by mans judgment , 1 cor. 3. 3. that wind continueth not long in one corner . our dearest lord jesus spake and lived as never man did , he excelled and outshined all that ever the world could glory in , the brightest stars were darkned by that beautiful sun , yet he , even he met with a crucifie him , after an hosannah in the highest . again , their end was not worldly riches and s●cular advantages , not vast and swoln estates , on which the greater part of the sons of men dote , yea too many professors , these did flie an higher pitch . a liberal maintenance was their due , the communication of their spirituals did richly deserve a return of your temporals , which to make is not your charity but duty , yet this was not their end . i could tell you of some , who for your sakes have greatly deny'd themselves ; others have laboured hard and chearfully in the midst of hardship and want . they have hugg'd opportunities of bringing to hungry souls bread from heaven , clusters from the land of promise , when they themselves have , as to their outward condition , been in a dry and barren wilderness : but affirmatively thus , the end at which they aimed did consist of these three things , which were worthy , most worthy of such truly noble souls . 1. the glory of the ever blessed god , which is his own supreme and ultimate end in all he doth ; and indeed nothing below the glory of god is fit to be advanced to the honour of such an end . now this was the end of those holy men , to me to live is christ , said paul , phil. 1. 21. he was the author , preserver and comfort ; he was the pattern and end of paul's life : the advancing of his name , the setting forth of his excellencie● , the inlarging of his territories , and increasing the number of his subjects , was the scope , the white at which he levell'd all his actions : and this also was principally designed by your gracious and faithful pastors : christ they loved , and preached , and exalted ; for him they contended , for him they suffered , for him they were ready to have died ; for the proclaiming of his righte●usness , yea his only , and for the maintaining of his authority , as head of the church , and zion's king , against the bold and god-daring invasions of the grand roman-impostor and usurper with his adherents . doub●less nothing was so sweet to them as serviceableness to this purpose . contributions hereunto did not only reconcile them to their own ●●●lipses , reproaches , losses and sufferings , but also put a pleasantness into them . iohn the baptist speaking of this blessed bridegroom , could say in the uprightness of his heart , ioh. 3. 29. 30. this my joy is fulfilled ; he must increase , but i must decrease . and you find act. 5. 40 , 41. when the apostles had been bcat●● for preaching up jesus , they departed from the presence of the council , rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name . now , my brethren , this is such a pitch as the most raised heathen , and sublimated carnal man never yet soared ; their principles are too low and sordid , their wings too weak and feeble to admit of so lofty a flight . let nature and the power of it be never so much commended by its admirers , the natural man without a supernatural principle , and the sweet , yet mighty assi●●ance of special grace , never did ▪ never can make god his highest end : no , no , self s●icks too close to him , and is predominant ; it is both at the top and bottom of all his actions , and doth indeed run quite thorough them . whereupon theophylact said , you cannot instance in one good heathen , because they did all for vain glory . 2. your deceased pastors desig●ed the salvation of their own souls ; interest in god , communion with him , and fruition of him , tasts of his sweetness , sights of his beauty now , and satisfaction hereafter . they were of david's mind , and rejoyced in the same hopes . david had been speaking of the men of the world , how they had their bellies filled with hid treasures . oh! that is good , say some , we wish we had our belly full too ; but stay , that which spoiled all is this , that they had their portion in this li●e . the comforts of the w●●ld are good en●oymen●s , but they are a bad portion ; that holy man did think them so , and therefore closed most sweetly thus , ps●l . 17. 15. as for me , i will behold thy ●●ce in right●●us●ess , i shall be s●tisfied when i awake with thy likeness . it is as if he had said ; every one as he likes ▪ if these men see so much in the world , let them take it , and much good may it do them ; when they have their bellies full , let them go to rest , and sing themselves asleep in the lap of pleasures , at the breast of creatures ; when god awakens them , they will find emptiness and pain , having fed all along upon wind and ashes . as for me , i will not be put off with these things , they are but for the body , but for the belly which must be destroyed , for that part of man which shall never be glorified . as for me , i study the good of my precious soul , and am set for a portion for my soul ; i would have my portion to take when their portion is spent : i am for beholding the face of god , and satisfaction with the likeness of god ; and when i once have that , i am sure that i shall have enough both of his love and of his glory . paul laboured more abundantly than all ; if you should ask him , what it was he laboured for , he tells you , i and my faithful brethren labour that whether present or absent , they might be accepted of god , 2 cor. 5. 9. we would gladly be accepted of the saints , but our chief desire and ambition is to be accepted of the god of saints , and to be received to live with him as his children for ever . and surely their greatest adversaries may well allow them this . we all know , there is a scantiness in the creature , and a narrowness in the world , from whence proceeds shouldering , and justling ▪ and scrambling ; but the divine love is infinite , the fulness of a god inexhaustible , and in heaven there are many mansions , room enough ▪ and happiness enough , and glory enough for all that shall come thither : let us not quarrel by the way , nor at the inne ; at home , at our fathers house , there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore . 3. lastly , they desir'd and aim'd at the spiritual good , and eternal welfare of your souls : to bring you unto christ , to build you upon christ , to keep you from departures from him , and from unstedfastness with him ; in a word , to be instrumental for the making you meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light . your selves are witnesses of the pains they took among you . god is witness of their studies for you , the tears they shed in private , the prayers they made , in which they wrestled with great wrestlings , that you might live in his sight , and neither fall short of the grace which is bestowed upon his people , nor of the rest , which remains for them . i dare with highest confidence affirm , these were the ends at which they principally aimed , and do not fear being put to the blush at last , as one that is found a lyar . 2. but now let us consider the end of their daies , their [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] last end , their going off the stage of the world , and out of this vail of tears . what exist have they ? how come they off at last ? for that is the import of the word in the original ; which ( saith a learned critick ) is a metaphor taken from those , who being incompast about with thieves , are in danger on every side ; how do they escape ? faithful pastors are tha light of the world , but how many are there every where puffing at them ! they are the salt of the earth , but how do the wicked endeavour to cast all this salt upon the dung-hill ! and what an unsavoury world should we have then ? they are troubled on every side , and in all revolutions of kingdoms and nations , none are so much exposed to hazard as they . well now , observe and consider the end , the last act , and blessed be our good god , you shall find that in the evening it is light , [ finis coronat opus ] their end is such as that it crowns their works ; such as makes them free to tell the world , that their labour hath not been in vain in the lord , because it fully answers all their hopes and expectations ; nay , doth unspeakably exceed them . it is such an end as is desirable for all men . even a balaam wished thus , let me die the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his . the vile wretch did not like the righteous mans life , that was too refined and strict for him who loved the wages of unrighteousness , but he would fain have his end . and you will see no cause at all to wonder at it , if you will but retire a little , and in good earnest consider these things . 1. the end of your faithful pastors , yea and of faithful christians too is a welcome end . others , like the fool in the gospel , have their souls taken from them ; there is a force put , if they could resist , they would : in a sullen mood and disconted fit they will call for death , but when it comes indeed , they wish it ●arther off , whereas these resign their souls , and give up the ghost , and commend their spirits into their saviours hand , they did according to their duty love their work , and relations , and friends , and comforts , yea and glory in the cross of christ , but they can freely bid farewel to all , when they know they shall , and think they do go to god. though their daies be few , yet they depart hence full of daies , because they have had their fill of living , they do not only submit to god , when he sends for them , but also are well pleased , the world was crucified to them , and they to the world ; & when things are once brought to that pass , it is no hard matter to part , the world is weary of them , because they convince and condemn it ; and they are weary of the world , because of its wickedness and frowardness . it is terrible to think , what a strugling there is when a wicked man comes to die . methinks it is something like , though much beyond that of the vine and olive , when the rest of the trees would have made one of them king ; oh , saith the vine , how shall i leave my sweetness ? and i , saith the olive , my fatness ? so say ungodly men upon a dying-bed , how shall i leave my jovial and merry companions , my honours and preferments , my riches and estate , my pleasures and delights ? if these be once gone , all is gone with me , there is nothing left , i have nothing to take to . death ruines them at once . alas , these poor cr●atur●s are not branches of the vine , they are not ingrafted into the olive , they are brambles , and it is not strange that they should rather chuse to rule on earth , than to burn in hell. but when these holy men come to die , whatever struglings there are in nature , they chearfully comply . death is what they have looked and long●d for . p●ul desired to be dissolved and to be with christ phil. 1. 23. they groan earnesily to be 〈◊〉 upon with a robe of glory , and that house which is from . heaven , 2 cor. 5. 2. they have been familiar with death , they have prepared for it , and waited for it , and given many a long look ; and what should hinder their bidding of it welcome , since they know it comes upon a good errand , though it be a grim messenger . 2. it is a peaceable end . if a wicked man should say to death , as ioram did to jehu , is it peace , death ? he might expect such an answer as he had . what peace , so long as thy rebellions , and whoredoms , and abominations are so many ? peace ? no , no peace . i am come to arrest thee upon actions of high treason against the king of heaven . the soveraignty , holiness , goodness , son , gospel , mercies , judgments of god have brought in their charges against thee , and i am come to drag thee as a cursed malefactor to the tribunal of thy judge , where thou shalt be convicted and sentenc'd . but now if these gracious men should ask death , as the elders did samuel , comest thou peaceably ? the answer would be , yes peaceably . i was thine enemy , but i am reconciled . a good friend of thine hath pluckt out my sting , so that i cannot hurt thee . i am come to fetch thee home . i am come to send thee to a place where thou hast laid up great hopes , and many prayers , and much treasure , to a place where thy father is , and thy saviour , and an innumerable company of angels , and spirits of just men made perfect ; many of them thou knowest , most of them thou knowest not ; yet all of them , one and other , are ready with joy to bid you welcome . sanctifie thy self , set thine house in order , and come away . as soon as ever i have taken off this clog of earth , angels sh●ll , according to the charge their great lord hath given them , receive thee , and conduct thee to iehovahs pallace , where thou shalt quickly be ; no tiring by the way , and no want in the countrey it is true , a malicious devil is ready to fall upon the saints , when they are weakest , and if god permit him , he will bruise their heel just when they are to go their journey . and sometimes there is a very sharp bout , and soar conflict upon a death-bed between him and them , but when once death is come , he parts the fray , and all is quiet ▪ the devil may rage , and storm , and fret , but he can do nothing else . 3. it is a comfortable end ; i deny not but a little before there may be clouds ; and this shady valley so dark , as that the believer is at a great loss . though his title be good , yet h● cannot read his evidence . god may be pleased to put a vail upon his own face , and the sun of righteousness suspend his beams . there may be a great silence in heaven , and not one word of comfort spoken , that the attentive and listening soul can hear . god is indeed by , but he is not seen . he doth uphold , but not revive . and hereupon there follows sad questionings and hot disputes , if it be so , why am i thus ? will not god vouch●afe me one smile now , and can i think he owns me for one of his children ? is his mercy clean gone for ever ? hath he forgotten to be gracious , or resolved he will not be so to me ? but when it is thus very dark , the dawning of the day is near at hand . and oftentimes the clouds scatter , and the case is rightly stated , and things are brought to a good issue , before the last blow be given . god comes in and takes off the sackcloth , and puts upon his beloved child a garment of praise , so that now he lies in state upon his bed of languishment . but however , as soon as death hath done his work , the dispute is at an end , and the controversie is determined on the souls side . and this is done when things have been at the worst . after the lowest ebb , there then is a spring-tide of consolation . then the enlarged soul doth magnifie the lord , and the spirit rejoyceth in god its saviour . but how often is it otherwise , have you not known ? have you not heard , that some of these precious sons of sion , these heirs of joy and glory have triumphed over death , even while they were under its assaults . when death hath been making its most furious batteries , then have they been singing their song of praise in the apostles language and strain , 1 cor. 15. 55 , 56 , 57. o death , where is thy sti●g ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ. what raptures have they been in ; and what extasies of joy ? so that their pains and throws have been forgotten or neglected . how have some of them told by-standers [ hic sat lucis ] here is light enough , meaning in their breasts . and others , that they were as full of joy as they could hold . god had anointed them with the oyl of gladness against their burial , and made their cups run over , so that their hearts have leaped within them at the thoughts of their being upon the borders of eternity , and so near the company which they lov'd so well . witness that more than swan-like song of good old simeon , luke 2. 29. 30. lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , according to thy word , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . having got his heart , and christ in his eye , he would set up his sail , and his frait , grace inbe gone for the other world. 4. it is an honourable end . wicked men go out in a stink , not only the grosly profane , but the hypocritical professors , if discovered , as often they are . their putrid carasses are not so unsavoury as their names . specially the names of such professors , who by their villanies have made religion stink in the nostrils of foolish men ; though it is pity it should . let all men judge of our religion , not by the practices of some that pretend to it , but by its own rules and laws , which are the most exact , excellent , and noble , of any in the world. but let the name of the wicked rot , and indeed so it doth and shall ▪ there is a curse upon it , and that rots it . there was wickedness in their lives , and that causeth rottenness in their names . no good man will speak well of them , and the commendations of the wicked are not worth the having , for they are a real disgrace . but these followers of the lamb have obtained a good report , and left it behind them . that death , which makes them naked and bare of all their temporal enjoyments , cannot strip them of this . the righteousness of christ , and the graces of the spirit go along with them ; their works sollow them , and the remembrance of their holiness and usefulness stays behind . how do their relations and friends want them ? how do their people and acquaintance bewail their absence ! nay , some of their enemies will strew flowers upon their herse ; and though they will not be so liberal as their conscience , nor speak all that 's put into their mouths , but suppress and detain such truths in unrighteousness , yet they will bestow the epithet of an honest man. that god whom they served , hath said , the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . he takes care of their names , as well as of their dust . and he hath also said , the memory of the just is blessed . it is and shall be so , like a precious oyntment , which fills the whole place where they lived with a fragrant odour , yea and places far remote . we cannot expect all should speak well of them . some paint the angels black ; the devil would have had iob taken for a meer mercenary , although he was the worlds none-such for his uprightness . shimei cursed david , and tertullus the orator threw dirt upon a paul. christ himself was called a deceiver after his death , yet he was in all things faithful to him that appointed him . when all men speak well of one , it is a shrewd sign , all was not well . either something was amiss , they will be such as their company is ; or else something was wanting , viz. faithfulness and plain dealing . it is honour enough to have a good report among them who fear god , they are best able to judge , and most to be credited ; and this honour have all his saints , all those , whose character i have given you , and those also who tread in their steps , and hold out to the end , so doing . 5. lastly , it is a most blessed and glorious end . you , slaves of hell , who are at the devils beck , and drudge for him all your days , committing uncleanness with greediness , and drawing sin as with cart-ropes , what is the end you must expect ? the apostle tells you , rom. 6. 21. the end of those things is death . that is the best wages the devil hath to bestow upon his servants , a never-dying death , a death which is unspeakably worse than death , and their end is shame . now they are impudent , but then they shall be ashamed . dread shall fill them , and shame cover them . that is the promotion of fools , prov. 3. 35. oh! change your master , leave your work , break off your sins by repentance , unless you think eternal death a good reward , and everlasting shame desirable preferment . but behold these servants of the lord , who have served their generation according to the will of god , and glorified him upon earth , who have fought a good fight , and kept the faith to the finishing of their course ; who have desired and endeavoured to turn many to righteousness ; how is it with them , when their end comes ? i want words , the lines fall to them in pleasant places , they have a goodly heritage . who can summe up their happiness ? were one of them here , were an angel here , he could not tell you half . they are approved , and highly commended . the testimony given is , that they pleased god ; that they have done well , very well . [ e●ge bone serve ] well done good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful in thy little . now they shine as stars in the ●irmament : now they have their crown of righteousness , in comparison of which the richest diadems are not worth taking up in the street . and their glory is answerable to their crown . an exceeding and eternal weight of glory , such as hath substance and solidity in it . and no wonder if , together with all this , they have their joy . if any thing can , this will make them forget their sormer sufferings , the worlds affronts and inoignities , the angers and bitter unkindnesses of their mothers children , who are dandled in her lap , and yet are peevish with their weaned brethren . all this will make them merry at heart , and cheerful in look , and sing allelujah . they have a joy of god's making ▪ and maintaining ; not the crackling joy of the world , but the unconceiveable joy of their lord ; a joy too big for them to contain , though their capacities are greatly enlarged : it cannot enter into them , they shall enter into it : a joy that shall fill them to the brim , and compass them round about : they shall be in joy as a full vessel in the midst of the immense ocean . the doctrinal part being thus finished , i shall speak a little , and but a little in a way of application . and vse 1. my reverend fathers and brethren in the ministry of whatsoever judgment you are in these divided times , give me leave in all humility , yet with all earnestness to beg of you , that you would so preach and walk , so labour and live , as that you may be ex●mples to the flock , and your memory may be blessed . oh! let us all look to it ▪ that we know and speak the truth as it is in iesus , not departing from the purity and simplicity of the gospel . let us remember , whose embassadours we are , and keep close to our commission , delivering only our masters word . let our lips preserve knowledge , and not cause people to erre . may our discourses turn chiefly and mostly upon those two cardinal points that pauls did , repentance towards god , and faith in our lord iesus christ. do what you can to turn your auditors from all their immoralities to a sober , civil , and unblamable life . doubtless the gospel requires this ▪ christ came to redeem us not only from hell and condemnation , but also from a vain and vicious conversation . and our perfection in heaven will consist in a compleat conformity to the moral law. if any decry morality , it is because they do not understand it . yet my brethren , let us also teach faith in jesus christ ; do not rob him of any part of his glory , to bestow it upon another . sure i am , that is far from morality ; it is no good manners to deal so with a precious saviour , to whom we are infinitely and everlastingly obliged . and such injustice will cost them dear , that are guilty of it . labour we to make men and women ●ound believers . shew them the insufficiency of all they do to justifie them ; that they may never ( with the besotted iews ) go about to establish their own righteousness , but submit to the righteousness of god , and by faith put on that perfect spotless robe , which our dear jesus hath wrought for humbled sinners . it is that , and that alone , that can cover all our shame , and adorn our persons , and make our beauty perfect , and us lovely in the sight of god. teach them to look after the inward glory which the king's daughter had , psal. 45. 13. but withall to put on this clothing of wrought gold . and let us also live up to the laws of our religion . away with covetousness and debauchery . away with envy , malice and contention , let not the noise of axes and , hammers , and evil tongues be heard among us . verily these things will not be for our honour . bespattering one another is not a likely way to beautifie our selves ; it is a di●ty trick , and some of that dirt which you throw upon others will fly back upon your selves ; or if not the same , yet some as bad . this very work defi●es you . that person hath no love in the family , who is of a cross s●irit , and delights in abusing . walk holily , and humbly , and in love . let not head-divisions cause heart-divisions . hatred , variance , ●mularions , wrath , s●rise , envyings , are works of the fl●sh , as well as seditions and 〈◊〉 . these gratifie the devil , and please papists , but offend god , and dishonour you . let all of us that fear god , and love godliness , keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace , for we are brethren . we see the common adversary is at work to ruine and destroy us all ; let not us strengthen his hands for it by weakening our own , and devouring one another . vse 2. i would exhort you that are the people , to remember your deceased pastors , and follow their faith. and in particular , do you set upon these duties , my dear friends , who are the members of this congregation , who sate under , and rejoyced in the light and labours of my dearest brother , your late reve●end pastor , mr. t●omas vincent . concerning whom , much , very much may be said in his high and just commendation . my acquaintance with him hath been short , not full three years ; so that i cannot look back so far , nor inlarge so much upon this noble and copious subject , as some of my worthy brethren could have done , had you pleased to have invited one of them to this service . blessed be god there is no need of many words , for his works praise him in our gates ; they will ●peak , though i should be silent . but i know you do expect something from me , which you may please to take thus . reverend mr. thomas vinc●nt was a man really set for god ; having chosen him for his portion , and for his lord too . he was devo●ed to his fear and honour ▪ and delighted greatly in communion with him : him he served with his spirit in the gospel of his son. prayer was his daily work , and great delight : he was much at it , mighty in it , and successful too . many a gracious answer was given him from heaven . this wrestling iacob was a prevailing is●a●l , a prince with god. he was a painful and indust●uous labourer in god's vineyard , laying out himself to the utmost for his peoples good . oh! how great was his zeal in the pulpit ? what his hand found to do , there he did it with all his might . you his auditors could not but conclude his heart was in his work . he put up his requests to god , and delivered his messages to you with inlargedness of soul , and in the sweat of his brows . i can assure the world , he was none of those idle drones , those ●lothful servants , who did the work of their lord negligently . he stayed with you here in the time of th●t noisom and greedy pestilence , which raged so furiously , and devoured so hastily , and numbred out many thousands , and ten thousands , to the grave , when others fled for their lives , he kept his station all the while , knowing he could not go out of gods reach ; the arm of omnipotency could so bend his bow , and draw his arrow to the head , that it should flie as far as he could run . he knew his duty and his safety lay together . he was however freely willing to venture his life for the salvation of s●uls . he was sound in his judgment , and turned not aside to any errours upon the right hand or the left . h●s doctrine speak his faith in chri●t , and both th●t and his life exprest his lov● to m●r●li●y , and piety . i will tell you one passage which came from him about three or four daies before his death . asking him how it was within , he answered me , very well , adding withal ; blessed be god for an imputed righteousness , and blessed be god for an inherent righteousness ; dear brother , i must tell you , if i had not an inherent righteousness , i could take no comfort from an imputed righteousness . he was of an unblameable conversation . i never heard of one dead flie in his box of ointment . did i say ; he was of an unblameable conversation ? it was too little a word , too short by much ; he was of an exemplary conversation ; he reduced precepts into practice , and was not only in his doctrine , but in his way too a shining light . he was a sweet companion . ah! my dear brother , how pleasant , how very pleasant wast thou unto me ! grace was poured into his lips , and they dropt as an hony-comb . i was beholding to him for frequent visits . and though sometimes my own occasions were very pressing and urgent , yet was his company never burdensom , for he still detained me from business with delights and sweetnesses . and if at any time i was not a gainer by his company , it was mine own fault . he was a warm christian , and carried up and down with him a heavenly fire , a divine heat both in his heart and his discourses . some opposition he met with in his work , and discouragements , yet he was not discouraged , but held on his way , and grew stronger and stronger [ sub ponder● crevit ] storms made him root the faster , and flourish the more . he did not count liberty nor life dear to him , so that he might finish his course with joy , and the ministry , which he had received of the lord iesus , to testifie the gospel of the grace of god. and his blessed master crowned his labours with admirable success , he did not draw up his net empty , nor had he cause to complain of labouring in vain , & spending his strength for nought & in vain . he did see of the travail of his soul in the conversion of many , and will be able to say at last , lord , here am i , and the children which thou hast given me . but alas ! alas ! this bright and orient star must fall , he must fall , not by the rail of the dragon , but by the hand of death , did i say , he fell ? no , no , he rose higher , and is now in the highest , with the highest . this star is removed into another orb ! his mantle of flesh he dropt and left behind , but his spirit mounted , and returned to god that gave it . and [ si verbis audacia detur ] give me leave to sa● , a great man is fall'n in london . his work was done , and his dear master would not permit his stay after it ; but took him home , and gave him his crown . hear a little my brethren , of those precious sayings which f●owed from him abundantly , that night before a full surrender was made . what he spake was taken by the pen of a ready writer . out of that large garden i have pickt some few flowers , which i thus make up and present unto you . he had his light of comfort in that day of trouble , though not a bright sun-shine , yet under the thickest cloud he could see grace in his heart , and read his evidence . these words assure us of that ; dear iesus , dost not thou know that i love thee , though not with that activity , which others do , yet with truth of love . oh! thou knowest that i love thee , and wilt not thou love me , and manifest thy self to me ? lord thou knowest , the bent of my heart was toward thy self ; thou knowest , i laid up my treasure with thee , and made choice of heaven for mine inheritance , thou wil● not forget it n●w . he had his experiences ready to produce , as cordials to himself , and arguments with his god , will you hear them ? oh dear iesus , a glimpse of the light of thy countenance is worth an age of pains and prayers . i have had formerly , not only tasts , but large draughts sometimes . ah my dear father , thou hast given me sweet encouragement in waiting upon thee , and of late thou hast not wholly turned thy back . oh my dear iesus , didst thou not manifest thy self to me at the sacrament , when i was so very weak ? didst not thou give me some tasts that thou art gracious , and that thou didst love me in particular , and that thou wouldest never leave nor forsake me , nor suffer me to depart from thee , is this so long a time ago ? he had high thoughts of god when he was at the lowest , he justified him , and that in this very lauguage ; o my lord , i will not complain of thee , though i must complain to thee . i complain of my self , but not of thee . i have deserved thou shouldest let me die in a cloud , and though i do , i doubt not but i shall be happy . he could with a composed spirit take his leav● , and shake hands with all . his expressions were these ; farewell the world , the pleasures , profits and honours of the world : farewell sin , i shall ever be with the lord. farewell my dear wife , farewell my dear children , farewell my servants , and farewell you my spiritual children ; whom he was at leisure thus to advise , be careful in your choice of a pastor , choose one , who in his doctrine , life and manners may adorn the gospel ; i shall be glad to meet you all in heaven . this spake a calm within , a sedate frame of spirit . he could welcome death , observe how his words were dipt in oyl , when its hands were to be imbrewed in his blood . oh noble death , welcome , welcome . would you know how this came to pass ? these words tell you . death hath wounded my head , death hath wounded my breast ( which was full of pimples ) but he hath not wounded my conscience , blessed be god. he could with importunity call for death . hasten , hasten , oh hasten death , where is thy bow , where thine arrows , come , come , come , i am yet in the body , i am yet on earth , but it is heaven , heaven , heaven , i would fain be at . i seek death , but 〈◊〉 find it ▪ how long o lord holy and true . he would scarce be reconciled to the means of rebuking his disease , and prolonging his 〈…〉 was conscience of duty that put him upon use of them . that learned and excellent physitian ( who applied to him in his sickness , and whose heart was set upon his recovery ( though he much question'd it ) told me he said to him , why do you come to keep m● out of heaven ? h● could play with death thus ? praythee , take poss●ssion of my body , see wha● thou wilt get by it , fatten thy grave with thy sacrifices : he had high and admiring thoughts of jesus christ , read them thus , oh dear iesus , what or who art , thou ? oh! that glorious spirit , that laid ●he foundations of the earth , and stretched out the heavens like a curtain . oh what an excellent person a●t thou ! oh what an excellent person art thou ! thou art all lovely , in every part , from the crown of the head , to the soal of the foot , thou art all love , all excellent , thy bounty is divine , thy love is divine , thy beauty is divine . he was not satisfied with what he had of christ. observe how desires flam'd . dear iesus , dear sweet iesus , come unto me , and manifest thy self unto me , that others may see and know that thou lovest me . now if ever ; now , now , now , if ever , now if ever ; o dear iesus . i am going out of the body to be with thee , to deal only with spirits . oh that i might have the light of thy countenance , the sense of thy lo●e , oh bome unto me . i see but a little of thy beauty and excellency ; oh that i might see more , and taste more , and enjoy more , that i may have more than ever i had , and ●ast more than ever i did . and he longed to be with jesus , was in a kind of holy impatience , sick of love and desires to delight himself in clear vision and full fruition of him . witness these groans , dear iesus , come and take me away , i have no business hear , my work is done , my glass is run , my strength is gone , and when my work is done , why shall i stay behind , oh come , come , be as a roe upon the mountains of spices . how long shall i wait ? and cry ? how long shall i be absent from thee ? and again , o come and take me to thy self , and give me possession of that happiness , which is above , the vision of thy self , perfect likeness to thy self , full fruition of thy self , without any interruption or conclusio● . and yet again , o come de●r lord iesus , how long before thou ●end thy chariots , o come thou down to me , and take me up to thee . having ●ain some time silent and still , a friend desired him to give him his hand , if the clouds were scattered , whereupon he reached out his hand , and said ( as those present understood him ) i am upheld in the arms of a mediator . thus died this precious saint , this eminent minister ; thus he lived , and thus he died . let him never be forgotten , he shall not , he cannot be forgotten . and let us who survive be followers of him , and others , who serv'd and walked with christ on earth , and now sit and reign with christ in glory . finis . a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the reverend thomas jekyll, d.d. late preacher at the new chappel, westminster, october 7, 1698 / by john lord bishop of chichester. williams, john, 1636?-1709. 1698 approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66424 wing w2731 estc r7509 12528550 ocm 12528550 62718 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66424) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62718) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 952:6) a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the reverend thomas jekyll, d.d. late preacher at the new chappel, westminster, october 7, 1698 / by john lord bishop of chichester. williams, john, 1636?-1709. [4], 23, [1] p. printed for h. walwyn ..., london : 1698. reproduction of original in huntington library. errata: p. 23. advertisement: p. [1] at end. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jekyll, thomas, 1646-1698. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the reverend thomas jekyll , d.d. late preacher at the new-chappel , westminster , october 7. 1698. by john lord bishop of chichester . london : printed for h. walwyn , at the three legs in the poultrey , against stocks-market . 1698. to my good friend mrs. jekyll , relict of dr. thomas jekyll . madam , it was the desire of our deceased friend , that i should preach his funeral sermon ; and it is at your's that i now publish it . i am truly sensible that the design of both was to do some service to religion , and to those that do survive . it being ( as he well knew ) one of the best opportunities that we have for it , when we have , as it were , the dead speaking to the living , and the occasion giving life and force to the doctrine . and great pity it is , that this should any where grow into disuse ; and that the good that might by such seasonable discourses redound to the souls of men , too often gives way to the pomp of the funeral . we all have a loss by the death of our deceased friend ; the church , his auditory , and his acquaintance ; but more especially you , and the branches derived from both . it is a loss that only the father of all mercies , and god of all comfort , can support you under ; and to him i commit you , who has promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love god. i am , madam , your faithful friend and servant , john chichester . a sermon preached at the funeral of dr. jekyll . hebrews iv. 1 . let us therefore fear , lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest , any of you should seem to come short of it . this epistle was written to the hebrews , that is , such jews as had been bred up under the law of moses , but were converted to the christian faith : and the chief design of it was to confirm them in it ; that neither by the force of their former education , the fear of persecution , nor the sly insinuations of false teachers , they should be prevailed with ( as too many had been ) to desert it . to this purpose , amongst other arguments used to dissuade them from so doing , the apostle shews the jewish constitution to have been temporary and imperfect , a figure for the time then present ; and a shadow of good things to come : and that the persons and places , the ceremonies and ordinances , the actions and events of it had a respect chiefly to what was to be , and should be compleated under the gospel . of this kind was canaan , a land of rest , which god promised to their forefathers : and yet notwithstanding , for their unbelief and disobedience , he swore that none of that generation ( except caleb and joshua ) should enter into it , and so their carcases fell in the wilderness . this was the state then , and parallel to this , saith he , is the state of christians now , who have a rest , as they had , and which god has promis'd . but withal , the same conditions are annex'd to this , as were before to that ; and so no more can we enter into the christian rest , because of unbelief , than they could for the same reason enter into their rest , the land of canaan , as the apostle argues : and accordingly he infers in the text ; let us therefore fear , lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest , any of you should seem to come short of it . in discoursing upon which words , 1. i shall consider the state here described and contained in the words , his rest . 2. the security and certainty of that rest , if we our selves come not short of it . 3. the possibility and danger of falling short of this rest , notwithstanding it is promis'd . 4. i shall shew , that from these considerations , there is sufficient reason for the caution in the text , let us therefore fear , lest , &c. 1. i shall consider the state , called here , his rest . the rest promised to the jews was temporal , a rest which after forty years travel in the wilderness , they entered upon under the conduct of joshua , according to god's promise . but , saith our apostle , this was the gospel preached unto them , v. 2. that is , their rest in canaan was a type and figure of a more excellent state , more clearly revealed in the gospel . this he proves from psalm 95. where it is said , that upon the unbelief and disobedience of that generation , god swore that they should not enter into his rest. that was thus far literally true of the israelites , whose carcases fell in the wilderness : but withal he shews , that it is there to be understood in a higher sense , and not of a rest that is past , such as god's was , when he ceased from the works of creation : nor can it be understood of canaan , for that was a rest they enter'd upon four hundred years before the time of david . but it must be understood of another sort of rest yet to come , which the sabbath and canaan were a type of . this he farther confirms by the observation he makes on the phrase in the psalmist , to day , after so long a time , from the entrance into canaan , to the time of david . for if jesus ( that is joshua ) had given them rest , then would not be afterward have spoken of another day . from all which the apostle concludes , there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of god. but as the rest here spoken of is yet to come , so it is a rest far more excellent than that of a temporal canaan . but this would not be so , if that psalm were only a prophecy of some peaceable and halcyonian days that the christian church should enjoy about a thousand years after that time ; during only the short reigns of the two roman emperors , vespasian , and his son titus ( ●s some have conceiv'd . ) can we think that so short a time of rest , as the christians had between nero and domitian , could be the subject of that prophecy ? and that this was all the comfort the apostle gave to his desponding hebrews , that the storm coming on , or that then overtook them , should soon vanish ; and then they should have as many years of rest for it ? is this all the rest , which many of those he wrote this epistle to , should never live to see , and which a natural , or else a violent death by persecution , might deprive them of their part in ? is this all which the apostle means , when he saith , there remaineth a rest , or sabbatism , to the people of god ; and that he that is entered into it , hath ceased from his own works , from all the toil and distress , the troubles and sorrows of an afflicted life ? no , certainly it is a more excellent and divine rest than that of an earthly canaan , which is thus emphatically called god's rest ; a perfect and an eternal rest , resembling that of god ; when they rest from all their labours , and their works follow them . a rest , which above all they are to be solicitous about ; let us labour ( saith the apostle ) therefore to enter into that rest , v. 11. and in the text , let us fear — lest we come short of it . heaven is indeed a rest with respect to this present life ; as that of the israelites was , when they rested after their pilgrimage in the wilderness , and from all their enemies round about , so that they dwelt in safety . but withal , it is a state of enjoyment , happiness , and perfection , such a rest as god himself doth enjoy , and they shall enjoy with him . for it is called his rest , not only as to what god himself doth enjoy , but with respect to his promise , by which he hath made it ours , and assured it to us . which brings to 2. the security we have of this rest , and that is from the promise of god. thus it was in the typical state of the jews , to whom canaan was promis'd , called therefore the land of promise , hebr. 11.9 . and after the same manner is this christian rest confirmed , call'd therefore the promise of an eternal inheritance , hebr. 9.15 . and by way of eminency , the promise , hebr. 10.36 . at the first it was a meer act of grace and favour ; there was neither merit before-hand on our part , nor could there be recompence after : but now it is unalienable , and what we can no more fail of obtaining upon the terms of the gospel , than god can be unfaithful , and cease to be what he is : and therefore for our comfort and satisfaction , as life and immortality is brought to light through the gospel ; so he has been pleas'd to pass over a right unto us by his promise , and hath given us the liberty of pleading it . upon the undoubted title thereby given unto us , we are said to have everlasting life , joh. 3.36 : because , by virtue of the promise , we are as sure of it , as if we were actually possess'd of it . so that we need not look any farther for a ground of our hope and confidence than this ; and if we perform the conditions required of us , and that there be not in us an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god — if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end , we are ( saith our apostle ) made partakers of christ , i.e. of all the benefits here and hereafter which he hath purchased , and god through him hath promised . but if we fail on our part by not performing the conditions , if we are wanting in caution and diligence , we disparage the state , the rest , which god hath promis'd : and if we are wanting in our trust and confidence in god , upon his promise ; we disparage him , and divest him of those perfections of goodness and faithfulness , which make him to be what he is , and without which he could not be god. but as certain as this record is , that god hath thus given us eternal life : and that this life is in his son , in whom all the promises of god are yea and amen ; yet , 3. there is a possibility of falling short of this rest. there could be nothing more firm than the promise of canaan made to abraham and his carnal seed : but we see , for want of having trust and faith in god , which were necessarily and indispensably requir'd , all that came out of egypt , except two , fell in the wilderness , and they could not enter in , because of their unbelief : and god that had thus obliged himself by promise to give them that land for an inheritance , did also swear , that they should not enter into his rest. now if those murmurers and unbelievers were excluded that pleasant land , which was thus promised and secured ; then there is the same reason , that the christian and eternal rest , which is infinitely beyond that terrestrial rest , should not be obtained without the like qualifications then required of them ; and that infidelity and disobedience should now as well deprive us of the greater , as it did them of the less valuable inheritance . for the promise of god doth not any more oblige him now , than it did then , to exceed the measures set to his kindness and beneficence . and therefore as the apostle hath compared state with state , in the nature of it , as it 's a rest ; and in the assurance we have of it , as it is promised : so he doth also carry on the parallel in the conditions upon which the promise is suspended , and they are faith and obedience ; the hearkning to the voice of god , and not hardning their hearts . and accordingly he takes occasion from what befel the jews , to exhort his christian hebrews to take warning by them , in the text , let us therefore fear , &c. so that whatever proof we have of the goodness of god in revealing such a state of rest and happiness to us ; yet as the meer revelation of such a state will not entitle us to it without a promise , so neither will the promise alone alter the case , as long as it is confined and limited by certain conditions to those that are duly qualified for it . let us fear , saith the apostle , lest a promise being left us , &c. which caution needed not to have been added , if there had been no danger of falling short ; and fall short we could not , if the promise had given us an absolute and unlimited title to it . so that the caution it self doth suppose a qualification on our part to be necessary : and yet not content with that , the apostle , as sensible that we cannot get far enough from such an impendent danger ; he adds , let us fear , lest any of you seem to come short of it . where if the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which we translate seem , be not an expletive , without any determinate signification , ( as sometimes it is ) it shews that there is so much hazard of miscarrying and apostacy , by reason of the temptations of this present life , proceeding from the world , the flesh , and the devil ; and so great a prejudice will redound to us , if we do , that we cannot be too cautious . beware , saith he , lest any of you seem to come short of it . which brings us to the next general . 4. there is sufficient reason for this caution of the apostle , let us fear , &c. here i shall look back upon the text , and shall apply it to the several considerations here referred to , as so many arguments to a vigilant circumspection and diligent care. as , 1. an argument may be taken from the nature of the state , as it is called a rest , and his rest. rest is a word that signifies more than what this world affords ; there is no person , no condition of life can challenge it , or entitle it self to it ; it is not to be found within us , nor without us . not within us ; for we have infirmities grow up in us , as well as troubles that surround us . our bodies are in their composition frail and crazy , subject to numberless diseases ; the air we breathe in , the diet we feed on , the passions of the mind , nay even the medicines we use by way of prevention or remedy , do often beget or stir up in us those humours , that carry us out of the world , or unfit us for the enjoyment of it . and our minds have infirmities as well as our bodies ; our tempers fickle and uncertain ; we suffer by precipitancy on the one hand , and obstinacy on the other ; by imprudence , neglects and follies . and our bodies and souls as conjoyned , do contribute to each others infirmities ; and the dispute between them is , whether temper or reason shall govern . so that we our selves prevent , and often supplant our own satisfaction . but then were it otherwise with us , that as we naturally love our selves , so we may attain to self-satisfaction ; yet however willing and dispos'd we are to be quiet and at rest , we must ask leave of a thousand things to obtain and secure it ; of every one we have to deal with , and live amongst ; for our conversation , our business , our professions , that are in themselves useful and necessary , yet do minister to our trouble ; for thence do arise suspicions and jealousies , quarrels and misunderstandings . or suppose we lived so as to assist and be assisted by others friendships with chearfulness , and lived in perfect peace and amity , as we are private persons ; yet we are but part of a city or nation , and so must fare as the nation or city doth , and lose by its loss as we may gain by its gain , and must rejoyce and mourn , and be as the general state of the country is . suppose farther , that a nation would be quiet ; that the government is framed for peace , and the rights of governours and governed so well laid out , and all publick orders so well observ'd and inviolably maintain'd , that there are no jarrings nor discord , no grudgings nor animosities : yet this is but one nation , and this to the world is as one man to another , and so can no longer be quiet than other nations will permit it . the ambition or covetousness of a foreign prince may bring him upon them , and in their own defence they must take up arms , and engage in a doubtful war. so that we may as reasonably expect , that the body which hath so many several vessels , humours and juices , should enjoy a constant and uninterrupted state of health , and all those humours be so exactly ballanced and allayed , that there should be no commotion or disturbance in it , as that this world should be a place of rest. men must be without bodies , and there must be no such thing as sickness and mortality : or without passions and appetites ; and so no such thing as ambition and pride , anger and revenge , covetousness or lust , prejudices , nor interest : they must have nothing within to dispose , and nothing without to excite , if they will talk of rest , and expect it . that is an vtopian state , and has here no other existence than in imagination . but then if we add to the account the providence of god , and the accidents of life , the argument grows upon us ; we are never secure ; and we know not , but though the sun rises upon us in its glory and brightness , it may be with us as it was with sodom , and close in a dismal destruction ; and we that rise in a state of ease and security , may lie down , if we can do that , in sorrow and anguish , and the most doleful dejection of mind . thus it was with the fool in the gospel , that when he sung a requiem to himself , soul , take thine ease , &c. met with a terrible conclusion and disappointment when god said unto him , thou fool , this night shall thy soul be requir'd of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? the prospect of which is sufficient to make the best and most prosperous condition in the world uneasy , since we must either want , or enjoy with fear ; and next to the total deprivation of the comforts of this life , nothing is more intolerable than the fear of losing them . now what sad reflections are these ? how miserable must be the state of mankind , if this be all that a man has to enjoy , all that he has to comfort him in the enjoyment ? when he has thus the disturbance of the ocean , but not the confinement of it ; nor can it be said of any miseries he is incident unto , as it is of that , hitherto shall they come , and no further . but is there no relief in this case ? nothing better to be expected ? yes , saith our apostle , there remaineth a rest to the people of god. there is such a state , but it remaineth , it is in reserve for such as do believe , desire , and endeavour after it . this was the temper and condition of the patriarchs of old , they lived and died in the faith of this , they saw the promises afar off , and were persuaded of them , and embraced them ; and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth — but desired a better country , that is , an heavenly , as the apostle shews . here alone is that rest , which is god's ; in whose presence is fulness of joy , and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore . where the happy souls shall hunger no more , neither thirst any more , and that all tears shall be wiped from their eyes . neither can they die any more , for they are equal , and like unto the angels . this is the city of god , the heavenly jerusalem , where are myriads and ten thousands , and an innumerable company of angels , , and the spirits of just men made perfect . here alone is satisfaction , stability and certainty ; this is the time when all the troubles of this life shall close in the happiness of another ; where there will be no infirmities , no necessities , no appetites or irregular passions , no divisions or enmities , no seducers or temptations , no fraud or circumvention , no prejudice or suspicions , nothing that is evil , but all harmonious , equal and delightful . and of which we may say all this and more ; more indeed it is than we can say or describe : so the apostle , it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that when he shall appear , we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is . is there now such a state , such a rest to be had ? is there a possibility , a certainty of obtaining it ? may we who are here as it were upon a wide ocean , continually tossed by the furious winds and boisterous waves , and in danger every moment to be swallowed up by them , may we arrive to a harbour of rest and safety , and have a star and pilot , and an unerring compass to guide and direct us ? and shall we be as the israelites , unbelieving and obstinate , that despised the pleasant land , and would rather be returning to egypt , and there feed upon garlick and onions , than venture forward to take possession of that , where they should not lack any thing . o how much doth unbelief blind the minds of men ! how much doth the love of this world , and the poor enjoyments of it , infatuate them ! that when they are hurried from one misery to another , and can hardly look out but they see objects sufficient to terrify them , and have the reliques of many a miserable shipwreck floating in their view , and are equally expos'd to the same dangers ; yet chuse rather to run the hazard of being miserable , and eternally miserable , than to hearken to the voice of god , and observe those measures that will infallibly direct , and bring them in the conclusion to a place of safety and undisturbed repose . surely we cannot but perceive , and our own experience will convince us , that this world is not a rest ; that man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward . we cannot but observe ( how hood-wink'd soever we are in other matters ) that in a few days , after many other changes , and a course and succession of other miseries ; that the last enemy of this world , death , will seize upon us , and carry us out of it . we cannot but think , that though the spark of an animal life be extinguished , and we are then dead to all the enjoyments of this present state ; yet that our souls which thus think , are immortal , and never die . we cannot but think , that as the spirit within us is immortal , so there is a state suitable to such a spirit ; another world that it must live in , and doth upon its separation pass into . we cannot but think that the future state is a state of recompence , and that we are therein accountable , and shall be determined to happiness or misery according to what we have done in the body . we cannot but think , that however it fares with good men here , how deplorable soever their present condition may be , yet that it shall at last be well with them that fear god ; and that their light afflictions , their temptations , and mortifications , which are but for a moment , shall work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . lastly , we cannot but think , that as this is a desirable state in it self , so that the thought and wish of balaam will be ( if it is not now ) the thought and wish of the worst of men ; let me die the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his ; that is , the beginning of a glorious and happy eternity . where is now the misery , the hunger and nakedness , the pain and anguish , the poverty and contempt of the once wretched lazarus ? where are the tryals of the cruel mockings and scourgings , of bonds and imprisonment of those , of whom the world was not worthy ? where are the pilgrims and strangers that once wandred about , being destitute , afflicted and tormented ? where is the right hand which was cut off , the right eye that was plucked out , the body that was buffered and kept under , and brought into subjection ? where is the strait gate and narrow way , the conflicts and strivings of the self-denying christian ? where are the laboricus studies , the cares and prayers of the pious and industrious teacher ? where the ministry he has fulfill'd and made proof of in his preaching , reproving and exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine ? behold them in their crowns and rewards , in their glories and triumphs , in the peace and comfort , the perfection and happiness of heaven . behold there abraham , isaac , and jacob , and all the prophets in the kingdom of god. behold there the pious lazarus in the bosom of abraham . behold there the wise and faithful teachers , shining as the brightness of the firmament ; and those that turn many unto righteousness , as the stars for ever and ever . it is god's rest , who is his own happiness , and can alone be the happiness of all out of himself : and there it is that we shall be replenished with the like goodness and love , in our proportion , as fills the breast of god himself . there we shall converse with nothing but perfection ; and have our souls so employed in acts suitable to the exalted and divine powers they shall be endued with , that they shall not only be unwearied , but infinitely satisfied in it . where our rest shall be the same , and our will and desire one with his , who filleth all in all . a consideration from the beginning to the end of it , that should excite all the powers of our souls to obtain it ; and that should make us extreamly cautious , lest we fail in our advances and travels towards it . let us fear , saith the apostle , lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest , any of you should come short of it . 2. it is a rest which is promised , and so is a farther argument to caution , lest we come short of it . we have the advantage of the heathen , and of a mere state of nature , that we have the revelation of the gospel , by which life and immortality were brought to light . and this revelation comes with the greater advantage , as we have the promise of god to ensure it to us : a favour as well beyond our comprehension , as our discovery and desert . for how could we who have defaced the divine image , and been rebels against god , and have forfeited his favour , think of being restored to it ? how could we whose souls are d●praved and corrupted , think of being admitted to that state , whereinto no unclean thing can enter ? how could we that are corruptible , think that we should put on incorruption ? and so must conclude , that we are no more fit for that state of holiness and perfection , of fellowship with god and the enjoyment of him , than we are like unto him . but when we are prevented in our thoughts , and these arguings are fore-clos'd by the divine goodness and faithfulness , by a revelation and a promise : if we in the conclusion prove like those in the parable , that when invited to a royal entertainment , make light of it , and go away , and reject the counsel of god against our selves ; shall we fare better than they , against whom the king sent forth his armies and destroyed them , and burnt up their city ? it was the aggravation of the sin of the israelites when they enter'd the land of promise , and had a land prepared for them , where they had goodly cities which they builded not , and houses full of all good things which they filled not , vineyards and olive-trees which they planted not ; that they tempted and provoked the most high god , and kept not his testimonies . and will it not aggravate our guilt , when we have a revelation as clear as the day , and the promise of god for our security , which is as sure as the ordinances of heaven ; nay , that is established upon a better and more lasting foundation ? for heaven and earth may pass away , but this word shall not pass away . behold then here the greatest testimony of the divine benignity and honour , the treasure of heaven laid open to our view . behold god himself proffering salvation to sinners , and engaging himself by promise to bestow it upon us on our acceptance . and what can we plead in our own defence , if at last we shall fall short of it ? for can we have any thing more clearly revealed to us , that is not in our view ; and which we are not capable , by reason of the imperfection of our natures , perfectly to understand ? can we have any thing more secured , which we have not in present possession ? can we have any thing more confirmed , than god bearing witness to the truth of it , with signs and wonders , and divers miracles ? and can any thing be of greater consequence than the things that are thus revealed , promised and secured ? and when a promise is thus left us of entring into his rest , shall not we fear , lest we come short of it ? especially 4. when there is a possibility on our part of coming short of it . i say a possibility on our part : for there is nothing wanting on god's , who is not as man that he should lie , nor the son of man that he should repent . hath he said , and shall he not do it ? hath he spoken , and shall he not make it good ? but yet notwithstanding the amplitude , the fulness and firmness of the promise , there is a suspension of it , nor will it operate without the conditions belonging to us to perform , without which we are in the same state of darkness and misery , as if there had been no revelation nor promise . and when it thus rests on our part , and nothing is wanting to compleat our happiness , but our own consent , could we in reason wish or desire any thing more , when it will be at our own choice and refusal , whether we will be happy or miserable ; whether we will be saved or damned ? and yet alas ! here is the difficulty ; the difficulty is to win us over to our own interest ; and all the arguments and considerations of the gospel are to dispose us hereunto , to be willing and desirous of being saved . and all in the conclusion prove generally too little ; for we remain stupid and sensless as if we were not at all concerned whether we obtain or fall short of this rest. we are as the israelites upon the borders of canaan , a few days would have let them into the possession of the promised land ; it was to be seen from the top of the mountain ; but they believed not the report of caleb and joshua , and murmur'd ; so of six hundred thousand men that came out of egypt , only those two entred into that land. and we are upon the borders of the promis'd rest , we have a prospect of it ; we have the gospel preach'd unto us , we have our education in the church of christ , and are members of his body , are call'd by his name ; have eaten and drank in his presence ; but how sad and miserable will our state be , if at the last we shall meet with , i know you not , depart from me ? and yet as near as we are to heaven , in profession and faith , in appearance and expectation , it is possible and without an extraordinary caution , it is certain , that notwithstanding the promise of god , we may come short of this rest. thus our saviour represents it , luk. 13.24 . strive to enter in at the strait gate , for many i say unto you will seek to enter in , and shall not be able . shall i now need any farther arguments than what the text affords , to make us cautious left we come short of this rest ? shall i need to press the apostle's exhortation any further ? need we to be advised in this matter , in a matter of so great importance and absolute necessity ? let us , beloved , look within our selves , and try whether our condition be so safe as to be above all hazard ; that we are arriv'd to a full satisfaction of mind concerning our title to this rest. i would that every one that hears me at this time , and that we all were in the state of st. paul , and were arriv'd to that setled and happy temper of soul , as to be able to say , that to me to live is christ , and to die is gain . and , i have fought a good sight , i have kept the faith , henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which the lord shall give me at that day . i could wish that we were out of the reach of all temptations , troubles and dangers , and that there was no need for us to fear , nor occasion to exhort us to it . but what should i wish for that which belongs not to the state in which we are ? that is a rest which remaineth , it is the rest of heaven , that is god's rest. it rather becomes me to return to the apostle , to exhort and repeat , and exhort again : take heed brethren , saith he , lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god. let us labour to enter into that rest . and in the text , let us therefore fear , lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest , any of you should come short of it . thus far have i consider'd the text ; and am certain that if our deceased friend were to speak to you of this auditory , who were so lately his : he that is now gone to his rest , would exhort you after the apostle's manner , to caution and fear , left having such a promise , any of you should come short of it . it was in st. paul's phrase , his heart's desire and prayer to god , that ye might be saved . this was the theme and subject he continually insisted upon , and made it his restless endeavour to promote . this he taught in this pulpit ; and this he again taught out of it , and confirmed by the regularity of his life . of whom i have many things to say , and might speak of him in his secular capacity , as to his friendship , in which he was sincere , intire and stedfast ; as to his conversation , in which he was free , without levity ; grave without moroseness , instructive without imposition ; and not without such a competency of skill , even in matters relating to this present life , as did render him useful to others , and capable of advising them that wanted it . i might speak of him as to the government of himself in his exact temperance and sobriety ; as to his family , in his affectionate tenderness as a husband and a father , and in the care he took of the meanest of those that were about him , and the exercises of family-devotion . but that which i at this time shall principally respect , is the discharge of his ministerial office , in which he took a special delight , and made it the principal business of his life , laying hold of all opportunities of doing good in private and in publick . in publick , how constant and diligent , useful and practical was he in preaching ! preaching with that plainness as might be suitable to the meanest capacity , and designed to the most useful purposes of sound doctrine , and unblameable life ; preaching as one that was in earnest himself , and endeavouring to persuade others so to be . what care did he , again , take to instruct the youth ! what pains in the little school that by his industry , and the pious contribution of well-disposed persons was erected in the neighbourhood ! which i hope will not die with him , but by the same or like good and charitable hands be supported and continued . in private , how many did he lend his helping hand to , encouraging them in the way of religion , resolving their doubts , comforting them in their sorrows , directing their endeavours ! and this he did with sweetness and tenderness , giving an easie access and admittance even to the meanest , and hearing them with patience . and in the mean time , whil'st like a good samaritan he was pouring oyl into the wounds of others , and administring such seasonable reliefs as their case did require , he himself shewed by the cheerfulness and liveliness of his spirit , that religion was no sadning or uncomfortable state ; but that however it might appear to drooping and melancholly minds , whatever it might appear to such as looked but little into it , or had little or no experience of it ; it was indeed the most comfortable state in the world to those that were intimately acquainted with it . to this let me add the care he took of the sick , visiting them with great application , sparing no pains to prepare such for another state ; of which his last sickness and the occasion of his death was too deplorable an instance , that whil'st thus exceeding solicitous about others ; he was careless of himself ; and whil'st the dying patient receiv'd spiritual consolation from him , he in all probability drew what proved a mortal infection to himself . which brings me to his last hours : it pleased god to give him some premonitions and warnings of his approaching end ; i mean not only by the dangerous disease he laboured under the former part of the year ; but also by such impressions upon his mind as seem'd to carry in them the finger of god. so that for some months past he would be often speaking , and i may say , preaching to his wise submission to the will of god , if he should think fit to take him out of this life to a better . for this reason , it may well be supposed that he was very desirous to see some of his relations that lived remote from hence ; and though newly come from one journey , immediately made another to pay them a visit ( where he had not been for some years ) or rather , as he told them , to take his last farewell . and accordingly he set his house and affairs in order , made his will ; and if i may take notice of so small a matter , among the greater , he composed his own epitaph ; which though plain ( as he intended ) is very expressive of his piety , and of the care he took of the people committed to his charge . and then it was no wonder when all this was done , to find him composed at his approaching end , and to behave himself as he had lived ; shewing an excellent temper of mind , heartily resigning himself up through jesus christ to god , the father of spirits , and the father of mercies ; whom in that condition he entirely depended upon , and found the greatest , i may say the only supports from . with what submission did he receive the sentence of his dissolution ! with what transport and joy did he speak of our blessed saviour , and the happiness he hoped for , or rather doubted not to be made partaker of , by him ! with what tenderness did he bewail our differences , and that spirit of censuring , reviling and dividing , that so much prevails ; and especially when after all , such must come ( if ever they be happy ) to joyn in the church-triumphant with those whom , too often , they refuse to converse and communicate with here , in the church-militant ! with what comfort did he take leave of his friends , of his wife and children , calling them one by one in his last interval to him , and giving each of them such advice as a dying friend , husband and father , and a dying christian , would give to those whom he affectionately loved ! and now what is the issue of all this , but that we should reflect upon it , and reflect upon our selves ? who of you that heard the last sermon of our deceased friend six days ago , but if you had known it should have been the last , would have hearkned to it with another sort of attention ! you would then have entertained it as the last words of a dying man. it was observed , that though he always spoke with an affectionate warmth , that he then spoke beyond himself , with a concernment more than ordinary ; as if he were sensible it should be his valedictory , and the last sermon , and that the last opportunity he should have of preaching to this people . it was the last indeed ; but we read of abel , that by his faith , he being dead , yet speaketh . our friend is dead , his body lies there before us ; he has no tongue to speak , nor eye to observe how you receive his doctrine ; but he yet speaketh to you in his doctrine and example ; and i hope , as it was said of abel , he shall for that reason be yet spoken of , amongst you . and oh that his words were written , not with ink , but ( as st. paul saith ) with the spirit of the living god , in your hearts and lives , to be known and read of all men : or howsoever that last sermon or other discourses of his may have been neglected or forgot ; let us remember the caution which the apostle here advises all to take ; and fear , lest a promise being left us of entring into this rest , any of us should come short of it . finis . errat . page 4. line 6. after storm read of persecution . some books printed , and sold by h. walwyn at the three legs in the poultrey , against stocks-market . the works of the late learned divine stephen charnock , in two volumes , folio . geography rectifi'd , or a description of the world , in all its kingdoms , provinces , countries , &c. illustrated with maps . the 3d edition : by robert morden , quarto . sermons on several occasions , by john conant , d.d. publish'd by john lord bishop of chichester , octavo . tillotson 's sermons , octavo . horneck 's sermons , octavo . — great law of consideration , octavo . gibson's anatomy of human bodies . bishop wilkins of the gift of prayer . drexelius of eternity , twelves . posing of the parts . eutropius's roman history , in usum scholar●●● . helvicus's colloquies . english exercises for school-boys to translate into latin , comprizing all the rules of grammar , and other necessary observations , ascending gradually from the meanest to higher capacities : by john garretson , schoolmaster . the 7th edition , twelves . gradus ad parnassum , sive nov●s synonymorum epithetorum phrasium , &c. ab uno è societate jesu . a brief exposition of the church-catechism , with proofs from scripture : by john lord bishop of chichester , late rector of st. mildred's poultrey , and st. mary cole , london . printed for h. walwyn at the three legs in the poultrey , against stocks-market . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a66424-e240 hebr. 9.9 . 10.1 . ch. 3.11 , &c. ch. 3.19 . ch . 3.7 . 4.3.5 . v. 3 , 4. v. 7 , 8. v. 9. d. ham. in cap. 3 , & 4. revel . 14.13 . deut. 12.10 . 2 tim. 1.10 . chap. 3.12 , 14. 1 joh 5.11 . 2 cor. 1.20 . chap. 3.19 . ver. 7. luk. 8.18 . compared with mat 13.12 , &c. luk. 12.19 . job 38.11 . hebr. 11.13 . psal. 16.11 . rev. 7.16 , 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . luk. 20.36 . heb. 12.22.23 1 joh. ● . ● . psal. 106.24 . numb . 14.4 . deut. 8.9 . job 5.7 . eccles. 8.12 . 2 cor. 4.17 . numb . 23 10. luk. 16.20 . heb. 11.36 , &c. mat. 5.29 . 1 cor. 9.27 . 2 tim. 4.25 . luk. 13.28 . dan. 12.3 . ephes. 1 ▪ 23. rev. 21.27 . mat. 22 . 3.5●● . luk. ● . 20 . exod. 23.20 . deut. 6 10 , 11 , 12. psal. 78 55 , 56. mat. 8.18 . heb. 2.4 . num. 23.19 . numb . 13.14 , 25 , 40 , 43. num. 14.29 . mat. 13.26 . mat. 7.23 . phil. 1.23 . 2 tim. 4 7 , 8. rom. 10. ● . hebr. 11.4 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so the margin . 2 cor. 3.23 . a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end. in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. 14. 1649. at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipfull and truly religious, sir john gayr, knight: deceased july 20. 1649. / by nathaniel hardy, m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a87090 of text r206287 in the english short title catalog (thomason e574_8). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 87 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a87090 wing h715 thomason e574_8 estc r206287 99865460 99865460 117701 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a87090) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 117701) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 88:e574[8]) a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end. in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. 14. 1649. at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipfull and truly religious, sir john gayr, knight: deceased july 20. 1649. / by nathaniel hardy, m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church. hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 30, [2] p. printed for john clark, and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhill, london : 1649. the last leaf is blank. annotation on thomason copy: "7ber [i.e. september] 19". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng gayer, john, -sir, d. 1649 -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -17th century. a87090 r206287 (thomason e574_8). civilwar no a divine prospective: representing the just mans peacefull end.: in a funerall sermon preached at katharine creechurch, aug. 14. 1649. at t hardy, nathaniel 1649 15518 32 125 0 0 0 0 101 f the rate of 101 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-08 simon charles sampled and proofread 2007-08 simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a divine prospective : representing the just mans peacefull end . in a funerall sermon preached at katherine creechurch , aug. 14. 1649. at the enterrement of the remaines of the right worshipful and truly religious , sir john gayr , knight : deceased july 20. 1649. by nathaniel hardy , m.a. and preacher to the parish of dionis back-church . prov. 28. 18. who so walketh uprightly , shall be saved : but he that is perverse in his wayes , shall fall at once . esay 32. 17. the worke of righteousnesse shall be peace , and the effect of righteousnesse , quietnesse and assurance for ever . lactant . sicut vita ipsa bonum est si cum virtute vivitur , malum si cum scelere : ita & mors ex preteritis vitae actibus ponderanda est . ambr. pretiosum est videre virum justum , ut videas eum secundum imaginem dei : quod foris est nihil prodest , quo lintus est sanat . london , printed for john clark , and are to be sold at his shop under s. peters church in cornhill . 1649. to the vvorshipfull , robert abdy , esquire , son-in-law : together with his vertuous consort , and the rest of the hopefull sonnes and daughters of the right worshipful , sir john gayr , prosperity on earth , and felicity in heaven . to preserve the precious names , perpetuate the pious memories , and publish the eminent graces of dead saints , is a due debt from the living . the glory which from hence redounds to god , the benefit which hereby accrueth to the church , the respect which herein we manifest to them , are all severally , much more joyntly , strong obligations to this service . no fitter instrument for such a work then the pen , which surpasseth the voice in this double excellency , that it both extendeth farther , and continueth longer , according to that knowne expression of the poet , vox audita perit , littera scripta manet . these i doubt not ( worthy sir ) were the impellent causes moving you to desire a publication of this imperfect piece , in which , if there appear any lustre , it is no other then what it receiveth from the beames of his virtues , whom it represents . indeed , what s. bernard said of his friend malachy , i may justly apply to your deceased father ; he was , while he lived , lucerna ardens & lucens , a burning and a shining lamp : and by death , non extincta sed admota , not so much put out , as removed to glory . the light of his good words is still left behinde him , and now set on a candlestick to enlighten with its splendour this declining age of the world . the character here given to this faithfull servant of god , may by some ( who throughly knew him ) be justly accounted deficient ; by others , ( through envy , or ignorance at best ) be unjustly censured as exuberant . to the former i shall apologize in the words of the oratour : pictoros pulchram absolutamque faciem rarò nisi in pejus effingunt , an exact face is seldome drawne but with much disadvantage . to the latter , s. bernards expression shall be my answer , testimonium veritati praebeo non affectioni ; my conscience witnesseth to me , that my testimony concerning him , was not byass'd by affection , but measured by verity . to your candid acceptance and patronage ( honoured sir ! ) i present these unpolished lines : the truth whereof i know you can fully , and will freely attest . i have nothing more to adde but a gratefull acknowledgement of your many immerited favours , and my incessant supplications at the throne of grace , that both your self , who esteeme it an happinesse to have been grafted into the stock of that worthy family , and all the naturall branches of that choice root , may be daily watered with the plentifull showers of divine blessing , continually grow up in a resemblance of these pretious fruits which he brought forth : and finally , be transplanted into the paradise of blisse , where , together with him you shall be flourishing trees of righteousnesse for ever . so prayeth he , who is yours in all affection and service , nathaniel hardy . psal. 37. v. 37. mark the perfect man , and behold the upright : for the end of that man is peace . this psalme is one of those seven , which we finde to be composed according to the hebrew alphabet : what was the reason of this order , i am not curious to enquire , since the scripture is not pleased to expresse : some onely account it of musical concernment , others look upon it as an help to memory . ainsworth conceives it to be an indication of more then ordinary weight and worth in the matter , this as in the rest , is eminently observable in this psalme , which is both of singular use and value . indeed it may well be styled , the good mans cordiall in bad times : a soveraigne plaister for the plague of discontent : or , a choice antidote against the poyson of impatience . it is a truth evident in experience , that gods dispensations towards the righteous and the wicked in this life , are like jacobs dealing with josephs sonnes , crosse and strange : for as he laid his right hand on the younger , and his left on the elder , so doth god oft-times , for the present , distribute with his left hand crosses to the good , and with his right hand favours to the bad ; not only in a litterall sense , as our saviour speakes , he maketh the sun to shine , and the raine to fall upon the just , and the unjust ; but in a metaphoricall sense he causeth the sun of prosperity to shine upon the unjust , and the raine of adversity to fall upon the just : hence it is , that both the sanctity and the equity , the holinesse and justice of god hath by many been called in question ; it being a probable argument to carnall reason , that god , in prospering the bad , approves of their wayes , and so is unholy ; and in afflicting the good , renders not according to their deeds , and so is unjust : hence it is , that in such times the wicked swell with the timpany of pride , and the weak pine away in a fretting consumption ; those are impostumated with selfe-conceit , and these are inflamed with passion : the cure of both , especially the latter , ( to wit envious fretting at the wickeds prospering ) our prophet indeavours in this psalme : the medicine which he prescribes , is made up of various ingredients , amongst which , none more operative then a due meditation of gods finall retribution , both to the godly , and ungodly : which as it is principally insisted on throughout the whole ; so is it elegantly recommended in the close , and in particular the quiet end of the just , both asserted and assured for our support , and incouragement in the words of the text , mark the perfect , &c. which words may fitly be divided into two generalls , and each of those sub-divided into two particulars : here is , officium & motivum . 1. a duty enjoyned , marke the perfect , and behold the upright . 2. a motive adjoyned , for the end of that man is peace . in the former of these we have considerable , 1. objectum propositum , the object proposed to our view , the perfect and upright man , a choice and rare sight both amiable and admirable , well worthy our aspect . 2. actus requisitus , an act required with gemination , to marke and behold this man where ere we meet him . in the latter of these is observable , 1. beneficii collatio , a precious benefit conferr'd upon the perfect and upright man , which should move us to behold him , and that is peace . 2. temporis specificatio , the speciall time mentioned when this benefit shall be conferr'd , and till when we must marke the perfect man , and that is the end , for the end of that man is peace . or , if you please , take notice in the text of these two parts : here is 1. ampladescriptio , a full and pithy description of a good man , and that both , à qualitate & felicitate , from the quality of his disposition , he is perfect and upright . from the felicity of his condition , the end of that man is peace . 2. apta prescriptio , a fit and sutable prescription in reference to both these , that we should marke , and behold him in himselfe , and in his end mark the perfect , &c. and in this method i shall now handle the text , craving divine inspiration , and your attention , that i may so speak the words of truth and uprightnesse , and you may so marke , and behold what shall be spoken , that the end of the sermon may be glory to god , peace and profit to every one of our souls : and so i begin with the 1. generall of the text , the good mans description : and therein 1. the quality of his disposition in that double expression , perfect and upright , two words not much different in sense , yet both emphaticall in phrase , and will require a distinct explication . the first tearme we meet with is perfect : but where shall we find the man to whom this character belongs ? sure the psalmist rather describes what the good man should be , then what he is , if we look upon the most eminent saints in scripture , we shall find not one of them daring to assume this title unto themselves : job saith of himself , if i say i am perfect , it shall prove me perverse , chap. 9. 20. paul plainly denies it of himself , not as , though i had already attained , either were already perfect , phil. 3. 12. et quis id sibi arrogare andet , quod paulus ipse fatetur , se non comprehendisse ? saith saint bernard excellently ; and who is so arrogant as to think himself more holy then this chief apostle ? but yet let god be true , and every man a lyar , who affirmes that of job , which he denies of himself , that he was a perfect and an upright man ? chap. 1. 1. let not saint paul , who was immediately inspired , be thought to contradict himself , who in the forementioned place , ver. 15. reckons himself among those that are perfect , let us , as many as be perfect be thus minded , that therefore these seeming contrarities may be reconciled , and the nature of this perfection unfolded : be pleased to observe these distinctions . 1. divines well distinguish of a double perfection , it is absoluta , or comporata . that is absolutely perfect , to which nothing ( that may be accounted truly good ) is wanting : and thus he onely is perfectus who is infectus : god , who made all things and himself is not made , only injoying an all-sufficient perfection , in , and of himself . that is comparatively perfect , in which , notwithstanding some wants , there is a fulnesse compared with others . thus every saint is perfect , in comparison of the wicked , among whom he liveth . in this respect it is said of noah , that he was a perfect man in his generations , his grace compared with the wickednesse of the old world , well deserving the name of perfection ; indeed every upright man is perfect in comparison of them who are openly bad , or but openly good ; stained with wickednesse , or but painted with holinesse . thus one saint may be perfect , if compared with another , the strong christian in respect of the weak , whom he out-strips in grace and piety : such saint paul meanes , when he saith , we speak wisdome among them that are perfect : that is , such as have attained to greater measures of grace then others . it was said of benajah , he was more honourable then thirty , but he attained not to the first three ; and though no saint can ever attaine to the perfection of the first three , the blessed trinity : yet many saints may be honourable amongst thirty , perfect in comparison of those among whom they live . 2. we must further distinguish of a double perfection ; it is extrinseca and intrinseca . extrinsecall perfection , so called because by imputation , is that which every beleever is partaker of through the perfect righteousnesse of christ , whereby all his imperfections are covered : in this respect , the author to the hebrewes tells us , that by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified : and s. paul tels the colossians , that they were compleat in him , meaning christ . indeed , omnia dei mandata tunc facta deputantur quando id quod non sit ignoscitur : divine commands are then in gods account fulfilled , when our defects for christs sake are pardoned : and the evangelical perfection of a christian consists not in perfectione virtutum , sed remissione vitiorum , in the completion of our graces , but remission of our sinnes . intrinsecall perfection so called because by inhesion , is no lesse rationally then usually thus distinguished , there is perfectio partium and gradium : he is said to be perfect , cui nihil de est , eorum , quae ad statum salutis necessaria , who wants no graces that accompanie salvation ; or he is perfect , cui nihil deest in gradibus gratiarum & virtutum : who is not defective in the measures of those graces : both these are frequently , and firly illustrated by the resemblance of a child , and a grown man ; the one whereof hath all the essentiall and integrall parts of a man , the other a compleat use and measure of those parts . if we speak of the latter kind of perfection , there never was , nor shall be , nor can any meer man in this life attaine unto it ; indeed the spirits of just men in heaven are perfecti , made perfect , but on earth they are only perficientes , striving to be perfect ; our perfection here , is in fieri , non facto , accomplishing , not accomplished . non plonam induimus perfectionem , donec totam exuimus infectionem , we cannot wholly put off the ragges of corruption , and therefore not fully put on the robes of perfection : we may be sine querela , not sine culpa , without blame in regard of grosse enormities , not without blemish in respect of sinfull infirmities . true it is , the scriptures call upon us to be perfect , as our father in heaven is perfect . non ut tantum p●aestari possit quantum suadetur , not that we can fully acquire what is required , but to shew quousque conari oportet , at what our desires must aime , and to what our endeavours must tend . this perfection is not patriae , but viae , reserved for the country , not to be attained while we are in the way ; in this regard all our perfection here consists in these two things : 1. a penitential acknowledgment of our imperfection : as the best wisdome is to see our folly , so the highest perfection is to bewaile our deficiency ; and therefore we shall still find those that have been in the highest forme of grace , most sensible of the want of grace , poverty of spirit being an inseparable attendant of the riches of piety : this made job abhor himself in dust & ashes . david pray , lord enter not into judgement with thy servant : and paul acknowledge himselfe to be lesse then the least of all the saints . excellent to this purpose is that of saint austine , advirtutis perfectionem pertinet etiam ipsius imperfectionis , & in veritate agnitio & in humilitate confessio : an humble confession , and a faithfull acknowledgement of our imperfection conduces much to our perfection : and the same father commenting upon that of the apostle , as many as are perfect , thus illustrateth it , qu●t qu● perfecte currimus , hoc sapimus , quod nondum perfecti simus , sed illia perficiemur quò perfectè currimus , as many of us as run perfectly the race of piety , are sensible of this , that as yet we are not perfect , but shall then be perfected , when we come to the place to which we run . 2. a zealous progresse to , and endeavour after this perfection : so aquinas expounding that exhortation of saint paul , be you perfect , renders it tendatis ad perfectum , tend to , and strive after perfection : indesinens proficiendi studium , & jugis conatus ad perfectionem , perfectio reputatur , a continued desire of increase , and daily endeavour after perfection , is accounted as our perfection : god herein dealing with us as an indulgent father with the child that drawes the arrow as far as he can to reach the mark , esteeming it as if he had drawn the arrow to the head , and hit the marke : in this sense it is , that as god doth repute the saints , so the saints have reckoned themselves amongst the number of the perfect . magnum illud electionis vas perfectum abnuit , pr●fectum satetur , saith saint bernard concerning paul , that chosen vessell , a●counted his perfection to be his profection , pressing towards the marke , for the price of the high calling of god in christ jesus . indeed the papists supercilliously assert a possibility of perfection to every christian in an exact observance of the whole morall law ; nay , to some , as their monasticall votaries , a possibility of that perfection , which according to their tearmes is not onely precepti , but consilii , a fulfilling of precepts , but councells , whereby they performe workes of supererogation , and so contribute to others , as well as their own salvation ; nor doe we want those among our selves , who fondly dream of an unspotted purity , and perfection , attainable in this life , but to these i may fitly apply those words of saint james , ye rejoyce in your boastings , all such rejoycing is evill ; these vaunting brags are an argument not of strength of grace , but height of pride : oh let us never account our selves to have attained sufficiency , but still endeavour to be proficients , ever remembring that it is with our graces , as with numbers , no numbers so full , but still more may be added ; no measure of grace so great , but its capable of further measure . but then , 2. if we speak of a perfection in the former sense , to wit , of parts : so it is true of every saint , he may , nay he must be perfect , though not as touching exact performace continually , yet as touching constant resolution habitually ; though not throughout sanctified , yet sanctified throughout in spirit , soul , and body ; and in this construction the later word is a fit explication of the former , perfect being no more but upright ; thus hezekiah in that prayer upon his sick bed joynes these 2 together , in truth , & with a perfect heart , thereby intimating that perfection which he had attained , was not in regard of degrees , but truth of grace , accounting his heart perfect because upright : upon this ground it is , that asa , david , and others , are said to have their hearts perfect , notwithstanding their lives were in some particulars scandalous , divine mercy passing by their defects , and accepting the uprightnesse of their intention , instead of perfectnesse in action . that charge against the church of sardis is very observable to this purpose , i have not found thy works perfect before god , which were it to be understood of exactnesse , according to the rigour of the law , might be an accusation against any , even the purest church to whom christ wrot , and therefore is to be constru'd a want of sincerity , which is perfection according to the tenour of the gospell : yea , which is further considerable , this makes our workes perfect before god , because so accompted in his esteeme , it being uprightnesse that fills up both our graces and duties . hence it is that in some places of scripture , the word which is here read perfect , is rendred upright ; so in that counsell of god to abraham , walk before me , and be upright . and that assertion of the wise man , he that walketh uprightly , walketh surely . and of this text it selfe i finde one translation reading it integrum , another simplicem : whereof the one is opposed to rottennesse , the other to double-mindednesse . so that the perfection which the text requires is a freedome , not from all sinne , but from hypocrisie : the perfect is no more then the sound , or single hearted man ; and so the same , with upright , which is the second tearm to be considered . i am not ignorant that some interpreters reading the first word , innocentem , and this latter , rectum understand both in reference unto men ; expounding him to be innocent , who doth no injury , and him upright that observes equity among men . others referre the first word to god , the latter to man ; restraining the sense of this word upright , to the integrity of our dealings with those , among whom we converse : and thus 't is an undoubted truth , the good man is both perfect towards god , and upright towards men ; giving as god , his right , so man his due . piety is ever a friend to equity , and religion to justice ; the whole law is copulative , and obedience conjunctive . 't is observable , that saint james defining , or rather describing , pure and undefiled religion before god ; makes mention of those duties of visiting the widow , and the fatherlesse , which belong unto the second table : indeed , he cannot be a right worshipper of god , who is not upright , and charitable in his conversation towards men . but i rather conceive , both the tearms are of equall extent , the latter being added exegetically for the unfolding of the former : t is a word both extensive , & exclusive ; exclusive of the hypocrite , extensive to the weak ; t is a bar to keep out the one , and a key to let in the other : none are on the one side more ready to boast of perfection than hypocrites , that generation being commonly pure in their owne eyes ; but , indeed , they are so much the more imperfect , because , notwithstanding their pretences to singular purity , they are full of odious hypocrisie . on the other side , weak saints being conscious of their own defects , are apt to exclude themselves from the number of the perfect : and therefore , that they might not be too much discouraged , the psalmist joynes to this harsh terme , perfect , the milde phrase of upright ; that we might know by the one , what he meanes by the other , and when the sense of our infirmities forbids us , the sight of our integrity may encourage us to account our selves perfect because upright . it will be needfull then a little to enquire , who is this upright man . the originall verbe from whence the word in the text comes , signifies in kal , rectum esse ; in pihel , complanare : and the noune notes such a man , whose heart is right , and wayes are plaine : particularly there are two things which make up the frame of an upright spirit ; to wit , measuring all our actions by a right rule , and levelling them at a right end . first , the upright man squares all his actions by a right rule ; carnall reason cannot by as him , corrupt practice cannot sway him , but gods sacred word directs him : hence it is , that his respect is universall to all divine precepts , avoyding all evil , performing all good , without exception . this was the character of josiah , of whom its said , he turned to the lord with all his heart , with all his soul , & with all his might , according to all contained in the law of moses : indeed , the upright man with david , esteemes gods precepts concerning all things to be right , and therefore is carefull to observe them . hence it is , that he 's the same man at all times , in all places : what the phylosopher sayes of a good man is true of him , he is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , like a cube , or square , or like a die , that falls alike every way , because at all times , and in all societies , he acts by one and the same rule ; 't is a good saying of one that pretends to be saint cyprian , ea non est religio , sed dissimulatio , qua per omnia non constat sibi ; that is not piety , but hypocrisie , which is not in all things like it selfe , since the upright man measures every action by the straight line of divine prescript . and 2. he levells all his actions to a right end ; where integrity is in the heart , gods word is in the hand , and his glory in the eye , as zeal is the intention and fervour of every grace , so sincerity is the intention and bent of the heart in every duty ; the load-stone of an upright soul is not self-interest , but gods honour ; he casts no squint-eye at by-respects , but lookes directly forward at his creatours glory ; it was the blemish which satan thought to cast upon job , that his obedience was mercenary ; and therefore , he saith , doth job fear god for nought ? but it plainly appeared , that , though gods blessings were incouragements to , yet not the principall end of his service , and therefore god gives him the character of an upright man . it is observable in that counsell god gives to abraham , these two are joyned together , walk before me , and be upright : since the upright man ever walkes before god , and that not onely because he walkes as under gods eye , but as having his eye upon god , desirous to magnifie him in all his actions . that resemblance of pachomius an abbot is remarkable to this purpose , who digesting his numerous monkes into various classes , according to the letters in the greeke alphabet , suited the names he gave them to the natures he observed in them : thus those whom he found politicians and dissemblers , he compared to the letters ● and ● , which are full of crooked turnings ; those whom he observed to be plaine-hearted and upright , to the letter ● , which is carryed right upwards . so indeed is the sincere saint in all his actions , fixing his eye upon the glory of god ; and the man who is thus qualified , is he to whom this tearme of upright may fitly be applyed . to wind up this first branch in a briefe application . it is a note not unworthy our observation , that the psalmist in the following verse makes mention of the wicked in the plurall number ; but in this verse , speaking of the good , useth the singular to intimate to us , there are many transgressors to one perfect ; many wicked , to one upright man . the prophet bids us behold the upright ; but alas , where shall we finde one upright man to behold ? it is storyed of diogenes , that at noone day he went about the streets with a candle lighted ; and being asked , what he did ? returned this answer , hominem qu●●● , i seek for a man : meaning one that might deserve the name of a man . and we finde that it was gods command to the prophet , that he should run to and fro through the streets of jerusalem , and seeke in the broad places thereof , to finde a man that executed judgement . should we take the same course to finde the perfect and upright man in the text , how long should we be in seeking ? pretenders to perfection , professors of sanctity , this age swarmes with , but few practicers . facings of religion were never more in fashion , but the linings of piety never more out of request . that subtile malu●… secr●●●●… virus latens venenum , as chrysologus fitly termeth it , lurking snake , subtile evill , and secret poyson of hypocrisie hath stung , surprized , and infected the most among us . of old , a third part of the inhabitants of britains were called pieti , in a morall sense it is a word may well fit the greatest of this generation , since what our saviour said of the pharisees , is true of most among us , they are like to whited sepulchres , which indeed appeare beautifull outward , but are within full of dead mens bones , and of all uncleannesse . how justly might i here expatiate in a bitter complaint of the raigning hypocrisie in this age ; but the truth is , none are more deafe to reproofes then hypocrites ; and therefore leaving them to their delusions , i shall close up this with a word of exhortation : nor can i doe it better , then according to the translation which the septuagint and the vulgar give of this clause , who render the first word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in the most common acception , which is to keepe , or preserve , and take the concrete as put for the abstract , perfect and upright for perfection and uprightnesse . oh let us keep innocencie , and look to equitie ; embrace perfection , and follow uprightnesse . it is good counsell saint cyprian giveth to this purpose , let us consider the titles christ giveth his people , and by them learne our duty . oves nominat , & innocentia christiana ovibus aquatur ; agnos vocat , & agnorum naturam simplicem simplicitas mentis innitetur : he calls us sheep , oh let us resemble them in innocencie ; he styles us lambes , oh let us be like them in simplicity . indeed no man more amiable in gods eye then the upright . david knew this well , which made him say , behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts . it is fitly to be noted , that the word jesurun , which is given to israel , and is derived from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} upright in the text , is rendred by the lxxii . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth beloved : and the verbe {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifieth both rectus fuit , and placuit , especially when in construction with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} according to the latine phrase , rectum esse in oculis , it is as much as placere , all intimating , how acceptable sincerity is in gods sight . nor is it more pleasing unto god , then profitable unto us : this is it which enlivens our graces , inlargeth our comfort , and obtaines a reward . nihil simplice corde foelicius , none more happy then the upright soule . keep innocencie , and it shall keep thee . preserve integrity , and it shall preserve thee . so true is that of solomon , he that walketh uprightly , walketh surely , security is ever the attendant of sincerity . there is no such way to stand firmly , as to walk uprightly . in a word , let uprightnesse be thy path , and then gods spirit shall be thy guide , his angels thy guard , his word thy light , and peace thy end , which leads me to the 2. branch of the first generall , namely , the felicity of a good mans condition , for the end of that man is peace . the vulgar following the septuagint , read this clause in a 〈◊〉 different translation , quoniam sunt reliquia homini pacifice , because there is a remainder to the peaceable man . nor is this construction altogether incongruous to the hebrew phrase , and therefore give me leave a little to prosecute it . and here we meet with another character of a saint , he is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a man of peace . those beasts that were wild in the field , became quiet in the arke . the church is a shulamite , a mother of peace , called hierusalem , a vision of peace , and all her members must be sons of peace . it is written in the law of mahomet , that god made the angels of light , and the devils of flame . sure i am , they are devilish spirits that delight in the flame of contention : angelicall men , who love the light of peace . melchisedech , that signifies king of righteousnesse , was king of salem , that signifies peace . indeed nothing more inclines us to peace , then grace . saint james describing the wisdome from above , saith , it is first pure , then peaceable , jam. 3. 17. and s. paul joynes together peace and holinesse , heb. 12. 14. since there cannot be a right practice of holinesse , without a sedulous pursuit of peace . no man more after gods heart then david ; and if you would observe his temper , view the character he gives of himselfe , psal. 120. 7. i am for peace ; or as the hebrew expresses it more emphatically , i am peace , as if he were made up of peace . indeed hypocrisie is ever accompanyed with pride , and no wonder , if ( according to solomons proverbe ) by pride commeth contention , whereas sincerity is ever attended with humility , which is the nurse of peace . nothing more usuall with hypocrites , then under pretence of advancing holiness , to foment divisions ; but the upright man endeavours to build gods temple without the noyse of axes or hammers . so fitly doth this expression agree to him , he is a peaceable man . to this man of peace , sunt reliquia , saith the vulgar , there are the remainder : that is , say some , of a prosperous posterity , a blessing which god is often pleased to confer upon his saints . and in this construction we find the hebrew word sometimes rendred , so psal. 109. 13. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the same word with this in the text , is translated posterity . with these arrows god vouchsafeth to fill the just mans quiver , these olive plants he sets round about his table , they are the heritage of the lord , and that reward which he sometimes gives to the upright . this is that blessednesse which david promises to the man that feares the lord , his seed shall be mighty , and his generation blessed . some men count children , bils of charges ; but god puts them on the accompts of mercies . 't was a pretty answer that cornelia gave a noble lady , who lodging in her house , shewed her all her jewels , with a desire to see her riches ; she bringing forth her children which were newly come from schoole , said , hi unicè mihi sunt thesauri , these are my onely treasure . such indeed are children , no small riches , where god sends them ; which made the comoedian to say , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a numerous progenie , contributes much to temporall felicity . and this is promised to the upright and peaceable man , as his remainder . others conceive this remainder to be understood of a good name , which the just and peaceable man leaves behind him . it was a true saying of him in plautus , si bonam famam servasse sat , dives ero , to obtaine and preserve a good name , is riches enough . yea solomon compares it with , and extols it above a precious ointment . this is that blessing which usually attends upon the good . so true is that of the poet , et memorem famam qui bene gessit habet . which if you please you may english by that of the psalmist , the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . when socrates was asked , how a man might get and keep a good report ? he returned this answer , si talis esse studeas , qualis haberi velis , by endeavouring to be indeed , what he would be accounted . such is the practice of an upright man , and as none lesse lookt at , so none is more blest with a good repute among men then he : that of solomon being ever verified in experience , the memory of the just is blessed . finally , some understand this remainder to be of a glorious reward which all just & peaceable men shall be partakers of , a construction that may well fit the originall , which sometimes is put for a reward : so pro. 23. 18. it is most aptly read , surely there is a reward , and thine expectation shall not be cut off . never any man kindled a fire in vaine on gods altar . so true is that of the wise man , he that sowes righteousnesse shall have a sure reward , prov. 11. 18. dionisius causing musitians to play before him , promised them a great reward ; having plaid a long time , they expected their pay : but he told them , they were paid already , since , as they had pleased him with musick , so he them with hopes of reward . but , god deales not so with his servants , he feeds them not with vain hopes , but sure accomplishment of his gracious promises . there remaineth a rest to the people of god , saith the apostle , heb. 4. 9 and reliquiae sunt , saith the vulgar here , there is a remainder of blissefull recompence to the peaceable man . to end this therefore , quarite pacem ut inveniatis pra●…ium , let peace be our work , that glory may be our wages ; ever remembring , that while the rough esaus of the time hunt after venison , it is the smoothplain-hearted , and quiet jacob , that carries away the blessing . but to handle the words according to our translation , as being most consonant to the sense , and sutable to the originall , the end of that man is peace . a clause wherein each word is emphaticall , and deserves a serious view . the end , indeed the beginning , and middle of the upright mans dayes are full of trouble , but his end is rest : the life of a saint is a continued warfare , with satans temptations , his own corruptions , & the worlds persecutions , but at his death he shall enter into peace : for the present , none under worse slavery then the good , but at the last there shall be a year of jubilee : we are here in this world as upon a sea , continually subject to stormy winds , and rouling waves ; but when we come to the haven , there shall be a serene calme . it is not unworthy our observation , that the hebrews use this word in the text , to signifie both a reward , and an end ; thereby intimating to us , that the reward is not given till the end ; when the evening was come , then the labourers received their wages ; and at the end of our lives , shall be the collation of our recompence . of that man , to wit exclusive of him , and none but him , fine discernuntur reprobi ab electis ; it is the end makes the difference between the wicked and the good : indeed , solomon affirmeth , that there is one event to the righteous , and to the wicked , to the cleane , and to the uncleane ; to him that sacrificeth , and to him that sacrificeth not ; but that respects the matter , not the manner of their end , both end by death , but not alike ; and though the one as well as the other , must die , yet the one doth not die as well as the other : indeed , to the bad , primum optimum , to the good , vltimum ; the wicked mans wine is best at first , the good mans at last : the devill deals by the one as jaell by sisera , speaks them fair at first , til he hath lulled them asleep in security , and then he involveth them in misery . but god doth by us , as the hebrew was to doe by the captive woman which he marryed : at first he appointeth us a time of mourning , but afterwards he vouchsafeth us the fruition of himself in glory . the freshest rivers of carnall pleasure shall end in a salt sea of dispairing tears ; whereas the wettest seed-time of a pious life , shall end in the sun-shiny harvest of a peacefull death . in a word , the transgressour , how pleasant soever his beginnings be , his last shall be dolorous ; but the upright , how troublesome soever his life be , his death shall be joyous , for the end of that man is peace : this word peace , you may please to look upon in a double acception , 1. more specially for the particular blessing of peace , which ever accompanies the upright mans end : indeed , both victory and peace wait upon the just man at last . what cyrus said of abradatus , when he saw him lie dead in the field , that his end was honourable , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , because he dyed a conqueror , is true of the christians end , who dyeth a victor over all the powers of darknesse , sinne and satan , hell and death , being all subdued under him , and as his end is victory , so peace . the verb {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , from whence the noun {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in the text comes , signifies in pi●el , both perficere and retribuere , the perfect man shall be recompenced . in kal , both perfici , and pacem habere , qui perfectus fuit , pacificus erit , the perfect mans recompence shall be peace . peace with god , who is reconciled to him in the bloud of the lamb ; peace with men , no out-cries of the oppressed upon him ; peace with himself , no perturbations within him , indeed , this peace of conscience he enjoyes in life , but especially at his death . oh what serenity and calmnesse , tranquility and content , possesses the dying saint ; when being come to his haven , the musick of a well-tuned conscience welcomes him to the shore : then it is that he becomes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a teacher of tranquillity to all that behold him ; then it is that being come to the last act of his life , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he is filled with sacred exultation in a sense of his reconciliation with god : what saint bernard saw in holy gerrard , is frequently observable in upright men , actitus sum ego ad id miraculi , videre exultantem in morte hominem , & insultantem morti : i beheld him , saith he , exulting in death , and insulting over death . thus do good men die triumphing in their victory , and rejoycing in their peace . so that what gregory nazianzen saith , concerning his sister gorgonias death , may be applyed to every perfect man when he dieth : it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , his dying day is his holy-day , and his funerall his festivall . in a word , what simeon desired of god , and god promised to abraham is performed to every upright man , he departs hence , and goes to his fathers in peace , for the end of that man is peace . 2. the word rendred peace in the text , is sometimes taken more generally for prosperity , safety , and all good things ; in the extent of its signification it notes perfection , to which is required a confluence of all good , and in this latitude we may take it here . so one paraphrases upon the text , tandem post varias calamitates eripitur ut sit beatus & felix , his end is peace : that is , at length he is delivered from afflictions , and invested in an estate of blisse and glory . such indeed is the upright mans condition in the end , when he shall arrive at that place , vbi nullum deerit bonum , nullum aderit malum , where there shall be an absence of all evill , and a concurrence of all good , where that shall be verified which is promised , rev. 21. 4. god shall wipe all teares from their eyes : and there shall be no more death , neither sorrow , nor crying , neither shall there be any more paine : for the former things are past away . in a word , where there shall be , vita aterna , beatitudo perfecta , summa voluptas , as saint bernard sweetly ; fulnesse of joy , perfection of blisse , and eternity of life : vbi juventus nunquam senescit , decor nunquam pallescit ; amor nurquam tepescit , salus nunquam marcessit , gaudium nunquam decrescit , & vita terminum nescit , as saint austin elegantly , where there is youth ever flourishing , beauty never fading ; love ever constant , safety never wanting ; joy alwayes exceeding , and life never ending . 't was a custome among the athenians at their marriages , that a youth of known ingenuity , carrying a van full of corne and akehornes , should solemnly pronounce these words among the people , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i have escaped bad , and found better . how joyfully shall the saints in that last day , when they shall be called to the marriage supper of the lamb , take up the like acclamation , we are passed through all our troubles , and have found durable joyes ; we have escaped out of an egypt of bondage through a wildernesse of sorrowes , unto a canaan of blisse . nautae dulcia patriis oscula littoribus figunt , liberatos se periculis , absolutos erroribus gratulantes : the marriner that hath been preserved from many violent stormes , and outragious tempests , does not with more full contentment kisse his native shore , then the upright man after various sorrowes here indured , enters into the joy of his lord . so true is this of the psalmist in the largest sense , the end of that man is peace . to end this in a profitable use to our selves : 1. si vis in pace mori●sis servus dei ; as we desire to have peace in the end , let piety be our race . 't was marcus aurelius his dying counsel to his son commodus , that if he would live quietly , he should live justly . let me a little alter it , if you would die peaceably , live uprightly . the pythagoreans did promise a good hope to them in the end , who studyed philosophy : we have a surer word of promise , that peace shall be at last to them that study perfection . socrates was wont to say , that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , good souls do goe hence with hope : indeed they , and none but they , whose hearts are upright can depart hence in a sure expectation of blisse , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a truly serene death is asserted by the stoicks to be the onely portion , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} of good and virtuous men : and we see the spirit of god in this scripture appropriates it onely to perfect , and upright men . it is a fond presumption of those , who live in hope to die happily , though they live wickedly . doe men gather grapes of thornes , or figs of thistles ! saith our blessed saviour . it s in vaine to expect the grapes of peace , and figs of comfort upon the thornes and thistles of wickednesse : we never read of one that lived well , and dyed ill , and but of one who lived ill , and died well . what madnesse were it for a man that soweth his field with cockle , and tares , to look for good corne at the harvest ? no lesse desperate is their folly , who think to reap peace and glory from the seeds of sinne and hypocrisie . be not deceived , god is not mocked : for whatsover a man soweth , that shall he also reap . it is the ●●●●…tion of god himselfe , there is no peace to the wicked . true it is , for the present , they have a senslesse stupidity , but tranquillitas ista tempestas , their sleepy consciences shall at last awake , and bite : and though not alwayes sensibly , yet certainly , not in their owne apprehension , yet in gods determination the end of the wicked is destruction : as therefore wee desire our end may be everlasting life , let us now bring forth fruit unto holinesse . 2. let the upright learn , with patience , to waite for their peacefull end : working righteousnesse , is called in scripture a sowing , among others no doubt for this reason , that as there is a space between the seed-time , and the harvest , during which the husband-man waits , so is there between the work , and the reward . the prophet tells us , he that beleeves makes not haste . faith is sure of the thing , and therefore is content to stay the time ; for the most part , our expectations are too short breath'd , and as we post-date our duties , so we ante-date our mercies : we doe in this case as the unjust steward , who , when an hundred should have been set down , caus'd the debtour to take his bill and write fifty . when mercy is to be vouchsafed an hundred dayes hence , we take our bill , and write down fifty . oh let us take heed of limiting the holy one of israel ; that must be patiently expected , which is not presently to be conferr'd : the time of bestowing this peace is at the end , doe thou hold out waiting untill the end . ne deeris deo in fide , & non deerit tibi in opere , be not thou a wanting to god in expectance , and he will not be wanting to thee in performance . in the mean time , let the upright man learn to run with patience , the race that is set before him . to bear quietly the afflictions that are laid upon him , fortiter malum qui patitur , post potitur bonum , he that endures evill chearfully shall at last enjoy good certainly , the end wil make amends for all . oh let the sweetness of the recompence mitigate the bitterness of our sufferings ; the cloudiest morning may have a red evening a pleasant spring follow a sharp winter , the most blustring storme end in a quiet calme , and the sadest trouble of the just , not onely may , but shall be swallowed up at last in fullest joyes . what the poet spake concerning the fabrication of the world , and truly , not much unlike moses description of the creation . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the skie , and the day sprang from the night , may here fitly be applyed to the upright , there ariseth the light of comfort , sometimes in , alwayes after , nay , out of the darknesse of his sorrow . it was a pretty device of one giacope sanzaro an italian , who having been long in love , and much crost , fill'd a pot full of little black stones , and one white , saying , there will come one white day , ( meaning that of marriage ) which will make amends for all my black dayes . let the perfect man comfort himself in this assurance , that though the kalendar of his life , may be full of miserable dayes ; yet the day of his death shall be full of joy , and the end of his life , a beginning of that blisse which shall never end . in fine , that councell which solon gave to croesus in the midst of his glory , let me give to the godly man in the midst of his sorrowes , respire finem , observe the end . indeed this is that which may both darken the lustre of wicked mens prosperity , and qualifie the sharpnesse of good mens afflictions . and as it concernes the perfect man to consider his own end , so doth it behoove us all to regard the perfect mans end : and so i am fallen upon the 2. generall of the text , which is the fit prescription of a duty to be performed in reference to this perfect , and upright person , in those words , marke , and behold . in the two verses immediately preceding , david records his owne experience of the wicked , and from thence incourageth us to observe our own experiences of the good : thereby intimating unto us , that as the way of the just , and the unjust , is directly opposite , so their end shall be manifestly contrary . and withall , that what he saw in his time , might be observed , and should be made good in the experience of all times , god is the same yesterday , to day , and for ever . the same , not onely in his essence , but in his operation , in his being ; but in his working , what he hath done , that he still does , and will doe : divine providence ever acts like it selfe , and though it vary in particular circumstances , yet ever keepeth the generall course of rewarding every one at the last according to their workes ; and therefore former experiences are just grounds of future confidence , those dispensations , of god towards the righteous , & the wicked , which holy men of old have registred , may encourage us , to expect the same , to which end it is david here called upon us in the words of the text , marke and behold . the duty here required we see is ingeminated , not onely marke , but mark and behold : the reason whereof , we may very well conceive to be both fervency in the pen-man , and necessity in the matter . indeed these two do well together , where the duty is needfull , zeal becometh the preacher ; that cannot be too often prest , which must be perform'd ; 't is like the frequent knocking at the doore , that it may be sooner opened , the renewed strokes upon the naile which drive it in the faster . thus the prophet zephany perswading to that needfull part of repentance , which consists in self-examination , not onely propounds , but repeats it , gather your selves together yea , gather your selves together . and the psalmist here seeing a necessity of this duty , to prevent those dangerous mis-constructions , which otherwise carnall reason might be apt to make of gods proceedings ; not only sets it before us , but presseth it upon us in this double expression , marke , and behold . but this is not all the reason that may be given of this gemination , we may very well apply a double object to this double expression of the act , and both out of the text , to wit , the upright man , and his end ; what he does , and how he fares ; mark his way , behold his end ; mark his action , behold his retribution : both call for our consideration . first , marke the upright man himselfe in the course of his life , indeed his intentions are onely known to god , but his actions are visible unto men : true grace , where ever it is , may be seen , felt , heard , and understood , 't was our saviours precept to his disciples , that their light should so shine before men , as they might see their good workes : and surely , if good men must doe their workes so as to be seen , we must see their good workes when they are done : and in this respect we must take notice of the upright man for a double end : first , vt honoremus , let us mark him , that we may honour him , and those graces of god which are manifest in him : indeed the world lookes on the saint with a scornfull eye , because with a carnall ; they say of him , what those jewes did of christ , he hath no forme or comlienesse : and when we see him , there is no beauty that we should desire him . let us view him with a spirituall aspect , and we shall finde that worth which deservedly calls for our esteem : indeed the upright , as david well calls them , are the excellent ones of the earth : though men cast them out as drosse , yet they are the finest gold ; though men trample them under foot as pebles , yet are they pretious pearles : they are so in gods account , let them be so in our esteeme . secondly , vt imitemur , let 's mark the upright man so as to imitate him , eye his steps , so as to tread in them : 't is gods goodnesse to afford , and should be our wisdome to make use of the godly , tanquam statuas mercuriales , as travellours doe of those statues which are set to point forth the way unto them . saint paul calls the saints of the old testament , a cloud of witnesses ; alluding , no doubt , to that pillar of a cloud which went before the israelites in the wildernesse to lead them the way . so should our eye be fixt on those saints that are gone before us , or that live amongst us , as a cloud for our direction in the way to heaven . 't was s. pauls request to the corinthians , be ye followers of me ; we must be so of every upright man , and to that end marke him . secondly , behold the upright man in the close of his death , and this is that i conceive the psalmist chiefly aimes at : so tremellius his reading plainly manifests , observa integrum , & aspire rectum , finem illius esse pacem : observe the perfest , and behold the upright , that the end of this man is peace . he calls for , not a transient view , but a permanent aspect ; as an archer having shot an arrow , takes not off his eye untill he sees it fall , so must we with a fixed eye behold the upright , til we see what becomes of him . this was that the apostle james wills those to whom he wrote , to doe in reference to job ; both to look upon him in that way of patience wherein he trod , you have heard of the patience of job : and withall in that end which happened to him , and have seen the end of the lord . indeed , this is that duty which concernes us in reference both to the good and bad , to look upon them not in their present , but future state . this world is as a stage , whereon both the vpright , and the hypocrite ; the perfect , and the wicked , are actors and that which in both of these we ought chiefly to be spectatours of , is their exit : not so much how they come on , as how they go off : in regard of the wicked this was it which moses wish'd the israelites to fasten their eyes upon , and therefore , when corah , dathan , and abiram , had rebelliously conspired against him and aaron ; he calls the people to a consideration of their end , if these men die the common death of all men , or if they be visited after the visitation of all men , then the lord hath not sent me . and in regard of the good , 't is that which here david would have us chiefly to take notice of , his end is peace ; not is it without good reason , since by this meanes we shall best rectifie our judgements , and avoid false censures : so that these two words , marke and behold , are , as it were , a bridle to keep us in from running head-long into rash judgings , when we see the upright encompassed with afflictions ; and thus we must behold the upright mans end , to restraine us from passing wrong sentence both upon god , and the good ; upon god , as if he were unjust : upon the good , as if they were the most miserable . first , we must behold his end , in regard of god , ne iniqu●… p●…tetur deus , dum favet impiis , & justos affligit . lest otherwise we account god unequall in his dispensations ; as indeed , who would not think it strange , to see the godly corrected , whilst the wicked are spared ; those cast down with sorrow , whilst these are lifted up with prosperity : but the glorious end of the saints calamitous life abundantly cleares divine justice , and stops the mouth of blasphemy ; though now god afflict the righteous , and the wicked , yea , many times the righteous , and not the wicked , yet in the end he will put a difference between the righteous and the wicked , whereby the glory of his equity shall evidently appeear , and therefore behold the upright . secondly , in regard of the good , lest we condemne him as miserable in those afflictions he undergoes : what saint paul sayes in another case concerning the saints , if in this life onely we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable : may with a little variation be used in this , if we judge of good men according to their condition in this life , we shall account them of all men most wretched ; but let us stay our censure till the last , trace the saint to his journies end , and then we shall freely confesse , that none are more blessed then the vpright , or happier then the perfect . to shut up this in a word of usefull application . 't is the generall assertion of solomon , the wise mans eyes are in his head , but the fool walketh in darknesse . let us in this particular shew our selves wise men , by having our eyes in our head , to marke , and behold the upright mans end . let not the beames of the ungodlies prosperity dazle us , but rather wait a while til their dismall end , when we shall see their sun set in a cloud , their candle go out in a snuffe , and their hope sink into despaire . let not the clouds of misery , which , for the present , hang over the upright , darken our eyes ; but stay till the comfortable end , when he shall break forth a● the sun in his splendour , and shine as the stars in glory . 't was moses his advice to the israelites in their greatest strait , that they should stand still , and see the salvation of the lord . indeed , those two are well put together , stand still , and see , whilst a man moves swiftly , his eyes dazle , but when he stands still he sees clearly . let us doe so , patiently expect , and diligently observe , that salvation which god in the end will work for his servants . that counsell which christ gave to the church of laodicea , let me give to you , in reference to this duty , annoynt your eyes with the eye-salve of the spirit , that you may rightly discerne , and wisely judge of gods proceedings . look backward by the eye of experience , and see how god hath dealt with upright persons in the end ; & then look forward by the eye of faith , and conclude what god will vouchsafe to his people at the last . this done , i doubt not but you will both acknowledge gods justice , and admire his wisdome ; you will follow the good mans steps , and desire his end . in a word , you will preferre afflicted godlinesse , before pleasurable wickednesse ; persecuted religion , before prosperous rebellion ; and despised piety , before advanced iniquity . finally with moses , you will esteeme the afflictions of gods people , sweeter comforts then all the pleasures of sinne . the reproaches of christ greater riches then all the treasures of aegypt , having a respect to the recompence of the reward , that blissefull peace which in the end shall be conferred on all them who walk before god in truth , and with a perfect heart , according to this of the psalmist in the text , mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . i have done with my text , but i must not end here . behold , another text lies before us fit to be read , and perused by us . heredotus maketh mention of a custome among the aethiopians , to set the dead bodies of their friends in glazed sepulchres , that their proportions might be obvious to the passengers ; how needlesse soever that custome was , 't is doubtlesse no more then just , that the pious lineaments of their mindes who die in the lord , should be presented to the living in the mirrour of art . indeed commendation after death , is the tribute of a religious life : good works are jewels , not to be lockt up in a cabinet , but to be set forth to publique view . if christ would have maries name remembred in the gospell unto the worlds end for one box of oyntment poured on his head ; we cannot imagine that he would have the many pious and charitable deeds of his servants to be buried in oblivion . consult the scriptures , and you shall scarce finde any godly man laid in his grave without an epitaph of honour . view the fathers , & you shall observe it their practice to honor the death of the good , by giving them their deserved praises : so did ambrose to theodosius , nazianzen to athanasius , hierome to nepotian ; and bernard to malachias , and gerard . the truth is , in reciting the vertuous acts of dead persons , we doe not so much advantage them , as benefit our selves . what doe they need glory on earth , who are glorified in heaven ? nostrâ interest non ipsorum , it s our interest , not theirs , since by their examples we are provoked to good workes : nay , let me tell you , in rehearsing their graces , we doe not so much honour them , as glorifie god . 't was the greek fathers apology for himselfe , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in praising vertue , i extoll the god , who is the donor of it . it cannot then ( at least justly ) offend any religious ear , if i shall endeavour to delineate the singular worth of this illustrious knight , whose funeralls we now solemnize . and here it fares with me , as with a man in a garden , full of choice flowers , that knowes not where to pick : abundance of matter , making me almost barren of expression . as for a compleat enumeration of his virtues , 't is a work which neither my scant abilities can performe , nor will the scantling of time permit . it cannot be expected , that a good life , which hath been weaving a piece of graces for threescore yeares , and upward , can be spread before you in a few minutes . besides , the history of his life , and narration of his worth , calls for a livie rather then a florus ; a demosthenes , rather then a phocion to undertake it . i want time to draw his picture to the length , and skill to doe it to the life : yet , ex pede herculem , spare me but your patience a while , and i shall ( though rudely ) draw some few lineaments , by which you may guesse at the rest . let it not then be accounted flattery , if i take up the first part of the text , and apply it in particular to him : mark this perfect , and behold this upright man . mark him in his life , how exemplary ? behold him in his death , how happy ? not to expatiate in the characters of his life , i shall limit my discourse , by a double consideration : mark him as a magistrate , behold him as a man ; mark him as a publique governour , behold him as a private christian ; and in both ( setting aside humane frailties . ) you shall finde him well worthy these characters in the text , perfect , and vpright . 1. to make up a perfect and upright magistrate , two things are especially requisite : wisdom in discerning , impartiallity in judging : both of which were eminent in this worthy , whom god indued with a perspicacious eye , to discerne between things that differ ; and a resolute heart to doe justly , without any respect to persons . he was farre from casars temper , who said , melior causa cassii ; sed denegare bruto , nihil possum : cassius his cause is better , but i cannot deny my friend brutus . private respects could not sway him in publique censures ; he put off all relations to a friend , when he put on the robes of a magistrate ; he was neither backward to encourage virtue , nor yet to punish vice , and though otherwise , of a tender , and melting disposition , yet in matters of judicature he was wont to say , a foolish pitty , is cruelty . in summe , the integrity of his spirit , in administration of justice was so evident , that i doubt not , but many in this congregation who sat with him in publick courts can abundantly attest it : it pleased this city to put him upon severall places of great trust and honour ; & not many years since , he was thought worthy to be invested with the highest office of dignity and authority ; in which he behaved himself so faithfully , couragiously , & discreetly , that i may justly say , his place did not so much honor him , as he his place . a true patriot indeed he was , losing , for a time , his liberty , hazarding his estate , shall i say his life ? for the defence of this city , which he then conceived to be surrounded with dangers . 2. you have seen his steps as a magistrate , behold him now as a christian : a perfect , and an upright saint is one , who , though not exactly , yet intentionally observes the precepts of both tables ; giving ( at least in desire , and endeavour ) to god and man , that which of right belongs unto them . of both these , we shall finde him a most conspicuous patterne . 1. behold him in his religion , he was one who copied out his life , according to the old way of christianity ; wherein he writ so fair a hand , that i believe few come near him . in his devetions he was neither foolishly factious , nor popishly superstitious : he worshiped god in that way , which the papists call heresie , and schismatiques call popery . his delight was fervent in , and therefore his repaire frequent to the house of god ; esteeming ( according to the hebrew proverb ) those garments most gay , which were sullied with the dust of the temple . and as his often addresses to these publique places of worship whilst he lived : so the large summes of money he gave to the edifying , and repairing of them when he died , fully proclaime that to be true of him , which david said of himselfe , the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up . singular was his reverence in attending to gods word , and affectionate his respect to the dispensors of it , esteeming them highly in love for their workes sake ; among whom i must gratefully acknowledge my self ( though the unworthiest ) to be one , who had no small share in his favour . this cordiall love of his to gods messengers , was so much the more to be commended in him , by how much it is so rarely practiced among us . that complaint of the prophet jeremy , being too much verified in this our age , they respect not the person of the priest : and withall , it was so much the more imitable , in that it was not onely verball , but reall ; in expression , but action ; in respect , but relief of those whom he thought orthodox , & found necessitous , to whom ( besides many particular , and liberall supplies in his life ) he hath bequeathed an hundred pounds at his death . adde to all this , that which indeed denominates him the vpright man in the text : he gave meales of private devotion to his soul . 't is a good saying of the father , non est vera religio , quae cum templo relinquitur . that religion is not sincere , which leaves a man at the church doore ; if you will find out a mans integrity follow him home , trace him to his closet ; observe his conscientious regard of secret devotions : this ( i am certainly informed , by them that intimately knew him ) was his practice , often retiring himself in secret : vbi lacrymas non hominibus offerebat , sed deo , where he poured forth teares to his god , for his own , and the sinnes of the nation : yea , not onely in the day , but night , in his closet , but on his bed he sought his god : often expressing to his no lesse dearly , then deservedly beloved soninlaw , how glad he was of his frequent wakings in the night , since thereby he had opportunity to praise his god , and pray for the settlement of this miserably distracted church and kingdome . 2. you have seen him in relation to god , behold him in reference to men , and truly , in what relation soever you please to view him , you shall find him praise-worthy . whilst blest with a consort , he was an affectionate husband . towards his children a tender father . to his servants , a loving and helpfull master . to his acquaintance a faithfull friend , and in his commerce with all men , a just dealer . i cannot stay to inlarge on any of these , onely let me present to you , that grace of charity wherein i am confident he out-stript many , though otherwise of equall rank with him . as god had blessed him with a fair estate , so he gave him a large heart : nor was he more carefull by industry to get , then forward by charity to give . he had learnt the best derivation of dives from divid● , dividing much of his estate among those that were indigent ; besides , those pious uses formerly mentioned , he hath contributed much to charitable ends . to the towne of plymouth , which had the honour to be the place of his birth , five hundred pounds , for the yearly cloathing of their poore . to this parish , whereof he was a principall member , two hundred pounds ; besides various other gifts to severall hospitalls ; for the releasing of prisoners , and the like . and that which was most deservedly imitable in him , was that he 〈◊〉 the light of his good workes to be carried before , as well as behind him . he made his owne eyes the over-seers , and hands the executors of his charitable minde : witnesse , besides many private , and personall reliefs , that ample guift of five hundred pounds which in his life he bestowed on christs hospitall , of which he was sometimes a president . and which was no small incouragement to him , and may be to others , in shewing workes of mercy , he found that he gathered by scattering , his store encreased by distributing ; and that bread againe in his cupboard which he had cast on the waters . considering all this which hath been said , ( whereof not one tittle is more then what i either knew my selfe , or have beene credibly informed of : ) i think envie it selfe cannot deny him ( in an evangelicall sense ) the title of a perfect , ( or if that may be too much , yet of an vpright ) man . there is yet one character more , which the vulgar reading affords , and i cannot omit , it so fitly agrees with him : and that is , vir pacificus , he was a man of peace ; he much desired unity in affection , where there was diversity of opinion ; and therefore he was wont to say , there should be more love amongst us : if my friend differ from me in judgement , let me shew love to his person , though i dislike his opinion ; and let me pray that god would direct him in the right way . neither his prayers , nor counsells were wanting to the peace of church and state : which peaceable disposition , however in this our contention ; age it be accounted a crime , yet , i am sure in gods esteeme , 't is a pearl of great price ; and whilst men look upon such as their enemies ; god reckons them as his children . to shut up this , it was a notable speech of antigonus when zeno died ; quale theatrum amist ? meaning that in his life he beheld a representation of many excellent virtues , with which he was inamour'd . the like complaint may all who knew this worthy knight , take up concerning him : what a looking glasse of virtues , theatre of graces have we lost ? one , in whom there was a rare combination of severity , and meeknesse ; gravity , and courtesie ; charity , and frugality ; zeale , and discretion . i cannot better resemble him then to the stone garamantides , which , though it cast no great lustre outwardly , tamen intus habet aureas guttas ; yet hath golden drops within ; his delight being more in internall sincerity , then in externall showes . to draw to an end , his end must needs be comfortable , whose life was so profitable ; and indeed so it was ; there were a paire of virtues , worthy our observation , which he express'd in his sicknesse : patience , and confidence . a quiet submission to gods will , and a sweet repose in gods mercie ; both which , though opportunity favour'd not me to be a personall witnesse of , yet i doubt not but my reverend brother ( who officiates in this place , and was often with him ) can sufficiently attest . the pangs of his disease ( which could not but be grievous ) he under-went with a quiet cheerfulnesse . and when his friends that stood by him , minded him of making his peace with god ; he returned this answer , ( worthy to be written in letters of gold , and fit to be engraven on all our hearts ) remember thy creator in the dayes of thy youth ; old age and sicknesse are no fit times to make peace with heaven : blessing god that his peace was not then to make . so that now i may very well take up the latter part of the text , and assert it of him , the end of this man was peace . he dyed in that peace , which was promised to abraham , before that utter ruine comes , which seemes to hang over his native countrey . he dyed in peace , in his owne house , not in a prison , after all his sufferings , quietly breathing forth his last , in his owne bed . and which was best , he dyed with a quiet mind , in that comfortable sense he had of his reconciliation to god , through faith in the merits of his saviour . nor must i forget to apply the vulgar reading of this latter clause in my text , to him , there are remainders to this peacefull man ; the relict of an hopefull posterity : god lengthning his dayes so far , as to see not onely his children , but his childs children : upon whose heads , i doubt not , but his graces , through gods mercy , will procure a plentifull showre of blessings to be poured down . and not onely so , but to him likewise there was the remainder of a good name ; like a taper of pure wax , he burn'd clearly in his life , and hath left a sweet savour behind him at his going out . and as i hope his soule now partakes of that glory which is prepared for the saints ; so to his body that must now be-laid in the grave , there is the remainder of a glorious resurrection , to that immortall blisse which is reserv'd in heaven for all them that love the appearing of christ . let not then his children or allies grieve beyond measure , because not without hope : let them not spend too many teares in vaine upon his grave , but rather let them , and all we who know him , esteeme his memory blessed ; and though we can now no longer marke him going before us , or behold him conversing among us , yet let us still remember him , and that so , as to resemble him : let us so imitate those graces which here he practised , that we may come at last to be with him , in that glory whereof he is now possest for ever . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a87090e-270 plin. 2. notes for div a87090e-510 musc. in loc. mol. in loc. gen. 48. 12 mat. 5. 45. 1. bernard . rom. 3. 4. gen. 6. 9. 1 cor. 2. 6. 〈◊〉 23. 35. heb. 10. 14. collos. 2. 5. august . ●● . heb. 12. 23. mat. 5. 48. aug. job . 42. & 6. psal. 143. 2. ephes. 3. 8. aquinas in 2 cor. 13. 11. 〈…〉 bernard . bernard . phil 3. 14. james 4. 16. 1 thes. 5. 23. isay 38. 1. 3. 1 kings 15. 14 christus non loquitur de infirmitatibus sanctorii communibus , sed accusat singularem episcopi hypocrisin . opera igitur plena non absolute perfecta , sed siv●●ra negat in illo se in v●●●sse , par. in loc. rev. 3. 2. gen. 17. 1. prov. 11. 18. musc. foelix . simplex in unoquoque genere est perfectum . prior abstinentiam damni , posterior collationem boni denotat , hug. nulli 〈…〉 preximo agendo . lvr. resp●●● inno●●●●… deum , aquit●● proximus , hug. james 1. 25. 2 king. 2. 23 , 25. psal. 119. 128. arist. auct . de duplici martyrio . job 1. 9. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} jer. 5. 1. mat. 23. 27. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . sept custodi innocentiam & vide aquitatem . vulg. psal. 51. 6. levit. 32. 15. 33. 26. 1 reg 7. 12. greg. prov. 10. 9. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} prov. 13. 10. illud pro certo habemus esse reliquies homini pacifico hominem integrum qui cum omnibus pacifice versatur reliquias & posteritatem & successionem generis hab●●…rii . agell . in loc. dabit deus homini pacifico , ut relinquat silios post ●● . lor. in loc. psal. 112. 2. reliquit justus post mortem suā memoriam justitiae suae bo●am , & deus fibi reliquit prami atcrna . aug. eceles. 7. 1. ovid . psal. 112. 6. prov. 10. 7. reservat reliquies paradis● gaudium aternum . hug. praemia aterna deus justis reliquit . lor. moll . eccles. 9. 2. judg. 4. 2. deut. 21. 13. xenoph. chrysost. dyonis . bern. luk. 2 29. gen. 15. 15. pacis vocabulū apud hebraos ●●●…ssime patet . drus . moll . in loc. rev. 19. 9. ambros. bern. mat. 7. 16. gal. 6. 7. isay 48. 22. rom 6. 22. prov. 11. 18. isay 28. 16. luke 16. 6. heb. 12. 1. plaut. asin . hes . psal. 112. 4. quod ego observavi longa experientia , idem , tu quoque videbis , si diligenter attenderis . mol. in loc. heb. 13. 8. zephan . 2. 1. mat 5. 16. isay 53. 2. psal. 89. 3. heb. 12. 1. exod. 13. 21. 1 cor. 4. 16. james 5. 11. num. 16. 29. noli pracipitare jadictum nec ferre sententiam ex proximo intuitu . mol. in locum . glos. aug. 1 cor. 15. 19. eccles 2. 14. exod. 14. 13. apoc. 3. 7. heb. 11. 25. 26. bern. greg. naz. psal. 69. 9. 1 thes. 5. 13. lam. 4. 16. lact. hier. de nepoc . the patriarchal funeral, or, a sermon preached before the right honourable george lord berkeley upon the death of his father by john pearson. pearson, john, 1613-1686. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a53897 of text r33037 in the english short title catalog (wing p1004). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a53897 wing p1004 estc r33037 12851630 ocm 12851630 94537 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53897) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94537) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1038:21) the patriarchal funeral, or, a sermon preached before the right honourable george lord berkeley upon the death of his father by john pearson. pearson, john, 1613-1686. [4], 31 p. printed by e. cotes for john williams ..., london : 1658. imperfect: pages stained with loss of print. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. eng berkeley, george berkeley, -earl of, 1628-1698. funeral sermons. society of friends -controversial literature. a53897 r33037 (wing p1004). civilwar no the patriarchal funeral: or a sermon preached before the right honourable george lord berkeley upon the death of his father. by john pearson pearson, john 1658 7709 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the patriarchal funeral : or a sermon preached before the right honourable george lord berkeley upon the death of his father . by john pearson . london , printed by e. cotes , for iohn williams at the sign of the crown in st. pauls church-yard , 1658. to the right honourable george lord berkeley , baron of berkeley , mowbray , seagrave , and breouse . my lord , i have been lately honoured by your lordship with a double command , one to preach , the other to publish , this sermon : of the first of which though i might have been innocently ambitious , yet of the second i may be justly asham'd : partly , because the sermon it self is much unworthy of publique view , especially upon an occasion of so great remark ; partly , and more concerningly , in regard that having been so many years happy in the knowledge of your lordship , and as long obliged as known unto your honour , i have not hitherto appear'd with any thing worthy of your lordship's patronage . i shall therefore humbly crave the leave of making to my self this interpretation , that your honour did intend this command as a remembrance of my duty , that i may hereafter meditate something to demonstrate to whom i owe the encouragement of my studies . in the interim by this present discourse i shall only give a testimony , how properly i have endeavoured the memory of your father , by obscuring his virtues , and your concernments , in my expressions , from all persons who are strangers to your family , while i speak to them which were known unto you both , as to such as cannot but be most sensible , and bear a perpetual remembrance , of them . howsoever what is wanting in this funeral sermon , shall be supplyed in my perpetual devotion , praying for an everlasting succession of 〈◊〉 benedictions upon your honour , your honourable and most virtuous lady , and your most hopeful issue , as becometh your honours most obliged and devoted servant iohn pearson . the patriarchal funeral . gen . l. 10. and he made a mourning for his father seven daies . there are two great names concealed in this text , but express'd by the prophet david in a peculiar and eminent manner : thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people , the sons of iacob and ioseph . great was the name of abraham , but all his sons were not accepted ; only isaac was in the covenant . great was the name of isaac , but his son esau was rejected . great then must the name of iacob be , who had twelve sons , and all accepted . the whole people of god descended from him , and were called israelites , and the sons of iacob , as his by generation from his loins . one of these twelve was ioseph , and the rest did equally descend from him , and might be called his sons by preservation , from his care and power . howsoever , he is exempted from the number of his brethren ; and , that he might be styl'd a father , two sons of his are numbred with his fathers sons , and ranked with the patriarchs . thus were all the people of god the sons of iacob and ioseph ; and ioseph , while the son of iacob , the father of the sons of iacob . these are the two concealed in the text ; iacob the father , and that father dead ; ioseph the son , and that a mourning son : for he made a mourning for his father seven daies . these words contain a brief relation of a patriarchal funeral ; in which two general parts are presented to our view ; the solemnization of the obsequies ; and , the continuation of the solemnities . in the description of the solemnization there are four particulars observable , the connexion . the person . the action . the occasion . the connexion , in the conjunctive particle and : the person understood , in the following pronoun he : the action represented , what he , that is , ioseph did , he made a mourning : the occasion expressed , for whom he mourned , for his father . the connexion of the text is double , in reference to the person , and in relation to the action . the connexion of the person , and he ; the connexion of the action with the precedent actions of that person , and he made a mourning . i shall begin with the connexion of the person , and in my whole discourse exactly prosecute the method of the text . when aged iacob yeelded up the ghost , and was gathered unto his people , the physitians embalmed israel , and the egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten dayes . they were not as yet the apparent enemies of god ; they had their tears for iacob , who afterward would have drowned all his sons ; they preserved and prolonged the daies of his life ; and when those were cut off , they continued the daies of his weeping . but there is a difference between a formal and a real sorrow , between a solemn and a serious grief , between a popular and a filial sadness . wherefore ioseph is not contented with the egyptian mourning ; he hath a nearer relation then those strangers had , and therefore more of affection is expected from him ; his filial sympathy must go beyond their accustomed civility ; the egyptians mourned , and he made a mourning for his father . this is the connexion in respect of the person ; that of the action followeth . when iacob was near the time of his dissolution , ioseph put his hand under his thigh , and sware unto him that he would deal kindly and truly with him , that he would bury him in the burying place of his fathers . when he gathered up his feet into the bed and died , ioseph fell on his fathers face , and wept upon him , and kissed him , and so paid the first-fruits of a funeral with his eyes and with his lips . after this he commanded the physicians to follow with spices and embalm him , desirous to preserve that body to the utmost possibility from corruption , from which he had received his generation . then he entreated and obtained leave of pharaoh to perform his oath which he sware unto iacob : he went up to the land of canaan to take possession with his fathers body , and laid him in the field which abraham bought . there they buried abraham and sarah his wife , there they buried isaac and rebekah his wife , there jacob buried leah , and there ioseph buried iacob . and having thus fulfilled all the duties belonging to a son , there remaining but this one , fitter to be performed then required , he made a mourning for his father . this is the connexion of the action . the person or chief mourner then is ioseph ; he which once was dead in the thoughts of iacob , and desires of his brethren , survives his father to attend his funeral , and to preserve his brethren alive . his coming into egypt cost aged iacob many a tear ; and he must passe into canaan to demonstrate his gratitude , and pay that debt unto his father there . this eminent person is proposed for an example unto all ages of the world : what he here performed , was no legall ceremony ; he was a patriarch , and long before the law : he was a singular and signal type of christ , and hath done nothing which may misbecome the most retired and sublimed christian . and this will readily appear , if we joyn the action to the person . he made a mourning . i call 't an action , which may as well be term'd a passion : as a mourning , so a passion ; as he made it , so an action ; a passionate action , or an active passion . the internal grief of his minde and sorrow of his heart , as an inward passion of his soul , was voluntarily rais'd within him by resolved and continued thoughts of his fathers death ; and at the same time the expression of that grief was willingly powred forth , as what he understood did well become him . we are not only to bewail our sins , but all those miseries which proceed from them : and therefore tears were not only lent us to declare compunction , but also to express commiseration . we reade our blessed saviour twice did weep , once for the sins of ierusalem , once for the death of lazarus whom he loved . two eyes nature bestow'd upon us , though perfectly and distinctly we can see but with one at once , and both are equally made the fountains of tears , as we are sinners for contrition , as we are brethren for compassion . when the first martyrs bloud was shed for the christian faith , devout men carryed steven to his burial , and made great lamentation over him ; such were the tears of the infant church . when peter found dorcas , a woman full of good works and almesdeeds , dead , all the widows stood by him weeping . thus the first which died in christianity , were followed with solemn tears : and it was a wise observation made by the apostate iulian , that one of the the means to convert so many heathens to our religion , was the care of the bodies , and the solemnities alwayes used at the funerals of the dead . thus far of the action , he made a mourning . the occasion of this sadness is expressed in a word , but must be considered in many more , as being the principal concernment both of the text and time . the mover of his passion , the object of his grief , the cause of his tears was his father , and he made a mourning for his father . this was so truly the occasion , that it was the only cause , that there can be no reason imaginable assigned why ioseph should mourn , but only because he had lost a father . though he was aged to extremity , though he was holy unto eminency , though he was happy to eternity , though no way disadvantagious by his death to any , yet because dead , and that a father dead , he made a mourning for him . we usually say of ancient persons , that they have already one foot in the grave , and the rest of their life is nothing else but the bringing of these feet together . why then should we weep for the death of aged persons , when it can be but the second part of their funeral ? that sorrow seems to be but useless which is spent upon necessities , and that grief irrational which would create impossibilities . the daies of our years are threescore years and ten , and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years , yet is their strength labour and sorrow . what reason then can we produce , that the life of a man whom we esteem , should be sorrow to himself , and his death be grief to us ? now iacob gave this account of his age to pharaoh when he came down to egypt . the daies of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years ; and he lived in the land seventeen years ; so the whole age of jacob was an hundred forty and seven years . this extremity of age had fastned him to his bed , the perfect embleme and short forerunner of his grave . the eyes of israel were dim , so that he could not see ; he was already in the shades of darkness . nay , the time drew nigh , saith moses , that israel must die ; there was a natural necessity of his death , an apparent impossibility of longer life ; and yet this consideration is no excuse to ioseph , but he made a mourning for his aged father . secondly , the death of the righteous is to be desired rather then lamented : and it were a dishonour put upon religion to think a pious man less happy dead , then when he liv'd . weep not for me , was the language of the immaculate lamb when he went to a shameful and a painful death : and why should he , which yeelds up his soul with comfort , leave his body to be covered with so much sorrow ? those which live in impiety , and depart in their iniquity , they which have here provoked the wrath of god , and goe hence with that wrath abiding on them , as they could create nothing to their relations but sorrow in their life , so must they necessarily increase it at their death . but iacob was a patriarch , of eminent and constant piety , particularly and remarkably belov'd of god , highly blessed by him , and powerfully blessing in his name ; and yet when iacob dieth , ioseph weepeth : and he made a mourning for his pious father . thirdly , death is nothing else but a change of a short and temporary for an unalterable and eternal condition . from whence it followeth , that those which dye in their sins , from thence begin to feel those torments which shall never cease : and therefore they leave behinde them a sad occasion of grief and sorrow to such as are apprehensive of the pains they feel . if the rich man in the gospel were so careful of his surviving brethren , and so concerned in their welfare ; if they had as well understood his sad and irreversible condition , what floods of tears would they have shed for him who call'd so earnestly for a drop of water to cool his tongue ! but as for such as pass from hence into a place of rest and joy , who change the miseries of this sinful world for the blessed presence of a good and gracious god ; weeping at their departure may seem improper and unkinde officiousness , as 't were a sorrow for their happiness , and envy at their felicity . now the soul of iacob was certainly at rest , and ioseph sufficiently assured of his happiness . he knew that his father was heir of the same promise with abraham : for he looked for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god ; he died in faith , and imbraced the promises ; he confessed that he was a stranger on the earth , and that he sought a better countrey , that is , an heavenly ; and therefore god had prepared for him a city , and he was in the bosome of abraham , the place of felicity . but the happiness of his soul is no excuse to ioseph for the funeral tears due at the interment of his body . and he made a mourning for his happy father . fourthly , many persons expiring give too sad occasions of sorrow to their relations left behinde : they which depend upon them , whose subsistence liveth and dyeth , and whose hopes are buried , with them , may goe to their graves with unfeigned tears , lamenting not so much the departure of their friend , as their own loss ; something they may weep for them , and more for themselves . but the death of iacob was not of any such condition ; there could no disadvantage arise from that to ioseph , no interest of his could suffer by it . he had already blessed all his sons , and ioseph principally ; there could be no more of heavenly favours expected from his prayers or prophesies . had he died before he laid his hands upon ephraim and menasseh , had ioseph and his sons been absent when he blessed the rest , he might have sadly mourned for the loss of his father , and of the benediction . if esau lift up his voyce and wept , because he was defeated of the blessing while isaac lived , ioseph might well have made a mourning , had he been prevented of the benediction by an unexpected or a distant death . but iacob blessed them , and with his blessing gave order for his burial , and with that blessing and that order died . and as his death was no way prejudicial to the spiritual , so was it not at all disadvantageous to the temporal condition of his son . he suffered loss of no enjoyments by his fathers death ; iacob had lived long by the favour and the care of ioseph , his filial gratitude alone preserv'd his life ; but no such narrow thoughts abated the freeness of ioseph's sorrow . and he made a mourning for his father . if none of these considerations , which work so powerfully on other persons , did move this mourner to express such sorrow , what were the motives then which caus'd so deep a sense , what meditations wrought so powerfully on the heart of ioseph ? i answer , they were but two . mortality , and paternity ; the one supposed , the other expressed in the text : iacob was the father of ioseph , and that father dead , and therefore ioseph mourned for him . mortality is a proper object to invite our pity , and privation of life alone sufficient to move compassion in the living . weep for the dead , saith the son of sirach , for he hath lost the light . if for no other reason , yet because a man is dead , and by death deprived of those comforts which those that live enjoy , they which survive may providently bewail their future privation in his present loss . thus every grave-stone bespeaks or expects a tear ; as if all those eyes which had not yet lost their light , were to pay the tribute of their waters to the dead sea . this fountain nature never made in vain , nor to be always sealed up ; that heart is rock which suffers it never to break forth ; and be it so , yet if the rod of moses strike , an affliction sent from god shall force it . let us therefore be ready with our sorrowful expressions when we are invited by sad occasions ; especially when a father , who may command them , calls for them , as that wise man did , my son , let tears fall down over the dead . and if paternal authority demands them at the death of others , it is no filial duty which denyes them to attend upon a fathers funeral . ioseph a man of a gracious and a tender heart , moved with common objects of compassion , had a vulgar sorrow arising from the consideration of mortality ; ioseph a son full of high affection and of filial duty and respect , was touched with a far more lively sense by the accession of paternity : and he made a mourning for his father : he made a mourning for his father , which begat him ; for his father , which loved him ; for his father , which blessed him ; for his father , which had mourned for him ; for his father , which came down to dye with him . first , he made a mourning for his father who begat him : had there been no other but that naked relation , it had carryed with it a sufficient obligation . there is so great an union between the parent and the childe , that it cannot break without a deep sensation . he which hath any grateful apprehension of his own life received , cannot chuse but sadly resent the loss of that life which gave it . if the fear of the death of croesus , by a natural miracle , could untie the tongue of his son who never spake before ; that man must be miraculously unnatural , the flood-gates of whose eyes are not open'd at his fathers funerals , though he never wept before . the gifts of grace doe not obliterate , but improve nature ; and it is a false perswasion of adoption , which teacheth us so far to become the sons of god , as to forget that we are the sons of men . ioseph a person high in the esteem of pharaoh , higher in the favour of god , great in the power of egypt , greater in the power of the spirit , yet he forgets not his filial relation , yet he cannot deny his natural obligation , but as a pious son he payes the last tribute of his duty to iacob , and he made a mourning for his father who begat him . secondly , he made a mourning for his father who loved him . love , when in an equal , commandeth love ; and this is so just , that fire doth not more naturally create a flame . in this the similitude is so great , that there is no difference in the nature of the love produced , and that which did produce it . but when it first beginneth in a superior person , the proper effect which it createth in an inferior , is not of a single nature , but such a love as is mingled with duty and respect . the love of god to man challengeth love from us , but that of such a nature as cannot be demonstrated but by obedience ; and that of a father to his son is of the same condition , though not in the same proportion . the father loveth first with care and tenderness , with a proper and a single love ; the son returns it with another colour mingled with duty , blended with respect . now iacob had many children , and as an eminent example he lov'd them all : but among the rest , there was one clearer and warmer flame ; for he loved joseph more then all his children : the off-spring of rachel , the son of his old age , the heir of his vertues , the corrector of his brethren , the beloved of god , had a greater share in iacobs affection then the rest of his issue . he did not so much prefer his wives before his hand-maids , he did not so highly value rachel before leah , as he did esteem ioseph before the off-spring of them all . this was the paternal love of iacob , and this was answered with as high a filial respect in ioseph ; which after death could not otherwise be expressed then in tears ; and therefore he made a mourning for his father , who loved him . thirdly , he made a mourning for his father who had blessed him . blessing is the soveraign act of god , and the power of benediction like the power of god . he delegateth this power unto his priests , who stand between god and man , and bless the sons of men in the name of god . he derives the same upon our natural parents , that children honouring them may expect his blessing upon their desires and prayers . and what greater favour could we ask of god , then that those persons who have the most natural affection toward us , should also have the greatest power to bless us ? now when the time drew nigh that israel must die , when his body drew nearer to the earth , and his soul to heaven , when his desires were highest , and his words of the greatest efficacy , he called unto his sons , and blessed them , every one according to his blessing he blessed them . but as he loved joseph more then all his brethren , so he blessed him above them all : he made one tribe of every son , and two of him : his affection shew'd it self rhetorical in his benediction , saying , the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors : unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills they shall be on the head of joseph , and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren . giving this benediction , iacob dies ; receiving this blessing , ioseph survives , who can render no other retribution after his death , but care of his burial , and tears at his funeral . and therefore he made a mourning for his father , who had blessed him . fourthly , he made a mourning for his father , who had mourned for him . the parents cares and fears are equal , and when any infelicity besides their children , their griefs are great ; and all these bear a proportion with their love . now the love of iacob to ioseph was transcendent , and being so , it rais'd as high an hatred in the hearts of his brethren ; by which he was , in their intention , and in his fathers opinion , dead . and now the funeral is ioseph's , let us see how iacob does appear . he rent his clothes , and put sackcloth upon his loins , and mourned for his son many days . here is a real demonstration upon a supposed death , and a serious mourning at a feigned funeral . had his dearest son been dead , yet he might well take comfort in his numerous off-spring , but he did not ; for all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him ; but he refused to be comforted : and he said , for i will goe down into the grave unto my son mourning ; thus his father wept for him . thus it pleased god to permit this happy deceit of envious brethren , this pious mistake of an affectionate father , not only for a great example of paternal love , but also to teach all sons to measure their griefs at their fathers death , by a consideration of those sorrows which their parents would have expressed , had they dyed before them . howsoever ioseph was but just in this : for he made a mourning for his father , who had mourn'd for him . lastly , he made a mourning for his father , who came down to die with him . it was the old expression of parents comfort , that at their deaths they might have their children to close their eyes ; and it hath been equally the desire of children to be made happy by that occasion , in shewing the last testimony of their duty at their parents death . now iacob , who upon the supposed death of ioseph , had said , i will goe down into the grave unto my son ; upon the certain intelligence of his life and safety , resolveth to goe down and die with him . for when he saw the waggons which joseph sent , and his spirit revived , israel said , it is enough : joseph my son is yet alive , i will goe and see him before i die : and when ioseph first presented himself unto him in the land of egypt , the first words which he spake were these , now let me die , since i have seen thy face , because thou art yet alive . now he which said at first , i will goe and see him before i die , and when he saw him , said , now let me die , resolved nothing in that journey but to die with ioseph . and he made a moursing for his father , who came down to die with him . for all these reasons ioseph mourned ; for his father , who begat him , remembring his natural generation ; for his father , who loved him , not forgetting his singular affection ; for his father , who had blessed him , considering his double benediction ; for his father , who had mourned for him , meditating a pious retaliation ; for his father , who came down to die with him , embracing the opportunity of a dutiful expression . and thus i close up the first general part of the text , or the solemnization of the obsequies . the second general part of the same presents us with the continuation of the solemnity . which ministers a double consideration , one as consisting of not many days , the other as determining how many days . and he made a mourning for his father seven days . immediately after iacobs death in egypt , forty days were fulfilled for his embalming , and the egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days . they which have no hope of a life to come , may extend their griefs for the loss of this , and equal the days of their mourning with the years of the life of man . but so tedious a funeral solemnity is a tacite profession of infidelity . when moses went up unto the mountain of nebo , and died there , the children of israel wept for him in the plains of moab thirty dayes . the plains of moab were nearer to the land of promise then egypt was , and some light of the joys of the life to come was discovered under the law , and therefore more then half of the egyptian solemnity was cut off by the faith of the israelites . but this patriarchal funeral was made in canaan , the land of promise , the type of heaven ; it was appointed by ioseph a blessed patriarch , and a type of christ : it continued some days , to declare his natural affection , but those not many , to express his religious expectation . had it been extended longer , it had demonstrated more of duty , but less of faith , he had shew'd himself more a son , but less a patriarch . but now he is become a great example , in mourning some days , of filial duty ; in mourning few days , of divinity . which is our first consideration . the second leads us to the determinate number of the days , which are expresly seven . and he made a mourning for his father seven days . the iews took special notice of this act of ioseph , and in the land of canaan observed the number of these days , seven days doe men mourn for him that is dead , saith the son of sirach ; and though it be not unto us a law , yet it is a proper subject of our observation . it was afterward one of the laws of moses , he that toucheth the dead body of any man , shall be unclean seven days . and therefore well did ioseph teach the israelites to mourn the same number of days , that with their tears of natural affection , they might mingle some thoughts of their natural pollution . again , the number of seven is the number of rest , in six days the lord made heaven and earth , the sea , and all that in them is : and he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made . now ioseph knew that there remaineth a rest to the people of god , he was fully assured that as the days of the years of his fathers pilgrimage were evil , so they ended in rest and happiness : that as sure as his body was past all weariness and pain , so his soul was placed above all possibility of grief or sorrow . a dove brought noah word into the ark that the waters were on the face of the earth , and he stay'd seven days , and then the dove sent forth returned , and loe , in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off , so noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth . if we mourn for the death of any person departed , and the waters appear upon the face of man , yet after the seventh day , when the olive leaf is pluckt , when we have considered the peace , and rest , and joyes of the souls departed in the fear of god , 't is time for the waters to abate , for mourning to cease . thirdly , the number of seven is the number of holiness : as god rested the seventh day , so he blessed , and hallowea it . seven days aaron and his sons the priests were consecrated ; seven days an atonement was made , and the altar was sanctified . seven days hath ioseph set apart for his fathers funeral , to shew that mourning for the dead is something sacred , the tenth of the egyptian mourning , an act of piety , a part of religion . the iews observed that the circumcision was deferred till the eighth day , that a sabbath might pass upon the childe , and so sanctifie it before it was circumcised ; and ioseph appointeth seven days for mourning , one of which must necessarily be that day which god blessed and sanctified in the beginning , to procure a blessing upon that duty , and to sanctifie his sorrow . upon which seasonable consideration i shall take leave to conclude my meditations on the text , and apply my self to the present solemnity , which gave the occasion to consider it : that i may make such use of the work of this holy day , as may sanctifie the sorrow of it . and now , most honorable sir , the ioseph of this time , the chief mourner of this day , be pleased to endeavour the sanctification of your mourning by these reflexive meditations . first , learn from hence to meditate upon your own mortality , and be now assured , by this neer and home example , that your self shall die . this may seem but a cold monition , but a dull reflexion ; every grave preacheth that doctrine , and every skeleton readeth as good a lecture : when we come into the house of god , our feet will learn thus much , and the ground we tread upon will thus far instruct us . 't is true , the examples of our mortality are numerous , but they are not equally efficacious ; the nearer our relations are to those which die , the more we are concerned in their death , and there is none so neer in his concernment as that of the father and the son . there is a difference between the language of the scriptures , and such a prophet as nathan was ; one tells us that all men are sinners , the other says , thou art the man . so common funerals tell us all men are mortal , but that of a father speaketh not only plainly , but particularly , thou art so . from his vivacity the son receiveth life , and in his death must read his own departure . 't is possible to imagine an immortal family , and then the deaths of others concern'd that not : but where the father 's dead , there can be no pretence or thought of immortality . beside , there 's something more then propinquity of nature in a father : religion teacheth us that our daies are otherwise bound up in our parents lives . remember the first commandement with promise , honor thy father and thy mother , that thy daies may be long in the land : consider that you have lost in his death all further opportunity of improving the hopes of that promise ; and that you stand now only , as to him , upon what comfort you have in your former duty , and in your past obedience . thus learn to fix a more immediate and more concerning meditation of your own mortality , upon the death of him , in whose life yours was involved both by a natural and spiritual dependence . secondly , reflect upon that love and entire affection which you have lost ; and could no otherwise be lost , but by losing him , in whom it lived . love is of that excellent nature , that it is esteemed by the best of men , and accepted from the meanest persons ; what then is the affection of a father ! what is the purity of that fire which god and nature kindles in the breast of man ! what were the flames which ever burnt upon the altar of your fathers heart , who never hated any man ! see but the nature of paternal love in david ; who , when absalom , his son , but a most rebellious son , openly sought his life and crown , and dyed in that unnatural attempt , went up into his chamber and wept , and as he went , thus he said , o my son absalom , my son , my son absalom ; would god i had died for thee , o absalom my son , my son : measure by this example the affection you have so lately lost , who never gave any offence as absalom did , and yet had in your fathers eye all the reasons of love which absalom could have . know then you make a mourning , as ioseph did , for a father that loved you : remember that the love of iacob was divided between twelve sons , and therefore , though it was high , it could not be whole and entire to ioseph , as for many years your fathers hath been unto you . thirdly , i speak not this out of design to renew or advance your grief , to tell you what you have lost alone ; but i propound this privation , that i may contrive it for your imitation , endeavouring to stir up the same fire , and to kindle the same affection in your self , who now are wholly to be considered in the same relation . what you were to him , others are now to you ; and what he was to you , you are now wholly unto them . before your natural affection was partly taken up with duty , respect , honor and obedience due to a father from a son ; it is now taken off from those expressions , as to him , that it may descend the more entire upon those which come from you , as you from him . thus far you have been the ioseph of the text , be now the iacob ; that those two great names may be concealed not only in the text , but in your breast . thus far you have been the better part of absalom , learn now to be the david : that we may truly say , that tender affection , that paternal love , dyed not with your father , but survives in you to your and his posterity . fourthly , i desire you to look not only upon that which you have lost , but also upon that which he hath left behinde him . vulgar and common persons , as they carry nothing out of this world , so they leave nothing in it : they receive no eminency in their birth , they acquire none in their life , they have none when they die , they leave none at their death . but honorable persons , as they die like common men , so that only dieth with them which was common unto all degrees of men ; their singular respects , the priviledges of their greatness , their honors survive them , and descend unto their heirs with their inheritance . give me leave then yet to speak unto you as to the heir of your fathers honors ; consider what the nature and design of honors are ; remember they were first graciously conferred as a reward of the virtues of your ancestors , and were as wisely continued upon a presumption , and as an encouragement , of the same virtues in their successors . your honor knows how long the greatness of your family hath been preserved : acknowledge first the vigilant providence and infinite goodness of god in the preservation of it , while so many glorious titles have been lost , so many noble families cut off . next , study to preserve and advance it further by the exercise of those virtues upon which it was first built , and hath been since continued : endevour to uphold not only your own , but the very name of honor in this age , in which partly the want of such virtues as are necessary to support it , partly the weakness of that power which first gave life unto it , partly the unreasonableness of foolish men who endeavour to cast a disesteem upon it , have too much eclipsed the glory of it . lastly , as i have advised you , with the son of sirach , to let tears fall upon the dead , and to use lamentation as he is worthy ; so i shall conclude with his following advice , when that is done , then comfort thy self for thy heaviness ; that is , not only be comfored after sorrow , that consolation may succeed your griefs , this is the common revolution of the world : not only be comforted in lieu of your sorrow , that consolation may recompense your griefs , that were but a vulgar compensation ; but take comfort in your sorrow , and rejoyce in your self that you have been so happy as to be truly sad . there is so much deceitfulness in the heart of man , so much hypocrisie in funeral mourning , that you may bless god for your own assurance of the sincerity of your natural affection , and religious respect to your parents , and take delight in a just expectation , that it will be rewarded by the future respect of your children . so having performed the duty of ioseph , who made a mourning for his father , you may expect the blessing of ioseph , given by the mouth of iacob for whom he mourned , ioseph is a fruitful bough , even a fruitful bough by a well , whose branches run over the wall . that this benediction may be your honors portion shall be my constant prayer , by the god of thy father who shall help thee , and by the almighty , who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above , blessings of the deep that lieth under , blessings of the breasts and of the womb . amen . amen . the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a53897e-220 psal. 77. 15. gen. 49. 33. 50. 2 , 3. gen. 50. 1. gen. 49. 31. act. 8. 2. act. 9. 39. psa. 90. 10. gen. 47. 9. 28. gen. 48. 10. gen. 47. 29. luk. 23. 28 heb. 11. 10 , 13 , 16. eccl. 22. 11. eccl. 38. 16. gen. 37. 3. gen. 49. 1 , 48. gen. 49. 26. gen. 37. 34. gen. 37. 35. gen. 37. 35. gen. 45. 27 , 28. gen. 46. 30. deut. 34. 2. eccl. 22. 12. numb. 19. 11. exod. 20. 11. gen. 2. 2. gen. 8. 9 , 11. gen. 2. 3. 2 sam. 12. 7. ephes. 6. 2. 2 sam. 18. 33. eccl. 38. 16 , 17. gen. 49. 22. 25. a sermon preached at the funeral of dr. william croun on the 23d of october, 1684, at st. mildred church in the poultrey by john scott ... scott, john, 1639-1695. 1685 approx. 56 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a58814 wing s2068 estc r10207 11907070 ocm 11907070 50732 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a58814) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50732) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 511:11) a sermon preached at the funeral of dr. william croun on the 23d of october, 1684, at st. mildred church in the poultrey by john scott ... scott, john, 1639-1695. [4], 30, [1] p. printed for robert horne ..., and walter kettilby ..., london : 1685. advertisement: p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng croone, william, 1633-1684. judgment day -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the truly pious and virtuous mrs croun . madam , when you requested me to publish this discourse , i found you in that mournfull condition , that 't would have been a degree of inhumanity not to have gratified your desire : and therefore , though i was sufficiently sensible how much short i had fain of both my subjects , viz. that comfortable one of the text , and that sorrowfull one of the occasion ; yet my compassion overswayed my reason , so that i can plead no other excuse to the world for this very defective publication , but that i had not ill nature enough to resist the importunate tears of an afflicted friend , and a sorrowful widow . as for the sermon , all i can say for it is this , that it treats of a very noble argument , and such as carries comfort enough with it to ease and relieve the most dejected mind , and therefore is of all others the most fit and proper for your meditations ; for there is no present affliction , no , not yours , can cause you to suppose your self miserable , so long as you are within hope and expectance of the blessed state of eternal life . o , good madam , while you are making your mournfull descants on your dear loss , consider now and then , that you are iourneying towards that blessed place , where you will find infinite myriads of better friends , and dearer lovers , than that best of husbands , whose loss you bewail , and who love each other far more and better even than you and he did ▪ and have this peculiar advantage beyond the happiest lovers here , that they shall live an eternal life together , and to everlasting ages enjoy one another , without being ever interrupted in their enjoyment , with the melancholy prospect of being at last divided from each others society and embraces . this , with all those other innumerable comforts wherewith this fruitfull theme abounds , you will find the best cordial in the world for a drooping mind . that therefore what i here present you may often put you in mind of heaven , and quicken your endeavours after it , and refresh your sorrowfull heart with the joyfull prospect of it , is the earnest prayer of , madam , your most affectionate friend , and faithfull servant , john scott . a sermon preached at the funeral , &c. matth. 25.46 . — but the righteous into life eternal . in the foregoing verses of this chapter our saviour describes the process of the day of judgment , and the different fates to which good and bad men ( whom he describes under the characters of sheep and goats ) shall then be sentenced and consigned , and then he summs up the whole discourse in the words of the text , these , that is , the goats , or the wicked , of whom he had been discoursing in the verses immediately preceding , these shall go away into everlasting punishment , but the righteous into life eternal ; where by the righteous we are to understand the truly pious , and vertuous , that is , they who render to god , to men , and to themselves all that duty they owe in their respective relations and circumstances : for all our duties being dues , our performance of them is nothing but the discharging of our debts , or being strictly righteous in rendring to god , and men , and our selves , what we owe to each by an immutable obligation : and hence the whole duty of man is in scripture very often called by the name of righteousness , and those who comply with their whole duty , are frequently styled righteous , because , to be righteous , is to render to every one his due , and to render every one his due , is the whole duty of man ; so that the meaning of the words is this , they who have been good men in all their respective relations , and circumstances , who have made it the business of their lives to render to god all that piety and devotion , to their neighbours all that justice and charity , to themselves all that sobriety and temperance which is due from them , both by the command of god , and the judgment of right reason , they , as a reward of this their universal righteousness , shall by this final judgment be transmitted unto life eternal . in the prosecution of which argument , i shall endeavour these two things . first , to shew what is here meant by life eternal . secondly , wherein this eternal life consists . as for the first , by life here , is plainly meant happiness , for so it 's very usual with scripture to express the blessings it promises to men , whether they be temporal or eternal . by life thus , the temporal blessings promised in the old testament , are frequently exprest by this phrase , as you may see at your leisure , deut. 30.15.19 . lev. 18.5 . ezek. 20.21 and hence the statutes of the mosaick law are called the statutes of life , ezek. 33.15 . and as the temporal blessings in the old testament are commonly expressed by life , so are also those eternal blessings of the future life promised in the new , so matth. 18.8 . matth. 19.17 . john 3.36 . and because these blessings are not temporal , but eternal , therefore that life by which they are expressed , is styled eternal and everlasting , so 1 tim. 1.10 rom. 6.22 , 23. and that it is not called eternal life , merely as it is a state of endless being and existence , is evident , because being , and existence , are indifferent things , abstracted from the sense of happiness and misery , but eternal life is proposed to us as a thing that is infinitely desirable in it self , as being the crown and reward of all our obedience , for which reason it is called the crown of life , iames 1.12 . and therefore the reason why they are expressed by life , is , because life is the root of all our sense of pleasure , without which we are nothing else but lumps of stupid and insensible flesh , incapable of perceiving either pleasure or pain ; so that all sensation being founded in life , and all pleasure being a sweet and gratefull sensation , by a very easie figure the natural effect and operation of life is expressed by life it self , and indeed all the advantage of living consists in living in a sense of pleasure , and therefore it hath been very much disputed among philosophers , whether this temporary state of ours , in which there is so great an intermixture of pain with pleasure , doth not better deserve the name of death , than life ; and those of them who thought it more liable to misery , than happiness , affirmed it to be a state of death , and stifly maintained this paradox , that at our birth we die into a worse state than non-existence , and at our death are born into a true and proper state of life : but they who counted our present life to be intermixed with more pleasure than misery , esteemed it a privilege deserving the name of life , which is an argument that both placed all the privilege of living in those pleasant perceptions that are founded in it : and thus according to the scripture philospohy , to live as it imports advantage to us , is to live in the sense of joy and pleasure : so psal. 22.26 . the meek shall eat and be satisfied , they shall praise the lord that seek him , your heart shall live for ever , that is , rejoice for eve● so also 1 thes. 3.8 . how properly therefore may the 〈◊〉 state of bliss be expressed by life , since 't is the proper scene of happiness , where joy and pleasure do for ever abound , where there is an inexhau●●●ble spring of pure unmingled delights , issuing forth in rivers of pleasure from god's right hand for evermore ? so that if there be any thing worthy of the name of life , 't is doubtless the blissfull state of those happy souls , who live in a continued sense of all those joys and comforts that an everlasting heaven imports . i now pass on to the next thing proposed , which was to shew wherein this everlasting life consists . and here i do not pretend to give you a perfect map of all the beatitudes of that heavenly state , for that is a task fit only for an angel , or a glorified spirit ; all i aim at , is to give you such an imperfect account of it , as god hath thought fit to impart to mortals in the scripture , which though it fall infinitely short of the thing it self , yet is doubtless the best and utmost that our narrow capacities can bear . in short , therefore , concerning this blessed state , god hath revealed to us these fix things : 1. that it includes a most perfect freedom from evil and misery . so rev. 7.16 , 17. and hence also it is called a state of rest , heb. 4.9 , 11. rev. 14.13 all which expressions plainly denote this state to be a perfect sabbath and jubilee of redemption from all evil and misery : for as soon as the souls of good men depart out of this corporeal state , in which they now live , they are immediately released from all those bodily passions of hunger and thirst , and pain and diseases , whereunto they are now liable by reason of their union with the body ; and having in a great measure conquered their wills whilst they were in the body , and subdued them to the will of god , they must immediately commense into an high degree of perfection ; for being freed from the incumbrances of flesh and bloud , from the importunities of body passion and appetite , and the temptations of sensuality that do now continually solicite them , they will be no longer liable to those irregularities of affection that do here disturb the tranquillity of their minds ; and so their actions and affections being always regulated by their reason , their consciences will be no more bestormed with those terrours and affrightments [ which nothing but the sense of guilt can suggest to them ] but enjoy a perpetual calm and serenity : so that they being translated into an immortal condition , will be released from all the sad accidents of mortality , from pain and sickness , hunger and thirst , from all corporeal passions and grievances and so no sensitive sorrow can interpose between them and their happiness to disturb their fruition , or interrupt the current of their joys ; and being translated into a state of perfect purity and goodness , they will be also freed from all the sorrowfull appendages of a sinfull condition , from dread and anxiety , from shame and remorse , and from all the corroding anguish of a wounded spirit , and so they will be liable neither to sensitive , nor rational trouble , and having nothing either from within or without , to intermeddle with their joys , and disturb the scene of their happiness , they will be at perfect rest , and for ever enjoy a most undisturbed repose . o blessed day , when i shall take my leave of sin and misery for ever , and go to those calm and blissfull regions , whence sighs and tears , and sorrows , and pains are banished for evermore . 2. that it includes a most intimate enjoyment of god ; for god being a rational good , is no otherwise capable of being enjoyed by reasonable beings , but by knowing , loving , and resembling him ; all which ways he hath promised that we shall enjoy him when are are arrived in that blissfull state . for as for the knowledge of him , st. paul tells us , that whereas we now see through a glass darkly , we shall then see him face to face , &c. 1 cor. 13.12 . and st. john , that we shall see him as he is , 1 john 3.2 . which expressions must needs import such a knowledge of him as is unspeakably more distinct and clear than any we have in this present state . for then the eyes of our minds shall be so invigourated , that we shall be able to look on the sun without dazeling , to contemplate the pure and immaculate glories of the divinity , without being confounded with its brightness , and our understanding shall be so exalted , that we shall see more at every single view , than we do now in volumes of discourse , and the most tedious trains of inference and deduction , and enjoying a most perfect repose both from within and without , we shall have nothing to disturb or divert our greedy contemplations ; which having such an immense prospect of truth and glory round about them , shall still discover farther and farther , and so entertain themselves with everlasting wonder and delight ; for what an infinite pleasure will that all-glorious object afford unto our raised minds , which then shall no longer labour under the tedious difficulties of discourse , but , like transparent windows , shall have nothing to doe but only to receive the light which freely offers it self unto them , and shines for ever round about them ; when every new discovery of god , and of the bottomless secrets and mysteries of his nature , shall inlarge our capacities to discover more , and still new discoveries shall freely offer themselves as fast as our minds are inlarged to receive them . this doubtless will be a recreation to our souls , infinitely transcending all that we can conceive or imagine of it ; especially considering that all our knowledge shall terminate in love , that sweet and gratefull passion , that sooths and ravishes the heart , and dissolves it into joy and pleasure ; for god being infinitely good and amiable , the more we know , the more cause and reason we shall have to love him : when therefore we are arrived to that degree of knowledge which the beatifical vision implies , we shall find our hearts inflamed with such a degree of love to him , as will issue into unspeakable delight and satisfaction , and even overwhelm us with ecstasies of joy and complacency . for if those divine illapses , those more immediate touches and sensations of god , which good men sometimes experience in this life , do so affect and ravish them , that they are even forced into triumphs and exaltations ; how will they be rapt and transported in that state of vision , when they shall see him so immediately , and love him so vehemently , and their whole soul shall be nothing else but one intire globe of light and love , all irradiated and inflamed with the vision and beauty of the fountain of truth and goodness . but alas ! as these joys are too big for mortal language to express , so are they too strong for mortality to bear ; and should we but for one day or hour see god , and love him , as those glorified spirits do , we should questionless die of an ecstasie of pleasure , and our glad hearts being tickled with such insupportable joys , by endeavouring to enlarge themselves to make room for them all , would quickly stretch into a rupture . but as our knowledge of god shall terminate in the love of him , so both together shall terminate in our resemblance of his perfections , for we having so immediate a prospect of his beauties , and being so infinitely inamoured with them , with what inexpressible vigour shall we set our selves to imitate , and transcribe them , and our imitation being invigourated with a knowledge so clear , and a love so vehement , can never fail of producing the desired resemblance ; so that the more we know god , the more we shall love him , and the more we know and love , the more we shall imitate and resemble him ; and then both our inward motions and outward actions being all of them pure and perfect imitations of god , cannot fail of producing a most glorious agreement between his original , and our copy ; so that whilst we interchangeably turn our eyes to god and our selves , and compare grace with grace , beauty with beauty , 't will fill our minds with unspeakable content , to see how the image answers to the prototype . for if from our love of god there must necessarily result to us such ineffable joy and complacency , what a ravishing delight will it afford us , to see the signatures of those adorable beauties , for which we love him , stamped and impressed upon our own natures , when the glory that shines about , and inflames us , shall shine into us , and become our own ; and those amiable idea's of him which are impressed upon our understanding , shall stamp our wills and affections with their own resemblance . for so the apostle tells us it shall be 1 john 3.2 . lord , how must our souls be inlarged and widened , to be able to contain all those mighty joys that must necessarily spring from our fruition of thee ; and to what a degree of happiness shall we be advanced , when we shall be entertained with all the delights that the enjoyment of such an infinite good can afford us ; and have hearts great enough to contain them all , without being overcharged with their weight and number ! 3. that it includes a most indearing fruition of our glorified saviour . and this certainly is none of the smallest ingredients of that blissfull state , that we shall be ever with our blessed lord , as the apostle expresses it , 1 thes. 4.17 . for herein it 's evident , the same apostle places one great advantage of the future state , phil. 1.23 . and indeed it is impossible , but it must be a vast addition to the happiness of all virtuous and greatfull souls , to see this their blessed friend and benefactor , who came down from the bosome of his father , and for their sakes exposed himself to a miserable life and death ; to see him sitting at his father's right hand , crowned with majesty and honour , surrounded with the whole quire of angels and saints , like a sun in the midst of a circle of stars , for lovers mutually partake of each others joys and sorrows ; and therefore as the lovers of jesus , when they saw him hanging on the cross , covered with wounds and blood , with scorn and undeserved infamy , sympathized with him in all his sorrows , participated the shame of all his reproaches , felt every pain and agony he indured , echoed to every sigh and groan he breathed ; so when they behold him on the throne of heaven , shining with glory and honour , and surrounded with infinite pleasures and delights , they sympathize with him also in all his happiness , they rejoyce in his joys , exult in his glories , and triumph in his exaltation ; so that his happiness is a common bank , in which all the inhabitants of heaven have a share , and every joy he feels strikes every heart throughout all the assembly of his happy lovers : for how can any gratefull soul forbear being ravisht at the sight of his happiness , when she considers how she was healed by his stripes , and glorified by his humiliation ? but when this best friend of souls shall not only permit me to see his happiness , but also introduce me into it , when his blessed mouth shall bid me welcome , and pronounce my euge bone serve , well done good and profitable servant , enter into thy masters joys , what tongue can express the heaven of joy it must needs create in me ! o blessed jesu , how inconceivably happy will that day be , when i , who am loaded with so many vast obligations to love thee , shall be introduced into thy presence , to see thy glory , and sympathize in thy joy , as thou didst in my misery ; to thank and praise thee face to face for all those wonders of love with which thou hast obliged me , and to bear a part in that heavenly song , worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches , and wisedom , and strength , and honour , and glory , and blessing , who hast redeemed us unto god by thy bloud , out of every kindred , and tongue , and people , and nations , rev. 9.12 . 4. eternal life also includes a most delightfull converse and society with angels , and glorified spirits ; for when we come to the city of the living god , the heavenly jerusalem , the apostle tells us what our society will be there , viz. the innumerable company of angels , the general assembly and church of the first born , god the judge of all the spirits of just men made perfect , and iesus the mediator of the new covenant , heb. 12.22 , 23 , 24. as for our society with god and jesus , you have already heard , and as for all the rest , it consists of angels , and the departed spirits of good men , which being stript of all those imperfections which they carried about them during their abode in these earthly tabernacles , have nothing remaining in them but what is pure , and heavenly , and divine , nothing of folly or errour , reserve our disguize , peevishness or dissimulation nothing but wisedom , and love , candour and integrity , openness and freedom , and in a word nothing but what indears their conversation , and renders it unspeakably pleasant , profitable and obliging ; for their understandings are all light , and their wills and affections all vertue and goodness , and as the one furnishes them with the best matter of conversation , so the other disposes them to the most obliging manner : for though we know not the way in which they converse and communicate their thoughts and minds to each other , yet there 's no doubt but souls can talk with souls , and mutually impress their thoughts upon each other , without these corporeal organs , as well as with them ; when therefore souls , which have such vast treasures of knowledge in their minds , and such ample perfections of goodness in their wills , are linked together in society , what an amiable conversation must they enjoy with each other , when they have all the philosophy of god's nature , creation and providence , all the miracles of his love ; and mysterious contrivances of his wisedom lying open before them ? what a noble , fragrant , and boundless field of discourse have they to entertain each other , and when their hearts are all united in the most perfect charity , and their affections mutually interlinked with the most obliging graces , with what freedom and confidence , with what unspeakable satisfaction and complacency must they impart their noble thoughts to each other , and empty the rich treasures of their knowledge into one anothers minds ? for the members of this blessed society being all of them both great philosophers , and perfect friends , there can be nothing that is foolish or impertinent , false or erroneous on the one hand , nothing that is peevish , or contentious , morose or offensive on the other , intermingled with their conversation , but wisedom must be the sole entertainment of it , and love and mutual endearments the welcome . o what a blessed alteration therefore will there be in our conversation when we leave this wrangling and impertinent world , and associate our selves with that glorious assembly of wise and perfect lovers ! where we shall freely converse with angels and arch-angels , with the patriarchs , prophets and apostles , and with all those great and gallant souls that were here renowned for their piety and goodness , and be familiarly entertained by them with all the deep philosophy of heaven ; where all those ineffable things which st. paul saw and heard in his rapture , shall be freely unfolded to us in the colloquies of saints and angels , and our minds shall be throughly initiated into all those wondrous mysteries which eye never saw , nor ear heard , and which never entred into the heart of man to conceive ; and in a word , where we shall live in perfect friendship , and love and be beloved with infinite ardour and sincerity , and all our conversation with those blessed people shall be an everlasting interchange of wise and holy indearments . 5. eternal life also includes the glory and delightfulness of the place where all these blessed things are enjoyed , for though the state of the blessed be sufficiently glorious to transform the most dismal place into a paradise , and to create a heaven of light and joy in the darkest dungeon of hell , yet such is the goodness of god , as to prepare a place for us proportionably glorious to this happy state , which according to the scripture account is the highest heaven , or the upper and purer tracts of the aether , where there is everlasting day , and a perpetual calm and serenity ; for so our saviour tells the penitent thief , this day shalt thou be with me in paradise , luke 23.43 . and where this paradise is , st. paul informs us , 2. cor. 12. for v. 2. he tells us of his being rapt into the third heaven , which in the 4 th v. he calls paradise , where he heard those ineffable words ; now that by the third heaven , he means the uppermost , viz. the heaven of heavens , which is the seat of god's glorious schechina , or special presence is evident by this , because according to the jewish philosophy , to which he here alludes , heaven was divided into three regions , viz. the cloud-bearing , the star-bearing , and the angel bearing region , the last of which they called the third heaven , in which they placed the throne of the divine majesty , and that by paradise he means the same place , is evident , because by this name the jews , in whose language he speaks , were wont to call the third heaven ; for so rab. menachem on leviticus tells us , it is apparent that the great reward of our obedience is not to be enjoyed in this life ; verum post dissolutionem justus adipiscitur regnum quod dicitur paradisus , fruitúrque conspectu divino , i. e. but after death the just shall arrive at the kingdom which is called paradise , and there enjoy the beatifical vision , and therefore is this heavenly region of angels called by the name of paradise , in allusion to the earthly paradise of eden , denoting to us , that as that was the garden of this lower world , as being a spot of ground abounding with pleasures and delights beyond all other places ; so this is the garden of the whole creation , the most beautifull and delightfull region , within all the vast spaces of the world ; nor can we imagine it otherwise , considering that 't is the place which the great monarch of the world hath chosen above all others for his imperial court and special residence , and prepared to receive the glorified humane nature of his only begotten son , and to entertain his friends and favourites for ever ; for if these out rooms of the world are so royal and magnificent , how infinitely splendid must we needs imagine the presence-chamber of the great king , whose presence like a glorious sun , irradiates and gilds it all over with a bright and everlasting day ? although therefore the scripture hath no where given us a full description of this blissfull place , because perhaps the glory of it is such as transcends all humane expression ; yet since god erected it on purpose to be the everlasting seat and mansion of his adopted heirs of glory , we have all the reason in the world to conclude that he hath exquisitely furnished it with all accommodations requisite for a most happy and blissfull life , and that the house is every way suitable to the entertainment : whensoever therefore any pure and vertuous soul is released from this cage of mortality , away it flies under the conduct and protection of good angels through the air and aether beyond the firmament of stars , and never stops , till it is arrived at those blessed abodes , on the top of all the heavens , where god and jesus , and saints , and angels dwell . and o with what unspeakable delight will it contemplate that new seene of things , when assoon as it is entred into that bright empire of eternal day , it sees it self surrounded with infinite splendor and glory ; so that which way soever it casts its eyes , it 's entertained with new objects of wonder and delight , which being such as will infinitely surpass its biggest expectations , will force it to cry out as the queen of sheba did when she saw the magnificence of solomon's court , it was a true report indeed which i heard of this blessed place in the world i came from , howbeit , now i am come , and mine eyes have seen it , i am sensible that not the half was told me , its glory and magnificence infinitely exceeding the fame which i heard of it ! sixthly and lastly , the complement of this eternal life is , that it is eternal ; for so , john 6.27 . christ calls his doctrine the meat which indures unto eternal life , and in the 40 th v. he tells them , that 't was his father's will , that they who believed on him should have everlasting life , but because everlasting , and for ever doth in scripture sometimes denote a long but not an endless duration , therefore he hath taken care to express this article in such words as must necessarily denote an endless duration of bliss , for he hath not only told us in john 6.50 . that they who believe his doctrine shall not die , but that whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall never die , iohn 11.26 . yea , and not only so , but that they shall never see death , iohn 8.51 . i. e. shall never come within the prospect or danger of dying ; in luke 20.36 . he tells them not only that they shall not , but that they cannot die any more , for they are equal unto the angels ; now what a mighty addition must this make to the joys of the blessed , that they are such as shall never expire , but indure as long as god , and run parallel with eternity , that ●hey are not measured by moments or hours , by years or centuries , or myriads , or indictions , but shall run on in an everlasting flux of duration , every part whereof is equally , because infinitely distant from a period ? for when time like fire hath devoured all it can prey on , it shall at last die it self , and go out into eternity , the nature of which is such , as that after we have lived most blessedly millions of millions of ages , our happiness shall be as far from an end as when it first began , for our lives and our happiness shall be coeternal , our god shall live for ever , and we shall live for ever to enjoy him , and in the enjoyment of such an infinite good we need not doubt to find variety enough still to renew our pleasures , and keep them fresh and flourishing for ever ; for as we shall always know god , so we shall always know him more and more , and every new beauty that infinite object discovers to us , like the diversified refractions of the same sparkling diamond , shall yield our minds fresh pleasures for ever , and kindle a new flame of love in us , and that a new rapture of joy , and that a new desire of knowing and discovering more ; and so continually round again , there will be knowing , loving , and rejoicing more and more for ever , so that our happiness will be so immense , as that we shall need , as well as have an eternity to enjoy it fully . now what an unspeakable pleasure must it be for the happy soul thus to reflect upon her own condition ! o blessed for ever be the good god , i am as happy now as ever my heart can hold , every part of me is so thronged with joys , that i have no room for any more , and that which completes and crowns 'em all is , that they shall never , never end , but still flow on to everlasting ages ; and the farther they flow , the more they shall swell and increase . and now having finished this short and imperfect description of this happy state of eternal life , i shall conclude with some inferences from the whole . 1. hence i infer how much reason we have to be contented and satisfied under all the present afflictions of this life . for shall we receive so much good at the hands of god as everlasting life implies , and not be contented to receive some evil ? when our good father hath provided for us a crown of endless bliss and glory hereafter , with that conscience or modesty can we complain of these little paternal castigations he inflicts on us here , especially considering , that the great design of all his present severities is to prepare and discipline us for that heavenly state , that by all these dismal providences , he is onely training us up for a crown , fitting , instructing and disposing us to reign with himself in glory for ever ? can any thing be unwelcome to us that is in order to so blessed an end ? can any physick be nauseous or distastfull , that is prescribed to recover us into such an happy immortality ? no , doubtless every thing that leads heavenwards , though never so grievous , is a blessing ; and all these kind severities , that tend to our eternal welfare , are favours for which we are bound to praise and adore the goodness of heaven for ever . when therefore we find our selves inclined to complain under our present afflictions , let us lift up our eyes to yonder blessed regions , and consider the joys and triumphs , the crowns and pleasures that do there await us ; and how necessary these bitter trials are to prepare us for , and waft us to them ; and if this doth not stop our mouths , and silence our complaints for ever , nay if it doth not cause us to rejoice in our tribulations , and thank god for them on our bended knees , if it doth not make us cheerfully submit , and say , vre , seca , vulnera , lord , cut , or wound , or burn me if thou seest fit , strip me of all my dearest comforts , handle me as severely as thou pleasest , so i may have but my fruit unto holiness , and my end everlasting life : if , i say , we do not thus acquiesce in our present sufferings , upon the consideration of that bliss they tend to , we are infinitely foolish and ungratefull ; for 't is but a little while e'er all these storms will be composed into an everlasting calm , e'er all these dismal clouds will vanish , and an eternal day break forth upon us , whose brightness shall never be obscured with the least spot or relique of darkness ; and when that blessed time comes , lord , how trifling and inconsiderable will all our present griefs appear ! with that contempt shall we reflect upon our present cowardise and meanness of spirit , that could not bear , without murmuring , a few incoveniencies on the road to such an immortal heaven of pleasures ! wherefore if our voyage be not so pleasant as we would have it , let us remember 't is not long , we have but a short days sail to an eternity of happiness , and when once we are landed on that blessed shore , with what ravishing content and satisfaction shall we look back on the rough and boisterous seas we have past , and for ever bless the storms and winds that drave us to that happy port : then will the remembrance of these light afflictions serve onely as a foil and anti-mask to our happiness , to set off its joys , and render them more sweet and ravishing . let us therefore comfort our selves with these things , and when at any time our spirits are sinking under any worldly trouble , consider that while we have a heaven to hope for , we can never be miserable ; for so long as we are fortified with this mighty hope , our minds will be impregnable against all foreign events , and its peace and comfort , maugre all afflictions from without , will shine as undisturbedly as the lights of pharos in the midst of storms and tempests . 2. hence i infer what a vast deal of reason we have to slight and contemn this world . for it 's plain , that we are born to infinitely greater hopes than any this world can afford us , even to the hopes of everlasting life ; and being so , methinks , our ambition should soar as high as our hopes , and disdain such low and ignoble quarries as the pleasures , and profits , and honours of this life . certainly , sirs , we mistake the scene of our eternity , or imagine it to be removed from heaven to earth , or else we are most strangely besotted , who when we are born to live for ever above , in the most ravishing glory and happiness , can suffer our selves to doat upon this world , and to be so strangely bewitched by its deluding vanities . o could we but stand awhile in the mid-way between heaven and earth , and at one prospect see the glories of both ; how faint and dim would all the splendours of this world appear to us in comparison with those above ! how would they sneak and disappear in the presence of that eternal brightness , and be forced to shroud their vanquish'd glories as stars do when the sun appears ! and whilst we interchangeably turned our eyes from one to t'other , with what shame and confusion should we reflect upon the wretched groveling temper of our own minds , what poor mean-spirited creatures we are to satisfie our selves with the impertinent trifles of this world , while we have all the joys of an everlasting heaven before us ; and may , if we please , after a few moments obedience , be admitted into them , and enjoy them for evermore ! o foolish creatures that we are , thus to prefer a far countrey , where we live on nothing but husks , before the everlasting festivities of our father's house , where the meanest guest hath bread enough and to spare ! to chuse nebuchadnezzar's fate , and leave crowns and sceptres , to live among the salvage herds of the wilderness ; could but the blessed saints above divert so much from their more happy employments , as to look down a little from their thrones of glory , and see how busie poor mortals are a scrambling for this wretched pelf , which within a few moments they must leave for ever ; how they justle and rancounter , defeat , defraud and undermine one another ; what a most ridiculous spectacle would it appear to them ! with what scorn would they look on it , or rather with what pity , to see a company of heaven-born souls , capable of , and designed for the same degree of glory and happiness with themselves , groveling like swine in dirt and mire ! one priding it self in a gay suit , another hugging a bag of glistering earth , a third stewing and dissolving it self in luxury and voluptuousness , and all employed at that poor , and mean , and miserable rate , as might justly make those blessed spirits ashamed to own their kindred and alliance with us . to tell you truly and seriously my thoughts , i cannot imagine , but if when we are thus extravagantly concerned about the pitifull trifles of this world , those blessed spirits do indeed see and converse with us ; it is a much more ludicrous and ridiculous spectacle in their eyes , to see us thus foolishly concerned and employed , than 't would be in ours , to see a company of boys with mighty zeal and concern wrangling and scrambling for a bag of cherry-stones : wherefore in the name of god , sirs , let us not expose our selves any longer to the just derision of all the world by our excessive dotage upon the vanities of this life ; but let us seriously consider that we are all concerned in matters of much higher importance , even in the unspeakable felicity of an everlasting life . 3. hence i infer how unreasonable a thing it is for good men to be afraid of dying , since just on t'other side the grave , ye see , there is a state of endless bliss prepared to receive and entertain them ; so that to them death is but a dark entry out of a wilderness of sorrow , into a paradise of eternal pleasure ; and therefore if it be an unreasonable thing for sick men to dread their recovery , for slaves to tremble at their jubilee , or for prisoners to quake at the news of their gaol-delivery ; how much more unreasonable is it for good men to be afraid of death , which is but a momentary passage from sickness to eternal health , from labour to eternal rest , and from close confinement to eternal liberty ! for god's sake consider , sirs ; what is there in this world that ye are so fond of it ? what in the other , that ye are so afraid of it ? suppose that now your souls were on the wing , mounting towards the celestial abodes , and that at some convenient stand between heaven and earth , from whence ye might take a prospect of both , ye were now making a pause to survey and compare them with one another ; that having viewed over all the glories above you , tasted the beatifical joys , and heard the ravishing melodies of angels ; ye were now looking down again , with your minds filled with those glorious idea's upon this miserable world , and that all in a view ye beheld the vast numbers of men and women , that at this time are fainting for want of bread , of young men that are hewen down by the sword , of orphans that are weeping over the graves of their fathers , of mariners that are shrieking out in a storm , because their keel dashes against a rock , or bulges under them ; of people that are groaning upon sick beds , or wracked with agonies of conscience , that are weeping with want , mad with oppression , or desperate with too quick a sense of a constant infelicity ; would ye not , do ye think , upon such a review of both states , be infinitely glad that ye were gone from hence , that ye are out of the noise and participation of so many evils and calamities ? would not the sight of the glories above , and of the miseries beneath , make you a thousand times more fearfull of returning hither , than ever ye were of going hence ? yes , doubtless it would , why then should not our sense of the miseries here , and our belief of the happiness there , produce the same effect in us ; make us willing to remove our quarters , and exchange this wilderness for that canaan ? 't is true indeed , the passage from one to t'other is commonly very painfull and grievous ; but what of that ? in other cases we are willing enough to endure a present pain , in order to a future ease ; and if a few mortal pangs will work a perfect cure on me , and recover me to everlasting health and life , methinks the hope of this blessed effect should be sufficient to indear that agony , and render it easie and desirable : but alas ! to die , is to leave all our acquaintance , to bid adieu to our dearest friends and relatives , to pass into an unknown state , to converse with strangers , whose laws and customs we are not acquainted with : why now all that looks sad in this is a very great mistake ; for i verily hope that i have more friends and relatives in heaven , than i shall leave behind me here on earth ; and if so , i do but go from worse friends to better ; for one friend there is worth a thousand here , in respect of all those indearing accomplishments , that render a friend a jewel : but if i die a good man , i shall carry into eternity with me the genius and temper of a glorified spirit , and that will recommend me to all the society of heaven , and render the spirits of those just men , whose name i never heard of , as dear friends to me in an instant , as if they had been may ancient cronies and acquaintance : but why should i grieve at parting with my friends below , when i shall go to the best friends i have in all the world ; to god my father , to jesus my redeemer , to the holy ghost my constant comforter and assistant ? and what though that state , and the laws and customs of it be in a great measure unknown to me ? yet what i know is infinitely desirable . from whence i may reasonably infer , that what i know not is so too , and if i have but the temper of heaven , i am sure i shall easily comply with the heavenly laws and customs of it ; so that in the whole , i cannot imagine why any good man that seriously believes the doctrine of a blessed immortality , and hath a just well-grounded hope of being made partaker of it when he dies , should be so loth to leave this wretched world . i do not deny but the circumstances of our affairs in this life are many times such as may justly excuse even a good man's unwillingness to die , some great opportunities of doing good may present themselves , and invite him to stay a little longer , or his having begun his repentance late , or not having made a competent provision for his family , may for awhile justifie his unwillingness to depart ; but unless it be in these excepted cafes , i can hardly reconcile our hopes of happiness , with our fear of death . for when i am verily perswaded , that death is onely a narrow stream running between time and eternity , and i see my god and my saviour with crowns of glory in their hands , beckoning to me from the farther shore , calling to me to come over , and receive those happy recompences of my industry and labour , that i like a naked , timorous boy , should stand shivering on this bank of time , as if i were afraid to dip my foot in the cold stream of fate , which as soon as i am in , i am past , and in the twinkling of an eye will land me on eternal bliss ; is such an extravagant inconsistency , as [ if i did not feel it in me ] i should never believe i could be guilty of . 4. fourthly and lastly , hence i infer , what unspeakable incouragement we have to endeavour after that universal righteousness , which intitles us to this blessed state of eternal life ; since god hath proposed such a vast reward to encourage and animate our industry , how can we account any work hard , of which heaven is the wages ? how can we faint in our christian race when we see the crown of glory hang over the goal ? methinks this should be enough to infuse life and spirit into the most crest-fal'n soul , to make cripples run , and convert the most sneaking coward into a bold and magnanimous heroe . for how much pains do we ordinarily take upon far less hopes ? in hope of a little transitory wealth , which we know we shall enjoy but a few years , and then part with for ever ; we thrust our selves into a perpetual croud , and tumult of businesses , where with vast concern and thoughtfulness , with eager and passionate prosecutions , with endless brawls and contentions , with restless justlings , and rancountring one another , we toil and weary out our selves , and make our lives a constant drudgery ; and shall we flag when heaven is the object of our prosecutions , who are so active in the pursuit of trifles ? whensoever therefore we find our endeavours in religion begin to tire , and droop , let 's lift up our eyes to the crown of glory ; and if we are capable of being moved by objects of the greatest value , that must infuse new vigour into us , and make us all life , and spirit , and wing ; for what though my way lyes up the hill , and leads me along through thorns and precipices , so that i am fain to sweat at every step , and every ascent is a new toil to me ? yet when i am up , i am sure to be entertained with such pleasant gales , and glorious prospects , as will fully recompence all my labour in climbing thither , there with an over-joyed heart i shall sit down and bless my toils ; o blessed be ye my bitter agonies , and sharp conflicts ; for ever blessed be ye my importunate prayers , and well-spent tears ; for now i am fully repaid for you all , and doe reap ten thousand times more joys from you , than ever i endured pains : for what are the pains of a moment , to the pleasures of an eternity ? wherefore hold out my faith and patience yet a little longer , and your work will soon be at an end ; and after a few laborious week-days , you shall keep an everlasting sabbath . what though my voyage lye through a stormy sea , yet 't is to the indies of happiness , and a few leagues farther lies the blissfull port , where i shall be crown'd as soon as i am landed . go on therefore , o my soul , with thy utmost courage and alacrity , for let the winds bluster , and the waves swell never so much , yet thou canst not miscarry unless thou wilt , thou art not like other passengers , left to the mercy of wind and weather , but thy fate is in thy own hands ; and if thou wilt have but thy fruit unto holiness , thy end shall be everlasting life ; which god of his infinite mercy grant , &c. and so much shall suffice for the text , i shall now only crave your patience , while i speak a few words of the sorrowfull occasion , viz. the funeral of our deceased brother dr. croun , who whilst he lived , was not onely a friend , but an ornament to the whole race of mankind , and whose breathless carkass , to which we are now rendring the last offices of friendship , was e'erwhilst the seat of a mind so exalted , and a nature so refined , as that had it but a few equals scattered through the world , they might go far towards the retrieving the forfeited reputation of our degenerate kind ; for as for his understanding , it was a very learned university of knowledge , wherein languages , and arts , and sciences flourish'd , and every thing almost was comprehended that deserves the name of learning , he was a general scholar , as all his learned acquaintance will testify , an accurate linguist , an acute mathematician , a well read historian , and a profound philosopher , and in that laborious course he had run through the whole circle of learning ; he contented not himself with a slight and cursory view of the several parts of it , but took a full prospect of them all , and was aliquis in singulis , as well as in omnibus ; and as for that learned profession to which god's providence determin'd , and his own genius more particularly addicted him ; though i verily believe england abounds with as many great and eminent professours of it as ever any age or nation produced ; yet in this bright constellation dr. croun will be acknowledged by all that know and understood him , a star of the first magnitude , for besides the deep and accurate insight he had in the frame and structure of humane bodies , of which he gave such abundant proof in his learned anatomical lectures , besides his large and comprehensive knowledge of the virtues and qualities of medicaments , and of the natures and symptomes of diseases , the theory of which he had vastly cultivated and improved by a long , a curious , and well-digested experience ; besides these things , i say , he was a very generous and carefull practitioner , for though his practice was very large among those of the better rank and quality , yet his ears were always open to the cries and complaints of the poor , to whom he alwaies administred with as much care and consideration for pity and for charity sake , as ever he did to to the rich for the most generous reward sake ; for the life of a man was so dear and pretious to him , that he esteemed the very saving it to be a much greater reward than the largest fee , like the great physician of souls , he had a tender sympathy with his patients in all their griefs and diseases , and his own natural compassion did so much interest him in their sorrows and dangers , that'twas a mighty ease to himself to ease and relieve them , so that the physician and the patient commonly languish'd and recovered together , and as his skill and his care were equally great , so was his success answerable to both ; for though he himself be gone , yet he hath left behind him many a living monument of himself , who cannot but acknowledge with gratitude to his memory , that under god they owe the breath which they now draw , to the skill and experience of this great aesculapius . and as he had an excellent mind , so he had a lovely and amiable temper , a temper in which there was nothing but what was highly indearing , nothing that was stormy or tempestuous , rough or sower , imperious or insolent , false or malitious , humorous or phantastick , but was altogether compounded of the best and sweetest ingredients of kindness and benignity , of modesty and humility , of curtesie and affability , and in a word , and every good thing that good nature implies ; his passions were always sober , and his appetites temperate , his conduct was very prudent , but yet very punctual and honest , his conversation was innocent and chearfull , and facetious , and his carriage was grave , but yet gentile and obliging . in short , he had all the wit of a good poet , all the temper of a philosopher , and all the good humour of a well-bred gentleman . this he was in himself , we will now briefly consider him in his several relations , as he was a creature , and so related to god. i have very often heard him express a very serious and awfull sense of the divine majesty , and particularly upon his death-bed not many hours before his departure , where he heartily thanked god that he had well weighed and considered the course of his life , and the final issues and events of his actions , and with a very serious chearfulness resign'd up himself into god's hands and disposal , professing himself to be very well content to live or dye , as god in his wisedom should think it most expedient , desiring me to pray with him and for him . as he was a husband — alas , the tears of his sorrowfull relict do but too loudly proclaim how good , and how kind he was ; and in such an indearing relation , what less could be expected from so good a nature : for here all his natural sweetness and benignity , which ordinarily diffused it self through the whole sphere of his activity , was contracted and united in one point or centre , and so was rendred more intense and vigorous by its union . the holy scripture tells us , that the husband and the wife are one flesh ; but here one would have thought they had been one soul too , for they had all the same likings and dis-likings , the same joys and sorrows , the same pains and pleasures ; such perfect unizons were their hearts , that whatever note one struck , t'other ecchoed and resounded it ; so that what the good portia said to her dear brutus , this happy pair might have truly said to each other , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i am the partner of thy fortunes , and have an equal share with thee in all that thou sufferest or enjoyest . as he was a master , the lamentations of his servants , for the share they had in the loss of him , sufficiently demonstrates his great kindness and goodness to them ; his whole family , which while he was well , did always wear sprightly and chearfull looks , upon the sad news that there was no hope of his recovery , was presently converted into a house of mourning , and every countenance was changed , as if they had all been sentenced to die with their master . once more consider him as a neighbour , he was publick good to the place where he lived ; and like a rich field of spices , he scattered his perfumes throughout all the neighbourhood , where upon every call and invitation he was ready to doe good , and freely contributed his best skill and care , to all that needed and requested it . thus while he lived . dr. croun was a publick good , and a great and eminent benefactour to the world ; so that his loss is like the breaking up of a common treasury , in which we had all of us a share : and accordingly ye see , that though his kindred and alliance was not very large , yet by the lamentations that are made for him , one would think he had been the father of some very populous tribe ; for i dare say , that for these many years there hath not been seen a more sorrowfull funeral within the walls of this city than this we are now celebrating ; and 't is but fit and decent , that he who while he lived , was a common friend to mankind , should be attended to his grave with a common sorrow ; and that we who survive him , and were so much beholding to him , should now pay our debts to his memory with our tears ; but if we would be benefited by his memory , as we were by his life , let us remember his excellent virtues and accomplishments so as to imitate and transcribe them to follow his example in all the good things he did ; and if we knew any evil , to shun and avoid it : by thus doing we shall convert his memory into medicine , and render him as good a physician to our souls now he is dead , as he was to our bodies whilst he was living , and so improve our present loss into our everlasting advantage . which god of his infinite mercy grant ; to whom be honour , and glory , and power , and majesty , and dominion for ever , amen . finis . advertisement . there is lately printed a sermon preached before the lord mayor , by the same authour , on prov. 24.21 . and meddle not with them that are given to change . there is also in the press a second part of the christian life , by the same authour , which will be suddenly published . a funeral sermon for the right honourable, the lady frances digby, who deceased at coles-hall in warwickshire, on the 29th of september, 1684 by john kettlewell ... kettlewell, john, 1653-1695. 1684 approx. 50 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47297 wing k368 estc r657 12952544 ocm 12952544 95988 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47297) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95988) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 717:35) a funeral sermon for the right honourable, the lady frances digby, who deceased at coles-hall in warwickshire, on the 29th of september, 1684 by john kettlewell ... kettlewell, john, 1653-1695. [6], 33 p. printed for robert kettlewell, london : 1684. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng digby of geashill, francis noel digby, -baroness, 1660 or 61-1684. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-06 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-06 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon for the right honourable , the lady frances digby , who deceased at coles-hall in warwickshire , on the 29th of september , 1684. by john kettlewell , vicar of coles-hill in warwickshire . london , printed for robert kettlewell at the hand and scepter over against st. dunstans church in fleetstreet . mdclxxxiv . to the right honourable , simon lord digby , baron digby of geashill . my lord , in compliance with your lordships desire , i here present you with this faint portraicture of your dear , and excellent lady . those rare virtues , that endow'd her noble soul , had mightily endear'd her person , and will always embalm her memory , among those that knew her . but as they rendred her a blessing to this , so they prepared her for the converse of angels , and blessed spirits in a better place : and to compleat all his other mercies , god has crown'd all his graces in her , which were ripe for glory , by taking her to be happy with himself . had he lent us the blessing for a longer time , her life would have been most truly instructing , and had the daily use and benefit of a sermon . but since it has pleased him to take away the original , 't is pity the world should want the copy too , and lose the benefit of her example . your lordship has already reaped much profit , and is still in hope to receive more , by reflecting on it your self : and you trust it may bring a like advantage , and serve to kindle and cherish like inclinations , in the hearts of many others also . i am sure it is very fit for general use , and will do good to all that hear of it , if they are not wanting to themselves . for she was a very lively draught of many excellent virtues ; and they must either be perfectly good , ( as none are in this world ) or extremely bad souls , who cannot improve by being set in the light of such patterns . one main hindrance of this good effect , my lord , is the suspicion of flattery and insincerity in these discourses , as if in them men were not careful of strict truth , and sought not so much what may be truly said , as what may set off their subject . i cannot promise this relation any security from such censures , since the truest , and most faithful accounts in this kind , cannot always avoid them . but i have this testimony in my self , that in the description i have given of this excellent person , i have spoken nothing to deserve them . i have represented her as most exemplary , and imitable , in modesty , and sincerity ; and i am sure i have had a great concern upon me , not to lose either in discoursing of her . i know there is not only sincerity , but care too required in every one , who will take upon him to be a reporter : and this i have held my eye upon , in all the parts of her character . i freely confess to your lordship , my aim has been to speak too little , for fear of saying too much ; and that i have designedly used wariness in several expressions , lest venturing to the utmost bounds of truth , i might happen to step beyond them . and whatever judgment they may pass , who knew little of her , i have this to satisfie my self , and the world too , that they who knew her best , and especially your lordship , will say this is not only a true , but a modest character . i heartily wish , my lord , this draught of your dear lady , were fitter than it is , to serve your lordships ends , of rendring her example useful to the world , and doing honour to her memory . i hope , thro' the grace of god , and your piety and discreet care , that the representation of her virtues will not renew your grief , which shews her to be set above it . for it would trouble me to think i have sent a companion into your retirements , to minister to sadness and dejected thoughts , and render this service , which is perform'd with willingness , uneasie in the remembrance of it , to , my good lord , your lordships most affectionate , humble servant , john kettlewell . from your lordships house near coleshill , oct. 23. 1684. a funeral sermon for the right honourable , the lady frances digby , preached oct. 5. 1684. at coles-hill in warwickshire , on prov. xiv . 32. — but the righteous hath hope in his death . these words describe the different state of good and bad men , and shew how happy the one , and how wretched the other are , when some great affliction , especially when death seizes them . in the time of health and prosperity , the wicked often seem the happiest persons ; they injoy so much of the bounty of providence , as if god were pleased with them ; which puffs them up with a conceit of their own happiness , and makes others envy them . but when any great distress , especially when death comes , that always makes the discrimination . transgressors then are in a most deplorable state , and most destitute of comforts when they most need them . but the righteous have a good support , and begin those joys , which will never end , or be diminished . the faster they are flying from the world , the nearer they approach to almighty god : when their condition seems at the worst , 't is really almost at the best ; for then they are upheld by a chearful hope , and are presently to be instated in the joyful possession of an everlasting kingdom . the wicked is driven away in his wickedness : i. e. when great distress , especially when death comes , he can promise nothing to himself , but is driven from all his hopes by the conscience of his own wickedness , which bids him still expect more , and greater miseries : but the righteous knows he shall be a gainer by it , and has hope in his death . this difference is not always true in point of fact , as if good men alwaies left the world with a quiet mind and comfortable hope , and ill men in horror and astonishment . thus indeed it often is . for the righteous ordinarily die in peace , and that is enough to verifie the text , which is a proverbial speech : for proverbs do not express a rule that never alters , but that doth not alter ordinarily , in the usual observation and course of things . and the wicked oftentimes are full of fears , especially when they have been guilty of gross and crying sins , which are more apt to strike terror upon the conscience . but tho' in the case of good men this do generally fall out , and in the case of bad men very frequently , yet in neither of them is it constant ▪ for some righteous souls are misled in judging of themselves by scrupulous principles ; or are full of melancholly , which is a timorous passion , and betrays them to unrreasonable fears : and they , it may be , dye with troubled , and terrified consciences . and many of the wicked are possessed with a presumptuous belief of gods goodness ; or are full of pride and self-flattery , and , by mincing and hiding their own faults , and unreasonably magnifying every little performance and attainment , think too well of themselves : and they dye swoln big with hopes , and vain confidences . so that in fact , tho' it be ordinarily , yet sometimes it is not true , that good men have hope in their death , and ill men want it . but tho' it be not always true in point of fact , yet it always is in the ground and reason of it . a wicked liver has always cause to be dismay'd , tho' he will not believe it till he feels it . and a righteous man has always cause of hope in death , if he has but the understanding to discern it . and whether he see it or no , he shall be sure to find the benefit , and be a gainer by it . and in this sense the words admit of no exception , that when the wicked wants , the righteous has hope in his death , i. e. he has most just reason so to do . in discoursing upon these words , i shall shew , 1. who the righteous man is , to whom this priviledge belongs . 2. what are his hopes , that make death a desirable thing to him , which to others is the king of terrors . 3. apply this , to allay our grief and sorrow on the death of friends . 1. i shall shew who the righteous man is , to whom this priviledge belongs . and that is every man , who has lead a good life , and has not allow'd himself in any known sins , but had a regard to all gods commandments . he is one that has led a godly life . this is the true test to descry who are righteous , which we are to judge of , not from some religious heats , or transient convictions , or good wishes ; but from the tenor of a pious practice . he that doth good , saith st. john , is of god , 3 joh. 11. and again , let no man deceive you in this point ; for he that doth righteousness is righteous , even as he is righteous . 1 jo. 3. 7. and it is the only sure ground of hope for dying persons . he must have lived holily , who would dye happily , for it is nothing else but an holy life that can make happy . that is the only sure preparation for death , since it is the main thing to be inquired of after death ; for then men shall all be judged according to their works . rev. 20. 13. in one case , 't is true , good purposes will make happy , tho' a man has never practised them . and that is in the case of such dying penitents , as god sees have both sincerity and strength enough of godly purpopose , and by means thereof would certainly practise well if they had but time. but as for these , they are so very few , that they seem not to be of any great account in the description of the righteous . conversion , in the ordinary course , goes on by steps ; gods grace is infused , and our wicked lusts are mortified by degrees ; and without an unwonted , and extraordinary grace , ( which no man must expect , and least of all they who have slighted all gods gracious offers to the very last , ) it is not to be begun and finished in the last moments . the righteous ordinarily , are only such , as have done righteousness in their lives ; and among all the numerous attempters , 't is hard to find those , who can succeed and become righteous , by forming good resolutions upon their death-beds . and as for those who do then become such , it is more than they can know themselves . for no man that is only beginning to resolve well , can know the strength and efficacy of his own resolutions , till he comes to try and practise them : and till he knows that , tho' he may have the safety , yet he can not have the comfort and the hopes of a righteous man. bare purposes , rarely give safety , but never comfort to a dying person ; so that the hopes of the righteous must not rest on them alone , but have something else , viz. a well led life , to bottom on . and this life must have been uniform in all duties , when a man has not allow'd himself in any known sins , but has had a regard to all gods commandments . some parcel out the law of god , and think to be righteous for performing some particular things . this some of the jewish doctors made very easie , declaring that a man might be righteous by observing any one commandment which he pleased . for these are some of their rules . * qui dat operam praecepto , liber est a praecepto . he that exercises himself in any one precept , for that time is freed from minding any other . and again , whosoever shall perform any one of the 613. precepts of the law ( for so many they are according to their reckoning ) without any worldly respect , for love of the precept , shall inherit thereby everlasting life . but when they would be more secure , and act more commendably , they would not content themselves with any of the precepts indifferently , but make a choice , according to the estimation which they thought god himself had of them . for they fancied , that he did not rate all his laws equally , but esteem'd some more than others : as the lawyer plainly shew'd , when he desired to be satisfied which was the great commandment of the law , mat. 22. 36. and the young man , when he ask'd what good thing he should do to have eternal life , i. e. of all the good things whereto life is promised , whether was the sabbath , or sacrifices , or which other precept best ; what was that good thing , which would most secure it , mat. 19. 16. and fancying there were some such darling precepts , they thought he was most sure to be acceptably righteous , who had the good luck to hit upon that command , which god most accounted of . and the like opinions , tho' , god be thanked , not authorized by the common sayings of our doctors , are most unhappily got into the hopes , and practice of too many among our selves ; nay , alas ! of the generality of christians . for they too often think to pass for righteous men , only on the score of some particular observances , as being constant in prayers , or liberal in alms , or zealous in gods cause , especially if that be in some notable instance , and perform'd with great hazards ; without having an eye all this while to their whole duty , and whilst at the same time they allow themselves in some known sins . but whilst after this rate they mangle the law of god , and parcel out their duty , their thoughts of righteousness are but a dream , and all their hopes a vain presumption . no duties will save us when they are singled out from the rest , and stand alone ; but only when they are all in conjunction . st. paul instances in two , viz. giving all he has to feed the poor , and giving his body to be burnt in martyrdom , which will easily be allow'd to have preference before all others . but yet , says he , if these go by themselves , and have not charity , which , as he describes it , v. 4. 5. &c. besides alms , contains in it many other instances , it profits me nothing , 1 cor. 13. 3. the righteous man then , is one who has an eye to all gods laws , and whensoever he transgresses any , doth not allow himself in that breach , but rises again by repentance . this is righteousness in any person . and without this , the hopes in death , which the text mentions , will avail nothing . for many men are full of hope , who have no just cause for it ; and , on the contrary , others are afraid to dye , who may justly meet death with comfort . the melancholly of some , and the sanguine complexion of others , fill them with hopes and fears , which are not owing to the reason of things , but only to their natural tempers : so that to shew any man a dying saint , that has cause to rejoice in death , it is not enough that he have peace of mind , but also that he have just ground for it too . and thus having shewn who this righteous man is , to whom this priviledge belongs : i proceed now , 2. to shew what are his hopes , that make death a desirable thing to him , which to others is the king of terrors . now this hope is of the favour and friendship of almighty god , and of all those blessings which may be expected from it . what those blessings are , was not so well known in old times , when god led men on by more dark , and indefinite expectations of the future happiness . but when christ came , he * brought life and immortality to light , and has told us plainly , that at their deaths , all righteous men shall be translated to the unspeakable and eternal joys of heaven . and these are so great , that no heart can wish for more . for the blessings of that place are so large , as to fill all our capacities ; so pure , as not to have the least mixture of sorrows ; so constant , as to admit of no abatements , or intermissions . we shall always desire , and always be satisfied ; and when we have injoy'd the most , we shall never be cloy'd , nor wearied with it . we shall live in gods presence , and share in his likeness , and shine in his glory , and have fellowship with the saviour of the world , and all the spotless angels , and all the glorified saints and godlike persons , whose society alone is enough to turn any place into a paradise . and all these we shall enjoy , without all fear of misfortune , either theirs , or our own ; without all danger of displeasing them , or fear of losing them ; without seeing any thing , either to pity , or blame in them ; or any damps of friendship , and intermission of affection . in sum , we shall never see any ill , nor suffer it ; nor ever want any good thing , or , when we have it , fear to be deprived of it : but we shall be infinitely happy , and ever think our selves so , and continue in that state for evermore . this is that eternal life , which god promises , and whereto death now conveys all righteous persons . and since it is the way to our injoyment of all this bliss , it is no longer a spoyler of our joys , but a step to them , and a thing to be desired by all godly souls . it is , indeed , like churlish physick , very ungrateful in it self , tho' it may be most desireable in the effect . it brings a dissolution of nature , which strikes horror , and that into the best men , who would desire not to dye , if they could come at the happiness of the other life without dying . and this st. paul testifies of himself , confessing , that as for the way of receiving the heavenly house , i. e. the glorified body , he had rather be found alive , and have it superinduced by a translation ; than be stripp'd of this body first by death , and afterwards be cloath'd again . my wish , says he , is not to be uncloath'd , i. e. to put off this body first , but to be cloathed upon by having the other superinduced , that mortality may not so truly be put off , as swallowed up of life , 2 cor. 5. 1. 4. but it is most incomparably advantageous in the event . tho' the way be hard and rugged , yet 't is short , and the prize at the end is wonderfully rich and pleasant : so that every considerate man , who looks beyond death , hath the greatest reason to desire it . to them , as st. paul says , it has quite lost its * sting , and is become the truest gain . phil. 1. 21. all sense of what it takes away , is drown'd in the boundless apprehension of what it gives , and death is swallowed up in victory . 1 cor. 15. 54. it confers on them all their hearts can desire , and therefore , if they rightly consider it , ought not to be a matter of their fear : it takes them from a dunghill to a throne , and invests them in all the glory and riches of an everlasting kingdom . i come now 3. to apply this , to allay our grief and sorrow on the death of friends . i do not seek to suppress all grief for a dying friend ; for that is an impossible task . friendship is a close thing , and lies near to our hearts ; so near , indeed , that a friend is said , and that very justly , to be a second self . and therefore to be insensible when a dear friend is torn from us , is as impossible , as to have no sense when a finger is rent off from our hand , or our heart is plucked out of our bodies . some course nature will have in spite of all arguments , and no man can restrain it . yea , and what is more , it is not fit he should do it , if he could . for some sorrowful concern is necessary to shew we are sensible of our loss , and to evidence our affection for the person that is gone : as the jews , when jesus wept for lazarus , cryed out behold how he loved him . jo. 11. 35. 36. the unconcernedness of the living , seems a reflection upon the dead , and argues they were not beloved while they lived , but that the world was weary of their company , and even their pretended friends very willing , if not glad , to be quit of them . and therefore it is reckon'd as a part of gods judgment upon the jews , that when they died , there should be no wailing for them . ezek. 7. 11. but with this grief for our own loss in the departure of our friends , we must at the same time shew our selves sensible who it is that has taken them , and that too for their own gain , and that he still continues to us a thousand blessings when he only calls back one . and therefore with sorrow for them , we must be sure to joyn submission to god ; to resign up our wills to his , and be not only outwardly silent , but inwardly renconciled to what he has done ; and to be heartiful thankful , both for all the kindnessess he shew'd our departed friends , and for that vast number of others he still continues to our selves . these things will not be perform'd as they ought , when grief grows strong . whilst it keeps within due bounds , such as suit with the apprehensions and hope of christians , it is what natural affection will force from us , and what religion allows : but when it becomes ungovernable and boisterous in degrees , or obstinate in continuance , it is in it self an ill thing , an irresistible temptation . so that when we do grieve , we must be careful to keep back from all excess , and to do it with moderation . and to temper our grief , which needs a most watchful care to govern and allay it upon these occasions ; among those many things that might be suggested , i shall only observe these two ; viz. that , when our friends are truly religious , 1. we have not the least pretence to be immoderate out of our love to them , because it is incomparably their gain . they are translated to a place of bliss , where they are infinitely joyful in their own minds , and from whence they would not be removed by any offers : so that we have no colour of reason to be sad , but the highest cause to congratulate upon their accounts ; as the primitive christians of old , and we still do , for the death of saints and martyrs , the memorials of whose death we celebrate with festivals , as the day of their birth to an immortal life . if we have a true and wise love for our friends , we shall not only be willing , but glad above all that god should love them too . and then we must needs be thankful when he shews his love , and takes them to those joys , which are the end of all their hope , and beyond which they can never wish for any more . 2. nor have we any reason to be immoderate in bemoaning our own loss , because we shall go to the same place , and meet again in time . our own loss , indeed , is the only thing that can trouble us , and when we do grieve and mourn , it is only in love to our selves . but this is no cause at all to be intemperate , or obstinate in grief ; for it will all be made up again , if we will have a little patience . they are gone to that place , whither we all hope to come ; so that if we can stay a while , we shall injoy our friends again . their departure from the world , is but like mens taking of a journey , not an utter loss of friends ▪ but only an absence from them for a small space . and when once that is past , the next meeting shall be in so great , and lasting joy , as shall infinitely make amends for it . for then our friends shall be stript of all humane frailties , and made absolute in all desirable perfections , which will make them more deserving of our love , and dearer to us ; and that love shall never cause grief and torment , as it doth now , by a second absence . as we shall be most happy in them , so shall we ever be secure of them ; for then there will not be the least fear , because not the least danger or possibility of parting any more . and thus i have done with the explication of the text , and shewn both who the righteous are , and what great and comfortable things , when death comes , they have to hope for . but hitherto i have only laid down the rule , and i have still another work to do , which is , to set it off yet further , in a fair pattern and example of it : i mean the excellent noble person now deceased , the character of whose virtues will give life to all that i have said , and be the best , and most useful thing in all my sermon . she was a great instance of many virtues , nay , of some , which are almost lost in practice , which seem to reign scarce any were but upon mens tongues , as if they were impracticable rules , that were never intended to be follow'd and perform'd , but only to be prais'd and talk'd of . and i cannot do more right to those neglected graces , than to shew the remiss and slothful world they are more than words , and are real live things , made visible to all in the excellency of her practice . god had endow'd her with an excellent nature , which prevented many of the great self-denials in religion , and made it to her a tolerably easie thing . this is an ivaluable blessing god bestows on some special favourites , and it was eminent in her . to be universally kind and pleasing , was one of the most natural things in her complexion , which made a religion of love be imbraced without opposition . and together with this kindness of nature , he had bless'd her with much humbleness of mind , and with a just seriousness and composure of spirit , which made her apt for devotion and wise counsels , and easie to receive , and retain any good impressions , which should be stamped upon her . together with this goodness of nature , as another testimony of his singular grace and favour , he had provided for her an excellently virtuous , wise , and careful mother ; who begun early to cultivate this rich soyl , and plant the seeds of virtue in it , e're the vices of the world could make their attempts upon her . she taught her goodness by plain rules , and shew'd it to the life in an admirable and a brave example . and her pattern this prepared soul knew so well how to prize , that she had chosen it for her own imitation ▪ resolving to govern her self by her mothers rules , and to fix her eye upon her noble virtues , and , as near as she could , to transcribe them in her own practice . and this shews a generous liking of goodness , and promises a great progress in it , when any persons aim , so far as they are able , to equal the most accomplished saints , and to live up to the rules of the best examples . and to compleat all , when she was deprived of this blessing , his watchful care provided a husband for her , who to the intimacy of his relation to her as a wife , the top of worldly friendships , coveted to add a nobler friendship still , that bottom'd upon likeness of souls and virtuous grounds , and was design'd to serve the most excellent purposes of religion , in making each other better and wiser , which is the perfection of the wisest , and most exalted friendships , betwixt the most endear'd persons . thus liberally had god endow'd this select soul with inclinations to virtue and goodness , and with opportunities to ripen and improve them . and had he spared her a longer life , wherein to imploy the talents he had given , we may justly expect the increase would have been in a greater measure and proportion . but tho her race was quickly done ( for she dyed in the twenty third year of her age ) yet she had run much in a little time : in her green years she had attain'd a maturity in goodness , and was grown ripe in the true ends and art of living ; and the effect of these advantages was visible in an exemplary , and truly christian conversation . to recount all her virtues , is more than i can pretend to do ; they were known only to god , who will reveal them at last to all the world ; but for the imitation of those she has left behind her , i shall observe these following . her piety was great towards almighty god. she knew what honour and homage we all owe to him , and was careful to lay out her self upon it . she would converse with him duly in her closet-retirements ; and constantly make one to do him service in the publick assemblies , not allowing her self to neglect the service of god for little reasons and inconveniencies , which can keep none back , but those who have too little zeal for god , and too much slothfulness or delicacy of spirit . and , which shew'd how sincerely she resorted thither , not at all to set off her self , but purely for pious ends , at church she did affect plainness of dress , and would not seek there to recommend her self to others , no not in the most publick places , by elaborate attire and outward adorning ; but only to god by the devotion of her mind , and the ornament of an humble and a meek spirit , ( things wherein she is was hardly be equall'd ) , which in the sight of god , as st. * peter says , are of great price . she was in a constant preparation , as all good souls are , for the holy sacrament , and careful to embrace all opportunities of joyning in it : for since i had the happiness to observe her , she never missed a communion , but was always one in that highest instance of devotion , to offer up the sacrifice of a devout heart , and thankfully acknowledge the stupendious love of god , and of our dearest saviour to mankind . such was the devotion of this fair saint towards almighty god , which did not come upon her by fits , but was a settled habit , that dwelt upon her spirit . and in all this she shew'd an inward , and hearty piety , as one that plainly sought to be good between her self , and him that sees in secret . for her religion did not seek to shew it self in an affected out-side , in studied appearances , in talk and noise ; but in all the modesty , silence , and gravity , of an hearty and unaffected godliness . she was good after the best fashion , in an inward religion : which , tho' it shew'd it self in such reverent and composed meen , as naturally flow'd from , and testified a spirit greatly affected ; yet did not appear in any thing , which could seem chosen for shew or ostentation . and as she was thus careful to address to god , so , which is a more real instance of a governing piety , could she quietly resign her self to his will in the hardest providences , and trust him with any thing . the best remedy in afflictions , as she said , was prayer to god : and when she was tried with them , she found the effect of it , in an humble , calm , and uncontesting resignation . and to shew the firm and settled confidence she had fix'd in his care ; when she was surprized with death , the sweet babe she was to leave behind her , she look'd on as so secure in the custody of almighty god , and the care of her dear husband , that the thoughts of it did not in the least trouble her . as to the government of her self , and those virtues which were chiefly due to her own person ; she was endow'd with an even temper , and the command of her own inclinations , and contempt of the world , with humility , sincerity , and other virtues , and was a very great example in them . she was singularly happy in an even temper , not violently transported , but only duly affected whatever happened . no prosperous accidents could over-joy , nor cross events unmeasurably disturb her . yea , even in her bodily pains she would keep her evenness , and shew nothing of a disturbed spirit , wherein religion , and the constant goodness of her inclination had lost the reins ; but was wont even then to be pleased with all that was done about her , and to be careful in what she did or said her self to please all . she had a strange government of her own desires and inclinations , and could command and restrain them almost in any thing . this is a notable instance of religion , the greatest part and hardship whereof lies in denying of our selves , as sin doth in self-pleasing . and this the wisest , and best men have still thought , as the most difficult , so the bravest , and most noble undertaking . it is not so illustrious a point of mastery , and part of valour in any man to conquer another , as to conquer his own passion ; and he shews a greater height of resolution and bravery that overcomes himself , than he who subdues a city . and she was a noble instance of this mastery . indeed , i think , she could deny her self what she pleas'd , and cross any inclination for a good end , and not be troubled at it . she was devested of her self , and was anothers good , which is the character of a good person ; ready to do any thing for anothers , and to forgo any thing that made for her own satisfaction . she had a generous contempt of the world , and tho' she had ever been in the midst of all that could make her value , and be in love with it , and was in the spring of her years , which is an age most subject to admire it : yet she kept it still without her , and liv'd above it . she sprung from an illustrious , noble stock ; but she was not forward to make known the honour of her blood , nor seem'd to prize her self upon it . she shew'd the true spirit of nobility ; which is , when all others , to keep up degrees and good order in the world , do respect and honour titles , that they who wear them overlook and despise them , and value themselves only upon what is their own , not what is derived from ancestors . and as for all the splendor , and gratifications of the world ; she seem'd generally so indifferent in the pursuit , and so unaffected in the use of them , as plainly shew'd she sat loose from them . had she lived always in the eye of worldly vanities , i think in some measure they would have taken off the mind , either of her , or of any other , from god and better things . but besides this , as for any other effects , i doubt 't is hard to find a person , that might be safelier trusted with them . for as for their being otherwise a snare , she was so indifferent , they could not much have tempted her . and having this contempt of the world , she could easily part with any of the riches of it for good and wise ends , but not for any others , for she was so much above shew , and so inclined to solid goodness , that her generosity would not spend it self upon vanity or extravagance : but on any charitable , or good occasion , she had a generous soul , and would both readily , and liberally contribute . that , indeed , was her hearts delight , and if she valued money , whereof she shew'd a great neglect , upon any account , it was for the opportunity and satisfaction of doing good with it . humility was her beloved grace , which she sought of god with earnestness , and which she had attain'd to admiration . she had a strange modesty in her nature , which made her conceit meanly of her self , and render'd her very backward to believe any thing in her could deserve praise , and almost afraid to receive it . she saw too much of emptiness in all those things that puff us up , to be proud of any of them . she might have been exalted in her own mind , by reflecting upon her high birth , and her great advantages of estate and honour . but she had a just estimate of all , and did not think her self the better or more deserving because she had , nor others the worse because they wanted them . nay , her great virtues , which were solid goods , did not exalt her in her own opinion . i think she strove to conceal them from her self : and as for any ostentation of them abroad ; she was so ( i had almost said ) over-modest , and extreamly nice in that , that one shall not ordinarily see more care in others to shew forth their goodness , than was in her to hide it . sincerity and an undissembling heart , were not only the religion of her choice , but the virtue of her nature . no person need be more reserv'd in any thing , that should be kept a secret ; and none more true , and plain-hearted in what she spoke . she knew not how to act double in any thing , and , indeed , she needed not , having no thoughts or ends to conceal and be asham'd of . for she was obliging , without all designs , and used to harbor no thoughts of any , but what were good ; and pursue no aims , but what were honourable and just : so that whenever she spoke , she might say the truth , and had no great temptation to disguise it . these are some of those excellencies , which did adorn her self , and were due unto her own person . and then as for her carriage towards all the world besides , how truly christian a part did she act in that , in a constant kindness , candor , and intire easiness of conversation . in all which , her life was full of deserv'd praise to her self , and very useful and instructive unto others , fit to direct the lives , and excite the imitation of all those , who had the opportunity to behold it . she was truly kind , and full of charity and good nature to all that conversed with her . her singular modesty was a great restraint to her in takeing acquaintance , and this , perhaps , may be misconstrued by some , who have not either the skill , or care to discern betwixt distrust of ones self , and neglect of others . but in reality she had both an humble , and a kind heart , prepared to oblige and please all with whom she had to do . she thought no person was too mean for her to know , and every one she knew , or indeed saw , she was naturally courteous and respective to . affable , and easie of access she was to all ; and particularly to those , who had any thing to ask of her . and when she was to dispense a charity , she had , as a liberal , so a tender hand , careful not only to supply the necessity , but , what is a doubling of any gift , to save the modesty of the receiver . for her favours came so easily and freely from her , and she appear'd to be so pleas'd with them her self , as would not only incourage , but invite a beggar . she loved to see all persons pleas'd , and so sparing was she of any thing that might trouble them , that tho' she would be compassionate , and bear a part in their sorrows , yet her own should be to her self , and if she could help it , they should seldom bear any in hers . her desire was to be easie and obliging unto all , and her study , but , indeed , she needed not to study it , to offend none . and this goodness was a settled temper , so firmly rooted in her , that neither outward occurrences , nor bodily indispositions , ( which are apt to prevail on others , and must needs tempt her , ) made her fretful , and uneasie to those about her ; and i think it may be as truly said of her , as it can well be of any , that she was alwaies in good humour , she was a person of extraordinary candor , in construing all that others did , or said . here , indeed , she excell'd , and , i doubt , is rarely to he parallell'd . she had the wit to make interpretations of all sorts , but her goodness still determined them on the kind side . so that the good needed not to fear her censure , and , if they must fall under any , the faulty had much reason to desire it . nay , so christianly nice was her charity in this point , that as she would not make reflections on others weaknesses , or say a severe thing her self ; so , as has been several times observ'd , she could give no approbation to it , when others did it . if she did not become their advocate , in suggesting something in their excuse ; she used to rebuke their accusers by her silence , or her countenance . for so truly did she make her neighbours concern her own , that she could not ordinarily lend so much as a smile , to any ridiculous , or smart thing , which was said against them . thus candid was she in judging , or speaking of what was done , or said by others ; and this she was , where one is tempted to be most suspicious , viz. in things which related to her self . for even in them , she could suspect no hurt , because she meant none . she had such a native simplicity , and generous goodness in her own breast , that she could not without great proof , and hardly then too , suspect otherwise of any other person . scarce any where shall one finde a nature more slow to take things ill , and resent unkindnesses ; or that has so great a memory as hers in other things , and yet is so very apt , as she was , to forget them . she was a very easie person in all converse , not given , as i noted , to trouble any with her own praise , or the dispraise of others , and evidencing an esteem of every person but her self . she was too generous , and good natured , to scorn any for their meanness ; or to deride them for their folly , and impertinence . wheresoever she went , her custom was to take all things kindly , finding no faults , and much less speaking of them . she was a very desirable person to be concern'd with , either in conferring , or receiving kindnesses : for when others did any thing for her , she thought it was too much ; but what she could do for them , she overlooked as if she had done nothing . she expected so little to her self , that she was never apt to take exceptions ; and was so humble , innocent , and obliging , that she was in little danger of doing any thing for others to except against . scarce any thing could anger her , that was done to her , and much less would any thing anger others , that passed from her . so that every one was sure to be at ease , and have nothing to provoke them , whil'st they kept her company . she spoke not much , but was of few words ; a great art of keeping innocence , ( especially in an age that abounds in censure ) under all the temptations to discourse , and of having little to repent of . this , perhaps , some may think , whatever it be of their virtue and wisdom , is no commendation of the wit and parts of any person . but every wise man knows , that understanding consists in wise and pertinent , and not in much talking . god had given her a solid reason , and when she did speak , it was truly pertinent , and worth the hearing . and during all the time i have had the happiness to observe her , i do not remember what frivolous , or fond thing i have heard come from her . she could not allow her self to say ill of any , nor could lend a word , or spare , as i said , so much as a smile in approbation when others did ; and therefore whensoever the faults and blemishes of persons was the topick of discourse , it was little she had to speak . but tho' her discourse was the less upon that account , yet i am sure the example is good , and it was the more innocent and profitable , which makes an abundant amends for it . in a word , she was a truly excellent , and amiable person ; plentifully indow'd with those qualities that may gain love , and with those virtues which deserve imitation . and she had this testimony of her worth , which shews not only the reality , but the greatness of it ; she was not , as too many others are , liked best at first , but still grew higher in esteem , as she was longer and better known . for she had such a stock of true and solid goodness , as could not be discovered ( especially thro' the vail her modesty cast before it ) till time drew it out , and still administred matter to those that beheld her , for a new and growing affection . she envied no persons condition , but was hugely pleas'd and contented in her own . she was a sincere christian , an ornament to her husband , ( by whom she was dearly beloved , and in her memory highly honour'd , as she most justly deserv'd it ) , and an extraordinary blessing to this family , who do resignedly submit to it as to what god has order'd , but think the loss of such a treasure so great , that in this world they dare not hope to meet with any thing that can repair it . and what is still the crown and glory of all these perfections , amidst all this , she was , as i hinted , so free from ostentation , and so opposite to any thing that looked like seeking praise , as nothing in this world ordinarily can be more . she was a person , as of a very great , so , what makes it greater still , of a very conceal'd goodness . she used arts to hide her virtues , and would hardly be brought to acknowledge any thing to her just praise , and did as truly take pains to avoid the opinion of being exeellent in any endowments , as others do to obtain it . so that she was like the sun wrapt up in a cloud , her rays were cast all inward , and , so far as she could order it , shone only to herself , and to almighty god. she would , it seems , as far as she was able , be good altogether for his sake , and seek no worldly advantage by it : but at the same time she aspried to be great in goodness , she shunn'd the reputation of being thought so . such were the virtues , and so considerable were the attainments of this pious soul in righteousness . and being so well stored in goodness , it may well be expected she should have her share in comforts , and , as the text says , have hope in her death . and so , indeed , it was . her death was very sudden , suspected by none , nor in all appearance by her self , till she awaked in the jaws of it , and said she was a dying . this was very short warning . but tho' it may be sudden , it is never too soon to a good christian. a well-spent life is such a preparation , that altho' it comes the most unexpected , it can never take them unprovided , but they may meet it upon any intimation . but this suddenness , tho' it could not indanger the safety , yet was it a mighty tryal of the clear conscience , and firm hopes of this excellent person . if any thing had stuck upon her , or she had been conscious of any thing to affright her ; then , no doubt , had been the time to fear , when the judge had sent the summons , and call'd her in to come before him . but , whether from the applause of a clear conscience , which , having been hitherto a faithful guide , proved now a comfort to her ; or whether from the intimation of some good angel , that was come to carry off his charge ( if angels do then begin a correspondence , and give kind intimations when a soul is just leaving the body , and going to converse and be fellow-citizen with themselves ) : from which soever of these causes , i say , it hapned , thus it was , this happy soul in that suprize , had a clear , chearful confidence , and a foretaste of that joy and peace god was preparing for her . tho' she knew she was going in haste , she could take time , and spend some of those few minutes she had still remaining , to declare her mind in some things which she would have ordered . and observing her nurse that was attending her , to fall a weeping , with an even and undisturb'd mind she rebuked her , and bid her not to weep for her , for she was going to be happy , and to be an angel in heaven . and thus i have endeavour'd to give some account of this excellent person , and to lay out some of those virtues in her , which may bring honour to god , and the greatest benefit to our selves , by our godly imitation of them . this , tho' to some who knew her not , or who looked not near or long enough upon her to discover a goodness so silent and secret , it may seem an ample ; yet to those who knew her best , perhaps will appear an imperfect draught . but i pretend not to give a perfect description of her . she was of such a modest goodness , and her virtues so industriously conceal'd , that i believe a just account of them is only known to god , and must then only be laid out at large to all the world , when he comes to reward openly what was done in secret . i have only design'd to draw this fair saint in such virtues , as i desire from her copy to make live things , and to translate into others practice . for nothing is more instructing to the world , and more like to bring virtue into practise , than to draw it out in the lives and acts of pious persons . this shews men what they are to do in religion , and withal that it is a feasible thing ; and therein both directs , and excites to imitation . i am sure there is much to be learn'd in such a pattern as this is , and as the world has great need , so i hope it will reap some profit by such examples . what further now remains for us , but to preserve the memory of her great virtues always fresh in our minds , and express the copy of them in our practice ? for this is the best way of remembring the dead , which brings in most advantage to our selves , and most honour to them , to imitate what was good in them ; when the piety , and humility , and justice , and charity , and other virtues of the dead , are kept alive , and shewn in the conversation of the living . it is only these virtues which carried those who are gone , and which can carry us too in the end to a joyful resurrection . whereto in thy due time , do thou , o! blessed god , in thine abundant goodness bring us all for christ his sake . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47297-e390 * see mr. smiths learned discourse of a legal righteousness among his sel. discours . c. 3. p. 290. &c. * 2 tim. 1 ▪ 10. * 1 cor. 15. 55. * 1 pet 3. 34. a treatise of death, the last enemy to be destroyed shewing wherein its enmity consisteth and how it is destroyed : part of it was preached at the funerals [sic] of elizabeth, the late wife of mr. joseph baker ... / by rich. baxter ; with some few passages of the life of the said mrs. baker observed. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. 1660 approx. 266 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 162 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a27048 wing b1425 estc r18115 12395485 ocm 12395485 61147 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a27048) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61147) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 270:1) a treatise of death, the last enemy to be destroyed shewing wherein its enmity consisteth and how it is destroyed : part of it was preached at the funerals [sic] of elizabeth, the late wife of mr. joseph baker ... / by rich. baxter ; with some few passages of the life of the said mrs. baker observed. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. [2], 49, [7], 250, [15] p. printed by r.w. for nev. simmons ... and are to be sold by him ... and by tho. johnson ..., london : 1660. errata on p. [7] at end of section 1. advertisements on p. [3]-[14] at end of section 2. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng baker, elizabeth, 1634-1659. death -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2005-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-05 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2006-05 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a treatise of death ; the last enemy to be destroyed . shewing wherein its enmity consisteth , and how it is destroyed . part of it was preached at the funerals of elizabeth the late wife of mr. joseph baker , pastor of the church at saint andrews in worcester . by rich. baxter . with some few passages of the life of the said mrs. baker , observed . psal 15.4 . in whose eyes a vile person is contemned : but he honoureth them that fear the lord. ] 1 cor. 15 ▪ 55 , 56 , 57. o death , where is thy sting ! o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to god which giveth us the victory , through our lord j●sus christ . ] lond●n printed by r.w. for nev simmons book-sel●er in kederminster , and are to be sold by him there , and by tho. johnson at the golden key in pauls church-yard . 1660. at 1● . bound . to the worshipfull the major , aldermen and sheriff of the city of worcester , with the rest of the inhabitants , especially those of the parishes of andrews and hellens . worshipfull , and the rest beloved , the chief part of this following discourse , being preached among you , and that upon an occasion which you are obliged to consider , ( isa . 57.1 . ) being called to publish it , i thought it meet to direct it first to your hands , and to take this opportunity , plainly and seriously to exhort you in some matte●s that your present and everlasting peace is much concerned in . credible fame reporteth you to be a people not all of one mind , or temper in the matters of god : but that 1. some of you are godly , sober and peaceable : 2. some well-meaning and zealous , but addicted to divisions : 3. some papists : 4. some hiders , seduced by your late deceased neighbour clement writer , ( to whom the quakers do approach in many opinions . ) 5. and too many prophane and obstinate persons , that are heartily and seriously of no religion , but take occasion from the divisions of the rest , to despise or neglect the ordinances of god , and joyn themselves to no assemblies . 1. to the first sort ( having least need of my exhortation , ) i say no more , but , as you have received christ jesus the lord , so walk ye in him : rooted and built up in him , and stablished in the faith , as ye have been taught , abounding therein with thanskgiving : and beware lest any man spoil you by deceit , &c. ] col. 2.6 , 7 , 8. walk as a chosen g●neration , a royal priest-hood , a holy nation , a peculiar people , to shew forth the praises of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light ; having your conversation honest among the ungodly , that whereas they are apt to speak against you as evil doers , they may by your good works which they shall behold , glorifie god in the day of visitation : for so is the will of god , that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men , 1 pet. 2.9 , 11 , 12 , 15. your labour and patience is known to the lord ; and how ye cannot bear them which are evil , but have tried them which say they speak from the lord , and are apostles , and are not , and have found them lyars ; even the woman jezabel , that is suffered to teach and seduce the people , calling her self a prophetess , who shall be cast into a bed of tribulation , and all that commit adultery with her , except they repent ; and her children shall be killed with death ; and all the churches shall know that christ is he which searcheth the reins and hearts ; and will give to every one according to their work . as for your selves , we put upon you no other burden , but that which you have already , hold fast till the lord come , rev. 2. be watchfull , that ye fall not from your first love : and if any have declined and grown remiss , remember how you have received and heard , and hold fast , and repent , and strengthen the things that remain , which are ready to die , lest your candlestick should be removed , rev. 3.2 , 3 , &c. ] and beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked , fall from your own stedfastness ; but grow in grace , and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour jesus christ , 2 pet. 3.17 , 18. and i beseech you brethren , do all things without murmurings and disputings , that ye may be blameless , and harmless , the sons of god without rebuke , and in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation , among whom you ( and your brethren ) shine as lights in the world , phil. 2.14 , 15. and if in weldoing yo● suffer , think it not strange , but rejoyce that ye are partakers of the sufferings of christ , that when his glory shall be revealed , ye may be glad also with exceeding joy : if ye be reproached for the name of christ , ye are happy , for the spirit of glory and of god resteth upon you , being glorified on your part , while he is evill spoken of on theirs , 1 pet. 4.12 , 13 , 14. 2. to the second sort ( inclinable to divisions ) let me tender the counsell of the holy ghost , jam. 3.1 . my brethren , be not many masters ( or teachers ) knowing that ye shall receive the greater condemnation . the wisdom that is from above , is first pure , and then peaceable , gentle and easie to be intreated , full of mercy and good fruits , without partiality , and without hypocrisie : and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace , of them that make peace . who then is the wise and knowing man amongst you ? let him shew out of a good conversation , his works with meekness of wisdom : but if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts , glory not ; and lye not against the truth : this wisdom descendeth not from above , but is earthly , sensuall , devilish : for where envying and strife is , there is confusion , and every evil work . ] look on those assemblies , where the people professing the fear of god , are of one heart and mind , and walk together in love and holy order , and people give due honour and obedience to their faithfull guides ; and compare them with the congregations where professors are self-conceited , unruly , proud , and addicted to ostentation of themselves , and to divisions ; and see which is likest to the primitive pattern , and in which it is that the power of godliness prospereth best , and the beauty of religion most appears , and christians walk as christians indeed . if pride had not brought the heavy judgement of infatuation or insensibility on many , the too clear discoveries of the fruits of divisions in the numerous and sad experiences of this age , would have caused them to be abhorred as odious and destructive , by those that now think they do but transcend their lower brethren in holiness and zeal . [ i beseech you therefore brethren , by the name of the lord jesus christ , that you all speak the same thing , and that there be no divisions among you , but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind , and in the same judgement , 1 cor. 1.10 . ] the god of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another , according to christ jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie god , ] rom. 15.5 , 6. and i beseech you brethren , to know them which labour among you , and are over you in the lord , and admonish you : and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake , and be at peace among your selves , 1. thes . 5.12 , 13. and mark those that cause divisions and offences , contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned , and avoid them , rom. 16.17 . and if there be any consolation in christ , if any comfort of love , if any fellowship of the spirit , if any bowels and mercies , fulfill ye our joy , that ye may be like minded , having the same love , being of one accord , of one mind : let nothing be done through strife or vain glory , but in lowliness of mind , let each esteem other better then themselves . look not every man on his own things , ( his own gifts and graces ) but every man also on the things ( the graces and gifts ) of others ; let this mind be in you which was in christ jesus ; who being in the form of god , thought it not robbery to be equall with god ; but made himself of no reputation ( or , emptied himself of all worldly glory : as isa . 53.2 , 3 , 4. as if he had had no form or comeliness , and no beauty to the eye for which we should desire him : but was despised and rejected of men , and not esteemed , ) phil. 2.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. it is not ( as you imagine ) your extraordinary knowledge , zeal and holiness , that inclineth you to divisions ; and to censuring of your brethren ; but it is pride , and ignorance , and want of love : and if you grow to any ripeness in knowledge , humility , self-denyall and charity , you will bewail your dividing inclinations and courses , and reckon them among the greater and grievous of your sins , and cry out against them as much as your more charitable and experienced brethren do . 3. to the third sort , ( the papist ) i shall say nothing here , because i cannot expect they should read it and consider it : and because we are so far disagreed in our principles that we cannot treat with them on those rationall terms as we may do with the rest of the inhabitants of the world , whether christians , infidels or heathens . as long as they build their faith and salvation on the supposition that the eyes , and taste , and feeling of all the sound men in the world , are deceived in judging of bread and wine ; and as long as they deny the certain experience of true believers ( telling us that we are void of charity and unjustified , because we are not of their church , ) and as long as they fly from the judgement and tradition of the ancient and the present church ( unless their small part may be taken for the whole , or the major vote , ) and as long as they reject our appeal to the holy scriptures , i know not well what we can say to them , which we can expect they should regard , any more then musick is regarded by the deaf , or light by the blind , or argument by the distracted . if they had the moderation and charity impartially to peruse our writings , i durst confidently promise the recovery of multitudes of them , by the three writings which i have already published , and the more that others have said against them . 4. and for the fourth sort , ( the hiders , and the quakers ) i have said enough to them already ( in my book against infidelity , and those against popery and quakers : ) but in vain to those that have sinned unto death . 5. it is the fifth sort therefore that i shall chiefly address my speech to ; who , i fear , are not the smallest part . it is an astonishing consideration to men that are awake , to observe the unreasonableness and stupidity of the ignorant , careless , sensual part of men ; how little they love or fear the god , whom their tongues confess ; how little they value , or mind , or seek the everlasting glory , which they take on them to believe ; how little they fear and shun those flames which must feed for ever on the impenitent and unholy ; how little they care or labour for their immortall souls , as if they were of the religion of their beasts : how bitterly many of them hate the holy wayes commanded by the lord : while yet they pretend to be themselves his servants , and to take the scriptures to be his word : how sottishly and contemptuously they neglect and slight the holiness without which there is no salvation ; heb. 12.14 . how eagerly they desire and seek the pleasing of their flesh , and the matters of this transitory life , while they call them vanity and vexation ; how madly they will fall out with their own salvation , and from the errors and sins of hypocrites or others , will pick quarrels against the doctrine , and ordinances , and wayes of god ; as if other mens faults should be exceeded by you , while you pretend to loath them . if it be a sin to crack our faith by some particular error , what is it to dash it all to pieces ? if it be odious in your eyes , to deny some particular ordinance of god , what is it to neglect or prophane them all ? if it be their sin that quarrel in the way to heaven , and walk not in company as love requireth them ; what is it in you to run towards hell , and turn your backs on the holy laws and wayes of god ? if it be so lamentable to the nation and themselves , that so many have faln into schism and disorder ; what is it then that so many are ungodly , sensual and worldly , and have no true religion at all , in sincerity , life and power ? ungodliness is all heresie transcendently in the lump , and that in practice . a man that is so foolish as to plead that arsenick is better then bread , may yet live himself if he do not take it : but so cannot he that eateth it instead of bread . hereticks only in speculation may be saved : but practicall hereticks cannot . you think it haynous to deny with the mouth that there is a god , who made us , and is our only lord and happiness ( and so it is . ) and is it not haynous then to deny him with the heart and life ; and to deny him the love and obedience that is properly due to god ? it is odious idolatry to bow to a creature as to god ; and is it not odious to love , and honour , and obey a creature before him , and to seek it more eagerly , and mind it more seriously then god ? if it be damnable infidelity to deny christ to be the redeemer , it is not much less to turn away from him , and make light of him and refuse his grace , while you seem to honour him . if it be damnable blasphemy to deny the holy ghost ; what is it to resist and refuse him when he would ●anctifie you , and perhaps to make a scorn of holiness ? if ●t be heresie to deny the holy catholick church , and the communion of saints ; what is it to hate the holy members of the church , and to avoid , if not deride , the communion of saints ? be not deceived , god is not mocked : a mock-religion , and the name of christianity will never save you . do you know how near you are to judgement , and will you fearlesly thus heap up wrath , and lay in fewell for the everlasting flames ? do you know how speedily you shall wish in the bitterness of your souls , that you had heard , and prayed , and laboured as for your lives , and redeemed your time , and obeyed your teachers ; and yet will you now stand loytering , and quarrelling , and jeasting , and dallying in the matters of salvation ? ●nd will you live as if you had nothing but the world to mind , when you are even ready to step into the endless world ? o sirs , do you know what you are doing ? you are abusing the living god , and wronging the lord jesus , and trampling upon that mercy which would comfort you in your extremity , a drop of which you would then be glad of : you are grieving your poor friends , and teachers , and preparing for your endless grief . a●as , what should a faithfull minister do , for the saving of your souls ? he seeth you befooled in your security , and carelesly passing on towards hell , and cannot help it : he sees you posting to your misery , where you will be out of the reach of all our exhortations , and where mercy will not follow you to be accepted or rejected : and though he see you almost past remedy he cannot help you . he knoweth not when he speaks to you , whether ever he shall speak unto you more , and whether ever you shall have another call and offer ; and therefore he would fain speak effectually if he could ; but it is not in his power . he knows that the matter sticks all at your own wills , and that if he could but procure your own consent , to the most reasonable and necessary business in the world , the work were done , and you might scape the everlasting flames : and yet this is it that he cannot procure ! o wonderfull , that any man should be damned ; yea that many men , and most men should be damned , when they might be saved if they would , and will not ! yea that no saying will serve to procure their consent , and make them willing ! that we must look on our poor miserable neighbours in hell , and say , they might have been saved once , but would not ! they had time , and leave to turn to god , and to be holy and happy as well as others , but we could never prevail with them to consent , and know the day of their visitation ! o what should we do for the saving of careless , senseless souls ? must we let them go ? is there no remedy ? shall ministers study to meet with their necessities , and tell them with all possible plainness and compassion , of the evil that is a little before them , and teach them how they may escape it ? why , this they do from day to day , and some will not hear them , but are tipling , or idling or making a jeast of the preacher at home , and others are hearing with prejudice and contempt , and most are hardned into a senseless deadness , and all seems to them but as an empty sound : and they are so used to hear of heaven and hell , that they make as light of them as it there were no such states ! alas , that while millions are weeping & wailing in utter desperation , for the neglecting of their day of grace , and turning away from him that called them , our poor hearers at the same time should wilfully follow them , when they are told from god what others suffer ! alas , that you should be sleepy and dead under those means , that should waken you to prevent eternall death ! and that ever you should make merry so near damnation , and be sporting your selves with the same kind of sins that others at the same hour are tormented for ? and is such madness as this remediless , in people that seem as wise as others for worldly things ! alas , for any thing that we can do , experience tells us that with the most it is remediless ! could we remedy it , our poor people should not wilfully run from christ , and lie in the flames of hell for ever . could our perswasions and entreaties help it , they should not for ever be shut out of heaven , when it s offered to them as well as others . we bewail it from our hearts before the lord , that we can entreat them no more earnestly , and beg not of them as for our lives to look before them , and hearken to the voice of grace that they may be saved . and a thousand times in secret we call our selves hard-hearted , unmercifull , and unfaithfull , ( in too great a measure ) that speak no more importunately for the saving of mens souls , when we know not whether we shall ever speak to them any more . is this all that we can say or do in so terrible a case , and in a matter of such weight as mens salvation ! the lord forgive our great insensibility , and awaken us , that we may be fit to waken others ; but yet for all this , with grief we must complain , that our people feel not when we feel , and that they are senseless or asleep when we speak to them as seriously as we can , and that tears and moans do not prevail ; but they go home and live as stupidly in an unconverted sta●e , as if all were well with them , and they w●re not the m●n we speak to . o tha● you knew wha●● fearfull judgement it is , to be forsaken of god because you would have none of him , and to be given up to your hearts lust● , ●o walk in your o●● counsells , be●●s● you wo●ld not hearken to his voice , ps●l . 81.11 , 12 , 13. and to have god say , let those wretches be ignorant , and careless , and fleshly , and worldly , and filthy still , rev. 22.11 . o that you knew ( but not by experience ) what a heavy plague it is to be so forsaken , as to have eyes that see not , or seeing do not perceive , and to have ears that hear not , or to hear and not understand , and so to be unconverted and unhealed , mark 4.12 . and to be hardened and condemned by the word , and patience , and mercies that do soften and save others , and should have saved you ! take heed lest christ say , [ i have lent them my messengers long enough in vain ; from henceforth never fruit grow on them ? because they would not be converted , they shall not . ] take heed lest he take you away from means , and quickly put an end to your opportunities . you see how fast men pass away , but little do you know how many are lamenting that they made no better use of time , and helps , and mercies while they had them . o hear while you may hear , for it will not be long : read while you may read , and pray while you may pray , and turn while you may turn , and go to your christian friends an● teachers , and enquire of them , what you must do to be saved , before enqui●ing be too late . spend the lords day , and what other time you can redeem , in holy preparations for your endless rest , while you have such a happy day to spend . o sleep no longer in your sins , while god stands over you , lest before you a●e aware you awake in hell. patience and mercy have their appointed time , and will not alway wait and be despised . o let not your teachers be forced to say , [ we would have taught them publikely and privately , but they would not : we would have catechized the ignorant , and exhorted the negligent , but some of them would not come near us , and others of them gave us but the hearing , and went away such as they came . ] if once by forefeiting the gospell the teachers whom you slight be taken from you , you may then sin on , and take your course , till time , and help and hope are past . the providence that called me to this work , was so●e warning to you . though it was not the calling away your teacher , it was a removing of his helper , a pattern of meekness , and godliness , and charity , and he is left the more disconsolate in the prosecution of his work . god hath made him faithfull to your souls , and carefull for your happiness . he walks before you in humility and self-denyall , and patience , and peaceableness , and in an upright inoffensive life : he is willing to teach you publikely and privately , in season and out of season : he manageth the work of god with prudence and moderation , and yet with zeal , carefully avoiding both ungodliness and schism , or the countenancing of either of them : were he not of eminent wisdom and integrity , his name would not be so unspotted in a place where dividers , and disputers , papists , and quakers , and so many bitter enemies of godliness , do watch for matter of accusation and reproach against the faithfull ministers of christ . as you love the safety and happiness of your city , and of your souls , undervalue not such mercies , nor think it enough to put them off with your commendations and good word : it is not that which they live , and preach , and labour for ; but for the conversion , edification and salvation of your souls . let them have this , or they have nothing , if you should give them all you have . the enemies of the gospel have no wiser cavill against the painfull labourers of th● lord , then to call them ●●●elings , and blame them for looking after tythes , and great matters in the world . b●t as among all the faithfull ministers of this countrey through the great mer●y of god th●se adversaries are now almost ashamed to open their mouths with an accusation of covetousness ? so this your reverend , faithfull teacher , hath stopt the mouth of all such calumnie , as to him . when i invited him from a place of less work , and a competent maintenance , to accept of less then half that maintenance , with a far greater burden of work among you , he never stuck at it , as thinking he might be more servic●able to god , and win that which is better then the rich●s of this world . and if now you will frustrate his expectations , and disappoint his labours and hopes of your salvation , it will be easier for sodom in the day of judgement then for you . alas how sad is it to see a faithfull minister longing and labouring for mens salvation , and many of them neglecting him , and others picking groundless quarrels , and the proud unruly selfish part , rebelling and turning their backs upo● their teachers , when ever they will not humour them in their own wayes , or when they deal but faithfully with their souls ! some ( even of those that speak against disobedience , conventicles and schism , ) turn away in disdain , if their children may not be needlesly baptized in private houses , and if that solemn ordinance may not be celebrated in a parlour conventicle . how many refuse to come to the minister in private to be instructed or catechised , or to confer with him about their necessary preparation for death and judgement ! is not this the case of many among you ? must not your teacher say , he sent to you , and was willing to have done his part , and you refused ? little will you now believe how heavy this will lie upon you one day , and how dear you shall pay for the causless grieving and disappointment of your guides . it is not your surliness and passions that will then serve turn to answer god. nor shall it save you to say , that ministers were of so many minds and wayes , that you knew not which of them to regard : for it was but one way , that god in the holy scripture did prescribe you : and all faithfull ministers were agreed in the things which you reject , and in which you practically differ from them all . what ? are we not all agreed , that god is to be preferred before the world ? and that you must first seek the kingdom of god and his righteousness ? and that no man can be saved except he be converted and born again ? and that he that hath not the spirit of christ is none of his ? mat. 6.33 . john 3.3 , 5. mat. 18.3 . rom. 8.9 . and that you & your housholds should serve the lord , josh . 24.15 . are we not all agreed that the law of the lord must be your delight , and that you must meditate disable death to terrifie and discourage us ; and raiseth us above our natural fears , and sheweth us ( though but in a glass ) the exceeding eternal weight of glory which churlish death shall help us to . so that when the eye of the unb●liever looketh no further then the grave , believing souls can enter into heaven , and see their glorified lord , and thence fetch love , and hope , and joy , notwithstanding the terrors of interposing death . the eye of faith foreseeth the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time , and causeth us therein greatly to rejoyce , though now for a season ( if need be ) we are in heaviness through manifold temptations . and so vic●orious is this faith against all the storms that do assault us , that the tryal of it , though with fire , doth but discover that it is much more precious then gold that perisheth , and it shall be found unto praise and honour , and glory at the appearing of jesus christ ; whom having never seen in the flesh we love , and though now we see him not , yet believing we rejoyce with unspeakable glorious joy , 1 pet. 1.5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. and shall shortly receive the end of our faith , the salvation of our souls . thus faith , though it destroy not death it self , destroyeth the malignity and enmi●y of death : while it seeth the things that are beyond it , and the time when death shall be destroyed , and the life where death shall be no more . faith is like davids three mighty men , that brake through the host of the philistines , to fetch him the waters of bethlehem , for which he longed , 2 sam. 23.15 , 16. when the thirsty soul saith , o that one would give me drink of the waters of salvation ! faith breaks through death which standeth in the way , and fetcheth these living waters ●o the soul . we may ever , psal . 15.4 . and have contemned the ungodly as vile persons , though they had been of your side . the catholick church is one , and containeth all that heartily and practically believe in god the father , son and holy ghost , the creator , redeemer , and sanctifier , and live a holy heavenly life . leave off your siding , and keep this blessed simple unity , and you will then be wiser then in a passion to cast your selves into hell , because some fall out in the way to heaven . nor will it serve your turn at the bar of god , to talk of the miscarriages or scandalls of some , that took on them to be godly , no more then to run out of the ark for the sake of cham , or out of christs family for the sake of judas . what ever men are , god is just , and will do you no wrong ; and you are called to believe in god , and to serve him , and not to believe in men . nothing but wickedness could so far blind men , as to make them think they may cast off their love and service to the lord , because some others have dishonoured him : or that they may cast away their souls by carelesness , because some others have wounded their souls by particular sins . do you dislike the sins of the professors af godliness ? so much the better : we desire you not to agree with them in sinning : joyn with them in a holy life , and imitate them so far as they obey the lord ; and go as far beyond them in avoiding the sins that you are offended at , as you can ; and this is it that we desire . suppose they were covetous , or lyars , or schismaticall : imitate them in holy duties , and fly as far from covetousness , lying and schism , as you will. you have had learned and godly bishops of this city : search the writings of those of them that have left any of their labours to posterity , and see whether they speak not for the same substantials of faith and godliness , which are now preacht to you , by those that you set so light by . bishop latimer , parrey , babington , &c. while they were bishops ; and rob. abbot , hall , &c. ●efore they were bishops , all excellent , learned , godly ●en , have here been preachers ●o your ancestors : read their ●ooks , and you will find that ●hey call men to that strictness ●nd holiness of life , which you cannot abide . read your bi●hop babington on the commandments , and see there how zealously he condemneth the prophaners of the lords day , and those that make it a day of idleness or sports . and what if one man think that one bishop should have hundreds of churches under his sole jurisdiction , and another man think that every full parish church should have a bishop of their own , and that one parish will find him work enough , be he what he will be , ( which is the difference now among us , ) is this so heinous a disagreement , as should frighten you from a holy life which all agree for ? to conclude , remember this is the day of your salvation : ministers are your helpers : christ and holiness are your way : scripture is your rule : the godly must be your company , and the communion of saints must be your desire : if now any scandals , divisions , displeasures , or any seducements of secret or open adversaries of the truth , or temptations of satan , the world , or flesh whatsoever , shall prevail with you to lose your day , to refuse your mercies , and to neglect christ and your immortal souls , you are conquered and undone , and your enemy hath his will ; and the more confidently and fearlesly you brave it out , the more is your misery ; for the harder are your hearts , and the harder is your cure ; and the sure● and sorer will be your damnation . i have purposely avoided the enticing words of worldly wisdom , and a stile that tends to claw your ears , and gain applause with aery wits , and have chosen these familiar words , and dealt thus plainly and freely with you , because the greatness of the cause perswaded me , i could not be too serious . whether many of you will read it , or how those that read it will take it , and what success it shall have upon them , i cannot tell : but i know that i intended it for your good , and that whether you will hear , or whether you will forbear , the ministers of christ must not forbear to do their duty , nor be rebellious themselves : but our labours shall be acceptable with our lord , and you shall know , that his ministers were among you , ezek. 2.3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. [ yet a little while is the light with you : walk while ye have the light , lest darkness come upon you ; for he that walketh in darkness , knoweth not whither he goeth . ] john 12.35 . o take this warning from christ , and from an earnest desirer of your everlasting peace , rich. baxter . the contents . the introduction , p. 1 what is meant by [ an enemy , ] and how death is an enemy to nature , p. 6 , 7 how death is an enemy to grace , and to our salvation : discovered in ten particulars , p. 15 how christ conquereth this enemy , p. 35 four antidotes given us against the enmity of death , at our conversion , p. 39. how death is made a destruction of it self , p. 56 the full destruction at the resurrection , p. 60 the first use , to resolve the doubt , whether death be a punis●ment to believers , p. 63 use 2. to shew us the malignity of sin , and how we should esteem and use it . p. 66 use 3. to teach us that man hath now a need of grace for difficulties which were not before him in his state of innocency , p. 72 use 4. to inform us of the reasons of the sufferings and death of christ , p. 77 use 5. to rectifie the mistakes of some true believers , that think they have no saving grace , because the fears of death deter them from desiring to be with christ , p. 83 ●se 6. to teach us to study and magnifi● our redeemers conquering grace , that overcometh death , and makes it our advantage , p. 96 use 7. to direct us how to prepare for death , and overcome the en●ity , and fear of it , p. 110 direct . 1. make sure that conversion be sound , p. 115 direct . 2. live by faith , on christ the conquerour , p. 116 direct 3. live also by faith on the heavenly glory , p. 120 direct . 4. labour to encrease and exercise divine love , p. 124 direct . 5. keep conscience clear : or if it be wounded , prese●tly seek the cure , p. 127 direct . 6. redeem and improve your pretious time , p. 130 direct . 7. crucifie the flesh , and die to the world , p. 132 direct . 8. a conformity to god in the hatred of sin , and love of holiness : and especially in the point of justice , p. 134 direct . 9. the due consideration of the restlesness , and troubles of this life , and of the manifold ●vils that end at death , p. 13 direct . 10. resign your wills entirely to the will of god , and acquiesce in it , as your safety , felicity and rest . p. 159 use 8. great comfort to believers , that they have no enemy b●t what they are sure shall be conquered at last . p. 165 object . but what comfort is all this to me that know not whether i have part in christ or no ? answered , to satisfie the doubts , and further the assurance of the tr●ubled christian , p. 173 use 9. what a mercy the resurrection of christ was to the world , and how we should use it to strengthen our faith , p. 199 the lords day honourable , p. 201 use 10. how earnestly we should pray for the second coming of christ , though death be terrible p. 207 some imitable passages of the life of elizabeth , late wife of mr. joseph baker , whose funerals occasioned this discourse , p. 225 errata . 1 cor. 15.26 . the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death . death is the occasion of this dayes meeting : and death must be the subject of our present meditations . i must speak of that which will shortly silence me ; and you must hear of that which speedily will stop your eares : and we must spend this hour on that which waits to cut our thred , and take down our glass , and end our time , and tell us we have spent our last ▪ but as it hath now done good by doing hurt ; so are we co consider , of the accidental benefits , as well as of the natural evil , from which the heavenly wisdom doth extract them . death hath now bereaved a body of its soul ; but thereby it hath sent that soul to christ ; where it hath now experience how good it is to be absent from the body and present with the lord , 2 cor. 5.8 . it hath separated a faithful wife from a beloved husband : but it hath sent her to a husband dearlyer beloved ; and taught her now by experience to say , that to be with christ is best of all , phil 1.23 . it hath deprived a sorrowful husband of a wife , and deprived us all of a faithful friend : but it hath thereby brought us to the house of mourning , which is better for us then the house of feasting , ( a paradox to the flesh , but an undoubted truth : ) for h●re we may see the end of all men , and we that are yet living may lay it to our hearts , eccl. 7.2 , 3. yea it hath brough us to the house of god , and occasioned this serious address unto his holiness , that we may be instructed by his word , as we are warned by his works , and that we may be wise to understand , and to consider our latter end , deut. 32.29 . it s like you 'l think that to tell men of the evil or enmity of death , is as needless a ●iscourse as any could be chosen : for who is there that is not naturally too sensible of this ? and who doth not dread the name , or at least the face of death ? but there is accidentally a greater evil in it , then that which nature teacheth men to fear : and while it is the king of terrors to the world , the most are ignorant of the great●st hurt that it doth them , or can do them ; or at least it is but little thought on ; which hath made me think it a needfull work , to tell you yet of much more evil , in that which you abhor as the greatest evil : but so as withall to magnifie our redeemer , that overshooteth death in its own bow ; and causeth it , when it hits the mark , to miss it : and that causeth health by loathsome medicines ; and by the dung of our bodily corruption manureth his church to the greater felicity . such excellent skil of our wise physician , we find exprest and exercised in this chapter : where an unhappy error against the resurrection , hath happily occasioned an excellent discou●se on that weighty subject , which may stablish many a thousand souls , and serve to shame and destroy such heresies , ●ill the resurrection come , and prove it self . the great argument which the apostle most insisteth on , to prove the resurrection , is christs own resurrection : where he entereth into a comparison between christ and adam ; shewing that as adam first brought death upon himself , and then upon his posterity ; so christ ( that was made a quickening spirit ) did first rise himself as the first-fruits , and th●n at his coming will raise his own : and as in adam all die , so in christ shall all be made alive . and this christ will do , as our victorious king , and the captain of our salvation , who when he hath subdued every enemy , will then deliver up the kingdom to the father : and the last enemy which he will subdue , is death , and therefore our resurrection is his final conquest . the terms of the text have no difficulty in them . the d●ctrin● which they express , must be thus unfolded . 1. i must shew you that death is an enemy , and what is meant by this expression , and wherein its enemy doth consist . 2. i shall shew you that it is an enemy to be d●stroyed , though l●st , and how and by what degrees it is destroyed . and then we shall make application of it to your further instruction and edification . 1. that you may know what is meant by an en●my here , you must observe , that man being fallen into sin and misery , and christ having undertaken the work of our redemption , the scripture oft speaketh of our misery and recovery metaphorically in military terms : and so satan is said to take us captive , and we to be his slaves , and christ to be the captain of our salvation , and to redeem us from our bondage : and thus our sin and misery , and all that hindereth the blessed ends of his undertaking , are called enemies . death therefore is called an enemy to be destr●yed , that is , a penal evil to be removed by the redeemer in order to our recovery and the glory of his grace . 1. it is an evil. 2. a punishment procured by our sin , and executed by gods justice . 3. it is an evil that hindereth our felicity . these three things are included in the enmity . that death is an enemy to nature , is a thing that all understand : but all consider not how it is an enemy to our souls , to the exercise of grace , and consequently to the attainment of glory . i shall therefore having first spoken briefly of the former , insist a little longer upon the latter . 1. how great an enemy death is unto nature doth easily appear , in that 1. it is the dissolution of the man : it maketh a man to become no man ; by separating the soul from the body , and dissolving the body into its principles . it puls down in a moment a curious frame , that nature was long building , and tenderly cherishing and preserving . the mother long nourisheth it in her bowels , and painfully brings it forth , and carefully brings it up ; what labour doth it cost our parents , and our selves to make provision for this life ? and death in a moment cuts it off . how carefull are we to keep in these lamps , and to maintain the oyl ? and death extinguisheth th●m at a blast . how noble a creature doth it destroy ? to day our parts are all in order , and busie about their several tasks ; our hearts are moving , our lungs are breathing , our stomacks are digesting , our blood and spirits by assimilation making more : and to morrow death takes off the poise , and all stands still ; or draws the pins , and all the frame doth fall to pieces . we shall breath no more ; nor speak , nor think , nor walk no more : our pulse will beat no more : our eyes shall s●e the light no more : our ears shall hear the voice of man , delightful sounds and melodie , no more : we shall taste no more our meat or drink : our appetite is gone : our strength is gone : our natural warmth is turned into an earthly cold : our comelyness and beauty is turned into a ghastly loathsome deformity : our white and red doth soon turn into horrid blackness : our tender flesh hath lost its feeling ; and is become a s●nseless lump , that feeleth not whith●r it is carryed , nor how it is use● : that must be hidden in the earth , lest it annoy the living : that quickly turns to loathsome putrefaction ; and after that to common earth . were all the once-comely bodies that now are rotting in one church-yard , uncovered , and here presented to your view , the sight would tell you more effectually then my words do , what an enemy death is to our nature . when corruption hath finished its work , you see the earth that once was flesh : you see the bones ; you see the skuls ; you see the holes where once were brains and eyes and mouth : this change death makes : and that universally and unavoidably . the prince cannot resist it by his majesty : for he hath sin'd against the highest majesty : the strong cannot resist it by their strength : for it is the messenger of the allmighty . the commanders must obey it : the conquerours must be conquered by it . the rich cannot bribe it . the learned orator cannot perswade it to pass him by . the skilful physician cannot save himself from the mortal stroak . neither fields nor gardens , earth or sea affordeth any medicine to prevent it . all have sinned , and all must die : dust we are , and to dust we must return , gen 3.19 . and thus should we remain , if the lord of life should not revive us . 2. and it is not only to the body , but to the soul also that death is naturally an enemy . the soul hath naturally a love and inclination to its body : and therefore it feareth a separation before , and desireth a restauration afterward . abstracting joy and torment , heaven and hell , in our consideration , the state of separation as such , is a natural evil : even to the humane soul of christ it was so , while his body remained in the grave : which separated state is the hades , that our english calleth hell , that christ is said to have gone into . and though ( the soul of christ , and ) the souls of those that die in him , do pass into a far more happy state , then they had in flesh , yet that is accidentally , from rewarding justice , and the bounty of the lord , and not at all from death as death : the separation as such is still an evil . and therefore the soul is still desirous of the bodies resurrection ; and knoweth that its felicity will then be greater , when the re-union , and glorification hath perfected the whole man. so that death as death is unwelcome to the soul it self , though death as accidentally gainfull may be desired . 3. and to the unpardoned unrenewed soul , death is the passage to everlasting misery , and in this regard is far more terrible , then in all that hitherto hath been spoken . o could the guilty soul be sure that there is no justice to take hold on it after death , and no more pain and sorrow to be felt , but that man dyeth as a beast , that hath no more to feel or lose , then death would seem a tolerable evil . but it s the living death , the dying life , the endless woe , to which death leads the guilty soul , that makes it to be unspeakably terrible . the utter darkness , the unquenchable fire , the worm that dyeth not , the everlasting flames of the wrath of god , these are the chief horror and sting of death , to the ungodly . o were it but to be turned into trees , or stones , or earth , or nothing , it were nothing in comparison of this . but i pass by this , because it is not ( directly ) intended in my text. 4. the saints themselves being sanctified but in part , are but imperfectly assured of their salvation ; and therefore in that measure as they remain in doubt , or unassured , death may be a double terror to them . they believe the threatenings , and know more then unbelievers do , what an unsufferable loss it is to be deprived of the celelestial glory ! and what an unspeakable misery it is , to bear the endless wrath of god. and therefore so far as they have such fears , it must needs make death a terror to them . 5. but if there were nothing but death it self to be our enemy , the foreknowledge of it would increase the misery . a beast that knoweth not that he must die , is not tormented with the fears of death ( though nature hath possessed them with a self-preserving fear , for the avoiding of an invading evil . ) but man foreknoweth , that he must die : he hath still occasion to anticipate his terrors : that which will be , and certainly and shortly will be , is in a manner as if it were already . and therefore fore-knowledge makes us as if we were alway dying : we see our graves , our weeping friends , our fore-described corruption and dismal state , and so our life is a continual death . and thus death is an enemy to nature . 2. but this is not all , nor the greatest enmity that death hath to the godly . it is a lamentable hinderance to the work of grace , as i shall shew you next in ten particulars . i. the fears of death do much abate our desires after god , as he is to be enjoyed by the separated soul . though every believing holy soul , do love god above all , and take heaven for his home , and therefore sincerely longeth after it ; yet when we know that death stands in the way , and that there is no coming thither , but through this dreadfull narrow passage , this stoppeth and lamentably dulleth our desires : and so the natural enmity , turneth to a spiritual sorer enmity . for let a man be never so much a saint , he will be still a man ; and therefore as death will still be death , so nature will still be nature : and therefore death as death will be abhorred . and we are such timerous sluggards , that we are easily discouraged by this lyon in the way . the ugly porter affrighteth us from those grateful thoughts of the new jerusalem , the city of god , the heavenly inheritance , which otherwise the blessed object would produce . our sanctified affections would be mounting upwards , and holy love would be working towards its blessed object : but death standing in the way , suppresseth our desires , and turns us back , and frighteneth us from our fathers presence . we look up to christ and the holy city , as to a precious pearl in the bottom of the sea , or as to a dear and faithfull friend , that is beyond some dreadfull gulf : fain we would enjoy him , but we dare not venture ; we fear this dismal enemy in the way . he that can recover his health by a pleasant medicine , doth take it without any great reluctancy : but if a leg or an arm must be cut off , or a stone cut out by a painful dangerous incision , what a striving doth it cause between the contrary passions ? the love of life , and the love of ease ; the fear of death , and the fear of suffering ? could we but come to heaven as easily as innocent adam might have done if he had conquered , what wings would it add to our desires ? might we be translated as henoch , or conveyed thither in the chariot of elias , what saint is there that would not long to see the face and glory of the lord ? were it but to go to the top of a mountain , and there see christ with moses and elias , in a glimpse of glory , as did the three disciples , who would not make haste , and say , it is good for us to be here , matth. 17.1 , 4. but to travell so chearfully with abraham to the mount of m●riah , to sacrifice an only son , or with a martyr to the flames , is a harder task . this is the principal enmity of death ; it deterreth our desires and thoughts from heaven : and maketh it a far harder matter to us , to long after god , then otherwise it would be : yea it causeth us to fly from him , even when we truly love him : and where faith and love do work so strongly as to overcome these fears , yet do they meet with them as an enemy , and must fight before they overcome . 2. and as this enemy dulleth our desires , so doth it consequently cool our love , as to the exercise , and it hindereth our hope , & much abateth the complacency and joy , that we should have in the believing thoughts of heaven : when we should be rejoycing in hope of the glory of god ( rom. 5.2 . ) the face of death appearing to our thoughts , is naturally an enemy to our joy ! when we think of the grave , and of dissolution and corruption , and of our long abode in the places of darkness , of our contemned dust and scattered bones , this damps our joyfull thoughts of heaven , if supernatural grace do not make us conquerors . but if we might pass from earth to heaven , as from one room to another , what haste should we make in our desires ? how joyfully should we think and speak of heaven ? then we might live in the joy of the holy ghost , and easily delight our selves in god , and comfort would be our daily food . 3. moreover , as our natural enemy doth thus occasion the abatement of desire , and love , and joy , so also of our thankfulness for the glory that is promised us . god would have more praise from us , if we had more pleasing joyfull thoughts of our inheritance . we should magnifie him from day to day , when we remember how we shall magnifie him for ever . our hearts would be turned into thankfulness , and our tongues would be extolling our dear redeemer , & sounding forth his praise whom we must praise for ever , if dreadful death did not draw a veil , to hide the heavenly glory from us . 4. and thus the dismall face of death , doth hinder the heavenliness of our conversation . our thoughts will be diverted , when our complacency and desire is abated : our minds will be willinger to grow strange to heaven , when death still mingleth terror in our meditations : whereas if we could have come to god in the way that was first appointed us , and could be cloathed with glory , without being stript of our present cloathing , by this terrible hand , how familiarly should we then converse above ? how readily would our thoughts run out to christ ? meditation of that glory would not be then so hard a work : our hearts would not be so backward to it , as now they are . 5. faith is much hindered , and infidelity much advantaged by death : look either to the state of soul or body , and you will easily perceive the truth of this . the state of a soul incorporated , we know , by long experience : what kind of apprehensions , volitions , and affections belong to a soul while it acteth in the body , we feel or understand : but what manner of knowledg , will or love , what joy , what sorrow , belong to souls that are separated from the bodies , it is not possible for us now distinctly and formally to conceive . and when men find themselves at a loss about the manner , they are tempted to doubt of the thing it self . the swarms of irreligious infidels , that have denied the immortality and separated existence of the soul , are too full a proof of this : and good men have been haunted with this horrible temptation . had there been no death , we had not been liable to this dangerous assault . the opinion of the sleeping of the soul , till the resurrection , is but a step to flat infidelity ; and both of them hence receive their life , because a soul in flesh , when it cannot conceive to its satisfaction , of the being , state , or action of a separated soul , is the easier drawn to question or deny it . and in regard of the body the difficulty and tryal is as great : that a corps resolved into dust ; and perhaps first devoured by some other body , and turned into its substance , should be reunited to its soul , and so become a glorified body , is a point not easie for unsanctified nature to believe . when paul preached of the resurrection , to the learned athenians , some mocked , and others turn'd off that discourse , acts 17.32 . it is no easier to believe the resurrection of the body , then the immortality or separated existence of the soul. most of the world , even heathens and infidels do confess the later , but few of them comparatively believe the former . and if sin had not let in death upon our nature , this perillous difficulty had been prevented : then we should not have bin puzzled with the thoughts of either a corrupted body , or a separated soul. 6. and consequently by all this already mentioned , our endeavors meet with a great impediment . if death weaken faith , desire , and hope , it must needs dull our endeavors . the deterred , discouraged soul moves slowly in the way of life : whereas if death were not in our way , how chearfully should we run towards heaven ? our thoughts of it would be still sweet , and these would be a powerfull spring to action ? when the will goes with full sails , the commanded faculty will the more easily follow . we should long so earnestly to be in heaven , if death were not in the way , that nothing could easily stop us in our course ? how earnestly should we pray ? how seriously should we meditate and conser of heaven ? and part with any thing to attain it ? but that wh●ch dulls our desires of the end , must needs be an enemy to holy diligence , and dull us in the use of means . 7. this enemy also doth dangerously tempt us to fall in love with present things , and to take up the miserable portion of the worldling : when it hath weakened faith , and cooled our desires to the life to come , we shall be tempted to think that its best take such pleasure as may here be had , and feed on that where a sensual mind hath less discouragement . whereas , if death did not stand in the way , and darken heaven to us , and turn back our desires , how easily should we get above thes● trifles , and perceive the vanity of all below , and how unworthy they are to be once regarded ! 8. moreover it is much long of this last enemy , that god is so dishonoured by the fears and droopings of believers . they are but imperfectly yet freed from this bondage : and accordingly they walk . whereas if the king of terrors were removed , we should have less of fear , and more of love , as living more in the sight and sense of love : and then we should glorifie the god of love , and appear to the world as men of another world , and shew them the faith and hope of saints , in the heavenly chearfulness of our lives ; and no more dishonour the lord and our profession , by our uncomfortable despondencies as we do . 9. moreover it is much long of this last enemy that many true christians cannot perceive their own sincerity , but are overwhelmd with doubts and troublesome fears , lest they have not the faith and hope of saints , and lest the love of god abide not in them , and lest their hearts are more on earth then heaven . when they find themselves afraid of dying , and to have dark amazing thoughts about eternity , and to think with less trouble and fear of earth then of the life to come , this makes them think that they are yet but worldlings , and have not placed their happiness with god : when perhaps it is but the fear of death that causeth these unjust : conclusions . christian , i shall tell thee more anon , that god may be truly loved and desired by thee , and heaven may be much more valued then earth , and yet the natural fears of death that standeth in thy way may much perplex thee , & make thee think that thou art averse from god , when indeed thou art but averse from death , because yet this enemy is not overcome . 10. lastly , this enemy is not the smallest cause of many of our particular sins , and of the apostacie of many hypocrit●s . indeeed it is one of the strongest of our temptations . before man sinned , none could take away his life but god , and god would not have done it for any thing but sin . so that man had no temptation from the malice of enemies , or the pride of conquerours , or the fury of the passionate , or the power of tyrants to be afraid of death , and to use any unlawfull means to scape it . an avoidable d●ath from the hand of god , he was obliged moderately to fear ; that is , to be afraid of sinning lest he die ( else god would not have threatened him , if he would not have had him make use of a preventing fear . ) but now we have an unavoidable death to fear , and also an untimely death from the hand of man by gods permission : and the fear of these is a powerfull temptation . otherwise abraham would not have distrustfully equivocated as he did to save his life , gen. 20.11 . and isaac after him do the same , when he sojourned in the same place , gen. 26.7 . if the fear of death were not a strong temptation , peter would not have thrice denyed christ , and that after so late a warning and engagement : nor would all his disciples have forsaken him and fled , matth. 26.56 . nor would martyrs have a special reward , nor would christ have been put to call upon his disciples , that they fear not them that can kill the body , luke 12.4 . and to declare to men the necessity of self-deniall in this point of life , and that none can be his disciple , that loves his life before him , matth. 16.39 . luke 14.26 . he is a christian indeed that so loveth god , that he will not sin to save his life . but what is it that an hypocrite will not do to escape death ? he will equivocate and forswear himself with the jesuite and familist : he will forsake not only his dearest friend , but christ also and his conscience . what a multitude of the most haynous sins are daily committed through the fears of death ? thousands where the inquisition ruleth are kept in popery by it : and thousands are kept in mahometanism by it : thousands are drawn by it to betray their countries ; to deny the truth ; to betray the church and cause of christ ; and finally to betray their souls unto perdition : some of them presume to deny christ wilfully , because that peter had pardon that denyed him through surprize , and through infirmity : but they will not repent with peter , and die for him after their repentance . he that hath the power of an hypocrites life , may prescribe him what he shall b●lieve and do ; may write him down the rule of his religion , and tell him what changes he shall make , what oaths he shall take , what party he shall side with , and command h●m so many sins a day , as you make your horse go so many miles . satan , no doubt , had much experience of the power of this temptation , when he boasted so confidently of it against : job ( 2.4 . ) skin for skin , and all that a man hath he will give for his life : and its true , no doubt , of those that love nothing better then their lives . satan thought that the fear of death would make a man do any thing ; and of too many he may boldly make this boast [ let me but have power of their lives , and i will make them say any thing , and swear any thing , and be for any cause or party , and do any thing against god or man. ] when less●r matters can do so much , as common sad experience sheweth us , no wonder if the fear of death can do it . in brief , you may see by what is said , that death is become an enemy to our souls , by being first the enemy of our natures : the interest of our bodies works much on our souls , much more the interest of the whole man. the principle of self-love was planted in nature in order to self-preservation , and the government of the world : nature doth necessarily abhor its own destruction . and therefore this destruction standing in the way , is become an exceeding great hindrance to our affections , which tak●s them off from the life to come . 1. it is a very great hindrance to the conversion of those that are yet carnal , imprisoned in their unbelief . it is hard to win their hearts to such a state of hap●in●ss , that cannot be obtained but by yielding unto death ? 2. and to the truly godly it is naturally an impediment , and a great temptation in the points before expressed : and though it prevail not against them , it exceedingly hindereth them . and thus i have shewed you , that death is an enemy , further then , i doubt , the most consider of . if the unbeliever shall here tell me , that death is not the fruit of sin , but natural to man , though he had never sinned , and therefore that i lay all this on god : i answer him , that mortality , as it signifyeth a posse mori , a natural capacity of dying , was naturall to us in our innocency : or else death could not be threatened as a penalty : and if i grant as much of a naturall disposition in the body to a dissolution , if not prevented by a glorifying change , it will no whit advantage their impious cause . but withall man was then so far immortall , as that he had a posse non mori , a naturall capacity of not dying ; and the morietur vel non morietur , the actuall event of life or death , was laid by the lord of life and death , upon his obedience or disobedience . and man having sinned , justice must be done , and so we came under a non posse non mori , an impossibility of escaping death ( ordinarily , ) because of the peremptory sentence of our judge : but the day of our deliverance is at hand , when we shall attain a non posse mori , a certain consummate immortality , when the last enemy death shall be destroyed : and how that is done i shall next enquire . sect . ii. you have seen the ugly face of death ; you are next to see a little of the love of our great redeemer . you have heard what sin hath done : you are next to hear what grace hath done , and what it will do . you have seen the strength of the enemy : you are now to take notice of the victory of the redeemer , and see how he conquereth all this strength . 1. the beginning of the conquest is in this world : 2. the perfection will not be till the day of resurrection , when this last enemy shall be destroyed . 1. meritoriously death is conquered by death . the death of sinners , by the mediators death . not that he intended in his meritorious work , to save us from the stroke of death by a prevention ; but to deliver us from it after by a resurrection . for since by man came death , by man also came the resurrection from the dead , i cor. 15.21 . forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood , he also hims●lf likewise took part with them ; that he might destroy him through death , that had the power of death , that is the devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject unto bondage , heb. 2.14 , 15. satan as gods executioner , and as the prosperous tempter , is said to have had the power of death : the fears of this dreadfull executioner are a continuall bondage , which we are lyable to through all our lives , till we perceive the deliverance which the death of the lord of life hath purchased us . 1. by death christ hath satisfied the justice that was armed by sin against us . 2. by death he hath shewed us , that death is a tolerable evil , and to be yielded to in hope of following life . 2. actually he conquered death by his resurrection . this was the day of grace's triumph : this day he shewed to heaven , to hell , and to earth , that death was conquerable ; yea that his personal death was actually overcome . the blessed souls beheld it to their joy , beholding in the resurrection of their head , a virtual resurrection of their own bodies . the devils saw it , and therefore saw that they had no hopes of holding the bodies of the saints in the power of the grave . the damned souls were acquainted with it , and therefore knew that their sinfull bodies must be restored to bear their part in suffering . the believing saints on earth perceive it , and therefore see that their bonds are broken , and that to the righteous there is hope in death ; and that our head being actually risen , assureth us that we shall also rise . for if we believe that jesus dyed and rose again ; even so them also which steep in jesus , will god bring with him , 1 thes . 4.14 . and as christ being raised from the dead , dyeth no more , death hath no more dominion over him : so shall we rise and die no more . this was the beginning of the churches triumph . this is the day that the lord hath made ( even the day which the church on earth must celebrate , with joy and praise , till the day of our resurrection ) we will be glad and rejoyce therein , psam 118.24 . the resurrection of our lord hath 1. assured us of the consummation of his satisfaction . 2. of the truth of all his word , and so of his promises of our resurrection . 3. that death is actually conquered , and a resurrection possible . 4. that believers shall certainly rise , when their head and saviour is risen , to prepare them an everlasting kingdom , and to assure them , that thus he will raise them at the last . a bare promise would not have been so strong a help to faith , as the actual rising of christ , as a pledge of the performance : but now christ is risen and become the first fruits of them that sleep . 1. cor. 15.20 . for because he liveth , we shall live also , john 14.19 . 3. the next degree of destruction to this enemy , was by the gift of his justifying and sanctifying grace . four special benefits were then bestowed on us , which are antidotes against the enmity of death . 1. one is , the gift of saving faith , by which we look beyond the grave , as far as to eternity . and this doth most powerfully disable death to terrifie and discourage us ; and raiseth us above our natural fears , and sheweth us ( though but in a glass ) the exceeding eternal weight of glory which churlish death shall help us to . so that when the eye of the unb●liever looketh no further then the grave , believing souls can enter into heaven , and see their glorified lord , and thence fetch love , and hope , and joy , notwithstanding the terrors of interposing death . the eye of faith foreseeth the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time , and causeth us therein greatly to rejoyce , though now for a season ( if need be ) we are in heaviness through manifold temptations . and so vic●orious is this faith against all the storms that do assault us , that the tryal of it , though with fire , doth but discover that it is much more precious then gold that perisheth , and it shall be found unto praise and hoour , and glory at the appearing of jesus christ ; whom having never seen in the flesh we love , and though now we see him not , yet believing we rejoyce with unspeakable glorious joy , 1 pet. 1.5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. and shall shortly receive the end of our faith , the salvation of our souls . thus faith , though it destroy not . death it self , destroyeth the malignity and enmity of death : while it seeth the things that are beyond it , and the time when death shall be destroyed , and the life where death shall be no more . faith is like davids three mighty men , that brake through the host of the philistines , to fetch him the waters of bethlehem , for which he longed , 2 sam. 23.15 , 16. when the thirsty soul saith , 0 that one would give me drink of the waters of salvation ! faith breaks through death which standeth in the way , and fetcheth these living waters to the soul . we may say of death , as it is said of the world , 1. john 5.4 , 5. whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world : and this is the victory that overcometh the world , even our faith : who is he that overcometh , but he that believeth ? &c. for greater is he that is in us , then he that is in the world : 1 john 4.4 . the believing soul foreseeing the day when death shall be swallowed up in victory , may sing beforehand the triumphing song , o death , where is thy sting ? o grave where is thy victory ? 1 cor. 15.54 , 55. for this cause we faint not ; though our outward man perish , our inward man is renewed day by day : for our light affliction ( though it reach to death ) which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding eternall weight of glory ; while we look not at the things that are seen , but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporall ( and therefore not worthy to be looked at ) but the things that are not seen are eternal , and therefore more prevalent with a believing soul , then either the enticing pleasures of sin for a season , or the light and short afflictions , or the death that standeth in our way , 2 cor. 5.16 , 17 , 18. heb. 11.24 , 25 , 26. 2. a second antidote against the enmity of death , that is given us at the time of our conversion , is , the pardon of our sins , and justification of our persons , by the blood and merits of jesus christ . when once we are forgiven , we are out of the reach of the greatest terror , being saved from the second death ; though we must feel the killing stroke , we are delivered from the damning stroke . yea more then so , it shall save us by d●stroying us : it shall let us into the glorious presence of our lord , by taking us from the presence of our mortal friends : it shall help us into eternity , by cutting off our time. for in the hour that we were justified , and made the adopted s●ns of god , we were also made the heirs of heaven , even coheirs with christ , and shall be glorified with him , when we have suffered with him , rom. 8.17 . as death was promoting the life of the world , when it was killing the lord of life himself : so is it hastening the deliverance of believers , when it seems to be undoing them . no wonder if death be that mans terror , that must be conveyed by it into hell , or that imagineth that he shall perish as the beast : but to him that knows it will be his passage into rest , and that angels shall convey his soul to christ , what an antidote is there ready for his faith to use against the enmity and excess of fears ? hence faith proceedeth in its triumph , 1 cor. 15.56 , 57. the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law : but thanks be to god that giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ . let him inordinately fear death , that is loth to be with christ , or that is yet the heir of death eternall : let him fear that is yet in the bondage of his sin , and in the power of the prince of darkness , and is not by justification delivered from the curse : but joy and holy triumph are more seemly for the justified . 3. a third antidote against the enmity of death , is the holiness of the soul : by this the power of sin is mortified ; and therefore the fears of death cannot actuate and use it , as in others they may do : by this the interest of the flesh is cast aside as nothing , and the flesh it self is crucified with christ : and therefore the destruction of the flesh will seem the more tolerable , and the fears of it will be a less temptation to the soul. by this we are already crucified to the world , and the world to us : and therefore we can more easily leave the world : we now live by another life then we did before ; being dead in our selves , our life is hid with christ in god ; and being crucified with christ , we now so live , as that it is not we , but christ liveth in us : the life which we live in the flesh is by the faith of the son of god that hath loved us , gal. 2.20 . the things that made this life too dear to us , are now as it were annihilated to us ; and when we see they are nothing , they can do nothing with us . sanctification also maketh us so weary of sin , as being our hated enemy , that we are the more willing to die , that it may die that causeth us to die . and especially , the holy ghost , which we then receive , is in us a divine and heavenly nature , and so inclineth us to god and heaven . this nature principally consisteth in the superlative love of god. and love carryeth out the soul to the beloved . as the nature of a prisoner in a dungeon carryeth him to desire liberty and light ; so the nature of a holy soul in flesh , inclineth it to desire to be with christ . as love maketh husband and wife , and dearest friends to think the time long while they are asunder ; so doth the love of the soul to god. how fain would the holy loving soul behold the pleased face of god , and be glorified in the beholding of his glory , and live under the fullest influences of his love ! this is our conquest over the enmity of death . as strong as death is , love is stronger , eccles . 8.6 , 7. love is strong as death — the coales thereof are coales of fire , a most vehement flame ( which will not by the terrible face of death be hindered from ascending up to god. ) many waters cannot quench love , neither can the floods drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his house for love ( that is , to bribe it and divert it from its object ) it would utterly be contemned . if the love of david could carry jonathan to hazzard his life and deny a kingdom for him , and the love of david to absalom made him wish that he had dyed for him , and the love of friends , ( yea lustfull love ) hath carryed many to cast away their lives ; no wonder if the love of god in his saints prevail against the fear of death . the power of holy love made moses say , else let my name be blotted out of the book of life . and it made paul say , that he could wish that he were accursed from christ , for his brethren and kindred according to the flesh . ] rom. 9.3 . and doubtless he felt the fire burning in his breast , when he broke out into that triumphant challenge , rom. 8.35 , 36. to the end [ who shall separate us from the love of god ? shall tribulation , or distress , or persecution , or famine , or nakedness , or peril , or sword ? ( as it is written , for thy sake we are killed all the day long ; we are counted as sheep to the slaughter . ) nay in all this we are more then conquerours through him that loved us : for i am perswaded that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature , shall be able to separate us from the love of god ; which is in chr●st jesus our lord. ] you see here what it is that conquereth the enmity of death , in our sanctification ; even that powerfull love of god that is then given us , which will go to him through the most cruel death . 4. a fourth antidote that is given us by christ , against the enmity of death , is the holy ghost , as he is the comforter of the saints . he made it his work to corroborate and confirm them : as sin hath woven calamities into our lives , and filled us with troubles , and griefs , and fears ; so christ doth send his spirit to undo these works of satan , and to be a comforter as well as a sanctifier to his members . as the sanctifying spirit striveth against the enticing sinfull flesh , so the comforting spirit striveth against the troubling flesh ; as also against the persecuting , as well as the tempting world , and the vexing as well as the tempting devil . and greater is he that is in us , then he that is in the world , 1 john 4.4 . the spirit of christ overcomes the disquieting as well as the tempting spirit : but with some difference ; because our comforts are not in this life so necessary to us as our holiness : joy being part of our reward , is not to be expected certainly or constantly , in any high degree , till we come to the state of our reward : and therefore though the holy ghost will carry on the work of sanctification , universally , constantly and certainly in the elect ; yet in many of them his comforting work is more obscure , and interrupted : and yet he is a conquerour here . for his works must be judged of in reference to their ends : and our comfort on earth is given us for our encouragement in holy wayes , that we be not stopt or diverted by the fear of enemies ; and also to help on ou● love to god , and to quicken us in thanks , and praise , and draw up our hearts to the life to come , and make us more serviceable to others : and such a measure of comfort , we shall have as conduceth to these ends , and is suitable to our present state , and the employment god hath for us in the world , if we do not wilfully grieve our comforter , and quench our joyes . so that when death and the grave appear before , and our flesh is terrified with the sight of these anakims , and saith , [ we are not able to overcome them ] and so brings up an evil report upon the promised land , and casts us sometime into murmuring , lamentation and weakning-discouragements , yet doth the holy ghost cause faith and hope ( as caleb and joshua ) to still the soul , ( numb . 13. ) and causeth us to contemn these gyants , and say [ let us go up and possess it , for we are well able to overcome it . ] ver. 30. the comforting spirit sheweth us his death that conquered death , ( heb. 2.14 , 15. ) even the cross on which he triumphed openly , when he seemed to be conquered , col. 2.15 . he sheweth us the glorious resurrection of our head , and his promise of our own resurrection : he sheweth us our glorified lord , to whom we may boldly and confidently commend our departing souls , acts 7.59 . and he sheweth us the angels that are ready to be their convoy : and he maketh all these considerations effectual , and inwardly exciteth our love and heavenly desires , and giveth us a triumphing courage and consolation : so that death doth not encounter us alone , and in our own strength , but finds us armed and led on by the lord of life , who helps us by a sling and stone to conquer this goliah . if a draught of wine , or some spiritfull reviving liquor can take off fears and make men bold ; what then may the spirit of christ do by his powerfull encouragements and comforts on the soul ? did we but see christ or an angel standing by our sick-beds , and saying [ fear not : i will convey thy soul to god : this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . ] what an unspeakable comfort would this be to a dying man ? why , the spirit is christs agent here on earth : and what the spirit speaks , christ speaks : and therefore we may take its comforting words , as spoken to us by christ himself ; who spoke the like to the penitent thief , to shew believers the virtue of his cross , and what they also may expect from him in their extremity . and our phisitian is most wise , and keeps his cordials for a fainting time : the spirit useth to sustain and comfort us most , in our greatest necessities . we need not comforts against death , so much in the time of prosperity and health , as when death draws near . in health we have ordinarily more need of quickning then of comforting : and more need to be awakened from security to a due preparation for death , then to be freed from the terrible fore-thoughts of it : though inordinate fears of death be hurtfull to us , security and deadness hurt us more . and therefore the spirit worketh according to our necessities : and when death is neerest , and like to be most dreadfull , he usually giveth the liveliest sense of the joyes beyond it , to abate the enmity , and encourage the departing soul . and if the comfort be but small , it is precious , because it is most pure , as being then mixed with no carnal joyes ; and because it is most seasonable in so great a strait . if we have no more but meer support , it will be yet a pretious mercy . and thus i have done with the third degree of the destruction of deaths enmity , by these four antidotes , which we receive at our conversion , and the consequents thereof . 4. the fourth degree of this enemies destruction is , by it self , or rather by christ at the time , and by the means of death , which contrary to its nature , shall advantage our felicity . when death hath done its worst , it hath half killed it self in killing us : it hath then dismissed our imprisoned souls , and ended even our fears of death , and our fears of all the evils of this life . it hath ended our cares , and griefs , and groans . it hath finished our work , and ended all our weariness and trouble . and more then this , it ends our sinning , and so destroyeth that which caused it , and that which the inordinate fears of it self , had caused in us . it is the time when sin shall gasp its last , and so far our physitian will perfect the cure ; and our greatest enemy shall follow us no further . it is the door by which the soul must pass to christ in paradise . if any papist shall hence plead that therefore all men must be perfect without sin before death , or else go to purgatory to be cleansed , because as we die , so christ will find us : or if they ask , how death can perfect us ? i answer them : it is christ our physitian that finisheth the cure , and death is the time in which he doth it . and if he undertake then to do it , it concerns not us to be too inquisitive , how he doth it . what if the patient understand not how blood letting cureth the infected blood that is left behind ? must he therefore plead against his physitian , and say , it will not be done , because he knoweth not how it s done ? we feel that here we have our sinfull imperfections : we have for all that a promise that we shall be with christ , when death hath made its separation ; and we are assured that no sin doth enter there . and is not this enough for us to know ? but yet i see not why the difficulty of the objection should trouble us at all . death doth remove us from this sinfull flesh , and admits the soul into the sight of god. and in the very instant of its remove , it must needs be perfected , even by that remove , and by the first appearance of his blessed face . if you bring a candle into a dark room , the access of the light expelleth the darkness , at the same instant : and you cannot say that they consist together one moment of time . so cold is expelled by the approach of heat . and thus when death hath opened the door , and let us into the immortal light , neither before nor after , but in that instant all the darkness & sinful imperfections of our souls are dissipated . throw an empty bottle into the sea , and the emptiness ceaseth by the filling of the water ; neither before nor after , but in that instant . if this should not satisfie any , let it satisfie them , that the holy ghost in the instant of death can perfect his work . so that we need not assert a perfection on earth , ( which on their grounds , must be the case of all that will escape hell and purgatory ; ) nor yet any purgatory torments after death , for the deliverance of the soul from the relicts of sin ; seeing at the instant of death , by the the spirit , or by the deposition of the flesh , or by the sight of god , or by the sight of our glorified redeemer , or by all , this work will be easily and infallibly accomplished . 5. the last degree and perfect conquest will be at the resurrection . and this is the victory that is mentioned in my text. all that is fore-mentioned doth abate the enmity , and conquer death in some degree : but the enmity , and the enemy it self is conquered at the resurrection , and not till then . and therefore death is the last enemy to be destroyed . the body lieth under the penal effects of sin , till the resurrection . and it is penal to the soul to be in a state of separation from the body , though it be a state of glory that its in with christ : for it is deprived of the fulness of glory , which it shall attain at the resurrection , when the whole man shall be perfected and glorified together . then it is that the mediators work will be accomplished ; and all things shall be restored ; all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the son of god and shall come forth , john 5.28 . for this is the fathers will that sent him , that of all that he hath given him ; he should lose nothing , but should raise it up at the last day ; john 6.39 , 40. we have hope towards god , that there shall be a resurrection of the dead , both of the just and unjust , acts 24.15 . as by man came death , so by man came also the resurrection from the dead , i cor. 15.21 . then shall there be no more death , nor sorrow , nor crying , nor pain , rev. 21.4 . no more diseases , or fears of death , or grave , or of corruption . no terrible enemy shall stand betwixt us and our lord , to frighten our hearts from looking towards him . o what a birth-day will that be ! when graves shall bring forth so many millions of sons for glory ! how joyfully will the soul & body meet , that were separated so long ? then sin hath done its worst and can do no more ! then christ hath done all , and hath no more to do , as our redeemer , but to justifie us in judgement , and give us possession of the joy that he is preparing . and then he will deliver up the kingdom to the father . if you expect now that i should give you reasons why death is the last enemy to be destroyed , though much might be said from the nature of the matter , the wisdom and will of god shall be to me instead of all other reasons , being the fountain and the sum of all . he knows best the order that is agreeable to his works and ends , to his honour , and to our good : and therefore to his wisdom we submit , in the patient expectance of the accomplishment of his promises . sect . iii. vse 1. i now come to shew you the usefulness of this doctrine for the further information of our understandings , the well ordering of our hearts , and the reforming of our lives . and first , you may hence be easily resolved , whether death be truly penal to the godly ? which some have been pleased to make ● controversie of late : though i am past doubt ; but the hearts of those men do apprehend it as a punishment , whose tongues and pens do plead for the contrary . dust thou art , and to dust shalt thou return , was part of the sentence past on adam and all his posterity ; which then proved it a punishment , and it was not remitted to adam , that at the same time had the promise of a redeemer , nor is it remitted to any of us all . were it not for sin , god would not inflict it ; who hath sworn that he takes no pleasure in the death of sinners ; and that he afflicts not willingly , nor grieves the sons of men . but my text it self decides the controversie : sin and punishment are the evils that christ removeth ; and if death were no punishment ( as it is no sin , ) how could it be an enemy , and the last enemy to be destroyed by the redeemer ? when we feel the enmity before described against our souls , and also know its enmity to our bodies , we cannot think that god would do all this , were it not for sin : esp●cially when we read , that death passeth upon all , for that all have sinned , rom. 5.11 , 12. and that death is the wages of sin , rom. 6.23 . though christ do us good by it , that proveth it not to be no punishment : for castigatory punishments are purposely to do good to the chastised . indeed we may say , o death , where is thy sting ? because that the mortal evil to the soul is taken out ; and because we foresee the resurrection by faith , when we shall have the victory by christ . but thence to conclude that death hath no sting now to a believer , is not only besides , but against the text ; which telling us that the sting of death is sin , and that the strength of sin is the law , doth inform us , that death could not kill us , and be death to us , if sin gave it not a sting to do it with : as sin could not oblige us to this punishment , if the threatening of the law were not its strength . but christ hath begun the conquest , and will finish it . sect . iv. vse 2. from all this enmity in death , we may see what it is that sin hath done : and consequently how vile and odious it is , and how we should esteem and use it . sin hath not only forfeited our happiness , but laid those impediments in the way of our recovery , which will find us work , and cause our danger and sorrow while we live . and death is not the least of these impediments . o foolish man , that still will love such a mortal enemy ! if another would rob them but of a groat , or defame them , or deprive them of any accommodation , how easily can they hate them , and how hardly are they reconciled to them ? but sin depriveth them of their lives , and separates the soul and body asunder , and forfeiteth their everlasting happiness , and sets death betwixt them and the glory that is purchased by christ , and yet they love it , and will not leave it . though god have made them , and do sustain them , and provide for them , and all their hope and help is in him , they are not so easily drawn to love him ; and yet they can love the sin that would undo them . though christ would deliver them , and bring them to everlasting blessedness , and hath assumed flesh , and laid down his life , to testifie his love to them , yet are they not easily brought to love him ; but the sin that made them enemies to god , and hath brought them so near to everlasting misery , this they can love , that deserves no love . a minister or other friend that would draw them from their sin to god , and help to save them , they quarrell against , as if he were their enemy : but their foolish companions , that can laugh and jest with them at the door of hell , and clap them on the back , and drive away the care of their salvation , and harden them against the fear of god , these are the only acceptable men to them . o christians , leave this folly to the world , and do you judge of sin by its sad effects . you feel ( if you have any feeling in you ) in some measure , what it hath done against your souls ! the weakness of your faith and love ; the distance of your hearts from god ; your doubts and troubles tell you that it is not your friend : you must shortly know what it will do to your bodies . as it keeps them in pain , and weariness , and weakness , so it will ere long deliver them up to the jaws of death ; which will spare them no more then the beasts that perish . had it not been for sin , we should have had no cause to fear a dissolution ; nor have had any use for a coffin or a winding-sheet , nor been beholden to a grave , to hide our carkesses from the sight and smell of the living . but as henoch and elias were translated when they had walked with god , even so should we : as those shall that are alive and remain at the coming of christ , shall be caught up together in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air ; and so shall they ever be with the lord , 1 thes . 4.17 . use sin therefore as it will use you . spare it not , for it will not spare you . it is your murderer , and the murderer of the world : use it therefore as a murderer should be used . kill it before it kills you ; and then though it kill your bodies , it shall not be able to kill your souls ; and though it bring you to the grave , as it did your head , it shall not be able to keep you there . if the thoughts of death , and the grave , and rottenness be not pleasant to you , let not the thoughts of sin be pleasant . hearken to every temptation to sin , as you would hearken to a temptation to self-murder : and as you would do if the devill brought you a knife , and tempted you to cut your throat with it ; so do when he offereth you the bait of sin . you love not death : love not the cause of death . be ashamed to stand weeping over a buried friend , and never to weep over a sinning or ungodly friend , nor once to give them a compassionate earnest exhortation , to save their souls . is it nothing to be dead in sins and trespasses ? ephes . 2.1 , 5. col. 2.13 . yea , it is a worse death then this , that is , the wages of sin , and the fruit which it brings forth , rom. 6.21 , 23. & 7.5 . surely god would never thus use mens bodies , and forsake them soul and body for ever , if sin were not a most odious thing ; what a poyson is this that kils so many millions , and damneth so many millions , and cannot be cured but by the blood of christ ! that killed our physitian that never casted it , because he came so near to us ! 〈◊〉 o unbelieving stupid so●ls , that smart and sin , and groan and sin , and weep and lament our bodily sufferings , and yet sin still ! that fear a grave and fear not sin ! that have heard , and seen , and felt so much of the sad effects , and yet sin still , psalm 78.32 . alas that murderers should be so common , and that we should be no wiser , when we have paid so dear a price for wisdom ! sect . v. vse 3. from the enmity of death we may further learn , that man hath now a need of grace for such exceeding difficulties , which were not before him in his state of innocency . though adam was able to have obeyed perfectly , without sin , and had grace sufficient to have upheld him , and conquered temptations , if he had done his part , which by that grace he might have done ; yet whether that grace was sufficient to the works that we are called to , is a doubt that many have been much troubled with . it is certain that he was able to have done any thing that was suitable to his present state , if it were commanded him : and it is certain tha● much that is now our duty , would have been unsuitable to his state . but whether it belonged to his perfection , to be able and fit for such duties ( that were then unsuitable to him ) or supposition they had been suitable and duties , this is the difficulty : which some make use of to prove that such works cannot now be required of us , without suitable help , because we lost no such grace in adam . but this need not trouble us : for 1. though adam was put on no such difficulty in particular , as to encounter death : yet the perfect obedience to the whole law , required a great degree of internall habituall holiness : and to determine the case , whether our particular difficulties , or his sinless perfect ob●dience , required greater s●rength and help , is a matter of more difficulty then use . for 2. it is but about the degrees of holiness in him and us , and not about the kind , that the difficulty lieth . for it is the same end that he was created for and disposed to by nature , and that we are redeemed for and disposed to supernaturally . but yet it is worthy our observation , what a difficulty sin hath cast before us in the way of life , which adam was unacquainted with ▪ that so we may see the nature of our works , and the excellency of the redeemers grace . adam was but to seek the continuance of his life , and a translation to glory , without the terrors of interposing death : he was never called to prepare to die ; nor to think of the state of a separated soul ; nor to mind , and love , and seek a glory to which there is no ( ordinary ) passage but by death . this is the difficulty that sin hath caused , against which we have need of the special assistance , of the example , and doctrine , and promise , and spirit of the redeemer . adam was never put to study how to get over this dreadfull gulf . the threatning of death was to raise such a fear in him as was necessary to prevent it : but those fears did rather hold him closer to the way of life , then stand between him and life to his discouragement . but we have a death to fear that must be suffered , that cannot be avoided . the strange condition of a separated soul ( so unlike to its state while resident in the body ) doth require in us , a special faith to apprehend it , and a special revelation to discover it . to desire , and love , and long for , and labour after such a time as this , when one part of us must lie rotting in the grave , and the separated soul must be with christ alone till the resurrection , and to believe and hope for that resurrection , and to deny our selves , and forsake all the world , and lay down our lives when christ requireth it , by the power of this faith and hope , this is a work that innocent adam never knew : this is the high employment of a christian . to have our hearts and conversations in heaven , ( matth. 6.21 phil. 3.20 . ) when death must first dissolve us , before we can possess it , here is the noble work of faith . sect . vi. vse 4. moreover this enmity of death may help us to understand the rea●on of the sufferings and death of christ . that he gave his life a ransome for us , and a sacrifice for sin , and so to make satisfaction to the offended majesty , is a truth that every christian doth believe . but there was another reason of his death , that all of us do not duely consider of , and improve to the promoting of our sanctification as we ought . death is so great an enemy , as you have heard , and so powerfull to deter our hearts from god , and dull our desires to the heavenly felicity , that christ was fain to go before us , to embolden the hearts of believers to follow him : he suffered death ( with the rest of his afflictions ) to shew us that it is a tolerable evil : had he not gone before and overcome it , it would have detained us its captives : had he not me●ited and purchased us a blessed resurrection , and opened heaven to all bel●evers , and by death overcome him that had the power of death ( as gods executioner ) ●hat is , the devil , we should all our life time have been still subjected unto bondage by the fears of death , heb. 2.14 . but when we see that christ hath led the way , as the victorious captain of our salvation , and that he is made perfect by sufferings ( in his advancement unto glory ) and that for the sufferings of death ( which by the grace of god he tasted for every man ) he is crowned with glory ad honour , heb. 2.9 , 10. this puts a holy valour into the soul , and causeth us cheerfully to follow him . had we gone first , and the task of conquering dea●h been ours , we had been overcome . but he that hath led us on , hath hew'd down the enemy before him , and first prepared us the way , and then called us to follow him , & to pass the way that he hath first made safe , and also shewed us by his example that it is now made passable . for it was one in our nature , that calleth us his brethren , that took not the nature of angels , but of the seed of abrah●m , that is one with us , as the sanctifier and the sanctified are , and to whom as children we are given , who hath passed through death and the grave before us , and therefore we may the boldlier follow him , heb. 2.11 , 12 , 13.16 . being found in fashion as a man , he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death , even the death of the cross , and therefore god h●th highly exalted him , and given him a name above every name , phil. 2. 8 , 9. hereby ●e hath shewed us that death is not so dreadfull a thing , but that voluntary obedience may and must submit unto it . as abrahams faith and obedience was tryed , in the offering up his son to death , at gods command : so the children of abraham and the heirs of the promise , must follow him in offering up themselves , if god require it , and in submitting to our natural death ( for that he doth require of all . ) examples work more then bare precepts : and the experiments of others , do take more with us then meer directions . it satisfieth a s●ck man more to read a book of medicinal observations , where he meets with many that were in his own case , and finds what cured them , then to read the praxis of medicinall receipts alone . it encourageth the patient much , when the physitian tells him , [ i have cured many of your disease , by such a medicine , nay i was cured thus of the same my s●lf . ] so doth it embolden a believer to lay down his life , when he hath not only a promise of a better life , but seeth that the promiser went that way to heaven before him . o therefore let us learn and use this choice remedy , against the immoderate fear of death ! let faith take a view of him that was dead and is alive , that was buried and is risen , that was humbled and is now exalted ! think with your selves , when you must think of dying , that you are but following your conquering lord , and going the way that he hath gone before you , and suffering what he underwent and conquered : and therefore though you walk through the valley of the shaddow of death , resolve that you will fear no evil , psal . 23.4 . and if he call you after him , follow him with a christian boldness ; as peter cast himself into the sea , and walkt on the waters , when he saw christ walk there , and had his command ; so let us venture on the jawes of death , while we trace his steps , and hear his encouraging commands and promises , john 21.7 . mat. 14.28 , 29. sect . vii . vse 5. moreover from this doctrine we may be informed , of the mistakes of many christians , that think they have no saving grace , because they are afraid of dying , and because these fears deterr their soul● from desiring to be with christ : and hence they may perceive that there is another cause of these distempers , even the enmity of death that standeth in the way . you think that if you had any love to christ , you should more desire to be with him ; and that if your treasure were in heaven , your hearts wou●d be more there ; and that if you truly took it for your felicity , you could not be so unwilling to be removed to it ; for no man is unwilling to be happy , or to attain his end . but stay a little , and better consider of your case . is it christ that your heart is thus averse to , or is it only death that standeth in the way ? you are not , i hope , unwilling to see the face of god , nor unwilling to be translated from earth to heaven , but unwilling to die . it is not because you love the creature better then the creator , but because you are afraid of death . you may love god , and long to be perfected in holiness , and to see his glory , and to have the most near communion with him , and yet at the same time you may fear this enemy that standeth in your way : i mean not only the pain of death , but principally the dissolution of our natures , and the separation of the soul from the body , and its abode in a separated state , and the bodies abode in dust and darkness . grace it self is not given us to reconcile us to corruption , and make death as death to seem desirable , but to cause us patiently to bear the evil , because of the good that is beyond it . it is not our duty to love death as death . had it not been naturally an evil to be dreaded and avoided , god would not have made it the matter of his threatning ; nor would it have been a fit means to restrain men from transgression . to threaten a man with a benefit as such , is a contradiction . enquire therefore into your hearts , whether there be not a belief of heaven , a love to god , a desire to enjoy and please him , even while you draw back and seem to be averse ? and whether it be not only lothness to die , and not a lothness to be with christ ? for the fuller discovery of this , ( because i find that our comfort much dependeth on it ) i shall try you by these following questions . quest . 1. what is it that is ungrateful to you in your meditations of your change ? is it god and heaven , or is it death ? if it be only death , it seems it is not the want of love to god , and heaven , that causeth your aversness : if it be god himself that is ungratefull to your thoughts , is it because you desire not his nearer presence , or communion with him in the state of glory ? or is it only because you fear lest you have no interest in his love , and shall not attain the blessedness which you desire ? if it be the first , i must confess it proves a graceless soul , and signifieth the want of love to god. but if it be the latter only , it may stand with grace : for desire is a true signification of love , though there be doubts and fears lest we shall miss the attainment of those desires . quest . 2. would you not gladly hear the news of your removal , if you might be changed without death ; and translated to heaven as henoch and elias were , and as christ at his ascension ? had you not far rather be thus changed then abide on earth ? if so , then it seems it is not god and heaven that you are against , but death . nay if you could reach heaven by travelling a thousand miles , would you not gladly take t●e journey as soon as you had got assurance of your title to it , and done the work of god on earth ? if it were but as peter , james and john , to go with christ into an exceeding high mountain , and there to see him in glory , ( mat. 17.12 . ) would you not gadly do it ? it seems then that thou desirest to see the lord , and thy love is to him , though thou be afraid of death . quest . 3. consider of the nature of the heavenly felicity , and try whether thou love it in the several parts . one part is our personal perfection ; that our souls shall be free from ignorance , and error , and sin , and sorrow , and enlarged for the perfect love of god ; and our bodies at the resurrection , made like the glorious body of our lord , phil. 3.21 . and wouldst thou not be thus perfected in soul and body ? another part is , that we shall live with the heavenly society of angels and glorified saints : and wouldst thou not have such company ; rather then the company of sinners , and enemies , and imperfect saints on earth ? another part is , that we shall see our glorified head , and be with him where he is , that we may behold his glory . and doth not thy heart desire this ? but the perfection of our happiness is , that we shall see the face of the glory of god , which is the light of that world , as truly as the sun is the light of this : and that we shall be filled up with the feeling of his love , and abound with love to him again , and perfectly delighted in this communion of love , and express it in the praises of the lord , and thus make up the new jerusalem , where god will place his glorious presence , and in which he will for evermore take pleasure . and is there any thing in this that thy soul is against , and which thou dost not value above this wor●d ? if thou find that all the parts are sweet , and the description of heaven is most gratefull to thee , and that this is the state that thou wouldst be in , it seems then it is not heaven but death that thou art averse from , and that maketh thee so loth to hear the tydings of thy change . quest . 4. couldst thou not joyfully see the coming of christ , if it were this day ( if thou have done thy work , and art assured of his love ? ) the apostle hath told us by the word of the lord , that the lord himself shall des●end from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the archangel , and with the trump of god ; and the dead in christ , shall rise first : and then they which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the lord , ] 1 thes . 4. 15 , 16 , 17. and this is the doctrine that comforteth believers , verse 18. would it not rejoyce your hearts , if you were sure to live , to see the coming of the lord , and to see his glorious appearing and retinue ? if you were not to die , but to be caught up thus to meet the lord , and to be changed immediately into an immortal , incorruptible , glorious state , would you be averse to this ? would it not be the greatest joy that you could desire ? for my own part , i must confess to you , that death as death appeareth to me as an enemy , and my nature doth abhor and fear it : but the thoughts of the coming of the lord are most swe●t and joyfull to me , so that if i were but sure that i should live to see it , and that the trumpet should sound , and the dead should rise , and the lord appear before the period of my age , it would be the joyfullest tidings to me in the world . o that i might see his kingdom come ! it is the character of his saints to love his appearing , 2 tim. 4.8 . and to look for the blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great god , and our saviour jesus christ , tit. 2.13 . the spirit and the bride say come : come lord jesus , come quickly . ] is the voice of faith , and hope , and love , rev. 22.17 , 20. but i find not that his servants are thus characterized , by their desires to die . it is therefore the presence of their lord that they desire : but it is death that they abhor : and therefore ( though they can submit to death ) it is the coming of christ that they love and long for ; and it is interposing death that causeth them to draw back . let not christians be discouraged by mistakes , and think that they love not god and glory , because they love not this enemy in the way ; nor think that they are graceless or unbelieving worldlings , because they are afraid of death as death . but perhaps you will say , that if grace prevail not against the fears of death , then fear is predominant , and we are not sincer● . to which i answer , that you must distinguish between such a prevailing as maintaineth our sincerity , and such a prevailing as also procureth our fortitude and joy . if grace prevail not to keep us upright in a holy life , renouncing the world , and crucifying the flesh , and devoting our selves entirely to god , though the fear of death would draw us from it , then it is a sign that we are not sincere . but if grace do this much , and yet prevail not against all fears and unwillingness to die , but leave us under uncomfortable hideous thoughts of death , this proves us not to be unsound . for the soul may savingly love god , that is afraid of death : and he may truly love the end , that fears this dark and di●mall way , yet must there be so much to prove our uprightness , as that in our deliberate choice , we will rather voluntarily pass through death ( either naturall or violent ) then lose the happiness beyond it : though we love not death , yet we love god and heaven so well , that we will submit to it : and though we fear it and abhor it , yet not so much as we fear and abhor the loss of heaven . let not poor christians therefore wrong themselves , and deny the graces of the spirit , as if they had more mind of earth then heaven , and of things temporal then of things eternal , because they are afraid to die . all suffering is grievous , and not joyous to our nature , paul himself desired not to be unclothed , but clothed upon with our house which is from heaven , that mortality might be swallowed up of life , 2 cor. 5.2 , 4. it ●eing better to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. even christ himself had a will that desired that the cup might have passed from him , if it had been agreeable to his fathers will , and the ends of his undertaken office , mathew 26.41 , 42. raise therefore no unjust conclusions from these natural fears , nor from the imperfection of our conquest : but praise him that relieveth us , and abateth the enmity of death , and furnisheth us with his antidotes , and will destroy this enemy at last . sect . viii . vse 6. from the enmity of death we may further learn to study and magnifie the victorious grace of our redeemer : which overcometh the enemy , and turneth our hurt into our benefit , and maketh death a door of life . though death be the enemy that seemeth to conquer us , and to destroy and utterly undo us , yet being conquered it self by christ , it is used by him to our great advantage , and sanctified to be a very great help to our salvation . the suffering of christ himself was in the hour of his enemies , and the power of darkness , luke 22.53 . which seemed to have prevailed against him ; when yet it was but a destroying of death by death , and the purchasing of life and salvation for the world . so also in our death , though sin and satan seem to conquer , it is they that are conquered , and not we , who are supervictors through him that hath loved us , rom. 8.37 . they destroy themselves when they seem to have destroyed us . as the serpent bruised but the heel of christ , who bruised his head ; so doth he bruise but our heel , who in that conflict , and by the means of his own execution , through the strength of christ , do bruise his head , gen. 3.15 . and this is upshot of all his enmity , against the womans holy seed . though death was unsuitable to innocent man , and is still a natural enemy to us all , yet unto sinners it is an evil that is suitable and fit to destroy the greater evil that did cause it , and to prevent the everlasting evil . the fore-knowledge of our certain death , is a very great help to keep us humble , and disgrace all the seducing pleasures of the flesh , and all the profits and honours of the world , and so to enervate all temptations . it is a singular help to quicken a stupid careless sinner , and to waken men to prepare for the life to come , and to excite them to seek first the kingdom of god , and to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure ; & to consider , seeing all these things must be dissolved , what manner of persons they ought to be , in all holy conversation & godliness , looking for , and hastening to the coming of the day of god , 2 pet. 3.11 , 12. when we drop asleep , the remembrance of death may quickly awake us ; when we grow slack , it is our spur to put us on , to mend our pace . who is so mad as wilfully to sin with death in his eye ? or who so dead as with death in h●s eye , to refuse to live a godly life , if he have any spiritual light and feeling ? experience te●leth us , that when health and folly cause us to promise our selves long life , and think that death is a great way off , it lamentably cools our zeal , and strentheneth our temptations , and duls our souls to holy operations : and the approach of death pu●s life into all our apprehensions and affections . it is a wonderfull hard thing to maintain our lively apprehensions , and str●ng affections , and tenderness of conscience , and self-denyal , and easie contempt of earthly things , when we put far from us the day of death . we see what a stir men make for the profits and honours of this world , and how fast they hold their fleshly pleasures , while they are in health , and how contemptuously they speak of all , and bitterly complain of the vanity and vexation , when they come to die . and if our lives and the world be brought hereby into such disorders , when men live so short a time on earth , what monsters of ambition , and covetousness , and luxury would men be , if they lived as long as before the flood , even to eight hundred , or nine hundred years of age ? doubtless long life was so great a temptation then to man , ( in his corrupted state ) that it is no wonder if his wickedness was great upon ●he earth , and if it prepared for that great destruction of the universal deluge . should men live now but to the age of three hundred , or four hundred years , i fear it would so tempt them to overvalue the world , and so embolden them to delay repentance , that one would be as wolf to another , and the weak but be a prey to the strong , and wickedness would overwhelm the world , despising the reins , and bearing down religious and civil opposition . but when we stand over the grave , and see our friends laid in the dust , how mortified do we seem ? how do we even shake the head at the folly of ambitious and covetous worldlings , and are ashamed to think of fleshly lusts ! so far are men from owning their vanities , when that silent teacher standeth by . it is death that helps to humble the proud , and abate the arrogan●y and obstinacy of the wicked , and make them regard the messengers of christ , that b●fore despised them and their message . it is death that allayeth the ebullition of distracting thoughts and passions , and helpeth to bring men to themselves , and fixeth giddy discomposed minds , and helps to settle the light and the unsettled ; and to restrain the worst . as we are beholden to the gallows for our purses and our lives ; so are we to the grave and hell , for much of the order that is in the world , and our peace and freedom procured thereby . but it is a greater good that it procureth to believers . if you ask , how is all this to be ascribed to christ ? i answer , many wayes : 1. it is he that hath now the keyes or power of death and hell , even he that liveth and was dead , and that liveth for evermore , rev. 1.18 . and therefore is to be feared by the world . 2. it is he that hath by his blood & covenant brought us the hope of everlasting life ; which is it that gives the efficacy to death . without this men would be but desperate , and think that it is better have a little pleasure then none at all , and so would give up themselves to sin , and desperately gratifie their flesh by all the wickedness they could devise . 3. and it is christ that teacheth men the right use of death , by his holy doctrine , having brought life and immortality to light by his gospel . 4. and it is christ that sendeth forth the holy spirit , which only doth so illuminate the mind , and quicken and dispose the heart , that death may be savingly improved . the poyson is our own : but it is his skill and love that hath made a soveraign antidote of it . and let our bodies die , so our sin may die . if the foresight of death destroy our sin , and further our sanctification , and the hour of death doth end our fears and enter us into the state of glory , though we will love death as death never the better for this , much less the sin that caused it ; yet must we admire the love of our redeemer . and it is not only the peril but also the terrors of death that we are in part delivered from . though christ himself was in a bloody sweat , in his agony before his death , and cryed out on the cross , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ; because he bore the sins of the world ; yet death is welcome to many of his followers , that drink of his cup , and are baptized with his baptism : for they taste not of these dregs which he drunk up , and they are strengthened by his supporting grace . he that doth comfort them against sin and hell , doth also comfort them against death . so great is the glory that he hath promised them , and so great is his comforting , confirming grace , that dreadfull ●eath is not great enough to prevail against them . as it was too weak to conquer christ , so is it too weak to conquer his spirit in his peoples souls . without christ we could not live , and we durst not die : but through him we can do and suffer all things , and can boldly pass through this dark and shady vale of death ; yea we can desire to depart and to be with christ as best f●r us : for to live is christ , and to die is gain , phil. 1.21 , 23. for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved ; we h●ve a building of god , an house not made with h●nds , eternal in the heavens . and therefore sometimes we can earnestly groan , d●siring to be clothed up●n with our house which is from heaven . and we are alwayes confident , knowing that whilest we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord : we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the lord : and therefore labour , that whether present or absent , we may be accepted of him : for we walk by faith and not by sight : and it is god that hath wrought us for the self same thing , who also hath given us the earnest of the spirit , 2 cor. 5.1 . to 10. though we long not to die , yet we long to see the face of god. and though we lay down our bod●●s with natural unwillingness , yet we lay down our sin and sorrows with gladness and spiritual delight . and though our hearts are ready to faint , as peters when he walked to christ upon the waters , yet christ puts forth his hand of love , and soon recovereth us from our fear and danger . melancholly and impatience may make men weary of their lives , and rush upon death with a false conceit that it will end their sorrows : but this is not to conquer death , but to be conquered by a lesser evil : and it is not an effect of fortitude , but of an imbecillity & impotency of mind . and if a brutus , a cato , or a seneca be his own executioner , th●● do but choose a lesser evil , ( in their conceits ) even a death which they accounted honourable , before a more ignominious death , or a life of shame , and scorn , and misery . but the true believer is raised above the fears of death , by the love of god , and the hopes of glory ; and death ( though ungratefull in it self ) is welcome to him , as the way to his felicity . le● tyrants and souldiers take it for their glory , that they can take away mens liver , ( that is , they have the power of a serpent , or of rats-bane ) as if it were their honour to be their countreys pestilence : and a ruler and a dose of poyson , were things of equal strength and use : but it is the glory of christ to enable h●s disciples to conquer death , & bear the fury of the most cruel persecutors . the martyrs have been more joyfull in their sufferings , then the judges that condemned them in their pomp and glory . when we are pressed above strength , and despair of life , and have the sentence of death in our selves ; we are then taught to trust in the living god that raiseth the dead , 2 cor. 1.8 , 9 , 10. the saints by faith have been tortured , not accepting deliverance , that they might obtain a better resurrection : they have had tryall of cruel mockings & scourgings , yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment ; they were stoned , they were sawn asunder , were tempted , were slain with the sword , heb. 11.35 , 36 , 37. thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ , 1 cor. 15.57 . they overcome by the blood of the lamb — and love not their lives unto the death , rev. 12.11 . they fear not them that kill the body , and after th●t have no more that they can do , luke 12.4 . they trust upon his promise that ha●h said , [ i will ransome them from the power of the grave ; i will redeem them from death . o death , i will be thy plagues ! o grave , i will be thy destruction , hos . 13.14 . precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints , psal , 116.15 . blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them , rev. 14.13 . sect . ix . vse 7. moreover from the enmity of death , we may be directed which way to bend our cares ; and seeing where our difficulty most lieth , we may see which way our most diligent preparations must be turned . death cannot be prevented : but the malignant influence of it on our souls may be much abated . if you let it work without an antidote , it will make you live like unbelieving worldlings : it will deter your hearts from heaven , and dull your love to god himself , and make your meditations of him , and of your everlasting rest , to be seldom and ungratefull to you ; and it will make you say , it s good to be here ; and have sweeter thoughts of this present life , then of your inheritance . it will rob you of much of your heavenly delights , and fill you with slavish fears of death , and subject you unto bondage all your lives , and make you die with agony and horror , so that your lives and deaths will be dishonourable to your holy faith , and to your lord. if it were meerly our own suffering by fears and horrors ; or meerly our loss of spiritual delights , the matter were ( great , but ) not so great : but it is more then this . for when our joyes are overwhelmed with the fears of death , and turned into sorrows , our love to god will be abated , and we shall deny him the thanks and cheerfull praises , which should be much of the employment of our lives : and we shall be much discomposed and unfitted for his service , and shall much dishonour him in the world , and shall strengthen our temptations to the overvaluing of earthly things . think it not therefore a small or an indifferent matter , to fortifie your souls against these malignant fears of death . make this your daily care and work ; your peace , your safety ; your innocency , and usefulness , and the honour of god , do much lie on it . and it is a work of such exceeding difficulty , that it requireth the best of your skill and diligence ; and when all is done , it must be the illuminating quickning beams of grace , and the shining face of the eternal love , that must do the work ; though yet your diligence is necessary , to attend the spirit , and use the means , in subserviency to grace , and in expectation of these celestiall rayes . and above all take heed lest you should think , that carnal mirth , or meer security , and casting away the thoughts of death will serve to overcome these fears ; or that it is enough that you resolve against them . for it is your safety that must be lookt to , as well as your present ease and peace : and fear must be so overcome , as that a greater misery may not follow : presumption and security will be of very short continuance . to die without fear , and pass into endless desperation , which fear should have wakened you to prevent , is no desirable kind of dying . and besides , resolving against the terrors of death , will not prevent them . when death draws neer , it will amaze you , in despight of all your resolutions , if you are not furnished with a better antidote . the more jocund you have been in carnal mirth , and the more you have presumptuously slighted death , its likely your horror will be the greater when it comes . and therefore see that you make a wise and safe preparation ; and that you groundedly and methodically cure these fears , and not securely cast them away . though i have given you to this end , some directions in other writings ( in the saints rest , and in the treatise of self-denyal , and that of crucifying the world , ) yet i shall add here these following helps , which faithfully observed and practised , will much promote your victory over death , which conquereth all the strength of flesh , and glory of this world . direction i. if you would overcome the danger and the fears of death , make sure of your conversion , that it is sound ; and see that you be absolutely devoted unto god , without reserves . should you be deceived in your foundations , your life , and hopes , and joyes would all be delusory things . till sin be mortified , and your souls reconciled to god in christ , you are still in danger of worse then death : and it is but the senslesness of your dead condition , that keepeth you from the terrors of damnation . but if you are sure that you are quick●ed by renewing grace , and possessed by the sanctifying spirit , and made partakers of the divine nature , you have then the earnest of your inheritance , eph. 1.14 . 2 cor. 1.22 . & 5.5 . and the fire is kindled in your breast , that in despight of death , will mount you up to god. direction ii. to conquer the enmity of death , you must live by faith in jesus christ : as men that are emptied of themselves , and ransomed from his hands that had the power of death , and as men that are redeemed from the curse , and are now made heirs of the grace of life , being made his members who is ●he lord of life , even the second adam , who is a quickning spirit . the serious believing study of his design and office , ( to destroy sin and death , and to bring many sons to glory , ) and also of his voluntary suffering , and his obedience to the death of the cross , may raise us above the fears of death . when we live by faith as branches of this blessed vine , & are righteous with his righteousness , justified by his blood and merits , & sanctified by his word and spirit , and find that we are united to him , we may then be sure that death cannot conquer us , & nothing can take us out of his hands : for our life being hid with christ in god , we know that we shall live , because he liveth , col. 3.3 . john 14.19 . and that when christ who is our life appeareth , we shall also appear with him in glory , col. 3.4 . and that he will change our vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , by his mighty power , by which he is able to subdue all things to himself , phil. 3.20 , 21. in our own stren●th we dare not stand the charge of death , and with it the charge of the law , and of our consciences : how dreadfully should we then be foiled and non-plust , if we must be found in no other righteousness , but what we have received from the first adam , and have wrought by the strength received from him ! but being gathered under the wings of christ , as the chickens under the wings of the hen ( mat. 23.37 . ) and being found then in him , having the righteousness which is through the faith of christ , the righteousness which is of god by faith , we may boldly answer to all that can be charged on us to our terrour ! if we know him and the power of his resurrection , and the fellowship of his sufferings , and are made conformall● to his death , ( phil. 3.9 , 10. ) if ●e are dead with him to the world , and risen with him to a holy life ; if we have believingly traced him in his sufferings and conquest , and perceive by faith how we participate in his victories , we shall then be able to grapple with the hands of death ; and though we know the grave must be for a while the prison of our flesh we can by faith foresee the opening of our prison doors , and the loosing of our bonds , and the day of our last and full redemption . it strengtheneth us exceedingly to look unto jesus , the author and finisher of our faith , who for the joy that was set before him , endured the cross , despising the shame , and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god. ] when we consider what he endured against himself , we shall not be weary : nor faint in our minds , heb. 12.2 , 3. direction iii. live also by faith on the heavenly gl●ry . as one eye of faith must be on an humbled crucified christ , so must the other be on heaven , on a glorified christ , and on the glory and everlasting love of god , which we shall there en●oy . this is it that conquereth the fears of death , when we believe that we shall pass through it into everlasting life . if a man for health will take the most ungratefull potion , ( the bitterness being short , and the benefit long ; ) and if he will suffer the surgeon to let out his blood , and in case of necessity to out off a member ; how light should we make of death , that have the assured hopes of glory to encourage us ! what door so streight that we would not pass through if we could , to our dearest friend ! what way so ●owl that we would not travail , to our beloved home ? and shall death seem intolerable to us , that letteth in our souls to christ ? well might paul say [ to die is gain , ] phil. 1.21 . when we gain deliverance from all those sins that did here beset us , and all those sorrows that sin had bred : we gain the accomplishment of our desires , and the end of our faith , the salvati●n of our souls : we gain the crown that fadeth not away ; a place before the throne of christ , in the temple of god , in the city of god , the new jerusalem ; to eat of the hidden manna , and of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god , rev. 2. & 3. we gain the place prepared for us by christ , in his fathers house , john 14.1 , 2. for we shall be with him where he is , that we may behold his glory , john 17.24 . we shall gain the sight of the glory of god , and the feeling of his most precious love , and the fulness of joy that is in his presence , and the everlasting pleasures at his right hand , psal . 16.11 . and shall we think much to die for such a gain ? we will put off our cloaths , and welcome sleep , which is the image of death , that our bodies may have rest , and refuse not thus to die every night , that we may rise more refreshed for our employments in the morning . and shall we stick at the uncloathing of our souls , in order to their everlasting rest ? set but the eye of faith to the prospective of the promise , and take a serious frequent view of the promised land , and this if any thing will make death more welcome , then physick to the sick , then uncloathing to a beggar , that puts on new or better cloaths . shall a poor man cheerfully ply his labour all day in hope of a little wages at night ; and shall not a believer cheerfully yie●d to death , in hope of everlasting glory ? so far as heaven is foundly be●ieved , and our conversations , and hearts are there , the fears of death will be asswaged , and nothing else will well asswage them . direction . iv. moreover , if you will conquer the enmity of death , do all that you can to encrease and exercise the love of god in you . for love will so incline you to the blessed object of it , that death will not be able to keep down the flame . were god set as a seal upon our hearts , we should find that love is as strong as death , and the coals thereof are coals of fire , ●nd the flame is vehement : many waters cannot quench it , nor can the fl●ods drown it , cant. 8.6 , 7. if carnal love have made the amorous to choose death that they might passionately express it , especially when they have heard of the death of their beloved ; and if naturall fortitude and love to their countrey , have made many valient men , though heathens , to contemn death , and readily lay down their lives ; and if the love of fame and vain glory in a surviving name , have caused many to die through pride : how much more will the powerfull love of god , put on the soul to leave this flesh , and pass through death , that we may see his face , and fully enjoy the object of our love ? so much as you love god , so much will you be above the terrors of the grave , and pass through death for the enjoyment of your beloved . perf●ct love casteth out fear : and h●●h●t feareth is not made perfect in l●ve : in death and judgement , we shall have boldness , if our love be perfect , 1 john 4.17 , 18. this makeeth the martyrs cheerfully lay down their lives for christ ; and love is glad of so precious an opportunity for its exercise and manifestation . love is a restless working thing , that will give you no rest , till your desires are attained , and you be with god. nothing is so valiant as love ! it rejoyceth when it meeteth with difficulties which it may encounter for the sake of our beloved ! it contemneth dangers : it glorieth in sufferings : though it be humble , and layeth by all thoughts of merit , yet it rejoyceth in sufferings for christ , and glorieth in the cross , and in the participation of his sufferings , and in the honourable wounds and scars ▪ which we receive for him that died for us . direction . v. to overcome the terrors and enmity of death , it is necessary that we keep the conscience clear from the guilt of wilfull sin , and of impenitency . if it may be , see that you wound it not ; if you have wounded it , presently seek a cure : and live not in a wounded state . the face of death will waken conscience , and cause it to speak much lowder then it did in health and in prosperity : and then sin will seem another thing , and wrath more terrible then it did in your security . conscience will do much to make your burden light or heavy . if conscience groundedly speak peace , and all be sound and well at home , death will be less terrible , the heart being fortified against its enmity . but to have a pained body , and a pained soul , a dying body , and a scorched conscience that is afraid of everlasting death , this is a terrible case indeed . speedily therefore get rid of sin , and get your consciences throughly cleansed , by sound repentance and the blood of christ : for so much sin as you bring to your death-bed , so much bitterness will there be in death . away then with that sin that conscience tells you of , and touch the forbidden fruit 〈◊〉 more , and kindle not the spar●s of hell in your souls , to make the sting of death more venemous . as it will quiet a believing soul through chr●st , when he can say with hezekiah , isa , 38.3 . remember now o lord i beseech thee , how i have walked before thee in truth , and with a perfect heart , and have done that which is good in thy sight : ] and it will be our rejoycing if we have the testimony of our consciences , that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world , 2 cor. 1.12 . so will it be most terrible to die in the fears of unpardoned sin , and to have conscience scourging us with the remembrance of our folly , when god is afflicting us , and we have need of a well composed mind , to bear the troubles of our fl●sh . a little from without is grievous , when any thing is amiss within : get home therefore to christ without delay , and cease not till you have peace in him , that death may find your consciences whole . direction vi. redeeming time , is another means to prevent the hurtfull fears of death . when we foreknow that it will shortly end our time , let us make the best of time while we have it . and then when we find that our work is done , and that we did not loyter nor lose the time that god vouchsafed us , the end of it will be less grievous to us . a man that studieth his duty , and spareth for no cost or pains , and is as loath to lose an hours time , as a covetous man is to lose an hundred pound , will look back on his life , and look before him to his death , with greater peace and less perplexity , then another man. but the thoughts of death must needs be terrible , to a man that hath trifled away his life , and been an unthrift of his time . to think when you must die , that now you are at your last day or hour , and withall to think , how many hours you vainly lost , and that you knew not the worth of time till it was gone , will make death more bitter then now you can imagine . what else is death but the ending of our time ? and what can be more necessary to a comfortable end , then faithfully to use it while we have it ? direction vii . another help against the enmity of death , is the crucifying of the flesh , with its affections and lusts : and the conquest of the world by the life of faith , and crucifying it by the cross of christ ; and dying daily by the patient suffering of the cross our selves . when we are loose from all things under the sun , and there is nothing that entangleth our affections on earth , a great part of the difficulty is then removed . but death will tear the heart that is glued to any thing in this world . possess therefore as if you possessed not , and rejoyce as if you rejoyced not , and use the world as not abusing it : for the fashion of this world doth pass away , i cor. 7.29 , 30 , 31. it is much for the sake of our flesh that must perish , that death doth seem so bitter to us : if therefore we can throughly sudue the flesh , and live above its pleasure and desires , we shall the more esily bear its dissolution . shut up your senses then a little more , and let your hearts grow stranger to this world ; and if you have known any persons , relations , accomodations after the flesh , from henceforth know them so no more . how terrible is death to an earthly-minded man that had neglected his soul for a treasure here , which must then be dissipated in a moment ? how easie is death to a heavenly-mind , that is throughly weaned from this world , and taketh it but for his pilgrimage or passage unto life , and hath made it the business of his dayes , to lay up for himself a treasure in heaven ? he that hath unfeignedly made heaven his end in the course of his life , will most readily pass to it on the hardest terms : for every man is willing to attain his end . direction viii . it will much help us against the enmity of death , to be duly conformed to the image of god , in the hatred of sin , and love of holiness , and in special in the point of justice . when we hate sin throughly , and find it so incorporated into our flesh , that they must live and die together , it will make death the more easie to us ▪ because it will be the death of sin , even of that sin which we most hate , and that god hateth , and that hath cost us so dear as it hath done . when we are in love with holiness , and know that we shall never be perfect in it , till after death ; it will make death the more welcome , as the passage to our desired life . when the justice , even the castigatory and vindictive justice of god , is more amiable in our eyes , and we are not blinded by self-love , to judge of god and of his wayes , according to the interest of our flesh , we shall then consent to his dissolving stroke , and see that the bitterness of death proceedeth from that which is good in god , though from that which is evil in our selves . doubtless as justice is one of the blessed attributes of god , so should it be amiable to man , there being nothing in god but what is lovely . it is the prevalency of self-love that makes men so insensible of the excellency of divine justice , while they speak so respectfully of his mercy . so far as men are carnall and selfish , they cannot love that by which they smart , or of which they are in danger . but the soul that is got above it self , and is united unto god in christ , and hath that image of god , which containeth the impress and effect of all his attributes , hath such an habit of impartial justice in himself , and such a hatred of sin , and such a desire that the honour of god should be vindicateed and maintained , and such an approbation of the justice of god , that he can the more easily consent or submit to the dissolving stroke of death : he hateth his own sin , and loatheth himself for all his abominations , and is possessed with that justice that provoketh him to self-revenge in an ordinate sort , and therefore doth love and honour that justice that inflicteth on him the penalty of death ; ( especially since mercy hath made it a usefull castigation . ) as some penitent malefactors have been so sensible of their crimes , that they have not deprecated death , but consented to it as a needfull work of justice , ( as it s written of the penitent murderer lately hanged at london . ) so holiness doth contain such a hatred of our own sins , and such impartial justice on gods behalf ; that it will cause us to subscribe to the righteousness of his sentence , and the more quietly to yield to the stroke of death . direction ix . it will somewhat abate the fears of death , to consider the restlesness and troubles of this life , and the manifold evills that end at death . and because this consideration is little available with men in prosperity , it pleaseth god to exercise us with adversity , that when we find there is no hope of rest on earth , we may look after it where it is , and venture on death by the impulse of necessity . here we are continually burdened with our selves , annoyed by our corruptions , and pained by the diseases of our souls , or endangered most when pained least . and would we be thus still ? we live in the continual smart of the fruit of our own folly , and the hurts that we catch by our careless or inconsiderate walking , like children that often fall and cry ; and would we still live such a life as this ? the weakness of our faith , the darkness of our minds , the distance and strangeness of our souls to god , are a continuall languishing and trouble to our hearts . how grievous is it to us that we can love him no more , nor be more assured of his love to us ? that we find continually so much of the creature , and so little of god upon our hearts ? that carnal affections are so easily kindled in us , and the love of god will scarce be kept in any life , by the richest mercies , the most powerfull means , and by our greatest diligence ? o what a death is it to our hearts , that so many odious temptations should have such free access , such ready entertainment , such small resistance , and so great success ? that such horrid thoughts of unbelief should look into our minds , and stay so long , and be so familiar with us ? that the blessed mysteries of the gospel , and the state of separated souls , and the happiness of the life to come , are known so slightly , and believ●d so weakly and imperfectly , and meet with so many carnall questionings and doubts ? that when we should be solacing our souls in the fore-thoughts of heaven , we look toward it with such strangeness and amazement , as if we staggered at the promise of god through unbelief ; and there is so much atheism in our affections , god being almost as no god to them sometime , and heaven almost as no heaven to them , that it shews there is too much in our understandings . o what a death is it to our minds , that when we should live in the love of infinite goodness , we find such a remnant of carnal enmity , and god hath such resistance , and so narrow , so sh●●● , so cold , so unkind entertainment in those hearts that were made to love him , and that should know and own no love but his ? what a bondage is it , that our souls are so entangled with the creatures ? and so detained from the love of god ? and that we draggle on this earth , and can reach no higher , and the delightfull communion with god , and a conversation in heaven , are things that we have so small experience of ? alas , that we that are made for god , and should live to him , and be still upon his work , and know no other , should be so byased by t●e flesh , and captivated by self-love , and lost at home , that our affections and intentions do hardly get above our selves , but there we are too prone to terminate them all ; and lose our god , even in a seeming religiousness , while we will be gods to our selves ! how grievous is it , that such wonders and glorious appearances of god , as are contained in the incarnation , life and death of christ , and in all the parts of the work of our redemption , should no more affect us then they do , nor take up our souls in more thankfull admiration , nor ravish us into higher joyes ! alas , that heaven commands our souls no more from earth ! that such an infinite glory is so near us , and we enjoy so little of it , and have no more savour of it upon our souls ! that in the hands of god , and before his face we do no more regard him ! that the great and wonderfull matters of our faith , do so little affect us , that we are tempted thereby to question the sincerity of our faith , if not the reality of the things believed : and that so little of these great and wondrous things appeareth in our lives , that we tempt the world , to think our faith is but a fancy . is not all this grievous to an honest heart ? and should we not be so far weary of such a life as this , as to be willing to depart and be with christ ? if it would so much rejoyce a gracious soul , to have a stronger faith , a more lively hope , a more tender conscience , a more humble self-abhorring heart , to be more fervent in prayer , more resolute against temptations , and more successfully to fight against them ; with what desire and joy then should we look towards heaven , where we shall be above our strongest faith and hope , and have no more need of the healing graces , or the healing ordinances , nor be put upon self-afflicting work , nor troubled with the temptations , nor terrified by the face of any enemy . now if we will vigorously appear for god , against a sinfull generation , how many will appear against us ? how bitterly will they reproach us ? how falsly will they slander us , and say all manner of evil against us ? and it is well if we scape the violence of their hands ! and what should be our joy in all these sufferings , but that great is our reward in heaven , mat. 11 , 12. alas , how we are continually here annoyed , by the presence , and the motions , and the succ●ss of sin in our selves and others ! it dwelleth in us night and day ; we cannot get it stay behind , no not when we address our selves to god , not in our publike worship , or our secret prayers : not for the space of one lords day , or one sermon , or one sacrament , in ordinary or extraordinary duty . o what a blessed day and duty would it be , in which we could leave our sin behind us , and converse with god in spotless innocency , and worship and adore him without the darkness , and strangeness and unbelief , and dulness , and doubtings , and distractions , that are now our daily , miseries ? can we have grace and not be weary of these corruptions ? can we have life , and not be pained with these diseases ? and can we live in daily pain and weariness , and not be willing of release ? is there a gracious soul , that groaneth not under the burden of these miseries ? yea , in every prayer , what do we else but confess them , and lament them , and groan for help , and for deliverance ? and yet shall we fear our day of freedom , and be loth that death should bring us news , that our prayers are heard , and our groans have reached up to heaven and that the bonds of flesh and sin shall be dissolved , and we shall have need to watch , and strive , and fear , and complain , and sigh , and weep no more ? shall the face of death discourage us from desiring such a bessed day ? when we have so full assurance , that at last this enemy also shall be destroyed ? the lord heal and pardon the hypocrisie of our complaints , together with the unbelief and cowardliness of our souls ! do we speak so much , and hear so much , and seem to do so much against sin , and yet had we rather keep it still , then be stript of it , together with the rags of our mortality ? and yet had we rather dwell with sin , in tempting , troubling , corruptible flesh , then lay them by , and dwell with christ ? o lord how lamentably have we lost our wisdom , and drowned our minds in flesh and folly , by forsaking thee our light and life ! how come our reasonable souls to be so bewitched , as after all our convictions , complaints and prayers , to be still more willing of our sickness then of the remedy , and more afraid of this bitter cup , then of the poyson that lodgeth in our bowels , which it would expell ! and that after all the labour we have us●d , we had yet rather dwell with our greatest enemy , then by a less to be transmitted to our dearest friend ! and had rather continue in a troublesome , weary , restless life , then by the sleep of death to pass to rest . and this sin in others also is our trouble , though not so much as in our selves . it maketh those our bitter enemies , whose good we most desire and endeavour , and causeth the unthankfull world to requite us with malicious usage , for telling them the ungratefull truth , and seeking their salvation . it makes our friends to be but half-friends ; and some of them too like our enemies . it puts a sting into the sweetest friendship , and mixeth smart with all our pleasures ; it worketh us grief from precious mercies ; and abateth the comfort of our near relations ; so that our smart by the pricks , is often greater then our pleasure in the sweetness of the rose . no friend is so smoothed , and squared to the temper and interest of another , but that some in equality and unevenness doth remain , which makes the closure to be less near and stedfast . even family relations , are usually so imperfectly jointed and cemented , that when the winds of tryal are any thing high , they shake the frame ; and though they are but low , they find an entrance , and cause such a coldness of affections , as is contrary to the nature and duty of the relations . either a contrariety of opinions , or of natural temperature and humours , or else of the dispositions of the mind ; sometime cross interests , and sometime passions and cross words , do cause such discontents and sowrness , such frowns or jealousies , or distances , that our nearest friends are but as sackloth on our skins , and as a shoo too strait for us , or as a garment that is unmeet , which pinch and trouble us in their use , and those that should be to us as the apple of our eyes , are as the dust or smoak to them , that vex or blind them . and the more we love them , the more it greiveth us to be crossed in our love . there is scarce any friend so wise , so good , so suitable to us , or so near , that we can alwayes please . and the displeasure of a friend is as gravell in our shoos , or as nettles in our bed , oft-times more grievous then the malice of an enemy . there is no such doing as this in heaven : because there is no such guest as sin . we shall love each other far more then we do here ; and yet that love shall never be inordinate , nor in the least divert our love from god , but every saint and angel in the society , shall be loved with most chaste and pure affections , in a perfect subordination to the love of god ; and so as that god himself in them , shall be the chiefest object of that love . it is there that our friends being freed from all their imperfections , do neither tempt us to a carnal love , nor have any thing in them to discourage the love that is spirituall and pure . we have here our passionate friends , our self-conceited friends , our unkind , unthankfull selfish friends ; our mutable and unfaithfull friends ; our contentious friends that are like to enemies : and who have used us more hardly then our friends ? but when we come to god , we shall have friends that are like god , that are wholly good , and are participatively turned into love ; and haveing left behind them all that was unclean and noysome , and troublesome to themselves , they have also cast off all that could be troublesome to us . our love will be there without suspicions , without interruptions , unkindnesses and discontents , without disappointments , frustrations and dissatisfactions : for god himself will fully satisfie us ; and we shall love his goodness and glory in his saints , as well as immediately in himself . our friends are now lost at the turning of a straw : the change of their interest , their company , their opinions , the slanders of back-biters , and mis-representations of malicious men , can cool their love , and kill their friendship . but heaven is a place of constant love : the love of saints , as all things else , is there eternal : and yet it decline●h not with age . it is a world of love that we are hasting to : it is a life of love that we must there live , and a work of love , and perfect love that we must be there employed in for ever . if here we have a pure , a dear , a faithful friend , that is without false-heartedness and deceit , that loveth us as his own soul , how quickly is he snatcht away by death ? and leaves us melted into tears , and mourning over his earthly relicts , and looking upward with grieved hearts , as the disciples did after their ascending lord , acts 1. 9 , 10 , 11. we are left almost as lifeless by such friends , as the body is left by the departed soul : we have nothing but grief to tell us that we live , and that our souls are not departed with them : we are left in greater lamentation , then if we had never known a faithfull friend . and alas , how quickly are they gone , when once god sees them ripe for heaven ? when droans and dullards live much longer . if we see a saint that 's clear of judgement , and low in humility , and naked-hearted in sincerity , and that abounds in love to god and man , that 's faithfull and constant to their friend , and is above the pride and vanities of this world , and doth converse by a life of faith above , and is usefull and exemplary in their generation ; alas how soon are they snacht away ! and we are left in our temptations , repining and murmuring at god , as jonah , when his gourd was withered , as if the lord had destinated this world to be the dwelling of unfaithfull , worthless men , and envied us the presence of one eminent saint , one faithfull friend , and one that ( as moses when he had talkt with god ) hath a face that shineth with the reflected raies of the heavenly glory : when inde●d it is because this world is unworthy of them , ( heb. 11.38 . ) not knowing their worth , nor how to use them , nor how to make use of them for their good : and because when they are ripe and mellow for eternity , it is fit that god be served before us , and that heaven have the best , and that be left on earth that is earthly : must heaven be deprived of its inhabitants ? must a saint that is ripe be kept from christ , and so long kept from his inheritance , from the company of angels , and the face of god , and all lest we should be displeased , and grudge at god for glorifying those , whom he destinated to glory before the foundations of the world ; and whom he purchased and prepared for glory ? must there a place be empty , and a voice be wanting in the heavenly chore , lest we should miss our friends on earth ? are we not hasting after them at the heels , and do we not hope to live with them for ever ? and shall we grudge that they are gone a day , or week , or year before us ? o foolish unbelieving souls ! we mourn for them that are past mourning : and lament for our friends that are gone to rest , when we are left our selves in a vexatious , restless , howling wilderness ! as if it were better to be here ! we mourn and weep for the souls that are triumphing in their masters joy ! and yet we say , we believe , and hope , and labour , and wait for the same felicity ● shall the happiness of our friends be our sorrow and lamentation ? o did we but see these blessed souls , and where they are , and what they are enjoying , and what they are doing , we should be ashamed to mourn thus for their change ! do you think they would wish themselves again on earth ? or would they take it kindly of you , if you could bring them down again into this world , though it were to reign in wealth and honour ? o how would they disdain or abhorr the motion , unless the commanding will of god did make it a part of their obedience ! and shall we grieve that they are not here , when to be here , would be their grief ? but thus our lives are filled with griefs . thus smiles and frowns , desires and denyals , hopes and frustrations , endeavours and disappointments , do make a quotidian ague of our lives . the persons and the things we love , do contribute to our sorrows , as well as those we hate . if our friends are bad , or prove unkind , they gall and grieve us while they live : if they excell in holiness , fidelity and suitableness , the dart that kills them , deeply woundeth us ; and the sweeter they were to us in their lives , the bitterer to us is their death ▪ we cannot keep a mercy , but sin is ready to take it from us , or else to marr it , and turn it into vinegar and gall. and doth not death ( accidentally ) befriend us , that puts an end to all these troubles , and lands us safe on the celestiall shore , and puts us into the bosome of perpetual rest , where all is calm , and the storms and billows that tost us here , shall fear or trouble us no more ? and thus death shall make us some recompence at last , for the wrong it did us ; and the mortal blow shall hurt us less then did the dreadfull apparition of it in our fore-thoughts . let not our fears then exceed the cause ; though we fear the pangs & throws of travel , let us withall remember , that we shall presently rejoyce , and all the holy angels with us , that a soul is born into the world of glory : and death shall gain us much more then it deprived us of . direction x. the last direction that i shall give you , to conquer the enmity of death , is this : give up your wills entirely to the will of god , as knowing that his will is your beginning and your end , your safety , your felicity and rest , in which you should gladly acquiesce . when you think of death , remember who it is that sends it ; it is our fathers messenger , and is sent but to execute his will. and can there be any thing in the will of god , that his servants should inordinately fear ? doubtless his will is much safer and better for us then our own . and if in generall it were offered to our choice , whether all particulars of our lives should be disposed of by gods will or by ours , common reason might teach us to desire , to be rather in gods hands then our own . the fulfilling of his will , is the care and business of our lives : and therefore it should be a support and satisfaction to us at our death , that it is but the fulfilling of his will. his justice and punishing will is good , though selfishness maketh it ungratefull to the offender . but his children that are dear to him , and taste no evil but that which worketh for their good , have no cause to quarrell at his will : whatsoever our surest dearest friends would have us take , or do , or suffer , we are ready to submit to , as being confident they will do nothing for our hurt , ( if they do but know what is for our good . ) and shall we not more boldly trust the will of god then of our dearest friend ? he knows what he hath to do with us , and how he will dispose of us , and whether he will bring us ; and his interest in us is more then ours in our selves ; and shall we then distrust him , as if we had to do with an enemy , or one that were evil , and not with love and infinite goodness ? it is the will of god that must be the everlasting rest , the heaven , the pleasure of our souls : and shall we now so fear it , and fly from it , as if it were our ruine ? look which way you will through all the world , your souls will never find repose , nor satisfying quietness and content but in the will of god. let us therefore commit our souls to him , as to a faithfull creator ; and desire unfeignedly the fulfilling of his will , and believe that there is no ground of confidence more firm . abraham may boldly trust his son , his only son , on the will of god : and christ himself when he was to drink the bitter cup , submitteth his own naturall love of life to his fathers will , saying , not my will , but thine be done . it is a most unworthy abuse of god , that we could be quiet and rejoyce , if our own wills , or our dearest friends might dispose of our lives , and yet are distress●d when they are at the dispose of the will god. but perhaps you will say , it is the error of my own will that hath procured my death : if it had been meerly the fruit of the will of god , it could be easily satisfied . answ . wo to us , if we had not ground of comfort against the errors of our own wills . when our destruction is of our selves , our help is of god. so much as is of our selves in it is evil : but so much as is of god is good . i do not say that you should rest in your own wills , nor in your own wayes , but in the will and wayes of god. the rod is good , though the fault that makes it necessary , be bad . the chastising will is good , though the sinning will be evil : and it is good that is intended to us , and shall be performed in the event . object . but how can we rest in the angry afflicting will of god , when it is this that we must be humbled under : and it is the will of god that is the condemnation of the wicked . answ . the effect being from a twofold cause ( the sinning will of man , and the punishing will of god ) is accordingly good as from the latter , and so far should be loved and consented to by all ; and evil as from the former , and so may be abhorred : but to the saints there is yet greater consolation : though affliction is their grief , as it signifieth gods displeasure , and causeth the smart or destruction of the flesh ; yet it is their mercy , as as it proceedeth from the love of god , and prepareth them for the greatest mercies . and therefore seeing god never bringeth evil on them that love him , but what is preparatory to a● far greater good , we may well take comfort in our death , that it is our fathers will it should be so . vse 8. if death shall be conquered as the last enemy , from hence christians may receive exceeding consolation , as knowing that they have no enemy to their happiness , but such as shall be conquered by christ ; sooner or later he will overcome them all . let faith therefore foresee the conquest in the conflict ; and let us not with too much despondency hang down our heads before any enemy that we know shall be trodden down at last . we have burdensome corruptions , that exercise our graces , and grieve the spirit , and wrong our lord ; but all these shall be overcome . though we have heard , and read , and prayed , and meditated , and yet our sins remain alive , they shall be conquered at last . our love , and joy , and praise shall be everlasting ; but our ignorance , and unbelief , and pride , and passion shall not be everlasting : our holiness shall be perfected and have no end : but our sin shall be abolished , have an end . our friends shall abide with us for ever , and the holy love and communion of saints shall be perfected in heaven : but our enemies shall not abide with us for ever , nor malice follow us to our , rest . the wicked have no comforts but what will have an end ; and the fore-thought of that is sufficient to imbitter even the present sweetness . and the godly have no sorrows but such as are of short continuance : and me thinks the fore-sight of their end , should sweeten the present bitter cup , and make our sorrows next to none : we sit weeping now in the midst of manifold afflictions : but we foresee the day when we shall weep no more , but all tears shall be wiped from our eyes , by the tende● hand of our mercifull redeemer . we are now afraid of love it self , even of our dear and blessed father , lest he should hate us , or be angry with us fo● ever . but heaven will banish all these fears , when the perfect fruition of the eternal love hath perfected our love. our doubtings and perplexities of mind are many and grievous , but they will be but short . when we have full possession , we shall be past our doubts . our work is now to pour out . our grieved souls into the bosome of some faithfull friend ; or ease our troubled minds by complaining of our miseries to our faithfull pastors , that from them we may , have some words of direction and consolation : but o how different a work is it that we shall have in heaven ? where no more complainings shall be heard from our mouths , for no more sorrow shall possess our hearts ; and we shall have no need of men to comfort us ; but shall have comfort as naturally from the face of god , as we have light and heat in the summer from the sun. when we all make one celestial chore , to sing the praises of the king of saints , how unlike will that melody be to the broken musick of sighs , and groans , and lamentations , which we now take to be almost our best ! we are now glad when we can find but words , and groans , and tears , to lament our sin and misery : but then our joy shall know no sorrow , nor our voice any sad and mournfall tune . and may we not bear a while the sorrows that shall have so good an end ? we shall shortly have laid by the hard , unprofitable , barren hearts , that are now our continuall burden and disease . love not your corruptions , christians ; but yet be patient under the unavoidable relicts that offend you ; remembring that your conflict will end in conquest , and your faith , and watchfulness , and patience will be put to it but a little while . who would not enter willingly into the fight , when he may before hand be assured , that the field shall be cleared of every enemy ? all this must be ascribed to our dear redeemer . had not he wrought the conquest , the enemies that vex us would have destroyed us , and the serpent that now doth but bruise our heel , would have bruised our head : and the sorrows that are wholesome , sanctified and short , would have been mortall , venemous and endless . what suffering then can be so great , in which a believer should not rejoyce , when he is before hand promised a gracious end ? what though at the present it be not joyous , but grievous ( in it self ? ) we should bear it with patience , when we know that at last it shall bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to all them that are exercised thereby , heb. 12.11 . if we should be alwayes abused , and alwayes unthankfully and unkindly dealt with , or alwayes under the scorns , or slanders , or persecutions of unreasonable men , or alwayes under our poverty , and toilsome labours , o● alwayes under our pains and pining sicknesses , we might then indeed dismiss our comforts : but when we know that it will be but a little while , and that all will end in rest and joy , and that our sorrows are but preparing for those joyes , even reason it self is taught by faith , to bid us rejoyce in all our tribulations , and to lift up the hands that hang down , and the feeble knees , heb. 12.12 . we make nothing to endure a sudden prick , that by blood-letting we may prevent a long disease . the short pain of pulling out a tooth , is ordinarily endured , to prevent a longer . a woman doth bear the pains of her travail , because it is short , and tends to the bringing of a child into the world . who would not submit to any labour or toyl for a day , that he might win a life of plenty and delight by it ? who would not be spit upon , and made the scorn of the world for a day , if he might have his will for it as long as he liveth on earth ? and should we not then cheerfully submit to our momentany afflictions , and the troubles of a few dayes , ( which are light , and mixt with a world of mercies , ) when we know that they are working for us , a far more exceeding eternall weight of glory ? 2 cor. 4.17 . our clamorous and malicious enemies , our quarlelsome brethren , our peevish friends , our burdensome corruptions and imperfections will shortly trouble us no more . as our life is short , and but a dream and shadow , and therefore the pleasures of this world are no better ; so our troubles also will be no longer , and are but sad dreams , and dark shadows , that quickly pass away : our lord that hath begun and gone on so far , will finish his victories , and the last enemy shall shortly be destroyed . and if the fearful doubting soul shall say , i know this is comfort to them that are in christ ; but what is it to me , that know not whether i have any part in him ? i answer , 1. the foundation of god still standeth sure : the lord knoweth his own , even when some of them know not that they are his own . he knoweth his mark upon his sheep , when they know it not themselves . god doubteth not of his interest in thee , though thou doubt of thy interest in him : and thou art faster in the arms of his love , then by the arms of thy own faith : as the child is surer in the mothers arms , then by its holding of the mother . and moreover your doubts and fears are part of the evil that shall be removed , and your bitterest sorrows that hence proceed , shall with the rest of the enemies be destroyed . 2. but yet take heed that you unthankfully plead not against the mercies which you have received , and be not friends to those doubts and fears which are your enemies , and that you take not part with the enemy of your comforts . why dost thou doubt ( poor humbled soul ) of thy interest in christ , that must make the conquest ? answer me but these few questions from thy heart . 1. did christ ever shew himself unkind to thee ? or unwilling to receive thee , and have mercy on thee ? did he ever give thee cause to think so poorly of his love and grace , as thy doubts do intimate thou dost ? hast thou not found him kind when thou wast unkind , and that he thought on thee when thou didst not think on him ? and will he now forget thee , and end in wrath that begun in love ? he desired thee when thou didst not desire him , and give thee all thy desires after him : and will he now cross and deny the desires which he hath caused ? he was found of thee , ( or rather found thee ) when thou soughtest not after him : and can be reject thee now thou criest and callest for his grace ? o think not hardly of his wonderous grace , till he give thee cause . let thy sweet experiences be remembred , to the shame of thy causeless doubts and fears ; and let him that hath loved thee to the death , be thought on as he is , and not as the unbelieving flesh would misrepresent him . quest . 2. if thou say that it is not his unkindness , but thy own that feeds thy doubts ; i further ask thee , is he not kind to the unkind ? especially when they lament their own unkindness ? thou art not so unkind to him as thou wast in thy unconverted state : and yet he then exprest his love in thy conversion : he then sought thee when thou wentest astray , and brought thee carefully home into his fold ; and there he hath kept thee ever since : and is he less kind , now when thou art returned home ? dost thou not know that all his children have their frowardness , and are guilty of their unkindnesses to him ? and yet he doth not therefore disown them , and turn them out of his family ; but is tender of them in their froward weakness , because they are his own ? how dealt he with the peevish prophet jonah , that was [ exceedingly displeased and very angry , ] that god spared nineve , lest it should be a dishonour to his prophesie ; in so much that he wisht that he might die and not live : and after repined at the withering of his gourd , and the scorching of the sun that beat upon him ? the lord doth gently question with him [ dost thou well to be angry ? ] and after hence convince him that the mercy which he valued to himself , he should not envy to so many , jonah 4. how dealt he with the disciples , that fell asleep , when they should have watcht with christ in the night of his great agony ? he doth not tell them , [ you are none of mine , because you could not watch with me one hour ; ] but tenderly excuseth that which they durst not excuse themselves , [ the spirit is willing , but the flesh is weak , ] when he was on the cross , though they all forsook him and fled , he was then so far from forsaking them , that he was manifesting to admiration that exceeding love , that never would forsake them ; and knowest thou not poor complaining soul , that the kindness of christ overcometh all the unkindness of his children ? and that his blood and grace is sufficient to save thee , from greater sins then those that trouble thee ? if thou hadst no sin , what use hadst thou of a saviour ? will thy physitian therefore cast thee off , because thou art sick ? quest . 3. yea hath not christ already subdued so many of thy enemies , as may assure thee he will subdue the rest ? and begun that life in thee , which may assure thee of eternal life ? once thou wast a despiser of god and his holy wayes : but now it is far otherwise with thee ? hath he not broken the heart of thy pride and worldliness , and sensuality and made thee a new creature ? and is not this a pledge that he will do the rest ? tell me plainly , hadst thou rather keep thy sin , or leave it ? hadst thou rather have liberty to commit it , or be delivered from it ? dost thou not hate it , and set thy self against it as thy enemy ? art thou not delivered from the reign and tyranny of it , which thou wast once under ? and will not he perfect the conquest which he hath begun ? he that hath thus far delivered thee from sin , thy greatest enemy , will deliver thee from all the sad effects of it . the blessed work of the spirit in thy conversion , did deliver thee from the bondage of the devil , from the power of darkness , and translated thee into the kingdom of jesus christ ; then didst thou enter the holy warfare , under his banners that was never overcome , in the victorious army that shall shortly begin their everlasting triumph . the sin which thou hatest and longest to be delivered from , and art willing to use gods means against it , is the conquered enemy , which may assure thee of a full and finall conquest , supposing that thy hatred is against all known sin , & that there is none so sweet or profitable in thy account . which thou hadst not far rather leave then keep . quest . 4. moreover art thou not truly willing to yield to all the terms of grace ? thou hast heard of the yoak and burden of christ , and of the conditions of the gospel , on which peace is offered to the sinfull world : and what christ requireth of such as will be his disciples . what saith thy heart now to those terms ? do they seem so hard and grievous to thee , that thou wilt venture thy soul in thy state of sin , rather then accept of them ? if this were so , thou hadst yet no part in christ indeed . but if there be nothing that christ requireth of thee , that is not desirable in thy eyes : or which thou dost not stick at , so far as to turn away from him , and forsake him , and refuse his covenant and grace rather then submit to such conditions , thou art then in covenant with him , and the blessings of the covenant belong to thee . canst thou think that christ hath purchased , and offered , and promised that which he will not give ? hath he sent forth his ministers , and commanded them to make the motion in his name , and to invite and and compell men to come in , and to beseech them to be reconciled to god , and that yet he is unwilling to accept thee when thou dost consent ? if christ had been unwilling , he had not so dearly made the way , nor begun as a suitor to thy soul , nor so diligently sought thee as he hath done . if the blessings of the covenant are thine , then heaven is thine , which is the chiefest blessing : and if they be not thine , it is not because christ is unwilling , but because thou art unwilling of his blessings on his terms : nothing can deprive thee of them but thy refusal : know therefore assuredly , whether thou dost consent thy self to the terms of christ , and whether thou art truly willing that he be thy saviour ; and if thy conscience bear thee faithfull witness , that it is so , dishonour not christ then so far as to question , whether he be willing , who hath done so much to put it out of doubt . the stop is at thy will , & not at his . if thou know that thou art willing , thou maist know that christ & his benefits are thine . and if thou be not willing , what makes thee wish , and groan , and pray , and labour in the use of means ? is it not for christ and his benefits that thy heart thus worketh , and thou dost all this ? fear not then if thy own hand be to the covenant , it is most certain that the hand of christ is at it . quest . 5. moreover , i would ask thee , whether thou see not a beauty in holiness , which is the image of christ , and whether thy soul do not desire it even in perfection ? so that thou hadst rather , if thou hadst thy choice , be more holy , then more rich or honourable inm the world ! if so , be assured that it is not without holiness , that thou choosest and preferrest holiness ? hadst thou not rather have more faith , and hope , and love to god , and patience and contentment , and communion with christ , then have more of the favour and applause of many , or of the riches or pleasures of this world ? if so , i would know of thee , whether this be not from the spirit of christ within thee ? and be not his image it self upon thee ? and the motions of the new and heavenly nature , which is begotten in thee by the holy ghost ? undoubtedly it is . and the spirit of christ thus dwelling in thee , is the earnest of thy inheritance . dost thou find the spirit of christ thus working in thee , causing thee to love holiness , and hate all sin , and yet canst thou doubt of thy part in christ ? quest . 6. moreover canst thou not truly say , that christs friends , so far as thou knowest them , are thy friends , and that which is against him , thou takest as against thy self ? if so , undoubtedly , thy enemies also are to him as his enemies , and he will lay them at thy feet . thy troubles are as his troubles , and in all thy afflictions he is as carefull of thy good , as if he himself were thereby afflicted . fear not those enemies that christ takes as his own . it is he that is engaged to overcome them . and now when conscience it self beareth witness , that thus it is with thy soul , and that thou wouldst fain be what god would have thee be , and desirest nothing more then to be more like him , and nearer to him , and desirest no kind of life so much , as that in which thou maist be most serviceable to him : consider what a wrong it is then to christ , and to the honour of his covenant and grace , & to thy poor dejected soul , that thou shouldst lie questioning his love and thy part in him , and looking about for matter of accusation or causeless suspicion against his spirit working in thee ? and that thou shouldst cast away the joy of the lord which is thy strength , and gratifie the enemy of thy peace ? when sickness is upon thee , and death draws nigh , thou shouldst then with joy lift up thy head , because thy warfare is almost accomplished , and thy saviour ready to deliver thee the crown . is this a time to fear and mourn , when thou art entring into endless joy ? is it a time of lamentation , when thou art almost most at thy journeyes end , and ready to see thy saviours face , and to take thy place in the heavenl● jerusalem , amongst those millions of holy souls that are gone before thee ? is it seemly for thee to lament thus at the door , when they are feasted with such unconceivable joys within ? dost thou know what thy brethren are now enjoying , & what the heavenly host are doing ? how full they are of god , and how they are ravished with his light and love ? and canst thou think it seemly to be so unlike them , that art passing to them ? i know there is such difference between imperfection and perfection , and between earth and heaven , that it justifieth our moderate sorrows , and commandeth us to take up infinitely short of their delights , till we are with them . but yet let there not be too great a disproportion between the members of jesus christ . we have the same lord : and the same spirit ; and all that is theirs in possession is in right and title ours . they are our elder brethren , and being at age , have possession of the inheritance : but we that are yet in the lap of the church on earth , our mother , and in the arms of our fathers grace , are of the same family , and have the same nature in our low degree . they were once on earth as low as we : and we shall be shortly in heaven , as high as they : am i now in flesh , in fears , in griefs ? so was david , and paul , and all the saints , awhile ago : yea and christ himself . am i beset with sin , and compassed with infirmities , and racked by my own distempered passion ? so were the many saints now glorified , but the other day . elias was a man subject ( saith james , ) to like passions as we are , jam. 5.17 . am i maliced by dissenting adversaries ? do they privily lay snares for me , and watch my halting , and seek advantage against my name , and liberty and life ? so did they by david , and many other now with christ ? but now these enemies are overcome . art thou under pains , and consuming sicknesses ? are thine eyes held waking , and doth trouble and sorrow waste thy spirit ? doth they flesh in thy heart fail thee , and thy friends prove silly comforters to thee ? so was it with those thousands that are now in heaven , where the night of calamities is past , and the just have dominion in the morning , and glory hath banished all their griefs , and joyes have made them forget their sorrows , unless as the remembrance of them doth promote those joyes . are thy friends lamenting thee , and grieved to see the signs of thy approaching death ? do they weep when they see thy pale face , and consumed body , and when they hear the sighs and groans ? why thus it was once with the millions that are now triumphing with their lord ? they lay in sickness , and underwent the pains , and were lamented by their friends , as thou art now . even christ himself was once in his agony , and some shakt the head at him , and other pittied him , who should rather have wept for themselves , then for him : this is but the passage from the womb of mortality , into the life of immortality , which all the saints have past before thee , that are now with christ . dost thou fear the dreadfull : face of death ? must thy tender flesh be turned t● rotness and dust ? and must thou lie in darkness till the resurrection , and thy body remain as the common earth ? and is not this the case of all those millions , whose souls now see face of christ ? did they not lie as thou dost , and die as thou must , and pass by death to the life which they have now attained ? o then commit thy soul to christ , and be quiet and comforted in his care and love . trust him as the mid-wife of thy departing soul , who will bring it safe into the light and life , which thou art yet such a stranger to . but it is not strange to him , though it be strange to thee . what was it that rejoyced thee all thy life , in thy prayers , and sufferings , and labours ? was it not the hopes of heaven ? and was heaven the spring and motive of thy obedience , and the comfort of thy life ? and yet wilt thou pass into it with heaviness ? and shall thy approaches to it be thy sorrows ? didst thou pray for that which thou wouldst not have ? hast thou laboured for it , and denyed thy self the pleasures of the world for it ? and now art thou afraid to enter in ? fear not poor soul ! thy lord is there ; thy husband , and thy head , and life is there . thou hast more there , a thousand fold more then thou hast here . here thou must leave poor mourning friends , that languish in their own infirmities , and troubled thee as well as comforted thee , while thou wast with them , and that are hasting after thee , and will shortly overtake thee . but there thou shalt find the souls of all the blessed saints , that have lived since the creation till this age : that are all uncloathed of the rags of their mortality , and have laid by their frailties with their flesh , and are made up of holiness , and prepared for joy , and will be suitable companions for thee in thy joyes . wy shouldst thou be afraid to go the way that all the saints have gone before thee ? where there is one on earth , how many are there in heaven ? and one of them is worth many of us . art thou better then noah , and abraham , and david ? then peter & paul and all the saints ? or dost thou not love their names , and wouldst thou not be with them ? art thou loath to leave thy friends on earth ? and hast thou not far better and more in heaven ? why then art thou not as loth to stay from them ? suppose that i , and such as i , were the friends that thou art loth to leave : what if we had dyed long before thee ? if it be our company that thou lovest , thou shouldst then be willing to die , that thou maist be with us . and if so , why then shouldst thou not be more willing to die , and be with christ and all his holy ones , that are so much more excellent then we ? wouldst thou have our company ? remove then willingly to that place , where thou shalt have it to everlasting : and be not so loth to go from hence , where neither thou nor we can stay . hadst thou rather travail with us , then dwell with us ? and rather here suffer with us then reign in heaven with christ and us ? o what a brutish thing is flesh ? what an unreasonable thing is unbelief ? shall we believe , and fly from the end of our belief ? shall we hope , and be loth to enjoy our hopes ? shall we desire and pray , and be afraid of attaining our desires , and lest our prayers should be heard ? shall we spend our lives in labour and travail , and be affraid of coming to our journeys end ? do you love l●fe , or do you not ? if not , why are you afraid of death ? if you do , why then are you loth to pass into everlasting life ? you know there is no hope of immortality on earth : hence you must pass whether you will or not , as all your fathers have done before you , it is therefore in heaven or nowhere , that endless life is to be had . if you can live here for ever , do . hope for it , if any have done so before you go to some man of a thousand years old , and ask him how he made shift to draw out his life so long : but if you know that man walketh here in a vain shew , and that his life is as a shadow , a dream , a post , and that all these things shall be d●ssolved , and the fashion of them passeth away , is it not more reasonable that we should set our hearts on the place where there is hopes of our continuance , then where there is none ●● and where we must live for ever , then where we must be but for so short a time ? alas , poor darkned , troubled soul ! is the presence of christ less desirable in thy eyes , then the presence of such sinfull worms as we , whom thou art loth to part with ? is it more grievous to thee to be absent from us , then from thy lord ; from earth then from heaven ; from sinners , then from blessed saints : from trouble and frailty , then from glory ? hast thou any thing here that thou shalt want in heaven , alas , that we should thus draw back from happiness , and follow christ so heavily and sadly into life ! but all this is long of the enemies that now molest our peace : indwelling sin , and a flattering world , and a brutish flesh , and interposing death , are our discouragments that drive us back . but all these enemies shall shortly be overcome . fear not death then , let it do its worst . it can give thee but one deadly gripe that shall kill it self , and prove thy life : as the wasp that leaves its sting behind , and can sting no more . it shall but snuff the candle of thy life , and make it shine brighter when it seems to be put out . it is but an undressing , and a gentle sleep . that which thou couldst not here attain , by all our preaching , and all thy prayers , and cares , and pains , thou shalt speedily attain by the help of death . it is but the messenger of thy gracious lord , and calleth thee to him , to the place that he hath prepared . hearken not now to the great deceiver , that would draw thee to unbelief , and cause thee to stagger at the promises of god , when thou hast followed him so far , and they are near to the full performance . believe it as sure as thou believest that the sun doth shine upon thee , that god cannot lie ; he is no deceiver : it was his meer love and bounty that caused him to make the promises , when he had no need for himself to make them : and shall he be then unfaithfull , and not fulfill the promises which he hath freely made ? believe it , faith is no delusion : it may be folly to trust man ; but it is worse then folly not to trust god. believe it , heaven is not a shadow , nor the life of faith and holiness a dream . these sensible things have least reality : these grosser substances , are most drossy , delusory and base . god is a spirit , who is the prime being , and the cause of all created beings . and the angels amd other celestiall inhabitants , that are nearest to him , are furthest from corporeity ; and are spirits likest unto god. the further any thing is from spirituality , the further from that excellency and perfection , which the creatures nearest god partake of . the earth is baser then the air and fire : the drossy flesh is baser then the soul . and this lumpish , dirty visible world , is incomparably below that spiritual world , which we believe and wait for : and though thy conceptions of spirits and the spiritual world , are low , and dark , and much unsatisfying ; remember still that thy head is there ; and it belongeth to him to know what thou shalt be , till thou art fit to know it , which will not be till thou art fit to enjoy it . be satisfied that thy father is in heaven , and that thy lord is there , and that the spirit that hath been so long at work within thee , preparing thee for it , dwelleth there : and let it suffice thee that christ knoweth what he will do with thee , and how he wilt employ thee to all eternity . and thou shalt very shortly see his face , and in his light thou shalt b●hold that light that shall fully satisfie thee , and shame all thy present doubts and fears , and if there were shame in heaven , would shame thee for them . vse 9. from the enmity of death , and the necessity of a conquest , we may see what a wonderfull mercy the resurrection of christ himself was to the church , and what use we should make of it for the strengthening of our faith . it was not only impossible to man to conquer death by his own strength , and therefore it must be conquered by christ ; but it was also beyond our power to believe it , that ever the dead should rise to life , if christ had not risen as the first fruits , and convinced man , by eye-sight , or certain testimony , that the thing is possible and already done . but now what a pillar is here for faith ? what a word of hope and joy is this , that [ christ is risen ? ] with this we will answer a thousand cavils of the tempter , and stop the mouth of the enemies of our faith , and profligate our infidelity . as unlikely as it seems to flesh and blood , shall we ever doubt whether we shall rise again , when the lord came down in flesh among us , that he might die and rise again himself , to shew us as to our faces that we shall rise ? this is the very gospel which we preach , and by which we must be saved ; that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures , and was buryed , and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures ; and that he was seem of cephas , then of the twelve , and after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once , of wh●m the greater part remained alive , when paul wrote this , who was the last that saw him , 1 cor. 15.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. read over this chapter again and again , where our resurection is proved by the resurrection of christ . no wonder therefore that the chruch in all ages ever since the very day of christs resurrection , hath kept the first day of the week as a holy festivall , in remembrance of it : wherein though they commemorated the whole work of our redemption , yet was it from the resurrection as the most glorious part , that the spirit of christ did choose the day , this hath been the joyfull day to the church this 1625. years , or thereabouts : in which the ancicient christians would assemble themselves together , saluting one another with this joyfull word , [ the lord is risen . ] and this is the day that the lord hath blessed , with the new birth and resurrection of millions of souls . so that it is most probable that all the six dayes of the week have not begot half so many souls for heaven , as this blessed day of the lords resurrection hath done . let infidels then despise it , that believe not christs resurrection ; but let it still be the churches joyfull day . this was the lords doing , and it is marvelous in our eyes : this is the day which the lord hath made : we will be glad and rejoyc● there in , psal . 118.23 , 24. in it , let us sing unto the lord ; let us make a joyfull noise to the rock of our salvation . let us come before his pres●nce with thanksgiving , and make a joyfull noise to him with psalms , psal . 95.1 , 2. every day let us remember the lords resurrection : but on this day let the joyfull commemoration of it be our work . we may see by the witness of the apostles , and their frequent preaching the resurrection of christ , as if it were the sum of all the gospell , that this is a point that faith must especially build and feed upon , and that we must make the matter of our most frequent meditations ▪ o what vigor it addeth to our faith , when we are encountred by the sight of death , and of a grave , to remember seriously that [ christ is risen . ] did he take flesh purpose●y that he might die and rise , and shew us how he will raise his members ? and will he after all this break his promise , and leave us in the dust for ever ? it cannot be . hath he conquered death for himself alone , and not for us ? hath he taken our nature into heaven , to be there alone and will he not have all his members with him ? remember then christian , when thou lookest on thy grave , that christ was buried , and hath made the grave a bed of rest , that shall give up her trust , when his trumpet sounds : and that his resurrection is the pledge of ours . keep therefore thy rising and glorified lord continually in the eye . if christ were not risen , our preaching were vain , and your faith were vain , and all men were miserable , but we most miserable , that suffer so much for a life which we had no ground to hope for , 1 cor. 15.14 , 17 , 19. but now we have an argument that infidelity it self is ashamed to encounter with ; that hath been the means of the conversion of the nations unto christ ; by which we may put even death it self to a defiance ; as knowing it is now a conquered thing . if it could have held christ captive , it might also have held us . but he being risen , we shall surely rise . write it therefore christians upon your hearts ; mention it more in your conference for the encouragement of your faith ; write it on the grave-stones of your friends , that [ christ is risen , ] and that [ because he liveth we shall live also , ] and that [ our life is hid with christ in god ] though we are dead ; and when he shall appear who is our life , we shall also appear with him in glory , ] john 14.19 . col. 3.3 , 4. though we must be sown in corruption , in weakness , and dishonour , we shall be raised in incorruption , strength , and honour , 1 cor. 15.42 , 43. while our souls behold the lord in glory , we may bear with the winter that befalls our flesh , till the spring of resurrection come . [ knowing that he that raised up the lord jesus , shall also raise us up by jesus . — for which cause we faint not ; but though our outward man perish , yet the inner man is renewed day by day , — while we look not at the things whic are seen , but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen are eternall , 2 cor 4.14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. ] as we are risen with christ to newness of life , so well shall rise with him to glory . vse 10. lastly , if death be the last enemy to be destroyed at the resurrection , we may learn hence , how earnestly believers should long and pray for the second coming of christ , when this full and finall conquest shall be made . death shall do much for us ; but the resurrection shall do more . death sends the separated soul to christ : but at his coming , both soul and body shall be glorified . there is somewhat in death that is penal , even to believers : but in the coming of christ , and their resurrection , there is nothing but glorifying grace . death is the effect of sin , and of the first sentence passed upon sinners : but the resurrection of the just is the finall destruction of the effects of sin . and therefore though the fears of death may perplex us , me thinks we should long for the coming of christ , there being nothing in that , but what tends to the deliverance and glory of the saints . whether he will come before the general resurrection , and reign on earth a thousand years , which some expect , i shall not presume to pass my determination . but sure i am , it is the work of faith , and character of his people to love his appearance , 2 tim. 4.8 and to wait for the son of god from heaven , whom be raised from the dead , even jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come , 1 thes . 1.10 . and to wait for the coming of our lord jesus christ , 1 cor. 1.7 . and t● wait for the adoption , the redemption of our bodies , with inward gr●anings , rom. 8.23 . o therefore let us pray more earnestly for the coming of our lord ! and that [ the lord would direct our hearts into the love of god , and into the patient waiting for christ , ] 2 thes . 3.5 . o blessed day , when the glorious appearing of our lord shall put away all his servants shame , and shall communicate glory to his members , even to the bodies that had lain so long in dust , that to the eye of flesh there seemed to be no hope ! though the majesty and glory will cause our reverence , yet it will not be our terror , to the diminution of our joy . it is his enemies that would not have him rule over them , whom he cometh to destroy , luke 19.27 . [ behold the lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints , to execute judgement upon all , and to convince all that are ungodly among them , of all their ungodly deeds , which they have ungodly committed , and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him , as henoch the seventh from noah prophesied , jud. 14.15 . but the precious faith of the saints , shall be found , to praise , and honour , and glory at the appearing of jesus christ , 1 pet. 1.7 . when the chief shepherd shall appear , we shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth ●ot away , 1. pet. 5.4 . he that was once ●ffered to bear the sins of many , ( and n●w appeareth for us in the presence of god ) shall unto them that look for him appear the second time , without sin , to salvation . ] heb. 9.24 , 28. and when christ who is our life shall appear , then shall we also appear with him in glory , col. 3.4 . the lord shall then come to be glorified in his saints , and admired in all them that believe in that day , 2 thes . 1.10 . this is the day that all believers should long , and hope , and wait for , as being the accomplishment of all the work of their redemption , and all the desires and endeavours of their souls . it is the hope of this day that animateth the holy diligence of our lives , and makes us turn from the carelesness and sensuality of the world : [ for the grace of god that bringeth salvation , hath appeared unto all men ; teaching us , that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , we should live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world : looking for that blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of our great god , and our saviour jesus christ , ] tit. 2.11 , 12 , 13. the heavens and the earth that are now , are kept in store by the word of god , reserved unto fire , against the day of judgement , and perdition of ungodly men . and though the lord seem to delay , he is not slack of his promise ( as some men count slackness : ) for a day is with him as a thousand years , and a thousand years but a● a day . but the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night , in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise , and the elements shall melt wth fervent heat : the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up . seeing then all these things shall be diss●lved , what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness ; looking for , and hasting unto the coming of the day of god , wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved , and the elements melt with fervent heat ! but we according to his promise , look for new heavens ; and a new earth , wherein dwelleth righteousness , ] 2 pet. 3.7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13. beza marvelleth at tertullia● for saying that the christians in their holy assemblies prayed pro mora finis ( apologet. c. 39. ) and so he might well enough , if it were not that to christians the glory of god is dearer then their own felicity , and the salvation of millions more precious then the meer hastening of their own ; and the glory of the church more desirable then our personall glory ; and the hallowing of gods name were not to be prayed for before the coming of his kingdom ; and the kingdom of grace must not necessarily go before the kingdom of glory . but as much as we long for the coming of our lord , we are content to wait till the elect be gathered ; and can pray that he will delay it , till the universal body be made up , and all are called that shall be glorified . but to our selves , that are brought out of aegypt into the wilderness , how desirable is the promised land ? when we think on our own interest , we cry [ come lord jesus , come quickly : ] the sooner the better . then shall our eyes behold him , in whom we have believed : not as he was beheld on earth in his despised state ; but as the glorious king of saints , accompanied with the celestial host , coming in flaming fire to render vengeance to the rebellious , and rest and joy to believing souls , that waited for this day of his appearance . then faith and patience shall give up their work ▪ and sight , and fruition , and perfect love , shall everlastingly succeed them . the rage of persecutors shall no more affright us : the folly of the multitude shall no more annoy us : the falseness of our seeming selfish friends shall no more betray us : the pride of self-conceited men shall no more distu●b us : the turbulency of men distracted by ambition shall cast us no more into confusions . the kingdom that we shall possess shall not be lyable to mutations , nor be tossed with pride and faction as are these below . there is no monethly ( or annual ) change of governours and laws , as is in lunatick common-wealths : but there will be the same lord and king , and the same laws and government , and the same subjects and obedience , without any mutinies , rebellions , or discontents , to all eternity . the church of which we shall then be members , shall not be divided into parties , and factions , nor the members look strangely at each other , because of difference of opinions , or distance of affections , as now we find it , to our daily grief , in the militant church . we shall then need no tedious debates to reconcile us : unity will be then quickly and easily procured . there will be no falling out in the presence of our lord. there will be none of that darkness , uncharitableness , selfishness , or passion left , that now causeth our dissentions . when we have perfect light , and perfect love , the perfect peace will be easily attained , which here we labour for in vain . now there is no peace in church or state , in cities or countreys , in families , or scarce in our own souls . but when the glorious king of peace hath put all his enemies under his feet , what then is left to make disturbance ? our enemies can injure us no more , for it is then their portion to suffer for all their former injuries to christ and us : our friends will not injure us ( as here they do ; ) because their corruption and weakness is put off , and the relicts of sin , that caused the trouble , are left behind . o that is the sight that saith prepareth for , that is the day , the blessed day , that all our dayes are spent in seeking , and waiting , and praying for ; then shall the glory of holiness appear , and the wisdom of the saints be justified by all , that now is justified by her childre● ! then it shall be known , whether faith or unbelief , whether a heavenly or earthly mind and life , was the wiser and more justifiable course : then shall all the world discern between the righteous and the wicked , between them that serve god , and them that serve him not , mal. 3.18 . then sin ( that is now so obstinately defended , and justified by such foolish cu●ning ) shall never more find a tongue to plead for it , or a patron to defend it more . then where is the man that will stand forth and break a jest at godliness , or make a scorn of the holy diligence of believers ? how pale then will those faces look , that here were wont to jear at piety ▪ what terror will seize upon those hearts , that here were wont to make themselves sport at the weaknesses of the upright servants of the lord ? that is t●● day that shall rectifie all judgements , and cure the errors and contemptuous thoughts of an holy life , which no perswasions now can cure ; that is the day that shall set all straight , that now seems crooked ; and shall satisfie us to the full , that god was just , even when he prospered his enemies , and afflicted the souls that loved him ▪ and walkt in their integrity before him . we shall then see that which shall fully satisfie us of the reason and equity of all our sufferings , which here we underwent ; we shall marvail no more that god lets us weep , and groan , and pray , and turns away his face , and seems not to regard us . we shall then find that all our groans were heard , & all our tears and prayers did succeed , which we suspect●d had been lost . we shall then find that a duty performed in sincerity , through all our lives , was never lost ; no nor a holy thought ; nor a cup of cold water that from holy love we gave to a disciple . we shall then see that our murmurings , and discontents , and jealous unbelieving thoughts of god , which sickness , or poverty , or crosses did occasion , were all injurious to the lord , and the fruit of infirmity ; and that when we questioned his love on such accounts , we knew not what we said . we shall then see that death , and grave , and devils , were all but matter for the glorifying of grace , and for the triumph of our lord and us . up then my soul , and shake off thy unbelief and dulness ; look up , and long , and meet thy lord. the more thou art afraid of death , the more desire that blessed day , when mortality shall be swallowed up of life , and the name of death shall be terrible no more . though death be thy enemy , there is nothing but friendly in the coming of thy lord. though death dissolve thy nature , the resurrection shall restore it , and make thee full reparation with advantage . how glad would i have been to have seen christ , but with the wise men in the manger ! or to have seen him disputing with the doctors in his child-hood in the temple , or to have seen him do his miracles , or heard him preach ; much more to have seen him as the three disciples , in his transfiguration ; or to have seen him after his resurrection , and when he ascended up to heaven . but how far is all this below the sight that we shall have of him when he comes in glory ! when the brightness of his shining face shall make us think the sun was darkness : and the glory of his attendance shall make us think what a sordid thing , and childish foolery was all the glory of this world ! the face of love shall be then unvailed , and ravish us into the highest love and joy , that our natures are capable of . then doubt , and fear , and grieve if thou canst ! what then wilt thou think of all these disquieting distrustfull thoughts that now so wrong thy lord and thee ? if going into the sanctuary , and fore-seeing the end , can cure our brutish misapprehensions of gods providences , ( psal . 73.17 . ) how perfectly will they be cured , when we see the glorious face o● christ , and behold the new jerusalem in its glory , and when we are numbred with the saints that judge the world ? we shall never more be tempted then , to condemn the generation of the just , nor to think it vain to serve the lord , nor to envy the prosperity of the wicked , nor to stagg●r at the promise through unbelief ; nor to think that our sickness , death and grave , were any signs of unkindness or unmercifulness in god. we shall then be convinced that sight and flesh were unfit to censure the wayes of god , or to be our guides . hasten o lord , this blessed day ! stay not till faith have left the earth ; and infidelity , and impiety , and tyranny have conquered the rest of thine inheritanc● ! stay not till selfish uncharitable pride hath vanquished love and self-denyal , and planted its colonies of heresie , confusion and cruelty in thy dominions : and earth and hell be turned into one . stay not till the eyes of thy servants fail , and their hearts and hopes do faint and languish with look●ng and waiting for thy salvation . but if yet the day be not at hand , o keep up faith , and hope , and love , till the sun of perfect love arise , and time hath prepared us for eternity , and grace for glory . finis . some imitable passages of the life of elizabeth , late wife of mr. joseph baker . though i spoke so little as was next to n●thing , of our de●r deceased friend , it was not because i w●nted ma●ter , or thought it unmeet : but i use it but seldom , lest i raise expectations of the like , where i cannot conscionably perform it . but he that hath promised to honour those that serve and honour him , ( john 12.26 . 1 sam. 2.30 . ) and will come at l●st to be glorified in his saints , and admired in all them that do believe , ( 2 thes . 1.10 ) i know , will take it as a great and acceptable act of service , to proclaim the honour of his grace , and to give his servants their due on earth , whose souls are glorified with christ in heaven ; though serpentine enmity will repine and play the envious accuser . it is not the history of the life of this precious servant of the lord which i intend to give you : ( for i was not m●ny years acquainted with her : ) but only some passages , which either upon my certain knowledge , or her own diurnall of her course , or the most credible rest imony of her most intimate judicious godly friends , i may boldly publish as true , and imitable in this untoward distempered generation . she was born novemb. 1634. in southwark neer london : the only child of mr. john godeschalk , alias , godscall . her father dying in her child-hood , she was left an orphane to the chamber of london . her mother after married mr. isaac barton , with whom she had the benefit of religious education . but between sixteen and seventeen years of age , by the serious reading of the book called the saints everlasting rest , she was more throughly awakened , and brought to set her heart o● god , and to seek salvation with her chiefest care : from that time forward she was a more const●nt , diligent , serious hearer of the ablest minist●rs in london ▪ rising early , and going far to hear them on the week-dayes , waiting on god for his confirming grace in the use of those ordinanees , which empty unexperienced hypocrites are easily tempted to despise : the sermons which she constantly wrote , she diligently repeated at home for the benefit of others ; and every week read over some of those that she had heard long before , that the fruit of them might be retained and renewed : it being not novelty that she minded . in the year 1654. being near one and twenty years of age , after seeking god , and waiting for his resolving satisfying directions , she consented to be joyned in marriage to mr. joseph baker , by the approbation of her nearest friends : god having taken away her mother the year before . with him she approved her self indeed such a wife as paul ( no papist ) describeth as meet for a bishop or pastor of the church , 1 tim. 3.11 . [ even so must their wives be grave , not slanderers , sober , faithfull in all things . ] some instances i shall give , for the imitation of others . 1. she was very exemplary in self-denyal and humility : and having said this much , what abundance have i comprehended ? o what a beauty doth self-denyal and humility put on souls ! nay what a treasure of everlasting consequence , do these two words express ? i shall give you a few of the discoveries . 1. it appeared in her accompanying in london with the holiest , how mean soever , avoiding them that were proud , and vain , and carnal : she desired most to be acquainted with those that she perceived were best acquainted with god , neglecting the pomp and vain glory of the world . 2. when she was called to a married state , though her portion and other advantages invited persons of greater estates in the world , she chose rather to marry a minister of known integrity , that might be a near , and constant guide , and stay and comfort to her , in the matters which she valued more then riches . and she missed not of her expectations , for the few years that she lived with him . even in this age whe● the serpent is hissing in every corner at faithfull ministers , and they are contemned both by prophane and hereticall malignants , she preferred a mean life with such ● one , for her spirituall safety and solace , before the grandeur of the world . 3. when some inhabitants of the city of worcester were earnest with me to help them to an able minister , mr. baker then living in kent had about an hundred pound per annum : and when at my motion he was readily willing to take a great charge in worcester , upon a promise from two men to make the maintenance fifty pounds a year by a voluntary contribution , of the continuance of which he had no security ; his wife was a promoter , and no discourager of his self-denyall , and never tempte● him to l●●k after greater things . and afterward , when i was afraid lest the smalness and uncertainty of the means , together with his discour●gements from some of his people , might have occasioned his remove ; and have heard of richer places mentioned to him , as he still answ●red that he had enough , and minded not removing without necessity ; so was she ever of the same mind , and still seconded and confirmed him in such resolutions , even to follow gods work while they had a competency of their own , and to mind no more . 4. her very speech and behaviour did so manifest meek●ess , and humility , that in a little converse with her it might e●sily be discerned . 5. she thought nothing too mean for her , that bel●nged to her in her family and r●lation , no employment , food , &c. saying often , that [ what god had made her duty , was not too low a work for her . ] and indeed , when we kn●w ●nce that it is a work that god sets us upon , it signifieth much forgetfulness of him and our selves , if we think it too base , or think our s●lves too good to stoop to it . 6. no neighbour did seem too mean or poor for her familiar converse , if they were but willing . 7. she had a true esteem , and cheerfull love for the mean●st of her husbands relations , and much rejoyced in her comfort in his kindred , recording it among her experienced mercies . 2. she was very constant and diligent in doing her part of family duties : teaching all the inferiours of her family , ●nd labouring to season them wi●h principles of holiness , and admonishing them of their sin and danger : never failing on the l●rds day at night to hear them read the scriptures , and recite their catechisms , when publike duty , and all other family duty was ended : and in her husbands absence praying with them . how much the imitation of such examples would conduce to the sanctifying of families , is easie to be apprehended ? 3. in secret duty she was very constant , and lived much in those two great soul-advancing works , meditation and prayer : in which she would not admit of interruptions . this inward holy diligence was it that maintained spirituall life within , which is the spring ●f outward acceptable works . when communion with god , and daily labour upon our own hearts is laid a●ide , or negligently and remisly followed , grace languisheth first within , and then unfruitfulness , if not disorders and scandalls appear without . 4. her love to the lord jesus was evidenced by her great affection to his ordinances , and wayes , and ser●ants : a very hearty love she manifested to those on whom the image of god did appear , even the poorest and meanest , as well as the rich or eminent in the world : nor did a difference in lesser matters , or any tolerable mistakes , alienate her affections from them . 5. she was a christian of much plainness , simplicity and singleness of heart : far from a subtile crafty dissembling frame , and also from loquacity or ostentation . and the world was very low in her eyes , to which she was long crucified , ●nd on which she looked as a lifeles● thing : sensuality and pampering the flesh , she much loathed : whe● she was invited to feasts , she w●uld oft complain , that they occasioned a difficulty in maintaining a sense of the presence of god , whose company in all her company she preferred . 6. she was a very carefull esteemer and redeemer of her time : at home in her family , the works of her generall and particular calling took her up : when necessary business and greater duties gave way , she was seldom without a book in her hand , or some edifying disc●urse in her mouth , if there were opportunity . and abroad she was very weary of barren company that spent the time in common chatt and dry discourses . 7. she used good company practically and profitably , making use of what she heard for her own spirituall advantage . when i understood out of her diary , that she wrote down some of my familiar discourses , with serious application to her self , it struck exceeding deep to my heart , how much i have sinned all my dayes , ( since i undertook the person of a minister of christ ) by the slightness and unprofitableness of my discourse ; and how exceeding carefull ministers should be of th●ir words , and how deliberately , wisely and seriously they should speak ab●ut the things of god , and how diligently they should take all fit opportunities to that end , when we know not how silent ●earers are affected with what we say : for ought we know there may be some that will write down what we say in their books , or hearts , or both : and god an conscience write down all . 8. in her course of reading she was still laying in for use and practice . her course was , when she read the scriptures , to gather out passages , and sort and refer them to their several uses , as some that were fit subjects for her meditations : some for encouragement to prayer , and other duties : promises suited to various conditions and wants : as her papers shew . and for other books , she would meddle with none but the sound and practicall , and had no itch after the empty books , which make ostentation of novelty , and which opinionists are now so taken with ; not did she like writing or preaching in envy and strife . and of good books , she chose to read but few , and those very often over , that all might be well digested . which is a course ( for pr●vate christians ) that tends to avoid luxuriancy , and make them sincere , and solid , and established . 9 she had the great blessing of a tender conscience . she did not slightly pass over small sins without penitent observation . her diary records her trouble , when causelesly she had neglected any ordinance ; ●r was hindered by rain or small occasions : or if she had overslept her self , and lost a morning-exercise in london , or came to late , ●r if she were distracted in secret duty : and if she mist of a fast through misinformation & disappointments , and f●und not her heart duly s●nsible of the loss , that also she recorded . so did she her stirrings of anger , and her very angry look● ; res●lving to take more heed against them . though all ought not to spend so much time in writing down their failings , yet all should watch , and renew repentance . 10. she was very solicitous for the souls of her friends : as for instance , h●r brothers in law ; over whom she exercised a motherly care , instructing them , and watching ●ver them , and telling them of misc●rria●es , ●nd counselling them : causing them to keep a constant course of reading the holy scriptures , and meditating on it ( as far as she could : ) causing them to learn many chapters without book : and to read other good books in season : e●rnestly praying for them in particular : much desiring one or both should be ministers : and when her father-in-law appointed the eldest to go to france , she was much troubled for fear of his miscarriage among strangers , especially those of the romish way . 11. she was a serious mourner for the sins of the time and place she lived in . 12. in summ , for strict , close , watchfull , holy walking with god , ●ven her hu●band professeth that she was a p●ttern to him . as i hi●ted before , she kept a daily account in writing , ( which is now to be see● from the beginning of the year 1654. ) especially of these particulars . 1. of the frame of her heart in every dayes duty , in meditation , prayer , hearing , reading , &c. whether lively , or dull , &c. 2. of those sins which she h●d especially to repent of , and watch against . 3. of h●r resolutions and promises , and how she kept them . 4. of all special providences to her self , husband , brothers , and others , and the improvement of them . as at the death of her son , who died with great sighs and groans , she recorded her sense of the speciall nec●ssity of holy armour , and great preparation for that encounter when her turn should come to be so removed to the everlasting habitation . 5. of her returns of prayer , what answers , and grant of them she found . 6. of the state of her soul upon examination : how she found it , and what was the issue of each examination ; and in this it seems she was very exact and punctual . in which though many times fears and doubtings did arise , yet hath she frequent records of the discovery of evidences , and comfortable assurance of sincerity . sometime when she hath heard sermons in london , that helped her in her search : and sometime when she ●ad been reading writings that tended that way , she recordeth what evidences she found , and in what degree the discovery was : if imperfect , resolving to take it up and follow the search further : and if she had much joy , she received it with jealousie and expectation of some humbling consequent . when any grace languished , she presently turned to some apt remedy . a● for instance , it s one of her notes , novemb. 1658. [ i found thoughts of eternity slight and strange , and ordinary imployments very desirable : at which i read mr. bs. crucifixion , and was awakened to mortification and humiliation , &c. ] the last time that she had opportunity for this work , was two or t●ree dayes before her delivery in child-bearing ; where she finally recorded the apprehensions she had both of her bodily and spiritual state , in these words , [ drawing near the time of my delivery , i am faln into such weakness , that my life is in great hazzard . i find some fears of death , but not very great , hoping ( through grace ) i die in the lord. ] i only mention these hints , to shew the method she used in her daily accounts . to those christians that have full leisure this course is good : but i urge i● not all , upon those that have so great dutie● to t●ke up that time ▪ that they cannot spare so muc● to record their ordinary passages ; such must remember what others record , and daily renew re●entance for their daily failings , and record only the extraordinary , observable , and more remarkable and memorable passages of their lives , lest they lose time from works of greater moment . but this exc●llent work of watchfulness must be performed by all . and i think it was a considerable expression of her true wisdom , and care of her immortal soul , that when any extraordinary necessity required it , and she found such doubts as of her self she was not ●ble to deal with , she would go to some able experienced minister , to open her case , and seek assistance ( as she did more then on●e to my dear and ancient friend , mr. cross , who in a full age is since gone after her to christ . ) and therefore chose a minister in marriage , that he might be a ready assistant in such cases of necessity , as well as a continual help . at last came that death to summon her soul away to christ , for which she had so seriously been preparing , and which she oft called a dark entry to her fathers palace . after the death of her children , when she seemed to be some what repaired after her last delivery , a violent convulsion suddenly surprized her , which in a few dayes brought her to her end . her understanding by the fits being at last debilitated , she finding it somewhat hard to speak sensibly , excused it , and said , [ i shall ere long speak another language , ] which were the last words which she spake with a tongue of flesh , and lying speechless eighteen hours after , she departed , august 17. 1659. blessed are the dead that die in the lord , from henceforth , yea saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them . our turn is coming : shortly we shall also lay by flesh : this is our day of preparation : there is no preparing time but this . did men but know the difference between the death of the holy and the unholy , which doth not appear to fleshly eyes , how speedily would they turn ? how seriously would they meditate ? how fervently would they pray ? how carefully would they live ? how constantly , painfully and resolvedly w●uld they labour ? did they well consider the difference between dying prepared and unprepared , and of what difficulty and yet everlasting consequence it is to die well ; o then what manner of persons would men be , in all manner of holy conversation and godliness ? and all their lives would then be a continued preparation for death ; as all their life is a hasting towards it . and now i shall only desire you , for the right understanding of all that i have here said , and to prevent the cavils of blinded malice , to observe these three or four p●rticulars . 1. that though i knew so much ●f her as easily maketh me believe the rest , upon so sure a testimony , and saw her diary ; yet the most of this history of her life , is the collection and observation of such faithfull witness , as had much better opportunity then i , to know th● secrets of her soul and life . 2. that it is no wonder if many that knew her , perceived not all this by her , that is here expressed : for that knowledge of our outward carriage at a distance , will not tell our neighbours what we do in our closets , where god hath commanded us to shut our door upon us , that our father which seeth in secret , may reward us openly . and many of the most humble and sincere servants of the lord are so afraid of hypocrisie , and hate ostentation , that their justification and glory is only to be expected from the searcher of hearts , ( and a few of their more intimate acquaintance : ) though this was not the case before us ; the example described being more conspicuous . 3. that i overpass the large expressions of her charity , which you may hear from the poor and her intimate acquaintance , as i have done ; that i may not grate upon the modesty of her surviving friends , who must participate in the commendations . 4. that it is the benefit of the living that is my principall end ; scripture it self is written much in history , that we may have matter of imitation before our eyes . 5. if any say that here is no m●ntion of her faults , i answer , though i had acquaintance with her , i knew them not , nor ever heard from any other so m●ch as might enable me to accuse her , if i were her enemy . yet i doubt not but she was imperfect , and had faults , though unknown to me : the example of holi●ess i have briefly proposed : they that would see examples of iniquity , may look abroad in the world , and find enough : i need not be the accuser of the saints to furnish them . and i think if they enquire here of any thing ●etable , they will be hard put to it to find eno●gh to cover the acc●sers shame . 6. it is the honour of christ and grace in his members , more the● the honour of his servant that i seek . 7. and i would not speak that in commendation of the living , which i do of the dead , who are out of the reach of all temptations , of being lifted up with pride thereby : vnless it be such whose reputation the interest of christ and the gospel commandeth me to vindicate . 8. lastly , i am so far from lifting up one above the rest of the members of christ , by these commendations , and from abasing others whose names i mention not , that i intend the honour of all in one , and think that in the substance i describe all saints , in describing one . i am not about a popish work , of making a wonder of a saint , as of a phaenix or some rare unusual thing . saints with them must b● canonized , and their names put in the calendar : and yet their blind malice tells the world , that there are no such things as saints among us . but i rejoyce in the many that i have communion with , and the many that have lately stept before me into heaven , and are safe there out of the reach of malice , and of sin , and all the enemies of their peace ; and have left me mourning and yet rejoycing , fearing and yet hoping , and with some desires , looking after them here behind : and the faster christ calls away his chosen ones , whose graces were amiable in mine eyes , the more willing he maketh me to follow them , and to leave this world of darkness , confusion , wickedness , danger , vanity and vexation , and to meet these precious souls in life , where we shall rejoyce that we are past this howling wilderness , and shall for ever be with the lord. finis . baxters treatise of death . a catalogue of books written and published by the same author . these next following are to be sold by nevil simmons bookseller in kederminster . 1 true christiantiy , or christs absolute dominion , and mans necessary self-resignation and subjection , in two assize sermons preacht at worcester , in 12o. 2 a sermon of judgement preached at pauls , before the honorable lord major and aldermen of the city of london , decem. 17. 1654. and now enlarged , in 12o. 3 making light of christ and salvation too oft the issue of gospel invitations , manifest in a sermon preached at lawrence jury , in london , in 8o. 4 the agreement of divers ministers of christ in the county of worcester for catechizing or personal instructing all in their several parishes that will consent thereunto ; containing 1. the articles of our agreement . 2. an exhortation to the people to submit to this necessary work . 3. the profession of faith and catechism , in 8o. 5 guildas salvianus , the reformed pastor , shewing the nature of the pastoral work , especially in private instruction and catechizing , in 8o. 6 certain disputations of right to sacraments , and the true nature of visible christianity , in 4o. 7 of justification : four disputations clearing and amicably defending the truth , against the unnecessary oppositions of divers learned and reverend brethren , in 4o. 8 a treatise of conversion , preached and now published for the use of those that are strangers to a true conversion , especially the grosly ignorant and ungodly , in 4o. 9 one sheet for the ministry against the malignants of all sorts . 10 a winding-sheet for popery . 11 one sheet against the quakers . 12 a second sheet for the ministry , justifying our calling against quakers , seekers , and papists , and all that deny us to be t●e ministers of christ . 13 d●rections to justices of peace , especially in corporations , to the discharge of their duty to god ; written at the request of a magistrate , and published for the use of others ●hat need it . an open street . 14 the crucifying of the world , by the cross of christ : with a preface to the nobles , gentlemen , and all the rich , directing them how they may be richer , in 4o. 15 a call to the unconverted to turn and live , and accept of mercy , while mercy may be had , as ever they would find mercy in the day of their extremity : from the living god : to be read in families where any are unconverted , in 12o. 16 of saving faith : that it is not only gradually , but specifically distinct from all common faith. the agreement of richard baxter with that very learned consenting adversary , that hath maintained his assertion by a pretended confutation in the end of serjeant shepherds book of sincerity and hypocrisie : with the reasons of his dissent in some passages that came in on the by , in 4o. 17 directions and perswasions to a sound conversion . for prevention of that deceit and damnation of souls , and of those scandals , heresies , and desperate apostasies , that are the consequents of a counterfeit or superficial change , in 8o. 18 the grotian religion discovered , at the invitation of mr. thomas pierce in his vindication : with a preface , vindicating the synod of dort from the calumnies of the new tilenus ; and david , peter , &c. and the puritans , and sequestrations , &c. from the censures of mr. pierce , in 8o. confirmation and restauration , the necessary means of reformation , and reconcil●ation ; for the healing of the corruptions and divisions of the churches ; submissively , but earnestly tendered t● the consideration of the sover●ign powers , magistrates , ministers , and people , that they may awake , and be up and doing in the execution of so much as appeareth to be necessary , as they are true to christ , his church and gospel , and to their own and others souls , and to the peace and welfare of ●he nations ; and as they will answer the neglect to christ , at their peril , in 8o. 19 five disputations of church-government , in 4o. 20 a key for ca●holicks , to open the jugling of the jesuites , and satisfie all that are but truly willing to understand , whether the cause of the roman or reformed churches be of god ; and to leave the reader utterly unexcusable that after this will be a papist . the first part , containing some arguments by which the meanest may see the vanity of popery ; and 40. detections of their fraud ; with directions , and materials sufficient for the confutation of their voluminous deceits : particularly refelling b●verius , richlieu , h. t. manual , some manuscripts , &c. with some proposals for a ( hopeless ) peace . the second part sheweth ( especially against the french , and grotians ) that the catholick church is not united in any meerly humane head , either pope or council , in 4o. 21 a treatise of self-denia● , in 4o. these books following are to be sold by thomas underhill , at the bible and anchor in pauls church-yard , and by francis tyton , at the three daggers in fleetstreet . 22 the saints everlasting rest : or , a treatise of the bl●ssed state of the saints in their enjoyment of god in glory , in 4o. 23 his apology , against the exceptions of mr. blake . and the digression of mr. kendall . animadversions on a late dissertation of ludiomaeus colvinus , alias , ludovicus molina●us . an admonition to mr. eyres : with mr. crand●ns anatomy , in 4o. 24 the unreasonableness of infidelity , in four parts . 1. the spirits intrinsick witness to the truth of christianity , with a determination of this question , whether the miracles of christ and his apostles do oblige those to believe , who never saw them ? 2. the spirits internal witness of the truth of christianity . 3. a treatise of the sin against the holy ghost . 4. the arrogancy of reason against divine revelation , repressed , in 8o. 25 the worcestershire petition to the parliament , for the ministry of england , defended , &c. in 4o. 26 his holy common-wealth , or political aphorisms , opening the true principles of government , &c. in 8o. 27 the right method for a setled peace of conscience and spiritual comfort , in thirty two directions , in 8o. 28 his confession of faith , especially concerning the interest of repentance and si●cere obedience to christ , in our justification and salvation , in 4o. 29 christian concord ; or the agreement of the associated pastors and churches of worcestershire , with his explication and desence of it , and his exhortation to unity , in 4o. 30 his humble advice : or the heads of those things which were offered to many honourable members of parliament , in 4o. 31 the quakers catechism , or the quakers questioned , their questions answered , and both published for the sake of those of them that have not sinned unto death ; and of those ungrounded novices that are most in danger of their seduction , in 4o. 32 an account of his present thoughts concerning the controversies about the perseverance of the saints , in 4o. 33 his letter to mr. drury for pacification , in 4o. 34 plain scripture proof of infant church-membership and baptism : being the arguments prepared for ( and partly managed in ) the publike dispute with mr. tombes at bewdly , jan. 1. 1649 , &c. in 4o. 35 the sa●e religion ; or three disputations for the reformed catholick religion , against popery : proving that popery is against the holy scriptures , the unity of the catholick church , the consent of the ancient doctors , the plainest reason and common judgement of sense it self , in 8o. 36 catholick unity : or , the only way to bring us all to be of one religion ; to be read by such as are offended at the differences in religion , and are willing to do their part to heal them , in 12o. 37 the true catholick , and catholick church described : and the vanity of the papists , and all other schismaticks that confine the catholick church to their sect , discovered and shamed : with an apologetical postcript against the factious principles and writings of mr. t. malpas , mr. t. pierce , philo-tilenus , and such others , in 12o. besides his aphorisms of justifitation ( suspended . ) a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard, at little easton in essex, on the 30th of june, 1682 by tho. ken ... ken, thomas, 1637-1711. 1682 approx. 57 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 23 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47237 wing k279 estc r14084 12937321 ocm 12937321 95807 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47237) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95807) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 717:28) a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard, at little easton in essex, on the 30th of june, 1682 by tho. ken ... ken, thomas, 1637-1711. [4], 40 p. printed by m. flesher for joanna brome ..., and william clarke ..., london : 1682. marginal notes. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng maynard of estaines ad turrim, margaret maynard, -baroness, d. 1682 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-05 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard , at little easton in essex . on the 30th . of iune , 1682. by tho. ken d. d. one of his majesty's chaplains in ordinary . london , printed by m. flesher , for ioanna brome , at the sign of the gun in st. paul's church-yard ; and william clarke bookseller in winchester , mdclxxxii . to the right honourable william lord mainard , baron of eastains , and comptroller of his majesty's houshold . my lord , though i am unwilling , to decline any service , which your lordship expects from me , yet when you enjoyn'd me , the printing of this sermon , i could not obey your command , without disputing it . for i consider'd , that in such an age as this , where an exemplary holiness , is very rare , i shall be thought guilty , of most gross flattery , in the character i have given , of your incomparable lady , now in heaven . but knowing i have so many , unexceptionable witnesses , to attest every line i have said , especially your self , who best understood her value , and are most sensible of her loss ; and being conscious to my self , that i have spoken no other throughout , than the words of truth , i soon broke through , all the discouragements i had , either from the just censures the world would fix , on the meaness of the discourse , or from the unjust ones it might pass , on my insincerity ; and resolv'd , to doe all that little honour i could , to her memory , and to give god , the glory of her example : and i humbly beseech the divine goodness , that what i now offer to the publick , may not be wholly unprofitable , to those who reade it ; however , i am sure , it will not be unacceptable to your lordship , or to those , who were so happy to know her , which will be satisfaction enough , to my good lord , your lordship 's most humble and faithfull servant tho. ken . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard , on prov. 11. xvi . a gracious woman retaineth honour . the world was never yet so bad , but the good man , though his life was a continued satyre to the age he lived in , did always either find , or extort , a veneration from it . so true is it of both sexes , which solomon here affirms of woman only , that gracious persons , they who are in the grace and favour of god , and are strengthned by his gracious assistances , they who by the covenant of grace , are enrolled in his service , and in whose hearts , there is a conspiration , of all the graces of his holy spirit ; all which particulars , are included in the word grace , and do all concur , to make up a gracious soul ; such persons , i say , as these , shall from the generality of men , gain an inward esteem , and a great opinion , and for the most part , an outward , and a suitable respect , or as the wise man words it , shall retain honour . i must confess , that there are many instances , even in our own perverse generation , wherein vertue has rather been contemn'd and ridicul'd than honour'd , but i will mention no other than the most signal of all , god incarnate , whose example , though it was as perfect , and unblameable , as the fulness of the godhead , could render it ; yet his most divine person , was so far from being honoured , by many of the iews , that he lay under the utmost imputations of slander and blasphemy , which words could express ; and as glorious as all his miracles were , they were ascrib'd to no other , than beelzebub , the prince of the very devils . but though it be true , that our blessed lord , in regard to his state of humiliation , seemed to have no form , no comeliness in him ; yet all his conversation , had so many irradiations of divinity in it , which did abundantly evince his heavenly extraction ; and it is no wonder he should suffer such contradictions of sinners , it being usual for an heroick virtue , which is singly to encounter whole legions , to contend with inveterate errours , or reigning vices , to reprove , and reform the world , as our saviour was , to be loaded , with most diabolical reproaches . but goodness has an inseparable splendour , which can never suffer , a total ecclipse , and when it is most revil'd , and persecuted , it then shines brightest out of cloud . so that all who are not willfully blind , who will but make use of their eyes to see , must acknowledge the force of its raies . this did the very iews themselves , as many as had any reliques of common ingenuity left : the multitude own'd our saviour for a great prophet , wonder'd at his gracious words , confest he had done all things well , insomuch , that they would have exalted him to the throne , and have made him their king ; pilate could find no fault in him at all ; and the centurion , a heathen , even when he saw him hanging on the cross , as a malefactour , cried out , certainly this was a righteous man. so that a gracious person , under the most extreme degree of infamy and slander , shall yet retain honour , shall from all that are in their right minds , have at least an inward veneration . if this be verifi'd of a publique vertue , there can be less doubt of it in a private one , which not being on such a stage , as may provoke and affront the angry world , by openly contradicting , or upbraiding , or chastising it , passes along with a less assaulted , and less envied reputation , and more undisturb'dly retains honour than the former . there is , i know , an honour which is due to all men , as they are god's workmanship , and have some lines of his image in them , but especially to kings , and to magistrates , whom it is our duty to honour , whether they be gracious persons or no ; this we are to render to the froward , and pagan , as well as to gentle and believing masters ; to princes that are infidels and persecutours , as well as to christian and nursing fathers . but then this honour is not paid them out of respect to any real goodness in them , but only to their authority , as they are god's ordinance , as we depend on their protection , and as our obedience is enforc'd , by law and penalties ; but the honour we give to a gracious person , is purely in reference to his moral excellencies , which are legible in the whole conduct of his life : the former is merely civil , the latter may in some sort , be styl'd religious : empire is honour'd as it resembles god's power , abstracted from his holiness , and therefore it is compatible with an ungracious person , it is confin'd only to this world , and reaches no farther : but graciousness is honour'd as a participation of the divine nature , appropriate to no other than saints , and which has its prospect only on heaven : the former is like thunder and lightning , and works on our fear ; the latter is like the appearance of a good angel , arraid in beams , awfull , but kind , which do not afflict , but chear the sight , and raise in us a mixt passion , of love and veneration together ; and in this sense it is , that the gracious person , for the venerable goodness that is visible in him , shall retain honour . to attempt any labourious proof , of so clear a truth as this , were needless ; do but consult the universal practice of mankind , and read it there . what rules do the philosophers prescribe to render our lives most satisfactory to our selves , and most commendable to others ? with what colours do the oratours paint those persons they intend to celebrate ? what images do the poets form when they design an heroe , are they any other than the rules , and colours , and images of moral goodness ? do not hypocrites , to court the esteem of the vulgar , personate the saint , and politians , to make the people honour them , pretend to religion ? and why do they both put on this disguise , but because they know , that wickedness bare-fac'd , is in the eyes of all men most detestable , and that the names of saint , and of religion , are creditable in the world ? shew me that profligate wretch , who in his cool thoughts , or on his death-bed , does not decline all his loose companions , and seeks out for men truly good , and consciencious , to whom he may intrust his estate , his children , and all that is dearest to him , even his own soul too , for which he then begs their ghostly counsel ? what man is there so wicked , who on his death-bed does not wish that he may die the death of the righteous , and that his latter end may be like his ? look into the histories and customs of ages past , see how greedily coveted , how dearly purchast , and how highly valued , the statues , and all the little remains of good men have been : the heathens , to express their great esteem of goodness , built temples to vertue and honour , and join'd these temples together , and made the former the only passage into the latter , they thought praise to good men as just a tribute , as sacrifice to their gods ; and one of the wisest of them , wonderfully pleas'd himself , in fansying how lovely and venerable , how divine and transporting an idea he should see , could he but look into the breast of a good man. we have then the practice and the judgment of the whole world , to confirm this truth , that vertue has always had a great and a general esteem , that the gracious person retains honour . on the contrary , is there not a natural shame , a sense of turpitude , or a confusion of face in vicious and unclean actions ? why else are men afraid to commit them , before the most inconsiderable spectatour , and chuse darkness for a thick mantle to cover them ? why else do they blush to own them , wish a thousand times they had never been done , and reflect on them with dissatisfaction , and horrour ? why else do their own consciences , lash and upbraid them ? whereas if we will but take the pains , to make up an induction of all christian graces , we shall easily se , that there is none , whose friendship is more ambitiously sought , none with whom men would sooner change persons , none who are accounted of more substantial worth , or more generally rever'd , or more influential to the good of mankind , or sooner wanted in the world , or who make a nobler figure in story , than the devout , the humble , the just , the meek , the temperate , the charitable ; or to express all in one word , the gracious person , who therefore shall always retain honour . i need not reckon up the numerous places of holy scripture , where goodness and honour are link'd together ; how the wise are said to inherit glory ; the humble and meek to be exalted ; how we are commanded to keep our vessels in sanctification and honour , and how god has promis'd to honour those who honour him : i need not mention the primitive dypticks , or how the church catholick , has celebrated the festivals , and honour'd the memories of the saints , and of the martyrs ; i need not suggest that obvious conclusion , that if gracious persons can draw even wicked men , to a reverential love of their vertue , much more will they engage the friendship , of all that are holy , and not only of holy men , but of holy angels too , who being all ministring spritis , deputed by god to attend them , the more heavenly , they see any committed to their charge does grow , the more respectfull attendance , in all probab●lity they give him . and there is the highest reason in the world , why there should be so honourable a loveliness , in a gracious person , if we consider , the likeness he bears to that great god , whom we adore . for as there are on all men , innate impressions of god's existence , so there are also of his attribut●s , and none ever yet in earnest , believed there was a god , but he also believed that god was a being , infinite in all perfections , in wisedom and power , justice and mercy , purity and holiness , veracity and beneficence , and as these excite our love , and our adoration to god , so where ever we see any , though but imperfect resemblances , of his imitable perfections , in the saints here on earth , where ever we see men in any measure holy and pure , just and mercifull , faithfull and beneficent , we there see the image of god himself , and cannot but pay them a suitable honour : thus as goodness and adorableness are co-eternal in god , so are sanctity and venerableness coeval , in gracious persons . nor are we only by grace made like to god , but he is also pleas'd actually to dwell in us , and to consecrate our souls to be his temples ; and as god commanded the iews to reverence his sanctuary , the place of his residence among them , where he sat between the cherubims , and a glorious light that shin'd on the propiti●to●y , was the symbol of his presence : so when in gracious souls , we discover all the fruits of the spirit , a kind of glory brightning their conversation , and a sacred amiablen●ss breath'd on them from heaven , we are sure that god inhabits there , and cannot but reverence his temples . such honour have all god's saints from even wicked men , from all holy persons , and from the good angels , and infinitely above all th●se , from god himself , who honours them with his image , after which they are renew'd , and with his presence , of which they are possest ; such honour , i say , have all his saints even in this life , which if we did but seriously contemplate , would stir us up to a generous emulation , would encourage us to implore the divine grace , that we may bewail all our past sins , cleanse our selves from all filthiness , both of flesh , and of spirit , which produce nothing in the end , but shame , and horrour , and daily grow more conformable to his likeness , which is the only way , to assert the dignity of our nature , and to retain honour . but when once our souls , shall be divorc'd from our bodies , when the name of the wicked shall rot , and stink , sooner than his carcase , leaving no memorials b●hind , unless it be , of his sin , his infamy , his madness , or his folly ; precious then in the sight of the lord , shall be the death of his saints , bless●d shall be their memories , they shall be had in everlasting remembrance , and their good names , being registred in the book of life , shall flourish to immortality . all this while , i have not done justice to my subject , by affirming only in general , that goodness is honourable , i must therefore be more particular , and enquire , why solomon does here instance , in the woman , rather than in the man , a gracious woman retains honour . and the reason seems to me , to be either this , that as vice is more odious , and more detested , so on the other hand , vertue is more attractive , and looks more lovely , in women , than it usually does in men , insomuch that the gracious woman , shall be sure to purchase , and to retain honour . or it is , because men have more advantages , of aspiring to honour , in all publick stations , of the church , the court , the camp , the bar , and the city , than women have , and the only way for a woman to gain honour , is an exemplary holiness ; this makes her children , rise up and call her blessed , her husband and her own works , to praise her in the gate , the sole glory then of that sex , is to be good , for 't is a gracious woman only , who retains honour . or it is , because women are made of a temper , more soft and frail , are more endanger'd by snares , and temptations , less able to control their passions , and more inclinable to extremes of good , or bad , than men , and generally speaking , goodness is a tenderer thing , more hazardous , and brittle in the former , than in the latter , and consequently a firm , and steady vertue , is more to be valued in the weaker sex , than in the stronger ; so that a gracious woman , is most worthy to receive , and to retain honour . or it is , because women in all ages , have given , many heroick examples of sanctity , besides those recorded in the old testament , many of them are named , with great honour in the new. for their assiduity and zeal , in following our saviour , and their charity , in ministring to him of their substance , they accompanied him to mount calvary , lamented his sufferings , waited on the cross , attended the sepulchre , prepared spices , and oyntments , and regardless , either of the insolence of the rude souldiers , or of the malice of the iews , with a love that cast out all fear , they came on the first day of the week , before the morning light , to embalm him ; and god was pleas'd to honour these holy women accordingly , for they first saw the angel , who told them the joyfull news that he was risen , and as if an angel , had not been a messenger honourable enough , iesus himself first appear'd to the women , the women first saw , and ador'd him ; and it was these very gracious women , whom our lord sent to his disciples , that women might be the first publishers of his resurrection , as angels had been of his nativity ; our saviour himself , has erected an everlasting monument in the gospel , for the penitent woman that anointed him , and god incarnate honour'd the sex to the highest degree imaginable , in being born of a woman , in becoming the son of a virgin mother , whom all generations shall call blessed ; and i know not how to call it , but there is a meltingness of disposition , an affectionateness of devotion , an easie sensibility , an industrious alacrity , a languishing ardour , in piety , peculiar to the sex , which naturally renders them , subjects more pliable , to the divine grace , than men commonly are ; so that solomon , had reason to bestow the epithete gracious , particularly on them , and to say , that a gracious woman retains honour . i am well aware , that if we consult the sensual , and debaucht rank of men , 't is not the gracious , or the chast woman they esteem , but only the fair , or the lascivious ; esteem , did i say ! men may court an idle , or a wanton beauty , for their lust , but they can only esteem , a gracious , and a chast one , and when all is done , she only deserves the name of beautifull : as for the lascivious , and the prostitute , against whom solomon so often , and so pathetically , warns the young man , she is so utterly impure , that i will not so much as name her , in the same discourse with a gracious woman ; i will then , make the comparison , between mere outward beauty only , and grace , and you will soon perceive the difference . for beauty , if it be natural , is from a womans birth , 't is her chance , and not her merit ; if it be artificial , it makes her no other , than a painted sepulchre , gaudy without , and that has nothing but rottenness , and stanch within : but grace , is the free gift of god , and our own free choice , in a happy conjunction , 't is no other than a god-like loveliness , imprest on our spirit . beauty is often incident to starke fools , and to the profane , and irreligious ; but grace is peculiar to holy persons , who like the king's daughter , are all glorious within . beauty is prone to admire its self , and to swell with pride ; grace instills a just sense of our own vileness , and teaches humility : that is apt to invite temptation ; this is a preservative against it : the former spends her morning hours , at her glass ; the latter at her prayers : that most delights her self , in new fashions , and fine cloaths , in plaiting the hair , and wearing of gold ; this puts on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god , of great price . beauty has been often , to the best , and wisest of men , witness solomon himself , destructive , and fatal , for which reason holy iob made a covenant with his eyes ; and our saviour commands us , not to look on a woman , to lust after her , and the fairer she is , the greater is the danger ; but grace , secures our innocence , awes men into sobriety , looks them into chastity , and the more intense it grows , its influence , is the more sovereign , and efficacious . beauty , gratifies only our outward sense , 't is a mixture of colour , and figure , and feature , and parts , all in a due proportion , and symmetry ; or indeed , 't is a well shap'd frame of dust and ashes , belov'd by fond men only , who like the most stupid of idolaters , worship the bare statue , without regard to the deity there enshrin'd : but grace , is a confluence of all attractives , which approves it self to our own most d●liberate judgments , and is belov'd by god : do but imagine you were in the spouse's garden , where , when the south-wind blows , the several spices , and gumms , the spikenard and the cinamon , the frankincense and the myrrhe , send forth their various smells , which meeting together , and mixing in the air , make a compounded odour ; such a composition , of all vertues , such an universal and uniform agreeableness , is there in a gracious soul , which in a manner , whether we will or no , engages our affections . beauty is vain , and favour is deceitfull , says the wise man , it soon evaporates , and cheats our expectation , in a little time it decays , by cares , or child-bearing , or sickness , or a thousand other accidents ; men no sooner begin to crop the flower , but it fades , and sinks , and dies , or it is often sowr'd , with such inward dispositions , which render it afflicting , and insupportable ; but grace , creates to our minds an intire satisfaction , has a goodness intrinsick , and eternal , grows more amiable , the more it is enjoy'd , so that the woman that feareth the lord , she shall be prais'd , she shall for ever , retain honour . as a jewel of gold in a swines snout , which is hung there on purpose to be defil'd , to be roll'd in filth , and mire , and is one of the most notorious , and ugly incongruities , in the world ; such a kind of absurdity , if you will believe solomon , is a fair woman without discretion ; her beauty 't is true , is a jewel , but a jewel extremely ill plac'd , and serves for no other purpose , but to make her folly more conspicuous , to expose her the more to impurity , and to a swinish sensuality ; but grace makes a woman a crown to her husband , the glory of the man , and advances her price above rubies ; so that a gracious woman , is a jewel of a value inestimable , she has worth , and ornament , and lustre , and beauty , and honour , all combind together . most deservedly then , did wise solomon , give the preference to grace , and did assure us , that a strong man , is not more powerfull to get , and when gotten , to retain his riches , than a gracious woman to acquire honour , and to retain it , when acquir'd . it is now time , to doe all the right i am able , to the noble lady deceased , who was a woman , so remarkably gracious , and retain'd an honour , so entire , and unblemish'd , that all the measures i have hitherto laid down , either of grace , or of honour , are but a faint copy , drawn after her , she was all the while before my thought , her holy example is the original , and though i will not say , that among the many daughters , who have done virtuously , she absolutely excells them all , yet i am sure , she deserves to be esteem'd , one of the highest order . but alas ! we have nothing now left , except this poor relique of clay , which in a few minutes must be restor'd to its native earth , and for ever hid from our eyes , the gracious soul that inform'd it , is flowd back again to god , from whom it first stream'd , and his most blessed will be done , who is compassionate and adorable , in all his chastisements ; yet as we are flesh and bloud , we cannot but feel the stroke , which even his fatherly hand has given us . it is the curse of the wicked , to die unlamented , unless it be , that they are sometimes carried to the grave , with the mercenary tears , of those who make mourning a trade ; but the death of the righteous , being a loss irrecoverable , and a real calamity , to us who survive , must needs fill us , with sad resentments , when we consider , of how great a blessing we are depriv'd . our saviour himself , has countenanc'd a moderate grief for our friends , in weeping over , his own dead friend lazarus ; so that if we shed our tears , over the grave of this gracious and honourable lady , 't is but to be just to her ashes , to ease our own sorrowfull spirits , and to testifie to the world , how dear a sense we have of her worth . for had she had nothing but her quality , to have recommended her , we might have perform'd her funeral ceremonies , with a bare outward solemnity , but without any more concern , than a common object of mortality gives us ; but she was a woman so truly gracious , that we could not but most affectionately honour her , and cannot but have a greif , that bears some proportion to our loss . for 't is our loss only we can bewail , we grieve for our selves , not for her ; she has a joyful deliverance from temptation and infirmity , from sin and misery , and from all the evil to come , she is now past all the storms , and dangers of this troubled life , and is safely arriv'd , at her everlasting haven ; she is now fully possest , of all that she desir'd , which was , to be dissolv'd , and to be with christ , and we cannot lament , her being happy . when we weep for common christians , we are not to be sorry , as men without hope , but when we have so many , so uninterrupted , and so undeniable demonstrations , of the sanctity of a person , as we have of this gracious woman , we have no reason at all to grieve on her account , since we have not only a bare hope , but an assurance rather , that she is now in glory . but why did i call her death a loss ? 't is rather our gain , we were all travelling the same way , as pilgrims , towards our heavenly country , she has only got the start of us , and is gone before , and is happy first ; and i am persuaded that we still enjoy her prayers for us above ; however , i am sure , that we enjoy her good works here below , which now appear more illustrious , and without that vail , her modesty , and her humility cast over them ; we still enjoy her example , which being now set , in its true light , and at its proper distance , and deliver'd from that cloud of flesh , which did obscure and lessen it , looks the more gracious , and the more honourable ; and if we follow the track , she trod , we shall ere long , enjoy her society in heaven . let us then alter our note , and rather honour , than bewail her , she was a gracious woman , and honour is her due ; her good name , like a precious oyntment poured forth , has perfum'd the whole sphere , in which she mov'd . to paint her fully to the life , i dare not undertake , she had a graciousness in all her conversation , that cannot be exprest , and should i endeavour to doe it , i must run over , all the whole catalogue of evangelical graces , which do all concenter in her character ; i must tell you , how enflam'd she was with heavenly love , how well guided a zeal , she had for god's glory , how particular a reverence she paid , to all things , and to all persons , that were dedicated to his service , how god was always in her thoughts , how great a tenderness she had , to offend her heavenly father , how great a delight to please him ; but you must be content , with some rude strokes only , for such particulars would be endless , ; all my fear is , that i shall speak too little , but i am sure , i can hardly speak too much . say , all you who have been eye-witnesses of her life , did you from her very cradle , ever know her any other , than a gracious woman ? as to my self , i have had the honour to know her , near twenty years ; and to be admitted , to her most intimate thoughts , and i cannot but think , upon the utmost of my observation , that she always preserv'd her baptismal innocence , that she never committed any one mortal sin , which put her out of the state of grace ; insomuch , that after all the frequent , and severe examinations , she made of her own conscience , her confessions were made up , of no other than sins of infirmity , and yet even for them , she had as deep an humiliation , and as penitential a sorrow , as high a sense of the divine forgiveness , and lov'd as much , as if she had had much to be forgiven : so that after a life of above forty years , nine of which were spent in the court , bating her involuntary failings , which are unavoidable , and for which , allowances are made , in the covenant of grace , she kept her self unspoted from the world , and if it may be affirmed of any , i dare venture to affirm it of this , gracious woman , that by the peculiar favour of heaven , she past from the font , unsullied to her grave . her understanding was admirable , and she daily improv'd it , by reading , in which she employ'd most of her time , and the books she chose , were only serious , or devout , and her memory was faithfull , to retain what she read : she took not up her religion on an implicite faith , or from education only , but from a well-studied choice , directed by god's holy spirit , whose guidance she daily invok'd , and when once she had made that choice , she was immoveable as a rock , and so well satisfi'd in the catholick faith , profest in the church of england , that i make no doubt , but that she always liv'd , not only with the strictness of a primitive saint , but with the resolution also , of a martyr : it was strange to hear , how strongly she would argue , how clearly she understood , the force of a consequence , and how ready at all times she was , to give a reason of the hope that was in her , with meekness , and fear ; her letters which were found in her cabinet , not to be deliver'd till after her death , and very many others , in the hands of her relations , sufficiently shew , how good , and how great she was , in them this humble saint , before she was aware , has her self made an exact impression , of her own graciousness ; they are pen'd in so proper and unaffected a style , and animated throughout with so divine a spirit , with such ardours of devotion , and charity , as might have become a proba , a monica , or the most eminent of her sex , insomuch , that her very absence , was the more supportable to her friends , in regard she compensated the want of her presence , by writing , and sent them a blessing , by every return . i cannot tell , what one help she neglected , to secure her perseverance , and to heighten her graces , that she might shine more and more , to a perfect day ; her oratory was the place , where she principally resided , and where she was most at home , and her chief employment , was prayer , and praise ; out of several authours , she for her own use , transcrib'd many excellent forms , the very choice of which does argue , a most experienc'd piety , she had devotions suited , to all the primitive hours of prayer , which she us'd , as far as her bodily infirmities , and necessary avocations would permit , and with david , prais'd god seven times a day , or supply'd the want of those solemn hours , by a kind of perpetuity of ejaculations , which she had ready , to answer all occasions , and to fill up all vacant intervals , and if she happened to wake in the night , of proper prayers even for mid-night , she was never unprovided . thus did this gracious soul , having been enkindled by fire from heaven , in her baptism , liv'd a continual sacrifice , and kept the fire always burning , always in ascension , always aspiring towards heaven from whence it fell . besides her own private prayers , she morning , and evening offer'd up to god the publick offices , and when she was not able , to go to the house of prayer , she had it read to her , in her chamber . to prayers she added fasting , till her weakness had made it impossible to her constitution , and yet even then , on days of abstinence , she made amends for the omission , by other supplemental mortifications . her devotions she enlarg'd , on the fasts and festivals of the church , but especially on the lord's days , dividing the hours , between the church and her closet . she never fail'd , on all opportunities , to approach the holy altar , came with a spiritual hunger , and thirst to that heavenly feast , and communicated with a lively , with a crucifying , but yet endearing remembrance , of her crucifi'd saviour . the sermons she heard , when she came home she recollected , and wrote down out of her memory , abstracts of them all , which are in a great number , among her papers , that she might be , not only , a hearer of the word , but a doer also . the holy scripture she attentively read , and on what she read , she did devoutly meditate , and did by meditation , appropriate to her self , it was her soul's daily bread , it was her delight , and her counsellour , and , like the most blessed virgin mother , she kept all things she read , and ponder'd them in her heart . who is there can say , they ever saw her idle ? no , she had always affairs to transact with heaven , she was all her life long numbring her days , and applying her heart to wisedom , or , to describe her with her own pen , she was making it her business , to fit her self for her change , knowing , the moment of it to be uncertain , and having no assurance , that her warning would be great ; oh happy soul , that was thus wise , in a timely consideration of that , which of all things in the world , is of greatest importance to us , to be consider'd , namely our latter end ! you may easily conclude , that a saint , who was always thus conversant with her grave , and had heaven always in her view , must have little or no value for things below , as indeed she had not , she did not only conquer the world , but she triumph'd over it , had a noble contempt of secular greatness , liv'd several years in the very court , with the abstraction of a recluse , and was so far from being solicitous for riches , for her self , or her children , that , to use her own words , she look'd on them , as dangerous things , which did only clog , and press drown our souls to this earth , and judg'd a competency , to be certainly the best . all the temporal blessings , the divine goodness , was pleas'd to vouchsafe her , she receiv'd , with an overflowing thankfulness , yet her affections were so disengag'd , her temperance , and moderation so habitual , that she did rather use , than injoy them , and was always ready to restore them , to the same gracious hand that gave them , but no one can express her thoughts , so pathetically as her own self ; o , says that blessed saint , since god gives us all , let us not be sorrowfull , though we are to part with all , the kingdom of heaven , is a prise , that is worth striving for , though it costs us dear : alas ! what is there in this world , that lincks our hearts so close to it ! and elsewhere she affirms , that all blessings are given on this condition , that either they must be taken from us , or we from them , if then , we lose any thing , which we esteem a blessing , we are to give god the glory , and to resign it freely . she was a perfect despiser , of all those vanities , and divertisements , which most of her sex , do usually admire ; her chief , and , in a manner , sole recreation was to doegood , andto oblige , and if we will be advis'd , by one so wise to salvation , we are to seek for comfort , and joy , from god's ordinances , and the converse of pious christians , and not to take the usual course of the world , to drive away melancholy , by exposing our selves to temptations ; and this was really her practice , insomuch that next to the service of the temple , which she daily frequented , there was no entertainment in the whole world , so pleasing to her , as the discourse of heavenly things , and those she spake of , with such a spiritual relish , that at first hearing , you might perceive she was in earnest , that she really tasted the lord was good , and felt all she spake . amidst all her pains , and her sicknesses , which were sharpe , and many , who ever saw her shew , any one symptome of impatience ? so far was she from it , that she laments , when she reflects , how apt we are to abuse prosperity , demands , where our conformity is to the great captain of our salvation , if we have no sufferings ; professes , that god by suffering our conditions to be uneasy , by that gentle way , invites us to higher satisfactions , than are to be met with here , and with a prostrate spirit , acknowledges , that god was most righteous in all that had befallen her , and that there had been so much mercy mixt w th his chastising , that she had been but too happy . thus humble , thus content , thus thankfull , was this gracious woman , amidst her very afflictions . her soul always rested on god's paternal mercy , and on all his exceeding great , and precious promises , as on a sure and stedfast anchor , which she knew would secure her , in the most tempestuous calamities ; to his blessed will , she hourly offer'd up her own , and knew it was as much her duty , to suffer his fatherly inflictions , as to obey his commands . her charity , made her sympathize , with all in misery , and besides her private alms , wherein her left hand , was not conscious to her right , she was a common patroness to the poor , and needy , and a common physician to her sick neighbours , and would often vvith her own hands , dress their most loathsome soars , and sometimes keep them in her family , and vvould give them both diet , and lodging till they were cur'd , and then cloth them , and send them home , to give god thanks for their recovery , and if they died , her charity accompany'd them sometimes to the very grave , and she took care even of their burial . she would by no means endure , that by the care of plentifully providing for her children , the wants , and necessities of any poor christian , should be over look'd , and desir'd it might be remembred that , alms and the poors prayers , will bring a greater blessing , to them , than thousands a year . look abroad novv in the world , and see , hovv rarely you shall meet , vvith a charity , like that of this gracious woman , vvho next to her own flesh and bloud , vvas tender of the poor , and thought an alms as much , due to them , as portions to her children . to corporal alms , as often as she savv occasion , she joyn'd spiritual , and she had a singular talent , in dispensing that alms to souls , she had a masculine reason to persuade , a steddy wisedom to advise , a perspicuity both of thought , and language to instruct , a mildness that endear'd a reproof , and could comfort the afflicted , from her own manifold experience of the divine goodness , and with so condoling a tenderness , that she seem'd to translate their anguish , on her self . and happy was it for others , that her charity was so comprehensive , for she often met with objects so deplorable , that vvere to be reliev'd in all these capacities , so that she vvas fain to become , their benefactress , their physician , and their divine altogether , or if need vvere , she bid them shew themselves to the priest , or else took care , to send the priest to them ; thus was it visibly her constant endeavour , to be in all respects mercifull , as her father in heaven is mercifull . she could bear long , and most easily forgive , and no one ever injur'd her , but she would heap coals of fire on his head , to melt him into a charitable temper , and vvould often repay the injury , with a kindness so surprising , that if the injurious person vvere not vvholly obdurate , and brutish , must needs affect him . but if any one did her , the least good office , none could be more gratefull , she vvould if possible , return it a hundred-fold , if she could not in kind , she would at least doe it , in her prayers to god , that out of his inexhaustible goodness , he would reward him . her soul seem'd to possess , a continued serenity , at peace vvith her self , at peace vvith god , and at peace vvith all the world , her study vvas to give all their due , and she vvas exactly sincere , and faithfull to all her obligations , she kept her heart alvvays vvith all diligence , vvas vvatchfull against all temptations , and naturally considerate in all her actions , her disposition vvas peacefull , and inoffensive , she lookt alvvays pleas'd , rather than chearfull , her converse vvas even , and serious , but yet easie and affable ; her interpretations , of vvhat others did , or said , vvere alvvays candid , and charitable , you should never see her indecently angry , or out of humour , never hear her give an ill character , or pass a hard censure , or speak an idle word , but she opened her mouth in wisedom ; and in her tongue , was the law of kindness . if you look on her , in her several relations , in her childhood , her father , the right honourable , the earl of dyzart , being banish'd for his loyalty , she was under the breeding , of the excellent lady her mother , to whom she was in all respects , so dutifull a child , that she protested , her daughter had never , in any one instance , offended her ; by that time , the young lady was about eleven or twelve years old ; god was pleas'd to take her good mother to himself , and from that time to her marriage , this gracious woman liv'd with a discretion so much above her years , with so conspicuous a vertue , and so constant a wariness , that she always retain'd honour , such an honour , as never had the least mote in it . and to her honour be it spoken , that in an age , when the generality of the nation , were like children , tost to and fro , with every wind of doctrine , she still continued stedfast in the communion of the church of england , and when the priests and service of god , were driven into corners , she daily resorted , though with great difficulty , to the publick prayers , and was remarkably charitable to all the suffering royallists , whom she visited , and reliev'd , and fed , and cloth'd , and condol'd , with a zeal , like that which the ancient christians shew'd , to the primitive martyrs . the silenc'd , and plunder'd , and persecuted clergy , she thought worthy , of double honour , did vow a certain sum yearly , out of her income , which she laid aside , only to succour them . the congregations , where she then usually communicated , were those , of the reverend and pious , dr. thruscross , and dr. mossom , both now in heaven , and that of the then mr. gunning , the now most worthy bishop of ely , for whom she ever after had a peculiar veneration . but i must by no means pass by , the right reverend father in god , bishop duppa , then of salisbury , afterwards of winchester , but now with god , who was then put out of all , and an exemplary confessour , for the king , and the church ; this holy man , when she resided in the country , liv'd in the neighbourhood , and she often visited him , and he seem'd to be design'd on purpose , by god's most gratious direction , to be her spiritual guide , to confirm her in all her holy resolutions , to satisfy all those scruples , to becalm all those fears , and regulate all those fervours which are incident to an early , and tender piety , and god's goodness render'd him so successfull , that she retain'd , the happy influence of his ghostly advice , to her dying day . before the age of twenty , she was married , to the right honourable , william lord mainard , to whom in her letters , she often gives , the most affectionate thanks imaginable , for his unvaluable , and unparallel'd kindness towards her , as she her self terms it , and most fervently prays , that the lord iesus christ would be his exceeding great reward , and his portion for ever ; but i forbear to offer violence to the modesty of the survivor , and will content my self , to say only in general , that when she was a wife , she still retain'd her accustomed devotion , which she practis'd when a virgin , and her greatest concern , was for the things of the lord , how she might please the lord , how in a marriage honourable , and a bed undefil'd , she might be holy both in body , and in spirit , and attend upon the lord , without distraction . and since , as solomon affirms , a prudent wife is from the lord , she was certainly the immediate gift of god , and sent by propitious heaven , for a good angel , as well as for a wife . as a mother she was unspeakably tender , and carefull , of the two children , with which god had blest her ; but her zeal for their eternal welfare , was predominant , and she made it her dying request , that in their education , their piety should be principally regarded , or to speak her own words , that the chief care should be , to make them pious christians , which would be the best provision , that could be made for them . in reference to her son , it was her express desire , that he should be good , rather than either rich , or great , that he should be bred in the strictest principles of sobriety , piety , and charity , of temperance and innocency of life , that could be , that he should never be indulg'd in the least sin , that he should never be that , which these corrupt days call a wit , or a fine gentile man , but an honest , and sincere christian , she desir'd he might be . she profest , there was nothing hard to be parted with , but her lord , and her dear children , but though her passion for them , was as intense , as can well be imagin'd , yet for the sake of her god , whom she lov'd infinitely better , she was willing to part with them also , had long foreseen the parting , and prepar'd for it , and humbly beg'd of her heavenly father , to take them , into his protection ; she took care of their souls , even after her death , in the letters she left behind her , and comforted her self , with an entire acquiescence , in the good pleasure of her beloved , with hopes , that she should still , pray for them in heaven , and that she should ere long , meet them there ; and this consideration of meeting above , put her into a transport , which makes her , in one of her letters , cry out , o how joyfull shall we be , to meet at christ 's right hand , if we may be admitted , into that elect number ! in her family , she always united martha , and mary together , took a due care of all her domestick affairs , and manag'd them with a wise frugality , with a constant deference , to god's mercifull providence , and without either covetous fears , or a restless anxiety ; but withall ; she sate at the feet of jesus , and heard his word , and of the two , was still most intent on the better part . she studiously endeavour'd , by private , and particular , and warm applications , to make all that attended her , more god's servants , than her own , and treated them , with a meekness , and indulgence , and condescention , like one , who was always mindfull , that she her self also , had a master in heaven . her near relations , and all that vvere blest vvith her friendship , had a daily share in her intercessions , all their concerns , all their afflictions vvere really her ovvn ; her chief kindness vvas for their souls , and she lov'd them vvith a charity , like that which the blessed shew to one another in heaven , in their reciprocal complacence at each others happiness , and mutual incitements to devotion . in respect of the publick , vvhich she often laid sadly to heart , her eyes ran down in secret , for all our national provocations , and she had a particular office , on fasting daies , for that purpose ; vvhich shevvs hovv importunate she was , at the throne of grace , to avert god's judgments , and to implore his blessing on the land. and now , after all these great truths , which i have said of this excellent lady , one grace i must add , greater than all i have hitherto mention'd , and it is her humility ; she was so little given to talk , and had that art to conceal her goodness , that it did not appear at first sight , but after some time , her vertue would break out , whether she would or no ; she seem'd to be wholly ignorant of her own graces , and had as mean an opinion of her self , as if she had had no excellence at all , like moses , her face shin'd , and she did not know it ; others she esteem'd so much better , had that abasing sense of her own infirmities , and that profound awe of the divine majesty , that though she was great in god's eyes , she was always little in her own . after the whitson-week was over , she remov'd from white-hall , to eastonlodge in essex , not out of any hopes of recovery , but onely that she might have , some little present relief from the air , or that she might die in a place which she lov'd , in which god had made her , an instrument of so great good to the country , and which was near her grave ; and you may easily imagine , that after a life so holy , the death of this gracious woman , must needs be signally happy ; and so it was , not but that during her pains , she had often doubts , and fears that afflicted her , with which in her health she was unmolested , and which did manifestly arise from her distemper , and did cease as that intermitted ; but the day before she died god was please to vouchsafe her , some clearer manifestations of his mercy , which in the tenderness of his compassion he sent her , as preparatives of her last conflict , and as earnests of heaven , whither he intended , the day following to translate her . how she behav'd her self in her sickness , i cannot better express , than by saying , that she pray'd continually ; and when the prayers of the church were read by her , or when the hour of her own private prayer came , though she was not able to stand , or to help her self , she would yet be plac't on her knees ; and when her knees were no longer able to support her , she would be put , into the humblest posture , she could possibly endure , not being satisfied , unless she gave god his entire oblation , and glorify'd him in her body , as well as in her spirit , which were both god's own by purchase here , and were both to be united in bliss hereafter . on whit-sunday , she received her viaticum , the most holy body , and bloud of her saviour , and had received it again , had not her death surpris'd us , yet in the strength of that immortal food , she was enabled to go out her journy , and seem'd to have had a new transfusion of grace from it , insomuch , that though her limbs were all convulst , her pains great , and without intermission , her strength quite exhausted , and her head disturbed , with a perpetual drousiness , yet above , and beyond all seeming possibility , she would use force to her self , to keep her self waking , to offer to god her customary sacrifice to the full , to recollect her thoughts , and to lodge them in heaven , where her heart , and her treasure was , as if she had already taken possession of her mansion there , or as if she was teaching her soul , to act independently from the body , and practising before-hand the state of separation , into which having receiv'd absolution , she in a short time , happily lancht ; for all the bands of union being untied , her soul was set at liberty , and on the wings of angels , took a direct , and vigorous flight , to its native country , heaven from whence it first flew down . there then we must leave her , in the bosom of her heavenly bridegroom , where , how radiant her crown is , how ecstatick her joy , how high exalted she is in degrees of glory , is impossible to be described , for neither eye hath seen , nor ear heard , nor has it enter'd into the heart of man , to be conceiv'd , the good things , which god hath prepared for those that love him , of all which she is now partaker . we have nothing then to doe , but to congratulate this gracious woman , her eternal and unchangeable honour , and as she always and in all things , gave god the glory here , so that his praise was continually in her mouth , for all the multitude of his mercies , and of his loving-kindnesses towards her , and is now praising him in heaven ; let us also offer up a sacrifice of praise , for her great example , her light has long shin'd before us , & we have seen her good works , let us therefore glorifie the father of lights , at whose beams , her soul was first lighted . blessed then for ever , be the infinite goodness of god , who was so liberal of his graces , to this humble saint , who made her so lively a picture , of his own perfections , so gracious , and so honourable ; blessed be his merey , for indulging her to us so long , for taking her in his good time to himself , and for that happiness she has now in heaven ; to god be the glory of all that honour , her graciousness did here acquire , for to him onely it is due ; let therefore his most holy name , have all the praise . to our thanksgiving let us add our prayers also , that god would vouchsafe us all his holy spirit , so to assist , and sanctify , and guide us , that every one of our souls , may be gracious like hers , that our life may be like hers , our latter end like hers , and our portion in heaven like hers , which god of his infinite mercy grant , for the sake of his most belov'd son , to whom with the father , and the blessed spirit , be all honour and glory , adoration , and obedience , now and for ever . amen . the end notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47237-e310 matt. 12. 24. isa. 53. 3. luke 7. 16 , 4 , 22. mark 7. 16. iohn 6 , 15 , 18 , 38. luke 23. 47. 1 pet. 2. 17 , 18. 1 tim. 6. 2. rom. 13. 1. 2 pet. 1. 4. prov. 3. 35. luke 1. 52. 1 thess. 4. 4. 1 sam. 2. 30. heb. 1. 14. 1 cor. 3. 16. lev. 19. 30. gal. 5. 22. prov. 10. 7. psa. 116. 15. psa. 112. 6. prov. 31. 28 , 31. luke 8. 3. matt. 27. 55. luke 23. 27. matt. 28. 5. matt. 26. 13. psa. 45. 13. 1 pet. 3. 3. iob 31. 1. matt. 5. 28. cant. 4. 16 prov. 31. 30. prov. 11. 22. prov. 12. 4. 1 cor. 11. 5. prov. 31. 10. prov. 31. 29. ier. 16. 4. iohn 11. 35. 1. thess 4. 13. 1 james 27. 1 pet. 3. 15. prov. 4. 18. prov. 31. 26. 1 cor. 7. 32. prov. 19. 14. luke 10. 41 , 42. eph. 6. 9. exod. 34. 29. 1 cor. 6. 20. luke 16. 22. 1 cor. 2. 9. the passion-flower a sermon preached on the 30th day of january, being the day of the martyrdom of king charls the i. / by christopher flower ... flower, christopher, 1621 or 2-1699. 1666 approx. 43 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39839 wing f1384 estc r15159 12035265 ocm 12035265 52877 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39839) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52877) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 889:16) the passion-flower a sermon preached on the 30th day of january, being the day of the martyrdom of king charls the i. / by christopher flower ... flower, christopher, 1621 or 2-1699. [8], 24 p. printed for nathaniel brook ..., london : 1666. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng charles -i, -king of england, 1600-1649. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-02 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the passion-flower : a sermon preached on the 30th day of january , being the day of the martyrdom of king charls the i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of whom the world was not worthy , heb. 11. 38. by christopher flovver , m. a. and rector of st. margarets lothbury , london . london , printed for nathaniel brook at the angel in cornhill . 1666. academiae gantabrigiensis liber . to the truly worthy his honoured friend dr. baldwin hamey doctor of physick . sir , often and seriously considering my manifold obligations , owing even my very life ( next under god ) to your care and cure , as having not seldom prolong'd it , when twinkling on the socket ; i determin'd rather to run the gantlop of censure from this capricious and over-curious age , than merit the sordid epithet of ingrateful . and yet , if the gale of your clemency drive mee cleer off that scylla , i fear i shall split upon charibdis , incurr the supicion , at lest , of pride and vain-glory , while i onely wish my meditations immortal , whereby my thanks may run paralell with them . i must ingenuously acknowledg , this discourse hath nothing to commend it to your accomplisht self , but the sincere loyalty of the autor , and the weightiness of the subject ; comprising some of the unjust sufferings of the lord of glory ; in which , as in a mirrour , you may also view the sufferings of our glorious lord , king charls the first of ever blessed memory ; whose anniversary merits ( maugre all malice ) a sable monument of solemn mourning to bear date with the utmost length of time ; that so the enemies of his regality . and virtues may see the guilt and greatness of their vices , and those of our nation and religion may discern our reallity and innocence . now would you deign to inquire what flegg'd this discourse of mine to fly ( tho with black wings ) farther than your habitation , suffer mee to tell you ( which i cannot without a sigh ) the supine negligence of som and the irreligion of others , which obstructs a religious ingress into the sacred place of god's special presence on the annual approach of this dismal day ? so that , by an happy providence , this sermon may reach som of their houses and pearch on som of their hands , who make little , or no conscience of frequenting god's house on this solemn day . that i have made a good choice in putting this weak child of my weaker brain , under your patronage , none will or can deny ; you having obtained one of the chiefest places among those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , breathing gods ; who enrich dayly the world with wonders , in raising infirm mortals from sickness to health , & as it were from death it self . i may add , whose loyalty , learning , candor , integrity of life , and exemplary charity , are as so many specifics against the pestilential breath of detraction . if you shall vouchsafe ( noble sir ) to stick in the vernant eden of your study this passion-flower ( which you are much more able than my self to read a lecture on ) you will very much oblige him , whose highest ambition it is humbly to subscribe himself your devoted servant , and witness of your merit , chr. flovver . the passion-flower . john 18. part of the 40 th . verse . — not this man , but barabbas . the whole verse hath it thus , then cryed they all saying , not this man , but barabbas . that i may speak from this holy mount to your greater benefit , and better bringing to pass of my pious design , which is ( as much as in me lyeth ) to melt your hearts into a temper becoming the solemnity of this day . i shall desire your christian attention may accompany me to some preceding passages . in the beginning of this chapter you may read judas to betray jesus : in which bold and impious attempt the soldiers fall to the ground , vers . 6. jesus is taken and led to annas and caiphas , v. 12. and in the 15. verse begins peter's denial of him . v. 19. according to the contents of some of your bibles , jesus is examined before caiphas . v. 18. you may read him arraign'd before pilat , who accosteth them that brought him before him , first with this interrogation , what accusation bring you against this man ? v. 29. they reply , if he were not a malefactor , we would not have delivered him up unto thee . it is time now , i conceive , as early as it is , by way of preface to my text to take them to task , and to examine the weight of their words , for all was not gospel they said , though it be mentioned in the gospel . if he were not a malefactor , as if they should have said , his crime is so manifest that he needeth no accusation ; what , do you doubt of the righteousness of our proceedings who have done all things with deliberation ? and have found him worthy of death , and we exspect that you should proceed to give sentence : depth of hypocrisie ! madness ! and malice ! as if being a prisoner , bound , and in fetters only , was crime enough , and deserved death as a malefactor ? this was handsom indeed , high equity ; sure ! who cannot perceive that they distrusted their caus , and therefore cunningly by way of anticipation spoke what they did , least they should have been compelled to prove him so , a criminal , a malefactor , as they pronounced him to be ? he that runneth may read their hypocrisy , they would by all means be thought to be consoientious , as if they never attempted any thing , but what was just , and had never sought the death of any but of malefactors ; when it stands upon sacred record as a base blot in their escutcheon , that they unjustly slew all the prophets that went before them . o the perfrict brazen forehead ! the impudence of this rout , to style him a malefactor , who had done nothing but good to their nation . they should have asked the blind to whom he restored sight : the lepers whom he had cleansed : the lame to whom he gave limbs , whether he was a malefactor : but thus it was prophesyed , psal . 35. 12. they rewarded me evil for good to the despoyling of my soul , and hatred for my love. yet pilat , as bad as he was , being startled at their unjust proceedings seemed to rid his hands of him , with accipite eum , take ye him and judge him according to your law. the roman law forbidding to condemn any before he be heard . now do but see how they elude this , it is not lawful for us to put any one to death : no , then the death of stephen , lies at your doores , your present judgements confute your former practises : besides , what was it other then to be the death of christ , so violently to beg it , with open mouth thus to go against him , and like so many blood-hounds to cry him down . it seems by their law he should only have been stoned , by the roman law he must be crucified ; it was their intent then , not only that he should dy , but with the greatest ignominy , pain , and shame that mought be . neither is pilat yet satisfied , for being entred into the judgment-hall again , and having convened jesus ; he asketh him , art thou the king of the jews ? in this he thought to have struck the nail on the head : as if christ would ( upon that demand of his ) have confessed himself guilty of treason against caesar , and of disturbing the peace of the nation . but what said our saviour ? sayest thou this of thyself , or did others tell it thee of me ? as if he should have said , little dost thou think what thou sayest , the mysterie that those few words contain in them . for how couldst thou style me king , since no man can say jesus is the lord but by the spirit ? have it whence thou wilt , it is of weighty concernment , what thou hast said , didst thou but understand it . or we may suppose this interrogation to be a reproof of pilat ; as if our saviour should have said , if this proceedeth from thy own suspicion , it is but an injust part thou dost act , for that is not the star a judg should be led by , he ought not to be both the judg and the witness : if some others told thee so , why are not my accusers brought forth ? if to accuse be enough to make a man guilty , none will be innocent , judges are to proceed , secundum allegata & probata , according to what is alledged and proved : our saviour probably said this , to give him an occasion to speak what followed , am i a jew ? this pilat may be said to ask in scorn to that nation , hateful to the heathens for their difference from them in religion : as if he should have said , how can i speak this of my self who am not a jew , but an ethnick , and what have we heathens to do with your rites ? the chief priests of your nation delivered you to me , and for this accused thee to me : they are the men that lay it to thy charge , i neither apprehended thee ; neither did i accuse thee . certainly he would not , had he been a jew , and christ his king ; yet , as his place empowered him , he examins him , quid fecisti ? what hast thou done ? our saviour thought that question answered it self , and therefore was not sollicitous to reply to it , having done nothing worthy such usage . a kingdome he dreads not to tell him that he had , but it was not of this world , v. 36. of this chap. therefore he need not be thought to stand in their light who had kingdoms , they might have room enough to sway their scepters in for all him . yet it is very observable , he doth not say his kingdom was not in this world , but not of this world ; whence it follows , that there is another world , which pilat , it is probable , dream'd not of ; in which he that suffers the loss of never so many kingdoms here , may be riehly rewarded there . this could not but cure pilat of that shaking palsy which fear had put him into , our saviour talking of a kingdom . now this our saviour proceeds to make more manifest thus , if my kingdom were of this world , then would my servants fight that i should not be delivered to the jews ; as if he should have said , i would not be so imprudent as to go only with a few un-armed disciples , i would then be a little better guarded , my attendants should be many and mighty , such as know how to use their weapons , and to acquit themselves like men : smiling , as it were , at the vanity , and impotence of worldly potentates , who of themselves signifie little , but depend on the strength of external power , which if it fail , they fall : but having that they can do any thing , bring others to their bent or bow at pleasure , have their persons at command , as they had his ; yet pilat cannot but harp on that string , witness his language , art thou a king then ? this could make but harsh music in his ears , who could not but envy him that title howsoever , where-ever his kingdom was : he was loth to ask where his kingdom was , least he should not be far from happiness ; sure : no , take heed of that , me-thinks i see him tremble at what our saviour answered : thou sayest that i am a king ; as if he should have said , what need i say it , when you your self say as much , your own mouth hath pronounced it ; and yet least the man should be too much dejected at it , our saviour addeth , to this end was i born , and for this caus came i into the world ; what ? to raign like other kings ? no , but to walk antipodes to them rather ; as if he should have said , 't is an error to think that i am ambitious of any mundan reign , any worldly soveraignty ; 't is thus , that my kingdom is spiritual , i cannot , i will not deny : but will aver it either before thee , or any caesar on earth : only know this , that it is the lest of my intention to molest other kings , or pompously like them to reign . but to be a witness to the truth am i come : at this pilat seems to be pretty well pleased , and asketh him , what is truth ? but alas ! it was more out of derision and contempt , then to be informed : as indeed prophane spirits cannot endure to hear savoury words , but they turn them off with scorn : as if he should have said , i hope you will produce no other truth then your high priests do teach , you will not seem wiser then they ; will you ? if you do , 't is folly to declare it , i must interrupt you , for it is other business that we are about , your life is in question : he would not stay for an answer , but , went out , saith the text , because he thought caesar's laws sufficient , and the knowledg of any other truth needless : besides , he saw the cloud to thicken ; the jews it is likely bandying together , so that it was no time to hold conference any longer with him : and the jews feared , least christ having obtained liberty to speak for himself , he might so work upon the judg , and melt the hearts of the rest on the bench , as to frustrat their design . well , for all this , he that before went out to hear his accusation , now goes out to excuse him to the people , to his accusers . behold him seemingly to heap civility upon civility upon our saviour , even in the mid'st of his severity . for first , tho on the one side were persons of great rank and quality , from whom he mought expect a becoming reward for his injustice , or dread their displeasure if he did not act as they would have him : and on the other side christ , who was mean and contemptible , in outward appearance , forlorn and forfaken , yet he gives it for him against the jews , casting their malice , as it were , in their teeth . secondly , he stands not only up for christ , maugre all their eager expectation of the contrary , but confounds his adversaries pronouncing him innocent : and that not without an emphasis , i find in him no fault at all . and yet this vulpone , this fox , least their teeth so sharp set , should ( for want of a prey ) fasten on himself , he tells them , you have a custom ; an ungodly one it was , what ever was the ground of it : some think it was in memory of jonathan , rescued by the people from death , which his father had threatned him with . others , that the feast mought be celebrated with the more joy and gladness . others more probably say , it was in remembrance of their deliverance from the egyptick bondage . but if so , one would think the paschal lamb should have been memorial enough for that , but they must do somewhat additional , though not commanded by god : thus hypocrisie is alwayes busie in preferring its own figments before god's commands ; yet i verily beleive the world would have been more happy then it is , had it not had worse judges then pilat was in some respects : for do but see how industrious he seems to be for christ's release . for this end he rubs up a custome of theirs , to capacitate them to release him : he did not pervert an old law , or establish a new one : setting up a high court of justice to try him by . then he propounds them two , none is in competition with him but barabbas , a notorious miscreant , whom he thought none would be for ; nay more , he seems to beg him , or at lest to bid them choose him , saying , will ye that i release to you the king of the jewes ? scorning to mention barabbas , whom our evangelist stiles a robber , and another a murtherer , which serv'd as a foil for their malice , if that needed any , to preferr such a one before christ . but pilat , it seems , was deceived , for the great ones before had been at the people to ask barabbas , and to leave jesus to undergo death . the multitude , which not long before was for him , now unanimously bandy against him . for they cryed all again , say the words immediately preceeding my text : envy , you see cannot be quiet till it hath made the person it strikes at perfectly miserable : but why again ? they cried all again : you may remember they before cryed , if he were not a malefactor , we would not have delivered him unto thee . that which they cryed again , was that which i cannot , it being my text , but repeat again , not this man , but barrabbas . thus beloved , having presented you with that preface , which can be stil'd no less then necessary . come we to some division of their words , whom it is a wonder , being so many as they were , to hear not divided : yet thus it was , here was no crying some one thing , and some another , as at that uproar we read of acts 19. the wind and tyde , priest and people , both went one way , great and small , honorable and ignoble , young and old , male and female , they cryed all not once , but again non hunc , sed barrabam , not this man , but barrabas . in which words you have the peoples election , and reprobation , or if you will in termes less offensive , less to be excepted against , the peoples negative , and affirmative choice , such as it was : negative , not this man : affirmative , but barrabas . to scan each by it self briefly , and to come to some suitable application of both . and first of their negative vote , or choice . not this man. and pray , why not he , o ye jewes ? what harm did he ever do you , or could ye ever find in him ? how justly might it have been said to them concerning him , i mean our saviour , as themistocles said to the athenians , are ye weary of receiving so many benefits by one man ? if ye go to that , what good did he not do you ? how could ye so soon forget the evils that he cur'd ? the empty bellys among you , which he often fill'd ; and fed ? what house did he ever enter into , but salvation enter'd with him ? some alwayes were the better for him : not this man ? what! after so many miracles wrought among you by his divine power ? is he but a man in your judgements ? i had thought the inspired magi , that fell down devoutly at his feet , when newly infanted , which you could not but hear of : the water of the neighbouring flood turn'd by him into wine , for the pleasuring of the gallilean youth , being with them at a marriage , his forty dayes fasting , his feasting the multitude with bread that encreased betwixt the dispensers hands , when more then all remain'd : his wonderful checking the boistrous waves of the sea with a word : his walking on that watry plain with unsinking feet : those damned infernal spirits , rebels to god , and the light , which hearing his voice forsook their fleshly habitations , the blind by birth , who to him ow'd his day ; the dumb that never spake till he loosned their toungs . i thought these would have prov'd as so many heralds to proclaim him more then man : no , for all this , it 's only ▪ not this man , they were loth sure to believe him to be god , lest the thoughts of it should have endanger'd their conversion , or melted them into a better temyer . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , non istum , so some render it , by way of diminution , and vilifying : not this worthless person . no , whom then ? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but barabbas , which is their positive choice , or affirmative vote , and comes next to be handled , i fear i shall not do it so roughly as it deserves . but barabbas , an excellent choice indeed ! a special , lovely dish this , to be serv'd in at such a feast : now this fellow ( to turn the istum upon him , which they undeservedly fixt on our saviour . ) he was notorious , i. for robbery , he was a robber , saith our evangelist . ii. for sedition , he troubled the whole city , saith s. luke . iii. for murther , saith the same evangelist , cap. 23. 19. this was the idol they cryed up ; the miscreant they put into the ballance with christ , the son of god : a very nointed villain he was , to have whom executed every man's appetite but a little before was up : yet rather then jesus shall live , barabbas shall be releas'd , more insurrections , more murthers , more seditions , more any thing rather then to be in danger of having christ their king , he that was born king of the jewes : do but see how s. peter sets them out in their colours , characterizeth them to their heads , acts 3. 14. but ye denied the holy one , and the just , and desired a murtherer to be given unto you , and killed the prince of life . this was he that was thought only worth naming with them ; christ out of contempt , being branded with the appellation of this man : they had rather celebrate their passover with that wretch , then with jesus . and no marvel , for they knew this fellow would prove no eye-sore them , would patiently permit them to do what they would , give them liberty of conscience , and so would be exellent company for them ; alas , he was not for their tooth , who came from heaven upon errands of holyness , and reformation , whose example would put vice out of countenance , and upbraid their madness . no , they had too much of him already , not this man , but barabbas , what more intense blindness , madness , and malice could betray it self ? what was this but to say , what i think , you cannot hear without trembling , occidatur qui suscitat mortuos , & dimittatur qui occîdit vivos , as one hath it ; let him die , who rais'd the dead , and him be releas'd whose trade it is to destroy the living : let life depart , and darkness remain . the peace-maker be dispatcht , and the seditious repriv'd . how by this action , or election of theirs , did the jewes in the saddest sense , forsake the fountain of living waters , and betake themselves to a muddy , bloody , dirty puddle of water : they did not set free the nocent only insteed of the innocent , but put to death him , who was a constant , and faithfull benefactor to them . and thus my discourse all along ( if you have observ'd it ) respects the business of this day , which is to be humbled for the horrid murther of an innocent person , a good benefactor to this nation , under whom it had flourisht many years . first then , in this the jewes betray'd superlative ingratitude , and high baseness to preferr so vile a person before him , who chose them from among all nations , to be his peculiar people , his choice inclosure . secondly , here was their malice , who car'd not how things went , so as in this they had their wills . thirdly , this argues them blind , ( indeed malice is blind ) asking what they should have been against the death of their saviour , and the release of a thief : and as they passionately desired , so it came to pass , hugging their bane in him , whom they were so hot to have releas'd . for the vengeance , which such a choice merited , did not long sleep , neither would it , if they had not made use of that cabell , his bloud be upon us and our children , to pull it down more speedily upon them : for titus ( saith josephus ) besieging jerusalem , when the jewes ( pincht with famine ) came forth in multitudes to seek food for their famisht souls , he daily caus'd a number of them to be crucified , in so much that at length , saith the historian there was scarce any place to erect crosses on , nor crosses enough to fasten their bodiesto . this , this was the crop of severity , which their sinful choice yielded them . and how justly were they punish'd with death , who refused the lord of life ! so pl●●gid by that tyrant , who cryed again , non hune , not this man , but barabbas : but what ? had not pilate a finger at lest in this , from the guilt of which he cleared himself , would have been thought to do so by washing of his hands ? as if he should have said by that action , i am innocent , therefore look ye to it ; that i condemn this man , o ye jews , i do it not voluntarily , but being compell'd . i am innocent , i call heaven to witness , it is you that are nocent , and guilty of his bloud . this hypocrite he was as scarlet , or purple within as without , in heart as in habit , notwithstanding all that formality of washing his hands : accessary he was to the death of the lord of life in a high degree , being a faint-hearted judge , afraid to give innocency its reward . had he bore up valiantly against the stream of the multitude , he had approv'd himself an honest man , and a good judge . what could be more base and dirty , and sinful , then to confess he found no fault at all in him , and yet not to find in his heart to acquit him , but to curry favour with the people adjudges him to be crucified . thus , non rarò bonorum virorism capitibus , ut talis aut tesseris ludunt , saith one ; 't is the old game of the world for the heads , and lives of good men to be plaid with like dice , or chess-men , by great men , that they might ingratiate themselves with each other . i have read of an apologue to this purpose , it run's thus ; the wolf , the fox , and the ass on a time came together to shrift . the wolf confest , and was dismist , the fox did likewise , and was absolv'd , but the ass confest , and his fault was this ; that being hungry he took one straw out of the sheaf of a poor pilgrim travelling to rome , for which he was severely punished ; the fox , and the wolf straight fall upon him , and devour him , maintaining that the poor asses crime was so great as to deserve it . the fable applys it self ; to be sure where pilat is judge barabbas shall be loos'd , and the innocent condemned . i do believe unjust sysamnes whom cambises flead , and of his skin made a cushion for all succeeding judges to lean , and look on , was a saint to this judge , as subtely as he carried it ; and yet as madd , and malicious as the people were , they could not hinder their prisoner from evading a glorious king , though nothing but unworthy , base usage came from them . glorious in his personal vertues , glorious in his divine graces , but most glorious in his constancy , and perseverance , in his charity even amidst all his sufferings , which nothing could more magnifie then this choice of theirs , electing barabbas , and rejecting jesus , not before they had done either good or evill ; but after one had done all the evill , and the other for divers years together all the good imaginable , then to elect the robber , and reject the saviour , what could more make against them , and for him ? heere again how plainly through the sufferings of the king of saints , may one see the sufferings of that saint of kings charles the first , whose murther we are this day to lament , and be humbled for . i shall now descend to some suitable application . i. from the competition precedaneous , to the choice presum'd heere , but exprest in saint matthew , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which of the two will ye that i release unto you , for so run the words , math. 27. 17. let us learn , that there is no office so sacred , or weighty but some either through favour or fear , will abuse it . whom will ye that i release ? corrupt wretch ! to bring that in question , which it was in his power to put out of question : and sure would have done , had he acted according to the dictate either of his wife by his side , or of that scold his conscience within him . for he knew that for envy they they had de-deliver'd him . matth. 27. 18. knew , yet would not doe what he should have done , but did forbear to acquit christ , exposing him to the mercy of the multitude , whose tenderest mercies are cruel . not to save a man , if it be in ones power , is to destroy him , so saith our saviour , mark 3. 4. job brake the jawes of the wicked , and pluckt the prey out of his teeth , 't is said . i have read that sir george blage , if i mistake not his name , one of king henry the 8ths . privy chamber , being condemn'd for a heretick , was yet pardon'd by the king , he coming afterward into the kings presence , ah my pig , said the king , for so he was wont to call him ) yea , said he , if your majesty had not been better to me then my judges were , your pig had been roasted e're this time , for certain , there is no such unsavory salt , and more becoming a dunghill , than a pilate , or a bradshaw , an unjust judge . envy not the pomp of such a one , whensoever your eyes shall behold him , ( which i wish may never be ) no more then thou wouldst a dead corps its garnish , and gaiety . ii. let this competition mind us of that we are so much concern'd in . tho god hath left the heathen without excuse , yet he hath not left us without a choice , our salvation is elective , both on god's part and ours , i would , but yee would not , 't is god's own language . hence likewise it is no less true , then a right saying , he that made thee without thy self , will not save thee without thy self ; indeed , were there but one object within our reach presented to the faculty of election in man as one christ , one holiness , our receiving of him could not be call'd choice , but it mought be stil'd necessity rather . but since there are many christs , aswell as antichrists , and divers sorts of holiness , it will behove us to be wary what choice we make . to see that we have not so much faith for the alcoran , as for the bible ; and as much obedience for the devil , as for god , for the law in our members , as for that of our mind . it must need 's be more obliging not to say meritorious , for a joseph to be chast at court , than for another to be so in a cottage , or in a cell . for a souldier to be temperat in the camp , where he is beleagured with temptations to the contrary , than for another to be so at home . to be a christian in nero's hous than at a greater distance from danger . thou art virtuous becaus thou canst not easily be otherwise , this is a commendation that leav's but a flat farewell behind it . 't is an act , not only of wisdom , but of god's great goodness thus to order it , to leav the christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were in the confines of two most distant people , improvable unto good , and capable of evil. for righteousness to go for thy refuge , and not for thy choice , as it doth where there is no rival sin , is to be content that should be without its crown , and thy self without thy reward : which conducts mee from the competition , to the competitors , christ , and barabbas . from whence learn wee , 1. not to build on the multitudes vogue or choice , to esteem no otherwise of its applau , or approbation than of a whiff of smoak , the best emblem of its base inconstancy . but now they cryed hosannah . now they are all for crucify him , crucify him . vox populi was not here vox dei , but mors dei. the voice of the people was not the voice of god , but the death of god rather . follow not a multitude to do evil ( saith the holy ghost ) as if it did little , or nothing els , but do so . we must then get a preservative against the infection of the multitude ( as well as that of the plague ) or els it is like to go ill with us . it is the worlds guize to elect what is evil , and to reject what is gaod ; it is the nature of that ugly ape to hug its brats , as most lovely , and beautiful . what more lively example of this is there , than the carriage of these jewes at this time ? how unworthily did they write all those benefits our saviour conferr'd on them , in water , witness their praeteritition , or passing him by , and their choosing a bloody thief and seditious , preferring such a one before him ! this is that foul sin st. peter makes bold to tax them home with in his sermon , laid it to their hearts , and were converted . i do verily believ there is not a person that hears of this , but hate 's this action in the jewes , condemning it in their thoughts , and were he askt , would say he did so . and yet how many are there who knowing the judgement of god inflicted on them for it , do not only do the same thing in effect , but have pleasure in them that do it , to use that of s. paul's language , rom. 1. 32. there is no sin but is as base as barabbas , nay wors , for he had not been so vile , and base without it . how loudly doth the swearer make one with these , larding his discours with oaths , damnably confronting that strict command , swear not at all , for he will do nothing at all but swear , and so by consequence cry's , non hunc , not this man , but barabbas . i shall only desire of such a sinner , that he would tell me what fruit he can exspect , or ever any did reap from that bramble , besides gods curs ? hell-fire is the punishment of such , whose toungs are so set on fire of hell. neither can the hypocrit excuse himself , who seems to be for christ , wearing his livery on his back , but barabbas his favour in his bosom , who was a thief , and a robber ; so is he in his shop , it may be , though not on the road. what should i say of the unclean person , who is one of this rout , of this rabble too ? how by making the members of christ , the members of a harlot , doth he day and night cry , non hunc , not this man , but barabbas . my advise to such a one shall only be this , to labour for a saving inversion of these words , as thus , to turn , when tempted , this hunc into hanc , i mean , ( upon choice ) to say , not this woman , this strumpet , were she more beutiful then she is , but christ . you would wonder now , if i should prove it possible for you to be crying up of barabbas , even while you are hearing of christ preached . beloved , he that gives way to wanton , lustful looks , or wordly thoughts at a sermon , suffering them to take up his mind , crie's with the jews , non hunc , not this man , but barabbas . but see that yee refuse not him that speaks , to speak in s. paul's words , heb. 12. 25. for if they escape not , that refused him that spake on earth , much more shall we not escape , if we turn away from him that thus speaks from heaven . the jewes paid for their nolumus hunc , we will not have this man to raign over us , and for their non hunc , not this man , but such a one : and so shall we too , if we repent not in time of our recusancy . let those then that hate and abhorr the jews for this , indeed , to be lamented choice , descend into themselvs by examination , and see they be not guilty of the same . what is there so base , and so vile but a corrupt mind will prefer before christ . ii. hence as in a mirrour we may see the prevalency of the actions of great men , the attractiveness of them . if herod ; and caiphas do begin , christ shall have fists enough abought his ears ; there will not be wanting that will smite him with toung , as well as with the hand : fly blow and blister his fame to purpose . with inferiours example doth more then precept , and like men in a crowd they do not go , but are carried rather . do any of the rulers believ in him ? this question deterr'd many of the vulgar , from adhering to our saviour : the weightiest drops of whose blood , i do believ , fell ( in the saddest sens ) on the wisest of them : for had not they first preacht him down in their synagogs , the people had never cryed him down in the judgment-hall : with a non hune , not this man , but barabbas . iii. here is matter of comfort , in our vilified , reproacht condition here below , as thus . i. that we cannot be lower than our saviour was in the world's repute . ii. that his disreputation hath sanctified ours . if such a one who had don so much good could not procure a good word from those he did it to , why should such unprofitable servants , as we are at best , be troubled if we be awarded with frowns for our favors ; with cruelty from others from our kindness to them . i 'm sure this lamb of god opened not his mouth repiningly , was dumb before the shearers , who , as much as in them lay , rob'd him of the whole fleece of his reputation ; yet that which at first sight seems to make for his ignominy , realy conduc'd much for his glory ; for his father would not have him ransom'd at such a rate , as to be beholding to the people's favour for his repriev and live under the notion of a malefactor , who beeing innocent would be condemn'd and dy with more honor , as he did to the stigmatizing of them , who were his judges , and persecutors with the brand of perpetual infamy . in short , here is matter as of comfort ; so of caution : least at any time we make our teeth to meet in the rigid censure of that penson that die's not a natural , but a violent death . what is this but to condemn the generation of the righteous ? i remember , lam. 4. 20. there is a passage to this purpose . the breath of our nostrils , the anointed of the iord is taken in their pits . which was this that fell as a morsel into his enemies mouths , but a good king , one , under whose government they pronoun't themselvs happy , as it follows in the same vers . beloved , it is unchristian to judg temporal punishments to be judgements due unto sin. suffer me to speak it , thy wickedness is too triumphant , who will not acknowledg that some afflictions are for trials , and in order to the increas of grace , and glory unto god's dear children . 't is as much as to say , christ could not be the sun of righteousness , because he did set in such a cloud of wretchedness ( at his death ) as to outward appearance , dying on the cross in the midst of two theeves , as if the chiefest malefactor . 't is not it the manner of one's death , but the cours of one's life that makes really wretched , or happy . to think otherwise is to pronounce thy self as much out in thy judgement , as these jewes were in their choice , when they all cryed , non hunc , not this man , but barabbas . i have now done with my text , and it may be exspected i should speak somwhat of the occasion ; for this is not only a fast-day , but a funeral , which we solemnize : the funeral of as pious a king as ever england had to sway its scepter : that litle that is to be found in bad men the holy ghost hath thought good to register . david pen'd saul's epicedium , which runs thus , saul , and jonathan were lovely , and pleasant in their lives , and in their death they were not divided , yee daughters of israel weep over saul , who cloath'd you in scarlet , and other delights , who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel , 2. sam. 1. 23 , 24. which gives a sufficient warrant to mention , and not only so , but to commend the dead : which i intend not to do at this time . his incomparable worth want's not the varnish of my water-colours to set him off . neither shall i blister the air of this sacred place with mentioning of any of those who had a hand in his death : since justice is in pursuit of them , and its iron-hand will recompens the slowness of its leaden feet . but because some were eminently instrumental to bring to pass the death of that just man , shall wee think our selves innocent ? god forbid . there are none of us of mature years , but by our sins gave earnest for that fatal stroak , which made three kingdomes miserable at once . so that well may wee assume that passionat wish of the prophet jeremy , o that our heads were waters , and our eyes fountains of tears , that wee may lament day and night for the shedding of the innocent blood of that good king , the top-branch of which royal ceder , ( to the root of which envy and implacable malice laid the ax ) the lord preserv . bless him o lord , in his body , and bless him in his soul , bless him in his going out , and bless him in his coming in . bless him whensoever he shall adventure upon the water that dangerous , deceitful element , be thou his pilot : bless him when he shall journey on the land , be thou his conduct : bless the guard of his body with courage , and fidelity ; bless the guides of his soul with sincerity of life , and soundness doctrine . may all the blessings on mount gerezim in this life , and in the next all the blessings , christ preacht upon the mount , be multiplied upon him . and to this prayer i doubt not but every loyal subject will from his heart , say , amen : specialy when he doth remember and resent ( horresco referens ) this sad trilinguous hexastich . map 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 charls , best of kings , for god's laws and the land 's was martyr'd , murder'd by unhallowed hands . dei gratiâ & regis oblatio qualis-qualis ehmamp . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a39839-e570 ter deno jani labens rex sole cadente carolus exutus solio sceptorqve secure . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard, at little easton in essex, on the 30th of june, 1682 by ... thomas, lord bishop of bath and wells. ken, thomas, 1637-1711. 1688 approx. 56 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47239 wing k280 estc r14039 12937307 ocm 12937307 95804 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47239) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95804) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 717:29) a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard, at little easton in essex, on the 30th of june, 1682 by ... thomas, lord bishop of bath and wells. ken, thomas, 1637-1711. the third edition. [4], 32 p. printed for charles brome ..., and william clarke ..., london : 1688. marginal notes. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng maynard of estaines ad turrim, margaret maynard, -baroness, d. 1682 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-12 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard , at little easton in essex . on the 30th of june , 1682. by the right reverend father in god , thomas , lord bishop of bath and wells . the third edition . london , printed for charles brome , at the gun , at the west-end of st. paul's church-yard ; and william clarke bookseller in winchester . mdclxxxviii . to the right honourable william lord mainard , baron of eastains . my lord , though i am unwilling to decline any service which your lordship expects from me , yet when you enjoyn'd me the printing of this sermon , i could not obey your command without disputing it . for i consider'd , that in such an age as this , where an exemplary holiness is very rare , i shall be thought guilty of most gross flattery , in the character i have given of your incomparable lady , now in heaven . but knowing i have so many unexceptionable witnesses , to attest every line i have said , especially your self , who best understood her value , and are most sensible of her loss ; and being conscious to my self , that i have spoken no other throughout than the words of truth , i soon broke through all the discouragements i had , either from the just censures the world would fix on the meanness of the discourse , or from the unjust ones it might pass on my insincerity ; and resolv'd , to do all that little honour i could to her memory , and to give god the glory of her example : and i humbly beseech the divine goodness , that what i now offer to the publick may not be wholly unprofitable to those who read it ; however , i am sure it will not be unacceptable to your lordship , or to those who were so happy to know her , which will be satisfaction enough , to my good lord , your lordships most humble and faithful servant thomas , bath and wells . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable the lady margaret mainard , on prov. ii. xvi . a gracious woman retaineth honour . the world was never yet so bad , but the good man , though his life was a continued satyr to the age he lived in , did always either find , or extort , a veneration from it . so true is it of both sexes , which solomon here affirms of woman only , that gracious persons , they who are in the grace and favour of god , and are strengthned by his gracious assistances , they who by the covenant of grace , are enrolled in his service , and in whose hearts , there is a conspiration , of all the graces of his holy spirit ; all which particulars , are included in the word grace , and do all concur , to make up a gracious soul ; such persons , i say , as these , shall from the generality of men , gain an inward esteem , and a great opinion , and for the most part , an outward , and a suitable respect , or as the wise man words it , shall retain honour . i must confess , that there are many instances , even in our own perverse generation , wherein vertue has rather been contemn'd and ridicul'd than honour'd , but i will mention no other than the most signal of all , god incarnate , whose example , though it was as perfect , and unblameable , as the fulness of the godhead , could render it ; yet his most divine person , was so far from being honoured , by many of the jews , that he lay under the utmost imputations of slander and blasphemy , which words could express ; and as glorious as all his miracles were , they were ascribed to no other than beelzebub , the prince of the very devils . but though it be true , that our blessed lord , in regard to his state of humiliation , seemed to have no form , no comeliness in him ; yet all his conversation , had so many irradiations of divinity in it , which did abundantly evince his heavenly extraction ; and it is no wonder he should suffer such contradictions of sinners , it being usual for an heroick virtue , which is singly to encounter whole legions , to contend with inveterate errours , or reigning vices , to reprove , and reform the world , as our saviour was , to be loaded with most diabolical reproaches . but goodness has an inseparable splendour , which can never suffer a total eclipse , and when it is most revil'd , and persecuted , it then shines brightest out of cloud . so that all who are not wilfully blind , who will but make use of their eyes to see , must acknowledge the force of its rays . this did the very jews themselves , as many as had any relicks of common ingenuity left : the multitude own'd our saviour for a great prophet , wonder'd at his gracious words , confest he had done all things well , insomuch , that they would have exalted him to the throne , and have made him their king ; pilate could find no fault in him at all ; and the centurion , a heathen , even when he saw him hanging on the cross , as a malefactour , cried out , certainly this was a righteous man. so that a gracious person , under the most extreme degree of infamy and slander , shall yet retain honour , shall from all that are in their right minds , have at least an inward veneration . if this be verifi'd of a publique vertue , there can be less doubt of it in a private one , which not being on such a stage , as may provoke and affront the angry world , by openly contradicting , or upbraiding , or chastising it , passes along with a less assaulted , and less envied reputation , and more undisturb'dly retains honour than the former . there is , i know , an honour which is due to all men , as they are god's workmanship , and have some lines of his image in them , but especially to kings , and to magistrates , whom it is our duty to honour , whether they be gracious persons or no ; this we are to render to the froward , and pagan , as well as to gentle and believing masters ; to princes that are infidels and persecutors , as well as to christian and nursing fathers . but then this honour is not paid them out of respect to any real goodness in them , but only to their authority , as they are god's ordinance , as we depend on their protection , and as our obedience is enforc'd , by laws and penalties ; but the honour we give to a gracious person , is purely in reference to his moral excellencies , which are legible in the whole conduct of his life : the former is merely civil , the latter may in some sort , be styl'd religious : empire is honour'd as it resembles god's power , abstracted from his holiness , and therefore it is compatible with an ungracious person , it is confin'd only to this world , and reaches no farther : but graciousness is honour'd as a participation of the divine nature , appropriate to no other than saints , and which has its prospect only on heaven : the former is like thunder and lightning , and works on our fear ; the latter is like the appearance of a good angel , arraid in beams , awful , but kind , which do not afflict , but chear the sight , and raise in us a mixt passion , of love and veneration together ; and in this sense it is , that the gracious person , for the venerable goodness that is visible in him , shall retain honour . to attempt any laborious proof , of so clear a truth as this , were needless ; do but consult the universal practice of mankind , and read it there . what rules do the philosophers prescribe to render our lives most satisfactory to our selves , and most commendable to others ? with what colours do the oratours paint those persons they intend to celebrate ? what images do the poets form when they design an heroe , are they any other than the rules , and colours , and images of moral goodness ? do not hypocrites , to court the esteem of the vulgar , personate the saint , and politicians , to make the people honour them , pretend to religion ? and why do they both put on this disguise , but because they know , that wickedness bare-fac'd , is in the eyes of all men most detestable , and that the names of saint , and of religion , are creditable in the world ? shew me that profligate wretch , who in his cool thoughts , or on his death-bed , does not decline all his loose companions , and seeks out for men truly good , and consciencious , to whom he may intrust his estate , his children , and all that is dearest to him , even his own soul too , for which he then begs their ghostly counsel ? what man is there so wicked , who on his death-bed does not wish that he may die the death of the righteous , and that his latter end may be like his ? look into the histories and customs of ages past , see how greedily coveted , how dearly purchast , and how highly valued , the statues , and all the little remains of good men have been : the heathens , to express their great esteem of goodness , built temples to vertue and honour , and join'd these temples together , and made the former the only passage into the latter , they thought praise to good men as just a tribute , as sacrifice to their gods ; and one of the wisest of them , wonderfully pleas'd himself , in fancying how lovely and venerable , how divine and transporting an idea he should see , could he but look into the breast of a good-man . we have then the practice and the judgment of the whole world , to confirm this truth , that vertue has always had a great and a general esteem , that the gracious person retains honour . on the contrary , is there not a natural shame , a sense of turpitude , or a confusion of face in vicious and unclean actions ? why else are men afraid to commit them , before the most inconsiderable spectatour , and chuse darkness for a thick mantle to cover them ? why else do they blush to own them , wish a thousand times they had never been done , and reflect on them with dissatisfaction , and horrour ; why else do their own consciences , lash and upbraid them ? whereas if we will but take the pains , to make up an induction of all christian graces , we shall easily see , that there is none , whose friendship is more ambitiously sought , none with whom men would sooner change persons , none who are accounted of more substantial worth , or more generally rever'd , or more influential to the good of mankind , or sooner wanted in the world , or who make a nobler figure in story , than the devout , the humble , the just , the meek , the temperate , the charitable ; or to express all in one word , the gracious person , who therefore shall always retain honour . i need not reckon up the numerous places of holy scripture , where goodness and honour are link'd together ; how the wise are said to inherit glory ; the humble and meek to be exalted ; how we are commanded to keep our vessels in sanctification and honour , and how god has promis'd to honour those who honour him : i need not mention the primitive diptycks , or how the church catholick , has celebrated the festivals , and honour'd the memories of the saints , and of the martyrs ; i need not suggest that obvious conclusion , that if gracious persons can draw even wicked men , to a reverential love of their vertue , much more will they engage the friendship of all that are holy , and not only of holy men , but of holy angels too , who being all ministring spirits , deputed by god to attend them , the more heavenly they see any committed to their charge does grow , the more respectful attendance , in all probability , they give him . and there is the highest reason in the world , why there should be so honourable a loveliness , in a gracious person , if we consider , the likeness he bears to that great god whom we adore . for as there are on all men , innate impressions of god's existence , so there are also of his attributes , and none ever yet in earnest , believed there was a god , but he also believed that god was a being , infinite in all perfections , in wisdom and power , justice and mercy , purity and holiness , veracity and beneficence , and as these excite our love , and our adoration to god , so where ever we see any , though but imperfect resemblances , of his imitable perfections , in the saints here on earth , where ever we see men in any measure holy and pure , just and merciful , faithful and beneficent , we there see the image of god himself , and cannot but pay them a suitable honour : thus as goodness and adorableness are co-eternal in god , so are sanctity and venerableness co-eval in gracious persons . nor are we only by grace made like to god , but he is also pleas'd actually to dwell in us , and to consecrate our souls to be his temples ; and as god commanded the jews to reverence his sanctuary , the place of his residence among them , where he sat between the cherubims , and a glorious light that shin'd on the propitiatory , was the symbol of his presence : so when in gracious souls , we discover all the fruits of the spirit , a kind of glory brightning their conversation , and a sacred amiableness breath'd on them from heaven , we are sure that god inhabits there , and cannot but reverence his temples . such honour have all gods saints from even wicked men , from all holy persons , and from the good angels , and infinitely above all these , from god himself , who honours them with his image , after which they are renew'd , and with his presence , of which they are possest ; such honour , i say , have all his saints even in this life , which if we did but seriously contemplate , would stir us up to a generous emulation , would encourage us to implore the divine grace , that we may bewail all our past sins , cleanse our selves from all filthiness , both of flesh , and of spirit , which produce nothing in the end , but shame and horrour , and daily grow more conformable to his likeness , which is the only way to assert the dignity of our nature , and to retain honour . but when once our souls shall be divorc'd from our bodies , when the name of the wicked shall rot , and stink , sooner than his carcase , leaving no memorial behind , unless it be of his sin , his infamy , his madness , or his folly ; precious then in the sight of the lord , shall be the death of his saints , blessed shall be their memories , they shall be had in everlasting remembrance , and their good names , being registred in the book of life , shall flourish to immortality . all this while , i have not done justice to my subject , by affirming only in general , that goodness is honourable , i must therefore be more particular , and enquire , why solomon does here instance , in the woman , rather than in the man , a gracious woman retains honour . and the reason seems to me , to be either this , that as vice is more odious , and more detested , so on the other hand , vertue is more attractive , and looks more lovely , in women , than it usually does in men , insomuch that the gracious woman , shall be sure to purchase , and to retain honour . or it is , because men have more advantages , of aspiring to honour , in all publick stations , of the church , the court , the camp , the bar , and the city , than women have , and the only way for a woman to gain honour , is an exemplary holiness ; this makes her children , rise up and call her blessed , her husband and her own works , to praise her in the gate , the sole glory then of that sex , is to be good , for 't is a gracious woman only , who retains honour . or it is , because women are made of a temper , more soft and frail , are more endanger'd by snares , and temptations , less able to control their passions , and more inclinable to extreams of good , or bad , than men , and generally speaking , goodness is a tenderer thing , more hazardous , and brittle in the former , than in the latter , and consequently a firm , and steady vertue , is more to be valued in the weaker sex , than in the stronger ; so that a gracious woman , is most worthy to recieve , and to retain honour . or it is , because women in all ages , have given many heroick examples of sanctity , besides those recorded in the old testament , many of them are named , with great honour in the new. for their assiduity and zeal , in following our saviour , and their charity , in ministring to him of their substance , they accompanied him to mount calvary , lamented his sufferings , waited on the cross , attended the sepulchre , prepared spices , and oyntments ; and regardless , either of the insolence of the rude souldiers , or of the malice of the jews , with a love that cast out all fear , they came on the first day of the week , before the morning light , to embalm him ; and god was pleas'd to honour these holy women accordingly , for they first saw the angel , who told them the joyful news that he was risen , and as if an angel , had not been a messenger honourable enough , jesus himself first appear'd to the women , the women first saw , and ador'd him ; and it was these very gracious women , whom our lord sent to his disciples , that women might be the first publishers of his resurrection , as angels had been of his nativity ; our saviour himself , has erected an everlasting monument in the gospel , for the penitent woman that anointed him , and god incarnate honour'd the sex to the highest degree imaginable , in being born of a woman , in becoming the son of a virgin mother , whom all generations shall call blessed ; and i know not how to call it , but there is a meltingness of disposition , and affectionateness of devotion , an easie sensibility , an industrious alacrity , a languishing ardour , in piety , peculiar to the sex , which naturally renders them , subjects more pliable , to the divine grace , than men commonly are ; so that solomon , had reason to bestow the epithete gracious , particularly on them , and to say , that a gracious woman retains honour . i am well aware , that if we consult the sensual and debaucht rank of men , 't is not the gracious , or the chast woman they esteem , but only the fair , or the lascivious ; esteem , did i say ! men may court an idle , or a wanton beauty , for their lust , but they can only esteem a gracious , and a chast one , and when all is done , she only deserves the name of beautiful : as for the lascivious and the prostitute , against whom solomon so often , and so pathetically warns the young man , she is so utterly impure , that i will not so much as name her , in the same discourse with a gracious woman ; i will then make the comparison between meer beauty only , and grace , and you will soon perceive the difference . for beauty , if it be natural , is from a womans birth , 't is her chance , and not her merit ; if it be artificial , it makes her no other than a painted sepulchre , gaudy without , and that has nothing but rottenness and stanch within : but grace , is the free gift of god , and our own free choice , in a happy conjunction , 't is no other than a god-like loveliness , imprest on our spirit . beauty is often incident to stark fools , and to the profane and irreligious ; but grace is peculiar to holy persons , who like the kings-daughter , are all glorious within . beauty is prone to admire its self , and to swell with pride ; grace instills a just sense of our own vileness , and teaches humility : that is apt to invite temptation ; this is a preservative against it : the former spends her morning hours at her glass ; the latter at her prayers : that most delights her self in new fashions , and fine cloaths , in plaiting the hair , and wearing of gold ; this puts on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god of great price . beauty has been often to the best and wisest of men , witness solomon himself , destructive and fatal , for which reason holy job made a covenant with his eyes ; and our saviour commands us , not to look on a woman to lust after her , and the fairer she is , the greater is the danger ; but grace secures our innocence , awes men into sobriety , looks them into chastity , and the more intense it grows , its influence is the more soveraign and efficacious . beauty gratifies only our outward sense , 't is a mixture of colour , and figure , and feature , and parts , all in a due proportion and symmetry ; or indeed , 't is a well shap'd frame of dust and ashes , belov'd by fond men only , who like the most stupid of idolaters , worship the bare statue , without regard to the deity there enshrin'd : but grace is a confluence of all attractives , which approves it self to our own most deliberate judgments , and is belov'd by god : do but imagine you were in the spouse's garden , where , when the south-wind blows , the several spices and gumms , the spikenard and the cinamon , the frankincense and the myrrhe , send forth their various smells , which meeting together , and mixing in the air , make a compounded odour ; such a composition of all vertues , such an universal and uniform agreeableness is there in a gracious soul , which in a manner , whether we will or no , engages our affections . beauty is vain , and favour is deceitful , says the wise man , it soon evaporates , and cheats our expectation , in a little time it decays , by cares , or child-bearing , or sickness , or a thousand other accidents : men no sooner begin to crop the flower , but it fades , and sinks , and dyes , or it is often sowr'd , with such inward dispositions which render it afflicting and insupportable ; but grace creates to our minds an intire satisfaction , has a goodness intrinsick , and eternal , grows more amiable , the more it is enjoy'd , so that the woman that feareth the lord , she shall be prais'd , she shall for ever retain honour . as a jewel of gold in a swines snout , which is hung there on purpose to be defil'd , to be roll'd in filth and mire , and is one of the most notorious , and ugly incongruities in the world ; such a kind of absurdity , if you will believe solomon , is a fair woman without discretion ; her beauty 't is true , is a jewel , but a jewel extremely ill plac'd , and serves for no other purpose but to make her folly the more conspicuous , to expose her the more to impurity , and to a swinish sensuality ; but grace makes a woman a crown to her husband , the glory of the man , and advances her price above rubies ; so that a gracious woman , is a jewel of a value inestimable , she has worth , and ornament , and lustre , and beauty , and honour , all combin'd together . most deservedly then , did wise solomon , give the preference to grace , and did assure us , that a strong man is not more powerful to get , and when gotten , to retain his riches , than a gracious woman to acquire honour , and to retain it , when acquir'd . it is now time to do all the right i am able , to the noble lady deceased , who was a woman so remarkably gracious , and retain'd an honour , so entire , and unblemish'd , that all the measures i have hitherto laid down , either of grace , or of honour , are but a faint copy , drawn after her , she was all the while before my thought , her holy example is the original , and though i will not say , that among the many daughters , who have done virtuously , she absolutely excells them all , yet i am sure , she deserves to be esteem'd one of the highest order . but alas ! we have nothing now left except this poor relick of clay , which in a few minutes must be restor'd to its native earth , and for ever hid from our eyes , the gracious soul that inform'd it , is flown back again to god , from whom it first stream'd , and his most blessed will be done , who is compassionate and adorable , in all his chastisements ; yet as we are flesh and blood , we cannot but feel the stroke , which even his fatherly hand has given us . it is the curse of the wicked , to dye unlamented , unless it be , that they are sometimes carried to the grave , with the mercenary tears of those who make mourning a trade : but the death of the righteous being a loss irrecoverable , and a real calamity , to us who survive , must needs fill us with sad resentments , when we consider of how great a blessing we are depriv'd . our saviour himself has countenanc'd a moderate grief for our friends , in weeping over his own dead friend lazarus ; so that if we shed our tears over the grave of this gracious and honourable lady , 't is but to be just to her ashes , to ease our own sorrowful spirits , and to testifie to the world , how dear a sense we have of her worth . for had she had nothing but her quality to have recommended her , we might have perform'd her funeral ceremonies with a bare outward solemnity , but without any more concern than a common object of mortality gives us ; but she was a woman so truly gracious , that we could not but most affectionately honour her , and cannot but have a grief that bears some proportion to our loss . for 't is our loss only we can bewail , we grieve for our selves , not for her ; she has a joyful deliverance from temptation and infirmity , from sin and misery , and from all the evil to come , she is now past all the storms , and dangers of this troubled life , and is safely arriv'd at her everlasting haven ; she is now fully possest of all that she desir'd , which was , to be dissolv'd , and to be with christ , and we cannot lament her being happy . when we weep for common christians , we are not to be sorry , as men without hope , but when we have so many , so uninterrupted , and so undeniable demonstrations , of the sanctity of a person , as we have of this gracious woman , we have no reason at all to grieve on her account , since we have not only a bare hope , but an assurance rather , that she is now in glory . but why did i call her death a loss ? 't is rather our gain , we were all travelling the same way , as pilgrims , towards our heavenly country , she has only got the start of us , and is gone before , and is happy first ; and i am persuaded that we still enjoy her prayers for us above ; however , i am sure , that we enjoy her good works here below , which now appear more illustrious , and without that vail , her modesty , and her humility cast over them ; we still enjoy her example , which being now set , in its true light , and at its proper distance , and deliver'd from that cloud of flesh , which did obscure and lessen it , looks the more gracious , and the more honourable ; and if we follow the track , she trod , we shall er'e long , enjoy her society in heaven . let us then alter our note , and rather honour , than bewail her , she was a gracious woman , and honour is her due ; her good name , like a precious oyntment poured forth , has persum'd the whole sphere , in which she mov'd . to paint her fully to the life , i dare not undertake , she had a graciousness in all her conversation , that cannot be exprest , and should i endeavour to do it , i must run over , all the whole catalogue of evangelical graces , which do all concenter in her character ; i must tell you , how enflam'd she was with heavenly love , how well guided a zeal , she had for god's glory , how particular a reverence she paid , to all things , and to all persons , that were dedicated to his service , how god was always in her thoughts , how great a tenderness she ' had , to offend her heavenly father , how great a delight to please him ; but you must be content , with some rude strokes only , for such particulars would be endless ; all my fear is , that i shall speak too little , but i am sure , i can hardly speak too much . say , all you who have been eye-witnesses of her life , did you from her very cradle , ever know her any other , than a gracious woman ? as to my self , i have had the honour to know her , near twenty years ; and to be admitted , to her most intimate thoughts , and i cannot but think , upon the utmost of my observation , that she always preserv'd her baptismal innocence , that she never commited any one mortal sin , which put her out of the state of grace ; insomuch , that after all the frequent , and severe examinations , she made of her own conscience , her confessions were made up , of no other than sins of infirmity , and yet even for them , she had as deep humiliation , and as penitential a sorrow , as high a sense of the divine forgiveness , and lov'd as much , as if she had had much to be forgiven : so that after a life of above forty years , nine of which were spent in the court , baiting her involuntary failings , which are unavoidable , and for which , allowances are made , in the covenant of grace , she kept her self unspotted from the world , and if it may be affirmed of any , i dare venture to affirm it of this , gracious woman , that by the peculiar favour of heaven , she past from the font , unsullied to her grave . her understanding was admirable , and she daily improv'd it , by reading , in which she employ'd most of her time , and the books she chose were only serious , or devout , and her memory was faithful , to retain what she read : she took not up her religion on an implicite faith , or from education only , but from a well-studied choice , directed by god's holy spirit , whose guidance she daily invok'd , and when once she had made that choice , she was immoveable as a rock , and so well satisfi'd in the catholick faith profest in the church of england , that i make no doubt , but that she always liv'd , not only with the strictness of a primitive saint , but with the resolution also , of a martyr : it was strange to hear , how strongly she would argue , how clearly she understood , the force of a consequence , and how ready at all times she was , to give a reason of the hope that was in her , with meekness , and fear ; her letters which were found in her cabinet , not to be deliver'd till after her death , and very many others , in the hands of her relations , sufficiently shew , how good , and how great she was : in them this humble saint , before she was aware , has her self made an exact impression , of her own graciousness ; they are pen'd in so proper and unaffected a style , and animated throughout with so divine a spirit , with such ardours of devotion , and charity , as might have become a proba , a monica , or the most eminent of her sex ; insomuch , that her very absence , was the more supportable to her friends , in regard she compensated the want of her presence , by writing , and sent them a blessing , by every return . i cannot tell , what one help she neglected , to secure her perseverance , and to heighten her graces , that she might shine more and more , to a perfect day ; her oratory was the place , where she principally resided , and where she was most at home , and her chief employment , was prayer , and praise ; out of several authors , she for her own use , transcrib'd many excellent forms , the very choice of which does argue , a most experienc'd piety , she had devotions suited to all the primitive hours of prayer , which she us'd , as far as her bodily infirmities , and necessary avocations would permit , and with david , prais'd god seven times a day , or supply'd the want of those solemn hours , by a kind of perpetuity of ejaculations , which she had ready , to answer all occasions , and to fill up all vacant intervals , and if she happened to wake in the night , of proper prayers even for mid-night , she was never unprovided . thus did this gracious soul , having been enkindled by fire from heaven , in her baptism , live a continual sacrifice , and kept the fire always burning , always in afcension , always aspiring towards heaven from whence it fell . besides her own private prayers , she morning , and evening offer'd up to god the publick offices , and when she was not able , to go to the house of prayer , she had it read to her , in her chamber . to prayers she added fasting , till her weakness had made it impossible to her constitution , and yet even then , on days of abstinence , she made amends for the omission , by other supplemental mortifications . her devotions she enlarg'd , on the fasts and festivals of the church , but especially on the lord's days , dividing the hours between the church and her closet . she never fail'd , on all opportunities , to approach the holy altar , came with spiritual hunger , and thirst to that heavenly feast , and communicated with a lively , with a crucifying , but yet endearing remembrance , of her crucifi'd saviour . the sermons she heard , when she came home she recollected , and wrote down out of her memory , abstracts of them all , which are in a great number , among her papers , that she might be , not only , a hearer of the word , but a doer also . the holy scripture she attentively read , and on what she read , she did devoutly meditate , and did by meditation , appropriate to her self , it was her soul's daily bread , it was her delight , and her counsellour , and , like the most blessed virgin mother , she kept all things she read , and ponder'd them in her heart . who is there can say , they ever saw her idle ? no , she had always affairs to transact with heaven , she was all her life long numbring her days , and applying her heart to wisdom , or , to describe her with her own pen , she was making it her business , to fit her self for her change , knowing , the moment of it to be uncertain , and having no assurance , that her warning would be great ; oh happy soul , that was thus wise , in a timely consideration of that , which of all things in the world , is of greatest importance to us , to be consider'd , namely our latter end ! you may easily conclude , that a saint , who was always thus conversant with her grave , and had heaven always in her view , must have little or no value for things below , as indeed she had not , she did not only conquer the world , but she triumph'd over it , had a noble contempt of secular greatness , liv'd several years in the very court , with the abstraction of a recluse , and was so far from being solicitous for riches , for her self , or her children , that to use her own words , she look'd on them , as dangerous things , which did only clog , and press down our souls to this earth , and judg'd a competency , to be certainly the best . all the temporal blessings , the divine goodness was pleas'd to vouchsafe her , she receiv'd , with an overflowing thankfulness , yet her affections were so disengag'd , her temperance , and moderation so habitual , that she did rather use , than injoy them , and was always ready to restore them , to the same gracious hand that gave them , but no one can express her thoughts , so pathetically as her own self ; o , says that blessed saint , since god gives us all , let us not be sorrowful , though we are to part with all , the kingdom of heaven , is a prize , that is worth striving for , though it costs us dear : alas ! what is there in this world , that links our hearts so close to it ! and elsewhere she affirms , that all blessings are given on this condition , that either they must be taken from us , or we from them , if then we lose any thing , which we esteem a blessing , we are to give god the glory , and to resign it freely . she was a perfect despiser , of all those vanities , and divertisements , which most of her sex , do usually admire ; her chief , and , in a manner , sole recreation was to do good , and to oblige ; and if we will be advis'd , by one so wise to salvation , we are to seek for comfort , and joy , from god's ordinances , and the converse of pious christians , and not to take the usual course of the world , to drive away melancholy , by exposing our selves to temptations ; and this was really her practice , insomuch that next to the service of the temple , which she daily frequented , there was no entertainment in the whole world , so pleasing to her , as the discourse of heavenly things , and those she spake of , with such a spiritual relish , that at first hearing , you might perceive she was in earnest , that she really tasted that the lord was good , and felt all she spake . amidst all her pains , and her sicknesses , which were sharp , and many , who ever saw her shew any one symptom of impatience ? so far was she from it , that she laments , when she reflects , how apt we are to abuse prosperity ; demands , where our conformity is to the great captain of our salvation , if we have no sufferings ; professes , that god by suffering our conditions to be uneasie , by that gentle way , invites us to higher satisfactions , than are to be met with here , and with a prostrate spirit , acknowledges , that god was most righteous in all that had befallen her , and that there had been so much mercy mixt with his chastising , that she had been but too happy . thus humble , thus content , thus thankful was this gracious woman , amidst her very afflictions . her soul always rested on god's paternal mercy , and on all his exceeding great , and precious promises , as on a sure and stedfast anchor , which she knew would secure her , in the most tempestuous calamities ; to his blessed will , she hourly offer'd up her own , and knew it was as much her duty , to suffer his fatherly inflictions , as to obey his commands . her charity , made her sympathize , with all in misery , and besides her private alms , wherein her left hand , was not conscious to her right , she was a common patroness to the poor , and needy , and a common physician to her sick neighbours , and would often with her own hands , dress their most loathsome sores , and sometimes keep them in her family , and would give them both diet and lodging till they were cur'd , and then cloth them , and send them home , to give god thanks for their recovery ; and if they died , her charity accompany'd them sometimes to the very grave , and she took care even of their burial . she would by no means endure , that by the care of plentifully providing for her children , the wants , and necessities of any poor christian , should be overlook'd , and desir'd it might be remembred that alms and the poors prayers , will bring a greater blessing , to them , than thousands a year . look abroad now in the world , and see , how rarely you shall meet , with a charity , like that of this gracious woman , who next to her own flesh and blood , was tender of the poor , and thought an alms as much due to to them , as portions to her children . to corporal alms , as often as she saw occasion , she joyn'd spiritual , and she had a singular talent in dispensing that alms to souls ; she had a masculine reason to perswade , a steady wisdom to advise , a perspicuity both of thought , and language to instruct , a mildness that endear'd a reproof , and could comfort the afflicted , from her own manifold experience of the divine goodness , and with so condoling a tenderness , that she seem'd to translate their anguish on her self . and happy was it for others , that her charity was so comprehensive , for she often met with objects so deplorable , that were to be reliev'd in all these capacities , so that she was fain to become their benefactress , their physician , and their divine altogether , or if need were , she bid them shew themselves to the priest , or else took care to send the priest to them : thus was it visibly her constant endeavour , to be in all respects merciful , as her father in heaven is merciful . she could bear long , and most easily forgive , and no one ever injur'd her , but she would heap coals of fire on his head to melt him into a charitable temper , and would often repay the injury with a kindness so surprizing , that if the injurous person were not wholly obdurate and brutish , must needs affect him . but if any one did her the least good office , none could be more grateful , she would if possible , return it a hundred-fold , if she could not in kind , she would at least do it in her prayers to god , that out of his inexhaustible goodness , he would reward him . her soul seem'd to possess a continued serenity , at peace with her self , at peace with god , and at peace with all the world , her study was to give all their due , and she was exactly sincere , and faithful to all her obligations , she kept her heart always with all diligence , was watchful against all temptations , and naturally considerate in all her actions , her disposition was peaceful and inoffensive , she lookt always pleas'd rather than chearful , her converse was even and serious , but yet easie and affable ; her interpretations of what others did , or said , were always candid and charitable , you should never see her indecently angry , or out of humour , never hear her give an ill character , or pass a hard censure , or speak an idle word , but she opened her mouth in wisdom , and in her tongue was the law of kindness . if you look on her , in her several relations , in her childhood , her father , the right honourable the earl of dyzart , being banish'd for his loyalty , she was under the breeding of the excellent lady her mother , to whom she was in all respects , so dutiful a child , that she protested , her daughter had never , in any one instance , offended her ; by that time the young lady was about eleven or twelve years old , god was pleas'd to take her good mother to himself , and from that time to her marriage , this gracious woman liv'd with a discretion so much above her years , with so conspicuous a vertue , and so constant a wariness , that she always retain'd honour , such an honour , as never had the least more in it . and to her honour be it spoken , that in an age , when the generality of the nation , were like children , tost to and fro , with every wind of doctrine , she still continued stedfast in the communion of the church of england , and when the priests and service of god , were driven into corners , she daily resorted , though with great difficulty , to the publick prayers , and was remarkably charitable to all the suffering royalists , whom she visited , and reliev'd , and sed , cloth'd , and condold , with a zeal , like that which the ancient christians shew'd , to the primitive martyrs . the silenc'd , and plundred , and persecuted clergy , she thought worthy , of double honour , and did vow a certain sum yearly , out of her income , which she laid aside , only to succour them . the congregations , where she then usually communicated , were those , of the reverend and pious , dr. thruscross , and dr. mossom , both now in heaven , and that of the then mr. gunning , the now most worthy bishop of ely , for whom she ever after had a peculiar veneration . but i must by no means pass by , the right reverend father in god , bishop duppa , then of salisbury , afterwards of winchester , but now with god , who was then put out of all , and an exemplary confessour , for the king , and the church ; this holy man , when she resided in the countrey , liv'd in the neighbourhood , and she often visited him , and he seem'd to be design'd on purpose , by god's most gracious direction , to be her spiritual guide , to confirm her in all her holy resolutions , to satisfy all those scruples , to becalm all those fears , and regulate all those fervours which are incident to an early , and tender piety , and god's goodness render'd him so successful , that she retain'd the happy influence of his ghostly advice to her dying day . before the age of twenty , she was married , to the right honourable , william lord mainard , to whom in her letters , she often gives , the most affectionate thanks imaginable , for his unvaluable , and unparallel'd kindness towards her , as she her self terms it , and most servently prays , that the lord jesus christ would be his exceeding great reward , and his portion for ever : but i forbear to offer violence to the modesty of the survivor , and will content my self , to say only in general , that when she was a wife , she still retain'd her accustomed devotion , which she practis'd when a virgin , and her greatest concern , was for the things of the lord , how she might please the lord ; how in a marriage honourable , and a bed undefil'd , she might be holy both in body , and in spirit , and attend upon the lord , without distraction . and since , as solomon affirms , a prudent wife is from the lord ; she was certainly the immediate gift of god , and sent by propitious heaven , for a good angel , as well as for a wife . as a mother she was unspeakably tender , and careful , of the two children with which god had blest her ; but her zeal for their eternal welfare was predominant , and she made it her dying request , that in their education , their piety should be principally regarded , or to speak her own words , that the chief care should be to make them pious christians , which would be the best provision that could be made for them . in reference to her son , it was her express desire , that he should be good , rather than either rich or great , that he should be bred in the strictest principles of sobriety , piety and charity , of temperance and innocency of life , that could be , that he should never be indulg'd in the least sin , that he should never be that which these corrupt days call a wit , or a fine gentile man , but an honest , and sincere christian , she desir'd he might be . she profest , there was nothing hard to be parted with but her lord , and her dear children , but though her passion for them was as intense as can well be imagin'd , yet for the sake of her god , whom she lov'd infinitely better , she was willing to part with them also , had long foreseen the parting , and prepar'd for it , and humbly beg'd of her heavenly father to take them into his protection ; she took care of their souls , even after her death , in the letters she left behind her , and comforted her self with an entire acquiescence , in the good pleasure of her beloved , with hopes , that she should still pray for them in heaven , and that she should e're long meet them there ; and this consideration of meeting above , put her into a transport , which makes her in one of her letters cry out , o how joyful shall we be to meet at christ 's right hand , if we may be admitted into that elect number ! in her family , she always united martha and mary together , took a due care of all her domestick affairs , and manag'd them with a wise frugality , with a constant deference to gods merciful providence , and without either covetous fears , or a restless anxiety ; but withal , she sate at the feet of jesus , and heard his word , and of the two , was still most intent on the better part . she studiously endeavour'd , by private , and particular , and warm applications , to make all that attended her , more gods servants than her own ; and treated them with a meekness , and indulgence , and condescension , like one who was always mindful , that she her self also had a master in heaven . her near relations , and all that were blest with her friendship , had a daily share in her intercessions , all their concerns , all their afflictions were really her own ; her chief kindness was for their souls , and she lov'd them with a charity , like that which the blessed shew to one another in heaven , in their reciprocal complacence at each others happiness , and mutual incitements to devotion . in respect of the publick , which she often laid sadly to heart , her eyes ran down in secret , for all our national provocations , and she had a particular office on fasting days for that purpose , which shews how importunate she was at the throne of grace , to avert gods judgments , and to implore his blessing on the land. and now , after all these great truths which i have said of this excellent lady , one grace i must add , greater than all i have hitherto mention'd , and it is her humility ; she was so little given to talk , and had that art to conceal her goodness , that it did not appear at first sight , but after some time her vertue would break out whether she would or no ; she seem'd to be wholly ignorant of her own graces , and had as mean an opinion of her self as if she had had no excellence at all , like moses , her face shin'd , and she did not know it ; others she esteem'd so much the better , had that abasing sense of her own infirmities , and that profound awe of the divine majesty , that though she was great in gods eyes , she was always little in her own . after the whitson-week was over , she remov'd from white-hall , to eastonlodge in essex , not out of any hopes of recovery , but only that she might have some little present relief from the air , or that she might die in a place which she lov'd , in which god had made her an instrument of so great good to the country , and which was near her grave ; and you may easily imagine , that after a life so holy , the death of this gracious woman must needs be signally happy ; and so it was , not but that during her pains , she had often doubts and fears that afflicted her , with which in her health she was unmolested , and which did manifestly arise from her distemper , and did cease as that intermitted ; but the day before she died god was pleased to vouchsafe her some clearer manifestations of his mercy , which in the tenderness of his compassion he sent her , as preparatives of her last conflict , and as earnests of heaven , whither he intended the day following to translate her . how she behav'd her self in her sickness , i cannot better express than by saying that she pray'd continually ; and when the prayers of the church were read by her , or when the hour of her own private prayer came , though she was not able to stand , or to help her self , she would yet be plac'd on her knees ; and when her knees were no longer able to support her , she would be put into the humblest posture she could possibly endure , not being satisfied unless she gave god his entire oblation , and glorify'd him in her body as well as in her spirit , which were both gods own by purchase here , and were both to be united in bliss hereafter . on whit-sunday she received her viaticum , the most holy body and blood of her saviour , and had received it again had not her death surpriz'd us , yet in the strength of that immortal food , she was enabled to go out her journy , and seem'd to have a new transfusion of grace from it , insomuch , that though her limbs were all convulst , her pains great , and without intermission , her strength quite exhausted , and her head disturbed with a perpetual drousiness , yet above , and beyond all seeming possibility , she would use force to her self to keep her self waking , to offer to god her customary sacrifice to the full , to recollect her thoughts , and to lodge them in heaven , where her heart and her treasure was , as if she had already taken possession of her mansion there , or as if she was teaching her soul to act independently from the body , and practising beforehand the state of separation , into which having receiv'd absolution , she in a short time happily lancht ; for all the bands of union being untied , her soul was set at liberty , and on the wings of angels , took a direct and vigorous flight to its native country heaven , from whence it first flew down . there then we must leave her , in the bosom of her heavenly bridegroom , where , how radiant her crown is , how ecstatick her joy , how high exalted she is in degrees of glory is impossible to be described , for neither eye hath seen , nor ear heard , nor has it enter'd into the heart of man , to be conceiv'd the good things which god hath prepared for those that love him , of all which she is now partaker . we have nothing then to do but to congratulate this gracious woman , her eternal and unchangeable honour , and as she always , and in all things , gave god the glory here , so that his praise was continually in her mouth , for all the multitude of his mercies , and of his loving kindnesses towards her , and is now praising him in heaven ; let us also offer up a sacrifice of praise for her great example , her light has long shin'd before us , and we have seen her good works ; let us therefore glorifie the father of lights , at whose beams her soul was first lighted . blessed then for ever be the infinite goodness of god , who was so liberal of his graces to this humble saint , who made her so lively a picture of his own perfections , so gracious and so honourable ; blessed be his mercy , for indulging her to us so long , for taking her in his good time to himself , and for that happiness she has now in heaven ; to god be the glory of all that honour , her graciousness did here acquire , for to him only it is due ; let therefore his most holy name have all the praise . to our thanksgiving let us add our prayers also , that god would vouchsafe us all his holy spirit , so to assist , and sanctifie , and guide us , that every one of our souls may be gràcious like hers , that our life may be like hers , our latter end like hers , and our portion in heaven like hers , which god of his infinite mercy grant , for the sake of his most belov'd son : to whom with the father , and the blessed spirit , be all honour and glory , adoration and obedience , now and for ever . amen . the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47239-e360 mat. 12. 24. isa. 53. 3. luke 7. 16 , 4 , 22. mark 7. 16. john 6. 15 , 18 , 38. luke 23. 47. 1 pet. 2. 17 , 18. 1 tim. 6. 2. rom. 13. 1. 2 pet. 1. 4. prov. 3. 35. luke 1. 52. 1 thess. 4. 4. 1 sam. 2. 30. heb. 1. 14. 1 cor. 3. 16. lev. 19. 30. gal. 5. 22. prov. 10. 7. psal. 116. 15. psal. 112. 6. prov. 31. 28 , 31. luke 8. 3. matt. 27. 55. luke 23. 27. matt. 28. 5. matt. 26. 13. psal. 45. 13. 1 pet. 3. 3. job 31. 1. matt. 5. 28. cant. 4. 16. prov. 31. 30. prov. 11. 22. prov. 12. 4. 1 cor. 11. 5. prov. 31. 10. prov. 31. 29. jer. 16. 4. john 11. 35. 1 thess. 4. 13. 1 james 27. 1 pet. 3. 15. prov. 4. 18. prov. 31. 36. 1 cor. 7. 32. prov. 19. 14. luke 10. 41 , 42. eph. 6. 9. exod. 34. 29. 1 cor. 6. 20. luke 16. 22. 1 cor. 2. 9. a sermon preached at st. clemens danes at the funeral of mr. george heycock by thomas fuller ... fuller, thomas, 1608-1661. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a40687 of text r6581 in the english short title catalog (wing f2464). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 37 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a40687 wing f2464 estc r6581 12581462 ocm 12581462 63783 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a40687) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63783) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 960:32) a sermon preached at st. clemens danes at the funeral of mr. george heycock by thomas fuller ... fuller, thomas, 1608-1661. [4], 22 p. printed by r.w. ..., london : 1657. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. eng heycock, george, d. 1657? funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a40687 r6581 (wing f2464). civilwar no a sermon preached at st. clemens danes, at the funeral of mr. george heycock. by thomas fuller, b.d. fuller, thomas 1657 6895 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 b the rate of 4 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2002-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-10 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-10 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at st. clemens danes , at the funeral of mr. george heycock . by thomas fuller , b. d. eccles. 7.2 . it is better to go to the house of mourning , then to go to the house of feasting : for that is the end of 〈…〉 the living will lay it to heart . london , printed by r. w. anno dom. 1657. to the friends of the party deceased . it grieved me when i was to perform the last office to our deceased friend , that i had scarce the stump of a voice left me , so that very few did distinctly hear what i did deliver . this hath made me the more willingly condescend to your desire in printing this sermon , that your eye may peruse what your ear did not receive . and as you have honoured your dead friend in attending his corpse in so sad and solemn an equipage , so you shall truly honour your selves , in following his example , and imitating those vertues which were eminent in him . this is the desire of your unfeigned friend , thomas fuller acts 13.36 . for david after he had served his own generation after the will of god , fell asleep , &c. in this chapter saint paul doth demonstrate the resurrection of our blessed saviour by three several places of scripture , foretold and now fulfilld . the law saith , in the mouth of two or three witnesses the truth shall be established . two may , three must do the deed ; two make full measure , three make measure pressed down and running over . and such doth the apostle give us in the proof of this point . the first place he citeth psalm 2.7 . thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee : the second , isaiah 55.3 . i will give you the sure mercies of david : the last , psalm 16.11 . thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption . it is observable , that the same text , acts 2.31 . is also alledged , expounded , applyed and pressed by saint paul to prove the resurrection of christs body uncorrupted . see here the holy harmony betwixt the two apostles . though peter and paul had a short and sharp contest at antioch , galat. 2.11 . where paul withstood him to his face ; yet here their hearts , and hands , and tongues , meet lovingly together in the improving of the same portion of scripture : both of them shew first negatively , how it could not litterally be meant of david , ( whose body was corrupted and his sepulchre remained amongst them unto that day ) and therefore positively must be meant mystically and prophetically of christ . now as i am charitably confident that all who hear me this day , are satisfied and assured herein , that our saviours body saw no corruption , so give me leave to be jealous over you with a godly jealousie , for fear some mistake the cause of this his incorruptibility , and bottom it on a false foundation . some perchance may impute it to the shortness of the time he lay in his grave , being but a day and two pieces of a day , numero rotundo , though currente stilo they commonly be called and counted three daies . these do ponere non causam pro causa ; for the time was long enough in that hot countrey , to cause putrefaction , considering that our saviours body was much bruised and broken with the whips , nails , and spears , ( besides the effusion of much blood ) which would the sooner have invited corruption . others perchance put the untaintedness of his body upon the account of the great quantity of myrrh and aloes ( about an hundred pound weight ) and other precious spices , wherewith ioseph and nicodemus , iohn 19.39 . imbalmed it . this also is an unsound opinion ; for all the spices of arabia cannot secure a corpse from putrifying , though they may preserve it that such putrifaction shall not be noysom to others in the ill savour thereof , not keeping it from corrupting , but from offending . the true reason is this , though christs soul was parted from his body , ( and where disposed of , god only knows , during his remainder in the grave ) yet the union with the deity was never dissolved , which priviledged his corpse from corruption . so that had it been possible ( which was impossible , as is inconsistent with gods promise and pleasure ) for his corpse to have lien in the grave till this instant , they had been perpetuated in an intire estate , whilst it is true of david as it is in the text , after he had served his own generation by the will of god , he fell on sleep , and was laid unto his fathers , and saw corruption . observe in the words four principal parts ; 1. what a generation is . 2. what it is to serve ones generation . 3. how david served his own generation . 4. how we after his example are to serve ours . of these in order , and first we will consider what a generation is . a generation is a company of men and women , born , living and dying much about the same time : i say , much about the same time ; for seven years , under or over , sooner or later , breaketh no squares herein , but that the said persons are reducible to the same generation . thus , mat. 1.17 . all the generations from abraham to david , are fourteen generations : and from david ▪ untill the carrying away into babylon , are fourteen generations : & from the carrying away into babylon unto christ , are fourteen generations . now all generations are not of equal extent ; so admirable the longevitie of those before the flood , compared to our short lives , since god for our sins hath contracted the cloth of our life to three score and ten years , and all is but a course list which is more then that measure , psalm 90.10 . and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years , yet is their strength labour and sorrow , for it is soon cut off , and we flie away . it is remarkable , that three generations are alwaies at the same time on foot in the world ; namely , 1. the generation rising . 2. the generation shining . 3. the generation setting . for should god clear the earth of all men at once , mankind could not be recruted but by miracle ; besides , neither humane arts nor sciences ; nor could the scripture hansomly be handed and delivered from one generation to another . god therefore of his goodness doth so order it , that rather then any empty interval should happen betwixt them , one generation should fold and lap over another . these three degrees were most visibly conspicuous in the levites , which till five and twenty years of age , were learning levites , thence till fifty , acting levites , ( as being then in the strength of their age ) imployed in the portage of the tabernacle , and after fifty , had a writ of ease from bodily labour , though they may be presumed to be busied in the teaching of others . pass we now to explain what it is to serve our generation . to serve it , is to discharge our conscience according to gods will in his word , to our superiours , equals , inferiours , all persons to whom we stand related in our generation . and the more eminent the person is in church and state , the more are his references multiplyed , and the more publick and ponderous the service is which he is to perform . nor must it be forgotten , that david was a king , in which respect it was proper for him to rule and command his own generation ; and yet it is said , he served the same . princes are not priviledged by their greatness , only to tyranize over others , but are accountable to god , how well they discharge their duty to all such to whom they are respected . proceed we to see how david served his generation , which he did in an eight-fold capacity . first as a dutifull son to his father and mother . 1 sam. 22.3 . and david went thence to mizpeh of moab , and he said unto the king of moab , let my father and mother , i pray thee come forth , and be with you , till i know what god will do for me . and he brought them before the king of moab , and they dwelt with him all the while that david was in the hold . the case was thus , david foresaw that the tempest of sauls fury would fall full heavy on his fathers family ; he soresaw also that though he himself might be alwaies on the wing , hunted from place to place as a patridge on the mountain , yet his aged p●rents could not keep pace with his suddain , uncertain , unseasonable , late and long removeance , and therefore as a dutifull son he provided for them a private place of peaceable repose . secondly he served his generation as a very loving brother , witness the dangerous visit ( which at his fathers command ) he gave his brethren in the camp , ( when goliah was in the field ) victualling them with all necessary provision , on the same token that he received nothing for his pains save a jeer from eliab his eldest brother . 1 sam. 17.28 . why camest thou down hither ? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness ? i know thy pride , and the naughtiness of thine heart ; for thou art come down , that thou mightest see the battle . thirdly he served his generation as a kind and carefull husband i will not excuse his polygamie , having many wives at once , nor dare i flatly condemn it , god conniving thereat in the antient patriarchs . however david cannot be charged with want of love amongst his store of wives . once i confess he made a tart and sharp return to michal , 2 sam. 6.21 . mocking him for dancing before the ark . but was there not a cause , when through the sides of david she struck at all true devotion ? and smartness on such occasion is zeal , and no trespass against marital affection . fourthly he served his generation as a tender father indeed ; he faulty , it was in the excess , being over-indulgent to absolom and adonjah , whom he never took to task nor called to account , ( 1 kings 1.6 . ) why have you done so ? ( and seeing he would not use the rod on them , god therefore used them as a rod on him ) such cockering we confess is a catching disease amongst us parents ; but to give david his due , for the main , he behaved himself no doubt as a discreet and tender father to his numerous issue . fifthly , he was a fast and faithfull friend ; witness the exchange of hearts as well as cloathes , which passed betwixt him and ionathan : yea david made a tripartite expression of his affection . 1. he loved ionathan in his life , 2. lamented him at , 3. shewed mercy to him , after his death , 2 sam. 9.3 . in restoring mephiboseth to all his lands , and making him fellow-commoner at his own table ; so that we may truly say and justifie the expression , there was two men , jonathan and david ; and it will be made good by the rules of amity , if any question the phrase in the rule of grammer . sixthly , he was a loyall subject , whereof he gave two signal testimonies , like to find more to admire then to imitate them amongst posterity , if any should chance to be estated in his condition with the same advantage : for being reversion'd to the crown , he twice had an opportunity ( if so pleased ) to put himself into the present possession thereof . once when he had saul in the cave , 1 sam. 24.5 . and his heart smot him for being over-bold with gods annointed , though he did but cut off a skirt of his garment . again , 1 sam. 26.12 . when he found saul asleeping , and ( if so disposed ) might have left him a sleeping , till the sound of the last trumpet should summon him to awake . a surly general walking the round , and finding one of his centinels asleep , nailed him with his spear to the earth , and excused his act with this jest , ( whether witty or cruel , let others judge ) dormientem inveni , dormientem reliqui ; sleeping i found him , and sleeping i left him . david might have done the like , especially seeing abisha ( not to say providence ) impelled him thereunto , but would not ( as having a principle of piety within him , which remonstrated against such proceedings . ) seventhly , he was a prudent soveraign both in peace and war , in court and camp , for the space of full forty years , going in and out before the people of israel , whom he ruled prudently with all his might . i confess his son absolom taxed him with neglect of the affairs of state , 2 sam. 15.3 . that no man was deputed by him to hear the causes and redress the grievances of his oppressed subjects . but what saith our plain proverb , ill will never speaks well . and therefore i listen to absoloms words as to a loud libell ; and we should be no less injurious to our own judgements then to davids innocence , in giving credit to a proud ambitious son , against an holy and humble father . eightly and lastly , david served his generation as a gracious saint ; this was the diamond of the ring , and i have kept the best wine for the last , to close and conclude davids character therewith . he is termed in this chapter , ver. 22. a man after gods own heart , being the best transcript or copy of the best original . objection . but you wittingly , and willingly , and wilfully , will some say , have suppressed and concealed a necessary truth , because tending to davids disparagement . saint paul saith , titus 3.3 . that some men serve divers lusts and pleasures , and so did david himself . he did not serve his generation , but his own wicked wantonness , when he imbroydered his adultery with bathsheba with the murder of uriah . answer , o not a word , not a syllable , not a letter , not a tittle hereof . god hath forgotten it , why should man remember it ? god hath cast it behind his back , why should we cast it in the teeth of davids memory ; let us never mention it to his disgrace , but for our own direction ; partly to teach us not to trust in our selves , lest we fall into sin ; partly to comfort us , that after sin committed , pardon is obtainable on our unfeigned repentance . yea this is a very comfortable consideration , that though there be many faults , failings and defects in our performances , yet if there be sincerity ( gospel perfection ) therein , if our hearts be set to seek the lord god of our fathers , god will be mercifull unto us , though we be not purified according to the purification of the sanctuary . thus lot ( notwithstanding the soul fact of incest committed by him ) is called a righteous man , 2 pet. 2.8 . men opprobriously taint and term people by the obliquity of one irregular act , which with uncharitable tongues is enough to ecclipse yea extinguish the credit of all other graces in him ; but god doth denominate and epithite persons from the rectitude of the general habit of their lives ; yea by him such shall be reputed , accepted , received to serve our generation . to conclude this point , he was a witty man who first taught stones to speak by engraving of epitaphs upon them : but he was wicked man who first taught stones to lie , abusing posterity with notorious untruths in flattering inscriptions on many monuments ; but i call malice it self to witness , whether the ensuing epitaph might not with modest truth be ingraved on davids sepulchre ; here lieth interred the corpse of him who when living , was a dutiful son , a loving brother , a kind husband , a tender father , a faithfull friend , a loyall subjct , a provident soveraign , a gracious saint ; in a word , one who served his own generation after the will of god . but should i stop here , i should not do right to davids deserts . be it known that besides the serving his own generation , david did and doth serve all generations in the world as long as time shall last , as being the instrumentall author of the psalms . far be it from me to make odious comparisons betwixt either persons or things that are eminent , or to set difference betwixt gods word ( as once the disciples fell out amongst themselves which should be the greatest ) which is the most heavenly part thereof ; but surely the psalms are inferiour to no part of the old testament . the rabins have a fond conceit , that manna did relish in the mouthes of men as the eaters thereof did fancy to themselves , having the gust of flesh , fish or fowl , roast , boyl'd , or bak'd , as the eater thereof did wish or desire : i call this a fond conceit , as contrary to an express in scripture , exodus 16.31 . wherein the taste thereof is confined to wafers made with honey . but this i will boldly say and maintain , that the psalms of david shall relish to an hungry soul , as he shall ( not out of humour and causeless fancy , but ) judiciously desire it . wouldst thou have it taste bitter ? it shall taste bitter and reprove thee ; taste sweet ? it shall taste sweet and comfort thee ; taste betwixt both , bitter-sweet ? it shall bitter-sweet counsel and advise thee . proceed we now to application : it serveth to confute three sorts of people : first the covetous , who are so far from serving their generation , that they will scarce serve themselves , and allow necessaries for their own comfortable subsistence . secondly , the voluptuous man , who only serveth himself and is good to no other . these instead of saying , let us fast and pray , say , let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die . thirdly the superstitious man , who immureth himself in a cloyster , crying his life up for an high piece of holiness , burying both his parts and person therein . surely the church and state he liveth in , may justly commence a suit , and have an action of debt against him , for not repaying them proportionably to his abilities , who by his laziness will not serve his generation . others there are , who are so far from serving their generation , that they dis-serve it , and do much mischief thereunto , either by their bad writings or vicious example . bad writings , either scurrilous against modesty , or scandalous against charity , or blasphemous against piety , as either in maintaining erroneous opinions , or defending vicious practises ; such black broods are bad whilest in their nests , concealed in the studies of their authors , but well worse when fledg'd and flown abroad into the world , so that it is not in the power of the hen to clock in her own chickens again , and recall what they have composed . secondly , they are not only unprofitable , but destructive servants to posterity , who leave the copies of bad examples behind them , so that they know not when they have done sinning ; yea it is to be feared , that whilst their souls are suffering in a wofull place , they still may be sinning here on earth . if it be true what * symmachus saith , author est bonorum sequentium qui bonum relinquit exemplum ; by the same proportion , he that leaveth an ill precedent , is the father and founder of all the evil which may ensue thereupon ; like ieroboam seldom mentioned in scripture but with his train sweeping after him , the son of nebat which made israel to sin . god grant that when we die , our sins may be buried in our graves , or rather ( which is a more christian expression , and more conformable to the proportion of faith ) that before we die , our sins may be buried in christs grave , pardoned and forgiven unto us , especially that we leave not behind us ill examples for the poysoning and perverting of such as shall survive us . for as it is said of abel , heb. 11.4 . he being dead yet speaketh : so is it sadly true of many who are dead and rotten , that they still lye , curse , swear , here on earth , occasioning the same in others by their wicked patterns and practises they have left behind them . objection . but some will plead themselves priviledged and exempted from serving their generation , because of the badness thereof . david ( say they ) had some comforr in , and credit by serving his generation , having for his time-fellows so many worthies in all professions . worthy priests , abimelech , abiathar , zadock ; worthy captains , ioab , abishar , benaia , the son of iehejedah ; worthy states-men , husha , adoniram ; worthy prophets , nathan , gad , &c. whereas i live in such a generation , that all the bad epethite , in the old and new testament may truly be applyed thereunto . a stubborn generation , a froward generation , psalm 78.8 . a rebellious generation , a generation that set not their heart aright , and whose spirit is not stedfast with god . a generation of vipers , mat. 3.7 . a faithless generation , mat. 17.17 . whether you take it in divinity for lack of belief towards god , or in morality for want of truth and trust towards man ; and who can find in his heart to serve so wicked a generation ? some will say , ( further to improve this objection ) o that i had been born some years after the persecution in the reign of queen mary , that so my threescore and ten years , the age of man , might have run parallel with the prosperous times of queen elizabeth , king iames , and king charls ; and have determined and expired some years before the beginning of our late civil wars : had my nativity been fixed in that peaceable position , o then i would willingly , and readily , and chearfully , and joyfully , and thankfully have served my own generation ; whereas now i have no list , and less comfort to do it , being condemned to live in so wicked an age , made up of the dregs of time , the badness whereof is more dangerous then difficult to describe , and may with more safety be confest by the hearers , then exprest by the preacher in his place . ans. i have three things to return in answer hereunto . first , grant the objector speaketh very much of truth herein , yet if the times be so bad as he complaineth , their badness will serve for a foyl to set off his goodness , and render it the more conspicuous , making him , philip . 2.15 . to shine the brighter as a light in the world in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation . alas , thy little faith would have made no show , hadst thou lived in the age of abraham ; thy patience would have seemed but a dwarf to the giant patience of iob , hadst thou been his contemporary ; thy meekness had appeared as nothing , if measured with the meekness of moses , had you been partners in the same generation . whereas now a little faith , patience , meekness , and so of other graces , will make a very good presence in the publick , if the age thou livest in be so bad as thou dost complain , and others perchance do believe . secondly , i suspect this to be nothing else but a device of thy deceitfull heart , thereby to cozen thine own self . the objection speaks the state of thy soul to be much like the temper of the scribes and pharisees , mat. 23.30 . if we ( say they ) had been in the daies of our fathers , we would not have been partakers with the blood of the prophets . yet these pretended pittifull persons were indeed more cruel then their ancestors . their fathers killed the men , they the master ; their fathers the servant they the son ; their fathers murdered the prophets of god , they the god of those prophets , so far forth as he was murderable in his humane nature ; and it is vehemently to be suspected , that if thou beest bad now , thou wouldst not have been good , had the time of thy nativity answered thine own desire . it is a shrewd presumption , that he who behaved himself as a woolf in his own generation , would not have been a lamb in what age soever he had lived . lastly , beggars must be no choosers ; thou art not to serve the generation before thee , nor the generation after thee , nor any other of thy own election , but thy own generation , wherein divine providence hath been pleased to place thee : saint paul saith , ephesians 5.22 . wives submit your selves unto your own husbands . some will say , had i such an one to my husband , i could willingly obey him , he is of so meek , mild and sweet a disposition , but mine is of so morose and froward a nature , it goes against my nature to be dutifull unto him . however , though she hath not the same comfort , she hath the same cause of submission , obliging in conscience to gods command ; husbands must love their own wives , wives obey their own husbands ; husbands and wives with david , must serve their own generation . but now that my sword may cut on both sides , as hitherto we have confuted such who are faulty in their defect , and will not serve their generation ; so others offend in the excess , not being only servants , but slaves and vassals to the age they live in , prostituting their consciences to do any thing ( how unjust soever ) to be a favourite to the times : surely a cautious concealment is lawful , and wary silence is commendable in perilous times . amos 5.13 . it is an evil time , therefore the wise shall hold their peace . and i confess that a prudential compliance in religion in things indifferent , is justifiable , as also in all civil concernments , wherein the conscience is not violated : but wherein the will of the times crosseth the will of god , our indentures are cancelled from serving them , and god only is to be obeyed . there is some difference in reading the precept , rom. 12.11 . occasioned from the similitude of the words in the original , ( though utterly unlike in our english tongue ) some reading it serving the lord , others serving the time . i will not dispute which in the greek is the truer copie , but do observe that davids precedent in my text , is a perfect expedient , to demonstrate that both lections may and ought to be reconciled in our practise : he served his generation , there is serving the times ; but what followeth ? by the will of god , there is serving the lord ; this by him was , by us must be performed . saint stephen , acts 7.2 . began his sermon to the people with these words , men , brethren , and fathers ; which words i thus expound and apply . by men , he meant young folk which had attained to the strength and stature of men , and were much younger then himself . by brethren , those of his own standing and seniority in the world ( probably forty years old or thereabouts ) and therefore he saluted such with a familiar appellation as a badge of equality . thirdly fathers , being aged people , more antient then himself , as appeareth by his term of respect addressed to persons distanced above him . this distinction will serve me first perfectly to comprise , then methodically to distinguish all my auditors in this congregation . i begin with you men , which are of the generation rising , it being bootless for me to address my self to children not arrived at their understanding , concerning whom i turn my preaching to them into praying for them , and wish them good success in the name of the lord . it is your bounden duty to omit no opportunity to inform your selves both in learning and religion , from those that living with you are of more age and experience , and demean your selves unto them with all reverence and respect . o let them go fairly their own pace and path to their graves . do not thrust them into the pit with your preposterous wishes . filius ante diem , o when will he die and his name perish ! rather endeavour to prolong the daies of your parents by your dutifull deportment unto them , stay but a while , and they will willingly resign their room unto you , in earnest whereof those superannated bazzilbaes do contentedly surrender the lawfull pleasures of this life , 2 sam. 20.37 . to you their chimchams , their sons and successors , to be by you with sobriety and moderation peaceably possessed , and comfortably enjoyed . you brethren , who are pew-fellows in the same age with my self , who are past our verticall point , and are now entered into the autumn of our life , give me leave to bespeak you with becoming boldness , familiarity beseeming those of the same form together ; there is a new generation come upon , let us therefore think of going off the stage , endeavouring so to act our parts , that we may come off , not so much with applause from man , as approbation from god . if we live long , we shall be lookt upon as the barren fig-tree that combereth the ground ; we must make room for succession , as our fathers have done for us . and let this be our greatest care , to derive and deliver religion in all the fundamentals thereof , in as good a plight and condition to our sons , as we received it from our fathers . o let us leave gods house as tenantable as we found it , let it not be said , that we willingly let the fair fabrick of faith and good life to run to ruine in our , so that the next age may justly sue us for dilapidations . when our saviour said unto his disciples , matth. 26.21 . verily i say unto you , that one of you shall betray me , they were exceeding sorrowfull , and began every one of them to say unto him , lord is it i ? yea iudas himself lagging at last with his is it i lord ! and was returned with thou saidst it . thus at the last day of judgement shall all generations be arraigned before god . but to confine our application only to those three within the last six-score years ; if god should say unto them , one of you have betrayed my truth , how would it put them all upon their particular purgation ! is it i lord ? saith the first generation in the raign of king edward the sixt ; surely they shall be acquitted who in the marian daies sealed the truth with their blood . is it i lord ? saith the second generation , lasting all the reign of queen elizabeth to the middle of king iames . that also will be cleared as publickly preserving the purity of true doctrine in the thirty nine articles . what a shame shall it be , if when our age shall ask with iudas , is it i ? we shall be returned , thou hast said it . yours is the age that hath betrayed my truth to errour , unity to faction , piety to prophaness ; sad , when such a fact shall be so clear that it cannot be denyed , and yet so foul that it cannot be defended . however , this my too just fear may consist with hope of better things of you , and such as accompany salvation . i must conclude with you reverend fathers , whom my loyalty cannot pass by without doing my due homage to the crown of your age , especially if it be found in the way of truth . give me leave to tell you belong to that generation which is passed out of this world : not only the van or front , and also the main body and battle of your army are marched to their graves ( and their souls i hope to heaven ) whilest divine providence for reasons best known to himself , hath reserved you to bring up ( as i may say ) the very rear of the rear of your generation . o do not mistake this reprieve for a pardon ; and here give me leave to use a plain but expressive similitude . have you never seen a wanton child run a firebrand against the hearth or back of the chymney , and so on a suddain make a skie of sparks ? of which sparks some instantly expire , others continue a pretty time and then go out , others last a little longer , whilest one or two ( as having a greater stock of soot to feed them ) hold out a good while , but at last are extinguisht . man is born to labour , as sparks do fly upward , some presently go out wafted from the womb to the winding-sheet ; others live to ripe men , others to be old men ; some whose temper and temperance are more signal then in others , to be countect wonderous old , but all at last die and fall to the earth . we read , revelat. 10.2 . of an angel who had his right foot on the sea , and his left on the earth . this may seem a strange stride , save that it abateth the wonder , because angels when pleased to assume bodies , may extend themselves to a vast ( though finite ) proportion . but you , though meet men , and weak men , must stride a greater distance ; having your left foot already in the grave , endeavour to have your right foot in heaven , and waving all love of this world , set your minds and meditations alone on god and godliness . in a word , whatever our age be , rising , shining or setting , men , brethren or fathers , let us endeavour with david in my text , according to the will of god to serve our own generation . come we now to the sad occasion of our present meeting , to perform the last christian office to our deceased brother , well known to many of you , and to none better then to my self . a child is like a man in the similitude of parts , though not of degrees , and in some measure he did sincerely with david serve his generation . he was a dutifull son unto his aged mother , as she cannot but confess , and will i hope ( as occasion is offered ) remember and reward it to his wife and children . a loving brother , a kind husband , and i doubt not but his widow will discharge her mutual affection to him in his relations . bathsheba thus describeth a good wife , proverbs 31.12 . she will do her husband good and not evil all the daies of her life . it is not said , all the daies of his life , but of her life . what if he should chance to die , and she to survive him , yea after to marry again , ( as god forbid any should be debarred marrying in the lord , especially for their own and childrens advantage ) yet still she would do good unto him all the daies of her life . to him , that is to his memory , mentioning with respect : to him , that is to his children and friends , carefull over the one , and curteous over the other . he was a tender father and faithfull friend , witness the many volunteer mourners , ( an unusuall proportion for a person of his quality ) who at their own charge have habited themselves , that the outward sadness of their cloathes might express the inward sorrow of their hearts : he was an excellent master , having bred many good workmen in his vocation , and i hope they will prove good husbands too . let me add , he was an excellent subject ; for according to that which his conscience ( with many others ) conceived to be loyaltie : he lost much of , and hazarded all his estate . lastly and chiefly , he was a good saint , having more piety then he shewed , and as daily he consumed in his body , he was strengthened in his soul in faith through christ , whereof he gave many testimonies before , towards , and at his death . what shall i speak of his parts of nature , so far above his education and profession , that he might have past for a scholar amongst scholars , for his wit and pleasant expressions : but god now hath made him his free-man , and paid him his wages for so well serving his generation . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a40687e-240 * lib. none ep. 70. a sermon preached at the funeral of the lady newland. at alhallows barkin, london by john scott, d.d. scott, john, 1639-1695. 1690 approx. 34 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 11 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a92746 wing s2075 estc r229814 99899305 99899305 152987 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a92746) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 152987) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2338:14) a sermon preached at the funeral of the lady newland. at alhallows barkin, london by john scott, d.d. scott, john, 1639-1695. [2], 19, [1] p. [s.n.], london : printed in the year, 1690. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng newland, -lady, d. 1690 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -hebrews xiii, 4 -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 angela berkley sampled and proofread 2007-06 angela berkley text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of the lady newland . at alhallows barkin , london . by john scott , d. d. london , printed in the year , 1690. a sermon preached at the funeral of the lady newland . heb. xiii . 14. for here we have no abiding city , but we seek one to come . in these words the author encourages christians couragiously to bear up under reproaches , in conformity to their lord and master , who in a disgraceful manner was crucified without the city , as if they thought his blood would have desecrated it ; or feared , lest his last breath might have scattered a contagion through it . let us therefore , saith he in the 13 th verse , go forth unto him without the camp , bearing his reproach : i.e. let us be contented with him , to be thrown forth , as the dung and off-scouring of the streets , from the society of men ; and not be concerned , that for his sake we are made the abjects of the earth : for here we have no abiding city ; and so 't is not long that we shall endure this , but we seek one to come , whither , when we are once arrived , we shall be above all reproach and malice for ever . in which words you have , i. the christian's present state , here we have no abiding city . ii. the christian's present practice , in order to his future state , but we seek one to come . i. i begin with the first , here we have no abiding city . the present and future state of christians , is here compared to a city , in allusion , i suppose , to those , who though they were not born at rome , but lived it may be , a great way off from it , had yet jus civitatis romanae , the priviledges of citizens of rome ; even as we christians , though we are born in this world , and do spend our lives in it , do yet belong to another corporation , and are denizens of that city which is above : and therefore , saith he , this present state is not our home , in this city we are but foreigners , and do only sojourn in it for a time , till we go home to the new jerusalem , which is the place of our abode , and the city we are already free of . and indeed , that here we have no abiding city , is a truth so sensible , that one would think we need not be put in mind of it ; for which way soever we turn our eyes , we see a dark and deadly shade overspreading the world , and behold men vanishing every day like the smoke , quitting the stage round about us , and disappearing almost as soon as they have shewed themselves . to day we converse with our friends , and among our other festivities , we tickle our selves with the joys of our future conversation : to morrow their passing-bell tells us a sad story , that they are gone to converse with worms , where these eyes of ours shall never see them more ; and indeed , if we consider our present state , we are but a kind of fictitious beings , that rather seem to be , than are ; and do so little deserve to be taken for realities , that we only serve to cheat one another into an opinion , that we truly exist ; when presently , by vanishing away , we baffle that opinion , and shew our selves to be but hovering shadows , that in a moment are , and are not . indeed all created things have more of not being than of being in them . for it is only a limited portion of being which they have ; but there is an infinitude of being which they have not : so that being infinitely nearer to nothingness , than to fullness of being , they rather deserve to be called nothing , than real beings . and if the best of our being be so near to nothing , what is our outward man , which is but the umbrage and shadow of our being ? alas ! if we consider the frame and composition of it , it is nothing but a continual flux and defluence of parts , insomuch , that each climacterick of our age , changes our whole fabrick , and we are at no one time all our selves , but seven years hence shall be another thing : this body will be all vanished and gone ; and of the parts it now consists , there will be none remaining . so that while we are , we are hastening away , and within a little time , shall vanish into worms-meat . and hence it is , that the scripture compares our present life to such fleeting and evanid things , to an image , a dream , a post , a shadow ; by all which , it 's design is , to make us sensible of this truth , that here we have no abiding city . and indeed , so volatile and fugitive is our present existence , that if it were not for another world , it were scarce worth the while for a man to be . and could we but have understood , before we came into being , what an uncomfortable stage this world is , i am apt to think , we should rather have chosen to remain for ever in the womb of nothing , than venture into the theatre of beings , only to take a turn , or two , and weep , and grone , and die . for what an impertinent thing would it be , for a man to come out of nothing into being , only to open his eyes , and look about him , and vanish into nothing again . and yet this is all that most of those do that are born into the world ; and as for those that act a longer part , there is , alas ! so much of tragedy in it , that the pain doth even counter-balance the pleasure of it . that therefore which makes life truly desirable , is this , that though we have here no continuing city , yet we look for one to come ; which is the second part of the text , viz. ii. the christian's present practice , in order to his future state , but we seek one to come ; which implies these four things , 1. our belief of the reality of this abiding state. 2. our hope and expectation of enjoying it . 3. our proposing it to our selves , as the great end and aim of all our actions . 4. our diligent pursuit of it , by such a course of actions , as is most suitable to it , and does tend most directly towards it . of each of these briefly . 1. our seeking this abiding city , implies our sincere belief of the reality and existence of it : for what wise man will hunt after a dream , and a shadow , which he believes hath no being or existence ? who was ever so mad , as to make a voyage for gold or spices to vtopia ? for that which i believe is not , is to me , as if it were not ; and hath no more influence upon us , than the most palpable dream and fiction . so that how real soever heaven be in it self , it is impossible it should move us to seek after it , unless we believe its existence . 't is our faith must influence our minds , and spirit all our powers of action ; otherwise , all the joys of another world , will never be able to move or affect us . unless our faith ascends the pisgah of god's promises , and from thence takes a view of the holy land , and of those joys and delights it flows and abounds with , we shall loiter for ever in this wilderness , and never think our selves concerned to seek any other country or habitation . but , faith saith the apostle , is the substance of things hop'd for , and the evidence of things not seen , heb. 11. 1. i. e. 't is that which realizes heaven to us , and possesses our minds with its being and existence ; and when this is once done , one would think it should be impossible to withold us from the quest and pursuit of it ; especially , if to our faith we add the next thing which this seeking implies , and that is , 2. a lively hope and expectation of enjoying it . for no man will seek after that which he never hopes to find , or enjoy . a man may possibly be so extravagant , as to desire to fly up to the stars , that so he may the better survey their refulgent bodies , and search into their form and substance ; but no man was ever so mad to attempt it , because he knows it is impossible : and so , if a man did only believe there were a heaven of joys above , but had no hope of coming thither ; he might possibly desire against hope , and wish that he could fly up thither , but he could never be so vain as to indeavour ; his despair would cramp the sinews of his action , and freeze up all the motions of his soul ; and all the joys of eternity , would no more be able to affect or move him , than the promise of a mighty empire in the world in the moon . wherefore to put us upon seeking after heaven , it is necessary , that our minds should be animated and enlivened with a vigorous hope and expectation of it : that our hearts should be inspired with a strong perswasion ; not only that there is a heaven of endless joys on t'other side the grave , but that it is possible for us to arrive to it ; and that , if by a patient continuance in well-doing , we faithfully contend and aspire after it , we shall be sure not to fall short of it : which perswasion is sufficient to animate the most dull and restful soul , and make it all life , and spirit , and wing , in the pursuit of heaven and immortality . 3. our seeking this abiding city , doth also imply our proposing it to our selves , as the great end and aim of all our actions . for that which a man seeks after , he makes the great end of his search and prosecution ; and no man can be said to seek in earnest after heaven , who doth not set it up , as the great mark of his actions , and the ultimate point and centre of all his motions . for thus in rom. 6. 22. everlasting life is expresly said to be the end of having our fruit unto holiness , and as such we are bid to direct our actions to it , to believe in christ unto everlasting life , 1 tim. 1. 16. and to do good , that we may lay hold on eternal life , 1 tim. 6. 18 , 19. and consequently heaven is described to be the christian 's canaan , to which we are to direct all our steps , while we are travelling through this world , heb. 11. 14 , 15. and the whole life of a christian is exprest by seeking it , mat. 6. 33. so that our seeking this abiding city that is to come , implies our walking on through the whole course of this life , with heaven in our eyes , and constantly directing all our steps and actions thither : not that it is necessary we should actually aim at heaven in every action we perform ; for that is impossible , our thoughts being very often otherwise imployed , by the necessary occasions of this life , and always unable to attend many things at once . it is sufficient therefore , that we habitually intend and aim at heaven , and propose it as the ordinary and fixed end of our actions ; that we make it the standing goal of our race , and in our ordinary course , level our thoughts , and words , and actions thither . but i see i must hasten . again , 4. and lastly , our seeking this abiding city , doth also imply our diligent pursuit of it , by such a course of actions as are most suitable to it , and do tend most directly towards it : for seeking is a regular action , and implies the prosecuting an end by due and proper means ; so that our seeking heaven denotes our vigorous prosecution of it , by a course of heavenly actions . wherefore , since heaven , as i have often shew'd you , is nothing else but the perfection of all vertue and piety , seeking heaven , must necessarily imply our pursuing and endeavouring after it , in a constant series of pious and vertuous courses ; in which courses , we are gradually growing up to heaven , and rising to that blessed state , in which piety and vertue will be our everlasting pleasure and entertainment . and hence we are said , by patient continuance in well-doing , to seek for honour and glory , immortality and eternal life : every degree of vertue and piety we arrive to , being a step to glory , and a stair to the chambers of blessedness . wherefore our quest of heaven , is very truly described by the apostle , to consist in all diligence , to add to our faith vertue , and to our vertue knowledge , and to our knowledge temperance , and to our temperance patience , and to our patience godliness , and to our godliness brotherly kindness , and to our brotherly-kindness charity ; for so , saith he , an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and saviour jesus christ , 2 pet. 1. 5 , 6 , 7 , 11. and now give me leave to conclude this argument with three or four inferences . 1. from hence i infer , how much we are obliged to be contented and satisfied under all the present afflictions of this life . for since our abiding city is to come , it can be but a little while ere all these storms will be blown over , and conclude in an everlasting calm : and when that blessed time comes , lord ! how trifling and inconsiderable will all our present griefs appear ! and with what contempt shall we reflect upon our present meanness of spirit , that could not bear with a few inconveniencies on the road to the blessed city of our abode . wherefore if our voyage be not so pleasant as we would have it , let us remember 't is not long , we have but a short days sail to eternity ; and when once we are landed on that blessed shore , with what ravishing content and satisfaction shall we look back on the rough and boisterous seas we have past , and for ever bless the storms and winds that drove us to that happy port. let us therefore comfort our selves with these things , and when at any time our spirits are sinking under any worldly trouble , conclude with our selves , that while we have a heaven to hope for , we can never be miserable . when therefore we are bemoaning our selves under present griefs and afflictions , let us lift up our dejected eyes to yonder blessed regions of reward , and think of those joys and pleasures , those crowns and everlasting triumphs which do there await us ; and consider how necessary these bitter trials are to prepare us for , and waft us to them : and if this doth not stop our mouths , and silence our complaints for ever ; nay , if it doth not cause us to rejoice in our tribulations , and to thank god for them on our bended knees : if it doth not make us chearfully submit , and cry out with that resigned soul , vre , seca , vulnera . lord , burn or cut , or wound me as thou pleasest ; strip me of all my dearest comforts , handle me as severely as thou wilt , so i may have but my fruit unto holiness , and my end everlasting life . if , i say , we can complain of our present afflictions , while we thus compare them with our future reward ; we are infinitely foolish and ungrateful . but then , 2. hence also i infer what a vast deal of reason we have to slight and contemn this world ; for we are born to infinitely greater hopes than any this world can propose to us ; even to the hopes of an abiding city , where our happiness shall be no longer the sport and dalliance of every puff of wind , the ball of every accident and contingency ; but remain for ever safe and inviolable , as the happiness of god himself . and it being thus , methinks our ambition should sore as high as our hope , and disdain such low and ignoble quarries , as the pleasures , and profits , and honours of this life . sure , sirs , we mistake the scene of our immortality : we fancy that our abiding city hath shifted its situation , and is come down from heaven to fix its foundations here below ; otherwise we are most strangely besotted , who being born to live for ever above , in everlasting glory and delight , can suffer our selves to doat , as we do , upon the transitory vanities of this life . o could we stand a while in the mid-way between heaven and earth , and at one prospect see the glories of both , how faint and dim would all the glories of this world appear to us in comparison with those above ! how would they sneak and disappear in the presence of that eternal brightness ! how would they be forc'd to shroud their vanquish'd glories , as stars do when the sun appears , whilst we interchangeably turn'd our eyes from one to the other ! with what shame and confusion should we reflect upon the wretched groveling temper of our minds ! what poor mean-spirited creatures we are , to satisfie our selves with the impertinent trifles of this world , when we have all the joys of an everlasting heaven before us ! and may , if we please , after a few moments of obedience , be possest of them for ever . ah! foolish creatures that we are , thus to prefer a far country , where we live on nothing but husks , before the everlasting festivities of our father's house and bosom ; thus foolishly to , chuse nebuchadnezzar's fate , and leave crowns and sceptres , to live among the salvage herds of the wilderness ; could but the blessed saints above , divert so much from their more happy employments , as to look down a little from their thrones of glory , and see how busie poor mortals are a scrambling for this wretched pelf , which within a few months they must leave for ever . how they justle and run counter , defeat , defraud , and undermine one another : what a most ridiculous spectacle would it appear to them ; with what scorn would they look on it , or rather , with what pity , to see a company of heaven-born souls , that are capable of , and designed for the same glory and happiness with themselves , thus miserably busied and employed ! one priding it self in a gay suit , another hugging a bag of glistering earth , and a third stewing in luxury and voluptuousness ; and all employ'd at that sordid rate , as if they had nothing to do with heaven . to tell you truly and seriously my thoughts , i cannot imagine , but if when we are thus extravagantly concern'd about the pitiful trifles of this world , those blessed spirits do see and converse with us ; it is a much more ludicrous sight in their eyes , than 't would be in ours to see a company of boys , with mighty zeal and concern , wrangling for a bag of cherry-stones . wherefore , in the name of god , sirs , let us not expose our selves any longer to the just derision of all the world , by our excessive dotage upon the vanities of this life , but let us seriously consider , that we are all concern'd in matters of much higher importance , even in the joys and fruitions of that abiding city which is to come . 3. hence also i infer , how unreasonable a thing it is for good men to be afraid of dying , since on the other side of their grave , there is an abiding city ready to receive and entertain them . so that to them death is but a dark entry out of a wilderness of sorrows into a paradise of eternal pleasure . and therefore , if it be an unreasonable thing for sick men to dread their recovery , for slaves to tremble at their jubilee , for prisoners to quake at the news of a gaol-delivery ; how much more unreasonable is it , for good men to be afraid of death , which is but a momentany passage from sickness , labour , and confinement , to eternal health , and rest , and liberty . 't is true , the passage from one to the other , is commonly very painful and grievous , but what of that : in other cases we are willing enough to endure a present pain in order to a future ease ; and if a few mortal pangs will work a perfect cure on me , and recover me to everlasting health , methinks the hope of this blessed effect , should sweeten and indear that agony . but alas ! to die , is to leave all our acquaintance , to bid adieu to our dearest friends and relatives , and to pass into an unknown state , where we are to converse with strangers , whose laws and customs we are unacquainted with . why now , all that looks sad in this , is a very great mistake : for i verily hope , i have more friends , acquaintance , and relations in heaven , than i shall leave behind me here on earth : and if so , i do but go from worse friends to better ; for one friend there , is worth a thousand here , in respect of all those indearing accomplishments which render a friend a jewel : but if i die a good man , i shall carry into eternity with me , the genius and temper of a glorified spirit , and that will recommend me to all the society of heaven , and render the spirits of those just men , whose names i never heard of , as dear and familiar friends to me in an instant , as if they had been my ancient cronies and acquaintance . but why should i grieve at parting with my friends below , when i shall go to the best friends i have in all the world ; to god my father , to jesus my redeemer , to the holy ghost my constant comforter and assistant : and what though that state , and the laws and customs of it , be in a great measure unknown to me ; yet what i know is infinitely desirable : from whence i may reasonably infer , that what i know not , is so too ; and if i have but the temper of heaven , i am sure i shall easily comply with the heavenly laws and customs . so that considering all , i cannot well imagine , what should move a good and well-resolv'd man , to be afraid of dying ; for when i am verily perswaded , that death is only a narrow stream , running between time and eternity ; and i see my god and my saviour , with crowns of glory in their hands , beckoning to me , from the further shore , to come over and receive those blessed recompences : why should i thus stand shivering on the bank , like a naked timorous boy , as if i were afraid to dip my foot in the cold stream of fate , which as soon as i am in , i am over , and landed safely on eternal bliss . but to conclude , 4. and lastly , hence also i infer , how diligent and industrious we ought to be in religion , since we are therein seeking this abiding city ; and how can we account any work hard , of which heaven is to be the wages . methinks this should be enough to infuse new life and spirit into the most crest-fal'n souls ; for how much pains do we ordinarily take upon far less hopes , in hopes of a little transitory wealth , which we know we shall enjoy but a few years , and then part with it for ever . we thrust our selves into a perpetual crowd and tumult of business , where with vast concern and thoughtfulness , with eager and passionate prosecutions , we toil and weary out our selves , and make our lives a constant drudgery ; and shall we flag when heaven is the object of our prosecutions . when therefore we find our endeavours in religion begin to droop and flag , let us lift up our eyes to that crown of glory ; and if we are capable of being moved by objects of the greatest value , that must infuse new vigour into us , and make us all life , and spirit , and wing , whilst we are running the ways of god's commandments . for what though my way lies up the hill , through thorns , and over precipices , so that i sweat and smart at every step , and each assent is a torment to me ; yet when i am up , i am sure to be entertain'd with such pleasant gales , and glorious prospects , as will infinitely out-balance all my pains in climbing thither ; so that there , with an over-joyed heart , i shall sit down , and bless my labours . blessed be you my bitter agonies and sharp conflicts ; blessed be you my importunate prayers and well-spent tears , for now i am fully repaid for you all ; and do reap ten thousand times more joys from you , than ever i endur'd pains . for what are the pains of a moment to the pleasures of an eternity ? wherefore hold out my faith and patience yet a little longer , and your work will soon be at an end ; and after a few laborious week days , you shall keep an everlasting sabbath : for what though your voyage be through a stormy sea , yet 't is to the indies of happiness , and a few leagues further lies that blessed port , where you shall be crowned as soon as you are landed . go on therefore , o my soul , with thy utmost courage and alacrity , and then let the winds bluster , and the waves swell never so much , yet thou canst not miscarry , unless thou wilt . for thou art not like other passengers , left to the mercy of wind and weather ; but thy fate is in thine own hands , and if thou wilt have but thy fruit unto holiness , thy end shall be everlasting life . and now i will crave your leave to conclude with a few words upon this sorrowful occasision , the funeral of my lady newland ; with whom i never had the happiness to be otherwise acquainted , than by the frequent reports i have heard of her exemplary piety and vertue ; which was such , as i think my self bound in justice , both to her and you , not to bury them with her , but , so far as in me lies , to embalm her memory with them , and to represent them , as an excellent pattern to you , her survivers . and what i shall say of her , i have under the hand of her reverend pastor , who intimately knew her , while she was living , and who attended her , through her sickness , to the gates of eternity . she had a mind fairly prepared for the eternal exercise , and joy of saints and angels ; which is , to adore and praise the fountain of their being and happiness ; as appeared by the constancy of her devotions , both in private and publick ; in private , her devotion was always the first business in the morning , near two hours of which she continually spent in prayer , and reading , and meditation ; and how late soever she happened to be detained at night , whether by business or innocent diversion , she always separated , at least , one hour from her rest , for the same divine and heavenly exercises ; after which , she constantly attended the family devotions , not suffering one duty to interfere with another . and then as for her attendance upon the publick prayers of the church , it was so remarkably constant , that whenever she absented from them , one might certainly conclude , either that she was detained by sickness , or some very extraordinary occasion : yea , so very exact and punctual was she in this matter , that she always took care , so to contrive her business , and diversion , as that they might comport with her attendance on the publick service ; so as that when ever it did so happen , as that she could not be present , either morning or evening , in her own parish church , she might be sure not to miss of it in some other . and as for the holy sacrament , that best repast and banquet of devout souls , she was a constant guest at it , once a month at least , and as for the most part oftener , as she found opportunity , her hunger and thirst after that righteousness therein sealed and conveyed , being too eager to be satisfied with the common stint of twice or thrice a years participation of it . thus did this divine and heavenly soul spend the much greater part of her life in heaven , and this in so great a plenty of worldly enjoyments , as was sufficient to have corrupted an ordinary piety , and to have vitiated its relish of the enjoyments of the world to come . and which is very remarkable , this severe and abstracted kind of life , which she led , and which in others , is too commonly attended with some very bad consequents , with moroseness and peevishness , pride and censoriousness ; was so far from producing these bad effects in her , that they produc'd the quite contrary : for as for her conversation , it was always free and open , charming and obliging ; and , as my author expresses it , carried such an amiable air about it , as sufficiently demonstrated the excellency of the temper from whence it did proceed : and so remote was she from any thing that lookt like pride and self-conceit , that i am very apt to think , there is no person in the world could think so meanly of her as she did of her self ; none that she found so much fault with , as she did with her self . she was a very severe , and truly i believe , a too severe animadverter on her own actions : for though she was so punctual in her attendance upon the worship of god , both in private and publick ; yet when in the opinion of others , the condition of her health made her absence from the publick necessary , she could hardly allow her self to be thereby excused ; fearing , as she often express'd her self ( out of the tenderness of her piety ) that her indisposition was not to that degree , as to excuse or justify her omissions before god. she would often acknowledge , in the most sensible manner , her own great unworthiness ; the sense of which , would still raise up her soul to the highest strains of praise and thanksgivings to god , for his manifold mercies towards her ; and particularly , for preserving her , by his grace , from falling into the greatest impieties . and as for the many temporal blessings which god had heapt upon her , with so liberal a hand , she took great care , by her works of charity , to make her a sure friend of the mammon of unrighteousness , and to convert and improve them into everlasting advantages . and so far was the severity of her piety , from rendring her censorious of others , that she always took care to make the most charitable constructions of men , and to put the best comment , she could , even upon the worst actions : such as would bear a fair sense , she was always ready to vindicate from foul imputations ; and such as she could not excuse , she would indeavour to extenuate . and then , if you consider her as to her relative vertues , she was a great pattern in them all : as a child to her father , who died not long ago , she was remarkable for her piety and obedience ; as a wife , for her love , respect and observance to her husband ; as a mother , for her tender care of , and good counsels to , and prudent authority over her children : as a mistress , for her condescention , meekness and gentleness to her servants : and in a word , as a friend , for her fidelity , openness , and obligingness to her friend . thus did this blessed lady run a glorious course through all the vertues of religion ; and still as she moved she shone ; insomuch , that in despight of that modest vail she cast over her self , her light did so display it self before all that knew her , that they saw enough of her good works to oblige them to glorify her father which is in heaven . and being now entered upon the last scene of her life , and by the increase of her disease , finding her self arrived to the borders of eternity , she here exemplified another sort of vertue , to a very high degree , viz. patience , submission , and resignation to the will of god ; which as it was her guide while she lived , so it was her rest and repository when she died ; to which she chearfully surrendred up her white and heavenly soul , as into the hands of a faithful creator and redeemer . seeing therefore while she lived , she lived in the communion of the saints and angels above , and did partake , with them , of their blessed temper and nature , and join with them in their blessed exercise and imployments ; and seeing likeness doth naturally congregate beings , and cause them to flock to those of their own feather ; we have all manner of reason to conclude , that now she hath left this world , she is associated with those blessed beings above , to whom she was here so near allied by nature : and that in their blessed quire , she is now offering up far more sprightly and chearful songs of praise , than ever she was able to breath while incumber'd with flesh , and with the remains of a sinful nature . and , god grant , that we who remain here behind her , may by following her steps , at last arrive where she is , and be partakers with her , in the everlasting kingdom of our lord and saviour jesus christ . to whom with god the father , and god the holy ghost , be all honour and glory . amen . finis . eliah's vvish a prayer for death. a sermon preached at the funerall of the right honourable viscount sudbury, lord bayning. by ro: willan d.d. chaplaine to his maiesty. willan, robert, d. 1630. 1630 approx. 52 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a15393 stc 25670 estc s120043 99855244 99855244 20725 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a15393) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 20725) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1049:10) eliah's vvish a prayer for death. a sermon preached at the funerall of the right honourable viscount sudbury, lord bayning. by ro: willan d.d. chaplaine to his maiesty. willan, robert, d. 1630. spencer, john, d. 1680. [8], 44 p. [by thomas cotes] for i. s[pencer] hypo-bibliothecary of syon colledge, and are to be sold by richard royston, at his shoppe in iuie-lane, printed at london : 1630. editor's note "to the reader" signed: iohn spencer. printer's and publisher's names from stc. cf. folger catalogue, which gives signatures: a-f⁴ g² . reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bayning of sudbury, paul bayning, -viscount, 1587 or 8-1629. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion eliah's wish : a prayer for death . a sermon preached at the funerall of the right honourable viscount sudbury , lord bayning . by ro : willan d. d. chaplaine to his maiesty . vita vitae mortalis , spes vitae immortalis . aug. printed at london for i. s. hypo bibliothecary of syon colledge , and are to be sold by rich●rd royston , at his shoppe in iuie-lane . 1630. to the right honourable anne , viscountesse of sudbury , &c. right honourable : this exiguous tract belongs vnto you by a manifold right : first , it is a sermon of elias , and whither should elias goe for succour but vnto the widdow of sareptah ? such an one are you , a noble patronesse of the prophets ; besides you haue a sad interest in it , as being preached for him , who when hee obtained the lawrell left you the cypres ; not to lament him , ( for it is a kind of enuy to bewayle those in happinesse ) but your owne hard condition vnder the miserable title of a widdow . last of all , as the egiptian law made women recluses , forbidding them to goe abroad , so custome barring noble widdowes from ceremoniall and solemne sorrow , confining them to closset mourning ( secret greefe is most sharpe , and teares shed in priuate as they fall lesse visible , so lesse forced ) it had beene inhumanity in mee to deny you reading of what you could not heare . accept then these lines wherein you may behold so true a portrayture of your deceased lord , that those which enuyed him cannot obiect flattery , nor such as lou'd and honour'd him , detraction to the pencill . thus hauing full filled your desired wish , i fall to my owne wishes , which are , that whether you remaine in the disconsolate estate you are as anna did , or god hath designed you to bee a ruth , the fundatresse of another noble family , the god of heauen who hath already giuen you the blessings at his left hand , honour , riches , and all endowments adorning your sexe , may adde length of dayes in the practice of religious duties , and charitable deedes , vntill hee bring you to the blissefull vision of himselfe : so hee prayes who is your deuoted beads-man , ro : willan . to the reader . hauing by much importune labour receiued from noble hands , a coppy of this sermon ; out of a confidence that one passage therein , celebrating our first benefactor viscount sudbury , may doe good to the library of syon colledge , whereof i am a keeper , i haue aduentured without consent of the author to put it vpon thy censure , not doubting if i can procure his pardon , to promerit thy thankes , and so farewell : from syon colledge aprill 12. 1630. thine iohn spencer . eliah's wish . 1 kings 19. 4 , it is now enough o lord , take my soule , for i am no better then my fathers . there are no thoughts more wholsome then those of death , not any lesse frequently possessing the mindes of men ; wee thinke of death as the athenians did treate of peace , neuer but when we are in blacks : as they which aduenture to the indies take not so much into their considerations how many shippes haue beene swallowed in the waues , as what some few haue gotten by the voyage : so it is with vs , we seldome meditate of the millions dead before vs , but of the small remainder suruiuing with vs. they report that the birds of norway flye faster then the fowles of any other countrey , not because nature hath giuen more nimblenesse or agility to their wings , but by an instinct they know the dayes in that climate to bee very short , not aboue three houres long , and therefore they make more haste vnto their nests : strange that birds should make such vse of their obseruation , and wee practically knowing the shortnesse of our liues , yet make no haste to our home , the house appointed for all liuing : this god complaineth of : the storke knoweth her appointed time , but my people know not the judgement of the lord : and by another , he wisheth their vnderstandings were not so deordinate as to forget their last end . our eyes behold all things , yet see they not themselues but by reflection in a looking glasse . here are two looking glasses ; one vpon the hearse , informing vs that neither wisedome , nor honour , nor wealth , nor strength , nor friends , nor physicke , nor prayers , are sufficient parapets to shelter vs from the stroke of death . here is another looking glasse in the text , expressing the miserable condition of our liues . if all the inuentions of hierogliphicall learning ( which st. origen compared to the jewes manna , falling downe in round and little cakes , yet affoording good nourishment ) so they in small shadowes conueyed excel-cellent wisedomes . if all of them had strained their wits for an embleme , to decipher the wretched estate of a liuing man , they could not come neere the patterne in the text. doe but paint elias sitting vnder the iuniper tree in a forlorne posture with his face betweene his knees , the motto , the words of the text , it is now enough , o lord , take away my soule , for i am no better then my fathers , and you haue life portrayed to life . elias was the first man , vnto whom god resigned his key of life , and gaue him power to raise the dead . elias was the sole man , whom god honoured with a charriot for his conueiance into the other world . elias was the second man elected to represent heauenly glory vpon earth , at the transfiguration of our lord jesus , and this man whilst hee was in this life , was weary of his life , and puts vp a supplication to almighty god to take it from him . the words containe a prayer ; good is the proper obiect of prayer , we may deprecate euill , but pray onely for that which is good . this prayer is for death , which in it selfe is neither good nor euill . that we may the better conceiue the true scope , it is fit that wee should take into our considerations these three particulars . 1 the motiues preceding and producing the prayer . 2 the arguments enforcing the prayer . 3 the third and last , the prayer it selfe . a question will be asked in the porch & entrance , is elias in earnest ? would he liue or dye ? if he would liue , why doth he beg death ? if dye , why did he shun death by flying into the wilder nesse ? one executioner from jesabell would haue giuen him his longing . the satisfaction is easy : it is some comfort when a man is ouercome , that hee bee conquered by a noble enemy aeneae magni dextra cadis — dauid was vnwilling to dye by the fury and malice of saul , contented to receiue it by the hands of his friend jonathan . if there bee iniquity found in mee , kill mee thy selfe , but bring mee not to tby father . as moses rod lying vpon the ground had the shape , and poyson of a serpent , but in his owne hand it lost that affrighting figure , and venemous quality : so death from jezabell was an vgly serpent in elias apprehension , but from the hand of god a caduceus a wand to waft him into a better life : the hands of the spouse are fall of rings beset with iemmes , the berill , and the hyacinth : god his hands are full of blessings , full of all goodnesse , death it selfe which seemes to bee a priuation of god , from his hand , must needs be good from whom no euill can descend . this may qualify his eschuing death by jezabell , but being past danger , and out of his persecutors reach , what were the motiues to desire it now ? jt is now enough . the expositors do vary , finding not only seueral but contrary motiues : some make it the euaporation of a discontented minde , the weaknesse of a frayle man : others attribute it to the deuotion of an holy man , i will strike these seuerall flints , each of them may afford a sparke to enlighten our text . chrysostome in his rhetoricall way demands : where is that spirit of elias ? wher that terrible countenance that put achab to silence ? where is that tongue the gouernesse of the elements ? why sits he puling vnder a tree wooing death which will not come at his call ? hee answeres by a similitude : as a strong gale of wind filling the spread sayles of a ship hurries it from the intended port : so a violent gust of feare rushing vpon the prophet draue him into this sad melancholy . eucherius propounds it another way , whence came his potency to worke wonders ? whence his weaknesse to be weary ofhis life ? his power was from god , weaknes was his owne : god gaue him a parcell of his power ( marke i pray ) his bare word brought a drought vpon palestine , his prayer like a burning feauer entred into the bowells of the earth , and scorcht vp lakes , riuers , springs , fountaines , and left no moisture in them ; but being left a small while to himselfe all his courage is dryed vp to nothing . from hence 2. lessons : first , that no prerogatiue of greatnes , no profession of holynesse exempt men from common infirmities : where is that heretike pelagius belching out this contagious poyson , that a man may attayne such perfection as to bee free from all weaknesse , and when hee prayes for forgiuenesse of sinne , it is rather humiliter then veraciter ? let him looke vpon elias and bee confounded . as the curtezan lais sayd , philosophers knockt at her gate as well as others : so the best of men are ouertaken : to goe no further then our patterne . the seer is fallen blinde , the guide hath lost his way , the charmer is stung by the serpent , the man of god becomes a man of passion , fayling in the common rules of ordinary goodnesse and wisdome , for good and wise men may pray for better times then those they liue in ; but beare with patience all sinister and sad euents ; whereas our great prophet whines and repines , denoyd of hope that any alteration should better his condition , & because the would will not be guided by the polestarre of his direction , hee will stay no longer in it : oh lett the weakenesse of a saint be our warning ; greene wood will warpe and shrinke , if seasoned tymber hold not out , and slender tressells must giue way when strong pillers bend vnder the burden : especially it behooueth vs , which is the next poynt of instruction , neuer to bee so deiected at the view of our fraylety as to forbeare our resorting to god in prayer . st. iames to encourage christians to that holy duty brings in this very example , elias was a man subiect to the like passions as wee are : elias body was a clod of earth as ours is , his minde obnoxious to the same perturbations , yet he prayed , so let vs : for god is not the god of elias onely , but a god rich in mercy to all that call vpon him . so i passe to the second motiue as the prayer proceedes from a zealous deuotion . caietan his glosse is that he was more affrayd of gods honour , then of his owne life , and this is grownded vpon the reiterated apology he makes vnto the angell being in the wildernesse , the children of israel haue forsaken thy couenant , throwne downe thy altar , slayne thy prophets , i , euen i am left alone , and they seeke to take away my life . by which it is probable his feare and care was cheefely for the honour of god , least in the ouerthrow of his person after so signall a victory and noble conquest and triumph ouer idolatry , the orthodoxe religion might suffer some reproach or diminution . elias was the liuely patterne of heroike zeale ; chrysostomes opinion is that soone after god tooke away elias , lest his zeale should destroy this inferiour globe : he was so seuere against sinne that hee tooke no compassion of the sinners ; so the god of mercy least fire and stubble should dwell together , he remoued him to the company of blessed and holy spirits where he might see all good & no euill . st. paul seemes to taxe elias & he doth it with a notandum , ye not what the scripture saith of elias , that he made intercession to god agaynst israel ? good men pray for sinners not agaynst them : abraham prayed for the wicked sodomites , and doth elias pray against the idolatrous jsraelits ? ieremy prayed assiduously for his nation till hee was forbidden to pray any more ; and did elias pray for the vexation of his country ? the husbandman in the parable entreateth his master to spare the vnfruitefull tree , doth elias wish the destruction of men ? vndoubtedly holy men haue mercifull not cruell bowells , when they call for punishments , they are medicines , not execrations , but predictions either by outward afflictions to procure their conuersion , or by death to intercept the progresse of sin , or by some wholsome example to terrifie others from the like offence . so elias did , and so he might pray against jsrael . and it is no maruell he praied agaynst them , for he bends his zeale agaynst himselfe : rather then he would liue to see his god dishonoured , hee is willing to resigne his pretious life : this should bee the affection of all gods seruants , to hold nothing so deare as the honour of theyr master . let me parallell this story with another like it , of st. chrysostome . elias was persecuted by iezabell a queene , chrysostome by eudoxia an empresse , both threatened with death : the holy father taking it into his meditations writing to his friend , thus hee resolues , what if the angry empresse banish mee my natiue soile and sweete country ? all the earth is the lords , and i shall be as neare to heauen any where , as at constantinople : what if i bee throwne into the sea ? ionah prayed in the whales belly : say i shal bee sawne asunder , the noble prophett esay vnderwent that condition . what if my head bee taken from my shoulders ? herodias heeles trip't off iohn baptists head : what if i bee stoned to death ? stephen the proto-martyr passed to heauen through a showre of stones : suppose my bishoppricke be taken away , i will remember job : naked came i out of my mothers wombe , and naked i will returne . memorable is that in josephus , when titus had taken and sackt jerusalem , the priests came & beged their liues of him : that mercifull prince and darling of mankind caused them to bee slayne as degenerate wretches , that would ouerliue their temple and their religion ; hee is not worthy of life who will not aduenture it for the author of life . to conclude this second motiue , lett vs alwayes haue that preparation of mind in the phrase of tertullian to retaliate bloud with bloud : our sauiour in great plenty shed his most precious bloud for vs , bee wee ready to spend our liues for him , and with paul and barnabas to ieopard them for his gospell : although our liues in respect of his are but stubble to pearle ; yet being the greatest oblation wee can offer , it will bee most acceptable , most rewardable : the losse of life for his cause is the sauing of it . elias sute for death was neuer granted , he neuer died at all , but was conueyed not into earthly paradise , the deluge made that pleasure desolation ; nor stayed he in the aeriall heauens , too vnquiet and disconsolate a place amongst stormes and thunders , lightnings and tempests . st. chrysostome saies , it affrighted the prince of the ayre to see him ride so gloriously through his quartér . nor did he rest among the spheres to be rapt and whirled about by their diurnall motion ; not to the highest heauens , that prerogatiue was reserued for the worlds sauiour : no souldier triumphs before his generall , but god translated his enflamed zelot and earthly seraphin , into a happy and blessed estate , in the bosome of abraham , with this priuiledge , others were there before in soule ; hee both in soule and body . now proceede wee from the motiues forerunning the prayer , to the reasons attending vpon it . you haue heard of some , as of st. paul , eloquently pleading without any aduocate to saue his life , before felix , fesius , and agrippa , and by an appeale taking truce with death : but here is one in the text pleading for death , and finding reasons why he should liue no longer . his arguments are in number two . the first is drawne from the satiety of life : it is now enough , as if hee should say thus in effect : i haue liued long enough to my selfe , long enough to my countrey . first , to my selfe , it pleased thy diuine goodnesse , by making mee an instrument of thy glory to aduance my owne , so as i shall leaue an high reputation and a venerable name to all posterity : and for my countrey , such thy mercy , by my meanes they enioyed much good ; spirituall good , i reclaimed them , ( although they bee now relapsed ) from idolatry to the seruice of thee their true and onely god : i was the reformer of their corrupted manners ; my rugged robes and hairy habit condemned their proud attyre ; my austere and strict life , taught them to amend their loose and licentious conuersations : as a retyred heremite i sequestred my selfe from humane society , to let them see 't was lesse dangerous to dwell among brutes then beastiall men . and for good temporall , i turned their drought into raine , and their famine into plenty , hauing in my whole course equalled , nay , transcended the period of mortality , it is now enough o lord. his second argument is drawne from the common law of nature : i am no better then my fathers , my ancesters in time , my predecessors in profession are all arriued at their wished port ; why shouldst thou prolong my dayes by miracle , sometimes appointing the rauens ( those vncleane birds by thy law ) and vnnaturall in their kinde , to be my caters , as at the brooke carith ? sometimes by multiplication of the old store , or by creation of new prouision , turne meale barrels into granaries , and cruets of oyle into fountaines , as at the widdowes of sareptah . i desire not the producing of my misery , the preseruation of my life by extraordinary wayes , let me passe o lord the common way of all my fathers , for j am no better then my fathers . obserue in elias arguments , his method , and modesty , how orderly hee rankes his reasons : there goes a sufficit before tolle animam : hee doth not aske death of god vntill hee hath performed great seruice vnto the lord in his life ; for it is a preposterous course to demand wages before the worke bee done : rest comes after labour , no souldier lookes for a donatiue vntill the warre bee ouerpast ; no marriner cals for a faire winde vntill his vessell bee full fraught : it is no matter how long or how short our liues be , but how good . the morall man saw this ; life is long enough if full of good : st. austins similitude expresseth this well , as a musitian tarrying long vpon one string , little vpon another , his lightest touch makes not perhappes so loude a sound , but as sweet an harmony : so in god his consort , ( who , as the prophet speakes , keepes true time , ) they make as good musicke , that is , glorifie god in their calling , vnto whom he vouchsafeth a short life , it being both ornatus & ordinatus cursus , as they who enioy the longest . the sunne and moone those fountaines of light , and guides of time , fulfill their courses in a short season . the dimmer plannets are a longer while wheeling about . the scripture compares our life to hearbes and flowers , a flower is res spectaculi , spiraculi : delighting our eyes with various colours , pleasing our sense with sweete sauours , but withall of a fading substance : say they escape the browsing mouth of the beast , the pruning knife , the plucking hand , the nipping ayre , the violent winde ; they will wither of themselues . of such mettall are wee made : imagine wee could be free from asaes gowt , naamans leprosie , jorams iliaca passio , jobs vnsauory breath , hezekiabs botch , lazarus biles , the woman of syrophenissa's dysentery , publius feuer , and all diseases whereof the body of man is a lazaretto , and receptacle ; galen found in one little part of the eye an hundred seuerall infirmities : could all these be auoyded , yet our bodies of their owne accord would moulder into earth from whence they came . since they are flowers , vse wee them like flowers , which last long if they bee distilled into sweete waters : distill wee our liues into holy and vertuous actions ; distill them into the works of piety ; distill them into the workes of charity , this is the way to make a short life last long ; no babylonian tower , no aegyptian pyramis , no rhodian colossus , no mausolian tombe , no triumphall arche , no life-counterfeiting statua , can giue such life of memory , as a life it selfe transacted in worthy designes , for , glorious ( sayes the wiseman ) is the fruite of good labours , perpetuall is the memory of the righteous , one generation proclaiming their vertues vnto another . so then haue wee in our allotted stations serued god in vprightnesse , and sincerity of heart , haue wee endeauoured in the vtmost extent of our ability to doe good , to our religion , our king , our countrey , our brethren ? is there a sufficit in our liues ? wee must hold our life in patience , but wee may put death in our prayers : when paul may say hee hath fought a good fight , kept the faith , finished his course , then he may come to his cupio dissolui : when hilarion can alleadge his 70. yeeres employment in the seruice of god , then he may say , egredere anima mea , go out my soule , why shouldst thou feare approaching vnto him whom thou hast serued so long ? when elias can plead a sufficit , then tolle animam may come after it . o the secure life of good men , when death is expected without feare , entertained with chearefull welcome ; nay prayed and wished for with sweet deuotion . in the second argument take notice of his modesty , he esteemes himselfe ( though wonderfully qualified ) no better then his fathers : if some small portion of elias modesty were left in the world , any blush of vertuous bashfulnesse , the vile would not , in the prophets phrase , presume aboue the honourable , nor the vpstart so highly disdaine their ancesters , preferring the false and fading beauty of recent opinions , before the amiable wrinkles in the face of aged truth . st. paul says he serued god from his elders and progenitors ; from whom hee receiued his being and existencie , from them hee tooke his piety and religion ; and he commends the deriuatiue faith of timothy , descending from his grandmother lois , and his mother eunice ; and here elias making honourable mention of his predecessors , tels vs wee owe vnto them a double memory ; first , of their liues , as adamants to draw vs to the imitating of their vertues : secondly , of their deaths , as monitors to put vs in minde of our owne mortality . all vertues morall and diuine haue beene by our ancestors most fully exemplified : when a poet would encourage a young sparke to noble vndertakings , hee doth it by this very way : te pater aeneas , & auunculus excitet hector . let thy father aeneas and thy vncle hector bee thy guides . would you learne faith and confidence in god ? thinke vpon your predecessor abraham the father of the faithfull ; desire you to leade a pure , chaste life ? thinke vpon your predecessor joseph ; would you meekly sustaine afflictions of minde , and tormenting diseases of body ? thinke vpon your predecessor iob ; would you bee zealous in the cause of god , and his orthodox truth ? thinke vpon your predecessor elias . the wisemen of the east had but one starre to guide them vnto our sauiours cradle , but we so many of our predecessors , as haue led holy and regular liues ; so many starres enlightning our way , so many loadstones to draw vs vnto goodnesse ; our ancestors hauing runne their race , resigned the torches of their life , and withall left vs the lampes and lights of their example . 2. it is very good and wholsome for them also , who spend their dayes in sinne and vanity to reflect their eye vpon theyr predecessors : let the couetous ayming at wealth , and doing no good with it , thinke vpon his predecessor nabal , who tenne dayes together lay as a block without sence , motion , or shew of life . let the ambitious aspirer thinke vpon his predecessor absolon meeting with a tree in the forrest , which heard not his fathers caueat for his life , but became the reuenger of his ingratitude , and the fatall instrument of his destruction . let the lasciuious wanton wallowing in sensuall delights , thinke of his predecessor zimri dying in the act of his sinne : let the capacious funnell , able to do as much alone , as zerxes multitudinous army , dry vp an hellespont , thinke vpon his predecessor balthazar perishing in his carowsing bowles : let the vayne-glorious boaster , proud of what is not his own , think of his predecessor worm-eaten herode cut off in the midst of his glorious harangue . and let all true repentant sinners thinke on theyr predecessor dauid , whose bed swamme in teares , and of the three sillables reconciling his angry god vnto him ; of his predecessor peter , recouering more grace by weeping , then hee lost by sinning ; of his predecessor mary magdalen , who became a lebete phiala , of a cauldron seething and boyling in lust , a christall viall of pure chastity . and let all disconsolate soules flying with elias for shelten to the iunipertree , thinke of their predecessor jesus , who dyed on the tree : vnder his crosse is the true shade ; oh good , and desirable is the shadow vnder thy wings lord jesus ; there is the safe sanctuary to flye vnto , the most comfortable refreshing of all sinne and sorrow ; whatsoeuer cups of affliction this life propines vnto vs is nothing to the bitter draughts hee dranke vpon the crosse who inuites to heauen : let vs all thinke of our predecessor treading the paths of death before vs ; wee haue erred with our fathers , wee are pilgrimes and strangers vpon earth as all our fathers were , wee must dye as our fathers did ; for we are no better then our fathers . the third and last part is , the prayer it selfe , tolle animam ; out of it there doe naturally flow these two corallaries . the first , that life is no such iewell , but a good man may finde time and cause to bee weary of it , or else elias had neuer beene at tolle animam . the second , that there is a more blessed life after this life , or else elias could not haue bene so mad as prodigally to cast away his life present . to the first life may be considered two wayes : first , as god at first gaue it : secondly , as wee now enioy it . the life which god gaue had fiue prerogatiues ; two without man ; three within him ; without him god and his blessed angels to protect him ; besides , paradise the pleasing seate of his habitation : within him , knowledge , righteousnesse , and immortality ; his knowledge exceeding ours in three particulars . first , in amplitude and extent , reaching to god , the creatures , and himselfe . secondly , in the excellent manner , not as we by coniecturall probability deriued from effects , but by euident demonstration out of the causes . thirdly , for duration or continuance ; ours is gotten with difficulty aud easily lost , either by discontinued intermission and cessation , or the braine and fancy may be distempered , as in a phrensy , or the memory dulled as in a lethargy . secondly , man was created righteous , that righteousnesse was the rectitude and integrity of the whole man , whereby his soule was obedient vnto god , his body to the soule . this was the crowne and diadem of mans life . thou hast crowned him with glory and worshippe , adorned him with grace and holinesse : an happy life was that , wherein methusalem liuing almost a thousand yeeres should not haue offended once ; whereas now the most righteous man fals seauen times , that is , often-times a day . lastly , that was a kinde of immortall life ; a thing is said to be incorruptible three wayes : first , in respect of the matter , either which it hath not , as the angels are immortall , those pure and immateriall substances ; or in respect of the matter which it hath , as the heauens , the matter whereof they are made , being insusceptible of any forme but one . secondly , in regard of the forme ; so the body of adam was immortall as the widdowes oyle lasted in the cruse without diminution , so might his body haue endured without corruption , and that by the third the efficient cause , not by any inherent quality , or disposition in the body , but by a supernaturall dowry of the soule . god endewed the first soule with such a powerfull vertue , as enabled it to preserue the body whereto it was vnited , from corruption , as a candle enlightens the lanthorne wherein it is contained : so the blessednesse of the soule reflecting vpon the body should haue kept it in perpetuall vigour and health . that was a free , noble , innocent , liuely life ; but man being in honour , forgot his god , and lost this life . what is the life we now enioy ? take a short view , of the seuerall ages , of the seuerall estates , of the inseparable adiuncts of our life , and you will finde meerely to liue is no great happinesse . first , an infant , that 's a life of pitty , tenne months close prisoner in the dungeon of the wombe , not beholding the light , which when hee comes into , how sadly he salutes it , presaging his hard welcome , shaming that hee is naked , lamenting that hee is borne , repining that he is borne to misery : then if his cradle proues not his coffin , hee liues a child , that 's a life of folly , in his speech , thoughts and actions ; youth succeedes , that 's a life of sinne , reason is weake , passion strong , concupiscence itcheth , lust rageth , sinne reigneth : manhood the flower of all , is a life of vanity , man in his best estate is altogether vanity . lastly , an old man , that 's a life of death : the apostles word is of abraham & sarah , when they were old , they were as dead ; the head is gray , the face withered , the skinne wrinkled , the limmes stiffe , the stomacke weake , the memory frayle , the body crooked , the vitall powers decayed , the spirits spent ; this is the life in ages ; what is it in callings ? man liues eyther single , and that is a free life but vncomfortable , or he takes a wife , wedlock is the schoole of patience ; demure sarah chid with abrabam , bleare-eyed leah wrangled with jacob , scornefull micol scoffed at dauid , stubborne vashtai will not come at ahasshuerus call , and t is no better in the men . discreet abigail lights vpon a churlish nabal , pilat was as vnkind a husband as an vnrighteous iudge , denying his wife the life of our blessed sauiour . this life is eyther priuate or publike , the priuate is simply the best ; joseph saw it when hee aduised his brethren rather to continew shepheards , then to stay with him in pharoahs court : old barzillay found it refusing dauid his courteous offer , and would not exchange his priuate roguel for tumultuary jerusalem . the oracle accounted him the most hapy man of his time , who liuing vntill hee was purely old ; neuer did see any house but his owne . whether we eate the bread of carefull industry , or the sweete vnswet-for bread of an vnacquired patrimony in the most retired , quiet , plentifull condition , something still falles out verifying that of our sauiour , sufficient to the day is the sorrow of it . the publike life is eyther in church or common wealth : the churchman whether in chayre or cure leades a laborious , an enuious , a dangerous life , his labour neuer at an end . dauid tunes his harp to driue away sauls melancholy , and hee darts his iauelin at him ; a liuely emblem of the pastor & most people . when elias prayers haue procured a blessing from heauen , his best reward is a caue in the wildernesse . st augustine wept when hee tooke holy orders , & they were prognosticating teares forerunning his infinite paynes in washing blackmores , whose sowles were more tawny then their hides ; his perpetual bickerings and encounters with hereticks , for such was god his especiall prouidence , that hee and pelagius should come into the world much about one yeare , that the antidote might be contemporall to the poyson ; his wearisome employment in determining secular causes , for then very good christians beleeued their suites , could not be happily ended , vnlesse they came through the cleare and sinceare hands of vpright church-men . t was a graue witty conceyt of one of the pope vrbans , who putting his rochet on , wondred that being made of so light stuffe it was so ponderous & weighty : aboue all , affrighting is that speech of chrysostome : of all men ( sayes hee ) i could wish , there were no day of iudgement , why so ? others shall answer for themselues alone , but i for my people , as judah was pledge for beniamin ; so many talents as god giues , so many torments if they be not well employed . there is but one comfort in that calling , they doe cooperate with god in reducing soules vnto himselfe . in the commonwealth , great places are like pictures , fairest , furthest off , looke vpon them at a neere distance , and there lyes vnder the thinne skinne b of honour and dignity , a vaste corps of trouble and vexation . let all histories be searched , diuine , humane . moses the first gouernor of gods people , so tyred with the cumber of his place , as he desires to be rid of his life : kill mee lord , and i will accompt it for a fauour . augustus had relinquished his soueraignty , as soone as he obtained it , but for the pride of his wife liuia . dioclesian did surrender it , and turning gardiner , found his plants more pliable then his people : and charles the fifth , enioyed more sweete repose in a monastery then in a monarchy . as in supreme , so in subordinate gouernors , hee that with care and conscience doth execute the duties of his place , although hee liue vpon drowsie poppies , and stupifying mandragora's , shall hardly get time for secure rest , but bee like the c roman who in all his life had neuer leasure to keepe holiday . you d pethahiahs who are at the kings hand in matters concerning the people , did it become modesty to rifle your secret thoughts , you haue your share in elias his prayer , when iust commands are more questioned then obeyed , and sincere actions meete with sinister interpretations ; when common and easie burthens are not borne with dutifull chearefulnesse , nor publike cares sweetened with benigne acceptance ; nay when all possible endeauour that people may lead godly , quiet , and peaceable liues , is performed , and requited with murmuring instead of blessing , is not this enough to produce elias wish ? euen the poore beasts when they are weary make haste home . thus passeth man's life in the callings . the adiuncts of life are two sinne , misery . in my priuate meditations vpon this point , i purposed to describe vnto you the actions wherewith the sinfull life of man is distained , but when i surueyed the liues of wicked men , so many sinnes presented themselues , that i knew not where to ranke them , so vgly in shape as i durst not looke vpon them ; and when i considered the liues of the best , and the a woe denounced vnto the most laudable life of men , that the whole life of a deuoutbsaint was but sinne and barrennesse ; i stood amazed vntill i remembred there was a veyle to couer them , the integument of christ his righteousnesse , and a sponge to blot them out , god his meere mercy , and mans true repentance . what a torment is it to a good soule to be perpetually strugling with his naturall corruptions , neuer to haue truce with sathans temptations , and to see and suffer , nay sometimes to bee infected with the sinnes of others ? and this is our in euitable condition till with elias we haue cast off the mantle of mortality . as for misery , as a center in a circle meetes with euery line in the circumference : so man receiues punishment from god , from angels , deuils , and euery single creature , the very gnat hauing a sting to torment him . oh blessed lord , are all our liues in the seuerall ages so variable , in the callings so troublesome , in the companions so intollerable ? what remaines but with elias to thinke of another life , and with nazianzen to bury the miseries of this life in the hope of future felicity ; which is the second corollary , and last point . it must bee so that there is another life , for here they liue many times the longest liues who were not worthy to liue at all , here the israelites make the brickes , and the aegyptians dwell in the howses ; dauid is in want , and nabal abounds ; sion is babylons captiue . hath god nothing in store for joseph but the stocks ? for esay but a saw ? will not elias adorne the charriot better then the iuniper tree ? will not iohn baptists head become a crowne as well as a platter ? surely there is great retribution for the iust , there is fruite for the a righteous : god hath palmes for their hands , coronets for their heads , white robes for their bodyes , hee will wipe all teares from their eyes , and shew them his goodnesse in the land of the liuing . of the infinite happines in that celestiall life , how should i speake ? earthly ierusalem was portrayed by ezechiel vppon a tile , so cannot the heauenly bee st austin wrote two and twenty bookes of the city of god , how can i bring into the last gasp of an howre , the vnity , the plenty , the beauty , the holynesse , the felicity thereof ? when he himselfe confessed after all his endeauour , all that can be said is but a a drop to the sea , and a sparke to a fire . this for your comfort : st. john found b twelue gates in it , open day and night to entertaine departing soules , repairing thither in the true faith , accompanied with an holy conuersation : the blessed angels standing sentinels for their guard and conduct . a c grecian at his death thus cheered vp himselfe , i shall goe among philosophers , to pythagoras ; among musitians , to olympus ; among historians , to hecateus ; among poets , to homer : a poore heathenish and pagan comfort , like polyphemus whistle hanging about his necke when his eyes were boared out : meere morall vertue may finde great reward on earth , and lesse torment in hell , but true good is from christ ; his precious blood opened heauen for them onely which beleeue in his sauing name ; and they are sure to goe among the patriarks , to abraham , isaacke , and jacob ; among the prophets , to moses and elias ; among the kings , to dauid , hezekiah , and josias ; among the apostles , to s. peter , and s. paul ; amongst the martyrs , to s. stephen , and to the innumerable society of saints , and angels , whither , as wee ought piously to beleeue , hee is transported to whom wee performe these sad obsequies . i hope there is no auditor in this high assembly so vnequall as to suppose this text chosen as a iust paralell to the honourable party deceased ; for alasse , they agree onely in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that as elias , so he was a man subiect to many infirmities ; of which if any curious eare desire to heare , he will be deceiued . i do not remember when dauid made sauls epitaph proclaiming his vertues , that he touched any of his errors , those hee washed away with his teares , and the god of mercy hath pardoned ; what god hath put out of his memory , ought not to remaine in ours : yet i say confidently because truely , malice it selfe could fasten no funereous crime vpon his life . as when a tree is sallen , you may coniecture what breadth it bare , and how farre it spread , by the vacuity & emptinesse of the place where it stood : so if wee consider him hewen downe by death , as a christian , as a subiect , and as the father of a family , he will appeare a cedar and no shrub . the light of starres and glittering of diamonds is borrowed from the sunne , all humane titles are nothing , which receiue not their lustre from piety and religion . for his religion he was neither superstitious nor factious , but hee serued god in that way which papists call heresie , and nouellists formality , a true member of the english church ; hee thought of our church as dauid of the tabernacle , that it was very amiable ; he embraced her holy doctrine , reuerenced her comely orders , loued her painfull preachers . if due obseruation of gods sabath ; if frequentation of gods house , attention in hearing , deuotion in prayer ; if an eare open to reproofe , and a mind willing to reforme what hee did amisse ; if strong paines in sicknesse meekely borne , bee outward signes to know a good christian , such was hee : i adde , if workes of charity and almesdeedes which daniel held a meanes to redeeme sinne , and st. paul accounted an acceptable sacrifice , these wanted not . hee hath to the bullding of an hospitall in the place of his birth , giuen competent maintenance for the releefe of tenne poore people to the worlds end . that noble act of his i remember with ioy . he was the first benefactor to the library of syon colledge , samuel his ramath , where by the pious care and zealous industry of that graue and reuerend diuine , m. john symson ( who , as camillus was called a second romulus , merits the title of a second founder ( maugre the opposition of an enuious sanballat ) a most stately roome is erected for the benefit of the worthy preachers of this honourable city of london , but wants the furniture of bookes . bookes are the riuers of paradise watering the earth : the deaw of hermon making the vallies fertile ; the arke preseruing the manna pot , and moses tables ; the monuments of ancient labours ; the baskets keeping the d●posited reliques of time so as nothing ●s lost : the magazine of piety and arts. a souldier without armes may bee valiant , but not victorious ; an artisan without his instruments may bee skilfull , but not famous ; archimedes is knowne by his spheare and cylinder . a preacher without bookes may haue some zeale , but little knowledge to guide it . s. paul himselfe although so inspired , found as much want of his bookes as of his cloake in winter . to ayme at learning without bookes is with the danaides to draw water in a siue . what were it for this wealthy city to reare vp a library equall to that of pisistratus at athens , of eumenes at pergamus ; of ptolomey , at alexandria ? were the meanes of your industrious preachers answerable to their mindes , this good and great worke needed no other supply , for they like plato would giue 3000. graecian pence for three small volumes of pythagoras , and with hieronime emptie their purses by purchasing alexandrian papers ; and with thomas aquinas , rather haue chrysostome vpon st. mathew , then the huge city of paris . o that you knew the sly & cruell arts of our aduersaries in corrupting bookes , so as if the ancient fathers were now aliue , they could not know their owne elaborate workes : you would at any rate purchase true and ancient coppies for your preachers , that from them you might receiue true and ancient doctrine . remember the losse at heidelbergh , and seeke to repaire it by following his noble example , who in this particular shewed what affection hee bare to religion and learning . as a subiect hee was exemplary , in this age wherein liberty is made an idoll , and obedience an exile ; infinite occasions of state , ineuitably requiring priuate supplyes , hee was neuer wanting to his duty : his cleere iudgment informing him that hee must not bee a silly passenger in a storme at sea , who regards more his owne trifling fardles , then the preseruation of the ship wherein hee goes . he knew well that iust princes haue power to tame the vnruly , and meanes to guerdon obedient subiects , and hee found it . for modestly and humbly carrying his inferior condition , he heard the gouernors voice , friend sit vp higher , and the honour conferred vppon him in his life accompanyes him to his herse : for see a priuate funerall , but a publike mourning ; the great officers of state , and many noble peeres solemnising his farewell . as a father of a family god gaue him many felicities , a noble wife , equalling her parentage by her vertues ( for a generous seedes rise according to their planting ) hopefull children , the pillers of his house , a fayre patrimony encreased by his industry ( for i will giue you no false coppy of him . ) hee was no prodicall otho knowing how to waste not how to bestow ; but a cato , of whom plutarch sayes , he held this for a maxime , 't was onely for widowes and orphans to suffer any diminution in their estates . he knew that frugality is the pursebearer to bounty , and prouidence a surer sanctuary against want and debt , then the temple of diana at ephesus , and as sure a way to preserue possessions in ancient names , as the leuiticall law against alienations . st bernard preaching the funerall sermon for gerardus the steward of his abbey at clare vallis , among many commendations giues him this , that he was great euen in little matters , his care and circumspection extending to the smallest atome of affayres : the deceased lord was a gerardus in his family , and 't is no meane or petty prayse , it being an argument both of an accurate iudgment , and a strict conscience , vnwilling to suffer ; much more to offer any wrong : happy is hee that deserues the title to bee fidelis in minimo faithfull in a litle , hee shall be made a rules ouer many cityes . thus he liued , perhaps not wishing death with elyas before it came , but entertaining it as a messenger from heauen to call him to the supper of the lambe , whither hee is now gone from the vally of teares to the mount of happinesse , from the labours of the seruant into his masters ioy. vnto that blessed place where no satan shal tempt vs , no sin defile vs , no sicknes annoy vs , no death destroy vs , god almighty for his mercyes sake in iesus christ bring vs : to whome be ascribed &c. fjnjs . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a15393-e440 iob 30. 23. ier. 8. 7. deut. 32. 29. origen . hom. 7. in exod. 1 sam. 20. 8. cant. 5. 14. chrysost , ad olimpiadem . sermo de elia & petro. vnde tam potens , vnde tam infirmus ? eucherius super locum . plus timuit honori dei quavi vita sua . caietan . super locum . ● . 10. ●● . rom. 11. 2. chrysostomi epist. ad ciriacum . iosephus lib. 6. de bello iudaie . crurorem cruore reponere . augustin . epist 28. wisd. 3. 15. hieronim . in vita hilarion . o vita secura vbi mors expectatur absque formidine , excipitur cum dulcedine , imo exoptatur cum devotione . bern. 2. tim. 1. 3. virgil. sicut cursores vitai lampada tradunt . lucret . bona & desiderabilis vmbra sub alis tuis , iesu vbi tutum fugtentibus refugium , gratum fessis refrigersum . bern. hom. 2. super missus est . quantum libet $otis anxietatum pate res vita praesentis . propinet afflictio , parua toleramus , si recordamur quid biberit ad patibulum qui inuitat ad celum . sid. apollinar . lib. 9. epist. 4. in the ages . in the calling , deus donorum promptus auctor , sed importunus exactor . bern. b nazianzen , in laudem cipriani . inspice & disces sub ista tenui membranae dignitatis quantum mali latet . sen. epist. 115. c liui. drusus . d nehem 11. 24. quamadmodum pecoribus fatigatis , velocior domum gradus est . sen. de clem. in the adiuncts of life . a aug veh laudabili . &c. tota me terret aut peccatum aut sterilitas . narianz , in funerepatris . a maiora illic accipimus qu●m hi● aut operamur aut patimur . ciprian . lib. 4. ezechi . 4. 1. a stilla de mari , scintilla do foco , b reuel . 21. c corcida nihil bonum sine summo tono . ansel. vide sixtum senens in proem . bibliothec. haurit aquam cribris clericus absque libris . asidue repetunt quae perdunt belides vndas , ovid. nostrum marsupium charia al●xandrina euacuarunt . hieronim . priuatum funus , fletus publicus . ambro. in funere saliri . a generosa semina in ortus exurgunt suos . sen : trag : perdere scit donare nescit . tacit. bernard in obltu gerardi magnus in minimos the churches triumph over death opend in a sermon preached septemb. 11, 1660, at the funeral of the most religious and vertuous lady, the lady mary langham / by edward reynolds ... reynolds, edward, 1599-1676. 1662 approx. 66 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57133 wing r1241 estc r11532 13572914 ocm 13572914 100393 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57133) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100393) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 799:9) the churches triumph over death opend in a sermon preached septemb. 11, 1660, at the funeral of the most religious and vertuous lady, the lady mary langham / by edward reynolds ... reynolds, edward, 1599-1676. [4], 37 p. printed by tho. ratcliffe for john baker ..., london : 1662. dedication signed: ed. norvic. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng langham, mary, -lady, d. 1660. church of england -sermons. bible. -o.t. -isaiah xxvi, 18-19 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 john latta sampled and proofread 2005-02 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the chvrches trivmph over death . opend in a sermon preached septemb. 11. 1660. at the funeral of the most religious and ver . tuous lady , the lady mary langham . by edward reynolds d. d. now bishop of norwich . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 1 cor. 15. 55. london , printed by tho. ratcliffe , for john baker at the sign of the peacock in st. pauls church-yard . 1662. to his ever honoured and most worthy friend sir james langham k. sir , it hath not been without a special providence of god , that this sermon preached above a year and an half since , at the funeral of your most religious lady , should now by your earnest desire , come abroad unto publick view . for hereby a just accompt is given to the world of those deep and permanent impressions of love , sorro● and honour , which the memory of so matchless a consort have made upon your soul , when a wound so long since inflicted , doth not yet cease to bleed afresh upon the continually recurring thoughts of so inestimable a loss . i have read in the civil law , that if a woman married again before the expiration of ten moneths after the death of her former husband , she did subire maculam infamiae : but after such a space of time , it was presumed she might overcome the pressures of so great a sorrow , and yet still retain her honour . you have passed over double that time , and yet not at all out of an unmanly softness , but out of a just and most judicious esteem of those eminent graces , which did so beautifie the soul , and perfume the name of that excellent lady , you do , not without redoubled honour , often resume the view and sense of that divine stroak whereby you were deprived of so unvaluable a treasure . nor am i my self without a special advantage acrewing unto me by this publication , having so good an opportunity to let the world know that great debt of honour , love and thankfulness wherein i stand bound to your noble father , your self , and all the branches of that worthy family for those many favours , those real and great bounties , which ever since i have had the honour of an acquaintance with you , have been , and yet are enmulated upon me : i have no other way of paying back the tribute which i ow to you all , then by beseeching the god of grace to make all his grace abound towards you all , and plentifully to supply you with the choicest ●f his heavenly treasures , according to his riches in glory by jesus christ , which is the unfained prayer of your most faithful friend and humble servant , ed. norvic . the churches triumph over death . isaiah xxvi . 18 , 19. we have been with child , we have been in pain , we have as it were brought forth wind , we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth , neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen . thy dead men shall live , together with my dead body shall they arise : awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust : for thy dew is as the dew of herbs , and the earth shall cast out the dead . the holy prophet having in the foregoing chapter set forth many gracious evangelical promises , doth here in this celebrate them with a song of solemn and publick thanksgiving , blessing the lord for his salvation to his church , and his severity against the enemies thereof . whereupon we find the church entertaining many holy resolutions , as fruits and expressions of that her joy . she resoves to trust in the lord for ever , in regard of his strength and fidelity towards his people , and of his power and jealousie against their enemies , ver . 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. she resolves to wait upon god in the midst of judgements , upon the remembrance of that name of his , whereby he made himself known to his people in egypt , exod. 34 6 , 7. as a god able to give being to every promise , and by his truth and power to performe what his mercy had covenanted to do for her , micah 7. 20. ver . 8 , 9 , 12. and this confident waiting upon god in trouble is commended ab opposito by the contrary disposition of wicked men , whom favours and mercies cannot perswade to learn righteousness , ver . 10 , 11. she resolves to submit to gods fatherly government alone , and to renounce all other usurping and tyrannical lords , who had exercised domination over her , in reregard of gods judgements executed on them , and his mercies renued to his people , v. 13 , 14 , 15. she resolves to poure out her prayer unto god in the midst of all present troubles , acknowledging her own impotency , and the miscarriage of all her own carnal counsels and contrivances , and thereupon trusting no longer in her self , but in god which raiseth the dead , ver . 16 , 17 , 18 , 19. lastly , after all these pious dispositions and noble resolves , she concludeth her song with a triumphal epinicion and insultation over all her enemies , and with an assurance that as they should die and not live , fall and not rise , their persons and their memories should perish , ver . 14. so she should live , and rise and sing , and flourish , as the herbs buried in the earth , when the dew of heaven falls on them to refresh them , ver . 19. some refer the words to the babylonian captivity , wherein they were as dead bones in a grave , ezek. 37. 11 , 12. without any strength , wisdome , or visible hope of being ever delivered . some to the afflicted state of the church under the gospel , and the rest or sabbath which the lord would give them at the last , out of all their labours and sufferings , heb. 4. 9. rev. 20. 2. some to the last resurrection and the faith of the church touching that . and there is nothing more usual then for the church and holy men therein to support their hearts above their incumbent afflictions , and to secure to themselves , the comfort of promised deliverance , notwithstanding all the seeming improbabilities thereof , by the general doctrine of the resurrection . see job 19. 25 , 26 , 27. isa. 66. 14. hos. 6. 2. 2 cor. 1. 9. whatever was the particular state of the the church then , certain it is , that in the general the words extend to the resurrection of the faithful , and are so interpreted by the ancients , irenaeus , tertul. hierom , cyril , augustine , and by learned moderns expositors . the sore affliction here of the church is compared to the pangs of a woman in travel , who earnestly cryeth out , and striveth to be delivered ; a frequent allusion to expresse any exquisite pain by , isa. 13. 8. jer. 13. 21. she had in this her sore distresse , cryed with strong groans and cryes unto god to be delivered , but all in vain , she brought forth nothing but wind , pain without profit , jer. 12. 13. wind is an usual expression , whereby the scripture describeth frustraneous events , jer. 5. 13. hos. 8. 7. 12. 1. the womb of the church miscarried , and brought forth , flatum pro faetu , they looked for salvation and deliverance , but they were totally disapointed , they had the pains of a travelling woman but not the comfort of a child born , john 16. 21. when they looked for deliverance from one calamity , they fell into another ; or as some render it , instead of bringing forth a child , or working any deliverance , they were delivered of their own spirit , or gave up the ghost . the next words are a litteral explication of the metaphor , we have not wrought any salvation or deliverance . all our conceptions and cries end in vanity and disappointment . all our hopes touching the ruine of our enemies , ver . 14. are come to nothing , they are not fallen . but we are dead men , very carcasses , we dwell in the dust , we are as low as calamity can make us . now above all this misery the church by faith lifteth up her head , in the assurance of a glorious resurrection . she turnes away from the view and sense of her own sufferings , from the conceptions and parturitions of her own counsels , and carnal contrivances , and with a triumphant . apostrophe turns to god. thy dead men shall live ] the pronown is very emphatical , for they are the words of the church to god , as appears by the continuation of the context , from ver . 16. so it is not meant of all , but of gods dead men , whether figuratively in any desperate clamity , or really in their graves , for the words will extend to both . shall live ] or do live , are prisoners of hope , have a seed of life in them , even in the grave . it is the apostles similitude and illustration , 1 cor. 15. 36 , 37 , 38. with my dead body ] in the original it is thus . my dead body , they shall live ; by an usual enallage of the number , every one of my dead bodies shall live . some make it an expression of the prophets faith , applying to himself the comfort of that common salvation , preaching nothing to them which he was not in his own particular assured of . some take it as an answer of christ to the churches faith , as if it related to that , mat. 27. 52 , 53. i conceive them to be the words of the church still , comforting her self in the assurance of gods mercy to every one of her mystical members , which assurance is expressed by a kind of hypotyposis , calling the dead to come forth out of the dust , and to rejoyce for her deliverance . for thy dew is as the dew of herbs ] thy divine word , power , and promise is able to do unto us as dew unto herbs , though they seem outwardly dried up and dead , yet having a vital root , they do by the fall of the dew send forth their leaves and beauty again . now god hath more care of us then of herbs , and his spirit more efficacy then the dew , and therefore however we may be withered and consumed with calamity and death , yet he will raise us up again , and cloath us with beauty and glory . thus the scripture often argues from natural to supernatural things , jer. 31. 35 , 36. jer. 33. 20 , 21. psal. 89. 36 , 37. 1 cor. 15. 36. and this similitude of dew reviving and refreshing decayed herbs we frequently meet with , prov. 19. 12. isa. 66. 14. hos. 14. 5 , 6. and the earth shall cast out the dead ] as a woman doth an untimely birth . the grave shall be in travel with the dead , the apostle seems to point at such a metaphor , acts 2. 24. and shall be delivered of them . another version thus , thou shalt cast the giants in the earth . they who here as giants did trample on the church , and were formidable unto her , shall then fall and perish , when thy people shall awake and sing , as ver . 14. so elsewhere , they shall take them captives whose captives they were , and they shall rule over their oppressors , isa. 14. 2. the sons of them that afflicted them shall come bending unto them isa. 60. 14. 65. 13 , 14. in the words we observe two general parts 1. the churches complaint under very great calamity and disappointment , ver . 18. 2. her triumph over all her enemies and sufferings , ver . 19. the complaint being expressed by the metaphor of conception and parturition intimateth . 1. the greatnesse of their affliction . 2. the contrivances they used to procure deliverance from it . 3. the disappointment of them all ; we have brought forth winde , as elsewhere ye shall conceive chaffe , and shall bring forth stubble , isa. 33. 11. in the triumph we may consider , 1. the matter of it , deliverance from the lowest to the best condition , from death to life , from a carcasse to a resurrection , from corruption to glory , from dust to singing . 2. the reasons of it , 1. in regard of the subject , mortui tui , gods dead men , cadaver meum , the churches dead body . 2. in regard of the author and vertue whereby it should be effected , the word , the power , the spirit of god metaphorically expressed , ros tuus , thy dew is as the dew of herbs . from the first general the prophets complaint we may observe three things . 1. that the lord exerciseth his own people , yea his whole church sometimes with sore and sharp afflictions , with the pangs and throws of a woman in travel . sometimes we finde them in a house of bondage in egypt ; sometimes in a grave in babylon ; often oppressed with philistims , midianites , cananites , ammonites , edomites , syrians , under the tyranny of the four great monarchies of the earth . so the christian church first under the persecutions of the heathen emperors of rome , and then under persecutions of antichrist & her witnesses prophesying in sackcloth 1260. years . as christ first suffered & then entred into glory , luk. 24. 26. so must his church , rom. 8. 17. christ hath a double kingdom , that of his patience , and that of his power , we must be subjects under the kingdom of his patience , before we come to that of his power . the church must passe through the sea and the wildernesse to canaan , they must be in a working and suffering condition , before they come to the rest or sabbath which remaineth for them , heb. 4. 9. davids militant raign must go before solomons peaceable raign . our sins must this way be mortified . our faith , hope , love , patience , humility , christian courage and fortitude be exercised . our conformity unto christ evidenced . the measure of the wickednesse of the enemy filled . the glory of god magnified in supporting them under , in delivering them out of all their afflictions , and raising them up when they are at lowest . therefore we should not esteem it strange when we fall into divers temptations , or see the church of god in the world in a suffering or dying condition , 1 pet. 4. 12 , 13 , 17. jam. 1. 2. if we will have christ for our husband , we must take him for better for worse . 1. his afflictions are short , and but for a moment , isa. 54. 7. 2 cor. 4. 17. 2. sanctified by the spirit of glory and of god resting upon us , 1 pet. 4. 13 , 14. 3. seconded with grace and the power of christ to support us under them ▪ 2 cor. 12. 9. 4. operative unto peace , righteousness and glory , rom. 8. 28. heb. 12. 11. 5. not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed , rom. 8. 18. 6. proportioned to our need , 1 pet. 1. 6. and to our strength , 1 cor. 10. 13. if we will come to glory we must go the same way unto it as christ did , the way of holinesse , and the way of sufferings , act. 14. 22. and surely if there be enough in a womans child to recompence the pains of her travel , john 16. 21. there will certainly be enough in the glory to come to recompence all our pains , either in our obedience or in our afflictions . ii. we might here note , that even gods own servants in time of trouble & calamity are very apt to betake themselves to their own conceptions and contrivances for deliverance ; they are big oftentimes with their own counsels , and in pain tobring forth and execute their own projections , in order to the freeing of themselves from trouble . abraham , when he was afraid of pharaoh and abimelech dissembled his relation unto sarah ; david fearing achish the king of gath fained himself mad , 1 sam. 21. 11 , 12 , 13. when he feared the discovery of his adultery , he gave order for the killing of uriah , 2 sam. 11. 15. one sin is the womb of another . when asa was in danger from baasha king of israel , he bought his peace with the spoils of the temple , 2 chron. 16. 1 , 2. when jonah was afraid of preaching destruction to ninive , he fled unto tarshish from the presence and service of the lord , jonah 1. 3. when peter was afraid of suffering with christ , he flies to that woful sanctuary of denying and forswearing him , mat. 26. 69 — 74. thus the fear of man causeth a snare , prov. 29. 25. this therefore is a necessary duty in time of fear and danger , to look up ( as the church here after disappointment by other refuges , doth ) with a victorious and triumphant faith unto god , and to make him onely our fear and our dread , not to trust in fraud and perversenesse , or to betake our selves unto a refuge of lies , isa. 30. 12. 28. 15. but to build our confidence upon that sure foundation , on the which he that believeth shall not need make hast . if we lean not upon our own understanding , nor be wise in our own eyes , but in all our ways acknowledge him , and trust in him , and fear him , and depart from evil , we have this gracious promise that he will direct our paths , prov. 3. 5 , 7. the more we deny our selves , the more is he engaged to help us . but when we travel with our own conceptions and will needs be the contrivers of our own deliverance , it cannot be wondred if the lord turn our devices into vanity , and make our belly prepare wind and deceit , job 15. 35. as it here followeth . we have brought forth wind , we have not wrought any deliverance , all our endeavours have been vain and succeslesse . iii. carnal counsels and humane contrivances are usually carried on with pain , and end in disappointment , and do obstruct the progress and execution of gods promises unto us . if we would go on in gods way , and use the means which he hath directed , and build our faith and hope upon his promises , we have then his word to secure us , his spirit to strengthen us , his grace to assist us , his power and fidelity to comfort us , we have him engaged to work our works for us , and his angels to bear us in our wayes . but when we seek out diverticles and inventions of our own , when we will walk in the light of our fire , and in the sparks which we have kindled , isa. 50. 11. and be wise in our own conceit , rom. 12. 16. and walk after our own thoughts , isa. 65. 2. no wonder if we be disappointed , and made ashamed of our own counsels , hos. 10. 6. when we sow the wind , it is not strange if we reap the whirle-winde , hos. 8. 7. and therefore it is our wisdom to cease from our own wisdom , as the wise man exhorteth , prov. 23. 4. in as much as the lord hath pronounced a curse upon those that are prudent in their own sight , isa. 5. 21. whom usually he disappointeth , job . 5. 12. we have considered the churches complaint , her anguish , her disappointment . now in her triumph we are first to view her deliverance , and then the causes of it . in the deliverance is a gradation both in the misery from which , and in the condition unto which they are restored . for the former , 1. it extends unto dead men , whom to quicken exceeds the power of nature . but we do not use to give men over , and lay them out for dead as soon as their breath fails them , some diseases look like death ; therefore the deliverance goes further unto cadaver meum , my carkasse , which the remainders of vital heat have forsaken , laid out , carried away , severed from the living , hastning to putrefaction . but death makes yet a further progresse , this carcasse must be had out of sight , lodged in the bowels of the earth , and there dissolved into dust , his house must know him no more , job 7. 10. and yet even here when death hath carried a man to the end of his journey , and landed him in its own dominion , so far shall the deliverance extend . the damsel whom christ raised was mortua , though yet in the house amongst the living , mark 5. 35. the widows son gone a little further into the region of death , coffin'd up , laid on the biere , carried out from the house , a carcasse , luke 7. 14. lazarus in deaths den , inhabitator pulveris , as far as death could carry him , yet raised up , john 11. 38 , 44. so there is a gradation in the terminus à quo of this deliverance . there is likewise a gradation in the terminus ad quem , the condition unto which they are restored . 1. they shall live , and this is a favour though one stay in prison . 2. they shall rise , their life shal be to an exaltation ; the wicked shall live again , but it shall be to die again ; but these dead shall live and rise , their life shall be an advancement to them . 3. they shall awake , like a man out of sleep refreshed and comforted , psal. 17. 15. 4. they shall sing , as victors over the grave , never to return thither more . so we have here , 1. the sad condition of the church . 2. the great mercy and power of god to them in that condition . their sad condition in the former of these two gradations . 1. they are dead men , in a condition of death , their whole life a conflict with mortality . and though this be not a calamity peculiar to them , ( for death feedeth equally upon all ) and though there be a great alleviation in their being mortui tui , the lords dead men ; yet in some respects we finde the weight of mortality on the churches side . wicked men meet many times with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , live in pleasure , and then die in ease , spend their days in wealth and jollity , in vanity and folly , and go suddenly to the grave , die onely once and together , job 21. 13. whereas holy men have complain'd of dying daily , 1 cor. 15. 31. of being in deaths often , 2 cor. 11. 23. of being compassed about with death , psal. 18. 4. the wicked have no bands in their death , psal. 73. 4. they are at an agreement with it , have as it were hired it not to disquiet them , isa. 28. 15. they put it far from them , amos 6. 3. whereas good men have their souls often drawing nigh to the grave , psal. 88. 3. dead , then here they are , 1. quoad mortis praeludia , all the fore-runners and harbingers of death common to them with all others , sorrows , sicknesses , distresses , and infirmities of all sorts . 2. quoad vitae exitum , they end their days in the same manner as other men ; the wise man as the fool , eccles. 2. 16. psalm 49. 10. thus in common , good men and bad . but godly men 3. are dead quoad affectus , their affections and meditations are upon death . wicked men feed and fat their lusts , fetch out all the sweetness that sin hath in it . whereas holy men mortifie their earthly members , crucifie the flesh with affections and lusts , are ever dying to sin and the world , rom. 6. 11. 4. they are dead , quoad seculum , crucified to the world , gal. 6. 14. and therefore hated by it , john 15. 19. nothing to be looked for from it , but persecution and tribulation , john. 16. 33. as men have done to the green tree so they will to the dry , luk. 23. 31. suffering belongs to the essence and calling of christians , 1 pet. 2. 21. they are hereunto appointed , 1 thes. 3. 3. they are in his sense properly mortui tui , the lords dead men ; for worldlings are not sufferers by calling and profession as true christians are . they are not in trouble as other men , psalme 73. 5. job 21. 7 — 13. ii. from mortui tui , it proceeds to cadaver meum ; and such they are not onely by dissolution after death , but by condition before it ; used like a dead carcasse , exposed to contempt and dishonour , as the refuse and off-scouring of men , lam. 31. 45. 1 cor. 4. 13. troden under foot , isa. 63. 18. had in derision , jer. 20. 8. filled with contempt , psal. 123. 3. made as the ground and as the street for proud men to go over , isa. 51. 23. thus the righteous is an abomination to the wicked , they loath him as a man would do a dead carcasse , prov. 29. 27. iii. from dishonour they proceed to a kinde of despaire ; they are habitatores pulveris , they dwell in the dust , they are not onely dust by constitution , gen. 3. 19. and by dissolution , making the grave their house , and their bed in darknesse , job 17. 13. but further by estimation , they judge so of themselves , abhorring themselves , and putting their mouths in the dust , job 42. 6. lam. 3. 29. they are valued so by others , isa. 10. 6. as the mire of the streets . this is the sad condition of the church sometimes in this world under persecution and captivity , so they were in babylon as dead bones in a grave , ezek. 37. 11 , 12. by all which we learn what to look for in the world when we give our names to god. the usage not onely of strangers and enemies , but even of dead carcasses , to be buried in contempt and dishonour . the way to life lies through the countrey of death , as the way to canaan through a sea and a wilderness ; no scorns , no graves must deter us from a godly life , if ever we hope for a blessed resurrection . neither may we think it strange when we meet with troubles in the world which are but the preludes and prefaces unto death , nor when one evil is over , may we sing a requiem to our souls as if all were passed , but look for vicissitudes and successions of sorrow , for clouds after rain , till we are landed in the countrey of death . and since our tenure in this world is so obnoxious both to encumbrance and uncertainty , we should die to the world while we are in it , as those who are very shortly to be translated from it , and having no abiding station here , be careful to look after that city which hath foundations , and so to acquaint our selves before hand with death by meditation on it , and preparation for it , that it may not come as a messenger of wrath , but as an harbinger of glory , that in our death we may be mortui tui , the lords dead men , and prisoners of hope , the spirit of christ in us being the earnest and seed of a resurrection unto life . we have considered the sad condition of the church expressed by our prophet in that emphatical climax , dead men , a carcasse , inhabiters of the dust . let us next take a view of the mercy of god in her deliverance , a deliverance not onely commensurate to her troubles , but victorious over them , dead indeed , but she shall live ; a carcasse , but she shall arise ; asleep , but she shall awake ; in the dust , but she shall sing . so there is mercy fully answerable to the misery , no temptation without an issue , no calamity without an escape . 1. vivent mortui , or as others read it , vivant . true both . they do live , they shall live . they have life in death , and that life shall work them out of death . 1. they do live in death . wicked men are dead while they live , 1 tim. 5. 6. dead in law under the sentence of the curse , as adam was legally dead by guilt and obnoxiousness the same day that he did eat the forbidden fruit . dead in conscience under the pain of that sentence , and under the bondage of deserved and denounced wrath , heb. 2. 15. heb. 10. 27. dead in sin , under the power of lust , eph ▪ 2. 1. psal. 14. 3. their throats sepulchres full of rotten words , rom. 3. 13. their hearts sepulchres full of unclean affections , matth. 23. 27 , 28. their lives sepulchres full of dead works , heb. 6. 1. but mortui tui , the lords dead men live even in the kingdome and country of death . 1. they live in praeludiis mortis , in all the forerunners of death ; in the greatest calamities they bear up their hearts in the favour of god , which is better then life , psal. 63. 3. 2 cor. 6. 9. in these things , all these things ; we are conquerours , more then conquerours , rom. 8. 37. 2. they live in regno mortis , in the kingdome and country of death ; when death hath possession of them , they live still : you are dead , and your life is hid , col. 3. 3. the death of a christian is not the taking away of life , but the laying up of life ; as a parent takes the childs money , and keeps it for him : he that believeth shall live , though he die , john 11. 25. as abel being dead , yet speaketh , heb. 11. 4. yea , their very bodies , though dead to them , do live to god , for he is the god of the living , mat. 22. 32. therefore the jews call their burying places domus viventium . 1. they live in the promise and power of god , mat. 22. 29. 2. they live in the life of christ their head ; whether we wake or sleep we live together with him , 1 thes. 5. 10. as we are risen with him , and sit with him in heaven , col. 3. 1. eph. 2. 6. 3. they live in the seed of the spirit of holiness , whose temples they are , which is in them a pledge and seminal virtue of resurrection , rom. 8. 11. compared with 1 cor. 3. 16. 6. 19. in which respect the apostle compareth the bodies of the faithful unto seed , i cor. 15. 42. to note , that by the inhabitation and sanctification of the spirit , there is a vital virtue in the body to spring up and awake again . thus even in the state of death , we have vitam absconditam , col. 3. 3. hidden out of our sight and sense , as seed in the furrow , as a jewel in the cabinet , as an orphans estate in the hand of his guardian , hidden with christ the first fruits , and in god the author and fountain of life . thus vivunt , they do live . and further , vivent , they shall live ; for our life in christ is not a decaying , but a growing and abounding life , joh. 10. 10 therefore it will break forth into the similitude of christs glorious body , in whom it is hid , as the corn groweth into the likeness of that seed wherein it was originally and virtually contained , joh. 12. 24. col. 3. 4. phil. 3. 21. 1 joh. 3. 2 , 3. of natural life we cannot say , i live , and i shall live , for natural life runs into death , as jordan into the dead sea : but of christian life we may say , i live , and i shall live ; it is a life which runs into life , though through the way of death ; as the waters of the caspian sea are said through subterraneous passages to have communion with the great ocean . it comes from heaven , christ the fountain and center of it : and it goes back unto heaven : as a piece of earth falls to the whole earth , so every piece of heaven will find the way to its whole . 2. resurgent : with my dead body they shall arise , their life shall be given them for their advancement : wicked men shall live again , that they may dye again , and shall rise , ut lapsu graviore ruant , that they may be thrown deeper . pharoahs butler and baker came both out of prison , the one to his office , the other to dishonor , the one to be advanced , the other to be executed : so mortui tui , and mortui seculi , shall both come out of their graves , the one from a prison to a furnace , the other from a prison to a palace : in which respect believers only are called , children of the resurrection , luke 20. 36. it is a resurrection of life to the one , of condemnation to the other , joh. 5. 29. and therefore to distinguish them from the other , it is added : 3. expergiscimini . they shall awake as a man refreshed with sleep , which puts a great difference be●ween the deaths and resurrections of the godly and the wicked . 1. the death of the godly is but asleep : 1. in regard of the seeds of life abiding in them . a man in sleep ceaseth from the acts of sense , but the faculties he retaineth still : so an holy man , though he lose in death the acts of life , yet the seed and root he hath not lost , he lives to god still . 2. in regard of his weariness of the world , and fulness of dayes : a man wearied with labour lies down willingly to rest : abraham d●ed full of dayes , he was satiated , and desired no more , gen. 25. 8. the apostle had enough of the world , when he desired to depart , and to be with christ , phil. 1. 23. whereas a wicked man , how old soever , is not said to die full of years , or satisfied with life : he may be loaded , but not replenished ; he knows not whither he is going , and therefore he would fain stay in the world still . but it may be said , have not wicked men brought death upon themselves , as achitophel , saul , judas , and godly men been sometimes unwilling to die , as hezekiah ? isai. 38. 1 , 2. true both , yet neither the one out of the love of death , nor the other out of love of the world : wicked men are impatient of present anguish , and inconsiderate touching future terrours , and therefore rush upon the one to avoid the other : but godly men are weary of the body of sin , and believe the favour of god , and glory of christs presence , and that makes them desire to depart , and to be with him : nor did hezekiah decline death out of a servile fear , being able to plead unto god his uprightness , but out o● a desire to live to compleat the reformation of the church which he had begun , and that he might have a successor to derive the line of the royal seed unto . so then death to the godly is but a sleep , in regard of the rest it giveth them , rev. 14. 13. from sins , f●om sorrows , from labours , from enemies , from temptations , from fear , from evils to come ; and therefore job calls the grave his bed , job 17. 13. and so the prophet , they shall lye down in their beds , isa. 57. 2. 2. this awaking makes a great difference between the resurrection of the godly and the wicked : the one riseth refreshed , as sleep repaireth the decays of nature , so that a man riseth vigorous and recruited ; therefore the time of the resurrection is called the time of refreshing , and of restitution of all things , acts 3. 19 , 21. the other riseth affrighted , as a man awakened with a thunder-clap , or whose house is in a flame about him ; the one awakes to his work , the other to his judgement ; it is morning and everlasting day to the one , it is horrour and darkness to the other ; and therefore it is added : 4. cantate , when they awake they shall sing : as david when he awaked , calls on his lute and harp to awake with him , psal. 57. 8. in their graves , at bobylon , they hung their harps on the willows , no musick then , psal. 137. 3. but they go out of their graves , as israel out of the red sea , with victory and triumph over death and hell , and so shall sing the song of moses and the lamb. dust and ashes , in the scripture phrase , are ceremonies of mourning , job 2. 12. mic. 1. 10. but here they who inhabit the dust , are called upon to put off their prison garments ▪ and to shake themselves from their dust , isai. 52. 1 , 2. to awake unto singing and triumph ; when they awake they are satisfied , psalm 17. 15. thus we see the deliverance of the church , is fully as large as their distress . from all which we learn : 1. the true cause why death and the calamities leading thereunto , do still remain after christs victory over them ; to wit : 1 to exercise our faith and hope in gods promises , for the righteous hath hope in his death , prov. 14. 32. 2 to conform us unto christ , as well in the way to life , as in the end , 1 pet. 4. 13. 3 to wean us from the love of the world , which both useth us ill , and passeth away , 1 john 2. 15 , 17. john 15. 19. 4 to encrease our desires of glory , that we may with good jacob , wait for the salvation of the lord , gen. 49. 18. 5 to commend our love to christ , which makes us willing to be dissolved , that we may go to him , as a stone is contented to be broken in moving towards its center , phil. 1. 23. 6 to commend the power of righteousness , which is not afraid of the king of terrours , nor to go to christ , though there be a lion in the way , act. 21. 13. rom. 8. 35-37 . 7 to shew the sweetness and virtue of the death of christ , which makes a bed of a grave , an antidote of a serpent ; hath brought sweetness out of the strong , and meat out of the eater ; hath bound death with her own grave cloaths , and set a guard of angels over the bodies of the saints ; hath rolled away the heavy st●ne from the graves of his people , and made it a place of ease and refreshment ; hath made our graves like a garden , that our bodies like herbs might spring out again ; hath slain death as benaiah did the lion , in its own pit , and hath made it sick of the bodies of his people , and travel in pain like a woman with-child , till at last it be delivered of them . 2 we should by faith and hope in this doctrine comfort our selves against all other calamities , and incourage our selves against death it self , which is but a depositary , and shall be an accomptant unto god for every member of his church , though it hath swallowed them , as the whale did jonah , it shall cast them up again : though to the wicked it be a trap-door which lets them down to hell , and so keeps them in the midst of laughter sorrowful , in the midst of plenty and pleasures fearful , in the midst of hope doubtful , when they remember the dayes of darkness , for they be many , and the dayes of torment , for they be more : yet to believers it is a bed , a rest , a sleep a friend , when it shuts the door between us and the world , it opens a door between us and heaven : pardon of sin , and peace with god , makes us bold to play with the hole of the asp and with the cocatrice den , isai. 11. 8. we have thus far considered the church as dead , buried in the dust ; as quickned , raised , awakened , delighted in god : we are iii. to take a view of the causes of this deliverance , which are 1 dispositive , in regard of the subject . 2 efficient , in regard of the author . the dispositive causes qualifying the subject for this deliverance , are in the two pronowns , tui , and meum : thy dead men : my dead body . these mercies are not promised generally unto all dead men , but unto the lords dead men , whom he hath chosen and formed for himself , psalm 4. 3. isai. 43. 21. if he say thou art mine , neither water , nor fire , nor east , west , north , south , egypt , ethiopia , nor any other enemy shall keep us back from him , isai. 43. 1 , 2 , 6. 1. his we must be , if we will not be lost in death . 1 his by consanguinity ; for christ having taken upon him the nature of adam , and the seed of abraham , and so vouchsafing to call believers brethren , heb. 2. 11. by that means god is become our father , john 20. 17. and therefore in the deluge of desolation , he will bring us into his ark , as rahab , when she was delivered her self , called together her kindred to share therein with her , josh. 6. 23. 2 his by purchase ; there was a dear and precious price paid for us , we were bought with no less a price then the blood of god , act. 20. 28. and therefore he will vindicate his claim and title unto us ; no man will lose what he hath paid for , if he be able to rescue and recover it out of the hands of unjust possessors : christ having bought us , death shall not with-hold us from him , the redeemed of the lord shall return , isai. 51. 11. 3 his by covenant ; thy maker is thy husband , isai. 54. 5. and being married to her , he will make her return , jer. 3. 14. any loving husband would fetch back his wife from the dead , if he were able to do it . 4 his by dedication , inhabitation , consecration , as a temple , 1 cor. 6. 19. if death destroy his temple , he will raise it up again , john 2. 19. the spirit that dwelleth in us , will quicken our mortal bodies , rom. 8. 11. 2 his dead men we must be ; we must dye to sin , because he died for it ; we must kill that which killed christ ; we must be dead unto sin , if we will live unto god , rom. 6. 11. his dead men , his perseverantly until death , rev. 2. 10. his patiently , even unto death , heb. 10. 36. nothing must separate us from his love . his ultimately , whether we live , we must live to the lord , or whether we die , we must die unto the lord , rom. 14. 8. that he may be glorified in our mortal bodies by life , or by death , phil. 1. 20. and being thus his dead men : 1 we are sure death comes not but with a commission from him , his providence sendeth it , his power restraineth it , his love and wisdome guideth and ordereth it to our good ; it is his officer , it shall touch us no further then he gives it authority , john 19. 11. he hath muzled and chained it ; he saith to death , as to satan concerning job , he is in thine hand , but touch not his soul , meddle not with his conscience , or with his peace ; and for his body , thou shalt but keep it , thou shalt not destroy it , thou shalt be accomptable for every piece of it again . 2. being his dead men , he hath alwayes an eye of compassion upon us , our sorrows and sufferings he esteems his own , isai. 63. 9. col. 1. 24. act. 9. 4. and if they be his , he will certainly save us from them , and conquer them as well in us , as in himself , for unto him belong the issues from death , psalm 68 20. 3 as ever therefore we look for blessedness in death , or deliverance from it , we must labour both living and dying , to be the lords , that he may own us when the world hath cast us out , that we may be precious in his sight , when we are loathsome to the world ; jewels to him , when dung to men , that our graves may not only have worms in them to consume us , but angels to guard us . if we die in our sins , and be satans dead men , we shall never rise with comfort , rottenness will feed not on our bodies only , but on our names , we shall have worms in our consciences , as well as in our carcasses : but when we can say , lord , i am thine , thou art mine , we may thence infer , we shall not dye , hab. 1. 12. we have a life which death cannot reach , col. 3. 3. this therefore must be our special care , to be mortui tui , to dye to the lord , to fall asleep in christ , 1 cor. 15. 18. that when he comes we may be found in him , and so may be ever with him , 1 thes. 4. 17. this is the first qualification of the subject for deliverance , to be mortui tui , the lords dead men . 2. the next is , that it is cadaver meum : 1 mine , as the words of christ , being my body , they shall surely rise : 2 mine , as the words of the church ; every member of my dead body shall rise in the unity of the whole . 1 then my dead body being members of an head that lives for ever , and hath the keys of hell and the grave , shall certainly rise : his life is the foundation of ours , because i live , ye shall live also john 14. 19. if death had held him , it would much more have held us : but because in him the mercies of david are sure , therefore his resurrection is an assurance of ours , act. 13. 34. christ will not be incompleat , and the church is his fulness , eph. 1. 23. the feet under water are safe , when the head is above it : christ is said to be the first that rose from the dead , act. 26. 23. the first begotten , the first born from the dead , rev. 1. 5. col. 1. 18. for though some were raised before him , yet not without him , but by the fellowship of his resurrection : as though light rise before the sun , yet it doth not rise but from the sun. the mace goes before the magistrate , but it doth so only in attendance upon him : he the only conquerour of death ; and as the first fruits did sanctifie the whole mass , rom. 11. 16. so christ by his resurrection did consecrate all such as dye in the lord , to be a kind of first fruits , and first born , jam. 1. 18. heb. 12. 23. and therefore it is said , that they shall rise first , 1 thes. 4. 16. his resurrection is unto all his members 1 arrha , a pledge and earnest of theirs ; he having paid our debt , death cannot detain us in prison for it : his resurrection hath justified us against the claim of death , and will glorifie us against the power of death : what he did purchase by the merit of his death , is made applicable to us by the power of his resurrection , rom. 8. 34. 2 exemplar ; his the pattern of ours : he taken not only from prison , but from judgement , death had no more to do with him , isal. 53. 8. rom. 6. 9. in like manner we shall rise victors over death , never any more to be subject unto it : this the apostle calleth the image of the heavenly adam , 1 cor. 15. 49. phil. 3. 21. 3 primitiae : the beginning of the future resurrection ; for he rose not barely in a personal , but in a publick capacity , though it were a damnable heresie of hymeneus , that the resurrection was past , 2 tim. 2. 18. yet it is a truth to say , that it is begun . he first , then we at his coming , 1 cor. 15. 23. by what is past in the head , we are assured of what is expected in his members . 2 all the particular members of the church shall rise in the unity of one body , as mystically joyned unto one head , and as one family , eph. 3. 15. and all one in christ , gal. 3. 28. not barely the persons singly considered , but as a church and body shall rise . 1 then be careful to be found in christ at his coming ; for though all men shall rise , yet with a great difference . the wicked potestate judicis , as malefactors are brought out of prison to the judge to be condemned . the godly virtute capitis , the life of christ shall be manifested in their bodies , 2 cor. 4. 10. 2 a christian must not onely believe , thy dead men shall live , but furth 1 my dead body shall arise too . herein is the life of faith in bringing down general promises to our own particular cases , interests and comforts , 2 cor. 4. 13 , 14. joh. 20. 28. gal. 2. 20. 3 since we shall all rise as one , we should all live as one . as we have all one head , one spirit , one faith , one hope , one inheritance , one common salvation , so we should have one heart , and one soul , act. 4. 32. love as brethren , have the same care as fellow members one of another , weep with them that weep , rejoyce with them that rejoyce , that our life of faith on earth may in some measure expresse our life of vision in heaven , and since we shall agree there , not to fall our in our way thither , eph. 4 1. 6. phil. 2. 1 , 2 , 3. col. 3. 12 , 13. and thus much of the dispositive cause , qualifying the subject of this deliverance . 2 the efficient follows . the word and command of god , being like dew to the tender herbs , to revive them when they seem dead . whence we observe , 1 the facility of the last resurrection in regard of god , to whom miracles are as easie as natural operations , a miracle being nothing but a new creation . it is as impossible to us to cause raine as to raise a dead body . he therefore who we see doth cause the one , we may believe on his word that he will the other . we finde raine and dew used as arguments to prove the omnipotency and greatnesse of god , psal. 147. 5 , 8. job 5. 9 , 10. ler. 14. 22. zach. 10. 1. and this teacheth us a very useful point , to observe the wisdome and power of god in the ordinances of heaven and course of nature , and from thence to argue for the setling of our faith in such things as exceed the course of nature ; for there is no lesse omnipotency required to govern natural causes , then to work those that are supernatural . he therfore that keepeth his law , and sheweth his power in the one , will do so in the other too . the lord strengthneth our faith by the consideration of natural things , the bow in the clouds , gen. 9. 12. isa. 54. 9. the stability of the mountains , isa. 54. 10. the multitude of starres , gen. 15. 5. the highth of the heavens , psal. 103 11. the beauty of the lilies , mat. 6. 28 , 30. the ordinances of the moon and stars , ler. 31. 35 , 36. the covenant of day and night , ler. 33. 20 , 21. thus the lord teacheth us to make use of the rudiments of nature to confirme our faith in him . i go quietly to bed and am not frighted with the horror of the night . i know the day will return , it is gods covenant . i put my seed into the ground in the winter , i know it will grow into an harvest , the sun will return , it is gods covenant . and why should i not trust him , as well in his covenant of grace as of nature ? why should i not believe that that power which quickens dead corn , can quicken dead men , and can provide as well for my salvation as for my nature ? the truth is , all unbelief doth secretly question the power of god. things past and present all can believe , because they are seen . but things promised , when they pose reason , and transcend the course of natural causes , and the contrivances and projections which we can forecast , we many times stagger and falter about . israel confessed what god had done , and that omnipotently , he smote the rock and the waters gushed out , and yet in the same breath they question his power , can he furnish a table in the wildernesse ? can he give bread also and provide flesh for his people ? psalm 78. 19 , 20 , 22. moses himself stagger'd , when the lord made a promise which seemed to exceed the power of ordinary causes , numb . 11. 21 , 22. and therefore when god will confirm the faith of his servants , he draweth them off from viewing the greatnesse and strangeness of the promises in themselves , to the consideration of his power . is any thing too hard for the lord ? gen. 18. 14. i am the lord , the god of all flesh , is there any thing too hard for me ? jer. 32. 27. if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes , should it also be marvellous in mine eyes , saith the lord of hosts ? zach. 8. 6. and therefore in all cases of difficulty , when sense and reason , flesh and blood , dictate nothing but despaire , we should by faith look up to the truth of god promising , and to the power and name of god giving being to his promis●s , whose ways are higher then our wayes , and his thoughts then our thoughts , isa. 55. 8. 9. so did jehoshaphat , 2 chron. 20. 12. so david , i sam. 30. 6. so the prophet , ezek. 37. 3. so abraham , rom. 4. 19 , 20 , 21. so peter , luke 5. 5. so we should all do when we walk in darkness and have no light , still trust in the name of the lord , and stay upon our god , isa. 50. 10. 2 we hence learn the original of the resurrection , it is an heavenly work , as dew which comes from heaven to revive the grass . the lord resolves the lineage and genealogie of corn into heaven , hos. 2. 21. takes it to himself to be the father of the dew , job 38. 28. it comes from him whose body did shed drops of heavenly dew in the garden , and by them did slay death , and revive he herbs of the grave . we must labour therefore by an heavenly conversation to have our bodies temples of the holy spirit , that this heavenly vertue , when it hath drawn us out of our graves , may then carry us to heaven ; for as that which is earthly , when it is out of its place , never leaves descending till it goes to earth : so that which is heavenly , will never cease rising till it get to heaven . earthly vapors may be drawn up , but they fall again in rain and winde . wicked men , though raised , will fall again . any thing of heaven will go to heaven , any thing of christ will go to christ. concerning this dear and worthy lay , though my custom be to be very sparing in funeral elogies , yet many things were in her so remarkable , that the mentioning of them cannot but tend to the edification of others . i shall not mention her meere exterrals . the worth , credit and dignity of her family . the gentlenesse and sweetnesse of her disposition , and all amiable accomplishments which rendred her lovely to those that knew her ; nor set forth the proportion between her and the present text. i shall onely name such things as commended her to god as well as to men . she looked after heaven very young : would frequently blesse god for the religious education which she had under her parents . she was even then assaulted with temptations unto atheisme , and to think that there was no god. but took the best course to repell and resist them , that the most experienced christian could have directed her unto . immediately betaking her self by prayer unto that god whom she was tempted to deny . she was a woman mighty in the scriptures , read them over once a year , and searched after the sense of difficult places out of the several annotations before her . she was as it were a concordance directing usually to the book and chapter where any place of scripture mentioned in discourse , was to be found . she was constant in reading substantial authours , of dogmatical and practical divinity , and by that means grew greatly acquainted with the whole body of wholsome doctrine . she was unweariedly constant in the performance of private duties , in so much that it is verily believed by him , who had best reason to know it , that for twelve years together she never intermitted her morning and evening addresses unto the throne of grace . when she was suddenly surprized with the pangs of this last child , she ran into her closet to be first delivered of her prayer , and to poure out her soul to god , before she was delivered of her child . she had a singular delight in the publick ordinances , and was a most constant frequenter of them , with very serious and devout attention , calling her memory to an account when she came home , and if any particular slipt from her forgotten , she would enquire of her husband in bed to recover it for her . she left behind her in her closet a paper book , wherein with her own hand she had collected divers general directions for an holy spending of the day , with several particular meanes for the faithful observance of those general rules . she highly honoured holinesse in the poorest and meanest persons , and would frequently with some decent and modest excuse get off from unprofitable & impertinent discourse , that she might have her fill of more edifying conference with such , in whom she had learned of david , to place her delight . for divers months before her death she was wonderfully improved heavenward , as those about her observed , not regarding the world , nor letting any vain word drop from her ; and her countenance many times after her coming out of her closet , seemed to have strange impressions of her conversing with god shining in it , as some conversant with her have professed to observe . she was greatly adorned with meeknesse , modesty and humility , which are graces in the sight of god of great price . when one wish'd her ioy with the honour lately come to her , she answered , that there was a greater honour which she looked after , which would bring with it more solid joy . she alwayes expressed much honour and reverence to her parents , in all comely and dutiful comportment towards them , which much endeared them unto her . full of conjugal affection to her dear husband revoking with an ingenuous retraction any word which might fall from her , which she judged lesse becoming that honour and reverence which she did bear to him . when he was ingaged upon publick concernments , and more particularly when he cross'd the seas to wait on his sacred majesty , she daily put up such ardent and heavenly petitions unto god for him , as caused those about her to conclude it impossible that the husband of so many prayers and teares should meet with any miscarriage . wonderful watchful over his bodily health ; and spying out distempers in him before he discovered them himself . earnestly desiring what is now come to passe , that he might survive her , that she might never know the wound of a deceased husband . she had a more then ordinary care in the education of her children , holding them close to the reading , and committing to memory both scripture and catechisme , wherein by her diligence they made a very strange progress , a pregnant instance whereof to speak nothing of her children yet living , was her eldest son , who went to heaven in his childhood , about the age of five or six years , of whose wonderful proficiency in the knowledge of god , an exact account is given by a grave and godly divine in the printed sermon , which he preached at his funeral . she was very affable and kind to her servants , specially encouraging them unto holy duties , who have professed themselves very much benefited in their spiritual concernments by the discourses which she hath had with them . she was very charitable and ready to do good to poor distressed persons , specially those of the houshold of faith , visiting , edifying , and comforting them , and with her liberality relieving their necessities , acknowledging gods free and rich mercy in allowing her a plentiful portion of outward blessings , and that she was not in the low condition of those whom her charity relieved : in her sicknesse and extremities of travel and other pains , she earnestly pleaded gods promises of healing , of easing , of refreshing those that were weak and heavy laden , acknowledging her self so to be , not in body onely , but in soul too , and was full of holy and servent ejaculations . yea , when the disease affected her head , and disturbed her expressions , yet even then her speeches had still a tincture of holinesse , and savour'd of that spirit wherewith her heart was seasoned . she advised those about her to set about the great and one necessary work of their souls while they were in health , assuring them that in sicknesse all the strength they had would be taken up about that . she desired her husband to read to her in her sicknesse mistris moores evidences for salvation , set forth in a sermon preached by a reverend divine at her funeral , meditating with much satisfaction upon them . and when some cloud overcast her soul , she desired her husband to pray with her , and seconded him with much enlargement of heart , and blessed god for the recovery of light again . thus lived and died this excellent lady , a worthy patterne for the great ones of her sex to imitate . such works will follow them into another world , where none of the vanities of this , no pleasures , no pomp , no luxury , no bravery , no balls , no enterludes , no amorous or complemental discourses , or other like impertinencies of the world will have any admittance . the more seriously you walk with god , and plie the concernments of your immortal souls , living as those that resolve to be saved , the greater will be your treasure of comfort in your death , and of glory in another life ; whereas all your other delights and experiments for content will expire , and give up the ghost in solomons vanity and vexation of spirit . the lord make us all wise unto salvation . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57133-e280 irenaeus lib. 5. cap. 15. 30. tertul. de resurrect . c. 32. hieron . & cyril in loc . aug. de civ . dei lib. 20. cap. 21. calvin institut . l. 2. c. 10. sect . 21. l. 3. c. 25. sect . 4. calvin . sasbout . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rev. 11. 3. 12. 6. gen. 12. 13. gen. 20. 2. isa. 8. 13. psal. 119. 51. jer. 20. 8. a sermon preached at the consecration of the right reverend father in god, herbert, lord bishop of hereford by jasper mayne ... mayne, jasper, 1604-1672. 1662 approx. 76 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a50418 wing m1478 estc r19642 12351234 ocm 12351234 60020 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50418) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60020) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 642:8) a sermon preached at the consecration of the right reverend father in god, herbert, lord bishop of hereford by jasper mayne ... mayne, jasper, 1604-1672. croft, herbert, 1603-1691. [9], 43 p. printed for r. royston ..., london : 1662. running title: a consecration sermon preached at lambeth. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -n.t. -timothy, 1st, iv, 14 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-12 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion perlegi hanc concionem , eámque dignissimam judico quae publicam lucem aspiciat . geo. stradling , s. th. d. reverendi in christo patris gilberti episc. lond. sacellanus domest . feb. 24. anno salut . 1661. a sermon preached at the consecration of the right reverend father in god , herbert , lord bishop of hereford . by jasper mayne , d. d. canon of christ-church , and one of his majesties chaplains in ordinary . john 20. 21. as my father sent me , so send i you. london : printed for r. royston , bookseller to the kings most excellent majesty , at the angel in ivie-lane , 1662. to the right reverend father in god , brian , lord bishop of winchester , prelate of the honourable order of the garter , and almoner to his majesty . my honoured lord , those learned jews and christians , who have been curious to find out the reason of some visions in the scripture , do affirme , that the bush which moses saw unburnt in the midst of fire , was an embleme of the israelites then in bondage to the aegyptians , who were not onely preserved in the midst of persecutions , but thrived under their oppressions , hard tasks and heavy burthens ; and grew more numerous from the politick arts which strived to lessen and destroy them : till at length god contrived them a miraculous deliverance , which with their calamitios concluded in a song . when i look back upon our late suffering times , ( the saddest which i think any history hath recorded ) where oppression backt with power made the ruine of our church the horrid step and ladder to the usurpation of the crown ; and where the name of a bishop was so criminal and odious , as to verifie tertullian's sad complaint of his brutish times , nominis & vocabuli rei fuimus , we were made guilty of a word , and condemned for being christians , and the style was punisht with publick sales and sequestrations : and when withall i do consider , by what unlookt-for way of providence your order and religion , like a treasure snatcht from shipwreck , were stupendiously restored after many years confusion : methinks that bush which moses saw was the embleme of our church , kept safe by miracle in the midst of hungry fire : and the ship in the gospel was presented to my eyes , where christ and his apostles were tost in an hideous storm ; but he waked and stilled the winds , and put a calmness to the sea. in these dayes of publick calamity , i was curious to observe how several men behaved themselves in strugling with their dangers . i saw some take for their patern the prophet jonas in a storm , who slept securely and untroubled when his shipwreck rolled about him . i saw others so much cowards , that to preserve their wretched fortunes they compounded with the tempest , and made a league and friendship with the winds ; nay , servilely revived the religion of those base timorous heathens , who worshipt every thing they fear'd , and sacrificed to furies , and built altars to their plagues . i saw others of a nobler and more stout and christian temper ( whose just reward is now to shine like stars of honour in the church ) immovably resolute to maintain their loyalty and conscience with the loss of their lives , as they had already with their fortunes . yet , i hope , it will be no diminution of their vertues , if i say , that your lordships carriage in these times of persecution was to me most remarkable ; who by your happy restitution , and addition of more honour , have been made a greater bishop , but not a greater person , then you were in your lowest ebbe of fortune . the payment of your vow in your building of an alms-house on the place where you your self so ofter sate , not wanting of an almes , but weeping o're the prospect not then pleasant to your eye , because your proper business there was to aske the passers by , if ever there were sorrows like to the sorrows of this nation ; your large bounty to the college of which i am a member , which , if i should name the summe , would make the world believe you meant to found a new college , and not complete an old ; your dying liberalities bequeathed to others in your will , even to your meanest servants , who were your servants in distress , are things which do proclaim you a great and noble benefactor . but these are but the good deeds of your fortune , done by the bishop of winchester , the charities of one possest with plenty and abundance ; your rents and mannors here share with you as co-founders : and your new almes-house might have it written on the walls , a poor bishop vow'd this house , but a great and wealthy built it . that which made you truly great and reverend in my eyes , was to look into your noble heart , your large and bounteous mind , where your good deeds now , were then but wishes and designs . you were truly great to me , when i saw you in your poverty anticipate your almes-house , and be liberal at your door : and the poor people in your house now , had then places at your gate ; when being reduced to the last cruse of oyle , you made the drops run to others ; and when there was but a handful of meal left in the little barrel , you then dealt your loaf to those who wanted daily bread . in short , when you had but two coats left , to give one to the naked ; when you had hardly more then one dish , to make the poor your guests ; to see you walk up your hill with not much money in your purse , and return back with none ; but then to think of laying up treasures in heaven , when you had so little left on earth , was a charity which raised in me a religious admiration ; and lookt something like the miracle wrought by our saviour in the gospel , where multitudes were fed with two fishes and five loaves . nor may i , without some injustice to your vertues , forbear to let the world know , that i never saw afflictions born with a more serene and even temper then you did yours ; who in the worst of times stood like a firme unshaken rock in the midst of angry waves ; your courage still the same , unbroken or undisturbed with any sad disasters not more publick then your owne . the old church of england still kept up in your house , with all its formes and rites , though publickly forbidden ; prayers constantly , and twice a day , read by you for the king , at a time when such devotions were made treason by the tyrant ; and weekly sermons preacht before you , filled with so much loyalty and truth , as would any where else have cast the preacher into bonds , if not sent him from his pulpit to the place of execution . to all this your lordships continued kindnesses to me , by which i can compute my self almost grown aged in your favours ; your encouragement of my younger studies , which grew up under your example ; your rescue of me from a shipwreck in the late undoing times , when being tost , and stript of all , you were the plank to save me , and threw me out a line which drew me safe to shore ; are reasons sufficient to let the world know , that of most sins i think ingratitude the worst . being therefore fairly invited at first to preach this sermon , and since by several hearers of it to make it this way publick , i beseech your lordship to allow it the shadow of your wing ; and to accept it , not as a full payment of my debts to you , ( for this very dedication of it sets me deeper on your score ) but as a testimony how much greater my desires are then my abilities or parts , to let the world know how unfeignedly i am your lordships most obliged and very grateful servant , iasper mayne . feb. 26. 1661. 1 tim . 4. 14. neglect not the gift that is in thee , which was given thee by prophecy , with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . the preface . as in the raising of the noblest heights and buildings , that they may be exact , and gain a reverence from the eye , great preparations are made towards the erection of the pile ; the best masters in that art are taken into counsel , and vitruvius is consulted to assist it with his rules ; platforms are drawn , and models are contrived , that what was but a scheme may be brought into a structure : which made aristotle say , when he spoke like a philosopher , but so as that his saying holds in architecture too , that a material house or palace springs from an immaterial ; and the pile , which is the creature of the workmans tool without , was first shap'd and form'd by some designing mind within : lastly , as when the materials are all ready and prepared , some are set on work to hew and square the stones , others to dispose them into their several seats and stations , others to oversee that the workmen doe their duties , and that all things be done regularly as the surveyors shall direct : so god hath proceeded by the same course and method , in the designing , shaping , forming and building of his church . upon whose rude beginnings if we cast our eyes , as it first appeared in the times before the law , though it began with the world , and be as ancient as mankind , and had the same corner-stone laid which now supports the building , in the promised seed , which was to bruise the serpents head ; yet that corner-stone being wrapt up in a mystery , and many thousand years required to remove the veil and cloud , 't was but then a church creeping forth out of the quarrey , without a hand to give it its just feature and perfection . 't is true indeed , the light of nature , helpt by the light and guidance of tradition , sufficiently inform'd men that god was to be worship'd ; but the way or manner how , the work and person of the priest , the time when , the place where , with what holy forms and rites , was left wholly to their reason to discover and find out . so that in the state of nature the case stood with religion , as some have observed it did with the first essayes in painting ; unskilful men at first drew faces with a coale , to which after-times found colours , and gave beauty by their pencil . or , if you will hear me speak in the language of a poet , in this imperfect state of nature the case stood with god in a way of service and religion , as it did with the first jupiter at rome ; aedibus exiguis habitabat jupiter ingens , inque jovis dextrâ fictile fulmen erat . he was so rustickly adored , that a thatcht . cottage was his temple , where he stood holding an farthen thunder in his hand . to redeem himself from so much rudeness of devotion , and to contrive a worship some way worthy of his greatness , in the times of the law he chose unto himself a select , peculiar people , which he formed into a church ; and placed it for some ages like a city on a hill , to invite the erring world to be its proselytes and converts . his service here below was taught to move like the heavens above , in a well-tuned harmony and musick of the spheres . a high-priest was appointed , and the miter set upon his head ; and inferiour priests and levites had their lower orbs assigned them . sacrifices were prescribed , and the business of the temple proportion'd and cut out to the several orders and degrees of those , who thus distinguish'd were to wait upon the altar : and the distinction was so sacred , and the several bounds so set , that as the levite was not to invade the office of the priest , so those inferiour priests who broke beyond their bounds , and attempted to invade the office of the high-priest , were not said to offer sacrifice , but strange fire before the lord , and perish'd for their boldness with their censers in their hands : to let us see , that god was then the god of order , and turn'd such mens oblations into their ruine and destruction . yet the jewish church thus modelled by almighty god himself , was but the imperfect draught and platform of a much holier church to come . 't was but like their tabernacle , their house of offerings and oblations , a moveable pavilion , or tent fitted for a march towards a land of promise , not yet discovered to their eye ; where that transitory building , that temple made of threds , was to be taken down to make way for one more lasting . in short , as 't is observed , ( and 't is st. austins observation ) that in the forming of the jewish church the platform was first drawn , and presented in a holy scheme to moses in the mount ; so when that scheme or platform was wrought into a fabrick , when that which was a pattern became a bodied truth , even that glorious church , in the midst of all its splendour , was but a type and shadow of the christian church to come . some of the old lines were indeed to be preserved , but with the addition of new colours drawing nearer to the life ; a high-priest was to be retained , but with his robes and miter changed ; the order of aaron was to pass into the order of melchisedeck ; no longer to remain the priest of one private , single people , but to be the publick priest of all the nations in the world. the inferiour priests and levites too were to shift and change their ephods , and to pass into the christian presbyter and deacon . and now to hold you no longer in the porch and entrance of this sermon , but to draw this large circle to its intended point and centre ; to reduce those shadows into substance , and those platforms into building ; to form a new church out of the ruines of an old , stupendious in the raising , and eternal in duration ; to make the scripture-prophecy become true authentick story , and the glory of the second temple to eclipse and drown the first ; to break down the partition-wall which divided jews from gentiles ; to square disproportion'd subjects , and unite all nations in one faith , and by one common gospel to bring them to salvation ; was a work reserved for none but christ the son of god himself . who , as he was before designed to be the head of this new church , so , that he might be the founder and foundation of it , the chief corner-stone and great master-builder too , all the powers of heaven did help to carry on the work. i think i need not tell you , that the gospel , like the law , was at first proclaimed by the ministry of angels ; that jacobs dream and vision was made by them true story ; a ladder was set up which reach'd from earth to heaven , and they ascending and descending with sacred messages to men. nay , the holy ghost himself , who foretold this in the old testament , was most busily imployed to fulfill it in the new : every sermon preach'd was attended with a miracle ; and the doctrine signed and ratified with holy prodigies and wonders ; the preachers all inspired with gifts proportion'd to their work , and enabled by those gifts to go and teach all nations . nay , so sollicitous and careful was this holy spirit of god to provide fit successors to those inspired and gifted teachers , that for many years after the first plantation of the gospel , not a bishop was installed or admitted to his chair , not a pastor to his charge , not a deacon to his table , which was not first designed , and named , and qualified by him . and this i might prove to you by several places of the scripture , but none more clear then this which i have chosen for my text ; where st. paul sayes to one of those new consecrated bishops , neglect not the gift that is in thee , which was given thee by prophecy , with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . in which words you have these considerable parts . first , the person here consecrated to the sacred office of a bishop : that was timothy , exprest in this word thee . next , his qualification for that divine and sacred office : he was a gifted man , a man fitted for that honour ; exprest in this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the gift that is in thee . thirdly , his conge d'eslire , or designation to that office by the holy ghost , author of that gift : 't was given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by the prediction of the prophets . fourthly , the forme of his consecration to that office : the holy ghost designed him , but the church gave him ordination ; 't was done by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . lastly , st. pauls fatherly advice to him for his deportment in that office ; in these words , neglect not the gift which was thus bestowed upon thee . of these in this order ; and first of the person , that was timothy , exprest in this word thee . as the distance between god and man was so great , that none but one who was compounded of both natures was fit to reconcile them , or to be a mediator ; so in reconciling the jews to the gentiles , to make them piece and joyn in one united church , none was so fit to procure a good liking and agreement , as one in whom both parties had an equal interest & claim . now of all the men designed by god to accomplish that great work , i know none in all kinds so well fitted and proportion'd as this holy man , the bishop in this text ; whose very birth disposed him to break down partition-walls , and to be a reconciler of both parties from the womb . for , if we enquire into his original or birth , as 't is set down in the church-book , acts 16. his mother was a jewess , but a jewess made a christian ; and his father was a greek , but well-affected to the jews , as you may read in the first verse of that chapter : not a greek hellenist , or jew bred in greece , called so from the grecian language which he spoke ; nor a greek in the grecian sense , a man opposed to a barbarian : but a greek in the general acception of the scripture , which divides the whole world of men into two members , jews and greeks . for , if we may give credit to the syriack translator , he was aramaeus , that is , no greek , but syrian : or as the latine interpreter more largely hath described him , he was homo gentilis , that is , no jew , but gentile . and as his birth did thus prepare him to preach the gospel to all nations , so st. paul , who well knew the advantage of this mixture , and how readily a jew would hearken to a jew , and a gentile be perswaded by one who was a gentile , to make his capacity more passable and currant , thought fit to circumcise him , though he were before a christian ; as you may read at the fourth verse of that chapter . that by imploying one to preach who was a baptised jew , and one who withall was a circumcised believer , all prejudices might be stopt , and no objection left to hinder or obstruct the free passage of his sermons . for that this was the reason why he circumcised him , namely , not to oblige him to observe and keep the law , but to remove obstructions from his preaching of the gospel , is evident from the end and close of that verse , which sayes , that st. paul in a holy prudence did it , because they all knew that his father was a greek . and certainly , as st. paul by this action , this politick design , gained justly to himself the reputation of that style , which he bestows upon himself , of being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a wise master-builder , in the third chapter of his first epistle to the corinthians , at the tenth verse ; one who knew how to fit his tools to his matter , to hew rude subjects to his ends , and to give them shape and form , so as to work upon the tempers of disagreeing minds : so no passage more confirms that rare description of his art , which he makes in the 9. chapter of that epistle , at the 20. verse and forwards , where he sayes , that he became all things to all men ; as a jew to the jews , and as a gentile to the gentiles ; to them under the law as a man lock'd up in shackles , to them without law as at perfect liberty and freedom : and all this to compass his great catholick design , which was to bring , if possible , both parties to salvation . next then , as his birth did much contribute to his function , so his education contributed much more . he was bred in a family upon which religion seem'd entail'd , where piety ran in a bloud , and lineally descended , like vertue of inheritance , from the parents to the child . st. paul speaking of his mother eunice , and his grandmother lois , in the 1. chapter of his 2. epistle to him , at the 5. verse , sayes , it very much rejoyced him to find the same unfeigned faith in him , which in a holy pedegree he received and took from them . and certainly , as ill example hath the power to convey hereditary vices , to infect by being seen , and to corrupt by imitation ; nay , as vice in the parent hath such an influence on the child , as to think it disobedience where the parent is a sinner , not to be as wicked and as great a sinner too : ( as the young virgin in the poet seeing her unchast , lascivious mother write letters to her loose adulterer and servant , thought her self obliged to think chastity a sin , and so learnt in time to write such letters too ; or as the young gentleman , whose father was a gamester , learnt to handle dice , and stake whole mannors at a throw ) so good example hath the like power to infect by being seen , and vertues may like vices be made hereditary too . but besides those seeds of vertue sown in him by his parents , st. paul himself had been his tutor , and had the forming of his manners ; he was bred up in his school to that ripeness and perfection , that he superscribes this epistle to him as to one begotten by him : to timothy my son , sayes he ; nay , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to timothy my own son , sayes our english translation . but the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the greek , if we may believe st. jerome , is a word to which no other tongue can find a word to match it ; a word which in all kinds signifies the son to have such a near resemblance to the father , as almost to confirm the opinion of andreas dudithius , who , in his book de conjugio presbyterorum , maintains that st. paul was married and had children , like st. peter . of which , but that we know his father was a greek , the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might perswade us that this timothy was one . indeed the resemblance between them was so great , that as in other births and natural generations the marks to distinguish the true-born from the spurious are the likeness of the child in shape and visage to the parent , sic oculos , sic ille manus , sic or a ferebat ; if he have his fathers eyes and cheeks , looks , hands and gestures too , we may conclude him genuine , and the parent twice the same : so st. jerome in his close interpretation of that word , proceeds by a distinction , which holds comparatively true ; st. paul had many sons , sayes he , whom he converted to the faith , as the corinthians and ephesians , whom he vouchsafes to call his sons : but the style of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or filius germanus , the style of true-born son , so in all things like himself , as not to be more the son of the parents that begot him , then he was his morum filius , the off-spring of his mind , so furnisht with his vertues , so accomplish'd with his gifts , so zealous in his preaching , so valiant in afflictions , so active in his spreading the gospel through the world , was a style bestowed on none but this timothy and titus : as if all others were his bastard-sons , begot upon some hagar , and onely these two were legitimate . it is st. jerome sayes so . in short , as likeness in manners begets a dearness in affections , and as a friendship in affections begets a likeness in engagements ; so st. paul made him his fellow-labourer and associate . when the decrees of the apostles were to be disperst , made in their general council assembled at jerusalem , this timothy was chosen to assist him in his travels ; as you may read in the 16. chapter of the acts , at the 4. verse . when an evangelist was to be sent to confirm those distant churches , which st. paul himself had planted , but was not able to re-visit , this timothy was sent as his deputy-lieutenant ; as you may read in several epistles to those churches . to all this , such a holy prudence shined forth in all his actions , his morals were so good and so seasoned with religion , that his name was like that precious oyntment in the scripture , still breathing forth perfumes in all places where he came : for , he was well reported of , he was above all reproch and scandal ; as you may read at the 3. verse of that chapter . and of such instruments as this did the holy ghost make choice to be preachers of the gospel , and rulers in the church : men , whose life as well as doctrine was still sermon to the people ; men , who confuted vice not more by argument and reason , then by their blameless carriage and vertuous conversation . 't was against the oeconomy and discipline of heaven , to send men into gods vineyard who went drunk into the field ; and who minded not the vine , but the vintage , grape and wine . and the holy ghost himself had erred , had he given his pearls to swine , to the sensual or intemperate , still wallowing in the mire : or had he taken his holy things , and cast them unto dogs ; no sooner eased of one distemper , but returning to another . no cloven tongues of fire did sit upon their heads , whose tempers were still cloven , still kindling flames and factions , still breaking of gods people into divisions , rents and schisms . the gift of knowledge was not dropt upon the ambitious , proud , high-minded ; their bladder swelled too much , and was too much puft up before . to him that hath shall be given , was the rule gods spirit went by ; and more gifts were given to him who had well imployed the former . which leads me on to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or gift , here in this text , and comes in the next place to crave a room in your attentions . the saying of our saviour christ when he spoke it was so true , in the 10. chapter of st. luke at the 2. verse , the harvest truly is great , but the labourers are few ; that to increase their number , and to fit them for the work , the holy ghost was fain to interest himself in the choice of workmen , and the qualifying of them too : his work and business 't was to send men into the field , and to teach them how to manage and use their sickle too . the men already chosen , if their number had been greater , where a world was to be converted , were too disproportion'd for the harvest . besides , they wanted parts for so great an undertaking ; unless they could have done like the man in eunapius a greek historian , who tells us of one aedesius , who had so much the spirit of divination in his power , that he would but clap a wreath of lawrel on his head , and straight speak by inspiration , straight put himself in raptures , and utter learned oracles , to the great amazement of the hearers . the apostles were not all bred at the feet of gamaliel , but were as yet unlearned , men called from mending nets , fitter to deal with fishes , and to put forth a boat to sea , then to cast their nets on land , and there catch men in the inclosure . besides , being jews , they were hardly fit to preach to jews ; for where was their gift of miracles to work upon the jews , who were onely to be gained by miracles and wonders ? had they preacht to the gentiles , where was their gift of tongues , to preach to all nations , who could speak no tongues but one ? had christ sent to athens to stock himself with preachers , he might have found great scholars there , but hard to be perswaded to forsake their own schools , and to list themselves in his : nay , these for some ages were the greatest enemies of the faith ; men who measured truth by aristotles precepts , and would believe no more then what some plato taught : nay , men who , like porphyrius , called the christian religion barbaram philosophiam , a barbarous philosophy ; a new doctrine creeping forth into the world by the foolishness of preaching ; affraid to enter combate with any rational dispute , or to endure a tryal where right reason was opponent . according to that which st. paul hath delivered in the first chapter of his first epistle to the corinthians , at 22 , 23. verses , where he sayes , the jews require a sign , and the greeks seek after wisdom . that is , the jews would believe no more of the gospel then they saw confirmed by miracle , and proved by signs and wonders : and the learned greeks or gentiles would admit no more then they saw confirmed by syllogisme , and proved by demonstration . in this scarcity of preachers then , to win upon all parties , and to captivate both jews and gentiles to the obedience of the gospel , the holy ghost pour'd forth his gifts , proportion'd to the work which each man was to do , as time , place and countrey needed : to one was given the word of wisdom , to another the word of knowledge , to another prophecy , to another the gift of healing , to another the gift of miracles , to another the gift to discern true prophets from the false , to another the gift of tongues , to another the gift to interpret the sense and meaning of those tongues : and all these wrought that one and self-same spirit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for the building of the church ; as you may read in the 12. chapter of the first epistle to the corinthians , the 11. first verses . now in the distribution and imparting of those gifts , unless it were our saviour christ the son of god himself , in whom this holy spirit had no limit , bound or measure , he never did pour forth himself in such overflowing gifts as he did on the apostles , the first preachers of the gospel . the old prophets had him sparingly , more sprinkled then poured forth ; he was to them a little brook , to these a full-tide sea ; he fell in single drops on them , on these in full-grown showres . besides , they had him but sometimes , these to themselves and heirs : they were able , like a firm estate , to bequeath him in their wills , and to make him their gift to others , as he was his own gift to them ; for whereever they laid their hands the holy ghost still followed . the gift of tongues , of prophecy , of miracles and healing , were as naturally diffused by them as the sun sheds light and beams . and now i speak of miracles , methinks the persons were the greatest , upon whom this holy spirit did thus pour forth his gifts . that men not bred to letters should suddenly grow wise , and be every one a school and athens to himself ; to be able to maintain disputes with great scholars of all sects ; to make a sadducee confess there was a resurrection , and to make a pharisee recant his false glosses on the law ; nay , to make aristotles school send forth disciples unto christ , and to erect a new church in plato's commonwealth ; to see a zeno or chrysippus surrender up his chair , and sit at the feet of a poor fisherman inspired ; to hear an apollos so eloquent in preaching , as if some tully or demosthenes were got up into the pulpit ; to hear men speak all languages , who had learned no tongue but one , so as to be thought natives in all countries where they came , and who travelled through the world , yet never went from home ; lastly , to see a plain unskilful man , who never heard of galen , and to whom hippocrates was utterly unknown , without the help of medicines do cures beyond the power of physick , to cure palsies , fevers , dropsies , gouts , by the bare virtue of a word ; to make blind men see , and lame men walk , by virtue of a touch ; nay , to make their shadows do the business of physicians , and to cure all diseases by their bare shadows passing by : these , these indeed were gifts which bore down the world before them ; these changed the face of empires , and gave new form to states ; converted heathens into christians , and idolaters to saints . now , whether all these gifts , or any one of these , were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or gift here given to this bishop , because this text is silent , i cannot well determine . grotius thinks it was the gift of tongues ; and perhaps his reason was , because being an evangelist and co-adjutor to st. paul , whose task and business 't was to preach the gospel to all nations , this could not well be done without the language of all nations . others think it was the gift of wisdom , by which without the help of books he was inspired with knowledge . but then why did st. paul , in the verse next before this text , bid him improve himself by study , and addict himself to reading and exhortation till he came ? where by reading sure is meant the theory of knowledge , by exhortation the exercise and reduction of it into practice . others therefore think , that here is meant the gift of healing . but then st. chrysostoms dispute in his homily on that text , drink no longer water , but use a little wine for thy stomachs sake and often infirmities , will deserve to be considered , and to have the question askt , why , if he had the gift of healing , did he not heal himself ? unless this may be an answer , that being but a novice , or young man , endued with the gifts and parts of old , god would not give him leave to cure this weaknesse in himself , lest his gift of knowledge should swell and puff him up . since the gifts of the holy ghost are not so secure from danger , but that they may degenerate into high-mindednesse and pride . nay , this it seems was st. pauls very case ; who though he had the gift of healing to that miraculous degree , as to be able to raise men from the dead ; yet after his strange rapture up into the third heaven , after all the glorious visions and revelations of that place , lest he should be exalted above the measure of a man , a thorn in the flesh , called the messenger of satan , was sent to buffet him , and to humble him again : in the 12. chapter of the 2. epistle to the corinthians , at the 7. verse . where some too injuriously , and too unchastely too , by that thorn in the flesh conceive some concupiscence or lust ; but he himself calls it an infirmity or weaknesse , for which his gift of healing could not contrive a cure ; as you may gather from the 8 , & 9. verses of that chapter . but now after all this which i hitherto have said , what if the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or gift , here mentioned in this text , were none of all these , but the very office of a bishop , here given him by prophecy , with the laying on of hands ? certainly , if those ancient fathers and great lights of the church , who living near the spring-head did see the stream run clear , wrote not by a false light , which deceived themselves and others ; st. jerome , ambrose , haymo , primasius , and some others , in which number was lyranus , were of this opinion . nay , the 2. canon of the nicene council , the 18. canon of the council of ancyra , the 101. canon of the council called in africk , do speak as if those fathers did either make those canons , or did inspire the pen of the scribe or register who wrote them . and truly , if i may joyn historians to those councils and those fathers , eusebius in his 6. book and 8. chapter , socrates in his 7. book and 41. chapter , do make the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the last word in this text , bear the same sense and meaning with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies not a presbytery of elders , but the very office of an elder , ordained and made a bishop . indeed this text in greek , if we transpose the words a little , doth seem to favor this opinion , and may be made to run thus ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is , neglect not the gift of eldership which is in thee , which was given thee by prophecy , with the laying on of hands . where it would not be hard to prove to you by the best primitive records , that the word eldership , where ere 't is used in the writings of the new testament , signifies the dignity and office of a bishop . nay , if you will hear me quote a more authentick author then all these , not for his integrity , ( for he was no friend to bishops ) nor yet for his parts , ( for st. jerome sure had greater ) but for his authority , which ought not to be question'd , when the enemy of a cause bears witness to the truth ; mr. calvin himself was of this opinion ; who in the 4. book of his institutions , and the 3. chapter , hath translated this greek text into this modern latine , fac ut gratia quam per manuum impositionem accepisti , cum te presbyterum crearem , non sit irrita . take heed the grace or favour which was bestowed upon thee by the laying on of hands , when i made thee a presbyter , were not given thee in vain . where though he do mistake the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies a grace or favour , as the other doth a gift ; yet he did not erre when he made both words agree in this , that in this place they signifie an office given by the church . but what need i quote authorities either ancient or more modern , when i have a clear demonstration of gods spirit , that by the gift here in this place is meant an office given ? for doth not st. paul remove all clouds , and lend a sun-beam to this text , in the 4. chapter of the ephesians , from the 8. to the 12. verse ? doth he not there strike one of the chief strings in davids harp , and say , that christ ascended up on high , that he led captivity captive , and that he gave gifts to men ? and what were those gifts ? the 11. verse resolves you ; they were the several offices and orders in his church : he gave some apostles , some prophets , some evangelists , some pastors , and some teachers ; as you may read in that place . and all this for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the building of his church ; as the end is exprest in the 12. verse of that chapter . onely by the way i cannot but observe , that in the bestowing of those gifts , those church offices and functions , as none were to partake them without commission from the church ; so lest the church should erre in the admission of the persons , they still brought their letters testimonial from gods spirit . he first by some prophet designed and named them to their office , before the church drew up their patent , by the imposition of their hands . which is the conge d'eslire , or third part of this text , namely , the prophecies which markt out this bishop for his see. what prophet 't was , or whether one or many , by whom the holy ghost design'd this bishop to his office , is wrapt up in a cloud which affords no light to see by . but sure 't was none of the old prophets , who though they were called seers , yet this person stood too distant to fall within their view . and because the name of the new prophet is not set down in particular , the most we can do is to seek for him by conjecture . in the 21. chapter of the acts , at the 8 , 9. verses , 't is said , that st. paul in his travels with this disciple in his train , came to caesarea , where dwelt philip the evangelist ; into whose house they entered , and abode there many dayes : and that philip had four daughters , virgins , which did prophesie . again , 't is said at the 10 , 11. verses of that chapter , that whilest they staid there , a certain prophet named agabus came down from judaea , who prophesied against pauls going to jerusalem . now the circumstances of persons , time and place thus laid together , have made it probable to some , that some one of these she-prophetesses , conversing daily with him , or that agabus , who forewarned st. paul of his imprisonment and bonds , were opportunely moved by gods spirit in that place , to nominate this timothy to his bishoprick and charge , of which st. paul no longer could be an over-seer . and great reason there was why the prophets should have a hand in all such sacred nominations ; who standing next to the apostles in the bill and catalogue of honour , ( for there were first apostles , then prophets , then evangelists , then pastors ) as an evangelist was a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a fellow-labourer or assistant to a travelling apostle in the dispersion of the gospel ; so when he was to fix and settle in some one certain place , and from an itinerant preacher or evangelist was to pass into a bishop , for order sake some prophet , who stood next in rank above him , was to recommend him to the consecration of the church , to point him out his diocese where he was to reside , with the full power of an apostle fixt and seated to his charge . so that the business of those prophets was partly to foretell the contingent future accidents which were to happen in the church , partly to provide fit guides and rulers for it . but whoe're the prophet was ( for 't is but curiosity to search ) the same holy spirit which did consecrate our saviour to be the head of the church , and to publish his own gospel , in the 4. chapter of st. luke at the 18. verse , where he sayes , and quotes the prophet esay for it , the spirit of the lord is upon me , because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel ; and the same holy spirit who commissioned the apostles to go and plant a church in all nations of the world ; the same holy spirit , i say , did direct and guide the church in the choice of the persons who were to follow and succeed them . for here if i may draw waters from the same fountains and spring-heads from whence others have poured forth their discourses on this subject , in the first age of the church , when 't was but yet a tender plant , the first businesse of the apostles was in their travels through the world , to convert it from idolatrie , and to gain proselytes to christ. when the number of believers was every where increast , and the name of christian , which at first began at antioch , was every where disperst as far as words were names of persons ; the next business of the apostles ( whose commission like the sun 's was never to stand still or settle in one place , but still to move like him from one countrey to another ) was to mould their new believers into well-form'd and govern'd churches , especially in great cities , such as ephesus and corinth ; and to appoint them over-seers , who should both teach and rule the flock : lest being left like sheep without a shepherd to o'relook them , they either should be swallowed up by their own heresies and schisms , or should break out of the fold , and relapse back again to heathens . these overseers , or , as the scripture calls them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , these bishops of the flock , they were compelled to chuse out of their new converts and disciples ; who in that infancy of time , that famine of great parts , were generally men whose faith was far greater then their knowledge ; men not bred in schools , unskilled in tongues and arts , especially the art 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the art of ruling well . indeed they were such men as st. paul describes in that mean and humble map which he drew of those times , in the first chapter of his first epistle to the corinthians , at the 26. and 27. verses , where he sayes , ye see your calling , brethren , how that not many wise men after the flesh , not many mighty , not many noble are called : but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise , and weak things of the world to confound the mighty ; and base things , and things despised , and things that are not , hath god chosen , to annihilate and bring to nought the things that are . to supply this great defect , the holy ghost was fain to assist the very apostles in the making of their choices , and to furnish men with gifts and parts which might fit them for elections . nay , the persons generally were so ungifted , raw , unlearned , in all kinds so unfit to rule or govern in the church , that he was fain to qualifie them in a way of new creation , to make things which were not bring to nought the things that were ; to give form to shapelesse matter , to change their ignorance to knowledge , to make unwise men wise , and to raise their wisdom out of nothing ; to call light out of darknesse , and then divide it into stars ; to make those learned shepherds who were but lately sheep , able to defend their flocks from the most fierce and learned wolves : in short , to call a church out of a chaos , and give a beauty to confusion ; to dispose the several parts into well-tuned orbes and spheres ; to place great lights in this new firmament , which were to rule the day , and lesser lights to drive and chace away the night ; was a work which required the illumination of gods spirit , to hold a torch to those who had else stood in the dark . and this is that which st. chrysostom , oecumenius , theodoret , theophylact , and many other ancient writers have very well observed . for st. chrysostom in his comment upon this very text sayes , that in this childhood , this nonage of the church , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that nothing was done as mans wisdome did direct ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but by the direction of gods spirit : whose business 't was not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to foretell things to come ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but to reveal things present too , especially in the choice of fit rulers in the church . clemens romanus speaking of those rulers sayes , that the first bishops which were made were made by the apostles , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , having tryed them by the spirit . oecumenius also speaks as if the other held his pen , and sayes almost in the same form of words , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the first bishops were made bishops by the appointment of gods spirit . thus st. paul and barnabas were of preachers made apostles , act. 13. 2. thus titus was made metropolitane of creet , tit. 1. 5. and thus timothy in this text was made the first ephesian bishop , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by the spirit of god designing of him by the prophets . nay , eusebius in the third book of his ecclesiastical history , taking clemens of alexandria for his chronologer and warrant , sayes , that this way of making bishops , by the appointment of gods spirit , was observed in the church till the death of st. john , who after his return from his banishment to ephesus , being intreated by the church there to provide for succession , went through all the regions near in a holy visitation , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and ordained such a clergie as the holy ghost revealed . so that they who have been curious to compute st. johns return , which was in the reign of nerva , the 98. year of christ , 30. years after st. pauls martyrdom , do reckon , that from the day of pentecost , in which the holy ghost descended on the apostles in cloven tongues of fire , to the time of st. john's death , which was in the 100. year of christ , this way of making bishops by the designation of gods spirit , continued in the church 66. years complete . at which time the church having taken general root , and from a grain of mustard-seed being become a spacious tree , able to diffuse it self without miracles and wonders , those gifts of gods spirit which had brought it to this growth , and had every where furnisht it with rulers sent from heaven , like the manna in the scripture , ceast to fall on those who had now the promised land given to them in possession . but yet though all this be true , we are not to suppose that gods spirit did so wholly ingrosse this businesse to himself , as to obtrude those new rulers on the church without their allowance and approbation too . he onely did direct and name and recommend them ; 't was left to the church to admit them to their cures : he but designed the persons , the church gave them ordination , by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . which describes to us the forme of this bishops consecration , and comes in the fourth place to be considered and examined . 't is observed , that the spirit of god , who in the jewish church spoke by the several sparklings of those precious stones or jewels , which shined in the brest-plate of aaron the high-priest , where a diamond and amethyst gave oracles and answers , and an agate might be reckoned into the number of the prophets , removed those precious stones into the twelve apostles , and made them twelve foundation stones in the new building of christs church ; as you may read in the 21. chapter of the revelation , at the 18 , 19. verses . certainly , whatever in that church conduced to piety and order , whatever might be made a patterne for religious imitation , the christian church transcribed as holy platformes of their building . the waters of baptism , the bread and wine in the other sacrament , the distinction of their hierarchie into higher priests and lower , and the ordination of those priests by the laying on of hands , were borrowed and translated from the old temple to the new . in the pursuit and handling of which last , namely , the laying on of hands , ( which is the proper theme and subject of this text ) two things i will observe to you : first , the several ends and uses to which it was applied : next , who the persons were who were commissioned to apply it . first , as for the several ends and uses of this ceremony , in the times of the old testament 't was sometimes made use of in a way or forme of blessing . thus jacob laid his hands upon the two sonnes of joseph , and blest them on his death-bed ; in the 48. chapter of genesis , at the 14. verse . nay , in this way of blessing , if we may believe lipsius in his book de cruce , or several sorts of crosses , the same holy spirit who revealed the shiloh to him , the promised messias , christ , who suffered on the crosse , did direct and guide his hands to do something like a christian : for in laying his right hand on the younger son , and his left hand on the elder , the crosse postures of the children on whom he laid his hands , made his imposition bear the figure of a crosse. next , this laying on of hands was sometimes made use of in the making and creation of a great minister of state. thus moses did chuse josuah to succeed him in his power , in the 27. chapter of numbers , at the last verse . and thus senators were admitted into the great sanedrim or council , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by the laying on of the hands of some of the elder senators ; as the thalmudists report . in the new testament this ceremony was as diversly applied . our saviour christ laid his hands upon the little children brought unto him , and blest them , sayes the text , of which this was the mark and signe ; in the 10. chapter of st. mark , at the 16. verse . 't was also made use of in the visitation of the sick ; in the 16. chapter of st. mark , at the 18. verse . but it never was omitted in the consecration of a bishop , ordination of a priest , nay , of a deacon too . onely to make it the more solemne and effectuall , the church added usually their prayers and fastings too . thus saint paul was made a preacher by the laying on of hands , in the 9. chapter of the acts , at the 12. verse . and thus saint paul and barnabas were of preachers made apostles : the elders and prophets which were at antioch having fasted , and prayed , and laid their hands upon them , sent them away ; in the 13. chapter of the acts , at the 3. verse . and thus timothy in this text was made the first bishop of ephesus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by the laying on of hands . but why by the laying on of hands ? some disputing men have ask'd . why by such a forme , such a ceremony as this ? why not by a licence drawne up in writing from the church ? nay , sayes the independent preacher , by a licence from the state ? i must confesse the question is not so hardly answered as his , who askt what god did before he made the world , what kind of fruit 't was by which our first parents fell , where they had the needle which stitch'd their leaves together , or where they had the thred before the art of spinning was found out . for here suppose i should reply , and give this for an answer , that 't was gods will to have it so , so directing by his spirit : who then art thou , o man , who darest dispute with god ? must the potter give a reason of his actions to his clay ? but god , who made the world in number , weight and measure , who never did a thing superfluous or vaine , but made order to distinguish his creation from a chaos , without which his six dayes works had still lain in a confusion , proceeded by a reason , nay , a multitude of reasons , in this way of giving order to his church . for , first , what would men have him do ? issue forth commissions to the rulers of his church , as he did to the apostles , in miracles nad wonders ? had he gone no further , he must have still wrought wonders , to perswade the doubting world that they were rulers sent by him . and so when such miracles , such signes and wonders ceast , the church for want of miracles must have wanted rulers , and then for want of rulers must have ceast to be a church . the gifts of the holy ghost , which i mentioned to you before , though they made men fit , and prepared them to be rulers ; yet being invisible , secret , and unseen , without some outward mark to make them own'd and knowne , to those who knew them not would but have past for private spirit , not able to gain publick faith to the persons thus commission'd . some outward mark was needful then to let the people know who the persons were whom god designed to be their guides . as to let the jews know that christ was to be their head , the holy ghost descended on him in the figure of a dove ; and to let all nations know who were to be their teachers , in the sight of all nations then assembled at jerusalem , the holy ghost fell on the apostles in cloven tongues of fire : so to let after-ages know who were to be their leaders , the same holy ghost appointed the laying on of hands , as the way and forme of issuing forth his commissions by the church . and the reasons of this ceremony were yet more clearly these . there be two wayes , sayes the civil law , by which men take possession , and so gaine a propriety in a thing which was not theirs . if it be a thing immoveable , as lands , tenements or houses , by treading on the soyle they take possession by their feet ; if it be a moveable , as goods , money , ware or servant , to gaine to themselves a property , they take possession by their hands . so when god called a man to be his minister or servant , as to preach , or beare some publick office in his church , by the hands of his church he took possession of him , and the person thus laid hands on was no more his owne , but gods. next , this laying on of hands , as it was a forme of alienation , by which the person thus ordained did quit all interest in himself , and past himself away to the service of gods church ; so it was a forme of hallowing and consecration too . the case stood with men ordained as it did with other things made holy . as for example , in the old testament , a beast in the herd was but a common creature of the field , indifferent for the shambles or to be made a sacrifice : but being fetcht from thence and brought into the temple , when the priests which waited there had laid their hands upon him , he was no more one of the herd , but an oblation for the altar ; and of a beast became the expiation of a sinne. the stones in the quarrey are but vulgar , common stones , indifferent to be wrought into a kitchin or a temple : but being fetcht from thence , and made a consecrated building , that which was a common heap becomes a house of prayer . once more : the waters running in the streame , or drawne out of the well , are but a common element , no holier then the streame : but being poured into the font , and there applied to baptisme , that which was common water puts on the nature of a sacrament . and i might say as much of the lords supper too ; the bread in the common lump is indifferent for all tables , no holier then the sheafe , or corne ungathered in the field : but being made into a loafe , and set upon the holy table , and there being touched and hallowed by the priest , that which was a loafe becomes the body of our saviour . in short , as holinesse , in the best and strictest definition of it , is nothing but the separation or apartment of a thing from a common use to a religious and divine , ( as the sabbath was called holy , because a common part of time was divided from the rest , and allotted to gods service : ) so a man thus ordained by the laying on of hands , became a person separated from the common heap of men , a person hallowed for a work whose institution was divine . thirdly , how shall men preach except they be sent ? sayes saint paul , in the 10. chapter of the romans , at the 15. verse . where the question is not put as if it were physically impossible for men to preach to others without authority or licence from the church . in our late licencious times , where men inspired themselves , the cobler , weaver , tinker , and lay-preaching souldier did it , and went up into the pulpit with a sword by their side , or with an awle , or shuttle , or trowel in their hand . but quo jure ? where was their warrant or commission to do so ? who signed and sealed their patent by the laying on of hands ? certainly , if men have not power to preach without this authorizing forme , i am not erastian enough to believe that they may assume the power and usage of the keyes , excommunicate , ordaine , confirme , deliver up to satan , and judicially passe censures upon schismes , heresies and scandals . this then being clear , the next thing to be enquired is , who the persons were who were commissioned to do this . if we may believe irenaeus , eusebius and tertullian , the apostles singly did it by their laying on of hands . thus polycarp at smyrna was made a bishop by saint john , thus euodius at antioch was made a bishop by saint peter , and thus by the same hands were linus , cletus , clemens romanus made at rome . nay , in the first chapter of the second epistle to timothy ▪ at the sixth verse , 't is said , that by saint paul's hands alone this bishop was ordained ; stir up the gift of god which is in thee , sayes the apostle in that place , which was given thee by the putting on of my hands . why is there mention made then in this text of a presbytery ? what means this presbytery , with their laying on of hands ? do you not wonder , holy fathers , that the same master calvin , who took this word presbytery for the office of an elder , should from the same word set up his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , his compounded mixt presbytery of spiritual and lay-elders ? a thing of which aërius the heretick never dreamt , nor did iscbyras or colluthus ever receive into their fancy . certainly , those famous lights and fathers of the church , saint chrysostome , theodoret , theophylact , and others , were so far from allowing of lay-elders in this work , that they would not allow a presbyter to lay hands upon a bishop ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inferiour priests assisted not at this higher consecration . 't was still done by an apostle , or by some other bishops ▪ at least by two or three , say the canons called apostolick . which cleares the seeming contradiction between this text , which sayes , that timothy was ordained by the hands of the presbytery ; and that other text 2 tim. 6. which sayes , that saint paul ordained him by his laying on of hands : both texts joyned together are thus fairly reconciled ; he was ordained by saint paul assisted by the bishops , called here the presbytery or elders on the place . and now , holy fathers , if you will heare me draw your pedigree from the spring-head downe the streame , your order and the christian church , with its religion too , had the same divine original , and derives it self from heaven ; god sent his sonne , his sonne sent apostles , the apostles made bishops , and those bishops made their successors : and all this by one and the same authentick patent , as my father sent me , so send i you , sayes christ in the 20. chapter of saint john , at the 21. verse . an order which hath stood out all the injuries of time , persecutions of the heathens , opposition of philosophers , contradiction of hereticks , even all the powers of hell , which have strived to shake it by their violence and stormes . an order which hath filled our calendars with saints , our histories , with fathers , holy confessours and martyrs . an order which is promised to be as lasting as the sun ; for , lo , i am with you to the end of the world , sayes our saviour christ the founder of your order , in the 28. chapter of saint matthew , at the last verse . lastly , an order in our english church recovered out of ruines , made glorious after shipwreck , victorious over the rage and sacrilege of those who raised a storme in hope to enrich themselves with spoyles . in short , an order which nothing can eclipse , endanger or expose to the malice or designs of those who would destroy it , but the negligence or want of care in those whose order ' t is . which should be the last part of this text , exprest to us in these words , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , do not neglect your gift . but this being a piece of holy counsel , much fitter for saint paul to preach out of this pulpit to men so like himself , then for me so much inferiour in gifts and station to you : for me to teach a bishop how to over-look his charge , to prescribe him rules of government , or to hold a candle to him in his laying on of hands , or work of ordination ; for me to instruct him how to admit fit pastors to their cures , fit shepherds to their flocks ; where to let loose his holy thunders , and to call them back againe ; where to use the rod , and where to poure in oyle ; lastly , how to deport himself with all gravity in publick , and how to demeane himself with all piety at home , would be an undertaking like the foolish orator's in tully , who in a speech to hannibal taught him the art of war ; for which by that great souldier he was accounted mad . having therefore , reverend fathers , profest my submission and obedience to those rules and orders which you shall prescribe to me , but my very great unfitnesse to preach lawes and rules to you ; i hope my modesty will gain me your pardon and excuse , if i here put a period and conclusion to this sermon . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a50418-e520 the division . the person . his qualification . his designation . the form of his consecration . the conclusion . the blessed estate of them that die in the lord opened in a sermon at the funerals of mistres jane blackwel, wife of master elidad blackwel, pastor of andrew undershaft, london / by tho. manton. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a51834 of text r30511 in the english short title catalog (wing m518). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 71 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a51834 wing m518 estc r30511 11343113 ocm 11343113 47527 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51834) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 47527) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1465:41) the blessed estate of them that die in the lord opened in a sermon at the funerals of mistres jane blackwel, wife of master elidad blackwel, pastor of andrew undershaft, london / by tho. manton. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. [2], 39 [i.e. 36] p. printed for robert gibbs ..., london : 1656. 39 is printed upside-down. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. eng blackwell, jane, d. 1656. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a51834 r30511 (wing m518). civilwar no the blessed estate of them that die in the lord, opened in a sermon at the funerals of mistress jane blackwel, wife of master elidad blackwe manton, thomas 1656 13672 49 50 0 0 0 0 72 d the rate of 72 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-11 taryn hakala sampled and proofread 2006-11 taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the blessed estate of them that die in the lord , opened in a sermon at the funerals of mistress jane blackwel , wife of master elidad blackwel , pastor of andrew vndershaft , london . by tho. manton , b. d. minister of the gospel at covent-garden . london : printed for robert gibbs in chancery-lane , near serjeants-inne . 1656. to my reverend , and much beloved friend and brother mr. elidad backwel , preacher of gods word at andrews undershaft , london . sir , i have at length sent you the copy of the sermon , preached at your wives funerals ; dispose of it as you shall think good , either to your closet or the press : my judgment is for the former , but my affection will not suffer me to oppose , if you resolve upon the latter : if it may be any allay of your sorrow for your great loss , or of any use to the publick , i shall not repent of the transcription of it . this i may say with modesty enough , that the subject is useful and proper to the occasion . at the interment of my godly friend , who had so long waited on my ministry with savor and profit ; what could i insist upon more seasonably , for your comfort and mine own , then the blessedness of those that live and die in the lord ? now the blessing of the lord go along with this discourse , whatever becometh of it ; and make up this great breach to you , with the more abundance of spiritual refreshings . which is the unfeigned desire of . sir , your true friend and fellow servant in the lords work tho. manton . rev. 14.13 . and i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead , which dye in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . the chief wisdom of a man is to live well , and dye well , to live godly , and dye blessed ; the same corruption of nature that makes us unwilling to live well , makes us unwilling to dye ; to forsake our corruptions , and go out of the world , are both displeasing to flesh and blood ; therefore we need to be prest often both to the one , and the other , for the one maketh way for the other . upon this occasion i know not a more seasonable argument ; in autumn , when we see one lease , or a few leaves fall , we conclude the rest will follow afterwards ; every funeral should put us in minde that our death is not far off . some of us have cause to expect the next turn : old men in scripture account are as good as dead already , heb. 11.12 . those that lived longest , dyed at last : enos lived 905 , kenan 910 , seth 912 , adam 930 , jared 962 , methuselah 969 yeers , but they all dyed . all must dye ; the great care should be to dye well ; none can dye well , but those that dye in the lord , for they are blessed ; so it is proclaimed from heaven . every divine truth comes from heaven ; but some are more solemnly proclaimed from thence ; as the mortality of man , and the blessedness of the dead ; the mortality of man , isa. 40.6 . our affections are against the thought of that . the blessedness of the dead , in this place , against which carnal reason opposeth nature will so hardly bel●eve that the dead can be blessed , that we need a voice from heaven to confirm it , the context speaks of many troubles to try the patience of the saints ; now the comfort propounded is the blessed estate of the departed ; the worst that wicked men can do to the saints , is but to help them the sooner to heaven . in the words observe a preface , and a doctrine ; the preface shews it is a matter of weight : here is a voice from heaven , and a command to write for the more assurance , an open publication . 2 in the doctrine you have an assertion , and an amplification ; in the assertion , the qualification , the dead which dye in the lord ; the priviledge , are blessed . in the amp●ification you may observe , 1 the season [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , from henceforth ] . 2 the confirmation [ saith the spirit ] the holy ghost maketh affidavit : — 3 the parts of this blessedness , which are two ; a release , and a reward ; a release , [ they rest from their labours ] a reward implyed [ their works follow them . ] death to the godly is not onely an end of misery , but a beginning of glory and happiness . philosophers could look upon it as the end of misery ; but christians look upon it as a beginning of glory and happiness . because i shall not be able to discuss the amplification , let me open some of the circumstances . [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , from henceforth ] . those that dyed in the lord in former ages were blessed ; but these times did require this singular comfort , because of the dreadful persecution , and that from those who carryed the name of christians : now saith the holy ghost , not onely those that suffered by heathens are blessed , and counted the lords martyrs ▪ but those that suffer also under pseudo-christians . some indeed carry it in another sense , as if it were said , before antichrist can down , it will cost the church such a world of trouble , that from henceforth you will count the dead happy , as being taken from the evil to come , isa. 57.1 . others thus [ from henceforth ] that is , after salvation offered to the gentiles in the gospel , the dead shall be known to be happy ; as the apostle saith , that 2 tim. 2.10 . life and immortality is brought to light in the gospel . others apply this [ from henceforth ] to the time of their death , as if the saints were here asserted to be immediately happy upon their dissolution . but i think the fi●st exposition most simple and genuine . [ rest from their labours ] troubles , services , the labours of their callings , the troubles of their condition . the godly are taken away from evil , and the wicked are taken away to evil . from glorifying and serving god they never rest , but from wear●ness in serving god , from weakness , sin , and distraction . [ their works follow them ] . as it is said of wicked men , their iniquity shall finde them out . we carry nothing out of the world with us but the conscience and comfort of what we have done for god ; their wealth doth not follow them into the other world , but their works do . doct. the point which i shall prosecute is the assertion of the text ; that they that dye in the lord are in a blessed condition . i shall inquire , 1 what it is to dye in the lord ? 2 shew you how they are blessed . 3 whence it is that they who dye in the lord , are sure to be in a blessed condition . 1 what it is to dye in the lord [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] may be rendred for the lord , or in the lord ; as ephes. 4.1 . paul a prisoner in the lord , we render it of the lord or for the lords sake . 1 thess. 4.16 . we render , the dead in christ shall rise first , and ver. 14. those that sleep in jesus . which is to be preferred ? i answer , neither is to be excluded ; whether a godly man fall as a peace-offering or as a burnt-offering , he is still in a happy condition . [ to dye in the lord ] may relate either to the cause for which , or to the state wherein , or to the manner how we dye . 1 the cause for which we dye . so the martyrs dye in the lord or for the lords sake ; and are blessed of god , though , it may be cursed of men . the text relates to the time of antichristian persecution , when usually they dyed excommunicate or accursed by the roman synagogue . god hath a special regard to his champions that love not their lives to the death . 2 the state , wherein we dye ; so to dye in the lord is to dye in the favour of god ; in a state of peace with him as members of christs mystical body ; they dye in the bosom of christ ; sleep in jesus . 1 cor. 15.18 . are reconciled to god in and through him . there are two notable expressions which i shall commend to you upon this occasion ; one is in the 2 pet. 3.14 . that we may be found of him in peace ; to dye before the quarrel be taken up between us and god , that is sad . when a town is surprized by force , they that are taken with their weapons in their hands , dye without mercy ; but blessed are they that dye in peace . the other is in the 2 cor. 5.3 . that i may not be found naked . to be summoned to come before god , and to have nothing to cover our nakedness , that is sad ; it should be our care to be wrapt in christs righteousness ; that is the best shroud for a dying christian . 3 as to the manner ; they are said to dye in the lord , who dye in a gracious manner ; it much concerneth us and the glory of god that we dye well ; a christian is not onely to live to the glory of god , but to dye to the glory of god , for living and dying we are the lords , rom. 14.7 , 8. as to the manner [ to dye in the lord ] signifyeth . 1 our perseverance in communion with him , to continue our blessed fellowship with christ to the death and in the death . into the vineyard , mat. 20. some were called sooner , some later , but all continued to the end . elisha would not leave his master till he was taken from him into heaven . so till all be finished , we should follow our work close . let us take heed ( saith the apostle ) lest we seem to come short ( heb. 4.1 . as we should not come short , we should not seem to come short . enoch lived a long while , but all that while he walked with god , 365 yeers , a long age , but spent in communion with god! gen. 5.22 . 2 it implies the solemn actings of grace at death , the scripture takes notice of the last words of saints . 2 sam. 23.1 . the last words of david . death is a special season wherein to make use of grace ; of faith , love , zeal , and obedience . 1 faith . heb. 11.13 . all these dyed in faith ; it is not enough to live by faith , but we must also dye by faith . this is a grace always of use on this side the grave ; in the other world there is no need of it , when we come to injoyment , faith ceaseth ; at death it doth us the last office ; we see what it is then to put the soul into gods keeping . 2 tim. 1.12 . luke 23.46 . act. 7.59 . then do we dye in faith , when we can resi●n our souls to god , and send our bodies to the grave in hope . while we are alive , we finde it harder to depend upon god for daily bread , then for eternal life for herein faith is put upon a present tryal ▪ but when we come to dye , the strength of our confidence is tryed about the blessed recompences . this then is to dye in the lord , when we can look beyond the grave , and within the veil , into the glory of the world to come . 2 love ▪ in our readiness and willingness to be with christ , phil. 1.23 . i desire to be dissolved and be with christ . the spirit and the bride say come ; now god takes you at your word , and you draw back , let him be afraid to dye , that would not go to christ . 3 zeal for gods glory ; it is the last time you can do any thing for god in the world ; put in a word for him ; commend him to those about you ; as jacob doth the mediator , or the angel of the covenant , of whom he had such experience in the course of his pilgrimage , gen. 48.16 . and joshua 23. josh. 14. i am going the way of all the earth , and you know in all your hearts , and all your souls , not one thing hath failed of all the good things , which the lord your god hath spoken ; all is come to pass , not one thing hath failed thereof . words of dying men are of most efficacy and authority , as being spoken out of all their former experience , with most simplicity , without self-seeking , or sinister ends , with most seriousness ▪ for men entring upon the confines of eternity ▪ are wiser and more serious ; it is no time to dally and dissemble at the last gasp ; speeches of living men are suspected of partiality to their present interests ; or neglected as having no weight in them ; but the speeches of dying men are solemnly observed ; therefore josephs brethren to ingage him the more , urge him with his fathers dying charge , gen. 50.16 . thy father , when he dyed , said &c. men , as they are returning {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to the original divinity , as plotinus speaks , are supposed to be more divine , and therefore their dying words are much regarded . put in then a word for god ; an amen to the promises . carnal men cannot honor their principles when they dye ; the world fails them , when there is most need , job 27 8. what hope hath a hypocrite , when god comes to take away his soul ▪ when they are going out of the world ▪ then they fall a complaining , how the world hath deceived them ; but a christian when he dyes , he may honor his principles ; commend the promises ; give an account of the faithfulness of the mediator ; and plead for god at the last gasp . 4 obedience . a christian is not to dye like a beast , to be meerly passive , his soul is not taken away , but yielded up ; there is a resignation and consent on his part . a carnal man suffers death ; but a christian gives up the ghost . the scripture useth this distinctness of speech concerning them , as concerning the wicked , god takes away their souls , luke 12.19 . job 27.8 . they would fain keep them longer ; but the lord puts the bond in suit , and per-force they are dragged into his presence ; but now death to the godly , it is a sweet dismission , luke 2.26 . when they see the will of god , they hold out no longer ; their souls are not taken away , but yielded up to god : thus you see grace stands by us , when all things else fail ; it makes us live with comfort , and dye with comfort . when wealth fails , grace fails us not . so much of the first question . 2. how they are blessed . they are presently blessed upon the departure of the soul out of the body ; but more blessed at the general resurrection of the just . 1 presently the soul is where christ is ; carryed by angels to christ , and by christ presented to god , as the fruit of his purchase . that the soul is where christ is , appears by that of phil. 1.2 , 3. i desire to be dissolved and be with christ , to be with him in glory ; otherwise it were a loss , not a happiness for st. paul to be dissolved ; it is a sorry blessedness to lye rotting in the grave ; and onely to be eased of present labours ; for gods people are wont to reckon much of their present service and enjoyment of god , though it be accompanyed with troubles and afflictions . paul was in a straight , and he saith it was [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} much more better to be with christ ] a stupid sleep without the injoyment of god is not much more better then our present condition , but far worse ; what happiness were that to be in such a condition , wherein we do nothing for god , injoy nothing from god ? surely paul would never be in such a straight , if this drousie doctrine were true , that the soul lyes in such an unactive state of sleep and rest till the resurrection . this is to be no more blessed then stones , and inanimate creatures , that feel nothing . again luke 23 ▪ 43. this day shalt thou be with me in paradise , saith christ to the good thief . some to evade that place , refer [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] to [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] as if it were , i say to them this day ; but the pointing in the greek copies contradicts it , as also the sense of the place , [ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , this day ] answers to the thieves [ when thou shalt come into thy kingdom ] . christ promiseth more then he asks ( as god doth usually abundantly for us above what we can ask or think ) ; he hath reference to christs words to the high-priest ; the son of man shall come in his glory ; now saith christ , i will not defer thy desire so long , for presently shall heavenly joys attend thy soul . others seek to evade it by the word [ paradise ] it is a persicke word , but used by the hebrews for gardens and orchards , and by allusion for heavenly joys ; and possibly the allusion might be taken not from the delights of an ordinary garden ; but from eden , or that garden in which adam was placed in innocency . that by paradise is meant heaven , and not those secreta animarum receptacula & beatae sedes , some secret places for the repose of souls departed , which some of the fathers fancyed , appeared by pauls expression in the 2 cor. 12.4 . speaking of his rapture , i was ( saith he ) caught up into the third heaven , which he presently calls paradise . well then , out of the whole we may conclude , that the souls immediately upon their departure out of their bodies are with christ . again it is said luke 16.22 . the beggar dyed and was carryed into abrahams bosom , presently , in the twinckling of an eye , or turning of a thought . thus it is with the saints , which is a great comfort ; when we come to dye , in a moment angels will bring you to christ ; agonies of death are terrible , but there are joys just ready ; and as soon as you are loosed from the prison of your body , you enter into your eternal rest , the soul flyeth hence to christ . once more ; as the wicked are in their final estate as soon as they dye , and therefore they are called [ the spirits now in prison ] 1 pet 3.19 . so do the godly injoy their glorifyed estate as soon as they dye ; [ the spirits of just men are made perfect ] heb. 12.24 . how can their spirits be said to be perfect , if they lye onely in a dull sleep without any light , life , joy , delight , or act of love to god ? 2 they are compleatly blest at the resurrection ; what their blessedness shall be then , we cannot now know to the full ; we shall understand it best , when the great voice calls us to come up and see ; onely because our ear hath received a little thereof , let me endevor to lay it before you . in blessedness there must be 1 a removal of all evils . 2 a coacervation , and compleat presence of all goods . 1 a removal of evil ; as long as the least evil continues , a man is not blessed , onely less miserable . haman had all things that a carnal heart could wish for ; he guided the affairs of 127 provinces ; onely he wanted mordecals knee ; therefore he saith , all this avails me nothing . ahab had the kingdom of israel , and yet falls sick for want of naboth's vineyard . in engines of war , if one peg be missing , or out of order , all stops . in the body of man , if one humour be out of order , or joynt broken , it is enough to make us ill at ease , though all the rest be sound and whole : so if if there be the least evil , a man cannot be a compleat happy man . well then ; from this blessed estate of the dead in the lord , all evil is removed . now evil is twofold ; either of sin or punishment : in heaven there is neither . 1 to begin with sin , that is the worst evil ; affliction is evil , but it is not evil in it self , but onely in our sense and feeling ; but sin is evil whether we feel it , or no ; it is worst when we feel it not . 2 that is evil which separates from the chiefest good , affliction doth not separate from god ; it is a means and occasion to make us draw neer to him ; many had never been acquainted with god , but for their afflictions ; but sin separates from god , isa. 59.2 . your iniquities have separated , &c. let a man be never so loathsom , yet if he be in a state of grace , he is dear to god ; the lord takes pleasure in him ; though he should be roughcast with ulcers and sores in a prison , yet god will kiss him with the kisses of his mouth ; there is nothing loathsome and odious to god but sin . this grieves the saints most , rom. 7.23 . oh wretched man that i am , &c. if any man had cause to complain of afflictions , paul had ; in perils often , in perils by land , in perils by sea , in perils by enemies , in perils by false brethren , whipped , imprisoned , stoned ; but he doth not cry out , when shall i be delivered from these afflictions , but this body of death ; lust troubled him more then scourges ; and his captivity to the law of sin , more then chains and prisons . this is the disposition of the saints , they are weary of the world , because they are sinning here , whilst others are glorifying god ; not onely that they are suffering here , whilst others are injoying god . a beast will forsake the place where he hath neither meat nor rest ; carnal men , when they are beaten out of the word , have a fancy to heaven as a place of retreat : but that which troubles godly men is their sin ; well now , in heaven there is no sin ; there is neither spot nor wrinckle upon the face of glorifyed saints , eph. 5.27 they were once as black as you ; but now christ presents them to god , as a proof of the cleansing vertue of his blood ; there they are freed from all sin ; here with much adoe we mortifie our lust , and yet nature will be ever recoyling ; as the ivy in the wall , cut it never so much , it will be breaking out again : it is much here if the dominion of sin be taken away ; there the being of it is abolished ; the glorifyed saints displease god no more , and are freed from all the immediate and inseparable consequences of original sin ; from distractions in duty ; here love is not perfect , and therefore the soul cannot be fixed in the contemplation of god , and that is the reason of wandring thoughts ; but there the heart cleaves to him without stragling ; from pride , which lasts as long as life , and therefore called pride of life , 1 joh. 2.16 . we cannot have a revelation now , but we grow proud of it , nor an influence of grace , but it lifts us up , 2 cor. 12.2 there is a worm in manna ; but there , when we are most high , we are most hum●le . christians , is not this a blessed hope , that tells you of a sinless state , of being like christ for purity and holiness ? 1 joh. 3.2 . we shall see him as he is , for we shall be like unto him : what is it that you have struggled with and groaned under all your lives , but sin ? now that is blotted out , when the days of refreshing come . and as there is no sin ; so there are no temptations ; in paradise there was a tempter , but not in heaven ; satan was long since cast out thence ; and the saints fill up the vacant rooms of the apostate angels : the world is a place of snares , a valley of temptations ; it is the devils circuit ; where did he walk to and fro but in the earth ? but into heaven nothing enters that defiles . rev. 21.27 . no serpent can creep in there . christians , lift up your heads , you will get rid of sin and displease god no more ; here we cry , lord deliver us from evil ; and there our cries are heard at the full ; grace weakneth sin ; but glory abolisheth it ; and old adam is left in the grave never to rise more . 2 the next evil is the evil of affliction ; whatever is painful and burthensom to nature , is a fruit of the fall ; a brand and mark of our rebellion against god ; therefore affliction must be done away as well as sin if we be compleatly happy . as in hell there is an evil , an onely evil ; a cup of wrath unmixed , without the least temperament of mercy ; so in heaven there is happiness and onely happiness ; sorrow is done away as well as sin ▪ it is said , he will wipe all tears from their eys . the afflictions of the soul are gone ; there are no more doubtings of gods love , nor sense of his displeasure : here though we are pardoned , and the wound be cured , yet the scarrs remain . as absolom could not see the kings face , when he was restored ; in wise dispensation god sometimes hides his face from us ; we need to be dyeted and to taste the vinegar and the gall sometimes , as well as the honey and sweetness . the world is a middle place standing between heaven and hell , and therefore hath something of both ; a mixture of pleasures and sorrows , both good and evil are to be received from the hand of god ; but there there is fulness of joy for evermore ▪ psal. 16.11 . here we complain that the candle of the lord doth not shine over us with a like brightness , but there our sun remains in an eternal high-noon ; without clowds and the shadows of this night . the afflictions of the body are done away ; heaven is a happy ayr , where none are sick ; there is no such thing there as gowts and agues , and the grinding pains of the stone : the body here is called a vile body , phil. 3.21 . as it is the instrument of sin and the subject of diseases ; we have the root of diseases in the soul , and the matter and fewel of diseases in the body , peccant humors and principles of corruption ; as wood is eaten out with worms that breed within it self , so are there in our bodies principles of corruption that do at leng●h destroy them ; but there we are wholly incorruptible . yea , because deformity in the body is a monument of gods displeasure , one of the inconveniences introduced by adams fall , it is done away ; the bodies rise in due proportion ; whatever was monstrous or mishapen in the first edition , is corrected in the second . and for violence without , heaven is a quiet place ; when there are tumults in the world , god is introduced , psal. 2. as sitting in the heavens ; a qu●et posture . there is nothing to discompose those blessed spirits ; the company of wicked men is a burthen ▪ lots righteous soul was vexed with it , 2 pet. 2.7 . but there they are bound hand and foot and cast into utter darkness ; as when men will not be ruled , they are sent to prison : here the children of god are subject to a number of infirmities hunger , thirst , nakedness , cold , want ▪ but there we have a rich inheritance as well as a glorious , eph. 18. the distinctions of poor and rich , as understood in the world , do not outlive time , we have enough of true riches , which is eternal glory , and the full fruition of god : labour ceaseth , though there be a continual exercise of grace ; all things rest when they come to their proper place ; so do those which dye in the lord ; we still serve god , but without weariness : yea , we are freed from the necessities of nature , eating , drinking , and sleeping , to which the greatest potentates are subject ; though they are exempted from hard bodily labour , they are not exempted from the necessities of nature ; meat is for the belly , and the belly for meats ; but god shall destroy both it and them , 1 cor. 6.12 . the use of meats ▪ and of the stomach , and of the belly is abolished ; it is a piece of our misery , that our life is patcht up of so many creatures , as a torn garment is pieced and patcht up with supplies from abroad ; here the sheep or the silk-worm afford us cloathing ; the beasts of the earth and fish of the sea serve for food , and all to support a ruinous fabrick , ever ready to drop about our eares ; but then we are above meat and drink and apparel ; nakedness will be no shame , for glory will serve instead of a robe ; and it will be meat and drink enough to do our fathers will ; the body will not be a clog to the soul , but a help ; that mass of flesh we carry about us is but the prison of the soul , where it looks out by the windows of the senses ; but then it is no longer the prison of the soul , but the temple . in short , all that i have said upon this branch is comprised in rev. 21.4 . and god will wipe away all tears from their eys ; and there is no more death , nor sorrow , nor crying ; neither shall there be any more pain , for former things are passed away , there is quite another change , new dispensations ; no distraction of business ; our whole imployment will be to think of god , and study god , but without weariness , satietie or distraction . 2 in blessedness there is a confluence of all good necessary to the happiness of the creature ; our blessedness is full for parts , full for the degrees , and manner of injoyment ; and all this continues for ever without fear of losing it ; our crown of glory is a garland that will never wither ; it is an eter●●l state of actual delights ; we are blessed in our bodies ▪ blessed in our souls , blessed in our company : man is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a sociable creature , and therefore to his compleat happiness it is necessary that he should not be onely blest in his person , but in his company and relations ▪ we are brought into the presence of god , who is blessedness it self , and to the sight and blessed fellowship of his blessed son , and into the company of blessed angels and saints . 1 let me speak of the happiness of his person ; and then both of his body and soul . 1 for his body , it is now a temple of the holy-ghost ; he cannot leave his mansion , and ancient dwelling-place , and therefore he raiseth it up and formeth it again into a compleat fashion , like christs glorious body , phil. 3.21 . for clarity , agility , strength , incorruption . solomons temple , when it was destroyed , the latter house was nothing so glorious as the former ; men wept when they saw it , ezr 2. but it is not so here ; it is raised quite another body ▪ for the present there is to be seen a beautiful fabrick wherein god hath shown his workmanship ; every member , if it were not so common , would be a miracle ▪ all is ordered for the service and comeliness of the whole ; but now it is a vile body , subject to diseases , fed with meat , humbled with wants , many times mangled with violence , dissolved by death , and crumbled to dust in the grave , like a dry clod of earth , this is the body we carry about us : a mass of flesh drest up to be a dish for the worms ; but this vile body shall rise in another manner , like christs glorious body : when the sun appears , the stars vanish , their lustre is eclipsed and darkned ; but the sun of righteousness when he appears at the last day , doth not obscure , but perfect our glory . more particularly . if you inquire , wherein our bodies shall be like christs glorious body , the apostle will tell us that in another place , 1 cor. 15.40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44. let me single out three expressions ▪ it is raised in incorruption ; it is raised in glory , it is raised a spiritual body . 1 it is an incorruptible body ; now it yields to the decays of nature , and is exercised with pains and aches , till at length it droppeth down like ripe fruit into the grave , but hereafter it shall be cloathed with immortality wholly impassible ; what a comfort is this to those , that are racked with the stone or gout , broken with diseases or withered with age , to think that they shall have a body without aches & without decays , that shall always be in the spring of youth ; the trees of paradise are always green . 2 it shall be a glorious body ; here it is many times deformed ; at least beauty like a flower is lost , in sickness ; daver'd or withered with age , defaced by several accidents ; but then we shall be glorious like to christs body : the naked body of man was so beautiful in innocency , that the beasts of the field admired it , and thereupon did homage to adam ; but we shall not be conformed to the first adam , but the second ; christ in the mount , when he was transfigured they could not indure the shining of his garments , it astonished the disciples , mat. 17. his garments could not vail , nor their eys indure those strong emissions of the beams of glory ; paul could not indure the light that shined to him , when christ appeared to him from heaven , act. 9. but was utterly confounded and struck blinde ; by this you may guess a little at the glory of the body , when it is likened to christs glorious body : moses by conversing with god forty days , the complexion of his face was altered so , that they were glad to put a vail upon it ▪ in this low estate in which we are , we must make use of these hints . 3 a spiritual body , either for agility ; we shall not be clogged as now ; we shall be caught up in the air to meet the lord ; or rather a spiritual body , because more disposed for spiritual uses , for the injoyments and the imployments of grace : here it is a natural body , an unready instrument for the soul ; we are not in a capacity to bear the new wine of glory ; but there we are made more capacious , and stronger vessels to contain all that god will give out . the disciples fainted at christs transfiguration , mat. 17.6 . we cannot receive such large diffusions and overflowings of glory as we shall then have ; every strong affection and raised thought doth overset us and cause extasie and ravishment ; but there it is otherwise ; god maketh out himself to us in a greater latitude , and we are more able to bear it . 2 for the blessedness of the soul , which is the heaven of heaven , our happiness is called the inheritance of the saints in light , col. 1.12 . for which we must be prepared ▪ it is not for them that know no other heaven , but to eat , drink , and sleep , and wallow in filthy and gross pleasures : it is an inheritance in light ; and for saints that know how to value intellectual and spiritual delights . wherein , you will say , lyes the happiness of the soul ! in knowledge or love ? ans. divines are divided ; certainly in both ; our happiness consists in the love of god , and knowledge of god from whence results union with god and fruition of god ; it is hard to say which is to be preferred , to know god , or love god ; in one place the scripture tells us this is life eternal to know the onely true god , joh. 17. so that it seems to be the heaven of heaven , to have the understanding satisfyed with the knowledge of god , psal. 17.15 . when i awake i shall be satisfyed with thine image and likeness : on the otherside , 1 joh. 4.16 . he that dwells in love dwells in god , and god in him ; the imbrace of the soul is by love , the possession of god is by acts of love : one saith ( it may be not modestly enough ) libentius sine aspectu & te diligerem , quam te videndo non amarem . that he had rather not see god then not love him : here in the world the hatred of god is worse then ignorance of him , and therefore it should seem , love should have the pre-eminence : but we need not make a faction between the graces ; by knowing we come to love , and by loving we come to know ; as light is , so is love and so is injoyment ; here we love little because we know little , if thou knowest the gift , &c. joh. 4.10 . and the more we love ; the more we know : this is a fire that casts light . but to speak more distinctly , 1 there is the perfection of knowledge ; all the faculties must be satisfyed , before we can be happy ; especially so noble a faculty as the minde is ; there is a natural inclination to knowledge ; the soul takes a great deal of contentment in the contemplation of any truth ; the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul ( saith solomon ) shall be as the hony-comb when thou hast found it . prov. 24 13 , 14. right and cleer thoughts of god breed a rejoycing , psal. 19.10 . well then , this is no small part of our happiness to have more light and knowledge of god and of his ways ; we shall know many mysteries of salvation , that we are now ignorant of ; as , the nature of god , psal. 17.15 . i shall be satisfyed with thy image and likeness ; the union of the two natures in the person of christ , joh. 17.24 . they shall behold my glory ; our union with christ and by christ with god , joh. 14.20 . in that day they shall know that i am in the father , &c. the course of gods decrees and providences for our good , 1 cor. 13.12 . we shall know as we are known : that is , we shall be able to see how the unchangeable counsels of god for our salvation have been carryed on through all the passages of the present life , to bring us safe to the heavenly state . these are the deeps of god , and now there is darkness upon the face of these deeps ▪ the church is but a grammer-school , heaven is the universitie ; we shall have other eys , and other light ▪ prophesie is but in part now , our intuition shall be then immediate , joh 1.3.2 . we shall see him as he is ; now we see him not as he is , but as he is pleased to reveal himself ; now we see what he is not , not corruptible , not mortal , not changeable , rather then what he is . now we see him as he is in us and as he is in other creatures ; we track him by the effects of his power and wisdom and goodness ; but then we shall see him as he is in himself , we shall see him face to face , 1 cor. 13.12 . in the creatures there is vestigium , the track and foot-print of god , in the law there is umbra ▪ a shadow ; in the gospel imago , an image ; a fair draught of god as in a picture ; but in heaven face to face ▪ we have excellent books to study , the large manifestations of his glory , the majesty of christs person ; we shall always sit about the throne , and behold god in the face of the lamb ; there god makes out himself ●n the highest manifestation that we are capable of . 2 compleat love ; there is a constant cleaving of hea●t to god without change and weariness ; a love that never ceaseth working , and yet god in communion is ever new and fresh to us ; if we delight in any thing here , we soon grow weary and have a change of objects ; here are distractions and startings aside to the creature ; but there is an eternal solace and complacency in god ; a continual sabboth that never grows burthensom ; all the heart and bowels run out after christ , we never want the actual breathings of the spirit . the spirit came upon sampson at times ; so it doth upon us here , motions are fleeting and vanishing ; but there christ is a more lovely object ; and the delights of the soul are carryed out to him without any satiety ; they are outward things that cloy the appetite ; as soon as we have them we despise them ; we sip , as the bee doth of the flower , and then goeth to a new flower ; but there is an eternal complacency in christ ; here we are troubled when we want outward comforts , and cloyed when we have them , because curiosity is soon satisfyed , and fruition discovers the imperfections of the creature ▪ so that the more injoyd they are , the less beloved ; as amnon hated tamar , &c. imperfections that before lay hid , are then laid open to view , and so our affections are confuted by experince ; but there the more we injoy god , the more his infinite perfections are manifested , and the pleasure is augmented by injoyment . 3 compleat union with god and fruition of god . see 2 cor. 5.6 . phil. 1.93 . here we are united by faith ; but that is nothing to sight and immediate tuition ; we lay hold upon christ , but have not such an absolute possession of him ; he is a head that gives out himself not by necessity , but choice and pleasure ; therefore our communion with him is not so high and sweet as then : the iron that lyeth long in the fire seems to be changed into the nature of it ; we are then more conformed and changed into the likeness of christ : all the comforts that we have in this life , we injoy in gods absence , and by the ministry of the creatures ; now the creatures are not vessels capacious enough to convey so much of god to us , as we shall receive when he is all in all immediately . 1 cor. 15.24 . there is no temple , nor ordinances ; but god is instead of all without means or the intervention of such supplies ; we feed among the lillyes ; but it is but till the day break and the shadows flye away . 3 in our company we must be blessed ; there is god and christ and saints and angels , heb. 12.26 . we shall see god in christ ▪ the bodily eye , that cannot look upon the sun , shall be perfectly sanctifyed , glorifyed , though it cannot see the essence of god , yet it shall see greater manifestations of glory : how will the father welcom us , as he welcomed christ , psal. 2.8 ▪ ask of me and i will give thee , &c. so , well done good and faithful servant ; we shall not come into his presence with shame ; sin causeth shame , and maketh us shye of god ; as the eye cannot endure the light if it be wronged ; so wronged conscience makes us afraid of the presence of god : but when sin is done away , we shall have boldness in that day : as we shall have the company of god , so of christ , he cannot be contented without your company , you should not be satisfyed without his , joh. 14 3. i will come again and receive you to my self , that where i am , you may be also . oh what a joyful meeting will it be between us and our redeemer , much sweeter then the interview between jacob and joseph . christ longs for the blessed hour as much as you do : the wise men came from far to see him in a manger ; zacheus climed up into a tree to see him in the days of his flesh : he is another manner of christ in heaven , then he was in the days of his abasement . when joseph discovered himself to his brethren , i am joseph , it revived their hearts : when christ shall say , i am jesus , your brother , your saviour , your redeemer ; when he shall lead us to god in a full troop and goodly company , and say , behold i and the little ones , which thou hast given me , heb. 2.13 . what a blessed sight will that be ! then the angels , what welcom will there be between you and them ; when christ entered into heaven , psal. 24. they entertained him with applauses and acclamations ; stand open you doors , stand open , here is the king of glory , the lord strong and mighty in battail . so will they welcom the saints to heaven with acclamations . they delight in the good of men ; when man was created , the morning stars sang together and the sons of god shouted for joy , job 38.7 . that is the angels rejoyced and praised god : when christ came to redeem man , an heavenly hoast fell a praising of god , luke 2.13 , 14. when man is converted , the scripture tells , there is joy in heaven , luke 15.7 . so when we come to be glorifyed , christ shall come with troops of them to conduct us into those everlasting mansions . the saints ; your acquaintance , with whom you prayed , suffered familiarly conversed , memory is not abolished in heaven , but perfected ; those whom we knew here , we shall know aga●n ; a minister shall see his crown and the fru●t of his labours , 1 thes ▪ 2.19 . you are our crown , &c. and those that have been relieved by us , shall wellcom us into heaven , who therefore are said to receive us into everlasting habitations , luke 16 9. yea , we shall know those , whom we never saw ; why else is it made a part of our priviledge to sit down with abraham , and isaac , and jacob ? mat. 8.11 . as adam knew eve , and in the transfiguration peter knew moses and elias , dead many hundred yeers before ; so shall we know one another , we shall not go to a strange people , where we know no body : as men at a feast are social and familiar one with another ; we shall be discoursing of gods wisdom , mercy , justice in the work of redemption : so did moses and e●ias with christ , luke 9.31 . of the wonderful providence of god in conducting us to glory ; as travellers in their inn take pleasure to discourse with one another of the dyrtiness and dangers of the way . and these saints are cloathed with majesty and glory , more lovely objects then ever they were upon earth : and there is an innumerable company of them ; they were rapt for joy when they saw but two prophets , moses and elias ; mat. 17.4 . but heaven is not onely called a palace , but a city , a world to come ; there is a multitude which none can number . 3 whence it is that they who dye in the lord are sure to be thus blessed : 1 from their union with christ 2 from the covenant of god with them . first , from their union with christ , which can never be dissolved ; death severeth body and soul , but not christ and the soul . from this union there result two things , conformity with christ in every estate , and the communion of the spirit ; both which do imply the blessedness of the saints , even after death . they that are united with christ do share with him in every estate ; in grace here and in glory hereafter ; as to both , they are predestinated to be conformed to the image of christ : rom. 8.29 . and where the spirit once dwelleth , there he dwelleth for ever ; and therefore from the indwelling of the spirit of holiness doth the apostle infer our resurrection to a glorious estate , rom. 8.11 . and that losing nothing which christ speaketh of , joh. 6.39 . i would interpret of his not losing one member or joynt of his mystical body . secondly , from the covenant of god with them . christ proves the resurrection from gods being the god of abraham , isaac , and jacob , mat. 22.32 . the argument stands upon three feet . 1 to be a god to any is to be a benefactor , for the tenor of the covenant on gods part is , i will be thy god , as on our part , you shall be my people . 2 that god would be an everlasting benefactor , it implyes an eternal communication of grace and glory ; as christ proves from exod. 3.6 . that god assumed this title after their death . 3 this covenant was made with the whole man , not onely with the soul but the body , and therefore they bore the mark and the sign of it , which was circumcision , in their bodies . and in heb. 11.16 . the apostle saith that because god had a heavenly inheritance to bestow upon the patriarchs , therefore he was not ashamed to be called their god , implying that if they had no other reward then what they injoyed in the present life , god could not with honor ( such was the slenderness and contemptibleness of their present condition ) have owned such a glorious title and appellation , as to be called the god of abraham . what needs further arguing ? the phrase it self imports what we assert . when god promiseth to be a god to any he maketh over his whole self , his eternity and infiniteness for their comfort and use ; and so in effect saith that he wil be an everlasting benefactor to their whole persons in the way of an infinite power . let us now apply all ! 1 because this priviledge is exprest with a limitation , it informeth us that the wicked are excluded , they must expect a quite contrary estate ; as they that dye in the lord are in a blessed , so all others in a cursed condition . it is a sweet close when the body and soul part , but god and the soul meet ; when conscience shall become our compurgator and bear us witness that we have spent our time well , in fearing god and obeying god , then may the body and soul take leave of one another with an expectation to meet again in glory . but it is a sad parting when conscience falls a raving , and the body and the soul accuse one another ; the body accuseth the soul , as an ill guide , and the soul the body as an unready instrument . and at the day of their death , which is the time of separation , they curse the day of their birth , which was the time of the first union between them both , when they shall wish that they had been stifled in the womb , and had never seen the light , rather then to have lived together in such a fashion , and to part in such manner . now this many times is the case of wicked men at their death , death cometh to them as a double evil , as a natural evil , striking the body and dissolving the confederacy and union between it and the soul ; and as a penal evil , or the curse of the first covenant , wounding the conscience and reviving their bondage and fears of a worse judgement to ensue . and then though physitians and ministers be sent for , they may both prove of no value either to prevent the dissolution , or to give ease to the conscience . 2 it presseth us to provide for this hour , that when we come to dye we may dye in the lord . get an interest in christ that you may dye in the lord as to your estate . security will not hold out , when you lanch into the other world ; a wicked man comes to himself when he comes to dye . at his latter end he shall be a fool , jer. 17.11 . he was ever a fool , but then he shall be one in the conviction and acknowledgement of his own conscience , his own heart will make him cry out , oh fool , mad-man , that i was to be contented with such slight evidences for eternity . you see then it is good to be upon sure terms , and to get our union with christ so cleer and sensible , that when we walk in the valley of the shadow of death we may not be afraid , psal. 23. as to the frame of your hearts , it is a harder matter to dye well then you are aware of ; if you would dye well , live well , otherwise you do but provide matter of dispair and sorrow for your latter end . it is every ones wish , oh that i might dye the death of the righteous ! numb. 23. but it is not every ones happiness . if you would dye in the lord , you had need to have promises ready and your faith well exercised , that you may have good proof of it before it comes to stead you in death . in bello non licet his peccare . as in war so in death there is no erring twice , then you are to throw your last cast for everlasting woe or weale ; to do that which you never did before ; you had need of armour of proof ; to deal with the last enemy . how foolishly do they deal that defer all to this hour , & are then to get faith when they should reduce it into practice ? faith is a grace wrought by degrees to strength and perfection ; now to put it to the hardest tryal at first is absurd and irrational . you should have your evidences cleer , your promises ready , your experiences at hand , that you may be able to comfort your selves , and too plead for god , and to speak to the standers-by of the long proof you have had of his being a good master , and a gracious father to you . how is it then ? are all things set at rights between god and your souls ? have you laid up comforts for this great day of expence ? is your dying speech ready ? are you provided of experiences whereby to commend the mercifulness and faithfulness of your redeemer . can you say that you have tryed him often , and he never failed you all your days ? if it be so , indeed your great work is done . 3. use . to encourage the children of god to be more willing to dye . are you afraid to enter upon your own blessedness and glory ? will you shun christs company when he desires yours ? love brought christ out of heaven , that he might be with us ; he thought of it before the world was , prov. 8.31 . and longed for the time , in effect saying , when will it come ? we are to go from earth to heaven , from conversing with men to converse with angels , and why so loath to remove ? what could christ expect upon his coming into the world but hard usage ? but labour , and griefs , and shame , and death ? he came to taste the vinegar and the gall ; we are called to the feast of love ; to taste of hidden manna , and the rivers of pleasure that flow in his presence . if you love christ , why should you be unwilling to be in the arms of christ ? to be there where he is beholding his glory ? love is an affection of union , it desireth to be with the party loved ; and can you be unwilling to be dissolved and to be with christ ? death is the chariot that is to carry you into his presence . jacobs spirit revived when he saw the waggons which joseph sent to carry him into aegypt , gen. 45.27 . what is there in the world to be compared with heaven ? either there must be something in the world to detain us ; or we are frighted at the terribleness of the passage , or else there is a contempt of what is to come ▪ you cannot say any thing of the world is more worthy then christ ; in this sense you renounced father , and mother , brothers and sisters , wife and children and friends , when you were first acquainted with him . it was the language of your souls then , whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth that i desire besides thee , psal. 73.25 . did you dissemble then ? or have you found cause since to retreat and begrudge your affections to him ? christ puts you to the tryal when sickness comes , he hath sent h●s waggons to see if you will stand to your word . is it the terribleness of the passage ? doth nature grudge at the thought of a dissolution ? where is your faith ? death is yours 1 cor. 3.18 . your friend , your advantage ; christ hath assured you of it ; will you trust his word ? you love him little when you have no confidence in what he saith . or is it contempt of things to come ? then why is all this cost ? why came christ to lay down his soul to purchase that which you care not for ? what needs all this waste ? christians hear for the time to come , we know not how soon we may be sent for , and put to the tryal , it is good to be resolved , that we may say the sooner the better . 4 let this comfort us concerning our friends , that dye in the lord . 1 thess. 4.18 . comfort one another with these words . this is proper , christian , scripture comfort . heathens to comfort one another , can onely say that death is the common passage out of this world , that all that are born must dye . but christians can comfort one another upon better terms that they that sleep in jesus are blessed , and shall we whine at their preferment ? that we shall all meet again in the other world ; that a day will come when the captain of our salvation will have his great rendezvouz , and the head of the church call all the saints into one congregation ; psal. 1.5 . and the whole flock shall follow the great shepherd of the sheep into their everlasting fold , triumphing and saying , oh death where is thy sting ? oh grave where is thy victory ? these are comforts proper for christians ; especially for ministers that are messengers of comfort to others that have more frequent advantages of meditation upon those priviledges then others have . shall we murmur ? and yield to sinkings of heart when god hath made a breach upon our relations ? how will this disparage our doctrine , and make others suspect the comforts which we reach forth to them upon like occasions ? thy words have upholden him that was falling , and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees ; but now it is come upon thee and thou faintest ; it toucheth thee and thou art troubled , job 4.4 , 5. to comfort others and faint our selves , is to bring a discredit upon what we propound to them . remember the glory of god is concerned in your behaviour under this tryal , and the honor of your ministry . let your christian friends know there is a reality in what you have held forth for their support in like case . let them see you make it your care to practise your own doctrine . we are set forth for signes . gods eys and mens are upon us ; do worthily and becoming your station . it s true , god comes neer when he separates those that are so neer and dear one to another ; and we ought to lay it to heart ; but that wherin you are like to err , is in too much sorrow and dejection of spirit ; which may be your wisdom to labour to prevent , as being seemly for a christian and a preacher , to shew his moderation . we finde that abraham mourned for sarah ; and he had great cause so to do , for she was a very good companion to him in all his travels and troubles ; she was very pleasing in his eye , in regard of her beauty ; she brought him a child in his old age , the son of the promise ; she is honored in scripture above all other women of her age ; the time how long she lived is set down , which is not done for any other woman . at her death abraham mourns ; but very moderately ; he wept for her , but we finde no excess in the measure or in the time of his grief ; and he is a good pattern . david weeps for the death of his child while it was alive ; for he feared it would dye ; and the thing he feared came upon him : but when they thought that upon the death of his child his tears would have risen to a flood , it was suddenly a low ebb , and he gives herein instruction to all mourners , and to you , teaching you to say wherefore should i now fast and weep any longer ? i cannot bring her back again : i shall go to her , but she shall return to me ; and plainly asserts that none should mourn more then they can give a good reason for , why should i now mourn ? you know it s no other then we ought dayly to expect and look for here below , vicissitudes namely and changes . and you will soon meet her again in heaven , where ( as i conceive with austin ) she shall be notissima tibi . and in the mean time , in your injoying christ you injoy her still in him ; and all the helps , advantages , sweetnesses , counsels , consolations satisfactions , defences , carings , cordials , contentments , whatever was lovely in her , whatever you loved her for , you still injoy in him , either by the administration of other mediums , or immediately from himself ; and what comes from god immediately , is much sweeter . you have cause rather to be thankful you enjoyed her so long , then sorrowful you can on earth enjoy her no longer . i know not whether her religion , worth and holiness will serve more to aggravate your loss , or to allay your sorrow . 't is sad to think you have lost such a loving , humble , godly and meet companion . but remember that because she was such an one , you have the more confidence that she is blessed , and is gone from you to better company ; even to the company of saints free from all sin , and all sorrow ; full of holiness and happiness , of angels too , of jesus christ too ; the king of saints , the lord of angels , he that so loved us ; he that did so much , suffered so much for us ; he whom the fathers before his incarnation so longed to see ▪ he whom every believing soul so pants and breaths after . which that it may the more sensibly appear , i shall here take occasion to subjoyn her just and true character . the character of mistress jane blackwel . she was a gentlewoman born , of the house of the wintringhams , a family of eminency and note in yorkshire ; educated and trained up from her childhood , till married , under dr. chaderton , master of emanuel colledge in cambridge , that famous godly man , and her neer kinsman ; by reason whereof she was even in her yonger yeers so grounded in knowledge , season'd with grace , and accomplish'd with abiliments and endowments every way , that she was a most rare and incomparable companion for a minister . some things there were , wherein she was exceeding exemplary . as she was a woman of a marvellous humble spirit ; that all who knew her and conversed with her , admired in her ; and it was abundantly evident and apparent in her countenance , speeches , gestures , apparel , and every way . a simple , single , plain-hearted woman . an israelite indeed , in whom there was no guile . a merciful , pitiful , charitable woman . open hearted , open-handed too , to her power ; yea , and beyond her power : spared it from her own back and belly to cloath and feed others ; gladly embraced occasions when offered ; yea , greedily sought out occasions . her love was not verbal onely , such as that james speaks of , go and be cloathed , go and be warmed , &c. but real , she refreshed the bowels of many . the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon her , and she made the widows heart to sing for joy . when the scots were shut up and starved by thousands at westminster , she very frequently visited them , and ministred to them . yea , bought divers of them with her own mony , gracious good men , whom she fed and cloathed , and disposed of into families and ways wherein they live to this day very comfortably . when the scotch ministers and others were under restraint in the tower , she was not ashamed of their chain , but diligently sought them out , as soon as she heard of them , and was all the time of their long confinement a great support and comfort to them ; she had not onely learned the heathens lesson to lay up , but the christians lesson too , to lay out according as the necessities of the poor members of jesus christ called for it . a true mourner . one that laid to heart , and was affected , deeply affected with the sins and abominations of the times ; with the miseries likewise and distresses of the church and people of god , made the churches sorrows her own sorrows ; had bowels of compassion in her to lament and mourn over the afflicted condition of the church , as if it were her own condition . remembred them in bonds , as bound with them , and them that suffered adversity , as being her self also in the body . the heart breaking miseries of poor scotland , broke her heart . she could not speak of them without many tears . a fixed , established , grounded christian : not like those the apostle speaks of , ephes. 4.14 . that were {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , like clouds in the air , or like ships on the sea , toss'd and hurried up and down with every wind and wave , driven to and fro , this way and that way ; but like a house built upon a rock , like a tree firmly rooted , a fixed star ; no wandring star ( wandring from one opinion to another , and from one way to another , but a fixed star ) kept to her old principles , and to her old practises , the good old way , the way that the patriarchs and the prophets , and the apostles , and the holy men and women in the old time ( 1 pet. 3.5 . ) went to heaven in , the way of sanctifying gods sabbaths , the way of frequenting publique ordinances , the way of performing family and closet-duties , the way of reading the scriptures , meditation , self-examination , &c. and for the sacrament of the lords supper , she received it constantly , as oft as it was administred in the congregation whereof she was ; never miss'd once . one that filled up her relations to the very utmost that it is almost possible to do . one that did abound in love to god , to his ways , ordinances , truths , people . hereby shall all men know that you are my disciples , if you love one another , says christ . and this evidence she had in visible characters ; wherever she saw aliquod christi , as luther speaks , there her love was fixed ; were it in rags , or robes ; poor , or rich , all one for that . all that were dear to god , were dear to her soul . no wanderer from house to house , and idle squanderer away of her precious time , in complemental visits . had learned to keep at home ; and that 's the duty , the wisdom , the honor too of a woman . sarah was found in her tent still ; and jael in her tent . this i mention , because she was much blamed by many for not going to christenings and burials , &c. as if she did it out of pride and self-conceitedness , and contempt and disdain of others , or out of a sullen retiredness and affected privacy ; whereas she did it out of meer conscienciousness of her duty . and she had many reasons why she did it , as partly because her eldest daughter dying in child-bed , she and her child both , about eight yeers since , she found that such meetings renewed upon her afresh the remembrance of that very great loss . partly because she saw so much gallantry and bravery in apparel , &c. at such meetings , as did not a little trouble her . but especially because she saw it to be so much a waster of much precious time , which she knew how to make a better improvement of . what shall i say ? in a word , she was a pattern of mortification ; of self-denyal ; of contempt of the world ; of strictness and holiness , and close walking with god , both in her general and particular calling , to all that were about her while she lived . and in the time of her sickness — so patient , so contented , so willing to be at gods dispose either for life or death , so fearful lest there should be so much as in her heart , any the least risings against gods dispensations ; so full of sweet , holy , heavenly instructions , exhortations , counsels to her husband , to her children , to her friends , her lips were like a well of life , feeding many , as solomon speaks , dropping like a hony-comb . i might enlarge . but shall conclude all with that of our saviour ( john 14.28 . ) when his disciples sate blubbering , and weeping , and taking on , because he had told them he must now leave them in regard of his bodily presence and go to heaven , go to his father , if you loved me ( saith he ) if you loved me , you would rejoyce , because i go to the father . oh how well it were if you could do so ! and do it ! you say you loved her , shew it ; and shew it in this way , shew it in rejoycing rather then in mourning . in rejoycing in her gain , rather th●n in mourning in your own loss . it s true the loss is great . the family , the city , the nation , the whole world indeed has a loss : good men and good women ; such as have an interest in god , and a heart to improve that interest , as they are a publike good whilst they live , so their loss is a publike loss when they dye . and in that resp●ct you have cause to mourn . but oth●rwise , in regard of her , no cause at all , but rather to rejoyce . for why ? though she is dead ▪ she is dead in the lord . and this blessed condition we have been speaking of all this while , it is undoubtedly her condition . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a51834e-390 stella amore dei . the young-mans warning-peece, or, a sermon preached at the buriall of william rogers, apothecary with an history of his sinfull life and woefull death, together with a post-script of the use of examples : dedicated to the young-men of the parish, especially his companions / by robert abbot ... abbot, robert, 1588?-1662? 1639 approx. 105 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 61 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a19568 stc 60.7 estc s113008 20176118 ocm 20176118 23670 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a19568) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 23670) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 719:23 or 1699:2) the young-mans warning-peece, or, a sermon preached at the buriall of william rogers, apothecary with an history of his sinfull life and woefull death, together with a post-script of the use of examples : dedicated to the young-men of the parish, especially his companions / by robert abbot ... abbot, robert, 1588?-1662? [20], 102 [i.e. 100] p. printed by r.b. for p. stephens and c. meredith, and are to be sold at their shop at the signe of the golden lion in pauls church yard, london : 1639. special t.p.: a post-script to the reader of this warning-peece, or the use of examples. london : printed by t.b., 1639. marginal notes. signatures: a-e¹². errors in paging: page numbers 77-78 skipped in the numbering. imperfect: print show-through. reproduction of original in the harvard university library and the folger shakespeare library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng roger, william, d. 1636? -sermons. bible. -o.t. -proverbs iv, 19 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 john pas sampled and proofread 2007-10 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the yovng-mans warning-peece : or , a sermon preached at the buriall of william rogers apothecary . with an history of his sinfull life , and wofull death . together with a post-script of the use of examples . dedicated to the young-men of the parish , especially to his companions . by robert abbot , vicar of cranebrooke in kent . prov. 7.23 . the young foole , as a bird , hasteneth to the snare , and knoweth not that it is for his life . london , printed by r. b. for p. stephens and c meredith , and are to be sold at their shop at the signe of the golden lion in pauls church yard . 1639 to all the young-men of my parish , especially to late companions of william rogers , apothecary , grace , mercy , and peace . deerely beloved young-men , that this sermon ( in effect ) was preached by mee , among you , you know , and the occasion you know too when i preachd it , it cam to your eares , & it wrought something in some of your eyes , but i little thought to have presented it to your eyes againe . importunities from abroad , and at home , have pressed mee to make this adventure . and now it is come , to whom should it come , but unto you ? it is true , my love to that dead young-man , made me willing to satisfie his desire : and your desires to have it , have not made mee willing thus to send it unto you . yet your courses being the occasion of it , and your welfare being the end of it ; you may justly chalenge it , and shall not by mee bee robbed of your right . who knowes whether god may leave a blessing behind ? i cannot bee assured , that , for the word of god handled in it , or for me the poore instrument that is used in it , ye will make much use of it for your good ; because ( i feare ) ye so often prefer an ale-house before the house of god. it may be , ye had rather be without it , than have it ; because the sight of it , to you , will be a sting ; the sight of it , to others , will bee but a remembrancer to them , to call upon you still to forsake those courses which ye love . yet herein have i hope , that you will love to see the picture of him being dead , whom yee loved and followed as your doctor while he lived . if it be not drawne to life , my eyes , eares , and understanding much faile me , besides , many witnesses will not faile to say , that all is true . i am sure , it is so for substance : and if it be coloured otherwise , even at the first it was rudely drawne , it is for your sakes , that you may still see him the more perfectly , and know your owne estate . you have had ( in your daies ) many examples , teaching , that there is no bargaine to be had in a wicked way ; it is folly to lay out your silver , and not for bread . but to have two in one yeere , layes the axe to the root of the trees of the wood , and preacheth , that except ye amend , yee shall likewise perish . yee have seene two apothecaries different in their course . the one so many wayes looking home-ward , that he died miserably rich ; the other so lashing outward , that hee dyed miserably poore . both of sweet and mild natures , and of different waies in life : yet both of uncomfortable passages out of the world . the one having first the devill presenting himselfe unto him to be his physitian : and next christ sitting on the throne , condemning his unprofitable life , and bidding him shift for himselfe , for he would have nothing to do with him . the other , as if hee would prevent christ , condemning himselfe to hell for ever , and ever . the one ( being very rich , and having no children ) was pressed by me , while hee was in peace , and before his last will was settled , of his thousands to give but one hundred pounds , for the repairing of the church , or other pious workes . but if hee were worth ten thousand ( as he said ) he would not give a penny , beside what he had given by will ; that is , twenty marks to the poor , ten pounds to me , and some other petty legacies . if i were rich , i should be loth to pay so deare for such a denyall , as he did in the end , full of horror to the last . the other ( being very poore ) was pressed by me againe and againe , but to beleeve in christ for salvation . but i could not ( for ought i saw ) prevaile neither . the one had lived well , except his misery : the other had lived ill , and so in misery worse . i know you feare not the danger of ●he first example : for you are out of the way of being too rich . if you have enough to goe like gallant blades , it is all you desire : yet if you have not , your credite must bee good till the quarter day , or the good market comes . but may you not feare the danger of the second ? him ye loved enough , his courses yee love too well . the ale-house must bee your chappell , kitchin , work-house : the first draught is your prayer , the next your breakfast , and the last your worke . yet if ye had but a priest that would prophecy of wine and strong drinke , and say , come let us fill our selves with wine and strong drinke , to morrow shall be as this d●y , and much more aboundant , hee were the only man , and you the only people of the world i know you think yourselv's very familiar with christ , as if hee would passe by these slips of youth , and imbrace you in the armes of his mercy upon the least call . but you forget that christ hath now taken state upon him . he was an infant crying in the cratch , and then he was circumcised by wicked priests , carried by an asse into ierusalem , hee was a preacher in israel , and then he was pressed upon by all , and sought to be intangled by his enemies . hee was a worker of miracles here , and then sicke soules and bodies troubled him ▪ he was under arrests and executions ▪ and then iudas did kisse , souldiers buffeted and spit upon him , and iewes and gentiles killed him . but now the case is altered , his present state admits no such neere approach . will you say hee is my sweet saviour still ? go then and tell him so : say ; lord , i am idle , unprofitable , and luxurio●s , but thou art my sweet saviour still . say yee to your fathers and mothers , i am drunken , idle , warton , rebellious , but ye are my father and mother still , and i expect your blessing , and your p●rse . surely such proud and dissolute carriage shall a thousand times sooner please men on earth , than it shall please christ in heaven . he hath redeemd you that ye might serve him in righteousnesse and holines all the daies of your life . he hath bought you with a price , that yee might glorifie god in body and soule , and ( by the grace of god ) save your selves from the midst of this wicked generation wherein ye live . perhaps you may think your sinnes not to be so great , but that you may keep your fellowship in the salvation of christ too . but they are not worthy of pitty who wilfully deceive their own soules : for in foure cases your least sins prove damnable in the issue . if they be committed against your consciences . conscience is in gods roome to guard you , and if that be affronted , it is given to god , and so you build downeward to hell . then if they bee committed with pleasure and delight ; there is no sin so small , which smels not unsavorily if it pleaseth . it pleased the man to gather sticks , and he died for it . it pleased lots wife to look backe , and she was turned into a pillar of salt. next , if small sins dispose you to greater . for he that hath avoided the great rockes , may be swallow'd up in the sand : and he that can keep out great theeves , may have his house opened by a little boy who creeps in at the window . lastly , if the smallest sinnes have a progresse , and go on . a little ball of snow , rowled , is increased , and many drops make a floud . can you say that you sin not when conscience checks , and saith , doe it not ? or that you have not taken pleasure in what you have done ? or that you have not bin disposed by your houres of error , to scandalize others , and neglect god and his worship ? or that your little sins have not multiplyed so long , as that they may ( for any thing you are sure to the contrary ) become an ocean to drowne your soules in eternall horror ? what now is to bee done , but that you see your wickednesse , and amend all ? i am sure it would bring comfort to your friends , to see you in the way to heaven . i am more sure it would bring glory to god , and honour to the gospell , to have his creatures and the professors of it from your youth , to live in the obedience of faith . and i know assuredly too , that it shall adde to my crowne of rejoycing , to see all , christs lambs , babes , and children to walke in that truth which is according to godlinesse . vp and be doing , and the god of heaven be with you . there is no delay must have place now . it is enough ( yea ●oo much ) that yee have spent the time past after the course of the wicked world . god hath held his peace , and not unsheathed his sword , and you have lived as if god were a favourer of sinne . but hath he not now begun to strik ? hath hee not let you see that there is no peace to the wicked ? if ye yet goe on , yee kicke against the pricks . if ye come in with bleeding soules : behold your blessed saviour hanged on the crosse ; he bowed his head , as if he meant to kisse you ; he stretched out his armes , as if hee meant to imbrace you ; and his blessed side was broached , as if he meant that even you should drinke his bloud , to pacifie your souls against conscience of wrath , and his water to purifie your bodies and soules from the dominion of all uncleannesse . will you yet neglect so great salvation ? my soule shall weepe for you in secret . yet that there may not be a cause , i hope that you will reade this that i p●esent unto you , and so make a stand . i hope you will pray to god that the cause may have accesse unto your hearts , and so make an entrance into the good way . and i hope that being entred , you will continue to the end ; and then as saint paul of his thessalonians , so i of you ; now i live if ye stand fast in the lord. even i , who have bin often grieved by you , and have often prayed for you with groanes and sighs , but now hope to be comforted in my bowels over you , upon your amendment ; and ever after to continue . your pastour rejoycing in the conversion of such sinners , robert abbot . the yovng-mans warning-peece . or , a sermon preached at the buryall of william rogers , upon pro. 4.19 . the way of the wicked is as darknesse , they know not at what they stumble . ye know my use . as laban said to jacob in case of marriage , jt must not be so done in our place : so say i ; it is not my custom on funerall occasions , to weare out the time upon the dead . though i grudge not davids mournfull ditty at the death of saul ; nor ieremies lamentations over jerusalem , for the untimely death of josiah ; nor the shewing of dorcas her coates , given to the poore saints at her buryall , ( for ordinarily , those that deserve no praise themselves , love to give none to others : ) yet saint augustine hath said it , that these solemnities are rather the comfort of the living , than the helpe of the dead ; and i have beene willing to follow this rule , in ordinary cases . yet now the case is altred . i have something to say to the person , before i speake to the text. i am intreated , earnestly intreated , by the miserable young man who lies dead at our feet , to preach to all the young men of the parish , especially to his wicked companions ( as hee called them ) something at his buryall , to warne them , by his example , to take a better course , that they bee not burned in hell with him for ever and ever . this i cannot doe , except i first tell you his example . heare ; therefore , that first , and god open your eyes to see the danger . i call him a miserable young man , not in respect of the devouring judgement of god upon him for ever ▪ for we have nothing to say to that . what are wee that we should sit in god's chaire ? he did rise and fall to his owne master , whose judgments are alwaies just , often secret : and to him we leave him , with feare and trembling , though not without some hope . for as hee was in his generall course a man of a sweet and pleasing temper , it beginning to grow proverbiall , that the divell never abused a better nature ; and as he was observed ( so farre as i know or have heard ) never to sweare or curse , in all his life , till one curse dropped from him in a distempered fit the night before he died : and alwayes to carry himselfe in words inoffensively to all ; except only once to my selfe , and another who had strugled with him from time to time , to pull him out of the snares of satan ; for which yet he was wounded in soule in his sicknesse , and asked forgivenesse : so , for his worst part , how freely did hee confesse his sinnes ? how earnest were his desires , that hee might live but a yeare , or a moneth , that he might manifest to the world the truth of his heart , in his promises to god , for amendment of life ? how carefull was he to warne his companions , or at least , to wish that they were by him , that hee might warne them , that they might not bee burned in the furnace of hell , whither he ( said he ) was going : these things in him , give advantage in us , to some charitable hope , that it may be better with him in the issue , than god would let us see . though god would not let us see one drop of peace to fall downe upon him to his last gaspe , was it not rather to bridle our presumption , and to make us to runne from the stinking dens of sinne , than to settle our judgements about his finall estate , which is farre out of our reach ▪ though we could not see that hee apprehended christ , might he not bee apprehended of christ iesus ? though we could not perceive that he knew , god ( to comfort ) might hee not be knowne of god ? therefore have nothing to doe with gods finall judgement upon him ; it must bee put over to the highest tribunall , to declare him miserable before the god of heaven . neither doe i call him miserable in respect of his repute amongst men . he was loved of all that knew him , hated of none , and desired of all that stood in need of his skill or practice . ye know that he was an apothecary , and practised both ch●●urgery and physicke . how successefull hee was , where he would shew care and diligence , you know too . as hee had put himselfe to it to gaine some skill by his own industry , and by conference and complying with the learned in that science , and with all famous practitioners where he came ▪ so was hee mounted to the height of same , sought to farre and nigh was he . the sober sought unto him , because of his sweet temper seasoned with successefull skill . the loose sought to him , because of his prodigall and bibbing course . the thriftie sought to him , because of his gentle rates upon his care and cures . he would not suffer them to spend all they had upon physitians . and the covetous sought to him , because of somthing pleased them not , he would ( for the most part ) take nothing for what he did . he would confesse , that he could by his practice get an hundred pounds a yeare , and spend an hundred pounds a yeare : yet he sold his owne inheritance , and spent it ; and did so exceed in lavishing , that hee scarce left enough to defray the charges of his owne buriall . some sought to him for one cause , some for another ; so that as one was called for grace , he might be so called for place and practise , luke the beloved physician . therefore he was not miserable in the eyes of men . yet i call him a miserable young man in respect of his own feeling & apprehension . to present this i shall shew you the ground , and his opening of it . the ground of it was thus laid ; he had bin religiously trained in his childhood . few youths with me would have given a better reason of the hope that is in them . he had also lived in a civill way , till he beganne to looke out into the world for himselfe . when hee had some few moneths beene seasoned with the flatteries of his followers , and , ( alwayes leading a batchelours life ) being used to make up some of his confections at an ale-house fire : the fire of the high priests hall was not more banefull to peter ( save in the height of peters present sinne ) than this was to this poore young mans soule . first , delight in vaine company crept upon him , next drunkennesse , next neglect of prayer , word and sacraments ; and lastly a setled obstinacy in these sinnefull and bewitching courses . i , willing to performe the dutie of a shepheard , and friend , timely fastened my eyes and heart upon it . i went to him , and warned him againe and againe . i told him what fearefull worke hee made , in suffering the wild boare to come in , to lay waste his former conscience . he would still answer mildely , indeed i will doe otherwise . i had so often pressed him to amendment with so little successe , that he grew weary of it , and mee . he utterly avoyded my company : if i had come in at one doore , he would have gone out at another . he hath many times professed , that hee could not abide to see mee , or bee in my compan● : not because he hated mee ( for hee would doe any th●ng for mee with all his heart ) but because i still told him of his bad life , and hee could not amend yet . in this state he stood one , or two yeares , or more . at last , as one cloathed with the scales of a leviathan , hee kicked against the prickes , and contrary to all admonitions ( against which custome in sinne had now armed him ) he wilfully forsooke the church , together with prayers , word , sacraments . thus hee continued about a yeare and three quarters . in this space ( as i could slide into his company , or as he fell into mine ) i admonished him still , wished him to beware lest the just sentence of god went not out against him , that he should never see gods face in the congregation more : i told him that he trusted his flatterers and drunken companions , more than mee , who loved his soule : and yet withall , that i would proceed against him by articles and presentments , which would end in excommunication , which was a forerunner of gods shutting him out of heaven , without his willing and hearty repentance . he answered mildly still , that hee would come to the church , receive the sacrament , and change his course . he gave mee day , and day , and day , and yet his place was empty . vpon some of the promised dayes of appearance , i sent secretly to his house , to call upon him to be as good as his word : he would make some idle excuse or other , and so still persisted . at the length , the church officers presented him for his neglect of the church , and sacrament , an whole yeare . halfe a yeare after they presented him againe , for his neglect a yeare and a halfe . in this time i still told him what was done , which yet ( said i ) shall easily be taken off with an admonition , if you will reforme . hee still mildly promised amendment . at last , ascited he was to answer ; and hee knew that i had personally appeared against him to the iudge of the spirituall court : for i told him so , ( as i remember ; ) and that it would not bee so easie for him to get off without mee . hereupon he was more hearty ( as i thought ) to come to the house of god againe , and he set his utmost day , and yet hee failed . at my instance , and fearing the dreadfull sentence of excommunication , which now ( after his many shifts ) was thundering out upon him , hee peremptorily set another day , which was the lords-day seven-night after , and a communion day . then he resolved to come to the church , and to receive the sacrament , to give satisfaction to the parish and court , and in the meane time to prepare himselfe . the lords-day before this , in the morning , when ( as he said ) hee was ready to come to the church , hee was taken sicke , and betooke himselfe to his bed . it was but as the fit of an ague , which being over hee was the next morning in his old course againe . about the middle of the weeke after the messenger of death came , and i heard of it . i forthwith addressed my selfe to him , came up into his chamber unawares , and said , oh , how often have you deceived god , your owne soule , and mee ! what is now to bee done ? i feare you will die , and then what will become of you ? i expect your excommunication , and then you will bee cut off from the church of god by iustice , which you have cut your selfe from by wantonnesse . hee answered , hee had but a surfet of cold : and , if i would be pleased but to write to the court , to suspend the sending forth of his excommunication till the court day following , he would the next lords-day come to the church , and receive the sacrament , and then goe up with my certificate , and satisfie the court. i did it , and prevailed : but his sicknesse prevailed that thursday , friday , and saturday upon him . it had emptied him of hope of life : and no hope of life had filled him with thoughts of this present guilt , and future judgement before that great god who is a consuming fire . now therefore , you , having the ground of the apprehension of his owne miserie , shall see how hee opened it , and made it knowne both to me and others . there was too great a fire within to bee smothered : it burned in his owne soule , and lightned from his heart and lippes , into the eares , and hearts , of those friends that were about him . one while he cries out of his sinnes , i have beene a fearefull drunkard , powring in one draught after another , till one draught could not keepe downe another : and now i would be glad if i could take the least of gods creatures which i have abused . i have neglected my patients , who have put their lives into my hands , and how many soules have i thus murthered ? i have wilfully neglected gods house , service , and worship , and now though i have purposed , god strikes me thus , before the day of my promise comes ; because i am unworthy to come among gods people againe . another while hee falls to wishing , o that i might burne along time in that fire , ( pointing to the fire before him , ) so i might not burne in hell ! oh that god would grant me to live but one yeare , or but a moneth , that the world might see with what an heart i have promised to god my amendment ! oh that god would try me a little ! but i am unworthy . another while he plyes his companions , praying that all may be warned by him to forsake their wicked wayes , lest they goe to hell as he must do . he forgat not his servant who was young : he calls him to him , tells him that he had bin a wicked master to him : but be warned by me . you have a friend that hath an iron furnace which burnes hot , a long time : but if you give your selfe to my sinnes , you shall be burned in the furnace of hell , an hotter furnace , millions of millions of ages . therefore looke to your selfe , and be warned by my ( your masters ) example , who must bee burned in hell for ever . lastly , all his cryes against sinne ( to his see●ing ) would not sufficiently set forth his estate , nor all his wishes , nor all his warning of others : but he comes to a plaine judgment , and condemnation , and leaves nothing for after times , but execution . hence againe and againe hee doubles it ; i have had a little pleasure , and now i must goe to the torments of hell for ever . and having sometimes ( being pressed by others ) prayed to god that hee would forgive his sinnes , and have mercy upon him : hee would adde , but i know god will not doe it , i must goe to hell for evermore whatsoever came betweene whiles , this was the close , i must bee burned in hell , i must to the furnace of hell , millions of millions of ages . thus hee fearefully wearyed out the most part of saturday , both day and night . early on the lords-day ( that day appointed ) i went to him againe . i found him deepely mudded in horrour and perplexity . i asked him then whether some great sinne ( not yet thought of ) did not lye behind , to hinder the beames of gods sweet grace from shining upon him ? and because he was suspected of whoredome , and using cruell meanes for the covering of it , i layed it befor him , and asked him in the sight of god , and his owne conscience now , whether he were not guilty ? he constantly denyed it both to mee , and three godly friends before , severally : and therefore i heartily believe him to be not guilty : especially hee constantly professing it when his conscience was most active and nimble . i then began againe to offer unto him the comforts of the gospell . i opened to him the promises of the largest size . i shewed him that god was delighted to save soules , and not to destroy them : and that his sweet promises were without exception of time , place , person , or sin , except that against the holy ghost , which i assured him , was not committed by him . all this could not fasten ( so farre as i saw ) i could heare nothing but that it is too late , i must be burned in hell. yet then was hee willing that i should pray for him , ( and therfore hee was not without hope , ) and i did . in which hee was carefull to goe along with mee many times with sighs . after this he was something quieter for a time , and i went to my office in the church , where i forgat not him , that god would respit him the dayes of repentance , that he might performe the dayes of promise . when evening prayer was done , i went to him againe : and when i had secluded the company , i pressed him with teares ; not to cast away that soule for which christ dyed : shewing him that christ rejected none that did not reject him . he answered , hee had cast off christ , and therefore he must go to hell . but yet ( said i ) pray with me that christ would come againe : there is yet an houre in the day ; and if christ ( god and man ) comes , he can an will assist you to do a great deale of worke on a sudden . he would not heare of that ; he turned away , and said , hee was unfit to pray . hee often complained that former counsels and prayers might have done him good , but now it was too late ; as if that fearefull saying had stucke in his soule , because i have called , and yee refused , i have stretched out my hand , and no man regarded ; but have set at nought all my counsell , and would none of my reproofe , i also will laugh at your calami●y , i will mocke when your feare commeth , as desolation and destruction as a whirle winde . by this time he began to discover some idle distemper in his braine , for want of sleep : for this was now the fourth day and night ( as i remember ) that hee had taken no rest . and had not his reason beene so vigorous , and his discourse so piercing , i should have thought want of sleepe a great cause of the whole combate . but when i consider his reason , discourse , and life , contrary to knowledge and conscience : doubtlesse ( whatsoever god hath done with ●is soule , ( and wee are bound to hope the best ) this example is a warning-piece shot out by the god of heaven , to warne all young-men with us , to signifie that it is high time for them to leave off their riotous courses , lest a worse thing come unto them . it is not bad enough to have these horrors and perplexities for sinnes and punishments ? he was no swearer , no whoremonger , no thiefe , no scoffer at religion , no perjured wretch , no wilfull lyar , no proud and s●rley resister of good counsell and reproofe , like too many other young-men now a dayes : yet when conscience is awaked , and sits as a iudge on him , onely for drunkennesse , neglect of mens bodyes , and neglect of prayer , word , and sacrament , he passeth this heavie doome upon himselfe , i must bee burned in the furnace of hell millions of millions of ages ; and at the last , in idlenesse of thoughts and talke he ends his miserable life . this is your example which he intreated me to lay before you , that ye may be warned by it to keepe you from hell. the living god present it as a powerfull example to your consciences that it may work that good which this miserable young man wished . and that it may the more prevaile , ye shall have a rule now , as well as an example , shewing the misery and horrour of a wicked life from this proverbe . the way of the wicked is as darkenesse , they know not at what they stumble . salomon had pressed in many words , ( because all words were not enough ) all young-men , in his sonne , to avoide the needlesse and vaine society of wicked men ; enter not into the path of the wicked , and goe not into the way of evill men . art thou allured ? avoide it . is the way delightfull ? passe not by it . doth thy way lye that way ? turne from it . art thou call'd in whithersoever thou goest ? passe away . this exhortation , being thus pressed with words , is further urged by reasons . first , from the persons and states of wicked men ; they sleepe not except they have done mischiefe themselves , or made others to doe it : for how can they , when they eate the iron bread of wickednesse , and the sodome wine of violence ? this breeds no sweete flegme to binde up the senses . secondly , hee urgeth it from the course of wicked men , which he sets downe comparatively with the godly ; the path of the just is as the shining light , that shineth more and more to the perfect day . the descent of grace is from heaven , as the light shineth : the degrees of grace are not all attained unto at the first , but more , and more : but the prosperitie of grace , where it is nourished by a godly life , is not to goe out to the perfect day . therefore it is excellent to be in society with the godly . but for the course of wicked men : 1. it is as darkenesse , there is the danger of it . 2. they know not at what they stumble , there is the signe of it . in this course of wicked men there are two propositions , which i shall labour to open , and apply unto you . first , that the way of the wicked is darkenesse . that ye may conceive this , i shall open unto you ( thorow gods helpe ) foure points . 1. what is the way of the wicked ? 2. how is it darknesse ? 3. how it comes to be so ? and , 4. why it is darknesse ? 1. the way of the wicked is the whole course of a wicked man , to death , and hell david saith , the way of the wicked shall perish : that is , his thoughts , words , deeds wherin he pleaseth himselfe , till at last he sees and feeles the empty vanity of them , when the comfort of them leaves him , and he fall into hell . 2. this way of the wicked is darknesse , by an absence of that first light which god gave to sinlesse , and obedient man. before man had sinned , hee had the light of knowledge , the light of grace , and the light of comfort . he could fully and fairely see what was fit for a creature , to keepe him in perpetuall communion and fellowship with god. he had the beames of gods grace in him and about him , keeping out the darkenesse of sin . he had sweet comfort in the injoyment of god , and himselfe , and in the best possession and use of all the creatures . but when hee fell from the principles of life , the lord and his law , he quickly was overwhelmed with the darkenesse of ignorance , the darkenesse of sin , and the darknesse of misery . our blessed saviour came to give light to them that sit in darkenesse , and in the shadow of death , and to guide our feet into the way of peace : the light of knowledge , that they that see not ; might see : the light of grace , that they that follow him , might not walke in darkenesse , but have the light of life ▪ and the light of comfort , that he might give beauty for ashes , the oyle of joy for mourning , and the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse . all wicked men that misse this , that are in hunting with esau , while this blessing is given , following the luxurious courses of the world in wickednesse , while christ brings life and immortality to light by the gospell , doe fall into darkenesse , darknesse , darknesse : because they loved darknesse rather than light : therefore their cogitations are darkened through ignorance , their foolish hearts are full of darknesse : they looke to the earth , and behold darkenesse and sorrow : they fall to the darkenesse of horrour ( for there is no peace to the wicked , saith my god , ) they goe downe to the place of darkenesse and the horrible pit shuts her mouth upon them . o woe unto them , they have rewarded evill unto their soules . 3. but how doth the wicked mans way become to bee darknesse ? as outward darknesse doth grow upon men three wayes , so doth this , first naturally , by some defect in naturall generation . so there being a naturall defect now in mans propagation , through sin he brings forth blind whelps . though more or lesse , for naturall excellency man bee not borne blinde : yet for morrall rectitude to improve his understanding to the best advantage for his happines in gods way , hee is darkenesse . secondly actually , by too much gazing on the excelling sensibles of the world , or by too much heate or cold , which checke or chill the spirits . so when wicked men doe too much gaze upon the deceitfull glories and pleasures of the world , when they are cold in religion or religious duties , and doe hotly pursue the pleasing vanities of this life , they become clouded in the thicke smoake of darkenesse . this blinded that rich foole from securing his soule : and zaccheus before his conversion from going the right way to heaven . for they that will bee rich fall into temptations , and snares , and into many foolish and hurtfull lusts which drowne men in perdition and destruction . thirdly , penally , when it is inflicted as a punishment : as when zedechias his eyes were pulled out as a just punishment upon his wicked life ; so when god sees the courses of men to be foule and detestable , contrary to the light of the word , and checke of conscience , which he hath given them ; then god justly , shuts their eyes , stoppes their eares , and takes away the key of knowledge : and so they are in darknesse , walke in darknesse , and know not whither they goe , because that darknesse hath blinded their eyes . now if you would know why the wayes of the wicked are thus said to be as darknesse ? the grounds of that speech may be such as these : first , their sights are hindred from seeing the right way to heaven . they grope at noon day , running headlong in their owne courses all the life long day , and at what time the night of death , or the sun set of sicknesse comes , and they begin to recollect them , saying , where am i now ? is this the way to heaven ? then they see what they did not see , and the whirlewind and tempest takes them , and they are carryed whither they would not . secondly , their footsteps are troubled from going about the workes of god. as the aegyptians choaked ▪ in their palpable darknesse , saw not what they did , or what to doe : so when this darknesse is come upon the wicked man , hee that walketh in darkenesse knoweth not whither hee goeth . here he goes and meetes with a blocke , there he turnes and meets with a bush : and after a thousand calls of god to doe this , that , and the other duty of repentance , faith and holinesse , he is so inwrapped in darknesse , that many things are gone about , and few things are done : those few that are done , are not done as they ought . 3. they are drawne on to many a fall , even to the ruine of bodies and soules . as men in darknesse ( if they will be doing ) stumble and fall : so wicked men in this estate stumble into a thousand pitfals . here they fall into pride and niggardize , there into pride and luxury , on this hand into covetousnesse , on that hand into prodigality , here lyes the drunkard , there the lyar ; here lyes the worldly old man , there the regardlesse young man. lord , how doe they fall in darknesse , till they are turned backe into perpetuall rebellions , till they fall and rise no more ? fourthly , they are smitten with feares & terrours when they will give leisure to conscience to worke . they are taken with feare where no feare is . as men in a darke night being a waked by fearefull melancholy , sight of sin , or lash of conscience , doe thinke every bush a thiefe , every gale of winde , the moving of satan , or the wagging of every leafe a summons to the devils approach : so is it with wicked men in this darknesse . fifthly , their shame is taken from them . they are foole-hardy and confident in the darke , because no eye sees them . it is said of the asse , that being pursued by the wolfe , he puts his head into a bush , that he may not see the wolfe ; as if , because he sees not the wolfe , the wolfe therefore sees not him ▪ so is it with wicked men ; they put their heads into a darke corner of sin and ignorance , and then , as if he that pierced through the darke cloud could not see , they goe on without feare , wit , or shame . they lay their iniquities on their skirts , and declare their sinnes as sodome , they hide them not : as if they hurted not them , nor would bring shame at the latter end , thus have i plained the way in opening this part of the proverbe : and now i write unto you young men , that you may overcome that evill one . suffer therefore first a word of conviction , and next a word of exhortation . ye may be convinced hence of two things : 1. first , concerning a wicked mans estate , that he is in a miserable case , whatsoever he thinkes of himselfe . if thou wert shut up in a dark prison , where thou couldst not have any fellowship with light , wouldst thou not thinke thy selfe in a wofull plight ? much more art thou thus , if thou be in the darknesse of ignorance , sin and misery . you will say , i see no such matter . if i am in misery , i see it not . it may be so , and yet your misery is not the lesse . as christ said , because yee say yee see , therefore your sinne remaineth : so say i , because you say you see not , therefore your danger is the greater . if in a desperate disease a man say he is well , it s a certain signe death is comming on a pace : so is it a signe that misery lies at the doore ( though you have shut it out a while ) because ye say ye see it not . put case it be so ( say you ) yet you feele no hurt by it for the present . ye goe on in sinne , and thrive , and are merry , and what evill can come ? take heed ; while a man is lusty and strong , a man can endure hot and cold , night and day , and never shrinke ; but when hee is downe , by age , sicknesse , surfeit , or the like , then every blast pierceth through : so while you are in health and prosperity , you are like a church wardens bill , which answereth all is well , when too many things are amisse : but when sicknesse , and death comes , downe you sink with shame and horrour , like the fishes of jordan which fall into the dead-sea , and are no more alive . yea , but you are not in this darke state ; you heare the word and understand it , and have a power to understand more : therefore certainly you shall not be darknesse for ever ; for a power doth dispose you to the act and exercise which shall follow . be not deceived . for though it be true of a naturall power , which comes into act by the power of some inward principle , that if you have such a power , it shall bee brought into act , more or lesse , according to the power , as when grapes have a power to drop wine , and apples cydar ; and so , if as men , you have a power to reason , it is more or lesse shewed by discourse , either by inward conceptions , or outward expressions : yet is it not true of an obedientiall power , which is drawne out by a power from without ; as when the waters of aegypt are turned into bloud , and the water at the marriage of cana was turned into wine : and so , though you have a naturall power to know ( according to your measure ) and so to be acquit of humane darknesse , yet amidst your hearing and understanding ; you must be turned from darknesse to light , and from the power of satan to god , that you may receive forgivenesse of sinnes , and inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith in christ . if therefore you would be freed from this darknesse , you must depend upon god ( whom you cannot command at pleasure ) to give the increase , and to acquit you from this misery . secondly , ye may be convinced hence , not to thinke it strange to see poore sinners to doe that , of which they are afterwards ashamed . the adulterer watcheth for his twilight : the drunkard seeketh his cl●s scorners to couzen his soule and pursue in : the lyar desireth his say-nothing : and all luxuriants hunt out their coverts and thickets : and when they are rowzed by the iustice of god and man , they cannot indure the light , having such evill deeds ; for they are ashamed and confounded . doe not wonder at all this , and much more in this kinde ; because what they wrought , was done in darknesse , and now it is brought to light . but why should i thinke darkenesse to bee the cause of their shame , seeing many of them have a great deale of knowledge ? it is true in truth , ungodly men may gaine a great measure of knowing knowledge : iudas preached for christ , and julian writ for him yea , unlearned men , whose cure is to feel divinity beating in the pulse of their hearts and lives , above the flowing of it in their braines , may take heaven by violence , while the more learned ( carefull to know and carelesse to doe ) may bee thrust into hell. but let them gaine what knowledge they can the understanding singly taken is not that which god most delighteth in , to keepe them from shame by it , but hee dwels in a contrite and broken heart , to keepe them from the power of sin , & horor of shame secondly , be now exhorted to avoyd the waies of wicked men , which will bring you to such sinnes as darkenesse breeds , and darkenesse feeds . ye shall one day find that this darknesse breeds carlesnesse , sinful delight , feare , and doubting . in darknesse men are carelesse of their goings and doings : so , while yee are in the wicked way , ye are carelesse of your duties to god and man : and yee regard not though ye walk naked ( without the garments of faith in christ , and the obedience of faith and your shame lyes open . in darknesse sinfull delights are most welcome : when drunkards were more modest , and ashamed of the noon-day , the apostle saith , they that are drunke are drunke in the night : and job saith , that the adulterer hunteth for the twilight , and flattereth himselfe , that god cannot pierce thorow the darke cloud . so , while yee are in this blacke way , yee freely drinke of this cup of the pleasures of sinne , even to the dreggs . in darknesse , they especially that are apprehensive are full of feates , whether they shall receive hurt , full of doubting whether they are , and doe , right or wrong . so while ye are in this pitchy way , in the midst of laughter your heart is heavie : yee some-times feare the hurt yee may suffer , what if i bee sicke ? what if i die ? what if divine iustice seaze upon mee ? what shall become of me then ? ye sometimes doubt whether that bee the way to heaven or hell , wherein yee walke . if it bee the way to heaven , which of the saints of god have gone before mee in it thither ? if the way to hell , why doe i walke in it still ? besides , yee shall one day finde that this darknesse feeds and nourisheth sin . for as men in darknesse , being set upon a course , will be resolute to doe it still : so while ye are in this way , ye will be fatted in obstinacy against god , and in resolution to doe what ye list . this christ lamented in ierusalem , oh if thou hadst knowne in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes . this also may you lament in your selves ( if you could ) with teares of bloud . perhaps you may think that all this will do you little hurt . but god open your eyes in time that you may see to your amendment , that it will bring you to the darkenesse of hell , where ye shall finde horror without the least comfort , and torment without the least ease . none of the plagues of aegypt were so afflictive to pharaoh , as darkenesse was . this extorted from him this speech , which was not heard before , goe you and your children , and serve the lord . how much more will ye be pressed with the darknesse of hell , which is the proper place of torment ! this makes these poore darke creatures , before they come there , to cry out , i shall bee burned in hell for ever and ever , what shall i doe , what shall i doe ? if therfore there be any feare of god before your eyes , if any bowels of compassion to your miserable body , and soules , avoid these hellish wayes of wicked men while ye are yong suppose that iesus christ , and satan stood before god to plead for you . christ could say , behold blessed father , i have taken their nature upon mee , i have done , and dyed for them , i have presented thee with a full satisfaction , and have offered to them this great grace to heare my gospell , and beleeve it : yea , i have beene assistant to the ministery of the church to convince them of their wicked courses , to move them to come to me , to assure them , that i and mine are all theirs , if they repent and believe the gospell , yet have they not honored me by faith and love . but sathan plead● , behold thou great god of heaven and earth , i never tooke their nature upon mee , yet they love me and my courses better than themselves . i never did any thing for their good , but for their snare and ruine , yet they cleave to mee and my works of darknesse , my pleasures deceitfull pleasures of sin for a season , more than to thee and thy word . i never died for them , yet they live and die in my cause and quarrell : drinking , dicing , drabbing , night and day : revelling with thy good creatures , reviling of thy vertuous servants , and resolving still to doe as they have done . i never offered them grace , but sinne , and they have resisted & spurned at that , and accepted this with greedinesse . all this and more , may truely bee said by that lion of the tribe of iudah , and that roaring lion that seeketh whom hee may devoure . set your selves to present such a plea to your soules , and thinke whether the devill hath not powerfull reasons to move that god , who is a consuming fire , to deliver you up to his hands , so long as you are in darkenesse . what an hell will this be to you before you come to hell , if you repent not ? what an hell will it be to you to saile by , before you come to hell , if ye repent not , and forsake not your sins ? will yee not thinke of to day , while it is called to day ? will ye still goe on in the wayes of sinne , though ye cannot prosper ? god forbid , the safety of your soules forbids it ; your covenant in baptisme forbids it , and all the mercies wherewith the lord hath renewed you from your youth up hitherto . ye may thinke your selves safe enough , and that all your darke and riotous courses shall end in a sun-shine of glory and happinesse : but ( alas ) in your way there lye many things at which ye may stumble , and so tumble into the pit of hell unawares , which is the next considerable proportion in this proverbe , to wit , that wicked men know not at what they stumble . do ye desire to gaine to your soules from this ? then weigh with me these three particulars : 1 what it is to stumble ? 2 whereat they stumble ? and , 3 that they stumble , because they know not at what . to stumble is to take an argument of offence at something , to make them fall still into the wayes of wickednesse . as when the iewes took these arguments against christ to conclude against faith in him , he is a man gluttonous , a wine bibber , a friend of publicans and sinners : wee say well that thou art a samaritan , and hast a divell . and when the iewes took these arguments against stephen , we have heard him speake blasphemous words against moses , against god , against this holy place , and the law. and when the corinthians raised this foundation against saint paul , this fellow perswadeth men to worship god contrary to the law : and tertullus in a slanting speech before foelix , wee have found this man a very pestilence , a mover of sedition among all the iewes in all the world. these are arguments of offence , to make them that doe receive them still to fall into sin , new sins , old sins , all sins . but whereat ordinarily doe wicked men stumble ? ordinarily at sixe sorts of things , when they would flatter themselves in their wayes of darkenesse . either , ignorance ; or , presumption ; or , despaire ; or , the world ; or , scandall ; or , the peaceable end of sinners , and the contrary of those that have lived more strictly . they stumble at ignorance on both hands . sometimes they stumble at the ignorance of sin , and so they fall to sin , and care not , feare not , when iosiah knew not sin , his sweet nature stumbled with the times : but when he heard the law of god read , he rent his clothes , and melted to the very heart . when saul lived a pharisee , the death of stephen was nothing , it could be swallowed up upon a full stomack : but when the law came and shewed him what sinne was , when hee saw sinne revive , to pricks , wound , and kill , then he mourned under his captivity . sometimes they stumble at the ignorance of repentance : they are like nicodemus , who cannot heare of a new life , but hee dreames of entring his mothers wombe againe : and like peters hearers , who when they sinned knew not what they did ; and when they were pricked at the heart for sin , knew not what to doe , men and brethren , what shall we doe to be saved ? they stumble at presumption , that god will any time accept of them upon any termes . therfore , at what time soever , saith one : god desireth not the death of a sinner , saith another : christ saith , come unto me , saith a third : god will that all men should bee saved , saith a fourth . every presumptuous wretch layeth some sure foundation ( which might be sound and sweet to a true penitent ) which yet will not serve his turne when he is to try the strength of it , no more than sampsons ▪ greene cords could binde him , or a rope of sand can pull down an impregnable castle . they stumble at despaire , and at that on both sides too . sometimes they despaire of their owne strength . alas , all the waies of vertue , grace , and glory are too hard for me . i must lie downe in shame , confusion , sinne , and sorrow , but not move a foot to heaven . when christ preached that no man could come to him , except it were given him of his father ; many of his disciples went backe , and walked no more with him : in so much as christ complained to the twelve , will yee also forsake mee ? if christ bee such a manner of person , that accesse to him is so hard , so much above our power , that we must be beholding to a father whom wee are not acquainted with , then farewell christ , welcome world who are more familiar . sometimes againe they despaire of gods strength and mercy for them . christ cannot save them , god will not save them . let strength and mercy bee what it will on high , it is too high for them . what is that to me ? i am the worst of unworthy sinners . this cast out cain , hanged judas , damned both , and any other that delight in such a downefall . they stumble at the world of honour , pleasure , profit . the stony hearers stumbled at the care-cloth , the thornes of cares for worldly pelfe . the unworthy guests stumbled at the new bought purchases of farmes , and oxen ; and so much as at the new married wife , i cannot come . the rich worldling at the new barnes , and store for many dayes . his soule did so alwayes live in them , that hee thought hee should alwayes live with them . thus they stumbled and fell . the huge blocke of the world was too great for them to leape over into heaven , and therefore downe they fall , and breake their neckes into the wayes of sinne . they stumble at scandall , and at that they trip dangerously on both hands . sometimes they are loth to offend their wicked companions ; what ? shall i forsake them , scandalize them , goe without them , ( though ) in a better way , make them that are my friends my foes , to neglect and scoffe at mee ? this made nicodemus come to christ by night . this made many of the chiefe rulers believe in him , but they confessed him not , lest they should bee put out of the synagogue : for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of god. sometimes againe they take offence at the lives of those that seeme to bee more godly than themselves , and are so ( at least ) by profession . indeed , these should bee very carefull to adorne the doctrine of our lord jesus christ : and therefore many excellent exhortations are spent upon them , in the most sure word of god. sometimes they are called upon to behave themselves wisely to them that are without : sometimes to walke honestly towards them that are without : sometimes , to give no offence neither to jew , c●●ia● , nor church of god : yet are they not so carefull in the workes of holinesse righteousnesse , and sobriety , as they ought . this is soone espied by wicked men , and so made an argument to stumble at . you will say , they are in darknesse , how then can they spie such a hole in the coat of him that is better than themselves ? i le tell you : when men see a thing that may further them in the way to heaven , they do receive it inward by the meanes of the spirit , and the sweet beames of grace which shine about them ; for every good giving comes from the father of lights : but when they see any thing that helpes them onward to hell , they have a power of seeing from within . as a cat sees in a darke night by fyring the aire to her selfe , and for her owne uses : so wicked men being set on fire of hell , can in their darkest state easily kindle a light for their owne uses to find fodder for their soules in their way to hell-ward . they stumble , lastly , at the peaceable end of sinners . truly , they dyed like lambes , there are no hands in their death : just like the good thiefe upon the crosse , which with quiet and sweet reaches after grace and glory , breathed out his soule to god ; notwithstanding all the wickednesse of his fore-past life : whereas many of those who have lived better , have died with little rest , and no comfort . hence they stumble thicke and threefold , and make no question to dy no worse than they , though they doe as bad . thus they stumble and stumble ; and the cause or the signe of all , is this in the proverbe , they know not at what they stumble . as for sinne , they do not know who they themselves are that sin . they are the creatures of god who hath blessed them a thousand wayes , and therefore they should live to the honour of him , and not as if the devill had made them . they doe not know whom they sin against . it is against an infinite god , who is an infinite good , and therefore the least guilt will not so easily bee taken off as they dreame . can much niter and much sope doe it ? can thousands of rammes , and ten thousand rivers of oyle ? sinne against a private man , and it is a trespasse or battery ; sin against a king , it is sedition or treason ; but sinne against god , and no name can expresse it , nothing can cleanse it but the bloud of the lambe , which brings to us the righteousnesse of god , which is of infinite worth . they doe not know what sin will worke . it is the wilde bore of the wood that laies waste the vine of our soules : it woundeth the conscience , defaceth the image of god , and writes upon us satans image and superscription : it brings feare , pit , and snare upon the inhabitants of the earth and at the last the vengeance of eternall fire . all this and much more , about sin , these poore wretches doe not know , and hence they stumble upon sinne , and ruine . as for repentance they know neither the necessity , worke , or worth of it . doe they present this to their soules , that except they repent , they shall perish ? yes that they doe , and therefore they will repent hereafter . yea , but are they not deceived in the worke of it ? doe they not thinke it to bee the worke of an houre , when the whole life of a man were but enough for us to walke in that way ? doe they not thinke it to bee nothing but a conviction for sinne , a sorrow for sinne , and a crying god mercy ? doe they know that it implyes sorrow for sinne seene , purpose to forsake sin sorrowed for , and to returne unto god ? or know they that it is accompanied ( if it be saving ) with an holy course in godlinesse and righteousnesse ? no such matter . it is so slenderly looked after : and so poorely prized by them , that they take it up as old shooes , when they have none else to weare : when they have not a day to live , and an houre to spend in sinne , then they will repent , what ever come of it . thus these miserable wretches , when they have built a castle of their owne repentance , not gods , do stumble at they know not what . now , for presumption ( woe is them ) whatsoever they dreame of mountaines of mercy , they know not the power of gods wrath . they thinke him to bee made up of nothing but mercy , and that hee should doe them wrong , if they should not have it . they see the light of his countenance so long in their health and prosperity , that they presume hee cannot bend his browes , and turne his backe in after daies . doe they remember that after god had made the world , his first act was an act of justice upon lapsed angels , who , though they were in heaven , were cast downe into hell , and delivered into the chaines of darknesse , to bee reserved unto judgement ? have they forgotten that his next worke was a worke of justice upon adam in paradise ; and the third that wee reade , of a worke of justice upon cain for committing murther but once ? have they not read that god drowned the first world , first for imaginations ? or that he burned with fire and brimstone sodome and her wicked sisters , for pride , fulnesse of bread , abundance of idlenesse , which hatched plenty of lust ? is the justice of god upon the world cleane gone out of minde , when his church was in a corner , and but a little flocke ? or will they not see the justice of god upon christ , our surety , in the similitude of sinfull flesh ; that hee did not escape it , being made sin for us ( that is , by being a sacrifice for sin ) that wee might be the righteousnesse of god in him ? they have forgotten all prints of iustice , that they may put farre from them the evill day , and sinne without feare . but that god that is a god of mercy , for the vessels of mercy , is for those who by wilfull sins make themselves the vessels of wrath , a consuming fire : yea , and when his hand takes hold of judgement , hee will make his sword drunke with bloud . then shall they know what now they willingly know not , that hee that blesseth himselfe in his heart , saying , i shall have peace though i walke in the imagination of my heart , to adde drunkennesse to thirst , the lord will not bee mercifull unto him . doe they stumble at despaire of their owne strength : it is at they know not what still . for doe they not shew great strength in sinne ? why then will they not try what they can doe in vertue ? hath not christ promised his assistance in the word of god , and sacraments ? why will they neglect christs hand , which is put under to helpe ? why will they not be strong in the lord , and in the power of his might , that they may be able to doe all things through him that helpeth them ? will they more impotently stumble at the despaire of gods mercy ? surely they stumble at they know not what . for god is good unto wicked men , much more to those that truely repent . doth not his sun and raine blesse obdurate sinners ? much more hath hee the blessing of peace for those that tremble at his word , and are weary and heavie laden with their sinnes . for will they forget how willingly god reasoneth with the rebellious iewes , and promiseth that upon repentance he will make their twice dipt scarlet sinnes as white as wooll ? or doe they not regard that god tels them that mercy pleaseth him . if hee come in a work of justice , hee shaves with a raser that is hired ( as if hee had no instrument of his owne to execute wrath : ) but if he comes in a worke of mercy , it is his own work , his proper worke . but they forget this , as if christs bloud did not triumph over all the sins of penitents , even to the bathing of them that turne to him , who shed it by murther : this they forget , and so doe stumble at headlong despaire . doe they stumble at the world ? alas , they know not at what . what is all the world if wee could graspe it into an handfull ? it flattereth while it smileth , and the glory of it passeth away . have wee the confluence of all worlds goods ? they cannot keepe off a thousand miseries ; gowts , consumption , fevers , stone , strangury , death are the portions of this worlds wantons . and when that goes from us , or we from that , it gives a bitter farewell to the lovers of it . though a man live many dayes , ●●t let him remember the dayes of darknesse , which will come first or last , and then farewell profit , farewell pleasure , farewell honour : the white sticke must be broken , worldly comforts must vanish , and if yee have not built your nest in the rocke christ , the wind will take you , the world will spew you out , and whither then ? doe they stumble at the offence of their companions ? it is at they know not what stil . call for them all , whom you are loth now to offend in pleasing god , and what can they doe ? as the winter brookes they passe away , faith iob. are they touched for sinne ? they will bee glad to bee rid of them : away from mee yee wicked , i will keep the commandements of my god. doth the wrath of god come ? they can say , alas my brother , alas his glory ; but as the wrath of man cannot accomplish the righteousnesse of god ; so nor the power of man can stand ( with comfort ) against the wrath of god. doth poverty come as an armed man ? a worldly friend will help once , a godlie friend will helpe twice , but daily to hang upon the pockets , and purse-strings of others , is like a curst wife , a continuall dropping ; away with such a like fellow from off the earth , the land is not able to beare such a loathsome guest . doth death come with this iron law , you must goe and make your bed in darkenesse , where they must say to corruption , thou art my mother ; to the worme thou art my brother and sister ? where are their companions now ? one stands by and weepes , but cannot helpe : another would come , but feares the flashes of reproofe for godlesse courses : but let them all come , can they deliver their bodies from the grave , and their soules from the hand of hell ? the redemption of a soule cost more than so : they must let that alone for ever . what matters it then to offend such , so they may please god ? doe they now stumble at the lapses and falls of those that seeme better than themselves ? is it not still at they know not what ? if a christian sinne , it is not because hee is a christian , but because hee is a christian no more : it is not the profession , but the person that is in all the fault . hee that is a good christian , should answer like that blessed martyr , who when hee was asked what was his name ? hee answered . christian : what was his countrey , answered , christian : what were his hopes , thoughts words , and deeds ? hee answered christian . he was a christian all over : and if it bee otherwise , christianity must not bee blamed , but sinne in him , and sathan out of him , that put on that faire hood to cover their deformitie . besides , sinne shall condemn them , not justifie the wicked stumbler . they shall goe to hell for that without repentance : the wicked shall not goe to heaven for being wors● , because they are bad . and what doe they stumble at now ? is it at the peaceable end of sinners ? it is still at they know not what . for it is not ever true that wicked men finde such a calme when death approacheth : somtimes hell fire flasheth upon them then : sometimes they miserably cry out , i am damned , i am damned , i must to hell : and when it is true , god , satan , and themselves , have an hand in it , god justly seales them up to hardnesse of heart , and then like the leviathan , they laugh at the speare . satan covers their sins , and lockes in their thoughts to dreame of golden mountaines . hee labours to make their life and death to be an heaven here , that hee may the more cunningly bring them to hell hereafter . themselves have accustomed themselves to sinne , and custome in sinne takes away the sense of sinning , and so like nabal , their heart dies like a stone . and put case that gods good people be disquieted when death appeareth ; they draw neere to god , and see themselves abominable as esau . they have a circumcised heart , and so are tender at the least touch : which satan perceiving , hee drives home with all his rage , and skill , to slander his godly course , because his time is but short . thus now ye have the whole proverbe , which sets forth a rule to your miserable example to shew the miserable estate of those that are , and walk , and stand , and sit , in the darke wayes of sin and wickednesse . what shall i say to you young men ? o that i could speake to your hearts so powerfully , that yee may be rowzed from lying under the dominion of sinne any longer ! oh that my doctrine might drop as the raine , and my speech might distill as the dew , as the small raine upon the tender herbe , and as the showers upon the grasse ! yee have heard the woe , woe , woe , to wicked men . sometimes this keepes them off from vertue and grace , and sometimes that . here they stumble , and there they stumble , before , behind , on this side , and on that , and at last tumble into despaire , and hell for evermore . francis spyra stumbled thus , when hee cried out , i would faine be in hell , to try the worst that god can doe . and that outlandish wretch thus , who would have given all to his soul , not to forsake him : but when nothing would serve the turne , but he must die , he commended his soule to the devill to be carried into everlasting torments . and that english wretch thus , i give my goods to the king whom i have cozened , my body to the earth , and my soule to the devill . and that other wretch ( not worthy of a name ) thus , my soule i bequeath to the devill who ownes it ; my wife to the devill who drew mee to my ungodly life ; and my chaplaine to the devill who flattered mee in it . but ( deare young men ) doe not yee so lay hold of eternall life ; and pull your selves ( by the mighty power of god ) into that way . vse no arguments to pull your selves into , or keepe your selves in the way of sinne . quit your selves like men , and the god of heaven stand by you for your helpe and succour . now is the accepted time , now is the houre of salvation . god hath shot a warning peece from heaven , stand not out ; but vaile to him , before he shoot the vollies of his vengeance against you irrecoverably . yee have many motives to make you look about you now for grace and glory . first , your age is a most unsettled age , pestered with many lusts of youth , which drop by drop may fall upon you , till you are suddenly over head and eares that which hath been formerly fained of hercules , that he stood in two wayes , ready to take either , is true of you . for as a strait tree which is loose at the root standeth trembling , and being unsetled , with a little strength is pulled this way , or that way : so is it with you who are ready to bee swayed with winde and tyde every way . secondly , you will easily savour ever of that first liquor which is put into you . receive the distilled dewes of grace from the spirit of god , and what a sweet savour shall yee be in the nostrils of god , and man ? receive the bloudy showers of devillish and worldly temptations , and how will ye stinke like sodome and her sisters ? if a man , by his owne , and others disorders , have his body made crooked when young , he will be crooked in bud , blossome , leafe , fruit , and age ; but if hee bee strait th● ( hee by the grace of god ) continues strait still . so will it bee with you : that which is crooked cannot be made straite , and that which is wanting cannot bee numbred . thirdly , ye are now subject to the horriblest sins . that natural corruption which is rooted in all mankinde , hath in your age more instruments to bring it to outward appearance , as flour●shing wit to invent , and dexterity in other members to put in execution . as therefore , they that are sick of burning feavers have need of cooling things , and stomackefull colts have need of stronger bits : so the fury of your age must bee held in , as with a bit and bridle , lest it run upon you , and lay your honour in the dust . fourthly , your sinnes being committed will cry loudest . these made david cry out , remember not the sins of my youth , when my service would have beene most acceptable . these made iob complaine , thou writest bitter things against mee , and makest mee possesse the iniquities of my youth . these made paul ply timothy , to flee the lusts of youth . and these will make you pittifully cry out too late , we have wearied our selves in the wayes of wickednesse , when our paths were spred with butter . when we were strong , lusty , and able to doe god service , wee served the devill : and now when god distributeth sorrowes in his anger , our bones are full of the sinnes of our youth , which shall lye downe with us in the dust . 5. lastly , you think that you have a priviledge by your age : youth must have its course , they must sowe their wilde oats . but the counsell of the spirit is otherwise , in the morning sow thy seede , and in the evening with-hold not thy hand , for thou knowest not whether shall prosper . therefore salomon thinkes such more worthy to be laught at , then to bee anred , rejoyce o young man in thy youth , and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth , and walke in the wayes of thy heart , and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou that for all these things god will bring thee to judgement . and david doth tie up your untamed age to the hornes of the altar , saying , that even you must clense your wayes , by taking heed thereto according to his word . if therefore there bee any feare of god before your eyes , if yee have any bowels of compassion to your poore soules , walke not in the darke waies of the wicked . open your eyes to see all the stumbling blocks of wicked men , and stumble not into their paths . o thinke what may come hereafter ; how soone you may die , goe hence , and bee no more seene . one dies in full strength , being wholly at ease and quiet . his brests are full of milke , and his bones are full of marrow : and another dies in the bitternesse of his soule , and never eateth with pleasure : and then without the grace of repentance , the mercy of pardon , i must to hell , to millions of millions of torments . farewell companions , farewell time , farewell pleasure ; farewell friends , farewell all your perswasions , &c. and shall i say welcome hell ? o no : i would give thousands of rams , and tenne thousand rivers of oyle ; yea , the fruit of my body for the sin of my soule : but the just iudge will not accept it , cut it downe , why cumbreth it the ground : depart from me , i know thee not . thus you have had your example and your rule , both shewing the misery of a wicked life : you have had my charge and discharge . shall it fall like raine upon the barren rockes and mountaines without fruit ? shall it not move one soule to goe from the dens of sinne to god ? if not , as noble terentius , when hee had petitioned for the christians , and saw it torne in peeces before his face , gathered up the peeces , and said , i have my reward : i have not sued for gold , silver , honour , or pleasure , but a church . so say i , in the middest of your neglect , i have not sued for your gold or silver , for your houses and lands , for your drinkes , dice , or drabs , but for your soules , your precious soules . if i cannot or shall not wooe them to come to christ , god raise up some child of the bride-chamber which may doe it better . if neither i nor others can prevaile , feare that speech of elies sons , they hearkened not unto the voice of their father , because the lord would slay them . in such a case , oh that my head were full of water , and mine eyes a fountaine of teares , that i may weep day and night for the miserable young men of my people . but god grant i may have no such cause : god grant you may not bee in such a state : god grant you may bee now wise to salvation . for it is your salvation god would have , it is your salvation i would have : and woe unto you if you bee enemies to desires so good , and no lesse usefull than for your salvation , your salvation for ever and ever . god guide your hearts to the love of god , and to the waiting for of christ . finis . a post-script to the reader of this warning-peece , of the use of examples . london , printed by t. b. 1639. a post-script to the reader of this warning peece , of the use of examples . good reader stay a while : thou hast not yet done . i have for thy good , set before thee an old rule , and new examples : and of the abuse of examples i am not ignorant . some looke upon them so as to imitate them , be they never so bad . as augustus a learned prince , filled his empire with schollers : so tiberius , a dissembling prince , with dissemblers : iulian , an apostate prince , with apostates : and jeroboham a calvish prince , with idolaters . others looke upon them so , as to hate the persons as well as the sins . every fearefull accident , either in the life or death of men , speakes to them the language of damnation . howsoever they be abused , i am sure it is most fit , yea excellent , to have the white booke of gods mercies , and the blacke booke of judgements , alwayes before our eyes . the abuse doth not take away the use no more than the spartans shewed themselves wise in rooting out their vines , because their people abused their wine to drunkennesse . i am sure wee have the example of god himselfe , who would not silence the patternes both of sinne , and judgement , of those hee dearely loved . and if we be versed in his booke , wee may observe , that he hath beene pleased to make many uses of such examples . sometimes by them hee doth threaten , remember what the lord did unto myriam . did not acham the sonne of zerah commit a trespasse in the accursed thing ? wherefore doe you harden your hearts as the aegyptians and pharaoh ? if yee doe as they have done , yee shall bee punished as they have beene . sometimes by them hee doth reproach unthankefull people . did not i deliver you from the aegyptians and from the amorites , from the children of amon , and from the philistims ? o my people , remember what balack king of moab consulted , and what balaam the sonne of beor answered from shittim to gilgal . are yee not ashamed to offend such a god as i , who have neither beene a barren wildernesse , nor a dry land ? sometimes by them he comforteth and strengtheneth the hands of the weak , thine eyes have seene all that the lord your god hath done unto these two kings . this your trouble is as the waters of noah to mee : as i have said , they shall no more goe over the earth : so , nor your afflictions shall overwhelme you . will you be dismaied in any trouble , or cast off your confidence , as if gods hand were tyed up now more than in those dayes ? sometimes by them hee doth maintaine great points of godlinesse . was not abraham our father justified by workes ? not to glory in before god : for abraham beleeved god , and it was counted to him for righteousnesse : but to make him stand out against the blasphemies of the world , the accusations of conscience , and the upbraidings of a dead faith . and will not yee who must bee the children of abraham , or perish , walke in the way of so worthy a father ? sometimes by them hee doth disswade from vice . bee not idolaters as were some of them . let us not commit fornication as some of them did , and fell in one day three and twenty thousand . let us not tempt christ , as some of them also tempted , and were destroyed of serpents . neither murmure as some of them murmured , and were destroyed of the destroyer . if yee goe on in such a way , and will not be disswaded , yee will meet with the same plagues which they have found , or worse . sometimes by them he gives promonition and caution . i feare least by any meanes , as the serpent beguiled eve through his subtilty , so your mindes should bee corrupted from the simplicity that is in christ . will yee not take heed lest lesse policy make you to fall , as eve fell , which was full of bitternesse to her and hers ? all this use and more hath our good god made of examples , not onely because like leaking vessels we are apt daily to runne out , and to forget our fashion which we saw in the glasse , if it be not still represented to us : but also because of the singular profit of examples . for as they profit a world of people , they being like a burning beacon giving light before men ; and being like fire whereat we may give light to thousands of candles : so doe they last long and hold out to the worlds end , as the poore widowes mites , and lots wifes transmutation . neither is it in vaine that god hath taken such a course as this . it is all for our good , that wee may know how to use examples according to their severall natures . but among the rest you may reape a threefold benefit by them . first , an observation of the customes and usages of the church and enemies of it . this will bee an adjument to wisdome , which is ordinarily attaineable by experience of our owne dayes , and memory of others . next an illustration of the faith , and manners of others , what ever they be . for examples doe not make faith and manners , but give patternes of gods rules , for the more expedite practise of them . and lastly , a declaration of gods ordinary providence in his acts of wisedome , goodnesse , mercy , justice , and the like . from these two uses the world doth , mostly , too farre wander . for want of the first , the church is many times filled with schismes , and disorders . for want of the second , faith and manners are not so cleared , and examples are taken up as necessary lawes , which onely shew a lawfulnesse where the rule of scripture doth not oppose . for want of the third , god passeth by , and wee know it not . let him bee never so wise , by the neglect of the example , we admire it not . let him be never so good , by the neglect of the example , we love it not . let him be never so mercifull , by the neglect of the example , we imbrace it not . let him be never so just , by the neglect of the example , wee doe not feare and tremble , and avoide the rockes of sinne : and hence it is that i have beene induced to propound these examples unto you also . it may bee that sometimes men doe observe the way of god in the whirewind of justice : but either they are willing to thinke it not so great as it is ; or to judge it to reach further than our good god intendeth it . if men do think the first , it is because they would flatter themselves in like sinnes . loth they are to thinke that god should punish that which they love ; or that danger should happen to them who have done as they meane to doe still . if men judge the second , it is because they want charity , and judgement in the wayes of god. sometimes god gives an example of his justice which begins here , and continues for ever and ever : as in many of the drowned first world , and roasted sodomites . god never made mee so skilfull in his throne businesse , as to define peremptorily , that every suckling and infant of those miserable ones were cast into the bottomelesse hell . hee onely sayes that the floud did sweepe them away , and they were burned with fire and brimstone , and there leaves us to leave the rest to god. they were not in the arke indeed , nor was iob in the visible church , as isaac and the rest of the patriarchs were , yet might the all-eye looke upon them as he pleased , and judge , or spare . sometimes god gives an example of his justice which dies here , and ( for ought wee know ) may end in glory . thus we are said to bee judged that wee might not bee condemned by the world . no man will judge iosiah or ionathan for their untimely deaths . they died in peace , though they died in warre ; in peace with god , in warre with men . nor will they resolvedly reprobate the soules of er , and onan , nadab , and abihu , ananias , and saphira , or their likes . their sins were great , and grievous , yea damnable , and therefore god brought fearefull judgements upon them : and as hee hath said , so hath hee done , bloudy and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their dayes . but for their soules , and how farre his justice extended to them , is among the secrets of his government , and past our cognizance . it is an old lesson never to bee forgotten , that secret things belong to the lord our god , but those things that are revealed , to us , and to our children for ever . but what is all this to our examples in this warning-peece ? if you apply it aright you shall know how to use them to your good . bee sure therefore to see gods hand in both , and his anger against sin in both ; without that , such judgings could not ordinarily come into the world . bee sure also not to extend gods justice further than what you see or heare . thus farre god hath gone , goe you no further . cannot god take up his people and whippe them soundly for sinne , but presently the rash world must cry out , they are bastards , and not f●r gods rest ? indeed you see or heare that one of them had a debauched and wicked life . god saw it , and thrust him downe to the gates of hell , and so he did fearefully judge him in this world . yet withall hee had such remorse , confession , selfe condemnation , desire of others good , and of his owne ( though with despaire , ) that god hath given us reasons of charity to his soule , and kept the rule of certainty to himselfe onely . notwithstanding , let no man of such a course presume ; god comes as a swift witnesse against such , and will make his sword drunke with their bloud . for hee will wound the hairy scalpe of every one that goes on still in wickednesse . you see also , or heare , that the other of them had a great deale better life . it is true also , that ( thus much being confessed ) hee closed too long and too much with the world , as all that knew him well , complained . he was also unthankfull to a parish who had beene loving to a poore father of his ( in a free gift of a good maintenance from them , ) when hee would not bee perswaded ( both befor the setling of any will , and before the setling of his last ) to give a poore pittance out of his great estate to that loving parish for pious uses , hee having no children of his owne . god saw this too , and whipt him to the purpose , before hee went hence and was no more seene . would not god have an irreligious world see how ne-necessary it is to breake off a wicked life by repentance , and how usefull to honour god with our riches ? it would make a good mans heart to bleed , that the world should have a second floud of sinne by some , and that , by others , pious and publike workes should bee neglected , opposed and grumbled at , as if mens riches were their owne , and they might doe with them what they list , as if they were gods . shall private persons and affaires ( not worth a dunghill to the businesses of god ) bee the onely object of bounty and munificence ? if in such a case god withdraw his countenance and frowne , is it not worthy our notice ? let god bee god , and doe his owne worke , in sparing their soules for ever as hee pleaseth : yet let him shew us examples too of what wee ought to doe , or what wee shall suffer . for if wee doe not amend ( for ought i know ) he may , and will doe according to our patternes , take away our comforts here , and our comforts for ever and ever , which is infinitely more : i shut up all in a word . looke upon your examples and feare and tremble . if they have found god thus angry who have beene overtaken by indulged , and over powring infirmities , how will he look upon you if ye neglect , and scorn , after such warnings ? yet look upon them so , as you leave not charitie behinde . yee may have hope to conceive well of them ( who were judged in this world , ) because yee knew not their hearts . yee can have no hope to conceive well of your selves in so doing , because yee know your owne hearts better . you are apt in excusing some to flatter your selves , and in accusing others to justifie your selves too farre . neither of these can doe well in the day of your account , which i desire may bee comfortable unto you in the day of our lord iesus christ . 1 cor. 10.11 . all these things happened unto them for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come . finis . imprimater . thomas weekes , cap , domest . epis . lond. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a19568-e250 not onely as they but worse . so he was accounted of all about us some years before he dyed . so may a good man have , by some distemper or over-powring temptation , to lash some sin for the example of others . i meane an uncomfortable death , not judging his eternall estate . notes for div a19568-e580 gen. 29.26 2 sam. 1.19 , 20 , &c. act. 9.39 . magis vi vorum sola tia quam mortuorum subfidia . this yong man is called miserable . not in respect of gods judgment final . for from him are many arguments of hope . 2 tim. 2.16 . phil. 3.12 . gal. 3.9 . mar. 5.26 . col. 4.14 . but in respect of his own feeling . 1 pet. 3 15. this had a deepe ground . christmasseday . 1635. and next his owne apprehension upon it . manifested by many fearefull speeches . and plaine judgments against himselfe . prov. 1.24 ▪ 25 , 26 , 27. the text pro. 4.19 . 1. connected v. 1 . & 10. verse 14. vers . 15. vers . 16. vers . 17. verse 18. verse 9. 2. divided . 3. expounded . propos . 1. 1. what the way of the wicked is . psal . 1. ult . 2. how it is darkenesse . negatio lucis primitivae . luk. 1.19 . ioh. 9.39 . ioh. 8.12 . esa . 61 3. 2 tim. 1.10 . ioh. 3.19 . eph. 4.19 . rom. 1.31 . eph. 5.30 . esa . 57.21 . mat. 8.12 . psal . 69. ephes . 5.8 luke 12. luk 19.2 . 1 tim. 6.9 . eph. 6 10. 1 ioh. 2.11 . 4. why the wayes of the wicked are darkenesse . venebrae à tenendo . exod 10. ioh. 12.35 . vivant aliud agendo , nibil agendo , aliter ●gendo . 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . nox a nocendo . ier. 8.4 , 5. psalm . 14. lamen . 1. esa . 3.9 . appli . 1 ioh. 2.13 . 1. hence wicked men are convinced of their miserable estate . ob. though they see it not . sol. ioh. 5 41. ob. and though they feele it not . sol. object . potentia est dispositio rei ad actū . potentia naturalis , vi principii interni . 2. potentia obedientialis , vi principij externi . ioh. 2. act. 26.18 . 2. therefore thinke it not strange to see the wicked doe , shamefull things . ob. though they doe think their darkenesse not the cause of their shame because they know much . sol. surgunt indocti , & rapiunt coelum , & nos doctores trucimur in innum . esay 66.2 . 2. therefore be exhorted to avoide the wayes of wicked men . apoc. 16.15 1 thes . 5. luk 19.41 , 42. ob. sol. to your hurt , though you thinke it will doe you little or no hurt . exo. 10.24 . propos . 1. what it is to stumble . mat. 11.19 . ioh. 8.48 . acts 6.11.13 . acts 18.13 . acts 24.5 . rom. 7. iohn 3. acts 2. 3. at despaire of their owne strength . ioh. 6.65 , 66 , 67. 2. of gods strength . 4. at the world . matth. ●3 . matth 22. 5. a● scandall being loath to offend their wicked companions . ioh 3.1 . ioh. 12.42 , 43. and being offended at the lives of professors . tit. ● . 1 thes . 4.12 . 1 cor. 10.32 . which they easily espy though they are in darknesse . iames 1. from a light not from without but from within . iames 3. 6. at the peaceable end of sinners . psal . 73. and the troubled deaths of the godly . 3. they stumble because they know not at what 1. they know not who they are that sinne . 2. whom they sinne ●gainst . micah 6. 1 ioh. 1. rom. 3. 2 cor. 5. 3. what sinne will worke . 2. they know not 1. the necessity of repentance . luk. 13. 2. nor the work of it . 3. nor the worth of it . 3. they know not the power of gods wrath . psal . 91. in the workes of this justice . 2 pet. 2.4 . genesis 4. gen. 6.5 . gen , 8.21 . gen. 19 ▪ ezek. 16. hebr. 9 rom. 8 3. 2 cor. 5.21 rom. 11. deut. 22.41 , 42. 2 pet. 3. deut. 29.19 , 20. 4. they know not what they can do in good because they try not . esa . 59.29 . 1 cor. 11.24 , 25. tit. 3.5 . eph. 6. phil. 4.13 . 5. they know not what is the power of gods m●●●y . si peccantibus , multo magis poeni●atibus . esa . 66. matth. 11. to embrace penitents . esay 1. mic. 7.18 . esa . 7.20 . esa . 28.21 . opus justitiae est opus alienum . acts 〈…〉 . they know not how weake all the world is if it were on their side . 1 cor. 7. eccl. 11. esa . 41.16 . 7. they know not how little their companions can do for them . psalm . 119. iames 1. psalm 6. prov. 6. psal . 49. 8. they know not that the falls of christians is , because they are not christians enough . 9. they know not that sinners end is not alwayes peaceable . and when it is . durities hominis peccatum ob duratio judicii dei. it yeilds no comfort . consuetudo peccandi tollit sensum peccati 1 sam. 25. and yet the unquiet end of the godly may . esay 6. appli . therefore let this proverbe sinke into your harts . deut. 32.2 . many have thus stumbled . but do not you young men stumble thus . 2 cor. 6. consider your motives to look about you . your age is most unsetled . 2. you will easily savour ever of your first liquor . eccl. 1.15 . 3. yee are now subject to the horriblest sinnes , 4. your sins will cry loudest . psal . 25.7 . iob 13.26 . 2 tim. 2.22 . iob 21.17 . iob 20.11 . 5. your age hath no priviledge to sinne . eccl. 11.6 . eccl. 11.5 . psal . 119.5 . therefore stumble not at any of these blockes . think how soone yee may dye . iob 21.23.24 , 25. and then what danger will follow . with fearfull complaints in vaine . mic. 6.7 . luk. 13.7 . mat. 7.25 . and 25 , 12. i sam. 2.25 . ier. 9.1 . notes for div a19568-e6270 vses of examples . 1. to threaten ▪ deut. 24 9. iosh . 22.20 . 1 sam. 6.6 . 2. to reproach iudg. 10.17 . mic. 6 ▪ 5. 3. to comfort . deut. 3.21 . esa . 54.9 . 4. to maintaine truth . iam. 2.21 . rom. 4.2 , 3. 5. to disswade from vice . 1 cor. 10.7 , 8 , 9 , &c. exo. 32.6 . num. 25.9 . num. 21 6. numb . 14.37 . 6. to forewarne . 2 cor. 11.3 . why examples are of such use . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . iam. 1.2 3. a threefold benefit by examples . 1. observation . 2. illustration 3. declaration of providence . the world doth not make this benefit . how men doe make use of examples of iustice . and how they should from the several waies of gods shewing iustice . 1 cor. 11.32 . psal . 55.23 . deut. 29.29 the application of the use of examples to this warning-peece . psal . 68 21. dan. 4.27 . prov. 3.9 . a sermon preached (may 16. 1680.) at the funeral of mr tho. gilson, late minister of the gospel. by samuel slater, minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1680 approx. 76 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60351 wing s3971 estc r222774 99833900 99833900 38378 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60351) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 38378) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1785:19) a sermon preached (may 16. 1680.) at the funeral of mr tho. gilson, late minister of the gospel. by samuel slater, minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. [4], 40 p. printed for tho. cockeril at the three legs in the poultrey, over-against the stocks-market, london : 1680. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gilson, thomas, 1629 or 30-1680. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached ( may 16. 1680. ) at the funeral of m r tho. gilson , late minister of the gospel . by samuel slater , minister of the gospel . isa. 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . london : printed for tho. cockeril at the three legs in 〈◊〉 poultrey , over-against the stocks-market , 1680 to my worthy friends , that society of christians , who were lately under the pastoral care of mr. tho. gilson . it was a smart and startling providence which in a short time took away first the wife , and then the husband , making the children orphans , and you sheep without a shepherd . his worth was very great , and therefore so was your loss . god hath been pleased to deprive us of many eminent and useful men of late , and those not only among the hoarheads , ( whose thred of life had been drawn out to a considerable length ) but also among the young and strong , and middle aged , who according to the course of nature might have lived much longer , and laboured and done good . it is not for any to quarrel , for god may do with his own as he pleaseth . let us make a right interpretation of the dispensation , and a wise improvement . none of us know how soon we may be called hence ; may every one of us therefore live to the best purpose we can . oh that we might all mind our work , and get that done , and then the sooner we go to bed , the better it will be for us , though possibly not for the world . your deceased pastor said upon his death-bed , when others live sixty or seventy years before they have done what they were sent for , if i can dispatch mine in fifty , i have no cause to complain ; his sun being set when he was not much past the meridian of his age , i did entertain you with the following discourse , which i have here at the importunate desire of his relations and others unwillingly published . the lord accompany it with his blessing ; and if any get good by it for their souls , i shall rejoice . i beg that this loss may be sanctified to your gain , that you may have a pastor set over you according to gods own heart . and i beseech you to live in love , follow those things which make for peace ; walk so as that you may adorn the gospel ; and so the blessings of the everlasting covenant be your portion . i am may 21. 1680. yours in our dear lord jesus , samuel slater . joh . xii . 26. if any man serve me , let him follow me : and where i am there shall also my servant be . you find in the 20th verse of this chapter mention made of certain greeks , who ( as we may probably conjecture ) through their converse with the jews , and reading the old testament translated into their own language , had attained to some knowledg of the god of israel , and upon the jews great solemnities came to worship him together with them at jerusalem . where being informed of those great things which the lord jesus had done , and in particular of his raising up lazarus out of the grave , they applied themselves to philip , and acquainted him with their desire to see jesus ; philip told this to andrew , and both of them told jesus : whereupon our saviour graciously admitted them into his presence . but they ( as it is likely ) having heard of his being looked upon by many as the promised messiah , and dreaming with others of a temporal kingdom which he should have in this world , were willing to come under his government , and to list themselves in the number of his subjects , by that means hoping for earthly preferment and advantages . our lord jesus therefore knowing what is in man , makes it his business to correct their mistake , and to set them right in their apprehensions concerning him ; assuring them , that the hour was come in which he should be glorified ; yet withal intimating to them , that he must first be rejected , condemn'd and ●…rucified . he was to fall like a corn of wheat into the ground and die , but after that he should spring up again , and bring forth much fruit unto the world ; not only to the jews , but also to the gentiles : giving them withal to understand , that if they would be his disciples , they must write after the copy which he sets them , and carry their comforts , yea their very lives in their hands , ready to lay them down whensoever they should be called thereunto . this he doth in the text , and the verse preceding it . in the words which i have read , there are two things observable : first , christs command or direction , if any man serve me , let him follow me . here , saith grotius , he doth tacitly insinuate his being a king , who hath under him officers or ministers of state for the management and administration of the affairs of his kingdom ; and whosoever will be one of these my servants , he must follow me through swords and daggers , through thick and thin , by the way of the cross , through self-denial , and contempt of the world ; they must imitate his example , both in his holiness , and in his sufferings . secondly , here is christs most gracious and encouraging promise , where i am ; that is , where i am now , as god , and where e're long i shall be , as man ; in the place of highest felicity and glory , there shall my servant also be ; as he follows me in the way , so he shall be with me in the end . i will not leave him , nor lose him , he shall not come short home . non divelletur in laetis qui adfuit in tristibus . if we be joined in the troubles , we will not be separated in the comforts . he that did partake with me in the sorrow , shall certainly share with me in the reward . so the apostle paul likewise assures us , rom. 8. 17. if children , then heirs , heirs of god , and joint-heirs with christ ; if so be that we suffer with him , that we may be also glorified together . it is this promise upon which i shall raise my following discourse . the doctrine is this : doct. herein lies the happiness of the servants of christ , that in the same place where he is , they one day shall also be . those that do now cleave to him by unfeigned faith , and embrace him by sincere love , and follow him by cheerful obedience , and desire him with ardent longings , shall at last be with him in perfect happiness . you read in 2 cor. 5. 6. whilest they are present in the body , they are absent from the lord. but when they are once absent from the body , when their souls have got out of this crazie tottering tabernacle , when they have once put off this thred-bare worn-out garment of flesh , they shall immediately be conveyed with all possible speed by the holy angels into those blissful mansions , where they shall be present with the lord. in the handling of this most precious and comfortable truth , these things are to be done : first , i shall enquire what or who this jesus christ is . secondly , who are his servants . thirdly , what is that place where christ is , and what the excellencies of it . fourthly , what this being where christ is , doth import . fifthly , give you some reasons why christs servants shall be where he is . lastly , improve the doctrine in a way of application . first then , what or who is this jesus christ ? one might justly wonder , that any in such a congregation as this is , any in such a city as london is ( where the everlasting gospel is so plentifully and powerfully preached ) should be grosly ignorant of christ , unless it be children lately weaned from the breast , fools and mad-men , or such as turn their backs on all ordinances , and live altogether as beasts in the world , because without the practices of religion . but alas ! not withstanding those glorious beams of light , and means of knowledg which god in his goodness hath so liberally vouchsafed , i am afraid , many among us are without the knowledg of the only true god , and jesus christ whom he hath sent . though to know them as we ought to know them be of great and everlasting concernment , no less than life eternal , joh. 17. 3. whom therefore some of you do ignorantly talk of , him do i thus declare unto you . jesus christ is the second person in the sacred trinity , the only begotten and eternal son of god , who did in the fulness of time humble himself so far as to become man , being conceived by the holy ghost , and born of the virgin mary , having a true body and a reasonable soul , and so continueth to be very god and very man in one person for ever . he is gods most beloved son , and mans most intire friend . in a ready compliance with his fathers will , and out of the abundance of his love to those his poor people whom his father had given him , he to the wonder and astonishment both of heaven and earth , was pleased to assume our nature , and so to become our brother in order to his being our redeemer . and thereupon having not only an heart but likewise a right to the work , he did engage thereunto notwithstanding all foreseen difficulties , cost and sorrows , and so gave himself a sacrifice , and his life a ransome for them . the chastisement of our peace was upon him , that by his stripes we might be healed , isa. 53. 5. he was made of a woman , made under the law , to redeem them that were under the law , that we might receive the adoption of sons , gal. 4. 4 , 5. he died that we might live ; he knew no sin , and yet was he made sin for us , that we might be made the righteousness of god in him . upon him was the curse , that upon us might be the blessing . this jesus hath taken upon himself all relations which speak affection in him , and encourage confidence in his . he hath undertaken all offices that make for their advantage . he is our prophet to teach us , our priest to save us , our king to rule and defend us . having humbled himself and become obedient unto death , even the death of the cross , therefore god hath highly exalted him , and given him a name which is above every name , phil. 2. 8 , 9. him he hath set up as king upon his holy hill of zion , where his throne is so sure , that though the heathen rage , and the people imagine , and the kings of the earth set themselves , and the rulers take counsel together , yet they cannot overturn it . psal. 45. 6. thy throne , o god , is for ever and ever , the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter . his undoubted right it is to reign in every one of our hearts . he doth reign in his church , and he shall continue so to do in spite of rome and hell , pope and devil , with all their abettors , until all his enemies be made his footstool , and then cometh the end when he shall deliver up the kingdom to god , even the father , 1 cor. 15. 24. in short , jesus christ is emanuel , god with us , god in our nature . i will report of him to you , as the enamoured spouse did to the inquisitive daughters of jerusalem , cant. 5. when they asked her , what her beloved was more than another beloved ? she answered , he is white and ruddy , the chiefest of ten thousand , his mouth is most sweet , yea he is altogether lovely . totus , totus , desiderabilis ; all amiable , all desirable , there is nothing amiss in him , nothing wanting in him . this , my brethren , this is our beloved , this is our friend . in the next place i am to shew who are his servants , those i mean unto whom he doth here promise , that they shall be where he is . and here i might tell you that all true believers are christs servants , who having their chains knockt of , their prison-doors opened , and being delivered from the bondage of satan and corruption , do serve the lord in righteousness and holiness . again , some are christs servants , as being appointed and called to act for 〈◊〉 and his interest in some particular place or function ; thus paul calleth himself a servant of christ , gal. 1. 10. and he calls epaphras and tychicus his fellow-servants in the lord , col. 1. 7. and col. 4. 7. because they did together with him serve christ in preaching the gospel ; and so every faithful minister of the word is called a servant of the lord , 2 tim. 2. 24. the servant of the lord must not strive , but be gentle unto all men , apt to teach , patient . but i shall speak of christs servants in general , as comprehending all holy and gracious ones , and shall give you a fourfold character of them by which they may be known . 1. those that are the servants of christ are employed and taken up about the work of christ. if we would know whose servant any man is , we may observe and consider whose work it is that he doth . he that doth the work of sin is the servant of sin , rom. 6. 16. his servants ye are to whom ye obey , whether of sin unto death , or of obedience unto righteousness . he is the servant of the devil , that doth the work of the devil , tempting men to sin , or accusing and troubling the saints in and for that which is good , 1 joh. 3. 8. he that committeth sin is of the devil . and our saviour told the wicked jews , joh. 8. 44. that they were of their father the devil ; and he proved it by this , because the works of their father they would do , in contemning the truth , and opposing christ , this is the devils work , and it is dirty work ; and all those who are busie in it , you may easily know to whom they do belong . if you see the devil in a mans life , you may safely conclude him in his heart . on the other side , the servants of christ will be employed about the work of christ , they will study his mind , obey his commandments , follow his orders , and apply to that duty which he requires of them . ye are my friends ( saith he ) job . 15. 14. if ye do what soever i comman●… you . not pick and chuse , quarrel this , and stick at that , but comply with all my wills , and do whatever i bid . this david knew full well , and therefore said , psal ▪ 119. 6. then shall i not be ashamed when i have respec●… to all thy commandments . whereas half-obedience wil●… certainly cause blushing and confusion at the last . to follow the lord fully was caleb's commendation . 2. those that are christs servants have chosen him for their lord and master . there are a great many in the world who do some of christs work after a fashion , and would be upon that score reckoned among christians , and of the houshold of faith , who yet never made christ their choice . nay , they rise up in most desperate opposition to him , and to his government , both in their hearts and in the world . we rea●… luk. 19. 14. of some that say , we will not have thi●… man reign over us . no , no , any one rather than him but now every true servant of christ chuseth him , an●… doth most freely give up himself to him , and is no●… only willing but also earnestly desirous that chris●… should bore his ear in token of his everlasting dominion over him . alas , poor soul ! he finds a comfortable alteration , he hath served others , and know●… what a vast difference there is between christ an●… them ; he hath now better work , and kinder usage and greater hopes , and more noble expectations , an●… so is fully of the churches mind , isa. 26. 13. o lor●… our god , other lords beside thee have had dominio●… over us , but by thee only will we make mention of th●… name . we will own no other , none to christ , none to christ. thirdly , those that are the servants of christ have their hearts engaged in his work , and not only their hands or their outward man. such indeed are spoken of , isa. 29. 13. who drew near unto god with their mouths , and with their lips did honour him , but they had removed their hearts far from him , and their fear toward him was taught by the precepts of men . those mens services god doth not accept , and their persons he will not own . though they claim a relation to him , and cry , lord , lord , and can tell stories of their prophecying in his name , and casting out devils , and doing many wondrous works , yet he will profess unto them , that he never knew them , and command them to depart and be gone from him . and what is the reason of this ? because he knew them to be a company of base hypocrites , who were a meer complement , and gave him no more than the shell and outside . if you be christs servants , you rest in nothing external , you will not take up in any thing , unto which an hypocrite can attain . your hearts are sound in gods statutes , and do accompany all your acts of duty . when you profess his name , and keep his sabbaths , and seek his face , and hear his word , and sit down at his table , and plead his cause , your hearts are in all ; when you confess sin , it is with a mourning heart ; when you beg his grace , it is with a longing heart ; when you speak his praise , it is with an enlarged heart . psal. 84. 2. my soul longeth , yea even fainteth for the courts of the lord : my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living god. lastly , those that are christs servants do in all their work and duties sincerely aim at the honour and glory of christ ; as the word and will of christ is their only rule , so the honour of christ is their great and principal design ; and so that be accomplished , they are well pleased , however other things go . the apostle paul in rom. 16. 17 , 18. speaks of those which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine of the gospel . he doth not there speak against all that are offended and do divide , for in some cases that is a duty , and according to the doctrine which we have received . our reformers did no more than what they ought to do , when they were offended at the idolatries and superstitions of rome , and divided from them . and though they make a great clamour and noise about schisms , they themselves are the greatest and most notorious schismaticks ; but he speaks there against those that cause divisions and offences , and he commands the romans , and in them all christians , to mark them and avoid them . and he gives this reason for it , they serve not our lord jesus christ , but their own belly : that which they aimed at was their private gain and advantage , that they might grow rich , and live splendidly , and fare deliciously . now these men do not serve christ ; if the belly be a mans end , christ is not his master : the same holy apostle assures us , phil. 3. 18 , 19. they are enemies to the cross of christ , ( and if to his cross , then to his crown ) , whose god is their belly , and who mind earthly things . a real servant of christ then is one that makes christ his end . he serves the interest of christ , and he seeks the glory of christ ; and makes it his great desire , study and endeavour to exalt the name , and enlarge the kingdom of christ in the world ; this spirit acted paul ; this was it he aimed at , phil. 1. 21. to me to live is christ. he had his life from him , and he improved and laid out his life for him . and the same we find in john baptist , witness those passages of his , joh. 3. 29 , 30. he that hath the bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom which stande●…h and heareth him , rejoiceth greatly , because of the bridegrooms voice . this my joy therefore is fulfilled , he must increase , but i must decrease . now let us put all these things together : he is a true servant of our dear lord jesus , who hath chosen him for his lord and master , doth make christs work the business of his life , and applieth to it with his whole heart , sincerely aiming at his glory . having thus seen who is the servant , our next work will be to enquire concerning his preferment ; and in order to our better understanding of that , we must consider what place that is where christ doth reside : i shall tell you in a word , it is heaven , the habitation of gods holiness , the place where his honour dwelleth ; thither he took his joyful flight when he left this world which lieth in wickedness , act. 1. 11. this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven , shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven . and there he now is in glory and majesty , 1 pet. 3. 22. who is gone into heaven , and is on the right hand of god , angels and authorities , and powers being made subject unto him . and there he is to continue , act. 3. 21. whom the heavens must receive , until the times of the restitution of all things . and it is from thence his people do joyfully expect him , phil. 3. 20. our conversation is in heaven , from whence also we look for the saviour , the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . now heaven is a very good place to be in , earth in its greatest beauty is a dunghil if compared to it . take briefly some account of it . first , heaven is an high place : gods promise runs thus , psal. 91. 14. i will set him on high , because he hath known my name . and when he brings his people to heaven , this promise hath its full accomplishment . hell is an horrible pit ; those miserable ●…ouls that for supine neglect , and god-daring provocations are condemned thither , go down indeed into the deep , yea into the depths of sorrow . they are cast so low , that they are quite out of the reach of comfort . the divine hand will not reach them any succour or relief , and none other can . but heaven is a lofty place , they that go thither are upon the rising hand . it is mans preferment and advance . christ is set down on the right hand of the majesty on high . nay , he is said to be far above all heavens ; that is , far above those heavens which are visible , and within our present view . he is above the airy heaven , and above the starry heaven , in the highest , the heaven of heavens , where is the throne , and the most glorious presence of god , which is invisible to us in this lower world . oh that you who are high-minded , would be heavenly minded ! you do debase your selves , and act unworthy of your extract and original till you soar this pitch ; that is the highest place , there is the highest glory . all things else are sordid and base , dung and dogs-meat , if compared with heaven , and the blessed enjoyments there . secondly , heaven is a spacious and large place ; earth is narrow and scanty , men have not room enough in it , nor comforts enough ; they can hardly ●…ive one by another ; their vast desires and shortcommons cause great discontents , and very frequently mad work ; hence proceeds such shouldering and scrambling and quarreling , as we too often see . but in heaven there is room enough , and crowns enough , happiness and glory enough . there is indeed but one god , and there needs no more , because he is alsufficient . the glorified spirits there do altogether as fully enjoy god , and as intirely as if but one enjoyed him . he will be as much thine , as if he were solely thine . one god is so the happiness and satisfaction of all the saints , as that all god , an whole god is the portion of every saint . so that in heaven there is perfect peace among the co-heirs , no mutual envi●…s and animosities , no disturbances created to one another . do but make out your title , and labour for a meetness , and then you shall find both entrance and entertainment ; get but an heart in a due frame , fit for the company , glory , and business there , and you need not fear admission . none shall be excluded from thence , because heaven is not capable of receiving them , but because they are not in a fit case to be received ; they want their oil , and their wedding-garment ; and such as these would as ill beseem that holy hill , as filthy swine would a princes court. indeed the glory there would as ill become them ; for honour is not seemly for a fool . our saviour hath told us , that in his fathers house are many mansions , joh. 1. 4. 2. — locus est & pluribus umbris . calvin observes , he doth not say , varias & dispares ; he doth not tell us of disparity that is in them , but the multitude of them , pluribus sufficient , sufficient for the company ; as many mansions as there are to be inhabitants . in you●… fathers house , o saints , there is bread and lodgin●… enough , and to spare ; you shall there dwell at eas●… in that bottomless boundless ocean of happiness yo●… shall bathe and sport your selves with unspeakabl●… and eternal delight . thirdly , heaven is a secure and safe place , ther●… you shall be out of gun shot ; upon this account it i●… far better and more desirable than this world . b●… your estate here never so large , your advancemen●… never so high , your comforts never so many , they ar●… u●…certain at the best . asaph was offended at th●… prosperity of wicked men , whom pride compasseth 〈◊〉 a ch●…in , and violence covereth as a garment ; but h●… saith , they are set in slippery places , from whence they may soon tumble . nay not only bad men , but the bes●… are liable to assaults and troubles , and both afflictin●… and amazing alterations . job had his changes , davi●… his castings down as well as his liftings up . no plac●… is to be found here in which a man may be perfectly free from the fear of evil . here are dangers fro●… within , the corruption and sin which dwelleth in us●… dangers from without , wicked , ungodly and unrea●… reasonable men , who are desperate enemies to th●… power of godliness , and to the exercises of that religion which is pure and undefiled before god and the father , and do encompass the little flock 〈◊〉 christ like a company of ravenous wolves . an●… there is danger from beneath , satan the prince o●… darkness , a politick , potent and unwearied adversary , who will send forth his messengers to buffet and cast his fiery darts to wound , and use his wile●… to deceive and intrap . he hath his variety of engines ●…nd methods , and it is well if we be not ignorant of ●…hem . we are not safe in our assemblies , nor in our ●…amilies , no , nor in our closets and greatest retire●…ents , when we have sequestred our selves from all ●…ompany , we shall have a treacherous heart within ●…o hinder , and at our right hand a devil to resist us . ●…ut in heaven there is nothing to affright nor to of●…end . there is no possibility of sinning against god , ●…o fear of losing our happiness , no danger of falling ●…rom that height of holiness and glory unto which we shall be advanced . there will be no sin within to defile , no devil without to seduce , no enemy nor wicked men to inform , persecute or disturb . lastly , heaven is a most sweet and pleasant place ; ●…here is fulness of joy , and pleasures for evermore ; that is the mountain of spices ; where there is absence and scarcity of nothing that would afford contentment and highest satisfaction to the most raised , enamoured and enlarged soul. christ called it paradise , when he told the converted thief , this day thou shalt be with me in paradise ; he meant heaven . the earthly paradise was a lovely and delicious place , a garden of pleasure , that was a type of heaven ; but that terrestrial paradise did fall as far short of heaven , as the brazen serpent did of christ the lord of glory . it is most certain , were heaven no other kind of thing than what besotted wretches and vain worldlings in their idle dreams fancy to themselves , it would be a pitiful contemptible thing , no better than the heathen poets elysian fields , uncapable of filling up the capacity of the immortal high-born soul , and unspeakably short of the hopes and expectations of the followers of the lamb , who now cheerfully wade through so many troubles and difficulties , and take joyfully the spoiling of their goods , knowing that they have a better and more enduring substance , such as hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive of . it is such a place as doth surpass the most sublimated thoughts of the most enobled souls . should one come from thence , he could not fully describe it , but would rather invite you to come and see . it is such a place as shall express , and to the life set forth the greatness and goodness , and glory of that god which framed it . give me leave to set before you something of its amiable beauties and excellency in these four particulars . 1. heaven is full of light . if it be a pleasant thing to behold the sun , what is it to behold the sun of righteousness darting forth his brightest beams of love and glory , with which he shall not dazle but delight the glorified eye , that will be strengthened , and enabled without weariness to fix and dwell upon such an object ! god and christ are the temple of that city , so that it hath no need of the sun , nor of the moon to shine in it , for the glory of god doth lighten it , and the lamb is the light thereof , rev. 21. 22 , 23. and where there is such full and glorious light , there can be no cloud nor darkness . no , there is no ignorance , no error , not the smallest mistake , no half notions , or imperfect apprehensions of things . here we seek and cannot find ; propound many questions , but receive no satisfactory answers ; we follow on to know , yet are deficient in our knowledg . but there all truths are plainly reveal'd , all mysteries are clearly and fully opened , the most abstruse providences are interpreted , the most difficult questions are resolved , and not one ●…not left untied . the meanest saint in heaven ( if there be any differences and degrees of glory there ) knows god , and himself , and all things better than the best read , and most learned doctor upon earth ; what was puzling here , is plain there ; for they see as they are seen , and know as they are known . the lambs there do most delightfully wade through those deeps in which the admired and lofty elephants here are swallowed up . 2. heaven is full of grace and holiness . it is called the holy hill , and the habitation of gods holiness . it is a glorious place , and god and holiness are the glory of it . holiness here is in its infancy ; there , in its strength and glory . saints when arrived there , have attained to their highest perfection , because they do fully enjoy god , and are compleatly conformed to him . now , al●… ! the groans of a longing soul are these : oh! i have not apprehended i have not yet att●…ined , neither am i already perfect . and therefore he reacheth forth to that which is before , and presseth on to the mark . the children of god here meet with many troubles from without ; but that which must breaks their rest , and above all things imbitters their condition to them , is sin and sou●…-wants ; under this he complains . there is a great deal of corruption s●…ll much dross after all my refi●…ings , and much chaff af●…er all my winnowings . o wretched m●…n that i am ! who shall deliver me from this body of de●…th ? and there is but a little grace , a dim eye , and a feeble hand , and a short breath ; how doth faith stagger , and hope faint , and patience tire ? ah my leanness , my leanness ! i say it is under these things that the renewed and truly gracious soul doth more groan and lament than under all the pressures of the world . were these wants supplied , these burdens removed , he would carry others comfortably , and laugh at the frown of a creature , and the shaking of the spear . now in heaven there is no sin , and all grace ; all fairness and no spot , nor wrinkle , not the least blemish . david in psal. 17. 14. had been speaking of the flourishing estate of the men of this world , who have abundance for themselves , and enough to spare for their babes , though this is a cutting and killing consideration , that what they have now is all the comfort they are like to have ; they have their portion in this life . well now observe , every one as they like , saith he , vers . 15. as for me , i will behold thy fac●… in righteousness : i shall be satisfied when i awake with thy likeness . here they complain that they are so unlike to god , that while they call him father , and bear his name , they have no more of his nature and image ; it is the design of the gospel and work of the spirit to change them into that image from glory to glory ; but in heaven there shall be a perfect change , such as will issue in their satisfaction , 1 joh. 3. 2. beloved , now are we the sons of god , and it doth not ye●… appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall appear , we shall be like him , for we shall see him as ●…e is . when once you come to heaven , there will be an heaven in you , god will make all grace to abound , but especially and above all , love shall shine forth with the greatest luster , and burn with the most vehement flame . there god will magnifie his love upon you , and there shall you abound in your love to god. here it is your great grief that you can love god no more ; and you may pick matter of comfort and joy out of that very grief . it is a sign thou lovest god dearly , if thou dost indeed mourn because thou canst love him no more . and in this also rejoice , that in heaven your love to god will be perfected . there you shall love him as much as he requires , though to all eternity you shall not love him so much as he deserves . he shall have your all , though that all falls short . it being utterly impossible that a created love should be commensurate with divine perfections . 3. heaven is full of excellent company . it is no lonesome solitary place . in this world wheresoever we come we find but a few , alas too few that do in sincerity fear god. atheists , and papists , and hypocrites , and formalists , and profane ones overspread the earth , and like ill weeds come up apace ; the flowers appear only here and there . we have indeed many professors , a power of people that call themselves christians and he that will may believe them such ; but how few be there that are experimentally acqu●…inted with the power of godliness , and have christ formed in their hearts ! but in heaven there is great store of them , and none else . in a clear frosty night , if you do look up , you will see the sky full of stars , but there are inconceivably more on the other side there is already an innumerable company of angels , and spirits of just men made perfect ; what do you think then will there be when all shall meet together in the morning of the resurrection . 〈◊〉 ! what a noble , glorious , huge assembly will that be ! without doubt , you will find company enough , and that so good as you will never be weary of it ; never weary of god , and christ , and angels ; no , nor of any saint . here all the people of god have their imperfections , and one thing or other doth sometimes render them unacceptable ; and you would be rid of such an one , if you could , handsomely do it ; but there will be no such thing in the mansions above ; as all there are brethren , members of the same body , so are all quickened and acted by the same spirit , all filled with the same grace , all fitted for the same employment , all delighted in the same work , all singing allelujah , and all in tune ; so that there will be no jarring , not the least discord , but a perfect harmony , and by consequence a most ravishing delight . 4. lastly , heaven is full of happiness and glory . such happiness , as if it were not for that work which god hath sent us hither to do , we might well count and call it our loss and misery to be absent from it . such a glory as all the admired glories of the world are no better than baseness if compared with it . what are scarlet-gowns to a robe of righteousness ? what a crown of gold to the crown of life ? there is the glorious presence of god , there is christ in his glory , angels and saints in theirs . the very vision of this is bea●…ifical . blessed will be the eyes that shall see it . our saviour tells us , mat. 13. 43. that the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father . what a beauty will there be ! what a light will they give , when there shall be such an innumerable company of righteous ones , and every one of them as splendid as the sun it self ! it is night notwithstanding the twinkling of all the stars ; but certainly when so many suns meet together without any cloud , they will make such a day as yet the world never saw . will you sit down a while and think of this , o ye besotted worldlings , that dote so much upon the glittering vanities here below , and pride your selves in things of nought ; you that prefer these toyes and trifles before those beams and beauties with which gracious souls shall be invested , after all the dirt and scorn and reproach that you have cast upon them : you , i say , you are the true fanaticks , being juftly chargeable with as childish folly and bedlam-madness , as he that should go about to applaud and extoll the sorry light of a slimy glow-worm , before that glorious luminary in the firmament , in whose light and influences the world doth rejoyce . thus i have given you a small account of heaven according to scripture reports ; all that is said here , or can be said by us , is short of that which it is ; one half hath not been told . the third thing which i promised , is to consider , what may be the import of our saviours gracious promise to his servants , that where he is , they also shall be : what comfort and happiness is contained in the bowels of this promise . i answer in general , as much as heart can wish , enough to reward all your duties , enough to defray the charges of all your sufferings , enough to silence all your desires , and to fill you with admirings ; when david had been re-minded of what god had done for him , in advancing him from the sheep-cote to the throne , he brake forth into this humble and thankful exclamation , who am i , o lord god , and what is my house , that thou hast brought me hitherto ! how much more will you , when you come to heaven , see cause to say , who am i , o lord god , a poor contemptible worm , a little handful of rebellious dust ! and what are all my duties and services , all my prayers and tears , all my sorrows and sufferings , that thou hast brought me hitherto ! but more particularly , i answer thus : 1. being where christ is , doth import a sight of his glory , cant. 3. 11. go forth , o ye d●…ughters of jerusalem , and behold the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals , and in the day of the gladness of his heart . this is to be understood of christ , of whom king solomon was a type ; when you go out of the body , you shall see the crown wherewith his father crowned him , at his ascension , which was the day of the gladness of his heart . here we walk by faith , and not by sight : there we shall walk by sight , and not by faith ; faith will be swallowed up of vision , and hope of fruition : christ will be the main and principal object , which glorified eyes will fix upon , and be taken up with the contemplation of ; it is true , they shall see others , abraham , isaac , and jacob , david , peter , paul , and all the saints ; and also their former friends , acquaintance and relations , with whom they took sweet counsel , and converst in the things of god ; and i make no question , but they shall know them too ; nevertheless , the great object about which they shall be conversant , shall be , as i said , the lord jesus christ : we shall see him as he is . 1 john 3. 2. and this very thing our dear lord jesus declared to be his will concerning them , joh. 17. 24. father , i will that they whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , that they also may behold my glory which thou hast given me . and that one sight is infinitely beyond all the sights in the world . when good old sim●…on had seen christ in his infancy and state of humiliation , he was willing to have his eyes immediately closed , as not caring to cast one look more toward earthly allurements ; lord , saith he , now lettest thou t●…y servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation ; yet that was much short of seeing christ in his exaltation . austin , as i have read ; wished he might have seen rome in her temporal glory ; but alas what would that have been to the seeing of christ in 〈◊〉 , sitting upon his throne , at the right 〈◊〉 majesty on high ! 2. being where christ is , doth import an intimacy of communion with him ; here indeed they have a fellowship with him , 1 jo●… . 1. 3. truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son jesus c●…rist . here is a fellowship of interest and friendship ; but it is accompanied with distance and absence , like that of a wife with her husband , or of children with their father , who is in a foreign country , beyondthe sea : in heaven this fellowship shall be compleated ; christ and believers shall not only be interested one in another , but they shall be one with another ; therefore look again upon that forementioned passage of our saviour , i will that those which thou hast given me , be with me where i am ; not only where i am , but with me where i am ; so that there they shall have an immediate and undisturbed and full communion with christ , and with god in and through christ ; asaph could say , while upon earth , i am continually with thee , psal. 73. 23. and so are you frequently in duties and ordinances ; there is many a gracious visit , loving embrace , sweet and comfortable intercourse ; but in heaven , you shall be with him after another manner than ever you were in all your lives before ; lord , said the penitent thief , remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom . to day , saith our saviour , shalt thou be with me in paradice ; not only in paradice , but with me in paradice : and indeed , this is the sweetest flower in that garden , this is the best and choicest part of the happiness above ; the repróach of christ was by moses counted greater riches than the treasures of egypt . what then is the presence and bosome of christ ? to depart from him is the worst ingredient in wicked mens misery ; to be with him is the crown and completion of good mens felicity . 3. being where christ is , doth comprehe●… it ●…joyment of happiness together with him ; god ●…fied christ with his own self , and he will glorifie the saints with christ ; as the wife partakes in all the riches and honours and advancements of her husband ; so doth the believer in the glory and preferments of christ ; the o●…l of gladness , the spirit and grace poured out upon him , descends to all his members , the lowest and meanest of them ; so shall the glory : they shall so be in christ's company , as to be suited to it , he shall not be ashamed to own them and call them bretheren , he shall be the king , they the courtiers ; he shall shine as the sun , they as the stars ; he shall shine with his own beams , they with light communicated and derived from him : solomon sat cloathed with glory and majesty , and the queen did stand at his right hand in gold of ophir , psal. 45. 9. the very bodies of the saints , ( which were made of dust , and are become vile by reason of sin ) shall then be made like unto christ's own most glorious body : the sights whlch believers have now of christ , are transforming sights , by them grace is begun , and improved , as 2 cor. 3. 18. we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the lord , are changed into the same image , from glory to glory , even as by the spirit of the lord. yet these are but transient sights , and as in a glass ; what then will be the issue , and product of that full view which they shall have in heaven ? what a blessed glorious change will that make upon them ! they shall see god , and enjoy him too , and be like him ; christs glory will be theirs , as his members , and every one of them shall have such a personal glory , as that he shall see no reason to envy another . 4. being where christ is , doth carry along with it unspeakable delight ; so that the glorified is not only pleased and satisfied , but also filled with amazement and wonder at the divine love and goodness . oh that god should ever do so much for him ! psal. 16. 11. in thy presence is fulness of joy , and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore . christ finds fulness of joy in the glorious presence of his father and so do the saints in the glorious presence of christ. the presence of the creatures doth afford no more than an empty , scanty , fading joy ; and indeed what else can be expected from empty enjoyments ! but the presence of god in heaven affords a fulness of joy , such as cannot enter into them , but they must into it . well done good and faithful servant , enter thou into thy masters joy . joy unspeakable and full of glory is the off-spring of faith , what is that then which is caus'd by sight ? what! it is such a joy as fills the soul up to the brim ; nay more , such as doth even swallow it up , surround and encompass it as an huge vast ocean doth a little vessel cast into it . in that state the saints are enlarged to their utmost , and yet they find the joys and delights there , are above and beyond their capacities ; they cannot contain but must admire them . oh how doth the released soul stand and gaze , how is it wrapt up into a kind of extasie as soon a●… ever it enters into the gates of that city , and treads upon the golden street transparent as glass , and there beholds what delights , what feasts , what glories the great god hath prepared for them that love him ! 5. lastly , this being with christ doth import an unchangable state , an eternity of duration . his servants shall not only be with him , but they shall be always with him . this world is full of vicissitudes , the changes are rung every day . changes and wars are upon me , said poor job . and david cried out , thou hast lifted me up and cast me down . christians , do you not find it so in respect of your spiritual condition ? here are meetings and parting 's , approaches and recesses , comfortable visits , and mournful withdrawings too ; short communion , but long absence sometimes the gracious enamoured soul triumphs , it skip●… and leaps for joy , he is come ! i , he is come ! but then again he sits down mourning as a turtle alone , and weeping , crys out with the be-nighted deserted spouse , i sec●… him , but i cannot find him : i call him , but he gives me n●… answer . but there is , there will be no such thing in heaven . 1 thes. 4. 7. we shall meet the lord in the air , and so shall we ever be with the lord. ever , without end , and without intermission ; we shall so be with him , as never to be without him , never from him . but what is the reason os all this ? why shall christs servants thus be where he is ? i will tell you in a few things . 1. the relation which is between christ and them call●… for it . christ is their master , and they his servants ; and should not servants follow and wait upon their lord●… christ is their king , and they his courtiers ; and should no●… courtiers , favourites , wait upon their prince ? they are his children whom his soul travelled for ; yea , he died i●… travel ; and should they not live with their father . they ar●… here espoused to him , and at the day of the resurrectio●… they shall be married to him ; at that day shall be th●… solemnization of the nuptials ; and should not they cohabi●… with their husband ? nay , the church is his body , and all true believers are his members ; and certainly they should not be separated from their head. christ hat●… been graciously pleased to take upon himself all relation●… to his people , and those do not only call for utmost dearness but likewise for all possible nearness ; as relation doth call for cohabitation , so cohabitation doth maintain and uphold affection in its life and vigour . and so , 2. christ and his people are united in most intire affection ; they love most dearly , their hearts are knit one unto the other , there is no such love in the world , as that which christ bears to them , and which they again bear to him . the love of jacob to rachel , and that of jonathan to david , though it passed the love of women , was cold as ice if compared with this flame ; and is it not pity that those who love so well , should be parted ? since christ hath placed his delight in them , and they their happiness in him , is it not pity but they should live together , and rejoice together , and be a comfort to one another ? the lord jesus hath abundantly manifested his love to them in this , that let them be how they will , and where they will , he doth come and keep them company ; when any of them are in prisons , he visits them there , and puts songs into their mouths ; when some of them were in a fiery furnace , he came to them , and walked with them , and was a shadow to them from that heat . his sweet promise runs thus , in joh. 14. 18. i will not leave you comfortless , i will come to you . whoever leaves you , though friends , and estate , and all leave you , i will not ; when you have no comforts , i will bring you some . and sure those who are such friends at a distance , should come into a closer fellowship . 3. they have been together in troubles ; these servants have again by way of grateful return exprest their love to their master . afflictions , tribulations , persecutions , death it self could not divide them ; and what ! shall they be divided at the last ? certainly nothing shall separate them from the presence of christ , whom nothing could separate from the love of christ. they have drunk of the cup which he drunk of , and been baptized with the baptism which he was baptized with , and therefore they shall enter into his joy , and be with him in his kingdom . they have carried his cross , and they shall be with him upon his throne . they have sought his battels , and been with him in his conflicts , therefore they shall share in his triumphs . peter thought he had done something when he said , mat. 19. 27. behold we have for saken all , and followed thee , what shall we have therefore ? sure he thought christ was beholding to them for leaving a few old nets , and leaking boats , and pitiful houshold-stuff , to follow him . our saviour might have shewn him his error ; but observe his answer , vers . 28. verily i say unto you , that ye which have followed me in the regeneration , when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory , ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones , judging the twelve tribes of israel . q d. do not trouble your self , peter , neither you , nor any of my faithful disciples shall be losers by me , though you and they may be sufferers for me ; you forsake little things for me , but you shall have great things from me . you part with nets , and i will give you thrones . but here remember , that the saints losses and afflictions do not merit this happiness ; no , read rom. 8. 18. the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us . yet through the condescending love , and rich grace of god , that happiness shall attend and crown those troubles . rom. 8. 17. we are joint-heirs with christ , if so be that we suffer with him , that we may be also glorified together . 4. the friends and servants of christ cannot be happy upon other terms . being with christ is the only thing that can afford rest and satisfaction to them , all the world besides cannot do it . let the saints have never so great a confluence of creature-delights , suppose them possest of relations , friends , estate , honour , peace , plenty , what you will , these are nothing if alone , meer cyphers , unless the enjoyment of christ put a significancy into them . without the presence of christ , and the manifestations of his love and favour , all these things are in their esteem vanity and vexation of spirit . the heart of poor tender rachel was so let out to her children , and her comforts so much bound up in them , that when they were not , she ●…efused to be comforted . now the heart of a true believer is as much set upon christ , and his comforts are as much bound up in christ ; he knows that if he lose him , he loseth all ; if he miss of him , he is an undone man. hence it comes to pass , that if christ doth now hide , and withdraw the manifestations of himself , and suspend his influences ; the gracious soul cannot sit still , but up it gets , and away it runs , searching and enquiring , with trembling and tears , saw ye him whom my soul loveth ? cant. 3. 3. if during this state of desertion and darkness , he repairs to the precious ordinances , and there hears a son of consolation , whose lips drop as an honey-comb , and is entertained with the most sweet cordial promises , the marrow and fatness of the gospel ; yet he is not refreshed , all is to him as a dry ●…chip , as the white of an egg , if he do not meet with christ there : the lord jesus is to him all in all , he alone is all , though there be nothing else ; but all things are nothing , heaven and earth are nothing without christ. psal. 73. 25. whom ●…ave i in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that i desire besides thee . paul had , doubtless , a very considerable number of dear and loving friends upon earth , as well as enemies , and he had a great deal of excellent work to do here ; yet notwithstanding all his friends and work , he had , good man , a desire to depart and●… to be with christ , which he counted far better , than what ? than any thing you can name in this world . 5. lastly , there is a place in heaven already taken up for them , yea , for all and every one of them by name ; as the house is built , and richly furnished , so the ●…ooms are disposed of , joh. 14. 2. in my fathers house are many mansions ; i go to prepare a place for you , t●… prepare it , and that for you ; i will take it up for you●… and when he ascended into glory , he entered , as in hi●… own person , so in his people's names , heb. 9. 19 , 20 ▪ which hope we have as an anchor of the soul , both sur●… and stedfast , and which entred into that within the vail whither the forerunner , even jesus is for us entred . mat●… that , he is entred for us , not only for our good , tha●… he might there make intercession for us , and prese●… our prayers to his father , and from thence convey spiritual blessings to us , but he is entred in our name . th●… high priest under the law was , you know , a type o●… christ ; and when he entred into the holy of holi●… he carried the names of all the tribes with him , upo●… his breast : so did christ our high priest , at his entranc●… into the most holy place , heaven , he entred in th●… name of all his people ; which clearly shewed that they must follow him thither , for otherwise this action o●… christ was in vain , and that is impossible ; nay , upo●… this account believers are said to sit in heaven in christ ; as they shall one day sit there with him , so they do no●… sit there in him . eph. 2. 6. god who is rich in merc●… hath raised us up together , and made us sit together i●… heavenly places in christ jesus . if now after all this , you ask me when that blesse●… day shall come , in which the servants of christ shal●… be with him . i answer in a few words , when they hav●… finished their course , and compleated that work whic●… god hath given them to do , according to what our saviour said , joh. 17. 4 , 5. i have glorified thee on th●… earth , and finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now o father , glorifie thou me with thine own self●… and so that of paul , 2 tim. 4. 7 , 8. i have fought a goo●… fight , i have finished my , course , i have kept the faith●… henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which the lord the righteous judg shall give me at that day . when death gives its fatal stroak , and breaks that union which had been between their souls and their bodies , then do their enlarged and nimble souls post immediatly to heaven , making no stay by the way , in ●…ome imaginary paradise , or feigned purgatory ; nor do they forget themselves and continue in an idle and unprofitable sleep , till the arch-angel's trump awaken them ; but they take their direct and speedy flight ●…o the mansions above , the palace of the great king. and then at the last day , when the morning , the joy●…ul morning of the resurrection shall dawn , their sleep●…ng bodies ( having been calcin'd , and purified in the grave as in a refining-pot , shall be awakened , and raised out of their beds of dust , and being fitted to accompany their souls in their most sublime and noble imployments , shall be reunited to them , and together with them made partakers of all that happiness , and invested with all that beauty , glory and perfection , which they are capable of . i have finished the doctrinal part , and shall now make some improvement of it in a way of use. use 1. from what hath been said , wicked men may ●…ee cause to fear and tremble ; if the rule of contraries hold true , they may from hence learn what will become of them , and where their lines will fall ; you that have to this day lived in a state of estrangement from christ , and emnity to him , you that do grieve and alway resist the holy ghost , you that slight and reject the ●…enders of christ , that despise his grace , that refuse to ●…ake his yoke upon you , and submit to his government , but break his bands asunder , and cast away his cords ●…rom you ; you that hate his image instamped upon his saints , and cannot endure the power of godliness , bu●… are the servants of sin , that delight to drudg for the devil , and gratifie your base lusts ; whither are you going ? what will be the end of these things ? where shall you take up your everlasting abode , unless you face about , and steer another course ? doubtless with the master whom you have chosen ; the devil you will serve , and to the devil you shall go ; read your doom pronounced by the mouth of a despised saviour , and righteous judg , mat. 25. 41. depart from me ye cursed int●… everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels . and this i will confidently tell you , whatever pleasure and delight you do now find in the devils work , you shall find none in his company nor condition at the last some of you are desperado's , stark mad , and wish god to damn you ; know , you do more than a devil da●…e do , and you need not do it , for your damnation sleepeth not . use 2. i would exhort you all , one and other , to enter into christ●… family , and become his faithful servants . now , now , o sinners ! change your master ; why should you slave for a lust ? why should you take pains to ruine and undo your selves ? what profit ca●… you have of those things which will cause shame , and sorrow , and death ? look to the issue of things , and judge them by that . he is a wise man that is so at his latter end ; and he is an happy man that will be so to all eternity : not he that swears and curses , drinks and whores , is merry and mad while he lives ; but he th●… hath hope , a well-grounded hope in his death . my friends , if baal be god , follow him ; if sin and satan can bestow you holding , lasting , everlasting happpiness , cleave to them ; but if they cheat you , and will ruine you , forsake them , and for certain they will do it ; for the wages of sin is death . and i beseech you act like wise and considerate men ; what satisfactory reason can you give , why you should not give up your selves to christ ? his government is sweet , his yoke is easie , and his burden light . his law is the royal law of liberty , and his commandments holy , just and good ; he hath indeed a rod of iron , but that is only for his obstinate and implacable enemies , whom he will dash in pieces like a potters vessel : as for his subjects , he rules them with a golden scepter of righteousness and grace . come , come , put your hand to his plow , my soul for yours , you will never repent of it ; he will help you at your work , and comfort you in it , and crown you after it . be you wise therefore before it be too late ; chuse him for your prince , who will be your saviour ; the strength and comfort of your hearts here , and your portion for ever . use 3. but i shall now direct my discourse to you that are the servants of christ , and have given up your names and your hearts to him ; some things i have to desire of you , and oh that i may prevail with you ! i am perswaded that i shall . suffer then a four-fold word of exhortation . 1. while you are upon earth , be industrious , do as much as you can , lose no time , bury no talent , always abound in the work of the lord , remembring that you shall not be always here ; nay , you shall be but a little while here : you must go to the place where christ is . 2. pet. i. the apostle tells the saints to whom he wrote , that he would not be negligent to put them in remembrance ; but as long as he was in this tabernacle he would stir them up by putting them in remembrance , i. e. he would be exceeding industrious . and why so ? he gives the reason , vers . 14. knowing that shortly i must put off this my tabernacle . how soon you may have your summons and remove , none of you can tell ; your breath is in your nostrils , and may be stopt in a moment : you see god doth sometimes give very short , and makes a quick dispatch . oh! therefore gird up the loins of your minds , ply your business , and follow it close ; let no duty be neglected , no day lost , no golden season and opportunity slipt or trifled away ; fill up your time , places and relations , that so your works may be found perfect before god ; and when you go hence , you may neither mourn nor blush , but hear your master telling you , that you have been faithful in your little . 2. during your abode here , maintain and keep up a most close and intimate communion with jesus christ ; make fellowship with him the work of your days , and you shall find it the comfort of your lives . enoch walked with god ; d●…vids eyes were ever toward the lord ; asaph was continually with him ; and this hath been the practice of all the saints in their generations . the doctrine we are handling , doth oblige you to it : you shall hereafter be where christ is , therefore love to be where he is now , much in ordinances , frequent in holy duties . let not christ come into your families and closets , and find you absent at the hours of prayer , or his work thrust out by the world : let not him come into the assemblies of his people , and find your places empty in the time of publick worship ; let not the king of saints come to his table , and want any of his guests ; but be you there too , and let your spikenard send forth its smell . he walks in the midst of golden candlesticks , walk you there too , and not with vain persons , nor in any path of the destroyer . oh! love the habitation of his house , the place where his ●…onour dwelleth . count sabbaths your delight ; look upon prayer not as your task but priviledg . often ca●… to mind and meditate upon that of david , psal. 27. 4. one thing have i desired of the lord , that i will seek after , that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life , to be hold the beauty of the lord , and to enquire in his temple . oh! that the same frame of spirit might be in every one of us . 3. acquaint your selves with heaven before-hand ; one day you shall come thither , that is your home : here you are pilgrims and strangers , as all your fathers were ; that is your own country , there you shall take up your everlasting abode ; be there now as much as you can ; lay aside those weights that press down , and the sins which do so easily beset you ; get upon the wing , soar a-loft , and let your conversations be in heaven , as the apostles and primitive christians were , phil. 3. 20. well may miserable worldlings , like blind moles , dig and bury themselves in the earth ; alas ! their treasure is there , there portion lies wholly in the things of this life : and it is no wonder at all to see their minds and hearts where their portion is . but as for you , my brethren , who cannot rest in this world , because it is polluted , and would be of all men most miserable , if you had hope only in this life ; you , whose head , and happiness , and inheritance is above , should be of more sublime spirits , and thoughts and affections . be not you choakt with worldly cares , nor disquieted with worldly fears , nor drowned in sensual worldly delights . when there is nothing but disorder and confusion in the world where you sojourn , there is a perfect calm and serenity in the country to which you are travelling . and when you have peace and pleasure here , sip and look up , remembring there is something above infinitely better . lastly , be so wise , such good husbands , as to make the best improvement you can of your godly pastors , friends and relations while you enjoy them . you see by daily experience , they do not , they must not live for ever in this world ; yet a little while you see them , and yet a little while and you shall not see them . it is expedient for them that they go away . their dear lord , whom they serve , loves them too well to be always without them : he must have them with him . he loves them too well to suffer them always to toil and labour among a disingenuous and ungrateful people , always to contend with and suffer by a wicked and malicious world . he must and will have them home to himself . therefore know your duty , and your advantages , while they are afforded you ; let there be wisdom in your hearts , as well as a price in your hands , and get as much good by them as you can . hear their wisdom , attend to their counsels , inquire after their experiences , observe their carriages ; let your converses be spiritual , your discourses heavenly , that they may be profitable , and minister to you both grace and comfort . use. let me now in the last place speak something to you by way of consolation : comfort ye , comfort ye my people , saith our god. some of you are mourners , and i would not dismiss you without a cordial , especially now there is one at hand . this consideration , that christs s rvants shall be where he is , may comfort you , 1. against all the uncertainties and troubles of this world : they are many and great , in the world ye shall have tribulation , said our dear master ; who dealt faithfully with his followers , and hath told them the very worst , that they may not be offended . no saints must expect to go from one heaven to another . a wilderness lyeth in your way to canaan . gods ministers especially must expect to meet with hard usage here , many a frown , and frump , and abuse , contrary to the laws of princes embassadors . but the king of saints who commissioned and sent them , had far worse entertainment , and the servant must not expect to be above his lord. wel●… , let things be how they will , and the present day is so very dark , that for a time they are like to be worse than they are ; yet let not your hearts fail , but hold up your heads , for they will be better one day . if you do not see what you desire in this world , you shall in the next . there will be no cause of complaint when you arrive at that place where your lord is ; the joys of heaven will make you a plenary amends for all your sorrows and afflictions upon earth . 2. you may from hence ●…e relieved as to the shortness of the present life : though some have their line of life drawn out to a very great length , so that they see those days in which they have no pleasure , but they awake at the voice of the bird , and the grashopper is a burden ; yet others are taken off in the midst of their days when their bones are full of marrow , and their breasts of milk ; others presently after their meridian , before the shadows of the evening are upon them , as was your late beloved pastor . however it be , an eternal life with christ in heaven will make you a full amends for a short life on earth . what you want here , you shall have there . here you have but few days , and those full of trouble ; there you shall have but one day , yet that one knows no clouds , no night , no end , and it is full of joy and glory . though we are but little with you , and our friends but little with us , it matters not much so long as they and we shall be ever with the lord. 3. from this cordial truth we may fetch comfort against death it self : it is indeed a king of ●…errours , but upon this account a messenger of peace . christ by his death hath conquer'd it , and pull'd out its sting , and by the purchase of this blessed priviledg hath put sweetness into it . so that though it hath a pale , ghastly and frightful countenance , yet it comes upon a good errand to believers , and doth them a most remarkable kindness . it is a dark passage to a glorious palace . it closeth the eye that it may see no more trouble ; and when that eye is again opened , it shall behold matchless glory . it separates between nearest and dearest relations , the husband and wife , parents and children , pastor and people , soul and body ; it breaks up families , and turns the body into putrefaction , and a stink ; but it sends the soul to heaven . snatcheth it from friends on earth , that it may go to a god above ; turns it out of a crazie cottage , that it may dwell in a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , 2 cor. 5. 1. in a word it strips it of flesh , that it may be clothed with immortality and then in the last place : 4. this may comfort us under the departure ( i do not call it loss ) of our dearest friends and relations , and in particular , under this late dispensation , which hath so much of wormwood and gall in it ; upon the account thereof many of you are pained and grieved at the very heart . there is indeed a great and dismal breach made upon you ; and give me leave to say , he that is not affected and afflicted , is too too stupid ; and i would wish him , when he is at home , seriously to consider and examine what kind of spirit he is of . but as for you whose hearts do even bleed within you , my advice is , that you would set your pastors gain against your own loss . and let this set just bounds to your sorrow , that where christ is , there is his servant also , fully satisfied with his love and likeness . it may now be rationally expected , that i should expatiate in the commendations of your deceased pastor : but i shall be short and sparing ; not because there is want of matter ( for the subject is copious ) , but because of my relation to him , which will render me in the thoughts of some an incompetent judge , and his encomiums in my mouth suspected . and the truth is , i am no great friend to panegyricks , or funeral orations : they do not deserve to have flowers strowed upon them , whose names will stink and rot , when their friends hav●… done their best ; and they do not need them , whos●… works praise them in the gate ; and will do so , when their adversaries have done their worst . what therefore i shall say , you may take thus in short . he was , as i am verily perswaded , a truly godly man ; i do not say a perfect man , omnibus numeris absolutus , one free from spot , mistake , or failing . light up candles , walk thorough the world , search narrowly , and find me out such a person if you can . but after thirty-five years knowledge of him , i dare say he was an israelite indeed ; he did not mock god , nor in his profession cheat man ; he did not personate the saint , but was one . he was excellently furnished for the work of the ministry , having choice natural parts , and great acquired abilities . god had given him both the head and tongue of the learned ; he was well stored , and having a door of utterance , could readily bring out of his treasury good things , both new and old : he was a workman that needed not to be ashamed . wheresoever he came and laboured , solid and judicious christians rejoyced in his light . he was industrious and diligent in his masters business ; not a loiterer , but a labourer in the vineyard ; one that would dig for knowledge , and then sweat in scattering spiritual riches : he did not think much to spend , and be spent for god and his people : he had so large a soul , that he once craz'd his head ; and if he had had two bodies , it would have worn them out through an earnest desire of getting and doing good . he was really set for the spiritual advantage , and eternal salvation of precious souls : he sought the advancement of gods honour , the enlargment of christs kingdom , the deliverance of captivated sinners out of the devils clutches ; it was his joy to see any subjected to the truth , and walking in it . his work is now finished , and his race run : he will pray for you no more , preach to you no more , administer sacraments among you no more ; he will advise , instruct , exhort , reprove you no more ; he will mourn over you , be troubled for you , and grieved by you no more ; he will delight and rejoyce in you no more , unless it be at the last day , when those that were wrought upon by his ministry shall be his joy and glory , and crown of rejoycing : he is now at perfect rest where christ i●… , and where he finds his labour was not in vàin . whatever unkindnesses he met with in this world , he meets with nothing but love and loveliness in that world . i shall have done when i have made three requests to you , whom he hath left behind . 1. live the sermons he preached among you ; let not what he preached be lost now he is dead ; he hath sown precious seed , oh let it root in your hearts , and bring forth much fruit in your conversations : it is not the gospel heard , but the gospel believ'd and liv'd , that will save you . 2. beware of all unbrotherly breaches and divisions ; let this breach which god hath made upon you , prosper to the healing of all other breaches . keep together , and walk in love , and manage all things according to scripture-rule . 3. look out for a supply ; seek earnestly to god , and advise with good men . labour for one sound in the faith , of a gracious prudent spirit , and of an exemplary life ; one that may happily build upon the foundation already laid , and be an instrument in the hand of god to make you meet for an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in christ. finis . the souls return to its god, in life, and at death a funeral sermon, preached upon occasion of the death of mr. john kent, late of crouched friars, who departed this life decem. 16. 1689. by samuel slater, minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1690 approx. 95 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60355 wing s3976 estc r217893 99829536 99829536 33976 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60355) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 33976) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1980:13) the souls return to its god, in life, and at death a funeral sermon, preached upon occasion of the death of mr. john kent, late of crouched friars, who departed this life decem. 16. 1689. by samuel slater, minister of the gospel. slater, samuel, d. 1704. [32] p. printed for john dunton at the black raven in the poultry, london : 1690. signatures: a² b-d⁴ e² . includes an advertisement. copy cropped at head, slightly affecting text. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng kent, john, d. 1689 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-05 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the souls return to its god , in life , and at death . a funeral sermon , preached upon occasion of the death of mr. john kent , late of crouched friars , who departed this life decem. 16. 1689. by samuel slater , minister of the gospel . 1 thes. 4. 14. them which sleep in iesus will god bring with him . london , printed for iohn dunton at the black raven in the poultry . 1690. to my worthy friend mrs. mary kent . at your desire this sermon was preached , and at your repeated desire it is now published . god grant that it may be accompanied , where-ever it shall come , with the divine spirit and blessing , that being so backt and in●…uenced , it may accomplish the thing for which it is thus sent abroad , ●…nd prove a singular means of good to precious and immortal souls . the hand of that god , before whom it becomes the whole earth to ●…eep silence , hath made a very great breach upon you , by depriving ●…ou of your dear and affectionate husband , whose life was very desirable unto those that were his acquaintance , but much more to ●…ou . the good lord stand himself in the breach , for he alone is ●…ble to make it up , who out of his infinite fulness is able to sweeten ●…ll our comforts , to supply all our wants , and to fill up all vacancies , ●…nd to do far more abundantly than we can ask or think . it is your wisdom not to stand poring upon your loss , but to endeavour ●…he turning it into gain : for meat may be fetched out of the eater , ●…nd life out of death ; that which devours our comforts , may feed ●…ur graces . every thing shall one way or other befriend that person who is indeed a friend to himself . your husband is taken from you , and this is heavy upon you , that you shall see his face no more ; yet see carefully to this , that you mourn not as one that hath no hope , rather believing that he is gone to a place of peace , rest and happiness ; gird up the loins of your mind , and by a diligent speedy preparation of your self , make all the haste you can after him , so you shall see him in a better place , and better state , and more than that , you shall see your god and saviour too in all his glory , which shall reflect a glory upon you . it may be our comfort to think that it is but a little time which you and i , and the rest of the people of god have to mourn in , and to conflict with enemies and troubles in ; and if we can through the assistance of grace obtain a victory over our unruly and imperious lusts , we rows . make we it our care and labour to get sin out of our hearts and the hand of infinite love and goodness will infallibly wip●… away all tears from our eyes . my hearts desire and prayer t●… god for you and yours , is , that ye may be saved , and so follo●… those blessed souls that are gone before , and have through fait●… and parience enter'd into the possession of those glorious thing●… which are contained in the promises , and an intimate communi●… with that god who made them , as that you may be comportioner●… & fellow-sharers with them . oh that the prevailing comforter , who●… our dearest lord sent to his church , may take up his abode wit●… you , and do that part of his office to you in the midst of all yo●… disconsolations ! may be direct your feet into the way of peac●… and your hearts into the love of god , and a patient waiting f●… the coming of our lord , and the day of your redemption . t●… lord himself be your sun and shield , give you grace and glory with whatever else he sees good . may be teach you to live holiy and to all well-pleasing , and then enable you to die triumphantly to his grace , guidance and blessing i commend you ; and as i hope 〈◊〉 find you , so i desire to leave you under the healing and refreshing wings of the glorious sun of righteousness ; my self remaining , from my study , ian. 24. 1690. yours in our most precious jesus samuel slater . psalm 116. 7. return unto thy rest , o my soul ! for the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee . the words before us are part of a psalm of praise ( in which we have reason to conclude david's heart well tun'd , and wound up to an high pitch of thankfulness ) and therefore may by some be looked upon as somewhat improper for a funeral occasion and solemnity . but for the silencing and satisfaction of such as may so judge ; i shall only say , this was the scripture , upon which the heart of our deceased friend and brother was much set , and in the time of his health he did frequently mention it as the subject of that sermon which should be preached after his departure out of this world into an eternal state ; and if i am not greatly mistaken , it will freely and plentifully afford matter very fit for you to be entertained with at such a time as this : for though when a child of god dieth , there is just cause of mourning among his friends and dear relations , and in the church of god , of which he was a living member , not upon his account , who is an unspeakable gainer , but their own , who are sensible of a great loss , yet surely it ought to be such a mourning , as doth not exclude joy as a thing with which it is utterly inconsistent , because we are by the word of truth assured , that the day of such an ones death , is better than the day of his birth ; and in the midst of those tears which are shed , there may be triumphs because of a blessed and glorious victory that is obtained ; and a desired compleat deliverance wrought from all those troubles and pressures which tried his faith and patience while a pilgrim here ; and likewise because then in a more special manner , after all his afflictive wandrings from mountain to hill , after all his sinful rambles and excursions , and after all his tedious travels , pursuits and runnings to and fro after creature-enjoyments and comforts , which did often run faster from him than he could after them , so that he was forced to lie down in sorrow upon the score of his disappointment ; i say , after all this , his soul doth at death take its flight for the other world , and joyfully returns unto that god with whom it long'd to be , and in whom it shall take up a perfect , undisturbed , and everlasting rest. there are but two things in the text which need and call for explication . return unto thy rest , o my soul ! the question will be , what are we here to understand by rest ? to which i answer in these three things briefly . first , some do look upon it as importing a quiet state and condition , after all those tumblings & tossings which he had had ; the hurries of his life caused by the uncertainty and variety of providences , the many and great afflictions that had been ordered out to him , god had now brought him ad lo●… and take possession . the waters are asswaged , the ark is upon firm ground , now , my soul , go forth ; and offer such a sacrifice as will be of a sweet savour . secondly , others do by rest understand a still and pacate frame ; he had been before very uneasie , and thereupon unquiet in his spirit . he had been under great and furious tempests , which had raised much filth and corruption that greatly royl'd him ; while there were fightings without , there were fears within , and those fears did bid defiance to his faith , & in many encounters prevailed against it , so that his soul was dejected and disquieted within him : now he would have those storms to be laid , and his soul to return unto that blessed tranquillity and calm which in former times it did enjoy through the comfortable shinings of god upon it . but i shall pass by both these ; therefore thirdly , others do here by rest , understand god himself ; so that when the psalmist saith , return unto thy rest , o my soul ! his meaning is , return unto thy god , redi ad illum , apud quem summam invenies tranquillitatem , nempe ad deum , return to him , namely , to god , with whom thou wilt enjoy thy self as thou wouldest , in whom thou wilt have the greatest peace , and sweetest repose . thou hast been going to this , and to the other , scattering thy ways ; now , my soul , give them their last farewel , and go to thy god , for with him it will be better with thee than it is now . as for that other phrase , the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee ; it is variously rendred . he hath recompensed thee , he hath given thee a reward ; he hath done thee good ; viz. in delivering thee from thine enemies , from thy dangers , and from thy distresses , and from all thy fears . he hath satisfied thee by granting thy desires , and accomplishing thy hopes ; but i see no just reason why we should leave our own translation , the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee . there is nothing else in the words that carrieth in it the least appearance of a difficulty . in them we may take notice of these two parts . first , a gracious persons inviting or calling his soul home ; calling upon his soul to leave its idle extravagancy , and to go back to the place from whence it came , to direct its steps or motions to that god with whom it should both be , and love to be . return unto thy rest , o my soul ! return unto thy god , o my soul ! secondly , here is the argument he useth for the prevailing with his soul , and persuading it to steer this holy and blessed course ; for the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee ; thy experiences may very well be thy encouragements . the doctrines which i shall present you with from hence , are of the same number with the parts ; unto both which i shall speak at this time first doctrine is this ; a gracious soul should be glad to think of returning to its god , and often call upon it self to that purpose : return unto thy rest , o my soul ! the second doctrine is this ; the experiences that gracious souls have had of god ; or , his former gracious and bountiful dealings with them , should be a covent and prevailing argument for their returning unto him . this was the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee . we shall handle them in their order , and so begin with the former . doct. 1. a gracious soul should be glad to think of returning to its god , and call often upon it self to such a blessed purpose . return unto thy rest , o my soul ! now the very mentioning of a return to god , doth naturally and directly lead us to the consideration of a distance at which the soul before was from god ; for if there had not been a departure from god , there would not be any need of , nor occasion for a return to him , ier. 3. 12. return , thou backsliding israel , saith the lord. and again he calls , verse 22. return , ye backsliding children , and i will heal your backslidings . they had not walked with god , nor kept close to him , as they were by their duty and interest obliged to have done , but were gone from him : though they had once come up to him , and went after him in a wilderness , in a land that was not sown , yet they drew back again ; kindness would not hold them , nor covenant , nor the cords of a man , but back they did draw , yea and that not a little way , but as the lord himself complained in ier. 2. 5. they had gone far from him , and walked after vanity , and were become vain : but whither did they go , when they left god ? you may be sure , they changed not for the better ; they went to base idols , to them that were not gods , and that was a great way ; they went far from god in going to pagan heathenish idolatry , as those among us are gone far from god , who have renounced the protestant religion , and are gone over to the tents of antichrist , to popish idolatry . yet for ever to be admired is the divine mercy and goodness ; those that had gone from god , yea that had gone so exceeding far from him without having any just cause given them for so doing , he was graciously pleased to call back again to himself , return , o backsliding children ! so that a return doth speak a distance that is between god and man. now this distance is to be found in a threefold state , and answerable to that threefold distance there is to be a threefold return ; there is a distance from god at which man stands in a threefold state . 1. in his unregenerate state. 2. in his imperfect 3. in his mortal 1. men , all men are at a distance from god , during their corrupt and unregenerate state ; those that are in their sins , are , as the apostle said of the unconverted ephesians ; eph. 2. 12. without god in the world ; let them have what they will , never such natural and acquired accomplishments , such friends and relations , such honour and power , such estates and revenues , they have not god ; let them make never so great a figure in the world , they are without god in the world . you that are in your impure naturals , the servants of sin , under the power and dominion of your lusts ; you that have not been born again , nor quickened by the divine spirit , nor made partakers of grace and holiness , you are to this day far from god ; you may indeed frequent the assemblies of the saints , and walk in an outward fel●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 external performance o●… commanded duties ; you may sit 〈◊〉 the table of the lord : foolish virgins had their lamps , and walked with the wife . simon magus was baptized ; iudas ▪ received the sop ; but you never yet came to god : all this amounts to no more than a drawing nigh with your lips , the shadow of an approach , a coming before him 〈◊〉 his people , in pretence and shew , there is nothing of truth and reality , nothing of soundness and honesty in what you do , it is all complement and hypocrisie , for your bearts are far from him . i doubt not but you will easily grant , that those who are bitter and mortal enemies one to another , are far one from another , though , as to their bodies they may be in the same room , now a state of sin is a state of enmity ; so the apostle paul tells us , rom. 8. 7. the carnal mind is enmity against god ; enmity in the abstract , enmity in the height of it : the carnal mind votes against god , and the carnal heart hates him , and all that bears his image and superscription ; it hates his law , his government , his word , his ways , his people , any thing that savours of god , any one that resembles him . as god doth perfectly hate the carnal mans wickedness ; so doth the carnal man hate gods holiness , yea all holiness , except it be an holy day of his own making . the unregenerate man cannot endure the splendor of the sun , no , not so much as the twinkling of a star : my meaning is , he cannot bear with the perfect holiness of god himself , no , not with the imperfect holiness of his people . secondly , there is a distance from god in our imperfect state , while we are in our nonage and minority . the gracious soul is indeed said to be brought nigh ; as you may see in ephes. 2. 13. now in christ iesus ye who were sometimes far off , are made nigh by the blood of christ : so that as ye have it in verse 19. ye are no more strangers and forreigners , but fellow-citizens of the saints , and of the houshold of god : you are now some of the family with some of the house ; all those that are sincere converts , sound believers , persuaded to be not almost , but altogether christians , are brought into a near relation to god ; they are his children , and have a right to go up to his very throne , and there call him father , and they are also brought into a near communion , 1 iohn 1. 3. that which we have seen and heard , declare we unto you , that ye might have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with the father , and with his son iesus christ. and as god hath made it their duty so they do make it their delight to be drawing nigh to him in those ways which he hath appointed them ; hence they love praying and hearing , sabbaths and sacraments , means of grace , and actings of grace ; and many sweet meeting they have with him , and abundance of benefit and advantage they find coming into their souls by it , psal. 73. 28. it is good for me to draw near to god , pleasant and profitable ; good as it affords me peace , and good as it promotes my growth ; good as it increaseth my grace , and as it adds to my comfort ; it is every way , and upon all accounts , good to , draw ●…igh to god ; but yet , as near as the saints themselves are to god , they are not so near to him as they would be , nor as they should be ; and therefore things of the enamoured spouse , cant. 1. 4. draw me , we will run after thee . and the language of all holy souls is the very same , for they are not satisfied with , though thankful for what they have , but are , and while here , will be making out after nearer approaches , & still nearer , not only the banquettinghouse-entertainment , cant. 2. 4. but chamber-fellowship , cant. 3. 4. and after clearer sights , shew me thy glory , said moses ; and after fuller enjoyments . stay me with flaggons , comfort me with apples : straw me with them , compass , load me with them ; and as none of them are so full as they would be , so , none of them so fixed as they would be ; they cannot dwell upon god as they would do , but are guilty of wandrings from him , both out of duty , and in it too ; their minds and affections are running away from god , so that they have them to seek while they should be wholly taken up with him ; woful flutterings and rovings are the matter of their frequent and sorrowful complaint . thirdly , there will be a distance during the time of this their mortal state while they do inhabit the earthly house of this tabernacle ; so long as the christian is upon earth , he is not where he would be , unless it be for work-sake , and for duties-sake ; this is not his own home , but the house of his pilgrimage ; this is not his country , but a strange land ; this is not his rest , for it is polluted , and he is uneasie ; and when he can make his escape , and be upon the wing , and get to heaven , by raised meditations , flaming affections , and a gospel-adorning conversation , still he is not there so as he would be , not in such a manner , nor to such a degree . he is not so often there , nor so much there , nor so long there as he would be ; rara hora , brevis mora . he can get up thither too seldom , and he can abide there too little . he is not wholly and altogether there as he would be : when he hath taken a great deal of pains to winde his soul up , there are heavy weights that press it down , and so there are miserable , vexatious declensions and descensions ; through weakness the holy soul cannot mount up to heaven so strongly , and through wantonness it cannot abide there so constantly as it would ; and besides this , the present state is a state of absence , which the gracious heart doth not like nor approve ; it is grievous and ●…rksom to it , as the wilderness-condition was to israel , though they had manna sent them from heaven , and water fetched for them out of a rock , and that following them in a never-failing stream , yet it was but a wilderness , not the land flowing with milk and honey , which they had in the promise , and in their hope , 2 cor. 5. 6. while we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord ; we do not enjoy his glorious presence , nor lie in his bosom ; we do walk by faith , and not by sight ; we rejoyce in hope , and not in fruition ; the sights which we have of him , are but as in a glass , darkly , and not face to face : our enjoyment of him is mediate , we have his tokens , and not those endearing embraces that we would : yea and while we are absent we are burdened with this load of corruptible flesh , in which we cannot be compleatly happy , and with a 〈◊〉 of sin , the body of death which stinks in our nostrils , and with a load accounts there follows an uneasiness and restlesness of spirit ; verse 2. we gro●… earnestly , desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven , to have a robe of immortality and glory put on over this garment of the body . thus i have shewn you that there is a distance from the lord , and that in all men , even the best and most holy , those who have attained to the largest measures , and highest degrees of grace while they are pilgrims and strangers here . now according to this threefold distance from god there is to be a threefold return to him , if ever we would come to the enjoyment of a perfect happiness and rest ; which i shall give up thus to you . first , there is a return to god at the time , and in the work of conversion , when there is a sanctifying change wrought in a person ; when he is of a sinner made a saint , and of an enemy a friend of god. this is evident from that speech of our saviour to saul , acts 26. 17 , 18. i do now sen●… thee to the gentiles , to open their eyes , and to turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of satan to god , from ignorance to knowledge , from idolatry and wickedness , to the owning , acknowledging , worshipping an●… serving of god. converting grace is the begetting of a soul to god , th●… bringing of the prodigal son to his father , the reducting of the lost an●… wandering sheep home to its fold ; and this is the first return ; this is th●… first step ; until this be taken , the soul is not only far from god , but , whic●… is both its sin and misery , it is going further and further from him : fo●… every act of sin is a step from god , and a continued course of sin , is a constant departure from him : as men sin against god more and more ; so they do revolt from god more and more ; while they add to sin , they add t●… backslide : but in conversion there is a returning to him ; this sets fac●… and heart god-ward , and now the feet are guided into the way of peace ▪ thrice happy you that have thus returned ; this is the beginning of you●… life . as the father said with joy concerning his returning prodigal ; this m●… son was dead , but he is alive ; and this is the beginning of your blessedness ▪ therefore peter preaching to the jews , told them , acts 3 26. that unto the●… first god having raised up his son iesus , sent him to bless them , in turnin●… away every one of them from their iniquities . yea , my friends , whatsoeve●… cheats are put upon you by the father of lies , and your own self-deceivin●… hearts , you will never be a blessed people , till you are turned from you●… iniquities , till then you are under guilt and wrath , and a curse ; but a turn●… ing from iniquity , is a returning unto god : the turning you from sin , i●… the breaking down of that middle wall of partition which did before sta●… between god and you : let me therefore speak to you , o sinners ! in th●… same words that p●…ter used , acts 3. 19. repent ye and be converted , th●… your sins may be blotted out , when the times of refreshing shall come from t●… presence of the lord. secondly , there is a further return unto god in the actings , exercis●… and increases of grace ; for though there be a turning to god in the fir●… conversion , yet we must not stop there ; returning to him ought to be th●… ●…earer to morrow , and ●…o nearer and nearer every day . now , as every ●…ct of sin , is a step from god ; so every act of grace is a step to god. faith ●…aiseth the soul above the things that are seen , and mounts it up as upon ●…he wings of an eagle . love carrieth the soul up as in a fiery chariot , a pure and holy flame , so that it dwelleth in god , and god in it . ardent and importunate desires are the feet upon which the soul runs out to god , and followeth hard after him ; and the more the soul tramples upon the things that are below , and by acts of self-denial goeth out of it self , the more doth it find it self in god : and so it is with reference to the happy additions which it makes to the grace it hath ; the more it grows in grace , the more doth it grow up unto god. all the improvements it makes in grace , are blessed progress●…s in its way to god ; that is indeed going from strength to strength , till it appear before god in sion , psal. 84. oh who is there that considers this , that would be retrograde in his motions ; and languishing and decaying in spirituals ! who would be content to stand at a ●…ay ? who would not be possessed with , and acted by a spirit of holy covetousness , always receiving out of the ●…lness of christ , and yet always begging ? and while he draws up one bucket-full , letting down another for more . remember it , o christians ? the more you are as by the spirit of the lord changed from grace to grace , the more considerable advances you make from lower to higher degrees of holiness ; the more will you be transformed in the spirit of your mind , and changed from glory to glory , the more will you have in you of a divine nature , and the more of the divine image upon you . in a word , by this means you will come to have a greater conformity and likeness unto god , and so a sweeter communion and intimacy with him . so then this is a further return unto god ; this is a getting nearer and nearer to him ; and truly this should be the work of every day . this is that which we should have in our designs and aims in all the holy duties that we perform , and in all the precious ordinances upon which we do attend , that by every one of them we may have a lift given us , and he brought more over , and more close to god than we as yet are . thirdly , there is a return to god at death : so the royal preacher tells us , eccles. 12. 7. the dust shall return to the earth as it was ; of that it was made , and into that it shall be resolved . when once the soul leaves it , the body drops into the grave , and there first it putrifies , and at length it crumbles ; but the spirit shall return unto god that gave it . all the souls of men and women , one and other , both the good and the bad , shall at death be upon their return ; whether with their will , or against it , this must be done : they did at first come from god , when they were formed : he created them , he infused them , he united them to the body , and when that union shall be dissolved , when death shall u●…ie the knot , and snap the hand asunder , then doth the spirit return to god. the polluted and regenerate souls of wicked men shall in all their guilt , filth and deformity , ●…eturn to god , that they may from him receive their final and irreversible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 , to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malefactors , carried into a dungeon of darkness , the bottomless pit , where there is unquenchable fire to torment them , but not the least beam of lig●… to comfort and refresh them ; and so they shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord , and from the glory of his power ▪ 2. thes. 1. and the souls of saints which have been washed from the●… filthiness in the blood of the lamb , and had their nature changed , the●… principles made holy , and their beauty perfect through christs comeline●… put upon them , shall also then return unto god as their reconciled friend , and everlasting father , to be by him received gratiously , heartily welcom'd , and put into those glorious mansion●… which have been designed and prepared for them , in which they shall enjoy god , and in him a perfect happiness without danger or fear of losing either him or it . our blessed lord jesus made way for this return of the soul to god by his most precious blood , which is pacifying to god , and purifying to man , by it he made peace , such a peace as cannot be broken , and so clear'd the passage , that all the devils i●… hell cannot shut it up again . the blessed and divine spirit , whom our saviour promised to send , doth make it his work and business to bring sou●… back to god by his quickening , renewing and sanctifying grace , and t●… carry them on further and further by fresh influences , assistances and supplies and then when they come to be duly qualified , ready , and meet to be made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light , so that they may be presented before the presence of the divine glory with exceeding joy , the holy angels who are now appointed to be ministring spirits unto them who ar●… the heirs of salvation , are sent forth by their tender and ever-loving father as his messengers to fetch them home , and as a powerful guard to convey them safe through the regions of the air , and legions of devils , into the seat of the blessed , those celestial and sure resting places which their lord and head purchased , and hath taken possession of in their names , and now keeps for them . and this is that return which i shall discourse to you abou●… as that which is most proper , because most pertinent and suitable to the present occasion . this is that return which the holy soul should have much upon its thoughts , and which it ought to desire with longings ; and when th●… time is come , call upon it self to make with all chearful readiness ; and w●… have a very good reason for it in the text before us , because it is a returning to our rest . there is a sweet and desirable rest which death brings along with it to the people of god : a rest to the body , that it lays to sleep in th●… chamber of the grave , in the bed of dust , isa. 57. 1 , 2. the righteous perish , an●… merciful men are taken away ; if you ask from what , he tells you , it is fro●… the evil to come ; if again you ask , what becomes of them ? he tells you●… they go , or enter into peace , and shall rest in their beds , and that out of the reac●… of them who would discompose them , as iob spake when he was disconten●… because death was so slow-paced , and came no sooner for him , for if it h●… saith he io●… 3. 17. then i should have been where the wicked cease from 〈◊〉 ●…ear not the voice of the ●…ressor : but that which is far more and better than that , when death knocks at the door of a godly man , it brings along with it a rest unto his soul : or that i may speak more properly , it brings the soul to i●… rest ; to the best rest it can have or desire ; viz. a rest in its god , a rest in the centre , a rest in the arms and bosom of him who is the supreme object of its love , and pleasant for delights . that rest can want nothing to compleat it , which is a rest in heaven , a rest in god. but in order to the commending to you this return unto god by death , we will briefly shew these two things . 1. what those things are , from which the soul doth after death rest ? 2. what are the properties of that rest , which the holy soul shall then be put into the possession of ? first then , what are those things which the holy soul doth after death rest from ? unto this i shall answer in these four things . first , there will be a rest from all conflicts , for then it enters into peace , and is encompast about with it . the life of a christian here is thoroughout a combating life ; there is not any that flees to christ as a saviour , but must , if he would find him so , submit to him as a lord , and list himself under him as a captain . therefore we are expresly commanded to put on the whole armour of god , and to fight the good fight of faith , and to endure hardship as the good souldiers of jesus christ. you must not think to live here wholly at ease and in quiet . christianity is a warfare . no sooner are you reconciled , and made the friends of god , but others will be enraged , and become desperate , yea implacable enemies unto you . great enemies there are , potent , cruel , and a great many of them . intestine enemies , those of our own house , yea nearer yet , those of our own hearts ; and because they are so very near , therefore they are exceeding dangerous . a legion of lusts which war against the soul ; who indeed can tell the number of them ? there is fl●…sh which lusteth against the spirit ; sin against grace ; fears , and doubts , and jealousies of god against faith ; sensual and self-love against the love of god ; and there are forreign enemies too . satan and the world ; the world one while undermines the soul by its flattering promises , and another while batters it with its terrible menaces . now it fawns with delilah , anon it frowns like a fury ; and then the devil , who will never be quiet , at one time he comes forth against the soul in a disguise , like to an angel of light , that he may so deceive and surprize it ; at another time he will appear in his own shape , as ugly and deformed as it is ; for devils do not know how to blush ; i say , he comes as a prince of darkness , to carry it captive , and fright it into his net ; sometimes the saints find him hissing as a serpent , and nibbling at their heels , at other times roaring like a lion , and coming upon them with open mouth , as if he would swallow them at once ; so that what with the one and the other , the sin that dwelleth within , and the enemies that beset and lay close siege without , the poor christian is oftentimes weary of his life ; but when death comes , it puts an end to all this , it takes the christian and carries him out of the field , and of salvation , having come off with honour , and obtain'd the victory , yea , been more than a conquerour , shall maintain an everlasting triumph , with their robes of glory , and palms in their hands . when once death lays them asleep in their graves , the last stroke is struck as to them ; they shall not learn nor prosecute this holy war any more . secondly , there will be a rest from trouble and sorrow : as there will be no fightings , so no mournings ; as no dangers , so no fighs . this world is a place of trouble , it is full of it . man is born to trouble , and as it meets him at his birth , so it will accompany him to his grave . when our first father adam had once transgressed the law of his creation , there was immediately introduc'd a dismal and astonishing change ; the face of the earth was covered with briars and thorns ; and who is there among all the children of men that hath not his fingers pricked with them ? who is there that can pass thorough this wilderness without multiplied wounds ? indeed the same measure is not meted out to all ; every one cannot say , he is plagued all the day long , and chastened every morning , yet there is not one but hath so much as he thinks enough ; yea and , it may be , more too . we are sometimes troubled by those that live about us , psal. 57. 4. my soul is among lions , and i lie even among them that are set on fire , whose teeth are spears and arrows , and their tongues are sharp swords : and we are troubled oftentimes by those that live with us , micah 7. 6. the son dishonoureth his father , and the daughter her mother ; the daughter-in-law riseth up against her mother-in-law ; a man's enemies are those of his own house . how usual a thing is it to see and hear of persons greatly afflicted by their friends and acquaintance ; caesar by brutus , david by achitophel , christ by a iudas , one of his own discipl●…s ; nay , by our near relations , those that came out of our bowels , rise up against us , and work our ruine ? how many are there that have vipers and vexations in their bosoms ? one a treacherous delilah , another a flouting michal ; their very beds are strawed with thorns , so that they lie uneasie , and in the morning rise up with aking heads and hearts . nay , to come nearer yet , how many in the world are their own tormentors , and carry , as if they made it their business and sport to trouble themselves , by their sollicitous and carking cares , and by their melancholick apprehensions and thoughts , upon which they sit brooding , and hatch an hundred monsters to their own affrightment , and by their unbelieving fears , whereby they affront the veracity of god , and question such a covenant as is everlasting , ordered in all things and sure , and such promises as are firm like mountains of brass , yea and amen ; and also by their vain janglings , and peevish quarrels which they raise without any sense or reason ? in short , some have a great deal of trouble in the flesh , and others have a great deal more in the spirit , and not a few in both , and so are in a place where two seas meet , so that all the waves and billows go over them . but when a saint dieth , all is over , the winter is past , the rain is over and gone , and he is at rest from not one thing left to trouble him : everlasting joy shall be upon his head , but sorrow and sighing shall flee away ; there shall not then be one single tear left upon his cheek , no nor the least thing that should be the cause of it . as the wicked mans jollity doth at death end in an extremity of anguish , so at death the godly mans troubles shall end in a fulness of joy . thirdly , there will also be a rest from all weariness and toilsom labour . man had work to do in his state of innocency , being then put into the garden to dress it , and to keep it , gen. 2. 15. but tedious labour came in upon the fall , was the fruit and punishment of sin ; it was not till after that he was to eat his bread in the sweat of his brows ; but that is the burden bound upon us in our lapsed and degenerate condition , which we cannot shake off . we must all take a great deal of pains , not only she that grindeth at the mill , but he too that sitteth upon the throne . earth is not to be got by idleness ; solomon tells us , the sluggard shall be clothed with raggs ; and surely then , heaven is not to be got without pains : it will not drop into mens laps while they sleep ; it was wont to suffer violence , and sure its price is not so much fallen , as that now it should come for nothing . it is true , there are gracious influences and assistances from god , but there is required iudustry and utmost diligence of man. it is god that worketh both to will and to do of his own good pleasure ; but notwithstanding that ; nay , because of that man is obliged and concerned to work out his salvation with fear and trembling . many there are that pretend to religion ; and usurp the name of christians , which belongs no more to them , than that of man to a monkey , and bless themselves in a vain confidence of coming to heaven with less a do , but as great safety as the best and most precise , and so spend their days in mirth and jollity ; in s●…h and sensuality , but they shall find themselves mistaken , and to have run away with a lye in their right hand . those that are truly gracious , can and will from their own daily experience , tell you , that it is no easie matter to be a christian , and to walk with god in an holy close communion , and to live in the world according to the law of the new creature . it doth cost such an one a great deal more than i can tell you to raise his heart , and get it up to a spiritual holy frame fit to attend upon god in an ordinance , or to approach him in a duty , and it stands him in full out as much to preserve it in such a frame when it is once in it , and to prevent its going down again after it hath been wound up . heart-raising , and heart-fixing , are two works of no mean difficulty , too hard indeed for a child of god , when at his best , if taken alone . we labour , saith the apostle , that whether present or absent , we may be accepted of him , 2 cor. 5. 9. as they were ambitious of it , so they were industrious . but , rev. 14. 13. a voice from heaven said , blessed are the dead that die in the lord ; yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them : there is no idleness in heaven , but constant action , but such action as is rest ; no labouring to sweat or weariness , but reaping the fruit of of his name , and admiring of his mercy , contemplating his glory , and living in his joy . lastly , and which is yet more , there will be a rest from all desire . it is a very good observation which that excellent divine mr. ioseph symmonds , who is now with god , made upon that expression of holy asaph , psal. 73. 25. whom have i in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that i desire beside thee . heaven is the place of having , but earth is the place of desiring . and indeed so it is ; while the poor saint is upon earth , his wants are so many , and his necessities so great , that he is abundantly more in his desires than he is in his attainments . i have not already attained , saith paul , neither am i already perfect ; o that i might know him ! o that i might apprehend that for which i am apprehended of christ ! o that by any means i might attain to the resurrection of the dead ! i forget that which is behind , and reach forth to that which is before , and press on toward the mark ; and there is the same spirit of faith , and love , and desire , and longing in all those that have past through the new birth . attainments in many of them are little and low , but in all of them desires are high . and though these desires are exceeding good , yet they are very painful , as ●…arp hunger is to an almost starved creature . how uneasie is a longing woman ! it makes her sick at the very heart , not seldom causeth a faintness and swoonings , and puts her into a great discomposure throughout . so do the desires of a longing saint ; too too often he over-looks , and pays not unto god due acknowledgments for , nor doth he himself tast the sweetness , and take the comfort of what he hath , because he cannot as yet get what he wants . oh how much doth such an one hasten after a deliverance from sin ! how eagerly doth he thirst for increases of grace ! how doth he aspire to an holy fixation of mind , free from those avocations and diversions which afflict him ! and as the hunted , parched hart panteth after the water-brooks , so doth his soul pant after the living god , and an intimate unbroken communion with him ; and it is even sick with love and longings , because it finds not what it thus seeks . it doth hardly enjoy it self , because it hath not those enjoyments that it would . but when once death hath done its work upon him , there is a rest from these things too ; not because the souls love is in the least cool'd and abated , for then it is perfected , and raised up to the purest , hottest and highest flame , in which it shall everlastingly continue ; but because it hath plenary fruition of that which it loves , of all which it loves . while the gracious soul is here in the body , it hath its sallyings out , its earnest reaches , and lofty flights : oh that it were so and so ! thus poor iob , as you have it in iob 29 ▪ v. 2 , &c. o that i were as in months past , as in the days when god preserved me ; when his candle shined upon my head , and when by his light i walked thorough darkness , when the secret of god was upon my tabernacle , when the almighty was yet with me ! so , o that it were with me as sometimes i have found it ! o that it were with me as it is with such an one , and such an god more , and love him more , and live him more ! but when the soul comes to heaven , it takes the place appointed and prepared for it , and there it sits down at ease , because it is where it would be , and as it would be . there is no desire , because a compleat satisfaction , psal. 17. ult . as for me , i will behold thy face in righteousness , i shall be satisfied when i awake with thy likeness : there desires are turned into , and swallowed up of delights . there is indeed in glorified souls a natural desire of the resurrection of their bodies , and a reunion to them , but that desire is no impairing of their happiness , not in the least afflictive , because moderate and rightly tempered , and sweetened with a full assurance that it shall be done at the time appointed by the father : and in the mean while they are abundantly pleas'd , having a fulness of joy in the vision and fruition of god , father , son and spirit , who is to them infinitely better than the body can be . come we now to the next thing propounded ; viz. the properties of that rest into which the holy soul doth enter after death , or what kind of rest it is ; and that i shall endeavour to shew you in these three particulars . first , it is a compleat rest , every way perfect , there is not any thing wanting thereunto . there is indeed a sweet and blessed rest which those have here in this life , who come to christ , and make a believing closure upon the terms propounded in the gospel ; though they have not the rest of the world , yet they have a rest in the world , and that in the midst of concussions and confusions , when they are tumbled and toss'd up and down , they have a rest out of their enemies reach : this our dear lord and saviour hath promised , and he cannot but be as good as his word , mat. 11. 28. come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden , and i will give you rest ; not only a right to it , but the possession of it ; that which they could not meet with before , neither in themselves , nor in the creature , they meet with in him ; as the dove that could find no place for the sole of its foot when it was abroad , as the raven could , that would light and feed upon carrion , the dead carcasses floating upon the surface of the waters , yet it found rest in the ark upon its return to it . those that before were through the stingings of conscience , and the apprehensions of divine wrath , and impending judgments as persons upon a rack , are through the sprinklings of the blood of the covenant upon them , and the sealings and witnessings of the spirit within them as in a bed of down or roses : those wounds that formerly smarted , are graciously healed , and their agonies are over , unless they cause new ones by their foolishness ; but for all this , here aliquid deest , something is wanting , as well as something amiss . paul in 1 thes. 3. 10. speaks of something that was lacking in their faith , and truly the same may be affirmed of the best improved , and most grown saints on this side of heaven , that there is something lacking in their faith , yea and in their love , and in their humility , and meekness , and patience , and in all the graces that have been by the blessed spirit of god wrought in them . and we may be sure of this , that as long as there is something lacking in the grace , there will be something not be arrived at a perfect state . but after death all these wants will be supplied , and all these defects made up , there will be no vacancy in the soul , nothing lacking , then that which is perfect will be come , and so that which is imperfect shall be done away , and hereupon that rest which the soul shall have when it comes to heaven , will be greater and fuller than that which it had when it first came to christ , or all the while that it lived a sojourner in the world , there will be perfect holiness , and by consequence there will be a perfect happiness . god will not in any thing be behind hand with his people , or wanting to them , there they are continually before the throne of god , always in his presence , and david tells us , psal. 16. 11. that in his presence there is fulness of joy , and a fulness of joy doth necessarily imply and carry along with it , a fulness of rest and that which followeth hereupon . secondly , it is an undisturbed rest . here our peace is oftentimes broken , and our rest is gone . it is said of ahasuerus , that he could not sleep , his sleep fled away from him , he did all that in him lay to compose himself , he would gladly have slept , but he could not . so it is spiritually with the saints themselves , their rest fleeth from them . sometimes they break their own rest , psal. 38. there is no rest in my bones because of my sin , and as there was none in his bones , so none in his flesh , and none in his spirit ; and sometimes god breaks their rest , one while he gives them rest round about , at another time he makes them fear round abou●… , iob 7. 13 , 14. when i say my bed shall comfort me , my couch shall ease my complaint , then thou scarest me with dreams and terrifiest me with visions . oh the dismal thoughts that some good people have in the night , they lie down with holy and gracious thoughts , with believing thoughts , with god admiring thoughts but in their sleep they have vain , absurd , defiling and disquieting thoughts ; so that they wake in an affright , and as the psalmist , tells us , sometimes sorrow endures for a night , and joy comes in the morning . so experience tells us that at other times joy endures for a day , and sorrow comes in the evening . the bright and comfortable sun sets in a dark cloud . david reckoned without his host when in psal. 30. he thought his mountain stood strong , his state of peace and prosperity was firm and unalterable , so that he should never be moved , that he should never more feel what broken bones meant , nor be any more hunted by his enemy as a partridge upon the mountains , nor be again smitten and almost consumed by the blow of the divine hand , nor have his moisture turned into the drought of summer . but he was quickly convinced of his mistake , god hid his face and he was troubled . so troubled as that he was at his wits end , almost beside himself , both counsel and courage failed him . but now when once the soul comes to heaven , there shall be nothing of a disturbance , no such inroads made upon its peace , but a perpetual serenity and calm , a clear sun-shine without any eclipse or clouds , or overcastings . no hiding of the face of god , no damp upon the soul. no frown without , no fear an holy reception , no anger in god to obstruct and stop his gracious communication . god will be continually giving out of himself and the soul shall be continually taking in . the glorified soul shall be always full up to the brim , and as god shall please according to the exceeding riches of his grace and kindness to dart forth new beams and rays of his glory , so he will strengthen the eye that it shall behold them with inconceivable delight and pleasure , as he shall please to open his hand of love , so he will widen the vessel , and inlarge its capacity . thirdly , it will be an everlasting rest , as it knows no disturbance , so no end . the soul for certain shall not sleep , as some have fondly and foolishly imagined , the body indeed doth , that enjoys a sweet sleep in its bed , of dust , where it lies in jesus , for death hath not broken the union between it and christ , 1 thes. 4. 14. them which sleep in iesus shall god bring with him . but the soul sleeps not , it is not suitable to the nature of it , it meets with enough to keep it awake . yea , it will be so far from sleeping , as that it shall not so much as wink , for it shall not know any such thing as lassitude or weariness . it shall be continually acting , and that with strength and vigour , to the utmost of its power , and yet not be tyred by those actings . the bow shall be always bent , yet not hereupon grow a slug , but abide in strength . but though the soul shall never sleep , yet it shall always rest , when it is once entered into it , it shall abide and never come out more ; there are , as you have heard from the word , pleasures for evermore , and therefore there shall be rest for evermore . o eternity , eternity , its length is not to be measured , but its weight and importance to be seriously consider'd , that is the sweet ingredient in the joys above , and that the gall which is put into the cup of trembling and astonishment below ; the damned in hell shall be in everlasting misery , their worm dieth not , and the glorified souls shall have an everlasting felicity . let us apply to this those sweet expressions which we find in rev. 7. 15 , 16 , 17. they are before the throne of god , as heavens courtiers and favourites whom the king of kings loves to look upon . they serve him day and night in his temple . they shall be altogether taken up with god , their whole business and employment shall be about god. and he that sits upon the throne shall dwell among them . and there cannot be better company , none so good . his presence is enough alone , they shall hunger no more , neither thirst any more . it is impossible they should be hungry who are at such a feast , or thirst , who have not only their cups running over , but are continually refreshing and bathing themselves in a river of pleasure and of life , clear as christal , which proceeds out of the throne of god and of the lamb , neither shall the sun light on them nor any beat , there shall be beams to refresh them , but none to scorch them . nothing that shall render them faint or uneasy . for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them . he loves to do it , and he will be sure to give them the best , and with a large liberal hand , and shall lead them to fountains of living water , all fresh and pure , and at the first hand , and god removed all sorrow from their hearts , if there be not a tear , then not a sig●… no , nor a sad thought , and further you may be also sure , that since god do●… with his own gracious hand , wipe away all their tears , none of them sha●… return , nor shall any new ones succeed and come in the room of the forme●… a tear shall not be found in the eye , nor upon the cheek , throughout all ete●… nity . thus have i done what i promised as to the first doctrine , the us●… whereof i shall defer until i have spoken to the second doctrine , and then shall make some short application of them both together . now that doctrin●… as was said before , will arise from the reason of davids calling upon his soul 〈◊〉 return unto its rest , or if you please , from the argument and motive he useth f●… the perswading it so to do , taken from gods former providences and gra●… ous dispensations towards him . for the lord hath dealt bountifully w●… thee . which is such an argument as doth become every saint , every one 〈◊〉 his children ; for upon them all he hath shewn and magnified his mer●… the doctrine shall be this . doct. 2. gods dealing bountifully with a soul should be a powerful a●… cogent argument with it , for its return to him . it doth carry a great d●… of weight and reason in it , and it should come with a proportionable streng●… upon the soul. it should be effectual . it should endear him to us , and hig●… ly commend him , and accordingly draw us to him , and inflame our desi●… and longings after an immediate communion more and more . if men w●… but give themselves leave to consider and w●…igh all things in a just ballan●… they will find and be constrained to acknowledge that there is no solid 〈◊〉 sufficient reason , nay not so much as the shadow of a reason in all go●… carriages to his people , why any one should go away from him . therefo●… when upon the subducting of many of his common hearers , our savio●… propounded to his disciples this question , will ye also go away ? peter 〈◊〉 the name of the rest made this reply , lord , to whom shall we go ? we are well as we are , find such love and sweetness , and good entertainment w●… thee , that we do not know in all the world where we can mend our selv●… where we shall be better , nay where we may be so well ; for with thee al●… are the words of eternal life . and as there is no reason why any should go 〈◊〉 way from him , so in case any have been so foolish , and imprudent , and en●… mies to themselves , as to go away , there is no reason at all why they sh●… stay away . indeed if such deserters do return , it must be with shame a●… blushing : and that they may thank their former folly for , they had 〈◊〉 thousand times better come to shame than not come to god. but as was sa●… there is no reason for their staying away altogether , ier. 2. 31. o gene●… tion , see the word of the lord , have i been a wilderness unto israel , or a l●… of darkness ? wherefore say my people , vve are lords , we will come no more un●… thee ? how now israel , what is the meaning of this language ? why have y●… taken up such an hasty resolution ? what is it that doth displease yo●… wherein have i offended you ? charge me if you can ; what have i 〈◊〉 or what have i done , what cause i have given you ? what , will you co●… ter ? in this case sinners must be speechless , or they will not be able to say any thing to purpose : whereas on the other side , there is a great deal of reason why those that have gone from him should return to him . assoon as ever the prodigal came to himself he thought it his best and wisest course to go to his father . and there is also highest reason why those that live here in his love and fear , should desire to go from hence that they may live with him in his kingdom and glory . in the remainder of this discourse i shall speak only concerning the souls return to god at death , and its willing and chearful readiness so to do . christians , let me suppose you standing upon the worlds higher ground , having the sun of prosperity shining upon your tabernacle , with waters of a full cup wrung out unto you . let your conditions here be never so full and pleasant , your life never so sweet , not made up of nights of trouble and months of vanity , but all good and halcyon ; let your enjoyments be never so abounding , and your communion with god never so close and intimate ; though your peace be as a river , and your righteousness in the delightful fruits thereof as the waves of the sea , yet this should not glue and fasten you to the world ; in the midst of all this your heart should be weaned , and willing to be gone , as knowing this is not your rest . peter is looked upon as forgetting himself when upon the transfiguration of christ , he said , lord it is good to be here , if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles , &c. where saith one , there are plura absurda quam verba , more absurdities than there are words . paul that had been in the third heaven was not for building but for the pulling down and dissolving of the tabernacle . nay the comfortable enjoyments which you have now , and gods dealing bountifully with you at present both in temporals andspirituals , should make you willing and desirous to be gone , that you may know what the best will be , whensoever god is pleased to call for you , and by that grim messenger death , saith , come up hither , you should with gladness , and rejoycing say , go my soul , make no tarrying , shew no lothness , but with a smile and holy transport take thy last farewel of all these earthly friends and enjoyments , of all these sublunary drossie delights , and welcom the messenger that is sent for thee ; though he should handle thy body roughly , yet let patience have its perfect work , and take it kindly , because thou shalt return to thy rest , and quickly be with that god from whom thou didst first come , whose face thou shalt behold in righteousness . now that gracious and bountiful dealing which you have found at his hand all the time that you have spent in the world , notwithstanding your ill deservings and unanswerable walkings may very well contribute greatly to this willingness , and be a mighty encouragement ; as they do strongly oblige you to duty here , so they should do more than reconcile you to a departure hence . that , i hope , will appear evidently to you upon a threefold account . first , this bountiful dealing of god with you is a plain and evident demonstration of that fulness , which is in him ; by the liberality of his hand , you may judge something of the greatness of his stock ; who is a god like what a blessed exchange do you make when you come to die ! you leave a company of broken cisterns , that are little , and leaking , can hold no water , but frequently fail your expectations , and leave you at that loss they find you in , and then you go to a living fountain , that is ever full and overflowing : you go out of an earthly clay cottage , which is crazy and tottering , and the keeping of it in repair puts you to a great deal of trouble and charge , and when you have done your utmost , it must tumble , and then you take possession of an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , whose builder and maker is god , and which was by him made for the place of his everlasting residence , the habitation of his holiness and glory ; so that by all you part with here , you will be no losers , but change unspeakably to your advantage . are there any of you that have got good hope through grace , that have had your faith of adherence crowned with that of assurance ? one would rationally conclude you as willing to go to heaven as israel was to see egypt upon their backs , which had been to them an house of bondage and great servitude , or to make haste through an howling and inhospitable wilderness , that they might come to a canaan , a land of desire , flowing with milk and honey . i beseech you , christians , seriously to reflect upon things that are past , and consider what doth now come from god , what you have received since you did accept and embrace an offered iesus , and what you are still receiving . how many common mercies , than the least of which you are less ; and how many special mercies upon which you may read love : you are not able to number them , being more than the hairs upon your heads . how many messages of peace have been brought to you by his ministers and spirit ? how many comfortable answers hath he given ? so that you have been constrained to say , he hath not turned away your prayer , nor his mercy from you ! how many rich tokens hath he blest you with , every one of greater value than an orient pearl , or glistering diamond ? how many marks of covenant-favour hath he set upon you ! in short , how often and how greatly hath he made your souls to rejoyce , and your hearts to leap within you ! and then how well may you argue thus with your selves , if there be so much coming from god , what is there in god ? if there be such conveyances made by the pipes of ordinances and duties , what is there in him , in whom are all my springs ? if messages be so delicious , what are the closest embraces ? if there be such beams at a distance , such comfortable beams and vital influences communicated in this state of absence , what light and life , what beauty and glory is there in the eternal sun ! secondly , from this bountiful dealing of god with you , you may argue to his liberality , and the singular pleasure which he takes in giving forth of that his fulness to his people , which is infinitely beyond the delight of the most affectionate mother in drawing her full and pained breast to her sucking and smiling infant . death , it is true , will carry you from all your enjoyments in this world , it will strip you to your skins , and not so much you do now taste the greatest sweetness , and from which you fetch your greatest comfort : you must shake hands with faithful friends , dearest relations , and possessions ; your places and preferments , your worldly honours and preheminences will know you no more . if a man die , saith iob , shall he live again ? yes , he shall , but not in the same place , not in the same state , not to the same ends and purposes that he did before . but what of all that ? if you be such as you ought to be , and mind that for which you were sent hither , you shall at death go directly to him who is able to do for you far more abundantly than all these things could do , and to supply all your needs according to his riches in glory ; and since he is able , you may by the sufficient warrant both of his promise , and your own experiences , say , i am sure also that he will do it . that god who hath been so good , so exceeding good to you here , you have no reason to question but he will be as good to you there . you have seen how mindful he is of his covenant , and faithful to his promises , & how much his heart is set upon your good , & his name is , i am ; though the heavens wax old like a garment , and shall be chang'd as a vesture , yet he is always the same , without any variableness or shadow of turning , as great as ever , as full as ever , yea and as good as ever . it is not strange that good old iacob , and all his family were forward to go into egypt , when ioseph , who had already been so kind to them , sent this encouraging invitation , come to me , for i will give you the good of the land of egypt , and you shall eat the fat of the land ; regard not your stuff , for the good of all the land of egypt is before you . oh! saith the text , when they had told him all the words of joseph , and when he saw the waggons which joseph had sent to carry him , his spirit revived , and he said , it is enough , joseph is yet alive , i will go and see him , gen. 45. 27 , 28. how much more may you be of the same mind ? how much more readily may you set up your sail for the other world , when god saith , come , my son , my daughter , come away , come to me , regard not your stuff , all the good of heaven is before you ? and when you see the messenger that must carry you hence , you may take heart , this may be , as they are wont to say , a lightning before death ; my god is still alive , and my saviour still alive , and he lives for evermore , i will go and see him , and live with him ; i can tell what he is , i am sure he hath been a loving god to me , and that he delighteth in mercy . i have many and many a time tasted that he is gracious , and therefore i will not fear him now : since mercy and goodness have followed me all the days of my life , i will dwell in the house of the lord for ever : what though i am going to another world , yet i shall be with the same god ; and blessed are they that dwell in his house , for they are still praising . heaven , whither i am to go , is filled with glory and admiration , and rings with allelujahs . and then , which follows hereupon , thirdly , these bountiful dealings of god with his people are a very firm and solid foundation upon which they may without fear build their comfortable hopes and expectations for eternity . mercies to such are like pay the debts she owed , and upon the rest she was to live . so in mercies which you receive from god , there is the mercy it self to answer the present occasion , to discharge the present expence , and then there is the experience to live upon for the future . thus the saints have argued from gods former dealings with them to his further dealings with them . so david did , 1 sam. 17. 37. the lord that delivered me from the paw of the lion , and out of the paw of the bear , he will deliver me out of the hand of this philistine . and such were the noble and heroick actings of pauls faith , he having received the same spirit of faith , and being at that time under the like influence , 2 cor. 1. 9 , 10. we had the sentence of death in our selves , that we should not trust in our selves , but in god which raiseth the dead , who delivered us from so great a death , and doth deliver ; in whom we trust , that he will yet deliver . and the like we meet with in psal. 23. 5 , 6. thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies , thou anointest mine head with oyl , my cup runneth over . but possibly , david , this will not last , god hath done all for thee that he intends , he will now stay his hand , nay but saith he , i am certain that he will not . surely mercy and goodness shall follow me all the days of my life . thus they have argued unto further mercies in time , and you may take a further reach and argue from your present experiences to mercies for eternity , psal. 84. 11. the lord god is a sun and a shield . that our sense speaks him to be . we are now refreshed with his beams , and secured by his shadow , but what will he be , and what will he do ? let faith answer , he will give grace and glory . grace enough for time , and glory enough for ever . grace to enable us for our duties , glory to satisfy our desires . grace to fit us for glory , and glory to compleat and crown our grace . these are the proper arguings of faith , and exceeding strong in the hand of a true believer , the premises are gods own , and the conclusion drawn from them is undeniable . he is a loving father to me in this world , and he will be so in the next too . he that now is a fountain opened , sending forth such precious and plentiful streams , will not then prove a spring shut up and a fountain sealed . he that affords me such large clusters while i am in the wilderness , will not starve nor stint me when i come to heaven . he that feeds me with manna here will never grudge me the honey and milk of the land of promise . certainly i shall not there enjoy least where according to the promise i look for most , my god will then do far more abundantly than i am now able to ask or think . these present bountiful dispensations of god to his people are great grounds of high expectations , if we consider , first , while the people of god are here they are in their non-age and minority . there is an apparent and sensible difference between them . in their growth , some are as cedars , others but shrubs ; and in their strength some are as mighty men to run a race , others can hardly draw their leg●… after them . a great deal of difference there is in their knowledge and in their grace , but both one and other are under age ; but when god doth come by children home to heaven , they are arrived at their ripeness of years . now if they receive so much from god as they do , and are maintained at such a rate while they are children , what is it that god designs them for , what is it that he will bestow upon them at last ? when you see young ones brought up in splendor and bravery , you immediately conclude them to be some great persons children , and that they shall have a great estate , and that something is intended for them suitable to their garb and education . take your measures from the pains that god takes with his people now , and the cost he is at upon them , and then judge what he hath in his heart and purpose concerning them , when that which is perfect shall come , that which is imperfect shall be done away , 1 cor. 13. 10. when the eye is fully strengthened there shall be no more use of a glass to see in , which gives but a dark sight . when the heir comes to understand how to mannage his estate , he shall be put into possession of the whole . so when once the saints come to be perfected in themselves , all imperfections shall be removed from their enjoyments . when once they come to be fit for great things they shall be sure to have them ; the inheritance of the saints in light shall be given them when meet to be made partakers of it . the marriage of the lamb will come when the b●…ide hath made her self ready ; and the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory will be laid on when the shoulder is in a capacity of bearing it . secondly , in this life the children of god are fitting for the enjoyment of that which god intend●… them . this life is not a season for a full possession , but for the bringing them into a due preparation . and accordingly here they have only their allowances because as yet they are not fit for more . you read in esth. 2. 9. that when e●…ther was brought to the custody of hegai the keeper of the vvomen , she had the things given her for purification , with all that belonged to her , and seven maidens that were meet to be given her . all that was suitable to that state , and no more . it was not before her being throughly prepared , purified , and presented to king ahasuerus and by him accepted and chosen to be his wife , that she had the crown set upon her head , and the robes and ensigns of majesty given her , which were suitable to her advancement and royal state. come , christians , you have now no cause of murmuring and discontent , but of grateful acknowledgements and admirings , god is exceeding gracious , you receive very much , and are daily laden with his benefits ; there are blessed allowances which he is pleased to make unto you , such as are suitable to your present condition , day unto day sheweth hislove , and night unto night his faithfulness , what is the report , what the account that you are obliged to give of him ? must you not say that you have enough to support you under all your burdens , when they are most heavy , enough to maintain you at your work , and to carry you thorough it when most difficult , and also enough to sweeten your bitterest afflictions to you , and such beams of light breaking in upon you , that you can walk thorough darkness , and comfortably proceed in your by god , which will prepare you for the crown of life and righteousness , which god the righteous judge shall give unto you at that day , and make you meet for the throne of glory , unto which you shall be advanced , so that you may become it , and fit you for the presence of god , that you may be brought into it with exceeding joy , that you may be able to bear his presence without terrour and trembling , and he to bear you in his presence , without hatred and loathing . in a word , you have that now afforded you by god , which may suit you both to the place , and company , and employment , so that when you come there , there may be an amicable agreement , and perfect harmony , without any thing of jarring and discord , that you may not be weary of heaven , nor heaven of you . and do you seriously consider how much this stands god in ? what abundance of cost he is at for your preparation , and what a great deal of pains he takes with you in order thereunto ; which clearly shews it to be no small or inconsiderable thing which he hath in his everlasting love and kindness designed you for ? the beauty of the wedding garment , which every one of the guests must have on in order to his acceptance , doth loudly proclaim the greatness of the solemnity , and the splendor of the entertainment ; and when once full preparation is made in the soul , full possession shall be given to it . when once the vessel is thoroughly cleansed , it shall be filled up to the brim . when once the divine spirit hath made you meet , you shall receive the inheritance of the saints in light , matth. 25. 10. the bridegroom came , and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage , and the door was shut . thirdly , consider what that life is which god will have his people to live while they are here in the world ; viz. the life of faith ; so the lord himself hath told us , hab. 2. 4. behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him , but the just shall live by his faith . and this must be at all times , and in all conditions ; not only when it is with us as it was then , when caldeans , mighty and cruel enemies are in the land , but when they are not ; when we have enemies under our feet , and fulness in our hands , 2 cor. 5. 7. we , saith the apostle , walk by faith , and net by sight ; faith leads , faith expects , faith supports , faith comforts . thus it is with all the saints ; therefore he speaks in the plural number , we , meaning both himself and all the followers of the lamb ; and of himself he particularly tells us , gal. 2. 20. i am crucified with christ , nevertheless i live , yet not i , but christ liveth in me ; and the life which i now live in the flesh , i live by the faith of the son of god , who loved me , and gave himself for me . christ lived in him ; all his life came from christ ; he was the author and principle of it ; he both breathed and maintains it ; he it is that quickens me , acts me , moves me how and whither he pleaseth ; and whatever that life be which i shall live hereafter , that life which i now live , in this world , in this mortal body and state , i live it by the faith of christ , in whom i have both righteousness , and life , and strength ; for he is , and he is to me all in all . and so it is with all the sense , more by hope than by having ; and yet this present and imperfect life is an exceeding excellent and noble life : it is as much above the life of the most rational man in the world , who is a stranger to the grace of faith , as the life of such a man is above the life of a brute ; it brings in to him far more sweetness and pleasure : hence it is that in the scripture you read of peace in believing , and of the joys of faith , with which those which the sensualist doth enjoy , are not worthy to be compared , for his peace is but the product of a delusion , his joy as the crackling of thorns under a pot ; but this is peace which passeth all understanding , phil. 4. 7. and this joy such as ●…s unspeakable and full of glory , 1 pet. 1. 8. it is too big for words , it hath ●…n it something of the heavenly glory : it is such a joy as doth ravish the soul , it sometimes puts it into an e●…stasie , it fills it up to the height , so that there was one cried out like a man opprest under the weight of it , stay thy ●…and , lord , stay thy hand , for i can hold no more . now if there be such abounding delights brought in by the hand of faith , what beams of light and glory will the eye of sight let in to the glorified soul ? if there be such consolations springing , such holy raptures caused from and by that good ●…ews that faith brings from that far countrey , when it hath but a pisgah ●…ght , and that in a wilderness , and can but peep within the veil , what will ●…he blessed fruits of a clear vision and compleat fruition be , when once the ●…oly soul is after a long and tedious journey happily arrived there , and hath ●…ee liberty to walk up and down in the length and breadth of that good ●…and , and to take its fill continually of all that it affords ? but once more . fourthly and lastly , here gods communications and lettings out of him●…f to his people , are correspondent with , and managed in such a way and ●…nner as shall be pursuant of his purpose and design of keeping them , as in 〈◊〉 well-liking and thriving state , so in a longing frame ; as to preserve their ●…irits , and promote their growth , so to maintain their desires in strength ●…d vigour , and also to whet and raise them up to an higher and higher ●…itch . the perfection which our heavenly father doth intend the dearest ●…f his children while they are here , consisteth more in the sincerity of ●…eir hearts , and in the fervency of their earnest and industrious desires , ●…an in their actual attainments . come , christians , what report can you ●…ake ? what account can you give of your selves ? do not you find that this 〈◊〉 the language , and these the breathings of your souls ? o that i might ●…ow god more , and come to all the riches of the full assurance of understand●…g , to the acknowledgment of the mystery of god , and of the father , and of ●…rist , col. 2. 2. oh that i might love him more ! that this lukewarm , ●…ld , frozen , icy heart , might burn within me , and be all on a flame ! oh ●…at i might fear him more , not with a base , servile and slavish fear , but a ●…l and godly one , & pay him such a reverence as is his due , & he receives ●…om the glorious seraphims above , and the spirits of just men there made ●…rfect ! oh that i could resemble him more and more , and find the in●…rd man renewed day by day , and my soul changed into his image from god , and shewing forth the virtues of my saviour , shining with his beams , treading in his steps , and being in the world even as he was in the world ! o that i could see and enjoy him more ! oh that i could converse and walk with him more ! and when he is pleased to open his hand most liberally , they will be reaching out theirs for more , and still crying , give , give . when they have in a duty , or at an ordinance , fed most heartily , and received the greatest refreshing , they rise with an appetite , and go away with desires : if you have tasted that the lord is gracious , you must desire : after-draughts in the banquetting-house ; the spouse called for flaggons . i say , god in his infinite wisdom doth so order it , that his children shall be dieted here , that so they may be always hungry . not , saith paul , that 〈◊〉 have already attained , or am already perfect . now you may safely from hence draw this inference , that if god be so liberal to his children here , where yet his purpose and good pleasure is to keep them in the state of expectants , and both to raise and preserve their desires and longings in streng●… and vigour , that must needs be great goodness which he hath laid up fo●… them in heaven ; what is there behind ? what is yet to come ? what i●… that which will be given out to them in the other world , where it is in hi●… heart to compleat their state , and so to order out concerning them , that thei●… transcendent and inconceivable delights shall swallow up all their desires and their painful longings shall at their first entrance into those gloriou●… mansions be immediately converted into a fulness of joy ? we have now finished the doctrinal parts ; it remains that we apply our selves to the practical improvement of them , which is to be the work of every one tha●… reads these few leaves for his own soul. only i shall help you a little b●… speaking to three things in a way of exhortation . use first . i do earnestly desire you all , to be without any further unreasonable delays upon your return unto god. look where you ar●… sinners ; in a state of sin and wrath : and is it good to be so ? look whithe●… you are going , is it not to hell ? and do you think it will be good to b●… there ? do not go on , but stand , sinner , i do in the name of the great god b●… thee stand , and come back too ; remember from whence you are fallen , a●… from whom you have departed , and come back . the expressions that our lor●… iesus used to the church his spouse , come into my mind , cant. 6. 13. h●… bespeaks her thus ; return , return , o shulamite ▪ return , return , that w●… may look upon thee : what will ye see in the shulamite ? as it were , t●… company of two armies . let me speak to you in the same manner ; onl●… let me first propound to you this one serious and weighty question ; ho●… do you find matters are within you ? is there such a sight as this to be seen ▪ i mean , to be seen in your souls ? do you feel strugglings in you as r●… bekah once did in her womb ? is there the company of two armies ? o●… that there were in some of you ! it would be welcom news to me , i shoul●… be glad ●…t heart , and with my soul bless god for it . i know there is on●… army in the very worst of men , the greatest debauchees and vilest monste●… trenched and fortified themselves , and fight against god , and war against the soul ; and it is not improbable but that there may be a legion of devils too , which side with them , and yet all this while there is no noise , no disturbance of the sinners rest , but he goeth on in his way and enjoys himself ; for , as our saviour hath told us , while the strong man armed keeps the house , his goods are in peace , there is a sinful quietness , though indeed that is a dismal and woful one . but what say you , is there the company of two armies in you ? is there a law in your minds warring against that law of sin and death which is in your members ? is there a spirit within you lusting against the flesh ; is there a contest and combating within you ? and that not only between one faculty and another , but between the same faculty and itself ? so that you cannot sin with that freedom and plenary consent that you were wont to do , but you find a reluctancy and opposition in your selves . oh that it were so with you , that you were able to say , you hate what you do , though you cannot do what you would : and to you i do now call , return , return , o sinners , return , return . that we may look upon you and love to look ; that your ministers , and relations , and friends , your parents that have travailed in birth to see christ formed in you , your dear yoakfellows who love you , and longed for your spiritual and eternal welfare , and have looked upon you with sad hearts , sighing , shaking their heads , wringing their hands and shedding rivers of tears , may now look upon you with comfort and rejoycing , and count you their blessings ; that when they look upon you they may see your faces sion ward , and heaven ward , and your feet directed into the ways of peace , and that when god ( who looks from heaven upon all the children of men ) doth look upon you , and into you also , he may see your hearts are toward himself , really set for his service and honour , and the enjoyment of him . you that are elder , and are yet in your sins , walking on in the vanity of your minds , suffer the word of exhortation , do you return , and that presently , for you have nothing to shew why you should not ; you have taken your swing , and rambled far enough , and lived without god long enough ; a man would think you have had your belly full of wind and ashes , and husks , that you have had enough of base sins , and what is worse than childish vanities , and are guilty of such egregious , and ruining follies that you have reason to be weary of them . i beseech you learn to be wise , it is , indeed it is high time , if you will not be wise now , when will you ? you that are younger , do ye apply your hearts to true wisdom , come , ye children , hearken to me , come , ye young-men and maidens , come in to god , who desires you , who calls you , who stands with his arms ready and stretched out to receive you , come to him in whom you will find rest to your souls , and have such joys as will be great and cheap , and never end in sorrow . it is much more easy for you to return than it is for old sinners , who have grown grey in their rebellion and obstinacy , for you are not gone so far from god as they have done , and you have not so many chains and fetters , as satan and lust and a continued conceive how exceeding welcom you shall be , how glad heaven will be of you ; oh how doth god , father , son and spirit embrace the young converts , how ready will the blessed angels be to watch over you , to encamp about you , to minister to you , and to do you acts of kindness ? what huggs and kisses did the affectionate father bestow upon his repenting and returning prodigal ! he ran to meet him , and that while he was a great way off ; he could not sit still when he saw him coming , but must get up himself , and while the good old mans feet did run , i doubt not but his heart leap'd within him . use second . under this i shall direct my discourse to you who already are converted , and have hearkened to the voice and calls of god in the gospel , and come in to him . and you i advise to improve all your experiences to the utmost for the drawing of your hearts more out to god , and bringing you into a closer communion with him . thou hast been my help , said david , psal. 63 : 7. what then ? my soul followeth after thee . ver . 8. because thou hast been my help in work , in trouble hast assisted me in such and in such a case , yea in every case , therefore my soul now doth and still shall follow hard after thee , that i may have more of thy help as i need it , and more and more of thy self too , so as you have heard in the text , return unto thy rest , o my soul , unto that god who is thy rest ; for the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee . consider and call to mind , what sights have you had of gods power and glory in the sanctuary . what tasts of his sweetness in the banquetting house of ordinances , what tokens of love sent in , in various ways , what messages of peace by his holy and blessed spirit , what returns of prayer by the hand of gracious providences ; how great things hath god done for you , consuting your fears , and exceeding your expectations , how good and gracious hath he been to you , compassing you about with his favour as with a shield , and daily loading you with his benefits ? let all this be called in and set before your eyes , and then from all these topicks reason the case with your selves , and plead with your souls , yea plead and argue them into a dearer affection to god , and a further return to him , and a nearer , closer communion with him . the name of jesus is as an ointment poured forth , cant. 1. 3. and when the spouse had once got the scent , and to her comfort and delight felt the savour of it , found that sweetness which was both in his name and in himself , she loved him , her affections presently took wing and made out to him , she run , and yet thought her pace was too slow , and therefore beg'd she might be drawn that so she might run . her senses had been exercised and pleased with so excellent and glorious an object , and now she was satisfied neither with what she had , nor what she did , she thought her strength was too small , her motions too faint and heavy . she could not rid ground fast enough , and though she followed hard after him , she was yet too far from him . draw me , and we will run after thee . we will run after thee faster than now we do , and get nearer to thee than now we are , and this calling in of divine help was not in vain , it was presently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…ound 〈◊〉 comfortable effect of it , as appears from the next wor●… , the king hath brought me into his chambers , into a most intimate fellowship with him , not only into his court , but into his chamber , and there she was willing enough to sit down and rest , yea take up her eternal abode , yes there , but no where else , not at a distance , not at the door , but in the chamber , in the bride chamber of heaven , there we will be glad and rejoyce in thee , and remember thy love more than wine . use third . i shall speak a little to you who are concerned in the late providence , and others of the same nature , and do your selves feel the smart of that blow which struck your relations dead . do you possess your souls in patience , be quiet , content and satisfied , since you believe them to be returned unto god ; though they be dead to you , and you shall know them no more after the flesh , yet they now do , and eternally shall live to god and with him . there are none of you that have been made partakers of a divine nature , but would fain have your husbands , wives and children , &c. turned from darkness to light , and from the power of satan , to god ; you would have them converted and saved : i do not question but you desire that , and pray for that , and weep for it , and long for it , and it would be the joy and comfort of your souls to see it ; and herein you do exceeding well , there is much of a gospel-spirit in it , it doth highly become you , and it is an argument of that dear love which you bear unto them ; it is the best and noblest expression of love. well , now when their spirits are returned to that god who gave them ; now that they are gone from you to their father ; now that they are so gone as that you shall here see their face no more , and hear their voice no more , and enjoy their company no more , make it appear that you have been well taught in the school of christ , and there learned in every state wherein you are , therewith to be content , yea in your solitary and lonesom state . let them go , since he hath sent for them who hath the best right to them , and in whose hand is the power of life and death , do you freely let them go . now they have a fulness of joy , and are bathing themselves in rivers of pleasure , do not you lock up your selves in a dumpish retirement , nor sit down , sullen and discontented , drown'd in tears , opprest and overwhelm'd with sorrow ; be not you froward and angry with god for loving them so well as to take them home to himself , and do not you disparage that heaven where they are triumphing , as if they had changed to their loss . they are dead indeed , but sweeten that thought ●…th a better , even this , that they are gone to god , and so are where they ●…ould be . so our saviour told his disciples . i go to my father and to your father , to my god and to your god. remember , god dealt bountifully with them . as in your case who are now made a widdow indeed . god dealt bountifully with you , in continuing him to you so long , who might much sooner have dissolved your conjugal relation , but he did not , many years you lived , and loved and rejoiced together ; and he dealt bountifully with him . i shall pass by his worldly estate , and only mention some other things , ●…t for the commendation of the deceased , but the honour of his great lord ●…d master , of whom we can never 〈◊〉 too much . 1. he gave him a great measure of life , for he lived to a good old age . 2. he afforded him a great measure of health , for he scarce knew what sickness meant . 3. he had a great measure of spiritual strength , for as i have been informed , he kept his ground in the midst of persecutions , and his integrity in th●… midst of temptations , unto which his very calling did expose him . 4. god blest him with a great measure of patience , so that he was to admiration silent under that blow which consumed him . 5. a great measure of submission , being brought to gods foot , willing to be 〈◊〉 his dispose . 6. a great measure of comfort , there being no cloud upon his brow , no doubt of his future happiness , but the assurance of faith. thus god dealt bountifully with him , and so he doth with other of his faithful servants , though no●… with all in all these respects . and we have therefore no reason for excessive sorrow upon their return to god ; for that god who dealt bountifully with them on earth will deal satisfyingly with them in heaven . here th●… did see his goodness , there they behold his glory . books lately printed for john dunton at the rav●… in the poultry ; viz. casuis●…ical morning exercises , the fourth volume : by several ministers ; and about london , preach'd in october , 1689. 1. the saints readiness for their lords coming : a funeral ser●… preach'd upon the death of that faithful and laborious servant of ch●… mr. john oakes . 2. a sermon preached to young men , dec. 25. 1689. at that wh●… was mr. oakes meeting place . 3. a discourse shewing the duty of magistrates from the highest ●…o 〈◊〉 lowest for the suppressing propha●…eness , being one of the sermons in the new morning-exercise . all three written by samuel slater minister of the gospel in london . finis . old jacobs accompt cast up and owned by one of his seed, a young lady &c., or, a sermon preached at laurance jury, feb. 13, 1654 at the funerall of the honorable and most virtuous lady susanna reynolds wife to the honorable commiss. gen. reynolds / by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas, 1619-1682. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45689 of text r28062 in the english short title catalog (wing h914). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 60 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45689 wing h914 estc r28062 10343620 ocm 10343620 44920 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45689) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 44920) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1385:27) old jacobs accompt cast up and owned by one of his seed, a young lady &c., or, a sermon preached at laurance jury, feb. 13, 1654 at the funerall of the honorable and most virtuous lady susanna reynolds wife to the honorable commiss. gen. reynolds / by thomas harrison. harrison, thomas, 1619-1682. 40 p. printed by j. macock for lodowick lloyd, & h. cripps, london : 1655. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng reynolds, susanna. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a45689 r28062 (wing h914). civilwar no old jacobs accompt cast up and owned by one of his seed, a young lady, &c. or a sermon preached at laurance jury, feb. 13. 1654. at the fune harrison, thomas 1655 10650 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 b the rate of 4 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 megan marion sampled and proofread 2008-08 megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion old jacobs accompt cast up and owned by one of his seed , a young lady , &c. or a sermon preached at laurence jury , feb. 13. 1654. at the funerall of the honorable and most virtuous lady svsanna reynolds wife to the honorable commiss. gen. reynolds . by thomas harrison , preacher of the gospel . london , printed by j. macock , for lodowick lloyd , & h. cripps , at their shops next to the castle in cornhill , and in popes head alley . 1655. to the truly noble , commissary-general reynolds . honoured sir , i account this discourse , as holding no proportion with the greatness of the occasion which brought it forth , nor with the rest of that evening-service , on which it was brought forth ( there-being nothing mean in that funeral but the sermon ) so also unmeet to make one amongst so many already extant upon this subject : and the truth is , unless the law of the spirit of life , which is in christ iesus set in with it , to free us from the power of sin , and to prepare us for death , this wil 〈◊〉 prove to some a● present , an object to provoke their contempt , and hereafter a witness to aggravate their impenitency . however , i resist not its going forth , so our lord may in any sort serve himself therewith ; any of his find any sweetness or helpfulness in it : my great observance towards your self , be attested by it , and the lustre of her name and memory not darkened from it : who really was , and universally was known to be , one of the chiefest ornaments of her sex , in this nation . sir , you have it now not onely under my hand , but before many witnesses , that i am sir your affectionate servant , to love and honor your person , graces , and virtues . t. h. dunstans in the east , this 16th of 12th . mo. 1654. old jacobs account cast up , and owned by one of his seed , a young lady , &c. gen . 47.9 . few and evil have the days of the years of my life been , and have not attained , unto the days of the yeers of the life of my fathers , in the days of their pilgrimage . these are the words of the patriarch jacob , and with what evidence of truth , might that daughter of abraham , whose exequies we now celebrate , stand up and say them after him . few and evil have the days of the yeers of my life been , &c. yea excepting the number of his yeers ( in that indeed more happy then he ) i think we may all repeat them after him , as will better appear in the sequel . a subject not unseasonable for our thoughts at any time ; for our whole life should be , as philosophers could say , a continual meditation of death ; much less then unseasonable , when god doth offer unto us , either in our selves , or others about us , some eminent occasions and provocations to such meditations . the words do present unto your consideration , our common condition , and we may resolve them into these three propositions or conclusions . 1. our life here is but a pilgrimage . 2. the days of this our pilgrimage are but few . 3. these few days of our pilgrimage are evil . to begin with the first of these , from the last word in the text ; our life here is but a pilgrimage ; this was shaddowed out in the continuall flitings of the patriarchs , they dwelt but in tents and tabernacles , and did never stick to confess that they were but pilgrimes and strangers upon earth , as the holy ghost bears them witnesse , heb. 11.13 . aye they might well say so , may some think , for they had not yet obtained the land of promise ; but was it so afterwards ? yes , mark what david says , when he was king of the country , king i say , of that country , in comparison of whose inhabitants , al nations besides were strangers , and that not then , when he was out-lawed by absalom , and went weeping up the mount of olives ; but in the time of his solemn joy and festivity , when his son solomon was installed as his successor , 1 chron. 29.14.15 . all things ( saith he ) come of thee , and of thine own have we given thee , for we are strangers before thee , and sojourners as were all our fore-fathers . and therefore he calls the church a tabernacle , psal. 15.1 . lord who shall dwell in thy tabernacle : and peter , the time of our life , a being in this tabernacle ; 2. pet. 1.13 . our lord jesus , whose members we are , was born in an inn , a lodging for strangers : in his life time , he had not a house where to lay his head , and when he was dead , he was buried in another mans sepulchre , and the price of his blood did buy a field for the burial of strangers , nor were these onely strangers in israel , for we may all subscribe in the same schedule , every man is an hebrew , a passenger , a gersham , a stranger in the land , hebraei , i.e. transitores from gnabar migrare , and no marvel , for while we are here , we are absent from our fathers hous , whilst we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord , 2 cor. 5.6 . and from the best of our friends , our elder brother , christ jesus , and all our fellow brethren , the glorified saints and angels ; we are absent from our own home , our house is in heaven : when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved , we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens , 2 cor. 5.1 . houses indeed we have here , as foxes have their holes , and birds their nests , and bees their hives , to be chased and driven from them ; but here we have no continuing city : in my fathers house , saith christ , are many mansions , or settled dwellings , there must be our abode , that 's our long home , beth gnolam , our house of eternity , and there lyes our means , that inheritance that fades not away , is reserved for us in the heavens . nany profitable instructions we learn from hence . as , use 1. not to seek great things for our selves ; 't is the same use that god by jeremy makes upon the like occasion , jer. 45.4.5 . saith he to barach , i will break down and pluck up this whole land , it shall be given up into the hands of strangers , thou must but sojourn a while in it , and seekest thou great things for thy self , seek them not : travellers do not seek for honours and offices in the way as they go , all their care is , how they may pass well and quietly on , they do not look over every pale , nor step aside into every corn field , when as they have enough at home ; if we have but as much as will bear our charges by the way , as will carry us to our journeys end , we need not care much : or if they do traffique , buy or sell in the way , it is but for some viands , some necessaries in the way , or to advance their estate at home : we who are citizens of another corporation , must meddle no more with the world , then needs must ; if we have any thing to do with it , it must be to get some competent provision for the way , or to make us a fairer and surer estate in our country , to further our reckoning there , phil. 4.17 . 2. not to take too much pleasure in the things of the world . travellers do not set their hearts upon their inn , which they know they must leave the next morning : the rechabites that lived in tents as strangers , would not drink wine or strong drink , to make their hearts merry . if we had all the comforts of this inn , yet we must rejoyce , but sparingly , remisly in it , as if we rejoyced nor , as paul doth counsel us , 1 cor. 7.30 . let them that rejoyce , be as though they rejoyce not ; for the fashion of this world passeth away , it is at the best but a feast of tabernacles ; do not stay too long upon any thing . arise , depart this is not your rest , micha 2.10 . 3. to abstain from fleshly lusts ; and this use the apostle peter would have us make of it , 1 pet. 1.11 . dearly beloved , saith he , as strangers and pilgrimes , abstain from fleshly lusts , which war against the soul ; these like thieves will wound us in our travail ; these were they that undid the people of israel , as they were going to canaan , they fell a lusting after the daughters of moab , and so fell short of their country ; 't is not for travelers to lye guzling in every ale-house , 't is not for these travellers to go a whoring after these earthly things . 4. to look for hard entertainment ; dogs will be barking at strangers , be they never so honest , and travellers must look for foul weather , and ill way , and homely fare , and strange usage , all these must we look for in this life : many a cursed doeg will be barking at us , many a shimei will be cursing ; much hard measure , and much foul weather , must we have with the world , and yet we must ride on , and in patience possess our souls , and to that end consider we that our god hath provided us some comfort , to wear out the tediousness of the way : he hath given us his statutes to be our songs in the house of our pilgrimage , psal. 119.34 . to make merry within our journey , as david speaks : nay , he himself will go along and sojourn with us , as he promised to go down with jacob into egypt , his cloud his presence , shall be our defence , and we may send home every day , by our prayers , for such things as we want here ; and for setting forward our business at home : christ our joseph , is gon before us to make all ready for us ; and we may have an answer at any time from him , we hear from him every week , and we are within sight of home , and he wil at length entertain us into those mansions which he is gone to prepare for us , ioh. 14.3 . 5. to set our minds and hearts upon heaven . travellers do not much mind mens sayings or doings by the way : they hear some chiding , see others dancing , others building , others plowing ; they may perhaps cast some light glance upon them , but these they do not heed much , as your clients in tearm time , going to westminster , do not much mind whom they meet , or whom they pass by , they have other business in their heads ; animus vere pius , non vacat ad laudes & opprobria , a truly pious mind should not be at leisure to think of any thing , but its country ; our desires should still run upon home , our conversation should be in heaven , our earnest groaning should be to be clothed upon with that house ; there is our treasure , there should our hearts be also : when nehemiah was in the king of persias pallace , yet his heart was at jerusalem , and daniel opened his windows towards it every day , when he was in babylon : why should not we spend our best meditations upon our jerusalem which is above ? why should not we open our eyes , the windows of our souls , and cast them upon our heavenly canaan , at least once every day , as moses on nebo did once upon that earthly one : and so with those worthies mentioned in the hebrews , declare plainly that we seek a country , a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god : and that the rather because 2. conclus . the days of this our pilgrimage are but few : hence it is , that our life is compared to things of the shortest continuance ; by james 4.14 . to a vapour that appeareth for a little season , and then vanisheth away . by hezekiah , isa. 38.12 . to a shepherds tent , set up for a night , whose cords perhaps are slacked the next day , and the covering folded up : by david , to a flying shadow , psal. 102.11 . to a fading flower , which grows up and is green in the morning ; but is cut down , dryed up , and withered in the evening , psal. 90.5.6 . to a morning dream , which is as soon ended as begun , psal. 73.20 . to a tale that is told , or a short meditation , psal. 90.9 . to dust that is blown away with every blast , psal. 103.14 . to a wind that passeth away and cometh not again , psal. 78.39 . by job , to the motions of a weavers shuttle , job 7.6 . to the riding of a post , to the sayling of a ship , to the flying of an eagle when she hasteth to the prey , job 9.25.26 . the holy ghost hath picked out all the choicest similitudes , whereby to express our momentary condition , and if there had been any other , more emphatical , t is like he would have used it . hence it is also that jacob in this place calls the years of his life but days , the days of the years of my pilgrimage : he reckoned them but days , not by longer measure , on purpose to signifie the shortness of them ; and hence it is also , that the book of the chronicles , where the ages , raigns and successions of all the kings of israel and judah , are set down , is called but verba dierum , words of days . nay indeed our whole life , is but as one day , and therefore our saviour wils us to work while it is day , that is while we are alive , the night will come , the bell of our evening song will tole ere long , and then its past working time ; joh. 9.4 . one reason of this , may be taken from the matter whereof , we be made , and whereon we consist , and that is earth : tabernacles you know are soon taken down or overthrown , because they are but a covering , they have no foundation to settle upon , so saies eliphaz of our bodies , they are houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust , job . 4.19 . aclay cottage , if it were well underpind , and had a good grounsil , it might last a pretty while , but having no better materials , no stronger foundation , no marvel if they so soon moulder away : and that matter likewise is compounded of contraries , one continually fighting against another : now a kingdom or a house thus divided , cannot long continue . 2. to this we may add the many enemies that do beleagure us : there are a thousand ways to goe out of the world , though but one to come in ; so that many a mans candle is blown out before it burn to the socket , many an apple plucked off , before it be ripe : not one of a thousand hath the thred of his life drawn out to the full length , according to the course of nature : the goodliness of all flesh is like the flower of the field , isa. 40.6 . not of the garden , exposed to all hardships and hazards whatsoever . 3. god in his wise providence , hath set such limits unto our age least we should grow into extremities , as namely , into extremity of sinning : in the beginning of the world , men were more upright and innocent , and then god lent them a longer time ; but afterward when iniquity began to abound he decreed to shorten their days , least sin should be out of measure sinful : thou hast set our iniquity before thee , saith moses to god , psal. 90.8 . and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance : and then it follows , our days are passed away in thy wrath , even as a tale that is told , and our yeers are but threescore and ten : and our blessed saviour foretelling his disciples what persecution should befal them , says unless those days of persecution should be shortened no flesh should be saved , mat. 24.22 . there would be no living in the world , the malice of their enemies would know neither bank nor bottom , would not keep within any bounds . there would be likewise extremities of miseries if men should live always in the world , if our days indeed were good , the more they were , we might be the merrier ; but seeing they are so miserable , it s well that god in his mercy hath made them so few , do but think with your selves , if adam and eve , our first parents , had been tyed to have lived until this day , whether they would not have been the most miserable couple that ever lived , they should have had a share in all the calamities that have light upon the world , god therefore out of his goodness will shorten our days , the sooner to put an end to our sorrows . object . some perhaps will here think , that our life is not so short as we make it , seeing many live till they be seventy or fighty years old , which seems to be a long time . answ. to whom i answer , that yet this is nothing in comparison of eternity : a thousand years with god are but as one day ; nay , it is nothing in comparison of the time that the fathers lived before the flood , to which it seems , jacob in this place had reference , though he were an hundred and thirty years old , yet saith he , i have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers : in the days of their pilgrimage : some whereof lived seven , some eight , some nine hundred years and upwards : nay of that small pittance of life which we have , there is a great part of it , which deserves not the name : as the time , 1. of sleeping , that 's but a short kind of death ; as anger is a short fury , and their names are promiscuously used . our friend lazarus sleepeth : awake thou that sleepest , and stand up from the dead : i found him dead said epaminondas , when he slew the sleeping sentinal , and i left him dead : and this time is well nigh the third part of our lives : vitae fur malus ille mae , saith martial of sleep . 2. of child-hood and old-age , homo est fatuus usque ad anum quadragessimum , deinde ubi novit se esse fatuum , vita consumpti est , said luther , its long before a man begin to live , childhood and youth are vanity , eccl. 11.10 . and when he grows in yeers he dies dayly , as the old man alexis , in stobaeus , going easily upon his staff , said to one that asked him , whether he went , pedetentem morior , i am going step by step into my grave . 3. of eating and drinking , these are a repairing , not an injoying of nature , and yet how much is bestowed in these reparations , isa. 5.11 . the germans live as they pronounce , vivere and bibere , with them is all one thing , and if we ply our liquor as we begin , they are like to lose their charter : and how many rich gluttons are there among us , who fair deliciously every day , and so every day lose so much more of their life , howsoever usually this time is one part of twelve . 4. of recreations , amici diem perdidimus , said he , my friends we have lost the day , which we spent in idleness ; yet how many stand all the day idle . 5. of sining , ep. 2.1 . you hath he quickened who were dead in sins and trespasses , saith paul to his ephesians , and he tells timothy , that a widow that lives , in pleasures , is dead whiles she lives , 1 tim. 5.6 . 6. of sickness or suffering , non est vita vivere sed valere , to live is not to be , but to be well ; we say of some delights that a man cannot live without them : wherefore is light given to him that is in misery , and life to the bitter in soul , saith job 3.20 . as if he should say , he had as good be without it , and speaking of the day of his birth , which was the beginning of his misery , vers. 6. let not that , saith he , be joyned unto the days of the yeers , let it not come within the number of the months : and noahs ark wherein he was imprisoned , is called his coffin , or his ten months sepulchre , and the men in hell are said to die the death , to wit , because of their sufferings , though there shall be alway a conjunction of soul and body in them ; now when all this is abstracted , after all these deductions , from the time of our life , that which remains , will be little or nothing , our days will be shrunk into a narrow compass . the meditation of the shortness of our lives , this fewness of our days , will be useful to teach us . 1. use . not to be too much taken with the things of this world : not with honours , when samuel was to annoint saul , god gave him for a sign that he would have him for a prince over his people , that as soon as he was gone from him , he should find two men neer unto rachels sepulchre , 1 sam. 10.2 . god might have given him some other sign ; but he chose rather to give him this , it may be to quel the pride and haughtiness of his new preferment , that the ashes of so fair a creature as rachel was , should mind him what he should be afterward , not with wives and children ; these which are now the pleasures of thine eyes , shall shortly be loathsome and stinking carcases , insomuch that abraham shall desire that his beloved sarah might be buried out of his sight , that he may not behold her : and therefore isaac on the night of his nuptials , placed his wives bed in the chamber where his mother did dye , to temper their nuptial delights with the remembrance of death , gen. 24.67 . are these the things ye look upon , said christ to his disciples , when they told him of the goodly buildings of the temple : there shall not be left one stone upon another , which shall not be thrown down ; so do ye look upon the world , and the glory and beauty and pleasure in it ; these you must soon part withal , the time is short , as paul saith , 1 cor. 7.29 . and esau excuseth the selling of his birth-right , because he saw his death was so nigh : i am at the point to die ( saith he ) and what good will this birth-right do me , gen. 25.32 . so shalt thou say ere long , of all the titles , the houses , the riches , the relations thou enjoyest : let therefore those that have wives , be as though they had none , those that buy as though they possessed not , those that use this world as not abusing it ; modicum & non videbimur : a little while and we shall not be seen , our places shall know us no more . 2. not to be too much cast down with adversities , if our affliction be great , it shall be but short : sigravis , brevis , though it hold out to the end of our life , yet this will not belong : with this you may comfort your selves in all your troubles , tarry and wait the lords leisure a very little , and he that shall come wil come , and wil not tarry , though the way of your pilgrimage be tedious and wearisom , yet the days thereof are but few . 3. not to make our lives shorter , by neglect or abuses of them : a man may speak as much in few words as in many , and a man my live more in a day then another doth in a yeer : our life consists in action , so much as we doe , so much do we live , and so much of our life as is unprofitable , so much of our life death possesseth : take heed therefore of melting away so many hours in pleasure : he that lives in pleasure is dead while he lives , though he thinks with the italians , that onely he and such as himself know how to live , 1 tim. 4.6 . 4. not to defer our repentance , our turning to him who is our life , & the length of our days , deu. 30.20 to him who is the resurrection and the life , joh. 11.25 seeing our time is so short : there were certain fools in pauls time , that said , let us eat & drink for to morrow we shal die ; of the same humor is the devil , who hath great wrath , because his time is short ; but the holy apostle made no such consequence , but the contrary , let us awake to live righteously , and cease to sin , 1 cor. 15.34 . and 't is the misery of these times also , though we all row forward to deaths shore ; yet like watermen we look backward , we dare not look death in the face , nor trouble our selves with thinking of it : it may seize upon us before we be aware . old and young , like peter and john , we both run to the sepulchre , our life is a race thither , and sometimes john the younger , out-runs peter , and comes first to it . god may take you away , while you are in the heat and fury of your youth , and while your wanton blood boils in your veins , therefore what manner of men ought ye to be , in all holy conversation and godliness , how should we with job 14.14 . all the days of our appointed time , wait tell the change came . 3. conclus . so we have done with the second conclusion , the days of our pilgrimage are but few : few in comparison of eternity , of the first fathers , and few in themselves , the greatest part being diverted , and otherwise employed , and it were well that the old text were bound up in a lesser and better volume , their silver changed into gold : if our lives as shorter , so were happier then theirs , but it is not so with us ; even these few days of our pilgrimage are also evil . which is our third conclusion , as there is want of days , so store of miseries . iob who was wel seen in this theme , tyes these two conclusions both together , job 9.25 . my days are swifter then a post , they fly away , and they see no good ; and as of himself , so of other men , job 14.1 . man that is born of a woman is of few days , and ful of trouble : if we look upon jacob , we shal find him a very map of misery , experience he had of many wearisome winters , in his younger years in his fathers house , he lived in continual fear of his brother esau , and at last was freed to fly the country , afterwards he endured a long and hard service under his uncle laban , who changed his wages ten times in the day the draught consumed him , and the frost by night : and then had a trick put upon him in his marriage : heard every day the bitter contentions and emulations of his wives ; when he comes home the first welcome is the death of his rachel : then follows the news how his joseph was devoured , that dinah was defloured , that simon and levi had murdered the shechemites , that ruben had defiled his own bed : i might tell you likewise of david and all his troubles as he calls them , psal. 132.1 . but why should i instance in two or three , as if it were not a common condition , every man is a benoni , a son of sorrow : it is a lot which every one must draw in their course , every man hath his task of affliction . we come weeping into the world , tears are the first presage of our future condition ; nundum loquiter infans ( saith austin ) & tamen prophetat ; tears are our first rhetorique , before we can speak we prophesie , and by a dumb kind of divination , wail out the story of our after life . and when we have done our lives , we go weeping or groaning out , our genesis and our exodus , our entrance and our ending do both agree : nor is that little point of time that runs betwixt these , any whit happier . our life , as you hear before , is a pilgrimage , subject to colds and draughts , exposed to dangers of beasts and robbers , and a thousand such like , a continual warfare upon earth , where we are encompased with enemies : a navigation , calamity follows upon calamity , as one wave treads upon the heel of another : a very babylonish captivity , the days of our age threescore years & ten , saith the psalmist , and just so long lasted the captivity of israel ; we have sold our selves for nought as slaves , and the world is no better then an house of correction , where every one of us is set to his labour , and every one of us must look for his stripes , no state or condition of man is exempted ; even kings crowns are so full of cares , that if a man knew them indeed , he would not take one up , though he found it lying upon the ground . the life of the student , which some account a fair idle life , is called by solomon a sore travail , ec. 1.13 . which god hath given to the sons of men , to exercise or to afflict them withal , as it is in the margent , and verse 18. he that encreaseth knowledg encreaseth sorrow , much sorrow and vexation it costs before he have got it , and when he hath got it , it brings many with it ; a wise man finds many defects , foresees his miseries , and so makes them longer can look into all the corners of them , and knows how to aggravate them , he sees many things amis at home and abroad which he is unable to remedy , and so increaseth his sorrow . and for your mechanical callings , you are always complaining either of scarcity or deadnesse of trading , or hevinesse of taxes , or failing of your debtors , or of some one thing or other , the wicked have their evil days , many an aguish fit , many an inward gripe , and grudging , many a spice of that burning feaver that waits them in hell . the righteous they also have their evil days : days of temptation , wherein they are to wrestle with principalities and powers , days of spiritual desertion , when by their sins they have caused god to hide his face from them : days of troubles and opressions from the world . and all these so many , that if a man for all the good days , should lay down so may white stones , and for all the bad ones , so many black ones ; when we come to cast up the reckoning , we should find the number of the black ones , to exceed the white , such a thing is our life , as a man would not take it , if he knew what it were before he took it ; if he were to chuse , he would not buy his being upon such conditions : one cries with the shunamites son , my head , my head , another with the prophet , my belly , my belly ; another with asa , complains of his feet ; another with ezekias of his sore in the body ; another with esau , of his hunger ; one with david , my son my son ; another with elisha , my father , my father ; one with job complains of an ill wife ; another with abigail , of a churlish husband , another with joseph , of unmerciful brethren : and the reason of all this , why the lord lays this mustard , these bitters , upon the teats of this world , is , least we should hang too much upon them ; he sends dashing showrs , and rainy weather , to make us hasten our journey , for if our way were fair and good , we would loyter in our journey , sit us down and hold chat , and so perhaps be benighted ; if all things here went well with us and to our likeing , we should go neer with the fool in the gospel , to sing a requiem to our souls , here set up our rest , and say with peter , it is good being here : god therefore in great wisdom having appointed man to a more excellent happinesse , hath mixed all our sweet cups , with bitter ingredients , that so we might sipple more sparingly of them , and seek elsewhere for our happinesse : he sees how we are wedded to the world , and have our hearts glued to it , and how we could be content to sit down by its fleshpots , and therefore he will have us here beaten and evil intreated , to make us long for that land , where flows milk and honey ; he will have the waters of troubles overflow all things below , that with noahs dove , finding no rest for the soals of our feet here , we might betake our selves to the ark , and fly as a bird unto god , the hill of our refuge ; when the heathen had suffered shipwrack of all his estate ; well fortune , saith he , now i perceive thou wouldst have me become a philosopher : by all these things god would have us to become christians indeed , and to mind heavenly things . 1. use , the consideration of these evil days , may serve to strike a terror into the hearts of impenitents for these are but the beginning of their sorrows , who do dye in their sins . the day of judgement is most properly called the evil day , and that night of eternity that follows upon it : the night , john 9.4 . in this life the wicked have now and then some twilight of comfort but after this life , there shall be a perfect midnight , no glimmering of light , no sun to rise any more upon them . the clouds of gods anger , are now but in gathering , but then the great deeps shall be broken up , and shall overflow them : the days of this life , though they be miserable , yet they are but few , and that is some help , but that help is not there to be had , remember the days of darkness for they are many , eccl. 11.8 . nay , they are infinite , they shall never have end : therfore i say with solomon , remember these days ; break off thy sins by righteousness , and take hold of him who is our peace , otherwise there is not the least of thy troubles , but it is a certain earnest and pledge of thy everlasting torments . 2. use , let all the children of god learn to make that use of the evils of this present life , that god doth intend by them . to long and breath after that state and place , where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes ; as that son that endures misery in a far country , doth with the prodigal , long to be at his fathers house : that marriner that is tossed and tumbled betwixt winds and waves striving for him , longs to be at the haven , as the wounded hart brays for , and seeks after the water brooks , as the watchman waits for the morning , as the captive or prisoner doth sigh for deliverance , that which home is to the traveller , what the haven is to the marriner , what water to the panting hart , what the morning to the watchman , what redemption is to the captive , that is heaven to the soul that is in misery . never therefore read or hear that promise of our saviour , behold i come shortly , and surely i come quickly ; but let the troubles that here molest and disquiet thee , cause thee to take up that fervent acclamation , amen , even so come lord jesus , come quickly . finis . epicedium upon the death of the most worthy lady , susanna reynolds ( wife to the hononrable commissary-general reynolds ) who dyed at wanstead house , jan. 8. 1654. t is hard now not to write , if ink were scant or failed now , tears might supply that want . zac. 11.2 . let fir trees howl , at this sweet cedars fall , let dry and withered ones , this funeral , attend with fear , and what 's to the green on done , observe with trembling , shall this radiant sun go unlamented down ? oh no , the loss is universal , and this stroak a cross , psal. 43.9 . and 75.3 . to the whole world ; which by her loss now wants a shield and pillar ; for such are the saints unto the tottering earth , to ward off blows , bear burthens , and prevent sad overthrows ; who ever heard her name in time of life , in either state of virgin , or of wife ; but with th' appendix of the highest praise : a strife t'wixt grace and nature , which should raise her most , was visible unto those few , who had the glory of a nearer view : her far fam'd worth did touch all ears and hearts , with love and wonder ; virtue , person , parts , deportment , wisdom , sweetness , all combin'd , to conquer every nobler heart and mind . and who hath heard she 's dead , without a grief , and horrour , such as scarce admits relief ; her early , too too early loss of breath , gives all our joys an universal death . and yet , nor sighs nor tears this equal can , although our eyes out flow the ocean . in this one instance see the truth of all those sacred similes , that speak mans fall ; his life is likened to a vapour vain , to shepherds booth , soon up and down again . to flying shadows , to a fading flower , grows up , is green , pluck't withered in an hour . to dreams i th' morning , ended ere begun , to a short stories race , that 's quickly run . to dust that 's blown away with every blast , to wind that goes and comes no more in hast : to weavers shuttle moving fast away , to flying eagles , hasting to the prey , to the swift sayling ships , that hasten most ; to the swift riding of a winged post . all these made good in one so justly dear ; may fill survivors hearts with care and fear . to her worthy husband . y' have lost your softest , sweetest half , a part is rent from off that cawl that hides your heart : how great 's your loss ? you but begun to know , what you to god , for such a mate did owe . the throne of beauty seated in her face , loves loadstone , in her pure and peerless grace , a soul so full of that diviner flame , of love ( next god ) to you , oh love her name , her name and memory . and love the lord , who once ( though but a while ) was pleas'd t' afford and lend you such a jewel , but few such do shine on earth ; all th' earth will say as much . and now she shines above , behold her there , by faith , and follow her , up to that sphaere , where centred both in him , whom we adore , you 'le meet e're long , neer to be parted more . to her noble parents . y' have lost part of your selves , a child , a friend , the seed of fairest hopes , which might extend to after times , in her your selves set forth , in a new volume , the same grace and worth ; might to the world and saints , have lived still , when heaven your souls , and earth your bodies fil : but why do thoughts 'gainst him arise and mount who of his matters giveth no account : death like the serpent's dieted and must meddle no further , onely feed on dust : and give up that at last , as he that 's bold , to chop up morsels , too too hot to hold , that part which you were organs to convey , shall be restored in that glorious day . to her brethren and onely sister . y' have lost your selves repeated and no less , a loss then of a glass , wherein to dress , your souls ; you still might learn , a staff , a stay , she might have proov'd to you another day : y' have lost a right hand and a non-such friend when once your precious parents days shall end . strive to make up this breach , strive to exceed , excel your selves in every worthy deed . resemble her that 's gone , pray to inherit , a double portion of your sisters spirit . sic deflevit , hodieque deflet . thomas harison . in excellentissimam , & charissimam , dom. susannam reynolds . sic flevit , h. p. her matchless worth had i not known ; my rustick reed had never blown ; but cause i knew this phenix well , my tit-mouse joyns with philomel : and though unskil'd in sol , fa , re , can bear a part in lachrimae . the little spanlet of her life she past a child , a maid , a wife : the first was such a lovely story , her parents had that joy , that glory ; so sweet it was , that they can tell , obedience beyond paralel : she could subscribe with guileless breath obedient daughter unto death : there needed not a fathers frown , or mothers lowrings to take down an awless spirit , where an eye , or hint commanded loyalty . ( deer heart ) so anxious to obey , she grew all duty ( as some say ) she carryed duty , or it her , unto the grave , if i don't erre . a virgin so unsoild , so chast , that to bee a wife she made no hast ; such vertue lay in beauty hid , that all absurd attempts forbid . honour and greatness came a wooing , and riches offer'd to be dooing ; but in her bosome find's no place , it was so taken up with grace . curled locks , and powdered loyns , the votaries to beauties shrines : painted puppets , and fine things like men , with watches and with rings , presenting love in ryme and prose , were answered , i will none of those unless i meant to see some feats , playd by baboons or marmosets . at length her nobler thoughts she plac'd on one whom heaven and earth had grac'd ; but how like to a rock she stood , 'gainst waves and seas to make vows good , and how through thick , thin , hot and cold , she travel'd , and through ways untold . and how her worth did swim above , frowns and disdains to answer love ; yea how withal she did contest , to gain a long'd for short-liv'd rest , must be the work of a steel'd pen , i can but weep it ore agen . a wife she is : oh give me back that word agen ! though words i lack , to tell how good she was , and yet , whether a wife , i ev'n forget ; for ere the sun had run its round , nor child , nor maid , nor wife was found : but dainty dust , layd up in clay , onely ( deer shade ) this must i say . religion and not phancical , prudence and meekness not formal . and faithfulness without deceit , a spirit most humble , and as great ; birth worth , and sweetness met in thee , all strove for place , yet all agree ; but what of these ? alas she dies : let other muses write , mine cries . for sorrows tears drop not from pens ( blest sue ) but hearts and eyes , adew , adew , adew . h. p. in conjugalem amicitiam johannis reynolds svsannae reynolds i ask no muse's help to write , nor yet of venus flame or light . my fancie's mov'd by nobler love , such as virtuous minds approve . beauties fair colour , and its shape , is natures gift , or natures ape . by love , which of two souls made one , two spirits composition ; and friendships sacred bond so knit , death's sword alone , could severe it . pythagoras and plato may of scepticks eas'ly gain the day . old poets some blind prophets call , since love 's become ethereall . our gospel ground-work , and no less , then hearts enjoyments , as we guess , more of souls love , i can't reherse , in tear's floud , ends my swan-like verse . in obitum susanna piissimae sponsae magnanimi illius renoldi exercitûs imperialis commissarii publici : sic allocutus est conjux . quo cuis unfaelix , nunquam sat flebile fatum ? non mala sat sentis nisi sis sub pondere stratus ? connubiine diem celer es celebrare reversum ? festinant nimium dicis tua carbasa ventis . en quid habet thalamus ? lectum mors occupat atra . quid facis ah fatum ? cujus praecordia rumpis ? clepsydra quid properas graciles diffundere arenas , quid peragis ; viduum gaza de ludere mundum ; te nihil attonuit , qui tantis emicat ignis ingenii radiis ? te nil tot fulgura mentis : nil pietas , nil cara fides ; nil inclyta virtus ? eximius candor nil ; nobilitasque parentam : suadet , ut infaustum poteris divertere telum ? parcarum quid sunt nisi nomina vana recenses ; parcere quae nostrae nondum didicere renoldae . si pietatis opus , si quid pia numina spectant : omnia circumstant . nec desunt semina vitae ne scia solae ne cis : quae sanctâ pascitur aurâ , possumus interne nullum mortale videre ; sed quod ad huc maneat post vani tempora mundi . creditur aeternii hominem vixisse diebus , si deerant maculae . quae sunt hôc pectore mendae ? pulchra venus naeros circumtulit : inclyta nullas , continet haec sorces animo ut sic corpore pura . mors injussa venis , non est tibi lata potestas ; ut sponsa dirimas . in me convertito telum . quid facii ah ! jaculi fi sit , mea pectora tentet ; adsum qui morior ; me , me , tua spicula sternant . siccine faeminio gaudes vicisse triumpho : siccine deliciam nostri prosternis amoris : viscera quid solitas servatis corpore fedes ? turgida quid fugiunt cordis ligamina ruptum ? quid rutilas ocule ? extinguatur luminis ictus : vel si gratus eris domino sis fletibus aptas vivere quid valeat ; pereunt cum gaudia vitae ? vita , corona , decus , summi quoque gloria vote interit . ah! possis non atque marite perire ? et juvat , & possum , poteris nec morte revelli . te sequar ô conjux : tumulo tumulabimur uno . et quae vita negat tumulo solatia carpam , dixit : & innexis haerens cervice lacertis , jam moriturus erat , dilapsum luctibus istis sustentat sponsae genius , charissime , dicit ; salve ; qualis amor , dolor , aut quoe gratia rara , impulit ? ut scociam , me sub discrimine tanto queras ? ah conjux : tua sum , tua dicar , oportet , exanimata licet . te per lata oequora actum quaesivi : cupiens junctissima junctior esse . oraque nostra tuum frustra clamantia nomen , implerun gemitus . quorum suspiria corpus . orbarunt animâ . christi quae brachia versus tendit cui solo sis conjux chare secundus . cujus ob amplexus sperno tot gaudia terrae . ipse mihi sponsus : propero ▪ mi chare , valeto terrea terrenis liceant , magnalia capto . surge , age , da plausus , lugubres exue vestes : die caelis christum terris me habuisse renoldum hoc juvat angelici resonent connubia caetus jo christe veni decoratum suscipe sponsm ? laeta dies jani terrâ caelisque benigna ; postera me terris junxitque novissimae caelis . postera erat faelix ; bao sed faelicior istâ . talia fata , fugit ; sed non revocanda vocatur . sponsa mane , sponsumque tuum laeto ore saluta . quae servare potes , num tu cruciabis amantem ? plura dolor prohibet . sed junctis corpore pennis illa fugit : christi tenerisque amplectitur ulnis . quae discessa tegit maesto velamine vultus , cordaque tantorum quorum sit digna parentum , quae libet haud potuit miseros mens discere luctus et patris , matrisque suae , fratrumque , sororis . conjugis at fixum remanet sub pectore vulnus ; formam quod violat , maciemque in corpore fecit . nec studiosus amor fuit hic de more parentum : ( si quis enim reliquus ) tanti sit digna doloris . sic quoties ponto properat sol lucidous alto discessu fuscum nox induit atra colorem . sed valeant planctus , valeant suspiri● , nosmet dilecta propere satagamus jungere christo . sub umbrâ conjugis pientissimi sic flevit . j. m : epitaphium . vivere non volui ; potui nec fata subire : me trahit hinc sponsus ; me trahit inde deus . est mihi sponsus amans ; mihi sunt charique parentes ; omnibus at melior tu mihi christe , veni . a funeral elogie on the death of his dear sister mrs. susanna reynolds . what meant your dim ey'd moralists to praise the home-spun virtues of their former days . or what vain poets when they deifie their gay clothed nature with eternity , had they but seen thy life and fall they 'd burn their books , and turn atheistical . away bablers , here you all may see your goddesse stained with mortality , here 's constance , prudence , every deity enthrald by death , as much as piety . here 's greatness , goodness , or what ere you term , your summum b 〈◊〉 num found to be infirm your active virtues in its operation hath found an exile by imposthumation : nay more , here 's heaven joy and earths delight robb'd of her being , stole away by night . o covetons jales thus to impropriate the worlds treasure to your own estate , stand off prophaner orgies , wee l lament our saddest loss in love call'd penitent , since that our joy center'd in one our loss admits no consolation : yet glorious is that loadstone , sweet that love that thus extracts her soul for joys above . unhallowed conversations disagree with her whose element is piety . if that an inquest on her lives accompt had but been made , you might have found her moun each day degrees , first in affectation , and then in a spiritual conversation . long since she was above , and now shee 's gon , to take compleat possession not that she wanted here , blind fortune nere was more propicious to the worlds heir . to say shee 's blest is vain , t is but to croud , her vast enjoyments , in a breathed cloud . thus weak ey'd mortals cannot well descry in bodies chain'd , her state and gallantry : yet if the curious fancy dives to know her further bliss , then let him go ; for only vision can describe the story of her immence , eternal weight and glory . yet whilest we see what she contem'd , we guess her portions great , that counted this the less . she to christ coll's gon , where saints commerse , where christ & such blest souls take sweet convers. whose thred of life , nature so finely spun it burst asunder whilst the glass did run . sic flevit , hen. milden . a sad memorial on the much lamented death of the right virtuous lady , svsanna reynolds , wife to the honourable minded commander , com. gen. reynolds , who exchanged her frailty for a crown of immortality , anno , 1654. jam christi sponsa . phoenix moriendo reviviscit . hence true adorements , let us see no more , of mortal favours , set upon your score ; droop , droop spectators , canopy each face , while tears like floods run their curranto race , if that you did but rightly understand this losse of losses , you would straight command if that it lay within your reach , that all that virtue does bestow might have a fall , had we not better see that precious gold no sooner kept , but quickly turn'd to mold : alasse we mortals like the flower are tost , no sooner blown upon but we are lost , it is no wonder , nor admir't as strange that sublunary things must have a change ; observ't , that fatal death strikes at the best , and goodnesse here can never be at rest whilest rarenesse strives for to preserve it self leaves us at losse , and gains it self by stealth , and which is most belov'd doth glide away and turn our joys into a mournfull day . now speak your minds freely , can you not weep , this losse wil make a heart of stone to break , could greater virtue have sustain'd suspence , by gashly deaths overture and offence . come to her shrine , bring tears and not a bow , astraea never left this earth til now , grace , wisdom , all perfections deer accomplish't fully in her hemisphere ; where e're she went , she had attractive force , her love so vocal was , struck others hoarse : each one that knows her , if they had but sence to value candor to its full commence , must deeply mourn , and say that she is gone and left all goodnesse here to be forlorn . superiors , equals , all thy losse lament , not so much thine , as their own losse resent : oft as thy spouse repairs to his widdowed bed , and misses that on which affection fed , he straightway sighs , and bids the world farewel , as not meet for his future love do dwel : all with one joint consent of tears now strive , t' embalm that hearse , which th'honour'd whil'st alive , but what may tears do , those poor rivulets are but dumb orators , where death besets : but what hath death gain'd , since thy virtues live , which from thy ashes would thy name revive were that dead with thee , and convey thy soul beyond the utmost stars , and farthest pole , thy native home , from whence thou first was sent , to be to us a lasting monument , who in thy marble , may read here doth lie ( for our example ) faith , hope , charity . virgins lament your youth and beauties gone , the mirror of your sex is fled alone , ladies bemoan your nuptials for here lies , of married couples , the sad sacrifice , who taking farewel of her friends took flight to heav'n , and bad the world , and her deer spouse good night . y' are all but common mourners then , 't is thou chief mourner ( noble reynolds ) we allow , thou that hast smil'd on death in open field , and dar'd his worst , nay , boldly made him yeeld , yet here ar't conquer'd , mourn , thē mourn no more mourn thy high losse in her , mourn not her store of joys , exchang'd for under-valued dross , who triumphs in the crown of her last cross , the wreath , and palm of peace impale her head she lives & triumphs , though ore come and dead . her ephitaph . virgins , matrons come enter this cold roome : search , and finde , and see loves epitomie , stay , and learn , this enclos'd clay with certain hope waites for the day of joy , that never shall decay . when this precious urn yeilds up his return , when these ashes shall quit their funerall , in triumph you shall then behold this earth clad in celestiall gold with all the blessed saints inrou'ld . in obitum clarissimae dominae susannae reynolds , quae in domino placidé obdormivit , octavo januarii an. 1654. carmen . corripit urna capax susannam stemmate claram insignem meritis , eusibiesque decus . hallu●inor ! neque enim foretrum , nec cymba charontis , nec mansoleum hanc continuisse potest . quod cecidit pulvis fuit , atque umbratile corpus : cui tegmen tellus sesquipedale dedit . enthea sed psyche periturae nesecia sortis morte triumphatâ , regnat in arce poli . parca quid insanis ? dum non vis parcere , habendae praedae in perpetuum spes tibi nulla manet . prima locum sanctas heroidas inter habebat , nunc cum corporeá hîc obruta mole fuit at nunc egregiis susanna decora trophaeis fulget , & aeternae praemia pacis habet parce hyperaspistes lachrymis , raynolde , tryumphis pluribus insignis , parce , precor , lachrymis . christus agonochetes prohibet , nam clara brabaea in thalami sociam contulit ìlle tui . ambo victores , ambo paeana canatis laetus amoebaeos reddat uterque sonos . et vestras serpant inter mea carmina lauros si vobis munus tam levidense placet . p. a. finis . the crown of righteousness. set forth in a sermon preached at stephens walbrook, may 1. 1656. at the funeral of thomas hodges esquire. / by thomas watson, minister of stephens walbrook, in the citie of london. watson, thomas, d. 1686. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a96098 of text r207285 in the english short title catalog (thomason e882_10). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 74 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a96098 wing w1120 thomason e882_10 estc r204056 estc r207285 99863767 99863767 115981 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a96098) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 115981) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 133:e882[10]) the crown of righteousness. set forth in a sermon preached at stephens walbrook, may 1. 1656. at the funeral of thomas hodges esquire. / by thomas watson, minister of stephens walbrook, in the citie of london. watson, thomas, d. 1686. [8], 30, [2] p. printed for joseph crawford, at the signe of the kings head in pauls church-yard, london, : anno dom. 1656. with a preliminary imprimatur leaf; the last leaf is blank. annotation on thomason copy: "june 26". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng hodges, thomas, d. 1656 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -timothy, 2nd iv, 8 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. a96098 r207285 (thomason e882_10). civilwar no the crown of righteousness.: set forth in a sermon preached at stephens walbrook, may 1. 1656. at the funeral of thomas hodges esquire. / b watson, thomas 1656 13138 28 305 0 0 0 0 253 f the rate of 253 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 john latta sampled and proofread 2007-07 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the crown of righteousness . set forth in a sermon preached at stephens walbrook , may 1. 1656. at the funeral of thomas hodges esqvire . by thomas watson , minister of stephens walbrook , in the citie of london . 1 sam. 2. 30. they that honour mee , i will honour . london , printed for joseph cranford , at the signe of the kings head in pauls church-yard , anno dom. 1656. june 10. 1656. imprimatur edmund clamie . to the virtuous , and my worthie friend , mris mary hodges . honoured friend ! it was not my intention when i preach'd this sermon , that it should go any further then the pulpit ; but seeing you were pleased to request me to print it , that i might herein gratifie your desire , and exhibit a testimonial of that respect which i did bear to your deceased husband , i was willing to make it more publick , and the lord make it profitable . you are sensible enough , i doubt not , of the late losse you have susteined , i did therefore choose to treat on this subject , that i might revive you with the hope of future gain : not forgetting that of solomon , prov. 31. 6. give wine to those that be of heavie hearts . the jewes have this forme of speech at their funerals , whereby they would chear up the party surviving ; let thy consolation bee in heaven * so i say to you , look up to heaven , let the crown laidup comfort you the lord help you to make a sanctified use of this sad stroke of providence ; learn ( dear friend ) to make sure of christ , when you cannot make sure of other relations . faith will contract you to christ , and if your maker bee your husband , * death shall not dissolve , but perfect the vnion : labour still to anchor within the vail , * 't is no casting anchor downward ; wee break our earthly comforts while we lean too hard on them , but i must not expatiate . i have here presented you with the sermon as i preach'd it , onely i have cast in some few additionals , which through straits of time i was then forced to omit . the blessing of the almighty rest upon you , and let that golden oil bee powred out upon your posteritie . * so praieth your faithful friend and servant in the lord , tho. watson . from my study at steph. walbrook june 2. 1656. in obitum thomae hodges armigeri . laurus apollinoi nemoris ditissima proles exulet , & crinem taxus opaca premat . et mea faerales humectent carmina guttae , carmina lugubri , commemoranda sono . nuper enim tristi noctis squalore sepultus eximiae cecidit maximus urbis honos . scilicet egregius generosi nobilis haeres , quem tenuit verae religionis amor . nullus amicorum lateri constantior haesit , civibus aut passim clarior alter erit . non auri coluit radios , nec pauper ut esset sponte , tenebroso carcere clausit opes . sed bene divitiis quaesitis noverit uti ; sanctorum ut merit as possit habere preces . transegit placidam chastâ cum conjuge vitam exemplo natos , consitiìsque regens . huc tamen , ( o nigri rigor insatiabilis orci ) . fatales ictos mors inopina dedit . ecce hic marmorea sopitum dormit in urnâ corpus , at aethere as mens petit alta domus . illio terrestris discusso pondere limi exultat , pseno necteris amne lavans . o utinam digno celebrarem funus honore , & tacito cineri debita jura darem . non cuperem violas mollisve rosaria pesti , nempe haec vix tumulo congrua dona forent . non caret unguentis nec picti floribus horti , quem sequitur famae nobilioris odor . edm. hall . the crown of righteousness . 2 tim. 4. 8. henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousnesse , which the lord the righteous judg shall give me at that day . the wise god , that he may invite and encourage the sons of men to holinesse of life , is pleased to set before their eies the recompence of reward , that if the equitie of his precepts doth not prevail , the excellencie of his promise may . god will have his people voluntiers in religion , * not forced with fear , but drawn with love ; therefore he works upon them in such a way as is most alluring and perswasive : he would catch men with a golden bait , and tempt them to obedience by shewing them what is laid up in heaven for them ; so in the text , henceforth there is a crown of righteousnesse laid up , &c. a crown ? oh infinite ! for a delinquent to have a pardon is well , but to have a crown set upon him , is no lesse rare , then stupendious . a true saint hath a double crown ; one in this life , the other laid up . in this life he hath a crown of acceptance , ephes. 1. 6. he hath made us accepted in the beloved . some render the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he hath made us favorites ; * here is the crown of acceptance , and in the life to come a crown of righteousnesse . the glorie of heaven is represented in scripture under various similies , and metaphors : somtimes heaven is compar'd to a place of rest , heb. 4. 9. it is the souls center . * somtimes to an house not made with hands , 2 cor. 5. 1. somtimes to an inheritance in light , golos . 1. 12. and in the text the glorie of heaven is set forth by a crown ; the circle is the most perfect figure . * this blessed crown doth incircle within it all perfection . i shall first break up the ground of the text by explication , & then come to sow the seed of doctrine . 1. henceforth ] * this word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , henceforth , is a relative word ; either first it may bear date from the time of the apostles conversion ; henceforth there is laid up a crown : assoon as a man is implanted into christ , he stands intituled to a crown . or secondly , this word henceforth may relate to the end of his race and fight . paul had run through all the several stages of christianitie . he had finished his course , and from henceforth saith he , there is laid up a crown . he knew his work was done , and there was nothing now remaining , but to step out of the world , and put on his crown . 2. there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ] a quest . why a crown of righteousnesse ? it is a crown of mercie ; b a crown that free grace bestows ; why then is it called corona justitiae , a crown of righteousness ? answ . 1. negatively ; not that we can by our righteousnesse merit this crown . bellarmine builds his doctrine of merit on this text ; aquinas and bonaventure say , that we merit this crown ex condigno , by way of condignitie . but the whole current of our orthodox divines runs another way . c and the apostle makes a clear distinction between a reward bestowed by merit , and by grace ; rom. 6. 23. the wages of sin is death , but the guift d of god e is eternal life . had the reward been by merit , the apostle should have said , the wages of god is eternal life . f alas ! how can we merit a crown ? before we merit we must satisfie , but we have nothing to satisfie . how can finite obedience satisfie infinite justice ? besides , what equalitie is there between our service , and the reward ? what proportion between the shedding of a tear , and a crown ? so that we cannot by our righteousnesse merit this crown g . i answer therefore 2. affirmatively , it is called a crown of righteousnesse in a double sence . ● . because it is corona promissa , it is a crown promised , h revel. 2. 10. i will give thee a crown . god having made this promise , h it is a righteous thing to bestow this crown on us . i 2. it is a crown of righteousnesse , because it is corona acquisita , a crown purchased ; it is a crown bought with the price of blood . it was so bought as it was given , else where were god's mercie ? and it was so given as it was bought , else where were god's justice . this crown swims to us through the blood of a saviour . when christ was hanging upon the crosse , he was purchasing a crown for us : and in this sence it is a crown of righteousnesse ; it is righteous with god to give us the crown which jesus christ hath paid for so dearly . 3. this crown is said to be laid up . * ] the crown is kept in reversion . god doth not presently broach the full vessels of glorie : he doth not presently install us into our honour : it is corona recondita , a crown laid up . the saints are heirs under age ; god doth not crown them till they are of age : the sons of kings are oft crown'd during their minoritie , some have been crown'd in their cradle ; k but the heirs of glorie must be of perfect stature before they are crowned . god will give his children the ring , and the bracelets here , some of the comforts of his spirit , but not the crown , we are all for present pay ; we are still putting off our repentance , yet would bee putting on our crown ; god will have us stay a while , the crown is laid up . quest . but why is it laid up , why is not the crown presently put on ? answ . 1. it is not fit that we should yet wear it , and that for two reasons . 1. our graces are imperfect in this life ; l they are in their infancie and minoritie ; therefore we are said to receive but primitias , the first fruits of the spirit , rom. 8. 23. non decimas , saith luther ; we are but christians in fieri , m we have onely some imperfect lineaments of grace drawn in us ; our graces are mingled with much corruption , as gold in the oar is mingled with drosse ; the most refined soul hath some lees and dregs of sin left in it . the life of grace is said to be hid , col. 3. 3. our faith is hid under unbelief , as the corn is hid under the chaff ; now if god should set the crown upon us in this life , he should crown our sins as well as our graces . therefore the crown is laid up . 2. 't is not fit that wee should yet wear the crown , for then it would take us off from doing our work ; wee should be idle in the vineyard . who will take pains for a reward , when he hath the reward already ; therefore the crown is laid up . wee must run the race before wee wear the crown . 2 the crown is laid up to make heaven the sweeter . n the longer we stay for our crown , the sweeter it will be when it comes . the absence of that which we desire , doth but endear it to us the more when we enjoy it . after all our sweating for heaven , all our praying , weeping , fasting , how welcom will a crown bee ? therefore it is that god , though he will not denie , yet hee will delay our reward ; 't is a crown laid up . quest . but if this crown be laid up , when shall wee wear it ? this brings me to the fourth and last particular in the text . 4. in that day ] o what day ? die obitûs mei , saith tertullian . * in the day of my death . justinus and others are of opinion , that the saints shall not receive this crown till the resurrection . but hierom confutes this opinion p the souls of the elect shall be presently crown'd with joy and felicity ; the body indeed shall lie in the grave , as in a bed of perfume , till the resurrection . q that this rerurrection shall be is clear . r therefore it is that some of the antients have called the grave {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a sleeping house , because this body shall awake again , and the jewes called their burying place , the house of the living , s because they believed that life would come into them again at the resurrection , and till then , the bodies of the saints must wait for their preferment ; but their souls shall be immediately crown'd after death . why else should saint paul desire to be dissolved , if he were not presently crown'd with glory ? it were better for believers to stay here , if they should not be immediately with christ . here they are daily improving their stock of grace , they are increasing the jewels of their crown ; though they sit in the valley of teares , yet god often turns their water into wine , they have many praelibamina sweet tasts of gods love ; they have the bunches of grapes ; if pauls soul should sleep in his body ( a drowsy opinion ) then when he desired to be dissolved , he wished that which was to his losse , but this crown shall be given in that day , die obitûs , the day of our death . it cannot be halfe a days journey between the crosse and paradise . the words being thus opened , fall into these three parts . 1. here is a glorious reward , a crown . 2. the adjournying of this reward , it is layd up . 3. the persons on whom it is bestowed ; viz. paul , and the rest of believers . for me , and not for me onely , but for all them that love christ's appearing . doctr. that the righteous person shall wear the crown of righteousnesse . for the illustration of this , i shall do four things . 1. i shall enquire who this righteous person is . 2. i shall evince it by scripture , that the righteous person shall wear this blessed crown . 3. i shall shew you , wherein the reward of glory is compared to a crown . 4. wherein this crown of righteousnesse excells , and out-shines all earthly crowns . i. who this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or righteous person is . i answer , a man may be said to be righteous , two ways . 1. legally . thus adam while he did wear the robe of innocence was legally righteous ; he had that {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a law of holiness written in his heart , and his life was a living commentary upon it . he went exactly , according to every institute of god ; as a well made diall goes with the sun ; but this is lost and forfeited . 2. a man is said to bee righteous evangelically : and this righteousnesse is two-fold ; either a righteousnesse by imputation . t this righteousnesse is as truly ours to justifie , as it is christ's to give . or 2. a righteousnesse by implantation . u the one is by the merit of christ : the other is by the spirit of christ . now this implanted righteousness is in the soul as an intrinsecall quality ; and if it be of the right kind , it must be there three manner of ways . 1. righteousness must be in the soul , extensively , x in every part ; we do not call a blackmore white , because he hath white teeth . those are not said to be righteous , who can speake righteously , what are these white teeth ? righteousnesse like a holy leaven must diffuse , and swel it self into every part , the understanding , will , affections . the very god of peace sanctify you wholly , 1 thes. 5. 23. therefore grace is called the new man . y not a new eye , or a new tongue , but a new man . a saint though he be righteous but in part , yet he is righteous in every part . 2. righteousness must be in the soul intensively . z we call water hot , when it is hot in the third or fourth degree ; he is not said to be righteous who is tepid and neutrall in religion ; this was laodicea's temper , lukewarm , revel. 2. 16. i would thou wert cold or hot ver. 15. i would thou wert something ; any thing rather then lukewarm : righteousnesse must rise up to some degree , david boiled over in holy zeale , a psal. 119. 139. my zeale hath consum'd me . 3. righteousnesse must be in the soul perseveringly . b it must abide , and continue . he is not a righteous person , that is good onely in a passion , either of fear or joy ; hypocrits may seeme righteous for a time , so long as the wind sits that way , but it is quickly over ; they change apace ; not unlike the hearb poleon whose leavs in the morning are white , at noon purple , at night blue ; thus they change in their goodnesse , and are of divers minds , as joseph's coat of divers colours . hypocrites for the most part live to confute themselves ; they are like cataline of whom salust observes , he had a good and hopefull begining , but a bad end . c i have read of a certain people in india called pandorae , that have white hoar haires in their youth , and in their old age black haires . an embleme of hypocrites , who at first look white and fair like saints , but in their elder yeares do blacken in wickednesse ; these mens religion was never in grain , they are onely to be judged righteous persons , who with job hold fast their integrity . job 2. ver. 3. d there is a great deal of difference between the motion of a watch , and the beating of the pulse : the one is quickly at an end , but the other proceeding from a vitall principle , is permanent , and constant , as long as there is life the pulse beates : true righteousness is a spirituall pulse , which will be ever beating . so much for the first , who this righteous person is . 2. the second particular which i will but glance at , is , that the righteous person shall wear the crown of righteousnesse . jam. 1. 12. he shall receive the crown of life . and rev. 2. 10. i will give thee the crown of life . by both which scriptures you see , that a true saint is heir to the crown ; the truth being so apparent ; i may say as they did in another sence , what needs there further witnesse . e ] i proceed therefore to the next thing . 3. to shew you wherein the reward of glory is compared to a crown . it is called here a crown of righteousness , and that in three respects . 1. a crown is res splendida ; f the crown-roiall hung with jewels , is a splendid magnisicent thing . g thus the crown of righteousnesse is most orient , and illustrious . for the splendor of it , it is called a crown of glory . 1 pet. 5. 4. it must needs be glorious , because it is a crown of gods own making . sinne hath made us our crosses , god hath made us our crown . what are all the beauties , and glories of the world which have been esteem'd most famous , in comparison of this crown of righteousnesse ? the temple of diana , h mausolus tomb , the egyptian pyramides , the pillar of the sun , which the heathens offered to jupiter . the glory of this crown is inexpressible . i were the angels themselves sent from heaven , to give us a description of this crown of righteousnesse , they would sooner want words then matter . but here i must draw a vail , as not being able to give you the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or dark shadow of it ; nor can it be set out by all the lights of heaven ; though every star were turn'd into a sun . 2. a crown is res ponderosa , a weighty thing . so is the crown of righteousnesse ; k therefore it is call'd by the apostle , a weight of glory . l we think our sufferings weighty , alas , they are light in comparison of our crown ; this crown of righteousnesse , is so weighty , that it would soon overwhelme us , if god did not make us able to bear it . ] 3. a crown is res honorifica an honourable thing . m thou crownest him with honour psal. 8. 7. therefore when king ahashuerus asked haman , what shall be done to the man whom the king will honour ? haman could think of nothing more honourable then the crown . let the crown roiall which the king useth to wear be set upon his head esther , 6. 8. a crown is not for every one , it will not fit every head ; it is for kings and persons of renown to wear . what great honour was it to wear the olympick crownes ! n to which the apostle seems here to allude . a crown is a badge and ensigne of imperiall honour . o so this crown of righteousnesse is insigne honoris , it is an ensign of royalty and excellence . onely those who are , è regio sanguine n●ti , born of god , and have the blood royall of heaven runing in their souls , do wear this blessed crown . the men of the world may heap up silver as dust , but the crown god reserves onely for them whom be hath made kings . rev. 1. 6. 4. the last thing is , to shew you wherein this crown of righteousnesse exceeds , and out-shines all earthly crowns ; that will appear in fix particulars . 1. this crown of righteousnesse is , lawfully come by . it is a crown which god himself will set upon our head . the lord , the righteous judge will give it me at that day , saith the text . therefore it is come by lawfully . other crowns are often usurped ; as histories abundantly witness ; they may be called crowns of unrighteousness , because they are unrighteously gotten . julius cesar was wont to say , for a crown it was lawfull to violate any oath . p the saints have not their crown by usurpation , but by election ; they are chosen to a crown q 2. this crown of righteousnesse exceeds in purenesse . other crowns are of a more feculent , drossie mettle , they have their troubles . a crown of gold cannot be made without thorns r herein the crown of righteousnesse excells . it is made of a purer metal , there are no cares or crosses woven into it . it fills the soul with melody ; it banisheth all sorrow from the heart , there can be no more sorrow in heaven , then joy in hell . ] 3. this crown of righteousnesse can never be lost or forfeited . other crowns may be lost . ſ the crown is fallen from the head . lam. 5. 16. henry the sixth was honoured with the crowns of two kingdoms , france and england . the first was lost through the faction of his nobles , the other was twice pluck'd from his head , before his death . t the crown hath many heirs and successors ; how many have been deposed either by fraud , or force . but this crown of righteousnesse can never be lost . god will not say , remove the diademe , take off the crown . ezek. 21. 16. this crown is set upon the head of christs spouse , and christ will never depose his spouse . there 's nothing unlesse sinne can forfeit the crown ; but believers shal be so fixed in their orbe of sanctity , that they cannot have the least erring , or retrograde motion . 4. this crown of righteousnesse is a never-fading crown w other crowns are like a garland of flowers that soone withers ; doth the crown endure to all generations ? prov. 27. 4. all outward glory passeth away as a swift stream , or a ship in full saile ; crowns wear away and tumble into the dust : but this crown of righteousnesse fades not . x 1 pet. 5. 4. eternity is a jewell of the saints crown ; after millions of yeares , it will be as bright and splendent as at the first dayes wearing . 5. this crown of righteousness doth not draw envy to it . davids own son envied him , and sought to take his crown from off his head . a crown of gold is often the marke for envy and ambition to shoot at : but this crown of righteousnesse is free from envy . the white lilly of peace is a flower that grows in this crown . one saint in glory shall not envy another y because all are crown'd ; and though one crown may be larger then another , yet every one shall have as big a crown as he is able to carry . 6. this crown of righteousnesse makes a man blessed ; earthly crowns have no such virtue in them ; they rather make men cursed ; they are so heavy that they often sinke men into hell ; they make mens heads so giddy , that they stumble and fall into hurtfull lusts . z but this crown of righteousnesse makes them blessed that wear it . the hebrew word to crown , signifies , to compass round . because the crown doth compass them that wear it with terrene felicity . the saints shall have a sight of god to eternity , a this is the encompassing crown . the schoolmen place happinesse in the vision of god . b but besides the saints shall {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , have such communications of divine excellencies , as they are capable to take in . this is the quintessence of blessednesse . * vse . 1. information , and it hath four branches . 1. it shews us that religion is not imposed upon hard terms ; god doth not put us upon things unreasonable , he doth not cut us out work and give no reward , behold , there is a crown of righteousnesse laid up . * when wee hear of the doctrine of repentance , steeping our souls in brinish tears for sin ; the doctrine of mortification , pulling out the right eie , wee are ready to crie out as they did , this is an hard saying , who can hear it ? no beloved , gods terms are not unreasonable , he never sets us on work but we are sure of double pay ; many sweet encouragements he gives us while we are doing the work , hee often strews our ways with roses , shedding his love abroad into our hearts , rom. 5. 5. filling us with joy in believing , romanes 15. verse 13. hee that hath the least mercie from god in this kinde , will die in his debt : but when wee look upon the recompence of reward , which doth as far exceed our thoughts , as it doth surpass our deserts , then surely we cannot say to god ( without wrong ) as he mat. 25. 24. i knew thee that thou art an hard man . if a king should bid one take up his staffe when it is fallen , and for that should settle an annuity upon him for life , this were not unreasonable . when you have done all ( as our lord christ saith ) you are but unprofitable servants . * what advantage do you bring to god ? yet for this poor inconsiderable nothing there is a crown laid up . sure god doth not invite you to your losse , nor can you say he is a hard master . satan , who would discourage you from a strict holy life , will he give bond to assure you of som hing equivalent to this crown ? as saul said in another sence , will the son of jesse give you fields and vineyards , and make you captains of thousands . * so , will satan who disparageth the waies of god give you crowns to possesse ? will he mend your wages ? alas ! you know what wages he paies , his wages are death , c and truly the lesse wages the better . 2 branch . see here that which may raise in our hearts an holy indignation against sin , it will make us forfeit our crown . sin is not onely hateful in its own nature , the most horrid , ugly , deform'd thing ; which made holy anselm say , that if hee should behold the pains of hell on one side , and the deformitie of sin on the other , and he must of necessitie choose one of these two ; i would ( saith he ) rather throw my self into hell , then voluntarily commit one sin against god . c but besides the intrinsecall-filth that is in sin , ( it being the very spirits & quintessence of evill ) this may cause in us an abhorrency of it ; sin would degrade us of our honour , it would pluck away our crown from our head ; thinke what will the end of sin be ? as abner said to joab , will it not be bitternesse in the latter end ? f if men before they did commit sin , would but sit down and rationally consider , whether the present gain and sweetnesse in fin , would make amends for the future losse , i beleeve it would put them into a cold sweat , and give some check to their unbridled affections . jacob tooke esau by the heel . o? do not look upon the smileing face of sin , but take it by the heel , look at the end of it ; it will bereaves us of our crown . and can any thing countervail this losse ? when a man is tempted to pride ; let him remember this will swel his head so big , that the crown wilnot com on ; wo to the crown of pride ! isa. 28. 1. the crown of pride will hinder him of the crown of righteousness . when he is tempted to lust , let him remember that for the injoying the pleasures of sin for a season , g he hazards a crown of immortality . h and is there so much sweetnesse in sin , as is in a crown ? when he is tempted to drunkennesse , ( a sin that doth not onely unchristian him but , un-man him ) i let him consider here it would uncrown him of his reason , and afterwards un-crown him of his happinesse . when he is tempted to swearing , let him think with himself , this is a sin which hath nothing to render it delightful . other sinns have a shew of pleasure and profit , which is the k bait men are drawn with . l but the swearer is brought to the devills hook without any bait . o! is it not madnesse for these unfruitfull works of darknesse m to forfeit heaven . how will the devill reproach , and laugh at men ? that they should be so stupid , as for a rattle , to forego a crown . like those indians , who for pictures and glasse-beads will part with their gold . o! how should we hate sin which will take away our crown from us . 3. branch . see here the misery of a wicked man , though he may be , coronis aureis donatus , and flourish in his bravery while he lives , yet when he dies he shall not have a crown of righteousnesse , but chaines of darknesse . n death carries him prisoner to hell , it leades him away to be crucified . the egyptians as plutarch reports at their feastes , brought in a death's-head with this motto ; o look upon this , and proceed in your banquet . the sinner who sports himselfe with sin , and crowns himselfe with rose-buds , in the mid'st of all his mirth and musick ; here 's a death's head for him to look on . the day of death to him will not be a day of inauguration , but a day of execution . how can the wicked rejoyce ? theophylact us'd to say , his estate is miserable that goes laughing to hell . we may say of this laughter , it is mad , eccles. 2. 2. suppose yee saw a man set in a rotten chair , under him a fire burning , over his head a sword hanging by a twine thread , and before him a table spread with variety of delicacies , sure he would have but little stomack to eat , sitting in that danger : so it is with a sinner , his soul sits in his body as in a chair , diseases like worms breed there , under him hell fire is burning , over his head not a crown , but a sword of justice hangs , when death breakes this chair of the body , he falls into the fire , & this fire is unquenchable . p multitude of tears cannot extinguish it , length of time cannot annihilate it . nor let the sinner expect any charon to ferry him over that stygian-lake , ( as some have vainly fancied ) q god hath the keyes of hell , rev. 1. 18. and besides thedamned are bound hand and foot . matt. 22. 13. so that there can be no coming out . o that this might scare and affrightmen from their evill courses ! the wicked when they are dying must say to their souls , as the emperor adrian ; r o my poor wandring soul , whither art thou going ? what will become of thee ? there remaines nothing for sinners , but a certain fearfull looking for of judgment and fiery indignation . heb. 10. 27. god will not say to them , come hither and be crowned , but go ye cursed . ſ 4. branch . it shews us , as in a scripture-glasse , the happinesse and nobility of a righteous person . t in his life he wears stolam justitiae , a robe of righteousnesse . and after death he weares coronam justitiae , a crown of righteousnesse . i say 1. in his life time he weares a robe of righteousness , isa. 61 10. this is the righteousnesse of christ , in which he is look'd upon & reputed as righteous as christ himself . 2 cor. 5. 21. we are made the righteousnesse of god in him . 't is not said , we are made the righteousnesse of angels , but of god . 2. after death he wears a crown of righteousnesse . this crown doth incircle all blessednesse within it ; u the saints are not perfectly happie till death , then comes the crown . here we are but aeternitatis candidati , candidates and expectants of heaven . this is but seed-time , we sow the seed of praier , and water it with our tears , the golden harvest is yet to reap . the crown is laid up . when craesus ask'd solon whohe thought happie ? he told him one tellus , a man that was dead . x so a christian is not perfectly happie till death ; then the crown shall be put on . the thracians in their funerals used musick ; and theocritus observs , that the heathens had their {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or funeral banquet , because of that felicitie which they supposed the parties deceased to participate of : when the mantle of a believers flesh drops off , then shall his soul ascend in a triumphant chariot , and the garland of glorie shall be set upon his head . vse 2. trial. examine your selves whether you are the heirs of this crown . quest . but how may that be known ? answ. by this one note ; if you set the crown on christs head while you live , he will set the crown on your head when you die . have you wisdom to manage businesses of concernment , strength to do duties , resist temptations , bear burdens ? you will not assume , or arrogate any thing to your selves , but let christ wear the crown : y thus saint paul , 1 cor. 15. 10. i labored more then they all , and yet not i. this is the inscription on christ's vesture , and on his thigh , king of kings , rev. 19. 16. then we do what in us lies to make him king , when we set the crown of all upon his head . king canutus ( as historians relate ) took the crown off his own head and set it upon a crucifix ; so a good christian takes the crown of honour and applause from his own head , and sets it upon the head of christ : this is hard for flesh and blood to stoop to ; a proud heart will not easily part with the crown ; he will commend christ , and bid others bow the knee : onely in the throne he would be greater . z but be assured there 's no way for us to reign with christ , but to let christ reign here . vse 3. exhortation ; and it exhorts us to four things : 1. if there be a crown laid up , it calls for our love to god . behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us , * to give us a crown . this is the highest enobling of a creature . if there be love in a crumb , what is there in a crown ? if there be love in pardoning-mercie , what is there in crowning-mercie ? † it is a favour that wee poor vermiculi , worms and no men , should be suffered to live ; but that worms should be made kings ; * that christ should be arreigned and we adorned ; that the curse should be laid on his head , and the crown set on ours , behold what manner of love is this ! it is beyond all hyperbole . and should not this make our hearts reverberate , and eccho back love . * oh christians ! light your love at this fire ; as burning glasses when the sun hath shin'd on them they burn : god having so shin'd upon us in love , let our hearts burn ; and our love to god must be divinely qualified . 1. it must be a genuine love ; we must not love him propter aliud , for something else , as a man loves a potion for health sake ; but as a man loves sweet wine , for it self . we must love god for those intrinsick excellencies in him , * which are so alluring and amiable . 2. it must be a voluntarie love , a else it is not love but coaction : it must come freely , as water out of a spring . it must be a free-will offering , not like the paying of a tax . 3. it must be an exuberant love ; it must not bee stinted , not a few drops , but a stream ; it must like nilus , over flow the banks . 4. it must be a transcendent love ; it must be of no ordinary extraction , but a choise , intire , superlative love ; we must not onely give god the milk of our love , but the cream ; not onely the truth of it , but the spirits and quintessence . i would cause thee to drink of spiced wine , and the juice of my pomgranates , cant. 8. 2. if the spouse hath a cup which is more juicie and spiced , christ shall drink of that . 5. it must be a most intense ardent love : the sun shines as much as it can ; such must our love to god be , ad ultimum virium , it must boil over , but never give over . what unparallel'd love hath god shewn us . oh christian ! answer love with love . in love we may , as bernard saith , reciprocate with god . * if god be angry , we must not be angry again , but if god love us , we must love him again . o love god the father , who hath made this crown for us ; love god the son , who hath bought this crown for us ; love god the holy ghost , who hath made us fit to wear this crown . 2 branch , exhort . let us pant , and breath after this happy condition . b doth not the heire desire to be crowned ? here we have a weight offin . c in heaven a weight of glory . d how should our souls be big with desire to be gon hence , what is the world we so dote on ? 't is but a spacious prison , and should not we be willing to goe out of prison to be crowned . the bird desires to go out of the cage , though it be made of gold . the academicks compare the soul of man to a fowle , mounting with her wings aloft : e every saint is a true bird of paradise , he is ever flying up towards heaven in ardent and zealous affections , he longs to be out of this earthen cage of the body , when with the phaenix he shall receive his golden coronet on his head , and shine in glory as the angels of god . tully observes that scipio when his father had told him of ithat glory the soul should be invested with in a state of mmortality , why then saith scipio do i tarry thus long upon the earth ? why do i not hasten to dye ? methinks when we heare of this crown of righteousnesse , which will so infinitely enrich , and adorn the soul , f it should make us weary of this world , and long for the time of our solemn inauguration . how did paul desire to be dissolved . g would not a man be willing to hoise up seales and crosse the waters , though troublesome if he were-sure to be crown'd assoone as he came at shore . why are our souls so earthly ? h we love to be grazing in the worldes full pastures , and are affraid to dye . most men look so ghastly at the thoughts of death , as if they were rather going to the crosse , then the crown . o long for death ! the apostle calls death a putting off our earthly cloaths , 2 cor. 5. 4. this is all death doth to us , if we are in christ , it puts off our cloaths , and puts on a crown . this should make us say as hilarion , go out my soul , go out , why tremblest thou ? thou art going to receive a crown . a believer at death will be the happiest looser , and the happiest gainer . he will loose his sins , he will gain glory . the day of death is the saints coronation day . 3. branch . learn so to deport and demeane your selves , that this crown of righteousness may be set upon your heades , when you dye . qu. how is that ? answ. do three things . 1. if you would wear the crown of righteousnesse , find in your hearts the work of righteousness , isa. 32. 17. that is , the work of grace wrought in you ; and this work must be evidenced by a mighty change ; which is somtimes called an ingrafting , somtimes a transforming . grace makes a metamorphise ; p it produceth in the soul a configuration , and likeness to christ ; first there must be a consecrating work , before a crowning work . we read in scripture in the solemne inauguration of their kings , first they anointed them , and then they crown'd them . z●dock the priest took an horn of oile out of the tabernacle , and anointed solomon ; and after that he was crown'd : so there must be the unction of the spirit * , q first god powrs on us the anointing oile of grace , and after the horn of oile , then coms the crown . 2. if you would wear the crown of righteousnesse , then walk in the way of righteousnesse prov. 12. 28. this is called in scripture , a walking {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} after the spirit , rom. 8. 1. as the people of israel walked after the pillar offire ; and the wisemen walked after the star ; r which way the star went , they went . and somtimes it is called a walking by rule , gal. 6. 16. those that expect a golden crown , must walk by a golden rule . be sure you walk with davids candle and lanthorn in your hand , psal. 119. 105. he that walks in the dark , may soon be out of the way . walk {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , soberly , in acts of temperance ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , righteously , in acts of justice ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , godly , in acts of piety . * walk as christ did upon earth ; his life was ( as one saith ) purer then the sun-beams . ſ copy out his life in yours ; be assured you shall never partake of the priviledge of christ's death , unlesse you imitate the patterne of christ's life . would you wear the crown of righteousnesse ; walk in the way of righteousnesse ; but alas this is a very untroden way . 1. some know the way of righteousnesse , but do not walk in it ; like the graecians , of whom plutarch speaks , they knew what was honest , but did it not . 2. others commend the way of righteousnesse , but do not walk in it ; like those that tast and commend the wine but do not buy . 3. others walk antipodes , in stead of walking in the way , they are good onely at crossing the way , they oppose the way of righteousnesse , such are persecutors . 2 tim. 3. 8. t 4. others walk a few steps in the way and then go back again ; u these are apostates . 2 tim. 4. 10. as if there were any going to heaven backward . 5. others walk half in the way , and half out ; these are loose professors , who though in som dogmaticals they dissent not from us , yet under a notion of christian liberty , they do walk carelesly , and presumtuously , crying up justification , that they may weaken the power of sanctification : they can take that liberty , which others tremble to think off ; surely were there no other bible to read in , but the lives of some professors , we should read but little scripture there . 6. others walk soberly a while in the way , but on a sudden drinking in the poison of error , a begin to be intoxicated with novel and dangerous opinions , who as the apostle saith , are turned aside after satan . 1 tim. 5. 15. ignatius calls error the invention of the devill . d basil calls it a spiritual drunkennesse ; and when the head is giddy the feet must needs reel . loos principles , breed loos practises . 7. others in stead of walking in the way , do traduce & slander the way of righteousness . the way of truth shal be evil spoken of , 2 pet. 2. 2. or as it is in the greek , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it shall be blasphem'd . the men of the world give out , that the way of righteousnesse is a solitary way , & makes them melancholly that walk in it , and that they must expect to loose their joy by the way ; these forget that golden saying of austin , when a man is converted , and turned to god , his joy is not taken away , but changed , * 't is more sublime , and pure ; and doth not solomons oracle tells us , that all the ways of god are pleasantnesse . * take the most ruggid part of the way of religion , and it is pleasant walking ; holy weeping seems at first very uncouth and disconsolate , but how often , while the saints weep for sin , doth the lord make them weep for joy . * the water of repentance like rose-water , while it drops from the stil of the eye , sends forth a sweet smell , which refresheth the soul with inward consolation . o what green branches ! what full clusters of grapes , hang all along as we are walking in the way of righteousnesse : how then dare men calumniate ? 8. others creep in the way , they do not walk ; they go on but very slow , like the motion of the eighth sphere . those who look on can hardly tell whether they make any progresseor no . they are dull in their heavenly motion , and had need often pray with david for gods free spirit . 9. others walk quite besides the way . those are prophane persons , who dedicate their lives to bacchus , u who border every step they take upon the devills confines . they are like asa , diseased in their feet ; * they walk as the apostle saith , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} disorderly † like souldiers that march out of rank & file . jesus christ doth not onely send forth blood out of his sides to redeem us , but also water to cleanse us . 1 john 5. 6. they that have have not the power of the one to sanctify , may question the benefit of the other to save . o! all you that would wear the crown of righteousness , walk in the way of righteousnesse ; labour to keep up the credit of religion in the world ; walk {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , exactly , walk so that if we could suppose the bible to be lost , it might be found again in your lives . 2. if you would wear the crown of righteousnesse , put * on the armour of righteousness . 2 cor. 6. 7. the meaning is if wil you have this crown , you must fight for it . i have ( saith paul ) fought the good fight * ; a metaphor , as chrysost. & ambrose observe , taken from wrestlers , who when they had gotten the victory were crown'd . 't is corona triumphalis , therefore the saints in glory are set forth with palms in their hands † in token of victory . christians must strive as in the olympick combats ; they must not onely be ornati but armati . not onely adorned with the jewell of knowledge , but armed with the breast-plate of faith . * satan is a lion in the way , there must be a pitch'd battel . this crown is worth contending for ; a christian shines most in his spirituall armour . this is his sacred gallantry when he is like those souldiers curtius speaks of * , who did not look gay in gold and glittering apparel , but shined in their martiall habit . the crown in set upon the head of the conqueror ; those delicatuli , those dainty silken christians that live at ease , a and will not make the least sally out against the enemy , they shall have no crown , but be discarded for cowards . lycurgus would have no mans name written upon his sepulcher , but his that died manfully in war ; god will write no mans name in the book of life , but his that dies fighting . b when the saints after all their spirituall battells shall come to heaven conquerors , then ( as it was said of cesar , ) shall their ensigns of honor be hung up , c then shall the crown of righteousnesse be set upon their head . 4. branch , let this put spurres to our sluggish hearts , and make us act with all our might for god . what wrestling ? what sweating ? d how should we {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} provoke our selves to holiness ? how should we spend , and be spent for christ , how should we strive to bring in some crown-revenews to our lord and master , when we consider , how infinitly it shall be rewarded . while we are laying out for god , he is laying up for us , henceforth there is a crown laid up . how should this crown adde wings to praier , and oile to the flame of our zeale ? o christian let thy head study for christ , let thy tongue plead for him , let thy hands work for him ! what honour & dignity hath been done to mordecai saith king ahasuerus , esther . 6. 3. enquire what hath been done for god . me thinks we should somtimes go aside into our closets and weep , to consider how little work we have done for god . beloved , what a vaste disproportion is there , between our work and our reward ; our sweat and our crown . and 't is but a while , a very little while before the crown shall be put on . the time is short , saith the apostle . e we are ready to strike saile , we are almost at shore , and then we shall be crown'd . o! improve the present season for the glory of god ; the crown is hard by , you saile apace , work apace ; and that i may put spirits into christians , and quicken their obedience , consider this , the more work you do for god , the bigger crown you shall wear . there are degrees of glorie , f he that with his pound gained five , was made ruler over five cities ; * but he that with his pound gain'd ten , was made ruler over ten cities . g as one star differs from another in glorie , so one crown differs from another in glorie . if there are degrees of torments in hell , thenby the same reason there are degrees of glorie in heaven . that there are degrees of torments is evident , luke 20. ult. who for pretence make long praiers , the same shall receive {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} greater damnation . they that do wrap sin in religions mantle , that intitle god to their wickednesse , shall have an hotter place in hell ; even so there are gradations in happinesse . * how then should we abound in work , seeing we shall exceed in reward ? vse . here is a gospel-hony comb , dropping comfort into the hearts of the godly . how may this alleviate all the afflictions of this life , and make these waters of marah sweet and pleasant to drink of , there is a crown laid up . a christian in this life hath something to grieve him , and yet something to comfort him . g a true saint is haeres crucis , an heir of the cross ; if he wears any robes , they are bloodie ; if any crown , 't is of thorns : * but here is that may sweeten his sufferings , here is wine mingled with his myrrhe , he shall be crowned in paradise ; this my brethren may change our mourning into melodie , our tears into triumph ; though we bearth crosse , we shall wear the crown . h and these sufferings cannot continue long , if our life be short , our sufferings cannot be long : o how may this sweeten all the bitter cups we drink of ! cleopatra put a jewel in her cup which contein'd the price of a kingdome : when we are drinking in our wormwood cup , let this jewel be put into our cup to make it drink more pleasantly , there 's a reward of glorie . though death be in the cup , here 's sugar lies at the bottom , henceforth there is a crown of righteousness laid up . so much for the text , now to the occasion . sorrie i am to bee an actor in this mournful scene ; it might better have becom som other , ( grief often causing brokennesse of expression ) but i forbear to apologize . we are here met to solemnize the funerals of thomas hodges esquire , who i believe was not more generally known then loved . i shall not bee such a 〈◊〉 as homer of achilles : what i shall speak of him now interred , shall be onely some of my own observations . i hate to give flattering titles * ; onely seeing it is the last office of love i can do , suffer me to strew a few flowers upon his hearse : the jews did {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , embalme the bodies of their dead , and why may not names bee embalmed . 1. he was not onely a frequenter , but a very reverent hearer of the word ; and to my best observation did seem to receive the truth not onely in the light of it , but in the love of it . 2. he was a great zealot , and opposite against error . he liked not to hear heterodox preachers , as knowing that smooth tongues could easily put off bad wares , he was a friend to truth . 3. he was a great honourer and encourager of the lawfully ordained ministers ; i seldom heard him speak of such as were conscientious without som testimony of respect ; this i observed of him , he ever prized those ministers most ( not who did smooth their tongues jer. 23. 31. * or did use to gingle out their words in the pulpit , whose preaching was rather musicall , then medicinall , but ) who did speak most to the conscience ; † it was a good sign of a spiritual appetite , that he liked rather the savouriness of the meat , then the garnishing of the dish . 4. he was vir sine fuco ; a most true hearted man to his friend . he was no {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} he knew not that art ( which some have ) at the same time to flatter , and hate . the romans painted friendship with her hand upon her heart ; * an hieroglyphical embleme of a faithfull friend , who fetcheth all words from the bottom of his heart . this our friend deceased would speak plainly what was in his mind . not like those who have the honey of fair words in their mouth , and the sting of malice in their heart . 5. he was one that did not sinfully comply with the humors of men . there are too many who froteus like , can change into any shape ; who can sail with any winde , especially if it blows preferment ; this i may say of him , though death did break him , the times could never bend him . he did often in my hearing b'ess god for that liberall allowance , which providence had carved out to him , † nor did he desire to increase his estate by increasing his guilt . 6. he was very charitable to the poor ; the age we live in , though it hath the lamp of profession , yet little of the oil of charity ; 't is the sin of many rich men though they have a flourishing estate , yet they have a withered hand , * and cannot stretch it out to good uses . it was a serious and weighty speech of chrisostom . feed ( saith he ) the hungry with your charitie while you live , that you feed not the fire of hell when you dye . † there was a temple erected at athens , which they called the temple of mercy ; it was dedicated to charitable uses ; and there could not be a greater reproach laid upon any man , then to upbraid him with this , that he had not been in the temple of mercy . this may be the reproach of many rich men in this citie , that though they somtimes visit gods temple , in the frequenting publick ordinances , yet they are seldom or never seen in the temple of mercy . they can drinke in a full cup themselves , but will not let one drop fall beside to refresh the bowells of the poor ; their arguments conclude still in celarent . as for this our friend deceased i must herein be his {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and let it be his garland now he is gone . he had not onely an estate , but an heart ; though i often went to him for works of charity , he used not to make any excuse ( which is onely an handsome denyall ) but his fingers drop'd with the myrrhe of liberality , which is a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to god ; * he had indeed a free and noble spirit ; he sailed equall between two rocks ; he avoided vain profusness , he hated a sordid penuriousness . when i came to him on his death-bed , he told me that sin was the burden of his life , and that he cast himselfe only upon the merits of christ , but saith he , how hard do i find it to believe ; which words were dropped out with many teares . 't is better to complain then presume . i might expatiate but i shall here contract my sails . these things were commendable in him , † and imitable by us . here was good fruit which did adorn the tree . it will be our wisdome to copy out what we see good in others , and to walk so unblameably in holiness , that while we live we may have good hope through grace of a part and interest in christ ; and when we dye , may receive that crown of righteousness , which the lord the righteous judge shall give at that day to all them who love his appearing . finis . in marg. pag. 12. for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} read {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a96098e-190 * sic consolatio tua in coeli● . * isa. 54. 5. * hebr. 6. 9. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ignatius ad heronem . notes for div a96098e-810 * psal. 110. 3. * chrysost. theophilact. * eo feror quocunque fetor . aug. lib. consess . * significat corona perfectionem , ratione figurae circularis . brondo . * 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in posterum . beza . a 2. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . quest . b psal. 103. 4. answ. i. n●g . c opera sanctorum non esse talia ut eis ex condigno debeatur merces ; asserunt . gregorius , hierom , origen , durandus . d rom. 6. 23. e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . f gratia non est gratia ullo modo , nisi sir gratuita omni modo . aug. contra pelag. & celessium , lib. 2. c. 24. tom . 7. g munera sua coronat deus , non meritatua . aug. ep. 105. answ . 2. assir . h promissum dei cadit in debitum . balduinus . h non dicimus deo , redde quia accepisti , sed redde quod tu promisisti . aug i metcedem tribuit , non quod uilo ipsum obsequio praeveniamus , sed quia eodem quo erga nos coepit liberalitatis tenore , priora sua dona posterioribus cumulat . calvin . * 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . k hen. 6. speed chron. p. 662. quest . answ . 1. l christianus mundus est & mundandus . aug. tract. 80. in johan . m luther de profectu in christian . answ . 2. n quo longius defertur , eo suaviùs laetatur . greg. in mor. o 4. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . tertullian . p elect is in morte datur vitae corona . hierom. q jacet in sepultura usque ad diem novisssimi sui adventus . anselm . r job . 19. 26. john . 5. 28. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 1. 2. 3. 4. i. 1. 2. t rom. 4. 6. u ezek 36. 29 27. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . x subject●m denominatur à major● parte . 1 thes. 5. 23. y {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . col. 3. 10. z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a psal. 119. 139. 3. 3. b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . c bonis initiis malos exitus habuit . salust . d feramus ergo fidei fructū ab adolescentiâ , augeamus in juventute , compleamus in senectute . ambrosedeabr . lib. 2. cap. 8. jam. 1. 12. rev. 2 10. e luke 22. 71 3. 1. f corona insignem habet prae caeteris ornamentis dignitatem , bern. g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 1 pet. 5. 4. h quid templum dianae , quid columna solis , quid corona apollinis aurea . i {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . cyril lib. 2. contr. jul. 2. k corona haec non magis eximia quam ingens . corn . a lap . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 2 cor. ● . 17. m corona est insigne regiae potestatis . brondo . * psal. 8. 7. n olympicae coronae quae celebres erant in asia & grecia , olim tanti aestimabantur ut {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} evchebatur in sublime , & isliusmodi coronae eo in praetio suerunt , ut non pauci hoc decus ipsi vitae praetutulerunt sicut humanae saelicitatis terminum . co 〈…〉 . o diagoras ●●●●tres filios vidisset vincere & coronari eodem olympiae die , eumquo 〈◊〉 adolescentes amplexi coronis suis in patris caput posilis , suaviarentur ; cum●ue populus gr●tul●bundus stores undique in eum jaceret , ibi in stadio , in oculis atque manibus filiorum animam efflavit , gellius lib. ● . cap. 15. p si violetur jus jurandum sit regni causa . q 2 thes. 2. 13. 2. r seleucus rex dicere solebat , si multi scirent quantum sit negotii tot epistola● mittere , ●●t curas subire , ne humi diadema tollerent . 3. ſ {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} agath . t speed's chr. w corona haec non fit ex rosis aut gemmis , flores isti ex quibus contexitur semper vi●idescunt , repullulant semper . x quid ubi cum flore morituro ? quid caput strophiala , aut dracontario , gloriae di idemati destinatum ? tertul. de coron . mil. y {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . macar. hom. 33. z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 1 tim. 6. 9. a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} b a verbe , significat {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ambire , & circum●ingere . * in coelesti beatitudine sine aliquo taedio manens aeternitas , inspectio sola divinitatis efficit , ut beatius nihil esse possit . cassidor . ep. lib. 2. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} psal. 16. 11. * lombard . aquin. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . macar. hom. 34. use 1. infor. 1 branch . * joh. 6. 60. * non exemplis tantùm sed praemiis ad christū allicimur . bern. * luke 17. 10. * 1 sam. 22. 7. c rom. 6. c anselm inter opusc. cap. 190. fol. 82. f 2 sam. 2. 26. g hebr. 11. 25. h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i o ignis infernalis luxuria ! cujus sumus infamia , cujus flamma immunditia , cujus finis gehenna . hierom. k {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l capiuntur homines voluptate ut pisees hamo . cicero lib de sen ect . m eph. 5. 11. 3. branch . n jude , ver. 6. o hoci ●tuens epulare . plut. p luke 3. 17. q godw. antiq. r animula , vagula , blandula , quo vadis ? ſ mat. 25. 41. t 4. branch . u profectum ulterius don requi●i● , qui ad superna pervenerit . lactantius lib. 3. divin. instit. x ante obitum nemo supremáque sancra felix solon . use 2. trial. quest . answ . y celarinus in quantum gloria sublimis , in tantum verecundiâ humilis , cypr. 1 cor. 5. 10. z gen. 41. 40 , 43. use 3. ezhort . 1. branch . * 1 john 3. 1. † {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * animam meam odio haberem si alibi quàm in christo invenirem , aug. * rev. 1. 6. gal. 3. 13. 1 amor genuinus . * jesus propter jesum . aug. a deut. 23. 23. 2. amor elicitus . 3. amor exuberans . modo sine modo . bern. 4. amor praesignis . 5. amorintensivus . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. nyss . rom. 12. 11. * in amore cum deo reciprocare licitum est . ber. 2. branch . b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. hom 6. ad thes. c heb. 12. 1. d 2 cor. 4. 17. e pi●callom . lib. 10. eth. tully in somn . scip. f {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . g mors non est iuteritus , sed in●roitus . h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chry. ad hebr. egredere anima ▪ gredere ; quid times ? 3 branch . 1. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . rom. 12. 2. * unctio invisibilis gratia . aug. tom . 9. col . 6. o. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} mac. hō . 15 1 kings 1. 39. q 1 john 2. 20. 2. r mat. 2. 9. * titus 3. 12. ſ chrysostom . t 1 thes. 2. 15. u quid prodest currere , & ante cursus metam deficere ? bern. nónne rhetor circa finem orationis satagit clarior apparere , ut cum applausibus discedat ? nónne gubernator si pelagum totum pertranseat , circa portum autem consringat ratem , omnem perdit operam oleumque ; sic iis convenit qui exordiis finem non imposuerunt . a nonnulli dum veritatis discipuli esse nolunt humilime magistri erroris fiunt . greg. lib. moral . d {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ignatius epist 2. ad trallianos . * homine ad deum converso , mutatur gaudium non tollitur , aug. * prov. 3. 17. * psal. 126. 6. psal. 51. 22. u qui vi●iliùs peccant , senec. * 1 king. 16. 23 † 1 thes. 3. 11. 3. * 2. tim. 4. 7. * cer●ent singuli ut accipiant coronas vel de opere candidas , vel de passione purpureas . cyprian epist. 9. † rev 7. 9. corona non promittitur nisi certantibus . aug. 3. tom. * 1 thes. 5. 8. * non auro neque splendida vesle , sed ferro ●●●e●ere fulgentes . quint , curtius . a quid dicam de lis christianis , quibus cura est ut vestes bene oleant , quibus ut crines calamistro rotentur , quibus ut digiti annulis radient , & si via humidior siat , vix in eam pedes comprimant . hieron ad eustoch. b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . ignatius epist. 8. ad polycarp . c tribuuntur beatis coronae aurcae , rev. 4. 4. in signum tum potestatis regiae , tum victoriae . gerard . loc. theo● . tom. 8. d 4. branch . * quantum discrimen inter sudorem & coronam ? e 1 cor. 7. 29. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . f dispar est gloria singulorum , attamen communis laetitia omnium . aug. med. * luke 19. 17. g sicut va●iè deus saa dona sanctis in hoc mundo distribuens , cos inequaliter irradiat , ità in caelis patet non sore aequalem gloriae modum . calvin . lib. 3. inst. * aretius , anselm , pet. lom . bernard . * 1 cor. 15. use ult. consolation . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . menand. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . greg. nazian. * nunc pluit & daro , nunc jupiter aethere sulget . h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chiys . hom. 27. ad hebr. the occasion . cicero pro archia poet . * job . 32. 22. * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} qui lemsicant pagnin . † verba non tam inflantis quàm inflāmātis . 't was bonaventures encomium , * fagius com. in alpotheg . † fuit annona sua contentus . * luke 6. 6. † {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . chrys. in phil. serm. 1. * eph. 5. 2. † ●utu●ae solicitatis praesagia . bern. a sermon preached at lambeth, april 21, 1645, at the funerall of that learned and polemicall divine, daniel featley, doctor in divinity, late preacher there with a short relation of his life and death / by william leo [sic] ... loe, william, d. 1645. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a48948 of text r7483 in the english short title catalog (wing l2817). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 68 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a48948 wing l2817 estc r7483 13719088 ocm 13719088 101551 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48948) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101551) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 845:18) a sermon preached at lambeth, april 21, 1645, at the funerall of that learned and polemicall divine, daniel featley, doctor in divinity, late preacher there with a short relation of his life and death / by william leo [sic] ... loe, william, d. 1645. [6], 32, [1] leaf of plates : 1 port. printed for richard royston ..., london : 1645. caption title: a sermon preached at the funerall of dr. featley. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. eng featley, daniel, 1582-1645. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a48948 r7483 (wing l2817). civilwar no a sermon preached at lambeth, april 21. 1645. at the funerall of that learned and polemicall divine, daniel featley, doctor in divinity, lat loe, william 1645 13109 13 110 0 0 0 0 94 d the rate of 94 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-02 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion 2 tim: ca : 4 v. 7. i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith . siste gradum viator ; paucis te volo : hic situs est daniel featlaeus ; impugnatuor papisimi ; propugnator reformationis ; instigator assiduae-pietatis tam studio , quam exercitio theologus-insignis ; disputator strenvus ; concionator egregius {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} facete candidus candidus facetus omni-memoria-dignissimus d d featiaeus qui natus charltoniae educatus oxo : aetatis suae 65. obijt chelseiae aprilis 17 sepultus fuit lambethae aprilis 21 anno salutis 1645. a sermon preached at lambeth , april 21. 1645. at the funerall of that learned and polemicall divine , daniel featley , doctor in divinity , late preacher there ▪ with a short relation of his life and death . by william leo , d. in divinity , sometime preacher at wandesworth in surrey . prov. 10. 7. the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed , but the name of the wicked shall rot . london . printed for richard royston , dwelling in ivie-lane . 1645. in obitum reverendi viri , danielis featlii , sacrae theol. doctoris , & eccles. anglic. propugnatoris acerrimi . hoc in sepulcro dormientis conditur veneranda featleii cinis . inter silentum claustra taciturnus jacet , magnum modò dei oraculum . jacet ille , tantus galliae & romae pudor , quantus decor britanniae . quos ille agonas , quae tulit certamina exterminandam ad haeresin ? ecclesiae geminas mamillas anglicae , baptisma & eucharistiam ; purus ab omni muniit contagio , parenti alexicacus suae . obstruxit anabaptista , feralis draco , fontem patentem infantulis ; monstrū sed istud multiceps , cadmus sacer , moriente dextra contudit . quot transmarinae è pellicis gremio mala adnavigarunt angliam ; quicquid socinus , quicquid arminius foràs ; familistae , vel brunnus , domi ; inimica quod vel lingua , vel praelū tulit ; sceleris puerperium frequens ; tot dira capita , tot renascentes hydras , stravit britannus hercules . exile corpus terere , non poterat frequens arena , praelum , pulpita . pusillus atlas in labores sufficit , vegetior à certamine . languente pietas nimia pro morbo fuit , pro phthisi amore tabuit ; sensim peribat , corporis partem sui praemisit assiduè deo : et cum tot annos praedicans , vitae suae attriverat spiraculum ; elinguis anima murmure exit languido , dixitque inauditum vale . quis pontificios jam latebris extrahet tenebriones urbicos ? quis nunc in aciem provocatos conteret rationis acri malleo ? ille , ille palmam victor assiduus novam accensuit meritis suis . at cum peregit opera militiae suae , ruente roma : contudit sectariorum conglobatum exercitum , et posuit animam in vulnere . sic , sic , sacerdos magne , voluisti mori , victoriae holocaustum , deo. nec unus in vita , nec in morte unus es , in te sita est ecclesia ; ruat haec necesse ; cui basis facta est cinis , cujus columna pulvis est . jaces , manipulus frigidae terrae brevis , mysterium theologiae . sic disciplinas universas noveras , uti nemo penè singulas . vires operibus miscet & veneres suis perita scribendi manus ; ut inter artium haereas discrimina , logicumne legis an rhetora . peritura nullo saeculo erexit suae monumenta pietatis : precum ephemerin reliquit , ut nostris adhuc superesset in votis pius . non praeficarū pompa celebrat hunc rogum , avita non insignia . ancilla pietas , juncta famulitio precum , gemebunda praeit anteambulo . stipata gregibus artium theologia insequitur atro syrmate ; tumulo superstant haereses , anathemata ; opima spolia , schismata . nunc , nunc litandum est ; sontium busto super cadat hecatombe criminum . iterum resurgat error , antaeus licet , retundet è scriptis pugil . ite , ite iambi funebres ; liceat satis lugere , quem laudo parùm . ite , ite musae flebiles ; vestro fluunt damno minores lachrymae . o anima coelo reddita ; ut te nos sacram meditando patimur extasin ! o innocens umbra , o cadaver sanctius , quam tu sepulcrum consecras ! non occidisti , fallimur ; periit tibi non vita , sed mortalitas . ascende victor ; te salutat undique numerosa turba syderum . animae frequentes , pars gregis nuper tui , quas vindicasti ab haeresi , ut te stupendis plausibus circumvolant , et gratulantur hospiti ! chorus angelorum , quibus eras spectaculum , mundi in theatro praelians ; io triumphe , concinunt ; geminant io , et euge perpetuum tibi . sic , sic , beate , splendidam in pompam trahis coeli universos ordines : tantumque frueris tu deo , quantum sibi sperare fas sit optimo . e schola regia westmonast. . sic flevit f. gregory . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} scripsit {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} io : harmarus oxoniensis . a sermon preached at the funerall of dr featley . apoc. 4. 6. the former part . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . et in conspectu sedis tanquam mare vitreum simile crystallo . erat etiam ante thronum mare vitreum simile crystallo . beza . and before the throne there was a sea of glasse , like unto crystall . it is not my mind nor meaning , neither was it ever my manner , i having now preached the gospel seven and forty years , in court , city , country , and beyond the seas , to trouble mine auditorie with any long , or large beginnings . the context is a vision of the incomprehensible majesty of the eternall and ever-living god , which takes up all the whole chapter , wherein gods celestiall throne , his session , his heavenly attendance , both seraphicall , and cherubicall , his awfull presence , his diffused , and displayed glory , in , before , and about his throne ; his unspeakable praise , and his infinite magnificence is pencild and pourtrayed to life in all his attributes , & proprieties , most graphically in mosaique work and wonderment . the text is a revelation , and an obvious demonstration what was , and is before the throne of god . the parcells of my text may be foure : for herein is a throne , a sea , what manner of sea , a sea of glasse , and a resemblance of what it was like , even like unto crystall . you will demand of me , what is meant by this throne ? i answer , it is heaven , where god is in his excelling glory . what is this sea of glasse ? the world . what is the resemblance ? like unto crystall , but not crystall . you haply will aske me further concerning these pieces . why heaven is decyphered by a throne ? for that here on earth kings have thrones of equitie , justice , judgement , and other regall , royall , and princely prerogatives ; yet they and we all , with all the world , shall appeare before the glorious throne of jesus christ , to give an account of what we have done here in our bodies , be it good or evill . why is the world set out by a sea ? for that it is restlesse as the sea is . why a sea of glasse ? for that it is brittle like glasse . the world is as made of glasse , ubi splendet , frangitur , where it is more shining & resplendent , there it soonest cracks and breaks . and lastly , why resembled to crystall ? for two respects : the first , in relation to the men of the world , who are gull'd , and deceived by it ; the world seeming unto them to be all crystalline , when god knowes , and all godly ones finde by experience , that it is glassie , slippery , brittle , and no preciousnesse in it at all . the second is in relation to god : crystall is transparent , we all know ; how much more is this world , and all the things of this world , with all the actions , transactions , words , and the very imaginations of the thoughts of all mens hearts are open , overt , and obvious to the knowledge & sight of the great jehovah jireth , who ordereth them all according to the counsell of his most sacred and secret will . i will spend no more precious time in spelling of the text ; you now ( i conceive it ) understand it as well as my selfe . the point of doctrine that i learne out of this text in the result of it , is couched in this short breviate , and proposition . all the passages of this world wherein we live , are very dangerous as a sea ; ever transitory , brittle , and slippery , as a sea of glasse ; never satisfactorie , albeit it glitter , and shine like crystall ; and ever open , overt , obvious , and transparent to the sight and censure of almighty god , be they couched never so hellishly deep , though they be sunk even to the deeps of the devill . accommodate me i desire you with your christian patience but for the space of one houre , and by that time by gods favour i shall quit this glassie sea , and shew you the port of our happinesse , heaven . and give me leave in the doctrinall part to speak freely to your heads , and in the practique to put it home to your hearts by the evidence of the word contained in the holy lines of sacred scripture , and in the power of the spirit , according to the modell of that knowledge of god that he hath imparted unto me . the first piece of my doctrinall part is thus : that the passages of this world are passing dangerous as a sea , proved and expressed in foure resemblances . first , in respect that this world ( as the sea ) is subject to sundry and frequent stormes . you all know what storming is ; it is grown a military terme , such a city , town , cittadell , and castle was stormed . 1. daniels vision shews it ; daniel spake , and said , i saw in my vision by night , and behold , the foure winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea . that is to say , 1. the south wind of prosperity . what is there any storme in that ? oh how many and mighty puft up with the pomp of this world doe forget god , and have their portion with the wicked , who shall be turned into hell , and with them all the people that forget god! 2. the storme of adversity caused by the north-wind of affliction , deeps and distresses , oh how many and mighty hath that wind sunk ! saint augustine was accustomed to say to such as came unto him for advise , support , and counsell in severall disgusts of conscience : assuredly my friends , through hoping and despairing , the sonnes and daughters of men doe miserably perish ; by hoping foolishly and cursedly all their life , that all shall be wel with them , albeit they walk in the stubbornnesse of their own hearts , against all the blessed means , and motions of gods blessed word and spirit ; and despairing like hel-hounds in the end of their dayes . 3. there may come a storme out of the east , neither good for man nor beast , and yet may be an especiall inspiration of some common grace . christ hath pronounced a blessing to the pure in heart , for they shall see god : o blessed puritanes ! they doe see god already in his works and word , and shall see him hereafter in a beatifical vision . but what say you to this of the wiseman in his proverbs , there is a generation pure in their owne conceit ; and yet are not purged , and purified from their wickednesse ? 4. yea the case may so fal out , that all the rest of the winds may breathe fairely , and yet on a sudden a black cloud , and storm may appeare out of the west , and overset all . in briefe , a disgust may arise out of all the 32. points of the seamans compasse and chard , and ruine us in this sea of the world , in a trice , be we never so conceited of our safety and assurance . the second passage is , that this sea of the world is very , and passing dangerous , in respect of the many , and manifold rocks , shelves , syrtes , and sands that lye hid , and covered in the sea . the divine shewes you a map of this world , & points to it , saying , all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but of the world . what , all things in this world ? yea all . behold , i will shew a truth . the astronomers conceit , that the heavens are turned upon the two poles , to wit , the artique , and antartique poles . i admire not their conceit , this i am sure i know , and we all here are experienced in , that all the actions , affections , & imaginations of the thoughts of all men and women tend either to profit , or pleasure , or both . oh how many for these ends and purposes have runne themselves upon the rocks of witlesse and worthlesse security ! others upon the shelves of proud and luciferian presumption have ruinated themselves . others have sunk themselves and theirs upon the syrtes & sands of miserable desperation . the third passage is , that the sea of this world is passing dangerous in respect of the many sea monsters that are in it . the prophet daniel saw this in his vision . and foure great beasts came up from the sea , divers one from another . the first was like a lyon , which are the proud , knowne and discovered by their high looks , lofty words , and stroting incesse . the second was like a beare , which are the voluptuous , and filthy uncleane persons , men and women . the beare licks his dirty pawes , and the strumpet wipes her mouth , and licks her whorish lips , and saith , i have done no evill , when she hath sold her soule to the devil , and sunk her body into a gulfe of uncleannesse . the third beast was like a leopard , a mongrell beast comming of a lion and a pard , and this is the covetous wretch , who being neither fish , nor flesh , nor good red-herring , neither good to god , nor to man , nor to himselfe . the fourth beast is not named , but deciphered to have teeth of iron . this is no other beast , but hellish and diabolicall malice , which rends , teares , and tyrannizes over the proud peacocks , the stinking voluptuous beare , and the amphibious leopard . the fourth passage is , that the sea of this world is passing dangerous in respect of the inconstancie thereof . sometimes in siraquedry and excesse , lifting worldlings up to heaven upon her billowes , and anon sinking them downe ( as it were ) to hell , as the holy psalmist tells you . the philosophers tell us , that the moone is mistris of the sea , and the moone is ever constant in her continued inconstancie . the moone never shineth long with one and the same countenance , but still she is either in her wane , or in her increment . ay me ! how fit a semblance is this moon a mistris of the sea ; and the inconstancie of the sea and moon an absolute demonstration of this sea of slippery and brittle glasse ? thus have we made good the fitnesse of the resemblance , that the sea of this world is passing dangerous in foure respects : namely , by reason it is subject to every disgust of the ayre , blow the wind out of what quarter you will . secondly , dangerous , in respect of the many rocks , shelves , syrtes , and sands . thirdly , dangerous , in respect of sea-monsters : and fourthly , dangerous , in respect of this worlds constant inconstancie . the second piece of the doctrinall part of my proposition is this , that all the passages in this world are ever transitory , and alwayes fleeting . the holy divine st. john is very plaine , and passing peremptory in this , the world passeth away and the lust thereof , but he that doth the will of the lord , abideth ever . we all know , that we are all in passage ; the world is either leaving us , or we the world ; peradventure this night , who can tell how soon this voice may be heard at your chamber window : thou foole , this night shall they snatch thy soule from thee ; whose are those things then that thou possessest now ? if not to night , yet the wise man tells you , they have wings , and askes you this question , wilt thou set thy hears upon that which is not ? for riches take unto them wings , and flye away . jeremy tells the muck-worme , that he is like the foolish partridge , which sits abrood on egges , and never hatcheth them : so the fond worldlings have riches , and enjoy them not . and the holy psalmist burnes the foolish worldling in the fore-head with a behold the man , who tooke not god for his strength ; but boasted and blest himselfe in the multitude of his riches . the third piece of my proposition is this , that all the passages of this world are never satisfactory . they that drinke sea-water , doe never quench their thirst , but are dry and thirsty still . whose eye was ever satisfied with seeing ? whose eare with hearing ? whose scent with smelling ? whose mouth with eating ? men may satiate their senses , but never satisfie them . the prodigall was not satisfied with his revelling & excesse , though he brought his noble to nine pence , and his nine pence to nothing . the scholler is never satisfied with his knowledge . he that encreaseth his doctrine , encreaseth his dolour . nor yet the honourable , either in the state ecclesiasticall , or civill . nor the opulent man with all his fulnesse . see the antiphony of those that have nothing , and those that have too much : they both cry out , o what shall we doe ? so cryed the foole in the gospel , when his increase was bigger then his barne . and so complained the poore prodigall , when hee had not one denier to help himself withall ; if he had not had a good father to goe unto , and remembred him at last cast , the poore starveling had eaten husks with swine , and pitifully perished . the fourth and last piece of the doctrinall part of my proposition , is this , that all the passages of this world are alwayes open , overt , obvious , and transparent to god with whom we have to doe . the sweet singer of israel expostulates this truth with his god ; whither shall i goe from thy spirit ? or thy presence ? if to heaven , thou art there in thy displayed glory : if to hell , thou art there also in thy judgements on the wicked in torments : if to sea , thine hand must guide me there too . if i thinke the darknesse shall hide me ; the darke night to god is as cleere as the brightest day . the spirit of god tells you ; that there is no creature that is not manifest to his sight , and all things are open and naked to him with whom we have to doe . and the book of the revelation of jesus christ , sayes , that gods eyes , like flaming fire , run to and fro thorow all the world . this last piece of the doctrinall part of my proposition , as it is a terrour and trembling to the wicked , all whose cursed and crying wickednesses are open to his all-seeing eyes : so it is a cordiall and comfort to the godly , knowing and considering , that their heavenly father seeth and beholdeth all their pressures , vexations , and distresses that they endure , and lye under in this slippery , brittle , and boisterous sea of the world . would you know the reasons of these particular truths ? as first , why the passages of this world are so dangerous ? the reasons are ready . it is because the raging sea is not subject to so many disgusts , either of dangerous rockes , stormes , shelves , shallowes , syrtes , sands , sea-monsters , and other incumbrances , as this restlesse world is , that is fraught with dangers and incarnate divels . what find we here but brevity in all our contents ? as the prophet esay evangelizeth : it is even as when a hungry man dreameth , and behold he eateth ; but he awaketh , and his soule is empty : or as when a thirsty man dreameth , and behold , he drinketh ; but he awaketh , and his soule is faint . oh how many are there in this sea of glasse , whose whole course of life is but a dreame , and when death comes , they are awakened , and never till then in all their life , and their soules are empty of all comfort , and fainting , dye , and their places ▪ know them no more ! what finde we here but levity ? the very wicked confesse as much , saying , we have wearied our selves in the wayes of wickednesse , and the wayes of the lord wee have been strangers to . what finde wee here but cymmerian blindenesse ▪ millions selling away their interest to heaven for nothing ? what find we here , but multitude and vast magnitude of all sorts of iniquities , transgressions , and sinnes ? god himselfe complaining by his prophet amos with a witnesse : behold , saith the lord , i am pressed under you , as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves . vvhat meet we here daily but with deceitfulnesse on all hands ? the world it selfe is all glasse , and where it glittereth most , there it cracketh and breaketh soonest . vvhat doe we finde the world to be in our experience of it , but a bitter pill candyed over with sugar ? a golden cup like the whores in the revelation , full of dismall and deadly poyson ? no marvell then that the prophets , princes , and preachers of the world have left behinde them such lamentable notes and votes of their wearisomnesse in the experience of things here below . jeremy that prophet of lamentations cryeth , oh that mine head were a well of waters , and mine eyes a fountaine of teares , that i might weepe day and night for the slaine of the daughter of my people ! o that i had in the wildernesse a lodging place of waifaring men , that i might leave my people , and goe from them , for they be all adulterers , an assembly of treacherous men ! i recommend the whole chapter to the reading and meditation of every sober christian , to fit his soule , and tune his heart to the wofull tone of this tumultuous sea-world . david a king tunes his pipes with this dolefull ditty , o that i had wings like a dove ! for then would i flee away , and be at rest . loe then would i wander farre of , and remaine in the wildernesse . i would hasten mine escape from this worlds windy storme and tempest . paul the preacher of the gentiles exclaimes and sayes , o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of death ! and had he not found a deliverer , he had sunk under that bitter agony . you will further enquire , why the passages of this world are ever so transitory , and brittle ? i answer briefly , this fretfull sea of glasse is like an angry lady , that will turne away her servant for a very glasse breaking . and why are they never satisfactory ? for that the heart of man is a triangle , and the world is a circle , and a circle can never fill a triangle . nothing in this world can satisfie mans triangle heart but the holy , blessed , and glorious trinity . one touch of the power of god the father ; one glimpse of the rayes of the wisdome of god the sonne , in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge ; and one drop of the gift and grace of charity from god the holy ghost satisfies , contents , and cheeres the whole nature of the regenerate man . but why are all the passages of this world alwayes open and overt to the sight and censure of the eternall god ? how can it be otherwise ? it is impossible but that he that made the eye should see : shall not he that made the heart , shall not he , i say , understand ? when the whole world before his throne is crystalline , open , naked , and diaphanous to the lord our god . his all-seeing eyes see , and discerne the imaginations of the thoughts of every mans heart that liveth . shall i request this favour at your hands ? that you would be pleased to turne to the first chapter of johns gospel , and read from the 45. v. to the end of the chapter , and observe and meditate of that heavenly conference there between jesus christ our blessed saviour , philip of bethsaida , and nathanael ; philip findeth nathanial , and saith unto him , wee have found the messias : come and see . jesus saw nathanael comming unto him , and said , behold a true israelite , in whom is no guile . nathanael saith unto him , whence knowest thou me ? jesus answered and said unto him , before that philip called thee when thou wast under the fig-tree , i saw thee . nathanael is ravished and cryes out , rabbi , thou art the sonne of god , thou art the king of israel . many there knew nathanael to be an israelite , but none saving the lord jesus knew him to be such an israelite in whom was no guile . thus farre have i spoken unto your heads in the doctrinall part of my proposition ; give me now leave to speake to your hearts in the practick part thereof , and so i shall incline toward an end . the first use of the doctrine , is of heavenly affection , tending to earnestnesse of zeale , and longing after heaven ; forasmuch as we finde nothing here below but a sea restlesse , a brittle being , and a slippery standing . what are we ? or who are we here present this day , and understanding what the frame , fashion , and garbe of this world is by the sacred oracle of the text , and would not now cry out with esay to our god in heaven , oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens , that thou wouldest come downe , that the mountaines might melt at thy presence , and that the nations might tremble at thy power ? what are mountaines here , but the mighty in the earth , that set themselves against the lord ? bow thy heavens , o lord , and come down : touch the mountaines , and they shall smoak . yea , bee the mountaines never so vast , so lofty , so exalted above measure , one touch of his finger shall shake them all to pieces . yea , though a rebellious absolon that had swelled against his father like to an olympus , god commeth down in his power , and gives him but a touch , and he and his haughty rebellion passeth away in a smoake that vanisheth ; hee hangs between heaven and earth , as unworthy of either , and all his swelling presently abates like a blown bladder with the pricke of a pin . 1. to my brethren of the ministry here present , i speak and beseech you to preach to this decaying world , that we all in it wax old as doth a garment , and as a vesture god wil change us , and we shall be changed ; but he is the same , yesterday , to day , and for ever , and his yeers shall have no end . 2. to the laicks i say this , it is an observation of the physicians , that we are now of shorter stature , and of lesse livelihood then heretofore . 3. is there an astronomer here ? tell him that stadius , copernicus , and reinoldus affirm peremptorily , that the very heavens are decayed , the sun lesse orient in his splendour , the moone more pale , and the starres more dimme . 4. art thou a muck-worme ? know that philip melancthon a choice divine in his time , being contemporary with martin luther , left this observation behinde him , that the earth is growne so old , that it is like a wombe barren with age . 5. to whomsoever here present , that hath any christian sense and feeling , i would have him know , that the whole creation groaneth , and travaileth in paine together untill now . and not onely they , but wee our selves which have the first fruits of the spirit , even we our selves groane within our selves , waiting for our full and finall redemption , as paul preacheth . 6. haply there may bee here present some jesuite , or jesuited spirit , whose learning lyes all in the directories of machiavels prince , bodins commentaries , and lypsius politiques , whose primer is couched in this one principle , religentem esse oportet , religiosum nefas : let me tell that statizer , i am no platonist , whose learning is hid in finall and fatall numbers ; affirming , that no state ever continued above 500. yeeres , without some fearefull fate or finall fall . but ( ay me ! ) we understand better by experience of times past , that that principle is not true , as the state of the venetians and the french monarchy abundantly confute ; yea , the boyes in schoole conclude , that numeri , quà numerus , nulla vis , nulla efficacia . but mine endeered and most christian auditory , i will make bold with you , ( and surely i cannot give you a more glorious title if i did study to give you ten thousand ) to signifie what gives me satisfaction in this point ; even the prophet daniels interpretation of nebuchadnezzars vision in a dreame . the vision was this : an image appeared to the king , whose head was of fine gold , his breasts and armes of silver , his belly and thighes of brasse , his legges of iron , and his feet part of iron and part of clay . this head of fine gold , breasts and armes of silver , belly and thighes of brasse , legges of iron , and the feet part of iron and part of clay , were the four monarchies of this world , this glassie sea , like crystall . the head of fine gold was the monarchy of the assyrians and babylonians . the breasts and armes of silver , were the medes and persians . the belly and thighes of brasse signified the monarchy of the greekes and macedonians : and the legges of iron , and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay , pourtray unto us the last monarchy of the romanes and germanes . the three first monarchies , to wit , of the assyrians and babylonians , medes and persians , graecians and macedonians , are long agoe slipt away in this slippery and brittle world : and the last of the romanes and germanes is now at a very low ebbe ; for it is come to a titular emperour , and that is all that remaines of the house of austria , and at this very day ready to return to their prime and pristine commencement , to be comites de kyburgh ; onely the proud spaniard ventures at all to uphold their tottering state and low condition . assuredly no expectation at all remaineth , but when the stone hewed out of the rocke of our sinnes shall fall upon the remaining stumps , and then downe falls all the gold , silver , brasse and iron upon the feet of clay , and so then , this sea of glasse in chaos antiquum confundetur . and verily , my prayer is , and shall be this , come lord jesus , come quickly , and stretch out thine hand , close up the two eyes of this dying world , the sun and the moon , that we may attain that heavenly jerusalem , where there 's no need of either , but the glory of the lamb of god , the lord jesus , shal be our exceeding glorious recompence of reward for ever . the second use of the doctrine is mournfull , sad , and sable , even of lamentation , for the witlesse wights of this glassie brittle seas inhabitants . oh how many sots are there in this restlesse sea of the world , who albeit they see , and may discern this truth in a vision , and revelation of jesus , yet think of nothing , but seek here for their content , and care for nothing but here to finde their requiem for their soules ! behold ( blessed in the lord ) their extreame folly . some seek , and conceive hope that they shall find it in the lust , and brutish lustfulnesse of the flesh : and what is that , but the foame of this sea ? and what tends it to , and ends in , but fordid luxurie , which brings us to rottennesse , pox , and penurie ? this foame dwels in drunkennesse , vomit , and spewing , in riot and excesse , which ends in filthy annihilation , fit for the draft-house , and nothing else . others seek their requiem in this restlesse sea , in the lust of the eyes , which is riches , and the pomp of the world , which the scripture cals phantasie . when king agrippa and bernice his wife came in to hear paul , the greek speaks thus , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , what are these but conchyliamaris , the shels of this glassie sea , which doe weary us in seeking them , befoole us in the possession of them , and vex us to the heart when we must part with them ? others seek their requiem in the pride of life ; and what are all the pleasures of this life , but the billowes of this sea of glasse ▪ wherewith some are lifted up to vain glory ? that feather , which children and fooles labour to catch in the streets , and abundantly sweat for it , and know not what to doe with it when they have it , but set it flying again . others it lifteth up to honours ; and yet his lordship must say to rottennesse , thou art my father and mother , and to the wormes , not of the earth , for they scorne to come nigh thee , but to thine owne skinworms , ( as job speaks ) you are my brothers and sisters . some are lifted up on the billowes of their policie and learning , whereas we know that the prudent and politique dye as well as the ignorant and foolish . others are lifted up upon the billowes of their beauty , which with a gleame of the sun will be burnt , with three fits of a spanish calenture will be discoloured , with old age furrowed with wrinkles , and with three dayes of death made hideous . others pride themselves in their gay garments , which every week grow out of fashion , as the world it self doth . is it not a strange thing that a malefactor should be proud of his halter that must hang him ? surely our clothes may put us in mind of our evil doing ; for had we not faln from god by our evil doing , we had had no use of raiment . in a word , what are all our pleasures , but lilia terrae , like the lilies of the field ? what gold and silver , but ilia terrae , the garbage of the earth ? and what are honours and promotions , but ludibria venti , feathers for the wind to play withall ? the third use of this doctrine is of expostulation . have , and doe we not too too often forget where we are ? verily we have , and doe so still . ay me ! we little consider that we are poore passengers in this sea of glasse ; we are in this world , and this world is a sea of glasse , restlesse as a sea , and brittle as glasse : our port and haven is heaven , every one of us is his owne pilot to guide his own vessel . the pilots place is to sit in the sterne of his ship : why there ? to see how she steeres . that true christian passenger that sailes towards heaven , will ever be minding his end , sitting in the sterne , and considers how his ship steeres toward the haven of heaven . never do any saile in safety in this restlesse world , but they that in their voyage have the rudder in their hand , and the compasse and sea-card in their eye , that is to say , think and meditate of their end , and steere toward heaven . the fourth use of this doctrine is of holy resolution . what is that ? surely to resolve as the holy divine adviseth , not to love the world ; for if we doe , the love of god is not in us ▪ can any man love a traiterous and treacherous judas , which ( if you confide in him ) will betray you with a kisse ? and if the world smile upon you , take heed , lest the next thing you heare of , be not some plot of villany to insnare thee . can any wise man love the place where satan domineeres ? if this our gospel truth be hid from any here , it is hid to them that are lost . are not they lost that can neither be found in heaven , nor in the earth , nor yet in the sea ? the god of this world , which is the devil , hath blinded the minds of them that beleeve not this truth , lest the light of the glorious gospel truth of jesus christ , who is the image of god , should shine unto them . the whole world , saith the holy divine saint john , lyeth in wickednesse ; and our little world , this island wherein we dwell , is on fire about our eares , and yet neither the worlds malignity , nor yet our owne misery , can quicken us to a lothing of this restlesse and brittle sea of glasse . but would you learne how to avoid this traitor that wil judaize with you , this dominion of satan , and this house on fire ? i shall doe my endeavour to satisfie your desire in this point . you all know , that whatsoever the shavelings of rome say , we have a church , and it is a principall piece of the holy catholique church , which we professe to beleeve , that is scattered farre and wide upon the surface of the whole universe ; and to this church we have given our names . christian is my name , and catholike is my sirname . we are shipped by baptisme : if a tempest arise , cry upon christ , as the apostles did , in a storme . if the ship of our state be ready to be swallowed up of the waves , flye unto christ , if he be asleep , awaken him with our cryes . concutitur fides , non excutitur ; our faith may bee shaken , but never shaken off : therefore never cease , but cry , and cry aloud that we may be heard , and being heard we may be delivered ; and being delivered we may glorifie god . if the wind roare , christ will rebuke it , and there shall follow a great calme . the fift use of the doctrine is to take a review of the text . if this world be in experience to us a sea of glasse like unto crystall ; this crystalline resemblance deceives none but children and fooles , who are deceived with shewes , shadowes , and resemblances : but wee are men endowed with reason and experience . how are we fitted and furnished for our voyage ? where 's our tackles ? have we our maine mast ready , that is to say , our faith , without which it is impossible to please god ? there 's no walking or talking with god without it . where 's our anchor and sailes , the anchor of hope , and the sayles of good workes ? what wind doe we sayle by ? no wind under the cope of heaven , but the gale of christian charity can arrive us at the port of heaven : but sayling with that gentle gale , we need not feare any danger between this and heaven : for if a whale by the way should swallow us , as it did jonah ; or a wind called euroclydon , which caused pauls ship-wracke , at the island then called melita , now malta . in both dangers we should be safe , the whale must cast us upon the land , and though the ship were wracked , yet either by swimming , or by some broken fragments of the ship we should surely come safe to land . the sixt use of this doctrine , is of discovery . the holy apostle gives every one in particular a christian caveat , let him that standeth , take heed lest he fall . if my text be a vision unto you , it hath discovered how slippery our station is : i beseech you therefore , when you have forgotten me , yet remember my text , and forget it not lest you slippe , and slide , and fall , like the house built upon the sands , the fall whereof was great . the royall preacher tells us , that god hath set the world in the heart of man , to the end that he should consider the deceitfulnesse and uncertainty of it . shall a man love that which christ never prayed for ? i pray for mine elect , i pray not for the world : that is , i pray not for the muck-worms and mammonists of this world . and if the grace of god be in us , we shall daily blesse and thank god for the lord jesus , who hath given himselfe for our sinnes , that hee might deliver us from this present evill world , according to the will of god and our father . they that remember not this discovery of the world , have not knowne god , as john testifieth . the mammonists of this world cannot endure to heare or thinke of death , and yet when they lose the things of this glassie world , they murther themselves with worldly sorry : st. paul is a witnesse of this truth , saying , the sorrow of this world causeth death . the mammonists and muck-wormes of this world brag , boast , and pride themselves with the things of the world . saint paul was otherwise minded ; god forbid ( saith he ) that i should pride my selfe in ought or any thing in the world , save in the crosse of our lord jesus christ , by whom the world is crucified unto me , and i unto the world . it is no marvell that so few love preachers , and gaine so little or nothing by the frequent and powerfull preaching of gospell-truth . paul sheweth us the reason why demas forsooke him , hee was in love with this present world . saint peter gives the muck wormes , mammonists , and lovers of this world their fearfull , fatall , and finall doom , shewing first how we may escape the pollutions of this world ; and then how dangerous a relapse and backsliding is : for , saith he , and puts the case thus ; if the muck-wormes and mammonists of this world have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the lord and saviour jesus christ , they are againe intangled therein , and overcome , the latter end is worse with them then the beginning ; for then they become wells without water , clouds that are carried with a tempest , to whom the mist of darknesse is reserved for ever . for the lord christ jesus sake ( blessed auditory , you holy people of the lord ) remember my text when you see not me , that our standing is very slippery upon this sea of glasse . remember that all the actions , transactions , and all the imaginations of all the thoughts , purposes and intentions of all hearts are before the throne of god open and manifest to his sight and censure . the lords throne is in heaven . his eyes behold , his eye-lids try the children of men . the lord tryeth the righteous , but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soule hateth . oh remember that the lords throne is for ever ; and that his throne is in heaven , and the earth is his pedestoole . oh remember that thou sweare not by heaven , for it is the throne of god : for hee that sweareth by heaven , sweareth by the throne of god , and by him that sitteth thereon . oh remember that we must all appeare before the throne of jesus christ , and render our accompts . oh remember what favour the lord jesus hath purchased for us , that we may come boldly to a throne of grace , and obtaine mercy , and finde grace to helpe in time of need . oh remember what the lord jesus hath promised , even that his saints on earth sit with him in his throne in heaven , even as he is sate downe with his father in his throne , psal. 11. 4. heb. 1. 8. mat. 5. 13. heb. 4. 16. rev. 3. 21. and the god of heaven grant us the protomartyrs vision , that we may be so full of the holy ghost that we may have but one glimpse of the glory of god and jesus standing at his right hand , and that we may see this by the eye of our most precious faith . the seventh and last vse of the doctrine is of motion , and we need not seeke farre for a perswading and convincing motive , when we may but cast our eye aside , and looke upon this present and emergent occasion , which is both sad and sorrowfull , even the decease of a worthy servant to the lord jesus , whose sad elegy i shall endeavour to couch in as few words , as a passage of such moment may be epilogized in , yet i hope so much as may awaken and stirre us up to consider where wee are , and what our condition is here , unlesse it be so with some of us , that we are asleep in death , and will not be moved nor removed from our brutish slumber for whatsoever may be said or done . i confesse indeed , that this taske had been fit to have been undertaken by some strong , young , and skilfull champion of the church , and not imposed upon an old , weake one , an emeritus miles , and almost a silicernium , a man merè edentulus , one so farre from eloquence , that hath not so much as elocution : but cum nemini obtrudi potest , itur ad me , when i had not thirty houres time to prepare my selfe to the businesse ; yet rather then i would wave the memoriall of mine endeared friend , i resolved to undergo the censure of the judicious for my plainnesse and simplicity . truly i could willingly take up the lamentable cry of elisha for eliah , he crying , o my father , my father ; and i lamenting , oh my brother , my brother , the chariots of israel and the horse-men of the same ; for we have lost a chiefe chariot of our churches , and an horse-man of the state , not of the pike , but of the pen : but why should i , or any lament for him ? of whom i may say to you all that distick which old ennius said at his death , and that with a very little alteration : nemo illum lachrymis decoret , neque funera fletu faxit . cur ? volitat docta per ora virum . i beseech you therefore have a little patience , and i shall onely speake of two passages : first , of his christian living amongst us , and then of his sweet leaving of us . 1. he was an academique by birth , he was borne of honest parents within three miles of oxenford , that mother and mistris of universities . his breeding up was also there , in corpus christi colledge , an happy seminary of very many famous and learned men ; i mention one for all , that is doctor john reinolds , whom i have heard stiled beyond the sea in the universities of rostochium , grominga and leidon , thus , that famous oxford of learning , worthy dr. reinolds . 2. as he grew up in yeeres , he lived in favour with god and man in an unreproveable holy life and conversation , honoured for arts and sciences , and had all degrees that the university doth afford , conferred upon him , ex merito & congrul , & condigni , both for his congruity of good manners , and condignity of singular knowledge . 3. he was commended for a chaplaine to the lord edmonds , leiger legat , lord ambassadour for his sacred majesty to the french king , where being at paris he disputed with the jesuites , who albeit they contemned him for that he was of so low a stature , yet admired him for his ready answers , and acute distinctions : the jesuites in that contempt of theirs had forgot what that ancient father jerome said of saint paul , that although he was of a very little and low stature , yet for all that , that homo tricubitalis ascendit in coelum . 4. some seven yeeres sithence i had a son fellow of trinity in cambridge , who , being traveller for his colledge , i kept at paris for a time , habitu dementissimo , in an uncouth habit , that he might not be knowne , and he resorted daily , and had conference in the cleremont with the jesuites , and with them of the colledge of sorbon , but more intimately with sirmundus and petavius two prime jesuites , whom ( as hee hath told mee ) remembred doctor featley oft-times in their conference with reverentiall respect for his accute and ready disputation . 5. all his sermons in a great book in folio shew how sound he was at heart , and discovereth the plots of the romish sectaries in abundant manner . he also made a supplement to that worthy knight sir humphrey linde his book , which he left unfinished at his death , and vindicated that worthy knight from the scandals and aspersions of that romish railing rabshakeh . 6. he writ against arminius , and all of his rabble , shewing demonstratively that their tenets they had from the patches and pieces of pelagius , that welch heretique , a monke of bangor , whose name was morgan ; for pelagius in latine and morgan in the welch idiome signifie both one and the same party , that is to say , mor-gan . mor , is more , and gan , is juxta mare , or accola maris : one of the shires of south-wales being called la morganshire , for that it is scituate all along the sea coast . 7. he wrote a little tract called the sea-gull , against a grosse imposture , and shewed it me in peter-house , what time i came to visit him there , with sir geo : sands , knight , my countryman of kent , with others . 8. he wrote a little before his death against the anabaptists , ( a book seasonable & necessary for these unsetled , wanton times ) and in the very frontispice of that book discovereth fifteen species of them . 9. after his returne out of france , he was recommended by the university of oxford , to doctor abbots , chiefe in the church of england , to be his chaplaine ; where he loitered not , neither ceased to write against rome , as often as ought did peepe out of the presse of the whore of babylons trash . neither was his learning onely polemicall , but pious also , as his meditations , and hand maid to devotion doe witnesse : and in that time he was chaplaine , he was the meanes under god of the conversion of a spanish frier . 10. his nature was meek , gracious , affable , merciful , as appeared in his sincerity toward the poore , when as he and i had the honour with doctor temple , doctor bernard , master francis taylor , and others , to be returned & joyned in the commission for pioususes , with worthy sir john lenthall , knight , and other justices of surry . 11. his intimate acquaintance and mine were of thirty seven yeeres duration ; and one and twenty yeers of which time we lived loving friends and neighbours but 3. miles distant from one another . 12. we served together in three convocations , to wit , the last two of king james of precious memory , to whom we had the honour to be chaplaines in ordinary , and the first of king charles kept at oxford : all which time he strongly set himselfe against all that had any smack of rome , or romish superstition . 13. in which convocations , five and forty of us , whereof he was chiefe , made a solemn covenant among our selves to oppose every thing that did but savour or scent never so little of pelagianisme , or semi-pelagianisme . and being elected by the clergie of surrey for to be a clerk of the convocation for this present parliament , and hearing me make protestation in the face of that clergie , ( an occasion being offered ) in these terms , atque odi ego arminianismum ac bellarminianismum , came and embraced me in his armes , and said , well said good brother , i protest and will sweare the like . ay me , much more might be said of his christian living and carriage amongst us , but i hasten to his christian leaving of us . 1. he was not idle , no not to his very end . after he came to chelsey , by the favour and grace of the parliament , to take the ayre , for the cure of his infirmities , i resorting unto him with a visit , found him very ill affected with the asthma in saburra stomachi , and with the dropsie , which was on the left side of his face , and was falne into his left legge , insomuch as i perceiving that he spake with great shortnesse of breath , and much difficulty to utter his words in our conference , i requesting him to spare his speech , i related severall passages unto him , which hee much rejoyced in , and so it tooke up the rest of the time i then stayed with him . 2. within lesse then a weeke after this my visit of him there was a rumour spread , that he was distracted of his wits , which when i heard i hasted to him , as soone as he heard in his chamber that i was there , he speedily came downe to me into the hall , where after embracings , as our manner was , we sat down and talked . truly i durst not tell him what i heard concerning the rumour , but after a little pause he told me himselfe of it in this manner , wot you what brother , why , they say i am mad . now absit , quoth i. he replyed , my case is like sophocles the tragedian , whose sonnes accused him for a mad man , and therefore by their law he by the sentences of the judges , had his quietus est , no more to trouble himselfe with the affaires of his state : hereupon sophocles that wrote tragedies even to extreame age , recited to the judges a tragedy of his own making , which he had then in his hand , called oedipus coloneus , and asked the judges after he had read it unto them , whether that tragedy did scent or savour any whit of madnesse or distraction ; upon this question the judges changed their mindes and judgements , and quit him from the accusation of his unworthy sonnes : so , sayes he , i shall leave such notes behind me , quoted in this time of my weakenesse , for nulla dies sine linea , no sober man will think or conceive to be the meditations of a mad man . 3. but when i perceived that this rumour did somewhat affect him , i said , i hope brother this false report need not trouble you awhit , it is usuall in this sorry world for worthy men to heare of evill , when they are most busied in goodnesse . how was that most judicious and sound divine mr. calvin used by foolish surius , and malitious bellarmine , who reported , that he dyed of the pthiriasis , the lowsie evill , such as herod dyed of , act. 11. ult. when it was but an ordinary disease called the phthisis , or tissick ? how was theodorus de beza used , when it was reported at rome , that beza was dead , and a little before his death , that he had revolted and falne back to rome ; yea , and a lying libell , printed at rome , flew into all parts of christendom , intituled , tota geneva catholizat . but beza lived to answer that pamphlet with a treatise called tota roma critizat cretizatque : for paul in his epistle to titus , cap. 1. sayes , the cretians were alwayes lyars , evill beasts , slow bellies , &c. and cited unto them the greek verse out of one of their owne poets , to manifest it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . yea , further , saint paul makes this verse scripture , by his attestation in the words following after it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that is to say , this witnesse is true . 4. further , he told me that he was writing still , and i encouraged him with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . indeed the lively voyce in preaching moveth more , yet a mans writing teacheth more . for it gives a man leave to pause on it , and doth not strike the eares onely , and then away : words have wings ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . writing reacheth those that are far off , words those that are neere : words reach onely to them that are alive , writing to them that are unborne : he that speaketh , profiteth his owne congregation ; but he that writeth , profiteth all : hee that speaketh , for an houre ; but he that writeth , for ever . after this i departed from him , and saw him no more , for within six dayes after i heard he was dead , and by credentiall witnesses am assured , that he departed this life a sound and faithfull protestant , living and professing at end , that hee dyed in the faith and religion of the church of england , established by many parliaments . 5. thus he ran this course , and was faithfull and painfull unto death ; and god , i make no doubt , hath washed his soule in the blood of the lambe , and hath given him a crowne of life , which shall never be taken from him ; i leave him in the hands of his god , in whom hee ever beleeved , and ever carefully served . i now returne to the gentle reader , and certifie thee , that he was ever the same man , never dismayed with paines taking , not unlike the palme timber , which never bendeth under never so great a lading , but riseth upward against it ; and as the children of israel shrunk not down under their labour howsoever it were increased : wherefore all that knew him , gave glory to god , saying , surely the lord hath done great things for him , and by him . i doe not give him halfe his due , as they know that knew him ; yet haply more , then every one that knew us both , doe or may think fit to be spoken of him , but truth is truth whosoever is the speaker , and of the abundance of the heart the mouth will utter , and the pen will write howsoever it be taken . i hope i shall not seem absurd to any sober reader , for in all i have spoken i yeeld nothing so to flesh and blood , neither have i stretched my selfe beyond his measure , as the apostle speaketh . dr. bucer called himselfe pila fortunae , and surely this doctor and i being together at oxford of the convocation house in the first parl. of k. charles , he falling sicke there , and he himselfe , and others his friends , verily conceiving , that his sicknesse had been the plague of pestilence , his falling ill happening that very weeke wherein 5000. and diverse hundreds dyed in london ; he was constrained to quit oxford , and to goe for lambeth : but how harshly and hardly he was used by a great man of the church that shall be namelesse , animus meminisse horret , luctuque refugit . for in a manner he was driven thence , and wee were constrained to get him an house , and two poore men travelled with him , the one of the one side , and the other on the other side did support and stay him up all the way , he travelling on foot pace , and so brought him home to lambeth . when wee took our leave of him at bullington greene , he said , valete amici , nunc temporis ego , ut olim bucerus sum pila fortunae , quae non est omnibus una : orate pro me , rege , lege , grege . iterum valete in domino jesu : and so went on his journey , saying with the psalmist , lord thou tellest my flittings , note these things in thy book , o lord . and now the world being not worthy of him , and he weary of it , is translated into heaven , but so , that as elias being carried up in a fiery chariot , did let fall his mantle from him for elisha's comfort and behoofe ; so our featley burning with zeale for gods glory , and for the good of his saints , hath left behinde him severall tokens of his learning and love to divers friends . let god be honoured for lending his church such choyce vessels , to carry abroad his name , and to publish his truth against all opposers , and surely he deserveth of us to be had in everlasting remembrance . but now i call my selfe to my remembrance , let mee have your patience , and i shall relate one more which i had almost utterly forgot . at my returne out of germany i with foure merchants of hamborough , and two of my people comming to embdea , tooke into our waggon a licentiatus in the civill , or emperiall law , who was travelling to grominga an university of east frizeland , and by the way i asking him , what other universities he had seen , told me , that he came lately from paris in france , and taking out a diary which he had about him , shewed me a litle breviate taken there of a conference & dispution between the jesuites of the cleremont , and one doctor featley of the church of england , a man that his very antagonists did give much respect unto ; and moreover told me , that most of the universities thereabouts held him in such reputation and honour , that in their tables using to hang in their schooles of the most famous schoole-men , he , viz. dr. featley was numbred one ; and comming to grominga , whiles we refreshed our selves there , and hearing us say , that we were bound for swartz-sluce , and so for amsterdam that night ; hee therefore knowing i could not stay , went into their schooles , and brought me a copy of the school-mens names down to dr. featleys time , and gave it me , which i tooke together with the title given unto him , and am bold to insert it in this place . as , doctor alexander halensis irrefragabilis . doctor aegidius romanus fundatissimus . doctor bonaventura seraphicus . doctor franciscus mairoius illuminatus . doctor henricus goethales solennis . doctor johannes de bacone resolutus . doctor johannes duns scotus subtilis . doctor tho. aquinas angelicus . doctor guliel . de rubione cherubicus . doctor daniel featleius acutissim . acerrimusque . there were some more in the list , but i took no more then would serve my purpose ; onely among them i perceived there were three of our own country besides this dr. featley . the one was john duns scotus , born far in the north neere scotland , whereupon his antagonists called him scot in scorne , conceiving that because his tongue did {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , therefore his head must needs {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : but they were marvellously mistaken , as it appeared to all the learned where he was knowne . 2. alexander of hales , ( the most ancient school-man ) was born in glocestershire at a place which i well know , called hales , neer the town of winchcomb and sudley castle , of old the inheritance of the butlers , earles of ormond , and now the mansion-house of the brugges lord chandos . 3. johannes de bacone was sometime fellow of merton colledge in oxford , and afterward of brasen nose colledge there . lastly , gentle reader , give me leave now i have said what i had to say touching this emergent occasion , that i may conclude with thee . my text is a discovery on what manner of station we stand upon in this world . verily not one that heard it preached , or read it , unlesse he be like a sponge which sucks in all both good and bad , of all that he heares and sees : or like an houre-glasse that takes it in at one eare , and out at the other : or like a wine-sacke that retaines the lees onely , and lets the good wine run out ; when as they should be like those that sift the corne , casting out that which is nothing worth , and retaining the cleane corne ; drinking in all good , as the earth doth a sweet shower of raine , or a drift of raine , which returneth not untill it hath fructified and made a barren ground fertile . i know nothing more convincing to mortifie a man , then to looke upon the revelation of the text , and be resolved what this world is , even a sea of glasse like unto crystall , as a sea restlesse and tumultuous , casting up fome and dirt . oh that we had never known in our countrey , how neerely the rage of the sea , and the tumultuousnesse of the people resemble one the other . hee that discernes it not in the meditation on my text , i refer him to read the 19. chap. of the acts , wherein he shall observe in reading , 1. of no small stir ; 2. of men full of wrath , and crying out , great is diana of the ephesians ; 3. that the city was filled with confusion ; 4. a crying out , some one thing , some another ; 5. that the major part knew not wherefore they were come together . this is the world , and i would to god we had not wofull experience thereof in this kind . that christian that doth not see this as in a vision in my text unlesse he make further tryall , i will tell him in fine a facetious relation to shut up this sad elegy that i heard often ( as occasion was offered ) by an ancient parliament knight of devonshire of one of his neighbors , who being a copy-holder of some 30. pound per annum , and dwelling by the sea side neere plymouth , observing that certaine of his neighbours trading to sea , came home gallant and rich , and lived in a very plentifully manner ; hee would to sea that he would , against all his friends minds ; sold his oxen , horse , sheepe , his land for a time , made up a stock , left his wife and children with her father . to sea goes he , the freight returned was figges . a flaw of wind comes , the ship is endangered , they must lighten the ship , as pauls companions did , act. 27. when they were constrained to cast out the wheat which was their lading , into the sea : so here , over-boord goe the figs , this poore yeoman cryes out , o there goes over-boord all my oxen , and names them by their names . home he comes poore , his neighbours pittying his folly , one lends him an oxe , another an horse : after some few yeeres he picks up his crums againe , and being at plough on a very faire and calme day , cryes hoe to his boy that did drive : he stands still , looks on the sea , for he dwelt ( as i said before ) at the very sea side , and saw it as smooth as a smelt , and said , wennom on you , how is 't you look so smooth ? you long for more figs do you ? your smooth looks shall never deceive me again i warrant you ; drive away . semblably t will be his dole , who will not beleeve his god . credit se formae , deo non voluit ▪ he trusted a few boards put into form , and would not trust to the ever-living god . the very god of peace & love sanctifie you throughly out , and i pray god make us all wise to salvation , and preserve us all , and our children in the saving grace of jesus . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48948e-1770 doctrine . revel. 2. 24. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 1. resemblances . dan. 7. 2. psal. 9. 17. sperando , & desperando , misere● pereunt homines : sperando male in vita , desperando pejus in morte . mat. 5. 8. prov. 31. 12. 2. 1 joh. 2. 16. 3. dan. 7. 7 ▪ 4. psal. 107 27. tantum constans in 〈◊〉 itate sua . 2. 1 joh. 2. 17. luke 12. 17. prov. 23. 5. jer. 17. 11. psal. 52. 7. 3. eccles. 1. 18. eccles. 5. 19. luk. 12. 4. psal. 139. 8. heb. 4. 13. revel. 1. 14. reasons . esa. 29. 8. amos 2. 13. revel. 17. 4. jer. 9. 1 , 2. psal. 55. 6. rom. 7. 24. 2. 3. 4. gen. 6. 6. the practise . 1. esa. 64. 1. psal. 144. 5. psal. 102 , 26. heb. 13. 8. rom. 8. 22 , 23. dan. 2. 31 , 32 , 33. 2. acts 25. 23. job 17. 14. 3. 4. 2 cor. 4. 3 ▪ 4 ▪ 1 joh. 5 ▪ 19 ▪ 5. heb. 11. 6. eccles. 3. 11. joh. 17. 9. gal. 1. 3 , 4. jo. 17. 25 ▪ 1 cor. 7. 1. gal. 6. 14. 2 tim. 4. 10. 2 pet. 2. 20. 2 pet. 2. 20. act. 7. 55. 7. charlton upon otmore . in peter-house entituled , the dippers dipt , sold by rich : royston in ivic-lanc . a funeral sermon preach'd at the internment of mr. samuel stephens for some time employ'd in the work of the ministry, in this city : who departed life the fifth of january, 1693/4 in the twenty eighth year of his age / by edmund calamy. calamy, edmund, 1671-1732. 1694 approx. 44 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32083 wing c271 estc r10147 11672975 ocm 11672975 48060 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32083) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48060) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 526:6) a funeral sermon preach'd at the internment of mr. samuel stephens for some time employ'd in the work of the ministry, in this city : who departed life the fifth of january, 1693/4 in the twenty eighth year of his age / by edmund calamy. calamy, edmund, 1671-1732. [4], 31 p. printed for abraham chandler ..., london : 1694. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng stephens, samuel, 1666 or 7-1694. bible. -n.t. -john ix, 4 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons -english -london -17th century 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon , preach'd at the interment of mr. samvel stephens , for some time employ'd in the work of the ministry , in this city . who departed this life the fifth of january , 1693 / 4. in the twenty eighth year of his age. by edmvnd calamy . 1 pet. 1.24 . all flesh is as grass ; and all the glory of man , as the flower of grass : the grass withereth , and the flower thereof falleth away . psal. 103.16 . for the wind passeth over it , and it is gone ; and the place thereof shall know it no more . london , printed for abraham chandler , at the chyrurgeons-arms , in aldersgate-street , mdcxciv . to the reader . thou hast here an awful providence to draw forth and exercize thy solemn thoughts : a person young , strong , healthful , and of no ordinary hopefulness and proficiency in what might render him a light and blessing to and in his generation ; but soon cut down by a malignant fever . i knew him intimately , and greatly valu'd him ; and , by my free and frequent conversation with him , i found him apprehensive , inquisitive , receptive of things in their evidences , attentive to what was said , calm and modest , but pertinent in his replies ; and prone to consider seriously of matters . but yet the concernedness of his soul for holiness and heaven , drench'd in a scrupulous temper , did too exorbitantly agitate his imagination , or fancy ; the strength whereof was his bewail'd vnhappiness . for though his conscience was tender , and his life blameless , and his industry evidently great in the pursuit of things eternal ; yet was he rarely ( if ever ) free from urgent doubts and fears : yet not discernible to any , until related by himself unto some few ; and among these , to me ; to whom his resorts were very frequent , free , and grateful : for his ordinary conversation was not morose , but pleasant and profitable ; though , through self-diffidence and suspicion , he both kept guard , and much reflected on himself , rather to censure , than to exalt himself in his own conceit , or to extort self-commendation from others . he is dead : neither was providence long about this fatal and awakening work. through providential conduct , the author of this sermon thus entertain'd a great and attentive auditory , at the funeral solemnity of the deceased . the composer of this sermon ( my dear and worthy fellow-labourer in the gospel ) i could copiously commend , but will not : he is well known to be more prest by me , and others , than forward of himself to make this serious and useful sermon publick . the first-fruits of an hopeful harvest are not the worse for being early , but the better . young timothy , when deserving it , was commended even by st. paul , that great apostle . and grace , i hope , will keep him safe and humble ; and i beg it may do so . but — manum de tabula — god's word and providence have their loud call , and solemn errand to us all . oh! hear , prepare , fulfil , dispatch , pray , wait and hope ! the iudge is at the door ; the end of all things is at hand ; we little know when , how near , or how . a fever ( such as made this spectacle of mortality ) may quickly send us after him , who is lately gone unto the grave : and what comes next ? pardon me , reader , if i vent my very heart and wishes in these borrow'd strains : o deus ! aut nullo caleat mihi pectus ab igne ; aut solo caleat pectus abigne tui . languet ut illa deo , mihi mens simul aemula languet ! coelitus ut rapitur ! me violenta rapit . ut paveam scelus omne , petam super omnia coelum ; da mihi fraena timor , da mihi calcar amor. luctibus caetera & suspiriis . london , jan. 15. 1693 / 4. thine in and for the lord , whilst matt. sylvester . a funeral sermon , &c. a funeral solemnity ( my friends ) is an awful thing ; apt to dispose the minds of those who are in any wise thoughtful for serious impressions : and therefore affords an opportunity for pursuing an exhortation to piety and religion , with good advantage . though funeral orations had their rise from heathenish vanity , yet may they ( provided all unjust commendation of the dead , and servile flattery of the living , be avoided ) be exceeding useful , even among christians , in helping to make the survivers better ; there being nothing that more promotes the amendment of our lives , than the serious consideration and improvement of the departure of others , who are snatch'd away by death , both on our right-hand and left , leaving us behind , who our selves also must shortly follow . we have now before us the corps of one , who , a fortnight ago , might rationally have hop'd to have liv'd as long as most here present ; one that a few days ago was hale and strong , healthful and vigorous , aimable and pleasant , well-accomplish'd and useful : but a mortal distemper seiz'd him , his strength was on a sudden baffled , and all his plenty of spirits exhausted ; he is crush'd like a moth , his serviceableness is at an end ; and we are now going to commit his desented carcass to the earth , the grand principle of its composition . who that will give way to consideration , but must hereupon be provok'd to take up some such resolution as this ? by the help of god , henceforward , whatever i neglect , i 'll mind my main concern ; i 'll do what i have to do in this world without delay , since i know not how soon death may surprize me , and summon me to judgment ? 't is the engaging us to make and keep such a resolution as this , which ( humbly imploring divine assistance ) i at present aim at : and in order thereto , i have pitch'd , for the subject of my discourse , on that passage of holy writ which we meet with in john ix . 4 i must work the works of him that sent me while it is day ; the night cometh when no man can work . which are the words of our blessed saviour , ordinarily taken as spoken by him with reference to himself , discovering his steady purpose of managing that great concern for which he came into the world with the utmost speed and diligence ; and more particularly , his resolvedness to do as many beneficial miracles as the short time of his stay here below would allow him . but waving this sence , i shall consider them as having a general aspect ; setting before us all that which is our plain duty , and should be our resolved purpose . for which acceptation , ( besides the obligation we are under to a resemblance of our blessed lord , in this , as well as in other respects , ) i think i have sufficient ground , in that , according to one of the most valuable copies * of the new testament this day in the world , this passage should be thus render'd , we must work the works of him that sent us . and indeed , a transient animadversion of the circumstances of this verse , will suffice to satisfie us , that it hath nothing in it peculiar to our saviour ; but that he took a convenient occasion to make his followers sensible how much they were concern'd , according to their different capacities , to do the work that god had set them , in the time that he had given them , which is short , and very uncertain , and therefore carefully to be improv'd ; and that he might insinuate this the better , he brings himself in for company . i shall not go about to try whether or no i could , on a subject so circumstantiated as this , give you a learned and florid discourse ; but shall only endeavour to be a plain echo of that providence which is the sad occasion of our present concourse , in laying before you , in distinct propositions , the several truths which these words contain ; of which i shall afterwards make a brief improvement , both general and special . now the truths which these words naturally present to our thoughts , are such as these that follow . i. that we are all sent into this world by god. we must work the works of him that sent us . we came not hither of our selves : we came not by chance : our production's owing to an agent infinitely powerful and wise ; who though he did not immediately create us out of nothing , yet order'd dispos'd and actuated those natural causes by whose concurrence we were form'd . one would wonder how any that have the least spark of reason , should ever let it enter into their thoughts , that so noble a being as man should be the workmanship of fortuitous chance , when we see men rising up in the world , age after age , in a stated order . and as for that term of nature , of which some are so fond , if they mean by it any thing distinct either from the author , or the settled order of things , they introduce by it a being of whose existence they can give no evidence . but let our wits argue as long as they please , we may securely defie them to give any account , how it should come about , that when it was but a little while ago altogether indifferent whether such beings should ever have been , or not , one generation should now so statedly succeed another ; unless they 'll own the agency of the great creator of all things , the free efflux of whose superabounding goodness gave the first rise to the world. 't is he that manifestly gives natural causes their vertue , sets them on work , bounds their influence , determines their effects , and over-rules and manages them in all their productions . so that , as things are now disposed , we as much owe our beings to god , as we should do , if , by virtue of his almighty word , we should in an instant start out of nothing . 't was he that first shap'd us in the womb ; as we may see , psal. 139. 14 , 15 , 16. 't was he that brought us out of our first strait confinement , into so large and noble an habitation as that of this visible world , psal. 71. 6. 't is on him that we subsist all the time that we are here , and therefore we may be assurd he sent us hither . ii. a second truth these words afford , is this ; that we have all of us work to do here . and need i go to prove this to you ? do we not see all the creatures , in their several ranks , according to their capacities , at work about us ? do we not find that we have active natures , noble powers , large capacities , and boundless cravings ? and can we then think that we were design'd to be idle ? should we indeed look into most mens lives , we should be apt to think either that we have nothing at all , or nothing of any consequence to do in this world. but let 's but look ●ound about us , or into our selves , and we shall soon be satisfy'd that such active natures as ours must have an employment . a wise being can never produce powers to no purpose ; a capacity , without setting it a work : we must have some work or other to do , or else we should be useless impertinencies , and insignificant cyphers in the creation of god. neither can our work be at our own choice ; we cannot be free to do what we please . it naturally belongs to him that gave us our powers , to employ them ; to him that sent us into the world , to allot and cut out proper work for us in it : and whenever we pretend to cut out work for our selves , we arrogate to our selves the prerogative of our maker ; who being an infinitely wise agent , and having made us capable of working , hath designed work for us ; and that such work as is every way suitable to the dignity , excellency and ability of our natures . now , it 's well worth our serious consideration , what work it is god design'd us for . and this is a thought which the greatest part of the world seldom , if ever to any purpose , harbour ; and therefore 't is no wonder that their lives are so disorderly , confus'd , and unaccountably extravagant and foolish . i doubt not but there are some hundreds and thousands to be found , who never spent one half hour , in all their lives , in deliberate thoughtfulness about the work for which they were made , and sent into the world. for , can any man , who will allow himself soberly to weigh matters , ever think that so noble a creature as he should have no other work in this world , than to build houses , and plant vineyards ; take his pleasure , and live at his ease , indulging his appetites , gratifying his senses , and pampering a short-liv'd body ? to prog for wealth , and weary himself in heaping together a few bags of perishing dust ? to hunt for honour and credit , esteem and applause among his fellow-creatures , together with whom he himself must shortly pass off this earthly stage , so as to be quite forgotten ? can any one , i say , that will give himself leave to think , imagine this to be work fit for so noble a creature as man to be sent into this world for ? and yet of how great a part of mankind , in all ages , hath this been the sole employment ! oh , for god's sake ! let us be wiser : let 's but open our eyes a little , and we shall soon discern quite otherguess work than this for us to mind . should i attempt here to be particular , i should soon expatiate beyond the bounds of a single discourse : let me desire you therefore , in short , to observe , that the work which we have to do in this world , is either common or special . the great work that is common to us all , is , while we are in this world , to prepare for another ▪ this life not being in order to it self , but in order to a better life . we are sent into this world to be prepar'd , qualify'd , dispos'd and fitted for the noble and refin'd enjoyments of another state , for which we are design'd ; to live a life of faith and patience , that in due time we may be admitted to a life of glory . and a greater work this is than we are ordinarily aware of : but herein lies the main of it : we are to get our spirits refin'd , and a new and a divine nature convey'd into us ; without which , we can never be capable of a divine life . in order hereto , there 's a great deal of knowledge to be gotten : we must know the god that made us , and in the enjoyment of whom our happiness lies : we must know our apostacy from him , with its sad effects : we must know the means of our recovery , and use them . and here comes in jesus christ , whom we must know and use in all his offices : we must know what he was by the father design'd to do for us ; what advantages he hath procur'd us , and on what terms . to which terms we must take care to come up ▪ we must heartily return to god , through his son ; give up our selves to our lord redeemer's conduct ; obey the laws that he hath given us ; use all the subordinate means that he hath appointed us ; believe and trust in the promises that he hath made us ; follow the example that he hath set us ; and depend on the assistance of that spirit which he hath purchased for us : we must be continually fighting against the three grand enemies of our happiness , the flesh , the world and the devil : we must improve all our faculties , talents , abilities , mercies , relations , and enjoyments , for god , like accountable creatures ; and do all the good we can to others . this is the work that lies upon all our hands : without doing which , we live in vain ; we answer not the ends of life . but besides this general , there 's special work to which god calls some . and this is either ordinary or extraordinary : and each of them is of several sorts , which i shan't stay to enumerate : but among them all , there 's none more awful , sacred and tremendious , than the ministerial employment ; and none lie under a greater necessity of diligence , care and industry ; none stand in need of more assistance from above , than those who are call'd to , and employ'd in it . that is a work , indeed , in it self , unfit for humane hands ; and yet it must be undertaken and done when god calls to it : and his goodness is wonderfully seen , in spiriting and fitting any mortal men , in any tolerable degree , for it ; assisting them in it , and carrying them through it . but 't is but few who have a genuine call to such work as this ; nor are all fit to judge of the dueness of a call to it : but to the former we are all call'd , and we must do it ; 't is required of every one of us , by god that sent us hither . and so much for the second observable . iii. the third thing observable , is this ; that god gives us a day in which we may do our work. we must work the works of him that sent us , while it is day . which implies , that we all have a day to work in . god is not , in any case , like the egyptian task-masters , who requir'd bricks without straw . he 'll give us time to do the work he 'll require at our hands . the great difficulty here , is , with reference to those who die in infancy , or at any time before they come to years of discretion . what time , may in be demanded , have such as they to do any work in ? whereto i reply , that god expects no work of any sort , of any , for which he gives not time and capacity . as to the eternal state of dying infants , if that be farther enquired , into , we can say no more than this , that those of them who sprang from truly pious parents , are reckon'd as a part of their parents ; and therefore their parents right acquitting themselves in the work that god set them , is available for their good ▪ but as for those of them whose parents are irreligious , who have not done the work for which god sent them into the world , the scriptures give us no account ; and therefore we may and should be content to be ignorant what becomes of them . but as for us ( my friends ) we have a day afforded us ; and therefore afforded , that we may work in it . in whatsoever sence well take the day , we have it : we have life prolong'd , offers and seasons of grace continued , god's patience waiting , and his spirit striving : some of us have had a long day of it : we , blessed be god , have time , and health , and strength ; oh! that we had hearts to do our work ! iv. a fourth observation is this ; that this day of ours is but short . we must work while it is day . that implies it won't last long ▪ which , it 's manifest , is principally meant of the time of life , which is but short . and this is a common theme of complaint with some ; yet as much forgotten and overlook'd by others , as if they did not believe it . how mournfully shall we hear some complain , that we no sooner pass through helpless infancy , and inobservant childhood , and come ; after much pains and toil , to get some tolerable fitness for service in the world , but we are presently gone ; our days at an end ? and yet how carelessly and negligently do the most live ? just as if they thought their day would last always ? but what little reason is there for the former complaint , when our day suffices for our work ? and how unaccountable is the latter instance of folly , when our day , if prolong'd to the utmost period , is so exceeding short ? if we 'll but look into scripture , we shall see things brought in as emblems of it , that are the most short , brittle and fading , that the whole creation can furnish . let 's consult the experience of mankind , in all ages , and see if our working-time be not short . how easily may a man , when the sun rises in the morning , fore-see its setting , when the light will be succeeded by darkness , the day by night ? as easily may we , while in health , and strength , and vigour , fore-see an approaching death . how short is our day , compar'd with the days of eternity ? even infinitely less than a single moment , compar'd with the whole world's duration . nay , what is our day now , to that of those who liv'd in the first ages of the world , but as a short dream , compar'd to a long summer's day ? this point were easily illustrated and prov'd ; but it needs neither , so much as improvement . and so doth , v. the fifth observable , which is this ; that our day is not only short , but uncertain . for thus much that passage also implies , we must work while it is day . which seems to intimate , that it may , for ought we know , last but a very little while ; it may expire e're we are aware . and can there be any thing more evident than this ? when so many thousands of unforeseen casualties , disorders or distempers may put an end to it ? let 's look abroad into the world , and we shall find some of all ages daily dying . who then can tell at what age his day may end ? at what time his sun may set ? i need look no further for a sensible conviction of this , than the corps before us ; the looking on which , may ( and will , if we consider circumstances ) satisfie us all that our day 's uncertain . but yet , vi. in the sixth and last place , though that be uncertain , this is most certain , that a night will , sooner or later , overtake us all , in which no work can be done , but we must receive our wages . let our day be never so bright and clear , some time or other the shadows of the evening will overspread us ; our sun will set , and night will come ; a night in which no man can work . after which , nothing more can be done , in order to a preparation for happiness , or an escape of misery ; in which no more means can be us'd , in order to our amendment ; no more knowledge can be gotten , that can do us any good : after which , no further opportunity will be afforded us of repairing to , and making use of christ ; and no further time of trial allow'd us . which is as certain , as 't is , that 't is appointed to all men once to die ; of which we may be as certain as we are , that now we live . the day 's our working-time ; when the night comes , we must expect to receive our wages . thus we find it was in the parable of the labourers , recorded in the twentieth chapter of st. matthew's gospel , and thus 't will be with us . when god hath waited upon us , and given us as long a day as he thinks fit , he 'll then call us to an account , what work we have done ; how we have behav'd our selves . if we have done the work for which god sent us hither , he 'll commend and highly reward us . if we have not done it , his very look will strike us through with ternour , and he 'll severely punish us : for he will render to every one according to their works . as you may see more at large , if you please to consult rom. 2. 6 , and the following verses . and thus much may suffice for the doctrinal handling of the words ; the improvement follows : which might be manag'd to good purpose several ways : but that i may keep within bounds , i 'le reduce what i would say for general improvement to these two heads . if these things be so , then certainly it becomes us all , 1. to improve the day we have to work in to the best advantage . 2. often to think of , and seriously to prepare for an approaching night . 1. then , let us manage and improve the day we have to work in , to the best advantage that may be . i 'm satisfy'd there 's scarce any one among us all , but if ask'd , would say , that we heartily believ'd the forementioned truths : that but who almost lookt into our lives could believe us when we say so ? should we every one of us set our selves down seriously to examine what we have done of the work that we were sent into the world for ( to do which would be a great instance of our wisdom ) , what a poor account should we bring in ! how much of our day have we spent in doing nothing ! how much in that which comes to nothing ! nay , how much have many of us spent in that which must , so far as it 's possible , be undone again ▪ or else we are eternally miserable ! how many of us have liv'd the half ; nay , two thirds ; nay , almost the whole of our day , and are yet to begin our great work ? to what purpose then , i pray , have we liv'd all this while ! and as for those of us who have in earnest begun our work , how little of it have we done ? how is it done , as 't were by halves ? how little proportion doth our diligence , and industry , and activity in it , bear to the momentousness and greatness of it , to the assistances we have , and the uncertainty we are at ? and shall we then refuse to think these things over again in our secret retirements ? and endeavour , by consideration , to drive them home into our souls , till all the powers we have , are awakened to the earnest doing of the work of him that sent us , while the day lasts , before the night over-takes us ? is our working day so short , and can we then find any of it to lose ? is it so uncertain , and shall we dare to delay ? oh , if we have any sober reason left , if we are not perfectly mad , besotted , and stupify'd ; if we would not in another state fruitlesly torment our selves for ever , let us improve our working time to the best advantage . that we may so do , let us , 1. begin to work betimes ; which if we could be prevail'd upon to do it , would bring unspeakable advantages with it . oh , let none of us who think not our selves too young to live , or too young to die , think our selves too young to do that work for which we were sent into the world . the sooner we begin to work , the more ease and peace may we expect in our remaining days , and the more work may we hope to do . if we 'll begin to work in our youthful days , and hold on working , we may hope by the divine blessing to do three times as much work as those , who , tho they should live as long as we , yet spend a third part of their day idly , without any ways answering the ends of life : and we might expect an increase of our reward hereafter , proportionable to the increase of our work here . night may overtake the youngest of us , and therefore we have reason to go to work out of hand . and the more advanc'd any of us are in years , still the more reason have we immediately to begin it , if we have not already done it . a delay in this case is dangerous , and may be our ruin. o let 's therefore be idle no longer , but work the work of him that sent us while it's day . 2. let us carefully avoid all those things that would hinder us in our work. the weakness and necessities of our natures , in our present state , occasion a great many unavoidable avocations from our great work. much of our short day 's cut off by infancy , when we can do nothing ; and childhood , when we are at most capable but of just beginning our work ; by the time that must be spent in eating , and drinking , and sleeping , for the recruit and support of our bodies , and in recreation that 's needful for our health and refreshment ; and a great many other things i might mention , which tho subordinate duties , yet are avocations from that great work we were made for . we have no need therefore to be in love with clogs , impediments , and embarrasments , as too too many seem to be . let 's rather prudently endeavour to avoid them : if we have any , let 's as much as may be lay them aside : let 's watch and strive against all the encroachments they would make upon that time which ought to be spent in our great work , like those that are in earnest for heaven and another world. and , 3. thirdly and lastly , let us work apace , and do as much work as ever we can in so short and uncertain a time as we have to do it in . our day hastens , and so let our work. whatever our hand finds to do , let 's do it with our might ; as the wise man expresses it , eccles. 9. 10. were our day as long as methusalah's , our work is such that we should have no time to lose . but when it is so short and uncertain , and we have such great and important work to do , we had need double our diligence ; and if we 'll take this course , we shall have no reason to complain of the shortness of our lives ; for he that does the work of fifty or threescore years in seven or eight and twenty , is happier than he that lives so long in the world . oh , let 's earnestly endeavour to make such daily advances , as that our work may be at an end as soon as our day . 2. let us often think of , and seriously set ourselves to prepare for an approaching night . we are all ( my friends ) endued with a power of foresight ; let 's in this case make use of it : let 's think with our selves , that as surely as 't is now day with us , 't will e're long be night ; as surely as we now live shall we shortly die ; and let 's endeavour to yield to the power of such a thought . whenever we are tempted to delays , to negligence , indifference and remissness in our grand concern ; let 's think how swiftly the night is hasting towards us , and how earnestly death is pursuing after us ; and let 's act as those that are in expectation of it . let 's resolve with holy job , that we 'll wait all the days of our appointed time , till our change come , job 14. 14. let 's not be so foolish as to hear of others deaths , without reflecting on our own : to accompany others to their graves , without thinking that we must shortly follow them . let 's live in the day time as those that have night in their view . when the labouring countreyman sees the night approaching , he 'l put to all his strength , and vigorously endeavour to finish his undertaken work ere the sun go down : let us do so too ; and then be our day longer or shorter , our night will be comfortable ; we may lift up our heads with joy . but on the contrary how doleful will our night be if we work not in the day time ! how dismal a thing will it be at the close of our lives to find just cause for this reflection , that we have liv'd in vain , without doing that for which god sent us hither ! what horror and amazement will then seize upon us ! what can we then expect will support or cheer us ! what rage and despair will possess us ! would we not have this to be our case ? then let us by doing our work in the day , prepare for the night that 's coming . and oh what account shall we be able to give to the god that sent us hither , if we mind not the work for which he sent us ? if we can find time now for every thing else but to mind our main concern , how shall we dare to look god in the face another day ? how can we think we stand before his bar , to give an account for all our power and capacity , time and opportunity of working ; for our calls , admonitions and warnings to apply our selves to our work , for all our allurements and enticements , helps and assistances to work ? oh how shall we then stand speechless if now we remain idle ! then be confounded if now we are negligent ! oh then if we love our selves , if we desire to be happy , let us by doing the work of him that sent us while the day lasts , prepare for that night which approaches , in which no work can be done , but we must receive our wages . and thus much may suffice for general improvements . and now that i may follow this present stroke of providence , whither it seems more particularly to direct its voice , give me leave to address my self to you , my brethren , of the younger sort , whom god is pleased to call to publick work in his vineyard . one of our small number 's gone . and he none of the inconsiderablest neither . god set him a work for a little while , and then call'd him away ; and hath not this a voice , and that to us particularly ? our deceased brother , and god by him seems to cry aloud to all of us , to work the works of him that sent us while 't is day , ere the night overtake us . the work , my brethren , to which we have set our hands is sacred and awful ; 't is enough , i profess seriously , to make our hearts to ake , and our knees to tremble , to set our selves solemnly to think upon it . 't is difficult work : difficult in it self , and more peculiarly so , by reason of the circumstances of the time wherein our lot is cast . it hath ever indeed been difficult to bear up gods honour in the world , to vindicate his truths from contempt , to engage men heartily in his service , and to bring souls to heaven : but how are the difficulties encreased upon us , thro' the desperate malignity of many , the lukewarmness and indifference of most ; the peevishness and morosness of some , and the giddiness and wantonness of others ! alas for us , what shall we do to promote that wisdom that is from above , that is pure , and peaceable , and gentle , and easy to be entreated , full of good fruits , without partiality and without hypocrisy , in the age we live in , in which the wisdom of the world so much prevails , and true religion is so like to expire ? 't is true , our reverend fathers , thanks be to god , do as yet bear the brunt of the day ; and god grant they may long do so . but alas , the prophets dont live for ever , any more than others ; within a few years they 'll all drop off , and the burthen will lie on young shoulders : and what shall we then do ? what shall we do to stem that tide of atheism and irreligion , that hath overflown us ? what shall we do in opposition to the scepticism by which we find so many unravell'd and undone ? what shall we do to recover the power of godliness , of which our fathers tell us so much , tho we can see so little , it being almost lost ? what shall we do to root out those prejudices which have so long been rivetted in many peoples minds ? what shall we do to pacific those angry heats , and stop those raging contentions vvhich have continued so long , till they have almost eat out the spirit and life of religion ? what shall we do to revive true , generous , catholick christianity ? our difficulties seem rather to grow than diminish : and shall we not then , out of a sense of the great opposition we shall meet with on all sides , take great care to qualifie , dispose and fit our selves for the great work that will lie upon us , by treasuring up of knowledge daily , laying aside of prejudices our selves , and taking up nothing but upon good grounds , by studying the things that make for peace on all hands , by arming our selves vvith resolution to go through good report and bad report , to be above smiles and frowns ; and aboveall , by keeping up an intimate acquaintance vvith that god vvho gives us a commission , and vvho alone can give us assistance and success ? and yet in the mean time the day we have to work in is short and uncertain ; we know not but our work may be at an end as soon almost as we begin ; and therefore we have need carefully to improve all opportunities of service , and to work apace . it is indeed enough to surprize us , vvhen we consider all things , to think that god should have rais'd up so many of us in so discouraging times as we have pass'd through ; that he should have given us any tolerable competency of fitness for his service , and that he should in any measure own us in it . but alas , my brethren , let 's not be too confident ; god can nip budding hop● ; he can , if he pleases , just show us to the world ▪ and then snatch us away again . let 's take care le●t we by our sins , provoke him to lay us aside , as vessels wherein he hath no pleasure . let 's work therefore for god , without self-seeking : let 's take care to recommend religion to others by our lives : let 's love as brethren , and studiously strengthen , and no ways weaken one anothers hands : let 's apply our selves diligently to our work , and let this instance of our mortality quicken us : let 's often think this work of ours will soon be at an end ; in which , if we have been faithful , we shall be amply rewarded ; for we shall shine as stars in god's right hand . if we have been idle , negligent and careless , our punishment vvill be proportion'd to our sin . let 's not be so fond as to feed our selves with hopes of a long time of use and service to come ; but in the day let 's foresee our night : let 's seriously bethink our selves that death will soon seize us , and summon us to judgment ; our souls will take their flight , and leave our bodies behind ; and we must be beholden to our surviving friends to do that last office for us which we are now going to do for the relicks of our deceas●d brother , mr. samvel stephens . of whom i shan't say much to you , though i could , if i thought it needful . as for his family , ' t vvas noble and honourable in heavens bla●●●ry , it having been successively employed in the work of the ministry ever since the reformation , his immediate father only excepted ; which gap the two brothers would have made up , if both had liv'd : but blessed be god that hath spared us one branch of so worthy a stock . as for the person of the deceased , he was design'd for the ministry from his younger years ; and had as good advantages all along , for the acquiring the needful accomplishments for it , as this land vvould afford to those under our discouragements . which advantages he so well improv'd , as at length to become a workman that needed not to be asham'd . he had a sense of religion instill'd into him in his early days , about the fourteenth or fifteenth year of his age ; ever since which time he hath been observed , by those that knew him , to have had a very tender conscience . he vvas noted for his frequency in prayer , even while a school-boy , the serious performance of which duty argues the greatest love to god of any . he had a most awful sense of the ministerial employment , which those with whom he had any intimacy , will readily testifie . he was very backward to begin to preach , though by his most judicious friends , judg'd sufficiently qualified , and earnestly prest : thro' his great humility , and unwillingness to rush into such a work . and i could tell you of a worthy divine , to whom he to his dying day , us'd for the most part to read his notes , before he 'd venture with them into the pulpit . his spirit hath many a time been so over-awed by a sense of the sacredness of the work he was engaged in , that he hath been afraid to persist in it , and almost perswaded to turn his thoughts another way . and indeed he was humble and modest to a fault . his natural temper exposed him somewhat to melancholy ; and one thing that tended to make his life uneasie , was his great scrupulosity , and fear of offending god in the smallest matters , where others could apprehend no danger . but in this he was on the safest side , tho the most uncomfortable . but he had the happiness to be able to conceal his inward trouble from the observation of the world , by a free , pleasant and cheerful conversation , by which he avoided discouraging others , of which he was fearful . i look upon him to have had as much of true generosity in his natural temper , as most i know . he , from his heart , scorn'd to do any thing that was mean , or base , or servile ; and abhorr'd every thing that in the least lookt like undermining . he ever retain'd a most grateful sense of the kindness of those worthy gentlemen , and others , who were his friends ; and was always ready , to the utmost of his capacity , himself , to do any office of kindness for any . having been for some years employ'd occasionally in the preaching work of the ministry , it so pleased god , that a mortal distemper seiz'd him , which depriv'd the church of an useful servant , and us of a fellow-labourer , that might have been very helpful . his distemper with violence seiz'd his head , the rage whereof was visibly increased by those awful thoughts of eternity wherewith he was possessed . i mention this , the rather , that i may thence take occasion to warn those who will defer , and put off their great work to a dying bed , from this instance , and others of the like nature , often to be met with , to see their folly , and grow wise . for several days before he dy'd , his distemper deprived him of the free use of his reason ; and so it happens in many cases : who then , in his wits , would put off the great work he was sent into the world for , to such a time ? and yet this may be the case of any one of us . our eternal state may be irrevocably fixt even before we die , and we absolutely incapacitated to do any thing in our soul-affairs . but i hope and believe our deceased brother's work was not then to do , but was finished before . after that his natural strength ( which was very great ) had for some days grappled with a malignant fever , he was forc'd to yield , a rent was made , his soul took its flight , and left his body lifeless , in the eight and twentieth year of his age. his work 's soon done , but not too soon for him , who i hope is happy . we are now going to commit his body to the earth , there to lye and rot , which will shortly also be the case of every one of us . his toil , and warfare , and combat , and all painful work is at an end . he 's taken away from those evils which we may live to see . for who knows what is coming upon us ? we may , for ought we know , meet with miseries that we little think of , before we dye : but blessed be god that we have another life , of rest , and peace , and joy , in hope , and that tho we cant know what will befall us here , yet we know this assuredly , that blessed are the dead which die in the lord , for they rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . finis . books printed for , and sold by abraham chandler . the mourners companion , or funeral discourses from several texts , 8vo . price bound 1 s. 6 d. death a deliverance : a funeral discourse , to bind up with the mourners companion . sacramental discourses on several texts , before and after the lords supper , together with a paraphrase on the lords prayer , 12ves . price bound 1 s. 6 d. practical reflections on the late earthquakes in jamaica , sicily , malta , &c. with a particular historical account of those , and divers other earthquakes . price bound 1 s. 6 d. the day of grace : or a discourse concerning the possibility , and fear of its being past before death : shewing the groundless doubts , and mistaken apprehensions of some , as to their being finally forsaken and left of god ; with the dangerous symptoms and approaches of others to such a sad state ; in four sermons from psalm 81. 11 , 12. serious reflections on time and eternity , with some other subjects , moral and divine ; to which is annexed an appendix concerning the first day of the year ; how observed by the iews , and may best be employed by a serious christian. all six by mr. john shower . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32083-e480 * viz. that of beza , reserv'd at cambridge heb. 9 . 27. jam. 3. 17. rev 14.13 ▪ a true believer's choice and pleasure instanced in the exemplary life of mrs mary coxe, the late wife of doctor thomas coxe. preached for her funeral by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. 1680 approx. 79 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 37 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a27055 wing b1433 estc r218157 99829774 99829774 34217 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a27055) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 34217) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2024:8) a true believer's choice and pleasure instanced in the exemplary life of mrs mary coxe, the late wife of doctor thomas coxe. preached for her funeral by richard baxter. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. [6], 65, [1] p. printed by r.e., london : in the year, 1680. caption title on p. 1 reads: a true believer's choice and pleasure, &c. running title reads: a funeral sermon. includes errata on a3v. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coxe, mary, d. 1679 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2005-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-03 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2007-03 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a true believer's choice and pleasure . instanced in the exemplary life of mrs mary coxe , the late wife of doctor thomas coxe . preached for her funeral by richard baxter . prov. 10.7 . the memory of the just shall be blessed , but the name of the wicked shall rot . london , printed by r.e. in the year , 1680. to my worthy and much honoured friend , dr. thomas coxe . sir , though your great kindness and care of the health of me and mine , much oblige me to you , and your personal worth much more , and your worthy children command my great respect and love ; yet none of these should have moved me to say a word of all that i have said of your deceased wife , which i had not verily believed to be true : and it was gods grace in her , which much more commanded it , than all my debt to you and yours . she was so exemplary , as that i think it my duty for the good of others , to make this publication of her character , and of this sermon . but one great defect is here to be notified to the reader , that almost all her secret way of duty , and particular converse is omitted , which you that were still with her , could have described ; for i thought meet to say no more than i either knew my self , or was obvious and known to many . the words which i heard but yesterday from the mouth of your brother in discourse , were such as i doubt can be said of few , that in so many years , from the hour of her marriage , to her death , she was never known to do one disobliging action , or speak one disobliging word , of or to any one of her husbands kindred or relations . had it seemed meet to you , or to your worthy and ingenious son , and your pious daughter ( the true image of her mother ) to have been the describer of the soul and life , of this exemplary saint , how much more fully could you have done it , than i , that was so much less acquainted with her . she is gone home , and you and i are at the door ; the lord give us so to live by faith on the promise and love of god , and the things unseen , that thence we may daily fetch our ruling motives , and stablishing consolations , and not from a transitory deceitful world ▪ and following christ and his saints under the cross , may with them possess the incorruptible crown ; and be found at his call among those that love his appearing , and be for ever with the lord. amen , amen . novemb. 19. 1679. errata . page 8. line 1. for angel read angels . p. 16. l. 12. for suffient r. sufficient . p. 27. l. 13. r. in which . p. 34. l. 21. r. sent for . p. 38. l. 11. for it is r. is it . p. 43. l. 6. for on r. of . l. 7. for of r. on . p. 58. l. 4. for causeth r. cureth . p. 61. l. 12. for will r. would . p. 62. l. 14. for received r. refused . a true believer's choice and pleasure , &c. psal. 119.111 . thy testimonies have i taken for an heritage for ever ; for they are the rejoycing of my heart . a text that speaketh of rejoycing , and that in an heritage , and an heritage for ever , may seem unsuitable to a mournful funeral : but it was chosen by our deceased friend , and not without justifiable reason . that which was a day of sorrow to us , was a day of rest and joy to her ; and it was meet that she should foresee that joy , and tasting it in the first-fruits , should commend that to us which she had found so sweet , and would bring us to the felicity which she hath now obtained . if the damned sensualist , luk. 16. would have had one sent from another world , in hope to save his unbelieving brethren , no wonder if a holy person were desirous that others should partake of her pleasure and inheritance : and like the lepers that found the siege of sama●ia raised , would not feast and rejoyce alone . she chose this , no doubt , as that which was most lively imprinted on her own heart , with a just desire that it might be imprinted also on the hearts of others ; that so we may not only rejoyce with her that now rejoyceth in the heavenly possession , but , as paul saith , gal. 6.4 . every man may prove his own works , and so may have rejoycing in himself alone , and not ( only ) in another . let us therefore by god's assistance so improve these words , as may conduce to this desired end . by god's [ testimonies ] here is meant that supernaturally revealed law and promise ▪ which was possessed by the church of the jews , as god's peculiar people , supposing the law of nature , and the common mercies which god had given to all the rest of faln mankind : both the precepts and promises are here included ; the types and their signification of the thing typified . [ i have taken them ] signifieth , i have believed them , implying that god revealed them ; and i have accepted them , implying , that god had offered them ; and i have chosen them , implying the preferring them before all competitors ; and i have trusted them , as signifying their special use , for the guiding , stablishing , quieting , and saving of the soul . [ for an heritage ] signifieth 1. as that which i trust to as my security for an heavenly inheritance . 2. and as that which now is my best portion while i am in the way , ( including the things connoted . ) 3. and as that which i prefer before all wealth and worldly heritage . alexander and caesar had larger dominions than david ; but neither of them was king of god's peculiar people , that had possession of his oracles , nor had the promises which he had , that christ should be his son and successor on his throne . the word [ for ever ] relateth both to the inheritance as everlasting , and also to david's choice , as immutably hereupon determined . they are said to be the rejoycing of the heart aptitudinally in themselves , which caused him to choose them , and actually , because he had chosen , believed , loved , and obeyed them . so that this is the sum of the sense [ worldly men make choice of a worldly inheritance , and hopes , and on this they trust ; and in this they seek their chiefest pleasure : but i , though blessed largely with thy bounty , have suffered many afflictions in the world : but thy word hath been my guide , and thy promises still fulfilled to me ; and experience hath confirmed my faith and resolution , to lay all my hope upon thy word or covenant , both for this life , and that to come , and from it i seek and fetch my comfort : it hath been my joy in all my sorrows , and in it to the last will i rejoyce ] this is the sense of the text , from which we are all taught . doct. that god's covenant or testimonies are the true believers heritage for ever , and as such are trusted and chosen by him ; and therefore among all the allurements and the crosses of this world , are the support and rejoycing of his heart . in the handling this i shall shew you i. what it is in god's testimonies which make them fit to be our heritage , and our joy ? ii. how they are called an heritage for ever ? iii. how they are so taken by believers ? iv. how far they are their joy ? i. in god's covenant or testimonies there is 1. the author . 2. the mediator . 3. the applying agent . 4. the ascertaining revelation . 5. the donative or benefit given . 6. the guiding doctrine and law. 7. and the persons or subjects connoted to whom all this is suited , to be an heritage for ever , and the rejoycing of their hearts . 1. the author is god , the lord of us and all ; in whose hand and will is our soul and body , our life and death , our health and sickness , our joy and sorrow , whose loving-kindness is life , and better than life , psal . 63.3 . who , if he will can make us whole and happy , and who hath told us what he will do by his covenant : he wanteth not love , for he is love it self ; essential , infinite self love , communicating to his creatures such love as his wisdom seeth meet for them to receive . the love that gave us the mediator and the covenant , will certainly perform it : it was of mercy that he promised : it is now of mercy and justice that he perform it . he wanteth not wisdom to rule the world by truth and goodness , and needeth not deceit and falshood hereunto , nor to flatter such worms as we into obedience . nor doth he that maintaineth heaven and earth , want power to make good all his word ; nor is there any adverse power to make it difficult , and hazard the success . indeed , he that seriously considereth the divine perfection , will think it were more strange and incredible , that god should not bless and glorifie the faithful , according to his word . if it be credible that the sun sends forth its illuminating and enlivening beams so far and wide , to so many millions of various creatures ( though it scorch the unsuitable objects that are too neer ; ) it is credible that god who is infinite goodness , should bless the capable with heavenly glory ! and did we not see that sin maketh many uncapable , it would be harder to reason to believe that all shall not be blessed by such a god , than that all the faithful shall be blessed . and we find , that though both be hard to unbelievers , they are of the two more hardly brought to believe the threatnings , than the promises of god. what wonder is it that infinite power , wisdom and love , should make some of his creatures blessed by communication ? and man in special when he hath made him capable of it ? and what greater satisfaction and security can a fearful , troubled , dying man have than the infallible word of the most gloririous god. sure he that firmly believeth it to be his word , can hardly choose but believe that it is true , and meet for our most quieting trust . 2. the angel and moses were the mediators of the jewish law : but the eternal word incarnate is the mediator of the new covenant ; promised only before ( to abraham , david , &c. yea to adam ) but sent when made man in the fulness of time , gal. 4.4 . and it must needs be a sure and excellent covenant which is made and confirmed by such a mediator , named in the prophecy , isa . 9.6 . wonderful , counsellor , the mighty god , the everlasting father , the prince of peace , of the increase of whose government and peace there is no end : he is the heir of all things by whom the worlds were made , the brightness of god's glory ; the express image of his person ; and upholding all things by the word of his power ; made better than angels ; having by inheritance obtained a more excellent name ; whom all the angels of god do worship ; and for whom they disdain not to minister to the faithful . it is a sure and comfortable doctrine which must have such a preacher sent from heaven , and a certain covenant which hath such a wonderful mediator . 3. but it is not like the powerless word of man , but the holy spirit of the father and the son undertaketh to accompany it , and as the arm of god to set it home , and make it effectual to its proper ends : we have not only heard this word , but felt it : as we hear and feel the powerful winds , though we see them not , and perceive not whence they come , or whither they go : all have felt this who are born of the spirit , joh. 3.8 . god spake not like man when he said , let there be light , gen. 1. and he teacheth not like man , when his spirit by his word doth quicken , illuminate and regenerate souls . it is a sure covenant that hath such an inward mediator , such an agent , and advocate , and witness of christ , speaking operatively from god to man , and speaking prevailingly in man to god. 4. and the sure manner of revelation doth make it fit to be our trust and joy. as it beareth on it self the image or impress of god's power , wisdom and goodness ; so by powerful miracles , and manifold wisdom , and unmeasurable goodness it hath been delivered , sealed , defended and propagated : and by a communicated spirit of life , light , and love in all sound believers , confirmed to this day . 5. and what is it that with such glory and certainty is delivered to us from heaven ? it is a deed of gift ( thus sealed by christ's blood and spirit ) of grace and glory ; of christ to be our head , and lord , and husband , and life , in and with him . john 5.10 , 12. of the free pardon of all our sins how many and great soever , and of reconciliation with god , and of justification by the blood and righteousness of our redeemer , and of the continued teaching , preserving , sanctifying , strengthening , comforting aid of the holy spirit ; of adoption and title to the heavenly inheritance ; that being sons , and having the spirit of the son , by it we shall be sealed up to glory , and be made the habitation and temples of god : in a word , it is a promise of this life , so far as that all things shall work together for our good , rom. 8.28 . and of the life which is to come , where we shall live in glory with christ for ever . this is the sure and blessed covenant of god. 6. and what is the doctrine and laws of god , are they not also suited to our trust and joy ? is it not a delightful thing to read that which no meer man could tell us ? how god made man and all the world , and what laws he gave him ? how sin came into the world , and death by sin ? how god hath governed the world from the beginning , and how he hath redeemed us ? what christ is , and what he hath done , and what he will do ? and what man is , and what he should be , and what he shall be , and do , and have for ever . and what is there in god's laws , but that which is our safety , and should be our joy ? if good laws be the safety and honour of kingdoms , are not god's laws so to all the world ? what an ugly dungeon were the world without them ? and what a worse than bruitish thing were man ? o how happy were man , were families , were cities , were kingdoms , if all had made god's laws their rule , and all mens laws and lives had been ruled by them ? then there would have been none but wise , just , and holy rulers , that would have governed for god , and for the common good , and princes would have been indeed the fathers of their countries , and masters of their families , abhorring all contradicting selfish interests , and all injustice , tyranny , and oppression . then subjects would have with reverence , readiness , and fidelity , obeyed god , in obeying and honouring their parents , princes and masters . then all men would love their neighbours as themselves , and do as they would be done by ; love and justice would reign among all , and injury , partiality and selfishness would be abhorred . and which of us cannot say , had i been ruled by god's laws , i had escaped all the guilt , the shame , the corrections , the terrours that have befallen me ? it is our sin against that sacred rule , which is the cause of all our sorrows ; else what peace might we have had in our consciences , in our bodies , in our houses , in our cities and countrey , as having peace with god. god's strictest laws , are but his strict forbidding us to destroy or hurt our selves and others , as you forbid fire and water , and knives and gunpowder , surfeiting and poyson to your children , for their preservation . o how glad would every true christian be , if god's laws were fuller written on his heart , and he could but be and do all that god therein commandeth . for want of this perfect conformity it is , that he cryeth out with paul , rom. 7. to will is present with me , but to do i find not — o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of death . how joyful should we be if we could but trust god , and love him , and obey him , and be free from sin , as much as the law of god commandeth us ? we testifie therefore that the law is holy , and just , and good , while we repent that we break it , and wish that we could better keep it : for this would keep our souls from guilt and shame , and terrors , and our bodies from much calamity and pain ; all gods ways are pleasantness , and all his paths are peace . great peace have they that love his law , and nothing shall offend them ; let papists ▪ hide it , and accuse it , and let the ignorant and malignant scorn it , yet will believers judge it fit for their confidence and delight . 7. and the rather , because that all this is admirably suited to our necessity . we are undone sinners ! and had perished for ever , without a saviour , and a pardoning covenant . we are dark and foolish , and should have erred to damnation , without this sure and heavenly guide ? we are beset with temptations , and how should we overcome them , without god's promise of better things than this world can give us ? we are under manifold pains and sorrows , and must shortly dye : and how should we undergo all this in peace , if we had not hopes of future happiness , and of that which will compensate all our losses ? we have a life of service to god , which must be faithfully and chearfully done ; and how should we so do it , without good perswasion of this revvard ? he that cometh to god , must believe that god is , and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him . o then what a joyful word should that be to us , which is sent from god himself thus to guide , to secure , to strengthen and comfort us , by the promise of all that we need , and can well desire , sealed by the blood , miracles , and spirit of christ ; and bearing the impress of god the author ; and that to such miserable sinners as vve are . ii. but how are god's testimonies our heritage for ever ? when in heaven vve shall have no need of scriptures . ans . 1. [ for ever ] sometime signifieth , to the end of my life ] as david saith , psal . 23. i shall dwell in the house of the lord for ever ; and so oft . and so gods testimonies vvere taken for his heritage , or chiefest portion , and rejoycing constantly , and to his lives end , as securing him of an everlasting heritage . 2. and the heritage promised by them , and connoted , is everlasting ; and the holiness imprinted by them on his soul , vvill be perpetuated , and perfected in heaven . iii. what is it for believers to take god's testimonies for their heritage ? ans . it is supposed that the flattering world , and the pleasures of the flesh , do stand here in competition , and are by many taken for their best , and this beeause they either think not of , or believe not the better things of a life to come , and the comforts of a holy prospect and preparation . in this case every true believer , seriously weighing all , and what can be said on both sides , what the world and flesh will be and do for him , and what god and grace , and glory will be and do , doth wisely discern and resolve , 1. that the world is vanity , and sin abominable . 2. that god is all suffient , infinitely good , and to be trusted , and his word most wise , and just , and true : and therefore though his belief have its imperfections and assaults , yet he so far believeth gods promises to be sure , and his precepts to be good and necessary , as that he resolveth here to place his hope and trust for his whole felicity in this life and hereafter , and to give up himself to the study , love , and obedience of gods laws , as the guide and security , and comfort of his soul , renouncing all the flatteries of the flesh and world which stand against it , and are preferred by sensual unbelievers . in few words , this was davids faith and choice , and this is the faith and choice of all true believers , by which we may discern whether we are such ; though all have not the same degree of trust and fixed resolution , yet all have this much in sincerity . iv. quest but can all say , they are the rejoycing of my heart ? ans . all of them can say , 1. we see that there is in the word and covenant of god in christ , unspeakably more matter fit to be our joy , than in all the pleasures , and wealth , and honours of this world . 2. and therefore we prefer it before them all , in our desire and our fixed choice . 3. and we find so much goodness and sutableness to us in this sacred word , as that we love it as our food and our security , though not with the appetite and love which we desire . 4. and though we have not that joy in this our love to it , and in the hopes of promised glory , which a stronger faith and love would cause , yet we find that it is our best , and we perceive more good in it than in sinful pleasures ; and the true and chief support of our souls in all our fears and troubles , and in our prospect of another life , is from the love and word of god through christ . and though our pleasure in it be not sensual and luscious , it is much more solid and satisfying to our souls , than we find in any other thing . and the sweetness which we taste in it , is greater at some times than at other . and the comfort which we have in our bodily health and welfare , is much as it signifieth to us the love of god performing to us his promises , and helping us to serve him with joy and gladness , in order to everlasting joy . this is the ordinary case of true believers ; though extraordinarily ; 1. some tempted , troubled , melancholy christians overwhelmed with grief and fears , do not perceive this much in themselves . 2. and the healthfuller stronger sort of christians have yet a more sweet and constant pleasure , in the testimonies and ways of god. having said this much for explication , a little more may suffice to shew you why and whence it is that believers receive the testimonies of god with this fixed choice , and trust , and pleasure . 1. it is from honest self love and interest : they certainly find that it is their best ; that it is true and good , and that there is nothing else to be found in this world , that will serve instead of it , to be a quieting security , guide and comfort to the soul. they perceive what they need ; and that nothing else can supply those needs : this must be their hope , or they must despair . 2. it is from holy suitableness and love to god , and the goodness which they relish in his word . as god giveth every living creature an appetite suitable to his food , and benefits , so doth he to the new creature . holiness is mostly the souls appetite to god , and spiritual good . the word which promiseth and guideth us to the incorruptible crown of glory , is an incorruptible seed , 1 pet. 1.3 , 4 , 5 , 6. and it is our milk or food , 1 pet. 2.2 . and by it we are made partakers of the divine nature , 2 pet. 1.4 . and it is the ingrafted or innaturalized word which is able to save our souls , jam. 1.21 . and as the whole stock is marvellously turned to serve a little graft , which is planted into it , and as if it had lost its former kind , doth bring forth only the fruit of the graft , so is god's word implanted in us to the change of our nature , and our fruits . and it is no sound appetite which hath no pleasure . no wonder if a strong belief do cause us to rejoyce with joy unspeakable , and full of glory , that we may receive the end of our faith , our salvation , 1 pet. 1.6 , 7 , 8. all god's commands and promises have by the divine impression of them on our souls , lest somewhat there which is like them , and connatural ; even a holy light to understand their truth and goodness , and a holy love to them , and the things revealed , to desire them , and take pleasure in them , and a holy liveliness to pursue the good desired . and this is the writing of the law and gospel on our hearts : and in this sense it may be said that god , that christ , that the holy ghost is in our souls , and dwelleth in us , even as an efficient principle , and a beloved object , and desired end . and if this be all that they intend , those called quakers have no reason to accuse us , for not preaching a god , and a christ within us . and if this be it that is meant by those who tell the world , that by saying that the holy ghost is in us , we are more arrogant than the pope , that claimeth a visible monarchy ; we glory in this joyful priviledge , this earnest , seal and first-fruits of heavenly glory , and humbly thank him who hath vouchsafed it , and assured us of it in his word , rom. 8.9 , 11. 2 cor. 6.16 . ephes . 3.17 . 1 john 4.13 . 1 cor. 3.16 . 2 tim. 1.14 . 1 john 3.24 , & 4.12 , 15 , 16. and if the scorners have any belief of the scriptures , let them read and tremble , rom. 8.9 . if any man have not the spirit of christ , the same is none of his . iii. i have given you the sense and the reason of this doctrine : we come hither to learn what use to make of it . and i think if i preach also on the copy or impress of this text , whose reliques we have laid in the dust , and tell us what use she made of such doctrine , it will be a considerable help to our own application . i have never loved or used to adorn sepulchers , or hang out specious signs at the doors of pride , ambition , tyranny , or worldliness , to entice others to imitate prosperous sinners in their sin : were i to preach at the funerals of an alexander , or a caesar , i had rather say that which may save the living from following them in pride and bloodshed , than to tempt men to the like sin and misery . to praise damned men , because they had the pleasures of sin for a season , is to be more foolish and uncharitable , than the tormented gentleman , luk ▪ 16. who would have had one sent from the dead to warn his brethren , lest they should follow him to that place of torment , by preferring fleshly pleasure and prosperity , before the life and hope of saints . our praises ease not tormented souls . it is a mark of the citizens of the holy city , that a vile person is contemned in their eyes ? but withall , that they honour those that fear the lord : for god doth honour them . my duty therefore to god , and my love to holiness , and holy persons , and to you in special that are her children , and other relations , commandeth me to tell you , ( though some of you know it better than i ) that our deceased friend , in the course of her pilgrimage , did speak of her self by her constant practice , what david professed in this text. though i speak but from eighteen or nineteen years acquaintance with her my self , i have full evidence of it for the former part of her life . and my acquaintance with herby neighbourhood , and mutual esteem , hath been such as hath given me more advantage to know her than most have had : though i remember not ever to have spoken with one person that hath known her , that did not take her for an extraordinary and eminent example of the piety and virtues which i shall mention . if the hypocrites seek the praise of men , verily they have their reward ( a poor reward ) but she seeking first the kingdom of god , and the honour that is of him , had this cast in as overplus : i never heard that any person of any perswasion did speak evil of her , or question her eminent sincerity and worth . had she come to this by sinful compliance , she might have feared christs words , luke 6.26 . wo to you when all men speak well of 〈◊〉 . but as god hath not left himself without witness to the very heathens , so he hath not left innocency , wisdom , love , peace and piety , without some witnesses in the consciences of the ungodly ; few of them have the face to speak against these in their proper names : and if he could not dishonour them by our mixed faults , and by the slanderous affixed names of heresie , schism , disobedience , hypocrisie , phanaticism , folly , and what else ignorance and malignity can devise , the devil knew not how to dishonour holiness and vertue , nor to encourage the blind world to so common a hatred and opposition of them , as they shew in all nations of the earth . when she chose this text , it was from such a sutable spirit , as all men choose the food , the friends and company , the business and discourse which by agreeableness they most delight in . that she made gods word and covenants , ( connoting gods love , christ , grace and glory , the spring , matter and end ) her best , her heritage , her all , contemning all that stood in competition ; and that these were the rejoycing of her heart , she shewed to us that knew her by these notable effects . i. by her constant , serious , diligent use of the word of god , by hearing , reading , conference and meditation . her food was not more constantly used , nor i believe so sweet to her . her hearing in the publick assemblies , nothing but necessity could interrupt : and her private constancy her relations know . she practically told us that the blessed mans delight is in the law of the lord , and therein doth he meditate day and night , psal . 1.2 . ii. she made so much , ( in esteem , use and thankfulness ) of every little of the help she could get in these spiritual things , as shewed that they were her heritage and joy . when some come home with accusations of the sermon , as dry , dull , or weak , she found in it something for profit and solace : i am sure my own conversation and duties have been truly guilty of the foresaid faults , and yet how gladly would she come over the way to us at prayer time . how much did she value now and then a little ( too dull unprofitable ) conference , and took it for a loss that she could have no more . how glad was she of now and then a too dry and short letter , and how carefully would she keep them . as if with the woman of canaan , she had been begging for the crums . alas our duller appetites seldom so desire after , or delight in , much larger portions of well-drest food , but fulness hath loathing , and we call it dry manna , which we are weary of ; or every little fault in the dressing turneth our stomach against it ; full souls loath the honey-comb , but to the hungry every bitter thing is sweet . iii. she loved and received the word of god from any faithful . minister that brought it : it s true that she more frequented and desired some than others : but her religion was not faction , or siding with this party or with that : she was far from a shismatical mind or practice . when one party separates from all that preach in the parish churches , and another from all that preach elsewhere , she separated from neither . iv. accordingly she loved all persons that feared god , as such : not confining her affections or kindness to those of this or that controvertible opinion : but that candour and holy simplicity , and serious practical religion which she had her self , was it that she loved in all others whomsoever . v. and accordingly her conference was not about controversies , or matters of contention , which too many spend their hours in these times , but that which tendeth to edification , and to administer grace to the hearers : she was not such as paul oft reproveth for striving about words , and little things , that tend not to edifie but subvert . vi. much less was she tainted with any heresie , or dangerous errour in religion , nor ever drawn from the truth , and her spiritual stedfastness ; but cleaved to the form of wholsom words , and the simplicity that is in christ , and to them that held the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ; avoiding the vain janglings of men of contention , pride and corrupt minds . vii . she was not of a censorious backbiting temper , nor used , as too many faulty christians , to make it her discourse , to find fault with others , and make her self the judge of controversies , cases , actions and persons which she understood not : but had learned that lesson , [ speak evil of no man , ] and to know and be called to it , before she judged . viii . she was very desirous of the good of all , and glad of any thing which tended to promote the conversion and saving of mens souls . ix . she was charitable and liberal also to their bodies ; in an unusual degree ; as i am able to say by particular experience , in which i have known it exercised to the poor . x. her humility and detestation of pride was manifest , not only in her garb and behaviour , but in her low thoughts of her self , and the lowliness of all her conversation , and great dislike of all that savoured of pride . xi . she was not morose , nor a refuser of converse or useful visits , when reason required them : but she took it for a great affliction to have much diversion by company or by matters , from her constant course of better work : and ( besides her health ) was therefore the more inclined to be much in the country , that her mind and time might not be at the mercy of too much intruding diversions , and unprofitable discourse . xii . much more was she a verse to all sorts of sensuality : such pleasing of the flesh as corrupteth the mind , and turneth it from holy work and pleasure ; and such vain recreations as waste precious time , and profit not our selves or others : holy things were her food and feast , her work and recreation . xiii . her prudence in all matters was very exemplary ; being much more against unadvised rashness , and actions which tend to ill effects , than most of us of the stronger sex : and i confess i should think much better of my self if i could equal her herein . in which her acquaintance commonly admired her , though this is a point which all must acknowledge much imperfection in . xiv . and her gentleness , meekness and calmness of mind and carriage was very amiable to her friends and most that did converse with her : she was a great adversary to passionate behaviour , which surely came from that power of grace , which had made love and meekness become a nature in her , seeing no such thing could be else expected in one of her sex and complexion , and bodily weaknesses . xv. she did not , as the hypocrite , give god the second place in her heart and life , and the world the first , nor put off christ with the leavings of the flesh , nor take this world for her best or heritage , and the next only for a reserve when she must needs leave this : she seemed to prize no heritage but god , nor to set much by any transitory vanity whatever . xvi . she excelled in the earnest desire of her childrens good , and in the care of their well-doing and salvation . how oft hath she desired me to pray for them ? how glad was she if i would at any time but converse with them , and advise them : they know better themselves ( though i know much , ) how much she prayed for them ? how oft and tenderly she counselled them ? what letters of serious holy counsel she would write to them ? and how like she was to job , who prayed and sacrificed for his children , when they were merry and feasting together , fearing lest they should forget god and sin against him ? xvii . this kind of life which i have described was her calling and trade , and in a manner her only business in the world : it was not now and then in a good mood , like a feast or recreation : but as she knew that one thing is needful , so she chose that better part , which never was , nor will be taken from her . she so lived as if she had but this one thing to mind and do in the world , to please god by obeying him , and to cleave to christ , and to do good , and to be saved . nothing else seemed to be much in her mind , thoughts , care , and business ; her life seemed to be but this one thing . but i must confess that poor and tempted persons , that are under many worldly wants , crosses and employments , cannot be expected to reach her measure in this : though one thing be their best and portion , they may be tost with many troublesome cares and businesses . but god gave her both mind , opportunity and help to live in as even a course of constant holiness in a family , as monks can pretend to or hope for in their community or solitude . religion was her very life . xviii . in this life she had also a constant peace of conscience , bewailing her imperfections , but not living in melancholy , despair , hard thoughts of god , or an uncomfortable sort of religion : i have oft heard her speak of her lamented weakness of faith , love , and heavenly desires and joy , but never , that i remember , one doubting word of her own sincerity and salvation : but her ordinary speech was lamenting that we were all so weak in our belief of the word of god , and the unseen world , and what execellent persons we should be if herein we had a stronger faith that were liker unto sight ; and how much it should be the business of all believers , to pray and labour for an increased powerful belief hereof , as that which would set all right in us xix . her patience under her bodily infirmities also was exemplary . her weakness made her so lyable to dangerous coughs while she was in london air , that by this she was constrained to live much from home . and most of all her life she was tormented with a frequent head-ach ? but in her patience in all this she did possess her soul ; and patience furthered experience , and experience hope , and she learnt more the quiet fruits of righteousness by being much exercised herein . xx. and as by this she daily learned to dye , so the expectation and preparation for death , was her continual work and state . she lived and heard , and prayed , and wrote her letters to her children as at the brink of the grave , and the door of eternity . not that her diseases did seem to us to be very mortal , or threaten this sudden change . but she knew the brevity of mans life , and that death is ready to remove us all , and what a moment it is till that certain hour . and as she lived holily , and in peace with god and man , so she dyed with ease and little likelyhood of the ordinary miseries of fear or pain : a little soreness and swelling of her leg , and pain towards the hip , turned to two swooning fits , and in the third or fourth , having been in quiet discourse with her husband , she as quietly sunk and dyed away ; desiring that i should be sent to pray with her ; she was dead before i came , without any signs of nature striving : and she had said to her daughter after her former fits , she did not think that one could have dyed so easily as she had almost done . a death thus expected , and thus prepared for is not to be called sudden ! thus god can make death easie to some of us , that are apt to over-fear the antecedent pain . and now what can be more , ( almost ) desired in this world , than such a life and such a death . our dear friend is at home with christ , and gods will , which is goodness and love it self , is so fulfilled ; even that will which must dispose of all things , and in which only we must seek our rest . and having described this true copy of the text , i may boldly speak of it to several sorts . i. i may again ask both quakers and scorners , whether the holy spirit do not dwell and work in such among us , as our dear friend now deceased was ? ii. i may ask vnbelievers and sadduces , whether these operations of the spirit of god on believers , be not a sign that god owneth the gospel by which he thus worketh ? and that christ liveth and reigneth , who can thus still send a sanctifying spirit into believers souls ? and whether it be not blasphemy to think and say , either that these excellent endowments of souls are not of god , or that he giveth them all in vain , and that believers are all deceived by god , and labour and hope all their days for that which hath no being ; and that the better god maketh them , the more deluded , vain and frustrate he maketh them , and ruleth and amendeth the world by falshood . iii. i may ask the papists , with what face they can say as they use to do , that they never heard of a protestant saint ? and whether we may not be as religious in the places that god hath set us in , as if we turned recluses , monks or nuns , and shut up our selves from doing any good in the world . iv. i may ask the malignant that call all serious godliness hypocrisie , whether such a life as this doth savour of dissimulation ? and whether such seriousness and hypocrisie are not contraries , and hypocrisie be not a profession without that seriousness which is sincerity ▪ and whether they that in baptism solemnly vow to take god for their god , and christ for their lord and saviour , and the holy ghost for christs advocate and witness , and their sanctifier and comforter , and to renounce the flesh , the world and the devil , and when they have done , perform none of this which they vowed , but live to the flesh and world which they renounced , and take a holy life as needless , yea and hate it ; i say , whether these be not the impudent hypocrites that vow and profess that holiness which they abhor , rather than they that with all their deligence perform the holy vow which they have made . and if wives promise fidelity to their husbands , servants to their masters , and subjects to their princes , are they the hypocrites that are serious and keep their promise ? or they that were never serious in it , but scorn the keeping of it ? v. and as to those malignant persons that take this strict and serious diligence for mens souls , to be but scrupulosity , or the character of some over-zealous bigots or puritans who are most inclined to schism , and to be troublesom or dangerous to states ; i ask them , 1. what is there in all the description which i have here truly given you , which is injurious or dangerous to church or state , or any person ? will it hurt any one that god and men are seriously loved ? and that god's testimonies are trusted and delighted in and obeyed ? and that god's kingdom and righteousness is first sought ? 2. it is not christ , and christianity , and scripture that you accuse ? if it be schismatical and dangerous to be serious in performing what we profess and vow , surely it is bad in baptism to vow it , and still by calling our selves christians to profess it ? to accuse , hate and scorn the serious practice of your own profest religion , is to be the most foolish self-condemners , and in some respects worse than mahometans , infidels , and heathens . vi. but my most earnest desire is to you the loving husband , and beloved children of our departed friend ; that you will not overlook , 1. the correction , 2. the sin , 3. the mercy , 4. or the duty which god now calleth you seriously to consider . ( 1. ) i need not perswade such as are rather apt to over much sorrow , not to despise this chastening of the lord , but rather not to faint under his rebuke . but i cannot disswade you from a just sense of your loss , we that are your neighbours feel it ; but you much more , to whom it is much greater : what saints in heaven do know of us , or think of us , or do for us , we shall better know when we are there : but here you are deprived of the daily prayers which she sent up for you ; of the continuance of her loving care of your souls , and watchfulness over you ; of her wise and faithful counsels to you , and of her imitable example , as it was still before you ; a husband of a pious prudent helper , and children of a tender affectionate mother ; your great sorrows tell me you feel your loss . ( 2. ) and all correction is for sin , which is worse than suffering ; o fall down before god , and with penitent tears bewail your sin , which hath caused your loss : humbly confess how unworthy you were of such a mother , and beg of god to forgive that sin . ( 3. ) but mercy also as well as sin and loss must be acknowledged . your sorrow must give due place to thankfulness and comfort . your mother is taken from you , but remember . 1. what a mercy it was and is to you , that you are so related to such parents , seeing god hath promised special mercy to the faithful and their seed ; and if any of you miss it , it will be through your own ingratitude and contempt . 2. what a mercy is it that all her prayers for you are yet in force , and more of the answer of them may yet be sent you , if you reject it not ? 3. you have yet all her holy counsels to remember , and they may profit you while you live . 4. and though she be gone , i hope her example will never be forgotten by you . 5. and what a mercy is it , that under all her infirmities , you enjoyed her so long ? 6. and yet how much greater cause of thankfulness have you , that she so lived and so dyed , and that you may think of her with comfort , as being with christ , and hope to be with her for ever . every one hath had a mother , but every one had not such a mother as you have had . ( 4 ) and i have intimated your duty , while i have mentioned your loss and mercy . 1. think over often what sin she reproved in you , and what counsel she gave you , and now revive your resolution to obey it . 2. remember what she was wont to pray for on your behalf ; and let it not now be long of your neglect or wilfulness , that you are without it . 3. remember her humble , moderate , holy example ; and think whether your souls have not as much need of the greatest care and diligence as hers had ? and why should not you be as studious to please god and make sure of heaven as she was ? bless god that you have such a pattern , that hath so long dwelt with you for your imitation , next your imitation of christ : holy simplicity is despised by the world , but it will prove the only wisdom at the last . i have told you what use to make of the example of our deceased friend : let me now tell you what use to make of the text which she so much loved , transcribed , and chose . i. and first here you may learn , the nature of true faith , and sound rel●gion : it taketh gods testimonies and promises for our heritage , and for the comfort of our hearts . it is not true faith , unless we so trust gods promises for this life and that to come , as to take what he promiseth for our best and our inheritance , and his promise for our best security and title , and his law for our governing rule that we may obtain it . so that , 1. here you see how we differ from infidels , that do not trust their everlasting hopes and happiness on the promise of god. 2. and how we differ from hypocrites who speak best on heaven , but really look for their best of earth : which christ calleth [ trusting in their riches , ] because that is indeed their trust , from which they have their greatest expectations , and for which they most labour and will leave all ; this a believer doth for promised happiness : and this the worldly hypocrite doth for the prosperity of the flesh on earth . 3. and here you see that faith and godliness are not melancholy uncomfortable things , as the devil and the flesh would perswade unexperienced fools and unbelievers : unless it be sad to have security from god of a heavenly heritage , and rejoice therein . and here you see the differences between the mirth of a fleshly infidel and of a believing saint : one is like a drunkard that is merry for an hour in a brutish kind of befooling pleasure ; or like one that hath a pleasant dream ; or one that heareth a jeast or merry tale , or seeth a pretty comedy or shew : the other is more rational and heart-contenting than it should be to any one of you , to have good security for many hundred years life and health and prosperity here on earth ; such a birth-right do prophane fools sell for such a morsel ; not knowing that the fear of god caused by true faith is the beginning of wisdom . 2. hence therefore we may learn how to try our sincerity of faith. doth it make us take gods promise and the thing promised as our heritage ? though we are not without temptations to doubting , nay nor without the remnants of unbelief , but our hearts are troubled when we look beyond death with many fears , yet if we so far trust gods word , as resolvedly to take it for that which we will adhere to , and lay our chiefest hopes upon , we have a faith that will entitle us to the promised benefits . obj. but some may say , i cannot say that it is the rejoycing of my heart . ans . 1. can you say that you take it for that in which you place and seek your joy , though you cannot yet attain it ? and that you prefer not any other pleasure in your esteem and choice and seeking ? if so , you shew that you truly believe and trust to the faithfulness of god's word , though yet you reach not what you seek . desire is the first-fruit of faith and love , and holy joy is the flower and perfection . 2. cannot you say that it is this word that maketh you hope that there is for man a better life , and that you shall not perish like the beasts ? and that your fears and sorrows are somewhat abated by the promises of god ? 3. cannot you say that you perceive a pleasing goodness in the word of god , which maketh it welcome and acceptable to you ? by what i have mentioned , you may find , 1. that the word hath not been in vain unto you , when it hath caused such effects . 2. and that the same spirit is in you which wrote the word ; or else you would not love and desire it , and take it for suitable food and pleasure , yea , your heritage and joy . 3. and you may hence perceive that you are not without the love of god himself , though you see him not , and have not such sensible conceptions of him as you have of men and things which you have seen : for if you love truth and goodness and holiness in gods word , because it is such , you sure love best the greatest truth , goodness and holiness , and that is god. 4. and hence you may perceive that though our nature love not death , and a weak faith will not overcome all fears , when we think of coming into an unseen world , yet really you are lovers of heaven , in that you are lovers of that which constituteth heaven , and is its desirableness to man ; even holiness and gods love and glorious presence , and our perpetual joy herein . if you desire this you desire heaven , though the fear of death do make you doubt of it . 5. and hence you may find that you are not worldly hypocrites ? else it is not gods promises , and law , that you would take for your heritage and joy ; but worldly prosperity and fleshly pleasure , and god and heaven should have but the leavings of the flesh , for fear of an after reckoning at death . 6. and though your joy be small , you may know that it is of the right kind , when it is chiefly sought in god's love and promises ; and you would not let go the word of god , and lose your part in it for all the vanities of this world. iii. hence also you may learn why all true christians so much value the testimonies or word of god ? why they so much read it , think of it , talk of it , and hear of it ; and are loath that papists should corrupt it , or conceal it in an unknown tongue ; or that any should deny them the necessary use of it , or silence the ministers that preach it to them ? who would willingly be deprived of his heritage , or heart rejoycing ? iv. yea , indeed hence we see , how much we should set by it , and use it , how dear it should be to us ? how strictly we should obey it ? with what delight we should read it and meditate in it ? how diligent we should be to confirm our belief of it , and how we should fetch our hope and comfort from it , in life and at our death ? v. and you may see hence , that it is no wonder that the devil and all his servants in the world are enemies to the word of god. because they are enemies to our heritage and joy : and there are few better signs while many pretend to be for christ , to know who are really for him , and who are against him and his greatest enemies ; than to judge of men as they further or hinder ; love or hate the word of god as to its proper use , , as the heritage and joy of holy souls . vi. but the chief part of my application is , to commend this wise and holy choice , and solid comfort to you all ; and to beseech you presently to imitate david , and turn away from all inconsistent pleasures . if you live in sorrow or deceit , and die in desperation , it is not for want of an offer from god of better things . have you lived hitherto as thus resolved ? if you have , the lord confirm you , and be sure such hopes shall not deceive you . if you have not , what will you now choose and do ? if you live not to some end , you live not like men , according to reason . if you have chosen what end to live for and seek , what is it ? consider , i be-beseech you , of these things following before it be too late . 1. what will you take for your heritage , or your best , if not the future promised joyes , and what will you take for your security but gods word ? what is it that you place your chiefest hopes in ? shall health and wealth , and pleasure to the flesh , and honour among men , be taken for your heritage ? dare you under your hands make a covenant for these to quit all your hopes of the life to come ? if not , which is that you prefer , and which would you quit , if one must be hazarded or lost ? which hath the nearest and highest place in your hearts ? which seek you first , and make all other things give place to ? o sirs , it is a shame to our stupid hearts , that we have need to be so oft told by preachers , that we must dye , and that our flesh must shortly lie neglected in dust and darkness , till the resurrection , and that we and all the deceitful trifles of this world are ready to part for ever ! it is a shame that we must be oft told that which every fool and child at the use of reason may know , how poor and how short an heritage or pleasure all those have , who have no better than this world can give them . what say you , will you die in hope or in despair ? if unbelief make you hope that there is no hell , yet hope of heaven you can have none , unless you trust the word of god ? the light of nature indeed is such a natural word or revelation , as may tell us much of a future life of retribution ; but gods supernatural revelation is so much clearer , that we cannot expect that he will see by a lesser , who wilfully rejects a greater light : sure all men would live for ever if they could , and all would be for ever happy : you would not sure die like dogs , without any hope of a better life hereafter , if you could have good security for such hopes ? and what better security is there to be found , by mortal men , than ( the promises of god , confirmed by christs blood and miracles , and by the seal of his holy spirit . ) in a word , without all doubt , either heaven must be your heritage , or you must have none that is worthy of a serious thought , and enough to keep a man from wishing that he had never been born , or been a brute , that had not reason to know the matter of his griefs and fears . and either gods word seconding the light of nature , must give you hopes of a better life , or you must live and dye in meer despair . and shall that be your wilful choice ? 2. consider how unvaluable a mercy it is , to man , yea , to sinful miserable man , that god should vouchsafe to give him such an everlasting heritage , and such security for it , and that on the meere thankful acceptance of the sinner . and how worthily will they be undone , that by wilful refusal are deprived of freely offered felicity ? 3. and consider , how suitable an heritage and security it is that is offered us , and how fit for our joyful acceptance and esteem . the thing promised is no less than endless glory with god our redeemer , and all the blessed : it is in the world where we must be for ever ! it is the perfection of that which every holy soul desireth : it is our best , our all ; it must be that or nothing ; that or hell. the word or covenant which is our trust , 1. is gods own word . 2. it perfecteth and secondeth natural revelation and hope . 3. it beareth on it self the impress of god , even his power , wisdom and love , in wonders , prophecies and grace , it is sealed by the blood of christ ; by his own and his disciples multitude of miracles ; and by the gift of his sanctifying spirit to all true believers to the end : it is confirmed to our souls by the experience of the power of it , and the blessed effects , and this in-dwelling spirit , the witness of christ ; and by the answer of prayers , by many providences , and by the experience of all believers to this day . it is excellently suited to all our needs ; to our wants , our dangers , our fears , our doubts , yea , and our sinful unworthiness in the freeness of gods mercy , and all his gifts . indeed man had rather live by sight , and would fain know by seeing , whither souls go , and what they are , and have , and do hereafter . but it is not we , but god that is the ruler , and fittest to choose both the gift and means , the end and way : if we thankfully trust and improve a promise , we shall quickly see , and have possession . blessed be god for the light of his gospel , to guide us up to the light of glory . o that we had hearts to trust it , love it , and rejoice in it , as we have just cause . 4. and is it not a great mercy of god , that he hath herein called us to a life of happiness and present joy ? if he had bid us only weep for sin to the last breath , the condition had been easie as for pardon and hope of endless mercy ; but he hath given us a word , which he would have to be the rejoycing of our hearts ; and do we not love joy ? or have we any better ? i have not now time , and i much more want my self such a mind and heart as i should have , to tell what cause of daily joy god hath given us in his word and covenants . but this i will tell you , that our want of joy is our daily sin and shame , as well as our loss and suffering ; and among all the discoveries of the sinful weakness of our faith , hope and love , our want of rejoycing in the word of promise , and hope of glory is not the less ? o what an enemy is death in this respect , that standing between it , darkneth and affrighneth us from our joys : but christ hath conquered death , to deliver those that through fear of it are subject to bondage , heb. 2.14 . and though we cry , o miserable men , who shall deliver us ? we ye thank god through jesus christ our lord. and i must second the testimony of our deceased friend , in professing for your encouragement , my own experience , i have taken god's testimonies for my heritage , and they have been these fifty years , or near , the pleasure of my life , and sweeter than honey , and preciouser than thousands of gold and silver . as we tell men in charity of the things which we have found good , the medicines that have healed us , and commend the persons that have been friendly to us , and as man's nature is inclined to propagate the knowledge , and communicate the good which we partake of , and grace increaseth this inclination ; so i take it to be my duty , to add herein my own experience , if it may contribute to the determining of your cho●ce : and reason teacheth all men to regard that means and remedy and good the more , which many have had experience of ; and it is not to be taken for vain ostentation , to profess that which all must have in some degree that will be saved . though the natural and sinful fears of pain and death , too long deprived me of much of the joy which i should have had in the thoughts of the unseen world , and too much doth so to this day , yet i must say that the word of god , and the persons that love and practice it , and the holy way of life and peace , and all the means and things that here savour of heaven , have been so good and pleasant to me , as enableth me to assure you , that on earth there is nothing so worthy of your desire and joy . and to encourage you , i will tell you by my own experience , what benefit may be expected from this kind of delight , agreeable to davids and our friends experience . 1. by this means my life hath been almost a constant pleasure . 2. this pleasure hath much upheld me under almost constant bodily infirmity and pain . 3. it hath made all my sufferings from men , and crosses in the world to be tolerable and very easie to me ; had not gods word been my delight , i had lived uncomfortably , in constant pains and sorrows , and had perished in my trouble . 4. it hath saved me from the snares of sinful pleasures : mans nature will seek for some delight , and they that have it not in good-will , seek it in things hurtful and forbidden ; it is only greater things that can overcome our mistaken choice of lesser . in my childhood i was sinfully inclined to the pleasure of romances , and of childish sports ; but when i tasted the sweetness of gods testimonies and ways , i needed no other but spit out those luscious unwholesome vanities . and though common knowledge , called learning , be pleasant to mans nature , and i cannot say that i have not overvalued it , yet i must say , that the relish of these greater matters , hath made me see how much of it is vanity , and hath saved me from the pursuit of that part of it which doth but please curiosity and fancy , and tendeth not to use and to greater things ; and sensual pleasures i had no need of . 5. it hath by this means made that pleasure which i had , to be such as my reason did approve and justifie , whereas if i had sought it in preferment , wealth , or sensuality , a foreseeing conscience would have afrighted me out of all my pleasure , and i should have had more of the pricks than of the rose ; of the sting , than of the honey . of this pleasure you need not fear too much ; but of the sensual pleasure , we more easily catch a mortal surfeit 6. this sweetness of gods word , hath made also my calling and daily labor sweet ; so that it had my heart , and not my forced hand and tongue . 7. and this hath helpt my constancy herein : for when we have no delight in our work , we grow weary ; and weariness tendeth to give it over , or to do it heartlesly and slubber it over in unacceptable hypocrisie . 8. and this hath much saved me from the sinful loss of time : pleasure causeth trifling and delays ; who needeth vain pastimes , that delighteth in gods word and work ? 9. and this hath been to me an excellent help for the increase of knowledge : for the mysteries of godliness have still more to be learned by the wisest man ; and as boys at school , so the scholars of christ , learn best who have most pleasure in their books . 10. and this pleasure hath much confirmed my belief of the truth of scripture , when it hath born its own witness to my mind , and i have tasted that goodness which is agreeable to its truth . i easily believe him that commendeth a thing to me , when i taste or feel that it is good . 11. and this pleasure hath helped me against vain thoughts and talk , while the truths of god were sweet , and so continually welcome ; it 's easie to think of that which we delight in ; and sinful delights corrupt the thoughts and speech with constant sin . 12. and this pleasure hath somewhat fed my daily thankfulness to god , in the constant experience of the goodness of his truth and ways . 13. and it cured the error of my beginnings , when i strove for nothing so much as to weep for sin , and perceived not that the joy of the lord is our strength , and the flower of holiness , and likest to the heavenly state ; and that the spirit sanctifieth , by making god and goodness pleasant to us . 14. and hereby it made me find , that the praises of god are the sweetest and noblest exercises of religion ; when before i placed more in lamenting sin and misery . 15. and this maketh many things needless to me , that else would seem needful ; i want not more company ; i want no recreation but for my body ; if i have not what i would have , i see where only it is to be found . 16. and i am assured that the constant pleasure of my mind , hath not only kept me from melancholy , but from greater sicknesses , and tended to the lengthning of my life ( as scaliger saith , pleasant studies do . ) for constant pleasure must needs tend to health . 17. and this taste hath made me long for more , and had i not felt that it is good to draw near to god , and very desirable to know him and his will , i should never have so earnestly beg'd for clearer light and more near and sweet communion with him ; pleasure is the cause of strong desire . 18. it hath been one of my greatest helps against many temptations , of subtile enemies that tempt men to sadducism and doubt of the life to come . 19. it hath made me more communicative to others , for we would all have partakers in our delights . 20. and it hath greatly furthered my repentance and hatred of sin , when i have tasted what pleasure it depriveth us of ; and the abhorrence and loathing of my self that can delight in such a god and saviour , and word no more : when i taste how good it is , and see so much reason to rejoice in it , and the hopes of glory a thousand fold-more than i do , none of all the actual sins of my life , do make me half so much loath my naughty heart , as to think that my want of greater joy in so great and near a good , doth shew so much weakness in my faith , and hope , and love ! o that i had more faith and love that i might have more of this delight ! hearers i have sincerely told you what comfort you may have if you will not refuse it from the word of god , and from the experience of david , and ( because things near are aptest to affect ) from the experience of our deceased friend , and of my self , and indeed of all gods servants in their degree ; you would live in joy ; you will dye in joy ; we need it in a life of so much trouble , and for a change that else is terrible ; and its sure and near . o sirs we need another kind of comfort , than sport or appetite , or wealth , or any such fading vanity will give us , you may have some of it , if you will. and though joy be the top of grace which we arrive not at with a wish , nor in an hour , yet the nature of the new creature relisheth or savoureth the things of the spirit , rom. 8. 5 , 6 , 7. and the spirit of adoption is a spirit of filial love , and cryeth abba father , and the love of god the father , the grace of the son , and the communion of the holy spirit , which are the believers part , are all of them the greatest comforters ; and christ giveth believers that seek and trust him , that spring of living waters , which tendeth to everlasting satisfaction , and cureth indigent and sinful thirst . will you then have any portion , heritage and joy which will be worthy of a man , and shall go further with you than the grave ? if you will you may : god and this congregation are witnesses that it was offered you . but think not to refuse it , and prefer the transitory pleasures of sin before it , and at last have it , and find that which you received , or which you sought not first , mat. 6.33 . nor to find a treasure in heaven where you never laid it up or sought it . the hopes of the wicked perish , and the hypocrites hopes are as the giving up of the ghost : but the righteous hath hope in his death , and therefore may dye in peace and joy , job 8.13 , 14. and 11.20 . prov. 11.7 . and 14.32 perhaps some will say , that such a discourse of rejoycing is unsuitable to the mourning of a funeral . i think not of such a funeral , in which we commemorate the holy life and death , and believe the present and everlasting joy of such a friend , and one with whom we have long joyned in seeking and waiting for that felicity , and hope ere long and for ever to rejoice with christ and her , and all the blessed . and funeral sermons are not for the benefit ( though for the due honour ) of the dead , but of the living , to teach us all to prepare for death , which indeed is so much of the business of our whole life , that all the rest is but a vain shew , and foolish trifling or much worse . and wherein doth our preparation for death so much consi●t , as fore-seeing what so great a change will need , and what a tryal it will put our faith and hope to , to seek and get such security for our everlasting state , and such sound belief of it , and setled content and comfort in it , which the fears of death , judgment , and hell , may not shake or overcome , that so we may finish our course with joy , and pass through the valley of the shadow of death , and fear no evil , but may comfort one another and our selves with this , that we shall for ever be with the lord , and may say with paul , i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which god the righteous judge will give , to me and to all that love christs appearance ; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints , and admired in all them that do believe , and shall say , well done good and faithful servant . enter thou into the joy of thy lord. woe and for ever woe to every soul of you , that shall finally reject or neglect the offer of such an heritage and joy ! and blessed be that grace which hath caused all true believers to prefer it in their highest esteem and choice and seeking . i have lookt about to see if there were any better and surer to be had ; and i am fully satisfied it must be this or none . i offer you but what god hath caused me , and all that he will save , to choose ; and lord grant that i may never look back to any other ; let the love of god my heavenly father , the grace of jesus christ my lord , and the joy of the sanctifying spirit , sealing up the promise of god as my security , and writing his law and gospel in my heart , be my heritage and joy ; and i shall never envy the most prosperous sinner their portion in this life , but shall live and dye in the thankful praise of the god of my salvation , who is essential , infinite , joyful love. amen , amen . finis . the christians victory over death a sermon at the funeral of the most honourable george duke of albemarle, &c. : in the collegiate church of s. peter, westminster, on the xxxth of april m.dc.lxx / by seth, lord bishop of sarum. ward, seth, 1617-1689. 1670 approx. 64 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67564 wing w818 estc r12260 13799260 ocm 13799260 101920 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a67564) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101920) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 854:16) the christians victory over death a sermon at the funeral of the most honourable george duke of albemarle, &c. : in the collegiate church of s. peter, westminster, on the xxxth of april m.dc.lxx / by seth, lord bishop of sarum. ward, seth, 1617-1689. [2], 36 p. : port. printed for james collins ..., london : 1670. "preached and published by his majesties special command." imperfect: portrait of george monck, duke of albermarle, lacking. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng albemarle, george monck, -duke of, 1608-1670 -sermons. church of england -sermons. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 1st, xv, 57 -sermons. death -religious aspects -christianity -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-01 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the christians uictory over death . a sermon at the funeral of the most honourable george duke of albemarle , &c. in the collegiate church of s. peter westminster , on the xxx th of april , m.dc.lxx . by seth lord bishop of sarum preached and published by his majesties special command . london , printed for iames collinsat the kings-headin westminster-hall , m.dc.lxx . the christians uictory over death . i. cor.xv.57 . but thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory , through our lord iesus christ. whosoever he was who first said of wisdom ( or philosophy ) that it is contemplatio mortis , hath recommended a considerable document to the world. not that the continual poring and meditating upon death ( precisely and nakedly considered ) is a matter so much becoming a philosopher . but because the true theory of the consequents of death , is not only the most excellent , but also the most concerning part of humane knowledge . it is that theory , which influences the actions of all living men ; which steers their courses , and gives rules and measures to them in all their concernments . as , for instance . the true determination of the question betwixt the christian theory and others ( especially that of epicurus ) concerning the state after death ( the mortality or immortality of the soul , the account and iudgment after death , the resurrection of the body , and the rewards of eternity : ) will decide the questions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , good or evil , prudent or imprudent , brave or contemptible in the lives or actions of men. if death have dominion over the whole man , and if it be an extinction of the soul as well as a corruption and dissolution of the body ; if there be no rewards or punishments to follow , and could we be sure of all this ; then to deny our present affections and appetites , or to put our selves upon hazardous and difficult designs , upon the contemplation of something to betide us after death , is very imprudent , foolish , and ignoble . if on the other side , the end of this mortal life be the beginning of another state , a state of happiness or misery , to be dispensed according to the christian theory ; then to prefer things light and temporal , before those which are weighty and eternal , is beastly , sottish , and contemptible . it is the business of our most learned apostle , here in this chapter , under the comprehensive title of the question concerning the resurrection , to compare and to examine the christian and epicurean theories , in reference to the state of the vitâ functi . the corinthian ( epicurean ) philosophy had begun like a cancer , to eat out the doctrine of the resurrection , and here he labours earnestly to retrive it . he proves the truth of the christian doctrine , and ( because veritas est una ) in so doing he shews the falshood of the epicurean hypothesis . from the resurrection of christ he infers the truth of the general doctrine of the resurrection ; and for the truth of christs resurrection , he appeals to more than 500 witnesses . he shews the many absurdities of epicurizing under a profession of christianity ; and answers that fond objection about the manner of the resurrection , and the body that shall arise . he weighs the physical and theorical opinions , and the practical corollaries of them . the natural philosophy of one opinion is , that we shall die to morrow ( toti moriemur . ) of the other , that we must all live for ever . of these opinions , one tends to corrupt good manners ; the other to rectifie and ennoble them : one inclines and leads men to the work of the beast in man ; the other , to the work of the lord. the logick of one is this , let us eat and drink , for to morrow we shall die ; the inference of the other is this , let us be stedfast , unmoveable , always abounding in the work of the lord , forasmuch as we know , that our labour is not in vain in the lord. the epicurean imposture , by the assistance of a violent lust , an ungovernable rage , actuated and heightned by provocation , or inflamed by the spirit of wine ; may furnish out a hector to a duel ; and prompt him on to die as a fool dieth . but the foundation of great and heroical performances , the just and rational , the considerate and sedate , the constant , perpetual , and uniform contempt of death in all the shapes thereof , is only derived from the christian principle . this inspires passive valour into the hearts of men , and furnishes invincible martyrs for the stake ; this excites active courage , and equippes and furnishes heroical souldiers and generals for the field . to this the world is indebted for the glorious example of this day ; and to this we are indebted for this triumphal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the text ; o death ! where is thy sting ? o grave ! where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin , the strength of sin is the law : but thanks be to god , that giveth us the victory , through iesus christ our lord. the words of my text resolve into two general parts . 1. a proposition or christian principle , god through christ giveth us the victory over death . 2. an inference to christian practice . 1. in reference to god , thanks be to god. 2. in reference to our selves , let us be stedfast , unmoveable . as for the inference , i shall only be permitted to conclude with it , and am forced to be very contracted in my observations . the proposition may be considered two ways . 1. objectivè and in thesi , and so it lays down the general case of believers , as it stands ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) in the truth of nature , and so it gives us this universal theorem or observation , viz. every true christian is through our lord christ victorious over death . or , god through christ gives to every christian the victory over death . 2. subjectivè and in hypothesi , as it bears a part in st. pauls triumphant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and then it affords us this more restrained and particular observation , viz. through christ it is given to some believers , even here in this life , to attain to a setled contempt of death , enabling them to triumph over it . of these two observations very briefly . i. christ has procured to every true christian or believer the victory over death . now the assertion of the truth of this proposition , the explication and particular tractation of the causes , and the deduction , and enforcement of the consequences of it in reference to god and man , is so apparently the entire argument of the gospel , that it is needless , among christians , to insist on the proof of the observation : briefly ; the gospel hath delivered to us both the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it . first , for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . if either ( according to the doctrine of epicurus ) we suppose death to dissolve the soul , as well as to corrupt the body of a man ; or if the soul of a man shall survive , and death shall immediately enter it into a state of infelicity to be filled up , and eternized by a miserable resurrection under the stinging of a worm that dies not , and the tormenting rage of a fire that never shall be quenched . in either of these cases ( in the figurative language of the scripture , which speaks of death as of a person ) it may be properly asfirmed , that death is too hard for such a man , that it gets the victory , and holds the dominion over him . but if on the other side , the state of a man be advanced and bettered by his dissolution ; so that upon good consideration , it be desirable to him to be dissolved . if when death shall have done its utmost , the essential part of man , the man that is in man , shall be surviving , surviving in joy unspeakable ; to be compleated in a glorious resurrection , to be continued and increased to all eternity . then he who doth not perish by the hand of death , nor is thrown by it into a state of infelicity , but passes through death into endless life ; this man is properly victorious over death . now this is the effect and summary of the gospel , to this every part of it , one way or other , doth relate , it every where assures us , that this is the condition of every true believer , whosoever believeth in him shall not perish , i. e. shall not cease to be , ( much less do worse ) but have everlasting life ; viz. he hath the victory over death . secondly , again for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the whole series of this affair is per omnia causarum genera , from the first occasion of the difference , to the last performance of the victory , abundantly delivered in the gospel . this tells us , that by the law sin entered into , the world , and death by sin , ( i. e. death temporal and death eternal . ) so that the sting of death is sin ( or the consequent of sin ) and the strength of sin is the law. it tells us , that death reigned over all ; in as much as all men had sinned . that by the law no flesh could be justified , though it was ( in its nature ) holy , just , and good ; yet it was become the ministry of condemnation . that to take away the strength of sin ( which is the law ) god sent his son made under the law , to redeem them that were under the law ; that to disarm death by taking away the sting thereof , a he who knew no sin was made sin ; b that sin might not reign in us , and death might no more have the dominion over us ; that we might not c be under the law , but under grace , d he humbled himself to death , even the death of the cross. e there , he , ( his own self ) bare our sins in his own body ; f there he abolished in his flesh the law of commandments , slaying the enmity thereof ; g there , he blotted out the h hand-writing , and took it out of the way , nailing it to his cross. i there he died , that by his death he might destroy him , that had the power of death , even the devil . k there he spoyled principalities and powers , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● ostentavit eos , triumphing over them in it . thus christ , the captain of our salvation , obtained the victory over death and hell , obtained it for himself , and for all his faithful souldiers and followers ; thus all of them have certitudinem objecti , every true believer is victorious over death in truth , and in rei veritate . but every one hath not in this life certitudinem subjecti ; this is not a general interest , to which men are entitled by christianity , but a special grace and priviledge , dispensed according to the peculiar prerogative of gods will and pleasure . though christianity , and a just power of contemning death may be reciprocal , yet christianity and the actual exercise of the contempt of death , do not by necessity evince one another . there are children of light which walk in darkness , working out their salvation with perpetual fears and tremblings . there are ( on the other side ) some , that having no charity , are yet so far transported as to give their bodys to be burned . there is a way that seemeth right unto a man , but the end thereof are the paths of death . so that the second observation is limited , and particular : viz ii. through christ it is given to some believers to attain in this life , to a settled contempt of death , and enabling them to triumph over it : this was the case of st. paul in the text , and the case of many others , he giveth us the victory , saith st. paul. to clear this observation , i ought to shew how christians come to obtain this priviledge , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( by and through christ. ) to perform this fully , it would be requisite to lay before you the doctrines of the merits of christ , and of the grace of god , and of the application of them by believers . but being restrained by the occasion , i shall only endeavour to shew , that christ ( and he indeed alone ) hath given his followers such a system of principles , as is apt and able to bring them to a rational contempt of death . now this he hath done , 1. by the theory which he hath left the world concerning the state of the vitâ functi ( or deceased . ) 2. by the assurance which he hath given the world of the truth of that theory . no other theory ( supposing it to be true ) is in its nature able and apt to bring men to this heroic state . no other dissenting theory is or can be true . annihilation and misery nature abhors , and the only ground of a rational contempt of death , is a just expectation to advance and better a mans estate by dying . this expectation arises only from a good conscience ; to reduce a man to a good habit of conscience , nothing is powerful enough beside the powers of the world to come , a right understanding , and a deep consideration of the pe●sonal rewards and punishments of the world to come . now the true theory concerning personal rewards and ●unishments , was first of all clearly delivered to the world by our lord iesus christ : for , 1. he it is that hath cleared the personal capacity of the rewards of the world to come . 2. he it is who hath delivered plainly and clearly the administration of the rewards themselves . 3. christ has cleared the capacity of personal rewards ; and this he hath done by his doct●ine concerning 1. the immortality of the soul , and 2. of the resurrection of the body . first , for the immortality of the soul. although the simple apprehension of spiritual beings ; the judging things contrary to the representation of sense ( as in the distance and magnitude of the sun , moon , and stars ; ) the forming universal pr●positions ; the reasoning and reflecting power of men ; the strugling betwixt the sensual and intellectual part of man. the lashes of conscience , in wicked men , always forecasting g●ievous things . although , these and many other indications of nature do evince , that there is in living men something incorporeal and immortal . and although beside and above these indica●ions , there are many passage in the law and the ●rophets , from whence the immortality of the s●ul may be concluded , ( in consequence whereof , both before and during the t●me of christ , all the sects of the iews , except the sadduces ; and ( i think ) all the philosophers , except epicurus , did declare for the doctrine of an immortality . ) yet it is truly said of christ , that he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; that he cleared or brought to light the doctrine of immortality . the opinions which ruled the world before him ( both of the philosophers and of the rabbins ) were not only false but pernicious ; they still made death the king of terrors , and were so far from establishing● that they overthrew the capacity of personal rewards and punishments after death . these are the consequences of all those hypotheses which either destroy the substance of the soul with epicurus ; or the individual permanency of the soul with the platonists , the peripateticks and the stoicks . or which assert the metempsychosis of souls , passing from men to beasts , or men , with the pythagoreans and many of the iews . and these were the imaginations which had possessed the world before the ministry of christ. if the soul were a crasis or harmony , a modus or motion of the body , it would then be dissolved in death , it would cease to be or sleep in the lifeless . atoms whereof the body was composed . but he hath taught us , that men may kill the body , and not be able to hurt the soul ; from whence it follows , that the soul is a distinct and permanent subsistence . if the immortal part in man were a delibation of the god-head ; or intellectus agens , or the soul of the world , and upon death were back again refunded into them ; the individual nature would be destroyed ; but he hath taught us , that this is still preserved , that the souls of abraham , isaac , and iacob , are distinctly preserved in the hand of god. if souls did transmigrate from men to beasts , or from one man to another , who could be rewarded ? pythagoras , or euphorbus ? he hath instructed us , that the soul doth not shift and flit from one body into another , but in their departure , when they go hence , they pass into everlasting habitations . lastly , he hath informed the world , that not only the souls of the righteous , but of the wicked also , are immortal . that as the soul of lazarus , so also the soul of dives , was permanent and existent after death . thus christ hath cleared the doctrine of immortality , and ( in respect of the soul ) the capacity of personal rewards . 2. moreover , to fill up and c●mpleat the capacity of the whole person , and so render it intire , he hath delivered to the world the doctrine of the resurrection of the body ; namely , that the time is coming when death shall be finally swallowed up in victory . that he himself shall then descend from heaven with a shout ; with the voice of the arch-angel , with the trump of god , and the dead shall rise . that the dead in christ shall rise first . that what is sown in corruption , shall be raised in incorruption . that all men shall rise with their own bodys , both just and unjust ; that the hour is coming● that all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and come forth . that the sea shall give up the dead which are in it ; and death and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall deliver up the dead which are in them . that those that have done good , shall go into the resurrection of life ; and those that have done evil , shall go into the resurrection of condemnation . thus hath our lord christ cleared the principle and foundation of a generous contempt of death , by bringing to light the capacity of personal rewards in the world to come . but , 2. he hath clearly delivered the whole method and administration of rewards themselves , inchoate and particular in our decease . 2. vniversal , consummate in the great day of retribution , at the time of the general resurrection . in the gospel we are taught , that immediately upon our dissolution , the souls of the righteous enter into a state of happiness , and the souls of the wicked into a state of infelicity . for the former , to be dissolved is to be with christ ; for the latter , to die is to become miserable . say to the righteous , it shall be well with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they die in the lord , they rest from their labours , their works follow them . say to the wicked , it shall be ill with him ; the other is comforted , but he shall be to●mented ; lazarus died , and immediately was carried by angels into abrahams bosome ; the rich man died and was buried , and presently we find him in hell , in torments . but the great and final distribution of rewards , the circumstances and intire oeconomy of the general judgment , as it is delivered only , so it is delivered punctually , and exactly , in and by the gospel . this tells us , that god hath appointed a day , wherein he will judge the world. that christ is ordained of god , to be iudge both of quick and dead . that he shall come in the clouds , and every eye shall see him . that the powers of heaven shall be shaken , and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven , and they shall see him coming in the clouds with power and great glory . that he shall send his angels , with a great sound of a trumpet , and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds , from one end of heaven to the other . that he shall sit upon the throne of his glory . that all nations shall be gathered before him ; we must all appear before his judgment seat , to answer for the things done in the body , whether they be good or evil . that he shall separate the one from the other , as the shepherd divideth the sheep from the goat , that the books shall be opened , and the dead shall be judged out of those things which are written in the books . that every secret thing shall be brought to light , the secret counsels of the heart , the hidden works of darkness , shall be revealed , and he shall render to every one according to his deeds . that this sentence shall be pronounced , upon the blessed , come ye blessed of my father , &c. and this upon the cursed , go ye cursed , &c. finally , that upon the sentence given , the righteous shall enter into joy unspeakable and full of glory ; and the wicked shall pass into a state of everlasting torment , where shall be weeping , and wailing , and gnashing of teeth . these are those powers of the world to come , whereof the apostle speaks . as there are movimenta mechanica ( mechanical powers ) whereby the motion of bodies is excited and regulated ; so rewards and punishments are movimenta spiritualia , those spiritual powers , which excite and regulate the motions of the soul ; and that which gives to these their utmost force and moment , is this consideration , that they are to be eternal . this consideration is able effectually to affright men from base and ignoble actions , and to inspire them with noble and heroical designs , to raise them above all worldly things , and bring them to a rational contempt of death ; and this is that theory which christ hath delivered concerning the state of the vitâ functi . but secondly , christ hath not only delivered , but he hath also assured the world of the truth of this theory . he confirmed the truth of his doctrine , the divinity of his precepts , the certainty of the rewards , and punishments of the world to come , the infallible performance of his promises , and his threatnings . not by giving the world a set and series of imaginary principles of vain philosophy , and science falsly so called , engendring strifes and everlasting disputations . not by bare assertions , and confident repetitions only , as did the epicureans of old ; and as is the manner of some in our daies , who have taken up their principles amongst our selves not by phantastical obscure ratiocinations , concerning numbers , vehicles , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the like ; but by evidences plain and convincing , by proofs sensible and experimental , partcularly accommodate to the eviction of the truth of the matter in question , and to the conviction of all mankind ; by raising lazarus and others from the dead , he at once gave an experiment of the immortality of the soul , and of the resurrection of the body , of the capacity of eternal rewards and punishments . of all his doctrines he gave infallible , sensible , undeniable proof , by the purity of his precepts ; the sanctity of his life ; the testimony and witness of his death . by fulfilling all the prophesies concerning him ; by his predictions and his miracles ; by a thousand several instances of supernatural wisdom and power ; by his glorious resurrection , his visible ascension ; by sending down the holy ghost on the apostles ; by enabling his disciples and his followers to work signs and wonders ( in one word ) by innumerable arguments . thus the captain of our salvation , the author and finisher of our faith , hath cleared the foundation and principle of heroic actions , in exhibiting to the world , the grounds and causes of a just and rational contempt of death . and now , blessed be his holy name , who by his grace , applying those principles to the hearts of the professors of christianity , is pleased in all ages to raise up christian heroes for a testimony to the energy of his eternal gospel . and in particular , blessed be his name , who in our time , and in our nation , hath been pleased to raise up that great and most honourable person , the illustrious george duke of albemarle , that great and most eminent and uniform despiser of death ; that glorious performer of heroic actions . concerning whom i am obliged ( though very briefly and scantly ) to speak his country the source of many gallant men . his extraction from a generous , ancient , eminent family ; his early addiction to arms , the school wherein he was trained ; the degrees by which he ascended , his youthful essays , his virile performances both at sea and land ; in forreign countrys , in england , ireland , scotland , ( all memorable , and such as will be great in story ) shall not detain you . the little which i intend to speak , shall take its epocha from that time , when god was pleased to raise him up to be our deliverer , to call him forth and show him openly upon the theater of the world ; making him a spectacle to angels and to men . since this time , if we shall well consider him , in every circumstance , i conceive i may , without flattery or partiality pronounce ; 1. that a greater action hath not been performed , than that of the restauration . 2. that a greater person than he , concerning whom we are speaking , hath not b●●n : produced in many generations ; and these are the two things which i shall propose to your observation . to enter into the places of rhetorick , and to expatiate in a formal panegyrick , were to violate your patience , and offend the manes of him , to whom we perform this parentation . he was a man great of performance , little of speech , no lover of wast words , or fine composed orations , but a great affecter of what was short and plain , easie and inaffected . in compliance with this character of him , i shall briefly and plainly intreat you to consider , that for a man to exert an heroical performance , two things are requisite . 1. there must be the exercise of vertue , ( prudence , fortitude , iustice , temperance , and their subordinate vertues ) in an eminent manner : and 2. there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , something divine and extraordinary . an eminent opportunity , an object arduous and honourable ; and a success that may have in it an evidence of something supernatural . consider how all these circumstances were combined and constellate in that marvellous work of the restauration . 2. moreover , seeing that honor est in honor ante , and lies in the apprehension of spectators , who alwaies have one eye on the prosperity , as well as an anoth●● 〈◊〉 the merit of a person ; and who do not give a final judgment , ante obitum supremaque funera . therefore to estimate the greatness of this person , i shall intreat you to consider , 2. the perseverance of his vertue , 3. the felicity wherewith it was attended . 1. for the glory of the restauration . the greatest advantage of honour ( with god and man ) which can befall a military person , is not to slay his thousands , or his millions , but to be made a repairer of the breaches of his country , and a restorer of paths to dwell in : for this there must be opportunity ( if there be no breaches , there can be no repairer , ) for this , god gave him opportunity . how great , alas ! were the breaches , how gaping , how desperate were the wounds of these sinful , miserable nations ? hell had broke loose upon us , and confusion had obtained and held a dominion of 20 years . the flower of our nobility , gentry , &c. cut off by the sword of the rebellious ; how were the mighty fallen ! i may not stand to make a gradation of our miseries , — quanquam animus meminisse horret — yet i must repeat it , the king and the priest ( the best of kings , a most excellent prelate ) fell under the swords , rather under the axes of an impious rebellion . the sun was turned into darkness , the moon into bloud , the stars thrown from their orbs. our religion abolished , our foundations overturned , our laws abrogated . the government of church and state dissolved , the governours banished , imprisoned , murdered . instead of religion ; atheism , and infidelity , fanatick rage and wild enthusiasm : instead of liberty and property , the voice of sequestrations and plunders , decimations , transportation , imprisonment , were heard in the land. our kings and our princes were among the gentiles , the law was no more , the prophets received no vision from the lord. how often did his majesty attempt a restitution ! how often was he disappointed ! he came to his own , but his own received him not : they said , this is the heir , come let us kill him , and the inheritance shall be ours . god permitted them to fill up the measure of their iniquities , to baffle every attempt for a restitution . he suffered them to ride over our heads , tinkers , and coblers , and draymen , &c. to become lords over his inheritance . and now behold a wonder of providence and mercy , behold , we said our bones are dry , our hope is gone , we are clean cut off . when presently and unexpectedly , the glory of the lord appeared for our deliverance . re , summa stante tegulâ , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as it was with gideon , iephtah , samson , and other heroes of old , the spirit of the lord came upon this great captain . it prompted him to an heroical design , it filled him with prudence , fortitude , iustice , temper , and sobriety , to an heroical degree . immediately he was not disobedient to the heavenly motion , but he forthwith proceeded to the performance of actions able to justifie the belief of a divine assistance . by a deep prudence , and an impregnable taciturnity , he confounded the wisdom of the wise , and he put to shame the pretended spirit of the fanatical enthusiasts . he hampered the crafty in their own snare , in the net which they laid for others privily , was their foot taken . such was his courage , that though an host of men were prepared against him , yet he did not fear . audite posteri ! if my voice would reach it , i would speak to the generations which are to come . by his courage and his prudence , himself ( at first alone in the design ) without any confidents or correspondents , being then in an unsure conquered country ; friendless , moniless , unarmed , and unprovided . taking to him the help of a few cold streamers , in the compass of a few weeks , without the expence of one drop of bloud , he scattered the invincible armies and armadoes of the rebellious , which had so long subjugated these nations , and made themselves terrible to their neighbours . he reduced into obedience all the cities , towns , castles , forts , armies , navies , magazines , of england , scotland , ireland , and our foreign plantations . he broke the heart of rebellion , tore up the roots of anarchical tyranny , and of fanatical usurpation . by temperance , vigilance , and strenuous activity , god blessing his endeavours , he brought all things into his power . and when he had them there , when these nations trembled under ambiguous expectations , and the wondring world were gazing and conjecturing which way the moment of his prodigious fortune would incline him ; he chose the way of conscience and religion . the fatuous glaring lustre of a prosperous usurpation could not seduce him . but imbracing the well-weighed dictates of a sober , solid , christian understanding , he sacrificed all his acquisitions to honour and justice , plainly heroical and divine . he restored to every man his own ; to the king he restored the throne of his royal predecessors ; to the nobles their honours and ancient priviledges , ( tribute to whom tribute , fear to whom fear , honour to whom honour belonged . ) to the whole nation he restored their religion , their laws , their liberties , their properties , ( and to some of the regicides he repaid their due . ) thus was god pleased by the ministry of his hand ( at a time and in a manner unexpected , by a surprize of grace and bounty ) to turn our captivity as the rivers in the south , to fill our mouths with laughter , and our tongues with joy . o that men would therefore praise the lord for his goodness , and ( by their gratitude and obedience ) declare the wonders of this heroical transaction , surely here was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , this was the lords doing , and it will be marvellous in all succeeding generations ; he it was that sent redemption to his people by the hand of this great leader , as of old he did to israel by the hand of moses . concerning this whole transaction i shall only say , it cannot be parallel'd out of the rolls and records of the generations which are past , and it will be remembred and admired in the generations which are to come . this was the state of that glorious action . 2. in the next place , towards an estimate of his person , be pleased briefly to reflect upon his demeanour afterwards ; consider how all his following actions were answerable to this grand leading performance , and were in their kind great and heroical . did ever any person ( after so great an action ) exceed him in the temper and sobriety of his mind , or in the dutifulness , usefulness , the strenuous labour , the constancy and final perseverance of all his following performances ? after that ( by the mercies of god ) the publick affairs were composed , and by the bounty of his gracious and grateful soveraign , his own private affairs were setled . did he use any insolencies ? offer at any extravagancies ? attempt any exorbitancies ? side with any factions ? make any intrigues ? cherish any resentments ? nay , but entirely and absolutely , ( without any the least reserve , ) he devoted himself to the service of his king and country , and to the support and preservation of those great interests of church and state , which god by his ministry had restored . riches and honour did not corrupt and soften him to ease and luxury ; they did not abate , but animate and inflame his courage and his industry . he did not say , soul take thine ease , thou hast goods laid up for many years , eat , drink , and be merry . he did not say , let others labour , and let others fight , let me enjoy my self a little before i go hence , &c. but on the other side , if ever any living man did studiously decline employments , because they were easie ; and offer himself to others , because of their difficulties ; embracing with a greedy magnanimity the very labour and danger of them , certainly he was that person . to omit the industrious execution of his other offices , wherein no man could exceed him , the vigilant and laborious performance of his place of general , which obliged him to a constant , perpetual care of all his majesties forces , and to a vigilant eye over all the nation ( and the like . ) when god was pleased to send upon the cities of london and westminster that tremendous plague , and every one by an eager flight withdrew themselves from the danger , how earnestly did he petition that he might stay at westminster ! there he staid , and by the exceeding hazzard and indefatigable labours of his person , and by a pious , timely , prudent erogation of his charity , he was a succour and support to a languishing nation , a dying people . when the war grew to an excess of fierceness , how promptly and desirously did he profer himself to the engagement ! i need not stand upon this argument , non ignota loquor . this was his disposition , this was his practice , such was his constant behaviour to the last . no man ever exceeded him in the perseverance of his merit . 3. to compleat the estimate of his person , it remains that we speak a word of his felicity . 1. the experience that he had of it in this life . 2. the hope of his injoyment of it in the other . 1. as for his temporal felicities ( received at the hand of god ) they may be reduced to three orders , 1. personal . 2. domestical or oeconomical . 3. popular , or political . 1. that great things might be done by him , god was pleased to bestow upon him great endowments ; many and great deliverances , great and glorious successes . notwithstanding the undervalue of some who think themselves the wits , non est magnus cui non fuit ille magnus . god had bestowed upon him , a large understanding , a deep judgment , a capacious and a retentive memory , an admirable faculty of dispatch of business , a strong compacted body , a solid mind , not apt to be elevated or depressed , an invincible courage , a sedate and uniform contempt of death . each of these hard to be equalled , all together never to be exceeded . to reserve him for honourable and great performances , he bestowed upon him a thousand eminent , and great deliverances ; i believe there is hardly any man living , who had been more often or more dangerously ingaged , yet ( i have often heard him say that ) he was never considerably hurt , or wounded , god covered his head in the day of battel , and in time of danger he whelmed him under the hollow of his hand . st. paul gives the corinthians a catalogue of the perils from which god had delivered him . he fil'd up and vastly exceeded the catalogue of st. paul. from perils of robbers , from perils from his own country-men , from perils among strangers , from perils in the city , from perils in the field , from perils in the sea , from perils among false brethren , from perils by the plague , from perils by war , from perils of assassination — from perils innumerable , the lord delivered him . to set upon him his own stamp and signature of honour , god blessed his counsels , and gave a wonderful success to his endeavours . no age can equal that success of the restauration ; he never felt into any great disaster in his profession ( which is the common fate of great commanders ) and even where the issue of the whole matter hath not been very prosperous , god hath ordered his part so , that he hath come off with immortal honour and reputation . such was his personal felicity . moreover , god blessed him in his oeconomical relations , he was certainly the best husband in the world , and he received the requital of faithfulness and love , they twain were loving in their lives , and in their deaths they were not divided . he was the best father in the world , and god was pleased to bless him with a son of eminent abilities , of body and mind , fitted for the support of his honour , and the continuance of his name and family . he lived to see him entred into the service of his country , ( as hanno entred hannibal , against the romans , so ) he entred him in the loyal antifanatical house of commons . he lived to see him disposed of in a very honourable marriage , seasoned by himself in the principles of vertue , and religion , honour and deep loyalty , disposed to follow him in the ways of honour which himself had traced , and in gods due time to become a support and ornament of his country . lastly , god blessed his endeavours with honour and acceptance of men , of all that are good and honest in the land , from the king that fitteth upon the throne , to the meanest beggar in the street . the souldiers looked upon him as their father , and were ready and ambitious to live and die with him . the body of the people loved and honoured him , nay ( god forgive them ) they believ'd and trusted in him . they thought he could do all things , ( as martha said unto christ , lord if thou-hadst been here , our brother lazarus had not dyed ) how oft hath it been said by common people , if the general had been here , the city had not been burned ? he was the favorite of the parliament , the dearling of both houses , they confided in him , they loved and revered him . and his love was reciprocal . his heart was upon them for their religion and loyalty , he mourned for their divisions ; exceedingly laboured the uniting of both houses , and the continuance of this parliament . but incomparably beyond all his other worldly felicities , was the constant , uninterrupted , ardent affection of his soveraign lord and master . he conferred upon him riches , and honours . he cherished him in his royal bosome . he pursu'd him with perpetual ardors without intermission or abatement . no shadow of suspicion , no cloud of iealousie , no qualm of satiety arose , from the first moment of his services , to the last moment of his life . nay , his love to him is stronger then death , his affection follows him after death , in a paternal tenderness towards his son. in the glorious parentation of this day ; what can a pious prince do more then to deliver his remains to be deposited in the sepulture of the kings of england , and his renown to be preserved in the memorials of all posterity ? these are some few instances of the favour god shewed to this great person in this world. it is true , that all worldly felicities in this life are not to be valued without the hopes of his felicity in heaven ; i shall speak therefore one word of that , and so conclude . 2. here indeed we are in loco lubrico , concerned to be reserved and wary ; what shall we say ? or what shall we not say ? we know the hard censures of fanatical , factious , disappointed , envious persons ; but i know likewise , that we have not so learned christ. in all that i have spoken , or shall speak concerning him , i would not be understood to pretend , that he was exempt from humane failings , and infirmities , quisque suos patimur manes ; but his vertues were great and eminent , his merits known to all the world . surely he had no failings comparable to the envy and ingratitude of his detractors . moreover we have a gratious god , a merciful redeemer , an high priest sensible of our infirmities ; and we have reason to believe that his infirmities were washed away by the blood of iesus . what we have seen and heard , we may be admitted to speak , and i have had the honour to be ( in some measure ) a witness of his conversation . for the last 7 years ( at least ) of his life , i had the honour and happiness of a free conversation with him . towards his latter daies ( especially since his bodily infirmity began to prevail upon him ) my addresses were more frequent then before . when i had opportunity , i waited on him in the country ; when i perceived the approaches of death , i attended him carefully and often . i was with him in his agonies , i assisted in his last christian offices ; i heard his last words , and his dying groan . utì imperatorem decuit , i saw him dye erect in his chair . and lastly , i had the honour to close his eyes . this i speak , not to boast of the particular honour which he was pleased to do me ( his conversation was universally such , towards all mankind , humble , easie , and familiar ; i am perswaded that hardly any did ever exceed him in this part of the greatness of his mind , he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the self same person in every position , never depressed , never elated by his fortune ) but i mention these particulars only ad faciendam fidem . in reference to the duties of the second table , his performances were so eminent in all relations , that the mention of them is needless . tell me , all ye that would detract from his honour , was he not an incomparable subject , husband , father , friend , citizen , commander ? i shall only speak a word in reference to the first table . his religion did not indeed consist in talking , canting , boasting , ( of priviledges or atteinments ) censuring , or disobedience . but it was solid , real , and substantial ; and it had these marks . through all the varieties of his life , he adhered constantly to the true reformed protestant profession , and was a lover of the doctrine , discipline and government of the church of england . he was a great detester of sacriledge ; he hath often told me with ioy and resolution , that he never had or would have in the compass of his estate , any part that had ever been devoted to pious uses . he was constant in attendance on religious duties ( prayers , sermons , &c. ) and would not depart hence without the viaticum christianorum , the communion of the body and blood of his redeemer , which he received with all the testimonies of penitence , devotion , and comfort . he discovered alwaies an awful reverence towards the majesty of god , and an abhorrence towards the profanation of his name . as for the truth of the graces of a christian spirit , the surest time to judge of them is the time of trial ; the time of the greatest trial , is the time of sickness and the approaches of death ; and in reference to these , i am perswaded that , if self-denial and resignation to the will of god ; if patience and meekness , and a deep humiliation under the mighty hand of god. if a promptness to die and a desire to be dissolved . if a conscience satisfied and rejoycing , in the discharge of duty towards god and man. if faith in christ and a comfortable hope of salvation . if freedom from terrors and scruples , to which even good men are liable . if all these ( sealed with a clear and perfect understanding to the last moment , and with a gentle , placid and decorous exit ) are any grounds whereby to judge of a christians estate in reference to the world to come , then the world hath reason to be perswaded of the happy condition of this great person . as he was not an ordinary person : so his trial was not the ordinary trial of men , it was not in outward matters , but in his body ; his plague was the plague of the heart , without a metaphor : i saw his heart opened , and upon sight of what was there , it was generally concluded , that there was the seat of the distemper whereof he died . his visitation was tedious and long , in 12 months space he very seldom slept , or took any rest within his bed , but suffered all that while an internal painful strangulation . he bore all this with an heroic patience and meekness without murmuring , or complaining ; as a lamb that is dumb , so opened he not his mouth . he would not indeed hasten his release , but he rejoyced when he saw it coming ; about three days before his death he foretold the time of it plain enough , with joy and satisfaction ; two daies before it , he told me , that no man in england ( that was his word ) was more willing or more desirous to die then himself . that he had discharged his conscience to god , his king , his country . that he hoped he had left his son setled in a good condition , and that god had a blessing for him ; and he hoped that he ( himself ) had made his salvation sure . the evening before his death he said several times , that that day had been better than any of his former , and that the next day he should be better then he had been in all his life . from whence we all concluded , that the next day would be the day of his departure , which happened accordingly ; for about nine of the clock in the next morning ( soon after he had been recommended to god in the prayers and offices of the church ) he fell into a short agony of the duration of about two or three minutes , he gave one inward groan , and a little subsiding in his chair , he gently and placidly yielded up the ghost . this was the exit of this illustrious person ; when his heart and strength failed , god was the strength of this heart , and we have reason to hope and to believe , that he is his portion for ever . that his eminent contempt of death ( so remarkable to all the world ) was drawn from the christian principles . so that he sang within himself st. paul's epinikion , o death wherefore i conclude with st. paul's inference , let us give thanks to god who giveth us the victory , let us give thanks to god who hath given us the great example of this day . let us run with patience the race that is set before us , looking up to jesus the author and finisher of our faith , let us be stedfast , unmoveable , alwaies abounding in the work of the lord , forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the lord. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a67564-e160 joh. 3. 16. rom. 5. 12. ibid. rom. 3.20 . gal. 4.4,5 . a i cor. 5. 2 b rev. 6. 14. c rom. 6.14 . d col. 2.14 . e phil. 2.8 f pet. 2.24 . g ephes. 2.15.16 . h col. 2.14 . i heb. 2.14 . k col. 2.15 . 1thes . 4 . act. 24 . ● joh. 5. 2● ●p●c . 20.14 ●● . 5. 29. 〈…〉 .10 . ap●c . 10 . apoc. 1.7 . mat. 24 . ibid. 31 . mat. 25. 3. ibid. 32 , ●poc . 20.12 . cor. 4. 5. ●●m . 2.9 . ●cor . 11 . 〈…〉 .11.21 . a sermon at the funeral of the right honourable the lady jane eldest daughter to his grace, william, duke of newcastle, and wife to the honourable charles cheyne, esq, at chelsey, novemb. i, being all-saints day by adam littleton ... littleton, adam, 1627-1694. 1669 approx. 65 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 32 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48732 wing l2568 estc r21390 12406230 ocm 12406230 61397 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48732) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61397) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 767:6) a sermon at the funeral of the right honourable the lady jane eldest daughter to his grace, william, duke of newcastle, and wife to the honourable charles cheyne, esq, at chelsey, novemb. i, being all-saints day by adam littleton ... littleton, adam, 1627-1694. person of quality and neighbor in chelsey. [2], 5-56, [6] p., 2 leaves of plates : ports. printed by john macock, london : 1669. added t.p. on p. [57]: an elegy on the death of ... lady jane cheyne ... / by a person of quality and neighbor in chelsey. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng cheyne, jane, -lady, 1621-1669. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion cavendish duke of newcastle . sherlock sculp . a sermon at the funeral of the right honovrable the lady jane eldest daughter to his grace william , duke of newcastle , and wife to the honourable charles cheyne , esq at chelsey . novemb. 1. being all-saints day . by adam littleton , priest. london , printed by iohn macock , mdclxix . prov . xxxi . 30. favour is deceitful , and beauty is vain : but a woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . who king lemuel and his mother , mentioned in the first verse of this chapter , were , i shall not undertake to decide ; 't is agreed on by most interpreters , that by lemuel is intended solomon , who , as grotius observes , was octanominis , had eight several names given him in scripture , and by his mother consequently is meant bathsheba , ( thought the same grotius intimate too , it might be hezekiah himself , who order'd the collection of these proverbs , and his mother abijah the daughter of zechariah : ) and that lemuel was blanda matris appellatio , a made word of kindness to sweeten her motherly instructions . in the chapter , that we may come orderly to the text , there are two main parts to be observed . i. the queen mothers lesson to the young prince her son , in the nine first verses . ii. the character of a good woman , from the 10. verse to the end . which if it be but the continuation of the mother's lecture , is then a direction to him how to chuse a wife : but if we take it for a composure of solomon's , then 't will be a dutiful return of the son to his mother's instructions , in a large commendation of her wisdom and care ; wherein he sets her forth as the pattern of her sex , and pleats laudum corollam , a garland and imperial wreath of praises for his mother's royal head. be this good woman then , in the history , bathsheba , or abijah , or ( as the popish expositors turn it ) the blessed virgin ; be she , in the allegory , the church , or any pious soul : it cannot be deny'd , but that even literally it belongs , and may properly be apply'd to any good vertuous woman whatsoever of the whole sex ; who is here commended through all the letters of the hebrew christ-cross-row : this being carmen alphabeticum in laudes bonae foeminae , an alphabetical poem in the praise of a good woman . and though the whole of the description be praise ; yet we may take a distinct notice of two particulars contained in this poem . i. her properties or vertues , reckon'd up all along to the 28. verse . ii. her praise more emphatically exprest in the very close , the four last verses . her vertues , to give you a brief summary of them , are her conjugal fidelity ; verse 11. her kindness and constancy of affection ; verse 12. her houswifery and diligence ; v. 13. 19. her thrift and menage ; verse 15 , 16. her industry and assiduity ; vers . 17 , 18. her charity and liberality to the poor ; verse 20. her providence and forecast ; verse 21. her magnificence in her furniture and apparel ; verse 22. her reputation in publick ; v. 23. 25. her traffick and credit abroad ; in selling , v. 24. in buying , v. 16. and in both , v. 14. her discretion and obligingness in her discourse ; v. 26. her care of home , and good government of her family ; v. 27. her praise to these many vertues is threefold . 1. at home , by her husband and children ; who do not speak out of flattery , but as having been constant witnesses of her vertuous carriage , ver . 28. commending her in this form of words , ver . 29. many daughters have done vertuously , but thou excellest them all . 2. pro rostris , solemnly out of the pulpit , in the words of the text : for so she shall be praised , implies a solemn commemoration of her vertues , and an encomiastick harangue upon her person . 3. for an everlasting memorial of her , throughout the whole country , where she lived : common fame shall do her that right ; in the last verse , her own works shall praise her in the gates : to wit , among the elders of the land , as 't is ver . 23. among the nobles and rulers of the kingdom ; persons of the highest place and greatest quality . our present business is that part of her praise , which is to be perform'd in this place : whereto , as i have always accounted it no mean advantage of my life to have been known to a person of so eminent a worth and goodness ; so i find my self somewhat enabled by that personal knowledge for a fair discharge of the duty of this hour , without being much beholden either to publick report , or private information : though the whole almost , of what i have to say , will be that too , which all , that hear me , will readily back with their testimony . to come to the business then ; the vertuous woman's commendation here is expressed , i. negatively , or , if you will , comparatively . favour is deceitful , and beauty is vain . ii. positively : but a woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . as if he had said , favour and beauty are idle , insignificant , sorry , mean , toyish things , that deserve not serious commendation , at least are not fit to come in competition with vertue and discretion and piety , which are the truly laudable qualities , and make the only durable lasting foundation , to erect a monument of praise upon . 't is indeed the humour and custom of wanton loose wits , to court the beautiful , to commend the fair , and the gay ones in their sonnets ; and to make elogies upon them , while they are living , and elegies when dead : but alas ! those are poor subjects in comparison of the good and vertuous ; and when those poets laurels and their mistresses praises too shall be blasted by truth , and withered by time , the woman that fears the lord , the pious lady , the vertuous matron shall be praised on still , and her memory ever continue fresh and green . we shall , to clear our way for the proving vertue the alone praise-worthy thing , shew the deceit & vanity of those other two candidates for praise . favour and beauty . favour , in the original , grace , that is , the gracefulness of habit , gesture , gate , discourse , and the attractives of a hansom carriage , so as to gain beholders love ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the septuagint , the complaisances of conversation , which do readily procure peoples favour and good opnion . ag in , beauty in the symmetry and proportion of parts , in the feature and complexion ; that which strikes the eye and affects the heart . and yet both these deceitful and vain ; for these reasons . 1. as frail and subject to decay , whether in their own nature , ( or which is all one as to the praise and esteem of them ) in the opinions of men. the fairest face is as brittle , as the glass it views it self in , and is at best thus but a miroir of beauty , and when broken with age or marr'd by disease , becomes a looking-glass of mortality . the distinction betwixt beauty and deformity is quite lost in the grave , and many times before they come there . besides , these are things , that owe their estimate to the opinion of men , and not to any intrinsick value ; which is therefore as mutable and uncertain as opinion , which 't is built upon . and this crys up one thing to day , another to morrow . thamar , after amnons wicked satisfaction , was as unpleasing in his eyes , as she was fair before . nay , the text says , that the hatred , wherewith he hated her , was greater than the love , wherewith he had loved her . and it appears so by his usage of her ; for a friend was imploy'd to bring her in , but a servant serv'd to turn her out , and bolt the door after her . 2. as things that may be counterfeited and put on . these are many times but ascititious ornaments : when art is taught to supply the defects , and to repair the decays of nature . nor is beauty alone thus false , when some through a fantastick pride or some worse distemper , walk as if they were their own sepulcres , painted ; but favour or grace it self may be abus'd to meretricious ends ; whilest in a demure aspect , and a graceful behaviour , it may be difficult to distinguish betwixt a courtesan , and a matron , betwixt the strange woman and the woman that fears the lord. 3. as they prove too frequently occasions of evil , and incentives to lust. this is indeed fallax gratia , a deceitful favour , which leads into temptation , and a vain beauty which insnares and betrays the soul. thus some of the fathers tell us , the angels themselves were surpriz'd with the beauty of the daughters of men ; from whom came the impious race of giants . some holy persons have upon this consideration been remarkably severe to themselves , mischieving their bodies to secure their souls , and preferring a voluntary deformity before an involuntary temptingness . matthew of westminster tells us , that in the year of christ 870. when the danes were got into this island , st. ebbe with all her nuns of colingham did all by one consent cut off their noses and upper lips , to discourage wicked attempts , and to preserve their chastity : which disappointment so inrag'd the danes , that , turning their lust into cruelty , they burnt them all alive together with their abbey . and vincentius bellovacensis tells us of another english nun , who being for her lovely eyes coveted of one of the king richards , and by him demanded of the convent , got both her eyes pluck'd out , and sent them to him , as a present , in a dish ; with this complement , that her eyes were at the king's service , but her heart was to be only christ's . this was very close to the letter ; if thine eye offend thee , pull it out . o dangerous beauty , which dost so hazard vertue , when 't is in thy company ! o unfortunate vertue , that art thus fain to wound and mangle thy self , that thou may'st be kept intire ! however , notwithstanding this deceitfulness and vanity , those advantages of good carriage and a courteous behaviour , of beauty , and a graceful aspect , are not absolutely to be condemn'd , or to be at all disparaged by us , where god gives them ; they being blessings , as they come from his hand . and vertue and piety it self doth by this means oftentimes meet with a fair respect , and a kindly welcom in the world ; a good face and an ingenuous address being a kind of potent recommendation even to strangers , who will be ready to think the face a good index of the mind ; and a fair compos'd body a suitable lodging for a beauteous soul. so i know not how , vertue having favour and beauty for its attendants and maids of honour , appears more serene , and yet no less majestick ; and does more plausibly insinuate its aw and veneration into peoples minds . nor is our vertuous woman here wanting in these imbellishments , which may be requisite either to her sex or state ; but is like the merchants ships , to which she is compar'd in the 14th ver . even in this sense , that she is not without her tackle and ornaments . we find in the 22d ver . that her cloathing is silk and purple : she goes in good habit , in a rich and fashionable garb , and ver . 26. that she openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the law of kindness : she charms all she converses with , and wins them with her discourse . but then she prizes these advantages under these three conditions . 1. not so as ambitiously to seek them , or fondly to vaunt them . she would not borrow a complexion from her boxes ; but , what s t nazianzen says of his sister gorgonia in her funeral oration , likes that red best , which she owes to a blushing modesty , and that white or pale , which comes by a severe abstinenee . 2. not so as to be proud of them , or to rely upon them as solid goods . beauty is a thing but skin-deep , and at best is but a set-off , no real substance . piety is her alone confidence , and vertue design'd for the pillar of her praise ; whereon her fair name shall be ingrav'd in legible characters to succeeding generations . 3. not so as to mis-imploy them , but to guide them with vertue and discretion . she likes a chearful , but would not have it a tempting look . she composes her self all over exactly to innocence , and then makes that very innocence all over complaisant : and above all things takes care , that beauty may not be her crime , and that the fair vessel , her soul is imbarked in , may not want a good pilot , a vertuous mind to govern it . and this for the negative or comparative part , that favour and beauty are not of themselves things commendable in women , any further then they are accompanied and manag'd by discretion and vertue . we come now to the position , which is that a woman , which feareth the lord , she shall be prais'd . in which proposition we have , 1. the subject ; a woman , with her qualification ; that fears the lord. 2. the predicate ; she shall be praised . woman , in the primitive design of nature , god's master-piece , being the last work of creation , and made with a great deal of deliberation and solemnity . for to look upon her as a supernumerary creature , and one brought into the world by the by , besides the creator's first intention , upon second thoughts ( though those too amongst us men , with whose methods it pleases god out of condescension to comply , pass for the wisest ) is to lay a foul imputation upon divine wisdom , as if it had been at a stand , and were to seek . wherefore , as we use to argue , that all things were made for the use and service of man ; because he was made last of all : i do not see , if that argument be good , why the same consequence should not be of like force here too , that man himself was made for the service and affectionate care of the woman , who was fram'd not only after him , but out of him too , the more to ingage his tenderest , and dearest respects . certainly this manner of production doth plainly evince the equality of the woman's merits and rights with man ; she being a noble cyon transplanted from his stock , and by the mystery of marriage implanted into him again , and made one with him . she is then equally at least partaker with him of all the advantages , which appertain to humane nature , and alike capable of those improvements , which by the efforts of reason and the methods of education and the instincts of the blessed spirit are to be made upon it , and no less fitted in her natural ingeny for all kind of studies and imployments : though custom , like a salique law , hath excluded them from publick offices and professions ; and confin'd them mostly to the narrow territories of home . our vertuous woman here , besides her oeconomical government ( wherein her husband's cares are not concern'd ) plays the purchaser and the merchant , ver . 16. and 24. though too , whilst her husband is sitting in the gates among the elders of the land , ver . 23. her hands are holding the distaff at home , ver . 19. a learned woman of vtrecht , has in a printed discourse fairly in this behalf vindicated the reputation of her sex. nor are there wanting illustrious examples of those , who for atchievments in arms and attainments of arts have not come short of the bravest men ; and lest behind them signal proofs , that their minerva can upon occasion , as well weild the sword , and manage the pen , as lay her hands to the spindle . one instance out of our own history will be sufficient ; elizabeth of happy memory , who 44 years together sway'd the scepter of this realm , with as much repute as ever any of her predecessors did , and through all her reign shew'd at once the spirit and resolution of her father , and the policy and wisdom of her grand-father , without their vices . hence it was , that all arts and sciences , all vertues and graces , both divine and moral , are represented in the shape and habit of women . nor is there any reason for fancying angels themselves more of our sex then of the other ; since amongst them there 's no such distinction , but they may be as well imagin'd female , as male. above all , for piety and devotion , which is the top-perfection of our nature , and makes it most like angelical , as the capacity of women is as large , so their inclinations are generally more vigorous ; the natural biass and tendency of their spirits lying that way , and their softer temper more kindly receiving the supernatural impressions of god's spirit . this is that , if any thing , which gives their sex the preeminence above us men , and gains them just advantages of praise ; that , whereas those , who have only a hansom shape and good features to command them , are ador'd and idoliz'd by persons of slight apprehensions and ungovern'd passions ; pious and vertuous women command the veneration of the most judicious , and are deservedly admired by holy men and angels . hereupon s t ierom , though no friend to a married life , yet seem'd to pride himself in his acquaintance with vertuous women , and made so many addresses to religious ladies , that those very epistles and missives of his , which wear female names , would make a competent volume of themselves . and our blessed lord himself has in his history honour'd them with a frequent mention , as his ordinary associates and constant attendants . thus the woman who feareth the lord shall be praised . that 's the qualification ; she that feareth the lord : for that is the right vertuous woman , in the 10. ver . whose price is far above rubies . but there we have an objection , which i must first take out of the way : where shall we meet with such an one ? who can find a vertuous woman ? i can speak it with as much truth , as i must speak it with sorrow , we have lost one ; for by all the description , if there be such an one to be found , this was she. but this question does not import an impossibility , but only the difficulty of finding her . he had in vain taken all this pains to describe her so at large , if there be no such person to be found . there are sure such women ; more perhaps then men , as men are now , deserve there should be ; and as they are extraordinary blessings , so they that fear god shall meet with them . 't is shrewdly observ'd by one , that the reason of their paucity proceeds from us men. men being generally so evil , as they are , make women generally not so good , as they would be . for at that time of the world , when men priz'd vertue , and made that the standard of their affection and the sole object of their choice ; when discretion and goodness were lookt on as the taking things , and piety alone , was accounted a sufficient portion ; then in that golden age , the great emulation of that sex was , who should weigh most in real deserts , and come best dowried with those desirable qualities , when wives were to be bid for , and purchased at considerable rates . but now since the scales have been turn'd , and love has been brought into the market , that vertue and good education are undervalued , and wealth is become the lovely thing , and all the shafts of mens destres are tipt with gold and silver ; or else by some that lay their judgments aside , and let their fancy choose for them , beauty is made the mark , and so there be a fair inviting outside , no regard had to the inward disposition of the mind ; 't was consequent that women also should grow more negligent of vertue , and apply themselves more particularly to those things , for which they were to be priz'd and esteem'd by men. and yet there are still , notwithstanding this degeneracy of manners , such women to be found of the primitive stamp ; who , though they may , in common civility to vulgar error , comply in sinless fashions and modes , and in the innocent ceremonies of life ( taken up by others peradventure , to ill ends , in these corrupt ages ) yet do make it their main imploy to inrich and beautifie their minds , and bestow most of their time in the culture and adornments of their souls . to find them out , let us examine the character , by which the hue and cry is made . she , whom we call the vertuous woman , goes amongst the interpreters under several names . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [ esheth hhaïl ] say some , a stout valiant woman ; so the french , une vaillante femme : a virago , one fit to lead an army ; so that , as it follows in the next verse , her husband shall have no need of spoil . fear being so natural to this sex. it looks like miracle to meet with such an one ; and yet we read there have been whole nations of them : witness the amazonian courage , and the valour of the spartan ladies . others , strenuain & sedulam , a busie industrious woman , one of a stirring active spirit . a woman of wealth and riches , says aben ezra , which is not one of a great portion ; for then there was no such custom ; but one that by industry and good managery got wealth : so in the verse before the text she is commended in the margin of our bibles , many daughters have gotten riches , but thou surpassest them all . a right good vertuous woman , so the chaldee : one that in her carriage and actions shews that she has the fear of god in her. a discreet wise woman , say others ; or as an ancient armenian copy has it , one of a sound brain , and a good understanding : and this falls in with the fear of god here , which , the wise son and the pious father both tell us , is the beginning , or , as the hebrew word imports , the sum total of wisdom . and they have a good vnderstanding that do thereafter . this fear of god doth not only contract , but dilate the heart too , laying restraints indeed upon the conscience from sin , but withal inlarging the powers of the soul to all kind of duty : for 't is an ingenuous filial fear , that has a very quick sense and tender apprehension of god's displeasure , and makes her wary of offending him , either in doing any thing that should not be done , or omitting ought that should . 't is not a fear then , that ariseth from the weakness and imbecillity of female constitution , which renders them more apt to devotion ; but is very well consistent with that valour and courage , which the 70 , and other interpreters make the great ingredient of the character , imboldning us and putting us on to do or suffer any thing for god's sake . and we may consider it two ways . 1. in the root and principle . 2. in the branches and productions . in the principle , 't is a reverential fear , which composes the inner man to becoming thoughts and awful apprehensions of god , and obliges the heart close to him with silken cords , and binds up all the affections , that they may not run loose after vanities , but fixes them upon heavenly things , and suits all the passions of humane nature in a fit and constant correspondence to the attributes of the divine ; so as to love him for his goodness , admire him for his wisdom , dread him in his power , stand in aw of his iustice , take delight in the remembrance of his mercies , and at last to be swallowed up into him in the contemplation of his infiniteness , in all these . in its operations , that is , in all the actions of life ; for , like the warp , it runs through the whole web of all her duties ; it tutors the senses , and puts all the members in array , and orders the outward man into an answerable decorum to the inward ; that her looks , her speech , her very gesture and carriage , prove innocent expressions of honest meanings , and a vertuous mind ; and all the phaenomena and outward appearances of her in her conversation are but the natural representments of her bright spotless ingenuous soul , the fair inmate of a rightly disciplin'd and well order'd body . the fear of god then comprehends in it all religious worship , both internal and external : nor doth it consist in an hypocritical demureness , and a distantial pride , or supercilious contempt of others , but in a sincere humility to god , and charity to men ; when , which is the vertuous woman's practice , what with church and closet on the one side , to which she alway pays a regular attendance ; and her family on the other , which she is always , what with instruction , what with example , looking after , she is continually imploy'd , and divides her time betwixt the offices of a chearful devotion and the duties of an indearing converse . now certainly if there be such a reward as praise appointed for the pious , if honour hath its temple adjoyn'd to that of vertue ; then this pious vertuous woman , here mention'd , must be reckon'd the truly honourable woman , and will deserve to have her grave strow'd with roses and violets , and her memory crown'd with flowry chaplets and myrtle wreaths of fragrant and lasting praises . that 's the next thing we have to do ; she shall be praised . it is a morose humour in some , even ministers ; that they will not give a due commendation to the deceased : whereby they not only offer a seeming unkindness to the dead , but do a real injury to the living , by discouraging vertue , and depriving us of the great instruments of piety , good examples ; which usually are far more effectual methods of instruction , then any precepts ; these commonly urging only the necessity of those duties , which the other shew the possibility and manner of performing . but then 't is a most unchristian and uncharitable mistake in those , that think it unlawful to commemorate the dead , and to celebrate their memories : whereas there is no one thing does so much uphold and keep up the honour and interest of religion amongst the multitude , as the due observance of those anniversaries , which the church has , upon this account , scatter'd throughout the whole course of the year , would do : and indeed to our neglect of this in a great part the present decay of religion may rationally be imputed . thus in this age of our's what pliny saith of his , postquàm desiimus facere laudanda , laudari quoque ineptum putamus . since people have left off doing things that are praise-worthy , they look upon praise it self as a silly thing . and possibly the generality of hearers themselves are not free from this fault ; who peradventure may fancy their own life upbraided , when they hear anothers commended . but that the servants of god , which depart this life in his faith and fear , may and must be praised , i shall endeavour to make good upon these three grounds . 1. in common iustice to the deceas'd themselves . ordinary civility teaches us to speak well of the dead . nec quicquam sanctius habet reverentia superstitum , quàm ut amissos venerabiliter recordetur ; says ausonius , and makes this the ground of the parentalia , which had been ever since numa's time . praise , however it may become the living , is a just debt to the deserts of the dead , who are now got clear out of the reach of envy ; which , if it have any thing of the generous in it , will scorn , vultur-like to prey upon carcass . besides , christianity lays a greater obligation upon us ; the communion of saints is a tenet of our faith. now as we ought not to pray to them or for them , so we may and must praise them . this is the least we can do in return for those great offices they did the church militant , while they were with us , and now do , they are with god : nor have we any other probable way of communicating with them . the philosopher in his morals makes it a question , whether the dead are any way concern'd in what befals them or their posterity after their decease ; and whether those honours and reproaches , which survivers cast upon them , reach them or no ? and he concludes it after a long debate in the affirmative : not so , he says , as to alter their state , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to contribute to it . tully , though not absolutely perswaded of an immortal soul , as speaking doubtfully and variously of it , yet is constant to this , that he takes a good name and a reputation , we leave behind us , to be a kind of immortality . but there is more in it then so : our remembrance of the saints may be a means to improve their bliss , and heighten their rewards to all eternity . abraham , the father of the faithful , hath his bosom thus daily inlarg'd for new comers . whether the heirs of the kingdom are at their first admission instated into a full possession of all their glory , and kept to that stint ; i think may be a doubt . for if the faculty be perfected by the object , about which 't is conversant ; then the faculties of those blessed ones being continually imploy'd upon an infinite object , must needs be infinitely perficible , and capable still of being more and more inlarg'd , and consequently of receiving still new and further additions of glory . nor only so ( this is in heaven : ) but even the influence of that example , they leave behind them on earth , drawing still more and more souls after them to god , will also add to those improvements to the end of the world , and bring in a revenue of accessory ioys . and would it not be unjust in us then to deny them those glorious advantages , which our commemoration and imitation may and ought to give them ? 2. in a due acknowledgment of gods gifts and graces . the praise of his servants redounds to his glory ; as water rises to the same height it had in its well-spring . the father of lights gives order , that our light , which he communicates to us , may so shine , that men may see our good works and glorifie him : nor has he only annexed to our temporal services an eternal weight of glory hereafter ; but even here in this world is content we should go shares with him , and be made partakers of that glory , we bring into his infinite stock . the servant was justly condemn'd , that put his master's talent in a napkin , and buried it under ground : nor would our ingratitude be less inexcusable , should we in silence bury those gifts he has bestowed upon any his eminent servants , that have by his grace well imploy'd them , and wrap up the memories of his saints in the same shrowd with their bodies . lastly , for the benefit of the living ; and that two ways : for their instruction , and for their comfort . for the instruction of all that are to come after , 't is fit the lives of those that have gone before should be remembred . 't is not enough to have a map of the country we are travelling to , unless we have experience'd guids , whose conduct and directions we may safely follow . our way to heaven does not lye so ready and plain , that we cannot miss it ; and here 't is dangerous to trust to our own judgment , and ( which was one kind of ancient superstition ) to resolve our selves as our staff falls : but our surest course will be , to observe the track of others footsteps , and walk in their faith , and go on in the beaten road of holy examples , for fear of being either led aside into the untrodden by-paths of schism and separation , or carried along in the broad high-way of prophaneness with the mistaking multitude . as in a voyage by sea the skilful pilot , though he consult his card , and steer by his compass , yet he neglects not the discoveries , other navigators have made , that have sayl'd those seas , and given notice of rocks and shelves , and describ'd the coastings and rhumbs of the whole course . example gives life to a rule , makes it intelligible and practicable . god's bare commanding us to do any thing is a sufficient obligation to obedience ; but when by others he shews us how 't is to be done , this as it renders it more easie to obey , so it puts our disobedience past all excuse . for the comfort of survivers that stay behind , the vertues and praises of their deceased friends are to be recounted ; that they may not mourn and hang down the head with despondence , as having no hope . it was the custom of some barbarous nations upon the very consideration of the troubles of this life , from which death sets us free , to attend their dead with solemn shouts and expressions of joy : but we , who have better assurances , when any of our relations are delivered from the sins and miseries of a wicked and wretched world , have much greater reason to rejoyce in their behalf , if by the testimony of a good life they have confirm'd those blessed expectations , upon which the hinge of all religion turns . for in that we grieve , 't is for our own sakes , not for theirs . 't is our loss , we lament . they are infinitely advantaged by the change. why then should we repine at their advancement , with them back to their hurt , and be discontented for the want of their company , who , as st. paul says in another case , are therefore departed for a season , that we may receive them for ever , if we by following their good example be found worthy to be admitted to them. if it be a kindness to them , that our hearts are touch'd with , we should rather , according to the apostle's rule , rejoyce with them that rejoyce , and not weep over them , since all tears are now wiped away from their eyes . 't is usual in great transports of joy for tears to burst out : and such should be our tears over those , that by living well learnt and practis'd to dye well , to flow from joy as well as sorrow ; and our ioy that they are in heaven should far exceed the grief we show for their leaving earth . i have read of parents , that , when their sons have return'd conquerers from the olympick games , could not master their resentments , but have dyed with excessive joy. now , in a christian sense , to have fought a good fight , and with a victorious faith to overcome the world , how much more considerable a conquest is it , and how does it deserve our most concern'd joys ? that in any friend's case , that dyes thus , it would become us to say what s. thomas did , when word was brought of lazarus his death , come let us go , and dye with him . it was kindly said , and perhaps not fondly neither . for certainly the most exquisite felicities of life are not comparable to the advantage of a holy death . let us then upon such occasions , ( as we use , when any friend alters his condition to the better , to wish him ioy ; ) gratulate those that dye thus in the lord ; not consider what we have lost , but what they have gain'd ; and joyn with them in singing hallelujahs , praising them , and praising god for them , and praising god with them . praise is a chearful exercise ; wherefore let me entreat , that those noble friends and relations , who have any share in this day's loss , whilst i practically apply to the duty of the text in praising this honourable vertuous woman before us , would lay aside their own concerns , and be comforted , as they do mean heartily to joyn with me in the acknowledgment of her praises . i would not detain you long , i need not . all that has been , or may be said of the vertuous woman , belongs to her. to say all that might be said , would not be the business of an hour , but of days and weeks . the bare relation of her life would make the best panegyrick . i shall gather it up as close as i can , that it may be both brief and useful : and that according to our former method , where we treated of the fear of god , which is here given as her character . first as to principle ; the candour of her disposition , the sweetness of her nature , and the evenness of her temper , whereof throughout her whole life she gave innumerable demonstrations . and certainly good nature ( however some ill-natur'd people , who would pass for the most strictly religious , may declaim against it and all morality ) is the best seed-plot for piety and all vertue to thrive in ; the kindliest soil for the fruits of the spirit , meekness , ioy , patience , gentleness , long-suffering , loving kindness , &c. which were abundantly seen in all the instances of her conversation . now because much of this may seem to be extracted from the parents , and by lineal descent to be derived from the family ; ( for fortes creantur fortibus , & boni bonis . vertues and good qualities likely run in a blood ) i must so far mention her pedigree , as to give the true blazonry of her vertues . she was eldest daughter to his grace the duke of newcastle , a person of no less excellence in his merit and in his nature , then he is in his title ; one that has been the most illustrious example in all the three nations of an acting and suffering loyalty . to him , besides his other vast deserts , the world ow'd this excellent lady ; who being powerfully inclin'd by instinct and duty , and choice to be like her noble father , did so naturally resemble him , and so affectionately imitate him , that she represented the lively characters of his soul as well as feature . nor must i omit her pious mother , a lady of most exemplary charities , from whom she received the first elements of her vertuous education ; and her noble grand-mother , the lady ogle , whose daring she was ; who , to this lady iane did in her life and at her death give particular testimonies of an extraordinary affection , which were often gratefully remembred and repeated by her. from these advantages of birth , that natural principle of goodness flow'd , which being inlarged by the moral accessions of noble breeding , and impregnated with holy exercises , and the influences of god's good spirit , stream'd into all the faculties of her soul ; by which she became the absolute governess of her own mind . she had that command of her passions , that it might be questioned , whether she had any . anger and she were so utter strangers , that the very expressions of dislike from her were obliging . greatness and goodness of mind kept her soul always in an equal poise , so that she could never fancy an injury or an ill meaning from any one , or be upon any provocation exceptious . she knew her self so innocent and good , that she deserv'd no ill , and therefore suspected none ; and withal she was of so generous and great a spirit , that unkindnesses , if intended , could not reach her. so that as on the one hand no body ( she believ'd ) would wrong her , if they could ; so on the other , ( she resolv'd ) they should not , if they would . her soft yielding compliance back'd with magnanimity was like polish'd marble , smooth and strong . she was seated above the clouded atmosphere of worldly joys and troubles , even while she was here ; and had wrought her self to a perfect indifference and vnconcernedness in all things , but her service of god , and kindness to her friends . she had no value for the world , nor over-value for her self , who was one of the best parts of it . for as her worth had set her even with the greatest ; so her humility plac'd her familiarly with the meanest : and yet this attended with so natural a becomingness , that her very humility exalted her , and her condescensions made her the more venerable and highly esteemed . where the passions are kept in this aw and order , the superiour faculties , being clear and undisturb'd , must needs exercise all their functions aright . she took , when young , special delight in her father's excellent composures . and she hath left in writing a considerable stock of excellent ones of her own , ever spending the time that best pleased her with her pen. above all , reading of good discourses and making of pious meditations were her chief and daily imployment : to which and to her devotions she was so constant , that , as she hath fill'd some volumes with the one ; so for the other , from her youth to her late death-bed she fail'd not of prayer ( as i am informed ) thrice a day ; and if morning or noon hapned to be omitted , she would make amends at night , and then to be sure even that account . herein lay her solid satisfaction , in conversing thus with god , that she lookt upon all occasions , that interrupted that , as impertinent and uneasie ; and if she had any quarrel to this place , 't was this , the multitude of formal visits , which she could not avoid receiving from london and returning , that took off her time from these spiritual exercises . this as to her principle . then as to the emanations of it to the eye and observation of the world , for we have as yet been but in the closet . in her maiden-state ; of her infant-years , which were spent at welbeck , ( a place that bears the proportion and resemblance of a court ) under the tuition of her father and mother , we have already spoken . we shall now treat of her more adult vertues . what courage and loyalty , as the right daughter of a general , as the valiant woman here spoken of , did she shew , in keeping the garrison'd house of her father , where she was left with one of her noble sisters , as a sharer , in her vertues and the misfortunes of ill times ( the other being before that time happily bestow'd ) amongst the horrid circumstances of war , till taken by the enemy , and there made their prisoners ? what gallantry of charity at the retaking it by the king's forces , when she became petitioner to save her iaylor's life , whose treatments , though not barbarous , yet had been much short of such civilities , as to persons of their age , tenderness , and quality were due ? what patience and magnanimity in all the disasters of her loyal family ; her mother's death , the loss of my lord's army , his leaving england , his and her brothers banishment after and proscription , and the seizure of all their fortunes , beside her own personal sufferings and unsettlements ? what duty and piety , when after the fifths were procur'd , she was inabled to become sollicitor for her father and brothers , when loyalty was so criminal , that nothing less would serve then to except them from life : when with all her early diligences , and attendances , and petitionings , how humbly and closely soever prosecuted , she could not prevail for her father ; her brothers only with much difficulty had pardon for life ? and then when things were grown to that extremity , that all that could be had from an enemy was too scant a support for her banisht father . ( i have it from an excellent hand , that with great obligingness gives this account in print ) she converted her own peculium of jewels and plate ( which her father and grand-mother had given her ) into monies , and sent it over a token of affectionate duty . nor stopt her duty here , but she continued it together with her obedience to her married state : having resolv'd without his leave and consent not to change her condition ; nor so neither , without a liberty from her intended husband , out of that fortune , her father's nobleness had design'd her , to make him a considerable present ( so i find it nobly acknowledg'd by the same excellent authoress ) of which his grace ( i understand ) soon after his restauration no less obligingly with greatest kindness of all generous and indearing expressions ordered a liberal return . and then with what condescending prudence and iudicious moderation did she make her choice , when having through the iniquity of the times observ'd the desolation made in the greatest families , and the little choice then amongst those few left of the higher nobility , ( for she resolved to match with no family , which had ill-treated her king and father , how advantageous soever ) she suiting her judgment to her inclination accepted a gentleman , yet one ( besides his othet accomplishments , and the merit of his most affectionate respects ) of an ancient family and a very noble descent , with whose principles and fortune she perswaded her self of content . and she found that perswasion did not deceive her , having here in chelsey lived these 14 years and few months , as well to her own , as to the great satisfaction and joy of every body else that knew her. how willing she ever was to oblige all persons ; how ready to all good offices ; how meek , and humble , and charitable , and familiarly courteous to neighbours and all others , let fame , let envy it self speak . of her charity to this place i question not but we shall see in a short time some fair testimonies erected . her devotions she lov'd particularly to make out in observing the fasts of the church , as much and as oft , as the tenderness of her constitution could well permit . next to reading and writing she delighted much in her needle , and hath left great quantities of work to her children . this in short the account of her life in its healthful time . we come at last to the sad scene of her sickness and death , wherein it pleas'd a good god in some measure to answer her desires ( who had always a tender apprehension for pain ) that , though the fits to sorrowful by-standers seem'd not to be without pang and agony , yet were graciously alleviated to her by a surprize of her senses , for the time , and that so gentle too , as never to cause any disorder or indecency . nor after the fits , at the return of spirits , sufficient to give her liberty of speech , did she ever ( except two of her four last days ) complain of pain , which was then violent in her head , but even then and at all other times of her sickness , while she had speech , she used it most in devotion , and in many gentle chearful and obliging expressions to her husband , children , doctors , and other her mournful assistants . particularly in the three weeks interval , she had , when there were very good hopes of her recovery , she used often to say , that though she resigned up her self wholly to the wise disposal of a good god , yet she being in expectation of being call'd away in her first fits , look'd upon her recovery as a gracious kind of disappointment ( they were her own words ) by god almighty . this she did ( she said ) not out of discontent at her sickness , which she thankfully acknowledged tolerable easie , but ( as having conquered this world , and being now in her passage to a better ) out of her intuition of a glorious crown , that , she trusted , awaited her in heaven . now , now , was the time , when all the powers of her soul , all her vertues and graces were summon'd together , with united force to make up the complin of her devotions ; wherein she profess'd , to the equal comfort and grief of those that heard her , her confidence in god , her patient submission to him , her holy resignation , her indifference to life , and her preparedness to dye . of which , amongst many others , there were two remarkable instances . one to a reverend father of our church , whom she told with great unconcernedness , as he was discoursing piously to her , that she was not afraid to dye ; not that she had or fear'd any trouble or discontent here , but that she might injoy the blessings of that better world. the other to her sad and afflicted husband , whom , as he was at her bed-side praying to god , that he would restore her again to health , that she might live and glorifie him , when those , that went down into the pit , could not praise him ; she stopt him in his prayer , and with a comfortable look and strong voice ( though a great difficulty of speech had some time before possest her ) said , she would glorifie god , whether she lived or dyed : and then recommended her children to his care : who as he did in all her sickness out of a strong sympathy of love , suitable to his constant tenderness and her great merit , entertain all her ills with quicker and deeper resentments ( if we may consider those as two , who were so nearly one ) then if they had been his own ; that those epileptick and convulsive fits , which seiz'd her brain , did at the same time seize his heart : so after her dissolution and the departure of his better soul , he finds no reason to live , no joy in life , but this , to look after those living remains of his dear and pious deceased , and to be paying on that love , which was due to her , in the indulgent care of her children . these dear children of hers , as she had often in her health , so she did now more frequently in her sickness instruct , charging them to apply themselves much to reading , especially to be diligent in constant prayers to god , to be observant to their dear father , and transferring that obedience they had to her self upon him , to pay him now a double duty , and to be intirely loving to one another ; then and not else they might assure themselves of all good things from god and their father . further injoying them to be respectful to those that had the charge of them , and ever to give ear to their just and vertuous advices : and carefully to decline the company of vain and impertinent persons . as it was her only trouble in all her sickness , that her indisposition made her uncapable of giving that attendance to the offices of religion , praying , meditating , reading , as she used to do : so in the close , it was the great affliction of all about her , and that , which of any thing she her self shew'd most sense of , that her speech fail'd her : upon the loss of which she had no other means of expressing those pious ejaculations , she in her last sickness incessantly poured forth , but by sighs , and eyes and hands lifted up to heaven ; whither she is gone bless soul , to increase the number of saints , whom the church this day commemorates , and to enter into the ioy of her saviour , having left grief behind her. whom in the whole , as to all relations , as her noble father ( in whose affections if any had a greater share then other , it was she ) in a letter of his since her sickness stiles her the best of daughters ; so her husband praises her for the best of wives ; her children rise up and call the best of mothers ; her servants ( for whose encouragement and reward she took care to the last ) own as the best of mistresses ; her allies lookt upon as the best of friends ; those that had the honour to know her , the best of acquaintances ; and those that liv'd near her , the best of neighbours . may we all , that knew her , keep her vertues alive in our memory , and in our imitation . may her worthy and afflicted husband , as he does , praise her , and with a chearful gratitude mitigate his sorrow , and comfort himself with the expectation of a happy meeting , when her own works shall praise her in the gates of heaven . may her children , those three noble plants she hath left behind her as the dear pledges of her memory , rise up and grow up in her example , and call her blessed . and may the echo of her praises tend to the setting forth of the praise of god , the father of spirits , and the father of lights , from whom cometh every good and perfect gift . to whom , the immortal and ever-blessed , three persons and one god , we , together with the whole company of all his saints , ascribe , as is most due , all honour , praise and glory , now and for ever . amen . finis . an elegy on the death of the thrice noble and vertuous lady the lady iane cheyne , eldest daughter to william duke of newcastle , by a person of quality and neighbour in chelsey . an elegy on the death of the thrice noble and vertuous lady the lady jane cheyne , eldest daughter to william duke of newcastle . dismal the darkness , fearful was the night , all thoughts were banish'd bord'ring on delight ; nature wore blacks , and the worlds beauteous eye fled far from the approaching tragedy : my doubtful muse lay trembling , when the knell more doleful from the midnight passing bell , subtracting hopes addition gave to woe , now ripe in numbers , and in tears to flow . ye chelsey fields no more your pleasures boast , your greatest pride , is with your lady , lost ; no more cry up your sweet , and healthy air , now only fit for such as breath despair ; of your delightful river brag no more , briny its waves , and fatal is its shore ; not all its sands can count the tears we spilt , not all its stream can wash away this guilt . farewel ( dear lady ) now a blessed saint : did not religion on us lay restraint , our vows and prayers soon would turned be from praying for , to praying unto thee ; but these as fruitless are , as those are vain ; thou feelest none , nor pitiest our pain , our eyes will better shew the love we bore , where to lament's more fit , then to implore ; and sorrow sure our loss will most become , like losing gamesters when we count the sum . her noble birth she from newcastle took ; high in bridgwater , and in bullingbrook : but she not half so great as she was good , ow'd her least praise to her illustrous blood ; by her intrinsick worth her titles rise more splendid from her vertues , then allies ; and she more honour gave unto their fames , then she derived from their mighty names , yet not pufft up with honours timpany , like stars she less appear'd for being high ; and like them too she freely did dispence on all beneath her gentle influence ; so sweetly condescending , as if she less then our selves had own'd a dignity ; her goodness did our modesty besiege , she never knew where she did not oblige : hence at her ills so common was our grief , nothing but hers could perfect our relief ; tears drown'd our joy , joy did from tears release , as her distempers did arise or cease ; and at her death an universal groan was heard , as if her fate had been our own . since then she 's gone , oh! that i could inherit one portion of her great poetick spirit , like him who caught elijah's mantle , i of her and heaven soon would prophecy : my muse should learn to bear a noble part , and boundless grief make regular by art : an art she knew and practised so well , her modesty alone could it excell ; which by concealing doubles her esteem : 't is hard to understand and not to seem . wandring abroad small poets does become , great wits ( like princes ) best are seen at home : and yet her name might patronize a muse defying strictest censure to accuse ; for whatsoe'er her fancies stamp did own , was sterling coin to be refus'd by none ; without allay , and as her self refin'd high as her birth , yet gentle as her mind ; where female sweetness manly strength did meet , at once ( like samsons riddle ) strong and sweet , if such her art , her nature was the same , as this her wit , so that adorn'd her frame mov'd by a soul so pious , that might be well term'd a beam of the divinity ; which in her life , and actions shone so bright that we i'ts heat perceiv'd , as well as light ; her thousand graces with a mingled ray , made her lifes path seem one pure milky way ; whilst others splendors only shew their blots ; as the moons light discovers her own spots . her passions all to reason gave the sway , as she unto her husband did obey ; from just complyance neither did desist , 'cause neither were accustom'd to resist ; each kept within it's proper bounds , and range , serving to vary her , but ne're to change . her humor still in complaisance did ' bide , ne're ebb'd to sullenness , nor swell'd to pride . in her a multiply'd example's gone ; and many noble patterns lost in one : none more devout , none was more chast of life , none better mother , none more loving wife ; three blessings ( copies of her self ) she brought , yet was her self the greatest blessing thought : worthy by none , but him to be possest , who best deserv'd her , 'cause he lov'd her best ; such his affection as in truth extends beyond th' examples of the loving friends : her griefs he griev'd , and all her pains he felt , as if one soul within two bodies dwelt ; and she from that did part ( i 'm bold to say ) with less regret then he from her away : with hers he would have given up his breath , and love preserv'd untoucht by mighty death : but that to dare to suffer life might prove more kindness to the pledges of her love. pardon ( dear saint ) my muses wandring fire ; silence is heard , where'ts easie to admire : the praise that him i give ( praise justly due ) i 'm sure you will not think detain'd from you ; 't is equal to rejoyn , whom cruel fate so hardly did attempt to separate . as you to dye his glory were content , so may he live your noblest monument . finis . some thoughts on the character of solomon's vertuous woman preach'd in a sermon at the parish-church of croydon, on the ocacasion of q. mary's death, january the 6th, 1694-5 / printed at the request of those that heard it by john evans. evans, john, 17th cent. 1695 approx. 71 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a69991 wing e3451 estc r28617 10700682 ocm 10700682 45520 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a69991) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45520) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1187:11, 1402:6) some thoughts on the character of solomon's vertuous woman preach'd in a sermon at the parish-church of croydon, on the ocacasion of q. mary's death, january the 6th, 1694-5 / printed at the request of those that heard it by john evans. evans, john, 17th cent. [4], 36 p. printed for sam. crouch ..., london : 1695. title within mourning borders. this work is found on reels 1187:11 and 1402:6. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mary -ii, -queen of england, 1662-1694. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion some thoughts on the character of solomon's vertuous woman , preach'd in a sermon at the parish-church of croydon , on the occasion of q. mary's death , january the 6 th . 1694 / 5. printed at the request of those that heard it . by john evans m. a. london : printed for sam. crouch at the corner of popes-head-alley , over-against the royal exchange in cornhill . 1695. to the honourable the lady coningsby , wife of the right honourable thomas lord coningsby . madam , this discourse , how unpolish'd soever its dress is , presumes to prostrate it self at your ladiship 's feet , begging your kind acceptance and sanctuary , upon this recommendation , that to this address , 't was not the vanity of gracing the title page by prefixing so great a name to it , which moved me , but my deep veneration of your worth , and the sence of my gratitude for the more than ordinary share your honourable family have ever vouchsafed me in their favour . i am conscious , that the vast disproportion the meanness of this performance carries to the transcendent majesty of its noble theme , can no other way be secur'd from blame and censure , then under the protection of so great a patroness : a patroness , whose greatness consists not in meer cumulation of swelling titles , or glittering outside , but in personal dignity and real goodness ; the description whereof should i essay to draw , the draught would fall so far below the excellence of so high , so compleat an original , as by the very attempt i should incur the same guilt , i stand self-arraigned for , in the subsequent presumption , i mean that of sullying the illustrious characters of those divine accomplishments , which an apelles's pencil , the most skilful artist cannot sufficiently delineate or represent ; and may therefore more prudently be passed by in silent admiration and esteem . let it herein suffice , and that with great truth , to say , if a commutation could have been accepted for this royal death , your ladyship would with the first have expressed your loyal affection in the oblation of the substitute , as evidently appears by that ample proportion of grief which your self voluntarily bears on this mournful occasion . and would the world but prove so just and grateful to our common benefactrix , as your ladiship does , in writing after so fair a copy ; her late majesty's memory on that stock might grow immortal , and ( what is the general ambition of mankind ) reflect as fragrant odor on the dead , as on the living , and those that are yet unborn . such an excellent person indeed had merited an apotheosis among the ancient or modern romans : had she died in their communion , they would have enrolled her name in the registers of their polytheism , preserved her sacred reliques for divine homage and adoration : altars had been erected and sacrifice offer'd to her. but that work of supererogation is too much , as well as bare remembrance is too little : there is a safe medium between these extremes , and that is thankfulness to god for , and imitation of her matchless piety and vertue : this is all the honour , and the highest respect , either she is capable of receiving , or we of paying to her merits ; which debt is so religiously discharged by your ladiship 's ingenuous deportment ; to whose genuine candor i humbly submit these papers , to over-look those faults , which are too palpable to bear the examination of exact , impartial judgment . may my lord and your ladiship , after having been many years , the one an ornament to the church , the other an useful pillar of the state , like ripe fruit , in the vintage of old age , drop into abraham's bosom ; and may those tender branches , which heaven hath blessed you with , commence as early and grow up as perfectly in religion , as our most christian princess did , is the constant sincere prayer of , madam , your ladiships most humble and obedient servant john evans . proverbs xxxi . 31 . give her of the fruit of her hands , and let her own works praise her in the gates . tho' some unthinking heads may be willingly apt , and would fain perswade themselves to forget that the divine oeconomy is as extensive as the utmost limits of the universe : and by that means are become possessed with the groundless prejudice and fancy , that this world is nothing else but a meer lottery ; as if all the affairs thereof were wholly in the disposal , and waited on the uncertain contingencies of a blind chance , or the worse determination of a fatal necessity . yet i am sure there are such remarkable occurrances , as are far above the capacity of natural causes to produce ; which therefore plainly discover and point out the al-wise counsel and uncontroulable proceedings of an almighty agent , that manages and over-rules all events . which are sufficient indications of his being , and such demonstrative evidences , as abundantly convince and lead all considerate men to the knowledge of the supreme governour of heaven and earth ; without whose immediate order , or permission , even a sparrow can't fall to the ground . and if so mean a part of the creation , so inconsiderable an action , ( which seems most fortuitous and trifling ) be not below his cognizance and appointment , 't is much more rational to suppose , that the life of man , and all human affairs , are things wherein his providence is more especially concern'd . for these are worthier subjects for him to exert and imploy his divine powers upon , and capable of reflecting the most glory on his majesty . and among human affairs , what are so noble , so momentany , so deserving his power and wisdom , as those of kings and commonwealths ; upon the manegery whereof , the temporal welfare or adversity of his people does chiefly depend ? if we then study the divine providence with the same application of mind as others do the terrestrial globe , and diligently observe its various , tho' mysterious dispensations , it will soon satisfie us in this great truth , that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men , and giveth it to whomsoever he will. which is a prerogative , when he first laid the foundation of his government , he reserved to himself : and those laws , which he has since given to mankind for their instruction , and the measures of their comportment under it , seem no way to abridge him in the exercise of this prerogative . by virtue of which , he still removes kings , and setteth up kings , as he pleases , or as he sees sometimes necessary , for the preservation of his church , or for the punishment of either king or people . for the proof of both , your own observation , if you impartially recollect and reflect on those notices you have reposited in your minds , can easily furnish you with so many instances , that 't is needless to recount or insist on particulars . i will only remind of those things which have happen'd in these kingdoms , and in these late years . when the spirits of these nations flag'd , and our hearts fail'd us for fear , and for looking after those things which were coming on the earth , divine providence was pleas'd to disperse that cloud of melancholy apprehensions , by removing the cause of it ; and amidst our danger and despondence , surprize us with safety and deliverance , by the opportune arrival of his present majesty and late consort . who out of a compassionate resentment and tender regard of the just interest of christendom , after much importunity , were prevail'd with to accept the crown of england ; not as a prize of ambition or covetousness ; not as a reward of their merits only ; but as an opportunity of doing good , of saving a sinking state : that in this sphere they might move more vigorously in defence of the protestant religion , and vindication of the oppressed against the growing greatness of arbitrary power , and the usurpation of popery . the commencement of whose auspicious reign , having no other design to serve than that of our common good , gave sufficient encouragement to make us flatter our selves with fair promises of many halcyon days , and most flourishing condition . which began to bloom about this little world , and make all our frost-nipt hopes sprout out in joy . but alas ! such a blessing was too great for so sinful a people to expect the long enjoyment of ; whose base ingratitude and continued impenitence under the influence of so much favour , could not but provoke heaven , in some measure , to shift the scene , and speak to us by the messenger of mortality . for it 's usual for god almighty , by a deprivation , to teach unthankful men the value of those things which they would not learn by the enjoyment . o death ! thou king of terrour , how terrible and fatal is thy sting ! how cruel and inevitable thy stroke ! which neither crowns nor dominions , neither mitres nor any majesty whatsoever , can escape , or secure their owners from , for one moment . but the rich , as well as the poor , the greatest potentates , as well as the meanest peasants , must stoop to death , and pay their lives as tribute to this conquerour , who insults over the frailty of human nature . from whence we see , that the life of man is but of little value , and all his honour but contemptible ; because that worm of corruption lies at the root of this gourd , and defaces the grace and splendour of all earthly things . for no sooner man draws the breath of life , be his birth and condition what it will , than he is enrolled in the register of death ; and from the womb makes swift and direct advances to the grave . so that in reference to his abode on earth , i may , with the royal prophet , call him a vain shadow ; and his life , with st. james , even a vapour that appeareth for a little time , and then vanisheth away . a life , full of the snares of death ; which , the more it increases , the more decreases ; whilst it flourishes , it grows infirm ; and the farther it goes , the nearer its approaches are unto death ; from whose arrest no claims of honour , no distinctions of quality , no practice of piety and vertue , can grant any priviledge or protection . for that inexorable sergeant in the execution of his office , observes no such marks of difference , as can in the least sway with him to respect the persons or conditions of men. if either majesty , or goodness , or the vigour of youthful constitution , whetted by gentle exercise , and the strict observance of the rules of temperance and moderation , could have stay'd its violent hand , we should now have had no occasion given us to condole the funeral obsequies and mournful solemnity of the best of women , and of queens : which bids adieu to all present entertainments of joy and pleasure , and clothes the nation with sables and blacks of sadness ; which hangs our walls , not only with mourning , but deep sighs and groans ; and fills these three kingdoms with melting eyes , and sighing accents , for our irrepairable loss . but oh ! what floods of tears , what tyde of ejulations , can swell so high as to bear a proportion equal to the merits of so great , so good a personage ? give her of the fruit of her hands , and let her own works praise her in the gates . in this chapter the wise man , ( upon whose vast knowledge and experienc'd judgment we may safely depend for the best determination of the case ) after he had enquir'd , who could find a vertuous woman , and subjoyn'd the reason of his enquiry , because her price is far above rubies ; gives us a plain , but an exact description of such an excellent person , as a rule and standard , whereby she might be the more easily discover'd and prov'd . he tells us , she is accomplish'd with all the perfections , both human and divine , natural and acquir'd , that her sex can be capable of . she is tender and loyal to her husband ; indefatigably diligent and industrious in business ; prudent and discreet in the government of her family ; charitable to the poor , bountifully dispensing of her store , to supply the indigencies of all wanting people ; affable and courteous to every person ; pious and devout towards god ; in each of these respects , and in every instance of a vertuous woman , acquitting her self with popular applause , and the highest commendation . in the close of this discourse , i doubt not , but you will all unanimously agree with me , in answering solomon's question in the affirmative , that we of this nation had once sound , but , alas ! are now depriv'd of such a vertuous lady , in the person of our most gracious queen ; as will evidently appear , when we have tried her character by these marks . in treating of which , i shall , with all humble deference and veneration that is due to a soveraign power , endeavour to represent to your view some of her extraordinary vertues and perfections . here i shall not entertain you , and my self , with a panegyrick on the lively features , the beautiful symmetry or well-proportion'd parts of her royal person ; tho' that should not be passed by without a particular admiration of it ; which grac'd the english throne , and adorn'd her majestick presence with so lovely a meen , as could not but charm the eyes of all spectators . since mortality , with grief i speak it , i say , since unhappy mortality has drawn a dark veil over these reliques , i shall only recommend to your pious imitation those incomparable , immortal beauties , and ennoblements of her mind , the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god of great price . neiter shall i presume to trace , or attend this singular lady through every scene and condition of her life , as a single person , or married woman , as princess of orange , or queen of england ; that were a task enough for a more learned pen near her majesty to perform . tho' in all these conditions , it may be truly said , she always manag'd herself with that honourable reputation and wise conduct , that she appear'd to have all the vertue and goodness , but none indeed , i think none , of the vanities and imperfections of her sex. in discoursing therefore of her noble character , i shall a little invert the order which the wise man has here observ'd , and digest my matter into this method . i shall consider , first , her piety , with some useful reflections upon it . secondly , her admirable condescention . thirdly , her extraordinary charity . these i take to be the chief characteristicks of a vertuous woman . i shall also in the last place , just mention some of her other vertues , and then apply the whole to our present purpose . first , i begin with her piety ; because this is the necessary foundation of all the other vertues and graces of a vertuous woman ; and on that score , has the precedence in the nature and order of things . for piety in the most comprehensive notion of the word , containing all the dimensions and boundaries of the divine scheme , is that pregnant principle which works the mind into an universal regard of all god's commands ; and , like the animal spirit , diffuses it self thro' the whole man , producing acts suitable to it self , and in no way repugnant to those commands . therefore , as the natural motions of a man are the immediate effects of the animal spirit , so all his good , moral actions , proceed from this fountain of piety , and are the proper emanations of this vital principle . but without this internal sense of religion , all our religious performances can be esteemed no better than meer form and pageantry , the profession of hypocrites . now this genuine sensation of true piety was admirable in her majesty , and above the flights of rhetorick , which discover'd it self thro' the whole course and method of her life ; and that chiefly distinguished , and rais'd her above the rank and condition of ordinary mortals . some indeed are blown up to the high pinacle of honour , by the auspicious gale of fortune , and owe their height more to the benevolence of others , than to any merit of their own . but then all their towring height and glittering shew , without true , solid goodness to give it life , is but a golden , sensless effigies , or an airy meteor , which only dazles the eyes in its transit , and then vanishes into its first matter . whereas piety is a substantial good , which intrinsick worth doth infinitely excell all the goods and pomp of greatness . the one is human , earthly , and temporal ; the other divine , heavenly , and of eternal duration ; this raises a person to an higher step of advancement then secular greatness can possibly arrive unto . for religion , being truly divine , both in its original , and in its end , as it came down from heaven , so tends thither again , and thither it exalts its votaries . in order whereunto it spiritualizes humanity , and never leaves off refining it from its terrene imperfections , till it be in some measure assimulated , and united to the divine nature , till our minds are transform'd into the very image of the deity , and in the apostle's phrase , christ is formed in us . by this time , and not before , it is that we have something of true value , and solid greatness in us . for god almighty being the fountain and the measure of all perfections , the nearer any person approaches him , by the practice of sanctity and goodness , ( the only way and means to become like god ) the worthier , and the more to be valued he is ; and the more hereby he participates of god's nature , by so much the more excellent and honourable he must needs be ; and consequently the greater praise and esteem should attend him , in respect of that divine resemblance he bears . if so , how admirably good , and great , and honorary will this most religious princess appear , if we measure her character by that rule , and from thence make an estimate of her worth ? in whom the divine idea did so eminently manifest it self , in all the instances of holy living , that her whole life was a pattern not unworthy of our imitation . as piety , in its limited sence , signifies devotion ; how constant , how regular , and how seraphick was she in this ? like pious anna , serving god night and day in the temple ; so strictly observing the stated times of publick prayers , that neither the necessary refreshments of nature , nor all the hurry and succession of state-affairs , which perpetually crouded in for her adjustment and dispatch , could scarce ever extort from her any intermission of them . from hence we may with good reason conclude , that our lord's direction for praying , in our retirements to the father , who seeth in secret , could be no less practis'd in her private devotion . at the celebration of every part of divine worship , how fixt and intent her mind ? how fervent and enflam'd her affections , which were so warm and devotional , as could not but enkindle the cold indifference of all wandring adjacent minds ? how constant and uniform was her whole practice in the several duties of the christian institution ? and that without the least tincture of vanity or ostentation . and all these pious performances were the result , not of constraint , like that of a melancholy recluse , but of free and generous resolution , of an unaffected , well grounded zeal ; so neither were they cloister'd or confin'd within the narrow limits of her closet , but mostly acted on the stage of the world ; and by a general , and no less true report , proclaim'd on the house-top ; the sound whereof has long since pierced thro' , and ecchoed in every corner of the land , even from dan to beersheba . whereby this shining model of christian vertues must needs prove the most perswasive oratory , the most effectual means to recommend to , and engage all her subjects in the practice of religion . for example is of much more force and efficacy than precept , or the best discourses : it hath a secret power and influence upon those whom we govern or converse with , to mould and form them into the same manners and disposition . and by consequence , nothing in the world can contribute so much to promote the honour of god , and the propagation of the gospel , as the exemplary lives of those who make profession of it . hence it is we are enjoyn'd to let our light so shine before men , that they may see our good works , and be induc'd thereby to glorifie our heavenly father . for this great end , her majesty was one of the fittest , best accomplish'd instruments that ever weilded the english sceptre . to attempt the reformation of our manners , and establish holiness and vertue in the hearts and lives of these kingdoms , suitable to the principles of our reform'd religion ; and to carry on so great a work with success , none was so proper , so well qualified in every respect . to which end , among other qualifications , these three are essentially necessary . 1. good example . 2. authority . 3. zeal . 1. the first requisite is good example . whoever goes about to reform others , must first see and take care that his own life be free from those faults which he would amend in them . for if his life be tainted with the same errors , or shew that he has no serious regard to religion , for what reason should other men think that he is in earnest ? or if he be , they , who attend more to what a man doth , than what he saith , will be apt to make no other construction of his arguments , be they never so pressing , but this , that they are only the empty flourishes of a well-worded eloquence or the effects of the man 's natural passion . but for that objection here was no room ; the most inveterate adversaries could never yet charge this royal reformatrix with any of those vices which she has been labouring to rectifie in the nation : nay , they could not but be satisfied in the sincerity of her good intention , when they saw her life to be nothing else but the transcript of our saviour's doctrine : this prevented their prejudice , this stopp'd the mouths of gainsayers . hence it plainly appears , that no impediment in her practice could obstruct the accomplishing of this intended reformation . had we corrected and fram'd our lives by hers , we might have been the most religious and happiest people in the world , that ever liv'd since the planting of the gospel in this island , which has not these many hundred years ( if ever ) seen such a bright example of piety and goodness sitting upon the throne . which put religion into the possibility of attracting others , when they perceiv'd it so illustriously visible in such a noble person ; whose example had the highest authority and majesty on its side . that 's another qualification necessary to render any example more prevalent . 2. to reform mankind , or to produce any remarkable change in their manners , the utmost endeavours of private men , nay the most vigorous attempts of subordinate officers , are too weak and ineffective ; their actions being as inconsiderable , as their persons are regardless , can have no power on their superiours , it being against the grain and the establish'd course of nature , whereby the higher bodies are suppos'd to influence those below ; the inferiour orbs are whirl'd round by the motion of the primum mobile , and not vice versâ , there is no re-action in this case . and therefore all attempts and endeavours for reformation are but like beating the air , vain and fruitless , so long as wickedness reigns in high places , is countenanced by the pattern of the higher powers : as it was some years since ; when idolatry was bearing down before it all bounds of true piety and vertue , and ready to establish its empire by a statute-law ; for the accomplishing which , there was nothing wanting but the concurrence and votes of the two honourable houses at westminster . but that point being now weather'd and past , religion has once again lifted up its head above the waters . and piety , that rare , but necessary qualification of princes , being return'd to court , has , from thence , lookt down vice with a majestick countenance ; and by the advantage of the supreme authority on its side , was ( and i hope still is ) in a very fair way of recovering its pristin reputation and esteem , together with its former ground . for when religion comes commission'd and arm'd with the mighty power of the prince's example , who is so disloyal , or strong enough to resist its force ? when nothing is herein impos'd on every subject , but what is frankly perform'd by the magistrate himself ; what should hinder but that vertue must become fashionable , and that natural ambition which most men have of being in the fashion , and like their governours , make them religious too ? 't is a general observation that wealth and honour have these two advantageous appendages , as they render any person more considerable , and his actions no less noted ; so they create in others an honest emulation , an aptness to embrace his dictates , and transcribe his copies . if those therefore , whose superiority above others , have vast authority over them , whose sphere is large , and influence great , who have many dependents or subjects who court their favour , and whose interest it is to observe and please them ; if those , i say , would faithfully discharge that great obligation which lies upon them , of giving good example , what plentiful harvest of souls might heaven reap by them ? for the multitude , like the lesser lines in the circle , generally tend to the same center , either of vertue or vice , by a kind of a natural instinct act , more upon the principle of imitation , than upon those of reason and religion . upon this it was that isocrates grounds his advice to nicocles ; the advice indeed was worthy of so great an orator to give , and not below the dignity of the magistrate to observe in the administration of the government , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; i. e. but set your self a pattern of temperance and moderation , or religion and vertue to others , as knowing that 's the usual mode of the people to conform to , and write after the copy set them by their magistrates . 3. another requisite in a person that would reform others , is zeal . zeal is the very soul and life of christianity ; an affection , of all others , the most active and vigilant , and which is wont to inspire men with the most passionate care and concernment for religion , without which all our pretences to it are but formal and superficial . and this zeal seems to have had a deep foundation in the natural forwardness of their majesties tempers ; which , as we have sufficiently experienc'd , put them upon the most dangerous undertakings , for the rescue and necessary defence of the best religion and constitution in the world. when an over-spreading degeneracy had seized the vitals of this nation ; when the whole body was well nigh sick , and over-run by strange loosness of manners , and profaneness of spirit , and had , for many years , labour'd and groan'd under the inevitable pressures of these epidemical distempers ; to undertake the difficult cure thereof , no competent physician was to be found , no , not in our israel ; till divine providence , in compassionate regard of our languishing condition , was pleas'd to enflame and stir up the zeal of their majesties to step in to our help and assistance . since their arrival , and being happily set over us , towards the purging and removing away these maladies , how diligent , how active , and how zealous have they been , not only by their own excellent examples , but also by injoyning all their subordinate magistrates to put the laws in execution against the contagious evils of the age ; and so with all their might , and by all prudent ways and means , endeavouring to recover men out of the snares of the devil , whereby too many were taken captive ; and to vindicate and secure the honour and the worship of the most high god , against the daring insolence of bold impiety and atheism ? how dutifully some of the magistracy obey'd their injunction , or how far this reformation has been advanced , is a reflection beside my present intention . however , had the queen liv'd to give the finishing stroke to her pious design and resolution , in joynt concurrence with our gracious king , ( on whom alone , next under heaven , our hope is now devolved and united , for the vigorous prosecution of so glorious a cause ) we might have seen the persecuted woman in the apolypse , victoriously triumphing over the old dragon . but that victory is yet incompleated , although this royal conqueress has already fought her good fight , kept the faith , and obtain'd the crown of righteousness . i proceed , secondly , to consider her wonderful condescention and most obliging carriage . what we call humility in others , may be ( i think ) not improperly styled condescention in princes : which is another mark of a vertuous woman , and of a good christian , and it was a special ingredient of her mastesty's character . however to vulgar and carnal eyes this may appear but abject , mean , and a despicable quality , yet really the soul of man is not capable of an higher and more noble endowment . it is silly ignorance of one 's own imperfections , and foreign dependance , i mean upon god , begets pride , that destructive elevation of mind , which transforms the saint into a fiend , and which hurl'd down the prime angels from the throne of glory to the abyss of infernal misery . for god hath ever resisted the proud . but humility results from a better judgment , and more intimate acquaintance with excellent things , which keeps men from doting on trifles , or admiring themselves upon some petty attainments . besides , this abasing temper imports a peculiar eminence , beyond all natural and moral perfections , as being the peculiar grace of the gospel ; and also the root and preserver of all other graces and vertues . humility is the peculiar grace of the gospel . before the christian institution , the world were much strangers to it . among the ancient heathens , their masters of morality , in their philosophical discourses of fortitude , temperance , wisdom , justice , and other vertues , take no notice of that of humility . and they were so far from practising it themselves , that we find as deep silence in their lives as in their institutions ; nay in their works they affected popular esteem , and the eternizing of their names . and tho' some of the most rigid sects of them , pretended by an austere course of life , to contemn the world , and mortifie their passion ; yet even in this they were extremely proud ; whilst other men were despis'd by them , themselves desired to be observ'd and esteem'd . so that lowliness of mind is the appropriate law of our blessed saviour , from whose life and doctrine we learn it . 't was with this he began his divine sermon on the mount , saying , blessed are the poor in spirit , i. e. the humble . and he continues and ends it with this . whereby we may understand , both the great excellence of this vertue , and the great need we have of it ; since the son of god came down from heaven to teach us the practice of , and make himself our pattern therein . as this was the first corner-stone in the foundation of our lord's building , so 't is still the foundation and preserver of all christian superstructures . as the flower imbibes its nutriment , and receives its support from the root , which being eradicated , the flower instantly fades and withers ; so every vertue whatsoever , if it do not grow and continue in this root or ground of humility , degenerates into its contrary . all vertuous actions therefore must be commenced , accompanied , and consummated by humility . if vain complacence and self-pleasing thrust in , that mars and spoils the grace and beauty of the best performances . so necessary then is this humbleness of spirit for the acquiring and conserving all other vertues , that even faith , that first principle of christianity , supposeth a submiss and humble understanding , a disposition requisite for its reception and final improvement . whereas pride is a dangerous rock , upon which the faith of many has been split ; who have afterwards grown so stiff and tenacious of their errors , that even miracles were not demonstration sufficient to restore or convince them . but this wind , this vanity which puffeth up , was so far from taking root , or finding any entertainment in her highness's breast , that notwithstanding all the temptations which surrounded her royal person , and might have carried up her mind to the highest pyramid of pride , ( had not her temper been very correct and stay'd ) she was humble , in a manner , to the lowest step of abasure ; and yet without any debasement of majesty , or making her self cheap . there are two things apt to swell men's minds , and tempt them to form a fond opinion of their own worth , ( which oft creates an unjust contempt of others ) namely some internal endowments , or some external possessions . as to the first , nature , birth , and education conspired to greaten this noble soul with the most exquisite ornaments of an accomplish'd lady . from hence she derived a quick and piercing apprehension , prompt and retentive memory , sprightly and active fancy , clear and solid judgment over-ruling them all . these being all so much improv'd by frequent meditation and experience , that no station inferiour to that wherein she was plac'd , no dignity subordinate to what she sustain'd , were worthy enough of so much intellectual nobility and goodness ; which in very few years are grown ripe for a crown of immarcessible glory . as for external advantages or possessions , fortune , or rather providence could not , on this side heaven , have set her upon an higher pinacle of honour and greatness : for princes are in scripture styled gods. they are the almighty's vicegerents on earth . now amidst all these high accomplishments and altitudes of honour , she still kept her self within the region of humility , like the sun in this lower firmament , emitting her benign influences on all her people , and treating them with all expressions of humanity and condescention : which were no ordinary vertue , no ordinary degree of abasement : for , tho' men , who are endow'd with parts and excellencies above others , should , not unlike the full ears of corn , bend the lower ; and those , whom god has rais'd in fortune , paramount as stars , should , in some sence , seem the lesser for their height . but that looks like paradox to the greatest part of mankind . human nature being so prone to swell upon a conceit of its own perfections , that few heads are strong enough to endure heights , and walk upon spires and pinacles , without growing vertiginous ; so indeed wealth and honour may be , not unjustly , termed ; which , like the loftiest piles , are always assaulted by the highest winds . and the sublimer any person is advanc'd in honour and greatness , the more temptations and hazards attend him , and by so much sharper will be the combat of vanity and self-esteem . but then the greater the difficulty and danger are , the more honourable the victory wherever it is atchiev'd . according to which rule , how ineffably excellent was the condescending vertue of our great deceased ? which exerted it self to all men's admiration , in her most obliging carriage and indefatigable diligence . first , in the obligingness and affability of her carriage , expressed to all mankind . who , upon any emergency , was ever debar'd the favour of her presence , or denied access to her sacred person ; or sent away without a smooth , easie , and satisfactory answer to his request ? her majesty did not disdain to vouchsafe a candid audience to the humble petitions of all addressers , and to the utmost of her power , a ready redress to those aggrieved ; contrary to the humour of those days , when the higher power were to be , not petitioned , but obeyed without reserve ; when nothing , but fulsom compliments were received , without a frown . but the temper of this gracious soul was more serene and free from sullen state and imperiousness , the ordinary infirmity of princes . her whole deportment was so easie and pleasing , that it gave a lovely pattern of chearful air , admirable sweetness and familiarity , which at once gained affections and preserved respect in all about her . thus humility and greatness were safe in its own worth ; not maintaining it self by a morose distance , but comporting with the most condescending majesty . some men's veins swell with their fortune ; and their pulse keeping time with that , beat so high and quick , as if they fancied greatness consisted in looking stern and big , or that supercilious gravity and disdainful look , could extort a reverence from all mankind . which is so far from being a mark of true nobility , that , if i be not mistaken , it is no more than meer pageantry and vapour . and also , in its aims and hopes , it generally meets with disappointment . for pride defeateth its own design , and deprives a man of that honour it makes him pretend to , whilst true , genuine humility begets both a veneration and love amongst all wise and discerning people . 't was this , in particular , that render'd her majesty so amiable , and such a mighty soveraign , in the hearts and affections of all men , as far as known . if any thought otherwise of her , 't was their ignorance of her worth , or bigotted prejudice , that blinded their reason , and biass'd their judgment , and made them think so . another instance of her extraordinary condescention was her indefatigable diligence and industriousness , beyond the custom of any of her quality , and the example of former ages . tho' nature and religion have provided and carve'd out for every person his proper calling , wherein he may exercise himself , and imploy his talents , that his time may not lye upon his hands , nor his other appendages prove snares unto him . yet those , whom providence has prefer'd to a condition of most ease and vacancy , are strongly tempted to pervert that condition into a life of sensuality and idleness . hence it was , that our prince's court , and many of the nobility counted themselves , manumitted from business and industry , as things beneath the dignity of their stations , so that working was out of fashion , that vertue had almost taken its final leave of them , till it was introduced and encouraged by our queen ; whose noble pattern , as well as prescription had now , not only created an imitation in most , but made the apostle's canon , in a manner , the standing law of her court , that if any would not work , neither should he eat . this disciplined the court it self into a royal factory ; from which , if any could claim exemption , surely they , that sit at the helm might ; who , humanly speaking , might be supposed to be sent into the world , as the leviathan into the deep , to take their pastime therein . and consequently to prescribe princes and persons of quality any manual tasks , might well be deem'd , not only absurd , and adjudged ridiculous , but malicious , a levelling project of robbing them of their birth-right , of degrading them from those priviledges which belongs to their states and conditions , and of molding them again into that vulgar mass , from which divine providence , and human laws , have distinguish'd them . but this distinction , and this consideration were superseded by a diviner principle in this excellent christian , who thought working no indecent vertue in the highest potentate , but a duty indiscriminately entail'd upon every person ; by the obligation whereof , there being none priviledged with immunity from improving , in industrious negotiation , those talents , of which god has made them , not proprietors , but stewards . how officiously therefore did this mighty princess condescend to set her own hands to work , as well as those of her whole court : not unlike the heavenly courtiers , among whom there is not one president of pride and sloathfulness , but all incessantly busie themselves , not only in singing praises to their lord , but in the more servile and laborious offices of being ministring spirits to men , to whom , in respect of nature and innocence , they are infinitely superiour ; and this they do with perfect alacrity and complacence , thinking it their greatest honour and dignity to be thus imploy'd . in imitation of which angelick pattern , how constantly and indefatigably busied were our feminine court , not only in the great concern of the sanctuary , but also in affairs ( as one might think ) inferiour to the greatness of their quality ; and that not for any secular profit and advantage accruing to themselves , but hereby to cut off and obviate all opportunity and incitement to vice and folly , of which ease and idleness are the greatest incendiaries ; and also by their example to excite the nation to the like vertue of industry . here we must observe , that their imployments were not vicious or impertinent , but always worthy , useful , and ingenuous . now was not all this , like the angels , to do good , purely for the good and benefit of others ; others , who were far subordinate in rank and circumstance ? in this particular , how agreeable is the character of solomon's woman to my present theme ? how did her practice suit to that ? she seeketh wooll and flax , and worketh willingly with her hands . she riseth also while it is yet night , and giveth meat to her houshold , and a portion to her maidens . she girdeth her loins with strength , and strengtheneth her arms . she layeth her hands to the spindle , and her hands hold the distaff . she is not afraid of the snow for her houshold , for all her houshold are cloathed with double garments . she maketh herself tapestry , her cloathing is silk and purple . these are the acts of the vertuous woman in my text ; and also of our deceased queen . how exactly do they agree ? how well do they hang together ? only the latter has out-done the former in her religious care and zeal for the house of god , which she has adorn'd with goodly gifts and rich ornaments of her own manufacture . thus her majesty was pleas'd to stoop to some of the meanest offices of life . to whom nothing could be more odious , than to see hands folded up in the bosom of sloth and emptiness . hence it was that she would admit no person to be idle or unimploy'd in her royal presence . nothing is so irksome , so tedious to a diligent and industrious soul , than vacation from business ; and nothing more desirable , and more grateful to its temper , than innocent exercise and imployment . thirdly , another mark of a vertuous woman is charity . charity , in its largest acceptation , comprizes the whole of religion . 't is the sum and abridgment of our saviour's doctrine , and the whole duty of man written in a smaller character . for all that ever god requires of us , amounts to no more but this , that we heartily and effectually love him , and one another . therefore love , says the apostle , is the fulfilling of the law. and i may add , 't is the soul of the universe , and that which brought down god ( who is love ) to man , as well as that by which man must ascend to god again . but in that extent charity is forreign , and beyond the limits of our present purpose . only that branch of it , which we call mercy and compassion , falls under our consideration . in this sense the wise man reckons it among the properties of his vertuous woman . after he had described her industry and diligence for acquiring of wealth , he sets this vertue in the front of her disbursement , ( as the principal use she makes of her acquest ) she stretcheth forth her hand to the poor , and reacheth her hands to the needy . so essentially necessary indeed is this vertue to any person 's being truly vertuous and religious , that i need not cast about for arguments to prove it , or to urge the practice of it . for kindness and compassion is one of the prime and essential inclinations of mankind . by the impulse of natural instinct we are prompted to it . and to put off the bowels of mercy , what is it , but in effect to be devested of humanity , to un-man and brutalize one's self ? be sure we do hereby disrobe our selves of christianity , whereof doing good , and acts of mercy are the main and most substantial part ; the most acceptable sacrifice we can offer , the most pleasing i had almost said meritorious service we can perform to almighty god : for 't is that which derives to us all the divine gifts we are capable of receiving . now this charity consists in giving , and in forgiving . for both which our gracious sovereign of blessed memory , was highly eminent and exemplary . first , in giving . you have already heard what extraordinary measure of piety she was endued with , to which her charity must needs bare an equal proportion . for in whose heart soever that principle is permitted to make a deep impression , as heat in the centre , it never fails to diffuse it self into the circumference ; so infallibly will this divine spark extend and manifest it self in the more visible effects . all the products and emanations of that soul , which is thus inspired and enflamed , will resemble their parent . an instance of this we have in this pious princess , who , as she neglected no duty of piety towards god , so likewise made her love to him shine forth most resplendently in offices of kindness and beneficence to his creatures . she had it not to learn , that she could not please , or glorifie her heavenly father better , than by bearing much fruit , or which is all one , doing much good in the world. this was the only motive which , in that critical juncture , sway'd her , to the acceptance of the english crown . and whilst she wore it , she had no other affection to gratifie , no interest to serve by it , but the good of this church and state , and her own most vehement zeal for the doing of it . for my part , i know no instance of charity compararable to that of rescuing whole nations from the snare laid for them , from the brink of despair and ruin ; and to succour those who are persecuted for righteousness sake . herein , who hath ever expressed greater readiness , warmth , and activity , than king william and queen mary . to hazard one's life to preserve another man's is no common act of charity . but for princes to venture their lives for the good of any people , is yet a greater matter : this renders the kindness more precious and valuable , according to the worth and dignity of the undertakers . for such to expose themselves , and all that is dear to them in this world , to save kingdoms , is to imitate the unparallel love of our blessed saviour , who spent a whole life of three and thirty years , in doing good to all the kingdoms and nations of the earth , and to every member thereof ; and then to consummate their happiness , laid down that life , and spilt his divine soul , for the purchase of it . tho' all that be such a mysterious instance of divine love , as no expression of human affection can possibly , by many degrees , come up near to : yet how like to that , tho' it falls infinitely short of it , is this , when persons of the highest state , ( who being seated on such a rock , as the waves of fortune could not probably shake ) reach down their helping hands to relieve a people tost in a tempestuous sea of dangers ; when they , who might have set in a calm , squandring their time in ease and luxury , free from corroding cares , assume the rolling of the restless stone of state-imployment , and toil at it with singular address and integrity ; and undergo the tedious fatigues of camps , the thousand hazards and difficulties of battels , besides the dangerous passings of a boysterous sea , and the dangers of secret conspiracies ; and all with undaunted courage and unwearied patience , for the defence of religion , and the liberty of christendom , even while death every moment stares them in the face ; herein , i say , they bear the nearest resemblance that can be to our great redeemer . this alone ( if there were no other instances of charity ) might sufficiently serve to compensate the omission of all other . but in them , this generous princess , was not wanting neither . the natural greatness and generosity of her mind , being much enlarged by the additional improvement of a pious institution , were every whit equal , i should have said superiour , to the eminence and plenty of that condition wherein providence had placed her . and consequently , as her extraordinary ability , the easie access to her person , and the wonderful affability of her temper , were no little motives and encouragements to all sorts of persons to repair to her majesty for favour and relief , ( that she could never be to seek objects and pressing occasions to dilate her bountiful heart , and disperse her benign influences ) so she would , not only courteously entertain , but , to the utmost stretch of her capacity , grant them what they had requested ; and that , in such a manner , as mightily enhanc'd the value of every kindness she bestow'd , the frankness of her doing it doubled the benefit and obligation . men spoil a good turn , when it is extorted from them . it loseth its grace and acceptableness , when it is done grudgingly , and as of necessity . but so full of goodness was this royal heart , that like the extended full breasts of a nursing mother , it could not be at ease without continual venting it self , till it sometimes caus'd in her one of the deepest resentments , to find her treasury exhausted , before the streams of her bounty had filled every chanel , satisfied every supplicant . that she has not left as fair and lasting monuments of her charity , as any of her royal predecessors , must be imputed to the brevity of her life , and the expensive circumstances of our present affairs . for doubtless such a generous soul could not want for mighty projects of erecting them , and of doing much more good . secondly , as to the other office of charity , which consists in forgiving , and is peculiarly styled clemency , her native tenderness pre-dispos'd her temper to that ; so that had she only swum with the stream of natural affections , her compassion had been worthy enough of our remark and admiration . for the nature of that sex , consisting of softer mold , is generally more pliant and yielding to the impression of pity ; and by the strength of imagination redoubles the horrour of any sad object . but as grace out-goes nature , so her compassionate temper , and readiness to forgive , was heightned to a pitch more than ordinarily remarkable ; which often transported her to such acts of mercy and oblivion , as made some apt to tax the present establishment with excess therein ; there being not any thing more to be fear'd in it , than it s too much mildness and clemency . but thereby she shew'd her better skill and singular talent in the prudent managery of this nation , in a way corresponding with their genius , which may be led by such a gentle method , but can't be driven by an harsher treatment . this , i am perswaded , made more friends , the other might have procur'd more enemies to the present government . for that government which is founded in blood and violence , can be neither safe nor lasting . but gentleness and moderation are a firmer foundation , as being most agreeable to the evangelical dispensation ; and consequently most capable of divine benediction , and also to the people , an easier yoke , and a lighter burden . what strong cathartic do often endanger , conserves and electuaries seldom fail to preserve . these co-operate gently with the faculties of nature ; but those by their rapid convulsions tear the bowels , and are apt to put the whole frame into disorder . their majesties therefore , being no such rough and resolute physicians , had learnt the art of curing the diseases of the body politick , from a more skilful master , even from him who has taught us , that as wine is to be pour'd into the wound to search , so oyl is also necessary to supple ; both sometimes expedient to effect the cure. thus the affections of male-contents and delinquents have been courted over to a better mind , by methods of mildness and pardon , rather than by the force of the secular arms , or rigorous execution of laws . when antoninus pius was once by aurelius charg'd for the like remisness and lenity , he reply'd , that he had rather save one citizen of rome , than kill a thousand enemies . we know who has done the latter , many times over , with greatest courage and bravery , whilst he made acts of indempnity the vehicle of grace and obligation to all his domestick foes . it is a mark of no ordinary goodness , when hurt , to be able to forgive ; nor any little glory to put up injuries , to pardon provocations , that deserve the severest penalty . such clemency , such tenderness in princes makes them look the most like to the most high , most resemble him , whom they represent , and whose most glorious attribute is , to have mercy and to forgive : and not only cast a glorious lustre round about , attracting the eyes and hearts of other men , but it reflects chearful and solacing gleams of glory on majesty it self . in a word ; this grace , being the most excellent and perfect act of charity , inspires kings and queens with a greatness and goodness of mind , equal to their high stations , and fit for god's vicegerents ; in whom certainly nothing is more admirable than a generous goodness and clemency , even towards great enemies and offenders , so far as is consistent with the publick safety . against what hath been said under this head , there may perhaps be one objection , made in favour of some persons , unhappily fallen under hard measures , since this great revolution . in answer to that , let the necessities of government , the indispensable obligation of executing laws ( the dispensing power being at this time of day out of doors ) be duly and impartially weighed ; and reasons enough will appear to vindicate their majestie 's proceeding , and to convince any unprejudiced mind concerning their great unwillingness therein . the truth is , the queen had such a quick sense of men's sufferings of any kind , that in giving them ease , she took a special complacence ; but to find herself sometimes straightned , or disabled of that , by some unfortunate impediment in the object , she accounted one of her greatest infelicities . the malice and ingratitude of men were not able to obstruct the flowings of her love ; she overlook'd injuries , pitied folly , and overcame evil with good. is it any wonder then , that such a person as this was reverenc'd and admir'd , and counted the darling of mankind ? this inward goodness , this compassionate benignity of spirit reflected a graceful air upon all she said and did ; and now renders her memory precious and grateful to posterity , making it lovely , and continue like the perfumes in their ashes , uncorrupted in the midst of corruption . having thus gone thro' my three first propositions , should i here enter upon the consideration of her other vertues and accomplishments , time would fail me before i could arrive to a full period . i shall therefore only crave your patience would give me leave , just to touch her loyalty to the king , and her admirable resignation at death . to compleat the parallel between the vertuous woman in the proverbs , and this royal princess , ( who rather excell'd the other in all the perfections of an accomplish'd , good christian ; ) 't is said , the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her ; so that he shall have no need of spoil . she will do him good , and not evil all the days of her life . the application of all which was not impertinent to this , royal person ; who , to a punctilio , discharg'd the duty of a most loyal wife . so tender was she of the king's person , so just to his interest , so faithful to his secrets committed to her breast , and so sensibly concern'd for all his affairs , that it may be truly said of her , many women have done vertuously , but thou excellest them all . her patience and resignation in death , was of the same stamp with her other graces and vertues . crowns and dominions are such tempting things , as make men aspire after with greatest vigour and intensness of mind ; and which , when got , are retain'd and grasp'd with that obstinacy and tenaciousness , that men generally express as great reluctance and regret at parting with them ; and will not let lose their hold , even at the summons of death , without the sharpest conflict and violence . but here was a crown laid down with the same indifference it had , at first , been taken up . the commutation for an immortal one , was the chief aim of her care and ambition . her conversation having been so long in heaven , that her lively hopes and constant expectance , i had almost said fruition , of those ravishing joys and glories above , had long since unlac'd and wean'd her mind from the pleasures and embraces of sensual enjoyments . her thoughts were fix'd there , her desires always ascending thither , where full and endless satisfaction is to be found . so that neither the charms of this world could arrest her affections , nor its frowns disturb her fears : she was not taken with its applause , nor griev'd at the leaving of it . she was morally dead before she died , and paid that debt to nature . to die well is the result of a well-spent life ; but to die without being sick is the special favour of god , which he vouchsafed to this his peculiar favourite , whose precious soul , in a single sigh , step'd over into the other world. all that now remains , is to improve and apply what hath been deliver'd , to our present purpose . the design of this discourse is , first , to possess you with due sence of our present loss : secondly , to excite you to a vigorous imitation of this excellent example . first , the main design of this discourse is , to possess you with due sence of our loss in the person of this excellent princess . the true standard , whereby we are to measure the loss of any thing , must be taken from , either the benefit we might have reap'd by it , or the detriment consequential to the deprivation of it . by both these ways , we shall come , to understand the nature of our present loss . as to the benefits , we might have reap'd by this excellent princess , we can easily conjecture at them , partly by those which we have already receiv'd by her ; to whose , and his majesty's wise providence , under god , we owe the free enjoyment of our religion and civil properties . and partly , by those incomparable qualifications for the doing of good , she was endued with , and which i have been describing to you . what glorious advantages should we have enjoy'd under her government , if she had liv'd to the utmost period of nature , and done all the good we could have hop'd from her ? how much good might a person , so qualified as she was , so dispos'd , so resolv'd , so indefatigable in business , we can , not uneasily , judge , by what she has done ? how much more good might , and would she have done , had she liv'd to the full age of a man ? but to be taken off , at two or three and thirty , in the flower of her age , in the beginning of her doing good to these nations , when she might have liv'd at least as long again , ( if it had pleas'd god to have spar'd her to us ) to go on in doing as she did ; the thought of this hath much pain , much uneasiness in it : who is able to bear the weight of it ? as for the other way of discovering the nature of our loss , the detriment that may follow the death of so excellent a magistrate , ( i pray god we incur none ) is yet an embryo in the womb of time : we are much at a loss in our guesses of what that may be . this i am sure of , that tho' the good god , who never doth any thing ill , intended this immature fall for her gain , whom he has taken to himself ; and whom he has taken at that time , which doubtless suited best to her circumstances , tho' some cannot discern it , who consider not , that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come : yet our loss is great and irrepairable ; and therefore we have just cause to grieve for our selves , and for the church , who are depriv'd of the benefits of such a queen : how much more , since for ought we know , she is taken away for our sins ? since for ought we know , it is because the age was not worthy of such a blessing ? since for ought we know , 't is in order to some judgment , which will come the sooner , seeing she , who stood in the gap , is gone , when we have filled up the measure of our iniquities , which god almighty never fails to punish . this consideration must needs affect us with deep sence of our loss . o! how shall the english world , this motherless land , weep elegies enough to condole the untimely fall of this royal cedar , this light of our eyes , this breath of our nostrils , this anointed of the lord ; of whom , we said , under her wings we shall be safe ! if , as st. paul speaks , for a good man , some would even dare to die ; who would not have died for her , who was worth ten thousands of the people ? o! that our sighs and tears could reverse the irreversible sentence , and reprieve her to life again ! but , alas ! that were an impossible thing , and unlawful for us even to attempt . all that we can do , in this case , is , to pay our just tribute of sorrow to her sacred memory , and take up david's lamentation over saul , and over jonathan his son : the beauty of israel is gone ; how is the mighty fallen ? tell it not in gath , publish it not in the streets of askelon , the enemies cities and countries ; lest the daughters of the philistines rejoyce ; lest the daughters of uncircumcis'd papists triumph . ye daughters of israel weep over your nursing mother , who clothed you in scarlet , with other delights : who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel . methinks i hear the valiant joshua , that heroick prince , who has so often fac'd the king of terrour , without a frightful thought , as if he knew no such passion as fear . methinks i hear him mourning in secret , sighing out his tender affections in such sorrowful expressions , as those of the royal prophet ; i am distressed for thee , my dear consort ; very pleasant hast thou been unto me : thy love to me was wonderful , passing the love of women , &c. may the god of all consolation buoy up his drooping spirit , under the weight and load of so much grief : and continue him many and many years , to be be the folstern father of this church , the defender of the faith , and the bulwark of this nation ; and together with him , those royal branches in whom we have a farther prospect of a protestant succession , and an happiness to come . which consideration serves particularly to set here bounds and shores to our grief and lamentation . secondly , another design of this discourse is , to excite you , and my self to a vigorous imitation of this excellent example . a good example is of very great advantage to religion ; and no less useful and beneficial to all men that would be religious . example is of so great advantage to religion , that it is the very life of it ; wherein religion appears in its native complexion , and real features : whereas the most learned discourses do but varnish it over with dead colours . example also is no less useful and beneficial to all that would be religious : it points out the visible way , how they may become so ; gives us the best assurance , that either the nature of the thing is capable of , or our selves can rationally desire , of the reality and excellence of religion : walks before us in all the ways of wisdom , shewing us , that there are no difficulties therein , but what may be conquer'd by diligence and sincere endeavour : and so perswades and encourages us to tread in its steps , and follow its tract . from hence its evident , that a good example is the most convincing , instructive argument in the world ; and of far more efficacy than any precept or counsel , as has been prov'd above . these are made up only of words and notions , which are but aireal and intelluctual ; and therefore often prove flat and fruitless : whereas that is a substantial , demonstrative guide , that convinces mankind that vertue is both practicable and truly delightsome : these are but artificial descriptions of it , resembling the dark shade and languid colours of the picture : but that is the very picture or image of god animated , and most advantageously expos'd to publick view , or the original , breathing in the life of man , and walking upon the stage in its lovely charms and attractions . to assist us then in our christian race , we would do well to set always before us the best and most excellent examples , which are thus useful and advantageous . among all the modern examples , what can be propos'd so adequate to the christian life , so attractive and cogent to us , as the life of this most christian queen ? which seems to be entirely compos'd of those celestial vertues that are the proper graces and ornaments of a godlike soul. surely we can't resist its force , and the mighty sway of its authority , or undervalue and forget it , without the greatest difficulty and prodigy of ingratitude : especically if we reflect on all that good which was in her , and all that good which we have received by her means . unless we are resolv'd to prove forgetful and ungrateful , we can't but acknowledge it with profound respect of praise and esteem . now the best respect of praise and esteem , and the highest veneration we can possibly express to her sacred worth , is this , to transcribe the fair copy she has left with us ; and by that , rule our lives : it 's left with us , yea , it is recommended to us by all the endearments imaginable . our imitation of it is both safe and warrantable from scripture . the author to the hebrews tells us , that we should be followers of them , who thro' faith and patience inherit the promise . and again , we must remember them , which have the rule over us , and their faith follow , considering the end of their conversation ; i. e. when they are dead , and gone , we are still to remember them , their works and conversations , so as to endeavour the imitation of them , to follow their christian profession , their sanctity and goodness . if we chance to discern any little blemishes in them , ( for who is free from faults and imperfections in this imperfect state ? ) them we must pass by ; charity obliges us to cover and forget them . we are to be followers of all good men , only so far , as they were of christ , that perfect and compleat pattern of holiness , justice , and temperance , who did no sin , neither was guile found in his mouth . to shut up all : let us , as many of us as love religion , our souls , and this late patroness of vertue , follow her singular piety , and unaffected goodness . let 's follow her constant and regular devotions towards god. let 's follow her exact and uniform self-government , according to all the rules of temperance and sobriety . let 's follow her innocent and candid , her free and ingenuous conversation amongst men ; which was neither vain nor morose , neither haughty nor sordid , but equally pois'd between all extremes . let 's imitate her impartial distribution of justice . let 's imitate her humble and meek temper , which abhor'd affectation and vain-glory. let 's imitate her charitable and compassionate disposition , which was without noise and respect of persons . lastly , and to crown all our imitations , let us endeavour to imitate the admirable patience of this calm and serene soul , under all the terrours and agonies of death , which a conscience void of offence will obtain . this will lead us thro' the ways of pleasantness , and all the paths of peace ; and at last waft us over to a more delightsome country . where we shall again see and enjoy the sweet society of all holy men and women that are departed this life in the true faith and fear of god's holy name , and gone before us into the mansions of eternal bliss : we shall enjoy them without the apprehension or danger of ever parting ; and we shall be unspeakably happy in each other's embraces . where we shall behold our blessed saviour , the founder of our faith , and the author of our eternal redemption : we shall , not only behold him in all his glory , but enjoy the utmost effects of his infinite love , and live with him for ever , in his heavenly habitation : where dwells an undisturbed peace , and overflowing plenty : where neither diseases approach the body , nor vices have access to the mind , nor guilt does stain the soul : where shall be life without fear of death , and joys without mixture of sorrow , without allay , and without end. to which happy mansion god of his infinite mercy and goodness bring us all in his good time , thro' jesus christ our lord. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a69991-e350 mat. 10.29 dan. 4.17 . jam. 4.14 . 1 pet. 3.4 . gal. 4.19 . luk. 2.37 . matt. 6.6 . matt. 5.16 . isocrates oratio ad nicocl . psal. 81.6 . 2 coloss. 3.10 . vers. 13. 15. 17. 19. 21. 22. rom. 13.10 . vers. 20. opus de temporibus mundi , in vitâ ant. pii . vers. 11 , 12. isai. 57.1 . rom. . 5 7. 2 sam. 1. heb. 6.12 . ch. 13.7 . 1 pet. 2.22 . a funeral sermon upon the sad occasion of the death of mordecai abbott, esq. preach'd the 17th of march 1699-1700 by john piggott. piggott, john, d. 1713. 1700 approx. 77 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 48 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a54873 wing p2220a estc r28440 10594877 ocm 10594877 45330 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a54873) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45330) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1408:14) a funeral sermon upon the sad occasion of the death of mordecai abbott, esq. preach'd the 17th of march 1699-1700 by john piggott. piggott, john, d. 1713. abbott, mordecai, d. 1700? [4], 88 p. : port. printed for dan. brown, a. bell, e. tracy and m. fabian, london : 1700. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 ali jakobson sampled and proofread 2007-02 ali jakobson text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mordecai abbot esq. receiver gen t. of his ma ties . custom s. obijt 29 feb. 1699 ▪ aetat . 43. portrait of mordecai abbot a funeral sermon upon the sad occasion of the death of mordecai abbott esq preach'd the 17th of march , 1699 / 1700. by john piggott . psal . 89. 48. what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? selah . london , printed for dan. brown without temple-bar , a. bell in cornhil , e. tracy on london-bridg , and m. fabian at mercers-chappel in cheapside . 1700. to the mournful relict of mordecai abbott esq madam ; the following sermon , which was compos'd in a little time , and when a great many other things of importance lay on my hands , had never been expos'd to publick view , had not you more than once press'd it upon me , from the affection i bore to your deceased husband , my very worthy and most agreeable friend ; whose name will be ever dear to me . but tho i am conscious it has many defects , yet being design'd to celebrate his memory , i thought my self bound by the laws of friendship , as well as the obligations of duty , to inscribe it to your name , from whom i have receiv'd the most liberal and undeserv'd favours . and tho it may in some sort renew your sorrows , yet i hope , with the blessing of god , it will tend to restrain 'em from excess . madam , you have all the assurance that you can have in this world of your late consort 's happiness in the next ; he having only chang'd your pleasing , but temporary society , for the endless felicities of abraham's bosom . he has run his christian race , and receiv'd his unfading crown : he has pass'd through an ill-natur'd world with an unspotted name ; for envy it self could not stain his character . may his virtues live in his childrens memory , and his example in their lives : may all the tender branches of your hopeful family become plants of renown ; may they tread in their father's steps , and serve their father's god : and that you , dear madam , may long continue with 'em , to awe and guide their youth , and to shed the influences of your virtues among 'em , is the unfeign'd desire of , madam , your very humble and oblig'd servant , john piggott . 1 thess . iv . 13 , 14. but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope . for if we believe that jesus died and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . the melancholy air that sits on every countenance , and the sad solemnities that attend our meeting at this time , give sufficient intimation of what i am come about : i need not tell you that 't is to preach a funeral sermon , and whose death has given me the sorrowful occasion ; for the deceased gentleman's worth was so well known , and the want of him is so much felt , that the court , the city , and the church of god are not a little sensible who 't is that is ravish'd from ' em . this sudden and surprizing providence represents the frailty of human nature , and the necessity of an early and constant preparation for the other world : for this world and the fashion of it passes away . it s glory and inhabitants vanish in the twinkling of an eye . lord , how vain a thing is man ! how little is he to be accounted of , seeing his breath is in his nostrils , and may be stopt by a thousand accidents , and his soul let out at the least pore of his body . yet so great is the stupidity that has seiz'd on the world , that most people are for putting the evil day far from 'em , as only fit to be thought on by the sick and the aged ; tho they know not what a day may bring forth , and tho they cannot but be inform'd by the records of the grave that there are more drop into it in their full strength , while their bones are moistned with marrow , than there are that arrive to a good old age before they make their bed in darkness . indeed there are none so wretchedly sceptical as to deny , or disbelieve that they are mortal , or that seriously think they shall never go to the house appointed for all living : yet the generality of the world live as if they were never to die ; and i confess of the two , it seems to me a greater instance of madness and folly to think we shall die and not prepare for it , than to imagine we are immortal , and so uncapable of dying . so that upon the whole a man cannot give a better evidence of true wisdom than by making his preparation for death the great business of his life ; for death we are sure will come , but at what time we know not , therefore 't is the most reasonable thing in the world that we should be always ready . i little thought that he who was worshipping of god in this place this day month , would so soon have sunk down to the dust of death ; and indeed god only knows which of us shall take the next turn to the sepulchre . i know 't is impossible to mention this , but there will be a very strong emotion in most minds ; to calm which a recourse to my text is the most proper remedy that i know of . for i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , &c. 't is not improbable but that the death of some persons in the thessalonian church might occasion st. paul to address himself to the survivors ( as in the words of the text ) that he might arm 'em against the fears of death , and moderate their excessive mourning for the dead . in the words i observe these three parts . i. the apostle's extraordinary care to inform the thessalonian christians concerning the state of their dead friends : but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them that are asleep . ii. a disswasive from immoderate sorrow upon the death of those that are pious ; that ye sorrow not even as others that have no hope . iii. the arguments the apostle uses to prevent excessive mourning for the dead in christ . the first is taken from the nature of their death , 't is described under the soft character of a sleep . the second is fetch'd from what shall follow this sleep , they shall be awaken'd in the morning of the resurrection , those that sleep in jesus will god bring with him ; which the apostle not only asserts , but proves : for , says he , if we believe that jesus died and rose again , q. d. if there be any solid reason for our believing the death and resurrection of christ , then we have an infallible assurance of the revival of all that die united to him : those that sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . i shall briefly treat of these three general heads , and then make some application sutable to my text , and the solemn and sad occasion of discoursing from it . 1. the apostle's extraordinary care to inform the thessalonian christians concerning the state of their deceased friends . but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep . these words seem to import , that the apostle apprehended divers of these christians to be under some mistakes with respect to their dead friends : and 't is thought that their persecutors had shock'd 'em in their faith about the resurrection of the body . for we know that the greek philosophers , as well as the sadduces among the jews , did explode and ridicule this great doctrine , which they perform'd with so much art and subtilty , that some members of the primitive church doubted , whilst others affirm'd there was no resurrection . and this seems to be the occasion of their excessive sorrow , they looking upon their dead friends not only as remov'd out of the world , but as lost for ever ( as to their bodies at least . ) and their persecutors , that they might increase their infidelity and their sorrow at the same time , when they put the christians to death for the cause of christ , did it in such ways as might have the appearance at least of destroying and annihilating the matter that compos'd their bodies : sometimes committing 'em to the flames , and scattering their ashes in the air and in rivers , that their surviving friends might conclude it was impossible they should ever rise again : at other times they were devour'd by wild beasts , or else thrown as a prey to the fish of the sea ; and all this to suppress the belief of the resurrection . now whether these enemies to the christian doctrine did imagin by these methods to annihilate the matter of the human body , or so to scatter or confound these particles of dust , as to render it impossible for god to recollect and range 'em in their due place and order , so as to compose the same human body , 't is equally absurd . the former is very unphilosophical , for 't is impossible by any method in the world to annihilate matter : indeed its form may be destroy'd , and it may receive a variety of new figures , it may be differently modified ten thousand times , but cannot be annihilated by the arts of any creature under heaven . with respect to the latter , 't is impious and atheistical , for it supposes a defect either in the knowledg or power of god , or both ; which is as vain as to say , there is no god : for we cannot frame a becoming idea of a deity , without conceiving him clothed with every perfection , and as possessing of 'em infinitely . so that allowing there is such a being as god , that is omniscient and almighty , 't is as rational to believe he can recollect these dispersed atoms again , as unite 'em in their first production : for all things are possible to god , who can , if he please , impress a kind of natural force upon the disunited parts , and cause 'em to move to one another , as readily as the filings of iron to a loadstone , tho mingled with millions of particles of sand. the infinite knowledg , together with the irresistible power of god , answers all objections against the resurrection of the body ; the same being having plighted his faithfulness for this event , promising that the dead shall be raised . and this is one great doctrine which st. paul in the text aims to set in a clear and certain light , that the thessalonians who seem'd to be shaken , might be confirm'd in their belief of this important article of the christian creed : brethren , i would not have you to be ignorant concerning them that are asleep — for them that sleep in jesus will god bring with him : q. d. 't is true , your friends are fallen asleep , but 't is not an eternal one , for they shall be awaken'd from it ; they are dead , but they shall revive and rise again ; for god our saviour shall bring them with him , when he comes in the clouds of heaven . here i might make several very profitable remarks upon the apostle's care to correct and remove the mistakes those christians had imbibed to whom he wrote , but my time will not suffer me to stay upon this head. i proceed therefore to the ii. general , which is a disswasive from immoderate sorrow upon the death of those that are pious . i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not even as others that have no hope . the design of these words is very obvious , viz. to temper our grief , to regulate and bound our sorrows for those religious friends that are snatch'd from us by death . st. paul does not disswade from all kind of mourning , but from that which is excessive ; a moderate sorrow is due to the memory of our deceased friends . and we find some , whose characters shine brightest in the scripture-history , under a cloud of sorrow , when their relations have been remov'd by death ; yet 't is no where that i know of charg'd upon 'em as a crime that they wept for the dead . abraham , who has an honourable mention among the old testament-worthies for his great self-denial , as well as the strength of his faith , in being ready to offer up his only son at the divine command , yet gave a vent to his grief , and pour'd out a flood of tears when sarah the delight of his eyes was taken away with a stroke : and abraham came to mourn for sarah , and wept for her . and job , that mirror of patience and probity , that had none like him in the earth , as god himself testifies to satan , yet , as we read , rent his mantle , shav'd his head , fell upon his face to the ground , when he heard of the death of his children ; these were the ceremonies then in use as the signs of a deep mourning : yet we are told , that in all this he sinned not , nor charged god foolishly . but that instance which is best suted to my purpose , and free even from the suspicion of a crime , is that of our blessed saviour , who tho never guilty of the least excess , yet joins with the jews in their sorrow for lazarus ; for when he saw mary , and those that attended her , weeping for her dead brother , the text says , he groaned in the spirit , and was troubled ; but when he came nearer to the grave , his grief flow'd out at his eyes , for the blessed jesus is said to have wept . now whatever might be the occasion of his grief , whether his love to lazarus , or the jews infidelity , or any other reason , 't is plain that those that stood about the grave took it in the first sense , therefore they presently cry out , behold how he loved him . thus you see from the brightest examples in scripture , that a moderate sorrow for the dead is allowable . moreover , let me remark , that the contrary carriage under the loss of our friends would look like a contempt of the divine hand ; for as we are not to faint under the rebukes , so we are not to despise the chastening of the lord. the wise man tells us that there is a time to mourn and a time to weep , as well as for other things ; certainly it cannot be an unfit season to weep , when god takes away our pious friends , that have been eminently useful , and publick blessings to a nation . and 't is observable how the prophet complains of the gross stupidity of the jews , who were insensible under the signs of the divine displeasure ; the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart . and we find also that 't is threatened as a judgment when any die without being lamented ; yea , 't is said to be the portion of the wicked from god , and the heritage of the oppressor , that they are cut off , and their widows shall not weep . so that upon the whole 't is very evident that st. paul in my text has no design , in his disswasive from immoderate sorrow , to recommend the stoical apathy ; for the rules of the christian institution have no tendency to eradicate our passions , but to correct and govern ' em . and here i cannot but remark , that what has been said casts no favourable aspect on the doctrine of the stoick philosophers , which teaches that men are to stifle all natural affections both of joy and sorrow ; that no outward emoluments should move the affection of joy ; and that a person should be as easy and as free from the passion of grief in a violent paroxism of the gout or stone , as if he were in perfect health in the midst of the most ravishing delights . 't is reported of possidonius a stoick philosopher , who passed a great part of his life under very acute diseases , that being visited by pompey at rhodes , he entertain'd him with a philosophical discourse ; and when his pains were the most sharp and violent , he chid 'em in such language as this : * in vain dost thou assault me , pain ; tho thou art troublesom , thou shalt never force me to confess thou art evil . indeed could the pomp of words abate our painful sensations , there would be some shew of reason in this philosopher's method ; but since the contrary is evident by universal experience , 't was an instance of great pride , and the most ridiculous folly. and 't is worth remarking , that the greatest masters in this philosophy , when they fell into sharp adversity , suddenly sunk into such deep despair and impatience , that they laid violent hands upon themselves . i need only name cato and brutus , the most eminent among 'em , who ( as one observes ) professing themselves to be wise in their speculations , became fools in practice , and were confounded with all their philosophy , when they should have made use of it . which brings to my mind a passage i have read of seneca , who was not a little inclin'd to the stoick philosophy ; who tells us that at the death of his dear friend annaeus serenus , he * was found of the number of those whom grief overcame . upon which one remarks ; that nature was too strong for his philosophy , tho at other times none outbraves the misfortunes of life , or the terrors of death at a higher rate , as if they had not the least power to move his wise man. so that upon the whole we see the insufficiency of philosophick axioms to support a mind overwhelm'd with sorrow ; but that which philosophy has vainly attempted , divine revelation has fully compleated and finish'd , as will be evident when i consider the arguments st. paul uses in the text to disswade from mourning as those that have no hope . but before i touch upon them , i must be a little more particular in this other matter . i have already told you what kind of sorrow for the dead the scripture indulges ; but that which is without hope , you see our text condemns . now our mourning may fall under this character ; first , when 't is excessive in the measure and degree . secondly , in the length and continuance . first , when 't is excessive in the measure and degree , as it may be deem'd , 1. when our sorrows are vented in impatient murmurs and indecent reflections upon the conduct of divine providence ; as if when our friends are taken from our society , god had done an unjust , an unmerciful , or an unwise act. this is very criminal , for hereby we affront him in his moral perfections , and seem to dispute with him about the rights of his godhead , forgetting that he is our absolute soveraign , and has an original and unalienable right in us and ours . for as it was merely an act of his choice to give us a being , all his subsequent bounties can have no other original than his own good pleasure . and since he bestows his favours upon us without our merit , he may justly when he pleases recal 'em without our leave ; for his fundamental right in us and our friends , skreens him from the least shadow of injustice , when by death he removes them from us . so that if while we are mourning for our deceas'd friends , we permit our passions to mutiny so as to utter any unbecoming reflections on the skilfulness of the divine hand , 't is a strong evidence that our sorrows are too excessive . and this kind of excess and impatience seems to have overcome david , when in the most mournful accents , and in an uncommon strain , he laments the tragical end of his rebellious son absalom , as the text informs us : the king was much mov'd , and went up to the chamber over the gate , and wept : and as he went , thus he said , o my son absalom , my son , my son absalom ! would god i had died for thee , o absalom , my son , my son ! but , 2. we sorrow like those without hope , when our grief does so ruffle our minds and enfeeble our bodies , as to render us uncapable to discharge the special duties of our relation and place , and to exercise those graces which are eminently useful , and very necessary to be called forth into act in a time of solemn mourning and deep sadness . if the mind be greatly pensive , and thrown into a convulsive agony , and do long continue so , sadness and disorder will appear in the countenance ; for the laws of union betwixt body and soul are so strict , that 't is impossible for the faculties of the mind to be indispos'd , but the organs of the body will be sensible of it , and suffer by it . for as any injury done to the body occasions painful sensations in the mind , so a violent hurry of the powers and passions of the soul will soon abate the strength of the body , which while it declines and languishes , increases the disorder of the spirit , so that by an unaccountable sympathy they become partners in each others sorrows , and mutually hinder the performance of holy duties , and the exercise of faith , hope , and patience : for the mutiny of our passions sends up such vapours as thicken into a cloud , which sitting on the understanding , do so confound the apprehension , both with regard to the actings of these graces , and the objects upon which they are to terminate , that they are like a musical instrument that is unstrung , and so unfit for use . indeed there is no time more proper for the acting our suffering graces than a day of gloom and thick darkness . but alas ! this cannot be perform'd while the mind is under confusion and horror , and the animal spirits exhausted by continual sighing : therefore when we give so large a vent to our sorrows , as to impair the health of our bodies , and impede the exercise of our graces , we sorrow like those that have no hope . 3. when our grief for our deceased friends is greater than for those sins which might be the occasion of god's removing 'em so suddenly from us . there is hardly any afflictive providence but is properly a reproof and correction for sin. now if the smart of our afflictions gives a deeper accent to our sorrow than the guilt of our sins ; if we are more griev'd for the loss of our friend than for the visible tokens of the divine anger , then our mourning is criminal . indeed that person must be very stoical that can bear the loss of an agreeable friend , without dropping a few tears , and sending some sighs after him ; but he is no less to blame , that can conceive a greater sorrow in his soul for the loss of an outward comfort , than for sin the sad cause of god's snatching it from him . moreover , 't is a certain sign that god was not valu'd by such a one as the supreme , all-comprehending good , if any temporal loss does more afflict his soul than the sins that occasion'd it . 4. we sorrow as those without hope for our departed friends , when our grief is more pungent and afflictive for the loss of them , than for god's withdrawing his gracious and quickning presence , and hiding his face from us in an angry cloud . the smiles of god are better , and more to be valued than the best life of any creature ; therefore to be less concern'd when he frowns upon our souls , than when he removes from us the comforts of life , does not only discover the disorderly excess of our grief , but the defect of our judgment , in setting a higher value on a dying creature than an everliving god. but i hasten to the second head. secondly , they may be said to sorrow as those without hope , that exceed in the continuance of their sorrows , rejecting all solid grounds of comfort , as did several whose names are inrol'd in sacred story ; i 'll instance in a few . good old jacob , upon the apprehension of joseph's death , rends his clothes , puts sackcloth upon his loins , and mourn'd for his son many days : his passion so got the start of his reason , that he refus'd to be comforted , and resolv'd to mourn till he died , abandoning himself to the most desperate sorrow . and thus rachel is describ'd by the prophet , as weeping for her children , and refusing to be comforted , because they were not . and rizpah continued by the dead bodies of her sons , and would not willingly be remov'd from ' em . and there are not a few christians who are too apt to slide into these excesses upon the death of their near relations , as if all their happiness was vanish'd and gone , when the delight of their eyes is sunk into a grave out of their sight : which immoderate sorrow is a continu'd reflection on the divine attributes , as if a god of infinite wisdom and immense goodness were uncapable of making up the loss of a mutable mortal creature . moreover , let me remark that the invincible patience , and profound submission of some heathens under the most afflicting providences , condemn the practice of those christians who incessantly mourn for their departed friends , and refuse to be comforted . i 'll mention but one in the room of several , and 't is that of stilpon the philosopher , who when the city where he liv'd was reduc'd to ashes , and his wife and children buried in the common ruins , himself escaping alone from the fire , being ask'd whether he had lost any thing ? replied , * all my treasure 's with me , justice , virtue , temperance , prudence , and this inviolable principle , not to esteem any thing as my proper good that can be ravish'd from me . an instance that very much upbraids those christians that are intemperate either in the degree or duration of their grief . some time is necessary and decent for our funeral sorrows ; but to walk softly all our days in deep mourning and anguish of spirit , because our friends are taken from us , and made more happy than ever they were with us , is to grieve like stupid jews , or hopeless heathens , both which disbelieve the resurrection of christ , which is the foundation , model , and pledg of ours . therefore that this disswasive of the apostle may make a sutable impression upon our minds , let us now consider the arguments he uses to inforce it , which is the iii. general head ; and here are two things to be insisted upon . first , the nature of their death who die united to christ , 't is represented under the soft character of a sleep . secondly , the great advantage that follows their death ; such as sleep in jesus will god bring with him . first , the nature of their death who are united to christ , 't is call'd a sleep ; those that sleep in jesus will god bring with him . an excellent * author on this text observes how the apostle varies the expression : jesus died , but the saints sleep in him ; for he sustained death in all its terrors , that it might be a calm sleep to his people . under the old testament we find the death of the saints frequently set forth by this soft and gentle character . david and solomon , jehoshaphat and hezekiah are represented at their death to be fallen asleep . and under the new testament our lord uses this phrase upon the death of one whom he lov'd , our friend lazarus sleepeth . and 't was st. paul's usual idiom to call death a sleep , as appears from the scriptures in the margin * . some indeed have been so weak as to imagine that this sleep did equally seize soul and body , and have asserted , that at death the soul passes into a state of inactivity , and sleepeth with the body till the resurrection ; an opinion so repugnant to the true principles of philosophy and divine revelation , that 't is seldom espous'd by any but atheists , socinians , and very ignorant pretenders to religion . our souls are of an immortal nature , they neither die nor sleep , but immediately upon the death of our bodies return to god that gave 'em , and are fix'd in a state of happiness or misery . had not the apostle believ'd this , we cannot imagine that he would have esteem'd death to be gain to him ; or that he would have been in any strait to determine and fix his choice , for present death or longer life : for the latter would have been much more eligible , if he had believ'd that his soul at death would have been as insensible and unactive as his body ; and no doubt but he would rather have desir'd to continue in this world , where he had enjoy'd communion with christ , and often seen him by a steddy eye of faith , than to be hurried out of it by death , and render'd utterly incapable of any enjoyment of his redeemer till the resurrection . but 't is yet more evident from another expression of our apostle , that he was very far from the opinion , or rather dream of the soul 's sleeping with the body till the resurrection : his words are these . we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body , and to be present with the lord. q. d. we have good courage , and are well arm'd against the fears of death , being well assur'd that we shall have upon our dissolution an immediate admittance into the presence of our glorified lord ; for the apostle supposes not only that the soul is capable of existing while separated from the body , and of exercising her faculties and powers in such a state , but that so soon as she leaves the body she shall enter into the presence of christ , and behold his glory . but i pass on , and shall briefly represent the force of the apostle's arguments against immoderate sorrow for the dead . the first of which is taken from the nature of their death who die in the lord , 't is describ'd by the soft character of a sleep ; which , as you have heard , refers only to the body . now the death of the righteous may be thus set forth on the following accounts . 1. because the body is then eased of all its pains , and freed from all fatigue and toil to which it was expos'd while animated with the soul : and therefore as death is compar'd to sleep , so the grave is compar'd to a bed , where the righteous are said to rest . in this life the best of men are frequently made uneasy by acute distempers and corroding pains ; and death is frequently sought for , because life is a burden . you that have frequently visited the chambers of the sick , cannot surely have forgotten the sighs of those prisoners who have groan'd upon beds of down , as if every part of their bodies had been violently extended on a rack . it would be endless to reckon up the vast number of diseases that affect the children of god in this world : for being tainted with original sin , as well as the vilest of the people , they may expect the same distempers ; and tho they tarry here but a few days , they are ordinarily full of trouble , and if their bodies are not often indispos'd , yet thro the malice of enemies , and the miseries and unkindnesses of their friends , they are frequently made to bow towards the grave before they drop into it . for indeed the best of our earthly comforts have their hidden stings , but they shall give us no more pain and uneasiness after we are fallen asleep in jesus . for in the grave the wicked cease from troubling ; there the weary be at rest : there the prisoners rest together , they hear not the voice of the oppressor . 2. in sleep no labour is expected from the body ; so when believers are overtaken with a mortal slumber , christ expects no service from their bodies . while the soul continues united to the body , we are oblig'd to yield the members of the one as well as the faculties of the other as instruments of righteousness unto god ▪ but in a state of separation there is expected neither service nor suffering from the body . so that while we continue on the stage of this world , the advice of the wise man is very proper : whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it with thy might ; for there is no work , nor device , nor knowledg , nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest . all our vital and animal operations shall cease when our spirits return to god , and our bodies are reduc'd to dust . the one is fix'd in an unalterable state of happiness or misery , and the other put into an incapacity for action . a middle place betwixt heaven and hell for departed spirits is a groundless imagination ; for it could not be said with truth , that such as die in the lord rest from their labours , if they were to pass into a refining fire , equally tormenting in degree , but not in duration with that of hell , as those of the roman faction assert . therefore let us rather attend to the words of our lord , and follow his example ; i must work the works of him that sent me , while it is day ; the night cometh when no man can work . 3. death to the righteous is disarm'd of its sting , and being alter'd in its nature it may sutably be set forth by the notion of sleep . st. paul tells us , that the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law. death receives its destroying power from sin , and sin from the law ; sin being a transgression of the law , which discovers its odious nature , and denounces damnation for it . but death approaches believers without its sting , christ having yielded an indefective obedience to the law , and suffer'd the penalty of it in the room and stead of believers . hence says the apostle ; there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus . christ hath redeem'd 'em from the curse of the law , being made a curse for ' em . and the apostle represents believers as triumphing over death in such terms as these ; o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? — thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ . christ has remov'd the scandal of death by dying , and perfum'd the grave by lying in it , and passing through it . 4. the death of the righteous is compar'd to a sleep , on the account of what shall follow thereupon : for as men do awake after sleep , so they shall revive after death , as we are assur'd by a very remarkable prophecy and promise ; i will ransom them from the power of the grave , i will redeem them from death : o death , i will be thy plagues ; o grave , i will be thy destruction : repentance shall be hid from mine eyes . in which words we must consider the prophet as personating of christ , and uttering the triumphs of a mighty conqueror : which contain a glorious promise to all the elect of a victory over death , which shall be partially accomplish'd at the time of their dissolution , but finally consummated in the day of the resurrection : for death hath not such a power over the living , nor the grave over the dead , as christ hath over both , to destroy the one , and swallow up the other in victory . these several things laid together , compose a very solid argument to disswade from immoderate sorrow for those that sleep in jesus . but this leads to the second argument which the apostle urges upon the same account , which is drawn from the great advantage that shall follow the death of the righteous : such as sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . which either supposes or implys these several things . first , that jesus christ , who is god-man , will make his second appearance or coming at the end of the world . i understand god in my text personally for the son. to them that look for him ( says the author to the hebrews ) shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation . there is a double coming of christ mentioned in scripture ; the first in the form of a servant , the second with all the glory of an incarnate god ; at his first coming he was despised and rejected of men , but at his second every knee shall bow to him , of things in heaven , of things on earth , and things under the earth ; and every tongue confess that he is lord , to the glory of god the father . at his first coming he conceal'd his glory by the veil of his flesh ; but at his second he designs to manifest and display it in the most bright and majestick manner . at his first coming into this world he was entertain'd in a stable , and when he went out of it he expir'd upon an infamous tree ; but when he comes again , he will appear in the clouds seated on a great white throne , the emblem of his unspotted holiness and regal authority . at his first coming he was reproach'd and despis'd of the people , but when he comes a second time , his enemies shall be struck with a defenceless silence . and tho some may be ready to say , our lord delays his coming , because he has been conceal'd from their sight for several ages by the curtains of heaven , yet know it will not be long e're he that shall come will come , and will not tarry ; the curtains shall shortly be drawn , and the scenes of glory shall open ; 't is as certain that he will come as if the event was past , or as if we now saw the heavens open , and he moving towards us in the chariot of a bright cloud . but , lord , what will his enemies do in the great day of his wrath ! how will they bear the lightning of his eyes , the smoke of his breath , the thunder of his voice , the weight of his arm , and the terrors of his wrath , who have despised his grace , blasphem'd his person , and spurn'd at the sounding bowels of his love ? secondly , it implies the resurrection of their bodies who sleep in jesus . christ cannot bring them with him in the clouds of heaven , unless he first fetch 'em from the bowels of the earth , and the bottom of the sea ; for at the sound of the last trump , all the elements shall give up their dead . believers shall not always continue under the power of death , but shall be reviv'd incorruptible and immortal . indeed to reason , not improv'd by the supernatural light of divine revelation , it seems an incredible thing that god should raise the dead . pliny reciting those things which he thought not to be in the power of god , mentions these two , mortales aeternitate donare , aut revocare defunctos , lib. 2. cap. 7. and tho there are various things in nature which are shadows of the resurrection , yet i am inclined to think they would never have convinc'd us of it , had not the scripture reveal'd it to us . the earth has been represented as a kind of grave or sepulchre to the vegetable world ; where ( as one observes ) the vital powers are sealed up and stifled all the winter , and yet at spring are actuated , expand and send forth a lively verdure . so a grain of corn is not quicken'd except it rot and die : our sleep every night is the image of death , and our awaking in the morning a shadow of the resurrection . now altho from these circular revolutions of nature , a probable argument for the resurrection may be drawn ; yet those that are certain and concluding , are only to be fetch'd from the fountain of truth , the sure word of prophecy . and if it should be said , that several heathens believ'd the resurrection of the body ; that may be accounted for two ways , either tradition might hand it down from noah , or they might gain light in this doctrine by conversing with the writings of the old testament : for i think nothing is more evident , than that a great many heathen authors have borrowed the brighter notions that adorn their books , from the inspir'd writings of moses and the prophets , as several learned men have abundantly prov'd . so that i say , the only infallible assurance we have of the resurrection of the body , is founded on divine revelation . it will therefore be necessary that i recite a few passages of scripture before i proceed . the first i shall mention is the words of job : i know that my redeemer liveth ; and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth . and tho after my skin worms destroy this body , yet in my flesh shall i see god ; whom i shall see for my self , and my eyes shall behold , and not another , tho my reins be consumed within me . which text , tho by some understood of a providential resurrection , yet i think not without some force upon it : for i cannot see any necessity of taking it in a figurative and improper sense . i am sure that st. clement , who was not only contemporary with st. paul the apostle , but his companion and fellow-labourer , in his first epistle to the corinthians , cites this text to prove the resurrection of the body , and understands it in a literal proper sense . but that passage which is yet more plain and full , is the words of our blessed saviour : marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming , in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice , and shall come forth ; they that have done good , unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil , to the resurrection of damnation . which text is so expressive of the resurrection of the body , that it needs no comment . it also proves that the very same body that fell by death , shall arise again ; for if it be not the very same body which was laid in the grave that is call'd forth by christ's powerful voice , 't is not properly a resurrection , but a new production of the same specifick being . but when i speak of the resurrection of the body , i assert that there shall not only be rais'd the same specifical , but the same numerical body ; not only the same body for kind , but for substance : not that i affirm that every individual particle that compos'd the body when it died , shall be rais'd up again , but so much of the matter that made up the necessary constituent parts of it . now of what is necessary , i think an ingenious modern gives a very probable account ; his words are these : by necessary parts , says he , i mean those which remain after the utmost degree of maceration , without which the body would not be integral , but imperfect . and these are chiefly the bones , the skin , the nerves , the tendons , the ligaments , and the substance of the several vessels . as long as these and all that are necessary to life remain , the body is truly whole , tho never so much macerated . but before i go off from this head , i would make a remark upon one phrase , which is within the compass of my text , and i think proves the identity of the dying and rising body ; and that is death's being set forth by sleep , which would be very improper , if the very bodies that sleep in jesus and are dead , should not be awaken'd and reviv'd in the morning of the resurrection . there is but one thing more i shall stay to mention , farther to support this important article , and 't is the instance given by the apostle of those that shall be alive at christ's second coming : he tells us , they shall not all sleep , but they shall all be chang'd . now this change must refer to the qualities of their bodies , not to the substance of 'em : we cannot imagine that by being chang'd , he means that the whole substance of their bodies should be annihilated , and that they shall have quite new bodies form'd out of other matter . moreover let me observe , that should those very bodies be destroy'd , and new ones united to those souls , the destruction of the body and the breach of the union would be death ; whereas the apostle asserts all shall not die . so that upon the whole i argue thus : that if those persons that are found alive at christ's second coming shall retain their old bodies only with new qualities , then those that are rais'd from the dead shall have the same bodies which were formerly join'd to their souls , only with the addition of new qualities . for what reason can any man assign , that the saints that shall be alive when christ shall come to judg the world , should be caught up into the air with their old bodies only ennobled and refin'd , and those that died should have bodies intirely new , and such as were never united to their souls before , such as never were the instruments either of sinning , or serving of god ? now the apostle do's not barely tell us of the saints being brought with god our saviour at his appearing and kingdom , which implys their resurrection , but he shews that their resurrection depends upon the death and resurrection of our blessed saviour : for says he , if we believe that jesus dy'd and rose again , even so them also that sleep in jesus will god bring with him . first , upon his death : for thrô death christ hath destroy'd him that had the power of death , that is the devil . when men were doom'd to death for the breach of the law , christ changed conditions with 'em , and offer'd up his precious blood as a ransom to god for 'em ; so that our saviour was victorious in dying , and conquer'd as he expir'd on the infamous tree . he bruis'd the head of the old serpent , and silenc'd the anathema's of a broken law , when in the sharpest agony , and amidst a thousand torments , he bowed his head and gave up the ghost . i confess that his own exaltation and triumphs began with his resurrection ; but if there had not been an infinite satisfying merit in his death , he had been so fast fetter'd with the bonds of death , that he could never have burst 'em : but having offer'd a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to god , which was of infinite worth and consideration , the pains of death were loos'd , for 't was impossible he should be held by 'em : naturally impossible ▪ because of his irresistible power as god ; legally impossible , because he had paid the full demands of the law and justice . secondly , our resurrection from the grave depends on the resurrection of christ . christ's resurrection from the dead proves that ours is not only possible , but infallibly certain . and this st. paul reasons upon in a very convincing manner : now if christ be preach'd that he rose from the dead , how say some among you , that there is no resurrection of the dead ? q. d. how can any deny either the possibility or certainty of the resurrection of the body , since christ has evidenced both by his own resurrection from the dead ? christ has remov'd both the moral and natural impossibility of our revival after death , the one by his abundant merit , and the other by his own triumphant resurrection : for having taken away the guilt of our sins which is the cause of death , death which is the consequent of sin shall be destroy'd and swallow'd up in victory . and our lord declares , that he is the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me ( says he ) tho he were dead , yet shall he live : q. d. i am , and shall be the principal cause of the resurrection , my voice shall break the silence of the grave , and cause those that sleep in the dust to awake and live again . he is also said to be the first fruits of them that sleep . and says the same apostle , for since by man came death , by man came also the resurrection of the dead . for as in adam all die , even so in christ shall all be made alive . from all which we may collect , that our saviour's resurrection is the pledg and assurance of ours . for if the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you , he that rais'd up christ from the dead , shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you . in a word , christ rose from the dead as a publick person , as the surety and head of his church ; and because he lives , we shall live also . and being called the first-born among the dead , he owns all that have dy'd in the faith as his brethren , who shall be restor'd to life according to his excellent pattern ; for his resurrection is not only the pledg , but the model of ours . therefore we are expresly told , that he shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself . how glorious our lord is in his exalted humane nature , cannot fully be represented by the most graceful turns of language , and lofty figures of speech : therefore we must be content with very imperfect idea's of his glory , till we have the happiness to see him as he is . yet we have enough reveal'd concerning it , to invigorate our desires , and raise our wonder : his eyes are represented like a flame of fire ; his voice as the sound of many waters ; his feet like to fine brass , as if they burn'd in a furnace ; his countenance as the sun shining in its full strength . now after this bright pattern shall the bodies of the saints be form'd in the resurrection . o what proportion of parts ! what agreeableness of colour ! how radiant an air shall sit upon their countenance ! for they shall shine with a lustre exceeding the brightness of all the lamps of heaven . the apostle also assures us , that tho they are sown natural , they shall be rais'd spiritual bodies ; i. e. the matter of 'em shall be exalted and improv'd to an extraordinary degree of fineness : for matter is properly enough said to be spiritual when 't is much refin'd . and how great a difference may we observe in material things ; for instance , betwixt the animal spirits in the brain , and the grosser parts of the body ; betwixt a lump of clay , and the refin'd matter of the air ; betwixt the earth and the sun that shines upon it , yet all material substances : from which we may collect what christ can do to exalt and refine our bodies in the resurrection . but farther , they may be called spiritual , in that they will be much better fitted to serve our spirits than they are now . here our bodies are oftentimes a clog and a hindrance to us ; but in the resurrection they shall be like wings to our souls , or to use the phrase of the antients , they shall be as a celestial chariot to the soul ; they shall neither be the cause of our ignorance , nor of our sinning , as they are now ; they shall not hinder , but rather help forward our devotions . in a word , they shall never suffer nor die more , for they shall be rais'd immortal and incorruptible ; the one respects a deliverance from death , the other a freedom from diseases : so that incorruptibility is an addition to the happiness of immortal creatures ; for if persons should never die , yet if they were often diseased , their happiness would be incompleat : but the rais'd bodies of the saints shall never know any more sorrow , sickness , or death ; it shall not be in the power of any creature to disorder the curious contexture of the rais'd bodys . mortality then will be swallowed up of life ; this corruptible shall put on incorruption , and this mortal immortality . thirdly , the saints being brought with christ at his second coming , does not only suppose their resurrection , but that with their rais'd bodys they shall ascend up into the air. and so much the apostle asserts a little after my text ; for this we say unto you by the word of the lord , that we which are alive , and remain unto the coming of the lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep . — for we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the lord. whether those that are rais'd from the dead , and those that shall be chang'd who never died , shall be caught up into the air by the immediate attractive power of christ , or by the ministry of angels , i will not determine ; but that they shall ascend in order to their coming with him , is beyond all dispute : and probably their bodies may be so refin'd , that they may be capable of treading air , and mounting upwards as easily as they now move upon the earth . fourthly , being brought with christ at his second coming , shall be to illustrate the glory of our incarnate god , and to advance the happiness of his redeemed ones . they shall attend their lord's triumph , and make up a part of his magnificent retinue : for as he shall come to be admir'd in all those that believe , so they shall all share in his glory ; they will then know by experience , what riches of glory is comprehended in that promise and privilege , of being heirs of god , and joint heirs with jesus christ . o what a glorious procession will this be through the air ! when he that suffered upon the infamous tree , shall appear at the head of so long and bright a train ! when all that the father gave to him shall appear with glittering crowns and spreading palms , the rewards of grace , and the tokens of victory ! i proceed now to make some improvement of what i have said . and , first , this doctrine that i have deliver'd , discovers to us the excellency of the christian institution : life and immortality is brought to light by the gospel . all that has been said by heathen poets and philosophers concerning a future state , was but obscure conjecture to the shining revelation of the gospel . they understood not that the sting of death was remov'd by the sufferings of the redeemer , or that the body should be rais'd with a transcendent lustre and dignity , to receive a reward with the soul. yea , under the mosaick oeconomy , a future state was but obscurely reveal'd ; but under the dispensation of the gospel , we have a most charming landskip of heaven , and the way to obtain it is set in the most clear and certain light . secondly , this doctrine may be improv'd to guard good men against the slavish fears of death . why should the righteous be afraid to repose upon a bed of dust ? death is but a sleep , from which we shall be awaken'd in the morning of the resurrection ; and christ , as you have heard , hath disarm'd death of its sting , and alter'd it in its very nature to the righteous . i confess , i do not wonder that the wicked and profane are afraid of death , for they know it puts a period to their pleasures , and begins their torments ; it snatches them from the joys of life , and fixes 'em under the agonies of the second death . so that some not only fear death it self , but the very name of it is terrible : which occasion'd a prince that i have read of , to forbid the mention of it in all his court. yea so enslav'd are some by the fear of death , that they conceive an abhorrence at the sight of a coffin , the dress of mourners , and the solemnities of a funeral ; which ( as one says ) are only the outguards that make up the retinue of the king of terrors . 't is reported of alexander , who had often encounter'd the numerous armies of the asian monarchs , and despis'd the terror of battels , yet when he was seiz'd with a mortal disease in babylon , he was so afraid of death , that his court was fill'd with diviners and victims , and all the little arts of superstition were us ▪ d to preserve his life . and indeed all men have just reason to fear death , who have nothing but a gloomy prospect beyond it , the terrible apprehensions of an angry god , and a tormenting tophet . but such whose guilt is remov'd by the blood of christ , and their souls renew'd and cleans'd by the spirit of christ , have no reason to fear death , for it approaches 'em without a sting . thirdly , from the doctrine i have establish'd , we learn of what necessity it is to be united to christ ; for 't is only such that shall have part in the first resurrection , over whom the second death shall have no power ; 't is only such as die in the lord , i. e. united to christ by the spirit and faith , that are said to sleep in jesus , and that god our saviour will bring with him . i know that some men think themselves very witty , when they ridicule the doctrine of union with christ ; but i am sure they are very miserable , if we may take the word of an apostle for it , who says , that if any man have not the spirit of christ , he is none of his . now none but such as belong to christ shall attend his triumph at the last day , and reign with him in his immoveable kingdom . fourthly , how great are our obligations to our redeemer , who hath alter'd the very nature of death by dying in our stead , and given us assurance of our resurrection by his own rising from the dead . o the heights , the depths , the lengths , the breadths of the love of god in christ jesus ! o , shall not our hearts burn with a grateful flame ! and shall not his unexampled love render him exceeding precious to our souls , and cause us to strike up with the church triumphant , worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power , and riches , and wisdom , and strength , and honour , and glory , and blessing , for ever and ever ! fifthly , how little reason have those that are united to christ , to desire any long tarry in this world , which is a sink of sin and sorrow , a place of gloominess and darkness ; where we constantly suffer , and are always in danger of sinning . moreover , while here , we are kept from our inheritance and our father's house : therefore it better becomes a true member of christ's mystical body , to desire rather to depart , and to be with christ , which is best of all . sixthly , how great is the difference betwixt the death of a believer and that of an infidel . they may both fall by the same diseases , and their dust be mingled in the same pit ; but their immortal part will be everlastingly divided : there is a great gulf fixed between the spirits in prison , and the souls in paradise . we read that when the rich man died , in hell be lift up his eyes , being in torments ; but when the religious beggar left this world , he was carried by angels into abraham 's bosom . an impenitent sinner at death loses the very shadows that he courted for happiness ; but the saint heightens his felicity into perfection . mark the perfect man , and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace . lastly , if such as sleep in jesus god will bring with him , then let us not sorrow like those without hope when god removes our relations and friends by death , especially such whom we have good ground to believe are fallen asleep in jesus , as blessed be god we have of that excellent and worthy gentleman mr. abbott , whose death has given the sad occasion to this discourse : and is he dead ? well , but his name lives , and will be fresh and fragrant to posterity . and i cannot do justice to his memory , without taking notice of those graces and virtues that eminently shin'd in his conversation and conduct ; for the memory of the just shall be blessed , and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance . i am not now to give the character of one that dwelt in a shade , but of one whose publick imploys expos'd him to a continual view , so that i doubt not of a crowd of witnesses to attest the truth of what i shall say . i confess , to collect all that was excellent and imitable in the deceas'd gentleman , is too big a task for so unskilful a person as i am , who can but lay the dead colours of his character , and must leave the finishing strokes to more artful hands , to men of better judgment , of greater compass of thought , and exactness of stile . i must own i am at a loss where to begin , and what part of his excellent character i shall insist upon ; but i think his piety towards god may properly enough be spoken of in the first place . he began very early to be religious , devoted to heaven the flourishing bloom of his youth , the first and best of his time ; he had well studied and digested the great articles of the christian faith , and had right notions of the person and mediatory work of christ , which had a mighty influence into his whole conversation ; for tho he liv'd in a crowd and hurry of business , yet he lost not his religion in the midst of it , but kept close to the private and publick duties of divine worship . with what seriousness and diligence did he attend on sermons , and what pains did he take in the writing and repeating of ' em ? which was the more extraordinary , because his publick imploys engag'd him in writing even to toil and fatigue . he was not a gentleman that affected singularity , or pretended to more purity than other christians ; but there was a native gracefulness that attended his acts of piety and devotion , which he manag'd without pomp or noise : this was an evidence of his great humility , a grace very conspicuous in him , as some of the poorest in this place cannot but have observ'd , to whom he carried it as if they had been his equals , which added a mighty lustre to the rest of his virtues . his zeal for spreading the great truths of the gospel was strong and regular , bright and flaming ; for notwithstanding his many necessary avocations , he would redeem time to advise and assist in the promotion of substantial godliness . his sincerity was very extraordinary and visible , for he appear'd always with great freedom , simplicity and plainness in conversation ; he detested all reserves and disguises , 't was too mean for him to appear in masquerade , tho alamode : integrity preserv'd him from the meanness of flattery , and he preserv'd his integrity amidst a thousand temptations . he was a true nathanael , who by the grace of god ( abating the common frailtys of human life ) might be said to keep himself unspotted from the world ; for he acted like joseph in the court of pharaoh , only with this difference , that he had not learn'd to swear by his life . in his family he was very exemplary , gave great encouragement to the beginnings of piety , but deeply resented the negligence of servants or children that should absent themselves from family-worship . the company he most delighted in , was such where he might either do good , or receive it ; and indeed i may say , that ( like the master he serv'd ) he went about doing good ; for as he sought out objects to exercise his charity upon , so he would thank his particular friends when they told him of any that were deserving of his alms , and would as chearfully relieve 'em in the most generous and noble manner . he was never deaf to the complaints of the poor and miserable , nor blind to the marks of their poverty ; neither did he shut his heart , his purse , or his door against 'em : he did not only wish 'em well , and give them soft language , but afforded 'em solid supplys . he was truly that liberal man whom solomon speaks of , that deviseth liberal things : for as he was created in christ jesus to good works , so he did abound in all the fruits of righteousness and charity , which are by jesus christ to the praise and glory of god the father . and tho he was thus rich in good works , yet his charitable distributions were never attended with the sound of a trumpet , but dispers'd to multitudes in the most silent and secret way . he deliver'd the poor that cry'd , and the fatherless , and him that had none to help him ; the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him , and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy . yet in all this he observed the rule of our saviour as near as possible , not letting his right hand know what his left hand did . he gave very liberally , tho very privately , to encourage the bringing up of a pious and learned ministry in ireland ; and understanding that such a design was forming in london , he offer'd most generously to encourage it , but before it could be accomplish'd , cruel death fetter'd those hands that were always active in dispensing the most noble charities . and i think it no contemptible branch of his character , that he paid a deference and respect to all that were of the sacred order of the ministry , under what denomination soever they passed : tho his ears were not servilely boar'd to any , for he did not look on 'em as lords of his faith , but helpers of his joy. yet , i say , he was not wanting to afford 'em the testimonies of his respect . he gave liberally to support several lectures ; particularly he encourag'd that which is carried on in this place : for he was a gentleman of universal charity to all that bore the image of christ . he was very tender of the reputation of all men ; and as he could not endure to hear the follies of men made a matter of diversion , so he always deeply resented the reproaches and calumnies that are too commonly the sauce of conversation , and look'd upon a man's good name as too valuable to lie at the mercy of every jester : so that i may say he was as free from rash censures , as he was from deserving ' em . he was always ready to compose any difference betwixt contending parties , which he did with that dexterity and impartiality , that that man was suspected to have a very bad cause that declin'd his arbitration . as to his acquitting himself in his publick imploy , it was with that honour that few men in an age do ; he was so little charm'd with the glitter of wealth , and his mind was so imbu'd with the principles of the christian religion , that he thought it below him to raise his estate by the mean practices of craft or violence , bribery or oppression . he fear'd god and honour'd the king , and did not meddle with those that are given to change : his loyalty to his present majesty william the king of great britain and ireland , and the remarkable services he has done ▪ in contributing towards supporting the credit of the nation at a time when it run very low , are too well known to need reciting here . should i speak of him as a husband , a parent , a master , or a friend , i may say without an hyperbole , he had few equals under heaven ; for never did i see a more affectionate husband , tender father , pleasant and faithful friend . yet all these things that i have mention'd , and a great many more i have not time to name , that are lovely and of good report , could not prevent his being seiz'd with a mortal sickness ; for what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? shall be deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? selah . his illness was more violent and dangerous than was generally apprehended , till within a day or two before his death : he then being ask'd concerning his hopes of eternal life , declar'd , they were fix'd on the satisfaction and obedience of christ , and that upon the righteousness of the redeemer alone he rested for the pardon of his sins and everlasting happiness . but immediately after this he grew delirious , and so was render'd uncapable of discoursing distinctly concerning divine things ; yet even while he was thus indispos'd , he desir'd me to pray with him , and told me that he heartily joyn'd . indeed a few hours before he dy'd he lay a little compos'd , and we imagin'd that some revival would have ensu'd ; so apt are we to flatter our selves with the belief of that which is the matter of our earnest wishes . but alas ! one hour sunk all expectation of life , and the next put a period to it . thus liv'd and dy'd that admirable person whose decease has occasion'd this discourse ; and tho he be dead , yet he speaketh , and his works praise him more in the gate , than i have done from the pulpit . is he dead ? he is not gone out of the world , but remov'd to a better part of it ; he has only chang'd his place , his company , and work. therefore you his sorrowful surviving half , and the rest of his mourning friends should not think on him as lost , but as set at liberty ; not as decaying among the clods of the valley , but as shining on an illustrious throne . stop your tears , for were he sensible of your grief , and capable of making a pause in the midst of his hallelujahs , he would say to you that survive , weep not for me , but weep for your selves . therefore let us all think what improvement to make of this sudden and surprizing providence : and those things that 't is proper to instruct us in , i shall but just name , and conclude : let this providence put us on the most serious consideration ; in the day of adversity consider , says the wise man. let us consider and reflect upon the vanity and uncertainty of human life ; surely when so bright and vigorous a flame is so suddenly extinguish'd , that scripture is eminently fulfill'd that says , verily man in his best estate is altogether vanity . let us learn a holy indifferency to the things of this world ; let us be convinc'd how ineffectual are all kind of means to preserve life when the decree is gone forth . if the skill of physicians , if the melting affection of a wife , and the fervent prayers of ministers could have prevented the death of our friend , we had not been mourning here at this time : therefore let us adore the soveraignty of god , who acts as he pleases , and gives no account of his matters to the children of men. let us trust in the lord , who changeth not , and submit to his disposing will , which is directed by wisdom and love. finally , prepare to follow ; be ye also ready : walk with god while you tarry here , that when he calls you out of this lower world , he may take you into his blissful presence , and say unto each of you , well done , thou good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a54873-e440 ● cor. 7. 31. job 21. 24. gen. 23. 2. job 1. 7. ver. 20. ver. 21. joh. 11. 33. ver. 34. ver. 36. eccles . 3. 4. isa . 57. 1. jer. 22. 18. job 27. 13 , 14 , 15. * nil agis , dolor ; quanquam sis molestus , nunquam te esse confitebor malum . * epist . 63. inter exempla eorum fui quos dolor vicit . 2 sam. 18. 33. gen. 37. 34 , 35. jer. 31. 15. 2 sam. 21. 10. * senec. epist . 9. omnia bona mea mecum sunt , justitia , virtus , temperantia , prudentia , hoc ipsum nihil boni putare quod eripi possit . * dr. bates . joh. 11. 11. * 1 cor. 15. 6 , 18 , 20 , 51. eccles . 12. 7. 2 cor. 5. 8. isa . 57. 2. job 3. 17 , 18. rom. 6. 13. eccles . 9. 10. rev. 14. 13. joh. 9. 4. 1 cor. 15. 56. rom. 8. 1. gal. 3. 13. 1 cor. 15. 55 , 57. hos . 13. 14. heb. 9. 28. phil. 2. 9 , 10 , 11. acts 26. 8. mr. beconsal . job 19. 25 , 26. john 5. 28 , 29. dr. hody . 1 cor. 15. 51. heb. 2. 14. 1 pet. 1. 19. acts 2. 24. 1 cor. 15. 12. joh. 11. 25. 1 cor ▪ 15 ▪ 20 ▪ ●● 22. rom. 8. 11. phil. 3. 21. rev. 1. 15. mark 1● . 43 ▪ 〈…〉 . 1 cor. 4 ▪ 15 , 53. 1 thess . 15 , 17. 2 thess . 1. 10. rom. 8. 9. rev. 5. 12 , mr. cruso . luke 16. 22 , 23. psal . 37. 37. psal . 89. 48. mat. 25. 21. the balm of the covenant applied to the bleeding wounds of afflicted saints first composed for the relief of a pious and worthy family, mourning over the deaths of their hopeful children; and now made publick for the support of all christians, sorrowing on the same or any other account. to which is added, a sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman john upton of lupton esq; by john flavell, preacher of the gospel at dartmouth in devon. flavel, john, 1630?-1691. 1688 approx. 174 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 96 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39658 wing f1157 estc r222662 99833809 99833809 38287 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39658) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 38287) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2207:07) the balm of the covenant applied to the bleeding wounds of afflicted saints first composed for the relief of a pious and worthy family, mourning over the deaths of their hopeful children; and now made publick for the support of all christians, sorrowing on the same or any other account. to which is added, a sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman john upton of lupton esq; by john flavell, preacher of the gospel at dartmouth in devon. flavel, john, 1630?-1691. [16], 174 printed for j. harris, at the harrow against the church in the poultrey, london : 1688. with marginal notes. "a sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman john upton of lupton, esq;" has a separate dated title page; pagination and register are continuous. copy has print show-through. reproduction of the original in the william andrews clark memorial library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng upton, john, -of lupton -early works to 1800. covenant theology -biblical teaching -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2002-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-01 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-01 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the balm of the covenant applied to the bleeding wounds of afflicted saints . first composed for the relief of a pious and worthy family , mourning over the deaths of their hopeful children ; and now made publick for the support of all christians , sorrowing on the same or any other account . to which is added , a sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman iohn vpton of lupton esq by iohn flavell , preacher of the gospel at dartmouth in devon. london : printed for i. harris , at the harrow against the church in the poultrey . 1688. to the vertuous and much honoured madam vrsvla vpton of lupton in devon. madam , if i find it an hard task to write on such a doleful subject , it cannot be imagined but your part must be abundantly harder , who feel over and over what is here written . could i tell how to administer counsels and comforts to you , without exasperating your sorrows , i would certainly take that way ; but seeing the one ( in this case ) cannot be done without the other , 't is our duty to submit to the method providence hath prescribed to us . the design of the ensuing discourse , is to evince the truth of what seems a very great paradox to most men , namely , that the afflictions of the saints can do them no hurt , and that the wisdom of men and angels cannot lay one circumstance of their condition ( how uneasie soever it seems to be ) better , or more to their advantage than god hath laid it . i attempt not by a flourish of rhetorick to perswade you against the demonstrations you can fetch from sense and feeling to the contrary , but to overthrow the false reasonings of flesh and sense , by the allowed rules of scripture and sure principles of religion . and methinks you , and every christian , should gladly entertain that comfortable conclusion , when you shall find the foundation of it as strong , as the influences thereof are sweet and comfortable . certainly , madam , the intent of the redeemer's undertaking was not to purchase for his people riches , ease , and pleasures on earth ; but to mortifie their lusts , heal their natures , and spiritualize their affections , and thereby to fit them for the eternal fruition of god. upon this supposition the truth of this conclusion ( how strange soever it seems ) is firmly built . it was not without divine direction , that the subject of the ensuing discourse was as pertinently , as seasonably , recommended to me by your dear husband , in the day of your sorrows for your only son. he took , i hope , his portion of comfort out of it before he died , and it is now left as a spring of comfort to you , who then mourned with him , and now for him . heavy pressures call for strong support , and fainting seasons for rich cordials . your burden is indeed heavy , yet i must say 't is much our own fault they are so heavy as we feel them to be : for according to the measure of our delight in , and expectation from the creature , is our sorrow & disappointment when we part from it . the highest tydes are always followed with the lowest ebbs. we find temperance and patience knit together in the same precept , and intemperance and impatience as inseparably connected in our own experience . it may be we did not suspect our selves of any sinful excess in the time of their enjoyment , but it now appears the creature was gotten deeper into our hearts than we imagined by the pain we feel at parting : did we not lean too hard upon it , there would not be such shakings as we feel when it is slipt from us . but , madam , 't is high time to recal your thoughts and bound your sorrows , which the following considerations would greatly assist you in . 1. what is the very ground and reason of our excessive sorrows for the ●oss of earthly comforts ? ●s it not this , that they are perishing and transitory ? that is , that you find them to be as god made them . and can you expect that god should alter the laws of nature to please and humour us ? it is as natural to our relations to die , as it is to flowers to wither , or the moon to wane . 2. that there is no such necessary connection betwixt these things , and our comfort , that whenever god removes the one , he must needs remove the other with it . christ and comfort are indeed so united , but nothing beside him is or can be so . i hope you will shortly experience the truth of this conclusion , by the comforts god will give you in the absence of those comforts you have lost . can you not now have as free access to god as before ? yea , do not these very afflictions send you oftener into his presence ? and if god meet you in those duties ( as in days of distress he uses to meet his people ) then it will be evident to you that your joy and comfort lives , though your husband and children be laid in their graves . 3. that the removin● of your earthly comforts hinders not but that yo● may still pursue the grea● end and business of you● life , and carry on all you● designs for heaven as successfully as ever . indeed , madam , had we been sent into this world to raise estates , contract relations , and then sit down in the midst of them , as our portion , then our design had been utterly dasht and disappointed ; but you know this is not your main end , or great business upon earth , but to honour god by an holy fruitful life here , and make ●eady for the full enjoyment of him hereafter . and what hinders , but you ●ay as prosperously ma●age and carry on this ●our design as ever ? you ●o not think the travel●er is disabled for his jour●ey , because he hath few●r clogs and hindrances ●●an before . i think few christians find much fur●●erance heavenward by ●●eir multiplicity of en●agements or enjoyments 〈◊〉 this world. your ●●res and fears about these ●●ings , will now lie in a ●arrower compass than they did before , and there by you may have yo● thoughts more about yo● to attend the great co●●cerns of gods glory an● your own salvation . 4. but above all , yo● will certainly find yo● relief and consolation 〈◊〉 lie in the everlasting c●●venant of god. then● it was that david fetc● his support under a mu●● heavier burden adn sma●●ter rod than yours : f●● your relations were su●● as gave you comfort their lives , and left y●● many grounds of hope their deaths ; but his we● taken away in their sins . but though the grounds of his sorrow ( blessed be god ) are not yours , yet i hope the grounds of his comfort in the text are fully yours . i confess i have prepared these things in too much hast , and distraction of thoughts , which in this juncture was unavoidable ; nor have i bestowed much of art or language upon them : and if i had , they would have been never the more effectual to your relief for that . but such as they are , i humbly present them to you , with my hearty prayers , that god would make them a soveraign balm , by the blessing of his spirit on them to your wounded spirit , and to all other godly families groaning under the like stroaks of god with you , and remain , madam , tour most faithful sympathizing friend and servant , jo. flavell . the balm of the covenant applied to the bleeding wounds of afflicted saints . text . 2 sam. 23. v. 5. although my house be not so with god , yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant ; ordered in all things , and sure : for this is all my salvation , and all my desire , although he make it not to grow . these are part of david's last words . the last words of dying saints , but especially of dying prophets , are ponderous , memorable , and extraordinarily remarkable ; and such are these acknowledged to be , by all expositors : 't is a golden sentence , a divine oracle , fit to be the last words of every dying saint , as well as of david . they are called his last words , not simply , and absolutely , as though he breathed them forth with his last breath ; ( for he spake many things afterwards ) but either they are the last he spake as a prophet , by divine inspiration , or because he had them often in his mouth , to his last and dying day . they were his epicedium , his sweet swan like song , in which his soul found singular refreshment , and strong support , amidst the manifold a●●●ictions of his life , and against the fears of his approaching death . the whole chapter is designed for a coronis or honourable close of the life of david , and gives us an account both of the worthy expressions that dropt from him , and of the renowned worthies that were employed by him : but all the heroick atchievements recorded to the honour of their memories , in the following part of the chapter , are trivial and inglorious things , compared with this one divine sentence recorded in my text ; in which we have two things to consider , viz. 1. the preface , which is exceeding solemn . 2. the speech it self , which is exceeding weighty . 1. in the preface , we have both the instrumental and principal efficient cause of this divine sentence , distinctly set down , ver . 1. and the efficient , or author of it , v. 2. the instrument or organ of its conveyance to us , was david ; described by his descent or lineage , the son of iesse ; by his eminent station , the man that was raised up on high , even to the top and culminating point of civil and spiritual dignity and honour , both as a king , and as a prophet ; by his divine unction , the anointed of the god of iacob ; and lastly , by the flowing sweetness of his spirit , and stile in the divine psalms that were penned by him , whence he here gets the title of the sweet psalmist of israel , the pleasant one in the psalms of israel , as some read it . the principal efficient cause of this excellent passage , is here likewise noted , and all to commend it the more to our special observation and acceptance : the spirit of god spake by me , and his word was in my tongue . this stamps my text expresly with divine authority . the spirit of god spake by david ; he was not the author , but only the scribe of it . thus the ensuing discourse is prefaced . let us next see , 2. the matter or speech it self , wherein we shall find the maxims , and general rules of government prescribed , and the felicity of such a government elegantly described . he that ruleth over men must be just , ruling in the fear of god. princes being in gods place , must exalt the righteousness of god , in the government of men ; and when they do so , they shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth , even a morning without clouds , &c. what halycon days shall that happy people see , whose lot is cast into such times and places ! all this is typically spoken of david , and those pious princes who succeeded him ; but mystically and eminently points at christ , who was to rise out of david's seed , rom. 1.3 . and to sit upon his throne , acts 2.30 . so that in this he was raised on high , to an eminency of glory and dignity indeed ; he was so in his ordinary natural seed ; a royal race , deriving it self from him , and sitting upon his throne in a lineal succession , till the babylonish captivity , which was about four hundred and thirty years . and after that , the iews had governours of his line , at least rightful heirs to that crown , till the promised messiah came . but that which was the top of david's honour , the most sparkling jewel in his crown , was this , that the lord iesus was to descend from him , according to the flesh , in whom all the glorious characters , before given , should not only be exactly answered , but abudantly exceeded . and thus you find the natural line of the messiah is drawn down by matthew , from david to the virgin mary , matth. 1. and his legal line by luke , from david to ioseph , his supposed father , luke 3.23 . now though the illustrious marks and characters of such a righteous , serene , and happy government , did not fully agree to his day , nor would do so in the reigns of his ordinary natural successors , his day was not without many clouds both of sin and trouble ; yet such a blessed day he foresaw and rejoyced in , when christ , the extraordinary seed of david , should arise and set up his kingdom in the world , and with the expectation hereof , he greatly chears and encourages himself : although my house be not so with god , yet hath be made with me an everlasting covenant , &c. in which words four things are eminendy remarkable . 1. here is a sad concession of domestick evils . 2. a singular relief from gods covenant with him . 3. the glorious properties of this covenant display'd . 4. the high esteem and dear regard his house had unto it . 1. here is david's sad and mournful concession of the evils of his house , both moral , and penal . although my house be not so with god , ( i. e. ) neither so holy , nor so happy , as this description of a righteous and flourishing government imports ; alas , it answers not to it : for though he was eminent for godliness himself , and had solemnly dedicated his house to god , as soon as it was built , yea , though he piously resolved to walk in the midst of it with a perfect heart , and not to suffer an immoral person within his walls ; yet great miscarriages were found even in david's house , and person , which god chastized him for , by a thick succession of sharp and sore afflictions . tamar was defiled by her brother amnon , 2 sam. 13.23 . amnon was barbarously murthered thereupon , by the advice of absalom , 2 sam. 13.28 . absalom unnaturally rebels against his father david , and drives him out of the royal city , and perishes in that rebellion , 2 sam. 15.1 . then adonijah , another darling-son , grasps at the crown setled by david upon salomon , and perishes for that his usurpation , 1 king. 2.25 . o what an heap of mischiefs and calamities did this good man live to see within his own walls ! besides the many forreign troubles that came from other hands . how many flourishing branches did god ●op off from him , and that in their sins too ? so that his day was a day of clouds , even from the morning unto the evening of it ; psal. 132.1 . lord , remember david , and all his afflictions . well might he say , his house was not so with god. but what then , doth he faint and despond under these manifold calamities ? doth he refuse to be comforted , because his children are gone , and all things involved in trouble ? no , but you find , 2. he relieves himself by the covenant god had made with him : yet hath he made with me a covenant . he looks to christ , there is more in the covenant than this my house before god , as the chaldee turns it . this little word yet , wraps up a great and soveraign cordial in it . though amnon , absalom , and adonijah be gone , and gone with many smarting aggravations too ; yet hath he made with me a covenant , yet i have this sheet-anchor left to secure me . gods covenant with me , in relation to christ , this under-props and shores up my heart . this covenant was , without controversie , a gospel-covenant . it was david's gospel : for all his salvation and all his desire were in it ; which could never be , except christ had been in it , who is the salvation of all the ends of the earth , and the desire of all nations . 't is true , it was a more obscure and imperfect edition of the covenant of faith , yet clearer than those that were made before it ; it came not up to the fulness and clearness of the discoveries made by ieremy and ezekiel : but yet in this covenant with david , god revealed more of christ , than had been ever revealed before ; for the light of christ , like that of the morning , increased still more and more , till it came to a perfect day . it is worthy our observation , how god made a gradual discovery of christ , from adam , down along to new testament-times . it was reveal'd to adam , that he should be the seed of the woman , but not of what nation , till abraham's time ; nor of what tribe , till iacob ; nor of what sex and family , till david ; nor that he should be born of a virgin , till isaiah ; nor in what town , till micah . the first revelation of this covenant with david , was by nathan the prophet ; afterwards enlarged and confirmed , psal. 89. by it he knew much of christ , and wrote much of him . he spake of his person , psal. 45.6.11 . psal. 8.4 , 5 , 6. of his offices , both prophetical , psal. 40.8 , 9 , 10. priestly , psal. 110.4 . and kingly , psal. 2.6 . of his incarnation , psal. 8.5 . of his death on the cross , psal. 22.16 , 17. of his burial , psal. 16.8 , 9 , 10. resurrection , psal. 2.7 . and triumphant ascension , psal. 68.18 . there was sum of the gospel discovered , though in dark and typical terms and forms of expression ; but if out of this covenant , as obscure as its revelation was , david fetcht such strong support and consolation , amidst such an heap of troubles , then the argument is good , à fortiori : what support and comfort may not we draw thence , who live under the most full and perfect display of it , in all its riches and glory ? enough hath been said to prove it a gospel-covenant ; but if any doubt should remain of that , it will be fully removed , by considering , 3. the eximious properties and characters of the covenant , as we find them placed in the text ; and they are three , viz. ( 1. ) everlasting . ( 2. ) ordered in all things , and ( 3. ) sure. ( 1. ) it is an everlasting covenant , or a perpetual covenant , a covenant of eternity ; not in the most ●trict , proper , and absolute sence : for that is the incommunicable property of god himself , who neither hath beginning , nor end ; but the meaning is , that the benefits and mercies of the covenant are durable and endless to the people of god : for christ being the principal matter and substance of the covenant , there must be in it everlasting righteousness , as it is called , dan. 9.24 . everlasting kindness , isai. 54.8 . everlasting forgiveness , ier. 31.34 . and in consequence to all these , everlasting consolation , isai. 51.11 . in all which , the riches and bounty of free grace shine forth in their greatest glory and splendor . ( 2. ) it is a covenant order'd in all things , or orderly prepared , disposed , and set , as the word imports . every thing being here disposed and placed in the most comely order , both persons and things here keep their proper place : god the father keeps the place of the most wise contriver and bountiful donor of the invaluable mercies of the covenant ; and christ keeps the proper place both of the purchaser and surety of the covenant , and all the mercies in it ; and believers keep their place , as the unworthy receivers of all the gratuitous mercies and rich benefits thereof , and the most obliged creatures in all the world to free grace , saying , although my house , yea , although my heart and my life be not so with god , yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant . and as persons , so things , all things in this covenant stand in the most exquisite order , and exact correspondence to each other . o 't is a ravishing sight to behold the habitude and respect of the mercies in the covenant , to the sins and wants of all that are in it ! here are found full and suitable supplies to the wants of all gods people . here you may see pardon in the covenant , for guilt in the soul ; ioy in the covenant , for sorrow in the heart ; strength in the covenant , for all defects and weaknesses in the creature ; stability in the covenant , for mutability in the creature . never did the wisdom of god shine forth more in any contrivance in the world , ( except that of christ , the surety and principal matter of the covenant ) than it doth in the orderly dispose of all things in their beautiful order , and comely proportions in this covenant of grace . ( 3. ) it is a sure covenant , or a covenant safely laid up and kept , as the word imports ; and upon this account the mercies of it are called , the sure mercies of david , isai. 55.3 . and so , psal. 89.28 . speaking of this very covenant , god saith , my covenant shall stand fast with him , there shall be no vacillancy , no shaking in this covenant : and ver . 34. my covenant will i not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips . every thing is as its foundation is . now , gods covenant being founded in his unchangeable counsel and purpose , wherein there can be no lubricity , and christ being the surety of it , it must needs b● as the text calls it , a sure cov●●nant , wherein the faithfulness o● god is as illustriously display'd , ● his bounty and wisdom are in th● two former properties of it . an● such a covenant as this so eve●●lasting , aptly disposed , and sure must needs deserve that preciou● respect and high esteem from e●very believing soul , which davi● here doth pay it in . 4. the singular and high valua●tion he had of it , when he saith this is all my salvation , and all my desire , or as some translate , all my delight , or pleasure ; ( i. e. ) here i find all repaired with an infinite overplus , that i have lost in the creature : here is life in death fulness in wants , security in dan●gers , peace in troubles . it is al● my salvation , for it leaves nothing in hazard that is essential to my happiness ; and all my desire , for i● repairs whatever i have lost , or can lose : it is so full and compleat a covenant , that it leaves nothing to be desired out of it . o it is a full fountain ! here i repose my weary soul with full satisfaction , and feed my hungry desires with sweetest delights ; so that my very soul is at rest and ease , in the bosome of this blessed covenant . thus you have the parts and sence of the text. the notes from it are three . observation i. that gods covenant people may be exercised with many sharp afflictions in their persons and families . even david's house was the house of mourning . although my house be not so with god , though he make it not to grow . all sorts of outward afflictions are incident to all sorts of men . all things ( saith solomon ) come alike to all : there is one event to the righteous , and to the wicked ; to the clean , and unclean ; to him that sacrificeth , and to him that sacrificeth not . the providences seem one and the same , though the subjects on whom the● fall be vastly different . estate and children , health , and libe●ty , will still be like themselv●● vanishing comforts , whoever the owners of them . no ma●● spiritual estate can be known b● the view of his temporal estat●● a godly family cannot be a mis●rable , but it may be a mournful f●mily . religion secures us fro● the wrath , but it doth not secur● us from the rod of god. th● lord hath chosen another way o● expressing his love to his peopl● than by temporal and externa● things : therefore all things come alike to all . the covenant exclude● the curse , but includes the cros●● if his children forsake my law , &c then will i visit their iniquity with the rod , and their sin with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will not utterly take away . nor indeed would it be the priviledge of gods covenanted people , to be exempt from the rod ; a mark of bastardy can be no mans felicity : heb. 12.8 . to go without the chastising discipline of the rod , were to go without ●he needful instructions and blessed fruits that accompany and result from the rod , psal. 94.12 . let us not therefore say , as those ●rreligious persons did in mal. 3.14 . it is in vain to serve god , and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances , and walked mournfully before him ? surely none serve him in vain , but those that serve him vainly . godliness cannot secure you from affliction , but it can and will secure you from hell , and sanctifie your afflictions to help you to heaven . but i stay not here . observation ii. a declining family is a sore stroke from the hand of god , and so to be acknowledged , wherever it falls . it was a growing sorrow to david , that his house did not grow ; and he eyed the hand of god in it : he made it not to gro● as he speaks in the text. he fe● as many deaths as he had de● children . it is god that buil● and destroys families ; he enla●●geth , and straighteneth them ●●gain . a family may decline tw● ways , viz. either , 1. by the death : or , 2. by the degeneracy of i● off-spring . 1. by their death , when go● lops off the hopeful springin● branches thereof ; especially th● last and only prop of it , in whom not only all the care and love , bu● all the hope and expectation of th● parents is contracted and boun● up . for , omnis in aseanio stat chari cur● parentis . the hearts of tender parents are usually bound up in the life of an onely son. as a mans wife is but himself divided , so his children ●re but himself multiplied ; and ●hen all love and delight , hope ●nd expectation , is reduced to one , ●●e affection is strong , and that ●akes the affliction so too . if it ●ere not an unparallel'd grief a●ong all earthly griefs and sor●ows , the spirit of god would ne●er have chosen and singled it out ●om among all other sorrows , to ●lustrate sorrow for sin by it , yea , ●orrows for that special sin of ●iercing christ , as he doth . they ●all look upon him whom they have ●ierced , and shall mourn for him , as ●●e that mourneth for an onely son . how naked are those walls , and ●ow unfurnished is that house , ●here the children ( its best or●aments ) are taken down and re●oved by death ! it is natural to ●ll men , to desire the continuance ●f their names and families in ●he earth ; and therefore when god cuts off their expectations in ●hat kind , they look upon them●elves as dry trees , or as the wi●hering stalks in the fields , when ●he flowers are fallen off and blown ●way from them . 2. or which is yet much wo●● a family may decline by the 〈◊〉 generacy of its off-spring . wh● the piety , probity , and vert●● of ancestors descend not wi●● their lands to their posterit● here the true line of honou● cut off , and the glory of a fam●●ly dies , though its children liv●● the family is ruin'd , though the● be a numerous off-spring . su●●ly it were better mourn for 〈◊〉 dead children , than for one su●● living child . how many such wretched f●●milies can england shew this da● how hath atheism and debauc●●ry ruin'd and subverted ma●● great and once famous familie● o it were better the arms of tho●● families had been reversed , a●● their lands alienated , yea , bett●● had it been a succession had fa●●●ed , and that their names had bee● blotted out , than that satan shoul● rule by prophaness in the plac● where god was once so serious●● and sweetly worshipped . whensoever therefore god shall ●ther of these ways subvert a fa●ily , it becomes them that are ●oncerned in the stroke , not only 〈◊〉 own and acknowledge the ●and of god in it , but to search ●●eir hearts and houses to find ●ut the sins which have so provo●ed him : yet not so as to fall ●●to an unbecoming despondency ●f spirit , but withal to relieve ●●emselves , as david here doth ●●om the covenant of god ; yet ●ath he made with me an everlasting ●ovenant . which brings us to the ●hird and principal point i shall insist on . observation iii. that the everlasting , well order'd , ●nd sure covenant of grace , affords ●verlasting , well order'd , and sure relief to all that are within the bond ●f it , how many or how great soever ●heir personal or domestick tryals and ●ffictions are . this point will be cleared t● your understandings , and pre●●pared for your use , by clearin● and opening three proposition● which orderly take up the sum an● substance of it , viz. proposition i. that the minds of men , yea , th● best men , are weak and feeble thing under the heavy pressures of affliction and will reel and sink under them except they be strongly relieved an● under-propp'd . a bowing wall doth not more need a strong shore or butteress than the mind of man needs ● strong support and stay from heaven , when the weight of affliction makes it incline and lea● all one way . unless thy law ha● been my delights : i should then hav● perished in my affliction . q. d. wha● shift other men make to stand the shock of their afflictions , i know not ; but this i know , that if god had not seasonably sent me the relief of a promise , i had certainly gone away in a faint fit of despondency . o how seasonably did god administer the cordials of his word to my drooping sinking soul ! this weakness in the mind , to support the burdens of affliction , proceeds from a double cause , viz. 1. from the sinking weight of the affliction . 2. from the irregular and inordinate workings of the thoughts under it . 1. from the sinking weight that is in affliction , especially in some sorts of afflictions : they are heavy pressures , ponderous burdens in themselves . so iob speaks , o that my grief were throughly weighed , and my calamity laid in the balances together : for now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea , therefore my words are swallowed up . q. d. if all the sand that lies upon all the shores in the world , were shovelled up into one heap , and cast into one scale , and my sorrow● into the other , my grief would weigh it all up . how heavy are the hearts of the afflicted ! what insupportable sorrows do they feel ▪ and groan under , especially when god smites them in the dearest and nearest concerns they have in the world ! 2. but especially the reelings and staggerings of the mind , are occasioned by the inordinate and irregular workings of its own thoughts . were it but possible to keep the mind in a serene , sedate , and ordinate frame , our burdens would be comparatively light to what we now feel them to be ▪ but the falling of the thoughts into confusions and great distractions spoils all . upon this account i● is , that afflictions are compare● to a stupifying dose , which cas● the soul into amazement . th●● hast shewed thy people hard thing● thou hast made us to drink the wi● of astonishment . afflictions are called the wine of astonishment , from their effects upon the mind : for under a great and sudden stroke of god , it is like a watch wound up above its due height , so that for a time it stands still , neither grace nor reason move at all : and when it begins to move again , o how confused and irregular are its motions ! it is full of murmurs , disputes , and quarrels : these aggravate both our sin and misery . 't is our own thoughts which take the arrow god shot at us , ( which did but stick before in our clothes , and was never intended to hurt us , but only to warn us ) and thrust it into our very hearts . for t1houghts , as well as ponyards , can pierce and wound the hearts of men . luke 2.35 . a sword shall pierce through thine own soul ; ( i. e. ) thy thoughts shall pierce thee . they can shake the whole fabrick of the body , and loose the best compacted and strongly joynted parts of the body . dan. 5.6 . his thoughts troubled him , and the joynts of his loyns were loosed . and thus a mans own mind becomes a rack of torment to him ; a misery which no creatures , except men and devils , are subjected to . o how many bodies have been destroy'd by the passions of the soul ! they cut through it , as keen knife through a narrow sheath . worldly sorrow works death , 2 cor. 7.10 . proposition ii. the merciful god , in condescension to the weakness of his people , hath provided the best supports and reliefs for their feeble and afflicted spirits . in the multitude of the thoughts i had within me , thy comforts delight my soul. carnal men seek their relief , under trouble , from carnal things ; when one creature forsakes them , they retreat to another which is yet left them , till they are beaten out of all , and then their hearts fail , having no acquaintance with god , or special interest in him : for the creatures will quickly spend all that allowance of comfort they have to spend upon us . some try what relief the rules of philosophy can yield them , supposing a neat sentence of seneca may be as good a remedy as a text of david or paul ; but alas , it will not do : submission from fatal necessity , will never ease the afflicted mind , as christian resignation will do . it is not the eradicating , but regulating of the affections , that composes a burthened and distracted soul. one word of god will signifie more to our peace , than all the famed and admired precepts of men . to neglect god , and seek relief from the creature , is to forsake the fountain of living waters , and go to the broken cisterns , which can hold no water . the best creature is but a cistern , not a fountain ; and our dependance on it makes it a broken cistern , strikes a hole through the bottom of it , so that it can hold no water . i , even i ( saith god ) am he that comforteth thee . the same hand that wounds you , must heal you ▪ or you can never be healed . ou● compassionate saviour , to asswage our sorrows , hath promised he wi●● not leave us comfortless . our god will not contend for ever , lest the spirit fail before him , isai. 57.16 . he knew how ineffectual all other comforts and comforters would be , even physicians of no value ▪ and therefore hath graciously prepared comforts for his distressed ones , that will reach their end . proposition iii. god hath gathered all the material● and principals of our relief into the covenant of grace , and expects that 〈◊〉 betake our selves unto it , in times o● distress , as to our sure , sufficient , and only remedy . as all the rivers run into the sea , and there is the congregation of all the waters ; so all the promises and comforts of the gospel , are gathered into the covenant of grace , and there is the congregation of all the sweet streams of refreshment that are dispersed throughout the scriptures . the covenant is the store-house of promises , the shop of cordials and rare elixirs , to revive us in all our faintings ; though alas most men know no more what are their virtues , or where to find them , than an illiterate rustick , put into an apothecary's shop . what was the cordial god prepared to revive the hearts of his poor captives groaning under hard and grievous bondage both in egypt and in babylon ? was it not his covenant with abraham ? and why did he give it the solemn confirmation by an oath , but that it might yield to him , and all his believing seed , strong consolation , the very spirit of joy amidst all their sorrows ? and what was the relief god gave to the believing eunuchs that kept his sabbaths , took hold of his covenant , and chose the things in which he delighted . to them ( saith he ) will i give in my house , and within my walls , a place , and a nam● better than that of sons or of daughters . though they were deprived of those comforts other men have in their posterity , yet he would not have them look upon themselves as dry trees ; a covenant-interest would answer all , and recompence abundantly the want of children , or any other earthly comfort . certainly therefore , david was at the right door of relief and comfort , when he repairs to the covenant , as here in the text , yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant . there , or nowhere , the relief of gods afflicted is to be found . now , to make any thing become a compleat any perfect relief to an afflicted spirit , these three properties must concur and meet in it , else it can never effectually relieve any man. i. it must be able to remove all the causes and grounds of troubles . ii. it must be able to do so at all times . iii. it must be capable of a good personal security to us . for if it only divert our troubles , ( as creature-comforts use to do ) and do not remove the ground and cause of our trouble , 't is but an anodine , not a cure or remedy . and if it can remove the very ground and cause of our trouble for a time , but not for ever , then 't is but a temporary relief ; our troubles may return again , and we left in as bad case as we were before . and if it be in it self able to remove all the causes and grounds of our trouble , and that at all times , but not capable of a personal security to us , or our well-established interest in it , all signifies nothing to our relief . but open your eyes and behold , o ye afflicted saints , all these properties of a compleat relief meeting together in the covenant , as it is display'd in the text. here is a covenant able to remove all the grounds and causes of your trouble ; for it is order'd i● all things , or aptly disposed by the wisdom and contrivance of god , to answer every cause and ground of trouble and sorrow in our hearts . it is able to do this at all times ; as well in our day , as in david's or abraham's day : for it is an everlasting covenant ; its vertue and efficacy is not decay'd by time . and lastly , it is capable of a good personal security or assurance to all gods afflicted people ; for it is a sure covenant . the concurrence of these three properties in the covenant , makes it a complea● relief , a perfect remedy , to which nothing is wanting in the kind and nature of a remedy . these three glorious properties of the covenant are my proper province to open and confirm , for your support and comfort in this day of trouble . i. that the covenant of grace is able to remove all the causes and grounds of a believers trouble , be they never so great or many . this i doubt not will be convinceingly evidenced and demonstrated by the following arguments , or undeniable reasons . argument i. whatsoever disarms afflictions of the only sting whereby they wound us , must needs be a compleat relief and remedy to the afflicted soul. but so doth the covenant of grace , it disarms afflictions of the only sting by which they wound us . therefore the covenant of grace must needs be a compleat relief and remedy to the afflicted soul. the sting of all afflictions , is the guilt of sin ; when god smites , conscience usually smites too : and this is it that causes all that pain and anguish in the afflicted . 't is plainly so in the example of the widow of zarephath , when her son , her only son , and probably her only child died , how did that stroke of god revive guilt in her conscience , and made the affliction piercing and intolerable ! as appears by her passionate expostulation with elijah , who then sojourned in her house : what have i to do with thee , o thou man of god ? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance , and to slay my son ? q. d. what injury have i done thee ? didst thou come hither to observe my sins , and pray down this judgment upon my child for them ? the death of her son revived her guilt , and so it generally doth , even in the most holy men . when iob looked upon his wasted body under afflictions , every wrinkle he saw upon it , seemed to him like a witness rising up to testifie against him . thou hast filled me with wrinkles which is a witness against me , and my leaness rising up in me , beareth witness to my face . affliction is like a hue and cry after sin in the ears of conscience , and this is the envenom'd poysonous sting and affliction : pluck out this , and the afflicted man is presently eased , though the matter of the affliction still abide with him , and lie upon him . he is afflicted still , but not cast down by affliction ; the anguish and burden is gone , though the matter of trouble remain . this is plain both in scripture , and in experience . suitable hereunto is that strange , but sweet expression , the inhabitant shall not say i am sick , the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities . it 's not to be imagined these people had found such a fortunate island , o● happy climate , where no disease could touch or invade their bodies ; no , sickness will find o● the bodies of the best men , where ever they live ; wherever sin ha●● been , sickness and death will fo●●low it . heaven is the only pr●●viledg'd place from these miseries but the meaning is , though the● be sick , they shall not feel th● pains and burdens of sickness they shall not say they are sick : an● why so ? because their iniquitie● are forgiven . plainly confirmin● what was before asserted , that the anguish of an affliction is gone as soon as ever the sting of guil● is plucked out . and hence par●doning of the soul , and healing o● the body , are put together as co●●jugate mercies : bless the lord , o my soul , who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases . when the soul is at ease , the pains of the body are next to nothing : sick●ness can cloud all natural joys , but not the joy of a pardon . nay , which is yet more ; pluck out but the sting of sin , and there is no horrour in death , the king of terrours , and worst of all outward evils . see how the pardoned believer triumphs over it : o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin . they are words of defiance , as men use to deride and scorn a boasting insulting enemy , when they see him cast upon his back , and his sword broken over his head . heus ! uhi nunc fastus , altaque verba jacent ? where are your boasts and menaces now ? o death , thou hast lost thy sting and terrour together . thus the pardoned believer , with an holy gallantry of spirit , derides and contemns his disarmed enemy death : so then 't is manifest , that whatever plucks out the poysonous sting of affliction , must needs be an effectual remedy and cure to the afflicted person . but this the covenant of grace doth , it reveals and applies gospel-remission to them that are within the blessed bond of it . this shall be the covenant that i wi●● make with the house of israel ; i wi●● forgive their iniquity , and i will remember their sin no more . behol● here a gracious , full , and irrevo●cable pardon ! i will forgive , o● be propitiously merciful , as tha● word imports ; pointing plainly t● christ our propitiation , our sin● are forgiven us for his names sake and a pardon as full as it is free iniquity and sin , smaller and grea●ter , are here forgiven : for go● in the remission of his peoples sins having respect to the propitiatin● bloud of christ , he pardons all as well as some , that bloud deser●ving and purchasing the most ful● and compleat pardons for his peo●ple . 1. joh. 1.7 . the bloud of christ cleanseth us from all sin . and this covenant-pardon is a firm , as it is free and full . so ru● the expressions in the grant , i wi● remember their sin no more : or in the apostles words , heb. 8.13 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i will not remember them again . that is , not so remember as to impute them , o● condemn my pardoned ones for them : for the pardoned persons come no more into condemnation , ioh. 5.24 . their sins are cast into the depths of the sea , mica . 7.19 . sooner shall the east ▪ and the west , the two opposite points of heaven , meet , than the pardoned soul and its sins meet again in condemnation , psal. 103.12 . now , the case standing thus with all gods covenant-people , all their sins being graciously , fully , and irrevocably forgiven them , how convincingly and sweetly doth this conclusion follow , that the covenant is a compleat remedy to all afflicted believers ? as nothing can befal us before christ and pardon be ours , which is sufficient to raise us , so nothing can befal us afterwards , which should deject and sink us . this is the first benefit afflicted believers receive from the covenant , and this alone is enough to heal all our sorrows . argument ii. as the covenant of grace d●● arms all the afflictions of bel●●vers of the only sting by whi●● they wound them ; so it al●● the very nature and property 〈◊〉 their afflictions , and turns the●● from a curse into a blessing 〈◊〉 them : and in so doing it becom● more than a remedy , even a choi●● benefit and advantage to them . all afflictions in their own n●●ture , are a part of the curse ; the●● are the consequents and punis●●ments of sin ; they work naturall● against our good : but when on● they are taken into the covenan● their nature and property is alte●●ed . as waters in their subterr●●nean passages meeting some ver●tuous mineral in their course , a●● thereby impregnated and endow●ed with a rare healing property 〈◊〉 the body ; so afflictions passing through the covenant , receive from it an healing vertue to our souls . they are in themselves soure and harsh , as wild hedge-fruits ; but being ingrafted into this stock , they yield the pleasant fruits of righteousness . if his children break my statutes , and keep not my commandments , then will i visit their iniquity with the rod , and their sins with stripes : nevertheless my loving kindness will i not utterly take away , nor suffer my faithfulness to fail . here you may see all the rods of affliction put into the covenant , as aaron's rod was into the ark. and hence two things necessarily follow . ( 1. ) that such afflictions can do the children of god no hurt . they may affright , but cannot hurt them : we may meet them with fear , but shall part from them with joy : an unsanctified rod never did any man good , and a sanctified rod never did any man hurt : he may afflict our bodies with sickness , deny , or cut off our comfort in children , impoverish our estates , let loose persecutors ●pon us ; but in all this he really doth us no hurt , as he speaks in i●● 25.6 . no more hurt than a skil● chirurgeon doth in saving his p●●tients life , by cutting off a mor●●fied gangren'd member : no mo●● hurt than frosts and snow do t● earth in killing the rank wee● that exhausted the sap and streng●● of it , and preparing and mello●ing it to produce a fruitful crop ● corn. by these he recals o● minds from vanity , weans o● fond and ensnaring affections fro● the world , discovers and mortifi●● those lusts , which gentler method and essays could not do : and ● this for our hurt ? i confess gods thoughts an● ours often differ upon this case● we measure the good and evil o● providences by their respect t● the ease and pleasure of our flesh● but god sees this is the way to cas● our spirits into a dead formality and in removing them , he dot● but deprive us of the occasions and instruments of spiritual mischief● and miseries , in which certainly he doth us no hurt . ( 2. ) but that is not all . af●●ictions once put into the covenant , must promote the good of ●he saints : they are beneficial , as well as harmless things . we know ●saith the apostle ) that all things work together for good to them that ●ove god. this promise is the compass which sets the course and directs the motion of all the af●●ictions of the people of god ; ●nd no ship at sea obeys the rudder so exactly , as the troubles of the righteous do the direction of this promise . possibly we cannot discern this at present , but rather pre●udge the works of god , and say all these things are against us ; but hereafter we shall see , and with ●oy acknowledge them to be the happy instruments of our salvation . how often hath affliction sent ●he people of god to their knees , with such language as this ! o my god , how vain and sensual hath this heart of mine been under prosperity ! how did the love of the creature , like a sluce , cut in the bank of a river , draw away the stream of my affect●ons from thee ! i had gotten soft a pillow of creature-comfort under my head , and i easily fel● asleep , and dreamed of nothin● but rest and pleasure , in a stat● of absence from thee ; but now thy rod hath awakened me and reduced me to a right sen●● of my condition . i was negl●gent or dead-hearted in th● course of my duty , but now ● can pray more fervently , feelingly , and frequently than before . o it was good for me , that i hav● been afflicted . o , saith god , how well was this rod bestow'd which hath done my poor chil● so much good ! now i hav● more of his heart , and more o● his time and company than ever . now i hear the voice , and see the gracious workings of the spirit of my child after me again , as in the days of his first love . the sum of all this you may see in the ingenuous meltings of ephraim under a sanctified rod , ier. 31. 19,20 . and the sounding of the ●owels of mercy over him . ' ephraim mourns at gods feet , and god falls upon ephraim's neck . i have been as a beast , saith ephraim : thou art a dear son , a pleasant child , saith god. my bowels are troubled and pained for sin , saith ephraim : and my bowels are troubled for thee , and my compassions rolled together , saith god. o blessed fruits of ●anctified rods ! such precious ef●ects as these richly repay you for ●ll the pain and anguish you feel . and thus , as the wound of a scor●ion is healed by applying its own oyl , so the evil of affliction is cured by the sanctified fruits that ●t produceth when it is once put ●nto the covenant . argument iii. the covenant doth not only alter the nature and property of the saints afflictions , but it also orderl● disposes and aptly places them in the frame of providence , among th● other means and instruments 〈◊〉 our salvation ; so that a counc● of angels could never place them or the least circumstance belonging to them , more aptly and a●vantageously than it hath done ▪ the knowledge of this must need quiet and fully relieve the afflicted soul : and who can doubt it that believes it to be a covenan● ordered in all things , as the te● speaks ? here all things , yea , th● most minute-circumstances that be●fal you , are reduced to their proper class , and place of service ; s● exactly ordered , that all the wi●dom of men and angels know not how to mend or alter any thing to your advantage . if a small pin be taken out of the frame of a watch , and placed any where else , the motion is either presently stopped , or made irregular . and as gallen observes of the curious fabrick of an humane body , that if the greatest naturalist should study an hundred years to find out a more commodious scituation , or configuration of any part thereof , it could never be done . 't is so here : no man can come after god , and say , this or that had been better placed or timed , than it is , if this affliction had been spared , and such an enjoyment stood in the room of it , it had been better . all god's providences are the results and issues of his infinite wisdom : for he works all things according to the counsel of his own will , eph. 1.11 . the wheels , ( i. e. ) the motions and revolutions of providence , are full of eyes ; they are well advised , and judicious motions , non caeco impetu volvuntur rotae ; they run not at random . the most regular and excellent working , must needs follow the most deep and perfect counsel . isai. 28 ▪ 29. he is deep in counsel , and excellent in working . now every affliction that befals gods covenanted people , being placed by the most wise and infinite counsel of god , in tha● very order , time , and manner in which they befal them , this very affliction , and not that , at this very time , and not at another , ( it being always a time of need ▪ 1 pet. 1.6 . ) and usher'd in by such fore-running occasions and circumstances ; it must follow , that they all take the proper places ▪ and nick exactly the fittest seasons ▪ and if one of them were wanting , something would be defective in the frame of your happiness . as they now stand , they work together for your good , which displaced , they would not do . it 's said , ier. 18.11 . behold ● frame evil , and i devise a devi● ▪ it 's spoken of the contrivance and frame of afflictions , as the proper work of god. the project of i● is laid for his glory , and the eternal good of his people . it turns to their salvation , 1 phil. 19. but oh how fain would we have this or that affliction scrued out of the frame of providence , conceiving it would be far better out than in . o if god had spared my child , or my health , it had been better for me than now it is . but this is no other than a presumptuous correcting and controlling of the wisdom of god ; and so he interprets it , iob 40.2 . he that reproveth god , let him answer it . god hath put every affliction upon your persons , estates , relations , just where you find and feel it ; and that whole frame he hath put into the covenant , in the vertue whereof it works for your salvation : and therefore let all disputings and reasonings , all murmurs and discontents cease , nothing can be better for you , than as god hath laid it ; and this one would think should heal and quiet all . you your selves would mar all , by presuming to mend any thing . who hath directed the spirit of the lord , or being his counsellour , hath taught him ? with whom took he counsel , and who instructed him , and taught him the path of judgment ? and taught him knowledge , and shewed him the way of understanding ? well then , be satisfied 't is best as it is ; and nothing can be so advantageous to you , as god's project and contrivance , which you are so uneasie under , and dissatisfi'd about . argument iv. as the covenant sorts and ranks all your troubles into their proper classes and places of service , so it secures the special gracious presence of god with you , in the deepest plunges of distress that can befal you ; which presence is a full relief to all your troubles , or else nothing in the world is or can be so . the very heathens thought themselves well secured against all evils and dangers , if they had their petty houshold gods with them in their journeys : but the great god of heaven and earth hath engaged to be with his people , in all their afflictions and distresses . as a tender father sits up himself with his sick child , and will not leave him to the care of a servant only ; so god thinks it not enough to leave his children to the tutelage and charge of angels , but will be with them himself , and that in a special and peculiar way : so run the express words of the covenant , i will not turn away from them to do them good , but i will put my fear into their hearts ; and they shall not depart from me . here he undertakes for both parts , himself and them . i will not , and they shall not . here is the saints security for the gracious presence of god with them , a presence which dispels all the clouds of affliction and sorrow , as the sun scatters the morning mists . the god of all consolation is with you , o poor dejected believers , and will not such a presence turn the darkness into light round about you ? there is a threefold presence of god with his creatures . 1. essential , which is common and necessary to all . 2. gracious , which is peculiar to some on earth . 3. glorious , which is the felicity of heaven . the first is not the priviledge here secured ; for it is necessary to all , good and bad : in him we all live , and move , and have our being . the vilest men on earth , yea the beasts of the field , and the very devils in hell are always in this presence of god , but it is their torment , rather than their priviledge . the last is proper to the glorified saints and angels . such a presence imbodied , saints cannot now bear ; but it is his special gracious presence which is made over and secured to them in the covenant of grace : and this presence of god is manifested to them two ways . 1. internally , by the spirit . 2. externally , by providence . 1. internally , by the spirit of grace dwelling and acting in them , this is a choice priviledge to them in the day of affliction : for hereby they are instructed and taught the meaning of the rod. psal. 94.12 . blessed is the man whom thou chastenest , and teachest him out of thy law . o 't is a blessed thing to be taught so many lessons by the rod , as the spirit teacheth them ! surely they reckon it an abundant recompence of all that they suffer . it is good for me that i have been afflicted , that i might learn thy statutes . yea , he refreshes as well as teaches , and no cordials revive like his . in the multitude of the thoughts i had within me , thy comforts delight my soul. yea , by the presence and blessing of his spirit , our afflictions are sanctified to subdue and purge out our corruptions . by this shall the iniquity of iacob be purged , and this is all the fruit to take away sin . now if a man be instructed in the ends and designs of the rod , refreshed and comforted under every stripe of the rod , and have his sins mortified and purged by the sanctification of the spirit upon his afflictions ; then both the burthensomness and bitterness of his afflictions are removed and healed by the internal presence of the spirit of god with his afflicted ones . but , 2. besides this , god is providentially present with his people , in all their troubles , in a more external way ; ordering all the circumstances of their troubles to their advantage . he orders the degree and extent of our afflictions , still leaving us some mercies and comforts to support and refresh us , when others are cut off . in measure doth he debate with his covenant people , staying the rough wind in the day of the east wind . he might justly smite all our outward comforts at once , so that affliction should not rise up the second time : for what comfort soever hath been abused by sin , is thereby forfeited into the hand of judgment . but the lord knows our inability to sustain such strokes , and therefore proportions them to our strength . we have some living relations to minister comfort to us , when mourning over our dead : he makes not a full end of all at once . yea , and his providence supports our frail bodies , enabling them to endure the shocks and storms of so many afflictions , without ruine . surely there is as much of the care of providence manifested in this , as there is in preserving poor crazy leaking barks , and weather-beaten vessels at sea , when the waves not only cover them , but break into them , and they are ready to founder in the midst of them . o what a singular mercy is the gracious presence of god with men ! even the special presence of that god , who is above all , and through all , and in you all , as the apostle speaks . above all , in majesty and dominion ; through all , in his most efficacious providence ; and in you all , by his grace and spirit . as he is above all , so he is able to command any mercy you want , with a word of his mouth ; as he is through all , so he must be intimately acquainted with all your wants , straights , and fears ; and as he is in you all , so he is engaged for your support and supply , as you are the dear members of christ's mystical body . object . but methinks i hear gideon's objection rolled into the way of this soveraign consolation . if god be with us , why is all this evil befallen us ? sol. all what ? if it had been all this rebellion and rage against god , all this apostacy and revolting more and more , all this contumacy and hardness of heart under the rod ; then it had been a weighty and stumbling objection indeed : but to say , if god be with us , why are all these chastening corrections and temporal crosses befallen us ? why doth he smite our bodies , children , or estates ? is an objection no way fit to be urged by any that are acquainted with the scriptures , or the nature and tenour of the covenant of grace . is afflicting and forsaking , all one with you ? must god needs hate , because he scourgeth you ? i question whether satan himself hath impudence enough to set such a note or comment upon heb. 12.6 . for whom the lord loveth , he chasteneth , and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth . no , no , christian , 't is not a chastening rod , but the denying of such a favour , and suffering men to sin with impunity , and go on prosperously in the way of their own hearts , that speaks a rejected man , as the next words , ver . 7. informs you . as he never loved you the better for your prosperity , so you may be confident he loves you never the less for your adversity : and will not this close and heal the wounds made by affliction ? what , not such a promise as this , i will be with him in trouble , psal. 91.15 . will not such a presence revive thee ? what then can do it ? moses reckoned that a wilderness with god , was better than a canaan without him . if thy presence go not with me ( saith he ) then carry us not hence . and if there be the spirit of a christian in thee , and god should give thee thine own choice , thou wouldst rather chuse to be in the midst of all these afflictions with thy god , than back again in all thy prosperity , and among thy children and former comforts , without him . argument v. as this covenant assures you of gods gracious and special presence , so it fully secures all the essentials and substantials of your happiness , against all hazards and contingencies ; in which security lies your full relief and compleat remedy against all your troubles for the loss of other things . there be two sorts of things belonging to all god's people , viz. 1. essentials . 2. accidentals . 1. they have somethings which are essential to their happiness ; such are the loving kindness of god , the pardon of sin , union with christ , and eternal salvation . and they have other things which are accidentals , that come and go , live and die , without affecting or altering their happiness ; such are health , estates , children , and all sorts of relations and earthly comforts . these are to our happiness , as leaves are to the tree which fade and fall away without endangering the tree ; but the other as the vital sap , without which it withers and dies at the very root . now if it can be made out that the covenant fully secures the former ; then it will strongly follow , that it therein abundantly relieves us under all our sorrows for the latter : and that it doth so , will evidently appear , by reviewing the covenant , wherein you shall find all these substantial and essential mercies of believers , fully secured against all hazards and contingencies whatsoever . there the loving kindness of god is secured to their souls , whatever afflictions he lays upon their bodies . nevertheless my loving kindness will i not take away . and their pardon is as safe as the favour of god is ; 't is safely locks up in that promise , i will remember their sins no more . yea , heaven , together with our perseverance in the way to it , are both put out of hazard by that invaluable promise , they shall never perish , neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand . thus are all the essentials of a believers happiness secured in the covenant ; and these being safe , the loss of other enjoyments should not much affect or wound them , because if he enjoy them , they add nothing to his happiness ; and if he lose them , he is still happy in god without them . and this unriddles that aenigmatical expression of the apostle , as having nothing , and yet possessing all things ; ( i. e. ) the substraction of all external things cannot make us miserable , who have christ for our portion , and all our happiness intire in him . if a man travelling on the rode fall into the hands of thieves who rob him of a few shillings , why this doth not much affect him : for though he have lost his spending money , yet his stock is safe at home , and his estate secure , which will yield him more . or if a man have been at court , and there obtain'd a pardon for his life , or a grant of a thousand pound per annum , and returning home should chance to lose his gloves or his handkerchief , sure if the man be in his wits , he will not take on or mourn for the loss of these trifles , whilst the pardon or grant is safe . surely these things are not worth the mentioning . 't is true , the loss of outward earthly things , are to a believer real tryals , yet they are but seeming losses : and therefore they are expressed in the apostles phrase with a tanquam , sicut : as chastened , and not killed ; as sorrowful , yet always rejoycing . and if your losses be but as it were losses , your sorrows should be but as it were sorrows : much like a physick sickness , which we do not call a proper sickness , but as it were a sickness , because it conduceth to the health , and not the hurt of the person ; as all god's medicinal afflictions on his people also do . indeed , if the stroke of god were at our souls , to cut them off from christ and heaven , to raze our names out of the covenant , or revoke the pardon of sin ; then we had cause enough to justifie the extremity of sorrow ; cause enough to weep out our eyes , and break our hearts for such a dismal blow as that would be . but blessed be god you stand out of the way of such strokes as these ; let god strike round about you , or lay his hand upon any other comforts you possess , he will never smite you in these essential things , which is certainly enough to allay and relieve all your other sorrows . my name is blotted out of the earth , but still it is written in heaven . god hath taken my only son from me , but he hath given his only son for me , and to me . he hath broken off my hopes and expectations as to this world , but my hopes of heaven are fixed , sure , and immoveable for ever . my house and heart are both in confusion and great disorder , but i have still an everlasting covenant ordered in all things , and sure . i cannot say my son liveth , ●ut i can still say i know that my redeemer liveth . the grass wither●th , and the flower fadeth ; but the word of the lord abideth for ever , isai. 40.8 . argument vi. as god strikes none of the sub●stantial mercies of his covenan● people , so when he doth smi●● their external and accidental com●forts , the covenant of grace 〈◊〉 sures them , that even those stroke● are the strokes of love , and m● wrath ; the wounds of a frien● and not of an enemy : which another singular relief to the affl●●cted soul. the most frightful thing in an affliction , is the mark or characte● of god's wrath which it seems 〈◊〉 bear : take away that , and the affl●●ction is nothing . o lord , rebuke 〈◊〉 not in thine anger , neither chasten 〈◊〉 in thy hot displeasure . he doth no● deprecate the rebukes , but the a●●ger of god ; not his chastening but his hot displeasure . gods a●●ger is much more terrible than hi● rebuking , and his hot displeasur● than his chastening . therefor● he intreats , that whatever god di● to him in the way of affliction , he would do nothing in the way of wrath ; and then he could bear any thing from him . a mark of divine anger ingraven upon any affliction , makes that affliction dreadful to a gracious soul. but if a man be well satisfied that whatever anguish there be , yet there is no anger , but that the rod is in the hand of love : o how it eases the soul , and lightens the burden ! now this desirable point is abundantly cleared in the covenant ; where we find a clear consistence , yea , a necessary connection betwixt the love and the rod of god , psal. 89.31 . and heb. 12.6 . nay , so far are the afflictions of the saints from being marks of his wrath , that they are the fruits and evidences of his fatherly love. two men walking through the streets , see a company of boys ●ighting , one of them steps forth ●nd singles out one of those boys , ●nd carries him home to correct ●im ; which of the two think you is that childs father ? the c●● standing thus with all gods people , surely there is no reason fo● their despondencies whatever the●● afflictions be . argument vii . lastly , the covenant doth no● only discover the consistence an● connection betwixt the love an● the rod of god , but it also giv● full satisfaction to the saints , th●● whatsoever temporary mercy the● are deprived of , which was with in the bond of the covenan● when they enjoyed it , is no● lost , but shall certainly be restore● to them again with a rich im●provement , and that they shall en●joy it again to all eternity . what a rare model or platfor● of consolatory arguments ha●● the apostle laid down , to antido●● our immoderate sorrows for th● death of our dear relatives whic● died interested in christ and th● covenant ! i would not have yo●● ●gnorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , v. 13. they are not dead , but asleep . sleep is but 〈◊〉 parenthesis to the labours and travels of this life ; and it is but a partial privation , not of the ha●it , but acts of reason , to which ●pon awaking the soul returns again . just such a thing is that ●hich in believers is commonly ●alled death . and we do not ●se to bewail our friends , because ●hey are fallen asleep : and there●●re it no way becomes us to sor●ow as those that have no hope , or to look upon them as lost ; 〈◊〉 ( as he strongly argueth and concludeth , v. 14 ) their restora●ion to their bodies , yea , and to ●ur enjoyment again , is fully se●●red both to them and us by the resurrection of jesus from the ●ead . the influence of his re●●rrection is by the prophet isaiah ●ompared to the morning-dew , 〈◊〉 shew that what vertue there is 〈◊〉 the morning-dew to cause the ●nguishing plants of the earth to ●ive and flourish , that , and much more there is in the resurrectio● of christ , to revive and quicke● the dead bodies of these saints , their bodies shall be restored by vertue of the warm animating dew or influence of his resurrection . obj. but the marvellous change which the resurrection makes up on glorified bodies , and the long separation of many ages betwi●● us and them , seems to make it in possible for us to know them 〈◊〉 those that were once related to 〈◊〉 upon earth ; and if so , then tha● comfort which resulted from them as in relation to us , is perishe● with them at death . sol. whatever change the r●surrection shall make on their b●dies , and the length of time betwixt our parting with them 〈◊〉 earth , and meeting them agai● in heaven , shall be ; neither th● one or other seem sufficient to i●form the grounds of our hope , th●● we shall know them to be the ver● persons that were once so dear t● us upon earth . there may remai● ●ome lineament or property of in●ividuation whereby the acute ●lorified eye may possibly discover ●ho they were ; or if not , yet ●one can doubt but it may be dis●overed to us by revelation from god : and that one way or other ●t will be discovered , is highly pro●able , because nothing will be denied to that perfect state which may contribute to , or compleat ●he joy and happiness thereof , as ●e cannot but think this know●edge will do . if adam knew eve to be flesh of his flesh , and ●one of his bone , in the state of ●nnocence ; and if the apostles knew moses and elias upon the mount ; yea , if dives in hell ●new abraham and lazarus in heaven : sure we may well allow ●hat knowledge to the glorified ●aints in heaven , which we find ●n the state of innocence , or in ●he sinful state on earth , or in ●he state of the damned in hell. and if so , then the covenanted parents shall be able to say in that day , this was our child for who● we prayed and travelled again , ti●● christ was formed in him ; th●● is he whom we educated for god ▪ and trained up in the nurture an● admonition of the lord ; and now we see the fruit of our prayers , counsels , catechisings , 〈◊〉 child of so many prayers perishe● not . and the covenanted chil●● shall say , this was my pious ●●●ther , who took such care for my soul ; and this my tender mother who , like another monica , was ze●●lously concerned for my etern●● happiness . these are they th●● sowed so many prayers , which god gave them not time 〈◊〉 reap the fruits of on earth , b●● now they shall reap the fruit an● comfort of them for ever . o joy●ful meeting in the kingdom o● god! the joy of such a meeting abundantly recompences for a●● the tears and groans of a dolorou● parting . now , put all this together , an● value the arguments produced to make good the first thing pro●pounded , namely the sufficiency of the covenant to relieve and remedy all the sorrows and losses of believers , be they never so many , or so great ; this cannot be doubted , since it hath been proved , that it disarms all their afflictions of the only sting by which they wound ; alters the very nature and property of their afflictions , turning them from curses into blessings ; ranks and disposes them into their proper class and place of service , so as the counsel of men and angels could never lay them better to our advantage ; engages the gracious and special presence of god with you in all your troubles ; secures all your essential and substantial mercies from all hazards and contingencies ; discovers a consistency , yea a connection betwixt the rod and the love of god ; and assures you , that whatever temporal mercy you ever enjoy'd in , and by vertue of the covenant , shall be restored to you again with an admirable improvement , and singular advantage . it is by all this , i say abundantly proved , that the covenant is a soveraign and effectua remedy to all the sorrows o● gods people ; and that it was no● hyperbole in david's encomium , when he call'd it his salvation , and all his desire . but then , as i hinted before . ii. it must be able to do these things at all times , and in all ages , or else it will be but a temporary relief to some only , and not to all . now that the covenant hath this ability in all ages , and is as able to relieve us now , as it was to relieve david in his day , fully appears by the epithet given it in the text , it is an everlasting covenant . yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant . time is the measure of other things ; but everlastingness is the measure of the covenant . when the lord espouseth a people to himself in covenant , he betroths them to himself for ever , hos. 2.19 . and from that day forward they may say on good grounds , this god is our god for ever and ever : he will be our guide even unto death , as it is in psal. 48.14 . nothing in nature is so firmly established as the covenant is . hills and mountains shall sooner start from their basis and centre , and fly like wandering atomes up and down in the air , than this covenant shall start from its sure and stedfast foundation , isai. 54.10 . the causes and reasons of the immutability of the new covenant , are 1. the unchangeable purpose of god , which is a sure and stedfast foundation . 2 tim. 2.19 . nevertheless , the foundation of god standeth sure , having this seal , the lord knoweth who are his . the first act of gods love to the creature is that by which he chuseth such a one to be his , and is therefore called the foundation of god , as being that on which he lays the super-structure of all other mercies . and this stand sure , there can be no vacillancy or slipperiness in such a foundation : for he knows who are his ; he knows them as his creatures , and as his new creatures in covenant with him ; as his by election , and his by covenant , transaction and compact . the purpose of his grace before time , gave being to the covenant of grace in time , and is the foundation of it . 2. the free grace of god in christ , is that which gives immutability to this covenant . it is not built upon works , but grace : therefore it is of faith , that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed . this covenant is not founded as the first was , upon the variable and inconstant obedience of man , but upon grace which is a steady and firm foundation . 3. the suretiship of christ gives everlasting stability to this covenant . heb. 7.22 . he was made the surety of a better testament , or covenant : for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , signifies both , he struck hands , or engaged himself for the whole covenant , and every condition in it , and that both on gods part and ours ; to undergo all our punishments , to pay all our debts , and to work in us all that god required of us in the covenant of grace : and all this under the penalty that lay upon us to have undergone . and this not as other sureties , who enter into one and the same bond with the principal , so that the creditor may come upon which he will ; but he lays all upon christ , and relies wholly upon him for satisfaction , knowing he was able to perform it ; and so under the type of gods covenant with david , christ is brought in , psal. 89.19 . thou spakest in vision to thy holy one , and saidst , i have laid help on one who is mighty . q. d. i know thy ability , my son , thou art able to pay me , and therefore lay all upon thee . it follows strongly from what hath been said , that the vertue of the covenant decays not by time , as other things do , but it is at this day , and will be to the end of the world , as potent and efficacious a relief to all gods people , as ever it was to david , or any of the believers of the first ages . and if so , certainly nothing can be more strongly supporting , or sweetly relieving in such a changeable world , than this he hath made with me , an everlasting covenant . what david speaks of the natural heavens , will be found true , of things over-spread and covered by them . they shall perish , but thou shalt endure , and all of them shall wax old like a garment : and as a vesture shalt thou change them , and they shall be changed . but thou art the same , and thy years shall have no end . the creature was , and is not ; but my covenant god is the same ; his name is i am , and his covenant is the same that ever it was ; which is the second property or ingredient of this compleat remedy to the saints afflictions . the covenant hath not only all power , vertue , and efficacy in it self to relieve a distressed christian , but it hath it in all ages , as well for one as for another . the third and last follows , namely , iii. that it is a sure covenant . so david stiles it in my text. the certainty of the covenant , is the glory of the covenant , and the comfort of all that are in it . the certainty of it in it self is past all doubt , by what hath been said before . it is certain god did make such an everlasting covenant with his people in christ , and it must remain an eternal truth , that such a covenant there is betwixt god and them . it is as impossible that this everlasting covenant should not be made with them , as it is impossible for god to lye , heb. 6.18 . if he might make himself not have covenanted , everlastingly with them , when once he had so covenanted , such a supposition would turn up the foundation of all faith and certainty , and overthrow the apostles consequence on which the faith and comfort of believers is built . nor is it any infringement of the almighty power , to say , god himself cannot do that which implies a plain contradiction , as factum infectum reddere , to make that which was done , not to be done . but of this there is no doubt ; it is a sure covenant in it self : that which makes to my purpose here , is to prove it capable of a personal security and certainty to us . david had , and all the federates , as well as he , may have a subjective or personal certainty also . he speaks categorically and positively in the text , yet hath he made [ with me ] an everlasting covenant . object . if it be said , he might have a personal certainty of it , because it was revealed to him in an extraordinary way by the prophet nathan , 2 sam. 7.12 , 13 , 14. and extraordinaria non currunt in exemplum , this was a peculiar favour , which we may not expect . sol. i reply , and why may not we know it with as full a certainty to whom god is pleased to make it known in his ordinary way ? think you his word and spirit cannot ratifie it as fully and firmly to our souls , as nathan's discovery of it did to david's soul ? god give me but such a seal of it in his ordinary method and way of confirmation , and i will desire no more of him in this world for my relief and comfort , whatever afflictions it shall please him to lay upon me . and thus you see all the properties of a compleat remedy in the covenant , and of it every believer may say , this is all my salvation , and all my desire , though he make not my house to grow . and now what hinders , but that all gods afflicted should say from henceforth , return unto thy rest , o my soul , for the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee . i have all the desires of my heart in the covenant of god , though he take away the desire of mine eyes upon earth with his stroke . in this covenant my soul is at rest , and my very heart is centred . no affliction can be great enough to make the consolations of the almighty seem small in mine eyes . worldly sorrows may swallow up worldly comforts , but no sorrows upon earth can swallow up the consolations of the covenant . i know many christians droop and are dejected under the rod , notwithstanding such soveraign cordials are prepared for them in the covenant ; but this is not for want of efficacy in the covenant , but for want of faith to clear their interest , and draw forth the vertue of it to their relief . some are ignorant of their priviledges , and others disfident about their interest . it is with many of gods children , as it is with our children in their infancy , they know not their father , nor the inheritance they are bo●n unto . that which remains , is the improvement of this truth to our actual comfort and relief in the day of trouble . and this i shall assist you in as god shall assist me , by way of , 1. information . 2. exhortation . 3. examination , and 4. consolation . vse i. for information , in three corolaries . corolary i. by what hath been discoursed from this text , it appears , that god governs the spiritual part of the world by faith , and not by sense . he will have them live upon his covenant and promises , and fetch their relief and comforts thence , under all their sorrows and distresses in this life . god never intended temporal things for his peoples portion , therefore from them they must not expect their relief in times of trouble . he will have us read his love to us by things within us , not by things without us . he hath other ways of expressing his love to his people , than by the smiles of his providence upon them . how would earthly things be over-valued and idolized , if beside their conveniency to our bodies , they should be the marks and evidences of gods love to our souls ! a christian is to value himself as the merchant , or the husbandman doth . the merchant values himself by his bills and goods abroad , not by the ready cash that lies by him . and the husbandman by his deeds and leases , and so many acres of corn he hath in the ground , and knows he hath a good estate , though sometimes he be not able to command twenty shillings . christian , thy estate also lies in good promises and new covenant-securities , whether thou hast more or less of earthly comforts in thy hands . every creature feeds according to its nature ; the same plant affords food to several sorts of creatures : the bee feeds upon the flower , the sheep upon the branch , the bird upon the seed , and the swine upon the root . one cannot live upon what the other doth . so it is here : a christian can feed upon the promises , and make a sweet meal upon the covenant , which the carnal mind cannot relish . the life that i now live , i live by the faith of the son of god , saith the apople . this is that mysterious and excellent life of faith , and the test of true christianity , to relieve our selves by our hopes of things to come , against present evils ; to balance the sorrows and losses of this life , with the promises and expectations of the next . thus did the renowned believers of the first age ; whenever they felt a faint pang or qualm upon their hearts , under their tryals and sorrows from the world , they would presently run to their cordial , the promises , and a sip of faith from that bottle would refresh and invigorate their souls with new life and powers . we faint not , whilst we look not at the things which are seen , for they are temporal ; but at the things which are not seen , for they are eternal . and truly so must we also , when our hearts are faint within us in days of affliction , or our spirits will fail , and we shall go away in a faint fit of despondency . corolary ii. learn hence the soveraign efficacy of the word , and what a choice priviledge it is to have these lively oracles of god in our hands , in a day of distress and trouble . 't is no ordinary mercy to be born in a land of bibles and ministers ; to have these choice supports and reliefs at hand , in all our fainting hours . this is my comfort in my affliction , for thy word hath quickened me . it was no small mercy gained by the reformation , that it put the oracles of god into our hands . it opened a shop of cordials for the support of our ●ouls . for this , among other great and excellent uses , the scriptures were written , that we , through patience , and comfort of the scriptures , might have hope . in other parts of the world it is a sealed book ; bless god it is not so to you . all creature-comforts have a double defect , they are neither suitable nor durable ; but the word is so . compare the arguments that have been urged from the covenant , with such as these . it 's in vain to trouble our selves about what we cannot help : we are not alone in trouble , others have their losses and afflictions as well as we . alas , what dry and ineffectual comforts are these ! they penetrate not the heart , as pardon of sin , peace with god , and sanctification of troubles to our salvation do . and no less is the mercy of an able new testament ministry , to open , apply , and inculcate the consolations of the scriptures to be esteemed . it is no common favour to the afflicted soul , to have with , or near him , an interpreter , one among a thousand , to shew unto him his uprightness . o england , prize and improve these mercies , and provoke not thy god to bereave thee of them . i can find no such settlement made of the gospel and ministry upon any place or people , but that god may remove both , upon their abuse of them ; and if he do , sad will the case of such a people be , especially when a day of distress and trouble shall be upon them . 't is sad to be in a storm at sea , without a compass or pilot to direct and advise the distressed passengers . much so is the case of the afflicted , when deprived of the word and ministry . let it therefore be your care to hide the word in your hearts , and get the teachings of the spirit ; that whatever changes of providence be upon the world , you may have the light and comfort of the scriptures to direct and chear your souls . sanctification is the writing of gods law in your hearts ; and what is written there , is secure and safe . the word within you , is more secure , sweet , and effectual , than the word without you . ierom saith of nepotianus , that by long and assiduous meditation of the scriptures , his breast was at last become the library of christ. o that the breast of every christian were so too . corolary iii. how sad and deplorably miserable is their condition , who have no title to , ●or comfort from the covenant of god , when a day of affliction and great ●istress is upon them ! unrelieved miseries are the ●ost intolerable miseries . to be over-weighed with troubles o● earth , and want support and com●fort from heaven , is a dism●● state indeed ; yet this is the ca●● of multitudes in the world. if ● believer be in trouble , his god bears his burden for him , yea , he bears up him and his burden too but he that hath no covenant i●●terest in god , must say as it is jer. 10.19 . this is my affliction , an● i alone must bear it . there are but two ways the● can take for relief , either to di●vert their troubles by that whi●● will inflame them , or rest their burthened spirits upon that which will fail them . to run to the tavern or ale-house , instead of the closet , is to quench the fire , by pouring on oyl ; and to run from one creature which is smitten and withered , to another which yet continues with us , is to lean upon a broken reed , which not only deceives us , but wounds and pierceth us . what a miserable plight was saul in , and how doleful was his cry and complaint to ●amuel , 1 sam. 28.15 . i am sore ●istressed , for the philistins make war ●gainst me , and god is departed from ●e , and answereth me no more . heaven and earth forsook him at once . reader , if this be thy case , i advise thee to rest no longer in so miserable a condition . thy very distress seems by an happy necessi●y to put thee upon god , and drive thee to him for refuge : and ●● seems to be the very aim and design of god in blasting all thy earthly comforts , to necessitate thee to come to him , which thou wouldst never be perswaded to do , whilst thou hadst any creature-prop to stay and rest upon . and think not that thou shalt be rejected , because thou art brought by a plain necessity to him ; come sincerely , and thou shalt not be upbraided , because a necessity threw thee upon him . vse ii. seeing then that the covena●● of god is the great relief and su●●port of all the afflicted people , i● the afflicted soul go to this blesse● covenant ; study and apply it i● all distresses . it is in it self a s● veraign cordial , able to revive ● gracious spirit at the lowest ebb● but then it must be studied an● applied , or it will never give fort●● its consolations to our refreshment● extream sorrows are apt to deafen● our ears to all voices of comfort● the loud cries of affliction too often drown the sweet still voice of spiritual consolation ; but either here or no-where our redress is to be found . why seek we the living among the dead ? comfort from things that cannot yield it ? the covenant can discover two things which are able to pacifie the most discomposed heart , viz. 1. the good of affliction . 2. the end of affliction . 1. it will discover to us the good of affliction , and so rectifie our mistaken judgments about it . god is not undoing , but consulting our interest and happiness in all these dispensations . it will satisfie us , that in all these things he doth no more than what we our selves allow and approve in other cases . it is not meerly from his pleasure , but for our profit , that these breaches are made upon our families , and comforts , heb. 12.10 . who blames the marriner for casting the goods over board to save ship and life in a storm ? or the chirurgeon for lancing , yea , or cutting off a leg or arm to preserve the life of his patient ? or souldiers for burning or beating down the suburbs , to save the city in a siege ? and why must god only be censured , for cutting off those things from us which he knows will hazard us in the 〈◊〉 of temptation ? he sees the less● have of entanglement , the m●● promptness and fitness we 〈◊〉 have to go through the tryals 〈◊〉 are coming upon us ; and that the comforts he cuts off from 〈◊〉 bodies , goes to the profit and 〈◊〉 vantage of our souls . 2. here you gain a sight 〈◊〉 only of the good of affliction , 〈◊〉 also of the comfortable end 〈◊〉 issue of affliction . this clou● and stormy morning will wind 〈◊〉 in a serene and pleasant evenin● there 's a vast difference betw●● our meeting with afflictions , 〈◊〉 our parting from them . you ha●● heard of the patience of iob , and 〈◊〉 seen the end of the lord. o get 〈◊〉 iob's spirit under affliction , an● you may see as happy an end 〈◊〉 them as he did . had naomy seen the end of 〈◊〉 lord in taking away her husband and starving her out of moab , 〈◊〉 would not have changed her name or said the lord had dealt bitter with her , in grafting her daughte● by that providence into the noble line , out of which the saviour of the world was to rise ; and could you but see that good in order to which all this train of troubles is ●aid , you would not murmur or ●espond as you do . object . 1. o but this is a grievous stroke ; god hath smitten ●e in the apple of mine eye , and written bitter things against me . no sorrow is like my sorrow ; 't is a mourning for an onely son ; i have lost all in one . sol. 1. you can never lose all in one , except that one be christ ; and he being yours in covenant , can never be lost . but your meaning is , you have lost all of that kind in one : no more sons to build up your house , and continue your name . 2. but yet religion will not allow you to say , that your dead children are a lost generation . praemittuntur , non amittuntur : they are sent before , but not lost . for they are a covenant-seed , by you dedicated to the lord : they were children of many prayers a great stock of prayers was lai● up for them ; in them also yo● and all that knew them , discerne● a teachable spirit , pious inclina●tions , and conscience of secret du●ties , some good things toward the lord god of israel , as was sai● of young abijah , 1 king. 14 . 1● so that you parted from them u● on far easier terms than good d●●vid parted from his amnon , abs●●lom , or adonijah , who died in the●● sins and open rebellions . ther● was a sting in his troubles whic● you feel not ; and if he comforte himself notwithstanding in th● covenant of his god , in this r●●spect may you much more . object . 2. o but my son w● cut off in the very bud , just wh●● the fruits of education were re●●dy to disclose and open . sol. let not that consideratio● so incense your sorrows : go● knows the fittest time both to giv● and to take our comforts ; an● seeing you have good grounds 〈◊〉 hope your child died interest●● in the covenant of god , you have the less reason to insist upon that afflicting circumstance of an immature death . he that dies in christ , hath lived long enough both for himself and us . that marriner hath sailed long enough , that hath gained his port : and that souldier fought long enough , that hath won the victory : and that child lived long enough , that hath won heaven , how early soever he died . beside , the sooner he died , the less sin he hath committed , and the less misery he saw and felt in this wretched world , which we are left to behold and feel . and it is but a vanity to imagine that the parting pull with him would have been easier , if the enjoyment of him had been longer : for the long enjoyment of desirable comforts , doth not use to weaken , but abundantly to strengthen and fasten the tyes of affection . submit your reason therefore , as is meet , to the wisdom of god , who certainly chose the fittest season for this affliction . o but , — no more buts and objections , i beseech you . enough hath been offer'd from the covenant of your god , to silence all your objections , and to give you the ease and pleasure of a resigned will. and what are all our buts and objections , but a spurning at divine soveraignty , and the thrusting in the affliction deeper into your own hearts , which are wounded but too deep already ? i perswade you not to put off , but to regulate natural affections : to be without them , would deservedly rank us among the worst of heathens ; but rightly to bound and manage them , would set you among the best of christians . i cannot imagine what ease or advantage holy basil gained by such a particular and heart piercing account , as he gave of a like affliction with this ; nor to what purpose it can be to you , to recal and recount those things which only incense and aggravate your troubles : doubtless your better way were to turn your thoughts from such subjects as these , to your god in covenant , as david in the text did , and to recount the many great and inestimable mercies that are secured to you therein ; which death shall never smite , or cut off from you , as it doth your other enjoyments . quest. but yet unless we can in some measure clear our covenant-interest , all these excellent cordials prepared , will signifie no more to our relief , than water spilt upon the ground : help us therefore to do that , or else all that hath been said is in vain ? how may a person discern his covenant-right and interest ? answ. this indeed is worthy of all consideration , and deserves a serious answer , forasmuch as it is fundamental to your comfort , and all actual refreshment in times of trouble ; and will bring us to the next use , which is for tryal of our covenant-interest . vse iii. the great question to be decided , is , whether god be our covenant-god , and we his people ? a question of the most solemn nature , and such as requires awful attention . we cannot expect satisfaction in this matter by such an extraordinary way as david had it , but we may know it by , first , our covenant-engagements . secondly , our covenant-impressions . thirdly , our covenant-conversations . first , by our covenant-engagements , or dedications of our selves to god ; sometimes called our joyning our selves to the lord , zech. 2.11 . our yielding our selves to him , rom. 6.19 . our giving our selves to him , 2 cor. 8.5 . the soul that freely and deliberately consents to take or chuse the lord to be his god , may warrantably conclude the lord hath taken or chosen him : for our choice of god is but the result of his choice of us . joh. 15.16 . you have not chosen me , but i have chosen you ; ( i. e. ) you could never have chosen me , but in consequence to , and by vertue of my first choice of you . well then , let it be seriously considered , whether you have duely consented to take the lord for your god , and christ for your redeemer . this includes two things in it . 1. your relinquishing of all things inconsistent with him . 2. your acceptation of all that promotes the glory and enjoyment of him . 1. your relinquishing of all things that are inconsistent with an interest in him . except we let these go , god cannot be our god , nor christ our redeemer . the things to be relinquished for christ are in short , both our sinful and our righteous self . sinful-self must be disclaimed and renounced : for we cannot be the servants of sin , and the servants of christ too , rom. 6.14.18 . and righteous self must be renounced also , or we can have no part or interest in his righteousness , rom. 10.3 . these are two difficult points of self-denial to part with every beloved lust , and to give up our own righteousness . thousands chufe rather to be damned for ever , than to do either of these . 2. your acceptance and embracing of all things that promote his glory , and further the enjoyment of him . as all the painful ways of duty , hearing , praying , meditating , and all this with the intention of the inner man , and offering up of the soul to god in these duties , and the more painful ways of suffering for god , and enduring all losses , reproaches , torments , and death for him , if his glory require it , and you be thereunto called . all this is included in your chusing god to be your god. and upon our understanding , and free consent , and sealing to these articles , we have right to call him our god. mat. 16.24 . if any man will come after me , let him deny himself , and take up his cross and follow me . now have you considered the terms of the covenant , weighed and balanced all the conveniencies and inconveniencies of godliness , and then determined for christ and holiness , let the cost be what it will ; then you have chosen him aright for your god. many think they have chosen god for their god , that never understood or deliberated these terms . but non consentit , qui non sentit : he that neither knows nor ponders them , is not capable of giving a due consent . secondly , we may discern our covenant-interest , in the covenant-impressions that are made upon our souls . all gods covenant people have a double mark or impression made upon them , viz. 1. upon their minds . 2. upon their hearts . 1. upon their minds , in a more spiritual and efficacious knowledge of god : jer. 31.33 . they shall all know me , from the greatest of them , even to the least of them . this knowledge is said to be given , not acquired by the meer strength of natural abilities and humane aids ; and given us in the face of christ , not by the foot-steps of the creatures only , as he speaks , 2 cor. 4.6 . 't is the choice teaching of the anointing , 1 ioh. 2.27 . a knowledge springing from inward experience , and spiritual sense ; as we know the sweetness of honey by tasting , better than by all the descriptions and reports that can be made of it . 2. upon their hearts , in that gracious tenderness and meltings of it for sin , or the discoveries of free grace in the pardon of it . so you read in ezek. 36.26 . a new heart also will i give you , and a new spirit will i put within you , and i will take away the stony heart out of your flesh , and i will give you an heart of flesh . it is as easie to melt the obdurate rocks into sweet syrup , as it is to melt the natural heart into a penitential and tender melting for sin ; but now there is a principle or habit of tenderness implanted in the soul , whereby it is disposed and inclined to relent and thaw ingenuously upon any just occasion . thirdly , our covenant-interest may be evidenced in and by our covenant conversations . all the knowledge which is communicated to our minds , and all the tenderness given to our hearts , do respect and tend to this : ezek. 36.27 . i will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes . habits and principles are for action and practice : grace in the heart is for obedience and holiness in the life . it is true , that as our graces are imperfect , so is our obedience also . perfect working is not to be expected from imperfect creatures . god's own covenanted people do often grieve him , and provoke him to bring them under the rod of affliction ; but those their infirmities break not the bond of the covenant , psal. 89.30 , 31 , 32. care and watchfulness ordinarily goes before them , conflicts and resistance accompanies them , and shame , grief , and renewed care usually follows them . 2 cor. 7.11 . by these things ( which deserve a more copious discourse than my present design can allow ) we may be helped to clear our interest in the covenant of grace : and that being done , it should be out of the power of all the afflictions in the world to sink your spirits . let me therefore in the last place add , vse iv. a word of consolation to your dejected and drooping hearts , upon this sad and mournful occasion . why are you so troubled ? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? methinks there hath been so much of support and comfort already discovered to you in this blessed covenant , that could your faith but once fix upon it , and realize and apply it , i might lay down my pen at this period , and say the work is done , there needs no more ; but knowing how obstinate deep sorrows are , and how difficult a task the comforting of an afflicted mind is , i will for a close , superadd a few considerations more , to all that hath been urged and argued before . consideration i. consider how small and trivial the comforts , whose loss you bewail , are in comparison with jesus christ , who is still your own , under the bond of a sure covenant . a son , an only and a promising son , is a great thing , when he stands in comparison with other creature-comforts ; but surely he will seem a small thing , and next to nothing , when set by , or compared with jesus christ. behold , the father , son , and spirit ! pardon and eternal salvation are this day presented in the covenant of grace before your souls , as your own . god , even our own god shall bless us , psal. 67.6 . when you feel your hearts wounded with such a thought as this , i cannot embrace my children in my arms , they are now out of my reach ; then bless and admire god , that the arms of your faith can embrace so great , so glorious a saviour , and that you can say , my beloved is mine , and i am his . consideration ii. consider what evil days are coming on , and what a mercy it is to your dead , that god hath taken them away from the evil to come , isai. 57.1 , 2. there are two sorts of evils to come , viz. evils of sin , and evils of suffering ; and 't is no small favour to be set out of the way of both . the grave is the hiding-place where god secures some from the dangers of both . we are apt to promise our selves times of tranquility , and then it cuts us to think that our dear ones shall not partake with us in that felicity : but if we wisely consider the sins or the signes of the times , we have more cause to rejoyce that god hath set them out of harms way . all things seem to conspire and work towards a day of great temptation and tribulation . now as christ told his disciples , who were so dejected because he was to leave them , ioh. 14.28 . if ye loved me , ye would rejoyce , because i said , i go to the father : so truly you would much better express and manifest your love to your children , in your satisfaction in the will and appointment of god , in taking them into rest and safety , than in your dejections and sorrows for their removal . surely they are better where they are , than where they were , whom god hath housed in heaven out of the storm and tempest . and could your dead friends that are with christ , have any more intercourse with this world , and see your tears , and hear your sighs for them , they would say to you , as christ did to those that follow'd him wailing and mourning , weep not for us , but for your selves , and such as remain in the world with you , to see and feel the calamities that are coming on it . consideration iii. consider how near you are to that blessed state your selves , where god shall be all in all , and you shall feel no want of any creature-comfort , 1 cor. 15.28 . creature-comforts are only accommodated comforts to this animal life we now live , but shortly there will be no need of them ; for god will be all in all : that is , all the saints shall be abundantly satisfied in and with god alone . as there is water enough in one sea to fill all the rivers , lakes , and springs in the world ; and light enough in one sun to enlighten all the inhabitants of the world : so there is enough in one god eternally to fill and satisfie all the blessed souls in heaven , without the addition of any creature-comfort . god is compleat satisfaction to all the saints , in the absence ( i cannot say want ) of wives and children , meats and drinks , estates and sensitive pleasures : there will be no more need of these things , than of candles at noon-day . you shall be as the angels of god , who have no concernment for relations . your fulness of years , infirmities of body , and i hope i may add your improvements in grace , speak you not far short of this blessed state : and though you may seem to need these comforts in the way , your god shall supply all your wants . consideration iv. to conclude , whatsoever your troubles , wants , fears , or dangers are , or may be in your passage to this blessed state , the covenant of grace is your security , and by vertue thereof your troubles shall open and divide , as iordan did , to give you a safe passage into your eternal rest. look as when the israelites came near the land of promise , there was a swelling iordan betwixt it and them , which seemed to forbid their farther passage and progress ; but it 's said , iosh. 3.17 . the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the lord , stood firm on the ground in the midst of iordan ; and all the israelites passed over on dry ground , until all the people were passed clean over iordan . just so it is here : the covenant of grace stands on firm ground in the midst of all the deep waters of tribulation you are to pass through , to secure unto you a safe passage through them all . rejoyce therefore , and triumph in the fulness and firmness of this blessed covenant , and whatsoever affliction your god shall please to lay upon you , or whatsoever comfort he shall please to remove from you , still comfort and encourage your selves , as david here doth , yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things , and sure : for this is all my salvation , and all my desire ; although he make it not to grow . finis . a sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman iohn vpton of lupton , esq london : printed for i. harris , at the harrow against the church in the poultrey . 1688. text . 2 chron. 35.24 , 25. his servants therefore took him out of that chariot , and put him in the second chariot that he had ; and they brought him to ierusalem , and he died , and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers : and all iudah and ierusalem mourned for iosiah . ver. 25. and ieremiah lamented for iosiah , and all the singing men , and the singing-women spake of iosiah in their lamentations to this day , and made them an ordinance in israel : and behold they are written in the lamentations . in this context we have the history of the pious life , and tragical death of good king iosiah . the history of his life gives u● an account of both what he was , and what he did . as to his personal endowments and qualifications , they were singular and eximious , as appears by the fourfold character by which he is described in the context : for , first , he espoused the interest of religion betimes , even in his youth ; cap. 34. ver . 3. for in the eighth year of his reign , while he was yet young , he began to seek after the god of david his father : and that under the great disadvantage of an ill education , such a morning promised a glorious day . secondly , he hated all corruptive mixtures in the worship of god , and was answerably zealous for reformation ; ibid. and in the twelfth year he began to purge iuda● and ierusalem from the high places , and the groves , &c. as knowing well he and his people might expect no more of gods blessing on the ordinances , than there was of his presence in them ; and no more of his presence can rationally be expected , than there is of his own order and institution . thirdly , he was of a very tender impressive heart , mourning for publick sins and dangers ; ver . 26 , 27. because thy heart was tender , and thou didst humble thy self before god , when thou heardest his words against this place , and against the inhabitants thereof ; and humbledst thy self before me , and didst rend thy cloaths , and weep before me , &c. he was not so intent upon his own pleasures ( though in the sprightly vigour of youth ) nor on the weighty concerns of the kingdom , as to forget the interest of god , and the greater concerns of his glory . fourthly , he was exceeding careful to propagate the interest of religion , and spread it far and wide among his people . though he could not infuse the inward principle , ( that was the work of god ) yet he did enjoyn the external practice of it upon all his subjects , which was his part and duty ; ver . 33. he made all that were present in israel to serve , even to serve the lord their god. and all his days they departed not from following the god of their fathers . but yet good iosiah had his mistakes and failings . the best of men are but men at best ▪ he was too rash and hasty in resolving , and too stiff and obstinate when resolved ; and this was the occasion of his ruine . the case was thus : pharoah necho king of egypt , was at that time making war upon charchemish , a place that belonged to him , but was taken from him by the king of assyria , so the war of necho was a just war ; and iudah lying between him and charchemish , and being at peace with iudah , he requests leave of iosiah to march his army peaceably through his country to the seat of the war : iosiah takes an alarm from this message , and arms against him . hereupon necho send embassadours to iosiah , chap. 35. ver . 21. saying , what have i to do with thee , thou king of iudah ? i come not against thee this day , but against the house wherewith i have war : for god commanded me to make hast : forbear thee from medling with god , who is with me , that he destroy thee not . expositors conceive necho had this discovery of the mind of god , from the prophet ieremiah , per oraculum non scriptum , sed viva voce editum : even by word of mouth . if so , no doubt ieremiah also disswaded iosiah from going out against him : however , this is clear , iosiah did not consult the mind of god about that expedition , as he ought , and was too hasty and resolute therein ; ver . 22. nevertheless iosiah would not turn his face from him , &c. by this means this excellent man came to a tragical end , and that in the very flower of his days . he dies in that unhappy expedition , from which he would not be diverted ; is brought home to ierusalem in the second chariot ; dies , and is buried in the sepulchre of his fathers , to the universal sorrow of all good men in israel , as you read in the text ; wherein we have these two parts to consider . i. the nature and quality of the lamentation . ii. the cause and ground of it . 1. for the lamentation here made , it was extraordinary ; never such cries heard before in israel at any funeral , whether we consider it either , 1. extensively , 2. intensively , or 3. protensively . 1. extensively , all iudah and ierusalem , that is , city and country mourned that day ; not every individual , but all that had any sense of the worth of the man , the good that he did , or the evils that followed upon his removal . no doubt the priests of baal , their abettors , and associates , secretly rejoyced at his fall ; but all good men mourned . but among all the mourners , one only is specified by name , and that is ieremiah the prophet , in whom all the faithful ministers of god were included . to them he was a true and faithful friend ; and in him they lost a father , and a famous instrument of reformation . 2. consider it intensively , as to the degree of the sorrow , it was a bitter lamentation : so pungent , intense , and deep ▪ that the mourning of the iews for christ , at the time of their conversion to him , is compared to this mourning for iosiah . zach. 12. ver . 11. in that day there shall be a great mourning in ierusalem , ●s the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddon . this hadadrimmon was a little town in the valley of megiddon near the place of this fatal battle , whose inhabitants receiving the first tydings of the fall of iosiah , made the town ring with doleful outcries and lamentations . 3. lastly , consider it protensively , in its continuance and duration , it was made an ordinance in israel ; and accordingly the singing-men and singing-women spake of iosiah in their lamentations to this day : i. e. whenever any solemn funeral or publick calamity was solemniz'd in israel , those persons that were skilful in lamentations , brought in the story of iosiah's death , as the burthen of that doleful song or funeral-elegy . ii. let us consider the cause and ground of this lamentation , which certainly was great and weighty enough to justifie that sorrow , as great and bitter as it was : for in him they lost a faithful , publick , useful , zealous , and tender-hearted instrument , whose life had been eminently useful to the church of god , and whose death opened the gap to all the following calamities upon iudah . now considering iosiah , here especially in his religious capacity , as so faithful , industrious , and useful an instrument for the church of god , rather than in his political capacity as a king , the note from it will be this . doctrine . that faithful , active , and publick spirited men in the church of god , should not be laid in their graves , without great lamentations . when iacob was buried , a man famous for religion , a great and sore lamentation was made for him , gen. 50. v. 10. and when aaron died , all the house of israel mourned for him 30 years , num. 20. v. 29. when stephen the proto-martyr died , devout men carried him to his grave with great lamentations , acts 8.2 . and indeed for any good man to be laid in his grave , without lamentation , is lamentable . the living saints have ever paid this respect and honour to dead saints , as men sensible of their worth , and how great a loss the world sustains by their removal . i know the departed souls of saints have no concernment in these things , yet respect is due to their very bodies , as the temples wherein god hath been served and honoured , as they are related to christ who will one day put great glory and honour upon them . in the explication and confirmation of this point , i will shew you , 1. negatively , on what account the death of good men is not to be lamented . 2. positively , on what account tears and lamentations are due to them , with the grounds and reasons thereof . 1. negatively , there is not a tear or sigh due to the death of any good man , upon the account of any real loss or detriment that he sustains thereby . no , no , in this case all tears are restrained , all sorrows prohibited , by the principles and rules of christianity , 1 thess. 4.13 , 14. religion differences the sorrows , as well as the joys , of its professors , from the common joys and sorrows of the world. dead saints are better where they are , than where they were ; to be with christ is far better ; death to them is gain and infinite advantage , phil. 1.21.23 . this world is the worst place that ever god designed his people to live in : for if a state of perfect holiness and purity , be better than a state of temptation and corruption ; if a state of rest and peace , be better than a state of labour and sorrow ; if it be better to be triumphing above , than sighing and groaning beneath : then it 's better for departed christians to be where they are , than where they were . and could they now communicate their minds to us by words , as they lately did , they would say to us as christ said , luke 23.28 . daughter of ierusalem , weep not for us , but weep for 〈◊〉 selves , and for your children . or as he spake to his disciples under their sad resentments of his departure , ioh. 14.28 . if ye loved me , ye would rejoyce , because i go to the father . so then no tears or sorrows are due to them , or becoming us , upon the account of any real loss or detriment they receive by death . 2. positively , but the true grounds and causes of our lamentations , are upon divers other weighty accounts : as , first , because so much of the spirit of god as dwelt in them when amongst us , is now recall'd and gather'd up from this lower world. those precious graces which they exercised among us , in prayer , conference , and other beneficial duties , are now gone with them to heaven . the church had the benefit of them during their abode with men , but now no more , except only what the remembrance of their holy words and instructive examples ( whereby they still speak to us , though dead ) may afford unto us . there are choice effusions of the spirit at the time of our sanctification , of which the church reapeth the benefit whilst we live ; but all these are recall'd at our dissolution , and thenceforth we can be no farther useful in this lower world : for as the soul is the subject in which these precious graces inhere , so they accompany and go along with the soul into glory . now as it is a real loss to a company when any merchant withdraws a great stock , he had running in trade , out of the bank ; so certainly it is a great loss to the church of god , when the precious gifts and graces of the spirit , dwelling in the saints , are drawn out by death ; so as the church can have no farther benefit by them , their prayers for us , and with us , are now ended ; abraham knoweth us not , and israel is ignorant of us . secondly , the death of the saints deserves a bitter lamentation , because thereby a breach is made , a gap opened , to let in the judgments of god upon the remnant that is left . it is said of moses , psal. 106.23 . therefore he said , that he would destroy them , had not moses his chosen stood before him in the breach , lest he should destroy them . a metaphor from a besieged city , when a breach is made in the walls , and an enemy ready to enter ; but some champion stands in the breach to defend the city . such a champion was moses , who by his constant and fervent prayers , put a stop to the inundation of god's judgments against israel . and such another was lot , gen. 19.22 . whose prayers for that wicked place he lived in , bound up the hand of judgment insomuch as the lord told him , i can do nothing till thou art gone . but when the lord by death removes such men , he thereby makes a way to his anger , as the expression is , psal. 78.50 . hence the death of eminent saints , especially when many are taken away at or near the same time , hath been ever look'd upon as a direful omen , and dreadful presage of ensuing judgments , and that not without good scripture-authority , isai. 57.1 . the righteous perish , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . thus methusalah , whose very name signified a flood cometh , died the year before the flood . augustin , a little before the sacking of hyppo . pareus , a little before the taking of hydelberg . and luther , before the wars brake out in germany . death as a pioneer , clears the way to a troop of miseries following after . this therefore is a just and weighty ground of our lamentations for the death of useful and goodly men . thirdly , the beauty and ornaments of the places they lived in , is defaced and removed by their death ; they look not like themselves , when the godly are removed out of them : for as wicked men are the spots and blemishes , so good men are the beauty and ornaments of their country . a good man was wont to say of mr. barrington of barrington-hall in essex , methinks the town is not at home , when mr. barrington is out of town . how desolate and dismal doth a family look ( whatever other ornaments be about it ) when the religious governour of it is gone ! take away good men from their families , and country , and what are they but like a vineyard when the vintage is past ? as the prophet speaks , micha 7.1 . fourthly , the death of good men deserves a bitter lamentation , because thereby the passage of the gospel , and propagation of religion , is obstructed in the places from whence they are removed . of how great use in a country may one zealous publick-spirited man be ? hundreds may have cause to bless god for such a man. it was the apostles desire to the thessalonians , to pray that the word of the lord may have its free course , that it might run and be glorified , 2 thess. 3.1 . the removal of such a person as naturally took care for the souls of those that were about him , to provide food for them , is no small loss , nor lightly to be passed over . fifthly , the consideration of the time in which good men die , aggravates the loss , and justly incenses the sorrow of them that remain , and that upon a threefold account . ( 1. ) that it falls out in the declining state of religion , when the spirit and power of godliness is so much weakned and impoverished . this is like the loss of good bloud in a consumptive body , which must bring it very low . ( 2. ) that it falls out also in a time when the numbers of the godly are so much thinn'd and lessen'd , not when the churches children say in her ears , the place is too straight , give place that we may dwell ; but when they are every-where lamenting , the paucity and scarcity of good men , as the psalmist did , psal. 12.1 . help , lord , for the godly man ceaseth , for the righteous fail from among the children of men . at a time when they are bewailing themselves in the language of the prophet , micah 7.1 . wo is me , for i am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits , as the grape-gleanings of the vintage : there is no cluster to eat ; my soul desired the first ripe fruit . alluding to a hungry man that goes into a vineyard to refresh his spirits with the fruit thereof ; but alas , there is not one pleasant bunch to be found , none but sower grapes , to increase his hunger , and set his teeth on edge . ( 3. ) and that which much more aggravates the loss , is this : when it falls in a time wherein the spring and succession of good men is obstructed . in this case death , like a storm of wind , overturns the fairest , pleasantest , and most fruitful trees in the orchard , when there is no nursery from whence others may be taken to plant in their rooms . lastly , there is just cause to lament the removal of publick and pious men , when we consider what influence our sins and provocations have had upon those judgments and calamities ; our unworthiness of them , unthankfulness for them , and non improvements of such mercies , have bereaved us of them . i look upon every good man , as a good book , lent by its owner to another to read and transcribe the excellent notions and golden passages that are in it , for his own benefit , that they may remain with him , when the owner shall call for the book again : but in case this excellent book be thrown into a corner , and no use made of it , it justly provokes the owner to take it away in displeasure . thus you see upon what account our sorrows for the death of good men are restrained , and upon what accounts and reasons they are due debt to the death of eminent and useful instruments for god. what remains , is the application of this point . and , first , the point before us justly reproves three sorts of men . 1. the worst of men , such as secretly rejoyce , and are inwardly glad at the removal of such men ; they took no delight in them while they lived , and are glad they are rid of them when they are dead . those that persecuted and hated them when alive , may be presumed to be pleased and gratified with their death . but alas , poor creatures , they know not what they do ! the innocent preserve the island . except the lord of hosts ( saith the prophet ) had left us a small remnant , we had been as sodom , we had been like unto gomorrah , isai. 1.9 . it 's a proverb among the very jews , sinè supplicationibus non staret mundus : the world stands by the prayers of the godly . let the world think what they will of them , i tell you these men are a screen , a partition-wall , betwixt them and destruction . 2. it reproves the insensibleness of good men , who are apt too slightly to pass over such tremendous stroaks of god : for this it was that god reproved his own people , isai. 57.1 . no man layeth it to heart . where the want of affection is charged upon the want of consideration , none considering their worth , their use , or the consequences of their fall . such rebukes of god do certainly call for a deeper sence and sorrow , than is found in most men . 3. it reproves the very best of men , who though they do bewail and lament the loss of such men , yet they do not lament it in the due manner . they lament it one to another , saying , alas , alas , such a worthy is fallen , such an eminent instrument in the church or state is dead ; but they do not lament it in prayer to the lord , they mourn not over the matter to him , as david did , psal. 12.1 . crying , help , lord , for the godly man ceaseth . help , lord , the remnant that is left ; help , lord , to repair the breach made by their death ; let the god of the spirits of all flesh raise up a man to fill the room and supply the want . alas , how insignificant are the lamentations of most men upon this account ! secondly , this point invites us all this day to bewail the stroak of god that is upon us . i could wish that he that looks upon this text , and then upon the countenance of this assembly , might be able to discern the agreeableness of the one to the other , in such a sad and solemn occasion . o let all that love sion , lament this day the fall of one of her true friends and lovers . i know funeral panegyricks are apt to be suspected of flattery ; but as i want a rhetorical tongue for such a work , so if i had it , it should never be saleable for so base a use and purpose . i am sure by sending the generality that die to heaven , many are confirmed in the way to hell. nor can i but think of that serious line in chrysostom , what a poor comfort is it , to be praised where a man is not , and to be tormented where he is . but yet the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance , psal. 112.6 . expect nothing from me on this occasion , but what may be spoken with greatest assurance of truth , and that intended for the benefit and imitation of all that hear it . some may think it a strain too high , to compare a private person with such a glorious king as iosiah was ; but if christ compared and preferr'd the very grass of the field , to solomon in all his glory , i know no reason why we may not compare and parallel the precious graces of a private person with a royal saint , especially since the comparison is only made in the religious , not in the civil capacity . i am sure the graces and gracious performances of david , hezekiah , and iosiah , with all the other dignified saints , were intended and propounded as patterns for our imitation ; and no doubt but private christians may measure by their pattern . beside , it is abundantly more safe to relate the vertues of the saints when they are dead , than whilst they were alive : for now there is no danger of provoking pride and vain-glory in them that are praised , but much hope of provoking an holy emulation and imitation in them that hear them . well then , absit invidia verbis : suffer me this day to erect a pillar to perpetuate the memory of this deceased worthy , to pay the tribute of my tears due to that mournful hearse , and to engage you to imitate those excellencies of his , which i shall with equal truth and modesty display this day , that we also may be duly affected with the rebuke of god upon us , and mourn over it before him . if when an eminent commander in any army falls , the whole army is affected and concerned with his death ; the mourning drum , the lance and ensignes trail'd ; the robes of honour all in sables vail'd . let it not be thought much , christians should express their sense and sorrow in sighs and tears , for so useful and worthy a man as god hath this day removed from among us , whose character i shall give you in the following immitable particulars . 1. that worthy man whose fall we lament this day , was seasoned with religion in his youth , by god's blessing upon his pious education ; in this he had the advantage of iosiah . his progenitors were men of piety , and himself a child of many prayers : and , as monica said of her son austin , it was not likely that a child of so many prayers should perish . how importunately did they request the fervent prayers of their pious friends for him , in the time of his education ? nor was it in vain , for they were manifestly answered in him . he soon discovered that probity and piety in his youth , which justly raised great expectations from him in his riper years . 2. nor did he frustrate those hopes ; for as soon as ever god had fixed him in a proper sphere of activity , ( i mean , a family of his own ) those graces that were in him shone forth , to the comfort and benefit of all that were about him . ioshua's pious resolution was his ; as for me , i and my house will serve the lord. he kept up the worship of god in his closet , as well as in his family . and truly if religion languish in the closet , it will quickly die in the family . his house was a temple consecrated to god ; there the morning and evening-sacrifices of prayers and praises were offered up . he called his children and servants to those duties , not reckoning that time lost to him , which was spent for god. the lord had endowed him with an excellent spirit of prayer himself : i have sometimes accidentally heard him praying in his family , with such solidity of judgment , pertinency of expression , and holy warmth of affection , that hath at once edified , refreshed , and reproved me in hearing him . he constantly read the scriptures in course before prayer , and oft-times with a commentary upon them , for his own and his families edification . the lords day he sanctified not only in more publick attendance on the ordinances , but in the duties of reading , repeating , singing , and catechising all his children and servants about him . and all this before he allowed himself or them any bodily refreshments , lest the edge of their affections should be blunted in duty , by the clogging of nature with creature-repasts . and thus did he , as iob , continually : to this course he was severe and constant , no incident occasions , how great or many soever , could divert him from it . 3. neither was his holy zeal and christian care limited and circumscribed within his own family , but was extended to the souls of all in his neighbourhood , who desired helps and means in the way of salvation . his house was seldom without a godly minister in it , and loath he was to eat his pleasant morsel● alone . it was the joy of his hear● to see his house fill'd on this account : how many witnesses to the truth of this are here this day like another ioseph , he provide● food for your souls ; he loved , honoured , received , and incourage● the ministers of the gospel in thei● deepest sufferings ; gave them op●portunities of service , when som● durst not own them , and othe● violently persecuted them . 4. when god called him to publick employments in the commonwealth , he neither purchased nor abused that trust ; but with a true english , rather a christian zeal and courage , he dedicated himself to the service of god and his country . chearfully quitting all domestick concerns , spent his estate , time , and pains , to heal the breaches of england . i know not a man whose zeal for the common good , would have carried him nearer to the example of that noble roman , who when a chasm was made by an earthquake , and the oracle had declared , that it could never be closed , except something of value was thrown into it , cast in himself to close it . i could truly have said , had there been conveniency and opportunity for it , when he was laid in his grave , here lies a man that never betrayed nor deserted the publick , for any private interest of his own . 5. he was a man that came as near iosiah in tenderness of heart , as ever i had the happiness to be acquainted with . the churches troubles were his troubles , they all met in him as lines in a centre ; he even lived and died with the interest of religion : and of him i will say , as the apostle said of timothy , 2 phil. 20.21 . i have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state , for all seek their own , not the things which are iesus christ's . naturally , in this place , is not opposed to spiritually , but to artificially . many can artificially act the part of a zealot , when their own interest lies in it ; but he naturally , and therefore freely , cheerfully , and constantly . 6. but though these excellencies were in him , he had his naevi , blemishes , and imperfections . elias was a man of like passions and weaknesses of spirit . all these i doubt not but god hath covered , and he is now perfectly freed from them all . there is now no passion left within him to be stirred by temptation , no despondencies and sinkings of spirit under dismal aspects of providence . his graces are perfected , and his corruptions finally eradicated . 7. to conclude , he was a man of great afflictions , as well as tender affections . and as the lord greatly honoured him in the course of active obedience , so he greatly proved and tryed him in a course of passive obedience . he not only gave the cross in his coat , but bear it upon his shoulders : for besides those troubles which were properly sympathetical , he had his idiopathetical sufferings also , and that both from the hands of men , and from the hand of god. his piety made and marked him for an object of persecution ; the archers shot at him , and sorely grieved him ; he and his family were hunted with a net ; the lord lay it not to their charge : et hinc illae lachrymae . the sad effects thereof , i chose rather at this time to pass over with a sigh , than in this place to commemorate . and as the hand of man was upon him , so the hand of his god also . first , lopping off all the pleasant branches that sprang from him , and that one after another ; when come to the endearing age , opening and disclosing the bud : and as the complement and issue of all , breaking his constitutional strength with a long languishing disease , which at last extinguished this bright lamp , and hath left his family and neighbourhood in darkness and sorrow . his poor heart was the anvil on which many hammers of affliction had been a long time beating ; and no wonder it appeared relaxed and tumified , when it was inspected , having endured so many successive stroaks of sorrow . and now what the lord spake of israel in ier. 11.16 . is fulfilled upon this worthy person , the lord called thy name a green olive-tree , fair and of goodly fruit , with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled a fire upon it , and the branches of it are broken . thirdly , i shall wind up the whole in several seasonable and necessary counsels : some more general , others more particular , and some most particularly and especially . first , counsel to all in general , to awaken themselves , and recover a due sense of such sore rebukes of god as this is . when saul fell , david lamented it , saying , the beauty of israel was slain on thy high places . god hath this day stript off an ornament from this country . such dispensations of providence speak indignation coming on . it requires almost an age to breed and furnish a man with due qualifications for the service of the church and common-wealth . england doth not so abound with pious , zealous , and faithful gentlemen at this time , but that it may sensibly feel the loss of such a man. secondly , more particularly , let the ministers of christ lament his fall , as ieremiah did the fall of iosiah in the text. he was a true friend to christ's faithful ministers , and had them in honour for their work sake . 't is true , he hath no more need of us , he is now wiser than his teachers ; but we greatly need him , and men of his spirit , in such a dull degenerate age as we live in . thirdly , and most particularly , i shall apply and close all with a few words of counsel to the dear and now desolate relict of this worthy person , whose sad lot it is this day to over-live the mercies and comforts she once enjoyed in him . madam , god hath this day covered you with sables , written bitter things against you , broken you with breach upon breach . your sorrows need not be excited , but regulated . 't is my trouble , that i cannot discharge my duty to the memory of your dear husband , without exasperating your griefs , which alas were too acute before ; but rods have their voices : blessed is the man whom god correcteth and teacheth him out of his law. hear you the rod , and who hath appointed it ; and oh that your soul may this day take in these necessary counsels and cautions , without which your afflictions cannot be sanctified to the advantage of your soul. and , 1. learn from hence the vanity of the creature , the emptiness and nothingness of the best things here below . how hath god made your best comforts on earth to shrink up and vanish into nothing ? how do our fancies varnish and guild over these empty bubbles ? what great expectations are we apt to raise from them ? how apt to fall asleep in the bosoms or laps of earthly enjoyments ? and say with iob , i shall die in my nest , and multiply my days as the sand . when loe , in a moment the projects and expectations of many years are over-turned . oh what a difference will you find betwixt hope founded in christ , comforts drawn out of the promises , and the flattering comforts and vain hopes founded in the creature whose breath is in its nostrils ? 't is time for you and for us all to wean off from this vain world ; mortifie our fancies and affections to it , and place them where they shall not be capable of disappointment . 2. guard carefully , i beseech you , against those temptations which probably may accompany this affliction . it may be satan will suggest to your heart , what he once put into their lips . mal. 3.14 . what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances , and walked mournfully before him ? where is the fruit of prayer ? what good have i seen of fasting ? what hath religion availed ? do not prayerless and ungodly families thrive and prosper ? beware of this . madam , i doubt not but you will acknowledge there have been sins and provocations within your walls , yea within your heart , for which god may as justly and severely judge your house as he did ely's . remember the rewards of religion are not in this world ; and should we speak thus , we shall offend against the generation of his children . all we must expect from religion , is to save our souls by it . 3. call not the love of god into question to your self , or yours , because of these severe stroaks of god upon you and them : you know iosiah was dear to god , yet he died in the prime of his days , by a violent hand , remote from his own home , and was brought home in the second chariot to ierusalem , a spectacle of far greater sorrow , than your dear husband was ; and yet notwithstanding all these sad circumstances of his death , the promise of his god was punctually performed to him , that he should die in peace , and not behold the evil that was to come . there is a vanity , saith solomon , which is done upon the earth , that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked : again , there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous , eccles. 8.14 . but then remember , that it is but in the earth ; here , or no-where , god must chastize his children . 4. see that you maintain that holy course of religious exercises in your family , and in your closet , wherein he walked so exemplarily before you . let religion live , though he be dead ; and convince the world , i pray you , that it was gods influence , and not your husbands only , which was the spring and principle of this holy course . 5. strive not with your maker , nor fret against the lord , under this irksome and painful dispensation . remember there is a woe hanging over this sin : isai. 45.9 , 10. woe to him that striveth with his maker . there is a twofold striving of men with god , one lawful and commendable , when we strive with him upon the knee of importunity in prayer , thus iacob wrestled with god and prevailed , hos. 12.4 . the other is highly sinful and dangerous , when we presume to censure or accuse any of his works as defective in wisdom or goodness . he that reproveth god , let him answer it , ( i. e. ) at his peril be it . this sinful striving with god is twofold , either vocal or mental . 1. vocal , when men in bold blasphemous language , arraign the wisdom , power , goodness , or faithfulness of the lord at the bar of their own reason , and there condemn them , setting their mouths against the heavens , psal. 73.8 , 9. this is the sin of the wicked , yea of the first-born sons of wickedness . 2. mental , in inward frets , murmurs , repinings against god ; prov. 19.3 . the foolishness of man perverts his way , and his heart fretteth against the lord. the heart may cry out impatiently against god , when the tongue is silent : and if the frets and murmurs of the heart be ( as indeed they are ) interpretatively no better than a striving with our maker , then this sin will be found more common among good men in the paroxisms of affliction , than we imagine . it will be necessary therefore , for your sake , and the sakes of many more in a like state of affliction with you , to stay a while upon this head , and consider these following queries . query 1. how far we may enquire , expostulate , and complain in times of affliction , without sin ? query 2. wherein lies the sinfulness and danger of exceeding these bounds ? query 3. what considerations are most proper and powerful to restrain the afflicted soul from this sinful excess ? query 1. how far we may enquire of god , expostulate with him , and complain to him in time of affliction , without sin ? 1. we may humbly enquire into the causes and reasons of gods displeasure against us , not to seek matter for our iustification , but direction in the work of our humiliation . so david enquired about the three years famine , and the lord inform'd him for whose sake and for what sin it was , 2 sam. 21.1 . and thus iob addressed to him in the day of his affliction , iob 10.2 . shew me wherefore thou contendest with me ; ( i. e. ) convince me what special sin it is for which i am thus afflicted . this is so far from being our sin , that it is both our duty , and the excellency of our spirits ; 't is a child-like temper , willing to know , that we may be particularly humbled for that sin , and for ever the more careful to shun it . that which i see not , teach thou me ; if i have done iniquity , i will do no more , job 34.32 . thus far we are safe . 2. we may plead by prayer , and put him in mind of his mercies , relations , and promises , in order to the change of his providential dispensations towards us : we may say to him under the smartest rod , as the church did , doubtless thou art our father , psal. 74.20 . have respect to the covenant , or as iacob , gen. 32.9.12 . thou saidst , i will surely do thee good . 3. we may complain to god under our sufferings , and spread them before him in all their circumstances and aggravations , as iob , he●an , asaph , hezekiah , and david did . he allows his children to complain to him , but not of him . i poured out my complaint before him , i shewed before him my trouble , psal. 142.2 . to whom should a child make his complaint , but to his father ? so far we are safe . 4. we may submissively pray for the removal of his hand from us , and entreat that his anger may cease ; that he will turn again and heal us and our families , and not draw forth his anger for ever . so did david , psal. 39.10 . remove thy stroke away from me , i am consumed by the blow of thine hand . q. d. ah , lord , i am not able to endure another stroak . all this while we are safe , within the bounds of our duty . but then , query 2. wherein lies our sin and danger , in exceeding these bounds ? i answer , sol. when forgetting god's soveraignty , and the desert of our iniquities , we arrogantly censure his effecting , or permitting providences , as if they had no conducency to his own glory , or our good . this is both sinful and dangerous : for , 1. this is a proud exalting of our own reason and understanding , above the infinite wisdom of god. god hath made our reason a judge and arbitor in matters within its own sphere and province ; but when it comes to summon god to its bar , and article against heaven , it is an insufferable arrogancy , and we do it at our own peril . god will have all men know that he is an unaccountable being , iob 33.13 . yea , he will have us to know , that the foolishness of god is wiser than men , 1 cor. 1.25 . that is , that those very works of god which mans proud reason adventures to censure , as not so wise a method as their own would be , hath more wisdom in it , than all the deep-laid designes of the greatest polititians in the world. and it is strange that men should dare to attempt such a wickedness as this , after god hath so severely punished it in the fallen angels . 2. it is no less than a spurning at the soveraignty of god , from whose pleasure we derive our beings and all our mercies , rev. 4.11 . in these quarrellings of providence , and frets at divine appointments , we invade his throne , and controul his soveraign pleasure . how monstrous were it to hear a child quarrelling with his father , that he is not so and so figured , or the clay to chide the potter for moulding it as it is ? 3. 't is destructive to our own inward peace and tranquility of mind , which is part of the punishment of this sin ; and a smart stripe , a sore rebuke it is from the hand of god upon us . contention is uncomfortable , though but with a neighbour , worse with a near relation ; but a quarrel with god is destructive to all comfort in the world. afflictions may disturb a good mans peace , but a mutinous spirit against god , destroys and stabs it at the very heart . what is the sin and torment of the devils , but their rage against the lord , and swelling against the methods of his grace ? he seeketh rest , but findeth none , mat. 12.33 . the peace of our spirits is a choice mercy , and might be maintain'd amidst all our afflictions , were but our interest in his promises , and the true level of his providences cleared to us . 4. 't is irrational , and highly unjust , to give the cause , and quarrel at the effects . god hath righteously and inseparably linked penal with moral evils ; sin and sorrow by the laws of heaven are tackt and united together ; he that doth evil , shall feel evil , gen. 4.7 . we adventure upon sin , and then fret at affliction : prov. 19.3 . the foolishness of a man perverts his way , and his heart fretteth against the lord. is this becoming a reasonable creature ? doth not every man reap as he soweth ? can the seed of sin bring forth a crop of peace and comfort ? why doth the living man complain , a man for the punishment of his sins , lam. 3.39 . search your hearts , and search your houses , and you will quickly find that all your afflictions in this world , were they ten thousand times more and heavier than they are , do not come near to the desert of one sin . all sorrows , losses , afflictions on this side hell are quite below the value of sin , the meritorious and provoking cause of them all . 5. 't is foolish and vain , to strive against god , and contest perversely with him . can our discontents relieve us ? or our murmurs ease us ? will they turn god out of his way ? no , no ; he is in one mind , and who can turn him aside ? job 23.13 . the wheels of providence go straight forward , and turn not when they go , ezek. 1.17 . we may bring them over us to crush us , by standing thus in their way , but cannot turn them out of their way . impatiens oegrotus , crudelem facit medicum . if ye still walk contrary to me , then will i walk contrary to you , and punish you yet seven times for your sins , lev. 26.13 , 14. or i will walk in the rashness of mine anger , smiting you without moderation , as men do in the height of their rage and fury . this is all we shall get by fretting against god. never expect relief under , or release from the yoak god hath laid on your necks , till you be brought to accept the punishment of your iniquities , lev. 26.41 . 6. 't is a sin full of odious ingratitude towards your god : which appears ( 1 ) in murmuring because it is so bad , when we should be admiring that it is no worse . are there not millions in hell that never sinned at higher rates than you have done ? is this affliction as bad as hell ? hath god pardoned you , and saved you , and yet doth he deserve to be thus requited by you ! ( 2 ) in murmuring that our condition is so bad , when we may every day see others in a far worse case who are equal with us by nature , and were equal with them in guilt and provocation . if we speak of outward afflictions , certainly others would be glad to exchange conditions with us , and account themselves happy in our circumstances . consider the description given of those persons , iob 30.3 , 4 , 5. and how little they differ in the manner of life from bruit beasts : and if we speak of inward troubles , compare your own with those of heman , and asaph , in psal. 77. and psal. 88. and if of both together , and that in an intense degree , consider iob 6.4 . and you will soon find your condition full of sparing mercy : these excellent persons that were so much above you in grace , were yet plunged so much deeper than you into affliction . and is it not then vile ingratitude in you , thus to mutiny and charge your god foolishly ? ( 3 ) but especially here lies our ingratitude , in quarrelling and censuring those providences , whose very end and errand is our eternal good ; heb. 12.10 . but be for our profit , that we might be partakers of his holiness . 7. 't is a sin that deprives us of the fruits and benefits of our afflictions : a tumultuous raging spirit reaps no good by the rod. the fruits of affliction are called the peaceable fruits , heb. 12.11 . because they are always gathered and reaped down by the afflicted soul in a quiet and peaceful temper . anima sedendo , & quiescendo fit sapiens : blossoms and flowers open not in the boysterous storms of winter , but in the mild and gentle spring . well then , be convinced of the sin and danger of a discontented spirit under the hand of god , and instead of mourning over lost relations , now mourn for the loss of patience , the want of submission , and for the pride and arrogancy of your own reason , that presumes to correct the works of the almighty , and say to god , as ioseph did to his father , when he wittingly crossed his hands in blessing ephraim and manassah , not so , my father ? this is not fit . query 3. but how may these evils be prevented or cured , and the tempestuous soul calmed under the the rod ? how shall all strifes betwixt god and his people be ended , and the soul made quiet at his feet ? reply , this blessed frame of spirit may in a great degree and measure be attained in the use of the following directions . i say , ●n their use and application , not by the prescription or simple knowledge of them . and , rule 1. the first rule or direction , is this : study well the glorious soveraignty of god over you , and aw your hearts with the consideration of it . from his meer pleasure you and all that is yours proceeded , on his pleasure you depend , and into that good pleasure of his will your wills therefore ought to be resolved : whatever the lord pleased that he did , in heaven and in earth , in the sea and in all deep places , psal. 135.6 . man and man stand on equal ground , and if our reason be not satisfied about the equity of mens dealings with us , we may ask who did it , and demand the reasons why he did it ; but when we have to do with god , we mus● not dispute his pleasure . let the potsherd strive with the potsherd of the earth , but let not the clay dispute with the potter . now the soveraignty of god is gloriously display'd in his decrees , laws and providences . ( 1. ) in his decrees , appointing the creatures to their ends , whether to be vessels of mercy , or of wrath , rom. 9.18 , 19 , 20. in this case there must be no disputing with god. ( 2. ) in his laws , appointing the work and duty of the creature , as also the rewards and punishments ; jam. 4.12 . there is one law-giver , that is able to save and to destroy . in this case his soveraignty immediately and indispensably binds the conscience of man , and no humane authority can dissolve that obligation : nor must we snuff at the severest command . ( 3. ) the glorious soveraignty of god is display'd in his providential administrations , appointing every man to that station and condition he is in in this world ; whether it be high or low , prosperous or afflicted . psal. 75.6 . i said to the fools , deal not foolishly , &c. for promotion cometh not from the east , or the west ; but god is iudge : he putteth down one , and setteth up another . let not them that are at the top of the world , be lifted up ; nor those that are at the bottom , be dejected : for god cast every mans lot , and changeth their condition at his pleasure ; a word of his mouth plucks down the lofty , and exalts the lowly ; he woundeth , and his hands make whole . hence it becomes the afflicted to be still , and know that he is god , psal. 46.10 . to put his mouth in the dust , and quietly to wait for his salvation . all our fretting and struggling cannot shake off the yoak which he hath put upon us , but a weak and quiet submission to his will , and compliance with his designs , is the best expedient to procure our freedom . there is not one circumstance of trouble befals you , without his order ; nor can you expect deliverance , but by order from him . rule 2. study the transcendant evil of sin , and what the demerit of the least sin that ever you committed is . this will becalm your tempestuous spirits , and at once work them into contentation with your present state , and admiration that it is no worse , lam. 3.22.39 , 40. consider , thou querulous and discontented soul , that the wages of sin is death , rom. 6. ult . that tribulation , anguish , and wrath , are due by law , to every soul of man that doth evil ; that so often as we have sinned , so often have we deserved hell : and shall we then charge god with severity , for scourging us with the rods of gentle fatherly chastizements ? is this hell ? dare you say the severest affliction that ever was upon you , is above the demerit of your sin ? 't is true indeed , the lord tells ierusalem , that she had received of his hands double for all her sins , isai. 40.2 . but that is not the language of strict justice , but of compassions rolled together . there is not a gracious soul in all the world , but will readily subscribe ezra's confession , that god hath afflicted it less than its iniquities deserve , ezra 9.13 . oh if once we measure our afflictions by our sins , we shall admire they are so few , so mild and gentle , as they are . rule 3. consider what a difference there is betwixt the saints meeting with afflictions , and their parting with them . you meet them with trembling and astonishment , but you shall part with them with praise and thanksgiving , blessing god for the manifold blessings they have instrumentally conveyed to your souls . it is good for me , saith david , that i have been afflicted . by these things sin is prevented , discovered , and mortified , the ensnaring world imbittered , and the rest to come sweetned . many other excellent rules may be added ; try these , and the blessing of the spirit accompany them . to conclude , be not swallowed up of sorrows for what you have lost , but balance all the troubles of this life , with the hopes of the next . your dear children are gone , your sweet husband is gone ; but consider who took them , and whither . it is said of enoch , gen. 5.24 . he walked with god , and was not ; for god took him . mr. upton is not , and yet he is : he is not with men , he is with god : he ceases not to be , though he cease to breathe : he is taken away , but god took him : he is better where he is , than where he was : though he be not in your bosom , he is in christ's . imitate his zeal , plain-heartedness , diligence in duties , and you shall shortly meet him again , and never part any more . for this we say by the word of the lord , that we which are alive , and remain to the coming of the lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep . for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , and with the voice of the archangel , and the trump of god : and the dead in christ shall rise first . then we which are alive , and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the lord. wherefore comfort one another with these words . did you but know the deep emphasis of these words , ever with the lord , i doubt not but you would find comfort enough in them for your self , and a great overplus for the comforting of others . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a39658-e590 w. 2. v. 3. psal. 30. psal. 101.2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. plus est quam haec domus mea ante deum . jon. 2 sam. 7.12 , 13 , 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordinavit , disposuit , aptavit . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 custodivit ser●avit . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eccl. 9.2 . virgil. zech. 12.10 . psal. 119.92 . job 6.2 , 3. psal. 60.3 . psal. 94.19 . jer. 2.13 . isai. 57.12 . joh. 14.18 heb. 6.17 ▪ 18. isai. 56.4 . 1 king. 17.18 . job 16.8 . isai. 33.24 . psal. 103.1.3 . 1 cor. 15.55 . ovid. jer. 31.33 , 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it respects the propitiatory expiation of sin by christ , who is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 joh. 2.2 . & rom. 3.25 . psal. 89.30 , 31. ezek. 1.18 . isai. 40.13 , 14. jer. 32.40 . psal. 119.71 . psal. 94.19 . isai. 27.9 . isai. 27.8 . eph. 4 6. exod. 33.15 . psal. 89.33 . jer. 31.34 . joh. 10.28 . 2 cor. 6.10 . 2 cor. 6.9 . psal. 6.1 . 1 thess. 4.13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. isai. 26.19 . rom. 4.16 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro mittere qua si 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in manibus . psal. 102.26 , 27. psal. 116.7 . gal. 2.21 . 2 cor. 4.16 , 17 , 18. psal. 119.50 . rom. 15.4 . job . 33 23. jam. 5.11 . filius mihi erat adolescens , solus vitae successor , solatium senectae , gloria generis , flos aequalium , sulcrum domus , aetatem gratiosissiman agebat , &c. iii. iv. notes for div a39658-e9420 ierom à lapide . iustin martyr . doctr. 1 reason . 2 reason . 3 reason . 4 reason . 5 reason . 6 reason . 1 use. 2 use. 3 use. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 temerè ambulabo . 1 thess. 4.15 , 16 , 17 , 18. a funerall sermon preached at the obsequies of the right hon[oura]ble and most vertuous lady, the lady frances, countesse of carbery who deceased october the 9th, 1650, at her house golden-grove in carmarthen-shire / by jer. taylor ... taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a63941 of text r11725 in the english short title catalog (wing t335). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 69 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a63941 wing t335 estc r11725 13574510 ocm 13574510 100406 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a63941) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 100406) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 804:2) a funerall sermon preached at the obsequies of the right hon[oura]ble and most vertuous lady, the lady frances, countesse of carbery who deceased october the 9th, 1650, at her house golden-grove in carmarthen-shire / by jer. taylor ... taylor, jeremy, 1613-1667. [4], 36 p. printed by j.f. for royston ..., london : 1650. reproduction of original in the huntington library. eng carbery, frances vaughan, -countess of, 1621?-1650. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a63941 r11725 (wing t335). civilwar no a funerall sermon, preached at the obsequies of the right honble and most vertuous lady, the lady frances, countesse of carbery: who decease taylor, jeremy 1650 13740 5 15 0 0 0 0 15 c the rate of 15 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-06 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funerall sermon , preached at the obsequies of the right honble and most vertuous lady , the lady frances , countesse of carbery : who deceased october the 9th . 1650. at her house golden-grove in carmarthen-shire . by jer. taylor , d. d. london , printed by i. f. for r. royston at the angel in ivie-lane . m.dc.l . to the right honorable , and truly noble , richard lord vaughan , earle of carbery , baron of emlim and molinger , knight of the honorable order of the bath . my lord , i am not asham'd to professe that i pay this part of service to your lordship most unwillingly : for it is a sad office to be the chief minister in a house of mourning , and to present an interested person with a branch of cypresse and a bottle of tears . and indeed , my lord , it were more proportionable to your needs to bring something that might alleviate or divert your sorrow , then to dresse the hearse of your dear lady , and to furnish it with such circumstances , that it may dwell with you , and lie in your closet , and make your prayers and your retirements more sad and full of weepings . but because the divine providence hath taken from you a person so excellent , a woman fit to converse with angels , and apostles , with saints and martyrs , give me leave to present you with her picture ; drawn in little and in water-colours , sullyed indeed with tears and the abrupt accents of a reall and consonant sorrow ; but drawn with a faithfull hand , and taken from the life : and indeed it were too great a losse , to be depriv'd of her example and of her rule , of the originall and the copie too . the age is very evil and deserv'd her not ; but because it is so evil , it hath the more need to have such lives preserv'd in memory to instruct our piety , or upbraid our wickednesse . for now that god hath cut this tree of paradise down from its seat of earth , yet so the dead trunk may support a part of the declining temple , or at least serve to kindle the fire on the altar . my lord , i pray god this heap of sorrow may swell your piety till it breaks into the greatest joyes of god and of religion : and remember , when you pay a tear upon the grave , or to the memory of your lady ( that deare and most excellent soule ) that you pay two more : one of repentance for those things that may have caus'd this breach ; and another of joy for the mercies of god to your dear departed saint , that he hath taken her into a place where she can weep no more . my lord , i think i shall , so long as i live , that is so long as i am your lordships most humble servant taylor . a funerall sermon , &c. 2 samuel 14. 14. for we must needs die , and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again : neither doth god respect any person : yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him . when our blessed saviour and his disciples viewed the temple , some one amongst them cried out , magister aspice , quales lapides ! master behold what faire , what great stones are here ! christ made no other reply but foretold their dissolution and a world of sadness and sorrow which should bury that whole nation when the teeming cloud of gods displeasure should produce a storm which was the daughter of the biggest anger , and the mother of the greatest calamity which ever crush'd any of the sons of adam . [ the time shall come , that there shall not be left one stone upon another . ] the whole temple and the religion , the ceremonies ordained by god , and the nation beloved by god , and the fabrick erected for the service of god , shall run to their own period and lie down in their severall graves . whatsoever had a beginning can also have an ending , and it shall die , unless it be daily watered with the purles flowing from the fountain of life , and refreshed with the dew of heaven and the wells of god . and therefore god had provided a tree in paradise to have supported adam in his artificiall immortality : immortality was not in his nature , but in the hands , and arts , in the favour and superadditions of god . man was alwaies the same mixture of heat and cold , of dryness and moisture ; ever the same weak thing , apt to feel rebellion in the humors , and to suffer the evils of a civil warre in his body naturall : and therefore health and life was to descend upon him from heaven , and he was to suck life from a tree on earth ; himself being but ingraffed into a tree of life , and adopted into the condition of an immortall nature : but he that in the best of his daies was but a cien of this tree of life , by his sinne was cut off from thence quickly , and planted upon thorns , and his portion was for ever after among the flowers , which to day spring and look like health and beauty , and in the evening they are sick , and at night are dead , and the oven is their grave . and as before , even from our first spring from the dust of the earth , we might have died if we had not been preserved by the continuall flux of a rare providence ; so now that we are reduced to the laws of our own nature , we must needs die . it is naturall , and therefore necessary ; it is become a punishment to us , and therefore it is unavoidable , and god hath bound the evil upon us by bands of naturall and inseparable propriety , and by a supervening unalterable decree of heaven : and we are fallen from our privilege , and are returned to the condition of beasts , and buildings , and common things : and we see temples defiled unto the ground , and they die by sacrilege : and great empires die by their own plenty and ease , full humors , and factious subjects : and huge buildings fall by their owne weight , and the violence of many winters eating and consuming the cement which is the marrow of their bones : and princes die like the meanest of their servants : and every thing finds a grave and a tombe ; and the very tomb it self dies by the bigness of its pompousness and luxury , — phario nutantia pondera saxo quae cineri vanus dat ruitura labor , and becomes as friable and uncombined dust as the ashes of the sinner or the saint that lay under it , and is now forgotten in his bed of darkness : and to this catalogue of mortality man is inrolled with a [ statutum est ] it is appointed for all men once to die , and after death comes judgment ; and if a man can be stronger then nature , or can wrestle with a decree of heaven , or can escape from a divine punishment by his own arts , so that neither the power nor the providence of god , nor the laws of nature , nor the bands of eternall predestination can hold him , then he may live beyond the fate and period of flesh , and last longer then a flower : but if all these can hold us and tie us to conditions , then we must lay our heads down upon a turfe and entertain creeping things in the cells and little chambers of our eyes , and dwell with worms till time and death shall be no more . we must needs die ] that 's our sentence . but that 's not all . we are as water spilt on the ground , which cannot be gathered up again ] stay . 1. we are as water , weak and of no consistence , alwaies descending , abiding in no certain place , unlesse where we are detained with violence : and every little breath of winde makes us rough and tempestuous , and troubles our faces : every trifling accident discomposes us ; and as the face of the waters wafting in a storm so wrinkles it self that it makes upon its forehead furrows deep , and hollow like a grave : so doe our great and little cares and trifles , first make the wrinkles of old age , and then they dig a grave for us : and there is in nature nothing so contemptible , but it may meet with us in such circumstances , that it may be too hard for us in our weaknesses : and the sting of a bee is a weapon sharp enough to pierce the finger of a childe , or the lip of a man : and those creatures which nature hath left without weapons , yet they are arm'd sufficiently to vex those parts of men which are left defenselesse and obnoxious to a sun beame , to the roughness of a sowre grape to the unevenness of a gravel-stone , to the dust of a wheel , or the unwholsome breath of a starre looking awry upon a sinner . 2 but besides the weaknesses and naturall decayings of our bodies , if chances and contingencies be innumerable , then no man can reckon our dangers , and the praeternaturall causes of our deaths . so that he is a vain person whose hopes of life are too confidently increased by reason of his health : and he is too unreasonably timorous , who thinks his hopes at an end when he dwels in sicknesse . for men die without rule ; and with , and without occasions ; and no man suspecting or foreseeing any of deaths addresses , and no man in his whole condition is weaker then another . a man in a long consumption is fallen under one of the solemnities and preparations to death : but at the same instant the most healthfull person is as neer death , upon a more fatall , and a more sudden , but a lesse discerned cause . there are but few persons upon whose foreheads every man can read the sentence of death written in the lines of a lingring sicknesse , but they ( sometimes ) hear the passing bell ring for stronger men , even long before their own knell cals at the house of their mother to open her womb and make a bed for them . no man is surer of tomorrow then the weakest of his brethren : and when lepidus and aufidius stumbled at the threshold of the senate and fell down and dyed , the blow came from heaven in a cloud but it struck more suddenly then upon the poor slave that made sport upon the theatre with a praemeditated and foredescribed death : quod quisque vitet , nunquam homini satis cautum est in horas . there are sicknesses that walk in darknesse , and there are exterminating angels that fly wrapt up in the curtains of immateriality and an uncommunicating nature ; whom we cannot see , but we feel their force , and sink under their sword , and from heaven the vail descends that wraps our heads in the fatall sentence . there is no age of man but it hath proper to it self some posterns and outlets for death , besides those infinite and open ports out of which myriads of men and women every day passe into the dark and the land of forgetfulnesse . infancie hath life but in effigie , or like a spark dwelling in a pile of wood : the candle is so newly lighted , that every little shaking of the taper , and every ruder breath of air , puts it out , and it dies . childhood is so tender , and yet so unwary ; so soft to all the impressions of chance , and yet so forward to run into them , that god knew there could be no security without the care and vigilance of an angel-keeper : and the eies of parents and the armes of nurses , the provisions of art , and all the effects of humane love and providence are not sufficient to keep one child from horrid mischiefs , from strange and early calamities and deaths , unlesse a messenger be sent from heaven to stand sentinell , and watch the very playings and the sleepings , the eatings and the drinkings of the children ; and it is a long time before nature makes them capable of help : for there are many deaths , and very many diseases to which poor babes are exposed ; but they have but very few capacities of physick ; to shew , that infancy is as liable to death as old age , and equally exposed to danger , and equally uncapable of a remedy : with this onely difference , that old age hath diseases incurable by nature , and the diseases of childhood are incurable by art ; and both the states are the next heirs of death . 3 but all the middle way the case is altered . nature is strong , and art is apt to give ease and remedy : but still , there is no security ; and there , the case is not altered . 1 for there are so many diseases in men that are not understood . 2 so many new ones every year . 3 the old ones are so changed in circumstance , and intermingled with so many collaterall complications . 4 the symptoms are oftentimes so alike . 5 sometimes so hidden and fallacious . 6 sometimes none at all ( as in the most sudden and the most dangerous imposthumations . ) 7 and then , the diseases in the inward parts of the body , are oftentimes such , to which no application can be made . 8 they are so far off , that the effects of all medicines can no otherwise come to them , then the effect and juices of all meats , that is , not till after two or three alterations , and decoctions , which change the very species of the medicament . 9 and after all this , very many principles in the art of physick are so uncertain , that after they have been believed seven or eight ages , and that upon them much of the practise hath been established ; they come to be considered by a witty man , and others established in their stead ; by which , men must practise , and by which three or four generations of men more ( as happens ) must live or die . 10 and all this while , the men are sick , and they take things that certainly make them sicker for the present , and very uncertainly restore health for the future : that it may appear of what a large extent is humane calamity ; when gods providence hath not onely made it weak and miserable upon the certain stock of a various nature , and upon the accidents of an infinite contingency ; but even from the remedies which are appointed , our dangers and our troubles are certainly increased : so that we may well be likened to water ; our nature is no stronger , our abode no more certain ; if the sluces be opened , it falls away and runneth apace ; if its current be stopped ; it swels and grows troublesome , and spils over with a greater diffusion ; if it be made to stand stil it putrefies : and all this we doe . for 4. in all the processe of our health we are running to our grave : we open our own sluces by vitiousness and unworthy actions ; we powre in drink , and let out life ; we increase diseases and know not how to bear them ; we strangle our selves with our own intemperance ; we suffer the feavers and the inflammations of lust , and we quench our soules with drunkennesse ; we bury our understandings in loads of meat and surfets : and then we lie down upon our beds and roar with pain and disquietness of our soules : nay , we kill one anothers souls and bodies with violence and folly , with the effects of pride and uncharitablenesse ; we live and die like fools , and bring a new mortality upon our selves ; wars and vexatious cares , and private duels , and publike disorders , and every thing that is unreasonable , and every thing that is violent : so that now we may adde this fourth gate to the grave : besides nature and chance , and the mistakes of art , men die with their own sins , and then enter into the grave in haste and passion and pull the heavy stone of the monument upon their own heads . and thus we make our selves like water spilt on the ground : we throw away our lives as if they were unprofitable , ( and indeed most men make them so ) we let our years slip through our fingers like water ; and nothing is to be seen , but like a showr of tears upon a spot of ground ; there is a grave digged , and a solemn mourning and a great talk in the neigbourhood , and when the daies are finished , they shall be , and they shall be remembred , no more : and that 's like water too , when it is spilt , it cannot be gathered up again . there is no redemption from the grave . — inter se mortales mutua vivunt et quasi cur sores vitäi lampada tradunt . men live in their course and by turns : their light burns a while , and then it burns blew and faint , and men go to converse with spirits , and then they reach the taper to another ; and as the hours of yesterday can never return again , so neither can the man whose hours they were , and who lived them over once , he shall never come to live them again , and live them better . when lazarus , and the widows son of naim , and tabitha , and the saints that appeared in jerusalem at the rusurrection of our blessed lord , arose ; they came into this world , some as strangers onely to make a visit , and all of them to manifest a glory : but none came upon the stock of a new life , or entred upon the stage as at first , or to perform the course of a new nature : and therefore it is observable that we never read of any wicked person that was raised from the dead : dives would fain have returned to his brothers house ; but neither he , nor any from him could be sent : but all the rest in the new testament ( one onely excepted ) were expressed to have been holy persons , or else by their age were declared innocent . lazarus was beloved of christ : those souls that appeared at the resurrection were the souls of saints : tabitha raised by s peter was a charitable and a holy christian : and the maiden of twelve years old , raised by our blessed saviour , had not entred into the regions of choice and sinfulnesse : and the onely exception of the widows son , is indeed none at all ; for in it the scripture is wholly silent ; and therefore it is very probable that the same processe was used , god in all other instances having chosen to exemplifie his miracles of nature to purposes of the spirit , and in spirituall capacities . so that although the lord of nature did not break the bands of nature in some instances , to manifest his glory to succeeding , great and never failing purposes ; yet ( besides that this shall be no more ) it was also instanced in such persons who were holy and innocent , and within the verge and comprehensions of the eternall mercy . we never read that a wicked person felt such a miracle , or was raised from the grave to try the second time for a crown ; but where he fell , there he lay down dead , and saw the light no more . this consideration i intend to you as a severe monitor and an advice of carefulness , that you order your affairs so that you may be partakers of the first resurrection , that is , from sin to grace , from the death of vitious habits , to the vigour , life and efficacy of an habituall righteousnesse : for ( as it hapned to those persons in the new testament now mentioned , to them ( i say ) in the literall sense ) blessed are they that have part in the first resurrection , upon them the second death shall have no power : meaning that they who by the power of christ and his holy spirit were raised to life again , were holy and blessed souls , and such who were written in the book of god ; and that this grace happened to no wicked and vitious person : so it is most true in the spirituall and intended sense : you onely that serve god in a holy life ; you who are not dead in trespasses and sins ; you who serve god with an early diligence and an unwearied industry , and a holy religion , you and you onely shal come to life eternall , you onely shall be called from death to life ; the rest of mankind shall never live again but passe from death to death ; from one death to another , to a worse ; from the death of the body , to the eternall death of body and soul : and therefore in the apostles creed there is no mention made of the resurrection of wicked persons : but of the resurrection of the body to everlasting life . the wicked indeed shall be haled forth from their graves , from their everlasting prisons , where in chains of darknesse they are kept unto the judgement of the great day : but this therefore cannot be called in sensu favoris , a resurrection , but the solennities of the eternall death ; it is nothing but a new capacity of dying again ; such a dying as cannot signifie rest ; but where death means nothing but an intolerable and never ceasing calamity : and therefore these words of my text are otherwise to be understood of the wicked , otherwise of the godly : the wicked are spilt like water and shall never be gathered up again ; no not in the gatherings of eternity ; they shall be put into vessels of wrath and set upon on the flames of hell ; but that is not a gathering , but a scattering from the face and presence of god . but the godly also come under the sense of these words . they descend into their graves , and shall no more be reckoned among the living ; they have no concernment in all that is done under the sun . agamemnon hath no more to do with the turks armies invading and possessing that part of greece where he reigned , then had the hippocentaur , who never had a beeing : and cicero hath no more interest in the present evils of christendome , then we have to doe with his boasted discovery of catilines conspiracie . what is it to me that rome was taken by the gaules ? and what is it now to camillus if different religions be tolerated amongst us ? these things that now happen concern the living , and they are made the scenes of our duty or danger respectively : and when our wives are dead and sleep in charnel houses , they are not troubled when we laugh loudly at the songs sung at the next marriage feast ; nor do they envy when another snatches away the gleanings of their husbands passion . it is true they envy not , and they lie in a bosome where there can be no murmure , and they that are consigned to kingdomes , and to the feast of the marriage supper of the lamb , the glorious and eternall bride-groom of holy souls , they cannot think our marriages here , our lighter laughings and vain rejoycings considerable as to them . and yet there is a relation continued stil . aristotle said , that to affirm the dead take no thought for the good of the living is a disparagement to the laws of that friendship which in their state of separation they cannot be tempted to rescind . and the church hath taught in generall that they pray for us , they recommend to god the state of all their relatives , in the union of the intercession that our blessed lord makes for them and us : and s. ambrose gave some things in charge to his dying brother satyrus , that he should do for him in the other world : he gave it him ( i say ) when he was dying , not when he was dead . and certain it is that though our dead friends affection to us is not to be estimated according to our low conceptions , yet it is not lesse , but much more then ever it was ; it is greater in degree , and of another kind . but then we should do well also to remember , that in this world we are something besides flesh and bloud ; that we may not without violent necessities run into new relations , but preserve the affections we bear to our dead when they were alive : we must not so live as if they were perished , but so as pressing forward to the most intimate participation of the communion of saints . and we also have some waies to expresse this relation , and to bear a part in this communion , by actions of intercourse with them , and yet proper to our state : such as are strictly performing the will of the dead , providing for , and tenderly and wisely educating their children , paying their debts , imitating their good example , preserving their memories privately , and publikely keeping their memorials , and desiring of god with hearty and constant prayer that god would give them a joyfull resurrection , and a mercifull judgement , ( for so s. paul prayed in behalf of onesiphorus ) that god would shew them a mercy in that day , that fearfull , and yet much to be desired day , in which the most righteous person hath need of much mercy and pity , and shall find it . now these instances of duty shew that the relation remains still ; and though the relict of a man or woman hath liberty to contract new relations ; yet i doe not finde they have liberty to cast off the old ; as if there were no such thing as immortality of souls . remember that we shall converse together again : let us therefore never doe any thing of reference to them which we shall be asham'd of in the day when all secrets shall be discovered , and that we shall meet again in the presence of god : in the mean time , god watcheth concerning all their interest , and he will in his time both discover and recompense . for though , as to us , they are like water spilt , yet , to god , they are as water fallen into the sea , safe and united in his comprehension , and inclosures . but we are not yet passed the consideration of the sentence : this descending to the grave is the lot of all men , [ neither doth god respect the person of any man ] the rich is not protected for favour , nor the poor for pity , the old man is not reverenced for his age , nor the infant regarded for his tenderness ; youth and beauty , learning and prudence , wit and strength lie down equally in the dishonours of the grave . all men , and all natures , and all persons resist the addresses and solennities of death , and strive to preserve a miserable and an unpleasant life ; and yet they all sink down and die . for so have i seen the pillars of a building assisted with artificiall props bending under the pressure of a roof , and pertinaciously resisting the infallible and prepared ruine , donec certa dies omni compage solutâ ipsum cum rebus subruat auxilium , till the determin'd day comes , and then the burden sunk upon the pillars , and disorder'd the aides and auxiliary rafters into a common ruine and a ruder grave : so are the desires and weak arts of man , with little aides and assistances of care and physick we strive to support our decaying bodies , and to put off the evil day ; but quickly that day will come , and then neither angels nor men can rescue us from our grave ; but the roof sinks down upon the walls , and the walls descend to the foundation ; and the beauty of the face , and the dishonours of the belly , the discerning head and the servile feet , the thinking heart and the working hand , the eyes and the guts together shall be crush'd into the confusion of a heap , and dwell with creatures of an equivocall production , with worms and serpents , the sons and daughters of our own bones , in a house of durt and darkness . let not us think to be excepted or deferred . if beauty , or wit , or youth , or nobleness , or wealth , or vertue could have been a defence , and an excuse from the grave , we had not met here to day to mourn upon the hearse of an excellent lady : and god only knows for which of us next the mourners shall go about the streets or weep in houses . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . we have liv'd so many years ; and every day and every minute we make an escape from those thousands of dangers and deaths that encompasse us round about : and such escapings we must reckon to be an extraordinary fortune , and therefore that it cannot last long . vain are the thoughts of man , who when he is young or healthfull , thinks he hath a long thread of life to run over , and that it is violent and strange for young persons to die ; and naturall and proper onely for the aged . it is as naturall for a man to die by drowning as by a feaver : and what greater violence or more unnaturall thing is it , that the horse threw his rider into the river , then that a drunken meeting cast him into a feaver ; and the strengths of youth are as soon broken by the strong sicknesses of youth , and the stronger intemperance , as the weaknesse of old age by a cough , or an asthma , or a continuall rheume : nay , it is more naturall for young men and women to die , then for old ; because that is more naturall which hath more naturall causes ; and that is more naturall which is most common : but to die with age is an extreme rare thing ; and there are more persons carried forth to buriall before the five and thirtieth year of their age , then after it . and therefore let no vain confidence make you hope for long life . if you have liv'd but little , and are still in youth , remember that now you are in your bigg'st throng of dangers both of body and soul ; and the proper sins of youth to which they rush infinitely and without consideration , are also the proper and immediate instruments of death . but if you be old you have escaped long and wonderfully , and the time of your escaping is out : you must not for ever think to live upon wonders , or that god will work miracles to satisfie your longing follies , and unreasonable desires of living longer to sin and to the world . goe home and think to die , and what you would choose to be doing when you die , that doe daily : for you will all come to that passe , to rejoice that you did so , or wish that you had : that will be the condition of every one of us ; for god regardeth no mans person . well! but all this you will think is but a sad story . what ? we must die , and go to darknesse and dishonour ; and we must die quickly , and we must quit all our delights , and all our sins , or doe worse , infinitely worse ; and this is the condition of us all from which none can be excepted ; every man shall be spilt and fall into the ground , and be gathered up no more . is there no comfort after all this ? shall we go from hence , and be no more seen , and have no recompense ? miser , ô miser , aiunt , omnia ademit una die infausta mihi tot praemia vitae . shall we exchange our fair dwellings for a coffin , our softer beds for the moistned and weeping turfe , and our pretty children for worms , and is there no allay to this huge calamity ? yes , there is . there is a [ yet ] in the text : [ for all this , yet doth god devise meanes that his banished be not expelled from him . ] all this sorrow & trouble is but a phantasme , and receives its account and degrees from our present conceptions and the proportion to our relishes and gust . when pompey saw the ghost of his first lady iulia who vexed his rest and his conscience for superinducing cornelia upon her bed within the ten months of mourning , he presently fancied it , either to be an illusion , or else that death could be no very great evil , aut nihil est sensus animis in morte relictum , aut mors ipsa nihil — either my dead wife knows not of my unhandsome marriage , and forgetfulnesse of her ; or if she does , then the dead live . — longae , canitis si cognita , vitae mors media est — death is nothing but the middle point between two lives between this and another : concerning which comfortable mystery the holy scripture instructs our faith and entertains our hope in these words . god is still the god of abraham , isaak , and iacob ; for all doe live to him : and the souls of saints are with christ : i desire to be dissolv'd saith s. paul ) and to be with christ , for that is much better : and , blessed are the dead which die in the lord ; they rest from their labours , and their works follow them : for we know , that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolv'd , we have a building of god , a house not made with hands , eternall in the heavens : and this state of separation s. paul calls , a being absent from the body , and being present with the lord : this is one of gods means which he hath devised , that although our dead are like persons banished from this world , yet they are not expelled from god : they are in the hands of christ ; they are in his presence ; they are , or shall be clothed with a house of gods making ; they rest from all their labours ; all tears are wiped from their eyes , and all discontents from their spirits ; and in the state of separation before the soul be reinvested with her new house , the spirits of all persons are with god , so secur'd and so blessed , and so sealed up for glory , that this state of intervall and imperfection is in respect of its certain event and end , infinitely more desirable then all the riches and all the pleasures , and all the vanities , and all the kingdomes of this world . i will not venture to determine what are the circumstances of the abode of holy souls in their separate dwellings ; and yet possibly that might be easier then to tell what or how the soul is and works in this world , where it is in the body tanquam in alienâ demo , as in a prison , in fetters and restraints : for here the soul is discomposed and hindred , it is not as it shall be , as it ought to be , as it was intended to be ; it is not permitted to its own freedome , and proper operation ; so that all that we can understand of it here , is that it is so incommodated with a troubled and abated instrument , that the object we are to consider cannot be offered to us in a right line , in just and equall propositions ; or if it could , yet because we are to understand the soul by the soul , it becomes not onely a troubled and abused object , but a crooked instrument ; and we here can consider it , just as a weak eye can behold a staffe thrust into the waters of a troubled river ; the very water makes a refraction , and the storme doubles the refraction , and the water of the eye doubles the species , and there is nothing right in the thing , the object is out of its just place , and the medium is troubled , and the organ is impotent : at cum exierit & in liberum coelum quasi in domum suam venerit , when the soule is entred into her own house , into the free regions of the rest and the neighbourhood of heavenly joyes , then its operations are more spirituall , proper , and proportion'd to its being ; and though we cannot see at such a distance , yet the object is more fitted if we had a capable understanding ; it is in it self in a more excellent and free condition . certain it is , that the body does hinder many actions of the soul : it is an imperfect body , and a diseased brain , or a violent passion that makes fools : no man hath a foolish soul ; and the reasonings of men have infinite difference and degrees by reason of the bodies constitution . among beasts which have no reason , there is a greater likeness then between men , who have : and as by faces it is easier to know a man from a man , then a sparrow from a sparrow , or a squirrel from a squirrel : so the difference is very great in our souls ; which difference because it is not originally in the soul ( and indeed cannot be in simple and spirituall substances of the same species or kind ) it must needs derive wholly from the body , from its accidents & circumstances : from whence it follows , that because the body casts fetters and restraints , hindrances and impediments upon the soul , that the soul is much freer in the state of separation ; and if it hath any act of life , it is much more noble and expedite . that the soul is alive after our death , s. paul affirms [ christ died for us , that whether we wake or sleep , we should live together with him . ] now it were strange that we should be alive , and live with christ , and yet do no act of life : the body when it is asleep does many : and if the soul does none , the principle is less active then the instrument ; but if it does any act at all in separation , it must necessarily be an act or effect of understanding ; there is nothing else it can doe . but this it can . for it is but a weak and an unlearned proposition to say , that the soule can doe nothing of it self , nothing without the phantasmes and provisions of the body . for 1. in this life the soule hath one principle clearly separate , abstracted and immateriall , i mean , the spirit of grace , which is a principle of life and action , and in many instances does not at all communicate with matter , as in the infusion , superinduction and the creation of spiritual graces . 2. as nutrition , generation , eating and drinking are actions proper to the body and its state : so , extasies , visions , raptures , intuitive knowledge , and consideration of its self , acts of volition , and reflex acts of understanding are proper to the soule . 3. and therefore it is observable that s. paul said that he knew not whether his vision ; and raptures were in or out of the body : for by that we see his judgment of the thing , that one was as likely as the other , neither of them impossible or unreasonable ; and therefore that the soule is as capable of action alone as in conjunction . 4 if in the state of blessedness there are some actions of the soule which doe not passe through the body , such as contemplation of god , and conversing with spirits , and receiving those influences and rare immissions which coming from the h. and mysterious trinity make up the crown of glory ; it follows that the necessity of the bodies ministery is but during the state of this life , and as long as it converses with fire and water , and lives with corne and flesh , and is fed by the satisfaction of materiall appetites ; which necessity and manner of conversation when it ceases , it can be no longer necessary for the soul to be served by phantasmes and materiall representations . 5. and therefore when the body shall be re-united , it shall be so ordered that then the body shall confesse it gives not any thing , but receives all its being and operation , its manner and abode from the soul , and that then it comes not to serve a necessity , but to partake a glory . for as the operations of the soule in this life , begin in the body , and by it the object is transmitted to the soule : so then they shall begin in the soule and pass to the body ; and as the operations of the soule by reason of its dependence on the body are animall , naturall and materiall : so in the resurrection , the body shall be spirituall by reason of the preeminence , influence , and prime operation of the soule . now between these two states , stands the state of separation , in which the operations of the soule are of a middle nature , that is , not so spirituall as in the resurrection , and not so animal and naturall as in the state of conjunction . to all which , i adde this consideration . that our soules have the same condition that christs soule had in the state of separation ; because he took on him all our nature , and all our condition ; and it is certain , christs soule in the three daies of his separation did exercise acts of life , of joy and triumph , and did not sleep , but visited the souls of the fathers , trampled upon the pride of devils , and satisfied those longing souls which were prisoners of hope ; and from all this we may conclude that the souls of all the servants of christ are alive , and therefore doe the actions of life , and proper to their state ; and therefore it is highly probable that the soul works clearer , and understands brighter , and discourses wiser , and rejoyces louder , and loves noblier , and desires purer , and hopes stronger then it can do here . but if these arguments should fail , yet the felicity of gods saints cannot fail . for suppose , the body to be a necessary instrument but out of tune , and discomposed by sin and anger , by accident and chance , by defect and imperfections , yet , that it is better then none at all ; and that if the soul works imperfectly with an imperfect body , that then she works not at all when she hath none ; and suppose also that the soul should be as much without sense or perception in death , as it is in a deep sleep which is the image and shadow of death ; yet then god devises other means that his banished be not expelled from him . for , 2 god will restore the soul to the body , and raise the body to such a perfection , that it shall be an organ fit to praise him upon ; it shall be made spirituall to minister to the soul , when the soul is turned into a spirit ; then the soul shall be brought forth by angels from her incomparable and easie bed , from her rest in christs holy bosome , and bee made perfect in her beeing , and in all her operations ; and this shall first appear by that perfection which the soul shall receive as instrumentall to the last judgement : for then she shall see clearly all the records of this world , all the register of her own memory . for all that we did in this life , is laid up in our memories : and though dust and forgetfulness be drawn upon them , yet when god shall lift us from our dust , then shall appear clearly all that we have done , written in the tables of our conscience , which is the souls memory . we see many times , and in many instances , that a great memory is hindred and put out , and we thirty years after come to think of something that lay so long under a curtain ; we think of it suddenly and without a line of deduction , or proper consequence : and all those famous memories of simonides and theodectes , of hortensius and seneca , of sceptius metrodorus and carneades , of cyneas the embassadour of pyrrhus , are onely the records better kept , and lesse disturbed by accident and disease . for even the memory of herods son of athens , of bathyllus and the dullest person now alive is so great , and by god made so sure record of all that ever he did , that assoon as ever god shall but tune our instrument , and draw the curtains , and but light up the candle of immortality , there we shall find it all , there we shall see all , and all the world shall see all ; then we shall be made fit to converse with god after the manner of spirits , we shall be like to angels . in the mean time , although upon the perswasion of the former discourse it be highly probable that the souls of gods servants do live in a state of present blessednesse ; and in the exceeding joyes of a certain expectation of the revelation of the day of the lord , and the coming of jesus ; yet it will concern us onely to secure our state by holy living , and leave the event to god ; that ( as s. paul said ) whether present or absent , whether sleeping or waking , whether perceiving or perceiving not , we may be accepted of him : that when we are banished this world , and from the light of the sun , we may not be expelled from god , and from the light of his countenance , but that from our beds of sorrows , our may passe into the bosome of christ , and from thence to his right hand in the day of sentence : for we must all appear before the judgement seat of christ , and then if we have done well in the body , we shall never be expelled from the beatificall presence of god , but be domesticks of his family , and heires of his kingdome , and partakers of his glory . amen . i have now done with my text , but yet am to make you another sermon . i have told you the necessity and the state of death ; it may be too largely for such a sad story ; i shall therefore now with a better compendium teach you how to live by telling you a plain narrative of a life , which if you imitate and write after the copy , it will make , that death shall not be an evill , but a thing to be desired , and to be reckoned amongst the purchases and advantages of your fortune . when martha and mary went to weep over the grave of their brother , christ met them there and preached a funerall sermon , discoursing of the resurrection , and applying to the purposes of faith , and confession of christ , and glorification of god : we have no other , we can have no better precedent to follow : and now that we are come to weep over the grave of our dear sister , this rare personage , we cannot chuse but have many virtues to learn , many to imitate , and some to exercise . i chose , not to declare her extraction and genealogy . it was indeed fair and honourable ; but having the blessing to be descended from worthy and honoured ancestors , and her self to be adopted and ingraffed into a more noble family , yet she felt such outward appendages to be none of hers , because not of her choice , but the purchase of the virtues of others , which although though they did ingage her to do noble things , yet they would upbraid all degenerate and lesse honourable lives then were those which began and increased the honour of the families . she did not love her fortune for making her noble ; but thought it would be a dishonour to her if she did not continue a noblenesse and excellency of virtue fit to be owned by persons relating to such ancestors . it is fit for all us to honour the noblenesse of a family : but it is also fit for them that are noble to despise it , and to establish their honour upon the foundation of doing excellent things , and suffering in good causes , and despising dishonourable actions , and in communicating good things to others . for this is the rule in nature : those creatures are most honourable which have the greatest power , and do the greatest good : and accordingly my self have been a witnesse of it , how this excellent lady would by an act of humility , and christian abstraction strip her self of all that fair appendage of exteriour honour which decked her person and her fortune ; and desired to be owned by nothing but what was her own , that she might onely be esteemed honourable according to that which is the honour of a christian , and a wise person . 2 she had a strict and severe education , and it was one of gods graces and favours to her . for being the heiresse of a great fortune , and living amongst the throng of persons in the sight of vanities and empty temptations , that is , in that part of the kingdome where greatnesse is too often expressed in great follies , and great vices , god had provided a severe and angry education to chastise the forwardnesses of a young spirit , and a fair fortune ; that she might for ever be so far distant from a vice , that she might onely see it and loath it , but never tast of it , so much as to be put to her choice whether she would be virtuous or no . god intending to secure this soul to himself , would not suffer the follies of the world to seize upon her by way of too neer a triall , or busie temptation . 3 she was married young ; and besides her businesses of religion seemed to be ordained in the providence of god to bring to this honourable family a part of a fair fortune , and to leave behind her a fairer issue , worth ten thousand times her portion : and as if this had been all the publike businesse of her life ; when she had so far served gods ends , god in mercy would also serve hers , and take her to an early blessednesse . 4 in passing through which line of providence , she had the art to secure her eternall interest , by turning her condition into duty , and expressing her duty in the greatest eminency of a virtuous , prudent and rare affection , that hath been known in any example . i will not give her so low a testimony , as to say onely , that she was chast ; she was a person of that severity , modesty , and close religion ( as to that particular ) that she was not capable of uncivill temptation ; and you might as well have suspected the sun to smell of the poppy that he looks on , as that she could have been a person apt to be sullyed by the breath of a foul question . 5. but that which i shall note in her , is that which i would have exemplar to all ladies , and to all women . she had a love so great for her lord , so intirely given up to a dear affection , that she thought the same things , and loved the same loves , and hated according to the same enmities , and breathed in his soul , and lived in his presence , and languished in his absence : and all that she was or did , was onely for and to her dearest lord , si gaudet , si flet , si tacet , hunc loquitur . coenat , propinat , poscit , negat , innuit , unu ; naevius est : — and although this was a great enamell to the beauty of her soul , yet it might in some degrees be also a reward to the virtue of her lord : for she would often discourse it to them that conversed with her ; that he would improve that interest which he had in her affection to the advantages of god , and of religion : and she would delight to say , that he called her to her devotions , he incouraged her good inclinations , he directed her piety , he invited her with good books : and then she loved religion , which she saw was not onely pleasing to god , and an act or state of duty , but pleasing to her lord , and an act also of affection and conjugall obedience : and what at first she loved the more forwardly for his sake ; in the using of religion left such relishes upon her spirit , that she found in it amability enough , to make her love it for its own . so god usually brings us to him by instruments of nature and affections , and then incorporates us into his inheritance , by the more immediate relishes of heaven , and the secret things of the spirit . he onely was ( under god ) the light of her eies , and the cordiall of her spirits , and the guide of her actions , and the measure of her affections , till her affections swelled up into a religion , and then it could go no higher , but was confederate with those other duties which made her dear to god . which rare combination of duty and religion , i choose to express in the words of solomon : she forsook not the guide of her youth , nor brake the covenant of her god . 6 as she was a rare wife : so she was an excellent mother . for in so tender a constitution of spirit as hers was , and in so great a kindness towards her children , there hath seldome been seen a stricter and more curious care of their persons , their deportment , their nature , their disposition , their learning , and their customes : and if ever kindness and care did contest , and make parties in her , yet her care and her severity was ever victorious ; and she knew not how to doe an ill turn to their severer part , by her more tender and forward kindnesse . and as her custome was , she turned this also into love to her lord . for she was not onely diligent to have them bred nobly and religiously , but also was carefull and sollicitous , that they should be taught to observe all the circumstances and inclinations , the desires and wishes of their father ; as thinking , that virtue to have no good circumstances which was not dressed by his copy , and ruled by his lines , and his affections : and her prudence in the managing her children was so singular and rare , that when ever you mean to blesse this family , and pray a hearty and a profitable prayer for it , beg of god , that the children may have those excellent things which she designed to them , and provided for them in her heart and wishes , that they may live by her purposes , and may grow thither , whither she would fain have brought them . all these were great parts of an excellent religion as they concerned her greatest temporall relations . 7 but if we examine how she demeaned her self towards god , there also you will find her , not of a common , but of an exemplar piety . she was a great reader of scripture , confining herself to great portions every day ; which she read , not to the purposes of vanity , and impertinent curiosities , not to seem knowing , or to become talking , not to expound and rule ; but to teach her all her duty , to instruct her in the knowledge and love of god and of her neighbours ; to make her more humble , and to teach her to despise the world , and all its gilded vanities ; and that she might entertain passions wholly in design and order to heaven . i have seen a female religion that wholly dwelt upon the face and tongue ; that like a wanton and an undressed tree spends all its juice in suckers and irregular branches , in leafs and gumme , and after all such goodly outsides you should never eat an apple , or be delighted with the beauties , or the perfumes of a hopefull blossome . but the religion of this excellent lady was of another constitution ; it took root downward in humility , and brought forth fruit upward in the substantiall graces of a christian , in charity and justice , in chastity and modesty , in fair friendships and sweetnesse of society : she had not very much of the forms and outsides of godlinesse ; but she was hugely carefull for the power of it , for the morall , essentiall , and usefull parts ; such which would make her be , not seem to be religious . 8 she was a very constant person at her prayers , and spent all her time which nature did permit to her choice , in her devotions , and reading and meditating and the necessary offices of houshold government , every one of which is an action of religion , some by nature , some by adoption . to these also god gave her a very great love to hear the word of god preached ; in which because i had sometimes the honour to minister to her , i can give this certain testimony , that she was a diligent , watchfull and attentive hearer : and to this had so excellent a judgement , that if ever i saw a woman whose judgement was to be revered , it was hers alone : and i have sometimes thought that the eminency of her discerning faculties did reward a pious discourse , & placed it in the regions of honour and usefulnesse , and gathered it up from the ground , where commonly such homilies are spilt , or scattered in neglect and inconsideration . but her appetite was not soon satisfied with what was usefull to her soul : she was also a constant reader of sermons , and seldome missed to read one every day ; and that she might be full of instruction and holy principles , she had lately designed to have a large book in which she purposed to have a stock of religion transcrib'd in such assistances as she would chuse , that she might be readily furnished and instructed to every good work . but god prevented that , and hath filled her desires not out of cisterns and little aquaeducts , but hath carried her to the fountain , where she drinks of the pleasures of the river , and is full of god . 9. she alwaies liv'd a life of much innocence , free from the violences of great sins : her person , her breeding , her modesty , her honour , her religion her early marriage , the guide of her soul & the guide of her youth , were as so many fountains of restraining grace to her , to keep her from the dishonors of a crime . bonum est portare jugū ab adolescentiâ : it is good to bear the yoke of the lord from our youth ; and though she did so , being guarded by a mighty providence , and a great favour & grace of god from staining her fail soul with the spots of hell , yet she had strange fears & early cares upon her ; but these were not only for her self , but in order to others , to her neer'st relatives . for she was so great a lover of this honorable family of which now she was a mother , that she desired to become a chanel of great blessings to it unto future ages , and was extremely jealous lest any thing should be done , or lest any thing had been done , though an age or two since , which should intail a curse upon the innocent posterity ; and therefore ( although i doe not know that ever she was tempted with an offer of the crime ) yet she did infinitely remove all sacrilege from her thoughts , and delighted to see her estate of a clear and disintangled interest : she would have no mingled rights with it ; she would not receive any thing from the church , but religion and a blessing : and she never thought a curse and a sin farre enough off , but would desire it to be infinitely distant ; and that as to this family god had given much honour and a wise head to govern it , so he would also for ever give many more blessings ; and because she knew that the sins of parents descend upon children , she endevoured by justice and religion , by charity and honour to secure that her chanel should convey nothing but health , and a faire example and a blessing . 10. and though her accounts to god was made up of nothing but small parcels , little passions , and angry words , and trifling discontents , which are the allayes of the piety of the most holy persons , yet she was early at her repentance ; and toward the latter end of her daies , grew so fast in religion as if she had had a revelation of her approaching end ; and therefore that she must go a great way in a little time : her discourses more full of religion , her prayers more frequent , her charity increasing , her forgiveness more forward , her friendships more communicative , her passion more under discipline , and so she trimm'd her lamp , not thinking her night was so neer , but that it might shine also in the day time , in the temple , and before the altar of incense . but in this course of hers there were some circumstances , and some appendages of substance , which were highly remarkable . 1. in all her religion , and in all her actions of relation towards god , she had a strange evenness and untroubled passage , sliding toward her ocean of god and of infinity with a certain and silent motion . so have i seen a river deep and smooth passing with a still foot and a sober face , and paying to the fiscus , the great exchequer of the sea , the prince of all the watry bodies , a tribute large and full : and hard by it a little brook skipping and making a noise upon its unequall and neighbour bottom ; and after all its talking and bragged motion , it payd to its common audit no more then the revenues of a little cloud , or a contemptible vessel : so have i sometimes compar'd the issues of her religion to the solemnities and fam'd outsides of anothers piety . it dwelt upon her spirit , and was incorporated with the periodicall work of every day : she did not believe that religion was intended to minister to fame and reputation , but to pardon of sins , to the pleasure of god , and the salvation of souls . for religion is like the breath of heaven ; if it goes abroad into the open aire , it scatters and dissolves like camphyre : but if it enters into a secret hollownesse , into a close conveyance , it is strong and mighty , and comes forth with vigour and great effect at the other end , at the other side of this life , in the daies of death and judgment . 2. the other appendage of her religion , which also was a great ornament to all the parts of her life , was a rare modesty and humility of spirit , a confident despising and undervaluing of her self . for though she had the greatest judgment , and the greatest experience of things and persons that i ever yet knew in a person of her youth , and sex , and circumstances ; yet as if she knew nothing of it she had the meanest opinion of her self ; and like a fair taper when she shin'd to all the room , yet round about her own station she had cast a shadow and a cloud , and she shin'd to every body but her self . but the perfectnesse of her prudence and excellent parts could not be hid ; and all her humility , and arts of concealment , made the vertues more amiable and illustrious . for as pride sullies the beauty of the fairest vertues , and makes our understanding but like the craft and learning of a devil : so humility is the greatest eminency , and art of publication in the whole world ; and she in all her arts of secrecy and hiding her worthy things , was but like one that hideth the winde , and covers the oyntment of her right hand . i know not by what instrument it hapned ; but when death drew neer , before it made any show upon her body , or reveal'd it self by a naturall signification , it was conveyed to her spirit : she had a strange secret perswasion that the bringing this childe should be her last scene of life : and we have known , that the soul when she is about to disrobe her self of her upper garment , sometimes speaks rarely , magnifica verba mors propè admo●a excutit ; sometimes it is propheticall ; sometimes god by a superinduced perswasion wrought by instruments , or accidents of his own , serves the ends of his own providence and the salvation of the soul : but so it was , that the thought of death dwelt long with her , and grew from the first steps of fancy and feare , to a consent , from thence to a strange credulity , and expectation of it ; and without the violence of sicknesse she died , as if she had done it voluntarily , and by design , and for feare her expectation should have been deceiv'd , or that she should seem to have had an unreasonable feare , or apprehension ; or rather ( as one said of cato ) sic abiit è vitâ ut causam moriendi nactam se esse gauderet , she died , as if she had been glad of the opportunity . and in this i cannot but adore the providence and admire the wisdome and infinite mercies of god . for having a tender and soft , a delicate and fine constitution and breeding , she was tender to pain , and apprehensive of it , as a childs shoulder is of a load and burden : grave est tenerae cervici jugum ; and in her often discourses of death , which she would renew willingly and frequently , she would tell , that she fear'd not death , but she fear'd the sharp pains of death : emori nolo , me esse mortuam non curo : the being dead , and being freed from the troubles and dangers of this world , she hop'd would be for her advantage ; and therefore that was no part of her feare : but she believing the pangs of death were great , and the use and aids of reason little , had reason to fear lest they should doe violence to her spirit and the decency of her resolution . but god that knew her fears and her jealousie concerning her self , fitted her with a death so easie , so harmlesse , so painlesse , that it did not put her patience to a severe triall . it was not ( in all appearance ) of so much trouble , as two sits of a common ague ; so carefull was god to remonstrate to all that stood in that sad attendance , that this soule was dear to him : and that since she had done so much of her duty towards it , he that began , would also finish her redemption , by an act of a rare providence , and a singular mercy . blessed be that goodness of god , who does so carefull actions of mercy for the ease and security of his servants . but this one instance was a great demonstration that the apprehension of death is worse then the pains of death : and that god loves to reprove the unreasonablenesse of our feares , by the mightinesse , and by the arts of his mercy . she had in her sickness ( if i may so call it , or rather in the solemnities , and graver preparations towards death ) some curious and well-becoming feares , concerning the finall state of her soul . but from thence she pass'd into a deliquium , or a kinde of trance , and as soon as she came forth of it , as if it had been a vision , or that she had convers'd with an angel , and from his hand had receiv'd a labell or scroll of the book of life , and there seen her name enrolled , she cried out aloud , [ glory be to god on high : now i am sure i shall be saved . ] concerning which manner of discoursing we are wholly ignorant what judgment can be made : but certainly there are strange things in the other world ; and so there are in all the immediate preparations to it ; and a little glimps of heaven , a minutes conversing with an angel , any ray of god , any communication extraordinary from the spirit of comfort which god gives to his servants in strange and unknown manners , are infinitely far from illusions ; and they shall then be understood by us , when we feel them , and when our new and strange needs shall be refreshed by such unusuall visitations . but i must be forced to use summaries and arts of abbreviature in the enumerating those things in which this rare personage was dear to god & to all her relatives . if we consider her person , she was in the flower of her age , iucundum cum aetas slorida ver ageret ; of a temperate , plain and naturall diet , without curiosity or an intemperate palate ; she spent lesse time in dressing , then many servants ; her recreations were little & seldom , her prayers often , her reading much : she was of a most noble and charitable soul ; a great lover of honourable actions , and as great a despiser of base things ; hugely loving to oblige others , and very unwilling to be in arrear to any upon the stock of courtesies and liberality ; so free in all acts of favour , that she would not stay to hear her self thank'd , as being unwilling that what good went from her to a needfull or an obliged person should ever return to her again ; she was an excellent friend , and hugely dear to very many , especially to the best and most discerning persons , to all that convers'd with her , and could understand her great worth and sweetnesse : she was of an honourable , a nice and tender reputation ; and of the pleasures of this world which were laid before her in heaps she took a very small and inconsiderable share , as not loving to glut her self with vanity , or to take her portion of good things here below . if we look on her as a wife , she was chast and loving , fruitfull and discreet , humble and pleasant , witty and complyant , rich and fair , and wanted nothing to the making her a principall and a precedent to the wives of the world , but a long life , and a full age . if we remember her as a mother , she was kinde and severe , carefull and prudent , very tender , and not at all fond , a greater lover of her childrens soules , then of their bodies , and one that would value them more by the strict rules of honour and proper worth , then by their relation to her self . her servants found her prudent , and fit to govern , and yet open-handed and apt to reward ; a just exactor of their duty and a great rewarder of their diligence . she was in her house a comfort to her dearest lord , a guide to her children , a rule to her servants , an example to all . but as she related to god in the offices of religion , she was even and constant , silent and devout , prudent and materiall : she lov'd what she now enjoyes , and she fear'd , what she never felt , and god did for her what she never did expect . her fears went beyond all her evil ; and yet the good which she hath receiv'd was , and is , and ever shall be beyond all her hopes . she liv'd as we all should live , and she died as i fai● would die — et cum supremos lachesis perneverit annos , non aliter cineres mando jacere meos . i pray god i may feel those mercies on my death-bed that she felt , and that i may feel the same effect of my repentance which she feels of the many degrees of he● innocence . such was her death that she did not die too soon ; and her life was so usefull and so excellent that she could not have liv'd too long . nemo parum diu vixit qu● virtutis perfectae perfecto functus est munere : and as now in the grave it shall not be inquired concerning her , how long she liv'd , but how well ? so to us who live after her to suffer a longer calamity , it may be some ease to our sorrows , and some guide to our lives , and some security to our conditions , to consider that god hath brought the piety of a yong lady to the early rewards of a never ceasing , and never dying eternity of glory . and we also , if we live as she did , shal partake of the same glories ; not only having the honour of a good name and a dear and honour'd memory , but the glories of these glories , the end of all excellent labours , and all prudent counsels and all holy religion , even the salvation of our souls in that day , when all the saints , and amongst them this excellent woman shall be shown to all the world to have done more , and more excellent things then we know of or can describe . mors illos consecrat , quorum exitum & qu● timent , laudant : death consecrates and makes sacred that person whose excellency was such , that they that are not displeased at the death , cannot dispraise the life ; but they that mourn sadly , think they can never commend sufficiently . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a63941e-300 a 2 tim. 1.18 . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . eccle 1 cor. 15. 18. 1 thess. 4. 16. rev. 14.13 john 5.24 . 2 cor. 5. 8. & 6. 1 thes. 5.10 . prov. 2. 17. a funeral sermon preached upon the death of the reverend and excellent divine dr. thomas manton who deceas'd the 18th of october 1677 / by william bates. bates, william, 1625-1699. 1678 approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 31 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26790 wing b1109 estc r26681 09523464 ocm 09523464 43454 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26790) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 43454) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1323:30) a funeral sermon preached upon the death of the reverend and excellent divine dr. thomas manton who deceas'd the 18th of october 1677 / by william bates. bates, william, 1625-1699. 59, [1] p. printed by j.d. for barbazon aylmer, london : 1678. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng manton, thomas, 1620-1677. presbyterian church -sermons. funeral sermons. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-09 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-10 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-10 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon , preached upon the death of the reverend and excellent divine dr. thomas manton , who deceas'd the 18th of october , 1677. by william bates , d. d. london , printed by j. d. for brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons in cornhil , over against the royal exchange , 1678. 1 thes : 4. 17. the last clause . — and so shall we ever be with the lord. the words are a consolation , brought by the apostle from the tbird heaven , where he was by extraordinary priviledg rais'd , and saw and understood how great a happiness it is to be with christ. and they are addrest to believers , to moderate and allay their sorrows for the death of those saints , who by their conjunction in blood or friendship were most dear to them . thus he speaks in the 13 verse , i would not have you be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not as others , which have no hope . the heathens , that were strangers to a future state , and thought that after a short course through the world , mankind would be lost for ever in the dead sea , might with some pretence abandon themselves to the extremity of their passions . but christians , to whom life and immortality are reveal'd by the gospel ; who believe , that as jesus died and rose again ; so all that sleep in jesus , that persevere in faith and holiness to the end , god will bring with him , are forbid , upon the most weighty reasons , to indulge their grief in excess . the union between christ and believers is inviolable ; and from thence it follows , they shall be partakers with him in his glory . the soul immediately after death shall be with christ : vvhiles the body reposes in the grave , 't is in his presence who is life and light , and has a vital joyful rest in communion with him . and in the appointed time the bodies of the saints , those happy spoils , shall be rescued from the dark prison of the grave , and be sharers with their souls in immortal glory . this consummate happiness of the saints ▪ the apostle assures from the highest authority , the word of the lord ; and describes his glorious appearance , so as to make the strongest impression on our minds . for the lord himself shall descend from heaven , with a shout , with the voice of an arch-angel , and with the trump of god ; and the dead in christ shall rise first . then we which are alive , and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the lord. then death , the last enemy , so fearful and feared by men , shall be destroyed . and the captive prince of the world , with all the powers of darkness , and all other rebellious sinners that obstinately joyn'd vvith him , shall be brought in chains before his dreadful tribunal : and after the great act of the universal judgment shall be compleated , then shall the saints make their triumphant entry with the captain of their salvation , into his kingdom , and shall ever be with the lord. the general proposition from the words is this ; the saints after the resurrection shall be compleatly and eternally happy in the presence of christ. to make this supernatural blessedness more easie and intelligible to us , the scripture describes it by sensible representations . for while the soul is cloath'd with flesh , fancy has such a dominion , that we can conceive of nothing but by comparisons and images taken from material things . 't is therefore set forth by a feast , and a kingdom , to signifie the joy and glory of that state. but to prevent all gross conceits ; it tells us that the bodies of the saints shall be spiritual , not capable of hunger and thirst , nor consequently of any refreshment that is caused by the satisfaction of those appetites . the objects of the most noble senses , seeing and hearing , the pleasure of which is mix'd with reason , and not common to the brutes , are more frequently made use of to reconcile that glorious state to the proportion of our minds . thus sometimes the blessed are represented plac'd on thrones with crowns on their heads ; sometimes cloathed in white , with palms in their hands ; sometimes singing songs of triumph to him that sits on the throne , and to their saviour . but the reality of this blessedness infinitely exceeds all those faint metaphors . heaven is lessened by comparisons from earthly things . the apostle who was dignifi'd with the revelation of the successes that shall happen to the church till time shall be no more , tells us , it does not appear what we shall be in eternity . the things that god has prepar'd for those that love him , are far more above the highest ascent of our thoughts , than the marriage-feast of a great prince exceeds in splendor and magnificence the imagination of one that has alwayes liv'd in an obscure village , and never saw any ornaments of state , nor tasted wine in his life . we can think of those things but according to the poverty of our understandings . but so much we know that is able to sweeten all the bitterness , and render insipid all the sweetness of this world. this will appear by considering that whatever is requisite to constitute the perfect blessedness of man , is fully enjoy'd in the divine presence . 1. an exemption from all evils , is the first concondition of perfect blessedness . the sentence of wise solon is true in another sense than he intended , — dicique beatus ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet . no man can be named happy whilst in this valley of tears . but upon the entrance into heaven , all those evils that by their number , variety , or weight disquiet and oppress us , are at an end . sin , of all evils the most hateful , shall be abolisht . and all temptations that surround us , and endanger our innocence , shall cease . here the best men lament the weakness of the flesh , and sometimes the violent assaults of spiritual enemies . st. paul himself breaks forth into a mournful complaint , o wretched man that i am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ? and when harrass'd with the buffets of satan , renews his most earnest addresses to god to be freed from them . here our purity is not absolute , we must be always cleansing our selves from the reliques of that deep defilement that cleaves to our nature . here our peace is preserv'd with the sword in our hand , by a continual warfare against satan and the world. but in heaven no ignorance darkens the mind , no passions rebel against the sanctified will , no inherent pollution remains . the church is without spot or wrinkle , or any such thing . and all temptations that war against the soul , shall then cease . the tempter was cast out of heaven , and none of his poison'd arrows can reach that purified company . glorious liberty ! here ardently desir'd , but fully enjoy'd by the sons of god above . and as sin , so all the penal consequences of it are quite taken away . the present life is an incurable disease , and sometimes attended with that sharp sense that death is desir'd as a remedy , and accepted as a benefit . and though the saints have reviving cordials , yet their joys are mixt with sorrows , nay , caused by sorrows . the tears of repentance are their sweetest refreshment . here the living stones are cut and wounded , and made fit by sufferings for a temple unto god in the new jerusalem . but as in the building of solomon's temple the noise of a hammer was not heard , for all the parts were fram'd before with that exact design and correspondence , that they firmly combin'd together . they were hew'n in another place , and nothing remain'd but the putting them one upon another in the temple ; and then , as sacred , they were inviolable . so god , the wise architect , having prepar'd the saints here by many cutting afflictions , places them in the eternal building , where no voice of sorrow is heard . of the innumerable company above , is there any eye that weeps , any breast that sighs , any tongue that complains , or appearance of grief ? the heavenly state is called life , as only worthy of that title . there is no infirmity of body , no poverty , no disgrace , no treachery of friends , no persecution of enemies . there is no more death , nor sorrow , nor crying , nor shall there be any more pain : for former things are past away . god will wipe away all tears from the eyes of his people . their salvation is compleat in all degrees . pure joy is the priviledg of heaven , unmixed sorrows the punishment of hell. a concurrence of all positive excellencies is requisite to blessedness . and these are to be considered with respect to the entire man. 1. the body shal be awak'd out of its dead sleep , and quickned into a glorious immortal life . the soul and body are the essential parts of man ; and though the inequality be great in their operations that respect holiness , yet their concourse is necessary . good actions are design'd by the counsel and resolution of the spirit , but perform'd by the ministry of the flesh. every grace expresses it self in visible actions by the body . in the sorrows of repentance it supplies tears , in fastings its appetites are restrain'd , in thanksgivings the tongue breaks forth into the joyful praises of god. all the victories over sensible pleasure and pain are obtain'd by the soul in conjunction with the body . now 't is most becoming the divine goodness not to deal so differently , that the soul should be everlastingly happy , and the body lost in forgetfulness ; the one glorified in heaven , the other remain in the dust . from their first setting out in the world to the grave they ran the same race , and shall enjoy the same reward . here the body is the consort of the soul in obedience and sufferings , hereafter in fruition . when the crown of purity , or palm of martyrdom shall be given by the great judg in the view of all , they shall both partake in the honour . of this we have an earnest in the resurrection of christ in his true body , who is the first fruits of them that sleep . he shall change our vile bodies , that they may be fashioned like to his glorious body , according to the working of his power , whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself . a substantial unfading glory will shine in them infinitely above the perishing pride of this world , that is but in appearance , like the false colours painted on the feathers of a dove by the reflection of the light , which presently vanish , when it changeth its posture , or the light is withdrawn . indeed what can be more glorious than to be conform'd to the humanity of christ , the seat of all beauty and perfection . this conformity shall be the work of his own hands . and when omnipotence interposes , nothing is difficult . the raising the body to an unchangeable state of glory , is as easy to the divine power , as the forming it at the first in the womb . as the sun labours no more in the mines in the forming gold and silver , the most precious and durable metals , than in the production of a poor short-liv'd flower . ii. the soul shall be made perfect in all its faculties . 1. the uuderstanding shall clearly see the most excellent objects . * now we know but in part . the naked beauty of divine things is vail'd , and of impossible discovery . and the weakness of the mind is not proportionable to their dazling brightness . but when that which is perfect is come , then that which is in part shall be done away . in that enlightned state , the glorious manifestation of the objects shall as much exceed the clearest revealing of them here , as the sun in its full lustre , one beam of light strain'd through a crevice in the wall. and the understanding shall be prepar'd to take a full view of them therefore the apostle compares the several periods of the church in respect of the degrees of knowledg , to the several ages of this life . when i was a child , i spake as a child , i understood as a child , i thought as a child : but when i became a man , i put away childish things . in children the organs , either from an excess of moisture , or their smalness , are indisposed for the vigorous exercise of the mind : some strictures of reason appear , a presaging sign what will be , but mixt with much obscurity . but when the organs are come to their just proportion and temperament , the soul displays its strength and activity . all things of a supernatural order shall then be clearly discovered . the contrivance of our salvation , the wayes of conducting us to blessedness , which are objects of a sublime nature , will afford an exquisite pleasure to the understanding . all the secrets of our redemption shall be unsealed . the great mystery of godliness , the incarnation of the eternal son , and his according justice with mercy , shall then be apparent . the divine counsels in governing the world , are now only visible in their wonderful effects either of mercy or of justice , and those most dreadful ; but the reasons of them are past finding out . but what our saviour said to peter , what i do , thou knowest not now , but shalt know hereafter , is applicable to these impenetrable dispensations . all the original fountains of wisdom , as clear as deep , shall then be opened . we shall then see the beauty of providence in disposing temporal things in order to our eternal felicity . we now see as it were the rough part , and knots of that curious embroidery : but then the whole work shall be unfolded , the sweetness of the colours , and proportion of the figures appear . there we shall be able to expound the perplexing riddle , how out of the eater came meat , and out of the strong came sweetness . for we shall know as we are known . we shall see god. our saviour tells us , this is life eternal , to know thee the only true god , and jesus christ whom thou hast sent . the beginning and perfection of our happiness consists in this knowledg . the deity is spiritual and invisible to the eye of the body , infinite and incomprehensible to the soul. but we shall then so clearly understand the divine perfections , that our present knowledg compar'd to that , is but as the seeing a dark resemblance in a glass , to the clear view of a person in the native beauty of his face . god is most gloriously present in heaven . for according to the degrees of excellence in the work , such are the impressions and discoveries of the vertues of the cause . now all sensible things in the low order of nature , are but weak resultances from his perfections , in comparison of their illustrious effects in the divine world. the glories of the place , and of the inhabitants , the angels and saints , clearly express his majesty , goodness and power . but in a transcendent manner he exhibits himself in the glorified mediator . he is stiled the brightness of the father's glory , and the express image of his person ; not only for his equal perfections in respect of the unity of their nature , but to signifie that god in the person of the incarnate mediator is so fully represented to us , that by the sight of him we see god himself in his unchangeable excellencies . this appears by the following words , that having purged us from our sins , he sate down on the right-hand of the majesty on high , for they respect the son of god as united to the humane nature , in which he perform'd the office of the priesthood , and took possession of his glorious kingdom . during his humble state , the divine vertues , wisdom , goodness , holiness , power , were so visible in his person , life , revelations , and miraculous works , that when philip so long'd for the sight of the father as the only consummate blessedness , shew us the father , and it suffices ; he told him , he that has seen me , has seen the father also . but how brightly do they appear in his triumphant exaltation . 't was his prayer on earth ; father , i will that they also whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory . inestimable felicity ! whether we consider him in the respect of an object , that incomparably transcends all the created glory of heaven , or in the relation of our head , on a double account ; partly because he was debased into the form of a servant , and suffered all indignities and cruelties of sinners for us , has received the recompence of his meritorious sufferings , the triumph of his victory , being glorified with the father with the glory he had before the world was ; and partly because every member shall be conformed to him in his glory ; we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is . and all felicity and glory is compriz'd in that promise . the sight of the face of moses when radiant , had no transforming efficacy ; for the light of it was not in him as its source , but by derivation . but god is light essentially , and the sight of his perfections will be productive of his likeness in us , so far as it may be in a restrained subject . when our saviour was upon the holy mount , and one vanishing beam of glory appear'd in his transfiguration , peter was so transported at the sight , that he forgot the world and himself . how ravishing then will the sight of him be in his triumphant majesty , when we shall be transfigured our selves ? 2. as they shall behold god's face , know his most amiable excellencies ; so they shall love him as perfectly as they know him . to the illustrations of the mind , there are correspondent impressions on the heart . in the present state our love is imperfect , and as fire out of its sphere , dies away , by our neglect to feed it with proper materials , enamouring considerations of god. but 't is not so in heaven : there the divine sun attracts every eye with the light of its beauty , and inflames every heart with the heat of his love. the continual presence of god is in different respects the cause and effect of our love to him . for there is no more powerful attractive to love him , than to see him ; and love keeps the thoughts undivided from him . god is love , and will kindle in us a pure affection that eternity shall never lessen . our affections that are now scattered on many things , wherein some small reflections of his goodness appear , shall joyn in one full current in heaven , where god is all in all . we shall then understand the riches of his love , that god who is infinitely happy in himself , should make man for such a glory , and such a glory for man. and that when for his rebellion he was justly expell'd from paradise , and under a sentence of eternal death , god should please to restore him to his favour , and give him a better state than was forfeited . we shall then understand our infinite obligations to the son of god , who descended from the heaven of heavens to our earth ; and which is more , from the majesty wherein he there reign'd , from the glory wherein he was visible to the angelical minds , and became man for men , redemption for the lost , to purchase immortal life for those who were dead to that blessed life . in short , then god will express his love to us in the highest degrees that a finite creature is capable to receive from love it self , and we shall love him with all the strength of our glorified powers . 3. compleat satisfaction flows from union with god by knowledg and love. in his presence is fulness of joy , at his right-hand are pleasures for ever . the causes and excellencies of the heavenly life are in those words exprest . the causes are the influxive presence of god , the revelation of his attractive perfections , the beholding his face , the declaration of his peculiar favour . this our blessed lord himself had a respect to , as the compleat reward of his sufferings : thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance . and his right-hand , his bounty , that dispenses , and power that secures that felicity . the excellencies of this state are fulness of joy , and that without diminution , or end . when the soul opens its eyes to the clear discoveries of the first truth , and its breast to the dear and intimate imbraces of the supream good , beyond which nothing remains to be known , nothing to be enjoy'd , what a deluge of the purest pleasures will overflow it ? we cannot ascend in our thoughts so high , as to conceive the excess of joy that attends those operations of the glorified soul upon its proper object . but something we may conjecture . those who are possest with a noble passion for knowledg , how do they despise all lower pleasures in comparison of it ? how do they forget themselves , neglect the body , and retire into the mind , the highest part of man , and nearest to god ? the bare apprehension of such things that by their internal nature have no attractive influence upon the affections , is pleasant to the understanding . as the appearance of light , though not attended with any other visible beauties , refreshes the eye after long darkness : so the clear discovery of truths , how abstract so ever , that were before unknown , is grateful to the intellective faculty . thus some have been strangely transported with the pleasure of a mathematical demonstration , when the evidence , not the importance of the thing was so ravishing ; for what is more dry and barren of delight than the speculation of figures and numbers ? solon when near his end , and some of his friends that visited him were speaking softly of a point of philosophy , by a sound of wisdom was awaken'd from the sleep of death that was just seizing on him , and opening his eyes , and raising his head to give attention ; being ask'd the reason of it ? answered , that when * i understand what you are discoursing of , i may die . such was his delight in knowledg , that a little of it made his agony insensible . but here are many imperfections that lessen this intellectual pleasure , which shall cease in heaven . here the acquisition of knowledge is often with the expence of health : the flower of the spirits , necessary for natural operations , is wasted by intense thoughts . how often are the learned sickly ? as the flint when 't is struck , gives not a spark without consuming it self ; so knowledge is obtain'd by studies that waste our faint sensitive faculties . but then our knowledge shall be a free emanation from the spring of truth , without our labour and pains . here we learn by circuit , and discern by comparing things ; our ignorance is dispell'd by a gradual succession of light : but then universal knowledg shall be infused in a moment . here after all our labour and toyl , how little knowledg do we gain ? every question is a labyrinth out of which the nimblest and most searching minds cannot extricate themselves . how many specious errors impose upon our understandings ? we look on things by false lights , through deceiving spectacles : but then our knowledge shall be certain and compleat . there is no forbidden tree in the celestial paradise , as no inordinate affection . but suppose that all things in the compass of the world were known yet still there would be emptiness and anguish in the mind : for the most comprehensive knowledg of things that are insufficient to make us happy , cannot afford true satisfaction . but then we shall see god in all his excellencies , the supream object and end , the only felicity of the soul. how will the sight of his glory personally shining in our redeemer , in the first moment quench our extream thirst , and fill us with joy and admiration ? 't is not as the naked conception of treasures , that only makes rich in ideas , but that divine sight gives a real interest in him . the angels are so ravish'd with the beauties and wonders of his face , that they never divert a moment from the contemplation of it . 2. the pure love of the saints to god is then fully satisfied . love considered as an affection of friendship is always attended with two desires ; to be assured of reciprocal love , and to enjoy the conversation of the person beloved , the testimony of his esteem and good-will . this kind of ‖ affection seems to be inconsistent with that infinite distance that is between god and the creature . but though 't is disproportionable to the divine majesty , 't is proportionable to his goodness . accordingly our saviour promises , he that loves me , shall be loved of my father , and i will love him , and will manifest my self unto him . and to confirm our belief of this astonishing condescention , repeats it , if a man love me , my father will love him , and we will come to him , and make our abode with him . in the present state , the signs of god's special favour are exhibited to his friends . now he bestows on them the honour of being his sons , the graces and comforts of his spirit , the precious earnests of his love , and seal of their redemption . but in eminency of degrees , the effects of his love are incomparably more glorious in heaven . here the saints are adopted , there crown'd . there he opens all the bright treasures of his wisdom , the riches of his goodness , the beauties of his holiness , the glories of his power , and by the intimate application of his presence makes his love most sensible to them . o the mutual delights between god and glorified souls ! god looks on them with an engaged eye , as his own by many dear titles , and is well pleased in his own goodness to them , and ravish'd with the reflex of his own excellencies shining in them . as the bridegroom rejoyces over the bride , ( 't is the language of divine love ) so their god rejoyces over them . and what a blessed rest do they find in the compleat fruition of their beloved ? all their desires quietly expire in his bosom . what triumphs of joy follow ? can we frame a fuller conception of happiness than to be perfectly loved by infinite goodness , and perfectly to love him ? 3. the most perfect joy of the saints is for the felicity and glory of god himself . for as the holy soul feels no more powerful motive to love god , than because he is most worthy of it , as he is god , a being of infinite excellencies , and therefore to be loved above the dearest persons and things , even it self ; so the highest joy it partakes of is from this consideration , that god is infinitely blessed & glorious . for in this the supream desire of love is accomplish'd , that the most beloved object is perfectly honour'd and pleased . in heaven the love of the saints to god is in its highest perfection , and they see his glory in the most perfect manner , which causes a transcendent joy to them . and this is one reason why the saints though shining with unequal degrees of glory , are equally content . for their most ardent love being set on god , that he is pleas'd to glorify himself by such various communications of his goodness , is full satisfaction to their desires . besides , in those different degrees of glory , every one is so content with his own , † that there is no possible desire of being but what he is . 4. the full joy of heaven shall continue without diminution , or end . the number of possessours cannot lessen it . the divine presence is an unwasted spring of pleasure , equally full and open to all , and abundantly sufficient to satisfy the immensity of their desires . envy reigns in this world , because earthly things are so imperfect in their nature , and so peculiar in their possession , that they cannot suffice , nor be enjoyed by all . but in heaven none is touch'd with that low base passion : for god contains all that is precious and desirable in the highest degrees of perfection , and all partake of the influence of his universal goodness without intercepting one another . in the kingdom above there is no cause for the elder brother to repine at the father's bounty to the younger , nor for the younger to supplant the elder , to obtain the birth-right . the heirs of god are all rais'd to sovereign glory . every one enjoys him as entirely and fully , as if solely his felicity . god is a good as indivisible as infinite , and not diminish'd by the most liberal communications of himself . we may illustriate this by comparing the price of our redemption , and the reward . the death of christ is a universal benefit to all the saints , yet 't is so applied to every believer for his perfect redemption , as if our saviour in all his agonies and sufferings had no other in his eye and heart ; as if all his prayers , his tears , his blood were offer'd up to his father only for that person . the common respect of it the apostle declares in those admirable words , that signify such an excess of god's love to us , he that spared not his own son , but deliver'd him up for us all , how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? but to imagine that the * propriety of every believer is thereby prejudiced , is not only false , but extreamly injurious to the merit and dignity , and to the infinite love of christ. therefore the same apostle tells us , the life which i now live in the flesh , i live by the faith of the son of god ; who loved me , and gave himself for me : as if he were the sole object of christ's love , the end and reward of his sufferings . and this appropriating of it to himself , is no prejudice to the rights of all others . st. john describes himself by that truly glorious title , the disciple whom jesus loved . could he speak this of himself without the injury and indignation of the other disciples ? certainly he might . for if we consider that incomprehensible love of christ , exprest to them all at his last supper , after judas was gone forth ; as the father hath loved me , so i have loved you . we may easily understand , that every one of them might justly believe that he was singularly beloved of christ. they were all received in the heart , though ( with john ) they did not all lean on the breast of their divine master . thus in heaven god is the universal treasure of all the saints , and the peculiar portion of every one . as by his essence he equally fills the whole world , and every part of it ; and by his providence equally regards all and every particular creature ; so in heaven he dispenses the riches of his love to all , that they cannot desire more , if every one of them , were ( if i may so express it ) the only begotten of the only begotten himself , the sole heir of all the merits of his son. every saint may with the inflamed spouse break forth in that triumph of love ; my beloved is mine , and i am his . nay , the great number of the glorifi'd saints is so far from lessening their joy , that it unspeakably encreases it . the innumerable company of angels , and the general assembly of the church of the first-born , next to the happiness of enjoying god , are a chief part of heaven . an unfeigned ardent affection unites that pure society . our love is now kindled either from a relation in nature , or some visible excellencies that render a person worthy of our choice and friendship : but in heaven the reasons are greater , and the degrees of love incomparably more fervent . all carnal alliances and respects cease in that supernatural state . the apostle tells us , if i have known christ after the flesh , i know him so no more . by the resurrection and ascension of christ he was transported into another world , and had communion with him as an heavenly king , without low regards to the temporal priviledge of conversing with him on earth . the spiritual relation is more near and permanent than the strictest band of nature . the saints have all relation to the same heavenly father , and to jesus christ the prince of peace , and head of that happy fraternity . the principal motive of love here is for the inherent excellencies of a person . wisdom , holiness , goodness , fidelity are mighty attractives , and produce a more worthy affection , a more intimate confederacy of souls than propinquity in nature . david declares that all his delight was in the excellent . but there are allays of this noble love here . for , 1. there are reliques of frailty in the best men on earth , some blemishes that render them less amiable when discovered . here their graces are mixt infirmities , and but ascending to glory . accordingly our love to them must be regular , and serene ; not clouded with error , mistaking defects for amiable qualities . but in heaven , the image of god is compleat , by the union of all the glorious vertues requisite to its perfection . every saint there exactly agrees with the first exemplar , is transformed according to the primitive beauty of holiness . no spot or wrinkle remains , nor any such thing , that may cast the least aspect of deformity upon them . 2. in the present state the least part of the saints worth is visible . as the earth is fruitful in plants and flowers , but its riches are in the mines of precious metals , the veins of marble hidden in its bosom . true grace appears in sensible actions , but its glory is within . the sincerity of aims , the purity of affections , the impresses of the spirit on the heart , the interiour beauties of holiness , are only seen by god. besides , such is the humility of eminent saints , that the more they abound in spiritual treasures , the less they show . as the heavenly bodies when in nearest conjunction with the sun , and fullest of light , make the least appearance to our sight . but all their excellencies shall then be in view . the glory of god shall be revealed in them . and how attractive is the divine likeness to an holy eye ? how will it ravish the saints to behold an immortal loveliness shining in one another ? their love is mutual and reflexive , proportionable to the cause of it . an equal constant flame is preserv'd by pure materials . every one is perfectly amiable , and perfectly enamour'd with all . now can we frame a fuller conception of happiness , than such a state of love , wherein whatever is pleasant in friendship is in perfection , and whatever is distastful by mens folly and weakness is abolish'd ? the psalmist breaks out in a rapture , behold ●…ow good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! love is the beauty ▪ and strength of societies , the pleasure of life . how excellent is the joy of the blessed , when the prayer of christ shall be accomplish'd , that they all may be one ; as thou father art in me , and i in thee , that they also may be one in us . god is absolutely one in his glorious nature and will , and therefore unalterably happy ; and their inviolable union in love , is a ray of the essential unity between the sacred persons . there are no divisions of heart and tongues , as in this babel ; but the most perfect and sweetest concord , an eternal agreement in tempers and inclinations . there are no envious comparisons , for love that affectively transforms one into another , causes the glory of every saint to redound to the joy of all . every one takes his share in the felicity of all , and adds to it . such is the power of that celestial fire wherein they all burn , that it melts and mixes souls in such an entire union , that by complacence and an intimate joy , the blessedness of all is , as it were , proper to every one ; as if every one were plac'd in the hearts of all , and all in the heart of every one . if in the church of the first born christians in the earthly jerusalem , the band of charity was so strict that 't is said , the multitude of believers were of one heart , and one soul ; how much more intimate and inseparable is the union of the saints in jerusalem above , where every one loves another as himself ? 't is recorded of alexander , that entring with haephestion his favourite , into the pavilion of darius his mother , then his prisoner , she bowed to the favourite , as having a greater appearance of majesty , thinking him to be alexander : but advised of her errour , she humbly begg'd his pardon , to whom the generous king replied , you did not err mother , this is also alexander : such was their affection , that whoever was taken of them , the other was taken in him ; the less ascending in the greater , without degrading the greater in the less . this is a copy of the holy love of the blessed ; but with the same difference , as between the description of a star with a coal , and its beauty in its proper aspect . and where all is love , all is delight . o how do they enjoy and triumph in the happiness of one another ? with what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace ? what reciprocations of endearments are between them ? o their ravishing conversation , and sweet entercourse ! for their presence together in heaven is not a silent show . in the transfiguration , moses and elias talk't with christ. with what excellent discourses do they entertain one another ? if david felt such inward pleasure from the sence of god's favours , that he could not restrain the expression of it , but invites the saints , come and hear , all ye that fear the lord , and i will tell you what he has done for my soul. certainly in heaven , the blessed with overflowing affections recount the divine benefits , the admirable methods , whereby the life of grace was begun , preserv'd and carried on in the midst of temptations ; the continual succession of mercies in the time of their hopes , and the consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment . how joyfully do they concur in their thanksgivings to god for the goodness of creation , in making them reasonable creatures , capable to know , love and enjoy him , when they might have been of the lowest order in the whole sphere of beings ; for his compassionate care and providence over them in this world. but especially for his sovereign mercy in electing them to be vessels of honour ; for his powerful grace , in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious bondage of sin ; for his most free love , that justified them from all their guilt by the death of his only son , and glorified them with himself . they are never weary in this delightful exercise , but continually bless him for his mercy that endures for ever . we may judge by the saints here , when they are in a fit disposition to praise god , what fervours they feel in their united praises of him in heaven . the psalmist in an extasie calls to all the parts of the world to joyn with him ; the lord reigns , let the heavens rejoyce , and the earth be glad ; let the sea roar , let the fields be joyful , and all that dwell therein . he desires that nature should be elevated above it self , that the dead parts be inspir'd with life , the insensible feel motions of joy , and those that want a voice break forth in praises , to adorn the divine triumph . with what life and alacrity will the saints in their blessed communion celebrate the object of their love and praises ? the seraphims about the throne cryed to one another , to express their zeal and joy , in celebrating his eternal purity and power , and the glory of his goodness . o the unspeakable pleasure of this concert ! when every soul is harmonious , and contributes his part to the full musick of heaven . o could we hear but some eccho of those songs wherewith the heaven of heavens resounds , some remaines of those voices wherewith the saints above triumph in the praises , in the solemn adoration of the king of spirits , how would it inflame our desires to be joyn'd with them ? blessed are those that are in thy house , they always praise thee . 2. the fulness of joy in heaven is undecaying ; for the causes of it are always equal . and those are the beatifick object reveal'd , and the uninterrupted contemplation of it . whilest we are here below , the sun of righteousness , as to our perception and sence , has ascensions and declinations , accesses and recesses . and our earth is not so purified , but some vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing light. from hence there are alternate successions of spiritual comforts and sorrows , of doubts and filial confidence in the saints . 't is a rare favour of heaven , when an humble believer in his whole course is so circumspect as not to provoke god to appear displeased against him : when a christian ( as those tutelar angels spoken of in the gospel ) always beholds the face of his heavenly father , and converses with him with an holy liberty . and what a torment the hiding of god's face is to a deserted soul , only they know who feel it . external troubles are many times attended with more consolations to the spirit , than afflictions to sense ; but to love god with a transcendent affection , and to fear he is our enemy , no punishment exceeds , or is equal to it . as his loving-kindness in their esteem is better than life , so his displeasure is worse than death . how do they wrestle with god by prayers and tears , and offer , as it were , a holy violence to the king of heaven , to recover their first serenity of mind , the lost peace of heart ? how passionately do they cry out , with job , in the book of his patience , o that i were as in months past , as in the days when god preserved me : when his candle shin'd upon my head , and when by his light i walk'd through darkness : as i was in the days of my youth , when the secret of god was upon my tabernacle . and sometimes god delays the revealing himself even to his dearest children ; not that he does not see their necessities , and hears their prayers , or is so hard that till their extremities he is not moved with compassion , but for wise and holy reasons ; either that they may not return to folly , if by any presumptuous sin they forfeited their peace ; or if they have been careful to please him , yet he may deprive them of spiritual comforts for a time , to keep them humble , and that with an obedient resignation to his sovereign pleasure they may wait for his reviving presence . and then joy returns greater than before . for thus god usually renders with interest what he suspended only for tryal . but the saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor , and dear regards of his countenance , always enjoy his beamy smiles . a continual effusion of glory illustrates heaven and all its blessed inhabitants . and their contemplation of god is fixed . if the object , though extraordinary glorious , were transient , or the eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances , the heighth of joy would not be perpetual . but the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour , to see the brightness of god's face , and by the most attentive application always converses with that blessed object , so that the joy of heaven is never intermitted for a moment . they always see , and love , and rejoyce , and praise him . 't is possible a carnal suspition may arise in some , as if the uniform perpetual vision of the same glory might lose its perfect delightfulness . for those who seek for happiness in the vanity of the creatures , are always desirous of change , and have their judgments so corrupted , that while they languish with a secret desire after an unchangeable good , yet they conceive no good as desirable , that is not changed . but to correct this gross errour of fancy , let us a little enquire into the causes of dissatisfaction , that make the constant fruition of the same thing here to be tedious . sensible things are of such a limited goodness , that not any of them can supply all our present wants , so that 't is necessary to leave one for another . and the most of them are remedies of our diseased appetites , and if not temperately used are destructive evils . eating and drinking are to extinguish hunger and thirst , but continued beyond just measure become nauseous . besides , the insufficiency of their objects , the senses themselves cannot be satisfied all at once . the ear cannot attend to delightful sounds , and the eye be intent on beautiful colours at the same time : the satisfaction of one sense defeats another of enjoying its proper good ; therefore the same object is not constantly pleasant , but the heart is distemper'd from as many causes , as there are desires unaccomplish'd . add further , all things under the sun afford onely a superficial delight , and miserably deceive the expectations raised of them : and many times there is a mixture of some evil in them , that is more offensive , than the good is delightful . the honey is attended with a sting , so that often those very things we sigh after through vehement desire , when they are obtain'd , we sigh for grief . now all these causes of dissatisfaction cease in heaven ; for * god is an infinite good , and whatever is truly desirable and precious , is in him in all degrees of perfection . and in his presence all the powers of the soul are drawn out in their most pleasant exercise , and alwayes enjoy their entire happiness . the fruition of him exceeds our most raised hopes , as much as he is more glorious in himself than in any borrowed representations . god will be to us incomparably above what we can ask or think . the compass of our thoughts , the depth of our desires are imperfect measures of his perfections . and as he is a pure good in himself , so he is prevalent over all evil. 't is evident therefore that nothing can allay the joys of saints when they are in god's presence . 2. novelty is not requisite to ingratiate every good , and make it perfectly delightful . ‖ god is infinitely happy , to whom no good was ever new . 't is indeed the sauce that gives a delicious taste to inferiour things . for men relish only what is eminent ; and the good things of this world are so truly mean , that they are feign to borrow a shew of greatness by comparison with a worse estate preceding . but an infinite good produces always the same pure equal compleat joy , because it arises from its intrinsick perfection , that wants no foil to commend it . the psalmist breaks forth , whom have i in heaven but thee ? this is no vanishing rapture , but a constant joyful height of affection . god , the essential happiness of the saints , is always perfectly lovely and delightful to them . 3. the glorified saints in every period of their happy state , have as lively a perception of it as in the beginning . to make this evident , we must consider that the pleasure of novelty springs from a quick sense of the opposite terms , between our condition in the want of some desired good , and after our obtaining it . now the mind is more intense on the advantage , and more strongly affected at first . one newly freed from the torments of a sharp disease , feels a greater pleasure than from a constant tenour of health . those who are rais'd from a low state to eminent dignity , are transported with their first change , but in tract of time the remembrance of their mean condition is so weakned and spent , that 't is like the shadow of a dream , and proportionably their joy is lessened . honours like perfumes , by custom are less sensible to those that carry them . but the saints above always consider and feel the excellent difference between their suffering and triumphant state . they never lose that ravishing part of felicity , the vivid sence of past evils . their reflections are always as strong on the misery from whence they were rais'd to the pitch of happiness , as in their first glorious translation . in what an extasy of wonder and pleasure will they be , from the fresh memory of what they were , and the joyful sence of what they are ? i was ( says the admiring soul ▪ ) poor , blind , and naked ; but o miraculous and happy alteration ! i am full of light , enrich'd with the treasures of heaven , adorn'd with divine glory . i was under the tyrannous power of satan , but he is bruised under my feet . i was sentenc'd to an everlasting separation from the presence of god , my only life and joy ; but now am possest of my supream good. ' o how transporting is the comparison of these wide and contrary extreams ? how beautiful and pleasant is the day of eternity , after such a dark tempestuous night ? how does the remembrance of such evils produce a more lively and feeling fruition of such happiness ? how strangely and mightily does salvation with eternal glory affect the soul ? this gives a spritely accent to their everlasting hallelujahs . this preserves an affectionate heat in their thanksgivings to their victorious deliverer . and thus their happiness is always the same , and always new . their pleasure is continued in its perfection . lastly ; the blessedness of the saints is without end . this makes heaven to be it self . there is no satiety of the present , no sollicitude for the future . were there a possibility , or the least suspicion of losing that happy state , it would cast an aspersion of bitterness upon all their delights : they could not enjoy one moments repose ; but the more excellent their happiness is , the more stinging would their fear be of parting with it . but the inheritance reserved in heaven , is immortal , undefiled , and fades not away . and the tenure of their possession is infinitely firm by the divine power , the true support of their everlasting duration . with god is the fountain of life . they enjoy a better immortality , than the tree of life could have preserved in adam . the revolutions of the heavens , and ages , are under their feet , and cannot in the least alter or determine their happiness . after the passing of millions of years , still an entire eternity remains of their enjoying god. o most desirable state ! where blessedness and eternity are inseparably united . o joyful harmony ! when the full chorus of heaven shall sing , this god is our god for ever and ever this adds an infinite weight to their glory . this redoubles their unspeakable joys with infinite sweetness and security . they repose themselves in the compleat fruition of their happiness . god reigns in the saints , and they live in him for ever . from what has been discoursed we should , i. consider the woful folly of men in refusing such a happiness , that by the admirable favour of god is offer'd to their choice . can there be an expectation , or desire , or capacity in man , of enjoying a happiness beyond what is infinite and eternal ? o blind and wretched world ! so careless of everlasting felicity . who can behold , without compassion and indignation , men vainly seek for happiness where 't is not to be found , and after innumerable disappointments fly at an impossibility , and neglect their sovereign and final blessedness ? astonishing madness ! that god and heaven should be despised in comparison of painted trifles . this adds the greatest contumely to their impiety . what powerful charm obstructs their true judging of things ? what spirit of errour possesses them ? alas , eternal things are unseen , not of conspicuous moment , and therefore in the carnal ballance are esteemed light , against temporal things present to the sense . it does not appear what we shall be : the vail of the visible heavens covers the sanctuary , where jesus our high-priest is entred , and stops the enquiring eye . but have we not assurance by the most infallible principles of faith , that the son of god came down from heaven to live with us , and dye for us , and that he rose again to confirm our belief in his exceeding great and precious promises concerning this happiness in the future state ? and do not the most evident principles of reason and universal experience prove , that this world cannot afford true happiness to us ? how wretchedly do we forfeit the prerogative of the reasonable nature by neglecting our last and blessed end ? if the mind be darkned , that it does not see the amiable excellencies of god , and the will so depraved that it does not feel their ravishing power ; the man ceases to be a man , and becomes like the beasts that perish . as a blind eye is no longer an eye , being absolutely useless to that end for which it was made . and though in this present state men are stupid and unconcern'd , yet hereafter their misery will awaken them , to discover what is that supream good wherein their perfection and felicity consists . when their folly shall be exposed before god , angels , and saints , in what extream confusion will they appear before that glorious and immense theatre ? our saviour told the unbelieving jews , there shall be weeping , and gnashing of teeth , when ye shall see abraham , and isaac , and jacob , and all the prophets in the kingdom of god , and you your selves turn'd out . they shall be tortur'd with the desire of happiness without possible satisfaction . 't is most just that those who err without excuse , should repent without remedy . 2. let us be excited seriously to apply our selves in the use of effectual means for the obtaining this happiness . indeed the original cause of it , is the pure rich mercy of god ; the meritorious , is the most precious obedience of our saviour , by whom we obtain plenteous redemption . his abasement is the cause of our exaltation . the wounds he received in his body , the characters of ignominy , and footsteps of death , are the fountains of our glory . eternal life is the gift of god through jesus christ our lord. but the gospel declares , that without holiness no man shall see god. an holy change of our natures , and perseverance in the course of universal obedience , are indispensibly requisite in order to our obtaining heaven . those who by patient continuance in well-doing , seek for glory , honour , and immortality , shall partake of eternal life . now were there no other reason of this constitution , but the sovereign will of god , it were sufficient . but the foundation of it is laid in the nature of the things themselves . therefore our saviour does not simply declare , that an unregenerate person shal not see the kingdom of god , but with the greatest emphasis cannot , to signify an absolute impossibility of it . besides the legal bar that excludes unsanctified persons from the beatifick vision of god , there is a moral incapacity . suppose that justice should allow omnipotence to translate such a sinner to heaven , would the place make him happy ? can two incongruous natures delight in one another ? the happiness of sense is by an impression of pleasure from a suitable object : the happiness of intellectual beings arises from an entire conformity of dispositions . so that unless god recede from his holiness , which is absolutely impossible , or man be purified , and changed into his likeness , there can be no sweet communion between them . our saviour assigns this reason of the necessity of regeneration in order to our admission into heaven : that which is born of the flesh , is flesh ; and that which is born of the spirit , is spirit . according to the quality of the principle , such is what proceeds from it . the flesh is a corrupt principle , and accordingly the natural man is wholly carnal in his propensions , operations , and end . the disease is turn'd into his constitution . he is dead to the spiritual life , to the actions and enjoyments that are proper to it : nay , there is in him a surviving principle of enmity to that life : not only a mortal coldness to god , but a stiff aversation from him , a perpetual resistance and impatience of the divine presence , that would disturb his voluptuous enjoyments . the exercises of heaven would be as the torments of hell to him , while in the midst of those pure joys his inward inclinations vehemently run into the lowest lees of sensuality . and therefore till this contrariety , so deep and predominant in an unholy person , be removed , 't is utterly impossible he should enjoy god with satisfaction . holiness alone prepares men for the possession of celestial happiness , that is against the corruption , and above the perfection of meer nature . let us then having such a joy set before us , lay aside every weight , and the sin which doth so easily beset us , and run with patience the race that is set before us , looking to jesus the author and finisher of our faith. methinks the sight of worldly men , so active and vigilant to prosecute their low designs , should quicken us to seek with the greater diligence and alacrity the kingdom of heaven , and the righteousness thereof . a carnal wretch urged by the sting of a brutish desire , with what impatience does he pursue the pleasure of sin , which is but for a season ? an ambitious person , with what an intemperate heighth of passion does he chase a feather ? a covetous man , how greedily does he prosecute the advantages of the present world that passes away , and the lusts thereof ? ah! how do they upbraid our indifferent desires , our dull delays , and cold endeavours , when such an high prize is set before us ? who is able to conceive the excesse of pleasure the soul feels when it first enters through the beautiful gate of paradise , and sees before it that incomprehensible glory , and hears a voice from him that sits upon the throne , enter into thy masters joy , for ever be happy with him ? the serious belief of this will draw forth all our active powers in the service of god. the feeding by lively thoughts on this supernatural food , will add new vigor and lustre to our graces , and make our victory easy over the world. if we believe indeed that our bodies shall be spiritual , and our souls divine in their perfections , it will make us resolute to subdue the rebel flesh , and rescue the captiv'd spirit from all intanglements of iniquity . having the promise of such an excellent reward , let us always abound in the work of the lord. 3. the lively hope of this blessedness is powerful to support us under the greatest troubles can befal us in this our mortal condition . here we are tost upon the alternate waves of time , but hereafter we shall arrive at the port , the blessed bosom of our saviour , and enjoy a peaceful calm : and so we shall ever be with the lord. words of infinite sweetness ! this is the song of our prosperity , and charm of our adversity : we shall ever be with the lord. well might the apostle add immediately after , therefore comfort one another with these words . more particularly , they are a lenitive to moderate our sorrows upon the departure of our dearest friends , who dye in the lord : for they ascend from this valley of tears , to the happy land of the living . what father is so deserted of reason , as to bear impatiently the parting with his son , that goes over a narrow part of the sea , to a rich and pleasant country , and receive the investiture and peaceable possession of a kingdom ? nay , by how much the stronger his love is , so much the more transporting is his joy : especially if he expects shortly to be with him , to see him on the throne , in the state of a king , and to partake of his happiness . if then it be impossible to nature to be grieved , at the felicity of one that is loved ; according to what principle of nature or faith do believers so uncomfortably lament the death of friends , of whom they have assurance that after their leaving our earth , they enter into an everlasting kingdom , to receive a crown of glory from christ himself ? our saviour tells the disciples , if ye loved me , ye would rejoyce , because i said i go to my father ; to sit down at his right-hand in majesty . a pure affection directly terminates in the happiness and exaltation of the person that is loved . i am not speaking against the exercise of tender affections on the loss of our dear friends ; and a pensive feeling of god's hand in it ; which is an natural and necessary duty . there is a great difference between stupidity and patience : but violent passion , or unremitting sorrow is most unbecoming the blessed hope assur'd to us in the gospel . chrysostom treating of this argument , and reflecting upon the custom of those times , wherein at funeral solemnities a train of mourning women attended the corps , tearing their hair and face , and crying out with all the expressions of desperate sorrow , breaks forth , ah christian faith and religion ! that was triumphant over thine enemies in so many battels and victories by the blood and death of the martyrs , how art thou contradicted by the practice of these who profess thee in words ? is this not to be sorrowful as those that have no hope ? are these the affections , the expressions , of one that believes the blessedness of immortal life ? what will the heathens say , how will they be induc'd to believe the promises of christ to his servants of a glorious kingdom , when those who are so in title , behave themselves as if they had no stedfast faith in them ? 4. the hopes of this blessed state , is able to free us from the fear of death . this last enemy gives an hot alarm to mankind , both as it deprives them of all that is pleasant here , and for the terrible consequences that attend it . to the eye of sense , a dead body is a spectacle of fearful appearance . he that a little before heard and discours'd , and with a chearful air convers'd and enjoy'd the world , now is dead , and all his senses in him : the eyes are dead to light , and the ears to sounds , the tongue to words , and the heart to feel any affections , and the countenance to discover them : nothing remains but silence , horrour , and corruption . besides , after death comes judgment , and a state of unrelenting torments to the wicked . but a true believer that has been obedient to his saviour , sees things by another light than that of sense , and has living hopes in his dying agonies . he knows that death to the saints is but a sleep : and while the body rests in the grave , the soul is as it were all act , continually exercising its most noble faculties on the best objects . does the soul sleep in that all-enlightned world , that sees with open face , the infinite beauty of god ? that hears and bears a part in the hymns of the angels & saints encircling his throne ? that drinks of the rivers of pleasure that flow from his presence ? that freely and joyfully converses with all the celestial courtiers , the princes of that kingdom , the favourites of god ? then it truly lives . this reconciles death to a christian , who has nothing more in his wishes than to be with christ ; and knows that diseases and pains , the forerunners of it , are but as the breaking down the walls of this earthly dark prison , that the soul may take its flight to the happy region , and for ever enjoy the liberty of the sons of god. and for his body , that shall be reunited to the soul in glory . methinks god speaks to a dying believer , as he did to jacob when he was to descend to egypt , fear not to go down into the grave , i will go down with thee , and i will bring thee up again . the same almighty voice that gave being to the world , shall awake those who sleep in the dust , and reform them according to the example of christ's glorified body . o how should we long for that triumphant day ! and with most ardent aspirings pray , thy kingdom come in its full power and glory ? i shall now come to speak of the mournful subject , the cause of my appearing here at this time , the deceased , reverend and excellent divine , dr. thomas manton : a name worthy of precious and eternal memory . and i shall consider him , both in the quality of his office , as he was an embassadour of christ , declaring his mind , and representing his authority , and in the holiness of his person , shewing forth the graces and vertues of his divine master . god had furnish'd him with a rare union of those parts that are requisite to form a minister of his word . a clear judgment , rich fancy , strong memory , and happy elocution met in him , and were excellently improved by his diligent study . the preaching of the word is the principal part of the minister's duty , most essential to his calling , and most necessary to the church . for this end chiefly , the several ‖ orders in the ministerial office were instituted , and upon our saviour's triumphant ascent and reception into heaven , an abundant effusion of the spirit in graces and abilities descended upon men. now in the performing this work , he was of that conspicuous eminence , that none could detract from him , but from ignorance or envy . he was endowed with extraordinary knowledg in the scriptures , those holy oracles from whence all spiritual light is derived : and in his preaching , gave such a perspicuous account of the order and dependance of divine truths ; and with that felicity applied the scriptures to confirm them , that every subject by his management was cultivated and improved . his discourses were so clear and convincing , that none without offering voluntary violence to conscience could resist their evidence . and from hence they were effectual not only to inspire a sudden flame , and raise a short commotion in the affections , but to make a lasting change in the life . for in the humane soul such is the composition of its faculties , that till the understanding be rectified in its apprehensions and estimations , the will is never induc'd to make an entire firm choice of what is necessary for the obtaining perfect happiness . a sincere persevering conversion is effected by weighty reasons that sink and settle in the heart . his doctrine was uncorrupt and pure , the truth according to godliness . he was far from a guilty vile intention , to prostitute that sacred ordinance for the acquiring any private secular advantage . neither did he entertain his hearers with impertinent subtilties , empty notions , intricate disputes , dry and barren without productive vertue : but as one that always had before his eyes the great end of the ministry , the glory of god , and the salvation of men , his sermons were directed to open their eyes , that they might see their wretched condition as sinners , to hasten their flight from the wrath to come , to make them humbly , thankfully and entirely receive christ , as their prince , and all-sufficient saviour . and to build up the converted in their most holy faith , and more excellent love , that is the fulfilling of the law. in short , to make true christians eminent in knowledg and universal obedience . as the matter of his sermons was designed for the good of souls ; so his way of expression was proper to that end . words are the vehicle of the heavenly light. as the divine wisdom was incarnate to reveal the eternal counsels of god to the world ; so spiritual wisdom in the mind , must be clothed with words , to make it sensible to others . and in this he had a singular talent . his stile was not exquisitely studied , not consisting of harmonious periods , but far distant from vulgar meanness . his expression was natural and free , clear and strong , quick and powerful , without any spice of folly , and always suitable to the simplicity and majesty of divine truths . his sermons afforded substantial food with delight , so that a fastidious mind could not disrelish them . he abhorr'd a vain ostentation of wit , in handling sacred things ; so venerable and grave , and of eternal consequence . indeed , what is more unbecoming a minister of christ , than to waste the spirits of his brain , as a spider does his bowels , to spin a web only to catch flyes ? to get vain applause by foolish pleasing the ignorant . and what cruelty is it to the souls of men ? 't is recorded as an instance of nero's savage temper , that in a general famine , when many perish'd by hunger , he ordered a ship should come from egypt ( the granary of italy ) laden with sand for the use of wrestlers . in such extremity to provide only for delight , that there might be spectacles on the theatre , when the city of rome was a spectacle of such misery , as to melt the heart of any but of nero , was most barbarous cruelty . but 't is cruelty of an heavier imputation for a minister to prepare his sermons to please the foolish curiosity of fancy with flashy conceits ; nay , such light vanities , that would scarce be endured in a scene , whiles hungry souls languish for want of solid nourishment . his fervour and earnestness in preaching was such , as might soften and make pliant the most stubborn obdurate spirits . i am not speaking of one whose talent was only in voice , that labours in the pulpit as if the end of preaching were for the exercise of the body , and not for the profit of souls : but this man of god was inflam'd vvith an holy zeal , and from thence such ardent expressions broke forth , as were capable to procure attention and consent in his hearers . he spake as one that had a living faith within him of divine truths . from this union of zeal with his knowledg , he was excellently qualified to convince and convert souls . the sound of words only strikes the ear , but the mind reasons with the mind , and the heart speaks to the heart . his unparallel'd assiduity in preaching , declar'd him very sensible of those dear and strong obligations that lie upon ministers , to be very diligent in that blessed work. what a powerful motive our saviour urged upon st. peter ? as thou lovest me , feed my sheep , feed my lambs . and can any feed too much , when none can love enough ? can any pains be sufficient for the salvation of souls , for which the son of god did not esteem his blood too costly a price ? is not incessant unwearied industry requisite to advance the work of grace in them to perfection ? in this the work of a minister has its peculiar disadvantage , that whereas an artificer how curious and difficult soever his work be , yet has this encouragement , that what is begun with art and care , he finds in the same state wherein 't was left : a painter that designs an exact piece , draws many lines , often touches it with his pencil to give it life and beauty ; and though unfinish'd , 't is not spoild by his intermission . a sculptor that carves a statue , though his labour be hard from the resistance of the matter , yet his work remains firm and durable . but the heart of man is of a strange temper , hard as marble , not easily receptive of heavenly impressions , yet fluid as water , those impressions are easily defac'd in it ; 't is expos'd to so many temptations that induce an oblivion of eternal things , that without frequent excitations to quicken and confirm its holy purposes , it grows careless , and all the labour is lost that was spent on it . this faithful minister abounded in the work of the lord ; and which is truly admirable , though so frequent in preaching , yet was alwas superiour to others , and equal to himself . in his last time when declining to death , yet he would not leave his beloved work ; the vigour of his mind supporting the weakness of his body . i remember when opprest with an obstinate hoarsness , a friend desiring him to spare himself ; he rejected the advice with indignation . he was no fomenter of faction , but studious of the publick tranquillity . he knew what a blessing peace is , and wisely foresaw the pernicious consequences that attend divisions . by peace , the bond of mutual harmony , the weakest things are preserved and prosper ; but where discord reigns , the strongest are near to ruine . the heavenly concent in the primitive church , was a principal cause of its miraculous encrease and flourishing ; but after dissentions prevail'd amongst christians , that was destroyed in a short time , which was built by the divine union and heroic patience of the primitive christians . and the glorious beginnings that promis'd the reformation of all europe , were more obstructed by the dissentions of some employed in that blessed work , than by all the power and subtilty , the arms and artifices of rome it self . how afflictive is the consideration of our divided church ? sweet peace , whither art thou fled ? blessed saviour , who didst by thy precious blood reconcile heaven and earth , send down thy spirit to inspire us with that wisdom that is pure and peaceable , that those who agree in the same principles of faith , in the same substantial parts of worship , in asserting the same indispensible necessity of holiness , may receive one another in love . i am affectionatly engaged in a matter that so nearly touches all those that value the protestant interest . briefly ; consider him as a christian , his life was answerable to his doctrine . 't is applicable to some ministers , what is observed of the carbuncle ; by its colour , lustre , and fiery sparklings it seems to be actually a fire , but it has only the name and appearance of it . thus some in the pulpit seem to be all on fire with zeal , yet their hearts are as cold as a stone , without holy affections , and their lives are unworthy their divine ministration . but this servant of god was like a fruitful tree , that produces in its branches what it contains in the root ; his inward grace was made visible in a conversation becoming the gospel of christ. his resolute contempt of the world secur'd him from being wrought on by those motives , that tempt low spirits from their duty . he would not rashly throw himself into troubles , nor spretâ conscientiâ avoid them . his generous constancy of mind in resisting the current of popular humour , declar'd his loyalty to his divine master . his charity was eminent in procuring supplies for others , when in mean circumstances himself . but he had great experience of god's fatherly provision , to which his filial confidence was correspondent . his conversation in his family was holy and exemplary , every day instructing them from the scriptures in their duty . i shall finish my character of him , with observing his humility . he was deeply affected 〈◊〉 the sence of his frailties and unworthiness . he considered the infinite purity of god , the perfection of his law the rule of our duty , and by that humbling light discover'd his manifold defects . he exprest his thoughts to me a little before his death ; if the holy prophets were under strong impressions of fear , upon the extraordinary discovery of the divine presence , how shall we poor creatures appear before that holy and dread majesty ? isaiah , after his glorious vision of god , reflecting upon himself ; as not retir'd from the commerce and corruption of the world , breaks forth , wo is me , for i am undone , because i am a man of unclean lips , and i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the king , the lord of hosts . 't is infinitely terrible to appear before god the judge of all , without the protection of the blood of sprinkling , that speaks better things than the blood of abel . this alone reliev'd him , and supported his hopes . though his labours were abundant , yet he knew that the work of god , passing through our hands , is so blemish'd , that without an appeal to pardoning mercy and grace , we cannot stand in judgment . this was the subject of his last publick sermon . he languish'd many months , but presuming he should be too strong for his infirmity , neglected it , till at last it became insuperable and mortal . many pathetical aggravations heighten our great and dear loss , that such a faithful minister of christ should be taken away , whose preaching was so powerful to repair the woful ruines of godliness and vertue in a degenerate age : whose prudent pacifick spirit rendred him so useful in these divided times , when professors of the same religion are alienated from one another , as if they had been baptized with the waters of strife : that before our tears were dried up for the loss of other worthy ministers , the fountain of sorrow should be opened again by this afflicting stroke . but it becomes us to receive the dispensations of heaven with humble and quiet submission ; to reflect upon our sins with an holy grief , that provoke god to remove such an excellent instrument of his glory from us . let us pray to the lord of the harvest , that he will send forth faithful labourers into it . o that surviving ministers might be animated with a zeal more pure and fervent in their divine work : and that people would be wise , while a price is put into their hands , to improve it for their eternal advantage . the neglected gospel will at the last be a terrible witness against the disobedient , to justify and aggravate their condemnation . finis . some books printed for , and sold by brabazon aylmer , at the three pigeons , over against the royal-exchange in cornhill . the harmony of the divine attributes , in the accomplishment of man's redemption by the lord jesus christ : or discourses , wherein is shewed , how the wisdom , mercy , justice , holiness , power and truth of god , are glorified in that great and blessed work : by william bates , d. d. in 4to . considerations of the existence of god , and of the immortality of the soul , with the recompences of the future state. to which is now added , the divinity of the christian religion , proved by the evidence of reason , and divine revelation : for the cure of infidelity , the hectick evil of the times . by william bates , d. d. in octavo . sermons preached upon several occasions , by isaac barrow , d. d. late master of trinity-colledg in cambridg , and one of his majesties chaplains in ordinary . in octavo . the reconcileableness of god's prescience of the sins of men , with the wisdom and sincerity of his counsels , exhortations , and whatsoever means he uses to prevent them : in a letter to the honourable , robert boyle , esq. to which is added a postscript in defence of the said letter ; by john how , m. a. sometime fellow of magdalen colledge , oxon. in octavo . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26790-e110 rev. 21. 4. 1 cor. 15. phil. 3. 1. * 1 cor. 13. * vt cu● istud quicquid est ● quo disput●tis perceper● moriar . va● max. ‖ aristot. † sic it●… habebit d●…num aliud lio minus , hic quoque●…num habe●…at ne velit amplius . aug. * et totum dedit uni●…ersis , et to●…um singulis . ●… per hoc ●…uicquid pas●…one sua sal●…ator praesti●…t , sicut to●…um ei debent ●…niversi , sic ●…nguli ; nisi ●…uod prope hoc ●…lus singuli ●…uam univer●… , quod totum ●…cceperunt ●…nguli , quan●…um universi . ●…alvian si audia multitudo●… lens , non in●… se particul tim comm●…nuunt son●… tanquam ●…bos : sed o●… ne quod so●… & omnibus totum est , singulis totum . augu●… in epist. a volusan . non 〈◊〉 , m●ter , num hic alexander est . curt. lib. 3. job 29. 2 , 3 , 4. * vitae nos ●…dium tenet , ●…mor mortis ●…itat omne ●…nsilium , nec ●…plere nos ●…lla faelicitas ●…test . causa ●…utem est , ●…od non per●…mimus ad ●…ud bonum ●…nmensum & superabile , ●…bi necesse est ●…sistat nobis●… luntas nos●…a , quia ul●…a summum ●…n est locus . ●…ence . epist. ●…4 . ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arist. ●…th 1. 7. ●… ult . ‖ ephes. 4. suet. si sudare●… aliter non po●…tes , est aliud●… john 21. the saints transfiguration, or, the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory a sermon preached at martins ludgate, october 19, 1654, at the funerall of that reverend and faithfull minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, late master of christs college in cambridg : with a short account of his death / by edmund calamy ... ; to which are annexed verses upon his death, composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32058 of text r5821 in the english short title catalog (wing c265). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 86 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32058 wing c265 estc r5821 13693022 ocm 13693022 101409 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32058) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101409) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 840:33) the saints transfiguration, or, the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory a sermon preached at martins ludgate, october 19, 1654, at the funerall of that reverend and faithfull minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, late master of christs college in cambridg : with a short account of his death / by edmund calamy ... ; to which are annexed verses upon his death, composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [6], 35 p. printed for joseph cranford ..., london : 1655. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. eng bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -sermons. bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -poetry. bible. -n.t. -philippians iii, 20-21 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a32058 r5821 (wing c265). civilwar no the saints transfiguration: or the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory. a sermon preached at martins ludgate october 19. 1654. at calamy, edmund 1655 15559 11 100 0 0 0 0 71 d the rate of 71 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the saints transfiguration : or the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory . a sermon preached at martins ludgate october 19. 1654. at the funerall of that reverend , and faithfull minister of jesus christ dr samuel bolton , late master of christs colledge in cambridg , with a short account of his death . by edmund calamy , b. d. pastor of aldermanbury in london . to which are annexed verses upon his death , composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance . the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . isa. 57. 1. your fathers where are they ? and the prophets do they live for ever ? zach. 1. 5. london , printed for joseph cranford at the sign of the phoenix in pauls churchyard , m.dc.lv. to the right honourable robert earl of warwick , baron of leeze . right honourable : it hath pleased god to take unto himself a reverend , learned and pious minister dr bolton , one who feared god above many , who was ( not without just cause ) highly esteemed by your lordship , whose memory is very pretious to you , and who was very dear to a religious daughter of yours now with god ( whom i mention for honour sake ) the lady lucy roberts . the ensuing sermon preached at his sad funerals , i crave leave to dedicate to your lordship , as a publike acknowledgement of the many and great favours i have received from you . the design of it is , to wean christians from the overmuch love of their bodies . all men by nature are prone curare cutem magis quàm animam , to take more care and spend more time for their bodies , then for their souls : hence it is that they think no cost too much that is laid out for the feeding and cloathing of their bodies , no gift too great that is given to the physitian to heal them when diseased , but any thing too much which is given to a godly minister for the good of their souls : hence it is , that the working dayes are too few , and too short for their bodily profits and pastimes , but the lords day which is the queen of dayes , because it is the souls market-day for heaven , is burdensome to them , and very tedious . hence it is also that they are willing to lay out nine parts of their estate for their bodies , but unwilling to part with the tenth for soul-advantages . the scope of this sermon ▪ is to shew the vanity and sinfulness of these and such like practises . it tells your lordship that the body is the worst half of man , the boxe the shell , the carcasse : that the soul is the jewel , the life , the man of man . that the body is a vile body made of vile materials , subject to vile diseases and to vile abominations , and that he that provides for his body and not for his soul , is like unto a husbandman that in harvest time gathers in his stubble , and leaves his corn to be devoured by his hoggs ; or like unto a goldsmith , that weighs exactly his dross , but disregards his gold . and also he that provides for his body with the neglect of his soul , is like unto a merchant that overloads his ship so as to drown himself ; or to a man that makes so great a fire to warm himself by , as to burn his house and himself in it . it sheweth your lordship also that this vile body will never be changed into a glorious body till the great day of the resurrection , and that then the lord jesus will come from heaven on purpose to fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . that this life is not the time appointed for the good of our bodies only or chiefly , but of our souls principally and especially . that the only way to make our bodies glorious , is by getting our souls to be made gracious . that the happiness of the body depends upon the happiness of the soul : if the soul be adorned here with christs righteousness , the body will be cloathed with glory unexpressible hereafter . if the soul when separated from the body be polluted and belepred with sinne , the body and soul will both of them be eternally miserable at the resurrection . these lessons are very suitable and seasonable for all sorts and degrees , but especially for you ( right honourable ) whose body now begins to wax old , and will shortly go down to the house of rottenness and be crumbled into dust . i doubt not but god hath sufficiently taught you the vanity and emptiness of all earthly greatness . that greatness without goodness , is like the greatness of a man with a dropsie , which is his disease not his happiness : that riches without righteousness are but heaps of dung : and that nothing but grace will make you truly and eternally honourable . god hath taken you off ( out of love to your pretious soul ) from all publike employments , and thereby hath lent you much time to provide for eternity . he hath given you a noble countess , a pretious consort , a beloved companion , a dear yoak-fellow ( united to you not only by marriage relation , but by true love and most entire affection ) who will be glad to go hand in hand with you in heavens way . to both of you my obligations are very many and very great , the characters of your love are visible and legible by all : all that know me know my relation to you : my prayers to god for you both shall be , that god would give you more of himself , and of those mercies which cannot stand with damnation : that he would keep you good in bad times , and constant to your principles in apostatizing times : that he would lengthen out your dayes for his glory ; and that this sermon may be instrumentall to make you minde your bodies lesse , and your souls more ; that when the great day of judgement shall come , your vile bodies may be changed into the likeness of the glorious body of jesus christ . so prayeth , my lord your servant in all spiritual things edm. calamy . a sermon preached at dr boltons funerall . phil. 3. 20 , 21. from whence also we look for the saviour , the lord jesus christ . who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself . we are here met to perform the last office of love for a worthy , reverend and godly minister of jesus christ , dr samuel bolton late master of christs colledge in cambridge . and this text that i have chosen , will afford us many suitable and seasonable meditations and considerations for such a meeting . for here you have . 1. the condition that the bodies of men ( even the best of men ) are in in this life ; they are vile and contemptible : our vile body . the greek words are very emphaticall , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the body of vilenesse , a corpus humilitatis nostrae , or , b corpus nostrum humile . the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , signifieth , vilem & abjectam conditionem , qualis est vilium servorum , a vile and abject condition , such as is of slaves and vassals . the same word is used , luk. 1. 48. he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is is also used james 1. 10. 2. the condition that the bodies of the saints shall be in at the glorious resurrection : they shall then be changed , and made like unto the glorious body of the lord jesus christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , shall then be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the body of vildnesse shall then be a body of glory . 3. the persons whose bodies shall be thus changed , and they are such who have their conversation in heaven : but our conversation is in heaven , from whence we look for a saviour who shall change our vile body . not every vile body , but our vile body . the bodies of the wicked shall be ugly and loathsome , but the bodies of those whose dispositions and actions are heavenly , shall be beautifull and glorious . 4. the person that shall make this great change in our bodies ; and he is the lord jesus christ our saviour . 5. the time when this great transfiguration shall be made , and that is at the great day of judgment , when our saviour the lord jesus christ shall come from heaven , for this very end and purpose , to fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . 6. the means by which all this shall be accomplished , and that is , according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself , and therefore able to make this glorious transfiguration and transformation of our bodies . 7. the use we are to make of all this , and that is , to wait and expect , to long and look for the coming of our lord jesus to judgment , for the accomplishing of this glorious metamorphosis — from whence we look for a saviour . by what hath been already said , you may perceive , that this text is a pretious cabinet , full of many excellent jewels ; for here is the doctrine 1. of the bodies vility , fragility and mortality . 2. of the resurrection of the just . 3. of the bodies immortality and glorification at the resurrection . 4. of the great and dreadfull day of judgment . 5. of the great errand and message for which christ shall come to judgement , and that is to glorifie our bodies : now all these doctrines are very suitable to such an assembly as this is ; the lord make them as profitable to you as they are seasonable for you , my purpose is to pick out only two of these jewels , and to shew you 1. what is the condition of our bodies for the present . 2 , what our bodies shall be at the resurrection . first , to speak of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , then of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; first of the body of vilenesse , then of the body of glory . doct. 1. that the bodies even of the best of saints for the present are vile bodies . doct. 2. that the lord jesus christ at the great day of judgment , shall raise these vile bodies , and charge them into the likenesse of his own glorious body . doct. 1. that the bodies even of the best of saints for the present are vile bodies . the holy apostle foresaw how prone men and women would be to be proud of their bodies , to pamper them , to spend all their time , and lay out all their strength to provide for their bodies , even with the neglect of their more pretious souls : and therefore that he might wean people from the immoderate love of their bodies , he purposely calls them vile bodies : and 1 cor. 15. 43 , he calls them dishonourable bodies , or bodies of dishonour , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . qu. but you will demand ; in what respects may the body be said to be a vile body ? ans. the body may be said to be a vile body , 1. in reference to its primitive constitution , even before it was defiled with sin ; for it was made of dust of the earth , the and not of dust simply , but of dust mingled with water , of clay and muddy dust , ex pulvero limoso & lutoso : the body was not made of coelestiall materials , of the sunne , moon or starres ; nor of pretious materials , of gold or silver ; but of the worst and lowest of the elements , ex fragili & vili materiâ , of frail and perishing , of ignoble and contemptible materials , and therefore may fitly be called a vile body . 2. since the fall of adam , our bodies are called vile bodies , because subject to vile diseases , therei 's no disease so vile , but the body of man is subject unto : job was a man eminent in godliness , yet his body was full of soars and biles ●●om the crown of his head to the sole of his foot ; and he saies of himself , job 7. 5. my flesh is cloathed with worms and clods of dust , my skin is broken and become loathsome . who can reckon up all the diseases that mans body is liable unto ? the stone , the govt , leprosie , plague , colick , strangury , diabolicall possession , madness , sciatica and small pox , are not the tithe of them ; and therefore it may fitly be called a vile body . 3. because subject to vile abuses by tyrants and cruell persecutors : a tyrant cannot hurt the soul of a child of god , but he can torture and kill his body . it is said of the blessed martyrs , of whom the world was not worthy , heb. 11. 37. they were stoned , they were sawed asunder , were slain with the sword ; they wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skins , destitute , afflicted and tormented . all these sufferings were bodily , and therefore it may well be termed a vile body . 4. because subject to vile abominations and wickednesses . for since the fall of adam our bodies are instruments of unrighteousness unto sinne , rom. 6. 13. they are servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity , rom. 6. 19 in some to drunkenness , in others to adultery , theevery and murder ; in others to sodomy , by which the bodies of men are made vile and dishonourable , according to the saying of the apostle , rom. 1. 24. wherefore god also gave them up to uncleanness , through the lusts of their own hearts , to dishonour their own bodies between themselves . 5. because even in the best of saints , it is a great impediment and hindrance to their immortall souls , and therefore called sepulchrum animae , and vinculum animae , the sepulcher of the soul , the fetters and manacles of the soul . for the most pretious soul , 1. it is hidden in the body as a man in a dark dungeon , or as a bright candle in a dark lantern , the excellent nature , beauty , and glorious operations of it cannot be seen . for it may be said of the soul ( as plato saith of vertue ) that if a man could but see it he could not but love it : but it is hidden in the body as in a prison . 2. it is hindred by the body in three respects . 1. it is hindred from heaven : for whilest we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord . this earthly house must first be dissolved , before we can come to the house made without hands , eternall in the heavens . 2. it is hindred from heavenly operations ; for the body takes up all the time from the soul . as the lean kine of pharaoh devoured the fat , so doth the body devour the time that should be spent about the soul . it is with the soul and body as it was with abraham and lot , abraham had his servants and cattell , and lot his , and the country was too little for them . so the soul hath her work , and the body his work , and there is hardly time enough for both , so that the one must needs hinder the other , and they will never be right till separated . now this must needs be a great bondage , when the handmaid shall have more attendance then the mistresse , hagar preferred before sarah . 3. it is hindred in all its heavenly operations ; as a bird that hath a stone tied to its leg , is weighed down and cannot fly aloft : so is the heavenly soul in the best of saints , depressed and weighed down with the body , that it cannot fly aloft in prayer and heavenly meditations . the body is quickly tired in holy services , as sauls armour was a burden to david , so is the body to the soul . therefore the apostle saith . 2 cor. 5. 4. we that are in this tabernacle do groan , being burdened . the spirit is willing ▪ but the flesh is weak ; like a strong man riding upon a dull horse . 3. it is defiled and made more sinfull by the body . god gave man at first a heavenly soul and an earthly body , that the heavenly soul might lift up the earthly body : but it proves quite contrary ; our earthly bodies have weighed down our heavenly souls , and made them earthly and sensuall . tamdiu versata est anima in tabernaculo , ut ipsa versa est in tabernaculum . as clothes when they are died lose their names , and are called scarlet or stammell : so the souls of men have received such an ill tincture from their bodies , that they may fitly be called worldly , sensuall and carnall . the soul is diverted by the body from its true end : the true end of the soul is to love god and to live to god , but the body turns the stream , and ingrosseth all for back and belly , and therefore may very justly be termed a vile body . 6. the body may be said to be vile , in reference to its dissolution and separation , for when it once dies , it is then evident to an eye of flesh , that it is nothing but a rotten , stinking , putrifying carcass ; that body which while united to the soul seemed very lovely and beautifull , when once the soul leaves it , it becomes an ugly , deformed , gastly carcass , mouldring quickly into dust , that saith to corruption thou art my father , and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister , job 17. 14. 7. it is called a vile body , in comparison of the precious soul . the body is the worst half of man ; it is half , but it is the worst half : it is vilissima pars hominis : it is the box , the shell , the house of man ; but it is the soul that is the kernell , the jewel , the inhabitant . the soul of man is the man of man , intus est quod homo est . the soul is as an angel dwelling in the body as in an house of clay . plato tells us , that is is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , an heavenly plant , and of a divine offspring . the scripture tells us , that it was not made of the dust of the earth as the body was , but ex ore dei , by the breath of god : made a deo though not de deo , by god immediatly , though not of the essence of god . and when a man dies , the soul is not turned to dust as the body is : the soul doth not die with the body . stephens soul was not stoned when his body was stoned . when the body returns to the earth as it was , the soul returns to god who gave it , eccl. 12. 7. and therefore in comparison of the soul , the body may be said to be a vile body . 8. lastly , it is called a vile body , in comparison of what it shall be at the great day of the r●●urrection : for then it shall changed and metamorphized , and made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ , and therefore in comparison of what it shall be hereafter , it may well be stiled for the present a vile body . let us often meditate upon this appellation and epithete that is given unto the body : it is called a vile body , or a body of vileness : vile , when separated from the soul , vile whilest united to the soul : vile before defiled with sinne , but especially vile since it was defiled with sinne ▪ vile because subject to vile diseases , to vile abuses by wicked persecutors , to vile abominations : vile , because it is an impediment of the soul : vile in comparison of the pretious soul , and in respect to what it shall be at the glorious appearing of jesus christ . let this meditation teach us these lessons . 1. a lesson of humility . the body we carry about us is but a vile body , and therefore let us not be proud of it : it is corpus humile ( as beza translates this text ) or corpus humilitatis , a body of humility , and therefore let it teach us humility . god on purpose hath made the body of man of the worst and lowest element , that he might not be lifted up with pride , but have a mean and low esteem of himself . hence it is also that in scripture it is compared to things that are very mean and contemptible ; to the grass of the field , to dry stubble , to a leaf driven to and fro , to a thing that is rotten , and to a garment that is moth-eaten . it is compared to such mean things , that we might learn to have a mean esteem of it . why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is man but handsome mudd and guilded rottenness ? what are riches but brighter dust ? and what are honours but heaps of dung ? dust you are , and god will lay your honours in the dust . why art thou proud o dust and ashes ? the birds make their nests of that which thou art made of : every beast treads under his feet that which thou wert made of : every crceping thing disposeth at pleasure of that which thou wert made of : every blast of wind scattereth that which thou wert made of , and why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? bernard in three expressions sets out the vileness of the body , it is ( saith he ) sperma faetidum , saccus stercorum , esca vermium , it is worms-meat , it is a sack of dung , &c. i have read a story of a certain stone that was brought to alexander the great , which being put into one part of a pair of scales , weighed down whatsoever was put into the other part : but if a little dust had been cast upon the stone , then every thing weighed down the stone . the morall is t●ue though the history prove a fable ; as one of his wisemen told him ; this stone ( said he ) sheweth what thou art oh alexander . whilest thou livest thou weighest down all that oppose thee , the whole world cannot new content thee , when a little dust is cast upon thee , that is , when thou art dead , then every man will outweigh thee , & minor eris quam quicquid mundi , thou wilt be lesser then any man in the world . such another story is reported of the father of alexander , that he kept a boy on purpose , to come to him every morning and to bid him remember he was a man . let us be alwayes mindfull that we are but dust , dust we are and to dust we must return : let us cast dust upon our silks and velvets , upon our gold and silver , upon our beautifull faces : let the great ladies make this doctrine their lookingglasses to dress themselves by every morning : remember thy body is a vile body , and therefore be not proud of it . 2. a lesson of mortification : this vile body of ours is subject to be abused by the devil to vile abominations , and therefore let us go to jesus christ , to get power to mortifie and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts . there is a body of sinne in all men , and this is that which makes this body of ours to be so vile . let us by a lively faith make application of the death of christ , that the old man being crucified , with him the body of sinne may be destroyed , that henceforth we should not serve sinne . excelledt is that expression of the apostle , 1 cor. 9. 27. but i keep under my body , and bring it into subjection , least that by any means when i have preached to others , i my self should be a castaway . upon which words austin hath this saying , si aries de grege , quid tener agnus , &c , if the great ram of the flock hath need to beat down his body and to bring it under subjection , how much more should we tender lambs use all means for the keeping of it under ? the body is called by hierom , jumentum animae the beast of the soul , and when this beast begins to kick against the soul , we must labour to subdue it by fasting and prayer , and say as hilarion did , faciam asine ut non calcitres . 3. a lesson of contentation : let us be contented with our condition though never so poor : though thy apparel be mean , and thy diet mean : mean things become a vile body . and if for a good conscience thou be put into a vile prison , into a dark and stinking dungeon as the martyrs have been , let us be contented with it , for our bodies for the present are vile bodies : thou canst not be poorer then thou wert at first , and wilt be at last ; for naked we came into the world , and naked we must return again . and though thou hast a diseased and sickly body , and hast met with many losses and crosses , yet be contented ; remember that the bodies of the best of saints in this life are vile bodies . i have read of themistocles , that he invited many philosophers to dinner , and that he borrowed divers dishes of one amyntas ; in the midst of dinner amyntas comes and fetches away half his dishes ; the philosophers asked themistocles how he was able to bear this affront ? he answered mildly , he might have took away all . if god hath taken away half thy children , half thy estate , be contented , all is his , and he might have taken away all . 4. let this epithete teach us a lesson of heavenly courage and fortitude ; let us not fear what the worst of men can do unto us , for they can but kill this vile body . this our saviour teacheth matth. 10. fear not them that can kill the body , and after that can do no more . if a tyrant could kill the soul , then indeed he might be feared , but he cannot reach that , he can but hurt the body , ths vile body , a body subject to a thousand diseases , and to innumerable abominatious ; a body that will shortly dye of its own accord ; and why then should we fear what vile man can do against this vile body ? especially if we consider , that when he hath done his worst against it , it shall in spite of him rise again , and of a vile body , become a most glorious body . oh let us not make shipwrack of a good conscience to preserve this vile body ; let us not destroy our precious souls to save this vile carcass ! 5. if the body be vile in comparison of the soul , then let us be encouraged unto soul-diligence . let us not set the servant on horseback , and suffer the master to go on foot ; let us not preferre the handmaid before the mistress , the box before the jewel , the vile body before our pretious and immortal souls . the body is made of dust , and who ever advanced dust ? we use to sweep away dust from off our clothes , and out of our houses . the body is but a lump of earth , a rotten carcass without the soul , oh let us not preferre it before the soul ! let us not bestow that time , that heart , those affections and endeavours upon the body , which are due unto the soul ! it is a sad thing to consider , how most people , even those that beleeve the doctrine of the souls immortality , do jacob-like , ( though upon a different occasion ) put their right hand upon the youngest sonne , and their left hand upon the eldest , spending the best of their dayes , and strength , and affections upon these vile bodies , and in the mean time neglecting to provide for their eternal souls . give me leave to illustrate this by a similitude : suppose a man should invite a nobleman to his house , and only provide provender for the noblemans horses , without any provision at all for himself , only such as his horses feed on , would not this be a course entertainment ? and yet so do most men deal with their immortal souls . the soul is as this nobleman , lodging in a body of clay as in a poor cottage ; the body is ( as you have heard ) jumentum animae , the souls beast ; and when you consume your dayes in pampering and cloathing your bodies , taking no care for your noble souls , this is but ( as it were ) providing provender for the horses , without any provision for the nobleman : for the soul is never the richer for all our worldly wealth , never the fatter for our delicate fare , nor ever the finer for our silken clothes . i read that st john in 3 joh. 2. prayeth for gaius , that his body might prosper and be in health even as his soul prospered . but if we should make such a prayer for many of our people , we should rather curse them then pray for them ; for if they had no better bodies then they have souls , they would have very poor , lean and naked bodies . let christians labour so to live that this prayer may be fit for them , that we may cheerfully put up this petition for them , that their bodies may prosper even as their souls prosper : let the chiefest part have the chiefest care , the best part the best of our strength and dayes . 6. lastly , let us from this epithete learn a lesson of thankfullness : our bodies are bodies of vileness , and therefore if god hath given thee a body more handsome and more healthfull then others have ; if god hath made any of us ex meliore luto , of better earth ; if he hath made us golden vessels in regard of our outward condition ; if he hath raised any of us from the dust , and set us in high places ; especially if god hath made us elect vessels , vessels of mercy in regard of our eternal condition , as i doubt not but there are many such here , oh give god a great deal of glory , and give him all the glory . if he hath made thy vile body an instrument of righteousness unto holiness ; if he hath sanctified it , and made it a temple fit for the holy ghost to dwell in , then let me speak to you in the language of the holy ghost ; know you not that your bodies are the members of christ ? will you take the members of christ , and make them members of an harlot ? god forbid . know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you , &c. and if any man defile the temple of god , him will god destroy . will you abuse that body that is the temple of the holy ghost to sinne and iniquity ? god forbid , i shall now pass from the first observation to the second , with which our worthy and dear brother was much refreshed , and did often repeat in my hearing , and upon that account i made made choice of this text at this time . the observation is , that the lord jesus christ at the great day of judgment , shall raise these vile bodies , and change them into the likeness of his own glorious body . this doctrine is an alablaster box full of pretious consolation : it was a great comfort and support to our dear brother when he was going out of this world , and oh that it might be a like pretious cordial to us when we shall be in his condition . for the better understanding of the doctrine , i shall propound these five questions , 1. what is that change that christ shall make in our vile bodies at the resurrection ? the bodies of the saints when dead , and separated from their souls , are not separated from jesus christ , and therefore are said to be dead in christ ; while dead they are united to christ , and by virtue of this union christ as their head will raise them at the last day , and at their resurrection they shall be changed , non quoad substantiam sed quoad proprietates , the substance of their bodies shall not be altered , but only the qualities , as wool when it is died into a purple or scarlet die , is the same wool for substance though it be made more glorious ; so the bodies of the saints at the resurrection , shall be the same for substance though made more excellent and more glorious . this was jobs comfort , that with those very eyes of his he should see his redeemer , and that he himself should see him and not another . the apostle tells us , that this mortall body must put on immortality , and this corrupt●ble body must put on incorruption . the ancient christians when they rehearsed that article of the creed , credo resurrectioneme carnis , i beleeve the resurrection of the flesh , were wont to add , etiam hujus carnis , even of this my flesh . it cannot stand with gods justice ( saith hierom ) that one body should sinne and another body be damned , that one body should serve him and another be crowned ; this is contrary to the justice of god , and to the very nature of the resurrection ; for a resurrection is , when the same body that dieth riseth again , otherwise , it is rather a new creation then a resurrection . as the body of christ after his resurrection , was the same for substance though much more excellent and glorious , so shall the bodies of the saints be at their resurrection . as a goldsmith ( saith chrysostome ) takes a little gold and puts it into a refining pot and melts it , and then out of that gold forms a golden vessel fit to be set before kings : so the lord jesus christ melts the bodies of his saints by death , and out of their dead ashes and cinders will form a vessel of gold , a glorious body , fit to live with god and sing hallelujahs in heaven to all eternity . 2. what are those transfigurations and transformations that christ shall make in our bodies at this day ? what is this metamorphosis , wherein doth it consist ? it is impossible to set out all the glorious excellencies with which christ will adorn our bodies in the great day of the resurrection . quae sit & quam magna spiritualis corporis gloria quoniam nondum venit in experimentum , vereor ne temerarium sit omne quod de illâ profertur eloquium , how great the glory of our spirituall bodies shall be , because we have no experience of it , i fear it will be rashness for any man ( saith austin ) to speak peremptorily about it : it will be the marriage day between christ and his saints , and he will endow their bodies with glorious qualities as well as their souls , for he assumed their bodies as well as their souls , suffered in body as well as in soul , died for their bodies as well as for their souls , and therefore will glorifie their bodies as well as their souls . give me leave to mention some of those glorious perfections with which our vile bodies shall be beautified at that day . 1. the bodies of the saints at the resurrection shall be free from all sinne , paul shall not then complain of a law in his members rebelling against the law of his minde , nor cry out , oh miserable man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? we shall at that day not only have a posse non peccare , a possibility not to sinne , as adam had in innocency , but a non posse peccare , an impossibility of sinning . 2. our bodies shall be made immortall and incorruptible , 1 cor. 15. 53 , 54. this mortall shall put on immortality , as a garment never to be put off again ; death shall be swallowed up in victory adam in innocency , as he had a power not to sinne , so also not to die ; but the saints at the resurrection shall have an impossibility of sinning and of dying . not but that our bodies are naturally corruptible even at the resurrection , but by the presence of god filling them , they shall be made like the angels , immortall . and if embalming the body can preserve it from putrefaction for many years , much more will the presence of god preserve it from death for ever . 3. the third endowment is brightness and splendour , it is sown in dishonour , but it is raised in glory , 1 cor. 15. 43. the body is not so miserable under the curse , as it is blessed in the promise . as in the state of corruption it is abased lower then all created bodies , so in the state of glory it is exalted higher then all other bodies ; for the righteous shall shine forth as the sunne in the kingdom of their father . not that they shall not out-shine the sunne , but because there is no more shining body visible to us , therefore are the bodies of the saints in glory compared thereunto . the glory of the body ( saith one ) will exceed all the beauty and splendour of gems , pearls , heavens , sunne , moon and starres , yea even the heaven of heavens , though all were put together . this text tells us , that our vile bodies shall be made {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , conformable to the glorious body of christ . this is abundantly sufficient to set out the glory of our body at that day : for the body of christ now in heaven is unexpressibly glorious . we have a specimen of this in the transfiguration , matth. 17. 2. peter , james and john were not able to bear the sight of the glory there manifested , which yet was but a glimpse of that glory which he now hath in heaven . some divines are of opinion , that the brightness which paul saw when he was strook blinde and fell to the earth , was the brightness of the body of jesus christ . sure i am , that christs body is the light of heaven : and if stephens face in this life was seen as the face of an angel ; if moses his face did so shine in being fourty dayes with god , that the people could not behold it , how glorious shall our bodies be when we shall be for ever with the lord , and when our bodies of vileness shall be fashioned like unto the glorious body of jesus christ ? 4. the fourth endowment is beauty and comeliness : the bodies of the saints shall be perfectly compleat in all their parts ; if maimed and defective here , it shall be supp●ied at that day , which is a day of restitution of all things , acts 3. 21. and not only so , but all crookedness , lameness and ill-favouredness , which are the fruits of sinne , shall be removed , jacob shall halt no more , nor mephibosheth complain of lameness , nor isaac of dimness . as the body of adam in innocency was lovely and beautifull , compleat in all its parts , so shall ours be at the resurrection . 5. the fift is majesty : great shall be the majesty of the body at the resurrection . if a good man in this life hath such a majesty in his countenance , as to cause men to fear to sinne in his company ; if valens the emperour said of basil , that he never looked upon him , but his countenance strock an awe and terror into him : oh what majesty will be in the faces and countenances of the saints in that day ? 6. the sixth is spirituality : it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body , 1 cot. 15. 44. not spiritual for substance but for qualities : for 1. it shall have no need of meat or sleep , &c. but shall be as the angels of god , matth. 22. 30. non quoad angelicam essentiam , sed angelicas proprietates . tertullian saith , that the saints shall have corpora reformata & angelificata . if moses was fourty dayes upon the mount without meat and without sleep , upheld by the power of god in the state of mortality , much more shall we be upheld for ever in the state of immortality . 2. it shall be a spiritual body , because it shall be absolutely subject to the spirit . in the state of glory , the soul shall not depend upon the body , but the body upon the soul . in this life the soul is as it were carnall because so serviceable to the flesh , but then the body shall be spiritual because so serviceable to the spirit . 7. the seventh is agility and nimbleness : it shall be able to move upwards and downwards , like a bird in the aire ; luther saith , that the body shall be able to move up and down like a thought . austin saith , it shall move to any place it will as soon as it will . the scripture saith some such thing , 1 thes. 4. 17. we shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the lord in the ayre , as so many aegles flying up to their blessed carcass . upon this account also it is said , that we shall be as the angels , because we shall be able to move as they do : if the saints shall be like the sunne in its brightness , why not ( saith one ) in its motion also , which the learned allow to move a million , and one hundred sixty thousand miles in an hour : if so swift may be the motion of natural , how swift the motion of glorified bodies shall be , we shall know when we come to make use of it . the eighth endowment is powerfulnes : it is sown in weakness , but it shall rise in power , 1 cor. 15. 43. the power that the body shall have will be wonderfull : luther saith , that it shall have a power to be able to tess the greatest mountains in the world like a ball : anselme saith , they shall be able to shake the whole earth at pleasure ; how true this is we shall know hereafter : sure i am for the present , that the weakest in glory shall be stronger then sampson in his greatest strength : and that the bodies power shall be so great , as to be able to be the souls instrument in the enjoyment of god in all the highest operations without intermission . in this life when the soul is busied about high and sublime matters , the body presently faints , dan. 8. 27. but then it shall attend without any faintness or weariness . in this life the eye is dazeled at the brightness of the sunne ; but then it shall be strengthened to behold glorious sights and not be dazeled at it : the body shall be elevated and strengthened by god , to bear that exceeding eternal weight of glory that shall be put upon it . unto all these glorious perfections and excellent indowments , i might add an admission to behold with our bodily eyes the sight of christ as man . that we shall see christ as man with these eyes , job manifestly testifieth , job 19. 25 , 26 , 27. and that this sight will add much to our happiness is easily evinced : for the sight of christ as man is the next object unto the beatificall vision it self : for the fullness of the godhead dwels in him bodily , and this doth as it were radiate through his body ; hence there must needs arise ( as one saith ) great joy unto the beholder , both from the eminency of , and our interest in this object . christ in glory , and christ in glory ours ; as much of the creator as is possibly visible in the nature of man , will be to be seen in christ ; as much contentation as the creature can be made partakers of by the sight of any one visible object , will be the portion of the beholders of christ , as he is man . all this is in answer to the second question . 3. how is it possible that ever these bodies of ours should rise again , and these vile bodies be made like unto the glorious body of christ ? with man this is impossible , but with god nothing is impossible . my text tells you how this shall be done , even according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself . the lord jesus christ is almighty , and therefore he is able to do it . he that can make a man being nothing , out of the dust of the earth , can certainly repair him out of that dust when he is something . it is as easie to god to give a body to a soul at the resurrection , as to breathe a soul into a body at the first creation . both philosophers and divines write of the phoenix , that first she is consumed to ashes by the heat of the sunne , and that afterwards of her ashes ariseth a young one , which is the same phoenix risen from the dead . the apostle tells us , that the corn must first be cast into the ground , and there die and rot before it will spring up ; which sheweth , that a resurrection from the dead is possible even in nature . what is every night , but the grave ( as it were ) of the dayes light ? what is the morning , but the resurrection of the day ? what is winter , but the death ( as it were ) of fruits ? and what the spring , but the resurrection of them ? what is death , but a pulling down of the house of our bodies ? and what is the resurrection , but the building up of the same house more gloriously ? and cannot the almighty god do this ? we see by experience , that our most curious glasses , are made by art even of ashes ; and cannot the omnipotent and everliving god , raise mens dead bodies out of ashes ? the earth and sea are gods stewards , with whom he hath betrusted the bodies of men ; and when god shall call them to give an account of their stewardship , they will faithfully discharge their trust , and will not keep back one dead body . the grave is but the bodies withdrawing-room or sleepi●g-place , and the time will come , when they that are asleep in the dust of the earth shall awake , &c. dan. 12. 2. and it is as easie for god to distinguish between dust and dust , and to give to every man his own dust , as it is for a gardiner that hath divers seeds in his hand to sever them , and know them one from another . a curious watch-maker can undo his watch , and put it together again . a skilfull alchymist can extract one mettall out of another : much more can almighty god distinguish one dust from another , as well as one man from another . in a word : it is as easie for god to make our vile bodies glorious , as it is for a beggar to put off his raggs , and to put on the apparrel of a king . our dear and reverend brother did fully beleeve this , and therefore he three times in my hearing repeated these words ; according to his mighty power , his mighty power , even his mighty power , he is able to change this vile body of mine , and make it like unto his glorious body . 4. shall all bodies be made thus glorious ? no : the bodies of the wicked shall rise at the last day , but it shall be to their everlasting shame , ruin and confusion . they shall be immortall , but they shall be immortall fuell to immortall flames . the bodies of the wicked shall come out of their gravos as out of their prisons , and as so many malefactors to appear before an angry judg. they shall come out of their graves as the chief baker did out of prison , to be hung in chains in hell for ever , where they shall endure all kind of extremities figured out unto us by the sad condition of dives , who could not get a drop of water to cool his tongue . the bodies of the wicked shall be as ugly , loathsome carcasses to look upon , and their faces shall gather blackness and darkness , isa. 66. 24. they shall arise with great fear and trembling , and shall call to the hils and mountains to cover and hide them from the presence of the lamb . oh the horror and astonishment that shall be at that day , when the foul of a wicked man shall come out of hell , and be again united to the body : how will the body curse the soul , and the soul the body ? how will they befool one another ? certainly this greeting will be very terrible ; the lord grant we may never come to have experience of it . 5. what are the characters of those men and women , whose vile bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of christ ? 1. there is one character of them in the text : if thou art one that hast thy conversation in heaven , then thy body shall be made glorious : for our conversation is in heaven , from whence also we look for a saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , &c. if thou beest a man that mindest earthly things ; if ambitious , covetous or voluptuous ; if given over to fulfill the lusts of the flesh , thy body shall rise , but it shall rise to everlasting condemnation : but if heavenly-minded ; if thy disposition and conversation be heavenly , when christ comes from heaven , he will make thy body heavenly and glorious . 2. if a reall member of christs mysticall body , thou shalt be made partakers of the glory of christs natural body . christ hath a double body , a body mysticall , and a body naturall : if thou beest a reall member of christs mysticall body , i say a reall member , not only a member by outward profession , but by a holy conversation ; if truly united by a heart-purifying faith unto christs mysticall body , thou shalt be conformable in glory to christs naturall body : and therefore it is said , that at the day of judgment christ shall be glorified in his saints . here he is glarified by his saints , but then he shall be glorified in his saints , that is , in the glory that the members of his mysticall body shall have at that day . for christ shall then have a double glory ; 1. a personall glory ; for he shall come with power and great glory , matth. 24. 30. 2. a sociall glory , a glory which he communicates to his saints , and by which glory he shall be glorified . for when christ who is our life shall appear , then shall we appear with him in glory . and the glory of the members shall redound to the glory of the head : therefore the saints are called , the glory of christ , 2 cor. 8. 23. if a member of christ , though but as the toe in his body , thou shalt be filled brim full of glory at the resurrection . 3. if thy soul be gracious here , thy body shall be glorious hereafter : if cloathed with christs righteousness , if enriched with the jewels of the spirit , thy body shall be everlastingly beautifull and glorious ; for the happiness of the body depends upon the souls happiness . if when thou diest thy soul goeth to hell , thy body at the resurrection must go thither also : if to heaven , thy body will follow it thither also : according as thy soul is , beautifull or deformed , so shall thy body be happy or miserable . so much in answer to the five questions . vse 1. to you that are the saints of the most high god , who have your conversation in heaven while you are upon earth , who are reall members of christs mysticall body , whose souls are adorned with the robe of christs righteousness ; to beseech you to consider the blessed and happy condition that your bodies shall be in at the resurrestion , for then your vile bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , shall be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; then shall you shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of your father : all sinne , and all sorrow , and all bodily deformities shall be utterly removed ; you shall be as the angels of god in heaven , your bodies shall be honourable , glorious , powerfull , spirituall , perfectly beautifull , lovely and majesticall , and ( as aquinas saith ) transparent like glass . let the consideration of this 1. comfort you against the fear of death : as god said to jacob , gen. 46. 3 , 4. fear not to go down into egypt , for i will go down with thee , and i will also surely bring theo up again , &c. so let me say to you , feat not to go down to the house of rottenness , fear not to lay down your heads in the dust , for god will certainly bring you out again , and you shall come out in a most glorious manner : fear not to have this house of your body pulled down , for god will rear it up again , and make of it a most glorious structure . 2. let this comfort you against the death of your godly friends ; for when a godly man dies , nothing dies totally and finally in him but sinne : death to a saint is nothing else but sepultura vitiorum , a burying of his sinne . non homo sed peccatum hominis moritur , the man dies not but his sinne ; for the soul doth not die at all , but is immediately taken up into the bosome of god ; and the body , though it be turned into dust , yet even this dust is pretious in gods sight ; this dust is part of gods elestion , this dust is united to jesus christ , ( and therefore when a saint dies , he is said to fall asleep in christ , 1 cor. 15. 18. and to be dead in christ , 1 thes. 4. 16. ) and at the last day it shall be raised up again . it is sown in corruption , but it shall be raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonour , it shall be raised in glory : it is sown in weakness , it shall be raised in power : it is sown a naturall body , it shall be raised a spirituall body , there is a text in job , which our reverend brother did mention often in his sickness , and with which he did seem to be much refreshed , it is job 21. 33. the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him . which words , though spoken of the wicked , yet are in a more eminent manner applicable to the true saint , who sleeps quietly and sweetly in his grave as in his bed , free from all trouble and molestation . 3. let this comfort those that have diseased or deformed bodies , that are troubled with the stone , gout , strangury , disiness in the head , or any other disease whereby they are made unserviceable , or at least not able to do that good they would : there will a day come wherein they shall be perfectly healed and cured : the resurrection is the saints best physitian . 4. let this encourage you to be willing ( if god call you to it ) to part with your ears , eyes , leggs , hands , or head it self , for the keeping of a good conscience ; for you shall have all your limbs restored to you again at the great day of restitution of all things . famous is the story that josephus tells of one of the seven children in the maccabees , who when he was to have his tongue cut out and his ears cut off , he said to his mother , these members i have received from heaven , and for the law of my god i despise them , and trust that i shall receive them again : i shall have a better tongue at the resurrection of the just . 5. let this exhort you especially that are true saints , whose bodies by grace are become the temples of the holy ghost ; to labour to glorifie god in your bodies as well as in your spirits , for they are gods , and they are bought with a price as well as your souls . to labour to keep under your bodies , and to bring them into subjection : to yeeld your members as instruments of righteousness unto god , and as servants of righteousness unto holiness . let me beseech you by the mercies of jesus christ who hath redeemed your bodies , that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto god , which is your reasonable service . think not any service too much for god with those bodies which shall one day be made so beautifull and glorious . let godly ministers be encouraged to wear out their bodies in their ministeriall imployments , for they that turn many unto righteousness , shall shine as starres for ever and ever . vse 2. to you that are wicked , that is , who are members of the devil , whose souls are beleapred with sinne , who minde earthly things , whose god is your belly , whose glory is your shame ; to beseech you to consider the sad and miserable condition you shall be in at that day . your bodies indeed shall rise , but they shall rise unto everlasting cindemnation , joh. 5. 24. and unto everlasting shame and contempt , dan. 12. 2. your vile bodies shall then be cursed bodies , and your sinfull bodies shall be tormented for ever with the worm that never dieth , and the fire that never goeth out . vse 3. a divine project how to make your bodies beautifull and glorious . if there were a physician here upon earth that could cure all your bodily diseases and deformities , and make them immortall , how would you prize him ? i have told you this day of such a physician , even the lord jesus christ , who shall one day come from heaven on purpose to make our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . oh that this word were mingled with faith ! methinks if any motive could prevail with you that are gentlewomen and great ladies , this should , behold a way how to make your bodies eternally beautifull ! what trouble and pain do many women that are crooked endure , by wearing iron bodies to make themselves strait ? what vast expences are many at for the beautifying of their rotten carcasses ? hearken unto me thou proud dust and ashes , thou guilded mud , that labourest to beautifie thy body by vain , foolish and sinfull deckings and trimmings , and thinkest thy self deckt in the want of decking , that pamperest thy body in all voluptuousness , and makest thy self by thy strange fashions so unlike thy self , as that if our civil fore-fathers were alive again , they would wonder what strange monster thou wert . hearken unto me i say , and consider thy madness and folly : by labouring so much to adorn thy body with the neglect of thy soul , thou undoest both body and soul . the only way to make thy body for ever beautifull , is ( as i have said ) 1. to have thy conversation in heaven while thou art upon earth , and when christ comes from heaven , he will change thy vile body and make it like his gloriom body . 2. to labour to be a reall member of christs mysticall body , and then thou shalt partake of the glory of his naturall body . 3. to get a gracious soul here , and thou shalt be sure to have a glorious body and soul hereafter . there is a saying of bernard worthy to be written in letters of gold : christ hath a treble coming : once he came in the flesh for the good of our souls and bodies : now he comes in the spirit ( by the preaching of his ministers ) for the good of our souls . at the last day he shall come for the good of our bodies to beautifie them and glorifie them . noli oh homo praeripore tempora , do not oh man mistake thy time ! this present life is not the time for thy body : it is appointed for the beautifying of thy soul , and adorning it with grace and holiness . the resurrection is the time wherein christ will come from heaven to make thy body glorious . how quite contrary to this do most people live ? let it be our wisdom ( with the children of issachar ) to have understanding of the times . study in this your day to get good and gracious souls , and you shall be sure at the great day to have blessed and most glorious bodies . labour to get your souls beautified by christs second coming with justification and sanctification , and christ at his third coming will make thy body glorious above expression . having finished my discourse upon the text , i know it is expected that i should speak something of our dear and reverend brother , whose sad funerals we now celebrate . it hath pleased god within a little space to take to himself many godly and able ministers , which without doubt is a very great judgment ; and the greater , because most people are so little sensible of it . and not only a great judgment in it self , but a presage of greater to come ; for the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none cinsidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . the rabbins have a saying , quando luminaria patiuntur eclipsim malum signum est mundo , it is an ill sign to the world when the luminaries of heaven are eclipsed . god hath extinguished many glorious lights of late , i need not put you of this city in minde of dr gouge , mr walker , mr whitaker , mr gataker , mr strong , &c. nor you of the university of dr hill , and now of this godly minister dr samuel bolton late master of christs colledge in cambridg . if i should enter upon his commendation , i may truly say what gregory nazianzen doth of his sister gorgonia , that there is more fear least i should speak too little , then that i should speak too much . he was a burning and shining light in this our israel , an interpreter one of a thousand : a man of excellent ministerial abilities , a workman that needed not to be ashamed , dividing aright the word of truth . he was one that did study not only {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only to preach well , but to live well : his life was an excellent commentary upon his sermons . as nazianzen saith of john baptist ( who is called the voice of the cryer , ) that he was all voice : a voice in his habit , a voice in his diet , a voice in his dwelling , a voice in his conversation , as well as in his preaching : so may i truly say of our reverend brother , he was tota vox , all voice ; a voice in his life as well as in his doctrine ; he lived his own sermons , and preached louder by his good conversation then by his heavenly doctrine . nam vita praedicatorum est vocalissima . what ruffinus saith of gregory nazianzen , may fitly be applied unto our dear brother ; he did those things himself which he taught to others , neither did he condemn himself by practising contrary to what he preached . he had not only dona honoraria , but dona salutifera : not only gifts for the good of others , but graces for the good of his own soul . there are many ministers that have rare gifts , but they are like a pearl in a toads-head , because their lives give a lye to their doctrines : but this our reverend brother had not only gratias gratis datas , but gratias gratum facientes , he was not only learned but religious , and ( which is his highest commendation ) he was an humble saint . there are four things ( saith luther ) that make a minister , prayer , reading , meditation and temptation : our christian brother was not only a man of prayer , reading and meditation , but a man assaulted with many temptations , with more i beleeve then many hundred of ministers are . he was often buffeted by satan , and therefore more able to comfort them that were in trouble , by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of god . and let me take the boldness to tell you , that he hath left a writing behind him , wherein he hath recorded all the outgoings of god towards him , and all the experiences of gods shining with the light of his countenance upon him , and also of his withdrawings and hiding his face from him : he hath written down both the apogaeum's and perigaeum's ( as i may so speak ) both those times wherein god was at a distance from him , and when he approached neerer to him . his desire to win souls to christ by preaching was so great , that though he was head of a colledge in cambridg , and had no ministeriall charge of his own , yet notwithstanding he preached gratis once every lords day for many years together . the like is said in print of that reverend and godly minister dr hill late master of trinity colledge . here i must not forget what hath been told me since the preaching of this sermon ; that our dear brother , in the ordinary course of his ministry , had preached over the third chapter to the philippians , to the latter end of the verse immediatly before my text : and behold how by the overruling providence of god ( unknown to me ) it hath hapned , that the last verse of the same chapter ( which he left unfinished ) was chosen for his funeral sermon . but though he lived not to preach of this verse , yet he now lives in heaven , waiting for that blessed time , when his vile body shall be raised out of the grave , and be made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . before he was master of christs colledge , he preached three or four years in this place , six or seven years at saviours southwark , and for some time at andrews in holburn , to the great satisfaction of all the godly that waited upon his ministry . and though he be now dead , yet he still speaks , not only by the holiness of his life and graciousness of his doctrine , but also by the many books he hath left in print , in which you may behold a fair character of his piety and ministeriall abilites . he was very orthodox , and sound in judgment , he had no spiritual leprosie in his head , witness those two books of his , the arraignment of error , and a vindication of the rights of the law , and liberties of grace . he was of a publike spirit ; witness that book of his a word in season to a sinking kingdom . he was very carefull in admitting men and women to the sacrament of the lords supper ; witness that book of his called , the wedding garment . the time of his sickness was long , tedious and costly ; his diseases many , very many , but his patience was exceeding great : he would usually say , that though the providences of god were dark towards him , yet he had light within . a little before he died , he said to one that was lifting him up , let me alone , let me lie quietly , for i have as much comfort as heart can hold . the last time i was with him , i found him wonderfully desirous to be dissolved and to be with christ : i heard him say , oh this vile carcass of mine , when will it give way that my soul may get out and go to my god ? when will this rotten carcass be consumed , that i may mount up to heaven ? and when he saw any probable symptoms of death ( which he called the little crevises at which his soul did peep out ) he was exceedingly joyfull . it was his desire to be buried without any funeral pomp ; which puts me in minde of a saying recorded in the life of pellican , of an vncle of his who would not be buried in his scholastick habit ( as the custom then was ) testamento cavit ne aliter sepeliretur quam simplex alius christianus , he ordered it in his will , to be buried as a private christian , and not as a doctor ; and the reason he gives is , because he hoped resurrecturum se ad judicium , non ut sacerdotem & doctorem , sed ut humilem christianum , that he should rise at the day of judgment , and appear before god , not as a priest or doctor , but as an humble christian . this was the desire and hope of our reverend brother , and this text that i have preached on , was matter of great rejoycing unto him whilest he thought of that day when his vile body , subject to so many diseases , should be made like unto the glorious body of christ , according to the working , the mighty working ( as he three times repeated it ) whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself . and so i leave him in the arms of his blessed saviour , beseeching god to make up this great loss of him to the church of christ in generall , and to the vniversity of cambridg in particular . finis . to the memory of the right worshipfull samvel bolton , d. d. late master of chr. coll. in cambridg . come , let our petty brooks of sorrow fall into a full swolne stream of generall sadness , in pursuit of that blest soul hence put off to the eternal confluence and ocean of goodness ; happy he whose grief is swallow'd in that blissefull sea . weep we once more ( whose fathers hast'ned death and church-estate expiring with their breath , make us a lower sort of orphans ) we who found in him still freshest memory of whose we were , that tenderness of heart which the deceased spirits seem'd to impart . and yet nor we nor she ( from whose torn breast death snatcht away th'indearing close lodg'd guest , untimely , misaccounting his years summe and hudling up in 's life , dayes yet to come . such were our hopes , and such the promises of a firm tempers seeming healthfulness . ) nor we nor she to private loss must pay , what we should in the common treasure lay . in universaller calamity , there 's sacriledg in such a privacy . such is the fright when the main body flies or gives ground , or when a souldier spies a breach in the chief-fortress ; so were we ( who fanci'd a blest perpetuity ) appaled when we saw his strength decline whom we wisht as immortal as divine . the colledg scarce could hear 't , though by degrees we were dril'd on into our miseries . was it death's mercy , or deaths cruelty ? that we might feel , or fit our selves to dy ? we languish'd all the while in him , at last into th'dead colledg all our fellow 's past . this grief 's too straight still , and he little knew , what the world ow'd , that thinks his tears undue . doth not , if such a part of goodness fall , goodnesses common spirit convey to all a members sadness ? i'n't the church throughout its body pained when an eie's put out ? where shall we now such a meek moses finde to recall wrangling brethren to one minde ? many will help it on , but who 'le bemoan a sad church rent into division ? 't was the work of a soul , as his , orecome with benigne sweetness , such a one in whom dwelt th'image of full goodness , as above calme and serene in its firm peace and love . one to the world so dead that evermore in the worlds things he seem'd stept out of doore , as one that 's gone for some few hours abroad , or whom some small affairs call out of 's road . then was he at his home , then onely free when the employment was pure heavenly . how naturally in spiritual discourse was his speech fluent , ready , without force and unaffected , one might safely say , then he was in his temper , in 's own way . like him who tyred with a barb'rous sound in a strange country , happily hath found one of his natives : now he may reflect on his own home in 's well known dialect . view his divine attendance , his soul prest on messages to heaven , and addrest to his immortal fathers , not with words which malapert buffons speak to their lords : nor peremptory sauciness , built on a fond god-levelling communion . but in beseeming reverence . by and by ( as toucht by'illapses of divinity ) rais'd into heav'nly ardors : while just as bodies mov'd swifty , along where they pass by their own violence impress a motion ev'n on by-standing dulness . his devotion rouz'd and enliv'ned all the neighbour hearts by holy-magick touch more then the arts of pulpit-orators , more motive he snatcht our souls up by vigorous sympathy . such was his zeal , a fire not nourished by earthy matter , purer then what 's fed by popular applause and basest gain , his zeal was of a farre more heav'ly strain . it ner'e gave fire to cannon , nor did light musquitiers matches : in no civil fight was it a conduct , or ere serv'd in flame to burn dissenters bodies or their name . such searching fires earths mixture do proclaime ▪ when , like some wandring fires , from book to book skipt it ? from paul to littleton or cook ? 't was pure and steady , powerfull , nor fierce . by gentleness it had the might to pierce a sinners heart , asham'd to see more sense in him then in himself who did th'offence . in preaching , prayer and life we well might see divineness : man now , in mortality . plead not , blest soul , against us , that th'art gone as tyr'd with us dull to be wrought upon . that thou mad'st hast impatient of our stay who fondly loytring would not hie away . 't is but our guilt , hee 's more good now , nor farre , christs-colledg keeper still and tutelar . j. sedgwick . chr. col. c. an epitaph on the truly religious and learned doctor bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . tyr'd with a body , and the age , here lyes one that was holy , learned , just , and wise ; liv'd when the court seem'd heavy , and the see grew proud , yet patience preach'd and modesty . though fears urg'd fears , and hope pursued hope , pulpits 'gainst pulpits bandied , yet the scope both of his text and life was peace ; fair peace ! heaven's legacy , the busie world's scorn'd ease ! by taking care of souls he did not mean providing lordships for his heirs ; so clean , so spotless were his aimes : his greatest store , was love and praise ; promotion made him poor . 't was not the practise of his zeal to grone against plurality and neglect his one . his matter alwayes did become the place , diurnals never turnd the second glasse . call'd from the city , he succeed one turnd out by death , fates sequestration : which place he serv'd with chearfull love and care , firm justice , open candour , hearty prayer , ( free from base shriveled faction , hungry strife , ) ev'n to the loss of riches , health and life . stay , reader , and bestow a tear on this dusty fruitfull bed , the spring will then dwell alwayes here , and violets ner'e hang the head . pray , the earth may lightly presse her entrusted urne below ; may the same prayer thy reliques blesse , when they shall rest , as his do now . t. standish . upon the death of the pious and learned samuel bolton , doctor of divinity and master of christs colledge in cambridg . not that my gadding muse affects to shew her courser beauties to the common view ; not that she thinks such harsh ill-tuned layes , as hers , are fit to celebrate thy praise ; dares she present these verses ; but as they who hundreds hold of others , yet do pay nought but a pepper-corn : by this she showes though she brings little , yet 't is much she owes to thy dear memory and honour'd name , immortal bolton , heir of lasting fame . whose known deserts and unreproved worth needs not her slender skill to blaze it forth : but can commend it self to after-times without the help of elegiack rimes . though others under brasse and marble plac'd , keep not their names and titles undefac'd ; though monuments themselves decay , and must confess their ruins , and resolve to dust ; though all things else be subject to the laws of fickle change and times devouring jaws ; yet wisdome hath a ne're decaying root and vertuous pains bring everlasting fruit : and they that labour'd have and liv'd like thee , their names shall last to all eternity . nor seems it strange that vertuous men should best oblivion scape , which oft involves the rest of things and persons , whose poor low desires are not affected with such high aspires . the principles by which most men do move are private interest and base self-love : so farre their friendship and their hate extends it self , as serves their own contracted ends . hence as that earth-begotten brood which grew from teeth which cadmus in the furrowes threw , within a while by civil discord slain , return'd unto her mother earth again and scarce left any token to appear to tell th'ensuing age that once they were : so bad men quickly vanish , and are gone buried in earth and dark oblivion . but those like thee whose more enlarged breast with better thoughts and purer fire 's possest ; who make themselves no scope to which they bend their actions but the common good attend ; cannot pass unregarded hence but fame ennobles and perpetuates their name . who ere did to the infant world impart some signal benefit or usefull art , had temples built unto him : hence arose ceres and bacchus and such gods as those . would truth dispense and piety admit of such like deities , 't were farre more fit t' account thee one then those that taught us how to tread the winepress first and hold the plow : since this grand difference 'twixt thee we finde and them ; they fed the body thou the minde . wm w bryche . on the deplored death of the reverend doctour samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . to mourn in verse , and write an elegie , is even grown as common as to die ; poëtick sorrow serves but for a mask to other passions ; 't were an easie task for grief that 's feigned , or at best but fain'd to boast it self in eloquent complaint . but where internall sorrow hath possest the very vitals , and corrodes the breast with inward care , where the oppressed heart doth inly languish with consuming smart ; the soul is choaked , and the spirits spent with mutual conflict , e're they finde a vent . such reall anguish , such unfeigned grief , doth scarce admit the pitifull relief of sighs and tears ; such dolour scarce affords imperfect sentences , and broken words . the case is ours , whom sorrows violence hath strongly touched with a vigorous sense of our calamity : whose deep distress our mindes with grief astonish'd can't express . no wonder then in so just cause of tears and sad complaints , so little pomp appears of mournfull elegies , and funerall songs ; this loss doth more affect our hearts then tongues . our sincere mourning seeks not after fame in these iust rites ; let others then proclaim their forced sorrow with exalted cries , our reall grief makes silent obsequies . w. leigh . upon the death of the reverend , his never to be forgotten friend , dr bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . is bolton dead ? and shall not england weep , that we no longer such a saint could keep . alas ! the world not worthy was of thee , the saints above did want thy companie . thy virtues , graces , praises , and thy worth , no tongue alive is able to set forth . thou wast a burning , and a shining light in this ovr orb ; few left which shine so bright . thy minister ' all gifts , thy zeal , were rare thy piety , no less thy gifts in pray'r . and in a word ( blest soul ! ) thee to commend ; thy praise knows no beginning nor no end . john crofts minist. c. c. c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32058e-1530 a tremelius . b beza . corpus humilitatis pro eorpore humili ; hebraismo non ignoto . justinianus in locum . the greek for a body is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 cor. 5. bernard . gen. 2. 7. vse . lesson 1. isa , 40. job 13. 25 , 28. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . lesson 2. rom. 6. 6. in vita ejus per hieronymum . lesson 3. lesson 4. lesson 5. lesson 6. 1 cor. 6. 15. 19. 3. 17. doct. 2. quest . 1. answ. 1 thes. 4. 15. job 19. 25 , 26 , 27. 1 cor. 15. 53. quest . 2 ▪ answ. aug. de civ. dei , lib. 22. rom. 7. mat. 13. 43. m. norton in his orthodox evangelist . acts 9. rom. 22. 23. acts 6. 15. exod. 34. 30. vbi volet spiritus , ibi protenus erit corpus . m. norton . norton in his orthodox evangelist . quest . 3. answ. tertul. 1 cor. 15. quest . 4. answ. quest . 5. answ. 1. answ. 2. 2 thes. 1. 10. col. 3. 3. answ. 2. matth. 13. 43. 1 cor. 9. 27. rom. 6. 13. 14. 1 chro. 12. 31. isa. 57. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gregorius vir per omnia incomparabilis , qui verbo & operibus clarus splendididissimum lumen scientiae ecclesiae praebuit , dum ca docuit quae fecit , nec seipsum condemnavit agendo contraria quam docebat . dr tuckney in his funerall sermon of dr hill . melchior adamus in vita pellicani . a funeral sermon preached at newport-pagnell, april 11, 1697 on the occasion of the sudden death of william maxwell, a pious and hopeful young scholar belonging to harvard-colledge, in cambridge, new-england. gibbs, john, 1627?-1699. 1697 approx. 27 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42696 wing g662a estc r28403 10586070 ocm 10586070 45289 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42696) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45289) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1384:59) a funeral sermon preached at newport-pagnell, april 11, 1697 on the occasion of the sudden death of william maxwell, a pious and hopeful young scholar belonging to harvard-colledge, in cambridge, new-england. gibbs, john, 1627?-1699. 16 p. printed for h. nelme, london : 1697. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng maxwell, william, d. 1696. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-04 celeste ng sampled and proofread 2007-04 celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon preached at newport-pagnell , april 11. 1697. on the occasion of the sudden death of william maxwell , a pious and hopeful young scholar , belonging to harvard-colledge , in cambridge , new-england : and aaron held his peace , lev. 10. 3. i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it , psal . 39. 9. mihi vivere , est christus , & mori lucrum . london : printed for h. nelme , at the leg and star , over against the royal exchange , 1697. to the parents of the deceased . the design of this plain discourse , was to minister a word of counsel ( and if the lord would bless it ) of comfort to you , under that awful and afflicting providence , that hath of late befallen you , which tho' very surprizing , yet is it common to good and bad : and as it was principally delivered on your account , so at your request i have transcribed the copy , and put it into your hand to be disposed of at your pleasure . the publishing of it was far from my thoughts , when i preached it , and is altogether averse to my inclination , tho' to gratifie you ( whose desire i could not well with-stand ) i gave my self the trouble of writing it over . you have , my friends , no cause to give too much vent unto your sorrow , for upon very good grounds you have reason to hope , that he whom you love , is with him that loves him better than you , and is safely arriv'd at the haven of rest , that you are desirous at last to come unto . what tho' his race was short , his rest is the longer : and if he be gone a little before you , you follow after ; and if you are prepared , as i doubt not he was , you will meet together in an unspeakable , unconceivable , far better state and place , then was to be injoyed , or can , in this vail of tears . he is wholly set free from all those evils that you are still exposed unto , and is warm in that bosom wherein you hope to be lodged for ever . my love to him ( for the relation i stood in ) was very great from his childhood , for i do not remember that i did ever see any thing in him , but what did deserve it : his nature was very lively , and his deportment very obliging , that drew respect unto him from neighbours as well as relations , that had knowledge of him . and since his departure out of his native country , you have had such a full account , from good hands , of his pious and gracious behaviour , that should command your silence under this sharp providence . and , methinks should not make it difficult for you to determine , whether you have greater cause of mourning , in parting from such a child , than of rejoycing that you had so good and hopeful a one , how many , alas ! poor parents , that beget , and bring forth children for the destroyer ; when you had one for the saviour , whom he sought , and now doth , and will for ever enjoy . it becomes you not therefore to mourn , as those that have no hope : that the lord , who hath done it , would sanctifie this stroak , and by the manifestations of his love to your souls , sweeten this bitter cup , and fully satisfie you with his will , is and shall be the prayer of your sympathizing friend and relation , j. g. postscript . christian reader , this sermon not being intended to come into publick view , i shall only advertise thee , that the objection about unlawful ways of getting the good things of this world , with the answers thereunto , not being suited unto a funeral discourse , were a digression designed to cure , or prevent a great transgression , which some worldly auditors fall into , or may be in danger so to do , unto the dishonour of god , and the hazarding of the eternal destruction of their immortal souls . a funeral sermon , &c. job ii. 10. what , shall we receive good at the hand of god , and shall we not receive evil ? this book is intituled the book of job , for the principal matter contained therein doth concern him ▪ who was the pen-man of it is ●●certain , neither is it much material for us to ●●●w . the first verse gives us his picture draw● 〈◊〉 the finger of god , which he twice attested unto the teeth of satan , ver. 8. chap. 2 , 3. which did draw the malice and envy of satan against him . we have also an inventory of his wealth , ver. 2 , 3. the loving and friendly practice of his children , 4. this good man's fear , and godly course , 5. satan's desire to try him ; a commission given him , with a limitation , 12. he goes to the utmost length of his chain . upon the sad messages brought to him , we find he had a sense of his afflictions , and by outward gestures did demonstrate it , 20. yet did manifest a gracious frame of heart under all , 21. satan's commission , with a limitation , renewed , 't is executed to the full , chap. 2. 6 , 7. job's wife , in discontent , gives him very ill counsel , ver. 9. job replies , ver. 10. wherein he gently reproves her , 2. gives a valid reason for this reproof , in the words of my text , in a double interrogation : what ? as if he should say , what bad advice do you give me ? what would you have me to sin against god ? then shall we receive good at the hand of god , and not evil ? interrogations are a kind of quick and smart speaking ; and in this place it imports the anger of job at this evil counsel ; shall we receive , &c. the good here spoken of , i presume , doth only intend the good things of this life , such as abraham speaks of , luke 16 ▪ 25. unto the rich man ; though some extend it to the good things of the othe● 〈◊〉 also , at the hand , or from the hand , or ●●●●●●ence of god ; and shall we not receive 〈◊〉 not the evil of sin ; for god gives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor doth man , though full of this ev●●●●ceive it from him ; but the evil of troubl● 〈◊〉 affliction , those in scripture are frequently called evil , isa . 45. 7. i create evil . amos 3. 6. is there evil in a city ( i. e. ) any trouble or affliction , that the lord hath not done . called evil , not that there is any evil , either natural or moral in it ; but because it is so in our sense and esteem , or because the common effect of the evil of sin. from these words do arise three observations . 1. that the life of man , in this world , is made up of good and evil ; not all good , nor all evil : not all good , lest we be full , and deny god , as agur said , prov. 30. 8 , 9. not all evil , lest we faint under it , and our lives be too bitter : our life is as checquer-work , that hath white and black lines ; or as the cloud in the wilderness , that had a bright side , as well as a dark one . herein it differs from the future life , or life in the other world , that is either all good , and that in the superlative degree , without any allay of evil , as with the spirits of just men made perfect : or , all evil , without the least mixture of good ; that is , of comfort and refreshment , no not so much as a drop of water ; which is the miserable case of the damned in hell. 2. obs . that the good and evil things we receive , are from the hand of god , either immediately , or mediately . 3dly . which i shall principally insist upon in the doctrinal part , that as we receive good , so must we receive evil , though from his hand ; and make use of the second doctrine in the application . reasons why , and the manner how , we are to receive these evil things from the hand of god. 1. because they come from the same hand that all our good things come : this is the force of the reason given by job . 2. is from the sovereignty of god , psal . 46. 10. job 9. 12. who hath an absolute , unlimited , and indubitable right , to dispose of us , and ours , according to his pleasure , and none may dare to question it . 3. from the wisdom of god , who best knows what to do with us . in wisdom he doth all things , whose understanding is infinite , ps . 147. 5. and therefore is beyond our search , isa . 40. 28. 4. his justice , that doth not , nor can do us any wrong . 5. his goodness is such , that he will do us no harm , nor intends it . 1. all the good we receive from him is more than we deserve , for we are not worthy of the least of his mercies , gen. 32. 10. nay , contrary to our deserts ; for whenever he doth us good , or whatsoever good he bestows on us , he comes over the heads of innumerable sins and offences . 2. the good we receive from him , if weighed in the ballance , will out-weigh all the evils we receive , had we only a naked life . this truth came out of the mouth of the father of lies , that skin for skin , and all that a man hath , will he give for his life , job 2. 4. importing , that life is of so great a value , that it will weigh down all the good we enjoy , and therefore will out-weigh all the evils that we suffer . hence , lam. 3. 39. wherefore doth a living man complain ? have life , and yet complain : which plainly speaks , that where there is life , it is so great a good , that no troubles should so distress us , as to procure sinful complaints : but there are none that live , but have some other good with it ; if nothing else , yet they have time , which is a great good. 3. whatever evil we receive from the hand of god , if we are his people , it is because there is need of it , 1 pet. 1. 6 , 7. the all-wise god , that understands our conditions , sees that we have need of such evil things . it is no pleasurous thing with him to afflict his people , lam. 3. 33. if a wise and faithful physician , that knows our distemper , sees that it is needful to breath a vein , and take away some of our blood , or finds it necessary to prescribe an unpleasing potion to us , we abiding by his judgment , and relying on his fidelity , are willing to receive it ; therefore , 5. we should receive those evil things , because they are designed for our good , heb. 12. 10. and if we receive them as we ought , they will , no doubt , produce that effect , isa . 27. 9. rom. 8. 28. 6. to suffer , or receive those evil things , doth become those that profess themselves to be christians , and to be a christian indeed , and not in name only , is one that takes christ for his all , and resigns up himself , and his all , unto his dispose ; with a consciencious endeavour to be conformable to him who hath left us an example , how to bear the evils that we suffer , 1 pet. 2. the manner how we should receive evil things from the hand of god. 1. with a holy submission unto his will and providence ; it is a cup put into our hand by a merciful and compassionate father , which , tho' it hath some gall in it , as no affliction for the present is joyous , heb. 12. yet there is no poison . john 18. 11. the cup which my father hath given me , shall i not drink it ? christ had a bitter cup in the garden , yet if his father saw it not good it should pass from him , he was willing to take it , mat. 26 , 39. 2. receive evil things from god's hand humbly , either to make us humble , or to keep us humble , to prevent pride , and hide it from our eyes , job 33. 16. or to pull down pride , is one principal end of god in the evil thing he brings upon us ; as it was to israel , in all the hardships they met with in their passage through the howling wilderness , that land of pits , drought , and the shadow of death , deut. 8. 2. pride is so contrary to god , that he cannot bear it in his children , and therefore his day of affliction comes upon them to prevent it , or rebuke for it , as with paul , 2 cor. 12. 7. hence that counsel , 1 pet. 5. 6. humble your selves under the mighty hand of god. he loves to see his children cloathed , or rather adorned with the garment of humility , 1 pet. 5. 5. 3. receive them silently , or patiently , rom. 5. 2. tribulation is said to work patience , or work it out , that patience might be kept in exercise ; he that is without it , had need to pack up , and be gone out of the world , there being so much need of this grace ; patience is exercised either in bearing evils , rom. 12. 12. or in waiting for good things . hence the apostle concludes , we have need of it , heb. 10. 36. as the husbandman , ja. 5. 7 , 8. as we are to do all things without murmuring at the difficulties , or disputing the equity of the command ; so are we to bear and suffer all things from the hand of god , without fretting or discontent , but more of this in the application . 4. receive evil things from god's hand , with reflection upon our own evils , or the evil of our ways , lam. 3. 40. consideration of our ways is necessary , when under the rod , hag. 1. 3. 5. ecl. 7. 14 5. diligently attending , or hearkening to the voice of the rod , mic. 6. 9. that we may know something of the holy ends of god therein : for , there is a reason for every stroak that comes upon us , which we are concerned to inquire into . 6. with prayer and supplication . times of affliction , are proper seasons for prayer , jam. 5. 13. this hath been the constant course of the people of god under the rod , and herein they have often found relief ; pray for strength to bear it ; pray for a blessing upon the rod , that you may be taught as well as chastened , psal . 94. 12. and that the rod may produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness . 7. thankfully , with our holy man , bless god for your afflictions , chap. 1. 21. grace , in a lively exercise , doth not only bring quietness unto the mind in affliction , but raiseth up the heart to admire at god's condescention , chap. 7. 17 , 18. that he will bestow a rod upon us : and thank him for his paternal care of us , and his gentle and favourable dealing with us , who might have scourged us with scorpions . 8. believingly : that according to god's word , our afflictions shall work for our good , as they are designed and appointed . for application , i shall look back to the second doctrine , viz. that our good and evil things , in this life , come from the hand of god. 1. then , our good things come not to us , by that which ignorant people commonly call luck , or fortune , which ought to be cut off from the mouths of christians : that which they call fortune , is the providence of god , without which not a penny comes into your purses , nor a customer into your shops . 2. then our worldly good things comes not to us simply , by our own diligence , care , and industry , i say not only , or simply , but 't is god that gives power to get wealth , deut. 8. 18. none have reason to sacrifice to their own net , or ascribe the good things they have got unto the labour of their hand : for men may , and many do , rise up early , and set up late , and eat the bread of sorrow , psal . 127. 2. and yet add not one cubit to their stature , mat. 6 27. 't is true , the diligent hand , it 's said , maketh rich , prov. 10. 4. yet not without the blessing of the lord , ver . 22. these make rich both in spirituals and temporals , not the one without the other ; not the diligent hand without the blessing of the lord , nor will the blessing of the lord make rich without a diligent hand ; for god is no patron for slothfulness , in the affairs of soul or body . 3. then should we trust in the lord , ps . 37. 3. and rely upon his care and providence , touching the good things of this world , who will give grace , and glory , and with-hold no good thing from them that trust in him , and walk uprightly before him , psal . 84. 11. he that feeds the ravens , will not suffer the young cranes to starve , as that good man said on his death-bed . he that cloaths the grass of the field , will provide garments to cover the nakedness of them that rely upon him. he doth not indeed ingage to provide for them , as he did for the rich man , luk 16. but mean fair may preserve life , as well as costly dishes ; and course cloth will keep warm , as well as fine . 4. if all the good things thou hast come from the hand of god , then be thankful to god for all . render all back to him in praises , that thou receivest from his bountiful hand ; that as of him , and from him are all things ; so all may with thankfulness be returned to him. phil. 4. 6. 5. use and lay out all for him ; the mercies we receive should be improved for his glory : whether we eat , or whether we drink , do all to the glory of god , 1 cor. 10. 31. to honour him with our substance , prov. 3. 9. by doing good , and communicating , especially unto god's poor , gal. 6. 10. and for holy and pious uses , in promoting the gospel and interest of christ . 6. tho' all good things of this life are received from his hand , yet let us not be contented to have our portion in them , that it may not be with us , as with the rich man , luk. 16. who had all his good things in this life ; the lord hath better things than those to give , ps . 84. 11. and we want them : for as our bodies need the one , so do our souls need the other ; and he that chiefly seeks the best , shall not want the worst , so far as god sees them good for us . obj. suppose these good things are wickedly and unjustly gotten , by lying , stealing , defrauding , over-reaching , oppression , and grinding the face of the poor ; do such good things so gotten come from the hand of god ? res . it is too evident , that many by such wicked and ungodly ways do gain these things ; and that there are too few that in their commerce and dealings with men , do with conscience observe that excellent rule given by christ , mat. 7. 12. whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you , do ye even so unto them . 2. yet the things themselves being good , as they are good , do proceed from god ; but the unjust and unlawful means by which they are gained , are from the wickedness of the heart of man , as judas his thirty pieces . 3. these things thus gained come from god , but not in a way of mercy , but in his wrath and displeasure , to fatten them against the day of slaughter . the lord smiteth his hand at their dishonest gain , ezek. 22. 13. alluding to a man , when angry , that smiteth his hands at the party that offends him , and the lord will avenge such , 1 thes . 4. 6. i have read of a great lady , that being in a city that was besieged , contracted with the besiegers to deliver up the city , on condition they would give her all the gold , jewels , and precious stones , that were found therein . agreement was made , the city delivered up , and the gold , &c. were cast upon her , and crushed her to death . thus riches gotten , and not by right , will perish ; and those that so get them shall die like fools , jer. 17. 11. 4. those that by unjust and unlawful ways do gain the good things of this world , together with them do gain a curse , prov. 3. 33. so that those things , tho' in themselves are blessings , are accursed unto them , mal. 2. 2. there is a worm at the root , and a third heir seldom enjoys it . 5. account at last must be given of what men gain , and how they use it , and in what way they gain it . 1. does the evil of affliction and trouble that we suffer , come from the hand of god , then ought we to look beyond , and through second causes , unto the providence of god , that disposeth of us , and ours : for trouble springeth not out of the ground ; nor doth affliction arise out of the dust , job 5. 6. 2. then under the sharpest and severest stroaks that fall upon us , we should be still as david , not to open our mouths , because god hath done it , ps . 39. 9. obj. but my affliction is more than ordinary , and falls out but now and then ; this makes it the heavier , and in this the lord hath , as it were , pricked me in the life-vein , taking away the desire of my eye , and the delight of my heart ; had it been in some other way , i hope i could have borne it better . res . 1. shall any teach god knowledge ? job 21. 22. or shall we direct our soveraign lord , nay , our father , what rod he shall scourge us with ? he is at liberty to correct how he pleaseth , and if he taketh away , as none can hinder him , neither may we question him , or say , what doest thou , or why doest thou so ? job 9. 12. 2. thy child was the delight of thine heart , therefore thou wouldest have had him been continued with thee ; he was also god's delight , who had most right to him , therefore he is not , because the lord hath taken him to himself : you did love him , therefore was so unwilling to part from him ; but your love had too much self-love in it , seeing you would have kept him from his father , and the glory prepared for him : so that your child might say , if you lov'd me with a cordial sincere love , free from a mixture of self-love , you would rejoyce , and not over-much afflict your self with sorrow , because i am gone to the father , joh. 14. 28. 3. this you say is a very heavy burden that the lord has laid upon you , but not so heavy as your sins were , that was laid upon christ , the which he bore , isa . 53. 6. 12. 1 pet. 2. 24. he bore them on his own body on the tree , to bear , or carry them away from us . ferebat & auferebat . did christ silently and patiently bear , and bear away our sins ? was he as a lamb before the shearers , and this burthen laid upon him by the father , and shall not we be silent under the burthen of affliction that the hand of the lord lays upon us ? 4. you complain that the tryal and affliction is great , but , alas ! it might have been far greater . he might have been taken from you by the hand of justice , inflicting death for horrid wickedness . he might have died , and you had no well-grounded hopes of his eternal salvation ; but he gave early proofs of his preparedness to meet with the enemy though he came suddenly upon him . 5. it may be he had taken up too much room in your heart , and was lodged in the bed which the lord had chosen to lye in ▪ and therefore takes him out of the way , that he might have your hearts more fixed upon him. it was , as i have read , the saying of a good woman , whose only son was taken away by water , that now the lord had left her none to love but himself . your son , though not your only son , was thus removed from you , that your heart might be more at liberty to love the lord. 6. if the affliction be great , and the burthen be heavy , do the best you can to lessen your affliction , and make your burthen lighter , this is done by a quiet , silent submission unto the will of god , in this awful providence ; whereas impatience , or discontent under it , will add more weight unto it . 7. such a carriage and deportment , will bespeak our reverence of god , in resigning up our choicest creature comforts to him patiently : to part with that which we have no great affection unto , or kindness for , is no proof of our reverence and obedience , but if our isaac be called for , and we quietly give him up . by this we manifest our fear of god , gen. 22. 12. 8. patience under sharp afflictions , gives us possessions of our souls , as saith luke , 21. 19. the mind being composed , will render us capable of making use of those means whereby we may gain support and relief under it . hence the apostle james , 1. 4. let patience have her perfect work , that ye may be intire , and want nothing that is needful for your support , under the present circumstances . 9. the exercise of patience in our tryals , will bring in experience , rom. 5. 4. of the power , mercy , and goodness of god : then shall we be capable of taking notice of his merciful dealings with us . hence that of moses unto the children of israel , exod. 14. 13. stand still , and see the salvation of the lord. this included , psal . 46. 10. be still , and know that i am god. 10. the lord takes it well when we are graciously silent , not sullenly silent under our troubles , and quarrel not with his rod : he glories in his servant job , in the face of the devil , on this account , chap. 2. 3. 11. by such a carriage in afflictions , we imitate our lord jesus , who by his patient bearing all that he underwent , from the hand of god and man , did give us an example ▪ and certainly it becomes a christian , and is no small part of his glory to be conformable to his lord and master finis . a funeral sermon on the death of that pious gentlewoman mrs. judith hamond late wife of the reverend mr. george hamond, minister of the gospel in london. by john howe, minister of the same gospel. howe, john, 1630-1705. 1696 approx. 58 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44680 wing h3029 estc r215976 99827732 99827732 32155 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44680) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 32155) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1851:5) a funeral sermon on the death of that pious gentlewoman mrs. judith hamond late wife of the reverend mr. george hamond, minister of the gospel in london. by john howe, minister of the same gospel. howe, john, 1630-1705. [2], 31, [1] p. printed for tho. parkhurst, at the bible and three crowns at the lower end of cheapside, near mercers chappel, london : mdcxcvi. [1696] reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng hamond, judith -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon on the death of that pious gentlewoman mrs. judith hamond . late wife of the reverend mr. george hamond , minister of the gospel in london . by john howe , minister of the same gospel . london , printed for tho. parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns at the lower end of cheapside , near mercers chappel , mdcxcvi . to the reverend mr. hammond . my offering this discourse to the eye of the world together with your own , shews how great power our ancient friendship hath given you , over me ; whereof i have the less unpleasant sense , believing you will understand it so ; who , in great part , know how difficult , my circumstances made it , to me , to comply with your desire herein . your opinion of the fitness of publishing so uncompos'd a thing , discovers how far you were subject also to the same power ; whose judgement i am little apt to distrust , where it meets not with this byas . it will be a joy to me , if it help to mitigate your sorrow which is , in great part , justify'd , by the greatness of your loss , in being separated , after so long conversation , from so excellent a consort , that lived in this world , so much above it . i reckon it an evidence of the real greatness of her spirit that she thought that , so little a thing , wherein others place greatness . and that in almost forty years acquaintance with you both , i should never hear of her nearness to a noble family , till , occasionally , since her death . it seems the blood that fill'd her veins , did not swell her mind . and her heavenly birth and relation to the house and family of god , made her forget her earthly kindred , and parents house . sir , though , whom god hath joyn'd together , no man might put asunder ; yet when he that made the union , makes the separation , there 's no saying to him , what dost thou ? we must a while , tug with the difficulties of our state and work. wherein the hope of helping some ( as god shall graciously help us ) to gain this victory over death ; and of being , at length , through his grace , victors our selves , will be a constant releif and support to you , and your very respectful brother and fellow-servant in the labours of the gospel . john howe . 1 cor. 15. 54. the latter part . — death is swallowed up in victory . the foregoing words signify this saying to have been , before , written elsewhere . so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption , and this mortal shall have put on immortality , then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written , death is swallowed up , &c. and we find it before-written , isa. 25. 8. in express words ; and hos. 13. 14. in such as are equivalent . what their dependance or meaning is , in either of those places , cannot be discuss't , within our present , narrow , limits . only it is sufficiently manifest that sundry passages in the holy scripture are said to be brought to pass , over , and over ; once and again ; as that of rachels weeping for her children : and of gods bringing his son out of egypt : with divers others . this great saying may have had some partial and gradual accomplishment , within the current of time , when in reference to a people more specially related to god , and in some more notable delinquency , and defection from him , he may have given a just , but limited , commission to death , to make great ravage and destructions among them , so that it hath even rode in triumph , made an huge carnage , strow'd their countrey with carkasses , turn'd their rich land , more enrich't with humane bloud , into an akeldama ; and thereupon , but into a place of sepulture , and of graves ; and yet , when it hath gone as far as his designed limits , and executed all his pleasure , he may have stopt it in its career , and said , hither thou shalt come and no further : now , cease , and give over : ( as hos. 13. 14. ) and so may have ransom'd the residue from the power of the grave , and been the destruction of their destroyers , plaguing them who were their plagues . this in the next intention hereof may respect the people of the jews , who being returned from their ( now foreseen ) captivity , might in the prophetique style , be spoken of as a people risen from the dead , and newly sprung up out of the grave ; but might have a further reference to the yet-future state of the christian church , as isa 25. 6 , 7 , 8. seems to carry it ; when so great a death as hath long been upon it , as well as the rest of the world , it may be hoped shall be swallow'd up in a very glorious victory ! but this saying is introduced here , as having its final and ultimate completion , in conjunction with what is mention'd besides , in this context , viz. when in the close and shutting up of time , the trumpet shall sound , as we are told elsewhere it shall at the coming of our lord , and the dead ( those that dy'd in him , first ) be raised , the living changed , so as to bear his ( the heavenly adam's ) image . when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption , and this mortal , immortality , then shall be brought to pass this saying ( whatever preludes thereto , as was written , there may have been before ) death is swallowed up in victory . and according to this its fullest sense , is this saying to be the subject of our present consideration . the expression is highly rhetorical , but there is a most rational solid sense intended under it , for which no words can be too big , or of too great a sound . our business must be to explain , & apply this saying . and , i. for explication of its rational import , we shall shew , 1. the import . 2. the reasonableness of it . 1. it imports , in general , gods determination to put a perpetual end to death , to make it cease in perpetuum , as a noted expositor expresses it , shewing , that the parallel hebrew phrase is usually rendered for ever , 2 sam. 2. 26. jer. 3. 5. and in divers other places . but that we may give a more distinct account of its meaning , several things are to be noted ; 1. that death , as it is here spoken of , supposes a certain , limited subject . it s being mention'd in this chapter , and elsewhere , as if it were , itself , a suppositum , and an intelligent , designing one , is an elegant and an usual figure . the holy scriptures , and common speech , abound with this sort of prosopopoeia , and it hath its special usefulness , when ( as in the present case ) what we are more to remark , and consider with greater intention of mind , is so represented , i. e. when to things of minute , or of no entity , but of great concernment , ( such meer privations as death or sin ) a sort of personality is ascribed , attended with terrible aspects and appearances , it tends more effectually to rouze our minds , and engage our attention , whether we are to consider , and magnify our danger by them , or our deliverance , and to behold them as attempting upon us , or as overcome . but speaking strictly , we must take things as in themselves they are . death therefore must be considered , in reference to some subject or other . abstractly considered , 't is but a notion . as it actually hath taken place , it must be the death of this or that person . and as it is finally to be overcome , and have an end , it must have a limited subject , and not be understood of all , absolutely and universally ; for then there would be no such thing as eternal death , which hath no end . and how the subject here supposed , is to be limited ; the series of discourse thorough the chapter shews , they are such as are christs , ver . 23. and to whom he is peculiarly the first fruits , ibid. such as shall bear his heavenly image , ver . 49. and , as elsewhere , whose vile bodies shall be made like his glorious one , phil. 3. 21. such as shall have spiritual , incorruptible , immortal bodies like his , and with him inherit the kingdom of god , and through him obtain this victory , ver . 50 — 57. 2. this limitation of death to be overcome , to such a subject only , connotes the extent of it to the whole of that subject , as that is compos'd of an inner and an outer man , 2 cor. 4. 16. it were frigid , and comfortless to suppose , if it were supposeable , that this glorious conquest of death should extend no further than the giving us a fair specious outside ; and that our mind and spirit should not partake , or be nothing the better for it . 't is plain the apostles scope thro' this chapter is more to assert the future subsistence of the soul , than the recomposure of the body , as his arguments shew ; though what was necessary to be said concerning the future state of that also , is not neglected . but what he is now saying in this part of the chapter concerns not what is common to men , but what is peculiar to good and holy men. and therefore , as it respects their nobler part , must intend more than its meer subsistence in another state , which is common to good and bad , and signify the perfection of the holy divine life , which shall be at last entirely victorious , and swallow up death , in its utmost extent , and specially as it was opposite to that life . death i mean , as it was so heavily incumbent upon the minds and spirits of good men themselves , and was their most intolerable burden ; extorting from them such groans as that rom. 7. 24. o wretched man that i am who shall deliver me from this body of death . nor indeed is this death sensible or grievous , or ever felt , but where the opposite life hath some place . total death knows no grievances , makes no complaints . they that lye buried in the earth , are in their own element , where no such thing weighs upon them ; a terrene , carnal mind is no burthen to such souls , as are quite dead in trespasses and sins . i hope i need not tell you that tho' the souls of men are universally immortal in the natural sense , they are not so in the moral . morality comprehends the means and end , vertue and felicity ; or in terms more agreeable to our christian ethicks , or that are oftener heard by them that live under the gospel , holiness , and blessedness . these are signify'd by spiritual life , or life in the spiritually-moral sense . and so are sin , and misery , by the opposite death . and no man hath reason to think it strange that life and death , are estimated by such measures ; or that a temper of spirit habitually and fixedly good or evil , should be signify'd by being alive , or dead , if we consider how perfect an equivalency there is between them in the moral sense , and being naturally alive or dead . for wherein do we usually state the notion of natural life , but in a self-moving power ? now let any ordinary understanding be appeal'd to in the case , and who would not say it were as good , not to be able to move at all , as to move in so perpetual disorder , as never to attain any end , such motion should serve for . the ends of a reasonable creatures motions , must be duty to its maker , and felicity to it self . if all its motions be such as import constant hostility towards god , infelicity and torment to it self ; this is to be dead not simply and naturally , 't is true , but respectively , and not in some by , and lessconsiderable respect , but in respect of the principal and most important purposes of life . so that , in full equivalency , such a one is , as dead , to all valuable intents and purposes whatsoever . therefore such are only said to be alive in a true , and the most proper sense , that are alive [ to god ] through jesus christ , rom. 6. 11. or that do yeild themselves [ to god ] as those that are alive from the dead , ver . 13. it being the proper business of their life to serve god , and enjoy him . others that only live in sinful pleasure , are dead while they live , 1 tim. 5. 6. nor hath such a notion of life and death been altogether strange even among heathens , when we find it said by one of no mean note , that a wicked man is dead , as a soul may be said to die * ; and to it 't is a death , when 't is ( too deeply ) * plung'd , immerst into the body so as to be sunk down into matter , and replete with it . ( besides much more that might be produc't from others of like import ) and how agreeable is this passage to that rom. 8. 6 to be carnally minded is death . upon the whole , i cannot , indeed , conceive , that since death is often taken , and that most reasonably , in so great a latitude , as to admit of comprehending this sense ; and since , in these latter verses , the apostle is speaking of a final deliverance from it , as the special priviledge of such as are in union with christ , not of what is common to all men , but that victory over death in this respect , as it imports aversion from god , or indisposition towards him , must be within his meaning , and that he was far from confining it to bodily death only , or from intending , in reference to the soul , the meer natural immortality of that alone . but that death in its utmost latitude was , now , in reference to this sort of men , whom his present discourse intends , to be entirely swallow'd up in victory . or in a perfect plenitude of victorious life , as 2 cor. 5. 4. so much , which was more requisite to be insisted on , being clear , we shall less need to inlarge upon what follows . as , that , 3. this victory supposes a war. or , that life and death were before in a continual struggle . so we find the case is . even this lower world is full of vitality . yet death hath spread it self thorough it and cast over it a dark and dismal shadow every where , according as sin , which introduc'd it , is diffus'd and spread . death is therefore mention'd as an enemy , ver . 26. and so we understand it , natural death , as an enemy to nature ; spiritual , to grace . in the body numerous maladies , and round about it , multitudes of adverse rancounters , are striving to infer death ; in , and about the mind and spirit , worse diseases , and temptations have the like tendency . temptations i say , the mention whereof was not to be omitted , as pointing at , the tempter , the wicked one , who first brought sin and death into this world of ours . and who is ( though the conceal'd ) the first and most proper seat of the enmity which gives death the denomination of an enemy ; which is so called indefinitely , the last enemy ; that we might not understand it to be our enemy only , but more an enemy against god than us , from whom the spiteful apostate aim'd and glory'd to pluck away , and bury in death and ruin , the whole race of humane creatures . in the mean time nature in all , and grace in the regenerate are counter-striving . in the former the self-preserving principle is more sensibly vigorous , but less successful ; but they who are born of god , are better assisted by their divine-keeper , in sub-ordination to whom , they are enabled effectually to keep themselves , that the wicked one ( mortally ) touches them not , 1 joh. 5. 18. but , as must be supposed , not without continual watching and striving , as in war is usual . 4. where such a war and striving ends not in victory , on the one side , they end in victory on the other . this is consequent upon what hath been said of the limited subject here spoken of . death is not universally overcome ; with some it is left to be conceived , therefore , as a conquerour . we see how it is with the two hemispheres of our globe . when in the one , the light is chasing the darkness of the foregoing night , and we behold the morning gradually spreading it self upon the mountains , and it shines brighter , and brighter unto perfect day : so in the other a feebler light doth more and more retire and yeild , till at length it be quite swallow'd up in the victorious darkness of a black and horrid midnight . 't is much after the same rate here , with this difference : that vicissitudes , and alternations cease , and whether darkness and the shadow of death , or the light of life , be finally victorious , they are so ( as hath been said ) for ever . with the one sort , i. e. with the righteous , a vital light arises in the midst of darkness . a type of their spiritual , and a prelude to their eternal state. they have a quickening light within , under all clouds of present ignominy , and trouble , and an eternal day awaits them . now death worketh in them , and surrounds them on every side , for a while , and gains a temporary victory , over their bodily life ; which while it is doing , and their outward man is perishing , their inward man is renewed day by day . but at length even that vanquished life revives ; and that more noble life which is hid with christ in god , col. 3. 3. and of which he says , that whosoever lives and believes in him shall never die , joh. 11. 26. becomes perfect , for it is pure life ; as that is said to be pure , which is plenum sui , & minimum habet alieni ; full of it self , without mixture of any thing alien from it ; having quite swallow'd up whatsoever was opposite or disagreeable . so doth life in the several kinds and degrees of it flourish with them , in a permanent , perpetual , and most consistent state. and , as regal power is often founded in just conquest , they do even reign in life , by jesus christ , rom. 5. 17 — 21. but for the other sort , that sorry , pitiful , dying life they have , wherein they are even dead while they live , will be swallow'd up in a victorious , eternal , death ; in which there remaines to them a perpetual night , and the blackness of darkness for ever . we are next to consider . 2. the reasonableness of the divine determination , which this saying imports . and that is to be collected , by reminding who it is that hath so determined . he that can effect all his determinations , and do all his pleasure . the reason of his intendments , and performances , must be fetch 't from himself , and the perfection of his own nature , unto which nothing can be more agreeable . when death , let in by sin , hath been reigning , doing the part of a king , as rom. 5. 17. over so great a part of gods creation , it can be little sutable to him , who doth all things after the counsel of his will , eph. 1. 11. to let it reign for ever . sometime it must be swallow'd up in victory . otherwise , 1. his own glory would suffer a perpetual eclipse . 2. the felicity of his redeemed should never be compleat . neither of which , as we are taught to apprehend the state of things , can consist with the absolute perfection of his being . 1. can we think it agreeable to him , to suffer such a perpetual soloecisme or incongruity within his dominion , that when death , by means of a most criminal apostasie , had made so great an inrode into the nobler part of his creation , i. e. had broken in amongst creatures capable of immortality ( who indeed otherwise had not been capable of sin ) and thereby darkened the glory which shone more brightly in such an order of creatures , it should be so alwayes ! i. e. that such a sort of creatures should be perpetually continued , to be born , and sin , and die . sometime , we must think , this course of things should have an end , and not by yielding an everlasting conquest to an enemy . we can well conceive it most worthy of god , when he had made such creatures , unto whom liberty was as agreeable , as holiness and felicity to leave them to themselves a-while , as probationers and candidates for that state of immortal life , whereof they were not incapable . it well became a self-sufficient being , and an absolute sovereign , to let them understand dependance , and subjection ; and that their state was precarious , not his . to let them feel the cost of ungovernableness , and self-will , and the disagreeableness thereof to their condition who were not self-subsistent , and had not their good in their own hands . if , being put upon this trial , they would transgress , and open a way for death to come in upon them , the real loss could only be their own , and none of his . he had no reason therefore to prevent it , by so unseasonable an interposition , as should prevent the orderly connection between duty , and felicity ; i. e. the precedency of the former to the other . all this was a most unexceptionable procedure . but then , when being left to themselves , they as men , or as adam , had transgrest , hos. 6. 7. and done like themselves , i. e. like frail mutable creatures , in their lapse into sin and death , how opportune was it for him , now , to do more illustriously like himself , i. e. by so surprizing , unthought of , methods as the gospel reveal , to recover to himself this glory out of the cloud , and make it shine more brightly than ever , in this final victory over death , and him that had the power of it ! so that it shall at last retain no dominion over any but such as by their own choice , during a new state of trial , remain'd in an inviolable union with that prince of darkness and death . how glorious will the triumphs of this victory be over the grand apostate . and how unsupposeable is it , that he should have occasion left him to glory in an eternal conquest ! and 2. it is not a light thing to him whose nature is love , that without this final victory the felicity of the redeemed should never be fully accomplisht . ante-cedently to the gospel-revelation , it would seem more agreeable to the nature of god that some should be rescu'd from the power of death , than , that all should lye under it for ever . but we to whom that revelation is vouchsaf't , cannot now but think it the most unlikely thing in the world that the design of almighty love should finally be defeated , and that such as are in vital union with the redeemer , should either be overcome at last by death , or remain in an eternal struggle with it . whence nothing can be conceived in this case , but that as to them , death must be swallowed up in this glorious everlasting victory . whereupon how admirable a display will there herein be of sundry the most known attributes and excellencies of the divine nature , as his wisdom , power , goodness , holiness , justice , and truth , in the whole conduct , and in this final issue of things ! ( as might be distinctly shown of each , if we were not within limits . ) he at first dealt with them very sutably to their natures , at length he deals with them according to his own . that it may be the theme of eternal contemplation to themselves , and the whole intelligent world. how far his ways are above their ways , and his thoughts above their thoughts , isa. 55. and that as at first he thought it not fit to hinder them from doing as too little became such creatures , nothing should at last hinder him from doing as became a god. but come we now to the use. and , 1. do we find this saying in the sacred word of god , that death is to be swallow'd up in victory . then we are not to doubt , but so it shall be . a plenary assent is to be given to it . but what sort of assent ? not that which arises from the sight of our eye . if that were to be our only informer , we see no such thing ; but quite the contrary . that represents death to us as the only conquerour . it visibly swallows up all in victory , wheresoever it makes a seizure . nothing stands before it ! we behold it turning every where living men and women like our selves into breathless lumps of earth ! it irresistibly introduces it self , and life is fled , and gone ! such as convers't with us , walk't to and fro amongst us , reason'd , discourst with us , manag'd business , pursu'd designs , delighted themselves with us , and gave us delight , become deaths captives before our eyes , are bound in its bands , and we cannot redeem them , nor save our selves . where then is this swallowing up of death in victory ? which is it self so constantly victorious ! our reason may tell us it shall not be always and universally so , but it flutters , and hallucinates . 't is the divine word that must at last put the matter out of doubt ; and our faith therein , which is the substance of what we hope for , and the evidence of what we do not see . if faith is to assure our hearts in this matter , it must be as it relies upon his word who can do this , and hath said he will. if we believe his power , that renders it possible to us . if his word , that makes it certain . hath he said it , who then shall gainsay it ? 't is one of the true and faithful sayings of god. 2. if this be a credible saying , 't is certainly a very comfortable one. if we can but make that first step , and perceive this not to be a hard or incredible saying ; it is very obvious to make a second , and acknowledge it to be a very consolatory saying ; and that both in reference to , the past death of our friends and relatives , even such as were nearest , and most dear to us . and in reference to our own , most certainly future and expected death . in the one case , and the other , we are to look upon it as a comfortable saying , that this mighty raging enemy shall have all his power lost , and swallowed up , in so glorious a victory , one day . 1. it is surely a very comfortable saying in the former of these cases , the case of our losing friends and relations very dear unto us : and there only needs this to make it most deliciously pleasant , that is , to have a comfortable perswasion concerning such , that they are part of christs seed , they are some of them , in reference to whom christ is , in the most peculiar sense , the first-fruits , so as that they have a pre-assurance of victory in his conquest , and victory over death and the grave . and we have great reason to be so perswaded concerning that worthy gentlewoman , whose late decease is the more special occasion , of this solemn assembly at this time . she was one who , ( as such as had most opportunity to observe , and best ability to judge , did reckon ) had given abundant evidence of the work of gods saving grace upon her own spirit , and who thereupon did long walk with god in a very continued course ; so indeed , as that tho' her comforts were observed not to be rapturous , yet they were steady and even ; so as that she was rarely troubled with doubts , to give obstruction or hinderance to her in her christian course : if any such doubt did arise , it soon vanished , and she quickly , through the mercy of god , received satisfaction , and so went chearfully on in her way . she was abundant in reading , especially of the holy book , that was her business and delight . she very little cared to concern her self in reading writings that were merely notional , or polemical and disputative : but the most practical ones she was most of all taken with , such as treated of the other state , and of the duties of christians in the mean time in reference thereto ; future felicity , and present spiritual-mindedness , that has so certain connexion therewith , and so direct a tendency thereto , were , with her , the delightful subjects , which she chose to read of , and meditate upon . her temper was observed to be even , betwixt a freeness and reservedness . she was not melancholy , though much inclined to solitariness , and would frequently lament , that so much of her precious time was past away , either in necessary business , or civil conversation , that was not to be avoided . it was observed , that her disposition was most highly charitable , very apt to give , even to her uttermost , as occasions did occur . in reference to her children her care was most tender . much of her time was spent in instructing them , while under her instruction , and within her reach ; teaching them their catechism , with the proofs at large , and how to apply the proofs to the answer , so as to bring them to a distinct understanding thereof . and in this way and course she past through the world. her last sickness did very little alter the temper of her spirit , it was calm and sedate all along . only so much does deserve a remark , that she was prepossest with an apprehension that she should dye suddenly ; so much of gods secret he was pleased to impart to her , as he sometimes does to more inward friends ; that discovery he vouchsaf't to her , as to a favourite , to let her have some kind of pre-signification , that her passage out of this world should be very quick , whensoever it came ; and so it was , that sitting in her chair , amidst familiar discourse , in a dimidiated sentence , she made a full stop , and life was ended , before that could have an end . now certainly the decease of such a one ought not to be lamented with that bitter sorrow , as if there were no such thing as this , that death were certainly to be swallowed up in victory , in an intire and compleat victory , with reference to such a one . it seems indeed in such cases , as was said to you before , unto the judgment of our sense , that death only overcomes , we see not beyond that ; it turns a living creature into a dead clod , and so it is laid among such , it is buried in the grave , our sight goes no further . but when we are perswaded by the word of the lord , that this mortal shall put on immortality , and this corruptible incorruption , and death be swallowed up in such a victory , as you have heard ; certainly this takes away the cause of all bitter and reliefless sorrow . i am not unapprehensive that reverend brother whom this stroke touches more nearly , is much fitter to administer this consolation , than receive it from such a one as i. but as we may any of us put in for our share , as our case may require and can admit , in what is so generally spoken with reference to christians dying in the lord , and their surviving fellow-christians , that as yet live in him , 1 thes. 4. from verse 13 onward to the end . so , we are directed to comfort one another therewith . ( be patient i pray you , while i present to you this most sutable portion of scripture ) . i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope . for if we believe that jesus dyed , and rose again , even them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . for this we say unto you by the word of the lord , that we which are alive , and remain unto the coming of the lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep . for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the arch-angel , and with the trump of god : and the dead in christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and remain , shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we be ever with the lord. wherefore , comfort one another with these words . we shall be in a great promptitude and disposition of spirit to do so , if these words be lookt upon as divine sayings , as the words of the living and immortal god. my friends , do you not find there is spirit in these words ? is there not strong consolation in them ? how can we but think so , unless our whole religion be with us but a fable ? this concerns us all upon the common christian account who are but a residue , a remnant , escaped , and exempted , a-while , from being part of the spoils and triumphs of death ; which hath slaughtered , and thrown into the dust , probably a much greater number of our friends and relatives , than we our selves do make who are left behind . and 't is likely we have been most of us divers times mourners , upon such occasions . this shews upon what account , and in what case , we may intermingle very reviving consolations with our sorrows , and that we ought freely , as the occasion recurres , to apply it to our selves and one another . but i withal think there may be somewhat of more special import tending to repress intemperate sorrow , on such an occasion , in that of ezekiel 24. 16. i think there may be somewhat , i say , collected , besides what was more peculiar , and appropriate by way of signal to the prophet himself , that may reach the last mention'd case . it was a thing injoined upon him , that he should not mourn nor weep , nor should his tears run down , when , god should take away from him the desire of his eyes with a stroke . i reckon that as we have seen christians should not mourn like other men , so the lords prophets are not to mourn altogether , like others of his people , but somewhat more of restraint they are to put upon themselves , that they may discover an higher excellency , or somewhat a greater measure of that spirit of faith ruling in them , that gives a great allay to present things , whether good or evil , as it begets clearer and more vivid apprehensions of things yet-future and out of sight . and that as all believers , should endeavour in things of common concernment to all , to be exemplary to one another and to other men ; so they who are so much nearer to god , in office and relation should be examples to believers in conversation , spirit , faith , 1 tim. 4. 12. 2. this should be very comfortable too , unto them that are in union with christ , in reference to their own future death , which they are continually to expect . death is often saying to us repeatedly , and very sensibly , to our very bone and our flesh , you shall be my prey shortly ; at least , sooner or later . it is ready to make its seisure upon us , when , we do not know , but we are sure some time , it will. but , my friends , it does not become christians , to look upon this thing called death , as so formidable a thing , as it is commonly reckoned ; it is ignominious to our profession , not to be indured amongst them that have life and immortality brought to light , and set in view before their eyes in the gospel , such as profess to be united with christ , who hath life in himself , and imparts it to all that are so united ; such a life , hid with christ in god ; and hope that when he who is their life shall appear , shall appear with him in glory . it becomes not such to dye continually , by the fear of dying , or that the very thoughts of death should be deadly to them . this is remote from what was much observed to be the temper and character of primitive christians . an heathen prince , who throughly understood them not , censures them too hardly , as being in the other extream ( though he at length became kinder to them ) as if they rashly threw themselves upon death . whereas he says , the soul should , rationally , and becomingly , be in readiness to be loosed from the body . but how come we to lose our character ! and our glory ! how degenerated a thing is the christianity of our age ! to dye without regret is counted an attainment ; it should be with gladness : as psal. 16. 9 , 10 , 11. and upon the considerations there mention'd ; as being now upon the confines of that world of perfect purity , bliss , and joy ; and having so great an assurance that the intermediate death we are to go through , is no sooner suffered , than overcome ! we should deal closely with our selves in this . do we think this saying a fable ; or a trifle ? have these words no meaning ? we should labour to come to a point , and say , if we have no reason to dis-believe them , we will believe them absolutely ; and live as having gain'd our point , and overcome already , i. e. who are as sure of victory , as of death . some overcome by dying , as others are overcome by it . there are , who are not hurt by the second death . if death strike once , it thereby puts it out of its own power ever to strike a second time , or hurt them more . let us once bring our case to that state as to live in continual defiance of death , let it strike when it will. dependance only on the grace and spirit of christ ; must give us this confidence , not an opinion that we are our selves strong enough to act separately , but that knowing our relation to him , we are thorough him that loved us , more than conquerours , or as that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , rom. 8. 27. may be understood to signifie ; we are a glorious triumphant sort of conquerours . we not only conquer , but triumph too , through him that loved us , being perswaded that neither death nor life — shall separate us from his love — . so a noted expositor understands that word , observing how great a delight this apostle takes , when he would heighten a matter , in the use of that particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . it is elsewhere said , colos. 3. 3. ye are dead , but your life , &c. we are dead , i. e. in our selves , we are a sort of dead or dying creatures , death hath almost got the possession of us already , has partly seised , and partly sentenced us to die , and irreversibly . this the apostle intimates where he adds , what you have heard , ye have a life bid with christ in god , that life is safe , and out of the reach of death , no death can ouch that life . they that are born of god , have in reference to this life ( though the other must be given up ) a self-preserving principle and power in them ; 1 joh. 5. 18. they keep themselves , that the evil one touches them not ; that is , not mortally , or with any deadly touch . in having a new , holy , divine life ; they have an assuring pledge also of the permanency , perpetuity , and everlastingness of it . if a man have once drank of that water which christ gives , it shall be in him a perpetual fountain , a well of water springing up into everlasting life . joh. 4. 14. are we christians , and with the springings of this life , do we not feel a lively joy springing , and exulting in our hearts ! add vital christianity to the rational nature , and loathness to dye is a repugnancy , and a reproach to both . christianity so plainly stating our case , reason should judge upon it . and sutable affections arise in us thereupon , as they would if our christianity were vital , and the product of the divine spirit . then , how should we bless god that we are mortal ! and that it is not in the power of all this world to keep us from dying out of it , when we know in how glorious a victory , that death will be swallowed up ! but it may be said by some , we should very little fear death , if we did know our interest in christ , if we were not in great uncertainty , and had not our hearts hanging in doubt within us about this thing . and therefore , 3dly . this saying should be monitory to us . ( as it is a credible , as it is a comfortable , so it is a monitory saying also ) . death shall be swallowed up in victory . this said in reference to some , ( which cannot be meant as to all ) , so great a thing , spoken with restriction , ought to make them of whom it is not meant , look about them ! with what solicitude should we concern our selves , to be at a certainty ! am i one of them , in reference to whom death shall be swallowed up in such a victory ? it should awaken us to consider , have we made our interest sure in our lord jesus christ , that great prince and lord of life . he that hath the son hath life . 't is eternal life that is spoken of in that context , 1 joh. 5. 11 , 12. this is the record that god hath given us , eternal life ; and this life is in his son ; that is , this eternal life . he that hath the son , hath [ this ] life , he that hath not the son , hath not [ this ] life . spiritual life , and eternal life , are all one , all of a piece ; the same in nature and kind . the one will grow up into the other . that life only is here meant , that will be eternal life . to the same sense is that , he that believeth in me , shall never dye , joh. 11. 26. these are plain words . he hath a life in him that is immortal , sacred , and not liable to be touched . it was before said , they that believe in him , if dead , shall live , ver . 25 ▪ but not only that , but 't is further added , they that believe in him shall never dye ; if dead , they shall live ; if they live , they shall never dye ; what means this ? that they have a life , besides this bodily one ; which is continued thorough death . of this line or thred , death makes no intercision . but we can never justify it to god , or our own understandings , to rest in a dubious uncertainty about a matter of so vast consequence as this . unconcernedness here , is the most unaccountable thing in the whole world ; i e. whether we have only that life in us which will end in the darkness and rottenness of a grave , and an horrid hell ; or that which runs into eternal life ? things will come to this issue very shortly with us , that either death must , as to us , be swallowed up in victory , or we be swallowed up of victorious death ; nor have we any ways to ascertain our own state , but ( as was said ) by uniting with the prince of life ; i. e. by receiving him in all the capacities wherein we are to be concern'd with him ; and by resigning our selves entirely to him . for if we must have him , that we may have life : how can we , otherwise , have him but by receiving him . the gospel , under which we live , can only be a savour of life to us , as it disposes us hereunto . recollect your selves then ; how do your lords dayes , and other seasons , of attending this gospel , pass over with you ? have you long expected life , and ( which is less likely ) do you meet with continual and total disappointments ? and doth it cause with you no qualmish thoughts ? but 't is infinitely a sadder case if you never feel your selves begin to live , and yet are never disappointed ; because you never attend upon the gospel-dispensation with any such design or hope . is the matter thus , that if you speak the truth of your case , you must say , i have a soul dead to all the actions , motions , sensations , injoyments , of a divine and spiritual life . and shall it be always thus , by our own consent , with any of us ? we have however the rational , intellectual life , and can think : do we think 't is fit for us to rest satisfy'd , and secure , in such a state ? what ? satisfy'd in the midst of death ? such a death ? while we are capable of apprehending at once , the horror , the danger , and the remedibleness of our case ? what will this come to ? it can only be holy , divine life that must be victorious over death , as the warring , opposite principle : if there be nothing to oppose it , what shall conquer ? death is in that case total , and upon such termes , till life begin to spring in thy soul , thou must reckon it likely to be eternal . yet let none so mistake as to imagine this life an enthusiastical thing , that must discover it self in rapturous , extatical motions , or go for nothing . it perfects our faculties , therefore destroyes them not . and chiefly consists in a rational judgment , choice and love of what is most worthy of us ; what is fittest to be done by us , and what is with fullest satisfaction to be enjoyed ; with a stedfast , most resolved adherence thereunto . 4thly , this saying ought to be instructive to us , in reference especially to this one thing , i. e. that we abstain from rash censures of providence , that god lets death be regnant in so great a part of his creation , so long a time . it shall be swallowed up in victory , let that solve with us the phaenomenon . it seems indeed , an untoward one ; and might at first be an amazing spectacle , even to the blessed angels themselves , to behold so great a revolt in heaven : and afterwards , to take notice of an intelligent world , of creatures beneath them , successively , thorough one first , delinquent , drawn in , as complices , into a like defection ; and death hereby spreading its horrid shadow , and extending its power , over so great and so noble a part of the universe ! committing such wasts , making such desolations , from age to age , in so great a part of the creation of god! but there are many alleviating considerations , that should compose our spirits to a rational quietude , and be satisfying and pacifying to our minds with reference to this thing . let me but name some few to you , which i shall leave with you , for this purpose . 1. do but consider how minute a part of the creation of god , this globe , this point , this punctilio , rather , of our earth is , where death has reigned , and so long had place . 2. consider how much of life there is in and about this little world of ours . when , upon one single mole-hill , you see the brisk motions and efforts of so many hundred lives , you have reason to apprehend there is a great deal of vitality about this little spot of earth . 3. consider and collect how probable it is , that as we go higher and higher , the nobler and finer parts of gods creation , must be much more replenished with a nobler and more excellent sort of life . it is very unreasonable to think , that this clod of earth should be so full of life and that in higher and purer regions , there should not be a richer plenitude of life , or of such inhabitants as live nobler and more excellent lives than we and 4. for ought we know , death never reaches higher than this earth of ours , and what is in a nearer vicinity to it ; and that , therefore , there be vast and ample regions , incomparably beyond the range of our eye , or thought , where now , no death ever comes ; after the detrusion of the first revolters , from those bright regions . when we are told , eph. 4. 10. our lord jesus christ is ascended far above all heavens , as it were a fond attempt to pretend to count them so it were rash philosophizing , to go about to describe them . but can we suppose them spacious , wild wasts ? or not suppose them replenished with numberless numbers of excellent creatures that in their confirmed state , fear no death . and continually pay a willing , joyful homage to their great preserver . for every knee must bow to him , of things in heaven , phil. 2. 10. and when we are told , eph. 1. 20 , 21. god hath set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places , far above all principality , and power , and might , and dominion , and every name — , &c. and 1 pet. 3. 22. that he is on the right hand of god. angels , and authorities , and powers being made subject to him . tho' we cannot form distinct thoughts what those dynastics , principalities , and dominions are , yet we cannot but suppose those unconceivably vast , and ample regions , fully peopled , with immortal inhabitants , that reign in life , in a more excellent sense . for it being said our lord ascended far above all heavens , that he might fill all things , eph. 4. 10. this must suppose sutable recipients . and if his influences reach down in such plenty to our minute earth ( as ver . 11 , 12 , 13. ) how copious are they here ! 5thly . consider , that here , where death has made its inrode , tho' the apostate spirits surround us , and incompass this earth of ours , and go to and fro throwing death among us every where , yet even here is a glorious off-spring continually arising , the redeemers seed in whom a divine life is gradually springing up from age to age. so that , at length , they make a great multitude which no man can number standing before the throne , clothed with white robes , and ( as ensigns of victory ) having palmes in their hands , rev. 7. 9. here is life then disseminated through all this death that inwraps our world. which for ought we know , is the center of death ; it may be here , for ought we can tell , and no where else ; ( here , or hereabouts . ) and yet even here , an holy divine life is insinuating and spreading it self , even among us , over whom death has reigned ; and there are great numbers , that having received abundance of grace , and of the gift of righteousness , shall reign in life by one , jesus christ , rom. 5. 17. here 's supposed a kingdom , with a counter-kingdom , and one head against another ; one , that brought in death and condemnation upon the world ; but another , that brings in righteousness and life . and that here , even in this lower region , the redeemer should have so large a portion ( we know not how large ! ) this very much narrows the confines of death . and let it be further considered . 6thly , that where death shall be perpetual , it is there but self-procured . they only lye under death , that lov'd it . all they that hate me love death , prov. 8. 36. they inwrap themselves in death , they make a covenant with it . that sin , which is death , which carries death and hell in it self , that they lov'd ; 't was so 't is true , with the rest , that finally perish not ; but it was not always so . the grace of god made a difference , not to be quarrell'd at , when striving with many , it is victorious with some . but of those with whom it is not so , it must be said , as their final , never-altered sense , even to the last , they would not be plucked out of the gulph , that deadly gulph , where they therefore lye , as in their most agreeable element . and let it further be considered . 7. that for the death that shall be perpetual , 't is to be confined , and go no further . before it was diffused and continually more and more diffusing it self . but in the future state of things , when time has run to its period , and the affairs of it are shut up by the final judgment , death and hell are now to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone , which is the second death , rev. 20. 14. all death is now to be gathered into death , hell , into heil . it shall be contracted , gathered into it self . it 's true , it will be therefore consummate , finished , perfect in its kind , or full of it self , as that which is without mixture cannot but be , ( as was noted before ) . here will be pure death , without mixture ; and which therefore will have no allay . but then , whereas formerly it ranged to and fro uncontroll'd , now it is confined to its own narrower circle , and can have no new subject , and shall therefore give no further trouble or disturbance , to the rest of gods creation . moreover , consider , lastly , that this victory will not be gradual only , but total and entire . every thing of mortality , that was hanging about these glorious victors , shall be swallowed up in perfect , and in endless life . death is unstung first , disarm'd , and then easily overcome . it s sting is said to be sin , the deadliest thing in death . a plain further proof ( by the way ) the apostle intended death also , in the moral sense . and the insulting enquiry , where is it ? implies 't is not any where to be found , and signifies a total abolition of it ; and , by consequence , must infer that every thing of death besides , must ( as to them ) for ever cease , and be no more . which also the phrase of swallowing up , doth with great emphasis express . and this compleats the vindication of providence , i. e. in this whole affair ; and not only vindicates , but magnifies the conduct of the supreme disposer of all things . for by this means , as his wisdom , power and goodness , are most highly illustrated , so the trial of his peoples faith ( the great instrument of this their victory , as well as of that over the world , 1 joh. 5. 4 ) is found unto praise , honour and glory at the appearing of jesus christ , 1 pet. 4. 7. and they find , what , by patient continuance in well-doing , they were enjoyn'd to seek , ( which shews they were not vainly put upon so noble a pursuit ) honour , glory , immortality , to their actual attainment of eternal life , rom. 2. 7. now , therefore shall this saying be made good in its fullest sense : and if there shall be such a victory , so glorious a one won at last ; surely we should be tuning our instruments , and labouring to get our hearts into a frame to sing the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the triumphant song , ver . 55 , 56. and conclude it , as ver . 57. thanks be to god , that giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ. finis . these books written by the reverend mr. john howe , are sold by tho. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns , cheapside . of thoughtfulness for the morrow ; with an appendix concerning the immoderate desire of fore-knowing things to come . the redeemers tears wept over lost souls ; in a treatise on luke 19. 41 , 42. with an appendix , wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed concerning the sin against the holy ghost , and how god is said to will the salvation of them that perish . of charity in reference to other mens sins . two sermons preach'd on these words , yeild your selves to god. a funeral sermon for mrs. esther sampson , the late wife of henry sampson , dr. of physick , who died nov. 24. 1689. the carnality of religious contention , in two sermons preached at the merchants lecture in broadstreet . a calm and sober enquiry concerning the possibility of a trinity in the godhead : in a letter to a person of worth , occasioned by the lately published considerations on the explications of the doctrine of the trinity : by dr. wallis , dr. sherlock , dr. s — th , dr. cudworth , &c. together with certain letters , ( hitherto unpublish'd ) formerly written to the reverend dr. wallis on the same subject . a letter to a friend concerning a postscript to the defence of dr. sherlock's notion of the trinity in unity , relating to the calm enquiry upon the same subject . a view of that part of the late considerations addrest to h. h. about the trinity , which concerns the sober enquiry on that subject . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44680-e690 1 th. 4. 16. grot. in loc . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plotin . enn. 1. marc. antonin . de vit . suâ lib. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . vid. ham. in loc . a funeral sermon preached upon the death of mrs. rebecka goddard, november the 13th. 1692 at joyners-hall. by tho. harrison. harrison, thomas, fl. 1700. 1692 approx. 49 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45686 wing h910a estc r213017 99825548 99825548 29932 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45686) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 29932) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1849:30) a funeral sermon preached upon the death of mrs. rebecka goddard, november the 13th. 1692 at joyners-hall. by tho. harrison. harrison, thomas, fl. 1700. [4], 24 p. printed for j. harris at the harrow in the poultrey, london : [1692?] publication date conjectured by wing. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng goddard, rebecka, d. 1692 -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2008-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 megan marion sampled and proofread 2008-08 megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion funeral sermon preached upon the death of m rs . rebecka goddard , november the 13th . 1692. at joyners-hall . by tho. harrison . james 5. ch . 9 , 10. v. take my brethren the prophets , who have spoken in the name of the lord , for an example of suffering affliction , and of patience : behold we count them happy which endure . ye have heard of the patience of job , and have , seen the end of the lord ; that the lord is very pitiful , and of tender mercy . london , printed for j. harris at the harrow in the poultrey . the epistle dedicatory , to the husband and parents of the deceased mrs. rebecka goddard . worthy friends , the doleful separation which that god in whose hands all our times are , hath lately made between you and your near and dear relation , having occasioned my preaching the following sermon , the dedication is justly yours : though at your desire i did compose it for a publick auditory , i never designed to expose it to publick view . many worthy men having written largely and excellently upon subjects of a like nature , i was unwilling to cast in my mite among their larger summs , and feared it would look like a piece of conceited folly to thrust my slender unpolish'd discourse into the vast croud of substantial and elegant treatises which have already appear'd upon the publick stage : but seeing you desire that what god hath bless'd to your selves , may be publish'd to others , i thought i might look upon your request as a call from god to that which was always contrary to my own inclination , therefore i hope none will censure me for complying with it : god works sometimes by small means , for he is not tyed to any ; he hath sometimes rendered mean discourses preach'd or penn'd more successful than those of a more excellent composure . that the ensuing discourse may be farther useful to you , and may be bless'd to the instruction and consolation of others , into whose hands it shall come , that god would make up your loss by clearer manifestations of his love , and more plentiful communications of his grace to your souls ; that this rod may like that of aaron , blossom and bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness ; that you may be made yet more to bless that god who hath snatch'd your dear relative from your embraces , is the unfeigned desire of your affectionate friend and servant , t. h. a funeral sermon , &c. job 1. ch . 21 v. latter part . — the lord gave , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord. these are the words of holy job , who was an eminent example , both of suffering affliction and of patience under it . if we look into the beginning of this chapter , we shall find that he was in a very prosperous and flourishing state and condition ; and yet a very upright holy man. greatness and goodness are very rare conjunctions , but they met together in him : when he was full , he did not forget god , neither when he waxed fat , did he ( jeshurun like ) kick against him : his temporal riches did not impoverish his soul , the world did not alienate his affections from god , which greatly evidenc'd the strength and vigour of his grace ; but if we fix our eyes upon the latter part of the chapter , we shall see a great and sudden alteration made in his outward state , he soon rolled down the mount of prosperity into the lowest vale of adversity ; one messenger treads upon the heels of another , bringing doleful tidings concerning the flight of his outward comforts from him , and the last messenger was laden with the heaviest tidings , who brought the news of his childrens death , by a terrible stroke of god's hand . a man's children are more valuable than all his worldly substance ; they are a part of himsellf , flesh of his flesh , and bone of his bone. the loss of an estate is like the plucking off a garment , the loss of a child is like the tearing off a limb from the body . god seemed to empty this good man from vessel to vessel , to lay stripe upon stripe : deep called unto deep at the noise of jehovah's water spouts , and if not all , yet a great many of his waves and billows passed over him . it was certainly very terrible unto him , and must needs be so to us , for god to repeat his strokes , and multiply our afflictions ; before we have ended our lamentations for the loss of one outward comfort , to behold and attend the funeral of another . before i pass this , give me leave to observe , that sharp and sore afflictions are often times the lot of god's dearest children in this life . they who have a large room in god's heart , are often very severely disciplin'd by his rod : they who do most carefully eschew the evil of sin , are frequently exercis'd with the evil of suffering . let us make this profitable use of this note , viz. not to conclude our selves to be the objects either of divine love or hatred , from any of the external dispensations of divine providence towards us . we cannot warrantably draw any such conclusions from such premises . god may load thee with common benefits , and yet not remember thee with the favour which he bears to his own people : he may visit thee with great afflictions , and yet thou may'st be visited with his spiritual salvation here , and his eternal salvation hereafter . thy wife may be as a fruitful vine , thy sons like plants grown up in their youth , and thy daughters as corner stones polished after the similitude of a palace , and yet thou may'st not be broken off from the wild olive-tree of corrupt nature , nor engrafted into christ the noble vine and the good olive-tree : thy root may be dry , and thy branches wither and be lopt off , the desire of thine eyes , and the fruit of thy body , may be taken away by terrible strokes , and yet god may be the strength of thy heart and thy portion for ever . now let us observe job's carriage and deportment under this dark and gloomy providence ; and this may be gathered both from his gestures and expressions . first , from his gestures , ver. 20. then job arose , and rent his mantle , and shaved his head , and fell down upon the ground and worshipped : his renting his garment , and shaving his head , were signs of his great sorrow . when jacob supposed joseph to be dead , he immediately rent his garment , gen. 37. ch . 34. v. and after abner's death , david to express his sorrow , rent his cloaths , and commanded all the people that were with him to do the like , 2 sam. 3. ch . 31. v. and we find that baldness is often joined with mourning and weeping in the scriptures ; cut off thine hair , o jerusalem , cast it away , and take up a lamentation , &c. jer. 7.29 . so amos 8.10 . mich. 1.16 . and several other places . his falling down upon the ground and worshipping , were signs of that honour and homage which he tender'd unto god , in and under the affliction . it is very observable how job divides himself between his outward comforts and his god , the former have his sorrow , to the latter he gives worship . secondly , from his expressions , ver. 21. words are , or ought to be , the interpreters of our hearts , and a comment upon our actions . least some observing job in such a posture , might think that he was beside himself , and thrown into a frenzy by these doleful tidings , he declares the frame of his heart , and the meaning of these forementioned actions , by these following expressions ; naked came i out of my mothers womb , and naked shall i return thither . these words are , as i conceive , used by him as an argument to support his own spirit under his present afflictions ; q. d. altho' i am now in a naked condition , stript and depriv'd of mine outward comforts , yet , i have no cause to murmur , for i brought nothing into the world , neither can i carry any thing with me out of it ; and then , says he , in the words of my text , the lord gave , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord. these words may be divided into two general parts . 1. two propositions , the lord gave , and the lord hath taken away . 2. a natural and necessary inference and conclusion from them both , blessed be the name of the lord. i shall speak to both . first , two propositions or assertions . ( 1. ) the lord gave . ( 2. ) the lord hath taken away . first , the lord gave : q. d. the lord gave me those outward comforts and enjoyments ; that wealth , those servants and children which i lately had , but am now bereaved of . from hence i shall observe , doct. that all our outward comforts and temporal enjoyments come from , and are the gift of god. god is the giver of every good and perfect gift , james 1.17 . not only of the best and most perfect gifts , but also of those that are good and perfect in their kind . temporal as well as spiritual and eternal blessings are streams flowing from this fountain of goodness . in the prosecution of this point i shall do two things . first , lay down some explicatory and demonstrative propositions . secondly , present you with some practical applicatory inferences . first , i shall lay down some explicatory and demonstrative propositions . first prop. the god is the efficient cause of all our creature comforts : every good thing that we enjoy is god's creature ; for as every creature of god is good , so nothing is good but what is his creature . sin which is essentially evil , is not god's but the devil's creature . our near and dear relations must own god only for their creator . though parents are the instrumental causes , yet god is the principal efficient cause of their children's beings ; though their bodies were formed of their substance , yet they were formed by god's omnipotent arm ; by him they were fearfully and wonderfully made , psal . 139.14 . and he animated and informed them with a rational soul , therefore is he called the father of spirits , heb. 12.9 . and the god of the spirits of all flesh , numb . 16.22 . hence , second prop. god hath an original right to , and propriety in them : he must needs be the sole proprietor of those things whereof he is the sole creator . those bodies and souls must needs be his , who derived their being from him . the first cause of every thing hath an unquestionable dominion of propriety in it upon the score of justice . by the law of nations , the first finder of a countrey is esteemed the rightful possessor of that countrey : and the first inventor of an art hath a right of exercising it . thirdly , all the outward comforts which we enjoy , were bestowed upon us by god ; they being created by him , and he being the rightful lord of them , we cannot enjoy them 'till we receive them from him : the right and title which we have to them is not primitive but derivative . some of our relations ( at least ) might have had an existence , and yet we might not have had an interest in them . hast thou a good husband or wife ? as god's creating power gave them being , so his wise and gracious providence made them thine . he allotts one person for a conjugal union with another , and by his providence , and that sometimes very strangely and wonderfully , brings about and effects it . fourth prop. all those excellent qualities which any of our outward enjoyments are the subjects of , whereby they are rendered very comfortable and delightful to us , proceed from god : all the natural and acquired endowments of the body and mind , which endear relations to us , as beauty , ingenuity , a good natural temper and disposition , as well as grace , which is a supernatural endowment of the soul , are bestowed upon them , by the fountain of all perfections . he curiously formed their bodies , and dignified their minds with these intellectual qualities . fifthly , whatsoever we receive from god , flows from the free grace and sovereign goodness of god : this is indeed the proper notion of a gift ; it is a good thing freely bestowed upon us . when we receive some good from another which he is not obliged to give us , it may properly be styled a gift . now in this sense all our temporal as well as our spiritual enjoyments are the gifts of the supream being : he is under no engagement or obligation to any of his creatures , but what he voluntarily and freely enters into and lays himself under : we are less than the least of his mercies , and unworthy of the smallest of his favours . have any of us a wife , children , or any other relations , which greatly add to the comfort of our lives , we must say concerning them , as jacob did to his brother esau , concerning his children , these god hath graciously given thy servant , gen. 33.5 . sixth prop. when god bestows any outward comforts upon us , he doth not divest himself of , nor make over unto us an absolute propriety in them . among men there are several sorts of gifts , or several ways of giving : sometimes men cannot be said to retain any right to those things which they have given unto another : all the right to the gift passeth over from the giver to the receiver by vertue of the donation ; and the person that gave it , cannot without a breach of the rules of justice reassume it , without the receiver's full consent . but other things are so given by men , that they still retain their right to and propriety in them , or indeed they are rather lent than given : we have an instance hereof in places of profit and trust , which are bestowed by princes upon their favourites , during their pleasure : this donation is not absolute , so as to divest the sovereign of his right to them , for he can take them away when he pleases , without committing any act of injustice . and of this latter sort of gifts are those outward comforts which we receive from god. he did not divest himself of the propriety when he granted us the use . our relations are his , and not ours , even when they are in some sense ours : though they may be ours in opposition to men , yet they are not ours in opposition to god ; they are granted us only for our use , as the coller of esses , and sword , and other ensigns of the chief magistrate in the city pass through many hands in regard of the use of them , but the propriety remains in the community and body of the city . i shall now secondly , present you with some practical applicatory inferences . first , hence i inferr , that god is more excellent , and consequently ought to be more highly prized and valued by us than any of our outward comforts : the donor must needs transcend the gift in worth and value : it is impossible for us perfectly to conceive how far god transcends in excellency those good things which we receive from him : and the more excellent any object is , the greater share ought we to give it in our esteem and love. we are all too prone to set up our outward comforts in competition with god , to set them down in the throne of our hearts , a seat only becoming the father of spirits . let us make all our temporal enjoyments strike sail to that supream being who gave them ; let him be the darling of our souls , and the sovereign of our affections . secondly , hence i inferr , that we ought thankfully to ascribe the glory of all the good things which we enjoy , to god : we must not sacrifice to our own net , nor burn incense to our own drag : we must not attribute those outward comforts which we are partakers of , to our selves or any of our fellow creatures as the principal causes of them ; but must own them to be the gifts of god , and bless his name for them . his goodness to us calls for our thankfulness , and his soveraignty over us calls for an higher elevation of it . a smile from a prince is more valued , and thought worthy of greater gratitude than a present from a peasant . what is man , that thou so great a soveraign art mindful of him , to bestow this or that favour upon him ! is but a due reflection upon every blessing that we receive . thirdly , hence i inferr , that all our outward comforts should be improved by us to the glory of god. nothing is more reasonable , than that he who is the first cause should be the last end , than that what is bestowed upon us by divine bounty should be improved by us to god's glory . we ought not to napkin up , but to lay out our talents ; and such are all our outward comforts , we receive them as stewards , and therefore must be accountable for them to our supream lord. o that when he shall call us to give an account of our stewardships , and we must be no longer stewards , we may give up our accounts with joy and not with grief . i proceed now to the second proposition laid down in my text ; the lord hath taken away . there seems to be something of difficulty in understanding this assertion : you will be ready to say , was it not told job by the messengers , that the caldeans and sabeans came and took away his cattel , and plunder'd and pillaged his estate , that the fire consumed his sheep and his servants , and the wind blew down the house upon his children , and had not satan a hand in all this ? how then could job charge this upon god ? doth not this look like the blasphemy which the devil expected out of his mouth ? i answer , hereby job only sets forth the supream power and sovereignty of god , in ordering all things ; and shews that the devil , wicked men , and other second causes , could not have effected these things without a divine concurse . and this was no stain to the holiness of god , nor any reflection upon his justice ; for that action which is impure and unrighteous in the creature , is holy and righteous in god. tho' men injuriously dispossess us of our outward comforts , god doth it justly ; tho' men's ends are base and sordid , god's are noble and excellent . from this branch of the words i shall present you with the two following propositions . first , that there is a vicissitude and vncertainty in all our outward comforts and temporal enjoyments . secondly , that when we are deprived of any of our outward comforts , we must acknowledge the efficiency of god therein . first prop. that there is a vicissitude and vncertainty in all our outward comforts and temporal enjoyments : though spiritual blessings are stable and durable , these gifts of god are so without repentance , that they shall never be taken away from us ; yet vanity is written in legible characters upon all our temporal good things : they are not only vanity because they cannot satisfie us while we have them , but because they are transitory and short-liv'd . when our mountain seems to stand strong , it is a vain thing for us to say , we shall never be moved . we may upon this account say of all outward comforts in general as the wise man doth of riches in particular , they are not , because they make themselves wings , and fly away as an eagle towards heaven , prov. 23.5 . job had cattel and children , but now they were all gone from him ; our living comforts are dying comforts . death frequently rends those from men's embraces who were of all mortals nearest and dearest to them ; this is a truth which almost every day 's observation will sufficiently demonstrate to us . do not we see them who had children one day , childless the next ; and those who had wives one day , to be widdowers before the next ? let us strike this rock , and see whether we cannot fetch water from it ; let us look into the bowels of this lyon , that we may find some honey in it ; let us consider what improvement may be made of this doleful truth . first , hence i inferr , how unreasonable it is for any of the children of men to place their happiness in the fruition of temporal good things : this is a great evil under the sun , that which the generality of mankind are guilty of ; but did they act like reasonable creatures , they would not place their felicity in those things which are fading and uncertain , but in those things which are durable and lasting . oh that i could disswade my self , and you from this piece of folly ! have we relations who are extraordinary comforts to us , let us not make them our chief good , nor esteem them our highest happiness , for within a few dayes their breath may be stopt , and how miserable shall we then be , not only in reality , but even in our own apprehensions ! then shall we say with micah when the danites had taken away his idol and his priest , what have i more ? judges 18.24 . let us make god our highest happiness , and place our felicity in conformity to and communion with him , and in the fruition of him , who is an unchangable and an everlasting good , whose perfections never leave him , and who never leaves any that truly enjoy him . secondly , hence i inferr , that we ought diligently to improve our outward comforts , while they are continued with us : i shall instance particularly in relations . let us do what good we can to them , let us instruct them in the things of god and the great concerns of another world ; let us as much as in us lies endeavour the salvation of their souls , and let us strive to receive what good we can from them , for we know not how speedily death may make a separation between us and them . thirdly , hence i inferr , that when we enjoy any outward comforts , we ought to be continually expecting and preparing for the loss of them : let us not think that we shall always enjoy them , but look upon them as fading and uncertain ; let us endeavour to wean our selves from them , to use them as if we used them not : in this respect , let those who have wives and children be as if they had none . that affliction which comes unlookt for , usually comes unprepar'd for : the more loose we sit from our outward comforts when we have them , the more easily shall we part with them . jacob could better part with his ten other sons into the land of egypt than with his benjamin , that almost brought his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave . no wonder if we immoderately grieve for those things when absent , which we immoderately love when present : by dying daily to them , let us prepare to follow them to their graves . fourthly , i inferr , how unreasonable it is for us to be surprized , when any of our outward comforts are removed from us : these fiery tryals should not be thought strange of by us , for no strange thing hath happened to us . if we thought them durable , we were mistaken about them ; and if we thought them uncertain and vanishing , why should we be surprized when they disappear ? it was an excellent saying of a heathen , when one told him of his son's death , sciebam me genuisse mortales , i knew that i begat mortals . o parents , did not ye know that your daughter ! o husband , did not you know that your wife was a mortal ! be not then surprized at her dissolution . fifthly and lastly , hence i inferr , that we ought all of us to prepare for our own removal from our relations . as our relations who are comforts to us , so we who are comforts to them , are fading dying creatures : how soon our living relations may walk the streets in mourning for us , as we have done for those who are already gone to their long home , we know not . the daily instances of humane frailty which are given us , should put us upon considering and preparing for our latter end , that we may not be hurried from our relations embraces into everlasting flames , but may enter into abraham's bosom . let none of us deferr the great work of preparation for death , for we know not how soon we may enter into its gloomy shades . job's children were snatcht away suddenly , and so are many others . death is not always usher'd in with the formality of a long and lingring sickness . our deceased friend did not lye long upon her bed of languishing , but was quickly carried off the stage by that distemper which seized upon her . it is not long since she was worshipping god with us in this assembly , and now she is gone into the congregation of the dead : therefore be ye also ready , for in such an hour as ye think not , the son of man cometh , matth. 24.44 . let not those who are young put off this business of highest concernment to old age , for young ones are often taken away by the stroke of death . our deceased friend was like a pleasant flower , in her blooming age , blasted by the wind of death ; the days of her appointed time were but few , before her change came : remember therefore your creator , oh young ones ! in the dayes of your youth , for it may be ye may not live 'till old age comes : your maker may soon take you away . get an interest in christ , who hath abolished death , and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel : so when you come to dye , may ye chearfully resign your souls to him , and he will receive them into his divine embraces . whatever your judgments are now , when you come to lye upon a death bed , you will think an interest in christ more valuable than the whole world , if you are not extreamly stupified . the hopes which our deceased friend had of this , carried her comfortably through the valley of the shadow of death . thus much for the first proposition . second prop. that when we are deprived of any of our outward comforts , we must acknowledge the efficiency of god therein . the lord hath taken away . whoever is the instrumental , god is the efficient cause of all our afflictions . the manichees of old tell us of two beginnings , or two gods , the one a good god , and the other an evil god ; the former they asserted to be the author of all good , and the latter to be the author of all evil ; the former they called a giving god , and the latter a taking god : but my text will sufficiently confute that horrid notion , for job ascribes the donation and the removal of his outward comforts to the same divine being , as the first cause of both ; and indeed it was necessary that he should do so , because there is but one god. yea , many heathens taught better doctrine than these hereticks ; for they feigned that their great jupiter had two great vessels placed at the entrance of his palace , whereof the one was filled with good , and the other with evil , and these he dispensed according to the dictates of his own will , among the children of men. but not to trouble you with poetical fictions , the scriptures frequently assert this truth ; says god , isa . 45.9 . i form the light , and create darkness ; i make peace , and create evil : i the lord do all these things : says the church , lam. 3.38 . out of the mouth of the most high proceedeth not evil and good ! when any of our dear relations are taken away by death , they fall by the stroke of god's hand ; says god to the prophet ezekiel , son of man , behold i take away from thee the desire of thine eyes , with a stroke , ch. 24. v. 16. the diseases of which our relations dye , are only the means w hereby god brings about his designed end , even their dissolution . these winds god holds in the hollow of his hand , and lets them loose at his pleasure , to blow poor mortals from the river of time into the ocean of eternity ; and this is no impeachment at all to divine goodness . punishments themselves are not moral evils in the person that inflicts , though they are natural evils in the person that suffers them . i need not insist farther upon the proof of this point , but shall present you with some inferences from it . first , hence i inferr , that when we are threatned with the privation of any of our outward comforts , it is our wisest and safest way to apply our selves to god for the continuance of them : we may allowably pray for , and deprecate the removal of our temporal enjoyments , provided we do it with modesty and humility , with these necessary limitations , if it be agreeable to his will , if it may be for his glory and our good , to bestow them upon us , or continue them with us . though we may make use of all lawfull means to obtain and preserve temporal good things , yet we must not forget to apply our selves unto god , whose blessing alone can render them effectual . physitians will be of no value for the recovery of our languishing relations , unless god sends forth his word and heals them . secondly , hence i inferr , that they deserve to be reproved , who when they have sustained any losses , reflect upon , perplex themselves about , and ascribe those losses solely or principally to second causes : we are very prone in such cases to blame instruments , instead of eyeing the providence of the principal efficient ; to resolve all troublesome events into the malignity of second causes : this part of practical atheism we are apt to be guilty of , thô common observation might be sufficient to confute it . the same second cause which produces such an effect at one time , or in one person , shall not produce the like at another time , or upon another person . why should we ascribe the death of our relations principally to the malignity of the distemper wherewith they were seized , when we see others surviving the same distemper , when attended with the same dangerous circumstances ? thirdly , i inferr , that when any of our outward comforts are taken away from us , we should diligently enquire into the end and design of that separation which hath been made between us and them . tho' the ends of humane acts are not always worthy of our search and enquiry , yet the ends of divine acts are always so : god hath noble and excellent ends in all his operations . let us therefore at such a time address our selves to god in the words of holy job , 10. ch . 2. v. shew me wherefore thou contendest with me . fourthly , i inferr , the folly of those who put their trust , and place their confidence in any thing as a security from death . were they who go to their long home only taken away by men , then there might be some probability of warding off the fatal blow ; but seeing they are taken away by god , what can prevent it ? can you think that the great jehovah will be charm'd by your beauty , or overpower'd by your strength ? are there any forts or towers into which he cannot enter ? can you flie into any remote countrey where his arm cannot reach you ? will the great god have any regard to your worldly riches , or temporal grandure ? by none of these things can you deliver either your own , or others souls from death , or hinder them from going down to the pit. thus much for the first part of the words , i now proceed to the second . secondly , we have a natural and necessary inference , or conclusion , from both the forementioned propositions , blessed be the name of the lord : in which words we have two things contained , viz. first , an object , the name of the lord. this phrase hath various acceptations in the holy scriptures : but there are two things which i conceive may be intended by it in this place ; and indeed the latter is plainly included in the former . first , by the name of the lord , is intended god himself . the name of a person , or thing , is often put for the person , or thing named : thus 1 acts 15. the number of the names together , were about an hundred and twenty ; i. e. the number of persons , they being numbered by their names : so 44 psal . 5. and several other places . secondly , by the name of the lord are intended the attributes and perfections of god : by them is his nature discovered unto his creatures ; and indeed all his perfections are inseparable from his essence . secondly , we have an act which was exerted upon this object , and that is blessing . by blessing god , we are to understand , either what we express in words concerning god , or what we think concerning him . god is blessed by his creatures , when his glorious perfections are published with praise and thanksgiving ; or when they have high , great and glorious thoughts of him ; when they inwardly reverence , honour and love him : the former is a blessing with the tongue , the latter is a blessing with the heart ; the tongue blessing without the heart , is but a tinkling cymbal ; the heart blessing , without the tongue , makes sweet , but still musick : both in consort make that harmony , which fills and delights both heaven and earth . when job saith here , blessed be the name of the lord , we are to understand it both ways , job speaks out the blessing of god with his mouth , and likewise had high and honourable thoughts of him : from these words i shall present you with the following observation , doct. that it is the duty , and will be the disposition of the people of god , when in a right frame of spirit , to bless a taking as well as a giving god. this is indeed a very hard work , but it is a very necessary work : god's people are not at all times engaged in it , but they are so when in a right frame of spirit . in the prosecution of this point , i shall take the following method . first , i shall more particularly shew you , what is intended by , or implyed in our blessing a taking god. secondly , endeavour the proof and demonstration of the doctrine . thirdly , make some improvement , and application of it . first , i shall more particularly shew you , what is intended by , or implyed in our blessing a taking god. this i shall do , by laying down the following propositions . first prop. this is not exclusive of a holy mourning for the loss of our outward comforts : at the same time that we bless god who hath taken away what we once enjoyed , we may mourn for our loss . these two ( as plainly appears from the text and context ) were joined together by job ; and their conjunction was approved by god , as appears from the words following my text , in all this job sinned not , nor charged god foolishly . mourning is allowable , if we exercise a christian moderation therein . second prop. our afflictions are not in themselves the proper subject of thanksgiving . outward comforts being in themselves good things , the loss of them absolutely considered , is an evil : now the proper subject of praise is something that is good. third prop. blessing god is absolutely exclusive of , being directly opposite to every thing that is implyed in cursing him : blessing and cursing are opposites . to curse god , is to blaspheme him either in our thoughts or words ; to think or speak unworthily , or unbecomingly of him : there is a cursing god with the heart , as well as a cursing him with the lips. we curse god , when our hearts are imbitter'd against him , or our tongues sharpen'd to wound his honour : therefore they that bless him , will not either think or speak unbecomingly of him ; they will not either mentally or verbally murmur and repine at him ; they will not question his justice , reproach his goodness , or accuse his providence . fourth prop. blessing god implies the exercise of patience , and our thinking and speaking honourably of god under affliction : the soul who blesses god , accounts and acknowledges god to be glorious in holiness , justice , goodness and truth , when he strips him of his outward comforts ; he justifies god in all his dealings with him ; the language of both his heart and his lips is the same with david's , thou hast dealt well with thy servant , according to thy word , psal . 119.65 . fifth prop. this includes our offering up praise and thanksgiving to god under , if not for our afflictions : he that thus blesses god , will praise his name when he takes as well as when he gives ; he will return thanks for those mercies which are still continued with him , though he mourns for the removal of others from him ; yea , if he observes mercy either in the circumstances of the affliction , or in the issue and event of it , he will remember to offer up the sacrifice of praise to god , even when he hangs his harp upon the willows . i proceed secondly , to prove and demonstrate the point , and this i shall do more generally and more particularly . first , more generally : god is to be blessed by us at all times , and therefore when he deprives us of our outward comforts as well as when he gives them to us : this is evident from the nature of god , our relation to him , and the revelations and discoveries which he hath made of his will to us . is god the most excellent being ? surely we who stand related to him , as creatures to a creator , and as subjects to a sovereign , are obliged at all times to glorifie him , not by making him glorious , but by accounting and acknowledging him to be glorious our selves , and proclaiming him to be so unto others . is not praise and thanksgiving due from us to him at all times ? unless he could cease to be god , or we cease to be creatures , we can under no circumstances be freed from our obligation to glorifie the perfections of his nature . those terrible dispensations of divine providence which make a great alteration in our outward state and condition , neither make nor argue any change in god. he is the same when he takes and when he gives , when he empties us and when he fills us . to suppose him a good god at one time , and an evil god at another , is a flat contradiction ; it is to suppose him not to be god : and hath he not frequently prohibited those things which are excluded by , and commanded those things which are implyed in blessing a taking god. they must be greatly unacquainted with the holy scriptures who are ignorant hereof . secondly , i shall more particularly demonstrate , that this conclusion naturally and necessarily flows from the preceding propositions . first , we ought to bless a taking as well as a giving god , because the same god who takes them away from us , first gave them to us . the force of this argument will be apparent from the two following considerations . first , that god who gave them to us , hath an unquestionable right to take them away from us : as i told you before , he retained his propriety in them , when he had bestowed them upon us , and may not god do what he pleases with his own ? we may suppose job speaking to god after this manner , lord , thou hast depriv'd me of my wealth and my children , but i will subscribe to the equity of thy proceedings with me , for thou dost but exercise thy sovereign right , thou gavest them to me , and yet still they remained thine , therefore thou hast righteously taken them away from me . secondly , when god takes our outward comforts from us , we have reason to bless him for giving them to us . we are very prone to be guilty of this piece of ingratitude towards both god and man , our creator and our fellow creatures ; if they shew kindness to us for a time , and refuse the continuance thereof , instead of thanking them to quarrel with them . let none of us say , when any of our enjoyments are snatcht away from us , better we had never enjoy'd them , than to be so soon depriv'd of them . hast thou lost a child , a comfortable child , a child in its ripe age ? thou hast reason to bless god that he gave thee a child , that he made it a comfort which might have been a cross to thee , and hath continued it so long with thee : hast thou lost a delightful wife , one that was a help meet for thee ? thou hast reason to bless god that he gave thee such a wife , who might have given thee one that would have been a continual torment and vexation to thee , and that he hath spared her so long with you . secondly , we ought to bless a taking god ; because it is the lord jehovah who takes our outward comforts from us . the lord hath taken away . the lord , who can do no wrong to any of his creatures . the lord , who is righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works . the lord , against whom we have sinned , and by our sins forfeited all our mercies . the lord , who had he dealt with us according to our iniquities , or rewarded us according to our inventions , might have cast us into hell long ago . the lord , who is our god. the lord , who hath done great things for our souls , who is an alsufficient unchangable and everlasting good , who can make up the loss of creature comforts in himself . the lord , who knows what condition is good for us , better than we do our selves , who manages all things according to the dictates of his infinite wisdom . the lord , whose ways are all mercy and truth to his people , and aims at their good as well as his own glory in all his dispensations towards them , who will support them under afflictions , and sanctifie afflictions unto them . i proceed thirdly , to make some improvement and application of this point , which shall be only an exhortation to all in general , and you the relations of our deceased friend in particular , to this necessary duty of blessing a taking god. to enforce this i might present you with many motives , but i shall only offer you two , which shall be taken from the context of that scripture which is the foundation of this discourse . first , hereby you will disappoint satan : what was the devil's design against job , in endeavouring the removal of his outward comforts , but to make him curse god ? as is evident from ver. 11. of this chap. and questionless he is in the same plot against us , when in the like condition : he would fain create some prejudices against god in our minds , or draw some unbecoming reflections upon him from our lips : now as his design against job was defeated , when instead of cursing god he bless'd him , so will his plot against us miscarry if we do the like ; and shall not we endeavour to frustrate his designs who is an implacable enemy both to our god and to us ? secondly , hereby you will please god. that this carriage of job's was well-pleasing to god , is apparent from his express approbation thereof in the words following my text ; in all this job sinned not , neither charged god foolishly . this is a negative commendation inclusive of an affirmative one ; q. d. in all this job acted becomingly , suitably to the character which i have given of him , and ought it not to be our endeavour in all things to please god ? more particularly , you my friends whose loss hath occasioned this discourse , have cause to be thankful as well as to mourn under that stroke of god's hand which hath been lately laid upon you : god hath even in judgment remembred mercy with you , in that he did not take away your relation by a violent , but by a natural death ; the former is more terrible than the latter , not only to those who undergo it , but to their surviving relatives . moreover , though your dear relation was taken away in a short time , after sickness began to seize her , yet she did not dye suddenly , god gave you some warning before he gave that fatal blow which separated her from your embraces . have you not reason to bless god for those supports which he gave her , and those manifestations and discoveries of his love which he made to her in the time of her sickness : had she been stupid and insensible of her condition , or gone out of the world full of horrour , your burthen would have been the greater , though then you ought to have acquiesc'd in the will of god , but now you have good ground to hope that she is not lost , but gone before ; that your loss is her gain ; that she was separated from you only in order to her enjoyment of her heavenly father , and her dearest husband , the lord jesus christ ; that she is gone to that blessed place , from whence she would not for a world return to you : that though you have had a doleful parting , you will have a joyful meeting , never to part more . and would you bless this taking god ? seriously consider those things which i proposed to you , to demonstrate the reasonableness thereof , endeavour to clear up your interest in him , go forth by faith to the lord jesus christ , that you may derive that grace and strength from him , which may enable you to do this difficult work ; so i hope you may say with the holy man in the words of my text , the lord gave , and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord. finis advertisement . the revelation unvailed , or an essay towards the discovering i. when many scripture prophecies had their accomplishment , and turned into history . ii. what are now fulfilling . iii. what rest still to be fulfilled , with a guess at the time of them . with an appendix , proving that pagan rome was not babylon , rev. 17. and that the jews shall be converted . by samuel petto , minister of the gospel at sudbury in suffolk . price 1 s 6 d the life and death of that old disciple of jesus christ , and eminent minister of the gospel , mr. hanserd knollys , who dyed in the ninety third year of his age. written with his own hand to the year 1672. and continued in general in an epistle by mr. william kiffien : to which is added his last legacy to the church . price stitcht 6 d or bound 8 d both printed for john harrls at the harrow in the poultrey . a sermon preached at the funeral of sir willoughby chamberlain, kt. who died at his house at chelsey, dec. 6 and was interred at the parish church of st. james garlick hith, london, dec. 12, 1697 / by john king, rector of chelsey. king, john, d.d. 1697 approx. 36 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47417 wing k510 estc r29455 11146924 ocm 11146924 46400 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47417) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 46400) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1425:13) a sermon preached at the funeral of sir willoughby chamberlain, kt. who died at his house at chelsey, dec. 6 and was interred at the parish church of st. james garlick hith, london, dec. 12, 1697 / by john king, rector of chelsey. king, john, d.d. [4], 18 p. printed for thomas bennet, london : 1697. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng chamberlain, willoughby, -sir, d. 1697. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-11 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at the funeral of sir willoughby chamberlain , k t. who died at his house at chelsey , dec. 6. and was interred at the parish church of st. james garlick hith , london , dec. 12. 1697. by john king , rector of chelsey , near london . london , printed for thomas bennet , at the half-moon in st. paul's church-yard , 1697. to the lady chamberlain . madam , all who know your ladyship will easily excuse me for publishing this discourse , if at the same time they are acquainted it is done , in obedience to your command . but did they know the particular obligations i lie under , they would tax that modesty , which should suppress it , for ungrateful . now though i find no small aversion in me to the publication ; yet i find a greater to ingratitude . i have been a witness of your great affliction , and if i can do any thing that may be serviceable to you under your present loss , and grief , if i can administer comfort to the mourner , which is a special act of christain charity , i shall be glad of the occasion , and not value the censure may be justly due to this hasty and indigested treatise . that an happiness suitable to your virtue , and piety ( for i need wish no more ) may attend you here , and an infinitely greater crown you hereafter , is the prayer of , madam , your ladyship 's most obliged and humble servant . john king. to the reader . a preface may seem superfluous , were i not obliged to bespeak your favourable reception of the following discourse , and your charitable judgment of the subject thereof . as to the former , 't is needless to alledge it was hastily composed , and not designed to be made publick , you will easily discover that from its incorrectness and imperfections . but whatever allowances are to be made for them , there are i assure thee none required to the sincerity of the relation . and its brevity is a virtue . perhaps some may disapprove of the texts being taken out of the apocrypha ; but i hope none of our church will say much on that point , since this excellent book of ecclesiasticus is appointed to be read in churches , for example of life and instruction of manners , not as a rule of faith , which is as much as any sermon , or mere humane composure can pretend to . and for the explication of the words , i humbly submit it to better judgments . the gentleman here represented was born in the fruitful and rich island of barbadoes , where he had a great estate ; and must be confessed that he had lived as freely , and as much at large ( to use the softest terms of the dead ) as any who are exposed to the temptations and snares of much riches , and under the conduct of little prudence and self-government . so that the former part of his life was irregular enough ; and he can be esteemed but a late convert . his reformation is to be dated from the death of his son ( about eight months before his own ) a great , but i may say for him an happy affliction . for that begat in him a visible change , and a repentance , i hope more early than his last sickness . vnder his illness he applied himself to the most eminent and learned in their profession , for his bodily cure and health ; and to the great physician of souls for his spiritual : and as his submission was more regular under the prescriptions of the latter , so i trust was his success better . his distemper was lingring , and so afforded him time to further that preparation he had begun ; which he did with all visible chearfulness and application . and it was happy that he did so : for his distemper terminated in the heigth of a lamentable frenzy . here i wish i could avoid this dismal scene , wherein his condition for three days was the most moving and pitiful can well be imagined . he showed such a variety of humours , as was scarce ever seen in one person in so short a time ; for you might discover in the running of a few minutes , sorrow and joy , fury and temper , meekness and anger , grave devotion and inconsistent rovings , and twenty contrarieties more , succeeding one another . but the most deplorable accident of his distemper was a most dreadful chastisement of himself , and , as soon as he was sensible , his owning god's justice in that particular . the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity , but a wounded spirit who can bear ? may all who knew , or heard of him , or shall read his character , judge charitably ; consider seriously the terror of god's judgments , and learn from the sudden and extreme violence of such diseases , to take all care of living holy and religious lives , or working out a timely repentance , and not expose eternity to a fatal and dangerous surprize of sickness and death . and may god's grace , which maketh small things instruments of great good , improve what thou shalt meet with here to thy spiritual benefit , and then , with me , give god the glory . ecclus. xvi . 22 . who shall declare the works of his justice , or who can endure them ? for his covenant is afar off , and the tryal of all things is in the end. these words of the son of sirach , which i am now obliged to discourse on , are my task , not my choice . they were sometime since mark'd out , and design'd for this occasion , by the gentleman we lament ; probably upon some meditations he had on a late severe affliction ( that made a mighty impression on him ) in the loss of his only child , which almost as soon as lent him , was snatch'd out of his arms , by the afflicting hand of providence . for accordingly , in the beginning of this chapter , the wise moralist makes excellent reflections , and passes a just sentence on the vanity and unprofitableness of abounding in children ; and that there is no reason to desire them , or rejoyce in them , unless they prove good and vertuous . v. 1 , and 2. desire not a multitude of unprofitable children , neither delight in ungodly sons . though they multiply , rejoyce not in them , except the fear of the lord be with them . he proceeds to show that the enjoyment of them is a very fickle and uncertain blessing ; and that it is better for men to want them , than to be afflicted with such as are wicked . v. 3. trust not in their life neither , respect their multitude : for one that is just is better than a thousand ; and better is it to die without children , than to have them that are ungodly . an excellent lenitive to mitigate the grief of parents for the early losses of children , before they can be assur'd , whether they will make a fair and virtuous , or a deformed and vicious figure in the world. but not to insist longer upon the motive that might induce him to read , and frequently meditate on this chapter , as i understand he did ; or to chuse these words to be enlarged on at present ( as if he had some presage and aboding of his severe and astonishing distemper ) we who saw this particular instance and work of divine justice and mercy on him ; may with great reason use , and with the most sensible emphasis utter these words , who can declare the works of his justice , or who can endure them ? for his covenant is afar off , and the tryal of all things is in the end . i need not dwell on a large explication of the words , though the latter part of them is not so plain , as not to need some clearing . an unforced and obvious sense will arise from them by granting they present to our observation , i. the unsearchableness and terror of gods justice , who can declare the works of his justice , or who can endure them ? ii. that his mercies ( the result of his promises and covenant ) are not to be measured wholly from the good men enjoy , or the evil they suffer in this life ; but the next ( which is farther off ) is the proper season , when we can make a right judgment and certain determination of the state of man , and of the justice and mercy of god in his misery or happiness . and first , the works of god's justice or his judgments are ineffable , they are to us unfathomable , and like the great deep . whence comes it to pass that all humane affairs are so full of vicissitude and change , that no man can in this life assure himself of the success , or discern the certain event of any of his actions ? no human design or contrivance though founded upon the greatest reason and policy and carried on by the most prudent managment , but may defeat the contriver . our foresight is so short , that we cannot tell what will befall us the next minute . we cannot securely provide for our safety . we can neither foresee nor prevent evils that may befall us . we are so subjected to sickness and death , to crosses and disappointments in this world , that our security is owing to the vigilance and protection , and our success and all prosperous events that attend us , to the guidance and conduct of an almighty providence . this is that invisible power , that disposes and rules all created beings ; over-rules human actions , and is the cause that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the mighty . now this providence is that whereby god either foresees or permits , orders and directs things to a certain end : which is done oftentimes through so many turnings and windings , and carried on in so dark and mysterious way , and so far above all humane scrutiny , that though it concerns our selves , and our disposal in this life , we are forced with the psalmist to confess , such knowledge is too wonderful for us ; it is high , we cannot attain to it . and the knowledge 〈◊〉 scarce of any thing is more above us , or more unattainable by us , than of that important day and hour of our lord and masters coming in that particular judgment and punishment for man's primitive rebellion . to reflect how the providence of god ( who takes care of the meanest of his creatures , so that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his advertency ) determines the frail lives of men : how strangely different and various are the means and works of his justice in this particular ; we may use the apostle's exclamation , how unsearchable are his jugdments , and his ways past finding out ? indeed so short sighted are we in what may come , or happen , that we are non-pluss'd in our desires , and puzzled in our choice of things in this world. a short life is often-times , but a long never fails of being subject to aches , infirmities , pains , afflictions , weakness , and innumerable evils . so that a long life under these circumstances is what no wise , or good man will chuse for himself , or desire for his friend . especially if he consider that the longer we live , the further are we from our desired haven of rest and quietness , and the longer exposed to the tempestuous billows and storms of this life . for alas ! what is it we are so fond of in it ? it is full of wants in the midst of worldly plenty ; so frail and deficient , that ( according to the psalmist ) in our best estate we are altogether vanity ; and the funeral office most fitly pronounces , in the midst of life we are in death . and we shall readily assent thereunto , upon reflecting that there is scarce a creature so feeble , but may deprive us of this good ; and if armed by providence , the meanest are more than sufficient to effect it . a fly , an hair , a grape-stone ( if poor anacreon's story be true ) can extinguish this faint lamp of life . and the young lady , whose innocence shields her from the fatal sword , shall rather than fail meet with death at the point of her needle . death ( according to an elegant author ) reigns in all the portions of our time . the autumn with its fruits provides disorders for us ; and the winter cold turns them into sharp diseases : the spring brings forth flowers to strew our hearses , and the summer gives green turf to cover our graves . to be short , since in every place and season we are in danger , since every thing , even the necessaries of life may destroy it , the air may infect , and our food surfeit us , how unreasonable is it to build our hopes upon this fickle life ? and how reasonable is it to suppose that which is but as a span long would be even as nothing , were it not wholly supported by an almighty power and providence ? and as for the various ways and means of our deaths , they are only open to his omniscient eye : so that who shall declare these works of his justice ? but secondly , the divine judgments are terrible , the works of his justice who can endure ? though his compassion and tender mercies fail not ; though he doth not afflict willingly , nor grieve the children of men ; though great be the forbearance and long-suffering of god towards us ; yet we may so far abuse his patience , and receive his grace in vain , as to render him a god of the sharpest anger , and highest resentment . and so he is set out by the holy spirit , to be against obdurate and impenitent sinners . such will experience him the strictest justiciary . for our god is a consuming fire . the worm of conscience that never dyeth , and flames unquenchable are the instruments of his justice . now such a wounded spirit who can bear ? or who can dwell with everlasting burnings ? so that as this wise author observes there is a due proportion of mercy and justice in god. v. 11 , 12. mercy and wrath are with him . he is mighty to forgive , and to pour out displeasure : as his mercy is great , so is his correction also : he judgeth a man according to his works . now according to our sence of things , it would seem a just and equitable law , that only good men should be entituled to rewards and mercies , and the wicked to god's judgments . and so all men in this world , as well as in the next , should be happy or miserable , fortunate or unfortunate according to their own deservings . that the best of men should fare best , and the worst receive the coursest treatment , any one without much consideration would think should best agree with a mercy and justice infinitely perfect . but there is nothing more certain than that the dispensation of providence are otherwise , and yet altogether righteous . for in the general acts of god's bounty and mercy , such as our preservation ( which next to our creation is an instance of the divine goodness ) the providence of god is indifferently extended to both parties . and in other subordinate blessings which conduce to preserving both ; both have ordinarily an equal share from our heavenly father . he maketh his sun to shine on the evil and on the good , and sendeth his rain on the just and on the vnjust . now though such instances do but more illustriously declare the goodness of god : though to forgive does not interfere with , but rather extols his mercy : yet is it strange that his judgments should be indifferently dispensed to both parties ; it is matter of admiration to him who is unacquainted with the oracles of god. but this difficulty is easily removed by reflecting on the ii. second , observable from the words , that the divine favour is not wholly to be measured from the good ▪ or evil men suffer in this life : but the next is the proper season to judge rightly of their misery or happiness . and first , the divine favour is not to be measured from the good or evil men suffer in this life . god's promises and covenant under the gospel are afar off , being extended to the gentiles , as well as the jews , and respect not barely temporal , but spiritual , and nobler blessings . for we know the good and bad things of this world ▪ are promiscuously bestowed by providence . as no virtuous or religious qualities can certainly intitle men to the former ; so no vicious or sinfull habits can expose men inevitably to the latter . here sometimes ▪ bad men thrive and good men are afflicted . here sufferings assault the best of men , and the best of causes . to confirm this we can summon in as evidence the glorious company of the apostles , the goodly fellowship of the prophets , and all the noble army of martyrs . now that god ( who always acts with the greatest wisdom , and has the most glorious and just end in all his dispensations ) has most gracious designs and intents in the afflictions of his own disciples the professors of his holy religion , is a truth not to be doubted ; but will be very plain , if we consider the excellent reasons of humane sufferings : and that they are in the 1 st . place a mean to try our sincerity in our profession , our patience and submission to god's will under them . not that god ( who searcheth all hearts ) has need of any means to try our sincerity or discover the most inward thoughts of men ; or that he who exactly knows our frames , and how we are made and formed , needs to lay open humane passions and infirmities ; but by these our christian faith and hope are exercised , and if sound and vigorous , will bear us up and support us , and will be found in this day of the lord laudable , glorious and honourable . by these hypocrisy is exposed and laid open , and the world discovers who are stedfast and sincere , and who are treacherous and apostates to the interest of his church and religion . for an hypocrite has not patience and courage to suffer for righteousness sake . while all things are serene , and calm , while religion and our duty to god ingage us in no danger , stand in no opposition to our temporal interest than every man has courage enough to be of their side . but if religion exposes men to any severe tryals , if it carries any peril or trouble with it , the sincere is quickly discerned from the hypocrite . so that thus the lord tryeth the righteous . 2. as sufferings and judgments are to try our sincerity and patience , so are they a means of our conversion and amendment . they are god's messengers sent as the angels to lot , to call us out of this sodom of iniquity , and make us fix our desires on heaven . indeed many times afflictions and crosses are the last means to influence our repentance ; so that when the mercies of god are unable to lead us , his judgments are sufficient to drive us to the amendment of our lives . how many has the smart and agony of an acute distemper reformed , who in a constant course of health and blessings , were uncapable of any impression from the bible or the pulpit ? how many hath adversitiy , losses of relations and estate mollified and made sensible of their sins , who were like adders deaf to the voice of the charmer charmed he never so wisely ? this god declares was the errand of troubles to his own people . for in their afflictions they will seek me early . and this the psalmist confesses he found effected in himself . before i was afflicted i went astray : but now have i kept thy word . but 3 dly , judgments are inflictions which all men deserve as a just retribution for their sins and iniquities . to see the righteous suffer , and wicked prosper in this world , was the epicureans chief argument against providence ; and moved them to attribute all events to a blind chance , and irresistible fate . this made aristophanes presume there was no god to superintend the world , because the bad domineer'd over the good : and the heathen in minutius foelix to argue if the world were governed by divine providence and a deity , the tyrants phalaris and dionysius had never deserved kingdoms : the patriots rutilius and camillus had never undergone banishment ; nor socrates dyed by poison . and this gave occasion to that infidelity the prophet malachy mentions , when the people murmured , it was vain to serve god , because the proud where happy , yea , they that work wickedness are set up ; yea , they that tempt god are even delivered . indeed a slight consideration of this is enough to surprize us , as it did divers of the sacred pen men , upon the like distributions of providence . job demands wherefore do the wicked live , become old , yea , are mighty in power ? the psalmists passion was raised at the sight of it . i was envious at the foolish , when i saw the prosperity of the wicked . the prophet questions how these dispensings can accord with gods righteousness and justice . righteous art thou , o lord , when i plead with thee : yet let me talk with thee of thy judgment : wherefore do the wicked prosper ? thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil , and canst not look on iniquity : wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously , and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he ? but upon closer thoughts we shall be convinced that these distributions of divine providence in the afflictions of goodmen , and impunity of the wicked are acts of the greatest mercy and strictest justice . which will appear plain if we seriously reflect that the best of men deserve the worst temporal judgments , and that the wicked consequently deserve greater . in this world all mankind are in a state of sin , whosoever conceives the contrary deceives himself and the truth is not in him . yea , the best of men have been grievous sinners ; so that the most upright of our kind can only pretend to a comparative goodness , are only good in respect of those who are more wicked : for in an absolute sense , there is none that doth good no not one ; and none that can be called good but god only . now let us farther reflect that the wages of sin is death , and that good men ( according to the common acceptation of the word ) are obnoxious , and we shall be fully convinced that crosses and sufferings in this life are mild punishments even to the righteous , and the best deserve the worst of temporal judgments . this no less nor worse a man than david owns , who confesses his sins , and acknowledges if god pleases to punish him for them , his justice cannot be impeached or questioned . against thee have i sinned and done evil in thy sight , that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest , and clear when thou judgest . and thus st. paul vindicates the divine justice in this particular , and silences such as murmur against it . but if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of god , what shall we say ? is god unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? ( i speak as a man ) god forbid : for how then shall god judge the world ? so that it is both just and merciful in god to afflict us here . just to punish us in this life , and merciful in that he does it in order to acquit us in the next , which we ought to own as an exceeding act of grace and kindness . the tenderest father punishes the very beginnings of sin , nips the first buddings of vice in his son , and after the punishment is over is reconciled to him . but if his vices and extravagancies become too great , and prove above the corrections of a father , he is cast off and dis-inherited . that our heavenly father deals so with us , is a truth most manifest . the apostles witnesses , if ye endure chastening , god dealeth with you as with sons ; but if ye be without chastisement , then are ye bastards and no sons . so that when wicked men pass with impunity here , they are greater objects of our pity , than our envy , and we ought not to fret our selves because of evil doers , neither be envious against the workers of iniquity , who are fattened , and appointed as sheep for the slaughter , and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath , and revelation of god's righteous judgment , who will then render to every man , acccording to his deeds : for surely there is an end , and thine expectation shall not be cut off . hence we may raise more comfortable hopes from their severe afflictions in this world , than from their outward flourishing and prosperity . thus we see god's favours and frowns in temporal blessings and sufferings , are no rule to measure the happiness or misery of men in the next life . we must rest satisfied , and suspend our judgment here : because lastly , the tryal of all things is in the end . the end crowns every action and work of man , and the last and finishing stroak is of mighty importance . as the tree falls so it lies . a sincere repentance and a stedfast faith to the last ; are necessary qualifications to make an happy conclusion of this life , and fit us for that judgment which after death is appointed for all men. under their conduct we shall abide with comfort , the great tryal of things in the end , at that last and general judgment , and coming of our lord ; a day of joy and comfort to the godly , but of terror to the wicked . under them , though ever so sharp bodily agonies and pangs conclude this frail life of man , charity will oblige us to pronounce the end of that man is peace . and i hope christian charity will thus judge of our deceased friend ; concerning whom i must beg leave to speak a word or two , and so conclude . in which i shall use all the modesty , and sincerity , that becomes this place , and my profession . i need not acquaint you , that he was a gentleman born to an ample fortune and estate ; and became too early perhaps master both of that and himself . for he had the misfortune to lose his father when young , which affords oftentimes an occasion to young gentlemen of lashing out into great excesses . under such unhappy circumstances it must be an extraordinary pitch of prudence , and an uncommon tendency to virtue , and inclination to goodness , that can secure and keep youth within just bounds in this licentious and vicious age. but i shall confine my self in what i speak upon this subject to my own knowledge . and if from thence it shall appear , that the last and finishing stroaks of his life , be in different characters , and made a distinct figure from the former part thereof known to some of you , it will ( i hope ) be owned as an argument of his repentance , and a reason for comfortable hopes to you and all his surviving friends concerning him . my knowledge of him has been but of late . i cannot say , i intimately knew him , untill his late affliction and last sickness . upon the former , which was occasioned by the death of his son , though his grief was great , and he seemed afflicted to the last degree ; yet i must own , i scarce ever met with any one , who expressed himself better on the duty of christian submission to god's will ; and what good uses we ought to make of such severe afflictions . and i hope he made a good use of that ; for since that time his excellent lady , and the whole family can bear me witness they discovered a great change in the choise of his company , the observing regular hours , the avoiding excesses , the keeping generally at home , and exercising himself in reading , and in all respects observed in him a far more serious and sober deportment . and to his last long illness , when i was frequently called and went to visit and assist him ; i found in him , all the notes and temper of one truly penitent , and who seriously applyed himself to make his peace with god , by an humble confession , by an hearty sorrow for his sins , by a professed resolution of better obedience if god should restore him , by a devout receiving the blessed sacrament , and by constant prayers . now as to his sincerity in these duties , and devout performance of them , it is best known to that omniscient god ( who is the only searcher of hearts ) to whom they were offered . but his generous oblation and charity to the poor when he receiv'd the sacrament in his sickness : and the frequent opportunities he took of being charitable at other times , beyond most in the place where he lived ( a duty which hypocrites commonly fail in as being too chargeable ) will strongly plead for his sincerity , will cover a multitude of his smaller sins of failure and infirmity , where-ever that charity prevails , which is kind , believeth all things , hopeth all things . under this head i ought not to omit the mentioning one act of spiritual charity , which he often expressed an hearty desire for , both in health and sickness . which was to have a law made to oblige our plantations to baptize their negro slaves as their french neighbours did . and so far he pursued that good intention , that he gave strict orders , and made it his earnest request , to me and others , that the black who waited on him , might with all convenient speed , be instructed and made a christian. now i heartily wish this would prove a motive to all who are masters of such people ( who are capable of being made eternally happy , and instruments of praising god as well as we ) to incline them to have so much regard for the salvation of men , as to follow and promote this christian practice : and to make this charitable return to those poor souls whose bodies labour to enrich them : and whose circumstances being narrow in this , ought to have better provision made for them in the next life . this would be a most excellent act of charity , as respecting their eternal welfare , which in our blessed saviour's esteem is more important than to gain the whole world. he owned himself a son of the established church , professed a resolution to live and die in her truly catholick and apostolick faith , expressed a just esteem and veneration for all her excellent rites and constitutions . now this was visibly enforced by that singular respect , with which he always treated her ministers and clergy ; and that particular regard he showed with great zeal upon all occasions , for her admirable prayers and liturgy , and express'd in the constant use thereof , which he retained to the last minute of his life : which i do not speak barely upon my own knowledge , but can confirm by unquestionable testimony . and i remember he blessed god that this love for the best church in the world ( he owned ) was mightily promoted in him , from that orthodox place of his education , which was one of the most renouned foundations for learning in this kingdom , and under the best governour , that this or any age produced : but he lamented the opportunity he lost there , as to other advantages and improvements . now these and the like , were the result of his deliberate thoughts , and sound mind ; before god was pleased to permit his distemper to arise to that height ; as to deprive him of his senses and reason . and yet even then in his greatest fits of frenzy he never ( that i heard ) let slip an oath , or a curse . but animadverted upon himself in the severest manner , to the astonishment of those that administred to him , for his former excesses in that kind ; and in all his lucid intervals was very inquisitive how he had behaved and carried himself ; and whether he had offended god by any indecent expressions ; and received the information from those above him , that he had not , with great joy and comfort , and commonly with blessed be god , or glory be to god for it . all about him were witnesses , what constant confessions of his faith he made , and what professions of repentance and new obedience he uttered ; and so earnest he was in his prayers to god to restore him to his senses , and forgive him his sins , that he almost melted those about him into tears . he desired those reverend and worthy persons , who were compassionate witnesses of his severe distemper , and charitable assistants to him , frequently to pray by him , and for him , with whom he joyned with all the composed sedateness , and appearing fervency of zeal . and for some hours before he dyed , he had his perfect reason , which helped him in a regular and well ordered devotion , and a sensible carriage to the last . so that if from the end we are to make our judgment , and thence to raise our hopes and fears , the tryal of all things being in that ; here are strong evidences and good grounds for hopes to all the surviving friends and relations of the gentleman to whom we now perform this charitable office. to conclude , let me address to you who hear me , and beseech you to reflect on the terror of god's judgments , and seriously consider the last account you must give of your lives and actions , and advise you to betake your selves vigorously and speedily to the care of that great and important business . here lies before you an instance of a strong body and constitution brought down to the grave in the vigour of his age , in his full strength , when his breasts and veins were full of blood , and his bones were moistned with marrow . wherefore you that are young , and apt to rejoyce in your youth , and to let your hearts chear you in the days of your youth , and to walk in the ways of your hearts , and in the sight of your eyes . know that for all these things , god will bring you to judgment . and you who are drawing toward the evening , and the day of whose age is far spent , consider , i pray you , it is high time for you to remember your creatour when your evil days come upon you , and your years draw nigh , when you may say we have no pleasure in them . finally , oh that all would be wise , and seriously consider their latter end , in which is the tryal of all things . so teach us , o lord , to number our days , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom , and receive the recompence of reward , thou hast prepared for all thy servants , who live in thy faith and fear , and die ( as we hope our brother has ) in thy favour . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47417-e280 prov. 18.14 . notes for div a47417-e440 psal. 36.6 . ps. 139.6 . quid enim est aliud , senem videre trementem , incurvum , canum , imbecillum , infirmum , quam cernere morientem vivum , aut viventem mortuum . cic. consolat . dr. taylor 's holy living and dying . heb. 12.29 . visitat . exhortation . psal. 11.5 . hosea 5. ps. 119.67 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . quod si miundus , &c. mala. 3.14 , 15. job 21.7 . psal. 73.3 . jer. 12.1 . habak . 13. rom. 3.5 , 6. psal. 37.1 . rom. 2.5.6 . prov. 23.18 . matt. 16.26 . christ church oxon. dr. fell bishop of oxford . job 21.24 . the mourning swain a funeral eclogue [sic] humbly offer'd to the memory of the right honourable james earl of abingdon / written by mr. robert gould ... gould, robert, d. 1709? 1700 approx. 39 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a70131 wing g1428 estc r2706 12041970 ocm 12041970 52985 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a70131) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52985) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 983:13 or 1011:7) the mourning swain a funeral eclogue [sic] humbly offer'd to the memory of the right honourable james earl of abingdon / written by mr. robert gould ... gould, robert, d. 1709? [8], 19 p. printed for the author and sold by john nutt ..., london : 1700. in verse. this item can be found at reels 983:13 and 1011:7. reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng abingdon, james bertie, -earl of, 1653-1699. funeral sermons. 2007-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-05 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-05 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the mourning swain : a funeral eclogue , humbly offer'd to the memory of the right honourable james , earl of abingdon . written by mr. robert govld . and dedicated to his grace the duke of leeds . london : printed for the author , and sold by john nutt , near stationer's-hall . 1700. to his grace the duke of leeds , &c. the sun almost an annual race has ran , since the decease of this prodigious man : so long ago , ( and such the nation gave ) these faithful tears were wept upon his grave . they who can see when nature sways in chief , will find 'em shed in an extream of grief : without her aid , in vain we strive by art , to limn a weeping eye and bleeding heart . in private writ , in private to the plains , i thought to have confin'd these rural strains , an ev'ning concert for the mourning swains ; when on their oaten reeds his name they 'd raise , all tun'd to their departed patron 's praise . but call'd from thence in publick to appear , ( my self by being worthless , fenc'd from fear ) i fly to you with this illustrious name , to stand between detraction and his fame . with merit , envy ever did commence . and vice is still suppressing excellence ; like feeble eyes , that shun the glaring light , ' twou'd cover what it cannot bear in night . your nearness to the hero in his blood , and the yet nearer tye of being good ; your joint endeavours , and your joint success , in lab'ring for your country's happiness ; your mutual friendship , with such concord knit , that love ne'er made so dear a union yet ; all these regards , make's this address your due : it can , my lord , belong to none but you , the honour of this celebrated name ; return'd , in some degree , from whence it came , guide of his life , and guardian of his fame . justly the lines may safely seek , where late 't is found by an affrighted tott'ring state : when to the verge of anarchy it drew , hurri'd along , and all her fears in view , she sighing , cast her eyes for aid , on you ; you who so oft ( when wander'd from the way , and lost in night ) have led us to the day . loud was the storm ; and now , advancing nigh , there seem'd no hope of help from policy . here bigottry like scylla threat'ning stood , horrid with wrecks , and painted o'er with blood. there , like charibdis , tyranny appear'd , fearful to sight , and hideous to be heard ! and yet between 'em lay the happy coast , which either we must make , or all be lost . here 't was ( and greatlier ne'er employ'd before ) your counsels did our peace and pow'r restore , when they had took their leave , to come no more . where does the wond'rous penetration lie ? or is all nature opn'd to your eye ? that thus you forward look among the fates , and seem a second providence to states ? for ever on your country's good intent , you foreign ills divert , and home prevent . no more an empty title to the main our squadrons boast ; by your advice they reign . europe and africa triumphant saw our navy ride , and give the ocean law ; while those who thought t' invade us now retire , and leave their shoars to spoil and hostile fire . if the physician oft divert our fate , by feeling how the blood does circulate , what may he do that know's the pulse of state ? be fevour , faintness , frenzy , the disease , or if a lethargy the vitals seize ; be it luxurious peace , or lawless might , or legislative rage for ravish'd right ; be it a less'ning fame , or less'ning trade , the neighb'ring strength increas'd , or ours decay'd , the remedy is certain you advise ; and we are ne'er so low , but then we rise . and yet in spight of this unweary'd care , among us there a sort of monsters are , whose tongues like jews , wou'd not their saviour spare but y' are secure , and all their malice vain ; such vertue is too rich a dye to stain . as when a nymph breaths on a crystal-glass , the damps a while obscure her beauteous face ; a dimness on the fair reflection lie's , and sits between her image and her eyes : but soon the self-assisted mirror 's clear , the envious shades dissolve into the air , and all her former lovely lineaments appear . so what e'er spight with black'ning breath can say , the lustre of your worth does purge away , breaks through the sullen gloom , and settles day . but while ( alas ! ) the too advent'rous muse ambitiously her noble flight pursues ; she finds the weight above her pow'r to raise , and sinks beneath the pressure of your praise . a life like yours , a history does claim an ample fabrick that may hold your fame ; where an immortal pillar shou'd be grav'd , the prince's y 'ave oblig'd , and kingdom 's sav'd . and lo ! — ( for what can veil the muse's eyes ) i see , methinks , a fam'd historian rise , impartial , great , elab'rate , learn'd and wise ; one on whose works the graces all shall smile ; so just a subject claims the justest stile . no other but the best of pens shou'd show the future ages what the present owe. to leeds , and ( o too early from us torn ! ) that other god-like man , whose loss we mourn : your glory will not less illustrious shine , to have his name immortal made with thine . he shall to the succeeding times display how you both stood , when hopeless of the day , rescuing th' rights that others did betray : the slaves that for precarious pow'r and place , to french designs subject the british race , born to be free , and ne'er to be o'ercome , but when by a brib'd s — n — — te sold at home . the mourning swain : a funeral eclogue , on the much lamented death of the right honourable james , earl of abingdon . menalcas , damon , alexis . menalcas . he sinks ! he dies away ! — alexis ! friend ! 't is thy menalcas calls ! — some god descend , and save the swain from an untimely end. ha! he grows paler still ! o damon ! you are come , as you prophetically knew the aid i wish'd , and what his griefs wou'd do ! damon . i heard the broken sobs , and faul'tring breath , and groans , like those the wretched give in death . what sad occasion — menalcas . ask not yet our grief , but lend the swooning shepherd quick relief : chafe , chafe his temples ; forward gently bow the body — this , or nothing else will do : thô when his spirits to their seat return , he lives to grief , and but revives to mourn ! damon . what un-foreseen and sudden stroak of fate is this , that nature sinks beneath the weight ? that life retiring , shuns th' unequal fight , and if it conquers , must o'ercome by flight ! men. the worst that cou'd the wretched youth attend : bertudor's dead ! his master , patron , friend ! bertudor ! than which yet a worthier name was e'er took up , or sounded off by fame . i brought him word the noble soul was flown , and fear the fatal news has wing'd his own. is this to be your image ? cruel pow'rs ! how are we yours , when with'ring grass and flow'rs , vapours and bubbles , are so truly ours ? — but see ! the blood does to his cheeks ascend , and lab'ring life returns . — how fares my mourning friend ? alexis . again ! do i yet draw this hated breath ? and flying life , can be but mock'd with death ? will not the partial pow'rs that rule above permit this last , best , dearest act of love , to die , and by that test , our sorrows prove ? must we be doom'd in being to remain , renew'd to grief , and but preserv'd for pain ? ah! dear menalcas ! what an ease 't wou'd be , cou'd we , at will , shake off mortality ! cou'd , with our tears , our lives dissolving fall , and grief had long oblivion at her call : but 't will not be ! — in worst extreams , as now , the soul wou'd rest in death , and swoon's too go , when strugling nature gives us back to woe ! damon . o fatal sounds ! o endless sourse of moan ! and is indeed the brave bertudor gone ? alexis . did you e'er find unhappy news untrue ? he 's dead ! and i shou'd now be dying too ! ah! what for us remains ( till life is done ) but wrongs , distresses , obliquy and moan ? the sheep must suffer , when the shepherd's gone . menalcas . we all , indeed , the fatal loss shall rue , heavy to us , but heavier yet to you : you were acquainted with the hero young , he knew you early , and he lov'd you long . alexis . he found me helpless , and of friends bereft , of parents , and the little they had left . the vvorld look'd frowning on my early years , and i seem'd destin'd by my stars , to cares . he took me , rais'd me , fix'd me in his sight ; by precept and example , kept me right — but ah! the lamp is gone , and i am hid in night ! he taught me good , then gave that good regard ; but still , it still was short of the reward . vvith the new day , new favours he 'd impart , then make the vvorld believe 't was my desert . and shall ? o shall this benefactor go and we not sing his worth , and sigh our woe ? the last sad task that gratitude can do . shall time or rage be suffer'd to efface the mem'ry of this best of british race ? shall fame amidst such merit silent lye ? shall e'er the springs that water grief , be dry ? no! no! while vertue does on earth remain , and flocks and herds feed on th' oxonian plain ; while learning there and piety encrease , and truth can rest in the soft arms of peace : while there is vvealth employ'd to gen'rous ends , vvhile there are sweets in love , and faith in friends , so long the muses shall his loss deplore , that rain'd a golden show'r on them , and manna to the poor . damon . how various are the ways of providence ! how crooked oft they seem to human sense ! he 's gone ! for whom there 's not a soul but grieves , and yet his foe , the treach'rous jockney lives : he lives ! ( nor does degenerate from his breed ) that never did one honourable deed : yet lives in prosp'rous fortune , high in trust , but barb'rous to desert , and plung'd in lust : he lives ! that yet ne'er did a loan restore , e'er pay a debt , or e'er relieve the poor : he lives ! that wou'd subvert the church and state , and ride 'em , loaded with despotick weight : he lives ! that nothing impious e'er did shun ; he lives ! a longer race of vice to run ; he lives ! and yet the good bertudor's gone ! menalcas . if vertue met with a so early fate ; can vice presume to hope a longer date ? if temp'rance thus at noon is snatch'd away , can wild excess expect to end the day ? alexis . it does ! it does ! and every wish succeeds , on down it lies , and on ambrosia feeds ' ; no inward pang it feel's , or future reck'ning dread's . the best , alas ! are summon'd first to go , have least success , and least regard below . the haughty mount , and on the humble tread ; depress 'em living , and revile 'em dead . their honours won with blood , are from 'em torn , and by their mortal foes , insulting worn . no disappointments e'er th' unjust attend ; the just have god , but not man , their friend . hence providence is oft mis-understood , scoff'd by bad men , and doubted by the good ; while undistinguish'd right and wrong are hurl'd , and knave and fool between 'em share the world ! menalcas . 't is not for man , with a too daring eye , to look into the secrets of the sky ; or if he shou'd , in vain he strives to see through the dark-woven folds of destiny . as the meridian sun all flaming bright , gaz'd on , confounds and quenche's human sight ; so reason fail's , and sink's beneath the weight of will , omniscience , providence and fate . but thou , great soul , disburthen'd of thy freight , ar't landed now , on 'tother side of fate : to thee those distributions all are clear , that so perplex , and so confound us here . 't is true , thus much by reason's understood ; affliction is the test that try's the good : where e'er it visit's , 't is by heaven's command ; not shuffl'd out , as vice wou'd understand , with blinking eyes , and a promiscuous hand . if prosp'rous fortunes are to most a snare , why not th' afflicted god's peculiar care ? expos'd to black'ning tongues , and faithless friends , only to ply their souls for nobler ends : for regions where we 're known , and know aright , where day is never to resign to night , and flying time no more can bound delight . shou'd pleasure here run smooth with equal feet , and life , thô long , no disappointment meet ; shou'd hope succeed in ev'ry vvish it make 's , and grief ne'er seize the soul it once forsake 's ; shou'd ev'ry pious man be fortune's care , humility be cloath'd , and pride be bare ; shou'd the first honours be by vvorth possest ; shou'd that still rise , and vice be still deprest ; vvhat e'er hereafter more were to be giv'n , vve shou'd rest here , and seek no other heav'n . but since this never was , nor will be so , not revelation scarce can plainer show , that vertu 's not to wear her crown below . this contemplation shou'd your griefs remove ; our very suffering a reward does prove , it must not be on earth — and it must be above . alexis . with this , menalcas , firmly i agree but it not lighten's our calamity . bertudor , thô to endless joy he 's gone , has left us cause for a whole age to moan . when great elijah did on high ascend , and heav'n's bright chariot his ascent attend , what joy was it to his remaining friend ? he , in his loss , deplor'd his country's fate , their civil strife's , and cruel haz'ael's hate ; nor yet is ours a fix'd unmurm'ring state. when will deliv'rance from oppression come , if such as he are call'd so early home ? when will our publick fears , and private hate be o'er , if thus we lose such props of state ? who , when the royal cause is sunk so low , will set so vast a fortune at a throw , and with such skill , divert th' impending blow ? who in the gap , when force wou'd right devour , will stand so firm against unbounded pow'r ? stemming the tide of violated laws , till he has made the just , the prosp'rous cause ? o britain ! thou , whose happiness he sought , whose happiness he wou'd with life have bought , thy peace his constant aim , and still intending thought ; let thy sad genius now put sables on , and through the land diffuse unless'ning moan , that ev'ry eye may vveep , and ev'ry breast may groan ! and thou , o learned town ! whose sacred name , has been so long th' envy'd theme of fame ; thou too , should'st in the mourning concert share , scarcely so much thy guardian angel's care. who e'er before made thee appear so great , or in thy civil , learn'd , or martial state ? or who hereafter ( through more trials prov'd ) vvill leave thee — so bemoan'd , and so belov'd ? how did he factious fears and doubts control ! how still contention ! and how tune the soul ! how baffle envy ! and how silence pride ! in all elections certain to preside . others to heats and strifes , and feuds wou'd run , but where he came , he made all voices one : with a bare breath , they mov'd as he enclin'd , like standing corn , all bending with the wind. at once to roialty and right a friend ; nor did he to thy burroughs recommend a needy race , for policy to bait , like gudgeons , catch'd with pensions by the s — te . but while , bless'd city , i 'd thy hero show , i rove , and make digressions from my woe . ah never ! never cease to sigh his name ! so true to honour , and so dear to fame ! let all thy sons bewail th' exalted man ; and thou , immortal yw — ings ! lead the van : thou , who new force do'st to our language give ; he who so well can praise , as well can grieve . ransack the silent seat where mem'ry lies , to bring our woes proportional supplies : let not the hoary dews of lethe steep so many vertues in eternal sleep : but as they pass our intellectual view , let sorrow grave 'em deep , and keep 'em new : then when we have survey'd th' amazing store , make us reflect , their owner is no more ! how all that 's prudent , noble , just , and brave , is cover'd with bertudor in the grave ! o thought ! that on the rack does ev'ry nerve constrain ! distraction were less grief , and dying gentler pain ! menalcas . my dear alexis , if that rain must fall , but speak the hero's worth , then weep it all . alexis . it was my full design — but first , my friend , ( and weeping , i 'll the sad account attend ) tell by what malady he hence was torn , with how confus'd a grief the loss was born , all raving ! — 't was too little sure to mourn ; he had to human sight , no least decay , vvarm as a summer's sun's reviving ray , nor promis'd less than a long summer's day ; fresh as the morning , when the pearly dew foretells the bright meridian to ensue : but there he stopp'd ! there did the gloom arise ! veil'd with surrounding clouds from human eyes ! eclips'd , when most conspicuous in the skies ! unwillingly the rural shades he left ; ( unhappy shades ! of all your joys bereft ! ) never in senate he deny'd his aid ; this only only time , he wou'd have staid ; but 't was his country call'd , — whose call he still obey'd . — but i prevent thee , dear menalcas on , and — if i can — i 'll stifle in my moan . menalcas . to tell you true ( who e'er it may displease ) he dy'd of the physician — a disease that long has reign'd , and eager of renown , more than a plague , depopulate's the town . inflam'd with wine , and blasting at a breath , all it's prescriptions are receipts for death . millions of mischiefs by it's rage is wrought , safe where 't is fled , but barb'rous where 't is sought : a curs'd ingrateful ill , that call'd to aid , is still most fatal where it best is paid . so slight at first his ail , it cou'd have done no further harm , but must of course ' been gone , had not this first malignance forc'd it on ; and cruelly ( till then , all pure and good ) with it 's own venom , dash'd the circling flood . — by this time , we the hero's danger found ; he near expiring , and we weeping round . the sighs of widows , and the orphans cries , importunate for aid , besieg'd the skies . — — and now the fevor seem'd in part t' aswage ; death grin'd a horrid smile , and half forgot his rage . as he grew better , so the town reviv'd , as joy it self were from his health deriv'd . but whether 't were to shew , tho ne'er so late , how fervent pray'r can turn the course of fate ; or whether 't were a last expiring glare , the fatal hope that ushers in despair ; or whether yet the line of the disease , cou'd be no further lengthen'd out for fees , he soon relaps'd , relapsing , weaker grew , and the pale tyrant came again in view . here grief was at its utmost stretch disclos'd ! we all confounded , he alone compos'd . what blessings did he to his friends bequeath ! what joys describe , what dying raptures breath ! with what assurance did he meet his fate ! how fearless pass th' inevitable gate ! his soul had by anticipation here , a taste of heav'n , before it yet was there . o truth ! o innocence ! o peaceful close ! hail him ( ye angels ) to his long repose . — but now an universal burst of woe , o'er all the town , did like a torrent flow . the very senate mourn'd his early fate , mourn'd this adjvster of the church and state ; as quite despairing any more to see religion reconcil'd to policy . the clergy next their patriots loss deplore , no more to hear his voice ! to have his smiles no more ! in dang'rous times they freshly call'd to mind , how diff'rent parties in their aid he join'd ; then with a grief too big to speak in tears , in silence sunk beneath their former fears : for ne'er before in the most impious age , were they pursu'd with such invet'rate rage , so slighted by the great , and slander'd from the stage . his friends you next might see distracted stand , too weak the streams of anguish to command : nor compass , card , or pilot , left to guide thy hopeless plunge into the raging tide . but theirs , and ev'ry grief the poor's out did , tearing the very earth up , to be hid , and raving , self-destruction was forbid ! a frightful prospect they before 'em see , of wants , and un-reliev'd adversity . ev'n those that knew him but by common-fame , with tears repeat their common patriot's name . nor less it ought our just regard to have , to think what numbers mourn'd him to the grave : with mutual praise , their mutual sighs did vie , and from so many mouths , opprest the sky . — there rest his ashes : — but his nobler name , expanding as it mounts the starry frame , shall fill th' expiring breath , and latest gasp of fame . damon . 't is done , the task you bid menalcas do ; his praise , a nobler task , we now expect from you . alexis . that praise , alas ! shou'd be by angels sung , at least the first of the castalian throng : not in my numbers , broken , rough and lame , but verse of the duration of his fame , such as , where-ever read , shou'd sway in chief ; mine's but the duty of a servant's grief : thô yet ( so much my soul his name revere's ) what in my stile un-elegant appears ; i 'll sanctify with truth , and polish with my tears . witness , ye everlasting lamps above , ye sacred lights that round us nightly move , witness how oft , when the long day was done , and all devotion silent , but his own , we 've seen him on his knees before th' immortal throne . as if at neither morning , noon , and even , there hours enow to piety were giv'n : part of the night in prayer he always spent ; the time by most , to wine and lewdness len't : no hypocrite e'er with more ardor cou'd , un-seen be ill , than he 'd un-seen be good. what ever doing , or where e'er he were , his privacies did no detection fear ; we ne'er cou'd find him when unfit to see , nor hear him , but the theme was piety . no faith by works was ever oft'ner shown : if when no act of charity is done , that day be lost — he never squander'd one . as soon the sun might cross from pole to pole ; as soon the wandring planets cease to roll , as he dismiss the poor without their dole . no fears , by which our scepticks are distrest , e'er found the least admittance to his breast : where e'er he turn'd his view , sea , farth , and skies , god , in his works , was present to his eyes . unhappy they ! that see this wrond'rous frame , and , after , make a doubt from whence it came ! his converse thô 't was cheerful , ne'er was vain ; his soul wou'd start , to hear a word prophane : that fatal rock , where half our nobles split , lost for the poor repute of having wit : vvith such , the vertuous are the only elves , but devils are thought angels by themselves . vvhere once he lov'd , he never cou'd distrust , kind to a fau't , and to a scruple just : — but most , he most did fly the snares of lust . not all the darts thrown by the beautious kind , that light'ning like , so quick a passage find ; not all their wit , and never-ending art , his once engag'd affection , cou'd divert , or melt the chastity that wall'd his heart . our saviour's precept , he to practice brought , and never , never lusted — not in thought ! and , to reward his truth , he twice was join'd in wedlock , to the best of women-kind . the first , the brightest , purest soul that e'er was sent from heav'n , to shew us mortals here what angels and translated saints are there ! to see her once , was ev'ry charm to know , of peace above , or purity below ; imagination cou'd no further go ! so sweet her form , th' idea warms us yet ! — but ah! that light in all her glory set , in all her youth ( and we all drown'd in tears ) e'er she had number'd three and thirty years ; yet thirteen times had call'd lucina's aid , and was as oft a happy mother made . his next did a like scene of joy presage ; that giv'n to charm his youth , and this to bless his age ; her mind so justly to her form contriv'd , the living wife , but seem'd the dead reviv'd : no jot impar'd , or less amazing bright , for her succeeding such a glorious light. a strange eclipse had certainly been thrown , on any face , or vertue but her own . here were a subject now our voice to raise , to sing at once her sorrows and her praise ! a year ! but one short year in wedlock run , e'er robb'd of all the worth her eyes had won ! her eyes ! a charm that cou'd for ages bind , were comfort certain , or had fate been kind . ah beautious vvidow , ! cou'd i think , when late the muse did on your happy nuptials wait , that such a scene of pleasure , love and light , so soon wou'd close in everlasting night ! that one short year wou'd so destructive prove to strictest vertue , and to noblest love ! ah! what avail's our hope , if truth must here be least , or latest providence's care ? what comfort have we , towards the goal to strive , if thus the stream of fate at random drive ? if all the blessings of the good and fair , must like a bubble break , and end in air ! damon . you know there 's none exempt from human cares — but , friend , you lose his vertues in your tears . alexis . forgive me , damon , i 've too long digrest ; but who cou'd hold , to see such charms distrest ? all praise we owe , is to his vertues due , but some regard , must wait on beauty too : ev'n he himself wou'd pardon such as start , to give our duty , where he he gave his heart — — but to our view , his temp'rance next appears , his fast companion from his early years . in all th' affluence of a wealth so vast , he ne'er the common bounds of nature past . thô on his board , ( where all the season's smil'd ) what earth cou'd furnish , plentiously was pil'd ; thô there the sea a constant tribute paid , and richest vvines ( declining nature's aid ) flow'd round , as from a spring that ne'er decay'd . 't was but prepar'd proportion'd to his store , to feast his neighbours , and to feed the poor . how oft wou'd he from all his state descend ? then only proud , when he cou'd serve a friend . upon his word , you as on fate , might rest ; the rather , if it crost his interest . to truth ev'n his most trivial thoughts did tend , as heavy bodies sink , and flames ascend . ev'n contraries his meekness reconcil'd , as soon as anger touch'd his breast , 't was mild : his frowns so stern , when he did vice reprove , through his aversion , made you see his love : from most , resentment does in hate conclude , but his concern was always for your good. for ev'ry turn of human chance prepar'd , his vertues ne'er were missing from his guard : and by a wond'rous mixture , you might find in him the hero and the christian join'd ; the loftiest courage , and the lowliest mind ! vvhat shall we say ? — unless by angels penn'd , his praises , like our grief , can have no end . nature her self , does of this worthy boast , aloud she cries — here was no labour lost , while to their various molds i 'd others sit , ten thousand fail me , for one lucky hit . hereafter , when the nobler souls i frame , such as shall early get a deathless name , and late pursue the shining chase of fame , they , by this pattern , shall be all design'd , and , copying him , exalt the long degraded kind . mena. were not your sight subservient to your moan , you wou'd perceive it is already done : what copy can you hope to see so fair , as that he drew in his illustrious heir ? who is more likely fame 's now sinking blast to lift again as high , and make it last ? a noble character , i grant , you 've drawn ; but since 't is darkness there , look on the rising dawn : what promises bertudor's worth cou'd give , like a new eden , all in him revive . then in our hope , his consort with him shares , born for his ease , and soft'ning all his cares ; she does the noblest modern instance prove , of peace in wedlock , and of truth in love. this happy pair thy sorrows shou'd divert ; and never was a nobler vvork for art. damon . begin , alexis , let thy tuneful song , paint him all lovely , affable , and young : then let it shew the vast advance his youth has made in honour , eloquence , and truth ; how none to pleasure , e'er was less a slave , more throughly noble , nor more early brave . vvith him , his gen'rous brothers vvorth proclaim , vvho what they owe their birth , will pay in fame : in peace , they shall the arts of peace adorn , or war , if they for bloody war are born . his sisters , then shou'd be triumphant shown , their sables off , and all their brightness on ; warming where e'er their happy influence flies , love in their mien , and conquest in their eyes ! menalcas . as justly shou'd the fair carnarvon's name be handed with her niece's down to fame : she , who by vertue , does assert her blood , and values less her birth , than being good : that sister , who so much his loss deplor'd , and seem'd at last , as hard to be restor'd : that sister , who to save him , wou'd have dy'd , who all his sickness , on her knees wou'd ' bide — ah! cou'd so bright a suppli'ant be deny'd ! let not her num'rous alms be hid in night , tho private done , and flying human sight : nor shou'd her chastity thy pen decline , th' heireditary vertue of the line ; — begin — and be thy song as famous , as thy theme's divine ! alexis . ah friends ! — i grant my duty owing there — but first ( ye pow'rs ) i 'll first perform it here ; first with a bleeding heart , and weeping verse , pay my last homage to bertudor's hearse . that office o'er , we to their names will turn , there truly praise , as here we truly mourn . — — but no such theme shall now the muse employ , no thought of comfort ! nor no dream of joy ! faithful to grief , and wedded to my moan , all my relief shall be — to hope for none ! — — ha! damon ! where ? whence came these dismal cries ? shriek'd out as they were nature's obsequies ! as if the gen'ral doom just now were bid , and cleaving earth were yielding up its dead ! mena. to the same cause of grief the country yields ; i spread the news through the wiltonian fields ; no longer now bemoan'd by swain to swain , it gather's head , and sweeps along the plain : like an impetuous flood , it all o'er-bears — the sadder deluge , as 't is made of tears . alexis . lead on menalcas . — this will be a scene fit to indulge the sorrows i am in ! hark! louder ! how the sad affrighting sound does from the hills , back on the plain rebound , and tells us — death can now no deeper wound . the flocks and herds run bleeting o'er the plains , and sympathize with the despairing swains . some dismal tydings , heav'n's uncommon rage , in groans of thunder did last night presage : the faithful dogs in horrid consorts houl'd and the fierce woolves , un-guarded found the fold , and croaking ravens death and woe foretold ! with light'ning sing'd , the blasted heath is bare , and horror is the sole possessor there . — but let us haste and join 'em , now their grief is at the full , and hopeless of relief : bertudor is their theme — bertudor we will cry , and eccho back their misery . bertudor ! o bertudor ! — o no more ! for ever now no more ! — away ! and let me join the weeping throng , to hear him mourn'd , to hear his praises sung , and die with the dear name upon my tongue ! finis . a funeral sermon for that faithful and laborious servant of christ mr. richard fairclough (who deceased july 4, 1682 in the sixty first year of his age) by john howe. howe, john, 1630-1705. 1682 approx. 72 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44679 wing h3027 estc r28698 10741429 ocm 10741429 45607 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44679) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 45607) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1404:24) a funeral sermon for that faithful and laborious servant of christ mr. richard fairclough (who deceased july 4, 1682 in the sixty first year of his age) by john howe. howe, john, 1630-1705. [6], 62 p. printed for john dunton, london : 1682. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng fairclough, richard, 1621-1682 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-11 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-12 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral sermon for that faithful and laborious servant of christ , m r richard fairclough , ( who deceased july 4. 1682. in the sixty first year of his age. ) by john howe minister of the gospel . london , printed for john dunton at the black raven in the poultrey , 1682. to the reverend mr. samuel fairclough , mr. john fairclough , mr. george jones , mr. richard shute , with their pious consorts ; the brethren and sisters of the deceased mr. richard fairclough . my worthy friends , it is , i apprehend , a grievous thing to you , to be destitute of the wonted solace , you have taken in those your most delectable relatives , the father , and the elder brother of a family , whereof you were the genuine , or the ingrafted branches . whether nature or choice gave you your interest , you had a common concern , and comfort in it . and indeed , from a love too little common to the rest of the world. the love that hath so observably flourished among you , and been your collective , unitive bond , as it hath shewn it self to be of an higher , than the common , kind ; demonstrated its own divine original , and that it had its root in heaven ; so have its effects been a demonstration , what such a love can do , for the cherishing of union , not only in a private family , but in the church , and family of the living god also . and how little necessary it is unto an union , even there , that there be a sameness of sentiments , and practices in every little punctilio ; for a disagreement wherein , too many have thought themselves licensed to hate , and even destroy one another . as god himself was the fountain , so he was tbe first object of that love with you . and as your love to him caused your entire devotedness to his interest , so your mutual love united your hearts ( according to your several capacities ) in serving it ; without grudging , or hard thoughts , that each one serv'd it not exactly in the same way . by that love you have been undivided in your joyes , and sorrows in reference to one another . while your very eminent father survived , how gladly did you pay a joint reverence and duty to him ! what a glory was his hoary head unto you ! this your worthy brother was the next resort and center of your united respect , and delight . i doubt not you feel your loss as to both ; which ( thô god had made a former breach upon you ) the longer continuance , as well as the pleasantness of the enjoyment , cannot but have made the more sensible unto you . we are somewhat apt to plead a prescription for our more continued comforts . but you know how little that avails against a statute , as that ( for instance ) by which it is appointed that all must dye : nor is it to be regretted that the absolute lord of all , should pluck in pieces our earthly families , for the building and compleating his own in heaven . what i have said of this your excellent brother , in the close of the following discourse , is but a small part of what you know . the saying it serves for the solace of the survivors , not the advantage of the dead † . and the solace is real , and great , when imitation makes all that is commendable , our own and most intimate to our selves . it is , otherwise but a faint comfort to have been related to an excellent person ! when a limb is cut off , the soul retires to the remaining parts . may a double portion of the spirit and life , which were so copious and vigorous in the deceased , abound unto you ! and i should be very faulty , if i put not in for some share with you , who must profess my self a great sharer in your affliction and loss ; and your very affectionate brother , and servant in our lord , john howe . a funeral sermon : mat. xxv . 21. his lord said unto him , well done good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful over a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord. it may seem somewhat incongruous , and an indecency that this memorial of our worthy friend , should be now solemniz'd so long after his very remains are gone from off the face of the earth . but two things concurr'd to make the delay necessary , and unavoidable , viz. that his own desire , exprest in his will , limited the performance of this office to the person upon whom it now falls . and that my own great infirmities , before the time of his sickness and death , ( which made it more likely he should have done this part for me , than i for him ) had obliged me to begin a course , for the repairing of languishing health , which required some weeks attendance abroad , and which could not be sooner over . but , if our business were only to mourn , and lament our own , and the more common loss , it were not yet too late . the mention of his name , the worthy mr. richard fairclough is enough to open fresh springs , calling to remembrance such a brother , such a friend , such a preacher of the word of life as he was . and it should do it most of all upon the most common account : whom would it not induce to mourn over this forlorn world , to see that every thing that is more excellent , more pure , more desirable , more capable of being useful in it , god is gathering up out of it ? o how much of spirit and life is gone from it , when one such man dies ? how are we to mourn over the world as dying , gradually , the worst sort of death , when the holy , divine life is thus exhal'd out of it , and is expiring by degrees ? but come , we have somewhat else to do than mourn ; all this tends to make a glorious heaven , one bright star the more is now added to it ; there is nothing of this holy life lost ; whatsoever of excellency , purity , goodness , life , loveliness , and love of that divine kind vanishes from among us , is but transferr'd to its own native place , returns to its proper element , as the forsaken dust hath to its own . heaven hath its part out of every such person , the seat of all life , purity , and goodness ; as the earth draws into its bosom it s own terrene part , ( not without a sacredness , and a rich perfume adhering to that also . ) and as it is not our only , or more principal business to mourn , so nor is it to relieve , and fortifie our selves against mourning . we have somewhat to do , divers from them both , and that is more considerable than either of them . we are chiefly so to consider his death , as may best serve the purposes of our own yet-continuing life , which was the scope of that desire of his signified by his will , that an instructive sermon might be ( upon that occasion ) preacht to the people . we are to set our selves to learn from it , what doth most concern our own daily practice and hope ; so to acquit our selves as not to neglect the duty of good and faithful servants to our common lord , nor to come shott of their reward . and to this purpose we are more to consider his life than his death . the life which he hath liv'd on earth , and the life which ( we have reason not to doubt ) he doth live in heaven . nor could my thoughts reflect upon any portion of scripture more fit for our purpose , or that was more sutable to him and us , i. e. that could more aptly serve to describe him , and instruct our selves ; nor have i known any person to have left the world , within my time , to whom this text of scripture might more fitly be apply'd . i shall only observe and insist upon these two heads of discourse from it , the character of such a servant . and , the treatment which he finds at last from his heavenly master . first , his character . he is said to have done well , or 't is said to him ● well , ( no more is there in the greek text. ) and then he is further bespoken as a good and faithful servant , more generally , and particularly his fidelity is commended in reference to the special trust and charge which is imply'd to have been committed to him : thou hast been faithful in a few things ; i have not over-charg'd thee , and thou hast acceptably discharg'd thy self . some think this ( and the whole parable ) to belong only to the ministers of the gospel , the servants of christ in that special sence . i do not see a reason for that restriction . the words are of themselves capable of being extended further , to the faithful servants of christ in whatsoever capacity ; thô being spoken to the disciples , as from the continuation of the discourse ( with this evangelist ) from the beginning of the foregoing chapter may be collected , it seems not unfit to allow them a more particular reference to their special office and trust . and here we must note that these words of commendation [ well done good and faithful servant ] do speak both the truth of the thing and the judgment and estimate which his lord makes thereof accordingly . we are now to consider them under the former notion , as they express the truth of the thing , the matter of fact , whereof we cannot have a more certain account , than ( as here we have it ) from his mouth , who imploy'd him , was his constant supervisor , must be his final judge , and will be his bountiful rewarder at length . we shall here , in opening his character , note , first , some things leading and introductive , or that belong to his entrance into this service . and , secondly , some things that belong to his performance afterward . first , for the introductive , supposed part of his character . he is 1. one that hath disclaimed all former and other masters : all in coordination , for of such , no man can serve two : other lords had dominion over him , but by their vsurpation , and his unjust consent , who was not his own , and had no right to dispose of himself . the faithful servant repents , and retracts those former engagements , as bonds of iniquity , by which he will be no longer held , renounces any former inconsistent master or service : a truly subordinate master he must own for the same reason upon which he acknowledges the supream , and do all that such derived authority challenges , by his direction who gave it ; otherwise , he hath learned to call no man master on earth . 2. he is one that hath by covenant surrender'd and resign'd himself to this great lord and his service : some relations have their foundation in nature ; this of servants to a master , ( we except slaves ) in their consent , or in mutual contract ; and thô this general relation between god and man , have the most deeply natural foundation imaginable , whereupon all are his servants ; yet the special relation must have the other ground , viz. that of consent , or contract superadded ; not to give god a right to our service , but more expresly and effectually to oblige our selves to it , and that we may have a right to his rewards . 't is but acknowledging and recognizing his former right in us , which is part ( and the initial part ) of our duty to him . he requires and justly insists upon it , to be acknowledged as our only rightful lord ; which till we do , we are in rebellion against him , and in the condition of servants broke away from their masters , run-aways , fugitives , and who keep our selves out of the family ; and thô that cannot , however , destroy his right , yet it is inconsistent with our duty , for our service must be throughout voluntary , and with our reward , for nothing that is not voluntary , is rewardable . therefore the good and faithful servant in the text , is one that affects and chooses the state , first , and sayes with the psalmist ( psal. 119.38 . ) — thy servant who is devoted to thy fear : and ( psal. 116.16 . ) oh lord , truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant , the son of thy hand-maid ; thou hast loosed my bonds . he doth as is required , rom. 6.13 , 19. yields himself to god , and all his parts and powers servants of righteousness unto holiness . he reckons it neither dutiful towards god , nor comfortable to himself , to do him only occasional service , but ad libitum , and as an unrelated person : he thinks it not honourable to the great lord of heaven and earth but to borrow ( as it were ) anothers servant , nor can he satisfie himself , not to be of the family , therefore he consents first to the relation , and enters himself his covenant-servant . faithfulness supposes having covenanted , and hath the same reference to our part of the covenant , that gods faithfulness hath to his . 3. he is one that hath thereupon made it his earnest study to know his lords will : his first enquiry is , what wilt thou have me to do , lord ? he is solicitous to understand the duty of his station , psal. 119.125 . i am thy servant , give me vnderstanding , that i may know thy testimonies : to enter one's self the servant of another , without any concern to know the business of his place , shews an insincere mind , and argues he hath more a design to serve himself upon his master , than to serve him . 4. he is one that hath an inclination to the work he is to do when he knows it , a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an inclining bent of mind to it . that which the scripture means by having the law of god written in the heart . spoken of our lord himself in reference to that peculiar service he was to perform . lo i come to do thy will , o god , thy law is in my heart . psal. 40.8 . who thô he were a son , yet taking the form of a servant , apply'd himself to that severe part assign'd him , with a most willing mind ; and had , hereupon , the highest approbation imaginable . isa. 42.1 . behold my servant whom i uphold , mine elect in whom my soul delighteth . and it is spoken of all the inferiour true servants of god besides , jer. 31.33 . i will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts . 't is the same thing with being gods workmanship , ( ephes. 2.10 . ) created unto good works ; and with that readines to every good work , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ) tit. 3.1 . if a mans heart be not so framed to gods service , how awkwardly and untowardly , does he go about any thing that is enjoyn'd him , he is habitually disobedient , and to every good work reprobate . tit. 1.14 . secondly , and for that part of the character , which being a good and faithful servant , includes 1. he is one that endeavours to extend his obedience to the whole compas of his duty ; hath an universal respect to all gods commandments . is not partial in the law. 2. he peculiarly minds the work most , of his own station . thinks it not enough , or possible , to be a good christian , and at the same time an ill magistrate , minister , parent , master of a family , or servant in it , if it be his lot to be in any of these capacities . 3. he is diligent in all the service that belongs to him any way ; not slothful in business , fervent in spirit , serving the lord , rom. 12.11 . 4. he is with most delight exercised in the most spiritual part of his work . in the great , vital acts , of faith , love , self-devoting , and those most immediately proceeding from them , meditation , prayer and praise . 5. he balks not the most hazardous or more costly part . thinks it mean to serve god at no expence , or with what costs him nothing . measures not his duty , by the advantage , or safety of his own secular interest . so as to decline it when nothing is to be got by it , or if any thing be in danger to be lost . 6. he grudges not that others are less expos'd to danger in their work , than he . and have that liberty of serving god which he hath not . let me seriously recommend this property and disposition of a faithful servant to my brethren in the ministry . while some have opportunity of serving our great and common lord without fear of the interruption and suffering , to which we are liable , and when we have reason to judge they do it with sincerity ( thô we may think they gained their greater liberty by their mistake ) there can be no more genuine expression of our fidelity , and sincere devotedness to our masters interest , than to behold , with complacency , all the good which we observe done by them . if the great apostle rejoyced , and declared he would rejoyce that christ was preached , thô not sincerely ( and whether in pretence or truth ) much more should we , when we ought to judge that he is sincerely preached . and if he envy'd not those that preached christ even of envy , how horrid would it be , should we behold with envy , what we are to suppose done out of love , and good will. they are great admirers of themselves , and lovers of some interest of their own more than his , that cannot endure to see his work done by other hands , than theirs . or that have nothing of that disposition in them which those words expresse , let him increase and me decrease . 7. he is much less apt to smite his fellow-servants , or hinder them in their work , unles they will work by his rule and measure , unprescribed by their lord himself . he takes no pleasure to see the hands ty'd up of useful labourers in the harvest , wishes not their number diminisht , but because the harvest is really plenteous , but the labourers are few , rather prayes the lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest . mat. 9.37 , 38. if any of their own private inclination , would have the necessary work of their lord hindered , and take pleasure in the exclusion of industrious labourers , for their conscientious disuse of things , by their own confession , not necessary . good lord ! what spirit are they are of ? i understand it not ; nor let my soul enter into their secret ! i had rather a thousandfold bear their anger , than be of their spirit ! would any faithful servant rather wish his masters work should be in any part undone , than done by those he dislikes , upon no more important reason than that their cloaths perhaps are not of the same colour with his ? but thanks be to god that among those that differ from each other in the lesser things there are so many that rejoyce , being under restraints themselves , for the liberty of others , and that mourn , while they enjoy themselves an ample liberty , for others restraints , and among whom there is no other contention , but who shall think , and speak , and act , with most kindness towards one another : and that not whole parties , but an ill mind and spirit only in some persons , can be charg'd with what so much unbecomes faithful fellow-servants . 8. he is less at leasure to mind what others do or do not , than what he is to do himself . is above all things solicitous to prove his own work , that he may have rejoycing in himself , and not in another , gal. 6.4 . 9. he esteems the utmost he can do but little ; and counts when he hath done his best , he is an unprofitable servant . 10. he approves himself in all that he doth to the eye of his great master . here we cannot serve too much with eye-service , or be too apprehensive of the constant inspection of our heavenly lord. one may be too much a pleaser of men , but no man can too much study to please , and approve himself to the eye of god. 11. he laments lost time , and labours to redeem it . 12. he greatly rejoyces in the success of his work. if , for instance , it be his business to bring home souls to god , nothing is more grateful to him than to prosper in it . my beloved , my joy , and my crown , — ( philip. 4.1 . ) so he counts such as he can make proselytes to christ : i have no greater joy , than to hear that my children walk in truth : joh. 3.4 . 't is said of barnabas , ( a great number believing and turning to the lord , ) acts 11.22 , 23. that , when he saw the grace of god , he was glad ; for ( 't is added ) he was a good man , and full of the holy ghost . 13. he loves his work and his master , is willing to have his ear bored and serve him for ever . if any thought arises of changing , he presently represses it by some seasonable check , and counter-thought † , and confirms his resolution of cleaving to him unto the end . 14. he puts the highest value upon such present encouragements from his lord , as are most expressive of peculiar favour . the blessed god knows what is most suitable to the genius and spirit of his own new creature : they who are his sincere servants , are his sons too , born of him , and to the divine and heavenly nature in them , those things are most agreeable that are most spiritual , and whereof others of terrene minds , no more know the value , than that dunghil-creature did of the gem it found there : they must have great stores of corn , wine and oyl . his better born servants are of a more excellent spirit , and better pleased with the light of his countenance ; he differently treats them accordingly . as that victorious persian monarch * , entertaining at a feast , the principal men of his army , gave among them costly gifts ; but for chrysantas , a more peculiar favourite ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ) he only drew him near to him , and gave him a kiss ; which was intended by the one , received by the other , and envy'd by a † third , as an expression of more special kindness . and of the divine love , which that borrowed expression signifies , pious souls , upon all occasions , shew their highest value , cant. 1.2 . 15. he trusts his master for his final reward , and is content to wait for it , as long as he thinks fit to defer . st. paul professes himself a servant of god , and an apostle of jesus christ , in hope of eternal life , which he that could not lye had promised , and hereupon resolvedly encounters all the difficulties of that hazardous service . ii. the acceptance and reward which such a servant finds above . his acceptance is exprest in the same words , ( as was said ) which have generally given us his character , not only shewing what he was , and did , but that his lord esteem'd , and passes an approving judgment of him ( as it was not to be doutbed he would ) accordingly . concerning this judgment we are to note , both what it supposes , and what it includes . it supposes both an account taken how this servant demean'd himself , and a rule according whereto the matters to be accounted for , were to be examin'd and judg'd of . 1. that our lord calls his servants to an account ; so we find it expresly said vers . 19. after a long time , the lord of those servants cometh , and reckoneth with them . and here 't is imply'd , when he sayes , well done — it implies he takes cognisance , and enquires whether they have done well or ill , he is not indifferent or regardless how they quit and behave themselves ; nor doth he ▪ pronounce rashly , and at randome , without searching into the matter . so then every one of us shall give an account of himself to god , rom. 14.12 . 2. that there is some certain stated rule , by which their doings must be measured . well doing stands in conformity to some rule or other ; and what is the next and most immediate rule of our duty , is also the rule of gods judgment : such a rule it must suppose as according whereto a true judgment is possible , of our having done well . that cannot be the law of works , according whereto no flesh can be justified in his sight , it must therefore be the law of grace : and so this servant is only said to have done well according to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evangelica , the indulgence of the gospel can say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is well , to that which the rigour of the law would condemn . bonum orit●● ex causis integris , &c. well doing arises out of the concurrence of all requisites ; evil from any the least defect ; and so indeed whatever the rule be , all things must concur that are requisite to acceptance by that rule . but here simply every thing of duty is requisite ; so that the condition of acceptance and life was not to be distinguisht ( as a thing of less latitude ) from meer duty in its utmost extent . jam. 2.10 . for whosoever shall keep the whole law , and yet offend in one point , he is guilty of all . cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them , gal. 3.10 . 2. this judgment includes , 1. well-pleasedness : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 't is well , q. d. i like well thy way and work , it pleases and is grateful to me , and so art thou . 2. an acknowledgment of his title to the designed reward , according to the gospel constitution . 't is said to be well not only according to the absolute and abstract consideration of what was done , but according to its relative consideration and prospect to what was to ensue ; and therefore follows in the subjoyned words , the collation of the reward , of which reward we have here a twofold expression , i will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 1. i will make thee ruler over many things : ] in the evangelist luke's account of this parable ( if his account refer to the same thing , as spoken at the same time , which some of old , upon the manifold diversity , have doubled , how reasonably i shall not here dispute ) 't is said , have thou authority over so many cities . either expression represents the remuneration here vouchsafed by a metaphor , which nearly approaches that very usual one , by which the felicity of saints is represented under the notion of a kingdom , q. d. thou shalt have an honourable prefecture , be a glorious viceroy , shalt according to thy capacity , share with me in the dignity of my royal state ; if we suffer , we shall also reign with him , 2 tim. 2.12 . this i pass , and shall stay a little more upon the other expression which is plainer , and without a metaphor . 2. enter thou into the joy of thy lord. ] wherein , as expositors observe , our lord slides insensibly out of the parable , into the thing designed by it , using words indifferently applicable to either , but such as wherein he might be easily understood , ultimately to mean the joyes and glories of the other world or state. expressions serving to signifie , as an ancient speaks , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the summe of all felicity , as what can more fitly signifie that than joy , the joy of his lord , and whereinto he was to enter ? let us consider these severally , thô but briefly . 1. joy. ] q. d. the laborious part is over with thee , now follows thy rest and reward . joy , the very notion whereof is rest , quies appetitus in appetibili ; ( as it is aptly defined ; ) they that sow in tears shall reap in joy . when the dark shady vale is past over , with much toyl , the path of life leads into that presence where is fulness of joy , and pleasures for evermore . the fulness of joy speaks the purity of it ; that is pure which is plenum sui , &c. full of it self , and without mixture of any thing else ; which hath so entirely all degrees of it self , as not to admit the least degree of its contrary : such is this , 't is joy and not sorrow with it ; perfect and most compleat joy. this cannot therefore be meant of a slight and momentary act , but a perfect and permanent state of joy : which state is made up by the continual concurrence of a twofold everlasting perfection , viz. objective , viz. subjective . 1. objective , that there be a perfect , and never failing good to be enjoy'd . 2. subjective , that there be a perfect and immutable contemperation , or a through undecaying disposition of the subject to the enjoyment of it . from these two cannot but result a most permanent , everlasting state of joy. and of the concurrence of these two , the holy scripture sufficiently assures us , when it makes god himself to be the object of our eternal vision in that other state ; and tells us that in order thereto , we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is ; signifying all that proportion and agreeableness of the blessed soul to the beatific object , which is requisite to a most pleasant , perfect and perpetual enjoyment . 2. this joy is more expresly specifi'd by being called the joy of our lord ; which signifies it to be not only , 1. the joy wherof he is the object , a joy to be taken in him , ( as before : ) but 2. whereof he is the authour ; as he now puts gladness into the heart , in this our imperfect state , he is not less the authour of our most perfect joy. and 3. also that whereof he is the possessour , q. d. enter into that joy that is now to be common to me and thee , and wherein thou shalt partake with me . so one glosses the words ; be thou partaker of the same joy with thy lord , enjoy thou the same joy that thy lord enjoyes . amazing thought ! yet so scripture speaks . where i am there also shall my servant be . joh. 12.26 . the glory which thou gavest me i have given them ; and vers . 24. father , i will that they also whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me ; and that beholding cannot mean a meerly contemplative but a fruitive intuition . if so be that we suffer with him , that we may be also glorified together , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) rom. 8.17 . other joyes are in comparison mean and sordid , this is the highest and most excellent , for it is the divine joy. 3. 't is that they are to enter into , which notes both the plenitude of their right ; their lord bids them enter : and the plenitude of this joy it self ; they are to enter into it , and the dominion it must for ever have over them , they are to be absorp't of it , lose themselves in it , not so much to possess it , as be possest by it . and the perpetuity is intimated of that possession . we are told of their entrance into it , nothing of their passing out of it any more . the last thing we hear of them is that they are gone into joy. now let us see what brief useful reflections are to be made upon all this . and , 1. how blessed a thing is it to be a faithful servant of christ ! if any have not yet learnt to value his service for it self , let them make their estimate by the end of it , and by what is even at present most certainly annexed to it . to be accepted with him ! to appear gracious in his eyes ! an euge from such a mouth ! where the word of a king is there is power . how joyful a sound do these words carry from the mouth of god , well done good and faithful servant ! the persic version ( as it is render'd ) most significantly paraphrases this passage ; the owner of the money received him pleasantly , and uttered words to him grateful to his heart , saying , well done , o thou good and faithful servant , &c. what can be more grateful and reviving to the heart of a good man , than that the glorious lord of heaven and earth should say to him , well done ? to have him say to us as to moses , thou hast found grace in my sight , exod. 33.12 . to have gained this testimony , as enoch did , heb. 11.5 . that we have pleased god ; and that our case might truely admit of such an angelical salutation , ( thô upon a less peculiar account ) hail thou that art highly favoured ? how great a thing is it ! so great a thing in the apostles account , that living or dying , being in the body or out of the body , seem'd little things to him in comparison of it : he was willing rather to be absent , but is more solicitous whether present or absent , that he might be accepted of him , 2 cor. 5.8 , 9. yea , and the more abject spirit of a very cain , resents so deeply his not being accepted , tha● his troubled mind imprints characters of sorrow in his face , shews it self in a fallen countenance , and dejected looks . what ingenuous mind but knows how to value , even the ( unprofitable ) kindness of a mean friend : can the love of a god seem little with us ? it addes greatly to the value of meer kindness , abstracted from beneficence , if it be born me by a judicious , wise person , such a one honours whom he loves ; we less esteem the love of a fool ; there can be no greater contempt of god , than to make light of being accepted with him . but how transporting a thing should it be , besides the present sence of such acceptance , which ( with more or less expresness ) accompanies diligence and fidelity in his service , to have it judicially declared with solemnity , and publickly said to us , before angels and men , well done good and faithful servant ? when so great consequences depend and are to ensue upon it ; as that it should be further said , come , be thou ruler over many things , inherit the kingdom prepared for you ; enter into the joy of your lord. who would think meanly of being the accepted servant of the most high god ? they that finally despise so priviledg'd a state , will see it with their eyes , ( exemplifi'd in others ) but shall never tast the sweetness of it . 2. how easily accountable is it why our lord lets his servants suffer hard things in this world a while ? he may permit it to be so , who hath it in his power to make their sorrow be turn'd into joy : it is not strange if weeping endure with them for a night , unto whom such joy is coming in the morning ; it is unworthy to repine in this case . 't is want of foresight that makes any wonder and censure . consider well those weighty words , 1 pet. 4.12 , 13. beloved , think it not strange concerning the fiery trial , which is to try you , as thô some strange thing happened unto you ; but rejoyce , in as much as ye are partakers of christs sufferings , that when his glory shall be revealed , ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 3. how wicked and foolish a thing is it to refuse this service ? 't is horridly unjust towards our most rightful lord , and most imprudent for our selves : do men know what they do in this ? whose right they invade and resist ? and what cruelty they use towards their own souls ? 4. how much to be lamented is the condition of the sinful world , who so generally decline this service , and make themselves slaves in the mean time to the worst of masters ? how do men drudge to the devil ? what slaves are they to themselves and their own vile lusts ? as indeed no man serves himself , but hath a fool and a mad tyrant ( as one well sayes ) for his master . we do not enough live up to the principles of our religion , while we consider not with more compassion the condition of infatuated mankind in this respect . 5. what may be expected by unfaithful negligent servants that hide their talent in a napkin ? the others joyes serve to measure their sorrows ; what a killing word will it be , when instead of well done good and faithful servant , it shall be said , thou wicked and slothful servant ! and instead of enter thou into the joy of thy lord , they must hear and feel , cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness , there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , ( vers . 30. ) 6. see what estimate we are to make of the nature of god , especially of his large , munisicent goodness ( which is his nature , god is love : ) for consider the various emanations and discoveries of it , which may here be taken notice of . 1. that he should seek to have any for servants ( which the text supposeth that he doth ) in this world of ours : a world of apostate , degenerous , impure , impotent creatures , disaffected to him and his government , hating him , and ( as in themselves they are ) hateful to him . he who hath so little need of servants for any real use ! who can do all things with a word ! and if he thought it fit to have them for state , and as a thing becoming his majesty and greatness , is attended , above , by so excellent god-like creatures ! so suitable , and obsequious ! so powerful and agile ! those ministers of his that do his pleasure , hearkening to the voice of his word . a world of ministring spirits that might be used for purposes less kind to us than they are ! that he should seek servants among us ! ( for his having them implies it , who ever serv'd him unsought unto ? ) invite men into his service with so importunate solicitation ! whom he might despise for their vileness , and destroy for their rebellion , which he can in a moment ! and that he should seek such to become his servants , not with indifferency , but with so great earnestness ! and use afterwards so various endeavours to retain them in his service ! when they gradually decline , that he so graciously upholds them ; when ready to break faith with him , and quit his service , that by so apt methods he confirms them ; when they actually wander and turn vagabonds , that he should be so intent to reduce them ! how admirable is all this ! view the whole case at once . they neglect his first invitations , he repeats and inculcates them ; they faint , he encourages and supports them ; they revolt , he follows to bring them back : the cause of our admiration still rises higher and higher . how much is it , in this last instance above all humane measures ! most men would disdain so to sue to servants that forsake them , and are loath to confess their real need and want of them ( were it never so great : ) the cynick scorn'd to look after his servant that left him , counting it a disgrace when manes thought he could live without diogenes , that diogenes should not be able to live without manes . the all-sufficient deity stoops to that which indigency and wretchedness think even too mean for them ! 2. consider the frankness of his acceptance , even of the best : for how many omissions , how much lazieness and sloth , how many incogitancies and mistakes , how much real disservice must he forgive when he accepts them , and says ( yet ) 't is well done ? how little is it they do at the best ? and how unprofitable to him ? and yet that little also he forms and even creates them to , and continually succours , and assists them in it ; works in them to will and to do . otherwise nothing at all would be done , and yet how full , how complacential his acceptance is ! 3. consider the largeness and bounty of his rewards , too large for our expression or conception . so that we even say most to it , when ( even lost in wonder ) we only admire and say nothing . 4. consider the kind of the service which he thus bespeaks , accepts , and rewards . the best and most acceptable service any are capable of doing him , is when they accept him , take and chuse him to be their portion , and blessedness . trust , love and delight in him as such , live upon his fulness , and ( according to their several stations ) perswade as many as they can to do so too . they that in the most peculiar sence are his ministers or servants , as they are more earnestly intent upon this , and win more souls , are the more amply and gloriously rewarded . they that turn many to righteousnes , shine as stars . and for all the rest of his servants , wherein do they serve him most , but when by their converse and example , they induce others to entertain good thoughts of god , and religion , and thereupon to make the same choice which they have made , and become seriously religious , which is most certainly connected with their being happy , and indeed in greatest part , their very happiness it self . and when they relieve , support , encourage , and help on those that are in the way , or whom they are endeavouring to bring into the way to final blessedness ! we as much need our servants , as they can us ; they are our living , reasonable , but most necessary instruments . the whole universe of created beings subsists by mutual dependencies ; the uncreated being without any . creatures are made to need one another . infinite self-fulness , not capable of receiving additions , is most highly gratified by our chearful reception of its communications . let us learn now to conceive of god answerably to all this : we do him not right , that we consider not his admirable goodness , in so plain instances of it , with more frequent seriousness and intention of mind and spirit , and shew our selves stupid , unapprehensive creatures ; have we a thinking faculty about us ? a power to use thoughts ? and can we use it upon any thing more evident , more considerable , or that more concerns us ? or do we never use it less pertinently ? 7. how unreasonable is it either to quit the service of our blessed lord , or to serve him dejectedly ? quit it ! who hath more right in us ? or where will we mend our selves ? o the treacherous folly of apostacy ! and how severely is it wont to be animadverted on ! 2 chron. 12.1 . 't is said rehoboam forsook the law of the lord , and all israel with him : and what followed ? shishak the king of egypt comes against them with a great power , and god sends them this message by shemaiah the prophet , that because they had forsaken him , ( vers . 5. ) therefore he also had left them in the hands of shishak : and afterwards that thô upon their humbling themselves , he would not quite destroy them , but grant them some deliverance ; yet he adds , nevertheless ye shall be his ( i. e. shishak's ) servants , that ye may know my service , and the service of the kingdoms of the countreys , vers . 8. since they would abandon god and the true religion , he would by a very sensible instruction , and costly experience teach them to distinguish , and understand the difference , and make them know when they have a good master ; and if we serve him despondingly , and with dejected spirits , how causeless a reproach do we cast upon him and his service ? 't is a greater iniquity than is commonly considered , implies dislike of his work , and the rules and orders of the family , impatiency of the restraints of it , distrust of his power to protect , or bounty to reward us ; and we may expect it to be resented accordingly ; so we sometimes find it hath been , deut. 28.47 , 48. because thou servedst not the lord thy god with joyfulness and with gladness of heart , for the abundance of all things ; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the lord shall send against thee , in hunger and in thirst , and in nakedness , and in want of all things , and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck , until he have destroyed thee . 8. how are we concern'd to follow the example , and expect the acceptance and reward of any such faithful servant of christ. and that we may imitate such a good and faithful servant , let me briefly set the example of such a one before you , in this excellent person lately taken from among us ; which were it possible to represent entirely , were one of the fairest copies to write after , that this , or perhaps many former ages could afford us . that indeed , which it is fit should first , be noted of him , is least of all imitable . i mean his natural temper ( with its more immediate dependencies ) which no man can have the priviledge to choose . his indeed was one of the happiest that i ever knew : and did so set off all that was superadded and inserted into it , by humane culture or divine grace as an advantageous setting doth the lustre of a diamond . he had all the advantages of education from his childhood , which the pious care of an affectionate , prudent , learned father could give him , that were proper , and preparatory to the function he was intended for : viz. that of the sacred ministry . an office whereof his excellent father ( the eminent , holy , heavenly , reverend , ancient mr. fairclough of suffolk , whose name in that countrey hath still a grateful savour with all good men of whatsoever perswasion , ) shewed his high esteem and love , not only by the most diligent discharge of it himself , but by dedicating all his sons ( which were four in number ) to it , and giving his two daughters in marriage to such also . so that he was the father of a sacred tribe , an off-spring and race of ministers , or that ( even naturally ) united with such . this was the eldest of his children , and of whose education the first care was to be taken . scarce any mind could be more receptive of the proper impressions from an ingenuous institution . about twelve years he continu'd a student ( whereof divers , a fellow ) and great ornament of emanuel colledge in cambridge , as he was also much adorned by it . he went from it furnished with such a stock of rational , substantial , as well as polite literature , that shew'd him to have been no loiterer there . he was a man of a clear , distinct understanding , of a very quick , discerning and penetrating judgment , that would , on a sudden ( as i have sometimes observed in discourse with him ) strike through knotty difficulties into the inward center of truth , with such a felicity that things seem'd to offer themselves to him , which are wont to cost others a troublesome search . nor were his notions meerly book-learnt , borrowed from systems , and taken on trust , but formed by a due ( but more speedy ) comparing of things , as if truth were more a-kin , and connatural to him than to most others , sooner digested , made his own , and inwrought into the temper and habit of his mind , which afterwards ▪ he liked not to muddy and discompose by busie agitations with others about that truth which he found himself in a pleasant secure possession of , nor to contend concerning that which he had not found it necessary to contend for ; he declined controversie , not from inability but dislike ; for as he less needed it for a further good end , so he was most remote from loving it for it self ; he was satisfy'd to have attained his end , and was better pleased to know , than to seem to others that he knew ; he was of a curious sublime fancy , and a lofty style both in speaking and writing , even in his most familiar letters , thô he industriously deprest it in his popular sermons , and other negotiations with those of meaner cap●city . but his moral , and holy excellencies were his chief lustre , being in themselves of a more excellent kind , and shining in him in a very eminent degree . the bent of his soul was towards god ; i never knew any man under the more constant governing power of religion , which made it be his business both to exercise and diffuse it to his uttermost ; he was a mighty lover of god and men ; and being of a lively active spirit , that love was his facile , potent mover to the doing even of all the good that could be thought ( in an ordinary way ) possible to him , and more than was possible to most other men : to give a true succinct account of the complexion of his soul , he was even made up of life and love. such was the clearness and sincerity of his spirit , his constant uprightness and integrity , so little darkned by an evil conscience , ( and indeed , little ever clouded with melancholy fumes ) that he seemed to live in the constant sence of gods favour and acceptance , and had nothing to do but to serve him with his might ; whence his spirit was formed to an habitual chearfulness , and seem'd to feel within it self a continual calm . so undisturb'd a serenity hath to my observation rarely been discernable in any man ; nor was his a dull , sluggish peace , but vital , and joyous ; seldom hath that been more exemplify'd in any man , rom. 8.6 . to be spiritually minded is life and peace : seldom have any liv'd more under the government of that kingdom which stands in righteousness , peace , and joy in the holy ghost , rom. 14.17 . his reverence of the divine majesty was most profound , his thoughts of god high and great , that seem'd totally to have compos'd him to adoration , and even made him live a worshipping life ; he was not wont to speak to god or of him at a vulgar rate ; he was most absolutely resigned and given up to him ; devotedness to his interest , acquiescence in his wisdom and will , were not meer precepts with him but habits . no man could be more deeply concern'd about the affairs of religion , and gods interest in the world , yet his solicitude was temper'd with that stedfast trust , that it might be seen the acknowledg'd verities of gods governing the world , superintending and ordering all humane affairs by wise and steady counsel , and almighty power , which in most others are but faint notions , were with him turn'd into living sence and vital principles which govern'd his soul : whereupon his great reverence of the majesty of god falling into a conjunction with an assured trust , and sence of his love and goodness , made that rare and happy temperament with him , which i cannot better express than by a pleasant seriousness : what friend of his did ever at the first congress , see his face but with a grave smile ? when unexpectedly and by surprize he came in among his familiar friends , it seem'd as if he had blest the room , as if a new soul , or some good genius were come among them . i need not tell them that survive who were nearest to him , how pleasant a relative he was . nor doth any man need to tell me how pleasant a friend ! no man ever more understood than he the ingenuities and delights of friendship , especially the high pleasure of gratifying and obliging another . the relishes whereof were so delicious to him , that no festival could be so grateful to any man as the opportunity was to him of making another tast , and feel his kindness . nor did i ever observe any thing so like a frequent fault in him , as an aptnes to overvalue his friend . he was a man of most punctual , scrupulous fidelity . his word was ever with him so strictly sacred , that in the smallest matters his appointments , thô numerous , were , through his great prudence , so sure that one might , without the intervenience of extraordinary providence , as certainly expect them , as the returns of day and night . so that they that knew him , thô most delighted with his society , were never wont to urge for his stay with them beyond his prefixed time ( which he commonly mentioned at his first entrance ) knowing it would be in vain . he was of a large and great soul , comprehensive of the interests of god , the world , the church , his countrey , his friends , and ( with a peculiar concernednes ) of the souls of men . ready , to his uttermost , to serve them all . made up of compassion towards the distressed . of delight in the good , and of general benignity towards all men . he had a soul , a life , a name darkned with no cloud but that of his own great humility , which clouded him only to himself , but beautifi'd and brightned him in the eyes of all others . an humility that allowed no place with him to any aspiring design , or high thought , that could ever be perceived by word , look or gesture . except the high thoughts and designs which neither ought to be excluded nor represt . his greatest ambition was to do good , and partake it in the highest and best kind of it . to make the nearest approaches he could to the pattern and fountain of all goodnes . and now looking upon so qualify'd a person , as engaged by office in a peculiar sort of service to christ , to gather and draw in souls to him , and prepare them for a blessed eternity : how great things may we expect ? what do we not find ? mells in sommersetshire was his first , and only ( publick ) station . thither he was brought by so peculiar a conduct and direction of providence , as seem'd to carry with it some signification what great use he was afterwards to be of in that place . the very reverend dr. whitchcot , being , also , at that time fellow of the same colledge in cambridge , and presented to a living in that countrey , that was in the disposition of that colledge , obtained of him to accompany him in a journey to visit , and make some trial of the people he had been design'd to take the charge of . where that so accomplisht person exprest a resolution fit to be exemplary to others of profoundest learning ( and which was strictly afterwards followed by this his chosen companion ) preaching his first sermon ( as himself was pleas'd to tell me ) upon those words , i determined to know nothing among you , but jesus christ and him crucify'd . after some time spent together here , the doctors affairs recalling him , for the present , to cambridge , he prevailed with our worthy friend to stay behind , and supply his absence among that people . what followes i was inform'd of by another hand , but one so nearly related to this our deceased friend , and so well acquainted with the more considerable occurrences of his life , as not to leave me in doubt concerning so momentous a thing , as how he came to be settled in a countrey so remote from his own , and where he was so meer a stranger . and it fell out thus . during his abode upon this occasion in those parts , a noted gentleman , the patron of the rectory of mells , being at that time high sheriff of the county , sent to mr. fairclough ( of whose worth , fame had not let him long be ignorant ) desiring him to preach the assize-sermon . some circumstances having also brought the matter within so narrow a compas , that the straits of time made it necessary to press the request with more importunity than could admit of a denial . that performance was so highly acceptable , and so newly over when the patron was surprized with the tidings of the former rector of mells his death , that he immediately told our worthy friend , he could not otherwise so fitly gratifie him for his sermon , as by conferring upon him such a living , which , if he pleased to accept it , was his . the opportunity of stated service , in a calling to which he had most seriously devoted himself , more than the emolument ( as did afterwards sufficiently appear ) soon determin'd his thoughts , and fix't him in this station : there he shone many years a bright and a lively light , a burning as well as a shining one ; it was soon observ'd what a star was risen in that horizon , and a confluence was quickly gathered , of such as rejoyced in the light of it , which made an obscure countrey village , soon become a most noted place ; from sundry miles about , thither was the great resort , so that i have wondered to see so throng an auditory as i have sometimes had the opportunity to observe in such a place , that did usually attend his most fruitful ministry . and o how hath that congregation been wont to melt under his holy fervours ! his prayers , sermons , and other ministerial performances had that strange pungency , quickness , and authority with them , at some times ; that softness , gentleness , sweetness , alluringness at others , that one would think it scarce possible to resist the spirit and power wherewith he spake . and the effect did in a blessed measure correspond ; they became a much enlightned , knowing , judicious , convinced , reformed , even somewhat generally , and in good part , a seriously religious people ; his labours here were almost incredible ; besides his usual exercises on the lords-day , of praying , reading the scriptures , preaching , catechising , administring the sacraments ; ( as the occasions or stated seasons occurr'd ) he usually five dayes in the week , betimes in the morning , appeared in publick , pray'd , and preach't an expository lecture upon some portion of the holy scriptures , in course to such as could then assemble , which so many did , that he alwayes had a considerable congregation ; nor did he ever produce in publick any thing which did not smell of the lamp. and i know that the most eminent for quality and judgment among his hearers , valued those his morning-exercises for elaborateness , accuracy , instructiveness , equally with his lords-dayes sermons . yet also he found time not only to visit the sick , ( which opportunities he caught at with great eagerness ) but also in a continual course , all the families within his charge ; and personally , and severally to converse with every one that was capable , labouring to understand the present state of their souls , and applying himself to them in instructions , reproofs , admonitions , exhortations and encouragements suitably thereto ; and he went through all with the greatest facility and pleasure imaginable ; his whole heart was in his work . every day for many years together he used to be up by three in the morning or sooner , and to be with god ( which was his dear delight ) when others slept . few men had ever less hindrance from the body , or more dominion over it , a better habited mind and body have rarely dwelt together . no controversies arose among his neighbours , within his notice , which he made it not his business to get presently compos'd , and his help and advice was wont to be sought by persons of eminent rank , and in matters of very great difficulty and importance for that purpose ; his own love of peace always inclining him , and his great prudence well enabling him to be exceeding useful in any such case . nor were his labours confined within that narrower verge ; his name and worth were too well known abroad to let him be engross'd by one single parish : in how many places did he scatter light , and diffuse the knowledge of god , wheresoever , within his reach , the opportunity of a lecture , occasional or fixt did invite ! the state of things in those dayes making it necessary ( and not hindering ) that what was to be done for the preservation of common order , must be by the spontaneous associating of the pastors of many congregations ; how did he inspirit those assemblies ! the deference that was given to him even by very reverend persons of great value , and much exceeding him in years , with the effectual influence he had upon all their affairs ( manifestly aiming at nothing but the promoting of religion , and the common good ) were only arguments of the commanding power of true worth : and the good effects upon the people shew'd , how much could be done by a naked , undisguised recommendation of ones self to mens consciences in the sight of god : nor would his brethren of greatest value ( and divers there were in those parts of very great ) think it any detraction from themselves to acknowledge much more to the wise , modest , humble activity of his spirit in their common concernments , than i shall be willing to arrogate to him . he was , upon the whole , a very publick blessing in that countrey while he kept his publick station in it : and when the time approached of his quitting it , he eminently shew'd his constant , great moderation in reference to the controverted things that occasioned his doing so in all his reasonings with his brethren about them . and it further appeared in the earnest bent of his endeavours to form the minds of his people , as much as was possible , unto future vnion under the conduct of whoso should succeed him in the serious care of their souls ; and to a meek , unrepining submission to that present separation which was , now , to be made between him and them ; whereof the extant abridgment of sundry his later sermons to them , are an abundant testimony ; ( thô such a repression of their sorrows , it was not possible to them to receive othewise , than as dutiful children are wont to do , the exhortations of an affectionate dying father , not to mourn for his death : ) in the substantial things of religion no man was more fervently zealous , about the circumstantials none more cool and temperate . but he could in nothing prevaricate with his ( once settled ) judgment , or depart in his practice one ace from it ; yet such was the candor and softness of his spirit , that nothing could be more remote from him , than to pass any harsh censures upon those that received that satisfaction in the scrupled points , which he could not : but he continued a most entire undiminisht friendship with many of them ( and several of eminent note , by whom also it was equally cherisht on their parts ) even to the last . his great contempt of the world , and remoteness from making the sacred office subservient to secular interest , a design of enriching himself by it , or more than to subsist , too soon appeared in the mean condition , to which he was brought by that deprivation . for thô the annual profits of his living were very considerable , yet his free ( but well regulated ) hospitality , and large , diffusive charity ( wherein his excellent consort , one of the most pious , prudent , well accomplisht matrons i ever knew , most readily concurr'd with him ) kept them from being superfluous , or flowing into coffers . he had laid up no treasure but in heaven . and was the son of a no way unlike father , from whom the expectancy of a patrimonial estate could not be great ; and whom ( to his no small joy while he continued ) he survived but a little . so that for some years ( as i have heard him say ) he did owe much of his subsistence to the bounty of some worthy citizens of london , whose temper it is , to take more pleasure in doing such good , than in having it told the world who they were . his usefulness was such since his deprivation , ( not in serving a party , a thing too mean , and little to be ever thought of by him without disdain ; but ) in pressing the great , and agreed things that belong to serious , living religion , that it even melts my soul to think of the overwhelming sorrows wherewith the tydings of his death must have been received , by multitudes in the west , that were often wont with greatest delight and fruit to enjoy his most lively , edifying labours . his decease confirms it to us , once more , that nothing belonging to this world of ours is too good to die . but it is a great argument of gods kind propensions towards it , and speaks much of his good will to men , that now and then such heavenly creatures are permitted to inhabit it , and such specimina and efforts of the divine life , to appear and be put forth in it . it shews god hath not forsaken the earth , and that his tabernacle is with men , when any such are to be found here . it ought to be reckon'd very monitory , and a great rebuke , when such are ( earlier than according to natural course ) taken away . it should make us love heaven so much the better , that such as he are gathered thither ; not that it needs any thing to better it in it self , but that we can now , better relish the thoughts that arise out of our own present knowledge ; and having seen true goodness exemplify'd , may thence , more easily , take our advantage to apprehend what that state is , wherein there will be so vast a collection of excellent creatures , so perfectly good , by most liberal eternal participations from the first and uncreated good . how taking is this notion of heaven ! i especially pronounce this holy man blessed ( saith a great man in the * ancient church , speaking of an excellent person deceased † ) for that he hath passed from one order to another ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) and leaving our city , hath ascended to another city , even that of god himself , and leaving this church of ours , is gone into the church of the first-born who are written in heaven , and hath left our solemn conventions for that of myriads of angels : referring to that of the apostle , heb. 12. and magnifying ( that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) that glorious convention not for the multitude of the powers above only , but for the confluence of the good , with a perfect vacancy of envy , and an abounding perpetual joy and satisfaction of mind — love , peace , goodness , &c. and every fruit of the spirit in most plenteous fulness . ( to this purpose he speaks ; ) and what an amiable heaven is this ! yea , and it may encline us to have somewhat the kinder thoughts of this our meaner native element , and less to regret that our earthly part should dissolve and incorporate with it ; to think what rich treasure , what shrines of a lately inhabiting deity ( now become sacred dust ) it hath from time to time received and transmuted into it self . how voluminously have some written of roma subterranea * ! of the tombs of martyrs , and other excellent persons ( as many of them were ) collected in one little spot of this earth ? and if there were as particular an account of the more refined part of subterraneous london , much more of all places , where just and holy men have dropt , and depos'd their earthly tabernacles , how would our earth appear ennobled ( and even hallowed ) by such continual accessions to it , in all times and ages ? what a glorious hoast will arise and spring up even out of one london ? is not the grave now a less gloomy thing ? who would grudge to lye obscurely a while , among them with whom we expect to rise and ascend so gloriously ? it should make us diligent in the remaining time of our abode here : what should not the expectation of such a welcome carry us through ? well done good and faithful servant , &c. how studious should we be so to acquit our selves as he hath done ? blessed is that servant whom the lord when he comes shall find so doing : let us then be stedfast , unmoveable , alwayes abounding in the work of the lord , as knowing our labour shall not be in vain in the lord. the end . errata . page 5. line 16. insert , , before and after there : p. 18. l. 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : p. 22. l. 13. for doubled , r. doubted : p. 23. l. 14. comma , after that : p. 25. marg . r. luc. brugensis : p. 38. l. 9. for have r. had . sence , to be every where read , sense . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44679-e100 † august . de cur . pr● mort . gerend . notes for div a44679-e1030 phil. 1.15 , 16 , 17 , 18. † as holy mr. herbert . — well , i will change the service , and go seek some other master out . ah my dear god! tho' i be clean forgot , let me not love thee , if i love thee not . * cyrus . xen. de ped. cyr. † artabazus who had a golden cup given him at the same time . chrysost. in lo● . 〈◊〉 psal. 16. psal. 4. esto particeps , &c. l●● . bragens● in 〈◊〉 use . dominus pecuniae illum blandè excepit , & cordi verba grata dedit ; eug● , inquit , o bone & 〈◊〉 &c. sen. * chrysost. panegyr . † philogonius . * jo. severanus , p. aringhus , &c. a sermon preach'd at the funeral of sir john buckworth, at the parish-church of st. peter's le poor in broadstreet, december 29, 1687 by john scott. scott, john, 1639-1695. 1688 approx. 41 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a58818 wing s2072 estc r14391 13142454 ocm 13142454 97988 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a58818) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97988) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 751:8) a sermon preach'd at the funeral of sir john buckworth, at the parish-church of st. peter's le poor in broadstreet, december 29, 1687 by john scott. scott, john, 1639-1695. [7], 31 p. printed for walter kettilby ..., and thomas horne ..., london : 1688. reproduction of original in duke university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng buckworth, john, -sir, d. 1687. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2004-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-05 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-05 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preach'd at the funeral of sir john bvckworth , at the parish-church of st. peter's le poor in broadstreet , december 29. 1687. by john scott , d. d. london , printed for walter kettilby , at the bishop's-head in st. paul's church-yard ; and thomas horne , at the south-entrance of the royal exchange in cornhill , 1688. imprimatur . guil. needham . jan. 10. 1687. to my lady buckworth . madam , in obedience to your desires , i here present you with the discourse i delivered at the funeral of your excellent husband , and my never to be forgotten friend . and indeed considering how little there is in it , i have no other apologie to make for the publication of it , but that i could not without some degree of incivility refuse it , being urged with the concurrent requests of your ladiship , and the rest of those my worthy friends his dearest relatives . not that i altogether despair of its having some good influence upon sober and attentive readers . there are some thoughts in it which are apt enough to inspire considering minds with good affections and resolutions . the text , i am sure , contains excellent sense in it , and the argument is mighty serious and momentous : and how meanly soever i have managed it , some honest reader , i hope , may from hence take occasion to supply my defects out of his own meditations , and so to improve it to his everlasting advantage . and as for your ladiship , i hope the perusal of it , instead of reviving your sorrows for your dear loss , may be some way instrumental to animate you with a firm and vigorous resolution , to pursue that blessed state , wherein this , and all your other losses here , will ere long be abundantly repaired in a most joyous and everlasting fruition . and this , madam , is my hearty prayers as well as my hope ; who am , your ladiships obliged and faithful servant , john scott . ecclesiast . xi . 8. but if a man live many years , and rejoyce in them all ; yet let him remember the days of darkness , for they shall be many . i shall not trouble you with the various rendrings of these words ; which ( with a very little difference ) do all amount to the same sence ; viz. that supposing it should be a man's good fortune to live very long , and exceeding happy in this world ; yet he ought to have great care that the joys of this life , do not so wholly take up and ingross his thoughts , as to make him forget those days of darkness , which must ere long succeed this delightsome sun-shine ; which days will be many more , and of much longer continuance than the longest life of happiness we can promise our selves in this world. so that all the difficulty in these words , is , what we are to understand by the days of darkness , which are here opposed to a long life of joy and rejoycing in this world ? and this difficulty will be easily resolved , by considering the foregoing verse ; truly the light is sweet , and a pleasant thing to the eye to behold the sun ; upon which it follows , but if a man live many years , i. e. supposing he should for many years injoy this pleasant spectacle of the light of the sun , yet let him remember those days of darkness , wherein his eyes shall behold the sun and light no more , wherein he shall be laid up in a dark and silent grave , whence the light of the sun is excluded , and where the sight of the eyes is extinguished ; or as he expresses it in the third verse of the next chapter , wherein those that look out at the windows are darkened : so that we shall have neither visible objects , nor visive organs ; but be buried out of sight in deep darkness and insensibility . by the days of darkness therefore is evidently meant all that space of time between our death and our resurrection , wherein our bodies shall lye mouldering in a dark grave , utterly insensible of good or evil , till by the powerful call of god they shall at length be roused up out of this fatal slumber , into a state of everlasting life and activity : and these days , saith he , shall be many , though they shall not run out to an infinite duration , but at length conclude in a general resurrection , yet they shall be many , many more in all probability , than any man now alive can hope to live in this world. the words thus explained resolve into this sence , that how long and happily soever men live in this world , they ought to entertain their thoughts with frequent remembrances and considerations of their approaching mortality . which is a duty so obvious to the consciences of all men , as being founded on the plainest and most conspicuous reasons , that the men of all ages , and nations , and religions , have owned , and acknowledged it . thus the heathen philosophers teach , that our lives ought to be a constant meditation of death ; and that even in our most pleasant , and healthful moments , we ought to look upon our selves as borderers upon eternity ; that we should still take care to mingle our delights with the sad remembrances of our mortality , and not suffer the joys of this life to divert our thoughts from that impending fate , which ere long will set an everlasting period both to them and that . but the necessity of entertaining our minds with frequent remembrances of our latter end , is founded upon far more powerful motives than a company of fine sentences , and pretty sayings of philosophers . for first , it is necessary to moderate our affections to the world. secondly , it is necessary to allay the gaiety and vanity of our minds . thirdly , it is necessary to put us upon improving our present injoyments to the best purposes . fourthly , it is necessary to fore-arm our minds against the terrors of death . fifthly , it is necessary to excite and quicken us in our preparations for eternity . i. it 's necessary to moderate our affections to the world ; while we are encompassed round with the pleasures and delights of this world , they commonly so ingross our minds , that we shut our eyes against all futurities , and are impatient to think of any thing to come , unless it be the continuance of this happy scene of things which is at present before us ; with which continuance we are exceeding apt to flatter our selves , that so thereby we may heighten the gust of our present enjoyments ; to which the consideration of their leaving us , or our leaving them , would be apt to give a very ungrateful farewel : and when our thoughts are wholly intent upon these present goods ; and upon the prospect of their continuance , our affections must necessarily run out towards them with an immoderate ardour and greediness . for now our flattering imaginations represent them to us as standing and permanent things , as a kind of immortal heaven upon earth ; and accordingly our affections pursue and imbrace them as the best of goods ; and are for dwelling upon them , and building tabernacles in them , there to make their final abode , as in their highest and ultimate happiness . now there is no more effectual way to rouse mens minds out of this flattering dream of happiness , ( from which if they persist in it , the dire experience of a woful eternity will ere long awake them ) than frequently to entertain their minds with the thoughts of their departure hence . for when i set my self seriously to think of my dying hour , that fairly represents to my deluded mind , the true state and condition of all worldly happiness . here i plainly see that i am tenant at will to a thousand contingencies , in every one of whose power it is to turn me out of the world , and out of my happiness together , every moment of my life ; and that when i have erected this childish castle of cards , and housed my self in it , as in an imaginary fortress of impregnable security ; it is in the power of every puff of wind to blow it down about my ears , and bury me in its ruins . in every serious prospect of my mortality , i behold all my worldly enjoyments , which promised me such mountains of happiness , standing round my death-bed , mocking at all my foolish hopes , and exposing my baffled expectations to scorn and derision ; and whilst in the anguish of my soul i cry out to them , o ye helpless impotent things , what are now become of all your boasted comforts ? you that promised to be a heaven upon earth to me , why do not ye now help me in this my last extremity ? why do not ye quench my raging thirst ? why do not ye cool my feaverish blood ? why do not ye ease my labouring heart , and quiet my convulsed and tormented bowels ? all the answer they return is this , alas poor deluded fool ! 't is not in us to relieve or succour thee . but what will ye then forsake and abandon me , and shall i have nothing left of all the mighty goods you promised , but only a grave , a coffin and a winding-sheet ? alas , poor deceived wretch , we leave not thee , but thou must leave us ; being summoned away by a fatal power , which we can neither bribe nor resist : thy body must go down into a cold dark grave , and there lye utterly insensible till the resurrection ; thy soul must pass into the region of spirits , whither we are not permitted to follow thee , and where thou wilt have nothing to live upon to all eternity , but only the graces and vertues of thy own mind . farewel then ye treacherous cheats and impostors ; that promised so much , and now perform so little ; miserable comforters are ye all , and physicians of no value . such thoughts as these the remembrance of our mortality will be frequently suggesting to us ; and if such thoughts do not cool and allay the heat of our affections to the world , we are incurably fond of being deceived and abused by it . ii. frequently to remember our departure hence , is very necessary to allay the vanity and gaiety of our own minds ; whilest we are encompassed with the delights of this world , our minds are generally too frolick and jovial to admit of any serious impressions : and if at any time any good thoughts come in to visit us , ( as those two angels did lot in sodom ) to warn us of the dire fate that hangs over us , our affections , like the drunken sodomites , are presently all in an uproar , and will never be quiet , till those unwelcome guests be thrown out that disturb our riots , and mingle harsh discords with our jovial airs : and so long as we continue in this light vain temper , there is nothing will be grateful to us but frothy mirth , or loose company , or gay ideas of our selves , and of our own wit , or wealth , or beauty , or finery . and thus we shall fool away our lives in perpetual vanity and impertinence ; in rolling about from vanity to vanity , and never be serious , till we are forced to it by some woful experience . but now to fix such a roving and volatile temper , and thereby to render it accessible and hospitable to wise and good thoughts , i know nothing more necessary than the frequent remembrance of our mortality : for as for the future worlds of endless joy and torment , though they are in themselves the most serious things in the world ; yet being both future and invisible , vain and sensual minds are not so capable of apprehending them with that degree of certainty that is necessary to render them affecting and prevalent : but that we must die , we are all as certain of as of our present existence ; and therefore this , if any thing , must move and affect us . if therefore together with those gay idea's that possess our minds , we would ever and anon mingle that of our mortality , that would soon reduce our squandered thoughts , and make us serious in despight of our teeth . as for instance , when in thy night thoughts thou art priding thy self in the pomp and splendor of thy outward condition , think thus with thy self , alas , within a little while this bed which now is as gay , and as soft as the sleep , and the sins it entertains , must be my death-bed ; here i must lye a languishing sad corps , which nothing in all this world can help or ease : so that though now i should go on to add house to house , and lands to lands , even till i am become the lord of all my horizon ; yet in that sad hour all these will no more be able to relieve me , than the landskip of them upon my walls , or my hangings : then i may as successfully go to my pictures , and try to entertain my mirth and luxuries with them , or to recreate my ear with hearkening after painted sounds , or to gratifie my palate with the image of a feast ; as to give my self any ease or content with these gay things i am now so proud of . and when at length i have groaned away my fleeting breath , i must be removed from all my company & attendance into a dark , lonely and desolate hole of earth , where all my present pomp must expire , and be overcast with everlasting darkness . again , when in the morning thou art entertaining thy vanity with thy beauty , thy wit , or thy fine cloaths , think thus with thy self , alas , fond soul , all these gay objects of thy pride , must ere long convert to rottenness and corruption ; that curled forehead must be bedewed with clammy sweats ; those sprightly eyes must wax as dim as a sullied mirror ; that charming voice must grow as weak as the faint echoes of a distant valley ; and all those lilies and roses on thy cheeks must wither into the paleness of death , and shroud themselves in the horrors of the grave . again , when in the afternoon thou hast been entertaining thy self with mirth , or sport , or luxury , go down into the charnel-house , and there survey a while the numerous trophies of victorious death : in these gastly mirrors thou beholdest the true resemblance of thy future state : forty years ago that naked skull was covered like thine , with a thick fleece of curled and comely locks ; those empty holes were filled with eyes that looked as charmingly as thine ; those hollow pits were blanched with cheeks that were as smooth and amiable as thine ; that grinning mouth did smile as gracefully , and speak as fluently as thine ; and a few days hence thou must be rotting into just such another spectacle : and forty years hence perhaps here may thy naked ribs be found mingled with these scattered bones ; and then should another take up thy bald skull , as thou dost this , he will find it dressed in all the self-same horrors of this deaths-head ; with its nose sunk , its jaws gaping , its mouth grinning , and worms crawling in those empty holes wherein now thy eyes roul to and fro in amorous glances ; and a toad perhaps ingendring in that brain that is now so full of sprightly thoughts , and gay idea's . if with these , or such like considerations of our mortality , we would now and then entertain our selves , they would by degrees wear off the levity and vanity of our minds , and compose us into such a degree of seriousness , as is necessary to qualifie us for those divine and religious considerations , without which we can never expect either to be made good men here , or happy men hereafter . iii. that we should frequently remember our mortality , in the midst of our most happy circumstances here , is highly necessary to put us upon improving our present injoyments to the best purposes , considering what use the generality of men make of the injoyments of this world , it is really a great question , whether it would not be much better for them , even in respect of this life , to be without them , than with them . for either they shrivel them into miserableness , or melt them into luxury . the former of which impoverishes , and the latter diseases them . for if the former be the effect of a man's prosperous condition , it increases his needs ; because before , he needed only what he had not ; but now he needs both what he hath not , and what he hath . his covetous desires treating him as the faulkner doth his hawk , still luring him off from what he hath seised , to fly at new game , and never permitting him to prey upon his own quarry . and if the latter be the effect of his prosperity , that is , if it melts him into luxury , it thereby wastes his health , to be sure , and commonly his estate too ; and so whereas it found him poor and well , it leaves him poor and diseased . and whereas it at first took him up from the plough , it at last sets him down at the hospital . and in general , while he is possessed of it , it only bloats and swells him ; makes him proud and insolent , griping and oppressive ; pampers and inrages his lust , and stretches out his desires into an insatiable boulimy ; sticks his mind full of cares , and his conscience of guilts : and by all these woful effects , inflames his reckoning with god , and treasures up wrath for him against the day of wrath . all which arises from the want of a frequent remembrance of our mortality . for did we but often ruminate upon this , that it is but a very little while that we have to enjoy the comforts of this life , and that within a very few years , yea , perhaps a few days , we shall be stript of them all , and be sent as nakedly out of this world as ever we came in ; and when we are gone hence , of all the goods that we have left behind us , we shall have nothing to live upon to eternity , but only the good that we did with them , the necessities that we relieved , the oppressions that we eased , the nakedness that we clothed , and the hunger that we satisfied : these indeed will follow after us , and feed us with content and happiness to eternal ages . but if we are destitute of these , we shall ere long be shipt off from all our present enjoyments , and be landed in another world , upon a strange inhospitable shore , and there be left miserable poor wretches , without so much as one drop of the comforts we now enjoy to satisfie our tormenting desires , or to quench our still raging thirst after happiness : then we shall wish a thousand and a thousand times over , that instead of gratifying our luxuries with the mispence of our wealth , or feeding our insatiate avarice with the continual increase of it , we had by doing works of piety and charity with it , made our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness , that so when we failed , they might receive us into everlasting habitations , and there entertain us with pleasure and delight for ever . well then , seeing that ere it be long we must leave all these our present possessions behind us ; it highly concerns us , while we enjoy them , to do all the good that we are able with them : and seeing we are allowed to carry nothing of them but the good we do with them along with us , to enrich and maintain us in our eternal condition ; by doing good with our wealth , we shall convert and proselyte it , and make that an offering which others make an idol ; we shall make this earth tributary to heaven , and in a much nobler sense than the new systeme of astronomy teaches , advance it into a star , and a celestial body : by this we shall transmit it into the eternal world , as it were , by bill of exchange , there to be repaid us , ten thousand fold in glory and honour and immortality , and ten thousand ages hence we shall be enricht with the product of it , and receive a vast revenue of happiness from it for ever . suppose now that you were a merchant in a far country , where you were allowed for an uncertain time the benefit of free trade and commerce , in order to your gaining a good estate to maintain you whenever you should be forced to return to your own native soil , would you be so indiscreet as to lay out all the product of your merchandise in building fine houses , or purchasing great farms , when you know not how soon you may be commanded to depart , and to leave all these immoveable goods behind you , or rather would you not think your selves obliged by all the laws of interest and discretion to convert all your gain into portable wealth , into money or jewels , or such moveable commodities , as when you depart hence you might carry home along with you , and there be able to maintain your selves in many years ease and plenty . do but think then , and think it often , that here you are strangers , and foreign merchants ; that you came hither from another world , to which you know not how soon you must return again ; that all the wealth , the houses and lands , you gain by your present commerce , are immoveable goods , which you must leave behind ye when ye go from hence , and that there is nothing of them portable , but what you lay out in piety and charity ; and that therefore it concerns you , while you have opportunity , to store and treasure up a plentiful proportion of these , that so when you are shipt off into the eternal world , you may carry such an estate of them thither with you , as may suffice to maintain you there in glory and happiness for ever . iv. that we should frequently remember our mortality , even in the midst of our most happy circumstances here , is highly necessary to fore-arm our minds against the terrors of death . whilst we abound with the enjoyments of this life , we are apt to put far from us the evil day , and with the rich churl in the gospel , to promise our selves many years ease and voluptuousness in this world : so that death generally steals upon us before we are aware , and like a thief in a frightful vizor surprises in the midst of a deep security , and after we have strugled with him a few moments to no purpose , robs us of our lives and our happiness together . and o how terrible must death be when it approaches a man under such circumstances ; when the poor deluded wretch hath been just singing a soft requiem to himself , soul take thy rest and ease , thou hast goods laid up for many years , and many years to possess and enjoy them ; for death now to pronounce that fatal sentence , thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee . now when he thought all was safe , and concluded himself secure of a long lease of life and happiness : now before he hath given himself the leisure to think of his dying hour , or to fortifie his heart with any wise or good thoughts against the terrors of this terrible one , that is just now brandishing its fatal shaft at his breast ! how must it needs blank and amaze and confound him ? and what a trembling horror must it strike through his heart , to see himself thus unexpectedly hurried away , one part of him to the grave , and the other to eternity , now when he thought himself so securely possessed of a long enjoyment of the good things of this life . wherefore as we would be fore-armed against the terrors of death , and enabled to abide his dreadful approaches with a firm and constant mind , it concerns us now while we are surrounded with the joys and pleasures of this life , to entertain our minds with frequent thoughts and remembrances of him ; to retire now and then into the charnel-house , and there to read lectures to our selves upon the skelitons and deaths heads , those emblems and representations of our approaching mortality : and from them to take such lively pictures and ideas of this king of terrors , as may render his grim visage and fearful addresses more familiar to us , and give our thoughts a more intimate acquaintance with him , and with the manner and method of his approaches ; with what an army of diseases he is wont to lay siege to the fort of our life ; and how in despite of all the resistances of nature , he plants and quarters them in our veins and arteries , and stomachs and bowels , and from thence infests us all over with continual anguish and pain : how when he hath tired and exhausted us with his continued batteries , and worn out our strength with an uninterrupted succession of wearisom nights to sorrowful days , he at last storms the soul out of all the out-works of nature , and forces it to retire into the heart ; and how when upon this last retreat of life he hath marked us for dead , in a cold baptism of clammy and fatal sweats , he summons our weeping friends together , to assist him in grieving us with their parting kisses , and sorrowful adieus ; and how at length when he is weary of tormenting us any more , he rushes into our hearts , and with a few mortal pangs and convulsions tears the soul from thence , and turns it out to seek its fortune in the wide world of spirits , where it is either seized on by devils , and carried away to their dark prisons of sorrow and despair , there to languish out its life in a dismal expectation of that dreadful day wherein it must change its bad condition for a worse ; or be conducted by angels to some blessed abode , there to remain in unspeakable pleasure and tranquillity , till the great day of its coronation with a glorious resurrection . if we would thus frequently survey our approaching mortality in all the circumstances and appendages of it , we should hereby familiarize its terrors to our minds , so that when ever it happens to us , our thoughts which have been so long accustomed to converse with it , will be much less startled and amazed at it , and the often remembrances we have past upon it , will put us upon laying in such wise and good thoughts and considerations as are best able to fortifie our minds against it , and to inspire us with courage and alacrity under it . v. and lastly , frequently to remember our mortality in the midst of our most happy circumstances here , is highly necessary to excite and quicken us in our preparations for eternity : and hence it is that we are so often called upon in this militant estate to consider our latter end , deut. 32. 29. and by the examples of the best men , are invited so to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom , psal. 90. 12. and to wait till our change comes , job 14. 14. to which end also we are put in mind , that here we have no abiding city , heb. 13. 14. and that it is appointed for all men once to dy , heb. 9. 27. and that our life is even as a vapour that appears for a little time , and then vanishes away , jam. 4. 14. and to this purpose the apostle applies this consideration , 1 cor. 7. 29 , 30 , 31. now this i say , brethren , ( i.e. of our uncertain abode and continuance here ) ( upon which he exhorts us to compose our selves to a great indifferency as to the things of this world ) it remains , that they that have wives , be as if they had none : and they that weep , as though they wept not : and they that rejoyce , as though they rejoyced not : and they that buy , as though they possessed not : and they that use this world , as not abusing it : for the fashion of this world passeth away , i.e. since your time here is so very short and uncertain , see you endeavour beforehand to loosen your selves from this world , and to put your selves into a fit posture to leave it ; for 't is but a short scene of things , that will quickly be shifted , and then there will an eternal state of things succeed . and indeed , since to dy well is the last act and final consummation of our life ; it must needs highly concern us , to arm and prepare our selves for it beforehand , lest we lose the prize , by stumbling just at the goal ; and after a long voyage , miscarry within sight of harbour . for in the hour of death we throw our last cast for an eternity of happiness or misery : and how much are we concerned to throw that well , upon which so vast a stake depends ? o my brethren , it is a most serious thing to die , to pass this dark entry of eternity , through which , as we go right or wrong , we are made or undone for ever : for to carry us right through , 't is not a few death-bed sorrows , or good wishes ; 't is not a few extorted promises , or forced resolutions , or rack'd confessions , and lord have mercy upon us . o no , to die well is an expensive passage , which we shall never be able to defray , unless we carry along with us a very great stock of spiritual preparations . we shall have need of a strong and active faith ; of a mind well furnished with wise and good considerations , of a deep and large , and a tried repentance , of an unrestrained charity , of a confirmed patience , of a profound submission to the will of god , and a well grounded hope of a blessed eternity . for without all these together , we shall be very ill accoutred to die , and run a fearful hazard of miscarrying for ever . and these are such things as do not usually spring up like mushromes , in a night , and much less in the disturbed moments of a dying hour ; but do ask a much larger and serener season to grow and ripen in . but if whilst we are entertaining our selves among the joys and pleasures of this life , we banish from our minds the remembrance of our mortality , and look upon eternity as a thing at a vast distance , this will put us upon delaying and deferring our preparation for it . for in this temper we shall be apt to conclude , that we have time enough to come to begin and compleat our repentance , and that we may safely indulge our selves yet a good while longer , in the free injoyment of our own hearts desires , and sin on at present upon this security , that we will certainly repent hereafter ; and by this easie train do men toule themselves on through the several stages of their sin and life , till they arrive at their death-bed , and then they begin to think of repenting in good earnest . but then alas , what will they be able to do , when their thoughts are continually disturbed with the care of disposing their affairs in this world , and the frightful prospect they have of the other . when their minds are distracted with incessant pain and uneasiness ; so that it is not in their power to consider so much as a quarter of an hour together ; when through the stupor and indisposition of the organs of their reason , they are not able to range their scattered and unwieldy thoughts into any of those sober reflexions and serious meditations , that are necessary to the forming of a sincere repentance ? in effect therefore for men to refer their repentance to a death-bed , is the same thing as to retire into a battel to meditate , or to set up a closset to study philosophy in , in the head quarters of an army , where most men are as capable of free and undisturbed contemplations , as they are of repenting amidst the tumults and hurries of a death-bed . and yet upon this dismal extremity do men commonly cast themselves , through their neglect of remembring their approaching mortality . whereas did they but often remember and seriously reflect on it , they would as soon dare eat fire , as defer their repentance upon the uncertain hopes of futurity . for alas , what is vain man , that he should talk of repenting hereafter , when perhaps while the words are in his mouth , the earnest of death is in his head , or heart , or bowels ; when for all he knows , he may be inflamed with a fevor with what he hath drank to day , or stifled with a surfeit with what he shall eat to morrow ; when he may expire his soul with his next breath , or suck in his bane with the next air ; and so many unlooked for accidents may presently put an end to all his talk of repenting hereafter , and render it impossible for ever ? now of what dismal consequence would it be , should i be thus surprized ? if while i presume upon my future repentance , i am merrily sinning on , i should all of a sudden be hurried away out of the company of my jovial associates , into that of houling and tormented spirits : and from my songs and laughter , into weeping , and wailing , and gnashing of teeth . how would it blank and amaze me to think , that ever i should be so mad , as to run such a desperate hazard ? how dare we then talk of repenting hereafter , when we consider , that it is not in our power to command so much as one moment of future time ? when for all that we know , the hope of eternity , which is now in our hands , may be lost for ever , and drop through our fingers before to morrow morning ? and that when we lye down at night , and fall asleep securely in our sins , we do not know , but before the next twilight we may awake with horror and amazement in hell ? let us seriously consider therefore , that the present time only is in our power ; and that as for the future , it is wholly in god's : and that therefore when we defer our repentance to the future , we do , as it were , cast lots for our soul , and venture our everlasting hopes upon a contingency which is not in our power to dispose of . for all we know , this may be the evening of our day of trial ; and if it be , our life and eternity depends upon what we are now doing . wherefore it highly concerns us , by all the regard we owe to our own everlasting safety , wisely to manage this last stake , the winning or losing whereof may be our making or undoing . thus will the frequent remembrance of our mortality put us upon laying in good store of spiritual provisions against that great day of expence . for he who often considers the great uncertainty of life , the dreadful approaches , the concomitant terrors , and the momentous issues and consequents of death ; must be strangely stupified , if thereby he be not vigorously excited , to fore-arm and fortifie himself with all those graces , and defences , that are necessary to render his departure hence easie , and safe , and prosperous . and now having done with the text , i shall only crave your leave to say a few words upon this sorrowful occasion ; viz. the funeral of our common friend , sir john buckworth , who perhaps while he lived , was a person as eminently known , as ever any merchant that trod the exchange of london . and indeed considering the great share he had of intellectual endowments , he was a gentleman that seemed to have been mark'd out by providence , to make a considerable figure among men. for first , nature had inrich'd him with a clear bright mind , with a quick apprehension , a prompt memory , a steady and a piercing judgment , together with a natural presence of mind , and fluency and readiness of speech , which inabled him upon all occasions easily to express his own conceptions of things in very clear and apt language . all which natural indowments he had vastly improved and cultivated , by a long and curious observation and experience . for as nature had fitted him for an active life , so providence soon introduced him upon the stage of action . for as he was born a gentleman , so he was educated a merchant ; which perhaps is one of the most advantagious academies in the world , to instruct the mind in the knowledge of men , and the management of humane affairs . his education furnished him with a fair opportunity of seeing the world , as well abroad , as at home ; and of prying into the intrigues of commerce , and into the manners and interests of men ; whence he drew so many wise and useful observations , as rendred him a prince among merchants , and an oracle of trade ; insomuch that he was thought worthy to be chosen deputy-governour of that wise and great company of the turky merchants ; and was perhaps as much consulted by his superiors , about the interest of the english trade , and the mysteries of commerce , as any one merchant of this city or nation . thus for his intellectuals . as for his morals ; i believe that all that knew him , will allow him this character , that he was a gentleman of great integrity and fidelity to his trust ; of exact justice and righteousness in his commerce and dealings : that he was a studious and successful peace-maker : and great part of his time , before he was called up by his prince , into a more busie and active station , being spent in arbitrating differences between man and man : in which he was so expert , so impartial and prosperous ; that i am apt to think he cemented as many broken friendships , reconciled as many quarrels , and adjusted as many differences , ( which otherwise might have flamed out into destructive breaches ) as most of those blessed peace-makers that are gone before him . consider him in his respective relations , and there all that knew him i am sure will allow him to have been a faithful , a loyal and useful subject to his prince , a kind and obliging husband to his lady , a tender and a wise father to his children , a prudent , careful and benevolent master to his servants ; and in a word , a wise counsellor , a faithful friend , and a just and diligent correspondent . as for his religion , he was a hearty protestant of the church of england , which upon mature judgment , and upon thorow information , he preferred for the loyalty of its principles , the simplicity of its doctrines , and the primitive purity of its worship and discipline , before all the churches in the world ; and what his judgment was of our church , he visibly exprest by his constant attendance upon the publick offices of our religion upon the lord's day , from which he never absented , but when he was either detained by sickness , or some very urgent and unavoidable occasion ; and in which he always demeaned him with all the profound reverence and devotion that outwardly expresses a mind inspired with a pious sense of its duty , and of the awful presence of the great majesty of heaven . thus he lived , and as for his death , though it was accompanied with all the circumstances that could render a man fond of life , and make him play loth to depart , though he had a plentiful estate , a loving and beloved wife , dutiful and hopeful children , and these all of them happily disposed off and setled in the world to his own hearts content : to leave all which at once , seems a very hard chapter to a mind not well resolved ; yet all these together had no such effect upon him . indeed not long before his death , though then in perfect health , he seemed to have an aboding of his approaching fate ; for having to his hearts desire , disposed of his only son in marriage ( who was the last of his children undisposed ) he hath been often heard to say , that now he thanked god , his business in this world was finished , and that it was high time for him to think of his departure into the other : and when soon after he was seized with his last sickness , he bore it with an invincible courage and constancy ; and though the last part of it was extremely painful to him , he underwent it without complaint or murmuring , with a mind that seemed intirely resigned to the soveraign disposer of all events . and when he perceived the approaches of death , and found that he was going off this stage of mortals , he never shew'd the least sign of regret or reluctancy , but took a solemn leave of his friends ; and which was much harder , of his dearest relatives , who stood lamenting and weeping about him ; and this with a mind very serious indeed , but in all appearance very calm and composed . and finally he gave up the ghost like a brave man and a good christian , with a firm and undaunted mind , and as one that had placed his main hope on the other side the grave , and did expect to exchange an uneasie mortal life , for an immortal one of pleasure . and therefore though i make no doubt after all , but that as a man , he had his faults , ( and he that hath none let him cast the first stone ) yet i am sure he had his vertues , and those very eminent ones too : and therefore it will highly become us who survive , in charity to cast a vail over the one , and in piety imitate and transcribe the other ; that so with him , and all our other christian brethren departed this life in god's true faith and fear , we may have our final consummation in bliss and glory , through jesus christ our lord : to whom with the father , and eternal spirit , three persons and one god , be ascribed all honour and glory and power and dominion for ever and ever . amen . finis . pieties pillar: or, a sermon preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth gouge, late wife of mr. william gouge, of black-friers, london with a true narration of her life and death. by nicholas guy, pastor of the church at edge-ware in middlesex. guy, nicholas, b. 1587 or 8. 1626 approx. 62 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 32 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a02414 stc 12543 estc s103587 99835786 99835786 6 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a02414) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 6) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1025:06) pieties pillar: or, a sermon preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth gouge, late wife of mr. william gouge, of black-friers, london with a true narration of her life and death. by nicholas guy, pastor of the church at edge-ware in middlesex. guy, nicholas, b. 1587 or 8. [8], 52 p. printed by george millar [sic], dwelling in black-friers, london : 1626. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng gouge, elizabeth, d. 1625. funeral sermons. 2007-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-02 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2008-02 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion pieties pillar : or , a sermon preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth govge , late wife of mr. william govge , of black-friers , london . with a true narration of her life and death . by nicolas guy , pastor of the church at edge-ware in middlesex . prov . 31 30. a woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . london , printed by george millar , dwelling in black-friers . 1626. to the right honovrable , sir thomas lake , knight , of canons , in middlesex . sir , the parable of our sauiour in the gospel must bee my apologie for the publication of this sermon to the eye and censure of the world , the which at the first when i preach't it , i thought not worthy your iudicious eares in my priuate church : but being ouercome by the importunity of the reuerend diuine , master gouge , i condescended ( though sore against my will ) to giue way to his desire : thus haue i made a vertue of necessity , and as it is in the prouerbe , vnica fidelia duos dealbaut parietes : i haue both satisfied his pious desire for the preseruation of the memory of his vertuous and religious wife : and also ( hauing no better to present your honor withal ) i am bold to offer this , as the poore man brought water in his hands to artaxerxes : only as a testimony of my willingnesse to returne something to your honors hands , from whom i haue receiued so much ( euen all the maintenance that now i haue ) either immediately from your honour , or mediately by your honours procurement . it was my happinesse to be trained vp by that illuminate doctor , prelate & pillar of our church , your brother , and the now most reuerend and religious , lord bishop of bath and wells ; and since to be sustained by your honour . so that i may iustly say with the psalmist , when my father and my mother forsooke mee , the lord tooke me vp , and committed mee to the charge of one brother , of prime place in the church , for my spirituall estate ; and to your honour , the other brother , of principall place in the common wealth for my temporall . now besides your honours fauours to me in particular ; your many reall fauours and great affection to the church and churchmen , both when you were in publike place of honourable imployment to our lately gracious soueraigne , king iames , of euer famous and happy memory ; and also since your priuate retirednesse , may iustly challenge the best of our labours to be consecrated to so learned and noble a patron of learning . besides these former respects , your honour hath yet another interest in these my weake endeuours : because you went chiefe amongst many worthy and worshipfull auditors , which honoured the funerall with your presence . in all these respects , i hope your honour will fauourably be pleased to accept that of mee , which almighty god doth of vs all , a willing heart and desire . saint paul tells vs , in his second epistle to the corinthians , that god accepts vs according to that which wee haue , not according to that which wee haue not . if in this your honour pardon my ouer-great presumption , you shall more and more make me obliged in all the bonds of respect and seruice to your honour , nicolas guy . to the reader . good reader : it fell out with the gentlewoman , at whose funerall this sermon was preached , as it did with iaakobs beloued rachel . in a * strange place they both fell in trauell , and in the time of their child-bed they both departed this life . answerably as iaakob would not haue his rachels memory perish with her corps , but for better preseruation thereof , erected a pillar vpon her graue , so to the same end it is desired , that this funerall sermon may be published . rachel could not be more deare to her iaakob , then this elizabeth was to her william . in her life time she carried her selfe worthy of all honour : and at her funerall she was honoured with all the honour that on such a sudden the country where she departed could afford . her sweet soule left her body about one of the clocke in the afternoone of the 26. of october , 1625. being wednesday , whereupon her corps being infected with the dropsie , and all the pores of it open , by reason of her late trauell and weakenesse in child-bed , could not bee long kept , but on the fryday following , which was simon and iudes day , was buried vnder the communion table in the church , at edgeware , in the county of middlesex , being accompanied with a great multitude of sundry sorts of persons , honourable , worshipfull , and others . for besides that , two whole parishes there met together , knights , ladies , iustices of peace , ministers and other good christians round about that place , came farre and neere to the solemnization of that funerall . that the due honour done to her may be more then the honour of one day , this pillar of pietie is now erected for encouragement to others in their life time to walke worthy of honour . a sermon preached at the funeral of mistresse elizabeth gouge , late wife of master william gouge of black-fryers , london . iohn 11.26 . whosoeuer liueth , and beleeueth in me , shall neuer dye . the embleme of the euangelist saint iohn was the eagle , which being king of all the fowles of the heauen , soares the highest of all other birds ; so may saint iohn in his gospell claime precedency before the other euangelists : hee was the disciple of our sauiours loue , his fauorite , on christs bosome he leaned at supper , and to him christ at his death commended his mother , so that wee may thinke that christ did impart more to him then to the rest : therefore shall wee finde in his gospell higher mysteries of the nature and workes of christ then in the other : and in him alone we finde this myracle of raising lazarus : which ( if it bee lawfull to compare ) may seeme to be the greatest of all that christ did whilst hee was in this world . it is a story not altogether vnbefitting this present occasion , if it were not for the disparity of the sexe . both of them treat of funeralls . i will first tell you what this was in the gospell , and after i haue done with that , this present occasion shall bee presented vnto you . i must not ( in the relation of this story ) spend time vpon the seuerall circumstances , wherein the euangelist is so exact ; that 's done at large in the chapter : onely for introduction of this particular which wee haue in hand , some passages i will point out vnto you . first , of the person that was sicke and dyed . secondly , of the meanes his friends vsed for his recouery . thirdly , of christs comfortable speech which he gaue vnto them . first , for the person , it was lazarus , brother to martha and mary magdalene , which washed christs feet with her teares , and wiped them with her haires , and anointed them with ointment ; this was his kindred by nature ; and by grace hee was honoured with the title , to be a friend of christs , whom christ more especially loued . thus euen they who are the most dearely beloued of christ must looke for afflictions , and infirmities , and sicknesse , and death in this world . lazarus whom christ loued was sicke . 2. his sisters therefore vse the best meanes they can whilst hee was sicke . for his recouery they send to christ , to teach vs that we can sue and seeke to none in comparison of christ in all our troubles . for as hee was reputed in those dayes a great phycitian for the body , who cured all diseases : so is he for the soule too , to heale all our miseries . 3. for christs part , though he loued lazarus , yet hee doth not presently come to cure him , but suffers him to dye . hee abode two dayes in the place where hee was , till lazarus was dead : from whence wee may note , that christ suffers the euill of affliction to come vpon his seruants whom hee loues , rather then preuents it with grace ; and then also he doth not presently relieue them , but suffers them to send and pray , as these sisters did here : and as iacob wrestled with god , and saint paul prayed thrice . and this he doth for diuers causes , both to manifest our grace and his glory . our faith and loue to him by this meanes will expresse themselues the more : and this also will more manifest his glory in bringing downe to hell and the graue , and then bringing againe to life . if christ had come at the first and healed his sicknesse , an ordinary physitian haply could haue done as much : but though he tarry long , yet at last hee comes and shewes the gracious light of his countenance vpon vs ▪ so that now you shall heare him with comfortable words , speaking both to his apostles in priuate , and afterward to the sisters when they come to meet him : to his apostles he saith , our friend lazarus sleepeth : so that if wee can get friendship with christ , our death shall bee but a sleepe , and christ will certainely awake vs from it at the resurrection of the iust . so christ goes forward to the house of mourning , where the iewes were comforting the sisters for the death of their brother lazarus . but they were like rachel mourning for her children , they refused to bee comforted because their brother lazarus was not . when martha heard that christ was comming on the way , she went forth to meete him : few such marthaes who meet christ comming toward them , we rather flye from him . when shee was come to christ , shee tells him with a heauy heart of the death of her brother lazarus , which his presence might haue preuented . christ therefore , in the words i haue read vnto you preacheth a comfortable sermon , to pacifie the friends of the deceased , that they should not sorrow as those without hope ; and tells martha that her brother lazarus ( though he be dead ) shall rise againe . and that she may not doubt of it , hee addes , that he will bring it to passe , not onely for lazarus , but for all other deceased in the faith : and therefore he sayes , i am the resurrection and the life , he that beleeueth in me , though he were dead , yet shall he liue ; and whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in mee shall neuer dye . so that the words of the text which i haue read vnto you are a gracious and a large charter or promise of christs , wherwith he comforts martha for her particular , and grants the same in generall to euery one of vs : in which is comprehended no lesse then the summe or epitome of the gospell , which is , to beleeue in christ , and we shall be saued . so it is said , god so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne , that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life . all the gospell can say no more , and so much is said in these words that i haue read vnto you , whosoeuer liueth , &c. the law and the gospell are as two lines tending to the same center , or as diuers riuers leading to the same ocean , or as the cherubins on each side of the throne : though they seemed opposite one to the other , yet both of them looked with their faces towards the mercies seat : so the law and the gospell intend and aime at one and the same end , which is to bring men to life ; but the difference is in the author and in the tenure of the one and the other : the author of the law was moses ; christ of the gospell . the law was giuen by moses , but grace and truth came by iesus christ . the tenure of the law runnes thus : hoc fac & viues : doe this and thou shalt liue . but the gospell goes another way : crede & viues : beleeue and thou shalt liue . and thus in this text , whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in mee shall neuer dye . in the words we will consider these foure particulars : first , the author or donour of this charter , christ. secondly , the large extent of it , next onely to some particular nation or people , but whosoeuer liueth . thirdly , the condition requisite on their parts , which is faith ; beleeueth in me . fourthly , the priuiledge it selfe , exemption from death ; shall neuer dye . first , of the author or donour . hee that promiseth and intendeth to performe , must haue both will and power to performe what hee promiseth : or else wee cannot exspect that it will euercome to passe . the willingnesse of the minde must bee first procured , as the originall from whence hee must be moued to good : but this ready minde or desire is not sufficient without power and ability to performe what the will desires . from men sometime god accepts the will for the deed : as hee did abrahams intention to sacrifice his sonne as well as the action ; as if he had really sacrificed his sonne . the reason is , because god stands in need of nothing that is ours , and all that hee exacts of vs is no more but the heart : if there be not further strength to expresse a good desire by a good deede ; a man shall bee accepted according to that which hee hath , not according to that which he hath not : but when there is want and necessity ( and euen such is our want and necessity in respect of god ) there onely a willing minde or compassionate heart or good words ( vox & preterea nihil ) are sufficient for vs. many promise more then they can performe . thus the deuil in his temptation of christ saith , all these will i giue thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me , as if all the kingdomes in the world , and the glory of them , had beene his to giue . in like manner the pope freely disposeth kings and their kingdomes , as hee dealt with henry the fourth , the emperour , and childerick of france . but this is ( as we say ) to be free of another mans purse , which is not in his power to giue . thus it were easie to giue large gifts , to promise much and performe nothing : so that both will and power in matter of grant or promise are as the two legs to support the body : either without the other , will goe lame or limping home : but this is our comfort , that in christ there are both these , will and power . first , for his will : the apostle tells vs , that he would haue all men come to the knowledge of the truth , that they may be saued . and if we will not take him on his bare word wee haue his oath for it . as i liue ( saith the lord ) i haue no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but that the wicked tuane from his way and liue . so that we may bee sure for his willingnesse to doe : hee would not that any man should dye : then if we may see his power to doe it , there remaines nothing more to adde to our comfort : and for this wee shall easily be assured : for hee is said to haue the keyes of hell and of death ; so that though a man should be lockt vp prisoner there , hee hath the keyes to open the doore and set vs free againe . to him all power is giuen both in heauen and in earth . power then hee hath sufficient , as much as we can desire : the power of the greatest monarches and emperours , and wisest artists in the world doth not extend thus farre , to giue life to the silliest creature , to the least gnat or emmot . they that are stiled gods in the world , and sit in the seat of iudgement , as pilate did , haue power ouer life , but onely priuitiuely , not possitiuely ; onely to take away life , but not to giue life , vnlesse it be onely by way of sauing aliue ; they cannot make aliue or restore to life : and therefore it was that the king of israel answered naaman with indignation , am i god , to kill and make aliue ? this is a worke of god alone . but this power is giuen to christ ; who is therefore called , verbum vitae , fountaine of life . from whence the diuers streames of all kinds of life doe flow , both naturall , spirituall , and eternall : in regard of the naturall life , he is called , the life who breathed the breath of life into vs : and man became a liuing soule . in whom wee still liue , moue , and haue our being . in regard of our spirituall life , he is our life : so christ liues in vs , and hee which hath christ hath life , but hee which is without christ hath not life . in regard of our eternall life he is the life , as appeares by the verse immediately going before my text , i am the resurrection and the life . thus to his will he hath also power ; to both these what more can be added ? it may bee you will desire that he should bee as constant in his promise , as he is ready and willing , and hath power and ability . of this also wee may bee ascertained , for euery good and perfect gift commeth from aboue from the father of lights , with whom is no variablenesse , nor shadow of change . the strength of israel will not lye , nor repent : for he is not man that hee should repent . so that if hee hath once promised , wee need not feare he will goe back from his word . hath he said it , and shall it not come to passe ? let him be true , and euery man a lyar. so then , you see in respect of the author or donour , the charter is as full and sure as we can desire it . i come to the second particular , the large extent of it : whosoeuer liueth . it is without limitation of time or place or condition of men . it is not bounded within the compasse of some particular men liuing in such an age of the world , nor vnto a certaine people inhabiting such a city or land ; nor to particular estates or professions and conditions liuing in this world . if we partake not of it , the fault is ours , because we doe not apply it nor lay hold on it : it is promised and proffered to all men liuing : whosoeuer liueth . in what age of the world soeuer hee liueth , in what place soeuer he liueth , from what stocke soeuer hee is deriued , and in what condition of life soeuer he liueth , the rich and the poore ( saith salomon ) meete together , and god is the maker of them both : so is christ the sauiour of both . of a truth ( saith saint peter ) i perceiue that god is no respecter of persons . not of the rich before the poore , nor of the wise , and scribe , and learned , before the weake and vnlearned . but in euery nation , hee that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse , is accepted with him . scythian and barbarian , as well as iew or grecian : bee hee of noble or base descent . this is the large extent ; whosoeuer . i willingly passe by the secret purpose and prescience of god , who sees all things at once , omnia simul , and so knowes who will embrace it and who refuse it . i will not here dispute whether in those generall promises made vnto man in the scripture by this forme , in these words , whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth , whether ( i say ) god intendeth them alike to euery one : this is a secret lockt vp in the bosome of god , of which wee may say as the prophet , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : this is a secret reserued to god alone , which some interpret , secretum meum mihi , secretum meum mihi . this is a profundity , at which we must stand amazed with the apostle , and cry , oaltitudo ; o the depth , his wayes are past finding out . but laying that aside for the schooles , this is that which is more fit to exhort and perswade withall in our pulpits , and which our church hath taught vs , that we should content ourselues with this , we must receiue gods promises in such wise as they he generally set forth vnto vs in holy scripture ; not restraining them or determining them in particular to this or that man. it is fit that we should so conceiue of god , as delighting in no mans destruction , nor desiring the death of any , but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth , that they may bee saued ; and if wee are not saued , wee must not charge god with any ineuitable decree to the contrary , as if wee perish vpon necessity : but seeing hee hath set forth his gracious promise in christ to all men whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth : wee must ascribe the cause of our perishing to our selues . perditio tua ex te , o israel , o israel , thou hast destroyed thy selfe , because they wanted faith to beleeue as others that were saued ; or else they might haue beene saued as well as others . it was a fauourable opinion of some , which said , that all mankind should bee saued effectually , to which , although we must not giue assent , seeing such pregnant proofe to the contrary : yet we doubt not but the reuealed will of god would haue his grace offered to all , and therefore his charge to his apostles was , goe and teach all nations , and preach the gospell to euery creature : the which , as it seemes , to vindicate god from all iniustice , in the behalfe of those that dye , and are damned eternally : so it is a point of exceeding comfort to whomsoeuer this priuiledge shall bee offered . at the hearing of it , none should doubt or suppose that hee is exempted : but should beleeue himself to be one of that number comprehended in whosoeuer liueth . the iew cannot challenge this priuiledge more then the gentile , for he is the sauior of the gentiles as wel as of the iewes . the gospell is the power of god vnto saluation to euery one that beleeueth : to the iew first , and also to the grecian : neither is there any respect or difference in sex or degree , male or female , bond or free , noble or ignoble , wise or vnwise . there is no difference , but he that is lord of all is rich vnto all that call vpon him : so that here also we see a difference betweene the law and the gospell . the law was giuen to a certaine people confined to ierusalem , iury , and israel . few other people of the world had any knowledge of it , or meanes to know it . in iuda is god knowne , his name is great in israel . hee dealt not so with any nation , neither had the heathen knowledge of his lawes . but the gospell was preached to all ; the sound of the apostles went forth to all people : euen to the vttermost end of the earth . hence in the church cathotique , the company of beleeuers are of all people , and kinds , and kindreds that liued in the world : so that the law was like a torch or candle , but the gospell as the sunne . the law ( said dauid ) was a lantherne to his feet , but the gospell is as the beames of the sunne , which commeth out of his chamber and goeth to the ends of the earth , giuing light vnto all people . thus is the light of christ the sunne of righteousnesse , as the beames of the sunne which shineth to all ; and if any one doe not partake of that light , it is because they shut their eyes against it : so seeing they doe not perceiue nor vnderstand , least they should see , beleeue and bee saued . thus much for the vniuersality of this charter or priuiledge , excluding none , comprehending all , whosoeuer liueth ; vpon condition that he beleeueth . by faith he partakes of the priuiledge . this is the onely limitation of gods mercy and promise in christ . faith is the chanell by which it is drawne and dispersed ouer all the world , and makes the earth to bee fruitfull as eden , the garden of god. the eternall fauour and goodnesse of god is as the fountaine , christ is the wel or cesterne , and faith is the bucket whereby we draw from christ liuing waters . he that beleeues in him shall neuer dye : so that when wee say , faith is the condition of life and saluation , you must note that it is not such a condition , as we vsually make in bonds and obligations , and bargaine and sale , which runnes in this tenure , vpon consideration of something of equall value , wee become bound for the performance of such couenants : as if the condition of faith should bee worth heauen . it is not for the worth of our faith , put for the merit of christ , that the faithfull shall never dye eternally . and therefore the scripture phrase runnes thus ; by faith , and through faith wee are iustified . not for faith , but for christ apprehended by faith . so that it is not faith as an habite , or worke in the soule , as other graces , loue and patience , &c. which is of equall worth and vertue to preserue vs that we perish not , but it is christ alone , who yet hath no vertue or operation in our salvation , and redemption without beleeving on our parts , to apply him to vs : no more then physicke can cure a deadly disease , or cloth affoord any warmth to our bodies , if they be not both applyed vnto vs : so that the charter runneth betweene god and man , like as if a king should grant a great priuiledge to his subiects , which they should not purchase at a hard price , or with a great summe , but onely vpon condition to acknowledge him their soueraign lord from whom they had receiued such great immunities : which is a point of great comfort to the christian weake in faith : because it is not for the worth or excellencie of our faith that we must thinke to stand . though a strong faith is an excellent grace , which will make vs as a rocke , or as houses built vpon the sure rocke christ : the stormes and sea and windes of temptation and affliction may beat , but they shall not be able to ouerthrow vs , because wee are built vpon a rocke : yet a little and feeble faith , which with feare & trembling layes hold vpon christ shall neuer perish , because it is not the dignitie of faith , which conueyes the benefit vnto vs : but the worth , excellency & sufficiencie of christ , which is apprehended by faith . it was not for the vertue of the eye which looked vp to the brazen serpent that men were healed , that had been stung with fierie serpents ; the weakest eyes as well as the most sharpe sighted , if they could but look vp to it , were healed : and the begger which receiues a gift may be fully possessed of it , euen with a trembling and shaking hand , as well as he that hath the most stedfast hand . but though a weake faith , beleeving in him , may serue the turne , yet faith there must bee , or else no hope for this priviledge . for without faith it is impossible to please god. so that this is that which puts a difference betweene the sheepe and the goats , the wise & the foolish virgins , the faithfull , and vnbeleevers . some say , that beleeving onely without other good works , wil neuer bring vs to life : the which though in some sence we deny not : yet this is most certaine that all other vertues , without faith to beleeue in christ , are nothing worth . this is that vnum necessarium , which the gospell requires of vs , to beleeue in christ ; and for want of this , how many infidels , iewes and turks perish euerlastingly ? euen all those morall vertues of the heathen , their chastity , iustice , temperance , &c. wherewith diuers of them did abound and exceed many christians in them , were all but splendida peccata ; because to the infidell and vnbeleeuing , all things are impure : so that notwithstanding all these , if they remaine without faith in christ , they shall dye . for as there is but one name giuen vnder heauen , by which we must be saued ; which is the blessed and sweet name of iesus : so is there no way to attaine vnto saluation by that name , but by beleeuing in him . but as i haue shewed you that this faith to beleeue is necessary , and a weake faith may be accepted with god : before i leaue the point , it will not be amisse something more fully to shew you the nature of true and sauing faith : which consisteth not onely in beleeuing in christ in the history , for there is credere de christo , credere christo , credere in christum . the first is to beleeue all is true which the scriptures report , concerning the nature , offices , and merits of christ : this a man may do , and finde no vertue or fruit of it in his owne soule . the second is to beleeue christ as wee would a man of his word , giue credit to whatsoeuer hee hath said : this wee may doe to the prophets and apostles : but we must come neerer him then so , which is the third , to beleeue in him : which implies a dependency and resolution to cleaue vnto him . as wee apprehend christ , so must wee likewise be apprehended of christ : for faith hath ( as it were ) two hands , one receiuing christ from god , the other giuing the beleeuer to god ; and both these hands ●…t vseth at one and the selfe same time . at the same time that the beleeuer applies christ to his owne heart , he applies his heart to christ , and cleaues to him with full purpose of ●oule . this was notably shadowed out vnder the ceremoniall law , in the coniunction of the sin-offering which pointed out christ , and the burnt-offering , which ( as saint paul hath interpreted it ) more especially signifieth the sacrificing of the flesh , the crucifying of the old adam . i beseech you therefore brethren , by the mercies of god , that yee present your bodies a liuing sacrifice , holy , acceptable vnto god , which is your reasonable seruice . true faith offers both these at once . but too many mens faith is lame on that hand which should offer the burnt offering ; they onely take christ , but they giue not themselues to christ : they offer the sinne-offering without the burnt offering , and therefore applying christ to themselues , and not themselues to christ , they misapply . it is therefore , as st. bernard calls it , infidelis fiducia , a faithlesse confidence for any man to perswade himselfe , or presume that christ iesus is his sauiour , or that he hath any part , either in the life or death of christ , albeit hee continue vnder the power of sinne and satan . such a faith , to speake in the words of the poet , is fallax fiducia , a confidence whereby men cousen and deceiue themselues , in hoping to attaine vnto heauen , though they hold on in the high way that leadeth vnto hell. nay , it is indeed in effect , to blaspheme and dishonour christ , by denying ( though not in word , yet indeed ) that there is any power in his death , any vertue in his resurrection , any renewing grace receiued from him , to sanctifie those who truly beleeue in him . turkes and pagans who plainely deny him , doe not derogate so much from the glory of christ , as doe prophane professors of his name : tolerabilius enim lingua quam vita mentitur . the lye ( saith saint augustine ) which is made by the lippe , is more tolerable then that which is made by the life . can christ dwell in their hearts by faith ( as saint paul speaketh ) and not liue in them . in whose heart soeuer christ is resident by faith , there hee reignes , and disposeth him as it seemeth best to his godly wisdome . by baptisme we are buried with him into death , that like as christ was raised vp from the dead , by the glory of the father , euen so wee also should walke in newnesse of life . if we be risen through faith with christ , we must seek those things which are aboue , where christ sitteth at the right hand of god. whosoeuer truly beleeueth in christ conquereth this world . who is he ( saith saint iohn ) that ouercommeth the world , but hee that beleeueth that iesus is the sonne of god. they that by faith are christs , haue crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts . wheresoeuer there is a christian beliefe , there will also be a christian life . credere in cristum ( saith saint augustine ) est credendo amare , &c. to belieue in christ is through faith heartily to affect him , and to be really incorporated into him : so that beleeuing in christ is more then to comprehend him in the vnderstanding ; it is also to imbrace him in our hearts and affections . as christ naked without respect of his merits is not the obiect of our faith ; so our faith , naked without our affectionate desire to bee ioyned to him , is not the true meanes to apprehend christ , and conueigh his merits vnto vs. this is that which is required on their parts , who partake of the priuiledge here promised . the taske is not hard : it is not to giue a great ransome for our soules ; so the poore could not enioy it : or to discourse accuratly , so the simple and vnlearned could not attaine vnto it ; or to goe a great iourney to finde christ , so the lame and impotent might misse of it , but only to beleeue in him , which is a matter possible with euery man. whosoeuer beleeueth in him shall neuer dye , and so i come to the last part of my text , the priuiledge here granted . exemption from death . death hath a threefold : acception . it is either naturall , spirituall , or eternall . whosoeuer beleeueth in christ is exempted from all these . the two later onely haue properly the name of death . for death , to speake properly , is either a separation from god here in his kingdome of grace , or a separation from him hereafter in his kingdome of glory . not to partake of his sauing grace here in this world , is to bee spiritually dead ; and not to be crowned with his glory in the world to come , is to be eternally dead . they who haue onely vitam naturae , the life of nature here in this world , and haue not vitam gratiae , the life of grace , are spiritually dead , according to that of the apostle , she that liueth in pleasure is dead while she liueth , and according to that of our sauiour , let the dead bury the dead . it may bee said of such as it was of the angell of the church of sardis , they haue a name that they liue , but are dead . so they who in the next world haue onely vitam naturae , the life of nature , and haue not vitam gloriae , the life of glory , are eternally dead . from both these deaths , all true beleeuers in christ iesus are exempted , for they liue spiritually , and eternally . that the true beleeuers in christ iesus enioy a spirituall life is euident , according to that of s. iohn 1.12 , 13. they that beleeue on his name , are borne not of blood , nor of the will of the flesh , nor of the will of man , but of god. besides their naturall birth they haue a spirituall . as many as by faith are in christ iesus , they are new creatures , they receiue a new life : so likewise doe they enioy eternall life , according to that of our sauiour : this is life eternall , by faith , to know the father to be the onely true god , and whom he hath sent iesus christ . all the question seemes to be concerning their exemption from the naturall death : but if we diligently obserue their condition , it will easily appeare that they are exempted frō that death also . for as they who enioy natural life are said to bee dead , because they are depriued of the spirituall life : so they who are naturally dead may be said to be aliue , because they enioy the life of glory . the naturall death to them especially is changed into a sleepe . death to them is not exitus , but transitus : not obitus , but abitus : not a dying , but a departing . a transmigration and exodus out of our earthly pilgrimage , vnto our heauenly home . fratres mortui ( saith saint augustine ) non sunt amissi , sed praemissi . profectio est ( saith tertullian ) quam putas mortem . a passage from the valley of death to the land of the liuing . that all true beleeuers departing hence are still aliue , is euident by the words of our sauiour , that god who is the god of abraham , isaac and iacob , is not the god of the dead , but of the liuing . if the father of the faithfull be still aliue , no doubt but so are all his children , who departed hence , in the faith of their father . death to them is but a sleepe . so is it said of dauid , of salomon , and of other kings of israel , and of iuda , that they slept with their fathers . so in the new testament , such as are dead in the lord , are said to sleepe in christ . so great a resemblance is there between sleepe and death , that sleepe is called by ouid , mortis imago , by virgil , consanguineus lethi ▪ seneca cals it the brother , & hesiode , the sister of death . sleepe is a kinde of death , and death a kinde of sleepe . i would not haue you to bee ignorant ( saith the apostle ) brethren , concerning them which are asleepe , that yee sorrow not , euen as others which haue no hope . for if wee beleeue that iesus died , and rose againe , euen so them also which sleepe in iesus will god bring with him . the apostle saith that the christ , the lord ( who giues life to all things ) is dead : and mortall man ( saith he ) sleepeth ▪ which manner of speech at the first sight may seeme strange , but there is good reason for it . for wee therefore sleepe , because christ died . his death made our death but a sleepe . christ by his bitter death , made death sweet vnto vs , made it , i say , but the very shadow of death : so that death cannot hurt vs , because christ hath taken away sinne the sting thereof . o death where is thy sting ? lastly , though their bodies sleepe in the graue , yet their soules liue a glorified life in heauen . so that the saints departed are dead in their worst part onely , but liuing in their best , euen in that wherein they desire to liue most , as martial an heathen poet diuinely , sed lugere nefas : nam quite ( prisce ) reliquit viuit qua voluit viuere parte magis . sith death then to the true beleeuers in christ is but a sleepe , a passage from misery to eternall happinesse , let vs sing with old simeon a nunc dimittis , and reioyce that our warfare , all our combates and conflicts with the world the flesh and the diuell are ended . so long as we are in this world , wee must continually fight against those lusts which fight against our soules . when we haue conquered couetousnesse , lust riseth vp against vs ; when carnall concupiscence is suppressed , ambition takes place ; when ambition and pride are foyled , drunkennesse endeuours to draw vs on to eternall destruction . i know that the men of this world count it their blisse , to be caried away by the world , the flesh and the diuell , and to doe seruice vnto them . but the children of god account it their bane , to bee in any the least subiection vnto them , and therefore doe they continually band themselues against them . blame them not therefore , though they reioyce when the combate is ended , and all their enemies conquered , and crowned . what souldier is not glad when the combate is ended , and his enemie conquered ? who in a great tempest at sea , would not gladly be in a quiet and calme harbour ? and who in the sea of this tempestuous world , would not giue this world to arriue at the hauen of eternall happinesse : here is nothing but wailing and weeping : who would not bee there where all teares are wiped away ? our sauiour told his apostles , being sorrowfull for his departure . if yee loued me , yee would reioyce , because i goe to my father . to me ( saith s. paul ) to liue is christ , & to dye is gaine . let him therefore dread death , who is not borne againe of water and of the holy ghost , but remaines enthralled to the flames of hell fire . let him feare to die , who shall passe from the naturall death , to eternall . let him i say , be daunted , when death drawes nigh , who , when hee shall passe out of this world , shall eternally be tormented in the flames of hell fire : but let all true beleeuers in christ iesus ( whose home is heauen ) with the traueller thinke the time long till they returne home to their owne countrey , where after the wearisome trauell of this life , they shall liue eternally in all rest and happinesse . thus much of my text. giue mee leaue to adde a few words about the particular occasion of this our meeting , which is euident by the obiect here before our eyes , and maketh vnto vs a visible sermon of our mortalitie . for it is a dead corps , which was within these few dayes the receptacle of the euer-liuing soule of mistris elizabeth gouge . a soule which while it remained in that receptacle , enabled the same , thorow the good grace of god infused into it , to doe much honour to god , and good to man. which that i may the better demonstrate vnto you , i will make bold to set before you a briefe , iust , and true view of the whole course of her life : that , though the substance of her soule bee now taken from among vs to be among those i●… spirits which are made perfect in heauen and her bodie to be couered from ou● sight in the earth , in assured hope o● the resurrection thereof to eternal life yet her graces may remaine fresh among vs for the greater consolation of her friends , and imitation of vs all . shee was the daughter of such parents as while they liued were of very good note and name . her father mr henry calton , was a mercer and citizen in london of good worth . her mother was of a good gentlemans house , mr cois of stubbers in essex . both her parents died while she was yong , and had not her mothers owne brother master william coys , taken vpon him the tuition of his sisters children , they had beene made a prey . but he like a good mordecai brought vp his said sisters children , which were three in number , a sonne , who was drowned in swimming while he was a youth , and two daughters ; the eldest whereof was this gentlewoman , whose funerall wee now solemnize . the yonger still liueth being maried to the yonger brother of this gentlewomans husband . such was the said guardians care ouer these orphanes , as , after he had trained them vp some while in his owne house , for their better education , hee put them forth to board in a pious , painfull , faithfull ministers house , master huckles by name , of hatfield-broad-oake in essex , whose wife had a great name , and that not without iust desert , for skill , and faithfull care in training vp yong gentlewomen . there were the two suruiuing foresaid orphanes , elizabeth and mary calton educated sixe yeares together , and there were they well instructed in pietie , in modestie , in good house-wifery , and much skill in all such workes , as appertained to such persons . from the said ministers house the said two orphanes were brought to stratford bow in middlesex , the elder being about seuenteene yeere old , and the yonger scarce fifteene . in the said stratford bow there dwelt an ancient gentleman master thomas gouge by name , who well liking the person , grace , and cariage of the said elder orphane , sent for his eldest sonne master william gouge , then fellow of kings colledge in cambridge , now minister and preacher of gods word in blacke-friers london , who being brought to the said gentlewoman , after some mutual conferences one with another , they tooke such liking one of another , as on the 11 of february in the first yeare of king iames they were with full consent of all friends on both parts maried together , and continued like isaak and rebekah faithfull , and louing yoake-fellowes till the 26 of this present october , in the 1 yeare of our now royall soueraigne king charles , on which dismall day irresistable death , made an irrecouerable diremption betwixt them . such respect did this gentlewoman beare to the ministerie of gods word , that when it was told her that her suter had diuerted his studies to diuinitie , and intended to bee a preacher , shee answered , i am so farre from disliking a man of that profession , as of all other callings , i most desire an husband , being otherwise well qualified , of that function . a pious minde in a maiden so yong , and in a gentlewoman of so good meanes as shee was ! to her eternall comfort shee had her desire accomplished . and answerably did shee carie herselfe , a pious , prudent , prouident , painfull , carefull , faithfull , helpfull , graue , modest , sober , tender , louing wife , mother , mistris , neighbour . many were the graces which made her acceptable in gods sight , amiable in her husbands eyes , & commendable among all that well knew her . but that i may keepe my selfe within some bounds , i will especially insist on foure , wherein shee made her selfe a patterne worthy of admiration and imitation ; these were sobrietie , sedulitie , charitie , piety . 1. her countenance , her conference , her carriage , her apparell did all giue euidence of her graue , gracious , sober , matron-like minde , whereby she did much grace her husbands vocation . 2. shee hath left behinde her many euidences of her indefatigable sedulity , euen such as the wiseman commendeth in a vertuous woman , vallances , cup bord-cloathes , quissions , and many such like vsefull thing , artificially wrought with her owne fingers , besides all her owne , husbands , and childrens wearing linnen wrought by her selfe and maidens , whom by her owne example she made diligent . the shortnesse of day-light , she much helped by candle light . she carefully kept saint pauls precept to keepe at home . she was not like those whom he sharply reproueth for wandring about from house to house , and for being not only idle , but tatlers also and busie-bodies . shee vtterly disliked such : she cared not for their company . these commendable vertues of keeping at home , & keeping silence ; retirednesse , & taciturnitie , made many mis-censure her of too much statelinesse . 3. her charitie exercised it selfe at home and abroad . at home , towards the head and members of her family . abroad , towards her neighbours and strangers . shee was truely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an entire louer of her husband , and children . her loue to her husband made her to yeeld all dutifull respect to him , and to bee very carefull ouer him , and that both well to nourish and cherish him , and also to free him from the trouble of all those things which shee in her place could manage : for shee most prudently and prouidently ordered the affaires of her house , whereby hee had the more leasure to attend his publike function . her loue to her husband was further manifest by that delight shee tooke in his company : it was grieuous to her to be where he was not , except vrgent & necessary imployments required as much : neither did she care her selfe to goe abroad vnlesse her husband went with her . and when they were absent one from another , they made a supply of that bodily absenee by continuall entercourse of letters one to another , in which letters shee testified much pietie , wisdome and loue . if at any time he had beene sicke , shee was very tender ouer him , and very carefull to prouide all things needfull for him in that case . her entire loue to him was many wayes testified to the very last act of her life . the longer they liued together , the more did this loue shew it selfe . her care ouer her children did also declare her true loue of them . she did not onely beare them , and bring them forth into the world , which necessitie forceth all mothers to doe , but with her owne milke she nursed seuen , as many as possibly shee could , which too many mothers doe too much neglect . it was not sore nipples or brests , nor an infants wrangling , nor breaking her sleepe in the night , nor any other disturbance that could make her neglect this bounden dutie . her tendernesse ouer her children was not diminished by their growth in yeares : yet as they encreased in vnderstanding , so wisely shee ordered her authoritie ouer them , as with a child-like feare they much reuerenced her . for well she knew how to keepe both children and seruants in dutifull awe . as shee was carefull well to nourish , so also well to nurture her children . in nurturing them , though she were not negligent of their ciuill behauiour , & good manners , yet her greatest care and paines was like eunice , to bring them vp in the nurture and admonition of the lord , teaching them , so soone as they were capable , the principles of religion , wherein some of them so profited , as before they were three yeares old , they were able distinctly to answer all the questions of a catechisme which her husband published . many good instructiōs also from time to time they receiued from her after they were put forth , wherein shee shewed her selfe like the good mother of lemuel . her poore neigbours also , as shee had notice of their need , tasted of her charity : for very ready shee was and forward to visite the sicke , and to send them succour . it was her vsuall practise , on the lords dayes specially , to send some hot , wholsome refreshing to such as needed it . this her charity extended it selfe also to strangers . for where she had a quarterly allowance of her husband for her owne proper vse , she set a part a good part therof for charitable vses , and so dedicated it to that purpose , as she accounted it sacriledge to imploy any part thereof to any other vse . out of this sacred stocke she was ready to contribute to all charitable motions made in the church : to all priuate collections made knowne vnto her ; and to many , that time after time came to her husband for reliefe , besides those , whom she her selfe , with her owne hands , of her owne motion relieued . so as herein also shee was like to that good woman whom the wiseman thus commendeth , she stretcheth out her hands to the poore . 4. her piety , as it was the best of her graces , whereby all the rest were seasoned , so was it not lesse eminent then the rest . for she was a conscionable obseruer of the lords day , and a constant frequenter of the weeke day lectures where she inhabited . shee did both her selfe diligently and reuerendly attend to the dayly exercises of piety in her house , and also caused her children and seruants to do the like . she had also her set houres euery day , which secretly betwixt god and her selfe shee spent in holy deuotions . with her owne hand shee penned sundry deuout prayers , whereof some being for helps to humble her soule the more before god , were very large . she hath also left written by her selfe many diuine directions for deuotions . she further tyed her selfe by a set dayly taske to reade the holy scriptures , whereby she was able readily to answer any question propounded about the history and doctrin of the scriptures . shee did also spend much time in reading english books of diuinity , whereof shee had a pretty library . she carefully put in practise this precept of the apostle to wiues , let them aske their husbands at home . her piety left her not till her breath left her . for ( to come to the time of her sicknesse and departure ) being long weake before her departure , and great with childe , shee was disabled from doing so much worke as in her health she vsed to do , yet was shee not idle , but spent the more time in reading & conferring with her husband , and that especially , about euidences of true grace , and assurances of saluation . it pleased the diuine prouidence about a yeere and a quarter before , when shee was great with childe , to visit her with a dropsie , though shee was very temperate in her diet , no wine bibber . of her liuer she complained from her youth , so as questionlesse her ill-disposed liuer was the cause of her disease . after her deliuery of that childe , thorow gods blessing on the meanes , which her good neighbour , master doctor argent , an ancient , experienced , and skilfull physician prescribed , she was recouered : and continued very well from september , 1624 till febr following , when conceiuing againe with child , the dropsie returned againe . notwithstanding the returne of that disease , she was on the sixt of october 1625 deliuered of her thirteenth and last childe , which was a sonne , and retained such strength as ordinarily shee was wont to doe in the time of her childbed , so as on the baptizing day she sate vp , as women in that time vse to doe . but before shee gathered such strength as might enable her to take physicke for her disease , death began to seaze vpon her . for on the very day wherein the foresaid doctor argent had prescribed such physicke as was fit for one in her case , which was the fourteenth day after her deliuery , the violence of her disease was such , as accustomed rest , and vse of vnderstanding was taken from her . this made her talke much : but in all her talke not an impious word came from her . ( her tongue was neuer accustomed thereto ) but that it might appeare how fast fixed , and deeply rooted piety was in her , in her greatest weaknesse and extremity , if any broth , drinke , or other sustenance were offered her , she would lift vp her eyes to heauen , and craue a blessing of him whom she knew to be aboue . in that her restlesse time , she was much perswaded by her husband to doe what he aduised . to short questions , especially about her christian faith & hope , she would giue short , but very pithy and comfortable answers . after she had thus remained two whole dayes , it pleased the lord to giue some rest , whereby for two dayes she recouered good vse of her vnderstanding , and made good vse thereof , by giuing many good euidences of her sted faith in iesus christ . which after she had done , the former violence of her disease returned vpon her , and soone depriued her of her sweet breath . thus would god take her away euen in her calling , in the time of her child-bed , wherein for a woman to dye , is as for a souldier to dye in battell ; yea , as for a preacher to dye in the pulpet ▪ they that in scripture are recorded to dye in that time , are recorded to dye as saints , as the wiues of iaakob and phinehas : and so vndoubtedly did this pious matron ; whose soule , euer in that moment wherein by prayer it was commended to god , ascended to god , with whom she now , as we haue great and iust cause to hope , raigneth in euerlasting glory : whether god bring vs also in our time , thorow iesus christ our lord , to whom with the father and the holy ghost bee all honour and glory , now and for euer . amen . the memory of the iust is blessed . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a02414-e170 luke 11. psal 27.10 2 cor. 8.12 . notes for div a02414-e360 * mistresse govge brought forth her last childe into this world , and went her selfe out of this world , in the country house of master simon and mistresse anne geering : who inhabiting the greatest part of the yeere in black friers londo , were desirous to shew to their pastor there , such respect as the sunemite and her husband did to elisha , & onesiphorus to paul. notes for div a02414-e650 ioh 13.23 . ioh. 3.16 . 〈◊〉 . 1 17. 2 cor 8.12 . mat. 4. 1 tim. 2.4 . ezek. 33.11 . reu. 1.18 . mat. 28.18 . 2 king. 5.7 . joh. 1.1 , 4. psal . 36.9 . gen. 2.7 . act. 17.28 . gal. 2.20 . 1 ioh. 5.12 . iam. 1.17 . 1 sam. 15 29 prov. ●2 . ● . acts 10.34 . isa . 24.16 . rom. 11.29 . article 7. hos . 13.9 . mat. 28.19 . mar. 16.15 . rom. 1.16 . rom. 10.11 , 12. psal . 76.1 . psal . 147.20 psal . 119.105 . heb. 11.6 . 〈◊〉 115. phil. 3.12 . rom. 12.1 . eph 3 17. gal. 2.20 . rom , 6.4 . col. 3.1 . 1 joh. 5 5. gal. 5.24 . 1 tim. 5.6 . mat. 8.22 . reu. 3.1 . iohn 17.3 . math. 22 32. 1. kin 2.10 . — 11.43 . 1. cor. 11.30 — 15.18 . iob. 11.11 . 1. thes . 4.13 , 14. 1. cor. 15.55 . ioh. 16.20 . ioh. 14.24 . phil. 1.21 . pro. 31. ●0 . ● tit. 2.5 . 1. tim. 5.13 . 2 tim. 1.5 . & 3.15 . eph. 6.4 . prou 31.1 . prou. 31. 20. 1 cor. 14 35. a fair prospect shewing clearly the difference between things that are seen & things that are not seen, in a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable lady judith barrington at knebworth in hertfordshire / by tho. goodwin ... goodwin, thomas, d. 1658. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a41543 of text r40911 in the english short title catalog (wing g1270b). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 83 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 39 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a41543 wing g1270b estc r40911 19530943 ocm 19530943 109021 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41543) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 109021) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1688:19) a fair prospect shewing clearly the difference between things that are seen & things that are not seen, in a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable lady judith barrington at knebworth in hertfordshire / by tho. goodwin ... goodwin, thomas, d. 1658. [8], 69 [i.e. 71] p. printed by a. maxey for john rothwell ..., london : 1658. errata: p. 69 [i.e. 71]. imperfect: tightly bound, with some loss of print. reproduction of original in the british library. eng barrington, judith. bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 1st, iv, 18 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a41543 r40911 (wing g1270b). civilwar no a fair prospect, shewing clearly the difference between things that are seen, & things that are not seen. in a sermon preached at the funera goodwin, thomas 1658 15252 124 120 0 0 0 0 160 f the rate of 160 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-12 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a fair prospect , shewing clearly the difference between things that are seen , & things that are not seen . in a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable lady judith barrington ; at knebworth in hertfordshire . by tho. goodwin , late fellow of s. johns college in cambridge . now minister of the gospel at southweal , in essex . unum mihi satis magnum citò moriendi pretium videtur , poni extra omne delinquendi periculum . grot. epist. ad gall . london , printed by a. maxey , for john rothwell , at the fountain in cheap-side . 1658. to the right worshipful and vertuous lady , the lady jane crofts and to the worshipful . gobert barrington esq and ms lvcy barrington his pious consort . much honoured , i was by your intreaties invited to preach this sermon , and by your importunities have been drawn to this publication of it : whether this apology will be sufficient for its coming abroad , i know not ; t is all i have , if not , i must be content with what measure is meted to me the providential occasion to which it relates , was sad and grievous to many more then your selves : that honourable and deare relation of yours , at whose funeral it was delivered ( and for whose sake i doubt not of some acceptance it will find with many , for all its own unworthinesse ) being one , who for her singular vertues was generally beloved , and honoured ; her death cannot be lamented as immature , for she lived to a good old age ; t is the peculiar priviledg of the godly , they cannot live too long , nor dye too soone . it was my observation of her , that her declining age of nature seemed to be her improving age of grace ; when her natural strength , and abilities began to run low , and on tilt , as it were ; her spiritual affections seemed as if but fresh broached . this is rare , and so much the more excellent , to see in natures autumn , a second spring of grace . o t is sad to observe the many declining professours of these dayes ! many who had once a very good complexion in religion , how are they now tand by walking much abroad without the covering of close communion with god in his ordinances . the lord make you wise herein , and faithful to the eternal interests of your soules ; by taking heed to your selves in these perilous times , that you steere a right course between the left hand of profaness and carnality , and the right hand of schisme , and novelty . looke first with all possible care to your foundation , that it be well laid in regeneration , and heart-renovation ; then build upwards , as high as you can in a holy life , and heavenly conversation . make religion your businesse , and let the exercises of it in publick , private and secret have the preheminence of all your employments . bestow the zeale of your affections on the great , and weightier matters of religion , faith and godlinesse , and let it not evaporate or waste it selfe on the mint and cummin of formes and opinions . looke on the world , and things of it , as this sermon gives you a prospect of them , as being but for a while , the fashion of them passing away ; estates , and honours , nobility , gentry , lords and ladies are things which shortly will be quite out of fashion , and christ will be all in all . keep eternity in your thoughts , christ in your hearts , heaven in your eyes , the world under your feet , and in this posture march on dayly to life eternal . for your helpe and furtherance i● these and all other christia● duties , you may comman● the assistance of his poo● prayers and endeavours , wh● is yours in all christian observance tho. goodwin brentwood october . 24 1657. a sermon preached at the funeral of the honourable lady judith barrington 2 cor. 4. ver. 18. while we look not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen are eternal . solomon tells us , ecclesiastes 1. 2. to every thing there is a season , and a time to every purpose under the sun : a time to be born and a time to dye . 't is worth our observing , that he sayes not a time to be born and a time to live , or , a time to live and a time to dye , but a time to be born and a time to dye ; intimating thereby the duration of mans life to be so inconsiderable , that it deserves not the nam● or title of time , orimur , morimur we are born , and we forthwith dye we step , as it were out of one grave into another : out of the grave o● our mothers wombe into the grav● of the earth our common mother again . but however mans first motion from the wombe to the grave be so short and swift , yet his next from the grave to eternity is unmeasurabl● and incomprehensible . man goet● to his long home saith solomon , 12 eccles. 5. the state of man after thi● life is called his long home , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , so the septuagint renders it : to his house of eternity : house so long , that the line of timeselfe is too short to measure it . 〈◊〉 thought can imagine it , no expression can declare it , semper minus dicitur quòd de aeterno dicitur aut cogitatur . to this long home death conveye● every man , death being that door which lets man into his {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} his house of eternity . a christian should not look on this world as his dwelling place or home , 't is but his tabernacle or inne , we have here no certain dwelling place : thy dwelling house must be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , an house eternall , no such is to be had in this visible world ; for the things which are seen are temporall , but the things which are not seen are eternall . a great part of this epistle is apologeticall : written for the vindication of paul's person , ministry , and the gospel it self which he preached , the gospel and profession of it lay under a very great prejudice in those dayes , by reason of the cross and persecution that did every where attend them ; tanquam evangelij genius : christianus and crucianus being almost all one ; especially this lot fell heaviest on the apostles and preachers of it , scarce one of them for many years together , died a natural death , but were buried out of the world in some fierce storme of persecution ver. 11 we which live . i. e. we apostles , an alway delivered unto death for jesu● sake . q. d. there is but a few of u● now left alive , through the rage o● our persecutors , and we which do live we bear about in our bodies the dying 〈◊〉 the lord jesus . ver. 10. we are troubled on every side , perplexed , persecuted , we doe mortaliter vivere & vitaliter mori . 't is scarce worthy to be called living , non est vivere sevalere vita : yet all this notwithstanding , we faint not , v. 16. w● repent not of our engaging in the work of the gospel ; why ? wha● was it supported and encourage● them ? see v. 17. for our light affliction which is but for a moment , work for us a far more exceeding eterna● weight of glory . no translation ca● reach the height of the apostles rhetoricke in those expressions ; fo● afflicton ; there is glory ; for ligh● affliction a weight of glory , fo● momentany affliction , an exceedin● eternal weight of glory . concer●ing paul's afflictions , we may read little martyrology of them , 2. cor● 11. 23 , 24 , &c. in stripes above measure , in prisons frequent , in deaths oft ; of the jewes five times received i forty stripes save one . thrice was i beaten with rods , once was i stoned , thrice i suffered ship-wrake ; anight and a day have i been in the deep in journeying often , in peril of waters in perill of robbers , &c. one of these gospel-chaines would feel very heavy to us , yet paul makes light of them all , setting against them , an exceeding eternal weight of glory , which they work for him . a farther support in his sufferings , he and his fellow-sufferers had from the consideration laid down in my text , we look not at things which are seen , but at things which are not seen . q. d. we set not much by the things of this world , we reckon little upon them , we aime not at them , for they are all but temporal . the object of our desires , aimes and endeavours are things not seen , which are eternal . the text may be called a pair of scripture scales or balances , in which may be observed , 1. the commodities weighed , they are things which are seen and things which are not seen . 2. the great difference appearing betwixt them upon the weight of them ; the superpondinm of things not seen . things that are seen being weighed are found very light , very vanities , they are but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for a season , for a while , so the word is elsewhere translated . bu● things that are not seen they weig●● very heavy , they are all eternal . eternity makes every thing weighty whether it be glory or misery . 〈◊〉 the verse foregoing my text , w● have {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . an eternal weight of glory . 3. the right improvement to b● made of this knowledg of the difference between things that are see● and things that are not seen , implye● in that word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifi● so to look , as the archer at the 〈◊〉 he aims at : we make not these worldly things that are seen our aime , 〈◊〉 catch not at them , we linger no● after them , we trouble not our selve● much about them , our aimes ar● higher , we look at things that are not seen , that are eternal . many profitable lessons might be learnt out of the words , as christian religion teacheth us to know and believe things that are not seen . our christian faith makes evident to us things not seen . some things we know by sence , as the sun shining , and fire burning ; others by reason , as the creation of the world : but our christian religion hath revealed to our knowledg such things , as neither the eye of sense , nor reason have seen . our lowstatured dwarfe-understandings , by the help of scripture-revelation , have been advanced to some discovery of things eternal . christianity calls the mind off from poring on those low trivial objects of perishing things that are seen , and employes it , in the contemplation and study of things eternal . christianity puts men upon making it their great business to look after things eternal ; we christians , we beleevers look at things that are not seen ; 't is not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we do not only look on them by intellectual speculations , but we look at and after them affectionately and practically in our dayly endeavours and intentions . this is to be a christia● to purpose , to be dayly busy abou● things eternal . this is indeed christians calling : christians shoul● be mainly skilful about things eternal , and mainly painful about thing eternal . things of this life , temporal things should be your {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} your by-business , you should 〈◊〉 them , as if you did them not , use 〈◊〉 world , as if you used it not ; the wor● should be served only with god leavings ; it should have but the fragments of thy time , and the fragments of thy affections ; things eternal should in all things have precedence and preheminence . he tha● believes not things eternal is an in fidel , but he that believes them , ye● lookes not after them , is worse the an infidel : yet alas , how full 〈◊〉 all streets of such men , that arraking all kennels , and scrapin● dunghils , turning over every ston● for worldly pelfe , gathering things temporal , but scattering things eternal ; eternal ●ad immortal souls . think of it , christians , things eternal are worth your looking after : and if you would walk worthy of the name whereby you are called , you must sequester your selves from the world , leave the looking after it to men of this world ( of whom you shall hear more anon ) whose calling it is , whose portion it is ; do you devote , and dedicate your selves chiefly to the care of things eternal . but i come to a third observation , which i chiefly intend to handle at this time . it is eternity makes the great difference between things that are seen and things that are not seen . the things of this life are but for a season , but the things of the life to come are eternal . if the good things and evil things of this life and the life to come were to be compared and weighed one against the other , many other differences would appear , to give the things of the life to come precedence ; but that which mainly , infinitely , indeed , casts the scale , makes the things of the life to come to preponderate is this word eternity : they are all eternal : eternally good or eternally evil ; you do but weigh a grain of sand against a huge mountain , a drop of water against the whole ocean , or a pins head against the whole globe of heaven and earth , that weigh a temporal good against an eternal good ; or a temporal evil against an eternal evil . i 'l speak a little to three particulars for the better clearing up this doctrine . 1. what is meant here by things seen and things not seen ? 2. what by temporal and eternal ? 3. what are those things not seen , eternal which christians are to look after ? 1. things seen and not seen what are they ? man , you all know , consists of two parts , a carnal part and a spiritual , a body and soul , flesh and spirit , an earthen vessel and a spiritual treasure , a candle and a lanthorn , a plain cabinet and a rich treasure : the body one part of man is visible , the soul being a spirit is invisible : according to this double part of man , one of which may be seen , the other cannot be seen , all things which concern man may be divided either into suchthings as maybe seen , or as may not be seen . the things which immediately concern the body , whether good , as life , health , wealth , food , rayment , liberty , friends &c. or evil , as , sickness , pains , poverty , nakedness , death , &c. are all objecta sensibilia things which may be seen , they do incurrere in sensum . men that walke by sight look much at them and are much affected with them : in this sense the apostle 1 john 2. 16. calls wealth the lust of the eye . but the things which immediately concern the soul , whether good , as grace and glory , or evil as sinne and misery , guilt and wrath ; as the soul it selfe is a thing not seen , eternal , so are those concernments of it : therefore only regarded and lookt after by men that walk not by sight but by faith . so that upon the point , by things that are seen , and that are not seen , may be meant the same which in 1 tim. 4. 8. is exprest by the things of the life that now is , and of that which is to come . the things of the life that now is , are temporal , but the things of the life to come are eternal . 2. what is meant by temporal and eternal ? t is a very easy and a very hard question ; what is time ? what is eternity ? the durations of all beings are philosophically divided into three kinds , tempus , aevum , and aeternitas : but theologically into two only , time and eternity . time in eneral in the lump , signifies the duration or continuance of things from the beginning of the world to the end of it ; time being measured , as philosophers say , per motum primi mobilis , by the motions of the heavens extrinsecally : when the heavens therefore shall be dissolved , time shall be no more . rev. 10. 6. time in the nature of it including 1. a beginning . 2. succession . 3. an end . and by its parts 't is differenced by past , present , and future . this is time in general {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2. time in particular called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} of which the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in my text is compounded , is a part , portion or quantum of this time , a little arme of this sea , a page or two of this whole book ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} old father time it selfe is but an infant of a span long to this great giant , eternity : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} season , is a limbe of this little infant : time it selfe is but a moment , a minute of eternity ; and season is a minutulum of this minute , a very inconsiderable thing : yet 't is by this that all particular worldly things are measured ; they are not said to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are not measured by the whole yard , of time , but by the inch of season , they are but for a while , for a season . but what is eternity ? without blushing i may reply as an acute di●putant once did to a hard argument , respondeo me non posse respondere , my answer to this question is , that it is a question past my skill to answer : or as the philosopher symonides did to king hieron's question , what is god ? he required three dayes one after another to meditate an answer to it , and at last told him he was farther from knowing what to answer , then when the question was first propoundrd , for that quò plus cogitaret , plus cogitandum occurreret , the deeper we digge , the faste● and higher will water rise upon us to drown our very meditations . many descriptions are given of it , which i will not spend time in rehearsing : only note a common distinction of eternity into increated & created , absoluta & participata ; a complete perfect eternity that is god's , and an incomplete inperfect eternity communicated to some creatures gods being is every way infinite , s● are all the perfections of it : in wisdom , omniscience is his infinite perfection , in power , omnipotency , it presence , immensity , in duration eternity . gods eternity includes four things ; 1. that god was from everlasting without any beginning psal. 90. 2. before the mountains were brought forth , or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world : even from everlasting to everlasting thou art god . in isaiah 57. 15. he is called the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity . in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth ; but god , the creatour of heaven and earth himself , was without beginning , from everlasting . 2. that gods being hath no ending ; god did not begin to bee , god cannot cease to bee , rev. 10. 6. he lives for ever and ever 1 tim. 6. 16. he only hath immortality ; god only hath it intrinsecally , essentially , independently , some creatures have it by communion , from gods good will and pleasure , and in subordination to gods glory . god only is from everlasting to everlasting , to be eternal , a parte ante and a parte post , both is gods incommunicably . 3. in gods eternity there is no succession , no prius & posterius , no yesterday and to morrow , all things being equally present to god's eternity . one therefore calls it duratio semper praesens , unum perpetuum ●odie quod non transit in praeteri●um aut ●uturum . gods knowledg comprehends things a thousand years distant one from another more exactly the● ours can doe things of yesterday things come to our knowledg , som● before , some after others ; 't is not so with god's : this , some schoolemen have illustrated by such a similitude , a man standing on the to● of some high mountain , or hill to se● an army marching , he sees the whole body of it at once , thoug● possibly one part of it be many mile● distant from another ; another ma● standing on the ground sees but very little at a time , first one ra●● of men then another , one troo● after another , one regiment afte● another , some before , some behind some coming , others going , other gone . thus do we that stand 〈◊〉 this low valley of time see an● know things successively , and compute by dayes and years , yesterda● and to morrow , last and next year one generation passeth away and an●ther cometh : but the high and lo●ty one that inhabits eternity know no yesterdayes nor to morrows , hi● eternity possesseth altogether , all a● once . god's eternity is interminabil●● vitae tota simul possessione . if thou sayest thou canst not conceive how t●is should be ; i only say to thee 〈◊〉 the words of a learned philoso●●er , si scires quid deus esset , deus 〈◊〉 , none but god can comprehend god . 4. gods eternity is causall : he dispences and measures out the duration and continuance of all other b●ings : he sets out their races , and stages , when they shall begin , and when end . the times and seasons of every thing under the sun are appointed by him : the sun it self and heavens keep the courses he appoints them : and when he will , time shall be no more ; this is increated eternity . 2. the creatures eternity is communicated and dependant , and t is but an half eternity : god is from everlasting to everlasting ; the creatures is from such a time , when it began , to everlasting . me thinks it makes my weak understanding as it were giddy to stand a little and look either backward from everlasting or forward to everlasting . one quarter of an houres deep meditation of eternity makes head and heart fall an aking , as not able to bear it . as the eye can bear with ten or twenty or thirty candles all lighted at a time in a roome and look on them without any pain or trouble , but a little gazing on the sun weakens and dazles it , being excellens sensibile : so it is with the weak eye of man's understanding , if you keep it within the horison or compass of time ( although at hundred and thousand years distance ) it will hold out with vigour and quickness ; but if thy thoughts approach a little neer eternity to consider it seriously , thou wilt presently be sensible of a great weakness in thy intellectualls , thy head will scarce hold out to serve thy hearts necessity about the considerations of eternity . so much at present for that second particular what 's meant by temporal , and eternal . 3. what are those unseen eternal things which christians look after ? i might instance in many particulars take these four . 1. the new spiritual life of a christian in his union to christ began by regeneration . as natural life consists in the conjunction of the body and soul : so does spiritual in the union of the soul to christ . and as the body without the soul is dead , so is the soul without christ . this spiritual life of a believer is a very secret hidden thing , colos. 2. 3. your life is hid with christ in god , 't is hid from the world , and hid oftentimes from believers themselves , so that they are often in great feares and troubles about their spiritual condition : whether in christ , or out of christ , they cannot tell . they are not to be numbred the many careful thoughts that the hearts of true christians are filled with , about this one thing , their regeneration . this is a thing not seen , not regarded , nor understood by the world , yet this is an eternal thing , your souls passing from death to life , its first step towards that life that is eternal over this narrow bridge of regeneration . oh sirs , hath this been looked after by you , your new-birth ? many talke much of their birth , and parentage , and ancestors , you are but meanly descended and base-born all of you , that are not born again of water and of the spirit . the differences of men by flesh and blood , and titles of honour , such as are gentlemen , esquires , knights , lords , &c. are but temporal , for a while , but the differences of men by nature and the spirits regenerate and unregenerate these are eternal . 2. justification or the sense of sin pardoned , thy person accepted , god reconciled , these are things greatly looked after and laboured for by good christians , yet things not seen nor discerned by the world , rev. 2. 17. to him that overcometh i will give to eat of the hidden manna , and will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written , which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it . this hidden manna are the comforts of the spirit of god in the hearts of believers upon the sense of their reconciliation to god : the white stone is their absolution and justification . it being a manner used in some iudicatories to give a white stone in token of approbation and absolution , and a black stone in token of condemnation or rejection . o this white stone believers search and look and dig for as a treasure ! justification is an eternal thing rom. 8. 30 : whom he justified , them he also glorified , 3. adoption , the souls relation to god in a state of son-ship , that 's a thing not seen , relationes non incurrunt in sensus ; this is a thing that beleevers are inquisitive after , to have the spirit of god bearing witnesse with their spirits , that they are the children of god , rom. 8. 16. god hath a seed among the children of men , whom having new-begotten by his spirit he hath certainly adopted to be his children , his affection to them exceeds farre yours , who are natural parents towards your children : he hath paternal affections towards them , and they filial dispositions towards him , he a paternal care and providence over them , they filial confidences and dependences on him , as you parents lay up for your children , so does god for them . this dignity indeed hath no outward appearance to discover it self to the world . it doth not yet appear who are gods sons , nor how such shall be glorified : the heirs of eternal glory walke up and down the streets of the world in very contemptible appearances . sometimes in sheep-skins , and goat-skins , being destitute , as having nothing , yet possessing all things , two or three of them sometimes are crouded together into one poor thatcht cottage , yet not one of these ( though it be a thing not seen of the world ) stirs abroad without a guard of angels & the spirit of glory and of god resteth on them . the poor petty heirs of this world make a great shew and noise where they goe , they are looked after , and pointed at , there goes such a knights eldest son , such a lords heir , &c. only the sons of god and children of the most high , who shall every one of them inherit an eternal kingdome , their glory is a thing not seen , therefore is not their condition valued by men of the world : but blessed is that soul , who has received this new-name of a son or daughter of the lord almighties : 4. the last thing which i shall name among things not seen which believers look after is an inheritance in heaven , uncorruptible , undefiled , that fadeth not away , while other men are busied wholly in laying up for themselves treasures on earth , they are laying up for themselves treasures in heaven . 1. cor. 2. 9. such things as eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , n●ither have entred into the heart of man , for them that love him . god is preparing heaven for them , and they are preparing themselves for heaven ; they are clearing up their evidences , and securing their titles to glory , by making their calling & election sure , they observing wisely how slippery mens present standings are on earthly possessions , are laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life , 1 tim. 6. 19. o this heavenly inheritance is that , which a beleever hath his eye upon on all occasions ! his short commons on outward mercies he makes up often with the remembrance of the plentiful feast provided for him in his fathers house , and kingdome . his heavy afflictions are made light by considering that exceeding eternal weight of glory they worke for him . the yoke of duty and service is made easy by having respect unto the recompence of reward ; when ever any thing troubles him , or goes amiss with him here among things temporal , the consideration of heaven and things eternal makes amends for all . thus a beleever looks at these things which are not seen , which are eternal ; i come to application . this doctrine , that the things of this world are but for a season hath a double aspect , as the israelites cloud , a darke side and a light side , it looks very sadly upon all those whom the scripture calls men of this world ; men in this world we are all , but not all , i hope ; men of this world . to men of this world i may call and say in the words of the apostle james , james 5. 1. 2. go to now ye ▪ men of the world , weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you ; your riches are corrupted , and your garments moth-eaten . here is the canker and the rust , and the moth that is consuming all your treasure , this one word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} they are all but for a season . i'el give you 4 characters of men of this world . 1. men , all whose skill and dexterity is about things of this world ; shrewd men , very knowing about worldly affaires , but altogether ignorant about the matters of eternity . the world is the only book they study ; therein they are soundly book-learned . as david did on gods law , so do they herein , meditate day and night ; this booke hath three leavs 1 john 2. 16. riches , pleasures and honours . 1. the covetous man's genius or lust carries him after wealth , this leafe he is daily thumming , beating his braine and studying new wayes to enlarge his est●te , by adding house to house , and purchase to purchase , contriving new engines to draw more of the riches of the world into his possession : and to a notable perfection , herein many of them attain , being verstin all the topicks and common places of profit and gain ; having got in a readinesse all sorts of money-traps to catch it , where-ever it is stirring and to be had : per fas & nefas rem , rem quocunque modo , rem . the voluptuous man , his teeth water more after pleasures and sensual delights , feasting and gaming , and riotous living ; he gives his heart to seek and search out all manner of mirths and pleasures ; as solomon describes his own courses in the time of his vanity . eccles. 2. 1. 2. to the 10. v. solomon shews there what large provision he made to satisfie this lust , sumptuous diet ; stately buildings , orchards , gardens , forests , parkes , fishponds , musick vocall , and instrumentall , he with-held not his heart from any joy that his eyes desired ; as a young prodigal citizen of london i have read of , who had a great longing to give all his five sences a pleasure at once , and allowed to the delight of every sence a several hundred pound : by which and such like practises within the space of three years he wasted an estate of thirty thousand pound in money left him by his father , besides land , plate , jewels , and houses furnished very richly to a great value . t is not a little cost and pains men of this lust are at , to maintaine and give it satisfaction . 3. the ambitious man is of an aspiring mind , he is climbing higher and higher after honours and preferments , his head is never without a plot to promote this his design . these three , which one calls the worlds trinity , in serving of these , men of the world are wholly taken up : and many live under the repute of notable wise men , for the skill they have attained in these worldly businesses . poore creatures ! the subject of our skill are things that are but for a while , therefore for a while you l go for wise men , wise for a time , but fools eternally . how will these wiser men of the world see themselves shortly befool'd ! me thinks i hear the noise of their cry at the day of judgement in the words of saul . behold we have played the fool and have erred exceedingly : you have a proverb , penny wise and pound foolish , such are men of this world ; wise in temporalls , fools in eternals . looke to it , sirs , that none of you be such , wise to buy and sell and make bargains , to contrive wayes of enlarging your estates , and raising your families , but in the mysteries of godliness , and matters of salvation , such as regeneration , union and communion with christ , living by faith , having our conversation in heaven , &c. grossly ignorant and void of understanding . 2. men whose labour and activity is wholly or chiefly for things of this world ; men whose practise is directly opposite to our saviours precept john . 6. 27. they labour for the meat that perisheth , but they labour not for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life . great week-day labourers in gathering the perishing things of this world ; but lords-day loyterers when they should be gathering heavenly manna for life eternal . industry and diligence in an honest calling , though never so poore and mean in the account of men is well-pleasing to god : i would not be thought to reprove or reproach that : i wish heartily many pretenders to religion now a dayes would make more conscience of that duty : i thinke it also one of the great sins and reproaches of our nation that it abounds with so many vagrant beggers and extravagant gentlemen , living , the one as if they were above , the other , beneath all honest calllngs : but the sin i am now describing , and disgracing is , when men will toil and moil , run and ride , rise early and sit up late , in pains-taking about the things of this life ; but will not be brought to like or practise any exercise in religion , in which pains must be taken , although the profit and advantage of it be an eternal good ; when estates and preferments in the wo●ld which are but ●or a while , are sought with the hazard of eternal soules ; which are lost for 〈◊〉 of looking af●●r . o ye sons of men how long will ye love varity and seek after lea●●ng ? psal. 4. 2 ▪ why labour you for that which 〈◊〉 not ? the dayes are coming when you will reflect on your 〈◊〉 for these temporal things , with solomons words eccles. 1. 3. what profit hath a man of all his labours which he taketh under the sun ? so eccles. 2. 11. you will look on all the works your hands have wrought ; and on the labour you have laboured to do , and the result of all will be vanity and vexation of spirit , there was no profit under the sun . you that now are all for profit and gain , to whom dulcis odor lucri ex re quâlibet , you will be miserably disappointed , you 'l find there was no profit under the sun , pro●●t will be found to be amongst things that are not seen , things eternal which you looked not after . what a vain thing is it for a man to busy himself in drawing curious images or letters in the sand or dust , which one blast of wind will suddenly deface and spoil , and in a moment obliterate the pains of many hours or dayes ? o it might be happy for many mens soules , if one tenth part of that time , labour , and pains which is spent about things temporal ; were spent about things eternal . consider with what shame and torment of spirit you will stand before god at the day of judgement : under this remembrance ; what profit of all my labour under the sun ? none , none at all , your labour was misplaced , it was about perishing things ; in stead of profit behold nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit . 3. men of this world are such , all whose treasure , estate and portion lies in this world : 't is all visible , consisting only of things which are seen . as we say of some men , they are great men in their own country , their estate lies altogether in one country , there they have great command , great interest and respect , many tenants and retainers , great alliance , they beare all the sway , but out of their country , they are no body , they pass to and fro unregarded : so is it with many , who in this world bear a great sway through their worldly greatnesse , by their purse and power they can have any thing , and do any thing here below ; but alas , you see all , all lies on this side the holy land , here lies all their estate , they have no treasure ; nor inheritance in heaven , their friends dwell all on earth : in heaven there 's none cares for them : they have much kindred and acquaintance on earth , but strangers to heaven , god ownes them not , abraham is ignorant of them , and israel will not acknowledg them , one stroke of death utterly undoes them , and bereaves them of all at once . in a moment , in the twinkling of an eye they are thrown out of all , they are cast down and shall not be able to rise . psal. 37. 35 , 36. i have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay-tree : yet he passed away and lo he was not , i sought him but he could not be found . death like a bayly or serjeant comes with a writ of arrest , seizes upon all , and carries them away to prison , where they must be for ever without any hope of redemption . this will be the end of men of this world . o sirs , me thinks you should sit trembling under all your enjoyments to see this one word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for a while , written upon the forehead of them all ; for a souldier to have an honourable sword of knighthood girt about him ( as one once had ) and a piece of match of a few inches lye by him burning , with which his life must extinguish and end also , where would his eye think you be most ? on his sword , or his burning match ? would not this more dismay him than that could rejoyce him ? this word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for a while lies like a piece of match , burning by all your enjoyments ; thy goodly houses , rich lands , portions , jewels , pleasant gardens , stately parks , dear relations , are all within a few inches of going out at once , and thou thy selfe shalt be left in utter darknesse . 4. lastly , men of this world are such , whose hearts are wholly set on things of this world : their projects and designs are all for the world , nothing goes neer their hearts to affect them or afflict them , but things of this world , worldly losses and crosses , worldly gaines and advantages : if they rejoyce , 't is in corne or wine , or some worldly good , if they mourn and walke heavily , 't is under some worldly loss and disappointment . me thinks this should be heart-breaking news to you , to hear of all at once thus suddenly departing from you : it goes to your hearts now , to part with a little of your wealth though to cloath the naked , or feed the hungry , how will you beare the loss of all ? how painful is the plucking , out but of one tooth , that stands fast in the flesh ? to have all knockt out together is intolerable : you whose hearts sticke so fast , and cleave so close to the world , weep and houle for the miseries that are coming upon you , who must have all at once rent and ●orn from you . it is storied of a german prince that being admonished by revelation to search for a writing in an old w●ll : which should neerly concern him , he found one containing one●y these two words ; post sex ; after six , whereupon the prince conceived his death was foretold ; that after six dayes it should ensue , which made him pass those six dayes in continual preparation for death ; but those six dayes being past , without the event he expected , he persevered in his godly resolution six weeks , six moneths , six years , and on the first day of the seventh year the prophecy was fulfilled , but otherwise then he interpreted it ; for thereupon he was chose emperour of germany , having before gotten such a habit of piety , that he continued in that religious course for ever after . brethren , that writing in the wall did no more concern the prince , then this in my text does you all , whose hearts are set on the world ; ponder and meditate seriously on this word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} for a while , this estate is but for a while , these pleasures but for a while , these treasures , this husband , wife , children are but for a while ; the princes while was post sex , after six , thine may be ante sex . it may be as the rich fooles in the gospel was , luke 12. 20. hâc nocte , this night ; so little may the while be , that those things which are seen will abide with thee . oh , that you would take up some wise resolutions from this consideration ; namely these two . 1. regulate and moderate your affections towards them ; let this meditation allay the heat of your affections towards worldly things : let not things of so short a duration , take so deep a rooting in thy affections . love the world , and the things of it , as thou dost the good accommodations of an inne , not as thy home ; facilitate thy parting with them , considering them often under this representation of being temporal , but for a season , for a while . i have read of a roman senator , that having a very curious cupboard of glasses , in which he took much delight , they being all upon the occasion of a great feast he made , brought forth and set upon a table ; while he was pleasingly viewing of them , it came into his thoughts what brittle commodities they were , and how easily broke , broke they would be , one by one servant , another by another , and the breaking of one would more anger him then they were all worth ; he to prevent this evil , layes his hand on the cloth on which they stood , and by one pluck himself breaks them all at once . sirs , all our creature-enjoyments consisting of things which are seen , are like a cupboard of glasses , fair to the eye , but very brittle and fadeing . inter peritura vivimus . a glass is not easier broken then all worldly things beside , and break they all will ; fire comes and breaks one , sick ness another , violence another , death first one child , then another , one friend after another , and if thy affections be not well regulated , there will be more evil in thy immoderate grief for the loss of one , then ever there was good in the enjoyment of all ; to prevent this ; breake thy heart off from them all , which cannot be better done , then by dwelling much in thy thoughts upon this notion of them : as being but for a while , for a season . 2. resolve not to hazard the loss of invisible eternal things , for things which are but temporal , for a while . you know the fable of the dog , that lost the meate he had in his mouth , by catching at the shadow of it in the waters , de te fabula narratur , may it be said to every worldling . suppose a man having a purse of gold in his pocket , and coming into a market , where he finds men scrambling for apples on the ground , amongst them he runs into a croud , loses his purse of gold , but gets an apple , which he falls of eating , but before he had halfe eaten it , that is snatched out of his hands also ; this egregious fool hazarded his gold for an apple , and then loses gold and apple too : thus do vaine men , whose hearts are set upon the world ; venture with eternal soules anywhere , upon any desperate project , in scrambling for the things of the world , precious eternal soules are scattered and lost in mens busy gathering the dust of the world ; and within a few dayes death comes and snatches all that out of thy hands also : this will be the conclusion , you that will hazard things eternal for things temporal , will lose both temporal and eternal , you have seen the dark side of this doctrine : with which it lookes sadly upon men of this world . this doctrine hath a light side for true israelites , a comfortable aspect on all true believers ; wicked men have all their good things in this life ; 't is sad to them therefore to consider they are all but for a season , but believers have all their evils in this life , 't is therefore their comfort that they are but for a while , their foul way lies all here below , the shorter the better for them : whatever thou seest here below , that is at any time bitter or grievous to thee , remember for thy comfort 't is but for a while . 1. thy own sins , those are now great eye-sores to thee , and grievous to behold ; the hardnesse and deadnesse of thy heart , thy vain thoughts , earthly affections , the wandrings of thy paths out of gods wayes ; thou never lookest upon thy heart or life , but thou sighest to see lusts and sin abounding and superabounding : but be of good comfort these evils are but for a while , thy heart ere long shall be perfectly renewed and totally purified , thou shalt look and shalt not see all over the least matter for sighs and tears , not a spot nor wrinkle shall be left all over thee : thy soul shall not be long as a bird tyed by the wing , it shall mount up , and be in the midst of things eternal ; it shall be soiled no more by conversing with things temporal , it shall deal only with things eternal : while thou art present in the body , thou art absent from the lord , but thou shalt after a little while be for ever with the lord . 2. other men's sins ; they are great evils which thou ●eest under the sun : and they are great troubles and torments to gracious soules . he that is not troubled for other mens sins , is not troubled for his own . lots righteous soul was vexed , wracked , tortured from day to day to see the ungodly conversation of the sodomites . rivers of water 's run down mine eyes , sayes david . psal. 119. 130. because men keep not thy law . psal. 120. psal. 5 , 6. woe is me that i sojourn in m●sech , that i dwell in the tents of kedar : 't is but for a while that thou shalt see the reeling drunkard , and hear the oaths of swearers , and the idle frothy talke of vain men ; the wickedness of the wicked shall be at an end ; thou shalt not alwayes see the prosperity of the wicked to tempt , nor the adversity of the godly to discourage thee . ps. 37. 35 , 38. i have seen the wicked in great power , but the transgressors shall be destroyed together , the end of the wicked shall be cut off ; while god exerciseth his patience in forbearing them , thou must exercise thy zeal in reproving them , and thy repentance in mourning for them . 3. thy own sufferings and afflictions , of what nature or kind soever , they are but for a while , but for a moment , in the verse foregoing my text ; remember this as a lenitive to allay the smart of thy afflictions . thy aking head , thy palsy hands , thy trembling heart , thy gouty leggs ; all these are but for a while . thy slandred innocency , disgraced name , impoverisht estate , all these are but for a while . 1 pet. 1. 6. there are two cordialls together , ye are now in heaviness for a season , if need be ; for a season , if need be . the patient complains his physick makes him sick at the heatt , his physician comforts him by telling him , 't is but for a little season , and it was needfull , his strong disease needed such strong physick . thou art apt to cry out in the bitterness of thy soul , how long lord , how long , holy and true ? god answers thee in his word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} be patient , 't is but for a season , for a moment nubecula est , citò transibit . this meditation is a soft pillow for thee , to lay thy aking head and heart on , to keep thee from fainting in the day of adversity . 4. the calamity of god's church and people , sions sufferings , jerusalem's breaches : the true legitimate sons of sion cannot but grieve and mourn to see their mothers distresses , many a time do they sit down by the waters side weeping to remember sion psal. 137. 5. if i forget thee o jerusalem , let my right hand forget her cunning , to see the potency and prevalency of the churches enemies , gebal , ammon , amaleck , philistine , &c. all uniting their power against sion ; to see the paucity of sions friends , and they divided amongst themselves , to see her wall broken down , her treasure profaned , her precious corner-stone it selfe vilified and made light of , his truths corrupted , ordinances despised , ministers reproached , and discipline mocked at ; these are sad objects for gracious soules to look on , yet these things are to be seen , and to be seen in our dayes , and in our own countrey , but our comfort is , these things also are but for a season ; as thou seest them , so jesus christ the churches head and husband who sitteth in the heavens , he seeth them , and he will arise and have mercy on sion , for the time to favour her , yea the set time is come ; sion militant shall be sion triumphant . the time is coming when all those that mourned for her , shall rejoyce for joy with her . thus may this doctrine , that these things that are seen are but temporal , be improved to the comfort of believers . i 'l onely adde one use more which shall be of exhortation , from the latter part of the doctrine , that the things which are not seen are eternal . there are , christians , you hear things eternal , and you to whom i am speaking of these things are all of you such as must live eternally amongst things eternal . the continuances of your beings here among things seen , may be different from each other , some may be longer , others shorter ; but in the world to come however in kind your beings may differ infinitely , as farre as heaven and hell , yet in duration they will all agree to be eternal . many of us live as if they had never heard of things eternal , most as if they did not believe any such things , and truly even the best of us do not improve as we ought the knowledg of things eternal . now my exhortation to you all is , that you would seriously consider and meditare on those things eternal . i will direct my exhortation of you to three particulars for your meditation . 1. meditate seriously on eternity it selfe ; which is the interminable , infinite , endlesse duration of a being . eternity makes good things infinitely good , and evil things infinitely evil . the happiness of the saints in heaven , and the misery of the damned in hell , have both of them a vast circumference ; but the very center of both is this one thing eternity ; the crowns of glorified saints , and the chains of tormented sinners are both made so weighty by this inclining of eternity . the mind of man is a vessel too narrow indeed , to form or contain a meditation which may bear any proportion to eternity : yet some devout men have well improved their meditation , to helpe to affect us with the thoughts of eternity . one discoursing of the eternal sufferings of the damned in hell , thus represents them ; if ( sayes he ) the whole world from the lowest bottome of the earth , to the highest top of heaven , were filled with small grains of sand as close as they could possibly lye together , and every thousandth year an angel should come and fetch away one of them , untill the whole heap were spent ; if then the prison door of hell might be set open , and the damned set at liberty , it would be jowful news to them , yet those years , although innumerable , are nothing to eternity . another thus , if god should make this motion to the damned , that every thousandth year they should shed one single tear , all which should be kept together , untill they amounted to the quantity of a great ocean , and , then with this sea of their tears he would quench the fire of hell and their torments should be at an end ; there would ( sayes he ) be great joy in hell at this merciful motion , but the weight of eternity in their sufferings , presseth them down every day lower and lower , with inconceivable , unsupportable misery . o eternity , my brethren , if you could make your thoughts but stick to it , if you would every day task them to some solemn meditations of it , if you would breath them every day , by walking up this high hill eternity , and there be taking a prospect of things that are not seen , you would find it exceeding healthful to your soules , i would commend it to you as a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} physick to cure all soul-diseases and distempers . if i were asked what were good to make a proud man humble ; let him meditate seriously on eternity ; what will make a vain man serious , a covetous worldling heavenly minded ; a loose liver , strict and precise ; a wicked man good , and a good man better and better ; let them all daily seriously thinke on eternity . your hearts , it is likely , will be very averse from the practise of this duty , as a foul stom●ck nausea●es all physick ; but you that tender the health of your soules , en●orce it down , let it be part of thy daily spiritual dyet , some warme draughts , some serious thoughts of eternity . many excellent advantages and benefits might be shewn you , would follow from this duty . this would make jesus christ sweet and precious indeed , to you that have obtained him , whether you look on eternal good things , or eternal evil things ; he being a sun by which are communicated to you all eternal good things ; and a shield by which you are defended from all eternal evil things . and you that are yet out of christ , how anxious and industrious would this make you to obtain him . in this life thou canst make a shift without christ , thou art well provided against the evils of this life , and well furnisht with the good things of it . many friends thou hast who profess themselves thine till death , but christ can only make good to a soul , thine eternally . this would keep your hearts in awe of sinne , for fear of after claps and after-reckonings in eternity ; this would put you upon exact and circumspect walking ; this would make you like , and chuse the wayes of holiness . i have read of a profane loose witty gentleman , being seriously asked what he thought of the severe strict life of religious men , and what of the voluptuous , ungodly debauch'd courses of such as himself ; he answer'd , cum istis mallem vivere , cum illis mallem mori , i had rather live with these , but i would be glad to dye with those , said he , as balaam , let me die the death of the righteous ; serious frequent meditations of eternal things would make you willing to live with them , as well as to die with them ; to fast and pray , and sowe in teares with them on earth ; as well as to feast , and triumph , and reap in joy with them in heaven . this would make you less earthly and more heavenly minded , this would make you chuse suffering before sinning , the reproaches of egypt before the pleasures and honours of pharaohs court . this would make christs yoke easie , because of eternal pleasures ; and sins yoke heavy , because of eternal wrath : this would make you fight the good fight of faith valiantly , and hold out to the end without fainting ; in hopes to obtaine that incorruptible crown of eternal glory . having meditated on eternity in general ; let thy next step be to consider thy eternal things in particular ; having set before thy thoughts eternal joyes , and eternal torments , eternal happiness , and eternal misery , a heaven eternal , and an hel eternal ; o my soul , which of these eternals will be thine ? for temporals , thou art well enough , thy lot is fallen into a good ground , thou art well situated , well accommodated with wealth , honours , houses , lands , friends , relations ; but these are thy temporals , thy moment anea ; what are thy eternals ? this world is but thy inne , where must thy home be , in heaven or in hell ? i do but sojourn here , where must i dwell and abide ? where will my eternal mansion be ? who must be my eternal companions god and his saints , or the devil and his angels ? must i dwell with abraham , and isaac and jacob , with the innumerable company of angels , and spirits of just men made perfect , or with cain , and pharaoh , and judas , with the divel and his angels and legions of unclean spirits ? 't is said acts 1. 25. of judas at his death he went to his own place . brethren , as sure as you have all places of abode here on earth , which you call your own homes , so shall every one of us have either in heaven or hell a home that shall be our own place . in this world neither the wicked nor the righteous are in their own places ; here for the most part the wicked and the ungodly have got the upper places , the children of god sit lower-most , dives sits at his table feasting , and lazarus lies at his gate begging ; beltshazars place here is a throne of majesty , and righteous daniel a prison and a den of lions . but it shall be quite otherwise when all by death enter into their own proper places in eternity ; the worst places in the world are too good for sinners , and the best in heaven are prepared for saints , who in christ are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places . me thinks this should be a very affecting meditation , o my soule where wilt thou be when thou art gone to thy own place ! when thou art removed from hence , and shalt have left husband , and wife and children , neighbours and friends , and all these things that are seen , where will thy abiding place be ? where must i spend my eternity , which can indeed never be spent ? certainly if men would but use all diligence , as the apostle sayes , they might come to know where their eternal mansion shall be : every man in this world may be said to chuse his own place in the world to come : joshua 24. 15. chuse you , sayes joshuah to the israelites , whom you will serve ; but as for me and my house we will serve the lord . psa. 119. 173. i have chosen thy precepts , sayes david : he that chuses christ for his lord and king , to be ruled by his word , to be sanctified and guided by his spirit ; he consequently chuses heaven for his future habitation . but you that here refuse to serve the lord , that will not let jesus christ reigne over you ; you that chuse your lusts for your lords , and walke after the flesh as a servant after his master ; you that chuse mammon for your master , and the world for your portion ; you turn your back upon heaven , and run head-long to destruction ; you make a covenant with death , and an agreement with hell . that there shall be your habitation , what a gnawing worme will this be in the consciences of wicked men for ever in hell , to consider . this is a place of our own chusing ; here is the same company we chose for our acquaintance on earth , we cared not for communion with saints , nor fellowship with god on earth ; here we are sentenced to an everlasting separation from them ; we are justly miserable being made so by our own choice and consent ; volenti non fit injuria ? o israel , thou hast destroyed thy self ! lastly , proceed a little farther in thy meditations concerning eternity ; what provision and preparation hast thou made for eternity ? the fool in the gospel applauded himself in this , that he had much goods laid up for many years , but nothing was laid up for eternity : hast thou been any wiser ? faelix , quem faciunt , &c. hath his woful example item'd thee into more carefulness ? what art thou provided with for thy long home in eternity ? it is a commonly known true saying , ex hoc momento aeternitas , the great weight of eternity hangs upon this small wire of time : time hath an influence on eternity : a few drops of bloud will discolour a great quantity of water , the well or ill-spending of this moment of time will colour the great sea of eternity into a white of happinesse or blacke of misery ; thinke seriously of it , christians every action , word or thought of thine will make thy eternity better or worse . my houres preaching and your hearing at this time will adde either to both our eternal happiness , or to both our eternal miseries . all that we now do will rebound againe upon us in eternity ; as when we put a lump of sugar into a cup of wine or water : it falls presently to the bottome out of sight , but there it dissolves and diffuseth it selfe over the whole cup , and may be tasted in every parcel of it , thus do all our actions sinke as it were out of sight , and out of memory into the bottom of eternity ; there they operate and effect either our happiness or misery , which will be felt and tasted by us throughout all eternity . every wound which thou now givest thy soule by sinne , kept never so secret now , will then fall on bleeding openly and smarting eternally . o what miserable abused soules will then be to be seen : most cruelly hackt and hewen with sin , all over full of bruises , and putrified sores ! every good action and holy duty will then be seen , blossoming forth peace and joy and consolation . consider that place of the apostle . gal. 6. 7 , 8. be not deceived , god is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth , that shall he also reap ; for he that soweth to his flesh , shall of the flesh reap corruption : but he that soweth to the spirit , shall of the spirit reap life everlasting . every man is a sower , his actions are his seed , this life is his seed-time , eternity is his harvest , his reaping-time ; the husbandman that sowes oates , does not expect to reap wheate , his crop depends upon his seed . sirs , whatever you do now , is but sowing to eternity ; when you are hearing and praying , you are sowing ; when buying and selling , you are sowing ; when you are swearing and lying you are sowing ; and all these several sorts of seeds will certainly come up in eternity : doest thou ravel out thy time in vanity and sensuality , and sin , and yet look to be happy eternally ? this is to sow thy field with oates or tare , and to look for a crop of wheate ; if thy seed be sin , thy crop will certainly be misery . o! what an encouragement should this be to saints , to be fruitful and abundant in good duties ; in praying , fasting , repenting for sin , &c. although no present difference appears between him that prayes and pray not ; the good husbands ●a●d that is well sown , yields at p●ese●● no more profit then the sl●gga●ds that is unsown , and over 〈◊〉 with thi●●les and nettles ; the husbandman w●it● until the time of 〈◊〉 ●omes you harvest ●s 〈◊〉 , then you 〈◊〉 have been ●owing to the 〈◊〉 shall reap life 〈…〉 . be abundan● 〈…〉 of the lord ; for 〈…〉 rally shall reap liberally , and he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly : and because all will rise again in eternity , ●o what you do accurately . as that famous painter zeuxes , being asked why he was so accurate in drawing all his pieces ? answered , pingo aeternitati , i paint for eternity . you pray , and hear , and live for eternity ; do all therefore accurately , walk circumspectly . as you would all enter upon eternity chearfully , prepare and lay up good things towards it , heb. 11 t is said of noah , he being warned of god of things not seen , moved with fear prepared an ark , to the saving his house . the flood was a thing not seen at first , only by faith in gods threatnings ; noah being warned and believing the threatning prepared an ark . beloved , you have all this day been warned of god of things not seen , of things eternal : there is a great deluge of eternity coming which will drown and swallow up all those things which are seen , which are but temporal , o let this be your preparation for eternity ! to be preparing an ark for saving your selves : i do not mean an ark literally , as noahs was , but an ark spiritually , and analogically . in noahs time some believed not , nor regarded the threatning of a fl●od , but continued eating and drinking , marrying , and giving in marriage , until the flood came and destroyed them all : others it is likely were not altogether without fearof it , yet made light of it , and reckoned upon some means of saving themselves by arks of their own devising , climbing the tops of high trees and mountains , or such like . but all were destroyed that were not in the arke with noah . thus do many through an evil heart of unbelief cashiere and abandon all thoughts of things eternal , as if but fabulous ; others too too many reckon upon safety by fals arks . poor ignorant creaturs make their good meaning their arks , the profane mans ark is his presumption on gods mercies , deut. 29. 19. he blesses himself , saying , i shall have peace , though i walk in the imagination of mine heart , adding drunkenness to thirst ; but let such mark what follows , ver. 20. the lord will not spare him : but then the anger of the lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man , and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him , and the lord shall blot out his name from under heaven . — the formal professor makes his own righteousnesse and external conformity to the gospel his ark ; he thinks to be saved by hanging outwardly on the ark by profession , though he never enter into it by a faith effectual . the papists arke is his good works , which he trusts to for salvation ; but alas brethren ! these are all arks o● bull-rushes , one small wave of gods wrath will overturn a thousand such as these . the only true arke is the lord jesus christ , act. 4. 12. neither is there salvation in any other . rom. 8. 1 there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus : you have there the ark , jesus christ , the entring into this ark by faith , being in jesus christ , & the safety of those who are so entred in , there is no condemnation to such : there may be trouble & tribulation here , but there is no condemnation hereafter to them that are in jesus christ . remember this , christians , christ possessed by faith is the only ark for your eternal safety . riches , and honors , and worldly greatness , these will be no arks ; things temporal cannot make arks for eternal souls . nothing in religion which is but externall will be an ark ; outward clothes and garments will not keep the body from dying , nor will outward duties and performances only , keep the soul from perishing . the name of the lord jesus christ is a strong tower , an a●k unto which every soul that runs by faith shall be saved . o believers , you who are possest of christ how may you triumph in the words of that good dying man , salvus sum & sospes quia habito in vulneribus christi , ps. 91. 9 , 10. no evil shal befal thee , because thou hast made the lord thy ark , even the most high thy habitation : you that are yet unprovided of this ark , be warned this day to breake off your sins by repentance , least this floud come unawares , and destroy you all , in your unbelief . o tremble to think , how neer those eternal things may be , which yet you have not looked after ; how neer eternal good things of being gone out of your reach irrecoverably , and eternal evils of falling upon you unavoidably : venture not to stay any longer in that condition , in which it is a sin to live , and a misery to die ; your living in the world hitherto hath been to worse , then no purpose : your conversation must all be unravell'd , at the bottome of which you will find nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit . get the impressions of eternity upon your soules and so live that the care of eternal things may be seen in y●ur very countenances ; while you look not more at things which are seen , which are temporall , but at the things which are not seen which are eternall . i have done with my text ; but something more is expected in reference to the occasion of this sad meeting ; which is the death and funeral of the truly honourable lady judith barrington ; never was it my practise ( nor indeed my judgement ) to exceed or be long on such occasions : there being but little edification in the best , and great danger in the most funeral commendations , funeral encomiastickes of the dead ( sayes one ) prove often confections of poyson to the living . it being too usuall ( as another sadly complaines ) vt eorum vitae laudenter in terris , quorum animae cruciantur in inferno , yet i thinke this lady whose funerall we now solemnize : was a person of so much worth and merit , that if i had prepared an alablaster boxe of precious spikenard to poure upon her name , in the memorial of her vertues , i need not feare to meet with ( as the good woman in the gospel did ) any ones displeasure or indignation . i could hold you long in a large discourse of her many accomplishments , whereof i could shew you very great variety , as in solomons temple there were three courts ; an outward court , an innerand the holy of holies . first i could present you in the outer court with her rare natural endowments of understanding , wit , memory , judgement , improved by acquired knowledg in almost all things , wherein i believe she exceeded most of her sexe , and was in the very upper forme of female-scholars , then might i lead you into the inner court , and shew you her moral excellencies rarely to be pattern'd , to be admired ? but scarce to be imitated . her singular prudence , meekness , sobriety , integrity ; affability mixt with much gravity ; humility with great eminency ; temperance and moderation in midst of great abundance , where can you shew me so many rich stones in one ring together againe ? but ( 3 ) i can , as the apostle sayes , shew you a more excellent way . this is a christians holy of holies , a heart possest of christ , a soule beautified with saving grace , parts and natural edowments : moral habits and virtues of themselves without grace , are but splendida peccata , glittering sinnes : fulgent coram hominibus , coram deo sordent , in comparison of christ , they are but dirt and dung . if christ be not in you , if he dwell not in your hearts by faith , theremay be glittering , but no gold . except christ be in in you , you are reprobates , reprobate silver shall men call you , because the lord will reject you . a christians treasure lies not in natural and moral gifts , but supernatural grace . here i might shew you how god had enriched her with the knowledg of himself and jesus christ , whom to know is life eternal : with soundnesse in the faith , having preserved her from making shipwrack of faith in these stormy tempestuous times , with love to jesus christ , having heard her with tears bewailing the deadnesse of her affections to christ , and spiritual things . i cannot but mention an excellent speech of hers a few dayes before her sicknesse , to a worthy person , and dear relation , let us ( saith she ) love one another more and more , and let us not love our selves in one another , but christ in one another ; that love will be sure to last and abide . her love to the ordinances and saints might be remembred ; she had , like god her father , a general {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a sweet , loving nature to all ; and a special {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to the houshord of faith . her compassionatenesse to those in misery was eminent , and her charity even to her enemies ; for such she wanted not altogether , though altogether undeserved ; making good thereby that old saying , misera est fortuna quae caret inimico ; which i 'l english in our savior christs words , wo be to you when all men speak well of you ; yet to her enemies she would not render evil for evil , but sought to overcome their evil with good . though i be but a very dull orator , yet having such plenty of pretious matter before me , i doubt not but with very little enlargement , i might draw tears from the eys of the greatest strangers to join with us in lamenting the losse of this excellent person . but give me leave to recal that word again , that word losse ; let us not say that she is lost , nemo perditus est quem deus in custodiam rapuit . as our saviour christ said of the maiden , she is not dead but sleepeth ; so we of her , she is not lost but laid up : as in a house where pretious things , plate , vessels of silver or gold are suffered for a while to go about the house for common uses , which afterwards the master of the house taking and locking them up out of sight ; servants missing them speak as if they were lost : thus did god suffer this vessel of honour to go about this his house even for common uses ; we had leave to converse with her , to eat with her , to drink with her , to pray and confer with her , but the master of the house hath now removed her out of sight , she is laid up amongst those things which are not seen , that are eternall . she is n●t lost , we know where she is ; i trust through the mercies of god in christ to her , we may say , she is ascended to her father and our father , to her god and our god . from henceforth weep we no more for her , but let us weep for our selves , our sins challenge all our tears ; for them weep and spare not : grudge at every tear spent and laid out upon other occasions , as waste , and of which no profit is to be made , only on this account ; what you sow in teares , you shall reap in joy : we have eternal things to look after , and our time is but short . concerning temporal things , when we have them , we must rejoice as though we rejoiced not ; and when we misse them , we must weep as though we wept not . as grotius in a consolatory letter , to a great man in france , after the death of his wife , told him , he had so many importaent businesses of state ( negotia tantae molis ac tanti laboris ) incumbent on him , which called to him hoc age lugere tibi non vacat , that he had no leisure to be sad , no time for weeping . eternal things are alwayes knocking at our doors , and crying in our ears , hoc agite , mind your businesse . your businesse lies all in that scripture which you have heard opened , with an item from which i will dismisse you , that you so live henceforth as those who looke not at the things which are seen , which are temporal ; but so live as becomes those who looke at things which are not seen , which are eternal . finis . errata . pag. 15. for communion , r. communication . p. 17 for possessio , r. possessione . p. 20. l. 12. r. nature and grace , by regenerate and unregenerate . dele the spirits . p. 28. for wiser , r. wise . p. 45. for in-clining , r. in lining . p. 66. l. 10. add , i might . l. 16. add she . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a41543e-380 drexelius de aeternit . 1 cor. 4. 11 for above 300 years together the roman bishops suffered martyrdome one after another jacobus revius hist. pontif . rom. notandae sunt elegantissimae antitheses quovis etiam demosthene non indignae . beza in loc. en quid nobis facil●s tole●atu faciat omnes mundi hujus miserias , n●mpe si cogitationes nostras ad regni caelestis ●ternitatem transf●ramus , calvin . in loc. heb. 11. 35 matth. 13. 21. 1 doct. heb. 1. 11 2 doct. 1 cor. 7. 39. 30. 3. doct. 2 cor. 5. 7. 1 gen. ● drexelius . psal. 90. 4 ▪ heri nostrum cras , & pridem , semper tibi nunc & idem : tuum deus , ●odiernum indivisum sempiternum . hildeberti hymnus . vsser . d● symb. eccles. 1. 4. boetius cardanus eccles. 3. 1. rev. 10. 6 facilius toto ann● solem aestivu● meridianum perf●ras oculis , quam homo temporis exi gui parte aeternitatis lucem intellectu possie contemplari . card. eph. 1. 12 john 3. 5. 1 john . 3. 1. isa. 49. 15. mat. 25. 34. john . 14 . 2 1 john 3. 2 heb. 11. 37. 2 cor. 6. 10 psal. 91. 11. 1 pet. 4. 14 2 cor. 6. 1● . 1 pet. 1. 4. 2 cor. 4. 27 heb. ii . 26 use 1. exo. 14 . 20. psa. 17 . 14 . 1 isal. 2. see a memorable story in b●ards theater of gods judgment 2 part pag. 1●0 . 1 sam. 26. 10. isa. 55. 2. psal. 36. ●2 . full . holy state . inter peritura vivimus . sen●ca . 2. 2 cor. 5. 6. 7. 1 thes. 4. 17. 18. 2 pet. 2. 7 , 8. psal. 7. 9. rsal . 102. 13. isa. 66. 13 vse 2. psal. 84. 11. ephes. 1. 3. 2 pet. 1 10. isa. 28. 18. hos. 13. 9. luke 12. 19. 〈…〉 2 cor. 9. 6 luk. 17. 27 2 cor. 13. 5 jer. 6. 30 luk. 6. 26 erasmus . grot. epist ad maurerium . 25 ieroboams sonnes decease a funerall sermon on part of 1 kings 14. 17. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. 1627 approx. 128 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01538 stc 11663 estc s102970 99838729 99838729 3117 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01538) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3117) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1066:03) ieroboams sonnes decease a funerall sermon on part of 1 kings 14. 17. by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith. gataker, thomas, 1574-1654. [4], 44 p. printed by iohn hauiland, london : 1627. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. 2005-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-07 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2006-07 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion ieroboams sonnes decease : a fvnerall sermon on part of 1 kings 14.17 . by thomas gataker b. of d. and pastor of rotherhith . london , printed by iohn haviland . 1627. to my loving friends and cosens , mr. nicolas crispe , and mris. anne crispe his wife . good cosens , i know not well , what should moue , either others to be so importunate with you , or you with me , for the making of this , preached at the late buriall of your little one , more publike . somewhat ( it seemeth ) you heard therein handled , that you either had not at all before heard ; or not deliuered ( which is more likely ) in that manner as then it was . and if it may bring any further light than hath formerly beene giuen , to the clearing either of that point so eargerly opposed by the pelagians , of sinne , and the guilt thereof in infants ; or of that other doubt rather so much debated by many , concerning the iustice and equity of gods proceedings in the punishing of parents in posterity ; and may either in that regard , or any other way , be vsefull , either to your selues , or others , it is enough . let it , howsoeuer , remaine as a pledge of my continued loue and affection to that family , which since my first acquaintance with , and alliance to , i haue found so much comfort in , and receiued so much kindnesse from ; and vpon which desiring god to continue , and multiply his graces and mercies , i take leaue , and rest yours euer in the lord iesus , thomas gataker . ieroboams sonnes decease . 1 king . 14.17 . the childe died . it was foretold by gods prophet of this childe , that it should die . and the prophet ( you see ) proued a true prophet : for ( saith my text ) the childe died . now howsoeuer a childes death may seeme a matter of no great moment ; yet the death of children , and more especially the death of this childe , being duely considered , may well afford much matter of good vse . the childe was ieroboams , a good sonne of a bad father , for his parents sinne by god smitten , before with sicknesse , and now with death . the storie briefly is this . ieroboam , king of the a ten tribes rent from salomons house , had out of b a wicked worldly policie , put downe gods true worship within his territorie , and set vp idolatrie in the roome of it . for this the wrath of god being incensed against him , the lord smote with sicknesse e a childe he had , which ( it seemeth ) was right deere vnto him . hereupon f the queene his mother , out of a motherly affection to her childe , desirous to know what was like to become of it , g with the aduice of her husband also , repaireth to one ahias a prophet of god , h who had sometime foretold her husband , being then but salomons seruant , that he should succeed his soueraigne in part of his soueraigntie . but because she thought shee should be no welcome guest to him , i she disguised her selfe that she might not be knowne . howbeit the prophet vnderstanding from god who shee was , told her , he had k heauie tidings from god for her : that her husbands house should be vtterly destroyed ; l god would sweepe it away , as a man sweepeth away doung , till none of it be left . m those of his stocke that died in the citie , should bee eaten with dogs , and those that died in the field , should bee deuoured by the fowles . n this alone of all the rest should die in his bed , be laid in his graue , and mourning made for him , because some good things were found in him , he had a good heart to god , as a childe might haue . and as the prophet foretold her , so accordingly it fell out : for no sooner was the queene his mother returned , but o euen as shee set foot vpon the threshold of the kings house , the childe died . now from this childes death thus considered , diuers points of instruction readily offer themselues vnto vs , some generall , some speciall : : i will pitch vpon two of either . the two generall points shall be ; points generall 2 the former , that euen children are tainted with sinne ; points generall 1 the latter , that death is euer at our doores . point generall 2 for the former , that euen children are tainted with sinne , we hence deduce it , in that point generall 1 they are subiect to death . for p death is the wages of sinne . and , q r for sinne it is that the body dies . and , ſ death came in by sinne . and , t because all haue sinned , therefore all die . u sinne and death , are as needle and threed ; the one entring before , is a meanes to draw on the other , x nor would the one follow , if the other went not before . y before sinne was , there was no death ; z nor shall there be any , when sinne shall be no more . it is apparant therefore , that euen children are not free from sinne , in that they are subiect vnto death . that which may also in few words be further confirmed vnto vs , by their birth ; by their new-birth . 1. by their birth , or their off-spring . a they come of sinnefull persons , of parents stained with reason 1 sinne . and b who can draw a cleane thing out of tha that is vncleane ? how can faire water come from a filthy spring ? yea euen the children of faithfull and sanctified parents ; howsoeuer ( for the comfort of those that haue them taken hence in their nonage ) they are by vertue of their parents copie , and gods gratious entaile , c within the compasse of his couenant ; it running in those termes , d i will bee thy god , and the god of thy seed ; and e the promise therefore is made not to them onely , but to their children too : and they are in that regard said in some sort to be f holy ; ( g if the root bee holy , the sprigs also be holy : ) and h cleane : ( i els were your children vncleane ; but now they bee cleane : ) and there is good hope therefore of the k saluation of such ; and much more comfort too , when they haue receiued also the seale of the same . yet certaine it is , that euen the children of the faithfull also , ( as dauid , who confesseth as much by himselfe , m euen bred in iniquitie , and borne in sinne ; ) are of themselues as deepely tainted with this corruption as any . for that n procreation being but a naturall act , the parents thereby can passe no more to their issue , than what they had naturally themselues . so o the l circumcised father bred an vncircumcised sonne : and p corne though it bee neuer so curiously seuered and clensed , from the straw by threshing , from the chaffe by winnowing , q yet commeth vp againe , if it be sowne , with both , as before . 2. by their new-birth . for r children should not reason 2 need either regeneration , or baptisme , the sacrament of it , were they not before , euen by their first breeding , defiled and polluted with sinne . for ſ nothing can spiritually pollute or defile , but it onely . bernard speaking of those words of the apostle , t we were by nature children of wrath , euen as well as the rest . u we are , saith he , by nature , children of gods wrath , but yet not children of gods rage , that is , of his implacable wrath , as x the deuills are , irrecouerably therefore damned . for , saith hee , y were i not by nature a childe of wrath , i should not need to be renewed ; but were i a childe of gods rage , or his implacable wrath , either should i neuer haue beene renewed , or i should neuer haue beene the better for being renewed . both by the first and the second breeding then it is apparent , that children are not free from sinne . if any shall moue doubt here , how children can haue sinne , who neither are yet able to doe , speake , wish , or thinke euill , yea that doe not so much as know what sinne is . 1. i might answer with a augustine , that albeit wee could not conceiue how infants should haue sinne ; yet vnderstanding out of gods word , that * death came in by sinne , and that it is an effect and fruit of sinne , wee must acknowledge that they are not free from the one , when we see them subiect to the other . but 2. i answer , that it may well be conceiued how euen children may haue sinne , though not able yet to act it , or to vnderstand at all what it is . instance 1 1. as the brood of aspes and vipers , ( for b such are we compared to ) c haue a poisonfull nature , before euer they come to venome or to sting any : or as the whelps of lions , wolues and beares ( for d such also are we said to be ) e haue a rauenous disposition in them naturally , before euer they come to bee able to prey , or to apprehend what prey is . instance 2 2. as wicked men f pauls viper , that lay stiffe with cold , and for the present therefore might bee handled without harme , and yet was it no lesse venomous all that while , than before . for is a bad man the lesse euill , when hee lieth fast asleepe ? or doth g he lay aside his wickednesse together with his weed . 3. take it by the contratie : as h a godly man is instance 3 in the like cases a good man still , though his senses be so locked vp for the time , and the vse of vnderstanding and reason so suspended , that hee can neither minde nor tend any good thing for the present . for it is no naturall accident that can impaire spirituall grace in him ; no corporall infirmitie or disease that can kill that incorruptible seed k of god once conceiued in the soule . and what should hinder , but that as much may be in a young childe , as in a godly man so affected ? 4. to reason therefore from the state and condition instance 4 of children themselues . they are capable of holinesse , euen while they are such . it is apparent in iohn the baptist , who was l filled with the holy ghost , euen from the wombe of his mother ; and ( as one of the ancients well saith ) was m new-bred , yet vnborne . yea so certaine it is of all young ones , that belong to gods election , that they are n regenerate and sanctified ere they goe hence : since that o no vnholy thing can enter into heauen , p nor q flesh and bloud inherite the kingdome of god. and if children may haue habituall holinesse in them , though they be altogether vnable yet to doe ought that is good , yea though they know not so much as what it meanes ; why may they not as well haue habituall i naughtinesse in them , albeit they be yet vnable vtterly to doe ought that is euill , or to r vnderstand so much as what it is ? this point then thus proued and cleered , the vse of it it ; vse 1 1. to acquite god from all imputation and aspersion of crueltie , or of iniquitie , if hee should haue taken euerie one of vs , as soone as wee came into the world , and throwne vs headlong ( as some wee need not doubt but hee doth ) into hell . wee brought that into the world with vs , for which hee might iustly haue so dealt with vs. nor is this discrepant from our owne courses in the like , kinde . ſ catch vs ( saith he ) the foxes , euen the young cubs too . t wee destroy the verie breed of venomous creatures , when wee can come by them , as well as those that they come of ; wee kill the young whelps , if we light on them , as well as the old wolfe or the fox ; not in regard of the hurt that they haue done , or are able yet to doe , but in regard of the harmefull disposition that is naturally in them . and iust may it be with god to doe the like by vs , in regard of that u euill disposition that is x bred and borne with vs. for who can in equitie denie the creatour that power ouer the creature , that the creature hath ouer its fellow-creature . vse 2 2. to shew the reason why it is so difficult a matter to make a man good . a man is euill by nature ; he is bred and borne such . and that ( we say ) that is bred in the bone , will not out of the flesh . b those things that are naturall cannot easily bee altred . you may tie or mousle a wolfe , so that hee cannot prey or bite ; or you may beat him so bound , till he bee not able to stirre ; but c you shall neuer bee able to beat his woluish nature out of him . but sinne it is naturall to vs , and cannot therefore bee remoued , but by a supernaturall power . as d no man is good , but of bad made good ; so no man can but e by a diuine power of bad be made good . sinne cannot be wrought out of vs by any meanes , but those that god himselfe hath sanctified and set apart for that purpose , and by his gratious blessing accompanying the vse of them . 3. to admonish parents of their dutie concerning vse 3 their children ; to begin as soone as they can with them , and as they are capable of ought , to vse the good meanes by god himselfe prescribed for the working of this inbred naughtinesse out of them . be as carefull for your children in regard of their soules , as you are wont to be f for their bodies . if ought grow awrie there , you are forward enough to be tampering about them , seeking helpe , and vsing meanes for them , while they age yet young , and their bones gristly and f tender , before the g ioynts be knit , and the bones growne stiffe , that may make it the more incurable . oh be as wise and as prouident for them in regard of their soules . since you are informed that they generally grow awrie by nature , vse with all speed ; and all diligence , all good meanes to remoue this enormitie , and to set them right and strait as soone as possibly may bee , before that nature and custome ( a h second nature ) concurring , make i the cure at least the more difficult , if not the euill irrecouerable . vse 4 4. to admonish each one for himselfe , to take heed how obstinately he goe on in sinne , how hee wilfully adde to this original corruption further actuall transgression . k it is sufficient ( saith the apostle ) that we spent the former time of our ignorance in the lusts of the flesh , &c. so it was sufficient , yea and more than sufficient for vs , that wee brought into the world with vs that inbred naughtinesse , for which god might iustly then haue destroyed vs. and if therefore l concerning the m goodnesse and long suffering of god , who hath hitherto borne with vs , and in much mercie forborne vs , wee shall still wilfully runne on in the practice of sinne , and so n adde drunkennesse to thirst ; we shall but o treasure vp wrath against the day of wrath , and make our iudgement at length the more intolerable . the other generall point , that from the death of children we obserue , is , that death is euer at our doores . p it lieth in wait for vs not in our fields , or our streets , or our shops , or our beds onely , but in our cradles to , in our swathing-bands , in the childe-bed , in the childe-birth . q none come into life , but by perill of death . death is neere at hand with vs , r not in our old age , or our decaying time onely , but in our mans estate also , in our riper yeeres , in our youth , in our childe-hood , in our infancie it selfe . how many are carried ſ from the wombe to the tombe , ( as iob speaketh ) from birth immediately to buriall ? yea , how many die t in the wombe ? how many perish vnborne , before euer they come to light , ere they know what life meaneth , or u wee know that they liue . that young goe as well as old , and children die as well as others , we haue as well a visible as a vocall sermon preaching it to vs at this present . that it is so therefore , it is of it selfe euident , and daily experience is a sufficient proofe of it . the reason why it is so , is no lesse apparent . for , to passe by that generall reason from the former point , that therefore children also are subiect to death , because they are not free from sinne ; 1. there is no certaine stint , tearme , or lease of reason 1 mans life . a our times are in gods hands . as for our b lands , so for our c liues we are but gods tenants at will. and he may turne our soules out of these d mud-walled cotages of our bodies , when hee will. e the f breath of man ( saith salomon ) is as g a candle of gods lighting . and as wee doe with our lights , so doth god with our liues : we light candles , and put them out againe as we list : some wee doe out as soone as they beginne but to burne ; some we let alone , till the wax or tallow be halfe wasted ; some till weeke and wax all be spent . so doth god with vs ; he setteth our h life vp as a light , and when he seeth good , hee doth it out againe , with some sooner , with some later , but with each one when himselfe will. reason 2 2. the bonds that tie soule and bodie together , are no stronger , if not rather more tender , in children , than in others of riper yeeres . i all flesh is as grasse . but children are as flowers , or blossomes , more tender vsually than any other part of the plant : the k flower sooner fadeth , than the herbe it selfe doth : the blossome is sooner blasted and blowne away , that the fruit that followeth it , is wont to be , when it is once knit . yea , to hold to our former resemblance ; a candle is sooner and more easily blowne out againe , when it is but new lighted , than when it hath burnt awhile . and with lesse difficultie is this light of life puft out in those , whom it is but newly , and scarce thorowly yet , kindled in . the vse whereof may be , vse 1 1. to discouer their folly , that presume of long life , in regard of health and youth . they are but young yet , and therefore they may liue long and see many a good day . and they are healthie and strong , and may therefore hold out as well as others , as long as any . yea , but there is none of those that thus say or thinke , so young , but they haue seene many younger goe ; none so strong , but that they may haue seene as strong , if not stronger , goe than themselues . m mans life is as a day . and as we see that daies are not all of one length ; there are summer , and there are winter dayes ; some longer , some shorter ; some of more , some of fewer houres : so is there no lesse varietie in the length and size of mens liues , according to that time that god hath pleased to allot each . but herein againe there is great difference betweene this naturall day and the day of mans life ; that n the naturall day , be it neuer so short , it hath a morning , a noone , an afternoone and an euening ; whereas the day of our life may haue a morning , and no noone , or a noone and no after-noone . o the sunne ( as the prophet speaketh in another sense ) may set with vs at noone day . we may be suddenly snatcht away p in the flower of our youth , in the prime of our age , in the height of our health , in the chiefe of our strength . yea , the q sunne may set with vs , so soone as it is vp ; it may but peere out , and twinckle awhile with a twy-light , and in the twinckling of an eye instantly goe downe againe . it is a vaine thing therefore , for any in regard of youth , to presume of long life , when as length of life no way dependeth vpon youth , and wee see young goe as well , yea as oft as old doe . vse 2 2. is it so that death is euer at our doores ? then it standeth vs in hand to liue euer in expectation of it . r doth death ( saith one ) he euerie where in wait for thee ? then thou also , if thou beest wise , wile be prepared alwaies for it . say thou as blessed iob saith , and doe as he ( no doubt ) also did ; ſ all the daies ( saith he ) of mine appointed time here , i will wait till my change come , that is , till the time come of my decease and departure hence . nor let the young man thinke that this lesson is for old men onely . no : t remember thy maker ( saith salomon ) in the daies of thy youth . u it standeth young men vpon as well as old , to prepare for death , because youth as well as old age is subiect to death . and though there may be affirmatiue , yet there are no negatiue signes of it . of doomes-day there are both ; of thy deaths day but the one onely . of the generall day of doome , there are signes both affirmatiue , such x as shew that it approacheth and draweth neere ; and negatiue , such as shew that it shall not be as yet , because they must goe before it , and it shall not come therfore , before they be fulfilled , as y was the reuelation of the man of sinne , and is yet z the conuersion of the iewish nation . but of the particular day of any mans death , howsoeuer there may be signes affirmatiue , such as shew the neerenesse of it , as old age , decay of nature , some diseases , and the like ; yet there is no negatiue signes of it ordinarily , ( howsoeuer a simeon and b some others haue had some extraordinarily giuen them ) such as may shew that as yet it shall not be . a man cannot say , i am young , and therefore i shall not die yet ; for c he may be taken away in his youth . a man cannot say , i am strong , and therefore i shall not die yet : for with the sudden stroake of an apoplexie may hee be strucke downe d in his chiefe strength . a man cannot say , i am healthie , and therefore i shall not die yet : for e there needs no long sicknesse , yea no sicknesse at all , to deliuer a man vp to death . as a man may die well before he be old , so may hee well die also , and yet neuer be sicke . since that death therefore lieth in wait for vs , as well in youth as in age , it behoueth young as well as old to be prepared for it . 3. are young children also subiect to death ? let those whom god hath blessed with children then , vse 3 hence bee admonished , to apply themselues betimes to worke good things into them ; since that they know not how soone they may bee taken away from them . that if it shall please god to call for their children , while they are but young yet , away from them , they may with the more comfort part with them , when they may bee able to say of them , as it is said f of the childe spoken of in my text , as young as they were , yet there were good things in them ; some seeds and sparks of grace began to appeare in them . wee are wont to be troubled , when god taketh them away from vs , if we haue not beene so carefull as wee thinke wee should haue beene , in something concerning the health of their bodies : but we haue more cause to be troubled , when our hearts shall tell vs , that wee haue beene negligent and retchlesse about them , in such things as concerned the state and welfare of their soules . 4. are our children thus subiect to death , and we vse 4 know not how soone they may bee taken away from vs ? then as the apostle speaketh in the like case , g let those that haue children be as if they had them not . not that parents should not loue and affect their children : they are h commanded so to doe : and they are worse , i say not , than heathen , but than i bruit beasts , that doe otherwise : and it is well made a note therefore of men k giuen vp to a reprobate minde , and cast behinde euen the gouernment of nature , as well as the guidance of grace , to be l deuoid of naturall affection . but that they should not so set and fasten their affections vpon them , that they should be vnwilling m to part from them , when god shall please to call for them , n from whom formerly they receiued them , and who hath therefore best right and title to them . so therfore must thou labour to haue thy children , and endeuour to stand so affected in regard of them , that if god should call for thine isaak , thy darling from thee , ( o take thine onely sonne , saith he , isaak , thy sonne that thou louest : ) thou maist be willing to offer him to god with thine owne hands . if he call for one of many , as p he of athens , when alcibiades a young gallant came reuelling into his house , as hee sate with some strangers at supper , and tooke away the one halfe of his plate ; and his guests stormed and tooke on at it ; q he told them , he had dealt kindly that hee less them the other hal●●● , that r he tooke not all , when all was his ; so repine not thou , for that that is gone , but be thankfull to god , for those that be left ; he that taketh one , might as well , if he would , haue tooke all , and it is his mercie if he leaue thee any . yea ; labour to bee like iob , to be affected as he was . when god tooke not one of them , but ſ all his children at once from him , t the lord ( saith he ) hath giuen ; and the lord hath taken : now blest bee his name . hee parteth with them as one would doe with a nurse childe , that the parents of it had sent for home againe . and indeed ( to speake as the truth is ) wee are but as foster fathers and nursing mothers to those children that god blesseth vs here with ; their true u father indeed is aboue in heauen . so therefore should we esteeme of them , as of children by god put to nurse to vs ; whom therfore , when he shall see good to call for them home from vs , we should be as willing to returne to him , as wee would a nurse childe , though we loued it as our owne , to the parents of it , when they should send for it ; the rather , knowing that they shall be , and doe better with him , than they haue done , or can doe with vs. and thus much for the two generall points that from hence we obserue : wee passe now to the speciall : which shall bee these two , that the good goe oft before the bad , and that , the good die oft-times for the bad . for the former , howsoeuer we might hence obserue , that the good goe as well as the bad . yet passing by that for the present , as hauing handled it on the like occasion a elsewhere , the point that i purpose now to insist on shall be this , that the good goe oft before the bad ; that they die not onely as well as they , but they die oft euen before them . so the prophet telleth vs , that b the righteous perish , and good men are taken away : when the wicked meanewhile are left behinde still . and the psalmist complaineth , that the godly were taken away so fast , that there was scarce one good man left . c helpe lord , ( saith he ) for there is not a godly man left , the faithfull are failed from among the children of men . but there is d a world of wicked ones left still . e the wicked ( saith he ) walke on euerie side . here we see ( to goe no further ) ieroboams good sonne taken away , when his vngodly father , and his wicked brethren , with the rest of that prophane and irreligious family still remaine . now this god thus disposeth , sometime in iudgement , and sometime in mercie . reason 1 1. in iudgement sometime . for f iudgement beginneth at gods house . g the cup of gods wrath is sent first to ierusalem : she beginneth to the rest of it . h the mortalitie at corinth seized vpon the beleeuers there for their abuse of the sacrament , s●●it some of them , and swepe away other some of them , when many an infidell escaped , and went scot-free the whiles . i the fruit tree is oft pared , and pruned , and trimmed ▪ while the brier standeth by it vnstirred and vntoucht , till it come at length to be f●●●od at once for the fire . the stormie shower and raine lighteth first on the high bils , and k hauing washed them , then runneth downe to the vale , and there t setleth with all the filth in the bottome . 2. in mercie , ( though in that iudgement also there reason 2 be mercie ; yea , it is not u mixt onely with mercie , but euen the verie iudgement it selfe also is a mercie , because x it preuenteth a greater mischiefe ; but this in meere mercie without admixtion of wrath , ) when ( as the prophet saith ) y they are taken away from the euill to come . so was it foretold iosias that he should be taken away , z that hee might not see the euill that should befall that place and his people . and so of this childe , that e hee should die before-hand , that he might not see and suffer in those fearfull iudgements that should betide his fathers house and stocke after his decease . god doth in this kinde , as wee would our selues in the like case , had wee children either at nurse or at schoole in some place , where some trouble were like shortly to bee ; and so dangerous being and abiding there for them : for example , had any of you had a childe at breda , abiding there to learne the language , or for some other such end , and should haue heard that spinola had an intent and purpose to come and sit downe with all his forces , as he did also , before it ; what course wouldest thou haue taken in this case ; but in all haste to send away for thy sonne , and to cause him to come home to thee , where he might be in better safetie ? * in like manner doth god with his that hee hath at nurse or at schoole here , when trouble and danger is toward those places where they make their abode , he calleth for them away , he taketh them home to himselfe , where they are sure to be safe , farre from touch or view of euill . yea but , how doth god ( may some say ) then make good a his promise of long life , made to good and obedient children ? such as wee need not doubt but that this son of ierobeams was ; for where there is goodnesse to god , there cannot but be a care of all good dutie and due respect to those that are as b in gods roome , and whom c god hath enioyned honour to be giuen vnto . to this i answer ; answer 1 1. that long life is there promised so farre forth as it may bee a benefit and a blessing . now howsoeuer it may be a blessing to liue long , to d see ierusalem in prosperitie , and peace vpon israel : yet to liue long , e to see the enemie in the gates of our people , to see f the canaanite in gods house , g gods aduersaries roaring in the middest of his sanctuarie , and their ensignes in way of triumph set vp in his temple : so to liue long , i say , might be no benefit at all , might bee a curse rather than a blessing : because h so to liue long , were but to liue long in miserie , so to liue long , were rather i to bee long a dying , than to liue long : for how can a man bee said truely k to liue then , answer 2 when he hath l no comfort of his life ? 2. god in such cases maketh his word good , in that in stead of a lesse good , he giueth a better a greater . to vse chrysostomes comparison : m thou commest to a gold-smith or a ieweller , that hath among other stones on his stall , a sorrie achate , and a rich adamant ; thou cheapenest , and bargainest with him for the achate , and in stead of the achate hee deliuereth thee the adamant ; wouldest thou say , he did thee wrong ? or suppose thou commest to a great landed man , and dealest with him for some terme of yeeres in a farme ; and when the deeds come to be drawne , he maketh ouer to thee the fee-simple of a manour . euen so dealeth the lord here . n the king ( saith he ) asked life of thee , and thou gauest him long life , euen for euer and euer . hee promiseth long life , and for that lease of life of some few yeeres continuance , he bestoweth a perpetuitie ; in stead of a miserable long life here , hee giueth a blessed and incorruptible eternall life elsewhere . hee maketh them payment ( saith o chrysostome ) in stead of p blacke moneyes in a strange countrey , in q good gold at home in their owne . now the consideration hereof may 1. teach and admonish vs , to suspend our censures vse 1 in regard of those that are taken away from vs : and not to iustifie our selues in regard of those that we suruiue in times of mortalitie , or that perish at any time when wee escape . they may goe for the better , and we be reserued for worse matters , to see and suffer more miserie which they are taken away from . r these shall be my ſ iewels ( saith god by malachy ) in the day that i doe this . god doth , as men in the like cases . if their houses be on fire , or in danger of fiering , their iewels and their treasure is that that they haue most care of , and that in the first place therefore they will endeuour to remoue : so doth god with his , that are his iewels and his treasure , ( for so t he termeth them , and so he esteemeth them ) when the fire of his wrath is seized , or ready to seize on the places they abide in , hee snatcheth them thence , and remoueth them to places of better securitie . and what place more secure than heauen , his owne house ? or where can they be safer than with himselfe ? vse 2 2. it may comfort parents , in regard of their children that god taketh away from them , especially hauing seene signes of grace and goodnesse in them , such as their tender age and few yeeres may afford : that it is no argument of gods hatred , no nor of his anger alwayes , to be soone taken away . a they goe soonest oft , whom he best loueth . those children that their parents most affect , though they put out from them vpon necessarie occasions , yet they desire as soone as may bee to haue home to them againe ; especially if they be not like to doe so well where they are , or if some sicknesse and mortalitie begin to reigne in those parts . nor may they doubt , being good children , but that the change shall be with them for the better : hee that hath b promised them long life , will make his word good to them with aduantage . they shall haue c true life indeed for that , which in comparison of it , is d not worthy the name of life ; and for this transitarie and temporall , that euerlasting and eternall . besides that , they know not what a mercie it may bee to them , that they are so soone taken , and what miserie they might haue liued either to fee or to suffer . that which , as the times are , considering how the aduers●…rie getteth ground daily on gods inheritance ; and how the scourge hath runne ouer a great part of gods portion ; and that we know not how soone it may passe ouer vnto vs to ; may serue much to mitigate the griefe that parents are naturally affected with for the losse of their little ones ; since that they know not e what euils their children are taken away from , or what they themselues may liue to see , which would be farre f heauier vnto them for such hanging vpon them , than they would be for themselues otherwise . howsoeuer , they may assure themselues , that their children gone to god , are g safer and better with him , than they either were , or euer could haue beene with themselues here . and thus much for the former speciall point , to wit , that the good goe oft before the bad . we passe now to the latter of them , which ( as before you heard ) is , that the good goe oft times for the bad . and ( if you please ) yet a little more generally one way , though more specially another ; that branch 1 the child suffers oft for the fathers offence . let them be , whether you will , either two distinct branch 2 points , or two seuerall branches of one and the same point : since that both of them alike arise from my text , and there is in it a pregnant example of either . for the former of them , that the good goe for the bad . wee haue a precedent of it in that good king iesus , b who was cut off , and his life shortned for the sins of his people , and the remainder of manasses his sinnes rife still among them : as also in this good child taken away for the sinnes of ieroboam . now the reason why the godly goe thus for the wicked , is reason 1 1. that they may not perish with and among them , when some heauie iudgement is comming in vpon them . as c god sent his angels to fetch lot and his out of sodome , when sodome was to be destroyed with fire and brimstone from heauen , that they might not be 〈◊〉 vp with the inhabitants of it : d he caused noa to goe into the arke , as it were out of the world , when hee was determined to drowne the world with a generall deluge , that hee might not with the rest miscarry : so tooke hee here ieroboams sonne out of the way , e that hee might not be either eaten with dogs , or deuoured with the fowles , as the residue of that impious house and race were . reason 2 2. that they may not preserue those from perishing , whom god is determined to destroy . it is said of moses , that f he stood in the gap , to keepe out gods wrath , from breaking in vpon his people , when god was minded to destroy them . and of phineaz , that g when the plague had made a breach in vpon them , he was a meanes to stay it from further proceeding . god therefore when hee is res●lu●d , to proceed in iudgement against a people , hee taketh those away from them , that may intercede for them , that by their h presence or i prayers , may stay his hand , as moses , ( k let me alone , saith god to him , that i may destroy this people ) and as lot , ( l i can doe nothing , saith hee , as long as thou art here ) that may turne away the storme , as he did m from zoar , that had else as well as n sodome , gomorrha , o adamah , & zeboim beene destroyed ; that may stand in the gap , when it is breaking in , or make the breach vp againe , when it is broken in , and preserue from perishing either in whole or in part . god , hee doth , as men are wont to doe with those they desire to destroy . hee that would set vpon a strong man , ( saith out sauiour ) will p first , if he can , disarme him . they that would conquer a countrey , if they can seize vpon their munition , will not faile to make themselues first masters of that ; for they know then , they shall haue no power to resist . now the godly , they are the munition , the strength of a state ; q the chariots and horse of israel ; saith r elizaeus of elias , and king ſ ioas of elizaeus . these therefore god taketh away , and so disarmeth a state , when he is bent to destroy it , that so his wrath may finde no resistance . and there bee but any one good in ieroboams house , goe he must : gods sentence against it cannot be executed , till he be taken out of it . the vse whereof may be , 1. to informe vs , what we may iustly feare and vse 1 expect , when god picketh out the good , and taketh many of them away . it is a signe some fearefull euill is towards , where he so doth . it is a presage of warre towards , either with or in a countrey , when men on all hands , such especially as are acquainted with state-affaires , seeke to get home with all expedition , whatsoeuer goods or wares they haue in those parts , and much more their friends and children , if they haue any resiant there . and it is a forewarning of little good towards a place , where god doth the like with those that be his deere ones , his darlings . besides that a the holy seed ( saith esay ) vpholdeth the land . and , b the innocent ( saith eliphaz ) preserueth the iland : ( as c some reade it : ) or ( as d others ) the iland of the innocent shall hee deliuer : ( that is , god will saue it for his sake : ) or ( as others againe , whom i should chuse to goe with , no lesse agreeably to our purpose : ) e he shall saue him , that is not guiltlesse himselfe ; and euen such shall be deliuered for the puritie of thy hands : that is , some one good man , such as f iob was , may be a meanes to saue and deliuer a whole citie of men , otherwise guilty and readie for their sin to be destroyed . but to returne againe to that of esai : there seemes g an allusion in it to h a banke or a causey mentioned in the storie , that went from the kings house to the temple , & was borne vp with trees planted on either side of it . which trees ( saith the prophet ) as they kept vp the causey , so the holy and godly in a land support and hold vp the state . and as those trees , if they were remoued , the banke or causey would soone come downe : so that holy seed , if it be once taken away , that whole land or state is likely to come shortly after to ruine . as it was a signe therefore , that sampson meant to bring downe the house vpon the heads of the philistines , when i he pulled downe the pillars that bare vp the roofe of it . so it is a shrewd signe , that god is about to ruine a state , when he plucketh away those that are the shores and the props of it . as it is an argument of destruction towards , when k he taketh away the mightie , the man of warre , the iudge and the prophet , the prudent and the ancient , the captaine or commander , the honourable and the counsellor , the cunning artificer , and the eloquent orator : so it is no lesse , ( if not much more ) an argument of the like , l when he taketh away the good and godly , the righteous and religious . since the one are the temporall , the other the spirituall staies of a state : the one support it against the power and policie of man , the other protect vse 2 it against the wrath and iudgements of god. 2. this considered , may teach vs , what cause we haue to pray earnestly for the life and continuance of good and godly men among vs : and how iust cause of griefe and sorrow is giuen vs , when it seemeth good to god to take any such from vs. there goeth a prop or shore of our state away , when any such goeth . how would we be grieued , if we should haue newes brought of some one of the kings ships lost or cast away at sea ? and that not without cause : for our shipping is the strength of our state ; they are ( as we terme them ) our m woodden wals . and no lesse cause haue we to mourne , when we lose a good man ; ( such an one especially as is in eminent place with vs , ) since that such are indeed , ( as he said sometime of his warlike n citizens ) the best wals and bulwarks of our state . but leaue wee this , and passe on to the last branch , which is , that children suffer oft for their parents : that children , i say , as well good as bad , suffer oft-times at gods hand for their parents offences : god punisheth the one ofttimes in the other . so punished he o pharao by the death of his first-borne , for his obstinate refusall to dismisse his people . so he punished p dauid , by the decease of the childe begotten in adulterie , for that enormious act of his . and so ieroboam here q for his idolatrie , by the losse of a sonne , that no doubt to him was verie deere . yea , it is that that god threatneth , as well r in the sanction of the second precept , as oft also ſ elsewhere , that he will visit , that is , punish the iniquitie of parents vpon their posteritie , and that not vnto one or two alone , but euen to three or foure descents . so not t canaan onely was cursed for his father chams offence ; and u all achans family destroyed for his fault ; but x the leprosie of naaman for giezies falshood stucke by him and his posteritie so long as any of them lasted . the reason of this course that god taketh oft-times in punishing of the transgressions of parents by paines inflicted vpon their children is , reason 1 1. because children are a part of their parents possessions . it is reported of a persian emperour , artaxerxes the long-handed , that b for such faults of his nobles and chieftaines , as their haire had wont to bee pulled , their head-tire or turbants should bee openly so vsed , and for such offences as their bodies had wont to be beaten , their robes should publikely be scourged ; which was deemed to them no small disgrace . and in like manner ( saith theodoret , speaking of the plague of leprosie in mens houses and garments ) doth god deale with men : c when they offend themselues , god punisheth them not in their persons alwayes , but ofttimes in their possessions , in their goods and chattels , in their worldly estate . and if in their possessions , no maruell if in their children to , being part of their possessions , as is euident by the commission giuen and granted to satan , concerning power ouer iobs possessions , d which comprehended his children as well as his chattels , as appeareth by the execution of it . 2. yea , children are not part onely of their parents reason 2 possessions , but they are e part ( in some sort ) of the parents themselues ; or f of one and the same bodie at least with them . as g the subiects and the soueraigne make ioyntly one body politicke , and h the losse of the subiects therefore is a punishment to the soueraigne : and god doth sometime punish the soueraigne so ( witnesse * dauid ) in the subiect . so the father and the whole family make both as one body ; and euill befalling any of them is a punishment to him , especially befalling one so neere as a childe : ( i haue mercie on mee , lord ; saith the mother : my daughter is distracted : k her daughters paines were a punishment to her : ) and god doth oft punish the father or master so ( witnesse l abimelech ) in his family , and those that be of it . he doth m as the physitian that openeth a veine in the arme , or ( it may be ) in the foot either , for some disease in the head . for so he let pharao bloud in the right arme , when n hee smote his first borne for his fault : so he let o dauid bloud in the feet , that is , p in his subiects , ( for they are the q feet that the soueraigne standeth vpon ) for his offence . but how , may some say , doth this stand with gods iustice to punish one for another . or how can threatning to punish sinne so in posteritie , stand with that which god himselfe enacteth elsewhere , that r the childe shall not suffer for his fathers offence ; or with his answer to the people , that had gotten vp a bad prouerb , ſ the fathers haue eaten sowre grapes , and the childrens teeth are set on edge : thereby meaning that t their fathers had sinned , and they suffered : that , u the soule that sinneth should it selfe die the death , and x not one suffer for another . this question hath not a little troubled many , both old and new writers : and that place in the law , hath verie much puzzled many , yea , the most of the ancients , beside others ; which in that regard they haue laboured , some of them to diuert by allegoricall interpretations ; some to auoid by ouer-violent & forced expositions ; some to salue by strange and needlesse shifts . some of thē ( i say ) expound the words allegorically ; euasion 1 either a of satan , and his sonnes , all wicked ones ; exposition 1 whom b god punisheth here that they may not be damned with him hereafter , c reseruing the deuill their father to the last day of doome : or d of degrees of sin in the soule , making the first exposition 2 motions of sin the father ; the consent to sin the son ; the act of it the grand childe ; and obstinacy or glorying in it the great grand-childe : that god spareth men oft for the first and second , but e striketh home when sinne is come to her height in the two last . but to frame allegories thus without need or ground , is but * to wrong the text ; to peruert the purpose of gods spirit , and to make god himselfe speak that , that he neuer therein meant , nor intended . others take the words literally ; but expound them either nothing agreeably , or euen directly contrary euasion 2 to the intent of gods spirit in them . some not of punishing sinnes vpon such descents , but f of deferring and putting off the punishment of exposition 3 sinne to such a descent , as a matter not of wrath and iudgement , but of mercy rather and patience : which some of them also in particular apply to the iewish people ; either g in the first generation punished , after their departure out of egypt , for all their idolatries during that whole time committed ; h or else ( as some other ) captiued in the third , and destroyed in the fourth age of the world . now howsoeuer it be true indeed , that god in mercy sometime deferreth iudgement from the fathers daies to the sons , as he did in i ahab . yea and in ieroboam too ; for his stocke was not so destroyed as was k threatned , till l after his decease : yea hee deferreth it , as with m particular pesons , so with n whole peoples and states for many descents , till their sinnes be come to a certaine height . yet the opposition there o of mercie to be shewed to thousands on the other side , that is , both to them and theirs , sheweth that the place cannot be so expounded . others vnderstand it of originall sinne onely , exposition 4 which deduced from adam , is , and hath beene from time to time for many descents punished in his posteritie with death ; and r which as the parents fault the child standeth charged withall , p till by the new birth it be dissolued ; q or at least vntill it come to haue iniquitie of it owne . but this will as euill hold as the former : for , 1. neither is any one ordinarily punished for exception 1 anothers originall sinne , but for ſ his owne : 2. nor will the t stinting of descents to three or foure on the one side , opposed to that u large extent exception 2 of mercie on the other side , admit this exposition : 3. nor is there difference in this kinde between exception 3 either good and bad , or the posteritie of either ; both alike tainted with originall sinne , and both alike liable to temporall death : 4. nor doth it stand with the drift and scope of the place , x to deterre from idolatrie an actuall exception 4 transgression for feare of punishments vpon posteritie : 5. nor are euen the regenerate freed from sustaining such punishments for their parents offences ; exception 5 6. or the growne and great ones any more exception 6 than infants , howsoeuer hauing actuall sinnes indeed also otherwise of their owne . but the sense and meaning of the place is so plaine and euident , that by no meanes it can be auoided ; and a verie pregnant proofe it is of the present point , that children suffer oft for their fathers faults . nor need we haue recourse here for the acquiting euasion 3 of gods iustice , or the reconciling of his doomes , to those shifts and salues , that some other haue here vsed : as to say , 1. that it was a threatned indeed , but neuer executed : exposition 5 for that god oft in such cases is better than his word : b hee threatneth to terrifie , but intendeth not what he threatneth : yea , c that it were impious to take it as intended so , as the threatning seemeth to import . exception 1 for 1. neither are d gods threatnings in vaine ; as e they should be , should they neuer take effect ; since that f no iot or tittle of his word is such : exception 2 2. neither want wee examples , many a one , of the execution hereof ; as hath formerly beene shewed : exception 3 3. nor , albeit g god in mercie sometime reuoke his sentences , doth he euer threaten ought that hee may not iustly inflict . exception 4 4. nor is it impious to say , that god intendeth ought that hee threatneth : impious rather it may seeme to be , to say that it is impious to auow it . or 2. that it was for a time onely enacted , h to exposition 6 tame that stiffe-necked people by feare of hauing their posteritie punished , but was i afterward reuersed , when they were amended . as if that in k ezechiel were a reuocation of the former . for 1. neither are the sanctions of the law morall , exception 1 of lesse continuance than the law it selfe , l which lasteth for euer . exception 2 2. nor was it gods purpose there to reuoke or alter ought of his former courses , m the equitie whereof he there auowes ; and n this among the rest is auerred , by another prophet of the same time , to haue beene euen then gods wonted practice . exposition 7 or 3. that this concerneth o the iewes onely , who p beyond that q they wished themselues , should be punished for christs death , not in their children alone , but in their childrens children too for many descents ; but concerneth not christians , r of whom that other should be meant in ezechiel . for 1. both the former is more generall . 2. nor is there difference in gods dealings betweene exception 1 iew and christian in this kinde . exception 2 3. not to adde that euen the faithfull themselues exception 3 sometime haue so suffered . exception 4 4. nor doth either this or the former any way assoile the doubt or vntie the knot , concerning the iustifiablenesse or equitie of the point or practice questioned , but restraine onely the execution of it to some people or persons . or 4. that therefore god may iustly punish children exposition 8 for their fathers offences , because ſ they stand guiltie of the same in gods sight : which guilt yet t how farre it goeth , they dare not determine . for 1. this is a conceit that * hath no ground at all exception 1 in gods word : which if it be admitted , that of the heathen man of u the world growing worse and worse , would be true , not onely as he meant of it , of the practice of sinne , but much more in regard of the guilt of sinne more and more multiplied in each seuerall descent . 2. nor will x gods blessing of posteritie for the ancestors well-doing , ( a worke of meere grace and free exception 2 fauour onely ) proue a speciall guilt of an ancestours particular misdeeds to adhere to any of his issue . a king may well y reward a man for seruice , done him by his father . yet it followeth not thence , that he may therefore in like manner either z condemne him or execute him for his fathers offence . exposition 9 or 5. that this sentence is neuer put in execution , but a where the children tread in their fathers steps , and doe in impietie or iniquitie imitate their bad parents : for that when they cease to follow their bad parents base practice● , they b then cease to bee their sonnes . and that therefore is there mention made of the third and fourth descent onely , because that c parents may liue so long , and their euill examples consequently be seene of their issue . exception 1 for 1. the verie example that wee haue here in hand , of a good sonne smitt●n for his bad fathers offence , doth directly proue the contrarie . exception 2 2. nor seemeth it stinted to the third and fourth descent , so much , because parents may liue so long to giue euill examples to their issue , as because they may liue so long to see gods iudgements on it . exposition 10 or lastly , that it is then onely executed , d when impietie runneth on so from descent to descent , as hereditarie , that the whole race it selfe seemeth e worthy to be vtterly rooted and raced out . for besides the former exceptions , which here also hold ; the examples some of them before produced doe euidently euince the contrarie . thus you see how about the solution of this question many haue beaten their braines , and those men of great note , and yet haue giuen no good or iust satisfaction therein . for the vntying therefore of this knot , rather snarled more and entangled , than by them vnknit , and the reconciling of those seeming differences betweene the texts of scripture before mentioned , let me intreat a while your best attention to that that shall be deliuered , that i may not be in ought therein mistaken . first therefore let it be considered , that f all men ( father and sonne , as well the one as the other ) considerati ∣ on 1 owe a death vnto god ; g which hee may iustly require whensoeuer , and wheresoeuer , on what occasion , and by what meanes soeuer he will. h god therefore for the sinne of achan , might command his whole houshold , and his children among the rest , ( though not i priuie to , or guiltie of that offence of his ) to be put to death , and so punish him in them as well as in his owne person , because they ought all of them a death to him , which on that occasion he might require . but k amazias may not put to death the sonnes of those traytors that slew the king his father ; according to that l law which god had enacted betweene man and man to be obserued : because they were no way obnoxious to him , neither did they by any law or statute humane or diuine owe a death vnto him otherwise . yea the iustice and equitie of gods dealing in this kinde may bee further cleered euen by such courses as men also may lawfully take : for suppose we some great noble-mans only sonne and sole heire condemned to die , for some rape or robberie by him committed . howbeit his soueraigne considering that the young man is one of good parts otherwise , and may hereafter doe his king and countrey good seruice , though he were ouertaken in that act ; as also out of pitie to his fathers house , loth to see an ancient family vtterly extinguished in him ; and besides , hauing earnest suit made in his behalfe by diners neere about him is inclining , yea & purposed to grant him his pardon . but in the interim , while the matter hangeth yet in suspence , it commeth to be discouered , that the noble-man his father hath his hand in some foule treason , hath entred into conspiracie either with some forraine 〈◊〉 or some domesticall traitour against the person of his prince . now hereupon his soueraigne , altring his minde and purpose concerning his sonne , causeth him instantly to bee brought out and executed in the sight of his father , whom after also hee disposeth of according to his desert . in which case the sonne ( you see ) is punished for his fathers offence , but for which hee might haue escaped : and the father is punished in the sonne ; his sonnes death ( no doubt ) being no lesse punishment to him than his owne : and yet is there no wrong or iniustice done either to father or sonne , because both had deserued death , and death was therefore due to either . and herein erred those wicked iewes , that charged god with iniustice , that they complained that their fathers had done amisse , and that m they ( themselues being no way faultie ) suffered onely for their fathers faults . whereas indeed , vile wretches , n they were euerie whit as bad , or worse rather than they , and o bare the burden of their owne iniquities . secondly , let it be considered , that god layeth consideration 2 no temporall iudgement at any time vpon any , but hee is able to turne the same p to the good of the partie vpon whom it is inflicted . and that he doth so , as here also hee did , when hee layeth any outward euill on a godly person for the sinne of some wicked one , and so punisheth ( as he doth oft also ) the bad in the good . for the better cleering of this , wee may well make vse of that distinction so rise in the schooles , that q these outward temporall euills , or penall sufferings are in the nature , sometime of a curse . sometime of a cure . and accordingly there is a foure-fold course of gods dealings in these cases . course 1 for sometime god punisheth a bad father in a bad sonne ; and then it is not a crosse onely , but a curse to both . so god punished ( wee may iustly deeme ) r pharao in his first-borne . course 2 sometime hee punisheth a good father in a good sonne ; and then it is , though a crosse , yet a cure to both . so punished he ſ dauid ( i●…e may well iudge ) in his young childe . course 3 sometime hee punisheth a good father in a bad sonne ; and then it is a cure to the father , and a curse to the sonne : so punished he the same . t dauid in his sonne absolom . course 4 sometime hee punisheth a bad father in a good sonne ; and then it is a curse to the father , and a cure to the sonne . so punished hee u ieroboam in his sonne here mentioned . and that which was no doubt a great and grieuous crosse and plague to his father , yet proued through gods goodnesse in mercie wisely so disposing it , no lesse x a benefit and blessing to the childe . thus then i hope that by this time you see , how god without any the least blemish to his iustice , may by death take away the sonne for his fathers branch 1 offence . branch 2 why man may not ordinarily doe therein as god doth : and yet that in some cases men doe also , and may well doe the same . branch 3 that the wicked iewes had no iust cause to charge ▪ god with iniustice for his dealings with them , albeit that he should so haue done . and how god can turne to the good of a good child , branch 4 the euill that he suffers for his bad fathers default ; though to his vngodly parent the same be a fearefull iudgement , and not a crosse only , but a curse too . now a word or two of vse , and so an end . and first it may admonish parents to be the vse 1 more carefull to shun sinne , if not for their owne a , for their childrens sake yet : because their sinnes may bring iudgements vpon their children also , euen as well as vpon themselues . there is no parent , if he be not wholly stript of naturall affection , but desires the welfare of his child . yea , b parents are vsually wont to be more charie of their childrens welfare than of their own . art thou desirous then of thy childrens well-doing ? doe not wilfully that that may any way impeach it . and nothing may sooner doe it than thy sinne . as thine obedience and vpright carriage of thy selfe in gods sight may procure c a blessing euen to thy posterity : so thy sinne and transgression may bring d euill also vpon it . what a griefe would it be to any of vs that haue children , if in playing with one of them wee should let it fall vnwittingly , whereby the childe should get a knocke , that it should lie long sicke , and at length die of ? take heed then how to satisfie some wanton lust or desire of thine , thou doe wilfully that that may prouoke god to wrath , & cause him to lay the like on thy childe , as thou seest that in the like cases sometime he hath done . yea , consider with thy selfe , if shortly after some such wilfull running out of thine , and giuing way to thine vnrestrained corruption , some such thing should befall thy childe , and e thy guilty conscience shall then ( as it may iustly ) suggest vnto thee , this may well be the hand of god vpon my childe for mine excesse , or my sinne ; f what griefe and anguish of heart must it needs procure to thee , and possesse thy soule withall , when thou shalt euer and anon bee thinking , and saying within thy selfe , g all this torment doth this poore infant endure for my sake , for my sinne . we cry out oft of witches , when our children are strangely taken , and say such a one hath bewitched them , when we are the witches our selues ; and , as hee saith of the h wine , that men take aboue measure , it is our sinne that hath bewitched them . nor let gods children thinke themselues priuileged in this kinde more than others . i dauid ( you heard ) was so punished , as well as ieroboam , howsoeuer god turned it to his good ; and that not in one onely , but i in diuers of his . and if other of gods children shall in like manner grow wanton , and presuming on gods goodnesse , shall take liberty to themselues , to walke loofely , and run riot ; god may iustly by the like iudgements call them home againe , and reclaime them , which may be also for their good . vse 2 to conclude , it may teach parents what vse to make of gods hand vpon their children . that they take occasion thereby to looke home to themselues , examine their hearts , view and sur●ey their liues , make inquiry what corruption of theirs either swaying ( without controll ) in the one , or breaking out by way giuen to it in the other , might giue god iust occasion to lay that crosse vpon them : and in more speciall manner , ( because k god oft punisheth vs in those things that we offend in ; as he punished dauid in his children , for his ouer-much l indulgence towards them ) wherein we haue beene faulty about them , and defectiue in our duty toward them , either in fond affection , or neglect of instruction and correction , or the like . now , where is there almost any that thinke in such cases on this ? we are troubled to thinke , when our children are euill , that we haue let them go too thin clad , and so they haue caught cold : but wee thinke not how carelesse we haue beene of cloathing ( not their bodies , but ) their soules . we are troubled when they are gone , to thinke that we omitted this or that meanes of helpe for them . but we are not troubled to thinke , that we neglected the best meanes with them , and those that concerned not their temporall but their eternall good . or wee are not troubled for this , that we brake not off , or humbled our selues for some sinne , which repented of might haue kept them still with vs. neither yet doe i , or dare i affirme generally , that this is alwaies the cause why god crosseth men in their children : he may doe , and doth it also ( no doubt ) many times , for the m triall and n exercise of his gifts and graces in them , their patience , obedience , confidence in god , and the like , and for other ends to himselfe best knowne , as to make way for some other worke of his . it was not for any speciall sinne of iob , that o his children were all at once so destroyed , though it were a : grieuous crosse vnto him . it was p not for any speciall sinne of his parents ( our sauiour himselfe faith it ) that that poore beggar in the gospell was borne blinde . howbeit , since that we learne out of gods word , that god doth frequently inflict such euills vpon , children for the transgressions of their parents , yea , and he hath threatned also so to doe : it standeth vs vpon , and it is one of the best vses that we can make , as of those crosses that god layeth on vs in our goods and chattels , and our worldly estates ; so , much more of those that in our children ( who are much neerer than those to vs ) doe befall vs , that we take occasion thereby q to sife and search out our wayes , and to humble our selues in , the sight of god for our sinnes . had iereboam so done , peraduenture hee might haue saued his sonnes life , he had at least preuented other iudgements more fearefull , that for want thereof after befell him and his . and wee by so doing , may either remoue gods hand lying heauy on our children , and on vs also in them , or at least we may haue the crosse so qualified and sanctified , that it shall turne to the good both of vs and ours . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01538-e390 death of children . of this childe . ieroboams . the storie . a 1 king. 11.31 . & 12.20 . b 1 king. 12.26 , 27 , 28. e abijas his son , 1 king. 14.1 . f vers . 4. g vers . 2. h 1 king. 11.30 , 31. & 14.2 . i vers . 2. k vers . 6. l vers . 10. m vers . 11. n vers . 12 , 13. o vers . 17. points . generall . speciall . p rom. 6.23 . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , stipendium : à re militari translatum . mortis stipendium : vitae donatiuum . tertull. de resurr . carn . r rom. 8.10 . ſ rom. 5.12 . t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propterea quod . ibid. ita potius quam , in quo vti vulg. & aug. de peccat . mer. & rem . c. 10. & ad epist . pel. l. 4. c. 4. & de verb. ap. 7. & 14. & alibi . u mors & peccatum , vt acus & filum . sequatur necesse est poena peccatum . aug. de praedest . & grat . c. 3. x intrare mors non posset , nisi intrante peccato . aug. ibid. y gen. 2.17 . z apoc. 21.4 . 1 cor. 15.26 , 54. confirmation by reasons 2. a in vtero damnati ante quam nati , quia de peccato & in peccato procreati & parti . bern. de temp . 70. b iob 14.4 . c fidei candidati , tertull. de monogam . & hieron . ad ocean . & ad paulin . quaest . 2. d tibi & semini tuo . gen. 17.7 , 10 , 11. e vobis & liberis vestris . act. 2.39 . f quomodo vasa in tabernaculo sancta dicuntur , quia sacris vsibus destinata , cum vtique sancta esse non possint , nisi ea quae sentiunt & venerantur deum . hieron . ad paulin. quaest . 2. g rom. 11.18 . h quomodo gal. 2.15 . non natura peccatores ex gentibus . cartwr . dum in christo censentur , ex parentumfide . morton . i 1 cor. 7.14 . k matth. 19.14 . m psal . 51.5 . n de mundatis nascitur non mundatus , quia tales non facit generatio sed regeneratio . a peccatis itaque nemo nascendo , sedomnes renascendo mundamur . aug. de pecc . mer. & rem . l. 3. c. 9. cum sit i●… progenie natorum generatio carnalis , in progenie renatorum regeneratio spiritualis , vis vt de baptisato baptisatus nascatur , cum videas de circumciso non nasci circumcisum ? carnalis est certè ista generatio , & carnalis est circumcisio ; & tamen de circumciso non nascitur circumcisus : sic ergò de baptisato non potest nasci baptisatus . aug. de verb. ap. 14. & albert . in ioan. 3. vide & eund . de verb. ap. 8. o peccatum quod mundatur per baptismum manet in eis , quos genuerunt baptisati , quomodo praeputium , quod per circumcisionem aufertur , manet in eis , quos genuerunt circumcisi . aug. de pecc . mer. & rem . l. 3. c. 8. l rom. 4.11 . cum col. 2.11 , 12. p 1 cor. 15.37 . seritur solummodo granum sine folliculi veste , fundamento spica , numimento aristae , superbia culmi : exurgit copia faeneratū , compagine aedificatum , ordine structum , cultu munitum , vsque● quaque vestitum . tertull. de resurr . carn . q pone granum purgatum ; de grano purgato frumentum cum palea nascitur , sine qua seminatur . aug. de verb. ap. 14. palea quae tanta diligentia opere humano separatur , manet in fructu , qui de tritico purgato nascitur . idem de pec . mer. & rem . l. 3. c. 8. transmittere p●ssunt ad posteros , quod ipsi non habent , vt paleam frumentum , circumcisus praeputium , sic fideles infidelitatem . est in illis remissione mundatum , quod est in istis simili remissione , velat circumcisione , velut irituratione & ventilatione mundandum . ibid. c 9. r non ob aliud instiuta est regeneratio , nisi quia vitiosa est generatio . aug. encbir . c. 46. si sanctificationascuntur de fidelibus fil●j , quid opus habent baptizari ? idem de pecc . mer. & rom . l. 2. c. 26. nemo renascatur in corpore christi , nisi prius nas●atur in corpore peccati : ibid. l. 1. c. 29. ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys●st . in tit. h●m . 3. t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ephes . 2.3 . u filij irae , non furoris . x 2 pet. 2.4 . iudae 6. y si non filius irae nascerer , non opus esset renasci : si filius furoris nascerer , aui non contigisset , aut non prosuisset renasci . bern. in cant. 69. quest . answer generall 1. a infantes qui negat peccatores , neget & mortales . peccatum autem vt cum paruulis nascatur carnis oculis non videmus : sed quod videmus paruulos mori , cogimur confiteri cum peccato nasci . aug. de praedest . & grat . cap. 3. * rom. 5.12 . answer 2. b psal . 58.4 . esa . 11.8 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de prouid . d esa . 11.6 , 7. e lupi catulus dum in lustris delitescit caecus , rapinarum rudis & ignarus , ingenium tamen rapax in se haber . zuingl . adu . calabapt . f act. 28.3 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dio prus . orat . 74. instrumenta illis explicandae nequitiae desunt . sic tutò serpens etiam pestifera tractatur ; dum riget frigore . non desunt tum illi venena , sed torpent . sen. ep . 42. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gyges apud herodot . l. 1. theano apud laert. in pytbag . & plut. de aud . & de coniug . mulier cum veste deponit & verecundiam . hieron . adu . iouin . l. 1. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epict●t . en●hir . c. 13. stob. c. 7. ita aristot . de anima . l. 1. c. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . k 1 iob. 3.9 . l luke 1.25 . m in vtero priusquam nasceretur renatus . greg. mor. l. 3. c. 4. quod tamen aug. impossib●le censet . nemo , inquit , ante renatus quam natus . et , renasci nemo potest antequam sit natus . aug. ep . 57. & de verb. ap. 14. verum regenitum si dixisset greg. contradictionis speciem omnem su●tulisset . n iob. 3.3 , 7. o apoc. 2● . 27 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . clem. alex. protrept . p 1 cor. 15.50 . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isid . pel. l. 1. ep . 477. corruptelae nomen non naturae . tertull. de resu●r . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 pet. 1.13 . r in paruulis nec scientia est , nec conscientia ▪ & est peccatum tamen originis . aug. ad . iul. l. 5. c. 1. ſ cant. 2.15 . t lupus , catulus licet , lupus est , & à venatoribus captus iure confoditur . zuingl . ad vrban . reg. & gualt . apolog . u videram nondum diem ; vterique nondum solueram clusi moras ; nox me occupauit , & nouae luci abstulit . mors me antecessit , aliquis intra viscera maternaletum praecocis fati tulit : sed numquid & peccauit ? abstrusum , abditum , dubiumque an essem , sceleris infandi reum deus peregit . senec. theb. x peccatum cum homine nascitur . olympius apud aug. ad . iul. l. 1. c. 3. a wisd . 13.1 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menard . b wisd . 12.10 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aristot . ethic . l. 2. c. 1. quae à natura sunt , aliter se habere non possunt . idemque ethic . magn . l. 2. c. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hippocrat . de leg . med . custode & cura natura potentior omni . naturam expellas furca licet vsque recurret . horat . epist . 10. l. 1. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pindar . olymp. 11. natura recurret ad mores fixa & mutari nescia . horat. satyr . d nemo bonus , qui non ex malo bonus . aug. in prosp . sint . 155. ad neminem ante bona mens venit , quam mala : omnes praeoccupati sumus . sen. ep . 51. & 76. e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pindar . olymp. 9. bonus vir sine deo non est . sen. ep . 41. nulla fine deo mens bona est . idem ep . 73. f vt corpora ad quosdam membrerant flexus formari nisi tenera non poffunt : sic animos quoque ad plaeraque duriores robur ipsum facit . quintil. insti● . l. 1. c. 1. in cunctis fererebus citius assuescit omne quod tenerum est . pelag. ad demetr . f vt corpora ad quosdam membrerant flexus formari nisi tenera non poffunt : sic animos quoque ad plaeraque duriores robur ipsum facit . quintil. insti● . l. 1. c. 1. in cunctis fererebus citius assuescit omne quod tenerum est . pelag. ad demetr . g cerea flicti . horat. art . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. paedag . argilla qu●duis imitaberis 〈◊〉 ▪ horat. 1. 〈◊〉 . 2. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot . thet . l. 1. c. 11. videcund . s●p . ethic . magn . l. ● . c. 6. consuetudo altera natura . cic. fin . l. 5. i ierem. 13.23 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dinarch . adu . aristogit . dum feruitur libidini facta est consuetudo ; & dum consuetudini non resistitur , facta est necessitas . aug. confess . l. 8. c. 5. natura enim & consaetudo vobustissimam faciunt & inuictissimam cupi ditatem . idem ad simplic . l. 1. q. 1. inueterata in nobis malorum omnium labe , aliter iam non vitiosi esse non possumus , nisi vt omnino non simus . saluian . de prouid . l. 6. longo quod vsu in peius vsque induruit , mult●facilius fregeris , quam flexeris . bu●●an . bapt. k 1 pet. 4.4 . l rom. 2.4 . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . n deut. 20.19 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aristat . ethic. l. 7. c. 2. quod galen . sic extulit , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; quod malim , quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum erasm . chil . 2. cent . 1. adag . 8. nam & aristot . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 2.5 . sicut mittentes pecuniam in gazophylacium , quod vbi tam impletar confringitur , stella in luc. point 2. generall . p mors vbique nos expectat . aug. de spir . & anim . c. 51. erras , si in nauigatione tantum existimes , minimum esse qua à m●rte vita diducitur . in omni loco aequè tenue interuallum est . non vbique se mors tam prope ostendit ; vbique tam prope est . sen. ep . 49. quod enim tempus morti exemptum est ? a quo prope non est , parata omnibius locis , omnibus momentis ? idem ep . 30. mors vbique praesto est : occurrit vndique . idem nat . quaest . l. 6. c. 2. q quomodo sen. ep . 122. nullum animal sine metu mortis in vitam predit . r senibus mors in ianuis , adolescentibus in insidijs est . bern. de conuers . c. 14. et sub eodem pueritia fato est . fuscus sen. suasor . 2. ſ ab vtero ad vrnam . iob 10.19 . & 3.11 . protinus quosdom editos n●x occupauit , & nouae lucī abstulit . sen. theb. in ipso saepè lucis exordio mors nascentem sequitur . hieron . ad paul. concord . t eccles . 6.3 . psal . 58.8 . iob. 3.16 . aliquis intra viscera materna letum praecocis fati tulit . sen. theb. ita necessaria crudelitate in vtero trucidatur infans , matricida , ni moriturus . tertull. de anim . u dubium an essem . sen. theb. reason generall . a psal . 31.15 . b leuit. 25.23 deus solus proprietarius est : homines ad placitum coloni . st. iun. vindic . l. 1. aduenae nascendo , incolae viuendo , quia migrare compelluntur moriendo . aug. in leuit. q. 91. c vita da●a est vtenda , data est — mutua , nec certo perso●uenda die . pedo ad liu. d 2 cor. 5.1 . e prou. 20.27 . f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h vita enim lucu vsura dicitur , iob 3.20 . mers nocti fimilis perhibetur . nobi● cum semel ●xcidi● breuis lux , nox est perpetua vna dormienda . catul . epigr. 5. i esai . 40.6 . 1 pet. 1.24 . k esai . 40.7 , 8. psal . 103.15 , 16. iob 14.2 . m psal . 90.4 , 5 , 6. vno die totam hominis vitam conclusit . philip. in iob 1. instar totius vitae dies est . sen. epist . 61. vide cic. tuscul . l. 1. cum ephemero bestiola hominem committentem . n nihil interest inter diem & seculū . sen. ep . 100. nihil enim habet longissimi temporis spatiū , quod non in vno die inuenis , lucem & nocte , & alternas mundi vices : plura , non alia facit ista nox , alias contractior , alias productior , idem ep . 12. o amos 8.9 . p iob 15.33 . & 21.23 . q psal . 129.6 . solstitialis velut herba solet , oftentatus raptusque . simul . auson . profess . allusit ad illud plaut . pseud . 1.1 . quasi solstitialis herba paulisper fui ; repente exortus sum , repentino occidi . et ad illud virg. aen. 6. ostendent terris hunc tantum fata , nec vltra esse sinent . r mors te vbique expectat : & tu igitur , si sapis , eam vbique expectabis . aug. de spir . & anim . c. 51. bern. medit . c. 3. & ocul . moral . c. 7. incertū est , quo te loco mors expectet : itaque tu illam omni loco expecta . sen. ep . 26. ſ iob 14.14 . t eccles . 12.1 . u mors tam iuueni ante oculos debet esse quam seni . non enim citamur ex censu . sen. ep . 12. eata seriem non seruant . jbid. 62. x matth. 24.32 , 33. luk. 21.30 , 31. y 2 thess . 2.3 . z rom. 11.25 , 26 , 31. a luk. 2.26 . b matth. 16.28 . c mixta senum ac inuenum densantur funera , nullum saeuacaput proserpina fugit . hor. carm . 1.28 . d iob 21.23 . e nunquid vt homo concidat res magni molimenti est ? &c. sen. ad marc. c. 11. nihil tam exiguum est , quod nō in perniciē generis humani satis valeat . idem qu. nat . l. 6. c. 2. f vers . 13. g 1 cor. 7.29 . nostros sic habere , sic amare debemus , tanquam nihil nobis de perpetuitate , in ò nihil de diuturnitate i● sorum promissum sit . sen. ad marc. c. 10. h tit. 2.4 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de amor . prol . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 1.28 . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . rom. 1.30 . m tulisti , quia tuus erat : gratias ago , quod dedisti ; non obmurmuro , quoniam abstulisti . bern. de temp . 110. n iosh . 24.3 , 4. psal . 127.3 . abstulit ; sed dedit . sen. ep . 63. non moeremus , quod talem amifimus ; sed gratias agimus , quod habuimus . hieron . epitaph . paul. o gen. 22.1 . p anytus . q vise plut. in alcib . & in erotic . & athen. dipnosop . lib. 12. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ſ percussus subita orbitate filio●●m , vt quos sigillatim susceperat , simul perderet ; tanquam eorum numerositas , non vnde foelicitas ernaretur , extiterit , sed vnde calamitas augereti●● . hugo vict. de patient . c. 11. t iob 1.21 . u matth. 23.9 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lib. 3. points speciall . point 1. speciall a see , abrahams decease on genes . 25.8 . point 2. speciall . b esai . 57.1 . c psal . 12.1 . d 1 iob. 5.19 . e psal . 12.8 . reasons 2. f 1 pet. 4.17 . g ier. 25.17 , 28 , 29. h 1 cor. 11.30 . i iohn 25. ● . planta ferax falcem patiturque petitque freqūentem , cultoris 〈◊〉 recisa mamu . dum rigid● r●bus inf●lix intalla mucrone permanet , hibernis esca futura focis . non pacitur impi●s , 〈◊〉 farmentis 〈◊〉 ad 〈◊〉 : non 〈…〉 ad proficiendem purgationem . aug. ad faust . l. 22. c. 21. k 〈◊〉 11.35 . t zach. 9.1 . u habb . 2.3 . x 1 cor. 11.32 . y esai . 57.1 . z 2 king. 22.20 . e vers . 12-16 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; plut. ad apollon . question . a exod. 20 . 1● . deut. 5. ●● . ephes . 6. ●● . b itaque mandatū hoc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellat philo de decalog . & tabulae cam pri●r● dicat . c matth. 16.4 . d psal . 128.5 , 6. e 1 sam. 2.32 . f zech. 14.21 . g psal . 74.4 . h sic diu viuere , est diu torqueri . aug. de temp . 113. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato apud plut. de prouid . k hincillud , exigua pars est vitae , quàm nos viuimus . caeterum omne spatium non vita sed tempus est . sen. de breu . vit . c. 2. potest fieri , imò saepe fit , vt qui diu vixcrit , parum vixerit . idem ep . 49. in longissima vita minimum est quod viuitur . idem ep . 98. quem saeuaden , pestai a portu exceptum huc & illuc tulit , 〈…〉 in orbem egil , non ille multum ●auigau● , sed mult●m 〈◊〉 est , idem de 〈◊〉 8. non illediu vixit , sed diu fuit . ibid. ita de disco●di con●ugio ●hemis● dē anima . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l gen. 27.46 . iob. 7.25 . m chrysost . alicubi . sed locus iam non fuccurrit . n psal . 21.4 . o chrysost . in rom. hom . 7. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . r malac. 3.17 . ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idquod in thesaur l● praecipuum & primariū habetur . t exod. 19. ● . deut 7.6 . & 14. ● . & 26.18 . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . menand . plut. ad apollon . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion . prus . orat . 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid . 29. dij coeles●es quibusdam pi●ssimis mortem , tanquam summis praemium persoluerunt . iulian. apud ammian . l. 25. b exod. 20.12 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrys . in psal . 114. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eur●p . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem apud plut. ad apollon . qualis est enim vita haec infulix , misera , qua semper ad non esse , tendit . chrysost . in . psalm . 143.2 . e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. ad apoll. o ignaros malorum suorū , quibus non mors vt optimum inuentum naturae laudatur ? quae siue faelicitatem includit , siue calamitatem repellit , siue satiotatem aut lassitudinem senis terminat , siue iuuenile aeuū , dum melio●a sperantur , in flore de ducit , siue pueritiam ante duriores casus reuccal , omnibus finis , multis remedium , quibusdam votum , de nullis melius merita , quam de his , ad quos venit antequam inuocarctur . senec. ad marc. c. 20. cogita quantum boni●pportuna mors habeat , quam multis diutius vixisse nocuerit . ibid. f matth. 24.19 . g in meliorem emittitur vitam , tranquillius tutiusque inter diuina mansurus . sen. ep . 71. point 2. speciall . point 3. speciall . b ● king. 23.25 , 26 , 27 , 29. c gen. 19.12 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 29. 2 pet. 2.6 , 7 , 9. d gen. 6.13 . & 7.1 , 4. e 1 king. 14. ●1 . & 15.29 , 30. f psal . 106.23 . g psal . 106.20 , 30. h gen. 18.31 , 32. ier. 5.1 . ezek. 14.14 , 16 , 20. i ier. 7.16 . & 11.14 . & 15.1 . k exod. 32.10 . multum moisi permittit creator omnium ; & feriendi licentiam quarit à mose qui moseui fecit . bern. de temp . 83. sine me , ait , vt ille non sineret , tertull . ad . marc. l. 2. l gen. 19.21 . m gen. 19.20 , 21. n gen. 19.24 . amos 4.11 . o deut. 29.23 . hosh . 11.8 . p matth. 12.29 . luke 11.22 . q i. vis & robur israelis . iun. in not . r 2 king. 2.12 . ſ 2 king. 13.14 . a somen sanctum statumen lerrae . esai . 6.13 . b iob. 22.30 . c ita vers . geneu . post dauid . kimchi . d ita vers . regia post leon. iud. e ita post r. solomon . & menach . elias in thish . mercer . & iun. f ezek. 14.14 , 16. g vise iun. & piscat . vers . & annot . h 1 chron. 26.16 , 18. 1 king. 10.5 . 2 chron. 9.11 . i iudg. 16.26 , 29 , 30. k esai . 3.2 , 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pausan . in lacon . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plaut . apud strigel . in 2 reg. 23. m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oraculum atheniensibus datū ; quod ita interpretatus est themistocles . herodot . l. 7. plut. in themist . aelian . l. 12. c. 43. galen . exhort . ad art clem. strom. l. 5. euseb . praepar . l. 5. c. 24. suid. n lycurgus interrogatus cur muris vrbem non cinxisset , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plut. apophth . vide eund . sympos . l. 2. c. 5. & epictet . apud stob. c. 5. sed & agesilaus quaerenti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ciues armatos ost●ndens , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod & idem de inuenibus spartanis antalcidas : adiecitque , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. ibid. vide plaut . pers . 4.4 . point 4. speciall . o exod. 4.22 , 23. & 13.29 . p 2 sam. 12.14 . q 1 king. 13.33 . & 14.1 , 17. r exod. 20.5 . deut. 5.9 . ſ exod. 34.7 . num. 14.18 . ier. 32.18 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. apud plut. de prouid . t gen. 9.22 , 24 , 25. u iosh 7.1 , 24 , 25. x 2 king. 5.27 . a liberi inter , parentum suorum bona numerantur . alibus . dicaeolog . l. 1. c. 30. sunt res parentum , & in eis etiam parentes puniuntur . tho. sum . p. 2● . 2● . q. 108. a. 4. ad . 3. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. apophth . & artaxerx . hinc dio prus . orat . 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theodoret. in leuit . quaest . 18. d iob 1.12 , 18. e filij membra parentum esse videntur . saluian . de prouid . l. 3. parsqūe tui latitat corpore clausa meo . ouid. epist . 2. ex phyllidis persona . liberi sunt quasi vna persona cum patre . alihus . l. 1. c. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de prouid . f tanquam membra vnius corporis . aug. in los . q. 8. & iun. in iosh . 7. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . iustin . nom . orthodox . quaest . 137. h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. * 2 sam. 24.10 , 15. i matth. 15.22 . k ad seipsam petit adiutorium , quia in filia sua , velut in persona propria ●orquebatur . simon , cass . in euang . l. 5. c. 24. filia malum suum reputat . petr. richard in euang. l gen. 20.7 , 18. m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de prouid . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. n exod. 12.29 . o 2 sam. 24.15 . p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . iustin . ●rthod . q. 137. q prou. 14.28 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost . de statuis , hom . 11. 1 cor. 12.21 . obiection . r deut. 24.16 . ſ ier. 31.29 . ezek. 18.2 . t patres peccant , & filij vapulant . chald. u ier. 31.30 . ezek. 18.4 . x ezek. 18.20 . euasions 3. a peccatores diaboli fi●ij , vnus ex ●●●ero per ordinem persuasionis generatis hi iu carne pofiti p●●i●ntur , ne in aeternum pereant : pater autem diabolus non in hoc seculo corripitur , vt in aeternum damnetur . origen . in exod. hom . 8. b 1 cor. 11.32 . c iude 6. d quidam ad animam humanam reserunt . patrem primum vi●iorum incentiuum ; filiu●… , vbi peccatum cogitatio concepit ; neposē , vbi ●ecc . opere perpetratur ; pronepotē , vbi in peccato quis gloriatur . primos ac secundos stimulos deum non punire : actumtertium ac quarsum vindicare . hieron . in ezech. 18. e iam. 1.14 , 15. * commentatoris officium est , non quid ipse velit , sod quid sentide ille quem interpretatur , exponere . hieron . apolog . 1. de ioum. nihil quaerendum in verbis nisi loquentium voluntas : cui demonstrandae inuigi●are d●bent omnes veridici narratores & ●narra●o●es . aug. de consens . euang. l. 2. c. 46. litera enim suauiter excutionda est , non captiuorum m●re acerbe torquenda , donec restituat quod non accepit . ioan. sarub. metalog . l. 3. c. 1. exception . f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theodoret. in exod. q. 40. non est argumentum truculentiae tantis per iram tenere , sed signum misericordiae poenam differre peccati . hieron . in ezec. 18. idemque thom. sum . p. ●a . 2ae . q. 108. a. 4. ad 1. misericordiae potius quam seueritatis , quod cousque differt . & ale●s . p. 3. q. 41. m. 4 a. 1. non inaequalitate iudicij , vt alij peccent , alij puniantur : sed magnitudine clementiae , dum poenitentem expectat . &c. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aegypto exeuntes in eremo ceciderūt . theodoret. in exo. q. 4● gen. 15.16 . exod. 12.41 . & 13.18 . h ab abr. ad dauid ae●●● 1● . a dauid ad transportationem babylon . 2● ▪ concession . ● transport . ad christum 3. inde ad 〈◊〉 secull 4. ae●●●e ● . captiua fuit gens iudaica , in 4. eradicata . aug. ad adi●ant . c. 7. concession . i 1 king. 21.29 . k 1 king. 14.10 . l 1 king. 15.29 . m iam. 1.15 . apoc. 2. ●● . 2● . n gen. 15.16 . matth. 23.32.38 . 1 thess . 2.15 , 16. o exod. 20.6 . deut. 5.10 . & 7.9 . ier. 3● . 18 . exception . r in vtraque sententia diss●milis sensus , p●cantum quippe originale quia à parentibus trahimus , nisi per gratiam bapt . solu●mur , etiam parentū peccata p●rtamus , quia vnum adhuc cum illis sumus . reddit ergò peccata parentū in filios , dum pro culpa parentis ex originali peccato anima polluitur prolis : et nursus nou reddit , &c. quia cum ab orig . pecc . per bapt . liberamur , iam non parentum culpas , sed qua● ipsi committimus , habemus . greg. mor. l. 15. c. 21. p psal . 115.13 , 14. q deut. 24. de natis , exod. 20. de nandum natis , propter peccatum originale quod ab adam trabitur , & cuim●rs temp●ralis redditur , aug. in deut. q. 42. ſ est enim inherens quiddam proprium ac pecullaro tulque vittam originale , non imputatio mera peccati anemi , vti delir●nt pig●●●● controu . 1. & catharin de pec . orig . c. 6. vide alex. ales p. 2. q. 122. m. 2. a. 1. t parum enim solidum , quod aug. vbi sup . per numarum seplenarium ( qui 3. & 4. constat ) vntuers●m intelligi . u exod. 20.6 . deut. 7.9 . x exod. ●0 . 4 , 5. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theodoret. in exod. q. 40. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. d non sunt van● mina , dominicae . polan . in mal. 1. e siimpune , vacat ve. tertull. ad marc. l. 2. f matth. 5.18 . ego iam ●lim mihi persuasi in sacri preti●sique eloquij textu nec modicam vacare particulam . bern. in . cant . 72. g esai . 38.1 , 5. ion. 3.4 , 10. ierem. 18.7 , 8. h patram delicta ex fili●s exigit : duritia populi talia remedia , vt velposterit 〈◊〉 suis prospiclentes legi diuina obedirent . tertull . ad marc. l. 2. i futurum vt post duritiam populi duritia legit edomitam , iustitia iam nou genus , sed personas iudicaret . ibid . k ezech. 18.4 . l psal . 119.89 . matth. 5.17 , 18. luk. 16.17 . m ezech. 18.25 . n ierem. 32.18 . o ambae eiusdem voces : prior per mosem ad iudaeos . optat. ad donat. l. 7. p praeuidens parum dictures prae magnitudine culpae . ibid. q matth. 27.25 . r altera ad christianos pertinet . ibid. vide de boc & aug. ad iulian. l. 6. c. 12. ſ parentum peccatis paruulos obligari , non improbabiliter dicitur . aug. enchir. c. 46. parentū peccata modo quodam sunt aliena , modo quodam & nostra ●aliena quippe proprietate sunt actionis , & nostra sunt contagione propaginis . idem ad iul. l. 6. c. 4. vise le●● . ● . pp. ep . 86. & greg. mor. l. 15. c. 22. t quousqua implicetur proles statuere non audet aug. enchir. c. 47. * vide i●om . sum . p. 1 a. 2 ae . q. 81. a. 2. & alex. ales , p. 2. q. 122. m. 2. a. 1. u damnosa quid non imminuit dies ? aetas parentum peior auis tulit nos nequiores , mox daturos progeniem vitiosiorem . horat. carm . 3.6 . x sed & si benedictio patrum semini quoque corum destinabatur sine vllo adhuc merito eius , cur non & rentus patrum in fillos quoque redundaret ? vt per totum genus & gratia decurreret & offensa . tertull. ad marc. l. 2. y 2 ●am . 9.5 . pa● instr●●m qui ●spa● apud to bená acta seruantur . cuius 〈…〉 fides innotuerit , h●reditatis iure , quod autori debueris , 〈…〉 refundis . hacten●● de maiorum obse●●●is fructum , & tamen de suppli●ijs excessum non 〈◊〉 , &c. e●●●d . panegyr . z 2 king. 14.6 . 〈◊〉 ●●●●ldem damni p●r 〈◊〉 ●ffici p●●●st filius : quate●●● bo●●m eius à parenti● bono depe●idet : sica● in 〈…〉 , filius amittit hareditatem pro peccato parentis . them. p. 2 a. 2 a. q. 108. ● ▪ 〈…〉 2. 〈◊〉 cic. ad brut. ep . 13. nec vere me fugit , quam fit acerbum , parentum scelera fisiorum 〈…〉 sed hoc praeclare legibus comparatum est ( de bona p●●●●candis ) vt ●●●●lias libero 〈◊〉 parentes 〈◊〉 . radderet , at non 〈◊〉 flage●● . 〈…〉 multo minus gl●●ij . a de eis qui in paternis versaniur malis . quis enim 〈◊〉 & mali filium 〈…〉 execretur ? quō . bonum & boni filium duplici quis honore honor andum tenseat . aug. 〈◊〉 vet . & nou . test . quaest . 14. non hoc fit , nisicum fuerit 〈…〉 . aug. post coll●t . c. 7. muta●●r , si parentum facto non sapientur . ●2 . ● is quippè non reddicatur peccata parentum , qui non imitantur mores illorum . quemod modum autem bonorum 〈◊〉 fac●● , vt eliam propria peccata 〈…〉 facit , vt non 〈◊〉 suo sed etiant corum , 〈…〉 . psal . 10● . non 〈…〉 parentes fuerunt peccat●●●s , sed quis ipsi peccatorum amidatores . hibr●● in ezech. 18. cum pr●nectiores ex parentum culpa ferinutur , ill●rum poenas luunt , quorum opera secuti sunt . greg. mor. l. 15. c. 21. non nisi sit culpae particeps . them. sum . 1 a. 2 a. q. 81. a. 1. & alex. ales p. 2. q. 122. m. 1. b de●●nit esse filius iniquorum , qui non imitatur mores illorum . aug. in psal . 108. eorum ●uim 〈◊〉 , quorum mores imitamur . origen . in ezech. bom . c quia●sque ad 3. & 4. prog●● , eam quam imitentur filij , parentum vitam possunt videre , ●sque adeos vltio extenditur , qui viderunt quod male sequerentur . greg. ibid. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato de leg . l. 9. quod idem cum isto facit , euseb . praepara● . euang. l. 2. c. 39. e quomodo milites maximini percussores , ex pessimo genere ne catulum quidem esse relinquendum . iul. capitol . exception . solution . f heb. 9.26 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . archin . clam . strom l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eurip. alcest . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antho●●g . debemur m●●ti . h●rat . art . g natura dabitum deut repetit quomodo & quando vidi : homo tum dema● r●petit , cum ī●bet naturae deus . ius● . in ios . 7. h josua 7.24 . deus hoc ipse mandauit , non iudex , cui illud praeceptum est . deut. 14.16 . aug. in ios . q. 8. i neque enim liquet , quod iun. laborasse faminam contagione conscientiae . k 2 king. 14.6 . 2 chron. 25.4 . homine iudice nemo nisi ex eulpa propria poenas debet luere . aug. in ios . q. 8. l deut. 24.16 . reatus patris non obest liberis . althus . dicaealog . l. 1. c. 30. filius pattis aniquitalem ferre non debet . petr. fons leg . select . sancimus ibi esse poenam , vbi & noxia est . propinquos , natos , familiates procul à calumnia sub●●oue●ꝰ quos reossceleris societas non facit . peccata suos teneant autores . nec vlterius progrediatur metꝰ 〈◊〉 re●atur delictū . arcad. theodos . & honor. cod. l. 9. tit . 47. leg . 22. crimen vel poena paterna nullam maculam filio nifligere potest . namque vnusquisque ex suo admisso forti subijcitur , nec 〈◊〉 criminis successor constituitur . 〈◊〉 . digest . l. 48.1.19 . l. 26. et ●rat . d●●r . c. 1. q. 4. c. ● . m quomodo de roman is hor. carm . 3.6 . delicta maiorū immeritus lu●s , romane , donec templa refeceris aedesque labentes deorū , &c. n ezek. 20.30 , 31. ierem. 7.26 . & 16.12 . o ierem. 3.25 . p rom. 8.28 . sicut nihil est , quod malis non noceat . quibꝰ pestifera fiunt , quae profutura essent , si alijs darentur . sen. de benef . l. 5. c. 12. ita. nihil est quod non bonis prodesse possit . idem de prou . c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . xenoph. apud plut. de mimic . q panalia aliquando habent ratronem maledicti , ali● habent rationers medicinae . vide post aug. in ios . qu. 8. thom. sum . p. 1 a 2 ae . q. 87. a. 7 , 8. & p. 2 a. 2 ae . q. 108. a. 4. simplic . in epictet . enchirid . c. 13. & senet de prouid . c. 3. hinc distinctio illa poenae , in nocentem , & conferentem ; siue in suffocantem & promouen●em : item in poenam vindictae , & poenam cautelae : siue in condemnantem , & corrigentem : apud alens . p. 1. q. 39. m. ●● . 4. § 1. s . 6. & p. 2. q. 115. m. 3. s . 1. & q. 122. m. 1. s . 1. & p. 3. q. 41. m. 4. a. 1. courses 4. r exod. 12.29 . ſ 2 sam. 12.14 , 15 , 18. t 2 sam. 12.10 , 11. & 18.9 , 15 , 33. u 1 king. 14.1 , 3 , 12 , 17. x vers . 13 , 18. recapitulation . branches 4. a vt vel posieritatibus consul●ntes diuinae leg●ob●dirent . tertull. ad marc. l. 2. b quis non magis filiorum salutem quam suam curet ? tertull. ibid. ita leo homericus il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 135. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; auisque apud e●nd . il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 324. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de amor . prol . catulorū amor in venabula impingit faeras sen. ep . 74. c deut. 4.40 . & 5.29 . & 7.8 , 9 , 13. & 28.4 . d deut. 28.18 , 32 , 41. ier. 5.17 . e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( ex eurip . orest . clem. str●m . l. 7. ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de tranquill . f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de sanit . g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . basil . cas . de ebrietat . i 2 sam. 12.10 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 18. & 13.1 , 14 , 28 , 29. & 16.22 . & 18.9 , 15 , 33. 1 king. 1.5 , 9. i 2 sam. 12.10 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 18. & 13.1 , 14 , 28 , 29. & 16.22 . & 18.9 , 15 , 33. 1 king. 1.5 , 9. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sapient . 11.13 . in quibus peccamus , in eisdem plectimur . in hellogabali conscios saeuitum vario genere mortis , quum alios vitalibus exemptos n●carent , alios ab ima parte perfodederent , vt mors esset vitae consentiens . lamprid. l 2 sam. 18.33 . & 19.4 , 5 , 6. 1 king. 1.6 . verum ac seuerum illud pi● 2. pp. hostem in se nutrire , qui nimis filio ignoscit . platin. m ad examen . n ad exercitium . exercitiasunt nobis ista , non funera . cypr. de mortal . vide alex. ales p. 1. q. 39. m. 3. a. 4. § 1. s . 6. o iob 1.18 , 19. p iohn 5.3 . vnde alex. ales p. 3. q. 5. 〈…〉 dupli●●● 〈…〉 ad 〈…〉 , ad 〈…〉 . q 〈◊〉 3.39 , 40. mercy in her exaltation. or, a soveraigne antidote against fear of the second death. in a sermon preached at the funeral of daniel taylor esq; in stephens colemanstreet london, on the twentieth day of april, an. 1655. goodwin, john, 1594?-1665. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a85403 of text r202308 in the english short title catalog (thomason e848_24). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 128 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 35 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a85403 wing g1181 thomason e848_24 estc r202308 99862643 99862643 114809 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a85403) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 114809) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 128:e848[24]) mercy in her exaltation. or, a soveraigne antidote against fear of the second death. in a sermon preached at the funeral of daniel taylor esq; in stephens colemanstreet london, on the twentieth day of april, an. 1655. goodwin, john, 1594?-1665. [12], 56 p. printed by j. macock, for h. eversden, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the grey-hound, in paul's churchyard., london, : 1655. dedication signed: john goodvvin. annotation on thomason copy: "july. 20.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng taylor, daniel, ca. 1614-1655 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -james ii, 13 -sermons. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. a85403 r202308 (thomason e848_24). civilwar no mercy in her exaltation. or, a soveraigne antidote against fear of the second death.: in a sermon preached at the funeral of daniel taylor goodwin, john 1655 24012 40 150 0 0 0 0 79 d the rate of 79 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-12 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-12 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mercy in her exaltation . or , a soveraigne antidote against fear of the second death . in a sermon preached at the funeral of daniel taylor esq in stephens colemanstreet london , on the twentieth day of april , an. 1655. there is no fear in love : but perfect love casteth out fear . 1 john 4. 18. his heart is established : he shall not be afraid , until he see his desire upon his enemies . psalm 112. 8. certissimè indulgentiam expectare poterit , qui aliis indulgere novit . aug. de tempor . serm. 203. sine causâ peccata accusant , quem pauper excusat . — qui foenerat pauperi , ipsum sibi judicem praestitit debitorem . chrysologus . london , printed by j. macock , for h. eversden , and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the grey-hound , in paul's churchyard . 1655. to mris margaret taylor the late wife of mr daniel taylor deceased , mr edmond taylor , mr samuel taylor his brethren , together with the rest of his kindred , allies , friends and acquaintance , grace , mercy , and peace from god the father , and the lord jesus christ . friends , christian and beloved ; it was signified unto me by some of you , as the desire of many more , that what should be preached at the interment of your dear friend and mine , mr daniel taylor , might be commended unto the press , that so the memory of his exemplary and christian life , might live upon the better terms amongst you , and be the readier at hand for your christian service , upon all occasions ▪ the sermon , i confess , rather intimateth , and this very sparingly , then discourseth , the particulars of his worth : upon my entrance hereinto , i declared my self under a solemn resolution ( not much short of a vow ) not to offend the weakest of the living , by commending , no not the strongest of the dead , especially not in the pulpit , not at such a time , when their highest concernments are in hand , and they most sacredly engaged to attend them with all their might and strength . only the principal subject of the sermon , mercy , was indeed not the least of his commendations . his example herein will bless you , if you follow it , but will rise up in judgement against you , if you turn your backs upon it . his other endowments , as well moral as intellectual , were very excellent , both for kind , and degree . he was religious , not of custome , or of course , but of conscience , nobly disdaining to prostitute his judgement to any circumforaneous , or vulgar opinion in matters appertaining unto god , simply upon the credit , or recommendation , of other mens faith ; and withal studiously scrupulous and tender of receiving any notion or tenent whatsoever , into his belief , until he had caused it to pass through the fire of a district examination and enquiry , and found that it would not burn . whilst the health and strength of his body was able to bear the weight of exercises of devotion , he maintained a constant and close trade of communion with god : and in the time of his last weakness , a few weeks before his change , amongst other savoury discourse , he bemoaned himself , that since the prevailing of his distemper upon him , he was deprived of his heart-breaking opportunities with god . his heart was up very high in desires after knowledge of the truth , and this in the most profound questions controverted between men of greatest judgements in these days . books of divinity that were any thing judiciously or accurately written , his delight was , at his spare hours . nocturnâ versare manu , versare diurnà ; by night to read ; and not to spare by day . he put no difference between persons , either for their concurrence with him , or dissent from him , in matters of opinion , or form of worship . but that which commended any person unto him , was his own opinion of his integrity , and goodness of heart towards god . some to whom his heart stood very close in affection , whilst they were yet sound in the faith touching infant-baptism , found no change in his respects towards them , after their judgements had warp'd the contrary way , no not after they had disclaimed all christian communion with him in a church way . his signal integrity , justness , and clearness in dealings , as well in the administration of the trust committed unto him , as in his private occasions , are freely testified by all that had to do with him in either kind , with a nemine contradicen●e , ( as far as i have heard . ) the greatness ( which some call goodness ) of his estate , made no breach at all upon the goodness of his disposition in his conversation : he observed no distance , made between himself , and the meanest of his brethren , by his abundance ; persons even of lowest degree , by the mediation of his affableness and humility , found access unto him upon all their occasions ; and few , if any , came from him discontented . his carriage was composed and grave , yet without affectation : his discourse , seasonable and savoury , without offence . his native temper seemed to incline him to much reservedness : but by judgement and conscience he reduced that which was less desireable , or less useful , in this inclination . his habit and garb every ways comly , sutable rather to his profession , then estate . whatever savoured of ostentation or vanity , he left to be taken up by persons of looser and lighter spirits . the full cup , which god gave unto him , he carried with an even and steady hand , without spilling : yet freely gave to every man that was a thirst , and came in his way , to drink . his intellectual endowments were given him by the largest measure , which god in these days is wont to mete unto men . what ethan , or heman , chalcol , or darda , a were in their generation , the like , or not much unlike , was he in his . his understanding was large , and very comprehensive : his apprehension quick and piercing : his judgement solid and mature , his memory , fast and faithful ; his elocution , or speech , distinct and clear , elegant , and fluent enough , yet not luxuriant or pedantick . he was more then of ordinary abilities to argue the most thorny and abstruse points in divinity ; ready of discerning , where the quick of any controversie , or matter in debate lay : very expert he was in the word of righteousness , able to draw waters of life out of such wells of salvation , from whence many men of good understanding , and parts of learning , had not wherewith to draw , because of the depth of them . he had a singular dexterity to make the rough things of business , smooth , to turn the insides of matters , outward , to untie knots , and dis-intangle intricacies , in all manner of affairs that were brought to him . i scarce know any man amongst those he hath left behind him , of like felicity with him of giving counsel and advice , in cases of difficulty , and doubtful consideration . in sum , as well for parts of nature , as of grace , he was an highly accomplisht man , adorned and set forth by god , for a pattern , as for others , so for you ( more neerly related to him ) more especially . i trust his life though he be dead , shall speak unto you , whilst yours continues , and help to form and fashion you into the same image of christian worth and desireableness with him . the best way to make your selves as little losers as may be by his death , is to live by the pattern of his life , and to preserve the memory of all that was exemplary in him , not so much for story , or discourse , as for a spur to a conscientious imitation . your day is coming , as his is lately past : yet a little while , and you will all overtake him in the dust . if in the mean time your hearts through the grace of god , will serve you so to live , as that you may be counted worthy to stand at the same hand of jesus christ with him in the great day , you and he shall never part company more . the god of all grace shall mightily incline your hearts to desire part and fellowship with him in this blessedness , or else deny ( which i confidently hope he will not ) the fervent prayer , of from my study in swan alley colemanstreet , may 15. 1655. your friend in christ , cordial and faithful to serve you , john goodvvin . to the reader . good reader , i was bound with a threefold cord of ingagement to publish the sermon in thy hand . first , the memory of my dear friend deceased , at whose funerals it was preached , pleaded the law of friendship , and by the award hereof demanded , either this , or somewhat more monumentous ( if any such thing had been within my reach ) at my hand . secondly the solicitations of some of his relations and friends in the name of many more for the publication of it , were too considerable to be neglected , especially by me , yea or by a person of greater breadth in the world then i. lastly , the misunderstanding ( as i hear ) of some things by some persons , present at the delivery , requires a more steady representation of what was spoken , to make their crooked things streight . the vulgar vote and report of the outward estate of my worthy friend ( now in an incapacity himself to rectifie mens apprehensions in any thing relating to him ) hath been somewhat injurious unto the preciousnesse of his memory , and this even amongst those , who know ground enough wherefore to honour him , and onely suppose a ground wherefore they should honour him lesse . the common estimate and discourse of his estate , surmounting a third part , and not a little more , the reality and truth of it can seth the proportion of his bequests to appear lesse and so lesse honourable and lovely in the eyes of some , the the truth of all things known and considered , reason representeth them . a twelfth , or there abouts sequestred by will out of an estate , where there is a wife ; and several children to be considered , is no proportion of disparagement either to the wisdom , or piety , or bounty of any man ; especially , where a life full of works of mercy hath gone before . when those that are rich in this world , are charged by god to be rich in good works , a the charge ( questionlesse ) respecteth rather the time of the lives , then of the deaths , of such men . and when as god himself hath contented himself with prescriptions in general , as that rich men do good , be ready to distribute , willing to communicate , be rich in good works , &c. b for men to undertake to prescribe particulars , is a kind of pretending to be wise above that which is written . however , i wish , rather then expect , that they who complain that grantham steeple stands awry , would set up a streighter by it , and fear that when themselves shall come to the triall , they will justifie the truth of the greek proverb , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i. e. that it is easier to carp then to copy , or imitate . but whilest others censure , certain i am the poor lament and mourn over the loss of their good benefactor ; and are like to have cause of greater lamentation for the future , unlesse god shall vouch safe to stir up unto them some other , one , or more , like unto him , anointed with the like spirit of mercy in his stead . concerning the sermon-mistakes of some ( for i do not hear of more then a very few that found , what , or how to mistake ) it seems they were jealous that some things delivered trench'd very neare ( if not too neare ) upon the popish doctrine of justification by works . but certain i am that i speak nothing from first to last of works , in reference to justification ; nor did either the subject i had in hand , nor the method of my discourse , lead me to treat little or much of justification ; especially not of that justification which consists in remission of sins . i am not more clear , nor better resolved in my judgement , touching the truth of any one article , o● doctrine of christian religion , then that all the good works in the world , were they , or could they be perform'd by any one man that hath sinned in the least , would not be able to procure the pardon or forgiveness of his sins . pardon of sin cannot be obtained by doing of good , but by suffering evil , and this by a person who is sinlesse , according to the typical representation under the law , of which the apostle speaks , heb. 9. 22. and almost all things are by the law purged with blood : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and without shedding of blood there is no remission . that justification which consists in the divine approbation of men , as , well done good and faithful servant , mat. 25. 21. 23. and so , then shall every man have praise of god , 1 cor. 4 , 5. of which kind of justification that is to be understood , not the hearers of the law are just before god , but the doers of the law shall be justified , rom. 2. 13. so again , then shall the king say unto them on his right hand , come ye blessed of my father inherit , &c. mat. 25. 34. &c. this kind of justification ( i say ) without which no man shall be saved , more then without the other , is to bee obtained by good works , yet not properly , nor so much by the merit of these works , as by vertue of the law of god's most gracious and bountifull acceptation . and yet to say or think on the other hand , that there is nothing at all in these works , or nothing more then in others which are contrary to them , to commend any man unto god for his approbation or acceptance , is to reflect disparagement upon his wisdom and right●●●●●● esse in the establishment of that law , by which they come to be approved , and accepted upon such terms . some words ( possibly ) might fall from me in my sermon relating to this justification , i mean , to the notion , matter , or substance of it ; for as for the term or word it self , i purposely declined it to prevent mistakes in those that might be weak , not having then either time or occasion , to open or handle the difference between the two justifications . but i have had experience before now of that strein of weaknesse in many professors , which makes them unable to distinguish between things necessary to justification and to salvation ; and again , between the two kinds of justification now specified . by reason of this weakness , some have taken deep impressions of discontent and offence at those ministers of the gospel ▪ who were men of the greatest faithfulnesse to their souls , onely because they were zealous and importunale in exhorting , perswading , provoking , pressing , urging them to good works , in order to the saving of their souls , which notwithstanding is the apostles expresse doctrine , 1 tim. 6. 17 , 18 , 19. and the holy ghosts in i know not how many places more . i have added , altered , or inserted very little , in so much of the sermon insuing , as i had time to deliver , when it was preached . onely i give a brief touch of one thing forgotten about the explication of the doctrine , and increase the number of the reasons by one or two . otherwise , that which is here added , is little , but some inlargements of my self in the application , which being imprisoned in an hour glasse , i had no liberty then to deliver . god , who sometimes hangeth great weights upon small wiers , give thee much out of this little , and cause the treasury of thy grace and knowledge to rejoice by the casting in of this mite in to it . in the prayer , there is the heart of from my study in swan-alley coleman-street london , may 18. 1655. thy friend and brother , zealous to serve thee in christ . john goodwin . errata . page 4. line 20. read , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . p. 13 , l. 9. r. occasions . l. 27. dele . arc . p. 17. l. 18. 19. r. grounds , reasons . p. 21. l. 15. d. the . l. 20. r. whit as . p. 22. l. 2. r. children . p. 26. l. 14. r. sympathy . p , 32. l. 27. r. their . l. 29. seeth his , should be transferred hither , from the line following . p. 41. l. 22. r. heaps . p. 42. l. 30. r. her . p. 45. l. 5. r. irresistible . p. 48. l. 7. r. men . james 2. 13. and mercy rejoyceth against judgement . the dead ( as david's meditation long since awarded the case ) praise not the lord ; meaning , by any thing they now do in the state and condition of death : only by those things which they did whilest they were yet living , if they were proper for such a service , they may , though now dead , be said to praise him ; as the holy ghost said concerning abel some thousands of yeers after his death , that by the sacrifice , which he offered by faith unto god , whilest he was living , being dead , he yet speaketha . and if the dead praise not god , neither shall i praise them , but leave this to their works , by which they praise him ( if they praise him at all . ) if what they did , whilst they were living , was judged by them sufficient to praise god , we cannot well but judge the same sufficient to praise them also , whether it was much they did upon that account , or whether little . for if they did much for the praise of god , whilest they lived , such a proportion of goodness will lift up their praises also on high , being dead . if they did little , great praises would be uncomly for them , and could not be answered for before god by those , that shall adorn their names with them . it is well known to a great part of you , who now hear me , that for several years past , i have put from me the custome of funeral elogies and commendations , bequeathing this service unto the works of the deceased , which have a commission from god to perform it b ( if there be cause ) whereas i have none that i know of , especially not to do it in consort with the work now in hand . but i have declined the practise , partly because of the offensiveness of it unto many , who are weak ; partly because of the offensive practise , and mis-use of it by some , who seem otherwise strong . i confess , that as it was the saying of one long since ; if a dishonest practise be in any case tolerable , it is for the purchase and procurement of a kingdom ; in all other cases , justice and right must take place c ; so if a minister or messenger of god could be venially tempted to dispense with so good a resolution , as that which he hath taken up against blowing a trumpet in the pulpit before the dead , my standing at present is upon the ground of such an opportunity , being called to preach at the interment of a man of a most exemplary and signal worth in every kind , and whose life can hardly be remembred by those who have any steady knowledge of it , without falling into an agony of sorrow and heaviness for his death . and as it was the saying of the poet in respect of the enormous vices of the times and place wherein he lived , that it was an hard matter , satyram non scribere , not to write satyrically ; so may i well say on the other hand , in respect of many things so highly commendable and christian in him , upon the occasion of whose death i am now speaking unto you , difficile est laudes non dicere , a man must resist a temptation to refrain from praising him . however , partly for my resolutions sake ( which is not far from a vow ) but more especially for your sakes , whom it much more concerns to be made praise-worthy your selves , then to hear another praised before you , i shall leave the deceased to the good report of all men ( which he purchased at an high rate of well-doing , when time was ) and of the truth it self [ the word of god , which giveth large testimony unto him , and unto all like to him ] and shall in the name of god , and of the lord jesus christ , by the opening and applying of the words read unto you , make an attempt upon you , to make you , if it may be , like unto him in that which was his glory , whilest he lived , and his rejoycing at his death ; i mean , his goodness and mercy . mercy enlarged his heart to rejoyce against judgement : and oh ! how happy shall you be , if you will be perswaded to cast in your lot with him , and suffer god to put into your heart , by his word and spirit , which are now about to put you upon the trial , to take part and fellowship with him in that his rejoycing . let us then , with as much brevity as your interest in the opportunity before you , will ( to the best of my understanding ) permit , endeavour 1. to open the mind of god unto you in the words read ; and then 2. to shew you how this treasure of the mind of god , may and ought to be improved by you to your spiritual , yea and temporal advantage also ; so leaving your consciences , and the good word of god together , to agree upon the things both of your present , and eternal comfort and peace . and mercy ( saith the apostle , if rightly englished ) rejoyceth against judgement . in the former part of the verse , he had said . for he shall have judgement without mercy [ i. shall be very severely handled by god in the great day , the sentence that shall pass upon him , shall be most insupportable ] who hath shewed no mercy , [ viz. whilst he liv'd , and had opportunity to shew it ] and then subjoyneth ( as you have heard ) in the latter part of the verse ; and mercy rejoyceth against judgement . this latter clause manifestly relates unto the former by way of antithesis , or opposition : in which respect the particle , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , is here rather to be construed adversatively , then copulatively , and would better be translated , but , then and , as it is elsewhere . for 1 cor. 16. 12. whereas it is in the original , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the particle , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , is rendered , but , but his will was not at all to come at this time . so likewise , 1 thes. 2. 18. where the greek hath it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , our translators give us , but sathan hindred us . thus our former translators , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , mat. 13. 2● . translated , but the care of this life , &c. and ( to omit more instances in this kind ) where the original , john 5. 40. hath it , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} &c. they left us in english , but ye will not , &c. and thus i conceive the sense of the clause before us would be better accomodated , if the words were read thus : but mercy rejoyceth against judgement . for then the connexion of it with the former will lie before us in such a tenour of discourse as this : he shall have judgement without mercy , who hath shewed no mercy : but he that shall shew mercy , shall , not only have a judgement full of mercy , yea and which shall upon the matter ) be made of mercy , be all mercy ; but shall in the mean time , before the day of judgement comes , be able to rejoyce , or glory over it , and enjoy himself in a blessed security that he shall not be hurt by it . the word , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , here translated mercy , is of somwhat a more comprehensive signification ; and signifieth not only that christian disposition or affection in men ( with the fruits or effects of it ) which we commonly call mercy , but several other dispositions also of affinity with this , as clemency , gentleness , love , readiness to forgive and forget injuries , and the like ; as these , or some of these , somtimes likewise include mercy ( properly so called ) in their signification . and not long since from rom. 9. 18. we observed , that words of a cognate signification are in the scriptures frequently used promiscuously , one for another . in the place before us , the word , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , may well be conceived , by the opposition between the former and latter part of the verse ( already hinted ) to import some such christian affection ( with the fruits of if ) as that which in greek is called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which properly signifies usefulness , and is frequently translated , goodness , as rom. 2. 4. rom. 11. 22. 2 cor. 6. 6 ▪ &c. a worthy principle found in all good men and women , enclining them upon all occasions , according to that power and means , which are in their hand , to relieve , help , and comfort those , who stand in need of help from them in one kind or other . when i mention this , or any other holy disposition of like nature with it , i still insert these , or the like words , with the fruits thereof , partly because it is the familiar dialect of the scripture , under words properly signifying some inward affection , or disposition only , to comprehend , together with the affection , the actings or effects proper to it , as the word , faith , frequently importeth , together with the inward grace , or principle of faith in the heart , the proper fruits of it also , which we commonly call , good works , or an holy conversation ( instances of this kind of scripture-language , besides that mentioned , there are without number , but we hasten ) partly also , because that which is here ascribed to this heavenly disposition of mercy , as viz. that it rejoyceth against judgement ( of which presently ) enforceth us so to interpret and understand it [ viz. as signifying with the inward affection of mercy , the outward fruits or works of mercy ] according to that true and necessary rule in logick , subject a talia sunt , qualia à praedicatis suis esse permittuntur ; i. subjects in propositions must be so understood , as their predicates , or that which is said of them in the said proposition , will permit and bear . now we shall ( god assisting , and the time not preventing ) in the process of our discourse , shew , that it is not meerly and barely the inward affection of mercy , that is able to raise this glorious effect of rejoycing against judgement , but the affection seconded , aided , and strengthned by her worthy actings , and practical exertions of her self ; according to what our apostle teacheth us in the very next verse ( with several verses following ) concerning faith : can faith ( saith he ) save a man ? meaning , that it is contrary to all principles , as well of reason as religion , to imagine that an empty and bare faith , not attended with such works , which are comly or meet for faith to bear , at least having time and opportunity to bring forth in this kind , should ever advance or lift up the creature to such an estate of blessedness and glory , as salvation importeth . for to this purpose he explaineth himself , vers. 17. even so faith , if it hath not works , is dead {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of it self [ is dead , i. useless and unprofitable , as dead things are , to those who have it , especially in respect of such great and high productions , or attainments , as salvation ] in such a sense as this , mercy also , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and without works , may be said to be dead , and consequently no ways able to yeild such rich and pleasant fruit , as rejoycing against judgement . so then , mercy rejoyceth against judgement , i. mercy , with her children , the tree of mercy well laden with fruit growing on it , thus rejoyceth . only this is further to be considered , that when the apostle attributes by way of honour and priviledge , unto mercy , this rejoycing against judgement , he is not to be understood to speak of mercy simply , or of mercy in any faint or inferior degree , though seconded with works proportionable , or of such a kind of mercy , which is over-shadowed and ( as it were ) superintended , or over-awed by covetousness , nor of a pinching , or penurious kind of mercy , which is somtimes found in worldly , covetous , yea and oppressing men ( as the pharisees in our saviours days , were wont to give almes as it were of course , and yet were covetous , and ravening wolves , and some men will give a little to stop the mouths of their consciences , hoping hereby to keep possession of all the rest with the more peace ) but of mercy in some degree of her exaltation , of mercy , which hath her great enemies , covetousness , and hard-heartedness , penuriousness , and narrow-heartedness , &c. under her feet . it is the frequent manner of the scripture to use words of a general signification , and which ordinarily signifie the species or kinds of things ( indefinitely ) in an emphatical sense , viz. for that which excelleth , and is eminently considerable in its kind . in the last verse of the fourth chapter of this epistle , it is said ; therefore to him that knoweth to do good , and doth it not , to him it is [ or , there is ] sin [ i sin of a great demerit , or of high provocation in the sight of god ] for otherwise it is sin to men [ simply , or in some degree ] not to do good , whether they know to do it , or no ; as is evident from our saviours decision of the case , luk. 12. 48. so when god discourseth with job about that kind of creature , which we call , the horse ( job 39. 19. ) hast thou given the horse strength ? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder ? the glory of his nostrils is terrible , &c. ( with much more of like import ) by the word , horse , here , he doth not mean any kind of horse , or every thing that may properly or truly enough in ordinary language be termed , an horse : the greatest part of horses have neither part nor fellowship in this description : but he speaks of an horse that is high of mettle , strong of limbs , full of courage , &c. in like manner , when the apostle commends love , or charity . 1 cor. 13. by that great variety of the signal effects of it here mentioned , as that it behaveth not it self unseemly , seeketh not her own , beareth all things , believeth all things , hopeth all things , &c. he doth not by love , or charity , mean , this grace in any inferiour , weak , or low degree , but in her strength , and some considerable advance in the soul . other instances of this kind the sc●ipture affords many a . so then when we hear the holy ghost , speaking thus gloriously of mercy , as that it rejoyceth against judgement , we must conceive him to speak of it , nor simply , or absolutely , as it is such a grace , or holy affection , in respect of the kind of it , but ( as hath been already said ) as it is such in degree also , and in some considerable elevation in the soul . it followeth , rejoyceth against judgement , ] {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , rejoycingly gloryeth over , or against , judgement . it is somwhat a like expression ( for sense , and import ) with that job 5. 22. at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh , that is , thou shalt be confident , and herein take great contentment , that these shall not endanger or hurt thee , as they are like to do the generality of men . or like that , mich. 7. 8. ( spoken in the name of the church of the jews to her enemy ) rejoyce not against me , o mine enemy ; i. please not thy self , take no such contentment in my present afflicted and low condition , as if i were never like to be again in a capacity of quelling thy pride , or avenging my self on thee ; as it follows , when i fall , i shall arise ; meaning , that she should get up again , and recover strength to make her part good with her . so when it is said , mercy rejoyceth against judgement , the meaning is , that mercy [ so understood as was lately opened ] qualifieth , strengthneth , enableth the person in whom it is found , to be confidently secure , that he shall receive no prejudice or hurt by the judgement of god , by that judgement , which god shall pass upon the world in the great day , and under which the greatest part of the world will fall , and never rise more . there is scarce any thing more usual in the scripture , then to ascribe that to the quality or form , which properly belongeth to the subject qualified with it , or ( which is much the same ) to put the abstract for the concrete . as in those passages lately mentioned , charity beareth all things , believeth all things , hopeth all things , &c. the meaning clearly is , that charitable persons , or men and women richly endued with charity , do all these things by vertue of that excellent endowment ; thus rom. 11. 7. the election hath obtained it [ i. all those , whether men or women , who believe , and hereupon , by vertue of the eternal decree of god in that behalf , are separated from others , and made an elect or choice generation of persons unto him , have obtained it , meaning righteousness or justification . ] thus also some understand ( and haply not amiss ) that , rom. 10. 6. but the righteousness which is of faith , speaketh on this wise : say not in thy heart , who shall ascend , &c. the righteousness which is of faith , i. persons justified by faith , by means of this their faith , are wont to encourage and speak unto men , thus : say not in thy heart , who &c. so then , the true and entire sense and import of the words before us , riseth thus : merciful men , men whose hearts and hands are much exercised in doing of good , in shewing mercy , by means of the conscience , or consciousness of this god-like disposition in themselves , and the regular actings of it , are , or lightly cannot but be , full of a joyful and blessed security , that they shall stand in the great judgement of the world , and find favour and acceptance in the eyes of the judge , when all unmerciful , covetous , and hard-hearted wretches shall fall under it , and be ground to powder by it . if there be any thing further requisite for the due understanding of the words , notice may be given of it upon occasion , in the sequel . the only point of doctrine that we shall commend unto your christian attention from the words ( as they have been opened ) is this : a rich and blessed assurance of salvation is the genuine and proper result , or fruit , of much mercy . or if you please , the doctrine may be conceived in this , or the like , tenour of words ( agreeing , in substance , with the former ) a person rich in works of mercy , is , or readily may be , joyfully secure , and this upon good ground , from perishing , or that he shall not perish , in the condemnation of the world . first , ( to prevent mistakes , if it may b●● we shall a little further explain the doctrine unto you , in some particulars . 2. we shall consult the scriptures for our better establishment in the truth of it . 3. we shall endeavour to demonstrate the truth of it , from its proper grounds and principles . 4. and lastly , ( the time permitting ) we shall , as god shall enable , joyn the spirit of the doctrine , and your consciences , somwhat closer together , in a way of use and application . for the first ; there are 3. particulars , wherein the doctrine requires some explication . 1. it is not to be understood , as if it entituled rich men only to that glorious security from condemnation , of which it speaks , or as if they alone were in a condition to perform works of mercy , and men that are poor and low in the world , excluded from all part and fellowship in that happy business . for certainly , even the poorest of men and women are capable of shewing mercy , as well as the rich , though not in all the same respects . they may shew mercy , and this not only one to another , but even unto rich men themselves , as viz. by commiserating and pittying them in respect of their slippery and most dangerous standing by means of their riches ( of which our saviour gives notice in the gospel a ) and so by praying unto god for them , that he will keep their foot from being taken in the snare of this worlds abundance ; and again , by suffering them to enjoy their wealth , not only without any impeachment or impairing of it by them , but without their having an evil eye upon it , without envying or repining , that they ride upon horses , when as themselves go on foot ; and yet further by not suffering , as far as lyeth in them , any person whatsoever unrighteously to touch any thing ▪ that is theirs ; by ●●stifying their good will towards them , in endeavouring to stop all hard sayings , and sinister reports concerning them , as of covetousness , pride , hardness , &c. so also by a ready , free , diligent and faithful serving them in all such occasions , wherein at any time they shall stand in need of their help , and desire it . for rich men are not priviledged by their riches against all kind of miseries , nor against all wants , indigencies , or necessities : yea they have their dependencies upon the poorer sort of men , as well as these have theirs upon them ; and these ( perhaps ) if things were duely estimated , as many , and as great : the king himself ( saith solomon ) is served by the field b ; [ or as the hebrew hath it , is servant to the field ] viz. the care and labor of the poor husbandman intervening : and in such a sense as this , in which he is , or may be said , to be a servant to the field , he may be also said to be a servant to the husbandman . the philosopher likewise in his fable of the lyon and the mouse , very emphatically taught the grand necessity which the greatest of men may sometimes have of the help of the meanest , where ▪ he fancieth , the lyon being taken , intangled , and held fast , in the toile or net of the hunter ; that the mouse upon the lyons roaring , came and with her little teeth gnawed the net insunder , until way was made for the lyons escape . so then the poorest sort of men , that are but able to give a cup of cold water , or to speak a good word of a man , or to conceive a prayer for him , or to forgive injuries , or to minister with the hand to any mans outward occaosins , when desired , or the like , may be mreciful to what degree they please in their way , and consequently are as capable of that high priviledge , a glorious securitie from condemnation , as rich men themselves . this in the first place . 2. when the doctrine affirmeth , that a merciful frame of heart is a proper means to secure it , against condemnation , and the fear of it , the meaning is not ( nor is it implyed ) that all persons who are commendably and christianly mercifull , do actually , or at all times injoy themselves in this blessed securitie . some may not so throughly understand , either the nature of mercy , or the nature of god so sympathizing with it , or may forget at present to compare the one with the other , or neglect to consider how god hath poured out himself in promises of grace and mercy unto persons of this heavenly character . therefore all the doctrine intends ( as to this point ) is , that persons signally merciful , or full of goodne●s , are by the advantage of this gracious disposition worthily acted , either are in the actual possession of that heavenly security we speak of , or at least in a rich and regular capacity to be argued , either by themselves , or others , into it , or , that they are not far from it . this is another particular to be taken into consideration for a right understanding of the doctrine . 3. ( and lastly ) when it attributeth unto mercy ( in the sence declared ) a joyful exemption from fear of judgment or condemnation , it doth not speak of a loose , prodigal , or vain glorious disposition , which ( haply ) in some person may affect the name of , merciful , because it effectually inclines them , as mercy is wont to incline her children , to part with their money , or other good things , freely enough unto others , amongst whom some that are indigent and stand in need , may sometimes ( it is like ) be found . such a principle or disposition as this ; deserveth not the name of mercy , because a man or woman may be acted by it without any compassionate sense at all of the miseries or necessities of those , who are relieved by them . nor doth the doctrine , by mercy , understand any affection of that name , wherewith some , both men and women , are ( as it were ) prevented , not knowing how , or by what means , they became thus merciful , or compassionate , as our saviour speaketh of some that are eunuches from their mothers womb , ( as of others , who make themselves such for the kingdom of god . ) for though this kind of mercy be commendable , and proceedeth from god , as the author of nature , yet it is not able to create that heaven of security in the heart and soul of a man , unto which the doctrine intituleth that mercy , of which it speaks . this mercy then importeth an affection raised in the soul of a man or woman by gospel consideration ( the holy ghost over-shaddowing or assisting those endeavours , or that exercise of the mind and conscience , by which it is raised ) whereby they are effectually inclined and provoked to minister unto the necessities of those that stand in need , when they have opportunity , according to the means which god hath touchvouchsafed unto them for their relief . this ( with what brevity we could ) for the explication of the doctrine . for the truth of it , so understood , as hath been declared , although that one text of scripture , upon which it hath been built , be of sufficient evidence and authority to secure it unto your judgments and consciences , yet let us give you measure heaped up , by insisting upon some others for the strengthening and enriching of this security . he shall not be afraid ( saith david , speaking of the man that is gracious , and full of compassion and righteous , psal. 112. 4. ) such a man ( saith he ) shall not be afraid of evil tidings ( he means , any , or all such tidings which import evil , i. e. which are of a sadding , or terrifying nature unto the generality of men ) his heart is fixed trusting in the lord . his heart is established : he shall not be afraid , till he see his desire upon his enemies : the tidings of the day of judgment , when far the greatest part of the world shall be sent quick to hell , never to return thence to the days of eternity , are tidings of the greatest evil to the generality of men and women , that can be , yet he that is gracious [ i. e. apt to do good without any carnal motive or inducement thereunto ] and full of compassion , shall not be astonyed , or struck with fear at these tidings , though so formidably evil ( as hath been said ) as appears by that which followeth : his heart is fixed , his heart is established , trusting in the lord ; meaning , that his trusting in god , is that which fixeth and establisheth his heart , so that it is not , it cannot be shaken , or tossed up and down within him with those storms and tempests and whirlwinds of fear , which are the rending , and tearing , and tormenting of other mens . a feather , though it be a very weak and light thing , and hath nothing in it self to balast it , or wherewith to resist the least puff or whiff of wind , yet if it be close and fast knit or bound to a great rock , it pertakes of the stability and firmness of this rock , and can no more be shaken , or removed , then the rock it self . in like manner , a man made of flesh and blood , a creature very contemptible in his own strength , apt to be shaken and shattered in pieces with sad expectations and fears of what it may suffer from time to time , yet being close united unto god , and cleaving fast to him in trust and dependance becomes interessed in the security and unmoveableness of god himself . this happy posture or condition of soul , the apostle calleth a being strong in the lord , and in the power of his might a ; meaning , that good christians , and true beleevers , ought to be as secure , as dreadless and fearless of evil , notwithstanding their own weakness , as if they were themselves invested with the glorious omnipotencie , or power of the might of god , and had the same means for their preservation and safety in their own hands , which now are in his . he shall not be afraid ( saith david , further displaying the security or fearless posture of his gracious and compassionate man ) until he see his desire upon his enemies , i. e. until he shall see all those , whether persons or things , from whence he may be conceived to be in danger of suffering evil , so broken , scattered , and confounded , that he shall fully know himself to be out of all danger offuffering from them ; meaning , that he should never be afraid : for he that is without fear until he see his enemies utterly destroyed , certainly will not be afraid afterwards . now the great and most formidable enemies of the gracious and compassionate man , as he is a man , are death , and hell [ or the grave ] with their sad and dismal retinue , both a parte ●●te , and a parte post , before , and after . therefore the man now before us , gracious , and full of compassion shall not be afraid , [ i. shall enjoy himself in a blessed tranquillity and security of mind ] until he shall see his desire on them [ i. until he shall see both death and hell , with all their train , cast into the lake of fire , rev. 20. 14. ] after which he shall apparantly be out of all danger of being hurt by them . why david insisteth up●n this qualification , full of compassion , in characterizing such a person , whose heart should be fixed and established by trusting in the lord , and consequently , who should not be afraid , &c. and why a person of this character should trust in the lord , and so be established , rather then any other man , shall be shewed unto you when we come to open the ground and reason of the doctrine . in the mean time give me your patience to add a brief passage or two out of the first epistle of john , for your further satisfaction in the truth of the doctrine . we know ( saith this apostle in this epistle , c. 3. 14. ) that we have passed from death to life , because we love the brethren . that he speaks here in a more particular manner of love to the poor brethren , which uttereth it self after the manner of goodness , mercy , and compassion , appears from the sequel of the context , and more especially from vers . 17. but who so hath this worlds goods , and seeth his brother have need , and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him , how dwelleth the love of god in him ? now then the apostle ( as ye heard ) speaking thus ; we know that we have passed from death to life , because we love the brethren ; his meaning is , that all they who love the brethren ( in the sense specified ) i. express themselves in a way of kindness and mercy to such of the brethren who are poor , and stand in need of their help , know hereby , i. may readily or easily know hereby , have a pregnant ground on which to be built up in this blessed confidence or assurance , that they have passed from death to life , that the bitterness of the wrath , and vengeance which is to come , is already passed as to them , and that condemnation shall not be their portion . the 17 , and 18. verses of the 4th chapter of the same epistle , are confederate in notion and import , with the now-opened passage , and give testimony to the same truth . in the former , herein ( saith john ) is our love [ or , love with us , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgement , because as he is , so are we in this world . as if he should say , this is a signe , an argument , that our love hath attained some measure , or degree , of perfection , and hath acted its part well , when it hath raised us to a boldness , or fearlesness of spirit , in the day [ i. against the day ] of the judgement of the world . or thus , the consideration of this great priviledge , or fruit of our love , when it shall be grown to any strength or perfection , is a worthy motive unto us to perfect it , or to hasten us to the perfecting of it , viz. that by it we shall have boldness [ or , liberty of face , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ] in the day of judgement . now they , who at present know they shall have boldness in the day of judgement , must needs have , even at present , a large first fruits of that harvest . it follows : because as he is , so are we in this world . this clause seems to contain a reason or ground of the former assertion , and to import that our being found in this world by means of our love perfected , like unto god , or unto christ , who fils the world with the fruits of his love , goodness and mercy , is a pregnant reason , why we should even at present , promise unto our selves boldness in the day of judgement , in as much as there is not the least colour for any jealousie or fear , that god should condemn those in the day of judgment , who have been like unto himself in works of love , goodness and mercie ( works wherein himself most delighteth ) and this in a place , where it is a matter of greatest difficulty and disadvantage for men to resemble him in these , viz. this present world , where there are so few examples leading , or incouragements inducing , unto such things ; yea and very many things greatly discouraging from them . the tenor of the latter of the two verses pointed at , is , there is no fear in love . he speaks of love made perfect ( as appears both from the former verse , as also from the clause immediately following : ) in this love ( he saith ) there is no fear , i. e. with this love , or where this love is , there is no fear [ viz. of condemnation , or rejection by god : ] the reason follows , by way of antithesis ; but perfect love , i. e. because love when grown to any good degree of perfection , casteth out [ such ] fear out of the same heart with it . and the reason ( saith he ) why love carrieth this opposition in it unto fear ( as viz. to eject and cast it out of the soul ) is because fear hath punishment , or torment , implying that the nature of love , goodness and mercy , is so rich , sweet and god-like , that it will endure nothing that is afflicting , or tormenting , neither in others as far as it is able to relieve them ; but especially not , in its own subject , in the same person , where it self resideth . this for proof of the doctrine from the scriptures . proceed we to the further demonstration of it by principles and grounds in reason . first , a spirit of mercy acting regularly , and bringing forth fruit in due season , must needs breed that good blood in the soul which the doctrine speaks of , bless men with a glorious security , at least with a rich capacity of being secured , against judgement , and fear of condemnation , because it renders them like unto god , and this clearly to their own sense , and in their own understandings , in such things or respects , upon which they are declared and owned by him in the scriptures , as his children . but i say unto you ( saith our saviour to his disciples ) love your enemies , bless them that curse you , do good to them that hate you , and pray for them that despitefully use you , and persecute you , that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven . for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good , and sendeth rain on the just , and unjust a . it is the manner of the scripture to call persons , the children of those whom they resemble in their genius , or ways . thus they who resemble abraham in his faith , are termed abrahams children , and so , abrahams seed , luke 19. 9. joh. 8. 39. rom. 9. 8. gal. 3. 7. &c. and those who resemble the divel in his wicked disposition and practises , are termed his children , ioh. 8. 44. act. 13. 10. 1 ioh. 3. 10. see more of this notion , ezek. 16. 3. isai. 57. 3. but those who resemble god in his goodness and mercy unto men , are not termed his children upon the bare account of such an imitation , but rather because they are partakers of the divine nature ( as peter speaketh ) and have been spiritually begotten of him . beloved ( saith john ) let us love one another ; for love is of god , and every one that loveth is born of god ; and knoweth god b . and whereas men are said to be the children of god by faith in christ jesus c , the faith by which they become his children , is onely such a faith , which hath the works we speak of , works of goodness and mercy always in the womb and heart of it , and upon occasion , in the hand of it , according to the apostles own explication of himself in such sayings as this : for in christ jesus , [ i. e. under the gospel or under the profession of christ come in the flesh ] neither circumcision availeth any thing [ viz. towards justification , or salvation ] nor uncircumcision , but faith which worketh [ or rather which is operative , or working , i. e , which effectually disposeth and inclineth thethe person in whom it resideth , to work by love a , clearly implying that such a faith which is not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , very operative ( for such is the import of the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) by love , or through love , [ both unto god , and men ] availeth every whitis little , either to justification , or salvation , as circumcision , or uncircumcision themselves . but this by the way . now then if works of goodness and mercy , declare and avouch men and women , and this in their own consciences , to be not only followers of god in his ways of greatest delight , but his children also , partakers of his nature , they cannot lightly be in bondage under any servile jealousies or fears of being condemned , or destroyed by him . men that are evil ( as our saviour remindeth us , ye●know [ by the instinct and teachings of nature ] to give good things unto their children , &c. so far are they from destroying them . how then can it enter into the heart or any man , that god , who is full of love and all goodness , yea goodness it self , and so acknowledged by all men , should abandon his chitdren , who are are really and truly , though spiritually , descended from him , and who avouch their heavenly parentage in the sight of the world , by doing the works of their great father , that he ( i say ) should abandon such children as these unto perdition , unto the vengeance of eternal fire . a second reason of the doctrine is : when a mans heart is enlarged in mercy , kindness and love to those that stand in need , so that doing of good unto such , is a thing connatural and pleasing to him , comporting with his genius and disposition , he is in an advantagious posture hereby to take impressions of a belief , that like gracious and merciful dispositions are to be found in others also ; according to that of the apostle ; charity or love , — beleeveth all things , hopeth all things a [ i. e. effectually inclineth , or disposeth the persons qualified with it , to beleeve and hope the best concerning others , upon any competent and tolerable grounds for either , and where reasons are not pregnant or convincing of the contrary ] especially a man by means of such a frame and temper of his own heart and spirit , as that we speak of , is richly prepared to entertain the report of the kindness and mercy , of the goodness and love of god , in the gospel . for he that is conscious to himself , that he himself is graciously and mercifully inclined , can freely pardon those that have injured or offended him , can freely minister unto the necessities of those that stand in need , must of necessity beleeve that god is above him in all these excellencies , more gracious , more merciful , &c. ( which we know is the tenor and substance of the gospel ) or else make himself , if not superior , yet equal unto god , in those things , which are his greatest glory in the eyes of his creature . now this the conscience of every man and woman naturally trembles and abhors to do . therefore he that is large-hearted and open handed , in mercy , kindness and goodness unto men , hath space and roomth ( as it were ) within him to receive and give entertainment unto that great salvation , which the gospel brings and offers unto the world , together with all the heavenly retinue of the grace , love , goodness , mercy and bounty of god , which accompany it : all which being received into the soul by faith , joyn hand in hand to secure him against condemnation . whereas men and women of narrow and scant hearts , wherein there is stowage and roomth onely for themselves and their own worldly concernments , lie under a most sad disadvantage , next to an incapacity , to embrace the glad tidings of the gospel , in their due compass and extent , without which they will hardly reach to the effectual allaying and quelling of their fears of wrath and condemnation for their sins . it is a piece of the prayer which paul made for the ephesians , that being rooted and grounded in love [ i. e. being upon pregnant , weighty , and mature considerations and grounds , resolved against all disswasives and temptations to the contrary , to persevere in love , and in the exercise of it , they might by the opportunity and help of such a frame of heart , be able to comprehend with all saints , [ i. e. to conceive and understand , with a commensurableness of apprehension and faith , as near as may be , wherein i pray that all the saints may be partakers likewise with you ] what is the breadth and length , and depth , and height , and to know the love of christ , that passeth knowledge , &c. to know the love of christ in all the dimensions of it here named , to know it ( i mean ) as men may , and ought to know it ( though otherwise in the full compass of it , it is above the knowledge and belief of men ) but i say to know it , as men may know it , is sufficient to rescue their hearts and consciences out of the hand of all fear of judgement or condemnation for sin . now then the apostle in the passage yet before us , clearly supposeth . 1. that persons rooted and grounded in love ( in the sense declared ) are in a rich and immediate capacity of attaining this knowledge ; and 2. that no person without this qualification or advantage , is in any likelyhood , yea or possibility , to attain it . where love to god and men with the rest of the gracious retinue which still bear it company , as mercy , goodness , &c. have not opened , widened , and enlarged the heart to a very great extent and compass , the breadth and length , depth and height of the love of christ to men , cannot by reason of their vast dimensions , enter , or receive entertainment there . this is a second reason . thirdly , there is a principle found in the generality of men , to conceive and think that god is like unto themselves in inward principles and dispositions , whatsoever these be . the truth is , that by creation they did in these resemble him , and were like unto him , and this was their glory , being ( i conceive ) that image of god , in which they are said to have been created . again , true it is , that by regeneration this resemblance is regained : and this for the measure or degree of it , proportionable to the greater or leser perfection of the work it self of regeneration . now though wicked men by voluntary sinning , and continuing in sin upon such terms , grievously obliterate , deface , and wast this image or similitude of god in themselves , and make themselves more like unto satan , then god ; yet partly out of the pride , partly out of the ignorance of their hearts , partly out of a desire to enjoy themselves in the pleasures and contentments of sin without fear of being judged by god for it in the end , they are willing to hearken unto satan , when he suggesteth unto them , and tempteth them to beleeve that god symbolizeth in the same principles , genius and disposition with them , according to that of david , thou thoughtest ( speaking in the person of god to a wicked man ) that i am altogether such an one as thy self , and consequently , that i am not offended with thee , will not punish thee , for thy wickedness : but thou art dreadfully deceived in this : for ( as it follows ) i will reprove thee , and set them [ thy sins ] in order before thine eyes a ; meaning , that he would judge and punish him severely for them , and this with such a kind of judgement , which should be as glass unto him , wherein he should ( as it were ) see his sins one after another as he had committed them , in their native and proper shapes of deformity . now as wicked men are apt to think , though very foolishly and falsly , that god is of their mind and like unto them , so are holy and good men apt to think also , and this according to their duty , and the truth ; onely acknowledging their own infirmities and imperfections , and consequently , their due distance from god . good men cannot but think that god is good , that he is holy , that he is gracious , merciful , &c. and consequently that he is like unto them , or ( which is the same as to the point in hand ) they unto him . and the more explicit and express these divine impressions or qualities are found in them , the richer and fuller their knowledge and assureance must needs be that god is like unto them , and they unto him . as when men are eminently gracious , eminently good eminently merciful , &c. there is scarce any place left for questioning or doubting , whether we be like unto god , and so he to us , or no . now then when a man shall be rich , and reign in this confidence , that he is like unto god in righteousness , goodness , mercy , &c. how , or upon what account can he be afraid that god should condemn or destroy him ? though fear in many cases be a very irrational , sensless , and unruly passion , yet to be afraid , lest god should send the divine nature , that is , his own , into hell , is a kind of fear so broadly irrational and extravagant , that it is not incident to one of many thousands . besides , sympathize and communion in nature , disposition , and action , when apprehended and beleeved , is security in abundance to the inferiour , from receiving any prejudice or harm by the power of him that is superior . upon this ground it was , that the wicked person , concerning whom we lately heard from david that he thought god to be such an one altogether as himself , was confidently secure that god would not hurt , judg , or punish him ; which conceit of his , as a natural consequent of the said thought , david plainly intimates by making god to say in opposition to it , ( as we likewise heard ) but i will reprove thee , and set them in order before thine eys a ; meaning , that he would punish , or destroy him ; which implies , that this wretched man promised unto himself peace and freedom from punishment , from the hand of god . the apostle iohn likewise builds upon the same foundation , in reasoning ( as we lately also heard ) thus : herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgement : because as he is , so are we in this world b . but of these words formerly . this for a third reason . fourthly , this impression is strong and clear upon every mans heart , conscience , and soul , that god loveth mercy , as he doth all kind of righteousness and goodness otherwise . we shall not need ( i suppose ) to strengthen the hand of this impression from the scriptures ; which plentifully assert the love which god beareth unto all righteousness , of which mercy is ( and so the scripture maketh it ) a principal part , or member . yea and nature it self teacheth every man this further , that the more any creature excelleth in any of those worthy dispositions which he loveth , he loveth this creature proportionably the more . the righteous lord ( saith david ) loveth righteousness , and then subjoyneth ; his countenance doth behold the upright , or , those that are righteous c , meaning , that he looketh after them ▪ and beareth respects of grace unto them . so then that being a known property of love , which the apostle mentioneth amongst many others , viz. to think no evil , d [ i. e. to restrain its subject from intending hurt in one kind or other , to any person , unto whom it is born ] they who know that god loveth mercy , and merciful men ( as all men generally do ) and withal know , that themselves are merciful , which all they that are eminently merciful , cannot lightly but do , have no ground at all to fear that god intendeth evil towards , them , least of all that greatest of evils , condemnation , or the vengeance of eternal fire . this for a fourth reason . fiftly , hell is ( as it were ) the great draught , or jakes of the world , into which there is nothing to be thrown , or cast , but that which is filthy , noysom and unclean , and which would be offensive unto god , and render the state and condition of holy and good men , the sons and daughters of god , less desireable and delightsome unto them , if it were not separated from them , and cast in there . jewels or things , of value , pleasure and delight , are not wont to be thrown upon dunghils , or into noysome vaults , the use whereof only is to receive and keep that a-part , and at a distance from men , which being neerer hand , and in view , would annoy them , and render their lives uncomfortable . least of all are men wont to dispose of such things into any of these dishonourable receptacles , which are most necessary for the comfort and well being of many . now the sons and daughters of mercy , are both gods jewels , and mens : they render god himself full of beauty , pleasantness , and desirableness unto the world . let your light ( saith christ ) so shine before men , that they may see your good works , and glorifie your father which is in heaven a . as the jewes directed him that was born blind , after they had been inform'd that christ had opened his eyes , though upon a wrong and wicked pretence : give god the praise , we know that this man is a sinner b ; so we knowing that men generally being left unto themselves , and led by the spirit of the flesh , and of the world , are sinners , are covetous , unmerciful , heard-hearted , &c. when we see the pleasant and lovely works of mercy and goodness putting forth themselves plentifully in them , we cannot , quitting our selves like men , but acknowledge god to be the author and father of these works in them , and consequently to be most gracious , lovely , and desireable himself . the holy ghost takes notice that the multitude wondred when they saw the dumb to speak , the maimed to be whole , the lame to walk , and the blind to see : and that upon this , they glorified the god of israel ; as knowing and considering , that it must needs be he , who by his grace and power , had made this happy change in the sad conditions of these miserable men . but when men shall see of the stones of the earth children raised up unto abraham , and wildernesses turned into rivers , and dry and barren grounds into water-springs ; i mean , when they shall see men and women , who sometimes were , or atleast were in danger of being , as empty vines bringing forth fruit onely to themselves ; great self-lovers , self seekers , hard of bowels , eaten up with the zeal of this present world , regardless of the sorrows , miseries , necessities , extremities of others , &c. when men ( i say ) shall see such persons as these to be transformed and renewed in the frame of their hearts , and spirit of their minds , as that now they are full of mercy , tender-hearted , of earning bowels , fruitful in good works , travailing in birth with the peace , comfort , joy of their generation , and of all round about them , these being matters of far greater dignation from god , then the other , and not resolveable into any other author or cause , but himself , cannot in reason , but turn to a richer account in glory unto him from men , then those things , for which we heard that the multitude glorified the god of israel . thus then we see how merciful men are gods iewels , commending and setting him forth with beauty and pleasantness of glory unto the world . in this respect there can be no ground of fear that he should cast them amongst the retryment and filth of the world , into the great sink , or common sewer of hell . again , the persons we speak of , the generation of the merciful , are so far from being any offence upon the holy mountain of the lord , or ( indeed ) upon any mountain of the world , that they are desireable and pleasant in the eyes of all flesh , they are the deliciae generis humani , the delight and darlings of mankind . the common-wealth of the israel of god rejoiceth greatly over them , and cannot flourish , or well stand without them . so that there is not the least cause of the least jealousie or fear unto any of these , that their casting into hel would be any gratification or accommodation unto the saints , but rather as a sword passing through their soul , or a grievous dismembring of their body . thus security from the wrath which is to come , compasseth the generation of the merciful on every side . sixtly , to the friends of god , and those who stand close to him in those exigencies or cases of necessity ( as they may be called ) unto which he hath voluntarily , and according to the prescript of his own wisdom , exposed himself in the world , there is no occasion of fear to be condemned by him , but all grounds of the greatest security in this kind that can be desired . though men of degenerous and ignoble spirits , who are servile to unworthy ends , may sometimes sacrifice their best friends , yea even those , whom they know to be such , upon the service of some dishonourable project or design ; yet the common light of reason and conscience in men , abhors to conceive or suspect any such thing in god , in whom all things are most excellent and desireable , and no shadow of the least imperfection , or unworthiness in him ; who moreover , as the scripture informeth us concerning him , is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , cannot be tempted of evil a ; all his ends are most honourable and just , nor do any of them require of him the least unworthy action , much less the ruin and destruction of his friends , for their accomplishment . now that persons mercifully disposed , and such who ( in davids language ) consider the poor and needy , are the friends of god , and stand by his interest , the interest of his glory , in the world , the scripture it self witnesseth and acknowledgeth , in saying , he that hath mercy upon the poor , lendeth unto the lord , and that which he hath given , will he pay him again b . how , or in what respect , doth he that giveth unto the poor , lend unto god ? the reason of the assertion is ( doubtless ) this : god every where claims to himself the great honour of being the sovereign administrator of humane affairs , and governour of the world : and he is generally by men , acknowledged so to be . now as he is the supream ruler and governor of the world , the care of the poor and needy , being members of the world , and if they be godly and vertuous , very considerable and worthy members hereof , lieth upon his hand , as well as , if not much more then , the care of other persons . yea himself very frequently engageth himself by word and promise , to take special care of the poor and helpless , and that he will be mindful of them , and provide for them . in both respects when the poor are neglected , and exposed to extremities , the honour and equitableness of his government of the world , together with the truth of his word and promise , are in danger of being called into question , at least by his enemies , and those that are less acquainted with his methods and ways . so that they who charge themselves and their consciences with looking after the poor , and shall minister unto their wants and necessities , as they are able , and have opportunity to do , herein justifie and vindicate the government of the world in the hand of god , together with the truth of his declarations made in the behalf of the poor , from , and against all imputations and aspersions that are , or might be ; cast upon them , upon the account of a deficiencie in this kind , and in case the poor should be wholly unregarded . yea , whereas the great god hath ( as it were ) pawned unto the world , those inestimable jewels , the honour of his righteousness , and of his truth , that the poor of the earth , shal not be forsaken or left desolate , but remembred in his providential dispensations in the world , they who shal shew them kindness , and be as nursing fathers unto them , what do they else but lend unto the lord , for the redeeming of his pawns , and to prevent the rejoycing of his enemy , the world , over the forfeiture of them ? whereas they who shut up the bowels of their compassion against the indigent and needy , and suffer them to faint and sink under the burthen of their poverty , whilst they have in their hand the good things of this world wherewith to relieve them , do what in them lyeth , expose the righteousness and truth , and faithfulness of god in the government of the world , unto reproach and shame . hence it is , that the holy ghost speaking by the apostle john , imputeth the heard-heartedness of men towards the poor , not so much to a defect or want of love in them towards the poor themselves , as towards god , who is more concerned ( as he is capale of concernments in one kind or other ) in the relief and non-relief then themselves . but whosoever hath this worlds good , and brother have need , and shutteth up his bowels of compassion seeth his from him , how dwelleth the love of god in him a ? by the way it may be some comfort and relief of spirit unto the poor , when they are neglected by men , that they are herein but fellow-sufferers with god himself . this for a sixth reason . seventhly ( and lastly ) amongst christians , and those that are trained up in the knowledge of the scriptures , there is this reason beyond all the rest , why men and women signally gracious and merciful , cannot lightly be troubled with any servile fears of judgement or condemnation , viz. that god hath poured out himself so abundantly above measure in his word , in high approbations of this grace and the exercise of it , and especially in promises of all sorts , great and precious in every kind made unto it , as if he judged , both the world that now is , with all that is desireable in it , and the world also that is to come with all the glory and great things thereof , consideration or reward little enough for those that shall honour him , and his gospel , like themselves , with the exercise of it . we shall not need to instance in particulars . the firmament of heaven is not fuller of stars then the scripture is of divine promises and engagements unto those that shall cast their bread upon the waters , and shew themselves the natural sons and daughters of mercy : give ( saith our saviour ) and it shall be given unto you , good measure pressed down , and shaken together , and running over , shall they [ not men ] give into your bosom a . when actions are ascribed to un-named and ( as it were ) to invisible agents ( which is sometimes done in the scripture , as luk. 12. 20. 48. luk. 16. 9. and elsewhere ) it seems to imply some special hand of god , or somewhat more then ordinary , in their performance . so when it is here said {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , they shall give the measure here expressed into your bosom , the meaning may well be , that god himself will interpose with extraordinary zeal to make the reward of men and women , that shall be large hearted and open handed unto the poor , rich and full above measure . i forbear to insist upon any more promises of like import , because they are of such frequent occurrencie in the scriptures . you may please at your leisure to consider these places ( with their fellows ) isai. 58. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. eccles. 11. 1 , 2. psal. 41. 1 , 2 , 3. psal. 112. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. prov. 11. 25. mat. 5. 7. luk. 6. 35. luk. 12. 33. 2 cor. 9. 6. this for the seventh and last reason of the doctrine . proceed we now to the use and application of it . here we shall find it serviceable ▪ unto us upon three several accounts . 1. it will yeild us matter of instruction . 2. of reproof . 3. ( and lastly ) of exhortation . first , for instruction ; if men full of goodness and mercy cannot ( lightly ) but enjoy themselves in an heavenly security from the wrath of god , which hangs over the head of the world , learn we from hence , that then there is a course to be taken , by which men and women may be built up in a stable , steady , and well grounded assurance of salvation : there is a stone to be turned , and this not very heavy neither , under which the inestimable jewel of an heavenly security lyeth hid , and may be found , a security ▪ i mean , that a man shall be able to stand before that great judge in that his day , and not fall , or be condemned with the world . by the coldness , indifferencie , and dead-heartedness of the generality of men and women , in looking after such a state and enjoyment as this , a man would think that it were like the world , which some men fancie to be in the moon , yet find few or none that will trouble themselves to look after it , partly because , they know not whether there be such a world , or no , partly because in case there be , they know not how to come at it , or how to interess themselves in any the good things of it . in like manner the far greater part of men look upon a wel grounded assurance of salvation . 1. as a thing of a questionable and uncertain being . 2. as a thing out of their reach , in case the being of it should be supposed : and what in one of these respects , and what in the other , all thoughts of seeking after it are as far from them , as the east is from the west , and the heavens from the earth . but the doctrine delivered , according to the scriptures hath assured us , both that there is a rejoycing against judgement , and , that mercy in her exaltation will invest men in the possession . secondly , from the tenor and import of the same doctrine , take we further knowledge what the reason is , and how it cometh to pass that the generality of professors amongst us , fall so frequently into the company of jim and ojim , converse so much with dark and doleful thoughts and fearful apprehensions of death , and of the judgement to come : why their comforts in god and in christ are so weak ▪ and faint , that they do them little service in an evil day , are not able to balance an ordinary tryal . alas , in all this they bear the burthen and shame of their own folly , of their great unfaithfulness unto god and men , and their own souls . they are strait-hearted , and closehanded : this is the root of all the bitterness . as horses , and some other creatures , never thrive , never are in good plight or likeing , whilst they are hide-bound , which is a disease incident to them : so when men or women are heart-bound ( a spiritual disease , or distemper very incident to professors , and especially to those that are rich amongst them ) this keeps them from thriving spiritually ; this is a disease under which their souls cannot prosper . their covetousness will not suffer them to feast their consciences : they sell their peace to purchase the ignoble office of being jaylors , or prison-keepers , to a little silver . they give by the peny , insteed of giving by the pound , to make any earnings , any considerable return of their christian profession . they who in all their abundance can find nothing , or nothing considerable , to cast into the treasury of gods glory , are not like to find any thing considerable cast by god out of the unsearchable riches of his grace and bounty , into the treasury of their peace . when the king of israel , with his bowe and arrows smote but thrice upon the ground , then ceasing , the story saith , that the man of god was wroth with him , and said , thou shouldest have smitten five or six times : thou hadst then smitten syria till thou hadst consumed it , whereas now thou shalt smite syria but thrice a . in like manner , many professors deprive themselves of that perfect victory and conquest over their fears and doubtings , which is so desirable , and withal might be obtained , by giving portions only to one , or two , when as the scriptures , and god speaking here , requireth them to give portions unto seven , and also unto eight b . it is the liberal soul that shall be made fat c , that shall be enriched and made to shine , with comfort and peace ; the sparing and penurious soul consulteth leaness and languishing unto it self . thirdly , observe we yet further from the doctrine ( by way of instruction ) a worthy consideration , or mean● , for the cure of that unseemly distemper ( we may not unfitly call it a spiritual megrum ) so epidemical and rife amongst professors in these days , which disposeth them to turn round , or ( in the apostles phrase ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to be carried about with every putt of doctrine ; to run from one form , or way of worshipping god , unto another ; and from this again , to another ▪ and from this also , to another beyond it , and no●…●…ake any long stand or stay anywhere , until they have compassed a round the whole encyclopedie or circuit of all ways , and forms , and doctrines , and at last ( haply ) arrive at the same point from whence they set out at first : for this properly , is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to be carried round , or round about . now the reason of this desultory humour and practise is commonly pretended to be a dis-satisafction in conscience , about the justifiableness or lawfulness of that way , or truth of those doctrines , or opinions , which are deserted by men , together with a conviction of goodness and truth in that new way , and doctrine , unto which they remove . whereas the true reason ( for the most part at least ) of such removals , is the negligent , un-christian , and unworthy deportment of men and women , under those forms and tenents , which they formerly professed , or a non-improvement of those opportunities and means for their edification , comfort , and peace , which these forms and tenents afforded unto them . many professors in this case , do like those , who not thriving in their callings through idleness , improvidence , or ill-husbandry in one kind or other , charge all the blame upon their callings , as if these were ill-conditioned , and devoured their followers ; pretending that had they been trained up unto , or followed , other callings , they might have thriven , and lived of themselves as well as others . i do not speak this as if a christian profession might not both with more acceptation in the sight of god , and with more advantage for the edification and comfort of christians themselves , be managed in one way , then in another ; or consequently , as if there might not be in many cases a v●●● worthy and commendable ground ( yea possibly more then one ) for men and women , to pass from under one form unto another , and so to die in their judgement to one opinion or tenent , that they may live unto another . but that which the present branch of instruction holdeth forth unto you , is , that the true reason why professors vary and shift their forms , and tenents , so frequently , and so dishonourably , both unto the gospel and themselves , as they do , is , their barren and unfruitful conversings under them . for by reason hereof they gather little comfort or peace from , or under , them ( no form , or opinion whatsoever , how regular or true soever , being able , without a conscientious and due improvement of them , to enrich or bless any mans soul ) and not finding their souls to prosper under them , they grow into a discontent at them , and bethink themselves of some other , which they conceit and hope , ( though alass ! very groundlesly ) will upon the same terms , and without any more care , better befriend them in their spiritual estates , and commend them more highly unto god . whereas the truth is , that as on the one hand , there is scarce any form , so much beside the rule , nor any doctrine or tenent so forlorn and truthless , but that the evil and disadvantage of them , as to the sound peace of conscience in the main , may be reprised by a worthy and fruitfull conversation ; so on the other hand , there is no form or opinion , so conform to the scriptures , or rich in truth , but that an empty and fruitless conversation under them , will in time render them unto men as vessels wherein there is no pleasure , yea , and make them the disdain and contempt of the soul . mercy , under any form of christian discipline or worship , under any tenents in religion , will rejo●ce against judgement : and where the conscience enjoys it self upon these terms , is blest with such a priviledge as this , there will be no disposition towards ▪ a change , but only upon grounds and motives very weighty and pregnant indeed . fourthly , take we yet further knowledge from the doctrine ( by way of instruction ) how and by what means , all , or the greatest part of , the ataxies , disorders , and male-deportments of men in the world , might be prevented , and so the condition of humane affairs reduced unto terms of a thousand times more comfort and peace to the inhabitants of the earth , then now it standeth at , or is like for the future , to be reduced unto in any other way ; unless it be by an high hand of heaven , and by turning this present world into that which is to come . mercy exalted by the generality of men , would bring this great , this so unspeakably desirable a thing to pass , and this by filling their hearts and consciences with joy and peace . for the root of all the bitterness that is tasted in the lives and conversations of men by reason of the great unworthiness and wickedness , that ruleth in them , is , the want of such company in their heart and soul , which would highly satisfie and content them . now there is no such company to take , please , and fill the hearts and souls of men , as the native fruits , the genuine and clear results of such mercy , as the doctrine commendeth . which ( as the doctrine likewise importeth ) are peace of conscience towards god , and well-grounded exultations in the soul , against judgement , and fears of condemnation . what is it that occasioneth , or secretly tempteth men to break out into any way of sin or wickedness whatsoever ? ●●…an it be any thing else , but only want of satisfaction ▪ and desired contentment at home ? the soul that is full ( saith solomon ) loatheth [ or as the original hath it , treadeth under foot , i. neglecteth , or despiseth ] an honey-combe a . and job demandeth : doth the wilde ass bray when he hath grass ? or loweth the ox over his fodder b ? when the heart of a man is full of the peace of god , and reigns in an heavenly security , the honey-combe of sin , whether issuing the sweetness of pleasure , or of profit , or of the greatness of this world , becomes but a superfluity and lothsome impertinency to the soul . nor would men complain of god unto the divel , as being hard and strait handed towards them ( as all they , who seek to ease , or better their condition by sinning , do ) if he did answer the joy of their hearts : which most assuredly he would do , were they merciful as he is merciful , or delighted in mercy , as he delighteth . saul did not enquire after a familiar spirit , until god refused to answer him , either by dreams , or by urim , or by prophets c ; and ( questionless ) he would still have answered him in one or other of these ways , and so have kept him from the temptation of being beholding unto the divel , had not saul by his disobedience and great unworthiness destroyed his own capacity of such a grace and favour from him . nor would god suffer the soul of any person , man or woman , to be so barren and empty of spiritual provision and accommodations , as to need the benevolence of sathan , or any contribution whatsoever from sin , were their hearts and their hands jointly exercised with mercy , as he hath commanded them . the pleasures and profits and all the advantages of sin are onely sweet to necessitous souls , drunkenness , uncleanness , covetousness , oppression , deceit , pride , anger impatiency , with the rest of the troublers of the world , and disturbers of the peace and comforts of men , would all hide their faces in the dust , and not be once named amongst men , did mercy exercise that soveraignty and command over the hearts and consciences of men , which of right appertain unto her . fifthly ( and lastly for instruction ) observe wee by the light of the doctrine delivered , the strange and uncouth folly , yea madnesse , of a generation of men in the world , who notwithstanding please themselves in their way , as if they were the first born sons of wisdome and sound understanding . the persons of the character now mentioned and meant , are the great layers up of treasure for themselveson earth , men that have silver and gold , heap upon heaps , and desire to heap up still , that have joined house to house and field to field , and are intent upon joyning still , forgetting in the mean time to offer the sacrifices , wherewith god ( as the apostle saith ) is so well pleased to distribute and communicate unto those that stand in need , and shutting up their compassion from their brethren , who are destitute of dayly food , as if they were afraid , that if these were at any time left open , their great estates would presently run out by them , and return unto them no more . whereas the truth is , that did rich men give a christian vent and breathing that way to their great and unweldy estates it were the most prudential and promising way under heaven to keep them from consumptions , and to make them long-liv'd even to many generations . there is a sore evil ( saith the wise man ) which i have seen under the sun , viz. riches kept for [ or by ] the owners thereof to their hurt . a yea most certain it is , that there is no great estate or wealth whatsoever , but if it be kept too close and too intire , will in the end be found to have been kept to the great hurt , and invaluable damage of the owner . and whereas it is an excellent and high strein of wisdome for men , to make themselves such friends of the mammon of unrighteousnesse , who , when they fail here , may , and will , receive them into everlasting habitations ; b so is it on the other hand the exaltation of folly , for men to make ( as it were ) of the same material , such enemies , whose displeasure may cause them both to fail the sooner here , and wil most certainly exclude them out of those everlasting habitations of rest , and joy , and peace , into which otherwise they might , and should , have been received . for men shall be sent to hell , as well for the want of charity , and of mercy , as for the want of justice ; neither is it much material whether a man or woman be sent thither upon the one account , or the other . we have now done with the use of instruction . the doctrine is further profitable unto us for reproof . for if mercy ( in the sence and upon the terms declared ) hath this priviledge from god , to make all his true-born children , all her sons and daughters , free from fear of wrath and condemnation , then are all such most worthy reproof , and this with much severity , who do not lift up their hearts unto her service , and stretch forth their hands to that work which she commendeth unto all men , for their unspeakable benefit , and advancement unto an estate of such happinesse and peace . to the far greatest part of men and women in the world , mercy is little lesse then a mystery ; their soul never entred into the secret of it , and they that are christianly exercised in the wayes thereof , may say unto them , we have meat to eat which you know not of : we live like kings and princes upon the sacrifices , which we have offered of our substance unto god , in ministring to the necessities of the poor , in feeding the hungry , in cloathing the naked , &c. whereas you are in danger of being eaten up and consumed with cares and fears , and sad expectations , under all that abundance which you possesse . with that which we give , we purchase a setled , constant and daily revenue of heavenly comfort and peace , and so injoy that which wee have parted with , upon far better terms then wee could have possessed it . you on the contrary by shutting up your compassions from the importunate cries of the miseries and extremities of the needy , cast in your whole estates into the divels treasury , and consult to your selves both the present torment of the fear , and the future torment it self , of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire . the truth is , that men hard of bowels , and who have abundantly in their hand , but want in their heart , wherewith to strengthen the hand of the poor , may well be compared to horse and mule , which ( as david saith ) have no understanding . for what can argue a greater , a sadder defect in reason , judgement , and understanding , then for men and women to purchase shame , and sorrow , and fear , and ( in the end ) misery without end , with that price , which is put into their hand for their high advancement in joy , and peace , and blessednesse for evermore ? what our savior demandeth concerning the gaining of the whole world , may upon the same sad and serious account be demanded , concerning the possessing or keeping it . for what is a man profited if he shall possesse and keep to himself , whilest he lives , the whole world , and lose his own soul . a and this is considerable , that a desire or indeavour to gain the whole world , is not more threatning ( nor indeed so much altogether ) of the losse of the soul , especially of the losse of it upon the hardest and most grievous terms of losing it , as the hoarding and keeping of it to a mans self by unmercifulnesse , when he hath gained it . i no where read , that he that desireth or attempteth to gain the whole world shal lose his soul , much lesse that he shall lose it with such a losse , which shall be more intolerable then the ordinary losing of souls will be unto men . but i read as much concerning him , that shal keep the world , or a part of it onely , to himself , as both these amount unto , in the words immediately before my text . but he shal have judgement without mercy , who hath shewed no mercy . as he that with-holdeth corn , not he that hath corn , nor he that taketh the best , the most provident and industrious course he can , to fill his barns and granaries with corn , is the man whom the people will curse . b so neither are they that have silver and gold , and the good things of this world in the greatest abundance , nor they whose hand is diligent to make them rich , the persons to whom christ will say at the great day , depart from me , ye cursed into everlasting fire ; c but they will be found the children of this most heavy and insupportable curse , who shall with-hold their riches , and neither give meat unto christ , when he is an hungry in his members , nor drink when he is thirsty , nor cloathing when he is naked ; nor minister unto him according to the necessities of his saints and servants , in every kind . cruel , hard-hearted and unmerciful men will be hurl'd with greater indignation by the irresistable hand of god into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for evermore , then any other kind of sinner whatsoever . he who hath shewed no mercy , is nominated as the onely kinde of sinner , that shal have judgment without mercy ; unmerciful men wil be known from amongst al the children of wrath , that for all other kinds of wickednesses & abhominations , shal be cast together wth them into hel , by the loudness of their roarings through the extremity of the torments , wth they are like to indure above them all , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i am grievously tormented ( cries out the unmerciful wretch , who had neglected poor lazarus ) in this flame . and the lord tels those unmerciful ones that shal appear at his left hand in the day of judgement that they shall be beaten with those very rods , which the severe hand of god prepared for the devils back , and for the backs of his angels . depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire , prepar'd for the divel and his angels , mat. 25. 41. this for reproof . the doctrine ( is in the third and last place ) profitable likewise for exhortation . for if mercy in the sence and upon the terms declared , bee a shield of protection to the souls and consciences of men , greatly delighting in her waies against the dread and terrour of the great day , and the final judgement and doom that shal then be passed and given upon all flesh , upon what ground or motive more pregnant and provoking then this , can men or women be exhorted unto that great christian exercise , i mean , works of mercy ? who upon such an account , wil not be willing , yea and more then willing , rejoycingly , triumphantly willing , to cast his bread upon the waters , to give portions unto seven , and also unto eight , to feed the hungry , to cloath the naked , to visit the sick and those that are in prison , to receive strangers , to comfort the afflicted , to forgive injuries and wrongs ; in a word , to fill the sphere of his activity with the lovely fruits of goodnesse and mercy in every kind ? the chief captain of the garison at jerusalem , spoken of acts 22. 27. made account that he had done prudently enough in purchasing the roman freedome , though ( as himself confessed ) it cost him a great summe of money . alas ! the immunities of a citizen of rome , were a dear bargain at the price of two farthings , in comparison of that glorious immunity , that sacred priviledge and freedome of which the doctrine speaketh , a freedome from the fear of death , and of the day of judgement ( the very hearing whereof maketh both the ears of the world to tremble . ) yea though this heavenly prerogative and freedome should be purchased at the high rate of the poor widdows bounty , who cast in {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , her whole livelihood or subsistence into the treasury of god . to be so gloriously strengthened in the inner man , that a man or woman may ( in that high expression of job ) go near unto god as a prince , a not to be afraid when he shall hear the sound of the last trump , summoning the quick and the dead unto judgement , nor at the appearance of the judge sitting upon his white throne , nor at the opening of the books , by which all shal be judged , to injoy ( i say ) a mans self in peace , and with an untroubled , and undanted spirit , under all these high astonishing transactions and doings , is a priviledge so transcendently great and sacred , that all the silver and gold under heaven , and all the precious things of the earth with them , are but as drosse and dung , yea lesse then nothing in comparison thereof . yet shal all the true-born sons and daughters of mercy , be sed with the heritage of all this glory , all shal be light , and life , and joy , and peace , with them , when the faces of all those , who have not strengthened the hand of the poor shal gather blacknesse , and the souls of those who have hid themselves from their own flesh , shall dwel among lyons , among devouring fears , and overwhelmings of dismal dreads and terrours without end . therefore now quit your selves like men , and despise not the word of exhortation that hath now been directed unto you : you see that in hearkning to it there is great reward . be merciful , as your heavenly father is mercifull ; so shal no fear of judgement have dominion over you to torment you . but besides this great motive held forth both in the text and doctrine , the great duty of mercy , unto which you have been exhorted , might be further recommended unto you by many others . nor is there ( i suppose ) any one duty within the whole compass of christianity , wherein the conscience of a man may be invested with a greater retinue of arguments and motives , and these of rich and high import , then this of mercy . bee pleased onely to taste a few of them . 1. if you shall ( with god ) delight in mercy , you shall not be delivered and freed from the fear onely , but from the stroke it self , from the dreadful and all con●ounding stroke of judgement . mercy will not put you into a fools paradice of security and fearlessnesse of judgement , leaving you in the mean time in a condition obnoxious unto judgement , but that security in this kind , which shal be given unto you , shal stand by you , and be made good unto you in the evil day . there is no condemnation unto the children of mercy . with the mercifull ( saith david unto god ) thou wilt shew thy self mercifull , a if ye forgive me their trespasses , your heavenly father will also forgive you , b mercy is divinely inspired to prophesie good unto her children ; therefore ( doubtless ) god will not suffer the words of her prophesie to fall to the ground . 2. unto mercy is this grace also given by god , even to deliver her friends and disciples from temporal judgements and evils , as well as from eternal . blessed is he that considereth the poor , the lord will deliver him in the time of trouble . the lord will preserve him , and keep him alive , &c. c so again , give a portion to seven , and also to eight , for thou knowest not what evil shall be on the earth d , meaning , that what evil or judgement soever shal come upon the place , or people , amongst whom a man liveth , they are likest to find favour and protection from god , whose hand hath been upon all occasions stretched forth in works of mercy unto those that stood in need . 3. as if it were a smal thing with god onely to exempt the children of mercy from perishing in the condemnation of this world ; he speaketh unto them of the glory and great things of the world to come , and this upon the account of their mercy . then shall the king say unto them on his right hand , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world . for , i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat ; i was thirsty , and ye gave mee drink ; i was a stranger , and ye took me in naked and ye cloathed me ; i was sick , and ye visited me , &c. a so the apostle to timothy , charge them that are rich in this world , that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches , but in the living god , who giveth us richly all things to injoy , that they do good , that they be rich in good works , ready to distribute , willing to communicate , laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come , that they may l●y hold on eternal life . b if rich men wil not simply do good , but be rich in good works , ( i. e. abound in doing good ) and this out of a propenseness and readiness of heart and soul unto these works , not grudgingly , or as of necessity ( as the apostle speaks in a like case ) hereby they shal take a most secure and safe course , though it be secret , and makes little shew in the eyes of men , [ as treasures and foundations , are both secret and safe , at least as safe as men can make them ] to possess themselves of eternal life . 4. mercy hath not onely the promises of the great things of the world to come , but of the good things of this life also ( as wel as of deliverance from the evil ) wherein as well the children also and posterity of mercifull men , as themselves , are comprehended . is not this the fast that i have chosen to loose the bands of ▪ wickedness , to undo the heavy burthens , and to let the oppressed go free , and that ye break every yoke ? is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry , and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house ? when thou seest the naked , that thou cover him , and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh ? then shall thy light break forth as the morning [ i , e. as the chearful brightnesse of the morning succeeds of course , and uncomfortable darknesse of the night , so shal the prosperity , according to the standing law of my righteous providence , forthwith succeed , and come in place of thy present afflicted and calamitous condition , as it followeth ] and thine health shall spring forth speedily ; as if hee should say , whereas at present thy whole head is sick , and thy whole heart faint , and from the sole of the foot , even unto the head , there is no soundness in thee , but wounds & bruises , & putrifying sores , b so that in respect of thy estate in this world , thou art like to a man most dangerously sick , in the most vital parts , and withal most dangerously wounded , yea and bruised , and besides al this , ful of noisome ulcers & sores , of whose recovery and health under al these maladies , there is very little , or no hope , yet shalt thou very suddenly , and above all expectation be restored unto thy former honour , strength and dignity , and all the nations round about thee , shall say , the lord hath done great things for thee . soon after to like purpose , if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke , the putting forth of the finger , and speaking vanity ; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry , and satisfie the afflicted soul , then shall thy light arise in obscurity , and thy darknesse be as the noon day ; and the lord shall guide thee continually , and satisfie thy soul in drought , and make fat thy bones , and thou shalt be like a watered garden , and like a spring of water , whose waters fail not . and they shall be of thee that shall build the old wast places , thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations , &c. c he that shal diligently consider these promises ( with very many others of the same gracious confederacy with them , which might readily be added ) and is able withall to bear himself with confidence upon the truth , and faithfulnesse , and power of god , for the performance of them , cannot but conclude heart , and soul , and all that is within him , that there is no counsel , project , or course , both for making his own face , and the face also of his posterity , to shine in the world , to be compared with a large heart , and open hand , with drawing out his soul freely unto those that stand in need , upon all occasions . there are no promises of this worlds felicities and enjoyments in every kind , to be found in all the scriptures , made unto any other vein , or part of obedience unto god , which run so high , or engage the truth and power of god so deeply , as those which are the heritage of the families of mercy , and stand charged with all earthly supplies , comforts , and accommodations , unto them and their posterities , who shall minister with a liberal hand unto the necessities of the poor , still taking off their sackcloth , and girding them with joy and gladness . to be jealous that a frequent offering of those sacrifices , wherewith god is so well pleased ( heb. 13. 16. ) will diminish any mans flocks , or make any breach upon his worldly estate , or trench upon the prosperity of his house and children after him , is but a bold affront put upon the truth and faithfulness of god , by the ill-nurtur'd and base-bred hearts of covetous , ignorant , and foolish men . hath not the husbandman as much reason to fear , that his grass and corn will parch and dry away , by the rain of heaven ever and anon falling on them ? peruse ( at your leisure ) ps. 112. throughout . prov. 11. 24 25. eccles. 11. 1 , 2 , &c. psal 41. 1 , 2 , 3. luke 6. 38. 2 cor. 9. 6. 8 , 9 , &c. ( with many like . ) 5. men and women that are rich in this world , cannot convert , or dispose of their abundance in any other way , but to their incomparable loss and disadvantage . they do but play at small game ( as our english proverb is ) with great estates , who either hoard up the revenues of them , or make sacrifices of them unto their lusts in one kind or other , as either in building sumptuously , in faring deliciously , in apparelling gorgeously , in gaming lavishly , in abusing themselves wantonly : or ( or in a word ) by gratifying the flesh inordinately in what way soever . all the considerable improvement that can be made of silver and gold , and great possessions , is by spreading them upon the backs of the naked , and burying them in the bowels of the hungry , by ransoming the captive , relieving the oppressed ▪ by making temporal provisions for the bodies , and spiritual for the souls of men . by such a contrivement of wealth as this , men may become great in the sight of god , angels , and men : of uncertain riches , may make an enduring substance ; of that which is not , that which is and which ever wil be to the days of eternity . whereas let men consult with the greatest spirit of the wisdom of this world , and study , and streyn their reasons , wits , understandings to devise it in any other way , it will turn to little or no account at all , but of sorrow and shameand misery without end . for riches are given unto men much upon the like terms with those , on which christ himself is given unto them . behold ( said simeon ) this child is set for the fall , and rising again of many in israel a . so are the great things of this world dispensed and disposed of by god , that in the issue and event they will be the shining of the face , and lifting up the head unto some , viz. unto those that shall sanctifie the lump , by offering a first fruits , according to the royal law of the gospel , unto god ; and again , the confusion of the face , and the hanging down of the head , and double measure of the wrath of god in the vengeance of eternal fire , unto others , viz. unto all those , that shall serve their-own humours and lusts with them , with the neglect of that high and holy commandment , which god hath given them to do otherwise . 6. ( and lastly ) rich men are but god's feoffees in trust in behalf of the poor , of all that surplusage and redundance that is found in their estates ; nor have they any right or title unto it before him ; or ( as it is usually expressed ) in foro conscientiae , but only unto the disposition of it , and this unto the right owners , the poor , and according to those instructions given by him in the gospel on that behalf . nor is it reasonable , or consistent with that reverence and honour which we owe to the wisdom ▪ and goodness of god , to conceive or think , that he gives at any time , or unto any person , a double , zrable , a sevenfold , tenfold , twenty-fold proportion in wealth , above the line of competency , & what comfortably , and with all christian conveniences , supports other men charged with the same proportion of expense with them , to bestow upon their lusts in one kind or other ( whether of sensuality , or of covetous , or ambitious hoarding , upon the account of posterity ) or for any other end or purpose whatsoever , save only for the strengthning of the hand of the poor , and the buying ( as it were ) of handkerchiefs to wipe away tears from their eyes . and were rich men as considerate and tender in their ways , as would be their honour and safety to be , it could not lightly but be a question of conscience unto them , whether god would have cast the one half of the abundance upon them , which now they possess , but for the poors sake . for it is within the compass of the light of nature to conceive , yea , and to conclude , that god abounds not in things superfluous , perstuous ▪ as he is not deficient in things necessary . so that the superfluity we speak of in mens estates , in the best and truest construction of the providence of god disposing it unto them , appertaineth of right unto those that want , and stand in need , and only a right of a regular disposition of it unto themselves . which right of disposition ( to mention this by the way is ( i confess ) a far higher favour from god , and more valuable , then the right of receiving it vested by him in the poor . the scripture from place to place speaketh according to the tenour of these things , investing the poor and needy with a right and title to the rich mans superfluities , and declaring the acts of mercy ( usually so called ) in these men , are in true consideration , but acts of justice , or of righteousness . with-hold not good ( saith solomon from those to whom it is due , or ( according to the former translation , better agreeing here with the hebrew ( as the new translators themselves acknowledge in the margent ) from the owners thereof . junius and tremellius translate , ab iis qui opus habent , i. e. from those that have need ; and gloss the original expression thus ; cujus [ nimirum cohibiti boni ] dominum illum efficit necessitate , & te dispensatorem , deus ▪ i. e. of that good which thou with-holdest , or keepest back , god by his necessity maketh him the master , or owner , and thee the steward , or dispenser . and upon this account it is ( as these translators likewise give notice , upon the place now touched ) that mens alms or works of mercy , are in scripture called , their justice , or their righteousness a . compare psal. 112. 9. with 2 cor. 9. 9 , 10. he hath dispersed , he hath given unto the poor : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} his righteousnesse remaineth for ever . and so vers. 10. multiply your seed , and increase the fruits of your righteousnesse . so matth. 6. 1. where we read , take heed you do not your alm● before men , &c. the best greek copies , instead of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} alms , read , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , justice ; and beza rendreth it accordingly ; attendite ne justitiam vestram excerceatis , &c. yea and calvin acknowledgeth this reading . thus also deut. 24. 13. moses from god promiseth or declareth , that the delivering back of the poor mans pledge before the sun goeth down , shall be righteousnesse unto him that shall thus deliver it , before the lord ; meaning , that it should be accepted by god as an act of mercy unto the poor . so then , rich men , and they who have this worlds goods , and yet shall shut up their compassions against their brother that standeth in need , are not only uncharitable and unmerciful , but unjust also , companions of thieves , and these of the worst kind , sacrilegiously with-holding that which god himself hath signally consecrated and set apart for the use and comfort of the poor and indigent of the world . and since according to our common saying , the receiver is as bad as the thief , it is no marvel , that the children and posterity of so many great rich men , receiving estates so desperately incumbred and entangled with that which of right belonged unto other men , and these of that sort of men , whom of all others it is most dangerous to injure or affront ( i mean , the poor , whose protector , and avenger , god hath solemnly declared himself from heaven ) it is no marvel ( i say ) that the inheritors of such ill-conditioned estates , should reap so little comfort of them , whilest they keep them , and should so frequently be shaken out of them before they die . let this consideration then be laid to heart with the former , to break that iron sinew of unmercifulness , which is found in the hearts of any of us . know ye not ( saith the apostle ) that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god ? be not deceived &c. a and if god be the avenger of all such , who go beyond , and defraud their brother in any thing b , ( as the holy ghost pronounceth him to be ) and it be a most dreadful thing to fall into the hands of this avenger , let the consideration be as an alarum from heaven to awaken us throughly unto that great and important duty , whereunto we have been exhorted , to commiserate the indigencies of the poor , and to take them into part and fellowship with us in our comforts . the duty might be bound upon the consciences of men and women with many more such spiritual bands , as these : but i trust that is , even by these , bound so close and fast upon yours , that it will not break loose from them at any time . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a85403e-230 a 1 king. 4. 31. notes for div a85403e-590 a 1 tim. 6. 17 , 18. b ibid. notes for div a85403e-1100 psal. 115. 17 heb. 11. 4. b prov. 31. 1. c {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . euripides phoenissis . haec cicero it a reddidit . si jus violandum est , regnandi gratiâ violandum est : aliis rebus pictatem c●las . difficile est satyram non scribere . juvenal . a see 2 tim. 3. 16. prov. 18. 22. phil. 2. 22. doctrine . a mat. 19. 23 , 24. mark 10. 23 , 24. b eccl. 5. 9. what mercy it is , of which the text and doctrine speaks . scripture-proofs of the doctrine . a eph. 6. 10. reason 1. a mat. 5. 44. 45. b 1 joh. 4. 7. c gal. 3. 26. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a gal. 5. 6. reason 2. a 1 cor. 13. 7 a eph. 3. 17. 18. reason 3 a psa. 50. 21 a psal. 50. 21. b 1 joh. 4. 17 reason 4. c psal. 11. 7. d 1 cor. 13. 7. reason 5. a mat. 5. 16. b joh. 9. 24. c mat. 15. 30. reason 6. a jam. 1. 13. b pro. 19. 17 a 1 joh. 3. 17 a luk. 6. 38. instruct . 2. a 2 kings 13. 19. b eccl. 11. 2. c prov. 11. 25. instruct . 3. d eph. 4. 14. instruct . 4. a pro. 27. 7. b job 6. 5. c 1 sam. 28. 6 , 7. a eccl. 5. 13. b luke 17. 9 2d vse reproof . a mat. 16. 26. b pro. 11. 26. c mat. 25. 41 a job 31. 32. mic. 17. 18. motive 1. a ps. 18. 25. b mat. 6. 14 motive 2. c ps. 41. 1 , 2. d eccl. 11. 2. motive 3. a mat. 25. 34 , 35 , 6. b 1 tim. 6. 17 , 18 , 19. motive 4. esa. 58. 6 , 8. b esa. 1. 5 , 6. c esa. 58. 9 , ● , 11 , 12. motive 5. a luk 2. 4. motive 6. a quam●brem hac beneficia in scripturis appellantur , justicia . the heathen mans observations , de male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres ; an ill-gotten estate seldom comes to the third heir . but christians may observe , that de male servatis vix , &c an estate ill kept by him that got it , is commonly dispers'd and va●ished before the third heir os the race comes at it . a 1 cor. 5. 9. b 1 thes. 4. 6. a funerall sermon preached at watton in hertfordshire, at the buriall of the ancient and worthy knight, sir philip boteler, decemb. 9. 1606 downame, george, d. 1634. 1607 approx. 84 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 40 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a20734 stc 7116 estc s110134 99845745 99845745 10666 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a20734) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 10666) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 955:12) a funerall sermon preached at watton in hertfordshire, at the buriall of the ancient and worthy knight, sir philip boteler, decemb. 9. 1606 downame, george, d. 1634. [2], 73, [1] p. printed by felix kyngston and martin clarke, at london : 1607. reproduction of the original in dr. williams's library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-12 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2004-12 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a fvnerall sermon preached at watton in hertfordshire , at the buriall of the ancient and worthy knight , sir philip boteler , decemb. 9. 1606. by g. downame doctor in diuinitie . at london , printed by filix kyngston and martin clarke . 1607. a fvnerall sermon , preached at walton in hertfordshire , at the buriall of the ancient and worthy knight , sir philip boteler , decemb. 9. 1606. revel . 14. 13. and i heard a voice from heauen , saying vnto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from thenceforth : ●ea , saith he spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their workes doe follow with then . the holie ghost hauing in the former chapter from the ii. verse to the end , described antichrist , ( as all * doe agree ) and hauing in the 8. verse of this chapter foretold the ●uine of the antichristian seare signified ●y the fall of babylon , which was to follow vpon the preaching of the eternall gospell foreshewed vers . 7 : he endeuoureth in the verses following euen vnto the end of this text , by two most forcible arguments to draw men out of babylon , and to withdraw them from antichrist : the one , importing those fearefull punishments , which shall befall them , who after the reuelation of antichrist by the preaching of the gospell , shall ioyne themselues vnto him : the other , expressing the happie estate of those , who not suffering themselues to bee seduced by antichrist , doe die in the true faith of christ. the former argument is propounded vers . 9. 10. 11. if any ●an ( saith he ) worship the beast and his image , and receiue his marke on his forehead , 〈◊〉 vpon his hand , that is , ( as i haue euidenty proued in my treatise of antichrist , vhereunto for breuitie sake i doe now referre you ) whosoeuer liueth and dieth a re●lute and absolute papist , acknowledging the popes supremacie , professing the antichristian faith , and practising the idol●tries and superstitions of the apostatic● church of rome ; he shall drinke of t● wine of gods wrath , yea , of the pure wine powred ( that is prepared to be drunke ) in the cup of his wrath , whereby is meant euerlasting damnation , prepared for the wicked , wherein iudgement not to bee allaied with mercie , shall bee executed vpon them . which iudgement , for the greatnes is most horrible , for they shall be tormented in fire and brimstone : for continuance is not only without end , for the smoke of their torment shall ascend euermore , but also without intermission , for they shall haue no rest day nor night . and lest any man should think it hard , that men being either terrified by the crueltie of antichrist , or seduced by his craft , to ioyne with him , shal euerlastingly bee tormented in fire and brimstone : the holy ghost preuenteth this obiection , vers . 12. hereby ( saith he ) the patience of the saints is tried , and here are they that keepe the commaundements of god , and the faith of iesus discerned . for howsoeuer the vnsound christian may be peruerted by antichrist : yet it is impossible ( saith our sauiour ) that the elect should finally be seduced by him : matth. 24. 24. by this argument therefore men are to be perswaded , as they tender the saluation of their soules , so to beware that they doe not encline to poperie ; or if they be papists alreadie , to come out of babylon , as they are exhorted reue. 18 4. for as chrysostome rightly obserueth on 2. thess. 2. 10. antichrist preuaileth in them that perish ; or as ierome speaketh , in them who are prepared vnto destruction . vpon whom ( saith the apostle ) because they haue not receiued the loue of the truth that they might be saued , the lord sendeth the efficacie of error , that they may beleeue lies ; that all they might be damned which beleeue not the truth , but haue pleasure in vnrighteousnes : whereby hee meaneth the mysterie of iniquitie , which is antichristianisme , that is to say , poperie . the other argument expressing the blessed estate of those that die , not in the religion of antichrist ( which the papists doe ) but in the true saith of christ , opposed to the religion of antichrist , and professed in the churches , which are reformed by the preaching of the eternall gospell , is contained in these word● which i haue read vnto you . and therefore as the former reason must ( if wee would not be damned ) disswade vs from poperie ; so this argument must perswade vs , if wee would be saued , to bee sincere and constant professors of the true faith of christ , which by the vnspeakable mercie of god towards vs , is professed among vs. for if we shall liue and die in this faith as true and sound professors thereof , ( as our hope is this worthie knight did ) then shal our estate , so soone as this life is ended , bee most happie and blessed , as the holy ghost doth assure vs in this text . wherein ( that i may now come to the words themselues ) the present felicitie of all those that die in the lord , is not onely affirmed , viz. in these words , bles● are the dead , which die in the lord from thenceforth , but also confirmed and prooued , both by authoritie and reason . the authoritie is , first , a voice from heauen , not only auouching this truth , but also commanding iohn to write it . secondly , the testimonie of the spirit : euen so , saith the spirit . the reason why those which die in the lord are presently happie , is , because they rest from their labours and molestations , and their works ( meaning the blessed reward of their workes ) follow with , or accompanie them . as if hee should haue said , they which die in the lord are foorthwith happie , because death to them is the end of all miserie & trouble , and the beginning of euerlasting happinesse . now whereas the holy ghost doth not onely deliuer this assertion , that the dead which die in the lord are blessed , but is so carefull to countenance and prooue the same vnto vs , and well are wee to be assured , that his care is not superfluous ; this is therefore an euident token , that men commonly in the world be of another opinion , which is the cause why the holy ghost saw it needfull not onely to deliuer this truth , but also to ratifie and confirme it . for first , men commonly account it a miserable thing to die ; and naturally are so affraide of death , as to saue their liues they will not sticke to commit any sinne almost , as to denie christ and his religion , and to ioyne with antichrist , and by their sinne to cast away their precious soules , which they would not doe , if they could be perswaded , that death brings happinesse with it . againe , to die in the lord , as it is here vnderstood with opposition , and not in the subiection and faith of antichrist ; not in the communion of the now apostaticall church of rome ; of the papists , who falsely tearme themselues catholikes , is counted a damnable thing ; of the carnall and backsliding gospellers , a more miserable thing , than to liue in the saith and subiection of antichrist . that therefore wee may die willingly when god shall call vs , and may be readie to lay downe our liues for the testimonie of the truth , rather than to yeeld to antichrist , and generally may be more affraid to commit sin , than to suffer death ; let vs remember what the holy ghost saith , that blessed are those which die in the lord. and let vs consider , that this assertion is no humane inuention , or earthly deuice , but a diuine and heauenly oracle . for so saith iohn , i heard a voyce from heauen . many will say , if i might heare an angell from heauen tell me that which you ministers doe teach vs , as namely that to die in the lord is an happie thing , assuredly i would beleeue it . if from heauen it were testified vnto me , that it is a blessed thing to die , not in the faith and communion of the romish church , but in the faith of christ professed in the churches reformed by the preaching of the gospell , i would rather die than ioyne with the church of rome . and yet behold , this truth is not onely auouched by a voice from heauen , but also that ( as peter speaketh in the like case ) we might haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a more firme word , which is the written word , it is by the commandement of god from heauen committed to writing , as containing words faithfull and true ; and being spoken and written , hath the testimonie of the spirit , that it is the vndoubted word of god. such is the credit of the written word , that if an angell from heauen should gainsay it , he were to be held accursed , gal. 1. 8. and he that will not giue credit to the written word , which is the most sure foundation of our faith ; neither would he beleeue , though an angell should come from heauen , or a spirit from the dead . satan can transforme himselfe into an angell of light , and take vpon him the person of the dead : and therefore if we should trust to apparitions , we might soone be deceiued . but the word of god cannot deceiue vs. seeing therefore this assertion is pronounced by god from heauen , and at his appointment is committed by the holy euangelist to writing , and also hath the testimonie of the holy ghost , who is the spirit of truth : let vs therefore with all reuerence and good conscience hearken vnto it as to the oracle of god , and with the full perswasion of faith giue vnfained credit vnto it , as vnto the vndoubted word of the lord ; namely , that the dead which die in the lord , are from thenceforth blessed because they rest from their labours , and their workes follow them . in which words three things are to be considered . first , who they are which be here pronounced blessed . secondly , what this blessednesse is , and wherein it doth consist , which is shewed in the reason , that they rest from their labours , &c. thirdly , when this blessednes belongeth to them : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith hee , from thenceforth , that is , forthwith and immediatly after their death , and so forward . as touching the first : blessed ( saith he ) are the dead . what ? the dead blessed ? a strange paradoxe no doubt to hypocrites and worldly men , who haue placed their felicitie in the fruition of temporall things , and put the day of death farre from them , fearing nothing more than to die , and hoping for nothing lesse , than to be blessed after death . but let vs remember that it is an oracle of god deliuered from heauen , and testified by the holy spirit . from hence therefore let vs learne truly to acknowledge the immortalitie of the soule , and effectually beleeue , that there is a life immortall , after this mortall life is ended . and in this beliefe let vs be carefull so to liue , as that we may hope after this life is ended , to be happie and blessed . neither let vs be so mad , as for the momentanie fruition of temporall vanities in this vale of miserie , to lose an euerlasting inheritance in the kingdome of heauen . but hee addeth , which die in the lord. for not all that are dead are blessed ; for many die out of the lord iesus and out of gods fauour , as those which depart in the faith of antichrist , or otherwise die in their sinnes , as in ignorance , infidelitie , impenitencie , &c. and they are so far from being blessed when they die , as that by their death their miserie is infinitely increased . but they are blessed which die in the lord. which words some vnderstand as spoken of martyrs onely , and so reade them , who die for the lords cause . and no doubt , if all they be blessed , who die in the lord ; much more may we assure our selues , that they which doe not onely die in the lord , but also for him , are most happie and blessed . and this must encourage all true christians , as we are perswaded that the lord hath laid downe his life for our sakes ; so to bee most readie and willing to lay downe our liues for his sake , if it shall please the lord to vouchsafe vnto vs both that honour , as to be the martyrs of iesu ; as also that fauour , as to make our death and afflictions , which otherwise all of vs must looke to suffer as chastisements for our sinnes , to be sufferings for righteousnes . but yet not onely such as die for the lord , are here pronounced blessed ; nor all they are blesled , who would seeme to die for the lord , but all they and onely they who die in the lord are blessed . for if any man dying for the maintenance of heresie shall think he dieth for the lord , ( as all in that case are readie to pretend ) notwithstanding hee is not blessed , because hee doth not die in the lord. for none are in him , but such as truly belieue in him , and none truly belieue in him , which doe not loue him and his members for his sake . but they which die for heresie , as they doe not truly belieue in christ , so doe they not truly loue his members ; but by their heresie cut themselues from the bodie of christ which is his true church . for hs he that giueth his bodie to bee burnt and hath not loue , ( saith the apostle ) so hee that thinketh himselfe to be martyred , & hath not true faith , it profiteth him nothing . and such is the state , as of all other heretikes , so especially of the popish martyrs of these times , as they are esteemed among thē . for besides that they do not die for their religion properly , but for treason and rebellion , and it is not the punishment but the cause that maketh a martyr ; their religion also is antichristian , being the caholike apostasie , the common sewre of heresie , and the very mysterie of iniquitie . neither doe they die in the cause or faith of christ , but in the cause and faith of antichrist ; and therefore are the martyrs , not of christ , but of antichrist . the truth whereof none can denie , if this once bee prooued vnto them , which by our writings is sufficiently prooued , that rome is babylon , the pope antichrist , and the papists such as haue receiued the marke of the beast . therfore not only they which die for the lord , nor all they who would seeme to die for him , but as i said , all they , and only they which die in the lord , as the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe plainely signifie , are here by the voice of god from heauen , and by the testimony of the spirit pronounced blessed . but let vs consider who may be said to die in the lord , for this is the most materiall point in all this text . the like phrase is vsed 1. thess. 4. 16. the dead in christ. 1. cor. 15. 18. they which are a sleepe in christ. which places being vnderstood of al the faithfull , do cuidently proue , that this phrase is not to bee restrained to martyrs only , but generally to be extended to all true christians . they therefore are said to die in christ , who being in christ , do so ●nd this life ; or who being by a true saith ingrafted into christ , doe in that faith depart this life . so that to this happines two things are required , first that we be in christ , for else we cannot be said to die in him ; the second , that we abide in him vnto the end , for else we do not die in him . but you will say , how can we be in christ , seeing he is in heauen , and we on the earth ? i answere , whosoeuer truly beleeueth in christ , he is in christ , and being in him is blessed . heere therefore i am to shew two things , 1. that the faithfull be in christ , 2. that their being in him is the ground of their happinesse . for there euery faithfull man and woman is a true member of the body of christ , bone of his bone , and flesh of his flesh , and consequently they are in him , and he in them , they being in him by faith , and he in them by his spirit . and they are not only in him , but also one with him , according to his prayer , ioh. 17. for as the body is one , and yet hath many members , and all the members though many are but one body , so is christ. for by one spirit we were all baptised into one body , namely of christ , and by the same were all made to drinke into one spirit , viz. of christ ; that is , by the spirit of christ , we are in baptisme engrafted into the body of christ , and in the lords supper vnited to his spirit . 1. cor. 12. 12. 13. as therefore there is an vnion betwixt the head of the natural body , and the members thereof , which be most remote from it , by reason of the vnity of the same soule , which being chiefely seated in the head , quickneth also the feet ; so is it in the mysticall body of christ. for hereby , as s. iohn saith , we know that we dwell in christ , and he in vs , because he hath giuen vs of his spirit . this therfore is my first reason : whosoeuer is in the body of christ , hee is in christ ; euery one that truly beleeueth in christ , is in the body of christ , as a liuely member thereof : therefore euery one that truly beleeueth in christ , is in christ. the like comparison our sauiour vseth , ioh. 15. where he saith that he is the vine , and the faithfull are as it were branches in him . as the branches therefore be in the vine , so the faithfull are in christ. againe , the sacraments serue to this end , to assure the faithfull that they be in christ. for by the one we are baptised into christ , that is , by baptisme ingrafted into him , gal. 3. 27. in the other , we eate his body , and drinke his blood which whosoeuer doth , he is in christ and christ in him , ioh. 6. 56. both whic● are plainely testified by the apostle i● the place euen now cited . for ( saith h● by the same spirit we are all baptis● into one body , and made all to drinke into one spirit . but what need i other proofes , seeing the holy ghost in the scripture plainely affirmeth that the faithfull be in christ ? as 1. cor. 1. 30. you ( saith the apostle to the faithfull ) are of god in christ. and it is an vsuall thing in the scriptures to terme the faithfull , such as be in christ , as ephes. 1. 1. philip. 1. 1. colos. 1. 2. to the faithfull which be in christ , to all the saints in christ , &c. in the 8. to the romans , when he would signifie that the faithfull are forced from damnation , he saith , there is no condemnation to them which he in christ iesus . when he would signifie that the faithfull are also regenerate , he saith , whosoeuer is in christ , he is a new creature . and finally , as the faithfull are here said to die in christ , so elsewhere they are said to liue in him , and he in them : 2. tim. 3. 12. gal. 2. 20. the vse which we are to make hereof , is two-fold , the one of instruction , the other of comfort . for seeing the faithfull are in christ , it behoueth all them who would seeme to bee true christians , to behaue themselues as becommeth those which are in christ , gouerned and guided by his spirit according to his word . for this we are to know , that the offences ( i meane especially such as be notorious offences ) of such as be , or would seeme to be in christ , do redound to the dishonor of christ our head . for as we seeme to haue communion with him ( which in sinful actions indeed we haue not , but are then affected as members of the naturall body benummed with the palsie , which though they haue vnion with their head , yet haue not communion of sense and motion , deriued to them from the head ) but i say as wee seeme to haue communion with him ; so we seeme to draw him into the communion and fellowship of our sinne , which is horrible to be thought . when as therefore we are incited or allured to the practise of sinne , let this consideration restraine vs. for seeing wee professe our selues , our soules and bodies to bee members of christ , let vs say with the apostle , shal i take the member of christ ; and make it the member of a harlot ? g● forbid . and so for other sinnes , shall i defile the member of christ with idolatrie , and make it a member of antichrist ? or shall i pollute the member of christ , with drunkennesse , with theft , with blood , with witchcraft , &c. and make it ( as much as in me lieth ) a limbe of the diuell ? god forbid . the comfort which all the faithfull are from hence to reape , is that comfort of all comforts , namely that they are in christ ; and consequently are so to conceiue of themselues , as being in christ. i say againe , that all they , who embrace the mercies of god in christ , and doe lay hold vpon him by a true and a liuely faith , are to bee assured that they are in christ : and consequently that they are in the fauour of god , and accepted of him in christ as righteous , and in christ adopted as the children of god and heires of eternall life . many not well considering this point , doe greatly weaken the faith , either of others , or their owne . of others , as namely they , who halting betweene vs and the papists , do affirme , that whiles we consider the mercies of god and merits of christ , wee haue cause of assurance , as the protestants teach ; but when wee looke into our selues , wee haue iust cause to doubt according to the doctrine of the papists . but i answere , if we looke into our selues , as we are in our selues , considered a part from christ ; the best of vs all shal haue iust cause , not onely to doubt , as the papists teach , but also to despaire . yea , it were presumption for a man in that case , to make but a doubtfull matter of it . but although we are to be humbled in the conceit of our owne vilenes , and are not onely to doubt , but also to despaire of saluation in our selues , wee being not considered as in christ : yet this hindreth not , but that wee may and ought to be assured of saluatiōin christ. for though wee be sinfull in our selues , yet are wee the righteousnes of god in christ : though in our selues wee haue broken the law , and are therefore subiect to the curse thereof ; yet in christ we haue fulfilled the law , and are freed from the curse : though in our selues we are the children of wrath , and seruants of sinne ; yet in christ we are the children of god , and heires of eternall life . as therefore the faithfull most certainly be in christ , so let them learne to conceiue of themselues as they be in christ ; that what cause soeuer they haue in themselues to doubt , they may in christ assure themselues of their iustification and saluation . many a one that indeede beleeueth in christ , doth himselfe wrong , by not thinking of himselfe , as hee is in christ. for the more assured wee are of gods loue in christ , the more shall our heart bee enflamed with loue towards god , and our brethren for his sake ; the more zealous we shall be of gods glorie , the more cheerefull in his seruice . and that which is the happinesse of a christian here wee shall leade our liues in the expectation of a better life . for the life , as it were , of this life mortall , is the assurance of life immortall . thus you haue heard that the faithfull be in christ , and the vse which wee are to make thereof ; now wee are to shew , that this being in christ , is the ground of our happinesse . for it is not our liuing , nor our dying in it selfe , that maketh vs happie ; but our being in christ whilest we liue , maketh vs happy , beatitudine viae , that is , with such a happinesse as in this time of our pilgrimage is incident vnto vs whilest we are in the way : and our being in christ , when we die , maketh vs happie , beatitudine patriae , that is , with complete and eternal felicitie , when we comming to the end of our way , doe arriue into the hauen of rest , and heauen of blisse , which is the countrey and kingdom , which the lord hath prepared for all those that be in christ. now that our being in christ is the ground of all our happinesse , i shew it thus . for first , if we be not in christ , we are in the state of damnation . and contrariwise , the cause why any man is exempted from damnation , is , because he is in christ. there is no condemnation ( saith the apostle ) to them that are in christ iesus , rom. 8. 1. secondly , if wee be not in christ , wee are dead in our sinnes , neither can we do any thing ( being out of him ) which belongeth to a spirituall life . but being in him , we liue in him , and he in vs a spirituall life which neuer shall haue end . for as in the vnion of the bodie with the soule , the bodily life consisteth : so in the vnion of the whole man with christ , consisteth our spirituall life . and as the bodie seuered from the soule , is dead ; so the whole man seuered from christ , is spiritually dead , how liuely or cranke so euer he may seeme to be , in respect of the bodily life . thirdly , if we be out of christ , we are altogether foolish in respect of spiritual things : yea , our wisedome is ●mitie against god ; we are in our serues vniust and guiltie of sinne , vnholy and defiled with manifold corruptions : and laffly , in our selues are bondflaues of fin and satan , but being in christ , he is made vnto vs of god , wisedome , righteousnes , sanctification and redemption . for , being in christ , wee haue communion with him , and he with vs. so that as our sinne was his by imputation , so is his obedience ours ; he being made sinne for vs , that we might be the righteousnes of god in him . and as his sufferings be ours , so ours be his . but wee are not onely made partakers of his merits to our iustification ; but also being in him , we are made partakers of his graces vnto sanctification . for as the sacred oyle being powred on the head of the high priest , who was a figure of christ , rested not there , but descended to his lower parts : so the oyle of grace wherewith christ our head was annointed without measure , is from him deriued to his members . for of his fulnes wee doc all receiue , euen grace for grace : ioh. 1. 16. fourthly , being in christ , we haue not onely communion with him in respect of his merits and efficacie ; but also haue vnion with him , in respect of his person : wee being made one with him , and hee with vs ; from which vnion , the asortsaid communion doth proceede . and therefore in him , as our head , wee may truly be said to haue fulfilled the law : in him , wee haue satisfied the iustice of god : and that which is more ; in him , are wee not onely risen againe , but also are ascended into heauen , and set in the heauenly places in christ , ephes. 2. 6. and our life is hid with christ in god col. 3. 3. al which doe argue the assurance , which the faithfull ought to haue , of their iustification , of resurrection vnto glorie , and of eternall life . for so long as the head is aboue the waters , the other members cannot be drowned : so , while our head is happie in heauen , the saluation of all his members is most sure and certaine . lastly , being in christ , we are not only vnited vnto him ; but in him wee are also vnited to the whole trinitie ; and being vnited vnto it , we shall haue with it euerlasting fellowship ; in which fellowship and fruition of god , perfect felicitie doth consist . thus haue you heard , that the faithfull are in christ ; and that all which bee in christ , are happie and blessed . now if we beleeue ( as our dutie is ) this vndoubted truth ; namely , that al which by faith are in christ be blested ; then will we in our iudgements esteeme , and in our affections desire to be in christ , aboue all the things of this world . for what is our happinesse , that is esteemed and affected of vs as our chiefest good ? if therefore this be our happinesse , to bee in christ , then will wee , with the apostle , esteeme all other things as drosse and dung , that hauing gained christ , by a true faith , wee may bee found in him : and accordingly will we giue diligence , not onely in vsing the meanes , whereby wee may beleeue and be in christ : but also in gathering testimonies to assure vs , that we are in christ by a true and liuely faith . the vse therefore which wee are to make of the former doctrine , concerning the blessed estate of those which be in christ by faith , is two-fold . first , that we labour to be in christ : the second , that we labour to know that wee are in christ. as touching the former , wee are to performe two things . the first , that we vse the meanes to beleeue . secondly , that wee doe beleeue . the ordinarie meanes of begetting faith is the ministerie of the word . for as the apostle saith , faith commeth by hearing the word : and againe , how can they beleeue in him , of whom they haue not heard ? and how can they heare without a preacher ? for what are preachers , but ministers by whom you doe beleeue ? 1. cor. 3. 5. who , because they are by preaching the gospel , the instruments of god for the begetting of faith in the elect , by which they are iustified , and adopted sons of god ; are therefore said to iustifie men , and by the preaching of the gospell , which is the immortall seed whereof peter speaketh , to beget men vnto god. if therefore there be no saluation but by christ , and if we haue no part in christ but by faith , and if we attaine not to faith ordinarilie but by hearing the word of god ; this therefore must teach vs , as wee desire to be saued , so to be carefull and conscionable hearers of the word of god , which is his power to our saluation . for how meanly soeuer carnall and worldly men esteeme of the preaching of the gospel ; notwithstanding it is the ordinance and good pleasure of god , by the foolishnes of preaching ( for so men esteeme it ) to saue those that doe beleeue , 1. cor. 1. 21. but our hearing must be mingled with faith , or else it profiteth nothing . when as therefore the lord in the ministerie of the gospell , doth not onely reueale and offer vnto vs his vnspeakeable mercie in christ : but also by his embassadours doth desire vs , that wee would be reconciled vnto him , and that we would accept of his mercie offered vnto vs in christ , by receiuing him to be our sauiour : we are not only in generall to beleeue , that hee is the only sauiour of mankind ; but in particular , wee are to embrace the mercies of god offered vnto vs in him , and receiue him as our sauiour , earnestly desiring in out hearts to be made partakers of his merits , and vnfained resoluing in our minds to rest and rely vpon him , as our only sauiour . he that thus receiueth christ , is esteemed of god ( who accepteth in weake ▪ christians their sincere desire to receiue christ , and vnfained resolution to rest vpon him alone for saluation , for the deed it selfe , which is faith ) he is esteemed , i say , to beleeue , and by this faith whereby he thus receiueth christ , he is vnited vnto him . and howsoeuer as yet in the court of his owne conscience , perhaps he is not iustified , being poore it spirit , and hungring and thirsting after the righteousnes of christ , which in his owne sense he doth not yet find imputed vnto him : yet notwithstanding in high court of heauen , he is as surely iustified before god , as by our sauiour , matth. 5. he is pronounced blessed . and if any man shal think it strange , that so small a measure of faith should be effectuall to vnite vs vnto christ , and to iustifie vs before god ; let him consider , that faith doth not iustifie vs as it is a qualitie , gift , habite , or worke in vs , or in respect of the worthines thereof ; but only relatiuely , in regard of christ the obiect , which it doth apprehend . in so much that peter calleth the faith of all the faithfull , though vnequall in it selfe , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is of equall value or price , because it doth alike iustifie ; though all be not alike assured of their iustification . for the same righteousnes of christ , which by a strong faith is apprehended to iustification , is also apprehended by a weake faith . for as the almes receiued by a feeble hand , doth as well relieue the partie , as that which is receiued by a strong hand , and it is not the hand but the almes properly which doth relieue and as the brazen serpent which was a figure of christ , did heale those among the israelites which listed vp their weake eyes towards it , as well as those which were quicke-sighted : so the righteousnes of christ being apprehended by a weake faith , doth as well iustifie the beleeuer , as when it is receiued by a strong faith , so it is the righteousnes of christ , which faith doth apprehend , and not faith it selfe which doth iustifie . but it will be said , faith is a full assurance , therefore he that hath not a full assurance , hath not faith . i answere , not all faith is a full assurance , but the strong and perfect faith . for a man must belieue in christ , before he can be in christ , or haue remission of sinnes by him . a man must haue remission of sinnes , before he is bound to beleeue it , and a man must beleeue it , and haue some measure of assurance , before he can haue the fulnes of assurance , which is not attained at the first . but you will say , faith is defined of good diuines to be a full assurance . i answer , that they define it in the perfection of it : to teach vs , not to content our selues with the lesse degrees of faith ; but to proceed from faith to faith , vntill wee come to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or full assurance of faith . for this is the second thing which , as i said , wee are to labour for , namely to know and to be assured that wee be in christ. and to this purpose wee are to performe two things . first , we are to trie our selues whether we be in christ : and secondly wee are to giue diligence to make our being in christ more sure vnto vs. as touching the former , it is the aduice of the apostle , that wee should trie our selues whether wee bee in the faith . for many deceiue , both themselues with a vaine opinion , and others with a bare profession of faith . as first they , who haue not so much as the dogmaticall or historicall faith , which is but a degree towards a iustifying faith . for though a man may haue this generall or historicall faith , and yet want the iustifying faith ; yet a man cannot haue a iustifying faith , who hath not in some measure the generall or dogmaticall faith . now this generall faith consisteth of two things , knowledge of the word of god , and assent vnto it that it is true . first therfore , they who haue not knowledge of the principles of religion , are so farre from hauing a true iustifying faith ; that they haue not so much as the first steppe or degree towards it . therefore , though ignorant persons be most forward to commend their faith , yet they are to know , whiles they continue in ignorance , they are altogether voide of faith , and consequently of all grace , whereby they might hope to be saued . for without knowledge there can be n● faith ; and without faith there is no hope of saluation , or any other sauing grace . againe , those which doe not giue assent to the whole word of god , and euerie part thereof , that it is true ; are so f● from hauing the iustifying faith , th● they haue not so much as the general or historicall faith , which the diue● themselues are said to haue ; as namely those which will beleeue so much of the scriptures as they list , and no more then liketh them . for although the proper obiect of faith , as it iustifieth , and vniteth vs vnto christ , is christ our sauiour , or the promises of the gospell concerning saluation by him ; yet by the same faith , whereby wee are iustified , wee doe vndoubtedly beleeue the whole word of god and euery part thereof . the iustifying faith euermore including and presupposing the generall and dogmaticall faith . secondly , they haue not the true euangelicall faith who haue not also the legall faith , perswading them of their miserable and accursed estate in themselues , both in regard of their sinnes , as also of the punishments ; which by the threatnings of the law , if they did truly beleeue them , they would acknowledge to bee due vnto them . now , this legall faith , is a necessarie preparatiue to the iustifying faith . for vntill wee see our selues to be accursed in our selues , wee will not so much as desire seriously to be iustified by christ. vntill we find our selues to be bondslaues of sinne and satan , wee will not earnestly seeke to bee ransomed or redeemed . vntill wee acknowledge our selues to be the children of wrath , we will not seeke to be reconciled vnto god in christ. in a word , vntill wee finde our selues to be miserable in our selues , we will not seriously seeke and sue for the mercies of god or merits of christ our sauiour ; but as much as in vs lieth suffer his precious blood to bee spilt in vaine , without any care to applie it to our selues . for what neede hast thou , either of a sauiour , if thou art not in thy selfe lost ; or of a redeemer , if thou art not a captiue ; or of a reconciler , if thou art not an enemie : or what need hast thou of mercie , if thou art not in miserie ? the whole neede not the physition , saith our sauiour christ , but the sicke . well , thou euer hast had a good conceit of thy selfe , thou euer hast loued god aboue all things , and thy neighbour as thy selfe , thou neuer didst doubt of thy saluation in al thy life , &c. an euident argument that thou diddest neuer care for christ , or finde thy selfe to stand in neede of a sauiour . but remember who saith , i came not to call the righteous , ( that is , such as bee righteous in their owne conceits ) but sinners ( that is , humbled sinners ) to repentance . and againe , that he came to seeke and to saue that which was lost , to preach the gospell to the poore , namely in spirit , to heale the broken hearted , to preach deliuerance or redemption to the captiues . wherefore neuer perswade thy selfe that thou hast a iustifying faith , if thou doest not as well beleeue the threatnings of the law , as the promises of the gospell . for although faith doth not iustifie , as it apprehēdeth the threatnings , yet that faith which doth iustifie , ( including euermore the generall , and consequently the legall faith ) doth beleeue the threatnings of the law as the vndoubted word of god. the same faith therefore , which doth assure thee of thy reconciliation , redemption and saluation in christ , doth first informe thee , that thou art an enemie of god , a bondslaue of sinne , and vtterly lost in thy selfe ; that being with the publican humbled in thy selfe , thou maist be exalted in christ. thirdly , they deceiue either themselues with a fancie , or others with a shew of faith , who haue not an effectuall and liuely faith . for as there is a twofold knowledge , the one a literall or speculatiue knowledge , the other spirituall and operatiue , and that knowledge is onely true which is working , 1. ioh. 2. 3. 4 : so there is a double faith , an effectuall , vnfained , and liuely faith ; and an idle , counterfeit and dead faith . now , faith is said to be liuely and effectuall in two respects . first , respectu actus primi , in regard of the effectuall and true being of it . secondly , respectu actus secundi , in regard of the operation of it . in both senses every kinde of faith becommeth effectuall by application of that which is beleeued . as first , the dogmaticall faith is liuely and effectuall , when thou doest not onely beleeue in generall what god is ; but by particular application to thy selfe , doest beleeue that he is such a one to thee . as for example , if thou doest beleeue onely by a general and historicall faith , that god is omnipresent , that is , in euery place present filling heauen and earth , and that hee is omniscient , and as the scriptures call him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 knowing all things , yea the very secrets of mens hearts , and that by a most perfect and distinct knowledge ; thou maist be little the better for this faith . but if thou doest beleeue with application to thy selfe , that he is euery where present with thee , and that his eyes be alwaies vpon thee , beholding all thy waies ; then will this faith be effectuall to make thee behaue thy selfe vprightly , as in his presence and sight , and so of the rest . the like may bee said of the legall faith . for a man may beleeue in a confused and generall manner the threatnings of the law to be true , and yet neuer the more bee humbled ; but goe on securely in his sinne , and notwithstanding his impenitencie and infidelitie , promise to himself impunitie . but when as a man applieth the threatning after this manner to himselfe : if this be true ( as i vnsainedly acknowledge it to bee the vndoubted word of god ) that euery one is in himselfe accursed and subiect to eternall death and damnation , who hath not continued in all the things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them : how can it possibly be auoided , but that i am in my selfe a most accursed wight and damned wretch , who haue not continued in all the things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them ? nay , in steed of doing the things commanded , i haue done the things forbidden ; in steed of keeping all the commandements of god , i haue broken them al diuersly and grieuously ; in steed of continuing in a perpetual obedience , i haue continued in the breach of gods commandements ; as indeed vntill the time of a mans conuersion , he doth nothing , nay hee can doe nothing else but sinne against god. thus , by application , the legall faith becommeth effectuall , and thereby a man is humbled and brought to despaire of saluation in himselfe , so that if hee would be saued , hee must seeke to be freed from the curse of the law , and so bee forced to seeke for saluation out of himselfe in christ ; to which ende the lawe is said to bee a schoolemaster vnto christ. the very same is to be vnderstood of the euangelicall faith , or faith in christ. for many there be ( and they as it is to be feared are the greatest number ) who are content to make profession of the gospel , either because it is inioyned ( being as ready to embrace the religion of antichrist , if authoritie should impose it vpon them ) or because it standeth well with their outward respects , or to say the best of them , because it promiseth saluation to them that beleeue ; but rest in this outward profession of faith , without any speciall application of the promises of the gospell , or apprehension of the merits of christ , without which it is not a true and effectuall faith , vniting vs vnto christ , or iustifying vs in him . for it cannot bee , that a man seeing by a legall faith , his owne damnable estate in himselfe , he should be said truly and effectually to beleeue the promise of the gospell , which assureth saluation to all ( though most wretched in themselues ) that beleeue in christ ; who is not willing to receiue and embrace him as his sauiour , desiring in his heart to be made partaker of the merits of christ , and resoluing in his mind to rest and rely vpon him for saluation . for whatsoeuer either papists , or they that are popishly minded , doe speake of this applying of the promises of the gospell , and particular apprehending of christ ; it is most certaine , that without it , faith doth not iustifie vs before god , or vnite vs vnto christ. for though 〈◊〉 sufferings of christ , bee as a soueraigne salue to heale our sores ; though his body be meat indeed , and his blood drinke indeed , to feed our soules vnto eternal life , though his righteousnes be as a wedding garment , to couer our nakednes , and to make vs accepted of god : yet his merits doe not cure our diseased soules , vnlesse they be applied ; his body & blood do not nourish vs , vnlesse we spiritually eate his body and drinke his blood ; neither doth the robe of his righteousnes couer vs , vnlesse we put it on . and surely if faith doth iustifie vs , as it is an instrument to apprehend christ , who is our righteousnes , and no● in any other respect ; then is it most certain , that it doth not iustifie , vnlesse it be such a faith as doth apprehend the righteousnes of christ , and apply the promise of the gospell to our selues . wee must therefore learne to applie the promise of the gospel to our selues ; which we may do after this manner . is this true ( as i acknowledge it to be the word of truth ) that although i am by the sentence of the law , and testimony of mine owne conscience , an accursed wretch in my selfe , notwithstanding , i shall be happy and blessed in christ , if i receiue him to be my sauiour , and truly beleeue in him , ( for in him i shall not only be acquited from the curse , but also intitled to the kingdome of heauen ? ) and doth the lord in the ministery of the gospell , which he hath vouchsafed vnto me , not only reueale the riches of his abundant mercy in christ , and offer the same vnto vs ; but also stirre vs vp to embrace his mercy offered vnto vs in christ , and by his embassadors earnestly desire vs to be reconciled vnto him ? i do therfore vnfainedly receiue the lord iesus , to be my sweete sauiour , first , earnestly desiring in my heart to be made partaker of his merits , ( to which end i wil daily pray vnto god , that as he hath desired mee to accept of his mercy , and to be reconciled vnto him , so he would bee pleased to accept of the merits and obedience of christ , as a full discharge for my sinnes , and that in him he would bee reconciled vnto mee , pardoning my sinnes , and imputing vnto mee the righteousnes of his sonne ) and secondly resoluing in my mind , to acknowledge him to be my only sauiour , and to rest vpon him alone , for my saluation , being perswaded that hee died for my sinnes , and rose againe for my iustification . thus , by application , the euangelical faith becommeth effectual to vnite vs vnto christ , and to iustifie vs before god. but as our faith must be effectuall , in apprehending christ the obiect thereof , vnto iustification , so must it bee in some measure effectuall in the subiect , that is , the beleeuer , vnto sanctification . for true faith inwardly purgeth the hart , and outwardly worketh by loue . fo● when a man is truly perswaded of the euerlasting loue of god towards him in christ , this perswasion ( which is faith ) if it bee true and effectuall , cannot but stirre vp his heart to loue the lord , and his neighbour for the lords sake . faith therefore , as s. iames saith , must be demonstrated by good workes , which are the necessary fruits thereof . for although faith alone doth iustifie , as paul sheweth , because faith is the only thing in vs , which concurreth vnto the act of iustification , and is the only grace which serueth as an instrument to apprehend and receiue christ , who only is our righteousnes : yet that faith which is alone , not ioyned with repentance , & amendment of life , doth not iustifie , as iames proueth , because it is not a true faith . for euen as the body ( saith he ) without spirit , that is breath , is iudged dead , so faith without workes ( which are as it were the breathing of a liuely faith ) is iudged to be dead . we are to remember that they which be in christ , haue their workes to follow them , as it is heere said . for in whom christ dwelleth by faith , to iustifie them , hee dwelleth also by his spirit , to sanctifie thē , neither did he come wit● water alone , or blood alone , but as io● saith , hee came both with water and blood , both which gushed out of h● side ; the blood , i say , of redemption to purge vs from the guilt of sinne , and the water of ablution , to cleanse vs from th● corruption . and euen as from the fis● adam , there is communicated vnto vs not only the guilt of his first sin by in● putation ( because as we were in him a the root , so in him we sinned originally but also the corruption of his natur● which by his sinne hee had contracte● deriued vnto vs by generation : so fro● christ the second adam , there is co● municated vnto vs , not only the me● of his obedience by imputation , to a quite vs from the guilt of sinne ; ( beca● in him , as in our head , we haue fulfill● the law , & satisfied the iustice of god ; but also the graces of his spirit , where we are made partakers of the diuine 〈◊〉 ture , deriued vnto vs by regeneration . therefore we be in christ , wee beco● new creatures , 2. cor. 5. 17. walking 〈◊〉 after the flesh , but after the spirit . rom. 81. for if we shal say , that we haue communion with him as his members , and yet walke in darkenesse , we deceiue our selues . but if we esteeme it our happines to be in christ , we will not only be careful to trie our selues , whether we be in him , but also wee will giue all diligence to make our being in christ more & more sure vnto vs. and to this purpose we must earnestly pray vnto the lord , that hee would giue vnto vs his spirit ( which he hath promised to giue to those that aske him ) his spirit , i say , of adoption , crying in our hearts abba father , testifying to our spirits that we are the children of god , and heires of eternall life , sealing vs vp to the day of our full redemption , and as the earnest of our saluation , assuring vs thereof . secondly , wee must not content our selues with the inferiour degrees of faith , but be carefull to grow from faith to faith , vntill we come to the full assurance of faith . and to this end , wee having receiued christ , as before was said , in the earnest desire of our harts , and vnfained resolution of our mindes ; wee must , for the increase of our faith , perswade our selues that wee now are in christ , and so conceiue of our selues as being in him , reconciled vnto god , and iustified by faith ; that being in him wee haue communion with him , his merits being imputed vnto vs that be in him , as if we had performed the same for our selues in our owne persons . for being in him , wee are to be assured , that whatsoeuer hee performed for the saluation of the faithfull , he performed for vs ; and may with the apostle in particular applie the same to v● together with christ ( saith hee , and s● must euery faithfull man say ) i was cr●cisied . and i liue , no longer i , but christ ●ueth in me : and the life whith i now liue 〈◊〉 the flesh , i liue by the faith of the sonne 〈◊〉 god , who loued me and gaue himselfe f● me . and for the confirmation of 〈◊〉 faith in this particular assurance , wee 〈◊〉 to make vse of the sacraments . for th● baptisme which wee receiued in our 〈◊〉 fancie , remaineth as a sure pledge vn● vs to assure vs , that wee beleeuing in christ , are ingrafted into him ; and the sacrament of the lords supper serueth to assure vnto vs our vnion and communion with christ. lastly , wee are , according to the exhortation of s. peter , to giue diligence to make our calling , election , iustification , and being in christ more & more sure vnto vs , by leading of a godly and vpright life . for sanctification , to a man professing the true faith , is an vndoubted argument of his iustification , and of his being in christ , 1. ioh. 3. 24. for seeing a man cannot be sanctified before hee is iustified , nor liue a spirituall life vnlesse he be in christ ; it is therefore most certaine that whosoeuer is sanctified ( as euery one is that hath an vnfained purpose to walke in the obedience of gods will , though besides his purpose he faile through infirmitie in many particulars ) hee is also iustified and ingrafted into christ. but as we must be in christ , if we will be blessed by dying in him ; so must we ●bide in him to the end , or else wee doe not die in him . he that continueth to the end , saith our sauiour , shall be saued . and againe , be faithfull vnto death and i will giue thee the crowne of life : which i speak not , as though a man that truly beleeueth in christ , and is once ingrafted into him by a true faith , could totally or finally fall away from faith , or be cut off from christ ; for how can that stand with the maine promise of the gospell , assuring saluation , and consequently perseuerance to saluation , to euery one that doth truly beleeue ? but to this end , that he which supposeth that hee standeth , may take heed lest he fall . and that hee which thinketh he is in christ , because hee is in the visible church , which in respect of the faithfull who are therein , is a part on the bodie of christ , may labour not only by a true faith to be ingrafted into the inuisible church , which is the mystica● bodie of christ : but also to gather infallible tokens to himselfe of his bein● in christ. for many bee in the visib● church , which be not of the church i● uisible ; and such are subiect to defe ction , or falling away ; and the lo● fuffereth them to fall away , that it may appeare they are not of vs , 1. iohn 2. 19. there be many branches which seeme to be in the vine , which is christ , ioh. 15. but being rotten branches haue no vniō with him by faith , nor communion with him by the holy ghost , though they be ingrafted into the church the visible bodie of christ. for as cions ingrafted which doe not take , or rotten boughes of a tree which being one with the tree in shew , and as the philosopher saith , mathematice by continuitie or vnion of termes , are not one indeed and naturally by the vnitie of the forme , which is the vegetatiue soule as it were of the plant : so are they in christ externallie and sacramentally , but spiritually and in truth they are not . and such branches , as our sauiour saith , must looke to be cut off and cast into the fire . as therefore wee doe now perswade our selues that wee be in christ , so let vs be carefull , as our sauiour exhorteth vs , to abide in him , yea and to grow in him . for if any man professing himselfe to be in christ , and by his being in him to be freed and washed from his sinnes , shall fall away from christ , and with the sow that was washed shall returne as it were to his wallowing in the mire ; the latter end of such a one shall bee worse than his beginning . if a righteous man ( saith the prophet , speaking of him according to the outward appearance , that hee might teach vs in like sort to speake of men according to the iudgement of charitie ) shall turne away from his righteousnes and commit iniquitie , doing according to all the abominations of the wicked , his former righteousnes shall not bee remembred , but hee shall die in his sinnes . and that wee may abide in christ to the end , let vs labour to bee vpright and sound christians , beleeuing in christ by faith vnfained , walking vprightly before god and men . for vprightnes hat● euermore the priuilege of perseuerance for though hypocrites which build vpon the sand , being hearers onely an● not doers of the word , doe fall away i● the time of triall : yet the sound christian , who liueth according to his profession , and hath built vpon the rocke , with no surges or assaults of temptation can bee vtterly ouerthrowne . though the seed which fell either amōg thornes ( whereby is meant the heart of the worldly professor ) is choked , or on the rockie ground ( whereby is meant the secure , hard , and impenitent heart of the hypocrite and temporarie professor , couered as it were with the shallow mould of an outward profession ) is withered away in time of heate ; yet that which falleth into an vpright heart , as it were good ground , is neither choked , nor withered , but bringeth foorth fruite with patience . the way then to die in christ , is to liue in him by a true and vnfained faith , which purifieth the heart , and worketh by loue , walking vprightly , as it becommeth the members of christ in the sincere profession of his faith ; so shall we in the end of our life attaine to the end of our faith which is the saluation of our soules . many there are which could be content to die in christ , who care not to liue in him . many with balaam desire to die the death of the righteous , but leade the life of the wicked . but be not deceiued , it is an old saying , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of an euill life cōmonly there is an euill end . presume not that thou shalt die in christ , vnlesse first thou liue in him . in all the scripture there is but one example of a man who after a wicked life was conuerted at the houre of his death . one there is , that men should not then despaire ; and but one , that they should not before hand presume . and forasmuch as nothing is either more certaine than death , or more vncertaine than the time thereof ; it behoueth vs carefully to prouide , whiles wee haue time , to be in christ ; that death , whensoeuer it commeth , may finde vs in him . let our life be a preparation for death , and let this be the chiefest care of our life , that wee may be found in christ at the time of our death . this life , as our sauiour saith , is the day wherein we are to worke , afterward is the night when no man can worke or turne vnto god , but as the tree falleth , so it lieth ; and as the day of death doth leaue vs , the day of iudgement shall finde vs. this therefore must teach vs not to deferre from day to day our repentance towards god and faith in iesus christ , but presently whiles it is called to day to turne vnto the lord , that wee may bee in christ to day before to morow , because wee haue none assurance that wee shall liue vntill the morow . and so much may suffice to haue spoken of the first and chiefe point , namely who they are , which heere bee pronounced blessed , to wit , they which die in the lord. now are we in the second place briefely to consider , what this blessednes is , and wherein it doth consist . this is shewed in the words following , that they rest from their labours , and their workes follow with them . so that their happines is two-fold , first priuatiue , in that they rest from their labors and molestations , ( for there is a sabba●sme or rest , reserued to the people of god , hebr. 4. 9. whereof the sabbath was a type . ) for then the lord shall wipe away all teares from their eyes , and they shall be no more subiect to sinne , or the punishment therof , as sicknes , weaknes , mortalitie , labour , wearines , troubles , wrongs , death . death is the hauen and the end of al misery vnto them . but their happines is not meerely priuatiue , like that of beasts , which after death haue no more sense of paine , ( where , by the way we are to note , that the state of the beast when it dieth , is better then of the wick●d , who die in their sinnes ) but it is also positiue . for their workes , that is , the reward of their faith and obedience , 〈◊〉 god shall cro●ne with euerlasting happines , shall 〈◊〉 ●th ●hem . this doth teach vs , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good 〈◊〉 cannot merit ●ny thing 〈◊〉 t●e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 god ( as christ himselfe hath t●ld 〈◊〉 luke 17. ) and ●ch 〈◊〉 eternall 〈◊〉 and therefore 〈◊〉 are not said to go before our acceptation to eternall 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 cause , but follow as fruits : yet the lo● of his free grace , according to his promise , doth plentifully reward them . the consideration wherof , as it must encourage vs all to be fruitfull in good works knowing that our labour shall not been vaine in the lord , so especially those , whō the lord hath enriched with his blessings , whether temporall or spirituall ; that they be rich in good workes , laying vp for themselues a good foundation , against the time to come , that they may obtaine eternall life . againe , whereas it is said , that the workes of the faithfull , do accompanie them after death , this sheweth , that although death strippe vs of all temporall things yet it doth not bereaue vs of our workes , but bringeth vs the reward of them . and that when all our friends and followers , and all other worldly , either delights or commodities doe fa●e and forsake vs : y● our workes doe follow with vs , to our ●all comfort . which should make vs to esteeme the keeping of faith and a good conscience , aboue all the things of this world . now what this reward is , which god hath prepared for these that die in christ , though neither the eye hath seene , nor the eare heard , nor the heart of man conceiued , yet thus much we may gather out of the scriptures , that it shall consist in eternall and most perfect glory , and gladnes . the glory standing partly in the excellency of those heauenly gifts , wherewith they shall be adorned , being in respect thereof , like vnto the angels , and renewed perfectly according to the glorious image of god , yea , made conformable to christ our head , in such a proportion of glory , as his seueral members bee capable of ; and partly in the fruition of heauenly blessings , as the possession of heauen , and all heauenly good things , the fellowship of the blessed saints and angels , and that , which is all in all , the enioying of god himselfe , who is the chiefest good , in whose presence there is fulnesse of ioy , and at whose right hand there be pleasures for euermore . and that is the second thing , their eternall ioy and gladnes arising from that glory . for as they shall be most happie , so shall they reioyce in it , with vn speakable and endlesse comfort , and in the sense thereof , shall euermore bee stirred vp with wonderfull alacrity , to glorifie god. in expectation of this happie hope , we are to liue soberly , iustly , and holily in this present world . for if wee set this ioy before , as the marke towards which we contend , we will not suffer our selues to be withdrawne from our obedience to god , neither by any worldly desires , which in comparison hereof , are to bee esteemed as meere vanities , nor by any terrors of the world , which , in respect of the ioy that is set before vs , wee are to contemne . the third thing remaineth , that is , the time when this blessednes doth belong to them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith he , thenceforth , that is , from the time of their death , and so forward , for presently they rest from their labours , and their workes follow : he doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after them , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with them . this therefore is a most euident place , not only against wandering of soules , but especially against purgatory & prayer for the dead . for whereas they obiect , that the place is vnderstood of martyrs only , i haue before plainely proued , that it is generally vnderstood of al those that die in christ , whether as martyrs , or as confessors , who neither by the tyranny nor fraud o● antichrist can bee drawne away from christ. for these being in christ , & consequently made partakers of his merits , christ hath by his blood , so fully bo● purged their soules , that they shall no● need the fire of purgatory ( which wa● deuised to purge mens purses , rathe● then their soules , ) and also satisfied the iustice of god for their sinnes , that as other purgations , so other satisfaction● are blasphemies against christ , our alone , all sufficient and most perfect sauiour . but in this text there be three euidences against the papists . first , in th● he saith they are blessed from thenc● forth , forthwith , immediately , and no● many yeeres , much lesse many thousan● yeeres after , as the pope in his antichr●stian pardons would beare vs in han● secondly , they are said to rest , or to b● eased ( as the word signifieth ) from th● labours , and therefore are not at all to●mented in purgatory , which as the●selues reach , burnes as hotte as the fi● of hel . thirdly it is said , that their wor● that is , the reward of their faith and obedience doth accompany them , which reward , i hope they will not say , is the fi● of purgatory . and further obserue , that he doth not say , other mens works are to bee sent after them , to redeeme them forsooth out of purgatory , but their owne workes follow with them know therefore for certaintie , that purgatorie is but a fire seruing for the popes kitchin : and prayer for the dead is but preying vpon the liuing , being a meere deuice seruing for the maintenance of the popish , that is to say , antichristian clergie . thus haue you heard the explication of this text , and the vses which the seuerall branches thereof affoord , there remaineth in a word the application and vse which is to bee made of the whole text , both in generall concerning all those that die in the lord , and in particular concerning this our brother , who who is asleepe in christ. for seeing the dead which die in the lord , are presently blessed , because they rest from their labours , &c. this therfore doth reach vs , that death , of a christian man who is in christ , is not to be feare● as an euill thing , but rather to be wishe● and desired , because it bringeth happinesse with it . for to him that is in christ death is aduantage , in that he changeth a life mortall and miserable , for a life , blessed and immortall ; chaungeth the companie of sinfull men , for the companie of god , his saints and angels ▪ changeth a sinfull and miserable condition in this valey of teares , with a mo● blessed and glorious estate in heauen wherein there is no possibilitie of falling either into sin or miserie . and this mu● also moue vs to labour for assured testimonies , that wee bee in christ , that w● may desire euen to be dissolued , and 〈◊〉 bee with christ. for hee that doth no● feare , but rather desire death , he will n● for feare of any creature be withdrawn either from his faith or obedience . f● the worst thing which any creatur● 〈◊〉 threaten , is death . and that is it whi● he desireth , especially if it be not only 〈◊〉 christ but also for him . againe , if the dead which die in t● lord be thencefoorth blessed , &c. 〈◊〉 are not wee to mourne for them which are dead in christ , as in respect of them , left wee may seeme to enuie their happines . for though their bodies be committed to the earth , yet are wee no more to mourne thereat , than the husband man mourneth for committing his seed corne to the earth , because they , as well as the seede , hauing purified in the earth , will come vp against the great haruest with plentifull increase , when this corruptible shall put on incorruption , and this mortall shall put on immortalitie . and as touching their soule , that , so soone as it departeth from the bodie , is by the holy angels conueied into the bosome of abraham , the place of heauenly blisse , where they haue the fruition of god , and fellowship of the blessed saints and angels . this opinion , which the holy ghost doth here teach vs in general , to cōceiue of all those that die in the lord ; christian charity bindeth vs to entertaine , concerning this our worthy brother departed in the faith of christ. for if all they which die in the lord are happie and blessed , and our assured hope be , that he died in the lord ; why should not wee conceiue assured hope , that his estate is happie and blessed ? now that charitie bindeth vs th● to con●iue of him , i wil make it manifest . for besides that there is no euidence to the contrarie , and charitie euermore iudgeth the best ; we haue also sufficient euidence , whereupon to conclude , according to the iudgement of charitie : that hee died in the lord. 〈◊〉 say according to the iudgement of charitie , for as the iudgement of certaine● belongeth vnto god , so the iudgemen● of charitie , vnto vs. let vs therefore take a briefe view of such fruits ( according to which alone being charitablie interpreted , true charitie doth iudge ) i say , o● such fruits and signes as haue appeare● both in the time of his health , and also 〈◊〉 the time of his sicknes , vntill his death . for whereas there are three thing● which euery christian must be careful● in this present life , namely , that hee li● soberly in respect of himself , religiou● towards god , and iustly among me● the first ( i hope ) will be confessed of 〈◊〉 that knew him , that hee was a sober , graue , discreet , frugall , temperate , and chast man. and as for his religion towards god , first i say , though hee were borne in the time of popery : notwithstanding he hath professed vnto me , and to others in my hearing : that from his youth he hath been perswaded , that the pope is antichrist , and that he abhorred the idolatrous superstitions , and damnable doctrines of the church of rome ; against both which i haue heard him by way of discourse inueigh seriously and to good purpose . but as hee was no papist , so no neuter or nullifidian , which is too common a fault among the politicians of this world ; but a professed protestant and open professor of the true faith of christ , that is to say , one that did beare the marke of god in his forehead , as the faithfull are described in the beginning of this chapter . and this ( beloued ) was no small fauour of god vouchsafed vnto him . for as heere they are pronounced blessed , who die in the true faith of christ , and not in the religion of antichrist : so reuel . 20. 6 they are pronounced blessed and holy , who haue their part in the first resurrection , whereby as they rise from other sinnes and corruptions : so especially from the graue of antichristian , that is , popish pollutions : as the context or coherence in both places sheweth . neither was hee a backeward professor ( as many are , who haue no care of religion : ) but manifested his forwardnes by diuers good signes . as first , by frequenting the holy exercises of religion abroad , and hauing them duely performed at home . secondly , by louing , reuerencing , and countenancing faithfull ministers & preachers of gods word . for this i doubt not to auouch , that the religion and deuotion of me● towards god , may be discerned by n● one signe better , then by the respect which they haue to gods ministers . fo● as our sauiour saith , he that receiueth y● receiueth me , and he that desp●seth you , despiseth me . for as he that despiseth a minister in respect of his calling , doth euidently bewray himselfe , neither to ha● any grace , nor yet to desire any , because the grace which either hee hath or desireth , ordinarily is procured by the ministery , as i could shew at large ; so he that loueth and reuerenceth a minister , for his calling sake , ( as this worthy knight did , ) he doth shew , that he hath found the ministery of the word , to bee the power of god to his saluation . of his loue to other my brethren in the ministery , the great concourse of ministers at this present , to honor his funerall , is a sufficient euidence . as touching my selfe , i do with thankfulnesse , acknowledge the greatnes of his loue manifested towards me diuers waies : wherein he may seeme to haue followed the graue aduise of the greek orator , in that he hath made me to inherit that loue & friendship , which from a child , he did euer beare to my father . thirdly , his forwardnes appeared , by louing and fauouring those that were honest and religious , and hampering those who were otherwise disposed ; who now perhaps will vtter their spleene , and by their slanderous speeches proue , that 〈◊〉 he honored , and loued those that feared god ; so such vile and naughty persons as themselues , were odious in his sight . which is one good note of the child of god , as the holy ghost witnesseth psal. 15. 4. beloued in the lord , it is no small token of a member of christ , when a man loueth the members of christ , for their godlines and vertues sake . for they their are of the world , hate those that bee in christ. and as a wicked man is an abomination to the godly ; euen so , a godly man is an abomination to the wicked . iohn therefore setteth this downe as a special signe : hereby ( saith he ) we know that we are translated from death to life , because wee loue the brethren . i hasten to his cariage among men : and first , in his dealings , as a priuate mā , wherein he was ( i speake of his generall course ) a strict obseruer of truth in hi● words , of iustice in his deeds , of fidelity in his promises . but chiefely conside● him , in the discharge of his calling for a mans calling is that stāding , wherin god hath placed him , to exercise his faith and obedience , that therein hee may glorifie god , and doe good to men . consider his priuate calling , as he was an housholder , or head of his familie . and therein acknowledge with me , his great loue and fidelity to his wife , his fatherly prouidence towards his children and nephewes : his great wisedome and care in gouerning his seruants , and preseruing them from those horrible vices ( which as they be vsuall now adaies , in great families , so no doubt , will pull downe the fearefull iudgements of god vpon them ) i meane swearing and swaggering : and finally , his goodnesse and bountie towards those , whom he found diligent , honest , and frugall . but his publique calling , as he was a magistrate , and gouernour in the common-wealth , doth now call me vnto it . wherein , all ( i doubt not ) who did not mislike him for his iust seueritie , either against themselues , or such as were neere vnto them , wil freely acknowledge , that he was a very good iusticer , and a very notable good common-wealthes man , both for his sufficiencie and wisedome , ( which was great ) and also for his great zeale , and good affection towards his countrie ; and couragious resolution , to shew himselfe forward in good causes . the truth whereof , if we did not sufficiently see , whilest wee enioyed him : i dout we shall too well feele , by wanting him . and thus you haue heard of his sobrietie , and gouernment of himselfe , of his faith , and religion towards god , and of his iustice & charity towards men . in all which , you are not to vnderstand me , as though i went about to maintaine , that he had no infirmities , or that he neuer failed in any particulars : for alas , is many things we offend all ; and highly i● that man to be commended , whose generall course is such as i haue described . yea , happy , and thrice happy is that man , who hath a setled and vnfaine● purpose , of obseruing those duties , of sobrietie , iustice , and pietie ; though besid● his purpose , he faile in many particula● through infirmitie : for 〈◊〉 a one , no doubt , is the true child of god. and as these signes did shew , that he liued in the lord : so the same added to his demeanor , in the time of his sicknes , will proue that he died in the lord. i wil begin with his christian charitie , in forgiuing those that had offended him , in giuing satisfaction to such as thought themselues wronged , in seeking to bee reconciled , with such as he might thinke did beare any grudge towards him , which being considered , together with the greatnes , both of his mind and state , will seeme no small argument of great christianity . and herein he did acknowledge ( as he had cause ) the good prouidence of god towards him , in giuing him occasion whilest he was aliue , and able to answere for himselfe , to cleare himselfe , ( as to my vnderstanding hee did ) of diuers imputations , which otherwise might perhaps haue proued scandalous after his death . no lesse commendable was his christian pietie towards god , shewing it selfe in the time of his sicknes , not onely in the exercises of religion , as often hearing of the word preached , receiuing the sacrament more than once to assure him of his vnion and communion with christ , daily inuocation of the name of god : but also in approouing his faith and patience , being by a long and sharp sicknesse so throughly tried . in respect whereof i may not forget his behauiour at two especiall times ; the one a weeke before his death , when as his speech being taken from him , hee supposed the time of his dissolution to bee at hand . and therefore minding to prepars himselfe for death , he calleth by signes for inke and paper , and ( as hee could ) writeth the names of diuers ministers , and some other his faithfull friends , whom he would haue sent for , that they might bee both assistants vnto him by the● prayer and godly counsaile in the agonie of death , as also witnesses of hi● faithfull departure . but before the● came , it pleased god to restore h● speech ; whereby to his owne and the● comfort , he made a notable confession of his faith ; which also he then sealed , by the receipt of the sacrament . againe , not long before his speech began to faile him the second and last time , hee deliuered ( as many times hee had done before ) diuers good and godly speeches . among the former , i remember one argument which he vsed to comfort himselfe , christ iesus ( saith he ) who was my sauiour , he and no other shall be my iudge . among the latter , and indeede one of the last that i could vnderstand , he professed his vndoubted faith & assured hope of saluatiō , but ( as he said ) trusting only to the mercies of god in christ iesus my sauiour ; and in that faith as we neede not doubt , he ended his life , or as the scripture speaketh , he fell asleepe ; for such indeede was the manner of his death . all which premisses being weighed in the ballance of charitie , wee may bee bold to conclude according to the iudgement of charitie , that hee is in the number of those , whom the holy ghost in this place pronounceth blessed . wherefore , though wee haue iust cause to mourne in respect of our selues , as namely his graue and vertuous ladie , that the lord hath taken from her so louing and kinde an husband ; his nephewes , that they be depriued of so wise and prouident a grandfather ; his welwillers , that we are berest of so good a friend ; the countrie , that it hath lost so prudent and carefull a iusticer , and so good a commonwealths man , as i said : but yet so , as that with meekenes and humilitie wee submit our selues to the gracious prouidence of god our heauenly father , giuing him leaue to call whom and when it pleaseth him : yet in respect of him wee haue little cause to mourne , but great cause to be thankfull vnto god for him : in that after so many fauours which it pleased the lord t● vouchsafe vnto him throughout y e whole course of his life : hee hath been now pleased , to receiue him into the numbe● of those whom the holy ghost heere pronounceth blessed . the lord for h● mercies sake grant , that wee after th● example of all the faithfull departed , may be carefull to liue in the lord iesus by a true and a liuely faith ; that liuing in him , wee may die in him ; and dying in him , may be found in him at the resurrection ; that rising in him , we may be glorified with him by the fruition of god himselfe the chiefest good : to which most gracious and most glorious god , the father , the sonne , and the holy ghost , be all praise , honour and glorie , both now and for euer , amen . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a20734-e90 the context , and coherence . * bellarm. de pontif. rom. lib. 3. cap. 10. reuel . 18. 4 in 2. thess. 2. ad algas . quaest. 11. 2. thess. 2. 10. 11. 12. the text analysed . 2. pet. 1. 19. reuel . 21. 5. galat. 1. 8. luke 16. 31. 2. cor. 11. 14 1. sam. 28. 12. 1. cor. 13. 3. eph. 5. 30. iohn 15. 2. &c. 2 rom. 6. 3. gal. 3. 27. ioh. 6. 56. 1. cor. 12. 13 3 1. cor. 1. 30. ephes. 1. 1. philip. 1. 〈◊〉 col. 1. 2. rom. 〈◊〉 . 1. 2. cor. 5. 17. 2. tim. 3. 12 gal. 2. 20. 1. cor. 6. 15. gal. 3. 13. ephes. 2. 3. iohn 1. 12. rom. 8. 16. tit. 2. 13. rom. 8. 1. ioh. 15. 4. 5. gal. 2. 20. 1. ioh. 5. 12. 1. tim. 5. 6. luke 9. 60. rom. 8. 7. 1. cor. 1. 30. 2. cor. 5. 21. col. 1. 24. act. 9. 4. psal. 123. 2. john 1. 16. ephes. 2. 6. coloss. 3. 3. 1. john. 3. phil. 3. 8. 9. rom. 10. 17. & 14. 1. cor. 3. 5. deut. 12. 3. 1. cor. 4. 15. 1. pet. 1. 23. rom. 1. 16. 1. cor. 1. 21. hebr. 4. 2. ioh. 1. 1● . mat. 5. 3. 6. 2. pet. 1. 1. 2. cor. 13. 5. hebr. 11. 6. hebr. 11. 6. iam. 2. 29. iohn . 8. 33. mat. 9. 13. mat. 9. 13. mat. 18. 11. luke 4. 18. luke 18. 14. 1. ioh. 2. 3. 4 ier. 23. 24. gal. 3. 10. esay 53. 5. iohn 6. 55. 2. cor. 5. 20. act. 15. 9. gal. 5. 6. iam. 2. 18. rom. 3. 28. gal. 2. 16. 1 iohn . 1. 6. iohn 19. 34. 35. rom. 5. 12. &c. 2. pet. 1. 4. 2. cor 5. 17. rom. 8. 1. 1. iohn 1. 6. luk. 11. 23. rom. 8. 15. 16. ephes. 1. 13. 14. 4. 30. gal. 2. 20. 2. pet. 1. 10. 1. ioh. 3. 24. mat. 10. 32 apoc. 2. 10 mar. 16. 16. iohn 3. 16. 1. cor. 10. 12. 1. ioh. 2. 19. iohn 15. ioh. 15. 6. ioh. 15. 4. 7. 2. pet. 2. 20. 22. ezec. 18. 24 matth. 7. 26 matt. 7. 24. luk. 18. 13. 14. 15. 1. pet. 1. 9. num. 23. 10 chrysost. luke 23. philip. 3. 9. john 9. 4. eccl. 11. 3. hebr. 3. apoc. 21. 4. & 7. 17. luk. 17. 10. rom. 6. 23. 〈◊〉 cor. 15. 58 1 tim. 6. 18. 19. 1. cor. 2. 9. 1. iohn 3. 2. psal. 16. 11 titus 2. 13. rom. 8. 18. hebr. 12. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 philip 1. 23 1. cor. 15. 36 42. 43. 44. 1. cor. 15. 53 titus 2. 12. reuel . 14. 1. reuel . 20. 6. ioh. 13. 20. luk. 10. 16. isocrates ad daemonicū : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ioh. 15. 19. prou. 29. 27 1. ioh. 3. 14. iames 3. 2. a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable anne, lady-dowager brook, who was buried at breamor, the 19th day of february, 1690/1 by the right reverend father in god gilbert, lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. 1691 approx. 42 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a30437 wing b5895 estc r21611 12683255 ocm 12683255 65709 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30437) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65709) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 682:10) a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable anne, lady-dowager brook, who was buried at breamor, the 19th day of february, 1690/1 by the right reverend father in god gilbert, lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. [4], 34 p. printed for ric. chiswell ..., london : 1691. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng brook, anne, -lady, d. 1691 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the bishop of sarum's sermon at the funeral of the right honourable the lady brook . imprimatur , feb. 21. 1690 / 1 , z. isham , r. p. d. henrico episc. lond. à sacris . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable anne , lady-dowager brook . who was buried at breamor , the 19th day of february , 1690 / 1. by the right reverend father in god , gilbert , lord bishop of sarum . london : printed for ric. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard . mdcxci . prov . xxxi . 30 , 31. favour is deceitful , and beauty is vain : but a woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . give her of the fruit of her hands , and let her own works praise her in the gates . the general lamentations which the sad occasion of this present assembly has raised over this whole countrey , as in a common calamity , where every one bears a share , because so many do feel it , have so far prevented me in all that can be said to the praise of her , whose remains are now to be laid up in the belief of the resurrection of the iust , at which time they are to be restored to her again , that i am very sensible it is not necessary to say any thing concerning her , for the raising among you the esteem that is due to her memory , which is , and must be long very dear to you all . but as there is some disadvantage in speaking what is proper on this subject , before those who knew her well , and so will think that i am as reserved in commending her , as she her self was in hiding her own worth , and in concealing those works which do now praise her ; yet on the other hand i speak with the more assurance , because it is in the countrey where she spent so many of her years . i should be afraid to say all that i have resolv'd on , if it were in the audience of such as had been strangers to the course of her life : it is a nice and tender thing to praise , especially in this vicious and corrupted age , in which so many are concerned to keep themselves in countenance , and to decry a virtue that must needs make their vices shew more foul and odious ; and who cannot bear what is due to others , because they know that it does not belong to themselves . and it must be confessed , that excessive commendations on these occasions , in compliance with custom , and the tenderness that seems then decent , where flattery is thought more excusable , because the person commended does not receive it ; these , i say , have given but too much reason to disregard what is said in discourses of this kind , in which it passes for a sort of rudeness not to exceed , and for an unkindness to the friends of the dead , not to praise out of measure . but i am less in pain to enlarge upon this subject , when i have so many vouchers before me , and when i am to speak of things that have been so long the observation of all these parts . i will use as little art in speaking , as she did in living ; and will study to dress up a memorial for her , with such a decent simplicity , as she used in the dressing her person , which as she did in haste , so i will be as short as may be . i will for some time interrupt my speaking of her , and consider the text i have read to you , that so i may return with the more advantage to prosecute what i have now begun . this chapter is a poetical composure ; it is an accrostick in the hebrew , according to the custom of that time , for the help of the memory . every verse , from the 10th to the end , begins with a new letter of the alphabet in their order . it is to little purpose to examine , whether the king , called lemuel , to whom it is addressed , be solomon under a disguised designation , or not ; and whether it was a poem made by his mother , directing him how to chuse a wife , and giving him a full character of the excellencies of a good one , suitable to the simplicy of those ages and places , in which women of the highest rank , and even queens themselves , managed their own domestick concerns ; or if it was a composition of solomon's , setting forth , with many enlargements of poesy , the advices that his mother had given him ; or if he only brings in the person of his mother , to make his poetry look more natural . it is to very little purpose to enquire into all this , and not possible to determine any part of it : certain it is , that we have here a very noble and elegant description , of a faithful and affectionate , a discreet and an industrious wife ; who as she applied her chief care to the concerns of her husband and children , so neglected not any of her houshold-affairs ; she rise early , and sate up late ; wrought with her own hands , and looked to the ways of her houshold ; she took care that her whole family should be well imployed ; she was an honour as well as a help to her husband : her whole behaviour was both prudent and obliging ; she opened her mouth with wisdom , not to evil speaking , nor idle talking ; and in her tongue was the law of kindness ; an exact , but engaging decency . all this is concluded with a short song , in which her husband and children should celebrate her praises , which , as it is probable , was to be sung among them by turns , according to the way of the eastern musick : the first might begin , many daughters have done vertuously ; and to this another might answer , but thou excellest them all : then one might sing , favour is deceitful ; another , beauty is vain : and both together , but the woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . then one might sing , give her , and another answer , of the fruit of her hands ; and then both together , and let her own works praise her in the gates . there is a plain intimation given of the custom that was among the jews to sing this song by turns , on two of their great solemnities in the misna * . by favour , is to be meant all that is insinuating in a womans humour , manner , and conversation , by which a husband may be charmed : this is often deceitful , and under it a great deal of disloyalty and treachery is both hid and managed ; these arts being so many practices upon the easie husband , to deceive and blind him , to impose any thing upon him , and to obtain every thing from him . therefore , tho a lively air , a graceful behaviour , a soft manner , a pleasantness of humour , and an entertaining conversation , are very valuable qualities , and have powerful charms in them , yet all this may be deceitful ; much baseness and falshood may be under them ; so that this singly cannot make a good character . beauty is vain ; this which strikes the eye , as the other does the imagination , is yet slighter , it is often false , especially in the east where beauty is as oft the work of art , as of nature , and it had been well if that practice had remained in the east still , and had not come into these western parts ; but suppose the beauty to be both true and exact , it is vain in many other respects : it does not always lodge a pure soul , which does often contract the more deformity , because it dwells within a beautiful figure , that but too often feeds pride , and is set off with vanity , which both draws admiration and delights in it : it does insensibly dissolve the mind into voluptuousness , and in the end intangle it into many snares , and expose it to much sin. it is vain in another respect , it is subject to many accidents which may blast it , and if it escapes these , yet it must yield at last and fade with age , if by the precipitated wastings of nature and other disorders , it does not fall sooner . these words run thus in the hebrew , favour , falshood , beauty , vanity , and perhaps every one of these was to be sung by turns as the answer to the other . these are the two things by which that sex is chiefly recommended to those who make slight and hasty judgments , and that do often perceive their error when it is too late to correct it : but that upon which a true one can only be formed , lies in the words that follow — but the woman that feareth the lord , she shall be praised . the fear of a discovery , and of shame ; the fear of a husband , and the apprehensions of his displeasure , are but feeble principles : they may restrain one at some times , and from some temptations , but it is only the fear of god that subdues the heart , that shoots its influence into the secretest springs of our actions , that overcomes the strongest inclinations , even in their first and invisible motions : this sets a law , not only to one's actions , but to his very thoughts : the conduct of the outward part of life , when that is contradicted by the wishes and desires which are allowed a free range within , is but a constraint , and the acting of a part which is not natural ; and nothing that is an affected force upon nature can be either easy or lasting . nature will be always at some time or other too hard for rule and form. and even a firm resolution will soon grow heavy and will at last be forgotten , if there are not principles formed within , that give it a root , and afford it nourishment : therefore vertue can have no settled basis nor foundation , unless its bottom be the true fear of god , a secret sence of a supream and perfect mind , that sees all we do , and that will judge us at last according to all that we have done . when this is lodged in the most retired corners of our hearts ; when the sense of it returns often upon us , to acquit or to condemn us ; when we measure our selves and all our actions by our conformity to this eternal being ; when we reckon it our supreme and only happiness , to become like unto it , and accepted of it ; when no exercises become more delighting to us , than our meditating of its perfections , and of all the discoveries that it has made of it self ; and when upon these contemplations the mind grows to love and adore that being , and to prostrate it self often before it , and dedicate it self entirely to serve and please it in all things , then virtue has a true fastning within , to which it cleaves , and which will support and strengthen it : and indeed virtue , and the fear of god do so mutually maintain one another , that these who are equally enemies to both , know that the rooting out the one , will soon draw the other after it . the prophane tribe of libertines does chiefly hate religion , because virtue does ever accompany it ; they find it often in their way , and wish there were as little of it in the world , as they feel in their own breasts : but it were too barefaced a thing to endeavour to strike both at virtue and religion at once . there is a sound in vertue that carries majesty with it , and commands the esteem of the whole world , so such as hate it , know that they must take care not to discover that too soon , lest they should draw a general indignation upon themselves . but religion they think may be more safely struck at ; the diversities about it , the scandals given by many that have pretended to it , the invisible objects to which it relates ; the distance we live at from the ages in which the miracles that confirmed it were wrought , and the many impostures that have been put upon weak and credulous multitudes , do all afford some plausible appearances , which set off with boldness and scorn , and served up with mirth and gaiety , have been fatally successful in poysoning weak minds that cannot lay many things together , and cannot distinguish between truth and the varnish of it . but while these do thus undermine religion , they seem to be mightily in love with virtue , and pretend that it has had great force on minds upon whom religion had none at all ; and that it may maintain its power very well in the souls of men , tho they were not over-awed with secret terrours . whereas in truth , they only hate religion for the sake of that virtue , which it commands and secures : and they could well look on , and let religion bear full sway in the world , if it consisted only in some dark speculations , and outward performances , and contented with these , left men at liberty to do what they pleased ; they know , and all the world has observed it too often , that as soon as the impressions of religion are defaced , the strength of virtue is gone : for why should men restrain their inclinations , bridle their passions , and deny themselves any pleasures or advantages , if there is no sovereign mind over us , to whom obedience is due , who will reckon with us , and reward or punish us eternally according as we lead that course of life here , which he has assigned us as our passage to eternity . if there is nothing in virtue , but decency , interest , or humour , as these are all weak principles , not able to bear much weight on them ; so when both pleasure and advantage are in the other scale , they will certainly downweigh them . hence it is , that all those who go off from a religious education , and from the principles and practises that must support it , do soon forsake all the strictness of virtue . the fear of god is that principle alone that can sanctify and perfect our nature ; the having our minds full of high and sublime thoughts of that supream being that made and governs the world , together with a just sense of his authority over us , of our obligation to obey all his laws , and to conform our very thoughts to his nature and will , and the framing our whole lives , and the laying out our whole time , so as we may be ever accepted of by him , is the just and true notion of the fear of god. if any imagine that it consists only in the having some terrible thoughts of god , and of sin , the performing some duties to god as a homage that will please him , and the looking over past sins with some sad thoughts ; and when that is done , if men return to them , and continue in them , and are only now and then a little troubled when they reflect on them , which is all the notion that the greatest part , even of those who pass in the world for religious , entertain of it , it is no wonder that great advantages are taken to decry religion it self , when this is believed to be all the effect and power that it has . but the true fear of god is a much deeper principle , and has a more noble effect on all the powers of the soul ; it charms as well as reforms them , and elevates as well as it fortifies them ; it follows a man to his retirements , and there if at any time it humbles him , it does quickly raise him up again : it gives him solid joys , when he perceives that he carries god's image upon him , and is reconciled to him ; it follows him through the whole business , and even through the diversions of life : it governs his mind , and guides his actions , and though the sound of the word fear carries terror in it , yet how severe soever the operation of it must be upon some occasions , it generally gives it such a noble sense of the goodness , as well as of the greatness of god , that it becomes a fear of reverence tempered with love , and not a dread full of guilt that strikes horror . those good minds that give up themselves to the conduct of this fear , and come under its discipline , feel both a strength in it to govern them , and a calm in it to settle them . if they do truly fear god , it exalts them above all base and dispiriting fears ; so that they fear nothing else ; all the accidents of life and death it self can give no terror , where this has once had its true effect . for a man that fears god , and feels himself to be so governed by this fear , that he has all reason to conclude he is in his favour , and under his protection , is thereby raised far above all other depressions ; nothing can disturb him but his apprehensions of having offended that goodness which he fears : and sometimes a great tenderness of mind , joyned with a deep sence of duty , will raise sad reflections in those who have the justest cause of rejoycing always in god. but such cloudy thoughts , though they may at sometimes disquiet them a little , yet have a good effect on them ; they oblige them to great watchfulness , and beget in them a particular application to their duty : and that very anxiety which was the effect of their tenderness , and that raised some melancholly distrust in them concerning their own condition , shews plainly how deep a root this fear has in them , when such apprehensions prove so painful . these are the happy souls that rise above the world , and all its vain hopes and fears , and settle their minds on god , whom they fear and serve with their whole hearts . a woman that fears the lord , has in her constitution and method of life , some advantages that help her forward to this disposition of mind ; and she hath at the same time other things that ballance this in her . the affections of that sex are more tender , they are less hardy and bold ; they are under a greater regularity of form ; decency and modesty are great defences : they are not so much exposed to the temptations that are in the world ; they live at home , and do not range abroad ; their children , especially those of their own sex , give them a constant entertainment , and do commonly carry away much of their hearts and time ; so that they are out of that loose ramble , which is the great corruption of mankind . but to ballance all this , their education is not so studied , nor so laboured , that thereby great notions , and strong reasonings may be formed in them , which give a foundation to knowledge and religion ; all which is more commonly laid in the youth of our sex. the affections of women are laid deep in their natures , so that the common afflictions of life , especially of a married state , from the loss of children , or of their husbands , go farther into their minds , and sink , and shake them more violently ; to which the decencies of their griefs , that do , as it were , stake them down to it , contribute not a little ; which do not allow them the diversions to which custom gives men a freer and earlier admittance . these are the advantages and disadvantages that they have , with relation to a religious course of life . upon the whole matter , it must be acknowledged , from the observation of all ages , that this sex has produced the eminentest , the most exact , and unblemished , the most charitable and bountiful , and the most serious and devout fearers and servers of god , that the world has yet had , and that religion has never shined brighter than in their whole deportment . and therefore such women , especially if they happen to be in an age in which libertinism and impiety has not only corrupted our sex , but has even broke through the modesty of theirs , and almost made a rape upon it ; and in which all the exactness of vertue , and the strictness of a regular life , has been laughed at , and despised , as the stiffness of form. i say , in such an age as ours , women of rank and birth , of quality and fortune , that in spite of a torrent of vice , that had got credit by great examples , and had lost the sense of shame by the multitude of those that went into it , will still own and practice religion and vertue in the strictest and exactest manner ought to be celebrated with just praises : and if the example is set by them in such a manner , as not to frighten any from religion , by the mixture of morose sourness , or by the affectation of singular or superstitious practices : if it , on the contrary , is shewed in instances that must needs recommend religion by the excellent effects it has , and by the soft and gentle manner with which it is managed , then the memory of such a woman ought to be precious , it ought to be honoured with such deserved commendations , as are one part , though it be indeed one of the smallest , of the rewards that are due unto vertue . when this is so done , that it is visible flattery has no share in it , that it cannot corrupt the person that is praised , into vanity or haughtiness of mind , and when the chief intent of such praises is to set forth to the world a fresh instance of the power of religion , and of its happy influence upon whole neighbourhoods , for the incouragement and instruction of such as chuse to follow good patterns , then such commendations as they , are a piece of natural equity and justice ; so they may give occasion to a noble emulation , and may offer a more familiar and sensible direction than can be given in rules or precepts . i need not add to all this , that no custom has been more ancient , nor more universal among all civilized nations than the setting forth the praises of the dead at their funerals : but indeed these have been generally given out so lavishly , and often so unjustly , that all discourses of this kind appear with great prejudices against them , and therefore they ought to be severely weighed . the following words in my text give such measures , that if these be observed , all errors and excesses will be prevented . — give her the fruit of her own hands ; that is , let her not be praised by a pompous setting forth of those things that were not her own , such as her birth and fortune , which are only the distinctions of divine providence , by which persons of noble minds are set in a higher sphere , and are made capable of giving a more conspicuous example , and of being a more general and publick good to mankind . therefore the shewing what were the real instances , and the good effects of her religion , is the most proper way of praising her : and the less pomp of eloquence , or art of disposition and expression , that accompanies such a description , it comes the nearer the rules that are here given — let her own works praise her in the gates . among the jews , their courts of judicature , and other solemn assemblies , were at their gates : it being judged much safer for a city , that the chief place of concourse should rather be at and about its gates , than in its heart and center : so that by gates we are to understand the gathering of the people ; and there it was that her works were to praise her , every one having somewhat to say , that had either fallen under his own observation , or that had come to his knowledg : there was no need of an orator to recite them , of a poet to adorn them , or of hired mourners to sing them out in doleful tunes , which were the methods of those times : all these might well be spared , when the universal sense of the town , and the groans of the neighbourhood agreed in the same character , and that a general lamentation followed a common loss . this is a panegyrick that can never be suspected ; for no man misdoubts those tears that fall upon a real loss . when the widows came to mourn over dorcas , who had been full of good works , and alms-deeds , and shewed the coats and garments , which she had not only given them ' but had made for them while she was with them : here was a more powerful strain of rhetorick than the most studied composures . the reciting the names , the vertues and the sufferings of the primitive christians and martyrs , was in the first ages of christianity a great part even of the office of the communion it self ; and the striking the names of any out of those registers and memorials , was reckoned to be one of the severest acts of the discipline of the church . it is true , the abuses that were ushered in by this , do well excuse us , though in this particular we do not conform our selves to so ancient a custom ; yet when singular instances come in our way , as we ought to rejoice to see that religion has not yet lost its force , but can even in this degenerate age , give noble instances of the power it has , and of the effects that follow it , so we ought to set it out in its true and natural colours . we are not indeed to follow the steps of a church , that as she is made up of lies , so lies more impudently in nothing than in dressing up the legends , and setting forth the excellencies of those who have contributed to her enriching , or to her exaltation , and that does plainly shew no regard either to what is true , or to what is so much as likely in the lives , or rather the fables that are given out of her saints : in which it is visible , that no care is had to tell things truly as they were , but as they think they ought to have been done ; and that is managed in such a manner , as may most powerfully work on the credulity or superstition of the age in which they write : they varying the performances of their saints according to the taste of the several ages in which they happen to write ; and by these means they serve their ends of deceiving the world by this exchange of sophisticated ware , for the wealth and advantages that it brings to them . but we have not so learned christ , we know no other arts but the plain simplicity of the gospel ; we dare not lye for god , and much less for the best person upon earth . and now i am brought back to the subject with which i began . if we have here before us the earthly tabernacle of a woman that feared the lord , then it is just and reasonable for us to praise her ; but in the praising her , i shall strictly observe the direction of my text , i will only give her those commendations that are due to her , that are the fruit of her hands , and will set before you some of her works , and leave them to praise her by an eloquence , that will have more force and beauty in it , than can be possibly put in words . i will say nothing but that which i have good reason to believe to be true : for though i had not the honour of so particular a knowledge of her , as to be able to form out of it an entire character , yet what i saw in her , shewed so sincere and so profound a piety , so severe and scrupulous a vertue , so pure a conscience , and such an exact conduct , that from thence i have good reason to believe other particulars , which i have received from those who have been long the nearest witnesses to the whole course of her life . this i must say , and you all know it to be true , that both in the neighbouring city , which is the chief part of my care , and in this whole countrey , she hath had this character , to have been the greatest example , and the instrument of the most good , of any person that has been in these parts within the memory of man. i will not lessen what i am to say concerning her , by any account of her birth , of the nobleness of her own family , or of that into which she married , nor of the greatness of the fortune that descended to her ; if i should speak of these , i should not give her the fruit of her own hands ; only it is no small part of a character , that such things can neither swell a mind to pride , nor dissolve it into vanity or sensuality : her descending to the concerns of the meanest persons ; her going so oft about to the poorest houses , where her charity or assistance was necessary ; her constant care of the sick ; her supplying them so plentifully with medicines from that vast store that she provided for them ; her sending oft for physicians and surgeons to them ; her frequent handling and dressing their sores herself , when surgeons could not be had , which as she never affected to do , so she never declined it where it was necessary ; her kneeling so oft down , and treating ulcers which were so loathsome , that no charity less than hers , could have endured so odious a sight ; her not being afraid even of contagious diseases , except that of the small pox , in which her care of her children obliged her to more caution : all these particulars of which i appeal to you that are before me , how many instances you have seen and known , do fully shew that her rank and fortune were only considered by herself as so many engagements upon her , to be rich in good works , and to be cloathed with humility . but to give you her character in that which according to my text gives a just title to praise , she feared the lord greatly , she had so deep a sense of religion , that she spent a great part of her time both in studying the holy scriptures , which she had laid well up in her memory , and in reading books both of devotion and of instruction in matters of religion , which she did carefully : those who have attended on her many years , have assured me , that she would not lose quite that time which was set off for her dressing , and which the far greatest part make to be a studied and lengthened vanity , but she used then , either to read herself , or imploy another to do it , that so her mind might have some share of that time , and that it might not go all to her person . she made extracts out of many books , but in short-hand , since they were only intended for her own or her childrens use ; she also used her short-hand in taking the edifying parts of sermons , which she went over in private afterwards with her children ; she was frequent and constant in secret prayer , which had been , as she owned to me , the chief joy and support of her life ; in that it was that she found strength to bear the loss of six sons , one after another , all she ever had , and a dear husband that was more than all : who was so dear to her , that with this single consideration she quieted her mind , after the loss of one son which happened soon after her lord had recovered of a great sickness , that she could not complain of any thing which god did to her after he had granted her so great a blessing . she was a religious observer of the lord's-day , but without superstition or affectation ; she never fail'd in a course of many years while in health , to lay hold of every opportunity of receiving the sacrament , and was always retired a day or two before it , and did rise ever very early on communion-days , that she might be for a considerable time retir'd before she went to church : she observed the daily returns of religious performances in her family in a most regular manner , the prayers of the church being never discontinued , nor so much as put off . she was constant in the communion of our church , and had so hearty an affection to it , that when she saw the danger of our being over-run with popery , she exprest her sense of it in the tenderest manner , and told her children that she had much rather go with them to a stake , than see them defile themselves with the idolatry of the mass ; yet her zeal for her religion did not transport her to any uncharitable excesses , and therefore she had a due regard to vertue and goodness wheresoever she saw it . but though all about her saw how much religion possessed her thoughts , yet she shewed it as little as was possible , except where the obligations of a mother , or of a mistress of a family required it . she took care to have all her family know and fear god , such as could not read , she allowed them both time and books , and other necessary helps for it , and she furnished all about her , not only those of her houshold , but of the countrey quite round her , with such books as might instruct and direct them ; and as her modesty made that she would not assume to herself to be a reprover of those that were not under her authority , so the way she took , where she saw any occasion for it , was to send them such books , in which they might find the reproofs that they needed . when she reproved her servants , those who have been twenty years about her , have assured me she never did it in words of reproach or anger , but in the way that she believed was the most proper to have a good effect on them . she said , she was naturally passionate ; but she came to be early under the power of religion , and broke herself so entirely from it , that those who have known her the longest , do affirm they never saw her at any one time under the power of it : she was more particularly gentle to those who were immediately about her , so that neither her grief for those great afflictions , with which it pleased god to visit her , nor the sharp pains , nor lingring disease of which she died , ever drew an indecent expression from her . her religion as it gave her much joy , so it gave her some trouble , while by an exactness that carried her into too scrupulous a jealousy of her self ; she was too apt to censure her own defects and coldnesses . she chose a proper guide , to whom she gave frequently an account of the various scenes of thoughts that passed in her mind ; her choice of one of my reverend brethren shewed how well she could judg of a person fit for such a confidence , and she had found , as she told me , great benefit and comfort in his conduct . her soul was so wholly dedicated to god , that she seemed to have no other concern upon her , but how to know and to do her duty upon all occasions ; and it made even the burden of her sickness a redoubled affliction to her , because it depressed her spirits , so that she could not raise them up to god , with that chearfulness and joy that she had felt on other occasions ; and that she did not fly towards death with so entire a willingness , as had often formerly inflamed her thoughts : she thought that even the desire of seeing the last part of her care setled and entred into the world , was a concern below that elevation of soul with which a christian ought to entertain the approaches of death . with all this deep sense of religion she had no sort of affectation , singularity , censoriousness , or sourness of temper ; she had all the decent chearfulness about her that became her , tho always governed with a stay'd gravity , she affected nothing that made any extraordinary shew , so that in all indifferent things she lived like those of her rank . she never placed religion in little and assumed severities , but studied in the whole course of her life , to practise that pure religion and undefiled with god and the father , which is to visit the widows and the fatherless in their affliction , and to keep her self unspotted from the world. she was free from that spirit of censoriousness , to which even good people are too prone ; perhaps through the sharpness of their zeal against sin : but when the occasions of observing the evil that was in the world came in her way , she made the right use of them in proper reflections on them , to those who were under her care. she loved the privacies of the countrey , much more than the diversions and disorders of the town : she loved to be at quiet , and to be either improving her own mind , or to be doing good to others : she had attained to a great understanding in the matters of religion , and the scriptures ; and was not only conversant in the practical , but even in the speculative parts of it . so much study as she used , with so true a judgment as she had , carried her a great way : next to that she studied physick most ; as that by which she found she had the greatest opportunities of doing the most good ; and in this she set no bounds to her care and labour , and to the expence it drew with it : and in her later years the extent of her charity and the zeal and tenderness of it grew upon her very sensibly ; she had observed one constant practice , upon any special blessing that she received from god , to make a particular largess of charity , besides her ordinary givings : but this of late encreased to great sums , that walked round the jayls of london , as well as amongst the miserable in these parts ; besides that riches of her liberality with which she relieved the french and irish protestants : so that she seemed to be making haste to do all the good that was possible for her , as if she had had a secret intimation that there was but a small portion of time now before her . a slow decay came to seize on her , while she was yet a great way from old age , being but fifty when she died . she quickly apprehended that it would make an end of her , and so she set her self diligently to prepare for it . i must add one part of her character , which i think so bright a one , that i am not afraid to rank it among those i have already mentioned : she had so great a sense of the goodness of god to the nation in the late happy revolution , that she said her nunc dimittis with the more joy , because she had seen that salvation which god hath wrought for us : she paid one tax to the government , with so hearty a zeal , in offering up many earnest prayers to god for its establishment , that if many made so many free-will offerings of that kind as she did , we might hope for a better account of all the other taxes ; and a speedy end put to them all : and as she had so true an affection to this government her self , so she declared an unalterable resolution of not bestowing that dear part of her care , which she did not live to finish , to any but such as she believed were faithful and zealous to it . but now the melancholy part is yet before me , i unwillingly go to it , but as the discourse leads me , so i may well speak of it , since it was such as agreed with all that had gone before : she felt the decays of nature come so fast on her , that she prepared her self to meet her god : she had quite overcome all that unwillingness which so just a desire , as was formerly intimated , had raised in her : she rejoiced in the will of god , and expressed so much satisfaction and chearfulness even in her looks , that it plainly appeared all was calm within : she was no more depressed with uneasy reflections on her self , but had the joy of a good conscience , and the assurance of the love and goodness of god through jesus christ , to so high a degree , that she felt not now those unjust censures with which she alone had sometimes punished her self : for she was the only person , that , as far as i have been informed , ever thought hardly of herself . since i could never hear that she had an enemy , or that ever a considerable injury was done her by any person ; her prudent , grave and unmedling temper kept her out of the way of making enemies , and to this was joyned a special blessing of god , that preserved her from unjust malice : thus for meer want of occasion i could not learn how her charity would have wrought towards an enemy that had injured her in any sort : she continued during the course of her sickness , not only to have the prayers of the church said by her , but was very often , indeed almost constantly , observed to be raising up her soul to god : she had resolved to fit her self for her last passage , with the great viaticum of christians , but nature sunk all at once , and so fast that she could only communicate inwardly ; yet though she could not end her life with that most solemn act of church-communion , she desired that character of dying in the churches peace , that is given in absolution , which she received with much devout joy : at last she broke prison , and left a feeble and exhausted body , and is now entered into the joy of her lord , into that rest to which she was so long aspiring , and of which she had felt so many ravishing fore-tastes in her way to it . there she is now , in the fellowship of angels , and in the presence of god , where she will remain , till the restitution of all things , that this her now forsaken body shall be changed and be made meet for her to return to it , and to dwell in it for ever . and for her memory , let her own works praise her , and make her name to be as ointment poured forth . may all in these parts , that have either observed her deportment , or felt the effects of her charity , honour her , or rather religion that made her to be what she truly was , even a publick blessing to the whole countrey . look through all the companies of the gay libertines , and see what you can find among them all compared to that which religion wrought in her , and then acknowledge that this is the salt of the earth , and the light of the world. may all that hear of her , rise up and call her blessed ; and by a noble emulation , study to imitate the vertues that shined so fair in her : may the great family that is to succeed to her seat , so far follow her steps , that they may dry up the tears which do now flow so plentifully for her loss : may her noble children answer the honour of being hers , and the obligations that lie on them by the example that they saw in her , and the education that they received from her : and may he whom she loved and esteemed so highly , carry still with him so tender a sense of all the excellent things that he observed and admired in her , that according to her last words to him , though they are now parted , since it was the will of god that it must be so , yet they may meet again never to be separated , but to live eternally happy in that fulness of ioy , and in those pleasures which are for evermore : and in conclusion , may the example she has set , and the good she has done , be ever celebrated ; may it recommend true religion to the world ; mark the upright , and behold the perfect , for their latter end is peace . to which god in his mercy bring us all in his good and appointed time. amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a30437-e280 * treat of ●●sts , c. 4. n. ● . acts 9. 39. the lord ●●●●●p of worcester . the godly mans ark, or, city of refuge, in the day of his distresse discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore : the other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation : hereunto are annexed mris. [sic] moores evidences for heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness / by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1658 approx. 323 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 153 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31997 wing c248 estc r22111 12263464 ocm 12263464 57918 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31997) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 57918) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 622:13) the godly mans ark, or, city of refuge, in the day of his distresse discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore : the other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation : hereunto are annexed mris. [sic] moores evidences for heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness / by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. the second edition, corrected and amended. [40], 254 p. printed for john hancock ..., and for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1658. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng moore, elizabeth, d. 1656? sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-12 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the godly mans ark or , city of refuge , in the day of his distresse . discovered in divers sermons , the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore . the other four were afterwards preached , and are all of them now made publick , for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation . hereunto are annexed mris. moores evidences for heaven , composed and collected by her in the time of her health , for her comfort in the time of sickness . by ed. calamy , b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury . the second edition , corrected and amended . london , printed for iohn hancock ( brother to the late deceased eliz. moore ) to be sold at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . and for tho. parkhurst at the three crowns over against the great conduit at the lower end of cheapside . 1658. to those of aldermanbury-parish , together , with all others who attend constantly upon the word of god there preached , and more especially to such of them , who are admitted to partake of the lords supper there administred . beloved in the lord ; i need not spend much time in giving you an account how these ensuing sermons come to bee made publick . it is not because they are more worthy than those which you hear weekly ; nay , i may truly say ( without boasting ) they are less worthy ( though i think none of them much worth ) than many others . it is not because i desire to bee in print ; but it is 1 to present you with the pattern of a woman whom god did pick out to make an example of great affliction , and great patience , that when you come into great troubles , you may bee comforted with those comforts , with which shee was comforted . 2 to acquaint you with the pains shee took , and with her diligence in time of health to make her salvation sure ; that so you may bee provoked to lay up suitable , seasonable , and sufficient provision against an evil day , and not have your evidences for heaven to get in the hour of adversity . it is the grand sin of most people to delay and prorogue their solemn preparation for affliction and sickness , till they come to bee sick , and in affliction . there are many in hell , who purposed to repent , but were prevented by death ; therefore bernard saith , good purposes go to hell , and only good performances lead into heaven . to prevent your delaying and deferring to provide for affliction , these sermons are printed , and to perswade you , that whatsoever you do for heaven , you would do it speedily , and with all your strength . the subjects handled are so plain and easy , and the stile so rude and unpolished , that i was resolved to have buried them in perpetual oblivion , had i not been conquered by this following ( together with the forementioned ) consideration , that they are calculated only for people under great troubles , at which times learned debates about discipline , and controverted points of divinity , painted eloquence , and curious language , are of very little esteem , and account . afflicted consciences are oftentimes puzled , but never comforted with doubtful disputations . neat and elegant expressions may skin over , but cannot cure spiritual diseases . nothing can heal a wounded conscience , and keep a man from sinking into despondency in the day of great tribulation , but a real , right , and particular application of the promises , to help a doubting christian to performe this great work , there are thirteen plaine rules and directions laid down in the following treatise . my prayer is , that they may prove useful and successeful . seneca indeed comforts his friend polybius , and perswades him to bear his afflictions patiently , because hee was the emperours favourite , and tells him , that it was not lawful for him to complaine , while caesar was his friend : but this was but a poor cordial : for caesar himself a little while after , was so miserable , that hee had not a friend to help him , much less was hee able to help his friend . the word of god affords a better cordial . it bids a true child of god not to bee overmuch dejected under the greatest affliction , because hee is gods favourite ; it tells him , that it is not lawful for him to complain while god is his friend , and the promises of god his rich portion , and inheritance . though job lost all hee had , yet hee lost nothing , because hee lost not his god , who is all in all , and they who have him , have all. my purpose at first was onely to have printed the sermon preached at mris. moors funeral , together with her evidences for heaven , collected by her in the time of her health . but the importunity of friends hath overswayed mee , and caused mee to adde four more , preached immediately afterwards on the same text. and now ( dearly beloved ) having this fair opportunity to speak to you in writing , give mee leave to propound and lay before you some cautions and admonitions ; some rules and directions for the right ordering of your lives and conversations in these dangerous and divided times , that so you may bee able after my decease , to have them in perpetual remembrance . 1 take heed of mistaking in the great work of beleeving and repenting . faith and repentance are the two great gospel-graces : and the reason why so many miscarry to all eternity , is not for want of them ( such as they are ) but upon a pure mistake , in thinking they have them , when they have but a shadow of them . where one goeth to hell by desperation , hundreds go thither by presumption . o! quam multi cum hâc vanâ fide , & vana spe ad aeternos labores descendunt ; how many thousands go to hell with a vain faith , and hope of heaven ! and therefore bee much in examination , whether your faith be right or no. examine your selves , whether yee bee in the faith , prove your own selves . to bee mistaken in the great work of beleeving , is to bee necessitated to damnation . for hee that beleeves not , shall bee damned . ask your souls often , whether your repentance bee of a right stamp or no ; whether it bee a repentance unto life , a repentance never to bee repented on . to bee mistaken in purchasing of lands , can but hurt your outward estates ; but to bee mistaken in the graces of faith and repentance , will undo your souls to all eternity . what the characters of a true faith , and true repentance are , you have frequently heard , i will not now repeat them . only remember that self-flattery , is self-mockery ; that soul-delusion , is soul-damnation . pray unto god to deliver you from that great murderer of souls , the sin of presumption . 2 take heed ( as i have said ) of delaying , and putting off the great work of providing for heaven , till sickness or old age . the lord christ commands you to seek first the kingdome of god , and his righteousness , &c. first , before other things , first , more than other things . you must seek after heaven in the first and chief place , and if you seek it in the least and last place , you will never obtain it . in matters of weight delay is dangerous , abigail made haste to prevent davids fury . rahab made haste to hang out her scarlet threed . the salvation of your souls is a matter of the greatest concernment , and to delay providing for it , is not onely a sin against the command of christ , but a sleighting of the heaven of christ. how justly may god deny to you ( who refuse when hee calls ) either space , or grace , to turn to him , and say to you , as it is reported , hee said to a man , who desired to repent in his old age , ubi consumpsisti farinam , ibi con-sume furfurem ; where you have spent your flower , there go spend your branne ; therefore let my counsel bee acceptable to you . make christ your unum necessarium , your one thing necessary , and heaven your primum quaerite ; seek yee first the kingdome of god , and his righteousness . say with david , i made haste , and delayed not to keep thy commandements . 3 take heed of resting in the ministry of man , you must not despise the teachings of orthodox ministers lawfully called ( for hee that despiseth them , despiseth christ ; hee that is above their teachings , is above the teachings of christ , for christ teacheth by them . they are his embassadors , and they preach not only in his name , but in his stead ) yet you must not rest satisfied with the teachings of men , but pray , that while the minister speaks to your ears , god would speak to your hearts . that god would fulfil that blessed promise , isa. 54. 13. and all thy children shall bee taught of god. that hee would give you an unction from the holy one to teach you all things . that you may see the goings of god in his sanctuary , you may behold the beauty of the lord , and see his power and glory in his holy temple . in a word , that god would give you , not onely the presence of ordinances , but his presence in them . that you may experimentally know , what it is to injoy communion with god in gospel-administrations . 4 take heed of formality , customariness , and carelesness in the performance of holy duties . hee that serves god carelesly , brings a curse upon himself , instead of a blessing . for cursed is hee that doth the work of the lord negligently . hee that serves god formally and customarily doth not serve him , but mock him . if the israelites had brought the skin of a beast for sacrifice , instead of a beast , it would have been counted a mocking of god , rather than a worshiping of him . so do they who serve god negligently and formally . 5 bee not contented to have a name to bee godly and religious , but labour to bee really such as you are supposed by others to bee . remember what christ saith of the church of sardis . that shee had a name to live , but was dead . what will it profit you to bee thought by men to bee godly , if god knows that you are ungodly ? what will it advantage you to seem to go to heaven , and yet at last to miss of it ? o labour to bee christians , not only in word , but in deed , and in truth , not onely by outward profession , but by a holy conversation . rest not satisfied with a less degree of grace , than that which will bring you to heaven . it will bee a double hell , to go within an inch of heaven , and yet at last to miscarry . 6 remember what christ saith of capernaum . the capernaites were not so bad as the gadarens , who desired christ to depart from them : much less as the nazarites , who thrust christ out of their coasts . for they heard him preach every sabbath-day , and were astonished at his doctrine . and yet because they did not sincerely practise what was taught them , christ pronounceth a heavy doom against them , matth. 11. 23 , 24. and thou capernaum which art exalted unto heaven , shalt bee brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee , had been done in sodome , it would have remained unto this day . but i say unto you , that it shall bee more tolerable for the land of sodome in the day of judgement , than for thee . it is not enough to praise the sermons you hear , to admire , and stand astonished at the doctrine delivered . if you do not practise what is preached . if you do not live sermons , as well as hear them , it shall bee easier for sodome and gomorrha at the day of judgement than for you . 7 take heed that the love of the world , doth not eat out the heart of religion , and at last , religion it self out of your hearts . remember what the apostle paul saith , that the love of money is the root of all evill , which while some have coveted after , they have erred from the faith , and pierced thēselves through with many sorrows . and what the apostle john saith , love not the world , neither the things that are in the world . if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . there is no sin so contrary to true saint-ship , as worldly-mindedness : a saint is one who hath much of heaven in him , and is much in heaven . a saint is one whose original is from heaven , hee is born from above , his name is written in heaven , his meditations , affections , and conversation is in heaven . hee is one who is elected to things above , and called to partake of heaven , and eternal happiness . and for such a man to minde things earthly , is a sin of the first magnitude . therefore the apostle would not have covetousness so much as named amongst christians . there is no sin more defiles the soul. it will besmear you , and make you spiritual blackamores , and chimny-sweepers in gods sight . there is no sin doth more dead and dull the heart in the doing of good duties . it hinders a man both from , and in ordinances . the farmer ; and merchant made light of the call of christ , and one went to his farm , the other to his merchandize . there is no sin will more eclipse the light of gods countenance from shining upon you . the moon is never in the eclipse , but when the earth comes between us and the sun. a child of god is seldome without the light of gods countenance , unless it bee through the over-much love of the world . no sin will more hinder your flight up to heaven . the ostrich cannot flye high , because of the shortness of her wings . jacob was forced in his travelling towards canaan to go slowly and softly , because of his multitude of children , of flocks and herds . and therefore let mee again beseech you to take heed of worldly-mindedness ; this will quickly betray you into apostacy from christ , and from the truths of christ. a man who loves the world , will ( judas-like ) betray christ for thirty peeces . hee will part with his religion , rather than with his estate . this sin is the root of all evil , it exposeth a man to all temptations , to hurtful lusts , to all errors , and all kinde of sorrows . it will drown your souls in perdition . hee that seeks things below , shall have his heaven below . the apostle saith expresly , that they who minde earthly things , their end is damnation . therefore let mee once again repeat it ; take heed lest you bee like the thorny ground . let not the cares , riches , and pleasures of the world choak the good seed that is weekly sown in your hearts . 8 let it bee your morning and evening thought what shall become of you to all eternity , and labour so to use things temporal , as not to lose the things that are eternal . remember that this life is a moment upon which eternity depends , and according as you spend this moment , so you shall bee for ever happy , or for ever miserable . remember that the pleasures of sin are but for a moment , but the punishments of sin are everlasting . 9 look upon sin as the greatest 〈◊〉 evils , greater than poverty , imprisonment , banishment , or death it selfe chuse the greatest affliction , rathe● than commit the least sin . if hel● were on the one side , and sin on the other chuse rather to go into hell , than to sin against god. for sin is a greater evill than hell , because it is the cause o● hell , and more opposite to god ( who is the chiefest good ) than hell is . for god is the author of hell ( which hee hath provided for all unbeleevers , and impenitent persons . ) but it is blasphemy in the highest degree , to say , that he is the author of sin. look upon christ as the greatest good , greater than health , wealth , liberty , or life . love christ more than you love your estates , or lives ; hee that loves christ more than the world , will not forsake christ to imbrace the world . hee that fears sin more than affliction , will not sin to avoid affliction . 10 rest not contented with that measure of grace you have attained unto ; but labour to grow in grace , and in the knowledge of the lord jesus christ. remember that the scripture doth not only perswade you to get into christ , but to grow up into christ ; not only to bee righteous , but to bee filled with the fruits of righteousness , &c. remember that saying of christ , to whom much is given , of them much is required . god hath given you much , you have plentiful means of salvation , and you have had them for many yeares , hee expects from you , not onely good fruit , but much good fruit ; not only thirty-fold , and sixty fold , but an hundred-fold . where the husbandman bestows most cost , hee expects most fruit . the more a merchant adventures by sea , the greater return hee looks for . god hath done more for you , than for many others ; and therefore hee expect that you should do some singular thing for him . hee looks you should be more humble , more heavenly , more knowing than others . if the sun should give no more light than a little candle , to what purpose hath god given it so much light : if you that have sun-like abilities do no more good , than those who have but half your abilities , to what purpose have you them ? it is a true saying , as our gifts increase , so must our account increase . you shall answer at the great day , not only for your gifts , but for the measure of them . remember that god doth not only require service from you , but service proportionable to the means , and mercies you injoy . hee that hath but one talent , shall answer but for one ; but you that have five , or ten talents , must bee answerable , according to the quantity , as well as the quality of them . 11 labour to diffuse those graces which god hath given you , and to communicate them to those with whom you converse . true grace is of a spreading nature , and therefore compared to leaven , which diffuseth it self into the whole lump , and to salt , that seasoneth all those things with which it is mingled . assoon as the woman of samaria had found out the messias , shee leaves her water-pet , and goeth into the city , to tell others what god had done for her . assoon as cornelius had received the message from the angel , to send for peter ; hee calls together his kinsmen and neer friends , that they , together with him , might bee made partakers of gospel-grace . a true christian is like a needle touched with the loadstone . a needle ( truly touched ) draweth another , and that will draw another , and that , another : whosoever hath his heart truly touched by effectual grace , will labour to convert others , and they , others . philip will draw nathaniel , andrew will draw peter . and peter being converted , will labour to strengthen his brethren : there is a natural instinct in all creatures to make others like themselves ( as fire will turn all things that come neer it , into fire ) and there is a spiritual instinct in all converted christians , to convert others . it is as natural to a true christian to make others true christians , , as it is for a man to beget a man. true grace is not only of a communicative , but of an assimilating nature . see then that you labour by seasonable and religious admonitions , and exhortations ; by communicating of experiences , and especially by the shining pattern of a holy life and conversation , to bring all those with whom you converse unto iesus christ. that man hath not grace in truth , who puts it in a dark lanthorne . 12 labour to bee good in your relations , good husbands , and good wives , good parents , and good children , good masters , and good servants . remember that that man cannot bee a good man , who is not good in his relation . hee cannot bee a good christian , who is not a good husband , or a good child , or a good father , &c. shee cannot bee a good christian , who is not a good wife ; and so of the rest ; and the reason is : because the same god who commands the husband to love god , commands him to love his wife ; the same god who commands the woman to obey god , commands her to obey her husband . there is the same stamp of authority upon our duties towards our relations , as upon our duties towards god ; therefore bee sure to make conscience of relative duties . 13 ioyn works of mercy and charity together with your profession of piety and holiness . for god hates a penurious , niggardly , and covetous professor of religion . let that saying of david abide upon your hearts , god forbid i should serve the lord with that which cost mee nothing . god hates your obedience to the first table , if it bee not joyned with obedience to 〈◊〉 second . works of mercy and charity ar● made in seripture the touchstones 〈◊〉 the truth of our piety and holiness . this is pure religion ( saith the apostle ) and undefiled before god , and the father , to visit the fatherless , and widows in their affliction , and to keep himself unspotted from the world . if any man say ( saith st. john ) i love god , and hateth his brother , hee is a liar , for hee that loveth not his brother whom hee hath seen , how can hee love god whom hee hath not seen ? an unmerciful , and an uncharitable man , is a wicked and an ungodly man. let it bee the care of all those amongst you , who are rich in estate , to be rich in good works . let every man lay up for the poor , according as god hath prospered him , remembering that saying of christ. come yee blessed of my father , inherit the kingdome prepared for you , from the foundation of the world ; for i was an hungred , and yee gave mee meat , i was thirsty , and yee gave mee drink , i was a stranger , and yee took mee in , naked , and yee cloathed mee , i was sick , and yee visited mee , i was in prison , and yee came unto mee . 14 take heed of separating from the publick assemblies of the saints . i have found by experience , that all our church-calamities have sprung from this root . hee that separates from the publick worship , is like a man tumbling down a hill , and never leaving till hee comes to the bottome of it . i could relate many sad stories of persons professing godliness , who out of dislike to our church-meetings , began at first to separate from them , and after many changes and alterations , are turned some of them anabaptists , some quakers , some ranters , some direct atheists . but i forbear ; you must hold communion with all those churches , with which christ holds communion ; you must separate from the sins of christians , but not from the ordinances of christ. take heed of unchurching the churches of christ , lest you prove schismaticks instead of being true christians . 15 though you never live to see the times setled , yet labour to get your consciences setled : pray for the spirit of truth , to guide you into all truth in these erring dayes . remember that saying of christ , if thine eye bee evil , thy whole body shall bee full of darknesse ; if therefore the light that is in you bee darkness , how great is that darkness . god hath given you your understandings , to be the guide of the whole man. as the eye is the guide of the body , and the sun of the world , so is the understanding of the man ; therefore you must in praying , pray that god would give you a right understanding in all things . pray not onely for the grace of sanctification , but of● illumination . avoid as soul-poyson all doctrines , 1 which tend to liberty , open a door to prophaneness , and are contrary to godliness . 2 which hold forth a superstitious strictness above what is required in the wo●d . 3 which are antimagistratical , and antiministerial . 4 which lift up corrupt nature , and exalt unsanctified reason . 5 which preach free-grace , to the utter ruine of good works . 6 which lessen the priviledges of infants , and makes their condition worse under the new testament , than under the old. 7 which are contrary to the analogy of faith , the ten commandements , and the lords prayer . 16 take heed lest being led away with the errour of the wicked , you fall from your own sted fastness . take heed of a threefold apostacy , of which this nation is deeply guilty . of apostacy 1 in your judgements , from the truths of christ , and from the faith once delivered to the saints 2 in your affections , from that ancient love , desire , and delight , which the saints of god have had heretofore , and you your selves once had , in , and towards the ordinances of christ , and the godly and learned ministers of christ. 3 in your conversations , from that humble and exact walking with god in all good duties , both towards god , and man , which was the credit , and honour of the good old puritan in former daies . let mee speak to you in the words of the apostles paul and peter . wherefore my beloved brethren , bee yee stedfast and unmoveable , &c. the god of grace , who hath called you into his eternal glory by jesus christ , make you perfect , stablish , strengthen , and settle you . 17 remember that it is the will of jesus christ , that you who partake of the same word of life , and of the same sacramental bread and wine , should admonish one another , exhort one another , watch over one another , bear the burdens of one another , provoke one another to love and good works ; seek the good of one another , and not your own good only . that you should warn the unruly , comfort the feeble-minded , and support the weak . that this is your duty appears , from col. 3. 16. phil. 2. 4. heb. 1. 24. gal. 6. 1. rom. 15. 2. rom. 14. 7. 2. cor. 5. 15. 1 thes. 5. 11 , 13 , 14. the 12th . vers . speaks of ministerial and authoritative admonition , but the 13 , and 14. verses of fraternal and charitative . these texts will rise up in iudgement against thousands of christians at the last day . i do not say that you are to admonish none but those of your own society . admonition is an act of mercy ; it is spiritualis eleemosyna , spiritual almes , and you are bound by the royal law of charity , by the communion of saints , the communion of churches , and communion of natures , to distribute these spiritual almes to all that need them , as god shall give occasion . but this i say , you ought especially to admonish them , and watch over them . this is novum , though not solum vinculum . some divines think that one chief reason why the israelites were punished for achans sin , was because they did not admonish him , and watch-over him : for the israelites were commanded in the plural number , josh. 6. 18. keep your selves from the accursed thing , &c. hee was one of the body , and because they did not watch over him , they communicated in his sin , and in his punishment . there is an excellent law in this nation , that every parish shall provide for its own poor . and by parity of reason , it is as just and equal , that every congregation should chiefly and especially look to the souls of their own members , to warn them , admonish them , exhort them , and watch over them . that you may the better discharge this duty , you must labour to bee acquainted one with another , as far as your callings and relations will give you leave . it is a great and common sin , and much to bee lamented , that there is so little knowledge and acquaintance , between those that are of the same congregation . they sit in the same pew together , partake of the same sacrament , and yet converse no more together , than if one lived at york , and the other at london . and when they do converse together , it is a meer civill and outward converse , as amongst sober heathens : but there is very little religious society between them , for the spiritual edification one of another . now this must needs bee a great sin ; for how can you watch over one another , edifie and admonish one another ? how can you support the weak , comfort the feeble-minded , if not spiritually acquainted one with another . and yet it is not my opinion , that every member of a congregation is bound to know every fellow-member . i beleeve it was not so in the church of jerusalem , or of samaria . it is incredible , to think that they all knew one another . i should bee loath to lay such a clog upon you consciences , as to say , that every maid-servant , and man-servant is bound to know , and to bee acquainted with all those with whom they communicate in the lords supper . indeed the church-officers are the eyes of the people , and are to know all , and to bee acquainted with all : but yet notwithstanding this , i say , it is the duty of every member , to endeavour according to his place and calling , to grow up in spiritual acquaintance one with another , as god shall offer occasion , and not to be so strange and unacquainted , but to walk in love one towards another , to bear one anothers burden , and so fulfill the law of christ , gal. 6. 2. and this you ought the rather to do , that so you may contribute to the keeping of the sacrament of the lords supper pure in the congregation to which you belong . there is much complaint amongst many ( and not without just cause ) of mixt communions , and of 〈◊〉 universal liberty which some take in giving the sacrament promiscuously to all that come , though grosly ignorant , and notoriously scandalous , and in making ( if i may so speak ) the chancel-door , as wide as the church-door . this in my judgement is a great iniquity . 1 it is to give holy things to dogs , and to cast pearls to swine . it is a prophanation of the ordinance , in giving it to those who are visibly unworthy to receive it , and to whom wee know christ would not have us to give it . 2 it is an act of great uncharitableness , to those who are grosly ignorant , and scandalous . for it is to give them that which wee know will further their damnation . 3 it makes the church-officers ( who have power to hinder them , and do not use it ) partakers of other mens sins . 4 it is an act of cruelty to the nation : for because wee have been prodigal of christs blood , therefore hee hath been prodigal of ours . 5 it is a great scandal to the truly godly , and a stumbling-block to weak christians , causing them ( though unadvisedly ) to separate from our congregations . 6 it is to walk contrary to the practise of most ( if not all ) of the churches of christ in the christian world . to prevent this sacrament-prophanation ; there are some ministers , wh● wholly surcease from administring it . this i allow not , unless in case of absolute necessity . for this is ( as it were ) to suspend the whole congregation , and to deny children their bread , for fear of giving it to dogs . the best way is to follow the advice which our lord jesus christ gives , matth. 18. 15 , 16 , 17. where hee propounds rules and directions for the removing of scandals out of the church . if thy brother shall trespass against thee ( saith christ ) go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone . hee doth not say , go , and separate presently ( for this is to rend the church , not to heal it ; this is to hinder thy brother from christ , rather than to gain him to christ. hee doth not say , go and tell others ( for this is to backbite thy brother . this is to reproach him , rather than to reprove him ) but hee saith , go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; if hee shall hear thee , thou hast gained thy brother : but if hee will not heare thee , then take with thee one or two more , &c. and if hee shall neglect to hear them , tell it to the church ( that is , to such who are impowred by christ to redress offences ) but if hee neglect to hear the church , let him , &c. hence learn , that all church-reformation , and sacrament-purity must begin from church-members , and proceed from them in christs way unto church-officers ; that if any man who is called a brother , bee a fornicator , or a railer ; or a drunkard , or guilty of any other scandalous sin , it is your duty , who are members of the same body with him , and know his guiltiness , to labour by private admonition to gain him to god , not to shame him by telling others , but to gain him , by telling him alone . but if hee will not hear you , then you are in an orderly way , to bring it to the church , which if you neglect to do , the sin of church-pollution is your sin , and not the sin of your church-officers . if there bee three doors to get into an house , hee that keeps mee out of the first , keeps mee out of the other two . all sacrament-reformation begins with you , you are the first door at which it enters : if you faile of your duty , the sin lyeth at your door , not at ours . it is the custome of all people ( though otherwise godly ) if a scandalous sinner bee admitted to the lords supper , to charge the sin of it upon the minister , and in the mean time to forget that the sin is theirs , not his , because they have not done what christ would have them , for the gaining of him , and for the inabling of the church , to proceed against him by censures , if hee prove obstinate . the lord give you hearts to thinke of this , and give you grace ( instead of murmuring against , and complaining of mixt communions , and of separating from us because of them ) to contribute your utmost towards the purging of our congregations , and to practise all those duties which christ requires of you in order thereunto . i have much more to say of this particular , but i perceive that the epistle swells to too great a bigness , and therefore i shall defer what i have further to say , till god shall offer mee another such opportunity . 18 labour to maintain peace and unity amongst your selves . it is a good and pleasant thing for brethren to dwell together in unity . have salt in your selves , and peace one with another . labour to get your souls seasoned with the grace of humility . self-denial , and mortification ; and this will keep you in peace . remember the saying of christ , blessed are the peace-makers . now i beseech you brethren , by the name of our lord jesus christ , that yee all speak the same thing , and that there bee no divisions among you ; but that yee bee perfectly joyned together in the same minde , and in the same judgement . 19 study often and often the quatuor novissima , the four last things , death , judgement , hell , and heaven . the meditation of death , will prepare you for death : the meditation of heaven , will make you heavenly-minded : the meditation of hell , will keep you from hell : therefore bernard perswades us to go often down to hell by meditation while wee live , and wee shall not go down to it when wee dye . the meditation of the day of judgement , will bee both fraenum , & calcar , a bridle to curb you from sin , and a spur to incite you to all godliness , that so you may give up your account with joy at that terrible day . 20 study the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel , make a catalogue of them , meditate on them , and labour to apply them to your own souls , for your everlasting comfort . and for this purpose , read over these sermons , and study them in time of health , that you may injoy the benefit of them in the time of sickness . lastly , let mee intreat you to praise god in my behalfe ; that hee hath been pleased out of his free love to uphold mee amongst you in my ministerial imployment for these eighteen years ; and to continue your earnest prayers unto him , that hee would make my labours more usefull , and successful , that hee would guide mee , that i may guide you , that hee would not onely make , but keep mee faithful in these back sliding times , and teach mee so to preach , and so to live , that i may save my self , and those that hear mee . your servant in the work of the ministry . ed. calamy . books lately printed for thomas parkhurst , at the sign of the three crowns , ●ver against the great conduit , at the lower end of cheapside . four profitable treatises very useful for christian practice , viz. the killing power of the law. the spiritual watch. the new birth . of the sabbath . by the reverend william fenner , late minister of rochford in essex . the journal or diary of a thankful christian , wherein is contained directions , for the right method of keeping and using , according to the rules of practise ; a day-book of national and publick , personal and private passages of gods providence , to help christians to thankfulness , and experience . by iohn bendle , minister of the gospel at barstone in essex , large octavo . here followeth the sermon preached at the funeral of mris. elizabeth moore , the 27th . of february last , at aldermaenbury . the godly mans ark ; or , city of refuge in the day of his distresses . sermon i. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . this psalm ( out of which my text is taken ) exceeds all the other psalms , not only in length , but in excellency , so far ( in the judgement of ambrose ) as the light of the sun excels the light of the moon . as the book of psalms is stiled by luther , an epitome of the bible , or a little bible ▪ so may this psalm fitly bee called , an epitome of the book of psalms . it was written ( as is thought ) by david in the dayes of his banishment under saul , but so penned , that the words thereof suit the condition of all saints . it is penu doctrinae publicum unicuique apta & convenientia distribuens , a publick store-house of heavenly doctrines , distributing fit , and convenient instructions to all the people of god , and therefore should bee in no less account with those who are spiritually alive , than is the use of the sun , air , and fire , with those who are naturally alive : it is divided into two and twenty sections , according to the hebrew alphabet , and therefore fitly called a holy alphabet for sions schollars . the a , b , c , of godliness : sixt●● senensis calls it , an alphabetical poem ▪ the iews are said to teach it their little children the first thing they learn , and therein they take a very right course , both in regard of the heavenly matter , and plain stile fitted for all capacities . the chief scope of it , is to set out the glorious excellencies and perfections of the law of god. there is not a verse ( except one onely , say some learned men in print , but are therein deceived ; but i may truly say , except the 122. and the 90. verses ) in this long psalm , wherein there is not mention made of the law of god , under the name of law , or statutes , or precepts , or testimonies , or commandements , or ordinances , or word , or promises , or wayes , or judgements , or name , or righteousness , or truth , &c. this text that i have chosen , sets out the great benefit and comfort , which david found in the law of god in the time of his affliction — it kept him from perishing . had not thy law been my delights , i had perished in my affliction . the word law is taken diversly in scripture , sometimes for the moral law , jam. 2. 10. sometimes for the whole oeconomy , polity , and regiment of moses , for the whole mosaical dispensation by laws , partly moral , partly judicial , partly ceremonial , gal. 3. 23. sometimes for the five books of moses , luke 24. 44. sometimes for the whole doctrine of god , contained in the scriptures of the old testament , joh. 7. 49. by law in this place is meant , all those books of the scripture which were written when this psalm was penned . but i shall handle it in a larger sense , as it comprehends all the books both of the old and new testament . for the word law is sometimes also taken for the gospel , as it is micah 4. 2. isa. 2. 3. the meaning then is , unless thy law , that is , thy word , had been my delights , i should have perished in mine affliction . david speaks this ( saith musculus ) of the distressed condition hee was in , when persecuted by saul , forced to flye to the philistins , and sometimes to hide himself in the rocks and caves of the earth . hi● vero simile est , fuisse illi ad manum codicem divinae legis , &c. it is very likely ( saith hee ) that hee had the book of gods law with him , by the reading of which , hee mitigated and allayed his sorrows , and kept himself pure from communicating with the heathen in their superstitions . the greek scholiasts say , that david uttered these words , a saule pulsus , & apud philistaeos & impios homines agere coactus , when driven from saul , and compelled to live amongst the wicked philistins , &c. for he would have been allured to have communicated with them in their impieties , had he not carried about him the meditation of the word of god. unless thy law had been my delights , &c. in the words themselves , wee have two truths supposed , and one truth clearly proposed . 1 two truths supposed . 1 that the dearest of gods saints , are subject to many great and tedious afflictions . 2 that the word of god is the saints darling , and delights . one truth clearly proposed . that the law of god delighted in , is the afflicted saints antidote against ruine , and destruction . 1 two truths supposed . the first is this : doct. 1. that the best of gods saints are in this life subject to many great and tedious afflictions . david was a man after gods own heart , and yet hee was a man made up of troubles of all sorts and sizes , insomuch as hee professeth of himself , psal. 69. 1 , 2 , 3. save mee , o god , for the waters are come in unto my soul , i sink in deep mire where there is no standing , i am come into deep waters , where the flouds over-flow mee ; i am weary of my crying , my throat is dryed , mine eyes fail while i wait for my god. and in this text he professeth that his afflictions were so great , that he must necessarily have perished under them , had hee not been sustained by the powerfull comforts he fetched out of the word . there is an emphasis in the word then , i should then have perished : that is , long before this time ; then , when i was afflicted , then i should have perished . iunius and tremelius translate it , iam diu periissem , &c. i should long ago have perished . iob was a man eminent for godliness , and yet as eminent for afflictions . nay jesus christ himself was a man of sorrows , isa. 53. 3. insomuch as that it is truly said , god had one son without sin , but no son without sorrow . this our dear sister , at whose funeral wee are met , was a woman full of many and great afflictions , which ( no doubt ) would have quite drowned and swallowed her up , had not the word of god supported her , therefore it was that shee desired that this text might bee the subject of her funeral sermon . quest. but why doth god afflict his own children with such variety of long and great afflictions ? ans. 1. god doth not do this , because hee hates them , but because hee loves them , for whom the lord loveth hee chastiseth , &c. heb. 12. 6. did the lord hate them , hee would suffer them to go merrily to hell. there is no surer sign of gods reprobating anger , than to suffer a man to prosper in wicked courses . god threatneth this as the greatest punishment , not to punish them , hos. 4. 14. and therefore because god loveth his children , hee chastiseth them in this world , that they may not bee condemned in the world to come , 1 cor. 11. 33. 2 god doth not do this , because hee would hurt them , but for their good , jer. 24. 5. the good figs were sent into captivity for their good . heb. 12. 10. hee for our profit , &c. god hath very gracious and merciful ends and aims in afflicting his people . give mee leave here to inlarge my discourse , and to give you an account of some of these divine aims . 1 gods design is to teach us to know him , and to trust in him , and to know our selves . it is a true saying of luther , schola crucis , est schola lucis , the school of affliction , is a school of instruction , gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , his rods ( when sanctified ) are powerful sermons to teach us , 1 to know god , and this is life eternal to know him , joh. 17. 3. it is said of manasseh , a chron. 33. 13. then manasseh knew that the lord hee was god. then , when hee was caught among the thorns , bound with setters , and carried to babylon ; before that time hee knew not the lord : afflictions teach us to know god , not only in his power and greatness , in his anger , and hatred against sin , but also in his goodness and mercy ; for god doth so sweeten the bitter cup of affliction , that a childe of god doth many times taste more of gods love in one months affliction , than in many years of prosperity , 2 cor. 1. 4 , 5. 2 cor. 7. 4. adde to this . afflictions teach us to know god experimentally and affectionatively , not cerebraliter ( as calvin saith ) but cordialiter , so to know him , as to love and fear him , and to flye unto him as our rock and hiding-place in the day of our distress . it is said , cant. 3. 1. by night i sought him whom my soul loveth , &c. some by the word night , understand the night of divine desertion , and from the words gilbertus hath this saying , qui quaerit in nocte , non quaerit ut videat , sed ut amplectatur ; hee that seeks after god in the night of adversity , doth not seek to see him , and know him formally and superficially , but to imbrace him , and to love him really and cordially : and therefore the church never left till shee had found christ , and when shee had found him , shee held him and would not let him go , cant. 3. 2 , 3 , 4. 2 not onely to know god , but also to trust in him , 2 cor. 1. 9. wee had the sentence of death in our selves , that wee should not trust in our selves , but in god ▪ which raiseth the dead . note here , 1 that an apostle is apt in time of prosperity , to trust in himself . 2 that god brings his children to the gates of death , that they might learn not to trust in themselves , but in god , which raiseth the dead , that is , from a dead and desperate condition . 3 not onely to know god , but to know our selves , which two are the chief parts of christian religion : it is said of the prodigal , that when hee was in adversity , then hee came to himself , luke 15. 17. and when hee came to himself . he was spiritually distracted , when hee was in prosperity : afflictions teach us to know that wee are but men , according to that of david , psal. 9. 20. put them in fear , o lord , that they may know themselves to bee but men . caligula and domitian , emperors of rome , who in prosperity would bee called gods , when it thundred from heaven , were so terrified , that then they knew they were but men . in prosperity wee forget our mortality . adversity causeth us to know , not only that wee are men , but frail men , that god hath us between his hands ( as it is ezek. 21. 17. ) and can as easily crush us , as wee do moths : that wee are in gods hands , as the clay in the hands of the potter : that hee hath an absolute soveraignty over us , and that wee depend upon him for our being , well-being , and eternal-being . these things wee know feelingly and practically in the day of affliction . and it much concerns us to know these things , and to know them powerfully . for this will make us stand in awe of god , and study to serve and please him . hee that depends upon a man for his livelihood , knowing that hee hath him at an advantage , and can easily undo him , will certainly endeavor to comply with him , and to obtain his favour . the ground of all service and obedience is dependence . and did wee really and experimentally know our dependence upon god , and the advantages hee hath us at , wee could not , wee would not but comply with him , and labour above all things to gain his love and favour . 2 gods aim in afflicting his children , is either to keep them from sin , or when they have sinned ; to bring them to repentance for it , and from it . 1 to keep them from sin ; this made him send an angel of satan to buffet paul , lest hee should bee lifted up in pride , and exalted above measure , 2 cor. 12. 7. 2 when they have sinned to bring them to repentance for it , and from it . god brings his children low , not to trample upon them , but to make them low in their own eyes , and to humble them for sin , deut. 8. 2. god brings them into the deep waters , not to drown them , but to wash and cleanse them , isa. 27. 9. by this shall the iniquity of iacob bee purged , and this is all the fruit , to take away sin , &c. afflictions ( when sanctified ) are divine hammers , to break , and as moses his rod , to cleave our rocky hearts in peeces . 1 they open the eyes to see sin oculos quos culpa claudit , paena aperit . when the brethren of ioseph were in adversity then they saw ( and not before ) the greatness of their sin in selling their brother , gen , 42. 21. they open the ear to discipline . in prosperity wee turn a deaf ear to the voyce of the charmer , though he charm never so wisely . but adversity openeth the ear , and causeth us to attend : when god spake upon mount sinah in a terrible manner , then the people said unto moses , speak thou unto us , all that the lord our god shall speak unto thee , and wee will hear it , and do it , deut. 5. 27. memorable is that text , jer. 2. 24. a wilde ass used to the wilderness , that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure , in her occasion who can turn her away ? all they that seek her , will not weary themselves , in her month they shall finde her ; in her month , that is , when she is great with young , and near her time . a wicked man in the day of his prosperity , is like a wilde ass used to the wilderness , hee snuffeth at any that shall reprove him , hee is of an uncircumcised ear , and a rebellious heart , but in his month , that is , when hee is bigge with afflictions , then hee will be easily found ; this will open his ear to discipline . 3 they will open the mouth to confess sin , judg. 10. 15. 4 they will command us to depart from iniquity , job . 36. ● , 9 , 10. afflictions are gods furnaces , to purge out the dross of our sins , gods files to pare off our spiritual rust , gods fannes to winnow out our chaffe . in prosperity wee gather much soil , but adversity purgeth and purifieth us . this is its proper work , to work out unrighteousness , dan. 11. 35. dan. 12. 10. 3 gods end is not only to keep us from sin , but to make us holy and righteous , therefore it is said , isa. 26. 9. when they judgements are in the earth , the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness . and heb. 12. 10. — hee for our profit , that wee may bee partakers of his holiness . as the waters that drowned the old world , did not hurt the ark of noah , but bare it up above the earth , and as they increased , so the ark was lifted up nearer and nearer to heaven : so afflictions ( when sanctified ) do not prejudice the saints of god , but lift them up nearer unto god in holiness , and heavenly-mindedness . 4 gods design in afflicting his children , is to make the world bitter unto them , and christ sweet . 1 to imbitter the world : there are two lame leggs upon which all worldly things stand , uncertainty , and insufficiency . all earthly things are like the earth , founded upon nothing . they are like heaps made of wax , that quickly melt away . riches , and honours , wise , and children , have wings , and flye away ; they are like unto absoloms mule , they will fail us , when wee have most need of them ; they may puffe up the soul , but they cannot satisfie it , inflare possunt , satiare animam non possunt : they are all vanity and vexation of spirit , so saith the preacher ; but most people in time of health , will not beleeve these things ; but when some great sickness betides them , this is as a real sermon , to make out the truth of them ; then they see , that a velvet slipper cannot cure the gout , nor a golden cap the head ache , prov. 〈◊〉 . 4. that riches avail not in the day of wrath , and this imbitters the world . 2 to make christ sweet and precious . when christ and his disciples were in a ship together , mat. 8. 25. it is said , that christ was asleep , and as long as the sea was calm , his disciples suffered him to sleep , but when they were ready to bee drowned , then they awoke christ , and said , master , save us , wee perish . even the best of saints when fatted with outward plenty and abundance , are prone to suffer christ 〈◊〉 lye asleep within them , and so neglect the lively actings of faith upon christ ; but when the storms of affliction , and outward calamity begin to arise , and they are ready to bee overwhelmed with distresses , then none but christ , none but christ. 5 gods design in afflicting his children , is to prove , and improve their graces . 1 to prove their graces , rev. 2. 10. deut. 8. 2. to prove the truth , and the strength of them . 1 the truth and sincerity of their graces ; for this cause he loaded iob with afflictions , to try whether hee served god for his camels and oxen , or for love to god. as solomons sword tried the true mother from the false ; so the sword of affliction discovers the sincere christian from the hypocrite . distresses are divine touchstones , to try whether we be true or counterfeit saints ; that grace is true , which upon tryal is found true . 2 to try the strength of our graces . for it requires a strong faith to indure great afflictions . that faith which will suffice for a little affliction , will not suffice for a great one . peter had faith enough to come to christ upon the sea , but assoon as the storm began to arise , his faith began to fail , and christ said , why art thou afraid , o thou of little faith ? mat. 14. 30 , 31. it must bee a strong faith that must keep us from sinking in the day of great distress . 2 to improve our graces . it is reported of the lionesse , that she leaves her young ones , till they have almost killed themselves with roaring , and howling , and then at last gasp , shee relieves relieves them , and by this means they become more couragious . so god brings his children into the deeps , and suffers ionah to bee three daies and three nights in the belly of the whale , and david to cry till his throat was dry , psal. 69. 3. and suffers his apostles to bee all the night in a great storm till the fourth watch , and then hee comes and rebukes the winds , and by this means hee mightily increaseth their patience and dependence upon god , and their faith in christ. as the palm-tree , the more it is depressed , the higher , stronger , and fruitfuller it grows ; so doth the graces of gods people . lastly , gods aim in afflicting his people , is to put an edge upon their prayers , and all their other holy services . 1 upon prayer : what a famous prayer did manasseh make , when hee was under his iron fetters . it is thrice mentioned , 2 chron. 33. 13 , 18 , 19. when paul was struck off his horse , and struck with blindness , then hee prayed to purpose . therefore it is said , act. 9. 11. behold hee prayeth ! in prosperity wee pray heavily and drowsily , but adversity adds wings to our prayers , isa. 26. 16. the very heathen marriners cryed aloud to god in a storm . it is an ordinary saying , qui nescit orare discat navigare . there are no saylors so wicked , but they will pray when in a great storm . 2 upon preaching . prosperity glutteth the spiritual appetite , adversity whetreth it . 3 upon a sacrament . how sweet is a sacrament to a true saint after a long and great sickness ? 1 it makes god , and the word of god precious . if god sets our corn-fields on fire ( as absalom did ioabs ) then hee shall bee sure to cause us to come running to him : and how sweet is a text of scripture to a childe of god in the hour of his distress ? by all this it appears that god afflicts his children not to hurt them , but to help them , and that god hath many glorious and gracious ends and aimes in afflicting of them . therefore it is that david saith of himself in the 71. verse of this psalm , it is good for mee that i have been afflicted , that i might learn thy statutes , hee never said , it is good for mee that i have been in prosperity , but hee rather saith the contrary in the 67. verse , before i were afflicted , i went astray , but now i have kept thy word . gods people will bless god as much ( if not more ) in heaven , for their adversity , than for their prosperity . use 1. let us not pass rash censures upon persons under great afflictions . say not , such a woman is a greater sinner than others , because more afflicted . this was the fault of iobs friends , and god expresseth his anger against them for it , iob 42. 7. my wrath is kindled against thee , and thy two friends , for you have not spoken the thing that is right , &c. this was the fault of the barbarians , act. 28. 4. when they saw the venemous beast hang upon the hand of paul , they said among themselves , no doubt this man is a murderer , &c. but remember they were barbarians . it is a sign of a barbarian , not of a christian to pass a rash censure upon persons in affliction . think you ( saith christ ) that those eighteen upon whom the tower in siloam fell and slew them , that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in jerusalem . i tell you , nay , but except you repent , ye shall all likewise perish , luke 13. 4 , 5. think you that they which have the stone and gout in extremity , that have cancers in their faces and breasts , are greater sinners than others . i tell you nay , &c. for my part , if i would censure any , it should bee such as live wickedly , and meet with no affliction : these have the black brand of reprobation upon them . these are men designed to damnation . ambrose would not tarry a night in the house of a gentleman that had never in all his life been afflicted , for fear ( as hee said ) lest some great and sudden judgement should betide it . but when i see a godly woman afflicted , then i say , this is not so much for her sin , as for her trial ; this is not to hurt her , but to teach her to know god , and to know her selfe , to break her heart for sin , and from sin , to make the world bitter , and christ sweet . god hath put her into the fire of affliction , to refine her , and make her a vessel fit for his use . god is striking her with the hammer of affliction , that shee may bee squared , and made ready to bee laid in the heavenly ierusalem . use 2. here is rich comfort to the children of god , under the greatest afflictions . for the best of saints are subject to the worst afflictions : this is the lot of all gods children , christ himself not excepted . afflictions ( indeed ) considered in their own nature , are evil things , and so are called , amos 5. 1● . they are part of the curse due to sin , the fruit of gods revenging wrath ; they are as a biting and stinging serpent . and to a wicked man , remaining wicked , they are the beginning of hell : unsanctified afflictions parboil a wicked man for hell and damnation . but now to a childe of god , they have lost both their name and nature , they are not punishments properly , but chastisements , not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . they are not satisfactory , but castigatory . jesus christ hath taken away the sting of these serpents ; they are not fiery , but brazen serpents , they have a healing , not a hurting power . christ hath removed the curse , and bitterness of them ; as the wood sweetned the waters of marah , exod. 15. 25. so christs cross hath sweetned the bitterness of afflictions . there are eight comfortable considerations to chear the heart of a childe of god in the day of his distress . 1 god never afflicts his people , but ut of pure necessity , 1 pet. 1. 6. though ow for a season , if need bee , yee are ●●●aviness . as a most loving father , never corrects his childe , but when he● is forced to it . hee willingly provides for his childe , but punisheth him unwillingly . so god freely loadeth with his blessings , but hee never chastiseth his children , but when forced to it , therefore hee saith expresly , lam. 3. 33. hee doth not afflict willingly , isa. 27. 1. fury is not in mee . it is wee that put thunderbolts in gods hand . if the s●n did not first draw up the vapours from the earth , there would never bee any thundering , or lightening . god would never thunder from heaven with his judgements , if our sins did not first cry to heaven for punishment . as christ whipt the sellers of oxen and sheep out of the temple with a whip made ( in all probability ) of their own cords ; so god never scourgeth us , but it is with a whip made of our own sins , prov. 5. 22. rom. 2. 5. — thou treasurest up to thy self , &c. god hath a double treasure , a treasure of mercy , and a treasure of wrath ; his treasure of mercy is alwayes full , but his treasure of wrath is empty , till wee fill it by our sins . and therefore when god punisheth his children , hee calls it a strange work , and a strange act , isa. 28. 21. it is observed of the bee , that it never stings , but when provoked : sure i am , that god never afflicts his children , but out of pure necessity . 2 not only out of pure necessity , but out of true and real love ; as i have shewed , heb. 12. 6 , 7 , 8. object . do not divine afflictions proceed out of anger ? was not god angry with moses for speaking unadvisedly with his his lips ? and angry with david for his adultery , and thereupon afflicted both of them ? answ. this anger was a fatherly anger , rooted in love ; it was not ira quae reprobat , but ira quae purgat : it was not ira hostilis & exterminativa , but ira paterna & medicinalis . as it is a great punishment , for god sometimes not to punish , isaiah 1. 5. hos. 4. 14. so it is a great mercy , sometimes for god to withdraw his mercy . 3 afflictions are a part of divine predestination . that god which hath elected us to salvation , hath also elected us unto afflictions , 1 thes. 1. 3. that no man should bee moved by these afflictions ; for you your selves know that wee are appointed thereunto . the same love with which god elects us , and bestoweth christ , and his spirit upon us , with the very same love hee afflicts us . 4 they are part of the gracious covenant which god hath made with his people , psal. 89. 31 , 32 , 33. in which words we have three things considerable . 1 a supposition of sin ; if his children forsake my law , &c. for sin is alwayes causa sine qua non , the cause without which god would never chastise us , and for the most part it is the cause for which . 2 wee have a gracious promise , then i will visit their transgression with the rod , and their iniquity with stripes . 3 wee have a merciful qualification : nevertheless my loving kindnesse will i not utterly take from him , nor suffer my faithfulness to fail , my covenant will i not break , &c. afflictions are not only mercies , but covenant-mercies ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 75. — and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted mee . god would bee unfaithful , if hee did not afflict his children . 5 consider that afflictions are part of the saints blessedness , job . 5. 17. behold ! happy is the man whom god correcteth , &c. behold ( saith eliphaz ) and wee had need behold , and consider it , for there are few that beleeve it , and yet it is most true ; that afflictions ( when sanctified ) when they are not only corrections , but instructions , then they are evidences that wee are in a blessed condition . eliphaz his saying must bee interpreted by what david saith , psal. 94. 12. blessed is the man whom thou chastenest , o lord , and teachest out of thy law ; it is not correction simply , but correction joyned with instruction , which intitles us to happiness . iob even while hee was upon the dung-hill , wonders that god should set his heart so much upon him , as to visit him every morning , and try him every moment , job 7. 17 , 18. iob upon the dung-hill , was happier than adam in paradise . adam in paradise was conquered by the devil ; but iob upon the dung-hill overcame the devil . lazarus in his rags was happier than dives in his robes ; philpot in his cole-house , than bonner in his palace ; and godly mr whitaker upon his bed of pain , than a wicked man upon his bed of down ▪ there were many in christs time who would never have known him , or come to him , had it not been for their bodily diseases . 6 consider the gracious and merciful ends , aims , and designes , that god hath in afflicting his people , what these are , ye have heard already . 7 the sweet and precious promises , which hee hath made to his children in the day of their adversity , to comfort them , and support them ; what these are , you shall hear afterwards . 8 consider that all afflictions shall work at last for the good of gods children . rom. 8. 28. though they are not bonae , yet they shall bee in bonum ; though they are not good in themselves , yet they shall turn to their good . god beats his children , as wee do our cloaths in the sun , onely to beat ●ut the moths ; god puts them into the fiery furnace , not to hurt them , but onely to untie the bonds of their sins , as hee deal● with the three children , dan. 3. 25. god will either deliver them out of their afflictions , or send them to heaven by them ; wherefore comfort one another with these words . use 3. if the best of saints are subject in this life unto many , great , and tedious afflictions , then let us , afflictions . 1 expect 2 prepare for 3 improve 1 let us expect afflictions ; for christ hath said expresly , ioh. 16. 33. in the world yee shall have tribulation . there is in every childe of god , 1 sufficiens fundamentum , a sufficient foundation for god to build a house of correction upon : there is sin enough to deserve affliction . 2 there is sufficiens motivum , motives sufficient to prevail with god , to chastize them when they sin against him ; some of these you have heard already , let mee adde one more : because hee is more dishonoured by the sins of his own children , than by the sins of wicked men : as it is a greater discredit to an earthly father , when his own children , than when other mens children , live wickedly ; so it is a greater disparagement to our heavenly father when his own sons and daughters , than when the devils children transgress his law : and therefore god will chastize them sooner , surer , and more than others . 1 sooner , rom. 2. 9. tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil , of the iew first , and also of the gentile . first , the jew , and then the gentile . 2 surer than others , amo● 3. 2. you onely have i known of all the families of the earth , therefore i will punish you for all your iniquities . 3 more than others , ●am . 4. 6 : the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people , is greater than the punishment of the sin of sodome . &c. dan. 9. 12. under the whole heaven hath not been done , as hath been done upon ierusalem . 3 there is sufficiens necessitas , sufficient necessity to provoke god to afflict them . it is needful that the wheat bee winnowed , that so the chaffe may bee separated from it . it is needful that the wind blow upon the wheat , to cleanse it , and that gold bee put into the furnace , to purge and purifie it . when the sheep of christ are divided one from the other in judgement , and affections , when separated in doctrine , worship , and discipline . it is very needful that god should send afflictions and distresses , which may bee ( as the shepherds dog ) very serviceable and instrumental , to unite them together , and to gather them into one sheepfold . and therefore let the saints of god expect afflictions . 2 let us prepare and provide against the day of tribulation . let us provide , 1 a stock of graces . for sickness is a time to spend grace , but not to get grace ▪ a christian in sickness without grace , is like a souldier in war without armour like a house in stormy weather without a foundation , and like the men of the old world , when ready to bee drowned ▪ without an ark. woe bee to that person that hath his graces to get whe●● hee should use them ! and therefore if wee would bee comforted in the day of tribulation , wee must provide aforehand a furniture of graces . 1 a true faith ( for a painted faith will avail no more than a painted helmet or a painted ship ) and not only a true , but also a strong faith. a little faith will faint under great afflictions ; when the winds began to blow fiercely , peters little faith began to fail , mat. 14. 30. 2 a great measure of patience to inable us to wait quietly and contentedly , till god come in with help , for many times hee tarrieth till the fourth watch of the night , as hee did , matth. 14. 25. and therefore wee have need of patience to keep us from murmuring or repining . 3 a great stock of self-denial , humility , repentance , contempt of the world , and heavenly-mindedness . hee that is furnished with grace in an evill hour , will bee as safe and secure , as noah was in the ark , in the time of the deluge , or as those were who had sufficiency of corn in the time of the seven years dearth in aegypt . 2 a stock of assurance of salvation : for though a man hath never so much grace , yet if hee wants the assurance of it , hee cannot receive any comfort by it in the day of his distress . iacob was not at all quieted in his spirit , for iosephs being alive , till hee came to know of it . and therefore wee must not onely provide grace , but the assurance of grace , that wee may bee able to say with confidence , as iob did upon the dung-hill , iob 19. 25. i know that my redeemer liveth , and with the holy apostle , rom. 8. 38. i am perswaded , that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature shall bee able to separate us from the love of god , which is in christ iesus our lord. that man who hath got a scripture assurance of his salvation , will bee more than a conqueror in the day of his distress . 3 a stock of divine experiences . happy is that man that lodgeth up in his heart all the former experiences he hath had of gods love and mercy towards him , and knoweth how to argue from them in the day of calamity : thus did moses in his prayer to god , numb . 14. 19. pardon , i beseech thee , the iniquity of this people , according unto the greatness of thy mercy , and as thou hast forgiven this people from egypt , even untill now . because god had forgiven them , therefore moses intreats him to forgive them ; this argument is drawn from former experience . and thus david incourageth himself , 1 sam. 17 , 37. the lord hath delivered mee out of the paw of the lion , and out of the paw of the bear , and hee will deliver mee out of the hand of this philistine . thus also paul reasoneth , 2 cor. 1. 10. who delivered us from so great a death , and doth deliver , and in whom wee trust that hee will yet deliver us ! divine experiences are the saints great incouragements in the day of affliction . blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of these arrows . 4 a stock of sermons . wee must do with sermons , as the trades-men do with the mony they get ; some of it they lay out for their present use , and some of it they lay up against the time of sickness . that man is an ill husband , and an unthrifty trades-man that makes no provision for old age ; or for an evill day ; and that man is an unprofitable hearer of the word , who doth not stock and store himself with sermons , whereby hee may be comforted in the hour of affliction . and therefore the prophet isaiah adviseth us , isa 42. 23. to hear for the time to come , or ( as it is in the hebrew ) for the after-time . sermons are not onely to bee heard for our present use , but to bee laid up for after-times , that when wee lye upon our sick-beds , and cannot hear sermons wee may then live upon the sermons wee have heard . 5 and lastly , wee must prepare and provide a stock of scripture-promises , which will bee as so many reviving cordials , to chear us , and as so many spiritual anchors , to uphold us from perishing in the day of our tribulation . what these promises are , you shall hear afterwards : these upheld david in the hour of his distress , and therefore hee saith in the text , unless thy law had been my delight , i had perished in mine affliction . if this our dear sister had not had this stock , shee had been quite overwhelmed under the grievousness of her tormenting pains . bee wise therefore , o yee saints of god , and prepare these five provisions in the time of health , that so you may live joyfully in the time of sickness . 3 as wee must expect and provide for afflictions , so also wee must labour ( when afflicted ) to improve them for our spiritual benefit and advantage . wee must pray more for the sanctification of them , than for their removal : it was not the staffe of elisha that revived the dead childe , but elisha himself . it was not the troubling of the waters of the pool of bethesda , that made them healing , but the coming down of the angel. it was not the clay and spittle that cured the blinde eyes , but christs anointing them with it . it was not the cloak of elijah that divided the waters , but the god of elijah : troubles , stroaks , blows , afflictions , and distresses will do us no good , unless the lord bee pleased to make them effectuall ; and therefore let us pray unto god that hee would give us grace together with our affliction . that hee would adde instruction to his correction , that hee would make us good schollars in the school of afflictions , and inable us to take out all those excellent lessons , which hee would have us to learn in it , that thereby wee may come to know god more powerfully , and experimentally , and tok now our selves , and our own frailty , and our absolute de pendene upon god more effectually , that thereby wee may bee more purified and refined , that the wind of temptation may cleanse us from the chaffe of our corruption , that wee may learn righteousness by gods judgements , and bee made partakers of his holiness . such a good scholar was manasseh , hee got more good by his iron chain , than by his golden chain : such another was the prodigal childe , who was happìer amongst the swine , than when in his fathers house ; such was paul , his being strucken down to the ground , raised him up to heaven ; by the blindness of his body , his soul received sight ; and hee was turned from a persecuting saul , to a persecuted paul. such another was david , who professeth of himself , that it was good for him that hee was afflicted ; and such scholars ought wee to bee . there are some that are arrant dunces in this school , that are like unto the bush which moses saw , which burned with fire , but was not consumed ; the fire did not consume the thorny bush . many such thorny sinners are burnt up with the fire of divine afflictions , but their sins are not consumed . of these the prophets complain , amos 4. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. — yet they have not returned , &c. jer. 5. 3. thou hast stricken them , but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them , but they have refused to receive correction ; they have made their faces harder than a rock , they have refused to return . rocks and stones by hewing and polishing may bee made fit for a building : but there are some men who by no afflictions will bee amended . the mountains melt at the presence of the lord , and the rocks rend asunder , when hee is angry : but there are some that have made their faces harder than the rocks , and the mountains , and are not at all affected with gods anger . of such as these bernard complains , multi humiliati , pauci humiles , corripimur , sed non corrigimur , plectimur , sed non flectimur ; multo facilius fregeris quam flexeris . non cessant vitia civium usque ad excidia civitatum ; prius est interire quam corrigi . prius ipsos , quam in ipsis vitia non esse . there are others that are the worse for their afflictions , like the smiths anvil , the more they are stricken , the harder they are : such a one was king ahaz , 2 chron. 28. 22. in the time of his distress hee did trespass yet more against the lord : there is a brand put upon him — this is that king ahaz , that wicked king ahaz , that reprobate king ahaz . as pearls put in vinegar lose their colour and beauty , so many , when under gods hand , lose all their glory and excellency , and begin to distrust gods providence , to call his justice into question , to murmure and repine against gods dealings , and to use unlawful means for their deliverance . of these the prophet isaiah complains , isa. 1. 5. why should you bee stricken any more ? yee will revolt more and more ; such was ahaziah , 2 king. 1 , 2. that sought for help from baalzebub the god of ekron ; and such was saul , who sought to the witch of endor for health in the day of his distress . both of these sorts are in a sad and miserable condition ; for god hath two furnaces , the furnace of affliction , and the furnace of hell-fire . if the first furnace will not purge us , the second will everlastingly consume us . as the roman consuls had a man appointed to go before them , carrying a rod , and an axe ; a rod for the punishing of corrigible offenders , an axe for the destruction of incorrigible ; so god hath his rod , and his axe , his pruning knife , and his chopping-knife , his warning-peeces , and his murdering-peeces . afflictions are his rods to correct us for our sin , his pruning-knife to pare off our luxuriant branches ; his warning-peeces to call upon us to repent . but if his warning-peeces will do us no good , wee must expect his murdering-peeces . if his pruning-knife will not amend us , his chopping-knife will confound us . if his rods will not reclaim us , then his axe will hew us down , and cast us into everlasting fire . god hath three houses , the house of instruction , of correction , and of destruction , the place where gods people meet to hear his word , is his house of instruction . and if wee profit in this house , hee will never carry us unto the house of correction . but if wee bee stubborn and rebellious in the house of instruction , then hee will send us to the house of correction . and if wee profit in this house , hee will never send us into the house of destruction . but if wee continue incorrigible in the house of correction , hee will inevitably send us to the house of destruction , that is , unto hell fire . and therefore whensoever god brings us into the school of affliction , let us labour to bee good schollars in it ; and to answer all those ends , aimes , and designes which god hath in afflicting of us . let us pray to god that our afflictions may bee divine hammers to break our hearts for sin , and from sin , may make the world bitter , and christ more precious , may prove and improve our graces , and may put an edge upon all holy duties . there are two things i would have you in an especial manner to labour after . 1 labour when afflicted , to know the meaning of gods rod. 2 that the good you get by afflictions , may abide upon you after your recovery from them . 1 you must labour to know the meaning of gods rod , and what the particular arrant is , which hee hath to you in the day of your distresses , you must do as david did , 2 sam. 21. 1. hee inquired of the lord to know the reason why hee sent a famine amongst them . so must you , you must pray as iob doth , iob 10. 2. shew mee , o lord , wherefore thou contendest with mee ? when the cause of a disease is found out , it is half cured . your great care therefore must bee to study to know the particular cause and reason , why god turns your prosperity into adversity . the prophet micah tells us , micah 6. 9. that the rod hath a voyce , and that the man of wisdome shall see gods name upon it . there is a great measure of spiritual art and wisdome required , to inable a man to hear this voyce , and to understand the language of it . a spiritual fool cannot do it . quest. what must wee do , that wee may understand the voyce of the rod ? ans. you must know , that the rod of god ordinarily speaks three languages , it is sent for correction for sin , for the trial and exercise of grace , and for instruction in holiness ; sometimes indeed it is sent only for trial and instruction , and not at all for sin . upon this account was iob afflicted , and the blinde man , ioh. 9. 3. but for the most part it hath a threefold voyce ; it is appointed for instruction , probation , and also for correction , lam. 3. 39. isa. 42. 24. luke 1. 20. 1 cor. 11. 30. quest. how shall a man know whether his afflictions bee only for trial and instruction , and not at all for sin ? answ. the safest and best way for a christian in this case , is to beleeve that all his afflictions are both for trial and instruction , and also for sin : indeed when hee seeth another man , who is very godly , grievously diseased , hee may charitably beleeve , that this is for his trial , and not for his sin ; but when it is his own case , then ( as d. ames saith most excellently ) aequissimum , tutissimum , & deo gratissimum est , ut in afflictionibus omnibus peccata nostra intueamur , quae illas vel directe procurarunt , vel saltem promeruerunt . quamvis enim omnes afflictiones non immittantur semper directè & precipuè propter peccatum , peccatum tamen est omnium afflictionum fons & fundamentum , rom. 5. 12. — it is most equal , most safe , and most acceptable to god , to have an eye upon our sins , which have either directly procured them , or at least deserved them . for though afflictions are not alwayes sent directly and especially for sin , yet sin is the original and foundation of all afflictions . quest. vvhat course must wee take to finde out what that sin is in particular , for which god corrects us ? answ. 1. sometimes wee may read our sin in our punishment . adonibezek , though a heathen king , did this , iudg. 1. 7. threescore and ten kings , having their thumbs ▪ and their great toes cut off , gathered their meat under my table ; as i have done , so god hath requited mee . i read of holy ephrem , that hee was converted by the suitableness of his affliction , unto the sin hee had committed , for hee saw clearly that his misery came not by chance , but from god immediately , and for sin . as a man may sometime gather the disease of the patient by observing the physitians bill , so hee may guess at his sin , by considering his punishment . 2 consider what that sin is for which they conscience doth most of all accuse thee . conscience is gods vicegerent , his bosome preacher . and when wee sleight the voyce of conscience , god seconds it with the voyce of his rod , which speaks the very same language that conscience doth . 3 consider what is the sin of thy complexion , and constitution , what is thy dilectum delictum , thy peccatum in deliciis , thy beloved sin , what is that sin to which thou art most of all inclined ; and if that sin prevaile over thee , and thou canst not say with david psal. 18. 23. i have kept my self from mine iniquity . it is very probable that for the subduing of that sin , thou art corrected of god. 4 if ever thou hast been at the gates of death , despairing of life , consider what that sin was , which did thee most of all trouble and perplexe thy conscience ; or if ever thou hast been in a dream , supposing thy self to bee dying , and breathing out thy last ; what was that sinne which did then most of all affright thee . it is very likely that god by afflicting thee , intends to get that sin more conquered and mortified . 5 consider what those sins are for which thy godly minister ( under whose care thou livest ) doth reprove thee , and of which thy true and real friends do accuse thee ; for , if thou hast sleighted the voyce of thy faithful minister , and friends ; surely god out of his love to thee , followeth their advice with the voyce of his rod , that thereby hee may open thine ear to discipline , and command thee to depart from those iniquities . but if thou canst not finde out that particular sin , for which god afflicts thee , labour to repent of every sin , and then thou wilt bee sure to repent of that sin . if thou canst not finde out the bee that stings thee , pull down the whole hive , or the thorn that pricks thee , pull down the whole hedge . do that out of wisdome , which herod did out of malice , who because hee could not finde out the babe iesus , killed all the children in bethlehem from two years old , and under , that so hee might bee sure to ' kill iesus . let us seek the utter ruine and death of all our sins , and then wee shall bee sure to destroy that sin for which god afflicts us , and when the cause is removed , the disease will forthwith bee cured , and the almighty pacified , and reconciled unto us . 2 let us labour that the good wee reap by our afflictions , may abide upon us after , our recovery from them . there are very many who while they are under the rod , seem to bee very penitent , and do purpose and promise to amend their lives , but as soon as the rod is removed , they returne like the dog to the vomit , &c. such was pharaoh , whilst he was plagued he confessed his sin , and prayed for pardon , but as soon as ever the judgement was gone , hee hardened his heart . such were the israelites . psal. 78. 34 , 35 , 36 , 37. they were not stedfast , they turned back . just like a truantly school-boy , who while his master is whipping him , will promise any thing , but when it is done , forgets presently to doe what hee promised : or like unto water , which while it is upon the fire is very hot , but as soon as ever it is taken off the fire , presently groweth cold . i knew a man who in the time of his sickness was so terrified in his conscience for his sins , that hee made the very bed to shake upon which hee lay , and cried out all night long , i am damned , i am damned , and made many and great protestations of amendment of life , if god would bee pleased to recover him . in a little while hee did recover , and being recovered , was as bad , and as wicked as ever before . and therefore let us labour that the good wee get by our afflictions , may not vanish away with our afflictions , but may abide on us after wee are recovered , that wee may bee able to say with david , it is good for mee that i was afflicted , not onely that i am , but that i was . david praiseth god in health , for the good hee had got in sickness , and which still abode with him . let us say with the same prophet , psal. 66. 13 , 14. i will go into thy house with burnt offerings , i will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered , and my mouth hath spoken , when i was in trouble . let us pray unto god that his afflictions may not onely skin over our spiritual diseases , and coup up our sins , but mortifie them , and so change our natures , that wee may never return to folly . i will conclude this point with a famous saying of plinius secundus , worthy to bee written in letters of gold . a friend writes to him , and intreats him to give him advice how to frame his life , so as hee might live as becomes a good man. hee returns him this answer : i will not prescribe many rules , there is this one only which i commend to thee above all other . ut tales esse perseveremus sani , quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi . let us labour to continue and persevere to bee such , when wee are well , as wee purpose , and promise to our selves to bee , when wee are sick . there is hardly any man so wicked , but hee will in sickness make many and great promises of a new life , and of universal reformation if god would restore him . now then if we not onely bee such , but continue to bee such when restored , as wee promise to bee when sick , then wee shall bee excellent schollars , in the school of affliction , and god will either ( as i have already said ) deliver us out of affliction , or send us to heaven by affliction . so much for the first truth supposed . the end of the first sermon . the word of god is the saints delights . sermon ii. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . now i come to speak of the second truth supposed in the text. that the word of god is the saints darling , and delights ; not onely their delight , but in the plural number , their delights , that is ( as our annotations say ) a saint doth greatly delight in gods law , or as iunius ; all the delight of a saint is in gods law , gods word is the center of his delights , nisi lex tun erat omuit oblectatio mea , many were the troubles and sorrows of davids life , but against them all hee found as many comforts and delectations in gods word , therefore hee saith , vers . 29. thy testimonies are my delights , &c. and 143. trouble and anguish have taken hold on mee , yet thy commandements are my delights : and in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , &c. whilst others delight in vanity and iniquity , whilst others take pleasure in hunting , hawking , carding , dicing , eating , and drinking , the saints of god , can say with austin , sacr a scripturae tuae sunt sanctae dellctae meae , thy holy scriptures are my holy delights . quest. why do the saints of god take such delight in the law of god ? answ. 1. because they are spiritually inlightned ; their eyes are opened to behold the glory and beauty , and to understand the deep mysteries of the law , therefore david prayeth , vers 18. open thou mine eyes , that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law , as the apostle saith of the jews , 2 cor. 3. 14 , 15 , 16. that to this day there is a vail over their hearts , when moses is read , and when they shall turn to the lord , this vail shall bee removed ▪ so it is with christians , when a wicked man reads the word , there is a vail over his eyes , and over his heart , and over the scriptures , the god of this world hath so blinded his eyes , that hee cannot behold the beauty and glory of them ; but the true saint hath this vail removed , christ hath anointed his eyes with his spiritual eye-salve ; hee seeth a surpassing excellency in the word of god , and therefore cannot but delight in it . 2 because they are not onely illightned , but regenerated ; and as children new born by the instinct of nature , have a natural appetite to milk for conservation of their life ; so the new born saint , by the instinct of grace , hath a spiritual appetite to the word of god , according to that of saint peter , 1 pet. 2. 2. as new borne babes desire the sincere milk of the vvord , that you may gr●w thereby : the word of god is the saints food , and as it is impossible for a childe unborn to desire food , so for a man unregenerated to hunger after , and take true pleasure in the word ; and as it is impossible for a new born child , not to delight in milk , so it is as impossible for a regenerate christian , not to delight in the law of god. 3 because a true saint hath the law of god written in his heart , according to that precious promise of the covenant of grace , ier. 31. 33. i will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts . a saints heart is the counterpane to gods law. the law is within his heart , psal. 40. 8. and as it is in the hebrew , in the midst of his bowels , in medio viscerum . god hath infused a principle of grace into his inward parts , whereby hee is not onely inclined , but inabled to walk in all the commandements of the law blameless . a true saint hides the law in his heart , as a choice iewel in a most precious cabinet , as david saith , vers . 9. i have hid thy law in my heart . hid it as a rare treasure . so doth every saint , and therefore cannot but delight in it . 4 because the same holy spirit that wrote the word , dwelleth in every true saint . it is certain that all scripture is of divine inspiration , and that the holy men of god spake as they were guided by the holy ghost . and it is as certain , that the same holy ghost dwelleth in every saint , rom. 8. 11. and by vertue of the in-dwelling of the spirit , they are sweetly and powerfully drawn to make the law of god their chiefest delight . 5 because it is gods inditement , and invention . this reason is brought in the text , unless thy law , &c. it is the law of that god in whom they delight . it transcribes the minde and heart of god. a true saint seeth the name , authority , power , wisdome , and goodness of god in every lett● of it , and therefore cannot but take pleasure in it . it is an epistle sent down to him from the god of heaven . it is one of the greatest love-token● that ever god gave to his church . there are two great gifts that god hath given to his people . the word christ , and the word of christ. both are unspeakably great . but the first will do us no good without the second . 6 a true saint cannot but delight in the word of god , because it is his inheritance , vers . 111. thy testimonies have i taken as an heritage for ●ver for they are the rejoycing of my heart . therefore they were the rejoycing of his heart , because they were his everlasting inheritance . 7 because hee findes a sweetness in i● . delight is nothing else but a passi●n of the soul , arising from th● sweetness of the object that wee enjoy . things that are good , present , suitable , and sweet , are the object of our delights , such is the word of god to every true saint . it is sweeter than the h●ny , and the hony-comb , psal. 19. 10. so also psal. 119. 103. how sweet are thy words unto my taste , yea sweeter than ●ony to my mouth . a saint must needs delight in it , it is so suitable , and so sweet . 8 because he loves the law. now that which wee love , wee cannot but delight in , when wee come to enjoy it . a true saint doth not onely love the law , but hee loves it exceedingly , psal. 119. 167. my soul hath kept thy testimonies , and i love them exceedingly . a true saint can say with david , psal. 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law ! and vers . 127. i love thy commandements above gold , yea above fine gold : and vers . 72. the law of thy mouth is better to mee than thousands of gold and silver . now because the saints of god are so inamoured with the law of god , therefore it is , that they cannot but delight in it , as david saith , psal. 119. 47. i will delight my self in thy commandements , which i have loved ▪ hee that loves the commandements ( as all saints do ) cannot but delight in them . use. this shews that there are but few true saints amongst us . there are many bastard saints , and nomin●l saints , but few true and real saints . wee live in an age , wherein there were never more saints , and never fewer , never more by outward profession , and never fewer by a holy conversation . it is the property of a true saint to make the word of god his darling and delights . but where shall wee finde such saints ? it is easie to finde out men that can say , eating and drinking is my delight , carding and dicing is my delight , reading of vain and trifling books is my delight , to satisfie the lusts of the flesh is my delight . but where is the man that can truly say as david doth ? the law of god is my delights , and the joy and rejoycing of my heart for ever . austin professeth of himselfe , that before his conversion , hee took no pleasure in the word of god. his proud heart ( as hee saith ) would not stoop to the humble expressions of it . after his conversion , hee was ravished with the beauty and excellency of the scriptures , but before his conversion , hee saw no excellency in them . politian ( though a great schollar , yet a notorious atheist ) professeth most blasphemously , that hee never lost more time than in reading the scripture . and it is reported of plato , that when hee had read the first chapter of genesis , hee said , hic vir multa dicit , sed nihil probat : this man saith many things , but proveth nothing ▪ where shall wee finde the man that puts a due estimation upon the word of god ? that prizeth it above gold , yea above much fine gold ? that rejoyceth in thy word , as much as in all riches , verse 14. that can appeal to god , and say as david , vers . 159. consider , oh lord , how i love thy precepts ? and vers . 97. oh how do i love thy law ? there are some men that can delight in any thing but in god , and his word , and his ordinances : they can delight in the creatures of god , but cannot delight in the ordinances of god. they can delight in the gifts of god , in riches , and health , and honours : but they cannot delight in the god of these gifts . they can delight in books of philosophy , and humanity , but they cannot delight in the word of god. mark the sad condition that these are in . it is a certain sign that there is a vail over their eyes and hearts , that they are not yet anointed with christs eye-salve , that the god of the world hath blinded their eyes , that they cannot see the glorious excellencies of the law of god. it is certain , that they are not born anew , for if they were new born babes , they would desire the sincere milk of the word . it is certain , that the law of god is not yet written in their hearts , and that the spirit of god doth not dwell in them . it is certain , that they have no part , nor portion in the word of god , that they never tasted the sweetness that is in it , and that they have no true love to god , nor to his word . it is a true saying , qui regem amat , legem amat , hee that loves a king , will love his law. and i may say , qui deum amat , legem dei amat : hee that loves god , will love the law of god , which is nothing else but his image , and his picture , his last will and testament , his blessed love-token . and therefore if you delight not in the law of god , it is evident you do not delight in the god of this law. and if you delight not in god , hee will not delight in you ; unless it bee to laugh at your destruction , as it is prov. 1. 26. q. but how shall i know whether i do delight in the word of god , or no ? answ. you shall know it by these notes . 1 hee that delights in gods law , will bee very frequent in meditating and reading of it , and very often in speaking of it . thus saith david , psal. 1. 2. his delight is in the law of the lord , and therein hee will meditate day and night . and psalm . 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law , it is my meditation all the day . so also vers . 15 , 16. 23. hee that takes pleasure in the law , hee will bee often thinking of it , as christ saith , matth. 6. 21. where the treasure is , there the heart will bee also : if the word of god bee thy treasure , thou wilt meditate on it , cogitatione crebrâ , longâ , & profundâ . thou wilt frequently think of it , and when thou beginnest to think of it , thou wilt dwell upon the thought of it , as a bee dwells ( as it were ) upon the flower to suck out the sweetness that is in it , and thou wilt think of it with deep and serious meditations and contemplations , thou wilt dive into the unsearchable riches and treasures that are in the word . and as thou wilt meditate on it , so thou wilt bee often , and unwearisome in reading and perusing of it , and discoursing about it . a man that delights in hunting , is never weary of talking of hunting , and hee that delights in the world , of speaking about the world ; and if you did delight in gods word , you would bee very frequent , and indefatigable in discoursing of it . 2 if you delight in the word of god , you would delight in the ministers and ambassadors of the word , lawfully commissionated by christ : for the great work of the ministry is to expound and apply the word ; and therefore if you dis-respect the godly , learned , lawful ministry of the word , you take no delight in the word . 3 they that delight in the word , will bee at any cost to bring the word to their congregations , they will part with thousands of gold and silver , rather than with the word ; he that esteems the word above thousands , will bee willing to part with hundreds for the words sake . hee will account a famine of the word more bitter than a famine of bread ; by how much the soul is better than the body , by so much will hee bee more troubled for a soul-famine , than a bodily . 4 hee that delights truely in the law , will sincerely labour to obey it , and bee m●ch grieved when it is disobeyed . 1 hee will sincerely labour to obey it , hee will make the word of god the man of his counsel , vers . ●4 . thy testimonies are my delight , but how doth hee prove that ? in the following words , and my counsellors : hee will make the word a lamp to his feet , and a light to his paths , vers . 105. in all his undertakings , hee will inquire what god would have him to do , and hee will make gods word his compass to sail by , and pray with david , vers . 35. make mee to go in the path of thy commandements , for therein do i delight . 2 hee will bee much grieved when others transgress the law of god. thus david , vers . 53. horror hath taken hold upon mee , because of the wicked that forsake thy law , and vers . 136. rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. and therefore you that delight in sin , you cannot bee said to delight in the word ; and you that are not pained and grieved when others sin , you are not amongst the number of those that take pleasure in gods law , or in whom god takes pleasure . use 2. let us make it appear that wee are saints in deed , and in truth , not only saints in mans , but in gods calender , by following the example of holy david , set down in the text. let us make the law of god our joyes , and our delights . let mee speak to you in the words of the apostle , col. 3. 16. let the word of god dwell richly in you , &c. not onely with you , but in you . and in the words of christ , ioh. 5. 39. search the scriptures , for therein you hope to finde eternal life . the greek word signifieth to search , as men do under ground for treasures , or to search as men who dive under water for something that is at the bottome . let us with iob 23. 12. esteem the ward of god above our necessary food . let us love it above gold , yea above fine gold ; let it bee dearer to us than thousands of gold and silver , sweeter than the hony and the honey-comb . you that are gentlemen , remember what hierom reports of nepotianus , a young gentleman of rome , qui longa & assidua meditatione scripturarum , pectus suum fecerat bibliothecam christi , who by often and assiduous meditation of the scriptures , made his breast the library of christ. remember what is said of king alphonsus , that he read over the bible fourteen times , together with such commentaries as those times afforded . you that are schollars , remember cranmer and ridley , the former learnt the new testament by heart in his journey to rome , the latter in pembrook-hall walks in cambridge . remember what is said of thomas a kempis , that hee found rest no where , nisi in angulo , cum libello ; but in a corner with this book in his hand . and what is said of beza , that when hee was above fourscore years old , hee could say perfectly by heart any greek chapter in pauls epistles . you that are women , consider what hierom saith of paula , eustochiam , and other ladies , who were singularly versed in the holy scriptures . let all men consider that hyperbolical speech of luther , that hee would not live in paradise without the vvord , and with it hee could live well enough in hell. this speech of luthers must bee understood , cum gran● salis . quest. may not a wicked man delight in the vvord of god ? is it not said of herod , mark. 6. 20. that hee heard john baptist gladly , and of the stony ground , luke 8. 13. that it received the word with joy ? is it not said of the israelites remaining wicked , that they delighted to know gods wayes , and took delight in approaching to god , isa. 58. 2. and of the iews , joh. 5. 35. that they were willing for a season to rejoyce in the light ▪ held forth by the preaching of john baptist . answ. there is a wide and vast difference between the joy and delight which a true saint takes in gods word , and that which may bee found in an hypocrite . 1 the delight of a godly man , is orderly and seasonable . it is the consequent of conviction and humiliation ; for though ioy bee the great work of the spirit , yet it is not the first work . first , the spirit by the word convinceth and humbleth , and then comforteth ; therefore christ saith , mat. 5. 4. blessed are those that mourn , for they shall bee comforted ; and david saith , psal. 126. 5. they that ●ow in tears , shall reap in joy . but the joy of an hypocrite is unseasonable and disorderly . it is his first work . it is said of the stony ground , that when they heard the word , they received it immediately with gladness , mark. 4. 16. it is not said , they received it first with sorrow , and then with gladness . here is mention of joy without any antecedent humiliation . nay , the text saith expresly ▪ luke 8. 6. it lacked moisture , and therefore it withered away . there are many professors in our dayes that skip from sin , to joy at first , that all in an instant are in the highest form of sin , and in the highest form of comfort , that skip out of the lap of the devil , into the lap of joy : these are as the stony ground . these are wanton christians ; they sow before they plough ; they know not the bitterness of sin , and therefore in time of temptation fall away . 2 the delight that a godly ma● takes in the word , is a well-rooted delight . it is rooted in an humble , good , and honest heart , as is said of the good ground , luke 8. 15. but the delight of an hypocrite is shallow and superficial ; as his graces are sleight and formal , so are his delights . therefore it is said of the seed that fell upon the stony ground , that it had no root , luke 8. 13. and matth. 13. 5. it wanted depth of earth , and therefore when the sun arose , it was scorched . the apostle hints this , heb. 6. 4. — and have tasted the good word of god. the delight of a wicked man in the word , is but a tasting , and sipping , no soaking , a floating a loft in the river of christs blood , no diving down to the bottome . a man may taste a thing , and not like it , taste , and like it , and yet not come up to the price of it , as the young man , matth. 19. 22. hee was very desirous to injoy eternal life , but hee would not part with his possessions for the obtaining of it . a cook tasteth of the meat hee dresseth , but they onely that are invited eat of it . tasting doth not imply habitual grace . a man may taste that which hee never digesteth , nor concocteth . the israelites tasted of the first fruits of the land of canaan , and yet did not enter into canaan . such is the joy of the hypocrite . it is outward and superficial ; but the delight of a true saint is inward , solid , and substantial . ieremy saith , that the word of god was the joy and rejoycing of his heart , and that hee did eat it , ier. 15. 16. hee did not onely taste it , but eat it . and paul saith , rom. 7. 22. i delight in the law of god after the inner man ; his delights had depth of earth , they were well digested and concocted . 3 it is superlative and over-topping . a godly man delighteth more in god and his word , than in any worldly thing whatsoever . lord lift thou up ( saith david , psal. 4. 6 , 7. ) the light of thy countenance upon us , thou hast put gladness in my heart , more than in the time that their corn ▪ and their wine increased . so also psal. 43. 4. — unto god my exceeding joy , psal. 137. 6. if i prefer not ierusalem above my chief joy . and psal. 119. 72. 127. the delight of a saint in gods word over-toppeth all his creature-delights , and injoyments , and for the joy hee findes in it , hee will sell all hee hath to purchase it , mat. 13. 44. but the joy of a wicked man is of an inferiour nature , hee rejoyceth more in corn , wine , and oyl , &c. and when it comes into competition , hee will leave his spiritual and heavenly , rather than lose his creature and carnal pleasures . thus herod rejoyced in the word that iohn baptist preached , but hee rejoyced more in his herodias , and when it came to the trial , hee chose to behead iohn baptist , rather than to part with herodias . the stony ground , when persecution arose , parted with all its joy , and faith , rather than it would lose its estate , or life . as a godly man rejoyceth in worldly things , as though hee rejoyced not , 1 cor. 7. 30. so a wicked man rejoyceth in spiritual things , as though hee rejoyced not . in the old law those fowls that did both flye and swimme , were unclean : a wicked man would many times flye aloft in spiritual delights , but hee would also bathe himself , and swimme in carnal pleasures , and his heart is more affected with worldly advancement , and bodily recreations , than with heavenly , and this is a sign that hee is an unclean christian , and that his delights in god , and his word are not right , because they are not overtopping and superlative . 4 it is powerful and soul-strengthening , full of life , vigour , and activity ; it will inable the soul to do and suffer any thing for god , it turns a prison into a paradise , it makes martyrdome to bee as a bed of roses , it is armour of proof to steel us , and make us fit to indure afflictions , both for god , and from god ; therefore david saith in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . his delight in the law supported him from sinking . it is like oyl to the wheels , like sails to the ship , and wings to the bird ; but the delight that a wicked man hath in the word is a powerless , dead , fruitless , and strengthless delight . it is as a paper helmet , and a painted fire , it will not support him in the hour of adversity : the persons represented by the stony ground , fell away , notwithstanding their joy , as soon as ever persecution arose for the gospel . but the joy of a true saint is soul-supporting , and soul-upholding . the joy in the lord is their strength , neh. 8. 10. 5 the delight that a godly man hath in the word , is sin-excluding . it cannot consist with a delight in any sin ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 11. thy word have i hid in my heart , that i might not sinne against thee . sinne is as a wooden window , to shut out the true joyes of the spirit . but now a wicked man , though hee may delight in the word , yet hee also delights in sinning against the word . although herod heard iohn baptist gladly , yet hee kept his herodias ; and though the israelites delighted to know gods wayes , yet they did not delight to walk in his wayes . they were as a nation that did righteousness , hee doth not say , they were such , but quasi gens , &c. as a nation that did righteousness . and though they delighted to approach to god , yet they did not delight to obey that god before whom they approached ; they took pleasure in sinning against god , as well as in serving of god , isa. 58. it was not a sin-excluding joy , and therefore it was false and counterfeit . 6 it is grace-increasing . the more a saint delights in the word of god , the more careful hee will bee to obey the will of god , and to grow and increase in the grace of god ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 167. my soul hath kept thy testimonies , for i love them exceedingly . and psal. 40. 8. i delight to doe thy will , o my god , yea thy law is within my heart ; because the law was written in his heart , therefore hee delighted to doe it . hee that delights to keep gods law , god will give him more grace to keep it according to that remarkable text , psal. 119. 55 , 56. i have remembred thy name , o lord , and have kept thy law , this i had , because i have kept thy precepts . what had david for keeping gods precepts ? hee had power to keep his law ; that is , to grow and increase in keeping of it . as the prophet , hos. 6. 3. speaks of the knowledge of god. then shall wee know , if wee follow on to know the lord , that is , if wee industriously labour to know god , wee shall have this reward , to bee made able to know him more . so may i say of the grace of god. hee that delights to keep gods law , shall have this reward , to bee inabled to keep it more perfectly . a true delight in gods word is grace increasing . grace is the mother of all true joy , isa. 32. 17. and joy is as the daughter , and the mother and daughter live and dye together . true , spiritual delight , ebbs and flows as grace ebbs and flows . as the wood is to the fire , oyl to the flame , the shadow to the body , so is joy to grace . quantum cres●is in gratiâ , tantum dilatâr is in fiduciâ . but now a wicked man , though hee may have a kinde of delight in gods word , yet it is not a delight of the right kinde . it doth not argue that hee hath true grace in him . an hypocrite is all joy , and no grace ; a giant in joy , and not so much as a dwarf in grace , like a green bough tyed to a dead tree . hee is in the highest form of joy , and not so much as in the lowest form of grace . 7 the delight that a godly man hath in the word , is not onely a delight in spiritual things , but a spiritual delight , grounded upon spiritual aimes and reasons . but the delight of a wicked man , though it bee in spiritual things , yet it is but a natural delight . as a godly man spiritualizeth carnal things ; so an ungodly man carnalizeth spiritual things . austin before his conversion , rejoyced much to hear ambrose preach , but it was because of his eloquence ( as hee saith ) not upon a spiritual account . a wicked man may follow a preacher , and delight in his preaching , because of his elegant words , and rhetorical expressions , because hee is unto him as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voyce , &c. as it is ezek. 33. 32. or , out of novelty , because newly come ( as the israelites delighted in manna at first , but afterwards loathed it ) or because hee loves his person ; or out of a desire to obtain a form of knowledge in heavenly things . the pharis●es delighted to do many spiritual things out of vain-glory . iehu delighted to do the will of god , but it was for his owne ends . pauci quaerunt iesum , propter iesum . stella is of opinion , that the devil perswaded herod , to hear iohn baptist gladly , and to reverence him , and to do many things , that so hee might hold him the faster in his possession . the devil had him sure by one sin , and therefore hee provoked him to do some good things , that so hee might rock him asleep in presumption , and by his good things hee might quiet his conscience , and put a fair gloss upon his incestuous practices : a man may rejoyce in spiritual things upon sinful grounds and reasons . but now a true saint delights in the word upon a spiritual account , because it is gods word , and god would have him delight in it , because it is his guide to glory , the way by which he is sanctified . it is both concha & canalis , a cistern to contain the glorious mysteries of salvation , and a conduit to convey god and grace into his soul. in a word , hee delights in it , because it is holy and pure , hee can say with david , psal. 119. 140. thy word is very pure , therefore thy servant loveth it . this no wicked man can truly say . 8 the delight that a godly man takes in the word , is without any reservation or distinction . hee delights in the whole word of god , in the commanding , and threatning word , as well as in the promising word ; he beholds god , and his wisdome , and goodness in every verse , and therefore hee can say with hezekiah , isa. 39. 8. good is the word of the lord. hee hath the whole law written in his heart , and rejoyceth in every tittle of it . but a wicked man hath his reservations and distinctions , hee may delight in the promising word , but hee undervalues the commanding word , and turneth a deaf ear to the threatning word . it is said of the iews , that they rejoyced in the light of john baptist ; but it is not said , they rejoyced in his heat : hee was a burning , and a shining light , they rejoyced in his shining , but not in his burning . it is hardly possible for a wicked man , remaining wicked , to rejoyce in the burning zeal , holiness , and strictness of a iohn baptist. but a godly man delighteth both in the light , and heat of the word . 9 it is an abiding delight , 2 thess. 2. 18. everlasting consolation , joh. 16. 22. your joy no man taketh from you . it is as a fixed star. but the delight of a wicked man in the word , is as the crackling of thorns upon the fire , and as the corn that grew on the stony ground , which quickly sprung up , and as quickly withered , iob 27. 8. therefore it is said of the jews , ioh. 5. 3. they rejoyced in his light for a season . in the greek it is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for an hour . a wicked mans delight in the word , is but as a blazing star , which is quickly extinguished . hee may rejoyce in the word while hee is hearing of it , but it quickly vanisheth away . hee is like to a man that comes into a pleasant garden , and is delighted with the smell of it while hee is there . but a childe of god makes a posie of these flowers , to refresh him when hee is out . hee delights to read , and to keep the law of god continually , for ever and ever , psal. 119. 45. let us ( i beseech you ) labour , with all labour , for this superlative , well-rooted , powerful , spiritual , sin-excluding , grace-increasing , and abiding delight , in the whole word of god. quest. vvhat must wee do that wee may bee inabled thus to make the law of god our delights ? answ. 1. you must seriously study the excellency of gods word , this made david prize it so much , and love it so much , psal. 19. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. the word of god hath god for its author , and therefore must needs bee full of infinite wisdome and eloquence , even the wisdome , and eloquence of god. there is not a word in it , but breathes out god , and is breathed out by god. it is ( as ireneus saith ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an invariable rule of faith , an unerring and infallible guide to heaven . it contains glorious revelations and discoveries , no where else to bee found . it hath a manifesting , convincing , soul-humbling , soul-directing , soul-converting , and soul-comforting power , and efficacy in it , as appears by these scriptures , heb. 4. 12. 1 cor. 14. 24 , 25. 1 king. 21. 29. psalm 119. 105. 2 cor. 3. 6. psalm 119. 50. and therefore to delight in the word , and the god that made it , is not only our duty , psa. 37. 4. but it is recorded in scripture as our priviledge , and as the great reward that god would bestow upon those that keep holy the sabbath-day , isa. 58. 13 , 14. then thou shalt delight thy self in the lord. this shall bee thy great reward . 2 you must fixedly ponder the necessity of practising this duty : for if you delight in gods law , god will delight in you . if the law bee your beloved , you are gods beloved ; if you take no pleasure in his word , his soul will take no pleasure in you . 3 you must pray for the grace of illumination . whensoever you take the bible in your hand to read in it , pray davids prayer , psal. 119. 18. open thou mine eyes , that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law. philosophers observe , that lumen est vehiculum influentiae , light is the chariot of influence , as it begets the flower in the field , the gold in the mineral ; so the foundation of all regeneration , is illumination . pray that god would open your eyes that you may understand the scriptures , as hee did to his apostles , luke 24. 45. that hee would take away the vail that is upon your hearts . 4 pray that he that made you creatures , would make you new creatures , that as new-born babes you may desire the sincere milk of the word . 5 pray that god would fulfill that excellent promise , ier. 31. 33. that hee would put his law in your inward parts , and write it in your hearts , and then you cannot but heartily delight in it . 6 pray to god to give you the same spirit that wrote the word , to inable you to delight in it . 7 pray for a spiritual palate , that you may not only delight in spiritual things , but have a spiritual delight in spiritual things . it is said of the lioness , that when shee hath once tasted of the sweetness of mans flesh , shee is never satisfied till shee hath more of it . hee that hath tasted of the good word of god , and not onely tasted , but eaten it , and digested it into good nourishment , hee will not onely delight in it , but hee will delight in it above gold , yea above fine gold , and hee will never bee satisfied , till hee bee filled with the fulness of that god that made it . the end of the second sermon . the excellency and usefulness of the word . sermon iii. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . now i come to speak of the proposition that is clearly held forth in the text. doct. 3. that the vvord of god delighted in , is the afflicted saints antidote against ruine and destruction . unless thy law had been my delights , i should , &c. the word of god is the sick saints salve , the dying saints cordial ; a most precious medicine to keep gods people from perishing in time of affliction : this upheld iacob from sinking when his brother esau came furiously marching to destroy him , gen. 32. 12. and thou saidst i will surely do thee good , &c. the promise of god supported him . this also upheld ioshua , and inabled him couragiously to fight the lords battels , because god had said , hee would never leave him , nor for sake him , josh. 1. 5. melancthon saith , that the lantgrave of hessen told him at dresda , that it had been impossible for him to have born up under the manifold miseries of so long an imprisonment , nisi habuisset consolationem ex verbo divino in sua corde , but for the comforts of the scriptures in his heart . there are eight things may bee said ( amongst many other ) in commendation of the word of god. 1 it is the magazin and store-house of all comfort and consolation . there is no condition ( but one ) that a man can be in , but hee may finde soul-supporting comfort for it out of the word . indeed if thou resolvest to go on in sin , the word cannot comfort thee ; it threatneth hell and damnation to all such . if the god of heaven can make such miserable , they shall be miserable ; but excepting this one , there is no condition so miserable , but a man may fetch a cordial out of the word , to support him under it . art thou as empty of riches , and as full of diseases , as iob under the old testament , and lazarus under the new testament ? are the ( sins-with which thou art willing to part ) many and great ? is thy conscience exceedingly wounded and disquieted ? doth the devil roar upon thee with hideous temptations ? let thy condition be never so sad , the word of god is able to afford thee comfort under it . for it is the word of that god , who is the god of all consolation . there is no kinde of true comfort , but here it is to bee had , here are cordials of all sorts . comforts under bodily troubles , and comforts under soul-troubles . there is no monarch can furnish his table with such variety of delicates , as god hath furnished his word with variety of comforts . 2 the word of god is not only the magazine of all true comfort , but the fountain from whence it is derived . all the comfort that you receive by reading of good books , is fetched out of this book . all the refreshings that the ambassadors of christ administer to you , are borrowed from this fountain . as the king of israel answered the woman ( that cried out , saying , help my lord , o king ) if the lord do not help thee , whence shall i help thee ? so will all the true ministers of christ say to any distressed soul that cries out for comfort : how can wee comfort you , if the word of god doth not comfort you ? all our comforts must bee fetcht from thence . 3 it will comfort us at such a time , when no outward thing can comfort us . and that is , when wee are under soul-agonies , and when our soul sits upon our lips ; ready to depart , when wee are sailing into the ocean of eternity ; then , even then , the promises of the word will comfort us : when gold and silver , father and mother , friends , and physitians are miserable comforters , then will one promise out of the word fill us full of joy unspeakable , and glorious . 4 the comforts of the word exceed all other comforts , for they are pure , and purifying , sure , and satisfying ; they are soul-supporting , soul-comforting , and soul-ravishing , they are durable and everlasting . the comforts of the world are not worthy to bee named that day , in which wee speak of the comforts of the word . they are not consolationes , but consolatiunculae . at best they are but bodily , unsatisfying , and transitory . many times they are sinful , and soul-damning . 5 the word of god is not onely a magazine , and a fountain of comfort , but also a touchstone , by which wee must try all our comforts whether they bee true and real , or no. all joyes , hopes , and assurances , must bee tryed by the word , and if not rightly grounded thereupon , are false , and soul-delusions . 6 it is as an apothecaries shop , or a physitians dispensatory , out of which wee may fetch all manner of medicines , to cure all the diseases of our souls . art thou spiritually lame , blinde , or dumb ? &c. the word will open blinde eyes , make the dumb to speak , and the lame to walk . if dead in sins and trespasses , the word , when it is the sword of the spirit , will quicken thee . it is as a corrasive to eat sin out of thy heart ; therefore david saith , i have hid thy word in mine heart , that i might not sin against thee . 7 it is a spiritual armory , out of which wee may fetch all manner of weapons , to conquer the devil , and his temptations , 2 corint . 10. 4. it is that little brook , out of which every david may fetch five smooth stones to destroy the devil . these five smooth stones , are five texts of scripture , three of these christ took out of the brook of the word , by which he subdued the devil , mat. 4. 4. 7 , 10. 8 it is the sun of the christian vvorld . as the sun is the light of the natural vvorld , and without it , the world is but a chaos , and a dungeon full of darkness . so is the vvord of god , the light of the spiritual world , without which a christian is under an eternal night . therefore david saith , thy vvord is a lamp unto my feet , and a light unto my path , psal. 119. 105. what would all the world avail , if no sun to illighten it , and what comfort would all the wealth of it afford us , if no word to instruct , and counsel us ? for this is the christians compass to sail to heaven by , his staffe to walk withall to heaven , his spiritual bladders to keep his soul from drowning . the cork , to keep up the net of his soul from sinking . afflictions are like the lead of the net , which weigheth it down , but the word is as the cork , which keeps it up , that it sinks not . so saith david in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , &c. vse . if the word of god bee of such invaluable excellency , absolute necessity , and of such admirable use . 1 let us bless god exceedingly for revealing his will unto us in the word . it was a great honour , and priviledge to the iews , that to them were committed the oracles of god , rom. 3. 2. and it is our great happiness that wee have not only the same oracles of god which they have , but an addition of the new testament , for the clearer discoverie of the mysteries of salvation unto us . if god be to bee praised for every crum of bread we eat , much more for giving us his vvord , which is the bread of life , and the only food of our souls . blessed bee god , who hath not only given us the book of the creatures , and the book of nature to know himself , and his will by , but also , and especially the book of the scriptures , whereby wee come to know those things of god , and of christ , which neither the book of nature , nor of the creatures can reveal unto us . let us bless god , not only for revealing his will in his vvord , but for revealing it by writing . before the time of moses , god discovered his will by immediate revelations from heaven . but wee have a surer word of prophecy , a pet. 1. 19. surer ( to us ) than a voyce from heaven ; for the devil ( saith the apostle ) transforms himself into an angel of light . hee hath his apparitions , and revelations , hee is gods ape , and in imitation of god , he appears to his disciples , and makes them beleeve it is god that appears , and not the devil . thus hee appeared to saul in the likenesse of samuel . and if god should now at this day discover his way of worship , and his divine will by revelations , how easily would men bee deceived , and mistake diabolical delusions , for divine revelations ; and therefore let us blesse god for the written word , which is surer and safer ( as to us ) than an immediate revelation . there are some that are apt to think , that if an angel should come from heaven , and reveal gods will to them , it would work more upon them than the written word ; but i would have these men study the conference between abraham and dives , luke 16. 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31. habent mosen & prophetas , &c. they have moses and the prophets , if they will not profit by them , neither would they profit by any that should come out of hell , or down from heaven to them . for it is the same god that speaks by his written word , and by a voyce from heaven . the difference is only in the outward cloathing ; and therefore if gods speaking by writing will not amend us . no more will gods speaking by a voyce . o bless god exceedingly for the written word ! let us cleave close to it , and not expect any revelations from heaven of new truths , but say with the apostle , gal. 1. 8 , 9. use 2. let us prize the word of god above gold , yea above fine gold : let us read it , diligently , reverently , praying to god to give us the same spirit , that wrote it , to inable us to understand it , and conscientiously to practise it . let us make it the joy and rejoycing of our heart , and as it is in the text ; let us make it our delights , but of this i spake in the former point . the onely motive i shall now use to perswade you to make the word your delights , shall bee this in the text. because it will keep you from perishing in the time of your greatest affliction . it will comfort you when you have most need of it ( that is , under heart-sinking-afflictions , and at the hour of death ) and it will comfort you when all outward comforts and creatures fail . it wil bee food to strengthen your weake faith ; physick to cure the remainders of corruptions , it will bee a cordial to revive your drooping spirits , and fainting souls . it will make you more than conquerors over all temptations and distresses . quest. but now the great question is , how a childe of god ought to manage and make use of the word of god , so as to make it a conduit of support and comfort , in the day of his greatest afflictions ? answ. to bee able to do this , there is a great deal of spiritual wisdom and understanding required . for the word to many people is like sauls armour to david , which was so cumbersome to him , that hee could not wear it . there are many know not how to use the word , so as to bee comforted by it . as the woman of samaria told christ , ioh. 4. 11. the well is deep , and thou hast nothing to draw with . so may ●i say , the word of god is a deep well , it is a well of salvation , but it is deep , and the deeper the sweeter , but most people want buckets to draw with , they want a spiritual art to fetch out of these wells of salvation , divine supportation and consolation ; and therefore to help you in this great work you must know , that the word of god may bee divided into three parts ; into commandements , threatnings , and promises : and though a christian must not neglect the commanding , and threatning word , yet if ever hee would make the word a channel of divine comfort , hee must study the promising-word , for the promises are a christians magna charta for heaven . all comfort must bee built upon a scripture promise , else it is presumption , not true comfort . the promises are pabulum fidei , & anima fidei , the food of faith , and the soul of faith . as faith is the life of a christian , so the promises are the life of faith : faith is a dead faith , if it hath no promise to quicken it ; as the promises are of no use without faith to apply them , so faith is of no use without a promise to lay hold on . and the great reason why the people of god walk uncomfortably in their afflictions , is , because they do not chew the promises ; they are rare cordials , but as a man cannot taste the sweetness of a cordial , unless hee chew it , no more can wee receive any spiritual refreshment from the promises , unless wee meditate on them . the promises are as a mine full of rich treasure , but as mines , unless wee digge deep into them , wee can never get the gold and silver hid in them : no more can wee injoy the soul-ravishing comfort of the promises , unlesse we digge into them by a serious consideration of them . they are as a garden full of rare flowers , able to sweeten any condition . but because wee doe not walk in this garden , and pick out these flowers ; hence it is that wee live so disconsolately and dejectedly under our afflictions . there are many rare stories declaring the comfort that some of gods saints have received from the promises in the day of their distresse . mr. bilney that blessed martyr was much wounded in conscience , by reason of the great ●n hee committed , in subscribing to the popish errors , but hee was much comforted by reading those words , 1 tim. 1. 15. this is a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation , that iesus christ came into the vvorld to save sinners , of which i am the chief . beza was supported under his troubles , by the words of christ , iohn 10. 27 , 28 , 29. mr. bolton tells us of one , that was upheld under great affliction , and comforted from isa. 26. 3. of another , from isa. 57. 15. i knew a young maid that went triumphantly to heaven , by the refreshing shee found in that well known text , matth. 11. 28. and many that have been wonderfully cheared by reading the eight chapter of the romans , and by that text , 1 ioh. 3. 14. vvee know that wee have passed from death unto life , because wee love the brethren . the truth is , there is no promise , but if god bee pleased to illighten it , and shew us our interest in it , will afford a harvest of joy . it is with promises , as it is with sermons : that sermon which once heard , did not at all work upon us , the same sermon heard at another time may exceedingly affect us . and the same text of scripture , which sometimes doth not at all comfort us , may at another time convey much comfort to us . two men troubled in conscience may both of them read the same chapter , and hear the same sermon , and one of them may have his troubled minde pacified , and the other continue troubled , and the reason is , because the spirit of god makes the word effectual to one , and not to the other . how often hath a distressed saint , read mat. 11. 28. 1 tim. 1. 15. ioh. 10. 27 , 28. isa. 26. 3. isa. 57 , 15. 1 ioh. 3. 14. and found no comfort in reading of them ; but if the spirit of god did come in , and open his eyes to behold the rich mercies wrapt up in these promises , and his interest in them , they would fill him with comfort above expression . and therefore if ever you would make the word of god , gods instrument to conveigh support and comfort to you in the time of soul-sinking afflictions , you must study the promises , and pray unto god that his spirit may irradiate them , and shew you the fulness of them , and your interest in them . quest. how must wee improve the promises , so as to make them spiritual bladders , to keep us from being drowned in the deep waters of affliction ? ans. you must doe three things . 1 you must make a catalogue of the promises . 2 you must seriously ponder and meditate on them . 3 you must apply them to your own souls , as belonging to you in particular . 1 you must make a catalogue of the promises , you must gather them up , as they lye scattered in the word , into a spiritual nose-gay , and binde them together : you must doe as they that gather up ends of gold and silver , you must lose none . every promise is as a ray of gold , as a star in the firmament . and though there are starrs of divers magnitudes , differing from one another in glory , yet every star hath its beauty and benefit : so though some promises are more glorious than others , ( like the sun , in comparison of the moon ) yet every promise hath its beauty , and lustre , and as star-light in a dark night is very comfortable ; so in the dark night of affliction , every little promise will afford unspeakable comfort to a troubled soul. to help you in making this catalogue , give mee leave to suggest three things . 1 bee sure to make it in time of health . woe bee to those that have their promises to gather , when they should make use of them ! you that sleight the promises in prosperity , shall receive no comfort from them in adversity . 2 forget not to treasure up all those promises which god hath made to his children , in the day of their adversity . as for example , god hath promised in all our afflictions to bee with us , isa. 43. 2. when thou passest through the waters , i will bee with thee , and through the rivers , they shall not overflow thee , &c. hee will bee with you to protect and direct you , to support and comfort you . if three saints bee put into the fiery furnace , the son of god will make the fourth , dan. 3. 25. 2 god will be afflicted in all our afflictions , isa. 63. 9. he suffers in all our sufferings , act. 9. 4. 3 hee will make our beds in our sicknesses , psal. 41. 3. hee will condescend to the lowest office for our ease and refreshment . 4 hee will know our souls in adversity , psal. 31. 7. hee will know us to pitty us , and to succour , and to help us . 5 hee will keep us from the evill of all afflictions , job 5. 19. god hath not promised to keep his people from afflictions , but to keep them from the hurt of them . though they are not good in themselves , yet hee will turne them to our good , heb. 12. 10. 1 cor. 11. 32. ier. 24. 5. the good figs were carried into captivity for their good . god hath promised that all things shall worke together for our good , rom. 8. 28. not only all ordinances , &c. but all afflictions , &c. 6 god hath promised to lay no more upon us , than wee are able to bear , but either to give us less pain , or greater patience , 1 cor. 10. 13. and though in a little wrath hee hide his face from us for a moment , yet with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on us , &c. isa. 54. 7 , 8. these , and many such like promises , will bee as so many spiritual cordials to revive our fainting spirits , and as so many pillars to uphold us under the greatest affliction . 3 for the compleating of this catalogue , you may make use of many excellent books written for this purpose , wherein you shall have promises of all kindes , both spiritual and temporal , gathered together : yet let mee advise you not to rest satisfied with the collections of others ; but when you read the bible , and meet with a suitable promise , with which god is pleased to affect your hearts , take the pains to write it down , and one such promise of your own writing , will work more powerfully upon your souls , than many others of anothers gathering . so much for the first , viz. make a catalogue of the promises . the end of the third sermon . an advertisement to the reader . reader , this and the following sermon contains a large discourse about the promises , which because it may bee thought by some to bee impertinent to the text , and rather a digression from it , than an explication of it ; i crave leave to informe thee of two things . 1 that the promises are the principal grounds of comfort to a childe of god , in the day of his adversity . they are his chiefe city of refuge , when all creature-comforts faile ; when hee suffers ship-wrack of all humane props , these are his planks upon which hee swims safe to the shoar of heaven . all comfort that is not founded upon a promise , is delusion , not true consolation . and therefore a discourse about them , cannot rationally bee interpreted eccentrical to the text. 2 that there are diverse particulars added to these sermons , concerning the nature , necessity , excellency , and vsefulness of the promises , which were not mentioned in the preaching of them . and if any of them shall appeare to bee heterogenial to the text , yet if they prove serviceable to heighten thy esteeme of the promises , and to quicken thee to a more serious and frequent meditation on them , and application of them . i hope thou art not at all injured ; and i may justly desire , that thou wouldest not bee offended . it is reported of saint austin ( in his life written by possidius ) that by a digression ( in one of his sermons ) from his text , hee converted an hereticke from his erroneous opinions . if any passage in these two sermons prove usefull to turne thee from thy sinfull negligence , and to awaken thee to a more diligent study of the precious promises , i shall account it a happy and blessed digression ; for herein especially consisteth the difference betweene a religious christian , and a moral man ▪ a mor●l man will abstaine from the outward acts of sinne ; but hee knowes not what it is to live upon promises ; hee never tasted any sweetnesse in a promise . hee lives upon creatures , not upon promises , and therefore when creatures faile , his heart sinkes like a stone , and hee is at his wits end , and faiths end . but a religious christian lives upon promises , and not upon creatures , and therefore when creatures faile , hee hath the promises to live on ; hee labours to taste the sweetnesse that is in them . hee lives upon promises , when providence seemes to run crosse to promises . they are his fiery chariot , to carry him up to heaven . if then these ensuing sermons , inflame thy affections with a greater love to the promises , and a greater care to meditate on them , and to get an interest in them , thou hast cause to bless god , and to pray for thy unworthy servant in christ , ed. calamy . meditate on the promises . sermon iv. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . hee that would improve the promises , so as to make them spiritual bladders , to keep him from being drowned in the deep waters of affliction , must not only make a catalogue of the promises , but hee must also , 2 fixedly , and seriously meditate on them ; first , hee must treasure up these iewels in his heart , and then unlock them by meditation ; first , hee must make his nose-gay , and then smell of it . the word of god ( as i have said ) is as a garden full of excellent promises , as so many choice flowers . and it is our duty to walk often in this garden , to gather up all the flowers , that lye scattered in it , into several nose-gayes , to binde them together ( if i may so speake ) with the threed of faith , and then every day to smell of them . the promises are the saints legacies left them by christ in his last will and testament . the saints are called the heires of the promises , heb. 6. 17. and if they would bee filled full of joy in the day of their distresse , they must bee frequent in reading these legacies : the promises are ( as it were ) the breasts of god , full of the milk of grace and comfort . and it is our duty to bee sucking out ( by meditation ) the milke of grace and comfort contained in them . that which the prophet saith of the church of christ , may as truly bee said of the promises of christ. rejoyce , o yee people of god , and bee glad all yee that have an interest in the promises ; rejoyce for joy , all yee that are mourners in sion , that yee may sacke and bee satisfied with the ●easts of their consolations , that yee may milke out , and bee delighted with the abundance of joy and comfort contained in them . the promises are the saints aqua-vitae ( as one calls them ) the saints cordials , the saints planke to swim to heaven upon , the saints fiery chariot , to carry them up to heaven . and the great reason why they walke so uncomfortably , so disconsolately , and so unbeleevingly , in the time of their tribulation , is because they do not smell of these 〈◊〉 , they do not chew these cordials , they do not read over these spiritual legacies , they doe not by serious meditation and consideration , sucke out the comfort comprehended in them . for as fire will not warme us unlesse wee tarry at it , and a bee cannot sucke out the ho●y that is in a flower , unless shee abide upon it ; no more can any childe of god receive supportation , and consolation from the promises in the houre of temptation , unless hee seriously and solemnly ponder and meditate on them . there is a double difference between a presumptuous sinner , and a poor , humble , distressed childe of god. 1 a presumptuous sinner studieth nothing but the promising word : hee sleights the commanding , and the threatning word . the word commands him to keep holy the sabbath day , not to love the world , not to lust , but hee turnes a deaf ear to it . the word threatneth to wound the hairy scalp of every one that goeth on in his wickednesse , but because god is patient and long-suffering , therefore hee regards it not . but as for the promising word , hee snatcheth at it , hee doth not truly lay hold on it , but snatcheth at it , before it belongs to him , and spider-like , sucks the poyson of sin out of it , and makes of it a cradle to rock himself asleep in sinful courses . because god hath promised , that whensoever a sinner turnes from his sins which hee hath committed , hee shall surely live , and not dye , therefore hee delayes , and prorogues his turning from sin . but now a poor , distressed , humble christian , fails on the contrary part ; hee pores upon the commanding and threatning word , but never ponders the promising word . god ( saith hee ) commands mee to love him with all my heart and soule , to wash my heart from iniquity , to love my enemies , to cut off my right hand , and to plucke out my right eye , &c. but i cannot performe these commands , therefore surely shall never bee saved . god ( saith hee ) hath threatned to curse every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in his law to do it , and therefore surely i am accursed . but hee never studies , nor ponders the promising word , for if hee did , hee would quickly know three things for his everlasting comfort . 1 that there is nothing required by god in his word as our duty , but god hath either promised to bestow it upon us as his gift , or the saints have prayed to god for it as his gift . god commands us to love him , but hee hath promised to circumcise our hearts to love him , &c. deut. 30. 6. god commands us to fear him , to turn our selves from our transgressions , and to make our selves a new heart , and a new spirit . but hee hath promised to give us a new heart , and a new spirit , to put his fear in our hearts , that wee shall never depart from him , and to turn us from our evill wayes . the saints of god also have prayed unto god for this , as the fruit of his free mercy , ier. 31. 18. lam ▪ 5. 21. there is nothing commanded in the covenant of works , but god hath promised in the covenant of grace , in some measure to work it in us , for hee hath promised to work all our works in us , and to write his law ( not one commandement of it only , but the whole law ) in our hearts , and to put it in our inward parts , and to cause us to walk in his wayes . 2 that god under the covenant of grace , will for christs sake accept of less than hee requires in the covenant of works . hee requires perfection of degrees , but hee will accept of perfection of parts , hee requires us to live without sin , but hee will accept of our sincere endeavours to doe it . if there bee a willing minde , it is accepted according to that a man hath , and not according to that hee hath not , 2 cor. 8. 12. 3 that though hee cannot in his owne person perform all that god commands , yet iesus christ as his surety , and in his stead , hath fulfilled the law for him , and that god will accept of christs perfect , as a cover for his imperfect righteousnesse . that christ hath redeemed him from the curse of the law , being made a curse for him . that the threatnings of the law are serpents without a sting , and that christ hath taken away the power and force of them . did a broken-hearted , and wounded sinner ponder and meditate on these things , they would fill him full of joy and comfort . hee would flye from the covenant of works , to the covenant of grace ; from his owne unrighteousnesse , unto the righteousnesse of christ ; and from the commanding and threatning word , unto the promising word ; hee would say , lord ! thou commandest mee to walke in thy statutes , and to keep thy lawes ; this i cannot do of my selfe , but thou hast promised to cause me to walke in thy ways , and to write thy law in my heart . lord give me power to doe what thou commandest , and then command what thou wilt . 2 a presumptuous sinner is alwayes studying the promising word , to bolster up himself in sin , but hee never studies his sins and iniquities , to repent for them , and from them . hee meditates on the promises to harden his heart in sin , but not at all on his sins to humble himself for them , and to turne from them . but now on the contrary , a poore distressed christian pores upon his iniquities and corruptions , but never mindes himself of the promises , and this makes him live so dejectedly , and disconsolately . a wicked man studieth his corruptions too little . a distressed christian too much . if hee did study the promises , as much as he doth his corruptions ; hee would not walk so uncomfortably . wherefore if ever you would make the vvord of god a conduit of comfort in the day of your distresse ; you must not only meditate on the commanding and th●eating word , but on the premising vvord . the commandements and threatnings must drive you to the promises ; you must not only study your corruptions to humble you , but also the promises to comfort you . i doe not say , you must not study your corruptions , but you must joyn the study of the promises together with them . if abraham had minded only the deadnesse of sarahs wombe , and of his own body , hee had never beleeved , &c. but hee was strong in faith , and staggered not because hee considered not his owne body now dead , when hee was about an hundred years old , nor the deadnesse of sarahs wombe , but was fully perswaded , that what god had promised , hee was able to performe . if sarah had considered only that shee was past age , shee would never have beleeved that shee should have a childe , but she eyed the promise , and judged him faithful , who had promised , and that made her beleeve . if a saint of god looks only downwards upon the deadnesse of his heart , and meditates only upon his sins and infirmities ; hee will never bee comforted in the day of his distresse . but hee must also look upwards unto the promises , seriously ponder , and fixedly study them , which will bee as strong pillars to support him , and keep him from falling into despair ; in the hour of tribulation . q. what are the meditations which we must have in reference and relation to the promises in the day of our distress ? ans. i will rank them into nine particulars . 1 you must meditate upon the three great truths already mentioned , 1 that god commands nothing as our duty , which he hath not promised , as his gift . 2 that god in the covenant of grace , will accept of less than hee requires in the covenant of works . 3 that if wee truly beleeve in christ , god will accept of his righteousnesse , as a satisfaction for our unrighteousnesse . 2 you must meditate upon the excellency and preciousnesse of the promises , they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , exceeding great and precious promises ; they are precious in five respects . 1 because they cost a great price , ( even the bloud of christ ) to purchase them . they are all made to us in christ , and for christ ; they are in him yea , and in him amen . the covenant ( which is the pandecta and cabinet of all the promises ) was sealed with his bloud . 2 because they assure us of great and precious things ; they assure us of our interest in god , of our justification , reconciliation , adoption , sanctification , and glorification . heaven it self is nothing else but the injoyment of the promises , heb. 6. 12. the promises are heaven folded up ; heaven is the promise unfolded . for the promises are nothing else but the eternal purposes of god towards his children made manifest . the purposes of god are his concealed promises ; and the promises are his revealed purposes . the promises are the kisses of iesus christ , they discover his dear love , and when hee discovers to us our interest in them , then hee kisses us with the kisses of his mouth , and fills us with joy unspeakable and glorious . they are made by god , and they make over god to us , as our portion , and christ as our saviour , and the spirit as our sanctifier , and all good things , both here and hereafter as our inheritance , and therefore may well bee called exceeding great and precious promises . 3 because they put a price upon the new testament ; for wherein doth the new testament exceed the old , unless it be in this , because it is founded upon better promises ? heb. 8. 6. and bringeth in a better hope , hebrews 7. 19. 4 because they put a price upon all the blessings of god. a little mercy reached out to us , as a fruit of a promise , is more worth than a world of blessings comming to us meerly by way of providence . a man may receive blessings from god upon a double account , either ex largitate , or ex promisso , either by way of providence , or by way of promise . 1 by way of providence , thus god gives the earth to the sons of men , psal. 115. 16. thus hee gave one hundred twenty and seven provinces to ahashuerus . thus he sets up the basest of men to rule over nations , dan. 4. 17. 2 by way of promise . thus hee gives health , wealth , and all outward comforts unto his children . for godlinesse hath the promise of this life , and that which is to come , 1 tim. 4. 8. now you must know that a little blessing coming to us , as a fruit of the promise , is more worth than a thousand blessings comming to us , only by way of providence . and therefore david saith , a little that the righteous man hath , is better than the riches of many wicked , psalm 37. 16. and the reason is , 1 because blessings given by vertue of a promise , are signes of gods special love , and come flowing to us from the same love with which god gives us christ , they are the fruit of covenant-love . 2 because wee have them as blessings . a man may have a blessing , and yet not have it as a blessing . the israelites had quails sent them immediately from god , which was a blessing in it self , but was not sent to them as a blessing . for while the meat was in their mouthes , the wrath of god came upon them . the wicked have blessings , but not as blessings , but as the cup in benjamins sack , which proved a snare to him , rather than a mercy . but the godly have blessings as blessings : they have grace with them to improve them for gods glory ; they have not only the blessings , but a thankful heart for them , and a fruitful heart under them , which is a certaine signe that they have them as blessings . 3 because they are pledges to them of better mercies , and beginnings of better . they are not merces , but arrha , not their wages , but an earnest of heaven . now a farthing given as an earnest of a thousand a year , is more worth than many pounds given as a reward . a wicked man hath outward blessings as his portion , his heaven , his all ; but a godly man that hath them by vertue of a promise , hath them as a pledge of heaven , and as a beginning of eternal mercies . 5 the promises are precious , because they produc● great and precious effects . they are not only excellent in themselves , but are also very powerful and operative upon all beleevers . the promises ( as one saith ) sealed by the bloud of christ , ratified by the oath of god , testified by the spirit of truth , delivered by the hand of mercy , and received by the hand of faith , are operative words , and produce rare effects in the soul. they have power . 1 a sanctifying 2 a comforting 1 a soul-sanctifying power . therefore they are said to make us partakers of the divine nature , 2 pet. 1. 4. i say , of the divine nature ; not by the communication of the divine essence , but by participation of divine graces . not in a familistical sense ( as if wee were godded into god , and christed into christ ) but in a spiritual sense ; wee are by the promises made partakers of the divine nature , that is , of the divine graces , by which wee are made like to god in holinesse . the apostle tells us , that they have a power to cleanse us from all filthinesse , both of flesh and spirit , and to inable us to perfect holiness in his fear , 2 cor. 7. 1. 2 a comforting power . they are able to comfort us in the worst of dayes , and dangers . o how precious is a promise to a distressed christian , in the hour of extreamity ! the sun is not more comfortable to a man in a dark dungeon , or food to a man ready to starve , or water to a man ready to dye for thirst . the promises of god are alwayes precious , but never more precious than in times of misery and calamity ; and therefore let us in such times especially meditate upon the preciousness of them . 3. you must meditate upon the freenesse of the promises . the promises are the outward discoveries of gods eternal love to his people . now nothing moved god to enter into covenant with them , and to ingage himself to them by promise ; and thereby to become their debtor , but his free love and mercy ; and therefore they are said to bee given us of god , 2 pet. 1. 4. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises . god promiseth in his word , not only to love us , but to love us freely , hos. 14. 4. i will heal their back-sliding , and love them freely . the reason why god makes us his people , is not from any worth in us , but only because it pleaseth him so to do , 1 sam. 12. 22. the lord will not forsake his people for his great names sake , because it pleased the lord to make you his people . the lord jesus christ , who is the great and fundamental promise , the root of the other promises , is freely , tendred in the gospel , and freely given , ioh. 3. 16. god so loved the world , that hee gave his only begotten son , &c , revel . 22. 17. whosoever will , let him take the water of life freely . 4 you must meditate on the firmnesse , faithfulnesse , unchangeableness ▪ and immutability of the promises : they are the promises of that god , who cannot deny himself . promissae haec tua sunt domine ( saith austin ) & quis falli timet , cum promittit ipsa veritas ; heaven and earth shall passe away , but one jot or tittle of the vvord shall not passe . there is no promise which god hath made , though never so improbable , and impossible to flesh and bloud , but it shall come to passe in due time , whatsoever hee hath promised in his goodnesse , hee will perform by his power . god is not a man that hee should lye , neither the son of man , that hee should repent : hath hee said , and shall hee not doe it ? or hath hee spoken , and shall hee not make it good ? numb . 23. 19. god hath promised that the same bodies that dye , shall rise againe at the last day . this is incredible to natural reason . the stoicks and epicures derided it , when it was preached by paul , acts 17. 32. but hath god said it , and shall he not doe it ? is the lords hand shortned ? therefore christ tells the sadduces , matth. 22. 27. you erre , not knowing the scriptures , and the power of god. god is omnipotent , and therefore able to doe above what wee can ask or think : god hath promised at the resurrection , to make our vile bodies like unto the glorious body of christ. this is impossible to natural reason ; but mark what the apostle saith , phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himself . god hath promised , that before the end of the world , there shall be a national conversion of the iewes , that the kingdomes of the world shall become the kingdomes of our lord and saviour . and that babylon shall fall . these are the promises of god , who cannot lye ; faithful is hee , who hath said it , who also will doe it , 1 thes. 5. 24. though the things promised seeme impossible to men , yet with god all things are possible : therefore the apostle proves the future conversion of the jewes by an argument drawn from the power of god , rom. 11. 23. god is able to graft them in again . the like is brought to prove the ruine of antichrist , rev. 18. 8. her plagues shall come in one day , death , and mourning , and famine , and shee shall bee utterly burnt with fire , for strong is the lord god , who judgeth her . the promises are a firme foundation to build our salvation upon : an anchor , both sure and stedfast . when david was taken by the philistins , hee was so supported by the promise of god , that hee did not fear what man could doe against him ; therefore hee repeats it three times , psal. 56. 3. 10. in god i will praise his vvord , in god i will praise his vvord , in god i will praise his word ▪ ( that is , his word of promise ) i will not fear what flesh can doe unto mee : the scripture builds all the hope and comfort of a christian upon the faithfulness of god , 1 corinth . 1. 9. god is faithful , by whom , &c. 1 thes. 5. 23 , 24. 1 corinth . 10. 13. god is faithful , who will not suffer you to bee tempted above that you are able , &c. 2 thes. 3. 3. the lord is faithful , who shall stablish you , &c. heb. 10. 23. for hee is faithful that promised . memorable is that saying of david , psalm 138. 2. for thou hast magnified thy vvord above all thy name : which words are to bee understood ( as david kimhi , and our english annotations say ) hysteron proteron , that is , thou hast by thy word , ( that is , by performing thy word and promises ) magnified thy name above all things , or as ainsworth ; thy word of promise in christ , and thy faithfulness in performing of it , doth more exalt thy name , than any thing by which thou art made known . o then let all the saints of god , who are heirs of the promises , meditate frequently upon the preciousness , freeness , firmness , unchangeableness , and immutability of them . 5 you must meditate upon the fulnesse and richness of the promises . the promises are the saints magazine and spiritual treasure ; they are called the unsearchable riches of christ , ephes. 3. 6 , 7. it is one of the greatest titles belonging to a saint , to bee stiled an heir of the promises . that man who hath a right to all the promises in the bible , is the richest man in the world . for god is his ( and hee that hath him that hath all things , hath all things ) christ is his ( and christ is all in all ) the spirit is his ( and hee who hath the spirit , hath all good things , as appears by comparing mat. 7. 11. with luke 11. 13. in the first it is said — how much more shall your father in heaven , give good things , &c. in the second , how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit , &c. ) grace , and glory , and all outward good things are his . it is said of the great duke of guise , that ( though hee was poore , as to his present possessions ) yet hee was the richest man in france , in bills , bonds , and obligations , because hee had ingaged all the noble-men in france unto himselfe , by preferring of them . a true and real christian is the richest man in the world in promises and obligations , for hee hath the great god ingaged by promise to bee his god , and the god of his . as charles the first , commanded his herald in a challenge to francis the first , king of france , to proclaim him with all his titles , stiling him emperour of germany , king of castile , arragon , naples , sicily , &c. but francis commanded his herald to call him so often king of france , as the other had titles by all his countries ; implying , that france alone was more worth than all his countries . so when a wicked man brags of his lordships , and great possessions , when hee boasteth of his thousands a year , a childe of god may say , god is mine , god is mine , &c. i am richer than all the wicked men in the world . 6 you must meditate on the latitude and extension of the promises . the promises are the saints catholicon , and panacea . there is no condition a childe of god can bee in , but hee may finde , not onely a promise , but a suitable and seasonable promise to comfort him in it . and herein especially consisteth the spiritual excellency , and heavenly wisdome of a christian , not onely to study the promises in general , but to labour to finde out , and having found out , to meditate upon such kinde of promises , which are most suitable , and most seasonable to the condition hee is in . as for example . if thou art poor in estate , meditate on psalm 34. 10. matth. 6. 33. heb. 13. 5. if barren , and without children , meditate on isa. 56. 5. if persecuted for christs sake , meditate on matth. 5. 10. 1 pet. 4. 12 , 13 , 14. psal. ●4 . 12. if sick , and under tormenting pains , meditate on psal. 50. 15. isa. 63. 9. rom. 8. 28. if reproached , slandered , and falsely accused , meditate on mat. 10. 25. mat. 5. 11 , 12. luke 6. 22 , 23. if satan tempts thee , and thou art not able to resist him , meditate on rom. 16. 20. 1 cor. 10. 13. gen. 3. 15. 1 ioh. 3. 8. if thy corruptions bee too strong for thee , meditate on rom. 6. 14. micah 7. 19. if god hides his face from thee , and thou sittest in darkness , and seest no light , meditate on isa. 50. 10. isa. 54. 7 , 8. if ready to faint in waiting upon god , and in expecting the fulfilling of his promises , meditate on isa. 30. 18. isa. 63. 3. isa. 40. 28 , 29 , 30. mal. 3. 1. if ready to dye , and full of fears and doubts , meditate on 1 cor. 15. 55 , 56 57. hos. 13. 14. rev. 14. 13. 1 cor. 3. 22 , 23. 2 cor. 5. 1 , 8. 7 you must meditate on the variety of the promises , and their difference and distinction one from the other . the promises are like unto the stars in the firmament . 1 for their multitude , they are very many . the scripture is bespangled with promises , as the heavens are with stars . it were happy if the saints would prove spiritual astronomers , and make it their work to study the nature of these stars . 2 for their beauty , excellency , and influence . every star is beautifull in its kinde , and very usefull and advantagious , so are the promises . and as the stars are most comfortable in the darkness of the night , so are the promises in the night of trouble and adversity . 3 and especially for their distinction and difference ▪ for one star differeth from another in glory , 1 cor. 15. 41. there is one glory of the sun , another of the moon , another of the stars ; so do the promises differ exceedingly one from the other in beauty and excellency . some are temporal , some spiritual , some of things that are eternal . some are conditional , some absolute ; some are promises to those that have grace ; some are promises of grace ; some are general , others particular . some are original , fundamental , and fountain-promises ( as the promise of jesus christ , of god being our god , and of the holy ghost . ) others are derivative , depending , and rivolet-promises , ( as the promises of all outward comforts here , and of eternal life hereafter . ) now it is our duty to take notice of every ray of gold , to meditate upon all the promises , both spiritual , temporal , and eternal , both conditional , and absolute , both of grace , and to grace , both general , and particular ; but especially of the original and fundamental promises , the fountain promises , from whence all others as so many streams and rivolets , are deduced and derived . 8 you must meditate on the usefulfulness , and profitableness of the promises . i have already shewed you , that they are the conduits of grace , and comfort , that they have a soul-sanctifying , and a soul-comforting-power . give mee leave to adde , that the promises are , 1 the breathings of divine love and affection . 2 the life and soul of faith. 3 the anchor of hope . 4 the vvings of prayer . 5 the foundation of industry . 6 the rayes and beams of the son of righteousness , and upon all these accounts are very usefull and advantagious . 1 they are the breathings of divine love and affection . it is an argument of gods wonderful love to his children , that hee is pleased to enter into a promise and covenant to bee their god , and to give them christ , and in christ all blessings here , and hereafter . wee read gen. 17. 2 , 3. when god told abraham that hee would make a covenant with him , hee fell on his face as astonished at so great a mercy , and as thankfully acknowledging the goodness of god towards him . the like wee read of david . when god by nathan made a promise to him , hee goes into gods house , and prayes , who am i , o lord , and what is my house , that the lord my god should do this ! &c. the promises are the cabinets of the tender bowels of god , they contain the dear and tender love of god towards his elect children , god by promising makes himself a debtor to them . now that god who is bound to none ( no not to the angels of heaven ) should enter into bonds , and binde himselfe to give grace and glory to his elect children , this is love above expression . and there is nothing moved god to do this ( but as i have said ) his free grace and mercy . for though god bee now bound out of justice and faithfulness to fulfill his promises , yet nothing moved him to make these promises , but his love and mercy , as david saith of what god had promised to him , 2 sam. 7. 21. according to thine own heart ( ex mero motu voluntatis ) and according to thy word , not for any thing in mee , for what am i , o lord ! &c. thus you see how the promises are the breathings of divine love and affection , and upon this account are very usefull and profitable . for love is loves loadstone ; therefore the apostle saith , wee love him , because hee loved us first . the sense of gods love to us , will kindle a love in us to god. even as the beams of the sun reflecting upon a vvall , heats those that walk by the wall. so the beams of gods love shining into our souls , warms our hearts with the love of god. the lov● of god constrains us , as saith paul , 2 cor. 5. 14. there is a compulsive and constraining power in love . what did not iacob do for the love of rachel ? how was mephibosheth affected with the love of david ? 2 sam. 9. 8. it is our duty to love those that hate us , but not to love those that love us , is more than heathenish and brutish ▪ 2 they are the life and soule of faith. faith without a promise to act upon , is as a body without a soul , as a dead flower which hath no beauty or sweetness in it ; but faith grounded upon the promises , will inable a christian to advance in all manner of holiness . what made abraham forsake his country , and his fathers house , and go hee knew not whither ? nothing moved him to this , but because god had promised to make him a great nation , and hee beleeved it . of all graces , none so causal of holiness as the grace of faith : it is a world overcoming , heart-purifying , life-sanctifying , wonder-working grace ; and therefore the promises must needs bee very usefull , because they are the life and soul of faith. 3 they are the anchor of hope . hope is called an anchor of the soule , both sure , and stedfast . but the promises are the anchor of hope . all hope of heaven , which is not founded upon a promise , is presumption , and not hope . presumption is when a man hopes to go to heaven , upon no ground , or upon an insufficient ground . but true hope is a hope grounded upon a scripture-promise : and hope bottomed upon divine promises , will mightily availe unto purity and holiness . abraham , isaac , and iacob lived as pilgrims and strangers upon earth , because they looked and hoped for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god. the old testament saints would not accept deliverance upon sinfull termes , because they hoped for a better resurrection . the papists and arminians are much mistaken in teaching , that the assurance of salvation is an enemy to godliness . the scripture saith the quite contrary , 1 ioh. 3. 3. hee that hath this hope purifieth himselfe , even as hee is pure . the true hope of heaven , will make us live heavenly . 4 they are the wings of prayer : prayer is a divine cordial to convey grace from heaven into our soules . it is a key to unlock the bowels of mercy , which are in god. the best way to obtain holiness , is upon our knees ; the best posture to fight against the devil , is upon our knees ; and therefore prayer is not put as a part of our spiritual armour , but added as that which must bee an ingredient in every part , and which will make every part effectual . but now the promises are the wings of prayer . prayer without a promise , is as a bird without vvings : and therefore wee read both of iacob and iehoshaphat , how they urged god in their prayers with his promises . and certainly the prayers of the saints winged with divine promises , will quickly flye up to heaven , and draw down grace and comfort into the● souls . and upon this account it is that the promises are so useful to a christian , because they are so helpfull in prayer . when wee pray , we● must urge god with his promises , and say , lord , hast thou not said , th●● wilt circumcise our hearts to love the● thou wilt subdue our sinnes , thou wil● give the spirit to those that aske it ? lord ! thou art faithfull , fulfill thes● thine own promises : and wee must remember this great truth , that the promises god makes to us , to mortifie● our sins for us , are greater helps against sin , than our promises to god to mortifie sin . many men in the day of their distress vow and promise to leave sin , and fight against it in the strength of these promises , and in stead of conquering sin , are conquered by sin . but if wee fight against sin in the strength of christ , and of his promises ; if wee urge god in prayer with his owne word , wee shall at last get victory over it . for hee hath said , that sin shall not have dominion over us , rom. 6. 14. 5 they are the foundation of indu●try . the promises do not make men ●azy and idle , as some scandalously say , 〈◊〉 they are the ground of all true la●our and industry , therefore the apostles perswade us from the consideration of the promises , unto the study of soul-purification , to have our conversation without covetousness ; to flee from idolatry , and to separate our selves from sinfull communion . divine promises are ●reat incouragements unto spiritual di●●gence . object . though conditional promi●es bee the foundation of industry ( be●ause wee cannot have the thing promi●es , unless wee perform the conditions ) yet absolute promises ( say some ) are foundations of lasiness , and therefore they a firm there are no absolute promises in scripture . answ. absolute promises are made foundations of industry in scripture , as well as conditional : the apostle exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling , because it is god 〈◊〉 worketh in us both to will and to do , of hi● owne good pleasure . and the reason is , because god performeth nothing which hee promiseth , though never so absolutely , but in the diligent and conscientious use of the means on our part . god promiseth ezek. 36. 26. to give us a new heart , and a new spirit , &c. but the● hee adds , vers . 37. i will yet 〈◊〉 this , bee inquired of by the house of israel . 6 they are the rayes and beams ( as one saith ) of christ the son of righteousness , in whom they are founded and established . as all the li●es in a circumference , though never so distant , carry a man to one and the same center . so all the promises carry us to christ the center . for the promises are not made for any thing in us , nor have they any stability from us , but they are made in , and for christ unto us , unto christ in our behalf , and unto us , so far as we are members of christ. now jesus christ is the ground of all soul-purification , soul-consolation , and soul-salvation ; and therefore i may safely conclude , that the promises are most singularly usefull and advantagious . and that it is the duty of all those that desire to live holily and comfortably , to consider and ponder the profitableness and beneficialness of the promises . 9 and lastly , you must meditate on the great necessity that lyeth upon all men to get a scripture-interest in the promises . this i adde to awaken christians to attend diligently to this discourse about the promises , and to shew them the necessity of minding and of studying them . for hee that hath no right to them is in a faithless , hopeless , comfortlesse , desperate , and damnable condition . all the happiness of a christian both here and hereafter consisteth especially in his right and title to the promises . the scripture tells us in express words , that hee that is a stranger from the promise , is without christ , without god , without hope . sad is the condition of that man , who hath no interest in god , nor in christ , and who is without hope . and such is the condition of him who is a stranger to the promises ; for all hope of heaven , which is not bottomed upon a promise , is presumption , and soul-delusion . all comfort and joy which is not grounded upon a promise , is soul-cousenage ; and all faith not anchored upon a promise , is nothing else but flattery ▪ and soul-mockery . consider this you that are full of joy and comfort , and ( as you say ) relye upon christ for salvation ; tell mee , what promise have you to build this faith , this hope , this comfort upon ? for there are thousands that flatter themselves into hell by a false hope of heaven ; thousands which promise to themselves to goe to heaven , but have no promise for it from god. such were the five foolish virgins ; such was the church of laodicaea , such were they , matth. 7. 24. hos. 8. 2 , 3. micha 3. 10 , 11. remember this , and let it bee daily in your thoughts : you that have not true right to the promises , your faith is faction , your hope is presumption , and your joy is delusion . to bee a stranger from the promise , is to be without god , without christ , and without hope . so much for the second particular , viz. meditate on the promises . the end of the fourth sermon . rules for the right application of the promises sermon v. psal. 119. 92. unlesse thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . now i come to the third and last particular . he that would make the promises as spiritual bladders to keep him from drowning in the deep waters of affliction , must not only make a catalogue of them , and meditate upon them , but hee must make application of them to his own soul , as belonging to him in particular . hee must ( as it is said of the godly patriarchs , hebrews 11. 13. ) be perswaded of them , and imbrace them ; hee must hugge and kisse them as his rich portion , and glorious inheritance . and this is the chief of all : for no man can receive any comfort from a promise , who is not able to make out his interest in that promise : as the life of a sermon is in the application of it unto our selves , so the life of a promise is in the appropriation of it . quid est deus , si non est meus ? what am i the better ( saith origen ) that christ took upon him the flesh of a virgin , if he took not my flesh ? what was the great prince the better for the miraculous plenty in samaria , when the prophet told him that hee should see it with his eyes , but not eat of it ? as the man , who when he was ready to be drowned , saw a rain-bow ( which was a signe that the world should never bee again drowned ) said , quid mihi proderit haec iris , si ego peream ; what am i the better for this rain bow , if i perish ? so may i say , what is a man the better for the rich mine of treasure contained in the promises , if hee hath no share in it . there are three sorts of professors of religion . 1 some lay claime to the promises when they have no right to them ; such are your presumptuous sinners , who take it for granted , that the promises belong to them , who presume themselves into hell by a false hope in the promises , who make a feather-bed of the promises , upon which they sleep securely in sin : as thrasilaus ( a m●d athenian ) laid claime to every ship that came to athens , though hee had right to none : so a presumptuous sinner laies claime to every promise , though hee hath right to none ; he inlargeth them beyond their bounds , and maketh the conditional promises to bee absolute , and such as belong only to those that are in christ , to belong to him , though he be not in christ. he sucks the poison of sin , and security , out of the sweet flower of the promises . 2 some have an interest in the promises , and know their interest . these live in heaven while they are upon earth , these rejoyce in tribulation , and are more than , conquerours over the greatest afflictions . these are secure from perishing in the day of distresse . that man , who taking the bible into h●s hand , can say upon right grounds , all the promises in this book are my portion , and i have a right and title to them , this man is happy above expression . 3 some have an interest in the promises , but do● not know their interest , and therefore dare not ( in the hour of trouble ) apply them for their supportation and consolation . such are your broken-hearted , wounded , distressed , and deserted christians . such can receive no comfort from the promises in the day of affliction . when they begin to apply them for their support , the devil suggesteth to them , and their owne doubting hearts tell them , that they mis-apply them , and that they belong not to them . when a godly minister ( whose office is to speak a word in season to those that are weary , isa. 50. 4. ) indeavours by the application of the promises to comfort them , their souls refuse to bee comforted , they exclude themselves from having a right to christ , and his promises , though christ would not have them excluded . they groundlesly fear that their names are written in the black book of reprobation , and that all the curses of the law are their portion ; hence it is that they live so uncomfortably , and disconsolately in the time of affliction . now then for the help of such persons , who have a true title to the promises , but know it not , who walke in darknesse , and see no light , who beleeve they are hypocrites , when they are not , and that they are not in christ , when they are ( that i may be gods instrument to inable such to make application of the precious promises unto their own souls in particular , in the hour of trouble , for their everlasting supportation and consolation ) i shall lay down these ensuing rules , and directions . rule 1. 1 whosoever in a gospel-sense doth obey the commanding word of god , hath a real interest in the promising word of god : though thou canst not perfectly obey the will of god , yet if thou dost truly desire , and industriously indeavour to obey it in all things . if god hath written his law in thy heart , and given thee a gospel-frame , inclining thee to the obedience of all his commandements sincerely , though not perfectly ; this is an infallible evidence , that thou hast a right and portion in all the promises . this is that which god saith , exod. 19. 5. if you will obey my voyce indeed , then yee shall bee a peculiar treasure , &c. if yee will obey my voyce indeed , not only in word , and in shew , but in deed , and in truth . thus ierem. 7. 5 , 7. if yee thorowly amend your wayes , if yee thorowly execute judgement , &c. then will i cause you to dwell in this place , &c. if yee thorowly amend , &c. not only in some things , but in all things ; not only outwardly , but inwardly also . this rule is expresly delivered by the apostle , 1 tim. 4. 8. godlinesse hath the promise of the life that now is , and that which is to come . if thou beest a godly man in a gospel-sense , that is , one who truly and sincerely indeavoureth to bee godly . if thou makest gods will , thy rule to live by , and not thine own . gods glory thy end , and not thy own carnal interest . gods love thy principle . if thy rules , aimes , and principles bee godly , all the promises of this life , and of the life to come , belong to thee . it is worth observing : that all the promises of life and salvation are conditional . happiness is entailed upon holiness , glory upon grace . you shall read in scripture of the blessings of the covenant , and of the bond of the covenant , of the blessings of the promises , and of the condition of the promises . if ever you would assure your selves of your interest in the blessings of the covenant , you must try your selves by your sincere performance of the condition . thus christ is promised to none but such as beleeve ; pardon of sin , to none but such as repent ; and heaven , to none but such as persevere in well doing . tell mee then , canst thou say as in gods presence , that thou hast respect to all gods commandements ( though thou failest in all , yet thou hast respect to all ) that thou obeyest god in deed , and in truth , and that thou sincerely labourest to bee godly ? this is a certaine signe , that all the promises are thy portion ; but you that are ungodly , and doe not thorowly amend your wayes , you that sleight , undervalue , and despise the commanding word , you have no part , no portion in the promising word . but it may bee a distressed christian ( though without just cause ) will say that hee is afraid that hee doth not sincerely obey the commanding word , and therefore dares not apply to himself the promising word , wherefore i adde rule 2. 2 the more thou art afraid , lest thou shouldest have no right to the promises , the more right thou hast ( in all probability ) to them . this i speak only to the distressed christian ; not that i commend his fear : but this i say , this fear which thou art possessed withall ▪ is a probable signe that thou hast an interest in the promises . for a presumptuous sinner never doubts of his right to them , but takes it as a maxime not to bee denied , that they belong to him . it is a comfortable saying of mr. greenhams , when thou hearest the promises , and art in a cold sweat , and hast a fear and trembling seizing upon thee ; lest they should not belong to thee , doubt not , but that they doe belong to thee ; for christ hath said ; come unto mee all yee that are weary , and heavie laden , and i will give you rest . and the prophet isaiah calls upon those who are of a fearful heart , to bee strong , and fear not , and tells us for our comfort , that god will look with an eye of favour upon him that is poor , and of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at his word . rule 3. 3 the more sensible thou art of thine own unworthiness to lay hold upon the promises , the more thou art fitted and qualified to lay hold upon them . for the promises are ( as i have shewed ) the fruit of free-grace . nothing moved god to enter into a covenant with his people , and thereby to become their debtor , but his free love . free grace brought christ down from heaven , and it is free grace must carry us up to heaven . christ himself is called , the gift of god , john 4. 10. moses tells the israelites , deut. 7. 7 , 8. the lord did not set his love upon you , nor chuse you , because you were more in number than any people , &c. but because the lord loved you , and because hee would keep the oath which hee had sworn unto your fathers , hath the lord brought you out with a mighty hand , and redeemed you , &c. god doth not love us , because wee are worthy of his love , but because hee loves us , therefore hee makes us worthy . wee must not bring worthinesse to christ , but fetch worthinesse from christ. and therefore if thou beest sensible of thine owne nothingnesse , emptinesse , and unworthinesse ; lay hold upon that excellent promise , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heaven . blessed are those who are sensible of their spiritual wants , for to them belongs the kingdome of heaven , as certainly as if they were already in it . rule 4. 4 study thy interest in the main and fundamental promise , and that will help thee to make out thy interest in all the other ; the main and fundamental promise , is the promise of christ. for all promises , whither spiritual o● temporal , are made to us , in and thorough him . god hath promised , never to leave us , nor forsake us , and that all things shall work together for our good ; that is , if wee be in christ , god hath said , all things are ours , whether paul , or apollos , whether life or death , whether things present , or things to come ; but it is with this promise , if wee bee christs : whosoever takes any comfort from any temporal promise , and is not in christ , doth but delude and cheat himself . this then is thy work ; o christian ! study thy interest in christ , make out that , and make out all . if no interest in christ , no interest in the promises ; if an interest in christ , an interest in the promises ; let this then be thy daily business to make it out to thy soul , that christ is thine . quest. how shall i bee able to doe this ? answ. for this purpose you must diligently study three things . 1 the universality of the promise of christ. 2 the freenesse of it . 3 the condition upon which hee is tendred . 1 the universality of the promise of christ. christ jesus with all his benefits is promised to every one who is willing to lay hold on him , as hee is tendred in the gospel . the apostles are commanded to go into all the world , and to preach the gospel to every creature ; hee that beleeveth , and is baptized , shall bee saved , &c. if thou hast a heart to beleeve , bee thy sins never so great , it is for the honour of iesus christ to pardon them . as the sea covers great rocks , as well as small , so the mercy of god in christ will pardon great sins , as well as little . it will cost christ as little to wash away the guilt of great sins , as of small . christ is a great physitian . and david prayeth , pardon my iniquity . for it is great , psalm ●5 . 11. though thy sins bee never so bloodily circumstantiated , though never so often reiterated , though thou beest never so loathsome , yet if thou canst beleeve ; there is a fountaine opened to the house of david , and to the inhabitants of ierusalem , for sin , and for uncleanness ; and therefore let no man exclude himselfe from a right to christ , who is willing to take christ upon christs termes . hee that excludes himself , offers the greatest injury imaginable . first , unto iesus christ , for hee makes him a lyar ; christ hath said , if any man come to nice , i will in no wise cast him out ; and hee saith , christ will cast mee out , although i do come to him . secondly , unto his own soule . for hee necessitates himselfe unto damnation ; for christ hath said expresly , hee that beleeveth not shall bee damned . object . but i am afraid that i am a reprobate , and that god hath excluded mee from having any interest in christ. ans. who told thee so ? it is one great sign thou art not , because the devil would perswade thee that thou art . but howsoever , secret things belong to god , but those things which are revealed , to us , and our children . god hath kept the black book of reprobation secret . hee openeth the whole book of election to some of his children , but hee keeps his black book unrevealed . it is a sin for any man to think himself a reprobate ( unlesse hee can prove that hee hath sinned the sin against the holy ghost ) for this thought would hinder him from the use of means for his salvation , and cause him to despair , which is a sin of the first magnitude ; and therefore take heed of complementing thy self into hell by a sinfull modesty , in refusing to beleeve in christ : take heed of dallying or delaying in the great work of laying hold upon christ upon christs termes . remember , god excludes none from christ , but such as exclude themselves by unbeleef . and remember , whosoever beleeveth not the son , shall not see life , but the wrath of god abideth on him . 2 you must study the freeness of the promise of christ. god promiseth jesus christ freely , ho every one that thirsteth , come yee to the waters , and hee that hath no money ; come yee , buy , and eat , yea , come by vvine and milke without mony , and without price , &c. christ is offered in the gospel , sine pretio , sine merito , sine motivo , without price , without merit , and without any motive inducing on our parts . therefore the holy ghost saith , vvhosoever will , let him take the water of life freely . let not then thy undeservedness hinder thee from laying hold upon christ , as thy portion . say not , i am not worthy that christ should owne mee . christ will owne thee , not because thou art worthy , but because hee delights in mercy , micah 7. 18. say not , i am not humbled enough , and therefore i dare not lay hold upon christ. for humiliation is not required to make us precious to christ , but to make christ precious to us , and if thou beest so far humbled , as to bee willing to take christ upon christs termes , thou art humbled enough , unto divine acceptation , though not unto divine satisfaction . every stung israelite , who was inabled to look up to the brazen serpent , was healed , though hee was not stung to that proportion that another israelite was . 3 you must study ●he condition upon which christ is promised . it is certain christ is not tendered absolutely without any condition . christ is not offered to a proud sinner , resolving so to continue , or to a drunkard , resolving to persevere in his drunkennesse . those texts which declare the freeness of the offer of christ , doe also mention a condition to bee performed by those that will have him , isa. 55. 1. revelat. 22. 15. in both places the condition of thirsting is expressed . let him that is a thirst come . ho every one that thirsteth . quest. doth not the mentioning of a condition take away the freeness of the tender of christ ? answ. by no means . the reason is , because this very condition is the free gift of god. the apostle saith , rom. 4. 16. therefore it is of faith , that it might bee by grace . the condition of faith doth not make the offer of christ , not to bee of grace , but therefore it is of faith , that it might bee of grace , for as christ , so also faith is the gift of god. wee do not preach conditions unto justification in a popish sense ( as if they merited out of congruity the pardon of sin ) or in an arminian sense ( as if wee could do any thing by our free-will ( without grace ) to dispose our selves unto justification ) but in a scripture sense , wee say , that all those on whom god intends to bestow christ freely , hee freely openeth their eyes to see their undone condition out of christ , hee humbles them under the sense of their sad condition , and out of his free mercy inables them by faith to lay hold upon christ , and to accept of him upon his own termes ; faith is not the cause for which , but the cause without which , god will not give us christ. quest. but what is the condition upon which christ is promised ? answ. there is ( if i may so speak ) conditio praeparans , & disponens , and conditio applicans , the condition required to the preparing and disposing us for an interest in christ , and the condition applying christ to us , and bringing him into our possession . 1 the condition required to the disposing , preparing , and fitting us for an interest in christ. and this is the sight of our sins , the sense of them , and a real willingness to part with them . there is no man qualified according to the gospel , to rest upon christ for pardon of his sins , who is not really willing to part with them . and no man will bee willing to part with his sins ( which hee naturally loves as himselfe ) unlesse hee see the sinfulness and cursedness of them , and feels in some measure the smart of them . the woman who had the bloody issue , never thought of coming to christ , till all her mony was spent in vaine among other physitians . t●e prodigal childe would never have returned to his father , had hee not seen himselfe utterly undone by wandring from him . 2 the condition applying christ to us , and bringing him into our possession . this is faith , which therefore is the proper condition of the gospel , upon which christ is tendred . now this faith is not a bare receiving , and taking of christ. for there are many who take him , and mistake him . ( there is no man but is willing when hee is dying , to take christ , as the men of the old world were willing to go into the ark when the flood came ) but this taking and receiving of christ ( if it bee right ) hath six properties . 1 it is a receiving of christ with all his appurtenances , christ and disgrace , and reproach , and poverty . christ and his cross : there are many would bee glad of christ , but they will not take up his cross. they would take christ down from the cross ( as ioseph of arimathea did ) and leave the cross behinde them . but hee that takes christ aright , will bee as willing to wear a crown of thorns , for his sake , as a crown of gold . 2 it is a receiving of christ in all his offices , as our king , priest , and prophet . a true beleever is as willing to receive christ into his soul , as hee is that christ should receive him into heaven , hee is as willing to have christ reigne over him , as hee is to reign with christ in heaven . hee desires not only to bee saved , but to bee healed by christ. 3 it is a receiving of christ into every room of the soul ; for christ will come into every room , or into never a room . a true beleever opens every door unto christ , hee gives him the lock and key of the whole man , and desires that hee would come and reside in every room . 4 it is a receiving of christ , and him only . for christ must rule alone , or not at all . an hypocrite would compound with christ , and together with the false mother , divide the childe , but a true beleever saith with the prophet , o lord our god ▪ other lords besides thee have had dominion over us ; but now by thee onely will wee make mention of thy name . and with the true mother hee will give the whole to god. 5 it is a receiving of christ in health , as well as in sickness ; in prosperity as well as in adversity ; in youth , as well as in old age ; in life , as well as in death . most people make use of christ , meerly as a shelter against a storme for their own ends ( as the athenians did of themistocles ) and when the storm is over , forsake him . most people flye to christ in their distress , as ioab did to the horns of the altar , and when they can serve the devil no longer , then they begin to think of serving of god ; but a true beleever will give his best dayes to god , as well as his worst , hee desires not onely to dye in christ , but to live for christ , hee receives christ in health , &c. 6 it is a receiving of christ , not only for an hour , or a day , or a year , but for ever . true faith marries the soul to christ , never to part . once a member of christ , for ever a member . now there is no childe of god of what size soever ( though hee bee but as a toe in christs body ) who cannot truly say , that hee is willing to receive iesus christ with all these properties , to receive all christ , with all his appurtenances , and to receive him only in every room , in health , and for ever . and therefore let not the devil , or thy mis-giving heart , or thy melancolick-phancy , keep thee off from beleeving that christ iesus is thy portion , and that thou hast an interest in the main and fundamental promise , and by that , in all the other . do to christ , as the shunamitish woman did to the prophet , lay fast hold on him ; and suffer not the devil to cause thee to let go thy hold . oh that there might bee this day a blessed and happy marriage between jesus christ , and every distressed christian. object . but suppose i am willing to ●ake christ upon christs termes , can i 〈◊〉 assured that christ will receive 〈◊〉 ? ans. yes doubtless . for hee hath said , hee will ; and hee is truth it self , 〈◊〉 cannot lye . indeed a poor wounded ●nner will sometimes confess that hee is willing with all his heart to receive christ upon his own termes ; but hee ●s afraid lest christ should refuse to receive him . but this is a needless fear : for christ will in no wise refuse those that come to him . to as many as receive him , to all those hee will give power to become the sons of god , even to them that beleeve in his name . hee that beleeveth hath everlasting life , and shall never come into condemnation , but is passed from death to life . so much for the fourth rule . if these rules and directions already named , will not inable thee to apply the promises , so as to keep thee from perishing in the day of distress : let mee adde , rule 5. 5 if thou canst not lay hold upon the promises made to those , who are in the highest form in christs school , lay hold upon the promises made to those who are in the lower forms . in christs school there are divers sorts of scholars , some are in the high form , some in the middle , some in the lowest , some are babes in christs school , some are grown christians , some are as tall cedars , some are as low shrubs . now you must know that it is our duty to labour to bee of the highest form . hee that saith hee hath grace enough , hath grace little enough . hee that stints himselfe in his endeavours after grace , never had true grace . wee must labour to bee perfect , as god is perfect . but yet you must also ●now , that hee that is a real scholar in christs school , is in an happy condition , though hee bee not the best scholar . and that it is our duty so to 〈◊〉 the eminent graces , which are in others , as to bee thereby incited to a further progress in grace , but not so as to bee thereby disheartned and dis●●uraged . there are many distressed christians like to those who gaze so long upon the brightness of the sun , that when they come into their houses , they cannot see at all , they pore so much upon the transcendent excellencies which are in their brethren , that they are stark blinde in their own concernments , and cannot see any grace in themselves , and hereupon are apt to conclude , that they are out of gods favour . but this is a non sequitur . the foot must not say , that it is no part of the body , because it is not so eminent a part as the head or heart . wee must rather say with the martyr , blessed bee god that i am a member in christs body , though but the weakest and lowest . wee must not rest satisfied with being lo● christians ; but yet wee must not therefore say , wee are no christians . and when wee are under great tribulations and temptations , if wee cannot apply to our selves for our comfort those promises which are made to ●●minent saints of the highest form , let us apply those which are made unto true saints , though to such who are the lowest of the lowest form ; and hereby wee shall ( through gods blessing ) finde our soules marveilously supported and comforted . as for example , christ hath said , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heaven . and therefore though thou art not rich in grace , yet if poor in spirit , thou art blessed . christ saith , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall bee comforted . though thou canst not live without sin , yet if a mourner for thine own , and other mens sins , thou art blessed . christ saith , blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness , &c. though thou findest an exceeding great want of righteousness in thee , yet if thou hungrest and thirsteth after it , thou art blessed . christ saith , come unto mee all yee that labour , and are heavy laden , and i will give you rest . this text is as an alabaster box full of precious consolation . if thy sinnes bee a burden to thee , christ will give thee rest ; if thou carriest them about thee , not as a golden chain about thy neck , but as an iron chain about thy feet ; if thou beest heavy laden with them , christ will take them off thy shoulders , and put them upon his . christ saith , that hee will not breake the bruised reed , nor quench the smoaking flax , till hee send forth judgement unto victory . if thou hast grace but as a smoaking flax , christ will not quench it , but assist it , till it come to a great flame . christ saith , that the whole have no need of the physitian , but they that are sick . and that hee came not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . if thou art a sin-sick sinner , thy name is in christs commission , hee came to save thee . christ saith , the son of man is come to save that which was lost . if thou apprehendest thy self to bee in a lost condition , thou art amongst the number of those whom christ came to save . the apostle saith , there is no condemnation to those who are in christ , who walke not after the flesh , but after the spirit . though thou hast much flesh in thee , and art sometimes overtaken with sin , yet if thou dost not walk after the flesh , as a servant after his master , if thou walkest after the spirit , there is no condemnation to thee . the apostle saith , if wee confess our sins , god is faithful to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . if wee confess our sins , out of a detestation of sin , with bleeding hearts , and a sincere purpose of forsaking them , god is bound by vertue of his promise to forgive us , else hee were unfaithfull . the apostle saith , that hee that hath begun a good work in us , will perform it untill the day of iesus christ : and therefore if thou hast truth of grace , though but as a grain of mustard seed , do not doubt , but that god in the diligent use of means , will inable thee to persevere . i might adde , nehemiah 1. 11. where god promiseth to bee attentive to the prayers of those who desire to fear his name . and isaiah 26. 11. isa. 26. 3. isa. 65. 1. isa. 55. 1. rev. 22. 15. ioh. 6. 37. but i forbear . rule 6. if thou canst not apply to thy selfe for thy comfort in affliction , the conditional promises , lay hold upon the absolute promises . i have formerly told you that there are some promises conditional , others absolute , some to grace , others of grace , some to those that are godly , others , to make us godly : god hath not onely promised to pardon those that repent , but to give repentance ; not onely to justifie those who beleeve , but to give us to beleeve ; not only to give heaven to those that love him , but to give us grace to love him ; not only to save those that persevere , but to inable us to persevere : and therefore if thou canst not lay hold upon the promises to those that are godly , apply those which are made to make us godly . if not those which are made to those who repent , beleeve and persevere , apply those wherein god promiseth to give us to repent , beleeve , and persevere . if not the conditional , lay hold upon the absolute . there are these differences and agreements , between conditional and absolute promises . 1 for conditional promises . 1 all promises of life and salvation are conditional . 2 conditional promises , are the fruit of free-grace , as well as absolute . it is free-grace which inableth us to performe the conditional , and free-grace which moved god to promise such great mercies upon such conditions . 3 they are the fruit of rich-grace , and rare-mercy , as well as absolute promises . 4 they are of great use to quicken a lazy christian , and to incourage him to diligence ; for no man can obtain the blessing promised , but hee that performs the condition injoyned . 5 they are rare touchstones to try our interest in the promises ; for hee that neglects to perform the condition , cannot challenge an interest in the blessing promised upon the performing of it . 2 for absolute promises . 1 though promises to grace bee conditional , yet promises of grace are absolute , and are made by god unto christ in the behalf of his elect children , according to that of david ▪ ask of mee , and i shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance , and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession . 2 there are no promises so absolute , as to exclude all endeavours on our part . god will do the things promised for us , but by us . wee work , but it is god who worketh all our works in us ; and for us . 3. absolute promises are foundations of industry , as well as conditional . the truth of this i made out in the former sermon . 4 absolute promises are demonstrative arguments of special election , and of the perseverance of the saints . there are some peculiar ones to whom god hath promised ( in the use of means ) absolutely to write his law in their hearts , to cause them to walk in his wayes , to give them infallibly , and infrustrably repentance , faith , and perseverance . the promise of the first grace , and of the crowning grace is absolute . and therefore the doctrine of special election , and of perseverance must needs bee true . 5 absolute promises are mighty helps to wounded consciences , and rare cordials for fainting and despairing christians . when thou art in the dark , and seest no light , flye from the conditional promises , to the absolute , say , lord , thou hast not onely promised to give pardon to those who repent , but thou hast exalted christ for to give repentance . thou hast not onely promised to justifie those who beleeve , but to give grace to beleeve . lord fulfill thine own promise unto thy servant , &c. object . all my fear is that these absolute promises , do not belong to mee . answ. take heed of making desperate conclusions against thy selfe . say as the king of nineveh , who knoweth but god may turn , and have mercy ? exclude not thy self ; neither man , nor angel can say thou art excluded . no man ought to beleeve himself to bee a reprobate ( as i have shewed ) these promises belong to all that can lay hold on them as they are tendred . as the brazen serpent belonged to all those who were able to look upon it ; so do these promises to all that can by faith look up that they may bee healed . say as the four leapers in another case , if i go on in unbeleef , i am certainly damned . and therefore i will venture upon christ ; i will flye to this ark , and if i perish , i will perish beleeving . if these directions will not suffice to comfort thee in the day of adversity , let mee adde , rule 7. all promises made in scripture to the saints in general , are applicable to every saint in particular . god promiseth to solomon , 1 king. 8. 37. 40. and iehoshaphat applied this to his own particular condition , 2 chron. 20. 9. god promiseth to the saints in general , that hee will give them grace and glory , that hee will with-hold no good thing from them , that they shall want nothing that is good , and that all outward blessings shall bee added to them . now there is no saint , but hee may as justly lay hold upon those promises , as if his name were named in them . and the reason is , because all the promises do meet in christ , as all lines in a center . and every saint hath all christ. and therefore promises made to those that are in christ , belong to all that are in christ. rule 8. all promises made to particular saints are applicable to all saints in the same condition . god promiseth to ioshua , that hee would never leave him , nor forsake him . this is applied by the apostle for the comfort of every saint . christ tells peter , luke 22. 32. i have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not . this is applicable to every saint : christ prayeth for thee and mee , and therefore hee adds , when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren . therefore the apostle paul saith , that god comforted him in his tribulation , that hee might bee able to comfort those who are in trouble by the comfort wherewith hee was comforted . and the apostle iames propounds the example of the prophets in general , and of iob in particular , to perswade unto patience in affliction . and therefore when thou art in any strait , consider what god hath promised unto others , in thy condition , and what god hath done to them , hee will do to thee , for hee is unchangeable . and say not , if i were a paul , a peter , or a iob , god would do to mee , as hee did to them ; but i am a poor , weak , unworthy creature , not worthy to bee named that day in which these are named . but consider , if thou beest a member of christs body ( though but as the toe ) christ will have a care of thee . if a childe of god ( though but weak and sickly ) thy heavenly father will provide for thee . a father is tender of every childe , and a man of every member of his body ; so will god bee of all those who belong to him , though but babes in christ. rule 9. the promises of the gospel are all concatenated . if thou hast a true right to any one promise to which heaven is annexed , thou hast a right to all the other . as the commandements of god are chained together ( hee that breaks one , breaks all , and hee that sincerely labours to keep one , will labour to keep all , according to that rule . whatsoever is done for god , is done equally . ) and as the graces of god are linked together ; ( and therefore heaven is sometimes promised to our grace , because he that hath one saving grace , hath all ) so also are the promises joyned together , hee that hath a right to one , hath a right to all : for they are all but one , and the same for substance . they are all the fruit of the same free love in god ; they are all the branches of the same covenant of grace . ( and therefore if thou hast a right to the covenant , thou hast a right to all the promises ) they all carry us to christ , and meet in christ , and are in him yea , and in him amen ; and therefore if thou hast a right to christ , thou hast a right to all . this is a point of singular comfort in the worst of dayes and dangers . for sometimes a childe of god under great afflictions , can lay hold upon one promise , and not upon another , and some can apply those which others cannot , and others those which they cannot . let all such know for their great comfort , that hee that hath right to one branch of the covenant , hath right to all ; hee that hath let fall a chain of gold , consisting of divers links into the water , if hee can catch hold upon any one of the links , hee will easily get out the whole chain . the promises are like to a golden chain with divers links , lay hold upon one aright , and this will assure thee of thy interest in all the rest . i have known many ( yea , very many ) who have dyed with a great deal of comfort from the application of that one text , 1 ioh. 3. 14. unto their own condition . wee know that wee have passed from death , unto life , because wee love the brethren . when all other evidences failed them , and all other texts of scripture afforded them no comfort ; here they anchored , here they found rest for their soules . they blessed god that they could say , that they loved the brethren , and loved them , not for any outward respects , but because of the image of god in them , and they loved them when poor , as well as when rich ; and the more they had of god , the more they loved them ; and they loved them even when they were reproved by them of their faults . and upon this one plank they swam safely , and comfortably unto the haven of eternal happiness . rule 10. if thy condition bee so sad , and thy melancholy so excessive , that thou canst not lay hold upon any promise , yet notwithstanding look towards it . say as ionah , when hee was in the whales belly , jonah 2. 4. then i said , i am cast out of thy sight , yet i will look again toward thy holy temple . the temple was a type of christ. though thou canst not apply christ to thy soul for thy comfort , yet look towards him ; and if thou canst not come to him , hee will come to thee ; if thou canst not apprehend him , hee will apprehend thee : as the loadstone will draw the iron , though the iron cannot draw the loadstone , so will christ ( thy heavenly loadstone ) draw thee to the promise , though thou canst not draw thy selfe to it . no man can come to mee ( saith christ ) except the father draw him : pray therefore with the church , cant. 1. 4. draw mee , and wee will run after thee . rule 11. pray unto god to give thee spiritual eyes , to behold thy interest in the promises : for as it is god who makes them , so it is he only who can irraditate them , and open thy eyes to see thy right in them . it is with promises ( as i have said ) as with chapters and sermons . a man may read a chapter , and hear a sermon , and taste no sweetness in them at one time , and at another time taste much sweetness in them , as god is pleased to co-operate with the reading of the one , and hearing of the other . so it is with the promises , and therefore pray unto god to lighten thine eyes , that thou sleep not the sleep of death . pray unto christ to anoint thine eyes with his spiritual eye-salve . and to cause thee to hope in his word of promise , according to that excellent prayer of david , remember the word unto thy servant , upon which thou hast caused mee to hope . it is god must cause us to hope and trust in his promises , or else wee shall never bee able . god hath given thee eyes to see thy misery ; o pray for eyes to see his mercy . the church of laodicea wanted eyes to see her misery . shee was miserable , and naked , and knew it not . thou hast eyes to see thy undone condition out of christ. pray for eyes to behold the riches of mercy that are in christ , and his willingness to receive all that come to him . rule 12. pray unto god , not onely to give thee spiritual eyes to see thy interest in the promises , but a spiritual hand , to inable thee to apply them to thine own soul in particular . by this spiritual hand , i mean , a christ-appropriating faith. justifying faith is ( as it were ) the hand of the soul , by which wee appropriate christ , and all the promises , as belonging to us in particular . now faith is the gift of god. pray for the spirit of faith. and for your incouragement , consider , that the spirit is called , the promise of the father , and that holy spirit of promise : and god hath promised to give the spirit to those who ask for it . if yee then being evill , know how to give good gifts unto your children , how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him ? the office of the holy spirit is first to seal grace , and then to seal to grace : first , the spirit sanctifieth us , then it witnesseth to our spirits , that wee are sanctified . pray therefore unto god that hee would not only work grace in you , but witness unto the grace which hee hath wrought . pray for the sanctifying and sealing work of the spirit . that hee would not onely fit you to have an interest in the promises , but assure you of your interest in them . rule 13. study thy interest in the promises in the time of health , and outward prosperity ; for i find by experience that a childe of god ( under outward affliction , or divine desertion , or extream melancholy ) is many times like a man in the dark . a man in the dark cannot ( though never so learned ) read in a book of the clearest print , or fairest character , hee cannot ( though never so active ) undertake any thing of weight . no more can a childe of god in the hour of distress , read his evidences for heaven , much less study to finde out evidences ; hee looks upon all the promises with a black pair of spectacles , and wants light to see his interest in them . when sion was in distress , shee said , god had forsaken her , and her lord had forgotten her . when david was persecuted by saul , hee said in his haste , all men were liars , even samuel himselfe , who had told him that god would bestow the kingdome on him , hee said in his haste hee was cut off from before gods eyes ; thus did heman . christ himselfe cryed out , when hee was upon the cross , with a loud voyce , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken mee ? as men in ag●es and feavers , are not fit judges of meats and drinks , ( whether they bee good or bad ) because their pallats are out of taste . so a distressed christian , ( when under extream melancholy , divine desertion , or some great affliction ) is no fit judge , at such a time of his interest in the promises . and therefore my advice is , make out thy interest in time of prosperity , and live upon it in time of adversity . make , and read over thy evidences for heaven in time of health , and learn then by heart , that when thou comest into a dark condition , thou mayest neither have them to make , or to read . do as tamar did , gen. 38. 18. 25. when iudah her father in law , lay with her , shee took as a pledge , his signet , bracelets , and staffe . and afterward when shee was in great distress , and ready to bee burnt as a harlot , shee then brought her staffe , and signet , and bracelets , and said , by the man whose these are , am i with childe , and thereby shee saved her life . so must you do . in time of health study thy interest in the promises , and in time of sickness live upon what thou hast studied , then bring forth thy staffe and bracelets , &c. then produce thy evidences , and make use of them as spiritual butteresses to keep thee from falling into despair . i knew a very godly woman ( not unknown to many here ) who in her life time had taken a great deal of pains to compose , and write down her evidences for heaven , and who also kept a diary of her life , and wrote down how shee spent every day ; when shee lay upon her death-bed , it pleased god to with-draw himself from her for a while , and to let the devil loose , who tempted her to despair , told her shee was an hypocrite , a formalist , and that shee had no true grace in her . shee sent for mee , made her bitter complaint to mee , and sadly bewayled her condition . then shee told mee ( which before i knew not ) how shee had spent her life , how carefull shee had been in searching her wayes , in observing how shee spent every day , and how exact in collecting evidences for heaven , the book was sent for , i read a great part of it to her , and tooke much delight and content in what i read . and it pleased god to come to her with comfort in the reading of it . shee shewed her staffe , and her bracelets , and thereby quenched the fiery darts of the devil . thus i have in three sermons taught you how to make use of scripture-promises , as conduits of soul-supportation , and soul-consolation in the day of distress . when you hereafter read the bible , remember the promising-word ( as well as the commanding and threatning word ) make a catalogue of the promises , meditate upon the pretiousness , freeness , usefulness , latitude , richness , and immutability of them . they are as certain as god himselfe , they have the strength of god , the comforts of god , and assistance of god in them . above all , labour to make application of them to your own soul. for this purpose , study these thirteen rules and directions . pray unto god to give thee spiritual eyes , to see thy interest in them , and spiritual hands to reach out after them . pray to god to give thee spiritual ability , to act faith upon the promises , to draw vertue from them , as the woman who had the bloody issue , did from christ ; to suck out all the sweetness that is in them , to hang upon them , as the woman did upon the prophet , and as a bee doth upon a flower , and by application of them to thy soul , to live in god , and on god here , till thou comest to enjoy the blessings promised with god for ever in heaven . there is one objection behinde , which when i have answered , i have done . for a distressed christian will object , and say , object . though the promises are rare cordials , and shall all of them bee certainly fulfilled , yet god is oftentimes long before hee fulfills them , and while god is fulfilling of his promises , i may in the mean time perish in my affliction . ans. it cannot be denied , but that god is oftentimes very long in fulfilling his promises . he promised that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head ; but it was four thousand years before that promise was actually accomplished . hee promiseth to avenge his elect of all their enemies , to do it speedily . and the souls under the altar cry , how long lord , when wilt thou avenge our blood ? &c. but this is not yet fulfilled . nay , i must adde , that god is not onely a long time performing his promises , but sometimes instead of performing them , hee seems to the eye of flesh and blood to walk contrary to them . sometimes the providences of god run cross to his promises . god promised to make david king ; instead of this , hee is persecuted by saul , as a partridge upon the mountains , hee is driven to that extremity that hee begins to doubt of gods promise , and to say , that one day hee should dye by the hand of saul . god promised to ioseph , that the sun , moon , and stars should worship him , and that his sheaf should bee lifted up above the sheaf of his brethren . but hee findes the quite contrary , his brethren seek to slay him , sell him into egypt , and there hee is put in prison as one quite forsaken of god. but yet notwithstanding all this , you must know , that though the way of god , in performing his promises , bee very mysterious and secret , yet hee will at last perform every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and tittle of them . thus david was at last made king of israel , and ioseph lord of egypt , and his brethren came all to worship him . quest. how must wee carry and behave our selves at such times , when providences seem to run cross unto gods promises ? answ. at such times there are three things required of us . 1 it is our duty to wait patiently , and beleevingly , till providences and promises meet together . hee that beleeveth maketh not haste . the prophet there speaks of a glorious promise , and adds , that a true saint will wait gods time , which is the fittest and best time , hee will patiently expect , till god fulfil his promise . hee will do as the martyr did , who might have escaped privately out of prison , and was tempted to it by his friends ; but answered : hee would not go out of prison when his enemies would have him , for they would make him tarry longer than hee should , nor yet when his friends would have him , for they would make him tarry a lesser time than hee should ; but hee would come out when god would have him . gods time is the best ; and they are soon enough delivered , who are delivered in gods way , and at gods time . this then is thy great duty ( o christian ) to wait patiently , and beleevingly , and not to seek by unlawful waies to bee rid of they miseries , as david did by going to the philistims ; and as many in queen maries daies did , by yeelding to the popish superstitions . to help you to wait gods leisure , holding faith and a good conscience ; you have 1 many rare and precious promises made to those that wait upon him , which i have formerly named . 2 you have four attributes in god to support you , his faithfulness , almightiness , infinite goodness , and wisdome . hee is faithful , and not one tittle of his word shall fall to the ground ; hee is almighty , and able to do whatsoever hee hath promised ; hee is infinitely wise , to know the best time and season , and infinitely good and loving to his children , and doth not willingly afflict them , but will make haste to help them . 2 it is our duty to live upon promises , while providences seem to run cross to promises . this is the meaning of hab. 2. 4. the just shall live by faith. they shall live by faith , when they have nothing else to live on . when sense and reason tell them , they are undone , then shall they live by faith in the promises , and not only live patiently , but comfortably , and joyfully , as the same prophet , hab. 3. 17 , 18 , 19. saith , although the fig-tree shall not blossome , neither shall fruit bee in the vine , and the field shall yeeld no meat , &c. yet i will rejoyce in the lord , i will joy in the god of my salvation . this life did paul live , when the ship in which he was , was ready to bee drowned , when there was neither sun-light , nor star-light , yet hee was exceedingly chearful , because god had promised to preserve him , and those with him . by living this life , god is much honoured , and our souls much quieted and refreshed . 3 it is our duty to continue praying , till providences and promises meet together : for it is prayer , and prayer only , which will at last reconcile gods promises , and gods dispensations , and cause them to meet , and to kiss one another : for as the promises are the ground and rule of our prayers ; so our prayers are the divine waies and means for the obtaining of the promises . i say , as the promises are 1 the ground of our prayers . for wee cannot pray in faith , unless wee have some promise to bottome our prayers upon ; therefore david often chargeth god in his prayers with his promise . hee harps eight times upon the same string in one psalm , to teach us , that the greatest rethorick and oratory wee can use in our prayers , is to urge god with his promise . 2 they are not onely the ground , but the rule of our prayers ; as wee must pray for nothing but what god hath promised , so wee must regulate our prayers according to gods promises . those thing which hee hath absolutely promised , wee must pray for absolutely , and where god hath put conditions , and exceptions , there our prayers must be conditional . now as the promises are the ground and rule of our prayers , so our prayers are divine means and helps for the obtaining of the promises : though god hath made many glorious and precious promises to his children , yet hee will perform none of them , but to those who by prayer seek them at his hands . when nathan told david what great things god had promised to him , hee went into gods house to pray for them , 2 sam. 7. the prophet isaiah mentioneth a glorious promise , isa. 43. 25. but hee adds , put mee in remembrance , vers . 20. thus ezekiel 36. 37. i will yet for this bee inquired of by the house of israel , and therefore when you read the promises of the bible , remember whatsoever god makes a promise , you must make a prayer ; and that prayer will hasten the fulfilling of the promises : you must continue to pray , and faint not ; for the vision is but for an appointed time , though it tarry , wait for it , because it will surely come , it will not tarry . this did daniel when hee understood the time approached , &c. hee prayed , dan. 9. 2 , 3. thus did david , psal. 56. 9 , 10 , 57. 1 , 2. thus must you do . these are the three great duties which the lord requires of us at all times , but more especially in these our dayes , wherein the providences of god seem to run quite cross unto his promises . the lord give us grace to practise them . so much for this text. the end of the fifth sermon . a brief repetition of what was said of mrs. elizabeth moore at her burial . though i have finished my text , yet i have another text remaining , of which i must speak a few words ; and that is , the party deceased , at whose funeral wee are here met . shee was a woman ( i verily beleeve ) truly fearing god , and yet throughout her whole life loaded with many and great troubles . god picked her out to bee a pattern of afflictions , as hee had not long before that reverend and godly minister , mr. ieremiah whitakers . this pattern teacheth us three lessons . 1 that all things come alike to all in this world , and that no man knoweth love or hatred by any thing that is before him . the best of saints sometimes are upon the dunghil , when the vilest of men are upon the throne . the best of men are afflicted , when the worst of men are in prosperity . 2 that there is not so much evil in affliction , or so much good in prosperity , as the world imagineth . for if there were , god would not bestow so much prosperity upon the wicked , and exercise his dear children with so many afflictions . 3 that there will come a rewarding day , in which it shall certainly bee well with the righteous . when i see a wicked man prosper , i say , surely there will come a punishing day , in which the wicked shall be turned into hell. when i see a godly man in adversity , i say , verily there is a reward for the righteous , verily there is a god that judgeth in the earth . such examples prove that there is another life besides this . and that if the godly had hope onely in this life , they were of all people most miserable . i will not trouble you with a relation of her christian carriage in the time of her health , because it is sufficiently known to most here present . i shall onely take notice of her great care and diligence in making her calling and election sure . shee had not her ark to build when the flood came , nor her corn to get when the seven years of famine came : shee had laid up a stock of graces , and comforts against the evill hour ; shee had not her evidences for heaven to get , at the houre of death . but shee had collected and composed them in the time of her life , and when shee came to dye , shee ●ad neither her graces , nor her comforts , nor her evidences for heaven to seek , shee had nothing to do but to dye . her sickness was very long , and very painful , concerning which i shall briefly acquaint you with these few particulars . 1 god moved the hearts of very many godly people , to take compassion of her sad and afflicted condition , and to contribute liberally ( shee being poor ) towards her relief ; this merciful providence wonderfully comforted her ; she saw gods love in it , and was so much affected with it , that she was ( for a little while ) really and exceedingly afraid ( notwithstanding her great torments by reason of a cancer in her breast ) lest she should have her heaven in this life , and lest this mercy should bee all her portion . the lord recompence that labour of love and that christian charity a thousand fold into the bosomes of those who manifested so much kindnesse to her . 2 her patience was very great . as god increased her pains , hee increased her patience , even to the admiration of such of us as were frequent spectators of it . she was brought to such a sweet frame of spirit , as to bee willing to live under all her torments , as long as god pleased , and to dye whensoever he pleased . 3 shee was a woman of a very fearful nature , and in the time of her health had many doubts and scruples ( notwithstanding all her care forementioned ) about her salvation . but in her sickness , all her doubts vanished . god chained up satan . the devil had no power to tempt her , shee felt a great calmness in her soul , and had much inward peace , and injoyed more of god , and his consolations , in the time of her sickness ▪ than in the time of her health . 4 shee was very forward in spreading and diffusing those graces which god had bestowed upon her , and in giving good counsel to those who visited her . i have heard her often , and often perswading her friends to prize health , and to improve it for the good of their souls , to lay up against an evill day , and to stock themselves with grace before sickness come . shee would frequently say , o the benefit of health ! o prize health ! praise god for health , and improve health for your eternal good . 5 shee was very well vers't in the scriptures . the law of god was her delight ; and this kept her from perishing in her affliction . shee was continually fetching cordials out of the word , to comfort her under her great pains , and to preserve her from fainting . the twelfth chapter of the hebrews was a precious cordial to her , so was the eight of the romans , and the 2 of the corinthians the 4. chapter and the 17 , 18. verses . for our light affliction which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; while wee look not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen , are eternal . 1 cor. 15 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57. for this corruptible must put on incorruption , and this mortal , must put on immortality . so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption , and this mortal shal have put on immortality ; then shal be brought to pass the saying that is written , death is swallowed up in victory . o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sinne , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks bee to god which giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ. phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile body , that it may bee fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himself . a little before her death shee said , in the lord iehovah there is righteousness and strength ; righteousness for justification and strength for supportation . shee said , that the word of god was the best cordial in the world : and that one minutes being in heaven , would make amends for all her pain and misery . 6 and lastly , i cannot but take special notice of the happy close of her life , and of the blessed end shee made . it is said of iob , james 5. 11. yee have heard of the patience of iob , and have seen the end of the lord , &c. this our christian sister did in a great measure , partake both of iobs pains , and iobs patience , and made as happy an end , as hee did , though in another kinde . in the morning of that day in which shee dyed , shee fell into a slumber , in which shee heard ( as shee thought ) one saying to her , this day thou shalt bee with mee in paradise . immediately shee awaked full of joy , and though hardly able to speak , yet shee uttered it to those who stood by , and was much comforted with it . now though i am far from putting any confidence in dreams , and doubt not that a man may dream hee shall go to heaven , and yet bee cast into hell. though i do not think that comfortable dreams are sufficient evidences of salvation . ( nay , when they are brought as proofs of erronious opinions , i account them diabolical delusions ; and when wicked men have them , pleasant presumptions . ) yet notwithstanding when a woman who hath spent many years in the service of god , and is visited by god for above a year , with great and most grievous pains , shall at the close of her life , ( when shee is upon the very brink of eternity ) have such a sweet , refreshing , and heart-chearing impression upon her spirit ; when heart fails , and flesh fails : when shee can hardly speak to express the greatnesse of her joy , then to hear a voice ( as it were ) saying to her , this day thou shalt bee with mee in paradise . this ( in all probability ) was the voice of god , and not of man. this was the lords doing , and it is marveilous in our eyes . i forbear saying any more . shee is gone from a prison to a palace ; from a purgatory to a paradise . shee is at rest with god , where all tears are wiped away from her eyes : the lord fit us by his grace to follow her in due time into the kingdome of glory . amen . mrs. elizabeth moores evidences for heaven : collected by her self in the time of her health , in such manner and method , as they are here presented to publick view . 1 her design in this collection . in the examination of my self , i finde that my aims and ends , why i desire to gather together , and clear up my evidences for heaven ( if my deceitful heart doth not deceive mee ) are these following . 1 that hereby ( as a means ) i may bee inabled to glorifie god in the great work of beleeving , that hereby ( with gods blessing ) the dimme eye of my faith may more clearly see the lord jesus christ to bee a peace-maker , and reconciler , and surety , for mee , even for mee , who am by nature a fire-brand of hell. the time was , i am sure , when i was the devils picture , and had the black brand of reprobation upon mee , and therefore it doth neerly concern mee to search and trye what evidences i have to prove that god fetching arguments out of his own bowels , and the riches of his free grace , hath redeemed mee out of this lost estate . 2 my aime is to strengthen that longed for grace of assurance ▪ a grace , which though it bee not of absolute necessity for the being and salvation , yet it is of absolute necessity for the well being and consolation of a christian ; without this grace i can neither live nor dye comfortably ; and i have been often exhorted by gods faithful ambassadors , to gather together my scripture evidences , and to have the approbation of some godly and experienced minister or christian ; and this by gods blessing may bee a means to strengthen assurance : yea , i finde in scripture , that the lord saith , that the priests lips shall preserve knowledge , and thou shalt seek the law at his mouth , for hee is the messenger of the lord of hosts . 3 my aime is to obey god in his word , who hath commanded mee by his apostle , to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling ; and to give all diligence to make my calling and election sure : and i am exhorted to examine my self , and prove my self , whether i bee in the faith or no , know yee not ( saith the apostle ) that christ is in you , except you bee reprobates : and if any man bee in christ , hee is a new creature ; old things are passed away , and all things are become new . now then to prove whether i bee indeed and in truth born again , is my desire at this time , the lord help mee , and give mee a sincere and upright heart , and guide mee herein by his holy spirit , for the honour of his holy name . 2 a brief collection of her evidences for heaven . blessed bee god , who hath through his free mercy begotten mee to a hope , that i am regenerated and born from above , and converted unto god. reason , because the lord hath gone the same usual way with mee , as with those he● pleaseth to convert to himself ; and this i shall make to appear in five or six particulars . 1 the lord by his spirit accompanying the preaching of his word , caused the scales to fall from my eyes , and opened them , and set up a clear light in my understanding , and made mee to see sin , to bee exceeding sinful , out of measure sinful , and to look on it as the loathsomest thing in the world , and on my self as a loathsome creature in gods sight , and in my own sight , by reason of the leprosie of sin , wherewith i was over-run . 2 the lord brought mee to see the misery that i was in , by reason of my sins . i thought i was utterly forsaken of god , and i thought that god would never accept of such a wretch as i saw my self to bee . i could not think otherwise , but that hell was my portion , and that i , by reason of my sins must go thither , expecting every day when the lord would glorifie himself in my damnation . i saw my self in more misery , because of my sins than i could then , or now expresse to any body . i looked upon god as a consuming fire , and on my self as stubble , ready to bee consumed by him , &c. 3 the lord brought mee to a spiritual astonishment , that i cried out , what shall i do to bee saved ! and said with paul , lord ! what wouldest thou have mee to do ? do but make known to thy poor creature what thy will is , and i thought i could do any thing , or suffer any thing for the lord. but since i have had some more knowledge of the holy will of god , woe is mee ! what a barren and unfruitful heart have i ! a heart that can neither do , nor suffer any thing for the lord , as i ought to do : but this i can say , that the astonishment i was in by the sight of my sins , and the misery i was plunged into , put mee on the performance of holy duties , especially prayer . 4 the lord took mee off my own bottome , off my own righteousness , and made mee to see that that was but a sandy foundation , and would not hold out . i was not taken off from the performance of holy duties ; no , i thought with my self that i am commanded by god to perform holy duties , which is the way and means whereby wee may meet with god ( for hee is ordinarily to bee injoyed no where but in his own ordinances ) but the lord took mee off from resting and trusting in ordinances . and as hee made mee to see that without the practise of them hee would not accept of mee ; so also hee made mee to know that it was not for holy duties , for which i was accepted . the sins that cleave to my best performances , are enough for which the lord may justly condemn mee , if i had no other sins . 5 the lord brought mee to see a superlative beauty and excellency in the lord iesus christ , and my soul was deeply in love with him , even with whole christ in all his offices , and ( if i know any thing at all of my owne heart ) i desired christ as much to bee my king and prophet , to teach , and guide mee , and subdue mee to himself , and rule over mee , as to bee my high-priest , to make attonement by offering up of himself for mee , and washing mee in his blood , by which i must bee justified . 6 the lord brought mee to see a soul-satisfaction in the lord jesus christ alone ; and i think i should bee as fully satisfied with christ alone , as my heart can desire . if i know my heart , it panteth after christ , and christ alone : none but christ , none but christ. the whole world in comparison or competition with christ , is nothing to mee : but in him i see full contentment . to see and know my interest in him and to injoy communion with him , is that , which if the lord would bestow upon mee , i should with iacob say , it is enough ; and with old simeon ) now let thy servant depart in peace , for my eyes have seen thy salvation . now i desire to set down some other scripture evidences , that i finde upon search and examination of my heart , by laying it to the rule ; the word of god. my second scripture evidence is taken from mark. 2. 17. where christ saith , they that are whole have no need of the physitian , but they that are sick , and hee came not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . now through gods mercy i can say , that i am a sin-sick-sinner ( the lord make mee more sick ) i am not righteous in mine own eyes , but a sinner , and see my self undone for ever , without the righteousness of christ bee imputed to mee , and therefore i hope i am amongst the number of those whom christ was commissionated by his father to come to save . from matth. 11. 28 , 29. i am weary and heavy laden ; now christ hath promised to give ease to such . and i am willing to take his yoke upon mee , and would fain learn of him the lesson of meekness and lowliness , and therefore am invited to come unto him . i can say with david , that my sins are a heavy burden to mee , they are too heavy for mee , psal. 38. 4. and i can say that i mourn , because i cannot mourn no more for my sins ; now christ saith , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall bee comforted , mat. 5. 4. from matth. 5. 3. i think ( if my heart do not deceive mee ) i am pòor in spirit ; now theirs is the kingdome of heaven , saith christ. from matth. 12. 20. i am a bruised reed , and smoaking flax , and therefore christ hath promised , hee will not break such a reed , nor quench the smoak of grace , if it bee true grace , but hee will increase it more and more ( as hee saith ) untill judgement breake forth into victory : and hee came to set at liberty them that are bruised , luke 4. 18. therefore i hope i am such a one as hee came to binde up , and set at liberty ; yea , and that hee was anointed and sent by his father to mee , and such as i am , isa. 61. 1. from 1 tim. 1. 15. this is a faithfull saying , and worthy of all acceptation , ( saith paul ) that iesus christ came into the world to save sinners : and so say i too ; it is worthy all acceptation , that christ should come from the bosome of his father , who was infinitely glorious and happy , that hee should come into the world to save mee , mee a sinner , mee the chiefe of sinners ; mee , that if saved , i do verily beleeve , there is none in heaven , nor any that ever shall come thither , that hath or will have the cause to magnifie and adore free grace , as i shall have . and herein doth god commend his love towards mee — for if when wee were enemies , wee were reconciled to god by the death of his son , much more being reconciled , wee shall bee saved by his life , rom. 5. 10. i can say with paul , that i delight in the law of god , after the inward man , and i am grieved that i cannot keep it . i finde that spiritual war in mee , between flesh and spirit , which paul complaineth of , and i can say , that paul doth confess over my heart in his confessions , rom. 7. and i can go along with him there , from verse 9. to the end of the chapter ; and from hence i gather , that there is some spiritual life in my soul , and an indeavour to walk after the spirit , and therefore i hope and desire to conclude with him , that there shall bee no condemnation to mee , but that the law of the spirit of life in christ iesus shall make mee free from the law of sin , and death . i finde an earnest desire wrought in my soul , to bee made like unto jesus christ , and that it may bee my meat and drink to do and suffer his will , as hee would have mee . i can say , that the lord hath in some measure put his fear into my heart , that i fear to offend him out of love to him , and i love to fear him . i can say with the church to christ , cant. 1. 7. o thou whom my soul loveth ! ( and if i know any thing at all of mine own heart ) christ is altogether lovely , and most desirable to my soul. i think i can truly say with david , that i have none in heaven but thee , and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides thee , in comparison of thee , in competition with thee . though all that is dearest to mee in the world should forsake mee , yet if god whom i have chosen for my portion will not forsake mee , i have enough . it is my desire and endeavour more and more to account all things but loss and dung , that i may win christ. i can with peter make my appeal to him , and say , lord , thou who knowest all things , thou knowest that i love thee , and that it is the desire of my soul to love thee more , and to love thee for thy self , because thou art holy , and good , and gracious , and the chiefest amongst ten thousand ; yea god in christ alone , is worthy to be beloved , and it is my highest priviledge that hee will give mee leave to love him , who only can satisfie my soul , and rede●m it from death eternal , who hath justified mee by his blood , and sanctified mee by his spirit , whom therefore i love with all my heart , and all my soul , and all my might , and all my strength . finding therefore , that god hath drawn out my heart to love him , and make choice of him alone , i from hence gather and ground my hope , that god loveth mee , according to that scripture , 1 ioh. 4. 19. wee love him , because hee first loved us . i finde my heart much inflamed with love to all the children of god , because they are gods children , and the more i see , or finde , or hear of god in them , the more i finde my heart cleaving to them , and i thinke i can truly say with david , that my delight is in the saints , and those that excel in grace ; not because they are friends to mee , or i have relation to them in regard of outward obligations , but because they bear the image of god upon them , and manifest it in their holy conversation . i love them , whether rich , or poor . and though i did never know some of them , but onely hear of their holiness , and piety , yet i could not but exceedingly love such . therefore i hope that i am passed from death to life , because i love the brethren , 1 ioh. 3. 14. i do not only love god , and the children of god , but i labour to keep his commandements , and they are not grievous to mee . but i pray with david , o that my waies were directed to keep thy statutes ! lord inlarge my heart , and i will run the waies of thy commandements : give mee understanding , and i shall keep thy law , yea , i shall observe it with my whole heart ; for therein do i delight . i finde i am one that is very thirsty after jesus christ , and the grace of christ ; and i thirst to have his image more and more stamped upon mee ; and i would fain bee assured by gods spirit , that i am transplanted into christ , and therefore i long , and indeavour after a true and lively faith , because that grace is a soul-transplanting and uniting grace . now christ hath promised to satisfie the thirsty , matth. 5. 6. and such christ hath earnestly invited to come , though they have nothing to bring but what may make against themselves , yet to come empty , and hee hath promised to fill them , isa. 55. 1 , 2. i am willing to confess , and with all my heart to forsake all my sins . i am willing to give glory to god in taking shame unto my self . i acknowledge my self a guilty malefactor , and judge my self worthy of the just condemnation of the righteous judge of all the earth . and i do not only confess my sins , but with all my heart i desire to forsake them , and to turn to the lord : now hee hath said , hee will have mercy on such , and will abundantly pardon them . for his thoughts are not as our thoughts , nor his waies , as our waies , isa. 55. 7 , 8. it is my constant indeavour to dye to sin , to live to newness of life . and this is my comfort and hope , that hee who hath begun a good work in mee , will perfect it . for it is hee that worketh all our works in us , and for us , isa. 26. 12. and hee that hath wrought in mee to will , to do that which is pleasing in his sight , will work in mee to do also , and that of his good pleasure , phil , 2. 13. i hope i am one whom god hath taken into covenant with himself , because hee hath bestowed upon mee the fruits of the covenant , because hee hath circumcised my heart to love him , and hath put his fear into mee , and hath wrought an universal change in mee ; and hath given mee a new heart , and a new spirit ; yea his own spirit which hee hath put within mee , even the spirit of truth , which will guide mee into all truth . it is his own promise to give his holy spirit to them that aske it of him ( as i have done often ) luke 11. 13. and i hope that god will make it in his due time , a witnessing and a comforting spirit . i will wait upon him for the accomplishment of all his promises , both of grace , and to grace . hee hath said , hee will bee a sun and a shield , he will give grace and glory , and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly . and hee hath promised to subdue our sins for us ; and hath said , that sin shall not have dominion over us , rom. 6. 14. that hee will bee our god , and wee shall bee his children ; and hee will save us from all our uncleannesses . i hope i have a share in this blessed covenant of free grace . as for my affliction that lyeth upon mee ( though it bee in it self very heavy ) i much more desire the sanctification of it , than the removal . i earnestly labour to learn all those lessons which god teacheth mee by affliction . i know i should not bee scourged , nor bee in tribulation , but that i have need of it ; it is for my profit to make mee partaker of his holiness . afflictions are an evidence of sonship , heb. 12. 6 , 7 , 8. god hath promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love and fear him . and i have had much experience of his faithfulness , who hath not suffered mee to bee tempted above what hee hath inabled mee to bear ; therefore i will bear the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him . hee hath chastized mee less than mine iniquities deserve . hee chastizeth mee here , that hee may not condemn mee hereafter . faith is the condition of salvation . beleeve in the lord iesus christ , and thou shalt bee saved . and this is his commandement , that wee should beleeve in his son iesus christ : now i find nothing so hard to mee as to beleeve aright : to cast away all my own righteousness as dung , in point of justification , and to cast away all my unrighteousness , so as that bee no bar to mee , and to role , and cast , and venter my immortal soul upon jesus christ and his righteousness , for life and salvation by him alone , and to see my self compleat in him ; this is supernatural . yet i must and will give glory to god , and say , lord i beleeve , help thou my unbeleef . and by this i prove that this precious grace of faith is wrought in mee , because jesus christ is to mee very precious : and i finde in the word , that to them that beleeve hee is precious : and i am willing to take christ upon his own termes , as hee is tendred in the gospel ; and am willing to give up my self soul and body wholly to him ; and my love to god , and to the children of god , is a fruit of my faith , as also my desire to bee made like unto him : for hee that hath this hope in him , purifieth himself , even as hee is pure , 1 john 3. 3. and i trust that i am kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation , 1 pet. 1. 5. i know whom i have beleeved , and i am perswaded that hee is able and willing to keep that which i have committed unto him , which is my immortal soul. thus i have according to the apostles exhortation endeavoured to give a reason of the hope that is in mee . what have i but what i have received ? the desire of my soul is , that god may have all the glory . and if i bee deceived , the lord for christs sake undeceive mee , and grant that if i have not true grace , i may not think i have , and so bee in a fools paradise . and the lord that is my heart-maker , bee my heart-searcher , and my heart-discoverer , and my heart-reformer . amen . finis . books printed , and are to bee sold by iohn hancock , at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . a book of short-writing , the most easy , exact , lineal , and speedy method , fitted to the meanest capacity ; composed by mr. theophilus metcalf , professor of the said art. also a school-master , explaining the rules of the said book . another book of new short-hand by thomas crosse. a coppy-book of the newest and most useful hands , with rules , whereby those that can read , may quickly learn to write : to which is added , brief directions for true spelling and cyphering , &c. four books lately published by mr. thomas brooks , preacher of the gospel at margarets new fish-street . 1 precious remedies against satans devices . or , salve for beleevers and unbeleevers sores , being a companion for those that are in christ , or out of christ , that sleight or neglect ordinances , under a pretence of living above them , that are growing in spirituals , or decaying , that are tempted , or deserted , afflicted , or opposed , that have assurance , or want it , on the 2 of the corinthians , the 2. and the 11. 2 heaven on earth : or , a serious discourse , touching a well-grounded assurance of mens eeverlasting happiness , and blessedness , discovering the nature of assurance , the possibility of attaining it , the causes , springs , and degrees of it , with the resolution of several weighty questions , on the eighth of the romans , 32 , 33 , 34. verses . 3 the vnsearchable riches of christ : or , meat for strong men , and milk for babes , held forth in two and twenty sermons , from ephesians 3. 8. preached on his lecture nights at fishstreet-hill . 4 his apples of gold , for young men , and women : and a crown of glory for old men , and women : or the happiness of being good betimes , and the honour of being an old disciple , clearly and fully discovered , and closely and faithfully applied . 5 his string of pearles ; or the best things reserved till last . preached at the funeral of mrs. blake , late wife of mr. nicholas blake merchant . the covenant of gods free grace unfolded , and comfortably applyed to a disquieted or dejected soul , on the 2 of samuel , 23. 5. by that late reverend divine , mr. iohn cotton of new-england . darkness discovered , or the devils secret stratagems laid open ; shewing the way to end controversies in religion , written by iacobus acconcius , and translated into english . a brief description of the presbyterian government , approved by divers godly divines , and humbly presented to the consideration of the assembly . a treatise of civil government , by robert spey . a glass for the times , briefly confuting divers errors in religion . the ruine of the authors and fomenters of civil war ; as it was dilivered in a sermon before the parliament , at their monthly fast , by mr. samuel gibson ; sometime minister at margarets westminster , and one of the assembly of divines . the new creature , with a description of the several marks and characters thereof , by richard bartlet . a learned speech , by sir francis bacon in parliament quinto iacobi ▪ concerning the scottish nation . a mirrour for christian states ; or , a table of politick vertues , considerable amongst christians , by e. moliner , doctor of divinity . a treatise of the external works of god ; 1 in general , on psal. 135. 6. 2 in particular , on gen. 1. 2. 3. of gods actual providence ; by george walker , b. d. late pastor of st. iohn evangelist church . the expert physitian . learnedly treating of all agues and feavers essential , whether simple , or compound , confused , erratick and malignant , shewing their different nature , cause , signe , and cure , written originally by that famous doctor in physick , bricius bauderon , and translated into english by doctor wells , licentiate in physick , by the university of oxford : to bee sold by by iohn hancok , at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . 1658. books lately printed for thomas parkhurst , at the sign of the three crowns over against the great conduit , at the lower end of cheapside . a learned commentary , or exposition upon the first chapter of the second epistle to the corinthians , by dr. richard sibbs , published for publick good , by thomas manton , folio . there is newly come forth mr. william fenner his continuation of christs alarm to drowsie saints , with a treatise of effectual calling : the killing power of the law : the spiritual watch : new birth : a christians ingrafting into christ : a treatise on the sabbath , which were never before printed , bound in one volume , fol ▪ and may bee had alone of them that have his other works , as well as bound with all his former works , which are now newly printed in the same volume . truth brought to light , and discovered by time , or an historical narration of the first fourteen years of king iames , in 4 ● . mr. robinsons christians armor in large 8 ● . book of emblems , with latine and english verses made upon ( lights ) by robert farlie , small 8 ● . grace to the humble , as preparation to the sacrament in five sermons , by dr. iohn preston . picturae l●●ventes , or pictures drawn forth into characters , 12 ● . a most excellent treatise containing the way to seek heavens glory , to flye earths vanity , to fear hells horror , with godly prayers , and the bell-mans summons , 12 ● . iohnsons essaies expressed in sundry exquisite fancies . the one thing necessary ; by mr. thomas watson , minister of stephens walbrook , 8 ● . sion in the house of mourning , because of sin and suffering , being an exposition on the fifth chapter of the lamentations , by d. s. pastor of upingham , in the county of rutland . groans of the spirit , or the trial of the truth of prayer . a handkercher for parents wet-eyes , upon the death of their children or friends . the dead saint speaking to saints and sinners living , in several treatises , viz. on 2 sam. 24. 10. on cant. 4. 9. on iohn 3. 15. on iohn 1. 50. on isa. 58. 2. on exod. 15. 11. never published before . by samuel bolton , d. d. late mr. of christs colledge in cambridge . peoples need of a living pastor , at the funeral of mr. iohn frost , m. a. 〈◊〉 m● ▪ zach. crofton . a treatise against the toleration of all religions , by mr. tho. edwards . chatechizing gods ordinance ; in sundry sermons , by mr. zachary crofton , minister of buttolphs aldgate london , the second edition , corrected and augmented . a theatre of political flying-insects . wherein especially the nature , the worth , the work , the wonder , and the manner of the right-ordering of the bee , is discovered and described . by samuel purchas , m. a. and pastor at sutton in essex . there is going to the press , mr. william fenner , late of rochford in essex , his second part of mans wilfull impenitency , upon ezek. 18. 32. with some other peeces of his , preserved by a special providence . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31997-e210 bona pro●osita ●ehennam intr●ue , bona opera coelum . ●as tibi non est de fortuna conqueri salvo caesare . ●as tibi non est de fortuna conqueri salvo deo. & salvis promissionibus dei. 2 cor. 13. 5 mark. 16. 16 psal , 119. 60 eph. 3. 17 2 cor. 5. 20 1 joh. 2. 20 psal. 68. 24 psal. 27. 4 psal. 63. 2 rev. 3. 2 luke 4. 29 luke 4. 32 1 tim. 6. 10 1 joh. 2. 15 john 3. 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eph. 5. 3 mat. 22. 5 gen. 33. 13 , 14 1 tim. 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 phi. 3. 19. momentum undependet aeternitas . momentaneum quod delectat , aeternum quod 〈◊〉 . anselme eph ● . 15. 〈…〉 luke 12. 48. crescentious ●onis cres●unt rationes donorum . ioh. 4. 29. 30. act. 10. ●4 2 sam 〈…〉 james ● . 27. ● ioh. 4. 20 ● cor. 16. 2 mat. 6. 23. 2 pet. 3. 17 ● cor. 15. 〈◊〉 . psal. 133. mark 9. 50 1 cor. 1. 10. descendamus viventes , ut non descendamus mo●ientes . notes for div a31997-e7670 the second design of god in afflicting his children . the third design . the fourth design . gods people are to prepare for afflictions . 1 a stock of graces . 2 a stock of assurance . 3 a stock of divine experiences . 4 a stock of sermons . 5 a stock of scripture promises . 3 gods people are to improve afflictions . gods people are to labour to know the meaning of gods rod how wee may know the meaning of gods rod how to finde out the particular sin for which god afflicts us . the good we get by our afflictions must remain with us after our recovery . notes for div a31997-e15820 reasons why the saints take so much delight in gods law notes for div a31997-e21080 2 king. 6 26 , 27. 2 vse . 2 cor. 11. 14. isa. 4. the word of god divided into the commanding , threatning and promising word . three things to bee done by those that would improve the promises . mr. lee on the promises ▪ mr. b●ll , mr. bulkley . notes for div a31997-e24680 we must not only make a catalogue of the promises , but meditate on them . isa. 66. 10 , 11. the difference between a presumptuous sinner , and a true childe of god in relation to the promises . three observable things about the promises . ezek. 18. 31. ezek. 36. 26. jer. 32. 40 mic 7. 19. rom. 6. 14 isa. 26. 12. jer. 31. 33. ezek. 36. 27. domine da quod jubes , & jube quod vis aust. the second difference . rom 4. 19 , 20 , 21. heb. 11. 11 the first meditation about the promises . the second meditation , meditate on the preciousnesse of the promises . 2 pet. 1. 4 the promises are precious in five respects . 2 cor. 1. ●0 . psal. ●8 , 30 , 31 the third meditation , medi●ate on the freeness of the promises . the four●● meditation . meditate on the stability of the promises . mat. 5. 18 rom. 11 25 , 26. rev. 11. 15 rev. 18. 2 mat. 19. 26 the fifth meditation , meditate on the richness of the promises . heb. 6 : 17. qui habet habentem omnis , haber omnia . the sixth meditation , meditate on the latitude and extension of the promises . the seventh meditation , meditate on the ●ariety of ●he pro●ises . ●he eight meditati●n , medi●●te on the ●sefulness ●f the ●romises . ●he pro●●ses are 〈◊〉 ●●eathings d●vine 〈◊〉 . 2 sam 7. 11 , 18 , 19. magnes amo●is amor . 1 ioh. 4 , 19. the promises are the life and soul of faith. the proises are the anchor of hope . heb. 6 9. heb. 11. 9 , 10. heb. 11. the promises are the wings of prayer . eph. 6. 18 gen. 32. 12. 2 chron. 20. 8 , 9. the promises are the foundation of industry . 2 cor 7. 1 heb. 13. 5. 1 cor. 10. 13 , 4. 2 cor. 6. 17 , 18. phil 2. 12 , 13. the promises are the raies and beams of the son of righteousness . dr. reynolds on the sinfulness of sin the ninth meditation , meditate on the necessity of getting an interest in the promises . eph. 2. 12 notes for div a31997-e32190 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first rule for the right application of the promises . ezek. 2● . 37. the second rule for the right application of the promises . mat. 11. 28 isa. 35. 4 isa. 66. 2 the third rule for the right application of the promises . sola misericordia deducit deumad homines , & sola misericordia reducit homines ad deum . mat. 5. 3 the fourth rule for the right application of the promises . 2 cor. 1. 20 1 cor. 3. 2 three things to be studied in order to the makeing out of our interest in christ. first , the universality of the promise of christ mark 16. 15 , 16. magnus de caelo venit medici●s ; quia magnus in terra jacebat a●gro●us aug. ioh. 6. 37. joh. 3. 36 , study the freeness of the promise of christ. isa 55 , 1. rev. 22. 17. study the condition upon which christ is promised . eph. 2. 8. right receivi●g of christ hath six pr●perties isa. 26. 13. 2 king. 4. 27. ioh. 6. 37. isa. 55. 1. rev. 22. 15. ioh. 1. 12. ioh. 5. 24. the fifth rule for the right application of the promises . qui dixit sufficit , deficit . non progred● , est regred● . mat. 5. 3. mat. 5 4. mat. 5. 6. mat. 11. 28. mat. 12. 20. mat. 9. 12 , 13. mat. 18. 11. rom. 8. 1. 1 ioh 1. 9. phil. 1. 6. the sixth rule for the ●●ght application of the promises . act. 5 21. phil. 1. 20. d●ut . ●0 . 6 ier. 32. 40. psal. 2. 8. 2 king. 7. the seventh rule for the right application of the promises . psal. 48. 10 psal. 34. 10 mat. 6. 33. the eight rule for the right application of the promises . iosh 5. heb. 13. 5. 2 cor. 1. 4. iames 5. 10 , 11. the ninth rule for the right application of the promises . iam. 2. 10. q●● quid proper 〈◊〉 fit , 〈◊〉 fit . 〈◊〉 5 , 3 , 8 the tenth rule for the right application of the promises . phil. 3. 12. ioh. 6. 44. the eleventh rule for the right application of the promises . psal 13. 3. rev 3. 18. p 〈◊〉 49. rev. 3. 〈◊〉 . the twelfth rule for the right application also of the promises . eph. 2. 8. act. 1. 4. eph. 1. 13. luke 11. 23. eph. 1. 13 the 13. rule for the right application of the promises . isa , 49. 14. psal. 116. 11 psal. 31. 22. psa. 88. 13. 14● . 5 , 16 , 17 , 18. mrs. diggons dwelling with mrs. moor in aldermanbury . gen. 3. 15. lu. 18. 7 , 8 rev. 6. 10. 1 sam. 27. 1. three duties to bee practised when providences 〈◊〉 cross to promises . isa , 28. 1● . 1 sam. 27. 1. lam. 3. 35. act 27. 20 , 23 , 24. psal. 119. 28 , 38 , 41 , 65 , 76 , 107 , 141 , 149. hab. 2. 2. notes for div a31997-e43950 psal. 58. notes for div a31997-e45460 the first design . the second design . mal. 3. 7. the third design . phil. 2. 12. 2 pet. 1. 10. 2 cor. 13. 5. first evid second evidence . third evidence . fourth evidence . fifth evidence . sixth evidence . seventh evidence . eighth evidence . rom. 8. 1 , 2 ninth evidence . tenth evidence . eleventh evidence . twelfth evidence . 1 joh 5. 3 psal. 119. 5. v. 32 , 34 thirteenth evidence . fourteenth evidence . fifteenth evidence . sixteenth evidence . rom. 8. 28 seventeenth evidence . act. 16. 31. 1 joh. 3. 23 1 pet. 2. 7 2 tim. 1. 12. the excellency of a publick spirit set forth in a sermon preach'd (since much enlarged) at the funeral of that late reverend divine dr. samuel annesley, who departed this life dec. 31, 1696 in the 77th year of his age : with a brief account of his life and death / by daniel williams. williams, daniel, 1643?-1716. 1697 approx. 196 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 77 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a66346 wing w2648 estc r26373 09440529 ocm 09440529 43120 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a66346) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 43120) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1320:21) the excellency of a publick spirit set forth in a sermon preach'd (since much enlarged) at the funeral of that late reverend divine dr. samuel annesley, who departed this life dec. 31, 1696 in the 77th year of his age : with a brief account of his life and death / by daniel williams. williams, daniel, 1643?-1716. [2], 147 p. printed for john dunton, london : 1697. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng annesley, samuel, 1620?-1696. bible. -n.t. -acts xiii, 36 -sermons. funeral sermons. 2003-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-03 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-03 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the excellency of a publick spirit : set forth in a sermon preach'd ( since much enlarged ) at the funeral of that late reverend divine dr. samvel annesley : who departed this life dec 31. 1696. in the 77th year of his age. with a brief account of his life and death . by daniel williams , minister of the gospel . london , printed for iohn dunton , at the raven in iewen street , 1697. to that flock of christ , over which the reverend dr. annesley was lately pastor . much honoured and esteemed , this presents you with a discourse ( for substance ) preached and printed at your desire . i faintly hope its acceptance with many , when iustice is become a stranger , and a meer honest man a glorius title . publick usefulness must scarce escape with the brand of folly with those , whole trade is turned into tricking , or account publick employs no more than a decent opportunity to cheat the people . but truth may profit them , unless a zeal for their disease will not allow their reading what is directed for their recovery . to you , and some others , this subject must appear too plainly instamp'd with god's image and authority , and a tendency to common weal , to admit the censure of a narrow spirit ( however disguised ) to be it's standard . especially , when this is what commended your late pastor to such unusual affection , as you expressed to him living , dying , yea , when dead . yet this might be expected , seeing his very spirit is transfused into his people ; by whose bounty ( in good part ) he performed such great things for a common good. few ministers , had such cause of glorying in so many publick spirited hearers , as yours , mr. denham , mr. hartley , mr. cockerill , with many now at rest , might be named ; the living i scarce forbear . the sermon is much enlarged , and the method somewhat changed , that it may more contribute to common serviceableness . what 's more desirable than to vseful in making others so ? hence the eminent services of mr. brand , so revived the dr. and hereby we most extend and pertuate publick benefits ; yea , oft above our own ability , and beyond our life . promote you that design in this barren age , by putting this tract into hands who need it , and by your own vigorous example and prayer's ; that it may be seen the spring of your charity and christian activeness , is more lasting than the exemplary life or labours of your deceased guide . may you find , in spirituals and externals , there is that scattereth and yet increaseth : the liberal soul shall be made fat ; and he that watereth , shall be watered also himself and all of us be excited to more holy fervour , by the death of two such as dr. annesley and fervent mr. oldfield in one day , and worthy mr. james soon after . i am , your servant in the gospel , daniel williams . the excellency of a publick spirit . acts xiii . ver. 36. for david , after he had served his own generation , by the will of god , fell on sleep . your request bringing me hither upon this sad occasion , ( your venerable pastor's death ) i have made choice of this text as proper to inforce an important duty , which , tho' so little regarded by most in our age , yet the deceased was faithful in the practice of ; yea , so eminent , that i hope he will be a moving example to others in this , wherein the signal excellency of his own life consisted . the words read are part of st. paul's sermon to the iews at antioch , in which , after a fit introduction . 1. he proves jesus to be the christ from ver . 23. to 38. an article which ( supposing the knowledge of god ) hath the greatest influence into all our religious hopes and duties ; and therefore a firm assent thereto ought to be more endeavoured than i fear is usual with many , who boast of a christian name . this point he argues from these topicks : jesus was of david's seed which the christ was to be , 23 , 24. jesus was he whom iohn ( in such esteem with them ) did bear testimony to , that he was the christ , 24 , 25. in the unjust condemnation and barbarous killing of this jesus , the iews had unwittingly fulfilled , in every circumstance , all the prophecies , which foretold the unjust and cruel usuages the christ should meet with , 27 , 28 , 29. this jesus god had certainly raised from the dead , according as it was in several places prophesied of the christ , and promised to him ; which resurrection , was god's testimony concerning him , that he was his eternal son incarnate . but lest any might object that that text , ps. 16. 10. was fulfilled in david , the apostle obviates this , by shewing that david lay in his grave so long as to putrifie , which the christ was not to do , neither did our jesus ; and by this occasion the words of my text are introduced , as david's praise , which the apostle would not omit , tho' his argument lies in that part of the verse which i have not read , viz. he saw corruption . and the following v. 38 , 39. are both arguments for jesus being the christ , in that forgiveness of sin ( to which the mosaick ceremonies and sacrifices were altogether unavailable but as types and shadows respecting what jesus did and suffered ) was preached through this iesus . 2. and also a serious offer of forgiveness to all of them , made in the name and authority of our saviour christ. 3. he inforceth this with an awakening caution , viz. that they prevent not their own salvation , yea , aggravate not their misery by rejecting this jesus , the christ , the lord ; q. d. the lord jesus , fulfilling all that 's foretold of his death and resurrection ; his being the crucified and risen saviour ; yea , the offer of that blessed forgiveness he purchased , will not suffice to your salvation , unless you also trust and receive him . nay , if you receive him not , and accept not salvation in the way he proposeth , your punishment will be sorer than if forgiveness had been never offered ; yea , than if there were no saviour , v. 40 , 41. for the profitable matter , not the meer connexion , having thus far diverted , i assume the text , which gives us account , 1. of david's publick usefulness while living ; he served his own generation by the will of god. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , being alike governed by the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , causeth another reading to be as grammatical , viz. after he had served the will of god in his own generation ; ( that of erasmus being too remote to deserve much regard , viz. that he fell asleep by the will of god ) yet the sence of both readings alike secures the great duty of publick usefulness to be david's praise ; for if you prefer the latter , his service is determined to the publick weal in his own generation , tho' it may more expresly include also his care for his own soul by his obedience to god's will , as prescribing the rule by which we must be saved ; ( which was the gospel law then as truly as it 's now ) of which , a faithful improvement of our talents is no small part . but the order of the words most favours our own translation , which it 's a fault needlesly to recede from . the former part , viz. serving his generation , will be so inlarged on as the scope of my discourse , that at present i need say no more than to note , that the word serve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is metaphorical , and denotes both the publick influence of david's labours , and his great subjection ; it alludes to a man's rowing in a vessel under the conduct of a superior pilot. the royal prophet was but an under rower , i. e. as much under divine authority , and as dependant , as if the meanest man : he served in the vessel , viz. the church and state , the safe passage whereof he consulted , and subserved , as his principal business . by the will of god. god did not only serve his purposes by him , which the most regardless and obstinate cannot prevent , but this blessed man did designedly and faithfully serve those purposes god intended in his age and place ; he obeyed god's will as he had notice of it , and what ever labour , expence or danger attended it . this will of god he still consulted , as to the matter and manner of his performances . if you read the history of david's life , and the book of psalms , you 'll find the laudable character in my text evidenc'd in almost an uninterrupted series of publick and profitable actions , from his very youth to his death : by him god saved israel from greatest dangers , he secured their peace , enlarged their borders ; he fought their battels , united the tribes , brought the ark to zion , established the publick worship , encouraged and propagated real piety , exemplified the divine law in the course of his practice ; few are the instances wherein he came short of the common good as the scope : yea , his heart was so enlarged , as to resolve greater things than god thought fit to permit his execution of , as building the temple , ( for which , nevertheless , he prepared the materials ) how solicitous was he that his indispos'd age it self might not fail to be useful to god's honour in his own , yea , future generations ? ps. 71. 17 , 18. o god , thou hast taught me from my youth , and hitherto have i declared thy wondrous works . now also , when i am old and gray headed , o god forsake me not until i have shewed thy strength to this generation , and thy power to every one that is to come . a life so eminently useful might well warrant his saying , i bear up the pillars of the earth , ps. 73.5 . deserve the peoples acknowledgment , 2 sam. 18.3 . thou art worth ten thousands of us , and answer the testimony the omniscient god gave before-hand concerning him . act. 13.22 . i have found david a man after my own heart , who will fulfil all my will. 2. david's death : he fell asleep , after , not before he had faithfully served a common good , nor later than he was capable to do so . every man is immortal , be his danger never so great , till he hath accomplished the service god designeth by him ; and there is scarce a good man ( that knows himself such ) but would live till his course in service be finished , or would chuse to live longer than he can be serviceable : but when we are unfit to be instruments of good to others , and are wrought to a meetness for glory , it 's fit time others have our place whom providence hath suited to god's further designs , by somewhat peculiarly fitted to the rising generation . the word by which david's death is expressed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he lay him down to sleep , which notes death to be no terror to him , and that resurrection would certainly ensue . the former part of the text is what i shall principally insist on ; therein david is commended , and they who imitate his life partake of the like honour . two observations the words easily afford . i obs. it 's an excellent character of a deceased person , that by faithfulness and diligence in his place , he hath been eminently useful in his generation . to render this intelligible and useful , i shall , 1. explain this character . 2. give an account of some things requisite to render a man eminently useful in his generation , who is capable to be so by his gifts , estate , office , &c. 3. evidence the excellency of this described character . for the explication of this character , i shall propose the following heads , which i think will render that duty plain , which i would this day call you to the performance of . 1. god so disposeth of men in their respective generations , that they are capable of being benefited by each other . the parts of a political body can no more say to each other , i have no need of thee , than those of the natural , 1 cor. 12.21 . which disposition of things is the foundation of all societies ; men need each other , and are receptive of mutual advantages : conversation , friendship , families , trades , common safety , ( and what not ) are provided for hereby , and without it would be defeated and cease , but the all-wise god hath placed men in that posture towards each other , that no one is self-sufficient . some need health , others knowledge , others defence , others food and raiment , others counsel , others reproof and spiritual instruction , others comfort , and the like ; in each of these respects , those words of our saviour may be applied , ioh. 12.8 . the poor you have always with you : some that need your help , many in a great degree , most in one sort or other , so that none can pretend want of objects , or occasions , as a plea why they are not useful , they are daily at hand , and adapted to the nature and proportion of your talents ; infinite wisdom hath contrived the several wants of mankind to give opportunity for employing that common stock he hath distributed ; and as wonderful is it , that those very wants be the great means that the several possessors of that common stock receive benefit by the shares thereof which they respectively do enjoy ; for it 's visible , that whatever any one man enjoys would leave him distressed , unless by exchanging that with another , he were relieved by what that other man possesseth and himself wants . nay , that no man may reflect on god as unkind to the world , because the poor are so many , it 's worthy our admiration that poverty it self is very conducive to the publick good ; not only as it prevents much sin , but as it 's the greatest spur to diligence , callings , inventions and services , which the common benefit depends upon ; yea , were none poor , every man would be next to miserable , by wanting all those conveniencies which they now obtain by any other persons want , or desire of wealth . who would be servants , private soldiers , seamen , handicrafts-men , &c. if none were poor ? if some would study law , physick , &c. it 's from few of them that their neighbours could expect the advantage of their arts. they who would sail to other countries , and bring back any thing of their peculiar growth , how few , if any besides themselves , should be the better for them ? i wish i might not say we should have fewer preachers , and not many so eager of places in the government . but i digress too far in justifying providence in such necessities among men , as render them capable of being benefited , and consequently in giving scope to others usefulness . 2. every man may be more or less useful to others ; and every good man is so . each may influence for benefit , tho' in different kinds , and unequal spheres . he that hath not pounds , hath his mites ; and , tho' he cannot profit multitudes , may benefit some few . if you cannot instruct the ignorant , you can relieve the poor , and encourage the ministry : are you so indigent that you have nothing to give , yet you may pray for many , and be examples of meekness and patience . some are unfit to serve the publick , in an office , who yet are capable to vote for a man that 's fit to serve . divine bounty hath provided a supply among men for those necessities to which mankind is subject . but a great part of the misery of the world is owing to some mens inordinate craving more than they need , and to others not duly laying out what they are intrusted with for others : whereas , what god hath distributed among men , is a common stock to benefit the body ; and of the several parts and sorts thereof i may say as of those spiritual gifts , 1 cor. 12.7 . they are all given to profit others with our selves . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . god allows not a man in the lord's prayer so much as to ask daily bread for himself alone . totally to neglect the benefit of others , argues such unfaithfulness to god , and injustice , yea cruelty , to men ; that i repent not of saying , every good man is useful to others . to be good and not to do good , is a contradiction ; as it is to do good , and not to do that which is beneficial , psalm 112.5 . a good man sheweth favour , and lendeth . a be thou warmed , is equally an argument of a bad heart , and of a dead faith , iam. 2.16 . that religion which lieth in meer words , tho' noisie ; and in meer hopes , tho' confident , will be found vain in its self , and useless to its owners ; it will not be saving to our selves , if it be not profitable to others . 3. god hath rendred some men capable of greater and more publick service than others . it 's true of the publick store of talents , as of our common mother the earth , eccles . 5.9 . the profit of it is for all ; nevertheless , some parts are a richer soil than others . so some men are far more capable of common usefulness than their neighbours be : and this by god's disposal , what ever be the just means of acquirement ; yea , his permissive ordering hath place , tho' the means be unjust . capacities for service are various , according to mens offices , gifts , estates , interest , opportunities , and what ever else would render a man publickly useful , were the possessor thereof but faithful and diligent . the degrees of each of them determine to what measure a man is capable to be a common blessing ; whether he be actually so or not . vain it were for any man to pretend himself less capable to do good than in truth he is , for god keeps a just account of the place every man stands in , and the talents each man possesseth ; and he hath affixed a charge of service to the extent of every man's ability . a magistrate or minister may do more good than a private person , a rich man than a poor , one of great parts than one of lesser : a magistrate in higher place than another in a lower , a minister eminently qualified , than one less so . it 's sad that no man fails to expect regard according to his utmost preheminence , and yet few reckon themselves hereby under any greater capacy for service : they have no respect to that , tho' it be what god did most intend in the inequality of his gifts . 4. men are obliged to usefulness in proportion to their respective capacities for it , and call unto it . were it not so , god would not appear to intend any glory to himself , or good to men , by any thing wherein the greatest excels the vulgar . the instinct in all men ( yea brutes ) which sets the good of the community above ones private , would be a vain impression , tho' the basest secretly commend it in another . but this is written with so bright a beam , that none can doubt it , without a great reproach to god , the governor of this world. what must you conceive him to be , that appoints magistracy , and yet leave the magistrate at liberty to suffer the innocent subject to be exposed and injured , the people unreformed and unpreserved ? that he should institute the office of the ministry , and yet allows the minister to neglect teaching the ignorant , awakening the secure , reproving the scandalous , opposing the heretick ; comforting the humble , and edifying the weak ; especially when it 's so evident , that performing those several acts , as the end of these offices , are so necessary to the benefit of mankind , ( which sufficiently proves the offices themselves to be so ) . and it 's no less evident that god hath appointed these offices to those very ends , and annexed his injunctions that they be so applied and executed , rom. 13.3 . eph. 4.11 , 12. can then the officers be unobliged to exert that authority which the office conveighs , for the good of that people over whom they thereby have power , yea , and claim an honour from ? men fond of such trusts , will find they were not conferred as feathers for their caps , or gratifications to their lusts ; heaven's stamp was not designed to be set on poor clay , to indulge our pride , covetousness , love of dominion , or undue liberty , but for a common good. as in offices , so in other vouchsafements god hath a regard to service ; and therefore with a charge of suitable usefulness it is , that he dispenseth riches and gifts , each degree whereof is committed to the possessors as stewards , to lay them out to the uses he assigned , nor is it long before you will all be summoned to give an account of your stewardship , luk. 16.2 . then you shall be convinced you were not absolute proprietors , to reserve , or use at pleasure , one pound of your estates , nor any degree of your interest or gifts , but that a demand of service increased proportionably to what you did possess . you may remember i mentioned a call to service as well as a capacity for it , wherein i had respect to what 's more peculiar to the offices of magistrates and ministers ; and hereby i would prevent a mistake , as if meer gifts , which fit us for an office , if we were called to it , did oblige us to do those things which are peculiar to that office whereto we are not called , which is an usurpation , whatever usefulness men pretend . that there be magistrates god hath injoined ; how they should be qualified , and their power executed , he doth also appoint . but which particular persons shall be magistrates , and the extent of their power he hath left to rules adjusted by the community whereto they belong ; in which respect , the magistrate is called a humane creature , 1 pet. 2.13 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in like manner , christ hath enacted that there be ministers of the gospel ; their qualifications , authority and work , he hath also described , which he permits not men to alter or limit . but he hath made other ministers judges , whether this or that proposed man be so qualified , and being found so to ordain him ; and among them so approved , he hath made members of the church the ordinary electors who shall be their more particular minister , 1 tim. c. 3. & 4.14 , &c. nothing but confusion proceeds from men's running before they are sent ; and ordinarily , as a proud conceit of their own gifts , puts them out of their own place , where alone god accepts their service , and they might have been truly useful to the utmost of their gifts : so a mischief to the publick , and prejudice to their own spiritual state , proves at long-run the effect of their usurpation . is it needful to add , that a fit opportunity for real service is a call both to accept of an office tendered , and to every one invested in an office , to do those acts which belong thereto ? as also , that a fit opportunity is a call to every man , to employ for publick benefit , his riches , gifts and interest , according to the place he is in ; yea , and very common danger and benefit binds us to more expence and activity than would be allowable in an ordinary juncture , as act. 4.34 . they sold all , when saving any thing would expose the christian cause in its tender beginnings ; and this the civil weal of a nation may render as necessary . 5. the tendency of each man's actings to usefulness , in his generation , lies in doing the work of his day , for the benefit of others , suitably to the place god hath set him in . the last heads stated the degree of men's capacities for service , and obligation to improve them according to their call thereto ; this head is designed to regulate all men's endeavours , so as that a common good may be subserved thereby . we have an example , which , if imitated by every man , would result in the general benefit , nehem. c. 3. each man built and repaired the walls of ierusalem , to his proportion , in his place and order , whereby the whole work was done for the common defence , and every man 's particular labour contributed to that publick good , and was found therein . comformably whereto , a national good must be promoted , if the magistrate would attend to the civil government , ministers of the gospel to doctrine and the administration of worship , and discipline without corporal punishments . the rich , to distribute to publick and private necessities ; the prudent , to give advice ; men of power , to execute well-advised things ; and high and low employed according to their station , that the common good suffer not by any of their neglects or usurpations . then indeed the sad chasmes in the publick would be made up ; new heavens and a new earth in a great degree commence . ambition on the one hand , and envy on the other , would be much allay'd ; for who would exorbitantly seek that which he fore knows he must use for others rather than enjoy himself ? what place for envy , when i see my self and others better served by every thing wherein another is advanced above me ? alas , how easie is it to commend this , and own its conduciveness to universal benefit ! but the world groaneth under the contrary ; every man throws off the care , labour and charge the publick is to be served by , and intends little besides honour and profit upon the publick spoil . every man seeks his own things , phil. 2.21 . and this to such a degree , that the blindest cannot doubt a providence , in that the common good is served even so far as it is ; when it is so little designed by most of men in any station ; and that this must be by god's over-ruling the general selfishness to that good , which in its own nature ( were it not for a superior hand ) tends to the ruine of the publick , as such ; especially when we find the generality of men of greatest influence most culpable in that respect , and the residue so unconcerned . o that god would awaken a more publick spirit in this age , when love to god , to his church , yea to our country , is so extinguished by carnal selfishness ; then every thing whereby each man is fitted for eminent service , would be as signally laid out , as the publick welfare did require . and few mens capacities for general benefit are contracted to one particular , but multiplied according to the variety of their talents , relations , and opportunities : it follows therefore , that a man's place for service is commensurate to that variety , and not confined to one , however eminent it be . to conclude , a tendency to publick service is then greatest when there is a regular application of every man 's several office , relation , and talent , to the common good : yet all this must be done with a special regard to that which is the peculiar work of our day ; even that which is principally designed by providence to be contributed to by our various abilities . this must not be omitted on the account of any thing more ordinary or easie ; for the peculiar work of every age and place , hath the highest consequences to that age and place depending on it ; by that every man's fidelity is most tried ; and a mistake in that renders men most publickly hurtful , as the promoting thereof makes a man the most beneficial in his generation . of this hereafter . 6. he is faithful in his age , who , uprightly designing to serve god , and his generation , diligently employs his talents to promote a common good , in the greatest instances of which he is capable . this is a provision against the discouragements to which persons , of a low figure , with honest minds , are subject : however , let such know , they may be faithful , tho' not eminently useful . if what little they can do be uprightly designed , and with a willing heart performed , it findeth more acceptance with god , than greater things done , from carnal designs , tho' , perhaps , over ruled by god to further use than they intended . if want of ability be the only restraint , god will judge us by our large minds , and not our narrow power , 2 cor. 8.12 . a gift of two mites , when our all , is esteemed to be more than greater gifts , when disproportionable to a larger stock reserved . but then you must be sure , not to look at your own things , but also at the things of others , phil. 2.4 . and cordially employ your little , being you have no more ; for he is unfaithful , who , by sloth , or other carnal respects , omits to be useful to his utmost ; because he cannot equal the more eminent ; greater abilities would but more discover the falseness of such a man. under the law , one lamb was admitted instead of two , but it was when the leper was poor , and could not get so much , lev. 14. v. 21. but this one lamb must be brought ; so something , yea , the best we can must be performed for god's glory , and a common benefit , or we vainly pretend to faithfulness ; and as vainly , if idleness or waste , be the things we indulge to make us capable of doing but so very little . unusefulness , by incapacity of our own causing , is as culpable as unusefulness when we are capable ; nor , deserves he the name of a good man , whose laziness prevents , or lusts devour , what would qualifie him for eminent service , altho' he do give and act according to what remisser labours have gotten , or his excesses have left still in his hand . painfulness , and decent thrift , to enable us to do great things , are most laudable , notwithstanding the silly world's reflections ; and he hath the greatest soul , who despiseth these from a mind intent on greatest service . 7. the eminently useful man , in his generation , is he whose great capacity , for service , is vigorously , constantly and wisely employed , to do that good which is signally profitable , in the importance , difficulty , and extensiveness thereof , in his day . with the light afforded in the former heads , this gives you the whole of the character i proposed to explain . here i suppose a man greatly capable of service , by power or parts , or estate , with any such other advantages for usefulness ; there remain two things constitutive of this character , as principally respecting the eminency of this man's usefulness . 1. the nature of the work to which he applieth his abilities . 2. the manner how he employs his abilities , in prosecuting what is signally profitable . 1. the nature of the work to which an eminently useful person employs his abilities , which this head gives you under various epithites . it 's that which is a good work , and not sinful ; it 's a profitable work , not hurtful , or meerly innocent , which is the highest that even the civiler part of men do aim at , no , it 's what benefits men. it 's signally profitable ; not in mean , low , and remiss degrees . 1. the signal profitableness thereof is in the importance of the good subserved , not what is trivial or inconsiderable , but such as the salvation of souls , preserving mens lives , securing publick liberties and peace , supporting the esteem of useful persons , vindicating the oppressed , defending the truth , and opposing destructive errors ; putting a stop to the attempts of church dividers , propagating a gospel ministry , breeding and qualifying men for eminent service in church or state , as young scholars ; and voting for , and procuring the fittest persons for offices in church and state , employing and relieving the poor , &c. and as it 's signal in the importance of the work , so , 2. in the difficulty of it ; when it 's not easie , but hard , not cheap , but expensive , not safe , but dangerous ; when , as oft it falls out , a man , in the doing of it , is exposed to great expences , deep studies , hard labour , displeasure of friends , vilest reproaches , loss of estate , persecution to imprisonment . bodily torments , yea . death it self . when such things attend our service , and a good work cannot be prosecuted with an exemption from such calamities , it proclaims endeavours great , and the man eminently useful ; and the rather , because the good end , prosecuted at so dear a rate , will be undertaken by very few , and yet these difficulties manifest it 's of greatest concernment that it be pursued , for otherwise satan , and the corrupt part of men , would not so oppose . the apostle's work was signally useful in this respect , see 1 cor. 9.11 . such with all the other martyrs were eminently useful , in that they endured so much for witnessing to the truths , and instructing and reforming the world in their day : of whom it's justly said , the world was not worthy , heb. 11.38 . 3. but with the difficulty , the extensiveness of this good is greatly to be regarded , as what denotes it important . this extensiveness regards variety of benefits , and reacheth to the greater number of objects . it 's not in a few things , nor to a few persons , that eminent usefulness extends ; most useful is he who can do most good to most persons ( especially influencing ones ) . he who benefiteth the greatest number of people in whatever may be truly profitable to them , as a means of their happiness in their soul , peace , health , plenty , freedom , credit , comfort , and the like , principally in what makes them happy for ever , next in what contributes to make them safe , easie , and useful in time . and , if besides being profitable to multitudes while we live , we can also serve succeeding ages , it heightens the character , psal. 79.13 . we will shew forth thy praise to all generations . 2. the manner how the eminently useful employ their capacities in prosecuting what 's signally profitable . it 's not lazily , or remisly , but with vigour ; with all his might . diligence must be great , and the heart intently engaged in it ; as our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our business , not diversion ; to spend and to be spent therein , 2 cor. 12.15 . the rule is great , rom. 12.7 , 8 , 11. neither must it be seldom , or by fits and starts ; not late attempted , or soon deserted , but constantly : happy is he who begins early , lasts long , and never ceaseth to serve his generation till god calls him off the stage . blessed is he , whom his master , when he cometh , finds so doing , mat. 24 46. nor is it to be forgotten that it must be managed wisely , otherwise the useful tendency of great endeavours , well designed , may be lessened , if not defeated . prudent application of fit and just means , is needful to accomplish so highly a valuable end ; of which hereafter . 8. the meer want , of proportionable success abates not a man 's eminent usefulness , as to his own excellency or benefit , tho' success be greatly desirable , and gratefully to be acknowledged . is. 49.45 . i have laboured in vain , and spent my strength for nought , yet is my work with the lord ; and tho' israel be not gathered , yet shall i be glorious in the eyes of the lord. this may be applied by every useful minister . events are not in our hands , and therefore it 's not : by them we shall be judged or rewarded ; the faithful labourer is as well pleasing to god , in the pains he took with them that perish , as them who are saved , 2 cor. 2.15 , 16. if you have done great things to recover men , you 'll be no loser , tho' sinners be hardened , or errors prevail . what tho' men abuse the money you bestow , and prove hurtful by the encouragement you have given ; what tho' contrary events have followed your just endeavours ; confusion for order , disquiet for peace , &c. this will lie at the door of such who were the culpable causes of such preposterous effects , and you 'll no more be blamed than the heavens that dropped dew on that earth which brought forth briars and thorns , heb. 6.8 . 2. i shall now give an account of some things requisite to render a man eminently useful in his generation , who is capable by his office , gifts , or estate , to be so ; wherein i shall have especial regard to ministers , tho' not only them . i shall distribute them under three heads . 1. such things as are needful to incline them to become intently willing to employ themselves in serving a common good. ability , without a readiness of mind to , and solicitousness for the honour of god and good of men , will never make us serviceable . to ingage your hearts herein , it 's necessary . 1. that you have a believing view of invisible things . of god , as he who hath a full authority over you , to command you to this work ; as he who hath an absolute propriety in you and yours , and therefore may dispose of you , and all you have , to what service he pleases ; to refuse which is sacriledge in you , who have dedicated your selves to him . believe a judgment-day , when you must account for all ; keep sight of christ , who bought souls with his blood , and whom it cost so much to redeem you for his service ; be at a certainty about the worth of souls , your own and others . and of the dreadful misery of such who die unconverted , or unfruitful ; realize sinners woful state , when they cry , come and help us , acts 16.9 . and thy own if thou refusest . beg faith of christ , who is the author and the finisher of it : this is that by which unseen things are evident , heb. 11.1 . without which evidence we lose what must affect and move us in our service to souls . knowing the terror of the lord , we persuade men , 2 cor. 5.11 . every man's unbelief is equal to his unserviceableness ; and as our faith is , will our usefulness be . 2. love to god and man is needful to excite us to usefulness . this constrains us to express our gratitude to god , who hath done so much for us when miserable ; and to be beneficial to men , whose misery we believe and pity . strong love will answer all those excuses which have their rise in enmity to god and men ; the remains whereof govern the best man as far as he is unprofitable . by this divine passion poor endeavours will be disdained , and the most expensive be no cause of regret ; yea , a pleasure riseth with the height of the performance ; and god's inclining us to do so much , becomes the very matter of our praises to him ; as 1 chron. 29.14 , 15. keep then this holy fire blazing , it will always point you work , and find you strength to do it . nay , it will put you to pain , whiles unemployed , and make you solicitous that it be to purpose . this , this was it put paul in travel , till christ was formed in those , gal. 4.19 . 3. a publick spirit is also needful to the same end. this is the immediate effect of love ; it 's the heart dilated by it . this is the next spring that sets all the wheels in motion , which otherwise stand still within the precincts of narrow self . how became david such a publick blessing he tells you , psalm 137.6 . if i prefer not jerusalem above my chief ioy , let my right-hand forget her cunning . the vastest stock is productive of little in that man's hand who is all for himself ; whether self in his own person , or self in his family , yea , or self in his own party and faction . but a publick spirit will be contriving and aiming at a common benefit above his own , in this will such a one delight , and this he must pursue , because it moves as a common soul related to , and concerned in all men , well knowing god hath an interest in each , and ones self to be but a small part of the whole , and therefore to be less regarded than that wherein god's glory is infinitely more displayed , and from which a so far greater tribute of honour and service will redound . therefore be earnest with god to enlarge thy heart , and bring it more under the power of that relation wherein thou standest to the catholick church , yea , to all men , otherwise thou wilt be apt , with cain , to say of thy very brother , am i his keeper ? gen. 4.9 . own thy self , with st. paul , a debtor both to the greeks and to the jews , to the wise , and to the unwise , rom. 1.14 . a narrow spirit is a common plague , abhor and deprecate it as unchristian and inhumane ; while it prevails , i can hardly hope thou canst get to heaven , but all may freely say , it 's no matter how soon it be that thou wert there . look at christ , who made himself poor that he might make many rich , 2 cor. 8. 9. and blush that thou wearest his name , whiles thy money rusts , and so many poor do starve . but happy is that publick spirit , that can scarce relish his own felicity , when he sees so many miserable , but is bound with them that are in bonds , heb. 13.3 . by this spirit a man is bent for god , and a publick good , and without it all beyond self , ( in that cursed self ) is as nothing to him , a meer galio , caring for neither god , nor souls , church nor state. you see , that to encline you to eminent usefulness , you must get , improve , and exercise faith and love with a publick spirit ; these will employ your abilities for service . 2. if you would be eminently useful , you must get such things as will fix and relieve you against those difficulties which attend eminent usefulness . good inclinations and resolves will be tried in a course of publick service ; and as the trials will be different , our preservatives and supports should be as various . indeed , faith , love , and a publick spirit , which excite a man to great attempts for a publick good , do also yield relief against discouragement in the prosecution of them . yea , faith derives supporting strength from christ , as he is our head of influence as well as conduct . but , besides these . 1. be truly humble . the proud heart will scorn to stoop to many things which publick service requires ; nor endure the debasements which it will expose to , and so the work will be half done at first , and forsaken at last , as too grating on a proud spirit , which formeth projects more agreeable to an aspiring mind . but , if you are cloathed with humility , you 'll be fitted to stoop cheerfully to what ever your work calls you to condescend , and with easiness of mind to endure the contempt which you 'll meet with from such you design to be useful to . can you , without great humility , use such plain words as the ignorant understand , inculcate the same thing often , admit a familiar freedom to the poor and mean , go into nasty cottages , hear much weakness and nonsence , without discouraging the silly from saying any more ? can you , and not be humble , become all things to all men , that you may win some , and be a servant to all that you may gain the more ? 1 cor. 9.19 , 21. yea , you may meet with affronts and scorns , with slanders and reproach , from the very poor whom you endeavour to benefit in soul and body too ; pride will soon disdain all such work , but so must not you , unless you cease to be a publick blessing . be humble , i. e. look at your selves , vile dust and ashes , as bad by nature as the most wicked you would reform , and worthy to be as poor as the most indigent you 〈◊〉 and not too good to be employed 〈…〉 in the meanest services , 〈◊〉 really honoured to be used in such as this 〈…〉 irs , and this seems har 〈…〉 s too debasing , ask , may not that 〈◊〉 better fit me , which was in christ iesus my lord , who made himself of no reputation , phil. 2.5 . 2. be weaned from the world , mortified to all in it , and well content with what god hath reserved in heaven for you ; what you make your portion , that will prescribe your work. if your happiness is confined to flesh and time , you 'll soon quit what seldom contributes to it , and is daily exposing it to hazard , yea , oft to ruine . even publick spirited men , for their country , venture all in common danger , yet , after success , they get the least ; it 's oft more than so with men who are engaged for the testimony of christ , and good of souls : worldly affections can never drive this trade ; covetousness , effeminateness , fondness of relations , excessive love of life , ease and pleasure , will obstruct you , when the expences , losses , pains and dangers of eminent undertakings , present themselves . therefore be crucified to the world , if ever you would be useful in it ; and let it be a dead carkass in your account , if you would not be hindred by it in your best designs . cherish heavenly affections , and with pleasure oft view your chosen portion , otherwise an irregular appetite will press too hard , to let you be much of long engaged in a work that 's so far from gratifying it . this way moses became so profitable to his people , heb. 11.25 , 26. and paul to iews and gentiles , 2 cor. 5.12 , 15 , 18. 3. get true christian fortitude : and this will unite , fix and steel the heart against all onsets which try your patience , courage and resolutions , rev. 2. 3. a pusillanimous man will refuse what 's difficult , and forsake what 's dangerous ; or , so demean himself under it , as to frustrate a good effect . the truest courage will be put to a stand , for satan singleth out the eminently useful , to level all his darts against ; his own votaries he 'll employ to persecute them ; whatever in civil men is to be made use of shall conspire to make your work difficult , and you unhappy and uneasie ; nothing shall be wanting to terrifie or bribe you , to tire or distress you , rev. 2.102.3 2. envy also still accompanieth signal usefulness , which oft renders your friends more grievous to you than your professed enemies . in every age it 's found , the spirit within us lusteth to envy , jam. 4.5 . i wish all good men , yea , we ministers , could also find with the apostle ; but god giveth more grace : yet as unreasonable and devilish as envy is , you must expect it , and be prepared to endure the effects thereof , but still with a mind no more averse from your work , or indifferent to it ; other than avoid all oftentation , to conceal what of your work you can , and to but omit none , unless you can get it done by another hand . 3. if you are called to serve your generation , by opposing the errors , or church-dividing practices , of any considerable sects , pretending to zeal for truth , ( tho' never so falsly ) and to a purer form of administration , ( tho' in all that highly superstitious ) you 'll find those violent and base methods to asperse and sink you , which very pagans would abhor to use ; yet this must not abate your testimony , nor incline you in the least to betray the truth , or to seem to approve of their unchristian attempts against the common good ; neither suffer your spirit to be infected and debased , to a resemblance of theirs , in malice , rancour , wrath , rage , or revengefulness , which is so contrary to the spirit of christ , as to make you justly suspect you were no appointed advocate for his truth and interest . and alike careful must you be , that the highest provocations prevail not with you , to vindicate your self by ways that ( all things duly considered ) appear a greater damage to the publick good , than the single interest of your person can countervail . i have given you some hints of the exercise which you ought to provide against , lest a surprize cause you to quit , or disserve the blessed work you are called to . 4. yet , it 's true , it may prove more creditable , safe and easie , if it be only beneficial to men's bodies or estates , for against that sort , satan and the world make less resistance , unless it affect the publick in somewhat wherein factions are concerned . yea , it may be less hazardous and grievous , if it profit mens souls , if it be only in points which christ hath gained a reputation to , and that you have many to assist you in the defence of , especially if your motion be but equal with those many , because such things are familiarized , or have obtained a greater interest in the consciences of men , and the remaining stream of opposition is divided . 5. but the most eminent usefulness is much determined to those points which are difficult as still deciding , and wherein the interest of christ , in your day and place , is the subject of a present contest between christ with his instruments on the one side , and satan with his on the other . in such cases there will be great opposition , as far as satan can influence any , either by their ignorance , malignity worldly considerations , pride , or custom , &c. and generally the contenders on christ's part are at first but few , especially the more eminent ones ; and therefore it necessarily follows that such must be exposed . it were easie to instance all this in the case of introducing the gospel where it was not before , in the reformation of worship or discipline , where they have been corrupted , in opposing and detecting false doctrines which many have imbibed , and long entertained ; in reclaiming a degenerate people from evil practises much indulged ; in resisting incroaching errors and disorders , abetted by a considerable number of great zealots , especially if they have some plausible pretensions , suited to the disposition of sober ignorant people ; and that some more than common spirit and fervour do attend the seducers , which is very usual . but this is less needful , having cautioned you as to the snares , and fore-warned you of the danger . 6. therefore may not i with reason ask you ? can a feble mind , or unfortified heart , persist in great endeavours , and in the face of such dufficulties steadily pursue his glorious end ? no ; he must succumb , and will quit the plainest and most important truth or duty . the interest of christ will say of these as in paul's case ; no man stood with me , all ( these ) men forsook me , 2 tim. 4.16 . therefore watch against all declinings in holy christian courage ( meerly natural will not serve , tho' it 's a good preparative , ) pray with hope for renewed vigour , that you may find , as psalm 69.32 . your heart shall live that seek god ; and that he is the strength of your heart , when all else fails you , psalm 73.26 . when the onset is vigorous , and begins to impress , be then strong in the lord , and in the power of his might , eph. 6.10 . to that end , remember whose cause you plead , and who employs you : read oft your commission , where you will find a promise fit to revive your very fainting spirit , matth. 28.20 . lo , i am with you to the end of the world. one less faithful and compassionate than our saviour is ( if possessed of power ) would not suffer any servant he employed to sink , in a business wherein himself hath the greatest concernment . if your hearts be upright , and you have god's work in hand the more eminently you are employed the greater supports you 'll find ; and in the most difficult enterprize he is careful to give the greatest assurance , ier. 1. 7 , 8 , 18. ezek. 3. 8 , 9. one promise he can so spirit and fill with power , that it shall set thy soul above all fears ; and cause strength to advance to thy own feeling in very extremity , above what it appeared in the easiest of thy ways : trust then in him with thy whole heart . and because what repels our fears tends to encourage us , it 's not improper oft seriously to think what far greater mischiefs we escape , by not drawing back , or doing the work of the lord deceitfully , than what can attend a faithful discharge of our work , which hath so great a reward when finished , heb. 10.38 . rev. 3.5 . herewith i have finished an account of what 's necessary to support us under the difficulties attending publick usefulness , viz. humility , mortifiedness to the world , and christian fortitude . 3. several things are needful as tending to secure , or at least facilitate the success of your work persisted in . herein we should be solicitous that , as much as in us lies , the end we propose may not be defeated , but that those receive that profit , which we sincerely conduce to , by our endeavours ; whereby we may eventually prove blessings to them . to this end , 1. you must duly address your selves to god , to engage his help . be much in prayer to , and dependance on god through christ our mediator . look to him for direction , that you may not mistake your work , nor the best way to perform it : seek to him for abundant anointings , that you may not be unqualified in proportion to your undertaking . his constant assistance and blessing must be fervently implored , neh. 1.11 . without which your most probable attempts will be vain , yea turn to your reproach and shame . and that you may be in the likelier posture for a gracious return , keep all clear between god and your own consciences ; regard to iniquity in your heart , psal. 66.18 . rely on christ's merits and intercession ; and be always ready to ascribe to god the entire glory of all your serviceableness and success ; for he is a jealous god , and generally blasteth that wherein he is not acknowledged ; we must make god all in all , if we would signifie any thing . 2. be careful of your own behaviour before those to whom you endeavour to be profitable ; that it conduce to , and do not hinder your usefulness . prevent all prejudices , gain their affection and esteem ; possess them with a sence of your kindness to them , good designs towards them , and your own belief of , and earnestness of soul for the matters you call them to entertain and submit to ; exercise great patience , meekness and tenderness ; and see that your whole behaviour be circumspect , and your life exemplary , 1 pet. 5.3 . that they may find no just exception against your doctrine or endeavours . if they take occasion unjustly , or that by wicked persons you are falsly slandered , you may better hope , god will prevent the unprofitableness of your labours , or at least accept them : neither is it unfit to be cautious how you dispute with them concerning secular interests ; avoid also fondness of external respect ; and yet be as jealous that you forfeit not an internal reverence , nor prostitute your authority , as you are christ's embassadours , rom. 11. 13 , 14. 3. labour to attain and use true wisdom in the ordering of your endeavours , that they may be apt to real publick usefulness . 1. i call it true wisdom , not only to oppose it to folly and indiscretion , but also to all knavish craftiness . god's cause needs no base tricks ; upright men abhor the use of them : christ seldom prospereth such to serve his interest , but if he over-rule them to any common good , as sometimes he doth other pieces of wickedness , yet he will never justifie or accept such methods , but condemn those ways , and them who use them . but indeed , as base tricks consist not with sincere designs of a publick good , so they are never used with that intention . no , no , let men's pretences be never so sacred , it 's to serve a carnal selfish turn , to propagate or uphold some private faction , in opposition to the true extensive interests of christ in the world. the eminently useful could not die in peace , if they must not say with the apostle ; our rejoycing is this , the testimony of our conscience , that in simplicity and godly sincerity , not with fleshly wisdom , but by the grace of god , we have had our conversation in the world , 2 cor. 1.12 . they were wiser than to think , that will be accounted a service to christ in life , for which , without repentance , he will cast them into hell at their death . this text may assure us , that paul's guile with which he caught these very people , 2 cor. 12.16 . was not any thing contrary to godly sincerity which in this epistle the fore-cited place he had with more than usual care instanced towards them ; it was therefore no other than honest wisdom , or godly prudence ; even that which i have said is so needful to advantage the success of your well designed labour ; it was an instance of his self-denial , not his self seeking : he used his sparing their purses as a help to save their souls , upon finding their temper such , that the gospel was like to be less profitable to them , if he subsisted by it . this was far enough from any misrepresenting , and undermining , cheating , dividing , imposing , ensnaring , and intangling arts or methods ; ways so abominable in the most ordinary affairs between man and man , that you should tremble at a thought of using them in matters enstamped with the name of god ; yea , tho' it were but in defending a publick good , and your self from the dangerous attempts of such as practise them . 2. yet true wisdom and prudence be very needful , to direct your just endeavours in the greatest aptness to succeed with all those whom you design to benefit . a true judgment of persons and seasons , with a direct regard to the end , and an exquisite understanding of the nature of the various lawful means , will qualifie you to chuse the fittest means to that end with those persons . god's word , prayer , consideration and experience must be your helps to arrive to wisdom , and be sure to exercise and apply to all your endeavours the utmost wisdom god vouchsafes you , a neglect whereof will aggravate your disappointment , as well as conduce thereto . but my chief design under this head is , to convince you of the necessity of wisdom in the whole course of publick usefulness , that so you may become more earnest with god for this , & careful to excie your souls to the constant exercise of it . without wisdom you cannot rightly judge of the work of your generation ; a mistake wherein is dangerous to your great end ; it 's so , tho' it should be no other mistake than to overlook one of the more principal parts of it , and take up with what is next to it , as plainer , easier or safer ; yea , if it lies in several things , and you neglect but the least . how needful is wisdom to discern which is our present duty , and what the greatest good , when several appear in competition ? yea often there 's need of exquisite skill in an affair of publick consequence to determine but what will do more good than hurt . he hath not well observed , that thinks it always easie to judge what 's the most proper duty in each company , and wherein they need most to be benefited , especially the fittest seasons , opportunities and methods to apply suitable means to effect that good which they severally stand in greatest need of , and are most capable of receiving . it 's hard to accommodate your selves to the various tempers and circumstances of your very acquaintance , and know whom , when , and how to reprove , encourage , examine , exhort or relieve , so as to be most beneficial to each within the limits of your power , and according to your different obligations , tho' to the extent of it . great discretion is necessary to judge of obstacles , and to demean your selves under them , as may most conduce to your publick usefulness ; to know when , and how to strive to remove or oppose them , when it 's best to connive and be silent . how to avoid the imputation of rashness and foolish zeal in the former , and of lukewarmness and cowardize in the latter ; for publick usefulness will be affected by both . in like manner there is use of wisdom towards such as drive on the same good design with you , as well as towards them who oppose ; if you are younger , that the elder may not by envy or suspicion , be tempted to divert you from your work , or give you disquiet in it : to avoid which serve with them in humility , as sons with a father , phil. 2. 22. if you be elder , that the younger's rashness , unfixedness , and less experience give not satan an advantage ; to prevent which , do not discourage or despise , but assist and countenance them . but be they inferiors , equals or superiors , who do contribute to a common good : he that will be eminently useful , and give up himself to it , had need of greatest wisdom to govern himself towards each ; for , a little acquaintance with the world , will discover in most men so much of either humour , pride , envy , selfishness , covetousness , suspition , cowardliness , unconcernedness for the publick , unfixedness , sloth , ignorance , credulousness , or aptness to be imposed on by designing men ; as will force the observing to fix this conclusion , and govern themselves by it . they that will be most useful in their generation , must spend , do , adventure and suffer most , and yet must resolve to allow , intreat , connive , yield , thank , forbear , forgive , deny themselves , and endure most , whatever persons they have to deal with ; and thus make the best use of all for a common good . who is sufficient for these things ? but with thee , o lord ( who employest whom thou wilt ) nothing is impossible . a stammering moses , a suspitious gideon , a childish ieremiah , did succeed in that whereto thou didst appoint them . surely by all this you are induced to seek earnestly for wisdom . ask it daily of god through christ , who giveth liberally ( for direction to do as well as suffer ) and upbraideth not , iames 1. 5. dependingly hope ; he will guide me by his counsel , and afterwards bring me to glory , psal. 73. 24. i have finished the second general head , viz. an account of what 's needful to bring a man to eminent usefulness , who is capable of it ; under which you have heard , that his soul must be excited to undertake it by faith , love , and a publick spirit . 2. be relieved against the difficulties attending it , which is by humility , mortifiedness to the world , and christian fortitude . 3. he must facilitate his success by prayer to god , a due behaviour before men , and true wisdom in the management of all his endeavours . 3. i shall evidence the excellency of this character . to be an eminently useful man , is no empty title without real worth . god approves of it , angels and good men highly esteem it ; yea , there 's that in every man , which now secretly , and in time will publickly allow this man to be the best , the wisest , and the greatest . eminent usefulness greatly differeth from its counterfeits . this is no pragmatical business in other men's matters ; but a faithful discharge of our obligations to god and our fellow creatures . neither is it a pharisaical proseliting to a sect , which doth narrow and weaken christ's interest ( proving oft as fatal to the church , yea to men's selves , as their walking at large in the world would be ) no , it 's an intentness to promote mere christianity , and unaffected godliness , which reforms the world , edifies the church , and saves the souls of sinners in proportion to its success . it 's what advanceth men above the rank of ordinary christians , who are babes to these grown men , shrubs to these cedars , very cyphers ( if not blemishes and burthens ) compared with these men of name , these common blessings , these witnesses to a divine life , and ornaments of religion , who bear up the pillars of the church , yea of the earth ; to each of whom we weaklings may say as they to david , thou art worth 10000 of us . this will appear , if you consider , 1. it 's an extraordinary honour to be singled out by god eminently to serve our generation . what can be more glorious than to be singled out , as david , from among his brethren , to effect god's benign purposes to multitudes , when most men are useless , yea hurtful ; their names are registred among the worthies of israel , and famous in bethlehem , ruth 4. 11. this is that moses , acts 7. 37. being publick blessings , they with iabez , are more honourable than their brethren , i chron. 4. 9. no office reflects honour but with respect to that usefulness to which it obligeth , and or which it capacitates . 2. it argues a most god-like and excellent spirit ; he is good , and doth good , psal. 119 68. he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which was visibly instanced in our lord jesus ; he went about doing good , acts 10. 38. to souls and bodies ; in whom is this so exemplified as in the signally useful ? whose activity , fixedness , labours , designs and beneficence correspond to christ's , allowing for our contracted capacities . in such a man many graces and virtues are associated , nay which can be wanting , yea or weak in the constitution of this person ? he also must be greatly cleansed from those dregs , which debase , divert and deaden the less useful . he seems to breath in another air , to be of another make , and governed by contrary inclinations and rules than most of mankind be ( i had like to have said christians ) hence he is too often branded as less prudent , because he walks by rules so much above what poor and narrow souls embrace ; and postponeth those things beyond which a vulgar spirit cannot derive a motive . let us remark a few scripture instances , lest all appears a meer speculation ; behold queen esther taking her life in her hand to save her people ; did not she then love her people above her life ? esth. 4. 16. moses neglected god's offer to advance his family , and intercedeth for the nations safety , as if he had hated his own house , numb . 14. 12 , 17. what dominion over covetousness , selfishness and cowardice did nehemiah manifest , whiles by acting their contraries he repaired ierusalem , established god's worship among the captives restored by his means : without ostentation he might say , should such a one as i flie ? neh. 6. 11. mordecais mind was well ballasted , that under such advancement retained such goodness , and meekness , as still to seek the weal of his people , and speak peace to all his seed , esth. 10. 3. how could caleb and ioshua refuse to frame their account to the humour of the multitudes , but that that they had a more excellent spirit than the other spies ? numb . 14. 24. oh the magnanimity , zeal for god , love to souls , contempt of the world , and unwearied vigour and largeness of heart which governed paul to his extensive usefulness ! which might be instanced in the other apostles and martyrs ; yea those illustriously shine in every eminently useful christian : it 's the excellency of their spirit which forms such vast designs , and enables to the unwearied pursuits thereof : divine influence inspires them , and keeps their minds above what 's mean and selfish , beyond what 's narrow and sordid , yea so widens and enflames them , that their spheres prescribe the only limit to their attempts ; how far would they relieve , reform and improve the church , the nation , yea the world , were it but in their power ? judge the spirit by the use others make of the same abilities , how useless , how hurtful ? 3. the eminently useful have more manifest grounds for a comfortable death than others can expect . death makes a great discovery of the true value of things ; whatever renders this safe and easie , we ought highly to esteem , as men assured it 's our passage into eternity , and puts a period to our preparations for it . in the grave there 's no work nor device to change our state , or improve our meetness for an unseen world , eccles. 9. 10. therefore whatever is the best evidence of our title to eternal life , and the greatest meetness for it , that must afford ground of highest comfort , when self-love , and the nearness of eternity gives death an awakening power . 1. i shall prefix a caution . 2. prove what i assert . 1. for caution . the mistakes of weakly designing men , necessitate me to acquaint you , it 's christ only who procured a safe and comfortable death , by meriting our pardon , and a right to eternal glory , with a happy resurrection . it 's by faith only , that a regenerate penitent looks to rely on , and receives christ as our atoning saviour for pardon and life , according to his promises in the gospel , which promises , with the included benefits , are purchased only by christ's obedience , and applied as an effect thereof , whenever they are applied . the qualifications which the gospel appoints in him whom the promises invest in its benefits , are no causes of those benefits , nor any part of the righteousness which procured them . but christ using his gospel as an instrument in the governing and saving of sinners , and pleading with them his purchased benefits for motives to their obedience to the gospel , as a rule of judgment . it 's not sufficient to our comfortable death , that we believe that christ obeyed and died to procure pardon , and a right to salvation for penitent believers ; but it must appear to us , that we are partakers of that pardon and right to life , which must be by the evidence of our regeneration , repentance and faith ; not one without the other ; nor either ( when we come to die ) without their genuine necessary effects , and each persevered in . vain hopes if we totally want whatever the gospel promises make indispensably needful to our obtaining eternal glory ; and the contrary whereto the gospel threatneth with an exclusion from heaven , iohn 3. 3 , 36. luke 13. 3. heb. 12. 14. cap. 10. 38. he is fool hardy , that dares die , not knowing but that his faith was the faith of an unregenerate impenitent heart ; yea , or satisfies himself with having thought he once at first had such a true faith ; but is not sure that he persevereth therein , that regards not any conformity to christ. universal obedience , sincere holiness , and fidelity to god , and improvements of his talents , all which the gospel so insists on , as being fitter to give evidence , than things more obscure or remote can be mat. 10 33. and 25. 30. 2 cor. 13. 5. ephes. 5. 6. 2. i shall prove that the eminently useful , have more manifest grounds for a comfortable death than others can expect ; for which end , it will be sufficient that i evidence . this eminent faithful usefulness is a most plain and infalible evidence of our title to eternal life , and it also argueth a very great meetness for heaven ; whence it will follow , that the eminently faithful useful man , hath more manifest grounds for a comfortable death than others can expect , and consequently , his character is excellent . it tends to a comfortable death ; as , 1. it is a most plain and infallible evidence of our title to eternal life . faithful eminent usefulness , is not only an evidence considered abstractedly , but it gives evidence to the sincerity of all , or most other graces ; yea , and receives it from them , for by the in-being and activity of such graces it subsisted , and in it each of them expressed their vital power and sincerity , and that not darkly , but clearly , not doubtfully , but to full conviction ; so that the eminently useful man , hath the concurrent testimony of every grace , in a light to which each contributes . and it answers any just challenge that can be made to his having those several graces , and that in reality ; so that if faith , repentance , love to god , a new birth , or perseverance , have life promised to them , and the sincerity thereof being evident to a man , must yield strong consolation : then the eminently useful man hath very abundant reasons of comfort , as to his interest in eternal life . i shall evidence this by three things 1. can he doubt the truth of his several graces ? not of his faith , because he hath been thus signally excited by his assent , to what christ , as prophet , hath revealed : and encouraged , by trusting in his saviours merits , strength , & testament : and governed by the commands of christ his received lord , and that in so faithful an execution of his own covenant consent and vows ? yea , his union to christ , is attested as well as his faith by which he is united , for his truly devoted fruitful life , could proceed from , and subsist by nothing lower , than those vital influences and supplies which came from christ his head and root , gal. 2. 20. phil. 1. 19 , 20 , 21. his repentance also is unsuspected , when he beholds his lusts so subdued as not to hinder his living to god entirely as his end ; his heart so altered in its purposes , resolves and relishes , that he could not live to carnal self , but a common good , wherein he delighted and spent himself . he knows his former evil course is duly bewailed when so directly changed , and that sin was truly hateful , being he hath not only endeavoured the utter mortification of it in himself , but greatly laboured to rescue all others from the dominion and effects thereof . he is sure of his new birth , when he reflects that nothing less could make my aims , my temper , and course , to be so far conformed to christ's , as my devotedness to god's glory , and to the benefit of saints and sinners doth attest , 1 ioh. 4. 17. yea , more a lower principle than what was formed in regeneration , would never have lasted thus long , and carried me thus far , ioh. 4. 14. 2. this eminently useful man's stated course and contrivances , repel a jealousie , that his love to god or man or appearing zeal , was a painted fire ; his faith , hope , or other graces , a dead image , because all these have vitally concurred , to direct fix , and strengthen his labours , to lay out his talents , drive a constant trade , and spend his life for christ , ioh. 14. 21. 1 ioh. 3. v. 16 , 17. rom. 12. 11 , 12 , 13. and there is as little ground to question his perseverance , when he knows he was not taken off from publick serviceableness , by his sloth , fear , weariness , selfishness , or change of purpose or designs ; yea , that now he feels his soul solicitous for , and prepared unto a publick good , were he but capable to contribute to it . 3. besides this testimony , from the evidence , of such graces as life is promised to the useful man , is in a way likelier for comfort than others , because the spirit of god doth not usually forbear to cast a light upon the graces of such when they come to die , but ( and that not rarely ) he makes them to behold his face , and experience some foretasts of the approaching glory ; so that with moses they die at the mouth of god , with stephen , act. 7. 57. as david , 2 sam. 23. 5. yea , besides this , the useful man is encouraged by the great things that passed between god and his soul , in bending him for , and carrying him through those attempts and employments wherein he hath served the will of god in his generation ; many answers of prayer , eminent deliverances from evil , supports when fainting , revivings and enlargements when tempted to remissness , frequent views of christ and heaven for renewal of strength , ( and the like ) which he hath oft experienced , have so familiarized god and christ to him , and so fixed his trust in his goodness , truth and word , that he can quietly commit his spirit to him . and so , from all put together , having now fought a good fight , finished his course , and kept the faith , he beholds that crown of righteousness hanging over his head , which he knows his god will give him , 2 tim. 4. 8. and he hath an abundant entrance into god's kingdom , 2 pet. 1. 11. 2. this eminent usefulness argues a meetness for heaven . he can easily quit all worldly enjoyments , who valued life it self but as a means for service , and consecrated all he had as subservient to it . this man is not called off before his work be done , for his course is finished , and the end of his being on earth so fully answered , acts 13. 25. heaven must be a real rest to him after so much labour , and very suitable in the nature of it , to one of so agreeable a disposition . what welcome company are perfected happy souls , when the contrary made the saving and healing of miserable sinners to engage his thoughts , and command his strength whiles he lived on earth . his soul that was so enlarged by grace for publick use , will be very receptive of those fuller streams of heavenly joys . how will he be satisfied with more of god's likeness there , when it will be but the perfection of what he judged so lovely as to strive so much to propagate it here ? psalm 17. 14 , 15. this publick spirit will be ravished in contemplating and adoring a blessed god , when he beholds how universal a good he is ; yea , and ever hath been , by the records of his beneficence there published and explained ; whatever employment heaven allots ( for it 's no place of idleness ) he is greatly prepared for it ; who did heartily perform so much under the great disadvantages of this present state , which did arise both from his works and himself , yea , and such as he had to deal with . so that this man is gathered when ripe ; he his even here a vessel of glory , being so meet for his masters use , 2 tim. 2. 21. now how comfortable will death be to a man thus well assured of eternal happiness , and prepared for that wherein it will consist ? it cannot endanger nor hurt him ; he must rather desire than abhor or fear it , when only a sense of present serviceableness ( where it is more needful ) hath reconciled useful saints to a longer life , phil. 1. 23 , 24. to such useful ones as paul it belonged to triumph over death , rather than be afraid , and welcome its approaches , to enjoy that a regard whereto had made him so laborious , 1 cor. 15. 57 , 58. thus i have represented the grounds on which a very useful man may die comfomfortably . but , can there be the like for an unuseful person ? i am sure , where a life unprofitably spent ( through sloth , negligence , self-seeking , and unfaithfulness to god , ) doth stare a man in the face , it 's a just challenge to his hopes , it justifies his fears , and he vainly expects advantage by death , or safety in dying . yea , a man who hath been useful in lesser degrees , through remissness and narrowness of heart , cannot but feel greater jealousie of his condition than the eminently useful ; yea , he must make bitter reflections upon his past life , wherein he finds so many neglects and baulks . so little work done in so long a time , and with so great a stock ; and being self-conscious of the much greater things he might have performed for a common good ; sure he cannot , without grief , behold his season over , whiles the blood of souls , the groans of a dying church , or a sinking nation , testifie against his departing soul , that omitted relieving them to his power . what work for shame , and sorrow , ay , and fears too , will this make , compared with a vigorously useful life ? 4. the future rewards of an eminently useful man will be greater than others : his crown will weigh in proportion to his service : they that turn many , shall shine as the stars in the firmament , for ever and ever dan. 12.3 . he that gained the ten talents was made a ruler over ten cities ; he that gained two , was made ruler but over five ▪ luke 19.17 . these wider vessels shall be filled as well as the lesser ; but , being larger , they contain the more . o , then happy he who was most abundant in labours ; no degree whereof shall be in vain , 1 cor. 15.58 . gal. 6.9 , 10. their works shall follow them as a retinue , adding to their grandeur ; and rivers shall be more acknowledged by our blessed god , when he will come to reward the very drops . these mens place in the body will be more noble , their thrones higher , perhaps their services more eminent in a heavenly estate , as much in proportion as they had been on earth . and tho' all faithful ones shall be as angels , luke 20. v. 3. yet among these there are degrees , wherein there will be a correspondence as to those . every generous design , tear , labour , hardship , expence , loss , and hazard , will be found in a proportioned glory : he that soweth bountifully , shall reap bountifully 2 cor. 9.6 . whence it 's easily inferred how excellent a character of a believer it is , that , he was an eminently useful person in his age ; it 's a title will found in the very heavens , and be honourably acknowledged by christ upon his throne , he will say , well done , thou good and faithful servant , enter thou into the ioy of thy lord , mat. 25.21 . which yet is no reflection on his own merits ; for in the vertue thereof the most useful saints inherit those further additions , according to his promise , as well as the less useful possess the lesser degrees . true , it 's all his own , and he may do what he will with his own ; but , if he is pleased to foretell us how he 'll dispence this his own to men , thereupon his veracity commands our assured expectations ; and if he also use those higher measures of glory , as motives to greater labours , we , in being very laborious , cannot be disappointed of those higher measures any more than of the least ; yea , we frustrate his end in publishing such promises ; if we are not excited to more abundant labours by the benefits promised , and upon such labours expect those benefits . i have offered what i hope will convince you of the truth of the third general head , viz. that to be eminently useful in ones generation , is an excellent character ; for to be so employed , is an honour put upon that man by the infinite god. the spirit of such a man is excel-cellent and god-like , he hath the greatest grounds for a comfortable death , both from the evidence of his title to eternal life , and his meetness for it . and last , his future glory will be greater than that of others . i shall proceed to the application of this doctrine by some inferences . 1. inference . to be a publick plague , is a great reproach ; what can be said worse of a man when dead ? that one did no good in an eminent station ; that he hid his talent , which should have been employed in view , are infamous scars ; but that any man should influence to publick mischief , this leaves his memorial accursed ; better never have been born ; his gifts , his estate , powers and offices , are become a snare to himself , and a mischief to the publick . the more active , the greater detriment ; the longer he lived , the more lasting curse hath this man been ; and the further hath he contributed to the woe of others , as well as to his own damnation . he will be signally marked in another world , for the harm he did in this ; receiving his torments with remarkable notice , when they do groan to themselves , who sinned only against themselves . will the powers or riches he had on earth guard him against the sorest vengeance for the hurt he did ? no , no : of this abhorred sort are the wasters of countries , tirannical princes , propagaters of heresies , perverters of justice , great oppressors of the poor , wasters of god's vineyards ; betrayers of their countries , silencers of useful preachers , enemies to the ministry , and calumniators of ministers , and the like . happy multitudes , if such had never been ; and next , happy that they soon are taken away ; see ier. 22.17 , 18. such will wish they had been idiots and beggars , of any thing else , which could have more incapacitated them from doing mischief . 2 inf. this may convince us of the mischief of a narrow sectarian spirit , and consonant principles , wherever they prevail . by such a narrow spirit , i mean a spirit that confineth charity to a sect distinguished from other christians , by customs or opinions that are not essential to true godliness , and is embittered and enraged against all who differ from such usages and opinions . this is the spirit of popery ; ( which is a sect , tho' a great one ) yea , it is the worst of popery ; and where-ever it rules , the most diabolical part of anti christianism is undestroy'd . all the persecutions and impositions of that beast proceed from this very spirit , and from principles both ministring to it , and formed by it ( for their influence is mutual . ) there 's scarce any thing more opposite to publick usefulness , or less consistent with the precepts , design , and true spirit of christianity ; the former is that which my subject so calls me to demonstrate , and testifie against , that without doing so i cannot faithfully handle this doctrine . but who can doubt the destructiveness of this spirit , to publick benefit and service , if you observe the way and behaviour of all sorts of persons who are acted by it ? for under its impulse it is , that 1. men confine their usefulness to their own faction , as if they were indebted to seek the good of none beyond it ; nay , as if conscience obliged them against all attempts for benefits more common and extensive . they judge all men , out of their herd , unworthy of their love , concern , or labour ; what 's the publick to them , further than as things affect their own ? let the ship sink , so their cabbin can be saved ; they 'll obstruct all settlement in church or state , if it be any other than a provision for their sect , or managed by any besides themselves , yea , scruple not to advance their party upon the ruins of the publick , as men see from age to age. 2. what is it to such bigots , if true christianity prevail with men , or converts be multiplied , unless they become their proselites ? alas ! they judge no man religious , or good , out of their own garb ; they surmize him carnal , who cannot pronounce their shibboleth , and do as good as say , they are all in a damnable state who at all oppose them . hence such people are far more industrious to bring men to a compliance with their fond peculiarities , than to a subjection to the great and most undoubted precepts of the gospel , mat. 23.15 . which is a publick mischief , as in other respects , so also in this : men hereby waste that time , strength and labour , upon an unprofitable , ( if not hurtful ) trifle , which , by a publick spirit , would be employed in subserviency to what is really advantagious , viz. to make men holier and safer for eternity . yet , 3. as if this effect of such a spirit were not harmful enough to the publick , it further prompts men to malign the most useful , to obstruct the most prosperous successes of the gospel , to blast the most profitable ministers , and overturn flourishing churches , by dividing and defaming methods , with lies , violence , and basest artifice , as if they thought justice , kindness and truth , were due only to men of their own opinion , and cruelty , tricking , and falshood , were warranted , if not required , towards all who differ , gal. 5.10 . & 6.10 , 12 , 15 , 16. yea , it stops not here ; what poverty , silencings , imprisonments , tortures , and bloodshed , both by persecution and wars , do men , so spirited , greedily inflict , and bring upon mankind ? neighbour nations , yea , our own proclaim . such actings indicate this narrow spirit to prevail ; such a spirit prevailing ; will produce all those fruits if there be but power . it may obtain under very different forms , but is not the more innocent for any of them , tho' it reigns in some of most . the best cause will not hallow such a frame ; the worst cause generally hath most of it , and very oft it is a sign thereof . but where-ever it is christ will not own it , his interest , in a common good , is sure to lose by it ; it springs from carnal selfishness , it 's acted and excited by the devil , whatever is pretended for its justification , and it tends to publick hurt of the highest kind . surely it 's no part of , nor joined with that wisdom which is from above , which is first pure , then peaceable , gentle , easie to be intreated , full of mercy and good fruits , without injuring , and without hypocrisie , jam. 3. 15 , 17. no , it 's from what is earthy , sensual and devilish . let us all watch then against the infection of such a temper , for it 's too natural to our unrenewed part to allow security , yea , tho' our opinions be most orthodox : satan will delude you to it under the name of zeal , for he knows that zeal must degenerate into hellish fire when it blazeth , in the former instances ; yea , when it moves thereto . the quenching of such a spirit , in others , is our duty , or , at least , resisting it , that it prevail not to a publick mischief ; nor is he worthy of the name of a man , publickly useful , that dare not venture all to oppose it ; and the rather , because it 's as much worse than brutish , as the devil is worse than a brute , and in many respects gives that wound to religion , and a publick good , which open prophaness is not capable of giving . nothing but a true publick christian spirit can expel it , and without that there will be no aptness to contribute to that progress of the gospel in the world , which we daily pray for ; nor a possibility to maintain , or improve such a mercy , by walking in unity , love and peace , to common edification . to all which , this narrow spirit of a party is so irreconcileable and destructive , that giving way thereto , will no more allay it than pouring oil into a fire . happy times , when divine light and love will so abound , that self-seekers can serve no turn by such a spirit , and the honest-minded shall neither be endangered , nor infected by it ; then , and not till then , will a publick good be generally pursued . 3 inf. we see one great reason why self-denial is so proposed by christ to all his disciples . this is the first article to which all his followers are to submit , mat. 16. 24. if any man will be my disciple , let him deny himself , take up his cross , and follow me . the two last are impossible to such , as agree not to the first . but besides the necessity thereof to these , self denial is absolutely requisite to those services , which christ designeth by his disciples , to each other , and to the world ; as salt they are to season a corrupt world , as lights to enlighten a blind world , mat. 5. 13 , 14. wisdom is to be justified by them , luk. 7. v. 35. the vertues of god to be published , 1 pet. 2. 9. they are to propagate the interests of our blessed redeemer , &c. but which of these can we subserve , if self be not denied ? all impediments to attempt such a work , and most of our unfitness to accomplish it , do arise from carnal selfishness ; where this is subdued , men are ready and prepared to be common blessings , as opportunity is afforded . then sloth will not delay , fear shall not discourage , ambitious or covetous aims must not divert from any labours that others may be benefited by ; whereas carnal self must have our ease indulged , our humour gratified , and safety , credit , and worldly advantages , provided for , whatever becomes of christ's interests , or a publick weal . he that denieth himself most , will be most beneficial ; he that cannot do this at all , will rarely attempt , infallibly spoil , and easily quit any publick service . a self-seeking man will not propose , or prosecute a common good , farther than his own present interests do invite . a self-indulging man will manage his endeavours so , as that the obstacles to his success , by his own behaviour , will exceed the utmost he contributes to it . a self-confident man will over-look the good he might do , attempt what he is unfit for , and , as a just rebuke from god , discover his own weakness , instead of being prospered in what he doth foolishly enterprize in his own strength . did you strictly examine your hearts and ways , it would appear most men's unusefulness proceeds from their selfishness ; this locks your coffers that you cannot give , this benums your powers that you will not act ; this spieth the lion in the way that you dare not go , this feels the burden , counts the charge , and resents the inconveniencies of service , as too great to be endured for it ; whereas , in all eminent usefulness , we do neglect the counsel , counter-act the projects , and offer violence to the inclinations of self , gal. 1. 16. and therein we must act not only as such who are not their own , but as them who have no will of their own to obey , no selfish turn to serve , nor humour to gratifie . when therefore selfishness is so certain an obstructer of the uses christ designed his members to , how fit was it to make our denial of it a prime part of true christianity , and try his genuine followers by their consent thereto , especially when all publick mischiefs do as truly spring from self indulg'd , as publick benefits do from this denied ? miserable man , since his lusts are become himself , and rational self-love become a stranger . happy christian , who best consults his own true interests , by trampling on his lusts , restraining his irregular desires , and rejecting an undue concern for body , and earthly affairs , that he may live to christ , and a common good : this man knows he shall find his truest self most gratified , secured , and provided for , in renouncing and opposing this his greatest enemy . tho' called self . i shall , in the next place , exhort you and my self , according to the nature of this truth which i have explained . 1. let us be ashamed , and duly humbled , for our unusefulness in our generation who of us falls not under the charge of this fault ? and surely , blushings and grief , are very proper where the charge is true ; but knowing how loth we are to acknowledge our fault , and as backward to be affected with the sence of it , when it 's too plain to be denied . i shall endeavour , 1. to convince you of your unusefulness in your generation , that so we may not plead we are ignorant , if we are guilty . 2. to excite you to shame and sorrow for your unusefulness when under conviction of the guilt . 1. for conviction of the guilty . to this end review your talents , and the improvements of them , for publick good ; admit , yea , excite your consciences , to compare your distributions with your stock , your labour with your strength , and your publick services with your time , gifts , and opportunities ; deal herein as in the sight of christ , whose eyes are as a flame of fire , rev. 1. 14 and be not unconcerned whether you find out your sin or not , for your ignorance prevents not your guilt , if the charge be true , tho' it will hinder your repentance , whereby your punishment becomes unavoidable . o then , let each of us ask our selves such questions as these : have i ever proposed to live to god's honour , in the good of others , as the great end of life ? or have not i utterly disregarded it ? have i done good to as many persons as i had a call to , and opportunity for ? or have not i wilfully exempted very many , to whom i stood obliged ? hath the good that i have done in the world , been in proportion to my utmost ability ? or hath it been very little , and inconsiderable , compared with what i could have done ? did i begin to be useful as soon as i was capable , and do i continue so to this time , or was i not far in years before i began ? or have i not deserted it , after i made some hopeful beginnings ? am i seriously concerned to see so many sinners posting to hell ? doth my heart bleed at the miserable condition of the poor and distressed ? am i very solicitous for the churches wellfare and the nations happiness , so as to set my self to redress evil and help the good of each in my place ? and this to the extent of my power ? or , am not i one that slight the wickedness the world lies in , want bowels to the distressed ? if i abound , seldom think or care what becomes of the church or nation , so that i and my friends be but safe and thrive ; and accordingly i employ and spare my estate , labour , gifts , and power . what answer doth an awakened conscience give to these questions ? doth it not accuse you ? must it not present to you a sad account of great omissions and many neglects ? have you no such secret misgivings as these ? i fear i have been a dry tree , and barren soil ; few have cause to bless god for my life . oh , the little good i have ever as yet attempted to do to others ! what fruit i have born hath been to my self , with unfruitful ephraim , hos. 10. 1. if any have been benefited by any thing i have given or done , it hath been by god's over-ruling it , and seldom with any design or good will of mine ; or , at best , i have less intended the good of others thereby than my own private advantage ; for my heart tells me , i coldly attempted the most promising enterprize from which i expected not applause or profit . and soon gave it over when i had a prospect of reproach , or loss thereby . oh that you would be faithful to your own souls , and acknowledge your guilt ; especially , if it be notorious ! great instances cannot be overlooked , unless you wilfully shut your eyes . what trade you have driven in the world must be known to you , tho' some diversions may be forgotten . hath publick service for god been your business in any measure ? or , have you made the very worship of god and your most seeming obedience to subserve carnal ends ? have you spent your estate on your lusts , or on the publick interests , and poor members of christ , next to the supply of your own and families true necessities ? what projects have had the chief room in your heads ? what matters have sate closest to your hearts ? were they serving your generation , and saving your own soul ? or , were they the perishing affairs of life ? rest not till you make a true answer ; nor till that , as past all doubt , be assented to ; that so if unusefulness is imputed to you by the all-seeing god , you may cry , i am guilty ; being convinced of all , and judged of all , 1 cor. 14.24 . 2. if you are guilty , be ashamed and grieved . his heart is obdurate , if not atheistical , that owneth his unprofitableness without shame , seeing it 's a thing so indecent and unbecoming ; or without afflicting sorrow , it being a thing so sinful in its self , so unjust towards god , so injurious to others , and hurtful to your own souls : give way to some thoughts that ought to strike your secure unconcerned minds . 1. god keeps a register of his gifts committed to you , and of your neglects and abuses in the employing of them : he knows what thou hast done , and what thou mightest have done ; what you have laid out by his rules , and what under the conduct of your own lusts ; nothing of either did escape his view , or slip his memory ; the account of both are as full and exact as if entred in a book , rev. 20 12. and shortly the whole will be read by thy self , in a light which cannot be refused , yea , transcribed on thy very conscience , so as not to be blotted out . anticipate this by serious reflexions , and sure it must fill you with shame and sorrow , to see so much received , and so little restored , by applying it to the appointed uses , yea , so much employed to very contrary purposes ; so great an estate , with little or nothing to promote the gospel , or relieve the poor , but a very great sum wasted on thy lusts , or hoarded to look upon . will it not affect to find your names among magistrates or ministers , capable for , and called to the respective duties of such offices , for a common good ? and over-against your names thus written , this magistrate was no terror to evil doers , no praise to such as did well ? nay , instead of reforming others , he corrupted them by his countenance and example ; instead of relieving the injured , he oppressed the poor , perverted justice , and persecuted my servants . this minister did not reprove sin impartially and boldly , especially if the offenders were such as he expected benefit by ; he declared not my whole counsel , but minced and chose what was safest to himself , and most pleasing to others ; he accommodated not his labours to the real benefit of all , but to the humours of some ; disdaining plain speech , affecting levity , frothy or amusing discourses : he was more solicitous to know how he was praised , than how others did profit . he let truth sink , and errours gain ground , when he found his name or incomes should suffer by opposing the last , or abetting the first ; such a time he dealt treacherously with such & such souls , he obstructed a publick good , for his private advantage ; he excused himself from preaching , pleading , or speaking , tho' he saw my insterest and the real benefit of others required it . how formal and cold in his performances , prayerless and slothful in his preparations ! partial and careless in discipline , and unexemplary in walking . notions he took up for truths , without search or other enquiry , then , is this the opinion of a man eminent with the party i hope to live by ? and will it suit with the fancies of these men ? i might proceed herein , and annex the particular cases of others . but this may suffice to mind you what a blush should it raise , what an anguish should it cause to see your names thus underwritten in the records of heaven ; and know , the devil keeps also an account , as full as he can , that he may become your accuser . 2. you can make no apology for your unusefulness , but what 's fit to aggravate your shame and sorrow . a vain mind , and a feared conscience , will suggest excuses , and take up with them ; however false and frivolous they be : but enquiries there will be , which will pierce into the nature and truth of things , and minister such an awakening light , as shall render the most careless and confident person speechless , matth. 22.12 . it were our mercy that we allowed nothing as a sufficient plea now , but what will be approved of at the judgment bar. examine therefore the true reasons why you have not served your generation as well as others . obj. you 'll pretend your utter incapacity for service . ans. 1. that is a good apology if true , for god expects not to reap where he hath not sown , he is no such hard master , matth. 25.26 . none shall have ground to affix that character to him . but is this excuse true ? can your consciences , as drowsie as they are , offer this plea , and abide by it ? viz. the only reason why we were not publick blessings , was , because we had no gift , no opportunity , estate or power to be so . if conscience upon a serious pause dare not stick to this excuse , but condemns thee , how much more will god condemn thee , who is greater , and knoweth all things ? 2 iohn 3.30 . but if still you verily believe that the objection states your case ; ans. 2. let me ask you , have you really pitied the distressed whom you could not relieve ? have you avoided being hurtful to others , tho' you could not profit them ? have you earnestly prayed for the church of god , and the good of the miserable world , bewailing the sorrows of the first , and the misery of the last ? do you rejoyce in , and bless god for those who are useful , without envying the most eminent ? when you desire an estate or gift , and bewail the want of them , is the later mostly because you cannot be useful , and the former that you may be so ? do you take all due pains , and use all good thrift that you may have somewhat to enable you to be profitable ? and if you are poor , and have the help of others , do you make conscience not to ask it till you need ; nor ask or take more than you need , that the relief of the more necessitous may not be hindred ? if your hearts cannot honestly say , these things answer my case , it 's thus with me ; then you have not a temper of mind to be useful if you had abilities ; and it 's most probable you are more able to do good , than you have been faithful to do it . but if indeed your consciences do justly witness , that you can so answer to the above questions , as that incapacity is the very reason your generation is not more served by you than by your prayers and good example ; then you are not the persons to whom my reproof is directed , so that you do that little you can . ans. 3. but such of you as are able to serve their generation , and neglect it , should be more ashamed and grieved when you consider the true causes of your unprofitableness . your hinderances to service are from your selves ; your lusts have the great hand in assigning the governing reason : look at the baulks you have made , and the opportunities you have past unusefully over ; and ask thy conscience , whence was it that i neglected this ? can you be unaffected when you receive this answer ? my covetousness , my pride , my sloth , my fear , my unbelief , or my unconcernedness for god's honour , and the publick good did hinder me , these made me unwilling and averse , these diverted my abilities to another chanel , and would not suffer me to be useful and faithful in my trust ; were not you governed by one or other of these whenever you shut you ears to the cry of an afflicted church , of starved ministers , of a sinking nation , of diseased souls , and the distressed poor . if it be so , as indeed it will be found , you have cause to be ashamed and mourn . doth it become men to be under the conduct of such base guides ? in this respect god hath called you to shew your selves men , isa. 46.8 . but much more unbecoming is this , to you that wear the name of christians ; you are called and redeemed to be zealous of good works , titus 2.14 . is this to be so ? is this to imitate or obey christ whom you own for your lord , and whose livery you have put on ? follow the chanel to the fountain head ; be led by your actings to the posture and frame of your hearts ; and judge what vile spirits act you , what a dominion have these lusts in your soul , that thus command your talents , and determine the scope of your lives in opposition to the loudest calls . oh blush and weep , that with all thy light and helps , under all thy christian profession and hopes , thy heart is so earthly and carnal , so sensual and devilish ; so full of hatred to god and man , as the authority of these lusts import ; and thy unusefulness doth testifie in the clearest light , the holy spirit hath made no saving change if you are altogether useless ; the change at most is very imperfect , whiles your usefulness is so much hindred by these unsubdued lusts : the very unprofitable must be made other men , matt. 12.33 . and the less profitable are not very good men. you have those dry leaves and those dead branches which may well put you to the blush , and fill you with fear , iohn 15.2 , the unfruitful branch will be cast out . 3. your unusefulness expresseth that treachery , ingratitude and injustice towards god , which must cause shame and sorrow in every thinking person . the least acquaintance with the infinite god , as our owner , ruler and benefactor , would strike an amazement and terror in our minds , that this sort of demeanour towards him , should be justly ascribed to any of us ; yet as far as publick unusefulness is our crime , all this base treatment of god is chargeable upon us . 1. it 's treachery towards god , as it 's contrary to out profession , a breach of our vows , and betraying our trust. let 's consider this in three parts . 1. when you profess your selves the servants of god , the followers of christ , inspired by his spirit , satisfied with his covenant blessings as your portion , expectants of his heavenly rewards , and acknowledgers of him as your ultimate end. do not you hereby profess that you are employed about his work , and serving his purposes in the world , that this is your trade , and the business of your life . you who profess your selves christians , profess no less than what i have above described ; but pray see how empty a profession it is ; how far otherwise you do than you pretend , and what other sort of people you are than you would seem to be ; when all this while you neglect god's work , and follow your own ; you overlook his designs , and serve your own turn : may not god say , they profess to serve me , but in works they deny me , titus 1.16 . with their meuth they shew much kindness , but their heart goeth after their covetousness , ezek. 33.31 . and after their pride , and after their selfish designs . do you think god will be mocked , or that you can impose on him ? it cannot be ; blush then at your own falshood ; whiles your heads are so seldom projecting how shall we best honour our god , and form his interests , if you are satisfied with an empty noise , or theatrical shew ; fear lest christ apply himself to you as to iudas , betrayest thou me with a kiss ? luke 23.48 . do you profess all this , that you may be exempted from promoting my concerns in the world ; yea , that you may dis-serve me the more in betraying my cause by your connivance and neglects ? oh let us mourn that our very profession testifies against us ! 2. unusefulness is a breach of your vows , made to the living god. your baptismal vow includes a solemn dedication of your selves and all you have to father , son , and holy ghost , with an engagement of living to god , and not to his rivals , be they the world , flesh or devil . consider your unusefulness , and see , is that a performance of this engagement , or consistent with it ? sure by your behaviour you think it was an errour that you made this vow , eccles. 5.6 . but know , they are no christians who consent not to it ; and having engaged , you cannot think that meer making this vow was principally designed in christ's institution ; no , it was ordained to be made , that you might be more sensibly obliged to execute it , especially in so principal a part of it . how ever light you make of your great and wilful unserviceableness in your day , you are therein no less than perfidious and perjured in breaking your oaths , and those oft renewed before the lord at his table , oft it may be in sickness ; besides the oaths you have taken as magistrates or ministers . to your perfidiousness you have added sacriledge against your self-dedication , of which hereafter . ought not our souls bleed to think , i gave up my self and my all to god , to serve and honour him , to plead christ's cause , and advance his interests , to live for him , and not for my self ; yea , i have signed his covenant to do this , and vowed it upon the memorials of his death , and in several extremities when conscience represented my dangerous neglects ; and yet notwithstanding all , i employ my estate , my time , my gifts , my power , as if at full liberty to use them as i please ; as if christ had no interest to be served by me , or i were under no obligation to spend or adventure any thing for his service . 3. you have betrayed that trust which god committed to you . whoever is a minister of christ , is a steward to whom the truths and institutions of christ are entrusted , to maintain , dispence and defend , 1 cor. 4.1 , 2. he is a pastor , to whose care the flock of christ is committed , 1 pet. 5.2 . in becoming ministers , we undertake this trust. the life of souls is very much committed to us as watch-men , ezek. 33.8 . it cannot be denied then that a careless selfish unfaithful minister betrays his trust ; he dischargeth not what he hath undertaken , but deals falsly and treacherously with our faithful lord. magistrates are entrusted with god's sword , and subjects committed to their care to the degree of power which they have over them ; doth not that magistrate then deal treacherously with god in betraying this trust , when he preserveth not the innocent , but defends the guilty , &c. yea , all the talents any man hath , is put into his hands to lay out as god directs for a common good ; and every one whom we ought to benefit by that talent , is committed to our trust as far as his welfare depends upon that supply . yea , christ hath intrusted every christian with his honour , with his interests , and with the advancement of his kindom in this world. we are intrusted as his witnesses , his soldiers , &c. but , let us blush and mourn , that as far as we neglected to serve our generation , we have betrayed all his publick concerns in this world ; all that he hath put into our hands . ah! had none been more faithful than we , his gospel , his ministry , his members had been in a condition more deplorable than they be . o that my eyes were waters ! treachery is a vile blot ; treachery towards god is the worst sort : and yet this have you been guilty of ; yea , in saddest instances , viz. belying your profession , breaking your vows , and betraying your trust. may it not well fill you with confusion ? 2. by your unusefulness you have dealt ungratefully with god. ingratitude is a monstrous crime , and becomes more so , as he deserveth well at our hands against whom we are ungrateful . where there is any ingenuity there will be relentings , to think how god hath deserved our utmost service , and what a base requital we have made by our great neglects . he hath not spared his own son , but gave him to be a sacrifice for us when enemies ; and we have grudged a few pounds , murmured at a little labour , or hazard , in serving him , who is our best friend , and daily benefactor . it is more blessed to give than to receive , act. 20. 35. god hath made us able to give , and others in need to receive , when he might have put them in our case and us in theirs ; yet we basely refuse to obey him , in giving out of our abundance to such as want it . how unthankful are we to the giver of all our gifts ? that we refuse to honour him , by instructing the ignorant , and reclaiming transgressors , when he could as easily have qualified them to instruct us , and left us in a greater need of their assistance than they are of ours . whatever we are , have , or hope for , are the fruits of his meer bounty , and distinguishing favour to us ; that we are capable to do him any service , or others any good , are endowments he dispenced to us by name , and that these shall not be used at all for him , is high ingratitude . in mercy he hath long tried us , he hath spared us again and again , after that our barrenness hath provoked him to cut us off , as well as others whom he hath cast out , luk. 13.8 . and still we abuse his patience , and persist to cumber the ground , and be little profitable to any . by great rewards he invites us , by great assistances he encourageth us to that which he might bind us to , at our peril , by his meer command , yet , as base wretches , we loyter , yea , refuse his work ; we wave what 's hard , and think too much of what is easiest ; we cast off all that we can tolerably rid our selves of . ought not it to be for a lamentation , and the more so , if you can but discern the malignity and contempt you have expressed towards god in your unthankful returns ? what 's the language of your refusing to serve your generation hitherto ? no kinder , no more expressive of gratitude , for all his favours , than this ; god deserves not my pains , my estate would be foolishly laid out for him ; what is he to me , that i should disturb my ease , hazard my name , displease my friends , or suffer any thing for a common good ? for my part , so that all will be of my mind , let christ the redeemer have none to honour him , let satan carry away the whole spoil , let the gospel of christ have no place , let his ministers and members perish as well as need , let heaven have no tribute from this world but blasphemies , let god be reproached , by entrusting such a one as i am , with what might benefit the community , let this earth of the lords be a hell for misery and sin ; so let all be , rather than i 'll run any danger , sustain any labour , or be at any expence or trouble . yet this hath been the language of your unprofitable behaviour , as far as you have allowed it , and god doth so interpret it , however partial you are towards your selves . is not this horrid ingratitude to our blessed lord ? and do dry eyes , or a face lifted up , agree hereto ? we may deservedly take up those words , we are ashamed and confounded , because we bear the reproach of our past times , ier. 31.19 . it 's time to blush , when all his special favours do thus reproach us , and our returns have breathed such gross ingratitude . 3. your unusefulness hath been the highest injustice against god. whiles you have refused to be profitable according to your ability , you have denied to render to god that which is his own ; you have defrauded , and sacrilegiously with-held and mis-applied that which was his and not yours . whose are you your selves ? whose are all your gifts and estates which you have thus grudged ? they are the lords ; of every talent he may justly say , it s my own , mat. 25.27 . the cattle upon a thousand hills are mine , psal. 50.1 . the earth is the lords , and the fulness thereof , psal. 24.1 . hence he fastens injury on idolatrous israel , ezek. 16.17 , 18 , 19. thou didst take thy iewels of my gold and my silver , and thou hast set my oil and my incense before thy idols , and my meat , &c. but especially , bethink your selves how many ways you , even you , unuseful ones , are his . you are the work of his hands , he gave you a being , or you had never existed ; he gave you to be what you are , even rational creatures , which he was no more necessitated to make you than crawling toads , iob 33.6 . he sustains you in being and in your ca●●●● for service : in him we live , and 〈…〉 have our being , acts 17.28 . by his 〈◊〉 are you provided for ; and by his watchful eye preserved every moment , gen. 48.15 , 16. you were redeemed by the blood of christ , he bought you into a capacity for service , when you were fetter'd in prison in order to eternal vengeance , zech. 9.11 . luke 1.74 . you have solemnly owned the claim of god in christ to you , by offering up your selves , and all you possess , to this glorious one ; answerably to rom. 12.1 . whereby thou art his also by self-dedication . seeing then his claims to you are thus various and universal , how much have you wronged him , in denying him the use of his own , and done your utmost to defeat him in the end for which he created and redeemed you ? did not he create all things for himself ? to bring him glory , and do him service , to the degree whereof they were capable , prov. 16.4 . col. 1.16 . christ died and rose , that he might be lord both of the dead and living ; rom. 14.9 . was not this that he might rule all , dispose of all , and be served by all ? how unrighteous then have you been , as far as unusefulness is your fault , you have carried it as if he could not do with his own as he pleased . you his creatures have refused to go on his errand ; or , work in his vineyard , matth. 21.29 , 30. you his purchased ones have not agreed to serve him with your bodies and spirits , which are his , 1 cor. 6.20 . his money you have refused to give as he directs . his office , & power you have neglected to apply to the ends and by the rules which he prescribes . his gifts have been sacrilegiously taken away from the service to which he allotted them . have not your ways been in all this unequal ? and can you own it without blushings , and renting your very hearts ? our unusefulness ought not to be lightly esteemed by us , when it 's so full of treachery , ingratitude , and injustice , towards the lord our god. paul knew service went with god's title , that god whose i am , and whom i serve , act. 27.23 . 4. you should be ashamed and grieved for your unusefulness , because it hath been very injurious to all persons whom you have neglected to be profitable to . they have a joint charge of wrong against you , in that you have defrauded them of what was theirs in right , tho' you detained it . we are debtors to as many as god hath appointed us to be useful , rom. 1.14 . god directed to them , by you , whatever help or benefit he requires you to confer on them , and therefore you have acted the part of a fraudulent messenger in disowning their claim , and with-holding what 's their due . the church of god may complain , this was he who owed me great service , but he never rendred it to me in my ministers , or my members ; he did nothing for my defence , enlargement , or improvement . your country may exclaim , this man enjoy'd my defence , plenty , and conveniencies , and was capable , by his prayers , votes , purse and gifts , to have contributed to my welfare , but he hath wickedly sought himself , and served himself of me , but i am no way benefited by him in my reformation , safety , or liberty , &c. your families have a right to godly education , as well as other benefits ; but they do testifie against you as injurious , in not instructing , perswading , and striving with them , to rescue them from the power of the devil , and to become devoted to the lord. the poors cryes go up to heaven against you , for keeping back their portion of your substance , and denying that advice and help whereby you might have made them useful and comfortable . such just complaints may well touch their hearts against whom they are directed ; perhaps you would hate to defraud any man in what the laws of the land declare unjust , but is not the law of nature , and the positive laws of god , as sufficient to determine what 's just or unjust , as humane laws can be ? and these do accuse you to be injurious to men in your wilful unprofitableness . but besides all this , it may be many are exclaiming against you among the damned already , as accessary to their miseries , by your neglects as well as otherwise . they are dead in their sin for want of thy reproof , and thy slackness in pulling them out as brands out of the burnings . if our hearts have any tenderness under a sence of so many and manifest injuries , we must feel this wickedness much embittered to us . 5. you should blush at , and bewail your unusefulness as it is a great hurt to your selves . unprofitable persons govern themselves by a great mistake , in that they fall into mischief the way they think to escape it ; to avoid self-hurt , they refrain being useful to others , but you 'll find that thereby you incur a far greater damage . for fear of loss , you kept from others what you ought to have laid out for their relief , and you think it 's so much saved for your own benefit , but god will so order matters , that all such riches were kept to your own hurt , eccl. 5.13 . whenever power is mis-applied , or not exerted for common benefit , that 's the time wherein a man ruleth over another to his own hurt , eccl. 8.9 . folly , when detected , is cause of shame : mischief , when perceived , forceth sorrow in him on whom it falleth ; it 's your blindness and infidelity , that you now find not , in your great unusefulness , the plainest evidence of both , but what unbelief will not now discern , experience shortly will force the securest of you to acknowledge , and that to the filling of you with shame and grief . oh that you would consider your latter end , deut. 32.29 . i. e. that you would consider what this ( selfish barren ) course will come to , what it will end in . i can by good warrant assure you , it will not be either so comfortable , nor gainful , as to justifie your neglects . you , perhaps , will say , with what i save by not relieving the poor , or promoting any good design , i shall get an inheritance the more hastily by so much . is it so ? take god's word for an answer , but the end thereof shall not be blessed , prov. 20.21 . write that as a prophecy upon whatever of your estates god hath forbidden you to lay up , by his call to lay it out . the same is applicable to all that strength , safety , credit , or interest , you think you secure , by neglecting to serve your generation ; the end thereof shall not be blessed . to evidence this , and thereby further convince you that unusefulness yields reason of shame and sorrow ; of shame , by your folly in it , of sorrow by the mischief of it . consider , 1. you can keep nothing with a blessing which you have gotten or saved by unusefulness ; very oft god even disappoints men of getting what they propose to get , by their unfaithfulness to him , and unusefulness to others ; with balaam they miss of what they so greedily desire , and some way or other god signally defeats them in the danger they thought to prevent , and the benefit they expected ; so that they are forced to say , even at present , i have neither saved , nor gotten any thing , by refusing to serve my generation ; i am as poor as if i had laid out for god what i covetously with held , prov. 11.24 . i am as much reproached , and as little esteemed , by these men , for fear of whose tongues , or dislike . i betrayed the truth , as if i had faithfully adher'd to it . but upon supposition you have made some present advantage , yet you may not long keep it , god may soon blast it to the terror of others . iudas soon parted with the silver he got by betraying christ , matth. 27.34 . some have been burnt in their house , by god's hand , who refused to burn for the truths sake . ananias soon lost the use of what he reserved from publick service , and his life to the bargain , act. 5. cap. oh! how many remarkable instances are upon record , of the ruined families of such as acquir'd estates by unfaithfulness to god , and uncharitableness to men ? their children could not keep what their parents perfidiously heaped . nay , examples are very many , that did not keep , for their own time , the wealth or reputation which they secured at the price of a common harm , but became beggarly and infamous . god hath made many men's parts to wither , and their health to decay , whose sloth made their gifts and strength unuseful to the publick ; such a method god took with israel , when they disregarded god's house , and over-regarded their own , hag. 1.4 , 9 , 11. ye looked for much , and it came to little ; and when ye brought it home i did blow upon it . why , saith the lord of hostes ; because of mine house that lies waste , and ye run every man into his own house . what advantage they got was small , and that soon turned to no account , because of god's blast ; it was presently reduced to nothing . but supposing god , for wise ends , suffer you to keep what you have gotten or saved , yet i am sure you cannot keep it with a blessing . if you are ungodly it 's your snare , which is the worst of curses : if you have serious spirits , you must uneasily enjoy it , and use it with bitter reflections , as what you hold not with god's good-will ; a desecrated accursed thing , that hazardeth and curseth the rest , which , without this , might have been possess'd comfortably and safely ; yea , and have been employed to blessed uses , whereas now god disdains to accept , or succeed the residue to his service , but he embittereth it to your disquiet , as well as emptieth it to your dissatisfaction . 2. you shall be great losers by your unusefulness , notwithstanding all you can get or save thereby . no profit , by deceitfulness towards god , will countervail the loss you will sustain : bethink you whether you have not lost already more than that amounts to : do you enjoy that peace you once had ? have you that free access into his presence as sometimes you found ? doth he afford you that communion with himself , and tokens of his favour , in which you were accustomed to relish the highest delight ? have you not less composure , and fixedness of heart , when dangers threaten you ? do you expect the same returns of prayer , or use you to meet with them as formerly ? are not you more left to your selves in duties and temptations too ? have you not less supports when afflictions befal you ? have not your graces abated in their strength and exercise ? have not you less of god in every ordinance , and less success in your performances ? in such things thou dost more than vomit up the morsel thou hast eaten , and lose thy sweet words , as prov. 23. v. 8. but if thy gross neglects be impenitently persisted in , thy losses will be far greater , not only in further degrees of what 's above-mentioned , but thou shalt lose all the good thou hast seemed to do . iohn 2. 8. all shall be taken from thee which thou appearest to have , yea , or really hast , matth. 25. 28 , 29. thou shalt lose all thy hopes , however great or confident ; thou shalt lose that life which thou didst so over-fondly love , iohn 12. 25. thou shalt lose thy own soul , which the gain of the whole world cannot not recompence , luke 9. 24. you shall not find the good promised to the merciful and righteous , which is no less than life , righteousness , and honour , prov. 21. 21. you shall forfeit all the higher degrees of glory promised to the eminently useful ; yea , and the lesser degrees promised to the faithfully useful , tho' not so eminent . you shall neither be ruler of ten cities nor of five ; no entrance into the ioy of your lord shall be admitted you , luke 19. matth. 25. 21. the rivers of god's pleasure you shall never taste ; that beatifick vision you shall never experience ; the crown of glory you shall not wear ; for these god hath confined to the faithful labourer . can you that never attempted , or soon fainted in serving god in your generation , hope to reap as they who fainted not in well-doing ? gal. 6. 9. shall you who laid up nothing in store , no treasure in heaven , expect to be rich there as they who did ? luke 12. 33. 1 tim. 6. 19. it 's in vain , and sorest disappointment will attend it . for the utterly unfruitful will have no interest in any of that glory ; the less useful will miss of the higher degrees of it . o compute your gain and loss ! and what idiot could have made a weaker choice , or taken a more foolish course than you have done ? folly will put you to the blush , to see how vainly you refused to be rich towards god by publick service , that you might get a treasure for your self by your layings up , in a neglect of common usefulness , luke 12.18 , 19 , 21. he was branded as a fool in bestowing all his goods in his barns , and laying out nothing that he might be rich towards god. and so will all be mark'd , who imitate him . 3. you shall endure great punishments for your unusefulness . besides a privation of good , god will sensibly imbitter this sin : he oft doth testifie against it in the posterity of the unprofitable , who , by being so , trouble their own house , prov. 11.29 . there are many curves lying on the head of such as withhold relief from the poor , assist not in a common danger , and contribute not to publick good when capacitated for it , prov. 11.26 . iudg. 5.23 . all which you stand exposed to by your unusefulness . have not you already met with some remembrances , that god dislikes your selfish ways and narrow spirits ? hath not he emptied your mercies , embittered your comforts , filled your souls with terrors , and encountred you with a frowning countenance ? hath not he let satan loose upon you or yours ? but these are but the beginnings of sorrows , and presages of greater woes , unless you repent ; he will cut thee down as a barren fig-tree for thy great leaves without fruit , for thy cumbring the ground where thou mightest be useful , luk. 13.5 , 6. how full of terrors will death present it self , when god will force thy conscience to reflect on thy many neglects , with a clear view of the hateful causes of them , and the miserable effects thereof ? with anguish thou will then bemoan thy self , and vainly with for the past opportunities of service , and that thou hadst a heart to have improv'd them better . death , thus full of stings , will lodge thee in the unseen state ; but , alas ! how unprovided and ill prepared ? the face of thy judge will be terrible , when he shall demand an account of thy stewardship , luke 16.2 . and reckon with thee about his talents , and thy occupation of them , mat. 25.19 . it will be in vain to deny or diminish your trust , and what answer can you find that can satisfie him , or please your selves ? if you hope his merits may be pleadable by you , he 'll answer , they are not applied but according to my promises . you may as well expect they shall be imputed without faith , as to a dead faith , a faith that did not invigorate to holy fruitfulness and fidelity in my service , was a dead faith , and so no faith in gospel estimate , and therefore cannot save , iam. 2. v. 14 , 20. to plead your idleness , fear or covetousness , will be to proclaim the provoking causes of your approaching ruine . what a heart-cutting charge will you find drawn against you , with a sentence pursuant thereto : thou wert ashamed of me before men , now i am ashamed of thee before my father , mark 8.38 . thou didst deny me in the other world , now i deny thee in this world , mat. 10.33 . when i was an hungry thou didst not feed me , when i was in prison thou didst not visit me ; depart therefore from me thou cursed into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels , chap 25 , 41. thou didst hide my talent , ( yea talents ) therefore cast this unprofitable servant into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . mat. 25.30 . what mind can conceive the misery included in a condition made up of all the woes these several expressions import ? were they believed throughly , what we may now conceive of them would overwhelm a man that but seems in danger of enduring this misery ; and being that these several places describe the sentence pronounced against the unprofitable , who have neglected a common good ( as well as their own souls ) and betrayed the publick interests of christ in their day , it follows that whatever in each place aggravates their misery , must be put together to give us a just account thereof . can your heart endure but the supposing your self the person whom christ singleth out in the view of angels and men ; and thus speaks to from his tribunal , thou selfish , false and useless wretch , so vile , that without reproach to my perfections , to my holy word and glory , i can shew no favour to thee ( which is christ's being ashamed of him ) i do here reject all thy pretensions to my image , merits , covenant and service ; and do declare thou art no living member , follower , servant or witness of mine , nor is my honour , truth or fulness concerned at all in thy being happy ( which is christ's denying him . ) thou art now fallen into my hands , and the time of my vengeance is come , i pronounce thee guilty of persidiousness to my name and interests , and unprofitable to others and thy self , in not rightly employing my talents for common benefit , as well as thine own ; for this i now effectually and irrevocably adjudge thee to the loss of all felicity , glory , grace and joy , which my presence doth afford , and this without any future hopes from any further strivings with thee , or offers to thee , and be thou now sealed and separated to the height of misery ( that is , depart from me you cursed ) a misery in its nature and degree so great , as what 's fitted to torment those capital enemies of mine , the devil and his angels , who shall be thy companions because they were thy rulers ; so painful to thy body as the hottest fire , and not less to thy soul , else it were not fitted to torment the devils , who are spirits ; so full of horrour as darkness is , yea a darkness as remote and free from light as can be , ( that is outer darkness ) and all so resented , felt and afflictive , as to cause the extremest sorrow , anguish and fretting against god , thy companions , and thy self ( there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . ) and as for duration ; it 's everlasting fire , it 's for ever that this sentence shall take hold of , and be executed upon thee ; which is confirmed by another place that declareth the continuance of the misery of unuseful men , under the emblem of chaff , as opposed to useful wheat ; the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire , luke 3. 17. which is the same with those words , their worm dieth not , and their fire is not quenched , mark 9. v. 46. there 's no hopes of an alteration of their estate , unless words cannot express the eternity of hell torments ; yea , unless sinners may be reclaimed when expelled from all the gracious influences of the divine presence ( implied in depart from me ) yea , unless there be a more valuable sacrifice for sinners than the son of god was ; for this will not relieve them , heb. 9. 26. yea , if there be not an administration for reducing sinners after , and fitter than the kingdom of christ ; for this will be delivered up upon that time that this sentence passeth the first time on sinners found then alive , solemnly upon the departed and living , and executed upon devils , who till then are prisoners , 1 cor. 15. 23 , 24 , 26 , 28. 2 pet. 2. 4. compared with matth. 8. 29. ought not you to tremble at this prospect of eternal misery ? yet if you are these unfaithful and unprofitable sinners during life , you will be thus found guilty and sentenced when you die. consider again and again what thou must hear , feel and endure , for thy unprofitableness ; add this to the great things thou losest by it , and also that what now thou seemest to get or save through unusefulness , cannot at present be kept with a blessing ; when thou hast done thus in a serious manner , i will appeal to thy self , whether thy folly is not gross enough to make thee ashamed , and thy misery great enough to fill thee with terrour , that unusefulness in thy age hath been allowed by thee ? yea , i dare give you leave to put all the loss , charge , labour and danger of publick service , with all the ease , safety and benefit of unserviceableness ; and set them all against the fore-mentioned mischiefs which attend the unprofitable ; and if thou believest the certainty of these , be then affected at thy barrenness , as the cause appears to thy self ; nay , were there but a probability , nay , but a possibility that these fruits of unprofitableness were true , it were sufficient to make thee ashamed and grieved for it . obj. tho' i must agree that it's folly to become liable to these mischiefs , yet are all who are unuseful subject to endure them ? for if so , who shall escape ? supposing a capacity to service ; i shall briefly answer . ans. there is , 1. a degree of unusefulness , which through weakness and temptation may oft befal a godly man , which indeed shall not bring eternal misery upon him ; tho' god usually testifies his displeasure against it in this life . 2. there is an unusefulness which will infallibly bring eternal misery upon whoever is guilty of it . if it be not so , you must question the plainest discoveries of the gospel of truth . obj. 2. how shall i know the kind and degree of that unusefulness that will certainly bring eternal misery , from that which a godly man may be guilty of thro' weakness and temptation ? ans. a full answer to this and the other objections may be gathered from what is largely insisted on in the former heads . but because some may not so easily apply that to such particular cases ; i shall therefore give you these short hints . 1. the unusefulness of any good man is such as doth consist with an unfeigned dedication and habitual devotedness of himself and all he hath to god in christ , and this is persevered in . he is no believer or good christian that is not thus devoted to god ; and such unusefulness as is consistent with this , is not a mark of hell. but that unusefulness which is not consistent with unfeigned dedication , and habitual devotedness to god in christ , is an infallible mark of eternal misery if persisted in . 2. he that shall escape eternal misery , is not unuseful in the prevailing scope of his life ; but every son of perdition is so ; the course of his life is unprofitable , and thence he is denominated unfruitful in his best state ; the stated bent of his soul is to do more hurt than good . 3. what good he doth who shall escape hell , he usually doth it in uprightness , from love and obedience to god , with a believing respect to god in christ ; but the child of wrath , in whatever seeming good he doth , hath a greater regard to carnal considerations , and acteth not from faith , love , and obediential regard to god. 4. the good man repents of , and bewails his unusefulness , when convinced of it , and heartily desires to know wherein he is culpably unuseful , that he may reform , as well as by faith in christ sue out his pardon upon repenting of it . but the ungodly is hardened in his unusefulness , unwilling to know it , set against reforming , if not insensible of his need of pardon , yea oft justifies himself in his selfish unprofitable course . 5. the true christian is truly glad and thankful when god doth most encline and enlarge his heart to overcome his selfishness , and to act in the most useful serviceable manner , tho' no carnal respects of his own be served thereby ; yea , tho' loss , reproach and suffering attend it , so god be but honoured , and a common good subserved . but the carnal man , if he hath been over-ruled to any thing which proves useful , yet if his own credit or wordly benefit be not advantaged , and much more if he comes to suffer by it ; he is grieved , and repenteth of what he hath done , whatever honour god receives , or benefit others get thereby . by these things you may know whether you are such unuseful persons as shall be pardoned and saved , or such unuseful persons as shall endure eternal misery , if you persistin this state . obj. 3. but tho' i continue unuseful in that manner as the word of god declareth eternal misery will follow upon it ; yet i shall be safe if i believe in christ for the pardon of it , and that i 'll do , and yet not reform my course . ans. deceive not thy self with vain words , what thou sowest , that thou shalt reap , mat. 6. v. 19. and be it known to thee , that no faith in christ will be available to thy pardon , which is not effectual to turn thee from that unusefulness , and which doth not include in it a dedication and prevailing habitual devotedness of thy self to christ and his service in a common good . a living faith worketh by love , gal. 5. 6. and a dead faith will never justifie ; yea , it self is condemned as a false faith if it want good works , when opportunity for them is afforded . and that man must impose upon himself , who can imagine that the faith which is necessary to pardon must work by love , and yet not work in love towards our neighbours at all ; but if you grant it must work in love towards our neighbour , i ask , must it not work towards all that are designed by the word neighbour , whom we are to love ? if so , it includes all men whatever within the reach of my ability to do good to ; and if it be by love to all them that it will work , it must express it self in those works that instance the sincerity of our love to them for their benefit ; and so true faith will work towards all as far as love is due to them , and do all that sincere love to them will prompt to , which is no less than serving our generation , or that publick usefulness which you neglect . can the tempter still delude you to think , that you will have a pardon of your unusefulness by such a faith as doth not make you resolve to be useful ? yea , or doth not effectually produce this usefulness as you are called thereto ? alas ! you contradict , yea , nullifie a justifying faith , when you say , i will not reform my useless life , and yet i will believe in christ for a pardon of it ; the english of which is , i will believe in christ for pardon with such a faith as christ never promised pardon to , and upon which he will never pardon me . this , instead of mitigating thy folly in being unuseful , doth greatly augment and proclaim it ; it sets thee no safer from endless misery , but by encouraging thee in the course that certainly leads to it ; it makes thy enduring that misery the surer . 2 exh. resolve henceforward to be useful in your generation ; yea , eminently useful , if capable thereof . all i have hitherto insisted on tends to this , that you may resolve at last to engage in this work. for this end i have explained this duty , and commended the performance thereof ; for this i have said so much , to discover the neglects of it , and to convince of the folly and danger of those neglects : all which will be lost , if you go hence unresolved to be publick blessings in your day . what avail all arguments , if they incline not our backward hearts to usefulness ? they will no more than discover our obstinateness , and aggravate our condemnation ; but in hope of a better effect , i shall address my self to each of you . the more remiss you have been hitherto , the more incumbent on you it is , now to engage your souls in this work ; from this time , do what you can to serve the will of god in your generation ; devise great and liberal things , isa. 32.8 . let nothing set bounds to your usefulness , but a natural or moral incapacity ; i. e. somewhat impossible , or something unlawful . what 's impossible god requires not ; and to do , or speak wickedly , or deceitfully for god , he will not accept , job 13.7 . but what 's lawful , and within your power , omit not ; the greater it is , the more will god be honoured , others benefited , and thy own divine temper expressed . be pleased with the largest opportunities of service , and faithfully answer each ; trifle not , but be in earnest ; move not slowly , but run the ways of god's commandments , as one whose heart is enlarged by him , psal. 119. beat not the air , as if uncertain of the nature or tendency of thy work , it 's for god , it will end in glory , 1 cor. 9 26. let us each , in our places , say with nehemiah , cap. 2.20 . the lord will prosper us , therefore we , his servants , will arise and build . that i may more usefully urge this general exhortation , i shall direct it according to some different circumstances , which you may be in , and answerably direct and plead with you . 1. to such as are still unwilling to serve their generation . either you are convinced that this is your duty , or you are not ; if you are perswaded it 's your duty , what peace or hope can you possess whiles you live in the neglect of it ? if you think it is not your duty , what sence can you put upon so many plain scriptures that command it ? that promise such rewards to , and assistances in it ? that threaten such sore miseries to the neglecters of it ? that so approve of , and praise the practice and practisers of it , and brand the name of such as accursed who refused to do so ? if these things suffice not to prove a duty , nothing can ; and i am sure god hath not excepted your names , from the obligation to obey it any more than others . but whether convinced that this is your duty , or unconvinced , pray consider , as you are m●n , you are not born for your selves , but for your country too : nature dictates this , heathens assert it , your own hearts commend it in others , and disapprove the contrary ; yea , many brutes reproach you , when they 'll hazard themselves to defend their young , and secure each other against a common enemy or mischief . as you are men created by the living god , you are accountable to him ; you ought to answer the ends for which he made you , which were to serve his purposes , and bring him glory . he was too wise and holy to make you lawless as to himself , or to the community of which you are members ; nor is he so remiss a governor , as not severely to animadvert offences so publickly mischievous . as you are called christians , bethink your selves the lord jesus redeemed you , that you might return to a state of subjection and service , and under that law you are to him , rom. 14.9 . it 's no small mercy that he calls you to this , considering you were condemned rebels , and that he is ready to accept it , and assist you in it . what ingratitude is it to live to your selves , and not to him who paid so dear for your ransom ? 1 cor. 6.20 . further , consider the before-described miseries which you wilfully chuse , and the glorious blessings you certainly forfeit by your unprofitableness ; herein you are cruel to your selves , when you fondly think it's self-indulgence ; you destroy your selves , and yet weakly pretend to self-advantage . reflections upon your madness herein , will be a great part of your torment . perhaps you have not thought what you expect from others , tho' they must be unobliged to you , upon the same reasons as you can give for your being free from the duty of usefulness to them ; to say nothing of what you expect from the blessed god , and what every moment you receive , tho' you so ill requite him . did not you expect your parents care , the magistrates defence , your ministers labours , your neighbours favour and help ? how would you be dealt by , if you were in the case of the poor or distressed , and they in yours ? would you think it well done in all , or any of these , to be as unconcerned , selfish , oppressive , cruel , or useless , as you resolve to be to them , in what-ever capacity or relation you stand . our lord's rule was approved by pagans , tho' condemned by you , matth. 7.12 . what would become of the interest of christ , the welfare of the nation , the good of societies , religious or civil , if every man were as selfish and unconcerned for a common good as you resolve to be ? all safety , harmony , liberties , order and comfort , would be expelled , and their contraries alone take place : but , if this state of things be thy abhorrence , ask thy self , why should not all others be as selfish as i am , if it be justifiable in me ? or , why should not i be as publick spirited as they , if it be praise-worthy and useful in them ? are you an ill magistrate , why should any others be better ? are you an unfaithful minister , why should any others be more faithful ? are you careless of the common liberties of your country or city , why should any other , in your station , be more concerned ? are you strait-handed to the poor , wherefore should others of your estate be more liberal ? are you indifferent about the truth , interest , and gospel of christ , why should any other in your circumstances more expose themselves ? you must consent that all these may as justly excuse themselves from benefiting others as you can ; or else you are most basely spirited , to think others should serve a common good that you may share therein , but that you must be excepted from contributing to that service , that so you may pursue your own private interest the more . directions . weigh these things often , and deliberately judge of thy resolves not to serve thy generation . go and humble thy self before god , and earnestly pray to him , in christ's name , to change thy heart , subdue thy lusts , and give thee another spirit : enter into covenant with christ , to deny thy self , to take up thy cross and follow him . from this time ▪ firmly engage in christ's strength , that thou wilt not consult thy flesh in thy undertakings , but keep thy self from under the influence of a narrow spirit , and base lusts , as being very ill advisers in thy course of life , and as unfit disposers of thy estate , gifts or power . set upon doing publick good presently , tho' it be with great reluctancy at first ; the less good thou hast hitherto done , now attempt to do the more : and the later you begin , redeem the remainder of your days by the greater projects , and more vigorous endeavours . pray earnestly , and attend gospel means for sincere love to god and man , and for a believing sight of invisible things ; and keep your consciences under a tender , lively sence of god's authority , and the day of judgment . 2. to such as are unfeignedly willing to serve their generation , account it a greater mercy than the greatest estates or abilities with a narrow soul , which thereby would be a snare . abhor a suggestion as if god dealt hardly by you , in making service your duty , or inclining you to it ; for , in the first , god's wisdom and goodness in the government of this world appears . in the last , he hath honoured and benefited you , in anointing you his instruments . our lord jesus was wont to say , it is more blessed to give , than to receive , acts 20.35 . which the apostle useth as a motive to mens labouring , that they might support the weak , relieve the needy , &c. we imitate god as far as we are beneficent , for he is the fountain whence all wants are supplied , tho' he is benefited by none ; and yet , for our encouragement in doing good , he is pleased to account himself a borrower , prov. 19. v. 17. he that hath pity on the poor , lendeth to the lord. not that you can give what is not his already , but that he is as sure to re-pay , as if you lent it to him . but this head being too general to admit so distinct an application , as the several sorts and conditions of such be who are truly willing to serve their generation requires ; i shall address my self to them in these several instances , which distinguish their cases , and give suitable directions . 1. to such as are capable of no very great service to their generation ; as being of small estates , low parts , and the like . serve you your generation as you can in your lower place : to which end , beg god's direction , that you may not mistake your place or work ; nor be left to your self in the meanest service . go not out of your own calling , for god will neither accept nor bless encroachments on other mens work nor your usurpation of power of your own heads ; no , nor at their pleasure who are not authorized to give it , 1 cor. 7.20 . levit. 10. 1. do not presumptuously attempt what is above your ability , for that 's not your duty , and it may turn to publick detriment . take care that you pretend not publick usefulness as a cover to an idle neglect of your callings , or pragmatical business in what belongs not to you : for this discovers your corruption , and will end in hurt and scandal . be sure that what you give to good uses be your own , and not what is another man's : for this is fraud , and not charity ; and instead of being liberal you will be unjust . and yet be conscientiously ready and vigorous to do all the good you can ; your lesser ability must be as faithfully used as if it were greater ; nor will your having no more , excuse your unprofitableness with what you have . instruct your family , tho' you are not preachers ; pray for and be affected with the state of the church of god and the nation , if you can do no more . vote for good men into office , encourage faithful ministers as you are able , give to what poor you can , and acquaint others with the case of such you cannot relieve your selves . what little good you can do , let it be done chearfully , and from love . see that you use diligence , and avoid all waste in your persons and families , that you may be capable of doing the greater good . be favoury in discourse , exemplary in life , and ready to help those who know less than your selves . and lastly , do not envy others , nor murmur that you are in no higher station than you are , for god knew what place of service you were fittest for ; if you be faithful in that , he will accept and reward it , and if fit he will capacitate you for higher work. nay , you may prove of far greater use in this station than you can now perceive ; who knows what success god may give to thy advice , or other endeavours ? to thy children , servants , &c. and how eminent they may prove ? 2. to such as are capable of eminent service to their generation , and willing to it , keep a humble sence of your unworthiness , that god should make you able and willing to do him greater service than others , and answerably praise him for it as the sovereign bestower both of ability and willingness ; also be watchful over your hearts , that your ends be upright in whatever service you perform , and abhor an opinion of meriting from god by the most you do ; in all which you have david for a lively example , 1 chron. 29. 10. to the 17. we thank thee , and bless thy glorious name : but who am i , and what is my people , that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ? for all things come of thee ; all this store cometh of thine hand , and is all thine own . i know also , my god , that thou triest the heart , and hast pleasure in uprightness , &c. do not judge it enough that you perform as great services as others , when you are capable of , and called to more ; nor let the less useful ( however many ) of your station prescribe to you , for they will not justifie your neglects . let not meer difficulty , danger , nor expence , cause you to conclude , yea or to suspect you are not called to this or that eminent service , for your call must be adjusted by other rules ( of which be-before ) where opportunity for great things offer , delay not , lest that being lost , it may not be recalled , or more hinderances intervene . judge of unusefulness and incumbent service by what your consciences suggest in great dangers ( as on a sick-bed ) and in the liveliest frame by fullest communion with god ( as after the lord's supper , &c. ) for these are seasons to make the truest judgment in what concerneth eminent usefulness . never make your abilities or activeness serve a faction as distinguished from , much less as opposed to a publick interest ; for hereby you act selfishly , and not as christians , and will be more hurtful to the publick concernments of christ , than if you did nothing at all ; and be the more guarded against this , because the heads of factions will sollicit such as you , and satan will set in with your misguided zeal , as knowing he can make no other use of you ; now that you are honestly willing to be serviceable . if you are persons eminently useful , do not hastily govern your activity by the opinion of others ; if weak men misinterpret your well-adjusted attempts , be you resolved ; should many good men blame you never so much for your performance , adhere to , and still pursue it whiles you have good ground to believe it 's the fittest means to prevent a publick mischief , or produce a general benefit . the reasons of this direction are these ; the opinion and censures of most men are very weak and misguided ; satan hath access to the imagination of good men , and oft employs such to obstruct great designs , mat. 16. 23. and men entirely devoted to god in the service of their generation , after some ti●e of faithful acquitting themselves th●rein , they stand more in god's secret , and by experience are fitter to judge of publick good and hurt than other good men be . whatever offers as your present work do , not thinking lesser things needless , when you have not greater things at present to undertake ; for you know not what great good a seemingly small endeavour may do ( as advice to a child ) this is your present work , the most of your time is not filled with opportunities of very great services , these lesser attemps being very frequent , as taking up so much of our time , will amount together to great service , a very great part of our lives will be unprofitably spent , if we neglect these lower endeavours , and most mens unusefulness is greatly owing to a disregard to these . but yet see the greatest services be still preferred to lesser when in compitition . keep a jealous watch over your selves , that no lusts prescribe your work , be admitted into it , or nourished by it ; to which end see that you do nothing through strife or vain-glory , phil. 2. 3. or for covetous ends . despise not others who cannot equal your service , or do need it ; think not your great services give you an allowance in any way of sin , or that they are a compensation for it , or will be accepted in commutation for the opposite duties , &c. i give this direction , because satan's wiles are deep , and his attempts on the eminently useful are many , various and unwearied ; the remains of corruption are great in the best , lusts are deceitful , and signal service is an apt occasion to be improved . look to christ for strength and fervour , for fresh anointings , and continual conduct that you may omit nothing which god assigneth you to do in your generation ; nor take up with any excuse which he will not approve of when he comes to judge the secrets of all hearts ; because of our selves we can do nothing ; by his strength we can do all , phil. 4. 13. we need new supplies in every new business , and the more as its importance is ; and by dependance we shall and must receive it . 3. to useful persons under discouragements in their service . still persist in your work ; for the greater opposition you meet with in it , the more likely it is to be subservient to christ's present designs , and to produce the greater effects in a common good , since satan is so active to obstruct thee . gird up the loins of your mind , and hope to the end , 1 pet. 1. 13. whatever is a plain duty , will bring with it sufficient fitness , and not want success in due time ; no , rightly directed labour in the work christ hath upon the wheel will be lost , tho' success may be delayed , and the work seem dead for a season , that so the world may be prepared to submit to it , and christ's victory may appear the greater as it baffleth the confidence of satan and his instruments . when ready to faint , tell thy soul , i must not be weary in well doing , for i shall reap if i faint not . you have god as eminently concerned for you , and in you , as you can be engaged for him ; his perfections will uphold you in all that which his authority sets you upon ; and he allows you to place to his account the losses , reproaches and hardships you sustain in his cause , neither shall you lose thereby , mark 10. 29. 30. search lest there be any sin unrepented of which interrupt his supporting comforts , or that you have too much confided in your own abilities , or ascribed the honour of past successes or performances to your selves . pour out your complaints , and your apprehensions of your own weakness before the lord , who is full of pity and faithful , and whose strength is manifest in our weakness , 2 cor. 12. 8 , 9. be much in the contemplations of heaven ; review your own experiences of seasonable sufficient supports when your fears were as great as at present , and attentively think it 's but a little while and my work is over ; he that shall come , will come , and will not tarry , and all the promises of perseverance were made to souls in eminent service by doing and suffering , which you may safely apply to your selves , expecting those greater consolations and supplies which god will not disappoint you in . 4. to useful persons inclining to remisness in the service of their generation . the greatest part of this discourse being so much directed to your case , i shall only advise you to renew your covenant with god in christ. reflect on your selves , what you found when vigorously useful , and what you feel now in this declining frame : enquire what forfeitures you have made of the spirits quickening influences , or what lust begins to invade your souls , or what carnal thing is setting up for an idol . pray earnestly for exciting grace , and be much in such soliloquies as these , am not i a redeemed sinner ? and shall i neglect the interests of my redeemer ? shall i disregard the end of my being , break my vows , be false to my trust ? is it not in well-doing that i grow weary ? are my talents less accountable for , than they were , or have i now more reason to think that my abilities were not given for publick use ? where shall i stop if i recover not ? what shall i be doing the residue of my time , if i cease to be useful ? what may i meet with to awaken me out of this slothful sleep ? do others less need my help , or have i the leave of god to be remisser ? can i think christ a worse master than before ; or heaven less worthy of my pains ? dare i commend the unprofitable part of mankind that i am thus about to justify ; or condemn the eminently useful , whom now i seem resolved to censure ? must not i shortly on a death-bed reflect on what a barren life i am going to live , and the blessed courses i put a stop too ? have i done more already than christ deserves at my hands , who died for me ? or would i be content he should now more remissly intercede in my behalf ? plead such things closely and frequently with your hearts , and force a deliberate answer , that all may issue in fresh resolves , to be more vigorous than ever , and in shame and grief that you could be inclinable to remisness in publick service . i shall conclude the whole with three cautions , to all who are willing to serve their generation . 1. equal nothing with the publick which is short thereof , especially your selves . let every thing have its due regard , and no more . our esteem of things should be according to their value , and our concern is irregular if dissonant from our just esteem . moses words , exod. 32.32 . if not , blot me out of thy book and st. paul , rom 9.3 . for i could wish that my self were accursed from christ , for my brethren were not absolute desires , but the regular indications of a publick spirit adjusting things as compared together : a common good is above a particular , and the more common , still the more estimable . the very reason why divine worship is proper to god is , because he is author of all , above all , and infinitely more than the whole creation ; yea , and we cannot but most intend his glory in our undertakings , as our regards are most extensive ; and make every thing a selfish idol , as we postpone what 's more publick to it . nevertheless , the true order is generally inverted : most men do not account a mischief or benefit to be greater or less , as they affect the publick , but as they affect themselves ; we begin and end at the wrong point , and erect a false standard when our main concern is , how will such publick affairs profit or damage first , my own person , then my own family , then my own party , then my own nation ( if at all it will reach so far ) be warned against this preposterous course ; look at your selves but as small parts of the whole , and to signifie no more than as the publick is advantaged by you . acknowledge the interest all have in you according to their true order and your capacity , and obligation to be serviceable to each . be uniform in your course , and let god in a common good ( as such ) be your governing end : fill up each place and relation you stand in ; let each have a due regard , and no more : your own families , the particular church you belong to and the catholick church above that ; also your own city and nation , and the world ; let all these have their due , and this in just order and proportion , not exclusively of each other . your prayers must reach the world , your mental communion the catholick church , occasional communion to others then that wherein you are stated members ( tho' in many things they differ from you ) . in short , confine not your care , estate , or advice , below , or otherwise than that mind will dictate , which accounts the body more valuable than a member , and a common good than a particular . if you are ministers , abhor a thought that your office obligeth you to mind no more souls than your own flocks . 2. neglect not your selves whiles you mind the publick . do not disregard your own soul , no nor body neither ; keep the last in a fitness for service , and be ever watchful that the first be in a meetness for glory , and improving for it : work out your own salvation with fear and trembling , phil. 2.13 . receive your selves the christ , and mercy you offer to others ; look not so abroad as to forget you have a home ; yea , labour to affect and profit your own souls , by all your endeavours to profit others ; to walk in the light you give , and to grow in grace by doing all the good you can . if you are ministers , oft think of 1 cor. 9.27 . i keep under my body , and bring it into subjection , lest that by any means , when i have preached to others , i my self should be a cast away . 3. disregard not the first or least declinings , in those graces that are the springs of publick service , but be intent to get their vigorous exercise restored as soon as you perceive abatement . very imperfect actings will follow decaying graces , and strengthening the last is the way to perfect the first , rev. 3.2 . as ephesus decayed in her first love , she abated her first works , rev. 2.4 , 5. which were labours and sufferings for publick use , v. 3. unbelief , enmity to god and man , and a narrow spirit , grow as faith , love , and a publick spirit weaken ; and those will as much obstruct your usefulness , as these contribute to it : they will pervert your judgment , abate your delight , aggravate your difficulties , frame excuses , find diversions , enervate motives , and many other ways lessen your service ; and as they grow , they tend to still further abatements in the opposite graces . oh! where will these declensions stop , if you allow them ? and every day you will be less able and disposed to recover your former strength ; and consequently , be less sure and fit to serve your generation . 2 obs. the usefullest persons die . david fell asleep . shall i represent this as a warning , or as an encouragement to service ? it hath something of both , and in each respect it 's a strong motive to serve our generation . 1. it 's a warning to be useful whiles you live ; for work , or loyter you , death is daily making its approaches , and when it seizeth , it will be in vain to wish to be spared for greater use , or resolve to do what you hitherto neglected : death sets a period to our endeavours to benefit the church or nation , our friends or relations ; they can expect no further advantage by us . therefore in a sence of your own frailty , and the certainty of dying within a short while , resolve with our blessed saviour , ioh. 9.4 . i must work the works of him that sent me while it is day , the night cometh when no man can work . it 's a mercy to have nothing undone which god gave us life for , and to be finishing it when the arrest of death is felt . 2. it 's an encouragement to such as faithfully serve their generation . the usefullest fall asleep ; not , indeed , if it were such a sleep as rendred the separated soul unactive , for continued service here would be more pleasing and profitable to them than such a sleep as that ; but it 's a rest from labour , tho' not from work ; from pain , but not from pleasure to the departed soul , which will be with christ ; and tho' separated for a while , is sure to be re-united to the body at the resurrection . it 's a woe to the unprofited world , that eminently useful men are dead , for you can hope for no further help , nor expect any benefit by them ; they left you barren and miserable after all their labours , and must be terrible witnesses against you . it 's a loss to the church and nation , that such eminently useful men must die ; the defence , glory , and blessing of a people are removed ; what an open breach is made ? the earth's endangered by removal of such pillars . these are the chariots of israel , and the horse-men thereof , 2 king. 13. 14. there be but few such among the multitude of christians , and their loss is not easily made up ; but to the faithful eminently useful saint , it 's a privilege he shall die , ( being all such are not to be translated ) he would not live always , job 7.16 . for by death he goes into better company ; he 'll be freed from a weight that clogg'd him tho' he moved so fast ; the sin and sorrow he felt he is to feel no more ; he shall enjoy christ in another manner , relish pleasures in a higher way , and possess what he hoped and waited for . death must be his great advantage , to whom faithful and publick service is his very business and trade whiles he liveth : to me to live is christ , and to die is gain , phil. 1.21 , 22. instead of the application of this doctrine , i shall turn my discourse to the occasion of our present meeting , the death of your pastor dr. samuel annesley , in whom we have the whole text exemplified ; he served his generation , and he is fallen asleep . in the last part , a just cause of mourning is presented , with respect to many more than our selves ; in the former , a lively example is proposed for our imitation ; as to both , here 's a convincing instance . we see it 's possible for men in our age to serve their generation , and yet the greatest usefulness prevents not death ; for he , who was so eminently useful , lies now dead . he began early , he continued long , and never ceas'd to serve his generation , until by death he was allowed to rest from his labours . he was born of very godly parents , at kellingworth near warwick , anno 1620. and their only child . the name samuel was appointed for him by his eminently pious grand-mother , who died before his birth , and gave this reason for her desire that he should be so called , i can say i have asked him of god. his infancy was as strangely impressed with the thoughts of being a minister , ( to which his parents dedicated him from the womb ) which so transported him from 5 or 6 years old , as to engage him to unusual industry in what improv'd him in order to it ; then it was he took up a custom which he always observed , viz. reading 20 chapters in the bible every day . our god , to whom the end is known from the beginning , was as provident in forming him for great service , as he was forward in those indications that he should be employed therein ; this appeared in the hale and hardy constitution of his body , which was such , as to endure the coldest weather , without hat , gloves or fire . for many years , he seldom drank any thing besides water ; his sight so strong , that to his death he read the smallest print without spectacles , and in a life lengthened to his 77th year . he was rarely sick ; his natural capacity was good , and his temper vigorous and warm , which his grace over-ruled ( mostly ) to undertake those excessive labours , and sustain the difficulties , which , without a body and mind so fashioned , had been impossible , in so long a course of service . and this vigour he so retained to his very death , as if god would give an instance , that the servour of some mens souls in his work , were either independent on the body , or their bodies ( with moses ) were still repaired even to old age , when he designeth extraordinary services by them . but which was more , he was ( not only thus separated ) but also sanctified from the womb ; oft since declaring , he never knew the time he was not converted . about 15 years of age he went to oxford , where he gave such instances of his piety and diligence , as would engage a recital , if i resolved not to omit these , with all other things , ( tho' very laudable ) except his usefulness ; his ripe fruits , which fed so many , my regard is to . a heart so naturally bent for god's glory , and the good of souls , cou'd admit no longer delays from work , than what a due fitness for it , and a regular call unto it , made necessary ; yet so long conscience obliged him to desist , he well knowing that the strongest desires of ministerial work , in the unqualified and uncalled , will not justifie their usurpation of the office , nor prevent disorders and damage to the church and themselves , by their publick performances . he began to cast his net as chaplain to the earl of warwick , ( then admiral ) and thence removed to cliff in kent , where he met with a storm more tempestuous than at sea ; for the people of that place being fond of their ejected minister , as greatly pleasing them by his company at their dancing , drinking , and merriments on the lord's-day , they were so prejudic'd against this his successor , as to rise against him with spits , forks and stones , threatning his death at his first coming ; a hard province for a divine not much above 22 years of age ! but here god gave him room for his intense zeal , fit objects to direct and engage his ministry to conversion work and an early specimen of his own resolvedness in god's work , as well as experience of the good god designed by him , and care he had of him . for having some prospect of doing good among that people , ( who , tho' ignorant and prophane , yet not hardned by resisting gospel light ) he told them , let them use him how they would , he was resolved to continue with them , till god had fitted them by his ministry to entertain a better , who should succeed him ; but yet solemnly declared , that when they became so prepared , he would leave that place . here his labours were unwearied , and such efficacy accompanied the word preached , and his winning behaviour , that in a few years the people were greatly reformed , their enmity changed into a passionate kindness , which appear'd , as in many other instances , so in their loud cries and many tears , when he let them know he judged himself obliged to remove , according to his former declaration . ( not to decide whether such a promise was obligatory or no ) his tender concern lest any seeming lightness of his might prove a scandal to his young converts , so governed him , that left this place with 400 l. per annum ; but divine providence had great purposes to serve hereby . cliff was not a stage large enough for the uses god designed by this active soul , nor a hill high enough for the notice of one so exemplary . having procured a successor fit to build on the foundation , so prosperously laid by him , he resigns himself to divine disposal , to be employed where-ever his call should point with the clearest evidence . a very signal providence directed him to a settlement in london , anno 1652. by the unanimous choice of the inhabitants of iohn the apostle ; soon after he is made lecturer at paul's . and in 58 cripplegate was made happy by his settlement there : in this place he continued a most labourious faithful preacher ( tho' removed from his lecture in the year 60. ) till that twice unhappy barthomew-day , 1662. the first by the parisian massacre , this last by the silencing of about 2000 faithful ministers in this kingdom , where their labours were far more necessary than the ends pretended for their ejection were valuable . his abode hath been ever since in this city , where he finished his course , december 31. anno 1696. having briefly represented the sphere wherein he moved with respect to his office and places of abode , &c. it remaineth that i give some hints of the nature and manner of his motion therein . where shall i begin , when so many things present themselves ? it 's hard reducing them into order , when such a variety of great things meet ; it 's not easie to judge which most contributed to his just character , viz. an eminently useful man in his generation . in most things he was a pattern worthy to be imitated . in many things it will be difficult for most i know to resemble him . and in what few things he came short of some , yet his integrity zeal , and publick spirit , rendred him in extensive usefulness more than equal . in ministerial labours he was abundant ; where was a more constant preacher ? very oft , before his silencing , thr'ce a day ; in the late troubles almost every day ; since this liberty twice every lord's-day , ( too long ) even to his last sickness ; being dissuaded from the last sermon , because of his illness after the mornings , he was unpersuadable , saying , i must work whiles it's day . who ever knew him , from his very youth , refuse to preach in any place when asked ? few , if any , so ready to assist in fasts and lectures . the sick were sure of assistance if they sent to him ; doubting souls never were denied access , or found discouragement , harshness , or treachery , when they made their cases known . did his many labours abate their substance and tendency to common good ? no , he so redeemed time , that his sermons were not raw , but well studied and substantial ; his utterance not remiss , but earnest , as one concerned to profit others ; being himself affected , and having something that very peculiarly expressed his heartiness in all he said . by his very often reading over the scriptures from his childhood , he became a great textuary ; and by aptly produced texts , he oft surprised eminent ministers ; as his solution of cases of conscience ( which his sermons much consisted of ) did instruct and satisfie them . his care and toil extended to every place where he might be profitable : of whom in an equal station can it be so truly said ? on him was the care of all the churches . when any place wanted a minister , he set himself to get them one . when any minister was oppressed by poverty , he soon employed himself for his relief . o , how many places had sate in darkness , how many ministers had been starved , if dr. annesley had died 34 years since ! the gospel he even forced into several ignorant places ; and was the chief ( oft the sole ) instrument in the education , as well as subsistence , of several ministers . the morning lecture ( so profitable to many ) he alone supported ; i wish it die not with him : for what one man hath zeal and interest enough ( with leisure ) to keep it up ? it was by him the meetings of ministers , before this liberty , were kept up ; and since the union , in his place and to his expence , they have been continued . what a multitude of all sorts were supplied by his care ! bibles , catechisms , and all profitable books , dispersed far and near . the sick , the widows , the orphans were innumerable , whom he relieved and settled . by the poor he was crouded as a common father . you may well ask how could all this be done by him . i answer : of all gifts , salary , and incomes , he always laid aside the tenths for charity , even before any were spent by him , which is the greater instance of his bountiful mind , considering his numerous family , many losses , and great straights : thus his light directed ; and then he would be faithful to it , what-ever expence or hardship followed . and being satisfied it was just to do so , his servent love to god and man prevented all repinings , and made him a most chearful giver . but this , since he was silenced , bearing no proportion to the great things he constantly undertook ; to supply it he was the faithful almoner of many ; and so importunate a petitioner for charitable uses , that few could escape or deny him ; and most of his own people he had instilled his own charitable disposition into ( who are apt to be of the same spirit with their admired pastors . ) these assiduous labours , and extensive beneficence , were accompanied with several excellencies which sustained them , and tended to make him a successful blessing , or his heart and hands had failed . he was a man of great uprightness , he squared not his profession by his secular interest , tho' he had a large family ; yet he quitted a full maintenance , rather than sin against god by conformity . before then he was turned out of his lecture , and kept out a while , because he could not comply with some extravagancies of the late times ; and since hath he suffered , because he must witness for the old truth against antinomianism . his integrity made him a stranger to all tricks , and sometimes his charity betrayed him to be impos'd on by such as use them . his humility was signal , he seemed to have the meanest opinion of his own gifts and labours , highly esteeming others , and envying none ; no , not the acceptance of our promising young ministers . he might say , with david , i prayer ; as if made up of that . every day he prayed twice in his family , to the last moment that he was capable . his usual way was to pray 3 or 4 times a day in his study . upon every extraordinary occurrence in his house he kept a fast. under every affliction , before he would speak of it , or pitch on means to redress it , he spread it still before god in prayer ; which brought him , tho' a most affectionate husband , to bear the news of his wives death with that composure , as calmly to say , the lord gave , the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord. and after the greatest losses , he was used to speak of them with an unconcernedness , as if anothers , not his own . in prayer he was mighty , and the returns remarkable and frequent . he could trust god with all , and was still resigned to his will. his solicitous concern was , that god might not be dishonoured . when he lay sick , this was oft repeated oh! that i may not dishonour god in my last moments , whom , in my poor manner , i made it the business of my life to honour . oh! that i may not dishonour my god by my impatience . being one night under exceeding torture , he called his daughter , then present , and charged her not to entertain one hard thought of god , by any thing he felt , but be assured he is infinitely merciful , and none are happy but those that serve him ; he gives peace of conscience , that 's beyond all the world can give , none can die cheerfully but a christian ; he shines on my soul through christ. god and heaven were so habituated to him , that in some disorder in his head , by his distemper fixing there , he still kept the same savour , breathed the same spirit , and spake of divine matters most consistently . his head was not free of those projects for god , which in health it was ever full of . i 'll end this with mr. baxter's ( who knew not how to flatter or fear any man ) account of him ; dr. annesley is a most sincere , godly , humble man , totally devoted to god. ( mr. b's . life . ) having hinted some things that respect the excellency of this person , some may whisper , but what tokens of god's favour had this useful man more than others , he had many troubles and exercises ? god testified his favour to him in instances which he most esteemed , and pursued above all things ; yea , dispised and renounced all compared therewith ; which is enough to testifie him a happy man , what ever he endured or wanted ; god kept him faithful in his work to the last ; for which he thus thanked god on his death-bed ; blessed be god , i can say , i have been faithful in the work of the ministry above 55 years . he had great success in his work ; many called him father , as the instrument of their conversion ; the worthy mr. brand was one ; many called him comforter . in all his sufferings he found supports which kept him as chearful as his office and age allowed under all ; yea , 17 weeks pain without a discontended word or thought . signal returns of prayer he frequently had ; and very close communion with god in christ. his charity and care wanted not comfortable effects . how many whom he contributed to the education of are useful ministers ? in how many places doth religion flourish by his means ? god gave him a great interest in the hearts of most ministers and serious people . how oft and long did they pray for his life , as a publick blessing ? and how generally is his death lamented ? he thankfully owned god in all . he signally witnessed for him in his judgments on several of his persecutors . one died signing a warrant to apprehend him . many might be instanced , but it 's fit we cover such in acknowledgment of present quiet . he had uninterrupted peace and assurance of god's covenant-love for above 30 years last past . it 's true , he walked in darkness for several years before that , which is common to those who are converted in childhood , their change not being remarkable , and so apter to be questioned ; and they oft make up , in a long time , by frequent returns , the sad hours that others have pressing in at once . but god had a further design , viz. the fitting and enclining him to relieve wounded consciences by his ministry and discourse , wherein he was so eminent , that most troubled souls resorted to him : he used to say , that this made him unable to preach a sermon without some word to them . this assurance had not one cloud in all his disease : he oft said , i 've no doubt , nor shadow of doubt , all 's clear between god and my soul ; he chains up satan , he cannot trouble me . to conclude all , he had an abundant entrance into god's kingdom . he was reconciled to death ; yea , so desirous of it , as hardly induced him to have his life prayed for . but hearing some ministers had been servently praying for his life , he replied , i 'm then more reconciled to life than ever , for i 'm confident god will not give a life so eminently , in answer of prayer , as mine must be , if he would not use it to greater purposes than ever before . yet some little time before his change , his desires of death appear'd strong , and his soul filled with the foretasts of glory ; oft saying , come my dearest jesus , the nearer the more precious , the more welcome . another time his joy was so great , that in an extasie he cried out , i cannot contain it , what manner of love is this to a poor worm ? i can't express the thousandth part of what praise is due to thee ; we know not what we do when we offer at praising god for his mercies ; it 's but little i can give , but lord help me to give thee my all. i 'll die praising thee , and rejoice that there 's others can praise thee better . i shall be satisfied with thy likeness ; satisfied , satisfied ! oh my dearest jesus i come . now do not you think christ is worth the faithfullest service which ends in this manner ? to you of this congregation , ( for whose salvation he was so concerned ) shall i say , bewail the loss of him , when you are so sensible ? yet that 's but just. bless god for your enjoying his faithful labours so long ; see that none of you perish , after such pains to save you ; be established in the truths you have heard , which you see governed his life to such great purposes , and helped him to die with sure triumph : shew your regard to his memory by kindness to his family , and by not breaking off from this church , that he may not be reflected on by your giddiness , as if he taught you no better , or established you no more , than to be deluded to serve a carnal turn , in pretence of greater purity . you , his children , live your fathers advice and example , or what a witness will he be against you ? let us all go hence with a due sence of it : the world hath lost a blessing , the church hath lost a pillar ; the nation hath lost a wrestler with god ; the poor have lost a benefactor . you , his people , have lost a faithful pastor ; his children , a tender father ; we , in the ministry , an exemplary fellow labourer . finis . there is now in the press , a compleat history of the most remarkable providences both of iudgment and mercy , which have happened in this present age ; extracted from the best writers , the authors own observations , and the numerous relations sent him from divers parts of the three kingdoms . to which is added , whatever is curious in the works of nature and art. the whole digested into one volume under proper heads , being a work set on foot 30 years ago , by the reverend mr. pool , author of the synopsis criticorum , and since undertaken and finished by william turner , m. a. vicar of walberton in sussex recommended as useful to ministers in furnishing topicks of reproof and exhortation , and to private christians , for their closets and families . proposals and specimens giving a fuller account of it , are to be had of i. dunton at the raven in iewen-street , and of edward richardson near the poultry church . there is newly published , ⸫ the character of dr. sam. annesley , by way of elegy , with a preface written by one of his hearers . price 6 d. sold by e. whitlock near stationers-hall . ⸪ the whole parable of dives and lazarus , explain'd and apply'd , in several sermons preached in cripplegate and lothbury churches , by ioseph stevens , lecturer at both . published at the request of the hearers , and recommended as proper to be given at funerals . price bound 2 s. printed for i. dunton . ⸪ the secret history of white-hall , from the restoration of charles ii. down to the abdication of the late king james . writ at the request of a noble lord , and conveyed to him in letters , by — late secretary-interpreter to the marquis of louvois , who by that means had the perusal of all the private minutes between england and france for many years . the whole consisting of secret memoirs , &c. published from the original papers , by d. iones , gent. sold by r. baldwin in warwick lane. ⸪ the dying pastor's last farewell . by mr. allyn . printed for i. dunton . price 1 s. a discourse concerning the redeemer's dominion over the invisible world, and the entrance thereinto by death some part whereof was preached on occasion of the death of john hoghton esq, eldest son of sir charles hoghton of hoghton-tower in the county of lancaster, baronet / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. 1699 approx. 222 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 125 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44673 wing h3021 estc r19328 11760173 ocm 11760173 48663 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44673) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48663) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 535:12) a discourse concerning the redeemer's dominion over the invisible world, and the entrance thereinto by death some part whereof was preached on occasion of the death of john hoghton esq, eldest son of sir charles hoghton of hoghton-tower in the county of lancaster, baronet / by john howe ... howe, john, 1630-1705. 31, [1], 213 p. printed for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1699. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng hoghton, john, d. 1699. funeral sermons. sermons, english. future life. 2004-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-01 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discourse concerning the redeemer's dominion over the invisible world , and the entrance thereinto by death . some part whereof was preached on occasion of the death of john hoghton esq eldest son of sir charles hoghton of hoghton-tower in the county of lancaster ; baronet . by john howe , minister of the gospel . london , printed for tho. parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns in cheapside near mercers-hall , 1699. to the most deservedly honoured , and truly honourable , sir charles hoghton and the lady mary hoghton of hoghton-tower . grace , mercy , and peace , &c. you will , i know , count it no indecency , that , when god hath so nearly , many years ago , join'd you , in relation , in affection , and now , so lately , in the affliction , equally common to you both , i do also join your names on the same paper , and make this solemn address to you together . it is by the inestimable favour of heaven , that the mutual interest god hath given you in each other , as it obliges , doth also ( as i have great reason to hope ) effectually dispose and enable you ; so , not only to partake in the comforts , but in the sorrows that are common to you both , as that the former shall be greatly increased , and the latter proportionably allay'd , and mitigated , thereby . thus is the advantage of your conjugal state , both represented in god's designation , and apprehended , in your own experience . and you are to consider the blessing of god herein , as having a peculiarity in it , not being extended to all so related , neither to all that were great in this world , nor to all that were pious , and good. great worldly felicity , hath been rendered insipid and spiritless . great calamities , much the more bitter , by the want of a meet mutual helpfulness , between such relations . a great , and a good man in his time . a prince ( as he is thought to have been ) in his country , a man that was perfect , and upright , one that feared god , and eschewed evil , when he lost not one , not the eldest , only , of his numerous offspring , ( as you have ) but all at once , seven sons , and three daughters , with such concomitant circumstances of accumulated afflictions , as blessed be god , are not in your case ; and might now expect some relief , from his other self , the nearest and most inward companion of his life , and partaker of his joys and sorrows ; all the succour he hath from her , was ●n impious endeavour to provoke and irritate his spirit , that taunting scoff , dost thou still retain thy integrity ? and that horrid advice , curse god and die. whereas that rational , religious , soul-composing thought , shall we receive good things at the hand of god , and not also evil things ? was deeply fixed in the mind of the one ; how much more effectually relieving had it been , if it had circulated between both the relatives ; and they had , alternately , propounded , and enlarged upon it , to one another ! with you , i cannot doubt , it hath been so ; and that you have made it your business to improve your mutual interest , not to aggravate , but to alleviate , your affliction each to other . you have , both of you , great occasion , and obligation , to revolve and recount to each other , the many good things you have received at the hand of god , to mitigate what there is of evil , in this dispensation . both of you have sprung of religious , and honourable families , favoured of god , valued , and beloved in the countries where he had planted them . they have been both , seats of religion , and of the worship of god. the resorts of his servants . houses of mercy , to the indigent . of justice , to the vitious . of patronage , to the sober , and vertuous . of good example , to all about them . you were , both , dedicated to god , early , and he gave early testimony of his accepting the dedication . he began with you both betimes , blessing your education , and owning you for his , by disposing and forming your spirits to own , betimes , the god of your fathers . he hath blessed you indeed , adding the spiritual blessings in heavenly things , to your many earthly comforts . which jabez migh● mean , not content , with a common blessing ; and the more probably , from the acceptance he found , 1 chron. 4.9 , 10. god granted his request , as solomon's , 1 kings 2.10 . when his request was as little vulga● . you both concurred , in the dedication of this your son , as in the rest of yours ; and i doubt not with great seriousness ; you covenanted with god in christ , to be his god. and if he enabled you to be in good earnest herein , even that was of special grace and favour ; and ought to come into the account of the many good things you ●ave received of god's hand , as offering to god willingly , did , in the estimate of david : when the oblation was of a meaner kind , 1 chron. 29.14 . but then you ought to consider , what the import , and meaning was of that your covenant , wherein you accepted god in christ to be the god of your son ; and dedicated him to god through christ to be his . was it not absolute , and without limitation ? that god should be a god to him entirely , and without reserve ? and that he should be his , absolutely , and be dispos'd of by him , at his pleasure ? otherwise , there was a repugnancy , and contradiction , in the very terms of your covenant . to be a god to him ! is not , god , the name of a being incapable of limitation ? doth it not signify infinite unlimited power , and goodness ? to be a god to any one , therefore , under restriction , is to be a god to him , and no god. and so to covenant with god , can neither have sincerity in it , nor good sense . he can be under no restraint , in the exercises of his power , and goodness towards any , to whom he vouchsafes to be their god in covenant ; but what he is pleased to lay upon himself ; which must be from his own wisdom and good pleasure , to which in covenanting we refer our selves ; with particular faith , in reference to what he hath expresly promis'd ; and with general , that all shall be well , where his promise is not express . but from our selves , nothing can be prescribed to him . he must be our all , or nothing ; in point of enjoyment as our sovereign , all-comprehending good ; in point of government , as our sovereign all-disposing lord. so we take him , in covenanting with him , for our selves , and ours . for he so propounds , and offers himself , to us ; if we accept , and take him accordingly , there is a covenant between him and us , otherwise we refuse him ; and there is no covenant . when he promises , as to his part , he promises his all ; to be god all-sufficient to us ; to be ours in all his fulness , according to our measure , and capacity : we are not straitned in him , but in our selves . he undertakes to be to us , and do for us , all that it belongs to him , as a god to be , and do . to give us grace and glory , about which , there can be no dispute , or doubt , they are always , and immutably good . and to withhold from us no good thing , here , are comprehended , with the former , inferiour good things , about which , because they are but mutably , and not always good , there may be a doubt , whether , now and in present circumstances , they will be good for us , or no. and now , it belongs to him , as he is to do the part of a god to us , to judg and determine for us : for which he alon● is competent , as being god only wise , and otherwise he were not god all-sufficient ; and not to leave that to us , who are so apt to be partial , and mistaken , in our judgment . but when he makes his demand from us , of what we on our part are to be , and do ; he demands our all , absolutely ; that we surrender our selves and ours , whatsoever we are , and have , to his pleasure and dispose , without other exception , or restriction , than by his promise , he hath laid upon himself . nor are we to think it strange there should be this difference , in the tenour of his covenant , between his part and ours . for we are to remember , the covenant between him , and us , is not , as of equals ; he covenants as god ; we , as creatures ; he , according to the universal , infinite perfection and all sufficiency of a god , we , according to the insufficiency , imperfection and indigency of creatures . these things were ( i doubt not ) all foreknown , and , i hope , considered by you , when you so sol●mnly transacted with god , concerning this your son ; wherein you could not but then take him for your god , as well as his god. it needs now only to be apply'd to the present case ; and it manifestly admits this application , viz. that this his disposal of him , in taking him , now , up to himself , to be glorify'd by him , and to glorify him , in the heavenly state , was a thing then agreed upon , by solemn covenant , between god and you . it was done by your own vertual , and unretracted consent . the substance of the thing was agreed to expresly ; that god should be his god , and finally , make him happy , and blessed in himself . but if you say , you would only have had his compleat blessedness , yet a while defer'd ; i will only say , could you agree with that god , whose he was , and whose you are , about the substance of so great a transaction , and now differ with him about a circumstance ? and besides , all circumstances must be comprehended in your agreement . for taking him to be your god , you take him to be supream disposer in all things : and his will to be in every thing the rule , and measure of yours . which you have expresly consented to as often as you have pray'd , either in the words , or after the tenour , of that prayer , wherein our lord hath taught us to sum up our desires , and represent the sense of our hearts . but besides the duty , that is both by his law , and by covenant-agreement , owing to god , it is also to be considered , as an high dignity , put upon you , to be the covenanted-parents of a glorified son ; a matter of greater boast , than if you could say our son ( to repeat what i formerly ly wrote ) is one of the greatest princes on earth ! how far should paganism be out-done , by christianity ! which exhibits to our view death abolish'd ! life , and immortality brought to light , by jesus christ , in the gospel ! 2 tim. 1.10 . which sets before us all the glories of the other world in a bright representation ! which , if we believe , that faith will be to us , the substance of what we hope for , and the evidence of what we see not . thus , tho you saw not the kind reception , and abundant entrance of this son of your delights , into the everlasting kingdom , it will yet be a thing evident to you ; and your faith will render it a great , and a most substantial reality . pagans had but obscure glimmerings of such things ; and in such afflicting cases , when they have occurr'd , comparatively lank , and slender supports ; yet such as were not to be despis'd . should i transcribe what i find written in way of consolation by plutarch to apollonius , upon the loss of a son , you would see what would give both instruction and admiration . i shall mention some passages . he praises the young person , deceased , for his comliness , sobriety , piety , dutifulness towards parents , obligingness towards friends , acknowledges that sorrow in the case of losing such a son , hath ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) a principle in nature , and is of the things that are ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) not in our power , or which we cannot help ; that to be destitute of it is neither possible , nor fit . that an apathy , or insensibleness in such a case is no more desireable , than that we should endure to have a limb , a part of our selves , cut , or torn off from us without feeling it . but yet affirms that immoderate sorrow upon such an occasion is ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) preternatural , and hath a pravity in it , and proceeds from a misinform'd mind . that we ought in any such case to be neither ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) unaffected , nor ill affected . he tells his friend a story ( the meaning whereof , is more considerable to us , than the credit of it , as perhaps it was to him ) concerning two graecian youths , cleobis and biton , whose mother having a duty to perform in the temple of juno , and the mules , not being at hand , in the instant , when she expected them , to draw ●er chariot thither , they most officiously drew it themselves ; with which act of piety their mother was so transported , that she made her request to juno , on their behalf , that if there were any thing more desirable unto mortals , than other , she would therewith reward her sons ; who thereupon threw them into a sleep , out of which they awak'd no more . thereby signifying , that death was the best gif● that could be bestow'd upon pe●sons of such supposed piety , as they ! to which purpose , is what he relates concerning the death of euthynous an italian , referr'd to , towards the close of the following discourse . son , and heir to the ample estate , of elysius , a person of principal dignity among the terinaeans . to whom anxiously enquiring of diviners , concerning the cause of this calamity , the spectre of his son , introduced by the father of the latter , appear'd in his sleep , shewing him certain greek verses , the sum whereof was , thy enquiry was foolish . the minds of men are vain , euthynous rests by a kindly decreed death , because his living longer , had neither been-good for him , nor his parents . he afterwards adds , a good man , when he dies , is worthy not so much of lamentations , as of hymns , and praises . he animadverts upon the aptnes● of parents to quarrel with any circumstanc●s of a son's death ; be th●y what they will , if he die abroad , then the aggravation is , that neither the father nor the mother , had opportunity to close his eyes ; if at home , then , how is he pluck'd away , even out of our hands ! he gives divers memorable instances , of sundry great persons , bearing with strange composure of mind , the same kind of affliction . i omit what he wrote to his wife on their loss of a child . as also to recite many , very instructive passages , out of seneca writing to marcia , on the same account , viz. by way of consolation , for her loss of a son , and to helvia , for her loss in the same kind . to polybius , having lost a near relation , &c. but we have the oracles of god , and do , too commonly , less need to receive instruction from heathens , than deserve to be reproached by them . that there is so frequent cause for the complaint of that an●ient worthy in the christian church . non praestat fides quod praestitit infidelitas . the infidelity of pagans , performs greater things than the faith of christians . their sedate temper , their mastery over turbulent passions , may , in many instances , shame our impotency , and want of self-government , in like cases . for who of them have ever had , o● could have so great a thing to say , as is said to us by the word of the lord , 1 thess. 4.13 . for this very purpose , that we may not sorrow concerning them that are asleep , even , as others , who have no hope , i. e. ver . 14. if we believe that jesus died , and rose again ; even so , them also , which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . for ver . 15. this we say to you ( and 't is said by the foremention'd aut●ority , the lord himself having revealed it to this great apostle , and directed him to say it ) that we who are alive , and remain unto the coming of the lord , shall not prevent them which are asleep . ver. 16. for the lord himself shall descend from heaven wi●h a shout , with the voice of the arch-angel , and with the t●ump of god ; and the dead in christ shall rise first . ver. 17. then we which are alive , and remain , shall be caught up , together with them , in the clouds , to meet the lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the lord. ver. 18. wherefore comfort one another with these words . i have transcribed these few verses , that they might readily appear to present view . and because all their efficacy , and all our advantage by them , depends upon our believing them ; let us closely put the question to our selves , do we believe them ? or do we not ? the apostle seems ●o design the putting us upon this self reflection . ver. ●4 . by inserting the supposi●ion , if we believe , — q d. this will effectually do the business , of allaying all our hopeless sorrow . for , if we believe that one fundamental truth ( and therefore let us see whether we do or no ) of christ's dying and rising again , it will draw such a train of consequences , all tending to fill our souls with a vital joy , as will leave no place for undue sorrow any longer . that faith , will be still urging and carrying us forward , will make us wholly intent upon prospect and expectation . what are we now to look for upon such a foundation , so firmly laid , and fully believed ? if we believe that jesus died ! he did not submit to die , without a design ; and his rising again , speaks him master of his design : and that he hath it now entirely in his power . he died not for himself , but for them he was to redeem ! and being now risen again , what must become of them ! all that follows is now matter of glorious triumph ! if plato , plutarch or seneca , had but once had such a revelation from heaven as this , and had that ground to believe it , that we have ; how full would their writings have been of it ! how had they abounded , in lofty paraphrases , upon every period , and word of it ! the faith of such things , would surely make a truly ch●istian heart , so earn●stly press forward , in the expectation of the great things , still to ensue , as to leave it little leisure for retrospection . and this is the source of all our intemperate sorrow , in such a case as this , our framing to our selves pleasing suppositions , of being as we were , with such , and such friends and relatives about us , as we heretofore enjoy'd . as hope of what is future , and desireable , feeds our joy ; so , memory of good things past , doth our sorrow . in such a case as this , which the apostle here speaks to , the decease of our dear friends , and relatives , fall'n asleep ; we are apt to look back , with a lingering eye , upon that former state of things : and to say , as he , o mihi preteritos — o that god would recall for me the years that are gone over — ! or , as in sacred language , o that i were as in months past — when the secret of god was upon my tabernacle . when the almighty was yet with me ; when my children were about me ! what pleasant scenes do we form to our selves , afresh , of past things , on purpose to foment present sorrow ! and whether we have that design or no , we are more prone to look back to former things we have known , than forward to future , we know not ; especially , if the further we look back , the less we find of trouble intermingl'd in our former course . a smooth and pleasant path we would go over again , if reason , and the necessity of affairs do not recall us , and urge us forward . and so , sir , might you find matter for a very copious , and not ungrateful recollection , to call over again , and revolve in your thoughts , the pleasures of your youth , ( more innocent than of many others , ) when you were incumbered with no cares , entertain'd with various delights , of one sort and another , in this or that pleasant seat of your parents . but how remote is it from you , upon consideration , to wish your self back , into your juvenile state , and circumstances ? how much a more generous , and god like pleasure is it , to be doing good in the world , and still to abound therein , to go forward , and do still more and more ! and , madam , who could have a more pleasant retrospect , upon former days , than y●u ? recounting your antrim delights ! the delight you took in your excellent rela●ions , your garden delights , your closet-delights , your lords-days delights ! but how much a greater thing is it to serve god in your present station ! as the mother of a numerous and hopeful offspring ? as the mistress of a large family ; where you bear your part , with your like-minded consort , in supporting the interest of god and religion ! and have opportunity of scattering blessings round about you ! but our business is not recurring , or looking back . god is continually calling us forward . time is a stream , running on , towards the vast ocean . tending backward , is vain striving against the stream . and as it is the course , and method , of nature , of providence , and grace , to tend forward , and carry us from less to greater things , in this world. so do all these conspire , to carry us on , because our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our highest pitch , cannot be here ; to yet far greater things in the greater world. of which vast world , it is the design of the following discourse to give you some account ; tho , god knows , it is but a very imperfect one . such as it is , if god only make it an occasion to you , of fixing your minds and hearts upon that mighty theme , you will find it easy and pleasant to you to amplify upon it , and enlarge it to your selves . and thereby , through god's blessing , i doubt not , arrive to a fulness of satisfaction , concerning this late dispensation , which hath a gloominess upon it ; but is in very deed only gloomy , on one side , viz. downwards , and towards this wretched world , this region of sorrow and darkness : but on the side , upwards , and towards that other world , which casts its lustre upon it , its phasis , and appearance , will be altogether bright and glorious . and the more you look by a believing intuition into that other world , where our blessed redeemer , and lord , bears rule , in so transcendent glory ; the more will you be above all the cloudy darkness , of this event of providence , towards your selves , and your family . herein , your perusal of this very defective essay , may be of some use to you . and i reckon'd it might be of more lasting and pe●manent use to you , and yours after you , and to as many others , into whose hands it might fall , as a little book , than as one single sermon . you will , however , i doubt not , apprehend in it , the sincere desire to assist you in this your present , difficult ●rial ; followed by the faithful endeavour , of most honoured in the lord , your very respectful and obliged servant , in him , and for his sake , john howe . may 17. 1699. rev. 1.18 . — and have the keys of hell ( hades , or the unseen world ) and of death . the peculiar occasion of this present solemnity , i mean , that is additional to the usual business of the lord's day , may be somewhat amusing to narrower and less considering minds , i. e. that i am now to take notice to you of ( what the most would call ) the premature , or untimely death of a most hopeful young gentleman , the heir of a very considerable family , greatly prepared by parts and pious sentiments , and further preparing by study and conversation , to be useful to the age , cut off in his prime , when the meer shewing him † to the world had begun to raise an expectation in such as knew him , of somewhat more than ordinary hereafter from him , his future advantageous circumstances , being considered , of which you will hear further towards the close of this discourse . nor did i know any passage in the whole sacred volume , more apt to serve , the best & most valuable purpose , in such a case , than the words now read ; none more fitted to enlarge our minds , to compose them , and reduce to a due temper even theirs who are most concern'd , and most liable to be disturb'd , or to instruct us all how to interpret and comment aright upon so perplexing , and so intricate a providence as this at the first , and slighter view may seem unto us . in order whereto our business must be to explain this most weighty awful saying . and apply this most weighty awful saying . 1. for the explication , these 3 things are to be enquired into . 1. who it is that claims , and asserts to himself this power here spoken of ? 2. what it is about which this claimed power is to be conversant ? 3. what sort of power it is that this emblematical expression , signifies to belong to him ? 1. who it is that claims the power here spoken of ? . where the enquiry is not so much concerning the person that makes this claim ; which all the foregoing context puts out of question to be our lord christ. but touching the special notion and capacity wherein he claims it , and according whereto it must be understood to belong to him . and whereas he is described by very distinct titles , and attributes , promiscuously interwoven in the preceding verses of the chapter , viz. that sometimes he is introduced speaking in the stile of a god ; as ver . 8. i am alpha , and omega , the beginning , and the ending , saith the lord , which is , and which was , and which is to come , the almighty . and again , v 11. i am alpha , and omega . but that sometimes he is represented in the form of a man ▪ and accordingly described even from head to foot , and said to appear in the vision that exhibits him , as one like the son of man , that we might certainly understand him so to be , verse 13 , 14 , 15 , 16. and such things said of him as are incident to a mortal man , the shedding of his blood , verse 5. and that he was dead , verse 18. former part . yea and expressions of this different import intermingled , that we might know it was the same person that was continuedly spoken of under these so vastly different characters , as , i am the first and the last ; i am he that liveth and was dead , verse 17 , 18. we may thereupon very reasonably conclude that he is not here to be conceiv'd under the one notion or the other , neither as god , nor as man , separately or exclusively of each other ; but as both together , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as god-man , under which conjunct notion , he receives , and sustains the office of our redeemer , and mediator between god , and man which will enable us the more clearly to answer the third enquiry , when we come to it , concerning the kind of that power , which is here claimed . and which , because there can be no doubt of the justice of his claim , we are hereby taught to ascribe to him . for the management whereof , we are also hence to reckon him every way competent ; that he was par negotio that it was not too big for him . no expressions being used to signifie his true humanity , but which are joyned with others , as appropriate to deity . and that nothing therefore obliges us to narrow it more than the following account imports ; which we are next to enquire about ; viz. 2. the large extent of the object about which the power he here claims , is to be conversant . i. e. hades ( as we read , hell but which is truly to be read ) the unseen world , and death . the former of these , we with a debasing limitation , and ( as i doubt not will appear ) very unreasonably do render hell. the power belonging to christ , we are elsewhere taught to conceive is of unspeakably greater latitude . and here we are not taught to confine it to so vile & narrow limits , as this translation gives it . all things in the context conspire to magnifie him , and , agreeably hereto to magnifie his dominion . when therefore the apparent design is to speak him great , that he should only be represented as the jaylor of devils , and their companions , is , to me unaccountable ; unless a very manifest necessity did induce to it . from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , there can be no pretence for it . tho' it ought to be extended , it is by no means to be restrained to that sense : which as it is the ignoblest , so it will appear but a very small , minute part of its signification ; whether we consider the literal import , or the common use of the word . literally it signifies , but what we see not , or what is out of our sight . and as the word of which it is compounded signifies also to know , as well as to see , it may further signifie , that state of things which lies without the compass of our knowledge , even out of the reach of our mental sight ; or concerning which , tho' we are to believe what is revealed , we cannot immediately , or distinctly know it ; and in reference whereto , therefore , we are to walk by faith , not by sight , 2 cor. 5.7 . and the common use of the word , hath been very agreeable hereto ; with writers of all sorts , i e. to signifie indefinitely the unseen world ; or the state of the deceased out of our world , who are , consequently , gone out of our sight , whether they were good or bad ; so as not peculiarly to signifie hell , or any place , or state of torment , only . it were easie to abound in quotations to this purpose , if it were either needful , or proper in a discourse of this nature . what i intend in this kind , i shall only set down on the by in the margin , upon which they that will may cast their eye † ; that the discourse be not interrupted as to others that either have no need to be informed in this matter , having known as much before , as can be now told them ; or no inclination to be diverted from their present purpose in reading ; apprehending that what is generally told them , only concerning the usual signification of a word , is not said without some ground . and let texts of scripture be consulted about that , how hades , and ( the correspondent word in the o. t. ) shee l , are used there . if we take the help of interpreters , the impartial . reader is to judge of their fidelity , and ability who go our way * . upon the whole , it being most evident , that hell , is but a small , and mean part of what is signified by hades , it will be very unreasonable to represent or conceive of , the power here ascribed to our lord , according to that narrow notion of it . and would be a like incongruity , as if , to magnifie the person of highest dignity , in the court of a mighty prince , one should say , he is the keeper of the dungeon . th● word it self , indeed , properly taken , and according to its just extent mightily greatens him i.e. 't is as much as to say , his dominion is of unknown limits ; such as no eye can measure . we think with a sort of veneration , of what is represented as too big for our knowledge . we have a natural awe and reverence for unsearchable darkness . but in the mean time we herein suffer a just diminution of our selves ; that when our enquiry stops , and can proceed no further , it being but a very little part of the universe that lies within our compass , having tir'd our enquiring eye , and mind , upon all the rest we write hades , call it unseen , or unknown . and because we call it so ; in reference to us , god himself calls it so too . it being his way ( as is observed , by that noted jew * ) speaking to men , to use the tongue of the children of men , to speak to them in their own language , and allow them to coin their own words . which at first they often do very occasionally ; nor , as to this , could they have a fairer , or a more urgent occasion , or that is more self-justifying than in one word to say of that other world , that it is hades or invisible , when that is truly all that they have to say , or can have any immediate notice of about it . it hath therefore its rise from our selves , and the penury of our knowledge of things . and is at once both an ingenuous confession , with some sort of modest cover , and excuse of our own ignorance . as with geographers , all that part of this globe , which they cannot describe , is terra incognita ; and with philosophers , such phaenomena , in nature , as they can give no account of , they resolve , shortly and in the most compendious way , into some or other occult quality , or somewhat else , as occult . how happy were it , if in all matters that concern religion , and in this , as it doth so , they would shut up in a sacred venerable darkness , what they cannot distinctly perceive , it being once by the undeceiving word expresly asserted , that it is , without , therefore , denying its reality , because they clearly apprehend not what it is . with too many their religion is so little , and their pride and self-conceit so great , that they think themselves fit to be standards . that their eye or mind , is of a size large enough to measure the creation ; yea and the creator too . and by how much they have the less left them of mind , or the more it is sunk into earth and carnality , the more capable it is of being the measure of all reality of taking the compass , of all being , created and uncreated . and so that of the philosopher takes place in the worst sense can be put upon it [ to see darkness is to see nothing ] all is nullity that their sense reaches not . hades is with such , indeed , empty , imaginary , darkness ; or in plainer english there is neither heaven nor hell , because they see them not . but we ought to have the greater thoughts of it , not the less , for its being too big , too great , too glorious for our present view : and that it must as yet , rest , as to us , and so let it rest a while , under the name of hades . the unknown dominion of our great lord. according to that most express account he at his ascension gave of the existence of both parts together , that less known to us , and that more known , matt. 28.18 . all power is given to me both in heaven and earth . that death is added , as contained also within the limits of our lord's dominion , doth expresly signifie his custody of the passage from this visible world to the invisible ; viz. as he commands the entrance into each distinct part of hades , the invisible world , consisting of both heaven , and hell , so he hath power over death too , which is the common out-let from this vvorld , and the passage unto both . but it withall plainly implies , his very absolute power over this visible vvorld of ours also : for it signifies he hath the power of measuring every ones time here , and how long each inhabitant of this world shall live in it . if it belong to him to determine when any one shall die , it must by consequence belong to him to assign the portion and dimensum of time that every one shall live . nor is there any conceivable moment in the time of any ones life , wh●rein he hath not this power of putting a period by death thereunto , at his own pleasure . he is therefore signified to have the power of every man's life and death at once . and the power of life and death is very high and great power . he therefore herein implicitly claims , what is elsewhere expresly ascribed to him , rom. 14.78 , 9. none — lives to himself , ( i.e. de jure , no man should ) or dies to himself : for whether we live , we live unto the lord , or whether we die , we die to the lord ; whether we live therefore or die , we are the lords . for to this end christ both died , and rose again , and revived , that he might be lord , both of the dead and living . in summ , here is asserted to him a dominion over both worlds ; this , in which we live , and that , into which we die , whether the one or the other part of it . and so in reference to men , who once have inhabited this world , the sense of this ●ext , and that we are insisting on , is the same . tho' hades is of vastly larger extent than only to be the receptacle of such as have liv'd here ; it having also , in both the parts of it , innumerable inhabitants who never had a dwelling assigned them in this world of ours at all . but thus far we have the vast extent of our lord christ's dominion , competently cleared to be the proper intendment of this text. and that it never meant so faint and minute a representation of it , as only to make him keeper of the bottomless pit. tho' of that also he hath the key ; as we shall further take notice . but are , now to enquire of , what will tak up less time . 3. the kind of that power over so vast a realm , or manifold realms , signified by this emblematical expression , of having the keys , & ● . every one knows , that the keys are insignia ; some of the tokens of power ; and according to the peculiarity of the object , may be , of divine power . the jews , as some writers of their affairs say , appropriate the keys of three , others of four things to god only . of life , or the entrance into this world. of the rain , or the treasures of the clouds . of the earth ( say some * ) as of the granary of corn. and of the grave . of which , says one of their own . — the holy blessed , one hath the keys of the sepulchres in his hand , &c. and , as we may be sure he admits thither , so he emits from thence ; and ( as he says ) in the future age , the h. b. one will unlock the treasures of souls , and will open the graves , and bring every soul back into its own body , &c. nor is this key of the vast hades , when it is in the hand of our redeemer , the less in the hand of the holy , blessed one ; for so is he too . but it is in his hand as belonging to his office , of mediator between god and man , as was before said . and properly the phrase signifies ministerial power , being a manifest allusion to the common usage , in the courts of princes , of entrusting to some great minister the power of the keys ; as it was foretold of eliakim , isa. 22. that he should be placed in the same high station in hezekiahs court , wherein shebna was , of whom so severe things are there said ; and that the key of the house of david , should be laid upon his shoulder , &c. ver . 20 , 21 , 22. and the house of david , being a known type of the house or church of god ; and he himself , of christ , who , as the son , hath power over the whole house , according to this typical way of speaking our lord is said , rev 3.7 . to have the key of david , to open so as none can shut , to shut so as none can open , i. e. to have a final decisive power in all he doth , from which there is no appeal . nor could any thing be more congruous , than that having the keys of the celestial house of god , the heavenly palace of the great king , the habitation of his holiness and glory , in which are the everlasting habitations , the many mansions , the places prepared for his redeemed ; he should also have the keys of the terrestrial bethel ; which is but a sort of portal , or vestibulum to the other . the house of god , and the gate of heaven . and as he is implied to have the keys of this introductive , preparatory kingdom of heaven ( as the keys of the kings palace , where is the throne or seat of government ; and the keys of the kingdom must mean the same thing ) when he is said to give them to the apostle peter , and the other apostles : this was but a prelude , and a minute instance of his power of those keys of hades , and of the glorious heavenly kingdom it self contained therein , which he was not to delegate , but to manage himself immediately in his own person . if moreover he were signified by the an●el , rev. 20.1 . who was said to have the key of the bottomless pit ; that also must import a power , tho' great in it self , yet very little in comparison of the immense hades , of which he is here s●id to have the ke●s . so remote is it , that the power ascribed to him there , should be the measure of what he here assets to himself : and the difference must be vastly greater than it is possible for us to conceive , or parallel , by the difference between having power over the palace , & all the most delightful & most spacious territories in the vastest empire of the greatest prince , and only having power over a dungeon in some obscure corner of it which for the great purposes , whereto all this is it be applied , we can can scarcely too much inculcate . and to such application let us now with all possible seriousness and intention of spirit , address our selves . which will consist in sundry inferences , or deductions , laying before us some suitable matter , partly of our meditation , practice . the former whereof are to prepare , and lay a ground for the latter . 1. divers things we may collect that will be very proper for our deep meditation ; which i shall propose not as things that we can be suppos'd not to have known before , but which are , too commonly , not enough thought on , or considered . and here we shall somewhat invert the order wherein things lye in the text , beginning with what is there latter and lower , and thence arising , with more advantage , to what is higher , and of greater concernment . as , 1. that men do not die at random , or by some uncertain , acciaccidental by stroak , that as by a slip of the hand , cuts off the thred of life ; but by an act of divine determination , and judgment , that passes in reference to each ones death . for as the key signifies authority and power , the turning this key of death , that gives a man his exit out of this world , is an authoritative act. and do we consider in what hand this power is lodg'd ? we cannot but apprehend every such act is the effect of counsel and judgment . what philosophers are wont to discourse of fortuitous events in reference to rational agents , or casual , in reference to natural , must be understood but with relation to our selves , and signifies only our own ignorance of futurities ; but can have no place in the all-comprehending mind , as if any thing were a contingency unto that . for them that live as if they thought they came into this world by chance ; 't is very natural to them to think they shall die , and go out of it , by chance too , but , when , and as , it happens . this is worse than paganish blindness ; for besides what from their poets , the vulgar have been made to believe concerning the three fatal sisters , to whom they ascribed no less than deity concern'd in measuring every ones life . the grave discourses which some of them have writ concerning providence , and its extent to the lesser intermediate concerns of life , much more to that their final great concern of death , will be a standing testimony against the too-prevailing christian scepticism ( they ought to excuse the soloecism , who make it ) of this wretched age ! but such among us as will allow themselves the liberty to think , want not opportunity , and means by which they may be assur'd , that not an imaginary , but real deity is immediately and constantly concern'd in measuring our time in this world. what an awful thought is this ! and it leads to a 2 inference . that it is a great thing to die . the son of god , the redeemer of man hath an immediate presidency over this affair he signalizes himself by it , who could not suppose , he should be magnified by a trifle ! we slightly say , such a one is dead ! consider the matter in it self , and 't is great . a reasonable soul hath chang'd states ! an intelligent spirit is gone out of our world ! the life of a gnat , a fly , those little automata , or self moving things , how admirable a production is it ! it becomes no man to despise what no man can imitate . we praise the pencil that well describes the external figure of such an animalculum , such a little creature , but the internal vital , self moving power , and the motion itself , what art can express ! but an humane life how important a thing is it ! t was one of plato's thanksgivings that god had made him a man ! how careful a guard hath god set over every mans life ! fencing it by the severest law. if any man shed mans blood , by man shall his blood be shed ; and how weighty is the annexed reason ! for in the image of god he made man. this then highly greatens this matter . he therefore reserves it wholly to himself , as one of his peculiarities , to dispose of such a life ! i am he that kills and makes alive . we find it one of his high titles , the god of the spirits of all flesh . he had what was much greater to glory in , that he was the father of spirits , indefinitely spoken when he hath all the heavenly regions , the spacious hades , peopled with such inhabitants whose dwelling is not with flesh ; ( and for vast multitudes of them ) that never was , that yet , looking down into this little world of ours , this minute spot of his creation , and observing that here were spirits dwelling in flesh ▪ he should please to be s●yl●d also the god of those spirits , signifies this to be with him too an appropriate glory , a glory which he will not communicate farther then he communicates godhead . and that he held it a divine right to measure the time unto each of them of their abode in flesh , & determine when they shall dislodge . this cannot be thought on-aright , without a becoming , most profound reverence of him on this account . how sharp a rebuke is given to that haughty prince , the god in whose hands thy breath is hast thou not glorified . that would prepare the way , and we should be easily led on , were we once come to think with reverence , to think also with pleasure , of this case , that our life , and every breath we draw , is under such a divine superintendency . the h. psalmist speaks of it with high complacency , as the matter of his song , that he had a god presiding over his life . so he tells us he would have each 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , composed not more of night and day , than of prayer and praise directed to god under this notion , as the god of his life , psal. 42.8 . and he speaks it not grudgingly , but as the ground of his trust and boast , psal. 31.14 , 15. — i trusted in thee , o lord , i ●aid thou art my god , my times are in thy hand . that this key is in the hand of the great emmanuel , god with us , will be thought on with frequency , when it is thought on with delight . 3. our life on earth is under the constant strict observation of our lord christ. he waits when to turn the key , and shut it up . thro' the whole of that time , which , by deferring , he measures out to us , we are under his eye as in a state of probation . he takes continual notice how we acquit our selves . for his turning the key , at last , is a judicial act ; therefore supposes diligent observation , and proceeds , upon it . he that hath this key , is also said in the next chapter , verse 18. to have eyes like a flame of fire ; with these he observes what he hath against one or another , ver . 20. and , with most indulgent patience gives a space of repentance , ver . 21. and notes it down , if any then repent not , as we there also find . did secure sinners consider this , how he beholds them with a flame in his eye , and the key in his hand , would they dare still to trifle ? if they did apprehend how he , in this posture , stands over them , in all their vain dalliances , idle impertinencies , bold adventures , insolent attempts against his laws , and gover●ment , presumptuous affronts of his high authority ; yea or but in their drowsie slumbrings , their lingering delays , their neglects of offered grace . did they consider what notice he takes how they demean themselves under every sermon they hear , in every prayer wherein they are to joyn with others , or which perhaps , for customs sake , they put up alone by themselves . how thei● hearts are mov'd , or unmov'd by every repe●ted call that is given them to turn to god , & get their peace made by application of their redeemer's reconciling blood. in what agonies would they be ! what pangs of trembling would they feel within themselves , lest the key should turn , before their great work be done ! 4. whatsoever ill designs by this observation he discovers , 't is easie to him to prevent . one turn of this key of death ( besides the many other ways that are obvious to him ) disappoints them all , and in that day all their thoughts perish . 't is not therefore from inadvertency , indifferency , or impotency , but deep counsel , that they are permitted to be driven on so far . he that sitteth in the heavens laughs , and he knows their day is coming . he can turn this key when he will. 5. his power as to every ones death cannot be avoided , or withstood . the act of this key is definitive , and ends the business . no man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ; nor hath he power in death , eccles. 8.8 . 't is in vain to struggle , when the key is turn'd ; the power of the keys , where it is supremely lodg'd , is absolutely decisive , and their effect permanent and irrevocable . that soul therefore for whose exit the key is turned , must thereupon then forthwith depart , willing or unwilling , ready or unready . 6. souls that go out of this world of ours , on the turn of this key , go not out of being . he that hath this key of death , hath also the key of hades , a key and a key . when he uses the former , to let them out from this , he uses the latter , to give them their inlet into the other world , and into the one or the other part of it ; into the upper , or the lower hades , as the state of their case is , and doth require . our business is not now with pagans , to whom the oracles of god are unknown : if it were , the best and wisest of them who so commonly speak of souls going into hades , never thought of their going no whither ; nor therefore that they were nothing . they had reasons , then , which they thought cogent , that induced them , tho' unassisted with divine revelation , to conclude they surviv'd their forsaken bodies . and what else could any unbrib'd understanding conclude , or conceive ? when we find they have powers belonging to them , which we can much more easily apprehend capable of being acted , without help from the body , than by it ? we are sure they can form thoughts , purposes desires , hopes ; for it is matter of fact , they do it ; and coherent thoughts , and thoughts arising from thoughts one , from another . yea & thoughts abstracted from any thing corporeal , the notions of right and wrong , of vertue and vice , of moral good , and evil with some agreeable resolves , thoughts quite above the sphere of matter , so as to form a notion of the mind , it self , of a spiritual being , as unexceptionable a one as we can form of a body . yea of an original self subsistent mind and spi●i● , the former and maker of all other . t is much more apprehensible , since we certainly know that all this is done , that it is done without any help of the body , than how flesh , or blood , or bones , or nerves , or brains , or any corporeal th●ng , should contribute to such methods of thinking , or to any thought at all . and if it can be conceiv●d that a spirit can act without dependence on a body , what should hinder but we may as well conceive it to subsist and live without such dependence ? and when we find this power of thought belongs to somewhat in us that lives , since the deserted carkass thinks not , how reasonable is it to suppose , that as the body lives not of it self , or life is not essential to it , for life may be retir'd and gone , and it remain , as we see it doth , the same body still , that the soul to which the power of thought belongs , l●ves of it self , not independently on the first cause , but essentially , so as to receive life , and essence together from that cause , or life included in its essence , so as that it shall be the same thing to it to be , and to live . and hereupon how obvious is it to apprehend that the soul is such a thing as can live in the body ; which when it doth , the body lives by it a precarious borrowed life ; and that can live out of the body , leaving it , when it doth so , to drop and die . these sentiments were so reasonable , as generally to prevail with the more deeply thinking part of mankind , philosophers of all sorts ( a few excepted , whose notions were manifestly formed by vicious inclination ) in the pagan world , where was nothing higher than reason to govern . but we have life and immortality brought to light in the gospel , and are forewarned by it that these will be the measures of the final judgment , to give eternal life at last to them who by a patient continuance in well-doing , seek honour , glory and immortality . to the rest , indignation , and wrath , &c. because there is no respect of persons with god. as supposing the discovery of another world , even by natural light ( much more by the addition of supernatural ) to be so clear , as that the rule of the vniversal judgment , even for all , is most righteously to be taken from hence , and that there is nothing but a resolution of living wickedly , to be opposed to it . it is also no slight consideration that a susceptibleness of religion should among the creatures that dwell on earth be so appropriate , and peculiar to man , and ( some rare instances excepted ) as far diffused , as humane nature . so as to induce some very considering men , of the antients , as well as moderns , both pagans and christians , to think religion the more probable specifying difference of man , than reason . and whence should so common an impression be , but from a cause as common ? or how can we avoid to think that this signature upon the soul of man , a capacity of religion should be from the same hand that formed the spirit of man within him , and that a natural religiousness , and humane nature it self , had the same author . but who sees not that religion as such , hath a final reference to a future state ? he was no despicable writer ( tho' not a christian ) that positively affirmed , hope towards god to be essential to man ; and that they that had it not , were not partakers of the rational nature . 't is so much the more a deplorable and monstrous thing , that so many , not only against the light of their own reason , but of divine revelation , are so industrious to unman themselves . and having so effectually in a great degree done it really , and in practice , aim to do it in a more compendious way notionally , and in principle too . and make use ( or shew ) of reason to prove themselves not to be reasonable creatures : or to divest themselves of the principal dignity , and distinction of the rational nature . and are incomparably herein more unnatural than such as we commonly count 〈◊〉 upon themselves , who only act against their own bodily life , but these against the much nobler life of their soul ; they against the life of an individual ; these against their own whole species , at once . and how deplorable is their case , that count it their interest , to be in no possibility of being happy ! when yet their so great dread of a future state , as to urge them upon doing the most notorious violence to their own faculties to rid themselves of it , is a very convictive argument of its reality . for their dread still pursues , and sticks close to them . this shews it lies deep in the nature of things which they cannot alter . the terrible image is still before their eyes ; and their principal refuge lies only in diverting , in not attending to it . and they can so little trust to their own sophistical reasonings against it , that when they have done all they can , they must owe what they have of ease and quiet in their own minds , not so much to any strength of reason they apprehend in their own thoughts , as in not thinking . a bold jeast may sometimes provoke others laughter , when it doth not extinguish their own fear . a suspicion a formido oppositi will still remain , a misgiving , that they cannot nullifie the great hades , pull down the spacious fabrick of heaven , or undermine the profound abyss of hell by a profane scoff . they will in time discern the difference between the evanid passion of a sudden fright , that takes its rise from imagination , and the fixed dread which is founded in the reason of things . as one may between a fright in a dream , and the dread of a condemned criminal , with whom , sleeping , and waking , the real state of his case is still the same . nor are the things themselves , remote , or unconnected , god's right to punish a reasonable creature that hath liv'd in contempt of him , and his own reasonable apprehension hereof , or his conscience both of the fact and desert . they answer as face to face , as the stamp on the seal , and the impression on the wax . they would sain make their reason a protection against their fear , but ●h●t cannot serve both ways . the reason of the thing lies against them already , and there cannot be an eternal war between the faculty and the object . one way or other the latter will over-power the former , and draw it into consent with it self : either by letting it see there is a just true cause of fear , or ( assisted by divine grace ) prevail for the change of the sinners course . whereupon that troublesome fear , and its cause , will both upon the best terms cease together : and that what hath been proposed to consideration under this head , may be the more effectually considered , to this blessed purpose . i add that , 7. the discovery of the invisible world , and the disposal of affairs there , have a most encourageing aspect upon this world. for both the discovery and the disposal are by our blessed redeemer , in whom mercy and might are met in highest perfection . how fragrant breathings of grace , how glorious a display of power are there , in what he here says , fear not ! i am the first and the last ; i am he that liveth and was dead , and i am alive for evermore , amen . and i have the keys of hades and of death . he hath opened the celestial hades to our view , that it might be also open to our safe entrance and blissful inhabitation . he who was dead , but liveth and had made his victorious triumphant entrance before us , and for us : he who had overcome him that had the power of d●ath — conquer'd the gigantick monster at the gate , gain'd the keys , and designed herein their deliverance from the fear of death , who were thereby subject to bondage , heb. 2.14 , 15. he who hath abolished death , and brought life and immortality to light in the gospel , 2 tim. 1.10 . 't is he who bids us lift up our eyes , and behold the heavens opened , and himself standing at the right hand of god. the horrid , infernal hades , he hath discovered too , only that we might fear and shun it . but yet more distinctly consider , why doth he here represent himself under this character , he that liveth and was dead ? but that he might put us in mind of that most convictive argument of his love , his submitting to die for us . greater love hath no man — and that he might at once , put us out of doubt concerning his power , that he yet survives , and is sprung up alive out of that death , victorious over it : how amiable is the representation of such power in conjunction with such love ! the same person having an heart so replenish't with love , an hand so armed with power , neither capable of unkind design , or unable to effect the most kind . behold him in this representation ! who would not now fall at his foot and adore ! who would hesitate at resigning to him , or be appalled at his disclosure of this unknown world ! do but consider him who makes the discovery , and who would not expect from him the utmost efforts of love and goodness ? from him who is the brightness of his fathers glory , and the express image of his person ! his essential image who is love ! from him who came into this wretched world of ours full of grace and truth ! and who could not have come but by the inducement of compassion to our miseries . from him who knows all things , and whose ●ye penetrates into every recess of the vast hades : all his own empire , in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge : put who only knows not to deceive : who hath told us , in his fathers house are many mansions , and if it were not so , would have told us that , joh. 14.2 . from him into whose mouth guile never entred , but into whose lips grace was poured , and is poured out by them ; so that the ear that hath heard him hath born him witness , and filled with wonder those that heard the gracicious words which came out of his mouth . who hath told us all concerning that unseen world , that in this our present state it was fit for us to know ; and enough , in telling all that will be his followers , that where he is , there he will have them be , joh. 17.24 . and consider the manifest tendency of the discovery it self . what doth it mean or tend to , but to undeceive miserable mortals , whom he beholds from his high throne mock'd with shadows , beguiled with most delusive impostures , and easily apt to be imposed upon ? foolish , deceived , serving divers lusts and pleasures ; feeding upon ashes , and wearying themselves for very vanity ; sporting themselves in the dust of this minute spot of earth ; wasting their little inch of time , wherein they should prepare for translation into the regions of unseen glory . to these he declares he hath formed a kingdom for all that cover to mend their states , and that his kingdom is not of this world ; that for such as will be of this kingdom , he will provide better , having other worlds , the many heavens above all which he is ascended , at his dispose , ephes. 4.10 . but they must seek this kingdom and the righteousness of it in the first place ; and desist from their care about other things . he counsels and warns them not to lay up their treasure on earth — but in heaven , and to let their hearts be there with their treasure . and what can withstand his power who having been dead liveth victorious over him that had the power of death ; and is alive for evermore possest of an eternal state of life . and have we not reason to expect the most equal and most benign disposal of things in that unseen world : when he also declares i have the keys , rightful authority , as well as mighty power , to reward and punish ? none but who have a very ill mind can fear from him an ill management . he first became capable of dying , and then yielded himself to die , that he might obtain these keys for gracious purposes . he had them before to execute just vengeance , as he was originally in the ●orm of god , and without robbery equal with god ; an equal sharer in sustaining the wrong that had been done by apostate rebels , and an equal sharer in the right of vindicating it . but that he might have these keys to open the heavenly hades to reduc'd apostates , to penitent believing , self-devoting sinners , for this it was necessary , he ●●ould put on man , be found here in fashion as a man , take on him the fo●m of a se●vant , become obedient to death ( even that servile punishment , the death of the cro●s , phil. 2.7 , 8. for this he is highly exalted into this power , that every knee might bow to him , — in hope of saving mercy , ver . 9 , 10. compared with , isa 45.22 , 23. he had the keys without this , of the supernal hades to shut out all offenders , and of the infernal to shut them up for ever . but that he might have them to absolve repenting believers , and admit them into heaven , and only to shut up in hell implacable enemies . for this he must die , and live again . he was to be slain and hanged on a tree , that he might be a prince and a saviour to give repentance and remission of sin , act. 5.30 , 31. that to this intent he might be lord of the dead and the living , he must both die and rise , and live so as to die no more , rom. 14.9 . these keys for this purpose , he was only to have upon these terms . he had a right to punish as an offended god , but to pardon and save , as a mediating sin expiating god-man but as he was to do the part of a mediator , he must act equally between the disagreeing parties : he was to deal impartially on both sides . to render back entire to the injur'd ruler of the world his violated rights , and to obtain for us his forfeited favour , as entire . and undertook therefore when as a sacrifice he was to be slain , to redeem us to god by his blood , rev. 5.9 . to give him back his revolted creature , holy , pure , subject and serviceable , as by his methods , he shall be at last ; and procure for him pardon , acceptance and eternal blessedness . when therefore he was to do for us the part of a redeemer , he was to redeem us from the curse of the law , not from the command of it ; to save us from the wrath of god , not from his government . had it been otherwise , so firm and indissoluble is the connection between our duty and 〈◊〉 f●licity , that the sovereign ruler had been eternally injured , and we not advantaged . were we to have been set free from the preceptive obligation of god's holy law , than most of all from that most fundamental precept , thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thine heart , soul , might and mind . had this been redemption ? which supposes only what is evil and hurtful , as that we are to be redeemed from . this were a strange sort of self-repugnant redemption , not from sin and misery , but from our duty and felicity . this were so to be redeemed as to be still lost , and every way lost , both to god , and to our selves for ever . redeemed from loving god! what a monstrous thought ! redeemed from what is the great active and fruitive principle . the source of obedience and blessedness . the eternal spring , even in the heavenly state , of adoration and fruition . this had been to legitimate everlasting enmity and rebellion against the blessed god , and to redeem us into an eternal hell of horrour and misery to our selves ! this had been to cut off from the supream ruler of the world for ever ; so considerable a ●imb of his most rightful dominion , and to leave us as miserable , as everlasting separation from the fountain of life and blessedness could make us . when therefore our lord jesus christ was to redeem us from the curse of the law , it was that the promised spirit might be given to us , gal. 3.13 , 14. who should write the law in our hearts , jer. 31.33 . ezek. 36.27 . fulfil the righteousness of it in us , by causing us to walk after his dictates , according to that law , regenerating us , begetting us after gods image , and making us partakers of a godlike nature : so we through the law bec●me dead to the malediction and curse of it , that we may live to god more devoted lives than ever , gal. 2.19 . thus is gods lost creature given back to him with the greatest advantage also to it self . with this design it is apparent our lord redeemed us , and by his redemption acquired these keys . nor are we to doubt , but in the use of them , he will dispense exactly according to this just and merciful design . and what a perverse distorted mind is that , which can so much as wish it should be otherwise ? viz. that he should save us to the eternal wrong of him that made us , and so as that we should be nothing the better , i. e. that he should save us without saving us ? and hath this no pleasant comfortable aspect upon a lost world ? that he who hath these keys , will use them for such purposes , i. e. to admit to eternal bliss , and save to the uttermost all that will come to god by him not willing to be everlastingly alienated from the life of god ) because he ever lives to make intercession , or to transact and negotiate for them , ( as that word signifies ) and that in a rightful way ▪ and even by the power of these keys ! 8. that there must be some important reason why the other world is to us unseen , and so truly bears the name of hades . this expresses the state of the case as in fact it is , tha it is a world lying out of our sight , and into which our dim and weak eye cannot penetrate : that other state of things is spoken of therefore as hidden from us by a vail . when our lord jesus is said to have passed into the heavens , heb. 4.14 . he is also said to have entered into that within the vail , heb. 16.19 , 20. alluding to that in the temple of solomon , and before that , in moses's tabernacle ; but expresly signifying that the holy places into which christ entred , not those made with hands , which were the figure of the true , but heaven it self , filled with the glorious presence of god , where he appears for us , heb. 9.24 . is also vailed from us . as also the glory of the other state is said to be a glory as yet to be revealed , rom. 8.18 . and we are told , job 26.9 . the great god holdeth back the face of his throne , and above , ver . 6. 't is represented as a divine prerogative , that sheol which is there groundlesly rendred hell ) the vast hades , is only naked before him , lies entirely open to his view , and therein the dark and horrid part of it destruction ( by which peculiarly must be meant hell ) is to him without a covering , not mo●e hidden from his eye . which shews this to be the divine pleasure ; so god will have it be , who could have expos'd all to common view , if he had pleased . but because he orders all things according to the counsel of his will , ephes. 1.11 . we must conceive some weighty reason did induce hereto , that whatsoever lies beyond this present state of things should be concealed from our immediate view , and so come uno nomine , to be all called hades . and if the reason of gods conduct , and the course of his dispensation herein had been equally hidden , as that state it self is , it had been a bold presumption to enquire and prie into it ; modesty and reverence should have restrained us . but when we find it holds a manifest agreement with other parts of his counsel , that are sufficiently revealed ; and that the excellency of the divine wisdom is most conspicuous and principally to be beheld and admired , in ordering the apt congruities and correspondencies of things with each other , and especially of the ends he proposes to himself , with the methods and ways he takes to effect them ; 't were very great oscitancy , and an undutiful negligence not to observe them , when they stand in view , that we may render him his due acknowledgments , and honour thereupon . 't is manifest that as god did not create man , at first , in that which he designed to be his final state , but as a probationer , in a state of trial , in order to a further state : so when he apostatized and fell from god , he was graciously pleased to order for him a new tryal , and put him into the hands of his merciful redeemer , who is intrusted with these keys , and with the power of life and death over him , to be managed and exercised according to the terms plainly set down and declared in his gospel . wheresoever he is with sufficient evidence revealed and made known , men immediately come under obligation to believe in him , to intrust and commit themselves into the same hands ; to rely upon the truth of his word , in every thing he reveals , as the ground of their submitting to his authority in every thing he requires . what concerns their present practice , he hath plainly shewn them , so much as it was requisite they should preapprehend of future retributions , rewards and punishments he hath revealed also ; not that they should have the knowledge hereof by immediate inspection , but by taking his word . that as their first transgression was founded in infidelity ; that they did not believe god , but a lying spi●it against him ; their first step in their recovery , and return to god , should be to believe him , and take his word about things th●y have themselves no immediate sight or knowledge of . this point was by no means to be quitted to the first apostates . as if gods saying to them , if you transgress , you shall die , or go into hades , was no sufficient inforcement of the precept , unless he had given them a distinct view of the states of felicity , or misery , which their obedience , or disobedience would lead them into . this had been to give away the whole cause to the revolted rebels , and rather to con●ess errour and oversight in the divine government , than impute fault to the impugners of it ! this being the state of the case , how suitable had it been to the design of this second trial to be made with men , to withdraw the vail , and let every ones own eyes be their informers of all the glories of the heavenly state ! and hereupon proclaim and preach the gospel to them , that they should all partake herein , that would entirely deny themselves , come off from their own bottom , give themselves up absolutely to the interest , love , service and communion of their redeemer , and of god in him ? to fortifie them against the assaults and dangers of their earthly pilgrimage by reversing that rule , the just shall live by faith ; even that faith which is the substance of the things hoped for , and the evidence of things not seen ; or by inverting the method , that in reference to such things , we are to walk by faith , not by sight , and letting it be . we are to walk by sight , not by faith ! and that lest any should refuse such compliance with their great lord , whole hades , should be no longer so , but made naked before them , and the covering of hell and destruction be taken off , and their own eyes behold the infernal horrors , & their own ears hear the shrieks and howlings of accursed creatures , that having rejected their redeemer , are rejected by him . we are not here to consider , what course would most certainly effect their salvation , but what most became the wise holy god , to preserve the dignity of his own government , and save them too , otherwise almighty power could save all at once . as therefore we have cause to acknowledge the kindness and compassion of our blessed lord , who hath these keys , in giving us for the kind , such notices as he hath , of the state of the things in hades . so we have equal cause to admire his wisdom , that he gi●es us not those of another kind , that should more powerfully strike sense and amaze us more , but instruct us less that continues it to be hades still , a state of things to us unseen as yet . as the case would have been on the other supposition , the most generous noble part of our religion had been sullied or lost ; & the tryal of our faith — which is to be found unto praise , honour and glory at the appearin● of jesus christ , even upon this account , that they who had not seen him in his mean circumstances on earth , nor did now see him , amidst all the glories of his exalted state , yet believing , lov'd him , and rejoyced in him with joy unspeakable , and full of glory , 1 pet. 1.7 , 8. this faith , and all the glorious tryals of it , with its admirable atchievements , and performances , whereby the elders heretofore obtained so good a report , and high renown on earth , and which filled the world with wonder , had all vanished into obscurity and darkness , i. e. if they had believed no more , or no greater things , than every man besides , had the immediate view of by his own eye-sight . and yet the trial had been greater , on another account , than the divine wisdom in conjunction with goodness , and compassion , thought fit ordinarily to put sincere christians upon . for who could with any tolerable patience have endured longer abode on earth , after they should once have had the glory of the heavenly state immediately set in view before their eyes ! especially considering , not so much the sufferings , as the impurities of their present state ! what for great reason was a special vouchsafement to one apostle was for as great to be common to all christians . how great is the wisdom and mercy of our blessed lord in this partial concealment of our future state , and that while so much as is sufficient is revealed , there is yet an hades upon it , and it may still be said , it doth not yet appear what we shall be , 1 joh. 3.2 . but as these majestick life-breathing words of our great lord , do plainly offer the things that have been mentioned ( and many more such that might occur ) to our thoughts and meditation ; so will they be thought on in vain , if they be not followed and answered by suitable dispositions , and actions of heart and life . therefore the further use we are to make of this great subject will be to lay down 2. divers correspondent things to be practised and done , which must also suppose dispositions and frames of heart and spirit agreeable thereto . 1. let us live expecting a period to be ere long put to our life on earth for remember , there are keys put into a great hand for this very purpose , that holds them not in vain . his power is of equal extent with the law he is to proceed by . and by that it is appointed for all once to die. therefore as in the execution , he cannot exceed , so he will not come short of this appointment : when that once shall be , it belongs to him to determine . and from the course we may observe him to hold , as it is uncertain to all , it can be very remote to none . how short is the measure of a span ! 't is an absurd vanity ●o promise our selves that which is in the power of another . how wise and prudent a thing to accommodate our selves composedly to his pleasure , in whose power we are ! and to live as men continually expecting to die ! there are bands of death out of which , when they once take hold , we cannot free our selves . but there are also bands of life , not less troublesome or dangerous . 't is our great concern to be daily by degrees , loosening and disentangling our selves from these bands ; and for preventing the necessity of a violent rupture , to be daily disingaging our hearts from an ensnaring world , and the too close embraces of an over indulged body . tell them resolutely , i must leave them , whensoever my great lord turns the key for me , and i know not how soon that may be . it is equally unhappy and foolish to be ingaged in the pursuit of an impossibility ; or in a war with necessity , the former whereof cannot be obtained , the latter cannot but overcome . we owe so much to our selves , and to the ease and quiet of our own minds , to be reconciled , at all times , to that which may befal us at any time . how confounding a thing is surprizal by that which our selves regret and dread ! how unaccountable and ignominious must it be to pretend to be surprized with what we have so great reason always to expect ! and whereof we are so oft forewarned ! is it no part of christian watchfulness to wait for such an hour ? tho' that waiting all the days of our appointed time , mentioned john 14.14 . refers to another change than that of death , viz. ( as the foregoing and following verses shew ) that of the resurrection , yet it cannot but be equally requisite , upon a no less important reason . and the requests , that the lord would make us know our end , and the measure of our days that we may know how frail we are , psal. 39.4 . and that he would teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom , psal 90.12 . are equally monitory to the same purpose , as the most express precepts : as also the many directions we have to watch and wait for our lords appearance and coming are as applicable to this purpose . for whensoever his key opens our passage out of this world , and these bodies , hades opens too , and he particularly appears to us , in as decisive a judgment of our case , as his universal appearance and judgment will at last give for all . the placid agreement of our minds and spirits with divine determination , both as to the thing , and time , of our departure hence , will prevent the trouble and ungratefulness of being surpriz'd ; and our continual expectation of it , will prevent any surprizal at all let this then be an agreed resolution with us , to endeavour being in such a posture , as that we may be capable of saying , lord whensoever thou shalt move thy key , and tell me this night , or this hour , i 'll require thy soul , thou shalt not , o lord , prevent mine expectation , or ever find me counting upon many years injoyment of any thing this world can entertain me with . in further pursuance hereof , 2. be not over-intent on designs for this present world ; which would suppose you to count upon long abode in it . let them be always laid with a supposition , you may this way , even , by one turn of this key , be prevented of bringing them about ; and let them be pursued with indifferency , so as that disappointment even this way , may not be a grievance . a thing made up of thought and design , as our mind and spirit naturally is , will be designing one way or other ; nor ought we to attempt that violence upon our own natures , as to endeavour the stupifying of the intelligent , designing mind , which the author of nature hath put into us . only let us so lay our designs , as that how many soever we form , that may be liable to this sort of disappointment ; we may still have one greater and more important , so regularly and surely laid , that no turn of this key shall be in any possibility to frustrate , but promote it rather ▪ the design for the kingdom of god to be first sought , with his righteousness , mat. 6.33 . or which is pu●sued by seeking glory , honour ▪ and immortality , to the actual attainment of eternal life , rom. 2.7 . may , if prescribed methods be duly observed , have this felicity always attending it , to be ●ucessfully pursued , while we live , and effected when we die , but this is an unaccountable vanity under the sun , that men too generally form such , projects that they are disappointed both when they do not compass them , and when they do . if they do not , they have lost their labour , if they do they are not worth it . they dream they are eating , and injoying the fruit of their labour , but they awake , and their soul is empty . and if at length they think of laying wiser and more valuable designs , the key turns , and not having fixed their resolution , and begun aright , they and all their thoughts ( foolish or more wise ) perish together . because there is a fit season for every fit undertaking , a time , and judgment for every purpose , or a critical time , such as is by judgment affixt to every such purpose , eccles. 8.6 . and because also men know not their time , c. 9.12 . therefore their misery is great upon the earth , and as birds caught in a snare , they are snared in an evil time that falleth suddenly upon them . o miserable , miserable mortals ! so are your immortal spirits misimployed and lost ! their most valuable design for another world is seldom thought on in season , their little designs for this world they contrive and p●osecute with that confidence , as if they thought the world to be theirs , and themselves their own , and they had no ●ord over them . this rude insolence that holy apostle animadverts upon , of such as say , to day or to morrow we will goe to such a city , and continue there a ●ear , and buy and sell , and get gain , whereas they know not what shall be on the morrow . and what is their life ? a vapour , &c. so much of duty , and becoming behaviour is in the mean time forgotten as to say , if the lord will we shall live , &c. this is to bear themselves as absolute masters of their own lives . how bold an affront to their soveraign lord ? they feel themselves well in health , strength , and vigour , and seem resolved it shall be a trial of skill who hath the power , or to whom the keys belong , till it come to the last irrefragable demonstration , that he changes their countenance and sends them away , joh. 14.20 . and then they go driven , pluckt , and torn away from their dwelling-place rooted out of the land of the living , psal. 2.55 . but if any premonitory decays make them doubt the perpetuity of their own abode here , they some what ease their minds by the pleasure they take in thinking , when they have filled their own bellies , psal. 17.14 . what they shall leave of their substance to their babes , and to them that shall come after . and their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever , and their dwelling places to all generations ; and they call their lands after their own names , and their posterity approve their sayings , think and act as wisely as they , psal 49.11 , 12. — thus they take upon them , and reckon they for their time , and theirs after them shall still dwell in their own a wise thought ! they are the owners when another keeps the keys . several other things of like import , i shall more lightly touch , that may be collected from what hath been already more largely said , and leave to be further enlarged upon , in your own thoughts , and shall dilate more upon some other , as they are either more material , or less thought on by the most . 3. be not prodigal of your time on earth , which is so little in your power . because you are not to expect much , make the best use you can of your little . 't is so precious a thing that it is to be redeemed , 't is therefore too precious to be embezelled and trifled away . the connexion of those two precepts , ephes. 5.15 , 16. of walking circumspectly not as fools , but as wise , and that of redeeming the time more than intimates , that to squander time is a foolish thing . of the several sorts of things that we make our selves , their shape and frame , shews their use and end . are we to make a less judicious estimate of the works of god ? if we therefore contemplate our selves , and consider what a sort of production man is , can we allow our selves to think god made him a reasonable creature on purpose to play the fool ? or can we live as if we thought so , without reproaching our maker ? but whereas he who hath been the author to us of such a nature , capable of improving a lifes time in this world unto most valuable purposes , hath also been the autho● of such a law , requiring us to red●em time . the reproach will be wholly turned off from him upon our selves , and our consequent ruine be upon our own guilty heads . and he will find some among our selves , who by the advantage only of the reasonable nature , common to us and them ; that are instructors to us , not to waste our days in vanity , and will be witnesses against us if we so foolishly consume , what we cannot command . some such have unanswerably reprehended the common folly of those that dread the thought of throwing away their whole life at once , that yet have no regret at throwing it all away by parcels and piece-meal . and have told us a wise man can find nothing of that value , for which to barter away his time * . and we are to consider , that as we are reasonable creatures we are accountable . that we are shut up in these bodies , as in work-houses . that when he that keeps the keys lets us out , we are to receive the things done in the body , according to what we have done , whether good or evil , — 2 cor. 5.10 . that it belongs to him that measures our time to censure it too , and the use we have made of it . 4. let him be at once both great and amiable in our eyes , who hath so absolute power over us , and so gracious propensions towards us , i. e. who hath these keys , and who acquired them with so merciful intentions , even upon such terms as could not but signifie the greatest compassion and good will towards such as we . reconsider , what hath been offered as matter of meditation , to both these purposes . and now , hereupon , let us endeavour to have a correspondent sense , inwrought into our hearts , and to bear our selves towards him accordingly . the power and efficacy of whole christianity depends upon this , and doth very principally consist in it . what a faint , impotent , languishing thing is our religion , how doth it dwindle into spritless , dead form without it ? either the form of knowledge is nothing else but insipid dead notion ; and our forms of worship , only fruitless unpleasant formality , if we have not a vivid sense in our hearts both of his glorious greatness , and of his excellent loving kindness . as much as words can signifie towards the impressing such a sense into our hearts , we have in these words , uttered from his own mouth , so that he may say as that memorable type of him once did , you may plainly perceive , it is my mouth that speaketh to you . i am the first and the last . i am he that liveth and was dead , and behold i am alive for evermore . and hereto he now sets his solemn ratifying seal , amen . wherewith he leaves us to pause , and collect , that thus it was brought about , that he could add , and i have the keys of the vast hades , the whole unseen world , and of death . and god forbid that , now , these words should be with us an empty sound , or a dead letter ! let us cast in our minds what manner of saluta●ion this should be ! doth the son of god thus vouchsafe to bespeak miserable abjects , perishing , lost wretches ! how can we hereupon but bow our heads and worship ! what agitations of affection should we feel within ! how should all our internal powers be moved ! and our whole souls made as the chariots of amminadib . what can we now be unwilling of , that he would have us be , or do ? and as that , whereof we may be assured , he is most willing . 5. let us entirely receive him , and absolutely resign our selves to him , as our prince and saviour . who would not covet to be in special relation to so mighty , and so kind a lord ! and can you think to be related to him , upon other terms ? and do you not know that upon these ▪ you may ? when in his gospel he offers himself , and demands you . what can that mean but that you are to receive him , and resign your selves ? the case is now brought to this state , that you must either comply , or rebel . and what ? rebel against him who hath these keys , who is in so high authority over the whole unseen world ! who is the head of all principality and power , who is gone into the heavens , the glorious upper hades , and is at the right hand of god , angels , authorities , powers being made subject to him , 1 pet. 3.21 . we little know or can conceive as yet , the several orders and distinctions of the celestial inhabitants , and their great and illustrious princes and potentates , thrones , dominions , &c. that all pay him a dutiful and a joyful subjection and obedience . but do we not know god hath given him a name above every name ? and that in his name ( or at it , as it may be read , i. e. in acknowledgment of his sovereign power , every knee must bow , of things in heaven , on earth and under earth , and all confess that he is lord to the praise and glory of god the father ? and who art thou , perishing wretch ! that dar'st dispute his title ? or that when all the creation must be subject to him , wilt except thy self ? and when it cost him so dear , that his vast power might be subservient to a design of ●race , and thou must at last be saved by him , or lost for ever . what can tempt thee to stand out against such power , and such grace ? if thou wert to gratifie thy ambition , how glorious a thing is it to be a christian ! a subject , a devoted homager to so mighty a prince ! if to provide against thy necessity , and distress , what course can be so sure and successful , as to fly for refuge to so compassionate a saviour ! and dost thou not know there must be to this purpose , an express transaction between him and thee ? wonder he will condescend to it ! to capitulate with dust and ashes ! to article with his own creature , with whom he may do what he will ! but his merciful condescension herein is declared and known . if there shall be a special relation settled betwen him and thee , he hath told thee in what way it must be , i. e. by way of covenant-transaction , and agreement , as he puts his people of old in mind , his way was with them ; i entred into covenant with thee , and thou becamest mine , ezek. 16.8 . this i insist upon and press , as a thing of the greatest importance imaginable , and the least thought of : nor the strange incongruity animadverted on , viz. that we have the seals of such a covenant among us , but the covenant it self slips through our hands . our baptism soon after we were born , with some foederal words then , is thought enough , as if we were a nation of always minors . who ever therefore thou art , that hearest these words , or readest these lines ; know that the great lord is express towards thee in his gospel proposal . wilt thou accept me for thine , and resign thy self as mine ? he now expects and requires thy express answer . take his gospel as from the cross , or take it as from the throne , or as from both , 't is the same gospel interwoven of grace and authority , the richest grace , and the highest authority at once inviting and requiring thee to commit and submit thy self unto him . take heed lest his key turn before thou have given thy complying answer importing at once both thy trust and thy subjection . give not over pleading with thy self , with thy wayward stupid heart , till it can say to him , " lord , i ●ield , thou hast overcome . till with tender relentings thou hast thrown thy self at his feet , & told him , lord , i am ashamed , i am confounded within my self , that thou shouldst die upon a cross to obtain thy high power , and that thou art now ready to use it for the saving so vile a miscreant as i ! that when thou hast so vast an unknown world , so numberless myriads of excellent creatures in thy obedience , thou shouldst yet think it worth thy while to look after me ! and that i should so long have withstood thy kind and gracious overtures and intendments ! o forgive my wicked aversion ! i now accept and resign . and now this being sincerely done , with fulness of consent , with deep humility , with yearning bowels , with unfeigned thankfulness , and an inward complacency , and gladness of heart . 6. let your following course in this world be ordered agreeably hereto , in continued dependence , and subjection . as we have received christ jesus , the lord , so we are to walk in him , col. 2.6 . take him according to the titles here given him , as christ — , a person anointed , authorized , qualified to be both , jesus , a saviour , so we are to walk ( according to our first reception of him , ) in continual dependence on his saving mercy , and and to be a lord , or as 't is here exprest with eminency , the lord , so we are to walk in continual subjection to his governing power . otherwise our receiving him , at first , under these notions , hath nothing in it but mockery and collusion . but if his obtaining these keys , upon the terms here exprest , as having been dead , and now living , and having overcome death ( as 't is also rom. 14.9 . ) did signifie his having them for saving purposes , as it must , since for other purposes , he had them sufficiently before ; and if we reckon'd this a reasonable inducement to receive him , and commit and intrust our selves to him as a saviour , that he dy'd , and overcame death ? for his grace in yielding to die , had not rendred him a competent object of trust , otherwise than in conjunction with his power in overcoming death , and so gaining into his hands these keys : then , the same reason still remaining , how constant an encouragement have we to continue accordingly walking in him all our days ! how potent an argument should it be to us , to live that life which we live in the flesh , by faith in the son of god who loved us , and gave himself for us ? gal. 2.20 . i. e. inasmuch , as having been crucify'd with him ( which is also there exprest ) we feel our selves to live nevertheless ; yet so as that 't is not so much we that live , as christ that liveth in us ; who could not live in us , or be to us a spring of life , if he were not a perpetual spring of life , in himself . and consider , how darest thou live otherwise in this flesh , in this earthly house , whereof he keeps the keys , and can fetch thee out at his pleasure ? when he hath warned thee to abide in him , that when he shall appear , thou mayest have confidence , and not be ashamed at his coming , 1 joh. 2.28 . he will certainly then appear , when he comes to open the door , and dislodge thee from this flesh ( though there be here a further , and final reference to another appearance , and coming of his ) and if he then find thee severed , and disjoyned from him ( thy first closure with him , not having been sincere , truly unitive and vital ) how terribly will he look ! how confoundedly wilt thou look in that hour ! neither hast thou less reason to live in continual subjection to him , considering that as he dy'd , and overcame death that he might have these keys , so he now hath them , and thou art under his governing power . the more thou consider'st his right to govern , the less thou wilt dispute it . when he was spoken of as a child to us born , that he might become a man of sorrows , & be sorrowful unto the death , and have all the sorrows of death come upon him , he is at the same time said to be the mighty god , & it was declared the government should be upon his shoulders . as he was the first begotten from the dead , viz. both submitting to death , and conquering it ; so he was the prince of the kings of the earth , ( a small part of his kingdom too ) his throne being founded on his cross , his governing power , in his sacrifice , i. e. the power whereby he so governs , as that he may also save ; making these two things the salving the rights of the godhead , injured by sin , and the delivering of the sinner from an eternal ruine , to agree , and consist with one another . what an endearing obligation is this to obey ! that he will be the author of eternal salvation to them that obey him ! inasmuch as , while our obedience cannot merit the least thing from him , yet his vouchsafing to govern us doth most highly merit from us . for he governs by writing his law in the heart , which makes our heart agree with the law , and by implanting divine love in us , which vanquishes enmity and disaffection , and vertually contains in its self our obedience , or keeping his commandments , joh. 14.15 . and 23. 1 joh. 5.3 . therefore this government of his , over us , is naturally necessary to our salvation and blessedness , and is the inchoation and beginning of it ; as our perfected love to god , and conformity to his nature , and will , do involve and contain in themselves our compleat and perfect blessedness , with which a continued enmity , or a rebellious , mutinous disposition against god , is naturally inconsistent ; and would be to us , and in us , a perpetual , everlasting hell. there can therefore be no inthralling servitude in such obedience , but the truest liberty , that by which the son makes us free indeed , joh. 8.36 . yea a true sort of royalty : for hereby we come in the most allowable sense , to live as we will , our will being conformed to the will of god. whereupon that was no high extravagant rant , but a sober expression , we are born in a kingdom , to serve god is to reign . and we know this to be the will of god , that all should honour the son , as they honour the father . herewith will the evangelically obedient comport with high complacency ; accounting him most highly worthy that it should be so . wherein therefore the christian law seems strictest , and most rigorous in the enjoyned observance of our lord christ , herein we shall discern an unexceptionable reasonableness , and comply with a complacential approbation . and let us put our own hearts to it , and see that without regret , or obmurmuration they can readily consent to the equity of the precept . 't is enjoyned us ( constructively at least ) that because christ dy'd for us , when we were dead , quite lost in death , we that live hereupon , should settle this which our selves as a sixed judgment , and upon that intervening judgment , yield to the constraint of his love , so as henceforth no more to live to our selves , q. d. god forbid we should henceforth be so profane ! we must now for ever have done with that impious , unlawful way of living . what ? after this ! that we have so fully understood the state of our case , that we should be so assuming , as ever , again to offer at such a thing , as living to our selves , to make our selves deities to our selves : or to live otherwise than unto him who dyed for us and rose again , 2 cor. 5.14 , 15. this is high and great , and may seem strict and severe . what ? to hav● the whole stream of all the actions , and aims , the strength and vigour of our lives , to be carried in one entire undivided current unto him , and ( as it must be understood , gal. 2.19 . ) to god in him , so as never more to live to our selves , a divided , separate life apart from him ! or wherein we shall not finally , and more principally design for him ! how high is his claim ! but how equal and grateful to a right mind ! with what a plenitude of consent is every divine command , ( taking this into the account ) esteemed to be right in all things ! so as that whatsoever is opposite is hated as a false way , psal. 119.128 . and as the precept carries its own visible reason , the keeping of it carries its own reward in it self , psal 19.11 . and is it too much for him who bears these keys , and obtained them on such terms , and for such ends , to be thus affected towards him ! we are required , without exception , without limitation or reserve , whatsoever we do , whether in word or work , to do all in the name of our lord jesus christ , col. 3.17 . enquire we , do our hearts repine at this law ? do not we ? doth not this world owe so much to him ? why are we allowed a place and a time here ? why is not this world a flaming theatre ? is it not fit every one should know under whose government they live ? by whose beneficence , under whose protection , and in whose name they may act so , or so , and by whose authority ? either obliging , or not restraining them , requiring , or licensing them to do this or that ? doth this world owe less to him , that bears these keys , than egypt did to joseph , when thus the royal word went forth in reference to him ? i am pharaoh , and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of egypt ? how pleasant should it be to our souls , often to remember and think on that name of his which we bear , isa. 26.8 . mal. 3.18 . and draw in as vital breath , the sweet odours of it , cant. 1.3 . how glorious a thing should we count it , because he is the lord our god , to walk in his name for ever and ever , as all people will walk every one in the name of their god , mic. 4.5 . and then we shall account it no hard law , whatever we do , to do all in the name of our lord jesus , giving thanks to god the father by him , and for him ; blessing god every day , that we are put by him , under the mild and merciful government of a redeemer . then , we shall rejocyingly avow , as the apostle doth , 1 cor. 9.21 . that we are not without law to god , but under law to christ. vvhereupon , when you find your special relation is thus settled and fixed , unto the great lord both of this present visible world , and of hades , or the invisible world , also , by your solemn covenant with him , and evidenc't by the continued correspondency of your heart and life , your dispositions and actions thereunto . 7. do not regret or dread to pass out of the one world into the other at his call , and under his conduct , though through the dark , passage of death ; remembring the keys , are in so great and so kind a hand . and that his good pleasure herein is no more to be distrusted , than to be disputed or withstood . let it be enough to you , that what you cannot see your self , he sees for you . you have oft desired your ways , your motions , your removals from place to place , might be directed by him in the vvorld . have you never said if thou go not with me , carry me not hence ? how safely and fearlesly may you follow him blindfold or in the dark any whither ! not only from place to place , in this world , but from world to world ! how lightsome soever the one , and gloomy and dark the other may seem to you . darkness and light are to him alike . to him hades is no hades , nor is the dark way that leads into it to him an untrodden path . shrink not at the thoughts of this translation , though it be not by escaping death , but even through the jaws of it . vve commonly excuse our aversion to die , by alledging that nature regrets it . but we do not enough consider that in such a compounded sort of creature as we are ; the word nature must be ambiguous . there is in us a sensitive nature that regrets it ; but taking the case as it is now stated , can we think it tolerable , that it should be regretted by the reasonable nature ? unto which , if we appeal , can we suppose it so untrue to its self , as not to assert its own superiority ? or to judge it fit that an intelligent , immortal spirit , capable of so great things , in another world , should be content with a long abode here . only to keep a well-figured piece of flesh from putrifying , or give it the satisfaction of tasting meats , and drinks , that are grateful to it , for a few years ! and if for a few , why not for many ? and when those many were expired , why not for as many more ? and the same reason always remaining , why not for alwaies ? the case is thus put , because the common meaning of this allegation , that nature reg●ets or abhors this dissolution ; is not that they are concerned for their souls how it may fare with them in another world , which the most little mind or trouble themselves about ; but that they are to have what is grateful to them in this world. and was this the end a reasonable spirit , was made for , when , without reason , sense were alike capable of the same sort of gratifications ? vvhat law , what equity ? what rule of decency can oblige the soul of a man , capable of the society , and enjoyments of angels , to this piece of self-denial ▪ for the sake of his incomparably baser body ? or can make it fit that the nobler and more excellent nature , should be eternally subservient to the meaner , and more ignoble ? especially , considering that if ( according to the case supposed ) the two last foregoing directions be complyed with , there is a sort of divine nature superadded to the whole humane nature , that cannot but prompt the soul ennobled by it , to aspire to suitable , even to the highest , operations and enjoyments , whereof it is capable , and , which are not attainable in this present bodily state . and if there were still a dispute between nature and nature , it s enough that the great lord of hades , and of this present sensible world too , will determine it . in a far lower instance , when the general of an army commands it upon an enterprize , wherein life is to be hazarded , it would be an ill excuse of a cowardly declining , to say , their nature regrets and dreads the adventure . the thing is necessary . against what is so unavoidable as death , that is an abject mind that reluctates . * come , then , let us imbolden our selves , and when he brings the key , dare to die . it is to obey , and enjoy him who is our life , and our all . say we chearfully each of us , lord jesus receive my spirit , into thy hands i commit it who hast redeemed it . 8. let us quietly submit to divine disposal , when our dear friends and relatives are by death taken away from us . for consider into what hands this affair is put , of ordering every ones decease , and removal out of this into the other world , and who hath these keys ▪ 't is such a one , whose right , if we use our thoughts , we will not allow our selves to dispute , or to censure his administration . his original right , is that of a creator and a god. for all things were created for him , and by him , col. 1.16 . and without him was nothing made that was made , joh. 1.2 . ●he first and the last to all things , v. 17. his supervening right , was that of a redeemer , as hath been already noted from this context , and , as such , he had it by acquisition , dying to obtain it , & overcoming death ! i am he that liveth and was dead . and then , as he elsewhere declares , by constitution , all power is given me both in heaven and on earth , mat. 28.19 . the word ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) imports rightful power . and who are we ? or any relatives of ours ? whom all the power of heaven and earth hath no right to touch ? what exempt jurisdiction , can we pretend our selves to belong unto ? or will we adventure to say , not denying his right , he did not use it well in this case ? who is more fitly qualifyed to judge , than he that hath these keys ? and let this matter be yet more throughly discuss't . what is it that we find fault with in the removal of this or that person , that was near , and delightful to us ? is it that he was to die at all ? or that he dy'd so soon ? if we say the former ; do we blame the constitution , appointing all men once to die , by which this world is made a portal to another , for all men , and whence it was necessary none should stay long in this , but only pass thorough , into that world wherein every one is to have is everlasting abode ? or is it that , when we think it not unfit this should be the general and common course , there should yet have been a particular dispensation for this friend or relation of mine ? let the former be suppos●● the thing we quarrel at , and consider the intolerable consequences of the matters being otherwise ; as the case is with this apostate sinful world. such as upon second , better-weighed thoughts , we would abhor to admit into our minds , even as the matter of a wish . what would we wish to mankind a sinning immortality on this earth , before which a wise heathen profest to prefer one day vertuously spent ? would we wish this world to be the everlasting stage , of indignities and affronts to him that made it ? would we wish there should never be a judgment day ? and that all the wise & righteous councels of heaven should be ranverst & overturned , only to comport with our terrene & sensual inclinations ? is this our dutifulness and loyal affection to our blessed lord , the author of our beings , and the god of our ●ives , whose rights and honours should be infinitely dearer to us than our selves ? is it our kindness to our selves , and all others of our kind and order , that are all naturally capable , and many , by gracious vouchsafement , sitly qualified , to enjoy a perfect felicity in another world , that we would have all together confined for ever , to this region of darkness , impurity and misery ? or if it displease us , that our relatives are not , by some special dispensation , excepted from the common law of mortality ? we would , surely , as much have expected an exemption our selves ; otherwise our dying away from them , would make the so much regretted separation , as well as theirs from us . and what then , if we were required to draw up our petition ? to put it into express words ? to turn our wish for our selves , and all our relatives and peculiar friends , into a formed , solemn prayer , to this effect , that we are content the law stand in force , that all the world should die , with only the exception of some few names , viz. our own , and of our kindred , and more inward friends . what ashamed confounded creatures should we be upon the view of our own request ! would we not presently be for quelling , and suppressing it , & easily yield to be non-suited , without more ado ? what pretence can we have not to think others as apt to make the same request for them , and theirs ? and if all the rest of the world shall die , would we and our friends dwell here alone ! or would we have this world be continued habitable only on this private account , to gratifie a family ! and if we , & our friends be holy , heavenly minded persons , how kind were it to wish to our selves , and them , when fit for the society of angels and blessed spirits above , a perpetual abode in this low earthly state ! vvould we not now , upon riper , second thoughts , rather be content that things should rest as they are ; and he that hath these keys , use them his own way . but if by all this , we are put quite out of conceit , with the desire of a terrestrial immortality , all that the matter finally results into is , that we think such a relative of ours dyed too soon . vve would not have coveted for him an eternity on earth , but only more time . and how much more ? or for what ? if we were to set the time , 't is like that when it comes , we should be as averse to a separation , if coexistent , then , as now , and so we revolve into the exploded desire , of a terrestrial immortality , back again at last . if we were to assign the reason of our desire , that would seem as in the present case , a plausible one to some , which is mentioned by plutarch in his consolation to apollonius for the loss of his son , concerning another such case ( as he instances in many ) of one elysius an italian , whose loss of his son euthynous , was much aggravated by this , that he was a great heir . but what was said to that , there , and what is further to be said to any thing of that kind , i shall reserve to a more proper place . it is a more weighty allegation , and of more common concernment ; when an useful person is gone , and one very capable of becoming very eminently so . and this requires deeper consideration , and sundry things ought to be considered in order to the quieting their minds , who are apt to behold such darker dispensations , in the course of providence , with amusement , and disturbance of spirit , i. e. when they see persons of excellent endowments , and external advantages , beyond the most , cut off in their prime , while the world is cumbred with drones , never likely to do good , and pestered with such , as are like to prove plagues to it , and do great hurt and mischief to the age wherein they live . an ancient and not uncommon scruple to pious observers heretofore . wherefore ( says holy job ) do the wicked live , become old , yea are mighty in power ? their seed is established in their sight — ch. 21.7 , 8. when his seed was cut off before his eyes . and here let us consider , 1. that this world is in apostacy from god : and though he is pleased to use apt means for its recovery , he doth what he thinks fit herein , of meer grace , and favour , and is under no obligation to do all that he can . his dispensation herein must correspond to , and bear upon it the impress of other divine perfections , his wisdom , holiness , justice as well as grace . and for grace it self , whereas all since the apostacy lie together in a fearful gulf of impurity , and misery , and some , made more early sensible hereof than the most , do stretch out a craving hand and cry for help . if now a merciful hand reacht down from heaven take hold of them , and pluck them sooner out ; is this disagreeable to the god of all grace , to make some such instances , and vouchsafe them an earlier deliverance ; tho' they might , being longer delayed , be some way helpful to others , that continue stupid , and insensible ? 2. vvhen he hath done much , in an age , still obstinately unreclaimable , he may be supposed to let one appear , only with a promising aspect , and in just displeasure , presently withdraw him , that they may understand they have forfeited such a blessing , to this or that country , as such a one might have proved . 3. this may awaken some , the more to prize , and improve , the encouragements they may have from such as remain , or shall spring up in their stead , who are gone , and to bless god that the weight of his interest , and of the cause of religion , doth not hang and depend upon the slender thred of this mans life . the god of the spirits of all flesh , can raise up instruments as he pleases ; and will , to serve his own purposes , though not ours . 4. he will have it known that tho' he uses instruments , he needs them not . 't is a piece of divine royalty and magnificence , that when he hath prepared , & polish'd , such an utensile , so as to be capable of great service , he can lay it by , without loss . 5. they that are most qualified to be of greatest use in this world , are thereby also the more capable of blessedness in the other . 't is owing to his most munificent bounty , that he may vouchsafe to reward sincere intentions , as highly as great services . he took david's having it in his heart to build him an house , as kindly as solomon's building him one . and as much magnifies himself in testifying his acceptance of such as he discharges from his service here , at the third hour , as of them whom he engages not in it , till the eleventh . 6. of their early piety he makes great present use in this world , testifying his acceptance of their works , generally in his word , and particularly by the reputation he procures to them in the minds and consciences , of such as were best able to judge , and even of all that knew them , which may be truly accounted a divine testimony , both in respect of the object , which hath on it a divine impress , and speaks the self recommending power of true goodness , which is the image of god , and in respect of the subject , shews the dominion god hath over minds , engaging not only good men to behold with complacency of such pleasant , blooming goodness , correspondent to their own ; but even bad men to approve in these others , what they entertain not in themselves . the same things are accepted with god , and approved of men , rom. 14.18 . thus being dead , they , as abel , yet speak . 7. and it is a brighter , and more unsullied testimony , which is left in the minds of men , concerning such very hopeful persons as die in their youth . they never were otherwise known , or can be remembred , than as excellent young persons . this is the only idea which remains of them . had they lived longer to the usual age of man , the remembrance of what they were in youth , would have been in a great degree effac'd , and worn out , by latter things ; perhaps blackened , not by what were less commendable , but more ungrateful to the greater part , especially , if they liv'd to come into publick stations . their just zeal , and contestations against the wickedness of the age , might disoblige many , and create them enemies , who would make it their business to blast them , and cast upon their name and memory all the reproach they could invent . whereas the lustre of that vertue and piety which had provok't no body , appears only , with an amiable look , and leaves behind nothing , of such a person , but a fair , unblemisht , alluring and instructive example ; which , they that observed them , might , with less prejudic'd minds compare with the useless , vicious , lives of many that they see to have filled up a room in the world , unto extream old age , either to no purpose , or to very bad . and how vast is the difference in respect of usefulness to the world , between a pious , young gentleman , dying in his youth , that lived long in a little time , untainted by youthful lusts , and vanities , and victorious over them ; and an accurst sinner of an hundred years old , isa. 65.20 . one that was an infant of days , and though an hundred years old , yet still a child , that had not filled up his days with any thing of real value , or profit to himself , or others , ( as some very judicious expositors understand that text ) that ( as he aptly speaks ) had nothing besides grey hairs , and wrinkles , to make him be thought a long liver ; but who might truly be said not to have liv'd long , but only to have been long in the world. how sweet and fragrant a memory , doth the one , how rotten and stinking a name , doth the other , leave behind him to survivors ! therefore such very valuable young persons as are taken hence in the flower of their age , are not to be thought , upon that account of usefulness to this world , to have lived in it , that shorter time , in vain . they leave behind them that testimony , which will turn to account ; both for the glory of gods grace , which he hath exemplified in them , and which may be improved to the good of many who shall have seen that an holy life , amidst the temptations that the youthful age is exposed to , is no impracticable thing ; and that an early death , is as possible also to themselves . but besides their no little usefulness in this world , which they leave , we must know , 8. that the affairs and concernments of the other world , whither they go , are incomparably greater every way , and much more considerable . and to this most unquestionable maxim must be our last and final resort , in the present case . all the perturbation , and discomposure of mind , which we suffer upon any such accasion , arises chiefly , from our having too high and great thoughts of this world , and too low , and diminishing thoughts of the other ; and the evil must be remedy'd by rectifying our apprehensions in this matter . because that other world is hades , unseen , and not within the verge of our sense , our sensual minds are prone to make of it a very little thing ; and even next to nothing , as too many , will have it to be quite nothing at all . we are concerned , in duty to our blessed redeemer and lord , and for his just honour , to magnifie this his presecture , and render it as great to our selves as the matter requires , and as our very narrow minds can admit . and should labour to correct it as a great and too common fault , a very gross vulgar error , to conceive of persons leaving this world of ours , as if they hereby became useless ; and , upon the matter , lost out of the creation of god. so is our fancy prepossest , and filled with delusive images , that throng in upon it thorough our unwary senses , that we imagine this little spot of our earth to be the only place of business , and all the rest of the creation , to be meer vacuit● , vast , empty space , where there is nothing to do , and nothing to be enjoyed . not that these are formed , positive thoughts , or a settled judgment , with good men , but they are floating imaginations , so continually obtruded upon them , from ( what lies next ) the objects of sense , that they have more influence to affect the heart , and infer suitable , sudden , and indeliberate , emotions of spirit than the most formed judgment , grounded on things that lie without the sphere of sense can outweigh . and hence when a good man dies ( elder or younger ) the common cry is among the better sort ( for the other do less concern themselves ) o what a loss is this ! not to be repaired ! not to be born ! indeed this is better than the common stupidity , not to consider , not to take it to heart , when the righteous man perisheth , or is taken away . and the law of our own nature , obliges and prompts us , to feel , and regret , the losses which afflict us . but such resentments ought to be followed , and qualified , by greater thoughts , arising from a superiour nature , that ought presently to take place with us , of the nobler employments which god calls such unto , of whom this world was not worthy , heb. 11.38 . and how highly his great and all comprehending interest , is to be preferr'd before our own , or the interest of this or that family , country , or nation , on earth ! and , at once , both to enlarge and quiet our minds , on such occasions we should particularly consider , 1. the vast amplitude of the heavenly hades , in comparison of our minute spot of earth , or of that dark region ( wheresoever it is ) reserved for the just punishment of dilinquents , according to such intimations as the holy scriptures give us hereof , which being writ only for the use of us on earth , cannot be supposed to intend the giving us more distinct accounts of the state of things , in the upper world , than were necessary for us , in this our present state . but it is no obscure hint that is given of the spaciousness of the heavenly regions , when purposely to represent the divine immensity , 't is said of the unconsined presence of the great god , that even heaven , and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him , 1 king. 8.27 . 2 chron. 6.18 . how vast scope is given to our thinking minds to conceive heavens , above heavens , incircling one another , till we have quite tired our faculty , and yet we know not how far short we are of the utmost verge ! and when our lord is said to have ascended far above all heavens , ephes. 4.10 . whose arithmetick will suffice to tell how many they are ? whose vranography to describe how far that is ? we need not impose it upon our selves to judge their rules infallible , who , being of no mean understanding , nor indiligent in their enquiries , have thought it not improbable that there may be fixed stars within view , at that distance from our earth , that a movable , in as swift motion , as that of a bullet shot from a canon , would be fifty thousand years in passing from the one to the other * . but how much remoter that star may be from the utmost verge of the universe , is left altogether unimaginable . i have been told that a very ingenious artist going about , in exact proportions , to describe the orb or vortex to which our sun belongs , on as large a table as could be convenient for him to work upon , was at a loss to find a spot not too big , in proportion , for our earth , and big enough , whereupon to place the point , made very fine , of one foot of his compass . if any suspect extravagancy in our modern computations let him take a view of what is discoursed to this purpose by a writer of most unexceptionable wisdom , and sobriety ( as well as most eminent sanctity ) in his time * now when the lord of this vast universe beheld upon this little spot , intelligent creatures in transgression and misery , that he did so compassionately concern himself , for the recovery of such as should , by apt methods , be induc't to comply with his merciful design ; and appoint his own eternal son to be their redeemer , in order whereto , as he was god with god , he must also become man , among men , one of themselves , and so as god-man , for his kindness to some , be constituted universal lord of all . shall meer pity towards this world greaten it above the other ? but we are not left without ground to apprehend a more immediate reason for his being , as redeemer , made head and lord of all those creatures that were the original inhabitants of the invisible world. for when it had been said , col. 1.16 . that all things were created by him , not only the visible things on earth ▪ but the invisible things in heaven , here is a regression to these latter , who were before ( for their greater dignity ) generally , first mentioned , and now some enumeration given of them , whether they be thrones , or dominions , or principalities , or powers , and all things again repeated , that these might appear expresly included , said over again to be created by him , and for him , which was sufficient to express his creative right in them . 't is presently subjoyned , v. 17. and he is before all thin●s , and by him all things consist . all owe their stability to him , viz. the mentioned ●hrones , dominions , &c. as well as other things . but how ? or upon what terms ? that we might understand his redemptory right was not here to be overlook't , 't is shortly after added , and having made peace by the blood of his cross , it pleased the father ( to be repeated out of what went before ) by him to reconcile all things to himself ; and this by him , iterated , q. d. by him shedding his blood on the cross , whether they be things on earth , or things in heaven , lest the thrones , dominions , mentioned before should be forgot . and a word is used accommodable enough to the several purposes before expressed , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which doth not always suppose enmity , but more generally signifie , upon a sort of commutation , or valuable consideration , to procure or conciliate , or make a thing more firmly ones own , or assure it to himself , though 't is afterwards used in the stricter sense , v. 21. i have often considered with wonder and pleasure , that whereas god is called by that higher , and far more extensive name , the father of spirits ; he is also pleased so graciously to vouchsafe , as to be styl'd the god of the spirits of all flesh , and thereby to signifie , that having an order of spirits so meanly lodged that inhabit frail and mortal flesh , though he have a world of spirits to converse with , whose dwelling is not with flesh ; yet he disdains not a relation to so mean and abject spirits ( his off-spring also ) in our world. and that , because this was the place of offending delinquents that he would recover ; the redeemer should sort himself with them , and , as they were partakers of flesh and blood , himself likewise take part of the same ! this was great , and godlike ! and speaks the largeness , and amplitude of an all comprehending mind , common to father and son ; and capable of , so , applying it self to the greatest things , as not to neglect the least . and therefore so mu●h the more magnifies god , and our redeemer , by how much the less considerable we , and our world are . but that hence we should so over magnifie this world , as if nothing were considerable that lies without its compass , is most perversly to misconstrue the most amazing condescension . the spirit of god , by holy david , teaches us to reason the quite contrary way . and from the consideration he had of the vastness , and splendor , of the upper world , of the heavens , the moon and stars , &c. not to magnifie but diminish our world of mankind , and say , what is man ? and let us further consider , 2. the inexpressible numerousness of the other worlds inhabitants , with the excellencies wherein they shine , and the orders they are ranked into , and how unlikely is it , that holy souls that go thither , should want employment ? great concourse , and multitude● of people , make places of business in this world , and must much more do so , where creatures of the most spiritual , and active natures , must be supposed to have their residence . scripture speaks of myriads ( which we read an innumerable company ) of angels , besides all the spirits of just men heb. 12. who are sometimes said to be more than any one , ( which we causlesly render man ) could number , rev. 7. and when we are told of many heavens , above all which our lord jesus is said to have ascended ; are all those heavens , only empty solitudes ? uninhabited glorious deserts ! when we find how full of vitality this base earth of ours is , how replenish't with living creatures , not only on the surface , but within it , how unreasonable is it to suppose the nobler parts of the universe to be less peopled with inhabitants , of proportionable spirituality , activity , liveliness and vigour to the several regions , which , the remoter they are from dull earth , must be supposed still the finer , and apt to afford fit , and suitable habitations to such creatures ? whether we suppose pure , unclothed spirits be to the natives in all those heavens , all comprehended under the one name of angels , or whether ( as some think of all created spirits ) that they have all vital union with some or other vehicles , ethereal , or celestial , more or less fine , and pure , as the region is , to which they belong , having gradually associated unto them the spirits of holy men gone from us , which are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , angels-fellows , luk 20.36 . it is indifferent to our purpose . let us only consider them all , as intelligent , spiritual , beings , full of holy light , life , active power , and love to their common lord , and one another . and can we imagine their state to be a state of torpid silence , idleness , and inactivity , or that they have not much higher , and nobler work to do there , than they can have , in such a world as this , or in such bodies , as here , they lugg to and fro ! and the scriptures are not altogether silent , concerning the distinct orders of those glorious creatures , that inhabit all the heavens , with this upper hades , must be understood to contain . tho' it hath not provided to gratifie any ones curiosity , so far as to give us particular accounts of their differences , and distinctions . and though we are not warranted to believe such conjectures concerning them , as we find in in the supposititions dionysius ' his celestial hierarchy , or much less the idler dreams of valentinus , and the gnosticks about their aeones , with divers more such fictions , yet we are not to neglect , what god hath expresly told us , viz. that giving us some account of the creation , in the hades , or the invisible part of it ; there are thrones , dominions , principalities , powers , angels , ( and elsewhere archangels , authorities , col. 1.16 . with 1 pet. 3.21 . which being terms that import order , and government , can scarce allow us not to conceive , that of all those numberless multitudes of glorious creatures , that r●plenish and people those spacious regions of light , and bliss , there are none , who belong not to some or other , of those principalities and dominions . whence therefore , nothing is more obvious , than to conceive , that whosoever is adjoyned to them , ascending out of our wo●ld , presently hath his station assigned him , is made to know his post ▪ and how he is to be employed , in the se●vice and adoration of the sovereign lord of all , and in paying the most regular homage , to the th●one of god and the lamb. it being still to be remembred , that god is not worshiped there , or here , as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or as though he needed any thing , since he gives to all breath and being and all things , acts 17. but that the felicity of his most excellent creatures , doth in great part consist , in acting perpetually according to the dictate of a just & right mind . and that therefor tehey take highest pleasure in prostration , in casting down their crowns , in shrinking even into nothing , before the original , eternal , subsistent being , that he may be owned as the all in all , because they follow , herein , a most satisfy'd judgment , and express it when they say , thou art worthy o lord , to receive glory , and honour and power , for thou hast created all things , and for thy pleasure they are , and were created , rev. 4.11 . and worthy is the lamb that was slain , to receive riches , and wisdom , and strength , &c. ch . 5.12 . and they that rest not night or day from such high and glorious employments , have they nothing to do ? or will we say or think , because we see not how the heavenly potentates , lead on their bright legions , to present themselves before the throne , to tender their obeysance , or receive commands and dispatches to this or that far remote dynasty — ; or ( suppose ) to such and such a mighty star ( whereof there are so numberless myriads . and why should we suppose them not replenish't with glorious inhabitants ? ) whither they fly as quick as thought , with joyful speed , under the all-seeing eye , glad to execute wise and just commands upon all occasions . but alas ! in all this we can but darken counsel with words without knowledge . we cannot pretend to knowledge in these things ; yet if from scripture intimations , and the concurrent reason of things , we only make suppositions of what may be , not conclusions of what is ; let our thoughts ascend as much higher as they can . i see not why they should fall lower than all this . and because we cannot be positive , will we therefore say or think , there can be no such thing , or nothing but dull inactivity in those regions ? because that other world is hades , and we see nothing , shall we make little , or next to nothing of it ? we should think it very absurd reasoning ( if we should use it , in reference to such mean trifles in comparison , and say ) there is no such thing as pomp and state , no such thing as action or business in the courr of spain or france , of persia or japan , because no sound from thence , strikes our ear , or the beams of majesty there , dazle not our eye ? i should indeed think it very unreasonable to make meer magnitude , or vast extent of space , filled up with nothing but void air , ether , or other fine matter ( call it by what name you will ) alone , or by it self , a very considerable note of excellency , of the other invisible world , above this visible world of ours . but i reckon it much more unreasonable and unenforc't , ( to say no more ) by any principles , either of philosophy , or religion , finding this world of ours ( a baser part of the creation ▪ ) so full of life , and of living inhabitants , of one degree or another ; to suppose the nobler parts of the universe , still ascending upwards , generally unpeopled , and desert ! when it is so conceivable in it self , and so aptly tending to magnifie our creator , and redeemer , that all the upper regions be fully inhabited with intelligent creatures , whether meer spirits , unclothed with any thing material , or united with some or other matter , we need not determine . and whereas scripture plainly intimates , that the apostate revolted spirits that fell from god , and kept not their first stations , were vastly numerous ; we have hence scope enough for our thoughts to conceive , that so spacious regions being replenisht with intelligent creatures , always innocent and happy , the delinquents compared with them may be as despicable for their paucity , as they are detestable for their apostacy . and that the horrid hades , wherein they are reserved to the blackness of darkness for ever , may be no more in proportion , nay , unexpressibly less , than some little rocky island , appointed as a place of punishment for criminals , in comparison of a flourishing , vast empire , fully peopled with industrious , rich , sober-minded and unhappy inhabitants . we might further consider , 3. the high perfection they presently attain to , who are removed , though in their younger years , out of this , into that other world. the spirits of just men are there said to be made perfect . waving the olympick metaphor , which is , at most , but the thing signifying : that which is signified , cannot be less than the concurrence of natural , and moral perfection . the perfecting of all our faculties , mind , will , and active power , and of all holy and gracious excellencies , knowledge , wisdom , love , holiness . the apostle makes the difference be , as that of a child , and that of a man , 1 cor. 13. and would any one that hath a child he delights in , wish him to be a child always , and only capable of childish things ? or is it a reasonable imagination , that by how much we are more capable of action , we shall be the more useless , and have the less to do ? we may further lastly add , that which is not the least considerable . 4. that all the active , services , and usefulness , we are capable of in this world , is but transitory , and lies within the compass of this temporary state of things , which must have an end . whereas the business of the other world , belongs to our final and eternal state , which shall never be at an end . the most extraordinary qualifications for service on earth , must hereafter , if not by the cessation of the active powers and principles themselves , as tongues , prophecies , and such knowledge as is uncommon , and , by peculiar vouchsafement , afforded but to a few , for the help of many . ●hese endowments designed for the propagation of the christian faith , and for the stopping mouths of gainsayers , must in the use and exercise , at least , by the cessation of the objects , and occasions , fail , and cease , and vanish away , 1 cor. 13.8 . the like may be said of courage and fortitude to contend against prevailing wickedness ; skill , ability , with external advantages , to promote the impugned interest of christ , and christian religion ; of all these there will be no further use in that other world. they are all to be considered as means to the end . but how absurd were it to reckon the means of greater importance than the end it self ? the whole present constitution of christs kingdom on earth , is but preparatory and introductive to the celestial kingdom . and how absurd were it to prefer this temporary kingdom to the eternal one , and present serviceableness to this , to perpetual service in the other ? 't is true , that service to god and our redeemer in this present state , is necessary in its own kind , highly acceptable to god , and justly much valued by good men. and we ought our selves willingly to submit to serve god in a meaner capacity in this world , while it is his pleasure we shall do so , especially if god should have given any signification of his mind , concerning our abode in the flesh , some longer time , as 't is likely he had done to the apostle paul , phil. 1.24 . because he says , he was confident , and did know that so it should be , ver . 25. we should be abundantly satisfied with it , as he was . but to suppose an abode here , to be simply , and universally more eligible , is very groundless , and unreasonable . and were a like case , as if a person of very extraordinary abilities and accomplishments , because he was useeful in some obscure country village , is to be looked upon as lost , because his prince , being informed of his great worth , calls him up to his court , and finding him every way fit , employs him in the greatest affairs of state ! to summ up this matter , whereas the means , are always , according to usual estimate , wont to derive their value from their end . time , from eternity . this judgment of the case , that usefulness in this present state , is of greater consequence , and more important , than the affairs of the other world , breaks all measures , overturns the whole frame , and inverts the order of things , makes the means more valuable than the end : time more considerable than eternity ; and the concernments of a state that will soon be over , greater than those of our fixed , permanent , everlasting state , that will never be over . if we would allow our selves the liberty of reasoning , according to the measure and compass of our narrow minds , byast , and contracted by private interest , and inclination , we should have the like plausible things to think , concerning such of ours as die in infancy , and that when they have but newly look't into this world , are presently again caught out of it ; that if they had lived , what might they have come to ? how pleasant and diverting might their childhood have been ? how hopeful their youth ? how useful their riper age ? but these are commonly thoughts little wiser than theirs , and proceed from a general infidelity , or misbelief , that whatsoever is not within the compass of this little , sorry , world , is all emptiness , and nullity ! or if such be pious and more considering , 't is too plain they do not , however , consider enough , how great a part it is , of divine magnificence , to take a reasonable immortal spirit from animating a piece of well figured clay , and presently adjoyn it to the general assembly above ! how glorious a a change is made upon their child in a moment ! how much greater a thing it is to be adoring god above , in the society of angels , than to be dandled on their knee , or enjoy the best provisions they can make for them on earth ! that they have a part to act upon an eternal stage ! and though they are but lately come into being , are never to go out of being more , but to be everlasting monuments , and instruments of the glory of their great creator and lord ! nor , perhaps , is it considered so deeply as it ought , that it hath seemed meet to the supream wisdom , upon a most important reason , in the case of lengthning , or shortning the lives of men , not ordinarily , or otherwise , than upon a great occasion , to interrupt the tendencies of natural causes , but let nature run its course : for otherwise , very frequent innovations upon nature , would make miracles cheap , and common , and consequently , useless to their proper , great ends , which may be of greater significancy in the course of gods government over the world , than some addition to this , or that life can be worth . and therefore should this consideration repress our wonderment , why god doth not , when he so easily can , by one touch upon this , or that second cause , prevent , or ease the grievous pains , which they often suffer that love him , and whom he loves . he reckons it fitter , and they will in due time reckon so too themselves , when the wise methods of his government come to be unfolded , and understood , that we should any of us bear what is ungrateful to us , in point of pain , loss of friends , or other unpleasing events of providence , than that he should make frequent , and less necessary breaches upon the common order , and course of government which he hath establish't over a delinquent , sinful , world. whereupon it is a great piece of wisdom and dutifulness towards our great lord , not to pray absolutely , peremptorily , or otherwise than with great submission , and deference to his wise and holy pleasure , for our own or our friends lives , ease , outward prosperity , or any external or temporary good thing . for things that concern our spiritual and eternal welfare , his good and acceptable will is more expresly declared , and made known already , and before hand . but as to the particular case of the usefulness of any friend or relative of ours in this , or the other state , the matter must be finally left to the arbitrement and dispose of him who hath the keys o● hades , and of death . and when by his turn of them he hath decided the matter , we then know what his mind and judgment is , which it is no more fit for us to censure , than possible to disannul . whatever great purposes we might think one cut off in the flower of his age , capable of serving in this world , we may be sure he judged him capable of serving greater in the other . and now by this time i believe you will expect to have somewhat a more particular account of this excellent young gentleman , whose early decease hath occasioned my discoursing so largely on this subject . not more largely than the importance , but much less accurately , than the dignity of it did challange . he was the eldest son of sir charles hoghton , of hoghton tower , in the county of lancaster , baronet , and of the lady mary , daughter of the late lord viscount masserene , his very pious consort . a family of eminent note in that northern part of the kingdom , for its antiquity , opulency , and interest in the country where it is seated ; and which hath intermarried with some or other of the nobility , one generation after another . but hath been most of all considerable , and illustrious , as having been it self , long , the immemorial known seat of religion , sobriety , and good order , from father , to son ; giving example , countenance , and patronage to these praise-worthy things to the country round about . and wherein , hitherto ( through the singular favour and blessing of heaven ) there hath not been that visible degeneracy , that might be so plainly observed , and sadly deplored , in divers great families . as if it were an exemption from what was so anciently remarked by the poet , aetas parentum , pejor avis , — &c. but on the contrary , such as have succeeded , have , by a laudable ambition , and emulation , as it were , striven to outshine such as have gone before them in piety , and vertue . in this bright and lucid tract and line , was this most hopeful young gentleman , now arrived to the age wherein we use to write man , beginning to stand up in view , and to draw the eyes , and raise the hopes of observers , and well-wishers , as not likely to come short of any of his worthy ancestors , and predecessors . but heaven had its eye upon him too , and both made and judg'd him meet for an earlier translation , to a more eminent station there . he was from his childhood observed to be above the common rate , docile , of quick apprehension , solid judgment , and retentive memory , and , betimes , a lover of books and learning . for religion ; his knowledge of the principles of it , continually grew , as his capacity did more & more admit , under the eye and endeavours of his parents , and such other instructors , as they took care he should never want . but his savour and relish thereof , and the impression made thereby up●n his soul , was so deep , and so early , as to be apparently owing to an higher cause , the gracious operation of the holy spirit , and a singular blessing thereby , upon his pious education . and in this way , it could not be easie to such as were his most diligent , & constant observers , to conclude , or conjecture , when god first began to deal with his spirit . above ten years ago , i had opportunity for a few days , to have some converse with him , in his fathers house . and , as i could then perceive , his spirit was much tinctured with religion ; so i received information , that for a considerable time before , there constantly appeared in him such specimina of serious piety , as were very comfortable to his parents , and might be instructive to others , that took notice of them . in the course of divers following years , he greatly improved , under domestick , and private instruction , both in grammar-learning , and academical studies , for which he wanted not apt helps . when there was great reason to hope he was so well establish't in religion and vertue , as neither to be shock't by the importunate temptations of a sceptical vicious age in the general , or betrayed by the facility of his own youthful age. his prudent , worthy father , judged it requisite , and not unsafe , to adventure him into a place of more hazard , but greater advantage , for his accomplishment in that sort of culture , and polishing , that might , in due time , render him both in reality , and with better reputation , serviceable in a publick station , i. e. where he might gain such knowledge of the world , of men , and of the laws of his country , as were proper for his rank , and one that was to make such a figure in the nation , as it was to be hoped he might . and upon that account , not yet a year agoe , brought him up to london , entered him in the temple , took for him convenient lodgings there , and left him settled , unto mutual satisfaction . he was little diverted by the noise , novelties , or the gaities of the town , but soon betook himself to a course of close study ; discontinued not his converse with god , and thereby learn't , and was enabled , to converse with men , warily , and with caution ; so as he might be continually improving and gaining good , without doing , or receiving hurt . the substance of the following account , i received from a pious intelligent young man , who several years attended him before his coming to town , and afterwards , to the finishing of his course . mr. hoghton 's early seriousness , increased with his years . his deportment was grave , composed , without any appearance of pride , which he carefully avoided his diligence in study was unusual , and his proficiency very great ; neither was this less an effect of his conscientiousness in the improvement of his time , than of his desire after knowledge . as to his demeanour , and performance of duties , towards his several relations , his self denial , his sedateness of mind , his fear of sin , his tenderness of conscience , love of the best things , and unconcernedness about things of an inferior nature , so far as hath fallen under my observation , in near six years time , i believe few , if any of his years , did exceed him . in his sickness he was very patient , submissively undergoing those heavy stroakes it pleased god to lay upon him . vpon his apprehension of death , he seemed very little discouraged , but quietly resigned himself into the hands of the all-wise disposer of all things . some time before his sickness , and in the time of it , he said , afflictions were very proper for ●ods children , and those that were never afflicted , had reason to question the truth of their grace , and gods love to them , quoting that scripture , if ye are without chastening , then are ye bastards , and not sons . he often repeated those words , in the beginning of his illness . — 't is an hard thing to make our calling , and our election sure . — i desire to glorifie god. — when he understood , from some expressions of his physician , how dangerous his distemper was , he said , he knew very well the meaning of his physicians words ; but that however it proved , he hoped he was safe . he was so strict in the observation of the lords day , that if he happened to lie longer than ordinary in the morning , he would continue the later in duties , in the evening ; saying , we ought not to make that day shorter than other days . though he was very intent on his studies , yet on saturdays he always broke them off at noon , and spent the afternoon in reading divinity , and preparing himself for the lords day . he was always constant in his secret duties , and suffered nothing to hinder him from the performing of them . before he expired , he spoke with great assurance of his future happiness , and hopes of meeting his relations in glory . thus far goes that account . his sickness was short . when , hearing of it , i went to visit him , i was met in an ante-chamber , by his ingenious , dear , brother , to whom it is no reproach to be second to him , and who , it is to be hoped , will be at least , truly so ; making him , though a fair example , yet not a standard ; who hath for divers years , been most intimately conjunct , and conversant with him , known his way , his spirit , his manner of life , his purity : and may be led on , and excited thereby , wherein he hath observed him to excel others , to endeavour not to come short , but , if it were possible , to excel him ; remembring , he is to be the next solace of his parents , hope of his family , and resort of his country ( if god shall vouchsafe to continue him ) in succeeding time . from him , i had little expectation of finding his sick brother in a conversable condition ; the malignity of his feaver having , before seized his head , and very much disordered his intellectuals ; but going in , i was much surprized to find it so far otherwise . he presently knew me ; & his understanding that served him for little else , fai●ed him not in the concernments of religion , and of his soul. there was not an improper or misplac't word ( tho' the case could not admit of interchanging many ) that came from him . concerning the substance of the gospel of christ , ( as it could be shortly summed up to him ) he said , he had no doubt , and his transactions with christ himself , accepting him ; resigning , and entrusting himself absolutely , and entirely to him , and god in him , were so explicite , distinct , & clear , as could leave no place of doubt concerning him . he profest his concurrence to such requests , as were put up to god concerning him ; and the next morning , slept quietly in the lord. nor now will it be unfit , to shut up the discourse , with some few , suitable reflections , upon this double subject . the text , and this providence , taken together . 1. how happy is it ! when this power , of our great redeemer , and lord , mention'd in the text , and a preparation , with chearful willingness , dutifully to comport with it , concur and meet together , as they have done in this instance . our lord hath shewn his power . he asserted it , in the text. in this instance he used it , giving an open testimony , that he takes it to belong to him , to make such translations from one world , to another , whensoever he judges it a fit season . nor is solicitous , whether men acknowledge his right , so to do , or no ; or what censures they will pass upon what he hath done . he doth his own work , and leaves men to their own talk , or mutterings , or wonder , or amusement at it , as they will. so it becomes sovereign power to do , establish't upon the most unquestionable foundations ; exercis'd according to the wisest and most righteous measures . he hath used his own right , and satisfied himself in the use of it . he thought not himself concern'd to advise with any of us , about it , who , as his counsellor , should instruct him ? isa. 40.13 . rom. 11. v. 34. he owes so much to himself , to act as unaccountable to no one , nor liable to any ones controll . here is most rightful , resistless power , justly and kindly us'd on the one hand ; and , on the other , how placid , how calm , a resignation ! here was no striving ! no crying ! no reluctant motion , no querulous , repining voice . nothing but peaceful , filial submission ; a willingness to obey the summons given . this was an happy accord , the willingness of this departing soul , proceeding not from stupidity , but trust , in him who kept these keys ; and such preparedness for removal , as the gospel requir'd . o happy souls ! that finding the key is turning , and opening the door for them , are willing to go forth upon such terms , as knowing whom they have believed , &c. and that neither principalities or powers — life or death — &c. can ever separate them from the love of god in christ jesus their lord. life , they find , hath not separated — whereof was the greater danger ; and death is so far from making this separation , that it shall compleat their vnion with the blessed god in christ , and lay them infolded in the everlasting embraces of divine love ! happy they ! that can hereupon welcome death ! and say , now , lord , lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ! that , before , only desired leave to die , and have , now , obtained it ; that are , with certainty of the issue , at the point of becoming compleat victors , over the last enemy ; and are ready to enter upon their triumph , and take up their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , death is swallowed up in victory . o death , where is thy sting ! o grave , where is thy victory ! — thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory through jesus christ our lord. happy soul ! here will be a speedy end of all thy griefs , and sorrows , they will be presently swallow'd up , in an absolute plenitude and fulness of joy. there is already an end put to thy tormenting cares and fears ; for what object can remain to thee , of a rational fear , when once , upon grounds ( such as shake not under thee ) thou art reconcil'd to death ? this is the most glorious sort of victory , viz. by reconciliation . for so , thou hast conquered , not the enemy only , but the enmity it self , by which he was so . death is become thy friend , and so no longer to be feared ; nor is there any thing else , from whence thou art to fear hurt ; for death was thy last enemy , even this bodily death ! the whole region beyond it , is to one in thy case , clear , and serene , when to others , is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever . there are no terrible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , no formidable consequences , no reserves of misery , no treasures of wrath to be feared by thee . to one , in thy condition , may that , without hesitation , be apply'd , nihil metuit , qui optat mori ; he fears nothing , who desires to die . what is the product of some mens infidelity , is the genuine product of their faith . from so contrary causes may proceed the same effect . the effect , a willingness to die , or a bold adventure upon death , is the same , but only in respect of the general kind ; with great differences in the special kind , according to the difference and contrariety of the causes , whereof they discernibly tast and savour . with infidels , it is a negative , dead , stupid , partial willingness , or but a non-aversion ; and in a lower , and much diminished degree ; or if some present , intolerable , disgraceful calamity urge them , a rash , obstinate , presumptuous rushing upon death ; because they do not consider consequences . with believers , such as in reference to the concernments of the other world do walk by faith , while as yet , they cannot walk by sight , in reference to those things , 2 cor. 5.7 . it is a positive , vital , courage , v. 8. we are confident , and a preponderating inclination of will ; we are willing rather to be absent from the body , and to be present with the lord ; because ( as is manifest ) they do consider consequences , and how blessed a state will certainly ensue ! how vast are these special differences , of the same thing in the general , willingness to die ! o the transports of joy that do now most rationally result from this state of the case ! when there is nothing left , lying between the dislodging soul , and the glorious unseen world , but only the dark passage of death ; and that so little formidable ; considering who hath the keys of the one , and the other . how reasonable is it upon the account of somewhat common herein , to the redeemer , and the redeemed , ( altho' every thing be not ) to take up the following words , that so plainly belong to this very case . therefore my heart is glad , and my glory rejoyceth ; my flesh also shall rest in hope . for thou wilt not leave my soul in sheol , or hades ; thou wilt not forsake , or abandon it in that wide world , neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption . thou wilt shew me the path of life ; the path that leads unto that presence of thine , where is fulness of joy ; and to those pleasures which are at thy right hand ; or in thy power , and which are for evermore ; and shall never admit either of end , or diminution , psal. 16.9 , 10 , 11. now , what do we mean to let our souls hang in doubt ? why do we not drive things for them , to an issue ? put them into those same safe hands that holds these keys ; absolutely resign , devote , entrust , and subject them to him ; get them bound up in the bundle of life ; so adjoyn and unite them to him ( not doubting but as we give them up , he will , and doth , in that instant , take hold of them , and receive them into union with himself ) as that we may assure our hearts , that because he lives , we shall live also . thus the ground of our hope becomes sure , and of that joy which springs from such an hope . our life , we may now say , is hid with christ in god ( even tho' we are , in our selves , dead , or dying creatures ) col. 3.3 . yea , christ is our life , and when he , who is our life , shall appear , we shall appear with him , in glory , verse 4. he hath assured us , that because he is the resurrection , and the life ; he that believeth in him , tho' he were dead , shall yet live . and that , whosoever lives , and believes in him , hath thereby , a life already begun in him , in respect whereof he shall never die , joh. 11.25 , 26. what now can be surer than this ? so far we are at a certainty , upon the included supposition , i. e. that we believe in him . and what now remains to be ascertain'd ? what ? only our own intervening death ? we must , 't is true be , absent from these bodies , or we cannot ( as we would ) be present with the lord. and is that all ? can any thing now , be more certain than that ? o happy state of our case ! how should our hearts spring and leap for our joy , that our affairs are brought into this posture ! that in order to our perfect blessedness , nothing is farther wanting but to die . and that the certainty of death , compleats our assurance of it . what should now hinder our breaking forth into the most joyful thanksgivings , that it is so little doubtful we shall die ! that we are in no danger of a terrestrial immortality ! and that the only thing that it remain'd we should be assured of , is so very sure . that we are sure it is not in the power of all this world , to keep us always in it . that the most spiteful enemy we have in all the world , cannot do us that spite , to keep us from dying ! how gloriously may good men triumph , over the impotent malice of their most mischievous enemies , viz. that the greatest mischief , even in their own account , that it can ever be in their power to do them , is to put it out of their own power ever to hurt them more ( for they now go quite out of their reach ) they can ( being permitted , ) kill the body , and after that ( luke 12.4 . ) have no more that they can do . what a remarkable , significant , after that , is this ? what a defiance doth it import of the utmost effort of humane power and spite ! that here it terminates ! 't is now come to its ne plus ultra ! and so we are to look upon all our other trials and afflictions , that in any providential way may befall us ; we may be sick , in pain , in poverty , in disgrace , but we shall not be alwaies in mortal flesh , which is the subtratum , and the root of all the rest . can we be upon better terms , having but two things to be concerned about , as necessary to our compleat felicity , union with christ , and disunion from these bodies ? god is graciously ready to assist us , in reference to the former , tho' therein he requires our care , subserviently hereto : in reference to the latter , he will take care himself , in his own fit season , without any care or concern of ours in the matter . and only expects us to wait with patience , till that sit season come . and come it will , perhaps , sooner than we may think . he doth not , alwaies , go by our measures in judging of the fit season ; as this present instance shews . 2. from the text , taken in conjunction with this act of providence , we may observe the great advantage of a pious education . tho' the best means of such education do not always prove effectual ; yet this being much the more probable course , upon which to expect gods blessing , than the parents prophane negligence of the souls of their children ; such an example , wherein god by his blessing testified his approbation of parental care and diligence ; should greatly quicken the endeavours of parents herein ; as hoping , hereby , to serve his great , and merciful , and most principal design , who hath these keys ; and whose office it is , to transmit souls , when they are prepared and ready , out of this world of ours , into that blessed glorious world above . and , though they may think themselves disappointed , when thorough gods blessing upon their endeavours , they have educated one , to such a pitch , as this young gentleman was raised and brought up unto ; with a prospect , and hope of his having a long course of service to run thro' here on the earth : yet let parents hence learn to correct what was amiss , or what was wrong ; not what was right , and well . their action and endeavour was , what ought to be . their error or mistake ( if there was any ) was more principally , as the case is here stated , about their design , and end . not that they designed such an end , for that also was very justifiable , and laudable : but if they designed it as their more principal end ; which the case , as it is now put , supposes , that is , that they take themselves to be disappointed , for no man complains of it as a disappointment , if he miss of an inferior end , and attain that which is far nobler , and more excellent . our great aim should be the subserving the design of the great lord of heaven and earth ; which ultimately and supreamly refers to the heavenly , eternal state of things ; & that souls may be ripen'd and fitted for that , and to do service here on earth , subordinately to the other ; and while they are in preparation for the heavenly state . his principal design must be for that which is principal and concerning that ( as was formerly argued ) there can be no more doubt than whether heaven or earth , eternity or time , a fixed , permanent , everlasting , or a temporary , transitory , vanishing state of things be more valuable , and to be preferred . our redeemer hath acquired , and doth use these keys , for the translating of souls , assoon as he shall judge them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of saints in light , col. 1.12 . some he makes meet much earlier than others . his design , so far as it is known , or may be supposed , should give measure to ours ; therefore ours must be to make them meet , as early , for his purposes , as is possible ; as knowing it cannot be too early : they were devoted to him early , and pursuantly hereto , no time should be lost from the great business of fitting , and forming them for him ; inasmuch also , as the same qualifications , viz. that are of higest excellency , and value , do equally prepare them to serve , and glorifie him , in either world , as he shall chuse to , dispose of them . and it unquestionably belongs to him to make his choice , as it does to us , to endeavour to make them ready . if any of us , having purposely educated a son for the service of his prince , and present him accordingly , we would submit it to his pleasure , to chuse the station , wherein he shall serve him : especially if he be a prince of celebrated wisdom , and goodness . and should we complain , that he is put early , into a station of much higher dignity , than we thought of ? how lit●le is this matter considered , by most , that go under the name of christian parents ; that are ( more generally ) very solicitous to have , as they call it , their children christ'ned . but never have it in their thoughts to have them educated in the knowledge of christ , or train'd up for christ. as if their baptism were intended for a mockery , their education in the whole course of it , hath no such reference . 't is how they may with better reputation , bear up , not the name of christ , but their own . their aim , looks no higher , than that they may inherit their lands , maintain the honour of their families ; appear ( if such be their own rank ) well-accomplisht gentlemen : and of some of those little things that are thought requisite hereto , we may say as our saviour did in another case , these things ought ye to have done , and not to have left the other ( the much greater things ) undone . what should hinder , but that learning to sing , or dance , or fence , or make a modish leg , might consist with learning to know god in christ , in which knowledge stands eternal life ! whatsoever hath real excellency , or hath any thing in it of true ornament , will no way disagree with the most serious christianity . and how lovely is the conjunction of the well-accomplisht gentleman , and the serious christian ! only sever inconsistencies , as how fashionably to curse , and swear , and damn , and debauch , which are thought to belong to good breeding in our age. let not religion , reason , shame , and common sense , be so totally abandoned all at once , as that the same persons shall take care to have their children baptized into christ's name , and be taught to renounce , by their deeds , that great name , almost assoon as they can pronounce the word . where so direct a course is not taken to make those of the succeeding age ignominionsly bad , yet how little is done , towards the making of them truly , and usefully good ? much care is taken to shape , and adorn the out-side of the man , how little to form , and furnish their minds ! here , if they can be brought to make , or judge of a verse , or a jest , or a piece of wit , 't is a great attainment . or if , at home , they can have them taught so much law , as shall , hereafter , enable them to squeeze their tenants , and quarrel with their neighbours , or so much of behaviour , as shall qualifie them to keep gentlemen company ; or if ( as our pious poet phrased it ) they ship them over , the thing is done . then , they shall be able to talk a little of the fashions of this or that foreign country , and make much the better figure in their own . but if , with all other parts of useful knowledge , and good breeding , that are thought requisite for this world , they be also well-instructed touching their redeemer's dominion over it , and the other world also ; and concerning the nature , constitution , design , laws , and priviledges of his kingdom ; if it be seriously endeavoured to make them apt , and prepared , instruments of serving his interest here , as long as he shall please to continue them in any station , on earth ; and that they may also be made meet to be partakers , at length , of a far more excellent inheritance , than an earthly parent could entitle them to , that of the saints in light , col. 1.12 . if they can be fitted to stand in the presence of the eternal king , and to keep company with angels , and blessed spirits above ! how worthy and noble a design is this ! and with what satisfaction is it to be reflected on , if the parents have ground to apprehend , they are herein , neither unaccepted , nor disappointed ! 3. it is of ill presage to our land , that when he that hath these keys , uses them in the so early translation of so hopeful a person as this young gentleman was , so few such are observed to spring up , for the support of the truly christian interest , in the succeeding generation . that the act of our great redeemer and lord , herein , was an act of wisdom , and counsel , we cannot doubt . against the righteousness of it , we can have no exception . the kind design of it , towards them whom he so translates , is so evident in the visible agreement of their spirit and way , with the heavenly state , as their end , as puts that matter out of question . but we are so much the more to dread the consequences , and to apprehend what may make our hearts meditate terror . by the christian interest , i am far from meaning that of a party . but what every one must take for christianity , that will acknowledge there is any such thing . and for the support of that , in the most principal doctrines , and laws of it , what is our prospect ? to go down here somewhat lower . let us suppose a rational susceptibleness , or capacity of religion , to be the difference of man , wherein the controversie may seem to admit of being compromis'd ; whether it be religion , alone , or reason , alone , of which this must be said , that it distinguishes man from the inferiour creatures . and let it be reason , with this addition , an aptness ( suspicere numen ) to be imprest with some religious sentiment , or to conceive of , and adore , an original being . the wise , and mighty author , and cause of all things . and now , how near akin are religion , and humanity let us , next , understand christianity , to be the religion of fal'n man , designing his recovery , out of a lapsed , and lost state ; i. e. man having violated the law of his creation , and offended against the throne and government of his creator , the supream , and vniversal lord of all . it was reckon'd not becoming so great a majesty ( tho' it was not intended to abandon the offenders to an universal ruine , without remedy ) to be reconcil'd , otherwise than by a mediator and a reconciling sacrifice . for which , none being found competent , but the eternal son of god , the brightness of his glory , and the express image of his own person , who was also the first and the last , the lord god almighty ; and partaking with us of flesh & blood , was capable , and undertook to be both mediator and sacrifice . it seem'd meet to the offended majesty , to vouchsafe pardon and eternal life , and the renewing grace requisite thereto , to none of the offenders , but through him ; and accept from them no homage , but on his account . requiring wheresoever the gospel comes , not only repentance towards god , but faith in our lord jesus christ , as the summary of the counsel of god contain'd therein , acts 20.21 — 27. and that all should honour the son , as he the father requires to be honoured , john 5.23 . whereas now so apt a course as this was establisht , for restoring man to himself , and to god , through the influence of the blessed spirit , flowing in the gospel-dispensation , from christ as the fountain : what doth it portend when , amidst the clear light of the gospel , that affords so bright a discovery of the glorious redeemer , and of all his apt methods for bringing to full effect , his mighty work of redemption , an open war is commenc'd against him , and his whole design , by persons , under seal , devoted to him ! if there were but one single instance hereof in an age , who would not , with trembling expect the issue ? but when the genius of a christian nation , seems , in the rising generation , to be leading to a general apostacy , from christianity , in its principal , and most substantial parts ; and they are only patient of some external rituals , that belong , or are made appendent to it , so as but to endure them , either ●ith reluctancy , or contempt . when the juvenile wit , and courage , which are thought to belong to a gentleman , entring upon the stage of the world , are imployed in satyrizing upon the religion , into which they have been baptiz'd , in bold efforts against the lord that bought them ! whither doth this tend ! some would seem so modest , as in the midst of their profane oaths , and violations of the sacred name of god , to beg his pardon , and say , god forgive them . but so ludicrously , as he whom cato animadverts upon , for begging pardon that he wrote in greek , which he was unacquainted with ; saying , he had rather ask pardon , than be innocent ; for what should induce him to do so unnecessary a thing , for which pardon should be necessary ? th●se men think pardons very cheap things ! but will god be mocked ? or doth he not observe ? 't is the prevailing atheistical spirit we are to dread , as that which may provoke jealousie , and to make himself known by the judgments he shall execute . there is great reason to hope , god will not finally abandon england . but is there not equal reason to fear , that before the day of mercy come , there may be a nearer day of wrath , coming ? a day that shall burn as an oven , and make the hemisphere about us , a fiery vault ! in our recovery from a lapsed state , which the religion profest among us , aims at ; there are two things to be effected . the restoring reason to its empire over the sensitive nature , that it may govern that ; and the restoring religion , and love to god , to its place and power , that he may govern us . while the former is not done , we remain sunk into the low level , with the inferior creatures ; and till the latter be effected , we are ranked with the apostate creatures , that first fell from god. the sensualty of brutes , and the enmity of devils , rising , and springing up observably among us , import the directest hostility , against the redeemer's design . and them that bid this open defiance to him , he hath every moment at his mercy ! in the mean time , is this emmanuel 's land ? his right in us he will not disclaim . and because he claims it , we may expect him to vindicate hims●l● . his present patience , we are to ascribe to the wisdom , and greatness of an all-comprehending mind . he counts not an heap of impotent worms his match ! but when the besom of destruction comes , one stroak of it will sweep away multitudes . then contempt will be answered with contempt . they cannot express higher , than to oppose and militate against a religion , introduc'd and brought into the world by so clear , divine light , lustre and glory , not by arguments , but by jeasts ! o that we could but see their arguments , to dispute those keys , out of his hands that holds them ! but do they think to laugh away the power of the son of god ? he also will laugh at their calamity , &c. prov. 1. or expose them to the laughter of men wiser than they , psal. 52.5 , 6. 't is little wit to despise what they cannot disprove . when we find a connection between death , and judgment , how will they contrive to dis-joyn them ? they will be as little able to disprove the one , as withstand the other . but a great residue , 't is to be hoped , our blessed redeemer will , in due time , conquer in the most merciful way ▪ inspiring them with divine wisdom , and love , detecting their errours , mollifying their hardness , subduing their enmity , making them gladly submit to his easie yoke , and light burden . he is , before the world end , to have a numerous seed , and we are not to despair of their rising up more abundantly than hitherto among our selves , so as no man shall be therefore asham'd to be thought a serious christian , because 't is an unfashionable , or an ungenteel thing . then will honour be acquir'd , by living as one that believes a life to come , and expects to live for ever , as devoted ones , to the ruler of both worlds , and candidates for a blessed immortality , under his dominion . nor will any man covet to leave a better name behind him , here , or a more honourable memorial of himself , than by having liv'd an holy , vertuous life . it signifies not nothing , with the many , to be remembred when they are gone . therefore is this trust wont to be committed to marbles , and monumental stones . some have been so wise , to prefer a remembrance among them that were so , from their having liv'd to some valuable purpose . when rome abounded with statues , and memorative oblisks , cato forbad any to be set up for him , because ( he said ) he had rather it should be askt , why had he not one ? than why he had ? what a balmy memory will one generation leave to another , when the savour of the knowledge of christ shall be diffused in every place ! 2 cor. 2.14 . and every thing be counted as dross and dung , that is in any competition with the excellency of that knowledge ; when that shall overflow the world , and one age praise his mighty works , and proclaim his power and greatness to the next . and the branches of religious families , whether sooner or later transplanted , shall leave an odour , when they are cut off , that shall demonstrate their nearer vnion , with the true vine , or speak their relation to the tree of life , whose leaves are for the healing of the nations , even those that were deciduous , and have dropt off , may ( without straining a borrow'd expression ) signifie somewhat towards this purpose . 4. from both the mention'd subjects , good parents may learn , to do god , and their redeemer , all the service they can , and have opportunity for , in their own time ; without reckoning too much upon what shall be done , by a well-educated , hopeful son , after they are gone , unless the like dispensation could be pleaded unto that which god gave to david , to reserve the building of the temple to his son solomon , which without as express a revelation , no man can pretend . the great keeper of these keys , may cross such purposes ; and without excusing the father , dismiss the son , first . but his judgments are a great deep , too deep for our line . and his mercy is in the heavens , psal. 36. extending from everlasting to everlasting , upon them that fear him : and his righteousness unto childrens children , psal. 103. finis . books printed for thomas parkhurst , at the bible and three crowns , the lower end of cheapside , near mercers-chapel . books written by the reverend mr. j. howe . of thoughtfulness for the morrow . with an appendix concerning the immoderate desire of foreknowing things to come . of charity in reference to other mens sins . the redeemer's tears wept over lost soul● ; in a treatise on luke 19.41 , 42. with an appendix , wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed concerning the sin against the holy ghost , and how god is said to will the salvation of them that perish . a sermon directing what we are to do after a strict enquiry , whether or no we truly love god. a funeral sermon for mrs. esther sampson , the late wife of hen. sampson , dr. of physick , who died nov. 24. 1689. the carnality of religious contention . in two sermons , preach'd at the merchants lecture in broadstreet . a calm and sober enquiry , concerning the possibility of a trinity in the godhead . a letter to a friend , concerning a postscript to the defence of dr. sherlock's notion of the trinity in unity , relating to the calm and sober enquiry upon the same subject . a view o● that part of the late considerations addrest to h. h. about the trinity : which concerns the sober enquiry on that subject . a sermon preach'd on the late day of thanksgiving , decemb. 2. 1697. to which is prefix'd dr. bates's congratulatory speech to the king. a sermon for reformation of manners . books written by j. flavel . the fountain of life opened , or a display of christ in his essential and mediatorial glory . containing forty two sermons on various texts . wherein the impetration of our redemption by jesus christ is orderly unfolded , as it was begun , carried on , and finished by his covenant transaction , mysterious incarnation , solemn call and dedication , blessed offices , deep abasement , and supereminent advancement . a treatise of the soul of man , wherein the divine original , excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened ; its love and inclination to the body , with the necessity of its separation from it , considered and improved . the existence , operations and states of separated souls both in heaven and hell imm●diately after death , ass●rted , discussed and variously applied . diverse knotty and difficult questions about departed souls both philosophical and theological , stated and determined . the method of grace in bringing home the eternal redemption , contriv'd by the father , and accomplish'd by the son , through the effectual application of the spirit unto god's elect , being the second part of gospel redemption . the divine conduct , or mystery of providence , its being and efficacy asserted and vindicated : all the methods of providence in our course of life open'd , with directions how to apply and improve them . navigation spiritualiz'd : o● , a new compass for seamen , consisting of thirty two points of pleasant observations , profi●able applications , serious reflections , all concluded with so many spiritual poems , &c. two treatises , the first of fear , the second , the righteous man's refuge in the evil day . a saint indeed : the great work of a christian . a touchstone of sincerity : or , signs of grace and symptoms of hypocrisie ; being the second part of the saint indeed . a token for mourners : or , boundaries for sorrow for the death of friends . husbandry spiritualiz'd : or , the heavenly use of earthly things . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a44673-e140 job 1.1 . psal. 84.11 . hierom. job 29.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. notes for div a44673-e4620 † ostendunt terris hunc tantùm fata nec ultra esse si●unt . † and here it may suffice to take notice that greek writers , poets , philosophers , historians ; and other writers , that have made only occasional mention of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or of the words next akin to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or lexicographers , that have purposely given an account of it , from greek authors , that must be supposed best to understand the use of words in their own tongue ; generally such as have not been engaged in a controversie , that obliges men usually to torture words to their own sense , or to serve the hypothesis , which they had espoused ; have been remote from confining this , or the cognate words ; to that narrow sense as only to signifie a place or state of torment for bad men , but understood it as comprehending also , a state of felicity for the pious and good . for such as have been concern'd in interpreting this or other like words with reference to the known , and famous controversie , which i need not mention , their judgments must weigh according to the reputation they are of with the reader . the greeks , no doubt , best understood their own language . and among them can we think that homer in the beginning of his 1. il. when he speaks of the many brave souls of his hero's , those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which the w●r he is describing , sent into the invisible regions , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that he ever dreamt they were all promiscuously dispatcht away to a place of torment . not to mention other passages where he uses the the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; to the same purpose . divers others of of the greek poets are cited by several ready to our han●s , with which i shall not cumber these pages . that one ● enough , and nothing can be fuller to our purpose , which is quoted by clem. alexandr . str. l. 5. ( as well as by sundry others ) and ascribed to the comic . diphilus ( tho' by others to another , philemon . ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in hades we reckon there are two paths , the one of the righteous , the other of the wicked ; plainly shewing that hades was understood to contain heaven , and hell. plato , when in his phaedo , he tells us that he that comes into hades , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not initiated and duly prepared , is thrown into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( a stinking lake ) but he that comes into it fitly purified , shall dwell with the gods ; as expresly signifies hades to include the same opposite states of misery and felicity . in that dialogue called axiochus , tho' supposed not to be his , written by one that sufficiently knew the meaning of such a word , we are told that when men die they are brought into the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the field of truth , where sit judges that examine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , what manner of life every one lived while he dwelt in the body , that they who while they liv'd here were inspir'd by a good genius , or spirit , go into the region of pious men , having before they came into hades been purified — such as led their lives wickedly are hurried by furies up and down chaos — in the region of the wicked . in the third book de repub. plato blames the poets that they represent the state of things in hades too frightfully ▪ when they should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , praise it rather . plutarch de superst . brings in plato speaking of hades , as a person , or a god , dis , or pluto ( as they frequently do ) and says he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , benign or friendly to men ; therefore not a tormentor of them only . caelius rhodigin . quotes this same passage of plutarch , and takes notice that our saviour speaks of the state of torment by another word , not hades , but gebenna ; which sufficiently shews how he understood it himself . and whereas there are who disagree to this notation of this word , that makes it signifie unseen , as some will fetch it from the hebr. and go as far back as adam in their search , alledging for this the authority of an old sibyll , will have it go for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and signifie as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , unpleasant ; nothing is plainer than that this other is the common notion , which ( tho' fancy hath not a greater dominion in any thing than in etymology ) would make one shy of stretching invention to find how to differ from the generality . therefore calepin , upon this word , tells us that the greek grammarians , do against the nature of the etymon ( which plainly enough shews what they understood that to be ) generally direct its beginning to be writ with the asper spirit ; but yet he makes it signifie obscure , or not visible . and tho' plato is endeavoured to be hook't in to the deriving it from adam by a very far fetch ; yet 't is plain that his calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in a place before referr'd to , shews he understood it to signifie invisible . and so lexicons will commonly derive it ( vulgo , says caelius . rhodis . ) but its extensiveness , as comprehending a state of happiness , is our principal concern , which way ( as we might shew by many more instances ) the common stream carries it . pausanias in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , speaking of hermes ( according to homer ) as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and that he did lead . souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , could not be thought to mean , they were then universally miserable . sext. empir . is an authority good enough for the meaning of a greek word . when ( adversus mathem . ) he tells us , tho' by way of objection ; all men have a common notion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( using the genitive with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as homer , and others do , another word house , or abode , in the dative , being understood ) and yet , as to the thing , he afterwards distinguishes poets fables , and what from the nature of the soul it self , all have a common apprehension of . as also diog. laert. hath the same phrase , mentioning the writings of protagoras , who , he says , wrote one book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , using the genitive , as here , after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as hath been usual , on the mentioned account . and tho' his books were burnt by the athenians , because of the dubious title of one of them concerning the gods. so that we have not opportunity to know , what his opinion of hades was , we have reason more than enough , to think he understood it not of a state of torment only for evil spirits . * primate usher's judgment may be seen in his answer to the jesuits challenge , that this word properly signifies the other world , the place or state of the dead — so that heaven it self may be comprehended in it . grot. on luk. 16.23 . makes hades most certainly to signifie a place withdrawn from our sight ; spoken of the body , the grave ; of the soul , all that region wherein 't is separate from the body . so that as dives was in hades , so was lazarus too , but in separate regions . — for both paradise , and hell , or as the grecians were wont to speak ) elysii and tartara were in hades . you may have in him more quotations from the poets , the sense of the essenes from josephus , and passages from divers of the fathers to the same purpose . dr. hammonds mind was the same , copiously exprest on matt. 11.20 . but differs from grot. in ascribing to philemon , the jambicks above recited , which the other gives to diphilus . dr. lightsoot is full to the same purpose . on the 4th art. of the creed . and tho' bellarmin will have this word always signifie hell ( which if it do with sheol the correspondent word ; jacob desired to go to hell to his son , as dr. h. argues . ) camero ( as good a judge ) thinks , except once , it never d●es . if any desire to see more to this purpose with little trouble to themselves , let them peruse martinius's lexic . on the word inserus , or insernus . i could refer them to many more whom i fo●bear to mention . only if any think in some or other text of scripture this word must signifie hell only , since it is of that latitude as to signifie heaven in other places , an impartial view of the circumstances of the text , must determine whether there , it be meant of the one , or the other , or both . * maimonides . * weems . pirke . r. elie●er . edit . per g. h. varst . c. f. dan. 5.23 . 2 tim. 1.10 . rom. 2.7 . v. 8. v. 11. philo judeu● , quod det●r . potiori insid . sole● ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ●al . 3.13 , 14. rom. ● . 3. ● . heb. 10.38 . c. 12.1 . 2 cor. 5.7 . heb. 11.2 . heb. 9.26 . jam. 4.13 , 14 , 15. * neque qui● quam reperit dignu● , qu●d eum temporsu● permutare ! sen. gen. 45. isa. 9.6 . sen. joh. 5.23 . psal. 45.6 — 11. joh. 20.28 . * miser est quicunque non vult , mundo secum moriente , mori sen. tr. cicer. heb. 11.4 . non est quòd quenquam propter canos aut rugas putes diu vixisse . non ille diu vixit , sed diu fuit . sen. * computation by the honourable francis roberts , esq philosoph . transactions for the months march and april , 1694. * bolton in his four last things , who speaking of heaven , directs us to guess the immeasurable magnitude of it : ( as otherwise — so ) by the incredible distance from the earth to the starry firmament ; and adds , if i should here tell you the several computations of astronomers , in this kind , the summs would seem to exceed all possibility of belief . [ and he annexes in his margin sundry computations which i shall not here recite , you may find them in the author himself , p. 21. ] and yet besides , ( as he further adds ) the late learnedest of them place above the 8th sphere , wherein all those g●orious lamps shine so bright , three moving orbs more . now the empyrean he●ven comprehends all these ; how incomprehensible then , must its compass ●nd greatness necessarily be ! but he supposes it possible , the adventure of mathematicians may be too audacious and peremptory , &c. and concludes the height and extent of the heavens to be beyond all human investigation . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sen. ●r . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . joh. 14.19 . rom. 5.2 . corn. nep frag. pl●tarch de gerun● . 〈◊〉 . a learned and godly sermon preached on the xix. day of december, anno dom. mdcxxxi. at the funerall of mr. robert bolton batchelour in divinity and minister of broughton in northampton-shire. by mr. nicolas estvvick, batchelour in divinity, and sometimes fellow of christs college in cambridge, and now minister of warkton in northampton-shire. revised and somewhat enlarged by the author, and now at the importunity of some friends published estwick, nicolas. 1639 approx. 141 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a00426 stc 10558 estc s122205 99857357 99857357 23080 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a00426) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 23080) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 834:1) a learned and godly sermon preached on the xix. day of december, anno dom. mdcxxxi. at the funerall of mr. robert bolton batchelour in divinity and minister of broughton in northampton-shire. by mr. nicolas estvvick, batchelour in divinity, and sometimes fellow of christs college in cambridge, and now minister of warkton in northampton-shire. revised and somewhat enlarged by the author, and now at the importunity of some friends published estwick, nicolas. [2], 70 p. printed by george miller dwelling in black-friers, london : 1639. running title reads: a sermon preached at the funerall of mr. bolton. usually found as part 2 of stc 3245. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bolton, robert, 1572-1631. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-01 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-01 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a learned and godly sermon preached on the xix . day of december , anno dom. mdcxxxi . at the funerall of mr. robert bolton batchelour in divinity and minister of broughton in northampton-shire . by mr. nicolas estvvick , batchelour in divinity , and sometimes fellow of christs colledge in cambridge , and now minister of warkton in northampton-shire . london , printed by george miller dwelling in black-friers , 1639. flock of sheep without a particular shepheard ; and if thou hadst leave to name his successour , thou mightest seeke from one end of the land to another in thy choice , and yet not find in all points a man matchable to him ; he was a bright and a shining lamp , if any of thy inhabitants doe sit in darknesse , their ignorance is altogether inexcusable : hee lifted up his voice in this place many yeares together like a trumpet ; if any of thy inhabitants are not awakened out of the sleepe of sinne , they may now goe on more securely in this dead sleep ; but wo to them , it will be easier for sodome and gomorrah at the day of judgement than for them . i pitie your case ( good friends ) and bewaile your losse : but why do j name your losse ? it is my losse , and a common losse , we are all of us sharers , though not all alike in this judgement . lord , that thou shouldest suffer such a wretched sinner and an unprofitable servant of thine as i am yet to live , and deprive the visible church of so worthy an instrument of thy glorie as m. bolton ! holy father , we may think , had it stood it with thy holy pleasure , that it had been good for thy church , if his life had been spared with the losse of many of ours : he was a deep channell , in whose justly deserved commendations the streames of eloquence which in former ages flowed from those great and godly orators , the two gregories both of nazianzum and nyssa , from great basil and golden-mouth'd chrysostome , from s. ambrose and s. austin , might have emptied themselves , and yet not over-flowed the banks : and what do i then come hither with my distracted thoughts and trembling heart , which if ever i had any gift in encomiasticall and laudative orations have many years since willingly neglected it , and so lost it . as gregory nazianzen spoke of his basil , i have for my part as great reason to speake of our sometimes deare and now blessed m. bolton : j admired him while he lived , and honoured him in my heart ; & to speak of his excellencies wherwith the lord had plentifully inriched him , is a burden too heavy for my shoulders , and a very hard task for those who doe nothing els but study oratory : all that i can speak in the praises of this godly man , falls short by many degrees of his worth , whose memory is precious , and shall be kept greene and flourishing as the rod of aaron laid up in the tabernacle . the text . phil. 1. 23 , 24. i desire to be dissolved — the apostle s. paul was in a strait , or divided betwixt two affections , carried to different objects , and they were in a sort contrary ; one way he was drawne with a desire to be with christ , farre from the philippians , even as farre as heaven is from earth ; another way he was drawne with a desire to continue with his beloved brethren warring on earth , and to bee for a time farre remooved from christ ; the necessity of his brethren did move him to desire the latter ; his great love to christ did incite him to long for the former : betwixt these two affections the apostle had a conflict , and he was so perplexed , that he knew not whither to turne him , he knew not what to chuse . he was as iron betwixt two load-stones , drawne this way first , and then that way . we read that david was on a time in a great strait , but apparent were the differences betwixt the present perplexity of this our apostle , and that of david ; davids was in regard of evills proposed , this was for the enjoying of good ; his necessity was touching evill which could not be avoided , but the apostles was free and voluntary ; his perplexity somwhat concerned himself , the shunning of his own evill ; but the apostles was for the good of others , which was joyned with his own hurt . behold here as in a perspective a heart truly apostolicall , wherein he shewed at once both great love to christ , desiring to be with him , and withall great love to his brethren , desiring to abide with them for their profit . i begin with the first of these , pauls desire in respect of himselfe ; wherein are observable three particulars . 1. the desire it selfe , and that was to depart or die . 2. a reason implied of this his desire , for then hee should be with christ . 3. his censure or judgement of that estate , to bee with christ , it 's best of all : let us open the words first , and then raise observations out of them for our edification . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) it is word for word , having a desire , and this is somewhat more than simply to desire , for it noteth a vehement , earnest and continued desire , a desire which is in action and working till wee have our desire accomplished , wheras to desire simply may be a sudden motion or momentany passion . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) some translate the word passively , tertullian renders it recipi , l. de patientia , pa. 8. others to be dissolved or loosed , and it is done when things mixt and compounded are resolved into their parts and principles , now because the soule is ( as it were ) included in the body , and cannot enjoy christ fully till that composition by the body be resolved by death , therfore doth s. paul earnestly desire this resolution . 2. or it may signifie to return , as the word is taken elsewhere , the lord will returne from the wedding , which sense is not dissonant from the scope of this place ; for the spirit being freed from the body , returneth to god that gave it , and what els doth the apostle now desire , but to returne unto christ by whom he was sent to preach the gospell ? 3. it signifieth to loose anchor , or as chrysostome renders it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to flit or to change our place , and so it 's a metaphor from marriners , importing a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life by the ship of death to another port , to saile ( as it were ) from one bank to another . it is not much materiall which reading we follow , they all of them doe agree in the maine point and substance , and doe affoord an observation which might be enlarged and set foorth with variety of colours , and strengthened with long discourses , but as they which have a long journey to goe , and but a short time allowed them , must make but a short stay in any one place , and as painters many times use only to draw out the heads and superiour parts of men , leaving all the other parts & lineaments to be proportionably supplied by the wise beholders , even so must j at this time propound only some generall heads of severall points without any large amplifications , and leave them and the rest to your private devotions . death will unavoidably surprise us : which is a resolution or dissolution of this exquisite frame of man , it is the dissociation of parts united together , it is the taking away the structure and the fashion of this house of clay , we must needs die , and then we are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up againe , as the wise woman of tekoah spoke to the king ; no man hath power over the spirit in the day of death , neither is there any discharge in that warre , all must fight with death , and death will conquer all ; our soules and bodies now met together in this neare conjunction , though deare friends must be separated each from other untill the day of the generall resurrection , and keep them now as charily from dangers as we can , yet will these earthen brittle , vessells be broken asunder , which all sorts and ranks of men are bound to looke for at all times , surely men of low degree are vanity , and men of high degree are a lie , to bee laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter then vanity , a marvellous debasing of all men ! let men be put in one end of the ballance , and vanity in the other , and the psalmist doth assure us that vanity will weigh downe man , and man is lighter than vanity it selfe . iob sets out his life by comparing his daies to a swift ship , and to an eagle that hasteth to the prey , yea and hee further saith , they are swifter than a post , then the birds in the ayre , the ships on the sea , & the swift post on the land , all these do proclaime and preach a sermon to us of our mortality , and that this lamp many waies may be extinguished ; experience sheweth us that death puts no difference , the young do die as wel as the old , the strong as well as the weake , the kings and counsellours of the earth as well as beggars , the physitians themselves as well as their patients , and death is hastned by infinite diseases , whereunto all the living are subject , and these are within us , and a thousand accidents to further death without us , and which is the foundation of all our evils , by our own sins , whereby we do provoke the lord of our lives to anger , and do walk every day over a mine ( as it were ) of gun-powder , subject every moment to be blowne up by the lords displeasure : and s. cyprian excellently sheweth the declining state of the world , how the strength of the husband-man in the field , of the marriner on the sea , and the souldier in the camp is weakened ; canos videmus in puer is : and it is well for us that our lives are shortned , and that our daies do not ordinarily attaine to the tenth part of those that lived before the floud , and that both in regard of the wicked , and the godly . first touching the wicked , to represse their outrage and impudencie in sinning ; this very thought that they may die ere long , and cannot live very long , in reason should abate their violent and exorbitant courses , if they are transcendently wicked now when death is at hand , what nimrods would they be if they had in the ordinary course of nature , eight or nine hundred yeares before them to live in ? if their damnation now shall be most dreadfull , how much more intollerable would it then be , the number of their sins adding fuell ( as it were ) to the fire of hell , and the lord in justice measuring out to them a proportionable degree of vengeance to their sins ▪ hence will their accounts be so much the easier , and their stripes so much the fewer . and this makes likewise very much for the exceeding comfort and good of distressed christians ; infirmities , temptations , poverty , reproaches , griefe of passion for their owne and of compassion for their brethrens miseries are a great burthen to them , how much heavier would it be if this burthen was to presse them down many hundred yeares together ? this much allaies their sorrow , that all these evills are but as clouds which soone ride away , or as a tempest though violent yet not permanent , a sharpe yet but a short winter , here is our scripture comfort , the time to beare them is but short . this consideration of our mortality should in reason move us to seek to heaven for helpe that we may effectually remember our condition : the holy servants of god our presidents herein have prayed to the lord for this purpose : thus did moses , teach me to number my daies , thus did david , make me lord to know mine end : in their blessed steps let us tread , and their example let us follow ; it is a wonder that we should need to be remembred hereof , that we should be such strangers in the world , but there is need of that proclamation still to sound in our eares , all flesh is grasse , and the beauty of it as the flower of the field : were we indeed as adam was at the beginning of the world who saw no spectacle of death before his eyes , wee might have som probable excuse if we thought not of our departure : but what can we alledge for our selves when we have had the experience of all ages ? go into any part of the world , and aske them in the prophets words , your fathers where are they ? and doe they live for ever ? even this place and this meeting doe preach unto us our mortality . where are those epicures in esay , which promise to themselves continuance in their desperate waies , to morrow shall be as this day and much more aboundant , nay and which is more abominable , doe take occasion by the shortnesse of their lives to eate and drinke , because to morrow they must die : come on therfore ( say they ) let us fill our selves with costly wine , and ointments , and let no flower of the spring passe by us , let us crowne our selves with rose-buds before they be withered , let none of us go without part of our jollity , let us leave tokens of our joyfullnesse in every place , for this is our portion . these sinners are likely to see the daies when they shall wish themselves toads , serpents or any loathsome creatures , rather then men and women , and yet as desirous as they shall be of that exchange of their estate they shall not have it , but shall remaine wofull men and women for ever . this doctrine serveth likewise for the reproofe of those who neglecting principally to depend on the immortall god , do sinfully relie on others which are mortall like themselves ; thus the subject relieth on the soveraigne , the servant on his lord and master , the wife relieth on her husband , and the children on their parents , and all this is done contrary to our duty ? trust not in princes nor in the sons of man , and why so ? there is no helpe in them : their breath goeth forth , and they returne to their earth . truly they are like the running waters , our dove , i. e. our faith can find no rest for the soles of her feet in any of the sons of men , such hope is like the house of a spider , one sweep of gods besome will easily make both the objects of their hope and their hopes to be in the dust : it is as a broken reed to leane on ; it will both deceive and pierce them : the whole world runs on wheeles , look eastward , or in the west , north or south , you shall see nothing but inconstancy in all the parts therof . oh how safe and happy then are they which make the god of iacob their help , and whose hope is in the lord their god. whose hearts and eyes are fixed upon him ; how hard soever the world goeth with them for the present , all shall be well assure your selves with such in gods good time ; he will provide all shall be well , he will helpe the husband , hee will comfort the wife , hee will guide the servants , hee will preserve the goods ; yea rather than it should bee undone , ( with reverence be it spoken ) he will rock the cradle , they are the words of the learned martyr b. hooper . this doctrine doth check all vain glorious & proud persons , which narcissus-like , do dote on themselves ; their own beauty , or strength , or any ornament of the body , which may like ionas his gourd in one night be withered . who is more odious in our sight than a proud beggar ? and nothing is more hatefull in gods eyes than a proud man or woman , who are but meat for the silly crawling wormes to feed upon , and if thou knowest not thy selfe , go to the graves of those which have been most lovely and beautifull in their daies ; in that picture and glasse maist thou view thy self , there maist thou behold the mysteries of our nature , as gregory nyssen speaketh , and excellently inlargeth this point . hast thou not ( saith he ) seen a heap of dead mens bones ? hast thou not seen their skuls without flesh , a grim spectacle to behold , the very eyes being wasted and turned into dust ? hast thou not seene their mouthes ( as it were ) grinning and shewing their corrupted teeth and their other bones lie scattered in the grave ? if thou hast seene these thou hast in them seen thy selfe : where are the tokens of flourishing age ? where are those beautiful cheeks ? where is bloud and colours in the lips ? what is now becom of those sparkling and lovely eyes ? what of the comely nose placed in the midst of the cheeks ? where are those locks of haire which were wont to adorne their heads , &c. what is become of all those things which do increase thy pride ? tell me , what dreame is more vanishing , what shadow more flitting than is thy beauty , or any other thing whereof thou gloriest ? fourthly , those also are to be reproved which are earth-wormes , and do labour inordinately and immoderately for transitory riches , which are carefull for very trifles , and carelesse for matters of greatest consequence , which toile uncessantly for an estate to leave to posterity , and are compared by bartholomeus , to children following butter-flies , they must sometimes goe out of the way in their pursuit , they may misse , and if they catch , it 's but a flie to besmeare their hands , naked we came into this world , and whatsoever we have gotten here , we must leave it all behind , for naked shall we go out of the world . saladine a mahometan the great turke may teach christians a good lesson ; he caused a proclamation to be made by one of his priests , a shirt fastned to a speare in manner of an ensigne , saying , this is all that saladine conquerour of the east caries away with him of all his riches : indeed it is not all , they carry with them a guilty accusing conscience , which will extort from parents curses to their children , because that they to make them rich , became usurers , unmercifull land-lords , deceitfull in their dealings , and worldly minded , we can pitie others in their miseries , and shall we have no compassion on our owne soules ? shall our owne soules now be vile to us , in comparison of which al the kingdoms of the world are but trifles ? for what shall it profit a man to win the whole world and to loose his owne soule ? or what recompence shall a man give for his soule ? if the soule perisheth , then all the world is gone with us . this doctrine should teach al sinners a point of spirituall wisdom , not to defer their repentance and seeking to make their peace with god : the children of this world are wise in their generation , that if they be tenants at will and courtesie , and certain ere long to be thrust out of their houses , they would looke abroad to provide elsewhere , they would run all the country over to get an assurance of an earthly house , and will not thou while thou maiest provide for the eternall welfare of thy soule ? if a man was hungry , and had twenty or thirty dishes set before him , and he knew poyson was in one of them , the danger of that would make him be afraid of the rest ; & thou hast a desire to live twenty or thirty yeares that in possibility are before thee ; which thou maist happily live , but in one of them , thou knowest not which , death in probability will come to thee , should not this prepare thee for death alwaies ? men that are wise and have enemies , keepe continuall watch & garrisons in frontier towns for feare of a sudden surprisall : death continually shootes his arrowes abroad ; sometimes he mortally smites those above thee , sometimes those below thee , and thou seest some fall dead hard by thee : if thou givest thy soule to satan in thy life , how canst thou hope that god will entertaine it at thy death ? o then why shouldest thou for the pleasures of unrighteousnesse for a very few daies ( little dost thou know how few ) destroy thy soule for ever ? do thou whip thy soule with the lashes of divine sentences to follow after god , as saint austin did his , when it was backeward and resisted this heavenly work of thy conversion , and let not those nugae nugarum & vanitates vanitatum , of those antient sins which did shake his coate and whispered in his eares , dost thou leave us now , and must we part for ever ? let not these bosome sins i say , detaine thee in the prison of the divell , but shake them off as saint paul did the viper , that they may doe thee no hurt . neither doth this concerne the unregenerate only , but those also which through the policy of hell have disgraced their profession ; instantly to arise from their sin by unfained repentance , a duty praise-worthy in any , and to be practised by the greatest men on the earth . many heroicall vertues were in king david , for none is he more to be honoured then for his repentance : it is a goodlier sight to see a king on his knees feeding upon the bread of sorrow , and mingling his teares with his drink , then to utter divine proverbs with wise salomon : and what our saviour spoke of watching , the same doe i speake of repentance , i say unto you all repent , if you are in the field , remember abel , if you are a feasting , remember iobs children : when you goe to bed , that you might holily compose your selves to rest , that you may commit the keyes of your doores , much more your lives into the hands of god , remember the first-borne of egypt which were slaine at midnight by the angell of the lord : let adulterers remember zimri and cozbi , and drunkards , king ela slaine by another zimri ; if you walk in the streets , remember those on whom the tower of silo fell , if your hearts begin to turne to the love of the world , remember lots wife : that which befell them may befall us ; it will be then our wisdome by gods grace to prevent sin , and if we fall into sin , our next wisdome will be to repent of the sin we have fallen into . another duty which naturally doth arise from this doctrine is , to lose no time in doing and in receiving all the good we can ; this is the day ( appointed to worke ) and how short this day is , the lord alone doth know , but this we know , the night commeth wherin none can work . shall the sun stand still for thee , as it did for ioshua ? or go back as it did five houres for hezekiah ? doe we thinke we can doe good in another world , when we do no good to speake of in this ? be not deceived with this dangerous errour , and hurtfull pretention of doing good hereafter , whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it with all thy might , and the reason is good , for there is no device , nor work , nor knowledge , nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest . vaine hope of future performances hath undone many : sow thy seed whiles the seed time lasteth , if thou looke to have a crop and harvest . we may learne this from the birds of the ayre , the turtle , the storke , the crane and swallow , know their appointed times ; the waifaring man he travels whiles it is light , then he knowes he is under the protection of the lawes , the sea-faring man he observes the wind , the smith he strikes whiles his iron is hot ; nay we may learne this wisdome from the divell himself , he rageth and doth all the mischief he can , because his time is but short . thus of doing good , and so likewise must we let no opportunity slip of receiving good , lay hold of every season which may be an advantage to get heaven , to strengthen and increase spirituall graces , be glad if thou canst heare the word preached on a working day . saint basil he preached on a working day , and tels his auditors their thoughts & desires , that he would be short that they might go about their labour . if such thoughts possesse our hearts , at this or any other time , let us repell them , and remember what the holy father there speaketh , the time spent in gods service is not lost , for god ( to recompence them ) removes troublesome businesse , gives promptitude of minde , or strength of body , sends customers to buy their wares , and if he doth none of these , yet ( are they no loosers by their paines , for ) he gives them a rich treasure in heaven . lastly , this point may teach gods children patience in all distresses , and afford them sound comfort in all estates : they are nearer heaven now , salvation now is nearer to them then when they began to believe ; sin and satan do now disquiet them , but they shall not do so for ever . many a one can be content to endure hardship a few yeares , nay to be a galley slave under the turke seven yeares , if he had assurance of a great lordship after that time was expired , and choose rather to be a bondman upon those termes , then to be a free man without them : exercise long-suffering ( good christian ) there may be but a day or moneth , or yeare , but a little time betwixt thee and the joyes of heaven . who would not admire the state of such a beggar , who every houre was in possibility of a kingdome ? but behold a greater reward by gods promise is due to all his children , then this earth can afford ; more glorious things shall be theirs , then ever eye hath seene , or eare hath heard , or the heart of man can conceive , which without all doubt by comparison at least , are true of the joyes of heaven . why then shouldest thou o christian soule be cast downe , or why shouldest thou be in vaine disquieted ? surely if thou wouldest seriously consider , that thy heavinesse shall be suddenly turned into unspeakeable joy , that all thy teares shall be for ever wiped from thy eyes , and that these momentany afflictions do proportionably work unto thee , an exceeding weight of glory , thou hast no reason to be much dejected for them . thus much of the first doctrine , the second followeth ; but that we may build upon a good foundation , we must first declare the meaning of those words on which we must ground our ensuing observation . i desire to depart and to be with christ ) to be with christ . why , was not saint paul with christ ? was not his conversation now in heaven ? and was not the streame of his affection carried to christ ? was not he with him in the spirit as with the colossians , rejoycing and beholding his happinesse ? doubtlesse he was . but this being with christ was not that presence which he desired ; it was a neerer presence , to be where he was in the highest heavens , and to behold the glory which god the father had given him ; desire is the daughter of indigence and want some way , and himselfe doth plainely tell us , whilest we are in the body , as now saint paul was , we are absent from the lord ; you may be pleased to observe a difference betwixt these phrases of christ his being with us , and our being with christ , it is one thing for christ to be with us , this benefit is enjoyed in this life , he promised to be with the apostles , and his successors , and so by analogy , he is with all his mysticall members to the worlds end ; but it is another thing for us to be with christ ; this honour is reserved for the world to come , and it is a state of blessednesse as he spoke to the theefe on the crosse , this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . whence i doe observe , that the faithfull soule when it departeth out of this life is immediatly after death with christ . if the soule of paul , why not the soule of other faithfull ones ? saint paul i know , whilest hee lived , was a man indued with singular zeale for christ and holinesse of life , and exercised with more then ordinary miseries and persecutions ; himselfe reciteth a catalogue of many of them , but as it is not the degree of faith , but faith that justifies , nor the measure of graces , but the having saving graces in truth , that assures us of gods gratious acceptation of us in this world , so doe they also by gods free promise obtaine reward in heaven , instantly upon the dissolution ; as saint cyprian spoke to demetrian us , though a blasphemous ethnick , that if he would at the end of his life pray to god for the pardon of his sins , beleeve and confesse him , he should be translated sub ipsa morte to immortality , why not ? the soule being purged clearely from the impurity and staine of sin by the completion & state of grace , which gets full dominion in the very moment of her departure out of the body , as alexander halensis , durandus , and other learned schoolemen have resolved , and it is not defined in that church whether the deordination of the will , and whether vitious affections ( as too much love to wife and children ) remaine in the soule , saith estius , yet doe we grant this to be true , that the more gracious any man is in this world , the more is he now respected of god , & the more glorious shall he be hereafter . the point it self is clearly proved by the new testament , there is no condemnation to such as are in christ jesvs . none , and therfore not to purgatory paines . for the name damnation extendeth to purgatory , saith th. in 4. senten . dist . 45. q. 2. sixtus senensis l. 6. annotat . 47. no condemnation saith the apostle , yes , that there is damnation to the fire of purgatory , saith the jesuite malon . whether will you beleeve ? againe , wee know that if the earthly house of this our tabernacle shall be destroyed , we have a building not made with hands , but eternall in the heavens . s. chrysostome rendreth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if , by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when , to note the time immediatly after death , he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have not i know not after how many years , we shall have : which may further appeare by the apostles scope , which was to administer consolation to the afflicted , as appeares by the end of the former chapter , that they should after death goe to an eternall house , statim post mortem acquirenda , forthwith to be possessed after death , as estius sheweth out of photius , anselme and thomas , which else could be but small comfort unto them , if they believed they should be detained in a fiery prison , farre hotter and more intollerable then any punishment in this world can be ; and that the soules of the faithfull were in a state of happines before the ascension of christ into heaven is cleare , ( though neither they nor the angels were so happy for degree , as after the incarnation of our saviour , is generally concluded , and by cleare demonstrations confirmed : ) the point i say is cleare , i build not my faith on the book of wisdome , though it binds papists to the beliefe thereof , that saith , the soules of the righteous are in the hands of god , and there shall no torment touch them : no torment , then not the torment of purgatory ; but behold a crystall streame which is able to quench the flames of purgatory ; if a wicked man will turne from all his sinnes , &c. he shall surely live , he shall not die : all his transgressions that he hath committed shall not be mentioned to him . how doth he not remember , if he doth so severely punish that it passeth the imagination of man to conceive the greatnesse thereof ? can there be a back reckoning for that which shall never be remembred ? and saying , that not a few but al his sins shall be forgotten , will he yet punish them to satisfie for any sins at all ? and is it not an easie thing unto the lord in the day of death to reward a man according to his waies ? call you this a reward , for a good man to be thrust into a place of torment ? this present life is a time of working , striving , running , sowing , and godly living , after death is the time of reaping , of receiving wages , garlands and crownes ; an unjust thing it is to detaine the labourers wages , which reason i suppose is as strong against purgatory , as against those armenians whom our adversaries do worthily confute ; and how is it imaginable that if he good in the old law supposed then dead , went first to torment , that they did not tremble for feare of death ? how could they ( as they did ) depart in peace ? and how is it imaginable that god who appointed sacrifices for all sorts of sins and pollutions , should appoint neither expiation nor sacrifice nor satisfaction to be made for the soules of the dead ! surely there appeares not to us any token of any such thing , and therefore we may fairely conclude , that all the soules of the righteous then were translated into a state of happinesse . this doctrine being thus briefly cleared , we may from hence draw many conclusions . hence it followeth that the soule dieth not with the body , as the sadduces that pestiferous sect amongst the jewes did damnably maintaine ; for as they denied the resurrection and the being of angels , so did they say , there was no spirit , no spirituall substance at all , saith scaliger , which without all doubt , is the truth in the judgement of scultetus ; so grosse were these sadduces in their apprehensions : and as a wicked branch of this sottish stock of sadduces there sprung up certaine arabians which held that the soule perished together with the body , as witnesseth eusebius . a fit doctrine for enlarging the kingdome of the divell : but that the soule is immortall my text proveth , how else could it part from the body and be with christ , unlesse it was a seperable substance , sith the body is not with christ till after the generall resurrection ? whence is there is naturall confcience that accusing power for sin , that feare of wrath , but from this principle that the soule is immortall ? never make any question of this , when thou diest , thy soule which is thy better part dieth not , but is taken out of thy body , as a candle out of a lanthorne , and immediatly placed either in blisse or in torment . hence may we in the second place conclude against the anabaptists and socinians , which though they went not so far as the sadduces to deny the resurrection , yet did these fantastiques dreame that the soule sleepeth till doomes day , and is in a state of incensibility like some creatures in winter , insecta ▪ till they be quickned and revived by the heat of the sun , so they of soules , till they be raised by the power of the lord at the last day ? but how then could saint paul be with christ ? but to say no more against these silly dreamers , i proceed . in the third place , that conceit also falls to the ground , which prevailed with many of the antient fathers and with some later writers , that the soules of the righteous see not god till the last day , but are kept in certaine receptacles in expectation therof . i see no profit to the auditory by naming them ; the learned if they please may read many of their names in sixtus senensis . but how then ( say i ) could saint paul be with christ ? this opinion is an unworthy conceit condemned by the church , as robbing heaven for the present of its blessed inhabitants . fourthly , hence also doth it follow , that though christ as touching his divinity is every where present , for else he were not god , yet to us in this world he is absent as touching his bodily presence . for , what is it to be with christ , but to be present where christ is bodily present ? and againe , whiles we are in the body , wee are absent from the lord : the apostle then was ignorant of that unhappy perplexed point which some seeme to defend , the ubiquity of christs body , for howsoever his humane nature ( especially in the state of glory ) is adorned with admirable gifts , and advanced to the highest dignity , honour and domination , yet doe the natures of christ personally united remaine distinct both in essence , properties , and operations . yea , and the mselves confesse that the divine properties belong to the humane nature , not by any physicall transfusion from one subject into another , but it is only personall and communicated to the humane nature by the grace of personal union insomuch that the humane nature ( as they say ) is omnipresent not in being but in having , not in it selfe but in the person of the word , and thus do they in words at least deny what they seem to contend for . from whence likewise it followeth that there is no popish purgatory ; the fault is clearely remitted , and so there can be no satisfactory torments required . god should ( me thinks ) but mock us , if they say true , as if he should say , i pardon thee thy offence , but i will punish thee for it , i acquit thee of the debt thou owest me , but not of the paiment : but why should not the soules of the righteous dying in faith be caried instantly into heaven , as well as the soule of a man newly baptized comming to that holy sacrament in due manner , and dying before he hath committed a new sin , although he was full of sinne before ? there is no question of this latter , and why should there be of the former ? and if they cannot go to heaven because gods justice must be satisfied , what will becom of all those that die a little before the judgement ? & much more is the difficulty increased in those which passe in a moment from mortalitie to immortalitie at the very comming of jesvs christ . but i marvel not if papists do contend for this purgatory , as being indeed one of the best fires that ever the pope and his clergie have had for the heating of their kitchins . for let this be granted that there is such a fire , and that the torments there and in the place of the damned differ but in duration , and there are no torments in this world comparable to those in purgatory ; let their preachers tell their people such a supposition as this is , if a foule had beene tormented in purgatory thirty yeares , and had by an angell a choise either to stay in purgatory one day long , or to returne into the body and do this penance a hundred yeares together , to tread only on iron nailes which will pierce the feet , to drinke gall mingled with vineger , and to eat the coursest bread , to be cloarhed with camels haire , to lie on the ground , and instead of a bolster to have a hard store for a pillow , the foule would rather do this penance a hundred yeares together , then to endure in purgatory one day , faith their preacher . by this and such like doctrines , the consciences of their disciples are stung as with scorpions ; and it is like a gift whither soever it turneth , it prospereth , then may they work them like soft waxe by their charitable promises to apply the meanes for their ease and reliefe out of the place of torments . what a wofull speech was that of our richard 1. who committed his soule to purgatory till doomes day . sixthly , this doctrine overthroweth their popish prayers for the dead , directed unto god to ease them , and free them from the paines of purgatory , yea and that kind of kindnes too which many that do professe the orthodox doctrine , doe unwarrantably use in words , and further , as a more durable monument of their mistake , do write upon the grave stones of the dead , god be mercifull to the soule of this dead man. for are they with christ ? then doe their prayers bring no profit to the dead , but hurt to the living . for to speake the fairest of them , 1. such prayers can be no better than an idle word , for which we must give an account at that day . 2. they are an injury to the dead , and do vertually imply , that such as pray for them are not perswaded they are in happinesse for whom they pray . 3. this practise although it might be perhaps by some qualification justifiable in the intention of the speaker , yet may it breed danger in the conceit of the hearer , who may turne thy voluntary devotion to harden him in the dangerous error of that opinion ; if then no benefit redounds either to the dead , thy selfe , or the hearer , its best to leave those formes of prayer which are made for the dead . but ignorant persons being reproved are bold to reply in this foolish manner , what would you have us say of the dead , would you have us to revile or curse them ? oh perverse minds ! as though necessitie lay upon you , either to pray for them or to curse them ? belike what displeaseth god pleaseth you passing well : let us speake of the dead as gods word teacheth us to speake of them ; sure i am , it no where enjoyneth us to pray for them , nor furnisheth us with the example of any saint to that purpose , and yet were their affections to the dead as good as yours . cannot you use such formes of speech when you fall into mention of them , they are with god , they are at rest , they are happy , their memorie is blessed , unlesse you pray for them . but leaving now these uses of confutation , i come to those of instruction , which are indeed more profitable for our edification , and more sutable to this present occasion , and the first is , feare not death ( o thou righteous soul ) overmuch ; it s one benefit we reape from the death of our blessed saviour , to be freed from the feare of our own death ; death is called indeed by bildad in iob , the prince ofterrours , & by the philosopher , of all formidable things , the most terrible , so it is to the wicked , or at least there is good cause it should be so , for to such as live without christ , death is as a purseivant sent from hell to fetch them thither : but they that live conscionably , may thinke of death comfortably , and they may sing that triumphant song , o death where is thy sting ! they may take this all-devouring serpent without any hurt at all into their bosomes : they that have their debts paid , dare go out of doores , and are not afraid to meet the sergeant ; they dare looke on death , and welcome him as the king of heavens officer to give them possession of an everlasting-inheritance ; wee feare our friends when they have a vizour on their faces , but put it off and we rejoyce in them . excellent was the speech of s. ambrose to the nobles of his city , which with threats and flatteries were sent to him by the count stilico , to perswade him to pray unto god for the continuance of his life , which when the holy bishop heard he answered divinely , j have not so lived amongst you that i am ashamed to live longer , nor am j afraid to die , because we have a good lord. doubtlesse had we ( beloved brethren ) as much faith on earth as there is joy in heaven , we would not be afraid of death : this is the narrow passage betwixt this life and our countrie : on this side the bridge we have many troubles , many sins , many feares , many temptations of the divel , which should make us think the worse of our lives , and very willing to leave them : but on the other side , we shall be freed from all trouble , from all sin , from al molestation of the divel , and shall be filled with all the joy our hearts can possibly desire . so that hitherto we may apply sampsons riddle , out of the enter came forth meat , and out of the strong came forth sweetnesse . secondly , this may serve to moderate our excessive mourning for our friends which die , we hope in the lord . david exceeded in his sorrow for absalon , and was there not a cause ? he did not so at the death of the infant . let us rejoyce , saint chrysostome saith , for the just both living and dead , because they are happy , let us not in an unseemely manner bewaile them by pulling off our haires , baring our armes , tearing our faces , or putting on mourning garments , so saith the father ; and i say , happy are they which have exchanged a base earthly tabernacle for a princely pallace , sorrowes for joy , and earth for heaven ; and me thinkes our blessed brother now deceased , if he had intercourse with us mortall creatures , would say to his deare wife lying in her teares , children and friends , as our saviour did to those pious women that followed him ; daughters of ierusalem weepe not for me but weepe for your s●lves , you know my fastings , my meditations , my watchings ( and know you brethren that godly ministers do purposely watch and meditate for you , when you are or would be a sleep . ) you know my griefe for my owne calamities and for the calamities of gods church , and by your owne experience , you may know what sharpe combats i have had with that raging enemie the divell , and what wounds i have received in the conflict ; now do i feare no perils on the land or sea , no perils in the house or in the field , now am j victorious over satan and have trampled him under my feet , and now he hath nothing at all in mee , and now am j crowned with glorie , and would you ( my deare friends ) be so unkind to me to wish me alive againe , and to run the former hazards ? kings and queenes are willing to marrie their daughters to forraine princes , and never looke to set their eyes onthem againe , and should we mourne too much for his absence , and not rather rejoyce with him for his happier estate then this earth can afford ? when iacob heard that his beloved ioseph was alive , and governour over all the land of aegypt , his fainting heart revived , no lesse ought the consideration of the glorie of departed servants of god , cheere up our drooping and sad hearts for them , and excite us to desire the fruition of the same glorie . and this is my next point to be handled , i desire , saith s. paul , to be dissolved and to be with christ . it 's the fore-sight of heavenly glory and being with christ , that makes a man desire to die : some men indeed would die , because there is nothing in this world for them to expect but miserie and shame , and these do little lesse sometimes then call for the rocks to fall upon them , that they might end their wretched daies as iob saith , they long for death , and dig for it more then for hid treasure , which rejoyce exceedingly , and are glad when they can finde the grave , this motive swaied not saint paul , but onely this that he might be with christ . i grant to desire death simply , as death , is against the law of god and the law of nature , death is our enemie , and is not from god creationes by creation , though it be truly from him ultione to revenge the sins of man , saith florus de praedest : or as others say , it is from him ordinatione , because in justice he ordained death corporall as one part of the punishment which was due for the sinne of man , and hence our saviour christ himselfe who knew no sin at all , viewing death as it is in it selfe considered , declined it , let this cup passe , and so did saint paul too , we will not ( saith he ) be uncloathed , the parting of these good friends body and soule without some further end , is a grievous separation ; this harmelesse innocent nature teacheth ; and as death is further a meanes to cut off all possibility to profit others , and to helpe the poore church of christ with our labours ●●…us piety and grace may move them to pray with david , lord let my soule live . these cautions are premised to prevent mistaking in the point ; but now , which is to my purpose , consider death as it is a way & meanes to bring us to the presence of christ , so it may be holily desired , our saviour christ , who said , let this cup passe , said also as his death was our life , i have a baptisme to be baptized withall , and how am i pained till it be accomplished ? and nót only i paul , but we that are faithfull that are in this tabernacle , do groane earnestly , ver . 2. not for that we would be uncloathed , but cloathed upon , that mortality might be swallowed up of life ; and after , we are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the lord . it s the love that a child should be borne into the world , not the love of paine that makes the mother desire the travell in child-birth ; excellently saith saint basil , properanti ad coebestem paetriam , &c. to him that makes hast to the countrey which is above , the stay in the body is more grievous then any paine , or any prison : and it is said that peter and andrew welcomed their crosses , as they were wont to doe their dearest friends , and imbraced them in their armes , and saluted them with kisses of peace . ignatius encouraged wild beasts to devoure him that he might be bread for christ ; martyrs went to their death with cheerefullnesse and songs , and ran to the stake as to a garland , and who would with saul hide himselfe in the stuffe , when he is called to be crowned a king ? if abraham saw his day by faith when he was but promised , and rejoyced , what cause of joy must it needs be to see the saviour of the world when he is exhibited ? if saint iohn baptist did leape at his presence when he was in the wombe of his blessed mother . what will his glorious presence effect in them who shall behold him in al his royaltie ? if the wife men of the east went a long journie , and rejoyced to see the holy babe christ in the house ; what cause of joy will it be to see him sit in his glorie at the right hand of his father , far above all principalities and powers ? if many kings and princes longed for that day to see their saviour mortall , what resemblance is fit to expresse the joy of those that behold him crowned with glory and immortalitie ? it is a passing glory to be admitted to the sight of christ his face , and to receive glory from the brightnesse of his majestie , and if we were to suffer torments every day , yea the very torments of hell for a time , therby to gaine the sight of christ , it were nothing in respect of the reward . this doctrine shewes us the extreame folly of all licentious livers and impenitent sinners ; when they looke upon their wicked courses , what for sight can they have but of hell as their just reward they would be with christ ( as they say ) hereafter , and yet they will not have christ to be wi●h them now , and to rule over them ▪ they will sow unto the flesh , and yet would reape unto the spirit ; they are stout and will have their sinne though they be damned for it : we will ( say those rebels in ieremy ) walke after our owne devices , and we will every one doe the imaginations of his evill heart . experience sheweth us that you cannot crush oyle out of skins , nor sweet wine out of sower grapes , and if you be the seedesmen of darnell and cockle , you shall have no harvest of wheat ●…or good graine ; you will not live conscionably , and yet you would die peaceably ; and though you speake christ faire , yet you wil loose nothing for his sake ; the chaine will make your profession afraid , and reproach will make it ashamed : you love him well you say ; but you will be advised not to displease such and such friends for his love ; your fore-sight of heaven hath no hands to do good works corporall and spirituall , nor eyes to shed teares for your sins and the sins of others , nor stomacke to abide a holy and a religious fast , nor flesh to endure this mortification and zealous revenge , nor tongue to speake the language of confession , and zealous , devout and faithfull prayer ; if then in your extremities and when your feares approach , you send for us , as pharaoh did for moses , and never till then , and cry unto us helpe us and comfort us , as that starved woman did , to the king of israel : wee answer as hee did that distressed creature , if the lord doth not helpe you , how should we ? and now by this time i suppose you are brought to that passe , that gods servants , whom you have in your prosperity despised may say to you concerning all your daubers whom you then respected , where are they now that will prophesie peace peace unto you ? your consciences which before were asleepe , being now awakened to heare the crie of your sinnes , and these glasses formerly covered with dust as it were , being wiped cleare to represent unto you the disfigured and odious face of your sinnes ; when these evill daies shall come upon you ( as they will or that which is worse ) you must needs confesse to the terrour of your soules , that we gods messengers have told you of these things , and you would not heare us , as reuben said to his brethren . your sins which you tooke to be your friends ( as god himselfe hath threatned ) are suddenly turned to be your foes , and now do appeare as a marshalled army comming in a terrible manner against you , and when god speakes to your consciences , as iehu did to the eunuchs , who is on my side ? who ? even they will cast you downe and dash , as it were , your blood against the wals , and make you to be trampled upon ; and then can you cast your eyes no-way without horrour , if upwards unto heaven , they will tell you that you are justly excluded out of that happy place , if you think upon hell , the mouth thereof ( as you feare ) is open every moment to receive you when these evill daies shall come , &c. second use of instruction is , that we would study our selves , and ransacke our soules , and be of good grounds , and to have certaine evidence that our change shall be for the better : mans wisdome teacheth him in summer to provide for winter , in youth for old age ; if god be better then the world and heaven better then earth , and the soule better then the body , shall we not labour while we live to get full assurance of being with christ , as s. paul had , when we are dead ? but here is the maine doubt , how i should know and be assured thereof . first , if thou art assured hereof , then hast thou faith , the maine and fundamentall grace , not fundamentum quod , that is , christ , but cui as a learned schooleman doth distinguish , immediatly laying us upon christ , and as a captaine , i say not making the graces as heavenly souldiers , but as bringing them forth to fight according to their severall operations ; thou hast i say a lively faith both in that direct act whereby it justifieth , and also by a prudent observation of the worke of faith in thy soule ; thou dost by faith believe that thou art justified by faith ; thou hast also the attendant companion upon faith , that christian hope whereby thou waitest on god till he accomplish all his gratious promises ; if we come against the divell as david did against the philistine , not with sword , shield and speare , but in the name of the lord of hosts , we are sure to conquer . if we have these graces and by the use of holy meanes do hold them fast , how happy are we ! blessed is he that beleeveth the lords words to be all of them true , and blessed is he that waiteth on him , till he manifests the truth of his words , that believeth by faith that god is his father , and expecteth by hope that he should shew a fatherly affection to him ; who believes that salvation belongs to him , and waites by hope til he enters into possession of it : if this then be the blessed frame of thy soule , that thou resolvest and hopest to live , and thou resolvest and hopest to die in the armes of thy sweet saviour , thou art in a happy case . secondly , if thou hast this holy affection to die , and assurance of being with christ when thou art dead , then dost thou labour for the true sense and feeling of thy reconciliation with god , and dost make thy peace with thy brother whom thou hast wronged by word or deed ; if thou lookest to see the face of christ the righteous judge with comfort thou wilt abandon foolish shame , and fond selfe-love , thou wilt make restitution , and returne goods in thy hands to the right owner ; thou wilt not suffer sin to lie upon thy soule , nor let thy furrowes in thy field to cry out against thee , nor by proportion , the stone and timber of thy house to complaine of thee , zach 5. 4. for this would bring a curse to consume them : thou wilt often make thy reckning even with thy god , for this makes friendship durable , if christ be gone , as he seemes to be at some time from his children , thou wilt seek for him sorrowing as mary his mother did , and thou shalt in gods good time find him in the temple ( as she did ) i mean in the use of his holy ordinances . thirdly , alwaies be vigilant and watchfull ; this spirituall watch is nothing but the carefullnesse of the soule to keep spirituall graces in their vigour and activity , and though god hath appointed watchmen over us , yet hath he not appointed watchmen for us , their watching is not in our stead to give us leave to sleepe , but it is to keepe us waking , what i say to you , i say to all , watch. and very good reason , you know not ( saith our saviour ) what houre your lord will come ; and our drousie disposition will be soone rocked a sleepe by satan , who besprinkles the temples of our head with his spirituall opium of wicked motions and suggestions , if we do not lawfully strive against them ; take heed least thine owne corrupt heart the greatest enemy thou hast beguileth thee not , be prudently vigilant to descry dangers before they come , to prevent all occasions whereby thy happy estate might be lost ; the dumbe beasts , as oxe and mule , that are without understanding , will not come neare the place where they have escaped danger , and shouldest thou adventure to the hazard of thy soule ? in knowledge be not like the horse and mule , in avoiding dangers be like them . consider the divels policy , he is a theefe ; a beggar may safely passe by him , his aime is to rob the wealthy passenger : rub thine eyes often , frequently ransacke thy heart , keep gods feare fresh in thy soule . iacob could not sleepe when he heard of esau his comming against him , and sampson had little list to sleepe in dalilaes lap when he heard the philistins were comming on him ; delight in the society of the saints , good company keepes us waking ; all these are soveraigne helps to keepe us spiritually watching . fourthly , often meditate on death , die as it were daily in the disposition of thy soule , and preparation to death ; forgetfullnesse of death makes life to be sinfull , and death to be terrible as a destroying lyon , whereas the sight of savage beasts is not terrible to those that converse with them ; looke on death as on the sun in an opticke glasse , though it be far off , yet it seemes neere at hand , and so in truth it may be neere us , being as a pit covered with snow into which wee may suddenly fall ; that which many carrie in their rings , carrie thou in thy heart , memento mori ; be like to those that in their life time had their scpulchers in their gardens , and places of pleasure , and that they might be mindfull hereof , some had dead mens skuls before their eyes in their most delicious banquets ; by so doing , we should prevent a great deale of sin , & it would be as a bitter pill to purge out many noisome humours , and prove that we are truly wise , alwaies ready for death : it s an excellent thing when death approacheth , to have nothing else to do but to die . fifthly , it is a comfortable signe , if thou dost heartily pray to god for this very end as the saints of god have done : prayer is our best guard when we are at home and when we are abroad ; god will not denie our suits made in christ his name , because this was one benefit which christ merited for us . alas what else should we do when we are every day for ought we know going to judgement ? should we not intreat the judge to pardon us ? should we not with sighes and sobs cry continually unto him to be mercifull unto us ? hier. reports in the life of paul a disciple of anthony the first monke , and that not simply for devotion , but to avoid persecution , that this religious man was found dead kneeling upon his knees , holding up his hands , lifting up his eyes , the soule was so devout that the very dead corps seemed to pray unto god , now this humble seeking to god by prayer that he would make us alwaies ready for death , argues a soule sensible of its owne weakenesse and of gods goodnesse . sixthly , if thou art sincere and sound at the heart , and walkest with god in the uprightnesse of thy soule , and makest this the crowne and garland of thy life , which will never wither and decay , that thou hatest all knowne sins , not the outward onely whereof men may be witnesses , but all inward corruptions , as hardnesse of heart , wanton revengefull thoughts and such like , whereof the world can take no notice , if thou magnifiest gods graces , and gracious persons , and canst be content out of thy love to christ , to suffer any thing for christ , this is sincerity : i say not legall sincerity , that is a perfection too high for us to attaine unto , nor onely naturall and morall integrity , whereby an unregenerate man is guided by the light which is in him without hypocrisie ( this may the very heathens have ) but evangelicall integrity , whereby the person being accepted for christ , the heart though failing in some particular actions , yet manifests habituall grace by a constant course ( in the generall ) of a holy conversation . lastly , to name no more , if we are truly thankfull unto god for making away for us to goe by death to heaven ( by the death of his son ) whose portion by due desert was hell ; how iudith and ester were magnified for procuring deliverance to their countrymen from outward enemies , the bible sheweth : how the grecians honoured flaminius the romane for prevailing against philip of macedon , and proclaiming their liberty , is registred in heathen stories , with what applauses and acclamations of all the romans , men , women , and children constantine was received into that queene of cities , eusebius the historian doth relate , for vanquishing the tyrant maxentius , calling him their deliverer , their conserver , their bountifull patron , a common good thing , &c. here was love and thankfulnesse we see most earnest ; god knowes and our owne consciences testifie unto us this day how far we exceed those grecians and romans in mercies bestowed upon us , not by a mortall man but by our jesvs , not from temporall servitude , but from the power of the divell ; if then our cries and acclamations be to our jesvs constantly , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as theirs were to their deliverers , and we can joyfully sound forth s. paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , o death where is thy stingthankes be to god who hath given us victory through jesvs christ our lord , this is a good signe of a blessed man ; and if these are in you , i do assure you that your estate is now good , and by perseverance in them , shall be farre better hereafter , and these will comfort you , when all the comforts of the world will faile . what will all friends , riches , and pleasures profit when you are on your death-bed ? unlesse you have this foresight of joy in christ , you live ( for ought you know ) under gods curse , the curse both of the law , and the curse of the gospell , and you can have no solid joy in any thing under the sun , no more then a condemned man can have in his wealth & fore-passed honour ; but have and keep these fruits of the holy spirit , and when death shall come to thee , and take thee ( as it were ) by the hand , thou hast no cause to shrinke for feare , but maist say with babylas slaine by decius that persecutor , in the words of the psalmist , returne unto thy rest o my soule , for the lord hath beene beneficiall unto thee , now my griefes farewell , & all my wrongs adieu , and now my soule be glad , for now commeth thy rest , thy sure rest , thy sweet and never fading rest ; and that which comforted hezekiah on his supposed death-bed , remember lord how i have walked before thee with an upright heart ; that also was a great comfort to this our deceased brother , that he could say to mee in his last sicknesse , when i visited him , that he had walked in sincerity , and performed his ministeriall duties ( setting humane unavoidable defects aside ) with an upright heart , and so i doubt not but god sent his angell to waite at his beds head to carry his soule when it parted from the body , into abrahams bosome . you have heard ( beloved ) what was saint pauls desire , that was to die ; and a reason implied of his desire , for then he should be with christ : hearken with the like christian attention to saint pauls judgement or censure of that estate of being with christ ; this is saith he far the better , or ( as some expound the words ) which is best of all : which occasions a question , whether is it better to be with christ in his humane nature , then to be with god , whose beatificall vision is said to be the chiefe object of happinesse ? to which i answer , that the apostle doth not compare these together , i meane the enjoying of god and christ , as though his chiefe happinesse did consist rather in beholding the body of christ then the face of god , but his being with christ , and that estate in glory is compared to his being in this present world , and he mentioneth christ because he in his humane nature had purchased this great happinesse for him , which consisteth principally in the vision of divine excellency : our happinesse is chiefely in god , but by christ his merit : do we not thinke that many poore exiles stripped out of their inheritance , and banished out of their native soile ; do desire to see that day , and that blessed man that should bring them out of their captivity , and settle them in their former habitations , and rejoyce in him as the author of their happinesse ? hence i note , a life in heaven with christ , is farre better then a life on earth with men . it is better for the wife to be with her husband then in other company , and is it not much better for the spouse of christ to be with her lord , whom she worthily esteemeth as the chiefe of ten thousand ? this present life of nature is good , the life of grace is far better , but the life of glory is best of all ; it is good to be a babe in christ , it is better to be a strong experienced christian , but to raigne with christ is best of all ; it is good to sigh and sob for sin , it is better to mortifie and to prevaile against it , but it is best of all to be perfectly sanctified , and purged from it . we know that absolon recalled from exile , and not admitted to see his fathers face in court , was impatient of all delayes , and so are gods children after they are called to gods favour , long to see their saviour which is far better , which may further appeare by these differences betwixt these two estates . is it not far better to have the wayward old man in our bosome , the most spitefull enemy and false friend , i meane all the remainders of corruption , the leprosie and poison of sin quite abolished then to have them still in us ? while we live they will be in us do what we can , we shall find much ignorance of god and all his waies , much folly which keepeth us from taking any thing to heart which respecteth god or our selves , much uncircumcision of heart which makes us that we cannot be holily poore in spirit though conscious of innumerable motives which should induce us hereunto , much drosse of selfe-sufficiency which will not let us perceive what need we have of gods presence for the quickning , strengthening , comforting , directing and prospering of us in all our wayes , though the breath of our nostrils be not more necessary for our naturall being , then his grace is for our spirituall welfare and comfort ; these evils do renue their assaults on us every day , and notwithstanding we renue daily our indeavouring against them , yet cannot we get that full conquest over them . if we could assemble all the saints together , and aske them whether they were without sin , what do we thinke would they answer ? whither that which pelagius saith , or that which iohn the apostle saith ? how great soever their excellency was , if they could be asked , they would cry out with one voice , if we say we have no sin , we deceive our selves , and there is no truth in us , and would they perhaps say so more humbly then truly ? god placeth not the commendation of humility in any part of falsity : and therefore if they spoke this truly , they had sin , because they humbly confessed it , and the truth was in them ; & if they said they had sin when they had none at all , they did lie , and so did sin in lying , and the truth was not in them , but when we are in christ all our sins are quite abolished , and not till then , and therfore to be with christ is far better . secondly , is it not far better to be in such a condition , where we shall be freed from all troubles , miseries , diseases and discontents , then to live in poverty , debts , diseases , disgraces , discontents and infinite crosses ? even those things often which we love the best , and expected the greatest comforts from them may prooue our greatest crosses , or at least we live in feare and expectation of changes and evils to come ; now they that are with christ are then and not till then , freed from all those evils which should make our life not over-pleasing to us , and they are not onely freed from those evils , but set in high places out of the gunne-shot and danger of them , and therefore to be with christ is farre better . thirdly , is it not farre better to live in such state where we shall live without feare of displeasing our good god , and of loosing his favour , which is better then life it selfe , then to live in feare of displeasing him ? from this feare in this life we can never be freed in truth , nor without great danger in our conceit , and it is a great bitternes to the soule to displease our best friend in the world ; from these feares we are fully freed when we shall be with christ , and therefore to be with christ is far the better . fourthly , is it not far better to be there , where we shall be freed from the molestations and temptations of the divell , who as he is crafty , so is he cruell , then to be encumbred with them ? s. paul we know triumphed , when he had finished his course and fought that good fight against them , and shall not we ? these infernal spirits are every where about us : when we are at our best devotions in the church , one divell or other stands at our right hand as at ioshuahs , to intice us to sin , they have no place in heaven to trouble us when wee are with christ , and therfore to be with christ is far better . fiftly , and lastly , is it not far better to be in heaven with christ where no sin is committed , where are no false brethren to betray us , then to live in this world which is a very pest-house and sodome full of filthinesse , and where perhaps we have not one entire good friend in this world ? this is the condition of them that are with christ , they are freed from that woe of the psalmist ; vvoe is me that i am constrained to dwell in mesech , and from the company of all the wicked , and shall see with unspeakable joy and comfort the blessed angels , and the spirits of all the faithfull departed , the glorious company of martyrs which shine now much brighter then the flames wherewith they were burned , they shall see the blessed virgin mary the mother of our lord , they shall see the most sacred humanity of our saviour , and his comely face , fairer then the sons of men ; and above all this , they shall immediatly enjoy the glorious presence of god , and have a cleare sight of the divine face : and consequently to be with christ is the best of all . first , if to be with christ , is best of all , then ( by the law of contraries ) to be with the divells in hell is worst of all ; to be borne in sin is bad , to live a slave of sin is worse , but to die in sin is worst of all : to live in a deep dungeon and prison , to be tormented with the sight of ugly divels , & that with everlasting fire without all ease , intermission and hope of remedy , what a wofull thing is it ? if some have lost their wits by meanes of some dreadfull sight , yea if the very suspition of divels hath caused many men to tremble , and the haires of their heads to stand upright , what shall then the terrour and feare of that dark lake be , which is full of many horrible fiends and dreadfull hellish monsters ? the appearing of divels in horrible shape , is a far greater evill then is imagined : some body saith ( he beares the name of cyrill ) that one would choose rather to burne in a hot fire , then endure their fearefull fight . good lord that any christian should live in the danger hereof , and yet be senselesse ? what to be a fire-brand of hell and not to be moved ? this stupidity may make our hearts to quake , and our flesh to tremble , and astonish our senses ; o then pity your owne soules , pity the soules of wretched sinners , and be intreated ( brethren ) by the sweete mercies of god , by all the sufferings of our saviour , by all the joyes of heaven to seeke the lord while he may be found : if the danger of sin was onely to be bond-men and bond-women , as queene ester said to ahashverus , i would have held my tongue , or i would have beene lesse importunate with you , but the punishment is a thousand times greater , and i am at this time gods messenger , to bring heavy tidings unto sinners , and i will tell you what you shall find true by experience hereafter , that you who are despisers and contemners of gods ordinances , formall professors having a shew , not any power of godlinesse , malicious persons , &c. shall after a little time , yea a very little time , cry out , wo , wo , wo. ah what an unfortunate wretch am i , that have lost all hopes of heaven ! time was when happinesse was offered to me , but i ( foole that i was ) rejected it , now alas shall i weepe and waile for ever . a little city as i have somewhere read , resisted alexander , he lighted a torch and vowed that if they submitted not themselves before the torch was burnt , he would burne their city into ashes ; our life is like the burning of a torch ; now must thou yeeld up thy selfe to be ruled by the lord , or burne in hell , not as that city for a short time , but for ever : the everlasting flames of hell cannot burne out one staine of sin out of thy soule : what great benefits didst thou receive of the world to allure thee to loose heaven ? and what if thou hadst gained much riches and many pleasures , and enjoyned them a hundred yeares ? all those are gone , and all are nothing in comparison of the least torment which thou there must suffer ; then wilt thou cry out , oh unhappy pleasures , oh unfortunate riches , oh miserable time wherein i foolishly blinded my selfe ! ethelburga wife of king iva a saxon king in this land , anno dom. 709. by a godly policy won her husbands heart from carnall delights : on a day they had all outward solaces that heart could wish , the roome richly furnished with plate , they had sweet & pleasant musicke and delicate cheere ; she caused the same place to be strewed with dung , and to be as loathsome as they could make it , she intreated and prevailed with the king to repaire thether , & beholding it , he mused in his mind of the change , she took the opportunity , and thus said unto him , where are yesterdaies delights , good cheare , and rich furniture ? are not all such things as wind and vanity which passeth away ? and with these and the like speeches she drew her husband to a mortified life . oh that this or the like consideration could reduce the lovers of pleasures to the love of the ever-living god ! if the damned in hell could have but another life in this world , nay if those which have but seene them , or rather ( as i believe in my instance ) the strong imagination of such a terrible sight ; i would not wonder if they proved the greatest saints on earth . venerable bede tels ( as he thinks ) a true story , of one drithelme by name , ( the man lived in northumberland ) who was raised from death to life , and reported wondrous things which he had heard and seene both of joy and paine , which wrought this great effect ( as there is chronicled ) that he utterly detested this present life , and abandoned all worldly cares , chastised his old impotent body with daily fasting , plunging himselfe in winter season into the cold water , singing of psalmes and devoutly praying , and when the beholders said , brother drithelme , this is a marvellous thing that you can possibly suffer such bitter and sharp cold ; marvell not ( saith he ) for i have seene places colder then these . let this move thee to seeke the lord while he may be found , the benefit of this life you cannot long enjoy , and when it is once past , it is ever past , you cannot recover it though you had in your power a thousand worlds to give to redeeme it . and as for us fellow souldiers and deare christians , let us hold fast that goodnesse which we have , let us play the men , let us be couragious , constant , and never weary of well-doing ; let neither divell nor man take our crownes away from us , never looke to enjoy a state which is best of all , without much opposition , pharaoh will pursue you with all his power to bring you back into servitude , but do you like stout champions repell the temptations of the divell , as gregory nyssen instructeth you . avant thou cursed and unhappy creature , i am a dead man , a dead man loves not bodily pleasures , a dead man is not caught with riches , a dead man slandereth not , a dead man is no lier , &c now have i another kinde of life , and another rule of life then formerly i had . i have learned to contemne earthly things , and to set my mind on heavenly things . that which saint hierom spoke of judgement , we may apply to the joyes of heaven , let them be painted on the walls of our houses , and in every corner thereof , that they may be alwaies before our eyes : as captaines do encourage their souldiers to fight for their country , lives , profession , &c. so doe i say to you brethren , it is the lord of hosts whose battailes you fight , it is your own salvation which is in hazard , your enemies would rob you of grace , and deprive you of happinesse ; if you give up your weapons you are undone and firebrands of hell , be valiant therefore and keepe this treasure , this pretious treasure which christ ( saith s. bernard ) did judge to be more pretious then his owne blood ; if i had kept the blood of christ which dropped from him as he hanged on the crosse in a glasse , how carefull should i be to keep it ? and must i not be carefull of my soule which is a pretious treasure kept in an earthen vessell ? if thou art poore in thine outward estate , and christ be thy portion , thou art rich enough , care not for outward poverty , be the lords servant now , & thou shalt be with christ hereafter , which is best of all . if thou art afflicted in thy body with any grievous disease , care not for that ; if afflictions work kindly to mortifie thy sinne now , thou shalt be with christ hereafter , which is best of all ; if thou art basely esteemed and persecuted by wicked men , care not for that ; if this be for righteousnesse and out of a desire to keep a good conscience , thou shalt be with christ hereafter , which is best of all . if thou hast but weake indeavours and a litle strength to goodnes , if thou strivest to be better , & art a conquering thy sin , be not daunted hereat , thou shalt be with christ hereafter , which is best of all . and to reflect upon our deceased brother , now hast thou happy soule that which thou hast so much longed for ; thy death is the death of all thy defects , & the beginning of everlasting happinesse ; thy faithfullnesse thy integrity , thy zeale have procured to thee a crowne of glory , now hast thou thy fill of happinesse ; o blessed art thou that maist see the lord face to face , that thou maist enjoy the happy sight of thy sweet saviour ; thou beholdest thousands of angels , the assembly of our first parents , the seates of the apostles , the tribunals of the prophets , the scepters of the patriarkes , the crownes of the martyrs , and the praises of all just men made perfect , as saint basil saith . ver . 24. neverthelesse to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you . our apostle hath made it knowne unto us , why in respect of himself he desired to die , and of this i have already spoken : now doth he in this verse acquaint us with the reason , why he should desire to live , because his life made more for the profit and advantage of the philippians , then his death could doe . for making the way to the maine point which i doe onely aime at , five things are to be cleared . 1. what is meant by flesh ? the mortall body in which the soule dwelleth by a synecdoche , flesh being a conspicuous part thereof . 2. what is it to live in the flesh ? it is to live a naturall life preserved by naturall meanes , as eating , drinking , sleeping , &c. we walke in the flesh though we do not warre after the flesh ; yet take him not as if he meant to abide alwaies in the flesh , and by a priviledge to be exempted from death which is appointed for all men , but he meanes deliverance from those present bonds , and the continuance of his life for a time to the furtherance of their faith and joy . 3. marke here and in the former verse that our apostle speakes as if his soule was himselfe , and as if his body was no essentiall part of man , this is not true in propriety of speech , and therefore is to be taken improperly by a synecdoche , integri promembro , the whole is put for a part , & here for a principall part of paul , the same trope in the like phrases touching our saviour christ , is by a kind of appropriation called by divines the communication of properties ; and these arousefull termes happily invented to cleare these and many obscure texts of scripture touching our saviour . but to returne to our apostle : saint paul consisteth of flesh and spirit , or soule and body , and yet saint paul saith , for him to abide in the flesh is more profitable for them . when hee died he was with christ ; how ? not with his body , but with his soule : saint paul is dead and hath seene corruption . how ? in body , not in soule . saint paul in propriety of speech abideth not in the flesh , but his spirit a principall part of paul that is it which during the terme of his naturall life abideth in the flesh or body . 4. more necessary ] this is not spoken simply but comparatively , it was not absolutely necessary for the church that s. paul should live , for god could even then , as after his departure he did , provide other instructours to build his church and house , but yet it was more necessary for their profit that he should live then die . 5. for you ] but why more necessary ? was it not because his appointed time to die was not yet come ? this is true , but personall . he mentioneth that which concernes the philippians , that they might take notice how carefull he was for them , and how thankfull they ought to be to god for him . my life is more needfull for you , for the furtherance of your faith and piety . q. did saint paul desire to live only for the good of the philippians ? sol. he neither saith it , nor thinketh it . he saith his life was more needfull for the philippians , so it was , but he saith not only for them . q. why then doth he only name them ? answ . because he only writeth to them . behold a patterne of admirable love in a shepheard to the sheep of christ , preferring their welfare to his own present glory . what merchant ( saith saint chrysostome ) having his vessell fraught with rich commodities , if he could safely arrive at a haven would doubt to do so , rather then be still tossed in the sea ? what champion would-strive for the mastery when he might weare the corruptible crowne ? what commander when he might rest at home in glory after a triumphant victory , would rather still continue the fight to the hazard of his life and honour ? and yet this is s. pauls choise , wherein he resembles a woman that hath husband & children , her husband is in a far country & she is with her children ; she may go to him whom her soule doth chiefely love , and there she shall be abundantly provided for , but then she must leave her children behind her , and what then will become of you my poore children ? it would be better indeed for me to be with my husband , but it would be worse with you then now it is , for your sakes therefore it is that i neglect mine owne present honour to do you good . leaving this discourse , the words do naturally yeeld us this doctrine , which i will handle being pertinent to our present purpose . the life of a faithfull minister doth more good , and is more profitable for gods people then his death : this doth s. paul witnesse of himselfe , yet from this particular and worthy example , the grounds and reasons of his assertion being common , and the same in others that they were in him , the doctrine is generally true of every faithfull pastour , that they doe more good to the living saints while they themselves doe live , then when they are dead . the word of god in the mouthes of the ministers is not weake , but mighty in operation , able to cast downe strong holds and whatsoever opposeth it selfe to it : though satan be the strong man that keeps possession , yet the lord is stronger and can cast him out . see the efficacy and wonderfull working of the gospell , that saint paul could say for his part only , that from ierusalem round about unto illyricum , he had fully preached the gospell of christ , and as the lightening commeth out of the east , and shineth to the west , and as the suns going forth is from the ends of the heaven , and his circuit to the ends of it , and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof : so in saint pauls time the gospell was come into all the knowne parts of the world , and brought forth fruit , as it did amongst the colossians ; thus did the gospell strangely spread it selfe by the preaching of gods servants , even while saint paul himselfe was alive , and after the apostles by their successours as they were pastours ; as the soule in the body , so were christians dispersed in the world , even the getulians , moores , spaniards , galls , and the britans , the sarmatians also , germanes and scythians do believe in christ , before whom the gates of all cities are throwne open , and none are shut against him , before whom also the iron locks are broken , and the brazen gates are opened , i. e. the hearts of very many that were holden fast locked by the divell , are now unlocked by the faith of christ , saith tertullian . what instrument was ever too weake to effect gods will , if he tooke it in hand ? though the apostles presence was but weak , and their speech rude , and their words distastfull and unwelcome to the world , yet did they prevaile , or if they had been to preach to infants and children not seasoned with inveterate idolatry , it had beene no great mastery to have brought them to the faith of christ , as it was no great glory to the spaniard , to vanquish the indians , when benzo the italian reported that he durst be one of the 25. that would fight with ten thousand , nay with twenty thousand of that naked people : but the case is altered now , for 1. the apostles were but few for number and of no great reckoning in the world : 2. for the same men to teach a strange doctrine to believe on christ crucified , and to be ready to lay downe their lives for him , if they looked to go to heaven . 3. to preach to the world when many of them did seeke after wisdome and secular philosophy , as did the grecians , many after state policy and war , as did the romans , and all of them trained up in a long continued will-worship , and damnable idolatry of a deepe die , yet the gospell by the preaching of it , as aarons rod amongst the serpents of the magicians devoured them all , and brought them to acknowledge allegiance to it ; surely this should make us cry out , as the people did upon the proofe that elias made , the lord he is god , the lord he is god. now the lord doth this great worke by the ministery of living men , and sometimes by weake men , that the excellency of the power may be ascribed to god and not to man : and thus you see in generall the great profit which accompanies the work of the preachers in the plantation and foundation of churches : let us consider some particular benefits which redound to them which are actuall members of a visible church ; and they are either 1 in regard of the bad , or 2 in regard of those that are good , or 3 in regard of all sorts both good and bad . first , i say their life is more needfull in regard of those that are actually as yet in the state of unregeneration , and that in a double respect : first , to be a powerfull meanes of converting the elect , and to bring them to all the degrees of salvation : other professions do aime at the good of this life ; the physician at the health of the body , the lawyer is for the right of his client , but the end of the ministery alone , is chiefely to save mens soules ; vocation , that is by the preaching of the gospell ; justification another degree of salvation , that is for christ his sake by faith which is given by hearing the minister ; sanctification another degree of salvation in this life , is by preaching of the word , in regard of dying to sin ▪ the minister is as the salt of the earth , in regard of living to righteousnes , it s the word of grace by which we are sanctified . what had become of paulus sergius , of onesimus , of lydia , and of many churches if they had not beene called to god by the preaching of s. paul , who restored those to life , saith s. chrysostome , which had sixe hundred ulcers by sin ? but what need i instance in particulars ; the consciences of millions converted , can witnesse that ministers have beene their spirituall fathers , their preaching hath beene the key to open the kingdome of heaven , and they are appointed by god for the gathering of the saints . secondly , their life is profitable , if not to convert , yet to civilize people , and to restraine the corruption of nature ; even reason and philosophy over-ruled pythagorus , by nature the worst of men , as philemon the astrologer conjectured , to conquer his naturall propensions to vice , and to become ( as his schollers thought ) the best and the most worthy man that lived ; much more effectuall sure is the word preached to produce morall vertues , and to enable some to doe morall workes rationally , out of the sway of right reason , though not obedientially with a pure intention to obey and glorifie god ; preaching is a banke to hinder the inundation of sinne , and to keepe men in outward conformity , this keeps calmenesse upon the face of the church and mankind , which otherwise might degenerate into savage brutishnesse . herod was better by hearing iohn , and reformed many things that were amisse , and by their meanes they may have many graces of the spirit , it is the influence of the same sun which ripeneth both the grape and the crab , it is the same spirit also which helpeth the wicked in their morall , and the godly in their spirituall workes , those i speake of may have illumination and a taste of the heavenly gift , and may propagate gods truth to others , as ioash the king did all the daies of iehojada the high priest , and vzziah in the daies of zachariah the prophet : and who sees not that the presence of a godly man doth bridle the tongues of the wicked from wicked speeches , though sore to their griefe , as iob saith , in my prosperity the young men saw me and hid themselves , the princes refrained talke , the nobles held their peace , &c. and the same is reported of cato , that they would forbeare to speake uncomely things on the stage while he was present : and if swearers rap out unawares prophane oathes in the presence of a grave man , they checke one another , know you not that such a one heard you ? the divell dares not shew himselfe a divell in his colours in the presence of such a reverend man as this our brother was . secondly , the life of a minister is more needfull then his death , in regard of those that are effectually called . first , because there is after conversion much corruption and sinne in gods people to be mortified , whereof they may justly complaine as did saint paul , rom. 7. the best christians are like peeces of gold , they are too light and must have their graines of allowance to make them currant , who can say my heart is cleane ? he proposeth the point in his armour by way of demand , making his chalenge to all the world with his triumphant negative , knowing that no man durst step forth , none could justly say , i am entirely innocent , i am as good as i ought to be , as good as the holy law requireth that i should be . private helps i know , as prayer , fasting , meditation , have their force to abate the strength of sinne , but yet the lively two edged sword , the sword of the spirit in the mouthes of gods ministers , hath the preheminence , that is the fire to wast it , and the hammer to bruise a hard heart . secondly , their ministery is needfull to discover sins after renovation : there are secret darke corners in our hearts which are deceitfull , wherein wickednesse doth lurk . who can tell how often he offends ? cleanse me from secret sins . if unknowne sins were in david , who was a man of an excellent spirit , of great understanding , and a strict examiner of his owne heart , can any man say in truth he is free from them ? saint basil saith , it becomes all men to acknowledge that they are not worthy to speake before the divine majesty , because they are sinners : we are guilty of many faults which we know not , in that respect we may say with our apostle , i know nothing by my selfe , yet am i not justified thereby , that is , i sin greatly , but i do not understand it . hence the prophet saith , who understands his faults ? thou wilt confesse if thou art wise , that thou art a greater sinner then other men : so basil ; private meanes such as are the looking into the law of liberty , friendly reproofes , and instruction , and such like , are much availeable , yet that which doth most lively discover it , is prophesie , that is it which unbowels corruption , and best displaies the hidden nakednesse of old adam , and which doth exceedingly advance the honour of the ministery by the praching of the gospell , angels , yea chiefe angels , as principalities and powers have learned , what formerly without sin they did not know , the manifold wisdome of god in the dispensation of the vnsearchable riches of christ to the gentiles . thirdly , many are the steppings aside out of gods way , in regard of actuall sins even in the most sanctified , in many things we sin all . david did so , and peter did so , and what sheep of christ doth not so ? checks of conscience , i know , and gods fatherly chastisements are good helps to reduce us into the right way ; the one is our bosome remembrancer , and the other is like to ionathans arrow , which hath gods message in the feathers , yet neither conscience nor crosses have power comparable with christ his voyce in the preaching of the word , to procure our revocation into gods waies . fourthly , christians ought to be confirmed in their gracious estate , yet whose faith is so constant , that it admits no wavering ? whose patience is so fixed , that it admits no staggering ? the clearest suns of the church have been more or lesse eclipsed in their faith , their patience and their piety : of all outward meanes to make us hold out , preaching is the principall , that is as goods to pricke men forward that are under the yoake of christ , that is as salt to sweeten them and to keep them savoury ; it is with our hearts as with our soile , which is not like the land of canaan , the former raine after seeds time at the fall of the leafe , and the latter raine at the spring , to ripen the fruit sufficed , insomuch that saint hierome living in canaan , rarely saw raine there in iune and iuly , but our soile though now well watered , yet except it be well refreshed and often comforted with drops of raine from heaven , will parch and wither . lastly , to name no more , they are notable meanes to increase the vigour and lively-hood of saving graces ; they are bellowes to increase the flame , as a sweet raine to make the lords inheritance to thrive in goodnesse , they are as milke and wine , and meate to make the children of god to shoote up to their just stature , and as a strong gale of wind to carry their vessels to the desired haven , as hierom saith , pugilum fortitudo clamoribus incitatur , though champions fight valiantly , yet their courage is enflamed by the acclamations of the by-standers , so is it with you ; when we pray , exhort , beseech that that which you doe well , you do it continually , more sincerely and zealously , what good soule by experience findeth not graces excited , good motions kindled , holy resolutions furthered and gracious operations intended by a profitable minister ? the third reason why the life of a godly minister is more profitable , is in regard of all both good and bad , as touching the continuance of blessings . for he is as elisha said of elias , and king ioash of elisha , the chariots and the horsemen of israel ; he fights while he lives , and bends his forces against all manner of sins , which make a people naked and expose them to the wrath of god , he stands in the breach betwixt the living and the dead , to avert the plague , and to make an atonement for the people , as aaron did : and doubtlesse the man of god must be a good part of those righteous ones for whose sake the sun is darkened , and that the moone gives her light , that the frame of heaven and earth continues as we see this day , as iustin martyr sheweth ; they are a good part of those impregnable bulwarkes against all enemies , as theodoret shewes in a memorable example when constantine the great was dead . sapores the king of persia did strongly besiege nisibis ; there was a holy man of god , iacobus by name in that city , the citizens beseech him that he would shew himself upon the walls of the city , and pray against the enemies , which he did , and the lord sent a cloud of flies and gnats amongst the besiegers , which dispersed them . behold a whole city saved by the meanes of one religious man , and hence also it is a signe of gods wrath and heavy displeasure , and a forerunner of farther judgements , to have excellent instruments of god taken away , and therefore the lord purposing to visit the jewes for their iniquities , threatens to take away from them the judge and the prophet ; and the lord useth as himselfe speaketh , to take away the righteous , that their eyes may not behold the evil to come , though this be little laid to heart as there is said , when we see a gardiner take away the wall and fence , plucke up the choisest plants , take away the ornaments and beauty of it , and lay it open for the beasts to enter , we may suppose he intendeth not to continue , but to deface his garden ; so when we see the evident footsteps of gods wrath , and the fire of his jealousie ( as it were ) breaking out by the smoake ; beginning to appeare by taking away profitable men as plants of his garden , which his owne right hand hath planted , we must lay it to our hearts , as a probable token preceding a heavy judgement ; by which it doth appeare , that the wicked do enjoy temporall blessings by the life and prayers of a good minister . vse 1. is of confutation to the church of rome , which do maintaine the invocations of saints departed , and say that their favour with god ( which we deny not ) is improved , and that their affectionate notice of the peoples necessities , continues greater after death then when they were alive ; if so , the speedy dissolution of saint paul , had beene as expedient for the churches which he had planted , as for himselfe , for so ( to use their owne language ) they might have had a new patron in the court of heaven , and it would be expedient for the benefit of the church militant , that the godliest ministers should die the soonest and the fastest , for so they may become more then apostles , able to heare the prayers and undertake the patronage of many thousands with whom they had no commerce while they lived ; but it was never profitable for the church to be deprived of the godly pastours bodily presence in this respect ; this is to rob christ of his prerogative , sitting at the right hand of his father ; in the tabernacle of this world , as was in the first tabernacle , we may find many priests to imploy as agents for us with god , but in the sanctum sanctorum , the second tabernacle , there is but one agent who hath royall commission to deale betwixt god and men . i dare be bold to say , that if the angels and saints would take the honour that the pope and his clergy would give them , they should all go to hell and leave the joyes which they now have . this point serves for the reproofe of such persons , which feele no sorrow for the losse of the chiefe stayes of the church , which are like a dove without a heart , and like the drunkards are striken and yet feele nothing , which loose an eye and are senselesse in this losse , which have their master-pieces and posts that hold up their house removed , and yet lay it not to heart , which have the pawnes of their peace , and the pledges of their posterity taken from them , and regard it not : these mens affections had need of the spurre , which have stony hearts , and bowels of brasse , which are not pensive at all for the losse of a deare brother , which perhaps as saint austen complaines , can weep when he read the story of dido and of troy , and such fabulous reports , but he could not do so for the miseries of gods church , these men are as far from sympathy towards the miseries of gods people , as from an inward feeling of the tender mercies of god to their own soules ; the harder the heart is , the worse it is , and the worst of all is hardest to mourne for so great a losse . thirdly , and much more doth this doctrine condemne their practise , that if their pastour be a faithfull teacher , one that keepes nothing backe from them , but delivers unto them the whole counsell of god , as paul did to the ephesians ; if he denounceth the judgement of the lord against sinners , if he layeth the axe to the roote of the tree , and launceth their festered sores to the very bottome , they do even for their worke sake , esteeme them as ahab did micaiah to be their enemy , and the more he loveth them , the lesse he is beloved of them , and doe wish from their hearts that hee might not live amongst them , but do labour to make him weary of his life by vexing him , casting many times the very name of a priest , as a terme of reproach upon his face ; the abundance of this manna and bread from heaven , makes them to loath it and the messenger that brings it . the reasons of both : 1. because such men feele not their sin nor their misery for sin . 2. nor tast the comfort , sweetnesse and power of grace . 3. nor doe consider that presbyters are gods hands to conveigh graces to them ; hence do these fellowes scorne them in their hearts , and so have as it were a brand set upon them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 atheists , irreligious persons and despisers of christ , as that ancient and holy father ignatius phraseth them . fourthly , this consideration that the life of a good pastour is more profitable then his death , should put us in mind of a duty to mourne and grieve for the departure of an eminent member in the church : god is not like to the persian kings , in whose presence no mourners were suffered to come , but godly mourners are alwaies welcome to god. see the practise of this duty but in one example , the devout men that buried stephen made great lamentation over him , though stephen was a martyr , and which was his honour , the first martyr too , and if i well remember , a martyr saith , if there be any way to heaven on horsebacke , it is by martyrdome ; yet did devout men make great lamentation over stephen . see the bowels of men indued with gods spirit , they are full of affection , full of tendernesse , so that the streames thereof do overflow the banks ; and good reason , they have fewer friends remaining , and fewer helpers , fewer prayers are made unto god , and fewer remaine to whom they may doe good , and from whom they may receive good . and according to this present occasion let us practise a duty which we owe in regard of our deceased brother , even to mourne : away with that stoicall opinion which allowes not their wise man to sigh or change countenance at any crosse accident , this neither sorts with religion nor reason . no , we have cause all of us to mourne , not you only of this towne , but your neighbours round about you , nay this whole country ; and say as elisha to elija , my father , my father , the chariots and the horsemen of israel ; he by his fastings , often and extraordinary prayers , often hath stood in the gap , and mightily wrastled with the lord to keep away judgements ; and like another elijah hath left his mantle , or dorcas her garments for the poore , some godly works , the fruits of a sanctified heart and braine behind him , and many no doubt are strangled in the wombe by his death which shall never see light . touching the beginning of his studies , they were not so commendable as could have beene wished , he was tainted by his schoolemaster in his youth , and continued a papist in heart at oxford certaine yeeres , and resolved with one * anderton his schoole-fellow , to have gone to the seminaries beyond the sea : but god happily crossed that designe , and effectually calling him to the sight of his sins , and the light of his truth , drew good out of that evill , and taught him so much the more to detest popery , and to discover hypocrisie and dissimulation in gods worship and in ordinary conversation above the ordinarie straine of writers . how industrious a student he was in the university , his many note bookes left behind him will beare witnesse , and how well reputed he was for his learning , as his other exercises , so his publike disputations before king james will testifie . but learning is nothing , industry is nothing to be praised before god without grace ; grace hath the preheminence and gives the luster to all the rest ; the lord enriched his heart with a great measure of grace , hence is it that his life was unstained and without reproofe ; though he was not freed from infirmities , yet he was from crimes . hence it was that he was so laborious in his ministery , a true student he was all his daies , as appeares by his library though great , yet very few bookes in it which were not read over and noted in the margent , and he attained that high straine of grave eloquence , familiar to him , scarce imitable by any others ; you were twise a weeke ordinarily fed with sermons and catechismes , and with the exposition of scripture on holy daies which would have beene acceptable , wholesome foode i am sure , to the most learned auditory of the land. and though he was so great a clerke , and so famous , yet was not he ambitious nor sought great matters for himselfe , and he doth beseech an honourable knight , to whom he dedicated his last booke , and all others in him to doe him that favour , nay that right , nay that honour , not to conceive that he had a thought that way . his heart was set on the right object , and the bent of his study was for matter of sanctification , both of himselfe and of his hearers , for himselfe he could professe ( and o that all priests and pastors could do the like ! ) he did i say professe to his comfort on his death bed , that he never taught any godly point , but he first wrought it on his owne heart ; towards others he was a powerfull instrument to batter the kingdome of the divell , he was a downe-right preacher and spared no sins , he made many an unconverted sinner to quake and to tremble at his discourses , as felix did at pauls , and cast them into a strong fit of legall humiliation ; he was an instrument to pull many captives out of satans snares , many of you can step forth and say he was my spirituall father ; he had a searching ministery to discover the hidden abominations of sin , to strengthen and increase the graces of those that did stand , to quicken those that languished ; many have cause to blesse god for him , and do owe even themselves unto him , as philemon did to paul. from this spectacle before our eyes all of us may learne something for our imitation : doth any one prophane gods ordinances by a dissembled religion ? let him forsake it , and flie from it as from a serpent , ( for , i speake to the glory of gods mercy , turning his face from babylon to ierusalem ) so did our deceased brother ; doth any one walk before god with an upright heart , let him hold out to the end , run his race and finish his course both in health and sicknesse , for so did our deceased brother . a great man , great in worth is fallen in our israel , & there will be a great losse of him , his wife shall find the losse of a gracious husband ; his children shall find the losse of a gracious father ; his sheep shall find the losse of a gracious shepheard , we of the ministery shall find the losse of a grave , learned , & a gracious brother ; the devout christian that desires to have all his sinnes unbowelled and discovered , shall find the losse of a gracious soule-searching minister , he that would have rules to avoid particular sins , and to make progresse in all vertues , shall find the losse of a copious and experienced directour ; he that is wounded in conscience shall find the losse of a skilfull surgeon , who in that art was one of a thousand to restore righteousnesse ; the vertuous , rich , and humble poore christians that feared god , shall find the losse of a loving friend and a gracious supporter , those that are in wants and truly religious , shall find ( to my knowledge ) the losse of a liberall reliever and comforter , nay poore condemned christians shall find the losse of a charitable instructour : and what shall i say more ? the whole land shall find the losse of a zealous pillar and of a powerfull prevailer with god for the continuance of our happinesse : so that all had cause to pray not as the dresser of the barren fig-tree , but as for a fruitfull tree , lord let it stand one yeare , nay many yeares longer ; but the greater our losse is of him , the greater is the gaine unto himselfe , and as he is crowned with glory in heaven , so his remembrance to many of us , will be like that of iosias to the jewes , it is sweet as honie in all mouthes , and as musicke at a banquet of wine . this consideration may be of good use for gods people ; first that they would set a high price on good ministers , and afford them a singular measure of love as to spirituall fathers , god honouring them so highly , as joyning them with himselfe as co-workers in the regeneration and salvation of his people ; against whom satan and his instruments are most enraged : towards such let the affections of gods people be most enflamed ; though their persons may be contemptible , yet in regard of their high calling as they are christs ambassadours they are venerable , they are deare unto god ; you cannot contemne nor reverence them , but this reacheth unto heaven , and in the last resolution reflects on christ himselfe , christ is interessed both in the contempt and in the respect you shew towards them . secondly , it should teach them another duty , to pray heartily to god for them , that god would give his vrim and his thummim to his holy ones ; this was the prayer of moses for the tribe of levi : think of them as saint iames said of elias , that they are men subject to like passions that you are , conceive us not to be of . laodicean temper , to stand in need of nothing ; we are no better , nor so good as saint paul , and yet good saint paul is frequent in his exhortations to the people to pray for him ; brethren we had need of your prayers , none more need then we : something it is that saint paul in his prayer for the churches , useth this forme , grace be unto you and peace , but when he writes to timothy and to titus , separated for the service of god , he prayes for grace , mercy , and peace , for them . they in speciall manner it seemes do stand in need of gods mercy ; pray for such then , and for their continuance , that they may live , be guides to the blind , lights to them that sit in darkenesse , instructors of the ignorant , and by a godly life examples to the flocke over which the lord hath made them over-seers . get now all the good you can from profitable ministers while you enjoy them , heare them every lords day , as though it was the last day you should heare them ; whiles the yeares of plenty last , store up with good ioseph provision which may preserve your lives if a dearth should come ; like the shel-fish , sucke in that moisture while you are in the waters , which may preserve you on the dry land . when nilus over-flowed the bankes , the egyptians were so wise , to dig pits to retaine the water to serve their turne , when the water of the river returned into its channell . doe thou so for thy soule in regard of the waters of life , store now thy selfe with the bread of heaven , least thou finde to thy griefe the greatnesse of a benefit in the losse thereof : unwise they are that know not the true worth of blessings but by wanting them , which wisemen had rather learne by keeping them . o carry thy selfe towards them as saint irenaeus did towards that blessed martyr polycarpus , many yeares after he did keep fresh in memory the disputations of polycarpus , his goings out , and commings in , his manner of life , the shape of his body , his sermons to the people , how he conversed with saint iohn the apostle , and with others which saw the lord , he could recite what he reported as spoken by them , &c. such a deepe impression in his soule there was left many yeares after polycarpe was a glorious saint in heaven ; and i beleeve that this our brothers unaffected gravity , his wise carriage , and many of his gracious speeches are written with the pen of an adamant in some christians which will be legible in them so long as they live . lastly , let us of the clergie while we live , do all the good we can , and put forth our selves with all laboriousnesse before the day of harvest ; the gifts of the spirit are given to profit withall , gods gives these ministeriall talents to this end ; and let us imploy our talents to attaine this end , while we continue in this tabernacle , let us not cease to put men in mind of their duty , as saint peter professed he would doe ; let us pity the case of all disobedient persons : let other fishers , if they thinke good , fish for riches , or for vaine applauses ; but let our chiefe aime be to deliver a sinner from the pit of destruction , and rather to speake five words in compassion to save a soule , then five thousand for any sinister end whatsoever : the soule of the poorest man is very pretious , and the losse of it cannot be redeemed with a world , it is sinne that looseth the soule . o how unhappy are all sinners , how miserable ! which would make gods servants shed rivers of teares if they thought advisedly thereof , and mourne over them as our saviour did over ierusalem , when he beheld their present security , and foresaw their future ruine , if thou hadst knowne these things that concerne thy peace , how happy hadst thou then beene ? let us then be faithfull and laborious , and so much the rather now ought we to be laborious , to make up this breach for the losse of our brother , if god enables us ; the lord himselfe is the heavenly teacher of this lesson by a just proportion in a like case . moses my servant is dead , now therefore arise ioshuah — be strong and of a good courage ; this our brother gods servant is dead , let us therefore who doe by the goodnesse of god remaine yet alive in a better degree then formerly , be faithfull in our callings , let us be more industrious in reading , in meditating , in conscionable preaching , and in a holy walking in the feare of god , that so we may repaire what we may our great losse by the death of him ; and truly we have great encouragements so to do : for as god was with moses , and promised to be with ioshuah , so will the same god , if we continue so doing , make the same word good unto us , he will be with us , he will never leave us nor forsake us ; and when this short uncertaine , vaine and wretched life is ended , we are already assured , that every one of us shall heare to our everlasting comfort , that blessed sentence , well done thou good and faithfull servant , thou hast beene faithfull over a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy lord . which he for his mercy sake grant unto us all , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a00426-e170 the losse of a good minister . notes for div a00426-e360 pauls strait . 2 sam 24. 14. summe . parts . exposition . luk. 12. 36. doct. 1. death cannot be avoided . 2 cor. 2. 5. 2 sam. 14. 14. eccles . 8. 8. psal . 62. 8 , 9. life swift . iob. 9. 26. v. 25 job 3. 14 , 19. cyprian de mortal . benefits of short life . chrysost one observes it as a worke of mercy to sinners to die spee dy , hom lib. 29. in gen. quo e●●●t vita diuturnior , co fieret culpa numerosior . amb. de bono mortis . c. 4 & longe illis plus damnatio profuisset ne incrementa facerent peccatorum idem ca 7. ejusdem libri . heb. 10. 34. & 37. vse 1. mortality fits for heaven . psal 90. 12. psal . 39 4. esay 40. zach. 1. 5. esay 56. 12. esay . 22. 13. wisd . 2. 6. 2. a vanity to depend on mortall men . psal . 136. 3. iob. 8. 13. ezek. 10. 19. psal . 146. 4. fox acts , page 1480. 3. vaine-glory checked . greg. nyss . in mat. 5. beati pauperes spiritu . ser. de beat. 4. covetousnesse checked . job . 1. 20. knolls turkish hist . p. 73. mat. 16. 26. 5. deserre not repentance . aug. conf l. 8. c. 7. c. 11. acts 18. renew repentance speedily . 1 king. 16. 9. 6. take the opportunity of doing good . gal. 5. 10. joh. 9. eccl. 9. 10. jer. 8. 7. apoc 12. 12. basil . 3. ser. i● hexaem . 7. short life a ground of patience . rom. 13. 11. 1 cor 2. 9. 2 cor. 4. 17. how saints are with christ . phil 3. 20. colos . 2. 5. john 17. 24. 2 cor. 5. 6. mat. 28. 20. luk. 23. 43. doctrine 2. saints immediatly ascend after death to christ . 2 cor 11. 23. cypr. de mortalit . ad finem fere . lib. 4. dist . 21. sect. 3. rom. 8. 1. against purgatory . malen against b. vsher . p. 493 2 cor. 5. 1. lib. 4. dist . 25. sect. 2. wisdome 4. 1 , 2 , 3. ezek. 18. 22. eccles . 11. 26. alphonso à castro contra baer . baer . 5. bell. l. 1. de beat . c. 3. vse 1. the soule immortall . acts 23 8. exercilat . eva●g l. 1. c. 23 euseb . eccles . hist . l. 3. c. 36. 2. the seule sleeps not as the body . bullinger cōtra anaba l. 4. c. 10 3. soules departed immediately see god ▪ sixtus senensis bibl . san. lib. 6. annotat. 345. 4. christ absent in body . 2 cor. 5. 8. hannius tracta . de personâ christi , p. 12. philip nichol. l. 1. de omnipraesentia bominis christi , c. 6. 5. against purgatory . discipulus de tempore ser . 60. litera b. apoc. 9. 5. pro. 17 8. fox acts pag. 249. 6. against praying for the dead balthaesar lydius nota in disputat . taber . pag. 202. mat. 12 36. vse of instruction . 1. death not to be feared . heb. 2. 15. iob. 18. 14. 1 cor. 15. paulinus in vita ambrosij ad b. august . judg. 14. 14. 2. mourne not immoderatly for the dead . chrys . in locum . 2 sam. 12. 23. luk. 23. 28. gen. 45. 27. doctrine 3. foresight of being with christ makes willing to d●e . iob. 3. 21 , 23. death simply not desired . florus cited by b vsher in hist . gotesol . p 132. 2 cor. 5. 4. psal . 119. 175. luk. 12. 50. 2 cor. 5. 4. ver. 8. basil de laudibus iustitiae . 2 sam. 10. 22. ioh. 8. 56. luk. 1. 44. luk. 10. 24. vse 1. wicked ones cannot bee with christ . jer. 18. 22. 2 king. 6. 26 , 27. gen 42. 12. psal . 50. 21. 2 king. 9 33. 2. get assurance of christ . 1. faith gives assurance of christ . heb. 3. 6. 1 sam. 17. 45. 2. assurance of being with christ what it works . mat 5. 25. ezek. 33. 15. iob. 31. 38. 3. spiritual watch mar. 13 37. mat 24. 42. gen 32. iudg 16. 19 , 20 4. frequent meditation on death . lamen . 1. 9. mat. 24. 48. deut. 32. 29. 5. continuall prayer . psal . 39. 21. & 90. 12. luk 2. 32. sozom lib. 1. histor . cap 13. 6. sincerity . esay 55. 7. 7. thankes for redemption from death . plutar. in vita flami . florus hist . rom. li. 2 7. euseb . lib. 1 de vita const . c. 33 , 34. what comforts in death . esay 38. 3. note . quest . how it is best to be with christ . sol. aquin. 1 , 2. q. 3 art . 8. sine contradictione . doctrine 4. christs glorious presence the best . 2 sam. 14. reason i. sin in the best on earth . aug. de natura & gratia c. 36. 1 joh. 1. 8. 2. death freeth from all crosses . 3. death freeth from all feare . 4. death freeth from all temptations . 2 tim. 4. 8. zach. 3. 1. 5. death freeth from ill company . psal . 120. 5. vse 1. cyril de vita b. hieronymi ad finem epist . b. hieron . ester 7 4. guliel melmes continuator bedae , c 3. beda hist or . aug l. 5. c. 13. courage against death . gregor . nyssen sancto bapti . oratio . hier epist . ad eustachium . bernard ser . 3. de adventu dom. basil . de bapt. fol. 147. coherence . exposition . 2 cor. 10. 3. phil. 1. 12. john 3. 13. & john 6. 62. acts 20 28. good shepheards preferre the welfare of their sheep to their own glory . chrysost . in locun . doctrine 5. a ministers life more profitable then his death . rom. 15. 19. mat. 24 27. psal . 19. 6. coloss . 1. 6. tertul adversus iudaeos . 2 cor. 10. 5. 2 king. 18. 39. 1. 1. ministers convert soules . 2 thess . 2. 14. rom. 10. 14. mat. 5. 13. 2 cor. 3. 8. ephes 4 11. 2. ministers restraine mens corruptions . see bradward , de causa dei , l. 2. c. 3. 2 chro. 24. 21. 2 chron. 26. 5. iob 29. 8 , 9 , 10 2. 3. ministers mortifie reliques of sinne . pro. 20. 9. jer. 23. 29. 4. min●ster discover secret sins psal . 19. 12. basil institutio aspiran ad vitam perfectam . 1 cor. 14. 25. heb. 4. 12. ephes . 3. 10. 5. ministers revoke men into the right way . iam. 3. 2. 6. ministers confirme grace begun mat. 5. 13. hiero in amos. 7. ministers increase grace . hiero. ad demetrium . reason 3. ministers cause blessings . 1 kings 2. 12. 2 kings 13. 14 exod. 32. 25. num. 16. 47. iustin martyr apog . 1. pro christian● . theod sanctor . patrum historia iacobus . esay 3. 2. esay 57. 1. cum aliquis ( vul●u & specie gravitatis reverendus ) decidit afficior , quia destituitur grex juvenum muro senili : de●ique periturae urbis aut malorum imminentium vel futura labis hoc primum indicium est , &c. s. amb. de cain & abel , l. 2 c 3. vse 1. against invocation of saints ioh. 14 13. & 16. 23. rom. 8. 34. heb. 9. 6 , 7 , &c. rollok on col. fol. 17 1 lin . 9. 2. losse of ministers not regarded by many . hos . 7. 11. pro. 13. 35. & ier. 5. 3. 3. hatred of powerfull ministers blamed . acts 20. 27. ignat. epist . ad trallian . 4. the death of good ministers to be lamented . ester 4 2. acts 8. 2. bradford . master boultons life . * sometimes a cantabrigian and student in christs colledge . epistle dedicatory to sir robert carre . note . philemon 19. luke 13. 8. eccles . 49. 1. vses to be made of the death of ministers . ministers to be highly prized . 1 thess . 5. 12 , 13. 1 cor 3. 9. luke 10. 16. 2. ministers to be prayed for . deut. 33. 8. iam. 5. 17. revel 3. 17. 3. all the good that may be to be reaped from ministers . euseb . eccl hist . l. 5. c. 18. 4. doe good while the day last . 1 cor. 12. 7. 2 pet. 1. 12 , 19 luke 19 41. mat. 23. iosh . 1. 2 , 6. iosh . 1. 5. heb. 13. 5. mat. 26. 23. the pilgrims wish, or, the saints longing discussed in a sermon preached in st. bennet grace church at the funeral of mrs. anne dudson ... who departed this life the 4th day of january, 1658 ... / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45559 of text r2193 in the english short title catalog (wing h738). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 66 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45559 wing h738 estc r2193 12411576 ocm 12411576 61543 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45559) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61543) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 278:10) the pilgrims wish, or, the saints longing discussed in a sermon preached in st. bennet grace church at the funeral of mrs. anne dudson ... who departed this life the 4th day of january, 1658 ... / by nath. hardy ... hardy, nathaniel, 1618-1670. [4], 31 p. printed by a.m. for joseph cranford ..., london : 1659. reproduction of original in yale university library. eng dudson, anne, d. 1658. death -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. a45559 r2193 (wing h738). civilwar no the pilgrims vvish, or, the saints longing. discussed in a sermon preached in st bennet gracechurch, at the funeral of mrs anne dudson, (dau hardy, nathaniel 1659 10055 11 115 0 0 0 0 125 f the rate of 125 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2004-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-07 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-07 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the pilgrims wish , or , the saints longing . discussed in a sermon preached in st bennet gracechurch , at the funeral of mrs anne dudson , ( daughter of mr isaac calf , heretofore minister of gods word at chatwell in essex , and late wife of mr edward dudson of london draper ) who departed this life the 4th day of ianuary 1658. and was interr'd the 11th of the same moneth . by nath. hardy preacher to the parish of st. dionys. back-church . luke 2. 29. lord , now lettest thou they servant depart in peace , according to thy word . aug. in joh. qui cupit dissolvi & esse cum christo , non patienter ritur , sed patienter vivit , & delectabiliter moritur . london , printed by a. m. for ioseph cranford at the sign of the castle and lyon in st. pauls church-yard , 1659. to my worthy friends mr edward dudson , and mrs elizabeth man . the neer relation which you both had to the deceased gentlewoman , the one of an husband , the other of an aunt , moveth me to joyn you together in this dedication . the dear affection which you both had to her person whilest alive , and have to her memory now dead , enduced you to desire this publication . after some delay of time , ( for which i beg your pardon , as being not voluntary , but necessitated by multiplicity of emergent occasions ) i have at length fulfilled your desire : by which meanes her living works , and dying words , ( as they follow her , so ) will live still with you , for your consolation ; and not with you only , but with all unto whose hands this following discourse shall come , for their imitation . nothing remaineth but my prayers , not for her , she needeth them not , but her's ; i mean your selves , and her surviving children : of whom the one of you is , i douubt not , a carefull father , and to whom , i trust , the other of you will be instead of their tender mother . that you may all enjoy a prosperous lasting life on earth , and a glorious everlasting life in heaven , is the earnest prayer of your affectionate friend nath. hardy . the pilgrims wish , or , the saints longing . phil. 1. 23. for i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is far better . death is the lot of all men , to desire death the temper of few men ; it is that guest which every man must entertain , and yet scarce any man will bid welcome . many are so wicked that they scarce think of it , more , far more are so weak that they do not desire it . indeed to desire death aright , argueth one more than a man , a christian ; nay , more than an ordinary christian , a strong saint . such an one was he who uttereth these words ; a starre of the first magnitude , a christian of the highest forme . but yet the examples of eminent saints , are set as copies for us to write by ; and though we cannot presently obtain , yet we must seriously indeavour , that the same mind may be in us , which was in this holy apostle , who saith , i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire , &c. in which verse are two generals observable : namely deaths description , in those words , to depart , and to be with christ , where we are to take notice of the nature of death in generall , it is a depature . the consequent of it to the good in particular , and that is being with christ . st. pauls affection towards death in the rest of the verse , where is to be considered , the quality and kind of the affection , it is a desire . the aequity and justice of the reason , enducing to it , because it is far better . the energy and strength of it , in the effect flowing from it , in that he was in a strait betwixt two . of each of these in their order ; beginning with the description of death , and that as to its generall nature in the word depart . among the many acceptions of the greek verb , none more sutabler to this place than that which is the most plain : namely to remove or depart , answering to the hebrew word , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} whereof the syriack here maketh use , and with which agree the latine words , migrare , abire discedere . so that the assertion couched in this expression , is obitus , abitus ; dying , is a going hence ; the time of death is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the time of our departure . a departure it is , and that both of the soul , and of the person , of the soul , out of the body , of the person , out of this world . i find the apostle peter in two verses describing death by two words , which set forth this double departure , the one {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a putting off , the soul putting off the body when we dye , as the body doth its cloathes when we goe to sleep ; the other {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a decease , or going out of the aegypt of this world . 1. it is a departure of the soul from the body , when death cometh with its sharpe edge . the loving knot which nature tied between those two deare friends is cut asunder : as darknesse is the absence of light when the sunne removeth from our horizon ; so is death the privation of life when the soul removeth from the body . in this respect it is defined by tertullian to be dis-junctio , by st. ambrose , to be absolutio , by plato to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and by the latine oratour , to be discessus animae à corpore , a dis-joyning , absolving , loosing , a separation , migration , and departure of the soul from the body . indeed it is but a departure of the one from the other , not an annihilation of either , anima absolvitur , corpus resolvitur , the soul is let out of the body , and the body is resolved into its first principles , whereof it was compounded , but neither returneth to nothing . fully to this purpose st. austin , mors non consumit conjuncta sed divi●… dum origini suae utrumque reddit , death doth not consume but divide those parts which were before conjoyned , each returning to its originall ; that is as solomon explaineth it , the dust to the earth , and the soul to god . i grant when a man dyeth he ceaseth to be a man , but not to be ; sic in non hominem vertitur omnis homo , saith the poet and rightly ; but not in non ens , the materials still remain , though the house be puld down , and the fabrick dissolved . 2. it is a departure of the person out of this world . the greek word most properly ad rem nauticam spectat , is used by seamen , who are said to loose from the haven when they depart from the shore , and put forth to sea ; thus when a man dieth , he departeth from the shore of this world , and launcheth into an ocean of eternity . sometimes the word is used of souldiers , who when they remove , take down , and unloose their tents which were fastned to the ground ; thus by death our earthly tabernacles are dissolved , and we remove to another place . this world in this respect is compared to an inne , since as cicero well , natura nobis commorandi , non habitandi locum dedit , god hath given us here not an house to dwell , but only a place to sojourne in . it is said of our saviour {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , he dwelt among us , but as in a tent ; yea he was borne in an inne , to teach us , that he for his time , and surely then we for ours , are but so many travellours still upon departure . indeed it is a very frequent metaphor , by which our present condition is described , we are said by the apostle peter to be pilgrims and strangers , omnis homo advena nascendo , & compellitur migrare moriendo , saith the father elegantly , every man is borne a stranger , and when death comes , he must be gone : in reference to which is that of iob , man giveth up the ghost and where is he ? which is not to be understood absolutely , for to say a man is no where at all , is to say he is nothing ; but restrictively , he is no where , here upon earth , he is not among the living , he is vanished out of this world . to close up this : 1. since we depart by death , why do we dote on life ? and seeing we must leave , why do we love this world ? if a man in a forreigne countrey , where his stay will be but for some moneths , should put himself to a great deale of cost in building and planting for his delight ; or one who liveth in an house whereof he hath but a lease for a few yeares , should lay out a great deale of money in adorning and beautifying it , would he not be accounted a foole ? oh what mad men are we , who set our hearts , and bestow both our love and care upon this world , when we must ere long depart ? let me therefore bespeake you in the language of the prophet micah , arise ye and depart , for this is not your rest ; you cannot fix or stay long here , depart before you depart ; let your affections depart from the love of , before your persons depart from their being in this world ; and let your souls by divine love go forth , whilst yet they are in your bodies . 2. when death comes we must depart ; why do we not make ready for our departure : when we depart , we must walke through a shady valley ? oh let us provide for our journey , having according to our saviours counsell , our loynes girt , and our lights ▪ burning : or rather ( the greeke word belonging most properly to marriners , ) when we depart , we launch into mare mortuum , the dead sea ; oh let us before hand rigge the vessell of our souls , that it may be fit to saile ; let faith be her rudder , hope her anchor , sincerity her ballast , a profession of the truth her sayles , love her cordage , good workes her freight , a good conscience her pilot : and being thus provided , whensoever the time of our departure shall come , we may navem committere , with confidence commit our ship into the hands of christ . and so much shall suffice for the first part of deaths description in that word , depart , which is as it were the heart and center of the text , wherein the severall lines meet : go we on to the other part of deaths character , which is the consequent of it in regard of good-men , and that is , being with christ . in every locall motion , there is a double term , to wit , à quo , and ad quem ; from whence , and to which ; it is so in this departure whereof my text speaketh , the terme from which is not mentioned , but hath been already supplyed ; the soul departs out of the body , and the man out of the world : the terme to which he departs is plainly and punctually exprest , to be with christ . indeed this is not true of every one who departs by death , but only of the good . balaam saw so much , which made him wish , o that i might dye the death of the righteous . when we dye , the souls of all go ad deum judicem , to god a just judge ; but only of the good ad christum redemptorem ; christ a mercifull saviour . it is not a common favour to every man , nor yet is it a personall priviledge of st. paul . to me ( saith this apostle a little before ) to live is christ ; and here , having a desire to depart and to be with christ , put them together , and you may see the just latitude of this benefit : every one who in some measure liveth to christ , when he dyeth shall be with him . what here st. paul assureth himself of , christ promiseth to the thief on the cross , thou shalt be with me ; not only eminent saints , such as st. paul was , but penitent sinners , such as the thief was , shall be with christ . blessed are the dead ( saith st. iohn ) who dye in the lord , all who by a lively faith and timely repentance die in , are blessed in being with him . this being with christ , is that which all true christians partake of not before , and in some respect presently after their departure . 1. we cannot be with christ till we depart hence ; this apostle is express , whilst we are in the body we are absent from the lord . it is one thing to be in christ , and another to be with him ; that is by faith , and is now attainable : this is by sight , and is not to be enjoyed till hereafter ; we must be in him before we dye , else we cannot dye in him ; but we shall not be with him till we are dead . it is one thing for christ to be with us , and another for us to be with christ , that is our comfort in life , but this our happiness after death : now he walketh among his golden candlesticks , the churches ; but then it is the members of his church shall walk with him ; now his spirit is with us , but then it is , that our spirits shall be with him . it is one thing to come to christ , and another to be with him , that is a preparation for this ; it being impossible to be with him , to whom we do not come ; but whereas that is the duty of this life , this is the felicity of that other life . finally there was a time when christ was on earth , and then his disciples whilest alive had the honour to be with him ; but now he is gone into heaven , and therefore we must leave earth or we cannot be with him . 2. not till we dye , and withall when we dye we shall be with him : from henceforth , is st. iohns word , blessed are the dead . to day was our saviours language to the thief ; and here being with christ , is set down as the immediate consequent of our departure . indeed had not st. paul hoped to be with christ before the resurrection , his desire of departing had been irrationall ; it being far better to live , in doing gods service , then to sleep in a grave : or if he had desired to depart , it must have been only upon the account of being at rest from trouble , not of being with christ : nay since , as he saith in the next verse , his abiding in the flesh , was needfull for the philippians , his desire to dye , and his strait about it , had not only been irrationall , but irreligious , had it not been , that he perswaded himself , that so soon as he was departed , he should be with christ . only a distinction must be here annexed of being with christ in our persons , and in our souls ; of the former our apostle speaks , as not to be till the last day , when we shall meet the lord in the aire , and so shall be ever with the lord ; of the latter he is here to be understood ; the union of the soul with christ , being that which followeth upon its dissolution from the body . st. iohn in a vision saw the souls of them that were slain for the word of god under the altar , that is , with christ , who was our sacrifice on earth , and is our altar in heaven ; and when we remember that christ promised it to a penitent malefactor , we must not confine it only to suffering martyrs . the summe is , at the resurrection shall be the reunion of soul and body , and so the compleat glorification of our persons with christ ; but immediately after death , the souls of all them who were in christ by faith , are with him by sight . it were easie to trace the footsteps of this truth in the writings of the fathers , omnes sanctorum animae cum christo sunt & exeuntes de corpore ad christum vadunt , expectantes resurrectionem corporis sui ; all the souls of the saints going out of the body , go to , and are with christ , expecting the resurrection of the body . so gennadius , in st. augustin , and in another place of that father , it is expresly said , recedens anima ab angelis suscipitur , & collocatur in sinu abrahae , si fidelis est ; aut in carceris inferni custodia , si peccatrix est . the departing soul is received by angels , and if believing , is placed in abrahams bosome ; if impenitent ; cast into the prison of hell till the appointed day of its being united with the body . were it needfull , i could bring many more testimonies of this truth , out of iustin martyn , gregory nazianzen , macarius with others . but let st. chrysostome suffice instead of all , and that in this place , where he saith , the just after death are with christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or as a late writer conceiveth it should be , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not beholding him through a glass by faith , but face to face . the doctrine thus axplained and confirmed , becometh a strong argument proving against . the psychopannychists , that the soul doth not dye , nor yet sleep with the body , untill the resurrection ; for the souls of the good are with christ ; and by the rule of contraries , the souls of the bad with the devill , neither of them are with the body . the papists , that there is no purgatory after death , through which the souls of penitent sinners pass before they be with christ ; for if they be immediately with christ , it is in paradice not purgatory ; and if any one should have passed through a purgatory , in all probability it must have been the thief , whose life had been so flagitious , good works were so few , and conversion so immediately before his death . that opinion ( which yet i confess is ancient and harmeless , ) of assigning a place of rest and felicity , to the separated souls of the just on this side the heaven of the blessed , for if they be with christ , it probably followeth they must be where he is , and that is far above all heavens , not only in a , but the place of happiness . the lutherans who affirme the glorified body of christ to be every where , for then it is on earth as well as in heaven : and what need st. paul desire to go hence that he might be with him ? but to enlarge in controversies , befits not the pulpit at any time , much less when it is hung with black . my work now is not the confutation of errors , but a consolation of the mourners ; nor can there be a better ground of comfort then this meditation that our godly friends , being departed are with christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , saith st. chrysostome , let us rejoyce over the just not only living but dying . why should their departure which is a meanes of joy to them , be matter of grief to us ? why so much troubled , that they can no longer continue with us , whenas they go to be with christ ? to mourne for anothers happiness is the envy of an enemy , if you loved me ( saith christ ) you would rejoyce because i go to my father . docens scilicet & ostendens , cum chari , quos diligimus , de saeculo exeunt , gaudendum potius quam dolendum , so st. cyprian , teaching us rather to rejoyce then weep at our friends departure , who seem to say to us , if you loved us , you would rejoyce because we goe to christ . a consideration , which as it may take off our unwillingness to part with , so it should make us willing to go after them ; and this leads me to st. pauls affection , and therein the quality and kind of it , namely an affection of desire , having a desire : st. paul was not only content to dye , and willing to live , but content to live , and willing to dye ; nor was it a slender wish , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a fervent desire , and that not transient but permanent , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only desiring , but having a desire as it were fixed and setled in his mind . for the further opening of st. pauls desire in reference to death , it will be needfull to resolve two quaeries , the one concerning the possibility , whither any man can desire death ? and the other concerning the legitimacy , whither any good man may desire it ? 1. it may rationally be enquired , how any man can desire to dye ? since only good ( either in reality or appearance ) is the object of desire , whenas-death depriveth us of good , nay is the worst of temporall evils . but to this it is justly answered , that however death considered in it self is an evill , and so formidable , yet to a good man it becometh good , and so desirable . our apostle expressing death as the object of his desire , clotheth it with a smooth word to depart ; and if you please a little more narrowly to look into the use of the word , you shall find it represents death as advantagious , and consequently to be desired . sometimes it is used of a mans returning to his home or countrey : st. ierome renders it reverti , turtullian recipi , the marriners going forth to sea , are said {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , to loose from the haven , and when they do this by way of returne homeward , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a returne from strangers to ones own home is thus styled ; it is applied to conquerours , coming back from the wars ; and the lords returning home from the wedding , is expressed by this phrase . whereas all men are in truth , and good men in their own esteem strangers , by death they go home to their heavenly countrey , quis non peregre constitutus properaret in patriam regredi ; what stranger doth not long to return to his native soyle ? nothing more naturall to a man then to love his home , death is a departure home . sometimes it is used for mens being set free from bonds and prison ; and of oxen , when after their labour in the evening , the yoake is taken from off their necks , the body is as it were the prison of the soul , yea the whole world is but as a larger prison , to a saint from which death sets him free . dissolvi nonquaereret paulus nisi se proculdubio vinctum videret , in that st. paul desired to be loosed , no doubt he apprehended himself a prisoner . was ever any man in love with his fetters ? and what prisoner doth not groan for enlargement , or captive would not welcome liberty ? death is a departure out of prison . once more , it is sometimes used of going to bed ; we are wearied in the day of our life with manifold labours , at the evening of death we go to our bed ; so the prophet isaiah's expression of the righteous when they perish they enter into their beds . doth not the weary labourer long to be in his bed of ease and refreshment ? death is a departure to our bed ; and no wonder if under these considerations of rest and liberty , and returning home , it be the object of desire . to all this it may be further added , that the primary object of st. pauls desire , was not the departure , but being with christ . sutable to this it is that else where he saith , we that are in this tabernicle do groan being burdened , not for that we would be uncloathed , but cloathed upon ; that which a christian so earnestly desires is the state of bliss in the enjoyment of christ . death is only desired in order to that , and that upon necessity , because there is no going to christ without a departure hence : otherwise the best men would abhorre it . by this time you see the resolution of the first quaery , which amounts to this , that death was not by st. paul , is not , cannot be desired by any one , but only in ordine ad aliud , in order to that which followeth it , and especially the being with christ . the quaere which would next be satisfied refers to the legitimacy , whither , and how far death may be desired ? to which end be pleased to knew , that that desire of death which is lawfull , yea not only lawfull but excellent . 1. is not active but passive , so the vulgar latin reads it , cupio dissolvi , i desire to be dissolved . in some cases the truth of our destre is testified by the endeavoure but it is not so in this , that command of killing , respects a mans self as well as others , and forbids not only the act but the endeavour ; he that by neglect of good meanes shortens his life , or by any evill meanes attempts the hastening of his own death , being no other in gods account , then a self-murderer . we must not desire death as we desire grace ; we ought so to desire grace , as to use all wayes for the obtaining it ; we must not so desire death , as to take any course for accelerating it . 2. not impatient but submissive , not repining at gods delaies , but waiting his leisure , if god please , or when god pleaseth , is the language of a christian , as in others , so in this matter . indeed simeon prayeth , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , but it was as appeareth by that addition ( according to thy word ) because having seen the messiah , he knew the time of his dissolution was come . we must not limit god to this or that season : and whilest we desire the thing , we must contentedly wait the time . sapiens è vita non fugere debet sed exire , saith seneca . a wise man must not fly , but go out of life . he learneth accipere , to receive death willingly , but he hateth arripere , to runne upon it desperately : nor dare he break the prison doors , though he be ready ( when god sets them open ) to go forth . animus piis omnibus retinendus est in custodiâ corporis , nec injussu ejus a quo ille est nobis datus ex hominum vita migrandum , saith the orator . our soul must not be dismist out of , without his leave who infused it into the body . in this respect the good man hath a desire at once both to live and to die , according to divine appointment . if god will have him continue longer on earth to do him service , he is willing , and if he will take him to himself , he is willing ; resolving still to bow his will to gods . 3. lastly , not carnal , but spiritual . many there are , who wish themselves in their graves , meerly out of discontent at the condition of their life ; either because they have not what they would , or suffer what they would not . some there are who desire to die , that they may be in paradise , rid of misery , and enjoy faelicity : but the right desire after death , is upon higher and spiritual grounds , not so much to be free from sorrow , as sinne : to be in paradise , as to be with christ . indeed , these words to be with christ , are both incentive and directive to our desire of death . no stronger argument why we should desire it ; no higher end for which we should desire it . what can make death welcome to us , if this of being with christ will not ? nor should any consideration make it more welcome to us , then this of being with christ . and thus you have the second question answered ; the result whereof is , that provided we do not hasten our own death , but are content to tarry gods time , and that we do not only or chiefly wish it for self-ends ; we may , nay we ought to desire ( if god will ) that we may depart and be with christ : and this is that whereof our apostle hath here given the phillipians and all christians a pattern . but oh my brethren , how doth st. pauls desire upbraid our backwardnesse , and chide our feares ? it was st. cyprians complaint of the christians in his time , and it is still true : obnitimur & reluctamur & pervicacium more servorum ad conspectum domini cum tristitia & maerore perducimu● , excuntes istinc necessitatis vinculo , non obsequio voluntatis : we resist and struggle , and like peevish servants , must to our grief and sorrow , be forced into our lords presence , going hence not with a willing obsequiousnesse , but out of a compelling necessity . omnes refugiunt terminum ad quem curunt , said seneca : truly , all men would fly from the goale of death to which they runne . i am afraid the most christians are unwilling that should be granted for which they pray , when they say , thy kingdome come ; in which respect the fore-mentioned father expostulateth . quid oramus & petimus ut adveniat regnum caelorum , si captivitas terre●● delectat ? why do we daily pray that the kingdome of heaven may come , when as we are so much pleased with a captivity on earth ? the truth is , we are so farre from making death the object of our desire , that it is the ground of our fear ; yea , we tremble at the very thought of it . indeed , that they should fear death , who being called christians lead wicked lives , is no wonder ; and well were it if many of them did more fear it , then they doe . but why ? oh why this pusillamous spirit in good christians ? let him be afraid to die , who is not born again of water end of the spirit ; who looketh upon the continuation of life , as a respite from torment to come , and his first death to be a passage to a second ? but for belivers , who are the children of god , members of christ , and heires or glory to be afraid to depart , how incongruous ? receive therefore a word of exhortation , give not over till you have brought your hearts to this sweet frame . he hath not enough con'd happinesse , that is loath to goe to it , though it be through a dead sea ; nor can he be justly thought desirous of heaven , who is unwilling to shake hands with earth . it was justly said to that lame begger , who refused the offer of his prince to take him into his coach ; optime mereris qui in luto haereas , thou well deservest to stick in the mire . and surely , it is but fit that they should live and lie in sorrow , who are unwilling that christ should take them up to himself . what is the devils great design , but to keep our souls from christ , and shall we comply with him in an unwillingnesse to depart that we may be with him ? our belssed iesus willingly came down from heaven to earth , that he might be with , and die for us : shall not we willingly goe from earth to heaven , though it be by death , that we may be and live with him ? especially considering the great advantage which hereby accrueth to us . and that leads me to 3. the equity and justnesse of the reason enducing st. paul to this desire in those words which is farre better . the emphasis of the greek phrase is very observable ; it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , better , nay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , farre better ; nay {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , much rather : or ( as our translation ) farre better . the arabick seemeth to labour in expressing it by two words of the same signification , which is farre more excellent and transcendent , withall annexing the pronoune ( for me ) which is not mentioned but to be supplied in the greek . to die in respect of all , is not better then to live ; but in respect of them who dying are with christ . for st. paul to die , though it were to be with chriss , was not better for the philippians ; he intimateth in the next verse that it was needfull for them that he should live in the flesh , but for himself it was better , farre , infinitely far better , that he should depart and be with christ . and now i am fallen upon a pleasant subject , the transcendent happinesse of being with christ . but i cannot long insist upon it , nor if i should , am i able fully to unfold it . we shall never know the blisse of being with him , till we come to be with him . only in a few words let me give you a glimpse or taste of its surpassing excellency . to this end i shall make use of that three-fold good which is the object of mens desire in this world , and maketh them so much in love with it , namely profit , honour , and pleasure ; in all which respects it is far better to be with christ . 1. it is farre better in point of profit . christ is said by the author to the hebrews , to be appointed heir of all things : being now in heaven , he is in possession of these all things , whereof he is heir : and when we shall be with him , we shall be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , co-heires with christ ; who ( though our elder brother ) admits us to have a share in the inheritance . whatsoever we enjoy in this world is but a small pittance in comparison of that inheritance . christ in the person of wisdome , saith of himself , with me are riches , yea durable riches . with him , they are not for himself only , but all that are with him : yea , whereas the riches of this world are uncertain , those are durable ; and therefore as to wealth it is better , farre better to be with christ . 2. it is better in point of honour . to be with christ , is to sit together with him in heavenly places ; that is st. pauls phrase to the ephesians . more then so it is , to sit with him in his throne ; that is st. iohns phrase . the saints with christ have a full view of his glory . so our saviour prayeth ; father i will that those whom thou hast given me , be where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me . nor do they only behold but participate of it . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we are glorified together with him ; yea , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , we shall reign with him . they are both st. pauls phrases , which latter fully answers to that of sitting with him in his throne . whereas the servants of christ in this world , are for the most part in a low and mean condition , they shall be no lesse then kings when they are with christ ; having crowns on their heads , and septers in their hands , farre excelling all secular dignities . and therefore as to honour , it is farre better to be with christ . 3. once more , it is better in point of pleasure . to be with christ , is to sup with him , so st. iohn ; and no dainties so sweet as those which are prepared for us in that supper of glory . to be with christ , is to be with him in paradise ; and no delights comparable to those of paradise . it is to be with the fountain of life ; and no waters so sweet as those which we drink at the fountain . it is to be with the sun of righteousnesse ; and if there be a great deal of refreshment in the beames which this sunne sometimes darts upon us whilest we are here , oh what content is there in being with the sunne it self ! the truth is , none of these carnal pleasures which this world affords , can give the soul satisfaction ; so that as the dove found no rest till it returned to the ark ; it finds no content till it come to christ . our greatest joy here , is the hopes of being with him hereafter : to whom those words of the psalmist may be truly applyed ; in thy presence is fulnesse of joy , and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore . and therefore as to pleasure , it is farre better to be with christ . indeed , well may being with christ be better then all enjoyments on earth , when it is the best of heavens happinesse . it is true , we shall in heaven be with our godly friends , with all the holy patriarchs , goodly prophets , glorious apostles , noble martyrs , faithfull confessors , glorified saints , and blessed angels ; but all this is nothing to the blisse of being with christ . it is the presence of christ which is the heaven of heaven : without him heaven would not be heaven ; and with him , even hell would be heaven . whom have i in heaven but thee , saith david to god . what were these visible heavens without the sunne ? what were the empyreyal heaven without god and christ . by what hath been said , it appeareth that st. pauls desire of death , was not an extravagant passion , but a well grounded affection , nothing being more rational then that every one should most desire that which is best for him . oh let us learn to have the same estimation of christs presence , and then we shall have the same affection to death which st. paul had ! the queen of sheba said to sol●on , happy are these thy servants which stand ever before thee . but oh how happy are they that stand before , and are ever with thee , oh blessed jesus ! it was a devout speech of old bullinger , socrates gaudet sibi n●oriendum esse propterea , quod homerum , hesiodum & alios prestantissimos viros se visurum crederet : quanto magis ego gaudeo , qui certus sum me visurum esse christum servatorem meum , &c. secrates rejoyced at death , believing he should see homer , hesiod , and other excellent men , how much greater is my joy , who am sure , besides many holy men , to see my saviour christ , the eternal sonne of god in the flesh ? cercidas ( as we read in caelius rhodiginus ) told his friends on his dying bed , he left this life with delight , in an apprehension of enjoying after his death the company of pythagoras the philosopher , hecateus the historian , olympus the musician , and homer the poet . oh with what cheerfulnesse should we depart in the assured hope of enjoying not only the society of abraham , isaac , and iacob , but christ himself ! when the holy apostle st. peter was upon the mount with christ at his transfiguration , he cryeth out {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is good for us to be here . how much more reason have we to say of being with christ in heaven , it is good , it is best , infinitely best for us to be there . and therefore as moses went up to a mount to die , so we should gladly die , that we may go up to that mount where christ is . i end this : there want not many comparisons to be made in this kind , whereby death may be rendred desirable , but none so cogent as this . we should be willing to depart , because it is better to be at home then in a strange place : to be in a palace , then a prison ; in a paradise then a wildernesse ; at rest , then in labours ; and to be free from sin , then to fall into it . but much more willing , because it is farre better to be with christ , then abide in the flesh . 3. there is onely one part of the text behind , and that is the energy of this desire in the effect flowing from it , which is expressed in the beginning of the verse , i am in a straight betwixt two . what those {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} two things were , is easily found out by what hath been already said , as also by that which praecedeth and followeth , namely to live , and to die : to depart and be with christ , and to remine in the flesh . between these two , st. paul was straightned ; to wit , which he should make choice of , and according to the signification of the greek word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , was in such a perplexity that he knew not what to do ; like a beast that is put into a pound , or a people that are beseiged in a city . there is in every one of us ( nor was it extirpated in st. paul ) a natural desire of life ; in which respect it may seem strange that the apostle should be in a straight which of these to choose : but as on the one hand st. paul had that which was common with him to all men , a natural desire of life ; so on the other , he had that which was peculiar to him , and such as he was , strong christians ; a spiritual desire of death ; nor was this lesse fervent then that . no wonder if he were in a straight . there was in st. paul ( as there is in every good minister ) a love to his people the philippians , who were a part of his care , in respect of whom he very well knew how advantagious his life would be . i but this holy apostle had an ardent love to christ , which made him ( as all perfect christians do ) long to be with him ; yea , as it were impatient of death , and this put him into a straight . much like that which would ( to use zanchy his comparison ) afflict a tender mother and affectionate wife , when she is called upon to goe to her husband in some remote place , and withall to leave her children behinde her , when yet perhaps they are not able to help themselves . or ( to use st. bernards allusion ) which would distresse a begger , when being hungry , she is invitad to come into a rich mans table and refresh her self , but she must leave her unquiet child at the door . what the result of the apostles determination was , appeareth in the subsequent verse , namely , to be content to abide in the flesh . and it was iudicious , yea religious , since on the one hand the prejudice to him in living , would be only a retarding of his blisse in christs presence for a time : but on the other hand the danger to them might be great through his dying , by reason of the many false teachers which endeavoured to subvert their faith , and so destroy their souls , by which likewise would accrue dishonour to christ . so that charity to the philippians good , and zeal to christs glory , did at last weigh down the scale : but still it was not without much ado , many debating and perplexing thoughts which did arise from his earnest desires of enjoying him whom his soul loved . and now that the same desire which was in this holy apostle may be imprinted on our hearts , i shall briefly commend these following counsels . 1. let our affections be alienated from this world when the entangled bird would flye upwards , the snare puls it back : thus doth worldly love hinder us from mounting heaven-ward in our desires to be with christ . you have oft-times beheld the sorrowfull parting of dear friends , what delayes and teares , salutes and looking back , so loath are they to leave each other : thus must it needs be between the world , and him that is a friend of the world . ejus est in mundo diu velle remanere quem mundus oblectat , saith st. cyprian : he that is taken with , cannot but desire to continue in the world ; and it is a kind of death to think of parting with it , which he knoweth must be when death comes . and therefore said an ancient truly , the soul can never willingly be seperated from the body , till it be taken off from these worldly pleasures . 2. let no sinne have dominion over us . when the sting is plucked out of the serpent , it is not terrible , but amiable . st. paul hath told us , the sting of death is sinne ; oh let us pluck it out by repentance ! it is impossible for him who lyeth in sinne to live with christ : well may he be afraid to dye . indeed , if a wicked man desire to dye , it is out of ignorance and incogitancy , because he doth not rightly apprehend , or at least seriously consider what followeth after death . alas , it were far better for an impenitent sinner to live here , though in meannesse and misery , then to go hence , and be with devils in torment to eternity . oh let it be our care in life , to separate stnne from our souls , and then the separation by death of our souls from our bodies , will be a means of the union of our souls with christ , and consequently an object rather of joy then fear . 3. let our faith grow up to a full assurance . it was by faith that moses refused pharaohs treasures , and chose affliction with the people of god ; and by faith it is that we are enabled to contemn life , and desire death . those things which are so glorious in the worldlings eyes , are to faith contemptible , and those things which are so dismall when looked upon with an eye of sense , become amiable to the eye of faith : even death which is the king of terrours , is to a believer a queen of desires . that he who questioneth whether there be a life after death , or who doubts whether he shall partake of it , should be afraid to die , is no wonder . he that knoweth not what shall become of him when he goeth hence , may well be desirous to stay here . and therefore let us strengthen our faith in the promise of eternal life , and make our calling and election sure . 4. finally , let our love to christ be more and more enflamed . love is desirous of union , and if fervent , will break through all difficulties to the enjoyment of its object : friends delight much in each others society . what loving wife would not willingly be with her husband ? i , and go to him , though it be over the boisterous seas ? oh when shall i come and appear before god , was davids wish ; arising from his zealous love to gods presence in his sanctuary . come lord jesus , come quickly , is the voice of the church earnestly longing after his approach , because she dearly loveth him . and from this sweet spring bubled up that affectionate wish of an ancient : utinam essem cum christo meo , oh that i were with my christ ! mori timeat qui nolit esse cum christo , as st. cyprian excellently : let him be afraid to die , who would not be with christ ; to which he cannot be unwilling who hath a sincere affection towards him . thus let us remove out of the way those stumbling blockes of reigning wickednesse , and worldly love ; let us take to our selves the wings of faith in , and love to christ ; so shall we make haste in our desire to be dissolved , that we may be with him . having given a dispatch to the text , it now remaineth that i adjoyne a few words concerning this our deceased sister , whose remaines are to be laid up in the grave . and truly whither you looke upon her in her life or death , in her health or sicknesse , you shall find her a patterne of many graces . shee was the daughter and neece of two reverend ministers of the gospell , now with god ; and as i doubt not but shee had a religious education ; so shee retained the sweetnesse of that liquor with which shee was at first seasoned . that truly reformed religion of the church of england , wherein shee had been grounded and established : shee constantly professed , and in some measure practiced . shee was an affectionate wife ; a tender mother ; a prudent mistresse ; a friendly neighbour ; a virtuous woman ; and a devout christian . it pleased god of late to visit her with much sicknesse , which shee underwent with much patience , being often heard to say , shall i kick against my maker . in her last sicknesse shee was full of heavenly expressions by which shee gave testimony of the graces of god confer'd upon her . shee renewed her repentance and godly sorrow for her sinnes , for though she blessed god who had kept her from notorious sinnes , that shee could not but accuse her selfe for many neglects and infirmities , being much troubled yet shee had spent her time so ill , and not done that service for god shee ought . ardent were her longings after gods favour ; often saying , a reconciled god is worth all the world . shee testified her submission to gods dispose , by that sweet language , if it were gods will , i am content to live , but not else . her affections were much taken off from the world , for which reason . shee said ; shee was unwilling her children should be about her bed , least they should steale her heart from god ; and though shee had the world at will , yet shee accounted all dung that shee might win christ . it pleased god to suffer satan to winnow her , but her faith did not faile , and after some conflicts shee got the conquest , triumphing over him , bidding defiance to him , casting her self in an humble confidence upon the merits of her redeemer . finally , when shee was desired by her friends to forbeare much speaking least it should exhaust her spirits ; her reply was , can i spend my self better then for god ? with whom i trust shee now is , which since it is far better for her i hope it will not be too much trouble to her relations . let not her dear husband grieve inordinately , since shee is gone to her better husband christ . let not her affectionate aunt mourn immoderately , because shee is gone to her heavenly father . let none of her friends weep much for her , who is with her best friend ; rather let all of us learne to follow her in those virtues which shee practised that we may attaine that glory whereof i hope shee is possessed , whither he bring us who hath dearly bought us , iesus christ the righteous . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45559e-1090 gen. 1. partie . 1. 2 tim. 4. 6. 2 pet. 1. 14 , 15. tertul. l. de animâ . c. 27. ambros. de bono mortis , c. 2. plat. in phad . cic. in tusc. ambros. ibid. aug. l. de spir. . & anim . c. 43. eccl. 12. 11. 2 cor. 5. 1. iohn 1. 14. 1 pet. 2. 11. aug. iob 14. 10. mic. 2. 10. luke 12. 35. partic. 2. 2 cor. 5. 6. rev. 14. 16. luk. 23. 43. 1 thes. 4. 17. rev. 6. 9. aug. l. de eccl. dogin . c. 79. id. de consid. mort. serm. 2. just . m. quaest. & resp. orthod 9. 75. greg. naz. in erat . caesar . macat . hom. 12. chrysost. in phil. hom 3. iren. adv. haer. l. 5. chrysost. ibid. jobn 14. 18. cypr. de mortal gen. 2. partic. 1. hier. turtul . luke 12. 36. cypr. ibid. greg ▪ mor. l. 5. c. 40. isai. 57. 2. 2 cor. 5. 4 quer. 2. vulg. lat. exod. 20. 12. luk. 2. 29. sen. ep. 24. cic. cypr. de mortal . sen. ep. cypr. de mortal . id. ibid. arab. heb. 1. 0. rom. 8. 17. prov. 8. 18. eph. 2. 6. rev. 3. 21. joh. 17. 24. rom. 8. 17. 2 tim. 2. 1● . rev. 3. 20. m●● . 4. 2. psal. 15. 10. psal. 73. 25. 1 king. 10. 8. bulling . mat. 17. 4. cael. rodig . l. 21. c. 44. see my sermon called the epitaph of a godly man . ver. 21 , 24. zanch. in l●c . bern. serm. 12. in cart . cypr ib. diad●ch . 1 cor 15. 56. psal. 42. 2. rev. 22. 20. cypr. ibid. mr abraham , and mr isaac calfe . a good minister of jesus christ a funeral sermon for the reverend richard steel, a faithful and useful minister of the gospel, delivered novemb. 27, 1692 / by george hamond ... hamond, george, 1620-1705. 1693 approx. 82 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 56 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45388 wing h503 estc r13664 12156559 ocm 12156559 55159 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45388) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 55159) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 600:1) a good minister of jesus christ a funeral sermon for the reverend richard steel, a faithful and useful minister of the gospel, delivered novemb. 27, 1692 / by george hamond ... hamond, george, 1620-1705. steele, richard, 1629-1692. xvi, 94, [2] p. printed for samuel sprint ..., and john lawrence ..., london : 1693. advertisement: p. [1]-[2] at end. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -n.t. -timothy, 2nd, ii, 15 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2002-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-09 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-09 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a good minister of iesus christ. a funeral sermon for the reverend mr. richard steel ; a faithful and useful minister of the gospel . delivered novemb. 27. 1692. by george hamond , m. a. and minister of the gospel . london , printed for samuel sprint at the bell in little-britain , and john lawrence at the angel in the poultrey , m dc xciii . the preface , to my respected , and beloved friends , who were the special charge of reverend mr. steel . there are two things which gave the occasion of writing this preface : 1. that i may lay before you the reasons , why i make this particular address to you . 2. that i may take this advantage , to offer some requests to you . 1. the following discourse is now exposed to publick view , because the subject insisted upon in it , is of general use and concernment to all who have a due sense of religion , and really look after the welfare of their precious immortal souls . for therein , they are directed how to make a difference between such as feed them only with chaff , or ashes , and those that break to them the bread of life : between such as subvert them , and those that build them up in the most holy faith : between such as would engage them in furious contentions , and those that endeavour to keep them in the unity of the spirit , and bond of peace : between such as follow cunningly-devised fables , and speak lies in hypocrisy , and those that rightly divide the word of truth . of what importance these things are , the serious and considerate will quickly apprehend . but it is likely that they who are immerst in the love of the world , or infatuated with the pleasures of the flesh , will despise or ridicule them . if what is therein offered , shall , by the blessing of god , make impression upon any , and prevail with them to enquire , and search into the holy will of god , declared in the scriptures , touching these matters , i shall greatly rejoice . but i think that ye are , in a special manner , concerned to review and ponder this sermon , upon those very grounds that induced me to make this particular inscription of it to you ; and my reasons are two . first ; because it was upon your invitation and request ( as it was represented to me ) that i undertook the preaching of my brother steel's funeral sermon . it is true , that application was made to a very reverend and excellent servant of god , to have performed that labour of love , and that i did earnestly importune him to accept it ; but he absolutely refused it . for though he professed his very great esteem for the memory of mr. steel , and that he would be ready upon all occasions , to shew it ; yet he concluded , that it was most proper for me to perform that service , as being , by the providence of god , brought into such a conjunction with him in the ministration of the gospel . whereby i saw , that there was no way to change his resolution , or to invalidate his reason . this i now mention to you , that ye may have a plain , tho brief , account of that procedure ; and so to prevent , or remove , some surmises , which , it may be , have been entertained by such as determine things meerly according to their own preconceptions or prejudices . and now , i hope , that none will interpret my solliciting of that eminent person to have yielded to that request which was made to him , to have proceeded from any unwillingness in me to afford my service ( such as it is ) toward the solemnizing of my deceased brother's funeral . for to that i was forward enough , both out of that affection and honour which i had for him ; and out of the desire which i had to gratify you ; especially in that which might conduce to the promoting of your faith , holiness and comfort . upon the whole , i think my first reason must be allowed to have its weight , that the motion of preaching the sermon , coming from you , it is fit , that now it should be tendered to you . the second reason , why i direct these papers to you , is , because as soon as the sermon was preached , ye requested me to make it publick . in this also i complied with your desires , tho not without some reluctance from my own temper and inclination , which was , and is , never to be forward to thrust out any thing of mine into the world. for i saw there were others far better qualified for writing , who have abundantly furnished those that will make use of their labours , with great variety of profitable and excellent books . and let me have leave to add farther , that tho i complied with your motion to print the sermon , without much gainsaying , yet i have been inflexible to the importunities of others , in some like instances . seeing then , that from first to last , ye have influenced me in this undertaking , ye may reasonably claim a special interest in the following discourse . and i doubt not , but ye will kindly accept this tender of it to you . 2. having laid before you the reasons that moved me to give you a special interest in the following discourse , i shall now subjoin those requests , which i desire may be granted by you . i have , ye see , complied with your proposals : and i hope ye will shew your selves as ductil to my demands , especially when ye find that i ask nothing of you , but what your duty and concernment obligeth you to yield unto . 1. i entreat you frequently and seriously to revolve in your minds , and carefully to recollect those things which ye have heard from , or observed in your late worthy pastor , that may , in a more special manner , be instructive or directive to you in your faith and obedience . and that not only what he taught you in his publick preaching , but also in his visits and conferences with you . for therein , he used to drop something that might more neerly touch your circumstances ; as by answering your cases , or by exciting and directing you in the conscientious discharge of your duty toward god and man. 2. i desire you who are traders and dealers in the world , to have frequent recourse to his book , entituled , the tradesman's calling ; and to peruse it , not only as a divertisement to entertain your spare-time withal , but to select those rules and directions that are most accommodate to your employments ; and to observe them , that ye may please god , obtain his blessing , and be a credit to religion . 3. i recommend to you his book , entituled , an antidote against distractions ; and so to acquaint your selves with it , that it may become come familiar to you , and leave such impressions upon you , as may abide in your hearts , and actually to excite them , when ye are exercising your selves in religious duties . 4. endeavour to write after his copy , and to imitate him in works of charity and mercy , in which he was very abundant , and very prudent . 5. approve the sincerity of that love and respect which ye professed your selves to bear to your deceased pastor , by your readiness to perform any office of love , kindness or assistance to his disconsolate widow , and his children , in any thing wherein ye may gratify them . 6. maintain union and concord among your selves . let nothing be done thrô strife , or vain-glory , but in lowliness of mind ; let each esteem other better than themselves . look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others . let this mind be in you , which was also in christ jesus . 7. my concluding request to you all , is , let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of christ. be blameless , and harmless , the sons of god , without rebuke , in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation , among whom ye shine as lights in the world. i leave these my requests with you : and commend you to god , and to the word of his grace , which is able to build you up , and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified . books sold by john lawrence at the angel in the poultry . a sermon preached on the thanksgiving-day at crosby-square . by samuel slater , minister of the gospel . 4 to . a sermon preached at the funeral of mr. ronolds , minister of the gospel . 4 to . bp. wilkins of prayer and preaching . 8vo . addy's short-hand . 8vo . praxis catholica ; or , the country-man's universal remedy ; being excellent physical receipts . by chistopher pack , doctor of physick . 8vo . a good minister of jesus christ . 2 tim. ii. 15. study to shew thy self approved into god , a work-man that needeth not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth . we are , this day , to solemnize the funeral of a good and faithful servant of jesus christ , who is now entred into the joy of his lord. wise he was , and skilful in turning many to righteousness ; and now ( as we have good ground to believe ) he shineth as the brightness of the firmament . he is now no more in the land of the living : and many they are , who will find him wanting . one of the pillars is removed out of the temple of god upon earth a . the ministers of christ , in and about this city , will quickly be sensible that there is one of the watch-men taken away . his desolate family is full of lamentation , because the covering thereof will no more overshadow it . some weep for the loss of their spiritual father , who begat them to christ through the gospel : others miss their nourisher , who was wont to give them their portion of meat in due season . and as for my self , i am deprived of a brother greatly honoured and beloved by me , whom i always found an helpful and concordant fellow-labourer in the work of the gospel . on all hands , there are those who recount their loss ; but to him to die is gain , for he is departed and gone to christ , which is best of all . i need to say no more touching the special occasion of this meeting , as being known to you all , as ye declare by your coming hither in greater numbers than usual . but it is likely that some will be disappointed of their expectation : for i suppose , that several came to hear an eminent servant of god , who is richly furnished with all kinds of ministerial abilities ; whereas they now find , that the providence of god hath laid this service upon one who is destitute of those accomplishments : nevertheless , i shall endeavour , through the help of christ , to speak the words of truth and soberness . and that ye may know before-hand , what subject is provided for your attention , ( and so your thoughts will be the better fixed ) i shall let you understand , that my design is to set before you the rough draught , or representation of a good minister of jesus christ , as the apostle stiles him , 1 tim. 4. 6. and i think my choice will be for your edification : for while i describe such an one , i shall but hold up to your view a glass or mirror , wherein ye may behold the reflected portraicture of our deceased brother . and when ye maturely consider his idea , ye cannot but find your thoughts running into such issues as these ; he was lately with us ; and did we then understand what a jewel we possessed ? he is now taken away , and are we duly apprehensive of our loss ? it is a common instance of our infirmity , and inadvertency , that we seldom prize mercies according to their proper worth , excellency and usefulness , until we have lost them ; and then it is usual to hear men breathing out job's lamentation , o that i were as in months past . let us then become so wise , as thankfully and faithfully to improve present blessings and advantages , lest our saviour's minatory prediction overtake us ; the days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the son of man , and shall not see it . b and now , i shall , without farther prefacing , apply my self to handle the words which i read to you . they are directed to timothy in a way of admonition or advice ; study to shew thy self approved unto god. — but when ye thorowly ponder them , ye may perceive , that in them is contained the delineation of a good minister of jesus christ , and that drawn by the skilful hand of the apostle paul , as it was held and guided by the holy ghost himself . but , in framing his character , he thought it not enough to shew himself alone ; or by himself : for he placeth near him the image or picture of a wordy , proud and wrangling pretender . thus , in one frame , ye often behold the picture of a beautiful person , with a deformed negro or ugly satyr standing by him : for contraries illustrate one another . in the canticles , the church of christ is represented as the fairest among vvoman , but it is placed as a lilly among thorns c . the like course doth the apostle take here . he sets forth a good minister of jesus christ in very lively colours ; and withal , he depaints a vain-glorious , contentious sophister . neither can we well read the text , but our eye will glance upon the words which immediately go before it , and those that follow after it , in which he discovers a bad minister ; that when we compare him with a good one , and are made sensible of the contrariety that is between them , we may cleave to the one , and relinquish the other . the deformities and malignant qualities of a bad minister , are laid open in the 14th and 16th verses : the sum whereof is this ; that a bad minister is one who strives about vvords to no profit , but to the subverting of the hearers : and he is one , whose art and occupation lies in prophane and vain bablings , which tend to the increase of more ungodliness . we must then allow a little of our time to search out his marks and properties , though very cursorily . and if ye well observe him , he will quickly discover his spirit and temper ; for he is a man of heat , ready to strive ; but not apt to teach . he hath a torrent of words , but they are empty and insignificant . d he is all tempest and whirlwind , to rend and tear in pieces ; but he is a stranger to the things that make for peace . but the servant of the lord must not strive ; but be gentle unto all men , apt to teach , patient : in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves ; if god peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth e . the contentious wrangler is one who will dispute every thing to the shaking of the very foundations of religion , but would have nothing settled or determined . it was the grave aphorism of a person of great experience among us , that the itch of disputing , bred the scab in the church f . it must needs be very grievous to such as love truth and peace , to see so many volumes of controversal writings , in which the contending parties do asperse and damn one another ; and yet when the matter in debate is calmly stated , it will appear , in several instances , that it is only a strife about words g that fills up a great part of the wrangle . and therefore , did we attend unto that which the apostle here declares , we might find enough to make a sober person to be for ever out of love with all hot and furious contentions ; for he fixeth two black and disgraceful blots upon them : 1. that these strifes about vvords are unprofitable : they have in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : they have nothing in them that may make a man wiser or better . and to disparage them the more , he adds , titus 3. 9. that they are unprofitable and vain h . every discreet person before he engage in any undertaking of consequence , will deliberate and consider : cui bono ? what advantage or benefit is to be expected ? it is a very serious question , and fit to be propounded to many disputers ; to what end do they pester the church of god with their needless , unprofitable and vain controversies , and thereby disorder themselves , and disturb others ? whatsoever doth not edify , is without the compass of the charge and employment of a good minister of jesus christ. he hath work enough to do about things necessary and profitable . 't is possible , that some other things may be lawful ; yet if they be not expedient , if they do not edify , he may let them alone , and not meddle with them * . i could heartily wish , that the apostolical canon were better observed by us all , 1 cor. 14. 26. let all things be done to edifying . 2. though it might be sufficient to caution us against strifes about words , to tell us , that they are unprofitable and vain ; yet , to beget in us a greater aversation to them , the apostle adds . that they are very mischievous ; for they subvert the hearers , and will increase to more ungodliness . the work of a good minister of jesus christ , is to build up his hearers in knowledg , faith , holiness and comfort ; and to that end , to nourish them with the sound doctrine of the grace of god : acts 20. 32. and now , brethren , i commend you to god , and to the vvord of his grace , which is able to build you up : — they are then the ministers of satan ; who make it their business to subvert their hearers ; to turn them upside down ; as the word signifies , matth. 21. 12. and overthrew the tables of the money-changers i . satan is half sure to make a prey of such as he hath so unsetled , as that they have no stable foundation to bottom upon . vvhen men become scepticks in the essentials of religion , they are in the next disposition to become atheists : and such instruments of satan as will serve him to subvert their hearers , will also lend him their help aedificare in gehennam , to build them up for hell ; and the effectual way to do so , is for them to deride and ridicule all serious godliness , and to flatter or harden men in their vicious courses ; and then ye may be sure they will be good ( or rather bad ) proficients in the school of the devil , for they grow worse and worse k . in brief ; it is the devil who is the greatest gainer by unprofitable sermons and furious contentions . for , by them , the spirits of men are exasperated , the secure sinners are hardened , charity is expelled , divisions are perpetuated , edifying doctrine is excluded , and every evil work befriended : for where envying and strife are maintained , there will be confusion and every evil vvork l . having said so much of the bad minister , whom we could not but take notice of , the apostle pointing him out to us , we shall dismiss him , and commend to you the apostle's admonition ; 2 tim. 3. 5. having a form of godliness ; but denying the power thereof ; from such turn away . and now we shall prosecute the fair and amiable character of a good minister of jesus christ , as the apostle here lays it before timothy for his imitation ; q. d. o my son timothy , be not thou like unto those affecters of vain-glory and applause , who ( by wit and sophistry ) will undertake to prove and disprove , whatsoever their humour or interest shall prompt them unto . their words may be copious , and well placed ; their periods handsom , and of an artificial composure : but what will all this advantage the doctrine which is according to godliness ? nay , you may be sure , their frivolous disputes and fiery contentions , will obstruct it . therefore do thou ( o man of god ) bid defiance to pride and passion ; and do thou follow after righteousness godliness , faith , love , patience , meekness m : give attendance to reading , to exhortation , to doctrine . take heed to thy self , and to thy doctrine , continue in them ; for in doing this , thou shalt both save thy self , and them that hear thee n : and ( to sum up all ) study to shew thy self approved unto god , a work-man that need not be ashamed , rightly dividing the vvord of truth . if thou observe these things , thou shalt be a good minister of jesus christ o . that ye may , then , have a more clear and distinct view of such an excellent person , as the apostle here delineates , i shall endeavour to represent him in his several graceful properties , as they are laid before us in the text , e. gr . 1. a good minister of jesus christ , is one who is very studious and industrious : one that sincerely designs , and sedulously endeavours , with fidelity , to discharge that trust which is reposed in him by god. and he that doth so , may be confident of his assistance and blessing in his work. 1 tim. 1. 12. i thank christ jesus our lord , who hath enabled me , for that he counted me faithful , putting me into the ministry . this property of a good minister , may be extracted out of that monitory word which the apostle here makes use of p ; and is by our translation render'd study ; by the vulgar latin , be very careful q : by another , ( having an eye to the primitive theme ) make haste r . we may take in all , and then the sense will be more pregnant , q. d. lose no time , but presently set about , and effectually bestir thy self in the execution of thy ministerial office and duty . excite , and preserve in thy self , such an active and vigorous frame of spirit , as stands in opposition to slothfulness . rom. 12. 11. not slothful in business , fervent in spirit , serving the lord s . from hence we may conclude , of all persons in the vvorld , the good ministers of jesus christ should not be idle or slothful , but studious and industrious in their proper vvork , and persist therein with alacrity , activity , and constancy . the reasons that may prevail with them , and engage them hereto , are many and weighty ; e. gr . 1st . they should be furnished with a more than vulgar measure of sacred knowledg , in the doctrines and mysteries of the gospel , that they may declare the whole counsel to the edification of his church . moreover , they are set for the defence of the gospel t : and should endeavour to be able , by sound doctrine , to exhort , and convince the gain-sayers , and to stop their meuths u . now , most evident it is , that they who desire to be meetly qualified for such undertakings , must give attendance to reading : they must meditate on these things , and give themselves wholly to them , that their profiting may appear to all . it would be a great reproach to teachers of the gospel , to be like those teachers of the law , whom the apostle derides , 1 tim. 1. 7. desiring to be teachers of the law , yet understand neither what they say , nor whereof they affirm . what think ye then will become of the lazy and slothful , when the most studious and industrious , out of a deep sense of their own imperfections , cry out , and who is sufficient for these things ? 2. a good minister of jesus christ , will feel himself obliged to be studious and industrious , when he reflects upon that blessed work , wherein his employment lies , the conversion and salvation of precious immortal souls ; which ordinarily , are much concerned in his sedulity and fidelity . for though god doth confer his grace , according to his own soveraign will and pleasure ; for it is not of him that willeth , or of him that runneth , but of god that sheweth mercy x ; and he may choose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; yet ministers cannot in faith , expect that god should give the increase , unless , on their part , there be planting and watering y : and that not in a remiss , or unconcerned manner , but according to the apostle's example ; col. 1. 28 , 29. vvhom we preach , warning every man , and teaching every man in all wisdom , that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus : whereunto i also labour , striving according to his vvorking , which worketh in me mightily . 3. the good minister of jesus christ will see cause enough that he should be studious and industrious , when his heart is under due impressions of that tremendous account which he must give to jesus christ. for such a time will certainly come . the charge which the apostle gives is terrible as a clap of thunder ; 2 tim. 4. 1 , 2. i charge thee before god , and the lord jesus christ , who shall judg the quick and the dead , at his appearing , and his kingdom ; preach the vvord , be instant in season , out of season ; reprove , rebuke , exhort with all long suffering and doctrine . the negligent will then find , that all excuses and evasions will be rejected and despised . it will avail nothing to plead , that their other businesses or diversions were so many , that they had neither time nor inclination to study or preach the gospel : for no pretensions could secure the unprofitable , slothful servant , from falling under that dreadful sentence , take the talent from him : — cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth z . this may suffice to have been spoken touching the first property of a good minister of jesus christ. he is one that is studious and industrious ; that hastens to his work with alacrity , and persists in it with constancy . 2dly . the second property of a good minister of jesus christ , is , that he is one who chooseth and pursueth a right end , both in his undertaking and acting : he hath his eye always upon the mark ; and all his studies and endeavours have a direct and proper tendency to it : and that is , that he may approve himself unto god. what the apostle prescribed to timothy , he practised himself : 2 cor 5. 9 , 10. wherefore we labour ( or endeavour ) with an holy ambition a , that whether present or absent , we may be accepted of him : for we must all appear before the judgment-seat of christ. two things the good minister doth reach after . ( 1. ) that he may be approved . ( 2. ) that god may ratify his approbation . ( 1. ) that he may obtain an approbation b ; and such an one , as is given after trial : jam. 1. 12. blessed is the man that endureth temptation c ( or trial ) ; for when he is tried d , he shall receive the crown of life . men are sometimes too rash and precipitate , in passing their judgment , and so may take brass for gold : but god searcheth the heart , and will never approve any person whom he hath not thorowly tried . when jesse's sons came before samuel , he looked upon eliab , and said , surely the lord 's anointed is before me : but the lord said unto samuel , look not on his countenance , nor on the height of his stature ; because i have refused him : for the lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appearance , but the lord looketh on the heart . happy then are they , who , notwithstanding their many defects and infirmities , can appeal to god for their sincerity : psal. 17. 3. thou hast proved my heart , and tried me in the night , and shalt find nothing ; i. e. nothing inconsistent with uprightness or sincerity . ( 2. ) that god may ratify his approbation : for it is god who will pass the final and decisive sentence : it is not then , he who commendeth himself , ( or is commended by others ) that is approved , but he whom the lord commendeth e . many are they who are ambitious to purchase the good opinion and praise of men , and love it more than the praise of god f . but of all persons in the world , it looks worst in a minister of jesus christ to be animal gloriae ; to hunt after applause , and to feed upon the breath of popular acclamations . what dismal effects have sprung from the poisonous root of affected popularity ? therefore the good minister of jesus christ must fortify himself against the insinuations of good report , as well as against the vexations of evil report : and be content to pass through honour or dishonour , evil and good report ; and so support himself with the approbation of god , and the testimony of a good conscience . this clause [ study to approve thy self unto god ] is well paraphrased by the syriac , let it be thy care to present thy self before god , with great integrity g . good ministers are conscious to themselves of many infirmities , and bewail them before the lord ; as their unskilfulness in explicating the great mysteries of the gospel ; the remissness of their zeal ; their entanglements , diversions , distractions , and such like : yet it may be a sweet refreshment , and relief to them , that they can say , that they have sincerely desired to serve the lord in the gospel of his son jesus christ. and great reason there is , why a good minister of jesus christ should study to approve himself unto god. 1. because it is god who entrusts and employs him in the ministration of the gospel : and to him he must give an account of his stewardship . if the office of the ministry were merely an humane constitution , and the instructions , rules and measures , which ministers were to be determined by , in the execution of their office , were all of man's appointment , then would it be sufficient for them so to demean and carry themselves therein , as to gain the approbation of men : but if the office , work and rule , be from heaven , and not of men , then it is their concernment , as well as their duty , to seek the approbation of god. the apostle's way of reasoning in another like instance , will , i think , guide us to what we are to conclude in this case ; 2 tim. ii . 4. no man that warreth , entangleth himself with the things of this life , that he may please him , who hath chosen him to be a souldier . and may we not argue , à minori ad majus , he that is bound to the lord christ , the captain of our salvation , under his sacramentum ministeriale , ought not to entangle himself in matters of a foreign nature , especially when they are obstructive to his proper work ; much more , if inconsistent with it ? but he should bend all his thoughts , cares and endeavours to please him , who hath chosen him to be a minister . when , i say , the office is from god , yet that leaves room enough for men , who have a delegated power from christ ( in the ordinary way ) to try the persons , who are to be admitted to the execution of that office . and having found them fit , to ordain them with fasting , prayer , and imposition of hands ; and so solemnly to invest them therewith h . yet still it must remain unshaken , that man doth not make the ministry , neither may man , by his proper authority , appoint the minister his rule , nor apportionate his work : for that belongs to the lord christ only ; eph. 4. 8 , to ver . 14. when he asscended up on high , he led captivity captive , and gave gifts unto men : — and he gave some apostles , some prophets , and some evangelists , and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the edifying of the body of christ. 2. a good minister of jesus christ , should study to approve himself unto god ; because , from him alone , he is to receive his full and ultimate reward . sad and miserable would be the lot of a good minister of jesus christ , if the favour of men and earthly preferments were all that he might look for after his greatest sedulity and fidelity . the apostle paul had , certainly , more in his eye ; for he professeth , that it was something else which kept him from fainting and sinking under all the burdens of his services and sufferings ; and that was , that he looked not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen ; because the things which are seen , are temporal ; but the things which are not seen , are eternal * . and a great and precious promise they have to encourage them in their labours , and to support them under their burdens ; 1 pet. 5. 2 , 3. feed the flock which is among you , ( or in as much as in you lies ) ; and when the chief shepherd shall appear , ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away . this may suffice to have been said , touching the second property of a good minister of jesus christ ; he is one who studies to approve himself unto god. 3dly . his third property , is , that he is a work-man , that needeth not to be ashamed . there are two branches in this part of his character . ( 1. ) if you look upon him absolutely ; so he is a workman . ( 2. ) if ye look also upon the modification adjoined ; so he is a workman that needeth not to be ashamed . 1. a workman he must be i ; and that work which he is called unto , is no easy employment , but very laborious ; for the word used in the text , is translated a labourer ; matth. 9. 37. the labourers are few : and ver. 38. pray ye therefore the lord of the harvest , that he would send forth labourers into his harvest k . neither is his labour like to some kinds of recreation ; in which men do but play , while they take a great deal of pains : but it is hard labour , even to laffitude and weariness , to the wasting of their strength , and exhausting of their spirits . for so doth the scripture set forth the working and labouring of the good ministers of jesus christ ; 1 thess. 5. 12. know them that labour among you : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l . 1 tim. 5. 17. — especially they who labour in the word and doctrine . this ye may find exemplified in two instances ; the former is of christ , when he was spent and tired out with his journey , joh. 4. 6. jesus therefore being wearied with his journey , sat thus on the vvell m . the latter is of the disciples , who had toiled out themselves all night , luke 5. 5. master , we have toiled all night n . these places are produced to shew , that a good minister of jesus christ is a work-man , whose employment requires very hard labour ; so that he hath no time allowed him for idleness or remissness , though some time be indulged to him for his relaxation , through his master 's tender compassion ; mark 6. 31. and he said unto them , come your selves apart , and rest a-while : for there were many coming and going , and they had no leisure so much as to eat . however god may deal with such as stand all the day idle in the market-place ; yet , doubtless , he will not endure any loiterers in his vine-yard , in which even the fig-tree , which was barren , would not be allowed to have a standing o ; much less might the dresser of the vine-yard expect to be tolerated , if he brought forth no fruit. our saviour told his apostles , that he had ordained them , that they should bring forth fruit : and that fruit was their converting of souls to god , as the apostle explains it , rom. 1. 13. — that i may have some fruit among you also , as among other gentiles . the ministers of christ may intercede for the enlargement of the time of god's patience toward an unfruitful people ; but then it is upon their engagement to use double diligence in cultivating of them : luke 13. 8. lord , let it alone this year also , that i may dig about it , and dung it . thus ye have one of the apellations by which a good minister of jesus christ is denominated , that he is a work-man . but because i told you , that my design in this discourse would be to give you some distinct representation of such an one , i think it necessary to add some other titles by which the spirit of god doth notify him to us , that ye may see him in a clearer light , and form more perfect conceptions of him . the good ministers , then , of jesus christ , have two sorts of titles conferred upon them : some , that set forth their dignity : others , that bind them to their duty . in reciting the former , i shall be very brief : yet may i not silently pass them over , lest i should be injurious both to them and you . 1. their titles that do set forth their dignity . of these i shall mention four only . ( 1. ) they have the glorious name of angels set upon them p ; rev. 1. 20. the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches . angels , we know , are the highest rank , and most noble order among all the creatures : and they have the denomination of angels , because they are the messengers of the great god. and such are all good ministers of jesus christ. ambassadors ; 2 cor. 5. 20. now then , we are ambassadors for christ. messengers ; hag. 1. 13. then said haggai , the lord's messenger in the lord's message , to the people . this title was not appropriated to him , as a prophet immediately called and inspired , but it is communicated to all those who are appointed and authorized by god to deliver his messages to his people ; mal. 2. 7. the priest's lips should preserve knowledg , and they should seek the law at his mouth , for he is the messenger of the lord of hosts . ( 2. ) they are called elders q ; acts 14. 23. vvhen they had ordained the elders in every church : tit. 1. 5. — ordain elders in every city . the name of elders was honourable among both jews and gentiles . the jews dignified their rulers , both civil and ecclesiastical , with the title of elders : and so did the greeks use the same , to signalize such as were of eminency for their vvorth or office. for thus doth one of them inform us , we call ( saith he ) those persons elders , whom we esteem the best , or most excellent , and the ancients r : there are few , who have not heard of the roman senate and senators s . and antiquaries tell us , that the saxon word aldermen , hath the signification of ancients , or elder-men . ( 3. ) they are denominated guides t , such as have the conduct of others , and go before them in the way of religion ; heb. 13. 7. remember them which have the rule ( or are the guides ) over you , who have spoken unto you the vvord of god. and ver . 17. obey them that have the rule over you , and submit your selves ; for they watch for your souls , as they that must give account . the ministers of christ have a power to lead , though not to compel u . ( 4. ) they are dignified with the name of presidents w , such as are over others in the lord ; 1 tim. 5. 17. the elders that rule ( or preside ) well , account worthy of double honour . i shall not farther enlarge upon those titles that set forth their dignity ; yet somewhat may be inferred that is obvious to every understanding observer ; that men ought to honour those whom god delights to honour . or , let me lay this before you , in the words of the apostle , 1 thess. 5. 12 , 13. and we beseech you , brethren , know them that labour among you , and are over you in the lord , and admonish you . to know them x , not only that ye may distinguish them from other persons , or to salute them when ye meet them , or to have some friendly conversation with them ; but to yield them such observance as may testify that honour and obedience which ye owe to him that sends them , and the messages which they bring you in his name , and clothed with his authority . and all this must be done not slightly , and out of complement , but in reality and sincerity . and then , for the degree of your esteem of them , it must not be after a low and vulgar rate , but raised to a double height in comparison : very highly y . let no man think that i mentioned these magnificent titles conferred on the ministers of christ , out of ostentation or ambition ; for they have learn'd to bear contempt , when cast only upon their persons , or their outward state in the world ; but yet they are obliged to magnify their office , when men do despise or reproach it . and for this , the apostle's example is their warrant , rom. 11. 13. — inasmuch as i am the apostle of the gentiles , i magnify mine office z . they know very well , that they are but earthen vessels , yet they carry an inestimable treasure ; pearls in oyster-shells , 2 cor. 4. 7. a . that all the glory may be ultimately carried up to god : for they preach not themselves , but christ jesus to be the lord , and themselves your servants for jesus sake . this may suffice to have been spoken of the titles that set forth their dignity : i shall be a little more copious in those that bind them to their duty : and i shall single out such as are of like import with that of a work-man , mentioned in the text. as , 1. they are stiled bishops ; acts 20. 28. take heed to your selves , and to the flock , over which the holy ghost hath made you over-seers . if the greek word b had been rendred here , as it is generally in other places , it might have been translated bishops . the apostle tells us , 1 tim. 3. 1. he that desireth the office of a bishop , desireth a good vvork c . the apostle calls it a vvork , not an honour , saith grotius ; or , as another glosseth , a work , not a dignity , or a more delicate and softer kind of life . let such as glory in the name , do the work of a bishop , and all good men will pay them due respect . sure we are , that the charge that is given them , is very strict : 1 pet. 5. 1 , 2. the elders which are among you , i exhort , who also am an elder : — feed the flock of god , which is among you , taking the oversight thereof ; — or doing the work of a bishop toward them d . and what the work of the primitive bishop was , the learned dr. hamond hath informed us ; it was ( saith he ) the work of the bishop , to be the mouth of the people , to offer up their prayers , supplications , intercessions and thanksgivings to almighty god. to receive to baptism those that , upon due trial , were found meet for it : to administer the lord's supper ; which , in the first times of christianity , was done very frequently : to visit the sick , and to pray for them : to stop the mouths of gain-sayers ; to admonish disorderly walkers : to cast out the obstinate and incorrigible : to receive penitents into the church , after sufficient trial made of their repentance : to take care of the poor , orphans , widows and strangers . and , in short , to attend to all the affairs of the church of god. he that will conscienciously give up himself to all these services , will need no other argument to convince him of the labouriousness of that office. 2. the ministers of christ have the name of pastors set upon them , as very directive , to shew them their work and employment ; ephes. 4. 11. some pastors and teachers e : 1 pet. 5. 2. — feed the flock that is among you f ; i. e. do all things that belong to the office of a pastor . the shepherd's work in the literal sense , is very busy and toilsom . jacob , who had been long exercised in it , gives this account of it , gen. 31. 40. thus was i in the day , the drought consumed me , and the frost by night ; and my sleep departed from me . neither can we suppose , that a shepherd , in the metaphorical sense , should exonerate himself of all care , and indulge himself in his ease . it was never known that a title to an office should discharge a man from his proper work and employment . we may infer what god requires and expects from those whom he constitutes shepherds , whether in a political , or in an ecclesiastical sense , by the sharp reproofs and severe menaces , which he useth against the negligent : ezek. 34. 2 , 3 , 4. son of man , prophesy against the shepherds of israel ; prophesy , and say unto them , thus saith the lord against the shepherds , vvo to the shepherds of israel , that feed themselves : should not the shepherds feed the flock ? the diseased have ye not strengthened , neither have ye healed that which was sick ; neither have ye bound up that which was broken ; neither have ye brought again that which was driven away ; neither have ye sought that which was lost : but with force and with crueley , have ye ruled them . i should desire no more of any man , that thinks a pastor's life to be a life of ease and divertisement , than to make experiment ; though it be but among a few , and those well-disposed people , and he shall quickly find how much his work will daily grow upon his hands : to satisfy the doubting and scrupulous ; to set in joint the bones which have been dislocated or broken , by the falls of such as have been overtaken or surprized by sin g . to bear with the infirmities , slowness of capacity , and untowardness of such as he labours to instruct : to apply sutable remedies to their various spiritual distempers : to look after , and bring back such as have gone astray , either through their own levity , or the craftiness of seducers : with patience , pity and compassion , to bear with those that oppose themselves . and besides all this , meekly to treat the petulant and exorbitant , and to cicure or tame such as have altogether broken the yoke , and burst the bonds . 3. they are called servants or ministers . sometimes with respect to the subject or matter of their ministration ; and so they are stiled ministers of the word ; luk. 1. 2. even as they delivered them to us , which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word h . sometimes to set forth their relation to their lord and master , to whom , or in whose service , they do minister : so they are the ministers of christ , 1 cor. 4. 1. let a man so account of us , as of the ministers of christ i the word made use of in the original greek , translated [ minister ] doth primarily signify a rower , one that doth tug and sweat at the oar k . the poet could say , that they who handle the oar , stand in need of two things ; of god , to help them with a good wind , and of their own labour . the appellation then of a rower , being , in a metaphorical sense , applied to a servant , or minister of christ , may admonish him to continue his care and industry without any intermission ; for , ordinarily , the wind and tide are against him . and when it is so , if the rower sit still but a little , his vessel may be carried far backward , and he may lose more in one hour than he can recover in many . if a minister be remiss , when false doctrines , or immoralities in practice , like a tempest , bear down all before them , such disorders will quickly follow , as will not soon or easily be rectified or reformed . let him therefore animate himself with the apostle's spirit and resolution , gal. 2. 5. to whom we gave place by subjection , no not for an hour , that the truth of the gospel might continue with you . 4. they are frequently stiled ministers or servants ; but by a word , differing very much in the original from the former , which also doth engage them to much diligence and hard labour ; and that is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this word is used sometimes in the strict acceptation , and then it is rendred a deacon ; as 1 tim. 3. 8. likewise also must the deacons be grave — l . the occasion of erecting that order in the church , ye may find recorded in acts 6. and their proper work was , to take care of , and to manage the stock of the church ; and this , in ver . 2. is set forth by their serving of tables m : but the use of the word in the larger acceptation , is far more frequent ; to denote , a minister of the new-testament , 2 cor. 3. 6. the minister of god , 2 cor. 6. 4. a minister of jesus christ , 1 tim. 4. 6. that which i intend by adding this appellation , is as a farther demonstration , that the calling of a good minister requires much industry and diligence in those who will discharge their duty with fidelity : for the verb from which the word , which we render [ minister ] is derived , doth signify to make haste , or to work n . thus ye have had an account of this property of a good minister of jesus christ , that he is a workman : to which , i have added four titles more of the same import , because this seems most conspicuous and eminent , in that character which the text sets upon him : and there remains a little more to be spoken touching that adjunct , which is added concerning him ; for the apostle did not satisfy himself with calling him a work-man , but in a way of illustration or amplification , he subjoins , that he is a work-man that need not be ashamed . the text hath it in one word , unashamed o ; and this leads interpreters into several ways of explaining the sense and meaning of it . for some understand it actively . a good minister must be a well-resolved person ; that no shame , disgrace , or reproaches of men , should daunt or discourage him from professing or preaching the gospel . the apostle paul was well fortified against those impressions , which shame might make upon weaker minds ; for he saith , rom. 1. 16. i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ p , and often mentioneth his parrhesia : his speaking openly , with liberty and confidence ; as acts 9. 29. and he spake boldly in the name of the lord jesus . — acts 13. 46. then paul and barnabas waxed bold , and said , — q . neither could all the calumnies raised against him , nor injuries done him , make him ashamed ; 2 tim. 1. 12. for which cause , i also suffer these things ; nevertheless , i am not ashamed . — impudence is , indeed , most hateful in an evil matter , and draws down the wrath of god upon brazen-faced sinners ; jer. 6. 15. were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ? nay , they were not at all ashamed , neither could they blush , therefore they shall fall among them that fall . — he hath an hard province who is diepute with ignorance , when it is patronized by impudence . for how shall he instruct , or convince , those who are not ashamed of impertinencies , non-sense , or most gross absurdities ? but when the truths of god are to be vindicated , the faith which was at once delivered to the saints , to be contended for , and holiness to be propugned , the good minister of jesus christ should be bold as a lion , and pray earnestly to god for that grace which was promised to the prophet ezekiel , chap. 3. ver . 8 , 9. behold , i have made thy face strong against their faces , and thy forehead against their foreheads , as an adamant ; harder than a flint have i made thy forehead . fear them not , neither be dismaid at their looks , though they be a rebellious house . this may suffice for the active sense ; and this way doth the syriac version look ; shew thy self a work-man , without confusion : and many of the greek commentators are reported to concur therein . but there is also a passive sense , which may well be admitted , and that our own translators do prefer , and ( as i think ) doth best sute with the contexture of the apostle's discourse ; that a good minister should so carry it , in all his ministerial work , that he need not be ashamed . the apostle doth apparently insist upon that antithesis which is between a contentious sophister , who strives about words that are unprofitable and vain , and a work-man that needeth not be ashamed . when the design and management of a fallacious fiery disputation is detected , the work-man hath abundant cause to be ashamed , for his folly will be made manifest to all men. but when the good minister's work is most narrowly searched and sifted , he may hold up his face without spot ; yea , ( his infirmities being graciously covered and pardoned ) he may have confidence , and not be ashamed before christ at his coming . this may suffice for the third property of a good minister of jesus christ ; he is a work-man that needeth not to be ashamed . 4thly . the character of a good minister of jesus christ , is concluded with this property , that he is one who rightly divides the word of truth . for the clearing of this , two things are to be attended unto , which may be dispatched with convenient brevity . ( 1. ) what is the subject or matter about which his principal study and labour is to be employed , and that is , the word of truth . ( 2. ) what is incumbent upon him , with respect to the word of truth ; and that is , that he rightly divide it . 1. it is the word of truth , in , and about which , the thoughts and studies of a good minister of jesus christ are to be exercised . not in doubtful disputations , nor in the bare opinions and dictates of men , though of great reputation and authority : much less in framing cunningly devised fables , or golden legends , which may raise in the ignorant and credulous , admiration , superstition and rapture ; but in the considerate and prudent , disdain and indignation . the apostle hath informed us , how the great apostacy from the christian faith , was to be managed and carried on , 1 tim. 4. 1 , 2. — by giving heed to seducing spirits , and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy : but the good minister must firmly and entirely adhere to the word of truth . the great repository whereof , is the holy scripture , which bears upon it that glorious inscription , the scripture of truth , dan. 10. 21. r and the vvord of truth , the gospel of salvation , eph. 1. 13. and again , the vvord of the truth of the gospel . from hence must the good minister derive , confirm , and improve all his doctrine : for the whole scripture is given by inspiration of god , and is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , for instruction in righteousness : that the man of god may be perfect , throughly furnished to all good vvorks . they then offer an intolerable affront to the divine majesty , who speak wickedly for god , or talk deceitfully for him , job 13. 7. 2. what is the proper work of a good minister of christ , wherein he is to be occupied with reference to this word of truth ; and that is , rightly to divide it s ; which cannot be understood in a literal , but in a metaphorical sense . the conjectures of men about the explicating of the metaphor , have been various . some think it spoken in way of allusion , to the priest's cutting abroad , and dividing the sacrifices into their several parts , in which they were very curious and exact . others conceive , that the apostle hath respect to those t sections , into which the book of the law was divided by the jews , in order to their reading of it in their synagogues . others think the metaphor to be taken from mothers or nurses , who cut the meat which they give their children into small pieces , that they may the better receive and digest it . but not to insist upon the critical part , i think the sense and meaning is well expressed by the vulgar latin , rightly handling the vvord of truth u ; and by the syriac , rightly preaching — w . but if we expect something instructive from the metaphor made use of , i suppose it may afford us some light if compare these passages of scripture together . ( 1. ) the apostle doth stile the ministers of christ , stewards of the mysteries of god , 1 cor. 4. 1. ( 2. ) our saviour assigns this as one property of a good and faithful steward , who is set over the houshold , that he may give to every one their portion of meat in due season , luk. 12. 42. x distributing to every one their proper dimensum , or allotment : as exod 16. 16. every man according to his eating . herein then lies much of the good minister's prudence , care and tenderness , so to divide the word of truth , that every one may have their proper portion : he must provide milk for babes , and strong meat for them that are of full age , heb. 5. 13 , 14. accommodating his teaching to the necessities and capacities of the hearers . in this , their lord and master christ went before them , and hath left them an example , for he spake the word as the people were able to hear ; i. e. to understand , and profit by it ; mar. 4. 33. it is a singular grace or mercy that god bestows on his ministers , the tongue of the learned , that they should speak a word in season y . a word in season to the weary , that they may be refreshed : a word in season to the sorrowful , that they may be comforted : a word to the doubting , that they may be setled and established : a word to the secure and impenitent , that they may be awakened and convinced ; and so to others , as their case and condition may require , for then is the word of truth rightly divided . and thus i have endeavoured to represent before you the delineation of a good minister of jesus christ , according to those four properties which are suggested in , and from the text. and now , if ye have attended unto , and duly considered that character which hath been given of a good minister , i presume that many of you will be apprehensive , that it was not without reason that i intimated , in the entrance upon this discourse , that i should hold up before you a glass , or mirror , wherein ye might see the portraicture of that good minister ( whose funeral we , this day , solemnize ) to be reflected . it would be no difficult undertaking to draw the parallel , and shew the correspondence in every particular : but that performance would require near as much time as that which has been already filled up : ye must therefore be contented with such short recollections , as i can recover upon the hasty exercise of my thoughts . the reverend and worthy minister of jesus christ , mr. richard steel , was born in cheshire near nantwich , on the tenth day of may , anno dom. 1629 , and left this world november the 16th , anno dom. 1692 , so that he died in the 64th year of his age. where he had his education in his younger years , hath not come to my notice : but i find in the fasti oxonienses , that richard steel was master of arts of st. john's college in cambridg , and was incorporated into the university of oxford , march the 27th 1656. he is there mentioned among the oxford-writers ; and several of his printed works are recited . when he entred into the sacred ministery is unknown to me ; but after that he was invested therewith , i am informed that he did exercise it in divers places , as the providence of god disposed of him , until he came to london , which , ( as i conjecture ) was about 24 or 25 years ago : and here he hath continued , preaching the gospel in and about the city , as god gave him liberty and opportunity , until he put a period both to his labours and life . that he did eminently discharge the duty of a good minister , will appear by some few remarks , whereby it will be made evident , that he wrote very fairly after that copy which i have been decyphering unto you : e. gr . 1. our apostle , the more to recommend a good minister , doth shew , how unlike he is to a contentious wrangling sophister , which lives in the fire of disputing and dividing . but it may be truly said of our worthy brother , as it was of caleb , he was a man of another spirit . he hated contentions and divisions ; he greatly bewailed them ; and used his uttermost endeavour to promote union and concord . that this was his temper , is clearly demonstrated by his discourse against uncharitable contentions in the church of god. which discourse is printed in the 4th volume of the casuistical morning-exercises , preached in october 1689 , wherein he shewed a deep judgment , and a very prudent pacifick spirit . 2. the apostle describes a good minister of jesus christ , by his studiousness and diligence . in which , it must be concluded , that our deceased brother was very exemplary . for his sermons were composed and written with mature digestion , though with much brevity ; which manifest them to have been the product of many serious thoughts ; and considering his constancy in preaching , must needs require very hard study . his manuscript notes of his sermons are exceeding many , and deserve to be carefully preserved . when we compute the time , that must necessarily have been spent about his ordinary labours , we may judg , that a person of more than common attainments , had filled it up very well : yet he redeemed so much besides , as enabled him to compose and publish several pious and profitable treatises . of which , i think , it may be of good use to annex a catalogue : as , ( 1. ) an antidote against distractions ; or , an endeavour to serve the church in the daily case of wandrings in the worship of god. this treatise came to my hands before i ever saw the face of the author ; and i have heard many to bless god for it , and to profess that they were greatly edified by it . what acceptance this book hath found with such as are serious in religion , may be estimated by the several impressions of it . there is one circumstance more that relates to it , which may not be passed over , viz. that it was written by mr. steel when he was in prison in wales for non-conformity : here we find that exemplified , which was once the case of st. paul , 2 tim. 2. 9. vvherein i suffer trouble as an evil-doer , even unto bonds : but the vvord of god is not bound . and as , while he was in prison , he endeavoured to edify the church of god by his writings ; so he did also by his preaching , while he was under confinement , seek the salvation of those who came to hear him . and it is to be hoped , that it may be said of some of them , as paul did of onesimus , that they were begotten again by him , while he was in bonds . ( 2. ) the husband-man's calling ; shewing the excellencies , temptations , graces and duties of the christian husband-man . ( 3. ) a plain discourse of uprightness ; shewing the properties and privileges of an upright man. ( 4. ) the trades-man's calling : a discourse concerning the nature , necessity , choice , &c. of a calling in general ; and directions for the right managing of the tradesman's calling in particular . ( 5. ) a discourse of old-age ; tending to the instruction , caution and comfort of aged persons . ( 6. ) a scheme and abstract of the christian religion , comprized in fifty two heads , with the texts of scripture on which they are grounded . and some short indications , how they were more largely handled . ( 7. ) besides his discourse against uncharitable contentions , printed among the sermons in the 4 th volume of the casuistical morning-exercises ; there are also other sermons of his printed : as , ( 1. ) the duties of husbands and vvives toward each other , in the supplement of the morning-exercise at cripple-gate ; 1674. ( 2. ) believers right to the cup in the lord's supper : in the morning-exercise against propery , 1675. ( 3. ) vvhat are the hindrances and helps to a good memory , in spiritual things : in the continuation of the morning-exercises , questions , and cases of conscience , 1683. these are the books which were published by our reverend brother ; by the diligent reading whereof , private christians may , by god's blessing , be much improved in their spiritual growth . 3. a good minister of jesus christ will study to approve himself unto god : and to do so , we may be assured , was the constant care and endeavour of our deceased brother . for he was circumspect ; unblameable and exemplary in the whole course of his conversation , and the exercise of his ministry ; who might , through grace , have taken up the apostle's words , 2 cor. 1. 12. our rejoyoing is this , the testimony of our conscience , that in simplicity and godly sincerity , not with fleshly vvisdom ; but by the grace of god , we have had our conversation in the vvorld . and now , we doubt not , but that god's approbation of him , is perfectly assured , by his actual admission of him into his presence , where there is fulness of joy , and at whose right-hand are pleasures for evermore . 4. a good minister of jesus christ , is a work-man that need not to be ashamed : his abundant labours do manifest that he was a constant and diligent work-man ; and the lord christ did so assist and help him in his work , that upon an impartial review , he needed not to have been ashamed of it . he had a singular faculty of saying much in a little . the subjects which he discoursed upon , were practical and profitable . since our conjunction , that we laboured together in the service of christ , he preached over the parable of the wise and foolish virgins , in matt. 25. then he spent a considerable time in resolving many practical cases of conscience , with great plainness and perspicuity ; both for instruction and satisfaction . his last undertaking , was to treat of the attributes of god. they are a rich mine of spiritual treasures ; but they are also a vast and boundless ocean : each of them are so large a field , that the most searching and illuminated understanding cannot reach its limits ; yet he could contract his discourses , that usually he allotted but one sermon for each attribute . his last sermon was upon the goodness of god ; which he concluded with an exhortation to make a present choice of god for our god ; and his last words were close and piercing , fit to make a lasting impression , [ ye cannot make a better choice , and are eternally undone if ye make a worse . ] the contemplation of the attributes of god must needs have filled him with ravishment , while he viewed them , though but as in a glass , darkly . but now he is gone to those regions of light and love , where all mists are dispelled ; and there he hath such a knowledg of them , as they who are muffled up with mortality , cannot comprehend . 5. he was a pastor , who made it his business to over-see , and seed his flock . he desired to know his sheep by name : he often visited those who were his pecullar charge , and endeavoured to edify them , with some serious discourse about their soul concernments , enquiring after their proficiency ; resolving their doubts , encouraging and directing them , as their case did require . he was careful and exact in observing whether any of them failed in their attendance upon the ordinances of god : especially if he missed any of them at the lord's supper , once or twice , he would be sure to send to them ; and ( on the first opportunity ) to enquire of them , what it was that kept them away ? 6. as a good minister of jesus christ , he was very dextrous and skilful in rightly dividing the word of truth . in every sermon he was careful to provide milk for babes , and strong meat for grown men. his stile was easy , familiar , though far from being loose , careless or rustick : but his matter was always substantial and weighty ; and so , by a rare composition , his discourses were framed and attempered , that the meanest might learn , and those of higher attainments , meet with nothing to be naufeated . 7. as in his preaching he made it appear , that he was richly stored with scripture-knowledg ; so in his praying , he gave evident proof , that the spirit of grace and supplication was plentifully poured out upon him : for he performed that holy duty orderly , perspicuously , seriously and affectionately , to the exciting of devotion in those that joined with him . these instances are sufficient to demonstrate , that the character of a good minister of jesus christ was truly exemplified in him . as to the circumstances of his last sickness and death , i have but little to insist upon , because , i think , that generally all of you were as well acquainted with them as my self . on the lord's-day , which was the 13 th of this instant november , he preached in this , place in the morning , and at hogsden in the afternoon . on monday he visited several friends in london , and seemed to be as lively and vigorous , as usually he had been for a long time . he had been afflicted with the tiffick for many years , otherwise he was as vegete and active , as most who arrived at his years , in the evening he repaired to a friend's house in cheapside , where he intended to lodg that night : but finding himself under great indisposition , he was carried to his own house in a coach , about ten of the clock . the next day , he rose , and seemed to be somewhat revived , but kept his chamber all that day . on the wednesday he continued in his bed very faint and shot-breathed . he had the assistance of a very able physician , his intimate friend , who took the best method with him that his art could direct unto , but our days are determined , and the number of our months is with god , which we cannot pass . he complained not of any pain , and the use of his reason and senses continued to the very last ; and about ten of the clock at night , without any struggle or pangs , he quietly gave up the ghost , finding a very short and easy passage to his eternal rest. blessed are the dead which die in the lord ; yea ; saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their vvorks do follow them . having given this short account of our reverend brother ; i shall address my self , in a few words , to those who attended upon his ministry , and conclude . 1. be deeply affected with this sharp dispensation of providence . your loving , laborious and faithful pastor , is removed from you . he will never more instruct you , nor pray with you , nor pray particularly for you , ( at least , the scripture gives no assurance thereof ) yet we may hope , that many prayers which he put up in his life-time , for his children , friends and hearers , are recorded in heaven , and may , in god's due time , bring down blessings upon them . 2. many of you do profess , that ye had a very great esteem for him : now make it appear , that your affections were real and radieated . i shall press you with our saviour's test , or trial of his disciples love to him , if ye love me , keep my commandments : so , if ye sincerely loved your good minister , let your conversations be correspondent to that holy doctrine which he taught you . to commend a preacher , and yet to live contrany to his doctrine , is to affront and deride him . an impenitent , unreformed sinner , who lives in pride , earthliness , envy , sensuality and passionateness , and the like immoralities , cannot be a cordial friend to a faithful minister . it is the great honour of a teacher , when his hearers are good proficients in the school of christ ; but the ignorant and prophane , are a reproach to him . many will be apt to impute the non-proficiency of the scholar , to the want of skill or diligence in the master . 3. slack not , but increase your diligence to promote the edification and salvation of your souls , now when your teacher is removed . this will be one evidence of your sincerity , and that ye were acted from an internal , vital principle . a living man moves ; and a clock , or machin , moves ; but there is a vast difference between their motions : the one moves from a vital principle , the other only from springs or vveights . let it never be said of any of you , as it was said of joash , that after the death of jehojada , he left the house of the lord. could your pastor speak to you , i suppose , he might well use the words of the apostle , ( which i heartily recommend to you ) phil. 2. 12 , 13. vvherefore ; my beloved brethren , as ye have always obeyed , not as in my presence only , but now much more in my absence ; work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . for it is god that worketh in you , both to will and to do , of his good pleasure . finis . books sold by samuel sprint , at the bell in little-britain . the vanity of man's present state , proved and applied in a sermon on psal. 39. 5. with divers sermons of the saints communion with god. by mr. john wilson . a treatise concerning the lord's-supper , with three dialogues . by thomas doolittle . the ninth edition . time , and the end of time , in two discourses . by john fox . godly fear ; or the nature and necessity of fear , and its usefulness . by r. allen. the door of heaven opened and shut ; or , a discourse concerning the absolute necessity of a timely preparation for a happy eternity . by john fox . the anatomical exercises of dr. william harvey ; with the preface of zachariah wood , physician of rotterdam . to which is added , dr. james de-back his discourse of the heart , physician in ordinary to the town of rotterdam . insant-baptism from heaven , and not of men. by joseph whiston . in 4 parts . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a45388-e1950 a rev. 3. 12. b luke 17. 22. c cant. 1. 11. compared with chap. 2. 2. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e 2 tim. 2. 24 , 25. f sir henry wotton ; disputandi pruritus peperit scabiem ecclesiae . g 1 tim. 6. 4. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 1 cor. 10. 22. all things are lawful for me , but all things are not expedient ; — but all things edify not . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . k 2 tim. 3. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l jam. 3. 16. m 1 tim. 6. 11. n 1 tim. 4. 13 , 16. o 1 tim. 4. 6. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . q sollicitè cura . r aeth . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , festino , propero ; and from thence comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sedulò strenuè operam navo ; contendo , enitor . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . t phil. 1. 17. u tit. 1. 9. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ver. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . x rom. 9. 15. y 1 cor. 3. 6. z cor. 25. 28 , 29 , 30. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; ambimus : rom. 15. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e cor. 2 11. 13. f joh. 12. 43. g tibi curae sit sistere teipsum integerrime coram deo. h 2 tim. 2. 2. tit. 1. 5. * 2 cor. 4. 16 , — 18. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , laboro , fatigor , lassor . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . o luk. 13. 6 , 7. p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , legatus , nuncius . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , seniores . r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s senatus & senatores . t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , qui praecundo monstraut viam . u potestatem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ducendi ; non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cogendi . w 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , super ex abundanti z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . g gal. 6. 1. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . k the primitive verb is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , remigo : but in the common use , it is enlarged , and extended to signify a servant in general . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; which etymologists deduce from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dust ; because , they say , such as run races or work abroad , do raise the dust. o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . u rectè tractantem . w rectè praedicantem . x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . y isaiah 50. 4. a funeral-sermon for the reverend, holy and excellent divine, mr. richard baxter who deceased decemb. 8, 1691 : with an account of his life / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. 1692 approx. 117 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 73 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26788 wing b1107 estc r21548 12617886 ocm 12617886 64427 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26788) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 64427) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 343:7) a funeral-sermon for the reverend, holy and excellent divine, mr. richard baxter who deceased decemb. 8, 1691 : with an account of his life / by william bates ... bates, william, 1625-1699. [8], 132 [i.e. 124], [4] p. printed for brab. aylmer ..., london : 1692. advertisements: p. [1]-[4] at end. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. marginal notes. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng baxter, richard, 1615-1691. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2004-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-11 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral-sermon for the reverend , holy and excellent divine , mr. richard baxter , who deceased decemb. 8. 1691. with an account of his life . by william bates , d. d. london , printed for brab . aylmer , at the three pigeons against the royal exchange in cornhill . 1692. to the right worshipfull , and his much honoured friend , sr henry ashurst , baronet . sir , your noble and constant kindness to mr. baxter living , and your honourable respect to him dead , have induced me to inscribe the following memorial of him to your name . he was most worthy of your highest esteem and love , for the first impressions of heaven upon your soul , were in reading his unvalued book of the saints everlasting rest. this kindled a mutual affection in your breasts : his love was directing , counselling , and exciting you to secure your future happiness : your love was observant , gratefull , and beneficent to him . the sincerity and generosity of your friendship , was very evident , in your appearing and standing by him , when he was so roughly and unrighteously handled , by one , who was the dishonour of this ages law ; whose deportment in a high place of judicature , was so contrary to wisdom , humanity , and justice , that there need no foul words to make his name odious . of this and your other favours mr. baxter retain'd a dear and lasting sense ; and in his dying hours declared , that you had been the best friend he ever had . he has finished his course , and received his crown : his name will shine longer than his enemies shall bark . i cannot omit the mentioning , that mr. boyle and mr. baxter , those incomparable persons in their several studies , and dear friends , died within a short space of one another . mr. boyle was engaged in the contemplation of the design and architecture of the visible world , and made rare discoveries in the system of nature : not for curiosity and barren speculation , but to admire and adore the perfections of the deity in the variety , order , beauty , and marvellous artifice of the creatures that compose this great universe . mr. baxter was conversant in the invisible world : his mind was constantly applied to understand the harmonious agreement of the divine attributes in the oeconomy of our salvation , and to restore men to the favour and image of god. they are now admitted into the inlightned and purified society above : where the immense volumes of the divine wisdom are laid open , and by one glance of an eye , they discover more perfectly the causes , effects , and concatenation of all things in heaven and earth , than the most diligent inquirers can do here , in a thousand years study , though they had the sagacity of solomon . by the light of glory , they see the face of god , and are satisfied with his likeness for ever . 't is a high honour to you , that mr. boyle and mr. baxter should by their last will nominate you amongst their executors . it was the saying of a wise roman , malo divi augusti judicium , quam beneficium . i had rather have the esteem of the emperour augustus than his gifts : for he was an understanding prince , and his esteem was very honourable to a person . that two who so excell'd in wisdom and goodness , should commit to your trust the disposal of their estates for the uses of piety and charity , is a more noble testimony of their esteem of your prudence and inviolable integrity , than if they had bequeathed to you rich legacies . it is a satisfaction to me , that i have complied with mr. baxter's desire in preaching his funeral-sermon , and with yours in publishing it . i shall unfeignedly recommend your self , your excellent lady , and vertuous children , to the divine mercies : and remain , with great respect , sir , your humble and faithfull servant , william bates . a sermon on the death of mr. richard baxter . luke 23.46 . and when jesus had cried with a loud voice , he said , father , into thy hands i commend my spirit . the words are the prayer of our blessed saviour in the extremity of his passion . his unrighteous and implacable enemies had nail'd his body to the cross , but they had no power over his spirit , that was ready to take its flight to the sanctuary of life and immortality . this dying prayer of christ is a pattern for sincere christians : he has invested them with the relation of children of god ; and authorises them by his example , to commend their departing spirits to his powerful love. the observation i shall unfold and apply , is this : 't is the priviledg of dying saints , to commend their spirits into the hands of their heavenly father . in discoursing of this , i shall , i. consider the foundation of this priviledg . ii. shew what a blessed priviledg this is . iii. apply it . i. the foundation of this priviledg is to be consider'd : this is built upon two things . 1. the relation of god to the saints . 2. his perfections joined with that relation . 1. the relation of god to the saints . the title of father is upon several accounts attributed to god. ( 1. ) he is a father by creation : o lord , thou art our father : we are the clay , thou art the potter , we are the work of thine hands . he formed man's body into a majestick figure , becoming his original state , being lord of the lower world. but in a peculiar manner he is stiled the father of spirits : they have a near alliance , and resemblance of the father of lights , in their intellectual powers , and their immortal nature . from hence it is , the angels are called the sons of god : they are the eldest off-spring of his power . adam has the title of the son of god. and since the fall , men are called god's offspring . there is an indelible character of dignity engraven in the reasonable nature by the hand of god. but since man turn'd rebel to his creator and father , this endearing obliging relation aggravates his rebellion , but gives him no interest in the paternal love of god , of which he has made a deadly forfeiture . 't is threatned against ignorant perverse sinners , he that made them , will not save them . ( 2. ) upon the account of external calling and profession , there is an intercurrent relation of father and sons between god and his people . thus the posterity of seth are called the sons of god : and the entire nation of the jews are so stiled ; when israel was young , i called my son out of egypt . and all that have received baptism , the seal of the holy covenant , and profess christianity , in this general sense may be called the children of god. but 't is not the outward dedication that entitles men to a saving interest in god , unless they live according to that dedication . there are baptized infidels , as well as unbaptized . how many every day fall as deep as hell , whose hopes were high , on the account of their external christianity . ( 3. ) god is our father upon a more excellent account , by renovation and adoption . the natural man is what st. paul saith of the voluptuous widow , dead while he lives . there is not only a cessation of spiritual acts , but an utter incapacity to perform them : he cannot obey nor enjoy god. now the renewing of man is called a regeneration : our saviour tells nicodemus , verily i say unto you , vnless a man be born again , he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven . the reason of the expression is , because there is a new nature , spiritual , holy and heavenly , communicated , different from the carnal , polluted and earthly nature , derived from the first adam . and as the relation of a father results from the communicating a vital active principle to another , in that kind of life like his own : so god by making us partakers of a divine nature , of his life and image , is stiled our father : of his own will beg at he us , with the word of truth . and we are said , to be born again , not of corruptible seed , but incorruptible , by the word of god , which liveth and abideth for ever . by the divine influence , the word of god implants in them such qualities and dispositions whereby they resemble god , are holy , as he is holy , in all manner of conversation . they are called godly , as they are like him in their minds , affections and actions . and to such god has the heart and eye of a father , to regard and relieve them in all their exigencies . like as a father pities his children , so the lord pities them that serve him . we are also the children of god by adoption . this heavenly privilege is obtained for us by the meritorious sufferings of christ , and is founded in our union with him . god sent his son , that he might redeem them that were under the law , that they might receive the adoption of sons . for his sake we are not only pardoned , but preferr'd to this heavenly dignity . 't is worthy of observation , that the degrees of our redemption mentioned in scripture , have annex'd to them parallel degrees of our adoption . thus when 't is said , we are redeemed from the curse of the law , 't is added , that we might receive the adoption of sons . when 't is said , we are freed from the servile spirit of the law , it follows , we have received the spirit of adoption , whereby we cry , abba , father . and the apostle tells us , that the redemption of our bodies from the bondage of corruption , into the glorious liberty of the sons of god , is our adoption , that is the manifestation of it before all the world. our adoption is founded in our union with christ. a member of christ , and a son of god are the same : 't is therefore said , as many as received him , to them gave he power , or privilege , to become the sons of god , even to them that believe on his name . and ye are all the sons of god , by faith in jesus christ. this is the vital band of our union with christ , and invests us with his relation to god. when he was to leave the world , he sends this comfortable message to his disciples ; go , tell my brethren , i ascend to my father and your father , to my god and your god. his relation has the precedence in order , dignity and causality . he is god's own son , in a sense infinitely high and proper to himself : to which of the angels said he at any time , thou art my son , to day have i begotten thee ? the sublimest prophet breaks forth with wonder , who shall declare his generation ? 't is above our capacity and conception . it becomes us to acquiesce in what the scripture reveals . he is the eternal word and wisdom of god , the brightness of his father's glory . this is the most fit comparison : for as light is productive of light without any diminution ; so the eternal father communicated his essence to the son. in short , god is christ's father by nature , and god by dispensation ; he is our god as the author of nature , and our father by adoption . before i proceed , it is fit to observe the excellence of the evangelical adoption above the civil adoption among men. ( 1. ) adoption is a legal act in imitation of nature , for the comfort of those who are without children . but god had a son , the heir of his love and glory . his adopting love is heightned by considering our meanness and vileness : we are but a little breathing dust , worthless rebels . the apostle cries out in a rapture of admiration and joy , behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us , that we should be called the sons of god! if we consider the natural distance between god and us , as he is the creator , and we are the works of his hands , 't is truly infinite ; but the moral distance between the holy righteous god and the guilty polluted creature , is , if it were possible , more than infinite : love inconceivable ! that releases us from bondage , and adopts us into the line of heaven . if we admire any thing of this world in comparison of it , 't is a sign we have no share in this privilege . ( 2. ) civil adoption conveys no praise-worthy qualities into the person that is adopted . a king may adopt one to be his son , and the heir of his kingdom , but cannot endow him with a royalty of spirit , with ruling wisdom , with justice and equity , clemency and bounty , with magnanimity and fortitude , that may qualify him to manage the scepter . the adopted prince may be of a low sordid disposition , a slave to his vile lusts , and designing to enslave others . but all the adopted sons of god are divinely renewed ; they are purified from defiling & debasing lusts , and are adorn'd with all the graces of the spirit , that god is not ashamed to be called their god and father , nor christ ashamed to call them brethren . now from this special relation and interest of god in the saints , there is a sure foundation of their trust in his saving mercy . david addresses himself to god for his preservation from imminent danger , i am thine , save me : as if his miscarrying would be a loss to god , who had so dear a propriety in him . i come now to the second thing that encourages the praying faith of the saints when they leave the world , to commend their souls to him , his perfections joined with his relation : his love inclines , his truth engages , and his power enables him to bring them safely to heaven . 1. his love. this is the brightest ray of the deity , the first and clearest notion we have of god. st. john tells us , god is love. his love cannot be fully express'd by the dearest relations and affections in nature . the relation of parents , as 't is most deeply implanted in nature , so it implies the most cordial , strong and tender affection . but as god is infinitely greater and better than earthly parents ; so he equally excels them , as in his abilities , so in his good will to his children . our saviour directs us , call no man father upon earth , for one is your father , which is in heaven : the title and love of a father is peculiar to him . our saviour argues , if you that are evil , know how to give good things to your children , how much more shall your heavenly father to those that ask him ? the inference is strong , not only from the divine authority of the speaker , but from the native perspicuity of the things : for the love of an earthly father is but an infusion into his breast from the heavenly father , and but a faint resemblance of his love. the love of a mother is more tender and endearing than of a father : even a fearful hen will fly upon death , to preserve its tender brood from the devourer : yet the love of god to his children far excels it . can a woman forget her sucking child ? what heart , what marble is in her breast so incompassionate and unrelenting , as to neglect her helpless infant ? she may , but , saith god , i will never forget thee . the seraphims , those bright and unperishing flames , are but faint and cold , in comparison of god's love to his children . 't is observable how the love of god to them expresses it self in all the notions of propriety and preciousness , to make it more sensible to us . they are stiled his treasure , his jewels , the most precious part of his treasure , the jewels of his crown , that are the richest jewels . now will he throw away his treasure , or suffer the cruel enemy to rob him of his jewels ? will he not take them into his safe custody ? 't is to be observed , that the esteem and affection of god principally respects the souls of his children : their souls have an original affinity with him in their substance as spirits : and being born again of the spirit , they are spirit in their divine qualities & endowments , and more endear'd to him than by their first alliance . his tender care to preserve them , will be correspondent to his valuation and love. moreover , the condition of departing souls affords another argument of reliance upon his love ; for they leave this visible world , with all their supports and comforts ; they are stripp'd of all sensible securities : and will he leave them fatherless in such a forlorn and desolate state ? his love is express'd by mercy , compassion , pity , melting affections , that are most tenderly moved when the beloved object is in distress . our saviour propounds an argument for dependance upon the delivering love of god , from the exigence of his people ; shall not god deliver his own elect , the designation of love , who cry day and night to him ? he will do it speedily . love is never more ardent and active than in times of distress . therefore when his dying children are deprived of all their hopes and dependance upon creatures , and fly to him for protection and relief , will he not hear their mournful requests , and grant their fainting desires ? when their earthly tabernacles are so ruinous , that they are forc'd to dislodg , will the love of a heavenly father suffer their naked souls to wander in the vast regions of the other world , seeking rest , and finding none ? certainly he will bring them into his reviving presence . if divine love be so condescending , that the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity , dwells with the humble and contrite spirit , to revive the spirit of the humble , when they are confin'd to our lowly earth , we may be assur'd , when that spirit shall be devested of flesh , he will bring it to heaven the temple of his glory , to be with him for ever . 't is greater love for a king to lay aside his state , and dwell in a mean cottage with his favourite , than to receive him into his palace , and communicate to him of his rich abundance . 't is another most comfortable consideration , that the love of god is unvariable towards his children : his love is the sole moving cause of our filial relation to him : of his own will he begat us by the word of truth . his soveraign free love was the principle of his electing any to the dignity of being his children : this love is as unchangeable as free ; and election that proceeds from it , is as unchangeable as his love. what can induce him to alter his affection towards them ? for such is the perfection of his knowledg , that he can never be surprized by a sudden new event , that may cause a change in his mind and will. he foresaw all the sins of his people , with their provoking aggravations . now if the foresight of them did not hinder his electing love in its rise , can they frustrate its end , the bringing of them to glory ? besides , we may argue from what his love has done for his children , to what he will do : he has given his son and spirit to them , the surest signs of his love , if we consider the unvaluable excellence of the gifts , and the design of the giver . the son of god is the most excellent gift of his love , as undeserved , as he was undesired : and from hence the apostle argues , he that gave his son for us all , how much more will he with him give us all things ? blessed god! what richer evidence , and more convincing demonstration can there be of thy love ? will he not with him give us all things ? the inference is direct and conclusive , with respect to temporal and eternal things . he will give to his children in the present world , whatever his wisdom , in conjunction with his love , sees good for them . to illustrate this by a low and familiar instance ; if a mother bestows upon her daughter rich jewels for her marriage-ornaments , will she deny her pins to dress her ? and we may as strongly argue , that with his son he will give us eternal blessings . will he give us the tree of life , and not permit us to eat of the fruit of it ? what was the design of his counsel and compassion , in giving his son to be a sacrifice for us , but to restore us to his favour ? the apostle reasons strongly , if when we were enemies , we were reconciled to god by the death of his son , much more being reconciled , we shall be saved by his life . he has paid our ransom , and revers'd the sentence of condemnation against us ; and it invincibly follows , he can more easily accomplish our happiness in heaven . if love justify a sinner , it will glorify a saint . and as the gift of the son , so the most precious gift of the spirit to god's children , to make them holy and heavenly , is the most certain sign of his love to them . the apostle in the fullest expression speaks of it ; god who is rich in mercy , for his great love wherewith he has loved us , even when we were dead in sins , quickned us together with christ : by grace ye are saved . sanctification is the effect of rich mercy , great love , and saving grace . the children of god are seal'd by the holy spirit to the day of redemption : that seal distinguishes them from the obstinate and polluted world , and ratifies the conveyance of eternal life to them . the spirit is stiled the earnest of the inheritance . his dwelling in the saints by his sanctifying and comforting operations , is an earnest of their dwelling with god in his sanctuary above . from hence the apostle propounds a strong argument to assure the saints , upon their leaving this world , of their reception into heaven ; now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing , is god ; and the almighty always obtains his end : who hath also given us the earnest of his spirit . holiness is the morning-star of the great day ; grace is the preparative and assurance of glory : for altho the saints are in themselves mutable , and while there remains corruption within , and a tempting world without , are liable to falling away , yet the free and powerful love of god that revived them when dead , will preserve them living ; that which raised them from the grave , will prevent their relapsing into it . the gifts of god are without repentance . how triumphantly does the apostle express his confidence , who shall separate us from the love of god ? shall tribulation , or distress , or persecution , or famine , or nakedness , or peril , or sword ? these are the most powerful terrors that the perverse world , in combination with the devil , can make use of to constrain us to desert the service of god ; but they are vain . nay , in all these things we are more than conquerors , through him that loved us : for i am perswaded , that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature , shall be able to separate us from the love of god , that is in christ jesus our lord. this blessed assurance of the apostle is not rais'd from his extraordinary privileges , not from the apparition of angels to him , nor his rapture to paradise , nor special revelations , but from the love of god in christ jesus our lord , that everlastingly embraces all his children . briefly , in that god has given his son to die for us , and his spirit to live in us , his son to purchase and prepare heaven for us , his spirit to prepare us for heaven , a dying saint may with blessed tranquillity commend his soul into god's hands . i have more particularly considered the fatherly love of god , what a strong security it affords to his children , that he will never leave them , in that no point requires and deserves more confirmation , and weight of argument to press it down into our distrustful hearts . 2. the divine truth affords a strong security to the children of god , to commend their souls to him at last . truth is an attribute as essential and dear to god as any of his perfections . and in the accomplishment of our salvation , he ordered all things becoming to his wisdom , that is for the illustration of all his principal attributes , and accordingly design'd the glory of his truth equally with the honour of his mercy . thus he declares to his chosen people , know therefore that the lord thy god , he is god , the faithful god , which keepeth covenant and mercy , with them that love him , and keep his commandments . the attribute that is set next to the deity , as most sacred , is the faithful god ; and that further express'd , keeping covenant and mercy ; for he delights in fulfilling his promises , as in the freest acts of mercy . the psalmist breaks forth with the affectionate praises of these attributes , i will worship towards thy holy temple , and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and thy truth : for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name . his word here immediately signifies his promise , that has its rise from his loving kindness , and its performance from his truth . this he magnifies both with respect to the matter of his promises that are exceeding great and precious , and the fulfilling them above all that we can ask or think . god cannot repent or lie ; his counsels are unretractable , from the immutability of his nature ; his promises are infallible , from his fidelity : they are as unchangeable as the sun and stars in their appointed courses ; nay , more stable than the centre : for heaven and earth shall pass away , but not a tittle of his promises , and our hopes be unfulfilled . if the frame of nature were dissolved , it would be no loss to god , who is glorious and blessed in his own perfections : but if his promises fail , the honour of his truth would be impair'd and blemish'd . the psalmist saith , those that know thy name , will trust in thee : those who know the creature , its levity , mutability and mortality , will be discourag'd from trusting in it ; but those who know the eternal constancy of god in his nature and promises , will securely rely upon him . now the promises , the declarations of god's love , without which we cannot have any solid and sustaining hope in our death , assure us of god's receiving the separate spirits of his children . there was a constant clearness , tho not in that degree of light as since the appearance of christ , of the happiness of the departed saints . dying jacob breaks forth with a lively hope , o lord , i have waited for thy salvation . job says , tho he kill me , yet will i trust in him ; that is , for his almighty mercy in the next state. the psalmist expresses his confidence , thou wilt guide me by thy counsel , and receive me into thy glory . after the safe conducting him through a world of troubles and temptations , he would bring him to heaven , a place of equal purity and glory . david when he was in pressing peril , addresses to god , into thy hands i commend my spirit , to be preserved as a precious depositum ; thou hast redeemed me , o lord god of truth . his assurance is built on god's right and title to him , thou hast redeemed me , and his everlasting fidelity . the apostle speaks with full assurance , we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved , we have a building of god eternal in the heavens . and , we are confident , i say , rather to be absent from the body , and present with the lord. st. peter encourages christians when surrounded with death , to commit their souls to him : wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of god , commit the keeping of their souls to him in wel-doing , as unto a faithful creator . he encourageth them to encounter death in its most formidable pomp , by considering their souls shall be safe for ever , upon the account of god's right and interest in them , and his fidelity : he has an original right in them by the first creation , as they are intellectual immortal spirits in their nature , but a nearer and more especial right by a new and nobler creation , as they are renewed spirits , made like to him in his holiness , the most divine perfection . the relation of creator implies his omnipotent love , and the attribute of faithful , his eternal love declar'd in his promises . there can never be the least cause to charge him with insincerity or inconstancy . the favour of god is round about the righteous as a shield : and his faithfulness is round about him , that he is always ready to perform his promise to them . they may safely trust the worth of their souls , and the weight of eternity with him , who has said , he will never leave them , nor forsake them . besides , the promise of a reward to the obedient children of god , is secur'd not only by his fidelity , but the declar'd equity of his proceedings in his final judgment . 't is a regality invested in the crown of heaven to dispense rewards : whoever comes to god , must believe that he is , and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . his being and rewarding bounty are the foundations of religion . 't is true , such is the distance between god and the creature , and the eternal obligations of it to god , that it can challenge nothing from god , as due to its merit . justice unqualified with bounty and clemency , owes nothing to the most excellent obedience of the creature , tho innocent . but since the fall , our best works are defective and defiled , and want pardon ; and our heaviest sufferings are but light in the ballance , against the exceeding weight of glory . but the apostle tells the thessalonians , it is a righteous thing with god to recompense tribulation to them who trouble you : and to you who are troubled , rest with us . consider them in the comparison ; 't is becoming his governing justice to punish the unrighteous persecutors , and reward his faithful servants who suffer for his glory . now the present life is the day for our work , as our saviour saith , i must do the work of him that sent me , while 't is called to day : and at death , the spirit returns to god that gave it , in order to judgment , either fatal or favourable , according to the tenor of mens good works , and the desert of their bad . the promise is to them , who by patient continuance in wel-doing , seek for glory , and honour , and immortality , they shall obtain eternal life . our saviour encourages his suffering servants , be faithful to the death , and i will give you the crown of life . the compleat reward is reserved to the great day of universal recompences , when the sons of god by regeneration , shall be the sons of a glorious resurrection . but the righteous judg will give a present reward at the end of the day , to all that with unfainting perseverance have perform'd his work. our saviour tells us , that all who wrought in the vineyard , receiv'd their rewards in the last hour of the day : the parallel is instructive , that when the night of death comes , the reward will be dispens'd . there is a law recorded concerning the paying wages to those who were hir'd , that it should be in the end of the day ; that it should not be detain'd all night with thee until the morning . the allusion is very congruous , that god will fulfil his own law to his sons that serve him . the reward shall not abide with him the long dark interval , the night , wherein their bodies sleep in the grave , till the morning of the resurrection . our saviour promised the dying penitent , to day shalt thou be with me in paradise . the end of our faith is immediately attended with the salvation of the soul : the labour of faith being finish'd , is productive of the beatifick vision in the state of light and glory . the sum is , that the children of god , who have by constant conversation sincerely endeavoured to please and glorify him , may with an entire resignation commit their souls to his hands , as if an angel were sent from heaven to them in their dying agonies , with the comfortable message , that they should presently be with god. 3. the divine power , in conjunction with love and truth , is the foundation of our secure dependance upon god in our last hours . this consideration is absolutely necessary for our sure trust : for love without power is ineffectual , and power without love of no comfortable advantage to us . the apostle gives this reason of his chearful and couragious sufferings in the service of god , for i know in whom i have believed , and am perswaded he is able to keep what i have committed to him , till that day . his faith respected the promises of god concerning his salvation , which are infinitely sure , the divine power being alsufficient to fulfil them . the precious depositum that is committed to his dear care , he can and will preserve inviolate . the father of sincere believers , is the lord of heaven and earth , who by his word , without the least strain of his power , made the world , and preserves it from falling into confusion . 't is the essence of faith , to assure us of god's almighty mercy to all that have the true characters of his children , that are qualified for his salvation . our redeemer joins the two relations of our father and our god ; the gracious and the glorious relation are inseparable . now the love of our heavenly father engages the power of our god , that we shall want nothing to secure our happiness , that is within the object of omnipotence . i shall insist no further upon the consideration of the divine power , because it will return under some of the following heads of discourse . ii. the blessedness of this privilege is to be unfolded . this will appear by considering , first , what is the depositum , the thing that is intrusted in god's hands . secondly , what is implied in his receiving of it . in answer to the first ; 't is the soul , the more excellent and immortal part of man , that is commended to god's keeping . 1. ' t is our more excellent part in its nature and capacity . man is a compounded creature , of a body and a soul : the body in its original and resolution is earth ; the soul is of a divine descent , a spiritual substance , and in the nobility and perfections of its nature , but a little lower than the angels : 't is the vile body , but the precious soul. in its capacity it incomparably excels the body ; for the body lives & moves in the low region of the senses , that are common with the worms of the earth ; but the soul in its understanding and desires , is capable of communion with the blessed god , of grace and glory . from hence it is , that the whole world can't make one man happy ; for the ingredients of true and compleat happiness are the perfection and satisfaction of the soul. the apostle tells us , the less is blessed of the greater . can the world bring perfection to man , that is so incomparably short of his imperfection ? our saviour assures us , the gain of the whole world cannot recompense the loss of one soul. there is a vast circuit in our desires , and all the lines terminate in the centre of blessedness . can the world give sincere satisfaction to them ? solomon who was as rich and high as the world could make him , has left an everlasting testimony of the vanity of transient things , from his experimental observation , and the direction of the holy spirit : so he begins and ends his sermon , vanity of vanities , all is vanity ; so vain and vexing , that we shall not only be weary of them , but of this life , wherein we use them . can the creature make us happy , when their emptiness , and anguish annex'd to it , makes our lives miserable ? the world cannot satisfy our narrow senses : the eye is not satisfied with seeing , nor the ear with hearing , much less the infinite desires of our supreme faculties . those who are now inchanted with its allurements , within a little while will see through its false colours . as when one awakes , all the pleasant scenes of fancy in his dream vanish ; so when the soul is awakened in the end of life , the world and the lusts thereof pass away , and the remembrance of them . i shall add further ; what clearer evidence can we have of the worth of the soul , than from god's esteem , the creator of it ? now when god foresaw the revolture of our first parent , that brought him under a double death in one sentence , temporal and eternal , and that all mankind was desperately lost in him , then his compassionate counsels were concerning his recovery : his love and wisdom accorded to contrive the means to accomplish our redemption , by the death of his incarnate son : we are not redeemed with silver and gold , but with the precious blood of christ , as a lamb without spot and blemish . of what value is a soul in god's account , that he bought with his own son's blood , the most sacred treasure of heaven ? we may say for the honour of our redeemer and our own , that which the angels cannot , we were so valued by god himself , that his son became man , and died on the cross for the salvation of our souls . i shall only mention another evidence and effect of god's valuation of our souls , that is , the eternal weight of glory , which exceeds all the thoughts of our minds , and desires of our hearts . what are all the kingdoms and pleasures of the world , in comparison of that blessedness god has prepar'd for those who love him ? now the soul that is inestimably precious , and should be most dear to us , is secured from danger , when received by god's hands . 2. the soul is our immortal part. the body is compounded of jarring principles , frail and mortal : a casualty or sickness dissolves the vital union , and it falls to the dust. but the soul is a spirit by nature , and immortal by its inherent property . it s spiritual operations perform'd without the ministry of the senses , ( the eye of the mind contemplates its objects , when the eyes of the body are clos'd ) demonstrate its spiritual nature : for the being is the root of its working , and consequently that it exists independently upon the body : but of this we have the clearest assurance in the scripture . this is another demonstration that present things cannot make us happy , for they forsake us the first step we take into the next world , and then the soul enters into happiness or misery equally eternal . the immortality of the soul , and the immutability of its state , are inseparable then ; for the present life is the time of our work , the next is of recompences according to our works . if we die in the lord , the consequence is infallible , we shall live with him for ever : if we die in our sins , we shall not be received by his merciful hands , but fall into his bottomless displeasure . and of what concernment is it to have our souls with god in that infinite and incomprehensible duration ? all the measures of time , days and weeks , months and years , and ages , are swallow'd up in that invisible depth , as the rivers that pour into the sea , are swallowed up without any overflowing of its waters . the dove that noah let out of the ark , as a spy to discover whether the deluge was abated , found not a place to rest on ; but after many circuits in the air , it returned to the ark. if our thoughts take wing , and multiply millions of millions of ages , we cannot rest in any computation , for there remains after all an entire innumerable eternity . secondly , i will consider more particularly what is contained in this blessed privilege : the reception of the soul into god's hands , implies three things . 1. entire safety . 2. heavenly felicity . 3. 't is a certain pledg of the reviving of the body , and its reunion with the soul in the state of glory . 1. entire safety . after death the separate soul of a true believer immediately passes through the airy and ethereal regions to the highest heaven , the temple of god , the native seat and element of blessed spirits . the air is possess'd by satan with his confederate army , who are rebels to god , and enemies to the souls of men : he is stiled the prince of the power of the air : he often raises storms and tempests , discharges thunder and lightning , the woful effects of which are felt in the lower world. the numbers , the strength , and the malice of the evil angels to the souls of men , render them very terrible : we may conjecture at their number , from what is related in the gospel , that a legion possess'd one man. they are superiour spirits to man , and tho stripp'd of their moral excellencies , holiness , goodness and truth , yet retain their natural power at least in great degrees . their malice is unquenchable . 't is said of the devil , he goes about like a roaring lion , seeking whom he may devour . all the joy those malignant spirits are capable of , is the involving the souls of men in their desperate calamity . and tho they know their opposing god will increase their guilt and torment , yet their diligence is equal to their malice , to seduce , pervert and ruin souls for ever . now when the saints die , all the powers of darkness would , if possible , hinder the ascension of their souls to god. what david complains of his cruel enemies , is applicable in this case , their souls are among lions ; and if destitute of divine preservation , the danger would be the same ; as if a little flock of lambs were to encounter with a great number of fierce lions , or fiery dragons . anger sets an edg upon power , and makes a combatant but of equal strength to overcome . how dangerous then would the condition be of naked souls , oppos'd by over-matching enemies , armed with rage against them ? how easily would they hurry them to the abyss , the den of dragons , the prison where lost souls are secur'd to the day of judgment ? but all the potentates of hell are infinitely inferiour to god : they are restrain'd and tortur'd by the chains of his powerful justice : a legion of them could not enter into the swine without his permission , much less can they touch the apple of his eye . that black prince with all his infernal host cannot intercept one naked soul from arriving at the kingdom of glory . our saviour assures us , none is able to pluck them out of his father's hands . the lord christ our head and leader , having vanquish'd in his last battel on the cross , principalities and powers , made his triumphant ascension to glory : thus his members having overcome their spiritual enemies , shall by the same almighty power be carried through the dominions of satan , in the sight of their enemies , ( tormented with the remembrance of their lost happiness , and envy that humane souls should partake of it ) to the place of god's glorious residence . i shall also observe , that as the lord is a god of power , so he is a god of order , and uses subordinate means for the accomplishment of his will. our saviour has reveal'd , that the angels transport the separate souls of the righteous to heaven : those glorious spirits , who always behold the face of god , such is their exact obedience to him , and perfect love to his children , that they disdain not to protect his little ones in this open state. they rejoice at the conversion of sinners , at their first entrance into the way of life , and with tender watchfulness encompass them here , never withdrawing their protecting presence , till they bring them to their celestial country , and resign their charge to the lord of life . how safe are the departed saints , when convey'd through satan's territories by the royal guard of angels that excel in strength ? 2. heavenly felicity . the receiving of holy souls into god's hands , is introductive into his presence , which is both a sanctuary to secure us from all evil , and a store-house to furnish us with all that is good . the lord is a sun and a shield : he is to intellectual beings , what the sun is to sensitive , communicates light and life , and joy to them . in his presence is fulness of joy , at his right hand are rivers of pleasure for ever . all that is evil and afflicting , is abolish'd : all that is desirable , is conferr'd upon his children . a glimpse or reflected ray of his reconciled and favourable countenance , even in this lower world , infuses into the hearts of his children a joy unspeakable and glorious : a taste of the divine goodness here , causes a disrelish of all the carnal sweets , the dreggy delights which natural men so greedily desire . and if the faint dawn be so reviving and comfortable , what is the brightness of the full day ? none can understand the happiness that results from the full and eternal sight of god's face , and the fruition of his love , but those who enjoy the presence of god in perfection . his goodness is truly infinite ; the more the saints above know it , and enjoy it , the more they esteem it , and delight in it . his compleat and communicative love satisfies the immense desires of that innumerable company of blessed spirits that are before his throne : there is no envy , no avarice , no ambition in that kingdom , where god is all in all . the divine presence is an ever-flowing fountain of felicity . the continual reflection upon this , makes heaven to be heaven to the blessed : their security is as valuable as their felicity : they are above all danger of losing it . methinks the belief of this should cause us , as it were with wings of fire , with most ardent desires to fly to the bosom of god , the alone centre of our souls , where we shall rest for ever . 3. the reception of the soul into heaven is a certain pledg of the resurrection of the body , and its re-union with the soul in the state of glory . the covenant of god was made with the entire persons of believers : therefore under the law the sacred seal of it was in their flesh. to be the god of promise to them , implies his being a blessed rewarder to them . our saviour silences the sadduces , who disbeliev'd the resurrection , from the tenour of god's covenant , i am the god of abraham , and isaac , and jacob , which title he was pleased to retain after their death ; now god is not the god of the dead , but of the living . the immediate inference from thence is , that their souls did actually live in blessedness , and that their bodies , tho dead to nature , were alive to god with respect to his promise and power . if we consider that the divine law binds the outward man as well as the inward , and that during the time of our work and trial here , our service and sufferings for the glory of god are from the concurrence of the soul and body , it will appear that the promise of the reward belongs to both , and that the receiving of the soul into heaven , is an earnest of our full redemption , even that of the body . 't is true , there is no visible difference between the bodies of the saints and of the wicked here ; they are sick with the same diseases , and die in the same manner . as 't is with trees in deep winter , when they are covered with snow , we cannot distinguish which are absolutely dead and destin'd to the ax and fire , and which retain their sap , and will be fruitful and flourishing in the returning year : so the dead bodies of the godly and ungodly , to external appearance , are alike : but what a vast difference will be between them in the next world ! the bodies of the ungodly , in conjunction with their souls , shall be cast into the lake of fire ; the bodies of the godly resumed by their souls , shall enjoy a full and flourishing happiness for ever . the application . 1. this may inform us of the contrary states into which dying persons immediately pass : the children of god resign their spirits to the hands of their gracious heavenly father , but rebels and strangers to god , fall into the hands of a revenging judg. could we see the attending spirits that surround sick persons in their last hours , what a wonderful impression would it make upon us ? a guard of glorious angels convey the departed saints to the bosom of god's love , and the kingdom of his glory . but when the wicked die , a legion of furies sieze upon their expected prey , and hurry them to the infernal prison , from whence there is no redemption . how many rebels and open enemies to god are in the pale of the christian church ? they will loudly repeat , our father which art in heaven , notwithstanding the impudent and palpable atheism of their lives : they live as if they were independent , and not accountable to him who will judg the world without respect of persons . the more strict his commands are , the contempt of them is more visible . our saviour's prohibition is peremptory , i say unto you , swear not at all : but how many make no more conscience of swearing than they do of speaking , and pour forth oaths of all fashions and sizes . we are severely forbid all degrees of impurity , in the look , in words , or in wish ; yet how many without reflection or remorse , continue in the deepest pollutions ! we are commanded to live soberly in this present world ; yet how many indulge their swinish appetites , and debase themselves even below the beasts that perish . and as the sensual appetites are notoriously predominant in some , so the angry appetite is tyrannous in others . pride , wrath , revenge , possess the breasts of many : how often for a slight , or but reputed injury , they are so fir'd with passion , that their hot blood cannot be satisfied without the cold blood of their enemies . in short , many live in such open defiance of the divine law , as if there were no god to see and punish their sins , or as if they would make a trial whether he will be true to his threatning , and revenge their bold impieties : they are partly worse than brutes ; for having an understanding faculty , a principle of reason , they submit it to sense : and partly worse than devils ; for as the devils , they rebel against god , and yet not , as they , tremble in their rebellion . now when death is ready with its cold hands to close their eyes , and conscience awakes out of its slumber , what horrors seize upon them ! they are stripp'd of their carnal securities , the creature cannot help them , and the creator will not . they have been enemies to that love that made them and preserv'd them , and , notwithstanding their violent provocations , has spar'd them so long . they have rejected that infinitely condescending and compassionate love , that so tenderly beseech'd them to be reconciled to god , as if it were his interest to save them . whither will they fly from their judg ? what can rescue them from instant and irrecoverable misery ? can they hope that mercy will be their advocate ? their condemnation is so righteous , that mercy cannot dispense with it . 't is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god , who lives for ever , and can punish for ever . who knows the power of his wrath ? 't is boundless beyond all our thoughts and time. o take notice of this with terror , all ye that forget god , lest he tear you in pieces , and there be none to deliver ! others are not so visibly disobedient as notorious sinners , but are as really . you may see their picture in the disobedient son , mentioned by our saviour in the gospel , who when his father commanded him to go work in the vineyard , answered , i go , sir , and went not . 't is true , they perform the external part of some duties , and abstain from the gross acts of some sins , but 't is with an exception and a reserve . a duty that is contrary to their carnal appetites and interest , they will not perform ; a sin that bribes them with profit or pleasure , a temperamental sin , they will not part with . now any indulged habitual lust is not the spot of god's children , but denominates the sinner a child of the devil : for tho the saints till they are devested of frail flesh , have their allays , and cannot be exempt from the relicks of sin ; yet the divine nature communicated to them , is opposite to every sin , and is an active principle to subdue sin. and from hence s. john tells us , he that is born of god , cannot sin , that is , deliberately and habitually : such sinners , tho in the hour of death they may address with all the applying titles , our father , and our god , shall ever be excluded from his sacred and saving protection . 2. let us seriously consider whether we are of this spiritual progeny , the children of god , not only in title , but in reality . the inquiry is of infinite moment ; for all the promises and priviledges of the gospel are annex'd to this sonship : this secures us from the wrath to come , and entitles us to the eternal inheritance ; fear not , little flock , 't is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom . this inquiry is very useful to calm and quiet the troubled saints , and to awaken unregenerate persons out of their confident dream of their good state. many sincere christians are infinitely concern'd whether they are the children of god ; of this their tears and fears give abundant evidence . the reasons of their doubts are partly the jealousy of their own hearts , which are naturally deceitful above all things , and most deceitful to a man's self ; and partly from the consequence of the deceit : for knowing the inestimable value of this privilege , to be the sons of god , and that if they are deceived in it , they are undone for ever , they are anxiously thoughtful about it . but carnal persons who are not acquainted with the hypocrisy of their hearts , nor duly understand the excellence of the privilege , easily believe what they coldly desire . and the great deceiver of souls is equally subtile to varnish what is evil with the false colours of good , and to conceal what is good under the appearance of evil. from hence it is , that many tender-spirited christians are timorous , and full of unquiet agitations all their lives : and many who have but a shew and fair pretence of religion , are undisturb'd and hopeful , till at last they fall from their supposed heaven and high hopes , into the abyss of misery . this trial will be most clear and convincing , by representing from scripture the inseparable properties and characters of the children of god , that distinguish them from all that are in the state of unrenewed nature . the apostle tells sincere christians , the spirit it self witnesses with our spirits , that we are the children of god. here is a consent and agreement of those witnesses , in whom are all that is requisite to give value to their testimony . for the spirit of god , such is his unerring knowledg , who searches the deep things of god , and such is the absolute sanctity of his nature , that he can neither deceive nor be deceived , so that his testimony is infinitely sure , and of more worth than the concurrent testimony of heaven and earth , of angels and men. the other witness is the renewed conscience , that is acquainted with the aims and affections of the heart , as the apostle saith , who knows the things of a man , save the spirit of a man ? this faculty reflects upon our actions , and the principles of them : to this faculty is referr'd the decision of our spiritual state ; if our hearts condemn us not of any allowed sin , then have we peace towards god. from the consent and agreement of these witnesses , there is a blessed assurance of our evangelical sonship , that overcomes all our fears . now this testimony is rational and argumentative , from the discovery of those graces that constitute a person the child of god. i will make the inquiry concerning the grace of faith and of love , which are the vital bands of our union with christ , the principal fruits of the sanctifying spirit , and the symptoms of salvation . ( 1. ) the grace of faith is express'd in scripture by receiving of christ : this answers to god's offer of him to our acceptance in the gospel . it receives him entirely in his person and natures , as the incarnate son of god ; and in his office , as a prince and saviour , to give repentance and remission of sins . this receiving christ implies an act of the understanding and the will ; the understanding assents to the truth of the divine revelation , that christ crucified is an alsufficient saviour ; and the will closes with the terms of it , that he will save to the uttermost all that obey him : from hence it follows , that reliance upon him , and a sincere resolution to obey him , are necessarily included in saving faith. this scripture-account distinguishes between that substantial faith that is proper to the elect children of god , and the shadow of it in the unregenerate ; the one is the intimate and active principle of obedience , the other is a dead assent without efficacy , a mere carcass and counterfeit of faith. a sincere believer as fervently desires to be saved from the dominion and pollution of his sins , as from the guilt and deadly malignity : a carnal man desires an interest in christ as a saviour , that he may securely enjoy his lusts. the crafty and cursed serpent deceives men to their ruine , by citing scripture , and misapplying it . the promise is sure , whoever believes , shall be saved ; and he easily perswades them they are believers . 't is strange to astonishment , that men who have reason and understanding , should presume in a high degree of the present favour of god , and their future happiness , as if they were his dear children , when their enmity against his holy name and will is evident in their actions . we can never have too firm a dependance on god's promise , when we are qualified for that dependance . come out from among them , and be ye separate , saith the lord ; and touch not the unclean thing , and i will receive you , and will be a father to you , saith the lord almighty . faith that purifies the heart and conversation , invests us with this blessed privilege , and all the saving mercies annex'd to it . ( 2. ) from the spiritual relation between god and believers , there naturally and necessarily results a sincere , dutiful , child-like love to him , correspondent to his beneficent and fatherly love to them : this god indispensably requires , and specially delights in ; thou lovest truth in the inward parts . filial obedience is inseparable from filial love in its reality : for this is the love of god , that we keep his commandments . our saviour distinguishes between sincere lovers of him , and pretended , that they who love him , keep his commandments ; but they who love him not , keep not his commandments . the obedience that springs from love to god , is uniform , respects all his commands : for the two filial affections , an ardent desire to please god in all things , and an ingenuous fear of displeasing him in any thing , are inseparably joined with our love to him . the obedience that proceeds from love , is free and voluntary , from inclination as well as duty . how passionately does the holy psalmist express his affection , o how i love thy law ! in the covenant of grace , god promises to write his law in the hearts of his children : not only in their minds and memories , but to endear it to their affections . there is much difference between servile and constrain'd obedience , and filial chosen obedience , as between the motion of a living man from the soul , the inward spring of life , and the motion of an image or statue from forcible weights and wheels . from filial love proceeds godly sorrow , if at any time by carelesness and surprize , or an over powering temptation , on , his children do what is offensive and odious in his sight . when they consider their unkind and unthankful returns for his mercies , they look to their heavenly father with grief and shame , and down upon themselves with abhorrence and indignation : they are wounded with the sting of that expostulation , do ye thus requite the lord , o foolish people and unwise ? is he not thy father who bought thee ? from filial love proceeds a zeal for his glory ; if i be a father , where is my honour ? a child of god is dearly concerned that his name be reverenced and magnified , his laws be observed , his worship maintained , that his interest be advanced in the world. he has a burning zeal against sin and presumptuous sinners . the prophet elijah says , i have been jealous for the lord of hosts : for the children of israel have forsaken thy covenant , and thrown down thine altars . those who with an indifferent eye see the cause , the truth , the interest of god depress'd in the world , do renounce the title of his children . from the relation to god as his sons , proceeds a sincere fervent love to all the saints . st. john infers , every one that loveth him that begat , loves him that is begotten . grace is not less powerful in producing cordial mutual affections between the children of the same heavenly father , than the subordinate endearments of nature . notwithstanding the civil distinction between them , some high and rich , others mean and poor , yet there is a spiritual equality ; the lowest saints are princes of the blood-royal of heaven . to him that has washed us from our sins in his blood , and made us kings and priests to god , be glory for ever . the filial relation to god inclines and encourages all sincere christians to resign themselves , even in their most afflicted condition , to the wisdom and will of god. our saviour meekly yielded up himself to his cruel enemies , upon this consideration , the cup which my father has given me , shall i not drink it ? the saints in imitation of christ , and upon the same ground , entirely resign themselves to the divine disposal ; for their heavenly father loves them better than they can love themselves . finally , the filial relation to god is productive as of lively hopes , so of ardent desires to be with him . love makes them to esteem communion with him here in his holy ordinances , as the joy of their lives . the psalmist when banish'd from the tabernacle , breaks forth in his impatient desires , when shall i come and appear before god ? that is , in the place where he communicates his grace to those that worship him . but our father is in heaven as his throne , and most gloriously exhibits himself to his saints there . the earth is the element and residence of carnal men , of their souls as well as their bodies : they desire their inheritance may be on this side jordan , and are content to leave the heavenly canaan to those who like it . but those who are born from above , desire to be dissolved , that they may be in their father's house , and his reviving presence for ever . 3. let us be perswaded to prepare for the reception of our souls in the next world. the present life is a passage to eternity , and 't is so short and fading , so uncertain and hazardous , that 't is our principal wisdom without delay to secure our souls in the future state. our saviour says , i must work the work of him that sent me while it is day : the night cometh when no man can work . now is the accepted time , now is the day of salvation . 't is our indispensable duty and main interest now , to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling . in the state of death there is an incapacity to do any thing in order to salvation : there is no work nor wisdom in the grave : and all the offers of salvation cease for ever . the sufferings of the son of god are not a ransom for sinners in that state : he reconciled things in earth and in heaven , but not things in hell. the golden scepter is extended to none there , the holy spirit strives with none , they are without the reserves of mercy . the guilt of sin remains in its full obligation , the pollution of sin in its deepest die , and the punishment of sin in its extremity for ever . o what folly is it , or rather frenzy , not to provide for our souls in their greatest exigence ! common reason instructs us , knowing our own weakness , to commit our treasure to the custody of our friends , which we cannot otherwise keep from our enemies ; especially to such a friend as can and will preserve it for our use and advantage . the soul is our jewel above all price , 't is our wisdom to secure it out of all danger : let us therefore commit it to the safe and sure hands of our heavenly father , otherwise we cannot preserve it from the infernal spirits , the robbers and murderers of souls . the wise preacher denounces a fearful evil , wo be to him that is alone when he falleth ; for he hath not another to help him up . in all the senses of falling , death is the greatest fall : the high , the honourable , the rich , fall from all their state ; and men of all degrees are forsaken of all their carnal comforts and supports . if then the solitary soul has not a god to receive , support and comfort it , how woful is its condition ! methinks the apprehension of this should strike a terror so deep into the hearts of men , that they should be restless till they have secur'd a retreat for their departing souls . for this end let us , according to the earnest advice of st. peter , be diligent , that we may be found of him in peace , without spot , and blameless . the lord jesus is the only peace-maker of the righteous and holy god to sinners . the judg of this world is flaming with wrath , and terrible in vengeance to sinners that appear before his tribunal out of christ. we shall for ever be excluded from his blessed communion , without the mediator restore us to his favour . our reconciliation only is by redemption in his blood. the chastisement of our peace was upon him . he is the lord our righteousness , by whom alone we can stand in judgment . god was in christ reconciling the world to himself . there is now an act of oblivion offer'd in the gospel to all that come to god by him . we have sure salvation in his name : but we must with consenting wills , close with him as our lord and life . the first gospel preach'd by the angel after his coming into the world , declares , there was born in the city of david a saviour , christ the lord. we must not separate between christ the saviour , and christ the lord ; between his salvation and his dominion . god indispensably requires we should resign our selves to his son as our king , and rely upon him as our priest to atone his displeasure . if we thus receive him , he will restore us to the favour and peace of god , establisht in an everlasting covenant . how tenderly and compassionately does the great god invite sinners to re-enter into his favour , to acquaint our selves with him , and to be at peace ! his embassadours in his name , and in christ's stead beseech them to be reconciled to god. but their perverse spirits would have god reconciled to them , that they might be exempt from punishment ; but are unwilling to be reconciled to him , to part with their lusts. in short , reconciliation with god necessarily infers defiance with sin. ye that love the lord hate evil. if men do not cease their rebellion , there is no shadow of hope to obtain the divine favour . do ye provoke the lord to jealousie , are you stronger than he ? jealousie is the most sensible and severe affection . as 't is with a town taken by storm , all that are found in arms are without mercy cut off ; so all that at death are found with the weapons of unrighteousness , their unrepented unforsaken sins about them , must expect judgment without mercy . lastly , let the children of god be encouraged with peace and joy to commend their souls to him . let rebellious sinners tremble with deadly fear upon the brink of eternity ; but let the saints , with a lively hope , enter into the divine world. if men possess their treasure with joy and jealousie , and guard it with vigilant care , will not god preserve his dearest treasure , the souls of his children committed to his trust ? can love forsake , can truth deceive , can almighty power fail ? will a father , a heavenly father , be without bowels to his own off-spring ? no , he cannot deny himself : he is readiest to relieve , when they are in distress . old simeon is a leading example to believers : after he had embraced christ in his armes , how earnestly did he desire his dissolution ? lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . st. stephen in the midst of a showr of stones , with a blessed tranquillity , makes his dying prayer , lord jesus receive my spirit . if the fears of humble souls arise in that hour , because they have not the conspicuous marks of god's children , the graces of the spirit in that degree of eminency , as some saints have had : let them consider , there are different ages among the children of god : some are in a state of infancy and infirmity ; others are more confirm'd : but the relation is the same in all , and gives an interest in his promised mercy . the weakness of their faith cannot frustrate god's faithfulness . 't is the sincerity , not the strength of grace , that is requisite to salvation . if faith be shaking as a bruised reed , and but kindling as the smoaking flax , it shall be victorious . o that these powerfull comforts may encourage dying christians to commend their souls with ardency and assurance to god , their father , and felicity . i have now finisht my discourse upon the text , and shall apply my self to speak of the other subject , the reverend mr. richard baxter , that excellent instrument of divine grace , to recover and restore so many revolted souls to god , out of the empire of his enemy : or in the apostles language , to translate them from the kingdom of darkness , into the kingdom of his dear son. i am sensible , that in speaking of him i shall be under a double disadvantage : for those who perfectly knew him , will be apt to think my account of him to be short and defective , an imperfect shadow of his resplendent vertues : others who were unacquainted with his extraordinary worth , will from ignorance or envy be inclin'd to think his just praises to be undue and excessive . indeed if love could make me eloquent , i should use all the most lively and graceful colours of language to ●dorn his memory : but this consideration relieves me in the consciousness of my disability , that a plain narrative of what mr. baxter was , and did , will bee a most noble eulogy : and that his substantial piety no more needs artificial oratory to set it off , than refined gold wants paint to add lustre and value to it . i shall not speak of his parentage , and his first years : but i must not omit a testimony i receiv'd concerning his early piety . his father said with tears of joy to a friend , my son richard i hope was sanctified from the womb : for when he was a little boy in coats , if he heard other children in play speak profane words , he would reprove them to the wonder of those that heard him . he had not the advantage of academical education : but by the divine blessing upon his rare dexterity and diligence , his sacred knowledge was in that degree of eminence , as few in the university ever arrive to . not long after his entrance into the ministry the civil war began , and the times rain'd blood so long , till the languishing state of the kingdom , was almost desperate and incurable . how far he was concern'd as a chaplain in the parliament's army , he has publisht an account , and the reasons of it . after the war , he was fixt at kederminster . there his ministry by the divine influence , was of admirable efficacy . the harvest answer'd the seed that was sowed . before his coming , the place was like a piece of dry and barren earth , onely ignorance and profaneness as natives of the soil were rise among them ; but by the blessing of heaven upon his labour and cultivating , the face of paradise appear'd there in all the fruits of righteousness . many were translated from the state of polluted nature , to the state of grace ; and many were advanc'd to higher degrees of holiness . the bad were chang'd to good , and the good to better . conversion is the excellent work of divine grace : the efficacy of the means is from the supreme mover . but god usually makes those ministers successfull in that blessed work , whose principal design and delight is to glorifie him in the saving of souls . this was the reigning affection in his heart ; and he was extraordinarily qualified to obtain his end. his prayers were an effusion of the most lively melting expressions , and his intimate ardent affections to god ; from the abundance of his heart his lips spake . his soul took wing for heaven , and rapt up the souls of others with him . never did i see or hear a holy minister address himself to god with more reverence and humility , with respect to his glorious greatness ; never with more zeal and fervency correspondent to the infinite moment of his requests ; nor with more filial affiance in the divine mercy . in his sermons there was a rare union of arguments and motives to convince the mind and gain the heart : all the fountains of reason and perswasion were open to his discerning eye . there was no resisting the force of his discourses without denying reason and divine revelation . he had a marvellous felicity and copiousness in speaking . there was a noble negligence in his stile : for his great mind could not stoop to the affected eloquence of words : he despis'd flashy oratory : but his expressions were clear and powerful , so convincing the understanding , so entring into the soul , so engaging the affections , that those were as deaf as adders , who were not charm'd by so wise a charmer . he was animated with the holy spirit , and breath'd celestial fire , to inspire heat and life into dead sinners , and to melt the obdurate in their frozen tombs . methinks i still hear him speak those powerfull words : a wretch that is condemn'd to dy to morrow cannot forget it : and yet poor sinners , that continually are uncertain to live an hour , and certain speedily to see the majesty of the lord to their unconceivable joy or terror , as sure as they now live on earth , can forget these things for which they have their memory : and which one would think should drown the matters of this world , as the report of a canon does a whisper , or as the sun obscures the poorest glo-worm . o wonderfull stupidity of an unrenewed soul ! o wonderfull folly and distractedness of the ungodly ! that ever men can forget , i say again , that they can forget , eternal joy , eternal woe , and the eternal god , and the place of their eternal unchangeable abodes , when they stand even at the door ; and there is but the thin vail of flesh between them and that amazing sight , that eternal gulph , and they are daily dying and stepping in . besides , his wonderfull diligence in catechizing the particular families under his charge , was exceeding usefull to plant religion in them . personal instruction , and application of divine truths , has an excellent advantage and efficacy to insinuate and infuse religion into the minds and hearts of men , and by the conversion of parents and masters to reform whole families that are under their immediate direction and government . while he was at kederminster he wrote and publisht that accomplisht model of an evangelical minister , styled gildas salvianus , or the reform'd pastor : in that book , he clears beyond all cavil , that the duty of ministers is not confin'd to their study and the pulpit , but that they should make use of opportunities to instruct families within their care , as 't is said by the apostle , that he had kept back nothing from his hearers that was profitable , but had taught them publickly , and from house to house . the idea of a faithfull minister delineated in that book , was a copy taken from the life , from his own zealous example . his unwearied industry to do good to his flock , was answer'd by correspondent love and thankfulness . he was an angel in their esteem . he would often speak with great complacence of their dear affections : and a little before his death , said , he believ'd they were more expressive of kindness to him , than the christian converts were to the apostle paul , by what appears in his writings . while he remain'd at kederminster , his illustrious worth was not shaded in a corner , but dispers'd its beams and influence round the countrey . by his counsel and excitation , the ministers in worcestershire , episcopal , presbyterian and congregational were united , that by their studies , labours , and advice , the doctrine and practise of religion , the truths and holiness of the gospel might be preserved in all the churches committed to their charge . this association was of excellent use , the ends of church-government were obtain'd by it : and it was a leading example to the ministers of other counties . mr. baxter was not above his brethren ministers , by a superiour title , or any secular advantage , but by his divine endowments and separate excellencies , his extraordinary wisdom , zeal , and fidelity : he was the soul of that happy society . he continued among his beloved people , till the year 1660. then he came to london . a while after the king's restoration , there were many endeavours us'd in order to an agreement between the episcopal and presbyterian ministers . for this end several of the bishops elect , and of the ministers , were call'd to attend the king at worcester-house : there was read to them a declaration , drawn up with great wisdom and moderation , by the lord chancellor the earl of clarendon . i shall onely observe that in reading the several parts of the declaration , dr. morley was the principal manager of the conference among the bishops , and mr. baxter among the ministers : and one particular i cannot forget ; it was desir'd by the ministers , that the bishops should exercise their church power with the counsel and consent of presbyters . this limiting of their authority was so displeasing , that dr. cosins , then elect of durham , said , if your majesty grants this you will unbishop your bishops . dr. reynolds upon this produced the book , entituled , the portraicture of his sacred majesty in his solitude and sufferings , and read the following passage : not that i am against the managing of this presidency and authority in one man by the joint counsel and consent of many presbyters : i have offer'd to restore that , as a fit means to avoid those errors , corruptions and partialities , which are incident to any one man : also to avoid tyranny , which becomes no christians , least of all church-men . besides , it will be a means to take away that burthen and odium of affairs , which may lie too heavy on one man's shoulders , as indeed i think it did formerly on the bishops here . the good doctor thought , that the judgment of the king 's afflicted and inquiring father would have been of great moment to incline him to that temperament : but the king presently replied , all that is in that book is not gospel . my lord chancellor prudently moderated in that matter , that the bishops , in weighty causes , should have the assistance of the presbyters . mr. baxter considering the state of our affairs in that time , was well pleased with that declaration : he was of calvin's mind , who judiciously observes , upon our saviour's words , that the son of man shall send forth his angels , and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend : qui ad extirpandum quicquid displicet praepostere festinant , antevertant christi judicium , & ereptum angelis officium sibi temere usurpant . they that make too much haste to redress at once all things that are amiss , anticipate the judgment of christ , and rashly usurp the office of the angels . besides , that declaration granted such a freedom to conscientious ministers , that were unsatisfied as to the old conformity , that if it had been observed , it had prevented the dolefull division succeeded afterward . but when there was a motion made in the house of commons , that the declaration might pass into an act , it was oppos'd by one of the secretarys of state , which was a sufficient indication of the king's averseness to it . after the declaration there were many conferences at the savoy between the bishops and some doctors of their party , with mr. baxter and some other ministers , for an agreement , wherein his zeal for peace was most conspicuous : but all was in vain . of the particulars that were debated , he has given an account in print . mr. baxter , after his coming to london , during the time of liberty , did not neglect that which was the principal exercise of his life , the preaching the gospel , being always sensible of his duty of saving souls . he preacht at st. dunstans on the lord's-days in the afternoon . i remember one instance of his firm faith in the divine providence , and his fortitude when he was engaged in his ministry there . the church was old , and the people were apprehensive of some danger in meeting in it : and while mr. baxter was preaching , something in the steeple fell down , and the noise struck such a terror into the people , they presently , in a wild disorder , run out of the church : their eagerness to haste away , put all into a tumult : mr. baxter , without visible disturbance , sat down in the pulpit : after the hurry was over , he resum'd his discourse , and said , to compose their minds ; we are in the service of god to prepare our selves , that we may be fearless at the great noise of the dissolving world , when the heavens shall pass away , and the elements melt in fervent heat ; the earth also , and the works therein shall be burnt up . after the church of st. dunstans was pull'd down in order to its re-building , he removed to black-fryars , and continued his preaching there to a vast concourse of hearers , till the fatal bartholomew . in the year 1661 , a parliament was call'd , wherein was past the act of uniformity , that expell'd from their publick places about two thousand ministers . i will onely take notice concerning the causes of that proceeding , that the old clergy from wrath and revenge , and the young gentry from their servile compliance with the court , and their distaste of serious religion , were very active to carry on and compleat that act. that this is no rash imputation upon the ruling clergy then is evident , not onely from their concurrence in passing that law , for actions have a language as convincing as that of words , but from dr. sheldon then bishop of london their great leader ; who when the lord chamberlain manchester , told the king , while the act of uniformity was under debate , that he was afraid the terms of it were so rigid , that many of the ministers would not comply with it ; he replyed , i am afraid they will. this act was past after the king had engaged his faith and honour in his declaration from breda , to preserve the liberty of conscience inviolate , which promise open'd the way for his restorat●on ; and after the royalists here , had given publick assurance , that all former animosities should be buried , as rubbish under the foundation of a vniversal concord . mr. baxter was involv'd with so many ministers in this calamity , who was their brightest ornament , and the best defence of their righteous , though oppressed cause : two observations he made upon that act and our ejection . the one was , that the ministers were turned and kept out from the publick exercise of their office , in that time of their lives , that was most fit to be dedicated end employed for the service and glory of god , that is between thirty and sixty years , when their intellectual and instrumental faculties were in their vigour . the other was in a letter to me after the death of several bishops who were concurrent in passing that act , and exprest no sorrow for it : his words were , for ought i see , the bishops will own the turning of us out , at the tribunal of christ , and thither we appeal . after the act of uniformity had taken its effect , in the ejection of so many ministers , there was sometimes a connivance at the private exercise of their ministry , sometime publick indulgence granted , and often a severe prosecution of them , as the popish and politick interest of the court varied . when there was liberty , mr. baxter applyed himself to his delightful work , to the great advantage of those who enjoyed his ministry . but the church-party oppos'd vehemently the liberty that was granted . indeed such was their fierceness , that if the dissenting ministers had been as wise as serpents , and as innocent as doves , they could not escape their deep censures . the pulpit represented them as seditiously disaffected to the state , as obstinate schismaticks , and often the name of god was not onely taken in vain , but in violence , to authorise their hard speeches , and harder actions against them . some drops of that storm fell upon mr. baxter , who calmly submitted to their injurious dealings . i shall speak of that afterward . in the interval , between his deprivation and his death , he wrote and publisht the most of his books , of which i shall give some account . his books , for their number and variety of matter in them , make a library . they contain a treasure of controversial , casuistical , positive and practical divinity . of them i shall relate the words of one , whose exact judgment , joyn'd with his moderation , will give a great value to his testimony ; they are of the very reverend dr. wilkins , afterwards bishop of chester : he said that mr. baxter had cultivated every subject he handled ; and if he had lived in the primitive times , he had been one of the fathers of the church . i shall add what he said with admiration of him another time , that it was enough for one age to produce such a person as mr. baxter . indeed , he had such an amplitude in his thoughts , such vivacity of imagination , and such solidity and depth of judgment , as rarely meet together . his inquiring mind was freed from the servile dejection and bondage of an implicit faith. he adher'd to the scriptures as the perfect rule of faith , and searcht whether the doctrines received and taught were consonant to it . this is the duty of every christian according to his capacity , especially of ministers , and the necessary means to open the mind for divine knowledge , and for the advancement of the truth . he publisht several books against the papists with that clearness and strength , as will confound , if not convince them . he said , he onely desir'd armies and antiquity against the papists : armies , he cause of their bloody religion so often exemplified in england , ireland , france and other countries . however they may appear on the stage , they are always the same persons in the tyring-room : their religion binds them to extirpate hereticks , and often over-rules the milder inclinations of their nature : antiquity , because they are inveigled with a fond pretence to it , as if it were favourable to their cause : but it has been demonstrated by many learned protestants , that the argument of antiquity is directly against the principal doctrines of popery , as that of the supremacy , of transubstantiation , of image-worship , and others . he has wrote several excellent books against the impudent atheism of this loose age. in them he establishes the fundamental principle , upon which the whole fabrick of christianity is built ; that after this short uncertain life , there is a future state of happiness or misery equally eternal , and that death is the last irrevocable step into that unchangeable state . from hence it follows by infallible consequence , that the reasonable creature should prefer the interest of the soul before that of the body , and secure eternal life . this being laid , he proves the christian religion to be the onely way of fallen man's being restor'd to the favour of god , and obtaining a blessed immortality . this great argument he manages with that clearness and strength , that none can refuse assent unto it , without denying the infallible principles of faith , and the evident principles of nature . he also publisht some warm discourses , to apologize for the preaching of dissenting ministers , and to excite them to do their duty . he did not think that act of uniformity could disoblige them from the exercise of their office. 't is true , magistrates are titular-gods by their deputation and vicegerency , but subordinate and accountable to god above . their laws have no binding force upon the conscience , but from his command ; and if contrary to his law , are to be disobeyed . the ministers consecrated to the service of god are under a moral perpetual obligation of preaching the saving truths of the gospel , as they have opportunity . there needs no miraculous testimony of their commission from heaven , to authorize the doing their ordinary duty . in some points of modern controversie he judiciously chose the middle way , and advised young divines to follow it . his reverence of the divine purity , made him very shy and jealous of any doctrine that seem'd to reflect a blemish and stain upon it . he was a clear asserter of the soveraign freeness , and infallible efficacy of divine grace in the conversion of souls . in a sermon reciting the words of the covenant of grace , i will put my fear into their hearts , and they shall not depart from me ; he observed the tenor of it was , i will , and you shall . divine grace makes the rebellious will obedient , but does not make the will to be no will. by the illumination of the mind , the will is inclin'd to obedience , according to the words of our saviour , all that have heard and learn'd of the father come to me . he preach'd that the death of christ was certainly effectual for all the elect to make them partakers of grace and glory , and that it was so far beneficial to all men , that they are not left in the same desperate state with the fallen angels , but are made capable of salvation by the grace of the gospel : not capable of efficience to convert themselves , but as subjects to receive saving grace . he did so honour the sincerity of god , as entirely to believe his will declared in his word : he would not interpret the promises of the gospel in a less gracious sense than god intended them : therefore if men finally perish , 't is not for want of mercy in god , nor merits in christ , but for their wilfull refusing salvation . his books of practical divinity have been effectual for more numerous conversions of sinners to god , than any printed in our time : and while the church remains on earth , will be of continual efficacy to recover lost souls . there is a vigorous pulse in them that keeps the reader awake and attentive . his book of the saints everlasting rest , was written by him when languishing in the suspence of life and death , but has the signatures of his holy and vigorous mind . to allure our desires , he unvails the sanctuary above , and discovers the glory and joys of the blessed in the divine presence , by a light so strong and lively , that all the glittering vanities of this world vanish in that comparison , and a sincere believer will despise them , as one of mature age does the toys and baubles of children . to excite our fear he removes the skreen , and makes the everlasting fire of hell so visible , and represents the tormenting passions of the damned in those dreadfull colours , that if duly considered , would check and controul the unbridled licentious appetites of the most sensual wretches . his call to the vnconverted ; how small in bulk , but how powerfull in vertue ? truth speaks in it with that authority and efficacy , that it makes the reader to lay his hand upon his heart , and find he has a soul and a conscience , though he lived before as if he had none . he told some friends , that six brothers were converted by reading that call ; and that every week he received letters of some converted by his books . this he spake with most humble thankfulness , that god was pleased to use him as an instrument for the salvation of souls . he that was so solicitous for the salvation of others , was not negligent of his own ; but as regular love requires , his first care was to prepare himself for heaven . in him the vertues of the contemplative and active life were eminently united . his time was spent in communion with god , and in charity to men. he lived above the sensible world , and in solitude and silence convers'd with god. the frequent and serious meditation of eternal things was the powerfull means to make his heart holy and heavenly , and from thence his conversation . his life was a practical sermon , a drawing example . there was an air of humility and sanctity in his mortified countenance ; and his deportment was becoming a stranger upon earth , and a citizen of heaven . though all divine graces , the fruit of the spirit , were visible in his conversation , yet some were more eminent . humility is to other graces , as the morning-star is to the sun , that goes before it , and follows it in the evening : humility prepares us for the receiving of grace , god gives grace to the humble : and it follows the exercise of grace ; not i , says the apostle , but the grace of god in me . in mr. baxter there was a rare union of sublime knowledge , and other spiritual excellencies , with the lowest opinion of himself . he wrote to one that sent a letter to him full of expressions of honour and esteem , you do admire one you do not know ; knowledge will cure your error . the more we know god , the more reason we see to admire him ; but our knowledge of the creature discovers its imperfections , and lessens our esteem . to the same person expressing his veneration of him for his excellent gifts and graces , he replied with heat , i have the remainders of pride in me , how dare you blow up the sparks of it ? he desir'd some ministers , his chosen friends , to meet at his house , and spend a day in prayer for his direction in a matter of moment : before the duty was begun , he said , i have desir'd your assistance at this time , because i believe god will sooner hear your prayers than mine . he imitated st. austin both in his penitential confessions , and retractations . in conjunction with humility , he had great candor for others . he could willingly bear with persons of differing sentiments : he would not prostitute his own judgment , nor ravish anothers . he did not over-esteem himself , nor under-value others . he would give liberal encomiums of many conforming divines . he was severe to himself , but candid in excusing the faults of others . whereas , the busie inquirer and censurer of the faults of others , is usually the easie neglecter of his own . self-denial and contempt of the world were shining graces in him . i never knew any person less indulgent to himself , and more indifferent to his temporal interest . the offer of a bishoprick was no temptation to him : for his exalted soul despised the pleasures and profits which others so earnestly desire ; he valued not an empty title upon his tomb. his patience was truly christian . god does often try his children by afflictions , to exercise their graces , to occasion their victory , and to entitle them to a triumphant felicity . this saint was tried by many afflictions . we are very tender of our reputation : his name was obscur'd under a cloud of detraction . many slanderous darts were thrown at him . he was charg'd with schism and sedition . he was accus'd for his paraphrase upon the new testament , as guilty of disloyal aspersions upon the government , and condemn'd , unheard , to a prison , where he remain●d for some years . but he was so far from being moved at the unrighteous prosecution , that he joyfully said to a constant friend , what could i desire more of god , than after having serv'd him to my power , i should now be called to suffer for him . one who had been a fierce dissenter , was afterward rankled with an opposite heat , and very contumeliously in his writings reflected upon mr. baxter , who calmly endur'd his contempt : and when the same person publisht a learned discourse in defence of christianity , mr. baxter said , i forgive him all for his writing that book . indeed he was so much the more truly honourable , as he was thought worthy of the hatred of those persons . 't is true , the censures and reproaches of others whom he esteemed and loved , toucht him in the tender part . but he , with the great apostle , counted it a small thing to be judg'd by mens day . he was entire to his conscience , and independent upon the opinion of others . but his patience was more eminently tried by his continual pains and languishing . martyrdom is a more easie way of dying , when the combat and the victory are finisht at once , than to dye by degrees every day . his complaints were frequent , but who ever heard an unsubmissive word drop from his lips ? he was not put out of his patience , nor out of the possession of himself . in his sharp pains , he said , i have a rational patience , and a believing patience , though sense would recoil . his pacifick spirit was a clear character of his being a child of god. how ardently he endeavour'd to cement the breaches among us , which others widen and keep open , is publickly known . he said to a friend , i can as willingly be a martyr for love , as for any article of the creed . 't is strange to astonishment , that those who agree in the substantial and great points of the reformed religion , and are of differing sentiments onely in things not so clear , nor of that moment as those wherein they consent , should still be opposite parties . methinks the remembrance how our divisions lately expos'd us to our watchfull adversary , and were almost fatal to the interest of religion , should conciliate our affections . our common danger and common deliverance , should prepare our spirits for a sincere and firm union . when our sky was so dark without a glimmering horizon , then by a new dawning of god's wonderful providence , a deliverer appear'd , our gracious soveraign , who has the honour of establishing our religion at home , and gives us hopes of restoring it abroad , in places from whence it has been so unrighteously and cruelly expell'd . may the union of his protestant subjects in religious things so desir'd by wise and good men , be accomplisht by his princely counsel and authority . integrity with charity would remove those things that have so long disunited us . i return from this digression . love to the souls of men was the peculiar character of mr. baxter's spirit . in this he imitated and honoured our saviour , who prayed , dyed , and lives for the salvation of souls . all his natural and supernatural endowments were subservient to this blessed end. it was his meat and drink , the life and joy of his life to doe good to souls . his industry was almost incredible in his studies : he had a sensitive nature desirous of ease as others have , and saint faculties , yet such was the continual application of himself to his great work , as if the labour of one day had supplyed strength for another , and the willingness of the spirit had supported the weakness of the flesh. in his usual conversation , his serious , frequent and delightfull discourse was of divine things , to inflame his friends with the love of heaven . he received with tender compassion and condescending kindness , the meanest that came to him for councel and consolation . he gave in one year a hundred pounds to buy bibles for the poor . he has in his will dispos'd of all that remains of his estate after the legacies to his kindred , for the benefit of the souls and bodies of the poor . he continued to preach so long notwithstanding his wasted languishing body , that the last time , he almost died in the pulpit . it would have been his joy to have been transfigured in the mount. not long after his last sermon , he felt the approaches of death , and was confin'd to his sick bed. death reveals the secrets of the heart , then words are spoken with most feeling and least affectation . this excellent saint was the same in his life and death : his last hours were spent in preparing others and himself to appear before god. he said to his friends that visited him , you come hither to learn to dye , i am not the onely person that must go this way , i can assure you , that your whole life be it never so long is little enough to prepare for death . have a care of this vain deceitful world , and the lusts of the flesh : be sure you choose god for your portion , heaven for your home , god's glory for your end , his word for your rule , and then you need never fear but we shall meet with comfort . never was a sinner more humble and debasing himself , never was a sincere believer more calm and comfortable . he acknowledged himself to be the vilest dunghilworm ( 't was his usual expression ) that ever went to heaven . he admir'd the divine condescension to us , often saying , lord what is man , what am i vile worm to the great god ? many times he prayed , god be merciful to me a sinner , and blessed god , that that was left upon record in the gospel as an effectual prayer . he said , god may justly condemn me for the best duty i ever did : and all my hopes are from the free mercy of god in christ , which he often prayed for . after a slumber he wak'd and said , i shall rest from my labour : a minister then present said , and your works follow you : to whom he replyed , no works , i will leave out works , if god will grant me the other . when a friend was comforting him with the remembrance of the good many had received by his preaching and writings , he said , i was but a pen in god's hand , and what praise is due to a pen. his resign'd submission to the will of god in his sharp sickness , was eminent . when extremity of pain constrain'd him earnestly to pray to god for his release by death , he would check himself ; it is not fit for me to prescribe , and said , when thou wilt , what thou wilt , how thou wilt . being in great anguish , he said , o how unsearchable are his ways and his paths past finding out ! the reaches of his providence we cannot fathom : and to his friends , do not think the worse of religion for what you see me suffer . being often ask'd by his friends , how it was with his inward man , he replied , i bless god i have a well-grounded assurance of my eternal happiness , and great peace and comfort within ; but it was his trouble he could not triumphantly express it , by reason of his extreme pains . he said , flesh must perish , and we must feel the perishing of it : and that though his judgment submitted , yet sense would still make him groan . being asked by a person of quality , whether he had not great joy from his believing apprehensions of the invisible state , he replied : what else think you christianity serves for ? he said , the consideration of the deity in his glory and greatness was too high for our thoughts ; but the consideration of the son of god in our nature , and of the saints in heaven , whom he knew and loved , did much sweeten and familiarize heaven to him . the description of heaven in the 12. to the heb. and the 22. was most comfortable to him : that he was going to the innumerable company of angels , and to the general assembly and church of the first-born , whose names are written in heaven ; and to god the judge of all , and to the spirits of just men made perfect ; and to jesus the mediator of the new covenant , and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of abel . that scripture , he said , deserved a thousand thousand thoughts : he said , o how comfortable is that promise , eye has not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the things god hath laid up for those who love him . at another time he said , that he found great comfort and sweetness in repeating the words of the lord's prayer , and was sorry that some good people were prejudiced against the use of it ; for there were all necessary petitions for soul and body contain'd in it . at other times he gave excellent counsel to young ministers that visited him , and earnestly prayed to god to bless their labours , and make them very successfull in converting many souls to christ : and express'd great joy in the hopes that god would do a great deal of good by them ; and that they were of moderate peacefull spirits . he did often pray that god would be mercifull to this miserable distracted world : and that he would preserve his church and interest in it . he advis'd his friends to beware of self-conceitedness , as a sin that was likely to ruine this nation : and said , i have written a book against it , which i am afraid has done little good . being askd whether he had alter'd his mind in controversial points , he said , those that please may know my mind in my writings : and what he had done was not for his own reputation , but the glory of god. i went to him with a very worthy friend , mr. mather of new-england , the day before he died , and speaking some comforting words to him , he replyed , i have pain , there is no arguing against sense , but i have peace , i have peace . i told him you are now approaching to your long-desir'd home , he answer'd , i believe , i believe . he , said to mr. mather , i bless god that you have accomplisht your business , the lord prolong your life . he exprest a great willingness to dye , and during his sickness , when the question was ask'd , how he did , his reply was , almost well . his joy was most remarkable , when in his own apprehensions death was nearest : and his spiritual joy at length was consummate in eternal joy. thus lived and dyed that blessed saint . i have without any artificial fiction of words , given a sincere short account of him . all our tears are below the just grief for such an unvaluable loss . it is the comfort of his friends , that he enjoys a blessed reward in heaven , and has left a precious remembrance on the earth . now blessed be the gracious god , that he was pleased to prolong the life of his servant , so useful and beneficial to the world to a full age : that he has brought him slowly and safely to heaven . i shall conclude this account with my own deliberate wish : may i live the short remainder of my life , as entirely to the glory of god , as he lived ; and when i shall come to the period of my life , may i dye in the same blessed peace wherein he died ; may i be with him in the kingdom of light and love for ever . postscript . i shall annex two passages declaratory , the one of his humility , the other of his excellent abilities . he had such an abhorrence of himself for his sins , that he said to a minister , i can more easily believe , that god will forgive me , than i can forgive my self . the other was being in the pulpit to preach , he found that he had forgot to put his notes into his bible : he pray'd to god for his assistance , and took the first text that occurr'd to his view in opening the bible : and preach'd an excellent sermon for the matter and order of it upon the priesthood of christ. after he was come down , he enquir'd of a minister present , whether he had not tir'd him , who replyed , no ; but with several others declar'd they were exceedingly satisfied with his discourse : he said , it was necessary to have a body of divinity in ones head. finis . books writ by william bates , d. d. and sold by b. aylmer . the harmony of the divine attributes , in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the lord jesus christ : or discourses , wherein is shewed , how the wisdom , mercy , justice , holiness , power , and truth of god are glorified in that great and blessed work , in octavo . considerations of the existence of god , and of the immortality of the soul , with the recompence of the future state. to which is added the divinity of the christian religion , proved by the evidence of reason , and divine revelation , for the cure of infidelity , the hectick evil of the times . in octavo . the soveraign and final happiness of man , with the effectual means to obtain it . in octavo . the four last things , death and judgment , heaven and hell , practically considered and applied , in several discourses . in octavo , and duodecimo . the danger of prosperity discovered , in several sermons , upon prov. 1.17 . in octavo . the great duty of resignation in times of affliction , &c. in octavo . a funeral sermon preached upon the death of the reverend and excellent divine , dr. thomas manton , who deceased october 18 , 1677. to which is added , the last publick sermon dr. manton preached . in octavo . the sure trial of vprightness , opened in several sermons , upon psal. 18. v. 23. in octavo . a description of the blessed place and state of the saints above , in a discourse on john 14.2 . preached at the funeral of mr. clarkson . the way to the highest honour , on john 12.26 . preached at the funeral of dr. jacomb . the speedy coming of christ to judgment , on rev. 22.12 . preached at the funeral of mr. benj. ashurst . a funeral sermon for the reverend , holy and excellent divine , mr. richard baxter , who deceased december the 8th . 1691. with an account of his life . advertisement . newly printed , the holy bible , containing the old testament and the new : with annotations and parallel scriptures . to which is annex'd , the harmony of the gospels : as also , the reduction of the jewish weights , coins and measures , to our english standards . and a table of the promises in scripture . by samuel clark , minister of the gospel . printed in folio of a very fair letter ; the like never before in one volume . printed for brabazon aylmer in cornhill . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26788-e420 isa. 64. job 2. luke 3. gen. 6. hosea 11. jam. 1.18 . 1 pet. 11.25 . psal. 103.13 . gal. 4. rom. 8.15 . joh. 1.12 . gal. 3.8 . joh. 20.17 rom. 8.3 . heb. 1.5 . isa. 53. heb. 3. heb. heb. 2. psal. 119. exod. 19. mal. 3. zech. 9.16 isa. 57. james . rom. 8. deut. 7.9 . psal. 138.2 jer. 31.35 . gen. 49.18 . psal. 73.24 psal. 31.5 . 2 cor. 5.1 . 1 pet. 4.1 . psal. 5. psal. 89. heb. 11.6 . rom. 2. luke 20.35 . mat. 20.9 . deut. 24.15 . 2 tim. 1. eccles. 1.1 . & 12.8 . eccl. 1.17 . 1 pet. 1. o anima ! erige te , tantivales . aug. in psal. 103. ephes. 2. mark 5. john 10. mat. 18.10 psal. 16.11 psal. 50. matth. 21.28 , 30. luke 12. 1 john. ● . joh. 1.12 . acts 5.31 . 2 cor. 6.17 , 18. psal. 51. 1 joh. 5.3 . john 14.23 , 24. heb. 8.10 . deut. 32.6 psal. 69. 1 joh. 5.1 . revel . 1. joh. 18.11 psal. 43. john 9.4 . eccl. 4.10 . 2 pet. 3. col. 1.20 . isa. 53. his sermon before the house of commons 1660. his books of the reasonableness of the christian religion . great britains salomon a sermon preached at the magnificent funerall, of the most high and mighty king, iames, the late king of great britaine, france, and ireland, defender of the faith, &c. at the collegiat church of saint peter at westminster, the seuenth of may 1625. by the right honorable, and right reuerend father in god, iohn, lord bishop of lincolne, lord keeper of the great seale of england, &c. williams, john, 1582-1650. 1625 approx. 114 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 40 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a15453 stc 25723 estc s120058 99855258 99855258 20743 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a15453) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 20743) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1052:5) great britains salomon a sermon preached at the magnificent funerall, of the most high and mighty king, iames, the late king of great britaine, france, and ireland, defender of the faith, &c. at the collegiat church of saint peter at westminster, the seuenth of may 1625. by the right honorable, and right reuerend father in god, iohn, lord bishop of lincolne, lord keeper of the great seale of england, &c. williams, john, 1582-1650. [2], 76, [2] p. printed by [eliot's court press for] iohn bill, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie, london : 1625. identification of actual printer from stc. in this edition a3r line 1 begins: on,. with a final colophon leaf. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng james -i, -king of england, 1566-1625. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-11 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-11 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion kings have their periods by dame natures date . the poore man dies , so doth the potentate ; and though to the worlds eye kings seeme compleater , their standing high makes but their fall the greater pauosian sculp . great britains salomon . a sermon preached at the magnificent funerall , of the most high and mighty king , iames , the late king of great britaine , france , and ireland , defender of the faith , &c. at the collegiat church of saint peter at westminster , the seuenth of may 1625. by the right honorable , and right reuerend father in god , iohn , lord bishop of lincolne , lord keeper of the great seale of england , &c. london , printed by john bill , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . 1625. 1 kings 11. 41. 42. 43. and part of the verse . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that he did , and his wisedome , are they not written in the booke of the acts of salomon ? and the time that salomon raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel , was forty yeeres . and salomon slept with his fathers , and was buried in the citie of dauid his father . great britaines salomon . most high , and mighty , most honorable , worshipfull , and well beloued in our lord , and sauiour iesvs christ ; it is not i , but this woful accident , that chooseth this text. you know best , that no booke will serue this turne , but the booke of the kings ; no king , but one of the best kings ; none of the best kings , but one that raigned ouer all israel , which must be either saul ( as a yet good ) or dauid , or salomon ; no king of all israel , but one of the wisest kings , which cannot be b saul , but either dauid , or salomon ; none of the wisest kings neither , vnlesse hee be a king of peace , which cannot be dauid , c a man of war , but onely salomon ; no king of peace neither ( the more is our griefe ) aliue , and in his throne , and therefore it must of necessitie be the funerals , and obitts of king salomon , which wee haue in these words : and the rest of the words of salomon , &c. i must no otherwise paint salomon this day , then as apelles was wont to doe king antigonus , which was d imagine lusca , halfe-fac't , and of one side onely , to conceale the want of an eye , which hee had on the other . for if i should set him out in the full proportion , and leaue not so much as a wart , or a mole vndescribed , he would proue , but a foile , and a shadow , and not ( as i desire he should ) a liuely image , and repraesentation to decke , and adorn these praesent funerals . his vices can be no blemish to that king , that resembled him onely in his choisest vertues . the rule in scripture doth differ much from that in the painters shop . for here coppies doe many times exceede the originals . salomon was a type of christ himselfe , and by consequence a paterne for any christian . i doe therefore in these three verses obserue three parts , the happy life , the happy raigne , and the happy end of this great king salomon . for the first part , his life was happy in foure respects . first , for his sayings , the rest of the words . secondly , for his doings ; and all that hee did . thirdly , for his wisedome ; and his wisedome . and fourthly , for the eternitie , and preseruation of all these , in a booke of annals of the acts of salomon ; and the rest of the words of salomon , &c. for the second part , his raigne was happy for three circumstances . first for a great capitall citie , wherein hee resided , which was hierusalem ; hee raigned in hierusalem . secondly , for a great circuit of ground in which he commanded , which was , all israel ; ouer all israel . thirdly , and lastly , for a great space of time , wherein he flourished , which was forty yeares ; and the time which salomon raigned in ierusalem ouer all israel , was forty yeares . for the third part , his end was happie in a threefold circumstance . first , in regard of his death , which was not a sudden , and violent dying , but an affected , and premeditated kinde of sleeping ; and salomon slept . secondly , in regard of his soule at the time of his death , the which ( a how euer wanton , and vnruly wits haue made their disputes ) went to no other place , then the receptacle of his fathers ; and salomon slept with his fathers . thirdly , and lastly , in regard of his body after his death , which was no way despised , or neglected , but solemnely interred in the sepulchers of the kings , in the tower of sion , and the citie of dauid his father ; and salomon slept with his fathers , and was buried in the citie of dauid his father . nor doth this text hang together like a rope of sands , but the parts thereof are chained , and linked very fast , in a mutuall cohaerence one with another . for first , a nullus magnam potentiam sine eloquentia est consecutus , saith tacitus , no glorious king , but was a b kinde of speaker , and therefore here are words ; reliquum verborum , as saint hierome reades it , the rest of the words . secondly , because they are not words , but c actions , that aeternize a king , here are actions likewise ; quae fecit , all that hee did . thirdly , because actions from without are of small continuance , without a well from within for a new supply , here is a pond to feed them from time to time ; sapientia eius , his vnderstanding , and wisedome ; and his wisedome . fourthly , because this wisdome would be soone forgotten ( a as m. aurelius was wont to complaine ) without a historie , here is a historie prouided of the acts of salomon ; the booke of the acts of salomon . fiftly , because a historie written in an obscure place , of a little countrey , and but a short time , is of no esteeme , and reputation , here are all things fitted for fame , and aeternitie , a great citie , to wit , hierusalem ; he raigned in hierusalem . a great empire , the twelue tribes of israel ; ouer all israel . a great , and a long raigne , for the space of forty yeares ; the time that he raigned ouer all israel was forty yeares . sixthly , because such a long , and glorious life would be crown'd ( b as augustus was wont to say ) with a faire , and an easie death , here is a dying compar'd to a sleeping ; dormiuitque salomon , and salomon slept . seuenthly , because the soule , which cannot sleepe , must be prouided for , as well , as the body , it is disposed of to his hearts desire , in the societie of dauid , and the rest of his fathers ; cum patribus suis , with his fathers . lastly , though this be enough for a priuate man , yet somewhat more would bee wished in a king. that body , a which so repraesented god himselfe , when it was aliue , must not bee neglected now it is dead . and therefore he is buried in the sepulchre of the kings , and the citie of dauid ; in ciuitate dauid patris sui , in the citie of dauid his father . and the rest of the words of salomon , &c. but you will say , all these parts referre to king salomon , and that king iames is forgotten in the diuision . most high , and mightie , right honourable , and right dearely beloued ; our late soueraigne shall be remembred in due time , and much to the honour of king salomon . king salomon in his funeralls had a glorious tombe in deed , as b iosephus describes it , but hee had no statue at all caried before him . that was peraduenture scarce to lerable amongst the iewes . a tombe he prouided for himselfe , and so prophetically , as that ( if wee may beleeue a pineda , and others ) there were iust as many cells therein , as there were to be kings of iuda , that is twentie one . a statue god almighty hath this day prouided for him . many of these twentie one cells being neuer filled , because the b vnworthy kings were buried elsewhere , salomon shall lend king iames a tombe , and king iames shall lend vnto him a statue . the tombe you may obserue in the exposition , and the statue in the application of this peece of scripture . king iames shall first die in salomons text , and salomon shall then arise in king iames his vertves ▪ for as c herodotus reports of the aegyptians , that by wrapping their dead in glasse , they praesent them aliue to all posteritie : so by that time i haue plated ouer the parts of this text with the particulars of the application , you that heare me this day , shall haue that happinesse d of the queene of the south , which is not onely to haue read in a booke , but withall to haue seene with your eies , and to haue heard with your eares all the rarities , and perfections of the wise king salomon . you shall then perfectly remember these sayings , these doings , this wisdome , this history , this great citie , this vnited empire , this long life , this happie death , this rest with his fathers , and these solemne funeralls , which are the minutes of this text. and the rest of the words of salomon , &c. i begin with that part , wherof i finde in my selfe the greatest want , to wit , eloquence , pointed at in the entrance of my text. reliquum verborum , the rest of his words . for that man had need of salomons words , that will speake of this first , or second salomon . eloquence in some reasonable proportion is so necessarie in a king , that a a philosopher calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one of the chiefest of the royall vertues . surely the want of this made b moses in a manner refuse all gouernment , though offered vnto him by god himselfe . and homer , that is , solon ( a for hee is supposed the author of the poem ) is by b plutarch made to say , that a ready sword will not doe the worke , if it be not attended with this readinesse of speech . surely pyrrhus , though a mighty vaunter of all his actions , would often c confesse more cities conquered by cyneas his tongue , then there were by his owne speare . and although an aaron may sometimes supply a moses , and eloquence be borrowed from the tongue of a minister , yet surely no great monarchie was euer rais'd , but where the king himselfe was a d competent speaker . in the romane empire it is obseru'd by e tacitus , that the princes of the first line , iulius , augustus , tiberius , claudius , yea and caius himselfe ( as blunt as he was ) neuer borrowed a tongue to speake to the people . nero is noted to bee the first caesar , qui alienae facundiae eguit , that euer vsurpt another mans language and therefore no maruell , if in salomon a great monarch , and the second of his line , the historie gaue a touch of his oratorie , and eloquence , et reliquum verborum salomonis , and the rest of the words of salomon . now when i looke vpon this world of matter i am to runne thorow in a minute of time , the best eloquence , that i can vse in setting forth the eloquence of salomon , is to say nothing , and to turne you ouer to his admirable writings ; the a prouerbs , the b booke of wisdome , and c ecclesiasticus , which were dictated ; together with ecclesiastes , the canticles , and many of the psalmes , which were penned to a syllable by king salomon . and so i proceed from his words vnto his actions , the second part of his life ; omnia quae fecit , all that he did . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that he did . he did . kings are anointed ( as d cassa●eus obserues ) vpon the armes , as well as vpon the head ; and the armes are the instruments of action , and doing . that phrase of scripture , so applied to kings , that they must a goe in and out before the people , requires somewhat more then elocution . in the genealogie of our sauiour , exprest by s. mathew , though many more be written downe , yet none is call'd a king but dauid ; dauidem regem , dauid the king. matth. 1. 6. verse ; because ( as interpreters expound the place ) dauid was , as a king should be , a man of warre , and a man of action . nero could tune his instruments well , and yet , as b apollonius said to vespasian , he was a meane prince , because hee knew not how to tune a people . and on the other side , themistocles could neuer play on the harpe , but yet is famous in all histories , c because hee could make a citie greater . plutarque in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , speakes of two men , that were hir'd at athens for some publique worke , whereof the one was full of tongue , but slow at hand , but the other blunt in speech , yet an excellent workeman ; being call'd vpon by the magistrates to expresse themselues , and to declare at large how they would proceede ; when the first had made a long harangue , & describ'd it from point to point , the other seconded him with this short speech , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ye men of athens , what this man hath said in words , that will i make good in true performance . and as hee was adiudged the better artisan ; so is the man of action the better king : vnlesse they come ioyntly , as they doe in this text , verba et facta , words and deeds , and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did. now if you desire to know all that hee did , i must turne you ouer to this booke of the kings , which notwithstanding is but a florus to that liuie , or rather a photion to that demosthenes , that first describ'd them . some of them i shall touch vpon , when i come to the second salomon , and doe now hasten to the third part of his life , which is his wisedome ; and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did , and his wisedome . his wisedome . for indeed braue actions are but the fruit , wisdome is the tree that beares them . actions are but riuers , wisedome is the head that feedes them . and where this is wanting , they are like land-floods , violent for the time , but gone in an instant . here therefore you haue the fruit together with the tree , that brought them ; here you see the riuers , together with the spring that sent them ; here you reade of salomons deeds ioyn'd with that wisedome that first contriu'd them . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did , and his wisedome . his wisedome . how necessary in a king , salomons choice hath taught all kings . for being praesented by god himselfe with a pandora of royall graces , although braue actions call'd in that a place the life of his enemies was in the boxe , yet tooke he out nothing but wisedome to gouerne his people , 1 kings 3. 9. verse . he tooke out nothing , but wisedome said i ? nay , rather in taking out wisedome ( as god tels him in the next verse ) hee left nothing behinde . omnia assunt bona , quem penes est virtus . how can he want these golden apples of princely actions , that hath this garden of the hesperides , wherein they grow ? for although kings ( as i said before ) be anointed on the armes , the instruments of actions , yet are they crown'd onely on the head , the s●at of wisedome . for as in the naturall ; so in the ciuill body , the spie and discouerie of all the members is plac't aloft in the watch-tower of the head. here are the eyes , that see for all . here are the eares , that listen for all . here are the nostrils , that smell out for all . here are the braines , that sweat for all . and here is the wisedome , that prouides for all . and therefore what can a tongue , or an arme doe a man good , if they be not guided by somewhat in the head ? sayings , and doings are of little worth , if a wisedome follow not , as it doth in this place ; and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did , and his wisedome . wisedome . whither this wisedome of salomons was vniuersall , and embrac't all sciences , as b pineda ; or a prudence reaching to the practique onely ( because of those words , to gouerne my people ) as c pererius thought ; the latin translation sapientia being for the first , the greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the second , the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for both the opinions ; also whither salomon did surmount as d tostatus , or fall short of adam in the pitch of his wisedome , as e gregorie de valentia thinkes , are such doughty frayes , as i haue no leasure to part at this time , being now in the fourth place to speake of that booke , which ( if extant ) would peraduenture end part of the quarrell ; the booke of the acts of salomon . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did , and his wisedome , are they not written in the booke of the acts of salomon ? the booke of the acts of salomon . a alexander vpon the conquest of persia in a deepe contemplation of his late victories , being told of one , that brought him some newes , replied hastily thereupon , what newes can any man bring vnto mee , vnlesse it be that homer is aliue againe ? as who should say ; all these actions of mine will vanish into ayre , if there be not a scholler to write , and record them . and surely little had now remain'd of the sayings , the doings , and the wisedome of salomon , if they had not beene of b record in this booke . the booke of the acts of salomon . for although god suffered this booke to be burnt by e nebuzaradan , and ordered not esdras to renue the same , because it was but a iournall of salomons actions , of a ciuill rather , then a religious vse , and fitter for a closet , then for a temple , yet was so much thereof plac't in the canon , a as might be vsefull for gods church , being cull'd out of this iournall either by b hieremie , or esay , or esdras , or ezechias , or ( as i thinke ) the seruants of that king , who without quaestion collected his proverbs , prouerbs 25. 1. verse . and therefore as this text is but an epitome of the 11. first chapters of the first book of the kings : so are these chapters but an epitome of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or iournall of salomon . the booke of the acts of salomon . and surely dignum laude virum musa vetat mori , as there was neuer any king , that deserued ; so was there neuer a king in scripture , that hath obtained more writers of his acts , then this king salomon . for whereas saul had neuer a one , dauid in his long raign had no more then c two , besides what salomon in his ecclesiastes hath written of himselfe ( as many of the d caesars , iulius , augustus , tiberius , and adrian are noted to haue done ) three great prophets , famous in their times , a nathan , ahias , and addo had their seuerall pens in these acts of salomon ; the booke of the acts of salomon . and indeed bookes , especially such as these , written by prophets , and honest men , are most necessary both for the b applauding of the good , and the terrifying of ill-deseruing princes . non potest humile , aut abiectum quid cogitare , qui scit de se semper loquendum , saith mamertinus in his panegerique . he had need be carefull of all his actions , that is to bee the subiect of future histories . for although i allow not a priuate man to feed vpon glory , and haue preach't against it ( with all my heart ) not many weekes sithence : yet was i euer of panormitans opinion in the life of alphonsus , that it is cibus regum , a very fit dish for the repast of a king , and due vnto him from the after ages . c multi famam , pauci verentur conscientiam . some few peraduenture referre it to god , but most kings desire , as augustus did , to be applauded by men. then for the bad kings a historie is the true aretine of the world , flagellum principum , the lash , and scourge of all wicked princes . they haue no schoolemaster ( on this side hell ) vnlesse it be this one , to keepe them in awe . and in very truth , if hee comes but a one day after their raigne , as tacitus did to the caesars , hee laies about him , like an orbilio , or as that vsher in b theon , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , fetching bloud at euery stroake , for very small , and petty offences . and yet as humorous as they are , what historie did euer commend nero , or discommend the emperor traian ? i except cardan the phantastique , who writing a booke de morte gulielmi , of the death of will his foot-boy , thought good to ioyne it with another peece , which hee was pleas'd to stile the encomium of nero. to conclude this point , it is calld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the greeke , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies to fixe , and settle . all these sayings , and doings , and wisdome of kings , would scatter away , like quicke mercury , if they were not fixed in such a booke as this ; the booke of the acts of salomon . and so much of the first part of my text , which i call'd salomons life , comprehending the words , the deeds , the wisdome , and the iournalls of salomon . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that he did , &c. now to come to the second part of this text , which is salomons raigne , and to begin with the first circumstance thereof , his capitall citie , it is true what a euripides said of old , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is requisite for a man , that would be glorious to haue his abode in a famous citie . this booke of the acts of salomon had scarce beene worth the taking vp , if his words , his actions , and his wisdome had not beene praesented on this great theatre , the citie of hierusalem ; and the time that salomon raigned in hierusalem . a city is an abstract of a whole state. for as cain being guiltie of the murther of his brother , built the first citie we reade of in the world , gen. 4. vers . 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as a iosephus speaks , to make himselfe strong with his people about him : so most of the monarchs to this very day , guilty of oppressing , or being oppressed by their neighbour princes , orbem in vrbem contrahunt , doe contract their people to this short epitome , which we call a citie , as the twelue tribes are said to be fetcht to hierusalem , psa . 122. and the time that solomon raigned in hierusalem . now hierusalem was not only a citie by it selfe ( as it is in that psalme ) but a type , and figure of all other cities . ' for as hierusalem was an vnion of two cities , b iebus , and salem , and an vnion of c two tribes , iuda , and beniamin , and an vnion of all israel , as it followeth in my text : so are other capitall cities in their proportion . so that as a citie seated vpon d a hill cannot be hidden ; no more can a king seated in such a citie . all his words , his actions , and his wisdome are still vpon record ▪ god almightie therefore being thus resolu'd to make salomon glorious , as a type of our sauiour far more glorious , plac't all his sayings , his doings , and his wisdome , longè pulcherrima vrbium or●entis , as a plinie calls it , on the goodliest theatre of all the east , the eye of the world , and the queene of the nations , the citie of hierusalem . and salomon raigned in hierusalem . and so much for the first circumstance of salomons raigne , which is his capitall citie hierusalem . hee raigned in hiervsalem . the second circumstance of his raigne is his empire , or dominion , which is very large , and with a reference , and a difference withall from the b beginning of his fathers , and from the c middle of his sonnes raigne , said here to be ouer all israel . he raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel . ouer all. for as a tullie saith , that the romans held no true cities , but these three , carthage , corinth , and capua , which they call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the three cities that troubled their common wealth , because these three only had territories , and dominions belonging vnto them : so hierusalem , confined to her walls , might peraduenture put forth a maior , but was no seat for a glorious king , without the annexation of this great empire of all israel . he raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel . b in multitudine populi dignitas regis , in the multitude of the people is the kings glory , prouerbs 14. 28. verse . and behold a people not to be numbred for multitude , 1 kings 3. 8. verse . as the sand of the sea , 1 kings 4. 20. as the dust of the earth , 2 chron. 1. 9. euen the kingdomes from the riuer vnto the lands of the philistins , and vnto the border of aegypt , 1 kings 4. 21. for these were the bounds of all israel . he raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel . i will not sinne with dauid in numbring this people , which vilalpanda in his second a tome vpon ezechiel ▪ labours to doe , and makes vp a totall of 6624. millions . neither will i compare salomon either with arphaxad , a king of many nations , iudith . 1. 1. vers . or with assuerus a king of twentie seuen prouinces , esther 1. 1 verse . or with nabuchadnasor a king of all the earth , iudith . 2. 3. verse , or with alexander , that would haue beene king of more ; i must leaue b tostatus , and c pineda , two spaniards , in a hot skirmish about this question : it sufficeth me , that god gaue salomon as many people , as hee tooke to himselfe in those daies , to wit all israel . he raigned in ierusalem ouer all israel ; and so much of the second circumstance of his raigne , the largenesse of his empire and dominion . i come now to the third circumstance , the continuance of the same , which was a faire , and a large scope of time , aequalled onely by one , or two , but exceeded by none of the kings of iuda , to wit , forty yeares . his raigne in hierusalem ouer all israel was forty yeares . forty yeares . for , salomon was not brought vpon the stage , as cato stole into the theatre , vt exiret , to take a turne , and goe out againe , ostentatus , raptusque simul solstitialis velut herba , solet , as the poet speakes of mineruius : but that his sayings , his doings , and his great wisdome , irent in saecula , might make an impression vpon the ages to come ; god gaue him a long , and a stirring part in this scene of glory , which was a raigne of forty yeares . hee raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel for forty yeares . forty yeares . for although we commend not a musitian for playing long , but for playing well vpon the lute ; yet occultae musicae nullum encomium , without competent triall hee is not at all commended . this life , saith a nazianzen , is a faire , or a mart , wherein good men may bee furnisht with vertues . although hee that buyeth most in this faire , is a better chapman , then he that staieth most , yet common reason must allow a time for a man to make his market . shall a hippocrates with his ars longa , vita breuis , complaine for a time to study hearbes ? and b theophrastus fall out with nature for a further respite to study trees ? and c aristotle vexe himselfe for a longer life to studie motions ? and may not kings expect more fauour in this kinde , to studie out those aegyptian hieroglyphiques of the hearts of men ? and to perfect that art of d vesticius spurinna , solā senectute prudentiam , a wisedome taught onely by multitude of yeeres ? surely god is very carefull herein . that life , saith e saint gregorie , which is commended in scripture , doth commonly end with a plenitude of dayes . when god lends these extraordinary f talents to any man in place , post multum temporis , it is a long time after that hee reckoneth with them , matth. 25. 19. verse . and therefore salomon trusted with all this stocke of sayings , and doings , and wisedome , and a citie , and an empire ouer all israel , had a raigne of forty yeeres to employ the same . and salomon raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel forty yeeres . and so much of the second generall part of my text , the most happy raigne of king salomon . i was now concluding with that 2 chron. 1. 12. that there was no king before or after to be compar'd for happinesse with our king salomon . his sayings , his doings , his wisedome , his fame in histories , his citie , his empire , and his long raigne , far surmounting all kings in scripture ; when loe a a philosopher ( who must also bee heard when hee speakes the truth ) puls me by the sleeue with an ante obitum nemo supremáque funera , that before i presume to commend a king , i consider well his death , and his funerall . verily i haue done so both now , and heretofore , and that with more then ordinary diligence . i haue read all that peraldus , cognatus , vilalpanda , pineda , delrio , suarez , and some others haue said of this theme . i know that a saint basil saith in one place , he died not so well , and b prosper plainly , that he died ill . no doubt but he sinned against his god , for hee was not christ , but his type onely . yet i know on the other side , the whole armie of the fathers , schoolemen , and commenters vpon the scripture , doe bring him with faith , and repentance to his graue , moued principally with the end of my text , that his soule departed ( as the soules of the saints are said to doe ) by a sweet sleeping , that then it rested in the societie of his fathers , and that his body was buried with the better kings in the citie of dauid his deuout father . and salomon slept with his fathers , and was buried in the citie , &c. the first happinesse of salomons end is this , that his death is resembled to slumbring and sleeping . and salomon slept . it is obser●'d by one , a quod hebraei , homines in stat●●perditionis mortuos , sanctos autem do●●ientes vocent , that the hebrues say of wicked men , that they dye ; but of the saints , that they fall a sleepe . i cannot tell , whether the rule be generall ; but b chrysastome saith directly , that without christ , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , death is still death , and hell in the bargaine , and they are onely said to sleepe , that dye in him . surely it is the godly dying , that most resembles slumbring , and sleeping . for first as wee praepare our selues vnto the one before it comes , by setting aside the traffique of the world : so are the godly disposed to the other . looke vpon salomon at his deaths bed ( for then saith c hierome this booke was penn'd ) two things haue i prayed of thee , denie mee not before i dye , take away from mee vanitie , and lyes , prouerbs 30. 7. verse . secondly , as wee willingly yeeld to nature in the one ▪ so doe the a saints to the god of nature , when he cals vpon them , in the other . listen to salomon in his ecclesiastes written not long before his death ; the righteous , and his workes are in the hand of god , eccles . 9. 1. vers . lastly , as men lay by their cloathes with an expectation to vse them againe in the one : so doe the saints their bodies , with an expectation of iudgement in the other . so ends the sermon of this royall preacher . god shall bring euery worke vnto iudgement , eccles . 12. and the last vers . and therefore this praeparing , and composing of our selues ouer-night , with a full resolution to awake in the morning , is no bitter dying , but a gentle sleeping . dormiuitque salomon . and salomon slept . and so much of this first happinesse . the second happinesse is in regard of his soule , which is said here to remaine with his fathers , dormi●●…tque salomon cum patribus suis , and salomon slept with his fathers . his fathers . nonotiosè scriptum est hoc , sed perpensè , & examinatè , saith saint ambrose in his first booke of caine , and abel . this is no phrase light on by chance , but to be well weighed , and considered . it cannot be expounded of his dead body ; for none of the kindred were entombed with salomon , but dauid onely . vnde claret , non ad sepulturam corporis , sed ad consortium vitae relatum , as hee saith of isaac ; and therefore , we must conclude , that salomons sleeping in this place , was not to rot with his fathers in the graue , but to liue with them in the kingdome of heauen . and so salomon slept with his fathers . idem est apponi ad populum suum , ac apponi ad patres , saith burgensis . to sleepe with his people , gen. 25. 8. is the same thing as to sleepe with his fathers . and to sleepe with his people is expounded by a s. augustin , to rest in the society of the angels with abraham , isaac , iacob , & dauid , who praeceded salomon in this faith , and repentance , as spirituall fathers . and salomon slept with his fathers . and so much likewise of his second happinesse . the last happinesse at his end , or rather after his end , was this , to be solemnly interred as a great prince in the citie of dauid his father . and was buried in the citie of dauid his father . after his end i say . for i will not straine this note , as some haue done . a bachiarius , a writer as auncient as saint augustin , makes it an argument of his very saluation , that he was buried inter reges iustos , in the sepulchers of the better kings , in the citie of dauid . it is true indeede , that those wicked princes , b amon , c ioram , and d ioas were not : and it is as true , that e rhehoboam , f amasias , and g abiam , as wicked as they , were all buried in the same place . leauing therefore his soule in blis●e with his fathers , these funerals shall serue for a double vse ; first , for an honor to this body already dead ; and secondly , for a comfort to all bodies as yet aliue . for the first , the bodies of saints must bee respected , as phidias his images were wont to be ; not for the stuffe , but for the makers sake . a non contemnenda sunt spiritus sancti organa , saith saint augustin . this body of his , so glorified by god while hee was aliue , must bee glorified in some proportion , although hee bee dead . amongst other magnificencies of his owne , hee b built this sepulchre of dauid his father , and therefore was rightly interred in the sepulchre of his father . in the citie of dauid his father . and as funerals doe honor the bodies that be dead ; so doe they comfort the bodies that are aliue . sepultura spiritualiter prodest viuentibus , in quantum per hanc astruitur resurrectionis sides , saith c aquinas writing vpon the fourth of the sentences . the buriall of the dead is a d lesson to the liuing , to put them in minde of the resurrection . indeede if i were of heraclitus his faith , i should be iust of his opinion , as origen quotes it in his fift booke against celsus , that dead bodies are to be neglected , as dissolued for euer to dust , and ashes . but we christians must bee more carefull , where we lay these cloathes , being to weare them againe in the resurrection . i beseech you remember in a herodian , and xiphiline , what costly beds the emperors lay in , when in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they were to be burn't , and changed to gods. with what cost doth the phoenix consume her selfe , because shee knowes she shall be reuiued ? had not salomon beene to rise with dauid ; he had neuer prouided in this sort to be buried with dauid , in ciuitate dauid patris eius , in the citie of dauid his father . and so i haue done with the parts of my text , the obit , and the funerals perform'd of old ; i come now to what i promis'd to adde to the same , which is a liuely statue of king salomon . as a spartianus therefore reports of traian , that after his death , he triumphed openly in the citie of rome , in imagine , in a liuely statue , or repraesentation inuented by adrian for that purpose : soe shall this salomon of israel doe at this time in the statue , and repraesentation of our brittish salomon . truly me thinkes ( si nunquam fallit imago ) the resemblance is very liuely . sic oculos , sic illemanus , sic oraferebat . all the circumstances doe suit very well . and therefore , as a late b commenter vpon philostratus tells vs , that in greece the statuaries began with the making of their mould , and then proceeded to the polishing of their partes : soe will i compare these two kinges , first as it were in one generall lumpe , or mould , that you may see by the odnesse of their proportion , how they differ from all kinges beside : and then with a particular examination of the parts of my text , that you may obserue by the seuerall members , how well they resemble the one the other . for the bulke , or the mould , i dare praesume to say , you neuer read in your liues , of two kings more fully parallel'd amongst themselues , and better distinguished from all other kings besides themselues . king salomon is said to be vnigenitus coram matre sua , the onely sonne of his mother , prouerbs 4. 3. so was king iames. salomon was of complexion white , and ruddie , canticles 5. 10. verse . so was king iames. salomon was an infant king , puer paruulus a little childe , 1 chron. 22. 5. verse . so was king iames a king at the age of thirteene moneths . salomon began his raigne in the life of his praedecessor , 1 kings 1. 32. so , by the a force , and compulsion of that state , did our late soueraigne king iames. salomon was twice crown'd , and anoynted a king , 1 chron. 29. 22. so was king iames. salomons minority was rough through the quarrells of the former soueraigne ; so was that of king iames. salomon was learned aboue all the princes of the east , 1 kings 4. 30. so was king iames aboue all princes in the vniuersall world . salomon was a writer in prose , and verse , 1 kings 4. 32. so in a very pure and exquisite manner was our sweet soueraigne king iames. salomon was the greatest patron we euer read of to church , and churchmen ; and yet no greater ( let the house of aaron now confesse ) then king iames. salomon was honoured with embassadors from all the kings of the earth , 1 kings 4. last verse ; and so you know , was king iames. solomon was a maine improuer of his home commodities , as you may see in his trading with hiram , 1 kings 5. 9. verse ; and , god knowes , it was the daily study of king iames. salomon was a great maintainer of shipping , and nauigation , 1 kings 10. 14. a most proper attribute to king iames. salomon beautified very much his capitall citie with buildings , and water-workes , 1 kings 9. 15. so did king iames. euery man liu'd in peace vnder his vine , and his figge-tree in the daies of salomon , 1 kings 4. 25. and so they did in the blessed daies of king iames. and yet towards his end , k. salomon had secret enemies , razan , hadad , and ieroboam , and prepared for a warre vpon his going to his graue , as you may see in the verse before my text. so had , and so did king iames. lastly , before any hostile act we reade of in the history , king salomon died in peace , when he had liued about 60. yeares , as lyra and tostatus are of opinion . and so you know did king iames. you see therefore a mould fitted for another salomon in the bulke , and generall : i come now , according to the method in my text , to polish , and refine the members of this statue in their diuision , and particular . to beginne with his reliquum verborum , his wordes , and eloquence ; you know it well enough , it was rare , and excellent in the highest degree . salomon speaking of his owne facultie in this kinde , diuides it into two seuerall heads , a ready inuention , and an easie discharge , and expression of the same . god hath granted me to speake , as i would , and to conceiue , as is meet , for the things spoken of , wisdome 7. 15. vers . and this was eminent in our late soueraigne . his inuention was as quicke as his first thoughts , and his wordes as ready as his inuention . god had giuen him to conceiue . the greeke word in that place is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , to make an enthymem , or a short syllogisme ; and that was his manner . he would first winde vp the whole substance of his discourse into one solid , and massy conception ; and then spread it , and dilate it to what compasse he pleas'd , profluenti , & quae principem deceret eloquentia ( as a he said of augustus ) in a flowing and a princely kinde of elocution . those speeches of his in the parliament , starre-chamber , councell table , and other publique audiencies of the state ( of which , as of tullies orations , b ea semper optima quae maxima , the longest still was held the best ) doe proue him to bee the most powerfull speaker , that euer swayed the scepter of this kingdome . in his style you may obserue the ecclesiastes , in his figures the canticles , in his sentences the prouerbs , and in his whole discourse , reliquum verborum salomonis , all the rest that was admirable in the eloquence of salomon . for , beside his prose , iter ad carmen nouerat , hee made a verse also when hee pleas'd , and that ( as became buchanans best scoller ) sanissimi coloris , of a most dainty , and elaborate composition . an euerlasting honor to the muses . c for as alexander , somewhat shie at the first , was content afterward to be burgesse of corinth , because hercules had formerly accepted of the place : euen so the greatest potentate of all the earth , may now without blushing stoope to a verse , being the vsuall recreation of king a dauid , together with this first , and second salomon . for the king our master neuer vs'd it , but as dauid did , for the praise of god , and his owne comfort . hee was in hand ( when god call'd him to sing psalmes with the angels ) with the translation of our church psalmes , which hee intended to haue finished , and dedicated withall to the onely saint of his deuotion , the church of great britaine , and that of ireland . this worke was staied in the one and thirty psalme . blessed is he whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen , and whose sinne is couered , the very best meditation of all ( as saint b austin thinkes ) in the church militant , to prepare a soule for the church triumphant . thus therefore in prose , and verse , in his prouerbs , and in his canticles , he was nothing short of the eloquence of salomon , pointed at in this first circumstance . reliquum verborum salomonis , the rest of the words of salomon . from his sayings i am come to his doings . quae fecerit , all that he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( as a theocritus speakes ) a vast wood , and world of matter , fitter for the annals , and historie of the time , then for a fragment of a funerall sermon . euery action of his sacred maiestie was a vertue , and a miracle to exempt him from any parallel , amongst the moderne kings , and princes . not a particular of his life , but was a mysterie of the diuine prouidence , to keepe , and praeserue those admirable parts , for the setling , and vniting of some great empire . why was the queen his b mother barren in france then growne a greater , and yet fruitfull in scotland , a lesser kingdome then this of ours ? why was c the father killed in his bed , and yet the sonne at the same time spared in his cradle ? why was hee put ( like another a hercules ) to strangle serpents in his swadling clouts , and to fight , before he could lift vp his arme , with the b husband of his mother , for a iust reuenge of the death of his father ? why were those worthy guardians of his sacred person so swept away , c murray , d lenox , and e morton killed , and f marre tormented , and vexed to death , and yet this infant , without his protectors , from time to time miraculously protected ? how was his youth freed from the faction of g france , and his riper yeares from that of h spaine ? the which two , like sampsons foxes , tied by the tailes , agreed in nothing but their end , which was to poison his religion , and succession . why did i gowries man , prepar'd to kill him , tremble in his praesence , and begin to adore him ? lastly , ( for no praeseruation can be nam'd after this ) when the match , and the powder , not farre from this place , was so fitted , and praepared , why was this king so diuinely praeserued ? surely for no other end then this , that as a perez was wont to call himselfe monstrum fortunae , the monster of fortune : so this prince might appeare in the world , monstrum prouidentiae , a monster , as it were , of the diuine prouidence ; ( taking the word , as scaliger applies it to b virgil , monstrum sine labe , a monster for want of imperfections , ) and be esteem'd for his quae fecerit , what he should doe , in time to come , a miracle of kings , and a king of miracles . i leaue the multitude of his actions to fill vp chronicles , and will instance onely in those foure vertues ; which it seemes doe now adorne his hearse , and speake the same vnto your eyes , which i would doe vnto your eares ; that is , the actions of his religion , his iustice , his warre , and his peace , foure principall members in this statue of salomon . first for the actions of religion , it is true what st. c gregory saith , that god doth therefore giue princes their kingdomes to fit , and praepare men for his kingdome . hence our churches come to be builded , and our church-men to be thus maintained . now as salomon of all the kings of israel : so our late soueraigne of all christian kings , that euer i read of , was the most constant a patron , of churches , and church-men . this patronage extended to three seuerall braunches , to the doctrine , to the discipline , and to the maintenance of gods church . and of his affection to these three he gaue a full demonstration , by that he had spent three moneths in this kingdome . to the doctrine , by the b translation of the bible , against the papists . to the discipline , by the conference at c hampton court , against the nouellists . and to the maintenance , by remitting all sede-vacantes , and disabling d church-men to make leases to the crowne , against the courtiers , and statists of those worser times . yee house of leui praise yee the lord , quoniam misericordia eius in saeculum , for this mercy of his endureth for euer . but this a beginning amongst vs was but a mappe of his whole life , as many times a little ring , receiueth the image of a great colossus ; because , from the very cradle wherin he was crown'd , all his life was a continued patronage of the doctrine , the discipline , and the maintenance of the church . for the first , i will speake it boldly , et dicam vniuersa audiente graecia , in the praesence here of god , and men , that i beleeue in my soule , and conscience , there neuer liued a more constant , resolute , and setled protestant in point of doctrine , then our late soueraigne . the first letter that euer he wrote to queene elizabeth of famous memory , vpon his taking of the gouernment to his owne managing , was for assistance against those men , b qui verae religioni aduersabantur , that were opposers of this true religion ; and this was in the yeare 1578. in the same blessed minde he still remained , when he made that profession to secretary c walsingham ; se religionem receptam constantissimè defensurum , that he would most constantly defend his receiued religion , in the yeare 1583. in the same resolution he continued , when hee put it to a queene elizabeth to choose him a lady , who recommended vnto him at the first b madam margarite , aunt to our now queene ( whom god long blesse , and praeserue ) and afterward our late queene c anne , a most blessed ladie in many respects , and yet in none more then this , that she was the mother of our praesent soueraigne . in the same faith he perseuer'd , when hee made his rodes ( as they call it ) to the d north of scotland against the papists , in the yeare 1594. or there abouts . hee grew in this faith from strengh to strength , when he wrote his e basilicon doron , which made the romanists despaire of him , and set on f parsons to forge titles , g clemens octanus to publish bulls , and the whole conclaue to oppose his succession , as we may now reade at large in the letters of h cardinall d'ossat . and vpon his happie arriuall to this crowne , a protestant he was deem'd by a watson the prologue , and , that without any hope of change , by faux the epilogue of the powder treason . to conclude , he defended this doctrine of ours with his penne , his lawes , and his sword , the whole progresse of his life ; and seal'd it with the blessed sacrament at the time of his death . sic illi visum est viuere , sicque mori . i am bound in conscience out of zeale to the truth , and my dutie to my dead master , to adde a word more , ere i close this point . this blessed king , in all the time i seru'd him , did neuer out of deepe , and iust reason of state , and the bitter necessities of christendome in these latter times , giue way to any the least conniuence in the world , towards the person of a papist ( for to his doctrine he neuer did , he neuer would doe , nor was there any b consideration vnder heauen could haue forc't him thereunto ) but hee strictly guided himselfe in the same , by some notable praesident of queene elizabeth , ( the load-starre of all his greatest actions ) and that in the very point ; and bath'd his fauours with showers of teares ( i speake it in the praesence of almightie god ) least these intendments of his for the apparant good of the state , might scandalize for all that , ( in an oblique line ) his weake , but well meaning subiects in their religion , and doctrine . and so much for the first point . for the second , as hee patronized the doctrine , so did he also the discipline of this church , i meane the hierarchie of the bishops , and the vse of chapters , and cathedrall churches , as a gouernment receiued from christ , and his apostles , and the a only discipline that euer agreed with the fundamentall lawes of any christian monarchie . for as that musitian in b philostratus sent his young scholler to a sort of bunglers , where he might learne , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , how hee should not pipe : so god almighty was pleas'd , that this great a king should be bred for a while in that new discipline , that hee might learne in times to come how hee should not discipline the church of christ . in that discipline he learn't this doctrine , that b one king may be lawfully surprised by three earles , 1583. that c ministers are not subiect to either king , or councell , 1584. that they may d deny the king to pray for his mother . 1586. that they may call synods without the king , and make lawes too ; e ne quid respublica detrimenti capiat , that there be nothing done to the praeiudice of the state. 1593. for these aberrations therefore in the discipline of that church ( though hee honoured those preachers to his dying day for the truth of their doctrine in all other points ) hee first brought in f the iurisdiction ; secondly , the name ; thirdly , the cathedrals ; and lastly , the consistories , and reuenews of my lords their bishops : such a patron hee was of this most reuerend , most auncient , and most apostolicall discipline . lastly , he was as great a patron of the maintenance of the church , as euer i read of in any historie . for beside his refusall of sede-vacantes , and that law he enacted at his first entrance for the preseruation of the reuenew of our churches in england , he might well say with dauid for his other kingdomes ; a zelus domus tuae deuorauit me , that the endowing of bishopricques , the erecting of colledges , the buying out of impropriations , the assigning of glebes , the repairing of the old , and the founding of new churches hath consumed , and taken vp all , or the farre greater part of his reuenews in scotland , and ireland . i haue no time to dwell vpon particulars , but in the generall , thinke you of whom you please , of constantine of rome , of charlemaine of france , of alphonso of spaine , or to come home to our owne island , a soile more fertill in prodigious founders , of lucius , of offa , of alfred , of saint edward , of any king before , or since the conquest , and i will say of my deare master ( as he said of traian ) tu melior peioriaeuo , though the times be farre worse , yet was he farre the greater founder . and therefore to conclude this point , imagine discipline to be the wals , maintenance the roofe , and couer , true doctrine the sweet perfume , and incense of the temple , and you haue salomons first act before your eyes , the building of gods house , and his quid fecerit , what he did by actions of religion . for the actions of iustice in this king , they were so ordinary , that being repeated they would proue as taedious for the praesent , as in the ages to come they will be admired . for , as a synesius saith of that glorious planet , that it is nothing for the sunne to shine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it being of his essence to glister , and shine : so were it frigidissima laudatio , very poore oratory , to commend our king for being iust , there hauing beene made ouer all europe , for the space of forty yeeres , no more quaestion of his being iust , then of his being king. if wee looke at home in his owne dominions , neuer were the benches so grauely furnished , neuer the courts so willingly frequented , neuer poore , and rich so aequally righted , neuer the ballance so euenly poized , as in the raigne of our late soueraigne . i could tell you that , that will neuer be beleeu'd in future times , of a lord that died for a vile varlet , of a peere condemned for a sorry gentleman , nay of a deare sonne vnrelieued for a time against a stranger , for feare of swaruing the breadth of a haire from the line of iustice . if wee looke abroad into forraign countries , quae tam seposita est , quae gens tam barbara ? those very princes , that haue done him none , haue beene forc't to confesse his vprightnesse , and iustice . i leaue you therefore to resolue with your selues , of the which of these salomons , that text is most true ; the wisedome of god was in him , ad faciendum iudicium , to doe iustice . 1 kings 3. last verse . and so much of the actions of his ivstice . the third sort of actions , which are those of warre , are also obseruable in the peaceable raigne of our late salomon . for although it be a fashion amongst men , vt nolint eundem pluribus rebus excellere ( a as the orator speakes ) that they cannot endure that one man should bee thought eminent in many qualities , as the same prince in the managing of peace , and warre : yet surely nothing , but the malice of some people , that would place their wheeles in princes , as b daedalus did in his statues ; to pull them to combustions at their owne pleasure , can denie this laurell to our late soueraigne . for besides that occasioned in scotland , to make his roades into the north , a●ter the defeat of the earle of arguile , hee shewed himselfe in person , not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , resolute enough , but , if wee may beleeue the a story ( as plutarque said of tiberius gracchus ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , somewhat too forwardin those vnapproachable places , scattering his enemies as much with his example , as he did with his forces ; — b dum magnos tolerare labores ipsa ducis virtus cogit — i say , beside these aduentures of his person , he was vnto his people , to the houre of his death , another cherubin with a flaming sword , to keepe out enemies from this paradise of ours ; wherein , aboue al neighbouring nations , grew in abundance those apples of peace , which now i am to gather in the last place . and surely actions of peace ( what euer debauched people say to the c contrarie ) set out a prince in more orient colours then those of war , and great combustions . in turbas , & discordias pessimo cui que plurima vis : pax , & quies bonis artibus indigent , saith d tacitus , any phaethon will serue to fire the world , but none beside the god of wisedome can keepe it in order . and this is most euident in the booke of god. when israel is to be chastized with warre , and desolation , any furious iehu will serue the turne ; but for the managing of a long , and a continued peace , no lesse is required then the wisedome of salomon . now of these actions of king iames his peace , though many others haue made whole bookes , yet will i make but a short index . you may finde in those volumes , the schooles of the prophets newly adorned , all kinde of learning highly improued , manufactures at home daily inuented , trading abroad exceedingly multiplied , the borders of scotland peaceably gouerned , the north of ireland religiously planted , the nauy royall magnificently furnished , virginia , new-found-land , and new-england peopled , the east india well traded , persia , china , and the mogor visited , lastly , all the ports of europe , afrique , asia ▪ and america to our red crosses freed , and opened . and they are all the actions , and true-borne children of king iames his peace . and so much , or rather ( for want of time ) so little of the quae fecerit , and what he did ; the rest of the words of salomon , and all that he did . the third member of this statue , is his wisedome , fitly resembled to that of salomons . for if the patterne seeme to excell in the intellectuals , i am sure the statue exceeds in the morals . if we take this wisedome for an vniuersalitie , clasping in her armes all arts , and sciences ; shee cannot be denied in that large sense , to haue built her a house in that sacred bosome . for , as a budaeus being ask'● by francis the first , if all the bookes in the world were to bee burn't , what one hee would saue , to preserue learning , made answer , that he would saue the workes of plutarque , because they had impressions of all the sciences : so say i , and appeale herein to any scholler in the world , that if all bookes were to be burnt , and plutarque also to beare them company : yet could a man finde some footing , and impressions of all arts , and sciences , of all kindes of a diuinitie , moralitie , and humanitie whatsoeuer , within the workes of our late soueraigne . but if we take wisdome for that deepe reach required in a king , for the gouerning of his people , which b synesius calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the prince of all the princely vertues ; i will without blushing say of him , as pliny did of another , and appeale herein to my noble lords of his priuie counsell , nihil est omnium quod discere velis , quod ille docere non potuit , there was nothing in that kinde that a man would learne , but was fully taught by our great master . but ( alas ) i dare not launch into this vast deepe , whereof the best head ( where-euer it is ) in all europe cannot sound the bottome : c nisi sapiens non potest perspicere sapientem : my wisdome , i confesse , is farre too short to giue you any character of his infinite wisedome . some streames hereof , you may hereafter find in the histories of this age , the fourth member of this statue , the booke of the acts of salomon . and the rest of the words of salomon , and all that hee did , and his wisdome , are they not written in the booke of the acts of salomon ? for although king iames had no such officers as a salomon had , à commentarijs , appointed of purpose to write his actions ; yet b dulce estoculis videre solem , the sunne cannot shine in such a brightnesse , but eyes must behold it , nor set in so lasting a night , but the world will misse it . priuate histories ( as c adrian said of apers accusations ) are but incke , and paper , and may bee holpe in part with the golden pin-dust ; whereas d suffragia mundi nullus emit , none can be honoured of all europe , but he that held the ballance of all europe ; and , for the space of twentie yeares at the least , preserued the peace of all europe . christendome therefore will be the booke , swords , i feare , will proue the pennes , and the remembrance of the times past , the acts , and monuments of our blessed salomon . and if multitude of writers could multiply his fame , the israelite with his fifteene pen-men ( for so a pineda makes his boast ) must giue place herein to our british salomon . what writer hath cause to speake of a king , but praesently he falles vpon this king of writers ? so that as b constantine the great did nick-name traian , herbam parietariam , a wall-flower , because his name was engrauen on euery wall : so shall aemulous posteritie terme king iames herbam chartaceam , a paper-flower , when they reade his glory in all writers . and as one saith of plinius , and tacitus , that they were c literarum nomina , non hominum : so will it be a quaestion amongst critiques in the ages to come , whether this name of iames doth more properly note an eminent king , or an eminent scholler . and in that case , if vngratefull posteritie should forget the king , ( as beleeue me it will not ; for like one of d demetrius his statues , this king will shew better and better with time ) yet if it should , learning will neuer forget the scholler . in the world before the flood , though wee reade not of one king , a the inuenters of the arts are still remembred . his history therefore , like b herodotus his history , shall be written , and set out by all the muses ; they all shall ioyne in the writing of his booke , the booke of the acts of our british salomon . in the fifth place , suruey we his capitall citie ; which c enlarged , and repaired in each corner thereof , 1 king. 9. 15. and refreshed within with a d running water ( which e iosephus attributes to the sonne of dauid ) doth no more resemble that other , then this hierusalem , where our salomon raigned . hee raigned in hierusalem . here for the space of two and twentie yeeres the sacrifices were daily offered , here gods word was learnedly expounded , here the lawes were iustly administred , here all the tribes were vsually assembled , here the three kingdomes were conuened , here edenburgh and diuelen were vnited , like iebus , and salem , in one hierusalem . whilst salomon raigned in this hierusalem . and so much of this fifth circumstance . in the sixt place , suruay wee the bounds of his empire , and king iames will proue a king salomon in this , as being the first king ( for ought we know ) that raigned here ouer all this island , ouer all israel . hee raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel . there is a brute of one brutus long before , but it is no more then a meere brute . king iames is the first king of the island , that wee reade of in good histories . and surely non sine numine diuûm , this came not to passe otherwise , then by gods direction , from time to time . when the two daughters were so matched , why should scotland be preferred ? when a b new race had gotten the crowne , why should the name within the space of 115 yeares be thus extinguished ? when many praetenses were made to this land , why should they all in this one king be concentred and vnited ? a that of the britaine 's by cadwallo , that of the scots by fargus , that of the picts by the daughter of hungus , that of the saxons by the sister of edgar , that of the danes by the daughter of king christian , and that of the normans by the daughter of henry the seuenth , from all the which he was a lineall descendant . surely to let vs know , that this was the salomon , whom god from the beginning had anointed king ouer all israel , and accordingly he raigned in hierusalem ouer all israel . and so much of the sixt circumstance . the seuenth circumstance is the time of his raigne , the which , though it falls short in a diuided , yet in a compounded sense exceeds the patterne . for though he raigned not so long ouer all israel , yet in all hee raigned 58. yeares . a long , and a blessed raigne , wherein he was married to one queene , and ( as he said of tigranes ) to a thousand vertues . a raigne like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or golden chaine in homer , whereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the seuerall linkes were seuerall blessings , with the one end fastened to his cradle , and the other dropping into his graue . and surely god almightie , to let vs know that it is a by him that kings doe raigne , makes them sometimes to gouerne states ( and that very well ) before they be able to gouerne themselues . b varanes his childe was crowned king , while he was yet in his mothers wombe . c fredericke the second , when he was but three yeares old . d ioas , when hee was but seuen . salomon , ( as some e rabbins thinke ) when hee was but ten . f charles the ninth , when hee was but eleuen . g st. lewis , when he was but twelue . and our late soueraigne aged little more then h so mamy moneths . thus god stockes those kings with daies , whom he meanes to stocke with goodnesse . thus our deare master , who raigned better , raigned also longer then king salomon , whose raigne in hierusalem ou●r all israel , was no more then fortie yeares : and so much of the seuenth circumstance . and hitherto , most high and mightie , most honourable , worshipfull , and welbeloued , you may imagine i haue offered vnto your thoughts , not only a statue of king salomon , but withall , as the graecians did in their hercules , and xenophon in his cyrus , an idaea , or repraesentation of all the perfections requir'd in a king. but , out alas ! those statues of theirs are ( as the soule that frames them ) lasting , and immortall , but this of ours made of flesh and bloud , maiore nostrûm damno , quam suo ( as a hee said of titus ) to our losse , but his great aduantage , is proued mortall . i , but did you not know before ( will some men say ) that the king was mortall ? i did indeed , and i know withall , the state of christendome doth require , that such a king , as this , of these sayings , and doings , and wisedome , and experience of 58. yeeres , should haue beene immortall , a verum oneranda mihi non sunt , memoranda recepi , fata — our onely comfort is this , that as he liued like a king , so he died like a saint . he did rather ( as saint hierome said of nepotian ) migrare , quam mori ; or ( as saint bernard writes of hubertus ) abire , quam obire , hee did not dye , but fall asleepe , dormiuitque salomon , and salomon b slept . neuer haue you read of any king , that left this world more resolued , more prepared , as though hee had vnbrac't himselfe for his bed , rather then for his graue . and it was his fashion so to doe , when hee was summoned by any sicknesse . god dealt with this blessed prince , as he did with c ezechia , for certaine yeeres before his death , hee was call'd vpon by his sicknesse at royston to set his house in order . lord , what a a speech hee then made to his sonne our praesent soueraigne ? o verba bracteata . not a syllable in all the same , but deserues to be written in letters of gold. how powerfully did hee charge him with the care of religion and iustice , the two pillars ( as hee tearm'd them ) of his future throne ? how did he recommend vnto his loue , the nobilitie , the clergie , and the communaltie in the generall ? how did he thrust , as it were into his inward bosome , his bishops , his iudges , his neere seruants ; and that disciple of his whom he so loued in particular ? and concluded with that heauenly aduice , to his sonne , concerning that great act of his future marriage , to marrie like himselfe , and marrie where hee would . but if hee did marrie the daughter of that king , hee should marry her person , but hee should not marry her religion . but now at this sicknesse more shaken with the fits of a raging feuer , the neerer death drew vnto him , the more he prepar'd himselfe for it . all his latter dayes hee spent in prayer , sending his thoughts before into heauen , to bee the harbingers of his happy soule . some foure dayes before his end , he desired to receiue the blessed sacrament , viaticum aeternitatis , as it is tearm'd in the ancient councels , a blessed bait , that the deuout soule vseth for the most part to take in this life , when it is ready to trauaile for the other life . being demanded , if hee was prepared in point of faith , and charitie for so great a deuotion ; he said hee was , and gaue humble thankes to god for the same . being desir'd to declare his faith , and what he thought of those bookes he had written in that kinde , hee repeated the articles of the creede one by one , and said hee beleeued them all , as they were receiued and expounded by that part of the catholique church which was established here in england . and said with a kinde of sprightfulnesse , and viuacitie , that what euer hee had written of this faith in his life , he was now ready to seale with his death . being questioned in point of charitie ; he answered presently , that hee forgaue all men that offended him , and desir'd to be forgiuen by all christians , whom hee in any wise had offended . being told , that men in holy orders in the church of england doe challenge a power , as inhaerent in their function , not in their person , to pronounce and declare remission of sins , to such as being paenitent doe call for the same ; and that they haue a forme of absolution for that very purpose , set down in the booke of common prayers ; a he answered suddenly ; i haue euer beleeu'd , there was that power in you , that be in orders in the church of england . and that , amongst others , was vnto me an euident demonstration , that the church of england is without all quaestion the church of christ . and therefore i a miserable sinner doe humbly desire almighty god to absolue of my sinnes , and you , that are his seruant in that high place , to affoord me this heauenly comfort . and after the absolution read , and pronounced , hee receiued the sacrament with that zeale , and deuotion , as if hee had not beene a fraile man , but a cherubin cloathed with flesh , and blood . and some houre after , he said vnto his sonne , the duke , and others that stood about him , that they could not imagine what ease , and comfort he found in himselfe , ●ithence his receiuing of the blessed sacrament . o , saith hee , that all my lords would doe but thus , when they are visited with the like sicknesse . themselues would bee more comforted in their soules , and the world lesse troubled with quaestioning their religion . from this time , to the houre of his death , the sicknesse preuailed more and more vpon his body , and his sense , and memory not much impaired , prayers were multiplied accordingly from houre to houre , for the comfort of his soule . and as a nazianzen saith of saint basil , that he did desire to dye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , with some sentence of pietie in his mouth : so there were selected in english , and latine , some short sentences of deuotion to raise , and lift vp his soule into heauen , before it came thither . with this he was so rauished , and comforted , that as all his seruants ( neuer sufficiently commended for diligence , and a deuotion ) can beare witnesse , when he groaned now vnder the pangs of death , yet was hee euer still , and as quiet , as a lambe , when these eiaculations were infused into him. to one of them , to wit , mecum eris in paradiso , he replied presently , vox christi , that it was the voice , and promise of christ . and another , veni domine iesu , veni citò , hee twice , or thrice repeated . and a while after , his hastning on forward towards his end , hastned vs also to that prayer vsually said at the houre of death ; the which was no sooner ended with that sentence , in manus tuas domine commendo spiritum meum , but his lords , and seruants kneeling on the one side , his archbishop , bishops , and other of his chaplaines on the other side of his bed , without any pangs , or conuulsion at all , dormiuit salomon , salomon slept . and so much of this eight , a most bitter circumstance . and yet this bitternesse is like the bitternesse of myrrhe , very vnpleasing vnto vs , but very praeseruatiue vnto him . a mors ianua vitae . b he had no way , but by this mortalitie , to cloath himselfe with immortalitie . were it not for this sleeping , how had hee obtain'd this aeternall c dreaming ? which his soule seuer'd from the dregges of the bodie , doth now enioy in the praesence of god , enuiron'd no more with lords , and knights , but with troupes of angels , and the soules of the blessed , call'd in this text , his fore-runners , or fathers ; and salomon slept with his fathers . and therefore as d papinius statius reports of the old arcadians , that mourning all night for the setting of the sunne , they were comforted notwithstanding at the breake of day , when they saw him in his spheare againe . and as the people enraged at the death of romulus , were quieted by and by with a proculus his newes , that he saw him in glory riding vp to heauen : much more must we christians remain full of hope at the death of a b saint , that is gone to his fathers ; dormiuitque salomon cum patribus suis , and salomon slept with his fathers . and no more of this ninth circumstance . and i must say lesse of the last of all , praeuented therein by the magnificence of his maiestie : because , for any thing wee reade in the scriptures , the funeralls of the first , came nothing neare the stately funerals of our second salomon . shall i say therefore of my praesent master , that he is a great , and a hopefull king ? all that is true ; but i leaue it to another , that hath time to enlarge it . i will onely say , as st. a ambrose said of theodosius , summam votorum complexus est , pius est ; he hath shew'd himselfe , as we desir'd he should , a pious sonne of a most pious father . he layes , with all possible solemnity , the bodie of his father in the sepulchre of the kings , erected by henry the seuenth his great grandfather , tanquam in ciuitate dauid patris eius ; iust as this other salomon was , in the citie of dauid his father . and yet , with due reuerence to his maiestie , i must be bold to say , that all this is nothing to that honour , which god hath done to the funeralls of his father . so b deare in the sight of the lord is th● death of his saints . for god hath prouided another statue yet to adorne the exequies of our late soueraigne . i doe not meane this artificiall repraesentation within the hearse ; for this shews no more then his outward body ; or rather the bodie of his bodie , his cloathes and ornaments . but i meane that statue which ( beyond all former praesidents of pietie ) a walk't on foot this day after the hearse , one of myrons statues , qui paenè hominū animas effinxerit , which came so neare to the soules of men , b a breathing statue of all his vertues . this god hath done for him , or rather for vs. for as he hath made a liuely repraesentation of the vertues of salomon , in the person of king iames : so hath he done a like repraesentation of the vertues of king iames , in the person of king charles our gratious soueraigne . i will therefore conclude these exequies of salomon , with a saying spoken by that imitator of salomon , c mortuus est pater , & quasi non est mortuus , similem enim reliquit sibi post se . though his father be dead , yet is he , as though hee were not dead , for he hath left one behinde him most like himselfe . whom god long prosper , and praeserue . the grace of our lord &c. finis . london , printed by john bill , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . m. dc . xxv . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a15453-e400 a 1 sam. 13 1. filius vnius anni erat saul . s●mplex & inno●●ns ●anquam pu●r vnius anni . cald paraph . hieron . p. dan●an . l. 2. ad albe●icum . cardin . b 1 sam. 13. 13. stult●●gis●● , ●●c custod ●●imandata dom●ni d●i tu● . c 2 sam 32. 35. d plutarchus in eu●en● . a vid. io. monthol . i● prompt . iuris . verbo salomon . a a●nal . 1● . b for as alexander tells his ●ather philip. such exquisitenesse in this kinde , as he his father expressed , is not required in euery king. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dion . chrys . orat . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ pyndar . olimp. od . ● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nazianz. orat. 30. a iul. capitol . in antonino philosopho . & anton. de gueuara . in●orol ●orol . p●n● . b s●●ton . in eius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ s●b● & suis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pre 〈…〉 . cap. ●9 . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , anton. monach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . datur hoc i 〈…〉 strium v●●orum posicrit●ti , vt ex●qu●●●●●●●●iscua sepultura s●●●● e●●ur , &c. tacit. annal. 16. b antiq. l. 7. c. 1● . a 〈…〉 . salom. 〈…〉 3. ●● serli 〈…〉 ar 〈…〉 . 〈…〉 b 4 reg. 21. 28 ▪ 2 chron. 21. 20. 2 chron. 24. 25. c lib. ● . d matth. 12. 42. a musonius apud s●ob . s●rm . 4● b exod. 4. 10. a octa●●●nus f 〈…〉 lib. de 〈…〉 b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ c plutarch . in p 〈…〉 . d ●●● alexander thought it vnnecessary in a king to bee exact in this kinde of learning . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion . ch●ys . orat. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ta●●●us requires in a prince , 〈◊〉 ill●um illum ex sa 〈…〉 . de 〈◊〉 agricol . and leo the emperor made vse of m 〈…〉 his eloquence , 〈…〉 〈◊〉 in 〈…〉 sid 〈…〉 . apol 〈…〉 in panegyr . e annal. 15. a prous . ●● b in 〈…〉 salomon 〈…〉 aquinas 2 q. 113. a●● . 3. ad . 2. c prior pars p●●b 〈…〉 p●●ed . d 〈…〉 . sa 〈…〉 1. d 〈…〉 a numb . 27. 17. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philostrat . de vita apoll. lib. 5. c. 10. 〈…〉 c plut. in themisto●●e . a 〈…〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . syne● . de regno b nullis circums●●iptam terminis sapientiam adeptus est . de reb sal. l. 3 c. 9. c libr●● in genes . q. 4. vt & abulens . 3 reg. 3. q. 10. d i● 3 reg 3. q. 11. e tom. 1. disp . 7. q. 2. pun●●● . 1. a c 〈…〉 lib. 5. b studia praestant . vt etiam ●●●er . 〈…〉 . quin●●l . 〈…〉 orat . l. 12. c. 4. e sanctius . proem . in 1 r●● a 〈◊〉 paralip . 〈…〉 〈…〉 rum , 〈…〉 〈…〉 m , 〈…〉 rep 〈…〉 〈…〉 sanctius 〈…〉 1. b san 〈…〉 c 〈…〉 d 〈…〉 a 2 c 〈…〉 b 〈…〉 〈◊〉 annal 3. c plinius 〈…〉 lib. 3. ●p 20. 〈…〉 ma● , &c. a fama liberrima principum iudex . senec. detestantur malos principes etiam qui malos faciunt . plin. panegyr . b octauian . ferrar . lib. de sermon . exoter . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarch . in vita demost . beate victuro ante alia conuenit patriam esse glorios●m . amm●anus marcell . lib. 14. & tamen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arist . apud la●rtium . lib. 5. a 〈…〉 . 3. b masius in ios . ●●● . 15. n. 63. c ●●a● montan. ● ios . 18. 20. ruper●us lib. 2. in deut. c. 18. v 〈…〉 . ●om . 3. 〈…〉 . ch . p. 1. lib. 〈…〉 . d 〈…〉 14. a 〈…〉 b ● reg. 2. ●● . c ● reg. 12. 16. a orat. d● l●g● ag●●● . contra ●ul●um . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aristot . ●●●● . 7. ● . 8. a part. 2. ●●● . ● . d●sp 3. c. 5● b imperij amplitudine , longo interuallo su●erabatur ab alijs imperatoribus tum prioribus , tum 〈…〉 oribus . tosta● . in 2 chron. 1. q ▪ ●1 . dionys . ca●thus . ●n ●●●● . c. 3. c ●go ●●re si ●●● seo , vt 〈…〉 , i●● gl●ria , a●qu● a●●● gl●riae o 〈…〉 , populique mul 〈…〉 , salomonem sur erasse al●o●●m n●s ●i●e pr●●r●s ●i●e 〈…〉 s orbis dominatores . pineda d●r●b . ●alomonis . lib. 6. c. 2. a in sententijs la●●ici● quater . ●●●●ersibus com 〈…〉 . a 〈…〉 . b 〈…〉 &c. 〈…〉 ●ce●●us●ul . quaest . l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . la●●●●us●ib ●ib . ● . c in●e a 〈…〉 . 〈…〉 ●xigen●● , 〈…〉 , &c ▪ s●n●● d● b 〈…〉 e vi●● ▪ c. 1. d plin s 〈…〉 d. l●b . 3. 〈…〉 1. ●● caluis●um . & a●n●rum 〈…〉 udo d 〈…〉 s●●●en●iam . iob 32. 7. crescit inse●ibus . hieron . ep . 2. ad n●po●●an . e non ●a●●le 〈…〉 plenus dierum ponitur , nisi is , euius per ●andem scripturam vita lauda●●r . grego● . m●●nus in iob. vlt. nemini dedit d●●s spacium peccandi . ecclesiasticus 15. 22. f qui pau 〈…〉 multatalenta lucri secit ben● viuendo . chrys . in locum . quaeris quid sit ampl 〈…〉 spacium ? vsque ad sapientiam viuere . sene. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot . ethic . l. 1. c. 11. a basil . ● p 〈…〉 . n●m vitae ●● . p. ● non glorio ●um . b parte . 2 de praedict . c. 27. a 〈…〉 b 〈…〉 c ●n 1. cap. 〈…〉 & lib. 2. con●ra iouinianum . a 〈…〉 quod 〈…〉 p●lanus , 〈…〉 〈…〉 39. a sup. genes . 26. 8. a tom. 〈…〉 b 1 reg. ●● . ●● . c 2 chron. 21. ●● . d 2 chron. 24 ▪ ●● . e 3 reg. 14. ●● . f 2 chron. 2● ▪ ●● . g 3 re● . ●● ▪ ● . a 〈…〉 um , 〈…〉 ad 〈…〉 est 〈◊〉 august . de ●●●●tate dei. lib. ● . c. ●3 . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●●●●phus antiq. 〈…〉 . c thom. in 4. sent. ●●si 4● . q. 2 〈…〉 3 d 〈…〉 august . 〈…〉 lib. ● . c. 5. a 〈…〉 vpon 〈…〉 a imaginem traian●●urru ●urru triumphal●●●xit , vt optim●● imperator ne post mortem quidem triumphi a 〈…〉 dignitat●m . spart . in adrian . b blaise de viegenere sur le premier liure des tableaux de plat-pemture de philost . a for his ●ate maies●ie neuer approued of the president , as is toucht in some place , by cambden , and thuanus . a tacitus annal. lib. 13. b plin. secund. lib. 1. ep . 20. c plutarch . i● alexand a 〈…〉 st. ambrose of dauid . b aug 〈…〉 . a idyll 〈…〉 b vna ●●●●arum in omni●●● lampido lacedae●●nia r●p●ritur , quae regis filia , regis vxor , regis mater fuit . plin. histor . nat . l. 7 c. 41. c a●roci , & horrendo scelere , quod boni omnes ●●●● detestati . cambd. eliz. pag. 11● . a postquam conspexit angueis ille alter pue● , 〈…〉 cunis exilit , facit recta●● angucis impetum , &c. plautus in amphitruone . act. 5. 〈◊〉 . b cambden . eliz. pag. 121. c cambden . eliz. pag. 172. d idem . ibid. pag. 203. e mortonius anglis addictissimus ab arranio l●s● maiestatis accusatus , in carcerem 〈◊〉 cambd. eliz. pag. 314. ex delator●m inuidia . pag. 315. obtrun●atus . pag. 317. f prae moerore , postquam tredecim meses praefu●sset , ●atis concessi● . cambd. eliz. pag. 204. g cambd. eliz. pag. 316. h summa consilij erat , vt rege intercepto , externas cop●●● ad religionem romanam restaurandam , & angliam●uadendam ●uadendam admitterent . cambd. eliz. part . ● pag. 500. m. s. i gow●●es conspi●acie . fol 6. a cambd. eliz. part . 2. pag. ●●6 . m. s. b in poetice . c vt terrestre regnum coelesti regno famuletur . greg. ep . 62. ad mau●itium . a ing●●● ●aesar , & p●r gloria tua , ●iue 〈…〉 ud post 〈…〉 , si●e 〈…〉 nt . p●m. ●● paneg. b now read in our churches . c printed by command 14. ianuary 1603. and now reprinted by king iames his new command , 〈…〉 diatly before his death . ●●●● . d the act. of 〈…〉 1 ●ac . a ipsa initia plantare debent principis nominis samam . theodoricus . b per dunfer●●ilinium . cambd. eliz. pag. ●●● . c edinburg● . cambd. ehz pag. 341. a 〈…〉 〈…〉 ham de 〈…〉 c. ●a 〈…〉 eliz. 〈…〉 2. pag. 513. 〈…〉 . b 〈…〉 ma●g●●i 〈…〉 〈…〉 regis 〈…〉 regi 〈…〉 ca●●●d eliz. part . 2. ●● . 3 m s. c 〈…〉 idem . 〈…〉 d cam●●d . eliz. 〈…〉 2. pag. 561. m. s. e sed his alij , libr●● longe prae 〈…〉 basilicon do●on . &c. incre 〈…〉 , quo● h●m●num animos & 〈…〉 sibi conci 〈…〉 , &c. id. in eliz. part . 2. pag. 65● . m. s. f id●●b●d . pag. 562. m. s. g speedes ▪ chro. p. 9●● . h l●●re s●pti●sme 131. a● roy & 〈◊〉 8. 162. a 〈◊〉 de ville●oy . & liure 7. 132. a mons . de villeroy . a speedes chro. p. 912. b for they themselues will needs ( as the romans said of the iewes ) make themselues as remote from vs , as the indians ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philostrat . in vita apollon . l. 5. c. 10 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lib. 2. and his word was , no bishop , no king. confer . at hampt . court. pag. 36. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philostrat . in vita apoll. l. 5. c. 11. a howeuer he liued amongst puritanes , and was kept as a ward vnder them , yet since he was ten yea●es old , hee euer despised their opinions . confer . at h●mp● . court. pag. 20. b cambd. eliz. pag. 342. c cambd. eliz ▪ pag. 361. d cambd. eliz. pag. 444. e cambd. eliz. part . 2. pag. 550. n●c exp●ctata regis authorit●te , barones , & burgenses con●ocarunt ( ministri ) ad consultandum ne quid detrimenti relligio , aut respub . caperet . m. s ▪ f cambd. eliz. pag. 362. a psal . 68. 10. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . synesius de regno . a cicero in bruto . b aristot . politi● . l. 1. c. 1. a rex ipse difficill 〈…〉 i●meris molestus confl●ct●tus , per asp●rrimo●●ont●s in illa parte cont●●dit , &c. camb. eliz. pa●●● 2. ●ag . 5●1 . m. s. b lucan . c v●●nam meis tempori●us e●en at , ●t militum stipendi● in doctor●s artium absuma ●tur . leo graecanicus . d histor . l. 4. initio libri . ad laud●m regnant●● tra●itur , si a● omnibus p●● ametur . cassiodorus . ●pist . l. 1. ep . 23. a deepe point of policie . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . artist . polit . l. 8. c. 14. a in vita budaei . id●m narratur de theodoro gaza . sphynx . philos . cap. 25. a as 〈…〉 is called 〈…〉 . s●●d●s in p●●lolog . & ●piph . lib d●m●nsu●● . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ synes . de regn● . c plin. s●●undus l. 1. epist . 10. a sanctius in . 1. reg. proleg . 1. b ecclesiastes 11. 7. c spartianus in adriano . d sidonius . me●●s omnibus quam singulis creditur . singuli enim decipere , & decip● possunt : nemo omnes , neminem omnes ●e●ellerunt . plin. secund. in panegyr . a de reb . salom. lib. 1. cap. 1. b ap●d euseb . c nos●i m● ? & quidem ex s●●d● ▪ ●s . ad ho●●l●um . tacitus ●s , ●n plinius ? exprim●●● non poss●m quam sit iu●●ndum mihi , quod nomina nostra qu●si litera●um propria , non ●omin●● , lit●ris reddunt●r . plinius secund. lib. 9. ep . 23. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarch . re●p . gere●d . praecept . so●um ●●●●m 〈…〉 dat , a●g●tqu● t●mp●r●s spat●●● . plin. in pan●g . a genes . 5. b whereof the seuerall bookes are assigned to seuerall mus●s . qu●m ●e●●ren● mu●● , viuet . tibul. li. 1. ●l●g . 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pynd . olymp. hymn . 7. c see the proclamations for buildings . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philostratus de vitis sophist . l● . 1. d which a man might call , as the aegyptians doe n●lus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . philost . de ●i● . apol. l. 5. c. 10. e de bello iudaic. l. 6. c. 6. a cambd. in sua brit. pag. 5 ▪ b the name of the t●ddo●s . a 〈…〉 by the 〈…〉 ea●●e of n 〈…〉 ton , in 〈…〉 speech for the 〈…〉 , made in 〈…〉 ment . 3. l●c . 26 ▪ ma●j . m. s. ●●a● . ● a pr●● . ● ▪ ●● . b 〈…〉 c ●●●● of 〈…〉 poly 〈…〉 d 4 〈…〉 e ra●●● da●●d kim●●●a●●d ●y●am sal 〈…〉 d●ce●●●m in●tio 〈…〉 〈…〉 am . although all the gr●●ke and ●at ne fathers , make him to be 12. yeares old . f ●nuent●r of france ▪ in ca● . 9. ● g i ●d●●i●● su● fectus est i ●do●icu● 〈…〉 duo●●●●m ●a●u● gaguinus . comp●ndij sui libr. 7. h regn●m ●●ssit 〈…〉 vix ●redecin ▪ m●●s●s ●ato . cambd. eliz. pag ▪ 119. a su●ton . in ti●o . non mem●ni me●e●●sse m●la morte ●ortuum , qui lib●nter opera pieta●●● exe●cuit . hi●●on . dist . 13. a auson . burd●● pr●●● . cap. 19 b faelix s●mnu● 〈…〉 requ●●s volu●tate , 〈…〉 vol●ptat● , vol●pt●● cum ●tern●ta●● petius damianus de stephano . dulcis sim●l & beatus 〈…〉 . gregor . nyss●n . de c●● . c 4 reg. 20. 6. a 〈…〉 mr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and shewed and approued ●y the 〈◊〉 in his lifetime m. s. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . solon apud plutarch . a so his maiestie had done before , sying , that it was apost●●●●all , , and a very good ordinance , in that it was giuen 〈…〉 name of 〈…〉 th●● de 〈…〉 it , and vpon the clearing of his con 〈…〉 e con●er ▪ at 〈◊〉 . court. pag. 〈…〉 it is re 〈…〉 in the 〈…〉 sions of 〈◊〉 , bohem , ● saxon. a in ei●● vita . a est magnisicum , quod te ab omni cognatione vitiorum reprimis , ac reuocas ; sed magnificentius , quod tuos . quanto enim magis ard●um est , alios praestâre quam se ; tanto laudabil●us , quod cum ipse sis optimus , omnes circa te similes tui effecisti . plin. sec . de traiano in paneg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarch . de catone maiore . a cui peregrinatio dul●is est , non a●a● patria● . august . in psal . 93. cur ●an● vitam adeo amamus , vbi quanto ●iutius quis ●u●rit , tanto ma●or● oneratur sarcina p●ccator●m ? ambros . ●e bono mortis . cap. 2. nam ●ur ●o●t●m adeo detr●ct●mus ? ne videa●us nimirum descripta in apocalypsi ioannis . cypr. lib. de mortal . sect. 17. b si tamen ●as ●st aut ●lere , aut omnino mortem voca●e , quâ tanti viri mortalitasmagi●●inita , quam vita ●st . de verginio . rufo . plin. sec . l. 2. ep . 1. c dormiun●●ort●● , non solum p●opter f●cilita●em r●suscitandi , sed ●tiam ●●●pter iucund● insomnia , quae animae à cor●o●●bus s●paratae ha●ent , dum deum ●●c●e ad ●aciem , &c. salmer . tom . 6. tract . 44. d thebaid . 4. a plin. secund . de viris illustribus . c. 2. b so the aegyptians mourn'd for iacob 70. daies ; ioseph but 7. daies . gen. 50. 3. & 10. so of the blessed virgin at the death of christ : stantem lego , flentem non lego . ambros . in luc. a orat. funebr . de morte theodos . imperat. b psal . 115. 15. a te ad sydera tollit humus . plin. secund . in panegyr . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cyrus prodrom . in sua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : in gregor . theol. c ecclūs . 30. 4. a soverain remedy for all kinds of grief opened and applyed in a sermon at the funeral of mr. john langham, the eldest son of sr. james langham, knight, a child of five years and an half old, who dyed at cottesbrook in northhamptonshire, july 29, 1657 : with a narrative of sundry remarkable passages concerning him before and in the time of his sickness / by thomas burroughes. burroughes, thomas, b. 1611 or 12. 1662 approx. 120 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a30620 wing b6132 estc r4359 13679263 ocm 13679263 101280 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30620) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101280) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 839:20) a soverain remedy for all kinds of grief opened and applyed in a sermon at the funeral of mr. john langham, the eldest son of sr. james langham, knight, a child of five years and an half old, who dyed at cottesbrook in northhamptonshire, july 29, 1657 : with a narrative of sundry remarkable passages concerning him before and in the time of his sickness / by thomas burroughes. burroughes, thomas, b. 1611 or 12. the second edition. [4], 39, [8] p. printed by t.r. for john baker ..., london : 1662. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng langham, john, 1651 or 2-1657. bible. -o.t. -psalms xxxix, 9 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a soverain remedy for all kinds of grief . opened and applyed in a sermon at the funeral of mr. john langham the eldest son of sr. james langham knight ) a child of five years and an half old , who dyed at cottesbrook in northampton-shire , july 29. 1657. with a narrative of sundry remarkable passages concerning him , before , and in the time of his sickness . the second edition . by thomas burroughes , b. d. london , printed by t. r. for john baker at the peacock in st. paul's church-yard , 1662. to the right worshipful sir john langham baronet , and to his eldest son sir james langham knight , the one , my much honoured patron , both , my worthy and much valued friends . right worshipful , these ensuing meditations , which were first preached , at your desires , upon occasion of your sad parting with that sweet and hopeful little one , in whose life so much of your comfort and life were bound up , i make bold , now again , to offer to you , from the press . not out of any ambition that i have to be in print : for i know there are so many excellent sermons , and other treatises , already extant , in english , upon almost every subject in divinity , that ( with many readers ) the great choice they have , doth even hinder choice , and makes them uncertain what to read . besides , i am a little acquainted with the genius of this age , which is hardly taken with any thing but what is new , or at the least , trim'd up after the new mode and dress ; an humor , which as i have not learned , so neither do i much care to learn the art of pleasing . all that i have aimed at in this small piece ( how far i have attained it , i am no competent judge ) is to clear up , and handle known and practical truths , in a plain and convincing way , so as to work upon the conscience , with which we ministers are chiefly to deal : to shew what reason there is , why we should take all well that god doth : and how the soul may be framed to silence and submission under gods correcting hand , in his sharpest dispensations . you will ( i doubt not ) accept of what i here do offer you , as in other respects , so because you shall here find mention of that dear one of yours , who , when alive , was accounted by you as your crown ; and had so much room in all your hearts ; and who , though he be gone hence out of sight , ( to be seen no more by you in this world ) will not ( i believe ) in hast , be out of your minds . i know , you meet , every day , with something or other that still represents him to your thoughts ; and your sores being often rubb'd , by those remembrances , are apt to bleed a fresh . but here ( i hope ) you shall find not only what may occasion your ruminating upon your loss , but that also which ( by the blessing of god ) may conduce to quiet and compose your spirits , to asswage your grief , and by degrees to raise you above it , if not to make you forget your sorrow altogether . the truth is , the considerations here suggested are of unspeakable use to support the soul , not only under such a cross as this of yours ( which yet i confess is heavy ) but under all griefs and troubles whatsoever . in which respect , these cordials , which were ( in the first place ) prepared for you , may serve for others of gods sons and daughters of affliction , to revive and chear them also in their sufferings . of my address , at this time , to you ( if any desire a further reason ) this is the account . there being some necessity of printing this sermon , i was very willing to take the opportunity of presenting you with it , as a testimonial ( little things , you know , do often signifie great matters ) of my very great obligations to you . the truth is , this piece ( i would it were more worthy for your sakes ) is yours upon a double account ; both because it was preached at your desires , and with reference principally , to comfort you under the sad affliction before-mentioned : and because you have made the author himself yours by your manifold favours to him . to the right worshipful sir john ; my honoured patron , i owe my presentation to this place , which ( though i had also a concurrent , and unanimous call from the people , without any contradiction ) he freely conferred upon me , being moved to it by that good opinion of me , which he was pleased to entertain , without any suit of mine , or solicitation of any other in my behalf . here i do ( i bless god for it ) by his means enjoy a comfortable subsistence , and eat not the bread , either of direct or indirect simony : a mercy , which ( reverend mr. samuil hildersam tells me ) many of our cloth do not ( the more is the pity ) through the corruption of the times enjoy . since that , i , and mine have , from you and yours , upon all occasions , received very many favours , and real kindnesses ; among which , i account that respect you have alwayes shewed , and the countenance you have given to my ministry , not the least . so that i have had cause , and still have to bless god for you , who hath ( by you ) freed me from much opposition , others of my brethren have ( in the late times ) met with , and vouchsafed me much encouragement in my work , they have wanted . this i ( here ) willingly do , and upon all occasions shall make a thankful acknowledgement of , and having no better way to express my gratitude , shall do it by my prayers for you , and serviceableness ( as i am able ) to your souls . the god of heaven requite all your love , and multiply his mercies upon you and yours , his distinguishing mercies specially ; make up your late sad loss by giving to you , and continuing with you other sons ( as hopeful ) in the room of that dear one , whom he hath taken to himself : however vouchsafe you a name better than that of sons and daughters , teach you to live by faith , give you more and more to know what belongs to communion with the father , and the lord jesus christ ( a favour , in comparison of which no outward mercy is worth the mentioning ) and take delight to use you , and yours after you , as blessed instruments of his honor. this is the unfeigned prayer of your worships very much obliged servant in the lord , tho. burroughs . cotteslrook , april 10. 1662. psalm 39. 9. i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou did'st it . as touching the author , and pen-man of this psalm , there is no question . but if i were asked , at what time , and upon what particular occasion , it was written , i could not so easily give an answer . nor is it much material to our purpose . this is enough , and may certainly be gathered from the centext , that the psalm relates to some very sore , and heart-piercing affliction under which the prophet groan'd . it may be it was the rebellion of that ungracious son of his , absalom : some passages in the psalm seem to look that way . haply it might be some other cross : for he was a man of sorrows , and acquainted with griefs of all kinds , like as the lord jesus , of whom he was an eminent type . whatever it was ailed him , 't is sure , it was such an affliction , as he thought would have killed him , such an one , that if god should not speedily put an end to his misery , he made no other account , but that his misery would quickly make an end of him . this may be collected from ver . 4. and 13. it was such an one , that the grief and sorrow it had caused , did eat , and consume him like a moth , ver . 13. there was such a tempest of passion raised in his soul , by reason of his present affliction , that his faith and patience were put to it to the uttermost , and all the grace he had was but little enough to keep him from dashing , and being split upon the rocks . in this sad case , what it was relieved , and eased his soul , what it was quieted , and stilled the tempest , is more worth our inquiry ; and herein , the holy ghost was pleased not to leave us at a loss , but hath ordered that it should be recorded , for the good of all the sons and daughters of affliction , to the worlds end , that they may learn what they have to do when they are a afflicted and tossed with tempests , when their hearts are upon any sad occasion , b cast down and disquieted within them . and to that end god hath commanded this holy man , in the words of my text , to tell you ; 1. what a strange cure was wrought upon him . 2. what the remedy was he used for that purpose . the first in these words ; i was dumb , i opened not my mouth : the second in these ; because thou didst it . the tempest that was in his soul ceaseth , and there is a calm ; and it was his faith presenting god unto his soul , from whose hand the affliction came , that made all hush't and quiet . i shall explain the text , in the handling of the several doctrines . time will not permit me to stand gathering all the precious fruits ( that otherwise i might ) which grow upon this tree of paradise ; all the doctrines which this text would afford ; i shall therefore collect but three . that nothing in the world is more sure , than that all the doct. 1 evils of affliction which befall us , come from the hand of god. that nothing doth better become us , when god lays doct. 2 his hand upon us , than to be dumb , and not to open our mouths . that nothing is more effectual to make us dumb under gods correcting hand , than this very consideration , that it doct. 3 is gods hand from which our afflictions come . for the first , this is a thing we may resolve upon , when any evil of affliction betides us , 't is gods doing . let the instruments and second causes be who , and what they will , this is certain , gods hand is in all . i am not , at present , any whit concerned to meddle with the point of gods providence , in or about the evil of sin , and therefore shall pass it by . our business is about the hand that god hath in the evils of affliction and misery , ( strictly so called ) and those only which light upon the sons and daughters of men in this life : such as be pains , diseases , losses and crosses in estates , and children , death of friends , and dear relations , with all others of the like nature , which are many more than can easily be numbred . i deal not now with the meritorious cause of mens sufferings in these kinds , which cannot be denied to be sin . 't is the author from whence they come , and by whom they are inflicted , that i am to speak of ; and we may be bold to say , 't is god. i know physitians will tell us , that this , and that is the cause of such and such a disease : and there are few other disasters and calamities befall men , but haply causes ( with ease ) may be assigned of them , and we may say it was long of this thing ; and that , else all had been well . but when all is said , god is the cause of causes , and there is none of these things happen to any , but there is an hand of divine providence , which orders and disposeth them ; god doth all , for ; 1. he singleth out the a person that is to suffer . 2. he appointeth what the b affliction shall be . 3. he setteth down the c time when . 4. he determineth d how long . 5. he assigneth the e place where . 6. he prescribes f the manner how . 7. he g weighs the measure , how much . 8. he orders h all second causes and means . 9. he i layes the affliction on . 10. he governs and guides every k contingency . none of these things come to pass at an adventure , or by chance ; nor are second causes so left to themselves , but that god doth supervise , and act , and order all in all . to instance in the case of sickness ; it is gods doing that this disease , finds out this person , just at this time , in this very place , holds him so long , handles him thus and thus , that he is now better , and now worse , and that at last , he either recovers , or dies . there is nothing of fortune or meet chance in any of these things . and it is so in all other afflictions . afflictions in scripture are compared to l arrows , but they are not like that , m which i know not who , shot at , he could not tell whom , and hit him he could not tell where , and hurt him he knew not how much , or how little , but did all at a venture . no! these arrows are shot by an almighty hand , guided to their mark by an unerring wisdome , according to a will that is righteousness and holiness it self . if you demand how this may be proved , i shall evidence it by two sorts of testimonies . 1. the testimony of the best , and most holy persons that ye read of in scripture . let the sabeans and chaldeans plunder job of his estate , let the devil himself raise a wind to blow down the house upon his childrens heads , and slay them all ; job will tell you , n it was god from whom he had received so much good , that now sent upon him all this evil ; it was god , who first gave him that estate , that now took it away again ; it was god who had given him those children , that did now bereave him of them : god hath given , god hath taken , blessed be the name of the lord. let shimei come out , and throw stones at david as he passeth along , let him curse and spit venome at him , according to his pleasure ; the holy man looks upward , and both sees , and owns gods hand in this , o god hath bidden him curse david . let wicked persons rage and persecute , as if they thought not only their p tongues , but their hands were their own to do what they list , without any lord over them ; the prophet ( for all that ) looks upon them , but as a q sword in the hand of god ; over-ruled and ordered by him . and as to the business of diseases , hear what he saith , whom our blessed saviour commends for a faith that was greater than any he found in israel : they come and go , seize upon a person , and depart from him , just as god gives them commission to go or come ; r when he saith go , they go , when he saith come , they come ; what he commands , that they do . 2. but what need we any farther witnesses of this truth ? hear what god himself saith to this point ; and that not once or twice , but often ; not obscurely , and in parables , but plainly and expresly . i shall quote you but two or three texts , and your selves , if you mind them , may meet with many scores of them in your reading . s i form the light , and create darkness , i make peace ; and create evil , i the lord do all these things . what can be more clear ? hearken again , t this people turns not to him that smites them . who is that ? the next words tell you , neither do they seek the lord of hosts . hearken once more , u shall there be evil in the city , and the lord hath not done it ? as if he should say , it is not possible there should . and there is the same reason for the countrey too . there is no evil at all ( that is of affliction ) either in city or countrey , but ye see god owneth it as his doing ; and if he own it as his doing , we may boldly say it is so . and to speak to the point of diseases ; hence it is that god w threatneth to send sicknesses , and promiseth to remove them , according as he shall be pleased or displeased with a people , to shew that his hand doth all these things : and the truth is , he that denieth him this providence , doth in effect , deny him to be god. to clear this point a little ( for i must not dwell upon it ) and to prevent some objections which our carnal and foolish hearts will be making against it , take these three rules . 1. that which is hard for us to do , yea more , that rule 1 which is impossible for us to conceive how it should be done , is easie for god to effect . we are apt to think , how can this be ? that so many thousand things , so various all the world over , should be governed and ordered by a providence ? but alas ! what is the world and all that is in it unto god ? x behold the nations are as the drop of a bucket , and are counted as the small dust of the ballance ; bohold he takes up the isles as a very little thing . y all nations before him are as nothing , and are counted to him less than nothing . z he measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand , and meteth heaven with a span . what toil , or labour , what difficulty then can there be to him , in the ordering of all these things ! know , ( o man ! ) it is infinitly easier for the great god to govern the world , and all things in it , ( though there be so many myriads of creatures ) than it is for the wisest among men , to order and govern the several affairs of a smal family , that consists but of three or four persons . 2. that things fall out otherwise than we think they rule 2 should , or good men could wish , is no argument to prove they are not ordered by god. that afflictions light upon such , as we conceive were fittest of all others to be spared , will not prove they come not from gods hand . we think it pity , such a tender bud should so quickly be nipt by death , we think it might have been better , if he had been suffered to grow still . what a deal of service might he ( in time ) have done for god ? what an instrument might he have been of gods glory ? but who made your thought the rules that god must go by in the ways of his providence ? must things either be ordered as we judge fit , or else will we deny or doubt of gods having any hand in them ? i confesse some of the heathens have , upon this account , deified fortune , and attributed the government of things under the sun to that blinde goddess of their own setting up . but this is to take too much upon us with a witness : this is no less than damnable presumption , for us to prescribe god those rules , which if he will not go by , and be tied to , we will not own and acknowledge his providence in the world any longer . a his thoughts are not our thoughts , neither are our ways his ways . for as the heavens are higher than the earth , so are his ways higher than our ways , and his thoughts than our thoughts . 3. though many things seem to come to pass by meer rule 3 chance , it doth but seem so , for there is no such thing . there is a secret unseen hand of providence , that ordereth every motion and event , even those which are most b casual . that instance , which i hinted before , is very remarkable , among many . god had , by micaiah , told ahab , before he went to ramoth gilead , what he must trust to , c if thou come again in safety ( saith the man of god ) i am no prophet : but how was his death effected ? d a certain man drew a bow at a venture , and an invisible hand of providence guides the arrow to the right man , and directs it to hit the right place just between the joynts of his armour , and there to give him his deaths wound . the scripture ( i deny not ) doth sometimes speak of chance . e time and chance happeneth to all : and f by chance ( saith our saviour ) there came down a certain priest that way . but that is according to us , and so far as we are able to discern , while we look upon second causes : for when we are at a loss ( as very oft we are ) and know not whence such or such a thing is , we use to say , it happens by chance ; and in a sense we may do so . but all this while , there is no such thing as meer chance . meer chance , i call that , when things come to pass , not only in such a way , of which we are able to give no account , and by such means as we are not aware of , but in such a way also , that god hath nothing , by his providence to do in the ordering or disposing of them . this to think is blasphemous . for still in the most casual events , and greatest contingencies , there is an invisible hand of the infinitely-wise god , that linketh one thing to another , though in such a way , that we know not , nor that is fit we should know how . a word only of application , and i pass to the next doctrine . let no man then say , when any affliction lights upon either him , or his ; this came by chance , it was my hard hap , or my bad fortune . the apostle tells us , g when a man is tempted , he must not say , he is tempted of god : but when a man is afflicted , he may safely say , yea he ought to say , 't is god afflicts him . the blinde and heathenish philistims ( indeed ) when they smarted under gods judgements , fansied it might be h only some chance had happened unto them , and there was an end : but as for us we have been taught to know god better than so , and therefore ought to entertain no such paganish conceits . it is our duty to see and acknowledge gods hand in all the blows that light upon us , and to turn i to him that strikes us . we proceed to the second doctrine , viz. that , nothing doth become us better , when god layes doct. 2 his hand upon us , than to be dumb , and to take heed we open not our mouths . god ( ye see , ) hath here set before us , the prophet for a pattern , that of him we may learn how to carry our selves under our sufferings . we shall enquire what kind of dumbness and silence , this of the psalmist was , which he is commended for , and which would so well beseem us when we smart under the rod of god , and then the doctrine will be , in a great measure , evident by its own light . we sh●ll proceed in our enquiry : 1. negatively to prevent mistakes : 2. positively , and shew you what it doth import . first , negatively ( to pass by this , that it is not to be supposed , that it was any dumbness in the proper and literal sense . ) 1. this dumbness doth not import any such thing , as if the prophet had been brought to that pass , that he had nothing to say to god , by way of prayer , and supplication . he was not so dumb , but that he could pray and cry too ; k deliver me ( saith he ) from all my transgr●ssions , and make me not ther proach of the foolish . and again , l remove thy stroke away from me . hear my prayer , o lora ! give ear unto my cry , hold not thy peace at my tears . and so , m at another time , when he was as dumb , and opened his mouth as little as now , ye shall yet read of his crying in the day time , and in the night season also ; yea , it is expresly said , he r●ared , and was not silent . nay in this case we are commanded to pray and cry ( on this fashion ) and not to spare . n is any man afflicted ( saith the apostle ) let him pray . and o israel ( saith the prophet ) o return unto the lord thy god , for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity : take with you words , and turn unto the lord , and say unto him , take away all iniquity , and receive us graciously . 2. nor was he so dumb , as that he could not frame to the confession and bewailing of his sins . 't is true the prophet was once troubled with such a dumb spirit , that he could not ( for a while ) be brought ingenuously to acknowledge what he had done amiss : but this was a silence ; that did neither tend to please god , nor conduce any whit to his own ease and comfort . p when he kept silence , ( thus ) his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long . so that he was forced to confess all , and to keep the devils counsel no longer , he q confessed his sin to god , and did not hide his iniquity , and then found ease . yea , whereas the holy ghost directs us , when god afflicts us , r to sit alone , and to keep silence , to put our mouths in the dust , that is , ( in the psalmists phrase ) to be dumb ( for all comes to one ) he commands us also , s to search and try our wayes , to lift up hearts and hands to heaven and cry ; we have transgressed , we have rebelled . 3. nor was it a dumbness of stupidity and senslesness . it doth not imply any such thing , as if by degrees he grew to that pass , he cared not for , or made no matter of his affliction ; but set ( as the proverb is ) an hard heart , against his hard hap . no , he did ( for all his silence ) make his moan to god , and as he smarted , so he did lament under the sense of his afflicting hand : hear how bitterly this dumb man complains in this very psalm , t remove thy stroke away from me , i am consumed with the blow of thy hand . when thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity , thou makest his beauty to consume as a moth . read the psalm 38. also , and ye shall have him in the same tune again . 4. neither was he so dumb , as not to answer gods voice in the rod that was upon him . god hath many wayes whereby he speaks to man , one of them is by his rod : so the prophet tells you u the lords voice cryeth to the city-hear ye the rod , and who hath appointedit . 't is fullenness and stubbornness , 't is sign a man is possessed with a dumb devil indeed , that will not return an answer when god speaks to him , so far is it from being any commendable silence . 5. much less ( lastly ) was he dumb and kept silence in any such sort as they did of whom amos speaks ( according as some expound the place ) that in their misery took up a resolution to mention the name of god no more , in whom they had gloried formerly . w hold thy peace , for we may not make mention of the name of the lord ; talk no more of religion , and of gods service . some make these to be the words of forlorn and desperate wretches that regarded not god at all , nor would once make mention of his name , though at the last gasp , but rather shunned it as ominous . x the counsel of such wicked wretches was far from our prophet : he still professeth his hope in god , and resolves he would not be driven away from god , for all this that had befallen him , for y now lord ( saith he ) what wait i for ? my hope is even in thee . secondly , affirmatively , how then is this dumbness to be understood ? and what doth it import ? that i shall shew you in the next place . but this i must first premise in the general , that the silence in my text is not of the voice and tongue alone , but of the heart and soul also . for though men hear only those words which come out of our lips , yet with god , even the most retired thoughts and motions of our souls do go forwards , and he takes cognizance and knowledge of them . if z the fool do but say any thing in his heart , god hears it , and can charge him with it . the prophets heart and tongue were both dumb ( and so must ours in the like case ) and that in five respects . 1. he was dumb so as neither to complain of , nor quarrel with gods providence , nor to entertain any hard thoughts against him ; complain to god he did , but against him he durst not . mourn under gods hand he did , and knew he might , but to murmure he knew was sinful and dangerous , and therefore as to that was dumb . no doubt he had sinful risings and motions in his heart ( who doth not feel them ? ) but by prayer and meditation he did endeavour to quell and stifle them , as fast as they bubled up . when the waves of the sea leave rolling , and the tempest ceaseth , the sea is said to be a silent and dumb . now our hearts are by nature like the b raging sea when it cannot rest ( gods own people find it too much so with them , through the imperfection of their sanctification ) casting up mire and dirt . ah , what tempests and storms are often raised in our spirits by that passion , and pride , and self-love , and impatience , and discontent , which the best are not perfectly freed from ? now what doth the psalmist do in this case ? he saith to his heart ( enabled by the grace that was in him ) as christ did unto the sea , peace , be dumb , and thereupon a calm followed . job is commended by the holy ghost for this dumbness , c in all this he sinned not , nor charged god foolishly . we think we have a great deal to say against what god doth , and we could hold argument , as we imagine , with god himself , if we might be suffered . but it is meet d the ignorance of our foolish hearts should be silenced . e nay , but o man , who art thou that repliest against god ? see the carriage of the psalmist at another time , in the like case ( or rather of our blessed saviour , of whom that psalm was a prophecie ) i f cry in the day time , and thou hearest not ; and in the night season — but thou art holy . he g was afflicted and oppressed , yet opened not he his mouth . as a sheep before the shearer is dumb , so opened not he his mouth , though none ever met with that injurious , base , and unworthy usage he did . 2. he was dumb : that is , he neither did nor durst quarrel or fall out with the wayes of holiness for all his sufferings . a thing we are naturally prone unto . h this evil is from the lord , ( saith that wicked king jehoram ) what should i wait for the lord any longer ? what he was , and did , we all are , and should do , if we were left unto our selves . once the psalmist tells us he was neer to have done so . he began to think he had i washed his hands in vain , because all the day long he had been plagued , and chastned every morning , but in the end he calls himself ( k ) fool and beast for so doing . jobs wife was set on by the devil to perswade her husband to this , ( l ) curse god ( saith she ) and die : wilt thou still retain thy integrity ? but he good man , was dumb , had nothing of that kind to say , yea , he abhorred the suggestion ; thou speakest ( saith he ) like a foolish woman . he liked religion and the wayes of godliness never a whit the worse for all the evils that had befallen him . 3. he was dumb , so as not to defend himself , or justifie his own wayes before god , as if they were righteous , and he had not deserved what he suffered . yea , he m acknowledgeth his affliction was procured by his sins , and implores gods mercy for the pardon of them . sometimes indeed he stands upon his own defence , and pleads his innocency and n righteousness , but that is in respect of men , from whom he had deserved no such ill measure , as he met with from their hands . but when he hath to do with god , and so far as his afflictions are gods doing , he hath nothing to say for himself . it is enjoyned to servants as a duty , in respect of their earthly masters , that they do not o answer again , that is , that they be not such as will be alwayes justifying themselves , and stand it out , and never yield they be in any fault , but maunder as if they thought they were alwayes chidden and blamed undeservedly . yea , they are commanded to p be subject with all fear , not only to the good and gentle , but also to the froward . and if this be the duty of servants to their masters who are but men , much more doth it become us , when god corrects us , to be dumb and silent , to take heed of any such answering again . 4. he was dumb , so as to hearken to the voice of the q rod. i r will ( saith he in another place ) hearken what god saith . now a man cannot listen to another while he will have all the talk and discourse to himself . many there be , which abound in their own sense , that will not be perswaded to hold their peace , and hear others speak . while god is correcting us , he is s teaching us in his law , shewing us our sins , calling upon us for reformation , reading us a lecture of repentance , when he takes away any creature-comfort that we promised our selves too much from , he doth as it were say , will ye be alwayes t forsaking the fountain of living waters ? will ye never leave digging to your selves broken cisterns ? how often must i break your reeds ere you will learn to take heed of leaning over much upon them ? when we begin to think of taking up on this side jordan , and then find a thorn in our nest , what doth such a providence say , but u you have forgot your resting place , w arise , depart , this is not it . would you be in canaan , before you be out of the wilderness ? now when god is thus disciplining of us , it is meet we should say to him , lord w teach me , and i will hold my tongue , and cause me to understand wherein i have erred . x that which i see not , teach thou me , and if i have done iniquity , i will do so no more . but this cannot be till we silence our own carnal reasonings , and make flesh and blood to hold its tongue . 5. lastly , the prophet was dumb : that is , he did acquiesce , and rest satisfied with gods dispensation , and that not only as good , but as best . job speaking how it was with him in his prosperity , tells us , that y unto him men gave ear , and waited and kept silence at his counsel ; the meaning is , by their silence , they gave consent to what he said ; they shewed , by holding their peace , their approbation of what he spake , confest better counsel could not be given ; and that therefore it was to no purpose to say any more , seeing his advice and counsel could not be mended . it is much more meet we should be thus silent before god , who worketh by an infinite and unerring wisdome , and therefore z doth all things well . thus ye read of hezekiah when sore calamities had been threatned from god by the prophet , he saith no more , but a good is the word of the lord , by his silence subscribing to gods wisdome and goodness in all his providence . by what hath been said ; we may conceive , what this dumbness of the prophet was , wherein he is by the holy ghost propounded to us , for an example to imitate , when ever we shall feel gods hand lye heavy upon us in any affliction . how fit and meet it is , that we should lay hands upon our mouth , and impose a law of silence upon our selves , in the manner specified ; what motives there be to perswade to it , and by what means such a frame of spirit may be attained , will appear farther in the next doctrine , to which i hasten . there is no such way to make us dumb , when god strikes doct. 3 us , as this very consideration , that it is gods hand that is upon us . ye see this was it that turned the storm , in the psalmists soul , into a calm , and made all the tumultuous risings in his heart to vanish . when he bethought himself of this seriously , that it was gods doing , the uproar among his affections ceased . just as the appearing of some grave person , or man of authority , is enough to scatter an unruly rout , and to reduce them to some good behaviour , though they were all in a combustion before : such an effect will the presenting of god to our souls , by faith , work among our discomposed affections . b it is i ( saith our saviour ) be not afraid . the same argument will serve to stifle any other sinful motions of the heart . it is god , be not impatient , do not fret ; it is god , do not murmure , nor repine . there are three great duties of a christian ( yea , all christianity is comprized in these three ) faith in god , obedience to him , and patience under his hand . and by one and the same way the soul is framed , and bowed to the practice and performance of them all . look as there is no way to work the soul to faith , but the consideration of this ; that it is god that speaks ; and no way to bow it to obedience , but this consideration ; it is god that commands : so there is no way to frame the soul to a patient submission ( the dumbness we speak of ) under affliction , but this consideration , 't is god that doth it . the looking upon a promise as made by god , will strengthen the soul to believe it , against all arguings and objections of flesh and blood : the looking upon a command as given by god , will frame the soul to the obedience of it , fall back , fall edge . the looking upon an affliction as coming from god , and laid on by his hand , will make a man dumb and silent , will make him patient and calm ; able to give up himself to be done with , as god shall think fit . though there were nothing but tumults in the soul before , though his heart were like a troubled sea , as soon as he comes to eye gods hand , and to take due notice of it , all will be husht and quiet ; there will be a calm , as there was in the c ship , after our saviours coming into it . when god but appears to the believing soul , and by the eye of faith a discovery is made that it is he , darkness , and sadness , and discontent , and dismayedness , and drooping , and despondency do vanish at his presence , and are no more . many of the sons of men , and they who have been the wisest of all others in their generation , have spent much time , and made it their work to find out the right cure of grief and discontent , and some of them have pitcht upon one way , and some upon another , but going to work without the light of scripture to guide them , could never hit upon the true remedy , but have all become d vain in their imaginations , and shewed themselves to be e physicians of no value . it is god only which f woundeth , that can cure the wounds he makes , and that alone can teach us , what is the way to bear with patience and calmness of spirit those afflictions , which drive others to their wits end , and make them sick of sorrow , even to death . and here ye have , in my text , a remedy against all kind of grief , of gods own prescribing , and therefore an approved one it must needs be . i shall only give you a few instances of the admirable cures , that have been wrought by this remedy alone , upon some whose afflictions have been most heavy , and whose cases in appearance most desperate , and then come to a word of exhortation . whose heart would not have been struck dead within him , by those tidings wherewith samuel g acquainted eli from god ? how could elie's heart chuse but break at the apprehension of those dreadful judgements denounced against his family , the very mention whereof was enough to make the ears of strangers to tingle at the hearing ? and yet with what admirable patience doth he take it ? how calm is he ? how far from murmuring ? and what wrought him to this pass ? even this consideration , h it is the lord , let him do as seemeth him good . you have heard of the sufferings of job , yea , i am sure you never heard of any meer mans sufferings like his . he was so afflicted in his estate , in his servants , in his children , in his wife , in his friends , in his body from head to foot , in his soul , that there seemed to be no place left , wherein to inflict a new wound . how doth he take all this ? doth he not storm , and rage ? doth he not despond , and despair ? no , he kisseth the rod , is dumb , and holds his peace , though provoked to impatience by the instigation of his wife , and upbraided by her , for serving a god that used him no better . what was it , that could possibly make a man take all this so patiently ? this very consideration in my text wrought him to this composedness ; i god hath given , god hath taken . and when afterward he had a little forgotten himself , and spoken unadvisedly , god was pleased but to remember him , whose k hand his afflictions came from , and that presently reduced his soul to his first calmness . l i am vile , what shall i answer ? i will lay my hand upon my mouth . once have i spoken , but i will not answer , yea , twice , but i will proceed no farther . i might tell you how the prophet david found the rare effect of this consideration , for the quieting of his heart , many a time and oft , and in many a sad case he was in , and not when he penned this psalm only . but i will give an instance in one greater by far than eli , or job , or david , and one whose sufferings did far surpass all theirs put together , who , by this very consideration in the text , comforted himself in the bearing of them . the person i mean was the lord jesus christ ; the sufferings i speak of was that wrath and curse of god , which he was to undergo for them whose surety and mediator he was , that cup , which made him m sweat , as it were drops of blood falling down to the ground . this cup ( dreadful though it was ) he took it into his hand , and drank it up , with this very consideration in his mind : n the cup which my father hath given me , shall i not drink it ? and again , not o as i will , but as thou wilt . this may suffice to shew what an effectual remedy this is to work us , in our afflictions , to such a dumbness and silence , as the prophet in my text is commended for . we shall now make use of this , and the precedent point both together , and that only by way of exhortation . all ye sons and daughters of affliction ( therefore ) into whose hands god hath put any bitter cup , drink it , and hold your peace , though the ingredients be gall and wormwood ; be dumb , do not open your mouths . if you say , i may as well bid one in a cold fit of an ague , that he should not be chill : how can i be patient under such sufferings as mine are ? so great , so suddain , so unexpected , so irrepairable ? know , you are allowed to mourn , so you do not murmure ; you are not forbidden to grieve , so ye be not dejected . he is an unreasonable man that thinks one should feel no pain , when one limb is torn and pulled from another . all that i drive at is , that you would labour for such a dumbness under gods afflicting hand , as was before described ; that is , take heed of quarrelling with gods providence , take heed of falling out with wayes of holiness ; stand not justifying your selves and your own doings ; by prayer and meditation do your endeavour to quell all tumultuous risings in your hearts : hold your peace , and hearken that you may take out these lessons , god is now reading to you in his school of affliction ; acquiesce and rest satisfied with gods dispensations : subscribe to his wisdome , justice , holiness , goodness , and truth . this is , that you are to be exhorted to ; this is the work that now lies before you . but you will say to me , do you think you can perswade us to all this ? i answer , the truth is , god must perswade ; yea , and he must bless the physick , else all is in vain . but this i am sure of , i can tell you , what it is that gods people have found to be the most soveraign remedy , for the curing of the most heart-aking griefs ; and that is this in my text. i remember pliny writing to a friend of his , and acquainting him how much he took to heart the death of corellius , an aged person , one whom he exceedingly loved and valued ; wisht his friend to suggest something , that might comfort him . but saith he , do not think to do it by telling me he was an old man , and infirm , and one that in the course of nature could not live long . these things i know , tell me something that is new , something that is great , something i never read , something i never heard before ; for those things which i have heard , i often think of , but my grief is too strong and vehement to be qualified , and allayed by them . now if any of you should impose such a law upon me , and bid me either tell you some new thing to comfort you , that you never heard of before , or else your sorrow is such , that it will scorn all that i can say , ( as p leviathan doth the shaking of a spear ) and the spirit of impatience , that is in you , will not be laid : though the task be hard , yet thus much , by gods grace , i shall undertake . 1. to suggest such arguments to calm your spirits , as neither pliny , nor any heathen of them all ever heard , or dream't of . 2. to tell you some things , which ( if you do know ) it is to be feared you have forgot , or to be sure , do not mind and take sufficiently to heart . and it is no small mercy to have known truths brought unto our remembrance upon occasion . it is a courtesie any of us would thank a man for , if he do but help us to our purse again , when we have lost it , though he give us nothing but what we had before . but peradventure some may hear that , of which till now , they were utterly ignorant : this i dare say concerning the remedy i am now giving you the receipt of , it is the best in the world ; it hath , by the blessing of god , done admirable cures upon the most sad souls , under the most heavy afflictions . what david said of goliah's sword , may be affirmed of it ; q there is none like it . i shall reduce all that i have to say farther about this point to these two heads . 1. how , and after what manner the consideration of gods hand , works the heart to such a dumbness and silence , as hath been spoken of . 2. what there is contained in this consideration , for such a purpose ; or what the ingredients of this medicine be . now for the way and manner , how this consideration of gods hand , worketh such an effect in the afflicted soul , as hath been spoken of : it is , 1. partly by frighting us out of our impatience and discontent . one passion is often cured , or ( at least ) repressed by another . the apprehension of gods hand in our sufferings stirs up fear , and fear drives away sinful distempers . sauls thirst after david's blood was frighted away , ( at least for the present ) by an apprehension of the danger he was in from the philistims . if by the eye of faith , we do but once see god , it will so terrifie us , as to r make us abhor our selves , and repent in dust and ashes . 2. partly by furnishing us with matter of consolation , something to put into the other scale , to weigh against our sorrow . consolation is properly a kind of reasoning , whereby we lay one thing against , and compare it with another , that by the consideration of the one , we may be able to bear the other better . when you would make both ends of the ballance even , ye still put more and more into the one end , till ye get the other up . now this consideration of gods hand , doth furnish us ( as we shall hear anon ) with sundry weighty arguments of consolation , enough to raise the soul that is sunk deepest in despondency , and so must needs be effectual to quiet and compose the heart . 3. partly it turns one sorrow into another ; a s sorrow that causeth death , into a sorrow that brings repentance never to be repented of : a sorrow for suffering , into a sorrow for sin : and so it worketh a tranquility in the soul by diverting our passions into another channel , where they may take their course without any danger . thus physicians to stop bleeding in one place , do use the way of revulsion , and open a vein some other where . the consideration of gods hand , will raise in our hearts a sorrow according to god , and that ( as moses his serpent did with those of the magicians ) will eat up our sorrows of other kinds . 4. it works ( lastly ) a calmness in our spirits , by turning our sorrow at length into joy , converting our wormwood and gall into wine , and inabling us by degrees to say , t it is good for me . the due apprehension of gods hand in all our losses and sufferings , will first strike us dumb , and make us silent ; but those who are thus dumb ( as hath been shewed ) shall in due season find that promise verified to them , u the lame man shall leap as an hart , and the tongue of the dumb shall sing . and thus it was with our prophet at last . w blessed is the man ( as he sings sweetly ) whom thou chastnest , o lord , and teachest him out of thy law. x it is good for me , that i have been afflicted , that i might learn thy statutes . only you must know ; that these effects will not be produced on a suddain ; it is not to be expected , that in an hour , or a day , such an alteration should be made ; there must be frequent application of the remedy , and the soul must dwell in these meditations and thoughts ; y be in them ( as the apostles phrase is ) chase them therein by often and much musing upon them , and hearty prayer to god , withall , for the setting them home . we proceed now to acquaint you , what there is in this consideration of gods hand in our afflictions , to produce such effects upon the soul , that is duly possessed with it . this only i must premise , that though it be a meditation very useful for all men , in all their miseries , yet , that one may receive the full benefit of this truth , it is necessary he be a child of god , one that hath an interest in him , as david had : for alas ! otherwise a mans case is so forlorn , that nothing can be said to comfort him , and keep him from despair , farther than he is willing , and labours to be in such a condition as may make him a subject capable of the comfort . now there are 24 arguments , comprized in these words [ thou didst it ] the consideration of which , by the blessing of god , will be very effectual , to allay our sorrow , to quiet our spirits ; in a word , to make us dumb under gods correcting hand . i shall divide them in three sorts . 1. some of them concern all people in general , that be in any kind of misery . 2. others of them belong in a peculiar manner to such as david was , [ viz. the children of god ] in all their afflictions . 3. the third sort have a special reference to gods people too , but such of them , as suffer under the loss of a dear and hopeful child , such a loss as hath occasioned our sad meeting here to day . first , for those arguments that may be fetcht from this meditation [ 't is gods doing ] to induce all whosoever to lay a law of silence upon their hearts and mouths , when they are afflicted ; they are nine . it is he afflicts you , who is omnipotent , and can easily do whatsoever he will. z he is mighty in strength : he removeth the mountains , and they know it not ; he over-turneth them in his anger . which shaketh the earth out of her place , and the pillars thereof tremble . a behold he taketh away , who can hinder him ? power alone , and of it self , is very dreadful , and carries a great awe along with it . b where the word of a king is ( though he be but a mortal man ) there is power , and who may say to him , what dost thou ? c the fear of a king ( whose breath is in his nostrils ) is as the roaring of a lion ; he that provokes him to anger sinneth against his own soul . if power be so formidable in an earthly potentate ; how shall any of us dare to murmure against his proceedings , in comparison of whom the most potent monarchs of the earth are no better then so many impotent and silly worms ? 2. remember your sufferings come from the hand of him , who d is terrible in his doings to the children of men ; yea , to the greatest of them ; who brings down e the mightiest from their thrones , and makes f such as were bred up in scarlet , to imbrace dung-hills ; ruines them and their families , when they seemed to be setled past danger of shaking . the other argument was taken from gods power to do what he pleaseth , this from those dreadful effects of his power which are to be seen . he not only can do , but actually doth that which may well make us dumb , when he meddles with us , or any thing that is ours . how oft doth he destroy whole kingdomes , and lay them wast , and not make breaches in private families only ? 3. think of this ; your afflictions come from his hand , who is lord of all ; i told you what he can do ; and what he doth : now we speak of the right he hath to do what he pleaseth . such is his dominion and soveraignty , that he may do by right , what ever he can do by might : he is not accountable to any for his proceedings , nor tyed to any rule to go by , but his own will. the potter hath not so much power and right , to do what he list with his clay , as god hath over us and ours . when men meddle with persons and businesses , that they have nothing to do with , it is unsufferable , and who can bear it ? but when god meddles with us and ours , even the dearest things we have , it is only in what he hath to do , and more to do than we , as being lord of all . he is not therefore to ask our leave , or to stay for our good will , but may save us , or destroy us , build us , or pluck us down , settle us , or root us up , as he thinks good . he hath an absolute , unlimited and arbitrary power , and therefore uncontroulable . and if god do but what he may , what are we , that we should complain ? it will not be amiss a little to consider , whence this dominion of god comes , and what right he hath to it , the more to calm our hearts under his dispensations . dominion among men is founded upon one or more of these six titles . 1. occupation ; he that first finds or lights upon any thing , of which none can give any tidings who is the owner , doth thereby become the lord and owner of it . 2. donation ; this and that men come to be possessed of as theirs , by gift from such , to whom those things once of right appertained . 3. succession ; so children come to inherit after their fathers death , that which was their fathers . 4. purchase ; if a man can say , this is mine , and i am lord of it , i bought it with my money , or made a contract for it , 't is accounted a good title . 5. usurpation ; so some attain that dominion they have , invading the right of others , and wresting it from them by force ; by their might overcoming the others right . this is as bad a title as may be . 6. prescription ; that which a man hath so many years quietly enjoyed ( no great matter how he came by it ) he is judged among men to have a title to . but none of all these wayes comes god by his dominion and lordship over us ; no , his soveraignty is founded upon infinitely better titles than any of these , viz. 1. his creating of all things by his own power , out of nothing , his making all , gives him the kingdome over all. 2. his preserving and upholding all things in the being he gave them at first . for all creatures would return to nothing ( as ice doth to water , when the cold ceaseth ) if they were not supported f by the word of his power . 3. his being the last end of all , for whose sake all things were made . g of him , through him , and to him are all things . h he [ not only ] hath created all things , [ but ] for his pleasure they are and were created . what exception then can any man make against his dominion , and absolute soveraignty ? what shadow of an objection can there lye against his title ? and therefore what can be more reasonable and fitting than to acquiesce in his dispensations , and by our dumbness to testifie our consent to what he doth ? if god had nothing to do with us and ours , or if he were to ask our leave first , and yet should , without craving our good will , meddle and do with us as he pleaseth , there were some ground for murmuring . but whose mouth must not presently be stopt , if god should say to us in our impatiency , what ? shall not i ( for all you ) do what i think fit with mine own ? shall i make creatures for mine own sake , and shall not i ( without your leave ) dispose of them as i please ? 4. take notice your afflictions come from his hand , who is infinitely wise , i and doth all things well . do we not all stand amazed at that wisdome , by which the heavens and earth , and all creatures in both were made ? and can we think god doth not order his creatures , and govern , and dispose of them , with as much wisdome as he made them ? doubtless , there is nothing amiss in his administrations . he cannot be subject to any errour . k his work is perfect . if we could tell how to mend any thing that he doth , we might be born with in our complaining and finding fault . but dare any of you undertake that ? must you not confess your selves to be fools , and unfit to be of his counsel ? why then do you not lay your hands upon your mouth , and acquiesce in what he doth as best of all ? who could chuse but be struck dumb , if god should say , where 's l the man that darkneth counsel , by words without knowledge ? must i come and ask your advice , and take your direction for what i am to do ? must my wisdome be taught by your folly ? must i do nothing before i have first called you to counsel ? if god should challenge us thus , it would make us be in jobs case ; i m abhor my self , n i have spoken once , but i will not answer , yea twice , but i will proceed no farther , i repent in dust and ashes . 5. when you are afflicted ( to keep you from impatience ) do not forget your sufferings come from his hand , of whose meer indulgence it is , that you have the comfort you yet enjoy : yea by whose goodness you yet enjoy more mercies , than you have lost , as you might soon see , if you would set your selves to adjust the account . when people have lost so much , that they think they can lose no more , nor be any worse than they are , then they grow desperate , speak and do they care not what . but while men have something to lose , it keeps them in awe , specially , if they hold what they have , at the courtesie of him who hath taken away what they have lost . this is our case ; all our losses and sufferings are inflicted by him , of whose meer grace we hold the rest of our comforts , and therefore it is best for us to be dumb , wherefore doth a living man complain ? if our own lives be spared , it is an unreasonable thing to repine . 6. bethink your selves ; is not he who now afflicts you , one whose will you have often crossed ? one to whom you have walked contrary ? will you not take the coyn you pay ? must you have a liberty to cross god , and god none to cross you ? may you ( think you ) set light by his will , and must he , mean while , do nothing to displease , or thwart yours ? who made this law ? or do you think it equal ? o do ye reap any thing , but what ye have sown ? p may not god walk contrary to you , as well as you walk contrary to him ? 7. consider , doth not be afflict you , whom you have provoked to deal a great deal worse with you ? have not you deserved ( let conscience speak ) to be punished , not only thus , but q seven times more . you have lost one or two of your comforts , but you deserve to be stript of all . now when r god exacteth less of us than our iniquities deserve , what cause is there of complaining ? shall he that should of right be whipt with scorpions , grumble when he is but corrected with rods ? there is so little reason for that , that he may rather bless god , if he scape so well . 8. but what speak i of our deserving more evils from god in this life : if we consider it seriously , we shall find our afflictions are laid on by his hand , of whose infinite mercy it is , we are yet on this side hell . shall those repine against temporal chastisements , that might justly be sent to that place , s where the worm dieth not , and the fire goeth not out . t it is of the lords mercy that we are not [ utterly ] corsumed . if a man be but burnt in the hand , when he deserves to be executed , he doth not repine at the hard measure he meets with , but falls down upon his knees , and acknowledgeth the mercy of the bench. this is our case , and therefore we may well go our way , and hold our tongue , and be glad if it fare no worse with us . think therefore with your selves , let your condition be as bad as it will , it is better with you , than it would be in hell , whither you have deserved he should dispatch you , that hath laid this affliction on you . 9. it is he , by contending and murmuring against whom , nothing is to be gotten but the multiplications of our blows . who u ever hardned himself against him and prospered ? he is one that will break those , ( be they never so stout ) that do refuse to bend ; the great contest betwixt god and us , is only this ; whose w will shall stand ; whether he or we shall have the disposing of our selves and ours . now he will do with us and ours as he pleaseth , whether we will or no. x should it be according to thy mind ? ( saith elihu ) he will recompence , whether thou refuse , or whether thou chuse . what got pharaoh by standing it out against god , and resusing to humble himself ? y woe to him that striveth with his maker : let the pot-sheard strive with the pot-skeards of the earth . there is no good to be gotten by contending with one that is so infinitely above our match . our wisest way is to be dumb , and to hold our peace when he pleads with us , by any of his judgements . ii. secondly , there are ( yet ) other arguments to induce us to this dumbness under gods hand , couched in these words [ thou didst it ] which do peculiarly concern gods people , though those before-mentioned do concern them also . 1. those that are the people of god , may well take patiently any blows that are reached them by his hand , he being their god in covenant , through christ , one that hath made them his children by adoption . an ingenuous and dutiful son will bear and put up a great deal at a fathers hand , without sullenness and pouting , though he could not swallow it from any other ; z we have had ( saith the apostle ) fathers of our flesh , who have corrected us after their own pleasure , and yet we have shewed them reverence ; persevered in our duty and observance of them . shall we not much rather be in subjection to the father of spirits ? this was the consideration with which our blessed saviour drank up that dreadful cup mentioned before , a shall not i drink the cup , that my father gives me to drink ? 2. such as are the saints of god may be assured all their evils of sufferings are laid upon them , by one that intends them no hurt at all . afflictions ( indeed ) look with a terrible aspect to flesh and blood , they have the appearance of serpents and scorpions , and the like baneful things , but they are sent by him that means them no ill : these sufferings of theirs , though they seem to be deadly ( and so indeed they are to unbelievers ) and to tend to their undoing , are but serpents without stings , and shall not so much as b touch them to do them any real prejudice ; but are like unto the viper on pauls hand , which he shaked off , and received no harm , act. 28. 13. this which i say , cannot seem strange to a child of god , when even the heathen man could tell his adversaries that threatned his death ; ye may kill me , if you will , but you cannot hurt me . 3. did i say , the afflictions of gods saints come from one that intends them no hurt ? that is but a small matter in comparison . he that afflicts them intends their good , and will work them much good by it . c all things shall work together for good to those that love god. do not ask me how ? and which way ? what thing is it that he cannot bring out of any thing , that d commanded the light to shine out of darkness ? that spake the word , and caused all things to come out of nothing ? have patience a little ( ye children of god , that are now under the rod ) and ye shall see it , and confess it your selves , that all e is for your profit , that you may be made partakers of his holiness : that f which you see not now , you shall see and thank god for afterwards . it would be too long , at present , to tell you how many several wayes afflictions tend to the advantage of gods people , by bringing them unto a more clear knowledge of god , and themselves , by weaning them from the world , and raising their hearts heaven-ward , by putting an edge upon their prayer , by discovering to them their defects , improving their faith and all other graces , by being like g fire and salt to eat out those corruptions , which would otherwise breed worms in their conscience , and hinder their inward peace , by keeping them from h being condemned with the world . these and many other benefits , such as belong to god get by being afflicted . god making the i eater to yield them meat ( according to sampsons riddle ) and the strong to afford them sweetness . their losses and crosses are such as they k live by , and do prove their greatest gain ; and therefore ( if they cannot do it yet ) they shall ere long be able to say , as he did , i had been undone if i had not been undone . 4. but this is not all ; gods peoples sufferings are inflicted by one , who hath already bestowed upon them , that which may counter-ballance and weigh against all their sorrows ; god hath given them those things which are more than enough and enough again , to fetch up their hearts when they are sunk lowest in despondency because of any outward cross . to know god and christ , what an infinite mercy is it ? l it is life eternal : he that hath attained this knowledge , god himself allows him to m glory . to have pardon of sin , to be justified in gods sight , see what some bid for such a mercy , n thousands of rams , ten thousands of rivers of oyl , the first born of their body ; they would part with any of these things for it , and think they made a good purchase too : to be adopted the child of god , what would not a man give for such a priviledge , if it were to be bought ? to have part in christ , to have union and communion with him , is there any thing in the world worth the talking of the same day with it ? all these things ( and yet these are not all ) god hath conferred upon those that are his . now take your calamities , ( you people of god ) and o weigh them in a ballance , and admit them to be heavier than the sand ; yet is not here enough to weigh against them ? will none of those things , will not all of them countervail those losses and afflictions you are under ? is the cup god hath given you to drink so bitter , that all those things are as good as nothing to sweeten it ? can ye have more cause to be dejected either for one thing or another , than ye have to be cheered in the apprehension of your interest in such things as these ? suppose christ should say to you , as to the man sick of the palsie , o son , be of good cheer , thy sins are forgiven ; would you take this comfort for a thing so trivial , that it would tend nothing to relieve you in your sadness ? if these things work not with you , if these p consolations of god be small in your eyes , assure your selves it is long of your unbelief , for which you have infinite cause to be humbled . 5. yet farther : your afflictions come ( i speak of the godly ) from the hand of him , who hath ( as if what he hath given you for present were little ) spoken of what he will do for you hereafter , and given you lively hopes of such things , as q eye never saw , ear never heard , neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive . see how contemptibly the apostle speaks of the sufferings of this life in comparison of these things . r i count not the sufferings of this present time , worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed . one would think a lively hope of being admitted to the beatifical vision , and eternal enjoyment of god , should be more than enough to dry up all our tears . and doubtless , if our hopes of heaven were more firm and stedfast , though they could not priviledge us from affliction , yet they would arm our hearts so , that it would not be possible for any affliction to pierce them through . 6. again , the godly may rest assured that their afflictions are sent from no other but him , who hath ( in the mean season , till they come to heaven ) engaged s he will never leave them , nor forsake them , t but will be with them when they pass through the fire and water , will not leave them destitute of his grace and mercy , but will be present with them , by his spirit , in all their sufferings . if god should cast us into the water , and there leave us to shift for our selves , and take no farther care of us , whether we sink or swim , our case would be sad : and it would be hard to find any thing that might yield us comfort . but that mans unbelief is his greatest misery , that thinks his misery to be greater , than to be allayed with a promise of gods presence with him . 7. consider , is not this affliction of yours his doing , to whom ye have vowed and sworn obedience ; obedience active , to do that which may please him ; obedience passive , to be pleased with what he doth ? and is there not reason then for you to be dumb , and to hold your peace ? will you make vows to god , and break them when ye have done ? bind your selves to god by covenant , as by bonds and cords , and will you , when you are put upon the tryal , how you will take any thing at gods hand , carry your selves , as if you never meant ( for all your vows ) he should either meddle with you or yours , farther than you your selves should think fit ? is not this mocking of god ? nay , god will not be mocked , but this will prove bitterness in the latter end . 8. is not this god who afflicts you , he whose will ye have prayed may be done on earth , as it is done in heaven ? have ye not often made this your petition unto his majesty ? and will ye now be angry , and impatient , that god should rather have his will done , than you yours ? will you take on , as if it were more meet god should submit to your will , than you to his ? 9. lastly , let not this be forgotten ; you sons and daughters of affliction are under his hand , who doth u not willingly correct ; he would not do it , if you needed it not , and therefore w afflicts you in very faithfulness . god makes his people x heavy , but when need requires ; as wise and loving parents correct their children , lest otherwise they should be spoiled . a child left to himself , brings his father to shame , and himself to ruine , and therefore a rod of correction is but requisite to drive y away the folly , that is bound up in his heart . hence is that pathetical expression , z thus saith the lord of hosts , behold i will melt them and try them , for how shall i do for the daughter of my people ? as if he should say , there is no other remedy . if other warning would serve the turn , god would not teach us by bryers and thorns . but better weep here , than gnash our teeth hereafter . and as god corrects , but only when need requires , so he corrects no more , nor no longer . there is not one ingredient , not one jot of gall put into our cup , more than he judgeth necessary for us . all these things considered , what cause have any of gods people to be impatient ? how fit and meet is it they should be dumb under his afflicting hand ? iii. thirdly , i now proceed to those arguments of patience , which may be fetcht from these words [ thou didst it ] that concern specially such servants of god , as suffer in the loss of a dear and hopeful child , such a loss as hath , to day , occasioned our sad meeting here . 1. it is he afflicts you thus , to whose indulgence you are thankfully to ascribe it , that your a tentation is but common and ordinary . it is a sad thing for one to be afflicted in an exemplary way , such an one , as either cannot at all , or not easily be parallelled . some of gods people have been so afflicted , that they might say , b is there any bodies sorrow like unto my sorrow ? and god owes you no more than he did them : yet even in such a case , though very sad , ye have seen how job did bear up his spirit by this consideration , c that all was gods doing , when he could not find , or hear of any in the world , whose sufferings were comparable to his . now to lose a child that we dearly loved , one that was hopeful , and that we had ground to think god had made his by adoption , what affliction is it more than thousands of gods people have had tryal of ? 2. but secondly , i pray consider , it is he hath taken him , who hath shewed you more favour , in taking one that came out of your loyns to wait upon himself , and see his face in glory , than he hath done you injury in removing him from you . was it not your ambition he might go to heaven , and will you be troubled overmuch now he is gone ? did d saul do jesse any wrong , or did he think it would be so interpreted , when he sent for his son david to come and wait upon him at court ? but you would not have had him gone so soon : you would still have enjoyed him a little , and a little longer , and have had him to have lingred here . it seems then all the difference betwixt god and you , is only in point of a little time more or less : that which god hath done now , you would have had him done hereafter . but can there be any good reason why you should be tormented , because god hath made one of yours happy so soon ? 3. tell me , is not god who hath taken your child , he whose your child was , infinitely more than he was yours ? did you frame him , and fashion him ? did you either make his soul , or so much as one part or member of his body ? or if any one had been wanting , could you have made up that defect ? though you might challenge more interest in him , than any upon earth , yet what was your interest in him , if compared with gods ? do not you know , that in respect of that interest god had in him , you ( though his parents ) were no more than persons only intrusted to breed him , and bring him up for his heavenly father ? and must he not go , or will you be troubled if he go , when his father and yours sends for him ? our blessed saviour is propounded to us for a pattern of obedience , and d subjection to earthly parents : but he must go , and be , whither , and where his heavenly father called him , and enjoyned him , for all them : and they must submit , and talk no more of their interest , when god challengeth his . 4. it is he hath taken him , who is wiser than you , and only knows from how many evils and miseries , he , by death , is freed , that we who are left behind may live to see and suffer ; who can tell what sad times are coming ? and is it not then a mercy to us , and ought we not , not only to be patient but thankful ( though it is an hard lesson ) when we have cause to hope that any of ours are got safe to heaven , where flesh , and devil , and world , shall not be able any more to annoy them , to all eternity ? 5. when you think who it is hath taken him from you , remember it is he to whom when he was baptized you did voluntarily dedicate and devote him . we and all ours are at gods disposal , whether we will or no ( as we heard before ) and there is no help for it ; yet god loves that we ●hould freely make a surrender to him of what is his own , ( which else he will distrain for , and have at his pleasure , do we what we can to the contrary ) and he accepts in graciously when we do so , as an act of our service and homage to him . but shall we give and take ? surrender up ours to god , and pretend to do it cordially , and when it comes to the point , struggle , and hold back as far as we are able , and part with that , which we have by our own act given to god grudgingly , and with an ill will ? if we do not mean to give up our selves , and ours to god , why do we play the hypocrites , and pretend it ? if we do it really and in good earnest , why do we repine when god takes but that , which is not only his own , but which we have freely given him ? 6. i shall adde but one consideration more ; which was suggested by a reverend and worthy man , 't is he hath taken your son , who did so freely give you his . god spared not his only son for you , but was willing to give him up even to the death , and thought not much to part with him ; and while you think of what god hath done in this kind , it cannot but seem a poor thing , ( in your own eyes ) for you to part with yours when he will have it to be so . all these things said together , i suppose you will say , the consideration of gods hand in all our afflictions hath enough in it to make us submiss and calm , to make us patient , and contented , in a word , to make us dumb and silent under his sharpest dispensations . and now i shall adventure to open and search the wound of those our worthy friends who are most concerned ( and with whom we sympathize ) in this sad loss : and for whose sake ( specially ) i have provided the plaister , the ingredients of which i have been so long giving you the account of . and though i shall ( i believe ) make the wound bleed afresh , by telling you , in their hearing , what it is they mourn thus for ; yet having a remedy at hand so soveraign , and so approved , i hope by the application of it , their sorrow will , in some good sort , be allayed . i had thought to have reduced what i have to say concerning this sweet child that is gone ( and so i easily might ) to three heads ; his parts , which appeared in him very early : his piety , of which he gave good evidence ; and his dutifulness to his parents , which was as remarkable as the other two . but i my self was so affected with sundry passages concerning him ( which i have to tell you ) as they came suddenly to my mind , that i shall even represent them to you , in the same order , wherein mine own thoughts at first met with them , not standing upon any method . this sweet child was five years and an half old compleat , within two or three dayes , when god took him : but he had arrived to that in five years , and a little more , that some which are here ( i am afraid ) have not arrived to in ten times that space . he had learn'd his † catechism throughout , and began to learn it over again , with the proofs out of the scripture at large , wherein he had made some progress . yet did he not learn these things as a parrot by rote , without understanding what he said , but could give a good account ( much beyond what might be expected in one of his years ) of the sense and meaning of what he learn'd . of this , both others , and i my self have made some experience . neither did he look upon his catechism only as a task imposed upon him by his parents , which he was to learn , for fear of the rod ; but took a great deal of pleasure in it , and would often have it at night to bed with him . some good acquaintance also he had gotten with the scripture story . these things argue both parts , and something of a pious disposition likewise . how few such of his age are to be found ? he met one day ( in a gentlewomans chamber , who lives in the house ) with a book that treated of the passion of christ , and reading a little in it , said he liked the book well , and that he would read it over . so he began and read some few pages , then turned the leaf down , and the next day came again and began where he left , and so from day to day , till he had read a considerable part of it . he was a very dutiful child to his parents , and would exceedingly rejoyce , when he had done any thing , or carried himself so , as to please them . he was taken with the book called , the practice of piety , and delighted to be reading in it . his father speaking to him one day about the devil and hell , and things of that nature , asked him if he were not afraid to be alone ? he answered no : for god would defend him . his father asked him , why he thought so ? he replyed , that he loved god , and that he hoped god loved him . but ( saith his father ) you have been a sinner , and god loves not sinners . but i am sorry for my sins ( saith he ) and do repent . repent ( replyed his father ) do you know what repentance means , and what belongs unto it ? and he gave him a good account of the apprehension he had of the nature of that grace , according to what he had learn'd in his catechism , but yet in his own words and expressions . he would oft ask his sister ( who was somewhat younger than himself ) whether she trusted in god , and loved god ? and would tell her , that if she sought god , god would be found of her , but if she forsook god , god would cast her off for ever . he took that delight in his book , that his father and mother have seen cause sometimes to hide away his book from him . he was never observed to discover any pouting or discontent , when upon any occasion he was corrected . and you must not think i am telling you the story of one , in whom adam ( as they feign of bonaventure ) never sinned . there is that foolishness bound up in all childrens hearts , that will sometimes need the rod of correction ; though there be very few in whom there appeared less than in him . the day before he died , he desired me to pray for him : i told him , if he would have me to pray for him , he must tell me , what i should pray for ; and what he would have god to do for him ! he answered , to pardon my sins . oft upon his sick-bed he would be repeating to himself the 55 chapter of esay , and other pieces of scripture , which in the time of his health he had learn'd by heart . but that passage in the forementioned chapter was most frequently in his mouth , and uttered by him with much affection : my thoughts are not your thoughts , neither are my wayes your wayes , saith the lord : for as the heavens are higher than the earth , so are my wayes higher than your wayes , and my thoughts than your thoughts : as if god ( out of this sweet babes mouth ) had , in these words , read to his parents a lecture of silence and submission under his hand , and taught them that he must be dealt with and disposed of , not as they , but as his heavenly father ( whose thoughts were far different ) should think fitting . one time he brake out into this expression , my god , my god , deliver me out of this misery , and from the pains of hell for ever . a little before his death he brake out into these words , my sins pardon , my soul save for christ his sake . i cannot blame those worthy persons so neerly related to him , though they mourn at parting with such a sweet and hopeful child ; any more than i could blame them for feeling pain , if one of their limbs were torn from another . only they must not mourn to despondency ; and i hope i gave them sufficient reason why , before . what an instrument of gods glory might he have proved ? what a deal of service might he have done to god ( in all likelihood ) had he lived to old age ? but it was gods doing . i shall only make two or three animadversions upon the whole , and conclude all with five words of application . how many are there that live to fifty or threescore years , of whose life so good an account cannot be given as of this little one , of five years of age and an half ? how many gentlemen be there , of whom when they die , all that can be said is this , they were born , they did eat , and drink , and play , and hunt , and hawk , and lived like so many wild ass-colts , never minding any thing that concern'd gods glory , or their own salvation , either when they were children , or after they came to mans estate , and so died , and dropt into hell ? how many others be there , of whom when they die , all that can be said is this ; they were born , they did eat and drink , and moil and labour for the bread that perisheth with all their might , but neither knew , nor cared to know what they were born for , like bruit creatures , only minding present things , and thus spent fifty or threescore years , and so died , and went down to hell ? how much more comfortably might a minister of the gospel admit to the sacrament of the lords supper such a child as this , notwithstanding his years , than those of ten times his age that are children ( would to god they were like some children ) in understanding ? i shall make application of what hath been said touching him , in five words . 1. to all in general , to admire and adore gods grace , which doth shew it self , and work thus in little ones . do not say , all this was nothing but his education . blessed be god for his education : and those children have cause to bless god , whose parents have been careful to bring them up in his fear . but sure it was something else , for we see how different wayes those take , that have one and the same education . if education would have done the thing ( without gods blessing ) doubtless eli , and david , and many others of gods saints , had never had their hearts broken by the ungraciousness of their children . 2. to parents , to encourage them to be dropping principles of religion into their little ones , and to be doing it betime ; to season the vessel first , if possible , with the fear of god. we know not how soon god may be pleased to work upon the hearts of our children , even the youngest of them . 3. to young ones , that they would learn to imitate and follow this example , that hath been set before them . learn to know god , and remember your creator betimes : learn to pay the duty and observance you owe unto your parents . this is a thing well-pleasing unto god. 4. to old ones , that come short of this sweet child ; blush and be ashamed ( man ! ) to be forty or fifty years of age ( it may be more ) and yet out-stripped by a child of five years and an half , not to have attained so much knowledge of god , and the things that concern your souls , in all these years , as he had attained in so short a space . learn to know god at last , get acquaintance with the principles of religion , while you have yet a day , while ye have yet an hour left , before ye go hence , and be seen no more . you will say , would you have us old folks , ( as this age ) go learn the catechism like children ? if you do not know those things already , why not ? i am sure you were better do so , than have christ come in flaming fire to take vengeance on you because you know not god. it is better by far to set your selves to the learning of the points in the catechism , than to go to hell for your ignorance . 5. to those worthy persons , the neer relations of this sweet babe that is gone ; god hath but taken up this little lamb to heaven , to make you , in your hearts and affections to follow after . there is a part of you in heaven already : he must not come again to you , make sure that you meet him there . and when you think how dearly you miss him , remember but who hath taken him . submit to , and acquiesce in gods dispensation . remember it is his hand . some do think there is no such remedy for the disease called the kings-evil , as a touch with the kings hand : but this i am sure of , there is no such way to abate the anguish of our souls under any smarting blow from gods hand , as the serious consideration of gods hand , from whence the pain comes . do not forget the text , be dumb , open not your mouths : not one word : it is gods doing . imprimatur edm. calamy . septemb. 10th . 1657. finis . in memoriam johannis langham summae spei pueruli , d. jacobi langham , eq aur. filii . felix ingenio , & cui laeva in parte mamille , nil cordis , bone , necquicquam quererere magister . mollis ad obsequium flecti ( sine moribus hilum non valet ingenium ) & cui displicuisse parenti paenagravis , sine paena alia . non ille salubres ( quod pueri faciunt ) monitus committere , ventis : non odisse libros imò his incumbere , totis viriculis , ludo est : jamdudum clamitat ( o he : jam satis est fili ) genitor , requiesce parumper : ille , operi intentus , divelli sustinet aegrè . tantus amor libri , tantique scientia rerum . omnibus accessit pietas , quae maxima virtus : ( qua sine nil prodest habuisse , atque omnia nosse ) non , pueri pro more , preces ( ut inania verba ) effudit sine mente . obiter non biblia legit , hunc librum manè & serò versare juvabat . indeque decerpsit quae mente reponeret alta , quaeque animo secum pia nocte dieque revolvat . saepe videns pater haec , & vix sua gaudia celans , jam juvat o : vixisse , inquit , juvate esse maritum , te tanta mihi prole : tibi o! sunt nestoris anni . saepe eadem charae genetrici mens , & eodem illa deum voto pia corde & voce fatigat . saepe sua venerandus avus , sed saepe nepotis causa gavisus ; mea spes , mi scipio , dixit , vive , meosque oculos , & patris claude superstes . saepe & fortunas aliquis laudabat amicus vestras , & secum ; si tali ego prole beatus ! heu ! quantum caecae mortalia pectora noctis , quantum noctis habent ! quoties heu ! fallere nostrum nos solet augurium ! non quae potiora miselli censemus , sic visa deo : retinere parentes in terris satagunt : hunc caelo destinat , illuc vult deus ut properet , vocat ; & parere necessum est . ergo abiisse preces in sumos ? ergo dolori indulgere ? absit ; neque enim periisse putandum morte caput charum hoc : illi tantùm alia columbae concessa ; & procul a terrenis faecibus istis fugit , ubi aeternùm requies , ubi vilia habentur maxima quae censent mortales cuncta : quid ergo oppugnant capitis tam chari gaudia vestris ? let those that have an elephant to make of some poor silly worm , themselves betake to invoke their muses , for t' inspire their brains with some poetick , high-flown ranting strains . but , for my part , as i have no such task , so from the muses i no help do ask . he is a little one of whom i treat , but yet of worth sufficiently great . those fictions , with which some do use t' adorn such as they praise , we from our hearts do scorn . precise and measur'd truths here only be , strange , without help of all hyperbole . that he , so young , should be so ripe in parts , so dutiful , so skill'd in th' innocent arts of pleasing's parents : so well pleased when he had done , what by them he approv'd did see : so pliant to their counsels ( things which most throw at their heels and suffer to be lost ) so docil , so delighted with his book , ( on which as on their torment , others look ) so pious ( that 's the chief ) and fearing god , and all this with so little help of rod. these things are strange , and some may think , scarce true , but all this , by experience , many knew : and witnesse will , that this is no device , to make men take for gold a copper-piece . you his relations , to whose hearts so neer this jewel lay , and lye's be of good cheer : he is not lost , whom you so dearly miss , he has but found some shorter cut to bliss . so you have known a seaman by a wind serving his turn , and blowing to his mind soon brought , with joyful speed unto his home in a few weeks , when many others come ( tossed with adverse tempests ) sad , and late , sore weather-beaten , moaning their hard fate : to wish thee here , would be thy injury , rather , let 's wish our selves ( dear soul ! ) with thee , t. b. in praeproperum satum charissimi sibi adolescentuli summaspei flosculi johannis langham dibectissimi sui fratris d. jacobi langham eque aur. filioli . condones lachrymis puer ( haec tua justa ) beate , fonte hoc lustrali , sacra adeunda tua . quamvis excelsis splendet tua gloria caelis solem spectamus cum madidis oculis . vidimus hic vires , puerili in corpore , adultas ; augusta augustam mens tenuitque donum . taedebat vitae , maturum caetera caelis : longa fuit virtus vita fit ergo brevis . emicat haud aliter fugitivo numine fulgur aer nec longa luce coruscus erit . sic subito placidi cecidere ex arbore fructus , sic hyemem nullam dulcia poma ferunt . exiguus durat cum parvo lumine juncus , clarior at magnis quàm citò flamma perit : angustare , oculsque tubis transmittere visuns ut stellas videant , tu galilaee doces . clarus ab exiguo penetrabat corpore caelos hic puer , utque tubo corporefunctus erat . quis vellet longae jam ducere taedia vitae cum brevis ad superos possit adire dolor . ille hic qui tenui modulatus arundine caelum est , inter caelestes non cherubinus erit ? sic flevit mastissimus patruus guil. langham m. d. my tears are just , these distillations are not issues of a rheumatick catarrhe : nor call them womanish , i hate to be esteemed as a mourner but in fee. you 'l say the cause was small , i yield he was ; yet a small child , a gyant may surpass . vertue excelleth bulk , and goes beyond , great is the loss of a small diamond . as for his soul , 't was of the biggest sizes , enrich't with all the chiefest rarities . so have i seen a little case contain all the whole lineaments of a goodly man. in smallest things art is more rich and pure , he was a picture drawn in menuture . this little child had as great faith as any , the ten commandments written in a penny . his soul in those streight lodgings to too pent , removed to a larger apartiment . his meditations , and his fervent prayers , were higher , stronger than his tender years . through the inner cypress veil ( we call it love ) of 's innocent body , heaven did more warmly move . we e're choak't with thicker clay , and muffled on , as pris'ners are at execution : we e're full of darkness , horror , and despair , and when we die , replenished with fear . death found him joyful , and hath left him so , whil'st we like mourners'bout the street do go . and ha'nt we cause ? whil'st we delight to wear his memory like pendents in the ear ? william langham , m. d. to the most hon. sir ja. l. knight , and his most vertuous lady , in memory of their young scient newly transplanted jo. l. say , is 't not a sacred injury to rehearse past griefs , and make you suffer o're again in verse ? but that the subtilty of love hath found out arts ( rifling his vrn ) to cossin him in eyes and hearts , where lives embalm'd an early piety , their view this orient pearl fresh made of that morning dew vnder whose name ( thus vail'd , least that we fondly pry too neer in sorrows lodging ) there you may descry ingenious innocence an hollowed wit a stranger to those blacker crimes that poyson it : grown perfect man by thriving education spares some refinings of a resurrection . here me thinks i see that pretty questionist catechize his teachers unto his own acquist of truths , there satisfied , ( chiding that busie sect of restless heads , those picklocks of heavens cabinet ) a morning penitent see him beg pardon when 't was hard to say , which first , the penance , or the sin ; waters , which to each thirsty soul may given be taught by a prophecie , may well be spent on thee . tasting such sweets , we find mortality did much thirst after crasie mortals , deeming all were such , men were in love with sadness , states for sorrows call , sickness became the natives epidemical , but stay ! let now no german confident from hence dlazon the glories of his youthful excellence 'bove th' europian world , who did at twice seven become a psalmists paraphrast in his own idiom . but in these herse-cloaths this young catechist you see bound up , a little volum of divinity ; but why so fast ? sweet st. was 't to keep pace in hymns the hallowed reason , with those winged cherubims ? and you his neer relates who sublimated are into an height in natures crusible , so far , could you then well expect your next extract should be clear'd and refin'd to less than immortality ? whilst heaven 's so friendly by this gainful violence to court you thither where he hath his residence , steals th' affectionate , raises the souls to bear a part with whom your love was plac't , and to lodge there speed , is successful , quickens joys , and in a throng 't is so , we think him best at ease that stays not long . dry up those christal streams , 't was not too soon , he gains the prize that first his course hath run . lod. downs , d. d. in obitum johannes langham generosi & optimae spei puelli , qui nondum pueritiam excedens vitam hanc mortalem cum immortali commutavit , julii die 29. an. d. 1657. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sol loca terrarum rediens antarctica versus , partibus aestatem reddit borealibus orbis ; induit haec agros maturis frugibus , atque exuit , agricolis tandem sua vota rependens , falciferae manui flavas dum praebet aristas . interea cadit haec matura , at spica tenella , falce necis properae , potius generosa-ve planta decidit , autumno nondum nudante capillis arboreos ramos ; inopino funere monstrans quantula sint hominum corpuscula , nempe caducis vel foliis quod sunt leviora ut justa doloris . causa , tamen cum plena spei , modus esto querelis . semen ut obtectum , caro sic tellure resurget . ad decus eximium , & vires renovata perennes . oh sua qui toties ventis commisit & undis , non sine successu , de terra , ne anxius esto , quin sibi commissam prolem cum faenore reddet . debitor usuram pariter cum sorte negabit , agricolis potius nec reddent arva laborum fructus , sperato lucro mercator ab indis nec fruiturus erit , quam non rediturus ab urna filius hic lucis , qui spe requiescit in illa . nam prius angusto ex mens corpore viva recessit ad patriam superam , cumulatis dotibus aucta munere divino , sic decrescente johanne . cresceret ut christus sancto formatus , in isto , ad culmen surgens , quo non perfectio major sperari queat ; à lachrymis hoc temperet omnes , queis aliter talem sobolem periisse doleret . francise markham . men in their strength being counted trees , the young are plants , or buds , and blossoms , when the strong are but as flowers , the aged being like sheep in deaths-fold ready to be laid on sleep , children are lambs : if these be made a prey to death , and nipped first , their noon of day being by night prevented , 't is not new , nor should seem strange , being so often true in lambs and buds , that are the forwardest , such plants being first remov'd that promise best , men , dealing thus with creatures them below if god above deal so with us , may know we clay before him should be dumb , this rod being deserved too at th' hand of god. 't is fitting sinful creatures should be meek when smitten , then to turn the other check , and adam's sin it was to spare no tree his seed since mortal are by just decree . so that no tree , nor plant , nor graft , nor oak , can be secured from deaths fatal stroke . in paradise no one untoucht might stand , none outed thence scapes deaths impartial hand . yet death's no death to him being in that trice transplanted to the heavenly paradise , being gathered from the weeds here left on ground , for ever in lifes bundle to be bound , tane from the flock in that pure virgins train which are with th' lamb of god for to remain . then count not this for death , night call not this , but a dark cloud conveighing him to bliss , dark on survivers side , to him 't was bright , whom it translated to eternal light . all tears being wip'd then from his eyes that 's gone , wipe those away , this doth occasion . when he received was , he was but lent , not lost , now gone , but is before us sent , thither where's had that one daies full delight , which is an endless sabbath without night . francis markham . an encomiastique upon the death of that precious child mr. john langham , the son of sir james langham knight . had i the vein to versifie as some , my pen should write although my tongue was dumb . a poets pate i never had , nor shall , my fansie seldome wrought that way at all ; yet give me leave to try , though muses nine stand a far off , the bayes shall ne'r be mine . john langham , a man , on high . a child , and yet a man , no paradox : there are few men can shew such fruitful stocks of sacred wisdome , sorrow , faith , love , zeal , which grew on thee , and thou didst much reveal ; so wise , so young ! may we not liken thee to solomon in 's youth ? to timothy for scripture skill ; and for hearts tenderness to sweet josiah ; thus did god thee bless ; thy faith entitled thee blest abrahams son , for thou believing didst as he had done ; this difference observ'd , his faith was strong when he was old : but thine when thou wert young . so great to thy dear lord was thy affection , the loving thou wert , and the beloved john ; yet more ! for zeal , may we not thee compare to israels singer ? an example rare , the most choice virtues of these three and three , did all concenter and concur in thee . on high thou art now gone , where thou hast more of man and god , than we who stand on shore ; thy parts are perfect , and thy lovely grace is ratified : for no dross hath place in heaven : and now could thy parents dear , but think how blest thou art , surely no tear would drop from their too mournful eyes , but they would , as they should , rejoyce to see this day of thy souls triumph o're sin , death , and hell ; who didst well living , and being dead art well , wait but a while , and thy most precious dust shall rise again when god shall raise the just ; when soul and body both compleat shall be , fully enjoying god t' eternity . samuel ainsworth , minister of the gospel at kelmersh . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a30620-e200 gen 44. 30. prov. 17. 6. epist . ded. before the book of his reverend father , called the doctrine of fasting , &c. esa 56. 5. 1 joh. 1. 3. notes for div a30620-e660 esa . 53. 13. a esa . 54. 11. b psal . 42. 5. augustinus legit , [ quia tu fecisti me ] ac proinde erravit in hujus loci iaterpretation● . a job 1. 8. lam. 3. 12. b job 1. 12. c psa . 31. 15 : esa . 16. 14. joh 7. 36. d gen. 15. 13 rev. 2. 10. e mat. 26. 55. f job 1 12. and 2. 6. g psa . 78. 50. he weigheth a path to his anger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h joh. 19. 11 i esa . 9. 13. k mat. 10. 29. l psal . 91. 5. lam. 3. 12. m 1 king. 22. 24. 1. the testimony of the godly . n job 1. 21. o 2 sum. 16. 11 p psal . 12. 4. q psal . 17. 13. r mat. 8. 9. 2. the testimony of god himself . s esa . 45. 7. t esa . 9. 13. u amos 3. 6. w deut. 28. 21 , 22. & 7. 15. x esa . 40. 15. y ver. 17. z ver. 12. victriae causa deo placuit , sed victa catoni . carncades , said it was the misery of athens , that what wise men debated , fools judged of . a esa . 55. 8 , 9 b exo. 21. 13. compare deut. 19. 5. c 1 king. 22 28. d verse 34. e eccl. 9. 11. f luk. 10. 3●… g jam. 1. 12 , 13. h 1 sam. 6. 9. i esa . 9. 13. 1. what is not meant by this dumbness . k verse 8. l verse 10 , 11. m psal . 22. 1 , 2. n jam. 5. 13. o hos . 4. 1 , 2. p psal . 32. 3. q verse 5. r lam. 3. 28 , 29 s ver. 40 , 41 , 42 t ver. 11 , 12. u micah 6 : 9. gualter in loc . ut & mercerus w amos 6 : 10. large annotat x job 21. 16. y vers . 7. 2. what is meant by this dumbness . z psal . 14. 1. a mat. 4. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . b esa . 57. 20. c job 1. 22. d 2 pet. 2. 15. e rom. 9. 20. f psa . 22. 1 , 2 , 3. g esa . 53. 7. — quid tot durasse per annos profuit immunem corrupti moribus aevi ? hoc solum longae pretium virtutis habebis ? lut ▪ h 2 king. 6. 33. i psa . 73. 13. verse 22. job 2. 9. m verse 8 , 11. n psa . 7. 3. o tit. 2. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . non responsatores . b. z. p 1 pet. 2. 18. q mic. 6. 9. r psa . 85. 8. s psa . 94. 12. vexatio dat intellectum . t jer. 2. 19. u jer. 50. 6. w mic. 2. 10. w job 6. 24. x job 34. 32. y job 29. 21. z mar. 7. 37. a esa . 39. 8. ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est seditio — tum pietate gravem — virg. b mat. 14. 27. c mat. 14. 32. quemadmodum in domo jairi tibicines carmina sunebria quidem canebant , christus autem solus mortuum excitabat : sic scientiae humanae multa quidem utiliter monent , &c. at theolegia solus , &c. d rom. 1. 21. e job . 13. 4. f hos . 6. 1. 1. eli. g 1 sam 3. 11 , 12 , 13. h verse 18. 2. job . i job 1. 21. k job 38. l job 40. 4 , 5. 3. david . 4. christ . m luke 22. 44. n joh. 18. 11. o mat. 26. 39. use . lib. 1. epist . 12 proinde ad hibe solatia mihi : non haec , senex erat , infirmus erat ( hoc enim novi ) sed nova aliqua , sed magna quae audierim nunquam , legerim nunquam . nam quae audivi , quae legi , sponte succurrunt , sed tanto dolore superantur . p job 41. 29. tantum quisque scit , quantum memoria tenet . q 1 sam. 21. 9. r job 42. 5 , 6. s 2. cor. 7. 10. t psa . 119. 71. u esa . 35. 6. w psa . 94. 12. x psa . 119. 71. y 1 tim. 4. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. z job 9. 4 , 5. a verse 12. b eccl. 8. 4. c prov. 20. 2. d psal . 66. 5. e luke 1. 52. f lam. 4. 5. job 33. 13. azor. inst . mor. pars . 3. p. 47. &c lessius de attrib . p. 126. f heb. 1. 3. g joh. 11. 36. h rev. 4. 11. i mar. 17. 37. k deut. 32. 4. l job 38. 2. m job 42. 6. n job 40. 5. lam. 3. 39. o gal. 6. 7. p lev. 26. 23 , 24. q lev. 26. 24. r job 11. 6. s mar. 9. 48. t lam. 3. 22. u job . 9. 4 , 5. w jer. 44. 28. x job 34. 33. y esa . 45. 9. z heb. 12. 8 , 9. a joh. 18. 11. mar. 16. 18. b psa . 91. 10. socrates , ut habet epictet . cap. 79. mala paenalia non suat vere mala , quia fluunt à summo bono , erant in summo bono , & ducunt ad summum donum . c rom. 8. 28. d 2 cor. 4. 6. e heb 12 10. f joh. 13. 7. the latines call prosperous things res secundas ; because they are not to be had till afterward . they that know no sorrow , usually know no god. oratio sine malis est sicut avis sine alis . g mar. 9. 49. h 1 cor. 11. 32. i judg. 14. 14. k heb. 12 , 9 , 10 themistocl . l john 17. 3. m jer. 9. 24. n mic. 6. 6 , 7. o job 6. 2 , 3. o mat. 9. 2. p job 15. 11. sermo non valet● exprimere , experimento opus est . q 1 cor. 2. 9. r rom. 8. 18. nec coelum , nec christus patitr hyperbolem . s heb. 13. 6. t esa . 43. 2. nos imperaro volumus , nobis imperari nolumus . said anastas . to hormisd . u lam. 3. 33. w psa . 119 75. x 1 pet. 1. 6. y pro 22. 15. z jer. 9. 7. a 1 cor. 10. 13. b lam. 1. 12. c job 1. 21. d 1 sam. 16. 19 d luke 2. 49. cum . 51. mr. a. † the assemblies shorter catechism . prov. 22. 15. job 11. 12. — laudes sive tuas in christo , sive magis in te laudes christi . aug. ad valer. com. object . answ . 2 thes . 1. 8. notes for div a30620-e9770 dru. in na. abrahams interment, or, the good old-mans buriall in a good old age opened in a sermon at bartholomews exchange, july 24, 1655, at the funerall of the worshipfull john lamotte, esq., sometimes alderman of the city of london / by fulk bellers ... ; unto which is added a short narrative of his life and death. bellers, fulk, b. 1605 or 6. 1656 approx. 98 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a27364 wing b1826 estc r18215 12258001 ocm 12258001 57598 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a27364) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 57598) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 167:8) abrahams interment, or, the good old-mans buriall in a good old age opened in a sermon at bartholomews exchange, july 24, 1655, at the funerall of the worshipfull john lamotte, esq., sometimes alderman of the city of london / by fulk bellers ... ; unto which is added a short narrative of his life and death. bellers, fulk, b. 1605 or 6. la motte, john, 1570?-1655. [7], 29, [11] p. : port. printed by r.i. for tho. newberry, and are to be sold at his shop ..., london : 1656. errata: p. [11] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. "a letter of john lamotte, esq. to his daughter and grand-children, written not long before his death": p. [10]-[11] at end. "a short narrative of the life and death of john lamotte, esq.": p. [1]-[9] at end. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng la motte, john, 1570?-1655. old age -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-02 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion john la motte esq ▪ cittizen of london : borne j. may 1577 , and deceased july 13 , 1655. abrahams interment : or the good old-mans buriall in a good old age. opened in a sermon , at bartholomews exchange , july 24. 1655. at the funerall of the worshipfull john lamotte esq sometimes alderman of the city of london . by fulk bellers m.a. preacher of the gospell . unto which is added a short narrative of his life and death . 2 kin. 20.1 . set thy house in order , for thou shall dye and not live . job 21.22 . acquaint thy self now with god , and be at peace , thereby good shall come unto thee . london : printed by r. i. for tho. newberry , and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the three golden lyons in corn-hill . 1656. to the right vvorshipfull , the truely religious , the lady hester honywood . and to her most hopefull nephew mr. maurice abbot , of the inner temple . daughter , & grand-son , co-heires of john lamotte esq &c. much honoured , the sweetnesse of communion with god ( whereby saints taste and see how good the lord is ) is more clearly discerned by their own personall experience , than can be declared by any verball expressions . this was the highest pitch of adams happinesse , during his estate of concreated integrity , that hee was admitted to the enjoyment of this grand priviledge ; what is it then for any of his fallen off-spring , to be restored to this great exaltation ? and yet we know that beleevers , by faith in christ , are reinstated in this advancement , and are many times inabled to say , and that feelingly , truly our fellowshp , ( or our communion ) is with the father , and with his son jesus christ. this is the heaven of heavens , to saints triumphant , and heaven here on this side heaven , to saints militant , expectants of heaven hereafter . vnutterable is the contentment that man finds sometimes in his cordiall acquaintance , with an antient , fast and religious friend , to whom he may freely , and fully unbosome himself , and from whom he may receive suitable , and seasonable advice , with all candor and faithfullnesse , upon all occasions . now if words cannot to the life hold out that satisfaction that man findeth in his converse with man , like unto himself , is it any wonder , if i am not able fully to display that heart-ravishing delight , which the renewed soul meeteth withall , whilest it nourisheth humble and holy communion with god , the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity ? it is agreed on by all , that holy familiarity with him is full of spirituall solace ; though all my language be too short , compleatly to describe before you , how satisfactory and contentfull it is . how sweet are those holy parlies with god in praier , and how pleasant their returns ? far pleasanter to a gracious , than the returns of ships ( richly laden with rarest commodities ) to a carnall heart ; how delightfull are the droppings of the sanctuary , whereby the souls of saints become as watered gardens , as so many edens , and whereby they come to hear of joy and gladnesse , so that the bones which god at any time hath broken begin to rejoice ? how ensuring are the incomes of the spirit , in that sealing ordinance of the lords supper , wherein the truely penitent and beleeving soul , looking up to christ , ( by the eye of faith ) whom hee hath peirced , and being in heavinesse for him , &c. receives the pledge of the remission of his sins , and of all other covenant-mercies , which more exhilerates him with heart reviving joy , then the sight of a pardon doth , a condemned malefactor ? it was upon this account that the heart of david was filled with such pantings , as the hart after the water-brooks , to come and appear before god in soul-reviving ordinances , and that marquesse of vico galeatius that eminent confessor , when offered golden mountains of honours , and riches , how resolutely did he reply , their mony perish with them that think all the honours of italy , &c. to be worth one hours communion with god at geneva , a place wherein religion flourished . now how abundant that worthy and experimentall christian was ( to whom you owe your extraction , as branches to their root ) in nourishing communion with god , and how sweet hee found it , both in his life , and at his death , i need not relate to you in speciall , who were full well acquainted with the manner of his holy conversation in his life , and of his comfortable departure at his end . my sute to you is honoured lady , who have made such eminent progresse in grace , labor yet more and more to imitate your deceased father , in walking in all the waies of holiest communion with god , treading dayly in his steps of soul resignation , faith , patience , charity , zeal , and all other christian graces , whereof he left an exemplary copy to you and your hopefull issue to write after . i need not suggest that it is constancy which is the crowning grace . honoured sir , though you have attained as yet to a little more than a fourth of the days that your indulgent grand-father arrived at , yet hee hath left you , as a coheir of his estate , so i hope of his graces also ; strive therefore that hee may in all his soul-adorning endowments , live in you , that as hee ( and many others ) looked upon you with a hopefull eye , whilest hee lived , so the world may see you more and more , to answer all those blooming hopes , now he is removed from you . to conclude , my humble addresse to you both is , that you would be mindfull of all the holy counsells and savory advertisements wherein he abounded towards you , and among others those that he communicated to you frequently by his letters , and forget not that letter ( added unto his life ) whereby being dead he yet speaketh to you , and then doubt not , but there will bee a full return into your bosomes , of all the prayers which he so fervently and frequently darted up to heaven in your behalfs , which is the perswasion of your worships much obliged in the lord. fulk bellers . decemb. 24. 1655. abrahams interment : or , the good old mans burial in a good old age. gen , 15.15 . and thou shalt go unto thy fathers in peace , and bee buried in a good old age . solomon tells us , it is better to go into the house of mourning , than to go to the house of feasting , for that is the end of all men ; and the living ( the godly living ) will lay it to heart . the lord hath turned his own house into a house of mourning unto us , upon this sad account , viz. the interment of him , who as he was much esteemed of by the citizens of this renowned city in general , so in special of this place , whereof he hath been an ancient and worthy parishioner , and peculiarly by that great congregation ; ●hereof he hath been a vigilant elder near thirty years to●●ther , one aged in grace as well as years , unto whom ●his personal promise to the father of the faithful was made good ; though not for the number of years that abraham lived up unto , yet for that time that moses reckons up as the ordinary term of the oldest age . promises passed of general mercies to particular persons may bee fulfilled over and over again , as that , i will never leave thee nor forsake thee , made first to joshua , extended by paul to all beleevers , and in them daily fulfilled . the like i may say of this promise here in some sense , there is somewhat that may be enlarged to all in christ , as to go to their fathers in peace , though for the latter branch of it , it be only made good to some , not to all , as to be buried in a good old age , since all attain not to that period in the letter of it ; yet in both the branches of it , it may some way be accommodated to our deceased brother , as in the sequel of our discourse will plainly ( by divine assistance ) be made out unto you . the words may be lookt upon with a double aspect . 1. relative , 2. absolute . 1 relative , in reference to what goes before , and follows after ; so they contain a cordial given to abraham , against a fainting fit that might surprise him ; god had passed many promises to abraham , in the former part of this chapter . 1 i am thy shield , and thy exceeding great reward ; i am so , and will continue to be so ; for the passage in the hebrew is elliptical , and the supplement may be made up by the future , as well as by the present time , or we may take in both , i am , and will be so unto thee . 2 he will give him an heir out of his own bowels , whence should arise an innumerable issue , as the stars in heaven for number , or multitude , vers . 4 , 5. 3 he will bestow the land of canaan for their revenue , and that by covenant , vers . 7.18 . a large income for to support them ▪ abraham seems astonish'd at the hearing of these things , and questions , whereby shall i know that i shall inherit it vers . 8. a question that sprang not out of diffidence , or a●●solute unbeleef , but out of an holy admiration , as one extasied with joy , and desiring more fully to be informed about it . sol. to this god gives a double answer . 1 visional . 2. verbal . 1 visional , they should have it when they had been first grievously afflicted , many of them slain , many chopt in peeces , which seems to be something of the mystical meaning of those ceremonies in that sacrifice , by which the covenant should be confirmed , vers . 10. viz. the dividing of the sacrifice , and laying each pe●ce one against another ; and when the birds of prey should come down , i. e. pharaoh and the aegyptians fall on to devour them , the lord would raise up one of abrahams seed , implicitly moses , to fray them away , and to deliver his off spring , vers . 11. they should not want protection . 2 verbal , vers . 13 , 14. which make out the former mystery . know of a certainty thy seed shall bee a stranger in a land that is not theirs ( viz. egypt ) and shall serve them , and they shall afflict them four hundred years , and also that nation whom they shall serve will i judge , and afterwards shall they come out with great substance . probably the searcher of all hearts saw abraham in some doubt , why livery and seisin , or peaceable possession of that land should be deferred so long ? hee therefore assigns the cause in the verse after the text , for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet full . he was minded to root them up , and that none might in after times censure his proceedings as injurious , he will suffer them to fill up the measure of their iniquitie , that they might be without excuse , and the mouthes of all stopped , at the beholding of their total extirpation . q. it may be yet some scruple might rest upon the spirit of abraham , what shall become of me when all these evils betide my posterity ? a. the lord bids him rest satisfied , for before all these evils surprise thy seed , thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace . and hence the best expositors render the hebrew particle ( translated by ours as copulative ) discretively , yet thou shalt go , or , but thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace . this relative consideration of the words may yeeld unto us this profitable instruction . that doct. the lord in his abundant mercy sometimes takes away his by death , from the beholding of future evils . this we see is promised here to abraham . lest his heart should rend in peeces upon the sight of all the miseries that should befall his off-spring in future times ; hee shall first go to his fathers in peace . the like for substance was promised to pious josiah long after ; when evils were approaching apace , the apprehension whereof did much scare , and deject him , god cast in this promise for his support ; behold , i will gather thee to thy fathers , and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace , neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that i will bring upon this place , and the inhabitants of the same ; the bare sight of which ( had he lived to have seen it ) would probably have broken his heart , viz. the sight of religion ruined , his sons captivated , his kingdom rooted up , &c. god therefore removes him by death , from the beholding of any of these . now that it savours of abundant mercy , to take away the righteous from beholding evils to come , let us consider ; first , is it not a great mercy , that a man shall be removed , before he come to be a spectator of other mens sins ? the seeing and hearing of all the unlawful deeds of those wretched sodomites , amongst whom lot lived , was a trouble of heart unto him , and keeps him as it were upon the rack . this drew not a few , but many brinish tears , yea rivers of them , from the eys of holy david , professing that rivers of tears ran down his eyes , because men kept not gods law. this filled the hearts of those mourners in ezekiel , with heart-rending sighs , and their tongues with heaven-peircing cries , for all the abominations that were done in the midst of jerusalem ; the more grace , the more sighing and sobbing , weeping and wailing for other mens sins . god snatches away a gracious father , master , husband , or prince from the beholding of the gracelesse practises of his issue , servants , wife or subjects , that would bee a corrosive unto him . secondly , doth it not savour much of mercy to be taken away from beholding of other mens punishments ? was it not upon this account that the long liv'd patriarches were taken away by death , before the flood came ? yea methuselah the year of the deluge ( if that chronologer bee not out ) lest his eyes should see that dismall sight , the drowning of all flesh . i perswade my self , that when abraham lookt upon the smoak of sodom and the country about it , ascending as the smoak of a furnace , it did occasion no little grief of heart unto him ; and what the beholding of the miseries of jerusalem in the besieging , sacking , and ruining of it , did create to holy jeremy , his book of the lamentations , penned upon that dolefull occasion , may abundantly declare . the death of jacob and joseph before the oppressions came on , and strange cruelties of the egyptians made seisure upon their off-spring , savoured of mercy ; and it was a great blessing for augustine to bee taken away by a naturall death , when genserik had besieged hippo , that hee might not see the cruelties of the vandalls , that were breaking in upon the church of god ; and for pareus , that hee should die at heidelberg before the enemy was master of it , a place that hee so intirely loved . thirdly , is it not a great mercy to bee taken away from the tasting of evills in their own persons ? that they may not feel the smart of grievous and direfull judgements ? he that is omniscient foresees calamities and judgements a coming which we cannot see ; he took notice of the deluge in his own decree , before the cataracts of heaven were opened , hee therefore snatches away those that he was minded to secure , lest they should be in wrapt in the common calamity . our god ( rich in mercy ) deals as a prudent rich man , when hee sees the fire come near his own habitation , hee removes his jewells , or his treasures , into another place , where they may bee secured from danger , or as a carefull husbandman in catching weather in harvest ; when hee sees the heavens be clouded , or a storm up , hee will do his utmost to get his corn into his barn , if possible before it bee wet . wee read of the egyptians , when they heard that god would cause it to rain a grievous hail , such as had not been in egypt since the foundation of it to that present , hee that feared the word of the lord amongst the servants of pharaoh , made his servants and his cattel flie into their houses ; so dealeth our god , when hee sees a storm a comming , hee driveth in his , that as they shared not with others in their sins , so neither shall they partake with them in their sufferings ; yea even that heathen observed , that when god brings on any remarkable destruction or alteration in a nation , hee first takes away them that are good in it . vse i shall dismiss this relative observation with this word of improvement , lay to heart the lords taking away of any godly professors at any time ; for albeit the dispensation savours of mercy to them , yet many times it proves ominous to them that are left behind ; when swallows flie away , winter is then approaching their death indeed is a blessing unto themselves , for blessed are they that dye in the lord , and not only they that die for him ; yet mostly it portends evill to survivers : however it shall bee well with themselves , as is here promised unto abraham , which leadeth mee to the second . the absolute consideration of the words , which affords two soul cheering cordialls . 1 thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace . 2 and be buried in a good old age . a couple of promises , or a couple of branches of the same promise , that would require a couple of hours for the unfolding of them , to view them exactly . i must deal as a travailer that is on his way , who may glance his eye here , or there , but makes no stay till hee comes to his journyes end , no more shall i , till through help from my god i shall have spoken something of both these , as they lie before you . and for the opening of the first , we shall inquire . quest. 1 what is meant by his going to his fathers ? was hee to go back to haran , or ur of the chaldees , in his life , or bee carried thither , to be interred after death ; or was hee to go to that place whither their soules went upon the dissolution of their bodies ? sol. 1. abraham was not to go to his fathers , first , in body ; the place of his locall interment , was to be (a) macpelah in canaan , and not any other place ; secondly , nor in soul , that removed to the immediate fruition of god in glory ; whereas many of his ancestors were idolators , serving other gods , and doubtlesse many of them died in their paganish condition . 2 but the sense of this expression is , abraham shall die , that 's the meaning of the hebraism ; thou shalt go to thy fathers , that is , corporall death shall arrest thee as well as it did do them . now if you compare these words with verse the sixt , where wee read that abraham beleeved in the lord , and it was counted to him for righteousness ; though hee were a beleever in christ , yet hee must go to his fathers , that is , hee must die as well as they , this may inform us , doct. that albeit faith in christ doth exempt beleevers from the second , yet it will not free any from the strak of the first death . abraham though a beleever , yea the highest in the forme of beleevers , being the father of the faithfull , yet hee must die ; and it is no wonder , since the decree is gone forth from god , which is farre more irrevocable than the laws of the medes and persians . it is appointed unto all men ( beleevers as well as unbeleevers ) once to die . when the scripture saith all , none is exempted ; some indeed have had a writ of privilege from some kinds of death , yet none from death in the main . moses was freed from the bitings of fiery serpents , as magistrates sometimes ( through mercy ) are privileg'd from death in times of common mortality , yet death surprized them in the end ; for moses the servant of the lord died in the land of moab . daniel was secured from being devoured by those hungry lions , yet his body became a prey to death , as well as the bodies of other prophets . elisha was spared from being torn in peeces by the shee-bears out of the wood , yet death took him away in the end . 2 this decree hath made seisure in all ages , even where faith hath been in an eminent way , as in moses , witness his undertaking that difficult embassage to pharaoh , to deliver israel out of aegypt , faith in the end did eat up all his fears , and engaged him in that difficult work , yet death at last did arrest him , as was hinted before ; so in job , a great practitioner in the life of faith ; that made him draw up this resolution , though he slay me , yet will i trust in him . david , a beleever , a man after gods own heart , and yet death overtook him ; and paul , who professed , i live , yet not i , but christ lives in me , and the life that i now live , i live by the faith of the son of god , &c. yet , did not death surprise him ? i might be endless here , to shew you how death attached beleevers , both before , as well as under the law , yea even in the time of the gospel ; had the debt of sin been taken off , and the decree rescinded , that pursevant of death would not go on daily to arrest beleevrrs at gods sute . thirdly , the holiest beleever hath in his body the principle of death , viz. sin , and that entwisted even with his very nature ; as by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin , and so death passed upon all , &c. the holiest may cry out , as those sons of the prophets , o thou man of god , death is in the pot , death is in the body . bodies of sin will become bodies of death , because sin is in the soul as a canker at the root , that will kill the tree , as the worm that smote jonahs gourd , that made it wither away ; this drew out that emphatical quere , what man is he that liveth , and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul ( himself ) from the hand of the grave ? a question that carries a negative answer in the bowels of it , q. d. no man , even the most eminent beleeving , or holiest for living , can free himself from the tasting of death . vse . look not you now that are beleevers to be freed from the common fare of all real christians , viz. death ; count upon this , dye i must , i know not how soon . q. but if my faith exempt me not from death , what avails me to be a beleever ? sol. much every way , chiefly because by beleeving though thou be not freed from the stroke , yet sure thou art to be protected from the sting of death , so that even in the very jaws of death a beleever may 1. holily exult , o death , where is thy sting ! o grave , where is thy victory ! the sting of death is sin , the strength of sin is the law , but thanks be to god that gives us victory through christ jesus our lord ; 2. yea sure thou art to be delivered from the second death , thy faith interesting of thee in the first resurrection , and implanting thee into christ , it frees thee from condemnation . he that beleeveth on the son hath everlasting life , viz. even here someway in possession , as well as hereafter fully in reversion . besides , thou maist be certain the condition of death is altered to thee , it being not now formally the wages of sin , but turned into a part of those advantagious chattles that do belong unto thee , 1 cor. 3.23 . all is thine , even death , as well as other things . death to thee is only the final period to all thy miseries , and the ready inlet to thy full and eternal happiness . now god permits his decree to take hold upon thee for divers gracious ends and purposes , viz. 1 to cast out perfectly the remainders of sin , that even after our conversion do still abide within us . when the priest under the law had been to view the house infected with the plague of the fretting leprosie , the house was to be broken down , stones , the timber , and all the mortar of it : jesus christ sees the fretting leprosie of sin to be in thee , that will not be outed of its habitation , till that earthly tabernacle of thine be pulled down . 2 to put an end to all the perplexing miseries that do befall thee here . whilst israel was in the wilderness they were infested with fiery serpents , never totally freed from them till they came to canaan ; so whilst thou art in the wilderness of the world , thou art lyable to the stingings of many fiery serpents , the fiery serpents of sin and misery . absolute immunity will be obtained by death from them , and not before . 3 to be a gate for thy admission , or entrance into heaven . death indeed to on unbeleever is the door of hel , but to a beleever it is the entrance of heaven ; this in eagered paul with so much panting to be dissolved , and to be with christ ; what jacob spake in another case , is true here of the death of a beleever , this is the gate of heaven . vse 2. yet know this for thy comfort , though death be unavoydable , dye thou must , yet thou maist assure thy self thou shalt dye in peace ; which leads me to the manner how abraham shall be gathered unto his fathers , which is the elixir of the promise ; he shall go in peace ; whence we may observe , doct. that it is a beleevers transcendent priviledge to go unto his fathers , ( or to dye ) in peace . for the profitable handling of this truth ; 1 i le endeavour to shew you what is meant by going to his fathers , or dying in peace . 2 i le study clearly to make it out : 1 that it is a priviledge to dye in peace . 2 a transcendent priviledge belonging to beleevers . 3 i le cast in something by way of improvement . q. 1. what is meant by going to his fathers , or dying in peace ? sol. the phrase is of different construction in different places of scripture . i finde it sometimes opposed to a violent , immature , or forcible kind of end . thus to zedekiah , as bad as he was , it was promised ▪ thou shalt not dye by the sword , viz. a violent , but thou shalt dye in peace , i. e. come unto a natural death , jer. 34.4 , 5. so david advising solomon to cut off joab by a forcible death , he useth almost a parallel expression , not in a promissory , but minatory way ; let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace , i. e. let him dye a violent death , and be rolled to his grave in bloud . but sometimes i finde it opposed to an uncomfortable end , and then to dye in peace is to dye in the sense of inward peace , or in an estate of reconciliation ▪ and this i look upon as the common priviledge of all beleevers . josiah had this in promise , though hee dyed of his wounds , yet he dyed in a reconciled condition with god ; and this is the main of the promise to abraham here , compared with vers . 6. abraham beleeved in the lord , and he accounted it to him for righteousness , being now justified through faith he had peace with god , and when he comes to dye he shall dye in peace , being sensible of his standing in the grace and favour of god , and resting on the invaluable merits of jesus christ , whose day he saw , and upon that account with a placid spirit he resigned up his soul unto him . q. 2 how it may be made out , that to dye in peace is a priviledge belonging to beleevers ? 1 we call that a priviledge which is an immunity , granted to some of favour , and denied to others of justice . wee all deserve as to dye , so to dye with fear , terrour , and amazement ; but our god in mercy exempts beleevers from the common law of death , as it is the * king of terrours , and vouchsafeth them this favour , to depart in peace , when others depart with horror . 2 this we say is the beleevers priviledge ; for , as for 1 unbeleevers , and all wicked men whatsoever , there is no peace to the wicked saith my god , they are as the troubled sea , when it cannot rest ; whose waters cast out in re●a●d dirt ; an elegant similitude , whereby the prophet setteth forth to the life the restlesness of wicked men , though the sea hath no winds , nor tempests from without to infest it , yet it is restless of its own nature from within ; so it is in wicked men ; though they have no outward causes of trouble , yet still they have causes of inward trouble upon point of conscience , than which what more exquisite torture or tormenter can there be ? the heathens tell us of the furies lashing wicked miscreants ▪ and these were only the lashes of an inraged conscience , every mans own sin creating soul-racking trouble to each impenitent sinner . but 2 for beleevers , it is unto them promised , they being the persons alone that love the law , psal. 119.165 . great peace have they that love thy law , and nothing shall offend them . the law of god , it is the picture of the mind of god , which a beleever loves no less than a loving loyal wife the letters of her indeared husband , yea , infinitely more , they being the persons that alone are righteous , being justified by faith they have peace with god , and they alone shall enter into peace ; they had peace entring into them living , and they enter into peace when dying ; it is they , and they alone that are able to say when death approacheth , lord now letest thou thy servant depart in peace , &c. 2 i will make out , that to dye in peace is a transcendent priviledge : sol. 1. that logicians call transcendent , that exceeds in nobility , eminency , sublimity , all aristotles categories ; besides , to dye in peace , in true gospel peace was a thing he knew not of , and we shall not trouble our selves to labour to reduce it to any of them ; this peace is the peace of god that passeth all understanding , it is that peace of god whereof he is the author , and conferror , that keeps our hearts staid in peace , as in an impregnable garison ; this peace is prayed for as a priviledge of greatest worth ; peter praies not only that grace , but that peace might be multiplied to those to whom he wrote . and so paul , let the peace of god rule in your hearts , as a judge deciding all controversies between them that are contending for masteries ; nay , this was conferred by christ as the greatest mercy that wee might receive on this side heaven , witness that golden bequest of his , my peace i give to you . princes in power seldom promise toys or trifles , but things of moment and greatest worth . it was a great favour of jesus christ to his disciples at sea , to allay the winds , and the storms that were up against them , & what is it to allay the storms of conscience that are upon them ? christ among other titles is dignified with this , that he is the prince of peace , yea our peace , who hath taken away the enmity between us and our god , having purchased peace for us , by no meaner price than the bloud of his cross ; that priviledge must needs be transcendent that was purchased at such a transcendent rate . 2 besides , if we do but look unto the nature of this peace , it is that peace that doth transcend all the ken of nature ; nature may take notice of peace with man , but for that peace with god , and peace with conscience , it is out of natures horizon . he that hath peace with god , shall always have peace in god , he will speak peace unto his people . if we have peace with him , he can make our enemies to be at peace with us . the prince that hath peace with any state , hath peace with all the forces belonging to it ; we having peace with him , he can make all his creatures to be at peace with us , not only the beasts , but the very stones in the feild to be in an amicable league with us ; and when peace rules in conscience , having tranquillity within , we need not care what storms are without . when christ speaks peace to conscience , as once to the raging sea , peace and be still , who then can create trouble ? and if our hearts condemn us not , then have we confidence towards god , so that triumphantly we may break out , the lord is neere that justifies me , who shall contend with me ? when a man hath been arraigned for his life , and after is acquitted , how is he inwardly comforted ? it was this inward peace that inabled the martyrs with serenity of soul , and undauntedness of spirit to pass through the fiery trial ; and for confessors , though surrounded with many troubles , yet hear their acknowledgements , the father loveth me , the son hath redeemed me , the spirit comforteth me ; how then can i be sorrowful ? in the most racking pain of the stone crys out another , one asking him what he felt , he answered , i have peace within , though in my flesh i am sensible of most exquisite torments ; it is this peace that is heaven upon earth while we live , and rendereth us undaunted even in the jaws of death . vse . now for the improvement of this truth , be perswaded to get an interest in this priviledge , i mean to get well-grounded peace , that when death comes you may go to your fathers in peace . it may bee some may quere , q. do all that dye peaceably , dye in peace ? r. yes , all that dye in an estate of true real gospel peace . i confess there is as much difference between true and false peace , as between true and counterfeit gold , silver , or jewels ; yet this observe , that then peace is well grounded according to the tenor of the gospel , when 1 it flows in after the convincing sight of sin , when a man beholding his face in the glass of the law , and the curse of it , hath been brought to cry out , sirs , what must i do to be saved ? false peace springs out of a senseless , benumbed , sleepy , or seared conscience , that never met with any trouble at all , according to that of christ , when the strong man ( armed with strong corruption ) keeps ( possession of ) his palace , ( i. e. his heart ) his goods are in peace , all goes well , all is at peace ; but when the spirit comes in , and convinces of sin , he ejecteth the strong man out of his dominion . christ spake not peace , and be still , to the sea , until the storms had been upon it ; so neither speaks he to conscience . 2 it comes from heaven , even from the god of peace who is in heaven , and speaketh peace ( upon the sense of their justification ) unto his people , who are a willing people , to serve him in all duties that he requires ; yea , an obedient , and holy people before him ; false peace is altogether from satan , who promiseth peace , though men go on to adde drunkenness to thirst , and strikes a covenant with the sinner , which makes him fondly conclude , that he hath made a covenant with death , and with hell he is at an agreement , this sinful peace god sooner or later will dissolve , it shall not stand . but as for that true peace begun here , when we are made sensible of the bloud of sprinkling , and have our consciences purged from dead works , it will indure unto eternity . 3 it is attended with sanctity , and that 's the ground of pauls conjunction of them , now the god of peace sanctifie you throughout ; to whom god speaks peace , he is always a sanctifier , a purifier of the heart and life from sin . q. it may be some may say , how may we get into such an estate that we may be sure to dye in peace ? s. if thy heart be toucht with what thou sayest , 1 presently fall upon the duty of repentance , bewailing sins of nature , of practice , against the light of the law and gospel , crying mightily for pardon ; this ushered in true peace to davids soul , and brought him in ease in the setting of his bones , and making him to rejoyce after their breaking . so that heart-smitten publican crys out , lord be merciful to me a sinner , and then goes away in a justified condition . till sin be removed by repentance what peace can there be ? what peace so long as the whoredoms of thy mother jezabel , and her witchcrafts are so many ? what peace so long as iniquities remain unrepented of ? so long as wind remains shut up in the bowels of the earth that can get no vent , an earthquake daily is to be feared ; so here , an heart quake is to be expected , until you have repented . 2 labour by faith to take hold of jesus christ , whose bloud alone is able to cleanse our consciences from dead works , i. e. from sin ; when wee look up to him ( with the eye of faith ) whom we have peirced , and be in heaviness for him , as a man is in heaviness for the death of his first born , this brings peace . faith devolves all our guilt upon our suerty christ , and then takes hold of his meritorious righteousness , which becoming ours by application , we are justified in gods sight , and thereby acquitted from sin . 3 walk up unto the gospel ; the promise of peace is made alone to them that walk according to this rule , not according to the flesh , but according to the spirit , this brings peace . mark the perfect man , and behold the upright ( in heart and life ) for the end of that man is peace . 4 keep a good conscience ; this is as a continual feast , not only in life , but when death stares thee in the face ; as we see in hezekiah , remember , o lord , now i beseech thee , how i have walked before thee in truth , and with a perfect heart , and have done that which is good in thy sight . and upon this account paul was so careful to exercise himself , in keeping a good conscience , free from offence , both towards god , and man. a polluted , corrupt conscience , will sting a man in the end , as we see in spyra , and many apostates ; whereas an undefiled conscience will chear us in the worst of times . 5 dye daily to sin ; make it thy work every day to drag thy corruptions to the cross of jesus christ , never leaving till thou hast fastned them there , and gotten them crucified , even thy beloved sins mortified within thee ; and dye daily unto the world ; get into christ , by whom the world may bee crucified unto thee , and thou unto the world , and carry thy self as a crucified man in respect of it , not heeding , minding , or regarding of it , and if thou doest thus , thou mayest expect an interest in this common mercy among all saints , to dye in peace , whether ever thou share in the later part of the promise or no , to be buried in a good old age . which leads me now to the second branch in this promise , thou shalt be buried in a good old age . whence we may take notice of this last observation . doct. that burial in a good old age is afforded unto some saints by gods special indulgence ; for the prosecution of this truth i shall labour to shew 1 what is meant by burial . 2 what by a good old age. 3 how it may be made out , that for a saint to bee buried in a good old age is an evidence of gods indulgence q. 1. what is meant by burial ? sol. burial speaks nothing , but the covering of the dead body of man with earth , or the interring of it . now touching burial i have nothing to say , for any thing that savours of the least of superstition in it , i neither look upon it if denied by cruel men , as any badge of gods curse to beleevers , though sometimes he gives way to some such stupendious dispensations , which was the ground of that sad complaint of old , the dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven , and the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth , their bloud have they shed like water round about jerusalem , and there was none to bury them . men indeed have discovered much inhumanity this way , especially papists against protestants , by prohibiting their burial , or digging up their bones again , as they did of bucer , fagius , &c. such acts savour of wrath in men , but none in god towards them that were in covenant with him . so neither do i construe it if afforded , or permitted , as any help to heaven , because upon the dissolution of the body , the spirit returns to god that gave it , the soul is admitted immediatly into the embraces of god , though the body be kept above ground divers daies together ; yet this i may say , upon a scripture account , concerning burial , that the decent interment of the bodies of saints , when death hath divorced those old companions , the soul and body , speaks 1 mercy in the interrers , which david acknowledged in burying the body ( the trunck ) of saul ; though we know he was a bad man , yet he so farre resented this act of the men of bethshemesh , that he sends unto them this message , and with it this benediction , blessed are yee of the lord , that have shewed this kindness to saul , and have buried him ; and he adds this prayer for them , the lord shew kindness and truth to you , and passed this promise unto them , i also will requite this kindness , because yee have done this thing . 2 justice , in them that discharge this office ; when the soul is returned to god that gave it , it is a part of justice that the body should return to the earth whence it was taken , the earth indeed is the common mother of all , who receives all that came from her , as the mother the childe into her lap . god i know laid this in justice upon man for sin at the first , thou shalt return to the earth , for dust thou art , and unto dust thou shalt return . 3 it speaks hope , that the interrers have of the happy resurrection of those bodies which now they commit to the ground , they having been instruments of righteousness , members of christ , and being still united to him , shall certainly be raised by him unto glory ; and upon these accounts i deem the care of saints to have been to see their friends decently interr'd , as (a) isaac , abram , (b) joseph , his father jacob , and those devout men , (c) that stoned , massacred , martyrd body of that proto-martyr stephen , as knowing that the bodies of saints sown in corruption , shall be raised in incorruption ; sown in dishonour , shall be raised in glory ; sown in weakness , shall be raised in power . and hence the burial-place among the greek fathers is called the sleeping place , or the dormitory of saints , they only sleep , and therefore they will awake again , they still though in the dust are united unto jesus christ , and shall be reunited with their souls , that ascending to heaven , they may be ever with the lord. q. 2. what is meant by a good old age ? s. 1. the notion here rendred old age , properly imports gray hairs , and by a metonymy of the adjunct , old age , gray hairs being the ordinary discoverers of it , for that observation of that rabbine , that gray hairs is more than old age , because as he saith , a man at sixty is come to old age , and one at seventy to gray hairs , after which a man becomes decrepit . this is but his meer phansie , for how many even with us come to gray hairs before fifty years , some before forty years of age ? but to wave this , it is sufficient for us to know , that in the old testament they are used as synonimaes , i. e. words signifying the same thing , and that by old age we understand , the winter of mans life , the evening , or sun-set of his days , the utmost period of his time on earth . other ages have still another age to succeed them , as childe hood is succeeded by youth , youth by man-hood , manhood by old age , but old age hath no other successor but death , it being the last declension , or degree of the longest life . 2 by a good old age we mean not barely a great age , though i confess old age is an embleme some way of gods eternity , whence he is stiled the ancient of days , and therefore so described , his raiment was as white as snow and the hair of his head as white as wool ; a periphrasis of old age ; and besides , old age hath been honoured by god , in choosing men of age for weighty imployments , as god chose moses and aaron when they were stricken in years , to lead israel out of aegypt , and when he would establish a standing judicatory in israel , he would have seventy men of the elders of israel gathered unto him ; moreover , their judges were old men that sate in the gate to hear , and determine the causes of the people that were brought before them ; nay , i acknowledge that old age is some way venerable in it self , which was the ground of that command , rise up before the hoary head , and honour the face of the old man ; those of gadera built a temple to old age , because of the reverence and respect they bore unto it . 2 much less do we mean by a good old age , the turning over of many years in a way of sin , old age cannot be good where old men are naught , sin being a reproach to any people , or persons , whether they be old or young ; to see men stricken with age , and over-run with covetousness , when all the limbs of their bodies grow old , only covetousness grows young , which makes them afraid sometimes to use what god hath cast in upon them , and the less of the way they have yet to travel , the more they are a coveting provision for the way ; or to see an old man over-run with pettishness , frowardness , crosness , that no man can speak to him , no more than to nabal ; or to see the fruits of the old man , old corruptions to remain in strength , a man abiding in old age , an old swearer , an old drunkard , an old cheater , an old athiest , contemning the word , or ministry , &c. in brief , when a man remains an old weather-beaten sinner though his age be continued to a hundred years , it can never be a good old age unto him ; for a sinner of an hundred years old shall be accursed . 3 nor yet do i mean that old age is therefore good , because only attended with corporal , or outward good things , such as are health , and strength , though i deny not to be lively in old age , and to injoy a good measure of them , to be a great blessing ; when a man is able to say with caleb , who professed , i am this day fourscore and five years old , and yet i am as strong this day as in the days that moses sent me , as my strength was then , even so is my strength now for war both to go out and to come in ; it is a great mercy but yet common with christians and pagans , as with masinissa in tully . neither do i look upon old age as only good when attended with riches and honour , though these make old age sometimes the more pleasant , when grace is present for the managing of them ; yea i acknowledge old age to be uncomfortable , where a competency of creature-comforts are wanting ; however , if grace be absent , though riches be present , old age cannot be good . 4 but old age is then good , 1 when men are good in old age . i do not look that any man is , or can be good of himself , for there is none good but god ; but men are then good when they are made good by the sanctifying spirit of god ; or plainer thus , then old age is good when crowned with grace , the best of good things ; hear solomons determination , a gray head is a crown of glory , if it be found in a way of righteousness . when a man hath put off the old man , and put on the new , which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness , when he hath the image of god repaired in him , which makes him renew his youth like the eagle . i shall not dispute the manner of it , how the eagle doth renew her youth , whether it be by soaring aloft into the element of fire , and there leaving her feathers , and casting her self speedily into the sea , whereby she grows young again ; yet there is this morally in it , when the soul soars aloft , to injoy communion with god , who is as a consuming fire , out of christ , the soul casts it self into the sea of mercy , into that fountain opened for sin , and for uncleanness , whereby it doth renew its spiritual youth ; or whether it be by knocking off her beak ( the upper part of her bill ) by beating it against the rock , which morally we may thus apply , when the soul findes corruption in it self , it gets to the rock jesus christ , and there repenting and beleeving , yea by the highest actings of faith indeavouring to knock off its beak , its inordinate desires to the world , a saint becomes clad with the sun of righteousness , and presently the moon is under his feet , which makes him to use the world as though he used it not ; a renewed old man is as a renewed eagle , inabled to mount up in duties with wings as eagles , to run in the ways of gods commandements , and yet is not weary ( of well-doing ) to walk , and yet is not faint ; in a word , when the soul of man is once bathed in that fountain that is set open for the cure of sin , he comes out as naaman out of jordan , when his flesh was restored as the flesh of a little childe , and hee became clean . man washed in this fountain becomes a new creature , having a new nature , i. e. a divine principle of good infused into him , and this makes him good , good at all times , good in age especially . 2 when men do good in old age , as the lord hath rejoyced over them to do them good , so they make it their work , even with joy to do all the good they may , that makes them in age more holily fruitful than ever in youth , i mean in all the fruits meet for repentance , in all the fruits of the spirit ▪ as in love , joy , peace , long suffering , gentleness , goodness , faith , meekness , temperance , with all the expressions of them , wherewith they abound in old age ; in this , trees planted by christ in his church , differ from trees planted by men in their gardens , the former are alwaies most fruitful in age , as the psalmist avers , such as are planted in the house of the lord , ( i. e. such are implanted into christ ) they shall flourish in the courts of our god , they shall still bring forth fruit in old age , viz. the fruits of piety , purity , mercy , being desirous cordially to consecrate , as their time and strength , so their estates to god , saying as david , of thine own , lord have i given thee . a good old man looks upon himself only as a steward of all outward injoyments , and as a steward he will be careful to dispose of all according to his masters minde ; he puts down his imprimis for the maintenance of the worship of god , and his items for the poor , the sick , the lame , the blinde ; and in a word , he doth endeavour to do good to all men , but especially to those that are of the houshold of faith , he doth desire to be rich in good works , ready he is to distribute , willing to communicate , laying up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come , that he may lay hold upon eternal life , 1 tim. 6.18 . in a word , he makes it his end to honour god with his substance , and with the first fruits of his increase , as knowing this to be the most thriving way . 3 when a man grows up to be an old disciple , then old age is good , when a man is grown old in the sincere profession of the gospel , as we read of mnason dignified with this title , because he had been a disciple of long standing in the church of god ( whether he were of the seventy two first sent abroad by christ , or one that came in to christ long before others ) an old disciple he was , and spiritual seniority carries spiritual dignity along with it ; and upon this account paul gives preheminence to a●dronicus , and junia , because they were in christ before him ; an old disciple as an old friend should be valued at a far higher rate than old gold 4 when a man is adorned with those graces that are the ornaments of old age ; what though his face be withered , or furrowed with wrinckles without , yet the hid man of his heart is deckt with grace within , especially with those reckoned up by saint paul , as sobriety ( in opinions , in conversation ) in meat and drink ( which sometimes prove a snare to men in age , as they did to noah and lot. ) 2 gravity , consisting in a seemly , modest , yea venerable deportment in gesture , speech , apparrel , countenance . 3 temperance , which speaks the moderating of themselves in respect of their desires , but above all with 4. soundness in the 1. faith , not as reeds blown up and down with every wind of doctrin , but built upon the rock jesus christ , they remain unmoveable ; yea when moved to renounce christ , or his truth , they reply with policarpus , this fourscore and six years have i served him and he never did me hurt , and shall i now defie him ? &c. 2 soundness in charity , in love to god , to christ , to his church , his ministers , his members , where he sees any thing of jesus christ. 3. soundnes in patience , willing to do , or suffer any thing for christ , counting all things but loss or dung that so he may win him , phil. 3. to conclude , when a man is gray in years , and gray in all sanctifying graces that beautifie old age , old age is good then to him , and for him . 5 when a man is every day more and more built up in all the old experiences of gods love and goodness towards him , as david , i have been young , and now am old , yet never saw i the righteous forsaken , nor his seed begging bread . what though others of his intellectuals do decay with age ? yet he is careful to keep his memory for to bee a store-house , a treasury of all gods mercies , as we see in old abraham , what a recognition do we read of gods old loving kindnesses . gen. 24.7 . the lord which took mee from my fathers house , and from the land of my kindred , and which spake unto mee , and sware unto mee saying , unto thy seed will i give this land . so in old jacob , what a mercy-admiring man was hee ? the god that fed mee all my life long to this day ; the angel that redeemed mee from all evill , &c. as the remembrance of old sins is loathsome to a gracious old man , so of old mercies exceeding gratefull , &c. 6 when a man in his old age makes it his business to finish that work that god bath given him to do . a man came not into the world to eat , drink , sleep , take his ease , or heap up riches , but god sent every man into the world upon some speciall account or other ; whether as a magistrate , a minister , or a private christian ? among other ends as private persons , god sent us into the world that wee should work out our salvation with fear and trembling , to make our calling and election sure , i. e. sure to our selves ; when a man makes it his work , to work the works of him that sent him , while it is called to day , because hee knows the night comes in which no man can work or walk ; when a man can say with christ , not long before his death , i have finished the works thou gavest mee to do ; or with aged paul , the time of my departure is at hand ; i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course ; i have kept the faith , henceforth is laid up for mee a crown of righteousnesse ; when a man with david hath served god in his generation , then death becomes welcome . seventhly and lastly , old age is then good when a man makes it in old age his only work to make provision for death , his passage to happy eternity , as knowing with peter , shortly he must put off this tabernacle of his , he saith as isaack , behold i am old and know not the day of my death , only i desire to provide for it , and is alwaies a pondering of it , it was upon this account that joseph of arimathea built his own monument , and barzillai when moved by david to turn courtier , and to go with him to jerusalem , hee humbly begs a dismission , that hee may turn back to his own city , and die there , and be buried by the grave of his father and of his mother , and that because that day hee was fourscore years old , he minded more to provide for death , than to injoy momentary courtly delights ; so old simeon waited for ( christ ) the consolation of israel , and old anna departed not from the temple , but served god with fasting and prayer day and night , and all to fit themselves the more for their dissolution . 3 q. how it may be made out for a man to be buried in a good old age is a special favour and mercy of god. s. to be buried at any time savours of some mercy , as jer. 22.19 . it savours of judgement , to be buried with the burial of an asse , or to lye uninterred because of sin . but to be buried in a good old age , we cannot but look upon it as a choyse mercy , because very few live to bee old ; look upon an apple-tree in the spring , you may almost see it covered with blossoms , yet how many fall before they come to knit ? and if knit , how many fall yet before they come to be ripe ? many are worm-eaten , and they drop ; many are beaten down by violent tempests , scarce one of ten , yea twenty , yea sometimes not one of forty comes to its full maturity ; so it is in regard of man , abundance of children like blossoms seem to cover the ground , but how few of them live to youth , fewer to manhood , fewest of all to old age ? but how infinitely farre fewer do live to a good old age ? it must needs therefore be a chief mercy . is it not a mercy when we have done our work , then to be called home to receive our wages ? then to be gathered when here we are fully ripe ? then to come to the grave in a full age , like a shock of corn comes in his season ? to conclude , is it not a mercy then to be called to make your account , when we have been long a preparing , and making ready for it ? the accounting day to a just steward is a glad day indeed , when he can do it with joy , and not with grief ; this fills the soul with panting , come lord jesus , come quickly ; because he hath now made his peace with god , and hee can now lift up his head , because his full redemption draws nigh , being insured that the day is now drawing on apace , when he shall hear christ thus speaking unto him , come thou blessed of my father , inherit a kingdom provided for thee from the beginning of the world . but for the improvement of all , take these three words . vse 1. to you concerned in this great , this common loss , wherein the daughter hath lost a tender father , the grand-children an indulgent grand-father , the servants a good master , the parish a worthy parishioner , the congregation to which he belonged a vigilant elder , yea the city a great ornament ; i know the loss is great to all related to him , yet to alleviate your grief weigh with me 1 gods great mercy to you in sparing him so long , a father , a friend , a master , a parishioner , an elder , that he might be eyes to the blinde , strength to the weak , a cloather of the naked , one that stood often in the gap to divert wrath from you . 2 gods mercy to him in gathering him to his fathers in peace , admitting him to burial in a good old age . 3 ponder , though we may mourn , yet we must not murmure or mourn as them without hope for him that sleeps in christ , lazarus our friend sleeps , our deceased friend is only gone to sleep , he will awake again in the resurrection ; could he now speak unto you he would doubtless say , weep not for me , but weep for your selves . 2 to you not only that are concerned in this loss , but to all of you that knew him , take notice of that light part of his cloud which he held forth long before you , there were many signal things in him worth your imitation . 1 his constant attendance upon the word , which i observed to be in him these ten last winters , when so many went back in the late defection from ordinances among us , he spake in effect as peter when the disciples were questioned , will yee also go away ? lord , to whom shall we go , thou hast the words of eternal life ? when others ●hrough sloathfulness would not rise , how diligent was he in coming to the morning exercise , especially on the lords day , even in the sharpest winter season , when health would permit him ? 2 his real friendliness to all the embassadours of jesus christ , yea to all where he saw any thing of christ ; he was both open handed , and open hearted to all the needy members of christ , and would more gladly do good than receive thanks for the good he had done . 3 his sympathising with the church of god in all her sorrows , especially heretofore in the palatinate , and at present in piedemont ; as lots captivity setled on the spirit of abram , so did the miseries of the people of god on his heart , he seemed to be of esays and jeremies temper . o the rowlings , yernings , compassionate meltings for them that were massacred , and his bounty to them that did survive , often saying of our popish adversaries in the massacre of piedemont , we have only a pattern of that stuff which our enemies would cut out for us all . 4 his exemplary piety , he taking up the resolution of old joshua , i and my house will serve the lord ; his known meekness and humility , though god had cast in a great estate upon him , yet he was not lifted up ; a meek and quiet spirit in the sight of god is of great price . i omit his walking in a way of private communion with god , which was best felt in himself , yet he gave many discoveries of it to all that came near him that were acquainted with the workings of the spirit . to all of you now that count upon , or desire to come to the grave in a good old age . q. it may be some of you may be inquiring , what must i do that i may share in this branch of this promise ? sol. i shall only give a brief answer unto this , and so dismiss you . 1 if thou be young , lay the foundation of a good old age in youth , train up a childe in the way he should go , and he will not forget it when he is old . a young timothy will prove an old mnason , a young disciple will become an old disciple ; but can any man look for good fruit from that tree in autumn , wherein hee could not behold either blossoms or leaves in the spring ? remember therefore thy creator in the days of thy youth ; remember , to acquaint thy self with him , and to make peace , that so good may come unto thee in time of age ; get grace in youth , and become obedient unto thy parents , which probably may prepare a way for thy burial in a good old age . 2 if youth be elapsed , or run out in vanity , yet 1 now presently repent , repent of sins of youth , and set upon the ways of holiness ; paul had been in his youth a persecutor , injurious , a blasphemer , yet after repentance what a foundation did hee lay of a good old age , labouring more abundantly than others ? he had been zealous to draw others to hell , so now he was as forward to win others to heaven ; for augustine , how vain , vilde , vicious , sinful was his youth , wallowing himself in all licentiousness , as his confessions speak ? where how doth he bewail himself , & yet after repentance , what an useful instrument was he in the church of christ ? many admire , and that deservedly , chrysostoms golden rollings , cyprians martyr-like spirit ; running through all his works ; but we may behold these , nay more than these in augustine after his repentance . 2 rest not till thou be implanted into jesus christ ; our ingrafting into him intitles us to dye in peace , and to live not only long here , but even to eternity hereafter , as freeing us from condemnation , and ensuring us of admission into heaven . the science ingrafted into the tree liveth as long as the tree , and we ingrafted in christ , as long as christ , and that will be to eternity ; if our implantation qualifie us for eternity , it cannot but qualifie us for the longest date of life here below . 3 live piously being implanted . piety not only hath the promises of this life , but of that that is to come ; impiety cuts asunder the thread of our lives , but piety prolongs our days , as solomon witnesseth , my son , let thine heart keep my commandements , for length of days , and long life , and peace shall they adde to thee . 4 live temperately , lest thou diggest thy grave with thine own teeth ; sobriety being the best natural means for the prolongation of life , as is obvious to experience . 3 if thou art a verging , or inclining towards old age , and art implanted into christ. 1 shew thy self to be a tree of gods planting in all those fruits of the spirit , mentioned by the apostle , as god hath made thee good by grace , so be thou abundant in all gracious actings , in all christian duties . fruit-bearing trees are seldom cut down till they become fruitless . 2 let thy life be a life of prayer , and wrastling with god , among other things , that god would not cast thee off in the time of age , nor forsake thee when thy strength faileth ; yea let thy life be a perpetual meditation of death , and all the days of thy appointed time do thou wait upon god until thy change shall come . 3 get old simeons light , or his clear sight of christ , by faith , when thou hast once obtained this thou wilt then be panting with him , and crying , lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; old abraham was then happy when he saw the future day of christ by the prospective-glass of faith , through the interval of two thousand years distance , and no wonder that he rejoyced ; men go to hell with their eyes shut , but to heaven with their eyes open . 4 wait then for old pauls crown , if in sincerity thou art able to say , the time of my departure is at hand , i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith ; thou maist then conclude , henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness , which the lord the righteous judge shall give unto me at that day , and to all that love his appearing ; if constantly thou perseverest , and goest on in the ways of faith , and love , and holiness , thou maist expect the accomplishment of this promise unto thee , to go to thy fathers in peace , and to be buried in a good old age , if the lord see it meet for thee . a short narrative of the life and death of john lamotte esq john lamotte esq sometimes alderman of the city of london , was born at colchester in essex , may 1. 1577. his father was francis lamotte ( son of baldwin lamotte of ypres in flanders ) who , in the time of the great persecution in the low countries , under duke d' alva , was driven out of his native country , and came , together with his wife mary , to shelter themselves , and to enjoy the free profession of the true religion ( for which they had abandoned all their temporal ( very considerable ) goods , and enjoyments ) under the protection of that famous nursing-mother of gods afflicted children in those bloudy times , queen elizabeth ▪ here in england , in the fourth year of her reign ; taking up their residence at colchester , where he lived many years in very good esteem , and was very forward and industrious for the setting up , and promoting of the great manufacture there for the publick good , and god blessed him in the same , and in a hopeful issue , untill he dyed in a good age at london . now as both these parents had made piety their greatest interest , and the freedome of religion their best purchase , so they were ever exceeding sollicitous , and diligent to season their children , and this their son especially , from the very cradle with the fear and nurture of the lord , and that with such blessed success on him , that having piety instilled into him by their means , and publick ordinances , through gods grace , he never departed from it to his dying day , but proved most exemplary therein , through all the course and relations of his life ; so that even in his younger years he never was given to , nor delighted with those vain and sinful sports and pastimes , to which youth is ordinarily so prone to , and so hard to be weaned from . his recreation was commonly to turn from one honest or pious employment unto another , as from that of his calling , ( being brought up timely to trade and merchandize and in which he was always very careful , and industrious ) to the reading of the bible , and other good books , meditation , and learning of languages , acquainting himself with several of the best histories , especially such as treated of the persecutions , and deliverances of the church of god , and the propagation of the gospel , all which he made in a manner his own , such delight he took both in the perusal , and rehearsal of the same on all occasions , and yet omitting no publick opportunities , whereby he might nourish communion with god at any time . he would often bless god , that according to his earnest prayers ( when he came first up to london ) hee had kept him from bad company , and from all allurements and engaging occasions of haunting taverns , and the like places , whereby so many hopeful young men come to be undone . being grown up to some greater maturity of years and grace , and acquaintance with god , and beginning to trade for himself , his singular care and exactness , industry , and discretion , was soon taken notice of , and he had more credit when he began , than divers that had lived in pretty good repute before him , every one was ready and even desirous to trust him , and deal with him ; which great advantage he nevertheless used very soberly , undertaking no more than he was well able to manage , and minding what once he had undertaken with all the vigilancy and attendance such employments , and the duty of his calling did require ; and the blessing of god was evidently upon all his ways and affairs , yet so that as he was not hasty to be rich , he would often say , hee was not hastily rich . by gods good providence and direction , he was afterwards guided to marry a party of like good and pious education , and disposition , and of a stock likewise tried , and grown up under persecution , mistris anne tivelin , whose parents had sheltered themselves at canterbury : she was then the widdow of mr. david king merchant , of whom she had mr. ezekias king , yet living , the pious and learned minister of fulmore in cambridgeshire ; with this consort mr. lamotte lived well and comfortably many years , and they had together several gracious children , eight in all , whereof six , two sons and four daughters , dyed in their yonger years , and only two daughters ( most piously and vertuously educated ) lived to married estate ; the elder hester , being wedded first to john manning esq an eminent merchant of this city , by whom she had three children , but none surviving him , and after his decease to sir thomas honywood knight , of markshall in essex , both living yet happily together , beloved and honoured of all that know them farre and near , together with their hopeful issue , two sons and one daughter , the remainder of seven children they have had together ; the younger daughter elizabeth was married to that worthy gentleman master maurice abbot , ( son to sir maurice abbot , once an honourable alderman , and lord mayor of this city , and brother to those two famous abbots , george , sometimes arch bishop of canterbury , and learned robert , bishop of salisbury ) and by him she had that hopeful son and studious gentleman mr. maurice abbot , the present coheir with his aunt , besides three others dying young , as she also her self was not long enjoyed , and dyed exceedingly bewailed for her singular parts , piety , and goodness : thus , though mr. lamotte left but one only daughter surviving , and four grand-children , yet he saw 22 of his of-spring . his first wife deceasing about the year 1626. he married again the year after m●is . elizabeth monk , the widdow of levinus monk esquire , one of the six clerks , a gentleman of rare parts , trust and experience in stare-affaires in king james his time ; with her he lived eighteen years , but had no issue by her . during all this time , as he advanced still in years , piety , experience and estate , so he was ( through the mercy of god ) accordingly respected , passing through , and bearing all the eminent offices in his parish , company , and elsewhere in the city and commonwealth , until he was chosen alderman ; besides the eldership of the dutch church here , wherein he served that congregation , neer thirty years together , with that exemplarie integrity of zeal , as will not easily be forgotten ; as also in all the rest , he still demeaned himself unblameably , equally desirous and zealous still to furher and advance godlinesse and honesty , and to withstand and reform abuses and iniquity of all kinds . the love unto , and constant attendance upon the word of god in publick and private , for the upholding and cherishing communion with god , by hearing and reading the scriptures , and meditating therein , had so possest and filled his soul , that most of his discourses and letters were most savourly seasoned with it , and he would often expresse a great deal of heart-grief and astonishment , at most mens heedlessenesse in duties so highly and neerly concerning their everlasting welfare . and how real his piety and acquaintance with god was , appeared sufficiently , as by many other discoveries , so also by those streams of true christian charity , which uncessantly issued from him and which made him not only willing and ready to impart and communicate liberally in that kind himself , but also to sollicite and stir up others perpetually , setting all ( as it were ) on fire of compassion , that came neer him , especially where and whensoever any publick calamity befell the people and church of god : no care , 〈◊〉 pains , no cost , charge , or trouble was too much then unto him to testify his sympathizing bowells , in and for their sorrows and afflictions , whether at home or abroad ; whereof , especially , since the year 1620. the respective persecutions and troubles in france , at rochel , in the valtelin , in bohemia , in germany , and more particularly in the lower and upper palatinate , and therein above other places , the long continued distresses of the city of frankendale , besides many other cases nearer home , in england , scotland , ireland , all along , even to the late cruell and barbarous massacre of the poor waldenses in piedmont , could make up and shew forth in this one member , such a living character and pattern of real charity , as alasse , we see but few now a dayes , to the no small discredit of our profession . and god having given him such largenesse of heart , and freenesse of hand , he gave also unto him understanding to manage all his affaires with order and discretion , that he knew both where and when to spare and to spend , whereby he was enabled still to do the more good , finding and acknowledging alwaies both the temporal and spirituall returns and comforts of doing the same ; and that made him alwaies as god blessed him to lay aside a proportion for charitable uses , which he as carefully distributed afterward . but if god was pleased at any time to exercise him with losses or crosses of any kind , whereof he had his share too ( among other of gods children ) as well in his trade and estate now and then , by severall casualties by sea and land , at home and abroad , in his severall functions and relations , and especially in his body by diverse great infirmities and sicknesses , principally toward and in the latter part of his life , yet he alwaies shewed abundance of patience and quiet submission , to the ever-good hand and pleasure of his heavenly father , and faithfull redeemer , comforting himself very much with the examples of jacob , joseph , job , david , and others of gods saints and servants , in all ages , with whose histories he was exactly acquainted ; praysing god still , that in respect of his outward man , he so long vouchsafed him the benefit of his sight and hearing in that comfortable measure , whereby he could partake still of his holy ordinances , both in publick and private ; and for his inner man , that in all his troubles and afflictions , god never long with-held his gracious and fatherly countenance from him , in jesus christ , wherein he found comfort sufficient to allay all his grief , and prevent all murmuring in his troubles ; he did not much vent himself by discourses , but retired himself ▪ and unbosomed his heart , and spread his condition before the lord in prayer . when but three weeks before his decease , he was sore afflicted with extremity of head-ake and colick , that he began to find some impatience to seize on him , he soon recollected and chekt himself , saying , how often and fervently have i besought the lord , that he would be pleased to fit and prepare mee for himself , and his everlasting kingdome , and why then should i find fault and repine , now when he thus really and effectually doth prepare me , making mee by these very pains and torments , loathe this wretched world so much the more , and long for my happy change , and dissolution , and to be with my redeemer ; and thus he continued for the most part , even to his last hour , which was july 13. 1655. in the seventy ninth year of his age ; looking death cheerfully in the face , as of whom he was not afraid , being implanted into christ , and thereby freed from the imbondaging fear of death , alwaies almost speaking of the same , and setting the remembrance of our latter end , both before himself , and others , upon all occasions , knowing there was no such effectuall means to make us apply our hearts to wisdome , that is to say , to the fear of god , the only antidote against all other fear . and as in troubles and affliction hee shewed a great deal of filial submission and resignation to god , so it was a comfort to all that conversed with him to see and observe his continuall thankfull remembrances of and chearfull rejoycing in gods mercies and goodnesse , both to the church in generall and particular , and to the land and nation wherein he lived ; as also to any of his dear friends and relations ; as well as to his own person , loving both to hear and speak much of that argument , and ever and anon most feelingly exclaiming , o what cause have wee to praise our good and mercifull god , that yet preserveth , yet affecteth , yet delivers and favours us , and passeth by , and forgiveth our manifold infirmities , transgressions and provocations aggravated with so much unthankfullness , if yet we would love him and beleeve in him , and yet walk in his fear obediently before him , to our everlasting happinesse . on queen elizabeths anniversarie coronation day , he would usually bid some friends , and put them in mind of the great mercy of god shewed to england on that day , by quenching the fires in smith field , and continuing the gospel ever since , for so many years among us , even beyond the number of years recorded in scripture , of an uninterrupted prosperous estate of the church ; and then , as also on his birth-day , and other joyfull occasions of friends , meeting at his house he would often say ▪ he had desired their company , to eat bread with him before the lord ( as jethro and moses did ) in remembrance of such and such signal mercies and deliverances , whereof his memory was a living chronicle , especially of those grand deliverances , both before and since the reformation , from under the great sufferings and bloody persecutions in france , and the low-countries , whereof he would often discourse in so punctuall and feeling a manner , as if he had been an eye-witness , yea a sharer in them , taking many arguments thence of encouraging both himself and others , to be still mindfull of them in bonds and miseries , as being themselves in the body ; saying , why , their case might have been ours , or may be yet , who knows ? and instancing often in this particular with holy admiration and thankfullnesse , that when his own father ( for religion sake being fain to flee for his life ) stood doubtfull , whether , like as many others did , he should repair for shelter to the palatinate and frankendale , or to england , that yet god inclined his heart to chuse england for his place of refuge , whereupon he would frequently inferre , hee had great cause , especially since their late sad condition in that place and country ( in acknowledgement of that preserving mercie ) to have a fellow feeling of their miseries , wherein himself and his might have been involved together with them , since god had not only kept and safeguarded him and his from the same , but likewise abundantly blessed and protected him and them hitherto . and therefore he was very mindfull to send relief to many of them from time to time . together with all these eminent graces , god had likewise endued him with a large portion of wisdome , judgement , and understanding , in many things of moment and importance , grounded on much experience , observation and practise of his own , for which he was deservedly much esteemed by men of no small place and account . hee brought still forth out of his treasure old and new , and knew so pertinently to produce , compare and apply the same , that it was great pleasure and no lesse profit and instruction to hear him . the pious and indefatigable care and pains hee took in bringing up of his children , and governing his family , in the fear and admonition of the lord , is hinted partly already . his perpetual indeavour was to bring them into acquaintance and communion with god , and to make them stand in filial awe and fear of him , to read and meditate , and take delight in the word of god , to be well grounded and setled in religion , and not shaken by every wind of doctrin ; to avoid and flee all vain and idle courses , companies and dalliances ; to be painfull , carefull and diligent , every one in his peculiar calling and imployment , orderly and exact in all their affaires , sober and frugal in the use of gods good creatures , full of bowels of compassion to the afflicted and distressed members of christ , and to all that were in need , and chearfully ready to communicate unto such ; loving and helpfull one to another , obedient to all good orders , submissive to the magistrate , respectfull to the ministry , civil and upright towards all , and watchful at all times , to be in readiness when the lord should call them hence , to give an account of their stewardship , &c. in all which he would say and exhort them to no more than himself continually endeavoured to practise before their eyes ; and that this his tender care towards them might yet extend beyond his life , and he still speak to them , and minde them of these sayings , he left for them in writing , by abundance of letters to his nearest and dearest relations from time to time , especially in one of his last papers , written , as it seems , when he had set his house in order , to be ready for the lord ( a copy whereof followeth after this narrative ) such excellent instructions , and admonitions , as sheweth plainly , as he took pains and care to leave them a comfortable temporal estate , so their spiritual good estate was that he mainly wished their whole hearts possest of , as his was , for to enjoy communion with god , and the abiding comfort thereof both in this life , and that to come together with him . a letter of john lamotte esq to his daughter and grand-children , written not long before his death . beloved daughter , dame hester honywood , and beloved grand-children , maurice abbot , and elizabeth , thomas , john honywood , i do wish you all the blessing and peace of god the father , and of our lord jesus christ his dear son , our saviour and redeemer , and that his fear and love may be so rooted and grounded in you , that it may knit and bind your hearts together in love and amity , as my heart has been to every one of you , ever praying for you all , that god of his mercy would bless you all , and plant his fear in your hearts , and unfeigned faith in christ jesus in your souls . i desire that no strife , nor envie , nor grudging arise about the dividing of the estate which the lord of his mercy hath lent me , for i setled the land after prayer by the best counsels and advice i could ; and my personal estate i have by will ( after prayer ) to the best of my skill in all good conscience , as equally drawn it as i could ; so i would after i am dead have you receive it from god with a thankful and contented mind , and pray to the lord to bless it to you , and every one of you to his own posterity . i having been by trade a merchant , and what by gods blessing i have advanced , i have endeavoured , and laboured to gain it honestly , and to keep faith & a good conscience always , ever acknowledging that these following parties had a share in my estate , as in all other mens , the common-wealth , the service of god , the ministers , and the poor members of christ , of whom , as i have endeavoured to be careful ; so would i have every one of you to be zealous for the service of god , heartily affectionate to the poor members of christ , and to give , with the releef , a comfortable word when occasion permits . john lamotte . errataes marring the sense . page 3. l. 10 r. peece , p. 4. in the margin r. excindi . p. 7. l. last but one , r. him , p. 10. l. 10 r. an , p. 11. l. 36. r. mire . p. 14. l. v 9 , r. the heart , p. 15. l. 30. r. thou , p. 25. l. 34. r. our , p. 19. l. 36. r. naught , p. 27. l. 1. r. through . omissions p. 4. l. 1. r. or adversitively , but , &c. p. 25. l. 33. r. like as a shock . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a27364-e280 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 joh. 1.3 . notes for div a27364-e960 eccles. 7.2 . ubi lugetur mortuus mercer . psal. 90. josh. 1.5 . heb. 13. id quidem joshuae dicitur , subesse vero generalem consolationem piorum , apostolus h●c allegatione docet . paraeus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 zehne●i . simil. p. 18. q. pezel . & pareus in loc . leo judae . junius . pareus . 2 chro. 34.28 . caesus fuit josias 31. anno regni , aetatis 39. quoties ei moriendum fuisset si diutius vivendo vidisset veram religionem everti , filios captivos abduci , regnum exscendi . lavat . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 pet. 2.8 . psal. 189.136 . ezek. 9.4 ●ucholcer . chronol . gen. 19.28 . septuagint . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possidonius . o heidelberga ▪ heidelberga . in vita parei . ex. 9.20 . plato . rev : 14.13 . (a) gen. 25.7 ▪ josh. 24.2 . dan. heb. 9.27 . deut. 34.5 . joh. 8.52 2 king. 13.2 rom , 5.12 . psal ▪ 89 ▪ 49 1 cor. 15 rev. 20.6 rom. 8.2 joh. 3.36 lev. 14.43 , 44 , 45 gen. 28.17 1 king. 2 ▪ 6 2 chro. 84.28 rom. 5.1 . joh. 8. gen. 25.8 privilegium est privata lex . privarum seu singulare jus contra jus commune indultum . hostien . reginald praxis , ●ori praenit . vol. prioris , p. 547. * job 18.14 es. 57.20 , 21 es. 57.1 , 2 luke 2. scheibler me●aph . lib. 2. c. 1 ● . 15. transendunt praedicamenta communitate effendi . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praesidio custodie● . beza . col. 3.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 joh. 14 . 2● es. 9.6 ▪ rom. 5. ● psal. 85.9 ▪ prov. 16.7 ▪ job 5.23 1 joh. 3 maul . 118 . 12● . joh. 16.7 , 8 act. 16.30 , 31 luke 11.12 mar. 4.39 psal. 85.9 deut. 29.19 es. 28.15.18 heb. 10.22 1 thes 5.23 psal. 51 luke 18.13 heb. 9.14 ▪ zech. 1● rom. 5.1 gal. 6.16 . psal. 37 : 37 prov : 15.15 es. 38 : 1 , 2 , 3 acts 24.16 1 cor. 15.31 gal. 6.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 operuit , terra humavit psal. 79.2 acts & mon. 2 sam. 2.5 , 6 eccles. 12.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gen. 3.19 (a) gen. 25.9 (b) gen. 50. (c) acts 8.2 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 thes. 4. bux●or● . dan. 7.9 . numb . 11 . 1● deut. 22 : 15 levit. 19.22 aelian . prov. 14.34 quo minus resta● viae eo plus quaerunt viatici . cicero de senectute . 1 sam. 25.17 es. 65.20 josh. 14.10 , 11 lib. de senect . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . laert. mat. 19.17 prov. 16.31 psal. 103.5 zenor . adag . rev. 12.1 es. 40.31 2 king , 5.14 2 pet. 1.4 eccles. 6.3.6 ▪ psal 91. gal. 5.22 . psal. 92.13 , ●● 15. 1 chro. 29.14 gal. 6.10 . prov. 3.9 prov. 3.5 . acts 21.16 . rom. 16.7 . tit. 2. ● . euseb. l. 4. c. 15. psal. 35.25 gen , 48.15 , 16. phil. 2. 2 pet. 1.10 . joh. 9.4 ▪ joh. 17. 2 tim. 4. 1 pet. 1.14 . mat. 27.60 . 2 sam. 19.25.37 . de morte magis quam de delitiis aulieis eogitat . lavater . luke 2 . 2●.37 erasmus de contemp . mundi . job 5.26 . rev. 22.20 . luke 21.28 1 thes. 4. joh. 6.66.68 . es. 22.4 . jer. 9.1 . josh. 24. prov. 22.6 . eccles 12. exod. 20.12 1 tim. 1 15 1 cor. 5.10 . rom. 8.1 prov. 3.1.2 gal. 5.22 psal. 71.5 , 6.17 , 18 job . 14.14 luk. 2.26 joh. ● . 56 . acts 7.55 . 2 tim. 4 ▪ 8.9 a funeral-sermon upon occasion of the death of mrs. lobb late wife of mr. stephen lobb. preached by samuel slater, minister of the gospel slater, samuel, d. 1704. 1691 approx. 88 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60348 wing s3966 estc r221626 99832918 99832918 37393 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60348) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37393) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2153:15) a funeral-sermon upon occasion of the death of mrs. lobb late wife of mr. stephen lobb. preached by samuel slater, minister of the gospel slater, samuel, d. 1704. [4] 32 p. printed for tho. parkhurst, and tho. cockerill, at the bible and three crowns in cheapside, and at the three legs in the poultrey, london : mdcxi. [1691] tightly bound. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lobb, -mrs., d. 1691 -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-03 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-03 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a funeral-sermon upon occasion of the death of mrs. lobb , late wife of mr. steven lobb . preached by samuel slater , minister of the gospel psalm cxii . 6. the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance . london : printed for tho. parkhurst , and tho. cockerill , at the bible and three crowns in cheapside , and at the three legs in the poultrey . mdcxci . to the reverend mr. steven lobb . dear brother , god having made a great breach upon you , by taking away her who was the delight of your eyes ; and i having seen the body she left behind , laid to rest in its bed of dust , was ●hen by you put upon this last office of love , in preaching ●o your people on that occasion ; nor did i draw back ; ●ut being that very evening seized by , and for some time ●ontinued under a sharp distemper , i could not study a new sermon , but was forced to entertain you with one i ●ad preached in mine own congregation , but a little before , ●pon the death of a young gentlewoman , mrs. susan hatchman ; the text put into my hand , as what in ●eer health she had chosen for that purpose : well ; it ●aving been preached , you earnestly desir'd the publishing ●f it , and would needs have it from the pulpit sent to the press ; thereupon it is done ; and i have enough , so it do much good . i heartily sympathized with you ; for indeed i ●ove you ; the good lord sanctifie the affliction , and sweeten ●t , and make it up to you . i said nothing in her commendation ; while many do not deserve it , she did not need it . her works praise her , so do you , and the tongues of them that knew her . i desire that he who can , would fill up her room , comfort your heart , help you in your work , and prosper it ; and having been your god , be the god of your seed , that those young branches may flourish in his courts , and bring forth much precious fruit in their season . i leave you where , i hope , i found you , under the healing wings of the sun of righteousness , which are able to cure all wounds , and to supply all wants ; and so remain , yours in the best bonds , samuel slater . november 20. 1691. a funeral-sermon . philip . 1.23 . i am in a strait betwixt two , having a desire to depart and to be with christ , which is far better . pavl being a prisoner at rome , where that monster of men nero sate in the throne , sent by epaphroditus this epistle to the saints at philippi , with the bishops and deacons , among other reasons , to prevent their being offended at his sufferings , which had fallen out to the furtherance of the gospel ; his bonds being famous in caesar's court and other places , which gave people occasion of enquiring into the reason of them , by which means they came to understand something of christ , and the christian religion . besides many of the brethren were by his courage and constancy encouraged to preach the word with greater boldness than before . some indeed preached christ out of envy to him , that they might lessen his interest and esteem , and advance their own ; but others did it out of a sincere and holy purpose , to enlarge the kingdom of christ , and to maintain and confirm what paul had delivered ; for which he also now suffered , knowing he was set for the defence of the gospel : and he comforted himself with such things as these : that however , t●e work was carried on , and the name of christ was as a precious oin●ment poured forth ; and as for himself , his afflictions should contribute to his salvation , through the help of their prayers , and fresh supplies of grace from the divine spirit , trusting according to his former hope and expectation , that he himself should not through any terror be ashamed to own and stand to what he had preached ; and that christ should be magnified in his body ; whethe● it were by l●fe or by death ; of which two , which to chuse he knew not , but was in a strait about it , as he saith in the text before us wherein i shall take notice of , and offer to your consideration , thre● things ; and having with convenient brevity spoken to them , i shal● present you with some doctrinal conclusions , and shut up this discourse . 1. here is pauls j●dgment . 2. his d●sire . 3. the strait in which yet he was . first , i shall consider his iudgment , which we have reason to coun● solid , and worthy of so eminent an apostle . the object about which it was exercised , is the future state of believers , which they shall enter into , when their places here shall know them no more . a● for their present state , that condition in which they are , during their abode here , he had given his thoughts concerning it , elsewhere ; namely , 1 cor. 15.19 . if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . we might very well pass in the world for a company of fools and madmen , should we keep under our bodies as we do , and deny our selves the free use of those outward comforts which others do abound in ; and expose our selves to so much contempt and scorn , so great hatred and reproach , so many losses , crosses , sufferings and persecutions , if we had not a firm and well-grounded assurance of something , yea , enough in another world , to make us an abundant amends and recompence for all the troubles and vexations of this . so that he there readily yields , that as to present temporal enjoyments , the condition of wicked men is of the two , more desirable ; which hath been a great and sore temptation to some gracious and holy persons ; as you may see , if you please to peruse the 73 d psalm , from the 1 st to the end of the 14 th verse . but in the text before us , he speaks of a future state , into which the saints shall enter , when they take their flight , and moun● up with wings as eagles , unto that delightful place which god hath prepared for their eternal abode . and he gives us his judgment of this state , as to two things . 1. the nature of it . 2. the excellency of it . and both these are worthy of our most serious and frequently-repeated thoughts . 1. the apostle tells us what that state will be as to the nature of ●t ; of which he doth indeed speak very briefly , but very fully . from what he saith , i may with highest confidence conclude , that it is such ● state as now deserves to be the object of the saints desire ; and ●hen they are once entred into it , it will be eternally their delight . 〈◊〉 is such a state as now they may well long for , and hereafter they ●annot but be satisfied with . such a state , as that the faith and assu●ance of it , may and doth work in them joy unspeakable and full of glory . then raise your thoughts and conceptions to the highest ●itch that you can , and inlarge them to the utmost , and tell us , if you ●an , what the enjoyment of it will do ! but if you ask , what is that ●tate ? he tells you , it is a being with christ : and that is heaven in ●pitome . canst thou , o gracious soul , give another fully to under●●and , how incomparably sweet it is to have christ here with thee ? when he gives to thee but a look through the lattess ; when he meets ●●ee at an ordinance ; when he affords thee a short visit and away ; ●●re i am , thou wilt want words significant and large enough . and if 〈◊〉 short an enjoyment be so delicious , as all the world is nothing to 〈◊〉 , what then will it be for thee to be with him ? if david could say , ●sal . 23. though i walk in the valley of the shadow of death , i will fear ●o evil ; for thou art with me : thou mayest well promise thy self thou ●●alt want no good , when thou comest to be with him . know , o ●aint , the world will be well mended with thee : for as you have it ●n the 16 th psalm , in his presence there is fulness of joy ; and at his right ●and , pleasures for evermore . three things may here well engage our meditations . first , the saints , when once gone from this dirty and trouble●ome world , shall be with christ in the same place . now they are in ●ome sense parted and at a distance , notwithstanding that spiritual , mystical , and intimate union which is between them . 2 cor. 5 , 6. while we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord. now we ●●e him not : we are upon earth ; he is in heaven ; and the heavens ●ust contain him for a time , how long we know not ; but at last ●hey shall be together in the same place . one earth could not long hold them ; therefore h● said to his disciples , iohn 16.7 . it is exp●dient for you that i go away : and so it was , that he might prepare place for them ; and that he might send the comforter to them and that he might make intercession for them . as for his peoples sake he came from heaven to earth , to teach them , to fight for th●m , to dy● for them , to conquer their enemies , to pay their debts , to mak● their peace , to work for them an everlasting righteousness , and 〈◊〉 purchase for them an everlasting happiness ; so for their sakes he r●turned from earth to heaven , that he might keep the peace he ha● made , and give out to them of his fulness , and purchased blessing● as in his infinite wisdom he see● their necessities and interest require ▪ and when their work is finished , and they prepared , they shall follo● him ; they shall away to heaven also , and that shall hold both hi● and them to all eternity : this he gave them the assurance of ioh. 14. ● ▪ i will come again , and receive you to my self , that where i am , there ye m●● be also . this he also declared to his father to be his will concernin● them . iohn 17. 24. father , i will that they also whom thou hast given m● be with me where i am ; — for thou lovedst me before the foundati●● of the world : which words of his plainly evidence his not loving distance between him and them , longer than needs , and how mu●● his heart is set for the closest and fullest communion : it was his joy that he went to the father , and should be with the father , and 〈◊〉 would have his people with him , q. d. i would be with thee , and would have them with me ; let us be all together ; then my joy wi●● be full , and so will theirs too . here the lord stands at their righ● hand , therefore they shall never be moved , psalm 16.8 . and afte● death they shall sit at his right hand , and therefore they shall be satisfied . then they shall be by him , and be daily his delight ; rejoicin● always before him . 2 dly , they shall so be with him , as to be the joyful spectators of his glo●ry , men are very much taken with sights , for the eye affects the heart and fixing upon great and amiable objects conveys to the soul a grea● deal of pleasure . how doth the eye of faith by looking within the veil , and beholding him that is invisible , revive the spirits , and raise the saint out of his dumps , 1 peter 1.8 . whom having not see● ye love ; in whom tho now ye see him not , yet beliving ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable , and full of glory . and if believing do so raise and ravish them now in the midst of so many things to afflict and depress them , what will the heavenly vision do , when they shall see him as he is ▪ alas ! the sights of faith here , are weak and imperfect , they are but 〈◊〉 in a glass darkly , we s●e but the back parts ; the most sanctified ●e can at present bear no more . thou canst not see my face , said ●●d to moses , exod. 33.20 . that is not a thing to be done . moses ●●uld not do that , tho he was a most holy person , and had been ●aken up into a familiar converse with god. when our lord jesus 〈◊〉 his state of humiliation and abasement , did let forth but one ●●am of his glory , it struck the soldiers down to the ground , ●●hn 18.6 . as soon as he had said unto them , i am he , they went back●●rd , and fell to the ground : they could not stand before such an ●●manation ; but in heaven the saints shall see , and be enabled to ●ar the sight , yea , to rejoyce in it ; the glorified eye shall be so ●●rengthened , as to fix upon that most glorious object , psalm 17. ● shall behold thy face in righteousness ; not thy back parts , but thy ●●ce ; there they shall see him as he is . that prayer of moses , ●●ew me thy glory , shall then be fulfilled ; they shall not only ●●e his goodness that passeth before them now , the whole earth is ●●l of it ; but also they shall see his glory , that shall be manifested , ●t to the dazzling but delighting of their eye : this was part of ●●rist's will , which shall not fail of its accomplishment , iohn 17. ●●ther , i will that those whom thou hast given me , be with me where i am , ●●at they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : they love 〈◊〉 look , and i love they should do so , therefore let them look ●●eir fill . thirdly , the saints shall be with christ , not only as spectators of ●●s glory , but as blessed sharers and comportioners with him in glory . ●hough much of their happiness consist in sight , the heavenly visi●● being beatifical , yet that is not the whole of it ; for there shall be ●uition as well as vision ; the same god who doth here implant his ●race in them , will hereafter put a glory upon them , psalm . 84. ●he lord god is a sun and shield , he will give grace and glory , each in the ●ost proper place and season for it ; grace on earth , and glory in ●eaven : grace in their minority , glory when they come to their ●●ll age and stature . our dear lord jesus was pleased to come ●rom heaven to earth , and from the bosom of his father , to a ●abernacling among men ; and while here , he was at vast cost and ●harges as to purchase a people for himself , so all good for that peo●le , which he doth gradually impart to them now ; and when he ●ath them with him in the mansions above , he will fill their trea●ures , and put them into the actual and compleat possession of all that good which he purchased for them : he himself is at the right hand of the majesty on high , and they shall be at his ; he overcame 〈◊〉 is set down upon his father's throne ; and when they have ov●●●come , he will grant to them to sit down upon his throne , revela●●●● he will come at the last and great day in his glory , and when he 〈◊〉 appear , they shall appear with him in glory , colos. 3. it doth not yet ●●●pear , what we shall be ; but when he doth appear we shall be like him , 〈◊〉 we shall see him as he is , 1 john 3.2 . he shall shine forth with 〈◊〉 bright and beautiful rays as the eternal sun , and they as the fir●●ment and the stars ; yea , their vile bodies , or bodies of vilen● shall be made like unto christ's most glorious body , philip. 3. n●● o saints ! it is the matter of your grief and complaint , that 〈◊〉 have so much corruption in you , and so little of christ , and that 〈◊〉 are so unlike him ; a conformity to whose image you ought to stu●● and were predestinated to , rom. 8. but there you shall be as like 〈◊〉 as ever you can look , you shall be satisfied with his likeness , psalm● so satisfied with it , as not to desire more of it than you shall ha●● there your conformity to him shall be perfect both in grace and g●●ry . thus much concerning paul's judgment of the future state● believers as to the nature of it , it will be a being with christ. come we now in the second place , to consider his judgment● that state , as to the goodness and excellency of it , and that you ha●● in these words , it is far better : it is better then ; whensoever a g●●cious and holy person makes his last and great change , he make● good one , he changeth so much for the better , that he will never 〈◊〉 any reason to repent of it . i pray therefore do you moderate yo● sorrow , whom god hath deprived of such relations , whose god●●ness you have no cause to call in question ; be you satisfied as to the● do not mourn over them : weep if you please , for your selves a●● for your children , but not for them , because they do not lose 〈◊〉 dying , they are not at all the worse for dying ; all things work togeth●● for good to them that love god , so paul tells us , romans 8. yea , 〈◊〉 speaks of it as a thing well known ; and death doth so work as well as an●thing else ; it works notably for them , it doth them a great deal of se●vice and kindness ; it is good for them that they dye ; it is expedie●● for them that they go away . you would fain have had your near an● dear relations staid here yet longer , and lov'd and liv'd with yo● yet longer : and why so ? that you might have been pleased an● delighted , that they might have been more helpful and comfortabl● to you : but is that fit ? god hath the numbers of our months with him and he hath appointed us our bounds which we cannot pass ; and mus● god alter his decrees , and add to those months , and remove those ●ounds for you ? must the will of god be crost for you ? must not heaven be filled for you ? must the happiness and perfection of the ●aints be deferr'd and put off for you ? must they stand here , after ●hey are fully ripe for glory , merely that you might be gratified ●nd humour'd ; or if not done , you break out into discontent ? know ●y friend , whatever thy dark and melancholick apprehensions are ●or the present , it is better as it is ; and if thou didst better under●tand the mind and will of god in what he hath done , thou wouldest be ●ore reconciled to it , whatever thou dost think might have been ●he comfortable fruits of thy relation's longer continuance here ; it 〈◊〉 better as it is , for certain it is better for her . so our apostle ●●ought as to himself , and so he tells us in the text , to be with ●hrist is ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) not only better , but far better ; ●muliò magis melius ) muc● more better . he speaks as if he wanted ●ords , and thought he could not speak enough ; it is much , very ●uch better ; it is a great deal better ; or , as one learned man renders 〈◊〉 , it is ( infinitis partibus melius ) infinitely better . but here the question will be . qu. than what is it better ? an. to that i answer thus ; it is better than any state that a ●hristian can be in on this side the grave , and of heaven : take it in ●●ese two things . 1. being with christ in heaven , is better than any state here , when it is as good as the world can make it . 2. it is better than the best state here , when it is as good as his spiritual and gospel enjoyments can make it ; when he hath both the fatness of the earth , and the dew of heaven too ; when he hath both the comforts of the creature , and also the smiles of god. first , it is better to be with christ in heaven , than any state here 〈◊〉 this world , when it is as good as earth can make it , and ●here is the ●●llest confluence of creature-delights . suppose a saint seated upon ●●e upper ground , having his belly fill'd with hid treasures , and re●●esh'd with waters of a full cup , swimming in all manner of de●●ghts ; the envy of some , and the admiration of others : suppose ●●m possest of a plentiful estate , and blest with sweet and dear re●●tions ; let him have the honour of a crown , with mines of gold and silver , and every thing here contributing to his delight : suppose him a person of a most even temper of mind , and a most athletick , sound , heal●hful constitution of body ; so that no unruly passions do transport him , no sicknesses discompose him , no racking and vexing pains disease him , no unexpected disappointment of his hopes , nor unkind denial of his desires do fret and torment him , no clouds at all do obscure his day , nor threaten him with a storm ; but all is well within , and all serene and calm round about him . in a word , he can with esau say , i have enough , my brother ; because he hath health and ease , peace and prosperity , and indeed more than heart can wish ; yet i say , to be with christ in heaven , is better than all this for if moses did esteem the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures of egypt , what is the glory of christ ? what price and estimate will you set on that ? if david reckoned that a day in these his lower and outer courts , were better than a thousand elsewhere what then is it to enjoy an eternity ? a constant and uninterrupted abode for ever in the mansions above , the habitation of his holiness and glory : without all peradventure , that is an ignorant and dross soul , which once imagines earth to be better than heaven ; creature● in all their beauty , comparable to god and christ. secondly , it is better to be with christ in heaven , than in an● state to be enjoyed here , though it be as good as spiritual and gosp●● enjoyments can make it ; and if any thing doth make it good indeed , if any thing do render it grateful and delicious to an holy soul , i● is these things ; these are the best and sweetest of all his enjoyments these the cream , the flower and quintescence ; were it not fo● something of these , earth would be an hell to him , yea and s● would heaven be too , psalm 73.25 . whom have i in heaven but the● and there is none upon earth that i desire beside thee . let the ark ( which was the symbol of god's presence , and the place before which israe● was to worship ) be taken by the philistines ; and the good wife o● phinehas thought it was not worth her while to out-live so great loss ; but being told that a man-child was born unto her , she calle● it ichabod , and said , the glory is departed from israel , for the ark o● god is taken , and died presently . it is the gospel , and communio● with god in the ways of the gospel , that an heaven-born so●● doth value a nation by , and it self by ; these are the things in whic● he placeth his chief joy , and from which he fetcheth his stronge●● and most sovereign cordials : the good man tells us , psalm 84 . 1●● that he had rather be a door-keeper , ( or as the margin hath it , chu●● rather to sit at the threshold ) in the house of his god , than to dwell in the tents of wickedness ; he had rather chuse to pick up the crumbs under christ's table , than to sit at the upper end of the creatures board , when it is furnished with the choicest dainties : where is the experienced christian that doth not find himself at a loss for a word , when he undertakes to tell others what god hath done for his soul ? who can express , with how much ravishing delight , he sits under the shadow of christ at an ordinance , and how sweet his food is to his taste ! how he enjoys himself when he is led into the banquetting-house , and there hath he the banner of his saviour's love spread over him ? how greatly is he ravished when there is peace spoken to him ●n a sermon ; that passeth not only all expression , but likewise all understanding ? how is he rais'd up to the highest admirings and praises , when divine love is shed abroad in his heart by the holy ghost ; and an interest in christ , and the covenant , is sealed to him ●t a sacrament ? or when he finds his sails ( after he had lain for a ●ime becalm'd or wind-bound ) filled with a fair or fresh gale from ●he spirit , or his soul inlarged in duty , so as to run the way of the commandments ; and in its holy motions made like unto the chari●ts of amminadib . when the spirit of god darts into him beams ●f light ; and by them so irridiates his graces , that he can see them ●o be what indeed they are ; and bears such a plain and full testimo●y to his filial relation to god , as he thereby is imboldened to go to ●he throne of grace , and cry abba father : then indeed is his ●oul satisfied as with marrow and fatness ; and then he doth with triumphs sing ; the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places , and i ●ave a goodly heritage : yet to be with christ is far better than all ●his ; and that upon a threefold account , viz. upon account of , 1. the purity of that state. 2. the perfection of that state. 3. the immutability of that state. first , the future state , when the saints shall be with christ in ●eaven , will be a pure state. in this life when things are at the best ●here is a mixture ; there is no saint that hath so bright a day , as ●hat there is not in it something of a cloud : he that is washed in ●he fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness , and hath made it ●he great part of his business to cleanse himself from all filthiness ●oth of flesh and spirit : will upon a review , find there is still need of washing his feet : he is indeed made light in the lord , and b● shines before men ; yet when his candle burns most bright , it stand in need of snuffing : suppose him to be truly gracious , yea eminently so ; there have been upon him plentiful effusions of the spirit and out of the fulness of christ he hath received grace , yea grac● for grace ; yet after all this , there is in him corruption as well a● grace , dross as well as gold , and flesh as well as spirit . th● apostle paul , as far advanced as he was toward heaven and glor● could not for his heart suppress his complaints and groans ; bu● must give himself a little ease by uttering them , and telling god an● man , what to his pain and sorrow he felt within , viz. a law i● his members warring against the law in his mind ; which was 〈◊〉 powerful as to be often prevalent , and bring him into captivity 〈◊〉 the law of sin and death , which was in his members ; and he coul● not chuse but in a pang of desire call and cry out for deliverance , 〈◊〉 a poor gally-slave would from his chain and oar , romans 7. 〈◊〉 o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of th● death ! they that have the comeliness of christ put upon them , an● not without something of their own deformities ; and may in th● case say , as the spouse did in another , i am comely and black to● comely as the curtains of solomon , yet black as the tents of ked●● and oh! how do the thoughts and consideration hereof ma●● them ashamed and blush to lift up their faces towards god : but 〈◊〉 the future state , they will be clean every whit , and without spot , 〈◊〉 blemish , or wrinkle , or any such thing . then there will be in the● nothing to offend god ; nothing to offend themselves ; nothing th● shall be a cause of displeasure to god , or of grief to them ; nothin● that shall fully their beauty , or eclipse their light ; nothing that sha●● disturb their pleasant rest , or retard their holy motions : the inh●●bitant shall not say , i am sick , nor shall he say , i am sinful ; he sha●● neither be sick of love , as the enamoured spouse was , nor sick of si● as the humble and broken-hearted penitent is . it is in that stat● in which the church and her children shall be clear and glorious 〈◊〉 the sun ; here they are , and while here , they will be but as th● moon with their spots ; which yet they are not , as some , proud o● secondly , that future state in which the saints shall be wit● christ , is a perfect state : whatever some deluded souls have an● do fancy to themselves in this world , there is no such thing as pe●●fection to be attained to here ; tho that be not above the desire an● hope of the babes in christ , the meanest and weakest saints ; yet i● is out of the reach of the tallest , and best grown , and improved saints while here : it is the mark that they have in their eye and aim , and at which they level ; but when they have done their best , the best of them do while here , shoot short , they cannot hit it ; and while they are thankful for attainments , they must own and acknowledge defects and wants : there is a dimness in their eyes , and so their ●nowledge is imperfect ; there is a weakness in their hearts , and so their graces are imperfect ; as a child , so they are perfect as to parts , but not as to degrees ; there is something lacking in their faith , and in their love , and in every grace : they are progressive in their motions , going on and on every day , and from strength to strength , and yet at the end of every day they find that they have further to go , and therefore had need to gird up the loins of their mind ; growth is the con●tant duty and business of a christi●n : that precept , 2 pet. 3. grow in grace , and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour iesus christ , doth oblige the saints as long as they live ; there is none here can say , ●hey are got from under the authority and binding power of that command ; and therefore none here have arrived at the measure of their stature : you know paul had got much , he came not behind the chiefest apostles , yet he had not enough , nor was he satisfied ; and what was his cas● , is also the case of all the saints while on this side of heaven : yea , and observe this , you will find it always true , those of them that be the most holy , are the most humble and hungry ; those that have most knowledg , and most of the spirit , are of all others least in their own eyes , and furthest from dreaming of a present perfection ; they are most free to own it , that they have not already attained , and that they are not already perfect , philip. 3 , 12. but what was their desire here , shall be their delight there ; and all that which they hoped for here , they shall enjoy there ; they shall see christ as he is ; clearly , immediately , face to face , as fully as humane na●ure is capable of seeing him ; and there they shall be like him , as like him as they would be ; for a perfect vision of him will produce a perfect assimilation to him : there it is that god doth fill his peoples treasures ; and because he deals so bountifully with them , there their souls will enjoy a completeness of rest ; there it is that they will for ever take up , because there is ( â n● plus nultra ) no further they have to go , no higher that they can aspire . thirdly , the future state in which the saints shall be with christ , shall be for ever unalterable . here , alas ! there is very little of a consistency , the best of men are subject to vicissitudes and changes : david indeed said , my heart is fixed , o god , my heart is fixed ; but notwithstanding his fixedness , he had his fluctuatings . neither he nor his house was as a morning without clouds , or the clear sun-shine . god lifted him up , and again cast him down ; sometimes he was in the heights , and sometimes in the deep , psal. 130.1 . out of the depths have i cried unto thee , o lord. here they are travellers , and but in the wilderness , and therefore none have cause to wonder that they are frequently at a loss ; now for this , anon for that . how often do they find changes within them ; their hearts are not always in the same frame now lively , anon dead and dull ; now enlarged , anon straitned ▪ now full of faith , anon full of fears ; now they mount up with wing● as eagles , anon they lye like logs , or creep like snails ; and at othe● times they find a change upon them ; their bottle is empty , and their ways bedged up with thorns . many , very many of these changes are for the worse , so that sometimes they are brought to a great loss , not knowing themselves , nor state , but ready to conclude themselves a company of hypocrites . their day is clouded , and the●● evidences blurr'd , and their peace broken . god withdraws the beams that sometimes he darted in upon them , and instead of chearing smiles , they see nothing but angry and terrible frowns . h● withholds those gracious assistances , that sometimes he was please● to afford them , and now they are so troubled , that they cannot spea● as they should , nor hear , nor pray , nor meditate as they should ; the● cannot do any thing that they can savour , nor taste any sweetness i● the ordinances they attend ; are as the white of an egg , and the duties they perform , are to them abomnination . from the forme● they go away disappointed , from the latter ashamed , and from both disconsolated , and possibly under a temptation of throwing of all . but in the future state , there shall be none of this ; no such afflictive changes , there shall be no soul-sickness , no spiritual infirmity or weakness , no indisposition of mind , no angry hidings o● god's part , no vexatious disturbances , no weight to depress , no sin to beset , no devil to assault ; his arm is neither long enough , nor strong enough to through one fiery dart among that blessed and peaceful company ; the old serpent cannot wriggle himself into that paradise of god. he that would not stay there to be happy ▪ shall not return thither to be troublesome ; there shall be nothing to defile them , nothing to offend them . they shall be always with the lord , and always fit to be with him ; always singing allelujahs , having their souls ever in tune ; some do conceive that there shall be ●●ntinual additions to their knowledg , tho never any want , yet an ●●arging of their capacities , and at the same instant a filling of ●●em too . i do not contradict that notion , nor will i dispute it , it 〈◊〉 pleasant , the day will declare it ; but whatever further additions ●ere may be , it is certain , there shall be no diminution , they shall ●●ld fast what they have . their sun shall not go one degree back●ard , but being come to its zenith , it shall continue ; and of that ●nowledge , and happiness , and glory , of which they are there ●ade partakers , they shall lose none , but be so far immoveable , as ●●lars in the house of god , in a fixed and permanent condition . so ●●ve i given you up my thoughts concerning paul's judgment about ●●e saints future state in the other world , which is a being with ●●rist , and far better that the best estate they are , or can be in , on ●●s side of it . we now proceed to consider the second thing observable in the ●●xt , that is , the stirring or working of his will and affections in a ●●et correspondency with his judgment ; and this working of them ●s in a way of desire , having a desire to depart . as when good old ●●eon had seen god's salvation , and got christ in his arms , he said , ●●w , lord , lettest thou thy servant depart in peace . so did paul here , ●●ing looked within the vail , and seen something of that which ●●d had there prepared for them that love him , he had a desire to ●●art . from whence , by the way , it will be worth our while to ob●●●ve this . that paul's desires were , and so ours should be , under the com●●nd and conduct of reason : we should be rational in our affecti●● , and in our actions : he was for that which was better ; the ●●at and joint cry of the many , was , who will shew us any good ? 〈◊〉 . 4. so that if it be good , let us have it , though it be an infe●●●r good , an unsatisfying good ; though it be a fading and transito●● good . but a gracious soul , who hath been taught of god , ●●●●ghs , considers , and compares things , and measures out his affe●●●ons to them , according to that degree of goodness which is in 〈◊〉 . upon less and lower goods , he bestoweth a smaller love , con●●ding wisely , that is enough for them , as much as they deserve ; 〈◊〉 so his endeavour is to maintain , and to carry toward them with 〈◊〉 indifferency of spirit , according to that command , 1 cor. 7. ● 30. let them that have wives , be as though they had none , and they 〈◊〉 weep , as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice , as though they ●●●iced not ; and they that buy , as though they possessed not . and then they bestow a greater love upon a better good ; and the deare●● love upon the best and highest good. it is good to have communi●on with the saints upon earth ; and i love that , saith david , psal. 16 ▪ o lord , my goodness extendeth not to thee , but to the saints , those excelle●● ones , in whom is all my delight . he had a love of benevolence fo● others , but a love of complacency for these : upon others he b●●stowed his pity , upon these only he placed his delight . it is bett●● to draw nigh to god , and to have fellowship with him in ordina●●ces : and david was more pleased with that , psal. 27.4 . one thi●● have i desired of the lord , that will i seek after , that i may dwell in 〈◊〉 house of the lord all the days of my life , to behold the beauty of the lo●● and to enquire in his temple . he loved the habitation of god's hous● and the place where his honour dwelt ; but of all things it is best 〈◊〉 be in heaven : it is better to be with him there , than to be with 〈◊〉 people here ; better to see him face to face there , than to see him the glass of ordinances here ; and therefore , saith our apostle , have a desire to depart ; a strong , ardent , and impetuous desire ; i● almost long to be gone ; were there not one thing in the way , i co●●● be impatient of any continuance here , in this dirty world . having a desire , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; to depart ; the original wo●● hath divers significations , and accordingly is diversly rendred ; 〈◊〉 it signifies to be dissolved , or resolved ; which is done when thi● mixed or compounded , are separated and divided into the seve● principles or parts of which it did consist . man is the compou●● made up of a spiritual and terrene part , the soul and the body ; 〈◊〉 death these two are divided , the soul and body are parted the 〈◊〉 from the other . again ; the word doth signifie to depart ; so by our learned tr●●●slators it is rendred in the text. i have so long had mine abode h●● and truly to me it seems full long enough : i can very willingly move to another and better countrey : i am with all my heart rea●● to take my leave of persons and things here : i wait but for 〈◊〉 word of command , and so will draw up mine anchor , and lo●● from hence , i will hoise up and spread my sails , and with all poss●● speed make toward another port , that haven of peace and r●●● which lieth in the uppermost region . once more ; this word signifieth to return ; and so , as some the learned conceive , paul doth here refer to that passage of s●●mon , in eccles. 12.7 . the body returns to dust , and the spirit to god 〈◊〉 gave it . if you please , we will conjoin all these , and you may 〈◊〉 ●ake them together . i know there will be a dissolution ; my soul and ●ody , which like two loving friends have lived so long together , and ●●ken part one with another in weal and wo , in joy and sorrow , ●ust one day be parted ; that knot which now most strictly holds ●●em together , must be untied ; and i am not in the least troubled at ●●at dissolution , since i am fully assured , that it will be followed ●●th a closer union , and fuller communion between christ and me . when once i have dropt this mantle of flesh , i shall be taken up to ●●e father of spirits . i know that i must go from hence ; this world 〈◊〉 not my last home , nor the place of my constant abode . i am but a ●●lgrim and stranger here , as all my fathers were ; and i am ready 〈◊〉 be gone , so soon as the messenger comes , that shall be sent for me . 〈◊〉 us pleas'd with the thoughts of my journey , because it is but a de●●rture from earth to heaven ; from friends , to a god ; from poor ●●●●nty and leaking cisterns , to the fountain of being , the spring●ead of comfort , the infinite ocean of all delights . i must return ; was sent by my great creator to act my part in the world ; and ●●en that is done , and my time is spent , i must go to him , to give 〈◊〉 account how my time hath been improved , and how my part hath ●●en acted . i must go from whence at first i came , and i am heartily 〈◊〉 of it , for then it will be better with me than it is 〈◊〉 : i care not how soon , for the sooner the better ; for ●●ough my body must be laid up in a dark and lonely grave , 〈◊〉 there putrifie and become meat for worms , and be crumbled into 〈◊〉 , and so continue ( for ought i know ) hundreds of years ; yet 〈◊〉 spirit , my precious and immortal soul , shall return to god that ●●de it , by whom it shall be graciously received , and welcom'd , and ●●th whom it is best to be . this was that which he desired . and here ●ould have you exercise your thoughts and meditations , upon that ●●pression of his , i desire it ; and shall i offer you mine , which may ●ord you some light and assistance : let us see whether there be 〈◊〉 something of greatness in it ; whether it be not a lofty strain , 〈◊〉 a pitch as every man cannot flye ; no , not every good man. 〈◊〉 so take these three things with you ; 1. he doth not speak of a bare submission in the case ; nor , 2. of being only contented to depart : but , 3. of a desire he had to it . first , he doth not say , i submit to the will of god herein . if he ●ease to call me away , and will not allow me a longer continuance ●●re , i submit , he shall dispose of me . this indeed is unquestionably our duty , as in all other things , so particularly in this . it is 〈◊〉 revealed will of god , that all the living shall die , only some 〈◊〉 excepted , and those that shall be alive when the lord shall descend fr●● heaven with a shout , with the voice of an archangel , and with the tru●● of god , shall not sleep but be changed , and caught up into the cloud● meet the lord in the air , and so they shall ever be with the lord. 1 〈◊〉 4.16 , 17. otherwise it is appointed for all once to die . this is 〈◊〉 divine appointment , the standing and unrepealable law of h●●●ven , that all those who inhabit these houses of clay must go out them , and put off these tabernacles ; and we must submit , we ou●●● to do it ; the will of god ( who is the supreme governour and le●●●slator ) is to be the commanding and ruling law , and therefore th●● must be no quarrel nor disputes , but yielding when death knock● our doors , and summons us : whatsoever agonies and strugling● in nature at the time of dissolution , there must be no rebellion 〈◊〉 our wills . and such ought to be the frame and temper of our so●● when it is the good pleasure of god to make breaches in our fa●●●lies , and to take away from us our dearest and most desirable r●●●tions ; a child out of the arms of its mother , an affectionate 〈◊〉 out of the bosom of her husband . though you greatly delighte● their company , and would have been very thankful if the threa● their lives had been spun to a greater length , yet when the wi●● 〈◊〉 god is made known , and their time is come , you ought to stoop● god : while the child was sick , david besought god , fasted , 〈◊〉 lay all night upon the earth , neither would he eat bread , but w●●● he heard it was dead , he rose from the earth , washed and anoin● himself , and changed his apparel , went into the house of god , 〈◊〉 worshipped , then to his own house , and did eat bread , 2 sam. ● in dispensations of this kind there must be no discontent , no ri●●●● and swellings of heart , no tearing your selves in your anger , no ●●●ing the reins upon your passions , no extravagant expressions , no ●●●cessive sorrows , for even in that there is a spice of rebellion ; and such a time god in a special manner hath his eye upon you , and 〈◊〉 very curiously observe you throughout , not only your outward ●●●●portment , words and gestures , but also the inward frame of 〈◊〉 hearts ; what order is there , and whether your souls keep sile●●● before him . and if you will be unruly , as bullocks unaccustomed the yoke , sinning in your sorrow , and kicking at the hand 〈◊〉 smites and wounds you , you may hear of it afterward , and fee● to your cost , for god doth know how to repeat his blows , and ●ultiply your wounds , and make deeper ones than he hath yet done . ●herefore it is your wisdom to submit to god , and hold your peace , ● aaron did when god destroyed his two sons with a most tremen●ous stroke in the very act of their sin . this then is your duty , wis●om and interest ; an humble yielding to god doth nearly concern ●●d highly become you . but holy paul did not stop here . it is not a ●●re submission that he speaks of , without all peradventure he was ●●me up to this ; but then he went beyond it . nay more , secondly , paul doth not say say here , i am contented to depart . it 〈◊〉 true , he tells us in this very epistle , phil. 4.11 . that he had ●●arned in whatsoever state he was , therewith to be content ; and it must 〈◊〉 granted that is a great and excellent lesson , and we should all of 〈◊〉 beg of god that he would teach it us , and be our selves studying ●●d conning of it . and they are all very happy men and women , ●ho have taken it out , as paul hath done , for therein they have ●●cured themselves from those inward gripes and convulsions with ●hich others are tortur'd , and have admirably provided for a com●●rtable enjoyment of themselves , whatever changes and afflictions ●●ey may meet with in their passage through the world. we should 〈◊〉 pray and labour , that we may be brought to such a pass , as to 〈◊〉 able to say , here i am , let the lord do to me , and with me , what ●●meth good in his sight . if he doth not see fit to bring my condition 〈◊〉 to my spirit , i will make it my endeavour to bring my spirit own to my condition . i could indeed be glad to have a larger ●are in the comforts of the creatures , that so i might be the more ●ee from those solicitous thoughts and carking cares that now 〈◊〉 much oppress me . i could be glad to enjoy a greater fulness , and 〈◊〉 be placed in an higher orb and sphere of activity , that thereby i ●●ight be put into a better capacity of being useful and serviceable in ●y generation ; but if my god will have me mean , and low , and ●oor , i am content to be so , for he best understands my temper , ●●d my distempers ; what will be my advantage , and what my ●rejudice ; what sail i can best bear , and what condition i can best ●anage , therefore he shall chuse for me . i could be glad to live yet ●●nger in the world , and so see the good of his chosen , and the ●eace of ierusalem , and my family comfortably provided for , and ●y children all brought home to god , disposed of in the world , ●nd happily setled ; but if god will shorten my days , and cut asun●er the thread of my life , before these things be effected ; if god will have me to dye shortly , and so break off the purposes of my heart , i am content . i will live at his ordering , and i will dye t● at his ordering . he knoweth what is best , and therefore what 〈◊〉 doth , i will count so ; whatsoever pleaseth him , shall please me , 〈◊〉 for no other reason , yet for this , because it pleaseth him . but th● great man paul did not take up here neither . for , thirdly , he saith , he had a desire to depart , or to be dissolve ▪ what others do fly from , his soul did work out to , as a desirable o●●ject . what! barely to submit to a departure , meerly to be conte●●ed with it , is too low , and too little . it would be a dishonour 〈◊〉 god ; if there were that , and no more , it would be a disparagem● to heaven , and a base unworthy casting of dirt and reproach 〈◊〉 the face of that glory which is above ; it would give people ca●● to think the state of saints in heaven is no better than their 〈◊〉 here ; nay , that it is not altogether so good ; and of this our apos●●● would by no means be guilty . content to depart ! yes , that i am , and abundantly satisfied about it , that i do desire it . i long to have 〈◊〉 summons , oh! when will that day come that will close mine e●● and on which angels will come to carry my aspiring soul into 〈◊〉 bosome of abraham ! i was once in paradise in the third heaven , 〈◊〉 what i saw , did so delight me , that i long to be there again , to 〈◊〉 fixed there , and there to take up my eternal abode ; when , 〈◊〉 when will it be that my father will send for me home , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i have an ardent and flaming desire to depart . i stand up●● tiptoes , and am reaching out unto that state . never did boy school more long to break up , and go to his mother , than i do to 〈◊〉 to my god and saviour . never did bride or bridegroom more 〈◊〉 for their wedding-day , than i do for my dying-day . these wo● in the original do , as learned zanchy observes , signify more 〈◊〉 barely to desire ; for simply to desire , may amount to no more than 〈◊〉 a sudden mot●on , a transient flash , a momentary passion , which 〈◊〉 iona's gourd , starts up on a sudden , and doth as quickly van● whereas , when the apostle saith , having a desire , he doth plai● intimate to us , both the vehemency and permanency of the thi● that his soul stood that way , it was immovably set for a depart●●● his desire was such , as had a great strength and ardour in it , 〈◊〉 which would last , and not abate any thing until it was accomplish●● i desire to depart , and shall go on to desire it , until that wisht 〈◊〉 day comes , in which i shall actually go ; till my soul be set at liber●● and upon its flight under the heavenly convoy , to that blissful pla●● where my lord and saviour is . so i have finished the second th●● observable in the text. we now come to the third , which there in●●ed obtains the first place , viz. the strait in which at this time our apostle found himself , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i am in a strait betwixt two . the word , according to 〈◊〉 criticks , signifieth such a straitning as is that of a city , when it is ●●sely besieged by a strong and vigilant enemy ; so that there is no ●●tting out , nor coming in ; such a perplexity of mind as that a man ●●at an utter loss , not knowing what to do , nor which way to turn 〈◊〉 . this was paul's case , unto this loss was he brought : he had two ●●ings before him , one of which must of necessity be , but which of ●●em , considering his circumstances , he should make choice of , he ●●d not know . he was in a kind of aequilibrium , the scales did hang ●●en , and he could not tell to which side he should incline . quest. but here it may be asked , how came this to pass ? what ac●unt is to be given hereof ? or what was it that did thus puzzle the ●●ostle , and reduce him to so great a strait ? unto this i shall answer , ●st , negatively ; and then affirmatively . first , negatively , and 〈◊〉 in these three things . first , paul was not brought into a strait by the fore-thought of these ●●ins and agonies which dying persons feel ; those great difficulties there 〈◊〉 in shooting the gulf. it is very hard and tedious for some to un●ess in the evening of their day , the garment of flesh goeth hardly 〈◊〉 . the pangs of death are many and great in some poor creatures . ●s true , it is not so in all ; there are those to whom an easy and com●●●table passage is granted : there are no bonds in their death ; they pass ●ough their day with a great deal of comfort , and at night are ●ought to bed with a great deal of ease ; they have not any violent ●rows , nor strong convulsions , nor mighty wrestlings , but they 〈◊〉 away in a sleep , and sweetly breathe out their precious and pre●●red souls into the arms of god , the bosom of jesus , that bed of ●ices , and pleasant resting-place . but it is not thus in all , no , no , 〈◊〉 to some , yea , to many , death comes like its self , a king of terrors , ●●th a most grim and ghastly countenance , handling them roughly , 〈◊〉 the great affliction of the relations , who are forced to with●●aw , as unable to bear so dismal a sight ; and to the astonishment of 〈◊〉 standers , who cannot give the narrative of it unto others , with●●t mingling it with sighs and tears . how hard a matter do some ●or creatures find it to dye ? fain they would , but cannot : how ●●ng are they about the work , before they can dispatch and finish 〈◊〉 ? how many a sigh is fetcht , and groan is spent , before they can send forth the last breath ? specially they find it difficult to dye , 〈◊〉 are called out to suffer martyrdom ; those who are slain for 〈◊〉 word of god , and the testimony of jesus , which they hold , 〈◊〉 have felt the very worst that death could do , the utmost of 〈◊〉 rage and fury , being put to the most exquisite tortures that 〈◊〉 wit and malice of inraged enemies , assisted by hell its self , co● possibly invent . some being put upon the rack , where all their bo●● have been dislocated ; and others upon the wheel , where all th● bones have been broken ; and others made a burnt-sacrifice , bei●● committed to the fury of merciless flames , and gradually consum● in a slow fire , and at last reduc'd to ashes ; which human nat● could not have born with that invincible patience which they expre●● had they not been supported by the divine power , and had preci●● cordials given them by the invisible and gracious hand of the 〈◊〉 com●orter , which our dear lord jesus promised to send his chur●● and people , that he might be with them ; and who being a spirit● wisdom and love , will not fail to afford them the most sovere● refreshings , in the time of their most pressing necessities . but th● dying agonies did not move paul ; we do not find him concer● about them : as he made it his great desire to live as god wo● have him , holily , exemplarily and fruitfully , fighting the good fig● and keeping the faith ; so he was free to dye as god would h●● him . that god who did order and cut out the work of his 〈◊〉 should chuse the kind and manner of his death . i have indeed hea●● some truly gracious persons say , they were not afraid to be de● because sure of an eternal happiness in the other world ; hav● their evidences for heaven so fairly written , that they could 〈◊〉 and read them ; but for all that , they were afraid to dye , because the difficulty of the passage : so was not paul ; for he did not at● doubt of his care and goodness , who having loved his own , lov● them to the end , and in it too . he did not in the least question , 〈◊〉 the same god who was with him in the work of his ministry , and the way he did take , would never leave him nor forsake him , 〈◊〉 be also with him in the valley of the shadow of death ; and therefore 〈◊〉 there , he would fear no evil . secondly , paul was not in any strait upon the account of any unce●●tainty about his future state , not knowing what would become of hi● or where his lines would be cast next , or whither he should go a●t●● death . he was a wiser man than not to secure ( as the proverb 〈◊〉 the main chance ; and i heartily wish there were more of that 〈◊〉 wisdom to be found among the children of men ; and that they ●●uld live less for time , and more for eternity . as for mine own 〈◊〉 , it is to me no matter of wonder that some wicked men are ●aid to dye ; i rather wonder , that any of them are not . such as ●e lived all their days in a total neglect of god , and disobedi●●ce to his known law , and the commission of sin with greediness ; 〈◊〉 whom there is-left nothing , but a fearful expectation of fiery ●ignation , that shall devour them : they are many of them self-●●ndemned , and what can they look for but a like sentence from the ●ream judge ? if conscience within cast them as a company of per●s worthy of death , and fit fuel for the burning , they may well ●nclude the same from him who is greater than conscience , and ●oweth all things : nor do i think it strange , that some good men 〈◊〉 unwilling to die , those i mean who are clouded and benighted , ●●d in the dark about their spiritual state , know not what to make 〈◊〉 themselves , but want their evidences for heaven and glory ; ei●●●r never knew they had any , or now they are so blur'd and blot● , they cannot read them ; they dare not go to god as their fa●r ; nor look to , and lay hold on jesus as one that loved them , and ●ve himself for them , and washed them in his blood ; they are not ●e to fix the anchor of their hope within the vail . how can he be ●ling to go , that knows not whither he goes ? such do understand ●ething of heaven and hell , and consider what it is to lie in the bo● of abraham , and what in a bed of flames ; what to be satisfi'd ●h the love of god , and what to be tormented with the divine fu 〈◊〉 what to sing allelujah with saints , and what to roar with de 〈◊〉 . they consider the length of eternity , what it is to enter into 〈◊〉 immutable state , and they cannot possibly be reconcil'd to death , 〈◊〉 they know it will do them a kindness ; they cannot be willing to 〈◊〉 with it , till they know it will carry them to a comfortable place 〈◊〉 rest and happiness . would you be delivered from the fear of ●eath ? would you be able to bid it welcome , and triumph over 〈◊〉 then clear up your evidences , that you are turned from darkness 〈◊〉 light , and from the power of satan to god ; and that having ●en indeed born of the spirit , and made partakers of grace , you ●●e likewise the heirs of glory ; for they must of necessity be in a ●eadful agony of soul , who see and feel they must die , their flesh ●nsumes , and their strength fails , and they have much ado to fetch ●eir breath ; they must die , that desease will carry them off ; but 〈◊〉 the same time they conclude , at least , greatly fear they shall be damn'd , as well as die , and go down not only into the grave , 〈◊〉 into the bottomless pit , from which there is no redemption . but this was none of paul's case : he had been wiser for hims●●● and god had been better to him than that his great concern sho●●● be so uncertain . he knew that since to him to live had been christ , 〈◊〉 die would be gain ; this he had told the philippians but a little be●●he did in the text mention this his strait . he also tells us in 2 cor. 〈◊〉 that he knew that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissol●● we have a building of god , an house not made with hands , eternal 〈◊〉 heavens . he should change a sorry cottage for a glorious pal● and he also knew , 2 tim. 4.7 , 8. that having fought a good fight , 〈◊〉 finished his course , and kept the faith , there was laid up for him a 〈◊〉 of righteousness , which he was sure god the righteous iudg would give 〈◊〉 at that day . all was safe , and he was sure , knowing whom he 〈◊〉 believed ; and that he was able to keep that which he had comm●● to him . and oh that all that read this sermon would be persw●● to bestow their care and pains this way ; give all diligence to 〈◊〉 your calling and election sure , and by your present faith and 〈◊〉 ness , your humble , close and exemplary walking , so order thing● that the testimony of your consciences may be the matter of 〈◊〉 present rejoycing , and when you come to die you may be at no● about it , but ready at a call , counting the day of your death be●● than the day of your birth , and so going with gladness out of 〈◊〉 world , into which you came crying . thirdly , paul was not brought into this strait by any jealousie 〈◊〉 spicion that he should lose by the change , and be a sufferer by his de●●●ture from hence . he had no such thoughts as these , that it wo●●● make more for his interest to continue where he was ; or that the● move which he was to make at death , would be to a more uncom●●●●table place ; he had felt the burden of sin , and met with the unk●●●●ness of the world , and had a great deal of hard usage . he 〈◊〉 that at death he should go not out of an egypt into a wilderness , out of an howling wilderness , and from among beasts of prey in●● canaan flowing with what is inconceivably better than milk and 〈◊〉 ney . death indeed will be to the detriment and prejudice of all 〈◊〉 wicked of the world , profligate and profane wretches , unsound 〈◊〉 rotten hypocrites , lifeless formalists , who having a form of go●●●ness deny the power thereof . it is highly desirable for them to 〈◊〉 tinue here ; because whensoever they die , dying what now they 〈◊〉 they are utterly undone . many of them now have high places , 〈◊〉 ●●t honour , and plentiful estates , they are the worlds darlings , ●dled upon her knee : but when once they die , they lose all : they 〈◊〉 it behind , and carry nothing with them but sin and guilt . death 〈◊〉 it comes , strips them to the skin ; as they came into the world , ●hey must go out naked ; and there will be no merciful compassi●●●te hand found to clothe them in the next . here the rich glutton 〈◊〉 deliciously every day , and had doubtless his bottles of wine , it 〈◊〉 be his healths and hazza's too ; but in the next world , he ●●d not by all his intreaties obtain of father abraham one drop of 〈◊〉 for the cooling of his tongue , though he was grievously tor●ted in flames . but though wicked men lose all by dying , paul 〈◊〉 sure he should lose nothing ; for he had told us before , that to 〈◊〉 to dye was gain ; no loss at all , but great gain ; it was a very 〈◊〉 bargain he should make ; and in the text he tells us , that to ●ith christ is far better ; this he knew , he was sure of it , he had 〈◊〉 the least doubt in the case ; he was sure he could leave nothing so 〈◊〉 behind him , but that he saw those things before him that were 〈◊〉 : what loss was it to elijah to drop his mantle , as he was ●●nding and mounting to heaven ? where he should at his first en●ce be cloathed with a robe of glory : god doth by converting ●ce call his elect and chosen people out of the world , so that the 〈◊〉 knows them not , owns them not , but hates and persecutes them , 〈◊〉 they lose nothing by it , for then he calls them out of darkness in●is marvellous light ; then he calls them unto his kingdom and glory . 〈◊〉 doth at death call them to come up to another place , come up 〈◊〉 . he sends for them from all their beloved friends and relati●here , from all their comfortable possessions and enjoyments , so 〈◊〉 these places shall know them no more ; but then he calls them 〈◊〉 the church militant , where they are often put upon hard service , 〈◊〉 have their conflicts and wounds , to the church triumphant , where 〈◊〉 shall have their palms , and thrones , and songs of praise . he 〈◊〉 them from waiting at the posts of his door , and sitting at his ●●shold , to a lying in the bosome of his everlasting love : so that 〈◊〉 can in none of these things find what we are enquiring after , viz. 〈◊〉 thing which had put this holy man into a strait : what then was it ? ●●swer . ●ourthly , and affirmatively , thus , the apostle had two things be 〈◊〉 him , two interests in his eye ; and for each of them there were 〈◊〉 strong and weighty arguments ; by means of which , he was 〈◊〉 a needle between two load stones , and by them drawn first one way , and then another : so that as he had said in the forego●●● verse , which of them he should chuse , he wot not . if you ask , w●●● these two things were , you will easily understand by consulting 〈◊〉 context , take it thus : one thing was dying , and thereupon a go●●● to christ , and being with him , which he knew would be gain to 〈◊〉 the other was an abiding here , and continuing yet longer in 〈◊〉 flesh to attend upon his office as an apostle and servant of je●●● christ , and to engage yet further in the work of the gospel ; w●●● he knew would through a concurrence of the divine spirit and ●●●sing turn to the gain and advantage of the church , by bringing in 〈◊〉 that were without , to the acceptance and obedience of faith ; 〈◊〉 also by strengthning , comforting , establishing and building up 〈◊〉 higher in knowledge and grace , those that had been alre●● brought in . now these two things , the apostle doth according 〈◊〉 the wisdom and grace given him of god , compare togerher 〈◊〉 one scale of the balance he laid his own gain and particular adv●●●tage , which would be the infallible and immediate consequence 〈◊〉 his death : in the other scale of the balance , he laid the chur●●● gain , which he rationally concluded would be the desirable and ●●●py effect of his life and ministerial labours ; and in his judg●●● the scales did hang even , so even , that if a liberty of elect●●● choice should by god be granted to him , he should be at a very 〈◊〉 loss , not well knowing to which side he should incline , whi●●● these two he should chuse . and thus , good man , he was as a p●●●prest and straitned between two things , and two affections co●●●ry the one to the other : namely , a desire of being present with 〈◊〉 lord , though absent from the brethren ; and a desire of being ●●●sent with the brethren , and helpful to them ; though in order the●●● to , he must consent to a being for a time absent from the lord. 〈◊〉 this case he scarce knew what to do : that ardent and im●●● love which he did bear unto the lord jesus christ , would pu● upon chusing and desiring a departure hence ; for where the ca●● is , there would the eagles be : and where christ is , there would ● christian be : that principle of levity which is in the spark , 〈◊〉 not more naturally carry it upward , than a principle of sa●● grace in the heart of a believer doth carry him out in earnest d●●● and longings to be with christ : but then again , that sincere 〈◊〉 very great love which he had to the brethren , did produce in 〈◊〉 an humble and holy willingness to continue yet longer here : he 〈◊〉 desirous to dye , that he might enjoy christ ; but he had learned t● 〈◊〉 himself for the sake of the brethren . these two things had ●●ch weight and worth in themselves , and such an influence and pow●● upon him , that he was divided in himself , and knew not well upon ●hich he should fix his choice : upon the consideration hereof , i find ●e learned zanchy breaking out into this pathetical and admiring ●xclamation , o cor vere apostolicum , in quo & dei & proximi perfecta vi●●bat dilectio : o heart truly apostolical , worthy of so excellent a ●aint , so great a man as paul , highly becoming so eminent an ●fficer , as an apostle of jesus christ , in which there was such a ●●re and vehement flame , both to god and to his neighbour ! ●●ere was indeed the spirit of a saint ; here was a christian in his ●eauty and glory ; here was love doing its perfect work , both ●ward christ and to his interest ; toward first the person of christ , ●hom it longs to embrace and enjoy ; and towards the people ●f christ , whom it is also free to serve . thus have i done with the ●ird and last thing in the text , viz. the strait in which paul was , ●nd how he came to be brought into it ; wherein there is an evident ●●scovery of the excellency and nobleness of this great man's spirit : ●ut he was inlarged and set at liberty again , as you find in the two ●erses immediately fellowing the text , nevertheless to abide in the ●●sh is more needful for you ; and having confidence , i know that i shall ●●ide and continue with you all , for your furtherance and joy of faith ; ●●at your rejoycing may be more abundant in iesus christ for me , by my ●●ming to you again . this he knew would be , and so long as it was ●●r the glory of god and their good , he was very well pleased : ●●ne request indeed he had to make to them , that while he continued ●mong them , he might live comfortably among them ; that they ●ould not be his grief , but joy , while they prectice what he ●reached , and lived up to the mysteries he reveal'd , and those ex●ellent rules he laid down , verse 27. only let your conversation 〈◊〉 , as it becometh the gospel of christ. thus have i with all the conveni●nt speed i could make , run through those things which are con●●ained in this scripture , and endeavoured in an expository way to ●xplain and open them to you . the only thing which according ●o promise at our entrance into this discourse , doth remain ●urther ●o be done , is to draw up some doctrinal conclusions from the ●hole , and present them to you , which i shall with god's assistance ●o , and in few words dispatch every one of them , leaving you to ●nlarge upon them in your own meditations , and commending both ●hem and you to the divine blessing for improvement . first , observe from these words , that death is a departure , or going fro● hence ; here you are now , and some of you have been so a long while , s● long as that others are weary of you , and possibly you are weary o● the world , but you will not be here always ; there is a day comin● which will be your last day here , and there is not one of you can te●● when that day shall come . in the morning the sun arose upon s●●●dom , in all his beauty and splendor ; but before night the city with all its inhabitants were made a sacrifice to revenging-justice and burnt to ashes . how many young ones are taken from us on 〈◊〉 sudden in their beauty and strength , when their bones are full o● marrow , and their breasts of milk ; and in that providence god dot● speak to you that survive , and gives you fair warning you had need be serious while you are young , for you m●●die while you are young ; there is great reason why yo● should betimes be weaned from the world , from the sins , vaniti●● and follies of it , from the comforts and delights of it ; for it ma● be you shall leave the world while you are young. oh that suc● thoughts as these may be repeated , and frequently return upon o● minds , and make due impressions ; since you must be gone from henc● set not your hearts upon any of those things which are here ; thoug● they seem never so admirable , and you have found them never so d●●lightful , yet use them and love them as becomes them that are p●●●grims and strangers . often think of leaving all , and so sit loo● from all . while you have these things in your hands , keep them o● of your hearts , and provide for your departure : he that mu●t g● and that at a minutes notice , and cannot tell when that will be , an● is undone if he be unfit , had need lose no time , but speed his pr●●paration as much as he can : it is the great command and most gr●●cious council of our dearest lord , be ye ready . let other thin●● alone , take no thought what ye shall eat and drink , or wherewi●● ye shall be cloathed ; bestow your thoughts , and care , and pai● about this , that ye may be ready , fit to dye , and fit to appear b●●fore your judge : for any thing that you or i can tell , we may d●● presently , for the number of our months is with god , not with u●● our breath is in our nostrils , and it may be stopt in a moment : 〈◊〉 every one therefore set their houses in order , and let all labour to set their hearts in order , as that though we should dye present● yet we may dye preparedly , and go to our grave as a shock of co●● in its season : it is no matter at all how quickly any of us dyes , n● of what disease , nor in what manner , so that we be but fit to dy● he that is prepared to dye , may very well be free to dye . secondly , when gracious and holy souls go from hence , they go to christ : it was the joy of our dearest lord , when he had the prospect of his nearly approaching death , that he could say , ioh. 17.11 . holy father , now i am no more in the world , but these are in the world , and i come unto thee . i must leave the world ; and i must leave these too , but i come unto thee : so it may well be a matter of joy to a godly man or woman , when the day of their departure is at hand ; when they must say , i shall be no more in the world , my dear relations and friends i shall be no more with you ; we have so many years lived comfortably together , and in the fear of god , and now we must part ; yet a little while , and ye shall see my face no more ; and then they can say , now my dearest iesus i come to thee . alas ! when graceless and wicked wretches go out of the world , they go to a company of ugly devils and damned spirits ; they had a communion with devils here , and that out of choice , and they shall have a communion with them hereafter whether they will or no. but as for you , o saints , be glad and rejoyce ; you at death shall go to christ ; and let the consideration hereof promote your care of doing your present duty : now labour for as great and intimate acquaintance with him as you can possibly get ; now let your hearts work and run out to him with the strongest vigour of an intire affection ; bid him most heartily welcome , and use him with utmost kindness whensoever he comes to you ; when he doth by his spirit at a dyty , at an ordinance , or any other time give you a gracious visit , be sure to make much of him , and rejoyce in him , and be his joy , and then you may delight your selves in this assurance , that when you go to him , he will bid you welcome , and to all eternity rejoyce over you , as the bridegroom rejoyceth over his bride . thirdly , a being with christ in heaven , is the best of beings . this is the top of the saints perferment ; this the highest round in the scale of the creatures happiness ; there is no imaginable life to be compared to a life unto christ in this world , and a life with christ in the world to come ; there is no company like unto his company , no presence that hath in it such a fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore , as are to be meth wit in his presence , and his father's , and spirit 's : it is good to be with saints , very good to sit under ordinances , but it is best of all to be with christ in glory . when our lord iesus was transfigured upon mount tabor , and had there with him moses and elias , with three of his disciples , peter in a transport cryed ou● it is good , lord , to be here : but how good soever it was to be there , it is unspeakably better to be with christ now that he is glo●rified , and in heaven , where he hath with him and innumerable com●pany of angels , the general assembly and church of the first-born as i said before , so i say again , call to mind all the comforts tha● this world is capable of affording you , and let there be the fulle●● confluence of them ; suppose that every step you take should be upo● roses , and every meal you sit at , should be a splendid royal feast made up of the choicest dainties , a composition of delights : sup●pose all the days you live should be halcyon , and every night you sleep should be sweet to you ; and each morning as soon as you awak● you should be entertained with glad tidings of great joy ; yet a● these things put together , would not make up a life by the thousandth part so sweet , as is a life with christ. the sun-shine of the creature is nothing to the shadow of a saviour ; what then are hi● beams ▪ what his glory ? paul tells you ; it is far better : and upon this i● follows , that fourthly , death is desirable ; not indeed for its self , because it is the fruit of sin , and a part of the curse ; but upon the account of 〈◊〉 consequences : as physick is not at all desirable for its self , being bitter and unpleasant , yet it is desirable for the sake of that health and ease , which through the blessing of god it doth produce in the patient that takes it . death hath but a bad look , a grim countenance , but yet it comes upon a good errand ; it hath the hands of esau , which are very rough , but its voice is the voice of iacob , speaking peace and comfort to a child of god. you see here in the text , that paul desir'd it ; and he very well understood himself ; he knew there was sufficient , yea , abundant reason for his doing so . it must be acknowledged , that death was at first threatned as a curse , and since the fall it hath been inflicted as the punishment of sin. but god for the great love wherewith he loves his people ; and for the sake of his son our dear lord jesus , hath as to them turned that curse into a blessing . that which was a part of the curse , is now the high-way to all blessedness , as matrers do now stand ; not to dye would be a loss , a prejudice to the saints , iob 7.16 . i loath it , i would not live alway ; if i might i would not , i. e. here in this world ; it is a very great aggravation of the misery of the damned in hell , that they cannot dye , death flees from them ; tho they desire it and seek it , and earnestly call after it , yet it will not come , nay it cannot ; the hopes of annihi●ation would be grateful and pleasant to them ; fain they would not be , but be they must whether they will or no. but death will come to a child of god ; would he not live always ? then ●hall not . only to him death comes in the fittest season , not till work be done , and he be ripe for glory ; he goeth to his grave 〈◊〉 shock of corn in its season . if spiritual death be taken away , ●●ch separates between the soul and god , natural death can do hurt , tho it doth for a time separate between the soul and the ●●ly . now from this truth , two things do necessarily follow . ●irst , that death is not to be feared by a believer : there are other ●●gs enough which are the proper objects of our fear ; and it would our ●olly not to fear them : of these things , sin is one : do not li● to its voice , nor comply with its motions , nor set your hand to work ; though it come with the most tempting smiles , and alluring ●rms , stand at a distance from it , and bid defiance to it ; for its 〈◊〉 is more bitter than wormwood . god is another , jer. 10.7 . who ●●d not fear thee , o king of nations , for to thee it doth appertain ? it ●art of that natural worship which is due to him ; fear him as ●●ldren a father ; rejoyce at the remembrance of his holiness , and 〈◊〉 the lord and his goodness ; fear to break his commands , and ●buse his mercies , and thereby provoke him to withdraw from 〈◊〉 his assistances and comforts , and to set upon you the marks of displeasure . your own hearts are another ; if he that trusts in his 〈◊〉 heart be a fool , then to be afraid of our selves , and of our own ●●ts is a special piece of wisdom . as the heart of man is knotty ●crabbed , so it is treacherous , deceitful above all things , and de●ately wicked ; therefore let us watch our hearts , and be jealous 〈◊〉 our selves with a godly jealousie . but be not afraid to dye . a ●●●istian ought to be at god's ordering . be willing to live as long as 〈◊〉 will have you , though it be an afflictive and troublesome life , ●●gh it be a sickly and painful life , though it be a mean and poor 〈◊〉 iob could say upon his dunghill , in the midst of outward and ●●●ard anguish , iob 14.14 . all the days of my appointed time , i will 〈◊〉 till my change shall come . wait with patience ; live out of a prin●e of obedience to god , and then be willing to die when god will 〈◊〉 you . death hath lost its sting , and now you may play with it . 〈◊〉 reconciled , and therefore will not be unkind , nor do you a mis●f . it is your father's servant , and therefore cannot go beyond his ●●mission ; the scripture tells you , 1 cor. 5.21 , 22. death is yours , ●ell as life . it is a part of your interest . you owe a great deal to ●●th , as it puts an end to all your sins and sorrows , and as it is a pas●● , though a dark one , to heaven and glory . secondly , the death of those who died in the lord , is not upon 〈◊〉 account to be bewailed by those their near and dear relations that super● them . indeed , as it is a loss to the family and friends , and to 〈◊〉 nation , and to that part of the church which is here , a sense of 〈◊〉 and a sorrow for it is to be allowed them , and commended 〈◊〉 them ; for it is no other than their duty . it is a sign of a bad hea● and of approaching evil , when the righteous perish , and no man 〈◊〉 it to heart , isa. 57.1 . only that sorrow is to be kept under co●●mand , and within those bounds that religion and right reason 〈◊〉 set it . tho over their graves we may drop our tears , we must 〈◊〉 drown our selves . but the more deeply sensible we are of our loss , 〈◊〉 more careful and diligent we ought to be , about the improving 〈◊〉 making it up . have we lost much of the creature ? then let us lab● to get so much the more of god and iesus christ ? there is not 〈◊〉 loss here below , that we can meet with , but if we will be foun● the way of our duty , it may , yea , for certain it shall be repa● and made up to us . but the death of holy , gracious persons , is to be bewailed upon their account : they stand in no need of an● our sighs or tears : their case doth not call for it . tho they di● their strength and prime , in their youth , or in their consistent 〈◊〉 yet they did not dye too soon . they liv'd as long as god would 〈◊〉 them , and that was long enough . they do not dye too soon , who 〈◊〉 they dye go to christ. rev. 14.13 . blessed are the dead that dy● the lord. they are not miserable then , but happy , yea , more ha●● than ever they were before . when thou thinkest , my relation is d●● follow that thought with this , my relation is blessed . now she 〈◊〉 indeed ; now she is happy indeed . the life she had here , 〈◊〉 not deserve the name of a life , if compared with that life which now hath with christ. fifthly , a truly , yea , an eminently gracious person may be in a 〈◊〉 about dying-work . when david was almost consumed with the 〈◊〉 of god's hand , he prayed , o spare me , that i may recover stre●● before i go hence , and be seen no more , psal. 39.13 . when hez●● was commanded by the prophet from the lord , to set his hous● order , for he should dye and not live ; he turned his face to the wall , 〈◊〉 prayed and wept sore , isa. 38.1 . &c. paul here was in a strait , 〈◊〉 that proceeded from a more noble cause , than that of many ▪ 〈◊〉 was brought into it by the dear love he bare to christ and the ch●●●● but how many are brought into it by a fond and foolish love to 〈◊〉 world : they could be willing to go to christ , were they not lo●● 〈◊〉 leave their earthly comforts , relations and possessions . they ●●uld live to see their children grown up , well disposed of , and pro●●ded for in the world ; but they may live to see them their sorrow ●●d shame , their vexation and torment . others are in a strait , and ●aid to dye , because they do not know whither they shall go when ●●ey dye ; they want assurance of the love of god , and their own ●●ernal salvation ; for which want , they may possibly thank their ●●n supine carelessness and neglect , not having given , as they ought , ●●●igence , yea , all diligence to make their calling and election sure . ●●hers are in a strait , by reason of those severe rebukes and wounds ●hich they receive from their own consciences : they have been off ●om their watch , and temptations from satan or the world have ●oke in upon them , and mastered them ; and their own corruptions ●●ve prevailed against them ; and their consciences , instead of being ●●eet comforters , prove their dreadful tormentors ; by means where●● they , poor creatures , know not how to look god in the face ; ●●d so they know not how to look death in the face : and indeed it ●●nnot but be very sad and dismal with any one who is in this condi●●on , and at the same time thinks in good earnest , that his death is 〈◊〉 hand : therefore let it be your work by utmost diligence and con●●nt care of holy walking with god , to prevent such straits as these ; ●●t weaned hearts ; sit loose from the world ; do your duty ; keep ●ur selves unspotted ; commit your all to god ; clear up your evi●ences ; make up your accounts ; and get all things set in order , ●●at when you come to dye , you may have nothing else to do . sixthly , the interest of christ and his church should be preserr'd be●●re our own particular interest : thus iohn the baptist did , when some 〈◊〉 his disciples told him , he to whom thou barest witness , baptizeth , and 〈◊〉 men come to him : they thought their master's glory would be ●●ereby eclipsed : observe now his answer thereunto , iohn 3. ●● , 30. the friend of the bridegroom , which standeth and heareth him , ●●joiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice ; this my joy therefore is ●●lfilled ; he must increase , but i decrease . they could not bring him ●etter and more welcom news . our apostle here judged his abiding 〈◊〉 the flesh was more needful for the saints , in order to their furthe●●ance in the way to heaven , and the increasing of their joy of ●aith , and thence concluded , he should abide and continue with ●hem , and was , upon mature deliberation , free to do so . it ought to ●e so with us . we should be willing to be kept out of our rest , so ●ong as we have any more work to do for god. we should be content to stay for our future reward , so long as we may be further service● in the world . and indeed it is richly worth a b●lievers while to 〈◊〉 here until he hath dispatch'd all that for which he was sent hith● and not to have death put in its sickle to reap him before he be t●● rough ripe . you have a great deal of reason to long for hear● because of the company , happiness , and glory , which are there be enjoyed ; and because of that noysom body of death , which 〈◊〉 you carry about with you ; and because of the temptations , a●ctions , and various troubles you meet with here . yet be not imp●●●ent ; but all the days of your appointed time , do you as iob 〈◊〉 wait till your change shall come : you will lose nothing by stay 〈◊〉 god's time ; which is in all things the best . the greater service y●● do for him either in an active or passive way , the more weig●● shall your crown be . lastly , whensoever , and about whatsoever it is that we are brought 〈◊〉 a strait , it is our wisest way to commit the business to god , and leave the 〈◊〉 termination unto him . when the scales do hang even in our judgme●● let god , before whom all things are naked and open , have the tur●● of them . it is said of moses , deut. 34.5 . that he died according to 〈◊〉 word of the lord ; at the mouth of the lo●d ; so it is in the hebr●● some read it , the lord commanding him . 〈…〉 annotations ●●●der it , by the ordinance of the lord , or at the appointment of g●● it is not fit that we should have the prolonging or contracting of 〈◊〉 lives in our own hands ; that power is best and sa●est in the ha●d that god whose right it is . the church said , he should chuse their heritance for them ; let us also say , he shall chuse for us the time 〈◊〉 our continuance here , and of our departure from hence . if we w●● to chuse for our selves , very few , if any , would chuse well , but so●● of us would dye too soon , and others of us would live too long . let therefore refer it to god : while he is pleased to add to our day , us conscientiously mind our duty , living to the best purpose that can , and serving our generation according to the will of god ; 〈◊〉 then we may satisfie our selves with this , that we shall be sure to 〈◊〉 in the best time . in a word , let every one of us be willing to 〈◊〉 here , until god send for us : and then the good lord put us i● such a frame , as that when we are sent for , we may be willing to finis . the saints convoy to heaven a discourse occasioned by (and in part preached upon) the death and funeral of mr. benjamin lindsey, who deceased the 21st of february, 1697 / by tho. doolittle ... doolittle, thomas, 1632?-1707. 1697 approx. 150 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 61 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a36326 wing d1893 estc r32822 12770576 ocm 12770576 93656 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a36326) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 93656) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1033:22) the saints convoy to heaven a discourse occasioned by (and in part preached upon) the death and funeral of mr. benjamin lindsey, who deceased the 21st of february, 1697 / by tho. doolittle ... doolittle, thomas, 1632?-1707. [8], 112 p. printed for john lawrence ..., london : 1698. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng funeral sermons. 2006-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-06 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the saints convoy to heaven . a discourse occasioned by ( and in part preacht upon ) the death and funeral of mr. benjamin lindsey , who deceased , the 21st of february , 1697. by tho. doolittle , m. a. london : printed for john lawrence , at the angel , in the poultry , over against the compter . 1698. the epistle to mrs. rebeccah lindsey , mother mr. joseph lindsey , brother sisters mrs. abigal shipton , mrs. sarah pike , kinsmen mr. john hinde , mr. morgan hinde , mr. richard hinde , mr. robert hinde , to mr. benjamin lindsey , lately deceased . dear friends , according to the several relations ( nearer or more remote ) wherein ye stood to mr. benjamin lindsey , when he was living with you , nature and reason dictates that ye must be differently affected , as to degrees , by his being by death removed from you , yet being so much beloved and respected by you all , it is easy to determine that his death was matter of sorrow to you all ; but the religion ye all profess , and the christian doctrine ye all do own , must be instructive to you , that ye sorrow , not as those that have no hope , either that his soul , being so pious , was not carried by angels into abraham's bosom , or that his body , that ye carried and lodged in the bosom of the earth , should not be raised again to a joyful resurrection , and be hereafter , where the soul at present is , in happiness and glory : of which two things , the believing consideration should drie your weeping eyes , relieve your mourning spirits , and comfort your sorrowful hearts . to the mother i send this short following advice : 1. that you would not so much sorrow that your son's body is gone down to the grave , as rejoice that his soul is gone up to heaven : not so much mourn , that he whom you did bear , bring forth , and bring up , is taken from you , as be comforted that god hath taken him to himself : as knowing he is better pleased to be where he is , and more happy , than if he had continued to be on earth , with you , and that he would not be from thence , to come again to you : and let this make you the less sorrowful in this world , because his soul is now triumphant in the other , which is a better world : for i suppose you loved your son better than to grieve at his preferment . 2. that considering the greatness of your age you would clear your evidences for heaven , and not have them to seek , when you should have them to shew , nor to get ▪ when you should have them to use for your more comfortable departure ; that as you are sure your body must go down to your son's body , so you might be as sure that your soul shall go up to his soul , that as he was where you are , so you might be with god , where he is . 3. that you daily remember , you are almost at your journey 's end ; in a course of nature so near the door of eternity , that you cannot be much longer in time ; therefore when you cannot move so speedily in natural motion , run more swiftly in your spiritual race , that you might not fall short of the joy and crown that is set before you . 4. that since your son ( now gone from you ) hath made such competent provision for you , that you need not spend your breath in asking , what shall i eat , or what shall i drink , or wherewithal shall i be clothed ? your enquiries might be , how shall i love god more , please him better , and be more prepared for my eternal state ? since now you need not cark for earth , take more care for heaven . 5. that since you have more benefit of your sense of seeing , than of hearing , supply the defect of hearing , by your diligent reading ; and the less you can hear men speak to you in discoursing , the more do you speak to god in praying ; and the less converse you can have with the creature , the more communion do you desire , get , and maintain with god. to the rest of you , let me be your remembrancer , that ye get a sanctified improvement of this breach by death , that god hath made amongst you , that ye so mind temporal , as not to forget your eternal concerns , to watch and be always ready , because the son of man might come , in an hour that ye think not of ; to prepare to follow him and others that are gone before : to keep up the power of godliness in your hearts , and to demonstrate it in your lives : seriously and believingly to think of another world , and every day you live in this , to stand in time , and look into eternity : to be good , and to do good , as he was , and did , that is taken from you , whereof ( in part ) ye have been eye-witnesses : to live holily , that ye might die not only peacably , but also triumphantly ; as is his prayer for you , who desires it might be yours for him , who is , affectionately yours , to his power , tho. doolittle . mugwel-street , april 8. 1698. the saints convoy to heaven . luke xvi . 22. and it came to pass that the beggar died , and was carried by the angels into abraham's bosom . some think it is not material whether the discourse of our lord jesus concerning the rich man and the beggar , be taken as a parable , or an history , or composed of both ; when it is confessed , that under this narration , christ describes the state of the good and bad in the other world , and asserts the existence of the soul , after its separation from the body ; and that it immediately passeth to heaven or hell , before the resurrection of the body , and general judgment of the great day . tho' there was a disparity between lazarus spoken of in the text , and our friend , whose death is the occasion of this discourse upon it , in regard of their outward circumstances in this world ; yet if the latter be a partaker of felicity with the former , in the other world , i might easily be excused for choosing this as my theme upon this sad , but righteous providence : especially , when there is no other so express to my design as this is . the rich man here spoken of , was a voluptuous sinner ; who , while he lived , did live in outward pomp ; and , when he died , was buried in great state. the poor man was full of sores , and hungry , while he lived ; and no mention is made of his funeral , when he died . the one was rich on earth , but now a beggar in hell. the other a beggar on earth , but now rich in heaven . the poor man , on earth , begged for some crumbs at the rich man's door ; but he could not obtain them . the rich man , in hell , begged for a drop of water ; but it was denied him . some live and die poor , and in a state of sin : these have their evil things here , and hereafter too : misery on earth , and more in hell. some live and die rich , and finally impenitent : these have their good things here , and their evil things hereafter : a short heaven in this world , and a long hell in the next . some live and die poor , but in a state of grace : these have their evil things in this life , and their good in the next : short misery on earth , and long felicity in heaven . some live and die possest of a good estate , and in a state of grace : these have their good things here , and better hereafter : now some earnest , then actual possession . it is better to live and die in the depths of poverty , and have the soul everlastingly saved ; than in the heigths of prosperity , and the soul eternally lost . the worst condition of a child of god , be it never so bad , is better than the best condition of a wicked man , be it never so good . in the words of the text five things may be observed : 1. the passage of a believer to the place of his eternal abode . he is carried , or transported to it . 2. what of the believer is carried to that place or state ? and that is , the soul. he was carried ; his soul , not then his body . his soul was transported , his body was left behind . the soul is carried at his dissolution ; the body not till the resurrection . 3. whither was the soul carried ; what was the place or state to which it was transported ? into abraham 's bosom . 4. when ? as soon as he died ; that minute it was separated from the body , it began its journey to its eternal home . 5. by whom ? by the angels he was carried into abraham 's bosom . not by one , but many angels . several great articles of faith affording great support and comfort to believers are taught by christ in these words . 1. observation . that the soul doth exist after its separation from the body . otherwise it would not be capable to be carried to another state of blessedness and glory . in man's mortal body , there is an immortal soul. death turns the soul out of the body , and the man out of this world. death deprives the body of life , and leave it a lump , or mass of breathless clay ; but in death , the soul escapeth death . death , that conquereth all mens bodies , kills no man's soul. the life and being of the soul cannot be destroyed , either , by outward violence , by inward principles . first , not by outward violence . no finite power can make the soul to cease to be . the most powerful , cruel and enraged persecutors who may torture , kill or burn the body , cannot touch nor reach the soul. mat. 10. 28. fear not them which kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. tho' they had a will to kill the soul , yet they want power : if they would , they are not able : they can neither kill it , nor damn it . luke 12. 4. i say unto you , my friends , be not afraid of them that kill the body , and after that have no more that they can do . when they have taken away the life of the body , they have done their worst , their most , their all ; so that there is no more that they can do ; for the soul escapes their fury , and their malicious rage . and as creatures cannot , so we are assured that god will not cause the soul to cease to be ; and this we know : 1. from the promises he hath made to sincere believers , to give to them eternal life ; joh ▪ 3. 16. for god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , that whosoever believeth in him , should not perish , but have everlasting life . that they shall be for ever with the lord , 1 thes . 4. 17. that they shall be eternally saved , heb. 5. 9. that they shall have a crown incorruptible that fadeth not away , 1 pet. 1. 4 , 5. if these eternal things shall be enjoyed by believers , then their souls must exist to all eternity ; for that which is nothing can enjoy nothing . 2. from the threatnings of god recorded in his word , of the everlasting punishment they shall be tormented with in the other world , to all eternity , that leave this world in a state of sin , rev. 14. 10. the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god , which is poured out without mixture , into the cup of his indignation , and they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone , in the the presence of the holy angels , and in the presence of the lamb. v. 11. and the smoak of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever ; and they have no rest , day nor night — if souls shall lie under the punishment of sense for ever , they must exist for ever : for that which is nothing by ceasing to be , can have no sense of punishment . secondly , the soul cannot die , or cease to be , by any internal principles ; such as contrary qualities in the body , which after conflicts , and one consumed by the other , cause the death of the body : as fire in the lamp licking up all the oyl , causeth the lamp to go out : or if too much oyl be poured in , and overflows the fire , it also is extinguished . neither can the soul dye with old age , as the body will ; for time is not the measure of the duration of the soul , as it is of the body ; but eviternity , and beings measured thereby , tho' they have a beginning , yet shall have no ending . let this awaken all to provide a lodging for their souls , against the hour they shall be separated from their bodies . now our souls dwell in houses of clay , and these have their foundation in the dust , and will shortly fall , and the soul be dispossessed , and turned out of this house , in which it is a tenant at will of the great landlord of all the world , who might seal a lease of ejectment at his pleasure ; when you cannot remove from one house to another in the same parish , in the same city , or in the same nation ; no , nor yet in the same world ; but will be such a remove as never yet you made , from one world to another . since then the soul after death will be in being , it must be some where ; for that which is no where , is nothing . but where shall it be ? there are but two places in the other world , where souls shall be , heaven , or hell. do you know in which ? or do not you think nor care in which your soul shall live and lodge for ever ? if in hell , your lodging will be so uneasy , that in it you cannot rest . a bed of flames , a lodging in boiling lead or oyl , or burning brimstone , will cause you to cry out , i am uneasy , i am uneasy in my lodging , i cannot rest upon this bed , i cannot take one wink of sleep ! may i not change my lodging ? i am weary of being here . may i not go back again from whence i came ? i thought my sick bed was uneasy , but this is worse , inconceivably worse ! beyond expression more painful and uneasy ! but if i may not go back to my old lodgings , in that world from whence i came , let me seek a cooler lodging where i am ; let me rove from one side of hell unto the other , if i might find some easy corner , where i may a while be free from pain and torment . but alas ! i cannot . wo is me , i cannot ! every nook is hot , is hot , is exceeding hot. the justice of god pursues me , wherever i go : my enraged conscience doth accompany me , and tormenting devils follow me ; and the fire burns me to what place soever i hasten ; and there is no hope ; o desperate case ! there is no hope , either of deliverance , or mitigation of my misery . die i would , but cannot ; cease to be i would , but must not . cursed caitiff that i am , in this extremity i must lie and lodge to all eternity . secure then your title to an house above : to mansions in heaven , that when your soul shall be turned out of this , it may be received into that . how comfortable would this knowledge be , on a dying bed , when you shall say , this tabernacle must be taken down , this earthly house is going to ruins , it can be repaired no more , it can stand no longer ? food i cannot eat to patch it up : medicines cannot remove that sickness from me , which will remove my soul out of this earthly house . but i know , blessed be god , i know that i have a building of god ; an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . 2. cor. 5. 1. ii. observation , the souls of believers , after death , are transported into an eternal state of blessedness . the body is carried and lodged in the bosom of the earth : the soul is carried and laid in the bosom of abraham . this figurative expression , denotes a place of love and dearest affection . christ is god's dear son , or the son of his love , col. 1. 13. and said to be in the bosom of the father , joh. 1. 18. john , the beloved of the lord , is found nearest christ , lying in his bosom , joh. 13. 23. and there was leaning on jesus his bosom , one of his disciples whom jesus loved . the bosom is also a place of ease and rest , and sweet repose : so god comforting and giving rest unto his people , is said , to carry them in his bosom , isay . 40. 11. thus lazarus , wearied with affliction , want and poverty , was received up to everlasting rest . there are conjectures why abraham's bosom is mentioned , rather than the bosom of moses , or david , or any other that were in heaven . 1. because he was on earth given to hospitality ; gen. 18. he entertained three angels ; and the angels carried the soul of this beggar , who could not obtain the least alms at the rich man's gate , into abraham's bosom , where his wants were all presently supplied . the rich man was a churl ; abraham was charitable . the poor man was carried from the churl 's door , to the charitable man's bosom . 2. because he was the father of the faithful , and the father's bosom is the child's place . 3. because the promise of canaan , the type of heaven , was made to him and his seed for ever . but i conceive the plain meaning is , that he was carried into heaven , where the faithful , with abraham , the father of all the faithful , shall be gathered , sit down , rest and be comforted for ever : as mat. 8. 11. i say unto you , that many shall come from the east , and from the west , and shall sit down with abraham , isaac and jacob in the kingdom of heaven . saved souls , possest of their mansions in heaven , shall have perfect and perpetual rest from all evils that afflict , molest and burden them , and cause them here , in the place of their pilgrimage , and travel to their eternal home ; to sigh and sob , to grieve and groan , to weep and mourn ; when lodg'd above , they shall rest for ever . 1. from the in-dwellings of corruption . while the soul dwells here in the body , sin will dwell in the soul : while the believer is here a sojourner , sin will be his constant , disquieting , molesting inmate : when body and soul do part , then sin and the soul shall also part ; and tho' body and soul at length shall meet again ; yet they and sin shall meet no more . 2. from all troubles arising from ungodly men : these shall persecute , imprison , disturb their peace no more , for ever . 3. from all temptations of satan . the devil got into the earthly paradise , and and by his subtilty beguiled our first parents ; but is cast down from heaven , to return and enter no more ; nor shall be a tempter to any in the celestial paradise any more , for ever . he might follow his tempting trade with us on earth , but must leave it off , as to all in heaven . 4. from the imperfection of their graces . here our faith is so feeble , our love to god and christ so little , our delight so small , our knowledge so short , our desires so faint , our hope so wavering , and all our graces in such low degrees , that we often call all into question , doubt of our sincerity , fear hipocrisy , and think our attainments great , if we mourn the more , because we love no more ; and have more desires to desire more ; and sorrow the more , because we delight in god and christ , and fore-views of the glorious state above no more . and these make us more restless on our sick beds , because our souls are sick , as well as our bodies ; and our inward man as weak as our outward man is : and too many , instead of departing in triumph , with assurance of salvation , breath out their souls with mourning complaints and fears , concerning their future eternal state ; leaving the world with these piercing questions , is god mine ? is christ mine ? shall heaven be mine ? i am going , but i know not whither . i must i must leave all my dearest friends in this world ; but what will be my company in the next ? but when these holy souls shall be carried into heaven , all these mists shall be dispell'd ; these clouds shall be scatter'd ; this dark and gloomy day shall end in a bright and glorious sun-shine for evermore . for when they are come to that which is perfect , and that which is perfect is come to them , that which is in part shall be done away , 1 cor. 13. 10 , 12. for all the spirits of just men , carried thither , are made perfect , heb. 12. 23. 5. from any desertion from god. the children of god , in that light , shall walk no more in darkness . nor question the love of god to them , nor their love to god , any more than we can question whether it be day , when we see the sun to shine in its greatest brightness ; or whether fire be hot , when it warms our hands . not one shall there say , my lord hath forsaken me , or my god hath forgotten me . no such question there ; will the lord cast off for ever ? will he be favourable no more ? is his mercy clean gon for ever ? doth his promise fail for evermore ? hath god forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? when i was on earth , this was my infirmity ; but now in heaven , i will meditate on all that blessed work of god , that hath brought me to this glorious place ; and resting in my saviour's bosom will talk with this holy company , of all the marvels and wonders of his grace ; in bringing me to this happy state of life , and light , and love , and perfect rest for ever . 6. from all discords and divisions that were amongst believers on their way on earth , to this state in heaven . there they are all of one mind , of one heart and way : there is no diversity of judgment , no alienation of affection , no rash and uncharitable censures ; but all filled with love to god and one another . 7. from all ensnaring allurements of this world. these , too often , did deaden their affections towards god , interrupt their communion with him , and by the world's smiles , were sometimes brought under god's frowns ; and when it was best with their bodies , it was worst with their souls : and the more they enjoyed of the world , the less their conversation was in heaven . but there they have got above all worldly profits , all fleshly pleasures , all carnal joys ; and shall bathe themselves in those rivers of pleasures , and be delighted in that fulness of joy , which is in the presence of their lord and saviour to all eternity . 8. from all distracting cares , and disquieting fears , about the want of things necessary to bear their charges on their journey , while on earth , to the bosom of their lord. they shall have no more need of such cautions , take no thought what ye shall eat , or what ye shall drink , or wherewithal ye shall be clothed : for in that place and state they shall be hungry no more , nor thirst any more , nor feel any want of any such things ; but shall live without these , as angels in heaven do . 9. from all troubles and remorse , and stinging of conscience . conscience that shall still remain in the bosom of the damned , shall eternally torment , and gnaw upon them ; and , for very vexation , shall cause them to cry out , what fools were we , for short pleasures of time , to run into these everlasting pains ? what madness did possess us , for small profits of the world , to lose the enjoyments of all the happiness of heaven ? what distraction did seize us to come to this filthy , loathsom dungeon ! to this dark and dismal prison , for the fading honours of a short and transitory life ? cursed caitiffs that we are , that did prefer the good things of our corrupt flesh , before the things that were really good for body or for soul ! miserable hell-hounds ( for so now we are , and must for ever be ) to keep our sins , and lose our souls ; to gratify our lusts , and for them to be cast out from the comfortable presence of the blessed lord ! to sell heaven for a merrybout ! to come short of eternal joys , for an ale-bench song , and there to drink and swill , like hogs at a trough , and now to lie in tormenting flames , and cannot obtain one drop of water , ( tho' a river would not be enough ) to cool our tongues . but the saints in abraham's ( or rather in their saviour's ) bosom , shall have a quiet , sedate , and rejoicing conscience in their own , that shall refresh and comfort them , that they did deny themselves , to save themselves , that they did venture or sustain the loss of life , to obtain eternal life : that they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods , that they might have in heaven a better and more enduring substance . 10. from all irksom weariness in holy exercises . while they are in the bosom of the church militant , they are too often weary in doing their duty , when they are not weary of doing of it ; and the better they do it , the more weary they are in doing of it : and if they are weary of it , it is because they do it no better . they are weary of a dull and lazy , slothful heart ; they are weary of their unbelieving , hard and unaffected heart ; they are weary of their distracting thoughts , and wandring minds , and roving affections : but the more life and liveliness , the more activity and exercise of faith , and love , desire and delight , of joy and hope they perform them with , the less weary they are of them : much labour seemeth light , long time seemeth short , and the greatest pains are pleasant to them : and in so doing , they find the spirit is willing when the flesh is weak . the damned , in the bowels of hell , and in the devil's bosom , are weary of their torments , of their pain and punishment ; such a bosom is no place of love or rest ; and the more they are embraced in the devil's arms , the more uneasy still they are , and wish that he could hug them into nothing ; and lamenting , say , have our bosom sins brought us to such an uneasy bosom ? have our embraced sins brought us to the embracements of such cruel and merciless tormentors ? we never hug'd our sins so much , but the devil huggeth us as close . we never kept our sins so fast , but the devil will keep us now as long . we are weary , we are weary of this place and pain ; more weary than we were of prayers , and sermons , and sabbaths upon earth ; we were weary of them , and death freed us from that weariness ; but now we are weary of these pains , which we were weary in praying against , and never must be freed from them . but when the soul is carried into heaven , it shall be no more weary of the praise , delight and love it shall be imployed in for ever : and tho' it shall not rest day or night , saying , holy , holy , holy lord god almighty , yet it shall find sweet and pleasant rest , both night and day , in sounding unwearied hallelujahs to the lord , in the saviour's bosom . take some corollaries from what hath been said . 1. let go your bosom sins , as you would have your souls carried into abraham's bosom . make no sin your bosom friend : neither hide it in your bosom . 1. by indulging and cherishing of it , as a mother the child in her bosom : beware of that sin , which all other sins are servants to . 2. by defending and pleading for it . 3. by withstanding the reproofs that are given to you ▪ for it . 4. by pleasing your self in thinking of it . 5. by not confessing of it to god , who knows the most secret things in your bosom . 2. let no bosom friend draw you to sin ; not the wife , or husband of your bosom , or any as dear to you as your own soul , lest when you are carried from them by death , you be not carried by angels into abraham's bosom . 3. let christ have a room in your bosom now , that you might be received into his bosom hereafter . christ should lie nearest your heart : he that is in the bosom of the father , is most worthy of the chiefest and choicest room in your heart . say and do as the spouse , cant. 1. 13. a bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me , he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts : some say myrrh betwixt the breasts is an excellent cordial : christ in our bosom is a reviving cordial , for it is a pledge that we hereafter shall be in his . 4. when the souls that shall not be carried up to heaven , shall be dragged down to hell , they shall have the recompence of all their wickedness pour'd into their bosom , and of all their reproaches , wherewith they have reproached the lord. god now saith , that then he will not keep silence , but will recompence into their bosom , and will measure their former works into their bosom . 5. whatsoever soul would be carried up to abraham's bosom , must be laborious in religion while he is here . he must neither hide his sins nor his hand in his bosom , not the one from parting from it , nor the other from working with it . the slothful man that hideth his hands in his bosom , and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again , must starve , because he will neither work nor eat : and he that hideth his sin in his bosom , and will not so much as bring it to his mouth penitently , and with brokenness of heart , to confess his sin , shall be damned for his sin. angels will carry no idle , slothful souls to heaven : abraham's bosom is no place for loiterers : it is those that fight , and run , and wrestle , and overcome , that shall have repose and rest in abraham's bosom : for , the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence , and the violent take it by force . iii. observation , a gracious soul separated from the body , is presently carried by angels into a state of happiness in heaven . at death it is not annihilated , nor doth it sleep with the body , neither doth it stay in any other supposed place , but is instantly on its journey to glory , and immediately passeth into the celestial paradise . the sure word of god doth assure us of this : and if we believe the one , we must grant the other , since it is so express and full in the asserting of this doctrine , that is so comfortable to sanctified and prepared souls . designing brevity in this , i shall only alledge a few texts that do confirm it : luke 23. 43. jesus said unto him , verily , i say unto thee , to day shalt thou be with me in paradise . where note ▪ 1. the asserter . jesus said unto him ( the penitent dying thief . ) 2. the manner of his assertion . verily , i say unto thee : a word of asseveration commonly used by christ , in matters of great , undoubted certainty and moment . 3. the thing asserted . to day shalt thou be with me in paradise . where observe , 1. the place spoken of : that is , paradise ; that is , the third heaven , where god doth manifest his glorious presence . thus paul , speaking of a man caught up to the third heaven , presently subjoins , he was caught up into paradise : by two words intending one and the same place : 2 cor. 12. 2 , 4. 2. who should be in that place of paradise : thou that art now a dying man. thou , that is , thy soul ; for of his body it could not be understood . 3. with whom the penitent thief should be in paradise : with christ . thou that art with me on the cross , shalt be with me in heaven . 4. when his soul should be with him in heaven : to day . to day thou shalt die , and to day thou shalt have eternal life : to day thou shalt expire on the cross , and to day thou shalt have a crown of glory in the highest heavens . the different pointing of the words , corrupting the sense , is such a bold attempt , that should it be admitted in other places , as the opposers of the soul 's immediate passing into glory , sawcily do in this , it would be such a mangling of the scripture , that we should be at a loss to know the meaning of many plain texts . what need had christ to speak the words thus ; verily i say unto thee to day ? did not he know christ then spake to him ? did not he hear him ? and did he hear him that day , and could not he tell that christ spake to him that day , except christ added , to day i say unto thee ? what need christ add his asserting verily , to these words , i say unto thee to day ? could not the thief trust his own ears , that he then heard christ say to him , except christ add , verily , i do as●ure thee that it is to day that i say this to thee ? which is greater ground of support and comfort to a dying penitent , to acquaint him , i say unto thee to day , thou shalt be with me in paradise ; but i do not tell thee when , nor how many thousand years hence , this shall be thy happiness ; or thus , verily i say to thee , to day , this very day , thou shalt be with me in paradise ? it is but a dream , that the soul shall sleep when a man dies . a second text is , 2 cor. 5. 6. therefore we are always confident , knowing that whilst we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord , ver. 8. we are confident , i say , and willing rather to be absent from the body , and to be present with the lord. here note : 1. while the soul is in the body , we are in our earthly home . 2. while the soul is in its earthly home , it is absent from its true home , which is in heaven , from the vision and fruition of god in glory . 3. when the soul doth leave its earthly home , it goeth to its heavenly home : for when it is absent from the body , it shall be present with the lord , in the glorious enjoyment of him to all eternity . 4. the opposition of these two is immediate . to be present in the body is to be absent from the lord : to be absent from the body , is to be present with the lord. 5. the confidence of the apostle that there is such a glorious state , which is the reason of our willingness to leave the body , that from thenceforth we might be with the lord in heaven . deny the souls immediate passing to god in glory , and you take away the reason of the choice , rather to be absent from the body , than to be present in it . the third text is , phil. 1. 23. for i am in a straight betwixt two ; having a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is far better . note , 1. the apostle's straight . two things were before him , to live or die , reasons swaying him sometimes to the one ▪ sometimes to the other : for the good of god's church , it would be better for him to live than die , ver. 22. for his own advantage , it would be better for him to die than to live , ver. 21. this was his straight . 2. his own inclination , and vehement desire , in respect to himself , that he would chuse rather to depart , than to continue upon earth . 3. the reason of his desire and wilingness to depart , that he may be with christ : but there would be no reason in this reason , if by departing , he should be nothing the sooner with christ . 4. the preference of one state before the other , or the comparing of the one with the other : it is better to die and be with christ . there is an excellent gradation in the text : it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , better . it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , far better . it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , far better by much . but if a believer die , and the soul is not the sooner with christ , than if he had lived longer , it would not have been better but worse , for while the apostle lived he had himself much communion with god , but if he departed , and not with christ , he had none . while he lived he was useful and profitable to the church on earth , but after his departure he could not . while he lived he did glorify god on earth ; but if he departed , and went not to christ , he could not glorify him , neither on earth , nor in heaven . while he lived , he knew god , and loved him , and delighted in him , and was sensible of god's love to him ; but if he departed and went not to christ , he was capable of none of these ; and so still it was worse , far worse , far worse by much , to depart than live . this might be largely improved by way of use , which i hope you will practically use in all your ways , though i cannot stay to speak , what ye should , and i hope you will do , if you keep in remembrance , that a pious separated soul is presently on his journey to the highest heavens , and who shall be his convoy thither : which was my first design in chusing this text , to entertain your thinking minds upon this occasion . iv. observation , the holy angels of god are the bearers that carry the separated souls of believers into heaven . men take care for the bearers of the body , when dead : god takes care for the bearers of the soul , when departed . men are bearers that carry the body to the grave : angels are the bearers that carry the soul to glory . men mourning follow the corpse to the house appointed for all the living : angels triumphing go along with the soul to the mansions prepared for all the believing . the ministration of angels , for the good of believers , is asserted in general , in heb. 1. 14. are they not all ministring spirits , sent forth to minister for them , who shall be heirs of salvation ? where may be noted , 1. the nature of angels : they are spirits , intellectual , immaterial , immortal and active creatures ; the noblest and most refined part of god's creation : more excellent than man ; yet servants to christ their lord. 2. their office : they are ministring spirits . 3. their number : all of them are so , if there be degrees and orders among them , all and every one of them , from the highest to the lowest are god's servants , waiting and attending upon him , to go and come as he appoints , for the good of the people of god , whose fellow-servants they own themselves to be , rev. 19. 10. and 22. 9. 4. their commission : being sent before they go , they must have their warrant from god , before they move ; psal . 103. 20. bless the lord , ye his angels , that excell in strength , that do his commandment , hearkening to the voice of his word : tho' they have power to act , yet they must not , nor do they stir , without a command from god. 5. their execution : they are sent , and then they minister ; they hearken to the voice of his word , and then they do his commands . 6. the object of their ministration , or the persons they are charged with : such as shall be heirs of salvation . angel is a word not so much to signify their nature as their office , that is to say , they are messengers , to go at the command of their sovereign lord , upon his errands from heaven to earth , and back again from earth to heaven ; gen. 28. 12. and he dreamed , and behold a ladder set upon the earth , and the top of it reached to heaven , and behold , the angels of god ascending and descending on it . the ministration of angels in the behalf of those that shall be heirs of salvation from their birth to their death , ( yea , and sometimes before their conception ) is copiously treated of in scripture , but from their death to their passage to heaven , and afterwards , is more sparingly mentioned ; but one saying of christ ( as this concerning the poor man's soul ) is sufficient evidence of their conveying of them from the place where they die , to the place where they shall live for ever . it will be needful , to more clear procedings about the angels conveying the souls of believers , from their death , to the place and state of happiness , to premise some propositions ; which are , 1. that god by his absolute power is able to do those things , which in the ordinary course of providence , he maketh use of second causes , to accomplish and bring to pass . what he doth by means , he can do without any means ; he hath tied us to the use of means , which he himself is not obliged , thro' any need of them , to make use of . so by his power he supported moses and elias forty days , without eating or drinking ; yet in the ordinary way of god's appointment , that we might live , we must both eat and drink . therefore when we speak of the conveyance of souls , by the ministration of angels , to abraham's bosom , it is not to be thought , that he could not do it without them tho' he doth it by them . 2. the good pleasure of god is the highest and most satisfying reason , why he that could safe-guard souls to heaven , by his own almighty power , will have them conveyed thither by the ministry of his holy angels . to the querist , that seeks for reasons in the most sublime mysteries of religion ( as election , special redemption , effectual vocation , &c. ) why one , and not another , is an instance of god's grace ; the answer , that it is god's good pleasure , is , and ought to be satisfactory ; mat. 11. 25 , 26. eph. 1. 5 , 11. and this good pleasure of god is extended to the armies of heaven , as well as to the inhabitants of the earth , dan. 4. 35. 3. god's good pleasure , in his government of angels and men , is made known , not only in his word , but also by the events of his providence : in our present case , christ relates it as a matter of fact done by the angels , that they did carry the soul of lazarus into abraham's bosom . now we know , what holy angels do , is god's pleasure they should do ; for they do nothing but what doth please him . that angels should convey his soul to heaven , was god's good pleasure . 4. as it is god's good pleasure to give the kingdom , not to men , as men ; but as believing , sanctified men ; and so to every one that is such , to one , as well as another : so it is the good pleasure of god , that his holy angels should convey souls to this kingdom , not as souls , but as believing , sanctified souls ; and so every soul that is such , one as well as another . it might be thought by some , that from this particular instance , of angels carrying lazarus his soul to heaven , an universal conclusion cannot be gathered , that they thus minister to all other godly separared souls . but what may be spoken of one individual , under this reduplication ( as such ) of any kind , may be spoken of every individual of the same kind . as this individual person ( peter ) as a man , is a rational creature : therefore , every one , that is a man , is a rational creature . by which , here i mean the same with animal rationale , in distinction on from angels , it being nothing to my purpose to debate , whether they may be called rational , as well as intellectual creatures . so this individual person ( abraham ) was justified , not as a man , but as a believing man : therefore every man that is a believing man , is justified ; and thus the apostle draws an universal concerning all believers , from what was written in the particular case of abraham , as , a believer ; for from a particular , as such , the consequence is good to all and every one that is such . which axiom is commonly allowed . in the matter before us , it is certain , holy angels did not carry lazarus his soul to heaven , as a soul ; for then they should carry all souls thither : but as it was an holy soul ; and if a soul as holy , shall by angels be conducted to glory ; then every soul that is holy , shall be so conveyed also . 5. angels conveying holy separated souls to heaven , doth not detract any thing from the glory of god ; but doth rather make it the more manifest , and is subservient thereunto . for , christ is their only saviour , angels their carriers . christ is their commander herein , they his servants to do it . christ by angels brings souls to possess that happiness , which so many angels fell from . christ , as mediator , is exalted above those noble creatures . christ manifests his constant love to , and care of the souls of all believers , till he puts them into the actual possession of what he hath purchased for them : christ came himself from heaven to procure it , and sends his angels from heaven to fetch them to it : and this will be made more manifest , by considering the useful service of the ministration of angels , in conveying holy souls into his presence . 1. the holy angels are the guides of separated souls , in their journey to heaven . it is a long journey from a dying bed on earth , to the heaven of heavens : the one being distant from the other , some millions of miles , and a way the soul never went before , and to it , an unbeaten path ; it stands in need of a guide , to direct it in its way , which is well known unto the angels , that have so often gone to and fro , from the one to the other . many passengers in a ship , from hence to the east indies , thro' the vast and wide ocean , will need a pilot to steer their course , or else might never arrive to their intended and desired harbour : so the soul that is to pass through the vast regions of the fluid air , in a longer voyage , ( in respect of distance ) will need some to conduct it , that it might not miss its way . it may be , it goes out of the body , not knowing whither it is going , and how then should it know its way ? therefore god that hath sent his angels to direct and prosper the way of his servants on a journey from one place to another upon earth , ( gen. 24. 7 , 40. ) will much more send his angels to direct their souls , in their travel from earth to heaven . 2. angels are sent to be the guard of separated sanctified souls . they are to pass through the devils territories , who is the prince of the power of the air , eph. 2. 2 , 3. where are numerous and powerful unclean spirits , which are principalities and powers , and spiritual wickednesses in high places , eph. 6. 12. these would intercept the holy soul , in its journey home to heaven ; but holy angels are its guard to conduct it through the hosts of devils , and protect it as it passeth along . this hath been the frequent ministration of angels for the safety of god's people from their enemies in this life : as when jacob was to meet his brother esau , who did resolve to kill him ; gen. 32. 1 , 2. jacob went on his way , and the angel of god met him , and he said , this is god's hosts ; and he called the name of the place , mahaniam , i.e. two hosts , or two camps ; the one to go before , the other behind him , or one on the one side , and the other on the other , to keep him safe from danger every way . if god send his angels to guard his servants in this life , when in danger of their enemies , will he not much more to defend their separated souls in their passage to heaven , when they are to pass through the air , where devils do swarm ? especially if these things be considered : first , when the host of devils that the soul is to pass through , is far more numerous , than esau's company against jacob. secondly , when devils are more implacable against the separated soul , than esau was against jacob ; for he was reconciled to him ; but devils never will to holy souls . thirdly , when devils are more powerful to act against the separated soul on its way , than esau and all his company were against jacob , when he was on his way . fourthly , when the danger at the most , that god's people are in from wicked men , is the life of the body , but without doubt , such is the malice of devils against holy souls separated from their bodies on their way to heaven , that if not defended , they would seize them , to keep them from eternal happiness in heaven . fifthly , when this is the last season they shall ever have to make any attempt upon the holy separated soul , which when once entered into heaven's gates , shall be assaulted no more for ever . tho' the war with devils , in some respects , might be over as soon as the soul is separated from the body , that it shall be no longer managed by the same subtilties , alluring temptations , fleshly enticements , evil suggestions , sensible objective snares ; yet i conceive , in other respects , the war is not ended , till the soul is safely arrived in heaven , but is carried on in a different manner , to what it was in the body : when in the body , he assaulted the soul not by violence , but persuasion ; out of the body , he knows it will be in vain to assault by persuasion , therefore on its way would seize it by violence , did not god , by his angels , powerfully preserve it . for as pharaoh and his host pursued the children of israel , when they had escaped out of egypt to the red sea , where god opened the waters to israel to pass thro' , and shut them upon pharaoh ; so devils will persue the soul to the gates of heaven , till god open to the soul , and shut them against the soul's pursuers . for as there are principalities and powers of hell , that way-lay the separated soul ; so the principalities and powers of heaven are ready to secure it . and if the devil contended with the archangel , and the archangel with the devil , about the body of moses , why should we think there is no war , betwixt the principalities of heaven and hell , about the soul on its way to heaven , or that the soul is not active in resisting the violent assaults of devils , in conjunction with the holy angels ? 3. god's love to , and care of his people is manifested in the ministration of angels , in that they are charged to be their keepers in all their ways , psal . 91. 11 , 12. now the way of believers is two-fold , and they are to keep them in both , or else they do not keep them in all . 1. in the way of their commanded duty , in this life . 2. in the way to their promised reward , and they are in this way immediately after death , till they enter into heaven . is it likely god should charge his angels with them , to keep them from dangers , while they keep in the way of duty , and give them a discharge from keeping them on their way to their reward ? especially when they are in danger of devils , not only in the way of their duty ; but also ( passing thro' their territories ) on their way to their reward , passing from earth to heaven . do not the angels of the lord encamp round about them that fear him , to deliver them ? psal . 34. 7. do not separated souls , on their passage , fear god with an holy , reverential fear , as well as when they were in their bodies , and much more , and so have still the qualification of such as are the objects of angels ministration ? do they now encamp round about them on every side , to deliver them from danger , while they are liable thereunto , and will they decamp from them on every side , to deliver them no more , tho' surrounded with dangers after death , till their souls enter into heaven ? especially when their dearest friends that take care of the burial of the body , can be no help to the separated soul , in its travel to heaven . their friends and relations that ministred to them when sick , and on their dying beds , till the moment they gave up the ghost , from that instant have no more that they can do unto , or for their souls ; no , not so much as by their prayers for them : and will angels then forsake them also , and afford them no more help on their way to heaven , than their friends , whom they have left behind can do ? 4. holy angels promote and rejoice at the conversion of god's elect , because then they have a right and title to heaven , luke 15. 7 , 10. and will they not be as careful of their compleat salvation , in watching over them till they are put into the actual possession of their mansions in heaven ? 5. christ will use the ministration of angels , for the salvation of all the elect , as to their bodies , as well as their souls united to them , at his second coming , and will they neglect the conveying of the separated soul , while the body till then , is left behind ? angels shall be christ's servants then , 1. in gathering together all the elect , mat. 24. 31. 2. in separating between the righteous and the wicked , and severing the one from the other , mat. 13. 49. 3. in catching them up to meet the lord in the air , 1 thes . 4. 17. all the elect that shall then be raised , and found alive , shall be caught up as in the arms of angels , to such a meeting with their saviour , as after it shall be no parting ; for they shall be with the lord for ever . use i. terrour . learn hence , the woful case of every impenitent soul , as soon as separated from the body : every finally-unbelieving sinner's dying day , will be a doleful , dreadful , dismal day : his expiring moment will be the beginning of such horror as the soul was never in before ; because that very moment it shall be seized by devils , that stand waiting for it , and shall lay hold on it , as ravening wolves , as roaring lions , as enraged tygers , leap upon their prey . luke 12. 20. god said unto him , thou fool , this night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they ( that is , devils ) shall demand thy soul of thee . the word signifies to require ones own , which is his due ; with vehemency to call for it , and to demand it from one , tho' unwilling to give it ; yea , as it were , by force and violence to wrest it from another , as owing to him . this fool sinned all day , and died at night : he served the devil all day , and at night the devils came to reckon with him , to pay him his wages : he took care where to lay his goods , and the devils took care where to lodge his soul at night ; he reckoned of many years , but he had but that day ; he was for taking of his ease , but the devil took him and put him into little ease ; yea , carried him to a place where he could have no ease , nor rest to all eternity : he was for his cups , and company , and mirth in both ; but at night he had such a bitter cup , and frightful company , that spoiled his mirth and turned it into mourning . if one devil , in some frightful visible shape , should appear to you in the deep and silent night , what terrour would the sight thereof fill you with ? would not such fear and trembling come upon you , as would make all your bones to shake , and make the hair of your head stand up , when your heart and courage would so fail you , that you your self would be ready to fall down ? as when the discipes saw christ walking on the sea , they were troubled , saying , it is a spirit ; and they cried out for fear . oh then , what horror will the sinful soul be filled with , next moment after death ! oh , what fear ! what trembling ! what amazement shall possess it ! how may we imagine , with what direful shriekings it will cry out and say , who are all these ? what black-guard is this ? what is all this host i am fallen into , and am surrounded with ? i never saw such a sight as this : i have often been in wicked company , but i never fell into such company as this . oh! ye greedy devils ! ye furious furies ! ye hasty unclean spirits ! what means your rage ? whither do ye hurry me ? whither will ye carry me ? carry thee ! first , as jaylors we will carry thee as our prisoner to the seat of judgment , to be tried ; and being there condemned , next , as executioners , we will carry thee to the place of punishment . oh! my woful case ! oh! my remediless misery ! oh! my hopeless state ! are these the devils i did please ? are these they i did so daily serve , so readily yield unto ? they could not in my body have forced me to sin ; but now , just out of the body , they do , they do , oh , what shall i do ? they do force me to the place of torment to suffer for my sin. wo is me ! is there no hope ? alas for me ! is there none to help ? is there no escaping out of these hands , i am so suddenly fallen into ? oh , that death had killed me , as it hath my body , from whence now i am turned out ! oh , that i were without life and sense , as now my body is ! my earthly friends are mourning , weeping , and groaning , over my breathless ▪ carcass ; and these hellish fiends are rejoicing that i am come from those to them . my friends are mourning because they have lost me ; and these tormenting devils are glad that they have found me : men on earth are not in such haste to carry my body to the grave , as these devils are to carry me to hell. oh , cursed caitiff that i am ! what difference hath one hour made ? what a miserable deceived wretch was i , when in the body , and how convinced of my self-deceiving flattery , as soon as separated from my body ? when in the body , i did think all would be well , as soon as cut of the body , i am sure , woe is me , all will be woe . when in the body i was amongst my friends , as soon as out of the body , i am amongst mine enemies . when in the body , i did dream of being happy ; as soon as out of the body , i saw it was but a dream . when in the body , i did hope , and till i parted from my body , i would not i did not part from my hope , that i should be carried into heaven ; but as soon as i parted from my body , i parted from my hope , and my hope from me ; for these infernal spirits are carrying me to hell , and i cannot , fain i would , but cannot any longer hope for heaven . when in the body , the devil and sin did blind mine eyes , that i could not see the sandy foundation , on which i built my expectation of happiness in the highest heavens ; but as soon as death and friends had closed the eyes of my body , then the eyes of my mind were opened , to see all my building on that rotten foundation is gone to ruine , and i am going in this company to the lowest hell. such-like bitter cries , such self-lamenting groans , we may conceive the separated sinful soul to utter , as it is on its way in the company of devils to the place of outer-darkness ; where there shall be weeping and wailing for ever . yet if we consider the circumstances that will farther aggravate the sorrow of the soul , in its journey to the lake of brimstone , arising from the company of unclean spirits , that are dragging it along to the place of torment , which the distressed unsanctified soul shall be apprehensive and sensible of , it will pass our thoughts to conceive , and our words to express how great its horror will be , and what fear and trembling it will be filled with , when it shall find these carriers of it to hell , to be , 1. exceeding powerful and strong , that the seized soul is not able so to resist as to rescue it self out of their hands . their strength is signified by their names , being called principalities and powers , eph. 6. 12. and known by the effects which they have done , in such as have been possessed ; as we read of one , mar. 5. 3 , 4. that no man could bind him , no not with chains ; because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains , and the chains had been plucked asunder by him , and the fetters broken in pieces : neither could any man tame him . how then will this add to the misery of the soul seized by them , when , tho' it struggle , it cannot get free ; tho' it strive , it is to no purpose ; tho' it resist , it cannot prevail ? o miserable wretch that i am ! when i was in the body , i should have resisted their temptations , and might ; now i would their power , but cannot . i should have withstood their enticing persuasions , but did not , i could , but would not ; now i would withstand their force and violence , but i cannot , fain i wou'd , but woe is me , i cannot : i must along with these dragging devils ; i would not , but i must , for they are stronger than i. 2. this will aggravate the evil of his passage , in that the company of devils is so numerous : a legion of unclean spirits possessed one man's body , mar. 5. 9. and will not a legion of them be as ready to seize one soul ? which , when the separated soul perceives , enquires , why so many ? why so many to one ? why so many so strong , to one so weak ? are all of one mind ? are ye all agreed to hurry me to hell ? is there not one amongst you all will stand my friend ? not one to take my part , to be on my side ? alas for me ! tho' they are many , they are as one . how strange is this ! that a legion of devils should be so unanimous in my ruine , that all are called by one name , as if many were one ! as the devil that possessed a man , being asked , what is thy name ? he answered , saying , my name is legion , for we are many . never was a poor debter on earth , carried to prison by the joint-consent and one-will of many serjeants ; as i poor debter , am carried to the prison and dungeon of hell , by the joint-consent and one-will of many devils . 3. this will aggravate the sorrow , the soul in its passage to its long and doleful home will be filled with , that these carriers are so swift and active in their motion : which will increase the horror of the soul in its way , upon these accounts : first , because by flight it cannot escape from them . when we cannot resist an enemy by the strength of our arm , yet we may escape by the swiftness of our feet : when we cannot get the victory by fighting , we might prevent our captivity by running . but this will give no relief to the separated sinful soul , because evil spirits are such agile , swift , and active creatures , that move so fast , that the soul cannot be more speedy than they : tho' holy angels , as they are stronger , so they are swifter than apostate spirits , being more able , ready and speedy to protect and defend us , than fallen angels are to hurt and destroy us ; and therefore the good are said to have wings , ( which , as i remember , is not spoken of the bad ) ; yet these infernal spirits are so much speedier in their motion , than the soul , that it can have no hope of preventing their transporting of it from the dying bed , to its lodging in the flames of hell. secondly , because by them it will be brought so soon to the place of torment . men on earth sin so much , swear so fast , and run in the ways of wickedness , as tho' they could not get to hell sure enough , nor soon enough : but when they have done sinning upon earth , and are on their way to their eternal miserable state , they will think devils put them on too fast , and carry them with too much speed ▪ to that place where their entertainment will be so bad . we may imagine the separated soul , in the devil's arms , to lament it self , saying what! is my journey like to be so short , when my journey 's end will be so bad ? am i going whither i would not , and yet do these carriers make such haste ? must i thus be posted to such grievous torments , whence i shall never be delivered ? tho' the way be so uncomfortable ; yet the place will be so much more , when i come thither ; therefore let me move more slowly to it : tho' i have an hell within me , on my way to hell ; yet , o that it might be a thousand years before i enter into it ! but i wish in vain ; for this swift motion will quickly bring me to it . 4. the insultings of the devils over their prisoner , will aggravate its misery on the way to hell ; when , as they carry it along , shall reproach it to this purpose , here is the fool we took captive at our pleasure ! here is the soul that had no more wit than to stop his ears to the calls of mercy , to the offers of grace , to the tenders of a saviour , to the commands of god : god called him to repent , but he would not ; god commanded him to believe , but he did not : we persuaded him to sin , and he did ; we enticed him , and he consented ; we suggested , and he yielded . we have him , we have him ; away with him , away with him ; he is condemned , make haste , away with him to the place of execution : we led him with a string , we drew him with a single thread , when in the body , whither we listed , but now we have him in chains , to drag him to the place whither he is unwilling to go . come along . oh , not so fast ! come along , make speed . oh! not so swift , i shall be there too soon ! too soon ! thou art expected , thou art waited for , make haste and come away . 5. moreover , the merciless nature of the devils , will add to the amazement of the soul in his passage to the place where it shall find no mercy . as the damn'd in hell cry out for mercy , for a small measure of mercy , as may be in a drop of water , and no mercy shall be shewn to them : so the separated soul on its way thither , tho' it cry to its transporters for the least favour , shall find none . might not we suppose it to cry out and say , what! will nothing serve you but my ruine ! will nothing please you but my damnation ! will nothing satisfy you , but that i be made as miserable as your selves ! have pity upon me , if ye have any pity in you , have pity upon me ! all i have , i would give , that i may find some mercy from you . thou silly soul ! thou hast nothing left to offer unto us , to spare thee , or to shew any kindness to thee , that we should let thee go : death hath stripped thee of all , and thou art fallen naked into our hands : but it was thy self and not thy money we desired : thy friends have got thy money , and did let thee go , but we have gotten thee , and will not let thee go . oh miserable soul that i am ! did i serve you so constantly , so heartily , so chearfully , when in my body ; and do ye serve me so cruelly , so unkindly , so unmercifully , as soon as i am separated from my body ! is there none to whom i might look for a little mercy ? is there none in whom i might hope for help and succour , in this distressed case that i am in ? let me turn mine eyes every way , if i may see any hope of help , when this company i am fallen into , will afford me none . first , if i look back to those my friends , that loved me dearly , that ministred to me constantly , night and day , while i was with them ; that parted with me with weeping eyes , with wringing hands , with sorrowful hearts , cannot they relieve me ? cannot they give assistance to me ? when i was with them , they did comfort me ; when i was sick , they gave me cordials ; when i was in pain , they did turn me , hoping i might have ease ; when i was afraid to die , they spake words of comfort to me . but now , woe is me ! being separated from my body , i am out of their reach , i am past their help , i am no more capable of receiving , nor they of affording any benefit unto me . they are in time , i am entred into eternity ; they are in one world , i am now in another , and there is no converse i can have with them , and there is no kindness they can shew to me . besides , they might be ignorant of my case , they might not know what company i am fallen into , nor what is the way that i am going : nay , they might be deceived , thinking i am travelling to heaven ; when , alas ! i find i am posting to hell : supposing the holy angels of god are carrying me to glory ; and therefore say , our loss is his gain : while we are left in trouble , he is going to his eternal rest : and so they do not so much as pity my case ; and tho' they are weeping over my dead body , yet they do not mourn because of the misery that i am in , when they imagine i am on the way to happiness , tho' i find , i know , i am sure i am on the road that leadeth to eternal darkness . secondly , tho' these devils of hell that seized me , are merciless devils , yet the god of heaven is a merciful god , may i look up to him , and cry , most merciful lord , behold my misery , behold my deep distress ; behold me , if ever , now behold me and have compassion on me ! see whither this troop , this host of internal spirits are carrying me ; stop them , oh ! stop them in their way ! or , if they will , and must to hell , let not me go with them : rescue , o rescue me out of their hands , while on the way ; for if i enter thro' the gates of hell , and they be shut upon me , there will be no coming back for ever : no hope , no help for ever . but alas ! woe is me ! i call in vain , i cry in vain , my petition is in vain : devils now can tell me , and conscience now doth tell me , it is too late , and as they do tell me , so i find that now it is too late , if i had begged sooner , i might have speeded better : mercy once , yea often begged of me , and i would not accept of mercy : now i beg , and cry , and call for mercy , and the god of mercy doth deny me mercy . mercy hath done with me , and patience hath done with me , and grace will have no more to do with me ; but wrath will , and vengeance will , and justice hath and will have to do with me for ever ; god is now inexorable , his wrath is now implacable , his anger against me , is never to be appeas'd . the adversaries have haled me to the judge , the judge hath delivered me to these officers , that have their commission from him to cast me into prison , to which i am now on my way ; from which i shall never return , till i shall pay the uttermost farthing , which will never be . the merciful god hath sealed their warrant to apprehend me , and they have served it upon me , and to carry me to the place of execution , and i am with them upon my way unto it , without all hope of reprieve , or pardon . thirdly , may i not with better hope look unto christ , that he that is the way to heaven might pity me , and stop me in my way to hell. it was he that came down from the highest heaven , to prevent sinners going down to the lowest hell. it was he that was taken , arraigned , accused , condemned and crucified , that sinners might be released , discharged , and acquitted from the guilt and punishment of sin. it was he that delivered men that were possessed with devils , rebuked them and cast them out , and freed them from their power . o that christ would pity me ! o that he would have mercy on me ! o that he would shew some bowels of compassion to me , now , even now , before i am actually lodged in the flames of hell ! but this cry , poor wretch that i am ! this calling also is in vain ; for he did not die to save finally-impenitent sinners , and cursed i was such an one : he did not design to save such souls that left their bodies , unbelieving and unsanctified ; and yet i did so , cursed caitiff ! i did so . he would have stopped me in my course and way of sin , but i would and did go forward ; and now he will not stop me on my way to hell , but i must go forwards . fourthly , it will be much more vain for me , seized by these evil angels , to look to the holy angels of god for succour and relief : for they are ministring spirits for the heirs of salvation , but i am an heir of hell : they are his servants to execute his will against the servants of sin and satan , and such an one i was , all the time of my life of trial : as they stood with flaming swords , which turned every way , to keep fallen man from the tree of life , so they stand , as set by god , with flaming swords , turning every way , to keep unsanctified souls from entring any way into eternal blessed life . nay , they are to gather out of his kingdom such as work iniquity , and to cast them into the furnace of fire . fifthly , still will it be in vain for me on my way to hell , to look to holy souls lodged in heaven ; as it was for the rich man in torments , to look to abraham and lazarus in glory . my friends ( when i and they did live on earth ) did often reprove , exhort , and counsel me , did then pity me , and mourn over me , because they saw me walk in the ways of sin , and longed for my conversion and turning unto god ; they died before me , and were carried by angels into abraham's bosom , afterwards i also was separated from my body , and devils are carrying me to eternal torments , which they in heaven do not know , or if they do , they are so far from pitying of me , that they rejoice in the righteous judgments of god upon all his implacable enemies , how near soever they were related to them . if i then on my passage to my doleful home , am such a forsaken soul , forsaken of god , forsaken of christ , forsaken of all in heaven and on earth , and am surprized by this host of devils , there is no hope , the way is bad , the end will be worse , without end : o forlorn ! forlorn ! what a forlorn soul am i ! i and all my friends are separated ; my body and i am separated ; my hopes and i am separated ; my body is left to be meat for worms , and i am taken as a prey to devils ; my body will be carried by men to a cold grave , and i am carrying by devils to an hot hell , exceeding hot , where my pain will be extreme , intollerable , and eternal . use ii. comfort . that angels are the convoy of the soul on its passage to glory , administers comfort to all those that are heirs of salvation . god hath not only prepared such things for us in heaven , which eye hath not seen nor ear heard , nor can we now conceive how great and glorious they are ; set forth by a kingdom , a crown , an inheritance , mansions in our father's house , a paradise , a city that hath foundations , an house not made with hands , a weight of glory , incorruptible treasures , &c. but hath also secured our way unto them , by the ministration of his angels , who are to conduct our separated souls to the actual possession of them . i shall amplify this for our greater delight and joy in the fore thoughts of it , by such considerations that do by immediate and necessary consequence flow from the convoy of angels receiving the souls of believers , at their dissolution , wherever they die , and transporting them into the immediate glorious presence of god in the highest heavens , where when once lodg'd they will be happy for ever . 1. the excellency of their company from earth to heaven . 2. their safety in their passage from the one to the other . 3. their dignity before they are actually glorified in heaven , 4. their celerity and speedy motion , from and to such distant places . 5. the exultancies of joy , both of the transporters and the passengers , at their arrival at the haven of happiness . 1. the excellency of the company the gracious separated soul is immediately received into , doth cause abundant delight and joy unto it . the difference of the company it had while in the body , and hath as soon as out of the body , doth presently shew it is got into another state , into a new world. it had often heard of the heavenly principalities and powers , but they never appeared unto it before . angels are such glorious creatures , that in this mortal state , we could not without fear , amazement and trembling bear their appearing unto us . but when the gracious soul is out of the body , the presence , company , and vision of glorious angels shall transport it with joy , and fill it with great delight . tho' we cannot tell the names of angels that shall be sent to convey our souls to heaven ( there being but one proper name in sacred scripture attributed to a created angel , viz. gabriel , dan. 8. 16. and 9. 21. luke 1. 19 , 26. which signifieth a strong man of god , and might be a common name to any angel sent by god upon any special message , for every one is a strong man of god ) yet the titles and properties ascribed to them all , are sufficient grounds of satisfaction to us , whoever of them shall be commissioned by god , to conduct us to the blessed state above . twice we read of an archangel , 1 thes . 4. 16. jude v. 9. which is michael , signifying , who as god , or who is equal to god ; to be understood of christ , the son of god , the only uncreated angel , for it pleased god to send his son as his messenger to declare to men his holy will , and is often , in scripture , called an angel , and he is that archangel , who is the head of all principalities and powers , col. 2. 20. and all the other are his servants and attendants . how much the separated soul ( being then made perfect in holiness ) will be delighted with the sight and knowledge of this new company , sent to convey it to glory , we might apprehend by titles given to them , setting forth the excellency of them . 1. this convoy sent for it , are holy ones : in holiness they were at first created , and their holiness they still retain , persevering in it , dan. 4. 13. 17. and often called , holy angels , mat. 8. 28. and 25. 31. 2. they are men of god , assuming the shape of men , when sent to men by god , judg. 13. 6 , 9. 3. they are sons of god , having still the likeness of god , in which they were at first produced , job . 1. 6. 4. they are stiled gods ; not that god that is jehovah , but such gods as are called elohim , psal . 8. 5. comp . psal . 97. 7. 5. they are god's host , gen. 32. 2. by these god doth protect his people . 6. they are twice called seraphims , because of their burning zeal for god's glory , in executing of his commands , isa . 6. 2 , 6. 7. they are called cherubims , thrones , dominions , principalities and powers , implying their vigour , dignity , government under god , over things and persons in this world , and the right they have to the government they take upon them . who can tell the greetings , the salutations betwixt these glorious angels and the gracious soul , at their first meeting , after its separation from the body ? all hail , o blessed soul ! hast thou fought a good fight ? we are come to carry thee in triumph . hast thou run thy race ? we are appointed to fetch thee to thy incorruptible crown . hast thou finished thy course ? we are sent to conduct thee to thy eternal rest . the soul might be conceived to reply , what joy am i filled with at this your salutation ! o ye holy ones , how glad am i to see you ? ye men of god , ye sons of god , how do i rejoice to meet you ? are the gods , the host of god , come to guard me on my way to glory ? are these seraphims flaming with zeal for god , burning in love to me , come to take me newly separated from my body , to convey me to my mansion in my father's house ? are these cherubims , thrones , dominions , principalities and powers come to defend me from the principalities and powers of hell , and from the spiritual wickednesses in high places , through whose territories i am to pass , unto the place and happiness purchased , promised and prepared for me ? o how glad am i of your company in this long journey i am to go ! how am i rejoiced i shall have your conduct in this way i never went before ? and blessed , for ever blessed be my god , that hath sent his angels to be my guide and guard. i must praise him , i must praise him before i get to heaven , who hath sent such a glorious train to lead me to it : this is the host of that god that i did love , and serve , and trust and hope in : this is the army of that god of heaven , to whom i committed my self , and resigned my self , when i was parting with my body on my dying bed : he hath not forgot me , nor his promises that he made unto me : when my father , my mother , and all my friends forsook me , because they could go no further with me , he hath sent his angels to take me up . o the difference betwixt the company that i have lest , and this which i have found ! in the body i was in company with sinful men , which were my grief ; out of the body i am in company with holy angels , which is my joy. in the body i did converse with imperfect saints ; now out of the body , with pure , spotless angels . in the body i was with mourning friends ; out of the body , with triumphing angels . in the body i was with weak , tho' loving relations , that would have helped me , but they could not ; out of the body i am with these angels that both can and will. in the body , on my dying bed , i was with a few that watched with me night and day , till i had made them almost weary ; but now , out of the body , i have many holy ones sent from heaven , to watch me on my way unto that place , where they and i never shall be weary . o blessed company ! o blessed change of company ! i never was on such a journey before ; i never was in such company on any journey before ; i never found such pleasure in any way i went , in any company i was ever in before ; and sure the place i am going to , i shall find to be such , as i was never in before . come , put on . ii. the safety of the separated soul by the convoy of angels , will increase its joy on its way to glory . it shall be presently freed from all fears of danger . in the body it was not without its fears : fears from without and within ; from above and below : many fears it was filled with . 1. from a tempting devil , that on his dying bed endeavoured to disturb his peace , suggesting evil thoughts , representing the evil of his sin , multiplying and magnifying them by the aggravations that did accompany them . 2. from in-dwelling sin ; there being the remains of sin abiding in his heart . i fear what this hard , unbelieving heart will expose me to . 3. from the imperfection and weakness of his grace . i fear i do not love god ; i fear god loves not me ; i fear i am not sincere ; i am afraid all my duties have been done in hypocrisy , and that i have not walked before god with an upright heart . 4. from approaching death . possest with fear about the pains and pangs of death , how to bear them , and go thro' them ; about his readiness and preparedness for death ; about his meetness for a participation of the inheritance of the saints in light. 5. and therefore from the want of his evidences of his title to heaven , and assurance of salvation : for which cause the departing soul was filled with trembling , perceiving it could not continue much longer in the body , and yet afraid to leave it , saying , what if i should be deceived ? what if i should make an error in my death about my eternal state ? what if , while i am in the body , i should suppose that i have the truth of grace , and when out of the body find that i had none ? this makes me afraid to think of heaven , least i should miss of it , or of hell , least i should be doomed to it . but as soon as the gracious soul is separated from its body , and beholds the chariot and horses which god hath sent for him , all his doubts are immediately resolved , and all his fears presently expelled , and the clouds that intercepted the light of god's countenance from him , are forthwith scattered and dispersed . now the safety of the gracious separated soul , and its freedom from all fears of danger on its travil to heaven , by reason of this angelical convoy , will appear by these circumstances , or rather qualifications of the messengers sent for it . first , because the soul is guarded with such powerful angels . evil angels that will endeavour to way lay the soul are strong and powerful spirits ; but the holy angels that are to defend it on its way , are stronger and more powerful than they ; not only in themselves , compared with the other , but also because evil angels oppose the soul in their own strength , by meer permission , without assistance from god ; but holy angels act not only by that power they are indued with from god , but also by commission and assistance from him ; and therefore when we read of any fight and conflict between the bad and holy angels , the good always overcame ; because christ , who is that michael , is the lord general of the heavenly host , and they fight under his banner , and he that is the captain of our salvation , is the captain , leader , and commander in chief of this heavenly army : rev. 12. 7 , 8. and there was war in heaven , michael and his angels fought against the dragon , and the dragon fought and his angels , and prevailed not , neither was there place sound any more in heaven . 9. and the great dragon was cast out , that old serpent , called , the devil and satan , which deceiveth the whole world ; he was cast out into the earth , and his angels were cast out with him , rev. 20. 1. i saw an angel come down from heaven , having the key of the bottomless pit , and a great chain in his hand . 2. and he laid hold on the dragon , that old serpent , which is the devil and satan , and bound him a thousand years . 3. and cast him into the bottomless pit , and set a seal upon him , that he should deceive the nations no more . thus the holy angels are celebrated for their power , being mighty angels , 2 thes . 1. 7. and do excel in strength , psal . 103. 20. their power , under god , is the soul's safety , on its way from earth to heaven . secondly , the soul by this convoy is safe , because conducted by such knowing angels : evil angels , though they have lost all that holiness they were at first created with , yet they retain great measures of knowledge , therefore we read of the subtilty , of the stratagems and devices of the devil ; yet the holy holy angels are more knowing than they , for when devils are cast out , the good angels do always behold the face of god in heaven , mat. 18. 10. so that god revealing his will to them about any matter , message , or person , they readily know , and as readily execute what he reveals to them to be his will to be done by them . as to our present purpose , by god's revelation to them : 1. they know those that are sincerely holy ; for they rejoice at their conversion . 2. they know when any believer is dissolved by death , and when his soul is separated from his body ; else how should they know when to come for it ? 3. they know where any believer dies , at home or abroad , on his bed or in the field , by land or sea ; else how should they know where to come for it ? 4. they know the soul separated , which is the soul of a sanctified man , and which of one unholy ; else how should they know which to take , and which to leave ; which to carry to heaven , and which to leave to devils to be carried to hell ; and here ( thro' divine revelation ) they never make any mistake . 5. they know the way from any part of this world , to the blessed world above , by their often coming and going , and never miss their way . all which laid together , shews the safety of believers souls , wherever they live , wherever they die , whoever they be , that there is no fear that they should not be found by the ministring angels , or that finding them at death , they should lose their way to heaven . so that the separated soul at the first appearance of angels to it , will see the love and care of god concerning it , and with admiring thoughts thereof , may say , hath god made known to you the place where i did leave my body , and the very moment when i parted from it , and that i was sincere in heart to god , and gave you charge to come and guide me in my way , unto his glorious presence ; how chearfully will i go with you ? knowing that by your power , under god , i shall not be seized by evil spirits , and by your skill i shall not lose my way . thirdly , the separated soul , by angels ministration , is safe , because convoyed by such faithful angels , that are always true to their trust . if a man be on a journey in company that is able to protect him , and skilful to direct him , yet if any in the company be unfaithful , they may betray him ; but here can be no danger , nor ground of fear in respect of this convoy . 1. else holy angels would not be faithful to god the father , in betraying any one soul chosen by him to eternal life . 2. nor to god the son , in losing any whom he hath redeemed and purchased by his most precious blood. 3. nor to the holy spirit of god , by dropping any by the way , which by the special operation of his powerful grace , he hath prepared and made meet for glory , and had given to them the pledge and earnest thereof . 4. nor to the soul committed to their charge to bring to heaven ; for wherein could greater unfaithfulness to it be shewn , than in what concerns its eternal state. 5. nor to their own office or commission to them , without fail to conduct such an one to the happiness of heaven . such unfaithfulness is inconsistent with the perfection and spotless purity of holy angels , which being confirmed , cannot at any time fall into the least error or miscarriage , for then would they cease to be holy angels . what joy then is this to the separated soul , that hath such a convoy sent for it , as shall not indanger it by weakness or want of power , by ignorance or want of skill in the way , or by unfaithfulness or want of fidelity to their trust : o how happy am i on my way to happiness ! how sure am i my way will be prosperous ! how certain is it i shall get safely thither ! fourthly , the gracious separated soul will be safe , because transported by such zealous angels , therefore called seraphims , because they have a burning zeal in executing all that god gives them a charge to do . devils are furious , envious and malicious , and are bent to destroy , devour and damn as many as they can , by watching , by walking to and fro throughout the earth , by tempting , and at last by dragging souls to hell , when separated from their bodies . the holy angels are more for god's glory , the interest of christ , the good of souls , than devils are against them , for i suppose the holy angels do more exceed in goodness , than evil angels , as bad as they are , are filled with wickedness : for in devils there is something materially good ( besides their being ) tho' it may be formally or circumstantially evil , as much of their knowledge : but in holy angels there is nothing that is materially or circumstantially evil. therefore the holy separated soul received into the company of holy angels , on its way to heaven , may delight it self and say , while in the body , i was assaulted with satans temptations , devils did endeavour to persuade me to sin ; but whatsoever violence they may now assault me with , they shall no more with any hopes entice me from my god , and the good company i am in will defend me from them . what zeal do these holy ones shew in protecting of me ? what burning love do i feel in their embracements ? what indignation and anger do they discover , as i go along , against any evil spirits appearing to endanger me ? what assaults the spiritual wickednesses have made , my convoy hath secured me from : when they did draw near , these did beat them back : they are repulsed ; and i , surrounded with these , go safely on . fifthly , the gracious separated soul will be safe , because defended by numerous angels . whether more angels revolted than are confirmed , is not needful to enquire : sure we are , there are multitudes of thousands that did never sin , but retain their integrity , dan. 7. 10. a thousand thousands ministred unto him , and ten thousand times ten thousands stood before him . rev. 5. 11. and i beheld , and i heard the voice of many angels round about the throne , and the beasts and the elders , and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousands , and thousands of thousands . so many that they are innumerable , heb. 12. 22. how many angels may be sent to convey one particular soul , is more than i do know : but we may be sure of this , that a guard of so many shall be employed , as is sufficient to protect it against all the principalities and powers of hell ; so that the soul might pass without fear of danger , and say , this number god hath sent , will see me safe in heaven ; for every one of them is mighty , powerful , every one is knowing and skilful in the way , and every one is faithful to his trust , every one is zealous for god's glory in my salvation , and mine eyes being opened , i see there is more for me than against me . iii. the convoy of angels shews us the dignity and honour that god puts upon the separated soul. lazarus was much despised , slighted and neglected , when body and soul remained united , and whatsoever contempt his dead body was exposed to , his separated soul was honoured with the company of angels . strange change ! one while lying amongst the dogs , and another while carried by angels : it 's said , the romans , after their victories , in their triumphs had their charriots drawn sometimes with elephants , sometimes with nimble-footed jennets , sometimes with pyde horses ; and amasis , king of egypt , had his chariot drawn with four kings , whom he had conquered . but the soul of a believer is carried in greater triumph by angels into heaven . when the king asked haman , what shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour , he ( supposing it should be himself ) said , let the royal apparel be brought , which the king useth to wear , and the horse that the king rideth upon , and the crown royal which is set upon his head , and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king 's most noble princes , that they may aray the man withal , whom the king delighteth to honour , and bring him on horseback through the street of the city , and proclaim before him , thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour , esth . 6. 6 , to 12. tho' we cannot see the soul when it leaves the body , nor the guard of angels standing ready to receive it , nor hear the songs of triumph as they pass along , yet we may conceive what is proclaimed ( if not verbally , yet really in the thing done ) in the heavenly host , as they pass through the air , thus shall it be done to the soul , whom the king of glory delighteth to honour . we may also imagin how the soul it self is transported with joy , and beats its part in those triumphant songs , and is revived more than jacob's fainting heart was , when his sons told him all the words of joseph , and when he saw the wagons which joseph had sent to carry him , so when the soul seeth the chariots that god hath sent to carry it to jesus , is comforted and filled with admiration , saying , i have lived hitherto in a strange land , where god did set me to be prepared for a state of glory ▪ to be taught and instructed in christ's school , by his appointed ordinances , to be made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light : i have been a pilgrim and a sojourner in the lower world , where i dwelt in an earthly tabernacle and cottage of clay , where i looked for a city which hath foundations , whose maker and builder is god ; and now my father hath sent , lo , what glorious angels he hath sent to fetch me home , to possess the mansion prepared for me in his own house , and stately palace in the highest heavens : i am going to a better country than ever yet i was in : i am on my way to my eternal blessed home , and with what honour am i conducted thither ? for the noblest of god's creatures are sent by him to fetch me to his glorious presence , to the place of light , and life , and love. the courtiers of heaven , are my attendants thither . these favourites of the great king are come to lead me to his palace , and to introduce me ( under christ ) into his presence . these morning stars are to go before me ( which make me to rejoice with exceeding great joy ) these are to go before me to guide me to the place where jesus is ( not lying in a manger , but ) sitting on his throne at the right hand of the majesty on high . these that are to god , what gentlemen of the bed chamber are , to earthly kings are come down to fetch me up . never had an ( unbelieving ) earthly king such a life-guard as this ; nor such attendants to wait upon him or to minister to him : all his lords and nobles and captains , are far inferior to these angels , and it is the great god's good pleasure , that it should be done thus , to all the souls whom he delighteth to honour . iv. the celerity and speedy passage of the separated soul , from earth to heaven , is evidenced by its being carried by angels from the one place to the other : tho' the distance from this earth to the highest heaven , is conceived to be millions of miles , and a further voyage than from any part in this lower world , to another most remote , in point of distance ; yet the passage is not so long , in respect of time , tho' the way be long between the term from which , and the term to which the soul is carried ; yet it is not long the soul is passing through the intermediate distance , because it is helped by the spedy motion of the angels ; which , that we may the better conceive , let us consider , 1. the motion of angels from heaven to earth , and back again , cannot be but through the intermediate distance of the one from the other : for the continuity of angels motion is not to be taken only from the continuity of the duration ( while they move ) but also from the continuity of the space through which they remove . 2. the motion of angels from such distant extreams as heaven and earth , cannot be properly and strictly an instantaneous motion . when an angel is actually in heaven , the term from which , it is only potentially on earth , the term to which : now if an angel could move in one indivisible instant , from one to the other , it would be in heaven and on earth at the same instant , and so in the same moment it would be actually in both the extream terms , when he was only actually in the one , and potentially in the other , which is to say , he is actually in one , and not in the other in the same moment , and yet in the same moment he is in both , which is a contradiction . 3. angels being spirits , and not corporeal substances , are not hindered in their motion by those things that bodies are : bodies move more slowly or more swiftly , according as the medium is , as they move swifter in the air than in the water , because the air being more thin and subtile doth not so much resist the mover , as the water that is more dense and gross , must needs do : also because one body cannot be penetrated by another , as a man cannot go thro' a door , when it is shut , the one must hinder the other in its motion : but angels , being spirits , cannot be retarded in their motion , by the solidity or thickness of doors or walls , to hinder them from coming into a prison , castle or a chamber where a believer is a dying , for the receiving of his soul : for though one body cannot be in the same particular place where another body is , because then there would be a penetration of dimensions ; yet angels by bodies are not excluded , because they are immaterial , as appears by a legion of evil spirits ( which is six thousand five hundred ) being in one man : and tho' one angel , because finite , cannot be in two distant places at once , yet many angels , because immaterial , might be in one ( where ) or place together at once ; and so their motion not hindred by the presence of bodies , or the presence one of another . 4. the motion of the angels is exceeding swift ; and to express it , they are said to have wings , and that they fly swiftly , more speedily than the sun that moves thousands of miles in an hour ; it might come near in resemblance to the motion of the eye , that can so quickly turn and look up to heaven , or to lightning , that runs in a little time , from one part of the heavens to the other , and so comes nearest to an instantaneous motion . but the scripture , that is the surest rule to judge by , doth teach us , that an angel can come from heaven to earth , while a man is making of his prayer to god , dan. 9. 20. while i was speaking and praying , and confessing my sin , and the sin of my people i●rael , and presenting my supplication before the lord my god , for the holy mountain of my god. 21. yea , while i was speaking in prayer , even the man gabriel , whom i had seen in the vision at the beginning , being caused to fly swiftly , touched me about the time of the evening oblation . 22. and he informed me , and talked with me , and said , odaniel , i am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding . 23. at the beginning of thy supplication the commandment came forth , and i am come to shew thee , for thou art greatly beloved . — where we might observe , 1. the speedy return that is sometimes made to prayer ; while a believer is praying , the answer is made ; while the prayer is going up , the mercy is coming down . 2. the angels stand ready before the lord , waiting to be employed by him for the good and comfort of his people , at his pleasure . 3. god doth but give the word , and angels doth obey : the commandment , or the word , came forth , and i am come . 4. angels make haste to execute god's commands : gabriel was caused to fly swiftly . 5. the time of his coming was , while daniel was praying : at the beginning of his prayer gabriel was in heaven , before the ending of it , he was with daniel . that the soul is not long in its journey to heaven , is clear , from christ's word to the thief on the cross , luke , 23. 43. verily i say unto thee , to day shalt thou be with me in paradise . the same day he was on the cross , he was in heaven : the same day he was crucified , the same day he was glorified : and though the day was far spent , yet that day was his soul in heaven : the soul may be carried from its body to the place of glory , in a part of a day . this is wonderful . how comfortable is this to a dying believer ; who might , speaking to his weeping friends about his bed , say , what mean your tears , your sighs and groans ? why are ye cast down ? and why are your hearts troubled ? would you grieve thus if i were going a voyage to the indies , in hopes of gain , with a safe and strong convoy ? why i am going to a better place , with a safer convoy , for greater gain , and tho' the place be far off , i shall soon be there ; the same day i go from you on earth , being helped on my way by swift and flying angels , i shall go to christ in heaven . so soon ! o then how near will my separated soul be to my mansion above ! what! turned out of the body , and received into heaven the same day ! make what speed you can or will to interr the body i shall leave with you , my soul shall be carried by god's holy angels into abraham's bosom , before my body can be carried by men , and lodged in the bosom of the earth . and when the soul is breathed out , and received into the angels arms , and perceives the swiftness of the motion they carried it with , how greatly will it be delighted to think , tho' the way be long , yet it will not be long before i shall be at my journey 's end : o the haste ! the haste ! the speedy haste they do make to lodge me in my saviour's arms ! methinks , they think it long till they shew me , what in heaven is prepared for me ! methinks , they are holily ambitious to help me forward , that i might see the state , and place , and company above , and how glorious they all are ! o , how do they fly ! how do they fly ! how swiftly do they fly with me in their arms , that they may lodge me in that place of rest and joy , wherein they have for so long a duration seen the face of god , joyed in their rest , and rested in their joy , and are desirous to have me there , that i , with god , and christ , and them , might rest , and joy to all eternity . i am now out of hearing of the clocks , and see not the artificial dials , by which men see hourly the motion of the sun , whereby they measure their time , and on their journeys know how many miles an hour they go over : if in an hour to their earthly home , they travel , with the help of horses and chariots , eight or ten miles , what haste do they think they make ? how soon do they think they shall be at home , received and entertained with joy , with loving embracements , by friends waiting , looking , longing for their coming home ? but their swiftest pace to their earthly home , is slow to mine , to my heavenly home : it is , to mine , as the crawling of a snail , to the motion of the sun. god is looking for me , and christ is looking for me , and the blessed inhabitants above are looking for me : is the cry in heaven , why is yonder soul so long a coming ? when will it be here , that we might have a new lodger in our dwellings ? angels were ordered to go for him , the horses and the chariots were sent to fetch him up : why is his chariot so long a coming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariot ? the soul on its journey looking out of his chariot , and up to heaven , and seeing them out of the windows of heaven looking for him , and calling , come away , make haste and come to us , it replies . i hasten , i hasten , i come , behold i come quickly . v. the angels being the carriers , and the soul the carried , it will be matter of joy to both , at their arrival at the port of happiness ; both angels the transporters , and the soul that is the passenger , shall rejoice when landed at their intended haven . as mariners with their passengers , sailing through tempestuous seas , stormy winds , and raging waves , having escaped the sands and rocks , and hands of pyrates , and being come to their designed harbour , are filled with joy , and do shoot and shout , thereby giving out their signs of joy : so the angels , and the soul whom they have conveyed to the gates of heaven , do rejoice that their voyage hath been so prosperous . 1. the angels , that were the carriers , do with joy present the soul to christ , saying , o our lord and king , thou gavest us command to go and fetch this soul to thee , and set it in heaven , before thee , and lo here it is . thou gavest us in charge to conduct it in safety to the gates of thy glorious kingdom , and so we have . thou didst enjoyn us to defend it from the powers of darkness , and all hellish principalities that might assault it by the way , and we have brought it to thee through their host , and here it is , we present it to thee , and to the father , and the holy spirit . it is welcomed to the kingdom by the father , son , and holy ghost . god the father doth graciously entertain it , as we must speak in our manner , to set forth this joy , as if he said to this purpose , come thou blessed soul , come in , behold the kingdom , and the glorious state that i did choose thee to : look and see what i prepared for thee before the foundation of the world : all this glory i did design for thee , from all eternity to all eternity . there were but a few , in comparison of those i justly passed by , that i chose unto this happiness , and it pleased me to make thee one of those few , thou wast involved in sin and guilt , thou wast wallowing in thy blood , thou wast dead in trespasses and sins , as well as others : but it was my pleasure to ordain thee to be brought unto this place and paradise of joy , which now thou dost behold , and which i sent my angels to bring thee to : come , welcom to my glorious palace ; come , enter in , and sit down with all this happy company , that before thee i have received hither . god the son will also entertain it , saying , come , o dear and precious soul , i am jesus thy redeemer , i am christ thy saviour , i am he that went from heaven to earth , that thou and others might be brought from earth to heaven ; i am he that suffered that thou might'st be saved , that died that thou might'st live ; i am he that for thy sake did wear a crown of thorns , that thou for my sake might'st wear a crown of glory . behold me , for i am he that was crucified for thee , that thou might'st be glorified with me . come , enter into thy master's joy , welcome to my kingdom , welcome to my presence ; come , enter into thy master's joy. god the holy ghost shall also graciously receive it to his glory , saying , ( as we may conceive ) draw near , thou dear and precious soul , draw near ; my comforts shall delight thee more than ever : thou shalt be filled with my joy more than ever . thou wast born in sin , but i caused thee to be born again , thou wast unclean , but i did wash thee in thy saviour's blood. thou wast unfit for this glorious place and company ; but i did prepare and make thee meet to be a partaker of this inheritance , with these saints , in light : the image of god , by sin , was raced out of thee ; but i did , with my own finger , engrave it again upon thee : 〈◊〉 work in thee what grace was found in thee : i did enable thee to pray , and hope , and wait for this crown of life , of righteousness and glory , which is now set upon thy head : i did give thee the pledge , and earnest , and first-fruits of this glory , which now thou art possessed of : i bid thee welcome to thy entrance into it . 2. the soul that was brought by angels , and thus entertained by the father , son , and holy ghost , at its first arrival there , shall be filled and transported with unspeakable joy ; when received in , and looking about , might be conceived to say , what glorious place is this ! what a glorious company is this ! but let me turn mine eyes unto my lord and saviour jesus christ ! my lord ! i did love thee before i ever saw thee : o how glorious is my lord ! this is he that redeemed me by his blood : this is he who bought me with his blood , who bought me with his blood ; who when i was a captive redeemed me , and bought me with his blood. how low was he abased , how high is he exalted ! how much was he abused , how much is he now admired ! o , how did i long to see my lord ! how desirous have i been to be with him , where he is , and so i am ; i was not , but now i am ! o how good is it to be here ! i never was in such a place before : i never was in such company before , except in my passage to it : here are such glorious sights i never saw , such harmonious songs and praises , as before i never heard . is this the state i prayed for , and hoped , and waited for ! i heard much of it , before i came into it , but at my first entrance , i see more , i enjoy more , i feel more than i did ever hear . o the joy ! the joy ! the fulness of joy that i am filled with ! o god my father , i do praise thee , i do praise thee ; i will for ever praise thee that it was thy pleasure to choose me to it . o god my lord redeemer , i do praise thee , i do praise thee , i will for ever praise thee , that thou didst so freely , so greatly love me , with such a costly love , as with the price of thy blood , to purchase this possession for me , and me to be brought to this possession , to be an heir and inheritor of such a kingdom . o god the holy ghost , my sanctifier , i praise thee , i praise thee , i will for ever praise thee , that by thy powerful changing of my heart , bowing of my will , renewing of my nature , hast prepared me , that i might be and am received into this glorious state. i am but newly entred in , and i must begin my joyful praises ; and because this happy state shall never end , my praise shall never end . 3. the holy angels that are in heaven shall with joy receive the soul that is brought by other angels to the gates thereof , as some of the angels were ready to come for it ; so those that staid above will be ready to set open the gates for its entrance ; for if they rejoiced when it was converted , much more will they when actually saved . 4. the saints that were there before will , with joy , welcome the new-comers ; for if good men on earth are rejoiced when others are made good , much more will saved souls above rejoice , when others with them , are actually saved ; and as abraham did lazarus , receive them into their bosoms . use iii. exhortation . from the ministration of angels attending the souls of believers at their dissolution , several duties might be inferred , some of which are these : i. give thanks to god , and praise him for his love to , and care of you that are his people : that he hath made it the office of such holy and noble spirits , to be your attendants to minister unto you , for your good : for if children should be thankful to god for their good parents , who have loved them , and took care of them in their infancy , and provided necessaries for them all along as they grew up , and orphans for good and careful guardians , and pupils for good tutors , and people for good ministers , and subjects for good magistrates , and for all the good that these have received from them , under god , as his ministers to them for good ; then we should also for the good angels , and for the good god doth convey to us by them , as his servants herein , while we live on earth , in the place of our pilgrimage , angels looking upon us , as strangers in this world , do us many good turns ; for it is not to be supposed , that these good angels that are so careful of us , when we die , should do no offices of love to us , while we live ; especially , when scripture sets forth more copiously , the ministration of angels for us in this life , but more sparingly after death . tho' they do many things for us when we neither see them , nor know they are done by them , yet what the scripture reveals , we might as confidently believe and hope for , as if we visibly saw it : they have been often used by god for his people's good , in many respects , ordinary and extraordinary . 1. to direct them in the way wherein they were to go , about their lawful imployments , that they might not wander , gen. 24. 7. and 32. 1. 2. to watch them , to preserve them from hurt and danger , pitching their camps about their dwellings , psal . 34. 7. and many a night our safety hath been more from the watchful angels , than the watchmen in the streets ; for except the lord keep the city , ( which he often doth by angels ) the watchmen waketh but in vain . 3. to be instrumental in healing them when they have been sick and diseased : we may owe more to angels herein ( under god ) than to the physicians , being more skilful than they ; and how far godly physicians might be helped in prescribing their medicines , by the secret , undiscernible suggestions of knowing , holy angels , is a thing seldom thought of , joh. 5. 4. 4. to supply our outward wants , when reduced to great straits , 1 king. 19. 5 , 6 , 7. 5. to bear them in their arms , and to support them by their power , to keep them from pernicious falls : who knows how often angels have prevented their falls from their horses , when riding on their journeys , psal . 91. 11 , 12. 6. to enlarge their liberty when they have been confined , and to deliver them out of prisons , which they may be instrumental in more ways than one , acts 12. 7 , &c. 7. to comfort them in their fears and perplexities of mind , isay . 6. 5 , 6 , 7. tho' some of these mentioned were extraordinary cases , yet they are apparent evidences of their invisible services , and of their ability and readiness to serve god in ordinary , and extraordinary cases , in which god at his pleasure , may command them to help us , and we are sure they will obey . if for these ye should bless god , ought you not thankfully to acknowledge god's love to , and care of your souls , when separated , in sending angels to be their convoy to heaven ? 1. because evil spirits would be too strong for the soul , without a guard. 2. because your dearest friends , can no way help your separated soul. 3. because there are no other second causes that your separated souls can be committed to , besides the holy angels . 4. because it is your comfort to have such good company with you on your way : travelling alone is solitary in a shorter journey : suitable company is desirable . ii. learn your engagement to christ , for the reconciliation he hath procured for you . 1. with god : by the blood of his cross , he hath purchased your peace with him : without this peace made , god would have used the ministration of angels for your destruction and damnation , as he will by them cast the ungodly into the furnace of fire , at the second coming of christ ; but the hostility betwixt god and believers is taken away by christ , and the breach made up by his blood , col. 1. 20. 2. with holy angels : betwixt men and devils christ will make no peace : war betwixt them is proclaimed , and shall be continued . holy angels that were confirmed , stood on god's side , against angels that apostatized , and mankind that had revolted , and were ready to execute god's judgments at his pleasure , upon his enemies , of which we have many instances in scripture . wherefore that angels are so ready to convey believers souls to heaven , which is so great an office of love , must be attributed to christ , who hath made such holy angels to be such great friends to them , eph. 1. 10. iii. learn what duties are incumbent upon you , while you live , from this ministration of holy angels to your souls , when you die : as they have been god's messengers to make known his will , and publish his good pleasure , to instruct and teach , to bring glad tidings of a saviour for lost sinners , and to be witnesses of christ's ascention into heaven , and to declare his coming again , by audible voice ; so they by their example in taking the care and charge of holy separated souls , to conduct them to heaven , teach us several duties . 1. by their love to believers separated souls , we should be excited to great love to them . love should be reciprocal , in loving them that love us : should not we love the angels in heaven , who are so ready to help us up to heaven ? should we love every one on earth , in whom we see the holy image and likeness of god in smallest measure , and should not we love these holy angels that are like to god in highest degrees ? should we love the ministers of god , whose preaching god hath made instrumental for our conversion and preparation for heaven , and should we not love these messengers of god , who are sent by him to fetch us to the possession of our mansions in heaven ? do we love the company of good men that travel with us upon earth , as they are guides and guards unto us on our way , and shall we not love these holy angels of god , that will be our companions in our journey to heaven ? if we are to love such as are our enemies in life , surely we should love these that will be such friends unto us after death . 2. by their condescention in the carrying the soul of the meanest believer to heaven , we should learn humility , and to condescend to men of low estates , for the good and welfare of their souls . what meer creatures are more noble and excellent than the holy angels in heaven ? and what believer , as to outward circumstances , was poorer and more loathsom than lazarus ? was he not a beggar that wanted bread ? was he not a cripple , that could not go to , but was laid at the rich man's gate ? was he not only sore , but full of sores , that a nice and squeamish person would have disdained to look upon him , but much more to dress his sores ? and yet the angels of god did not disdain to carry this poor man's soul into abraham's bosom ? did they take him in their arms , whom the rich man would not take and lay in any of his out-houses ? are any of the sons of men more excellent , more noble , more knowing , and set higher in any capacity above the poorest and most contemptible believer upon earth , than the angels in heaven ? and yet are they ready to minister to the meanest , and shall any of us be so great in our own eyes , and look upon our selves in such a magnifying glass , as to refuse to help forward the salvation of the poorest soul ? 3. let the ministration of angels , in carrying souls to heaven , be a pattern of our obedience to god , all the days of our life on earth . as they obey god in this , as in all things else , so let us write after their copy , to do the will of god , as by them in heaven it is done : tho' we cannot do it equally in degrees , yet let it be our holy ambition to come as near to them as we can , in these particulars : first , they do not stir to fetch a soul to heaven , without a warrant from god ; they are sent before they come : so let us see what warrant we have from god for what we do , before we do it ; demanding of our selves , hath god commanded this ? hath he spoke the word ? will the holy scripture , wherein god's will and my duty is revealed , bear me out , if i do this or that ? what a multitude of sins by this would be prevented ? secondly , angels come and carry believing souls to heaven , with greatest alacrity and cheerfulness : as they joy in their conversion , so in carrying them to eternal salvation , if they be sent never so often , to fetch never so many , they never grudge their labour , they have not the least regret nor repining , but the more they are sent for the more they are pleased and do rejoice . so we should serve the lord with gladness , and and come before his presence with singing , psal . 100. 2. we should pray to him with delight , hear from him and obey him with cheerfulness , and joy. thirdly , angels having a charge to fetch a believer's soul , come speedily , without delay ; they make haste to receive it , that they may be present at the very moment of its separation : they never come too late . in like manner we should imitate their obedience in ours , psal . 119. 60. i made haste , and delayed not to keep thy commandments . god commands you now to repent , but you put it off till hereafter : god enjoins you to day , whiles it is called to day , to hearken to his voice ; but you stop your ears to day , and so you will to morrow , if you shall have the same hardness of heart to morrow , as you have to day . angels in conveying souls do not so ; but when god gives the word , they obey speedily and fly swiftly . fourthly , angels in carrying souls to heaven are faithful in their service in fetching as many as god sends them for , and no more , and the very same souls and no other ; they never mistake one for another , and never drop or lose any by the way committed to their charge . we , in imitation of them , should be faithful in doing what god commands to every person , in what capacity , station and relation we stand to them : to one as well as another , and not only to one , neglecting another , when each are equally committed to our charge . fifthly . holy angels serve god in this ministration with persevering constancy : they have been imployed in transporting souls for many ages already past , innumerable souls have been conveyed from this world to that above , and so they do still , as oft as believers die , and so they will to the world's end , till all the souls , ordained by god for eternal life , are lodged in the heavens . to which pattern we should conform our selves in our obedience to god , persevering therein to our lives end , psal . 119. 112. i have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes always , even to the end. 4. let the care of angels , in carrying holy souls to heaven , make us careful of our own souls , that they be such , and so qualified with special grace , that they may be the object of their care , when they shall be separated from our bodies , as you desire they , and not devils , should have them , when out of the body ; do you make it your great concern , to have them sanctified in the body : for holy angels will not touch an unholy separated soul , to defend it from the devil 's seizing of it . if the soul be unholy while you live , and leave the body unholy when you die , it will be unfit for the glorious presence of god , for the holy place and company above , and it will not be in their commission to carry it thither , neither will they do it . 5. grieve not , nor offend the holy angels of god , as you expect and hope they should carry your souls to heaven when you die . good and evil angels are your spectators and observers , when you might think little of it : when you do evil , bad angels rejoice , good angels are offended : when you please god , devils are displeased , but good angels are delighted at it . take heed in secret what you do , for there may be more devils and holy angels with you , tho' not seen by you , than you are aware of . be mindful how you behave your self in the publick ordinances , because of angels , good and bad , for when you come to these , good and bad angels come also ; the devil to catch the word from you , that you might not be saved , but that he might catch and carry your soul at death , to hell : good angels to promote your conversion now , that they may carry your souls to heaven hereafter . because of these holy angels in the assembly watch your carriage , shall they see your eyes rolling after sinful objects ? shall they see you sleeping under the word , or in time of prayer ? will you so grieve those that you hope shall be imployed , in carrying your soul to heaven ? blush more that angels see you nodding in duty , than that men see you . iv. tho' angels shall be so careful of you , to carry your separated soul to heaven , yet be you careful , that you now carry nothing to them that is due to god ; neither your prayers , nor any part of religious worship that properly belongs to god. worshipping of angels is offensive to god , and displeasing to them , and they refuse to accept it : tho' you were upon your dying bed , you may not pray to them to come and guard you , but you may pray to god that he would send them to defend you , and carry you to glory ; as in another case manoah did , judg. 13. 8. manoah intreated the lord and said , o my lord , let the man of god , which thou didst send , come again unto us . — 9. and god hearkened to the voice of manoah , and the angel of god came again . — 16. the angel said , if thou wilt offer a burnt offering , thou must offer it to the lord. v. this is great encouragement to dying believers : when such an one perceives the approaching of death , that he must get up and ride upon that pale horse that will carry him into the other world , he might say , farewell , dear friends , farewell ; i am going , my time is ended my course is finished ; i shall be no more with you , and when my soul is departed , there is no more that you can do for it : weep not , neither be ye grieved , i have those that will take care of me , when ye cannot ; god will take care of me , and christ will take care of me , and the holy angels of god will take care of me : i have god's promise for my security , god's power for my protection , god's angels for my guard : the angel of the covenant will charge his angels with me ; the messenger of the covenant will send his messengers for me : the surety of the covenant hath undertaken , with god , for me , and for me with god , and i shall reap the benefit of his suretiship , and the blessings of the covenant for ever , when carried up into heaven : death will carry me into eternity ; and angels will carry me into a blessed eternity of life and joy , with christ in glory . the horsemen of israel are a coming , the chariot is making ready , and as death hastens , so do they , and will certainly be here as soon as death , if not before . shall i be afraid of death , or devils , or hell , when angels will meet me at death's door , and carry me to heaven's gates , and others let me in to take up my lodging in abraham's bosom ? this is ground of support to a believer on his dying bed , when he must mount the pale horse of death , which will carry him into another world , that god will charge his angels to attend , and to be read to receive his separated soul , and carry it into the state and place of eternal happiness in the other world. this also might alleviate the grief of surviving friends , which often loads and burdens the heart , because of the departure of such , that while they lived , were their comfort and delight ; when they consider the joyful company of the holy angels they have to convoy them to their eternal blessed home , their joyful entertainment there , their happy rest , their holy imployment , their inconceivable joys in the immediate presence of their glorious god and exalted redemer , and the eternal spirit , and that all this shall be their happiness to all eternity . it is no blind charity to conclude that the soul of this deceased friend , is safely arrived at heaven , and hath his mansion there , when those that knew him best , and conversed with him most , and had the longest acquaintance to observe his conversation , can , and do affirm , that his whole life was very exemplary , suitable to his profession , and worthy of others imitation . when i was at his funeral , a grave , solid , and judicious christian , said to me , i have known him from his begining to his end , and think , that whatsoever migh be said of an upright man , might be said concerning him . he was very diligent in redeeming his time , improving it in the duties of his particular and general calling , cautious and watchful that he might not waste nor mispend the hours of his life , for tho' he had a considerable estate , yet he was as laborious in his station , as if he had not bread to eat , till he had got it by his hands ; not from a covetous desire of gain , which was manifest , in that the same hands that worked for it , were as ready to give it , as the necessities of others called for it : for to my knowledge , he gave a considerable allowance , for many years , towards the education of a poor scholar , whom , when he heard preach , before he died , said to me , he thought his money well bestowed , and was a comfort to him that it had been so rightly placed , and that he saw such fruits of what he had therein done . he was more than ordinarily ready to promote the preaching of the gospel amongst a people that , by reason of their low circumstances , were not able to procure it ; one instance i remember , when a friend of mine did but mention the case of such a people in the country , tho' he did not ask him , yet before they parted , i saw him give several pounds to be towards the maintainance of a preacher for that year . another special friend of mine , of his intimate acquaintance , told me since his death , that once he desired some assistance from him , for the relief of a very fit object of charity , more than ordinary , for which purpose he readily ( beyond his expectation ) gave many pounds . after some considerable time intervening , the same person , upon another extraordinary occasion , renewed his request for his help , and he chearfully gave him upon that account , as much as he did for the other . whereupon my friend told me , that such a free-giver spoiled him for a beggar for others ( as to him ) for after that , he could never prevail with himself to ask him any more , who was so easily prevailed with to give so liberally . he was an earnest desirer of the welfare of the souls of others , for i know that he hath often bought many dozens of books of several subjects , and given them to poor persons and families , asking nothing but that they would take them and diligently read them : also if any desired him to transcribe out of his short hand into long , any sermon under which they were more than usually affected ( tho' he was fully imployed , yet ) he would take time from his sleep , and write it very fair and give them , being ready to promote the interest of souls , both by his purse and pains . he was a singular pattern of dutifulness to parents ; being very tender and careful of his very aged mother , both in respect to her temporal and spiritual state , liberally assisting her as to both ( for tho' she was left a widow in good worldly circumstances , yet in her old age she enjoyed not that plenty as before ) . for temporals , she , by his care wanted nothing ; in spirituals he was as forward to afford his help , for being weak thro' age , and difficult in hearing , could not attend ( as formerly ) upon publick ordinances , to supply the want whereof , it was his constant practice for many years , every lord's day in the evening , to go to her house , and laying his face near her ear , repeated the sermons he had taken that day , to her , and the rest in the family . he was not short in his relation , as a brother to his sisters , two that by providence were brought from higher to lower circumstances in their outward state , he made comfortable provisions for , one of which being discomposed in her head , and not capable of caring for her self , he ( like a loving brother ) was exceeding kind unto her , while he lived , and hath left them what will be a good stay and support unto them , now he is taken from his mother and them . he never was a talkative man , but the less he said , the more he did ; not like many , whose tongues run faster in speaking religiously , than their feet in walking holily : his works did praise him more , to the observers of what he did , than his words did commend him to the hearers of what he said ; tho' what he said was savoury , and his words were weighty , rather than many ; speaking but little tho' to good purpose : and as he was sparing in his words , when in health , so he spake not much when sick and on his dying bed : but told me , he had good hopes of his spiritual and eternal state , and tho' he found satan tempting to shake his reliance on christ , yet there he placed his only trust and dependance for salvation , having consented to him , and accepted of him in all his offices as offered in the gospel . concerning the last sermon he heard , which was about love-sickness to christ , through the abundant sense of christ's love to the soul , he said , it was an excellent , comfortable frame of spirit , in such as have experience of it : and this i thought he said , from his own experience , as having found and felt how comfortable it was . his head being affected with his distemper , and much inclined to sleep , yet asked me to pray with him , saying , tho' i be drowsy , yet will i not sleep while you pray , but will join in the prayers with you ; and when sick , kept waking in his bed , during the time of prayer , when many in health , in family and congregation , are sleeping when they should be praying : and tho' he was so heavy , yet would not be satisfied , except the duty were performed , and striving against his sleep , that he might strive with god in prayer , said afterwards , his soul was refreshed , and was the better for it . within the space of about fifteen days , he was well and dead , when sickness did seize him , death made haste to remove him ; but tho' death prevented him of longer time , he had prevented death from hurrying him to eternal death , by his timely spiritual birth and conversion unto god , by his sound repentance , and unfeigned faith in christ , which manifested it self by the fruits thereof , thro' the whole course of his life , persevering therein to the end , and when god gave commission to death to make such haste to have his body carried to the grave , he gave commission to his angels to make as much speed to carry his soul into abrahams bosom ; where it is in perfect rest , and love , and joy ; and let us all prepare that our remove by death , might be from earth to heaven . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a36326-e680 luk. 16. 25 gen. 2. 7. eccl. 12. 7. use . job 4. 19. rom. 7. 17 ▪ 33. 24. psal . 77. 7 , 8 , 9. psal . 16. 11. mat. 6. 25. rev. 7. 16. mar. 9. 44. heb. 11. 25. mat. 16. 26 luke ▪ 15. 16. luke 16. 24 , 25. heb. 10. 34. mat. 26. 41. rev. 4. 8. job 31. 33. deut. 13. 6 , 8. psal . 79. 12. isa . 65. 6 , 7. prov. 19. 24 mat. 11. 12. gen. 18. 10. judg. 13. 3 , 4 , 5. luke 1. 11 , 13 , to 18. exod. 34. 28. 1 king. 19. 8. rom. 4. 23 , 24. exod. 14. 9 , 28 , 29. jude v. 9. job . 4. 14 , 15. mat. 14. 26 mar. 5. 9. isay . 6. 2. 6. luke 16. 24 , 25 . psal . 49. 7 , 8. mat. 5. 25 , 26. gen. 3. 24. mat. 13. 41 , 42. 1 cor. 2. 9. mat. 25. 34 jam. 1. 12. col. 1. 12. john 14. 2. 2 cor. 5. 1. 2 cor. 4. 17. mat. 28. 2 , 3 , 4. luke 1. 12. gen. 3. 24. col. 1. 16. 2 cor. 11. 3. 2 cor. 2. 11. eph. 6. 11. isay . 6. 2 , 6. job 1. 7. 1 pet. 5. 8. 2. king. 6. 16. 17. gen. 45. 27. isay . 6. 2. dan. 9. 21. psal . 127. 1 isa . 37. 36. act. 12. 23. luke 2. 10 , 11. act. 1. 10. 11. mat. 6. 10. psal . 119. 11. heb. 3. 7 , 8. mat. 13. 19 1 cor. 11. 10. rev. 22. 8 , 9. a sermon at the funeral of james margetson, d.d. late arch-bishop of armagh, and primate of all ireland preached at christ church, dublin, aug. 30, 1678 / by the r.r. father in god, henry, lord bishop of meath ; whereunto is added a funeral oration on that occasion, in the name of the university of dublin, at the herse of him their vice chancellor. jones, henry, 1605-1682. 1679 approx. 109 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a47043 wing j947 estc r2425 12888536 ocm 12888536 95050 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a47043) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 95050) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 716:44) a sermon at the funeral of james margetson, d.d. late arch-bishop of armagh, and primate of all ireland preached at christ church, dublin, aug. 30, 1678 / by the r.r. father in god, henry, lord bishop of meath ; whereunto is added a funeral oration on that occasion, in the name of the university of dublin, at the herse of him their vice chancellor. jones, henry, 1605-1682. 48 p. printed for nathanael ranew ..., london : 1679. marginal notes. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -n.t. -corinthians, 1st, xv, 24-28 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2005-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon at the funeral of james margetson , d. d. late arch-bishop of armagh , and primate of all ireland . preached at christ church dublin , aug. 30. 1678. by the r. r. father in god henry , lord bishop of meath . whereunto is added , a funeral oration on that occasion , in the name of the university of dublin , at the herse of him their vice chancellor . london , printed for nathanael ranew , at the king's arms in st. paul's church yard , 1679. imprimatur ; ex aedibus lambethanis decemb. 18. 1678. geo. thorp r mo in christo p. & d. d. guliel . archi-episc . cant. à sacris domesticis . to the reader . the preserving the blessed memory of a great and pious prelate to a publick goood , hath occasioned the publishing of this thereunto introductory . in doing whereof , opportunity is given for adding and enlarging some things , which had bin omitted by reason of the shortness of time , both for preparation and delivery . the subject matter of the following discourse , was not ( it is confest ) for every auditory , but purposely chosen for those who then heard it ; there being beside the crowd , a confluence of learned and judicious persons of every condition , and from all quarters , which might be well foreseen on that occasion . the design in this , was the vindicating the honour and greatness of christ our lord from lessening doctrines of socinians , troubling the church , although , blessed be god , not so among us , as elsewhere . this being here rather in way of caveat and prevention , which may not be unnecessary , the finest wits being apt to be tickled with subtilties , which is the way with those , whose plain and downright speaking might end in blasphemy ; whereas by sly and covert insinuations , some desirous of novelties , may be unawares inveigled and enticed by shew and sweetness , not considering it to be that of poyson . hereunto is added ( what was foregoing ) an elegant oration , in name of the university of dublin , by one of the principal and learned members of that society , at the herse of this great prelate , lately their vicechancellor ; whose life and death , and surviving vertues therein described , might have spared further labours in that , did not a mixed auditory after require it to be in some sort declared in a language , to most there , more intelligible . of all which these short advertisements being thus premised , the rest , reader , is for thy further consideration . 1. cor. 15. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. then cometh the end , when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to god , even the father , when he shall have put down all rule , authority and power . for he must reign , till he hath put all enemies under his feet . the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death . for he hath put all things under his feet , but when he saith , all things are put under him , it is manifest that he is excepted , which did put all things under him . and when all things shall be subdued unto him , then shall the son also himself be subject unto him , that put all things under him , that god may be all in all . that great doctrine and article of our faith , the resurrection , is the subject of this chapter entirely ; both christs resurrection and ours ; christs in the former part of this chapter , ours after to the end . both these are fundamental to our happiness , and the denying either destructive to faith and salvation a direful were the consequences of christs not bin risen b and miserable were it with us , if the dead rise not c but for our comfort christ is risen , and our resurrection in that assured . d obj. but christ is risen ; and yet are not the dead raised notwithstanding . res . the answer to this , is the design of the words now read , ( v. 24. ) shewing that a great work is to be first done , by christ in this world ; his reigning and putting all his enemies under his feet . that this takes up the worlds whole duration , that till this be done , that general resurrection cannot be expected . but that work done , then the end to be , then shall christ deliver up the kingdom to god , even the father , and then shall the son himself be subject unto him , that put all things under him , that god may be all in all . this is the sum and intent of the words . in which we find the double state of the church . 1. as here till the resurrection , christ reigning , till he hath put his enemies under his feet 2. after his resurrection to eternity ; then cometh the end , &c. 1. here is the state of the church , till the resurrection : he shall reign till , &c. 1. where is christs kingdom , 2. and his work in that reigning and subduing . 1. as to christs kingdom here described , concerning that is to be enquired . 1. what this his kingdom ? 2. with the nature of it , and how christ is in that considered . 1. as to christs kingdom . this is two fold . 1. generall . 2. special . 1. general , taking in the whole creation , heaven and earth , and all the host of them ; all being by him created , preserved , and ordered in all their motions at his will , he riding upon the heavens as upon an horse : e where , as upon an horse , is added in the vulgar reading as a fitting paraphrase , a rider ordering his horse , turning about his whole body , f going forward or backward or stopping at pleasure . whatsoever the lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth , and in the seas , and in all deep places : g this is christs general kingdom . 2. his special kingdom is taken out of that his general , this respecting not all but some only of the creatures , and of them the principal and chief of them , the rational , angels , and men , and the best of these : these make up the church , christs kingdom , in which he reigneth , unto which all the rest of the creation come in also as subservient : so is christ described , set at gods right hand in the heavenly places , far above all principality , and power , and might , and dominion , and every name that is named , not only in this world but also in that which is to come : god having put all things under his feet , and gave him to be the head over all things , to the church , which is his body , the fulness of him that filleth all in all . h this is that kingdom of christ , in which he here reigneth . ii. see now the nature of this his kingdom . 1. it is a kingdom by the father given unto his son , and that in way of delegation and substitution : the father hath committed all judgment to the son , having given him authority to execute judgment , they are christs words i and again , thou hast given him power over all flesh , that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him , saith the son to the father . k and ask of me , ( saith the father to christ his son , ) and i will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance l hence is the son called the lords christ , m or his anointed n and his king. but how is christ in that considered ? 1. not as god , for so hath he no superior , so is he not substituted , and so not receiving from any , but having in himself all power originally : not therefore as god. 2. but as man is this understood of christ , as he is the son this day begotten , so is this by the father given him , that he have the heathen for his inheritance . o and to the son hath the father committed judgment , because ( or as ) he is the son of man , p and he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness , by that man whom he hath ordained . q thus as man , is christ in this considered . 3. yet not simply as man , for no man , no more than man , were capable of that rule . the first man adams dominion , although large , r thou hast put all things under him , yet was that limited to the lower creatures , not reaching to angels which were above him , he being made a little lower than the angels ; but there was to be a man , indeed more than man , a second adam , christ , whose dominion was in that enlarged , and that limitation in the other withdrawn : for , repeating that to adam , thou hast put all things under his feet , ( to which there was before an exception ) it is now thence thus argued as to christ , in that he hath put all things in subjection under him , he left nothing that is not put under him , ſ no , not angels ; christ being set at gods right hand , far above all principality , and power , and might , and dominion . t angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him . v this kingdom therefore thus given unto christ , is understood of him as the mediator god and man , as god he hath that power in himself originally , as man he receiveth it , and as that man who is god he exerciseth it , christ therefore the mediator , god and man , is the king , and this his kingdom , that of his mediatorship . thus hath been shewed what this christs kingdom is , and how he is in that considered . ii. see next his work in that , reigning and subduing ; these respecting his subjects , and those as good , and bad. 1. as to his good subjects , over them and in them is his kingdom in righteousness and peace , and joy in the holy ghost . he calling them by his word and spirit , and ordering , gathering , and perfecting them by grace for glory . 2. but as to enemies and rebel subjects , these doth he tread under his feet , these are satan , sin , the world , and death . of these the last only death is here named , that answering the resurrection here principally intended , this also being the last of enemies : for when all other cease , and have no more that they can do , death still holds . in death , satans power over the godly ceaseth , and he that is dead is freed from sin w and as to the world , the utmost that this can do is to kill the body , and after that hath no more that it can do : x but death after all holds , and that until the resurrection , which being an hindrance so far to gods kingdom , it is therefore esteemed and reckoned in the number of enemies , although to those who are gods , many ways happy , and being an enemy it shall be destroyed , and the last of those which shall be destroyed . as to these enemies being destroyed . 1. by christ our king are they already in himself overcome , and having spoiled principalities and powers he made shew of them openly , triumphing over them in it ( his cross ) and in himself . y 2. all these are by christ meritoriously vanquished for us . 3. and in us also is here power through christ by sanctification , yet but gradually and imperfectly over sin , it not reigning so in us as formerly , z and over satan also have we our victory by christ ; he the prince of peace bruising satan under our feet , a and over the world our great enemy , is our victory by faith in christ : b and even death although terrible , yet is it not so to gods children , over which we can in christ insult triumphantly . c 4. in our souls also separated in death , have we our victory over all these our enemies , only what then yet remains of deaths dominion , as to the body for a time in the grave . 5. but in that great day of the general resurrection , shall the last enemy death be destroyed , the soul returning and the body quickned , and both joyned to live for ever in glory . thus of christs kingdom and the work of it , that taking up this world to the resurrection , he shall reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet . ii. see now the state of the church after the resurrection , and thenceforth to eternity . this is here expressed , by 1. christs then delivering up the kingdom to the father . 2. the son himself then subject to him who hath put all things under him . 3. and god then all in all. i. christ then delivering up the kingdom to the father . obj. this with what is also said of christs reigning , till he haih put all enemies under his feet , may seem to limit his kingdom and his reign to one certain work and to a certain time , as if that work being done and that day or time over , then and thenceforth were his kingdom to cease and determine , which were contrary to that said of his kingdom never ending . c res . for clearing this ; the kingdom of christs mediatorship ( so here considered ) is two fold . 1. his kingdom of grace . 2. his kingdom of glory . these answer the double state of the church ( christs kingdom ) as here and hereafter , now militant , after triumphant . to the church here on earth militant , answers that called christs kingdom of grace ; to his church triumphant in heaven , answers his kingdom of glory . i. as to his kingdom of glory that shall never end , so shall he reign for ever and ever : this is the voice from heaven , e and how can that christs kingdom end , when ours with him shall never end . f ii. it remains then that this be considered , as to this kingdom of grace . under this is the state of the church here militant , this is only for this world , and with the world shall this end . grace makes way for glory and gives way to glory , and shall end in glory , of this kingdom of christ is to be understood this , his delivering up the kingdom to the father . and how is that ? 1. this christs delivering up the kingdom to the father , is answerable to the end , for which that kingdom was by the father to him his son committed . that was to order it and to establish it , g to order it as to his good subjects , and to establish it as to his enemies the rebellious . as if a king should send his son with power to reduce rebels risen up against him : which being done , those enemies subdued and all ordered and settled in peace , then he returns and delivers up the kingdom to his father free from all disturbances , every thing being cast out of his kingdom that did offend , h the father then taking to himself his great power and reigning . i and thus shall this kingdom of grace be then by christ delivered up to his father in peace . 2. this christ delivering up this his kingdom to his father , implies that happy state to which the church militant shall be translated , being to that end by christ delivered up , and put into the fathers hand , translated from grace to glory . the ark of the testament was a type of the church militant , that having had but a tabernacle and a tent habitation , having no other foundation than what pins and cords could give it , and for movings and removings , which were frequent : it had its staves ever joyned for portage , beside its being sometimes even in the hands of enemies ; whereas the temple was a type of the church triumphant , having firm foundations : k and as the ark after many wandrings and long unsettlements , was at length placed in the temple in rest , no more to be carried about or removed , therefore the staves taken out , l so shall christ deliver up his church militant to his father , to be ever with the father settled in his temple in heaven . to which may allude st. john's seeing the temple of god opened in heaven , and that there was seen the ark of his testament , m and to that end shall the kingdom of grace , the church militant , be by christ delivered up to his father , to be triumphantly settled in glory in the heavens for ever . 3. but this is not all intended in this christs delivering up the kingdom to the father , this reaching even to very government also . for this way and manner of christs government of his kingdom of grace , which is now in the world shall cease and determin , it not being consistent after with glory . this will appear if it be considered , that christ the mediator governs his kingdom of grace here in this world , by his three great offices of his mediatorship , prophetical , priestly , and kingly . 1. as our prophet , christ here rules his church by his word the scepter of his kingdom , he also is in that described with a sharp two edged sword out of his mouth , n his word being sharper than any two edged sword , piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit : o he is also described riding on a white horse , and out of his mouth a sharp sword smiting the nations and ruling them with a rod of iron , with that name the word of god. p by this his word christ our prophet here rules and orders his church , and for that is the outward ministry of the word here necessary , being profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , and instruction in righteousness , q which after in heaven shall not need , all being there taught of god. r which being taught of god , may be understood of christ himself personally , even he himself applying that to himself , it is , saith he , written in the prophets , they shall be all taught of god , every man therefore that hath learned of the father cometh to me s all teachings before under the old testament were by men only ; but under the gospel have we bin taught by god himself , god the word made flesh and dwelling amongst us . t conversing with men , and teaching them personally . 2. or this being taught of god may be understood of the manner of teaching , our being taught by men , is by the outward ministry of the word , but god teacheth inwardly , and effectually . or thirdly , in that our being taught of god , may be our differing way of knowing now and hereafter , now by the word teaching and hearing , and learning of others , and that but imperfectly , which shall be in heaven otherwise ; our way of knowing then being , a being taught there of god himself immediately , so as christs prophetical office , as to its outward ministry ( a way of teaching here necessary ) shall there cease as needless , being all then taught of god ; so as to christs prophetical office. 2. as to christs priesthood . here he expiates for sin , satisfying gods justice in his blood , making reconciliation for the sins of his people , and having offered one sacrifice for sins for ever , he is set down on the right hand of god , from hence forth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool . v till then therefore is this work of christs priesthood necessary , but after , not so , all sin being then done away , and peace , and reconciliation with god by him made perfectly , that work therefore of christs priesthood then to cease also . 3. so also , as to christ our king , he here reigns in midst of enemies w subduing them and defending his , preparing them also by grace , and gathering them for glory ; but then shall all this cease as needless , then shall no enemies remain , all being subdued , and then shall all gods children be perfected , and gathered , and setled in glory . that therefore of christs kingly office , so far as it is only consistent with grace , and inconsistent with glory , shall cease . and so shall this kingdom of christs mediatorship , as to the manner of its government here , be delivered up to the father . but , what then ? shall this conclude christs kingdom and reign , then to cease and end ? no , in no wise , for so far shall it be from that , that in comparison of what is till then , his kingdom shall be then but as in a manner beginning , and he thenceforth to appear unto all to reign more gloriously , and that for ever . this is set forth in that parable of a certain nobleman going into a far country to receive a kingdom , against whom , his citizens rose up rebelliously , saying ; we will not have this man to rule over us . but he after returns , and then receiving the kingdom , rewards his good servants , and causeth his enemies to be slain before his face . x in that , is christ's now absence from the world , and his return , and his then receiving his kingdom , for the good of his , and destruction of enemies ; then when returning , is the kingdom said to be received . so , in the lords prayer , in our petition , that his kingdom may come , and his will be done as in heaven , so in earth ; in that appears his kingdom to be come , when his will is done in perfect obedience , and that is done in heaven , our pattern for it . in heaven therefore is his kingdom come , and there perfected . nor doth christs delivering up the kingdom to the father exclude his own then also reigning . for as the father , who committed that kingdom to his son , to be here governed , did not in that devest himself of the government . for even he himself , the father , acts still in that with his son. for setting christ at his right hand , i ( saith the father ) will make thine enemies thy footstool . so , the sons after delivering up the kingdom to his father , he doth not in that denude himself of the government . but as the father by the son now reigns , so shall the son after , with the father reign also for ever . it is the voice of heaven . the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord , and of his christ , and he shall reign for ever and ever . y and such are those lowd acclamations there , saying ; with a loud voice , worthy is the lamb , which was slain to receive power and riches , and wisdom , and honour , and glory , and blessing , and every creature which is in heaven , and on the earth , and under the earth , and such as are in the sea , heard i saying , blessing , honour , glory and power be to him that sitteth on the throne , and unto the lamb for ever and ever . z thus of christs then delivering up the kingdom to the father ; with whom , yet , in that he reigns for ever . ii. on that christs delivering up the kingdom to the father , follows that then shall the son himself be subject to him , that put all things under him . this of the sons being then subject , is not to be understood of him as god ; for so is he most high . a and most high is gods proper attribute , nor can he be god , who is not most high , therefore , none higher , no , not among the three sacred persons in the blessed trinity , none being there before or after another , none greater or less than another , but the whole three persons coeternal together , and coequal . ( athanas. ) to make therefore the son , as god , less , or under , or subject to any , were to deny him to be god. so , as this , of the sons being subject to the father , is to be understood of him only , as man. obj. but so the question still holds . for why should it be said of christ , as man , that he should be then subject , the kingdom being delivered , as if not till then subject , whereas , as man , he is ever so . res . this christ being then subject to the father , the kingdom being to him so delivered , is to be understood , as to manifestation , and it s then so appearing . as a deputy or lieutenant , supreme in government , of a kingdom under the king , while he is vested with the kings authority and power , and in his place and stead , he commands in chief , and is as the king himself , who is in him personated , and he , as the king honoured of all , yet in all that with owned subordination and subjection ; which subjection then appears , when his work is done , his commission determined , and the government delivered up . while christ acts as supreme by that power delegated by the father , and all things to that end put under him , that his subordination , though so as man , yet appears not to all so clearly as after , when that kingdom and government shall be by him to the father delivered , then shall the son himself appear subject to him , who hath put all things under him . in which christs being then so subject to the father , is not intended any lessening or diminishing of his greatness . this making much more to his glory , and majesty which is in that manifested . for , observe , that god the father having put all things under his ( christ his sons ) feet . it is on that inferred , that in that , he hath put all things under him ( the man christ ) he left nothing , that is not put under him . b but here comes in the text , an exception to that , that when he saith that he , the father hath put all things under his feet , it is in that manifest , that he , the father is excepted , which did put all things under him . therefore it follows that the man christ is next unto god above all things ; this shewing the high and exalted glory , and honour of christs humane nature next unto god himself , above all created beings and glories whatsoever , even above angels who are commanded to worship him c and he having by himself purged our sins , being now set down on the right hand of the majesty on high d so as this christs being subject to the father , is as if said , subject to him only , or alone , and his being in that next to god himself , above all others whatsoever , which is not a diminishing , but a magnifying of his greatness and glory above all . iii. and then shall god be all in all , or that god may be all in all . this is the last and highest consideration of the state of all things , after the resurrection to eternity , where god is to be understood personally for the father ; this appearing by his relation to his son here mentioned , he also being here expressely named and distinguished , god even the father v. 24. here also , is this god the fathers being all in all made a special work , and the great end of christ so delivering up the kingdom to the father , that he , the father may be all in all . this premised , see now how god is all in all , and what is in that intended . this may be understood so . 1. as to acknowledgment . he seen and known and owned so of all , that he is all in all . 2. all in all also , in respect of dependence on him . 3. and in respect of our happiness also , in him and by him . i. this may be understood of christ the sons delivering up the kingdom to the father in peace , god the father thereby , and thenceforth being acknowledged all in all . for there are enemies ( as was said ) to be destroyed , who rise up against god to the disturbance of his kingdom , and obscuring his soveraignty in the world. 1. such are atheists denying god and his governance of all things in the world , and others lessening what they can , christs glory ; and will not have that man to reign over them . let such consider in what rank they stand , even as enemies to god and his kingdom , whose end shall be destruction . 2. the grand enemy of god and his kingdom , is the devil , called prince of the air , working in the children of disobedience . e he would be accounted the god of this world f laying claim to all that here is gods , as his , even all the kingdoms of the world , and that impudently to christ the heir 's own face , all this power ( saith he ) i will give thee , and the glory of them , for that is delivered to me , and to whomsoever i will , i give it , if thou therefore wilt worship me , all shall be thine . g . 3. and let it be added that , as god hath his christ to whom all power in heaven and earth is given . h so hath the devil his antichrist , usurping the same universal monarchy , and that even in the ●ame words with christ , all power in heaven and earth is given me i and in the same words as did the devil to christ , that all the kingdoms of the world are his , with power to give it to whom soever he will deposing and disposing all at pleasure , nay , not sticking at the very name of god , to be so called l and opposing and exalting himself above all that is called god , sitting in the temple of god , shewing himself , that he is god ; but him shall the lord consume with the spirit of his mouth , and destroy with the brightness of his coming , even him , whose coming is after the working of satan . m and the devil that deceived them shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone with the beast , and the false prophet , and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever . n so shall it be with all the enemies of god , and his kingdom . then shall those voices be heard in heaven , saying , the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the lord , and of his christ , and he shall reign for ever and ever . and we give thee thanks o lord god almighty , because thou hast taken to thee thy great power , and hath reigned o or shewed thy self to reign , so as god the father having the kingdom by his son delivered to him in peace free from all competition , he shall then be as to his kingdom , by a general acknowledgment owned all in all . ii. as to dependance on him , shall god the father be then to us all in all . our dependance on god is mediate or , immediate . dependance on god mediately , is such as is here in this world. immediate dependance on him is what shall be hereafter , and in both , is god to us all in all . 1. here in this world is god to us all in all , by a mediate dependance on him . in him we live , and move , and have our being . p this is by constant influences of providence , without which we could not subsist one moment , he also sustaining us mediatly with meat and drink and cloaths , giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons , filling our hearts with food and gladness q which yet without gods special blessing , would avail us nothing . that our cloaths are comfortably warm , is from god r that our meat nourisheth , is from him , otherwise we may have meat , and not have a stomach to eat , or what we eat might be rather hurtful , and our table made a snare , and that which should be for our welfare , become a trap , s so is god here to us , as to our outward state , all in all mediately , by second causes and means , so it is also in our spiritual state. in that are we now by his words and sacraments supported in grace , yet not that without his blessing on those ordinances , so as in all concerning us here , in any kind is god to us all in all mediately : which is to be understood so , ordinarily . 2. but in heaven , it shall be otherwise , god shall be then to us all in all , immediately , not there needing what here we do , worldly injoyments , which we now call necessaries , god himself being all that to us immediately . there shall be no night there , and they in that state , need no candle , neither light of the sun , for the lord god giveth them light , and they shall reign with him for ever t , so also as to our everlasting worship of god , that shall not be there as here , by ordinances , word and sacraments , nor is a solemn house for prayer there , as here necessary . therefore in the description of the heavenly jerusalem , st. john observes that he saw not any temple there , it needed not ; for the lord god almighty , and the lamb are the temple of it . v and to this seem those words of our lord christ to encline , w in that day ye shall ask me nothing : verily , verily i say unto you , whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name he will give it you . hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name : ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full . these things have i spoken unto you in proverbs , the time cometh when i shall shew you plainly of the father . at that day ye shall ask in my name , and i say not to you that i will pray the father for you : for the father himself loveth you . where observe , 1. that here and before we find christ in this discourse with his disciples speaking much of the father , insomuch that occasion is thereby given to some to desire him to shew them the father : x and here he promiseth that tbe time shall come when he shall shew them plainly of the father , that time being called that day . 2. he minds them that there was a time , when even he himself was not so expresly known in the world , nor his name then so much used in addresses to the father . hitherto ( saith he ) that is under the old testament , ye asked nothing in my name : it was then understood that christ was to come , and when he was come he was by his miracles supposed , to be that prophet that should come into the world : y and of old also sometimes , yet but rarely , were petitions expresly in his name or for his sake . cause ( said daniel in his prayer ) thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary which is desolate , for the lords sake . z 3. but now under the gospel our lord here shews , that thenceforth all addresses should be to the father by him , whatsoever ye ask the father in my name he will give it you : ask and ye shall receive , which is now the concluding style of all christian prayers , through jesus christ our lord. 4. but he tells them withal , that there shall come a day when addresses should be to the father himself also , and in that day ( saith he ) ye shall ask me nothing , and though ye ask in my name , i say not to you that i will pray the father for you , for the father himself loveth you : in all shewing how in that it was , and how it is , and how it shall be . yet understand not this as any way abating our dependance then on christ , our dependance on christ ever holding , he being yesterday and to day and the same for ever . a 1. for as now so then , and ever shnll christ be head of all , if man had not fallen , christ had been over angels and men the head of all gloriously ; and now is he the head of the glorious standing angels and of men redeemed : so shall he be of both after in glory , ever the head of his church his body , and that not only in this world but in that also which is to come . b 2. as the head influenceth the body in all its parts ; so doth christ the head , the church his body , from whom the whole body fitly joyned together , and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth , according to that effectual working in the measure of every part , making increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love . c so is it here in grace , and so shall it be after in glory , in both , christ filling all in all . d 3. as now our dependance on christ is such , that by him it is that we have access to , and acceptance with the father , and by him all our good e so shall it be then also : he leads us then by the hand to the father , and presents us to him in glory . f behold i and the children which god hath given me : g and as the father shall be then to us all in all in immediate dependance on him ; he himself in himself being all things to us , so shall it be then as to christ also , he with the father both being to us all in all , which is to be observed that like dependance is then on christ as on the father . in the description of the heavenly jerusalem , that there is no night there , and they need no candle neither light of the sun : for the lord god ( understand it , as of god essentially , so personally also for the father ) he the lord god giveth them light , n the same being spoken of christ also . i saw no temple ( saith st. john ) in that holy city , for the lord god almighty and the lamb are the temple of it , and the city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it , for the glory of god did lighten it , and the lamb is the light thereof , i intimating the glory of christs humane nature , k and of his glorious body above all created glories : a glory which heaven wanted till christs glorious body had ascended thither , this being now an excelling light , additional to what was before in heaven : st. john also speaking of the immediate dependance of glorified saints in heaven : on christ as on the father ; they are ( saith he ) before the throne of god , and serve him day and night in his temple , and he that sitteth on the throne ( the father ) shall dwell among them . they shall hunger no more , neither thirst any more , neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat : for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them , and shall lead them unto living fountains of water , and god shall wipe all tears from their eyes . l the lamb shall lead them and they shall follow him wheresoever he goeth : m and from christ shall all then own their good past and present , and that in a new song to his praise for ever , saying : thou art worthy , for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to our god by thy blood , out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation , and hast made us unto our god kings and priests , n so as our dependance ever holds on christ , then and there more perfectly as our state shall be then more perfected and capacitated for it , more than here in this world it can be . thus in way of immediate dependance , shall god be then to us all in all , that not excluding christs being so also , but as the father then reigning christ shall then also reign with him , so the father being all in all , so shall christ be to his also , and our dependance then on both immediate and for ever . iii. as in our dependance , so in our happiness also shall god be then also all in all . in that of the fathers being all in all , is happiness intended in the highest , in our fellowship with the father and the son is our joy full : o so is it here in grace , but then in glory much more , when we shall be present with , and have full communion with both immediately . the difference of our satisfactions here and in heaven , is described by present and absent in that case compared : while we are here in the body we are absent from the lord , but after we shall be present with him , and here we walk not by sight as after . our absent and distant sight of god is here , that by faith , which is a seeing god in a glass or by a perspective , which is for a distant object , and that a seeing darkly : but then shall our converse be with god himself immediately and being present and seeing face to face , seeing and knowing even as we are known . p knowledge is the happiness of a rational soul , and our immediate seeing and knowing god that beatifical vision , p the top of all happiness . it is not for any to attempt a description of what in that shall be , that being beyond all humane apprehension or comprehension : q for eye hath not seen , ( and strange things have many seen ) nor ear heard , ( and more is heard and spoken than most have seen ) neither have entred into the heart of man , ( and what cannot the heart and imagination fancy ? ) we may imagine glories that never were , or can be supposed real , as gates and streets and windows and pavements of agats and carbuncles and pleasant stones : r go to then , let eye and ear and heart , and all together put themselves to the utmost , yet is all that short infinitely of what god hath prepared for them that love him : all which is in this , gods being then to us all in all . use . i. now for application . here you have the differing states of the church here and hereafter , and how we are to conceive of christ in both , which was that herein principally intended . thereby asserting the greatness of christ our lord against socinian principles , lessening him as far as they can and dare , acting therein covertly to be the less observed . in which use is by them made dangerously , as of some other scriptures , so of this now before us , which occasion● my now insisting on this more particularly . whence is groundlesly inferred , that christ as to his person is less , and the father great● or than he , being to him subject and christ but his substi●tute , that his kingdom being delivered up to the father● his reign shall thenceforth cease , and god the father onl● shall be all in all , christ being thenceforth of no farthe● use for dependance on him . but all this on grounds mistaken , ( and it is to be feared● by some wilfully . whereas christ ( as you have heard ) is not in this co●●sidered as god , for of god can nothing of all this be in an● wise conceived . but that this is said of christ , as the mediator in whic● he is god and man in one person , and here considered 〈◊〉 that man who is god. that this christs kingdom by the father committed 〈◊〉 him to be settled , is the kingdom of his mediatorship ; 〈◊〉 far as to the manner of its government , and as it respec● his church here on earth , which being inconsistent wi●● the following state of glory , is to be therefore first delivered up to the father , he being then all in all , and to be thenceforth by him ordered and settled in glory everlasting . but not so as that christs so delivering up that his kingdom of grace , answering his church as here militant , and that the fathers being then all in all , should conclude christs kingdom thenceforth determined , and all depen●ance on christ as formerly to end : but that christ as to ●is kingdom and glory and greatness , and general depen●ance shall be for ever as he was , reigning with the father , ●nd with the father depended on by all , for ever and ever . this is the substance of all in that spoken , nothing in ●●at grounding what is by some therein blasphemously as●rted . use ii. here we also see the church in midst of enemies , as ●●eep among wolves , subject to troubles , and sufferings 〈◊〉 every kind , sickness , and pain and death . but , for 〈◊〉 comfort , christ our king hath here his kingdom , and ●now ruling in midst of his and our enemies ( our e●mies being his enemies ) and he ruling in the midst 〈◊〉 them , by whom they shall be all vanquished , and 〈◊〉 delivered . use iii. that this being done , then cometh the end , the world 〈◊〉 ending . for the church is the world made and continued : for ●t , was the world made , that thenc christ might ga●r out for himself a people prepared for glory , and 〈◊〉 perfecting that work and number , is the world yet ●●tinued , and not till then ending . but that work 〈◊〉 finished , and that great end attained , for which all these things are , then shall the world end . let the wicked of the world consider this , they are the men of the world , s they bustle it out here , as if all were theirs , and for them alone , taking up all till there be no more place in the earth t : whereas not they , but the godly are those of god here regarded , the other being of no other consideration in the world , but as enemies to god and to his christ , and so for destruction . use . iv. and when all this is done , then cometh the end , then follows glory and happiness to eternity . this shall be to all generally , and perfectly in the general resurrection , when soul and body shall meet again and joyn , never to be after parted , but both stated in glory everlasting : and this shall be , and even now is thi● daily to some , those blessed spirits separated from this body of corruption , called the spirits of the just made perfect u whose bodies till that great day and blessed change are laid up in the general wardrobe , the grave . and although the state of the dead be termed a being out of mind , ( ps . 31. 12. ) and the grave 〈◊〉 place of silence , ( ps . 115. 17. ) and the most sumptuous tombs and sepulchres by kings and councellors buil● for themselves , but desolate places ( job . 3. 14. ) ; ye● is not the state of the dead to be in all that esteeme● unhappy , but blessed to them that dy in the lord , tha● being so declared by a voice from heaven , and com●manded to be written , and so to be understood . 〈◊〉 heard a voice from heaven saying unto me ( saith 〈◊〉 john ) write , blessed are the dead , which dy in the lor● from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , for that they re● from their labours , and their works do follow the● w in which happy state is this saint ( i doubt not so to call him , his life and end considered ) whose obsequies we now celebrate ; of whom ( i know ) it is expected that something be spoken , which i must not omit , both for doing thereby right to his memory , and for others good . he was born at drighlington in yorkeshire , and at peterhouse in cambridge educated , and after in the parish of watlass in his own countrie preferred and beneficed . there that great strafford ( then lord viscount wentworth ) designed for the chief government of ireland , taking notice of his piety and parts , and of his good report generally ; he brought him over with him , for being near him in his devotions . having thereupon given up that his preferment in england , he was after in ireland plentifully provided for , and setled in the deanery of the cathedral of the blessed trinity , commonly called christ church dublin . but here after a while was he , as were all , surprised with that general calamity and deluge of evil , overwhelming the whole kingdom . that grand rebellion breaking out on the 23th . of october 1641 , wherein thousands of poor protestants , were cruelly murdered . thousands also naked and famished escaping but with the skin of their teeth ( miserable jobs sad expression of himself in his sufferings . x ) these came in daily from all quarters , flocking and swarming to dublin , a city of refuge then for those miserable sufferers . of those poor creatures woful objects of compassion , so many in fresh numbers had been continually by this charitable person fed , clad , and relieved , that he was himself thereby brought to streights , the course of his revenues here being every way stopt . by which , and by the dangers daily drawing nearer even to the very gates , he was at length enforced from hence into england for security and subsistance . but there also not long after was he ( as by some fatality ) overtaken with evils unexpected , as great and general , by which church and state were together overturned . as if one fleeing from a lion should meet with a bear , and going into an house and leaning his hand on a wall , a serpent should bite him y ; for he was by the disloyal party there taken and cast into manchester goale , where he continued untill he was by exchange of three or four officers thence delivered . and having thus weathered that storm , he considered of some more private retirement , and freer from danger , which he thought might be best found in london : there hiding himself in his chamber ( gods advice to his in times of evil ) until that indignation ( also read tyranny ) were overpast z . after that monstrous and horrible murder of that royal martyr , whose innocent blood was a filling up the full measure of the wickedness of that evil generation : this worthy person at london happened on a gentleman sick and on his deathbed , to whom he administred spiritual comforts , together with the holy offices of the church on such occasions . by that dying person he was told that he had bin somtimes one near in attendance on that late sacred martyr king charles 1. in his solitude . that to him had bin by the king delivered and committed to his charge and care to be preserved , those papers which he said he knew to have been written by the kings own hand , and which were after published with the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this is here observed for obviating malicious speakings detracting from that excellent work , breathing piety and devotion , and vindicating the sincerity of that great soul in all his actings and occurrences therein mentioned ; malice suggesting to the world that although that work carried the king's name , yet was it not ( said they ) his own , but by some of his chaplains composed , intending thereby the lessoning his majesties great and excelling parts ; and the rendring that most excellent piece less regarded , that thereby their own wickedness might be less observed . whereas the contrary to that false assertion appears now in this : and the royal author of the precious work found to be the king himself : that being declared by one dying , whose advantages then by it could be then nothing any way , and those being his last words which may be concluded serious and sacred ; he averring those very papers to have been written with the king 's own hand which he well knew . and that they were by the king himself delivered into his hand and committed to his charge and care for preserving them as now they are . this also in manner and form as is from that dying mouth declared being after attested by this grave prelate , whose words pass with all that knew him for unquestionable . and now to return to what concerns himself . his sufferings were of long continuance , from 1641 , to 1660. but by the glorious sunrise of his sacred majesty charles the second in his happy return were all those mists soon scattered , for which the year 1660 may be ever reckoned happy ; then was the face of all things in church and state changed gloriously , his majesty returning to his people and to the throne of his royal ancestors . then were our judges restored as at first , and our counsellors as at the beginning . a description of happy times a : then was the church out of confusion and deformity thereby returned to her former beauty and order . and then were the breaches in gods house repaired , its scattered members recalled , and fit persons sought out for supplying and filling up those vacancies which the wickedness of those dismal times had occasioned . among those was this pious person sought , found , and brought forth , and by his sacred majesty returned into ireland . where an. 1660 he was appointed to sit as archbishop in the metropolitical chair of this province of dublin . after an . 1663 on the decease of that learned and worthy prelat , primate bramhall , he was removed and promoted to the archbishoprick of armagh and primacy of all ireland . in which succession he was numbred by common computation the 97th , but otherwise the 102 from st. patrick , justly accompted the apostle of ireland as to its general conversion . nor did his honors there stop , but those were after followed with ( what he accompted justly an addition to the greatest ) his being also chosen vice-chancellor of the university of dublin . this he held to his last , whose deserved praises in that and in all , hath been elegantly celebrated in that learned speech , in name of that university , at the hearse of him their late vice-chancellor , to which i refer . nor can i , neither must i , pass lightly over this now mentioned colledge and university of dublin : whom i have the honour to own my mother . an honour is this place to this city and kingdom , this house having sent out persons considerable in their several capacities . hence have proceeded some sitting at the helm in the chiefest places of government and state. some being for seats of judicature , and others for military conduct , at home and abroad eminent . and for the church this one house hath yielded more than fifty bishops and archbishops ( not to speak of lower dignities who were also of excellent parts , and to be remembred ) and this within the space of 85 years , since 1593. the year of this colledge being first planted , the like , if i mistake not , not being found in the register of any one house in the adjoyning famous universities , taking in all their time together , some claiming more then 800 years antiquity . among whom let our famous and learned primate usher be before all remembred . he was the first scholar that lodged in that house , and that was there entred ; he was the first graduat that thence proceeded , the first fellow , first proctor and first divinity-professor of its own stock . and was after vicechancellor more than 40 years to his death . and let this house and city also , partake of his honours , and be in him honoured . it is accompted an honour to a place , its having to boast of some eminent person or persons thence descended . of zion it shall be said that this or that man was born in her b : in this city was this man born , and in this colledge bred , and here only . strangers speak of him abroad as an honour to his . country , and to the church , and to the world also , so , spanhemius c , gerardus vossius d , bochartus and simplicius e , morus f , paulus testardus , blessonsis g , arenoldus boetius h , &c. and at home our learned prideaux i , davenant k , sr. roger twisden l , sr. henry spelman m , mr. selden n , and others . and even among those of the adverse party although principled generally against speaking well of those in profession contrary , yet are some found even of them , admirers of him . i mention only henry fitz-simons a learned jesuit , who anno 1599 , being a prisoner in the castle of dublin , he being there as a bear tied to a stake , and wanting some to bait him , ( they are his own words ) he then challenged any of the protestants to dispute with him , for which was singled out this our james usher , then but middle batchelor in this colledg of 6 years standing , which were the years of the colledges then standing also . the jesuite at first sight of that his antagonist despised his youth , as did goliah david o . but buckling , and the question being de antichristo ; after that days trial of him , the jesuit would have no more to do with him , not well liking such baitings ; yet giving an accompt of some passages of it , p after concludes it thus of him , that he was acatholicorum doctissimus . i conclude this with ( what had bin indeed instead of all ) the great honour which he had by the famous university of oxford , who in a solemn convocation ordered 16 eminent persons , of whom 6 were then doctors , together with the vicechancellor and proctors of the university , to have at the charge of the university , his effigies cut ; and that with an elogium fitting him to receive , and the university to give , both to be prefixed to his annotations on st. ignatius his epistles then in the press . to the act of the convocation in that , i refer , q the elogium being this . jacobus usserius archiepiscopus armachanus totius hiberniae primas , antiquitatis primaevae peritissimus , orthodoxae religionis vindex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 errorum malleus , in concionando frequens , facundus , praepotens , vitae inculpatae exemplar spectabile rob. pink. vicecanc . i add that most learned person 's first work , de ecclesiarum christianarum successione & statu which was by him published an . 1613. and was by archbishop abbot of canterbury presented to king james with these words , see sr. the eminent first fruits of the colledge of dublin . that house was then of twenty years standing , and that learned work the first that came from any there . and he himself , the happy first fruits of that university . all which concerning this learned person , i borrow from and owe to that short collection of his life , given by doctor bernard in his funeral sermon apr. 17 , 1656 , hoping the enlarging that , may hereafter be the work of some happy pen : that nothing of those precious fragments be lost , some baskets yet remaining to be filled . if his memory be now by time almost worn out here among us , let this serve in some sort to refresh it , or if envy in some would have it lost , and his esteem lessened here ; let it be remembred which was spoken by our lord of himself , and true of others , that a prophet is not without honour save in his own country and in his own house r ; and let it suffice that it be left to strangers to value what is ours , which we our selves do not . but know that therein you suffer your selves to be robbed of an honor to this university , to this city , and to this church and country . and from such beginnigs , what may we not after expect . to pass times intervening , the present shews it hopefully . 1. in our illustrious chancellor james duke of ormond now the fourth time lord liuetenant of ireland . he was first our chancellor of this uniuersity , and after by that famous university of oxford ambitiously sought for , and now of both together chancellor . 2. you have seen the late vice chancellor , the learned prelat ; whose memory is at present before us principally . 3. you have a prudent , careful , and learned president and governor second to none , if equalled by any before , for government and parts answerable . 4. and as to the present stock of fellows and other graduates and schollars ; these for learning and ingenuity , their number and standing considered , not needing to give place to any ; envied they may be , but not neglected . and wherefore all this ? all said in this is intended , as an inducement to all well affected to piety and learning among us , to promote and encourage such happy beginnings . we may hear those sons of prophets now say , as did those sometimes to elisha ſ behold the place where we dwell is too strait for us let us go therefore over jordan and take every man a beam and let us make us a place where to dwell . in order whereunto , let it be remembred . that the army in queen elizabeth's time an . 1601 after the overthrow of the enemy at knisale , that being the shutting up of that war , contributed l. 1800 towards the beginning of a library , till then here wanting ; for which end doctor chaloner ( the industrious promoter of the building of this colledge , by exhorting others , and himself withal thereunto contributing ) also that learned person after primat usher of whom so much hath been now spoken , were both chosen ; and sent into england with that money given by the army for choosing and buying books accordingly . these then met at london , sr. thomas bodley on the like work for his library at oxford ; each helping the other in what was in that to be done ; so as sr. thomas bodleys famous library in oxford , and ours here began together . and herein this our library owes it self to our soldiery , learning by arms promoted . this was seconded an . 1656 by that army in ireland commanded then by henry cromwel ( let not what may be good be forgotten ; but the good be gathered into vessels , while what is bad is cast away t ; then did that army ( on the perclose of their work in ireland as to the rebellion there ) contribute about . l 2200 for purchasing learned primat ushers library ; which being then in england it was by that great cardinal of france eyed , and by the french embassador in england pressed for earnestly , for other ends , to be by them purchased at a greater summ then was here given . hereby was that pretious stock of learning preserved for ireland , whither it was after brought : and by his grace the duke of ormond then lord lieutenant and chancellor of this university , was an. 1661 ordered to be laid up in this colledge , as an addition to the library here where now it is . and now pursuant to both those , let there be a place left for this present army also , on this their great and general settlement , they therein gathering the fruits of their labors , and that more abundantly than ever had been in ireland before this time . let it not be said , that those other have done so much and these nothing . this is what hath been of old accustomed ; that out of spoils in war , some part should be dedicated to god as an acknowledgement of his hand in that work : so did samuel the seer ; and saul the son of kish ; and abner the son of ner and joab the son of zerviah ; david also the king and the chief fathers and captains over thousands and hundreds and captains of the host u , we find the very sums also recorded , which besides that of the spoils had been by them of their own store so offered w together with the satisfaction and comfort received by them in such their beneficence x that the people rejoyced for that they offerred willingly to the lord and david the king also rejoyced with great joy ; blessing the lord for giving them a heart so to do . and what in this kind is said to one , is said to all . that all consider the occasion offered , the enlarging this place for learning and religion in which all are concerned , by which a general blessing may be expected , this work carrying in its self a blessing to church and state. pardon this digression which i desire may be , to that end for which it was intended , prevailing . as to this great prelat , to whom i now again return : we have seen him at the highest that this church of ireland could raise him ; see him now as to his qualifications thereunto . in him appears what the great apostle st. paul wishes for and requires in a bishop y that he be blameless , hospitable , sober , a lover of good men , just , holy , holding fast the faith ( orthodox ) these i but name only without further application as to him , who may rather seem to be in that , named or pointed at , as by his just and owned character ; add his learning a fit application for such . his parts were more in substance , then shew , ordinarily . his value was much intrinsick , not overlaid and set forth for ostentation . he was a vessel full of rich liquor , which must be pierced if tasted , and then found fragrant , pleasing , and refreshing , i was at his table with others , when a point of learning passing from hand to hand , he for a time hearing and silent , at length the matter was by himself taken up with variety of learning and reading and determined to admiration ; so as a learned prelat present , brake out into this expression ; my lord i thank you i am now here both fed and taught , i know not but his papers may afford something posthume worthy his parts , and the worlds perusal . this his being as to himself reserved seems to to be a natural disposition in him , being of a quiet spirit like isaac among the patriarks ( abraham and jacob ) of less noise in the world than they ; and as the patern to all , z our lord christ , not striving nor his voice heard in the streets seeming to be rather blamed by his friends as was our lord also by his , a go ( said they ) over jordan that thy disciples may see the works that thou doest , for there is no man that doth any thing in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly : if thou do those things shew thy self to the world ; so was it with him generally , i except when the church came to be concerned . then was he up and dischared the duty of a true prelate , the zeal of gods house eating him up ; he being thereupon sometimes passionately troubled , where any thing fell short of his expectation that way . careful he was of his episcopal charge ; as in what was in his own diocess of armagh under his ordinary care , so throughout his province ; that others in like place subordinately , should see to their work also . he did encourage well doing in all the clergy , exhorting the backward , and reproving what was amiss ; and that generally in mildness , but sometimes where cause required , sharply , yet that oft with tears . not long before his end being fastned to his bed , and a visitation then being held by his surrogate , for his diocess of armagh , he desired in the return , to understand the state of the churches there ; to which this accompt was given him , that therewas no church there , without an able and learned minister : and that the duty in every church was performed duly by a refident minister , or an able resident curate with competent allowance . this i had from a learned person , whose that work was under him principally , which accompt was by him recived with much satisfaction , as what was to be shortly after given by him to the great bishop of souls . as to charity ; piety , and beneficence , this is a principal qualification , and becoming that sacred order above others , concerning which as to this pious prelat , something hath been already spoken . his charitable relieving those poor stript protestants in ireland while he was there , an. 1641 feeding the hungry , clothing the naked and providing all necessaries for the sick ; and that so liberally , and so long , as that he was himself at length brought neer to his morsel , and thereby enforced to seek elsewhere what to eat ; of which before also in times of his retirements in england , his own stock , and store being short for helping others as he desired ; he made it his work to stir up others to that good work , for relieving the necessities of poor irish sufferers , flocking daily to london for help ; especially for the distressed of the clergy ; and those particularly of england suffering for a good conscience . hereunto were charitable persons by his sollicitations moved to large contributions : they choosing him the first mover , to be therein the almosner and dispenser of their bounty to such as he should judge fitting : this he discharged with all faithfulnes . and among others was thereby releived that worthy and learned prelat of ireland bishop chappel that excellent provost sometimes of this colledge of dublin . after his return into ireland , god having blessed him in his substance considerably , he would not be unmindful of that place in england where he was born. and at drighlington in york-shire , his native place and country , he erected and endowed a free school , endowing that with a large yearly revenue for ever . and in ireland , beside what was by him piously contributed toward the repairing and adorning the two cathedrals in dublin christs church and st. patricks , there was added his care and bounty towards his cathedral at armagh . as to armagh , that had oft fatally suffered almost to utter desolation : that place seated in the province of ulster , being in troublesome times subject to frequent incursions and attempts of enemies . it had suffered by fire and sword an 890. 893. and 919. 1166. and 1179. and 1189. and lastly 1642. when sr. phelim o neile in the head of an army of about 7000 rebels assaulting lisnegarvy ( now lisburn ) and being shamefully repulsed by a few not exceeding ( if so many as ) 200 brittish among whom that noble person sr. george rawden was eminent above any : the enraged rebels therefore in their return revenged themselves in the cruel murthering a number of poor protestants yet in their power . one also of their chief officers of the o neiles , destroyed armagh , and consumed that great cathedral with fire , which sacrilegious act of that wicked person escaped not divine justice , he soon after falling distracted and dying miserably . the repairing that vast pile and cathedral of armagh was a chief care of this pious prelate , its arch-bishop ; towards which , that being the metropolitical church of that province of armagh , contributions had been in all former times on such occasions made for it in the several diocesses subject to that metropolitan ; the like therefore was now also proposed , which being done , and the return made , it was found very short of what was hoped for , and not answering the sixth part of the charge herein necessary . thereunto were also applyed other small revenues of the church , which comings in , being limited to certain days of payment as they became due ; those also coming in slowly ; and some failing ; and all short of what that great work further required : therefore for present advance of mony to answer the constant carrying on that work , and to supply what was every way necessary in all , it cannot be reasonably judged but that this great persons bounty was in that considerable ; referring for particular to accompts taken of the whole . but now by his care is the whole fabrick perfected and the service of god in its several ministrations restored , and that constantly attended to the just praise of his piety , care , and beneficence . as to his otherwise dispensing charitably to the need● he reserved himself in that unto himself , ( as in other his great parts ) which were not for common observation ; charity being in that properly ordered , so as that the left hand should not know what the right hand doth , yet by that faithful hand by him in such occasions ordinarily employed , i have assurance that he was full of good works and in that way constant and forward , not expecting solicitations and addresses toward it , but enquiring secretly for the poor and needy , and sending them oft help , they knew not whence , and that as occasion was for it , liberally . one person being instanced ( but not named ) to whom at one time out of his own purse , he sent one hundred pound . i say out of his own purse ; to difference what was so by him done , from what , by his honourable place of his magisties almosner of ireland , he faithfully dispersed . faithful he was in that his publique trust , not suffering any part of what came in that way to mix with his private . but depositing this in that faithful hand that received it , to be forthwith disposed to its proper use , as the comings in , which were slow , would allow it . i have perused those accompts , and found the comings in to be sometimes by 20 shillings , or such small sums at a time , sometimes more , but never above 23 pounds , and that but once , those comings in also being uncertain and but as occasions were for it , by its double branches of fines or deodands , the whole sum of both put together making up but 169 ● . 18 s. 1 d. and that in 15 years from 1663 to 1678. yet was this , whatsoever it was in common esteem sufficient to cloud his private charity , all by him done , being commonly interpreted only on the publique accompt , which was no trouble to him , but well answering his desire of being in that work as to himself private and unobserved . as to his private estate and fortunes , god blessed him in that abundantly . a blessing promised to the charitable , yet is not that allways so in this life . god reserving some retributions , and the greater , to another ; here also providence ordering commonly , that all things be alike to good and bad c ; and that love or hatred , ( of god to men in their several states of good and evil ) appear not by any thing before them , prosperity or adversity d there are wicked prosperous and good fuffering . good also abounding in outward happiness , and wicked miserable . abraham , isaac and jacob among the patriarchs , had the blessing of abundance . but it is to be observed that the prosperity of the good is more subject to envy and detraction , then is that of the wicked commonly ; so was it with isaac . he was prosperous and was therefore maligned and troubled , although peaceable and quiet , and thrust away by his ill neighbours the philistins , which being by him expostulated with them , the answer was , because we saw certainly that the lord was with thee e . this seems the condition of this patriarch also ( for in that rank of a patriarch in the church , is the primat of armagh also esteemed ) gods thus blessing him , if it be not a trouble to some , yet is there from that what is objected for a crime ; that in england he had laid out what he had acquired in ireland , and not there rather where he had it . this is observed . but to the contrary it is well known that even in ireland he laid out for a settlement for one of his children , no less then 4 thousand pounds at once . and the like sum of 4 thousand more towards the settlement there of another of his children . he was also on purchaseing not far off , an estate sould after for 6 thousand pound , which he might have had cheaper , but refused to deal in it , understanding part of it to be abbey land. for in all his layings out wheresoever , he was ever careful not to medle with any concern of the church , nor with tithes , nor with what did belong to abbeys , having oft observed the evil of that to their possessors . that therefore of his not laying out of his substance in ireland , is a causless detraction , the contrary appearing considerably . but , wherein is the evil of his providing a settlement also in england , as in ireland ; and whether in that were not his considerations prudent and provident . he had in ireland seen and felt the prodigious evills of that fatal year 1641. how it was then with others , and with himself also ; and that holding 20 years after . he might have remembred that year 1641 , was not the first of that kind in this kingdom ; that being but a repeating over and over again what was oft before ; although never in so high a degree of mischief in any age till then . he might have considered , that it might be so again , as then and before ; the same effects likely following where the same causes are in being . solomons observation of times generally , may be so here : the thing that hath bin , is what shall be , and that which is done , is that which shall be done f . may it not therefore be thought advisable and convenient on such considerations , that there should be a laying up in store , where is more security to answer such accidents ; i wish there be not some here this day alive , who reflecting on this , may not find cause hereafter to say at least , that he was in this , provident . i wish i may be in this a false prophet . and if there be any whose hopes are better , i should willingly say to that amen , as did the prophet jeremiah in somewhat a like case g ▪ but and now to come from this great prelates life to his end . a little before his last distemper he found ( he said ) his heart filled with joys and comforts in god , extraordinary above all that could be imagined . such are found in gods children sometimes after great trials and sufferings , to refresh . sometimes under such sufferings to support , as an angel sent to christ in his agony h after which we hear him not complain any more , as thrice before of his cup. i and sometimes this is before and introdustory to some great change , preparing for it . the fifth of may last a sacrament day in this church he would be then a publique communicant , and that , not withstanding his phisitians desires to the contrary , not by his going abroad to expose himself to inconveniencies ; his distemper having already gotten some hold of him . he was a strict observer of his phisitians prescripts and councells at all times now only excepted , preferring gods service to his private condition . he was always a constant frequenter above others , of the publique service of god , not omitting any occasion for that , where any competency of health would permit . after that , and from thenceforth he was confined to his house by his indisposition encreasing . but , there he found the church ; the church at his house ( i ) ; his house being an oratory for constant and frequent devotions ; publique in the use of church offices , and in private prayers also ; many resorting thither principally for serving god. and when he seemed to be confined to his chamber : yet then ( although not well able ) would he step out to be in the company of those worshiping god in the next room , parting from them with a blessing to that meeting . after a while that liberty was denied him , not to be restrained only to his chamber , but to be also fastned to his bed. then notwithstanding some hopes given by his phisitians , he gave himself to prepare carefully for that change which he did foresee more then others , this he did by prayer , and for the church was his prayers particularly ; and desired others prayers also with him and for him . also by private meditation in which he was frequent , complaining sometimes of being in that disturbed by some not observing it . he desired also the sacrament which he received together with the church absolution , being exceedingly satisfied and comforted with both . his pains encreasing , his patience also encreased and appeared to admiration , hardly complaining otherwise , then by a groan now and then stealing from him , and being once observed by some gestures to be troubled , he was asked where his pain was , where ( said he ) even from fingers ends to my toes ends , and yet shewing in all , little trouble ( i ) , only turning to me , he said ( credo resurrectionem carnis ) as if not willing others should understand his pain , and shewing how he found in that , support under all sufferings , his faith and hope of the resurrection , some wishing him ease , he desired ( he said ) patience rather , that being a grace and from gods spirit , ease being natural ; oft he had in his mouth that of the apostle k i desire to dissolve and be with christ ; to dissolve , not ( as commonly ) to be dissolved , this signifiing obedience and submission ( which is well ) but the other willingness and desire to be with christ . this also he had sometimes , i am not ashamed to live nor fear to dy . and in that his last ; his lips were much for blessing ; for his last benediction was the resort to his bed syde great and daily , of all sorts conditions and degrees of men. blessings are not in vain , and at such times especially , dying blessings and exhortations are serious and prevailing . and in all he had the happiness of being sensible to the last . and whereas one dyeth in his full strength , his breast full of milk , and his bones moistned with marrow l . his end was with the blessing of a good old age the 78 year of his age m then carried to his grave in a full age , like as a shock of corn cometh in , in his season so to be laid up till the resurrection . oratio habita in obitum reverendissimi in christo patris jacob archiepiscopi armachani , totius hiberniae primatis , vicecancel larii academiae dubliniensis , &c. aug. 30 1678. huc confluxit academia dignissimo vice-cancellario extremum offici●um praestitura , officium tanti viri memoriae debitissimum . dùm ver● consummatissimum praesulem stylo delineare jubet nunquam nimìs officios● gratitudo , vereor nè idem mihi accidat , quod pulchram absolutamque faci●em pingentibus solet , qui talem rar ò nisi in pejus effingunt . praesul erat cùm eruditione , tùm vitâ primitivus ; primaevam tàm veritatem quàm pietatem exprimaevis patribus depromsit , quibus illos adeò faelicitèr expres●sit , ut si i●sdem vixisset saeculis , inter sacra illa veteris ecclesiae lumin● suo merito emicuisset . theologiam suam non ex impuris scholasticorum lacunis hausit , non ex turbidis recentium systematum rivulis , sed ( sicut ge●nuinum ecclesiae anglicanae filium decebat ▪ ) limpidissimum sacrae scriptu●rae fentem rectà adijt , verúmque ejus sensum per piae antiquitatis canalem per sanctissimorum patrum monumenta , conciliorúmque generalium acta in propriam mentem derivavit . haec sòlida illius in rebus divinis cog●nitio , quâ nulla christiano episcopo dignior , nulla christiano populo uti lior , theologicas hujus seculi argutias non tàm ignoravit , quàm subli mioribus studiis intentus contempsit . dolendum tamèn , quòd magnam do●ctrinae partem summa ejus modestia nobis invideret ; suam enìm scientiam tàm studiose celavit quàm alii ostentare satagunt , beato servatori similis● qui vel ipsa sua miracula palam innotescere saepè inhibuit . invitâ tamèn mo●destiâ , eximiam , quam animo texit cognitionem , mores apertè loquebantur quàm consummatus theologus fuit , expressit vita ; nam in verbi tantum theologari non est christiani doctoris , sed histrionis ; quid enim turpins quam christianae vitae artem professum , in ratione vitae peccare ? ille magni hujus praesulis instar , summum theologiae api●cem tetigit , qui non tàm magna locutus est quàm vixit ; qui , cùm per in gravescentis aetatis incommoda , sacra rostrarariùs ascendere valeat , vitae exemplo , omni eloquentiâ potentiore , perpetuò concionatur . margetsoni no●men tùm primùm elucescere caepit , cúm prudentissimus straffordiae comes non calamitatibus quàm virtutibus major , illum a sacris esse elegerit . a laudato viro laudari quis non vehementèr cupiat ? at tanti judicis calc●●lum obtinuisse maximis laudibus majus videat●r . permagnus ille & eccl●siae & monarchiae vindex , postquàm integerrimum sacellanum variis ecclesiasticis muneribus priùs exercuisset , tandèm aedis christi decanat● fidos ejus labores remuner abatur quem non diù tenuerat , antequàm immanissimae rebellionis flamma improvisò erumpens , atque hanc insulam longè latéque depopulans , piam suam beneficentiam ergà miseros exhibendi peramplam occasionem ministraret . quàm multis , diris iis temporibus , omnibus bonis exutis , nudis , & penè fame enectis , suis succurrebat opibus , adhùc supersunt testes . nemo magis frugalis erat simul & munificus , nihil ferè in seipsum impendebat , ut omnia pauperibus , infoelice illâ tempestate heu nimium auctis , elargiretur . quùm verò universas ferè facultates , in illos quos barbarus gladius in extremam redegerat miseriam erogasset , neque in hac regione ipsum aut tutum aut innocentem ampliùs manere liceret , se in angliam convertit ; ubi remp. simul cum sacro suo capite , ecclesiam unà cùm sacerdotibus foedissimè conculcatam , tristissimis conspexit oculis . tunc autèm conspicua ejus in regem & ecclesiam pietas , illum latere non sinebat , eximius splendor gemmam detexit ; confestìm igitur de carcere in carcerem rapitur : putabant scilicet rebelles , sese continuis vinculorum angoribus piam ipsius magnanimitatem tandem effracturos ; veruntamen animosa ejus virtus , omnia vinculae sprevit , inque extremis angustiis hostibus superior , inter carceres & catenas de iis triumphavit . quamobrem exire permittuut inexpugnabilem heroē , quem tamdiú frustrà incarceraverant ; & non citiùs ferè exierat , quàm pristinum succurrendi miseris officium repeteret . cromwellianâ enim tyrannide pacem priori bello vix minùs saevientem miserrimae genti inferente , plurimi nobiles & generosi , qui à regiis partibus stabant , margetsono nostro , tanquàm illibatae integritatis viro , suarum eleemosynarum dispensatore , cùm palàm non ausi sint , clàm utebantur . quàm autèm gavisus est venerandus sacerdos postquam in pauperum sinus suas effudisset opes , in alienis similitèr effundendis occupari . hic genuiuus christi discipulus undique peragravit beneficia spargens ; nulla longorum itinerum taedia , nulla viarum pericula , non praerupti cambriae montes magnanimo seni obstabant , quò minùs concreditas sibi eleemosynas alacri spiritu circumgestaret ; ad pios scilicet symmystas suos , aliosque praeclaros viros sublevandos , quos fidele ergà principem ecclesiamque obsequium in durissimam pauperiem reduxerat . tandem ab exilio redux augustissimus carolus secundus doctorum marget sonum pro tantis meritis , totque pro regiâ causa exantlatis laboribus , archiepiscopali dublinii cathedrâ dignum censuit : in quâ per paucos annos sedentem , moriens dignissimus hiberniae primas bramhallus ( quo nemo ecclesiae fortior propugnator , nemo ecclesiasticarum personarum acrior judex ) illum pro successore suo in sede armachanâ , illustrissimo proregi nostro commendavit ; qui nefas duxit tanti viri gravissimo judicio suum non apponere calculum , nec dubitandum quod illis ambobus , omnium fidelissimis principis servis & achatibus placuisset , ipsi serenessimo etiam regi apprimè placiturum : regiis ergò literis in totius hiberniae primatum evehitur vir , inter tantos in illum congestos honores , humillimus . mutatâ enim fortunâ , ut plerumque accidit , non mutavit mores ; idem erat summus metropolitanus qui anteà privatus sacerdos , idem pectoris generosum honestum , idem vitae justissimus innocentissimusque tenor , eadem animi simplex & ingenua modestia , eadem vultus gravis & verenda suavitas , eadem lenis & decora affabilitas . prudentiâ non fucatâ , sed sincerâ & solidâ , arduam adeò provinciam sibi commissam administravit , non more romani episcopi , anathemata in repugnantes fulminando , verùm tranquillam exercendo potestatem ; quae vividiore saepè impetu in hominum animos influit quàm violenta soleat : sic quidèm caelestia corpora silento placidoque motu , sine ullo turbante strepitu , salutares suos influxus in hunc mundum inferiorem potentèr demittnut . erga clerum , comis simul erat & severus , adeò ut illum amarent paritèr ac vererentur , si quam ex illis pro aliquibus culpis inereparet , quos omni culpâ vacare ardentissimè cupiit ; vix ac ne vìx sine oborientibus lacrymis id praestare potuit , cleri vitia ipsius praecordia adeointimè tangebant . si praesens ecclesiae status ullo modo periclitabatur nemo aut fervidiore zelo , aut efficaciore eloquio illius causam in supremo hujus regni concilio agebat : haec cura magno ecclesiae patre verè digna illum praecipuè exercuit , ut ecclesiae reditus à sacrilegis manibus conservarentur , puráque protestantium religio publicis legibus stabilita , tàm à pontificiis quàm à presbiterianis insultibus tuta consisteret . alia obitèr ageb● , hic ejus labor , hoc opus erat . sola academia in partem curae quandoque veniebat , cujus vice-cancellarius esse , magna animi demissione dignatus est ; ità nimirùm propiorem occasionem captans ; ingenuarum literarum studia favore suo & potestate fovendi . quantopere collegii honori , nec non sociorum scholariumque commodis invigilavit , testantur non pauca beneficia à prorege concilió ipso imprimis intercedente nobis impetrata . adeò ut in ipsius obitu non tantùm amantissimum ecclesiae patrem verumetiàm faventissimum academia patronum amiserit . quandoquidem verò ingens , quod tulimus , damnum aliter resarcire non possimus , integerrimae vitae ejus exemplum , tanquam charissimum depositum , semper in honore habeamus ; cumque illo per fatorum leges diutius frui non liceat , illius saltem virtutibus perpetuo fruamur . imitemur firmissimam illius pietatem , quae neque prosperae fortunae blanditiis corrumpi , neque adversae procellis de statu suo deturbari potuit . imitemur invectam illius in regiam majestatem fidem , magnanimamque in vera religione constantiam , in quibus , horribili belli civilis tempestate omnia undique concutiente , penitus inconcussus perstabat . imitemur effusam illius erga pauperes charitatem , cum adhuc decanus esset ; nec credendum , ipsi in summis honoribus constituto , manum contractiorem fuisse ; sed potius dominici praecepti memor , eleemosynas suas tam secretò sparsit ut sinist●● non noverit quod dextra fecerat : quod tamen adeò clanculum praestare n●●quivit , quin privata liberalitas haud paucis innotuerit . neque deeran● quidem publica munificentiae opera , quae-egi non poterant ; cujusmodi , inter plurima alia , schola ab ipso munifice fundata , sacra aedes cathedralis ab ipsis ruinis resuscitata , palatiumque archiepiscopale haud exiguis sumptibus commodius ornatiusque redditum . imitemur denique ferventissimum illius zelum pro ecclesiae academiaeque incolumi prosperoque statu , nec non ejus verè christianam patientiam sanctamque fortitudinem ; sedato immotoque animo ut omnes injurias & calamitates , ita ultimi morbi dolores & taedia pertulit , neque mors pedetentim appropinquans illi formidabilis erat , piâ quippe praemeditatione , continuisque devotae mentis in caelum aspirationibus eam sibi familiarem rediderat ; adeo ut nemo pectore magis praeparato vultuque alacriore letho occurrere potuerit : videbatur quâdam gaudii impatientia mortis adventum praestolari . molliorem senectam molliusve lethum vix mortalis habere potuit , sicut judaei de mose ferunt , osculo oris dei , absque corporis luctâ aut dolore inter caelestes ejaculationes piam animam mollissimè exhalavit . jamque vale reverendissime pater , miraculi instar est vitae iter , si longum , sine offensione percurnere ; tibi autem haec rara felicitas a deo donata est ; neque aliam majorem nobismetipsis vovere possumus , quam ut perseverante sanctitate tibi simil● simus , qui sanctissimam vitam pari exitu clausisti . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a47043-e370 a 1. cor. 15 , 14. 2. tim. 2. 1 b 1. cor. 15. 13. to 19. c 1. cor. 15. 19. d 1. cor. 15. 20. to 24. e psal . 68 ▪ f jam. 3 ▪ g psal . 13● h ephes ▪ 20 , 21 , 22 ▪ i john 5. 27. k john 17. ● ▪ l psal . 2. 8 ▪ m luk. 2. n acts 4. ● psal . 2. 2 , 6● o psal , 2. 7 , 8. p john 5. 22. 27. q acts 17. 31. r psal . 8. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. ſ heb. 2. 6 , 7. t ephes. 1. 20 , 21. v 1 pet. 3. 24. w rom. 6 ▪ x luk. 12 ▪ y col. 2. 1 z rom. 6. 14. a rom. 16. 2● b 1 john 5. ● . c 1. cor. 15. 54 , 55 , 56 , 57. c luke 1. 33 e rev. 11. 17. f rev. 22 ▪ g isa . 9. 7 ▪ h mat. 30. i rev. 11. k heb. 11. 10. l 1 kin. 4. 6 , 7 , 8. m rev. 11. 19. n rev. 1. 16. 2. 12. o heb. 4. 12. p rev. 19. 11. 13. 15. q 2 tim. 3. 26 , 17. r is. 54. s john 6. 4 ▪ t joh. 1. 1. v heb. 10 ▪ 13. w psal . 110. x luke 19. 12. 14 , 15 , 16 17. y rev. 11. 1● z rev. 5. 9. end . a dan. 4. 17 ▪ 25. 15. b heb. 2. 8. c heb. 1. 6. 13. d heb. 1. e ephes. 2. 2. f 2. cor. 4. 4. g luke 4. 5 , 6 , 7. h math. 28. 18. i anton. puccig . concil . later sess . 7. l concil later . sess . 4. m 2. thes. 2. 4. 8 , 9. n rev. 20. 10. o reu. 11 16 , 17. p acts 17. 2 q acts 14. 1 r job . 37. 17 s psal . 69. 22 t rev. 22. 5. v rev. 21. 22. w joh. 16. 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27. x joh. 14. 8. y joh. 6. 14. z dan. a heb. 2● b eph. 1. ● 22. c eph. 4. ● 16. d eph. 1. 20 21 , 22 , 23. e joh. 14. 6 ephes. 1. 6. f 2 cor. 4. 1 jude 24. g heb● 2. 1 n rev. 22. 5. i rev. 21. 22 , 23. k phil. 3. 21. l rev. 7. 15 , 16 , 17. m rev. 14. 4. n rev. 5. 9 , 10. o 1 joh. 4. p 2 cor. 5 8. p 1 cor. 13. 12 ▪ q 1 cor. 2. r isa . 54. 11 , 12. revl 21. 10● 20. s psal . 17. 14. t is . 5. 8. u hebr. 12. 23. w rev. 14. 13 x job . 19. 20 y amos 5. 19. z is . 26. 20. a is . 1. 2 b ps . 87. 5. c ingentes t● virtutes , sum usseri , non v●tro tantum o● notae sunt sed 〈◊〉 nostro , & ubi cunque terrar● pietati suum d● cus , et erudit● nisuum , preti● constat . usserii nomen pietatis nobis et virtutis nomen est ; quanta genevae nostrae nominis tui sit cla● tudo , veri episcopi imago , te merito hibernis tuis pretiosum ; britannum venerabilem , exteris omnib● admirabilem facit ( frid. spanh . dub. evang. part 3. ep . dedic . jac. uss . ) d summa sum● viri & undecunque doctissimi merita de ecclesia & tota republ. literaria , ut quo de viro rerum divi● rum humanarumque peritissimo , nihil possum dicere●tam sublime , quin ejus id virtus superet . ( gera● voss . ) e magne visseri geogr. sacr. p. 226. synop. scripr . p. 140. f excellentissime vir d● seculi nostri athanasium tuum pectus bibliotheca spirans , tu britanniae quod augustinus h●pponii vale , ma● imum britanniae decus . g seculi & ecclesiae decus eximium . h omnigenae ac reconditae erudition● laude , linguarum orientalium peritia plane inclytus , ( bootius de armach . ) i locupletissimum so● dae eruditionis & totius antiquitatis gazophylacium , de mill. ann. apoc. k vir singulari pieta● et omnigenae eruditionis laude cumulatus , ad pacem exhort . l in quo cum incredibili doctrina● rar● purioris antiquitatis cognitione , ( quam norunt & tagus & ganges forsan & antipodes ) mor● eximius candor , & in instruendo imperitiores mira suavitas , seria quadam & episcopali mixta gravita ce●tare dignosuntur ; a quo non parum , me in hoc opere promovendo adjutum profiteor , utpote qui luto●h● rentem saepius extraxit , & deviantem in viam reduxit . hist . angl. script . xepi . lect . m literarum insig● pharus . n reverendissimus antistes jacobus usserius archiepiscopus , vir summa pietate , judicio sing lari usque ad miraculum doctus , et litteris severieribus promovendis natus . marm. arundel . o 1. sam. 17 ▪ 42. p prodiit quidem . semel octodenarius praecocis sapientiae juvenis , de abstrusissimis rebus theologicis , cum philosophica studia non esset emensus , nec . ephebi segressus , disputandi avidus . britannomachia ministorumpraefat . q die lunae viz. 10. mensis martii anno domini 1644. in eadem convocatione procurateres nominabant egregios viros , ut effigiem reverendissini jacobi primatis armachani una cum elogio illius , quamfieri potest meritis pari , nec non hujus academiae digno s. ignatii epistolis , quae annotationibus ab eo illustratae propediem divulgandae , praefigendam curent , publico universitatis nomine et sumptu , viz. doctorum fell aedis christi . bayly divi johannis , clayton col. pemb. sheldon . om. -animarum , zauch aul● alban , turnor & morton & magistr●s laughban & barlow col. regii , sugge & crofts col. wedham . goad divi johannis : newman , om . animarum . tillesley divi jahannis & lee col. merton ▪ un● cum vicecancellario & procuratoribus , vel majorem partem ●●rum ( ex registro . archio univers . oxon. r matth. 1 57. ſ 2 kings 6. 1. 2. t mat. 13. 48. u 1. chr. 2 26 , 27. w 1. chrs 2 3. 10. 9. x r. 9. 10. y tit. 1 ▪ 7. 8. z mat. 12. 19. a john. 7. 4. c e●cl . 9. 2. d eccl. e gen. 26. 28. f eccl. 1. 9. g jer. 28. 3. 4. 5. 6. h luke 22. 43. i heb. 5. 7. k philip. l job . 21. 23. m job . 5. 26. the christians engagement for the gospell opened in foure sermons on part of the third verse of the epistle of jude : also, christ's approbation of maries choyce, or, a sermon preached at the funerall of mris abbott in saint stephens colman-street, london / by iohn goodwin ... goodwin, john, 1594?-1665. 1641 approx. 238 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 205 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41485 wing g1159 estc r8016 12090122 ocm 12090122 53834 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41485) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53834) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 891:8) the christians engagement for the gospell opened in foure sermons on part of the third verse of the epistle of jude : also, christ's approbation of maries choyce, or, a sermon preached at the funerall of mris abbott in saint stephens colman-street, london / by iohn goodwin ... goodwin, john, 1594?-1665. [72], 214, [4], 217-314 [i.e. 334] p. printed by t. cotes for p. cole ..., london : 1641. reproduction of original in princeton theological seminary library. "a sermon preached at the funerall of mrs. abbott ..." has special t.p. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng abbott, -mrs., ca. 1614-1640. bible. -n.t. -jude i, 3 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2008-03 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to the worshipfvll and much honoured john pymme esquire , sir , it is no part of my designe in this dedication , by the reflexion of smooth language , to shew you yourselfe in your glory , or to take the worke of admiring your worth , out of the hands of all the world , who are now very intent , and busie at it . if honour and approbation will pay debts , the nation ( i conceive ) is not much behinde with you , for all the service you have done it : for ( as farre as i understand ) you have scarce enemies enough , to deliver you out of the hand of that curse of our saviour , wo be to you when all men speake well of you , luk. 6. 26. i have no authority to question the singlenesse , and uprightnesse of your heart , in those notable and noble engagements , that are upon you : yet if you will plead your selfe to doe it , the security attending thereon , will beare the charges . when credit and conscience are yoked , and draw the chariot together , conscience ( oft-times ) proves dull , and heavie in the worke , and if not sometimes remembred with the goade , and put on , will suffer credit to draw all on the one side , and so lay her fellow on the wheele . it argues an high , and excellent frame of spirit where a man can follow with intensnesse of minde , things that be of good report , and yet not be over-acted with the goodnesse of the report ; but fetch the strength of that inspiration , by which hee is carried on in his motion , from the goodnesse of him that hath commanded it . the more god is interessed in our intentions , the more he is like to interest himselfe in our executions . if wee make him a stranger in the proposition of our ends , hee takes no pleasure to make himselfe knowne unto us in our prosecutions , except it be by way of opposition , and rising up against us . the royall method in great actions , to breake all difficulties , and barre off discouragements in sunder , as with a rod of iron , is to digge out of our selves as much of our earth , that is , as much of our selves as wee can come at , and fill up the pit , or empty place , with god and zeale for his glorie . the consecration of an enterprise is soveraigne against abortion , whereas to worke for a mans selfe alone , is little lesse , being interpreted , than to betray his action , and to give security to his enemies , that god shall not build with him , nor prosper him in his way : and consequently , that his labour in building shall be in vaine . the least offensive ( i am sure ) and yet withall , ( with serious and inside men ) as weightie a testimony ( as i conceive ) as can be given to your wisdome , is to speake thus in the plaine dialect of the ancient simplicity unto you , and not to spare you , as farre as the truth may doe you good . neither doe i conceive , wherein any mans worth or wisdome can do him better service , than by strengthening others to lay on himselfe to beare greater weights of this treasure , than men of an under-sufficiencie are able to stand under . the disciples themselves , were great loosers ( for the time ) by their weaknesse , in this kinde ; they wanted the sweete company , and converse of many high and important apprehensions , which ( doubtlesse ) had bin equall too ( if not much better then ) the society of so many angels , because in respect of the present infirmity of their spirits , they were as unable to beare the strength of their influence and working , as the frailty of the flesh and blood is , to abide the glory and presence of those embassadours of heaven . their gratious , and great lord and master himselfe , plainely professed this unto them : i have many things ( saith he ) to say unto you , but you cannot beare them now , joh. 16. 12. and had they not out growne this weakenesse afterwards , by meanes of that golden showre from heaven , wherein they were rained upon with the holy ghost , and with power , they had beene kept fasting from the feast of those fat things ( whatsoever they were ) , all the dayes of their lives . the reason why the world ( so generally ) drinkes old wine ( in our saviours metaphor ) which is of a lower and flatter taste , is , because their vessels are not new , and strong : and therefore not fit to have new wine ( which is of a stronger , and more lively , of a more stirring , working , and provoking spirit ) put into them for feare of breaking . wee have but the light of the moone instead of the light of the sunne , or at most , but the light of the sun , instead of the sevenfold light of seven dayes , promised esa . 30. 26. shining to us , because wee are tender eyed , and inconsiderately afrayd , lest an excellency of knowledge should undoe us . not to wrong ( in the least measure ) the rights of heaven in point of thankfulnesse , due from us , nor to quench the least sparke of the joy of our congratulations : for the blessing of knowledge powred out unto us so abundantly , above the line and measure of former ages , certaine it is , that truthes of highest importance , and which should joyne heaven and earth neerer together , and heale a great part of that deplorable distance , which yet lyeth betweene men and angels , and so advance and quicken the spirituall entercourse , and commerce betweene the two worlds , are little stirring in the world . one maine reason whereof is , because , as the disciples of christ , when they saw their dearest lord & master comming towards them upon the water , were sore afraid , and cryed out , supposing he had beene a spirit , that had appeared as an executioner of present death upon them , who yet was the glory and crowne of their security : so many in the world ( no worse affected neither , to the truth , in generall , than they were to christ ) crie out , as men out of measure troubled , at the first glimmering , and appearing of some truthes unto them , as if they were the spirits of devills comming upon the world , for the spoile and ruine of the pretious soules of men ; whereas , were they capable of their inspiration , and either did , or were but inwardly willing to know of what spirit they were , they could not but acknowledge and confesse , that they were of the dearest , and deepest , and sweetest confederacie with heaven . it was austines complaint long since : nonnulli intelligentes citius volunt exagitare , quod non intelligunt , quam quaerere , ut intelligant , & non fiunt humiles inquisitores , sed superbi calumniatores , aug. de temp. serm. 72. i forbeare to make english of this latine : because the party chiefly interessed , are ( for the most part ) men of the language . but sir , i consider the weight and importunitie of your present imployments , i know you are ( with your worthy assistants ) about a great and laborious cure , ( the lord prosper it under your hands ) and farre be it from mee to desire , that this should suffer in the least , through any occasion of mine . i had not presumed thus farre , but that this little piece had stucke in the birth some yeares together , and was well neere stifled , found now a way into the world , by the providence of god , and by the benigne aspect , and influence of that happy constellation , wherein your selfe shine as a starre , in much glory . and the subject of it being of that neere affinity and sympathy with the soveraigne piece of that great worke you have in hand , the rescue , and advancement of the gospell , i should ( i conceive ) have turn'd my backe upon that providence which look't mee in the face , if i should not have presented it to some of those worthies , whom god hath anointed with wisdome , grace , and power , as for the bringing of many greater , and weightier things to passe , so ( the event bearing witnesse ) for the helping forth of it also into the world . in which great and honourable assembly , i knew not one , whom rather to cast mine eye for this dedication , than on your selfe , who , as you are knowne to the whole nation , by your worth and zeale , for the things both of god and men , so have you beene knowne to my selfe , heretofore , by some more particular acquaintance : the discontinuance and decrease whereof , i impute onely to mine owne unworthinesse , and negligence in addressing my selfe unto you . i doe not in these meditations put you upon any thing ( in the maine ) but wherein you have prevented my motion , and are already home-engaged : i know you are in for the gospell , with all your heart , and with all your soule , and if with all these , with all whatsoever besides . so that you might ( in that respect ) expostulate with mee the impertinencie of this my addresse unto you , in those , or such like termes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . what neede you quicken him that maketh haste ? yet make i no question , but that of your selfe you know , how fairly to salve the seasonablenesse , and usefulnesse here of notwithstanding : in which regard , an apologie would prove the impertinency , not the dedication . i verilly beleeve , that p●●● never met with christians so abundant in the worke of the lord , but still hee exhorted them to a bound yee more . besides , though i cannot say with the confidence of an intuitive knowledge , that you meete with any secret feares , discouragements , conflicts of doubtfull thoughts , and reasonings with your selfe in the way of that contention for the truth , which now you sustaine : yet can i hardly beleeve , but that sometimes you feele the activenesse of the powers of darkenesse against you , and finde some insinuations , and grudgings , ( if not stronger , and sharper fits ) of feares touching the successe , and issue of your great undertakings . in which respect , i conceive , it should not be unseasonable altogether , to administer unto you , of those excellent comfortations and strengthenings of heaven , which the holy ghost hath treasured up in the scriptures , for such times , and occasions ( especially ) as these . the lord iesus christ himselfe , being in deepe conflict , was refreshed by the presence of an angell from heaven comforting him , luk. 23. 43. the consolations of the spirit in the word of god , administred by a hand consecrated thereunto , have sometimes beene little inferiour in the glory of their effects , to those of angelicall dispensation . i dare not undertake for any sapientiall advantage you are like to gaine for the faith , by the perusall of these few pages : i know if there bee any to be gotten , you will not overlooke it . yet give mee leave to say this : that the best and wisest mens thoughts , apprehensions , purposes , ends , intentions in their best actions , will never lye right , and straight in their bowels , nor with that ease and intimate satisfaction to their owne spirits , except they be marshalled , ranged , and composed by the hand of the spirit of god , stretched out from the scriptures . the god of grace and glory , who in your selfe , together with that worthy senate of joynt consultations with you , hath opened a doore of hope to a land and people , brought very low , and hath begun by your mouthes to breath upon the dry bones , so that there is some noyse and shaking heard already , bring them together , bone to his bone , and flesh upon them also , in due time , and cover them with a skin , and put a spirit of life into them , that they may live : and recompence abundantly into their bosome , the labours and travells , and faithfulnesse of those , whose hearts , and hands have beene , and still are lifted up to the worke , that tasting the presence , and mightie hand of god with them , they may rejoyce as strong men to runne the remainder of their race , and not faint or waxe wearie ; till the great breach bee repaired , till the throne , and kingdome of iesus christ bee lifted up on high , above the rage , power , and contradictions of those , that seeke to lay the glory of it in the dust ; till judgement runne downe like water , and righteousnesse as a mightie streame , to wash ; and carry away all the filth ; and noysomenesse of the land , till the hearts , and mouthes of all those who love the peace , and prosperitie of the nation , bee filled with joy , and gladnesse , and the faces of all that are enemies unto it , with shame , and confusion . and for your selfe , your personall honour , peace , and safety , you have an interrest in your selfe ( which sleepeth not ) in the prayers of coleman-streete decemb. the 4. 1640. your worships home-devoted in the things of iesus christ l. g. to the reader good reader , it was a saying of erasmus concerning luther , that poore luther made many rich . his meaning seemes to have beene , that many were raised to great places of promotion and dignity in the church , and otherwise highly rewarded for standing up in the popes cause and quarrell against him . the saying is capable of another interpretation also , somewhat more spirituall and remote , and may have this importance ; that many taking part with , that , poore servant of god , who was fiercely assaulted on every side , and presented againe and againe to death and hell , by the sworne sides men of the pope , by this service commended themselves with termes of highest acceptation unto god , and so were enriched with abundance of his grace and favour . the gospel which in this respect may bee called poore likewise ; but the truth , glory , and power of it , are still suppressed and trampled on , by that great and strong party , the divell hath in the world , ( may in both senses be ) said to make many rich ; but in the latter , would make many more rich then it doth , if their hearts would serve them , to be engaged in so honourable a service , as to consecrate themselves , and rise up in the defence of it . the great men of the earth , who desire to ride on the world , as on a horse ( as god is said to ride upon the heavens ) and to rule , though not with god , but by themselves , yet with an opinion of ruling with god , seldome or never shew themselves more magnificent and bountifull in rewarding , never give grater wages to any workmen they imploy , then unto those that are zealous , active , and dextrous , to accommodate the gospel unto them ; and to slay the hatred and enmity that burnes betweene the truth and power thereof , and their wayes and practises with the fairest and most plausible colours of love and peace . it is peters observation concerning teachers , that such as have their hearts exercised with covetousnesse , ( and therefore are best seene in the art and method of fetching in the world apace unto them ) still forsake the right way of the gospel ( because there is little good to bee done in that way ) for such a purpose : the world will seldome give much for truth , and go astray after the way of balaam , the sonne of bosor , who loved the wages of unrighteousnesse . 2. pet. 2. 14. 15. what was balaams work for the doing wherof , he should have beene so richly and royally paid ? it was onely the cursing the people and children of god with their wayes and courses , and consequently the justifying and blessing of balack and his people in their proceedings against them . and what was this ( in effect ) but to undertake to reconcile christ and belial : and to divide christ in , or against himselfe ? balack and his rout must bee righteous and just men , and approved of god : moses and his company must be children of the curse , enemies of god , and hated of him . i beleeve the better halfe of the popes kingdome , two thirds of the triple crowne would be given to any man , that shall undertake ( and quit himselfe like a man by a semblable performance ) to overthrow the state , government , doctrines , practices of all the reformed churches by the scriptures ; but by the same labour he shall compound and reconcile the rule , government , doctrines , and practises of the sea of rome , with the gospel . wee know the base descent and pedigree of farre , the greatest part of promotions and preferments in the world : they are begotten by the base desire of an earthly greatnesse , upon an earthly greatnesse , vainely desirous of being thought to bee of the house and lineage of goodnesse . thus ( in one sence ) the poore oppressed and persecuted gospel , makes many rich in the world . againe , the same gospel , notwithstanding the povertie of it ( nay rather because of such povertie ) makes many rich ( and sad is the consideration , that it makes not many more ) in a better way . as the world gives no greater wages , of such a treasure as it hath for any worke , then for the pulling downe the truth and power of the gospel where it riseth up against them . so neither doth god open his hand wider in his way of bountie , to any service , then to the faithfulnesse of those that will labour to build them up againe , and trie it out by a deepe and solemne contestation with the world , whether light or darkenesse shall rule , whether god or baal shall bee hee . when our saviour promiseth a prophets reward , to him that receiveth a prophet , in the name of a prophet ( doubtlesse ) hee promiseth more then bare measure , even that good measure ( which he speakes of in another case , heaped up , pressed downe , shaken together , and running over . now the service or worke of a prophet ; is , as to hold forth the word of righteousnesse to the world ; so ( in speciall manner ) to hold fast the same word , to convince the gainesayers , tit. 1. 9. and not to suffer the world to destroy , elude , or make voide any part or parcell of it . so paul upon the thought and mention of that good fight hee had fought , whereby hee had kept the faith ( as hee saith ) viz. against the subtile and outragious malice of the divell , wherewith hee had inspired his angels in the world , to make all the havocke and spoyle they could of evangelicall truth , was fil'd with the hope and confidence of that his crowne of righteousnesse , which ( hee said ) was laid up for him , and should bee given him by the righteous judge at that day 2. tim. 4. 7. 8. so that if thou desirest to make something of nothing , j meane , to make the best earnings of thy times and dayes on earth ( which were they not capable of a spirituall improvement , were but as light as vanitie , as little as nothing ) there is no labour thou canst undergoe , no course thou canst runne , no service thou canst performe , either to god or men , like unto this , to stand up in thy might for the gospel , and to set thy foote by it , and so come men , come divels , come friends , come foes against it , come honour , come dishonour , come liberty , come prison , come life , come death , come heaven , come hell , to stand to the defence of it to the last haire of thy head . jt is a signe , that a man knowes not to what purpose he was borne into the world , that will suffer the gospel to receive a wound by him , or die before him . and being prevented with such an opportunity & season as is now given downe from heaven unto us , even above our expectations , and commensurable with our desires , for contending for the gospel , not to attempt the moving and removing of every stone which god hath not fastned , bee it never so hot or heavie , not to doe , not to suffer , not to speak not to pray , not to crie , both unto god and men , not to give , not to lend , not to ride , not to run , not to watch , not to studie , not to continue , not to execute , whatsoever the peace and safety thereof shall require , and to professe that wee love not , we regard not , we desire not the gospel , are but expressions of one and the same interpretation . onely j must crave leave to touch thy conscience , it shall bee gently , with one caveat about thy contending ; and then the discourse it selfe take it thee , and make thee a souldier in this warfare . when thou contendest for the gospel , let it not bee grievous unto thee to looke very narrowly , and to consider seven times over , that thou contendest for nothing of thine owne , for nothing of men , instead of the gospel , and matter of faith. it is a thing not to bee passed over in our thoughts without much sadnesse and sorrow , that there is not one of many that takes hold of shield and buckler for the truth , that stands forth with zeale to pleade the cause of the gospel , but suffers this dead flie to lie putrifying in this box of so precious an oyntment ; he is not carefull to separate the vile from the precious , but takes his owne and other mens opinions , into part and fellowship of the same defence , with that which is faith and gospel indeed . great pittie it is that darknesse should share in the priviledges of light , or that error and truth should be joyned together in the same protection . i easily apprehend how cutting and painefull it is to flesh and bloud , to see those opinions which were long since begotten and bred within them , and have for many yeeres beene tenderly nursed and cherished in their bosomes ; yea , and ( happly ) have beene their glory and reputation , in the world ; yea , and ( perhaps , that which is yet more ) part of their comfort and confidence in god , to see these ( j say ) cast out upon the dunghill , and reputed as good for nothing , but with salt hath lost the savour , to be trodden under foote by men ; cānot but be as grievous in the eyes of men , as it was to abraham to cast his sonne ismael with agar his mother out of doores . gen. 21. 11. our saviour that perfectly knew the wayes of the hearts and spirits of men , put his finger upon this sore , in that passage , luke 5. 39. no man having drunke old wine , straight way desireth new : for he saith , the old is better . mens opinions and thoughts , with their semblable practises , in matter of religion , may well be compared to wine , because they are the great cheerers of their soules and consciences . and our saviour affirming , that men that have drunke old wine , seldome , or never love to change their diet suddenly ; seemes to imply these two things , ( besides what lieth in the plaine superficies of the letter . ) first , that men that never dranke old wine , that is , that were never principled nor grounded in any way of religion at all , as that never were ingaged or interressed in their judgements touching any particular controversie in religion , may sooner be brought to drink new , i. e. may with lesse reluctation and trouble with lesse reasoning and disputing , and ( for the most part ) with lesse shame and sorrow bee perswaded to embrace and professe the truth , then those that have beene built up and comforted in a false way of religion , and beene fast tied to the wrong end of a controverted point , by their credits and reputations in the world . jn which respect that saying of epiphanius takes place : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a man had better beleeve nothing then that which is contray to the truth . secondly , that many , who are for a time , extremely opposite and averse , from entertaining better thoughts and opinions in things appertaining unto god , then their owne are , because of the newnesse and strangenesse of them , may yet in time , after they have conversed a while with them , and look'd them in the face againe and againe bee brought to relent ; yea , and espouse them , and open the bosome of their affections , judgements and consciences unto them , with joy and gladnesse . but this by the way . my advise therefore ( for the present ) is onely this ; that when thou risest up , as a man of zeale and courage , to plead the cause of the gospel , in any kinde against any enemie thereof , thou shewest thy selfe a man of wisdome and judgement also ; making a difference in thy zeale , betweene things that differ ( in their nature ) as much as light and darknesse , as heaven and earth . take heede of binding up , hay , stubble , & wood , in the same bundle of defence , with silver , gold , and precious stones . and know this , that as the apostle speakes of a knowledge amongst professors in his dayes , that was falsely so called , 1. tim. 6. 20. it had the name , but not the nature , worth , and substance of knowledge : so hath it beene found in all ages , that where ever the body and substance of the gospel hath come , it hath in time , still gathered much drosse and refuse , and loose matter about it ; and that not onely by the malice of enemies , but by the weakenesse and injudiciousnesse of the best friends of it , which hath still beene counted treasure too , and gone under the name of the gospel , as well as the truth it selfe . but i must not now prosecute this caution any further , i feare j have over-prefaced my discourse already . jf i have transgressed the rule of discretion , j will be sure to observe the rule of charity ( in the close ) and cordially pray for the building up in the knowledge of the onely true god , and him whom he hath sent , jesus christ by the reading of this and all other peices , consecrated to that high and glorious service . thine in all thou desirest in the lord. i. g. coleman-streete 1640. the christians ingagement for the gospel . jude verse 3. that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints . chap. i. the scope and coherence together with the sense & meaning of the words cleared , and the doctrine to be handled , raised , and propounded . 1 as david speaketh to the securitie , comfort , and joy of israel ( the church of god ) behold , he that keepeth israel shall neither slumber nor sleepe : psal . 121. 4. so on the other hand may it also be said , for the awaking of israel himselfe , ( that hee may neither slumber nor sleepe , either more or otherwise then may stand with his safety ) that hee that seeketh the destruction of israel , neither doth he either slumber or sleep : your adversarie the divell ( saith saint peter ) what ? sitteth still , or sleepeth ? no : but like a roaring lion , walketh about , seeking whom hee may dovoure . hee cannot come at all to devoure them : some keepe themselves , that the evill one toucheth them not , ( as saint iohn speaketh ) they have an eye upon him , as well as he upon them , they carefully avoid all occasions of evil : which are as it were , medium tactus to the divell : meanes without which the divell can hardly come to touch any man , in this kinde , or to fasten either pawe or teeth upon him ; the lion though he rageth and roareth never so terribly , cannot come to prey upon all the beasts in the wildernesse . § 2. 2. now , because sathan would not willingly runne thus up and downe for his living , to pick out here a man and there a man , to devoure or prey upon . hee counteth this but small gaine , and little better then losse of time , an allowance altogether unproportionable to the vastnesse of his devouring greedinesse , hee therefore spreads his nets to take whole companies and congregations of soules at once ; to destroy men by whole townes , cities , nations , and kingdomes . §. 3. 3. to bring to passe a designe of this nature , a project of such an accursed and dismall consequence as this : there is no way more direct and compendious , then to procure the fountaines of living waters ; of which all joyntly together drinke : or the bread of life upon which all feede , to bee poysoned , to convey death into the pot : this is a way of quick dispatch with the poore soules of men , if hee can procure such a project as this , to be advanced in any part of the world , where there is any necessity or occasion for him to desire to doe it ; i meane where god hath a church , or where truth of religion is planted . hee needs not now runne up and downe , seeking whom , or which man he may devoure ; he may sit still and devoure whole multitudes at once , without seeking further for them . if the waters be poysoned , the fisherman needs not be carefull of his bait , how he may deceive the fish , they will come to his hands alone , and lie dead upon the top of the waters , hee may take them up as he please . §. 4. 4. when in any place the truth of god is universally tainted with pernicious and damnable errours , the soules of men are there unto sathan , as the figge trees with their first ripe figges ( nahum the 3. 12. ) if they be shaken they will fall into the mouth of the eater : little tempting will serve to effect the ruine and destruction of the soules of those men , that have no better , no more wholsome nourishment wherewith to be fed , then either the doctrines of divels , our traditions of men . the apostles of our blessed lord and saviour jesus christ even in their dayes discovered sathan close at his worke , labouring by his agents and factors to undermine the spirituall peace and salvation of the churches of god , by corrupting those wholsome streames of saving knowledge , which in plentifull manner issued forth from the sanctuary , from jesus christ in the flesh , into the world ; and accordingly their care was both to withstand him themselves , for their times with all their power , & also to leav a deep and waightie charge behinde them upon all churches to beware of so dangerous an enemie , especially in so dangerous a machination and attempt . §. 5. 5. this very thing seems to bee the full and adequate motive that moved this apostle iude to frame and addresse this epistle to all christians wherein he might exhort and quicken them to bee very carefull to preserve the word of their peace and salvation , ( yea , indeed of the peace and salvation of the world ) to preserve it in the glorious puritie of it , that so it might continue a word of salvation , and bee as able at the last , as it was at the first , to save all their soules : ) or as he doth expresse himselfe in the words of the text . that they would earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints . §. 6. 6. for the meaning of which words ( to dispatch that very briefly ) i shall ( for the present ) onely need to shew you , first , what i conceive to bee meant by faith ; ( what the earnest contending for the faith here spoken of meaneth , wee shall see afterward : ) and secondly , what the meaning and waight of that latter clause is ( which was once delivered to the saints . ) for the word faith , it is a tearme the holy ghost useth for many purposes , and in divers significations ; onely two i finde pretenders for this place . first , by faith some understand that grace or habit of faith by which these men were justified , which indeed is the most common & proper acception . and thus the meaning would be , that christians should earnestly contend , to maintaine and make good that precious grace , wrought in the heart , upon which their eternall peace and safety depends against all that may indanger the life and power of it . §. 7. 7. secondly , this word faith is often by a figurative expression , taken for the doctrine of jesus christ , by which the grace or habit of faith is wrought in men , in an usuall form of speech , wherein the better to expresse the efficacie and vertue of the cause ; wee tearme it by the name of the effect it selfe which it produceth ; especially when the effect is great and glorious , and hath a speciall dependance upon such a cause : so that without it , it could not be produced . this is an emphaticall speech to commend the excellencie of the vertue of such a cause . as if a physitian should come to a sicke man , and bring his receipt in his hand , and shewing it to the patient , should say this to him ; here is your recovery , here is life and health for you . this kinde of speaking is the highest expression of the vertue and efficacie of that which hee administreth : so we finde that the holy ghost to commend the excellent power of the scriptures , or word of god , very usually cals them by some or other , of the names of those glorious and blessed effects which they produce , and raise in the hearts of men ; and whereby they become of infinite advantage to the world . thus iohn 4. 22. the word of god is called by our saviour , salvation : for salvation is of the iewes , that is , the word of god , ( by which the salvation of the world is effected ) is from the jewes ; as paul saith , to them were committed the oracles of god. so heb. 2. 2. how shall wee escape , if we neglect so great salvation , that is , so great meanes of salvation . so solomon . prov. 4. 13. commends wisedome to men thus : keepe her , for shee is thy life , that is , the meanes by which thou must live . thus moses concerning the doctrine that he had delivered , to the people from god , told them that it was not a vaine word concerning them ; but that it was their life : that is the onely meanes to prolong the dayes of their peace , deut. 32. 47. and so wee finde the glorious gospel , or doctrine of jesus christ , often expressed by this great and excellent effect of it ( saith : ) thus gall. 1. 22. hee who persecuted us in time past , now preacheth the faith , that is , the gospel or doctrine of faith which he destroyed . so againe ( to name no more places ) in that of paul. phil. 1. 27. a place of very neere affinitie with this in the text ; that yee continue in one spirit , in one minde , striving together for the faith of the gospel : or rather ( as the originall hath it ) ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) striving together with the faith , that is , with the doctrine of the gospel ; for this gospel it selfe strives and quarrels with the world , and paul would have the philippians to joyne with it ; and to side with it and assist it against the world , that seekes the destruction and subversion of it . §. 8. 8. i finde the former signification of the word preferred by some expositors : but there are these reasons lie strong against it ( which also make way for , and confirm the later ) first from the text it selfe . first , in the beginning of the verse , hee faith hee would write unto them about the common salvation : now the particular habituall faith of men is onely about their owne private salvation : my contending to preserve my particular grace , is little or nothing concerning the generall salvation of the church . but my contending for the maintenance of the truth of the gospel is . secondly , in the later clause of the verse , it is said ; that this faith which they are exhorted earnestly to strive for , was once given , or , as the word in the originall giveth it , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) delivered unto the saints . now justifying faith in no propriety of speech can bee said to be delivered to the saints ; such faith indeed may bee said to be the gift of god ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) but never ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) a thing delivered to the saints ; neither in any congruity of speech could be . thirdly , this sense is most agreeable with other scriptures , that speake after the same manner ; whereas the other sense that contendeth for justifying faith , can hardly be paralleld . §. 9. 9. the other clause followeth , which was once delivered to the saints . i conceive these words are added in the clause of the exhortation , as a reason or motive to presse the exhortation by ; therefore hee would have them contend for the faith , for the truth of the gospel , the doctrine of salvation ; because this doctrine was , or hath beene once delivered to the saints . that is , because god of his infinite mercie and compassion to men , did once by speciall revelation convey the same to holy men , beloved of god , chosen for that purpose , whom hee made feoffees in trust for their times , to convey it safe to their posterity ; that so it might passe from generation to generation amongst the saints , in the church of god to the worlds end : the present generation being still bound by the same bonds ( that the first immediate receivers of it from god were ) to preserve it pure and entire from all corruptions , and so to bee transmitted as a precious inheritance to succeeding generations . §. 10. 10. that particle ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , once ) may admit a double signification , and it carries a full emphasis with it both wayes . there is not any losse of the maine scope of the holy ghost , whether way we take it . first , the more usuall and familiar meaning of the word is ; by once , to understand , but one time in opposition to the word often , or more then once ; and thus the weight of the motive will bee , as if he had said , you must therefore contend for the faith , for this faith hath beene once given to the saints by god , and will be no more ; namely , by any such speciall and immediate revelation : therefore , now you have the words of eternall life , it stands you in hand with all your might to keepe them ; because , if you suffer them to bee taken from you ; there are no more christs , no more sonnes of god , to bring them downe againe from heaven ; out of the bosome of the father to the world . or , secondly , the word once signifies as much as throughly , perfectly , to purpose , sufficiently , &c as where it is said christ dyed once for sinne , the full and proper meaning of the place , is not that christ died one time for sinne , that comes off but ( coldly ) but hee died once to sinne ; that is , hee died to purpose ; his death was enough , and enough for the abolishing of sinne for ever . rom. 6. 10. and so often in the scripture elsewhere , if wee rather chuse this signification of the word ; the meaning will fall thus : you ought therefore to contend for the faith , seeing it was once delivered , that is , fully and perfectly ; yea , and peremptorily delivered by god unto the saints : so that hee meant not to deliver it the second time . as if he had said to the saints in the delivery of it , looke to it , there is the word of your peace and eternall life : there it is compleat and perfect , i meane to make no more worke of revealing it againe unto you : if you suffer it to perish , or to be taken from you ; and therefore ( faith iude ) it stands you in hand to hold it fast , though it cost you blowes : both significations i conceive would be put together , to give full weight to the place . §. 11. 11. the words thus opened , 2. things in generall are to be observed . first , an exhortation . secondly , a motive seconding the exhortation . the exhortation in the first words : that you contend for the faith , the motive in the later , ( which was once delivered unto the saints . ) in the exhortation we have these particulars : first , the parties exhorted ; you christians , beleevers : secondly , the duty it selfe whereunto they are exhorted ; that is , to contend , or strive : thirdly , the manner how to strive earnestly : fourthly , and lastly , the possession ( as it were ) or matter of consequence , about which they are to strive , the faith : in the later the motive pressing the exhortation . 2. particulars likewise . first , the author of that precious treasure for which they were so earnestly to contend ? who is not here expressed , because this is readily understood , namely god himselfe . it was god by whom this faith was given or delivered . secondly , the delivery or making over of this treasure from the author or first possessor of it , in the word ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) was given and delivered . thirdly , the parties to whom this conveyance was made , or that were infeoffed , the saints . fourthly , and lastly , the speciall provisoe , or item in the conveyance , or delivery in the word once , it was so fully and perfectly delivered , that it never needed more ( nor indeed ever should ) be delivered againe in any such manner . §. 12. 12. these particulars are sufficient to multiply points of observation ; but because wee have leasure now to prosecute but some one point ( at the most ) i therefore put those of the first generall into one , and the consent and harmonie of divine truth which they make up together , is this ? the doctrine . that it is a speciall and weightie dutie lying upon all christians whatsoever , to stand for the truth of the gospel to the uttermost of their power . remissenes and indifferencie will bee better borne at our hands , in other matters of dutie , rather than in this ; if the truth of god be invaded , or set upon by the enemies of truth ; every man in his ranke and order must come forth to helpe the lord against the mightie , against the prince of darknesse , who labours to turne this great truth of god into a lie ( and will turn it if he be let alone , ) and out of this light of the gospel , draw his owne darknesse , if hee be not withstood by men of wisedome , and resolution . cap. ii. the method of the discourse briefly propounded , with some discovery of the enemies of the truth , who occasion the maine necessity of contending first . §. 1. for the managing of this point to your best edification , wee shall first shew you what the occasion of this generall muster of christians throughout the world , is ; or what enemies they are that seeke to oppose and destroy this truth , what it is that imposeth upon christians this great necessity of contending for it . secondly , for more security , and fuller evidence of the doctrine ; that christians must at any hand contend for this faith , wee may call in more witnesses from the scriptures , to speake to the point . thirdly , some reasons and grounds would bee considered , which will be as so many motives to perswade , and presse the dutie upon us . fourthly , wee may consider the manner of this contention , and shew by what weapons this warrefare is to be atchieved and performed . fifthly , and lastly , conclude with some words of application . §. 2. 2 , for the first , the enemies of the faith ( in this sense ) or doctrine of our salvation , in generall are two . first , sathan . secondly , wicked men . first , sathan he is an old adversarie to the truth of god , as god is to him ; these two are contrary one to another , like ephraim and mannasse , ephraim against mannasse , and mannasse against ephraim ; so gospel is against sathan , and sathan against gospel . sathan hee goes about seeking whom he may devoure ; and the gospel that goeth about seeking whom it may save and rescue out of his hand ; the gospel seekes to destroy sathan indeed , but no others , except such as are willing to bee destroyed : and as salomon saith , love death , prov. 8. and this destroying which sathan feares from the gospel , is the true fountaine of that implacable enmitie he beares against it : he knowes except hee can some wayes destroy it , it will destroy him . §. 3. 3. it is said , heb. 2. 14. that christ suffered death , that by such suffering , he might destroy him that had the power of death , that is , the devill ; it is a new or further destruction to the devill to bee throwne out of mens hearts , and lose his interest in the precious soules of men : this is his tumbling downe from heaven , like lightning . luke 10. this was a secōd heavē to him , after he was throwne downe from the third heaven , ( and the best hee was now capable of ) to bee honoured and served like the most highest in the hearts of sinfull , blind , and miserable man. now , as it was the power of god to throw him down from the third heaven ; so it was the weakenesse of god , the death of god being made man , that fetched him downe from the second heaven , out of the hearts of men . and it is as much against his nature and inclination , as tormenting a destruction to him to lose this second heaven , as it was his first ; and therefore he is said to fall from this heaven like lightning : that is , fully against his nature and inclination with the greatest reluctancie , and torture of spirit ; as it is the greatest naturall torment ( as wee may say ) to fire whose naturall inclination and motion is constantly upwards towards the circumference , to bee compelled and forced downewards towards the center ; and the more pure the fire is ( as lightning is of the purest kinde ) it includs still the greater repugnancie to the nature of it , to be forced downewards . §. 4. 4. now , if it bee the death of christ indeed that fetcheth sathan downe like lightning from this heaven , off his power and throne , that hee hath gotten in the world , yet doth it not this immediately , without some other advantage ; as it is not a bullet , or powder that batters the walles of the citie or castle at such a distance , or cuts off the lives of so many men , but by the advanrage of the enemie , or cannon : so is it this same gospel of truth , that utters , as it were , and vents the death of christ , up and downe the world in that effectuall , and saving manner , according to which it worketh ; this is as the hysope that sprinkles that bloud upon the consciences of men . §. 5. 5. so that sathans aimand project is to disable the gospel from the performance of such a service , to make it wholly unusefull for the dispencing of the death of christ , unto men in a saving way . this hee knowes well enough will be done by corrupting the truth of it , if the straight wayes and paths of it bee much perverted , and made crooked ; the holy spirit will bee grieved and take offence at it , and being a spirit of truth , will refuse to goe forth with a lie , or to worke by it , as the lord told the people by ezekiel 28. 18. they had defiled their sanctuary by the multitude of their iniquities ; defiled it , that is , made it unfit for an habitation for him , so great and holy a god ; and therefore hee would prophane it too , as hee saith in another place , that is , hee would dwell no more there , nor delight to manifest his presence any more to them there , then in any other prophane and common place in all the world : so if the gospel bee defiled with mixture of errours , and tenets , and opinions of men ; the holy ghost will loath and abhorre it , and prophane it also , and doe no more towards the salvation of men by the gospel so corrupted , then by any other prophane learning and writing whatsoever : sathan i say , knowes this better then men doe , or indeed care to doe , and therefore hee is still busie to wring and wrest gospel truths : and because sathan is still the author of this worke , the primus motor . when any thing is stirr'd or shaken of the simplicitie and truth of the gospel ( though the immediate actors above ground bee men ) hence it was that paul with that severity . acts 13. 10. set a black brand upon elymas the sorcerer , calling him the child of the devill ; because he still perverted the right wayes of the lord : those in the scripture are called the children of the divell , that resemble him in his disposition and worke , ( as all confesse ) therefore it is the indeavour , and worke of sathan to oppose the truth . §. 6. 6. a second sort of enemies to the faith in this sense given ( that is , the truth of the gospel ) are all wicked men in generall , without exception . that of our saviour is not onely true here and there ; but it is a universall truth , and layes hold upon the foure corners of the world : hee that doth evill hateth the light . iohn 3. one said well , that verbum dei , was , lucerna ad quam fur deprehenditur ; the word of god was a light or candle , by which the thiefe was taken : no thiefe that meanes to steale , but hates the light that should discover him : true , this evill affection against the truth doth not breake out in all : some mens hearts are not so full as others ; it doth not ruine over our of every vessell , neither hath it alwayes that malignancie in it , to breake out at the lips and hands of men ; nay , it is not at all to bee doubted , but many evill men may and doe support it for carnall ends . cap. 3. a further discovery of the enemies of the truth . §. 1. but there are some sorts of wicked men that are more dangerous enemies to the truth in this sense then others , and from whom , the ruine and subversion of it is more to bee feared ; men that have ends of their owne , and not simply so ( for all carnall men have these ) but further , are much intent , and zealous in the advancement of such ends : men whose motions eccentricall to the course and motions of the gospel , and yet are active and vigorous in their motion . these are men who threaten great danger to the truth of god. §. 2. 2. the reason is cleere , because the bent , and inclination , and levell of the gospel , is in the straightest line that can be imagined to bee laid for the advancement of god , and his glory , and his christ ; and not at all for the carnall ends and purposes of men . it was never framed to serve turns . the high-way of the gospel lyeth through the midst of mens fruitfull and pleasant fields ; through their gardens , and orchards , and vineyards ; yea , many times through the middest of their palaces , and stately houses , through the middest of mens honours , and preferments , estates , pleasures , reputations , &c. and so if it bee sufferd to goe forth in its owne spirit , and take the way it selfe desireth and chuseth , it will make great spoyle of mens carnall advantages : it will tread and trample under foote , the base and unworthie ends , and designes of men ; therfore , those men that are much intent upon such ends , as these which are so incommensurable , with the great end of the gospel , and cannot be content with god alone for their portion , must needs seeke to turne the course of the gospel another way , that they may suffer no losse or prejudice by it , in their particular ends : yea , if it were possible , if the strength of their wit , and learning , and understanding , authority , and interest , in others will reach to it ; they will haile and bring over the gospel to themselves : they will force it , and compell it to plead for them , and their wayes ; they will take the words of the gospel , and dispossesse them of that spirit of truth , that lives and speakes in them , and will informe and animate them with their owne spirits , and give such senses , and meaning unto them ; as if god himselfe spake to the heart ( as the hebrew phrase is ) of their fleshly mindes , and worldly ends . §. 3. 3. thus men do labour to perswade themselves , that gaine is godlinesse , ( as the apostle speakes ) that honours , and preferments , are godlinesse : that time-serving , and pleasing men , is godlinesse ; that opposition to the truth is godlinesse , that drawing disciples after them is godlinesse ; and every carnall end and way , every carnall man makes godlinesse ; that is , to make it seeme nothing else but what doth well stand and agree with the true rule , and perfection of true godlinesse : as austins saying is , quicquid amant volunt esse veritatem : whatsoever men have a minde to , that they resolve to make truth . thus merchandise is made first of the truth ( as saint paul speakes ) next of the precious soules of men , as saint peter cleerely affirmes , speaking of covetous men in this case . 2. peter 2. 3. and through covetousnesse , shall they with feighned words make merchandize , or with framed words , as the word beares 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , framed for their purpose ; that is , they will glose over the truth , with such cunning and faire colourable meanings , and interpretations , so well pleasing and sutable to us , that except we bee very warie to discover them ; and what they are like to do , they will sell us into the hand of sathan and eternall death , only for a little mony w ch they shall gain , by that which will bee our destruction : namely , the corrupting the truth of the gospel , and bringing in those damnable herefies , ver . 1. if a mans profession be to make bowes , or hoopes , and the growth of the wood or timber , whereof hee is to make them , be straight ; there must bee violence offered unto them ( that which is straight must bee made crooked , or bending , or else the artificer cannot follow his trade , nor make a living of his art : so men having carnall and unworthy ends , if they will seeke to justifie or advance them by the scriptures , which are spirituall , and in their naturall posture lye a crosse to them , must bow and winde them this way and that , and carrie them quite beside their owne intent and meaning . cap. iv. conteyning a more full and particular discovery of the enemies of the truth . §. 1. if we desire more particularly to know what kindes of men these are , that are so dangerous enemies to our faith , and by whom the gospel is like to suffer great spoyle , and losse of truth . i answer , they are these and such like , as both scriptures , and histories of the church , in all ages cleerely shew . amongst the divers kindes of the principall , and those that still have beene most frequent in undermining the truth are . §. 2. 2. first , men that are of ambitious aspiring dispositions that love to have the preeminence , as we see in diotrephes ( though not alwayes , they that have preeminence , ) men that love to mount upon the high places of the earth , to see others sitting below at their feete , that cannot goe on foote , but they must ride on horse backe , as solomon speaketh ; that cannot frame to the humility of elias spirit : and gird up their loynes to runne by ahabs chariot , but must ride in chariots as well as hee ; especially , if with all they have in the meane time ; a desire to seeme but humble , and modest , and moderate men . these men must attempt to corrupt the scriptures , that they may seeme to speake for them , at least to connive at them , and to say neither good nor evill of them ; ( as baalack would have indented with balam : because , if the gospel bee permitted to speake its minde freely ; it would fill the eares of men , and perhaps the consciences of the delinquents themselves ) with out-cries , and clamours from heaven against the ambitious distempers or such men : therefore they must beate their braines , and set all their learning and bookes to worke , to finde out some other sinne that the scriptures should condemne , that so their sinne may not be thought to be araigned , and sentence given against it by god in his word . as the papists , they finde out one kinde of idolatrie , which they confesse the scriptures condemne ; but as for their idolatrie , that is none of it ; the scriptures speake not against that : we know the example of ieroboam , to set up and maintaine the kingdome to himselfe , hee stucke not to maintaine idolatrie too . §. 3. 3. the like may bee said of the second sort , ( of some affinitie with the former , and many times materially the same ) men that are resolved to serve times , and please men . that set downe with themselves , that what men soever , or what humour , or opinion of men soever raigne where they live , they will raigne with them ( as paul speakes ) they will have a share in an earthly kingdome ; these men are very obnoxious to doe injurie to the truth of god , and will hardly forbeare : we know the scriptures beare hard upon the upper formes and rankes of men in the world , and speake as if few of them were likely ever to rise higher then they are ; few that now ride on horses , but are likely to goe a foote for the dayes of eternity : not many wise , not many mightie , not many noble : 1. cor. 1. 26. therefore these being ( for the farre greatest part ) the reffuse of the world , and therefore enemies to the truth , and professors of it , as iames speakes of the great and rich men of the world . iames 2. 6. those that will strike in with these , and give contentment to them , and gaine indeerement with them , must make them glad with lies , hosea 7. 3. as the false prophets did with the princes of israel ; for with the truth they with never bee able to doe it : they that will know men after the flesh themselves , will make the scriptures doe as they doe , that is , know men after the flesh too , which we know they will never doe , except they bee mightily wrested ; or perverted , and so are not themselves . §. 4. 4. thirdly , another sort like to prove enemies to the truth of the gospel ; and to seeke the destruction of it , are men led away by a spirit of vaine-glory ; and being indeed little or nothing , desire to make themselves something in the world : either first in a way of popularity by seeking to please generalities , and multitudes ; and desire to fill their sailes with vulgar breath , and that all men should speak well of them : they run a great hazard also of accommodating the scriptures , and making them a nose of waxe , as the papists comparison is , to turne every way , and to turne into every mans humour , a multitude can seldome be followed or seconded , but it will bee to evill ; which made our saviour to pronounce a woe to such as whom all should speake well of , or whether : secondly , it be to draw disciples after them ; for many count this a glory to them , to have a retinue of scholers , of whom they may bee counted the head , and master founders : and there is not any greater temptation then this , to move a man to offer violence to the scripture , for paul makes this same speaking or teaching perverse things ( opinions that will not square with the truth of god ) to bee the direct and proper meanes of drawing disciples after them , acts 20. 30. §. 5. 5. a new opinion or new way , especially when it colours with the scriptures ; but doth not cotten : is as naturall a means to draw men that are injudicious and unstable , as a lock of new fresh smelling hay in a mans hand is to draw a sheep or a beast after him : i say , if it be an opinion that hath but a kinde looke from the scripture , and if the scripture draw neere to it in words , though the heart be farre from it : then is it a bait for the purpose , it will draw men by heaps and multitudes after it , the errour in it , makes it sutable to nature , and the face or visage of truth upon it , laying a religious and conscentious obligation upon men for the embracing and receiving of it ; both these meeting together make men rather mad upon it , then simply to love or like it : as generally it is to bee observed in all cases where there is a like concurrence , when there is any agreeablenesse to corrupt nature , in a thing , and withall an apprehension of religion , to set a man forwards towards the doing of it , a man is like a ship that runnes before winde and tide , hee layes all his waight and strength upon it , being like ieremies wild asse in the wildernesse , men shall weary themselves to runne after them , to thinke to turne them . it is a saying of gregory , cum vitium virtus putatur ibi culpa sine metu cumulatur , when errour is taken for truth , men offend without measure , and without feare also . §. 6. 6. a fourth fort that cannot but indanger the truth , and puritie of our faith , are men of an evill eye , as our saviour speaketh , that are of a malitious repining and emulating spirit ; either at the credit and esteeme , or the preferment of others , in any kinde above themselves ; men that cannot beare the waight of other men that stand above them , that cannot goe on foot when they see others ride , or that are prone to drinke in discontentments , or affronts , or disappointments in any kinde into the depth of their spirits , these are apt to relieve themselves , by setting up some way , or some opinion in the church , that may seeme to countenance the equity and iustice of their discontentments , or else reflect prejudice upon those from whom they are now divided in affection , men that break the band of peace , to bee at liberty , to set up error , but especially these evill distempers are found in men that are eminent in place , that have power in their hands in any kinde . : but otherwise are unworthy and base in their course of life and wayes , and so men that are farther inferiour in place , are as farre their superiours in esteeme , and in the hearts of men . i say in these this distemper of envie and discontent is of most dangerous consequence to the truth ; for now being armed with power it hath a greater incouragement and advantage many wayes ; both to set up ( and to get established ) tenets , and opinions in religion by way of opposition to such men and their wayes , whose reputations are an eye-sore unto them . §. 7. 7. fifthly , men that are given to filthie luker , ( as paul speakes ) that love the wages of unrighteousnesse , that is , gaine however comming in by a way of unrighteousnesse : the apostles in their writings speak much of these kinde of men ; these are the men that will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as paul speakes 2 cor. 2. 17. that is , adulterate , or embase the word of truth : it is a metaphor taken from vintners , or wine sellers , that mingle , corrupt , or badde wine with that which is good to helpe it off . the word of god , in the life , and power , and simplicitie of it , is but a drugge , a commodity that will yeeld little in the world to him that shall utter it ; it is very few mens money , except it be prepared , and the high spirit of it corrected and taken downe , that it may fall even with tempers , desires , imaginations , & intentiōs of men : therefore hee that seekes to make matter of gaine and advantage of it in the world , must accommodate and fit it to the hearts of those that are like to be his best chapmen and customers . see mic. 3. 11. mal ▪ 2. 8. §. 8. 8. sixthly , men that are not able to bee baptised with the baptisme wherewith christ was baptised ( that are not able ( or at least much unwilling ) to suffer for the truth : these in a passive way , or by way of consent many times , prove enemies to the truth , and strengthen the hands of those that doe impugne it , and are accessary to many a breach that is made upon it . thus paul tels the galatians that such as did constraine them to bee circumcized , that is , were earnest with them to yeeld to circumcision , did it not so much because in their judgements , they rather thought it so necessary , or fitting , but onely , saith hee , because they would not suffer persecution for the crosse of christ ; peter himselfe through his infirmitie first knew not christ , and againe fearing those of the circumcision ; he knew not but hee might lawfully separate himselfe from the gentiles , that is in effect build up againe the partition wall which christ had throwne downe , and yet not prejudice the truth of the gosspel : but pauls resolution and courage made straight what peters feare had made crooked ; and indeed except men will bee somewhat willing and free hearted this way towards the gospel and truth in time of danger ; there is no sinne more present with us at any time then even for those that are otherwise well-willers to the truth with a little wit and learning to shuffle away the substance of it , and to sit downe upon a distinction cleane beside it . §. 9. 9. a seventh sort that are enemies to the faith , and ( as dangerous as any of the former , if not more , are men that will needs be spirituall benefactors to religion , i meane that are superstitiously addicted , and will needs undertake to relieve the weaknesse of god with their strength , and supply the foolishnesse of the gospel with their wisedome , that will adde traditions and commandements of men , to make the precepts and commandements given by god himselfe , hold full waight and measure that god may have his due , full alowance , & heaped measure in his worship as the papists doe , and those that are leaning to that kinde of devotion ; or in a word to expresse them ( as pauls language is ) that cannot rejoyce in christ jesus , but have the prime ( at least ) of their confidence in the flesh . phil. 3. 3. men that finde more satisfaction in their consciences , in what they doe , then in what they beleeve ; and are more in doing what themselves or other men have commanded , then in doing what the great god himselfe hath commanded : this is in effect to preach another jesus whom paul never preached , 2. cor. 11. 4. and to set up new wayes of pleasing god , is to set up new saviours , and to set up new saviours , is to exauthorize and discharge the great saviour indeed ; for this is an essential propertie of that power of saving , which resides in him , to save alone , or to worke by himselfe alone in the salvation of any man : therefore if we offer to joyne any help to him , wee wholly destroy his power of saving ; as paul in very expresse and peremptorie tearmes tels the galathians , that if yet they bee circumcised ( namely with an opinion of any holinesse in it , to helpe them to heaven , or to accomplish their justification ) christ shall profit , or will profit them nothing . gal. 5. 2. these severall kinds of men are like to prove very dangerous enemies to the truth of religion in respect of whose opposition there lies a great necessity upon those that desire to have the truth of the gospel to remaine with them ( as paul speaks ) to contend for it , as the holy ghost exhorts in the text . cap. v. conteyning scripture demonstrations of the doctrine propounded . §. 1. to prove this to bee the will of god , that the people of god ought to labour and strive to bestirre themselves to maintaine and make good their faith , to preserve the gospel in the simplicitie , puritie , and integrity of it , the text being so pregnant , we shall not need to call in much aide for confirmation ; yet since they are at hand , let us have the mouthes of two or three witnesses from the word . philip. 1. 27. paul intreats them that he might heare that of them , that they stand fast in one spirit , with one minde , striving together for , or with the faith of the gospel : and so he musters their forces together , and teaches them how to put themselves in battle array , and how to march in this warfare ; he would have them stand fast in one spirit , and then with one minde or soule to strive or wrastle for the truth , in one spirit , with one minde ; that is , he would have them to be carefull to maintaine the perfectest union among themselves that might be ; ( which union will hardly stand long , or live amongst them , except it bee much made on , and carefully , and tenderly fed and nourished on all hands : ) that they would have but the same spirit to act them all ; that is , a publike spirit which inclines and moves particular men to seeke publike good , and the advancement of the whole ; and then but one minde that is but one judgement : hee would have them not onely at unity in respect of the end , but in respect of the meanes of proceeding thereunto , not distracted among themselves this way , and in this way hee wils them ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) to struggle and wrestle with their adversaries . for the truth , or as the word properly signifies , ( and before now observed ) would have them assist the truth in its owne cause , against the adversaries it hath in the world : and he would have them make a labour and a worke of it , and not any man to favour himselfe , or to keepe back any part of that power , strength , or skill , hee hath to doe service in this kinde , for so wrastlers in their games and exercises were wont to put forth themselves to the uttermost . §. 2. 2. so the church of sardis , rev. 3. 3. is charged to remember how she had received and heard , and to hold fast , and to repent , had namely that she held so weakly and loosely till now . sardis must remember , that is , looke back and call to minde with what puritie and soundnesse the gospel was first preached unto her , and she must hold fast , which is spoken as if some on the other side were pulling hard against her , and tugging to get that out of her hands , and to put something else into her hand instead of it , and shee must repent ; namely , that shee had already let something goe and did not watch , when , and how it went , that shee might have laid surer hold and kept that which was deposited , or committed in trust to her . so you see plainely ( to heape up no more testimonies from scripture ) that it is the will of god , that his people should be earnest for the truth of the gospel against all adversaries . cap. vi. wherein foure grounds or reasons of the doctrine are opened . §. 1. to passe from scripture confirmation , to the grounds and reasons of the doctrine , amongst many that might bee given , i shall onely insist upon these foure . first , the enemies of this truth are very many , and ( for the most part ) mightie too , and beare a tyrannous hate against it , and therefore there is no hope or possibility of preserving and keeping it without contending . it hath beene shew'd already , how sathan rageth against it , and bends himselfe and his whole might for the ruine of it , and for men of corrupt mindes and lives , if they have but the least power to make opposition ; we cānot expect but to heare of wars and rumours of warres against the truth , from them wee know the truth is not for their purpose : hee that doth evill hates the light , as our saviour saith , iohn 3. and yee know wherunto hatred inclines ; every man wisheth him out of the way whom hee hateth . §. 2. 2. all manner of sinne and wickednesse are in the scriptures called workes or deeds of darknesse ; as rom. 13. 12. and elsewhere not so much ( i conceive ) either because they proceede out of darknesse ; that is , want of knowledge and understanding of what is good and what is sinfull ( for there are many sinnes committed against a great light of knowledge and conscience , and are never the lesse , but rather much more the workes of darknesse for this ) neither because they end in darknesse ; that is , in the misery & destruction of the creature ( for many times this also is prevented by repentance , though i grant the naturall course and tendernes of sin is to the chābers of death ) but because sin is a cōmodity so conditioned , and so qualified , that it is never in season , never in the right kinde , never it selfe , but in times of darknesse , sins are called works of darknes , as some kinds of fruits are called sūmer fruits , because then they are ripe , and at their best for meat : and so we know it is true of severall kindes of nourishment , both of fish & flesh they are in season , wee say , in such a moneth , or about such a time of the yeere ; that is , when the season of the yeere agreeth with their temper , then are they sound and well fed , full of that wholsome moisture ; that is , fit for nourishment and agreeable with the health of the body : whereas take them at other times when they are out of season , they are weake , waterish , unwholsome , and not worth the eating : so is sinne in season onely in times of darknesse and ignorance of the truth ; because then it hath a kind of fulnesse or perfection of delight contentment , pleasure , and profit in it , the vilenesse and horror of it now not appearing , but in times of light and brightnesse of the gospel , when the shame and basenesse of it are discovered to the world ; when the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against it , when the conscience is still gauld and stung with it , now it is scarce worth the taking up , it will not beare its owne charges ; the pleasure and profit of it will not make good the shame and the dishonour that comes with it . §. 3. 3. therefore men that love iniquity and are not willing to let any sweet morsels of sin to go from under their tongues , cannot but seeke to make it in season alwayes as water is alwayes in season for fish to drinke , which is done when the light of the gospel is put out , when the spirit of godlinesse , that lives in the word of god , is quenched , when that two edged sword is taken out of the mouth of christ , and a sword of lead put instead of it ; when men are naked and unarmed , they had neede take heede of keene weapons in the hand of an enemie : swords and speares are dangerous to them ; now the workes of darknesse make men naked men , and obnoxious to all , as the apostle implies in that opposition , where hee cals an honest and vertuous life , the armour of light , rom. 13. 12. namely , because men that are harnessed herewith need feare no enemie , no weapons , no censures , reproofes , threatnings , neither from god nor men : the sword of the spirit it selfe wounds them not ; but if men bee loose , sinfull , and prophane , the arrowes of christ in the scriptures are very sharp , and will pierce them through and through , wanting the brest-plate of righteousnesse , and uprightnesse of heart to defend them . §. 4. 4. secondly , another reason to evince the necessity of this duty of contending for the faith , is mentioned in the end of the verse , and is this : because this faith hath beene once delivered to the saints . god will make no such solemne revelation of it , as hee hath done , the holy ghost shall bee no more sent downe from heaven in cloven and fierie tongues : therefore it stands the world in hand now they have it , to look to it , to keepe it safe ; a thing of moment that is not to be recovered , if once lost or gotten out of our hands , requires all care and diligence in keeping ; and as this reason hath a truth and waight in it as it concernes the world in generall ; so i thinke it may hold , if we confine it to particular nations , cities , &c. if god hath once given them the gospel in the truth , power , and simplicitie of it , and they let it goe , it will hardly bee delivered unto them the second time . §. 5. 5. if men under the law sold an inheritance , it turn'd unto them againe in the yeere of jubile , and therefore the making away of an inheritance in such a case was not so much ; but now the law of the jubile is antiquated , and out of date ; and this rich and blessed inheritance of the gospel being once sold , seldome or never becomes the possession of that nation or people that hath sold it the second time . §. 6. 6. thirdly , it must bee contended for , because it is as well , a depositum , or thing committed to our trust for others that are to come after , as a benefit or blessing to our selves : it is to be an inheritance to the children that are not yet borne ; and the present generation of christians are stil as feoffees in trust for them : the propagation of the church of christ to the worlds end , depends upon it , and the salvation of millions of soules must come out of it ; therefore they that suffer it to perish in their dayes , bring the bloud of so many soules upon their heads , as shall perish by errour and corruption of truth , or for want of the truth of that doctrine which they have suffered to fall to the ground ; yea , though god should shew mercie to after-times and heale thy crueltie by such mercie of his , in respect of others , and should by a strong hand bring backe againe the truth which thou hast betrayed and delivered into the hands of its enemies : yet this will little ease the guilt of thy sinne : thy sinne still remaines spirituall cruelty , and bloud , and damnation of soules , for the scriptures wee shall finde doe not measure any thing men doe good or evill by the event , but by the proportion that the things done beare , or congruitie they have to such and such events ( as might be shewed at large if time would permit ) to suffer the gospel to sinke or perish in the world , is to bring a sorer judgement and calamitie upon it a thousand-fold , then if that glorious and beautifull eye thereof , the sunne , should bee plucked out of the face of the heavens , and never shine more unto it . this is a third reason of the point ; the truth is to be contended for ( and that earnestly ) lest through any basenesse or cowardise this way , wee betray the joy , peace , and salvation of the generations yet to come , into the hand of the great adversarie the devill . §. 7. 7. the fourth and last reason that wee shall now propound to demonstrate the necessity of this duty , is the worth and excellencie of such a piece : the gospel is a thing worthie for which wee should earnestly contend ; neither ought it to be at all grievous unto us , though the price of its redemption should bee set never so high : many things there are which highly commend the worth of this gospel ; i shall onely touch these foure . §. 8. 8. first , the originall or descent it is from above , from heaven : the wombe that conceiv'd it , and a long time bare it , was the brest and bosome of the eternall god himselfe ; there is his likenesse and expresse image upon it . iehu thought it meete to shew the more respect to iezabel , though she had beene an accursed wicked woman , and was now dead , because she was the daughter of a king. 2. king. 9. 34. how much deeper and more solemne are the ingagements that lye upon the wicked , to doe all homage , and shew all height of respects to the gospel , being in it selfe lovely and beautifull beyond all admiration , and with all lineally and immediately descended from that great king ( as himselfe speakes in malachi ) who is lord both of heaven and earth ! secondly , the tendernesse and high respect , as it were , that god had of it while it was with him , hee scarce suffered it so much as to looke out into the world ; neither into heaven nor earth , but reserved it for companie and socieitie to his owne sonne , when hee should be borne , that then it should goe forth , and not before : it was a mysterie ( saith paul ) kept secret since the world beganne , rom. 16. 25. these same signata , or things sealed up and kept close , are ever matters of greatest worth . god , as well as hee loved his angels , who stand continually in his presence , and behold his face , yet kept them fasting from the knowledge and contemplation of this transcendent mystery ( at least from the cleere and perfect knowledge of it ) from the day of their creation , till the fulnesse of time came , wherein it was to be revealed in the world thirdly , the maine ingredient , whereof it is made , which runnes in every veine of it , and wherein the whole vertue and efficacie of it consist , is the bloud of christ so precious , that gold and silver are scarce foile to it . 1. pet. 1. 18. therefore to neglect this gospel in any kinde , not to bee jealous over it with a jealousie as strong as death , is to prophane the bloud of jesus christ , and count it as an unholy thing , and so to tread under foote the son of god himselfe . heb. 10. 29. fourthly ( and lastly ) the vertue and efficacie it selfe that rules in it : the gospel is the life of the world , deut. 32. 47. it is not a vaine thing for you , because it is your life , and through this thing yee shall prolong your dayes , &c. and salomon often speaking of wisedome still presseth this argument upon men to imbrace it , because shee is their life , pro. 3. 18. & 22. prov. 4. 23. alas , what were the world but a place of darknesse , and as the shadow of death , were not the light of the countenance of god in the glorious gospel of jesus christ , lift up upon it ? if this beautifull gate of the temple of heaven were shut up against it , would not the precious soules and consciences of men bee amongst lions continually ; i meane , amongst devouring feares and terrors , and horrid expectations of wrath and vengeance to come ? therefore let this reason also be considered : if wee do engage our selves never so deepe for the gospel and the truth of it , the worth and excellencie of it will beare us out , and justifie all our undertaking in this behalfe ; yea , and will condemne us with as high a hand , if it ever mis-carrieth , through any degeneratenesse , any base and accursed fearefulnesse on our parts . cap. vii . foure generall rules or directions , whereby to discover , and judge what opinions are most like to bee contrary to the truth . §. 1. before we come to the use and application of things that wee may not contend with our owne shadowes , or bee stricken with any panick feare like the wicked , who feare where no feare is ( as david speakes ) i. e. where no cause of feare is , or contend for that which is no part of our faith. i shall lay downe a rule or two , by which we may be able ( in part ) to discerne and judge when it is time to looke about , to lay hold , and to contend : or when sathan is about to beguile us of our faith ; let mee by the way give this one item , that our faith , or truth of the gospel , may bee two wayes indammaged , or suffer waste upon it , as the holy ghost implyeth : either first by adding or putting too ; or secondly , by incroaching or taking away : rev. 22. 18. or indeed as oft by a certaine composition of both together , by a kinde of exchange , as by either alone : for there is never any truth taken away , but there is an errour in one kinde or other , given or left in the stead of it . as the harlot pleaded before solomon . 1. king. 3. 20. against her fellow , that whilest shee slept , her fellow tooke her living child from her side , and laid her dead child in her bosome instead of it . so may it bee said of sathan , and of those that are the men of his right hand for such a service : they never take away any living truth from us , but they lay some dead errours in the bosome of our soules , in the roome of it : but such charging as this , is the most hatefull and accursed robbery of any other . this briefly by the way . §. 2. 2. now to give some rules of direction whereby wee may bee able to judge , whether at any time there be any speciall cause more then at an other to stand up in this case , and to practise this duty of contending for the faith ; at least they will serve to give aime , they will serve to intimate when there is speciall cause , to looke about , and to consider , and to suspect the worst ; as touching the losse and dammage of your precious faith. §. 3. 3. first , that tenet or opinion in religion , which is assaulted , and we perswaded to let go , under pretence of being an errour , contrary to our faith ; if it hath beene established by men that have beene sober minded , holy , religious , and no sinister cause , known , or suspected , which would intangle their judgement ; but probable and sufficient reasons , for the corrupting of their judgements by whom it is opposed , as time serving , covetousnesse , ambition , superstition , &c. this i say is a strong presumption , that such a tenet is the truth , and to be well considered before wee give it up , or take exchange for it , i only goe so farre in this rule as to say it is a strong presumption of truth ; because i know its possible that godly mens eyes may be held in respect of some particular truth , and other mens may be opened : and that there is no point of faith simply to be embraced upon the authoritie of men , one or other , nor simply to be rejected upon the prejudice of men : yet this difference both reason and religion will countenance , as meet to bee put between the judgement of holy and humble minded men , and of men sensuall or sinfully addicted : namely , not to reject the judgement of holy men without very apparent cause against them , nor to receive the judgement of the other , without apparent reasons and grounds for them . §. 4. 4. the equity or strength of the rule lyes in this naturall axiome , that where there is a concurrence of more causes ( and these equally efficacious ) tending to the same effect , greater likelihood there is that the effect should be produced , then where the causalitie is weaker ; as for example in going a journey where a man is ignorant of the right way , the more wayes there be to distract him , the likelier hee is to mistake them , if there bee but one way onely to mislead him . the reason given of the extraordinary heate of that season of the yeere , which wee call the dogge-dayes ; is , because there is a second cause , the starre so called , that joynes influence of heate with the sunne : so in godly men there is but one cause of mistake in matter of religion , naturall darknesse upon their judgement and understanding , which yet in part is healed ; ( whereas in other men there is that cause in the full strength of it , and besides , corrupt affections which are apt to turne men aside from the truth too . §. 5. 5. secondly , the opinion which is called for out of your hands , or that you are pressed any wayes to take exchange for , under pretence of your spirituall advantage : if it be an opinion ( as paul speakes ) according to godlinesse , that is an opinion that directly , and without any circuit of reasoning , and dispute tends to the advancement of the service and worship of god , and hath no degree of aspect upon any unlawfull or sinfull way , or end of men ; but the opinion profer'd instead of it , stands in full conjunction , with carnall ends or sensuall desires , or dispositions , that opinion is to be contēded & stood for , as for a piece of your faith : the ground of this rule is ; because , it is an essentiall character of the gospel ( and paul useth it more then once for a description thereof , to be a doctrine according to godlinesse , 1 tim. 6. 3. that is a frame or systeime of such rules and truths , and precepts ; as godlinesse it selfe , were it such a person as had power and authoritie to make lawes for its owne advancement , would set up , and no other ; and on the contrary , a doctrine that teacheth to denie all ungodlinesse and worldly lusts . titus . 2. 12. §. 6. 3. thirdly , if the opinion which you are any wayes tempted to deliver up , and to part with , because it hath an evill report , and is rejected by great and learned men in the world , if it makes for the exaltation of him whom god would have exalted ; namely , of jesus christ , and his free grace , & for the throwing downe of such things as god would have thrown downe ; namely , nature , works , &c. whereas , the opinion you are sought to , to give entertainment unto , tends to the contrarie ; as david speaking in the psalme ( as one translation reades it , ) of wicked men , all their delight is to put downe him whom god would exalt ; and as true it is in the contrary , toexalt him whom god would pull downe : in this case the opinion is to bee contended for ; the reason of this is evident , because the gospel labours , as it were , and travels onely with the advancement of the free grace of god , and exaltation of jesus christ to the uttermost , and layes all other excellencie low in the dust before him . §. 7. 7. a fourth and last rule , which may bee tearmed the rule of ruls , in this case to direct men what is truth , and to be contended for , and that which containes the vertue and strength of many rules , is that of our saviour , iohn 7. 17. that if any man will doe his will , that is gods will , hee shall know the doctrine whether it be of god or no , or whether i speake of my selfe ; and so concerning any man besides , whether they speake of themselves or from god. if a man will doe the will of god , that is , if a mans spirit bee cleere and perfect with god , that hee pitches upon a right end , and labours with all his might for doing of the will of god , or glorifying of god ( for that is the substance of his will ) and suffers no by or base ends to defile the puritie of his heart , or intention this way , but compels all other ends whatsoever , to doe hommage and service unto this ; such a man ( saith our saviour ) shall be able to put a difference betweene doctrine and doctrine , and to discerne what closes with the truth , and what stands off from it , shall be able to taste by the spirituall eare , the words of men as the palate doth meates , for it selfe ; that is , whether they be agreeable to it or no. iob. 12. 11. §. 8. 8. this abilitie stands not so much in any depth or reach of judgement or sharpnesse of understanding , whereby a man is able to sist out truth by subtil or exquisite disputs or argumentations ; but rather in the spirituality of a mans judgement , or that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as paul calls it ) by which a man inwardly tastes and relishes both truth and errour , as many men that using to taste wine , both good and bad : and so having their sense exercised with the taste of both , can give a judgement of the one and of the other , though they be no philosophers , nor able to dispute of the nature of tastes , nor of the foure first qualities , how they are to bee tempered and compounded , to make either the one taste or the other : so a man that is of a spirituall disposition , will have a kind of inward sensiblenesse , whether an opinion pleases or sutes his spirit , or whether not ; according to that speech of the woman in the storie of the martyrs , that answered , shee could dye for the truth , but could not dispute for it ; she was as confident of truth upon her taste , as any man could be upon his judgement and depth of understanding , and willing to lay as great a wager upon it . §. 9. 9. and yet this rule is not so to be taken nor understood ; as if a regenerate or sanctified judgement were an infallible judicatory of all spirituall and divine truth ; no , it was said by one that had a preeminence this way above all his fellowes ( i conceive ) and next to his lord and master himselfe ; as well concerning himselfe , as others : wee know in part , and we prophecie in part , 1. cor. 13. 9. to which may be added also ( as included in them ) we judge but in part neither . and many daily and sad experiences teach us that saints on earth are not angels in heaven this way , able to put a difference betweene all light and darknesse , betweene all errour and truth : for then the whole generation should be knit together in the same minde , and in the same judgement , in all the things of god , whereas now they are little other then divided and scattered upon the face of the whole earth , about them . but the meaning of the rule is , that the simplicitie , singlenesse , and uprightnesse of the heart before god , propounding to it selfe no other end whatsoever , but such as have a perfect consistence with the will , and glorie of god ; are a rich and blessed advantage where ever they are found , to to enable a man to see and to discerne the smallest line of partition , that runnes betweene errour and truth to divide them , and that especially upon this ground , and for this reason : because , such a man hath no need of , hath no occasion to use the helpe or furtherance of an errour , in as much as the truth it selfe is abundantly serviceable and sufficient to justifie , maintaine , and beare him out in all his ends and purposes ; whereas , men that have sinister and unsanctified ends in their eye , wanting support and strength , erre from the truth ( in the native puritie and simplicitie of it ) have a strong temptation and engagement upon them ; acheronta movere , to seeke shelter and sanctuary under the wing of errour , and so to pervert and accommodate the truth , as ahabs servants would have done by the prophet michaiah , 1. king. 22. 13. that so it may go along with them in the way of their desires , and not prophecie evill against them . §. 10. 10. besides this , it appeareth from the scriptures ; that such men as wee now speake of , men that are most sincere , and uncorrupt in their ends , have a speciall prerogative this way given them by god , viz. of seeing god in his word and truth , with more fulnesse and cleerenesse of manifestation , then other men . matthew 5. 8. psal . 119. 125. thus much by way of direction and advice to know when there is speciall occasion , to looke about and consider , whether the truth bee not in danger , and stands in need of our helpe to defend it . cap. viii . a briefe confutation of that opinion , which teacheth that god may bee truely served , and men saved , in any religion . §. 1. to come to application , the use of the point is foure fould . first , for confutation , if this be the dutie of all christians to stand out & to contend so zealously , so earnestly for their faith , and truth of the gospel , and not to suffer it to bee taken from them ; then doubtlesse this treads downe the strength , and cuts the sinewes of that opinion which some have maintained that god may be truely served , and men saved in any religion whatsoever , maintained , or professed in all the world ; such mens charity is as irreligious and unsavorie , as was that of corah , dathan , and abiram , that challenged moses and aaron , for taking too much upon them ; seeing all the congregation was holy , even every one of them , and the lord among them : so say these , all the world is holy , even every nation , and every religion professed in it ; let me say this one thing , that this spirit of confusion that labours to shuffle all things together , and to destroy the excellencie of things that differ , is that spirit which the god of judgement most hateth and abhorreth . §. 2. 2. what necessity can be imagined why there should bee such striving , such wrastling , such contending , such laying hold , such ingaging mens selves for one kinde of faith , if all the faith 's the world over will serve mens truns as well ? men doe not use to trouble themselves , or put themselves to straights and difficulties for obtaining any thing , when they may have their turnes served with ease . this was the argumēt that phaaroh used to iosephs family , that they should not trouble or cumber themselves in their remove with their stuffe , because all the good of the land of aegypt was before them , and was theirs ; that so they might bee sufficiently provided for there , without further charge or trouble : so , who needs trouble himselfe , or indanger himself , or to contend for one religion , if all the world before him , or any religion hee can fall upon in it , had the like certaine safetie . this is the argument which paul likewise useth to disswade christians from eating that which was sacrificed to idols in case of offence , or likelihood of offence ; because ( saith he ) the earth is the lords , and the fulnesse of it ; as if hee should say , the lord hath meate enough for them besides all the world over , that would nourish and preserve their naturall lives and healths , as well as that which was sacrificed to idols ; and therefore there was no necessitie to presse upon the eating of that ; it had beene more tolerable if the lords provision for his family had beene all spent beside : so say i : to set up any such opinion in the church , that there may be safetie and salvation , as well in any other as in the religion of jesus christ is to destroy the necessitie of this dutie of contending for this faith. and on the contrary , to presse the necessity of this dutie , is the throwing downe of every such imaginations , whether men of this opinion , by running , or contending with god , have wrested from him any more names whereby to bee saved , so it is : sure we are , that there is given none other name under heaven , whereby to bee saved ; but onely the name of jesus christ . acts 4. 12. there have beene , and still are many names given by sathan for men to perish by eternally : but to bee saved by , there is onely one given , and that by god ( as peter affirmeth . ) cap. ix . the resolutions and practises of martyrs and confessors , both ancient and moderne , justified in an use of instruction from the doctrine . §. 1. secondly , for instruction , if it bee a dutie required of all christians to contend thus earnestly for their faith , then from hence we may receive full satisfaction , concerning the counsels and , resolutions of martyrs and confessors , both of ancient and later times , in suffering things grievous to be borne in all kindes ; losse of goods , friends , credit , libertie , life , and all ; in the cause and service of this their faith , many may please themselves with conceits of folly and unadvisednesse in such men , as it was a speech full of unsavorie prophanesse : that the martyrs who suffered in the dayes of queene mary dyed like fooles ; whereas indeed it is a point of the greatest wisdome in the world to doe what god hath commanded ; and the harder any commandement is , and the more contrariety it hath to flesh and bloud , so much the greater wisedome it is to obey . §. 2. it is not any distemper in the judgement or spirit of a man to savour the things that be of god , and not of men : bee faithfull to the death , saith our saviour to the church of smyrna , rev. 2. 10. and i will give thee a crowne of life . certainely our saviour promiseth wages in full proportion to the worke ; yea , good measure , heaped up , pressed downe , and running over : therefore there can bee no follie in accepting his conditions , but an excellencie , and depth of wisedome . to part with mens lives for nothing , to make no friend with them when they goe , to dye cowards ; this ( in scripture language ) is to dye like fooles , as in that of david concerning abner , 2. sam. 3. 33. dyed abner as a foole dyeth ? that is , basely and cowardly ; and to this purpose is that of our saviour in the gospel : hee that will save his life shall lose it , hee that will save it ; that is , hee that will set it downe with himselfe that he will not part with it as long as hee can keepe it ; let the occasions of heaven , and the gospel stand in never so much need of it , and call never so loud and earnestly for it , such a man ( saith christ ) takes a course wholly to lose it , to make nothing of it , and so it is true of credit , estate , libertie , and there is no way to entaile them upon our selves for perpetuitie , but only in the way , or by a deed of consecration : behold saith iames , 5. 11. we count them happie which indure ; and except wee judge and walke by the same rule , we give evidence against our selves , that we are not of the israel of god. cap. x. wherein three sorts of men are found offenders by the doctrine delivered , and reproved accordingly , with an objection answered . §. 1. a third use is for reproofe , if this bee a dutie bound upon the conscience of every man that cals himselfe a christian , earnestly to contend for his faith : then there are three sorts of men here to be reproved . first , such as are ignorant what their faith is , what that doctrine is , for which they ought to contend . if they contend , it must be for they know not what ; their service to god in this case cannot be any reasonable service , and therefore not acceptable to him : were it likely they would come forth in such a case , to helpe the lord against the mightie ; but little hope there is that such as these should joyne with michael in this great battle against the red dragon : if men know what their ease , and peace , estates , and credit in the world meane , and not what their faith and religion meanes ; they will never indanger the one to relieve and support the other : men are readie to speake evill of what they know not , but to suffer evill for what they know not , there is not one of a thousand will doe it . §. 2. 2. a second sort to be reproved , are such as having some knowledge of the truth , yet are of a luke-warme temper , they have no list to stir or be active in this great and solemne quarrell of the truth : loth they are to ingage themselves in the defence of it : if christ will have their service ( in deliciis ) something hee may have of them , but in costris they are not for him : deborah in her song sang concerning rubens declining , the common service in the warre against sizera , that the divisions of ruben were great thoughts of heart , iudges 5. 15. wee may say truely that the divisions of these men are unworthie and base thoughts of heart and politique and worldly-wise thoughts of heart , which prevaile with them , to decline that great and honourable service of jesus christ , and his church ; this contending for the truth . they can warre according to the flesh ( as paul speakes ) let but their health , their credits , and estates provoke them : here they are men of action , and soone up in armes ; here they will put forth themselves to the best ; here are no thoughts of heart at all to move them , to decline any such warre : but for their faith , let that be never so injuriously dealt with all , invaded , wasted , new moulded , turned upside downe , and fashioned over and over ; and let men take from , put to , exchang , the gold , silver , and precious stones of the gospel , for the wood , hay , & stuble of the doctrines of men , like gallio , they care for none of these things , there is no roome neere their hearts to lay such things as these too ; all that region is taken up with other thoughts , cares , and lusts : well , their doome is set , and the booke is opened ; it will come to passe that christ will spue them out of his mouth ; that is , will so cast them off , that they shall never be fit to bee received againe ; as that meate which is once taken downe , and not digested , but comes up againe ; no man will ever make meate of it the second time . §. 3. 3. thirdly , a third sort yet obnoxious to a deeper and sharper reproofe then these , are men that not onely refuse to contend for the truth , but bend their strength and might , wit , learning , reading , authoritie , interest , and all they can make against the truth : as all hereticks , opposers , and destroyers of the faith in all ages have done , with such as have been their abettors ; & given the right hand of fellowship to them , such as with jannes and iambres resisted mosei , laboured to suppresse the truth , and wrest it out of the hands of those who held it forth unto the world , ( by sword , by fire , and other engines of crueltie ) and desperate wickednesse . §. 4. 4. many there are that have mens persons , as iames speakes , in admiration ( yea , and opinions too ) for advantage sake , for preferment sake , men that as plato said of sophisters in his time , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men that do not so much waigh or consider what truth is , as what way or course of religion is in request : and seeme to have as many sutes in religion , as some men have of apparell , to shift and change out of one into another , as the times they live in , change or alter : as david speakes of doeg , psal . 52. 4. thou lovest all destroying , or devouring words , oh ! deceitfull tongue ; so may wee say of many , they love all rising words , all opinions that will draw preferment after them , their judgements and consciences can close without scruple with them : all such words they love , true or false ; and the truth is that , that is the best use that many make of much reading , and great learning , to furnish themselves with variety and choyce opinions ( as there is scarce any tenet or opinion in religion now held , but what may bee found to have beene held , by some heretofore ) not so much to compare and examine what is the truth , but that they may bee able to colour any erronious tenet , which best serves their turne for present advantage , with pretence of antiquitie , that so they may not once bee suspected to flatter , ( the present ) but onely to reverence and honour the former ages . §. 5. 5. but it may bee objected , that many are charged to bee enemies to the truth , who stand stiffe upon the purgation , and are ready to returne the challenge upon their accusers , with as much confidence as eliah did upon ahab , who told him that it was not he , but it was himselfe , and his fathers house who troubled israel : so , many that are accused for undermining the truth and religion , will reject the crime with great indignation , and strike through the loynes of their accusers . therefore who in this case shall bee judge where the guilt lies ? to this i answer , ( besides the rules formerly given to guide mens judgements in discerning truth . ) §. 6. 6. first of all , it is no argument at all of innocencie to disdaine a charge or imputation , as we see those iewes , iohn 7. 20. being challenged by our saviour , that they sought his life ; they rejected the imputation upon as high tearmes as might be : thou hast a divell , who goes about to kill thee ? as if the charge had not beene onely untrue , but had had as much of the venome or poyson of the lye in it , that such a quantie could not have beene cast forth , but out of the mouth of the serpent himselfe immediately , and yet for all this high language the imputation stuck close to them , and was ( and so proved it selfe in time ) most true : and so may it be in this case ; such as are most zealous in their purgation , may be deepest in the condemnation notwithstanding . §. 7. 7. secondly , if men desire to stand upon such tearmes of innocencie and integriry this way , if the judge protest hee never hath , nor ever meant to corrupt judgement , then why are bribes taken ? and what becomes of the causalitie , or efficiencie of these ? for these have their effects upon men ; yea , upon men that most indisposed otherwise , to be wrought upon , as the holy ghost , that perfectly knowes the nature , and efficacie , and operation of all things , testifies , deut. 16. 19. a reward blindeth the eyes of the wise , and perverteth the words of the just : it blindeth not onely such eyes as are halfe blinde already , and so might easily be made blinde altogether ; neirher doth it pervert onely the words of such as are naturally inclin'd to injustice & doing of wrong , but even of the just themselves , now suppose the blinde man were never so confident of his way that he was right , the words of his confidence were scarce worth the weighing ; when men have suffered the eyes of their judgements to be blinded with honour and inordinate desires of preferment , covetousnesse , envie , contention : and the like confidence , and peremptorinesse in such men is rather to be suspected . we say of blinde men that they doe fortius impingere , stumble more strongly . §. 8. 8. men that resolve thus , and say thus with themselves ; i will runne a course of preferment , i will seeke to raise my selfe in the world , but i , will keepe a good conscience too : i will not suffer my judgement to bee perverted ; doe as if a man , when he is awake , should promise himselfe what his dreame should be , when hee is fallen a sleepe : many like ionathan follow the chase close till they come where honey is , and there they breake their ranks , and give over . §. 9. 9. thirdly and lastly , the complaints , and teares , and sorrowes , of godly men for the losse of truth , or corruptions at any time brought in , in matters of religion ; these may determine whether such men bee depravers of the faith or not : but you will say , such may complaine without cause ; many mens feares , yea and griefs too , may be superstitious , and worse then either the harme or danger that occasion them . i answer , to doe so , to complaine without cause , were worse then that which the beast doth , as iob 6. 5. does the wilde assebray when he hath grasse ? or doth the oxe low over his fodder ? if the generation of the righteous ( as david cals them ) consent in any thing ( i doe not say if some particulars of them ) but if the generation , that is of the maine bodie of such men doe consent in any thing , their unanimous and joynt cariage or behaviour is sufficient ( ordinarily ) to determine matters of this nature : and david more then once , resolves the ambiguities of his thoughts , and spirit into their judgement . then ( saith he ) should i condemne the generation of the righteous ; or ( as the last translation hath it ) behold i should offend against the generation of thy children . implying that no cariage of his , no apprehensions , were like to bee sound and justifiable , wherein he should oppose or gaine-say the generall vote of the righteous ; though vox populi , the voyce of the people , bee not alwayes vox dei , the voyce of god : yet vox populi dei , the voyce of the people of god is ( for the most part ) the voyce of god. cap. xi . containing a briefe exhortation , to inquire diligently into the truth , that men may know what they ought to contend for . §. 1. a fourth and last use , is of exhortation , and that to two duties , the former to make way , and to prepare for the later . the first dutie is , that wee would inquire after the truth , that we would take paines , and use diligence to informe our selves , what it is that we may not contend for errour , nor sacrifice to an idoll ( as many doe . ) the second , that we would earnestly contend for it , and seeke to uphold it , when we cleerely understand what it is . in few words acquaint we our selves with the truth of god , and labour to know the straight wayes and paths of it . imitate the angels , 1. pet. 1. 12. that is , bend and bow your selves towards the things of jesus christ , that you may lay the eyes of your mindes and understandings close to the secret veynes , and spirituall conveyances of the great mysterie of godlinesse , and so be the better able to discerne and judge when the faire and beautifull wisedome of god therein , shall bee any wayes blemished or misfigured by any offer , or attempt made to incorporate the wisedome of men with it . thinke we thus with our selves , that those abilities of reason , judgement , understanding , which are given us above other creatures , are chiefely given for this end , that by these we might bee capable of the knowledge of god and of this truth , bee earnest with god to get the fleshly tabls of our hearts written with that doctrine , and principles thereof , which is according to godlinesse , by the finger of his spirit . §. 2. 2. they that will shew themselves men in this conflict , had not need bee children in understanding ; it is our reasonable service that is here required of us . god would have us known both what it is wee contend for , and what it is we oppose ; the goodnesse and beautie of the one , and the drossinesse and basenesse of the other . why callest thou mee good , saith our saviour to the ruler in the gospel , luke 18. 18. not that hee did reject the tearme or title , or refuse to owne it because it was not his due : ( for hee was god , to whom hee did acknowledge it was due ) but because he would not receive it by way of complement , hee knew the man did not yet beleeve that he was god indeed , and therefore did not care to bee honoured by him as god ; so god would have us first know what truth is , and what is the glorie and brightnesse of it , and then our contending for it shall be highly accepted . §. 3. 3. to honour his truth with that honour that belongs to it , and not to know that is the truth which a man so honoureth ; this is but like the athenian inscription , to the knowne god : therefore labor we to make our selves so many apollo's , mightie in the seriptures . acts 18. 24. for so wee shall both know what to contend for , and bee able also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to quit our selves like men , able to confute the adversaries of the truth mightily , as it is said in the same place as apollo's did the iewes ; he carried the truth cleere away before him with great evidence and power . but i leave this and come to the latter dutie ; to the urging and pressing whereof the text more directly leades unto . cap. xii . an exhortation to contend for the truth , with six severall motives or considerations provoking thereunto . §. 1. vve see , and have heard that it is the perfect and expresse will of god , that wee should all earnestly contend for the truth of our faith , for the truth of the gospel , and therefore suffer this word of exhortation to take place in us . let us take the courage and resolution of valiant men upon us , and bee intreated to become good . souldiers of jesus christ , and hold fast the truth we have received . let us not be remisse and loose in a dutie of that high importance , as we will answer to our captaine at the perill of our salvation at the great day . if we finde our hearts averse from this service , dull and heavie within us , use meanes of provocation , and let not the motion die in our breasts . to quicken our selves in this case we may use these and the like motives . §. 2. 2. first consider , that except we contend in this case , and shew our selves men ; yea , and more then men : this faith of ours will bee laid waste and utterly destroyed by the enemies of it , our gospel will soone become another gospel , that jesus which hitherto hath , and yet is , ( blessed bee god ) and long may be preached amongst us , will bee exchanged for another jesus that cannot save us ; and let mee say this unto you : the chang is sooner made then men are aware of , saint paul was jealous of the corinthians , lest this sore and heavie judgement had befallen them , 2. cor. 11. 3. lest their mindes should be corrupted from that simplicitie which is in christ . the simplicitie of the gospel is the life and power of it : and yet in regard of such a propertie in it , it is fearefully obnoxious to corruptions from men . the truth of the gospel will not remaine and abide with us , except it be contended for : sathan will not suffer us to possesse so rich a treasure , except wee set the house of our defence somewhat high ; except wee hold fast our crowne it will bee taken from us . §. 3. 3. saint paul gives this reason to the galatians , why he so stoutly stood it out against those false brethren , that were craftily sent in to bring them into bondage , and would not give place to them , no not for an houre ; namely , that the truth of the gospel might continue with them , gal. 2. 5. implying that all had beene gone , all lost in a moment , had not paul risen up as a man of warre for the defence of the truth : so our saviour willeth the church of philadelphia , rev. 3. 11. to hold fast that which shee hath , lest another take her crowne ; that is , if shee did not contend for , and hold fast the truth of the gospel , which for the present was taught and established in that church ( which was her crowne , or would be her crowne , if she kept it ) it would fall to the share of some other church or people : for commonly when the kingdome of god is taken from one place it is given to another , because god will shew his libertie and freedome this way ; or that he can better accord with meere strangers then with old friends , that are declined and fallen in their affections . §. 4. 4. secondly , consider that if we lose our faith , if the truth of god miscarries with us , wee lose the presence of god , and cause him to forsake his former habitation among us ; for god and his gospel goe together , and make their abode together , throughout the whole world : wee know the scriptures plainely teach us , that the nation or people , that is without the true knowledge of god , is without god in the world , eph. 2. 12. that is , have no interest in god , and cannot reckon him inter bona sua , as any part of their goods or possessions : god is to them no god , except it bee to punish or destroy , so zachary 8. 23. prophecieth , that men out of all nations should take hold of the skirt of him that is a jew , and should desire to goe with him , because wee have heard that god is with you ( say they ) . now how or why should god bee with them ? namely , because they had the true knowledge of god according to his word , as on the contrary , 2. cron. 15. 3. it is said that israel was without the true god , so long as they wanted the true knowledge of him , god dwelling only where he is knowne . §. 5. now then consider what an invaluable losse wee shall gaine , to suffer the great god of heaven and earth , whose truth and faithfulnesse have alwayes bin shield & buckler unto us , to depart out of our land , woe unto them ( saith god himselfe by his prophet concerning israel ) woe unto them when i depart from them , hosea 9. 12. what will wee doe in the day when our wall of fire shall be removed from being round about us : shall we not be left as a prey to all miseries , judgements , and calamities ? may not all the world serve their turnes out of us ? §. 6. 6. what is a citie , people , or nation , forsaken of their god , but as a dead carcase when the spirit of life is departed , and presently begins to corrupt , and putrifie , and cast forth a smell , and so cals all the birds of prey ( even from a farre ) to teare and to devoure ? this i take to be the meaning of that place in the gospel : where the carkase is , there will the eagles bee gathered together , mat. 24. 28. compar'd with luke 17. 37. it is cleerely spoken concerning the destruction of ierusalem upon gods departing and forsaking that nation , who whiles he continued in the middest of them , was as a spirit of life unto them ; and so long their enemies had no minde to seeke their destruction , or to prey upon them ; as the eagles , vultures , and other birds of prey , have no thoughts or desire of seizing upon wild beasts , whilst they live in their strength : neither doe their bodies send forth any ill favour , to invite and call them to the prey till they bee dead , and begin to putrifie : so whilst god was present with ierusalem in the fulnesse of his grace ; her enemies had no hearts to thinke of making prey or spoyle of her : but when hee who was her life ( god i meane ) departed out of her , shee presently beganne to putrifie ; and the romans , her enemies ( significantly intimated by the eagle , which was their ensigne or colours in the warre ) soone sented her putrifying carkase , and were gathered together against her , and devoured her . but as well for further illustration of this exposition of the last cited scriptures , as for strengthning the motive in hand , i desire that these passages may be looked upon , and diligently considered and compared together . numb . 14. 9. deut. 1. 42. deut. 7. 21. deut. 13. 17. iudg. 16. 20. 21. psal . 46. 5. psal . 71. 11. esa . 27. 11. ezech. 19. 4. ezech. 35. 10. and lastly the geneva note on gen. 2. 17. §. 7. 7. thirdly , consider if we will contend earnestly for the truth ( as we have beene directed ) we shall have assured successe ; our enemies shall never say in triumph against us , behold wee have prevailed , wee shall bee able to rescue the truth , out of the hands of all gainesayers , and of all the powers of darknesse . if we will buy the truth at gods price , no man shall have it out of our hands : if wee bee willing to cleave to it , and live with it , god will never put us asunder by a strong hand : hold fast ( saith our saviour to the church of philadelphia ) lest another take thy crowne ; implying , that holding fast will prevent it ; thy crowne shall alwayes stand upon thy owne head , if thou wilt keepe thine owne ( as wee say ) if thou wilt set thy foote to the foote of the adversarie , and not let him carry away the truth , except hee carry away thee too , or something of thine with him . §. 8. 8. continue ( saith st. paul to the philippians ) in one spirit , and one minde , striving together for ( or with ) the faith of the gospel , and in nothing feare your adversaries , philip. 1. 27. 28. if wee will not contend , if wee will make no resistance against sathan , then will he tyrannize over us , and impoverish us of our great treasure , and bring us to a morsell of bread , hee will triumph in the ruines of the truth , and of oursoules together , but if wee will resist him in this case , we know what the holy ghost promises , who knowes sathans depths ; and tels all his secrets , that he will flee from you : iames 4. 7. if hee findes resistance , so that hee cannot speede presently , or suddenly as he desires , hee stands upon thornes ( as we say ) he must not lose time , hee hath but a little left ; hee will away to others , where he hopes to bestow his time and temptations to better purpose . §. 9. 9. consider that if we will come forth and shew our selves men in this conflict for the truth , and partake in this most noble and honourable quarrell of the gospel , against the world ; wee shall share with jesus christ in his glorie , and triumph in the day of his great victorie , against antichrist and his angels , and followers : yea , ( that which mee thinkes should bee the most sutable incouragement under heaven , to the spirit of a christian right bred ) the successe and glorie of that great victorie of the lambe over the beast ; shall bee divided between the captain and the souldiers , and is in part ascribed to the faithfulnesse of those that bee with him in the battell , rev. 17. 14. these shall fight with the lambe , and the lambe shall over-come them ; for they that are with him are called , and chosen , and faithfull . cast but an eye upon this glorie , and it cannot but fill us with the highest courage and resolution for this service . that which yee have already , hold fast till i come ( saith christ to the church of thyatira , rev. 2. 25. 26. for hee that overcometh , and keepeth my workes unto the end , to him will i give power over nations . the world is at his feete , whose heart will but serve him to looke the devill and his terrible ones in the face , when they goe forth to battle against the truth §. 10. 10. fifthly , consider that if wee will therefore decline this warfare because it must bee undertaken at our owne cost and charges , wee may sustaine losse in our estates , losse of friends , credit in the world ; our liberties , our lives , &c. consider , i say , and consider it againe ( it is a waighty and most important truth ) that all these may ( may , yea must ) lose and part with , it may be upon harder and worse termes a thousand-fold ; upon better and more honourable , and with more advantage to our selves , then in this warfare ; impossible it is that ever wee should : mee thinke this motive should cut off all reasonings and gaine . sayings of the flesh . if the flesh in any kinde should plead to bee spared or excused from this warfare , it should not onely plead against the spirit , but against it selfe also . therefore for such stuffe as this , regard it not : loe , the whole kingdome of heaven is before us , and is ours . §. 11. 11. suppose that god at any time should cal for thy service herein , & thou seest thou canst not serve without expence of thy estate , abridgement of thy libertie ( it may be ) danger of thy life , and thou makest answer , no : thou wilt see what will become of the truth otherwise . it may be the verie next day ( for ought thou knowest , within a shorter space ) god will suffer that great extortioner death , to spoyle thee of thy life and then ( as god saith to the foole , luke 12. 20. ) whose shall all these be ? ) where is thy estate ? where libertie ? where credit ? where friends ? where life ? all is lost for ever : whereas , if thou hadest beene willing to have made over these things by such a deed of gift ( as hath beene spoken of ) into the hands of god , they had beene safe for thee for eternitie . there is no way else in the world for these mortall comforts , to put on immortalitie , the outward and corruptible good things , to put on incorruption ; but only to make a consecration of them to him that is immortall ( as the scriptures every where teach . ) if thy goods be otherwise spoyled , thy libertie restrained , life taken from thee ; god will not regard thee , nor take compassion on thee : it may be he will value thee and thy life at as little , as thou doest him and his truth : hee will sell thee for nought , and take no money for thee ( as david speakes ) that is , hee will not so much as punish , or shew any judgement upon those that shall oppresse thee , or destroy thee . §. 12. 12. a father that hath given an estate to a sonne that is improvident , and wastes it with riotous living ( as the prodigall did ) regardeth him not , casts him off , and suffers him to taste of want and all extremitie . but if hee so layes out his stocke to make still a returne and increase , the father delights in him : so doth god with men ; those that will wisely and providently dispose of such mercies as hee hath given them , so that though they be out of hand for a while , yet they are still returning and comming in againe , such are his delight , and men of his affection : but for those that so order and mannage their present estates and comforts in the world , that they wholly perish at last , and are never heard of more , nor seene in any returne of good , his soule abhorreth : hee loveth to see his children wise in their generation . and in this sense , i conceive that of our saviour to bee understood , iohn 10. 17. therefore doth my father love mee , because i lay downe my life , that i might take it againe : that is , because i lay it downe so , in such a way , upon such tearmes of obedience and submission to his will , that i may in equitie and justice receive it againe : wee cannot thinke our saviours meaning should bee , that therefore god should love him for a simple and bare intent of resuming his life again upon death ( for who would not desire to live againe , in case he should dye ; that 's rather nature then commendation , or matter of love ) but this is that that god did love him for , that he was carefull and willing to dye with that abundance of zeale to the glorie of his father , and abundance of love to his church and chosen ; that his life by no law of justice or equitie could bee kept from him , but must be restored to him againe . §. 13. 13. so , for us to part with any thing we have in such a manner , as that wee cannot take it againe , which is properly to play the prodigals , and to waste what wee have : to part with our money , libertie , lives , grudgingly , unwillingly , to serve our own turns , &c. the lord regards it not , but if wee part with them so , that we may take them againe , that god may with justice , equitie , and truth , restore these unto us in due time with advantage ; this is that that he loveth , and for which he taketh a holie delight and contentment in us . §. 14. 14. besides , oft times when a man hath dealt basely , and unworthily ( in this kinde ) with the lord and his truth , and hath loved the wages of unfaithfulnesse : as ( for the most part ) god himselfe taketh no pleasure in such a mans person ; so is it a just judgement of his upō the man himself , that he should take little pleasure in himself afterwards , nor in what hee saves by this unfaithfulnesse unto the lord. §. 15. 15. sixthly ( and lastly ) consider that if wee will contend for the truth as wee ought , whilest the brunt is not so sharpe , whilest the dutie of contending is upon easier tearmes then bloud , wee may bee excused from the necessitie of a more fierie contention : our estates , our liberties , our prayers seasonably bestowed in this service , may possibly excuse our lives . i conceive this to bee the meaning of that promise made to the church of philadelphia , rev. 3. 10. because thou hast kept the word of my patience , i also will keepe thee from the houre of temptation , which shall come upon the whole world , to try them that dwell upon the earth . philadelphia ( it seemes ) had beene faithfull , and stood close to the gospel , when it was opposed , but not with so high or bloudie a hand of opposition , as it was like to be afterwards generally : and therefore christ promiseth her , in consideration hereof , that when the sharp and fierie storm and tempest of triall , should fall round about her upon the christian world , she should finde covert and shelter from it . cap. xiii . shewing in what manner , and with what weapons , the truth is to be contended for . §. 1. if you desire ( in the last place ) to know , and to be directed how , and in what manner , and with what weapons , this holie warre is to be under-taken , and truth contended for : i answer , there are sixe things especially ( besides others of more obvious consideration ) to be done in it , as time and occasion shall require . first , men must contend for truth by teaching and propagating it in the world : the more copies wee write of it , the like-lier it is to bee preserved ; if one or some bee lost , others may remaine ; therefore every man according to his calling must be diligent this way , to stampe the frame of the truth upon the judgements and understandings of those that are under their hand , and committed to their charge . §. 2. 2. a childe or a servant well grounded , may be instrumentall in spreading the truth farre into the world . abraham had but one sonne according to promise , and yet by him his seede was multiplyed as the starres in the heaven for multitude , and as the sands upon the sea shore innumerable : what though thou hast no absolute promise , no certaintie of so gracious and full a successe , yet a possibilitie in this kinde especially quickned with some degree of probabilitie and hope should be a ground of incouragement and resolution to doe it : true , wee must not doe evill that good may come of it ; but we may , and must doe good the rather , when more good may come of it . §. 3. 3. we finde the holy ghost inforceth many exhortations to many duties upon this ground of possibilitie , especially when it drawes one to a probabilitie or likelihood : god would have us in some cases to live by charitie ( as it were ) as well as by faith , and have us to expect and hope the best as well as beleeve that which is certaine , heb. 13. 2. 1. cor. 7. 16. therefore let not this means of contending for the truth be neglected at any hand . as the apostle ( in the scripture cited , heb. 13. 2. ) perswadeth men to hospitalitie or intertainment of strangers upō this ground , because some men unawares had received angels : so it is good still to bee seasoning of those in whom there is no great appearance ( for the present ) children , servants , &c. with the principles of gospel , knowledge , though it were upon this consideration alone , that we may unawares have our hand in furnishing the truth and church of god , with such , who may prove like angels in their ministerie and service about the holy things of jesus christ afterwards . §. 4. 4. secondly , men that be of abilitie for it , when they meete with occasions and opportunities , sutable to such actions , and endevours , must vindicate the truth as paul did among the galatians , gal. 2. 5. they must not give place or way to such as oppose it , or will stand up to pleade for baal . if men of erronious spirits finde mouthes to open against the truth , the children of light must finde mouthes to open for the truth . as one said , if theeves will rise at midnight to murther men , shall not men bee willing to bee awakened to save their lives ? that promise was made long since to the church ; that every tongue that should rise up in judgement against it , it should condemne , or ( as the originall hath it ) should make wicked . isaiah 54. 17. the meaning of the promise may be , that gods people who should be all taught of him ? , should have the spirit of wisedome given , that their enemies should not be able to resist ; but they should confute and confound them : we should therfore here live by faith , and gather strength from such promises , and doe as cyrus is said to have done , when the propchsies of isaiah contained in the 44. and 45. chapters were read unto him ; hee went with great courage and resolution against egypt : therefore we should endeavour to be as so many apollo's , mightie in the scriptures , and gird on the sword of the spirit , and cause the word of christ to dwell richly in us ; that so wee may bee able to grapple with an adversarie when he comes in our way , and not suffer him to make havocke and spoyle of the truth without contradiction . §. 5. 5. thirdly , wee must shine as lights in the world by innocencie and puritie of life , and make our selves patternes and examples unto others in the practice and exercise of every grace : this is a thing of speciall importance for upholding the truth . that doctrine which makes men like unto god , cannot lightly be thought to bee any other then the truth of god , it can bee no mortall seede , out of which children like unto god himselfe shall be borne ; our innocent and pure conversation will bee shield and buckler to defend thee : the truth , and religion is seldome wounded but through the sides of the sinfull lives of the professors thereof . §. 6. 6. if the truth and way of religion we professe be fruitfull in this kinde , if it bring forth many good workes , it is a blessing upon it , in such a respect as david esteemes that man blessed that hath many children , psal . 127. 4. 5. such a man ( saith he ) shall not bee ashamed or afraid of his enemies in the gate , because he hath many seconds to take his part , and to make good his quarrell : children of youth , saith hee , are like arrowes in the hand of a gyant , which by reason of the strength of his arme in the deliverie of them , must needs reach a marke at a great distance , so will the good life & unreproveable conversation in professors of the truth wound the hearts of the enemies of religion , even a farre off , and of such as were never neere us , nor never knew our faces . the holinesse of our lives will be instead of miracles , men shall be compelled to say of our religion , as nicodemus said of our saviour , iohn 3. 2. no man can doe the miracles that thou doest , except god bee with him : no religion can produce such gracious and lovely wayes , except god be in it : doe we but manifest the power of godlinesse in our lives , we sufficiently manifest the doctrine of godlinesse in our judgements : these cannot be parted . if wee doe well saith peter , 1. pet. 3. 13. who is hee that shall harme you : yea , if we doe well , who will or can harme us , or our religion ? or if they do it with their tongues , yet will they honour both in their hearts , and then it is no matter . take heed of the practice of the wicked ; and men cannot likely blame us for the errour of the wicked . §. 7. 7. fourthly , men must countenance the truth , the teachers , abettors , and professors of it , this chiefely concernes the magistrate , and men in place , and men of respect ; it is a debt which such men owe by vertue of their place , to the truth and such as professe it , to bee ready to speake for either , and to stand up in the defence of both , and to shew respects of honour unto them when time require : as iehoshaphat did to michaiah , 2. cron. 18. 6. 7. doe well saith paul , rom. 13. 3. so shalt thou have praise of the same ; that is , of the powers , or men in authoritie : so god undertakes for those that are his ministers in those places of power and authoritie , that men that doe well shall have praise from them , and be countenanced by them they should hearten the truth : as the influence of the sunne and other stars is ordain'd in nature to give vigour and life to trees , plants , and other sublunarie creatures : so is the face and countenance of authoritie sanctified by god for the cherishing and quickning of every good and vertuous way amongst those that live under them , for strengthning and refreshing all seeds of pietie and religion that are seene in the hearts of men . and on the contrarie their anger , and the cloude of the faces of such men are a proper meanes to dash and breake the strength and power of ungodlinesse ( as salomon speakes of the king , the chiefe of that ranke ) pro. 20. 8. the king that sitteth upon the throne of judgement ; that is , that executeth that great place faithfully , scattereth away all evill with his eyes : his verie lookes will breake the brood of evill doers . §. 8. 8. therefore men that resemble god in power , should remember to imitate him also in that gracious rule of government , psal . 138. 6. though the lord be high , yet hath hee respect unto the lowly , but the proud he knowes far off . a magistrate that doth otherwise , that hath respect to the proud and wicked , and beholds the righteous and lowly a far off , doth in effect that which our saviour saith is not to bee done , hee takes the childrens bread , and casts it to the dogges . §. 9. 9. fifthly , men must confesse the truth when they are examin'd or call'd to it , whatsoever it cost them : this is that will preserve the honour and estimation of truth in the hearts of men , and cause men to inquire more after it , when they see men of knowledge , and grace , and wisedom , so constant in the defence of it , when they see such round sums laid downe for it as mens estates , preferments , liberties , and lives , &c. willingly and freely , as if they that so bought it , boasted of their penie-worth . this cannot but raise the estimation of it , this will make it a commoditie in request in the world when men will not sell it at any rate , but will buy it . §. 10. 10. this confessing of truth and suffering for it , this sealing of it somtime with bloud , is that that hath preserved it safe and sound from depravation and corruption to this day , as god honoured the death of his sonne , with the life and salvation of his elect , and those that beleeve ; and this is said to bee a satisfaction to him , isaiah 53. 11. so hath hee honoured and recompenced the lives , and all other losses , his children and faithfull servants have sustained in this world , with the life and preservation , of the gospel ; which is indeed an abundant satisfaction to them . this is the fire from heaven which our savior kindled , & will never out , so long as there is such fuell to maintaine it . men may triumph beforehand in a rich & blessed securitie , that the life of the truth so fed and maintained , will be a long life , even for ever and ever . david would not drinke the water of the well of bethlehem , because it was the bloud ( as hee said ) of the men that went in jeopardie of their lives , but powred it out unto the lord. 2. sam. 23. 16. 17. so men cannot ( though they would ) despise , or make common that truth which hath cost the lives of so many thousands to maintaine it . §. 11. 11. sixthly and lastly , there is one thing more which must be done by al , and that constantly , and continually , men must pray for the truth , and for the continuance and enlargement of it ; men must quicken their hearts this way , and deale effectually with the god of truth , for his support and helping hand , that hee will still from time to time discover the madnesse of men that resist the truth , and are men of corrupt minds and reprobate , as concerning the faith ; that the would make it evident and manifest to all men , that they may prevaile no longer , that so the gospel may runne and bee glorified : men must take and beare the outrages and insolencies of such against the truth , and doe by them as hezekiah did with the letters of rabshakeh , isaiah 37. 4. he spread them before the lord , and pray'd , and wept over them . and if god will not doe it upon other tearmes , let importunitie be let loose , and set upon him ; that will doe it though nothing else will , though hee were an unjust judge , neither regarding himselfe , nor his own glorie , nor the good of his poore creature , yet this would overcome him . this is a meanes that is to bee plyed on all hands night and day . divers particulars more might bee given in , by way of direction in this kinde : but if men bee sound within , and upright hearted towards the truth , their owne reines and consciences will sufficiently teach us what is to bee done for the maintenance of it , upon all occasions . finis . a sermon preached at the fvnerall of m rs . abbott in st. stevens church in coleman-street london . by iohn goodwin pastor of s. stephens coleman-street . london , printed by t. cotes , for peter cole , and are to be sold at the signe of the glove and lyon in corne-hill neere the royall exchange . 1641. a fvnerall sermon . luke 10. 42. mary hath chosen the good part , which shall not bee taken from her . the words in their dependance , are part of an answer given by christ , to a kinde of expostulation , or contestation made with him , by a woman whose name was martha , against her sister called mary . the case ( in a word ) was this . our saviour christ ( whether voluntary , or invited , is neither easie , nor much edifying to determine ) comes guest-wise to visit a family , when hee knew hee should finde a little nest ( as it were ) of his friends together ; mary and martha , two sisters , and lazarus the brother . that god which had made them of one house , had made them of one minde also in that house : and this minde wherein they agreed , and were as one , was the best and blessedest minde of all : they were one in the faith and love of jesus christ . notwithstanding the two sisters , however they accorded well , and were both as one in the maine ; they were both ( doubtlesse ) children of the same light : yet ( it seemes ) they were of somewhat differing dispositions ( or apprehensions rather , for the disposition ariseth from hence ) in some particulars : examples of which kinde of differences we see daily amongst those that are not onely truely , but even eminently , godly , and religious . martha the elder sister , as is more generally thought , though mary be first named iohn 11. 1. ) her apprehensions gave her , that shee should expresse her affections to her cleare lord ( her present guest ) upon the highest & best termes , by bestirring her selfe about his entertainment , and taking care that all things might fall right here . mary on the other hand , had another conceit ( and that more spirituall , and of a further reach ) with her , that she should best commend her selfe and her affection unto him , by being his guest , and feeding upon those lips of his , which were a tree of life to feed many : by setting her selfe downe at his feete , to heare his preaching ( as the text saith . ) now martha apprehending , without all controversie , that shee was the woman at this time , and imployed about that which was fittest to bee done upon such an occasion ; and that her sister was carelesse , and forgetfull of what best became her ; and withall ( as it should seeme ) being a little jealous that her entertainment might suffer some losse and prejudice , and not fully answer that curious plat-forme , according to which shee had projected it , because there was none but her selfe to order and looke after the carriage of it : martha ( i say ) being strengthened with these apprehensions , comes to christ , and addresseth her selfe unto him in these words : master , carest thou not , that my sister hath left me to server alone ? bid her therefore that shee helpe me . shee made little question , but that christ had beene of her minde , and would have taken her part in this gentle quarrell against her sister . only shee thought , that being taken up in discourse , he did not minde or observe the matter between them ; and therefore she would bee a remembrancer unto him : and comes and pleades her owne insufficiencie to have things as shee desired to have them for his entertainement , and suggests , that if hee pleased to speake to her sister to helpe , shee was at very good leasure to doe it . to this request of martha to have her sister away from christs feete , from hearing his word , our saviour returnes this unexpected answer . martha , martha , thou carest and art troubled about many things ; one thing is needfull : mary hath chosen the good part , which shall not bee taken from her . martha martha : the duplication of the word , sheweth that his spirit was stirred within him upon the motion , and that his answer was serious and earnest in a high degree . thou carest and art troubled , &c. as if hee should say : thou findest many things to take up thy time , and trouble thy selfe about that might well bee spared and left undone , and no man hurt , or the worse for it ; and in the meane time forgettest , and dost not consider that one thing , which is of soveraigne necessity indeed . but mary thy sister , shee remembers it , she considers what it is to learne the mysteries of heaven , and to take hold of the opportunities of eternall life . and therefore howsoever thou thinkest thou hast espied a moate in her eye , and blamest her for doing what she doth : yet i discerne her eye to bee single , and her sight cleare , and must approve of what she hath done . mary hath chosen the good part , which shall not bee taken from her . of which part of the answer , there is a double exposition usually given , according to the one , the sense fals thus : maries part , is therefore the good part , and wisely chosen ; because it shall for ever continue with her , shee shall follow this her imployment in heaven , where she shall bee taken up and exercised in the contemplation of god , and of the great things of his glory , all the dayes of eternity . this is the interpretation , that the jesuits , and popish expositors generally magnifie upon this place , onely to vilifie and beate downe ( as not onely their manner , but profession also is ) the interpretation which calvin gives , which yet ( doubtlesse ) is the best and truest , and delivers out the sense thus : mary hath chosen the good part , which , &c. as if hee should say : in as much as mary hath done wisely ; and made a good choyce for her selfe , it shall not be taken away from her by me , i shall no wayes put her by it , or advise her to make any other choyce instead of it . thus wee have the coherence together with the sense and meaning of the words . in which words ( thus apprehended ) wee have these two things considerable . 1. the approbation of maries choyce , by the great and infallible iudge of all questions and controversies , the lord christ himselfe . 2. his resolution upon it , not to disturbe , or in errupt her in this her choyce : in these words : which shall not bee taken from her . both these breasts are full of milke , and spirituall nourishment , and would gladly unlade their treasures into your bosomes , as well the one as the other . but i shall entertaine your christian and patient attention at this time , with the opening and handling of this one observation onely from the former branch ( christs approbation of maries choyce . ) the minding and improving opportunites for heaven , is a thing of high and special acceptatiō with god. the lord loves none better than those that love themselves best in this way . hee that is upon the highest termes of resolutions for heaven , he , he is the man in whom the soule of the god of heaven chiefly delighteth , hee that can let the world passe by , & not be moved nor stirred at it , but will be on fire to lay hold on eternall life , when that comes in his way , hee is the man that shall be called great in the kingdome of heaven , by the great king of heaven himselfe . first , for the opening of the doctrine ; i will ( with all convenient brevity ) shew these two things . 1 what these opportunities for heaven are , and what i meane by them . 2 what i meane by the improvement of them . for the first , in the generall it is to be considered , that there is nothing that be falls us in this present world , good or evill ; nothing that befalleth other men ( if the knowledge there of comes unto us ) nothing we thinke , nothing we speake , or do in any kinde ; nothing that other men thinke , speake , or doe , if it falls within the sphere of our knowledge , but by a strong hand of grace , and spirituall wisdome , may be converted to a spirituall use , and be compelled , and forced to doe service for heaven . a gratious and wise heart knowes how to subdue all the wayes of god , and all a mans own wayes , and all the wayes of other men , and put them under this tribute . amongst all the wayes of the providence and dispensation of god , in the administration of the affaires of the world , there is none so drye , or barren , but there is somewhat of god in it , there is some ingredient or other , either of his wisedome , power , justice , goodnesse , faithfulnes , or the like ; which by servent and intense consideration may be drawne out as a spirituall extraction , and be found as light prepared for the soule . for there is not the least beame of glimmering of this light ; the least shining of the knowledge of god upon the face of the soule , but it is of precious influence , and concernment for heaven . this is life eternall to know thee the onely true god , &c. ioh. 17. 3. the heaven and happinesse of the creature depends upon the happinesse of the creator . so againe , there is nothing we can thinke , desire , love , feare , or the like ; nothing wee speake or doe , but if wee minde it , there is some taste and relish in it of the frame of the heart within , some disposition or other is acted , and consequently is manifested by all these . now every degree of this light also , every touch or streyne of the knowledge of our selves , directly tends to enlarge , and strengthen our knowledge of god ( as might be shewed at large , but that wee have no leasure now for digressions ) and therefore is a gale of wind also to fill our sayles for heaven . and lastly , there is nothing wee can see , or heare , or know concerning other men , as either spoken , intended , or done by them . whether it be that which is righteous , holy , and good , or otherwise wicked , sinfull , and vile ; but that we may see the truth of the scriptures acted ( as it were ) before us therein , which testifie in every place , as of the manner , law and properties of spirituall wisedome , grace , and holinesse on the one hand : so likewise , of ignorance , vanity , and profanenesse on the other . so that i say , there is nothing in this world wee can meete withall in any place , or at any time , either from god , or from our selves , or from other men , be they things whose faces seeme to stand quite another way , and no point of the compasse towards heaven , which yet by a strong hand of grace ( as was said ) and by a dexterity of spirituall wisdome , may be turned about , and be made faire advantages and oportunities for heaven . but howsoever , i would not in the doctrine propounded , altogether exclude such opportunities as these , which are but generally remote , and of inferiour importance . yet i chiefly intend those that are more proper , and direct , and that have a neare affinity with heaven , that are opportunities prepared ( as it were ) and made to our hand , and need only using . and such are , 1. the ministery of the gospell , especially in the hand of a minister that is faithfull , and enabled of god to bring forth life and immortality into light by the gospell , when wee have no reall hindrance or cause of absence , as by sicknesse , weaknesse , or some other indispenceable occasions , &c. this is an opportunity for heaven of the first magnitude . to which we may adde ( in the second place ) the administration of the sacraments , wherein wee may feed upon the great and holy things of jesus christ by other senses , as wee do by hearing in the ministrie of the word ; especially the sacrament of the supper , where hee that is our life ( as the apostle speaketh ) the great captaine of our salvation , presents himselfe , and his dearest love unto us in those elements of bread & wine : whereunto uniting himselfe sacramentally , they goe down together , bread and wine into the body , and christ unto the soule . thirdly , another great opportunity for heaven , is the presence and company of holy men , especially such as are able to draw waters of life for us ; out of the wels of salvation ( as esay speaketh ) that are able out of the good treasure of their hearts ( as our saviour calleth it ) are able to furnish us with all variety of spirituall necessaries . fourthly , when god meets with us in the likenesse or appearance of fire , i meane in any great or remarkeable tryall , this is a speciall opportunity for heaven also ; now is there a time or season , wherein to be made partakers of his holinesse ( as the scripture speakes ) the fiery chariots of afflictions , are still sent for our hearts to carry them up into heaven . againe fifthly . when god ( on the other hand ) appeares unto us , as hee did unto moses , and to the elders of israel . exod. 34. 10. with the likenesse of a saphir stone under his feete , and as the heaven when it is cleare , when he causeth his sun of prosperity to shine upon us , whether spirituall or temporall , and doth things for us , whether in the affaires of this world , or of that which is to come , which wee looked not for , when either hee lifts us up from the dust of the earth , and sets us with the princes of his people , or delivers our soules that have dwelt among lyons , devouring feares , and raging terrours , and brings them forth into a wealthy place , and settles their abode amongst the powers of the life to come : this also is a rich oportunity for heaven : now is it seasonable to get such a fire of love to god , kindled in our hearts , that shall never be quenched . sixthly , when a man is chosen , and called forth by some speciall hand of providence , to doe any speciall service for god , or for the gospell , whether by suffering or otherwise , this is a speciall advantage and opportunity also , for a man to take hold of heaven , and to set life and immortality on working within him . let patience ( saith iames , cap. 1. vers . 4. ) have her perfect worke . i. e. never goe about to shift or decline any suffering whatsoever for christs sake , by any base or unlawfull way : suffer on till god himselfe delivers you , and let not sathan be your deliverer , this ( i conceive ) is to let patience have her perfect worke . the ground of this exhortation is : that they might be perfect and entire ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) wanting nothing , i. e. that they might be a compleate , and immediate preparation and fitnesse for heaven : for after wee have done the will of god by beleeving , and walking holily , we have yet need of patiēce ( saith the apostle heb. 10. 36. ) that we may receive the promise . faith is our foundation , holines of life as the wals , and sufferings as the roofe & consummation of our building up for heaven . lastly , any lucidum intervallum , any respite or breathing time from the workes and labours of our hands from our ordinary callings , and imployments , is a season and opportunity for prayer , reading , meditation , &c. and consequently for heaven . when the world hath nothing to doe with us , it is our fittest season to have to do with god. we might instāce in more particulars : but by these you perceive what the speciall opportunities for heaven are , which are chiefly intended in the doctrine . wee come ( in the second place ) to shew you ( in a word ) what wee mean by improving these opportunities . this is nothing else , but the raising of such matter of benefit and advantage from them , as the nature and condition of every opportunitie doth afford . it is like the gathering of fruit from the tree that beares it , or drawing milke out of the breast that gives it . as when a sermon is preached , the receiving , and gaining in that knowledge , that quickning , that raising of heart , that strengthening of the inner man , that weakning and disabling of corruption , and the like , according to the tenour , and importance of things therein delivered , this is the improving of such an opportunity . so in time of affliction , and triall , for a man to joyne with the chastisement of the lord , & to helpe his rodde forward , with that spirituall worke and businesse , about which it is sent , which ( happily ) may be the awakening of us out of the sleepe of security , the quickning of us in the wayes of holinesse , & workes of righteousnesse , the setting of our hearts , and this present world asunder , at a greater distance , the reforming of somewhat in our lives , and practice , which is heterogeneall , and so a staine , and blemish to the rest of our conversation , or the like . now when a man shall take the rodde of god that is upon him ( as it were ) in o his owne hand , and by the advantage and assistance thereof shall compell his foolish heart to let goe the hold it hath taken on vanity in any kinde ; and to stoope to that yoke of righteousnesse , which god would put upon it ( which it may be is impossible for him to doe at another time , when hee hath not the like assistance from heaven , in a way of affliction : most mens hearts are unruly , and unteachable , except it bee when there is a rodde at hand ) this is an improvement of such an opportunity ; the like is to be conceived in other particulars . there may bee an inferiour and under improvement of an opportunity , when a man gaines somewhat by it , but yet more might have beene made of it : and there is a just , and full improvement , when a man gathers the tree cleane , and leaves none of the fruite behinde him , so much as in the outermost branches . the richer and fuller the improvement is , the greater and higher is the acceptation frō god. this for the unfolding of the doctrine . we come ( in the second place ) to heape more of the authority of heaven upon the head of it , and to establish the truth of it with the testimony of more witnesses . that cōplaint of god himselfe concerning his people , together with that expression of the earnestnesse of his desire towards them this way , is a faire and full evidence , & confirmation hereof . for they are a nation void of counsel , neither is there any understanding in them . oh , that they were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end ! how should one of them chase a thousand , &c. oh that they were wise , and would consider their latter end , &c. this sheweth that god doth highly prize and accept this wisedome , and understanding in men and women , which makes them treasure up for themselves in heaven and become provident for their latter end . his soule longs ( as it were ) for summer fruit , to see his people fild with the spirit of this wisdome ; yea and professeth himselfe willing ( as it were ) to pay for this his longing , if hee might have it upon any termes . how should one of them chase a thou sād , &c. he would gladly hire men & women with the best of this world , to worke wisely for that which is to come . so our saviour in that passage of scripture , seems to be much takē , & ( to speak with due reverence ) to be even ravished , and transported out of himselfe , and cast into an extasie of joy , and holy contentment , upon the very mention of such a disposition , and wise behaviour , as we speake of , in mannaging and improving opportunities for heaven . let your loynes be girded about , and your lights burning : and ye your selves like unto men that waite for their master : and , blessed are those servants , whom the lord , when hee commeth shall finde waking . verily i say unto you , hee willgird himselfe about , and make them sit downe at table , and will come forth and serve them . by girding up the loynes and keeping their lights burning , watching , &c. hee meanes nothing else ( in effect ) but a diligent and carefull mannaging of the opportunities for heaven that were before them . now rather than such men as these should want honour , hee promiseth once more to forget his owne greatnesse , and to dispense with majestie : and will be found yet againe in the forme of a servant . i onely mention one testimony more from the scripture ( letting passe others without number , revel . 2. 26. &c. and to him that overcommeth , and keepeth my words unto the end , i will give power over nations . and hee shall rule them with a rodde of iron , and even as i received of my father . and i will give him the morning starre . this fame overcomming and keeping the words of christ unto the end , is nothing else ( being interpreted ) but the acting of the true greatnesse of spirit we speake of in the doctrine , which is seene in the taking hold of , and managing , the opportunities that lie for heaven , and carrying the affaires of his soule before him with a high hand . now of what acceptation this high and excellent streine of spirit is with the lord christ , is easie to judge , by those rich and glorious ingredients , that are put into the reward annexed thereunto . i will give him power over nations , &c. wee must not stand now to make valuation of the particulars : in the generall , they are things transcendently glorious : of this there is no question ; it were easie to make the pile of testimonies greater : but wee have the minde of god and of christ in the point wee labour for , abundantly already , wee come therefore ( in the third place ) to demonstrate the doctrine from the grounds and reasons of it . amongst many we shall onely make use of foure . first , god therefore highly approves this disposition we speake of in men , of minding and managing all advantages for heaven , this same lying out of the soule with all its strengh and all its might for making good the things of eternity , because hee hath given commandement that so it should bee , and so his voyce is obeyed in it . now this is a thing fully sympathizing and agreeing with that nature or disposition in god , wherby hee desires to see himselfe obeyed , and his will submitted unto by the creature , it is as marrow and fatnesse unto him , it is that wherein his soule delighteth . hath the lord ( saith samuel ) as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices , as in obeying the voyce of the lord ? behold , to obey is better then sacrifice : and to hearken , then the fat of rams . the reason of the great testimony given unto david ( and that by god himself ) that he was a man according to his owne heart , is said to be this , because hee would fulfill all his will. act. 13. 22. this is some of the sweetest and pleasantest wine he drinks from this great vine-yard of the world , which hee hath planted , to have his voyce obeyed , his will done by his creature . now that it is the will of god , that men should thus weather all their sayles for heaven , and carefully gather in all winds that blow to make that port or haven , it hath beene already sufficiently proved from the scriptures : if you desire to have this measure heaped up , and running over , take that of paul yet further . 1. tim. 6. 12. lay hold on eternall life . lay hold on it : but where is it , that a man may lay hold ? it passeth by us daily in the precious occasions and opportunities therof , and when these are taken hold of , and improved diligently , eternall life is laid hold of . as those two blinde men in the gospel laid hold on their naturall sight , when hearing that iesus passed by , they tooke the opportunity , and stood forth and cryed with might and maine : o lord , the son of david , have mercie on us . this for the first reason . secondly , because this making out for heaven , and mortality with a high hand , is the truest and most naturall and genuine streine or fruit of that principle of reason and understanding which god hath put into men : it is a mans wisedome ( as the scripture expression is ) to doe it . as on the contrary , to lay hold on this worlds good , as riches , honours , pleasures , &c. with a neglect or indifferencie about the great things of heaven , is ( in solomons phrase , eccles . 2. 3. ) to take hold on folly . i. e. to give out a mans selfe or his strength for the imployment of such things , as no man would doe , but hee that makes folly of his counsell . and so the holy ghost ( we know ) every where in the scriptures , calleth the neglect in men , about spirituall and heavenly things by the name of folly and foolishnesse , and sometimes of madnesse , and doubtlesse it is nothing else but the principle of reason imbased , degenerate , &c grown out of kinde altogether ; that makes this present world a stumbling block to men , in their way to heaven . and therefore for a man to decline it , or step over it , and in the very face and presence of all the desireable and pleasant things of the world , to goe forth in his might from day to day , to make all occasions and advantages for the things of eternity must needs bee the purest , and highest , and most exquisite strein of that soveraigne faculty of reason , or understanding in a man. it may bee you will here aske : but what is there in this to gaine approbation from god , especially in any such eminent degree ( as you seeme to imply ) if men bee wise and prudent for themselves , is god so taken or delighted herewith ? or is there any true excellencie or worth in such a thing ? therefore how is this any ground or reason of the point ? i answer , yes ( my brethren ) it is a matter of high contentment to the almighty creator of all things , to see the workes of his hands keeping the law of their creation , and duely acting the parts that are assigned , and given them in their severall courses and stations in the world , to behold them in the true , full , and compleate exercise of all those severall motions , properties , and faculties , wherewith hee hath enriched them according to their kinde . to see the sunne shining , the streames running , the birds flying , and all fruitfull trees bearing fruit in their kinde , the vine laden with grapes , the olive tree with olives , &c. is a sweete and holy contentment unto god : he beholds his own wisdom , goodnesse , and power , in the glasse hee hath made for that purpose . now as all other creatures have their specifical properties distinct every one from other ( with sutable operations belonging to them ) and it is the exercise or putting forth of that w ch is proper to every one by that creature whose it is , and not by another , that is so comely and gracefull in the creation , so pleasing unto god , as when every tree or plant , or seed brings forth fruit according to their kinde ( as the scripture speaketh , as when the vine bringeth forth grapes , the fig tree figges ( if vine and figge tree both should bring forth grapes and no tree figges , this would be a maime , or breach in the creation ) so is there given unto man a specificall excellencie of reason or understanding , not only distinct from , but in dignity farre above all indowments or properties of other creatures . and when hee walkes according to this principle , when hee guides his affaires with discretion and understanding indeed , when he seekes his chiefe good and happinesse in a way leading directly unto it ; now hee bringeth forth fruit in his kinde , and doth not degenerate into the disposition of the brutish creature that is beneath him ▪ and this is that that is so highly pleasing unto god. and hence it is , that the feare of god , and his service , and the add re●●●ment of the creature unto him , are stil commended unto us in scripture , under the name of wisedome , understanding , &c. and unto man he ( i. god ) said , the feare of the lord is wisedome , and to depart from evill is understanding . ( ieb . 28. 28. ) as if hee should have said , therefore holinesse , and the feare of the lord are required by god of the creature , because they are his wisedome or understanding , or because hee shall shew himselfe wise or understanding by the practice of them . and doubtlesse all duties whatsoever are comprehended in that one word of the apostle ( emphatically understood ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i. quit your selves like men . 1 cor. 16. 13. and so the ground and reason of the wrath and heavie displeasure of god against loose and sinful men , is ever and anon certified under the name of foolishnesse . it is a people of no understanding , therefore hee that made them will not have mercie on them , and hee that formed them will shew them no favour . esay . 27. 11. implying that the only quarrell or controversie the creator hath against his reasonable creature , man , is the letting fall of that great and noble principle of his creation within him , his reason or understanding , or a suffering of that in its way of degeneration . a third reason of the doctrine , why this contending and striving for this incorruptible crowne of righteousnesse with so high a hand , should bee so highly approved by god , is : because such a man will take the god of heaven along with him in his way , will bee ready and able to doe great things for him on earth : such a man will make the altar of his god fat , and inrich the treasurie of his glory , will rejoyce over his lord and master , to doe him all the good hee can , to honour him with all hee hath ; will make the crowne of glory to flourish upon the head of iesus christ his lord : yea that man that is resolved indeed to quit himselfe like a man for the kingdom of heaven , & seeks it with his whole heart , is ready ( if it were possible ) to part with it when he hath obteined it , and bestow it upon him that hath given it unto him , if he stood in need of it : he that loves god like a god ( and heaven , or salvation , is nothing else upon account , but god injoyed in fulnesse , or to the height ) will bee willing to part with god , for gods sake , i. if his glory so required it ; and much more with all the world , as we see in paul : whereas hee that despiseth or hateth his owne soule ( as solomons expression is ) that under-prizeth the great things of eternity , that pincheth and spareth ( all that hee dares ) in his paines and indeavours , and is still afraid lest hee should doe too much , that is , ( in his owne interpretation ) any thing at all more then needs must , to bee saved : such a man will never bee but as a dry and barren wildernesse to the god of heaven : iesus christ will never be great of his making . hee that longs ( with any earnest longing ) to see his god face to face , will not be afraid to looke the divell and all the powers of darknesse , and all the terrible things of the world in the face : hee will make glorious pastime with lyons , and beares , and dragons , and be ready to plead the cause of his god in flames of fire . this is given for a reason why moses refused to bee called the sonne of pharaohs daughter , and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , then to injoy the pleasures of sinne for a season ; to esteeme the rebuke of christ greater riches then the treasures of egypt . viz. because hee had respect to the recompence of reward : as if it had beene said , had hee not had a good minde to heaven , and beene resolute to take all opportunities and advantages that way , for the making good that great piece the world would have gained him in , and god and his christ should have lost the great and honourable service which hee did for them . this is a third reason . the fourth and last reason , why god so highly approves and accepts this labour and travell of the soule for heaven is , because such a man furnisheth him with fit matter to worke upon in that kinde of worke , wherein of all other hee is chiefely delighted , such a man is as fine clay in his hand ready prepared to make a vessell of honour . god may poure out abundantly of the riches of his bounty upon such a man in his reward , and make him as great in heaven , as he desireth : such a mans way and noblenesse of spirit will beare a great weight of glory , and that in such a way , and upon such termes that he that layeth it upon him , shall susteine no losse nor prejudice by so doing . for this is the case : the great and glorious god of heaven , hath abundance of heaven by him , and infinite treasures of glory , which burne in his hand ( as wee use to say ) and hee is pained ( as it were ) within himselfe till they bee bestowed according to his minde : and this must bee amongst the children of men . hee hath prepared and framed many crownes of glory , and he longs to finde heads to set them upon . the world furnisheth him very sparingly with such persons ; the fearfull , and unbeleeving and abominable , and lyars , &c. are not meete to weare them : he that hath made them will rather breake them in pieces againe , and stamp them to powder , then that they should ever come upon the heads of such ; hee cannot satisfie himselfe in such a disposall of them , nor make any thing ( to his minde ) of his bounty , if it should bee carried in such a way . such an excellent and wise workeman as god is , must not make any such loose or staring joynts ( as it were ) in any part of his providence and dispensation , as to joyne and put things together that have no aptnesse , meetnesse , or proportion , the one to the other , as a base earthly minded man or woman , and the undefiled inheritance of heaven , god will never put these together . but when he meets with fit subjects , with matter duly prepared to worke upon in this kinde , there is no kinde of work in all that infinite variety that passeth through his hand , wherein hee takes the like delight and satisfaction , as to bee heaping rewards upon the heads of his creatures , and to bee employing the treasures of the unspeakable riches of his bounty upon them . it is true , whatsoever god doth , he doth it like himselfe , and his workes are comely and beautifull in their kinde and season , and have faire impressions of the wisedome and righteousnesse of their great work-man upon them . but yet if we consult narrowly with the scriptures , wee shall finde that god is never more himselfe in any thing he doth , then in doing good to those that feare him , in rewarding and recompencing those that are capable of his magnificence in that way . he takes a delight in giving grace , in principling the hearts and soules of men from heaven to work righteousnesse , and to live holily , &c. againe hee takes great delight to see the fruits of this grace of his in men , to see men shining in holinesse of life and conversation , as lights in this present world . but yet he takes a greater and higher comentment then in both these , to reward and recompence the faithfull service of those that obey him : yea hee desires their holinesse , and service with speciall reference and subordination to these . this rewarding , and magnifying those that serve him , is that , that hath the ultimate , nearest , and most entire connexion with his glory . oh that my people had barkened unto mee ( faith the lord himselfe , psal . 81. ) and israel walked in my wayes ! why , what if god had had his wish or desire herein ? what would it have beene unto him ? oh yes , here had beene worke indeed for the gratious , and bountifull hand of god , here had beene an opportunity for him to have done great things for them , to have blessed , and prospered his people : oh this is ( as it were ) a second heaven to him , that is lord both of heaven and earth . i should soone have humbled their enemies , &c. and have fed them with the fat of wheate , &c. the great god would gladly have beene doing this way , that so heaven and earth might have rejoyced together . you may finde other scriptures of like importance , as esa . 48. 18. deut. 32. 29. &c. this for the fourth and last reason . the use of this doctrine is , first for confutation of that opinion ; which hath beene , and ( i beleeve ) still is maintained by some , viz. that it is a thing unlawfull and displeasing unto god , for any man to worke intuitu merceds , to doe , though never so well , with an eye to any reward , to provoke , or stir up himselfe to well doing by the consideration of the great wages of heaven , which god hath pitched , and covenanted with men upon it . they hold it not lawfull for any man to warme at this fire , or to saile with this winde . doubtlesse with more , and more dangerous superstition , than was in the doctrine of those teachers , who ( according to pauls repetition of the heads of their teaching ) taught their disciples saying . touch not , tast not , handle not , coloss . 2 21. if it be a thing unlawfull for a man to strengthen his hand in the worke of the lord by the remembrance , or expectation of the lords reward , certainly god himself hath taught men to do evill , that good may come of it , for hee often in the scriptures heapeth these coales of fire upon the heads of men , & teacheth our fingers to fight that good fight of faith , by holding forth the crowne of righteousnesse unto us . but because the whole carriage of the point ( in a manner ) hath beene a pregnant , and sufficient conviction of this errour , wee shall make no further waste of words or time about it . secondly , the point delivered , is serviceable also and usefull by way of instruction , and that chiefly in two particulars . first , it this close , and home following the sent of heaven , this pursuing eternall life , with all the strength and might of the soule , be a thing so much set by , so highly accepted with god , then may wee ( in a word ) take knowledge , and informe our selves from hence , that the coldnesse , and deadnesse , and generall indifferencie , that is found in farre the greatest part of the world this way , who seeke for heaven , as if they sought not , and runne for this crowne of life , as if they cared not to obtaine , is an abomination unto him , a sinne that will cause the wrath of god to smoake against him , that shall be found under the guilt of it . it is a piece of desperate forgery in the devill , to procure that sinne , to be strucken out of the roll , or catalogue of sinnes , which flayeth with the most certaine , and inevitable destruction , and taketh neerer and faster hold on hell , than a thousand other sinnes . how shall wee escape ( sayth the apostle , hebr. 2. 3. ) if we neglect so great a salvation ? implying scarce so much as a possibility of salvation unto those that shall bee loose hearted about the seeking of it , and yet how few are those , that know to make any sinne at all of that sinne , which is so neere of blood to that sinne of sinnes , that unpardonable sinne against the holy ghost ! murder , adultery , stealing , lying , drunkennesse , and such like , the consciences of many are somewhat shie of , as having affinity with hell indeed : but that sinne which carrieth eternall vengeance , and damnation in the mouth of it , that strikes the soule dead at the roote , this same casting the great things of jesus christ behind our backes , making them onely our second and subordinate care , this according to the scale of the world is little ( if any thing at all ) out of the way to heaven , men are loath to judge either themselves or others wicked men , for being never so indifferent , and cold herein . but if the god of heaven so highly magnifies the zealous streines of men and women , this way ( as wee have heard ) then must it needes follow ( by the rule of contraries ) that a superficiall perfunctory , and remisse minding , and looking after these things , lye in the same degree of abomination , and accursednesse unto him . againe , secondly , if this earnest contending , and laying out for heaven , be thus countenanced from on high , and approved by god himselfe : then observe wee likewise from hence , that which will abundantly justifie , and make good those wayes , and practises of the saints of god in the world , which are made obnoxious to much censure by many : and oft returned to the reproach of them that use them . as david saith , that when he wept , and chastised himselfe with fasting , it was turned to his reproach : so when any man sheweth any more noblenesse of minde , than others doe , for the great things of heaven , making it another manner of businesse than is ordinarily made of it in the world , and shall separate himselfe from pleasures , and lusts , and vaine recreations , and cōpany , through the desire of eternity , and shall intermeddle with all wisdome , and worke upon all advantages that may advance and set forward this great and honourable designe in his hand ; this is made matter of reproofe , and of a sore accusation against him , this way is every where spoken against by those that judge themselves wise and men of understanding in the world . these men thinke they have such a man at advantage enough , to cast dishonour , and to powre out contempt upon him : and as iudas censured the powring out of that alabaster box of oyntment upon the head of our saviour , saying . what needeth this waste ? implying that he on whom it was bestowed might have done well enough without it . so do many judge , and call it a superfluous expence , and waste of mans time , and paines , and estates , to be continually at this plough , to follow it so hard night and day , to make it a matter of charge , to make a labour and toyle of being saved , and going to heaven : whereas they can goe faire , and softly , and make merry by the way , they can make it a journey of pleasure , and recreation , and yet come safe thither in good time . men might be wiser ( say these ) and yet go to heaven too : fooles , and their pleasures are soone parted . now here is , i say , in the doctrine delivered , an apologie from heaven , an answer ( as it were ) put into the mouths of these men thus censured , which those that accuse them shall never be able to resist : an answer like solomons king upon his throne , against which there is no replying , no rising up : a shield and buckler put into their hands , under the confidence whereof , they may laugh all such censures , and accusations in the face to scorne . the lord jesus christ himselfe , hee approves of their way , he hath set to his seale , that their way is excellent , and commendable with the highest . it is god that justifieth ( saith paul in another case ) who shall condemne ? hee that hath god to justifie him , need never be affraid of him that shall condemne him . no man will dare to say , that christ spake foolishly , when he gave sentence on maries side , and pronounced that mary had chosen the good part : but suppose the blasphmy should be swallowed , and men will yet say that christ herein spake foolishly : yet we know what paul affirmeth , 1 cor. 1. 25. that the foolisnesse of god is wiser than men . if the lord christ be risen up to speake in this case , shall not all the earth keepe silence before him ? in the third place , for reproofe . if it be a thing of this high esteeme , and approbation with the lord christ , to make it the great and solemne businesse of our lives , to be ingaged , body and soule , and all wee have , to gaine in a blessed eternity : then will this doctrine bee found a hard saying against two sorts of men . 1. those that will not come up to any such termes themselves , become of heaven what will. 2. those that forbid , or hinder such as would do it . for the first : doe not the hearts of farre the greater part of men and women , sit loose to this great businesse of heaven ? is there any other fighting the fight of faith amongst them , than as of men beating the aire ( as paul speaketh ) making a kind of flourishing onely , and pastime with their weapons , as if they had no enemy indeed in the field to encounter , or to fight against ? is there any other kinde of running in this race of christian profession amongst us , than as if men did not much care whether they obtained , or no ? a man might rather thinke , by the indifferency and coldnesse of the world , that christ had cast water , and not oyle upon this fire , that hee had reproved and taxed the world for being too forward this way , for beeing too busie with heaven , than any wayes sharpened the faces of men , or strengthened their hand , by such approbation as you have heard . where is there a man amongst many , whose heart is to the worke indeed ? who labors for this bread that perisheth not , as if it were bread indeed ? who stirs up himself night , and day , and provokes , and calls upon his heart , and soule , and all that is within him ( as david speakes ) to take sure hold on the covenant of eternity ? no : the generation of wise merchants , that will sell all they have to purchase the field , where the treasure lyeth , as well nigh perished from the earth : that incorruptible crowne of glory is no longer worth the striving for , according to the lawes propounded by him that holds it forth unto the world . heaven must come easie , or else it shall goe : rather than men will eate the bread of life in the sweate of their browes , they will venture perishing forever through the want of it . the hearts of men are sunke into the earth : the streames of their desires , and affections doe not stand upon heapes , and rise upwards , as sometimes the waters of the red sea did : the cares , and lusts , and pleasures of the world licke them up cleane , as the oxe licketh up the grasse : eating , and drinking , and gaming , and company keeping , building , and planting , and marrying , watching the uprising of new fashions , that wee may be vaine and proud with the first , sacrificing to mammon ( the great god of weake-hearted men ) these with the like , sucke out the heart , and strength of the soules of men , and there is onely a huske or a skinne left for heaven . men are resolved to seeke the things of this life , and to give large quarter to the flesh : if god wil cast in the kingdome of heaven unto them , as an overplus , they will take it , but they will not stand so strictly or peremptorily upon this : they will thorough with their bargain of the world however . things present must have the uppermost seate , and heaven must stand at the earthes footestoole . i say no more of this : but only advise men seriously to consider , that god hath a hell ( and that strong and terrible above measure ) to revenge the quarrell of his heaven , and those that care little to bee made meete to be pertakers with the saints in the inheritance of light , will be the fitter and better prepared for the darknesse of hell. secondly ( by way of reproofe also ) are there not many yet worse , and more abominable and accursed than the former , who like those scribes and pharisees , matt. 23. 13. ( upon whom our saviour spends so many of his woes ) shut up the kingdome of heaven against men , because they will neither goe in themselves , nor suffer those that are entring to goe in ? who going but on foote themselves , are still pulling others from their horses ? and driving heavily themselves towards heaven , would faine take off the wheeles from other mens chariots , that they might drive no faster than themselves ? as if they had a secret item , or propheticall instinct in their consciences , that such mens zeale , and fervencie of spirit in the things of heaven , will be there deeper condemnation one day before god : and therefore they will be first the condemnation of that ( if they can ) and will quench the life and power of it , that so if god should seeke for it against them , it might no where bee found . but these men are in the way of this wickednesse , as a wild bull in a net ( as esay speakes ) the more they struggle and teare themselves to get out , the more they are intangled , and further and faster in : the more they kicke at this greatnesse of spirit in the true borne saints of god , which discovers it selfe in making out an out-stretched arme for heaven , and bestowing themselves upon it , they do but increase their bands the more , and purchase them selves a double instead of a single condemnation . the saints shall judge the world , let the world turne it selfe which way it will , let it vexe , and rage , and teare it selfe in pieces : yea , and this judgement of the world by the saints will be the sorer , by how much more the world shall set themselves to judge the saints i have but this more to say to these men ( for the present ) he that will seek to stay or stop men in their speed to heaven , makes hast himselfe to destruction , and there shal be none to stay him . this for the third use of the point . reproofe . the fourth and last use is for exhortation , and that to two duties : wee shall onely touch upon the former . since this minding , and improving opportunities for heaven , hath this glorious testimony and approbation from him , who is the lord of glory : let us all be exhorted to arme our selves with the same minde ( as peter speaketh and resolve to take this great thought and purpose of heart to our selves this day , to shew our selves men ; yea , and ( if it were possible ) more then men , for the compassing that condition wherein we shall bee like to the angels : let us resolve to give out our strengh freely this way , and make no spare of any thing that is in our hand to doe . if rising early , or going to bed late will carry it , if treading the world under foote will doe it , if abstaining from fleshly lusts ( which fight against the soule ) will advantage us this way , if watching daily at wisedomes gates , and giving attendance at the ports of her doores will doe it , if crying unto god night and day will doe it , if doing whatsoever god commandeth us to doe , will doe it : let none of these things from henceforth bee grievous unto us : if the whole treasure of our might and strength will fetch it , let us not spare to the uttermost mite or farthing : let not heaven goe one way , and we another : resolve with your selves never to have divels , if you may have god and angels your companions at any rate . to give you some ease and inlargement of heart , that you may take in the words of this exhortation more willingly and freely , give mee leave to propound and presse ( a little ) a motive or two amongst many . first , consider that the great things of this world ( falsely so called ) houses , lands , silver , gold , honours , pleasures , &c. they are but for the short race , assoone as ever the winde of this present life passeth away ( bee it the houre next ) the whole world is gone with it . this night ( saith god to the rich man ) they shall fetch away thy foule ( i. thy life ) and then whose shall these things bee which thou hast provided ? implying that his they could bee no longer . shall not this consideration inlarge our hearts mightily to pursue the things of enternity w th might and maine , viz. that there is nothing else to pursue but the east winde ( as the scripture speaketh ) nothing but what is like the apples of sodom ( so much spoken of ) which so soone as a man toucheth , or layeth hand on , are vanished into dust . if the world were any thing that were able to stand in judgement or comparison , or would hold any proportion at all with the things of heaven : the heart of a man might bee put in some straight , and indure some conflict in it selfe , and so might bee overcome and carried aside in its choyce and resolution what to doe . but as that ancient father and martyr , when the persecuting emperour offered him time of consideration , to satisfie himselfe about sacrifising to his idols , had his resolution in a readinesse , saying that in retan sanctâ deliberatio non habet locum , that was not a point that admitted any deliberation . so if there were any thing of any moment , of any valuable consideration in the world , to set up in competition with the great things of heaven , it might cause some offence and stumbling in the mindes and thoughts of a man. if the world were any thing but what it is , a man might ( haply ) make a stand to aske himself the question , whether hee should indeed follow the things of the world , or the things of heaven . but now the things of the world being so unconceiveably light , & poore , and empty , and will scarce hold the handling with the hand , or the looking on with the eye , yea scarce the thinking upon with the heart : me thinkes the soule of a man should bee carried and driven , as it were , with a spirit of disdaine and indignation , quite off from the world , upon the face of heaven , neither turne yee aside ( saith samuel to the people ) viz. from serving and following god , for that would bee ( saith hee ) after vaine things that cannot profit you : implying , that it is one of the greatest grounds and arguments in the world , for a mans keeping close to god , to know and consider that there is nothing else to take up his heart , that is worth the looking on : there is nothing else to purchase but broken cisterns that will hold no water , and broken reeds that will run into a mans hand , instead of supporting him . alas ! all that the world gaines in the hearts and affections of men , that it exerciseth such power and command over our desires , is not by the meanes of any lovelinesse , strength , or power it hath in it selfe , but rather by meanes of the superstition of the dreames we dreame of it , by meanes of the lying imaginations of our hearts concerning it . and the truth is , heaven should have no such great victory or conquest of it , no such great honour done unto it , to bee never so much preferred or exalted in our desires and affections above it . secondly , consider , that as the things of the world have all their usefulnesse confined and limited to this present life of nature which wee live in the world : so is the time of this life altogether uncertaine , and little other then an unknowne nothing . the earth is a very slippery standing , to him that thinkes he stands fastest : the strongest mans foundation is but the dust ; these houses of clay , even those that are of the best building , are in danger of droping downe about our eares every houre . the lord that knowes our making , and the termes of our standing in the flesh better then our selves , gives us a perfect accompt thereof in this expression ( esa . 2. 22. ) when hee tels us that our breath is in our nostrils , when the passage is alwayes open , neither is there any doore to shut to keep it in : yea , the condition of it is such ; that the labouring or striving to keepe it in , is the next way to extinguish it , or to cause it to goe forth never to returne . therefore how infinitely doth it concerne us above all that can bee uttered or conceived , to belay and make sure for a building or house from heaven , lest our earthly tabernacle being dissolved on a sudden , wee should not have where to hide our heads from the fiery rage and tempest of the most insupportable wrath and vengeance of god for ever . as michal said unto david , when time was concerning the imminent danger of his life natural . if thou savest not thy selfe this night , to morrow thou shalt bee slaine : so it may bee the case of the best and greatest and youthfullest of us , that if wee deferre it a day longer , if wee will not even this now be perswaded to lay hold on eternall life , to morrow our soules may bee slaine with eternall death . thirdly ( and lastly ) to perswade you to raise your labours and indeavours for heaven to the highest , and to abhorre and tremble at all loosenesse , and low-spiritednesse that way , consider that heaven is a prize that is not to be gotten with dallying , or by looking another way , or minding other things : he that makes it not the great standing businesse of his life , will never carry it . thy bread will never bee eaten but in the sweat of the brow . there is a kinde of devill that will not out ( as our saviour tels us ) but by prayer and fasting : this devill will not goe , nor heaven come but upon great and high termes . know yee not ( saith paul to the corinthians ) that they , which runne in a race , runne all , but one receiveth the prize ; so runne that yee may obtaine ; cleerely implying that running it selfe will not carry this prize , except it bee a running indeed , a running after the manner of those that out-runne their competitors in the race : a man may go farre , and yet come short : we may doe much , and yet to little purpose . if a man strive for mastery ( saith the same apostle elsewhere ) yet is hee not crowned except he strive lawfully , i. except in striving hee observeth the lawes and conditions propounded and injoyned by him , that bestoweth the prize , and maketh the race . to say lord , lord , onely , i. to make profession of the service of god , and of subjection and obedience to iesus christ , is not the law or rule that god hath apointed for the races , wherein heaven is to be obteined : men must bee operative and active in doing the will of god which is in heaven , otherwise they are no company for him ( in that holy habitation of his glory . ) men must quit themselves like men on earth , or never looke to bee like angels in heaven . those crownes of righteousnesse and life will never goe at the low and base rates of delicacie , case , and sloathfulnesse . hee that degenerates and corrupteth himselfe with any of these , giveth hostages to the divell , that he will keepe him company , and be his second in the midst of the torments of hell for eternity . therefore strive to enter in at the narrow gate : yea , i say againe , strive to enter , the entrance will abundantly pay for the striving : but woe bee to him that shall not enter : and the same woe will bee to him that shall not strive . yet a little while , & the world that is present , will be the world that is past , and the world that is to come will bee the world present all the dayes of eternity . this for the third and last motive . concerning the deceased , a worthy gentlewoman , and precious piece of mortality shee was , whilst she lived ; and doubtlesse her name and memory deserve imbalming with the sweetest odours and spices after the manner of the dearest and chiefest saints of god. neverthelesse , it is not much that i shall speake of her ; my custome in this case of speaking sparingly , being as a thing consecrate unto me , i must not violate or sinne against it : neither was it the least of her commēdations , of whom we now speake , that shee affected that lesse then any , which shee deserved above most : i meane , praise and commendation , distinguishing spiritually in this point of her practice , as the apostle himselfe seemes to doe in his precept , phil. 4. 8. where hee injoynes men and women to thinke upon , and to follow the things themselves that are of good report : but for the report it selfe belonging as due to the things , hee speakes no word of minding that . doubtlesse , if ever there were either man or woman since maries time , that made maries choyce , shee was companion with them herein ; and did likewise : the way of her spirit and tenour of her life being a close example of that great rule of the apostle , for using this present world , as if wee used it not . 1. cor. 7. 31. the zeale of heaven , and of the salvation of her soule had even eaten her up . the delights and contentments of the world , which are wont deepely to ingage the affections of the daughters of men ( especially of her ranke and yeeres , being but about twenty sixe at her death ) and to steale away their hearts from their god , and from the noble and blessed contentments of heven , had little or no power over her : they entermedled little with her spirit : shee trod and trampled upon them with a foote of heavenly disdaine : her heart was soft and tender upwards ; but downewards towards the world hard as the neither milstone . when god spake , hee wounded her , the world cryed and shee regarded not . those cages of uncleane birds the common theaters or play-houses the shame and reproach , of the glorious profession of jesus christ amongst us , so much hanted by uncleane spirits , both of men and women ; to whom modesty and sobriety ( surely ) are a burden , and thither they goe for ease and deliverance , places , where if a man sought for company in the way to hell , hee may finde choyce of all sorts , where ( i had almost said ) a man may read whole pages of gods booke of reprobation : these ( i say ) with all their execrable appurtenances , the soule of this religious gentlewoman loathed and abhorred : they were the first-borne of abominations unto her . so for the costly vanity of apparell ( though shee sate by a fountaine where shee might have dranke her fill of these waters ) shee regarded it not : her usuall saying was : that shee did not love to bee talked of for her fine clothes . but especially that great goddesse of her sexworshipped with so much devotion , both by young and old , i mean fancie or fashion in apparell , she blasphemed . for richnes of furniture in her house another solemne temptation for her sex , to adde drunkennesse to thirst , superfluity to necessity , non contempsit sed neglexit ; shee did not so much contemne as neglect it . she did not affect or desire to have her face seene and beheld by others in the glasse of any such glory . shee was taken up with working out her salvation , and making robes of immortality for her soule . for the company and society of her delight , her heart went hand in hand ( as it were ) with davids heart in this : all her delight was in the saints on earth , and in those that were excellent that way . those that could speak the language of canaan , and discourse the waies of life unto her , and minister any wayes to her spirituall necessities , though the gold ring were wanting , and the costly apparell appeared not , were they persons of never so meane ranke and condition in the world ; yet were they a joy and rejoycing of heart unto her . as on the other hand , no earthly priviledge , no greatnesse in the world , no accomplishments of nature could make an attonement with her for light and loose , and unsavouble spirits , to cause her to take pleasure or contentment in them . the remembrance of that houre ( which hath now passed over her ) when shee should be called out of the world , wrought mightily in her , and gave her little liberty to minde other things : it cooled and quenched the inordinate heate of affection ( whereunto shee was by nature as incident as others ) to the things of this world . she would oft say , it was no light matter for men to appeare before god , to give an account of their lives . her manner was day by day to give the first of her strength every morning unto god , in lifting up her soule in prayer unto him : upon her awaking she was still present with him ( as david speaketh ) yea , when her strength beganne to be but labour and sorrow , by reason of her sicknesse ; yet did she not take an occasion hereby to intermit her daily sacrifice , or to behave her selfe frowardly in this covenant of her god. as long as she had any being though it were never so weake and feeble , her resolutions remained as strong as ever , to praise the lord. the very night before her death , she presented this sacrifice of prayer unto her god upon her knees . another dayly exercise , and breathing of her soule likewise was to converse with the minde and thoughts of god in the scriptures . her manner indeed was not to reade much at a time : but hereof she gave this conscientious reason , that shee desired to make that her owne which she read . so that it seemes still as shee read , shee writ it out in the tables of her heart . and so by the blessing of god upon her diligent , and constant labours this way , she had attained before her death a marveilous readinesse in the scriptures , and was able ( ordinarily ) to supply the defect of a concordance , and to assigne any clause or passage of scripture mentioned to her , to their proper place , both for booke and chapter . the house of god , and a golden showre from heaven in the ministery of the gospell , were the strength of her life , and the great consolation of her pilgrimage , her attention to the words of eternall life in the mouthes of gods messengers , was constantly so reverent , serious , and undistracted , that it was the observation , together with the rejoycing of some , that had communion with her in that ordinance , these spirituall clouds could never drop fatnesse , but she was still ready , if shee knew when the time of their dropping was , with the vessell of her soule to receive it . the lords day was a day of much observation unto her : she remembred to ●eepe it holy , and called it her delight . that which remained of it from publike duties , shee converted , with as little losse or waste as might be , into opportunities for private . her spirit was full of a sweete and gratious humility : it was no way grievous unto her , to make her selfe equall to those of the lower sort . a free and familiar companion shee was for all those that feared god , and that were partakers of like pretious faith with her . abundant shee was in workes of mercy , and lent much unto the lord : shee understood what silver & gold were good for , and gave them freely unto the owners . a woman she was of very tender bowels , and of overflowing compassions , to those that were in misery . in this course of life she was perfectly engaged , before that remembrancer of her mortality , that lingring sicknesse , that came to live and die with her , was sent unto her . god ( doubtlesse ) putting it into her heart , to prepare and strengthen the inner man , the time drawing neere , wherein her outer man , was to decay and perish . during the time of her sicknesse ( which continued some moneths upon her ) her carriage under the hand of god , was humble , and gratious , and with much submission . shee was in travell with the great birth of immortality , from the very entrance of her infirmity upon her : and ( i make no question ) but after all here other weakenesse , god gave her strength to bring forth that . she was much in prayer unto god by her selfe , in private , yet desirous also of the assistance of others , when opportunity served . her conference still was , upon that subject , or theme , wherof our saviour spake so much to his disciples immediately before his ascending up into heaven , viz. of the kingdome of god : and cared indeed little to speake of any thing besides . there were now and then some buddings of hope of amendment & recovery , which were soone nipp'd and blasted againe . but these hopes were no snares unto her : she went on with her preparations for heaven , and that with a high hand , until the god of her salvatiō said , it is enough . to relate all particulars would be as needlesse , as endlesse : i have detained you too long already . i have no more to say . a sweete , loving , and vertuous young woman shee was , meete for a patterne to her sexe and yeares , of piety , holinesse , and the feare of the lord. maries good part was her choice : and a joyfull resurrection ( doubtlesse ) will be her reward : where they to whom shee was deare in her life , walking in her steps , may expect the seeing of her the second time in communion and fellowship of the same glory with her . decemb. 8. 1640. imprimatur t. wykes . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a41485-e880 ephes . 2. 8 phil. 1. 27. gal. 1. 22. num. 13. 30. iudg. 16. 28. psal . 74 6 ps . 73. 15. notes for div a41485-e7700 deut. 32. 28. 29. luke . 12. heb. ii. 24. 25. 26. 1. sam. 12. 21. 1. sam. 19 11. ps . 16. 4. the monument or tombe-stone: or, a sermon preached at laurence pountnies church in london, nouemb. 21. 1619 at the funerall of mrs. elizabeth iuxon, the late wife of mr. iohn iuxon. by stephen denison minister of gods word, at kree-church in the honourable citie of london. denison, stephen, d. 1649 or 50. 1620 approx. 127 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 70 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a20169 stc 6604 estc s116460 99851676 99851676 16964 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a20169) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 16964) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1303:13) the monument or tombe-stone: or, a sermon preached at laurence pountnies church in london, nouemb. 21. 1619 at the funerall of mrs. elizabeth iuxon, the late wife of mr. iohn iuxon. by stephen denison minister of gods word, at kree-church in the honourable citie of london. denison, stephen, d. 1649 or 50. the third impression. [10], 124 p. printed by richard field dwelling in great wood-streete, london : 1620. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng juxon, elizabeth, d. 1619 -sermons -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-02 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-02 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the monvment or tombe-stone : or , a sermon preached at laurence pountnies church in london , nouemb. 21. 16 19. at the funerall of m rs . elizabeth iuxon , the late wife of m r. iohn iuxon . by stephen denison minister of gods word , at kree-church in the honourable citie of london . pro. 10. 7. the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed , but the name of the wicked shall rot . math. 26. 13. wheresoeuer this gospell shall be preached in the whole world , there shall also this that this woman hath done , be told for a memoriall of her . the third impression . london , printed by richard field dwelling in great wood-streete . 1620. to m r. iohn ivxon , citizen of the famovs citie of london , and his fiue children , whom i loue in the truth . stephen denison wisheth increase of all true happinesse and prosperitie . deare friend , it hath bene my purpose a long time , to giue some publicke testimonie before i die , of your loue and kindnesse shewed vnto me : and considering that god hath offered such an opportunitie as this , i thought i could not do lesse , ●…hen to testifie my thankfulnesse vnto you , and to ▪ ●iue gods church an occasion , both to blesse god for you , and to remember you & yours in their prayers . i do acknowledge that you haue bene , and so vnto this day you do remaine , the most faithfull friend , and bountifull benefactor , which hitherto i haue found vpon the earth . you and your worthie wife now deceassed were the good shunemites , which gaue me the first constant entertainement in this citie . your care ouer me hath bene great , your saithfulnesse true , and your bountie to me not little . i am perswaded god will blesse you for it , and that gods deare people , will loue you for it ; and for mine owne part i shall still remaine in your debt , to pray for you , and to do you the best spirituall good that i can . god hath depriued you of a vertuous wife , and me of a deare friend ; but the will of the lord is good and he knoweth what is best . comfort your selfe concerning her death , by the sound experience which you had of her godly and vertuous life : and remember with ioy , that which drew teares from you at her death , to wit , what a great care she had of your soule whilest she liued . remember also with comfort those excellent marks which were in her , which you saw in her , and knew in her , as well as my selfe . i confesse you haue a great misse of her many wayes , but the consideration of her vndoubted happinesse , must comfort you concerning that misse . labour you to make a good vse of her visitation and death ; let it moue you to renew your couenant with god , and to be mindfull of your owne mortalitie , to prepare for it in due time , to worke out your owne saluation with feare and trembling . get oyle into your vessell whilest you haue time , that so you may be ready when the bridegroome cometh , to enter in with him . and now giue me leaue to speake a word or two to your beloued children . you m. iohn iuxon the first borne , let me exhort you to flie the lusts and vanities of youth , and giue your mind vnto goodnesse : remember your creator now in the dayes of your youth . learne with timothy to know the scriptures of a child : as you are the first borne in age , so be you the first borne in grace ; be an example vnto the rest of the children in vertue and stayednesse : fulfill the prophesies which go of you . your tender father reioyceth in you , and hopeth that grace is in some measure begunne in you ; and for my owne part i hope good of you , therefore be you good . a●d you m. thomas iuxon , let me admonish you , not to turne the grace of god into wantonnesse : vse that capacity which god hath giuen vnto you , for the glory of god : be carefull to giue your minde vnto learning , and to know god : be obedient to your parents ; feare god and keepe his commandements , for this is the whole duty of man , as salomon saith , eccles . 12. and otherwise , if you will not hearken vnto this , then must i say with the same salomon : reiòyce ● yong man in thy youth , and let thine bea rt cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth , and walke in the wayes of thine heart , and in the sight of thine eyes . but know thou , that for all these things god will bring thee into iudgement . eccles . 11. 9. and you mistris elizabeth iuxon , let me put you in mind , that as you beare the name of your vertuous mother , so you would be carefull to follow her godly steps : be you diligent to heare gods word preached , and to reade the same in priuate euery day ; meditate that which you heare and reade , and be carefull to practise that which you learne , both in your generall and particular calling . for these were the stops of your worthy mother . and you mistris sarah iuxon , remember also after whom you are named , to wit , after sarah the wife of abraham . be diligent to reade the story of sarah in the booke of genesis , and follow her in all things that are good and imitable . and remember the words of the apostle , that women are the daughters of sarah so long as they do well , 1. pet. 3. and lastly , you mistris marie iuxon , if god shall giue you life to liue to come to yeares of discretion and vnderstanding , consider what i say vnto you . you are named after the blessed virgine marie . as she therefore conceiued christ in her wombe , so do you conceiue him in your heart . as she pondered the words of the sh epheards in her heart , so do you meditate of the word of god day and night . yea consider what graces were in her , and labour for the same . yea let me say vnto all you three pure virgins , beware you of the sinnes of the times , take heed of following the vaine fashions of the world , take heed of pride , take heed of whoredome and all manner of vncleannesse : haue a care with whom you consort your selues : marrie not without the consent of your parents or gouernours , and be sure that you marrie in the lord. in a word , be carefull to reade and consider the marks which were in your mother , and labour to find the like in your selues . and thus you shall leade a blessed life , and accomplish a happie death , and at the last shall come to that heauenly kingdome , whither your deare mother is gone before . vnto the which heauenly kingdome , the lord of his mercie bring vs all for iesus christ his sake , amen . yours in all christian dutie , stephen denison . to the reader . courteous reader , i haue bene exceedingly importuned , and that by many worthy christians , for the markes which our worthy sister deceassed left behind her . i could not tell how so well to satisfie the religious request of my brethren in this thing , as by making publike for the common good both the sermon and the markes . here therefore i offer them to thy christian consideratio● ; reade them with a single eye : weigh them well ; and if thou reape any benefite , giue the whole glory to god , and remember the vnworthy writer in thy prayers . thine in the lord , s. d. the monvment , or tombe-stone . iob 7. 3. 4. so am i made to possesse the moneths of vanitie , and wearisome nights are appointed to me : when i lie downe , i say , when shall i arise , and the night be gone ? and i am full of tossings to and fro , vnto the dawning of the day . in the first verse of this chapter the holy man iob layeth downe a generall position , to wit , that the dayes of mor●all man are like the dayes of an hireing : and this position he laboureth to make good in the subsequent or next ensuing verses , and that by d●claring wherein the comparison sta●deth betweene the dayes of an hir●ling and the dayes of mortall man , these words following : as a serua● earnestly desireth the shadow , and as a hireling looketh for the reward of h● worke , so am i made to possesse the m●neths of vanity , and wearisome nigh● are appointed for me , &c. this is t● coherence . now this text is for the matter it a lamentable complaint , where for order and methods sake , we m● take notice of two points , first of t● person complaining , and that was i in this word i. secondly , of the ma●ter of the complaint , which is tw●-fold . first , for the vanishing of 〈◊〉 time , in these words , so haue i ben● made to possesse the m●neths of vanit● secondly , for the tediousnesse and ●●tremitie of his paine , in the rest of t● text : and wearisome nights are appo●ed vnto me : when i lie downe , i say , when shall i arise , & the night be gone ? and i am full of tossings to and fro vnto the dawning of the day . so am i made to possesse the moneths of vanity . it may here be demanded in the first place , what is meant in these words by v●nitie . vnto which iust demand for the clearing of the text , i answer , that this word vanity is taken in two sences in holy scriptures , viz. sometimes for the vanity of sinne , and so it is vsed in psal . 119. 37. where dauid intreateth the lord to turne back his eyes from beholding vanity , that is , frō beholding sinfull obiects . and in deed my deare christian brethren , sin is iustly styled by the name of vanity , for there is no vanity to the vanity of sin . for how vaine a practise it is for a little momentanie pleasure , and for a modicum of transitory profit , that a man or woman should set the glory of god , the merits of christ , the kingdome of heauen , and their owne saluation to sale , i leaue it to your owne conscience to iudge . but for mine owne part , i esteeme wilfull and desperate sinners to be the most vaine and foolish people in the world . but concerning this kind of vanitie iob doth not speake in this place : for it is not meant that iob had spent his moneths in the vanity of sinne , as they do which spend their precious time in pricking & pinning , and painting and pampering , in running to stage playes , in haunting of tauerns and alehouses , in prosecuting of vnnecessary suites at law , and such like : for iob indeed was none of this cursed crew : but he was perfect and vpright , and one that feared god , and eschued euill , as god himselfe giues testimony of him in the first chap. of this booke , at the first verse : yea this blessed iob was such a man , as that there was none like him in all respects in the whole world , at the least in his age and ●ime . for so it is said of him in the second chapter and third verse , of this holy booke . we must note therefore and obserue , that the word vanity is taken also in scripture for the vanity of a sa●ing condition ; and so it is vsed in psal . 144. 4. where it is said , man is like to vanity , his dayes are like a shadow that vanisheth : and in rom. 8. 20. the ●reature is made subiect to vanity : that ●s , to a fading condition . and thus the word vanity is vsed in our present ●ext : i haue had as an inheritance the ●oneths of vanity , that is , vanishing and fading moneths , the abstract being put for the concrete , or vanity for vanishing . and wearisome nights , &c. here it may be also inquired what it was that iob endured in the night , for the which ●e termes his nights wearisome ●ights , or , as it is in the original , nights of labour . to this i answer : iob endured three things in the nights , the which three things made his night●xs the nights of labour and vnrest . first , he endured fearefull dreame and visions , as appeareth in this present seuenth chapter and fourth verse where it is said , when i say , my bed sha● comfort me , my couch shall ease my complaint , then thou scarest me wit● dreames , and terrifiest me through visions . and this was a great passion ; for i● is grieuous to be scared with dreames ●ut it is more to be terrified with visions and apparitions of angels whether good or euill . the want of naturall rest vnto a weake person is very tedious , but this addition of terro● and horror is much more grieuous . 2 the second thing which io● endured in the night as well as by day , it was anguish of mind and trouble of conscience : for his calamiti● was heauier then the sand of the sea , th● arrowes of god almightie were within him , the poison thereof drunke vp his spirit , yea the terrors of god set themselues in aray again●● him , iob 6. 2. 3. and this was matter of sore labour ; for as salomon saith , a man will be are his infirmitie ; but a wounded spirit , who can beare it ? prou. 18. 14. 3. the third thing which iob endured in the night , was extremitie of paine in his bodie , expressed by verie grieuous and dolefull fits ; for when he lay downe , he said , when shall i arise , and the night be gone ? and he was full , or as it is in the originall , he had his belly full of tossings to and fro to the dawning of the day . and there is none which haue had experience of extremitie of sicknesse , but i hope they will easily acknowledge , that extremitie of paine is a sore labour . thus much for the clearing of the meaning of the words . now before we come to the doctrines and instructions , one maine question may be moued concerning the practise of iob in complaining , whether he did well or ill in it ? and to this i answer , that in many things iob sinned in the matter of complaint , as in cursing the day of his birth , iob 3. and in desiring for anguish to be cut off before his time , iob 6. 9. and chusing to be strangled was like wise a great sin in him , iob 7. 15. but in these words in the text , i take it that iob did not mainly sinne , ( howbeit i do not excuse him altogether from infirmitie , ) but for his words vsed , they are warrantable ; as for his secret affection , we haue nothing to do with it , we leaue it to god that knowes it . you will then demand , is it lawfull therefore for such as are in distresse to complaine ? to this i answer , that all complaint is not sinfull . dauid complained in the si●t psalme , that his soule was sore troubled , and ●et he sinned not . hezechiah mourned like a doue in his sicknes , esay 38. 14. and yet for that is not iustly to be reproued . but lawfull complaint in time of extremitie , must be ioyned with these limitations . first , it must not be with murmuring or repining against god , but rather with a patient submitting to his blessed will : so that though we do declare our griefe , yet we must be content to endure it , in obedience to god ; and we must learne of christ , to say , if thou wilt that i shall drinke of this cup , thy will be done . secondly , our complaint must not be to the weakning of our faith : we must so complaine , as that still we hold fast some ground of ioy . for indeed we ought to reioyce euermore ; and we should not mourne without hope , as the apostle speaketh . thirdly , our complaints must be moderate ; for there is but a time to mourne . we ought to find time , as wel for the declaring of gods mercies which we haue receiued , as to expresse our griefes , or else we are greatly vnthankfull . thus much for the meaning . now come we , by gods permission and assistance , to collect such doct●ines and instructions as may make for our edification . moneths of vanitie . where note we , that iob speaking of his life , doth not terme his moneths , moneths of certaintie , as though he had a lease of his life , but moneths of vanitle , as implying that mans life is very fraile and subiect to vanish away . and indeed there is nothing more fraile , & more vncertaine . for this cause the scripture compareth our liues to things that are very inconstant : as sometimes to grasse , which in the morning flourisheth & groweth , & in the euening is cut downe and withereth , psal . 90. 5. 6. and sometime to a vapour , which appeareth for a very little time , and afterwards vanisheth away , iam. 4. 14. sometime to a weauers shuttle , which quickly passeth from one side of the webbe vnto the other . sometime to smoke , which is driuen away and dispersed with euery wind or blast , psal . 102. 3. sometime to a shadow which declineth , psal . 102. 11. and sometime to vanity it selfe , as in my text . gods church and people haue taken diligent notice of this frailty from time to time , and therefore haue made account of short life . hence it is that abraham in his perfect health termeth himselfe dust and ashes , genes . 18. 27. hence it is that dauid saith , that his life is alwayes in his hand , psal . 119. 109. hence it is that paul saith , i am readie to be deliuered , and the time of my departure is at hand , 2. tim. 4. 6. hence it is that the church saith , we haue here no abiding citie , heb. 13. 14. and hence it is that so many faithfull christians do so ordinarily remember their mortalitie & their graue when they lye downe in their beds . and indeed very experience doth teach vs that mans life is fraile . for do we not see yong men die as well as old ? do we not see strong men die as well as weake ? do we not see wise men die as well as foolish ? yea do we not see physitians die as well as patients ? yea there is none , rich or poore , high or low , noble or meane , which can promise himselfe to liue for the space of one poore houre . againe , our liues must needs be fraile and vncertaine , in respect of the manifold dangers whereunto they are continually subiect . for first , they are subiect to infinite diseases , as to the pestilence , to the burning feuer , to consumptions , to the gout , to the stone , to the dropsie , to the bloudie issue , and to innumerable other . secondly , they are subiect to the stroke of angels , to the layings in waite of enemies , yea to gods immediate stroke . thirdly , they are subiect to many sodaine accidents . if they trauell by land , they are subiect to be taken by the eues and robbers , and to be left for dead . if they ride , they are subiect to fall from their horses , and to breake their neckes . if they trauell on foote , they are subiect to take immoderate heate . if they eate , they are subiect to take surfet , though they eate neuer so little . if they fast , they are subiect to grow into weaknesse . if they sit in thei● houses , diseases will grow vpon them by much sitting . if they walk● abroad , a thousand dangers both ouer their heads and vnder their feete , and before them and behind them , and at their right hand and at their left do attend & wait vpon them , and therfore how fraile is the life of man ? yea but some possibly will obiect and say , do we not see some men and women to liue long ? do not some in our age attaine seuentie yeares , some eightie yeares , some ninetie yeares , some an hundreth ? and may not i hope to liue as long as they ? i do not denie , but god is able to continue thee long vpon the earth , though thy life be neuer so fraile . but it is not thy safest course , my christian brother , to make account of , or to expect long life . for if they which are strong , liue vntill seuentie or eightie yeares , yet we find by experience , that there be a great many which neuer see fortie , some which neuer see thirtie , some which neuer see twentie , some which neuer see ten . yea but some , it may be , wil further obiect and say , i am strong and lusty , i am yong , or in my best yeares , i find no decay in my body ; and therefore what reason haue i to look for death ? alas poore soule , whosoeuer thou art , thou art too prone and ready to deceiue thy selfe . hast thou neuer read , that man in his best estate , that is , in his best yeares , in his best strength , in the very fl●ure of his age , is altogether vanitie ? reade psalme 39. 5. and it wil teach thee . hast thou neuer read what ioh saith in his 21. chapter and 23. verse , where he testisieth , that one dieth in his full strength ; his breasts being full of milke , and his bones being moistened with marrow ? reade and consider , and be not incredulous , but beleeuing . now hauing proued the truth of this point , to wit , that the life of man is very fraile and vncertaine ; and hauing answered the obiections which might be made against the same : it remaineth now to make application of that which hath b●ne deliuered . and a threefold vse we may make of this our frailtie ; to wit , an vse of reproofe , an vse of instruction , and an vse of comfort . an vse of reproofe . and it may reproue diuers . first , such as haue made a couenant with death , and put the euill day far from them ; which thinke in their hearts , that though a scourge come & passe through the whole land , yet it shal not come neare them . alas poore soule , what priuiledge hast thou to escape more then any other ? art thou any iote the more safe , because of thy securitie ? no verily . for when thou shalt say , peace and safetie , then shall there come upon thee sodaine destruction . as paul saith , 1. thess . 5. secondly , this may serue to reproue such as immoderately do seeke after wealth , being as vnsatiable in secking riches , as if they and their children were not mortall , but immortall ; as if indeed they were to liue here alwayes , and were to make prouision for an earthly eternitie . o foolish and filthy couetousnesse ! when wilt thou say , it is enough ? o vaine man , thou prouidest with the danger of thy soule for many yeares , when it may be this night thy soule shall be taken from thee , and then whose shal these riches be which thou hast vniustly gathered ? thirdly , it may make for the iust reproofe of them which labour to perswade others that they shall liue long . these are like vnto them which promise others libertie , and are themselues the bondslaues of corruption . and in this many physitians are too much to blame , which will make such large promises to their patients , as though it were in them to recouer health at their pleasure , when as in the meane time the poore patient dieth vnder their hands . the second vse is an vse of instruction : ction : for considering that mans life is thus fraile , therefore hence we should learne to be humbled in our selues . we must remember we are but dust and ashes , and therefore we must not haue high conceits of our selues : neither must we affect the too much pampering and pranking of the body . alas , it may be thou art feeding nicely and curiously to day ; it may be thou art now pranking thy selfe in pride and in strange attire , or painting thy face with iesabel ; and before to morrow thou mayest be dead . o earth , earth , earth , heare the word of the lord ; humble thy selfe before the lord , in consideration of thy mortalitie . if thou wilt not humble thy selfe , thou hast iust cause to feare that the lord will humble thee , and bring thee low . secondly , the consideration of our frailtie must teach vs , not to deferre or put off our repentance : but whilest it is called to day , to call our selues to a secret examination of our wayes and courses , to humble our selues for them , to renew our couenants with god of our obedience , and to turne from the power of sathan to god. thou thinkest thou mayest do this soone enough when thou art old : but how doest thou know , whether thou shalt liue to be old , or no ? or suppose thou liue to be old , how doest thou know that god will giue thee repentance at the last , when thou hast hardened thine heart against him by thy sins ? therefore , whilest it is called to day , either now turne or neuer , either now repent or perish . either seeke the lord in time whilest he may be found , or else neuer se●ke him . thirdly , the consideration of our frailtie must teach vs , first to seeke gods kingdome and righteousnesse , and to lay vp for our selues a good foundation against the time to come . we must labour to be rich in faith , that when death comes vpon vs , we may not slauishly feare it , but rather chearefully embrace it as a most welcome messenger . it is lamentable to see what paines men take to go to hell , how they labour for the obtaining of their lusts and vnsatiable desires , and in the meane time remaine altogether voide of care how they might attaine heauen . o awake , awake , remember out abode here , it is but for a short time ; but that estate which is to come , whether it be for happinesse or woe , it is eternall , and whithout end . therefore striue and take paines to enter in by the straire gate . we find by experience , things of value in the world , to wit , riches and honours , and high places , they are not attained without great meane● vsed : and shall we thinke that sauing grace , & gods kingdome will be obtained without great striuing ? let no man or woman deceiue themselues : for if the righteous which labour hard in the vse of meanes , as in hearing , in reading , meditating , in the vse of the sacrament , in conference , in keeping ●aith & a good conscience , in prayer , and such like : if such , i say , shall scarce●y be saued , notwithstanding all their ●are and striuing ; then what shall be●ome of such as striue not at all ; or if ●hey do striue , it is very coldly and negligently ? surely such , vnlesse they ●end their pace , they can neuer each their iourneys end , which is the glorious kingdome of heauen . they will be found like trauellers dead in ●he way before they halfe reach ●ome . the third and last vse is for com●ort and consolation . for considering ●hat mans life is so fraile ; therfore first ●t may be a comfort to such as en●ure exile , or banishment , or imprisonment , or hard vsage , or pouertie , or sicknesse , or the like , they may remember , that their afflictions here cannot be long , because their liues are but short . peace shall come , and they shall rest in their beds , esay 57. 2. and blessed are they which die in the lord yea saith the spirit , they rest from their labours , reuel . 14. 13. secondly , the consideration o● shortnesse of life , may be matter o● consolation and comfort vnto such a● beleeue ; for now their saluation i● nearer then when they began to beleeue . what knowest thou , but tha● there is but a step betweene thee an● heauen ? thou art here this yere , tho● mayest be in heauen before the next thou art here this moneth , tho● mayest be with christ before th● next . yea thou art here to day , tho● mayest be in blisse before to morrow o thrise happie estate ! how woul● men admire the happinesse of such begger as were in possibility euery houre to be aduanced to a kingdome ? and how much more admirable is the estate of euery true christian , who standes in continuall possibilitie to be aduanced to such an estate , as neither eye hath seene , nor eare hath heard , neither can it sufficiently enter into the heart of man to conceiue ? 1. cor. 2. 9. thirdly , the consideration of our shortnesse of life may comfort all such faithfull christians as do desire to be freed from sinne . though satan and the world , and their owne corruptions , do disquiet them for a time , yet they shall not alwayes disquiet them . death will come and that quickly , and then thou shalt sinne no more , neither shalt thou be tempted ●o sinne any more , but thou shalt be ●ike vnto an elect angell , yea like vnto iesus christ in perfect holinesse & righ●eousnesse . which estate gods children more affect then they affect the very happinesse or ioyes of heauen . and thus much for the first doctrine . moneths of vanity : hence obserue we in the next place , that afflictions sanstified are an especiall meanes ● bring a man or woman to a cleare sight of the vanitie of earthly things . iob being greatly afflicted , and hauing his affliction sanctified vnto him , was enabled out of the bottom● of his affliction to see that his moneths were but vanitie . and the lik● may be said of dauid , who being sick● and weake , obtained withall an hol● contempt euen of his very kingdome , and was content that salom●● should be crowned king euen in hi● life time , 1. king. 1. 33. the like w● reade of barzillai in 2. sam. 19. 33. 34 ▪ who when dauid offered him grea● honour and preferment in his court he considering with himselfe that h● was now growne very old , refused the kings offer . and thus many christians which in time of health did too much affect riches and honours , and finenesse in apparell , afterwards in time of sicknesse come to see the vanity of all these . to this purpose salomon speaketh well in eccles . 12. 4. that in old age , which is a laborious affliction of it selfe , the daughters of singing shall be abased : as implying , that though in health and youth , men or women stand too much affectionated to the vanitie of earthly delights , yet in affliction and old age they shall attaine the sight of the vanity of these things . so that afflictions are like vnto the clay wherewith the blind mans eyes were annointed in the gospell , and whereby he came to attaine his sight , which before he wanted . yea afflictions are like chrystall spectacles , whereby christians are helped much in the discerning and discouering of earthly vanity . and there be two reasons for the euidencing or clearing of the truth of this point , to wit , that afflictions sanctified are speciall helpes to bring to sight the vanity of earthly things . as first , because men and women in afflictions finde by experience the helplesnesse of earthly things , they find that they may lie in paine and miserie , yea that they may die , and be turned to dust , for any thing which their riches or honours can helpe them : and therefore they may easily conclude , how vaine ô lord do i now find these things , vpon the which formerly ( foole that i was ) i haue so doted , and set my mind ? behold now i see and say with the preacher , as i find also by euident experience , vanity of vanities , vanity of vanities , all is vanity , eccles . 1. 2. secondly , in sanctified afflictions men and women come to the sight of the excellency of true sauing grace : now they can value one dram of faith aboue many talents of gold ; now they had rather haue oyle in their vessels , then treasure in their coffers . and the more that any one is brought to the sight of the true worth of grace , the more they are brought withall to the sight of earthly vanity . do i see the price of heauen ? then i see the basenesse of the earth . do i see the excellency of the knowledge of christ my lord ? then i see all other things to be drosse , and count them to be dung . yea but some , it may be , will be too busie to obiect , that afflictions are more like to driue vs from god then to bring vs vnto him , and that afflictions are dead helpes of themselues , and cannot profit . vnto whom i answer , that afflictions separated from the working of gods spirit are indeed of no value ; which is the reason that though turkes and infidels haue afflictions as well as christians , yet they are no whit bettered by their afflictions , because indeed their afflictions are not sanctified vnto them . and the like we may be bold to say of the written word of god. for the word it selfe separated from the spirit cannot worke . so that we put not this vertue of bringing to the sight of earthly vanity , in the very afflictions thēselues , no more then we ascribe the recouery of the blind mans sight vnto the clay wherewith his eyes were annointed . but this we affirme , that afflictions sanctified , that is , afflictions ioyned with the work of gods spirit are excellent means to bring to the sight of earthly vanity . yea had it not bene for afflictions sanctified , there be many now in heauen which had neuer come there . and had it not bene for afflictions , there be many prodigals in the world , which had not knowne ( as they do know ) what had belonged to the turning from the power of satan to god. and therefore as i desire that there may not too much be ascribed to afflictions : so i would forewarne men to take heede how they make too slight account of them , cōsidering to what excellent purposes god hath sanctified and appointed them ; & considering withall the confessions of many sound and experienced christians , which do ingenuously acknowledge that such and such afflictions were especiall meanes to bring them to god. but may not afflictions lawfully be desired and prayed for , considering that they may be meanes , if they be sanctified , of much good vnto vs ? to this i answer , that as we are not to condition with god that he would neuer touch vs with any affliction , but we must referre our selues vnto his will. so we are not to hasten afflictions vpon our selues ▪ and the rather because we know not what ability we haue to beare afflictions , or what grace we shall haue to make the right vse of them . we may indeed pray that if afflictions be vpon vs they may be sanctified vnto vs , and it is an holy and necessary prayer : but to pray that god would scourge vs , it is a presumptuous request , and doth sauour too much of ouerweening our owne strength . and if any for their presumptuous practise shall alledge the example of dauid in psalme 6. 1. that he prayed , not to be corrected in gods wrath , whereby he seemeth to be content that god should scourge him , so that it were not in his furie : to this i answer , that such know not of what spirit they are which thus reason . for a●t thou able to make as good vse of afflictions as dauid was ? i trow not . secondly , dauid doth not absolutely pray for afflictions , but taking it as granted , that god would afflict him , he prayeth that the lord would not afflict him in his wrath and fury . therefore we conclude , that though much good be wrought by afflictions , yet that afflictions are not to be prayed for , or to be hastened . but to come to the vse and application of this point : is it so that afflictions sanctified are an especiall meanes to bring vs to the sight of the vanities of earthly things ? then this should teach vs in the first place , to take notice of , and to admi●e the excellent power of god , who is able out of darknesse to bring light . for what is more vnlikely , in the iudgement of flesh and bloud , to do good , then afflictions are ? for by reason , when a man is sicke , he is more fit to see the excellency of health then the vanity of it ; and when he is poore , to see the happinesse of riches , then to see their impotency . and therefore great and admirable is the worke of our good god in all things , and particularly in the sanctification of afflictions . we may iustly say with the apostle , rom. 11 33. o the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of god : how vnsearchable are his iudgements , and his wayes past finding out ! secondly , this consideration of the vsefulnesse of afflictions must be an especiall meanes to perswade vs to patience vnder the crosse , and to a willing submitting of our selues vnder the mighty hand of god he is a wise and prudent physitian , he knoweth indeed what physicke is best for vs. we haue a great god to deale with when we are vnder afflictions , and if we submit vnto him , he will raise vs vp . but if we walk stubburnly against him , he will walke stubburnly against vs. gods wrath is like to the thunder & lightnings , which commonly hurt not soft and yeelding bodies because they do not resist , but they exercise their force vpon stout oakes and iron locks and barres , &c. so god deales gently with such as submit themselues , but if any resist , he will surely crush them and make them tame . they shall be sure to gaine nothing by obstinacy against god , but increase of their miseries . yea god will walke obstinatly against his very elect if they resist his proceedings , as we see in the example of ionas : how did god persecute ionas with winde and tempests , yea how did he tosse him into the seas , and plunged him into the hell of the whales belly , and neuer left him vntil he had brought him to submit to go to nineue ? and therefore make a vertue of necessitie ; that which thou must suffer of necessitie , suffer it with patience and willingly ▪ it may be the lord aimeth at greater good towards thee in thine affliction then thou art aware of . and therefore as thou art content to receiue many a bitter potion at the hand of a physitian in hope of health , so be content to drinke of the cup which god hath tempered , in hope that it shall worke for thy good . in the third place we must duly examine our selues if at any time we haue bene afflicted ; whether our afflictions haue wrought thus with vs or no : viz. whether they haue brought vs to the sight of the vanity of earthly things . if they haue , we may be perswaded that they are sanctified vnto vs : and we haue great cause to be thankfull to god for them . but if we haue bene scourged , and yet are neuer the better , we haue iust cause to be humbled , and to feare that our afflictions were neuer sanctified vnto vs. the lord hath smitten vs , but we haue not grieued , he hath consumed vs , but we haue refused to receiue correction ; we haue madeour faces harder then the rocke , we haue refused to returne : as the lord complaineth against the disobedient iewes , iere. 5. 3. and thus much for the second doctrine ; to wit , that affl●ctions sanctified , are speciall helpes to bring vs to the sight of the vanitie of earthly things . painefull nights : or as it is in the originall , nights of labour . whence obserue we , that it may befall the deare children of god , to be visited with painefull and tedious visitations . they may be sicke and grieuously pained , and that not for a night , or for a day , but for nights , that is , for many night● together . the truth of this we see , first here in iob : nights of labour , or painefull nights haue bene appointed vnto me : for thus he complaineth . and that gods children may be visited with grieuous paine , and with laborious sicknesse , it is further manifest by examples ; as first by the example of dauid , a man after gods owne heart . for , how doth he complaine in the sixt psalme ? that his bones were vexed , that he was weary of his groning , that his eye was consumed with griefe : and in psalme 39. 10. that he was consumed by the blow of gods hand : but especially in psalme 38. where he saith , that the arrowes of god did sticke fast in him , and his hand pressed him sore . that there was no soundnesse in his flesh , because of gods anger : and that there was no rest in his bones , because of his sinne . that his wounds did stinke , and were corrupt ; that he was troubled and bowed downe greatly . that he went mourning all the day . that his loines were filled with a lothsome disease . that he was feeble and sore broken : that he roared for the very disquietnesse of his heart , &c. and the like we see in the church , lamen . 1. 11. 12. where she saith , behold and see , if there be any sorrow like vnto my sorrow , which is done vnto me , wherewith the lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger : from aboue hath he sent fire into my bones , and it preuaileth against them . yea , what paines did christ himselfe endure in the garden , when he sweat water and bloud ? and what torment vpon the crosse when he cried , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? i suppose , that at that time the paines of hell came about him , as it is said also in psal . 18. 5. i suppose that then christ descended into hell , when he felt the very fire of gods wrath in his soule for our sins , when the lord withdrew the light of his countenance , and left him to the intollerable sence and feeling of his indignation . now if dauid , a man so deare to god : if the church , bought with so deare a price : yea , if christ jesus the sonne of god , were left to this extremitie of paines : then it followeth vndeniably , that gods 〈◊〉 deare saints and children may be 〈◊〉 with very grieuous paine and sicknesse , with painefull nights , yea with nights of paine . and for the proofe of the second clause of the doctrine , to wit , that gods children may be visited with long and tedious sicknesses , as well as with extremity of paine : consider we first the example of aeneas , who kept his bed , and was sicke of the palsey for the space of eight yeares , acts 9. 33. secondly , the example of the poore man , iohn . 5. 5. who had an infirmity for the space of eight and thirtie yeares , lying at the poole of bethesda . thirdly , the example of the faithfull woman , luke 8. 43. who had an infirmitie twelue yeares together , and had spent all her substance vpon physitians , and could not be healed of any . yea , as saint marke is bold to say , she was neuer the better for her tampering so much with physicke , but rather much the worse , mar. 5. 26. i might be large in the pro●fe of this point , but i will abstaine . come we to the reasons . and there be many causes wherefore god doth thus heauily and tediously afflict his seruants . first , that hereby he might correct some remainder of dangerous corruption lurking in them ; according to that in esay 27. 9. by this shall the iniquitie of iacob be purged ; and this is all the fruite , to take away his sin . some of gods children are subiect to spirituall pride , some to rash anger , some to worldly-mindednesse , some to infidelitie , some to neglect of the best things , some to discontentednes with their estate . and the lord he layeth an heauie chaine vpon their loynes , to correct and mortifie their co●ruptions in them . and herein god dealeth like a skilfull goldsmith ; he casteth his children into fierie afflictions ; not because he meanes vtterly to cast them away , but because he meaneth to take them out more pure , and purged from their drosse of sinne : yea he fineth them seuenfold , that yet they may be more pure . secondly , god doth heauily afflict his people , of purpose to weane them from the vaine delights and pleasures of the world . and in this the lord deales like a nurse ; he annointeth the teates of the world with bitternesse , to the end that his children sucking them might desire them no more . how came iacob to distaste and to forsake labans family , but by the affliction which he found by the change of labans countenance ? gen. 31. how came the prodigall sonne to be weaned from the citizens seruice , luke 15. but by the affliction of hunger and want which he found in it ? and lastly , how come many of the deare children of god to be so farre mortified to the world , as that they desire to be dissolued , and to be with christ , but by the bitternesse of afflictions ? thirdly , god doth thus scourge his church , and afflict his children , for the triall of his graces in them ; according to that in 1. pet. 4. 12. brethren ; thinke it not strange concerning the fierie triall , which is come vpon you to trie you , &c. god afflicts his church , partly for the triall of their patience , to see whether they will submit themselues vnto him , as well in suffering as in doing his will : partly for the triall of saith , to see if they will beleeue against sence and feeling , and whether they will say with iob , though the lord kill me , yet will i trust in him , iob 13. 15. yea the lord afflicts for the triall of wisedome , to see if his children will endeauour to make good vse of their afflictions and of their crosses . thus god i say afflicts for triall . in the fourth and last place , god sorely afflicteth his church in this world , that he might the highlier aduance it in glorie in the world to come . for howsoeuer the affliction● of this present time are not worthie to be compared to the glorie that shall be reuealed , ( as the apostle speakes , rom. 8. 18. ) yet our light affliction which is but for a moment , worketh for vs a farre more excellent and eternall weight of glorie 2. cor. 4. 17. thus the holy martyrs , as they suffered most , so no doubt they are glorified most . and thus many deare saints of god , which haue endured a very hell of torment here , no doubt but they receiue a more ●xcellent heauen of comfort hereafter : as they haue bene partakers of the suffering , so they are of the consolation . but to come to the vse and application : is it so , that god doth sorely afflict his deare children ? then this should teach vs in the first place , not to iudge or censure those which suffer , as though they were greater sinners then others . you know what christ himselfe saith in luke 13. 2. suppose ye , that those galileans were greater sinners then all other galileans , because they suffered such things ? i tell you nay , &c. and it was the sinne of iobs friends to iudge iob an hypocrite , or a notorious offender , because the hand of god was so heauy vpon him . let vs therefore learne on the contrary with gods church , iam. 5. 11 , to esteeme them happie which suffer . let vs hope , that afflictions layed vppon our brethren or sisters , are signes of gods loue towards them , and not of his hatred . for whomsoeuer the lord loues , he chasteneth , and scourgeth euerie sonne whom he receiueth : as we reade hebrews 12. 6. 7. and therefore leud and vncharitable is the practise of all such which take vpon them to iudge and to censure many a sound christian , by their very afflictions , to be hypocrites , to be dissemblers , to be some way notoriously wicked : for else , say they , god would neuer thus haue punished them . o most vniust and rash censure ! doth not god scourge euery sonne whom he receiueth ? and shall we not through many tribulations enter into the kingdome of god ? therefore let god be true , and euery rash iudger shall be proued a lyer . secondly , are gods owne deare children subiect to grieuous and tedious afflictions ? therefore this may be iust matter of terror to the wicked & vngodly . for if iudgement begin at the house of god , what shall be the end of such as obey not the gospell of god ? as the apostle speaketh , 1. pet. 4. 17. if god correct his owne with strokes , surely he will punish the wicked with scorpions . if he afflict lazarus here with pouerrie and sicknesse , surely he will punish diues hereafter with hell fire . yea , if god spared not his angels which sinned , but cast them downe into hell , and deliuered them into darknesse , to be reserued to iudgement ; then how shall the wicked thinke that the lord will spare them , going on in their sinfull courses ? oh therefore let all the sharp corrections layed vpon gods children in this life , be so many warning peales to the vngodly speedily to repent , and to turne to god in time , lest worse punishments seise vpon them then euer seised vpon the elect . thirdly , the consideration of this truth , to wit , that gods children are subiect to so great afflictions ; it must teach euery one of vs , to be prepa●ed to endure great trials . we must be prepared to endure losse of our dearest friends , losse of good name , losse of our whole estate , losse of libertie , losse of health , extremitie of paines in the body , & that for a long time together : yea we must be prepared for the firy triall ; for what do we know , what god hath in store for vs ? lastly , we must be prepared to endure troubles of minde and vexations of conscience ; we must be content to be brought to heauen by hell-gates . brethren , we must not thinke it strange if these things befall vnto vs. the like haue befallen vnto gods owne sons and daughters that are in the world , or haue bene . let vs learne to get strength now in the time of our peace ; we may haue more vse of it hereafter then it may be we are aware of . fourthly , considering that gods elect are subiect to so great afflictions , let vs which enioy freedom from these tormēting miseries , be the more thankfull to god for our freedome . we might liue in sicknesse , in paine , in pouertie , in persecution , in distresse of minde , and yet remaine the true children of god. therefore what cause of thankfulnesse haue we , with whom the lord deales more mildly , and yet giues vs the same hope of glorie , which he hath giuen vnto others which suffer great trials ? god deales with vs as he dealt with henoch ; he takes vs away , and we hardly see or feele death : whereas many others are carried as it were in a fierie chariot to the kingdome of heauen . consider this all ye which sit vnder your owne vine and vnder your owne figtree , and be thankfull . fiftly , considering that gods children are subiect to so great afflictions ; therefore this must teach vs to haue a fellowfeeling of the miseries of others . we must not make small reckning of their paines , as though they ailed nothing ; but we must compassionate them , and vse all the meanes we can to comfort them , and to support them , as we our selues desire to be comforted and to be supported if we were in their estate . be it therefore farre from vs to adde affliction to affliction , or to increase the sorrowes of such whom god hath wounded : but let vs rather thinke with iob , that he which is in affliction ought to be comforted of his friends . it is a cruell practise to lay on more weight vpon a poore beast , when he is ready to sinke vnder that burthen which is vpon him already . so , much more it is a tyrannous fact to adde to the sorrowes of them which are already heauie laden . and thus much may suffice to haue spoken concerning the third doctrine , to wit , that gods deare children are subiect to painfull and tedious sicknesses . many painfull nights haue bene appointed vnto me . where obserue , that iob doth not say , it was my hard fortune to see much miserie , or by euill lucke and hard chance i came to this affliction ; but many painfull nights haue bene appointed vnto me : wherein is intimated vnto vs this truth , namely , that there is no affliction befalleth any of the children of god , be it neuer so sharpe or tedious , but it befalleth by the determinate counsell and purpose of god. this is manifest out of diuerse texts of holy scripture , as out of esay 45. 7. i forme the light , and create darknesse : i make peace , and create euill : i the lord do all these things . and out of amos 3. 6. shall a trumpet be blowne in a citie , and the people not be afraid ? shall there be euill in a citie , and the lord hath not done it ? but yet this point is more especially proued by that in acts 4. 27. where it is said , herod , and pontius pilate , and the gentiles , and the people of israel , were gathered together , to do vnto christ that which gods hand and counsell had determined before to be done . yea indeed , all things both great and small are gouerned and guided by the prouidence of god : there is not a sparrow which falleth vnto the ground , nor an haire which falleth from our head , without our father ; as christ himselfe saith in matthew 10. 29. and this truth the saints haue acknowledged from time to time . if sheme● curse dauid and raile vpon him , dauid will acknowledge , that the lord bids him curse , 2. sam. 16. 17. if the sabeans take away iobs oxen or his asses , and the chaldeans depriue him of his camels ; if a fire from heauen take away his sheepe , aad the winds stirred vp by satan destroy his children , yet he will acknowledge , that the lord hath giuen , and the lord hath taken away , iob 1. 21. yea but this might seeme to be an hard saying , that god should be the author of all afflictions . for suppose that a man be robbed of all that he hath , is god the cause of the robbery ? or suppose a man be wrongfully slandered , is god the cause of the slander ? this might seeme to make god the author of sinne . nothing lesse . for howsoeuer god is the author of the actiō , yet he is not the author of the euill of the action ▪ he tempteth no man to steale , he infu●eth malice into no mans heart , to moue him to curse or slander . but the euill of the action is partly of the diuell , and partly of man himselfe . therefore let no man when he is tempted , say , that he is tempted of god ; for god cannot be tempted with euill , neither tempteth he any man : but euery man is tempted , when he is drawne away by his owne lust , and is enticed , iam. 1. 13. 14. but it may be obiected further , do not many crosses fall out by meere ill lucke ? doth not a mans experience tell him of many ill chances which haue befallen him ? doth not a man sometimes breake his necke , falling from his horse ? doth not a child vpon a sudden fall into a pit , and is drowned ? doth not an axe head fli● from the helue , when no such thing is intended , and slayes a man ? and what is this but hand lucke or bad fortune ? these indeed may seeme to be meere casualties vnto vs , in respect of the suddennesse of them , and because we see not alwayes the causes of them . but with god these things are certaine , and proceed from his decree : according to that in pro. 16. 35. the lot is cast into the lap , but the disposing thereof is from the lord. therefore we must not be like the very heathen , ascribing that vnto chance and fortune , which we should by right ascribe to the prouidence of god. but to come to the vse and application . is it so , that all afflictions come by the prouidence of god ? then this must teach vs in the first place , not to murmure , but let vs say with dauid , in psal . 39. 9. i was dumbe , and opened not my mouth , because thou diddest it . if we consider , we haue no cause indeed to murmure against god. for first , he layeth not vpon any of vs the thousandth part of that which we do deserue . and secondly , he causeth those afflictions which he doth lay vpon vs , to worke for our good : so that we haue more cause to giue him thankes , then in any sort to murmure against him . secondly , considering that all our afflictions are from god ; therefore it must teach vs to feare god aboue all . let vs not feare the diuell , nor tyrants , nor our professed enemies . for none of these can hurt vs without god. but let vs feare that great god , who when he hath afflicted vs here , is able to cast both soule and body into hell fire , luke 12. 5. it is a miserable thing , that we can feare a great man because he is able to hurt vs , and that we cannot much more feare god which is able to damne vs. this bewrayes a great deale of infidelity in vs : this shewes that we do not beleeue the certaintie of gods threatnings . we consider god onely according to his mercie , and so make an idoll of him : but we feare him not for his iustice . we pretend that we loue god ; but where is that awfull respect which we owe vnto him ? thirdly , is it so , that all afflictions are from god ? therefore this must teach vs , that whensoeuer god doth afflict vs in any kind whatsoeuer , either in our good names , or in our goods , or in our friends by taking them away , or in our bodies , or such like : it must teach vs i say , to ●ie our selues and to fanne ou● selues , what the lord hath against vs , or for what cause he doth afflict vs. thus did moses , psal . 90. 7. 8. we are consumed by thine anger , and by thy wrath are we troubled : thou hast set our iniquiti●s before thee , and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance . and it is a blessed vse of afflictions , to make them as our looking glasse , wherein we discerne and discouer some things amisse in our selues . let vs therfore which taste afflictions , find out our secret or open sinnes , and then let vs acknowledge them to god , and humble our soules for them ; let vs renew our couenants with god of new obedience . yet let vs iustifie god in all his proceedings against vs ; and let vs say , lord , it is thy great mercie that thou layest no greater punishment vpon me , yea it is thy mercie that i am not consumed and brought to nothing . let vs say with daniel , to vs belongeth nothing but shame and confusion ; yea let vs say as the truth is , that hell fire and the second death is due vnto vs. by this humiliation ioyned with resolution of newnesse of life for time to come , we shall obtaine mercie and forgiuenesse of sinnes past , prou. 28. 13. secondly , we shall turne away gods wrath and iudgements from vs for time to come , as nineue did : and without this repentance , there is no possible escape frō gods vengeance , but his hand will be still stretched out against vs : he will breake vs with one breaking after another , vntill we be content to breake off our finnes . if we will make no end of sinning , let vs neuer thinke that god will make an end of ouni●hing . fourthly , is it so , that god is the author of all afflictions ? therefore this must teach vs to flie vnto god for helpe in the time of distresse . we must say with the church in hos . 6. 1 the lord hath torne , and he will heale ; he hath smitten , and he will binde vs vp . we must not seeke to witches or wizzards for helpe , neither must we trust in our physitians as asa did , in 2. chron. 16. 12 ; but we must seeke to the liuing god. i speake not this , to the end we should neglect the meanes , but that we should not too much dote vpon the meanes , as it is the sinne of too many . and i speake it furthermore to this end and purpose , that we might be stirred vp the more feruently to seeke to god by prayer and humiliation in the time of our trouble . for it is too manifest how earnest we are in seeking after the meanes , while in the meane time we neglect to seeke vnto god by prayer for his helpe . we are like vnto rachel which cryeth ( though otherwise a good woman ) and saith vnto iacob , giue me children or else i die : not remembring that it was in god onely to giue children . and so we cry with feruency , giue me this helpe or else i die , whereas it is the lord onely which is able to helpe . fifthly and lastly , do all afflictions come by the prouidence of god ? then this may be matter of comfort & consolation vnto all gods afflicted people : for certainly god will lay no other affliction vpon his saints , but that which is for their good . god is our tender father , and can we thinke that a tender father will giue any thing to his beloued child , but that which is good and whole some ? god is our faithfull physitian , and shall we thinke that a faithfull physitian will wittingly giue any thing to his patient , which may do har●e and not good ? god is our chiefe friend , and shall we thinke that our chiefe friend will seeke our bane ? be it farre from vs so to imagine . yea be assured of this , thou afflicted in sion , and tossed with tempests ; if god did not know and purpose to do thee good by afflictions , i dare be bold to say , he would neuer afflict thee . and therefore say with christ , and that with comfort and willing subiection , the cup which my father hath giuen me , shall i not drinke it ? ioh. 18. 11. yea count it for matter of great ioy , that the lord doth vouchsafe to correct you for your good : for when y● are iudged , ye are chastened of the lord , that ye might not be cōdemned with the world ; as the apostle speaketh in 1. cor. 11. 33. and thus much for the fourth doctrine , to wit , that all afflictions come by the prouidence of god , and by his decree and determinate purpose . when i lie downe , i sa● when shall i arise , and the night be gone ? and i am full of tossings to and fro , &c. whence obserue , that afflictions may be irkesome and troublesome to the very children of god. this is manifest by this example of iob. for it appeareth both by his words and by his gesture , how irksome his sicknesse was vnto him . the like we reade of dauid . for how was he perplexed for the losse of his sonne absolon : crying out in a most lamentable manner , o my sonne absolon , my sonne , my sonne absolon : would to god i had died for thee , ô absolon my sonne , my sonne . the lik● we reade of ieremiah in his fourth chapter , 19. verse , crying out , my bell●e , my bellie , i am pained at the. very heart , my heart maketh a noise in me . the like we see in rachel , matth. 2. 18. for , in rama was there a voioe heard , lamentation and weeping , and great mourning : rachel weeping for her children , and would not be comsorted , because they were not . the like we see in hezekiah , esay 38. 14. for in his sicknesse he chattered like a crane or a swallow ; yea he mourned like a doue . the like we reade of the church in affliction , esay 59. 11. saying , we roare like beares , and mourne like doues . yea what shall we speake of elias , who was euen wearie of his life , by reason of the idolatry and persecution in the dayes of iesabel ? 1. kin. 19. 4. what shall we speake of naomie who named her self mara or bitter , in respect of her bitter afflictions ? ruth 1. 21. what should we mention ionas , who was exceedingly vexed and troubled , when he had no iust cause so to be ? ionas 4. 9. yea my beloued , it befell euen to christ himselfe to be troubled , and to be sensible of his smart . for else why doth he pray a-againe and againe , that the bitter cup might passe from him ? or , why doth he crie , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? and the like . yea , the child of god may be so sensible of his afliction , and his crosse may be so irksome vnto him , as that he may fall thereby into diuers dangerous temptations . he may come to thinke that god hath forsaken him , as we see in the example of dauid , psal . 77. 7. 8. will the lord cast off for euer ? will he be fauourable no more ? is his mercie cleane gone for euer ? doth his promise faile for euermore ? hath god forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut vp his tender mercies ? &c. secondly , the child of god in afflictions , may possibly be very impatient , and may vtter dangerous speeches , as we see in the forenamed example of ionas , i do well to be angrie . yea , he may come to curse the day of his birth , with iob and ieremiah . yea , he may come to haue his words swallowed vp that he cannot pray , iob 6. 3. thirdly , the very elect may possibly be comfortlesse in their affliction , according to that in esay 54. 11. o thou afflicted , tossed with tempest , and not comforted ! yea , they may die mourning , their gray haires may go with mourning to the graue ; as iac●b speakes of himselfe , gen. 42. 38. and there be great reasons why afflictions are thus irksome to gods children : as first , because our nature is traile and weake , our strength is not the strength of stones , nor our flesh of brasse ▪ as iob speaketh , iob 6. 12. but we are fl●shie bodies , and therefore very sensible of the least paines . secondly , the diuell doth especially tempt vnto impatiencie in the time of our affliction : we haue then of all other times the strongest temptations . when did satan most tempt iob to curse god , but in the depth of his miserie and calamitie ? and therefore it is not much to be maruelled at , if we descrie naturall frailtie and weaknesse in our brethren and sisters at such a time . god deliuers his children to much frailtie , that in their weaknesse his power might be seene . for , how admirable is the power of god , in the preseruing of such a man or woman to eternall life ! which oftentimes neither know what they do , nor what they say . it is a great worke of god to bring any to heauen , though they pray , though they call for mercie , though they giue euidences of faith and repentance : but to bring such to heauen , which for the present cannot pray , it is a wo●ke rather to be admired then conceiued . god also suffers his deare children to die vncomfortably for their cause which stand by , as either for the warning of his saints standing by , to teach them to take heede of nourishing corruption , lest it trouble them at the last : and to forewarne them also to prepare great strength against the needfull time . or else the lord doth it in his iustice , to be a stumbling blocke to the wicked that stand by : that they may depart and say , lo these are the professours , these are the holy people , these are the runners to sermons ; and yet you see what ends they make : god blesse me from their profession , &c. a iust iudgment of god , that forasmuch as the wicked will not receiue any good by gods people in their life time , either by their good counsell , or good example , that therefore they should receiue hurt and bane by their death . but here some may possibly obiect : doth not christ himselfe say , that the comforter shall remaine for euer with his elect ? iohn 14. 16. yea doth he not say further , that no man shall take away their ioy ? iohn 16. 22. which being true , how can it possibly be , that the child of god hauing had at any time sound ioy , should die vncomfortably ? to this i answer , that indeed it is true , soundioy shall neuer vtterly be taken away from any elect vessell ; but it is not to be denied but the sense & feeling of that ioy may be taken away . though christ was alwaies the sonne of gods loue , and remained for euer in his fauour , yet he was not alwayes sensible of that loue , which caused him to crie , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? if any shall obiect further , and say ; do we not reade , that the apostles reioyced , in that they were thought wothie to suffer rebuke for christ ? acts 5. 41. and do we not heare of those holy martyrs in hebr. 10. 34. who suffered with ioy the spoyling of their goods ? yea , do we not behold with our eyes , many christians which depart out of this life with much heauenly ioy ? therefore it may seeme , that the end of gods children is a ioyfull end . i answer , it is true that many christians , yea i hope the most of gods children depart with ioy . but this is not the condition of all . there be some that go weeping to heauen , as well as there be others which go triumphing . there be some that are carried in fiery chariots with elias , and as it were in a whirle-wind : when others are carried in a more mild manner , or as it were in a horselitter . if any shall obiect yet and say , do we not reade in psal . 37. marke the vpright man , & behold the iust : the end of that man is peace ? therefore how is it possible that the end of the child of god should be vncomfortable ? it is most true , that the end of gods children is peace , but this peace is especially obtained in the world to come ; for so saith the prophet : peace shall come , and they shall rest in their beds , esay 57. 2. yea what saith our blessed sauiour ? in the world ye shall haue assliction , but be of good comfort , i haue ouercome the world . iohn 16. 33. but to come to the vse and application of this point : is it so , that afflictions may be thus troublesome and tedious to the very children of god ? then this must teach vs , not rashly to censure all such as in whom we discouer much weakenesse and signes of impatiency . for in so doing we might quickly come to condemne the generation of the righteous . shall we iudge iob to be an hypocrite ▪ if we heare him cursing the day of his birth ? god forbid . theresore iudge not , that ye be not iudged . for with what iudgement ye iudge , ye shall be iudged ; and with what measure ye mete , it shall be measured to you againe , matth. 7. 2. in stead of iudging and censuring other , in this case rather learne to iudge thy selfe : thinke thus with thy selfe , when thou seest signes of impatiencie in good people , first , that surely their pangs & paines are exceeding great , for otherwise they would not thus complaine : and secondly suspect thy selfe , that if thou were in their case , and didst endure that which they endure , thou thy selfe wouldst be farre more impatient . secondly , is it so , that afflictions may be thus tedious vnto the children of god ? therefore this must teach vs to be thankfull to god , when our brethren and sisters make a comfortable end . how great cause had the sriends and kindred of holy martyrs to praise god , when they beheld with their eyes the stedfast faith , the vndaunted courage , the maruellous patience which appeared in those worthy se●uants of god. and so when we behold our friends vpon their death-bed , iustifying god , condemning themselues , laying hold of saluation by christ , giuing good instruction vnto others , and commending their spirits into the hand of their lord which hath bought them : surely , i lay , in this case we haue great and iust cause to glorifie god. and so much the rather are we bound to be thankfull for this , because it is not giuen to all the saints to haue this comfort at the last : but some vpon their death-beds are cōstrained with christ iesus to cry in the sense of their paines , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? thirdly , is it so , that afflictions may be thus tedious vnto gods children ? therefore this must teach all christians to endeuour , and that betimes , to lay the foundation of a comfortable death ; and for this end we must obserue these rules . first , we must take away the sting of death , which is sinne . there is nothing which makes death terrible or troublesome vnto gods child , but sinne : as for the pangs , many christians haue comfortably endured them , especially being assured of gods fauour , and also priuie to themselues of a well spent life . but as for such which would not be ruled , but would still retaine a felfewill , their end hath bene cōmonly vncomfortable . therefore my deare brother and sister , whosoeuer thou art , let my counsell be auailable with thee ; cast away all thy transgressions whereby thou hast transgressed . spare not thy bosome sins . for i say vnto thee , euery sinne which thou keepest vnmortified , doth threaten to make thy death vncomfortable . wherefore let vs euery day be lessening the sorrowes of death by our daily practise of mortification . hast thou mortified lust , mortifie also couetousnesse : hast thou mortified couetousnesse , mortifie also pride : hast thou mortified pride , mortifie also rash anger : in a word , hast thou mortified some sinne , striue to mortifie all sin . for assure thy selfe , if thou keepe any one sinne aliue , it will be bitternesse in the end . secondly , if we desire to make a comfortable end , we must walke faithfully , and labor to glorifie god in our particular calling . how came paul to finish his dayes with comfort , but by this , that he had finished his course ? 2. tim. 4. that is , he had bene carefull to accomplish the worke whereunto he was sent . for it is not sufficient , my welbeloued , that we obserue with diligence the workes of pietie , and that we walke faithfully in our generall calling as we are christians , but we must also walk faithfully in our particular callings . it is not sufficient to seeme to be a good christian , but we must be good magistrats , or good maisters , or good husbands , or good wiues , or good seruants , or good children , &c. we must glorifie god in the ranke wherein god hath set vs , if euer we meane to die with sound comfort . thirdly , if we desire to make a comfortable end , we must be carefull to thinke of our end betimes . when sicknes and death come vnexpected , they are the more vnwelcome , they come as vnbidden guests : but if we haue seriously thought of these things before hand , and made them part of our daily meditation , then they are the lesse troublesome , and the more easily borne . euen as a heauie burden , if it be throwne vpon a mans shoulders at vnawares , it is ready to breake his backe ; but if he be aware of his burden , and fit himselfe to receiue it , i● is farre more tollerable : so it is with death and sicknesse : if thou thinke of these things before hand , they will be farre more easie ; but if thou put this euil day farre from thee , thou shalt find by wofull experience , that vnexpected death is the most bitter and terrible . therefore let thy bed put thee dayly in minde of thy graue , and thy sleepe of thy death ; let the putting off thy garments put thee in minde of laying downe this tabernacle of thy body ; yea let thy sheetes put thee in minde of thy winding sheete ; and the clothes which couer thee in thy bed , put thee in minde of the earth which shall couer thee in thy graue . thus thou shalt imitate iob who waited all the dayes of his appointed time vntil his changing came iob 14. 14. and thus thou shalt imitate many deare children of god , which are taught of god thus to thinke of their mortalitie . thus thou shalt be more and more mortified to the world , and thus no doubt thou shalt make thy end comfortable . fourthly , if we desire to make a comfortable end , we must endeuour betimes to make our calling and election sure . thus simeon departed in peace , because his eyes had seene gods saluation . and indeed how can we expect to die with comfort , while we are vnresolued what shall become of our soules in the world to come ? and that we may make our calling and election sure , we must obserue these rules . first , we must be diligent hearers of gods word ; for faith comes by hearing , as the apostle speaketh . what is the reason that so many wauer ? is it not because they are idle , and because they will not take the paines to heare so diligently , as their case requireth ? secondly , that wee may make our calling and election sure , we must frequently receiue the lords supper . what experienced christian is there , but he is able to tell you , that the sacrament by gods blessing hath a notable confirming and establishing power ? and therefore those negligent ministers are guiltie of the weaknesse of the faith of the people , in that they do not so frequently as they ought , administer the holy sacrament . thirdly , if we desire our calling and election to be made sure , then we must pray vnto god , as the apostles did , that the lord would increase our faith . for vnlesse gods spirit do testifie together with our spirit , we can neuer come to any full assurance . paul may plant , and apollos may water , but it must be god alone which must giue the increase of sauing grace . fourthly , if we would make our calling and election sure , wee must meditate often of gods promises , and we must trie our estate by the ma●kes which are peculiar vnto gods elect . fifthly , if we would make our calling and election sure , we must be plentifull in good workes . for , whom hath god promised to strengthen vpon the bed of languishing , in psal . 41. 3. but such as consider wisely of the poore ? and who are they which lay vp for themselues a good foundation against the time to come , laying hold of eternall life , but such as are rich in good workes ? 1. tim 6. 19. thus we see the way to a comfortable departure . god almightie giue euery one of vs grace to take this way , that so by our death we may glorifie god , bring comfort & good example to our brethren , and eternall benefit to our owne soules , and that for the merits of iesus christ our lord , to whom with the blessed father , and the holy spirit , three most glorious persons , and one god , be ascribed , as is most due , all honour , praise and glorie , all true feare , reuerence and obedience , from this time forth for euermore , amen . the occasion of this sermon ( as you know ) was for the celebration of the funerall of that excellent seruant of god , mistris elizabeth iuxon , the late faithful wife of maister iohn iuxon citizen of this famous citie of london . and the reason which moued me to make choice of this text rather then of any other , was the request of our deare sister deceassed , who vpon her death-bed called for her bible , and turned to this portion of scripture , and desired me to intreate of it at her bu●iall . and indeed if i had bene left to mine owne free choice , i thinke i could not haue made a fitter choice of a text in all the bible . for the estate of iob described in these words , doth notably answer to the estate of our sister . for , were the moneths of iob , moneths of vanitie ? did they vanish away like smoake ? did they passe away quickly like the weauers shuttle ? euen so it was with the life of this our sister ; her dayes were but few and euill ; her pilgrimage here was but short ; for she was not full seuen and twentie yeares old when god tooke her away , as i am informed . as it was with henoch , because he walked with god , therefore the lord tooke him away in his middle age : euen so it was with this worthy woman ; she walked with her god , and therefore he hath now taken her vp vnto himselfe in the midst of her dayes . secondly , did iob endure a painfull and tedious griefe in his body ? euen so did this our sister ; her paines were very great , her triall was a fiery triall ; yea her sicknesse was not onely dolorous , but likewise it was long and tedious , continuing vpon her with great extremitie for the space of a yeare and vpwards . god did grinde her in the mortar of his fatherly correction like spice , that so she might be made the more fragrant sacrifice vnto himselfe . thirdly , was iob brought by his sicknesse to the sight of the vanitie of earthly things ? so was this seruant of god ; she had attained an holy scorne of the contentments of this life . for when i demanded of her , whether the comelinesse of the roome where she lay , and furniture of her house did not somewhat tempt her to desire still to liue : she answered me , that nothing in the world did moue her to desire life , no not her very children , which were farre more deare vnto her , then any worldly riches whatsoeuer . so that i found she was quite dead to the world in her mind , before she was dead or depriued of life in her bodie . god grant that euery one of vs may labour for the like grace of s●und mortification . for , if we be dead and crucified vnto the world , it is a good signe that we are aliue to god. fourthly , was griefe and smart irkesome and troublesome vnto iob himselfe ? then it was the great mercie of god , to giue patience vnto this our sister in any measure . and let vs not thinke it strange if she roared and cried with paine at some times ; but let vs rather feare , that if we had bene in her case , and had tasted her sorrowes , we had bene like to fall into greater extremitie then euer she fell . it is the propertie of a good child to crie whilest he is a beating , as well as of a bad . but here is the difference ; a good child , when the smart is gone , will kisse the rod , and loue his parents , and be sory for his fault ; whereas a wicked child will murmure against and hate his parents . now this our worthy sister shewed her selfe to be a good child ; for she cried when she felt the smart : but when she had a●y mitigation , she condemned her i●patiencie , and iustified god , kissing ●is rod , by shewing a very tender affection of loue to god , whensoeuer she thought or spoke seriously of him . fifthly , were these painfull nights appointed vnto iob , not by fatall necessitie , or by chance and fortune , but by the prouidence of god ? euen so it was with this our sister . for ho●so●uer the first occasion of her sicknesse might seeme vnto vs to bee meerly casuall : yet the truth is , that euen casualties themselues are guided by the diuine prouidence . for ( as salomon saith ) the lot is cast into the lap , but the whole disposition thereof is from iehouah , prou. 16. 33. and thus i haue declared vnto you , how fitly this text doth answer vnto this present occasion . now may it please you further to consider the spirituall estate of this our sister . and her spirituall estate shall appeare by a strict and serious examination which she tooke of her selfe in the time of her health . it is set downe with her owne hand , and was found by her husband after her departure , amongst the rest of her things which she most esteemed : and for my owne part , i know them t● be no fables . for i knew her spirituall estate , by siue yeares experience , liuing in the house with her . now i thought good to make them publike , not onely for a due memoriall of this blessed seruant of god ; but also for the common good of gods church : as being indeed exceedingly importuned by good people thereunto . if you desire to reape benefite by the markes , reade them not as a bare report or commendation of the partie deceassed ; but duly obserue euery marke what it importeth ; and next , obserue in what manner it was found in this worthy woman : thirdly , weigh well the places of scripture which are alledged to proue the markes to be peculiar to gods elect : and lastly , examine whether thou findest these signes in thy selfe or no ; for this is the way to benefit by them . the markes which this our sister found to be wrought in her , by gods holy spirit , are many : i will reduce them to as few heads as i can , for the helpe of your memorie : i will not adde any thing aboue the sence of that which she hath written ; onely it shall be my endeuour to bring that which she hath written , into distinct order for better capacitie , and to declare vnto you my owne particular knowledge conc●rning her estate . and the markes are these following , being noted in the small letters for distinction . and behold , she that is dead , shall yet speake vnto you . the first marke . first , i desire to be exercised in the word day and night : and i finde a willing receiuing of gods commandements , they are not grieuous . and that this precious signe was in this worthy woman , let her practise shew it . to my knowledge , when she was in the citie , she heard for the most part , nine or ten sermons euery weeke ; whereof foure of them constantly vpon the sabbath day , besides catechizing . also , she read daily morning and euening some part of the scripture , from the beginning of the bible vnto the end thereof . and she did not reade the scripture as many do , in haste , but with serious consideration , application , and meditation . moreouer , gods commandements were not grieuous vnto her , but she obeyed them with chearefulnesse . i neuer made any motion vnto her for any that were in distresse , but as soone as she heard it , she obeyed . yea , the word was so farre from being grieuous , as that it was more sweete then the hony and the hony combe , ( as she acknowledged . ) yea she slept euerie night with this meate in her mouth : the word being her last meditations in the night , and her first thoughts in the morning . and this constant meditation of gods word , is giuen as an infallible marke of a blessed person in psal . 1. in that law will he meditate day and night . and if this be a signe in any , then much more in this good christian . for indeed , vntill it pleased god to conuert her soule ( which was about siue yeares ago ) she walked according to the course of the world , and maruelled ( as she her selfe confessed ) what people meant to runne dragling to sermons . but the lord changed her mind , and then i thinke she ran as fast to sermons as the rest of her brethren and sisters ; i meane as the rest of gods deare saints and children . the second marke . the word worketh in me a redresse of my wayes . and that this signe was in this worthy woman , it was euident vnto me , who was made throughly acquainted , by her voluntary confession , with her estate . she acknowledged vnto me after her conuersion , how vaine her course had bin in former times . yea she concealed not from me the greatest sinnes that euer she committed in all her life time . and therefore i saw with mine eyes , what an admirable redresse of wayes the word and spirit of god had wrought in h● . now brethren , when the word of god workes a through and effectuall redresse , it is an euident signe of an happie estate & condition . for the word worketh effectually in none but in such which do beleeue : as we gather out of the words of the apostle in 1. thess . 2. 13. the third marke . i find a respect to all the commandements of god , desiring to obey in the least commandement as well as in the greatest ; i find a willingnesse to obey against profit , pleasure , credite , ease , libertie , and the liking of carnall friends . and that this signe was in this worthy christian , it is also euident . she hath desired to obey in the least , and much more in the greatest commandements . she , for her part , made conscience , as well of litle oaths as of great ; of deceiuing in a shilling , as well as in a pound ; of the lust of the eye , as well as of the act of vncleanenesse ; of words , as well as of deedes ; and of thoughts , as well as of outward practises . this was manifest vnto me by her complaints against herselfe , in such things as a carnall hypocrite would haue esteemed but motes , whereas she esteemed them beames . and that she had a willingnesse to obey against profit , it is likewise euident ; for she was an especiall meanes to perswade her husband , not to incomber himselfe with too much worldly imployment , but rather to content himselfe with lesse worldly gaine , and to redeeme time for hearing gods word , and for other holy occasions . secondly , she obeyed against pleasure ; for whereas she had wont to seeke her bodily recreation vpon the sabbath day , in walking vp and downe , in sitting at her gate , in talking of worldly matters , and such like : now she was growne so deuout and pious , as that she made conscience to expell worldly thoughts vppon the lords day , as appeared by many godly questions , from time to time put forth vnto me by her . thirdly , she obeyed against credite ; for whereas in her carnall estate , her carnall neighbours respected her ; afterwards , when they obserued this godly change in her , they ceassed to giue her that respect which was due vnto her ; yea indeed they enuyed , hated , and neglected her . fourthly , that she obeyed against libertie and ease , it was also manifest ; for whereas in her carnall estate she could take libertie to keepe her bed vpon the sabbath day till eight of the clocke , now in her spirituall estate , she could afford to rise by fiue a clocke in the morning , and that in the cold winter , and when she was with child , and to go to the lecture in the citie at six a clocke ; and this she did constantly . fifthly , that she obeyed against the liking of carnall friends , it was also plaine : for they stormed against her for these godly courses , and did not spare to tell her , that if she thus proceeded , she would vtterly vndo her selfe , and ouerthrow her estate : and yet , against all these pull-backes , she held on her godly course vnto the end . and know this my deare brethren , that there is no surer euidence of a good estate then vniuersall obedience . what was it that confirmed the estate of zachary and elizabeth to be a blessed and happie estate , but this , in that they walked in all the commandements of god , without rebuke ? luke 1. 6. the fourth signe or marke . i find feruencie and frequencie in prayer , in secret . concerning the feruency of this good woman in prayer , and that in secret , i my selfe haue bene an eare witnesse , for i haue heard her pray when she was not aware of me . and for her frequencie , the family are not ignorant how exactly she kept and obserued her religious houres in priuate . there is no hungrie person doth more duely obserue his meale-times , then this faithfull person obserued her times for prayer and reading . and who will not easily acknowledge , that the true spirit of prayer is a notable signe of a blessed estate ? for god doth powre the spirit of prayer vpon none , but vpon such vpon whom also he powreth the spirit of grace , zach. 12. 10. and what saith blessed paul ? whosoeuer shall call vpon the name of the lord , shall be saued , rom. 10. 13. yea what saith christ himselfe ? matth. 6. 6. pray vnto thy father in secret , and the father which seeth in secret , shall reward thee openly . the fift marke . i find a striuing against the most secret corruptions of nature ; i bewaile my transgressions against the inward worship of god , as well as against the outward ; i bewaile the hardnesse of mine heart , and mourne because i cannot mourne as i ought . how exceedingly this holy christian did bewaile her failings against the inward worship of god , i was not ignorant : for many a time hath she complained vnto me , what distractions she hath found in prayer , and in the hearing of gods word . yea she obserued the subtiltie of satan , how he would thrust other good motions and meditations vpon her vnseasonably , of purpose to hinder her in her present holy businesse : and moreouer , mine eares were continually filled with her complaints in respect of hardnesse of heart , and with her mourning because she could not mourne as she ought . and that she had a striuing against the most secret corruptions , it was likewise apparent vnto me , which was made acquainted with her spirituall estate : for it was her godly care still to be instructed how she might cast out and resist euill motions , groning and sighing vnder them , as vnder a most vncomfortable , heauie , and intollerable burden . now what greater signe is there of a good and gracious estate , then to be sensible of the combat of the spirit against the flesh ? what greater euidence was there that paul was now a regenerate person , then this , to wit , that he found this striuing in his heart , and that he was sensible of the law of his minde resisting the law of sinne which was in his members ? rom. 7. 23. what greater signe was there that rebeccha was conceiued with child , then when she felt such a struggling within her selfe betweene the children , as she neuer felt before ? so what greater euidence that we are conceiued of christ , then when we feele him sensibly st●uggling in vs against the old adam ? the sixt marke . i find a dislike of sinne in all , euen in them that are most deare vnto me . this marke i know to haue bene in this worthy woman : she grieued for sinne in kindred , in familiar acquaintance , in seruants , in children . yea she grieued for the very appearance of euill , as when she saw that some walked not wisely in the vse of christian libertie , as in the vse of recreations and such like . and much more did she grieue for the common swearing in the land , for sabbath-breaking , for whoredome which is so ordinary , and for all such abhominations . now to grieue for the abhominations of the time , is an vndoubted signe of a good and happie estate . for whom doth god set his marke vpon for his owne , ezech 9. 4. but vpon such as sigh and crie for the abhominations of ierusalem ? the seuenth marke . i desire to stirre vp mine affection after god , and to auoide what might steale away mine heart from him , delighting in all the wayes whereby mine heart might be inflamed towards him . this marke was apparently in this our sister by these signes . she feared both the company and doctrine of such ministers , as she perceiued would giue her too much liberty . she was likewise best pleased in the greatest strictnesse , so that it were not curious but commanded of god. she maintained in her selfe a godly iealosie , lest that riches and worldly contentments should lessen her affection to christ . she was fearefull to lose any part or dram of her first loue . she delighted most in such conference , both at her table , and in company , which sauoured of religion : it was her griefe to heare some how they would spend their precious time in frothie discourfe , preferring trifles and toyes before such speech as might haue ministred grace to the hearers . so that it was euident , that she delighted in such wayes whereby her heart might be inflamed to loue god. yea i do suppose , that her inner man was come to that degree of loue and zeale , that she desired to heare no other noyse but the noyse of gods word , nor any other knocking but the knocking of gods spirit at the doore of the heart . she found that want of gods word publickly preached in the time of her long sicknesse , as that she resolued , if god would giue her but so much strength to endure to be carried in a chaire to the church , she would desirously go . now what surer signe is there of a blessed estate , then sincere inflamed loue to god ? the lord promiseth to shew mercy vnto thousands of them which loue him , and keepe his commandements , exod. 20. the eight marke . i find an holy rest and quietnesse of conscience , with spirituall boldnesse , and confidence of trust in god sometimes . she found that degree of spirituall boldnesse to my knowledge at some times , as that in her perfect health she hath desired to be dissolued , that she might not liue to haue that confidence weakened . she acknowledged vnto me in the middest of many temptations vpon her death-bed , that the lord had freed her heart from bellish feares , and that she found much peace . yea not many dayes before her departure out of this life , she made a very excellent sensible acknowledgement of the goodnesse of god vnto her , and how she knew that it should be well with her after this life ended ; blessing god withall for the benefit which she had receiued by the ministerie of the word , and exhorting her kinred and friends which were about her , that they should be carefull to heare sermons , and to meditate of them . yea she did so speake with that euidence of spirit , as that she drew teares from them which heard her at that time . now what more euident marke is there of a true christian , then a sound faith ? what surer testimony then the testimony of gods owne spirit bearing witnesse with our spirits that we are the children of god ? rom. 8. 16. now indeed this our deare sister did not feele this full assurance at all times , but she groned many a time vnder the sence of much vnbeleefe . but what experienced christian doth not sufficiently know , that the deare children of god are subiect to these pangs ? in so much that we say , that surely that man or woman neuer beleeued aright which neuer doubted . but my deare brethren remembe the estate of that good father in marke 9. 24. no sooner did he beleeue , but presently he was made sensible of his vnbeleefe . for thus he cries with teares , lord i beleeue , helpe my vnbeleefe . the ninth marke . i find a desire of the practise of mortification of sinnes past and present . there is no sinne but i could willingly iudge my selfe for it , so soone as i know it to be a sinne . this holy feruant of god , she was come to that degree of mortification vnto her especiall sinnes , that she did not onely quite forsake the practise of them , but also she lothed them inwardly , and confessed to the glory of god , that she found her selfe quite dead to the least pleasing motion tending that way . and her especiall sinne hauing bene the abusing of things lawfull , she came so farre to be mortified , as that she was tempted to abhorre euen the lawfull vse . she was inclined not onely to an holy reuenge vpon her selfe , but euen to exceed in that reuenge and selfe-iudging . now what greater argument is there of our spirituall rising with christ , then if we mortifie our earthly members ? coloss . 3. 1. 5. and what greater signe that we shall escape the iudgement of god , then if we iudge our selues ? 1. cor. 11. 31. the tenth marke . i loue all gods children , and that for the truths sake : i esteeme them the onely excel●●nt people in the world . she loued poore christians as well as the rich , to my knowledge ; she preferred them before rich kindred . she loued them meerly sor their graces , and not for worldly respects . for indeed she was a giuer , and not a receiuer . so that it was not with our sister as it is with the children of this world , which speake euill of all such as will not runne with them to the same excesse of riot . she was farre from contemning of gods deare children , vnder a colour as though they were puritans and precisians , and irregular persons , or the like . but she iudged as dauid did in psal . 16. that those that feared god , and were endued with grace , they were the excellent ones . all that she hated in them was their corruptions , which they themselues also hate . now whosoeuer they be which haue their hearts sincerely seasoned with true christian loue , it is an euident signe that they are the children of god. for as the apostle speaketh , euery one which loueth , is borne of god , and knoweth god , 1. ioh. 4. 5. 7. and againe he saith , in the 16. verse of the same chapter , he that dwelleth in loue , dwelleth in god , and god in him . the eleuenth marke . i desire after puritie , and to be holy as god is holy . this our christian sister laboured against all impuritie both of flesh and spirit : the least secret impure motion did much vexe her , as appeared by her feeling complaints . and as for holinesse , i am perswaded she affected it farre aboue saluation : for what was still her especiall request ? euen this , that god would be pleased to giue her a more holy heart . and moreouer , the more holily that any minister preached , the more was she delighted to heare him . the more holily that any one conferred , or prayed , gaue thankes , the more heartily she shewed her zeale in saying amen . and indeed , as for sermons , and prayers , and thanksgiuing , which seemed to be very eloquent , if there was not some holy zeale in them , they were but a burden vnto her . yea shee stood so affected vnto holinesse , as that sometimes walking in her hall vpon the sabbath day , and conferring of gods word , she hath heartily desired , neuer to go againe into the world , but if it were the will of god , that shee might spend all her dayes in that blessed fellowship with god. and yet she was none of those that liued inordinately or idlely , who liuing by the sweate of other mens browes , vnder the colour of giuing themselues vnto holinesse , do altogether neglect or cast off their particular callings , especially if they be any thing painfull . but she thus spoke , being carefull of that holy condition , if it might stand with the will of ●od . by these symptomes and signes , we may see how this our sister stood affected for holinesse . and what greater signe is there of a true child of god , then holinesse ? be ye sure , saith dauid in psalme 4. that god hath chosen to himselfe a godly man. and saints or holy persons , is one of the names which is giuen of god vnto his children in the holy scriptures , as you are not ignorant . the twelfth marke . i desire to be good at home as well as abroad , in absence of others as well as in presence , in secret as well as openly . concerning the domestical goodnesse of this our sister , we had sufficient knowledge : for we dayly beheld her christian practise . and how constant she was in her holy courses in our absence , i haue bene sufficiently informed by others which were in the family . she had attained that degree of sinceritie , as that her studie was to hide her graces , at least so farre as grace could be hid . for you know that grace is like sweete oile , it will vtter it selfe in the sweete sauour whether the apothecary will or no. fearfull she was lest any should thinke more to be in her , then she thought to be in her selfe . she hated vaine shewes ; she could not brooke those that would publikly make shew of more then was manifest by their priuate practise , was in them . yea vpon her death bed she affirmed , that she had nothing in her selfe to comfort her but poore sinceritie . she knew that howsoeuer she had walked weakly before god , yet she had walked sincerely . another argument of her sinceritie was this , in that she desired her estate to be throughly sifted both in health and in sicknesse . and to that end , in health she repaired to godly ministers for the triall of her estate ; and also in sicknesse she desired the iudgements of more then of one minister , that she might know the very truth of her estate . yea she desired to heare of her sinnes , and to that end desired me , either in my owne person , or by some other good minister , to preach a sermon of the cursed estate of man by nature , and of the vttermost terrours of the law against sinne ; that so her stonie heart might be more and more broken : and for that paines she would haue giuen me or any other minister of christ , which would haue made the sermon , a large reward in gold . now what greater signe is there of a good estate , then is sinceritie ? what greater euidence was there of dauids blessed estate then this , to wit , that he walked in the vprightnesse of his heart in the midst of his house ? psal . 101. 2. the thirteenth marke . i can pray for mine enemies , and humble my soule for them in their distresse ; i will be at peace with them without reuenge , i can forbeare them , when i could bring them to shame . that this seruant of god could pray for her enemies , and humble her soule in their distresse , we may well beleeue it if she auouch it : for great was her truth in speech , and throughly tried . i do not denie but she might sometimes report an vntruth , as receiuing it by report from others whom she beleeued : but to speake a lie , or to speake against her owne knowledge , to wrong any , or aduantage her selfe , it was farre from her . againe , that she would be at peace with her enemies , without reuenge , and without seeking their shame , it was manifest . for when some had exceedingly wronged her by their slanderous tongues , after she had conferred with me , what i thought she might do with a good conscience in such a case ; she was content to sit downe vnder the wrong , being perswaded that god would cleare her innocencie as the light at noone day . and this was the more excellent patience in this our godly sister , because indeed by nature she was verie cholericke , and subiect to passions . and what greater euidence is there of a good estate , then to forgiue our enemies ? for christ him selfe hath said , that if we forgiue men their trespasses , our heauenly father will for giue us our trespasses , math. 6. 14. the fourteenth maarke . i finde a willingnesse , to suffer any thing for god , by his assistance . she was content ( for the present ) to endure the hatred of the world for her profession sake , to endure the persecution of the tongue , and the taunts of carnall friends . and these sufferings she did not much respect . nay further , she was very mindfull of the fiery triall which might come vpon vs : and she for her part looked for it , and prepared for it . yea , she was minded rather to burne at a stake , then euer to yeeld vnto poperie , or to betray the truth of the gospell . and in these godly resolutions , she did not trust in any sort to her owne strength , but was very iealous how she should be able to endure the fire : oh said she , how shall i endure to be drawne vpon an hurdle vnder newgate , and to be bound vnto a stake , to suffer the violence of the fire ? &c. but yet she still was comforted with this , namely , that god was able to cause her to stand . and what greater signe is there of a sound estate , then when it is giuen vnto vs , not onely to beleeue in the behalfe of christ , but also to suffer for his sake ? phil. 1. 29. the fifteenth marke . i desire to deale faithfully in the charge and calling in which i am , and to discharge it in the conscionable feare of god. this our sister was not onely faithfull in her generall calling , but also in her particular . for first , she was a very faithfull wife , her very desire was subiect to her husband . i am perswaded , that if her husband had commanded her to dothe vilest drudgerie about the house , she durst not haue refused , in verie conscience of gods law. and moreouer , whereas in her carnal estate , it was her common practise to put forth her children to be nursed abroad , according to the practise of the proud women in our times : when the law of god beganne to be written in her heart , she durst no longer nurse her children abroad , but tooke paines to nurse them with her owne breasts . againe , she did most diligently ouersee the wayes of her family : and she eate not the bread of idlenesse , but still she employed her selfe in some commendable employment . and as for her children and seruants , she did diligently instruct them in good wayes . she was grieued at any prophanenesse found in them : she mourned for them : she prayed for them ; she pitied their estate : and as for the soule of her louing and kind husband , she had an especiall care . now it is an especiall ma●ke of a true conuert , to be found faithfull in the particular calling . as we see it is giuen by paul as an euidence of the truth of the conuersion of onesimus , that now he was become profitable vnto his maister , philem. 11. the sixteenth marke . i desire to glorifie god by a fruitfull profession . the faith of this our sister was no dead faith . to my knowledge she was exceeding fruitfull in good workes . what money she had of her owne in the time of her health , she distributed it freely , partly to poore preachers about this citie , partly also to poore christians . she was like vnto dorcas , she made garments , and that both woollen and linnen , & gaue them vnto poore christians , and to their children . she was a friend of the fatherlesse and of the widow : and what she had not of her owne to releeue gods poore , she intreated her husband to supply . yea , she was a very patronesse for such as were in distresse ; she was a blessed instrument to stirre vp her willing husband to many secret gifts , and bountifull almes-deedes , especially vnto them which were of the houshold of faith . to my knowledge she hath giuen gold and siluer plentifully , to some more , and to some lesse . and amongst the rest of her charitable workes , i remember that she gaue to the minister which was the means ( vnder god ) of her conuersion ( as she supposed : ) she gaue , i say , vnto him , by the consent of her husband , the summe of fiftie pounds , besides a large portion which she begged of her husband to be distributed after her death vnto charitable vses . the sicke had cause to blesse god for her in her health , for she visited them with meate , with bodily presence , with necessarie helpe both by her selfe and by her maides . and many that enioy health , haue great cause to blesse god for her in her death , in respect of her liberall gifts . and for mine owne part i haue especiall cause to blesse god in her life and in her death ; for a most kind mother and nurse she was vnto me . now this fruitfulnesse did argue the goodnesse of the tree ; for how doth a christian shew his faith , but by his workes ? and the lord ( as you know ) promiseth a prophets reward vnto such as do good vnto his members , matth. 10. 42. yea , at the day of iudgement christ will say vnto all such fruitfull ones , come vnto me , ye blessed of my father , inherite the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world . for i was an hungred , and ye gaue me meate : i was thirstie , and ye gaue me drinke : i was a stranger , and ye tooke me in : naked , and ye clothed me : i was sicke , and ye visited me : i was in prison , and ye came vnto me . the seuenteenth marke . i find a daily holy strife to preserue graces giuen vnto me , and to preuent falling away . she continued faithfull to the end in the most substantiall graces . for howsoeuer shee mourned for the want of that degree of ioy which she had felt in former times , yet she continued in repentance , in the practise of holinesse and righteousnesse , in a tender loue to god , and to his word and children , in holy zeale , and fruitfulnesse euen to the last period of her dayes . and indeed her want of full ioy was so sanctified vnto her , that it was a furtherance to a better grace , namely to repentance and selfe-deniall , and base esteeme of her selfe . and i call repentance a better grace then ioy , because howsoeuer ioy is a most excellent gift of the spirit , yet vnto vs repentance is more profitable . for i make no doubt but that a mourning christian may be saued without rauishing ioy , & that christ may wipe away his teares in heauen ; but no christian shall be saued without repentance and selfe deniall . now constancie and perseuerance in a good and holy course , is an vndoubted argument of a blessed and happie estate ; as doth appeare by the words of our blessed sauiour himselfe , marth . 10. 22. he that endureth to the end , shall be saued : and reuel . 2. 10. be thou faithfull to the death , and i will giue thee a crowne of life . the eighteenth marke . i find an vniuersall change in my selfe , from that which i ●●ue bene in former times . this marke and the two following , i propounded vnto her vpon her death-bed ; which i mention now because they are as vseful for the church as the former markes which i found n●ted in her paper . and that this signe was in our sister as well as the former , it was euident . for there was a maruellous change , wrought in her mind and vnderstanding . she that before knew not the right hand from the left in religion , she was growne to a very great vnderstanding in so much that she was able both to speak diuinely , to instruct her seruants and children , and to write letters in the very language of canaan with great sufficiency . secondly , she found a change in her will and affections . for she that was dead before vnto any sound pietie , now she was reuiued aboue all things to affect and to seeke gods kingdome . thirdly , there was an euident change in her life and conuersation ; this we all knew which knew her , and can testifie . now wheresoeuer this vniuersall change is , from darknesse to light , from euill to good , from the power of satan to god ; it is an euident signe of effectuall calling ; and effectuall calling is an vndoubted signe of election . 2. cor. 5. 17. if any man be in christ , he is a new creature ; old things are passed away , behold all things are become new . the nineteenth marke . i find an vtter deniall of myselfe , i know that in me , that is , in myflesh , abideth nothing which is good . this blessed seruant of god had attained a great measure of selfe deniall . she groned long vnder the burthen of the feeling of spirituall wants . she admired any ones graces saue her owne : she lothed her own prayers for want of sufficiency and zeale : she was alwayes cōplaining for the most part of her spirituall wants . she was brought to plaine nothing in her owne eyes . she esteemed herselfe to be poore , yea to be a plaine begger in grace , as all those knew which knew her throughly . now my beloued , what greater signe is there of a true disciple , then selfe deniall ? what greater signe of a safe estate , then spirituall pouerty , felt and groned vnder ? for what saith our blessed sauiour ? matth. 5. 3. blessed are the poore in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heauen . yea whosoeuer do loathe themselues for their iniquities , and much more for their spirituall wants , and for the euill of their good workes , it is euident that they are in the couenant of mercy , ezek. 36. 31. the twentieth marke . i find mine heart inclined to seeke after god and christ in the vse of diuine ordinances with feruency . this signe our sister acknowledged vpon her death bed also ; for when i demanded of her in the sence of her present wants , whether her cōscience did not testifie with her , that in her health she had zealously sought after god : she made me answer , that her chamber , and closet , and orchard , and garden , and watergate , and turret , and euery corner could testifie that she had dearely and earnestly sought after god. yea out of that knowledge & experience , which i had of the holy courses of this sanctified woman , i may well say , that it was with this woman in some measure as it was with dauid , psal . 42. as the hart panteth after the water brookes , so panted her soule after thee ó god. now where there is giuen this strong affection after god , the affection being constant , and also ioyned with a feruent vse of the meanes , it is an euident signe of a bless●d estate . for blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousnesse , for they shall be satisfied , matth. 5. 6. thus i haue for the common good set out vnto you the markes and euidences of a blessed woman . i haue spoken that which i knew in her . and the vses which i would haue you to make of that which hath bene spoken are these . first , giue thanks vnto god for his wonderfull worke vpon our sister . secondly , learne henceforth not to iudge of christians by the outward appearance . for it may be , many which did not so throughly know her , would not haue thought that she had bene so rare a woman . thirdly , learne not to enuie the good name or praise of others , but learne to be of salomons mind , pro. 31. 31 : where speaking of a good woman he saith , giue her the fruite of her hands , let her owne works praise her in the gates . fourthly , examine thine owne estate by these markes , and that by weighing euery particular signe , with the explanation and confirmation of the same . fiftly , pray vnto god that thou maist finde them in thy selfe . sixtly , if thou doest find them in thee vpō diligent search , then see thou be thankful to god , the giuer of all grace : and say with dauid , psal 16. 6. the lines are fallen vnto me in pleasant places , i haue a goodly heritage . yea say with him in psal . 23 ▪ 4. though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death , i will feare none euill . the which childlike boldnesse , and holy confidence , god almighty giue vnto vs all , and preserue in vs vnto the end , and that for christ iesus sake , our onely lord and sauiour , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a20169-e390 2. doctr. 1. reason . 2. reason . ☜ obiect . answ . 2. obiect . 2. answ . 1. vse . 2. vse . ☜ ☞ 3. vse . ☞ ● . doctr. ☜ ☞ 1. reason . 2. reason . ☜ obiect . answer . 2. obiect . answ . ☜ 1. vs● ▪ 2. vse . ☞ 3. vse . ☜ 3. doctr. 1. reason . ☞ ●… 2. reason . 3. reason . 4. reason . 1. vse . 2. vse . 3. vse . 4. vse . 5. vse . 4. doctr. obiect . answer . answor . 1 ▪ vse . 2. vse . 3. vse . 4. vse . 5. vse . 5. doctr. 1. reason . 2. reason . 3. reason . 4. reason . 1. obiect . answer . 2. obiect . answ . 3. obiect . answer . 1. vse . 2. vse . 3. vse . ☜ ☜ ☞ ☜ ☜ ☞ ☜ ☞ ☞ ☞ ☜ ☜ ☞ ☞ ☜ ☞ ☜ ☜ ☞ ☜ the dead mans real speech a funeral sermon preached on hebr. xi. 4, upon the 29th day of april, 1672 : together with a brief of the life, dignities, benefactions, principal actions, and sufferings, and of the death of the said late lord bishop of durham / published (upon earnest request) by isaac basire ... basier, isaac, 1607-1676. 1673 approx. 157 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 72 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a69531 wing b1031 estc r13369 11870447 ocm 11870447 50117 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a69531) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50117) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 973:3 or 996:25) the dead mans real speech a funeral sermon preached on hebr. xi. 4, upon the 29th day of april, 1672 : together with a brief of the life, dignities, benefactions, principal actions, and sufferings, and of the death of the said late lord bishop of durham / published (upon earnest request) by isaac basire ... basier, isaac, 1607-1676. [8], 128 p. printed by e.t. and r.h. for james collins ..., london : 1673. imperfect: pages stained with print show-through and some loss of print. errata on p. [8]. this item appears at reels 973:3 and 996:25. copy at reel 973:3 lacks p. [1]. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng cosin, john, 1594-1672. funeral sermons. 2006-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2006-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon at the funeral of the right reverend father in god , john late lord bishop , and count palatine of durham . the epitaph of the deceased , prescribed by himself in his will , was this ; rev. xiv . 13. beati mortui , qui moriuntur in domino , requiescunt enim à laboribus suis . the dead mans real speech . a funeral sermon preached on hebr. xi . 4. upon the 29 th day of april , 1672 together with a brief of the life , dignities , benefactions , principal actions , and sufferings ; and of the death of the said late lord bishop of dvrham . published ( upon earnest request ) by isaac basire d. d. chaplain in ordinary to his majesty , and arch-deacon of northumberland . london , printed by e. t. and r. h. for james collins ; at the kings arms in ludgate-street , 1673. to the christian reader . this untimely conception might have proved an abortive , or if born , a benoni , to the parent then in sore travel , through sickness , both in the preparation deproperated , as also in the present production ; being at the earnest intreaty of the noble relations of our lord bishop deceased , now pressed unto the press . when this was delivered , vivâ voce , out of a due regard to the solemn confluence of so many worthy persons , ( for some of them came from far ) as also out of a respect to the day , then far spent , i did purposely contract my meditations , and express them then , under the ancient canonical measure of an hour : esteeming it a point of commendable prudence , and also of plausible thrift to boote , on such solemn occasions , to shorten the double pains both of the speaker , and of the hearers . but since the delivery , being desired , as by sundry worthy relations of the deceased , so at the request of my friend , the honest and industrious book-seller , i have been perswaded to enlarge the sermon , with the addition of a brief of the life of the deceased prelate ; and so my brooke is become a river , i wish it may not prove a sea , to deterr the reader from launching out into it : for the matter of right done to the dead in general , i refer my self to gods word : for the matter of fact in particular concerning the person of the deceased , i report my self to their report , whose information i have diligently , and severally desired , and faithfully delivered here , relying upon their verity , confirmed by the authority of our late lord bishops last will in english , which should be sacred . my honest request to the christian reader is only for the same candour in the reading , as was intended by me in the writing . all which commending to god for a blessing , i take leave , praying in k. davids words ; that god would spare me a little , that i may recover my strength before i go hence and be no more seen . amen . imprimatur , tho. tomkins r. r. mo in christo patri ac domino d no gilberto divinâ providentiâ archi-episc . cant. à sacris domesticis . ex aedibus lambethanis feb. 10. 1672. errata . pag. 6. lin . 1. deest but before upon . & l. 2. an bef . uniform . & 1. 14. in comparison of eternity , after span long . & l. ult . and felicity , after innocence . p. 8. l. 12. for how read which way . p. 9. l. 5. dele comma after statute . p. 24. l. 25. r. the holy — p. 37. l. 4. phrase it in — p. 42. marg. for covarrus r. covarruvius . p. 43. l. 4. r. calligraphy . p. 50. l. 11. r. domestical . p. 54. marg. ad lin . 11. r. constantinopol . p. 57. l. 2. add he before much . p. 59. l. 29. after teaching add them . p. 70. l. 12. after thrive add the. p. 71. l. 16. r. proprietary . p. 85. l. 15. after character add conscience . p. 92. l. 13. r. br●n● . p. 93. l. 22. for with r. of . p. 97. marg. r. switzerland . p. 110. l. ult . for still r. yet . p. 118. after the latin will dele vid. j. will. &c. p. 119. before our help , insert , the translation of the latin will. p. 121. l. 13. for shading r. shadowing . the dead man's real speech . hebr. 11. 4. — by it , he , being dead , yet speaketh . know you not that a great man is faln in israel ? this was david's noble epitaph over abner , though his rebel : and how much more may this be our just preface to this solemn funeral ( to be sure ) over a better man than was abner ? therefore in king david's words i may truly say again , know you not that a great man is now faln in our israel ? a great man indeed , as shall appear before we take our final leave of him : we may be sure greater than abner , not only in his state , but , which is the crown of all true greatness , in his graces and beneficence ; in this indeed , and in truth , greater than abner : yet abner was a great man , for he was a general in the field ; ( but on the wrong side , the rebels side : ) our great man a general not only in the field * , but , which is much more , a general in this church , i mean , his diocess ( a great one ) and in both these great capacities constantly loyal , ad exemplum : and yet , as high as this great man was so lately , behold how low he is laid down now , who yet must be laid down lower , as you shall see by and by . such spectacles of mortality ought to be to us survivours tot specula , so many true looking-glasses , wherein whatever our artificial looking-glasses may flatter us , with what our living faces seem to be now , this natural looking-glass tells us plainly , to our faces , what all our dead faces shall be , must be then ( god knows how soon : ) he being dead , yet speaketh out mortality to us all ; so many funerals , so many warning-pieces to us all to prepare for our last and greatest issue . this , in the judgment of the wise man , is the best use we can make of our access to the house of mourning , such as this house is at present ; therefore the living should lay it to his heart , which that we may all do : let us pray with the spirit , and in the words of king david : o teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . ye shall further pray for christ's holy catholick church , &c. hebr. 11. 4. the scope of this text ( which must be the aim of the sermon ) is this , to stir up all the faithful living to imitate the faithful that are dead ; whereof this chapter is the sacred roll upon the divine records , down from abel unto the patriarchs , the judges , the kings , the prophets , &c. that is , that we should endeavour to become the followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises . the text is short , but the lesson is long ( that is ) to live so now , as we may die well at last , and , by our good works , speak when we are dead . the parts are two , which do express two states of man. 1. the state of death , [ he being dead ] which is the privation of the life of nature common to all men , ( on which frail life most men doat so much , because they have no care for , nor hope of a better life . ) 2. the state of a life after death , that is , the life of glory , implied in these words [ he speaketh ] for speech is the evidence of a living man : ergo abel though dead in the body , yet is still alive in the spirit . the first is a corrosive to the state of nature , but the second comes in as a cordial to all those who are in the state of grace . this text appears much like the israelites guide in the wilderness ; 't was a cloud , and that no ordinary cloud , but such a cloud as was dark on the one side , and light on the other side , dark towards the egyptians , but light towards the israelites : even so is death , dark and sad to the unbelievers and impenitent , but lightsome and welcome to all true penitents and believers . 1. to begin with the first , the state of death ; man in the state of innocency was created capable of three lives ; the life corporal , life spiritual , and life eternal . the first is the life of nature , a transitory life . the second is the life of grace , a life permanent upon condition of perseverance in uniform obedience to god. the third is life eternal , the life of glory , the life of the saints triumphant , of the elect angels , yea the life of god himself , and therefore a life immutable , interminable : 2. two of these three lives [ the life natural and spiritual ] man had then in present possession , and the third in a sure reversion after the expiration of but one life , and that a short one too , but a span long ; this present life is no more , by king david's just measure : behold thou hast made my days , as it were a span long . 3. man by his apostasie from god , through the first original sin of willful incogitancy , and through pride , did soon deprive himself of all these three lives at once , and so according to the just sentence of god , pronounced upon man aforehand ( for a fair warning ) morte moriêris , thou shalt die the death , man was justly precipitated from that high state of innocence into the base and damnable state of sin and misery , whereby every man , none excepted , ( but the god and man christ jesus ) is now by original sin become subject to a threefold death , first , corporal , secondly , spiritual , and thirdly ( without repentance ) eternal . the first is death corporal , which is a total ( but not final ) separation of the soul from the body [ the sad real text before our eyes . ] the second is death spiritual , a far worse kind of death , a state of sin , which is a separation of the soul from the grace and favour of god which is life it self , without which we are all by nature , dead in trespasses and sins , children of wrath , no better . the third and worst of all , is death eternal , and therefore called in holy scripture , the great death , the second death ; because it is a final , total and eternal separation of both soul and body , from the glorious presence , beatifical vision , and admirable and unspeakable fruition of god himself ; whom as to serve here on earth is the life of grace , so to enjoy in heaven is the life of glory , which is life everlasting . 4. the first of these three [ death temporal ] none of us can avoid ; die we must , die we shall , god prepare us all for it : but as the thing , death , is certain for the matter , so for the manner , how we shall die , in , or out of our wits , as in frenzies , &c. where we shall die , amongst friends or amongst foes ; when we shall die , whether in youth or in old age ; how we shall die , whether by a suddain , violent , or painful death ( which god in mercy avert from us all ) none of us all knows : and therefore our best course is , while we may ( by a lively faith , timely repentance , and real amendment of life ) to prepare for death ; * and then come death in what shape it will , and welcome , we shall not die unprepared . yet it concerns us all frequently and seriously to think of these great quatuor novissima [ death , judgment , heaven and hell. ] 't is moses his passionate wish ; o that they were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end : since 't is appointed for all men once to die , and after that comes judgment . the vulgar translation renders it statutum est , death is an universal statute , law to all mankind ; and so it is both for authority of coaction , and certainty of execution , for it is grounded upon two of the greatest attributes of god , which are , first , god's infallible truth ; for the commination was directed unto man , and that also in mercy , to forwarn him that he might not sin . secondly , god's exact justice , which requires the execution of the divine sentence , to be done upon the same nature that had sinned . man did sin , therefore man must suffer , that is , man must die ; and because the first man adam was the original root , and general representative of all mankind ( adam's off-spring ) therefore all men must die ( pray god we all may die well ) or if they live to the end of the world , yet they must suffer a change at the least , at the last , which change whatever ever it be , ( for 't is a mystery ) will be equivalent to a death , so that there lies an universal necessity to undergo a death , some kind of death . in the antient register of the macrobii , those long liv'd patriarchs , adam liv'd 930 years , and he died ; methuselah , the longest liver of all mankind , lived 969 years , and he died , &c. that is the burthen song of them all : neither methuselah the antientest , nor sampson the strongest , nor solomon the wisest of men , could exempt themselves from the fatal necessity of death . seneca himself , though but a heathen philosopher , being ignorant of the original cause of death ; yet observing the generality of the event of death , drew his topick of consolation to his friend polybius , sad for the death of his brother , from this necessity of death : but god be thanked , we christians have better topicks of comfort for the death of our christian friends , past , or our own death a coming , by opposing , through faith , against the terrour of our dissolution by death , the consideration of our admirable and comfortable conjunction with christ our head after death . this glorious state is by st. paul styled the manifestation of the sons of god , for which , by a natural instinct , the whole creation groaneth with an earnest expectation of the accomplishment : the word in the original is very significant [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] which betokens the looking for some person or thing with lifting up of the head , or stretching out their necks with earnest intention and observation to see when the person or thing looked for shall appear ; as a poor prisoner condemned looks out at the grates for a gracious pardon : and if the creatures inanimate , &c. do so earnestly pant for the final redemption of the sons of god , how much more we being the parties principally concerned ? this made st. paul as it were with hoised-up sails of hope and desire ( the affections of his soul ) to long to be dissolved and to be with christ . the original imports to loosen , or to launch forth , as a ship from a forreign port for a happy voyage towards her wished for haven at home . 5. i have so much christian charity for the surviving noble relations of the great man deceased , as to believe that , if they could , with their wishes and tears , waft him over back from heaven to labour again on earth , they would not do it , if they loved him indeed , and not rather themselves . 't is an excellent observation of isidore pelusiota ( he lived above 1200. years ago ) who commenting on these words of our saviour's compassion for lazarus expressed by his tears , that it was not at the death of lazarus , but that it was at his resurrection that jesus wept , a real demonstration of his humanity both natural and moral : this father's note upon that difference is this , that our saviour christ's love towards lazarus was a rational love , yea , a divine love , not as ours towards our dead friends too too oft , too carnal or natural , or at the best a humane love , if not a self-love , we wish them alive for our own ends . true it is , that 't is very lawful , and also very fit to pay our deceased friends their due tribute of grief , and to let nature have her course , lest we should seem or appear without natural affection ; but provided always that the current of nature do not overflow the banks of reason , much more the banks of religion settled by st. paul , who would not have christians to be sorry for their deceased friends , as others who have no hope : for there is a lively hope of a joyful meeting again in the state of glory , if we in the state of grace do follow the saints deceased . upon this consideration is worth the observing the different manner of mourning of joseph for his father jacob , his dear and near relation , for joseph mourned seven days only , and of the egyptians mourning seventy days for the same jacob , a stranger to them . the reason of the difference is , because the egyptians were unbelievers , but joseph was a believer of the resurrection , and of a glorious meeting once again with his deceased father , from thenceforth never to be separated . this posie of sacred meditations i do now present to the noble relations of the deceased ; desiring them to accept this offer , and to use it as a spiritual handkercheif , to wipe off , if not drain the spring of tears for this their deceased support . 6. mean-while our main care must be not to forfeit that glorious meeting by a course of life contrary to the good example of the saints departed , but instantly to resolve , earnestly to study , constantly to endeavour to live well , that is to say , to make the will of god the rule of our life , and the honour of god the end of our life : this is to live unto the lord , that is , in subjection unto him ; and then we may be sure to die in the lord , that is , under his protection , both of body and soul for evermore . 7. you may be pleased to remember that our text was two faced , and therefore we compared it to the israelites guide through the wilderness , a cloud : we are now past the dark side of it , death , [ he being dead ] we must now face about and chearfully behold the bright side of the cloud , wherein the dead speaketh ; and here we have 1. the speaker , he 2. the speech implied , he speaketh 3. the time expressed , yet , that is , after death : [ he being dead yet speaketh ] 8. first , the speaker is abel * , whose name bears mankinds universal motto in the holy tongue , that is , vanity : for when all is done , vanity of vanities , all is vanity : until the spirit of man return to god who gave it : till then , whatever pride may prompt vain man , verily every man living , in his best estate , is altogether vanity , selah ! secondly , for his trade , he was an heardsman , for he offered to god the best of his flock , in due homage , and as a figure of that lamb of god , which was to come to take away the sins of the world : no doubt he was well instructed by his parents adam and eve , of whose conversion and salvation to doubt , ( since the promise of the blessed seed preached unto them by almighty god himself after their fall , and which we must in reason suppose was apprehended and applyed by them to themselves through faith , lest god's preaching should prove vain : such a suspicion , or doubt of their eternal state ) were in us their posterity an odious want of charity , and against the current of the antient fathers , who give for it this probable reason , that god did expresly curse the serpent and the earth , but god did not at all curse either adam or eve ; but contrarywise god in mercy did bestow upon adam and eve the original and fundamental blessing of the promised seed , the messiah which is christ jesus our lord and saviour , in whom all adam and eve's posterity should be blessed ; and therefore they are not to be concluded within the number of the damned crew , upon whom shall be pronounced that dreadful final sentence of ite maledicti : go ye cursed . as a clear evidence of adam and eve's faith , we produce their works , namely the godly education of their children , cain and abel , in god's true religion , to offer corporal sacrifices , &c. with a spiritual reference , and therefore with faith in the only expiatory and satisfactory sacrifice to be performed in the fulness of time by the person of the messiah , the second adam , for the saving of mankind , as the first adam was in the damning of mankind ; both the adams being publick representatives of all mankind , as the first in the fall , so the second in the resurrection . 9. this just apology for our first parents , adam & eve , i thought it my filial duty to offer unto all mankind , adam's off-spring , once for all to stop the mouths of censorious children unmindful of their original duty , and of the rule parentum mores non sunt arguendi : shem and japhet were blessed for turning away their faces from their father's nakedness , but wicked cham was , for outfacing it , cursed with a grievous curse * . 10. 't is very observable that god had respect unto abel first , and then to his sacrifice , to intimate that god first accepts the person , and then his service , for abel offered by faith , but cain without faith , for want of which god rejected the person of cain ( though the elder brother ) and consequently his sacrifice . hence observe , that two men may come and worship god with the same kind of outward worship ; and yet differ much in the inward manner , and success of their service to god : witness cain and abel in the old testament , and the publican and the pharisee in the new. for the true religion is chiefly inward for the substance , and not only outward for the circumstance and ceremony ; the religion of too many , i had almost said , of most formal professors now a days ; an artificial religion , as being moved chiefly , if not only , by outward respects and objects , without any inward life , the want of which did make a wide difference betwixt cain and abel , the speaker here , from whom to pass unto his speech , we shall interpret it by a three fold exposition . 1. grammatical . 2. doctrinal . 3. moral . 11. as to the grammatical exposition , i am not ignorant that the word [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] in the original may be verbum medium , and so may be translated either in the passive sence [ he is spoken of ] as some few interpreters have rendred it , or in the active sence , to which i am rather carried by the clear and strong current of almost all interpreters . * , and the harmony of eight translations both antient and modern , who all render it actively , he speaketh . this translation is confirmed by a clear parallel ( hebr. 12. 24. ) where comparison being made betwixt the precious blood of jesus christ and that of abel , 't is expressed in the active sence [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] not in the passive , that the blood of sprinkling is better spoken of , but in the active that it speaketh better things than that of abel . ergo , abel being dead , yet speaketh , quod erat demonstrandum : enough of the grammatical exposition . 12. we pass now to the doctrinal exposition . the doctrine is this , that for the godly there is a life after this life , for abel being dead yet speaketh , but we know that dead men are speechless , and that speech is both a sign and an action of life , abel is not absolutely dead , though dead in part , he still lives . we inlarge the instance from righteous abel unto all the faithful ; the total summ is this , that though good men die , yet their good deeds die not ; but they survive , and that in both worlds . first , in this world to their due praise ( for their own good works praise them in the gates . ) secondly , they live in the next world by their reward and coronation , for their works do follow them : so many good works , so many living tongues of good men after death ; who are therefore styled in the holy gospel , the children of the resurrection : and again , abel still lives unto men , in the memory of all good men , for to such the memory of the just shall be blessed , and the memory of their vertues calls for both our commemoration and imitation of them , which leads me to the third point propounded , which was the moral exposition . 13. for i suppose none that hear this , are so gross of understanding , as to imagine a vocal speech of the dead , which would be a miracle , but a speech analogical , by such a figure as the heavens speak when they declare the glory of god. the parallel of st. chrysostom upon the speech of abel , our speaker in the text : the father , after his wonted rhetorick , amplifies it thus ; if abel had a thousand voyces when he was alive , he hath many more , now he is dead , speaking to our admiration and imitation . but though the dead man's speech be no vocal speech , yet it is and will be a real speech for our conversion or condemnation to the end of the world : for abel being dead , yet speaketh . first , he speaketh by his repentance implied in his sacrifice , not only for homage , due by all rational creatures , whether angels or men , unto god their creator , but also as a tacit confession of sin to be expiated by the all-sufficient sacrifice of the promised blessed seed , the messiah to come , and so abel being dead , yet speaketh , and was by his typical sacrifice the first prophet of the old testament . the good examples of holy men are standing real sermons : for there are two wavs of preaching , by word , or deed : the first is good , the latter is better , but both are best . secondly , abel being dead , yet speaketh by his faith expressed here in the text , which faith is a never-dying preacher to all ages of the church , because it assureth all the faithful ( such as was abel ) of both god's regard and reward of all his true servants , who follow abel's faith . thirdly , abel being dead yet speaketh by his works of righteousness , the necessary and best evidences of a lively faith , for which abel stands canonized by god's own approbation and acceptance , first of his person , that he was righteous , and then of his performance , his sacrifice : therefore abel is inrolled with enoch ( vers . 5. ) for his communion of faith , godliness , and happiness , by which both enoch and abel pleased god. the jewish rabbins , and sundry christian interpreters offer as a tradition this sign of god's acceptance of the sacrifice of abel , to wit , by sending fire from heaven ( as upon aaron's and upon solomon's and upon eliah's sacrifice ) which kindled the sacrifice of abel the younger brother , and not that of cain , who was the elder brother . some interpreters think that this acceptation of abel's sacrifice was a designation of abel , the younger brother , to the priesthood before cain the elder brother , and that these were the occasion of cain's envy , and his envy the cause of abel's murther . by the way , 't is worthy our observation that all that come to worship god are either abels or cains , that is , they come with faith or without faith , and they speed accordingly . fourthly and lastly , abel being dead yet speaketh , as in his life by his actions , so at his death by his patience and passion ; for as st. stephen was the proto-martyr of the new testament , so was abel the proto-martyr of the old testament , for he died for righteousness sake : hence some interpreters derive his name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which in holy tongue signifies to mourn , because he was the first man that did taste of death , for which , and for whom his ( and our first ) parents adam and eve did begin to mourn . as it is certain that sin , though but a beast , hath a voyce , and which is more strange in a beast , sin hath an articulate voice , and by a counter-passion , which is lex talionis , sin doth not only indite the sinner , but also indorseth upon the sinners bill the parallel punishment for time or place , person or action , so that many times the punishment becomes the anagram of the sin : this even natural men do confess , witness adonibezeck , as i have done , so god hath requited me : which was also king david's case , blood for blood ; such was the voice of sin , and of their own consciences . sin hath a voice indeed , and that a loud voice , for it reacheth as high as heaven , to god's ear , and from thence rebounds with an eccho upon a man 's own conscience . we read of the cry of sodom , and of the cry of the hireling's wages , kept from him , and here abel's blood hath a voice that cries aloud for justice in god's eares , and as it were , prefers a bill of indictment , upon which god , the just judge , immediately arraigneth cain , passeth judgment and doth execution upon cain the fratricide , stamping a curse both upon his person and estate , saying , what hast thou done ? the voice of thy brothers blood cries unto me from the ground , and now art thou cursed from the earth , which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thine hand : when thou tillest the ground , it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength . a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth . now , as sin hath a voice so grace hath a voice also , calling upon us as for our imitation of the vertues of the saints departed , so calling upon god for a gracious compensation of their works which follow them after death : not at all by way of merit , but of god's free mercy ; for what proportion betwixt man's works which are but temporary and therefore finite ( all our best works are no more , and besides imperfect all ) and god's high reward which is infinite both for weight and for duration to all eternity ? some interpreters add a fifth way , by which abel being dead , yet speaketh , to wit , as a type , by his blood shed by cain his brother , prefiguring the blood of christ shed by his brethren the jews . and thus many ways , abel being dead , yet speaketh ; and so all good men , though dead , yet speak by their good works of faith and patience : in which blessed number , this dead man before our eyes was through god's grace listed , and so speaketh by his good deeds to his generation , and seems by his example to preach unto us all st. paul's apostolical admonition , not to be weary of well doing , for in due season we shall reap [ a reward ] if we faint not , as our christian hope is , the deceased prelate findeth it now to his everlasting comfort . o how gladly would i make an end here , and so come down ! sorry i am that i must now pass and descend from the literal text to this our real text lying before us ; but 't is a rule of christian practice , that when god hath been pleased to reveal his will by the event , our humble resignation of our selves and friends , and all , with submission of our will to god's will is our duty , and the best remedy to allay all our sorrows , and to say in the words , and with the spirit of holy job , the lord hath given and the lord hath taken away , blessed be the name of the lord , ( which is part of our office for burial ) in all this job sinned not , no more should we if we would be followers of job's faith and patience , which god grant us all , through jesus christ our lord , to whom with the father , and the holy ghost , be ascribed from angels , from us , and from all men , all praise , power , majesty and dominion , now and for ever . amen . a brief of the life and dignities , of the benefactions and principal actions , &c. of the right reverend father in god , john lord bishop and count palatine of durham , &c. london , printed for james collins , at the sign of the kings-arms in ludgate-street . 1673. the dead man's real speech . but before we enter into this due office of commemoration , ( for to preach or pray over the dead , is justa persolvere ) we must by way of prevention enter this solemn protestation against this our censorious age , that we do abjure all manner of flattery , passive , or active , being , god be thanked , settled above all slavish fear or base hope from the living , much more from the dead . was king david a flatterer for composing and publishing those goodly epitaphs upon saul and abner , who yet were no very good men ? or were the godly widows , flatterers for shewing the coats and garments which dorcas made whilst she was alive ? in the ensuing rehearsal our intention is , and our endeavour shall be to publish nothing but vera & utilia . as for the verity , as i am confident of the ingenuity of my instructors ( persons of quality and of good credit ; ) so ( as i said before ) i am convinced and confirmed of the verity of the matter , by the last will ( a sacred thing in law ) of our late lord bishop . and as for the utility of this due office of commemoration , we commit our meditations to gods direction ; and commend them to your attention . if there be any adder that dare hiss against this dead prelate , or the liveing for giving the dead his due , or shall object , was this man one in quo adam non peccavit ? was he a man all made of vertues ? had he no faults ? our answer is that proverb of charity ; de mortuis nil nisi benè 't is an honest old say ; as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to gnaw on dead mens bones , is an inhumane , brutish , unnatural humour : such cannibals as do delight to feed on dead mans flesh , by tearing of their fame , do take the devils office out of his hand : yet , the devil , if one may say so , was more a gentleman , more civil to job , for the devil slander'd him indeed , but 't was when he was alive , and so might and did answer for himself . far be it from me to usurp the office of a coroner , over the state of the dead ; the rule of charity , and practice of our church , in the office for the dead have taught me better divinity . i know by experience , that an evil eye looking upon the dead , through the wrong end of the perspective , i mean envy , will not only spear out , but also espy , and that with aggravation the infirmities or faults of the dead ; i wish all such seriously to consider themselves , and well to weigh st. james * his observation ; was not elias a man subject to the like passions as we are ? and yet by the pens of the prophets and apostles dipt in charity we read nothing but commendations of elias ; nor of job , ye have heard of the patience of job : not a word of his impatience , tho' confessed by himself ( whom some think to be the authour of the most part of that book . ) when i have done with the due praises of this great man , some shimei with his serpents tongue may still hiss at , though he can never hurt , this dead man : to stop all such foul mouths i wish them to reflect upon themselves , and let them know that there must be faults as long as there are men ; and with a serious reflexion upon themselves , let them fore-know that after him who lies here before us , we must all , every one of us , be weighed in the ballance at last ; and for my own part i must confess i am perpetually afraid to have my share in that article against belshazzar ; i dread his tekel , that final doom , thou art weighed in the ballance and found wanting . the best of us all at dooms-day would be glad to have their grains of allowance , and why should we grudge them to our betters ? therefore now to draw the curtain over all humane infirmities and imperfections , which may god cover in mercy , and clear us all by his free pardon through jesus christ our lord. and so to proceed : it is certain that no man is born a saint ; but 't is as certain that every good man that dies in the exercise of repentance , faith and charity dies a saint ; such as our hope is , this our brother died . first , his name . his name was john , which in the holy tongue signifies the grace of god. here , by the way , parents and godfathers may take out this good lesson , not to put upon their children fantastical , much less profane and superstitious names , but prudently to chuse such names as may be continual memorials of some good duties to the parties so named , as oft as they shall hear , read or write their own names , that they may endeavour by their lives to become as good as their names . secondly , his sirname . his sirname was cosin , in latine cognatus , quasi à con & natus , which ( as the famous civilian modestinus expoundeth it ) signifies a cosin in primo gradu in his own family . this sirname of cosin is become famous by diverse learned men of that name . i saw once in our prelates hand cognati opera ; and we have in our hands that excellent apology for the ecclesiastical lawes by dr. richard cosin that renowned civilian ; and now our church enjoyeth that solid work intituled , a scholastical history of the canon of the holy scripture ; brought forth in his banishment , by this our deceased lord. thirdly , his birth . his temporal birth was on st. andrews day , 1594. his birth to glory , ( i mean the day of his death ) was jan. 15. 1671-72 . his age 78. current , greater by so much than king david's first measure 70. so that , to phrase in jobs words , he came to his grave in a full age , like as a shock of corn cometh in , in his season . length of dayes is by gods favour annexed to the fifth commandment [ honour thy father , &c. ] which the apostle maketh the first commandment with promise ; and 't is a glory : for the hoary head is a crown of glory , if it be found in the way of righteousness : a good evidence of gods acceptance upon his obedience to his superiours , spiritual , political and natural parents , for want of which due obedience to parents , god many times shortens the dayes of the sons of belial , rebellious children . fourthly , his person . god and nature did frame his earthly tabernacle of a goodly structure , for he was both tall and erect ; a fit presage aforehand of the stature of his future preferments and dignities ; he had a prelatical presence , which he over-topped with his liberal beneficence . this i am sure of , he was no dwarf , neither in stature , dignity nor bounty , as will appear by the ensuing discourse . fifthly , his family . 1. paternal , his fathers name was giles cosin of fox-hearth ; a citizen of no mean city ( to use st. pauls phrase , who did glory in tarsus his birth-place . ) his city was norwich , of which more anon , when we come to his countrey . he was a good citizen , a man of substance , witness his liberal education of this his great son. 2. by his maternal descent , he was son to mrs. elizabeth remington , of remington-castle , an antient family , and which is worth all the rest , both his parents were of the household of faith , both born and bred in the true , antient , apostolick and catholick religion of the church of england , which this their son did so early imbibe , that he lived and died a constant professor , and patron of the same : thus was his family in lineâ rectâ . as for his collateral line , he took a wife out of an antient noble family in this countrey , frances , the daughter of mr. marmaduke blakiston ( a dignitary both in the metropolitical church of york , and in this of durham ) marmaduke was son to john blak●ston of blakiston esq ; whose other son was sir william blakiston father to sir thomas . his wife was a prudent wife , and therefore from the lord : to my knowledge a true yoke-fellow , not only in prosperis , ( as too many worldly-minded wives ) but chiefly in adversis , which is the tryal of a good wife , and of a true friend indeed ; and these are blessings ! for to have the burthen of a wife , and not the blessing of a good wife is a great cross , if not a curse . and here i stop from attending the rest of his family any further ; perhaps i have gone too far already in presuming to blazon a pedigree , being no herald . sixthly , his countrey . to pass from his family to his countrey , he was born a britain and an english man. a nation so famous for situation , plenty and victories . if plato did thank the gods that he was born a grecian and bred a philosopher , but still a heathen : how much more ought every true english-man to be thankful unto god for his birth under a christian monarchy ? christian indeed , if , as the current of historians do report , it received the christian religion from one of the apostles , or one of their apostolical disciples ; some say simon zelotes , others joseph of arimathea : and if england ( as they say ) was the first kingdome in all the world that first received the gospel , with the countenance of supreme authority under king lucius a britain ( whom historians do place anno christi 170 , and 't is no small addition of honour for this kingdome , that the first christian emperour , even constantine * the great was born in england . thus our deceased prelate was blessed in the place of his birth , but much more blessed for the state of his new birth in such a christian church , the most apostolical and the purest of all christian churches ; expertus loquor , for in 15 years ecclesiastical pilgrimage ( during my voluntary banishment for my religion and loyalty ) i have surveyed with an impartial eye of observation most christian churches both eastern and western ; and i dare pronounce of the church of england , what david said of goliahs sword , there is none like it , both for primitive doctrine , worship , discipline and government , episcopal hierarchy , the most moderate and regular : for it was a singular providence of god to inspire the first reformers of the church of england with the spirit of wisdome , to conjoyn the zeal for verity with due reverence to antiquity : for by cardinal baronius his own confession , the church of england is for her christendome acknowledged antienter than rome it self by nine years ; and 't is strange in reason , and more strange in nature , that the pretended mother should be younger than the daughter , but that any thing which is rational is rejected by such as only relie upon a magisterial pretence of ipsa dixit , which false principle smells rank of wilfull schism , and also wrongful in causa propria . and here without suspicion of ingratitude , i cannot but bless god , that by his providence he was pleased to ingraft me into this holy church , wherein i have had the honour to bear the office of an unworthy priest , above 43 years . to pass on from england , the general countrey of the deceased , to his particular countrey ; he was born in norwich , an ancient , great , famous and opulent city , and the more opulent now by his late liberal gifts and legacies to that city , expressed in his english will. seventhly , his education . to pass from his countrey to his education : he was planted in the free school of norwich , watered by that famous fountain of this land , the university of cambridge ; and god gave the increase both of solid piety and sound learning , first in caius colledge , whereof he was fellow , and afterwards he had the honour to be brought up at the feet of that great gamaliel dr. john overall , an apostolical bishop first of litchfield , after of norwich , whose secretary he was for his learning and coeligraphy ; for he had the pen of a ready writer in a singular way , and so might deserve the praise of the tribe of zabulon ; so well could he handle the pen of the writer . bishop overal ( who sent him from time to time to the university to keep his acts ) advised him to direct his studies in order to divinity . his elias being taken from his head , he was preferred to be domestical chaplain to that great patron of the church , dr. richard neile , who having passed thorow five bishopricks , ascended at last to the archiepiscopal throne of york ; and this gives me a fair hint to pass from his education to eighthly , his dignities . our great prelate did not , as some more ambitious than worthy , ascend to the episcopal throne per saltum , but by the canonical degrees : as first , he was lawfully ordained priest , and afterwards was installed prebendary of this church of duresme , wherein he was not slack to search , and study the rights and antiquities of the same , and among others to promote one of the honours of it by his constant residences , both ordinary and extraordinary with laudable hospitality , according to the statutes ( salvis canonibus ) sealed with a sacred oath , and therefore to be observed ; for he was so far from pressing upon his majesty for ( importunate ) dispensations , ( which are alwayes the soveraigns most just prerogative , in cases of real and legal necessity ) that upon search of our churches register , i find not one dispensation for him in all the time he continued prebend , which was about 36 years . and i knew a man , who in two cases of invincible necessity , had the royal favour of two dispensations ( the one unsought for by him ) who yet preferring the publick good and honour of the church , to his own private interest , did voluntarily wave both . the first for the peace of the church , then but newly restored ; the other for the honour of the church , then for sundry months destitute of residentiaries , which also proved an effectual precedent to restrain some from troubling the king for dispensations intended otherwise . after he became bishop of the same church , he was so careful to preserve this honour of hospitable residence , that at his last personal visitation of the dean and chapter , an. 1668. among other injunctions this was one ; that such prebends as do not keep due residences , according to the statutes , shall be deprived of their quotidians and dividends , grounding also this his injunction upon right reason , viz. qui enim emolumentum alicujus loci percipiunt , onera etiam ejusdem loci sentire , & ferre debent ; which practice is conformable to good conscience and equity , and worthy the imitation of his colleagues , whether incumbents or successors ; for 't is a rule in law , beneficium propter officium , and therefore for causeless habitual non-residents , chiefly in cathedrals or mother churches , ( which admit not such deputies or coadjutors in their chapters , as by the laws are allowed in particular cures ) for non-residents ( without real necessity ) to claim or to enjoy equal profits with the residents , who do bear the burdens both real and personal , seems to be against the rule of proportion , which forbids , dare aequalia inaequalibus ; and comes near also to a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a partial respect of persons , which god so frequently forbids ( i would i could say , god forbid ; and also that i may prove a false prophet , for unless things be amended i fear partiality and non-residence may prove the ruine of the church . ) but there is another rule in equity , that though some dispensations , in case of manifest necessity , may pass as lawful in foro soli ; yet ( if without that necessity ) they may prove unlawful ad hominem , in foro poli , where he may appear in the shape of the austere man in the gospel , if he reap there where he does not sow in proportion ; for in every society every good man should bear his own burthen . and it may further be offered to common prudence , nay , as a case of conscience ; whether such dispensees who presume upon the grace of the royal dispensor ( only upon pretence , or chiefly out of covetousness ) ought not to make restitution to the extent of their power ; for what sentence is justly left upon record by a grave prelate against the old sequestrators , may , sub modo , be applyed also to the case of the new wilful non-residents : his sentence is this , that of all the commandments the eighth is most dangerous ; for the breach of other commandments obligeth to repentance , but the breach of the eighth commandment obligeth both to repentance and restitution ; according to st. austins rule of good conscience , non remittetur peccatum , nisi restituatur ablatum . and certainly there is appointed a great day of account for both , at which day lord have mercy upon us all , and pardon our sins of omission , from which in this particular our bishop was clear . 2. he was arch-deacon of the east-riding in the diocess of york . 3. he was master of peter-house . 4. he was vice-chancellour of that university anno 1640. when he had the honour to send the publick plate to the king , then in his recess , to supply in part his princes necessity for the present ; and then also i had the honour to be admitted doctor of divinity between his hands , and with his benediction . 5. he came to be dean of peterborough , from whence he had the honour to be preferred to the order of confessors , that is , for his religion and allegiance , to become a sequestred man for near upon 20 years . here by the way , i may insert an observation ( it may be called a prediction ) that as i am informed , doctor easedale in the year 1636. gave him some small thing upon condition he should pay a greater summ when he were made a bishop : such was the expectation men of understanding had then of his future greatness . for , 6. upon the kings wonderful restauration , he was by his majesty first designed dean of durham ; but upon the kings gracious reflection on his constant attendance and services beyond the seas , he was declared by the king , of a dean intended , to be the actual bishop of durham . his immediate predecessour was that great luminary of our church , blessed thomas morton , famous for his holy life , solid learning , and bountiful works of charity and hospitality ; and for his manifold learned works against the adversaries of the church of england on the right hand and on the left ; as for the doctrine against hereticks , so for the discipline , against the schismaticks of his time , beyond any satisfactory answer to any of his works unto this day : to whose memory i should be unthankful , if i should not acknowledge ( for which i do still bless god's providence ) that i had for above an apprenticeship the happiness to be brought up as domestick chaplain at the feet of such an eminent gamaliel . to be bishop of durham is no ordinary state , but an high dignity ; for besides the spiritual dignity of a bishop it includes the temporal power of count palatine of durham and sadberge ; a singular synastria , as i may say , or constellation , is this concurrence of two great dignities , the spiritual with the temporal : for , whatever envy may object to the contrary , yet these two are not in reason incompatible . such was the state under the patriarchs , &c. the eldest son being both prince and priest . neither in practice unusual in this noble kingdome , but that the same person may be both a good minister and also a good magistrate : provided alwayes , that the clergy-man do not affect it out of ambition . wise men see no cause why he may not lawfully accept the commission in due submission to supreme authority , under which the same person may be , without offence , both a bishop and count palatine ; for which respect , of two arch-bishops , and twenty four bishops in england and wales , the bishop of durham is by act of parliament ranked in the fourth place , next to the bishop of london . and here 't is worth the observing , that god , the immense geometer of all the world , was pleased by his providence to proportion the height of this great prelate's exaltation to the depth of his humiliation for loyalty , &c. under sequestration and banishment , in that he was by the royal bounty promoted from the order of a priest , immediately to be a bishop , and that , bishop of durham . to fulfill the rule in the gospel , whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased , and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted . he was the 68 bishop of this diocess from aidanus the first bishop of lindisfarne , anno 637. ( st. cuthbert's renowned cathedral in the holy island ) the mother of this church of durham , of great antiquity ; for from the first foundation of this church anno 637. unto this present year 1672. the succession of this church hath out-lasted above 1000 years , and so still may it last unto the worlds end . but now to consider a bishop in general . a bishop . a bishop is the most eminent office in the order of the ecclesiastical hierarchy , for though the lords arch-bishops be superiours to the bishops in their degree , yet in respect of order , the bishops , quatenus bishops , are equal , de jure , and therefore need , de facto , no new consecration when they are made archbishops . a bishop is by the judgement of antiquity , and by the major part of sound and sober modern divines , deemed an apostolical office , because derived from the apostles themselves , who after they had planted christian churches , as oecumenical ministers of christ , were setled in particular diocesses , where they were to exercise both the episcopal powers of ordination and jurisdiction ; ( this none but aerian hereticks will or can deny ; ) for 't is clear both from holy scripture , the epistles of st. paul to timothy and titus , and the strong current of ecclesiastical history . a high office again in respect of christ , every priest under christ , the supreme everlasting priest , bears a part in christ his priest-hood ; so every bishop being a successour lawfully descended from the apostles of christ , bears a part of christs apostleship , for christ is styled an apostle , and therefore the glorious martyr * st. ignatius , who was st. john the apostle's disciple , gives this rule to the christian churches of his time ; that we ought to be subject to the bishop as unto the lord. however this high office , by furious fanaticks hath been , by a prodigious pride of late , in these rebellious times , much slander-beaten , disgraced , yea degraded ; which crime , general councils have made the stigma or brand of downright hereticks in a larger sence . and here , god be thanked , that of all the reformed churches , the bishops of the church of england can clearly derive their succession from the apostles themselves , as hath been made good abundantly by the worthy champions of our church . and now upon the consideration of the antiquity , eminency and utility of a bishop in this diocess , which is now in the state of an ecclesiastical widow-hood , or to phrase it with st. greg. naz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , shepheardless ; since the king's heart is in the hand of the lord , as the rivers of water , and he turneth it whithersoever he will ; we pray , and hope that it may please god to incline the heart of the king in his royal wisdome , to bless us in due season with a successour , worthy of his predecessours ; a godly , learned , laborious and vigilant bishop , the more necessary both for spiritual and temporal government in these northern parts , being so far remote from the sun of justice and honour , the king , and too near to some ill affected neighbours only blinded by prejudice or ignorance ; and so much the rather , because of the conjunction of this bishoprick , the spiritual dignity with the temporal power of the county palatine perpetual . county palatine . 1. for antiquity , as old at least as william the conquerour , as we are informed by our learned antiquaries ; and that , not by creation , or by act of parliament ( as other counties palatine ) but by long prescription , confirmed afterwards by several acts of parliament , and by the protection of our gracious kings from time to time . 2. for authority , the bishops of durham freely enjoying ( alwayes under the king as supreme ) jura regalia , within this county , insomuch that 't is a maxime in law , that , quicquid rex potest extra episcopatum , potest episcopus intrà : salvo semper domino regi supremo jure vitae & necis , &c. in regard whereof , by way of compensation for the court of wards belonging of old to this county palatine , but for the exigence of the bad times , taken away of late by act of parliament , his present majesty our gracious king charles ii. ( whom god long preserve ) out of his wonted royal equity , was graciously pleased to grant unto our late lord bishop an exemption from the annuity of eight hundred eighty pound per ann. belonging to the late queen mother , in reversion after her death unto this our bishop and his successours ( much elder than the queen mother , and so in the course of nature not likely to enjoy it in his own time , but in his intention to procure it for the good of his successours . ) a special royal bounty , for which no doubt god will reward the king and his royal successours . ninthly , his actions . they are so intermixed with his passions or sufferings , that in our discourse we can hardly sever them , but must sometimes coincide ; for instance , when he was in exile in france , he did with much magnanimity , do aforehand some of the offices of a bishop , one part whereof is to stop the mouths of the gain-sayers to sound doctrine , and that in a time of great necessity , when both the church and the king of england were dispersed , and the members dissipated ; here is the patience and faith of the saints . one signal instance of his constancy and courage for the liturgy of the church of england , may not be omitted , that is , anno 1645. he did , with the consent of the ministers of the reformed church of charenton near paris , solemnly in his priestly habit , with his surplice , and with the office of burial , used in the church of england , interr there the body of sir william carnaby , a noble and loyal knight ; not without the troublesome contradiction and contention of the romish curate there . at that time , many that were pore-blind , and not able to see the then less visible face of the church of england then in the wain ; a church in the wilderness , because under persecution , when sundry were wavering from the true religion ; our bishop did then confirm some eminent persons against many imminent and importunate seducers ; ( another episcopal office ) which is in such ambiguous times especially , to confirm the souls of the disciples , exhorting them to continue in the faith ; teaching , that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god. one notable instance of this our bishops constancy and zeal in this kind we may not omit which was a solemn conference 〈◊〉 by word and writing betwixt him and the prior of the english benedictines at paris , supposed to be robinson . the argument was concerning the validity of the ordination of our priests , &c. in the church of england . the issue was , our doctor had the better so far , that he could never get from the prior any reply to his last answer . this conference was undertaken to fix a person of honour , then wavering about that point : the summ of which conference ( as i am imformed ) was written by doctor cosin to doctor morley , the now right reverend lord bishop of winchester , in two letters bearing date june 11. july 11. 1645. his noble contempt of great preferment on the right hand and on the left , if he would comply with , or but connive at the erroneous positions and practices of the seducers ; to all whom his real and resolute answer was that of st. peter to simon magus , thy money perish with thee [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ] so far was this great spirit from tottering , much more from turning aside from the right way . great was his communion of charity towards all christian churches , if agreeing in the fundamental articles of salvation , though different in form of discipline and outward ceremonies ; which demonstrateth that he wore in his breast animum catholieum , that is , ready to communicate with all christians , salvâ veritate : if dissenters would not do so reciprocally , for want of charity , he by his christian moderation would leave the schism at their doors ; so far was he from the unseasonable , that i say not , unreasonable severity of some that presume to non-church whole churches for such circumstantial differences , as long as they hold the substance of christian doctrine and worship : and in this he did follow happily the wise example of that great prelate bishop andrews , * so eminent for primitive piety , christian prudence , and universal learning : for wise men do not think it safe to multiply adversaries ( of whom we have enough already ( god knows ; ) we must be very wary to avoid the mischief of an unnecessary schisme , which may harden the worse adversaries in heresie . this his christian condescension towards the reformed * churches was afterwards requited by a singular respect from the chief doctors of those reformed churches , whom to ccondemn rashly is to storm whole churches against charity . for our moderate connivance at their inordinate ordination , does not at all legitimate it , but only declareth our christian charity , to pity them for want of episcopal ordination , because they cannot help themselves : so long as they have episcopatum in voto * ( their words and writings testifie this ingenuously ) though to their grief they cannot have episcopatum in facto through political necessity , which rather deserves our compassion , as blessed bishop morton did often bewail their infelicity for the want of bishops , they being subjects living under a great monarch of a different religion , who for reasons of state , will not suffer in his kingdome two several bishops of two several religions in one diocess , to preserve publick peace , and to prevent contention , and clashing of jurisdictions , to the disquiet of his loyal subjects ; much less would such a king suffer his native subjects of the reformed religion to go out of his kingdome to a forreign kingdome , there to receive episcopal ordination from protestant bishops , depending upon a forreign prince , to whom every person that is to be ordained a deacon , priest or bishop , must by the statute laws and canons of that land and church , and by the form of ordination , before he be ordained swear allegiance . this that king or prince will not permit , neither in point of prudence to prevent defection , or the falling away of his subjects to a forreign power . his works . we pass now from our late lord bishops actions transient , to his works more permanent ; his scholastical works , whereof some are printed , and some yet unprinted : for he observed the golden maxime , of that modest and wise man of greece , pythagoras , who gave this very mystical but wise advice unto his scholars , [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] by no means to eat their own brains ; intending thereby ( as 't is conceived ) that they should not keep their reason and learning ( of which the brains are an immediate instrument ) unto themselves , but still employ them for the advantage of others , for whose benefit this our learned prelate did publish these following tracts , viz. printed , 1. many years agoe he did publish a book entituled , a collection of private devotions , extracted out of the publick liturgies of the churches both ancient and modern ; very useful for good christians well disposed , and which may teach them how to offer unto god a reasonable service every way . that work at first was looked upon with an evil eye , and hissed at by some serpentine tongues and pens to suppress it ; ( they were none but schismaticks ) but yet to this present time it hath had the blessing to out-live a fifth publick edition . 2. during his sequestration and banishment , when through the iniquity of the times he was not suffered to preach in england , he did in france compose an excellent book , entituled , a scholastical history of the canon of the holy scripture , drawn out from the judaical church to the sixteenth century of years . a fundamental work , which proves him to have been a perfect herald of the true pedigree of the holy scripture . this work was first printed , 1657. when still sequestred and in exile , and since reprinted anno 1672. but to this day unanswered , for the space of fifteen years and more ; we may suppose the reason is , because the evidences therein are unanswerable . 3. by the same method he did compose a book against transubstantiation , part whereof is already printed . vnprinted . 1. the other part is unprinted , but ready for the press , written twenty four years ago ; entituled , historia transubstantiationis papalis . 2. an answer to a popish pamphlet , pretending that st. cyprian was a papist . 3. an answer to a paper delivered by a popish bishop to the lord inchequin . 4. an answer to four queries of a roman catholick about protestant religion . 5. annales eccl. opus imperfect . 6. dr. cosin's answer to father robinson's papers concerning the validity of the ordinations in the church of england . 7. summarium doctrinae ecclesiae anglicanae . 8. the differences and agreement of the church of england from and with the church of rome . 9. historia conciliorum , opus imperfect . 10. against the forsakers of the church of england , and their seducers , in this time of her tryal . 11. chronologia sacra , opus imperfectum . 12. a treatise concerning the abuse of auricular confession against the church of rome . for though the church of england both by grave exhortation and godly practice in her holy offices , doth allow of private confession to the priest as gods deputy by express commission [ whosoever's sins you remit they are remitted ] in the cases of a troubled conscience : and that her children may come to the holy communion with full trust in god's mercy : our church doth admonish them that such a confession may then be very medicinal : yet , our church guided by the word of god , and by good antiquity , justly denies auricular confession to be absolutely necessary to the remission of sins , provided the party be truly penitent . with much more reason doth our church deny private confession to god's priest to be sacramental , as the church of rome doth affirm without any solid ground of verity , or from antiquity . these remains are earnestly recommended to his pious executor's care for publication ; for by these fruits of his , we may charitably conclude , he obtained the character of the blessed man , whose leaf shall not wither : and by these his excellent works our dead prelate , being dead , yet speaketh . his benefactions . to pass now from his forreign actions abroad to his countrey-benefactions at home . that great prelate had this blessing from god to enjoy a large heart , that is , an heart capable , not only to know , but also to do great things ( for his time ) both to his chruch and country . he was indowed with an active spirit to design , and with an able body to perform his designs ; as god gave him wealth , so he gave him artem fruendi ; for it is one thing to have wealth , and another thing to enjoy and use it well , by maintaining good works for necessary uses , chiefly publick and pious works , for he was mindful of the apostles precept ; to do good and to communicate forget not , for with such sacrifices god is well pleased ; and therefore he was both more careful of , and also chearful in the distribution of his munificence for these pious uses ; and his posterity may from thence raise up their hope to thrive better for it ; for after god in the poor , and god's church , out of the chruches patrimony is well served , a little well gotten , and left by an honest clergy-man , may stretch much further , and stick much longer in his godly posterity , than a church-estate ill-gotten by some lay-nimrod , who seldom out-lives , much less transmits his sacrilegious estate to the third generation , which commonly and visibly verifies the old proverb , de malè quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres : and here i must crave leave for a very material digression concerning the clergy's spiritual or ecclesiastical estates ; for although , as i hope , i have else-where * sufficiently proved , that by the law of god and man , the clergy of england have as good and as legal ( that i say not a better ) title to their benefices and dignities pro tempore , as any lay-subject of england to their temporal inheritances , and so may justly call their estates their own , in foro externo ; yet indeed and in truth ( and by sad experience to clergy-mens widows and children , not so well provided for here , as beyond the seas ) we clergy-men are but vsufructuaries , god is the great proprietor paramount of all that clergy-men enjoy , which gives them an high title to what they enjoy under god , to whom at last they all must one day give a strict account , when they must hear of a redde rationem , ( god knows how soon ! ) and then we must be no longer stewards here ; for it is evident by the forms of the antient donations , to , and dotations of the church , that god himself is the chief treasurer of the churches estate : the antient forms run thus , concedimus deo , & ecclesiae , &c. * so that god himself is entituled the chief lord and proprietary to all clergy-men's estates , to whom all their church-lands under god are granted . 1. to provide for god's moral houses . 2. god's material houses . 1. gods moral houses are chiefly the poor , to bestow upon the truly poor and impotent through age , or made so by providence , through fire or other involun●ary mischances , or to such who though they labour by their industry , to maintain their own families , yet being over-burthened by their wives and many children , are not able to relieve them all ; these are the best poor , and therefore most worthy to be relieved * in the eye of prudent charity . as for vagrants or common wandring beggars , whereof this kingdome swarms , to the contempt of so many good laws , and to the great scandal of our christian religion ; correction is the best charity for such . wise men say that two things , general experience and memory , make up a wise man : modesty will not suffer me to pretend to that wisdom , but if i may declare my observation , i have lived some years in holland and never saw a beggar there ; i have lived some other years in turkey and never saw a beggar there . the reason is plain , because to the authority of their good laws , they add the severity of due execution : we have as good and as wise laws in england as any nation under heaven ; but execution is the life of the law , which is but a dead letter , yea deadly , if some do make a conscience of observing the good laws and others neglect it . the lawful remedy of this too publick mischief is wholly and humbly represented and submitted to god , and to the king under god. 2. clergy-men are obliged to bestow part of their ecclesiastical estates upon gods material houses , churches and chancels , and ecclesiastical houses to repair or preserve them from ruine , which would defraud their successours , and oppress their miserable relicts and relations upon the account of just dilapidations . 3. the premisses being well provided for ( which is left to the chancery in his breast , that is , to the clergy-mans conscience and prudence ) out of the just remainder of his ecclesiastical estate , the honest clergy-man may lawfully provide for himself and family ; for by the apostle's canon , he is worse than an infidel that provideth not for his own , especially those of his own house . herein our saviour's rule is the best guide ; these things you ought to have done , and not to leave the other undone . but if contrary to the pious intentions of the religious founders and donors clergy-men do intervert the spiritual estate of the chruch , chiefly or only to raise up or enrich their private temporal families , with the neglect of the publick god's houses , whether moral or material : they may ( as too many ) leave their children beggars , besides ( which i am afraid of ) a strict audit at the great day of account , that they may clear themselves from ecclesiastical sacriledge , from which now , and at dooms-day ▪ good lord deliver us all . for my part i do here profess , and protest with thankfulness to god , that out of my signal experience of god's eminent providence over me ( though unworthy ) this hath been my honest intention and constant endeavour in this world to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness in hope of god's word , that when we fail they may receive us and ours into everlasting habitations ; and i am confident , that neither i nor mine shall fare the worse for it ; what ever carnal relations may murmur against this just and honest course , objecting the worlds false maxime , ( contrary to god's true maxime , look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others , ) that every man must make much of his own time , to which this may be a full reply , that we all must make much more of eternity . by these godly methods , our late lord bishop did proceed in providing , as for the poor ( gods moral houses ) so for gods material houses ; in both which regards we may truly say our bishop held his see ad aedificationem , yet not neglecting those of his own houshold ; and for a reward of those his pious works , god gave him leave to live so long , as not to leave his relations unprovided for , god be thanked . and now should i launch out into the deep of his great benefactions , i fear the particulars will overflow both your attention and my expression ; you may see them at large in his temporal will written in english , where you may read so many items , so many good works . 1. to the quire of durham . 2. to the preacher at his funeral . 3. tokens to the dean and prebends for memorials of their mortality . 4. to the vicar of st. andrews auckland , an addition of sixteen pound per annum . 5. to his almes-men of durham and auckland . 6. after his burial to the countrey-poor . 7. for the magnificent repairing of the episcopal chappels of durham and auckland , and for furniture , plate , books , and other ornaments , &c. in the said chappels , freely left to the bishops his successours . and in this he was a good imitator of his great patron bishop neile , who in less than ten years did bestow upon the same ( as i am informed ) about seven thousand pound , for indeed he was vir architectonicus . 8. he did erect a goodly chappel in the castle of auckland , consecrated by himself on st. peters day , 1665. two goodly chappels formerly erected there ( in which i have also officiated for some years of peace ) being blown up by sir arthu hasterig in the gunpowder-plot of the late rebellion . now if the centurion , who built only a synagogue , wherein christ was never worshipped , deserved praise , how much more he who built such a house of god , wherein christ is constantly worshipped * ? 9. for several other publick works , as the repairing the boysterous banks of howden-shire belonging to this bishoprick . 10. to two schools at durham . 11. for five scholars places in st. peter's colledge in cambridge , ten pound a piece per annum . for three scholars in gonvile and caius colledge twenty nobles a piece per annum . eight pounds yearly for the common chest of those colledges respectively . but for the particulars of his benefactions and legacies , i have referred my self to the bishops will it self , written in english ; in which the bishop modestly declares , that he mentions these as works of duty , and not for ostentation . 12. the next is , for the redemption of christian captives . 13. for the relief of the distressed loyal party . 14. for a great publick library in durham . 15. to the poor prisoners of all places where he had relation by birth or preferment . 16. to the poor the like . 17. for the re-building of st. paul's church london , &c. and what shall i say more , for the time will fail me to tell of his manifold legacies to his friends dead and living ( as monuments of his gratitude ) to his domestical relations , kindred and servants , all which particulars ( as i am still informed ) do amount to above twenty five thousand pound . 't is to be observed that his lordship was consecrated , anno 1660. and was translated from earth to heaven anno 1671. so that he enjoyed his bishoprick but eleven years , and so computing his premised benefactions , he spent above two thousand pound a year in these pious uses . a worthy example of episcopal magnificence and christian charity . upon a serious search of the whole line of the bishops of durham from the first of lindisfarm to this our late bishop , sixty eight in number , there are found upon the ecclesiastical records but * eight bishops ( in 1034. years ) that may seem to have equalled , but not exceeded this our bishop in the noble vertues of magnificence and beneficence ; and 't is worthy the consideration of our age , that the valuation of workmen , and materials , &c. was far less in those antient times than in ours , now much dearer every way . we have been the longer in setting forth this notable example of episcopal bounty in the church of england , that it may burst with envy such of the church of rome ; * ( for all amongst them are not alike , some being more ingenuous ) till they vomit out their false , foul and rotten say , that pater noster built churches , but our father pulleth them down . ( the devils proverb ! none of solomon's proverbs to be sure . ) this great man here lying before us may be a standing monument for a real confutation , and may rise up in judgment against all such base slanderers of our church and religion . behold ! how great and goodly works one single english prelate hath done in so short a time , and that after twenty years long sequestration , and voluntary banishment , only for his religion and allegiance . neither doth this our bishop want his peers even in this present age , our great arch-bishops dr. laud that glorious martyr , dr. juxon , dr. shelden , bishop warner , those constant confessors , and how many more whose eminent magnificence may on the other hand choak the mouth of that english bel and the dragon , and of all such rabshakehs , who out of their bulimia or the greedy worm , do eat much , but as it is observed thrive little , are still gaping after the sweet morsel of sacriledge , though in the digestion it will prove first or last a bitter pill in the maw of their conscience . they , i say , looking upon the bishops and clergy with the squint eyes of envy and malice , shoot out their venemous tongues against these good men , and their whole order , inhancing by a false rule of hyperbolical multiplication , the bishops revenues in fines , &c. never talking the ingenuous pains to ballance in the account their incomes with their just deductions in their vast publick and pious expences , but through a diabolical detraction and malignant subtraction , they do wilfully suppress the great out-lets of these great revenues . this example may restrain a third sort of censorious men , who being more jealous than zealous of good works , object the suspicion of vain glory in the case , wresting to their own damnation that passage of our lord , let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth ; though this caution be expresly restrained by our lord to secret alms ; far different from the case of publick works of charity , concerning which our lord gives an express command to the contrary ; else what mean these words ; let your light so shine before men , that they may see your good works , and glorifie your father which is in heaven — that they may see your good works ; not as though the sight of them should be intentio operantis , but conditio operandi , thereby to provoke others to a godly imitation , to the glory of god , which must be the ultimate end of all our actions : for whilst we praise the instruments , such worthy men as in life and death have endeavonred to be beneficial unto their generations ; we must not forget the principal , which is god the father of lights , from whom cometh down every good giving , and every perfect gift . enough , once for all , to gagg those evil men , who being out of charity with charity it self , want that christian charity which thinketh no evil . his passions or sufferings . for , multa fecit tulitque — 1. publick , and that first at home annis 1640 , and 1641. when he was both sequestred and angariated before a sacrilegious and rebellious assembly of lay-men , which the seduced crew did nick-name a grand committee for religion , his magnanimity and constancy in maintaining the truly apostolick and catholick doctrine and religion of our holy mother the church of england was such , that he came off clear from all calumnies laid to his charge in base articles and pamphlets , to the notorious amazement , disappointment and shame , at last , of his malicious , false and furious adversaries : and this i can the better depose , for that i had the honour then and there to be a fellow-sufferer , not only by sympathy with him and for him , but also by my own idiopathy , yet god delivered him and my self out of all these troubles . 2. his sufferings abroad ; as in france where he underwent another tryal , only for upholding ( under the king then in the french court ) the publick liturgy or common-prayer-book of the church of england ; for wherever he was , he retained still , and exerted a publick spirit : and his constancy ( the character of sincerity ) was so much the greater , that for all those his tryals , both at home and abroad , he was never moved , much less removed from his stedfast belief , and uniform practice of the doctrine and discipline of the church of england ; when at home swarms of unstable men were carried away with the terrible torrent of the times , both from the true religion , and their due allegiance : for this great man was resolved and resolute to be one of those ( not too many ) who would never defile his holy garment , neither his surplice when a priest , nor his rochet ( if he could then have been a bishop ) with any sacrilegious covenant or rebellious engagement ; and i thank god so was i ; whereby he saved himself the labour of a sad repentance , and requisite recantation before god and men , for those great sins of perjury , rebellion and sacriledge ; and so he did wisely prevent that scruple , or singultum cordis , the hiccough of conscience ( for so some do translate it ) which they of the clergy , who against their multiplyed oaths to god , the church and the king have committed , may be put upon here or hereafter , which is the best way to clear themselves from shame and reproach . 3. his personal sufferings , which were by his frequent sicknesses . 1. by nature , acute , as the stone * , &c. which usually he called his roaring pains , whereby he was at last overcome , together with a pectoral dropsie . 2. the length of his disease ; for two years before his death he was much crazed by many furious fits , and so he did bend his chief care to prepare for his latter end , fore-feeled in himself , and fore-told by himself to his private friends , and forespoken in his last will. 't is the observation both of divines and philosophers , that when the soul of man is near its final ( though not total ) separation from the body , it withdraws it self , and so becomes receptible of a kind of prophetical or prognostick inspiration concerning its departure . it was his blessing from god to give him such forewarnings , and so to hear his prayer in the letany , to deliver him from suddain death , which though to a godly man it may prove suddain , in respect of expectation , for the manner or circumstance concerning time and place ; ( for all things come alike to all ) yet in point of preparation , for the matter and substance it 's never suddain : this fore-sight of his departure at hand , made him often in his sicknesses to ingeminate in the royal prophets words ; o that i had wings like a dove , for then would i fly away , and be at rest ! his death . and thereat his last actions , as , 1. his benedictions to his children , and at their desires , his blessing also upon the divines then present , and upon god's church chiefly for purity and peace . 2. his solemn invitation to god's priest for his last viaticum ; and then the priest about him asking him whether ( by reason of his weakness ) he would have the bread only dipt , he answered no ; but he would receive it in both kinds , according to christ's institution ; and being through weakness lifted up into his chair , and having a violent pain in his head , for the ease whereof it was fast bound , he would needs have it all undone and sit bare-headed , and so he received it , an hour and a half before his death , from the hands of mr. william flower his lordships domestical chaplain . 3. and when being so near unto death he could not kneel , he then devoutly repeated often that part of the penitent prayer of king manasses , lord , i bow the knee of my heart . 4. having often reiterated his invitation of christ in the words of the spirit , and of the church , lord jesus come quickly . his last act was the elevation of his hand , with this his last ejaculation , lord ! wherewith he expired without pain , according to his frequent prayer to god , that he might not dye of a suddain , or painful death ; such was his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( augustus his wish ) and i pray god for every one of us , that from heart and mouth our last breath may prove like that of our late bishop , amen . his burial . the ecclesiastical office was solemnly celebrated by the right reverend father in god guy lord bishop of bristol : the political offices were performed decently and in order , which was in all publick actions the method of our late lord bishop when living , and the same he enjoyed at and after his death : the particular narration of which i do civilly recommend to those dunmviri the worthy heralds ( for the funeral pomp was very solemn ) who did constantly attend his late lordship's state at london , and all the way to durham , and there , and at auckland , the place of his rest , where requiescat in pace , and from thence god send him a joyful resurrection : at which prayer none but ignorant or malicious men will take offence ; for the meaning is no more , but that the dead may enjoy a happy re-union of the soul with the body at the general resurrection , and a final and full consummation of both in bliss ; ( and after the utter abolition of sin by death ) a blessed conjunction of us that survive with them that are dead , which is the orthodox sence of our office at burials ( the ancient sence of the primitive church ) when we pray over the dead , whose souls in christian charity we hope are past the necessity of our prayers for their relief or release from any imaginary ( first pagan , after popish ) purgatory . the summ of all . the text and sermon is a dead mans real speech : to hear a dead man speak now were such a prodigy as would certainly both stir up attention , and strike amazement into us , and all the hearers ; yet that great chancellour of paris , john gerson , relates a strange history which happened about the year 1060. at the funeral of a grave doctor there , a man otherwise reputed for the strictness of his life ; at the interring of whom , when the priest came to the then used form r●sponde mihi , or answer me , the corps sat upright in the biere , and to the amazement of all there present , the first day cryed out , justo dei judicio accusatus sum , at the just tribunal of god i am accused , and so laid immediately down in its first posture ; the astonished company deferring the burial till the next day , when the dead man with a hideous noise cryed out again , justo dei judicio judicatus sum , by the just judgement of god i am judged ; whereupon the burial was deferred a day longer , and the dead man rose up the third time and cryed out his last , justo dci judicio condemnatus sum , by the just judgement of god i am condemned ; whereat , as the whole company was sadly affrighted , so brimo , then an eminent doctor in the same university being effectually affected calling his scholars together , retired from the world , and as the manner of those times was then , became the founder of the order of the carthusians . a strange prodigy ! and a loud warning-piece to us all living , to admonish us not to confide , much less presume upon our outward righteousness ; for i dare not deny historical credit to this premised relation from john gerson . but blessed be god , dead abel in the text , and the dead bishop on this hearse speak better things . this hearse is now our bishop's throne or his pulpit , and so our bier must be the last pulpit of us all of the clergy ; high and low all must come to this , god knows how soon ; ( i may be the next : ) god send us all an happy nunc dimittis , of which we may live and dye assured if we imitate them , for they being dead yet speak , and as you have heard at large do preach unto us all faith , hope and charity ( the only strait way to heaven ) all evidenced by their works of piety , which if not imitated by us , may justly rise up in judgement against us . to recapitulate and summ up our bishops vertues under three heads , i will remind you with , 1. his intellectual , 2. his moral , 3. his theological vertues . 1. as to his intellectual vertues , his natural understanding , he was endowed with a sound understanding , which he enjoyed to the last ; a great blessing ▪ for though for the outward manner of death all things come alike to all , and there may be one event to good and bad , both may lose their understanding at their latter end , through the malignity or vehemency of some acute sicknesses ( which should teach us all in health to make good use of our understandings ; ) yet for a man to dye , sanâ mente , or in his right wits , is a great comfort both to the dying party , and to the surviving friends . 2. his acquired learning , witness his writings fore-mentioned , and his diligent researches into the magazine of the best antiquity . i may truly say , here lies now dead before us one of our chief ritualists . 3. he was punctual in his methods , for to my knowledge he loved order in his studies and functions , and he often repeated , and generally observed the apostles canon , let all things be done decently and in order . he was so exact in putting in practice the discipline of our church , that he strictly enjoyned , according to the rubrick , the daily publick offices of morning and evening prayer within the churches of his diocess , which since the decay of the primitive devotion of daily communions in the old christianity , is instead of the juge sacrificium of the jews , the daily sacrifice of a lamb morning and evening : and 't is both our sin and shame , that since god is graciously pleased ( under the gospel ) to spare our lambs , we christians should in requital grudge our good god ( except in case of real necessity ) the calves of our lips ; to praise him daily in the publick congregations . without vanity . i have ( through gods providence ) travelled and taken an impartial survey of both the eastern and western churches , and can assert upon mine own experience , that in the eastern churches , the greeks and armenians , &c. constantly observe their daily publick service of god ; and in the western churches , i passing through germany ( to take the like survey ) did with comfort behold the same daily publick offices with full congregations in those they call the lutherans and calvinists , ( i do hate , but through the iniquity of the times , i cannot avoid those schismatical names expressed only for distinctions sake ) nay to give rome her due , they in their way ( though erroneous ) observe the same daily practice strictly . and truly when the laity doth daily plow , sow , work and provide for the clergy , 't is but christian equity that the clergy should daily offer publick prayers and praises for the laborious laity . item , our late bishop did much reform and regulate the good behaviour , and canonical habit of the clergy under his government . he did also regulate their office in bidding prayer before their sermons , according to the common sence of our churches canon lv. and confin'd their conceived prayers too much abused and groundless in our liturgy , and also contrary to the ancient practice of our church , * and other reformed churches ; and i who have lived in this diocess of durham forty years , and have been an unworthy arch-deacon of northumberland , as also a prebend of this church for the space of thirty years , never saw it more regular , ( since the sad twenty years of schism and war , and so of confusion ) whereby his successour , whoever he be , may enjoy the comfort of a regular diocess . 2. his moral vertues . 1. and first his liberal hospitality at his table , according to the apostolical canon , that a bishop must be given to hospitality , which to maintain honestly , he must in all reason and equity be allowed proportionable revenues , according to that proverb , ne sit promus fortior condo . this once again may strangle bel and the dragon . 2. we have already mentioned his princely magnificence in his buildings . 3. his christian magnanimity in his undertakings and sufferings , we purposely omit some of them , whereby he did prevent innovations within his county palatine , because we would prevent malice and envy at the recital of them : but we must needs express again the royal favour procured by him , to exempt this see from the great burthen of eight hundred and eighty pounds per an. paid for many years by the bishops of durham to the queens of england . 3. his theological vertues . which were his faith , hope and charity : 1. his faith , evidenced by his faithful constancy in the true religion , and by his full confession of that holy faith in his last will ( the antient way of the holy fathers in their testaments . ) 2. his hope , expressed by his patience under his sufferings , knowing that tribulation worketh patience , and patience experience , and experience hope , and hope maketh not ashamed . his sore fits of sickness , especially for the two last years of his life , often did break his crazed body , but never did break his christian patience . 3. his charity apparent by his pious dedications to god , and bountifull donations to men , so that i wish , that in his epitaph that character of gods servant might be stamped , he hath dispersed abroad , he hath given to the poor , his righteousness remaineth for ever , his born shall be exalted with honour ; a consequent blessing upon such benefactors ; for this godly seed is a metaphor , taken from a husbandman , who by scattering of his seed into the ground in due season , reapeth a plentiful increase in due time . and now here lies before us the remains of a great man indeed . 1. great by his dignities lawfully obtained . he was , 1. a fellow of caius colledge in cambridge . 2. a priest in god's church . 3. master of peter-house in cambridge . 4. a prebendary here . 5. arch-deacon . 6. deane . 7. at last , by these orderly degrees he was , through the providence of god , and under god by the royal favour of our most gracious king , in reward of his constant and loyal services and sufferings at home and abroad , exalted to the throne of a bishop , and such a bishop as was a count palatine in england , and so as i may say a petty king , as having the royalties in this county belonging to him , but still with due subordination to a great king transcendent above him , and all subjects within this kingdome ; but still a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our translation , a noble man ; in the vulgar latine , a regulus ; in st. hierome , palatinus ; a parallel title to that part of our bishops dignity . but now he is dead , and who knows but that god took him away from the evil to come ? and as great as he was you may see now , that a small plat of ground must contain and confine him , sic transit gloria mundi . he can carry none of all those dignities to his grave , onely his faith and good works do attend him to his grave , and beyond his grave , for his works do follow him , and that as high as heaven where he now rests from his labours ; but without faith and good works , when a man is dead , vanity of vanities all is vanity . 2. this great man was greater yet by his actions and great benefactions , concerning which , when in the prosecution of his great buildings , he was interpelled by some , with the mention of his children , his usual answer was , the church is my first-born ; a noble speech , yea , a divine sentence , worthy of a king , who may envy it out of a bishops mouth . indeed the church is the kings first-born , and the best of his titles is to be the defender of it . i am confident that his noble relations will erect unto him a more lasting monument than this our transient speech or withering pen , or failing press can fully express . indeed for his time he did great things , and he lived and died also with good intentions of doing greater things ; for he was pregnant of generous designs . 3. he was greatest of all by his constant sufferings ; in which sence st. john baptist is styled , magnus coram domino : not so much for his doings ( though they were great ) for john did no miracles , as for his sufferings , in which sence our late bishop was greatest , for he was a constant confessor for christ and his true religion , and so but one degree removed from the noble army of martyrs , into whose blessed society our hope is that he is now gathered : to which blessed state of glory he bring us all at last , who hath both by his precious blood purchased , and by his free grace prepared it for us , even jesus christ the righteous . to whom with the father and the holy spirit , three persons and one god , be ascribed again from angels , from us , and from all men ; all praise , power , majesty , dominion and glory for ever and ever , amen . an appendix of the late lord bishop of dvresme's profession and practice ; and of his last will concerning religion . the state of us that adhere to the church of england . the roman catholicks 1. say and believe ( as by the articles of their new creed they are bound to believe ) that we are all damned , and accursed persons . 2. they call us hereticks . 3. they excommunicate us , and abhorr to joyn with us in any sacred action , either of prayer or sacraments . 4. not long since they burnt us ( both alive and dead ) at their stakes ; and where the edicts of princes restrain them not , they do so still , as by their own laws they have obliged themselves to do ; which laws ( if civil respects suspend them not for the time ) they can put in execution at an hours warning when they please . 5. they will allow us no other burial of our dead , than the burial of a dog ; accounting their churches , and their church-yards to be polluted if any of our people be there put into a grave ; and whoever it is among them ( be it a son that shall bury his father , or a wife her husband that dye in our religion ) if they venture to make a grave there , and put the dead corps either of a father , or a husband , or other the like into it , they are bound to scrape up that corps again with their own fingers , and carry it away to be buried in a ditch or a dunghill , or where else they can finde roome for it : prince or peasant are hereni alike , if they be not roman catholicks , they shall be used no better . the reformed churches 1. say and believe ( as we do ) that we profess and believe whatsoever is necessary to salvation ; and that it is an accursed belief which the roman catholicks have of us . 2. these acknowledge us to be true catholicks . 3. they do most willingly receive us into their churches , and frequently repair to ours , joyning with us both in prayers and sacraments . 4. these men ( whose predecessors were burnt up and martyr'd as ours have been ) being in such times of persecution received , and harbour'd in our churches , gave us the like relief in theirs , both in germany and france , where when at any time we come , they have obtained freedom for us from this kind of persecution , under which we might otherwise suffer and be in continual danger to lose our lives . 5. they allow us , not onely to bury our dead among theirs , in the church-yards which they have purchased , and peculiarly set apart for that purpose ; but they give us leave also to use our own office , and order of burial , ( at least they hinder us not to do it , if the roman-catholicks permit it ) and to set up our monuments and inscriptions over the graves , hereby professing vnity with us both alive and dead . in all which regards we ought no lesse to acknowledge them , and to make no schisme between our churches and theirs ; however we approve not some defects that may be seen among them . this remains written by the bishop's own hand when he was in france . adjutorium nostrum in nomine domini , qui fecit caelum & terram . in nomine & honore ejusdem domini dei nostri , patris , & filii & spiritus sancti , summae ac individuae trinitatis . qvoniam statutum est omnibus semel mori , & corpus uniuseujusque dissolutum iri , tempus verò dissolutionis meae cùm incertum sit , de qua tamen quasi in propinquo esset , assiduâ animi meditatione sollicitus , & frequenti corporis infirmitate pulsatus , subinde cogito ; ego johannes cosinus , humilis ecclesiae dei administer , & modò permissione altissimi episcopus dunelm . non ponens spem meam in praesenti hac vitâ , sed ad alteram ( quae futura est ) in caelis aeternam , ex divina tandem misericordiâ , adipiscendam semper anhelans , & humiliter orans pro salute animae meae , ut per merita jesu christi filii dei vivi , & redemptoris ac mediatoris nostri unici , omnia mea mihi remittantur delicta ; hoc testamentum , continens ultimam voluntatem meam , sanâ mente & puro corde condo , ordino , & facio , in hac formâ quae sequitur . ante omnia , domino nostro deo omnipotenti gratias ago quas possum maximas , quòd me ex fidelibus , & bonis parentibus in hanc vitam nasci , atque in ecclesiâ suâ , per sanctum baptismi lavacrum ab ipso institutum , ad vitam aeternam renasci voluerit , meque à juventute meâ in doctrinâ sanâ erudiverit & sanctorum suorum participem effecerit , fidemque non fictam vel mortuam , sed veram & vivam in animo meo impresserit , unà cum adjunct â spe firmâ fore posthac ut perducar ad vitam sempiternam . quae quidem fides in co consistit ut adoremus & veneremur deum , in eumque credamus , & , in quem misit , filium ejus dilectissimum , verbum aeternum ante secula genitum , jesum christum dominum nostrum , qui propter nos nostramque salutem , ex beatissimâ virgine mariâ , superveniente in eam spiritu sancto , carnem in saeculo sumpsit & homo factus est ; deinde natus , passus , crucifixus , mortuus ac sepultus , & postquam ad inferos descendisset , ex sepulchro suo resurrexit , & captivam ducens captivitatem , adscendit in coelos , ubi ad dexteram dei patris sedet , & regnat in aeternum ; inde verò , spiritum sanctum ( in quem pariter nobis credendum est ) misit , a patre filioque procedentem , per quem largissimè dona distribuit hominibus , & ecclesiam suam catholicam in communione sanctorum , in divinis sacramentis , in verâ fide , in doctrinâ sanâ , ac moribus christianis instituit ; unà cum remissione peccatorum piis omnibus , & dignos in eadem ecclesiâ paenitentiae fructus proferentibus , impertiendâ ; quibus etiam quum in supremo saeculi die de coelis rediturus ut mortuos resuscitet , & omnes judicet , collaturus est aeternam beatitudinem ; reliquis verò infidelibus , aut qui secundum carnem vixerint , & converti , sive paenitentiam agere nolentibus aeternum supplicium irrogaturus . in hac fide , quae totius sacrae scriptur ae summa est , & absolutissimum compendium , sanctis ( judae vers . 3. ) semel tradita , & ab apostolis , eorumque successoribus propagatâ , atque ad nos usque derivata vivere me profiteor , & ut in ea ad ▪ ultimum vitae spiritum constanter ac sine haesitatione perseverem & moriar , assiduis quantum possum precibus à deo contendo ; unitaetem intereà colens & servans vinculum pacis ac charitatis cum omnibus ubique christianis , qui inter tanta ecclesiae mala , distractiones & calamitates ( quibus equidem non possum non illachrymari ) hanc fidem integrè admittunt , nullamque ejus partem in dubium vocant . spero etiam , quae est dei christique 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , servatoris nostri benignitas omnes eos , qui haec à deo revelante tradita simpliciter nobiscum crediderint & piè vixerint , in magno illo die domini salvos fore , etiamsi singulorum rationem reddere , vel modum exponere , vel quaestiones circa ea exortas solvere , vel dum fortè satagunt hallucinationes aliquot effugere , & penitùs ab errore immunes esse nequiverint . sed quàscunque olim haereses & quaecunque etiam schismata , quibuscunque tandem nominibus appellentur , prisca & universalis sive catholica christi ecclesia , unanimi consensu rejecit & condemnavit , ego pariter condemno & rejicio ; unà cum omnibus earundem haeresium fautoribus hodiernis , sectariis & fanaticis , qui spiritu malo acti mentiuntur sese spiritu dei afflari . horum omnium , inquam , haereses & schismata , ego quoque ecclesiae nostrae anglicanae , imò catholicae , symbolis , synodis & confessionibus addictissimus pariter improbo constanterque rejicio , atque repudio . in quorum numero pono non tantùm segreges anabaptistas & eorum sequaces ( proh dolor ! ) nimiùm multos , sed etiam novos nostrates independentes & presbyterianos , genus hominum malitiae , inobedientiae & seditionis spiritu abreptum , qui inauditâ à seculis audaciâ & perfidia , tanta nuper perpetrarunt facinora , in contemptum & opprobrium omnis religionis & fidei christianae , quanta quidem non sine horrore dici aut commemorari queant : quinetiam à corruptelis & ineptis nuperque natis sive papisticis ( quas vocant ) superstitionibus , doctrinis , & assumentis novis in avitam ac primaevam laudatissimae olim tam orthodoxae & catholicae ecclesiae religionem ac fidem jamdudum contra sacram scripturam , veterumque patrum regulas ac mores introductis , me prorsus jam alienum esse , atque adeò à juventute mea semper fuisse , sanctè , & animitùs adsevero . vbicunque verò terrarum ecclesiae , christiano nomine censae veram , priscam & catholicam religionem fidemque profitentur , ut deum patrem , filium & spiritum sanctum uno ore & mente invocant ac colunt , eis , si me uspiam actu jam nunc jungi prohibet vel distantia regionum , vel dissidia hominum , vel aliud quodcunque obstaculum , semper tamen animo , mente & affectu conjungor ac coalesco ; id quod de protestantibus praesertim , & benè reformatis ecclesiis intelligi volo : fundamentis enim salvis , diversitatem , ut opinionum , ita quoque rituum circa res juxta adnatas , & minùs necessarias , nec universali veteris ecclesiae praxi repugnantes in aliis ecclesiis ( quibus nobis praesidendum non est ) amicè , placidè & pacificè ferre possumus , atque adeo perferre debemus . eis verò omnibus qui malè consulti quoquo modo me iniquis calumniis insectati sunt , vel adhuc insectari non desinunt , ego quidem ignosco , & deum seriò precor , ut ipse quoque ignoscere , & meliorem eis mentem inspirare velit . operam interim & mihi , & aliis omnibus fratribus , praesertim episcopis , & ministris ecclesiae dei , quantum ex illius gratiâ possumus , dandam & conferendam esse existimo , ut tandem sopiantur , vel saltem minuantur , religionis dissidia , atque ut pacem sectemur , cum omnibus , & sanctimoniam . quod ut fiat quàm ocyssimè , faxit deus pacis autor & amator concordiae . cujus immensam misericordiam oro & obtestor , ut me in peccatis & iniquitatibus conceptum ab omni humanae infirmitatis labe & corruptela repurget , dignumque ex indigno per magnam clementiam suam faciat , mihique passionem & immensa merita dilectissimi sui filii domini nostri jesu . christi , ad delictorum meorum omnium expiationem applicet : ut quum novissima vitae hora non improvisa venerit , ab angelis suis in sinum abrahae raptus , & in societate sanctorum & electorum suorum collocatus , aeternâ foelicitate perfruar . haec praefatus quae ad religionem & animae meae statum ac salutem spectant , quaeque latino sermone à me dictata atque exarata sunt , reliqua , quae ad sepulturam corporis , & bonorum meorum temporalium dispositionem attinent , sermone patrio perscribi faciam , ac perorabo . vid. j. will. &c. our help is in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth . in the name and honour of the same lord our god , the father , and the son , and the holy ghost the most high and undivided trinity . forasmuch as it is appointed for all men once to die , and that every mans body shall be dissolved , but the time of my dissolution is uncertain ; of which notwithstanding , as if it were nigh at hand , being mindful in my daily meditations , and shaken with the frequent infirmities of my body i ever and anon think thereof . i john cosin , an humble minister in the church of god , and by the permission of the most high now bishop of durham , not putting my hope in this present life , but ever aspiring to that other ( which is to come ) eternal in the heavens , and which by the mercy of god ere long i hope to obtain , and humbly praying for the salvation of my own soul , that through the merits of jesus christ , the son of the living god , our only redeemer and mediator , all mine offences be forgiven me ; being of a sound mind , out of a sincere heart , do make , ordain and constitute this testament , containing my last will , in this form as followeth . first of all , i heartily thank our lord god almighty , that he hath vouchsafed me to be born in this life of faithful and vertuous parents ; and that it hath pleased him that i should be regenerate ( and born a new in his church ) unto life eternal by the holy laver of baptism , which he hath instituted ; and that he hath instructed me from my youth in sound doctrine , and hath made me partaker of his saints , that he hath imprinted in my mind a faith not feigned nor dead , but true and living , together with a firm confidence , that hereafter i shall be brought unto eternal life ; which faith doubtless consists in this , that we adore and worship one god , and believe in him , and in him whom he hath sent , his most beloved son the eternal word , begotten before all ages , jesus christ our lord ; who for us and for our salvation took flesh of the most blessed virgin mary ( the holy ghost over-shading her ) in this life , and was made man , afterward was born , suffered , was crucified , dead and buried , and after he had descended into hell , rose again from his grave , and leading captivity captive , ascended into heaven , where sitting at the right hand of god , he reigneth for ever ; but sent from thence the holy ghost ( in whom we ought equally to believe ) proceeding from the father and the son , by whom he most bountifully gave gifts unto men , and founded his catholick church in the communion of saints , in the divine sacraments , in true faith , sound doctrine , and christian manners ; together with the remission of sins , to be conferred on all the godly , and that in the same church bring forth fruits meet for repentance ; to whom also when in the last day of the world he shall come from heaven to raise the dead and judge all , he will give eternal happiness ; but to the rest that are infidels , or that have lived according to the flesh , and would not repent or be converted , he will inflict eternal punishment . in this faith , which is the summary and most absolute abridgement of all the holy scripture ( jude vers . 3. ) once delivered to the saints , and which the apostles and their successors have spread abroad and derived down even to us , i profess my self to live , and that i may persevere in it constantly without doubting unto my last breath is my daily prayer ; in the mean time seeking after unity by preserving the bond of peace and love with all christians every where , who among the great evils , distractions and calamities of the church ( which truly i cannot but heartily bewail ) entirely receive this faith , and call no one part of it in question . i hope also through the goodness of god and christ , god and man our saviour , that all they that have together with us sincerely believed these things that are revealed and delivered from god , and have lived a godly life , shall be saved in the great day of the lord : who although they are not able to give an account , or explain the manner of every of them , nor resolve the questions raised about them , and though perhaps when they endeavour it they cannot avoid some mistakes , and be altogether free from errour . but whatsoever heresies or schisms heretofore , by what names soever they be called , the antient catholick and universal church of christ with an unanimous consent hath rejected and condemned , i do in like manner condemn and reject ; together with all the modern fautors of the same heresies , sectaries and phanaticks , who being carried on with an evil spirit do falsely give out they are inspired of god : the heresies and schismes , i say of all these , i also as most addicted to the symbols , synods and confessions of the church of england , or rather the catholick church , do constantly renounce , condemn and reject . among whom i rank not only the separatists , the anabaptists and their followers , ( alas ) too too many , but also the new independents and presbyterians of our countrey , a kind of men hurried away with the spirit of malice , disobedience and sedition , who by a disloyal attempt ( the like whereof was never heard since the world began ) have of late committed so many great and execrable crimes , to the contempt and despite of religion , and the christian faith , which how great they were without horrour cannot be spoken or mentioned . moreover i do profess , with holy asseveration and from my very heart , that i am now , and have ever been from my youth altogether free and averse from the corruptions and impertinent new-fangled or papistical ( so commonly called ) superstitions and doctrines , and new superadditions to the ancient and primitive religion , and faith of the most commended , so orthodox and catholick church , long since introduced , contrary to the holy scripture , and the rules and customes of the ancient fathers . but in what part of the world soever any churches are extant , bearing the name of christ , and professing the true catholick faith and religion , worshipping and calling upon god the father , the son and the holy ghost with one heart and voice , if any where i be now hindred actually to be joyned with them , either by distance of countries , or variance amongst men , or by any other let whatsoever ; yet alwayes in my mind and affection i joyn and unite with them ; which i desire to be chiefly understood of protestants , and the best reformed churches ; for where the foundations are safe , we may allow , and therefore most friendly , quietly and peaceably suffer , in those churches where we have not authority , a diversity as of opinion so of ceremonies about things which do but adhere to the foundations , and are neither necessary or repugnant to the practice of the universal church . as for all them who through evil counsel have any way inveighed against , or calumniated me , and even yet do not forbear their invectives , i freely pardon them , and earnestly pray to god , that he also would be pleased to forgive them , and inspire them with a better mind . in the mean while , i take it to be my duty , and of all my brethren , especially the bishops and ministers of the church of god , to do our utmost endeavours , according to the measure of grace which is given to every one of us , that at last an end may be put to the differences of religion , or at least that they may be lessened , and that we may follow peace with all men and holiness ; which that it may be accomplished very speedily , god the author of peace and concord grant , whose infinite mercy i humbly beseech , that he would cleanse me , who was conceived in sin and iniquity , from every spot and corruption of humane frailty ; and that through his great clemency he would make me who am unworthy to become worthy , and that he would apply to me the passion and infinite merits of his most beloved son jesus christ our lord , to the expiating of all mine offences ; that at the last hour of my life , which i daily look for , i may be carried by his holy angels into abrahams bosome , and being placed in the fellowship of his saints and elect , may fully enjoy eternal felicity . having now declared what belongs to my religion , and the state and salvation of my soul , which i have now delivered here in latine : the rest that belongs to my burial , and the disposal of my temporal estate , i shall cause to be written in my native language , and so conclude . durham jan. 18. 1672. vera copia examinata per me william stagg not. publicum . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a69531-e220 gen. 35. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s. basil . homil . xxiii . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — idem s. basil homil ▪ 2. in psalm . xiv . non adhaerendum rebus secularibus ( ** ) conctonator non ultra horam , ne fastidium pariat auditoribus ; canon hungaricus , &c. eccles . 24. 31. psal . 39. 15. notes for div a69531-e1040 2 sam. 3. 38. * the lord bishop of durham is lieutenant general of this county , as ab antiquo ex officio , so , ex abundanti per mandatum , by the kings gracious commission , cumulativè and so still under the king , who is always the sovereign of all estates in his realms . eccles . 70. 2. psal . 90. 12. can. 55. hebr. 11. hebr. 6. 12. exod. 14. 20. with hebr. 12. e. ephes . 4. 18. psal . 39. 5. gen. 2. 17. psal . 30. 5. ephes . 2. 1. revel . 20. 6. * st. aug. de discipl . cap. 2. non potest malè mori qui benè vixerit , audeo dicere , non potest malè mori qui benè vixerit . deut. 32. 29. hebr. 9. 27. 1 cor. 15. 51. gen. 5. 5. rom. 8. 19. phil. 1. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 john 11. 35. rom. 1. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 thes . 4. 13. genes . 50. 3. 10. rom. 14. 7 , 8. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eccles . 1. ● . eccles . 12. 7. psal . 39. 7. john 1. 29. gen. 3 15. iren. epiph . chrysost . augustin . &c. mat. 25. 41. galat. 4. 4. genes . 9. 22 , 23. * this curse sticks to this day ( above 4000 years ) as a foul brand upon cham in his cursed posterity , for the egyptians and ethiopians or blackamoors are the descendants of cursed cham [ lexic . geographic . ferrarii ad vocem aethiopiam . sam. bochart . geographia saera parte 1. lib. 4. cap. 1. ] a people of all nations most inconvertible , even to a prophets proverb [ jerem. 13. 23. ] can the ethiopian change his skin &c. a standing dreadful monument , and a thundering warning piece to all such young chams , as dare to disgrace their parents privately , or rebel against them publickly . vers . 4. luke 18. * syriack , vulgar , aethiopick , arabick , french , english , germain , italian . clem. alex. chrysest . vatablus , zege●us , grotiu● , tena . prov. 31. 31. revel . 14. 13. luke 20. 38. prov. 10. 7. psalm . 19. 1. hebr. 11. 6. james 11. 18. hebr. 11. 4. theodotian . theophyl . & alii . lev. 9. 24. 2 chron. 7. 1. kings 8. , 8. cornel. b●rtram . judges 1. 7. 2 sam. 12. 10. gen. 18. 20. james 5. 4. gen. 4. 10 , 11. revel . 14. 13. rom. 8. 18. galat. 6. 9. job 1. 21. notes for div a69531-e5920 2 sam. 1. 3. acts 9. 39. job 1. & seq . * james 5. 17. james 5. 11. job 42. 3 , 5 , 6. ecclus. 44. 1. let us now praise famous men , and our fathers that begat us . dan. 5. 27. psal . 90. 10. job 5. 26. eph. 6. 1 , 2. prov. 16. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , eurip. acts 21. 39. gal. 6. 10. prov. 19. 14. 〈◊〉 cambd. brit. &c. vegetius above 1200 ago witnesseth that the climate of britain is of that temperature , out of which 't is fittest to chuse valiant souldiers . * sabellicus r. archiep . usher praefat. ad britan. eccles . primond . ex euseb . theodoret. 1 sam. 21. 9. casaub . epist. ad salmasium . baron . ad an . christi 35. & ad an . tib. imp. 10. where he affirms that britain was converted by joseph of arimathea . the like is affirmed by gildas covarrus and others . cambd. brit. 1 cor. 3. 5. psal . 45. 2. judg. 5. 14. injunct . quint. lev. 19. 15. prov. 18. 5. rom. 11. 11. gal. 11. 5. &c. luk. 19. 21. gal. 6. 5. bishop bramhals vindication , &c. an. 1672. pag. 16. 31 h. 8. c. 10. plato . ' o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , luk. 14. 11. 1 tim. 5. 22. titus 1. 5. euseb . heb. 3. 1. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . s. ignatius , epist . ad t●allianos , princ . the father grounds his injunction upon the apostles canon , heb. 13. 17. ignat. ep. coucil . constant . hooker eccles . polit. mason de minist . anglic. dr. bramhall , &c. prov. 21. 1. cambden . selden , titles of honour , part . 2. cap. 5. who observes that the bishop of durhams style , in his patents , &c. runs thus , dei gratiâ episcopus dunelm . &c. and i have observed for this forty years , that at the general assizes and sessions , the publick cryer concludes in this usual form , god save the king and my lord of durham . 11 h. 6. & pasch . 21 eliz. 1. tit. 1. 9 , 10 , 11. rev. 13. 10. this truth is confessed by some body , ( otherwise a good man ) who yet seems no great friend to our bishop , but being convinced by the reality of these his actions , especially abroad , hath these words : this must be reported to the due commendation of dr. cosin , that when he was in france , he neither joyned with the church of french protestants at charenton nigh paris , [ false ] nor kept any communion with the papists therein ; but confined himself to the church of old english protestants therein , where , by his pious living , and constant praying and preaching , he reduced some recusants to , and confirmed more doubters in the protestant religion . many were his incounters with jesuites and priests , defeating the suspicions of his foes , and exceeding the expectation of his friends in the success of such disputes . church-history by mr. tho. fuller , cent. 17. book 11. sect. 38. pag. 173. his many mistakes about mr. peter smart his prosecutions ( or rather persecutions ) of our bishop are confuted by the bishops own express letter to mr. waring and dr. reves , april 6. 1658. in which letter also our bishop censures at large mr. fullers calumny , wherein he affirms , that dr. cosin did not joyn with the french protestants at charenton , against which assertion the dr. declares to all the world , that he never refused to joyn with the prot●stants there , or any where else , in all things wherein they joyn'd with the church of england . and that our dr. was constant in this his judgement , may further appear by a former full letter of his from paris , feb. 7. 1650. written to one mr. cordel then at bloys , who seemed shy to communicate with the protestants there upon this very scruple of their inorderly ordination , &c. as dr. cosin styled it , who there and then determined the question in the affirmative for our communion with them ; salvo semper jure ecclesiae anglicana . tit. 1. 11. acts 14. 22. act. 8. 20. * nec tamen si nostra [ politeia ] divini juris sit , inde sequitur , vel quod siue ea salus non sit , vel quod stare non possit ecclesia . caecus sit , qui non videat stantes fine ea ecclesias . ferreus sit , qui salutem eis neget . nos non sumus illi ferrei : latum inter ista discrimen ponimus . potest abesse aliquid , quod divini juris sit ( in exteriore quidem regimine ) ut tamen substet salus . item epist . tertia . quaeris tum peccéntue in jus divinum ecclesiae vestrae , non dixi . id tantum dixi , abesse ab ecclesiis vestris , aliquid quod de jure divino sit , culpâ autem vestrâ non abesse , sed injuriâ temporum . non enim tam propitios habuisse reges galliam vestram in ecclesiâ reformandâ , quam habuit britannia nostra . interim , ut dabit meliora deus , & hoc quoqùe quod jam abest , per del gratiam suppletum iri . opuscula posthuma d. ep. andrews , in epist . secunda ad v. l. d. peter molin . see more at large the reasons of this our christian moderation towards those forreign churches , in the learned bishop bramhal's vindication of the episcopal clergy , &c. against mr. baxter , printed anno 1672. p. 30 , 31 , &c. * it is an express article in our bishops last will ( we might call it his spiritual will ) written in latine , which because of the excellency of it , both for matter and form , hath been thought fit by his executors to be annexed to this brief of his life , which contains a full confession of his faith and religion , the first occasion and chief matter , as of the patriarch's , gen. 49. so of the primitive christians testaments . in this also a worthy imitator of his predecessour learned bishop morton , who hath left the like free full confession in his last will. amyrald . * see dr. durel ' s learned and laborious work. entituled , of the government , &c. in the reformed churches beyond the seas , p. 13. see dr. steward at paris , anno 1647. when this was put to the question . dr. deodat epist . ad convent . eccl. &c. rom. 12. 1. st. john 20. 21 , 22 , 23. see in the book of common prayer , the first exhortation before the communion . psal . 1. 4. 1 kings 4. 29. tit. 3. 14. heb. 13. 16. * see my book of sacriledge , pag. 45. 49. &c. luk. 16. 2. * v. capitula caroli m. item miraeum de donat. belgi● . mat. 25. * v. speed's chron. p. 1 tim. 5. 8. mat. 23. 23. luk. 16. 9. phip . 11. 4. luk. 7. 5. * si centurio commendatur domino qui aedificavit synagogam , quanto est commendatior qui aedificavit ecclesiam ? & si is ▪ meretur gratiam qui iimpietati receptaculum praestitit ▪ quanto majorem meretur gratiam qui religioni domicilium praeparavit ? et si ille coelesti misericordiâ visitatur , qui construxit locum ubi christus semper negatur , quanto magis visitandus est , qui fabricari fecit tabernaculum ubi christus quotidiè praedicatur ? st. ambro. serm. 89. de dedic . basilic . heb. 11. 32. * those bishops benefactors in the see of durham were eight . [ isaackson's chronology , ] aldwinus — godwin fol. — 99 egelrius — 101 ranulphus flambard — 112 hugo pudsey — 113 anthonius beake — 125 walterius skirlaw — 134 tho. hatfield — 133 cuthbertus tunstal — 138 cardinal tho. langley may be the ninth to make up the number of the muses , but we crave pardon , that some are of opinion , upon the survey of his works , that he came short of this our bishop . * master knox the jesuite . mat. 6. 3. mat. 5. 16. 1 cor. 10. 31. jam. 1. 17. 1 cor. 13. 5. rev. 3. 4. 1 sam. 25. ●1 . * it is observed of that civil lawyer mathaeus w●sembecius , that for his sharp diseases , in his latter age ▪ he did change his sir-name , and would be called mathaeus de afflictis . eccles . 9. 11. psalm 55. 6. manasses prayer . virg. heb. 8. 1. mat. 12. 42. eccl. 9. 2. 1 cor. 14. 40. exod. 29. 39. hos . 14. 2. * bishop latimer , bishop hooper , ( both martyrs ) bishop jewel , bishop andrews , &c. used no other : our liturgy being so comprehensive there needs no other . see this at large made good , both for antiquity and conformity in the practice of the form of bidding prayer , in that excellent work in latine of the learned and laborious dr. durel , entituled , s. eccles . anglic. vindic. cap. 9. p. 66. where he proves clearly that the practice of the reformed churches in poland , lithuania , and zurick in switherland , is the same with ours in england . nay the same author further affirms , that calvin himself did use such a form ; see calvin's sermons upon job ▪ translated into english , printed at london anno 1580 ▪ where●● the latter end you have a plain form of bidding of ●●ayer by way of allocution of the people , and not of d●rect invocation of god , saying , let us pray ; and alway concluding with the lords prayer as we do . see further , the alliance of divine offices , &c. by hamon l' estrange esq ; chap. 6. p. 180. 1 tim. 3. 2. rom. ● . 3 , 4 , 5. psal . 112. 9. 2 cor. 9. 9. john 4. 46. hier. in isa . 65. princ. by the sages of the law , he is styled dominus regalis , who hath thus long enjoyed the jura regalia . see rotul . parl. & pasch . 21 eliz. rotul . quint. which the lord cook calls a notable record of the liberties of the bishop of durham , and is therefore allowed for such in the kings courts . isa . 57. 1. omnia mors aequat . claudian . rev. 14. 13. eccl. 1. 2. luke 1. 15. john 10. 41. heb. 12. 22. to 24. presvyteros diplēs timēs axios, or, the true dignity of st. paul's elder exemplified in the life of ... mr. owen stockton ... with a collection of his observations, experiences and evidences recorded by his own hand : to which is added his funeral sermon / by john fairfax ... fairfax, john, 1623-1700. 1681 approx. 318 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 108 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39777 wing f129 estc r7359 12813362 ocm 12813362 94116 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39777) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94116) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 379:33) presvyteros diplēs timēs axios, or, the true dignity of st. paul's elder exemplified in the life of ... mr. owen stockton ... with a collection of his observations, experiences and evidences recorded by his own hand : to which is added his funeral sermon / by john fairfax ... fairfax, john, 1623-1700. [14], 196, [3] p. printed by h.h. for tho. parkhurst ..., london : 1681. title transliterated from greek. "mors triumphata, or, the saints victory over death ... opened in a funeral sermon" has special t.p. errata on p. 196. advertisement on p. [3] at end. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng stockton, owen, 1630-1680. church of england -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english. 2006-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 taryn hakala sampled and proofread 2008-03 taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the true dignity of st. paul's elder , exemplified in the life of that reverend , holy , zealous , and faithful servant , and minister of jesus christ mr. owen stockton , m. a. sometimes fellow of gonvile and caius colledge in cambridge , and afterward preacher of gods word at colchester in essex . with a collection of his observations , experiences and evidences recorded by his own hand . to which is added his funeral sermon , by john fairfax m. a. sometimes fellow of c. c. c. in c. and afterward rector of barking in suffolk . heb. 11. 4. — he being dead yet speaketh . london , printed by h. h. for tho. parkhurst at the sign of the bible and three crowns , at the lower end of cheapside , 1681. to the worthily honoured , and eminently religious , the lady brook of cockfield-hall in suffolk . madam , having no foundation whereon to raise an ambition of publick notice , my pen was never touched with the itch of writing . that this once i venture abroad , is to shew another , not my self . i am under more than a common obligation to this pious office , to pay due honour to the dead ; to build a prophets tomb , or erect a pillar upon his grave , that he may not be buried in utter oblivion with men , who hath the promise of everlasting remembrance with god. when worthy and desirable persons are removed out of oursight , it is some satisfaction to have their pictures before our eyes . this is the design of these sheets . and had the pencils art born proportion to the subjects worth , i had almost said , here had been expressed as rare a piece in grace as was absalom in nature . but the defects to be complained of in the face , and pardoned , are abundantly recompensed with the true portraicture of the inward vitals , the very heart and soul drawn to the life by his own hand , that only could . wherein if some shall say , they see nothing excellent , and shall despise , others , i doubt not , will be able to reply , as he in a like case ; if you saw with my eyes , you would commend . that this dead is here proposed to publick view is to gratifie the desire , and to contribute to the instruction ( that i say not the reproof ) of the living . happy are many souls who have enjoyed the priviledge of the lively voice of this great instrument of god. he is not to be numbred among those of whom it is said , let them be silent in the grave . who then knoweth , but that being dead he may yet speak effectually , whose living tongue was as choice silver , and whose lips fed many . the spiritual workings of his heart , and converse of his soul with god , was a secret between god and himself , wherewith a stranger did not intermeddle ; which he no more than others in like case had the freedom generally to communicate . that god put it into his heart to record it , is no improbable argument , that god , as well as himself , intended its usefulness not only to himself , but others also , when once death should give a liberty to the secrets of his heart to be made manifest . madam , the great respect and honour which your ladyship hath always cordially had , and freely expressed to the faithful ministers of christ , hath at once both obliged and encouraged me to prefix your worthy name to the memorial of this deceased prophet . of whom i am not at all suspicious lest your ladyship should be ashamed . he who hath been a more than ordinary burning and shining light amidst his generation , and is now a star of the greater magnitude amidst the spirits of just men made perfect , can cast no dark reflections upon that true honour your ladyship obtains with all that know you ; which in your own great judgment is valued as it is of god , and not of men . i shall not wonder , if those , who are strangers to the holy spirit , shall find no delightful satisfaction in reading these spiritual exercises and experiences ; or who are enemies , shall censure them as phanatick fancies : which indeed can never be well understood without some measure of that diviner learning , whose method is tast and see . i have therefore chosen humbly to offer this to your ladyship , who is of full age , and by reason of use , have senses exercised to discern both good and evil ; in whose hands it will be secure and fear no contempt . i have reason to believe , that in reading the practice of the life and workings of the heart of this now glorified saint , your ladyship reflecting on your self will find cause to say , face answereth to face , and heart to heart . which i hope may contribute somewhat to your joy , and confidence before him who fashioneth his childrens hearts alike , in stamping the same his image upon them all . it hath pleased god in his holy and wise providence to make your ladyship an instance of many , and sharp trials , yet withal of much grace , by the power whereof you have endured with most christian and exemplary faith and patience . the last enemy is yet before you , to be expected , and encountred , which , considering your ladyships years , seemeth to be approaching . but , behold , it is here presented , as disarmed , and conquered , and so less formidable . and i doubt not but your ladyship liveth in the comfortable prospect of that blessed day , when all your conflicts shall be crowned with victory , and triumph over death , in communion with the prince of life . madam , i have yet to add , that i have gladly taken this occasion to make my publick acknowledgments , of the inviolable obligations which your ladyship hath laid upon me by your singular bounty , exercised as well to my honoured father now with god , as to my self , in our state of deprivation . and here i must joyn with your ladyship , your only surviving daughter of the many hopeful children , which god had graciously given your ladyship , madam mary brook , the true heiress of your ladyships great vertue and grace . as my pen cannot be silent , lest ungrateful ; so it dares not be fluent , lest offensive to that liberality which would not have the left hand know what the right hand doth . i am bound to say , blessed be ye of the lord , who have not left off your kindness to the living and to the dead . that this may be fruit abounding to your account , an odor of a sweet smell , a sacrifice acceptable , and well pleasing to god , recompensed at the resurrection of the just ; that your days may yet be multiplied , and the consolations of god be the support and strength of your age ; that the blessings of the everlasting covenant may descend , and remain to your posterity from generation to generation is , and shall be the prayer of , madam , barking jun. 1681. your ladyships most humble and bounden servant and orator , john fairfax . the true dignity of st. pauls elder exemplified in the life of mr. owen stockton . the preface . it hath been the vain-glorious practice of some men for the perpetuating of their memories beyond death and time to the farthest posterity , to engrave their names in brass or marble , or to write them upon their houses and lands , which yet death and time have wholly obliterated . but it is the honour of many saints to be recorded in sacred scripture beyond all danger of oblivion , as great examples of piety and holiness towards god , and of service to the church of god in their generation . and god hath since by his providence in all ages secured to his more eminent saints and servants the like honour , stirring up some survivors to embalm their precious name and memory , by recording and reporting the dead to posterity in more lasting monuments , as great instances of the grace of god , special matter of his praise , and approved patterns as well for the encouragement as the imitation of the living . how dispised soever this excellent servant of jesus christ , the subject we have to write of , hath been in the eyes of some of his generation ; yet i am persuaded none of the worthies in the church of god , that are gone before him , will count it any disparagement to their honour , that he be added to their number , whose precious names survive their death . the records which have been made , and published of the lives of many excellent , and holy persons , consist for the most part only of such passages , as have fallen under the observation of those , who have more intimately , and frequently conversed with them ; & many hands have contributed to the collecting of some more remarkable words , and actions , which an ingenious pen , in just honour to the subject , improveth as indices of those singular accomplishments of mind and heart , which are beyond the reach of the most observant eye . and were there nothing else to be recovered , concerning the subject before us , but what might be so collected , from the hands of those , who had the happy advantage to know fully his doctrine , manner of life , purpose , faith , long suffering , charity , patience &c. i doubt not , but , if managed by a skillful pen , it would justly amount to such a character of him , as might worthily render him , a more than ordinary example of faith , and holiness , of scripturall knowledge and practice , as well to the preachers , as professors of the gospel , of christ , to the praise of the glory , of the grace of god. but their is less need of this in reference , to our subject . himself having not only , in great measure prevented , and saved his friends that labour , and service , but moreover discovered the inmost secrets of his heart , towards god , beyond all that could be known of him , by the strictest observation of others . what hath been the advantagious practice , sometimes ( though very rare ) of some eminent servants of god , who have made religion their business , viz. to write , curriculum vita , the manner and course of their own life , appears to have been his . he not only kept a strict eye upon himself , and took special notice of his own heart , and wayes , and the manner of his spiritual living unto god , but lest he should forget , and render it useless , committed the same to paper , recording the dealings of god towards him , the workings of corruption , and grace , his conflicts , and temptations the secret intercourse , and communion between god and his soul , the approaches , and withdrawings of the holy spirit , his liftings up and castings down , the actings of faith and love , divine assistance in duty , return of prayers , the clearness of his evidences , and rejoycings of his hopes &c. wherein the life and power of true religion , doth more consist than in all open and visibel acts . out of this treasury , which is enough to supply a far larger volume , hath been fetched the greatest part of that furniture which filleth these pages , and that mostly in his own words . you that read may therefore imagine you hear this holy prophet , bespeaking you in the words of another prophet , come and read all ye that fear god , and i will tell you what he hath done for my soul . my own experience assureth me , that to those who are engaged in the spiritual war , and running the christian race , and have set their faces towards god , it will be useful , encouraging , delightful , and satisfactory to read so much of the sense and feeling of their own hearts , in the experiences of this blessed saint . the greatest part of whom , yet i believe will find cause to be ashamed before god , seeing themselves so far cast behind , and may be provoked to mend their pace , in pressing forward towards the mark , to which he hath attained . as for such as rest in their negative goodness , and commendable moralls , their form of godliness and bodily exercise in religion , without the life and power thereof , who knows but they may be convinced , of the vanity of their hopes , and the sandy foundation , whereon they have built them , and that yet they lack something , while they read the thoughts , affections , and workings of his holy heart , his understanding improvement of the holy scriptures , and his spiritual communion , with the holy god , to which themselves are altogether strangers . but such is the enmity , and contradiction of the carnal mind to the spirit , and grace of god that i cannot be without jealousie , that much of what is true written will be matter of scorn , and derision to the profane generation . however as the word of god delivered in the scriptures , and dispensed in the ministry thereof , hath its divers and contrary effects , upon diverse & contrary subjects , whereon yet god knows how to raise his own glory , so shall the same word exemplified in the life of this now glorified saint , have the like effects on them that read it . to the humble and teachable it shall be in adjutorium , but to the scorners and despisers in testimonium . the relation . mr. owen stockton was born in the city of chichester , in the county of sussex , the last week of may , 1630. was the fourth son of his father mr. owen stockton , a worthy prebendary of that cathedral , who was a younger brother of that ancient family of the stocktons , of kiddington green in cheshire . about the seventh year of his age , his father dyed and left the care of him , and his other children , to their mother , a pious gentlewoman of the family of the tilees , in cambridgeshire . she being a widdow and stranger in chichester ; soon after the death of her husband , returned to her native country , and setled her self at ely , where was a very good grammar school , under the government of mr. william hitches , to whose care she committed this her son , for his education . from a child he was of great hopes , while yet a little grammar schollar , his inclination was such as presaged more than ordinary improvement . looking once accidentally into mr. fox his acts , and monuments ecclesiastical , in one of the parish churches of that town , and reading some little part thereof , he was so affected , with the knowledge of that history , that he never ceased to supplicate his friends , till he had obtained one part of them , for his use . wherein ( declining the puerile recreations , to which his school-fellows addicted themselves ) for some years he spent , most of that time which he had vacant , and could redeem from his obliged attendance upon the school . his judicious master discerning in him a ready natural capacity , for learning and desire after it , with industrious diligence ▪ in study , ( for though he spent , so great a part of his time out of school , in reading history , yet withal he so performed his part and offices , in the school , as he never gave occasion of correction or rebuke ) and observing moreover his constant daily attendance on the worship of god , according to the rules of the schools . he earnestly commended him to his mother , and persuaded her to think of no other course or trade of life for him , but that he be prepared and sent to the university ; in order to the office , and work of the ministry . accordingly not without his own inclination and choice being sufficiently instructed , with grammar learning for academical studies , he was in the sixteenth year of his age , viz. jan. 2. 1645. admitted into christs colledge in cambridge , under the tuition of the learned , dr. henry moore . his years were not many , but his stature less , insomuch that for some time he could not pass the streets without special notice taken of him , and expressed on that account . nor was this only a vulgar observation , but such also as fell under the remark , of the late king charles the first , who being brought to a gentlemans house , by the army night to cambridge , and many schollars coming thither in their habits , to see his majesty , was pleased to order that they should be admitted to his royall presence , and kiss his hand . among whom this coming in his order , his majesty made special observation of of him , and gave him his gracious benediction , saying , here 's a little schollar indeed , god bless him . his residence in the colledge , was so constant , that during the whole time of his undergraduacy , he was not absent communibus annis conjunctim & divisim , one month in a year . and his sobriety such that he abstained not only from publick houses , but in other company , and places from wines , and and strong drink , as judging nature in his age , to stand in no need of such kind of helps . after he had taken his degree of batchelor , of arts he resided still in the colledge , applying himself seriously to the study of divinity , which he alwayes designed . in pursuance whereof , whether by his own or others advice , i cannot say , he went to london , and spent some months there acquainting , himself with the principal booksellers , from whom he took an account , of the best writers in divinity , of that time , frequenting the library of sion colledge , and the lectures at gresham colledge , applying himself to several worthy ministers of the city , and attending on their exercises which were daily , that he might observe the variety , of mens gifts and their several methods of preaching . by which he made so great an improvement of himself , that he hath often said since , that if it should please god to give him a son of his own disposed to the ministery , he should give it him as his particular advice , before he entred upon the work of preaching , to spend some months in london , in attending on those learned divines , which excelled in the gift of preaching , wherewith that city is alwayes furnished . being much affected and pleased with this study , resolving to pursue it earnestly , and prepare himself for the work of the ministry , he did privately , yet in a very solemn manner by fasting and prayer , make as it were a dedication , of himself to god for that service . when he was middle batchelor , he was removed from christs colledge , and made iunior fellow , of gonvile and caius colledge , about the beginning of the year , 1651. where after a years continuance , and probation of of his worth , he was translated from that to a , senior fellowship , which he enjoyed during the space of six years and upward . in which time he discharged the office of steward to the temporal , of catechist and conduct , to the spiritual advantage of that society . here it was that the lord trained up this his disciple to be a scribe instructed for the kingdom of god , furnishing him so plentifully with divine , and spiritual knowledg ( which he gained as well by experience , and observation of gods dealing with him , and the operation of his spirit upon his heart , as by industrious study , and meditation ) that he could readily bring forth out of his treasure things new and old : was able to speak pertinently , sutably , and seasonably to the various capacities , conditions , and cases of saints , and sinners , and became an happy , powerful instrument in the hand of god for the conversion , edification , consolation , and salvation of many souls . his design and desire being to serve the lord jesus christ in the office and work of the ministry , he directed the course of his studies with special respect to that service . and though his place and exercises in the university obliged him to the study of philosophy , wherein he was equal to most ; yet the study of divinity was his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . not satisfying himself with the reading of the elaborate writings of the most learned divines , wherewith he furnished his library at the expence of some hundreds of pounds , he especially addicted himself to the reading , and study of the holy scriptures , as containing the whole counsel of god which , as his minister , he was to declare to men . which course of his study god so succeeded with his blessing , that it may be truly said of him what st. luke saith of apollos , act. 18. 24. he was mighty in the scriptures , his head , memory , heart , and tongue , were full of the scriptures , whereof he hath given abundant evidence by his scriptural catechism . in the opening , and applying whereof his gift was excellent and peculiar . all that knew him and were acquainted with his discourse , ministry , or pen , must bear him that testimony , with the holy apostle st. paul he preferred the learning gotten at the feet of christ , above all he had got at the feet of gamaliel , and though he had the valuable accomplishments of other learning , yet he determined not to know any thing save jesus christ and him crucified . in which knowledge he was like saul higher than most of his brethren from the shoulders and upwards . i know none i can better compare him with , than that eminent , and powerful servant and instrument of jesus christ , mr. arthur hildershaw whom i am prone to believe he propounded to himself as a pattern for imitation . but knowledge alone is not sufficient instruction for a minister of the gospel . it is no rare thing to find some great schollars in the theory of scripture , who yet are but very ordinary christians , whose light like that of the moon hath very cold influences . he is best accomplished whose knowing head effects his heart , and governs his life ; who knows revealed truth as well by spiritual sense and experience , as by speculation . the spirit of god is a spirit of truth and of life too , communicateth both grace and gifts , and teacheth as well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . both which consisted together in this excellent person . the word of god dwelt both in his head and heart and was effectually the law of his life . he was a burning as well as shinning light : a man more than ordinarily mortified to the pleasures of the flesh and vanities of the world ; freely and resolvedly devoted to the fear of god. his conversation was in heaven , his communion with god , his delight in the saints , his business religion , his zeal for holiness , his main design the glorifying of god , and the salvation of his own and others souls . whereof the following pages will , i doubt not , be an abundant evidence not only to the charitable , but rational judgment of the christian reader . as for his practice of mortification , i shall not otherwise express it than in his own words , as i read it in the records of the remarkable passages of his life by his own hand , but after he had a family , viz. having been foiled by the lusts of my own heart several times , and considering what i should do to get rid of those lusts , which , had so often prevailed over me , god directed me to three several means . the one was suggested to me as i was walking in my garden and meditating on the affairs of my soul , and that was to be more frequent in eyeing , applying , and meditating on the promises ; and the scripture , which the holy spirit of god set before me for this end was 2 pet. 1. 4. by the precious promises given to us , we escape the pollution that is in the world , through lust . the other was suggested to me as i was hearing a sermon , and that was to be daily applying the lord jesus to my soul , grounded on rom. 13. 13. 14. where the apostle adviseth to put on the lord jesus christ , as an help against chambering and wantonness , strife and envying . the third was suggested to me as i was riding abroad , and discoursing of the things of god , which was gal. 5. 16. walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh . in pursuance of these means for the mortifying of the lusts of the flesh , i determined with my self , to eye the promises of god , more frequently then i had done , and to that end , i chose out some promises of daily and continual use , and determined by the help of god , to salute and embrace them once a day , and not only to take a view of them my self , but in my meditations , and soliloquies to spread them before god , and to put the lord in remembrance of them . for supplying all the wants of the day , i chose that promise phil. 4. 19. for growth in grace , hos . 14. 5. for subduing my sins . mic. 7. 19. rom. 6. 14. for success in my undertakings , ps . 1. 3. for turning all the events of the day for good to me . rom. 8. 28. for the conversion and sanctification of my children . isa . 44. 3. for my yoke-fellow and servants , and all others in my family that they might get good from me , and return to god , and grow in grace , hos . 14. 7. for sanctifying of my afflictions , isa . 27. 9. zech. 13. 9. for audience of my prayers , mic. 7. 7. joh. 14. 13. 14. for grace and strength to manage all the works of the day , to the glory of god. zech. 10. 12. for protection from dangers and casualties . gen. 15. 1. for giving me eternal life , in case the day should bring death to me . luk. 12. 32. joh. 3. 16. for counsel and direction in all cases of difficulty , and unexpected emergencies . isa . 58. 11. ps . 32. 8. i judged it also very conducible , to the glory of god and my own soul's good , to manage all my employments , as much as may be with an eye to the promises , and as to my calling , when i am studying to compose sermons , deut. 28. 8. when i go to preach , math. 28. 19. 20. for success in my preaching , isa , 56. 8. — 65. 23. i was the more confirmed in this frequent , and familiar converse with the promises , not only as it helps on our participation of the divine nature , and our escaping the pollution that is in the world through lust , but because the lord commands us to be alwaies mindful of his covenant , 1 chron. 16. 15. and it pleaseth god to see us taking hold of his covenant . isa . 56. 4. and it is for the glory of god , 2 cor. 1. 20. i determined also when i should feel the workings of any lust , presently to look up to jesus christ . it being the remedy which the holy ghost , prescribes against such sins as do most easily beset us . heb. 12. 1. 2. i have often been encouraged and helped in this practice , of looking unto jesus , to subdue my sins from act. 3. ult . god sent his son jesus , to bless us in turning us every one from his iniquities . beza's note upon that text is very good , and hath been of use to me , viz. that the great word for inquities , signifies the roots and habits of sin. i saw it was my duty , and concernment every day , to be more frequent in applying my soul to christ , and christ his benefits to my soul . in pursuance of the , 3d means of mortification , viz. walking in the spirit , i resolved to endeavour to do my works , and duties both to god and men , more spiritually , and in order hereunto , to reduce my actings to some word , and as oft as i could , to eye some word of god , as i was entring on them ; as for instance , if i be called out by others or stirred up in my own spirit to visit the sick , or any afflicted person , to have my thoughts on math. 25. 36. or jam. 1. 27. when any poor people come to me for relief , or any object of charity is presented to me to eye . gal. 6. 10. or hebr. 13. 16. or isa . 58. 10. or eccl. 11. 1. or prov . 19. 17. when a poor man cometh to borrow , deut. 15. 7. 8. 10. when to write letters , take a journey , or be any ways employed for others , gal. 5. 13. phil. 2. 4. when to visit out of courtesy , or do any thing which courtesy requireth , 1 pet. 3. 8. when to instruct my servants and children , deut. 6. 7. gen. 18. 19. when to catechise the youth that come to my family , joh. 21. 15. prov. 22. 6. when invited to exercise abroad among poor or rich , isa . 32. ult . when to administer a reproof , lev. 19. 17. when to confer about spiritual things , mal. 3. 17. this was the wise and holy method , which this faithful servant and souldier of ▪ jesus christ , prescribed to himself by divine direction , whereby to manage the spiritual war , with the sin that dwelt in him , that he might not be overcome with it . according to which he moreover charged himself with , the practice of universal positive holiness , which he thus records . being under the rebukes of gods chastising providence , i set apart a day to humble my soul with fasting and prayer , that i might obtain from god , a sanctified use of my afflictions . i sought god to pardon my sins , which were the causes thereof , and to make them work for my good . i spent a good part of the day in meditating , how i should make a right improvement of these corrections . i considered that one main end of all chastisements was , that god might make us partakers of his holiness , heb. 12 , 10. isa . 26. 9. i resolved in the strength , and by the help of god to follow after holiness more vigorously than i had done , and i engaged in this resolution because i saw from , isa . 60. 21. that by my being holy , and righteous god should be glorified . and seeing the nature of holiness lieth in our bearing gods image , in our being like to god , or in our conformity to the divine nature , eph. 4. 24. col. 3. 10. i resolved to endeavour to imitate , and resemble god in mercifulness , luk. 6. 36. in forgiving injuries , eph. 4. ult . in doing good , ps . 119. 68. in justice , deut. 32. 4. in love , joh. 4. 16. in humility , ps . 113. 5 , 6. in longfuffering , exod. 34. 6. in not retaining anger , ps . 30. 5. in uprightness , isa . 26. 7. in kindness , luk. 6. 35. in helping the fatherless , widdow and stranger , ps . 10. 14. — 146. 9. and whereas we come to partake of gods image . 1. by beholding the discovery which he hath made of himself , and his glorious attributes in the gospel , 2 cor. 3. 18. 2 by applying the promises , 2 pet. 1. 4. 3. by walking with him , act. 4. 13. for we grow like those with whom we converse , prov. 22. 24. 25. i determined to walk with god , to cleave to the promises , and to meditate often on his glorious attributes . and seeing that our holiness lieth in the conformity of our life , to the will of god revealed in his word , as well as in the resemblance of the divine nature , i determined to set before me several scriptures as my rule to walk by , and often to ponder them , and if i cannot walk up to these rules , yet my endeavours shall be ( grace assisting ) to walk after them , and that will be accepted as a demonstration of my love to god , 2 joh. v. 6. for guiding and regulating my thoughts , i set these scriptures before me , jer. 14. 14. isa . 55. 7. mal. 3. 17. ps . 104. 34. phil. 4. 8. prov. 23. 26. deut. 15. 9. eccl. 10. 20. prov. 24. 9. math. 9. 4. zech. 8. 17. for regulating my affections , these , col. 3. 2 , 5. gal. 5. 24. particularly , for my delight . ps . 1. 2. — 37. 5. my joy , phil. 4. 4. ps . 43. 4. my desire , isa . 26. 8 , 9. my sorrow , ezek. 7. 16. my love , math. 22. 37. ps . 119. 97. my hatred , ps 97. 10. my fears , luk. 12. 4 , 5. my hope , ps . 39. 7. my trust , ps . 62. 8. isa . 26. 4. for regulating my speech , these eph. 4. 29. col. 4. 6. deut. 6. 6 , 7. ps . 119. 46. ps . 71. 8. 24. prov. 31. 26. we should lay it as a law upon our selves , to speak kindly to all sorts of persons . for my works , these tit. 3. 8. 1. 2 tim. 2. 12. 1 tim. 5. 10. tit. 2. 14. math. 5. 47. 1 tim. 6. 18. rev. 3. 2. rom. 13. 12. act. 26. 20. our works must be visibly , as well as truly good , math. 5. 16. must be exemplary , tit. 2. 7. yet we must not expect justification or salvation by our own works , but by grace , eph. 2. 8 , 9. rom. 3. 28. thus did this man of god gird himself with the sword of the spirit , which he faithfully and successfully managed against his corruptions , temptations and transgressions . thus did he put on the brest-plate of righteousness , holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience , applying the word of god , as an inviolable law and rule to his heart , and life sincerely aiming at the glory of god , and the , obtaining that blessedness , which by the covenant of god is secured to the undefiled in the way , who walk in the law of the lord. how fit was he to be the mouth of god , and ambassador of christ to sinners , who , when with greatest importunity he called them to repentance and reformation of heart and life , and the mortification of the most beloved lusts ; and most earnestly pressed upon them faith , and holiness , and universal conformity to the will of god , was not reproached by his own heart , as if he laid heavy burdens upon others , which himself would not touch with one of his fingers : but with deliberate choice and constant resolution imposed them upon himself , and obviated all objections , by demonstrating the strictest holiness to be practicable , eligible , and delectable by his own example . but though he was very liberally instructed by nature , art , and grace for the office and work of the ministry , yet such low and mean thoughts had he of himself , both of his gifts and grace : and such deep and affecting apprehensions of the difficulty , and weight of the ministerial service , which as it is in it self , so was to him , onus tremendum , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; who is sufficient ? saith the apostle , that though it was his design and desire to serve god , and his church in that great work , yet he was so discouraged , that he would not as too many do , hastily adventure and engage himself in that office by solemn ordination , but would first prove himself well , ask counsel of god and his word , and attend to the call of god by his spirit and providence . accordingly being master of arts , he did sometimes exercise his gifts in some countrey villages nigh the university . where his manner was at first privately to enquire out what small parishes within ten or fifteen miles of cambridge were destitute of ministers . unto these he went and preached , and that with such privacy , as for some while none knew of it but himself , and the parishioners to whom he went ; and to many of them it was a long time unknown , either who he was , or from whence he came . this service he perform'd gratis , neither expecting nor according any worldly reward , yea , it was a charge to him . among these countrey-people god blessed him , and gave him the first-fruits of his ministry , making him instrumental and successful to the conversion , and edification of many . whereby he was so endeared to them , and they to him , that after he was called to preach at one certain place in cambridge , he would yet often go amongst them on the week-days , preaching sometimes at one place , and sometimes at another , the people laying aside their country-business , and readily travelling several miles to attend upon his ministry . and after his remove from cambridge to a considerable distance in essex and suffolk , his manner was for the most part so long as he lived , once a year to visit those people , preaching to them , and conversing with them . after he had a while thus exercised his gifts among the country villages . he observed three things especially , which did much encourage him to give himself up to the ministry of the word . 1. the benefiting of his own soul in his meditations for preaching ; for whilst he was studying for others , the lord made it a word of instruction to himself : and he found it the best means of growth to be watering others . yet herein he perceived ( he said ) great need of watchfulness , and much care lest his heart should put away that word from himself which he was pressing upon others . 2. he found his heart much diverted from other studies . philosophy seemed tedious to him , he found not that satisfaction in studying meer human authors as in meditating on divine things . yea he thought he disrelished all other studies , and they were unsavory to him , and he knew not but that this might be of the lord , thus to turn his heart from the one , and encline it to the other study . 3. the lord had been pleased to bless his labours in some measure , and ordered so by his providence that it came to his knowledge . as particularly at burwell , at swafham , at soham , at land-beech , at chesterton in cambridgshire , at debenham in suffolk , at wethersfield in essex , this was an especial encouragement to him , as it might well be , to pursue the ministry in the year 1654 he was chosen catechist for that year in the colledge . in which choice he observed the special providence of god , for whereas formerly the masters used to nominate the fellows for such offices as they should bear , he this year bad the fellows agree , and choose among themselves which they did according to seniority . his business detained him from being present at the meeting of the fellows , and every one having chosen what they liked best , they cast the catechists place upon him , judging him fittest for it , which he accepted , and accordingly began to discharge it in michaelmass term. this was the first place where he setled himself to a constant course of preaching . wherein god did greatly encourage and honour him ; for the very first night he exercised , one of the fellows came to him , and told him he had felt the power of god in that ordinance upon his heart . the statutes of the colledge obliging him to these divinity exercises as catechist in the chapel only in term time , towards the end of the term he began to consider whether he should continue , and proceed in the same exercises as well out of term , as in term , his conscience towards god as well as the local statute , and his zeal to improve all opportunities to do good prompting him thereto ; being doubtful what to do , he was determined to the affirmative , by hearing a sermon preached at st. maries by the reverend and learned dr. tuckury then professor of divinity there , the scope whereof was to shew what a blessed and desireable thing it was to have the church of god multiplied and encreased , and in the application he did in an especial manner direct his words to the university , and did in the name of god earnestly beseech every one in their places , to endeavour the encrease and multiplying of the church of god , both by adding themselves to it , and labouring to add others to it . his soul was much warmed at this sermon , and considering the seasonableness of it , he looked upon this word as directed specially to himself , and took encouragement from it to proceed in his work. this practice of his being a proof not only of his abilities , but of his willingness also , and that laboriously to serve god in the work of the ministry ; about easter following , a motion was made to him by one of st. andrews parish in cambridge in the name of the rest , to supply that place , which he declined , promising only to give them one sermon . afterward the motion being more importunately renewed to him , he advised them to seek god to direct them in a business of that concern , commending to them others of greater abilities and grace than himself to make choice of ; telling them he would at that time , neither deny nor promise any thing . about six weeks after , 8 or 9 of the parish came to him in the name of the whole , and signified to him that it was their joynt request , that he would preach with them on the lords days in the forenoon . whereupon after a fortnights consideration , and seeking of god , and consulting friends , he complied with their desire , and undertook that service . here god so blessed his ministry both to the students in the university , and people of the town , that his encouragement was very great , for which he always blessed god. in the colledge he so well discharged his office , that the year now expiring he was again chosen into the same office next year . and now being satisfied that god did call him to this work and office , by the success which god gave to his labours , and the acceptance he had in the church , he resolved thoroughly to devote , and give up himself to it by solemn ordination . for which end he repaired to london , and being there proved , and well approved of , was feb. 13. 1655 , solemnly set apart to this office , and work , by fasting , and prayer , and laying on of the hands of the presbytery . to which god seemed to set his seal both during the action , by very gracious influences of his spirit upon his heart beyond his preparations , for which he hath recorded thanks to god , and on the lords day following , viz. feb. 17. when being desired to preach at the charterhouse both parts of the day : in the afternoon one put up a bill to him , wherein the person that put it up acknowledged , that he had long lain under the guilt of a known sin , and was convinced of it by the morning sermon , and desired prayers to god for help against it . others also in that congregation he observed to be affected at that his first sermon after his ordination . in his returning from london to cambridge , upon the way he experienced a very good providence with which his heart was much affected , and which he thankfully recorded as an instance of gods special care of him . the night overtaking him ere he could reach to hasting mills , where the waters were very high by reason of a flood , just as he came almost to the water , a man met him , who knowing the danger of the water , and the safest passage through it , offered him his service , and very kindly lent him his own taller and stronger horse , and riding back again on his horse before him led him safely through , which else he perceived he could not have passed without the hazard of his life . being now return'd to cambridge , to the charge he had undertaken , with what conscience , faithfulness , zeal , and industry , he applied himself to the work to which he had devoted himself , and was now solemnly set apart , i leave to the pious reader to judge by what follows in his own words . july 7 th . 1656. i set apart that day for fasting and prayer to seek the lord for counsel , whether i should preach in the afternoon at st. andrews . i had some thoughts of it , and motions thereto some time since . but now my time for chapel exercise being expired , i took ▪ it into serious thoughts , and having humbled my soul for my sins , and begged of god that he would settle my mind in this thing , and teach me what was his mind therein , after pains and searching the scripture i came to this resolution , i was fully persuaded that it was the mind of the lord that i should also preach in the afternoons , and that from these scriptures . 2 tim. 4. 1. 2. i charge the before god , — be instant in season , and out of season . as we will answer it to jesus christ , at the day of judgment , we are to take all opportunities to preach his word . i consider here is a fair opportunity put into my hands , and therefore i am bound in conscience not to neglect it , 1 pet. 5. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as much as in you lieth , feed thy flock , so calvin renders the word . 1 cor. 9. 16. 17. necessity is laid upon me , yea woe is unto me , if i preach not the gospel . though i preach the gospel i have nothing to glory of , if i do this willingly i have a reward . eccl. 11 6. in the morning sow thy seed , and in the evening withhold not thy hand : for thou knowest not what shall prosper this or that , this seems a clear resolution of the question . 1 cor. 15. 58. — always abounding in the work of the lord. gal. 6. 10. as we have opportunity let us do good , here is a fair opportunity , and how it may be taken from me , or i from it i know not , and therefore hold it my duty to lay hold on it . hereupon i resolved to preach once a fortnight , in the afternoons also ; and considering my weakness for such a work , i was encouraged from isa . 41. 10. and math. 28. ult . go teach and lo i am with you , with you to help and assist you ; with you to bless your labours , and make your work prosperous under your hands . jul. 13. 1656. i began my afternoons exercise , and entred upon the doctrine of repentance . i have found god very much with me , assisting and enlarging me , and blessing my labours to some of my hearers . i bless his name for putting it into my heart . nov : 16 i had not so much of the enlivening presence of god in the afternoon as i was wont to have : yet god blessed his word . one of the parish told mr. j. he thought their minister knew their hearts , and added he was resolved to amend . apr. 21. 1657. i set apart this day to seek god by fasting , and prayer , to shew me my way , and to direct me in a business that had been upon my spirit nigh half a year , which was to preach once a fortnight , on the week day , at the church where i am placed . i engaged the prayers of others also for me in this particular . and when i went to the sacrament , i laid the promise before god , that he would guide me continually , and teach me in the way that i should choose , as that which i desire might among others be sealed up to me . whilst i was thus deliberating with my self what to do , i met with this providence : being at soham to preach the lecture there , i slept that night very disturbedly , towards the morning me thought i saw the lord jesus christ in his glory , who spake comfortably to me , and encouraged me in my work , but spake very sad words to another , mr. of arts that was with me , ( whom i dreamed to be a godly man , yet one who was noted for his unwillingness to preach in town ) when i awoke i considered with my self , what this should mean. i considered it was but a dream , and so not much to be heeded , and again i considered that sometimes god speaks to us in dreams , and slumbering upon our beds , job . 33. 13. 14. 15. whence i gathered it might be something of encouragement to me . in the morning when i was up , it fell out in my ordinary course of reading , the scripture , to read , act. 18. and when i had read , ver . 9. 10. , and pondered what had befell me in the night , i could not but wonder at the providence of god , to cause this scripture , to fall in with my former dream , which made me ponder the more upon it . i saw god did sometimes speak to his people in a vision . i saw the same reason why paul should preach , viz. because there was much people belonging to the lord there , might be forcible to prevail with me , for he enclines a great multitude of people to attend upon me . when i had considered of it , i resolved to lay this up in my heart , and not to slight it , though i could not build on it any ground of my undertaking my work . consulting the scriptures these came into my mind act. 6. 4. we will give our selves continually to prayer , and to the ministry of the word , where i saw that such as were called of god to preach the word , ought to make it their business , and give up themselves to it . rom. 1. 1. 14. 15. here i saw that one separated to the gospel of christ , was a debter , bound , and should be ready as much as in him lieth , isa . 40. 9. o thou that bringest good tidings to zion , get the up into the high mountains , lift up thy voice with strength , lift it up , be not afraid . reading this scripture in my ordinary course , i found it set home with life , and power in reference to my present doubt , get the up , lift up thy voice , it removed the great obstacle of fear ; what would men say and think of my forwardness ? be not afraid ; i was the more confirmed by considering this scripture , is mainly directed to such as god hath sent to preach the gospel , by comparing this scripture with , isa . 52. 7. and rom. 10. 15. and the scripture did the more affect me because it was in this manner set home after prayer , when i had been seeking god in reference to this doubt . act. 18. 5. paul was pressed in spirit and testified , hence i saw the ministers of god , may take encouragement , to preach the word from inward pressures of spirit . having these inducements to preach on the week day , i set apart as before the 21th of april , to seek god by fasting and prayer , to direct me what to do . having put up my request to him , in the name of jesus christ , i shall consider what motives i have to it , and what dissuasives from it , and judge of both according to the scriptures , and do therein as the lord shall direct me , by his word and spirit . ' the arguments moving to it are these , 1. i find god much enlarging my meditations , so as i am a long while ere i can dispatch the subject i enter upon , whereby i foresee i shall go over but few heads in divinity , while i stay unless i preach oftener . and i know not what the meaning of god herein should be , that he watereth me so much , but that i should water others . 2. i have found god owning me when i closed with the like motions , at other times , particularly in the afternoon exercise , i have found god wonderfully gracious beyond expression , and i heartily bless god that put it into my heart to undertake that work , and seeing when i followed god formerly he was with me , why should i not be obedient to his call in this also . 3. it is the work i have been set apart to , and solemnly given up my self to , in the face of the congregation at black-friers , and therefore now there is a necessity lying upon me to preach the gospel , yea a woe if i preach not , 1 cor. 9. 16. 4. god hath made my service here accepted of the saints , and therefore it is likely my ministry may be more effectual , it may be elsewhere my ministry may be as much despised , as here t is embraced , and therefore it is good to take the present season , and to strike where , and when the iron is hot . 5. the time is short that i have to live , how soon god many take me hence , i know not . and there being no working in the grave , i am commanded to do what my hand findeth to do , with my might , eccl. 9. 10. the night cometh when no man can work , and therefore as christ said , joh. 9. 4. i must work the works of him that sent me , while it is day ; so must i do , learn this wisdom of him , to do my work as fast as i can , seeing i know not how short my day may be . 6. the times are evil , and i know not how soon we may be cut short of these opportunities ; and it 's an express command that we should be wise and redeem time , eph. 5. 15. 16. and god commands as we have opportunity , to do good to all , gal. 6. 10. preaching of the gospel is doing good , and here is an opportunity , i must not let it slip . 7. if i should preach once a fortnight on the week-day it will but be equivalent to preaching twice every lords day , ( seeing now i preach but once every other sabbath ) which must be my work , when i come into the country , and yet my work here is far lighter than it will be there , for here i am free from worldly cares , family distractions , and a pastoral charge . 8. one soul is more worth than the whole world , and the preaching of the gospel is the power of god to salvation , therefore we should not think any pains too great to preach the word , seeing we may through god be a mean to convert and save souls thereby . 9. christ chargeth peter as he loveth him , to feed his sheep , and lambs , joh. 21. 15 , 16 , 17. his repeating this 3 times argues , 1. that he would have him very diligent in doing it . 2. that he takes it as a real demonstration of love to him , to feed his sheep . now i have wonderful cause to love christ , and good reason to demonstrate it that way which he would have me . 10. if i enter upon preaching on week-day too , i see it will make for the glory of god , joh. 15. 8. god is glorified when we bear much fruit , and for the good , and edification of others ; for the body of christ is edified by the ministry of the word . eph. 4. 11 , 12. and why should i stand disputing that which may make for the glory of god , and the good of those among whom i live . 11. god would have every man observe his proper gifts and improve them , and attend his proper work that he is called to with diligence . rom. 12. 6 , 7 , 8 , 11. 12. i have naturally a slothful spirit , and one good way to master it , is to take up much imployment . 13. god would have us alway to abound in his work and be stedfast , and he tells us our labour shall not be in vain . 1 cor. 15. ult . 14. no excuse must hinder us now from doing good , but what will serve turn at the day of judgment . i consider further that the word of god is to be the rule by which we must walk . psal . 119. 105. that is the light of our paths . what the word requires of us , god requires of us ; what work the word calls us to , that god calls us to . now considering with my self the aforesaid particulars according to the word of god , i gather , it is the mind of god i should close with this motion , and that he calleth me to further work , and so accordingly i am to obey his voice . now in regard that it is gods presence with me , his owning , accepting , and assisting me , that must bear me up against all difficulties that i shall meet with ; i consulted further with the word to see what grounds i had to expect that god would be with me in my undertaking , and i saw great encouragement from these scriptures , mat. 28. 19 , 20. go teach — lo , i am with you alway . christ will not withdraw his presence at any time when we go about to teach in obedience to his command , but will be always with us . 1 chron. 28. 10 , 20. compared . whence i observe , when god calls a man out to any work , he would have him be strong and do it , and not to fear or be dismayed , for god will be with him and not fail him or forsake him , till he hath finished it . josh . 1. 9. have not i commanded thee ? — the lord thy god is with thee whithersoever thou goest . the same presence and assistance may we expect from god when ever he calls us out to any service , which i gather from the apostles applying to all christians what god spake in particularto josh . heb. 13. 5. isa . 42. 6. i the lord have called thee , i will hold thy hand . it is spoken to christ , and shall be made good to all christians , when called by god to any work , he will uphold them in it , and he whom god upholds shall not fail , or be discouraged till his work be done . v. 1. 4 judg. 6. 12. 14. the lord is with thee , thou mighty man. go in this thy might , thou shalt save israel — have not i sent thee ? in this thy might , i. e. either in the strength of the promise . the lord is with thee , or in the strength of thy commission , i have sent thee . doest thou doubt whether i will be with thee , seeing i have sent thee ? doest thou doubt whether thou shalt save israel , seeing i have sent thee ? i see hence the call of god to any service is a great encouragement to set upon it , and to expect success in it . ' discouragements removed . 1. reproach of men . what will men say or think that i am so forward . they will impute it to pride , it &c. and say i am imprudent , and will , may be , laugh and jear at me . reply 1. i am not to be ashamed of the gospel of christ . rom. 1. 16. no not in an adulterous generation . mar. 8. 38. if i cannot suffer shame for christ , how shall i suffer greater persecutions ? 2. god can if he will , hide me from the strife of tongues , yea he promiseth to do so for them that trust in him . psal . 31. 19 , 20. he can make a mans enemies to be at peace with him , and will if our ways please him . prov. 16. 7. however i shall not be solicitous of mans judgment in this matter , but commit my way and cause to the lord , and if i be reproached he will one day clear me . ps . 37. 5 , 6. 3. if i do meet with shame and reproach for my diligence in preaching the word , 't is no more than the apostles met with . 1 cor. 4. 9 , 10 , 13. yea , i , christ suffered great contradiction in his preaching , they said he was mad , and had a devil , and i am bidden to remember it , as that which will keep me from fainting . heb. 12. 3. 4. if i serve christ , the lord will honour me , and that is infinitely above the honour of the world . joh. 12. 26. i shall desire therefore to seek the praise that is of god , and no matter what men say . 5. it will be my happyness , if i be reproached for christs sake . 1 pet. 4. 14. and i should be so far from being troubled , discouraged , and dejected at it , that i should rejoyce exceedingly that god counts me worthy to partake of the sufferings of christ . v. 13. 6. the thoughts of that glory that shall be revealed hereafter . 1 pet. 5. 4. should cause me to despise the shame which i meet with here in the service of god. heb. 12. 2. 2 d. discouragement . it may be the people will slight the word , i shall have but few hearers , the word growing common will be nauseated , &c. reply 1. the hearts of all men are in gods hand , if he touch their hearts , they shall come . 1 sam. 10. 26. i will leave that to the lord , whether he will encline many , or but few to attend upon his word . 2. the angels those glorious creatures did not disdain to preach christ to a few poor shepherds , and therefore i should not think much to preach christ , though to never such a thin congregation . jesus christ himself preached the gospel to one hearer only , and that a poor sinful woman of samaria . joh. 4. 3. gods presence is not tied to a multitude ; if but two or three be gathered together in his name , he is in the midst of them , and if god will bless his word for the conversion of but one soul , it is worth all our labour and pains . mark. 8. 37. jam. 5. 19 , 20. 4. i shall desire to do my work to god and not to men , because god commands me , though men may slight my pains , and do not gather together to hear the word , yet my work is before the lord , and my reward with him , and i shall be glorious in his eyes , however i appear before men , isa . 49. 5. however men reckon of my labours , though the more i love them and labour for them , the less i beloved , yet this should not be any hindrance to me in the work of god , but i should gladly spend my self and be spent therein . 2 cor. 12. 13. having consulted god , and seeing such good ground for my undertaking , i set up a lecture once a fortnight on thursday in the afternoon at three of the clock . i began it on the first thursday in june . 1657. with such mature deliberation , such a resolved conscience , such a willing mind , such a zealous spirit , such a laborious head and hand did this worthy servant of god apply himself to the great work wherein he was engaged . thus did he fortifie his heart with strongest arguments against all temptations to sloth and negligence . thus searched he the scriptures that he might fully know his lords will. thus yielded he obedience to the commands , and acted faith in the promises of god. in this his might he went forth in the name of the lord , to the work of the lord , and the pleasure of the lord did prosper in his hand . though his constant weekly work at st. andrews church were enough to exercise more than ordinary strength both of mind and body , yet he had many other occasions of service which he attended , not only in the colledge as his place required , especially as a tutor , which relation and trust he diligently and faithfully discharged towards his pupils , both as to learning and religion , but in the town , as preaching frequently funeral sermons , and trinity lecture , and in the country also at several lectures , both in cambridgeshire and huntingdonshire . for his abilities and willingness were so well known as encouraged many invitations to be made to him from abroad . all which he performed not after an extemporary rate , as the manner of some is , hastily to utter quicquid in buccam venerit , but as a workman that needed not to be ashamed . on which account the ears of so many hanged upon him , and he never wanted a full auditory as well of schollars , as town-people . his sermons were well studied and digested , his matter substantial and spiritual , his arguments strong and convincing , his utterance full , clear , deliberate , and grave . his words apt and natural to express the conceptions of his mind , he neither affected a strain of words , which mans wisdom teacheth , nor allowed himself a liberty of words which mans indiscretion poureth out ; but his phrase was such as spake him to have an holy reverence for the plainness , and simplicity of the gospel of christ , a due care that he exposed not the ministry of the word to contempt , a religious fear of that god in whose name he spake , and a serious regard to the concernment of the souls of men . and in all his applications to god by prayer both in publick and private , his behaviour , words , and manner of utterance were such as spake his solemn , and affecting apprehensions of the majesty , and holiness of god whom he worshipped . so as considering his years , the multiplicity of his ministerial work , his manner of performing it , and the holiness of his life wherewith he did adorn and commend it ; it may be truly said of him , that however he was excelled by others in other respects , yet in this he was nulli secundus , if not a none such in the university in his day . but cambridge is not a place for long continuance . the university is the church's nursery from whence god is wont to remove , and transplant his trees of righteousness when once grown up to the stature of fruit-bearing , that the various congregations of his people may eat of the fruit thereof and live . god having here trained up his servant to his hand , instructed him with excellent gifts , and abundant grace , called him solemnly to the office of the ministry , proved him an able and successful instrument before many witnesses , and enlarged his heart not only to a willingness , but zeal to discharge his office with all his might , quickly shewed him the place where , with this resolved industry , and integrity he should improve his talents . scarce two months were expired after he had begun his week-day lecture , when the mayor and one of the aldermen of colchester in essex ( whither his fame reached ) applied themselves to him at cambridge , desiring him to accept their lecturers place then void . with which motion he so far only then complied as to promise to come over to them , and preach a sermon or two among them ; which he performed about three weeks after . after his preaching , the house of aldermen and common council met , and unanimously agreed to choose him to be their town-lecturer , to preach on lords days afternoon , and on the wednesday every week . which choice had also the general suffrage of the sober and godly people in town , and country thereabout . which being signified to him by some of the aldermen and common council , after six weeks deliberation ( for so long time he designed to give his answer ) seeking god for direction , as his constant manner was , having no objections before him as to conscience in the case , nor any obligation to stay at cambridge , save only the peoples desire , which he answered from luke 4. 42. 43. and act. 18. 20. and considering the joynt unanimous agreement of persons different in judgment ( for it was a divided place ) in calling him , he consented to their choice , and undertook that charge . as he had experienced gods owning and sealing of his ministry in his first catechistical exercise in the colledge , and his first sermon after his ordination , with much happy success also in cambridge ; so here he had the same encouragement , god making his first sermon effectual upon the heart of a dutchman , and his second or third upon another person noted for a sinner , who came out of novelty to hear him . concerning whom he might say as st. paul , 1 thess . 1. 9. they shew of us , what manner of entring we had to you . but it fared with him here at colchester , as it did at cambridge , he thought he did not work enough , and therefore asked leave , and freely offered himself to preach also on the lords day mornings at st. james's church , not desiring any outward reward for it , which was granted and accepted . he was to this place a very great blessing , not only as to their spiritual , but temporal concerns also . it was observed that during his abode , and the liberty of his ministry there , the town prospered and exceedingly flourished in trade . for even the good things of this life doth the gospel carry with it . here he laboured in the word and doctrine , till by the act of uniformity he was with the rest of his brethren debarred from the publick exercise of his ministry . yet not thinking himself bound to be his own executioner , and there being mutual obligations by contract between the town and him , that the one should not eject , nor the other desert without so long warning , he did after the fatal bartholomew continue his publick preaching some time till , having occasion to take a journey into cambridgeshire , in his absence another was put into his place by the b. of l. from thenceforth with st. paul , act. 28. 30 , 31. he dwelt three whole years in his own hired house , and received all that came in unto him , preaching the kingdom of god with all confidence ; till god sent the raging pestilence into the town an. 1665. at which providence he was greatly affected , and while he saw many , and even the shepherds of the flock , hastening their flight from the pestilence that walked in darkness , and the destruction that wasted at noon day , and others smitten with the arrows of the almighty , daily passing into eternity , such compassion he had for perishing souls , and such zealous desire of their salvation , and such hope that the word might be more effectuall in that day of gods sore judgment , that he sent to the magistrates , and freely offered , if they would indulge him the liberty of a publick church , to stay and preach to that poor distressed people , till either god should take him away by death , or cause the pestilence to cease . which being denied him , he entertained thoughts of removing out of town . and having sought of god a right way for himself , his little ones , and his substance . he received satisfaction concerning the lawfulness of removing , in time of pestilence , from isa . 26. 20. hide thy self for a little moment , until the indignation be over past , and encouragement to hope that the presence of god should go with him , from gen. 28. 15. i am with thee and will keep thee in all places , whither thou goest &c. adding thereto gal. 3. 7 , 9. where he observed that all believers have right to the promises made to abraham , isaac , and jacob. accordingly , aug. 25. 1665. he removed his family to chattisham ●n suffolk about 12 miles distant from colche●●er . being now come to a place , where he was a perfect stranger , having no acquaintance with the neighbour-hood , and considering the evil and danger of the times . he had many doubts and fears within himself concerning the comfort of his abiding there ; but quickly received satisfaction from the holy scriptures , his dailydelight and counsellers , which he thus recorded . aug. 27. being the first sabbath after i came to chattisham . in the morning as i was reading in my private devotions , ezek. 37. which was the chapter that fell out in course , in my private reading , i was much affected with some passages in the beginning of the chapter . from whence i observed for my instruction . 1. not to question my call to chattisham though it should be a dry place , where i should want that communion of the saints , which i had at colchester , and my wonted opportunities of doing and receiving good. ezekiel a prophet of the lord , fitted by his gifts , and call to do god service , when he was carried into a valley where there was no living creature to converse withal , but dead mens bones , yet he was carried thither by the hand and spirit of the lord. ver . 1. 2. god may have special service for us to do , in those places were we judging according to sense , think there can be no opportunities of ●ervice at all . who would have thought there had been any work for ezekiel , as a prophet amongst dead mens bones , yet even there he had prophesying work , and composed that prophecy which raised up the dying faith , and hope of the whole house of israel . 3. when god commands us to prophesie or to preach his word , the greatest improbabilities of success imaginable , should not discourage us from our work . though we should think there is no more hopes of doing good , to them , to whom we preach , than there is by speaking to the wind , or preaching to dead mens bones , yet we should go on with our work . ezekiel at gods command prophesies to dry and dead bones , ( concerning which when he was asked whether they could live , he replied , that he could not tell , god only knew . v. 3. ) and they have the spirit of life breathed into them . he prophesieth to the wind and that obeyeth . v. 9. 10. this scripture being so suited to some reasonings , and doubts that i had upon my mind , and coming so seasonably , at my first fixing at chattisham i was much affected with it , and looked upon it as a token for good , that i should have gods presence with me , and the teachings of his spirit , at chattisham , as i have had them at colchester . the encouragement which he thus took was not vain and empty , god remembred his word unto his servant , wherein he had caused him to hope . for he not only enclined the hearts of the people among whom he lived , though strangers to him , to pay him that respect and honour , which was due to him ; and indulged him the liberty of private preaching , as he had before enjoyed , but moreover opened to him in this place a door for the frequent publick exercise of his ministry , which was shut against him at colchester . the minister of the parish having another cure , by reason whereof he could attend this at chattisham but once a fortnight , did in his absence not only willingly but thankfully indulge to mr. stockton the liberty of his pulpit . and having a very small maintenance , and some burdens lying heavy upon him , which after a few years , made his residence there very uneasie to him , he deserted his charge , and left this flock to shift for themselves . whereupon at the request of the people mr. stockton frequently supplyed that vacancy . and his zeal provoked and encouraged others also , both ministers and people . for other neighbouring parishes being destitute of ministers , for want of maintenance called in the help of non-conformists , who in these places , so much below envye , have enjoyed the liberty of their publick preaching for the most part to this day , so as not only the parish where he lived , but the neighbouring vllages have abundant cause to bless god for sending , to them so happy an instrument , so willing and zealous , so able and industrious to serve their souls in the gospel of christ . when it pleased his majesty to set forth his most gracious declaration for indulgence , he was chosen both by a congregation in ipswhich and another in colchester to preach to them , and both being very desirous of him , he complied with their desires as far as he could , and undertook half the service of either , and so with others divided his labours between them , during his life , to their great satisfaction and edification . his labours were abundant . his ministry was his whole business : besides his lords days service , wherein he not only preached twice , but oft expounded the scriptures , and catechised the younger sort , and many times discoursed particular christians that applyed , themselves to him for counsel and instruction about their spiritual cases ; he moreover preached a lecture at ipswich on the weekday once a fort-night , and scarce a week passed but he preached at some other lecture or funeral besides keeping of private fasts which he frequently practised both at home and abroad . the providence of god over him , while he was thus zealously , and constantly imployed in his work , in so many places was so remarkable , that it must not be passed over without special observation . notwithstanding the severity of the laws , the malice , watchfulness , and endeavours of adversaries , yet god suffered not an hair to fall from his head , though complaints , informations , indictments , convictions , warrant , presentments , excommunications were made against him , yet was he never imprisoned , apprehended , distrained or brought before any court or magistrate . he was much affected with this care of god over him , and thankfully accepted , and recorded it as the instance of gods faithfulness , and performance of his promise , as the answer of his own faith and prayer , and as the reward of his love and zeal , and courage for god and his church by the power whereof he lived above fears and dangers ; for thus he writes . apr. 16. 1655. being lords day , in the morning , i awaked with that scripture in my thoughts . 1 tim. 1. 15. i dwelt a while upon it , and drew comfort and relief for my faith , by the help of god. i had been before under a great sense of the sinfulness of my heart . the comfort i had was , that christ came to save the chief of sinners , that this was a faithful saying , that it was worthy all acceptation , or to be embraced by every one , and that this salvation was from sin as well as from hell , math. 1. 21. considering whether he would save me , as i was going to wash in the morning , i was satisfied from joh. 6. 37. him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out . it being then a time of danger , as to the keeping of my meetings , because many souldiers were in town , i being dubious whether i should admit the people to come to my house , when i considered that christ took it as an act of love to feed his sheep joh. 21. 15. and that he exposed himself to death to save me , and bring under a sense of the comfort that the lord had given me in the morning in my meditations on the 1 tim. 1. 15. i was willing to adventure my self on the providence of god. sept. 19. as i was expounding in my family the 91 psalm on a day of humiliation , i was much encouraged to go on in my calling notwithstanding the difficulties that attend the same by reason of many adversaries , from v. 11 , 12 , 13. though the adversaries to private meetings , and the preaching of non-conformists be of several sorts , as strong as lions , as full of venom as the dragon , such as are greedy of , and roar after the prey like the young lion , as subtle and pertinacious , and obstinate in their way as the adder ( of which see ps . 58. 4 , 5. ) yet the angels have a charge to keep us in all our ways , and the promise is that we shall trample these under our feet . this promise gave me courage whilst at colchester , and i saw it made good ; for i went on in my calling and had no harm from them . i observed also in reading dan. 6. 23. the power of faith to deliver out of great and imminent danger . daniel is cast into a den of hungry lions , yet no manner of hurt is found upon him , because he believed in his god. sept. 22. in my family exercise as i was reading ps . 146. 9. the lord preserveth the strangers , my faith received strength . i enjoyed much peace and security in colchester , i had met with no molestation either from the town or county , but being come into a strange place where i was not known , and had no friends to shelter or speak for me , i apprehended my self to walk in more danger than before ; this word , the lord preserveth the strangers , did help my dependance upon god. oct. 28 : 1666. being sabbath day , i went forth to preach at manitree . in the morning before i went , the lord gave in that promise isa . 55. 12. ye shall be led forth with peace . it being a time of trouble and danger for non-conformists to preach publickly , the promise was the more precious , and i was encouraged to go on with confidence . and i determined to eye this promise for the future , when i should go forth where i might probably meet with disturbance . dec. 25. 65. as i was reading in my course luke 6. i observed from v. 11 , 12. from christs practice who in those days when his enemies were filled with madness against him , and communed one with another what they might do unto him , went out into a mountain to pray , and continued all night in prayer to god. i observed , i say , hence that it was my duty to give my self much unto prayer , at such times as i had any enemies that laid wait for me to do me hurt . within a day or two after one of the constables came to me , and told me that his fellow constable when he had drunk somewhat liberally , opened his heart to him , and told him that there had been some communication between him , and one of the deputy lieutenants about presenting me at the sessions , and about my meetings . i thought upon that place in luke 6. 11 , 12. after he was gone , and went up into my chamber to pray . and as i was meditating on this matter that scripture deut. 33. 12. was brought to my remembrance . the beloved of the lord shall dwell in safety by him , &c. i was strengthened in my adherence to this promise , because god had lately made out his love to my soul , as i was pleading this promise in prayer , that passage was set home , he shall cover thee all the day long . whence i did hope that the lord who had helped me hitherto , would still cover me under the shadow of his wings . after i had been at prayer i considered jacobs carriage , when he was in danger of suffering by his brother esau : after he had been wrestling with god in prayer , and pleading the promise , he betook himselfto the use of the most probable means for appeasing esau . i also used the most probable means to prevent trouble at the ensuing sessions , and it pleased god so to order things at the sessions that i met with no trouble . blessed be god who alone maketh me to dwell in safety . jun. 22. as i was exercising in my family in the afternoon several of my friends being with me , i had word sent me that the mayor and justices would come down to my house ; whereupon being near the end of my exercise , i quickly concluded . after i had done and dismissed the people , one of the constables came to me , and told me he was sent to dissolve my meeting , but had a trembling upon him when he spake to me . he added , that he blessed god that had given him an heart to come some times himself , and his wife to my meetings ; so that instead of doing me any hurt he gave glory to god that inclined him to come to hear me . in octob. 1670. i was presented in the ecclesiastical court for preaching . but god stood by me , and encouraged me with that word , ps . 103. 31. and though my adversaries proceeded so far as to get out an excommunication against me , yet the lord raised up deliverance for me , that the court took off my excommunication , without appearing before them or paying any fees. yea , so far was he from declining the exercise of his ministry for fear of suffering , that when he had been persuaded thereto by the importunity of friends , he was much dissatisfied , concerning which thus he records . i promised mr. b. to preach at white colne on octob. 23. accordingly on saturday i was prepared to go . h. p. came in and told us that the soldiers had seized mr. b. and imprisoned him , and that it would not be safe for me to go at that season ; all my friends and relations dissuaded me , but notwithstanding my mind stood to go . but being importuned to stay , and having been very lately sought after by name by the soldiers in those parts , and weighing the providence in sending h. p. to my house with this intelligence as i was about to take horse , i determined to cast my self on my brother cole's determination , who was then at my house , and he determining that i should not go , i stayed at home . but that night and the next day i was under much despondency of spirit , for missing such an opportunity of service ; yet god was gracious to me , and revived me . it was some stay to my mind what i read , mat. 16. 20. where i observed , that the divulging of the most necessary truths was at some seasons , and in some places prohibited by jesus christ . i was further satisfied from act. 16. 6 , 7. whence i observed , that the frustrating of our attempts and designs to preach the gospel to particular places that we purposed to go to , did sometimes arise from the holy ghost . and from psal . 52. 9. i had a damp upon my spirit , and was hindred from praising god for my deliverance from my enemies hands , because i had missed an opportunity of service . but this scripture convinced me that i ought to praise god for this providence , though attended with some afflicting circumstances . by these scriptures and prayer i obtained satisfaction , and the lord answered my desire and fully quieted my mind . once a very zealous and active prosecutor of the non-conformists , obtained a warrant against him upon the oxford act , directed to all the chief constables , and petty-constables in the county , to apprehend him . accordingly an officer a stranger came to execute it , and when he was nigh the house , he espied two persons , whom by their habit he judged to be ministers , walking in a field , the one was mr. stockton , the other mr. senior of hackney ( whom god hath also lately taken away ) he hasteneth to them , and told them he had a warrant against one of them , but he knew neither , mr. senior asked which of them . he answered mr. stockton . let me see your warrant said mr. senior , he shewed it him , verily concluding from thence that he was the man. some little girls were there walking with them , who did industriously cling to mr. senior as if he had been their father , which further confirmed him in his error . while mr. senior read the warrant , and the officer was intent upon him , mr. stockton walked aside , and when mr. senior saw him beyond his reach , he convinced the officer of his error , who thereby was disappointed of his prey . being thus secured by the providence of god through faith and prayer from the danger of adversaries , he thankfully acknowledged the whole glory thereof to god , thus , in reading 2 chron. 20. 30. the realm of jehoshaphat was quiet , for his god gave him rest round about . god caused me to take notice , that my living in rest and quietness , being free from the molestation of my enemies was the gift of god , and came to pass by his providence , not from the privacy of the place where i lived , or from the peaceable disposition of my neighbours . i was also instructed what i should return unto the lord , for keeping me from the hands of mine enemies , and giving me rest and peace , from psal . 30. 1. i will extol ' thee , o lord , for thou hast lifted me up , and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me , and from psal . 31. 7 , 8. i saw further that gods giving me rest from mine enemies should put me upon doing some special eminent service for god , from 2 sam. 7. 1 , 2. 1 king. 5. 4 , 5. 1 chron. 22. 17 , 18 , 19. thus with unwearied pains and zeal , in great peace and security , with holy rejoycing and thanksgiving did he fulfil the course of his ministry . yet he satisfied not himself with his work of preaching , but moreover applied himself to writing for the greater service of the present and future generation . in the time of the raging pestilence he wrote a treatise relating to that sore judgment , but the pestilence ceasing before he had finished it , he did not publish it . upon occasion of the destroying fire of london , he composed and published his counsel to the afflicted . soon after he published his scriptural catechism with a treatise of family instruction . and hath left behind him several other manuscripts which he designed for the press . as the cure of the fear of death . a treatise of glorïfying god. the best interest . a warning to drunkards . some of which at least 't is hoped , may see the light . the holy ghost by st. paul to timothy 1 eph. 3. 4. among other qualifications of a good minister requireth that he be one that ruleth well his own house , having his children in subjection with all gravity . the due character of our subject . his treatise of family instruction did not reproach him . he was indeed , quantus minister , tantus pater familias . it pleased god in much mercy and faithfulness to him , to provide for him a meet-help , a most sutable yoke-fellow , a very prudent , virtuous and gracious gentlewoman , of a worthy and religious family in cambridgeshire , mrs. elianor rant , daughter of roger rant of swaffham esq ; whom he took to wife within less than a year after his call to colchester , who was a singular blessing , comfort , and honour to him all his life . few there be to whom solomons commendation do more properly belong . prov. 31. 26. &c. from thenceforth he had incumbent upon him the charge of a family . god gave him six children , whereof he left one only daughter surviving . upon the account of his own and his wifes approved wisdom , grace , gravity and government , many were desirous to get their children into his family ( even those who were of different persuasions from him , both in conformity and non-conformity . ) for their better education ; in compliance wherewith he received some youth of the female sex , that might more properly belong to the care and inspection of his wife . so as for the most part he had a full family . wherein according to his place he kept up his authority over all under his charge , but with so much meekness , prudence , and gravity , that though all stood in awe of him , yet he was more loved than feared . as to his wife , whom he worthily honoured and entirely loved , there never arising any passion or dispute between them . he frequently conversed with her about the matters of her soul , enquiring how the case stood between god and her soul , what burdens lay upon her spirit , what grounded hope she had for eternal life , &c. helping and encouraging her in the ways of godliness . the 9th day of june , being the day of their marriage , he never past it over , if at home , without spending some time with her in solemn prayer to god , and conference about the several passages of his providence towards them since they came into that relation : in the conclusion whereof he was always more affected with , and thankful for mercies , than dejected or cast down at afflictions , though he met with some considerable tryals , not only in his family as the loss of so many hopeful children , &c. but also abroad and that from those that knew better . it was his manner not only in his more private and secret retirements , but also in the performance of his family duty , to commend her particularly to god at the throne of grace . as to his children , very early before they were past the lap , he would himself be instructing of them , in gods word , ordering them to get some scriptures by heart , which best suited their childhood , and capacity ; four of them died in infancy and childhood , none having reached the full age of 5 years . concerning whom he had much satisfaction as to their eternal salvation . his first born a daughter attained to the age of 19 years and died , who had been so instructed by her father , that before she was 8 years old , she under stood the method of a sermon , and if preached by her father would give him an account of the most considerable heads and passages therein , and before she was full 9 years of age she would pen down a sermon after him , and miss but few or none of the heads , with some considerable enlargement also . about this time of her age , god suffered her corruption to exert it self , in some open acts to the observation of others , which exposed her to the severe rebuke of her parents , which god sanctified to her conviction . and as she grew up she quickly gave evidence of the truth of grace and power of godliness , making progress therein beyond her years , having a great and zealous love to the ordinances , ministers , and servants of christ , dissembling the weakness and infirmities of her body , that she might have liberty to attend the ordinances of god for her soul , walking closely with god in daily secret duty , strictly keeping the sabbaths , taking speciall notice , of the workings of grace , and sin , and , gods providential dealings with her , recording them in her diary , and under a long and mortal sickness , expressing a most christian patience and submission , to the will of god. as to his servants , so soon as they came into his family , he instructed them first in their duty towards god , next in the duty of their places ▪ giving them the evidence and authority of scripture for that which he instructed them in , and expected from them , enjoyning them to get those scriptures by heart which they were to keep in memory and repeat to him , as he called for them . as to his family together , after his own personal secret retirement and devotion , in reading the holy scriptures in course , and prayer , which was his first and last exercise , after his uprising , and before his downlying , his manner was in the morning seeking god , first by a short prayer for a blessing to read some portion of scripture , which he often also expounded , and then to proceed to prayer ; and at night after the like reading of the scripture , he required every child that was capable , and servant , to repeat one verse of that chapter or some other scripture which they had a desire might be explained to them , and of every such verse so repeated he gave the sense , and speak something to it before prayer , often exhorting his family to a reverend demeanor of themselves in the worship of god , and would be much troubled when he understood , or discerned any thing to the contrary . once a week for the most part he did catechise , both children and servants either out of the assemblies , or his own scriptural catechism and explained it to them : and once a fortnight if not diverted by urgent occasion , he went over some principle of religion , opening and explaining it in a catiehistical way , which his children and servants were to give him an account of the next fortnight , and when they had so done , he proceeded to another principle , and thus he did from time to time . what sermons the youth of the family heard upon the lords day , or at any other time , they gave an account thereof to him as they could remember . he kept private days of humiliation with his family , as often as he could gain opportunity for it , on which days he would if not prevented , deal particularly with every one , or as many as he had time for , that was under his charge , about the matters of their souls . and took care that all in his family should call upon god and pray to him in secret , as well as be present at family duty . and when any of his brethren came to vsit him . he was not willing to let them depart without prayer . his family was an house of prayer . these his labours in his family god blessed and succeeded to the spiritual good of several that came under his roof . he was most tenderly conscientious in keeping holy the sabbath day , whereof he was a strict observer , and took care that all under his roof should do the same . he kept a very severe watch not only over his words , and actions , but his very thoughts also . quickly reflecting thereon not only when vain and sinful , but when impertinent to the holiness , and duty of the day , whereof he hath left the following testimonies . april . 29. 1666. my heart was much out of frame upon the lords day , full of vain and sinful thoughts . as i was going to prayer in the afternoon alone , god brought to remembrance , ps . 40. 12 , 17. innumerable evils have compassed me about , mine iniquities have taken hold upon me , so that i am not able to look up — yet the lord thinketh upon me . this was a stay to me . apr. 4. i went forth on several occasions , none of them succeeded . the first contrivance of that journey was cast into my thoughts on the lords day in a time of prayer , i laid it aside till monday , and then considered further of it , and saw it convenient for the best ordering of my affairs . but not humbling my soul for those contrivances so unseasonably arising in my mind , i was crossed in them . hereupon i determined for time to come , when any thoughts or contrivances about ordering my affairs were cast into my mind on lords days or on other days in time of holy duties , to lay them aside till a more convenient time ; and if upon deliberation , that way of ordering my affairs seems best which was cast into my mind in time of holy duties , i would not hereupon neglect that way lest satan should get advantage of me , but i would first humble my soul for its wanderings and suffering such thoughts to arise so unseasonably , and took to christ for pardon of the irregularities of my heart , and then not fear to order my affairs in that way , that seems most agreeable to reason , and neerest the rule of gods word , though the contrivance was first cast into my mind , at an unseasonable time . having a letter of spiritual advice and counsel to write to a friend , and having no spare time but on the lords day , to do it , i was doubtful whether i might spend some part of that day on such imployment . as i was musing on my bed what i had best do , that scripture came to my mind , rev. 1. 10 , 11. i was in the spirit on the lords day , and i heard a voice saying , what thou seest write in a book , and send it to the seven churches . whence i concluded it to be lawful to write , as well as read , hear , meditate , and discourse of spirital matters on the lords day . his charity had no less measure than the rest of his graces , which he accounted one of the best characters of a christian . lamenting sometimes the divisions among professors of religion , he would say , he did not value a christian by his great knowledg and eminent parts , but by his great charity and love to his brethren . this he extended to various sorts of objects ▪ as , towards those who were at difference one with another . he was an industrious peace-maker , offering himself to interpose , to make up the breach , taking journeys when at distance in order to it . towards those that had difference with himself about worldly concernes , from which he was not altogether free , though altogether innocent , when he suffered wrong by any , his care was , that they should suffer none by him , or his , either in word or deed , always practising himself , and counselling others to do good , against evil . he would make the best construction , that was possible , of the words , and actions of his adversaries , often making mention of that scripture , 1 cor. 13. 5. charity thinketh no evil . towards his friends , his friendship was hearty , ingenuous , faithful and open . he received them into his house gladly , entertained them liberally , conversed with them cheerfully , sympathised with them in their afflictions affectionately , and served them , as he had occasion , industriously . towards those that persecuted him , and others for conscience , and religions sake , he observed the command of christ math. 5. 44. he affcctionately pitied them , and prayed for them daily . and when he heard any passionate expressions against them for their violence , and unrighteousness , he would be offended , and charge people to pray more earnestly for them , and seek opportunities to do them good . towards those that dissented from him in the matters of god , he had a spirit of meekness and forbearance , embracing all with christian love , whose practice did not destroy their profession of christianity . colchester was a very divided place , when he was called thither , upon the account of diverse persuasions , yet he so behaved himself with all humility , modiration , tenderness , brotherly kindness , aad charitable judgment , that they were generally united in their respects , and esteem for him . and though he could not with satisfaction to his conscience , conform to all that the law required , yet he judged many that did , to be very good men , and had a real honour for them . towards the poor , and such as were reduced to streights and difficulties in this world , he was pitiful and bountiful , he devised liberall things , and drew out his soul to the hungry . in the exercise whereof he observed our saviours rule math. 6. 1 , 2 , 3. this indeed was one of his secrets which he always industriously , concealed as much as he could . yet variety of objects bare witness to him . the widow , the fatherless , the stranger , the sick , the sufferers , have all been refreshed from his compassions . though he offered to preach freely at st , james's church in colchester , on lords day mornings ( as hath been before mentioned ) not desiring or expecting any reward , yet the civility of the people did gratifie him for his pains . the greatest part of which ( i am assured from an hand privy to it ) he distributed to charitable uses . and this i read under his own hand . nov. 1. 1665. i made a vow to god to give him the tenth of all that he should give unto me the ensuing year . that which occasioned me to vow this vow , was the reading , gen. 28. which fell out that morning in my ordinary course ; where i observed that most of those blessings , which jacob mentions as his inducement to his vow , god had given me . he had vouchsafed me his presence , he had graciously preserved and kept me from my enemies , and the noysome pestilence , he had given me bread and raiment , i added pro. 3. 9. honour the lord with thy substance , and with the first fruits of all thine encrease . i considered also that what i gave to god should be fruit abounding to my account . phil. 4. 17. math. 25. 34 , 35 , 36. i considered which way i should give it to god , and i saw from , prov. 19. 17. that what was given to the poor was given to god : especially what was given to the poor saints and members of christ , math. 25. 35 , 40. and as to the suffering ministers of christ . i determined to bestow part of what i had dedicated to god , on them , and that though they were not brought to such extremities , as not to know how to subsist . i was moved thereunto by , phil. 4. 10 , 11 , 14 , 18. the apostle paul was not in such want but that he knew how to live comfortably , and contentedly , yet he saith the philippians , did well in communicating with his afflictions , and tells them that their charity towards him was an odour of a sweet smell , a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to god. towards the church of god in general , his indefatigable labours in preaching and writing ; his frequent fastings and humiliations , his fervent and wrestling prayers for the peace of jerusalem ; his affectionate sympathizing with her in her sufferings , are the undeniable testimonies of his love. his own liberality and stirring up of others thereunto , for the education of such poor schollars as were hopeful for the work of the ministry is the effect of the same principle . to which must be added his last-will and testament , wherein out of pure zeal and love to the service and enlargement of the church , he hath bequeathed the greatest part of his well furnished library , even the choicest and most valuable of his books to gonvile and caius colledge in cambridge ; with five hundred pounds to be laid out by his executrix in purchasing a free-hold estate , or impropriation to be setled upon the said colledge , for the maintenance of a schollar and fellow there successively for ever . providing that such only be elected thereto , as are poor , or orphans , or the sons of poor ministers of the best and most hopeful parts , obliging them to the study of divinity and the ministerial work ; taking special care that such be well grounded and established in the orthodox faith , the true reformed protestant religion ; and in case any such elected shall become corrupt in doctrine , or scandalous in life , then after due admonition , and non-reformation , his place to be declared void , and another to be chosen in his stead , and none to enjoy it longer than twelve years . besides which he hath also bequeathed , in case his only daughter shall die before she shall accomplish the age of one and twenty years , twenty pounds per annum to be setled upon the colledge in new england , for the education of a converted indian , or any other that will learn the indian language to be a minister , and go to preach the gospel to the poor indians . ( nor was this the first expression of his pious regard to that remote part of the world , for when he heard of that wasting fire that laid so great a part of boston in n. e. in ashes , he sent thither freely to be distributed among the sufferers , a considerable quantity of his books , entituled counsel to the afflicted , which he had wrote upon the occasion of the burning of london . ) beyond which he hath also given twenty five pound to charitable uses . which bequests he hath made yet with all due respect to his family , not in the least declining from the kindness of an husband , or the tenderness of a father , so ordering his charity to others , as withal securing to his widow and fatherless child , not only a necessary and competent , but even a liberal and plentiful subsistence ; reserving to them the rent of what he hath bequeathed to the colledge during their natural lives . hitherto the reader hath had an account of this eminent saint given him for the most part from those acts and exercises of his life , by which he was visible to the discerning and judicious eyes of those that knew him . we shall now proceed to give a further account of those his own observations , and experiences of himself through which we may look into the very frame and temper , the thoughts and affections of his heart , some of which he hath thus recorded . his observations and experiences . jan. 10. 1653. in reading of calvins institutions i met with that place in isa . 44. 3. upon the reading whereof ( having been the the night before under conviction of the emptiness and barrenness of my soul , and some despondency of spirit thereupon ) i conceived some hope , and found my soul lifted up towards god , to wait for and expect the shedding abroad of his spirit in my soul , seeing he had said , he would pour it out upon the dry ground ; but alas ! the lively sense of this was but momentany , it was soon gone , and my old deadness of heart returned upon me . hence i observe that it is of singular use both for the establishment of true , and discerning of false comforts to see upon what grounds our souls take in , and upon what grounds they let go their comforts . the letting go of our comforts oftimes proceed from our letting go of the promises . when satan can prevail to beat us off from the promise , he will quickly rob us of our comfort . i find that at several times i have been kept under doubts , and fears , and jealousies , and yet have had no scripture grounds for them , so that i perceive they proceede● from satan darkning my heart , and keeping me in unbelief , and trouble of spirit . feb. 16. my soul being dejected because after long w●iting upon god , for the fulfilling of his covenant in giving his spirit , and carrying on the work of faith , and sanctification with power , it had found no sensible in-comes ; when i was reading the scripture according to my usual custom , the lord did rebuke the despondency of my spirit from those words of the prophet isa . 40. 27. why sayest thou o jacob , and speakest o israel my way is hid from the lord , and my judgment is passed over from my god. and did encourage my soul still to hope in god , and wait for his strength from the following words . v. 28 ▪ 29. 31. hast thou not known , hast thou not heard ? ( if thou hast not known it by experience having found his everlasting arms under thee for thy support , yet hast thou not at least heard it ) that the everlasting god , the lord , the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not , neither is weary . he giveth power to the faint , &c. continue thou therefore o my soul , to wait upon the lord. lord ! what an accursed hard heart have i ! that sin which grieves thee gen. 6. 6. thy son. mar. 3. 5. thy spirit , eph. 4. 30. should not grieve me ! that sin which wearieth thee isa . 43. 24. should not be a burden to me ! that i should not be troubled for want of thy presence , when as the hiding of thy face made our saviour cry out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? that eternity and judgment to come should make no impression upon me , that i can hear , yea speak of thy word , thy wrath , &c. and yet not fear thee , not tremble at thy word , nor at this my condition . feb. 19. being sabbath day . having formerly perceived a desperate hardness in my heart , that that word , which works upon others , should do me no good , that no means , no mercies did melt my soul , and almost despairing of ever having it softened . after prayer i was encouraged from the lord in reading mr. hooker upon act. 2. 37. who from those words , when they heard these things they ( who had crucified our lord christ ) were pricked at the heart , raiseth this observation , it is possible even for the most stubborn sinner to get a broken heart . and now o my soul , why art thou cast down ? is not the lord greater than thy heart ? can satan be more malicious to destroy thee than the lord is merciful to save thee ? yet the actings of my faith hereupon are but faint . upon examination of my self , i have sometimes found that to mine own sense and feeling , i have been altogether void of any love or fear of god , and that i have been at such a time as unable to work up my heart into the love and fear of god , as to say to this mountain , be thou removed and cast into the sea. such wonderful deadness hath seised upon my soul , so greatly have i been enslaved , and held captive by satan that i have not been able truly to desire the spirit of god. o that my heart could bleed at the remembrance of this great evil , that i should not only be cut off from communion with god , but be contented with this condition , that i should have no groanings in spirit to be delivered from this miserable bondage . be instructed hence o my soul to ascribe every good motion to god , if thou feelest any hungrings after jesus christ , or any sorrow for want of gods presence or the like , own it as his work , and bless him for it . i have sometimes found my condition much like the man mentioned joh. 5. who lay a long time by the pool of bethesda , but was not able to put himself in , that he might be healed , even so it is with my soul. though god hath opened a fountain for sin and for uncleanness to wash in , and i find my soul exceedingly polluted , yet i am not able to step into this fountain that i may be healed . o my soul , the lord seeth thy weakness , and that thou hast been now a long time in this case , wait thou on god. who can tell but that as the bowels of jesus christ did yearn towards the poor man , so may his compassions be great towards thee , and he may heal thee also . cease not to importune him saying , jesus , thou son of god , have mercy on me , o lord , heal my soul. having at several times found diverse workings upon my heart as convictions , and thereupon some pantings and breathings after god , but as yet nothing come to perfection , i thought of and found that i had cause to take up the complaint of hezekiah in another case , it is a day of trouble and rebuke , the children are come to the birth , and there is no strength to bring forth . isa . 37. 3. some time after reading isa . 66. it seemed to me that that word v. 9. was suited to my case . shall i bring to the birth , and not cause to bring forth , saith the lord ? shall i cause to bring forth and shut the womb , saith thy god ? o my soul wait thou on god , who will perfect his own work in thee . he hath said , he will not break the bruised reed , nor quench the smoking flax , till he sent forth judgment unto victory . i have oftimes seen a law in my members warring against the law of my mind , and leading me into captivity to the law of sin and death . so powerful and mighty have been the actings of some inward corruptions , that i have not been able to overcome them , but have been hurried captive by them . hereby i come to see that truth , the heart of man is desperately wicked , who can know it ? i cannot fathom the depth of iniquity which is in my heart . hereupon i am made to cry out with st. paul , o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of death ? o lord be not thou far from me , but make hast to help me , let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee , proclaim liberty to thy captive , and the opening of the prison door to him that is bound with the chain of sin . isa . 61. 1. mar. 26. 1654. i find that though in my judgment and profession i acknowledge christ to be my righteousness and peace , yet upon examination i observe that my heart hath done quite another thing , and that secretly i have gone about to establish my own righteousness ; and have derived my comfort and peace from my own actings . for when i have been disquieted by the actings of my sin , that which hath recovered me to my former peace , hath not been ( that i could find ) god speaking peace through the blood of christ , but rather from the intermission of temptation and the cessation of those sins ; when i have been troubled at an evil frame of heart , i do not find that the righteousness of christ hath been my consolation , but that which hath relieved me , as far as i can find , was that afterward i found my self in a better temper . having been in trouble and perplexity i have read the scripture , gone to prayer , and in doing these i have been relieved , yet i do not find that at such times i had real , true , living communion with god in such duties , or that the spirit of god did in those duties reveal to me my interest in christ , and so quiet my conscience . hence i come to see what great need i have , and that it is of singular use to watch over my soul in all its ways , both in reference to sin , that i fall not into it , and when fallen , what the carriage and actings of my soul are at such a time ; whether i flee for relief to god in christ , or to my own works : and in reference to my duties , to take heed lest those means which god hath appointed to be the conveyances of himself , his son and spirit , and all spiritual blessings , should prove to me a mean of death and separation from god , by my formal use of them and resting in them . for as satan keeps some alienated from god by the gross pollutions of the world ; so others from christ by their establishing a righteousness of their own . o lord , break thou this snare for me , and let my soul escape as a bird from the net , that i may flee to thee , and be at rest . i have observed in my self , that when god at any time is pleased to work any thing in my soul , i soon lose it ; if he quicken me , i soon grow dead hearted again ; if he enliven my affections , they soon grow cold and flat , and my old hardness returns upon me . hence i come to see that it is infinite wisdom , and goodness in god , that he hath not put the stock of grace into our own hands , but hath treasured it up in christ , that our life is now hid with christ in god , for so it becomes sure . rom. 4. 16. hereby also i come to see that i have need of continual recourse to jesus christ , for new supplies of grace and strength . the lord god in his wisdom , was pleased when he delivered his people out of egypt , before he brought them to canaan , to lead them 40 years in the wilderness , when as he could have led them a nearer way to canaan , exod. 13. 17. he chose rather to lead them through the great and terrible wilderness , jer. 2. 6. where were fiery serpents and scorpions , and drought , where there was no water , where he brought them forth water out of the rock of flint , and fed them with manna , for this end that he might humble them , prove them , and do them good in the latter end , deut. 8. 15 , 16. doest thou find it so , o my soul , in thy travail towards the heavenly canaan : doest thou walk through much spiritual drought , a land of deserts , and of the shadow of death : dost meet with a flinty heart , and fiery temptations ? know that the lord doth this to humble thee . ( which through his grace thou hast sometimes found , ) and to prove thee , i. e , to discover thee to thy self ( for he himself knows thy thoughts afar off ) and this way of god through grace hath been a means of discovering much of thy corrupt heart to thee ) and that he may doe thee good in the latter end . therefore take heed o my soul of israel's sins , of murmuring against god , under thy wants , of unbeleif , and tempting god , &c. read oft and weight well the 78th psalm . may 6. being sabbath day . the lord was pleased in the hearing of his word to convince me of my sin and lost condition . but lord ? how unfaithful was i then , and have i been since to the convictions of thy spirit ! how soon have i healed up the wound that was given by the word ? how soon hath an hard heart , a secure , careless spirit taken possession of me ! lord , if ever thy word be effectual in me , thou must not only speak it to my heart , but write and engraff it there also . henceforth i desire to wait on thee , as for the teachings of thy spirit , so for the writing of thy law in my heart by thy spirit . i found a lothness in my spirit , to go to here this sermon , whereby i perceive satan would have hindred me . be encouraged hence , o my soul , to break through all difficulties thou meetest with in doing thy duty . when thou findest any secret unwillingness to ordinances or duties , then stir up thy self to wait upon god , expecting that he hath some special mercy for thee , which satan would hinder thee off . jun. 1. this day the lord did , in the hearing of his word , revive some convictions which have formerly been upon my spirit , though in a very languid manner . i stood convinced before the lord of unbelief , and that i was a lost creature because thereof , from the words of our saviour , joh. 3. 18. he that believeth not is condemned already . conscience tells me that i am yet in unbelief , that i want that faith which is accompanied with the new birth joh. 1. 12 , 13. that faith which should purge me from atheism , formality , and resting in duties , from hypocrisie and deadness , from unclean affections , and inordinate love of the world , from a vain mind , and a light spirit ; that faith which should purifie my heart , from these and the like evils , act. 15. 9. that faith which should make christ a greater reality , and more precious to me than any thing in the world , 1 pet. 2. 7. that faith which brings peace with god , and joy in the holy ghost , unspeakable and full of glory , rom. 5. 1. 1 pet. 1. 8. i find i have had a dead faith . jam. 2. 17 , 20. and presumed upon gods mercy in christ , although i have been estranged from god in my heart and nature , my resting in duties , and trusting in my own righteousness as far as i can see , hath been the deceit of my heart . lord lay this conviction upon my conscience , for i find my heart would put it off , yea it hath already desperately hardned it self against thee . i fear i shall out-grow this conviction of thy word , as at other times , i feel a careless spirit , that would make light of eternity , and of jesus christ . lord , break my heart under thy word for my unbelief , and neglect of christ . let me not heal my self , but wait till thou shalt heal me . thou didst help the unbelief of thy servant thomas , oh that thou wouldest help mine also . the lord hath shewn me that i am dead in sin not only from the testimony of his word , eph. 2. 1. col. 2. 13. but by inward experience . for i feel my self alienated from the life of god , cut off from communion with the lord jesus , separate from god and his blessed spirit . my deceitful heart hath often gone about to repel this conviction , and hath caused me sometimes to mistake , a life of morality for spiritual life , and at other times a life of formality . but now i find the scripture speaks of dead works , and calls for repentance from them . heb. 6. 1. and purging our consciences from them , heb. 9. 14. by dead works i understand , not only the gross pollutions of the world , but all works whatever , that are done by a man , void of the quickning spirit of god. without union to christ there is no spiritual life , for as the natural life results from the union of the soul with the body , and the state of death , is nothing but the disunion and separation of the soul from the body ; so our spiritual life results from the souls union with christ , and spiritual death is our separation from him . now i feel my self as a poor withered branch cut off from this vine , unacquainted with the actings of this spiritual life , as living by faith , serving god in spirit , mortifying sin by the spirit , walking in the spirit , loving god above all things , and seeking his glory in all things . i have sometimes prayed against sin , resolving against it , striven with it , avoided occasions thereto ( all which a natural man may do ) but sin hath returned upon me , and overcome me . how to fetch power from christs death to mortifie sin , how to believe in god for subduing it , how to do it by the spirit , these have been mysteries to me . lord , when shall the day dawn , and the day-star arise in my heart ? when shall the day-spring from on high , visit my soul , to give light to him that sits in darkness , and in the shadow of death ? come lord jesus thou light of life , come quickly . that which kept me a long time from resolving to give up my whole heart to god in covenant , was a fear that i should break my covenant and so double my sin . but i perceive since that this was but satans policy to keep my heart from god , and the true ground of my not doing this was not conscienciousness of sin , as satan once made me believe , but a loathness to part with all sin , and to serve god with all my heart . a strong encouragement thou hast o my soul , to enter covenant with god , to serve him with thy whole heart , from that portion of his word , which thou didst read this morning , may. 11. 1654. in jer. 30. 21 , 22. who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me saith the lord ? ye shall be my people and i will be your god. since my covenanting with god i come to see more fully the truth of that place , rom. 8. 7. the carnal mind is enmity against god , is not subject to the law of god , neither indeed can be . for i find a loathness to walk closely with god , yea under a profession of religion , my carnal heart hath been at enmity to the power and life of it , and this enmity hath lyen hid under , and been covered with a performance of some duties , which have not been destructive to that evil principle that hath lived in me . yea , i find my carnal heart is hungring after the flesh-pots of egypt , after its old delights and sinful pleasures , is ready to murmur against god in the wilderness and speaks of returning into egypt , and being impatient of the cross it revolts from god many a time , and seeks relief and contentment from the creature . since my covenanting with god i see more of thee treachery and hypocrisie of my heart , i found my soul for a while more tender of sin , and my heart seemingly engaged to serve the lord. but i soon forgot the covenant that i had made , and in a short space i did not find that my covenanting had any influence on my heart or life . so that i see i did but flatter the lord with my mouth , and lyed unto him with my tongue , for my heart was not right with him , neither was i stedfast in his covenant , ps . 78. 36 , 37. my unstedfastness in my covenant with the lord , did arise as far as i perceive from these two grounds , 1. my heart was not right with god when i made it , there was not that inward , cordial , full resolution to part with all sin , and that for ever , from an antipathy to it , and dislike of it , neither that inward resolution of cleaving to god , to have him my all in all , to take all my contentment and joy in him , and to seek it in nothing else , which should have been . 2. i neglected my watch , and did not ( as i should ) renew my covenant often , and engage my heart to walk with god , and while i was slothful , and negligent , my heart was stolen away by the devil , and the world , and is now in league again with sin. lord , make me upright , and clear up to me my sincerity , search me and try me , and let me know the bottom of my heart . keep me upon my watch and guard , that i may keep my covenant . jul. 23. the lord did awaken my consience to such a sense of my sin , and lost estate in the reading and hearing of his word , that when i went to prayer , i was before him as a lost creature , being under wrath and the sentence of death , lying in my blood and pollution . now whereas before i found my heart carried out in begging sanctification , i did now cry to god for the blood of christ to wash away the guilt of my sin , i did not before prize justifying grace so as now in some weak measure i was made to doe . but i soon found an accursed hard heart , in a little time i did not tremble at the wrath of god. i have laboured to work these convictions upon my heart , but i found such a roving heart , such a slighty heart so possest with vanity that nothing would abide with it . lord , unless thou savest me for thy mercies sake , i perish . aug. 6. being sabbath day . in meditation on 1 joh. 3. 23. this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son jesus christ . considering with my self what this did imply , viz. not only a relying upon god in christ , for the remission of sin , but for the pouring out of the spirit , joh. 7. 38 , 39. which spirit when it is given will shed abroad the love of god in our hearts , rom. 5. 5. and seal up the assurance of the remission of our sins , and witness our addoption , rom. 8 , 16. will mortifie sin in us v. 13. and work all the works of god in us , and for us , all which i want , and to which i haven been a long time convinced that i am unable . and considering further that this spirit is the free gift of god , ps . 51. 12. given not according to our works but of free mercy for the sake of christ , tit. 3. 4. 5 , 6. and considering further that jesus christ had received gifts ( of which the gift of the spirit is intended ) even for the rebellious , that god might dwell among them ps . 68. 18. i found my heart encouraged to wait upon the lord for the pouring forth of his spirit upon me , that i might have my heart renewed and sanctified , and the remission of my sins sealed up to my soul. afterwards considering further that the way whereby a poor soul that hath lost gods image comes to be renewed in heart and mind and made partaker of the divine nature , is by faith in the promises , 2 pet. 1. 4. and observing how isaac who inherits the blessing was not born by the strength of nature but by promise , and as isaac was born through the promise , so are all believers , gal. 4. 28. not of the will of man but of god , joh. 1. 13. and that god giveth power to the faint , and strength to them that have no might in a way of waiting isa . 40. 29 , 31. i saw from these considerations further ground of hope and waiting upon god , notwithstanding i find my strength perished from me . neither shall the guilt of my sin discourage me from waiting on god , from expecting of his holy spirit , from going to christ . the whole need not a physitian , christ deales with sinners , mar. 2. 17. he hath said , he will in no wise cast out them that come , to him joh. 6. 37. why did he shed his blood to wash away our sins . how is he the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world , if he should cast off guilty souls when they come unto him ? is there not a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness to wash in ? zach. 13. 1. what though i be in my blood , yet if i go to christ , he will not loath me , ezek. 16. 6 , 8. but will sprinkle clean water upon me and wash me from my filthyness , ezek. 36. 25. when therefore i find guilt upon me , i will look to jesus christ in such promises as these , isa . 1. 18. — 43. 25 , 26. — 44. 21 , 22. i will cry unto him that i may have the pardon of my sin sealed up to my soul in these promises by his holy spirit . neither shall my rebellious heart , the perverseness , and corruption of my nature discourage me , but i will with david beg a new heart and a right spirit , ps . 51. 10. i will say as ephraim , jer. 31. 18. turn thou me and i shall be turned . god hath sent christ to bless us in turning us from our iniquities act. 3. 26. and to destroy what satan hath wrought in us . 1. joh. 3. 8. therefore when i feel sin prevail and lead me captive , i will with paul cry out of this body of death , rom. 7. 24. and go to god in jesus christ , through such promises as these , mic. 7. 18 , 19. rom. 6. 14. math. 11. 28. isa . 45. 22. jer. 31. 33. ezek. 36. 26. when i feel my self graceless , i will look to him who is full of grace , joh. 1. 14. 16. and hath promised to give grace , ps . 84. 11 even an heart to love him , deut. 30. 6. and to put his fear into us , jer. 32. 40. and to withhold no good thing , if we endeavour to walk uprightly before him , ps . 84. 11. when i find the plague of an hard dead heart upon me , i will look unto the lord , who quickens the dead , rom. 4. 17. and can raise children to abraham out of stones , math. 3. 9. i will look unto him in his covenant , promising to take away the heart of stone , and to give an heart of flesh , ezek. 36. 26. in time of desertion , when god withdraws the comfortable influences of his presence , i will not be discouraged , but i will search my heart , and try my ways , and see what cause i have given the lord to depart from me , lam. 3. 40. josh . 7. 11. 12 , 13. isa . 59. 2. i will earnestly seek the lord that he would return , and shine upon me , and lift up the light of his countenance upon my soul , ps . 80. 3. — 89. 46. hos . 5. 15. i will not only pray , but wait for his return , ps . 130. 5 , 6. isa . 8. 17. lam. 3. 2 , 3. &c. with 26. and in waiting i will look unto the lord in these , or like promises . ps . 103. 8 , 9. isa . 54. 6 , 7 , 8. — 57. 16 , 17 , 18. lam. 3. 31 , 32. hos . 6. 1 , 2 , 3. joh. 14. 18. when i have neglected my watch , and fallen , and been unstedfast in covenant with god i will not despair but look to god in christ , that he would pardon my sin , grant me repentance , and restore me . the covenant of grace admits of repentance after sin , levit. 26. 21. 40. 41 , 42. yea god hath exalted christ to give repentance , act. 5. 31. hath promised to heal back-slidings , hos . 14. 4. invites backsliders to return , jer. 3. 1 , 12 , 13 , 14. how did david behave himself when iniquities prevailed over him ? he goeth to god , to purge away his transgression , ps . 65. 3. he maketh supplication to god that he would not cast him out of his presence , ps . 51. 11. he confesseth his sin , and god pardons him , ps . 32. 5. which should encourage , all the godly when they have fallen , to return to the lord ver . 6. st. john layeth strict charge upon believers , that they sin not , but in case of sin he would not have them despair , 1 joh. 2. 1 , 2. solomon prayed to this purpose , 1 kings . 8. and god accepted . ch . 9 , 3. when therefore thou hast fallen , o my soul , by thine iniquity , and god hid his face , and withdraws his gracious presence , let thy uncircumcised heart be humbled , accept of the punishment of thy sin . turn unto the lord and and say , take away all iniquity and receive me graciously , so will i praise thee , lev. 26. 41. hos . 14. 2. let not thy falls cause thee to depart from the living god. though thou hast played the harlot with many lovers yet the lord calleth thee to return , jer. 3. 1. god commands us to forgive our brother , seven times a day , if he return and repent , luk. 17. 4. yea not only seven times , but seventy times seven , math. 18. 21 , 22. and will not god much more forgive us though we fall oft , if we return and seek his face , seeing his ways are far above our ways ? isa . 55. 7 , 9. dec. 9. 1655. having found much formality in my duties on the sabbath , and seeing my self lost in them , i put the question to my soul , what if thou die this night ? what is thy hope ? how wilt thou appear before god ? righteousness of thine own thou hast none to trust to , thou seest how thou sinnest every day , and how full of sin thy best duties are . upon this enquiry the good spirit of god brought to my remembrance , 1 cor. 1. 30. god hath made christ righteousness to us , and jer. 23. 6. this is the name by which he shall be called . the lord our righteousness , which was comfort to me , and enquiring what warrant i had to believe my self to be a sharer in this righteousness , and that i stand accepted of god , by vertue of this righteousness , i saw from , rom. 3. 21 , 22. that this righteousness is upon all that believe . now through the lords goodness , and to his praise be it spoken , i have oftimes found my heart not only to long after pardon , and renovation , but to trust in christ and in god through him , for pardoning mercy and renewing grace , and all other good things . dec. 16. i found the lord graciously present with me in my morning meditation on my bed. and my soul was much refreshed with mr. simond's sermon . god spake a sutable word by him to my soul from mat. 15. 23. but he answered her not a word . god may sometimes defer to give an answer to a gracious and well qualified prayer . 1. to correct our deafness to his voice . 2. to put us upon more earnest seeking of him . 3. to exercise and try our graces . god proportions mercies according to his delays , they are the greater when given in . sarah tarried long for a son , and then had an isaac . so did hanna , but then had a samuel . so elizabeth but then had a john , my heart rejoyced at this , hoping that god would give an high degree of brokenness of heart in his own due time , though at present my heart were hard . and i remembred how hard mr. bradfords heart was once as to his own sense , and how eminent he was afterward for tenderness , as m. fox relates . god was very good this day . but oh! how vile and sinful was i ! i felt a very proud vain-glorious heart both in hearing , and after sermon was done . but the lord chastised me for it . for at night when i preached in the chappel the lord forsook me , i found no assistance of his spirit , either in prayer or preaching , but was much confounded in both , having little or no sense of the things i spake of , or prayed for . we read of naaman 2 king. 5. 11. that he expected a miraculous way of cure . i thought said he , he will surely come out and stand and call on the name of the lord his god , and strike his hand over the place , and recover the leper . so have i found my self apt to expect that the spirit of god should mortifie and subdue sin in me without my striving against it . but i have learned it is the will of god , that i should strive against sin as well as pray and wait for his spirit . gods working in us to will and to do , excludes not our endeavouring . phil. 2. 12 , 13. having promises let us cleanse our selves . 2 cor. 7. 1. octob. 17. i was immoderate in the use of the creatures , and though checked and reproved from within , yet i persisted . at night when i walked in my chamber , considering what i had done , i was sad , and said to god , lord i have rebelled against thee . i had no sooner said it in my heart , but immediately that word was brought to me . dan. 9. 9. to the lord our god belong mercies and forgivenesses ( he will forgive again and again ) though we have rebelled against him . o the wonderful goodness of god! be amazed , o my soul , at this love. now i saw the promise ( isa . 65. 24. before they call i will answer , and whilst they are yet speaking i will hear ) made good to me . in the evening on my bed considering on this love of god , whence it should come to pass that the lord should deal thus graciously with me , it was answered me from mic. 7. 18. he passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage because he delighteth in mercy . next morning at my first awaking the spirit of god brought that scripture into my thoughts . ps . 65. 3. iniquities prevail against me , as for our trangressions thou shalt purge them away . it came to me with some life and power , and was very sutable to my condition . oh the goodness of god! the riches of his grace ! that he should so soon come into my relief , and raise my soul by his promise ; this is mercy never to be forgotten . sept. 28. in meditation i found the lord drawing forth my heart to close with christ . i was convinced that god was willing to bestow his son upon me , because he did not only invite me isa . 55. 1. and command me 1 joh. 3. 23. but even beseech and entreat me to receive christ . 2 cor. 5. 20. i was further convinced of gods real intention , and willingness to give me his son from his patient waiting and long-suffering in expecting my return , even after much deafness to the voice of his spirit , and dallying with his grace , he still offers his son to me , yea he presseth in upon me with the renewing of good motions and affections which i have quenched . now whence is all this but from the love and mercy of god that he should be thus willing to have me take his son ? now who am i that i should withstand god ? why should i forsake my own mercies ? lord thou hast shewn me that my former revoltings shall not hinder this thy mercy , if i will acknowledge my sin , renounce my self , return unto thee and embrace thy son. jer. 3. 12 , 13. o lord , i thankfully accept thy offer of grace , i come unto thee , oh give me thy son ; behold , i give thee my self . let me be espoused to the lord jesus , i am willing through grace to take up my cross , to deny my self , and to follow thee . nov. 1. having set apart that day to seek the lord , and to humble my soul before him , i could not get my heart to be afflicted and mourn under sin , but found much lightness in prayer , the lord hid his face , and did not come in to my poor soul with his quickning presence . so that i lay in a poor desolate , forsaken condition under much confusion , yet in the evening a little before going to bed , seeking the lord again i was revived in reading psal . 40. especially v. 17. i am poor and needy yet the lord thinketh upon me , &c. and next morning in reading psal . 9. 10. 18. thou lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee ; the needy shall not alway be forgotten , the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever . i was thereby encouraged still to wait and hope . o lord , i have sought thee , withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me . how long wilt thou hide thy face from me ! o when wilt thou come unto me ! make hast to help me o my god. i am poor and needy , o let me not be forgotten for ever , let not my expectation perish for ever , and now o lord , what is my expectation ? it is even this , the giving in of mercy and grace through the lord jesus , pardoning mercy and renewing grace . it is the pouring out of thy spirit , the taking away the heart of stone , and giving an heart of flesh , it is an heart to know thee , to fear thee , to love thee , and obey thee , &c. dec. 6. being in trouble and distress of spirit , because the lord hid his face , and withdrew himself from me , i went in the poverty of my spirit to trinity lecture , and with some expectation to meet with god in his own ordinance . the lord was gracious to me , and spake comfort to me from his word . i see it is good to wait upon god , though he send the rich empty away , yet he filleth the hungry with good things . my soul was glad and rejoyced for a season . but going into the country the same day , among friends and variety of worldly affairs , i lost something of the savour and relish which the good word of god left upon me . and i found palpably my soul resting in those comforts which i had received , and growing secure and careless ; from whence the lord gave me this instruction , that i am a poor silly wretch , knowing neither how to want nor how to abound , apt to murmur and repine in straits , and to be lifted up and grow secure in enlargements . o lord ! in every condition i need thy grace to teach me how to behave my self . o shew me thy way , and lead me therein for thy name-sake . also the lord taught me hence , that i ought to be patient under his hand when he hideth his face , and to resign up my will to his will , inasmuch as i do not know what is good for my self . the lord seeth i should be worse it may be , if i enjoyed more than i do , and therefore in wisdom and mercy he keeps me in a low condition . my confusion sometimes hath been so great , that i have been so unsetled , and at such a loss in my soul that i knew not what to do ; all former workings have been questioned and judged as nothing . in the hour of such temptation the lord taught me , besides prayer and searching into my soul , to have recourse to former experiences . psal . 77. 10 , 11. and psal . 85. octob. 11. in the morning i bewailed it before god , that i was still at a loss to know whether i loved him ; and after prayer i read 1 joh. 2 ch . and i was made in a more special manner to take notice of v. 5. whoso keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected . me-thought i saw god answering my prayer , and telling me out of this word , that i loved him . in him verily , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it is a sure sign of love to god , we need not doubt of it , if we keep his word . now if i know my own heart i desire to do so . if the love of god be perfected in him that keeps his word , then surely it is begun in him that desires and endeavours to keep his word . jan. 25. the lord helped me with tears to bewall mine abominations , even my original and actual sins , my formality , earthliness , alienation from him , &c. therein he did remember and fulfil that gracious promise ezek. 36. 31. i found godly sorrow sweet , not only in the root and fountain thereof ( it being a covenant blessing ) but in the very actings of it . feb. 2. in the evening upon my bed the lord did graciously melt my heart in the sight of sin under this consideration , that it was against infinite love. i was ashamed , confounded and abashed , because i had so long slighted , neglected , rebelled against a god of love. my soul even trembled at it . jan. 15. 1655. having been the day before with one under great temptations , and hearing of another under a wounded spirit , my heart was melted in prayer , whilst i was praising god for his long patience in the days of my sinning , and his tenderness and gentleness towards me in my conversion . jan. 16. i found my heart drawn out to a recumbence on jesus christ . the spirit saith come . rev. 22. 17. christ saith , come . joh. 7. 37. and the father saith , come . mat. 22. 4. and who am i , o lord , that i should gainsay such invitations . behold , o lord , i come , and put my trust in thee . jan. 26. i preached twice , and had very gracious assistance , much beyond expectation , in the week before i was much indisposed , and could not get my heart to a setled meditation of what i was to speak . i was under a great sense of my impotency , and laboured in the fire , till saturday afternoon ; when i cried to the lord he was gracious to me , and answered me . after my work was over i was much assaulted with spiritual pride . i saw plainly , the reason of gods delaying his assistance , and giving me such sense of my weakness , was to keep me humble . every way o lord ! i see my own vileness , when thou withdrawest from me then my heart dieth , and my strength fails , and i am ready to be froward . when thou enlargest me , then i am ready to be puffed up . oh pardon and purge away all my sin for thy names sake . mar. 23. in singing the 15 th . psalm i found comfort , my conscience bearing me witness that i laboured after those things , which are set down as characters of a citizen of the new jerusalem . sept. 28. i had sweet meditations upon my bed , i found god in my morning prayer also in private , and assistance in preaching , but not such an influence of the spirit in publick prayer , as i have sometimes found . yet i had begged of god , that he would give me his presence in publick , as a token that he accepted of me and my work ; but he withdrew . i feared hereupon , that i had tempted god , and sinned in begging new signs of his favour , when i had had such great experience of his goodness many times before . lord , forgive the sin of thy servant . nov. 23. examining my self about a work of grace , i had some comfort from ps . 40. 8. delight in doing the will of god is an argument of the law written in the heart . now i found that i had a delight especially in some duties , as visiting the sick , comforting of distressed consciences , &c. i was somewhat terrified from that word in job . ch . 42. 7. i was afraid least in my preaching i should sometimes speak those things of god that were not right , and soon after going to prayer , i was in time of prayer comforted from joh. 16. 13. the spirit shall guide you into all truth . dec. 7. i found the lord very much answering my prayer in giving very gracious , and powerful assistance both in prayer and preaching at trinity lecture on sabbath day . i may say as jaber . 1 chron. 4. 10. who said , oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed , and be with me ! and god granted my request . the next morning there came a woman to me , and said she was troubled at the sermon that she could scarce sleep all night ; for she bad not gone so far as the scribes and pharisees , and that which added to the mercy was , god kept me humble after this enlargement . mar. 31. 1657. i had a very evident answer of prayer . i was at a pinch for some money , i begged of god that i might be supplied , and that afternoon one to whom i had lent a little money brought it me , which was enough for my present necessities , the circumstances were very remarkable . i sought the lord also to be with the parish in the choice of their church-wardens , and there were those two chosen , whom if i had had the nomination , i should have chosen my self . apr. 21. i kept a day of fast to the lord. i found god graciously with me in prayer , the chief thing that i propounded was to seek direction as to my preaching on week-days . among other things i begged of god a supply of my wants , being in some straits for want of money . that very night one brought me 10 s. for preaching a funeral sermon , which i expected not ; and the next morning the church-wardens of st. andrews parish brought me 7 l. and upwards , whereby i was sufficiently supplied . i could not but take notice of an evident answer of prayer , and a fulfilling of that promise , prov. 28. 27. he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack . april . 24. being desired to go to a poor christian , i promised to go ; there being only two maids in the house , i considered whether it might not prove some scandal to go ; but considering also she was a member of christ , and therefore i ought to administer to her soul , i resolved to commit the taking care of my name to the lord , and to do my duty . i begged of him that he would secure me from reproach , and as i went an honest poor man met me , to whom i told whither i was going , and asked him to go along with me ; he was willing , and did so . i looked upon him as sent by the providence of god in answer to my prayer . these were some of those observations and experiences which he recorded during his continuance at cambridge . upon his removal from thence he intermitted this practice for some years , but resumed it again . octob. 1662. god put it into my heart , as at other times so especially on wednesdays ( the day on which i was wont to preach my lecture ) when i was not diverted by some unexpected providence , to lament after the lord who had cast me out of my employment in his vineyard , and to seek to him for a discovery of the cause for which he contends with me , and that he would shew me for what sin or sins he hath sent this sad affliction , and that he would give me a sanctified use thereof , by purging out my sins and making me more holy , and that he would restore me again to some employment in his vineyard , when and where it shall seem good in his sight . being sad and dejected because i had sinned now i was under the afflicting hand of god , i was very much revived by isa . 57. 17 , 18. i smote him — he went on in the way of his own heart , i have seen his ways and will heal him . having afterward sinned again , and been over-powred by a corruption which had oft prevailed over me , i was caused to observe from that scripture further , that it was not only a single act of sin which was committed , but he went on in the way of his heart ; and god saith , i have seen his ways and will heal him . it was a stay to my faith. here i observe what i have often found , viz. 1. dejection is a fore-runner of consolation . seldom have i had trouble upon my spirit , but if i have eyed and followed after god , he hath took it off by some word of promise . 2. the observing and pondering of every word and circumstance in a promise is of great use , as it hath been to me . 3. god openeth his promises gradually sometimes hinting and discovering one thing , and then another in the promise . being foiled by sin i was raised to my former hope and affiance in god by phil ▪ children of god till the coming of christ . being another time foiled with the same corruption , and my heart sinking in a despondent frame , i was much revived from jam. 4. 5. 6. he giveth more grace . where i saw that even our strongest sins , such as our corrupt natures are most prone to , and are deeply rooted in our hearts and spirits , are conquerable by gods grace . being troubled that i had sinned against god under his correcting hand , and having thereby lost my former comfort which god had spoken to my soul after my former backslidings , i sighed over the great treachery and unstedfastness of my heart , and casting about in my thoughts where i should find a sutable word to fix on , god brought to my remembrance . isa . 48. 8 , 9. i knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously — for my names sake will i defer my anger . while i was musing and pondering hereon and had new hope put into me , the lord let in further comfort and encouragement from . vers . 10 , 11. which is rendred by piscat . behold i will refine thee , and i will make thee a choice one in the furnace of affliction : for mine own sake , even for mine own sake will i do it . which gave me abundant refreshment , and did marvellously strengthen my hope in god. this was given me in when i had set apart some time to humble my soul. apr. 5. 1665. i set apart that day for fasting and prayer on behalf of my daughter elianor , that had been so long sick , and in the evening had my faith revived from isa . 44. 3 ▪ i will pour my spirit upon thy seed . apr. 7. i began the day with discourse with some friends , before i had been at my private communion with god , i met with a gentle rebuke from the providence of god in my family affairs , and my heart was flat in family duty , and straitned in private . i took this as an item to begin with god , before i converse with men . in the evening god came in graciously to me in my family exercise . apr. 9. lords day , i was much discomposed in my spirit in the morning , by reason of a foil sin had given me the evening before . satan would have boat me off from preaching in my family , but i performed my morning exercise , and continued dejected till the evening , and then in family prayer god graciously revived me with that promise . hos . 11. 10. they shall walk after the lord , in connexion with vers . 7. my people are bent to backsliding , though they called them to the most high , none at all would exalt him . where two things were a great relief to my faith. 1. god promiseth they should walk after him , notwithstanding their habitual proness to backslide from god. 2. notwithstanding their refusing to exalt the lord , though called to it . yet within a little time i was again foiled by my corruption , which made me see what a poor creature i was , it left of god to my self . may. 8. at eleven of the clock at night my daughter elianor died after a long sickness . god gave me several opportunities of recommending her soul to him in prayer , at some whereof my heart was much affected and my faith , and hope acted on god , for the eternal welfare of her soul , which made her departure easie to me . my grounds were , gen. 17. i will establish my covenant between me and thee , and thy seed after thee for an everlasting covenant , to be a god to thee , and thy seed after thee . i considered that this covenant is to give life , mal. 2. 5. and whereas the thoughts of the child 's original , and actual sins , as frowardness , &c. might make me fearful of its estate . it was brought to my mind , that the covenant is to give pardon of sin , heb. 8. 10 , 12. and whereas faith and regeneration are necessary to salvation , i considered further that the covenant is to give all things necessary , to salvation , 2 sam. 23. 5. this is all my salvation . besides the consideration of the covenant , god gave me other encouragements , to hope in reference to my child , as from math. 19. 14. suffer little children to come unto me , and from observing how prevalent , faith and prayer is with god for the remission of sins , and salvation of others as well as our own souls , math. 9. 2. jesus seeing their faith , said son be of good cheer , thy sins be forgiven thee . so 1 joh. 5. 16. if a man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death , he shall ask of god , and he shall give him life . now i considered that though my child had sins incident to childhood , yet it had not sinned the sin unto death , and therefore i concluded that if i asked of god he would give it life , jam. 5. 15. the prayer of faith shall save the sick , and if he hath commited sins they shall be forgiven him . math. 15. 22 , 28. the woman of canaan's faith and prayer availed with christ for the casting the devil out of her daughter : now god helping me to act faith , for my child upon the account of his covenant , and stiring me by his spirit often to pray for my child , i was thereby encouraged to hope for its salvation . when my child died , the same day the small pox began to appear upon my sister , i knew not what breaches god might be about to make in my family ; but as i was hearing the word , the ministers , treating on gods intention to glorifie himself by all afflictions that he laid upon his people , from that scripture , isa . 5. 15 , 16. this word satisfied me , that whatever judgments , god should bring upon me or my family , he would exalt and glorifie his own name by them ; hereupon i submitted and resigned up my self to god , to do with me and mine what he pleased . yet i was then under the sense of sin , which weakned my faith and made me fearful , i should not bear up chearfully if i should be visited , while under the sense of guilt . but i was much encouraged in meditation from mic. 7. 8 , 9. when i sit in darkness the lord will be a light unto me . this faith they held , when their affliction was attended with the sense of sin , for it followeth . i will bear the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him . i was also much encouraged by viewing the promises that i had collected to comfort my self with , when i was in danger of contagious diseases . especially those two ▪ viz , ps . 41. 12. as for me , thou settest me before thy face for ever , and this was when under an evil disease , v. 8 , which was the fruit of his sin . ver . 4. and ps . 38. 5 , 7. my wounds stink and are corrupt — my loyns are filled with a loathsome disease , &c. though in this visitation he was afflicted with the sense of sin , and of gods displeasure , v. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ▪ and was deprived of the comfortable society of his relations , and friends , v. 11. yet he kept up his hope in god , v. 15. in a little time after i had the sense of guilt taken off , while i was studying my sermon , to remove the fears of death . jun. 12. as i was reading , act. 6. in my evening course by my self , i observed by comparing ▪ ver . 4. 7. that upon the apostles giving themselves continually to prayer , and to the ministry of the word , the number of the disciples , encreased greatly in jerusalem , and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith . i was instructed and affected with it , and saw it was necessary , i should pray much as well as preach much , if i would convert many souls , and that upon giving my self to prayer , and to the ministry of the word , i was in the most likely way , to convert many souls to christ . the priests were the chiefest opposers of the gospel . act. 4. 1 , 2. the chiefest persecuters of christ , math. 16. 21. and 20 , 18. the most active in putting christ to death , mar. 15. 10 , 11. luk. 19. 47. the multitude that came to apprehend christ , were sent by the priests , joh. 18. 3. the false witnesses were suborned by the priests math 26. 59. yet by the power of prayer , and the word these priests were brought in , by great numbers to the faith of christ , and the obedience of the gosple . jun. 25. about three of the clock in the morning being lords day my wife was delivered of a daughter , and that morning the lord sent a very plentiful rain . the tuesday before , we kept a day of humiliation for my wifes safe delivery , and to seek the lord for rain , and the lord gave a gracious answer to the prayers of that day , both at one time . jul. 31. i saw the plague of my heart breaking out . i argued against my corruption , yet it overcame me , and led me captive , it wounded me that i should still sin against god , even while under his correcting hand . my faith was revived by that scripture , isa . 57. 17 , 18. i smote him , he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart , i have seen his ways , and will heal him . i was much encouraged from that word , i will heal him , which imports the subduing , as well as the pardoning of sin . aug. 2. i was encouraged to write something that might be useful for my generation , from , jer. 36. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. two things especially from that scripture , did put me forward to this . 1. writing of the word of god , is a means to convert souls , and to lead them to repentance . 2. this command for writing was given when jeremiah was shut up , and could not preach as usually , and such was my case , viz , i was debarred from publick preaching , hereupon i apprehended ; god called me to write . sept. 6. being fast day , as i came from church i received a letter from , mr. j. which acquainted me that my son samuel was very ill . that day i spent somewhat unprofitably , i was not affected as i ought with publick judgments , and the misery of others , and therefore it was just with god to bring affliction into my family , the next day my wife and , i went over to see our child , and after we had been with it about five or six hours it died very suddenly . i was troubled that i did not pray with it before it died , which was occasioned by being in anothers family , and my not apprehending death to be near . this stroak coming soon after my removal from colchester , i communed with my heart , whether i had sinned in removing from that place , and my conscience did not at that time charge me with sin , in removing my habitation : i was comforted in calling to mind gods dealing with jacob , who met with many afflictions in those removes , which he made at the command of god , he was pursued by his uncle , put into great fear by his brother , loseth deborah his mothers nurse , and rachel his beloved wife , his sons reuben , simeon and levi , fell into foul sins , &c. hence i saw that god trieth his dear servants with sudden and sore afflictions in those places to which they have removed at the call of god. sept. 24. i enjoyed the opportunity of the lords supper , i found god gracious to me in preparation : in the morning when i awaked , god brought to my remembrance , jer. 2. 32. can a maid forget her ornaments , or a bride her attire ? i considered i was to meet and sup with my bridegroom the lord jesus , and then considered what ornaments and attire would best please him , that i might put them on , and these were presented to my thoughts , some as i lay in bed , and some afterwards , as lovely and desirable in the sight of christ which i determined to put on 1 st , a meek and quiet spirit , 1 pet. 3. 4. 2 ly , faith , cant. 4. 9. thou hash ravished my heart my sister , my spouse , with one of thine eyes faith hath the office of an eye in the soul joh. 6. 40. every one that seeth and believeth looking unto jesus , heb 12. 2. 3 ly love , cant. 4. 10. how fair is thy love , my sister , &c. 4 ly humility , math. 11. 29. learn of me for i am lowly in heart . 5 ly , self-denial and forsaking of every thing , that cometh in competition with christ . ps . 45 10 , 11. hearken o daughter , and consider — forget thine own people , and thy fathers house ; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty . 6 ly , an obediential frame of heart , math. 10. 20 , 21. all these have i observed from my youth : jesus beholding him loved him . 7 ly , an heart resolved to hold and maintain frequent converse and communion with him . cant. 2. 14 ▪ let me see thy countenance , let me hear thy voice , for sweet is thy voice , and thy countenance is comely . 8 ly , uprightness , prov. 11. 20. 9 ly , an holy fear of god and hope in his mercy . ps . 147. 11. 10 ly , fruitfulness . cant. 4. 16 — 5. 1. but though god graciously assisted me in preparation , yet in the time of receiving , my heart was flat and dead . as soon as the sacrament was ended , i retired to my chamber to to pray , and as i was praying , that scripture was brought to my remembrance , rom. 3. 3 , 4. shall their unbelief make the faith of god of none effect ? god forbid . i argued thence that the sins of my holy ▪ things , my deadness and want of holy and due affections , in time of receiving should not make void what god had promised , in and by this ordinance , but that the cup was to me the communion of the blood of christ , and the new testament in his blood ; and the bred the communion of the body of christ ▪ this did strengthen my faith , to depend upon god for the benefits signified , and sealed by that ordinance , notwithstanding the indisposition of my heart in the time of receiving ▪ sept. 29. as i was musing on that rich promise made to abraham , gen. 15. 1. fear not abraham , i am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward . which is sufficient to bear up the soul under the fear and danger of any evil , and against the loss and want of any good things ▪ i considered what warrant i had to apply that promise , and presently that scripture was hinted to me , gal. 3. 9. they which be of faith are blessed with faithful abraham . i was strengthened , and comforted by it . twice in this weak i observed that setting upon worldly business , ( which called hastily upon me ) before i had been at closet prayer , and performed my usual meditations on the covenant and promises of god , my heart grew out of frame , and unsavory , and i was successless on both days . oct. 1. sabbath day , at my entrance on my morning meditation on gods covenant , i had a great combate in my spirit , about my laying claim to god as my god , having been lately foiled by my sins , but god helped me , and shewed me out of his word that , i might and ought to keep my hold of god as my god , notwithstanding my often backslidings from him , jer. 3. 1 , 5 , 7 , 8. yet v. 19. saith god , thou shalt call me , my father hos . 2. 5. with 16. the same evening considering how often and greatly i had sinned , and yet had been forgiven , i pondered on that scripture . luke 7 , 47. and saw that i had cause to love the lord much because i had much forgiven , and considering how i should shew my love to god , and that much , these scriptures were hinted to me , ps . 40. 16. let such as love thy name say continually , let the lord be magnified , ps . 97. 10. ye that love the lord hate evil . joh. 14. 10. if ye love me keep my commandments , joh. 21. 15. simon lovest thou me ? feed my sheep , feed my lambs , lord help me thus to shew much love to thee . oct. 8. having been overtaken with the sin which easily besets me , and hath often foiled me , my spirit fell , and my faith flagg'd , and i could not look upon god with any boldness , was indisposed to prayer . yet in time of prayer god magnified his free grace to me , and revived my souls with that word , 1 joh. 2. 1 , 2. if any man sin we have an advocate &c. after i had ended my supplications i pondered on that scripture , and was comforted against the sense of my sin , by the advocateship of jesus christ , who pleadeth his propitiatory sacrifice , as a satisfaction to his fathers justice for the sins of believers , as oft as they fall into them , and querying with my self whether he would be an advocate to me to plead for me : i was satisfied from that word , joh. 6. 37. him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out . i was also further encouraged from , heb. 7. 25. i considered that the intercession of christ , answered all charges and accusations that could be brought against those for whom he interceded , rom. 8. 33. 34. and that the intercession of christ kept us ●o firmly in the love of god , that nothing could be able to separate us from it , rom. 8. 34. 35 , 38 , 39. i considered further that the persons for whom he interceded were such as came to god by him , and that he interceded for them at all times , when they are fallen as well as when they stand , when they are dead , as well as when in a lively frame , for he ever liveth to make intercession . after these meditations ▪ my spirit revived and notwithstanding i was before bowed down under the sense of guilt , i went with boldness to god , leaning upon the merits and intercession of jesus christ . oct. 13. my spirit being bowed down with the sense of guilt , because i was foiled by a sin against which i had prayed many years , i was revived in reading in my course 2 cor. 12. 7 , 8 , 9. whence i observed , 1 st . god seeth it needful for some of his servants , to meet with buffeting . 2 ly . when god le ts loose any corruption , a thorn in the flesh , or a temptation , a messenger of satan to buffet us , it is to keep us humble , and from being exalted . 3 ly . god suffers his faithful servants sometimes to pray long against corruption or temptation , and yet cannot get it removed . 4 ly . though my strength was not sufficient to resist and overcome my sins , yet gods grace was sufficient : paul was insufficient to any good of himself as i am 2 cor. 3. 5. he had a body of sin and death as well as i , rom. 7. 23. 24. and satan assaulted him here as well as me , and therefore if gods grace was sufficient for paul , why not for me also ? what god spake to paul , i applied as spoken to me , according to , math. 22. 31 , 32. christ saith , what was spoken by god to moses was spoken to them , though many hundered years after moses . dec. 10. i had about a month before made , though not a formal explicit vow , yet a kind of mental implicit vow , which i broke , and being under the sense of guilt , was revived by reading a passage concerning david in mr. harris his works . p. 490. who would ever have thought , that so many afflictions as david had suffered , so many mercies as he had received , so many vows as he had made , so many pieces of holy scripture as he had proved , &c. should not have made him an whole man ? who would have dreamed that after all this so many dregs of adultery , of treachery , of murder , should have been left remaining in him , yet when david remitted his watch over his own heart , how foully did he fall ? i was also much comforted against the sense of my sin from , isa . 54. 9. this is as the waters of noah unto me ; for as i have sworn that the waters of noah should no more go over the earth , so have i sworn that i would not be wroth with thee , nor rebuke thee . i looked upon my self as entitled to this promise by vertue of what is said v. 17. this is the heritage of the servants of the lord. i considered further that the covenant which god made with noah , and was confirmed with an oath , was made with a non obstante multiplici peccato hominis , with a promise it should stand valid notwithstanding the imaginations of the heart of man are evil from his youth , gen. 8. 21. i considered further that notwithstanding the covenant with noah , there might be immoderate rains which might prove a great affliction , though there should not be a universal deluge . so notwithstanding this oath of god , and his covenant with me i might meet with temporary afflictions , but i should by vertue of the covenant be delivered from eternal wrath . blessed be god , this scripture did much revive and comfort my soul. notwithstanding all this goodness of god i found my heart still manifesting its in-bred corruption , and i was foiled again by my sin , which did much cast me down , and being to draw nigh to god at the lords table , i was much discouraged ; but before the sabbath came i was in prayer revived with isa . 53. 5 , 6. and in conference by mat. 11. 28. i found i was in a labouring condition , and such christ invited , and also from psal . 65. 3 , 4. david when he found iniquity prevailing , did yet conclude that upon his approaching to god in his ordinances , he should be satisfied . in reading luke 8. 27. 30. i was encouraged to hope that the lord jesus would disposses , and cast out my sins out of my soul , though they were many and had possessed me a long time . for it is as easie for christ to cast a sin , as to cast a devil out . mar. 25. 1666. being lords day , and the first day the oxford act for removing of non-conformists from the places where they had been ministers , and from corporations , took place . in the morning as i lay in my bed , pondering on this providence , these scriptures came to mind . heb. 13. 14. here have we no continuing city , but we seek one to come . whence i was instructed that the mind of god in this unsetling providence as to my abode here , was to stir me up to seek more industriously after the kingdom of heaven . jer. 48. 11. moab hath been a ease , and he hath setled on his lees , and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel , neither hath gone into captivity , therefore his tast remained in him , and his scent is not changed . i learned hence that the design of god in this providence was to take me off from carnal ease and security , and setling upon the lees of any sinful course , and to purge away that tang , and scent of sin which yet remaineth in me . psal . 55. 19. because they have no changes therefore they fear not god. whence i saw that this change was to promote a greater awe , and dread of god upon my soul. the lord great that this providence may have these effects upon me . apr. 8. the lord warned me to take heed how i presumed to sin against him upon the account of any mercies and favours he had bestowed upon me , or upon the account of any gifts or graces given me from 2 pet. 2. 4. if god spared not the angels that sinned , but cast them down to hell — the angels had been partakers of great goodness , god had done great things for them , placed them in heaven , yet when they sinned he did not spare them , but cast them down to hell. o my soul , be not high minded , do not presume to sin against god , but fear to offend him . apr. 15. corruption having prevailed i was indisposed to pray , and could not meditate . after i had been praying a second time though with much flatness and distraction , god graciously revived my soul with rom. 7. 23. 25. and 8. 1. apr. 21. in the like case god revived me with isa . 43. 24 , 25. may. 2. in the like case i was encouraged from 1 sam. 12. 20. 22. and from jer. 31. 37. soon after i renewed my covenant with god ; yet quickly found my treacherous heart departing from god , and revolting and relapsing to sin . yet still god comforted me with his word . jer. 31. 31 , 32 , 33 , 34. and rom. 14. 4. he shall be holden up , for god is able to make him stand . it is spoken of him that is weak in the faith. v. 1. and encouraged me to hope for the acceptation of my person and services from isa . 56. 6 , 7. nov. 23. being a day of private humiliation for my unprofitableness under my afflictions , sighing under my incorrigibleness , god minded me of jer. 31. 18. 20. which much refreshed me and strengthened my faith. blessed be god. jan. 1. having some days before felt much of the sinfulness , and filthiness of my own heart , sin not only arising but leading me captive , i was afraid that because of my sinfulness , god being most holy would cast me out of his favour . but the lord instructed me from psal . 89. 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35. that his holiness should not deter me from expecting the accomplishment of his promises , but rather encourage me to hope . for god hath sworn by his holiness , that he would not take away his loving-kindness , nor break his covenant , &c. notwithstanding he found sin . jan. 7. it was a sutable word to my state , and that which afforded me some support , which i met with in my course of private reading . ps . 19. 13. keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins , let them not have dominion over me . where i considered . 1. that david found in his heart a proness to presumptuous sins , which made him cry out , keep back thy servant , &c. 2. he was not without fear or danger , lest presumptuous sins should get the dominion over him , for he prays , let them not have dominion . 3. when he found it thus with himself , he calls himself gods servant . keep back thy servant — this word coming when my heart had been upon the borders of a presumptuous sin , did much affect me . febr. 6. being a day of humiliation , i was much indisposed to the duties of the day , i found my heart unfit to pray in private , and to perform family exercise . the sense of guilt had clouded and bowed down my soul. in the evening god revived my soul with isa . 64. 6 , 7 , 8. they complained they were all as an unclean thing , their righteousness as filthy rags , there was a flagging of the spirit of prayer , and this in a time of great judgments , as v. 10 , 11. yet they say , but now thou o lord art our father . this suited my condition , and encouraged me to believe my relation to god , and his to me as my father , though i found my self under the foresaid distempers . i was also supported against my sins with 1 joh. 2. 24. let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning ; if that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you , ye shall continue in the father and the son. by which i was encouraged to hold fast what instructions , comforts and supports i had formerly received from god. that which ye have heard , viz. from the teachings of the spirit . joh. 6. 45. from the beginning , viz. from the time they began to believe in christ , heb. 3. 14. nov. 28. 1669. being saturday , i was visited with a feaver . when i was under the visitation i looked over my evidences for heaven , & had comfortable hopes of my salvation from several promises , whereby the fear of death was removed . my life was in hazard , many prayers were put up for me : god directed to the timely use of proper means , and gave his blessing , and restored me to my work on the fourth lords day , as a return to prayers . in my sickness before the danger was probably past , in the night season i had very clear and awful apprehensions of the majesty of god , as though i had heard god speaking to me out of isa . 57. 15. i who am the high and lofty one that inhabit eternity , &c. and then methought it was said to me , surgite ministri & servi , praedicate evangelium ad conversionem peccatorum . arise ye ministers and servants of god , and preach the gospel for the conversion of sinners . and afterwards it was said to me , you shall not die , but live and declare the works of the lord. fear thou not , thou hast born witness to my name in this place ; thou shalt bear witness also to my name , where i shall call thee . to which my soul bowed down , and i replied , lord , i am willing to follow thee , if thou shalt satisfie me that thou callest me . i could not certainly tell , whether i was awake or sleeping , or slumbring ; but the matter being so affecting , coherent , and coming with some power , i laid it up in my heart , not knowing but it might be useful to me . jan. 30. 1671. my treatise of family instruction being finished and published , i resolved after several times seeking god , and consulting with my own soul , to set upon composing a treatise of glorifying god. the grounds or reasons inducing me hereunto were , 1. the command given to all persons in all nations to declare the glory of god , 1 chron. 16. 23 , 24. i saw here i might lawfully , yea it was my duty , to do what i could to set forth the glory of god : and seeing i was taken off from my publick preaching , i might do it more beneficially by writing and printing . 2. my spirit hath been for several years put upon , and stirred up to write on this subject . i made a little beginning in the year 1664. but laid it aside , and in times of sickness i have found a lothness to die till that work were done , and have met with many cross providences as if sent with a tacit reproof for neglecting this work . now the stirring up the spirit to a good work is of god , and part of gods call to the work . exod. 36. 2. ezr. 1. 5. hagg. 1. 14. 3. i was under many engagements to glorifie god , as 1 st . the many and great mercies i have received for my soul , by the teachings and consolations of his spirit , and many outward mercies above my other relations , which are engagements to glorifie god. ps . 86. 12 , 13. 2 ly , the eminent deliverances i have had from sickness , the pestilence and other troubles . psal . 50. 15. 3 ly , the wonderful preservation i have had from mine enemies , notwithstanding all the hazards i have run of falling into their hands , by preaching the gospel at home and abroad , which should engage me to extol and glorifie god. psal . 30. 1. 4. i did hope for benefit to my own soul , both by being further enlightened into the knowledge , and excited to the practice of glorifying god , while i was studying to instruct and excite others thereto . july 17. 1672. god having opened a door for the free exercise of my ministry by his majesties most gracious declaration , i was desired both at ipswich and colchester to minister to them . i had discouragements as from the uncertainty of the times , not knowing whether this liberty would continue , or a time of trouble and persecution arise , the differences and animosities that are among professors , and the enmity that is on the part of the adversaries . i considered of it and had encouragement from the word thereto , as 1 pet. 5. 2. 4. with vers . 7. as also from josh . 1. 9. joshua had difficult work before him , potent enemies that dwelt in fenced cities , the people with whom he had to do , had so exasperated moses his spirit by their frequent murmurings , that once he cried out to god to be killed out of hand , that he might not see his own wretchedness , numb . 11. 15. another time he spake so unadvisedly with his lips that he angred god , and was shut out of canaan . joshua might well fear when he was to enter on this work . therefore god speaks four times to him to encourage him . be strong ; be of good courage , &c. and gives him two arguments to encourage him . 1 st . his call , have not i commanded thee ? 2 ly . a promise of his presence , as his god. whence i obs . 1. god will be with his people in all places whithersoever they go . 2. the promise of gods presence may take off all fears , arising either from the temper of the people with whom we shall have to do , or the difficulty of our work , or strength of adversaries . jan. 1. 1673. i awaked about four of the clock in the morning , and had many sweet meditations in my bed for the space of about two hours . i then resolved with my self to engage my heart afresh , and to renew my covenant with the lord the beginning of this new year , to be the lords servant , to serve the lord and his son jesus christ all the remainder of the days i have to live in this world , in such service as he should see meet to employ me . the encouragements and inducements that were brought to my mind , and drew out my heart willingly and cheerfully to give up my self to the lord , to serve him and his son jesus christ were these , 1. his promise of affording his presence , and assistance to such as are his servants , and to be their god. isa . 41. 8 , 9 , 10. 2. the great and precious promises made to his servants . isa . 54. per totum . which concludeth thus v. 17. this is the heritage of the servants of the lord. 3. we glorifie god when we serve him . isa . 49. 3. thou art my servant o israel in whom i will be glorified . 4. god hath done great things for me , both for my outward and inward man , and the only thing that he requires of me is to serve him in truth and sincerity . 1 sam. 12. 24. 5. all christs servants shall assuredly be with him where he is , and shall be honoured of the father . joh. 12. 26. and shall enter into the joy of their lord. mat. 25. 21. may 19. 1676. reading levit. 22. 3. whosoever of the priests in their generations , went unto the holy things , which the children of israel did hallow unto the lord , having his uncleanness upon him , that soul should be cut off from the presence of the lord , and the ensuing sabbath being sacrament day , i considered with my self , 1 st . that greater reverence is due to the lords supper , than to the holy things under the law. 2 ly . moral uncleanness is greater than ceremonial . 3 ly . therefore i considered how i might go to this ordinance , and administer it to others without having my uncleanness upon me , that is , how i might be purged from my uncleanness . to that end i determined , 1. humbly to acknowledge , confess , and bewail the uncleanness of my heart , lips , and life before the lord. isa . 6. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. when the prophet bemoaned his uncleanness , the lord purged it away , and sent him to do his office. 2. to go to the fountain set open for sin and for uncleanness . zech. 13. 1. that is , to act my faith on the blood of christ which cleanseth from all sin . 1 joh. 1. 7. 3. to rest upon god by faith for fulfilling his covenant , wherein he hath promised to cleanse me from all my filthiness , and to save me from all my uncleanness , ezek. 36. 25 , 29. act. 15. 9. 4. to plead earnestly with god to take away all iniquities , hos . 14. 2. and to create in me a clean heart , ps . 51. 10. and to succeed my prayers with endeavours to put away evil and uncleanness out of my heart and life , isa . 1. 16. 18. 2 cor. 7. 1. these are many of those judicious observations , which this holy person made , and those spiritual experiences he found and recorded for his own use ; that he might always have at hand before him the manner and method of gods dealing with his soul , the workings of corruption and grace , his lapses and recoveries , his combates and victories over world , sin and satan , his perseverance and progress in holiness , the secret intercourse between god and his soul , the withdrawings and returns of the holy spirit , the faithfulness of gods covenant the truth of his word sensibly felt in his heart , food for his faith , encouragement to walk with god , with experimental instruction , how to comfort troubled consciences . ( in which part of the ministry he had a peculiar excellency beyond most part of his brethren . for partly by his diligent searching of the holy scripture , partly by observing and recording the method of the holy ghost towards himself , and partly by discoursing with troubled consciences , ( wherein as he was much exercised , so he took much delight ) he was so acquainted with the various cases of conscience , and so well understood both case and cure , that it may be truly said of him , the lord god had given him the tongue of the learned , that he might know how to speak a word in season to the weary . on which account he might be sirnamed barnabas a son of consolation . it was his usual manner in preaching to foresee and raise such objections as troubled souls are prone to make against themselves , and to solve them with much clearness and satisfaction . and many applications of such souls were made to to him in private as to a skillful , experienced , spiritual physitian , whose advice god succeeded with his blessing to the encouragement of the faith and hope of many doubting christians that walked in darkness . ) which are here published not only as instances and demonstrations of that spirit of light and grace , that power of godliness which possessed and governed his heart and life , and fitted him to be such a useful instrument for the service of christ and his church , on which account his memory is worthily honourable , and precious to all good men : but especially for the instruction , direction , relief , support , and encouragement of others who are following him , though at a great distance , in that narrow way which leadeth to that life to which he is arrived . they who labour and are heavy laden , who are bowed down under the power and weight of their sin , wrestling with corruption and temptation , exercised with darkness and doubtings , with fears and faintings ; they who are called to difficult service which require much labour and diligence and self-denial , and may expose them to the hazard and danger of this evil world , may hence take counsel and encouragement while they read the sense , and workings of their own hearts in the experiences , the method and practicablenesse of their duty in the example of this eminent saint . we have hitherto seen somethings of his conscience of sin and duty , his industry and zeal for the service and glory of god , his combates with the flesh and satan , his love to christ and his church , his spirituality in religion , his longings and breathings after god , his remembring god upon his bed , and meditating on him in the night watches , his wise improvement of the holy scriptures , his due fulfilling of all relations , his holy manner of living to god : from whence we may rationally conclude that surely he gave this diligence unto the full assurance of hope ; that he tasted the consolation of god , and received the earnest of glory ; that he walked upon the top of pisgah in the light of gods countenance , and in the sight of the heavenly canaan . which priviledge indeed the god of peace and comfort did not deny him . he was a man as of much grace , so of much peace ; an instance of that word , ps . 119. 165. great peace have they that love thy law. he received the spirit which is of god , and knew the things that were freely given to him of god and rejoyced therein , 1 cor. 2. 12. as to his conversion ( which to some that have lived long in ignorance , security , sensuality , prophaness , and forgetfulness of god , is very sensible ) he being from tender years restrained and well inclined , it was not so remarkable to him . the most discernible part thereof was when he was a young scollar in cambridge . nor did he then experience very notable workings of the spirit of bondage . which occasioned some trouble to his mind , and he feared his humiliation was not deep enough ; but he received full satisfaction from a passage in a sermon which he heard preached by that worthy and excellent servant of jesus christ mr. richard vines , then master of pembrooke hall. he hath sometimes said to his friend that he was not much acquainted with those ravishing joys which some have felt , but yet had that comfort and joy in the holy ghost , which gave him satisfaction . his method and manner was to derive his assurance and comfort from the written word . of the truth whereof he would say he had such a full persuasion , as being the sure word of god , that he did more firmly believe it , than if an angel should speak to him from heaven , according to , 2 pet. 1. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. he could not satisfie himself with the expectation , or apprehension of the immediate , sole testimony of the spirit , without the word . but would compare himself with the word , frequently practising the duty of self examination , searching for those graces , dispositions and operations in his heart , which are promised in the word , and to which the promises are made . which the spirit of god enlightned him to discern , and enabled him in a way of argumentation to infer thence his interest in christ , and the covenant of god for his satisfaction and spiritual consolation . and the assurance which he attained in this method , and by these means he thus recordeth . his evidences . 1. evidences of true and saving faith. after my recovery from a sickness , i set my self to examin and prove my faith , to see if it were true and saving : because pardon of sin , freedom from condemnation eternal life with other great blessings , are promised to beleevers : and much of our comfort in sickness , and health , in life , and death dependeth on the knowledge and proof of our faith ; and that i did believe in christ with a true and saving faith , i was satisfied thus : 1. from those expressions of scripture wherein the nature and essential acts of faith are set forth , as 1. coming to christ , joh. 6. 35. he that cometh — he that believeth on me . coming is believing . my conscience bears me witness that i am coming to christ , for christ himself and all his benefits , i sind my soul drawn to christ , and upon all occasions looking and going to him . 2. receiving , joh. 1. 12. as many as received him — even as many as believed on his name . receiving is believing . now through grace i find my heart willingly receiving , and thankfully accepting jesus christ as god offers him in the gospel , even an whole christ , christ in all his offices to be to me , prophet , priest , and king. 3 , trusting , eph. 1. 13. in whom ye trusted — ye beleived . trusting is believing . this also i find , that god hath given me an heart to rely on christ , for righteousness , grace , and life . 2 , from the ground of my faith , which is the word of god. it is through my knowledge and acquaintance with the word that i have been brought to believe in christ , and through christ in the father that sent him . and i read , such as believe through the word are true believers , for whom christ maketh intercession joh. 17. 20. and who have everlasting life , and shall not come into condemnation , joh. 5. 24. 3 , from this property and effect of faith , viz. prizing christ , 1 pet. 2. 7. unto you that believe christ 't is precious . the apostle speaks of the faith of gods elect , ch . 1. 2. and of saving faith , ch . 1. 9. now i find christ is precious to me , so precious to my soul , that i value and prefer him above the whole world . i account his blood precious , which cleanseth me from all sin . the promises exceeding great and precious which in him are yea and amen . christ is so precious to me that i am willing to suffer for him . phil. 1. 29. yea i choose a suffering condition for christ , before the honours , riches , and pleasures of the world , when they cannot be enjoyed without sinning against him. heb. 11. 24 , 25 , 26. i am willing to take up the cross , and forsake all things for him . evidences that i was one of gods servants . sept. 30. 1666. i considered with my self what evidence i had that i was one of gods servants , and was satisfied from these scriptures , rom. 6. 16. know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey , his servants ye are to whom ye obey , whether of sin unto death , or of obedience unto righteousness . i find god hath given me an heart to yield my self to him. nehem. 1. 11. o lord i beseech thee , let now thine ears be attentive to the prayer of thy servant , and to the prayer of thy servants that desire to fear thy name . here i saw that such as desire to fear god , are accounted gods servants . which through grace i do . some doubtings arose in my heart , whether i was one of gods servants , because it is said , joh. 8. 34. verily , verily i say unto you , that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin . for removing this doubt i considered , 1. that the meaning of this scripture is not that no man that hath sin in his heart , or doth sin in his life can be gods servant , but is a servant of sin , for then god should have no servants upon the face of the earth , eccl. 7. 20. there is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not , joh. 1. 8. if we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us . 2. it is said that the servants of sin are free from righteousness , rom. 6. 20. now through mercy i follow after righteousness , and find something of it , whence i concluded , i was not the servant of sin. 3. i saw that david held this conclusion that he was one of gods servants though he was compassed about with infirmities , yea , even at such time as he was under a sense of his sinful infirmities . ps . 116. 11 , 16. o lord truly i am thy servant , i am thy servant , yet he had said in his haste ( unbelievingly ) all men are liars , david after he had committed the great sin of numbering the people , against the counsel and advice of his friends , confessed that he had sinned greatly and done very foolishly , yet calleth himself a servant of the lord , 2 sam. 24. 10. 4. as i was considering this thing the lord brought to my remembrance , rom. 7. ult . with my mind i my self serve the law of god , but with my flesh the law of sin . this scripture was a great stay and satisfaction to me , and took off that which was my chief fear . there is no doubt but paul was the servant of christ , yet he sayeth , i my self with the flesh serve the law of sin. evidences of the pardon of my sin . aug. 12. 1666. being under the sense of many sins , i considered with my self what grounds and evidences i had for the pardon of my sins . and was satisfied from these scriptures : acts. 10. 43. to him give all the prophets witness that through his name , whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins . i found that through grace i did believe in christ , 1 joh. 1. 9. if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . i saw here that gods justice and faithfulness , stand engaged to forgive their sins , who make confession of them , which god had given me an heart to do . isa . 1. 16 , 17 , 18 , 19. these persons to whom this promise was made , had sinned against great mercies . ver . 2. and great judgments , v. 5. and other circumstances did aggravate their sins , yet god promiseth to forgive their scarlet , and crimson-sins , if they were willing to repent and obey the lord. if ye be willing and obedient . and through grace i found i was willing to obey gods voice , to cease to do evil , and to learn to do well . hebr. 8. 10. 12. the promise of remission of sins is part of the new covenant , and i find that god hath made this covenant with me . from isa . 55. 3. where the condition of the covenant is coming unto christ , to which god hath enabled me . dec. 30. having left the prevalency of sin , and found sin not only warring against but leading me captive , which made me question my pardon , i was enabled to rest upon god for forgiveness of my sin from , ps . 65. 3. iniquities prevail against me , as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away . by purging is meant . 1. pardoning , heb. 1. 3. ps . 51. 7. 2. subduing and destroying sin , isa . 27. 9. 2 tim. 2. 21. so that david when he felt sin prevailing and not only one sin but several — iniquities , in the plural number , prevail , did yet rest upon god both for the pardon and the subduing of his sins , and what david did i may and ought to do . rom. 7. 23 , 24 , 25. when the apostle found sin working , and warring and leading him captive , yet he hangs upon christ , and blesseth god for christ , and believeth he should be delivered from the guilt and power of his sins by jesus christ . when the filthiness of my sins made me afraid that god would not pardon , because i had such vile affections , and such filthy motions in my heart , god comforted me with that word , ezek. 36. 25. i will sprinkle clean water upon you , and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness , and i will cleanse you , & v. 29. i will save you from all your uncleannesses . and from act. 13. 38 , 39. the promise is to all that believe , and here is promised justification from all things — so as no sin , no circumstance in any sin shall be charged upon any believer to his condemnation . jul. 14. 1667. having found my heart departing from god in a very treacherous manner , this did cloud my evidence of pardon , but after prayer i was confirmed in the belief of the forgiveness of my sin , from jer. 3. 2 , 20 , 22. here i saw that though the jews had voluntarily without any enticing temptation prostituted themselves to sin , v. 2. and though they had in a treacherous manner departed from god after he had taken them into a conjugal relation with himself v. 20. yet he promiseth upon their return to heal their backslidings . my faith was further established by considering that remission of sin was promised to me in the covenant , which covenant should never be removed from me . isa . 54. 9 , 10. also dan. 9. 9. when god had once and again cleared up to my soul the pardon of my sins , i considered with my self what duties this mercy called for : and i saw , 1. this should make me thankful . psal . 103. 1 , 2 , 3. 2. it should make me admire god. mic. 7. 18 , 19. 3. it should make me more fearful of offending god. ps . 130. 4. — 85. 8. 4. it should make me love god much . luke 7. 42 , 43 , 47. 5. it should make me glorifie god , and let him have the dominion over my soul. rev. 1. 5 , 6. 6. it should make me cheerful and encourage me in all the troubles of this present life . mat. 9. 2. isa . 33. ult . 7. it should oblige me to forgive others . eph. 4 ▪ 32. col. 3. 13. 8. it should make me willing to be employed in any service for god. isa . 6. 7 , 8. evidences of my interest in , and vnion with jesus christ . 1. faith in christ joh. 17. 20 , 21. christ prayeth that all that believe in him through the word may be one in him , and the father always heareth him . joh. 11. 42. now i find ( blessed be god ) that through the word i do believe in christ . 2. effectual calling . 1 cor. 1. 9. 26. 30. god is faithful by whom ye were called — ye see your calling — ye are in christ jesus . now through mercy i find god hath called me out of darkness into his marvellous light , he hath called me to the knowledge and faith of christ . 3. walking after the spirit and not after the flesh . rom. 8. 1. it is not said , they that are in christ have no flesh in them , but they walk not after the flesh . 4. christs giving us his spirit is an evidence that he abideth in us . 1 joh. 3. 24. now i find by the fruits of the spirit mentioned , gal. 5. 22 , 23. that god hath given me his spirit , and also by my being able to cry abba father . gal. 4. 6. 5. crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof . gal. 5. 24. that is , our corrupt nature , with the works thereof mentioned v. 19 , 20 , 21. the flesh and lusts thereof is crucified , when so subdued that it doth not reign . rom. 6. 6. which i find , blessed be god. 6. keeping christs word . 1 joh. 2. 5. which i desire and endeavour . the comfort and priviledge flowing from hence is , that i am , 1. free from condemnation . rom. 8. 1. 2. assured of glory . col. 1. 27. 1 joh. 5. 12. 3. interessed in christs wisdom , righteousness , sanctification , and redemption . 1. cor. 1. 30. 4. interessed in all spiritual and heavenly blessings . eph. 1. 3. 5. compleat in him , though imperfect in my self . col. 2. 10. evidences that god is my god. 1. my being in covenant with god. wherein the great blessing promised is , that god will be our god. heb. 8. 10. and my being in covenant is evidenced to my soul by my coming to , and closing with christ the mediator of the covenant ; for he promiseth to make an everlasting covenant with such as come to him . isa . 55. 3. 2. my engaging my heart to approach to god. jer. 30. 21 , 22. 3. my being one of gods servants , as before . isa . 41. 9 , 10 : thou art my servant — i am thy god. 4. the law of god in my heart , and my delight to do the will of god. jer. 31. 33. ps . 40. 8. 5. my fear of god. jer. 32. 38 , 39 , 40. which fear is discerned by eschewing and departing from evil . job . 1. 1. prov. 16. 6. 6. my choosing the lord for my god. ps . 16. 2. and voluntary giving up my self to him , to obey his voice and keep his ways . deut. 26. 17 , 18 , 19. jer. 7. 23. 7. my willingness to leave earthly enjoyments at the call of god , setting loose to the world , looking upon my self as a stranger and pilgrim on the earth , and preferring and seeking heavenly things above earthly . for god is not ashamed to be called their god that are , and do thus . 11. 13 , 14 , 15. 16. hence i infer for my comfort . 1. gods audience of my prayers . mic. 7. 7. 2. gods presence with me in all conditions . isa . 43. 1 , 2 , 3. 3. a supply of all my wants . ps . 23. 1. 4. strength and assistance to all services or sufferings . isa . 41. 10. 5. he will be my god and guide for ever . ps . 48. 14. 6. he will pardon my sins , and not forsake and cast me off . mic. 7. 17 , 18 , 19. 1 sam. 12. 20 22. jer. 51. 5. and i charge it on my self , as my duty , 1. to walk humbly with god. mic. 6. 8. 2. to seek him early . ps . 63. 1. 3. to praise and exalt him . ps . 116. 28. 4. to love him above all with all my heart . deut. 6. 5. 5. to turn to him when ever i shall depart from him . hos . 12. 6. 6. to trust in him continually for all things . psal . 18. 2 — 91. 2. yea in times of greatest danger , distress , and fear . psal . 31. 13 , 14. ps . 42. 11. 1 sam. 30. 4. 6. evidences of gods love to my soul. 1. his drawing of me to christ . jer 31. 3. whom god drawes he loveth with an everlasting love. now i find that god hath drawn me , because my soul is come to christ , and goeth dayly to him , and no man can come to christ except the father draw him . joh. 6. 44. 2. his giving me faith. he loveth those that through the word believe in his son , even as he loveth his own son. joh. 17. 20. 23. 3. god loveth those that love him , and that love his son jesus christ . prov. 8. 17. 1 joh. 4. 19. joh. 14. 21. — 16. 27. i find that god hath given me an heart to love him , and his son jesus christ . 4. a principle of spiritual life infused into my soul , whereby i live to god is an evidence of gods love to me . ezek. 16. 6. 8 eph. 2. 4 , 5. 5. god loveth not only the righteous . ps . 146. 8. but such also as follow after righteousness . prov. 15. 9. which through grace i find he hath caused me to do . my comfort in this is , that this is an everlasting love. jer. 31. 3. joh. 13. 1. nothing shall separate me from it . rom. 8. 38 , 39. no not my sins . ps . 89. 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34. though the mountains and hills depart , his loving-kindness shall not depart . isa . 54. 10. admire and adore this love oh my soul. 1 joh. 3 , 1. evidences of gods accepting my person , and services . this enquiry is necessary . 1 st . because both work and person must come to judgment . 2 cor. 5. 9 , 10. 2 ly . though it be a mercy to have our service accepted of the saints , rom. 15. 30 , 31. yet the main thing we should labour for , is to be approved of god ; 2 tim. 2. 15. for the approbation of men without the acceptation of god is little worth . 2 cor. 10. ult . evidence . 1. isa . 56. 6 , 7. there the lord promiseth to accept their burnt-offerings , and sacrifices upon his altar ( that is , all their services which they perform in christs name , who is called an altar heb. 13. 10. and who was typified by the altar under the mosaical law ) who joyn themselves to the lord , to love and serve him , and keep his sabbath , and take hold of his covenant : even to every such person he promiseth acceptation of their services signified by burnt-offerings , and sacrifices . now blessed be god , he hath enabled me by grace in some measure thus to do . 2. rom. 14. 18. he that in these things serveth christ , is acceptable to god. in these things , i. e. in righteousness , peace , and joy mentioned v. 17. here i see that when in obedience to christs command , and in discharge of the work , and calling i have been called to by christ , i endeavour by preaching , writing , conference , private instruction , to beget or promote righteousness , peace or joy in the holy ghost , i am accepted of god. 3. act. 10. 35. in every nation he that feareth god and worketh righteousness is accepted of him . we then work righteousness when we work that which god commands us . ps . 119. 172. all thy commandments are righteousness . this i endeavour . 4. gen. 4. 7. if thou doest well , shalt thou not be accepted ? then we do well when we serve the lord faithfully . mat. 25. 23. and when we shew love to our neighbour . jam. 2. 8. whereof i have the testimony of my conscience . evidences of eternal life . god hath out of his free grace ( blessed be his name ) given me good hope of eternal life from these scriptures : 1. joh. 3. 16. whosoever believeth in christ shall not perish , but have everlasting life . this promise hath oft refreshed and satisfied my soul , when i have been communing with my own heart about the grounds of my hope of eternal life . for i find that god hath given me an heart to believe in christ ; and the promise is , whosoever believeth , without any exception of the greatness , frequency , or long continuance of our sins ; when i have been unable to work the works of god , i have found an heart to believe . 2. 2 ▪ sam. 23. 5. although my house be not so with god , yet god hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure ; for this is all my salvation , and all my desire although he make it not to grow . here i observed , 1 st . that being in covenant with god is a sufficient ground to hope for salvation . this is all my salvation , he hath made with me an everlasting covenant . 2 ly . the sinful infirmities and miscarriages of the servants of god , should not discourage them from hoping in god for eternal salvation by vertue of his covenant . david had been guilty of several miscarriages , besides his great failing in the matter of uriah , as unbelief . 1 sam. 27. 1. dissimulation and lying to achish . v. 10. unkind if not unjust dealing with mephihosheth , in giving away half his estate upon a false accusation of ziba . 2 sam. 19. 27 , 28 , 29. &c. yet in a dying hour he relieth on god for salvation , notwithstanding his miscarriages , by vertue of the covenant . although my house be not so with god ( he includeth himself as the chief part of his house , although he had not so walked in his house with god as god required ) yet this is my salvation god hath made with me an everlasting covenant . 3 ly . though he did not see the growth or accomplishment of several promises , in the covenant , yet he is not dismayed or beaten off from hoping for salvation , but saith , this is all my salvation , although he make it not to grow . enquiring with my self what ground i had to hope that this covenant was made with me , i was satisfied from isa . 55. 3. where i find those that come unto christ are taken into covenant , and enjoy the same promises and mercies that god gave to david . 3. joh. 17. 2. thou hast given him power over all flesh , that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him . enquiring what ground i had to believe that i was given to christ , i was satisfied from joh. 6. 37. all that the father giveth me shall come to me . our coming to christ is an argument that we are given to christ by the father , because all such , and none but such come to christ . v. 37. 44. 65. i was further confirmed from joh. 17. 9 , 10. where christ gives this character of such as are given to him , that he is glorified in them , and i find through mercy that the lord hath inclined my heart to glorifie him . 4. joh. 10. 27 , 28 , 29. my sheep hear my voice , and i know them , and they follow me , and i give to them eternal life , and they shall never perish , neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand . my father which gave them me is greater than all , and no man is able to pluck them out of my fathers hand . here i observed , 1 st . that the lord jesus hath promised to give unto his sheep eternal life ▪ 2 ly . he undertaketh for them for the time to come , that they shall never perish . they shall not perish by their own sins ( as unbelievers and unregenerate men do joh. 8. 24. 2 pet. 2. 12. ) neither shall any person or temptation from without draw them off from christ . 3 ly . the lord jesus gives his sheep a two-fold argument to assure them that they shall not perish , either by their own corruption , or by any force or allurement from without . 1 st . he holds them in his hand , i. e , he keeps and preserves them by his power . 2 ly . his father who is greater than all keeps them by his power also . the comfort of this depending on the qualification of the persons to whom this promise is made , namely the sheep of christ , i considered what evidence i had that i was one of christs sheep . and i saw 1 st . that christs sheep are such as hear his voice , and follow him . now i found that my heart had answered the call of christ in the gospel , when he hath called , look unto me , and be ye saved ; come unto me all ye that labour & are heavy laden ; and moreover that i do endeavour to follow his example , and to walk as he walked when he was in this world . 2 ly . i saw that by his sheep he meaneth such as do believe on him , because he proveth the jews were not his sheep , because they did not believe on him . ver . 26. 3 ly . i found those evidences of the lords being my shepherd which david mentioneth , ps . 23. viz. his often restoring my soul when i have fallen . his leading me in paths of righteousness for his names sake . if the lord be my sheepherd then i am one of his sheep . 4 ly . my returning to christ through grace is an argument that he is the sheepherd of my soul. 1 pet. 2. 25. 5 ly . visiting the sick and feeding the hungry , are the marks of christs sheep . math. 25. 33 , 35 , 36. 5. ps . 84. 11. god promiseth glory to them that walk uprightly , and i find god hath given me an heart to walk uprightly . in a sickness not knowing but death might be approaching , i considered what promises i could rest on for salvation , and among others god enabled me to stay , on , isa . 57. 2. he shall enter into peace , they shall rest in their beds , each one walking in his uprightness . these are my evidences of etarnal life . god having given me good hope , through grace , of eternal life , i set my self to consider what duties this called for , and god put into my mind , which i resolve by the help of his grace to practise . 1. to bless and praise god for this mercy . 1 pet. 1. 3 , 4. col. 1. 12 , 13. 2. to mortifie daily uncleanness , inordinate affections , evil concupisence , covetousness , and all other sins , col. 3. 4 , 5. 3. to carry my self towards all men especially towards my near relations as an heir of eternal life and glory . 1 pet. 3. 7. 4. to walk worthy of the lord. 1 thes . 2. 12. how that is to be done is expressed eph. 4. 1 , 2 , 3. col. 1. 10. 5. to purifie my self as god is pure , 1 joh. 3. 3. which implies purity of heart , math. 5. 8. purity of words in discourse ; for every word of god is pure , prov. 30. 5. and so must ours be also , eph. 4. 29. zeph. 3. 9. purity of life , 1 pet. 2. 22. 6. to serve god and to serve him in a gracious and godly manner , heb. 12. 28. 7. not to fear them that can kill the body , luk. 12. 4 , 32. nor fear the want of outward things , ver . 31 , 32. 8. to rejoyce in hope of this glory in the midst of worldly troubles , rom. 5. 2 , 3. 1 pet. 1. 3 , 6. 9. to keep the full assurance of hope to the end of my days by continuing diligent in ministring to the saints , heb. 6. 10. 11. thus have we given the reader some account of this eminent saint and servant of jesus christ , such was his holy and heavenly life ; thus walked he both in the fear of god , and in the comfort of the holy ghost : thus laboured he to approve himself to god , to others and to his own conscience : thus answered he his profession , ran his race , and pressed forward to the mark . upon the equal and impartial view whereof , though the design of these pages be only ostendere , and not ostentare virum , yet i can scarce forbear to say , he hath left such a name and character behind him as may worthily commend him , both as a christian and a minister to the observation , honour and imitation of most , if not all that read him . what remains is only to apply him to the following funeral text as a more than ordinary instance of the truth thereof . and whoso considers the manner of his life may with little doubt conclude his victory over death , it was before mentioned that he hath left behind him some manuscripts worthy of the press : some of which he entitles , the best interest ; a treatise of glorifying god : the cure of the fear of death . all which he well understood , not only by speculation but by experience . he who had gained the best interest , and could upon good ground say , my beloved is mine , and i am his ; he who aimed at the best end and industriously pursued it , viz. the glory of god , was doubtless so fortified with the grace , consolation and covenant of god , as to triumph over the king of terrors . having the testimony of his conscience that in integrity and sincerity of heart he had fulfilled his general and particular calling , and served his generation by the will of god , and having the assurance of gods holy word , for his reward in a better world , it was no difficulty to him to die . he was so far above the fear of death , that he seemed altogether unconcerned at it , as to the terror of it or danger after it , both in sickness and in health . in his perfect health , considering the evil of the day he lived in , he would often say , it is a good time to die . i am content to live , and willing to die . to me to live is christ ; i have no other design of life then to serve christ . he breathed out with greg : turon . domine , siad huc populo tuo sim necessarius , fiat voluntas tua . desidero quietem , non recuso laborem . if god hath further service for me to do . i am content to live , else i rather choose to die . such clear apprehensions he had of the glory of heaven , and such full assurance of hope thereof , that , as he expressed himself to his friend , he looked upon all that this world can afford as dross and dung compared with it . as death was not terrible so neither was it unexpected to him . he presaged it long before it came . he told his friend , conversing with him more than a year before he died , that he had apprehensions that he should not long live ; and that for some time past , god had inclined his heart to study how a christian might get above the fear of death : and what he found to be his strength and consolation against that last enemy , he had digested into method , and for his own and others use committed it to writing , and had almost finished it , and did then lay an obligation upon his friend in case he did survive him to perform the last office for him , and commended to him for his subject 1 cor. 15. 57. as the testimony of his affectionate and hearty thanksgiving unto god who gave him the victory over the fear of death , through jesus christ our lord. this was no vain presage ; though yet he had a strong constitution of body , which he had used with all temporance and sobriety , and was then in his full strength , and the maturity of his age , scarce declining from his state of consistency . his natural temper did somewhat incline him to feaverish diseases . a feaver having commission from god seised on him , aug. 31. this visitation of god ( as all former ) he accepted with all patience and submission , casting himself on the care , and resigning himself up to the will of his heavenly father . his disease encreasing and strength declining , he told some about him , that he had some apprehensions he should , and desires also if god pleased , to have died a martyr , but now he thought he should not . adding withal , god is wiser than i , and knoweth my weakness . discharging his dying office by grave exhortations and encouragement to serious religion and suffering for it , which he especially applied to his only child ; owning and professing his nonconformity to the last , as judging himself obliged thereto in conscience towards god ; blessing god for his invaluable gift of jesus christ to the children of men ; blessing god who had called him to the honourable employment of the ministry of the gospel , and had enabled him to be faithful therein , and encouraged him with his presence and blessing under all the difficulties thereof ; blessing god who had lifted him up above the fear of death ; rejoycing in the peace and testimony of a good conscience and hope of the glory of god , after 10 or 11 days conflict with his disease ( which after some hope of recovery very suddenly and unexpectedly seised his head , ) he quietly slept in the lord , sept. 10. 1680. in the one and fiftieth year of his age . this being the blessed exit of this eminent saint , methinks i hear him say to those he left behind , as his dying saviour to the daughters of jerusalem : weep not for me , i have died in peace , am entred into peace , am at rest in my bed , have passed through jordan and am come to canaan . i am beyond sin , and sorrow , and trouble and labour , am come to the heavenly jerusalem , to an innumerable company of angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect , and to jesus the mediator of the new covenant , to that eternal sabbath that remains the people of god. weep not for me . and doth he not also add , weep for your selves ? you shall see my face no more , you shall enjoy communion with me no more , you shall hear my voice no more , i shall despense the gospel to you no more . ye shall come to me but i shall return to you no more . o what is the meaning of this dark providence , that in such a day as this , god should call from his work one so fully instructed , so willingly zealous to serve him and his church in the gospel of his son. whether god hath done this in his just displeasure for the unprofitableness , unthankfulness , and itching ears of those that enjoyed so precious a blessing : or whether to warn us of some approaching dreadful judgment from which he hath hid this and other his holy servants in their graves : or whether both ; it concerns us seriously to consider , and upon either account he may say to us , weep for your selves . we read , 2 king. 13. 20 , 21. elisha died and they buried him , and the bands of the moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year . and it came to pass as they were burying a man , that behold they spied a band of men , and they cast the man into the sepulchre of elisha ; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of elisha , he revived and stood upon his feet , and judg. 16. 30. the dead which sampson slew at his death were more than them which he slew in his life . in allusion to which i conclude with this wish , god avert the bands of the moabites ; but would to god the dead in sin would apply their dead hearts to the sepulchre of this dead prophet , that at the touching of his bones they might live , and that the providence of his death may be more effectual to the mortifying of sin , in survivers than all the labours of his life . mors triumphata ; or the saints victory over death ; opened in a funeral sermon preached upon the occasion of the death of that eminent servant and minister of jesus christ mr. owen stockton , m. a. sometimes fellow of g. and c. colledge in cambridge ; afterward preacher of gods word at colchester in essex . by john fairfax m. a. hos . 13. 14. i will ransom them from the power of the grave : i will redeem them from death : o death , i will be thy plagues ; o grave i will be thy destruction . london , printed for t. p. 1681. the saints victory over death , opened in a funeral sermon upon the occasion of the death of m r. owen stockton . 1 cor. 15. 57. but thanks be to god who giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ . so soon as sin entred into the world , death the king of terrors , being therewith armed , began its reign ; and hath reigned not only from adam to moses over the race of mankind , but even to this day . and as a merciless , cruel , insatiable tyrant affrights the world , making horrible slaughters , not at the rate of saul and david who slew their thousands and their ten thousands ; but death slayeth universally beyond number , from the infant to the aged , from the dunghil to the throne ; sparing neither age nor sex , neither base nor honourable , neither great nor small , neither sacred nor prophane . the cry of this misery of man being very loud reached up to heaven , and entred into the ears of god that made him : who heard , regarded and pitied ; and in infinite mercy ordained and commissioned his own , and only son the lord jesus christ to be a prince of life , and captain of salvation to miserable men , to redeem a remnant from the terror , power , and tyranny of this all-devouring , all-destroying enemy . the son of god readily accepts this honourable office , and accordingly cometh down from heaven , and becometh incarnate among the sons of men to discharge it . and girding his sword upon his thigh in his majesty he rode prosperously , and his right hand taught him terrible things . having first trampled under his feet the forlorn hope of the enemy , poverty , hunger , thirst , labour , weariness , griefs , persecutions , mockings , buffetings , scourging , and acutest pains ; he forthwith enters into the very region of death , the land of darkness encounters , disarmeth , overcometh , and destroyeth the king of terrors in his own territory , the grave ; leading captivity captive ; and triumphing in a powerful and glorious resurrection . the vertue and benefit of which victory he communicates to all his followers , the noble army of conflicting saints listed under his exalted banner . in token whereof the graves were opened , and many bodies of saints which slept arose , and came out of their graves after his resurrection . mat. 27. 52 , 53. this glorious conquest is the apostles comfortable argument throughout this chapter . where he first asserts and proves the resurrection of christ , to vers . 20. concluding , now is christ risen from the dead . from whence he infers , proves , and illustrates the resurrection of the saints , with the order and manner thereof , from vers . 20 — to 55. in the faith and contemplation whereof he cannot contain himself , but breaketh forth into this triumphant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . boldly challenging , daring , defying , and out-braving death . vers . 55. 56 , 57. o death where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ . in which last words ( the subject to be discoursed on ) there are four things observable ; the enemy , the victory , the victors , and the triumph . 1. first , the enemy , which is supposed in the text , but expressed in the context , ver . 55 , 56. viz. death armed by sin , strengthned by the law. 2. secondly , the victory over this enemy , that is , the destruction of death as to its terror and power . 3. thirdly , the victors , who are christ first , and with him all that are christ's . ver . 23. every of whom shall be made alive in his own order , christ first , afterward they that are christs . all that harvest whereof christ is the first-fruits . vers . 20. 4. fourthly , th● triumph ; thanks be to god. the three former we will sum up in this doctrinal proposition . doctr. believers are victorious over death through jesus christ . from whence the fourth will be inferred by most just and due consequence , thanks be to god. in speaking to which , that we may the more commend and magnifie the victory , we will , first , represent to you the enemy over which the victory is gotten , viz. death . corporal death , for as is the resurrection such must be the death . the resurrection which the apostle here argueth is of the body . vers . 35. how are the dead raised up ? and with what body do they come ? vers . 44. it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body . and vers . 53. this corruptible must put on incorruption , and this mortal must put on immortality . such therefore must be the death : concerning which as an enemy take this account . 1. it is a spoiling enemy . that devests a man of all his wordly enjoyments , houses and lands , gold and silver , the fruits of the earth , the encrease of corn and wine , the pleasures of the flesh , sensual delights , the light of the sun , society with men , conversation with friends , the comfort of relations , husband , wife , father , mother , sons and daughters , brethren and sisters , how sweet , near and dear are these to the living ? but when death cometh it spoils him of all , and puts an utter , and everlasting end to his use and enjoyment of them , and turneth him naked out of the world . psal . 49. 16 , 17. be not thou afraid when one is made rich , when the glory of his house is encreased . for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away : his glory shall not descend after him , and vers . 19. they shall never see light . which our saviour exemplifieth in a parable luk. 12. 16. to vers . 20. the rich mans ground brought forth plentifully , till he said to his soul , soul , thou hast much goods laid up for many years , take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry . but the sad tidings of death are next brought him , this night shall thy soul be required . and what is the consequence ? whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? not thine , be sure . all thy interest in them is lost for ever . it was hezekia's lamentation when it was told him . that he should die , isa . 38. 11. i shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world . and as death spoils a man of all his possessions , so also of his projects before him , ps . 146. 4. his breath goeth forth , he returneth to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish : and of all his hopes too . job . 27. 8. what is the hope of the hyprocrite , though he hath gained , when god taketh away his soul ? death is a spoiling enemy . 2. it is a surprising enemy . it cometh upon a man as a thief in the night , 1 thes . 5. 2. when he little dreameth of it , and taketh him as a snare , eccl. 9. 12. man knoweth not his time — as the birds are caught in the snare ; so are the sons of men snared by death in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them . every one may say as isaac , gen. 27. 2. i know not the day of my death . at an hour when ye think not , saith christ the son of man cometh , luk. 12. 40. the man we mentioned even now , was confident of many years before him , and promised himself a merry long life , luk. 12. 19. yet ver . 20. he that knew said to him , hac nocte : this night thou must die . who knoweth what shall be on the morrow ? or what a day may bring forth ? nemo tam divos habuit faventes , crastinum ut posset sibi polliceri . was not nabal in his plenty jobs children in their feasting , nadab and abihu in their offering herod in his pride , belshazzar in his cups , zimri and cozbi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. surprised by this enemie ? 3. it is a destructive enemy . destruction and death are joyned together , job . 28 22. yea this is the very name of death , ps . 88. 11. shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave ? or thy faithfulness in destruction ? ps . 103. 4. who redeemeth thy life from destruction , i. e. death . a dead man is reduced to his first principle , the earth , the body returns to the dust from whence it came , and this is turning man to destruction . ps . 90. 3. if a man were surprised and spoiled of all that he had without him , and should yet escape with his life , though naked , it were a sore evil , yet such as might be endured ; a great loss , but such as might be repaired . but death spoils a man of himself ; taketh down the goodly frame and constitution of ; nature cuts a man asunder , and divideth soul from body . god taketh away his soul , job . 27. 8. her soul was in departing , for she died , gen. 35. 18. thy soul shall be required , luk. 12. 20. so as no ground of hope is left to a dying man. life is a fundamental being , take away that and ye take away all . the dead are not , joseph is not , gen. 42. lo , he was not , ps . 37. 36. job . 14. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. there is hope of a tree , if it be cut down that it will sprout again , and that the tender branch thereof will not cease . though the root thereof wax old in the earth , and the stock thereof die in the ground , yet through the sent of water it will bud , and bring forth boughs like a plant . but man dieth and wasteth away ; yea man giveth up the ghost , and where is he ? and ver . 14. if a man die shall he live again ? 4. it is a certain , unavoidable enemy . there is no defence to be made against it , no humane power can withstand it , no fortification of the body by utmost art can prevent its entrance ; either by some violent storming , or successive batteries , or longer seige it wil prevail against the stoutest defendants . psal . 89. 48. what man is he that liveth and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? the young , the strong , the healthful , the wise , the rich , the honourable ; all have fallen , and shall fall under the power of this irresistible enemy . the experience of five thousand years and upwards , which the world hath had , is enough to convince all the living that they shall as certainly die as that they have been born . 5. it is an abhorred enemy . against which nature relucts with the greatest passion , and from which it fleeth with greatest aversation it will never be reconciled to that which dissolveth the nearest and most intimate union between soul and body ; which taketh in pieces the curious workmanship , defiles the glory , and stains the beauty of the goodliest body , which turns the lovely body into a loathsome carkass , resolves it into corruption and putrefaction , and gives it to the worms for meat . no antipathy greater than between nature and death . skin for skin , and all that a man hath will he give for his life . job . 2. 4. 6. it is a formidable enemy , that affects a man with fear and terror . we read , ps . 91. 5. — the terrour by night , that is death . job . 24. 17. — the terrours of the shadow of death . psal . 55. 4. — the terrours of death , and job . 18. 14. it is called the king of terrors . i. e. the chief of terrours . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith the judgment of nature , of all terribles the most terrible . this is consequent upon the former . it being a spoiling , surprising , destroying , irresistible , abhorred enemy , it must needs be very terrible . what a terror possesseds the egyptians , when death entred in at their doors , and slew their first born . exod. 12. 30 , 33. they were so affrighted that even pharoah rose up in the night , he and all his servants , and all the egyptians , and there was a great cry in egypt ; for there was not an house where there was not one dead . — they said , we be all dead men . it is a threatning denounced by god , deut. 28. 65 , 66 , 67. the lord shall give thee a trembling heart . why ? thy life shall hang in doubt before thee . and thou shalt fear day and night , and shalt have no assurance of thy life . in the morning thou shalt say , would god it were even ; and at even thou shalt say , would god it were morning , for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear . the apprehension of this affrighted gideon a mighty man of valour , till the lord encouraged him and said to him , fear not , thou shalt not die , judg. 6. 23. at this the king ( belshazzars ) countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him , so that the joynts of his loins were loosed , and his knees smote one against another , dan. 5. 6. and who that is but a natural man , doth not experience trembling and astonishment at the approach and sight of death ? yea many times at the very thoughts . of it ? the world of men doth generally bear witness to that which is written , heb. 2. 15. that through fear of death , they are all their life time subject to bondage . there are two things , ( both in the context ) which make death so terrible . 1 st . sin , which the apostle calleth the sting of death . it was by sin that death entred in the world , and it is by sin that death reigneth in the world . the poison of the serpent is in his sting , and the power of the serpent is in his sting . so the poyson of death is in sin , and the power of death lieth in sin ; without which though it killeth it cannot hurt . this is the only weapon wherewith death is armed against the children of men , but it is a deadly one . that is a dreadful threatning indeed which our saviour denounceth against the jews , joh. 8. 21. ye shall die in your sins . according to what the lord had before spoken by his prophet , ezek. 18. 24. in his trespass that he hath trespassed , and in the sin that he hath sinned , in them shall he die . it is our sad case that we are born in sin , and worse that we live in sin , but oh! how dreadful and miserable to die in sin , in a state of sin , in the guilt of sin , under the reign and power of sin , in the arms and embraces of sin . sin being the transgression of a righteous law , the violation of infinite holiness and justice , and rebellion against divine majesty and authority , it always hath demerit and guilt consequent upon it , which obligeth and bindeth the sinner to undergoe that punishment which is naturally due to it . which punishment is death , rom 1. 32. — they which commit such things are worthy of death . thus sin becomes the weapon or sting of death , by which it hath power to destroy . death cometh upon the sinner as a bailiff or sergeant from the judge with warrant to apprehend and bring the sinner to give account ; or as an executioner to take vengeance , to pay the sinner the just wages of his sin , for the reparation of a broken law , for the satisfaction of offended justice , for the declaration of divine hatred , and displeasure against sin , and for the manifestation of gods glorious power and wrath against the guilty . and what a terror must death needs be when it appears in this shape , and armed with this sting ! know o presumptuous and secure sinner ; though wickedness be now sweet in thy mouth and thou hidest it under thy tongue : though thou swallowest down deliciously thy forbidden morsells of sensual pleasure and worldly gain , yet this meat will soon be turned in thy bowels , and become the gall of asps within thee . at last , at death , it will bite as a serpent , and sting like an adder . what horrour will fill thy soul when approaching death shall awaken thy sleepy conscience , as oft times it doth , and thy awakened conscience shall charge thee with thy inexcusable transgression of a righteous law , thy gross neglect of commanded duty , thy industerious provision to satisfie the flesh , thy ready compliance with the call of temptations , thy irreparable loss of precious time . thy hypocritical dealing with god in covenant , the stopping of thine eares at the voice of conscience , the shutting of thine eyes against the light of scripture , the hardening of thy heart against the motions of the spirit , thy unbelieving refusals of an offered saviour , thy unprofitable misimprovement of means of grace , thy unthankful abuse of the mercies of god , and obstinate incorrigibleness under his judgments , with many other instances of multiplyed and aggravated sins through a long life . whence will arise dismal apprehensions of the wrath of an offended god , a certain fearful expectation of judgment to come , and a pre-occupation of eternal torments and everlasting burnings . this is that sting of death , the weapon wherewith it is armed against thee , wherein consists its power , and by which it is so terrible . 2. add to this the strength which this sting hath from the law. for saith the apostle . the strength of sin is the law , and that two ways . 1 st . as the law discovers and convinceth of sin . rom. 5. 13. sin is not imputed where there is no law. men are not prone to charge themselves with sin , where there is no law , therefore , gal. 3. 19. the law was added because of transgressions , that is , to make transgressions appear . hence we read , rom. 3. 20. by the law is the knowledge of sin , and rom. 7. 9 , 13. i was alive without the law once , in my own opinion , but when the commandment came , sin revived and i died i was convinced i was in a state of sin and death . and v. 13. sin by the commandement becomes exceeding sinful . thus sin as the sting of death is strengthned by the law , while men thereby are more cleerly and fully convinced of it , and the greater the conviction is , the sharper is the sting . 2 ly . as the law curseth and condemneth the sinner . gal. 3. 10. cursed is every one that continueth not in all things , which are written in the book of the law to do them . hence as before , rom. 7. 9. when the commandment came. i died . and 2 cor. 3. 7. the law is called the ministration of death . the law binds the sinner over to the judgment of the great day . it holds him fast under his guilt without hope of pardon , passeth sentence of condemnation upon him , and begins the execution by wounding the spirit , terrifying the soul with pre-apprehensions and foretasts of the wrath to come . the sum of the terror of death , is this . approaching death awakeneth the secure conscience ; awakened conscience charged with the guilt of sin ; this sin is strengthened with a convincing cursing law ; the dying wretch seeth his day of sensual delights and pleasures , his day of worldly gains and purchases , his day of carnal fellowship with men , and especially his day of grace and mercy with god , passing away ; finds his spirit fainting , his heart and flesh failing , anguish and pangs taking hold of him , and his soul forthwith to be required , apprehended , arrested , summoned and haled out of his body , from all freinds , means helps and hopes , to appear naked before god the judge of all men , to give an account of a sinful life , and to receive a righteous doom , viz. depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels and ; then to go away into everlasting punishment . at this what heart of man can contain and possess himself without fear ? who but must be appalled , confounded , amazed , terrified ? knowing the terror , saith st. paul , 2 cor. 5. 1. speaking of this appearance and account . felix trembled , saith st. luke , act. 24. 25. when he heard of judgment to come . it is a fearful looking for of judgment and fierie indignation , saith the author to the hebrews , chap. 10. 27. and a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god. ver . 31. thus have we represented the enemy death , in its power and pomp as it reigneth over the fallen sons and daughters of adam , which appears so terrible , that woe be to those that fall under the power of it . 2. we will now shew you this enemy fallen and overcome before believers . believers are victorious over death . object . but saith natural carnal reason , is not this a great paradox ? who will believe it ? one enoch indeed was translated that he should not see death ; and elijah went up to heaven in a fiery chariot . but else the patriarchs , and prophets , and apostles , and all the saints in their successive generations have yielded up to death . and doth not every day bear witness ? are we not all here this day lamenting a very holy and eminent saint , and servant of jesus christ fallen by the stroke of death ? where then is the victory ? and how is death overcome ? answ . notwithstanding all this , yet verily death is overcome . not ut ne sit , but ut ne obsit . not that it should not be , but that it should not be hurtful to believers , and this victory consists in four things . 1. death is disarmed to believers , that it cannot sting them . when death cometh it finds no sin in them unpardoned , no guilt remaining as an obligation unto punishment . he is overcome whose armour is taken from him wherein he trusted , luk. 11. 22. thus it is with death . where sin hath no dominion , death hath none ; for death reigneth by sin. now as for the sins of believers , god ( to whom belongeth the forgiveness of sins ) saith , isa . 44. 22. i have blotted out as a thick cloud , thy transgresons , and as a cloud , thy sins . jer. 31. 34. i will forgive their iniquity , and i will remember their sin no more . numb . 23. 21. he hath not beheld iniquity in jacob , neither hath he seen perversness in israel . mic. 7. 18 , 19. who is a god like unto thee ? that pardoneth iniquity , and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. act. 10. 43. whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins . what god said to repenting and believing david , that he saieth to all believers . 2 sam. 12. 13. the lord hath put away your sin ye shall not die . ye shall not die by the venemous sting of death . this indeed is in effect the whole victory over death . this is the fatal mortal wound given to death , and will in time be the very death of death ; and therefore the apostle triumpheth over it on that account vers . 55. o death , where is thy sting ? what luther sometimes said to god , that may every believer say to death , feri domine , said he ; strike lord. feri , mors , feri , may they say , nam a peccatis absolutus sum . strike , death , strike , for my sins are pardoned . thou mayest kill me , but thou canst not hurt me . 2. death is overcome to believers in that it cannot amaze them with despairing terrors . however it be to others , it is not to them the king of terrors . believers are freed from the bondage of the tormenting fear of death . heb. ● . 15. though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death ( saith david ) psal . 23. 4. i will fear no evil . elijah makes request for himself that he might die . 1 king. 19. 4. the three children valiantly yielded their bodies to the fiery fornace dan. 3. 16. 28. lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , saith good old simeon . luk. 2. 29. paul and barnabas willingly hazarded their lives . act. 15. 16. paul had a desire to be dissolved . phil. 1. 23. those worthies heb. 11. 35. would not accept deliverance . the primitive martyrs would hasten to the stake . such victory had they gotten of the fear of death . the grant of their pardon , and their discharge from condemnation which god hath sealed to them ; the peace of a good conscience which they carry about with them ; their apprehensions that their bodies are the temples of the holy ghost , which he will never desert or neglect ; their assurance of the faithfulness and power of god , into whose hands they commend their spirit ; the fore-tasts of the sweetness of communion with god , and jesus christ to be fully enjoyed in the other world ; their faith , and hope of a blessed resurrection to immortality ; their evidences for heaven : these are powerful arguments which they improve against the fear of death , and by the strength whereof they triumph over it . object . but for all this . are not believers afraid to die ? was not abraham afraid when he thought he should be slain ? gen. 20. 11. did not david complain , the terrors of death are fallen from me . ps . 55. 4. did not hezekiah weep sore when it was said to him , thou shalt die . isa . 38. 1. and who almost is not afraid ? answ . 1. there is a natural fear of death , as it is the dissolution of the compositum , a separation of soul and body which are so intimately united , which is not sinful . believers are not free from this . grace doth not destroy nature . nature will be nature , and act its part even in the best of saints . they who have the surest hope of eternal life , and clearest evidences of their salvation , yea , and have an unfained longing and desire after the heavenly state , have yet a natural aversness unto death , and do rather endure than desire it . st. paul saith for himself and other believers , that though they knew , that if their earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved , they had a building of god , an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens ; and groaned earnestly , desiring to be clothed upon with their house which is from heaven ; yet they had a natural love of life , and abhorrence of death , and their groaning was not that they would be unclothed . 2 cor. 5. 1 , 2 , 4. yea , our lord jesus christ himself in whom was no sin , being found in fashion as a man , when he humbled himself and became obedient unto death , experienced this fear as the proper expression of his humane nature . when his hour was come mar. 14. 33 , 34. he taketh with him peter , and james , and john , and began to be sore amazed , and to be very heavy , and saith , my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death . 2. there is a slavish , inordinate , sinful fear of death , which believers overcome , and from which they are freed . it was one end of christs death , that he might deliver his redeemed from fear of death , to which they were holden in bondage . heb. 2. 15. to which yet some believers are subject , yea , it may be all at sometimes , more or less . this ariseth from weakness of faith , from want of assurance , from conscience of lapses and contracted guilt , from neglecting to search their own hearts , from misapprehending and mis-judging their spiritual state , from inordinate love to this life , and world , &c. for which they must blame themselves . believers as such , so far as they are believers , are victorious . did they walk close with god , improve grace received , examine their own state wisely , and judge thereof rightly ; did they take hold of the covenant of god , live by faith , meditate on the promises , and apply them as their portion , ( which becometh believers ) they might and would get above the slavish fears of death . in this method they might be ready to die , and fear no evil . when the christian can say with david , psal . 23. the lord is my shepherd ; he maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth me besides the still waters , he restoreth my soul , he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness ; he will then add also , though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil . 3. there is a despairing fear ; the presumptions of hell , the pre-occupation of torment , the fore-tasts of the wrath of the almighty , the scorchings of the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone , that driveth the sinner past all hope , and overwhelms the soul in hideous darkness , and horrible confusions . have there not been instances of some wretched guilty souls going out of the body as the devil out of the demoniack mar. 9. renting , and taring , and wallowing , and foming , and raging , and roaring again . and were it not for the atheism , ignorance , infidelity , blindness , hardness , searedness , flattery , and delusions that are in the hearts of sinners , such instances would not be rare ; but it would be a wonder how any sinner could die in his sin , and in his wits too , from such a fear as this believers are delivered . though they may and do experience some measure of fears , yet god doth always support with some degree of hope , that they let not go all their hold of the covenant of god. in a word , believers are so far victorious over the fear of death , that if they understand their case aright they have no cause to be afraid of death , & when they are , they are more afraid than hurt . the hornet having lost its sting , may threaten with its humming noise , but cannot prick the flesh : so death , where sin is pardoned , which is itssting , may afright with its horrid aspect , but cannot hurt . 3. death is overcome to believers in that it cannot hold them by its power . it is indeed the unalterable law of heaven that all must die : and accordingly abraham , isaac , and jacob , and all the patriarchs ; moses and samuel , and isaiah , and all the prophets ; peter , and james , and john , and all the apostles ; yea , all the saints from adam to this generation are fallen asleep , and shut up in their graves . but shall the grave always contain them ? are they there kept in an everlasting prison under locks , and bars that cannot be opened ? did making the sepulchre sure , sealing the stone , and setting a watch forbid christs resurrection ? no , surely . i went down ( saith jonah , a type of the resurrection . ) to the bottoms of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me for ever ; yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption , o lord my god. jon. 2. 6. and though after my skin worms destroy this body , yet in my flesh shall i see god : whom i shall see for my self , and mine eyes shall behold , and not another , though my reins be consumed within me , saith job . ch . 19. 26 , 27. though the saints be descended to the depths of the sea , and hid in the bowels of the earth , and their bodies resolved into the farthest dust , and that dust dispersed to the four winds , yet shall they be recovered and rise again . the sea shall not contain the dead that are in it , nor the graves the dead that are in them . their scattered atoms shall be recollected and reared up again to a goodly body . behold , there shall be a shaking , and their dry bones shall come together , bone to his bone , and lo , the sinews and the flesh shall come up upon them , and the skin shall cover them above ; and thus shall the lord god say , come from the four winds , o breath , and breath upon these slain that they may live ; and the breath shall come into them , and they shall live , and stand up upon their feet . ezek. 37. 7 , 8 , 10. this is it which the apostle asserts here throughout the chapter , concluding that then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written , death is swallowed up in victory . object . but what more victory is this , than what unbelievers shall have , for they also shall rise again ? answ . yes , it is more beyond all comparison . joh. 5. 28 , 29. all that are in the graves shall hear his voice , and shall come forth , they that have done good unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation . the wicked shall rise , but from death temporal to death eternal , to die the second death . this is death's victory over them . the godly shall rise from death temporal to life eternal , to die no more . this is the saints victory over death . 4. death is so overcome to believers as to be made serviceable , and advantageous to them . and this is the fulness , and perfection of victory , when the enemy is brought in subjection to serve the conquerour . the apostle in this epistle reckons death to be part of the saints inventory . ch . 3. 21 , 22. all things are yours , whether paul or apollos — or life , or death . and elsewhere he calleth it gain , phil. 1. 21. to die is gain . what gain ? answ . 1. in reference to the present state . death is , 1 st . the end of sin. with the body of flesh the body of sin is also put off , from which st. paul longed to be delivered . rom. 7. 24. here the best of saints have their corruptions , infirmities , imperfections ; but at death the spirits of just men are made perfect . heb. 12. 23. 2 ly . the end of all sorrows . there are no pains , or diseases , or griefs , or losses , or crosses , or persecutions in the grave . job . 3. 17 , 18 , 19. there the wicked cease from troubling ; and there the weary be at rest . there the prisoners rest together ; they hear not the voice of the oppressor . the small and great are there , and the servant is free from his master . 3. rest from labours . it is no light burden of works that is upon a christians hand ; no small labour to discharge the duties of his general and particular calling . what saith the scripture ? labour , work , watch , run , strive , wrastle , fight , give diligence , endure hardness , press forward , &c. but blessed are the dead that die in the lord , for they rest from their labours . rev. 14. 13. the day of the saints death is his happy jubilee , when he is set at liberty and goeth out free from his service . thus is death gain in reference to the presence state . 2. in reference to the future state . for , 1 st . as for the soul , it being released from the body is admitted into the heavenly jerusalem , to an innumerable company of angels , to the spirits of just men made perfect , and to jesus the mediator of the new covenant . heb. 12. this day , saith christ , to a dying saint , shalt thou be with me in paradise . luk. 23. 43. st. paul desires to depart that he might be with christ which is far better . phil. 1. 23. 2 ly . as for the body , death serves to refine it , for 1 cor. 15. 50. this i say , that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god : neither doth corruption inherit incorruption . these bodies which we now carry are so gross and corruptible , they are not meet for an heavenly state . they die that they may be changed . phil. 3. 21. they are sown in corruption to be raised in incorruption ; sown in dishonour to be raised in glory ; sown in weakness , to be raised in power ; sown natural bodies , to be raised spiritual . the old decayed house is taken down to be built anew ; and these weak crasie bodies are laid in the earth to rise afresh . this corruptible is corrupted , that it may put on incorruption , and this mortal dieth that it may put on immortality . thus is this enemy overcome , and made to serve as a mean and advantage to the believers happiness . this indeed is a glorious victory over a very mighty , and formidable enemy : so great and wonderful , that it far exceeds the hope of nature ; flesh and blood cannot believe the report thereof . paul's discourse of the resurrection from the dead seemed no other than babling to the learned philosophers at athens . act. 17. 18. and was thought incredible by festus , and agrippa , and the captains , and principal men of caesarea . act. 26. 8. yea , the resurrection seemed as an idle tale at first to the very apostles . luk. 24. 11. and they believed it not . so great is the glory of this victory over death , that even angels come down from heaven to make report of it , and to celebrate the triumph . mar. 16. luk. 24. tell no more then of the mighty acts of nimrod , or chedorlaomer , of sennacherib , or nebuchadnezzar , of cyrus , or alexander , or of all the caesars , or the rest of those great names that have filled the world with their fame , who have subdued kingdoms , and led nations captive , and made many glorious triumphs . yea , let no mention be made of the victories of joshua , or baruk , or gideon , or jephtha , or samson , or saul , or jonathan , or david , or of all his worthies , who have victoriously fought the battles of the lord against the arms of flesh , and whose sword returned not empty from the blood of the slain . behold , the greater glory of this victory in the text , which darkneth the lustre of all their triumphs . their acts were mira , but this miraculum . their victories were wonders , but this a miracle . the gates of hell , the power of darkness , the king of terrors ( before whom all these triumphing victors at last fell ) fallen at the feet of the saints . quest . but if believers be thus victorious , and their victory be so great and glorious which you tell us , as indeed it is , how do they obtain it ? where lieth the great strength of these samsons ? are they not all clay of the same lump with other men ? are they not the sons of men ? do we not know their generation ? their parents , brethren , and sisters , are they not with us ? whence then have these men these mighty works ? answ . truly they are so . they are of the same nature with other men ; promise no more than other ; nay less as to sense and reason , for they are not many wise after the flesh , not many mighty , not many noble . 1 cor. 1. 26. and therefore we may well ask the question , how they overcome ? the remaining text will resolve this . they get not the victory by their own sword , neither do their own arm save them : but , 3. the victory is given them by god through our lord jesus christ . we will express this in three particulars . 1. jesus christ disarmeth death by his satisfaction . 2. he destroyeth death by his resurrection . 3. this victory becomes the believers by participation and communion with him . 1. jesus christ disarms death by his satisfaction . the sting of death is sin , saith the context , and the strength of sin is the law , sin being the transgression of a righteous law hath in it a fundamentall demerit and natural obligation to punishment , which is moreover confirmed by the laws threatning , thou shalt die the death . this is the sting of death wherewith it is armed ; from the poyson , power , and pain whereof none can be delivered , unless the obligation be voided by making satisfaction . this being impossible to meer man , jesus christ undertook it . to which purpose our sins were translated on him by imputation isa . 53. 6. all we like sheep have gone astray , we have turned every on to his own way , and the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all . he was made a priest that he might offer sacrifice to expiate this guilt and to satisfie the law. heb. 5. 4 , 5 , 6. and no man taketh this honour unto himself , but he that is called of god as was aaron . so also christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest , but he that said unto him , thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee , and again . thou art a priest for ever , &c. the sacrifice to be offered up by this priest for this purpose must be an humane soul and body ; for the subjection of mans soul and body , to the curse of the law was the punishment which the law exacted for mans sin , and wherewith only it would be satisfied . this soul and body did christ assume . jo● . 1. 14. the word was made flesh . hebs . 10. 5. when he cometh into the world he saieth . sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not , but a body hast thou prepared me . for the sanctification of this sacrifice to be offered up to god , there must be an altar . math. 23. 19. the altar sanctifieth the gift which altar was his divine nature . heb. 9. 14. througth the eternal spirit he offered himself . and joh. 17. 19. i sanctifie my self . i , as god , sanctifie my self as man. and being thus instructed he actually offered up himself to god eph. 5. 2. christ hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god. he humbled himself and became obedient unto death , even the death of the cross . phil. 2. 8. and so was made a curse for us , as it is written , cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree . gal. 3. 13. by this did christ satisfie the law , expiate guilt , cancelled the hand writing , the obligation to punishment , appeased the wrath of god and obtained remission of sins . eph. 1. 7. thus did he finish transgression , & make an end of sins , thus he made reconciliation for iniquity , & brought in everlasting righteousness . thus he disarmed death by making satisfaction . 2. he destroyeth death by his resurrection . by his satisfaction he took away the power and efficacy of death , but by his resurrection he destroyed the very being of death , actually as to himself , virtually as to believers . rom. 6. 9. christ being raised from the dead dieth no more , death hath no more dominion over him , and v. 10. for in that he died , he died unto sin once . ad delendum peccatum , ut semel in nihilum redigat peccatum in nobis , saith beza , he died once for all utterly to blot out sin in us but in that he liveth , he liveth unto god , apud deum or secundum deum , vita caelesti et immortali , a life worthy of god , an heavenly and immortal life . we read joh. 11. 44. concerning lazarus , that he that was dead came forth . there the power of death was suspended at present that it could not hold him , but the being of death remained , for he rose to die again , and therefore he came forth bound hand and foot , with grave-clothes , and his face was bound about with a napkin . but when christ rose , both the power and the being of death ceased as to him , and therefore he left his grave-clothes behind him , and carryed nothing belonging to death with him . joh. 20. 6. 7. the rising body of christ was not only not dead , but not mortal . his body rose a glorious body , a spiritual body , an heavenly body . not only death but mortality is swallowed up by the resurrection of christ . and as by the resurrection of christ the being of death was destroyed actually as to himself ; so vertually to believers , for even as to them he hath abolished death , and brought life and immortality to light . 2 tim. 1. 10. saith christ , rev. 1. 18. i am he that liveth and was dead , and behold , i am alive for evermore , amen , and have the keyes of hell and death . the keyes are the ensign of power . christ by his resurrection hath obtained authority over death , to quicken whom he pleaseth , to shut and open the grave . and his promise is to exercise this power for his people . joh. 6. 44. i will raise him up at the last day . hos . 13. 14. i will ransome them from the power of the grave ; i will redeem them from death . notwithstanding all the improbabilities , yea impossibilities in nature , yet he saith to them as to cyrus , isa . 54. 2. i will go before thee and break in pieces the gates of brass , and cut in sunder the barrs of iron . on which account st. peter begins his epistle , v. 3. with thanksgiving . blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ , which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope , ( i. e. hope of eternal life , as v. 4. ) by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead . it is observable what the apostle saith here , he hath begotten us by the resurrection of jesus christ . the resurrection of jesus christ , hath a secret generating influence upon the resurrection of the saints , who are therefore called by our saviour . luke . 20. 36. the children of the resurrection , which leadeth to , 3. this victory becomes the believers by participation , and communion with him. they communicate with him in the value of his satisfaction , and they communicate with him in the vertue of his resurrection . 1. they communicate with him in the value of his satisfaction , whereby the sting of death is taken out as to them , to wit , the guilt of sin done away . by the covenant of redemption between the father and christ , it was eternally agreed that christ should be their surrogate , substitute and surety to undertake for them in their nature joh. 10. 18. no man taketh my life from me , but i lay it down of my self ; there is christs consent . this commandment have i received of my father ; there 's the fathers consent . so hebr. 10. 7. then said i , lo , i come to do thy will , o god. accordingly he became man and our surety , and thereby one with us in the sense of the law , as the principal debtor and surety are looked upon as one person in law. thus our debt became his debt , he was bound for us , and saith to his father on our behalf as judah to joseph on the behalf of benjamin . gen. 44. 32. 33. thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father — now therefore , i pray thee , let thy servant abide in stead of the lad a bondman to my lord , and the punishment due to us became his . isa . 53. 4 , 5. surely he hath born our greifs . and carried our sorrows — he was wounded for our transgressions , he was bruised for our iniquities , &c. and thus by vertue of the same suretyship , when he had undergone the punishment and satisfied the law , and taken his discharge which was testified by his resurrection , his satisfaction becomes our satisfaction and his discharge , our discharge . jer. 23. 6. he is the lord our righteousness . gal. 3. 13. christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us . rom. 8. 33 , 34. who shall lay any thing to the charge of gods elect ? who is he that condemneth ? it is christ that died , yea rather that is risen again . no law doth demand both of the principal and the surety too . they are bound to pay disjunctively one or the other . therefore when christ was apprehended he said to the officers that took him , joh. 18. 8. if ye seek me , let these ( my disciples ) go their way . 2. they communicate with him in the vertue of his resurrection . christ rose from the dead not only as a surety discharged from prison when he had paid the debt and thereby cancelling the obligation of the principal ; but also as a vital head to quicken and raise all his body , the church . for the same spirit of life which is in christ and quickened his dead body , is also in the church and in every particular member thereof , and will certainly quicken their dead bodies . rom. 8. 11. if the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you ; he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by , or because of his spirit that dwelleth in you . he saith not your dead bodies , but your mortal bodies , to denote this quickening to be not only from death to life but from mortality to immortality , as was the resurrection of christ . he that eateth me , saith christ , joh. 6. 5 , 7. that is , by faith , there is union with christ , even he shall live by me , there is communion with christ as necessarily consequent . and what that life is , he expresseth four times in that chap. ver . 39 , 40 , 44 , 54. i will raise him up at the last day . hence christ is said to be our life . col. 3. 4. and we are said to be quickened with christ . col. 2. 13. and risen with christ , eph. 2. 6. it is from the vertue of christs resurrection that job argueth to his own , job . 19. 25 , 26. i know that my redeemer liveth , &c. and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall i see god. and this is the argument which the apostles so industriously improves throughout this chapter , assuring the resurrection of believers by the resurrection of christ . christ rose as the first-fruits of them that sleep , which sanctifieth and assureth the whole harvest . ver . 20. if the first adam dying derived death to all his natural seed , much more shall the second adam rising communicate life to all his spiritual seed ▪ ver . 22. yea such intimate and necessary connexion is there between the resurrection of christ and the resurrection of believers , that the apostle argueth both forward and backward from the one to the other . ver . 12 , 13 , 16. the saints then shall one day feel the quickening influences of their vital head upon their dead bodies , and experimentally know the power of his resurrection recovering them from the power of the grave to rise and live with him for ever . which is so certain that the apostle speakes of it as already done . eph. 2 ▪ 6. he hath raised us up . applicat . 1. how sad and woful is the case of unbelievers ! who have no share in this glorious and blessed victory , no interest in the satisfaction and resurrection of this prince of life ; but are left to shift for themselves alone , all forlornly exposed to the invincible assaults of the king of terrors . do they not tremble at a distance , at the fore-thoughts ▪ of that dark and dismal hour , when this spoiling , destroying , abhorred and dreadful enemy shall surprize them , and peremptorily require their precious life beyond all denial , or resistance ? but how much greater will their horror and amazement be at the near approach , and present appearance of this deadly foe ; when their eyes shall be awakened , and enlightned more clearly , and convincingly to see its power and terror , and their heart more tender and sensible to feel the pain , and poyson of its mortal sting ! can thine heart endure , or can thy hands be strong in the day when thy flesh shall wast , thy spirits faint , thy strength fail , the sorrows of death compass thee about , the pains of hell take hold on thee , and almighty wrath be renting thee in pieces like a lion , and there is none to deliver thee ? surely , a guilty conscience , a cursing law , an avenging justice , and present death are a weight more insupportable than talents of lead , than rocks and mountains , enough to break the stoutest heart , and will certainly damp the courage of the most daring sinner . where ever dwelt the man , and what was his name , who was so hardy and confident as not to be moved , yea , not to be struck to the very heart at the sight of the pale horse coming amain upon him , the name of whose rider is death , with hell at his heels ? what thinkest thou ? o guilty sinner ! is thy state of sin so little dangerous , that thou mayest securely rest in it ? is death so weakly armed , and art thou so strongly fortified , that thou mayest bid defiance to its assaults ? wilt thou sin , and laugh , and sleep , and drive away the melancholy thoughts of thy approaching terror by diverting to the mirth , and follies , and vanities , and pleasures of a present transitory and helpless world ? reflect upon thy heart and ways , review the number and nature of thy multiplied and aggravated transgressions throughout a long life , have patience to hear the charge of thy veracious and faithful conscience , and seriously consider with what a sharp and poisonous sting thou hast armed death against thine own soul. run not the desperate hazard of being killed with death . who ever hardened himself against this terror of the lord , and fell not under it ? the stoutest hearted are spoiled , they have slept their sleep , and none of the men of might have found their hands . wert thou behemoth or leviathan for strength and courage , were thy bones as strong pieces of brass , or like bars of iron , were thy heart as firm as a stone , yea , as heart as a piece of the nether milstone , and thou a king among all the children of pride , yet shall this sword of the lord approach thee and break thy bones ; and this arrow of the almighty , pierce thy heart , and the poyson thereof shall drink up thy spirit . flatter not thy self with vain hopes founded upon presumption or infidelity . think not the lion to be painted fiercer then he is . when thou hearest the menaces of death , the words of the curse , bless not thy self saying , i shall have peace . make no covenant with death , nor be at agreement with hell : lest thou make lies thy refuge , and under falshood hide thy self ; for thy covenant with death shall be disannulled , and thy agreement with hell shall not stand . thou hast but one method of safety , one course to take . venture not alone in thy own strength to meet and encounter with thy mortal foe . but turn thee , turn thee to the tents of the conquerour , make hast to list thy self under the standard , of the prince of life . thou hast been told what is the sting of death , and where its strength lieth . do to it as the philistines did to sampson . cut off its locks , pluck out its sting . break off thy sins by repentance , and work away thy guilt by faith in the blood of the lamb , that god may give thee victory through jesus christ . 2. how blessed and comfortable is the case of all true believers . there are but two evils can make a man miserable , sin and death . the believer is freed from the law of both . it is indeed the irreversible law and ordination of god , that believers die as well as others , but withal it is their unspeakable distinguishing priviledge , that their death hath no sting , no curse , no victory over them . their lord jesus , the captain of their salvation who died for them , hath overcome death , disarmed death , sanctified death , sweetened death , subjected death to them , and turned it to their advantage . death indeed cometh after the same visible manner upon the body of the saint and of the sinner , by sword , or famine , or pestilence , consumption and burning feaver , with aches and pains , whereby the earthly house of their tabernacle is dissolved — saul and jonathan were not divided in their death . ahab and josiah fall alike in the battle by the hand of the archers . stephen and achan are both stoned . the good and bad thief give up the ghost together upon their cross . but as to their souls how vastly different are their deaths in the dispensation of god! the one is cursed , the other blessed in his death : on dieth in his sin , the other in the lord : one departs under wrath , the other in peace : the spirit of one is delivered to satan , the spirit of the other committed into the hands of god : the soul of one carried by devils into the place of torment , the soul of the other carried by angels into abrahams bosome : the one passeth from death to death ; the other passeth though death to life . this is the blessedness of the dead which die in the lord. this is the happy victory of the saint over death , even in dying . of which difference of the death of saint and sinner , the sinner is sometimes so convinced , that he cannot but wish with balaam , let me die the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his . it is the saints happiness here , both living and dying , to have the victory over death by faith , which is to them the evidence and presenting of the future resurrection , not yet seen . but it will be much more their happiness to have this victory by sense , as they shall in their glorious resurrection . two things commend it . 1. it is the victory over the last enemy . ver . 26. and so implieth victory over all enemies : for if any remained , this were not the last . sin , and world , and devil , are all conquered when death is conquered . hold out then , o believing soul , in thy spiritual conflict . be thou faithful unto death , maintain thy christian courage against death , take hold of the strength of christ and overcome it , thou shalt fight no mor , but there remains thee everlasting rest . 2. it is the victory of christ , which the saints have in communion with him , and so it is a sure victory . he that got it by his almighty power will by the same power keep it , that it shall never be lost , christ being raised from the dead , dieth no more , and till death can prevail over christ it shall not prevail over the christian . joh. 14. 19. because i live , saith christ , ye shall live also . 3. let believers live and die as becomes those that have the victory , even above and beyond the fears of death . if we have the same precious faith which this apostle had , let us put on also the same confidence and courage , and in assurance of the victory that christ hath gotten for us , bid an holy defiance to this enemy . o death where is thy sting ? o grave where is thy victory ? was it not the end of christs conquest to deliver his saints , not only from the hurt , but from the fear of death ? would it not then be either a denial or a disparagement of christs victory , for a saint to live in bondage to the fear of death ? that souldier must either be very ignorant , or very much a coward who is afraid to meet his disarmed , and conquered enemy . such is the weakness and cowardise , and ought to be the shame of too many professing christians . how far do we desire to remove death from us ? how sad and damping are the very thoughts thereof to us ? what reluctance have we against the very name of death ? what trembling at the approach thereof ! how do we say as they , jer. 41. 8. slay us not ; for we have treasures in the field , of wheat and of barley , and of oil and of honey . and with hezekiah turn to the wall and weep sore . but whence is all this ? is it not because we look upon death only with an eye of nature , and not with the eye of faith ? and that we look at our dissolution more than at our resurrection ? is it not because of the darkness of our evidence , and carelessness of gaining better assurance of life eternal ? is it not from our inordinate affection to our worldly interest , our carnal enjoyments and relations ? or is it not from the conscience of some indulged sin , which we have not effectually mortified ? surely our consciences will tell the guilty , that some or all of these , are the cause of our averseness , lothness and fears to die . but are these becoming professing christians , and worthy of the faith of the resurrection ? oh for the honour of christs victory , for the commendation of religion , for the conviction of sinners , for the comfort of our own souls , let us shake of these clogs , lay aside these weights , and get above these slavish fears ! improve and encourage faith against sense and carnal reason . mortifie thy inordinate affections , hold a good conscience , clear up thy interest in christ , and in the covenant of god , have thy conversation in heaven , and from thence look for the saviour , the lord jesus christ , who shall change thy vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , and fear not . art thou to encounter death , hast thou apprehensions of its approaches towards thee ? and doth thy heart fail for fear hereof ? hear christ rebuking thee as sometimes he rebuked his disciples , why art thou fearful , thou of little faith ? let me say to thee for thy encouragement , if thou beest a christian indeed , as deborah to barak when he was to encounter sisera . judg. 4. 14. up , is not the lord gone out before thee ? hath not christ disarmed thy enemy ? and taken out its sting ? hath not he overcome death , and opened the doors of the grave , and given thee the victory ? yea doth not the lord go out with thee , and stand by thee in this thy last conflict ? and is not the presence and assistance of christ enough to encourage thee against fear ? isa . 43. 1. 2. saith god to jacob , fear not , when thou passest through the waters , i will be with thee ; and v. 5. fear not , for i am with thee . in the strength of which promise , say with david , ds . 23. 4. though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death , i will fear none evill , for thou art with me . verily there is a power in faith . it is a victorious grace . it engaged the strength of him that raised up jesus from the dead . live then by faith , and thou shalt die by faith , and overcome death by faith . many witnesses can set their seal to this as a certain truth , that a christian by the improvement of grace may , if not triumphanter yet , at least patienter mori , may be content , if not rejoyce to die . 4. add for a conclusion the apostles application in the text , thanks be to god. the victory being gotten , being given , the triumph is to be made . we read ( whether they be the words of god to the church , or of the church to god , the sense is the same ) isa . 26. 19. thy dead men shall live , together with my dead body shall they arise : for thy dew is as the dew of herbs ; which revives them in the spring , after a killing winter , and the earth shall cast out the dead , there 's the victory . what then ? awake and sing , ye that dwell in the dust , there is the triumph . thus , ps . 30. 3. o lord , thou hast brought up my soul from the grave . then , ver . 12. to the end that my glory may sing prise to thee and not be silent : o lord my god i will give thanks unto thee for ever . thus again the psalmists sings . ps . 118. 14 , 15 , 17. the the lord is my strength and song : and is become my salvation . the voice of rejoycing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous : the right hand of the lord doth valiantly &c. why ? i shall not die but live , and declare the works of the lord. victory is always matter of rejoycing , and should reflect honour upon the conquerour . we read , 1 sam. 17. goliah of gath , that monstrous and terrible giant , cometh forth before his camp of philistins and defieth the armies of israel , who fled from him and were sore afraid , when behold , david goeth out to meet him , and encounters him all alone , and with the giants own sword cuts off his head and discomfits all his host . did they not then come out of all cities of israel . chap. 18. 6 , 7. singing and dancing with , tabrets and joy and instruments of musick , answering one another as they played , and saying , saul hath slain his thousands , and david his ten thousands ? what is it that we see ? is it the vision , rev. 6. 8. behold , a pale horse , and the name of him that sits on him is death , and hell followeth with him , and power is given unto him to kill . and at this are we sore afraid ? why ? look again , rev. 19. 11. &c. i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse , and he that sate upon him doth judge and make war in righteousness , and he is clothed with a vesture dipt in blood , and his name is called the word of god , he goeth forth conquering and to conquer . he takes death and hell and casteth them into the lake of fire . come then , let us sing the song of moses , exod. 15. 1 , 2 , 3. the lord is my strength and song ; he is my god i will exalt him . the lord is a man of war ; the lord is his name i will sing unto the lord ; for he hath triumphed gloriously , the horse and his rider hath he cast into the fire . this victory was won by christ t is worn by us ; it was dear to christ , t is cheap to us ; it cost him labour . and pain , and sorrow , and sweat , and blood , but it is given to us ; we overcome not by expence of our own blood , but by the blood of the lamb. what then shall we render to the lord ? shall we give him less than a song , a song of thanksgiving ? especially when we can give no more . o ye that are the redeemed of the lord , whom he hath ransomed from the power of the grave , send out your thoughts a while into the land of darkness , and take a more exact view of the triumphs and trophies of death , which it hath erected over the vanquished sons and daughters of men , that have fallen under its power : look into the prison of the grave where the bodies of the slain are holden under chains of darkness , reserved to the execution of the great day . consider the poyson , venom , sharpness and power of the deadly sting that is entred into their souls , strengthened with all the plagues and curses that are writtten in the book of the law of a righteous , avenging , and almighty judge ; the worm of conscience gnawing the soul as well as the worm of corruption feeding on the body . hark , what are the hideous cryes , and woes , and wailings , the roarings and yellings , the gnashing of teeth , and bitter lamentations of the wretched prisoners captivated under the insulting enemy ; and then recall your thoughts to the solemn meditation of this happy word , the glad tidings of the glorious conquest and resurrection of jesus christ , in fellowship with whom you are rescued from the cursed power of this death and hell , and made heirs of the grace of life , of life eternal . and if you have any sense of the infinite love of god , and his compassions towards you ; of the incomparable labours , and sufferings of jesus christ for you ; of the unspeakable misery from whence you are redeemed , and the glorious immortality to which you are intituled , and whereof you shall be possessed . your meditations ( methinks ) cannot but issue with the apostle's in this greatful , pathetick , and triumphant doxologie . thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory through our lord jesu christ . finis . errata . pref. read . curriculum vitae page . 7. l. 9. r. affect . and. l. 19. r. shining . p. 18. l. 28. r. dr. tuckney . p. 27. l. 18. r. may . p. 28. l. 18. r. means . and l. 2. r. on the week day . p. 32. l. 3. r. jesus christ . p. 34. l. 9. r. the strongest . p. 44. l. 21. r. worthy of . p. 45. l. 4. r. being . p. 57. l. 19. r. visit . p. 59. l. 1. r. look to christ . p. 61. l. 5. r. moderation . p. 69. l. 27. r. send . p. 73. l. 24. r. hear . p. 75. l. 15. r. separated . p. 63. l. 20. r. hides . p. 99. l. 2. r. if . a catalogue of books printed for , and sold by tho. parkhurst at the bible and three crowns at the lower end of cheapside . 1. a word to sinners , and a word to saints , the former to awaken , the latter to direct and perswade . 2. christian directions to walk with god all the day long . 3. principles of christian religion explained , to the capacity of the meanest , with practical applications to each head , whereby family catechising may be with much ease performed . 4. the young mans guide through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly canaan . 5. the surest and safest way of thriving , which is in being charitable to the poor ; all five written by tho. gouge . minister of the gospel . ars sciendi . sive logica nova methodo disposita & , novis preceptis aucta . self employment in secret containing evidences upon self examination . thoughts upon painful afflictions . memorials , for practice . parents groans , for their wicked children by edward , lawrence . m. a. troughtons apology for the , nonconformists preaching . of thoughtfulness for the future by j. howe . m. a. barretts reply to the , dean st. pauls late book . no evidence for diocesan bishops by mr. clarkson . the life of that reverend divine mr. owen stockton late of colchester . there is now a printing an exposition on the prophecy of isaia by that reverend divine mr. arthur-jackson . the little book for little children is lately reprinted . — corbetts self imployment in secret . deaths aduantage little regarded, and the soules solace against sorrow preached in two funerall sermons at childwal in lancashire at the buriall of mistris katherin brettergh the third of iune. 1601. the one by william harrison, one of the preachers appointed by her. maiestie for the countie palatine of lancaster, the other by william leygh, bachelor of diuinitie, and pastor of standish. whereunto is annexed, the christian life and godly death of the said gentlevvoman. harrison, william, d. 1625. 1602 approx. 314 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 122 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a02735 stc 12866 estc s117329 99852544 99852544 17869 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a02735) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 17869) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1142:24) deaths aduantage little regarded, and the soules solace against sorrow preached in two funerall sermons at childwal in lancashire at the buriall of mistris katherin brettergh the third of iune. 1601. the one by william harrison, one of the preachers appointed by her. maiestie for the countie palatine of lancaster, the other by william leygh, bachelor of diuinitie, and pastor of standish. whereunto is annexed, the christian life and godly death of the said gentlevvoman. harrison, william, d. 1625. leigh, william, 1550-1639. the second edition, corrected and amended. [6], 84, [4], 77, [19], 38 p., folded table imprinted by felix kyngston, at london : 1602. "the soules solace against sorrow" by william leigh and "a brief discourse of the christian life and death, of mistris katherin brettergh" by harrison have separate pagination and title pages; register is continuous. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng brettargh, katharine, 1579-1601. funeral sermons -early works to 1800. 2004-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2004-08 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c. bretterg deaths advantage little regarded , and the soules solace against sorrow . preached in two funerall sermons at childwal in lancashire at the buriall of mistris katherin brettergh the third of iune . 1601. the one by william harrison , one of the preachers appointed by her . maiestie for the countie palatine of lancaster , the other by william leygh , bachelor of diuinitie , and pastor of standish . whereunto is annexed , the christian life and godly death of the said gentlevvoman . the second edition , corrected and amended . phil. 1. 21. christ is to me both in life , and in death aduantage . revel . 12. 17. then the dragon vvas vvroth vvith the vvoman , and vvent and made vvarre vvith the remnant of her seede vvhich keepe the commaundements of god , and haue the testimonie of iesus christ. at london imprinted by felix kyngston . 1602. to the christian reader , grace and peace in christ be multiplied . if any doe wonder why i would presume to publish this rude sermon in these bright sun-shine daies of the gospell , wherein so many learned bookes & profitable treatises be alreadie set forth by others , and yet are little regarded by the people : i wish them to vnderstand , that i was drawne hereunto by the importunitie of some , who hearing it preached , earnestly desired to haue it printed : their request being importunate , and yet reasonable , i could not well deny it . and yet i hope it wil not be hurtful to any , but profitable to sor●e . i know that speaking hath alwaies been a accounted more powerfull than writing : and therfore papias , b a companion of polycarpus , thought he did not profit so much by the writings and bookes of the apostles followers , as by the authoritie of the persons and the liuely voyce of the speakers . and c hierome said , that the liuely voyce had a secret force , and being powred from the mouth of the speaker into the eares of the hearer , hath a stronger and more powerful sound . whereupon aeschines , when he had read the oration which demosthenes had made against him , and perceiued that the people did greatly wonder at the force and excellencie of it ; answered them , d what would you haue thought , if you had heard him pronounce it with his owne mouth ? yet writing hath his vse and profit : both for the instruction of those which did not heare the doctrine deliuered by liuelie voyce , and also for the helpe of their memories which before heard it . our sermons are like an vntimely fruite , which dieth so soone as it is borne , they are forgotten so soone as they are heard . and therefore as paul was not grieued to write the same things to the philippians , but thought it a sure thing for them : so wee neede not to be ashamed to write those things which before we preached , that the people may the better vnderstand and remember the same . moreouer , i was willing to giue a publike testimonie of that godly gentlewomans death , at whose buriall it was preached : to cleere her from the slanderous reports of her popish neighbors , who will not suffer her to rest in her graue , but seeke to disgrace her after her death . it is not vnknowne to them which either reade the histories of these later times , or are acquainted with popish practises , that the religiō of papists , was first set vp , and is still maintained by crueltie , and lyes . by crueltie , in murthering the martyrs , in persecuting the protestants , and now of late in these parts , in beating and wounding the bodies , in killing & spoyling the cattell of those which withstand them by publike authoritie . by lyes , in teaching forged miracles to confirme their owne doctrine , and in spreading abroad false reports against our best professors to hinder our doctrine : as they haue bitterly reuiled them for the course of their liues ; so haue they most shamefully slaundered them for the manner of their death . it would make a mans eares to tingle to heare what malitious slaunders and manifest vntruths some of the romish faction haue published , concerning the death of e luther , of f caluine and g bucer , worthie instrumēts of gods glorie , and faithfull teachers of his truth . as also concerning the death of the h lord cobham , i of richard hunne , k of thomas bilney , and of l perotine massie , holie martyrs , which sealed the truth of christ with their owne blood . yea haue not some of that sect scattered abroad slaunderous libels of master beza his reuolting at his death ? when he was liuing , and able to answere them with his own hand-writing . no marueile therefore though their followers , treading in their steps , do now vniustly reproch them which professe the same doctrine , and being dead indeede , cannot answere for themselues . it were better for them with balaam , to desire to die the death of the righteous , then thus to slander them after their death . i will not blame them with cursed speaking , seeing michael the archangell would not so deale with the diuell : but i shall pray vnto the lord to forgiue them , and to open their eyes that they may see his truth . and god grant that we which now professe his truth , may so liue and die , as that we may giue them no occasion to speake euill of it . amen . thine in the lord , william harrison . analysis of deaths aduantage little regarded . concerning the death of the godly , mētioned isai , 57. vers . 1. these 4. points may be obserued . 1. the persons which dyed , who are described by two titles . 1. the righteous , where wee may consider 1. the causes by which they are made righteous , namely by 1. faith applying christs merits to make them righteous before god. 2. sanctification and the fruites thereof , to make them righteous before men . 2. the markes whereby they may bee knowne to bee righteous , which be foure . 1. the generalitie of their obedience : if it extend it selfe to the whole course of their life . 2. the end of it , if it be directed to gods glory . 3. their perseuerance , if they continue therein vnto the end . 4. their affection to righteousnesse in others , which is shewed in labouring to make them righteous , which yet be not . louing them which be alreadie righteous . 2. mercifull men so called passiuely , because god hath receiued them to mercie . actiuely , because they shew mercie vnto others : both to their bodes and soules . 2. the manner of their death expressed by two phrases . 1. doe perish : which must be vnderstood not in regard of their soules : for they are immortall and incomptible . but in regard of their bodies : for they perish ; yet only for a time , and during that time remaine members of christs mysticall bodie : by vertue whereof they shallr●e againe . 2. are taken away : and that is in respect of their soules , an● so their death differeth much from the death of he wicked . bodies , an● so there is no difference betwixt them and the vicked . 3. the careles regarde in others , which is declared by two seuerall sentences . 1. no man cōsidereth it in heart . 2. no man vnderstādeth it . concerning which consideratiō 3. points are obserued . 1. the reasons why all should consider their death . 1. because it is gods worke . 2. because it is a thing precious in gods sight . 3. it tends to gods glorie . 4. it serues for the instruction of thē which remaine aliue . 2. the matter , what thinges we should cōsider at their death . 1. the certaintie of our owne death . 2. the nature of death in all , defacing gods image , and making a separation betwixt them and those things which they loued most deerely . 3. the cause of their death : for they are taken away either in iudgement , or mercie . 4. the manner of their death : for thereby we may learne how to dye . 3. the abuse of it , which is committed by not considering their death at all . cōsidering it amisse , and that fondly , through naturall affection , when our friends and kinsfolke are taken away . frowardly , thinking thē to die il , because 1. their death is sudden and extraordinarie . 2. they are strangelie assaulted with temptations . 3. they speake idl●e and blasphemously by reason of their disease . 4. the ende of their death to free them frō euils to come : which euils be ordinary , and that either corporall , as diseases , losses , and all maner of crosses . spirituall in their soules , namely 1. their combat with the diuell . 2. their practise of sin . 3. their societie with the wicked . extraordinarie : to wit , those iudgements which for some late and grieuous sinnes , the lord was readie to bring vpon the people amongst whom they liued . w. harrison . deaths aduantage little regarded . isai . 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man considereth it in heart : and mercifull men are taken away , and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is takē away from the euill to come . the holy prophet of the lord , in the 9. verse of the chapter immediatly going before , hath fore-told of a fearefull iudgement which was like to fall vpon the iewes . he calles for the wild beasts of the field and the forest , to come and ▪ denoure them : meaning thereby the gentils , which should bee the executioners of the lords iudgements vpon them . and because the lords iudgements are alwayes righteous , hee afterwards shewes the causes which would prouoke him to inflict them . the first cause is set downe at large in the rest of the verses following in the same chapter , the blindnes , idlenes , couetousnes , and securitie of them which were appointed for teachers among them : the neglect of their dutie , being a speciall occasion of the peoples sinne , is alleadged as the first cause of the iudgement ensuing . the second cause was in the common people , set downe in the first verse of this chapter , and that was their carelesse regard of the death of righteous men , though many of them were taken away , to forewarne them of some strange iudgement to come ; yet they regarded it not , but still proceeded forward in their sins , and therefore were like to caste of some miseries , from which the righteous were freed by their speedy death . in these words foure seuerall circumstances are to be obserued . 1. the persons who did dye . 2. the manner of their death . 3. the contempt and carelesse regard of their death . 4. the end of their death . 1. the persons which dyed , are described by two properties . 1. the righteous . 2. mercifull men . 2. the manner of their death is set foorth by two seuerall tearmes , perisheth : are taken away . 3. the contempt and carelesse regard of their death , is also set downe by two phrases , no man considereth it in heart : and no man vnderstandeth it . lastly , the end wherefore they dyed was , to preuent future euils : the righteous is taken away from the euill to come : of these in order . 1. for the persons which dyed , the prophet saith , the righteous perisheth . concerning whom , two things are to be considered : first , the meanes by which men are made righteous : secondly , the markes by which wee may know who are righteous . for the former , you must know that by nature all are corrupt and vnrighteous , but yet may be made righteous by iustification , and sanctification : for there is a righteousnes of imputation , and also a righteousnes of sanctification ; the one to make vs righteous before god , the other to make vs righteous before men . the righteousnes of imputation is the righteousnes of christ imputed vnto vs by faith , for our iustification . our owne inherent righteousnes is not sufficient to make vs truely and perfectly righteous before god , and therefore this prophet saith afterward in the name of himselfe , and of all the people , all our righteousnes is as filthie cloutes . and daiud , one of gods faithfull seruants thus framed his prayer vnto the lord : enter not into iudgement with thy seruant : for in thy sight shall none that liueth bee iustisted . and paul thus speaketh of himselfe in regard of his apostleship , i know nothing by my selfe , yet am i not thereby iustified . nothing can satisfye the iustice of god , and make vs appeare righteous in his sight , but onely the righteousnes of iesus christ , imputed to vs. and therefore the same saint paul said , i haue counted all things losse , and do iudge them to be dung , that i might winne christ , and might be found in him , not hauing mine owne righteousnes which is of the lawe , but that which is through the faith of christ , euen the righteousnes which is of god through faith . the same doctrine he taught vnto others , whose saluation he desired as well as his owne . as by one mans disobedience ( saith he ) many were made sinners : so by the obedience of one , shall many bee made righteous . whence we may reason , as augustine and others haue done against the pelagians , that as adams eating of the forbidden tree was imputed to all his posteritie , though they neuer tasted of the fruit with their lips ; so the righteousnes and obedience of christ shall make all them which are of him , righteous before god , though they themselues haue as yet practised no righteousnes . againe hee saith , that god hath made him sinne for vs , which knew no sinne , that we should be made the righteousnes of god in him . as therefore christ was made sinne for vs , not by infusion of sinne into his person , but by imputation of our sinnes vnto him : so must we be made righteous before god , not by infusion of righteousnes into our owne persons , but by imputation of christs righteousnes vnto vs. as the moone and all the starres borow all their light from the sunne : so the church and euery member of it borow all their righteousnes from christ the sunne of righteousnes . if this he true , then the heathen philosophers and wise men , which liued most vprightly in the sight of men , and yet wanted the knowledge of christ and faith in him , could not be righteous before god. they wanting the law , did by nature many things contayned in the law , yet could not be made righteous thereby : that was but a righteousnes , by which an vngodly man is lifted vp that he might fall into punishment . and in this respect , the iewes which reiected christ ( how holy soeuer their liues were in outward shew ) could not be righteous before god , because as paul testifieth of them , they being ignorant of the righteousnes of god , and going about to stablish their owne righteousnes , haue not submitted themselues to the righteousnes of god. and likewise in regard hereof it is hard to finde in the church of rome a man that is truely righteous before god. for the papists hold , that we are made righteous by infusion of grace , and practise of good workes , and that we can be no more righteous by the righteousnes of christ imputed vnto vs , then we may bee wise by another mans wisdome , or learned by another mans learning . but if they would duely consider either the perfection of the lords iustice , or the imperfection of our inherent grace and good workes , they would not imagine that the one could be satisfied by the other . augustine said , that which the law of workes commaunded by threatning , the law of faith doth obtaine by beleeuing . christ iesus as he is mediator , is as truly giuen vnto vs of god , as any land can be giuen by one to another , and therefore we may as wel be made righteous by his righteousnes , as one man may be made rich by another mans riches giuen vnto him . and it is strange to see the partialitie of papists in the matter of impuratiō , for they teach that the fastings and satisfactory deeds of one man be auaileable to others , yea and that holy saincts or other vertuous persons may in measure and proportion of other mens necessities and deseruings , allot vnto them , as well the supererogation of their spirituall works , as those that abound in worldly goods may giue almes of their superfluities , to them which are in necessitie : and yet they deny that the righteousnes of christ may be imputed vnto vs for iustification ; as if the lord would accept the works of men to satisfie for vs , and not the righteousnes of his owne sonne . 2. secondly , men are made righteous by sanctification , when by the spirit of god the mind is enlightened , the heart is mollified , the will is rectified , the affections are changed , and the whole course of the life is reformed : so that whereas before they liked and loued , and liued in sinne , now they abhorre it , and auoyde it : and therefore it is said , he that doth righteousnes is righteous , as he is righteous : and whosoeuer doth not righteousnes is not of god. yet this doth not make vs perfectly righteous , but imperfectly , and not before god , but before men , and of this iames speaketh , saying , was not abraham our father iustified through workes , when he offered his sonne on the altar ? yee see then how that of workes a man is iustified , and not of faith onely . that is , a man is declared , manifested , & tryed to be iust by the works of the law , and so doe diuers of the schoolemen expound that place . and indeede vnlesse wee did so vnderstand it , the apostle iames would contradict the apostle paul , who saith , that a man is iustified by faith , without the workes of the law : so that there is one righteousnes imputed , another righteousnes exercised and declared . whosoeuer are iustified by christs merits , they are at the same instant sanctified by his spirit , and made able to practise righteousnes in their conuersation . herein god excelleth all princes in the world , for they may vpon good consideration receiue againe into fauour those which haue offended them , as dauid did absolom ; yea they may restore them to the former dignities which they had taken from them : yet they cannot alter their nature and disposition , to make them more dutifull then they were before . but god thus dealeth with his subiects that haue offended him : he doth not only forgiue them their sinnes , and receiue them into fauour for christs sake , but also sanctifieth them by his spirit , to keepe them in obedience afterward . now the markes , whereby a righteous man may be knowne , are to be learned : for many would be reckoned in this number , which are vnrighteous : there is a generation which are pure in their owne conceit , and yet are not washed from their filthines . although the best and surest knowledge ariseth from the causes of a thing , and therefore we might best learne who is a righteous man by that which was spoken before ; yet because those things are inward and secret , i will teach you foure outward markes whereby a righteous man may be discerned . first , a righteous man may be knowne by the generalitie of his obedience , if it extend it selfe to the whole course of his life , and to all the commaundements of god. if he doe not take libertie in any one sinne , but striueth to auoyd all : nor omitteth any one good dutie , but indeuoureth to performe all , being like to zacharias and elizabeth , who were iust before god , and walked in all the commaundements and ordinances of the lord without reproofe . considering that god will not dispense with any of his seruants for the breach of any one of his lawes , as princes sometimes vpon speciall occasions dispence with some of their subiects for penall statutes , and seeing that hee who binds vs to all in generall , bindeth vs to euery one in particular : and that whosoeuer keepeth the whole lawe , and yet faileth in one point , is guiltie of all : a true righteous man will be as carefull to keepe one as another . some men are like to naaman , for he professed the true god of israel , and promised to serue and worship him alone : yet desired to be borne withall for one speciall sin : herein ( saith he to the prophet ) the lord be mercifull vnto thy seruant , that when my maister goeth into the house of rimmon , to worship there , and leaneth on my hand , and i bow my selfe in the house of rimmon , the lord bee mercifull vnto thy seruant in this point . so they are willing to auoyde all other sinnes saue onely one which serueth most for their pleasure or profit , they desire to be pardoned for it . these are little better then herod was , for he feared iohn baptist , and reuerenced him , heard him gladly , and did many things after him : but when iohn told him that it was not lawfull for him to haue his brothers wife , he would not obey him , because that sinne serued most for his pleasure . although a ship bee sound in all parts but one , and leaketh in no place saue onely one , yet it may bee drowned by meanes of that one . though the walls of a besieged citie bee strong , and well fortified in all places saue one , and haue no breaches saue onely one , the enemies may enter in at that one , and spoyle the citie . our soule is as a ship on the sea , if it haue but one hole where it leaketh , it may make shipwracke of faith and a good conscience : it is as a citie besieged by the diuel and his angels , if there be but one breach in the walls of it , the diuel may there enter , and spoyle it . a birde is catched in a snare or grinne , and held fast in it , as well by one claw , as by both legs , or the whole body : so the diuell , who layeth snares for our soules , may catch and hold them as well by one sinne , as by many . i acknowledge there is imperfection in all . righteous lot had a fault , iust noah had a fall , dauid shewed his infirmity , and peter his frailty : yet the righteous either sinne of ignorance , not knowing that they doe amisse : or if they know it , it is not often , but seldome ▪ afterward they are grieued for it , and made more carefull to auoyde it . but he which without repentance continueth still in one grosse sinne , and often practiseth it , cannot be reputed a righteous man , though he eschue many other sinnes . a little leauen sowreth the whole lumpe . as dead flyes putrefie a whole boxe of oyntment , and a little folly , him that is in estimation for wisdome ; so one sinne being continually practised , spoileth all his righteousnes . secondly , a righteous man may be known by the end whereunto his workes of righteousnes are directed , and that is the glory of god. let your light so shine before men ( saith christ ) that they may see your good workes , and glorifie your father which is in heauen . and paul saith , whether ye eate or drinke , or whatsoeuer else yee doe , doe all to the glorie of god. though men practise neuer so many good workes , yet if in doing of them they propound not this end , they are not to be accounted righteous men ; no more then he is to be esteemed a good archer which can draw a strong bow , hath a faire loose , and doth shoote farre , and yet alwayes shootes a great way off from the marke . in this respect the pharisies were not to be reckoned in the number of righteous men , for they did all to be seene of men : they did fast , and pray , and giue almes , to be seene of men . the papists also faile in this propertie : for they doe all to merit thereby , like to hired seruants and labourers , which worke for their wages , and would do little or nothing for their masters , vnlesse they might bee well paied for their paines . but we must acknowledge our selues not to bee seruants , but sonnes , and not sonnes of the bond-woman , but of the free-woman : and that we ought of dutie to serue the lord all the daies of our liues , though we should receiue nothing for our labour . in all our workes we must seeke his glorie ; if he bestow any reward vpon vs , we may take it as an vndeserued gift of his bountifull goodnes . i graunt indeede that righteous men haue some hypocrisie and vaineglorie mingled with sinceritie in their best actions , and do some things as well for their owne prayse , as gods glorie : yet if there be more synceritie in them , then hypocrisie ; if they doe more good works for gods glorie , then for other sinister ends , they lose not the name and dignitie of righteous men . for as the philosophers teach concerning elementary bodies , that they are not made of one element onely , but of all foure , yet haue their names of the praedominant element , as some are called earthly bodies , not watery , aeriall , or fiery bodies , because they haue more earth , then water or ayre in them : and as the phisitians say of the humours in mans body , that although they be not pure , but mixed one with another , yet euery one doth carry the name of that humour which doth most abound : so may wee say of the generall conuersation and the particular actions of men , that if in them they seeke more the glorie of god , then their owne prayse or profit , they are truely righteous . thirdly a righteous man may be knowne by his perseuerance in righteousnes , for he which is truely made righteous by faith in christ , and sanctification of the spirit , will continue righteous vnto the end . true and sauing righteousnes is one of those gifts of god which are without repentance . it can not be lost fully and finally . those which turne from their righteousnes and commit iniquitie , shall not liue : their former righteousnes shall be forgotten , and they shall dye in the sinnes which they haue committed . if the righteousnes of any bee like a morning cloud , or as morning dew , which is dryed vp and vanisheth away , so soone as the sunne ascendeth on high , it shall neuer be acceptable to god. he onely which continueth righteous to the ende shall bee saued . as god neuer ceaseth to bestow blessings vpon vs , so should we neuer cease to serue him in holines and righteousnes all the dayes of our liues . though we hire seruants for a yeare , and take apprentices for seuen yeares , yet must wee serue the lord for euer . yea the righteous do not only hold fast that which they haue receiued ; but their teeth are so set on edge with the sweete taste of righteou●●es , that still they desire to increase it . so many as are perfect , will be thus minded with paul , not to count themselues as if they had already attained to it , but they forget that which is behind , and endeuour themselues vnto that which is before , and follow hard toward the marke of the price of the high calling of god in iesus christ. lastly , a righteous man may be knowne by his affection to righteousnes in others . he which loues righteousnes it selfe , will loue it as well in others as in himselfe : yea , he will loue all others in whom he beholdeth any seeds of righteousnes , his delight will be in the saints that are in the earth , and in them which excell in vertue . he which loueth a child for his fathers sake , as dauid loued mephibosheth for ionathans sake , loueth the father himselfe better : so he which loueth righteous men for righteousnes sake , declareth thereby that he loueth righteousnes it selfe farre better . moreouer , a righteous man loueth righteousnes so wel , that he wil labour to make others as righteous as himselfe . dauid promised , that if the lord would create in him a cleane heart , and renue a right spirit within him , and restore him to the ioy of his saluation , then shall i teach thy wayes to the wicked , and sinners shall be conuerted vnto thee . and peter when he is conuerted , must strengthen his brethren . as euery thing seeketh to beget his like ; so a righteous man seeketh to make another righteous . as fire cannot be smoothered , whē once it hath taken hold in any place , and findeth matter to worke vpon , but will burne further and further , till it haue consumed all before it : so true righteousnes wrought in the heart of one , cannot there be suppressed , but will spread it selfe abroade , and worke vpon others for their conuersion . he which would be esteemed righteous , and yet keepeth all his righteousnes to himselfe , and doth not impart vnto others , may iustly be suspected to haue no sound righteousnes at all . the second title giuen to them which dyed : mercifull men : which may be taken two waies , either passiuely , or actiuely . passiuely ( that is here first in nature and order ) for such as god hath receiued vnto mercy , as he did paul ; because he sinned ignorantly through vnbeliefe . in this respect they are called vessels of mercy , prepared vnto glory . and of this number are only they which repent and amend . for as salomon saith , he that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper : but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall haue mercie . if we take this title in this seuse , we may see good reason wherefore it was annexed vnto the former . first , to shew who are truely righteous before god , namely such as he hath receiued vnto mercy , in forgiuing their sinnes . which plainely appeareth by paules proofe out of dauid : who saith , that dauid declareth the blessednes of the man , vnto whom god imputeth righteousnes without works . and how prooues he the imputatiō of righteousnes without works , but by the remission of sin . blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen , and whose sinnes are couered . blessed is the man , to whom the lord imputeth not sinne . againe , this title so taken might be added to the former , to confute the sinister censure which carnall man gaue of those which were taken away in the flowre of their age , iudging them to be punished for their sinnes and reiected of god : it was not so , they were receiued vnto mercy , and those which suruiued them , were reserued for punishment . actiuely it may be taken for such as shew mercy vnto others . and in this sense it is opposed to a cruel man. he that is mercifull rewardeth his owne soule : but he that troubleth his owne flesh is cruell . these two properties are alwaies found together in the same persons , and therefore christ saith , blessed are the mercifull , for ther shall obteine mercie and the king in the parable which had forgiuen his seruant ten thousand talents , said vnto him when he had cast his fellow seruant into prison for an hundred pence : oughtest thou not to haue had pittie on thy fellow , euen as i had pitty on thee ? and then deliuered him to the iaylers , till he should pay all the debt : and so will the lord deale with men ; and therefore iames saith , there shal be iudgement mercilesse to him that sheweth no mercie . and contrariwise , he which receiueth mercie of the lord , will shew mercy vnto men . for as the sunne beames lighten vpon the earth do not only heate the earth it selfe , but also by their reflexion do heate the next region of the ayre : so the beames of the lords mercie lighting on the hart of any christian , do not only heate him with inward comfort , but also reflect backward , and cause him to yeeld some comfort vnto his brethren . yet here we must vnderstand such as shew mercie vnto others : as they were mercifull to their brethren , so god was mercifull to them , would not punish them with the wicked , but tooke them away , that he might free them from future calamities . there be two kinds of mercifulnes , the one shewed toward the soule , the other toward the body , an example of both we may behold in christ : when he saw the multitude scattered abroad as sheepe hauing no shepheard , he had compassion on them : and bad his disciples pray vnto the lord of the haruest , that he would thrust forth labourers into his haruest , and presently after sent his disciples abroad to preach the gospell among them . there was mercie shewed to their soules . againe , when a great multitude had bin with him three dayes in the wildernes , he had compassion on them , and would not send them away fasting , least they should faint in the way . and therefore wrought a miracle in feeding foure thousand mē besides women and children , with seuen loaues and a few little fishes . there was mercie shewed to their bodies . there be sixe works of mercy appertaining to the soule , set forth in this verse : consule , castiga , solare , remitte , fer , ora . instruct them which be ignorant , correct them which sinne , comfort them which be heauie-hearted , forgiue them that offend thee , beare with the weake , and pray for all men . there be seuen workes of mercy appertaining to the body , comprehended in this verse : visito , poto , cibo , redimo , tego , colligo , condo . to visit them which be sicke : to giue drinke to them which be thirstie : to feede them which be hungry : to redeeme the captiues : to cloath the naked : to lodge the harbourlesse : and to bury the dead . many doe separate these works of mercy : some will be merciful to the bodies of them which are in distresse , they keepe great hospitality , relieue the bodies of them which want ; but do nothing for their soules : these are mercifull but in part , they omit the chiefest works of mercy : yea they are no more mercifull to men redeemed by christs blood , then they are to bruite beasts . if their oxe or horse want meate , they will feede him : if diseased , they will seeke help for him : if he be fallen into a pit or ditch they will draw him out : and wil they do no more for man , hauing an immortall soule redeemed by christ ? as the miseries of the soule are more dangerous , so should they be more carefully regarded , and pitied . others seeme to pitie mens soules , but not their bodies : they will instruct others , admonish them , forgiue them , and pray for them , but will not giue them one penny to help them withall : being like vnto a popish prelate , who being asked a penny by a poore man , refused to giue it , but offered to blesse him : which the poore man refused , because he thought that if it had been worth a penny , he would not haue giuen it to him . as man consisteth both of body and soule , and is subiect to miseries in them both : so must we be mercifull to him in relieuing of both . the second circumstance obserued in the text , sheweth the manner of their death : they perish , and are taken away . there were many vnrighteous and vnmercifull men in those dayes , and in that countrey ; yet they remained aliue , when the righteous and mercifull were taken away by death . it is appoynted for all men once to dye , at one time or other , and now the righteous did leade the way . death is the way of all the world ; as ioshua calleth it : and the way of all the earth , as dauid tearmeth it : and the end of all men , as salomon nameth it : therefore the righteous must walke this way as well as others . their flesh is grasse that withereth ; and their glorie is a floure that fadeth : death spareth them no more then others . the wise dyeth as well as the foole . yea in this respect the condition of the children of men , and the condition of beasts are alike , as the one dieth , so dieth the other : all was of the dust , and shall returne to the dust . no maruaile then , if the condition of all men be alike . as well died abel whose sacrifice god accepted , as caine whose sacrifice god reiected : as well abraham the father of the faithfull , as any children of vnbeliefe : as well isaac sonne of the free woman , as ishmael sonne of the bond woman : as well iacob whom god loued , as esau whom god hated : as well chast ioseph , as incestuous ammon : as well meeke moses , as rayling rabshekah : as well zealous phineas , as the luke-warme angell of laodicea : as well dauid a man according to gods owne heart , as saul from whom god tooke his spirit and mercy : as well salomon the wise , as nabal the foole : as well tender hearted iosiah , as hard harted pharaoh : as well the humble publican , as the proude pharisie : as well poore lazarus to bee caried into abrahams bosome , as the rich glutton to be caried into hell : as well iohn the beloued disciple , as iudas the traytour : as well simon peter the apostle , as simon magus the sorcerer . mercilesse death doth exercise her crueltie vpon all alike . why should this be so ? hath not christ dyed for the righteous , why then should they dye ? death is the reward of sinne : christ hath satisfied for all their sinnes , wherefore should they beare this penaltie of sinne ? the righteous must dye the first death , though christ haue died for them , and suffered for their sinnes . his death shall free them from the second death , but not from the first death , which is the separation of soule and body . he hath onely altered the nature and vse of the first death , but not quite taken it away . whereas at first it was ordained for a punishment of sinne , he hath made it a passage into heauen : it was threatned and inflicted as a curse , but he hath turned it into a blessing . it did at first depriue men of good , but now it putteth them in possession of good . christ hath taken away the sting of it : and therefore paul saith , o death where is thy sting ? so as it can no more hurt vs then a bee which hath lost his sting . it doth not hurt vs , but help vs ; not hinder vs , but further vs in obtaining of glory . iacob not long before his death , pronounced this as a curse from the lord vpon the tribe of simeon and leui for their crueltie , i will diuide them in iaakob , and scatter them in israel . yet when the children of leui shewed their zeale and obedience in killing the idolaters at moses commandement , the lord turned this curse into a blessing . their scattering was a furtherance vnto them , to make them more fit to teach the people in euery citie , and receiue the tythes of euery tribe . so at the first the lord threatned death at the punishment of sin , but by faith in christ , it is made the end of sinne , and beginning of glorie . he who could at the beginning bring light out of darkenes , could afterward bring a blessing out of a curse . if phisicians by their arte can extract an antidote or preseruatiue against poyson , out of poysonfull things : why may not god by his infinit power and wisdome , drawe good out of euill , a mercy out of iudgement , and a blessing out of curse ? yea and as augustine teacheth , death remaineth still for the righteous , to exercise their faith withall . if immediatly vpon remission of sin there should follow immortality of the body , faith should be abolished , which waiteth in hope for that which is not yet enioyed . yea the martyrs could not testifie their faith , their patience , their courage , their constancie and loue vnto christ , in suffering death for his sake . but now let vs more particularly consider the titles giuen to the death of the righteous . first it is said , that he perisheth , which must not so be vnderstood , as if he were quite destroyed , brought to nothing , and had no more being : as it befalleth bruite beasts at their death , whose soules being traduced with their bodies are mortall , and perish with their bodies : the righteous hath a being euen after death ; yet may be said to perish in regard of outward appearance ; in the iudgement of flesh and blood , he seemeth to perish . yet we must know that the righteous consists of soule and bodie : his soule being immortall cannot perish by any meanes : it can liue out of the bodie , as well as in the bodie . when it leaues the bodie , it goes vnto the lord. this salomon taught : dust returnes to the earth as it was , and the spirit returnes to god that gaue it . this paul wished , desiring to bee loosed and to be with christ. this lazarus enioyed at his death , being carried by the angels into abrahams bosome . and this iohn in a vision saw performed to the martvrs : vnder the altar hee sawe the soules of them , which were killed for the word of god. but the bodie of a righteous man may bee saide to perish : because it loseth the forme , the nature , and propertie of an humane body . it is within a short space eaten vp of wormes , and turned into dust and ashes : so as there can appeare no signes of a body . though wee make neuer so much of our bodies , yet can wee not keepe them from perishing : though we feed them most daintilie , clothe them most costly , and cherish them most carefullie ; yet at last they will become a thing of naught : the beautie of them will fade , they shall be deformed , and most ougly to behold . the strength of them will be taken away , so as they shall not stirre an hand or a foote : the agilitie of them will be lost : they shall remaine stiffe and be nummed : the parts and members of them shall perish and fall away one after another . the flesh , blood and bones shall be so strangely turned to dust and earth , that there shall not remaine any propertie or qualitie of them : and a man , if he knew it not before , would neuer iudge that dust and earth to haue been flesh and blood and bones of a liuing man : yea so greatly shall our bodies be altered , that men shall not be able to discerne , which dust came of them , and which came of the earth . yet one thing i must needs adde , for the comfort of the righteous : that although his body seeme thus to perish in the iudgement of men , yet it still hath a being in the sight of god , and doth euen at that time , and in that case , remaine a member of christs mysticall body . for the vnion betwixt christ and the faithfull , is not of soules only , but also of bodies : the body of euery faithfull man and woman is truely vnited to christs bodie . and this vnion cannot be broken , death cannot dissolue it , though death doth breake the vnion betwixt man and wife , yet it cannot breake the vnion betwixt christ and the faithfull . as death did not make a separation betwixt the two natures of christ at the time of his suffering : but his soule and bodie being farre distant , the one in heauen , the other in the graue , were at that time , and in that case personally vnited to his godhead : no more can death make a separation betwixt christ and the faithfull ; though their bodies doe putrifie , and lie rotting in their graues , yet stil they remaine members of his body . and as the husbandman doth make as great reckoning of that corne which he hath sowne in his field , and lies hid vnder the clods , as he doth of that which he hath laid vp safely in his garner , because he hopeth it will come vp againe and yeeld increase : so christ iesus doth as highly esteeme of those bodies , which are laid in their graues , as of those which yet remaine aliue , because he knowes that one day they shall rise againe vnto glory . they are sowne in dishonour , but they shall rise againe in honour . their life is but hid for a time , and will be found out againe . christ is able to restore that which nature hath destroyed : god doth herein deale no otherwise with the bodies of the righteous , then a goldsmith will deale with a picture of gold or a peece of plate , that is brused and worne out of fashion : he will cast it into the fire and melt it , not to destroy it , or suffer it alwaies to lie in the fire , but to make it a better picture or peece of plate then it was before , and therefore will take it out of the fire againe , and fashion it according to his mind . wherefore let not the condition of our bodies after death , make vs vnwilling to dye . if any man entending to reedifie an old rotten house , doe first put the inhabitants out of it , and then pull down the house , and prepare for the building of it againe : haue the inhabitants of the old house any cause to be grieued ? will they not rather be glad that it is pulled downe , because they hope that it will be made better then euer it was before , and they may dwell in it with more safty and delight . now our bodies are as old rotten houses for our soules to dwell in , if god cause our soules to depart out of them for a time , and then destroy them , that afterward he may reedifie them , and make them fitter habitations for our soules , what cause haue we to lament ? nay rather if we looke not so much on the present estate of our bodies after death , as vpon the glorious estate which they shall haue after the resurrection , wee may reioyce and praise god for this his worke towards vs. 2 but another phrase is here vsed , to expresse the death of the righteous ( are taken away . ) the hebrue word doth sometime signifie to be gathered ( though as some obserue , it be neuer spokē of things scattered ) and in that sense it is vsed for the death of the righteous , whē the place , whither they be gathered , is mētioned . as it is said of abraham , that he died in a good age , and was gathered to his people : and likewise of isaac . as also the generation which entred with ioshua into the land of canaan , is said to be gathered vnto their fathers . sometime this word doth signifie to take away : as when rachel said , god hath taken away my rebuke ▪ and the lord saith by ieremie : i haue taken my peace from this people . and so it is rather to be expounded in this place , because it is set downe without any addition . wee may here obserue a seuerall doubling of the same things in this verse : two words to set forth the persons which died : two words to declare the manner of their death : & afterward two words also to shew the careles regard of their death among the wicked . it was vsual with the hebrues , to repeate things diuers times together , either in the selfe same , or in the like words . yet we must not thinke that there be any vaine repetitions in the scriptures , seeing christ forbiddeth vs to vse vaine repetitions in our praiers , and will call men to account at the day of iudgement , for euery idle word that they speake . wee may not imagine that the holie ghost did vse any vaine repetitions or idle words in penning the bookes of scripture . these repetitions serue for good purposes . in prayers they shew the seruencie of him that prayeth , and his earnest desire of the thing which he asketh . in prophecies they declare the certainty & speedines of the execution : as appeareth by pharaohs dreame , which as ioseph told him , was doubled vnto him the second time , because the thing is established of god , and god hasteth to performe it . in narrations they serue either for cōfirmation , to assure the hearers that the matter is true , of great importance , and worthie to be heard and marked : or els for explication , the latter clause expounding the former . for as nature hath giuen vnto mans bodie two members of the same kinde and vse , as two eyes to see withall , two eares to heare withall , two hands to handle withall , and two feete to walke withall : that if the one should faile in his office , the other might help it : so the holy ghost hath giuen two words of the same kind and signification , to many sentences of scripture , that if the one shal faile in his office , and not fully expresse the meaning , the other might help it . and this is the reason , why the words are so often doubled in this verse , least any should gather by the former phrase that the righteous so perisheth , that he hath not any more being at all : he now saith , that he is but taken away . and he may be said to be taken away , both in respect of body , and also in respect of soule . in respect of body : for although his body be not translated in such a manner , as the body of henoch was , that he might not see death ; nor as the body of moses which the lord took and buried no man knowes in what sepulcher ; nor as the bodie of elias , which was carried from the earth in firie chariots ; nor as the bodies of them which shall be found aliue at the comming of christ vnto iudgement , which shall not die , but be changed , and presentlie ascend with christ into heauen : yet is the body of euery righteous man taken from amongst men , to be laid amongst wormes ; from the liuing vnto the dead ; from aboue the earth , to be laid vnder the earth ; from his house to his graue ; from a place of watching to a place of sleep ; frō a place of care , labour , and trouble , to a place of ease and rest : from a place of pleasure and pain , of ioy and sorrow mingled together , to a place where he shall be void of sense to feele any of them . 2 in respect of his soule , consider terminum à quo ▪ & terminum ad quem , whence and whither he is taken . from his body , to be brought vnto god : from an house of clay , to an house not made with hands , but eternall in the heauens : from men to angels : from sinners to them which be perfectly righteous : from his greatest enimies , to his best friends : from the church militant , to the church triumpliant ▪ from earth to heauen : from a strange countrie , to his own home : from a prison , to a place of libertie : from bondage , to freedome : from miserie , to happinesse : from sorrow , to ioy . whence lie is taken you all do well know , which haue any experience in the world : whither he is brought , the apostle teacheth : when hee saith : ye are come to the mount sion , and to the citie of the liuing god , the celestiall ierusalem , and to the companie of innumerable angels : and to the congregation of the first borne , which are written in heauen , and to god the iudge of all , and to the spirits of iust and perfect men : and to iesus the mediatour of the new testament . who would be vnwilling thus to be taken away ? and why should the righteous be afraid of death , by which they are thus taken away ? had the israelites anie cause to be vnwilling , or to feare to be taken out of the land of egypt , the house of bōdage , and to bee caried as it were vpon eagles wings into the land of canaan , a land that flowed with milke and honie ? no more cause haue the righteous to feare death , which would carie them from the bondage of this world , to the heauenly canaan , a place of eternall rest . and why then should we mourne immoderately for the death of the righteous ? whē ioseph was taken from prison , to be made a chief ruler in egypt , if his father iacob had bin in prison with him and had beene acquainted with his preferment , should he haue had anie iust cause to be grieued ? so soone as hee heard of it , he reioyced , and was willing to go vnto him . when saul was takē frō seeking his fathers asses , and annointed to be king ouer israel , had his father kish any reason to lament ? whē dauid was taken from following the ewes great with yong ones , and ordained king to feed the lords people , had his father ishai anie iust occasion of sorrow ? no more cause haue anie of vs to bewaile the death of the godly , seeing they are as highly preferred as any of thē . when hester was takē from mordecai ( who had brought her vp as his own daughter ) to be maried vnto king ahashuerosh , and crowned as queen , did he lament it ? was he not most willing to leaue her ? why then should anie man be so vnwilling to leaue either daughter or wife , though neuer so deare vnto him , seeing that shee is but taken vp into heauen , there to be maried vnto christ , the husbād of his church , and there to be crowned as a queene to raigne in glorie with him ? but in this taking away , there is great difference betwixt the godly and the wicked . they are also taken away , but why ? the godly are taken out of the world , because the world was not worthie of them : but the wicked are taken away , because they are vnworthie to liue in the world . those are taken away in mercie , these in iudgement : those in the lords fauour , and these in his displeasure . and whence are these taken , or whither ? they are taken from the practise of sinne , to suffer punishment for sinne : from ease to torment : from the first life , to the second death : from men to diuels : from earth to hell : from prison , to the place of execution . in a woful taking shall they be , when they are thus taken away . their lamentable taking away is described in him , that will not in time be reconciled to his brother . the iudge deliuereth him to the sergeant , the sergeant takes him , and casts him into prison , whence he must not come till hee haue paide the vtmost farthing . likewise in him that would not forgiue his fellow seruant an hundred pence , his master being wroth deliuered him to the iayler , who tooke him and cast him into prison , till he should pay all that was due . also in him that wanted the wedding garment at the marriage feast of the kings sonne : the king saith to his seruants , binde him hand and foote : take him away , and cast him into vtter darkenes , there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . likewise in the vnprofitable seruant , which would not imploy his maisters talent , the talent must be taken from him : he must be taken , and cast into vtter darkenes , where is weeping and gnashing of teeth . lastly , in them which would not suffer their king to raigne ouer them : he shall say , those mine enemies which would not that i should raigne ouer them , bring hither , and slay them before me . it is a grieuous thing for one that is making merrie among his companions , to be sodainely apprehended by a sergeant or officer for a traitour , theefe , or murtherer , and presently without baile or mainep●ise to be taken from his companie , and carried to prison , and from thence to the place of execution : as grieuous is it for a wicked man that liues in the pleasures of sinne , to be taken away by death , which is the lords sergeant to apprehend him , and bring him to the prison of hell . as his entrance into the world was euill , and his continuance in the world was worse ; so his taking out of the world shall be worst of all . oh then let vs take heede least we be thus taken away . let vs learne to liue in the world , as the righteous doe , and then shall we be taken away as the righteous are . balaams wish is vsed by many : let me die the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his . and yet they will not liue the life of the righteous : but few of these obtaine their desire . looke what way a tree boweth while it stands and groweth , the same way it commonly falleth when it is cut downe : euen so , looke how men are inclined in their life time , to righteousnes or vnrighteousnesse ; so shall they fall at their death . men can hardly begin righteousnesse at their last end . late repentance is seldome sound repentance . men drawing neere to their end , shall be so affrighted with death , so troubled with paine and grief , that they shal not be able to set themselues to repent soundly . they shall then rather seeke ease for their bodies , then mercie for their sins , or grace for their soules . the beginning of euerie thing is hardest , and therefore he which hath begun wel , is said to haue done halfe his worke . as it is in other things ; so is it with repentance : it is a harder matter to begin repentance at the first , then to renue it afterward : & therfore the fittest time should be taken for the beginning of it : & that is rather the time of our life , then the time of our death : rather the time of our health then the time of our sicknesse . in the time of our life and of our health , we be scarse able and fit to begin serious repentance : but much more vnable and vnfit shall we be in the time of sicknes & death . we read in scripture but of one which became righteous at his last end , the theefe on the crosse : wee reade of one , that no man might despaire ; though hee haue deferred his repentance so long : we reade but only of one , that no man might presume to deferre it so long . the surest and safest way is to begin in time , & make no delayes : least afterward it be too late . 3 the third circumstance to bee obserued in the text , is the carelesse regard of the righteous mans death . no man considereth it in heart . it seemes that manie godly persons were already dead , & their death did declare that god had some speciall worke in hand , yet the common people which were left behind them , did little regard it . this carelesse contemning of their death , doth shew that the harts of the commō people were possessed with great securitie , to make so small reckoning of such a strange worke of god. all the workes of god are carefully to be regarded of vs , who are set in this world to take a speciall view , and to make an holy vse of them . and therefore dauid thought the wicked deserued to be broken downe , and not built vp againe , because they regarded not the workes of the lord , nor the operation of his hands . now the taking of the righteous away , is one of his speciall workes . for to him belong the issues of death . it is he that turneth man to destruction . the number of his moneths are with him : he appointeth his bounds which he cannot passe . if a sparrow shall not fall on the ground without our father in heauen , then the righteous which are of more value then many sparrowes , cannot perish without his will and appointment . certaine it is that none die sooner or later then he sends for them . the works of princes are much considered , and often talked of among the people ; and ought not the lords workes be much considered of vs ? their works may be done foolishly , rashly , and vniustly : but the works of god , are done in number , waight and measure , in wisdome , iustice , and mercie . precious in the sight of the lord is the death of all his saints : and shall their death bee vile and contemptible in our eyes ? people most commonly do highly esteeme those things , which are deare and precious among princes : and shall the death of the righteous which is so precious in the lords sight , the prince of all princes , be lightly esteemed of vs his people ? none of them liueth to himselfe , neither doth any die vnto himselfe . whether they liue , they liue vnto the lord : or whether they die , they die vnto the lord : whether they liue therefore , or die , they are the lords . yea they do glorifie god both by life and by death . and therefore we should not lightly passe ouer their life or their death . but consider how they haue glorified god by their death and by their life , and praise him for the same . but why are we to consider their death ? what may we learne thereby ? we learne these foure things : first , the certaintie of death . secondly , the nature of death . thirdly , the cause of death : and lastly , the manner how we must die . first , by considering their death , we may learne the certaintie of death in our selues , that we must dye as well as they : in which respect salomon saith , it is better to goe to the house of mourning , then to goe to the house of feasting ; because this is the end of all men : and the liuing shall lay it to his heart . that is to say , hee which remaineth aliue , by seeing one dead , shall consider in his heart that all men shall so die , and that he himselfe shall die as well as others . the death of others is as a looking glasse , wherein we may clearly beholde the vncertaintie of our owne liues . we may call their death , as some doe the sacrament , visible verbū , a visible word or sermon , teaching vs our owne mortality : for we haue no better assurance of our liues then they had : what we now are , they haue beene : and what they now are , wee may be : and we know not how soone . he which hath taken them away now , may within a while ( if it please him ) take vs also away and bring vs vnto them . as death assaulted them , so will it assault vs ; and we cā no more resist it then they could , but must yeeld as they did . we are ready to forget death , and the forgetfulnesse of death , maketh vs to forget our dutie vnto god : let vs therefore consider the death of others , thereby to be put in mind of our owne . 2 secondly , by their death we may know the nature of death in al others : for it deals with all alike . we may there see how death doth deface that image of god which was in the bodie , and how it doth destroy the bodie , which was a temple for the holie ghost to dwel in . if one see a faire house of a noble man to bee much defaced , & fallen to ruine , so as one stone is scarce left vpon another , it will pitie his heart : so should we be moued in our hearts to see the bodie of a righteous man , which was an house for the holie ghost to dwel in , to be so pitifully ruinated by death . againe , we may see what strange separations death doth make . the soule and the body which haue a long time liued together , as two familiar cópanions , are put asunder by death : and no man knowes how long it shal be before they can meete together againe . besides this , death makes a separation betwixt old & louing friends . the husband is separated from the wife of his youth , with whom hee reioyced : the wife is separated from her husband , who was her vaile to shield and to saue her : parents are taken from their tēder childrē , which they leaue as orphans in the world , not knowing what will become of them : children are taken from their kind parents , who could haue beene content to haue gone in their steed , yea familiar friends , whose soules were knit together in affectiō , & whose loue exceeded the loue of women , as did the loue of dauid and ionathan ▪ are seuered one from another by death : the knot of their friendship is broken : their mutuall kindnes can be no more shewed by one to another . w 〈…〉 griefe it is for louing friends to depart one from another , we may see in pauls friends and hearers , when he tooke his leaue of them , and told them that they must not see his face any more : they wept all abundantly , and fell on pauls necke and kissed him ; being chiefly sory for the words which he spake , that they should see his face no more . we had need therfore by the death of others to be put in mind of this separatiō before-hand , y● when it comes , we may be the better prepared for it . lastly , death makes a separation betwixt the rich man and his wealth : we brought nothing into this world , neither must we carry any thing out of this world : yea , men leaue their riches they cannot tell vnto whom . if that question be asked many that are ready to die , which was demanded of the rich man , who had laid vp store for many yeeres , this night shall thy soule be taken from thee , then whose shall these things be which thou hast prouided ? they might truly answere , that they cannot tell . men heape vp riches , and cannot tell who shall enioy them : they bequeath them to some , and others goe away with them . we had neede to thinke of this before hand , that we may vse this world as if we vsed it not : and when we haue foode and rayment , to be therewith content : and to be more willing to leaue these things when death approcheth . if a man doe not in his heart deeply and seriously consider of these things a long time and often before death , he shall be as vnwilling to leaue all these things at the howre of death , as the young man was to sell his goods and giue them to the poore , when he was commaunded by christ. in things that be of waight and importance , and yet very difficult , it is needful to vse preparation before hand : for without it we shal be vnfit when we come to the pinch . souldiers which be chosen and appointed for the wars , do exercise themselues with their weapons before hand , and are content to be trained by others which haue better skill & experience , that so they may learne in time of peace , how to behaue themselues in time of war : so had we need in time of our life to learne how to die , and to be taught by others which die before vs , what we must do at the howre of death . 3 thirdly , we must cōsider the cause or end of their death . some of the righteous are taken away in iudgement , and some in mercie . in iudgemēt , when god in displeasure doth strike them with death , to correct them for their sinnes . thus was the man of god taken away which came out of iudah , and cried out against the altar in bethel , that ieroboam had set vp ; because he beleeued the lie of an old prophet in bethel , and did eate and drinke with him there , contrarie to gods commandement , a lyon met him by the way , and slew him . thus also were many of the corinthians taken away for abusing the lords supper : for this cause many were sicke and weake , and many did sleepe ; yet they were righteous persons : as paul before had testified of them , ye are washed , yee are sanctified , yee are iustified in the name of the lord iesus , and by the spirit of our god : & afterward he reputeth them which were sicke and did so sleep , to be iudged of the lord , because they should not be condemned with the world . the lord is sometimes so sharp with his owne children , that for the example of others , hee will inflict a bodily death vpon thē , as a correction for their sinnes . that should be regarded of all others , that their harmes may make them wise , & moue them to speedie repentance , least they be more sharpely dealt withall . for as christ saith , if these things be done to a greene tree , what shall be done to the dry ? and as peter saith , if iudgement first begin at the house of god , what shall the end be of thē which obey not the gospell of god ? if the maister of a family do sharpely correct his owne children for their faults , let not the seruants thinke that they shal escape vnpunished if they cōmit the like faults . if any one which sitteth at table with vs , by eating of some dish , or drinking of some cup , do surfet , or fall sick , or into a swoune , or die presently , it will greatly moue vs , and we cannot bee perswaded by anie to tast of that dish , or drinke of that cup , for feare of the like : euen so when we see gods children that liue amongst vs to bee taken away by death for practising of some sinne , it should greatly moue vs , and wee should so abhorre that sinne , that nothing in the world could perswade vs to practise it . againe , others are taken away in mercy for their benefite , and for a reward of their righteousnes , to free thē from those iudgements which the lord intendeth to bring vpon the world : and thus were these righteous men taken away , which here are mentioned . their death should be considered , as a warning giuen vnto men , of some fearfull iudgement to come , & therfore should cal thē to repentance , that they might preuent the iudgement : but of this i wil speake more afterward in the last circumstance . 4 lastly , we must consider the manner of their death , for thereby we may learne how to die : it may be as a patterne or example to direct vs in our death . the wicked die either sottishly or impatiently , or else desperatly . sottishly , like blocks & idiots , hauing neither penitent feeling of their sins , nor comfortable assurance of saluation . being like vnto nabal , whose heart ten daies before his death , died within him , and he was like a stone . such men die like lambes , and yet shall be a pray for the deuouring lion : they go quietly like fooles to the stocks for correction . others dye impatiently , who doe not willingly beare the lords correction , deserued by their sinnes ; but rage , fret , and murmure , as if god dealt too rigorously with them , and through impatiencie will vse vnlawfull meanes for their recouery : as ahaziah did , who being sicke , sent messengers to enquire of baal-zebub the god of ekron if he should recouer of his disease . others dye desperately ▪ their consciences accusing them most terribly for their sins , without any hope of pardon ; as caine , who said my sinne is greater then can be forgiuen ; or iudas , who despairing of pardon for his sin in betraying our sauiour , went and hanged himselfe . the consciences of many wicked men lye quietly , and neuer trouble them all their life time , but are stirred vp at their death , and then rage and torment them like a mad dog which is lately awaked out of sleep . but the righteous die most comfortably , they beleeuing in christ , and hauing repented of their sinnes , are assured in their owne soules that all their sins are pardoned in christ : they will make confession of their faith , and giue testimonies of their repentance vnto others , for their comfort and example . they will patiently indure all the paines of their sicknes , ●s iob did , knowing that al comes from the lord , and that it is his fatherly correction , and a signe of his loue , because he chasteneth whom he loueth : yea , they receiue their sicknesse as the lords messenger , speaking to their soules , as the prophet isaiah did to hezekiah : put thine house in order ▪ for thou shalt dye and not liue , and therefore they prepare themselues for another world . yea further in their sicknes they can pray most feruently , as king hezekiah did , isai 38. and then they will giue most fruitfull and comfortable instructions to those which they leaue behinde . as the swan sings most sweetly a little before his death ; so the righteous speake most diuinely a little before their end . whosoeuer searcheth the scriptures , may reade the diuine prophecy of iacob vnto the twelue patriarches , gen. 49. the holy blessing of moses vpon the twelue tribes deut. 33. the godly exhortation of ioshua to the people of israel placed by him in canaan , iosh. 23. the wise counsell of dauid vnto salomon , who was to succeede him in the kingdome 1. king. 2. whosoeuer readeth the ecclesiasticall histories , may not onely see the vertuous liues , but also the christian like ends of the saints and martyrs in the church . and whosoeuer will be present at the death of those which truly feare god , may thereby learne how they themselues ought to dye : for when the outward man doth decay , the inward man is renewed more and more . they shew , that the neerer they do approch vnto their end , the neerer they draw toward heauen . but in these our dayes many may bee found , who either do not at al consider the death of the righteous , or else do consider it amisse . though it be a matter worth consideration ; yet some do not consider it at all : because they see so many die , they make the lesse reckoning of it : til death knock at their owne doores , they neuer regard it : they must needes die themselues , before they can be brought to consider of death : they care not who sinck , so they swimme ; nor how many die , so they may liue : yea this is greatly to be lamented , that some do regard the death of a christian , no more then they regard the death of a dog . but seeing we may learne so many profitable instructions by their death , let vs now begin to consider it better then euer we did before . others do consider it , but yet amisse ; eyther fondly or frowardly . fondly , through naturall affection arising from kinred , affinitie , or familiaritie ▪ if a stranger dye , it nothing moues them : but if one of their owne friends dye , they sigh and sob , they howle and lament . if the father lose his sonne , hee cryes most pitifully , as dauid did for absolom ▪ o my sonne absolom , my sonne , my sonne absolom : would god i had dyed for thee : o absolom my sonne , my sonne . if the mother lose her children , she behaueth her self like rachel weeping for her children , and would not be comforted , because they were not . if children lose their parents , they cry after them as elisha did after elias , whē he was taken vp , my father , my father . if a sister lose her brother , she weepeth for him , as mary did for lazarus . if the husband lose his wife , he weepeth for her , as abraham wept for sarah : yea he mourneth like a turtle doue which hath lost his marrow . if the wife lose her husband , she dealeth like naomi , who would not be called naomi , that is beautiful : but mara , that is , bitter , because the lord had giuen her much bitternes . if one familiar friend lose another , he lamenteth his death , as dauid did the death of ionathan : wo is me for thee , my brother ionathan : very kinde hast thou been vnto me : thy loue to me was wonderfull passing the loue of women . indeede i can not deny , but y● we ought in a speciall manner to consider the death of those which are neere and deare vnto 〈…〉 for it may be they are takē from vs ; because we were vnworthy of them ; or because we gloryed & trusted ouer-much in them and were not so thankfull for them as we ought . if we had any help by them , we must consider whether god haue not depriued vs of them for the punishment of our sins , as the widow of sarepta did at the death of her son , saying vnto eliah : art thou come vnto me to call my sinne to remembrance , and to slay my sonne ? yet this consideration must be ordered by wisdome , it must not be ioyned with excessiue sorrow . neither must we consider their death alone , but also the death of others which dye in the lord , and to learne to make an holy vse thereof . for as sampson found sweete hony in the carkas of a dead lyon ; so we may finde some sweet instructions in the dead corps of euery righteous man : yea the more righteous that they are which do dye , the more should their death be considered , because it may yeeld greater store of instruction vnto vs. and it may be that god doth take away those which are neere vnto vs , because we doe carelesly regard the death of those which be farre off . againe , some consider the death of the righteous very frowardly and peeuishly , yea i may say malitiously & preposterously . for if any of them be taken away by a sodaine and extraordinary death , they presently censure them as plagued of god , and cōdemne their former profession , thinking that god would not haue so dealt with them , if he approued either of them or their profession . but they must be instructed in this point by wise salomon , who sayth : that no man knoweth loue or hatred of all that is before him . all things come alike to all : and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked , to the good and the pure , and to the polluted : to him that sacrificeth , & to him that sacrificeth not . eli was a priest , and a good man ; yet brake his neck by falling backward from his ●eate . ionathan was a sworne brother vnto dauid , a godly and faithfull friend ; yet was he slaine in battaile by the hands of the philistines . that prophet of god which came out of iudah to bethel to speake against ieroboam , and the altars which he had built for idolatry , was no doubt an holy man ; yet was he killed in y● way by a lyon. iosiah was a good king , like vnto him there was no king before him , neither after him rose any like him : yet was he slaine in the valley of megiddo by necho king of egypt . iob● children were wel brought vp by their godly father , and it is sayd , that before iob offered sacrifice for them , they were sanctified : yet within a while after , as they were eating and drinking in their eldest brothers house , a violent wind ouerthrew the house , and killed them all . we must not therefore iudge of men by their death , but rather by their life . though sometime a good death may follow an euill life : yet an euill death can neuer follow a good life . correct thine euill life , and feare not an euill death : he can not die ill that liues well , saith augustine . and afterward answeres the obiections of these men , and makes this the foote of his song . thou wilt say vnto mee haue not many iust men perished by shipwracke ? certainely , hee can not dye ill , which liued well ▪ haue not many iust men beene slaine by the enemies sword ? certainly , he can not die il which liued well . haue not many iust men been killed by theeues ? haue not many righteous men bin torne in pieces by wild beasts ? certainly , hee can not die ill which liued wel &c. but i wil say vnto such as censure the righteous for their strange and violent death , as christ said of those eighteen , vpon whom y● tower of siloam fell and flew them : thinke ye that these were greater sinners then others ? i tel you nay ; but except ye repent , ye all shall likewise perish as for sodaine death , it is euill to them which lead an euill life , because it findes them vnprepared , it carries them away ●odainelie vnto torment : but it is not euill to them which liue well ; because it finds them prepared : it frees them from much paine which others endure through long sicknes , and carries them forth-with to the place where they desire to be . the righteous doe so dispose of themselues in the morning , as if they might dy before night ; and at night , as if they might die before morning : and therefore whensoeuer death comes it finds them prepared , and is a benefit vnto them . 2 againe , if the righteous a little before death , be dangerouslie tempted by sathan , and shew their infirmitie by vttering some speeches which tend to doubting or desperation ( though after ward they get victory , and triumph ouer the diuell ) carnall people think there is no peace of conscience , and therefore no saluation to bee had , by that religion : and so speake euill of it . let such consider the estate of iob in his miserie , who cursed the day of his birth , saide that the arrowes of the almightie did sticke in him , the venome whereof had drunke vp his spirit : that the terrours of god did fight against him that the lord was his enimie : did write bitter things against him : and did set him as a butte to shoote at . as also the estate of dauid , through terrour of conscience , while hee concealed his sinne . his bones consumed , he rored all the day long , his moysture was turned into the drought of sommer . againe , let him know that the diuell doth most tempt the best . he then tempted christ , when he was baptized and filled with the holie ghost : so will hee most tempt christians , when they haue receiued greatest gifts of gods spirit . as theeues labour to breakedowne , and rob those houses onlie , where great store of treasure or wealth is laid vp ; and as pyrats desire to take that ship which is best loden with the dearest merchandise : so the diuell doth most seeke to make a pray of them which are endued with the greatest measure of spirituall graces . when the strong man armed keepeth the house , the things that he possesseth are in peace : but when a stronger then he , ouercommeth him , then hee gathereth greater forces , and makes a new assault to enter againe . in any commotion , whom doe rebels kill and spoile ? not those which submit themselues vnto them , and ioyne with them in their rebellion : but those which are faithfull to their prince , & fight for their prince against them , as hath appeared of late in the rebell of ireland . now the diuell is as a rebell in the lords kingdome : whome then will he most trouble and assault ? not the wicked which submit themselues vnto him and ioyne with him in rebellion against god , but the godlie which abide faithfull , and fight vnder the lords banners against him . whosoeuer would raigne with christ in heauen , must ouercome the diuell on earth : for he promiseth : to him that ouercommeth will i graunt to sit with mee in my throne , euen as i ouercame , and sit with my father in his throne . how can there be a victorie , wherothere is no battaile ? and how can there be any battaile , where there is not assaulting and resisting ? and no meruaile though the diuell do most assault the righteous at their death , for hee taketh the opportunitie of the time , his wrath is thē great : knowing that he hath but a short time . he must either ouercome thē at that instant , or els not at all : yea hee takes the aduantage of their present weakenesse , and those sinnes which before hee perswaded people to bee small and light , at the time of death he maketh great and heauie , euen as a tree or peece of wood , while it swims in a riuer seemeth to bee light , and one may easilie draw it ; but when it comes to the shore and is laid vpon drie ground , can scarcelie be drawne by ten men : so sin is made light by the diuell so long as men liue ; that so hee may still encourage them to practise it ; but when it comes to the shore of death , then he makes it heauie , and begins most to trouble their consciences with it , that if it were possible they might by it bee brought to desperation . in the midst of the temptation when the godlie seeme most to be ouercome , they are but like to a man in a traunce , who lies as though he were dead ; yet he hath life in him : and therfore as paul saw that life was in eutiches embraced him , and deliuered him aliue , when the people tooke him vp for dead ; so god seeth life in the righteous being tempted , when men take them for dead : and hee will at last so restore them , as that they shall liue for euer with him . 3 lastlie , others beholding them which were reputed righteous , to die very stranglie , to raue , to blaspheme , to vtter many idle and impious speeches , to be vnrulie and behaue themselues verie foolishlie● , they begin to suspect their profession : but let them know , that these things may arise from the extremitie of their disease . for in hote feuers and burning agues , the choler ascending into the braine , will hinder the vse of their vnderstanding ; and so cause thē thus to misbehaue themselues rather like madmen then christians . and therefore as paule said of himselfe after regeneration , it is no more i that doe it , but the sinne that dwelleth in me : so may i say of them , it is not they which doe it , but the disease which is vpon them . all sinnes committed by the righteous in those extremities , are but sins of ignorance , because they want the vse of reason to iudge of sinne : they are also sins of infirmitie , arising from the frailtie of their flesh : and for them they will afterward repent , if they recouer the vse of reason , and be able to know them to be sins : or if they doe not ; they are freelie pardoned in the death of christ , as well as other such sins be . wherefore i say to those , which censure them vncharitablie for that their end , as christ said to the iewes fontheir carnall censure of him . iudge not according to the appearante , but iudge righteous iudgment : yea , iudge not , that yee be not iudged . 5 in the last place the finall cause and end of their death is to bee considered . they be taken away from euill to come . the speciall euils from which these righteous persons were taken , are mentioned in the former chapter , to be deuoured in a cruell manner by the wilde beasts of the forrest . but we must further vnderstand that the euils from which the righteous are taken , are either ordinarie or extraordinarie . the ordinarie euils are those which eyther all men , or most men doe suffer . and these are eyther corporall or spirituall : corporall , as sicknes and diseases , aches and paines in their bodies , griefe and sorrow , toyle and labour , crosses and losses , outward troubles and persecution . gods children so long as they liue are subiect vnto these , as wel as others ; yea oftentimes more then others . he which will bee christs disciple must take vp his crosse daylie and follow him . through manie tribulations wee must enter into the kingdome of heauen . iudgement begins at the house of god. the lord doth chastise his children by his iudgements , least they should be condemned with the world . a father hath two sons , the one offends , and is corrected ; the other also offendeth , & is not corrected , why is the one corrected and not the other ? because the father hath hope of his amendment , and reserues the inheritance for him : but he hath no hope of the other , and therefore will not correct him , but doth disinherite him and cast him off : so doth god deale with men . those which hee seeth incorrigible , hee letteth alone , though they offend ; yet he seldome correcteth them , but casts them off : but others which may by correction bee brought to repentance and kept in awe , he often correcteth , and for them is reserued an inheritance immortall and vndefiled in heauen : yea the world hateth them , because they are not of the world ; yea among men they shall oftentimes suffer euill for righteousnes sake . and god hereby will make triall of their faith , of their patience & constancie , and herein make them examples vnto others : so that they must looke for afflictions so long as life lasteth : but death makes an end of them al. life and miserie are two twins , which were borne together , & must die together . and therefore iohn heard it from heauen , & was commaunded to write it for the comfort of men on the earth : blessed are the dead , which die in the lord , for they rest from their labours , and their works follow them . then shall god wipe all teares from their eyes , then shall there be no more sorrow nor crying , nor paine . then shall they haue euerlasting rest and no labour : continuall ioy , and no sorrow : perpetuall pleasure , and no paine : great plentie of all good things , and no want : all manner of happines , and no miserie . the spirituall euils , from which they are freed by death are three . first their combat with the diuell . here we are in continuall warfare : this is the militant church : so long as wee liue and abide in it , wee must fight as the lords souldiers , & not against flesh and bloud ; but against principalities , against powers , and against worldlie gouernours , the princes of the darkenesse of this world : and not for a naturall or temporall , but for a spirituall and eternall life : not for an earthlie , but for an heauenlie kingdome . and in this battell there is no time of truce . if the diuell be ouercome at one time , he will on a sodame , and none knowes how soone , giue a fresh assault againe ▪ but death ends tho battell : not as if the diuell got the victorie by our death , as it is commonly seene among warriours on the earth , if the one die in fight , the other getteth the vpper hand : but the faithfull at their last end , get a finall conquest , and then ascend to heauen there to triumph . the diuell cannot assault them there . he may compasse the earth , but he cannot enter within the lists of heauen . he neuer came thither to assault any , since he was first cast out ; though he tempted adam in the earthly paradice , and got him thrust out of it : yet can he not tempt any in the heauenly paradice , to cause them to be thrust thence . and therefore as a souldier which hath endured an hard and dangerous battell a long time , doth greatly reioyce when he hath gotten the victorie : so may the faithfull reioyce at the houre of their death , because then they make a finall end of their spirituall enemies , and begin their triumph ouer them . 2 another miserie from which they are freed , is the practise of sinne . who liueth and sinneth not , as salomon saith : in many things we offend all . though we be ●ruely sanctified , yet it is but in part , and therefore we may say with s. paul. i allow not that which i doe , for what i would that i doe not : but what i hate , that doe i. and further , i delight in the law of god concerning the inner man , but i see another law in my members , rebelling against the law of my minde , and leading me captiue vnto sinne . and nothing is more grieuous vnto a true christian heart then the practise of sinne ; and therefore euerie one in this case , will cry out with the same apostle . o wretched man that i am , who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death ? but death destroyes sinne . sinne brought in death : and death driues out sinne . after death all the righteous shall be perfectlie sanctified ; and made like the angels to do the will of the lord readilie , willinglie , and cheerefullie . as herbs and flowers breed wormes in them , yet those wormes at last will kill the hearbes and flowers : so sinne bred death in it selfe , but at last death will kill sinne . and as sampson could not kill the philistims , who were his greatest enimies , but by his owne death : no more can the righteous kil sin which is not their least enimie , but by their own death . at the first , death was ordained as a punishment for sinne , but now it is vsed as a meanes to stop the course of sin . it was then said vnto man , if thou sinne , thou shalt die the death : but now it is said , thou must die , least thou sinne : that which thē was to be feared , that men might not sin , must now be suffered , least they should sinne . sinne hath taken such deepe roote in our bodies , that it cannot be destroyed , vnlesse the bodie be as it were quite plucked vp by the roots : least any roots remaining , new buds of sinne doe sprout from the same ▪ if a wild figgetree doe grow in the walles of a faire temple , and spread the roots of it al along ouer all the stones of the whole building ; it will not cease from springing , till all be pulled downe : if the stones be pulled downe , they may afterward bee set vp a gaine in their owne places , and the temple made as faire as euer it was : and so the fig-tree may be pulled vp by the rootes & will grow no more ( this comparison haue the learned vsed . ) in the same manner , the lord a skilfull workeman , hauing made man for his temple , there sprung sinne in him like a wilde figtree , which was spread wholie ouer all parts of man , and it could not be destoryed , vntill the bodie was destroyed by death : and god hauing destroyed the bodie by death , that so hee might quite roote out sin , will build it vp againe , to be a new temple vnto him : yea mans bodie was in this respect like vnto a faire and beautifull picture of gold , which an enuious and ill disposed person doth so mangle and disfignre , as that it cannot be brought vnto the same forme and beautie , vnlesse the owner doe melt it againe , and fashion it all a new . 3 furthermore , it is some euill for the righteous to dwell among ill neighbours . it greatly greeueth them to see others commit sinne , and dishonour god. lot being righteous , and dwelling among the sodomites , in seeing & hearing their vnlawfull deeds , vexed his righteous soule from day to day . and dauid said , mine eyes gush out with riuers of water , because they keep not thy law . and also , woe is me that i remaine in meshech , and dwell in the tents of keaar . hee which is truelie grieued for sin in himselfe , wil also be grieued for sinne in others . now the world is so fraught with sinners , that if a man would not keepe companie with fornicators , or with the couetous , or with extortioners , or with idolaters , then as paul saith , he must go out of the world . death therefore frees men from this euill , because it taketh them out of the world , and suffereth them not to behold eyther the sinnes which men commit against god , or the euils which god doth bring vpon them : yea death doth carrie them into heauen to the holie angels and spirits of iust and perfect men , which sinne not at all , but fulfill the will of god in all perfection . they shall haue cause to reioyce for them , and not to be grieued at them . there be also extraordinarie euils , from which the righteous are deliuered by death ; and those are extraordinarie iudgements which the lord bringeth vpon the people and countrie where they dwelt , for some late and grieuous sins . thus was a young child of ieroboam dealt withall . the lord threatned to bring euill vpon the house of ieroboam , and to sweepe off the remnant of his house , as a man sweepeth away dung til it be all gone . yea the dogs should eate him of ieroboams stocke that died in the citie , and the foules of the aire should eate him that died in the field : yet that childe should die in his bed , and all israel ( as it is said ) shall mourne for him : for he onlie of ieroboam shall come to the graue , because in him there is found some goodnes toward the lord god of israel , in the house of ieroboam . thus also was good king iosiah dealt withall . the lord told him before hand , because thine heart melted , and they hast humbled thy selfe , hast rent thy clothes and wept before mee : behold therefore i will gather thee to thy fathers , and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace , and thine eyes shall not see all the euill which i will bring vpon this place . and thus was luther dealt withall ( as some haue obserued ) who was taken away in peace , not long before the lord brought that miserable calamitie vpon germanie , which he had often foretold , would come vpon that people for the contempt of the gospel . who also desired that hee might be called out of the world , before he saw those grieuous punishments which hee greatly feared . though this be no perpetuall law : for sometime the righteous perish in the common destruction among the wicked , as ionathan did with saul & other israelites in battell against the philistims . and in the pestilence christians haue dyed with the infidels . sometime god spareth the wicked for the righteous mens sake which liue among them . the lord promised abraham , that if he could finde ten righteous men ●n sodome , hee would not destroy the citie for those tennes sake . and iob sayd , the innocent shall deliuer the yland , and it shall be preserued by the purenes of his hands . yea wheate and tares must grow together till the haruest , that is , good and bad must liue together in the world , vntil the end of the world . yet oftentimes god pluckes his children out of fire , which shall consume the wicked ; and prouides a place of safety for them in heauen , before he powre forth his iudgements vpon the earth . lot was commaunded to make haste vnto the citie of zoar to saue him there , because the lord could doe nothing vnto sodom , till hee was come thither . and when the lord would destroy ierusalem for the abominations committed in it , he shewed to the prophet in a vision the destroyers , comming forth with their weapōs to destroy : yet they must not touch any , vntill they were all marked in their fore heads , which mourned for all the abominations done in the midst of it . and the destroying angels must not hurt the earth , neither the sea , nor the trees , till the seruants of god were sealed in their foreheads . as the righteous are carefull to serue the lord ; so is he carefull to preserue them . as they haue not bin partakers with the common sort in the practise of sin , so shall they not bee partakers with them in suffering punishment . he takes them from among the wicked , and then executeth his iudgements vpon the wicked alone . the egyptians did vse to gather their corne out of the fields , and laid it vp in their barnes , and then caused the israelites to gather the stubble to make bricke withall ; and in some countreys , farmers first carry the corne into their barnes , and then burne the stubble in the field where it growes : so the lord first gathereth the righteous into the kingdome of heauen , and then consumeth the wicked on the earth . it is farre from the iudge of all the world to slay the righteous with the wicked . 1. in this respect those which suruiue the righteous haue iust cause to feare some present euils , and labour by vnfained repentance , if it be possible , to preuēt them . their death is a plaine prognostication of some euils to come , and should be as a trumpet to awaken others out of the sleepe of ▪ sinne . many of the wicked reioyce when the godly are taken away frō them : they loue their roomes better then their company : they hated them and their profession in their life time , because , as they say , they are not for our profit , and they are contrary to our doings : they checke vs for offending against the law : it grieueth vs to looke vpon them : for their liues are not like other men ; and therefore at their death they are glad that they are rid of them : when indeede they haue greater cause to howle and weepe for the miseries that shall come vpon them . the righteous need not to imitate the vngodly practise of herod , who being ready to dye , & thinking that his death would be a great ioy to many , shut vp in prison some noble men of euery towne : and required his sister salome , & her husband alexa , that so soone as he was dead , they should kil those noble men , and then all iudaea would lament his death . the lord himselfe doth often make the death of the righteous to be lamented , by sending of extraordinary iudgements immediatly after their death . when noah enters into the arke , the world is drowned with the floud : when lot departs out of sedome , it is burnt with fire . 2 in this respect also y● righteous haue no cause to feare death , but rather to desire it : for what is it but an ending of some troubles , and a preuenting of others ? they may with paule desire to be loosed and to be with christ , which is best of all . it is true which salomon saith , that the day of a mans death is better then the day of his birth . for the day of a godly mans birth is the beginning of his misery : but the day of his death , is the end of his misery . indeede the day of a wicked mans death is the most wofull day that euer befell him ; for hee is not taken away from the euill to come , but he is taken vnto euill , to be tormented in hell for euermore . and therefore he feares death as much , as a malefactour feareth a sergeant that commeth to carry him to prisō , where he is like to abide till the day of execution . that is true in them which the diuell sayd . skin for skin , and all that euer a man hath , will he giue for his life . and as the gibeonites were content rather to bee bondmen , and hewers of wood , and drawers of water , then to be killed by the israelites as other nations were : so they had rather indure any kinde of misery then to die as others doe , because they feare a worse estate after death , and therefore must bee pulled from the earth with as great violence , as ioab was pulled from the hornes of the altar , vnto which he had fled as to a place of refuge . but the godly knowing what an happy exchange they make by death , they desire to dye so soone as it pleaseth the lord. indeede none ought for the ending of present calamities , or preuenting of future miseries , to shorten their own dayes , as saul did by falling on his owne sword : nor yet for the present enioying of eternal happines , procure their own deat● ; as cleombrotus did , who reading plato his booke of the immortalitie of the soule , cast himself headlong from a wal , that he might change this life for a better . he onely who gaue life , must take it away : and the lord may say to such , i will receiue no soules , which against my will haue gone out of the body : the philosophers which died so , were martyrs of foolish philosophie . yet seeing that death freeth the righteous from present and future miseries , they may be most willing to dye , so soone as the lord calleth for them : and when death approacheth , may say with simeon : lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace . 3 lastly , in this respect we must learne not to mourne immoderately for the death of the righteous . though we receiued great comfort , and inioyed some benefit by them while they were aliue : yet seeing that death is an aduantage vnto them , we should be content patiently to beare our owne losse , in respect of their great gaine . if two friends should lye in prison together , or should dwell together in a strange countrey , where both of them were hardly vsed , were many wayes iniured , endured great want , and sustained much miserie : though they loued one another dearely , and the one were an helpe and comfort to the other ; yet if the one should be taken from the other , and brought to his chiefest friends , and among them be not onely freed from all such miseries as before he had endured , but also be aduanced to great preferment ; will the other which is left behind him , be discontented at it ? will he not rather wish himselfe to be there with him in the like case ; then desire , that either he had stayed with him , or might returne againe ? this our life is as a prison , or straunge countrey , in which we indure great miserie , and may euery day looke for more : if therefore our deerest friends be taken from vs , freed from these miseries , and aduanced to great glorie with christ and his saints in the kingdome of heauen ; we haue no cause to wish that either they had stayed longer with vs , or might returne againe vnto vs ; but rather desire that we might quickly go vnto them , to be glorified in like sort . though we may thinke that they dyed too soone for vs , yet they dyed not too soone for themselues : for the sooner they come to rest and happines , the better it is for them . their condition is farre better then ours , for they are freed from misery ; we are reserued for further misery : they are already arriued at the hauen of eternall rest : and we are stil tossed on the sea of this world , with troublesome waues , and dangerous tempests they haue ended their iourney with lesser trauaile , and making a shorter cut : and wee are yet trauailing with wear●●omnesse in our iourney . if any one of them could speake after their death , he would say vnto those which weep for him , as christ sayd to the daughters of ierusalem : weepe not for me , but weepe for your selues , and for your children ; because of the dangerous dayes which shall ensue : or as christ said vnto his disciples , if ye loued me , ye would verily reioyce , because i go vnto the father . but if examples do moue any thing at al , i may apply al that hath bin spoken to our present occasion . a righteous woman is perished : a mercifull woman is taken away : let vs lay it to our hearts , and consider that she is taken away from euill . i am fully perswaded that she is deliuered from ordinary euils : and it may be her death hath in her self preuented some extraordinarie iudgements which remaine for vs that are left behinde . sin is now so ri●e and ripe among vs , that we may iustly feare some strange future euils : god graunt , that as she hath preuented them by her death , so we may preuent them by our vnfained repentance . i know that she , being receiued into the society of the saincts in heauen , neither careth for , nor seeketh mans praises : she neither needeth our prayers , nor yet our prayses : if she desire any thing , it is our imitation . yet to praise the dead , is a thing lawfull in it self , and profitable vnto the liuing . if it had not bin a thing lawfull , neither dauid would so highly haue commended ionathan for his feruent and constant loue , 2. sam. 1. 26. neither would the holy ghost haue commended king iosiah for his integrity aboue all others , 2. chro. ●5 . 23. neither would the author to the hebrews haue so greatly praised the patriarchs and prophets for their excellent works of faith . n●ither would christ haue commaunded , that wheresoeuer the gospell should be preached throughout all the world , that which the woman had done in ●anointing him , should be spoken of ▪ for a memoriall of her . god would not haue the vertuous deedes , and holy examples of the righteous to bee buried with them , but to bee kept in remembrance , for the imitation of others . christ commended some while they were aliue , as the centurion for the greatnes of his faith , math. 8. iohn baptist for his constancie , his ●obrietie in his apparell , and the dignitie of his office , math. 11. may we not then praise the dead ? for we may best commend saylers whē they arriue at the hauen , and souldiers when they haue gotten the victorie . these praises may profit the liuing : they may comfort the friends of the deceased , assuring them of their happie exchange by death . and for this cause the fathers in their consolatorie letters written to them which lost their friends , haue inserted large praises of them : they may stirre vp others to praise the lord for them , and likewise prouoke thē to follow their good example . as fire , whē it is raked into , wil cast forth some heate and light ; and precious oyntment if it be stirred , wil cast forth a sweete smel to thē which be neere : so y● praises of saints departed being mentioned , will yeeld some comfort and profit to those which heare them . i may the more boldly speake somewhat of this godly gentlewoman , whose soule ( i doubt not ) god hath taken vnto himselfe , and whose body is now to bee committed vnto the earth , because i knew both the course of her life , and the manner of her death . it pleased god betime to season the vessel of her heart with heauenly liquour , whereof it did alwayes tast afterward : good seede was sowne in her soule at the beginning , which budded and brought forth good fruite vnto the ende . she was by nature very humble and lowly , not disdaining any : very louing and kind , shewing courtesie to all : very meeke , and milde , in forbearing euery one ; so as they which did daylie conuerse with her , could neuer see her angrie : and hereby she got the loue of all . for matters of religion few went before her . she gaue her selfe much to reading : as paula did traine vp her maides to read , and learne euery day some thing in the scriptures ; so did she accustome her selfe to reade euery day eight chapters in the bible : and would not suffer any occasiō to hinder her in that taske : yea and moreouer at conuenient leasure would reade ouer other godly bookes for her further instruction . she was also much giuen to prayer : for besides that shee would both morning and euening ioyne in prayer with the family , she was espyed to seeke out solitary places for priuate prayer and meditation . she did most dutifully frequent the publick exercises in the church : had a speciall care to sanctifie the sabboth ; and was greatly grieued , if shee might not heare one or two sermons on that day . although she dwelt farre from the church , yet would she neuer be absent , if shee were able either to goe or ride . yea she might be found in the church when others which dwelt neerer , and were able to haue come , might haue bin found in their houses , or vnfit places for that time . by these meanes shee did greatly increase in knowledge , not being like those women which are euer learning , but are neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth . but rather like dauid , who vnderstoode more then the ancient . she had a very tender conscience , and would often weepe not only for her owne sins , but also for the sins of others ; especially if she espied a fault in those which were neere vnto her , & whom she loued dearely . had a dangerous conflict , yet a ioyfull conquest . not long after the beginning of her sicknes , being a weeke before her death , i comming to visit her , found her some what troubled in conscience ; the enemy had then begun to assault her : but within a while , by conference with me and others and also by prayer , she was comforted . but after our departure , the enemy did more strongly & strangely assault her againe , as might appeare to them which were present : for she neither would , nor yet could conceale it . though i was not present at this conflict , yet was i present at the conquest . i comming to her the day before her death , found her exceedingly rauished with the ioyes of heauen , praysing god most cheerefully for his great mercies , and wonderfull works of god toward her , repeating many verses of the psalmes , and other places of scripture , to expresse the worke of the lord vnto her , and to set forth her thankfulnes vnto him . she said , the path was smooth , and strowed with flowers where she did treade , that she was as it were in paradice , and felt a sweete smell , as in the garden of eden : that the ioyes which she felt were wonderfull , wonderfull ! repeating that word oftentimes together . i cannot rehearse the least part of those heauenly speeches which then shee vttered . she often desired others to pray and to praise god for her : and when i had once ended prayer , within a while after she would desire me to pray againe . the next morning which was the day of her death , i saw her continue in the like sort , though not able by reason of her weakenes , to speake so much : she then desired our prayers againe for her , and when prayer was ended , and i gone out of the house toward the church , she caused mee to bee called backe , to pray once againe with her ; and whē i departed , wished some faithithfull minister to help me , and thus continued in godly speeches and prayers vntill her last end . this was the manner of her death . i haue heard that some speake very vncharitably of her , by reason of her temptation , and thereupon mutter much against religion it selfe : but such should remember that which i haue spoken before , that the deuill most assaulteth them which be most godly , thinking to hinder all religion , if he may preuaile with such : * and if you yet doubt of this point , i could shew the testimony of the best learned to approue it . and in temptation the best may quaile , to shew how weake wee are , and to keepe vs from presumption . yet seeing that as iacob spake of the tribe of gad , an host of men shall ouercome him , yet he shall ouercome in the end : so it came to passe in her ; her enemie for a while seemed to preuaile , but in the end was troden downe vnder her feete . wee should rather praise god for the victory , then speake euill of her for the combate : & feare least he who tempted her so strōgly will also tempt vs ; and therefore let vs put vpon vs armour of proofe , that we may be able to stand in the day of tryall . i pray god , that those which speake euill of her death , doe not die worse then shee did . howsoeuer it was , i will say with paul who art thou that iudgest another mans seruant the standeth or falleth to his owne maister . i hope she resteth with the lord , and therefore let ill tongues rest , and speake no more against her . although her mother haue lost a dutifull childe : her husband a chast , a louing and discreet wife : her brethren , a deare and kind sister : her nighbours , a peaceable and courteous neighbour : her friends , a religious kinswoman : her familiar acquaintance , a vertuous companion : the poore , a charitable relieuer : and i my selfe , one of my best hearers . yet i will say to all , as hierom did to eustochium concerning her mother paula : let vs not mourne because we haue lost such a one , but let vs rather giue thankes , that we haue had such a one ; yea rather that we still haue such a one ; for all liue vnto god : and whosoeuer returneth vnto the lord , is reckoned in the number of the fanstlie . let vs learne to imitate those good things which were in her : let vs be stirred vp by her death both to consider the vncertaintie of our owne liues , and also to prepare our selues for our last end : that it may be the beginning of our euerlasting glory . the lord god graunt that euery one of vs may doe it . amen . finis . the sovles solace against sorrow . a funerall sermon preached at childwall church in lancashire , at the buriall of mistris katherin brettergh , the third of iune 1601. in the afternoone of the same day . by w. leygh bachelor of diuinitie and pastor of standish . psalme 126. 5. 6. 5 they that sowe in teares , shall reape in ioy . 6 they went weeping , and caried precious seede : but they shall returne with ioy , and bring their sheaues . iondon imprinted by felix kyngston . 1602. to the reuerend man of god , and faithfull preacher , m. william leygh , bachelor of diuinity , and pastor of standish in lancashire : william brettergh wisheth increase of all good graces , for the gathering of gods saints , and building vp of his church , and for his owne euerlasting saluation in iesus christ. good sir , after i had read with comfort , that which i gayned from you with much intreaty , i meane a copie of your sermon , preached at my wiues funerall ; i was so ful and pregnant of the birth , that i could beare no longer , but must needs bring foorth the same , and lay it in the lap of gods children : which how euer i vse it in the nursing , was from your selfe a per●est birth . happily you will deem i do you wrong , to publish the same without your futher warrantie : indeede you may and my selfe should thinke none other ; but that fearing vpon a second intreaty you might either perswade me in your loue , or ouer-awe me by your authority ▪ to desist from printing the same : i haue thought good rather to venture vpon all carthly replies , thē to hazard the want of so heauenly a solace . good sir pardon my boldnes , for and if you would giue me your house full of gold , i cannot keepe in , what god will haue out : nor can i bee silent where god will speake : the best is , i lacke no priuiledge : the lord hath giuen good success : the examiner full allowance : the learned good approuall : and my conscience is cleare within : i doe it neither to your praise , or my own , but with a single heart to set out the lords glory . and for the wantonnes of the world , the iniquitie of the time , and the multitude of malicious wreslers , of whom you speake ; let them alone , whilest they but pine themselues in feeding vpon our best things . the lord giue you grace , countenance , and continuance in the bleshed worke of the ministery , for his sions sake . london this 20. of nouember 1601. your assured in christ iesus , william brettergh . the soules solace against sorrow . isaiah . 57. 2. peace shall come : they shall rest in their beds , euerie one that walketh before him . it was the preparation & day before the saboath , when ioseph of arimathea , with nichodemus and the women that came from galile ; begg'd of pilate the bodie of iesus ; wrapt it in sindon ; imbalm'd it with spices ; buried it ; and so gaue him the last dutie of eternall obsequie . as that was honourable in christ the head ; so is it not dishonourable in vs his members . and for that i hold this day , you haue done well , who haue followed the hearse of this our deare sister , to giue her the last honour of buriall ; though last ( i say ) yet not the least of christian duties . all which on your behalfes ( blessed preacher , and blessed people ) how readily and religiouslie hath beene performed , i rather ioy to feele in my heart , then can finde the way to expresse with my tongue : howbeit in lieu of my vnfained loue to her that resteth now in peace ; as also of you my deare brethren , who yet a while must indure the warres of this wofull world ; giue me leaue in respect of both , to charge my selfe with a dutie more particular , & more abounding . for as the maries could not bee satisfied with al that was done by ioseph and nichodemus for their maister christ , vnlesse their poore balme went withal : so can i not content my self with al you haue done ( though most sufficient ) vnlesse i bring some sindon of mine owne , and buy some balme to bestow vpon this saint . as loue is full of labour ; so it spareth no cost ; and for that i say with dauid , i will not offer burnt offerings vnto the lord my god , of that which cost me nothing : so then being called vnto this place , by him who may commaund me much , for that his praise is in the gospell ( i meane the saddest saint in all the assemblie ) i did not consult with flesh and blood , but haue as you may see , most willinglie obeyed the heauenlie call . desirous by my best endeuours , & sweetest balme , to comfort the liuing , by commending the dead : so did isaiah in this place , as you haue heard from the former angell , who tooke the commination to himselfe , out of the verse going before , of gods peremptorie summons of all by death ; iust , and vniust ; righteous , and vnrighteous ; faithfull , and faithles ; and hath left the consolation for me , thereby to raise you vp from deepe despaire , and put you in a place of peace , lay you in a bed of rest . with the saint that gone is , and all such as walke before the lord. that all must die , as hath bin told you , there is no remedie ; for wee come by the wombe , and goe by the graue ; and ere you come to the sweet running waters of shilo , that runneth softlie , you must passe the turbulent waters of iordan , that goe roughlie . death is the lady and empresse of all the world , her seasure is without surrender , and from her sentence there is no apple . it is not the maiestie of the prince , or holines of the priest ; strength of bodie , feature of face , learning , riches , or any such secular regard can pleade against death , or priuiledge any person against the graue : nay i say more , be thy dayes neuer so few , or thy yeeres neuer so full : count with adam , and tell with methusalem 969. yeares truelie told ; yet die thou must : be they many , or be they few , all is one ; yeeres are no priuiledge against the graue . for the generall then i thus conclude , statutum est omnibus semelmori . the decree is out , all must die : balthashars embleme is vpon euerie wall : and his imprese is vpon all flesh , mene , mene , tekel vparsin . numerauit , appendit , diuisit . god hath numbred thy dayes : he hath laid thee vpon the ballance , & thou art found wanting ; thy kingdome is diuided , and giuen to the medes , and persians . say princes , say pesants , say all , corruption thou art my father , rottennes thou art my mother , wormes and vermine yee are my sisters , yee are my brethren ; say graue , thou art my bed ; sheet , thou art my shrine ; earth , thou art my couer ; greene grasle , thou art my carpet ; death demaund thy due , and thou gathering host dan , come last , sweepe all away . and now my brethren that all is gone , where is the remaine of our religious hope ? spes in olla : nay spes in vrna . there is hope in the graue : ●o saith isaiah the sonne of amos , in this place , of all the prophets most euangelical , and of al the euangelists most propheticall . in which scripture , for the better carrying away of the whole , you may obserue these special points . first , gladsome tydings from heauen , and what it is : peace to the soule , and rest to the bodie . secondly , gladsome tidings from heauen , and to whom it is : to all such as walke before him . euerie word if you weigh well , truely euangelicall ; i meane good newes from a farre countrie ; gladsome tidings of heauenly things . what more acceptable then the welles of sweete water to a thirstie soule ? what more pleasing then to heare of peace , in the time of warre ? what so to be desired in this moyling world , as after toyle to heare of rest ? and what so comfortable to check all miserie ; as to heare of mercie ? and fully to be assured , that in the middest of death , we are in life , and that peace shall come . this impression of immortalitie , and assured hope of deliuerance , from daunger , death and miserie , hath euer possessed the hearts of gods saints , and beene as it were , a naile of the sanctuarie , to keepe them in life , and fasten them to a further hope of future perfection . thus peace shall come . iob in the plea of all his miseries ( as hee thought ) endles , easeles , and remediles , to the weake and sillie eye of flesh and blood ; yet vpon a better suruey , with the single eye of faith , helde by this verie hope , and none other : peace shall come . for when hee had grieuouslie complained , that the lord had hedged vp his waies that hee could not passe , and set darkensse in his paths ; when hee had spoiled him of his honour , and taken the diadem from his head ; when he had destroyed him on euerie side , and remooued his hope like a tree ; when his armies of afflictions came together , made their way vpon him , and camped about his tabernacle ; when his brethren were remoued farre from him , and his acquaintance were strangers vnto him ; when his neighbours had forsaken him , and his familiars had forgotten him ; when his houshold seruants both men & maides , tooke him for a straunger , and would not answere him , though hee prayed them with his mouth ; when his breath was straunge vnto his wife , though he besought her too , for the childrens sake of his owne bodie ; when the wicked despised him , his secret friends abhorred him , and those whom he loued , were turned against him : finallie , when beside these great losses , and most cruel vnkindnesses , he was tucht in his own person , so as his bone claue to his flesh , and he onlie escaped with the skin of his teeth ; yet in all these dolours , thus he demurred , peace shall come : though in different words , yet in equall sense , hee made it the issue of all his maladies . scio quod redemptor meus viuit . i know that my redeemer liueth , and hee shall stand last on the earth : and though after my skin , wormes destroy this bodie , yet shall i see god in my flesh , peace shall ●ome . oh that these wordes were now written ! oh that they were written ; euen in a booke , & grauen with an i●on pen , in lead , or in ●●one for euer , to the ●●lace of al distressed saints . i know that my redeemer liueth , & that peace shall come . dauid , euen distressed dauid , anchored vpon this hold , when tossed vpon the ●eas of worldlie woes , he felt the froth and furie of saules rage ; and doegs despite ; the rebellion and incest of his owne children ; besides the horror of his proper sinnes , which night by night caused him to water his couch with teares : all these surges had sunke his soule , had not his eyes been fixed vpon this pr●montorie bonae spei , peace shall come : which vndoubtedly he felt in his heart , when he spake with his mouth , and said , to the solace of his shrinking soule . i should vtterly haue fainted , but that i beleeued verely to see the goodnes of the lord in the land of the liuing : o tarrie then the lords leasure , be strong , and he shall comfort thy heart . paul is powerfull in this kinde of pleading , and if you marke it well , in the course of all his epistles , you shall finde , that euer as afflictions were multiplied , his ioyes were increased . death was to him an aduantage : dissolution was his desire ; and to be with christ was best of all : peace shall come , was his plea against all the issues of death and doome . when in labours more abundant , in stripes aboue measure , in prison more plentiously , in death often ; when of the iewes fiue times he had receiued fortie stripes saue one ; when thrise beaten with roddes , once stoned , thrise hee had suffered shipwracke , and beene in the deepe sea both night and day ; when in iourneyings often , in perils of water , in perils of robbers , in perils of his owne nation , in perils among the gentiles , in perils in the citie , in perils in the wildernes , in perils in the sea , in perils among false brethren , in wearines and painefulnes , in watchings often , in hunger and thirst , in fasting often , in cold and nakednes : and to conclude , when beside the things that were outward , hee was combred day lie , and had the care of all the churches ; yet here was his hold , and to this hope was hee fastned , i account that the afflictions of this present time , are not worthie of the glorie which shall be shewed vnto vs. therefore we faint not ( saith the blessed apostle vpon the like plea ) but though our outward man perish , yet the inward man is renewed daylie ; for our light afflictions which is but for a moment , causeth vnto vs a farre more excellent and eternall waight of glorie : while wee looke not on the things which are seene , but on the things which are not scene : for the things which are seene , are temporall , but the things which are not seene , are eternall . peace shall come . ●●ul , paul , this issue of life and soule-solace ; his heauenlie hold ; and spirituall rauishment , hath made thee to forget all that is behind , and to hold hard vnto that marke which is before , euen ▪ iesus christ , the authour and finisher of thy faith . here in grace , thy life was hid in christ , and for that now in glorie it doth appeare in christ : happie place , happie paul , happie shrine , happie saint , so to bee blessed both in life , and death : & woe vnto vs , vpon whom the ends of this world are come , if being compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses , wee doe not cast away euerie thing that presseth downe , and the sinne that hangeth so fast ▪ o● , tunning with patience the race that is set before vs , and looking vnto iesus the authour and finisher of our faith : who for the ioy that was set before him , endured the crosse , and despised the shame , and is set at the right hand of the throne of god. and here me thinks , vpon the sense and sight of sin , which swarmeth euerie where , to the subersion of states , and destruction of soules : i finde no cause of such so great excesse , as that with men , there is no passion of their mortalitie : there is no impression of their eternitie . for and if there were , assuredlie then oderunt peccare ▪ 〈…〉 i virtutis amore , oderunt peccare mali for mid●ne poenae . the good , they would not sinne in loue of vertue , and the euill they durst not sinne for feare of punishment . did the sinner but think of this , that tophet is prepared of old ▪ and that euen for the mightie as well as the mean● ; it is prepared . that the gulfe thereof is deepe & large , and t●e burning is ▪ fi●● & much wood , with the breath of the lord , like a riuer of b●imstone ▪ still to kindle it : i say , had hee ▪ but a passion of these things , little do i doubt , but his heart would fall ▪ his soule would shrinke , and he would leaue sinne for feare of punishment . to passe ▪ ouer a due regard of these things ▪ and to come to the tenth of our lost time , and carelesse dayes , pittifullie spent and wasted in wofull securitie . did we but affoord out soules though extraordinarie , yet any the least meditation of the shortnes of our life ; more brittle thē glasse ; more light then smoke ; more swift then winde . 2. of the day of our death ▪ sure in the end , vnsure in the time , and bitter when it commeth . 3. did we but with feare foresee , diem & deum vltionis , a day and a god of reuenge , by a iudge ; infallible for his wisedome ; inflexible for his iustice ; infugable for his power ; when to cal vpon the mountaines , cadite , cadite , fall vpon vs , fall vpon vs , will be too late . 4. and finallie to close with hell , to the horrour of all hellish hearts : could we but feele in heart and semblance , the intolerable paines of hell , endles , easeles and remediles in the damned ; would much abate the heate of our sinning , strike it in the blade , breake it in the head , and kill it at the heart . but alas , and woe vnto vs , that euer wee liued to see such excesse of sinning with all states , in all securitie . hanibal ad portas . imminet mors , iudicium det , infernus omnia horrenda : et quasi nihil ad nos ▪ ridemus , ludimus , peccataque peccatis adi●cimus . death is at our doores ; iudgment is oue● our heads ; hell is at hand ; all horrible : and yet without horror we laugh , we leape , we daunce , we play , we lie vpon beds of iuorie , and stretch our selues to the full of our follie : wee eate the lambs of the flocke , and the calues our of the stall ; ●e sing to the sound of the viollvaine delights ▪ and we inuent to our selues instruments of musicke like dauid : as hee to the seruice and honour of his god , so we to please our vnsanctified affections , and extrauagant lusts . but good lord how long ? how long without measure shall wee prouoke thy maiestie ? how long without repentance shall wee behold our miserie ? how long without compassion shall we looke vpon him whom wee haue pierced ? how long by swearing , and lying , and killing , and stealing , and whoring , shall sinne breake out , and blood touch blood ? oh lord thou knowest . pedibus timor addidit alas . feare forceth flight . oh set thy feare lord before our face , so settle it in out hearts , as henceforth wee doe no more consult with flesh and blood , but readilie obey thy heauenlie call , by flight from sinne , for feare of iudgement . 2 as for the second cause of our excessiue sinning , to wit , the insensibilitie of peace to come , of future rest , of heauenlie being , passions of our ioy , and impressions of our eternitie ; i say the want is wofull , but the feeling is of force to beate backe sathan , with all his retinue , either of sinne , death , hell or doome . it made paule to forget not only sinne , but himselfe to , and say whether in the bodie , or out of the bodie , i cannot tell , god he knoweth ; but i feele things that are vnutterable . it made the disciples in the transfiguration vpon the mount ▪ to translate their thoughts from mortall mould , & say , in sense and feeling of that heauenlie being , bonum est esse hic . it is good lord for vs to be here , let vs make tabernacles . it made simeon say with solace , whē hauing layd in his heart , what hee lapt in his armes ; euen sweet christ , the rauishment of his soule : lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in pe●ce according to thy word : mine eyes haue seene thy saluation ▪ i feare no sinne ; i dread no death ; i haue liued enough , i haue my life : i haue longed enough , i haue my loue : i haue seene enough , i haue my light ; i haue serued enough , i haue my saint : i haue sorrowed enough , i haue my ioy : sweet babe , let this psalme serue for a lullabie to thee , and a funerall for mee : oh sleepe in my armes , and let me sleepe in thy peace . and here out of simeon would i raise a doctrine . simeon had it by reuelation from god , that hee should not taste of death till hee had seene the lords christ ; nor doe i thinke , but that god in like lenitie , doth and will deale with al his saints , and neuer suffer the good and righteous to depart out of this world comfortles . moses saw the land of promise before he died . aaron saw his sonne eleazar in his roome before he died . dauid saw salomon his successor ere he died . ezekiàs saw his house in order ere he died . christ was glorified vpon the holy mount ere he dyed . stephen saw y● glorie of god , and iesus standing at the right hād ere he died . and simeons sight of christ ere he died shall be to me , and i hope to all the elect of god , an assured symboll or sacrament of the certaintie of our saluation by faith , in and by the sight of our sweet sauiour , whom wee shall behold in soule and spirit , ere we leaue this life . amor transit in amatum ; nec sinit amantem esse sui ipsius , sed amati . loue doth symbolize , and the minde is not where it liues , but where it loues . terram diligis , terra es : aurum diligis , aurum es . deum diligis , non audeo dicere deus es : audi tamen scripturam dicentem , an non ego dixi , quod dij e●●is ? dost thou loue earth ? thou art earth ▪ dost thou loue gold ? thou art gold . dost thou loue god ? ( i dare not say thou art god ) yet heare the scriptures speaking , haue not i said ye are gods ? as and if the authour should say , out of the familiaritie we haue with god , wee are made partakers of the diuine nature , according as his diuine power hath giuen vnto vs , all things that pertaine vnto life and godlinesse , thorough the knowledge of him that hath called vs vnto glorie and vertue . good ignatius confirmed this doctrine , as in life , so in death ; for qualis vita finis ita . of whom it is reported that being opened , they found in his heart , the fruit of his faith and daylie meditation , written in letters of gold , to this effect . amor mens crucifixus est , my loue is crucified . learned cruciger confirmed the same , when dying he said : inuoco t● deus , fiducia filii tui , licet languida , tamen aliqua fide . oh god , i call vpō thee in confidēce of thy son , thogh with a faint faith , yet with some faith : and i am encouraged so to doe , for i see him in glorie , whom i haue followed in grace . nor can i passe in silence , what fel out in experience not long sithence , at the memorable death of a memorable saint in this our countrie ; a gentleman , scholler , and preacher , rarelie qualified both in life and death . oxford will witnes the one , and heaton hall the other , where it pleased god to call to his mercie that worthie man , and powerfull preacher maister iohn holland batchelor of diuinitie , a burning lampe consuming it selfe , to lighten others ; for god in mercie called him by a lingring sicknes , which staid till hee was readie , and pared him to such an end , as seldome i haue heard , but yet neuer saw the like in any . to passe the course of his sicknes in much patience , yet with great passion ; and to come to his end , when he put in practise the fruit of his godly life : it pleased him the day before he dyed , as formerly often , so then more egerly , to call for the holy bible , with these very words , come , o come , death approcheth , let vs gather some flowres to comfort this howre : and turning with his owne hands to the 8. chapter of paules epistle to the romaines , he gaue me the booke , and bade me reade : at the end of euery verse he made a selah , or pause , and gaue the sence in such sort and feeling , as was much ( wee saw ) to his owne comfort , but more to our ioy & wonder . pity it were those speeches , with other his writings , should bee buried with him , and kept in priuate from the publicke good of many . hauing thus continued his meditation & exposition for the space of two howres or more , on the sodain hee sayd , o stay your reading , what brightnes is this i see ? haue you light vp any candles ? to which i answered no , it is the sunne-shine , for it was about 5. a clock in a cleere summers euening . sunne-shine ( sayth he ) nay my sauior shine : now farewell world , welcome heauen , the day-starre from an high hath visited my hart : o speake it when i am gone , and preach it at my funerall : god dealeth familiarly with man. i feele his mercy , i see his maiesty , whether in the body , or out of the body , i cannot tell , god he knoweth , but i see things that are vnutterable . so , rainshed in spirit , he roamed towards heauen , with a chearefull looke , and soft sweete voice , but what he said , we could not conceiue . at last shrinking downe againe , he gaue a sigh , with these words : ah , yet it wil not be , my sins keepe me from my god. thus that euening , twise rising , and twise falling , with the sunne in the morning following , he rise then neuer to fall ▪ when againe raysing himselfe , as iacob did vpon his staffe ▪ hee shut vp his blessed life , with these blessed words , o what an happy change shall i make ? from night , to day ? from darkenes , to light ? from death , to life ? from sorrow , to solace ? from a factious world , to a heauenly being ? o my deare brethren ▪ sisters , & friends ▪ it pitteth me to leaue you behinde : yet remember my death when i am gone , and what i now feele , i hope you shall ●●id●ere you dye , that god doth ▪ and will do ●●● familiarly with men ▪ and now thou firy chariot , that came donne to fetch vp eliah , carry me to my happy hold : and all ye blessed angels , who attended the soule of lazarus to bring it vp to heauen , beare me , o beare me into the boson● of my best beloued . amen , amen come lord iesus , come quickly , and so he fell a sl●ope . i say the truth my brethren , i lie not , my conscience bearing me witnesse in the holy ghost , with an appeale from my own credit , to the right worshipfull his brother , and all the standers by , to iustifie what i haue sayd , in comfort of their owne soules and warrantie of the doctrine ●ayme at , which is to proue , that god neuer suffereth his elect to depart this life comfortlesse ; nor wil i am perswaded call them hence , till they haue seene with simeon the lords christ , either in soule ; spirit , body , or both . the life of this perswasion , is the death of sinne ; and such hope of eternity , is the reuenge of iniquity . fie vpon sinne , whilst i behold my sauiour : fie vpon shame , whilst i behold my glory ! heauen is my hope , the visions of my hart , are the impr●●sions of my ioy ; and * reuelations are exp●ations to all gods children ; they haue bin , they are , and they will be , neuer wanting in supplementum fidei , to helpe faith . and for conclusion of this point , remember lots wife , was christ his aduertisement , to inure vs with a forgetfulnes of our owne people , and our fathers house , that the lord might haue pleasure in our beawty : but so to looke vpon zoar , and flee thither , was lots sanctuary : o it is but a little one , and my soule shall liue . what is sodome , other then this sinfull world ? and what is zoar , other then that heauenly being ? o let me take you by the hand , bring you out , and say with the angell , escape for thy life , looke not behind thee , neither tarry thou in all the plaine , escape into the mountaine least thou be destroyed . and let this suffice , for the first circumstance of my text , as balme from heauen to sweeten our miseries in this life , and to bury our iniquities in the graue . now passe we from the peace of the soule , to the rest of the bodie , and quiet of both , vrged by the spirit , in the second place , as an antidote to preuent a poyson much infecting all flesh : who without all comfort of future blessednes , do , to the hazard of their soules , stand doubtfull of the resurrection , as also of the rest of their soules , after they be departed . the one sort are the atheists , the other are the papists of these dayes & times : but the text is powrefull to put back both iordans , that the israel of god may enter canaan without crosse or feare . for if the lords elect shal rest in their beds , they shal rise from their beds . rest implyeth a resurrection , when the time of refreshing shall come . it is an improper speech to say , hee resteth , who neuer riseth . it may be some go to bed who neuer rise , strooken with a deadly sleepe or l●thargie , but none to the graue , but out he must , at the generall sommons of all the world : for the trumpet shal sound , and the dead shall rise . if a man dye , shall he liue againe ? then all the dayes of mine appointed time will i watch ▪ till my changing do come . againe for the second : if after our death we rest in our beds , and as it is in another place , such blessednes accompanteth saints who d●e in the lord , that ther rest from their labours : then after death , no place of paine , no punishment , no purgatory . is there light in darkenes ? is there truth in error ? is there life in death ? is there fire in water ? is there ease in paine ? rest in labour ? good in euill ? sweete in sowre ? is there a purging fire in hell must fyne vs for heauen ? sweete christ , where then is thy bloud ? which alone , say we , nothing else , and none other , purgeth our sinne , pleadeth our cause , and purchaseth our place . we neede no other sacrifice , we neede no other aduocate , wee neede no other key to open to vs the p●rt of the paradise of god. and if the bloud of iesus pleade better things then the bloud of abel , for the bloud of abel cryed reuenge , but the bloud of christ cryed pardon , pardon : then stay your bulles , and drops of your leaden diuinity : downe with your dagon and babel of all confusion , by shrift , shrine , merit , or medall , all too light , to ballance with the bloud of the lambe : for what is chaffe to corne ? it pities my heart to see the desolations of christendome , & of this my deare country in many places , where millions of souls are ●illily lead by bad and blinde guides , factious iesuits , and seditious seedsmen , lead i say from the bloud of christ , to the bloud of hales , and becket : from the fire vpon the mount , to the painted fire of purgatory , poets sayes , and heathenish helps , romish institutions , decretals apostaticall , lying oracles , illusions , and flattering diuinations . this they doe , and this they dare doe , without care of conscience , feare of god , of faithfulnes to his cause , which wittingly and willingly ( i verely thinke ) they do betray , to make good their hellish hierarchie , and babel of all confusion . for what grosnes is this besides the impiety , to thinke a people euer so foolish , as should take out this lesson , to carry to their graues , from the liuing to the dead ; yea , and that in plea of saluation to : from the liuing god , to dead idols : from the liuing word , to dead traditions : from the liuing bread in heauen , to a dead ●alfe or cake at dan , and bethel : from the bloud of christ that giueth life , to the fire of purgatory that bringeth death . when christ bleeding vpon the tree , had vttered this voyce cons●mmatum est , it is finished , he gaue ●● the ghost . th●n he said ▪ and 〈…〉 hee ●ustered , not for himselfe is a priuate person , but for vs his members , a publicke good . shall he say it is finished ? and shal we say it is not finished ? the lyon hath rored , who will not be afrayd ? the lord hath spoken , who can but tremble ? o tremble for feare ye faithles generation , who dare yet say it is not finished ? pray saints in heauen , help fire in hell , purgatory play thy part , purge to the full : and thou pope president of this limbo lake , rule at thy pleasure : help in , help out , and if vpon displeasure thou thrust myriades of soules into hell , yet let none be so bold as to aske , why doest thou so ? it is enough , ò it is inough to make good with this , all your doctrine : sic volo , sic iubeo ▪ stet pro ratione voluntas . aske no questions : search no scriptures : seeke no reasons : i haue sayd , is inough : my pleasure is a precept ; counsell , a commaund ; and my will is a reason . and now mee thinks whilest i heare them say , without worde of god , or warranty of reason : heare heauen , help purgatory , pardon pope , that is to say , pray saints , purge fire , speake indulgence , for the rest and ease of soules departed : ( a check to the bloud of my christ , to the truth of my text , & quiet of the saints that gone ar● ) i cannot but say as iob sayd of his friends , miserable comforters are ye all : suffer me a little to speake , and when i haue spoken mocke on . 1 i say , the saints in heauen vpon whom you call , to whom you pray , and before whose images you so prostrate your selues , i say they heare you not , and for that , they help you not ; they rest from their labours , and their works follow them , and not yours : i say no such works of wickednes , as your prayer to them is , whereby you rob god , to cloth a saint . to the proofe wherof , for that you say our doctrine is new , and of yesterdayes birth , the dayes shall speake , and the multitude of yeares shall teach wisedome . saints in heauen heare not ; saints in heauen help not ; saints in heauen haue no sense of our miseries : it is no new doctrine : it is ancient ; it is heauenly ; and hee that hath eares to heare , let him heare . augustine in his booke de cura habenda pro mortuis , teacheth , animas sanctorum in coelis esse , nec interesse nostris his terrents negotijs . that the soules of the blessed are in heauen ; nor doe they respect our affaires here on earth ; as and if he should say , cease your praying , for no more doth their affection reach yours , then your prayer doth reach them . and this doth hee proue , by these reasons sound and good , vnanswerable , if truth might preuaile , when it pleadeath on earth , as whē it iudgeth in heauē . and first he beginneth with his mother monicha , dead and gone , whose affection towards him , in life was euer such , as hee thought could not but reach him from heauen , if saints had feeling of our miseries here on earth : vt volet accipiat quisque quod dicam , sayth the father ; let men iudge of my words as they please ; for that i may say nothing of others , yet dare i say of her , si rebus viuentium interessent animae mortuorū , me ipsum p●a mater nulla nocte desereret , quem terra marique s●cuta est vt mecum vineret . if the soules of the dead did respect the affaires of the liuing , then my deere mother would neuer faile me night or day , who by sea , and by land , followed me in this life to liue with me . absit enim vt facta sit vita foeliciore crudelis &c. be it farre away , that a blessed life should make her more vnkind , or cruel ; so as in all y● anguish of my soule , i neuer felt her solace , who whilest shee liued could neuer abide to see me sad . but without al doubt , quod sacer psalmus personat , verū est , quoniā pat 〈…〉 s & mater mea dereliquerūt me ; dominus ●●tem assumpsit me : because my father & my mother haue forsaken me , the lord haue taken me vp . if then our fathers do forsake vs , how can they care for vs : and if our fathers do not care for vs , qui sunt ill● mortuorum , qui nor unt quid agamus , quidue patiamur : who are they amōg the dead , that know what we do , or care what we suffer ? 2 a second reason is taken out of isaiah the prophet , who moued in misery , after a deliuerance , and greatly complayned of mercies with-holden , and compassions restrayned , gayned at no hand , but at the hand of god : nor was pitied of any , but of himselfe : and for that he ●●ith , doubtlesse thou art our father , though abraham be ignorant of vs , and israel know vs not , yet thou lord art our father , and our redeem●r thy name is for euer . whereupon the father concludeth , with an argument drawn frō the stronger , si tanti patriarchae quid ●rga populum ex his procreatum ageretur ignorauerunt &c. if two so great patriarches were ignorant , what should become of that people themselues had begotten , and frō whose straine should spring by promise , christ the father of all the faithfull : if abraham being the friend of god , yet could neuer enter into that secret : nor israel as preuayling with god , yet neuer obtayned such a blessing , as once dead , either to know , to ease , or help their posteritie , in life or death : then hush to heauen , and to all that therein is , except god , al are ignorant , none can know , none can help , none can heare , none can ease our plaint or paine , either in earth , or elswhere . 3 his third argument is drawne from the memory of blessed iosiah , vnto whom huldah the prophetisse pronounced this blessing from god , that he should dye , and be gathered vnto his fathers before he saw the euils which the lord had determined vpon that place and people . her words be these : thus saith the lord , because thine heart did melt , and thou hast humbled thy self before the lord , when thou heardest what i spake against this place and against the inhabitants of the same : to wit , that it should be destroyed and accursed , and hast rent thy clothes , and wept before me , i haue also heard it saith the lord. behold therefore i will gather thee to thy fathers , and thou shalt bee put in thy graue in peace , and thy eyes shall not see all the euil which i will bring vpon this place . hereupon i inferre with the father , hos put amus quietos , quos inquieta vita viuorum solicitat ? may we think them at quiet whom the troublesome sturs of this world may vexe ? i trow no , for doe but suppose , that the saints in heauen did behold the miseries here on earth ; princes the subuersion of their kingdomes ; noblemen of their houses ; gentlemen of their lands , line , and families ; did fathers see the sinnes of their sonnes , and mothers the shame of their daughters , clad with pride , fed with idlenes , and shod with bloud , to the destruction both of their bodies and soules ; finally , did heauen but heare , see , or feele with passion , how sion is wasted , her stones lye buryed in the dust , and there is none to pitie her desolations ; did they but see the grasse of the earth dieperd with the bloud of the saints , by antichrist in the east , and antichrist in the west ; banding themselues together against the lord , and against our christ , the one to destroy the honor of his person , the other of his offices : i say , if saints in heauen , had a sense and feeling of these miseries , woes , and calamities , small were their rest , li●tle were their ease , and heauen were no hold for happines . if the presence of god were vpon hell ( as on saith , infernus in amoenum conuerteretur paradisum ) it would become the port of paradise : so contrarily , it may be sayd , if the presence of our sinnes , woes , and calamities , should p●ster heauen : if earthly miseries , hellish horrors , and ( as our aduersaries wil haue it ) purgatories plaints should reach the saints ; then should heauen bee turned into hell ; rest into toyle ; peace into warre ; and blessednes into bane . iob saw this , when hee sayd of the dead , he changeth his face , when thou castest him away , and he knoweth not if his sonnes shall bee honorable , neither shall be vnderstand concerning them , whether they shall be of low degree . whereunto accordeth augustine in another place : the sonnes of them that are dead , are there where they do not see , nor heare what things are done or chaunceth in this life : such is their care for the liuing , that they know not what we do ; euen as our care is for the dead , that we know not what they do . for conclusion of this point ( that i bee not tedious ) say no more eyther for your selues , or ouer your dead . heare heauen ; help saints ; send peace ; giue rest : they see you not ; they heare you not ; nor haue they feeling of your miseries . your ora pro nobis is out at doores , and your missa requiem , is a pregnant idoll . popes pardons are bables for pagans to sport withall ; and like the mad gaderen , you hunt the graues of the dead , to grieue the liuing , taking vp these and such like stones , to wound your selues , and build vp your babel of all confusion . but of you my brethren , i am perswaded better things , and such as accompany saluation , though thus i speake : for god is not vnrighteous that he should forget your worke and labour of loue , which you shew towards his name , giuing him alone the sacrifice of your prayers and praises : saying with holy iob , my witnes is in heauen . and with the sweete psalmist , whome haue i in heauen but thee ? and whom haue i in earth besides thee ? as also with blessed hester : o my lord , thou only art our king , helpe me desolate woman , which haue no helper but thee . and for the dead , take this from siracides for a memento . forget it not , seeing he is at rest , let his remembrance rest : cease thy prayers , thou shalt do him no good , but hurt thy selfe . 2 now to come to the second support , i meane our aduersaries bath , to supple and ease their dead , before they come to heauen : and for that they cry help purgatory , purge fire ; heathenish in deuise , hellish in practice , and romish for gaine . that i may say no more , i can say no lesse of that popish puddle , if i say the truth ; but as the apostle sayd of an idoll , idolum nihil est ; so say i of purgatory , purgatorium nihil est ; it is none of gods creatures ; it is none of gods ordinances : it was neuer in his counsell ; and for that it can neuer stand with his prouidence . nay if you reade the approuers of it , who loue it most , and like it best , you shal finde thē like sampsons foxes , tyed by the tayles , but deuided in the heads , burning the corn of the philistims , whilest israels sheaues stād vpright : i meane consuming themselues , whilest they cauill with vs about a birth of no being : for if , they could but agree at home , ere they warre abroade , 1. where the place is , 2. when it began , 3. how long it shall continue , 4. who is there punished , 5. what is the paine , 6. and lastly , who be the tormentors : happily it might make vs to sound a retreate , and moue a parley . but when in all , or most of these , they are at ods with themselues , i trust ( by the grace of god ) they shall neuer be at euen with vs , or with any that feare the lord in truth . it would require a longer discourse , then now i can stand vpon : to descend into each of these particulars , beeing limited with the time , mine owne weakenes , and your wearines ; yet if any man doubt , let him demurre with mee vpon a further tryall , and conference , when i shall ( if god will ) satisfie him to the full ; that in all these seuerall points , they doe nothing else but agree to disagree : in the meane time i dare auouch as first i did , that purgatorie is not at all . 1 that is was neuer knowne in the church of israel , or a doctrine sprinkled vpon that people , with the blood of the old couenant by moses , who was faithfull in gods house , and deliuered all hee saw vpon the mount . 2 that purgatorie hath no foundation in the new testament , and that the blood of christ neuer taught it in that couenant ; but was of it selfe sufficient to purge and preserue tam à poena quam à culpa : though our aduersaries say contrarie . 3 that neither the primitiue church , nor the fathers of the same , for the space of manie ages , did euer acknowledge the purgatorie of the church of rome . i say god neuer ordained : scripture neuer taught : spirit neuer guided : father neuer agreed vpon such a doctrine : but as they that were conuerted to christ at the first ; whether from iudaisme , or frō paganisme , did bring with them , eyther their ceremonies , or their opinions ; so in this errour , as in others . plato taught it in his schooles : virgil in his rythmes : both pagans papising . bonauenture at all a●enture , and durand not dangerous of the doctrine , haue taken it vp ; both papists paganising . to iustifie what hath bin said of old : pictoribus , atque poetis quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas . to painters , to po●ts ( to papists ) of skill , hath euer b●● graunted to same what the ▪ will. for the proofe of al these assertions , i referre you to the worthie writings of that noble berrean lord phillip of mornay ; lumen galliae , ma●tix romae , in his treatise of purgatorie , laid downe in his third booke of the sacrifice pretended in the masse . and now for conclusion of this point , in clearing of the truth , pitifullie dearned with these clouds of errour , let these few scriptures , and fathers dispell the fogge ; so as the sunne of righteousnes may shine in your hearts , and beget you to a better hope . a voice from heauen hath said it , & you may beleeue it . blessed are the dea● that die in the lord ( amodo ) euen now , for they rest from their labours . in blessednes is no pain : in rest is no toyle , & if this happinesse be amodo , euen straight vpon the dissolution ; there is no daunger by the way : there is no delay by purgatorie . paul hath said it , you may beleeue it , christ is to me both in life and in death aduantage , desiring to be loosed , and to be with christ , which is best of al : as & if he should say , neuer can i lose by christ , in life hee is my grace ; in death he is my glorie : when i am gone , i shall bee where he is ; not in paine , but in blis , where no fire shall purge , nor water wash ; hauing alreadie dipt my stole in the blood of the lamb . christ hath said it , you may beleeue it , his word is a warrant to your wearie souls . father , i will that they which thou hast giuen me , be with me euen where i am , that they may behold my glorie , which thou hast giuen me . it is his will , and who dares wrest it ? the head will haue his members , the bridegroome his spouse , god his elect , and christ his redeemed : and where will he haue them , but where he is ? and that is in heauen . popish purgatory is no palace for christ his abode ; ergo , no place for christians to behold his glorie . nor hath christ said it but sworne it to , in supplementum fidei , to help faith ; that by two immutable things , wherein it is impossible that god should lie ; first , promise : and secondlie oth ; wee might haue strong consolation . his oth is this , neuer to be reuersed : verilie , verilie , i say vnto you , he that heareth my words , and beleeueth in him that sent me , hath euerlasting life , and shall not come into condemnation , but hath passed from death to life . o happie hearers ▪ but thrise happie beleeuers , for whose cause the lord hath sworne , in certaintie of your saluation and speedie passage from death to life , without tuch of fire , meede of merit , or need of popish indulgence . one saith well , velox est sermo dei , & velocem desiderat habere sequentem . the word of god is swift , and it requireth a speedie follower : if speed in following ; much more in attaining : if speed in the bodie , much more when it hath put it off : if vnder the crosse we grone and goe forward , with how much more speede shall wee haste to the crowne , when teares shall bee wiped from our eyes , and wee shall be translated out of this world , to raigne with god for euer . and if it bee true of a glorified bodie , that augustine hath , corpus est vbi volet animus . the bodie is straight where the minde will ; how much rather shall a sanctified soule , disburdened of the bodie , passe with speed to him that gaue it . lazarus died , and was straight waies caried into abrahams bosome . the theefe vpon the crosse died , & was that verie day in paradise . stephen called and said , lord iesus receiue my spirit : and shall we doubt of his desire euen then answered ? christ cryed vpon the tree , father into thy hands i commend my spirit , and gaue vp the ghost ; not downe the ghost ; speedily , and without delay : yea , and i am perswaded that it is with euerie saint of god in his particular death , as it shall be at the generall doome , all shal be chaunged at the twinckling of an eye , at the last trumpe : for the trumpet shal blow , and the dead shall rise ; so all shall be changed at the last gaspe , & euen in the twinkling of an eye , shall the bodie turne to earth from whence it came , and the soule to god that gaue it . nescit tarda moli●●●a spiritus dei gratia . the gifts and graces of god , are without delay : no delay in the creation : no delay in the redemtion : no delay in the comming of the holie ghost , for so dainelie it fell : and shall we surmise a delay after the dissolution ; after wee haue fought the good fight , finished our course , and kept the faith . no ●o , there is a crowne of righteousnes laide vp for thee paul , and for all them that loue his appearing ; i meane christ who standeth readie with a crowne in his hand , ouer the head of all his saints , euen when the flesh is off , to put it on . to goe by the streame of all the fathers , to wash out this errour , would carrie me to a sea of matter , for the time impas●ible , and therefore i am enforced of much to take a little , and of manie a few , leonem ex vnguibus . ignatius bath these verie wordes truelie translated . alwaies reasō requireth that whilest we haue space and time , wee should amend and correll our faults , whilest in this life wee haue occasion giuen of repentance : for it is truelie said , after death there is no place nor time to confesse our sinnes : whereunto accordeth that of ierome . whilest we are in this present world , either by prayer , counsel , or comfort , we may help one another : but after , not iob , not daniel , or noah , shall obtaine by any intreatie , but euery one shall beare his owne burden . chryso●l●●e giueth the reason of both : hoc eni● cunaorum tempus est ; illud verò coronarum , retributionum & praemiorum ; this is the time of swadles , bands , and bicke●ings : but that of crownes , rewards and garlands . cyprian in his first treatise against demetrian , doth fullie subscribe to the same truth , where hee saith : that after we be once departed our of this life , there is no more place of repentance : there is no more effect or working of satisfactions : life is here eyther lost or won ; euerlasting saluation is here prouided for by the due worshipping of god and fruits of faith . augustine vpon his first conuersion , sauouring of gentilisme , was doubtful & said of purgatory , it may be there is such a place , and it may be there is none ; but being further grounded in doctrine , and confirmed in faith , is resolute at the last , and said . let no man deceiue himselfe ▪ there are but t●● places ; and as for anie third p●●●● ▪ there is no● at all ; he that reigneth not with christ ▪ shall perish with the diuell without all ●●●●● . and in his booke hypognosticon , he is yet more plaine , morefull , more abounding in the ●●●ting backe of that deuised 〈…〉 be these . the first place the 〈…〉 by gods authoritie beleeueth to be the 〈…〉 of heauē : the second place , the 〈…〉 faith beleeueth to bee hell , where al runnagates & whosoeuer to without the faith of christ shall tast euerlasting punishment . as for any third place we vtterly know none , neither shal we find in the holie scriptures , that there is any such . and as if he would neuer off this groūd , till he had built vp the truth , and remoued all rubbish , he is yet vpon that againe and againe . there be two habitations or dwelling places , the one in fire euerlasting ▪ and the other in the kingdome that neuer shall haue end . there is no other place to correct our manners and conditions , but onlie in this life : for after this life , euerie man shall haue that that hee hath purchased vnto himselfe in this world . so then with these few , to shut vp the streame of the rest , that still runne in the same current , and to close with their rectified spirits in triall of the truth , i conclude with themselues . in quo quemque inuenerit suus nouissimus dies , in hoc comprehende● mundi nou●ssimus dies : quontam qualis in die isto quisquis moritur , tales in die illo iudicabitur . and againe , vnusquisque cum causa sua dormit , & cum causa sua resurgit . wherein euerie mans last day shall leaue him ; therein gods day shall finde him ; as we die , so shall we be iudged , and euerie man shall sleepe and rise againe with his owne cause . as for that our aduersaries straynd distinction , of good to heauen , bad to hell ; and meanely mannerd to purgatorie : it is a heathenish help , & a pan●●s poêm found in the schoole of plato , and there first forged vpon the anuill of errour ; who maketh ( by the report of eusebius himselfe in his booke of the soule ) three degrees of men . some in the elisian fields , who liued well and vertuouslie : blessed soules , in blessed places . others in tartaro , whom he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , past hope of amendement , cursed soules in cursed places . but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , such as are curable and veniall , he casteth into burning flouds , there to make perfect their repentance , and after their purgation receiue absolution . virgil describeth it at large , in his sixt booke of his aeneidos . alijs sub gurgite vasto , infectū eluitur scelus , aut exuritur igne : donec long a dies , perfecto temporis orbe , concretam exemit labem &c. englished thus . some fleeting bin in floods , and deepe in gulfes themselues they tire , till sinnes away be washt , or clensed cleare with purging fire : till compass● long of time , by perfect course hath purged quite our former cloddred spots , and pure hath left our ghostly sprite , &c. and hereat no doubt augustine aymed when hee said , that purgatorie was one of platoes doctrines : as also some of their greatest clarkes and iesuits , who doe not let to confesse that purgatorie is found there . and for conclusion of all these points of doctrine , controuersed betwixt vs and our aduersaries ; i say of popish pardons and indulgences , which lastly they pleade , in releefe of their dead , and ease of soules departed , that rest should come by thē : i say , though they be nearest to their true game , yet are they furthest from their due proofe : as may appeare by their owne doctors , to too doubtfull , yet doting vpon the doctrine , ex ore tuo , &c. siluester prierias hath these very words ▪ pardons ( saith he ) are not knowne vnto vs by the authoritie of scriptures , but by the authoritie of the church of rome , and of the popes , which is greater then the authority of the scriptures . desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne . a milde beginning , but a wild and woodie ending . iohn maior is no lesse doubtfull when he a●oucheth , that of pardons little may bee said of certaintie : for the scripture expresly saith nothing of them . touching that christ said vnto peter , vnto thee will i giue the keyes , &c. we must vnderstand this authoritie with a corne of salt . alphonsus de castro in his eight booke of pardons , saith , there is nothing in the scriptures lesse opened , or whereof the olde fathers haue lesse written then pardons : of pardons there is no mention . let bernard of clunice blaunch the deuise , and tell the truth of this toy . the deuising of pardons ( saith he ) is a godly guile , a hurtlesse deceit , to the intent , that by a deuo●● kinde of errour , the people may be drawne to godlines . much like vnto many wantons in these our dayes , who deeme that diuinitie may goe by the drum , whilest they vrge pyping to bring on preaching , and minstrilsie to grace our ministerie , with multitudes in the afternoones , of many our wofull and solitarie saboaths . but to the matter in hand , and point of pardons ; i say with augustine : o vanitie , selling vanities , to them that will heare vanitie : and vaine are they that will beleeue it . nay rather beleeue your owne poets , who durst freely say : if wee haue any thing from rome , they be trisles : it receiueth our gold , and deceiueth our soules . say with veselus one of your owne doctors , among vs in rome , churches , priests , altars , masses , crownes , fire , incence , prayers , and heauen are set to sale : yea , and god himselfe among vs may be had for money . say with budaeus . the popes canons seeme not now to guide mens liues , but if i may so say , they rather serue to make a banke , and to get money . say with becket one of your owne bishops : rome our mother is become an harlot , & for money & reward laieth her selfe to sale . if then for cōclusion , my deere brethrē , beloued in the best loue that euer was , which is of iesus christ : if saints helpe not , for that they heare not : if purgatorie case not , for that it is not : and lastly if pardons preuaile not , for that they reach neither quicke nor dead : why doe wee listen to these vngodly sirens ? who blacken the ayre with the fogge of their dearne diuinitie , and driue away al comfort from distressed soules , with these wofull outcryes , and doubtfull voyces . helpe saints : purge fire : pardon pope . away away , get you hence , for who euer required these things at your hands , saith my god ? let onely the price of the bloud of my lord , auaile me vnto the perfection of my deliuery . he is my peace : he is my rest : in life and in death christ is to me an aduantage . o death where is thy sting ? hell where is thy victorie ? pope where is thy pride ? purgatorie where is thy gaine ? thankes be vnto god , who hath giuen vs victorie , peace , and rest , thorough our lord iesus christ. and now who shall lay any thing to the charge of gods chosen : it is god that iustifieth , who shall cōdemne ? it is christ which is dead , yea rather which is risen againe , who is also at the right hand of god , & maketh request also for vs. and what shal diuide vs frō his loue ? shall tribulation , or anguish , or persecutiō , or famine , or nakednes , or perill , or sword ? shall life or death ? in all these we are more then conquerours , in him y● loued vs. and i am perswaded , that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , neither height nor depth , pope , nor purgatorie shall be able to separate vs from the loue of god which is in christ iesus our lord. ven●endo veniet . peace shall come ; they shall rest from their labours , euery one that walketh before him . thus you haue heard ( i hope to your comfort ) of peace after war , rest after toile , life after death ; and a blessed being after a miserable bondage , to all gods children , vpon the last farewell , with this wofull world . it now remaines we come to the second part , and declare out of the text , to your further comfort , who are partakers of the blessing ; euen all such as are parties to the cause , and none but such as haue walked before him . all haue not faith ; so saith paul. all haue not peace ; so saith the prophet . not euery plant is for this orchard . not euery tree is for this building : each peeble stone may noy lie with the carbuncle , topaze or chrysolite , in the habitation of his holinesse . for without shall be dogges , and inchaunters , and whoremongers , and murtherers , and idolators , and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lyes : but blessed are they that doe his commandements , that their right may be found in the tree of life , and may enter in through the gates into the citie . blessednesse with the apostle is to such as doe his commandements ; peace and rest with the prophet , is to such as walke before him . both absolute in the promise of god : both defeaseable on the condition of man. it is an ouerruled case in schoole diuinitie . comminationes & promissiones diuinae sunt hypotheticae , comminations & promises from god are conditionall , euer limited within the bounds of our obedience or disobedience . yet fortie dayes and niniue shall be destroyed ; if niniue repent not : and i am perswaded , that yet not many yeares , & the whole world shall bee destroyed , if the world amend not . excellent things were spoken of thee , thou citie of god : but now execrable things are done to thee , for that thou art fallen from god. bethel is become bethauen , the house of god , the house of iniquitie . heudomus antiqua quam dispari domino dominare ! thy ruines are relickes of thy sinne , and iudgements of thy god. god promised a priesthood of continuance , with an eternall couenant : and said he would neuer faile salomon of a sonne to succeed in that throne of gouernmēt ; if his children would doe right and walke in his waies : but when they failed in the condition , the lord failed in his promise , that they might know his promises are conditionall , and his mercies euer with limitation . aske and ye shall haue ; seeke and ye shall finde ; knocke , and it shall be opened vnto you ; so saith christ a mercifull messias : but with this implication ; if yee aske not , yee haue not ; if yee seeke not , yee finde not ; if yee knocke not , it shall not be opened vnto you . and i pray you what is implied in all the titles and dignities of christ ? where either he saith of himselfe , or others of him , that he is the way , the truth and the life : but that we should walk in him , shine through him , and liue by him : or what of this ? that he is the doore , the shepheard , and the vine ? but that wee should enter , be guided , and grow together in him . a priest hee is to please our god. a prophet to instruct our soules : and a king to conquer our enemies . all defeaseable on our behalfe : if we yeeld him no sacrifice ; no care ; no obedience ; i say , for conclusion , whatsoeuer christ is to me , i am nothing to him ; if eccho-like , and by reflexion , i doe not answere to his holie and heauenlie call , with my true faith and due obedience . qui fecit te sine te , non saluabit te sine te . hee that made thee without thee , will neuer saue thee without thee . we are his workemanship , created to good workes , that we should walke in them . in which walking i doe further obserue out of the text , that god is no respecter of persons , but euerie one that walketh shall haue peace , and finde rest , whether iew or gentile , circumcised , or vncircumcised , man or woman , rich or poore , bond or free , master or seruant , saint or sinner ; if he beleeue , hee shall haue life ; if hee walke before him : peace shall come . nescit religio nostra personas , nec conditiones hominum respicit : our religiō taketh no knowledge of persons , nor respecteth the cōditions of men . old simeon in the temple , yong iohn in the wombe , poore bartimeus begging , rich zacheus climing , the hard hearted centurion standing by the tree , & the theefe hanging vpon the crosse , confessing the trueth , and walking in the sunneshine of their christ : all indifferentlie receiue his die , gaine peace , and finde rest . this peter sawe in vision from heauen ; and this he preached powerfully on earth ; when vpon the sight he opened his mouth , and said , of a truth i perceiue now that god is no respecter of persons , but in euery nation he that seareth him , and worketh righteousnes , is accepted with him . againe , i gather out of the text , that as god is generall in his gifts ; so must we be particular in our receite . euery one shall be saued : but by his owne faith . euery one shall haue peace , and finde rest : but by his owne walking . anothers faith though neuer so pretious , is not sufficient : anothers walking , though neuer so righteous , is not auaileable to my rest . the iust man shall liue by his owne faith , so saith habacucke , 2. 4. euery one shall heare his owne burden : and euery one shal haue his owne honour . and as we sow , so shall we reape : not anothers mouth to kisse ; not anothers teares to wash ; not anothers haires to wipe the feete of thy christ : but thine owne mouth ; thine own teares ; thine own haires , must kisse , wash , and wipe , with marie , the feete of thy sauiour . all that thine hand shall finde to doe , doc it with all thy power : thine hand , not anothers hand : ●●y prayers , not anothers prayers : thine hearing , not anothers hearing : thy feete , not anothers feete , shodde to the preparation of the gospell of peace ; yea , and thy communicating of christ , with all the benefits of his passion , not anothers , shall benefit thee , to thine euerlasting saluation . quid tibi de alterius dono , si tu non dederis : why art thou proude of another mans gift , and thou giue nothing ? anothers clothes will not warme me ; anothers meate will not feede me ; anothers golde will not enrich me ; anothers heart will not cheere me : no more say i , can anothers faith saue me . onely my faith in my christ , whom i haue put on , my walking , mine obedience ; must warme me , must feede me , must cheere me , must enrich me , and therefore i say with thomas vpon mine owne tuch : my god , my lord. not god in generall , but my god in particular ; mine by promise ; mine by stipulation : mine by oth : mine by free gift : mine by purchase : mine by participation of giftes and graces : my shilo : mine emmanuel : my iesus . of this particular faith and application , spake isaiah the prophet , when he said , razili razili . secretum meum mihi , secretum meum mihi : my secret to my selfe , my secret to my selfe . and this is the spirit of application , by which the children of god , both can and doe applie the medicine to the maladie : for what is the sweetest balme , if it be not broken ? the best receite , if it be not taken ? or the soueraigndst plaister that can be deuised by arte or cunning , if it bee not applied to the wound or sore ? from this spirit of application spake dauid , when he said , o god thou art my god : as mary also in the garden , when she said rabboni , my master : yea and iohn too , whose head lay neere his masters heart , euen the disciple whom the lord loued , when hee sayd , we know that wee are of god , though all the world lie in wickednes . but the sonnes of beliall , and the reprobate from god , if you mark them well , you shall find that they are seared with a brand , and so , as neither they cā , nor do apply the mercies of god vnto themselues . caine could make no vse of it , when he said , my sinne is greater then can be pardoned . nay ( saith augustine ) not so : mentiris caine , mentiris , maior est dei misericordia quàm omnium peccatorum miseria : thou lyest caine , thou liest , the mercies of god are aboue all mans miseries . pharoah was ●bdurate , and could make no vse of god either in maiesty , or mercie , when he said , who is the lord , that i should heare his voyce , & let israel goe ? i know not the lord. iudas that sonne of perdition , when he cast in the ●0 . pence ( a goodly price whereat he was valued ) though he mourned much ; yet had he no helpe , for that he was hopelesse , when he could not applie mercie vnto his miserie : but said , i haue sinned in betraying the innocent bloud . the innocent bloud , not mine ; as if he had no portion in his christ. and for the diuels , they are so farre from challenging any good by christ , that they disclaime his mercies , person & all , whilest they say : ah , what haue wee to doe with thee , thou iesus of nazareth ? art thou come to destroy vs ? such disclaime be farre from you my brethren , and from all the saints of god , both in life and death : nay rather clamate prore vestra ▪ claime your due , and say with blessed paul , christ is become vnto vs wisedome , righteousnes , sanctification , and redemption . yea , and be bold to say yet more : his bodie is in heauen , there shall i finde it mine : his diuinitie is on earth , there do i feele it mine : his word is in mine eares , to beget him mine : his sacrament is in mine eyes , to confirme him mine : his spirit is in my heart , to assure him mine : angels mine , to camp for me : prince mine , to rule for me : church mine , to pray for me : pastor mine , to preach for me : all mine , whether it be paul , or apollos , or cephas , or the world , or life , or death , whether they be things present , or things to come , euen all are mine , i am christs , and christ is gods. of all this i inferre and conclude with my text , that euery one must walke , if he wil haue peace ; and who wil be cured , must care to apply his sweete sauior vnto his sinfull soule . thine owne gaine must buy balme to bury thy christ ; nor must thou send it , but bring it , with the deuout maryes , to the sepulcher . the queene of saba ( though a queene ) yet she sent not , but came her selfe to heare the wisedome of salomon . and the wisemen of the east , herein shewed their wit , that after they had seene his starre , they turned not , but hasted to the place of the babes abode , with this inquiry : where is he which is borne king of the iewes ? vidimus stellam eius in oriente , we haue seene his star in the east , and are come to worship him : venimus personaliter , we come our selues , we acknowledge our misery , venimus adorare humiliter , we adore him our selues , we acknowledge his maiestie , and we worship eum singulariter , him alone : we subscribe to the vnity : and that there is no name vnder heauen , wherby men must be saued , other then by the glorious name of iesus christ. as and if they might say , we haue seene in soule , we are come in body , there is the star , o where is the babe ? care is in our hearts , and cost is in our hands , here is our gold , let him be crowned a king : here is our frankencense , let him be deified a god : here is our mirth , let him be buried a man : all his by gift , all ours by grace : what he gaue vs , we giue againe ; and here we haue it to bestow vpon our blessed sauiour : from a farre countrey haue wee followed him , and walked before him : and therefore now we feele peace , we haue found rest to our weary soules . from the generality of gods gifts , and particularity of our receipt , come we now to the proper obiect of our faith and walking , contayned in these words , before him . by which indefinit speech , i hold the holy ghost hath reference to one christ , the way , the truth , and the life of all christians . no way , but by him : no light , but from him : no life , but in him . him i say , nor is he expressed in plainer termes , for that his name is s●●ret : and till gabriel came from heauen , with his sauing name iesus , and statute of additions , luke 1. 31. from the first age to the latter daies , i meane from adam , vntill shilo came , they but hacked at it . god in paradise lapt vp this secret in the seed of the woman . iacob in shilo , which by interpretation is sent . moses in this , mitte quem miss●ruses : send him whom thou shouldest send . daniel thus , one of the saints said vnto a certain one . ieremy thus , he that should call , he is the lord our righteousnes . the lord in respect of his , to deliuer his church : righteous , in respect of his doome , determinable vpon the world : ours in respect of grace , appeasing his father . what should i say more ? sometime they call him by the name of emmanuel : sometime they call him wonderfull , counsellor , the mightie god , the euerlasting father , the prince of peace . maher-shalal-hash-baz , make speede to the spoyle , hast to the pray ; with this pregnant prophecy of him , that a virgin should inuiron a man. and neerer the daies of christ , they called him , israels expectation , israels consolation , israels redemption . and now that i haue told thee , and thou hast heard all these speake , i aske with salomon , what is his name ? and what is his sonnes name , if thou canst tell ? it is the gldrse of god to keepe a thing secret , but the kings heart will seeke it out . and it is an honorable seede that feareth the lord , but a more honorable seede that findeth him . elder times saw him a farre off , comming swadled in types , figures , shadowes , & ceremonies : but we haue seene the truth , bodie , and substance of our christ. we haue him come● and the ●●yle of the temple is ●ent from the top to the bottome , whereby we haue readie passage into the hol●est of holies , euen christ iesus the lord , whom the angels desire to behold . we heard of him at ephrata , and wee haue found him in the woods , tied to the tree , & pierced through , with his body crost , and soule curst , for the sinnes of all the world : and now sitteth in heauen , a mediator and pledge of our inheritance , hauing le●t his spirit to liue by , and his word to go by : and this is he whom the prophet meant in this word him , the obiect of our faith , and way to walke in . no man can ascend , but by him that did descend , and that is christ : the ladder iacob saw at pinael : the clowd by day , & pili●r of fire by night , which guided israel in the desert ; the kings high way to heauen , & blessed hold of happie dwelling . no paradise without this tree : no perfume without this balme : no building without this stone : no sacrifice without this lambe : i say , no god without christ , in this wicked world . the light of the day is conueyed vnto vs by th● sunne in the firmament : so is the brig●●nes of heauen , by that sonne of righteousnes : a planet in the middest of planets , to lighten all aboue , and all below , as whom blessed angels desire to behold , and blessed men couet to adore . life is conueyed from the ●art , through the veines to all the vitall parts : so is saluation frō the father through christ to all his liuing members . out of eden went a riuer to water the garden , being deuided into foure heads , it compassed the whole world : out of heauen flowed the streame of gods mercy , in and through our christ , whose graces deuided diuersly , all the earth is filled with his glorie . what should i say more ? christ is a mutuall help : to the father one , to vs another . an hand to the father , by which hee reacheth vs : an hand to vs , by which we reach him . the fathers mouth , by which he speaketh to vs : our mouth to the father , by which we speake to him . our god is a consuming fire , and without christ the vayle , we cannot abide the brightnes of his glory : for what is our miserie , to meete with his maiestie , but in the temper of his mercie ? which mercy-seate , & all is christ. as then our words , are messengers of our mindes , & semblances of our soules , to pa●ley with our friends : so is the christ , the sonne of god , the image of the father , and mouth to instruct his de●rest saints : nor onely a mouth to speake by , but an eye to see by , and the foote way to goe by , as it is m●ny text , peace shall come , and rest shall ●e reserued for euery one that walketh before him . so then i dare auouch boldly , thinke what thou wilt , and without christ , it is an euil thought : say what thou wilt , and without christ , it is an euill word : do what thou wilt , and without christ it is an euill deed : tread where thou wilt , and without christ , it is an euill way . christ is the life of the world , & heire of al things , without whom , i can possesse nothing that good is , either in grace , or in glory . he , he , is the salt elis●● did throw in , to sweeten the waters of ●ericho , with these words : thu● saith the lord , i haue healed this water : death shall no more come thereof , neither barrennes to the ground . this faith ( my deare brethren ) is right , for it hits the soueraigne good , and thus to walke , is to walke before him . none but he careth , none but he careth , none but he guideth , non but he saueth : and he is but one as you heere see , and will be alone in all his courses ; without mixture , ●●thout ●edley ; first , last , middest , and all , filling all ; yet ●ined from all , in the glorious worke of our repaire . none but he bare our sinnes : none but he pleadeth our cause : none but he purchased our place : none but he traceth our way ; he hath trode the wine-presse alone , and there was none is helpe . the cup of bitter affliction whereof he tasted , agonizing in the garden , for no intreatie with his father could passe from him to any other . oye papists , at last ( in the name of god ) be wise , and warned ; leaue off your mixtures ; away with your medleys : and if you desire either peace to your soules , or rest to your bodies , only walke before him . meddle with no merit of man , pardon of pope , meede of martyrs , or pride of your owne workes , vnwisely wrought . make no mixtures of the sacred water and bloud , which flowed frō the side of christ , with the bloud of hales and becket , or with the inchanted holy water of an vnhallowed priest. neuer match your triple crowne of gold and diamonds glittering , with the single crowne of thorne piercing : and neuer thinke the puri●ie of the word , will abide the mixtures of your traditions ▪ the text , your glosses ; the church , your idols ; the arke of god , your dagon ; nor the poore priesthood of christ , your papall pride and popedome . looke for none other , but that the bodie and soule of your religion , like the image nebuchadnezzar saw , p●tcht together of gold , siluer , brasse , iron , and clay , will and shall ●inner , when the stone cut out without hands shall smite the same . your coate is of ●i●●ie wool●ie , not for our wearing . your familie like micha of mount ephraim , and not for our dwelling : for as he had , so haue you , an house of gods : an ephod , and a teraphim : he would serue both god , and idols ; and so doe you . and as for vs , who beleeue and looke after better things , we say with the poore paralyticke , in disclaime of all others helpe , it is iesus that made vs whole . and we say with abraham when we go to sacrifice , thou seruant stay here , i and the childe will walke alone . and now for conclusion by the lords commaund , that wee are for bethel , we haue with iacobs familie , put away the strange gods that were among vs ; we haue clensed our selues , and chaunged our garmēts , pluckt off our earings , and put all into the hand of our iacob , our elizabeth , who faithfully for her god , and graciously for her people , hath buryed pop●rie , with it execrable things , vnder an oke at shechem , neuer to be reuiued , neuer to be found out , amen , amen . lastly for an end , sith the time is past , and i feare much i haue wearied your patience ouer-long : from the proper obiect of our faith & walking , come we to the progresse , and increase of both : contayned in this word walketh . where you may see as in a glasse chrystaline , that a christian life is not a standing still , but a walking on , and growth in the doctrine of faith , and practice of godlines . the first blessing that euer god gaue after the creation , was increase and multiplie , which tooke it effect , not only in the creatures by propagation of kinde , but also in his gifts & graces , by renouation of minds , new birth , growth in knowledge , true faith , and godlines . all the trees in paradise did grow , and all the floods in paradise did flow ; to teach vs that we must not stād still at a stay , lest either wee be fruitles , and so accursed ; or become puddle water , and so vnprofitable . the finest cloath will weare , if it be not vsed ; the purest gold will rust , if it be not handled ; the sweetest balme will corrupt , if it be not broken ; and the cleerest fountaine will stincke , if it runne not : so are the graces of god , and doctrines of the beginnings of christ , though of themselues pure as gold , sweete as balme , cleere as a fountaine ; yet in respect of vs vnprofitable , if we proceed not further , but there stand still . foundations they are i graunt , for the scripture hath said it , hebr. 6. 1. but what of that ? and what is the foundation , be it of beryll , topaze , or chrisolite ? if you build not vpon it , & proceed no further in the work . in the first of ezechiel , where the vision of gifts and graces are described , it is said , that the beasts , winds , and wheeles went as the spirit lead them , and they returned not when they went foorth : and if at any time they stood , they let downe their wings as vnprofitable then , vntill the lord had put power in them of further proceeding . and in the same prophet againe , where the like gifts are described by another vision , you may finde , that from vnder the threshold of gods sanctuary , the waters issue out , and they runne east , west , north , and south ▪ the●mā with the line measured a thousand ●ubi●s , and the waters were to the anckles . againe he measured a thousand , and they were to the kn●os : he measured againe , and they were to the loynes : after he measured againe , and it was a riuer impossible ; signifying that the graces of god should neuer decrease , but euer abound in his church . the fishers should spread out their nets frō en-gedi , to en-egl●um . the trees shuld grow vpon the brinke of the riuer , on this side , and on that side , with leaues not fading , fruit not failing ▪ leaues for medicine , fruite for meate , and fruite euer new , according to his moueths : as for the miry places thereof , saith the prophet , and the maris●ies which stand still , they shall not be holesome , but they shall be made ●alt pits . you may remember when aarons priesthood should be confirmed , all the tribes with their names cast their rods into the mercie-●eate , and none blossomed , but aarons . you are a kingly people , and a royall priesthood : ò bud , bloome , blossome , and bring foorth fruit worthy amendment and newnes of life . dauid said of his saints , ibant de virtute in virtutem : they went from strength to strength ; and from faith to faith , as it is written : from the faith of the promise , to the faith of the performance : from the faith of the letter that killeth , to the faith of the spirit that giueth life : from the faith of christ his humiliation in misery ▪ to the faith of his exaltation in glorie : from the faith of the first resurrection from sinne , to the faith of the second resurrectiō from death : from the faith of the law wounding , to the faith of the gospell curing : from the faith of the prophets ●owing , to that faith of the apostles reaping : from the faith of the old sacrifice giuing to god , to the faith of the new sacraments receiuing from god : in a word , from the faith of the old couenant , wherein god speaketh , to the faith of the new restament , wherein christ bleedeth . of al which , i may conclude with haymo , ex side qua cōcipitur corde , profertur ore , exhibetur opere , iustus viuit : by faith conceiued in the hart , professed with the mouth , & practised with the hand , the righteous man liueth . paul is plentifull in this doctrine , and hauing once laid the ground of faith , hee vrgeth nothing more then the increase of faith . he tels the romanes , that by the gospell , the righteousness of god is reuealed from faith to faith . he tels the ephesians , that they must grow vnto perfect men , euen vnto the age of the fulnes of christ : as also , that they must know the loue of christ , which passeth knowledge , and so be filled with all fulnes of god. he tels the philippians , how he longeth after them from the very heart roote in iesus christ : and in longing , falles a praying : and what is the matter of his prayer ? but that their loue might abound yet more & more in all knowledge , and in all feeling . with whom i will conclude , and close with my text : as you haue receiued christ iesus the lord ; so walke in him , rooted , and built in him , and established in the faith , as ye haue beene taught , abounding therein with thanksgiuing . where obserue my brethren , that not rooting , building , establishing , teaching , nor abiding in the faith is sufficient , without abounding : for frustra nititur qui non innititur : and he that continueth not to the end , shall not be saued . take heed then my brethren , and be not high minded , but feare : you that are come out of sodome , remember lots wife : go not back , nay looke not back : you are of iudah tribe , and haue taken a profession vpō you ; and be not like the children of ephraim , which being harnessed , and carying bowes , turned themselues backe in the day of battell . iames said well , ye aske , and haue not , because ye aske amisse : so may i say , many walke , & obtaine not , for that they walke amisse . some in such idolatrous and superstitious heresies : some in such clyming and presuming ambition : some in such greedie and vnsatiable couetousnes : some in such biting & gnawing vsurie : some in such swearing and forswearing of themselues : some in such extrauagant and vagabond lusts of the flesh : some in such rebellions & conspiracies of harts and hands , as of whom i may say ( as i haue told you often ) and now tell you weeping , they are enemies to the crosse of christ , their end is damnation , their bellie is their god , their glorie is their shame , and they but mind earthly things . as for such as creepe with the crab , and slow it with the snayle ; i say they walke amisse ; for creeping christians are no christians : and cursed ; ● be that doth the worke of the lord negligently . an aldermans pa●e is too solemne for a saint of god : o that iehu ▪ his walking might be a mirrour to all magistrates , ministers , and people , how to walke , of whom it was said vpon the sight , the marching is like the marching of iehu the sonne of nimshi : for he marcheth valiantly ▪ or that caesars faculty of performance , were in the most of vs , of whom lucian thus writeth : caesar in omnia praeceps , nil actum credens , cum quid superesset agendum . instat atrox . which i may english thus : caesar is forward to all good , and thinketh nothing well done , whilest any thing is left vndone . and so for the conclusion of all : now way the fruit this tree benreth , and consider the crop this haruest yeeldeth , i meane the blessing they gaine , who are faithfull to their christ , and walke before him . is it ●mperiall rule in this world ? is it wealth , riches , or aboundance of earthlie happinesse ? is it health , strength , or beauty ? these haue their times ; but they perish with the possessor : nor to this end came christ into this woful world , that he might giue to the faithfull walkers , fading and vanishing delights ; but an abiding solace , euen life , and life in abundance , with peace to the soule , and rest to the bodie ; i meane eternall blessednesse to both , wherein is the auoydance of all euill , the fruition of all good , the societie of all saints , the fulfilling of al desires , with vnspeakable glory , which neuer shall cease : whither god bring vs , for his christs sake , to whom bee honour and praise both now and euer . amen , amen . and now brethren beloued and longed for ( i say now ) that i haue finished my course , ended the text , and closed vp the booke , giue me leaue a little to turne me to the dead , and to say vnto you on her behalfe , this scripture is fulfilled in your eyes and eares this day , peace shall come ; nay , peace is come . for she entertained in her heart the father of heauen , which is the god of peace : and she loued christ the king of peace : and in braced in her soule the comforter which brought that peace to her , that passeth all vnderstanding . and for that i may say no more , i can say no l●sse ; she kept the condition of my text on earth , and therefore her estate is vndefeasable in heauen . she did walke before him in life , therefore she hath peace : nor did she forsake him in death , and therefore now hath she found rest to her wearie soule . to walke in the word , is to walke with him ; and to goe by the light thereof , is to walke before him . let her painfulnesse in reading , and practise in following , euen from a child , speake to her commendation in that behalfe . you heard in the former sermon , how eight chapters a day , was her taske , each daies reading , a full weeke of sabboths , to sanctifie a saint . ( so sanctifie vs good lord with thy truth , thy word is the truth . ) and to make good the practise , i haue crediblie heard , that not eight , but many eights a day , haue been her sighes , sobbes , and gronings , for the breaches of the lawe ( she read ) both by her selfe , and others ; euer opening the booke with these words : a good god , a bad people , much mercie offered , little receiued ; for euery one seekes his owne , and fewe the things that are of iesus christ : and still clasping the booke thus : the glorie of god is to conceale a thing secret ; but the kings honour is to search it out . and what are wee but a kingly people ; and a royall priesthood ? besides her priuate reading , i might heere speake of her priuate prayer , and much meditation , with isaac in the field : with dauid in the night . i might tell of her weekely repayre to heare the word , in the great congregation : of her monthly communicating with his saints there , with her feete euer shodde to the preparation of the gospell of peace ; and neuer well , but when she was ●o walking before him . but i leaue her life and come to her death , whereunto ( as i am tolde ) she walked , as christ did to caluary , with much care , and many agonies , compelled with simon of cyrene to beare his crosse ; thereby to helpe out the sufferings of her sweete sauiour , and to beare in her bodie and soule , the markes of christ iesus , like spangles of golde , to grace her in her triall , whereby in the end she became more glorious , both to god and man. it is said of the kings daughter that she is all glorious within , and that her rayment was of needle worke : peace within , but prickings without . multi vident punctiones , sed non vident vnctiones : many see our crosses , but they feele not our comforts ; so said the saints of olde : and therefore to such as thinke it a straunge thing , that the saints of god should haue their fi●ie trial in this world , by bickerings , buffetings , and winnowings of satan . they are fooles and slowe of heart to beleeue , like the two disciples who went to emmaus , thinking still of their christ crowned , but neuer crossed , till the lord had rectified their thoughts , and laide a necessitie of triall vpon all flesh , beginning with himselfe thus : ought not christ to haue suffered these things , and to haue entred into his glorie ? whereby i gather : no peace , without warre : no rest , without toyle : no crowne , without a crosse : no entrance , without suffering : no glorie , without shame and shaking in this wofull world . but happely you will say , some be neuer broken in heart , nor yet haue any conflict with satan , sinne , or death : they are feared with no temptations , nor doe they grieue because of him whom they pearced . they haue made a couenant with the graue , and a league with hell : of such i say , their case is desperate , and their condition is no better then the beasts fat●ed vp in the best pastures , reserued for the slaughter , of whom iob speaketh , when hee saith , the houses of the wicked are peaceable , without feare ▪ and the rod of god is not vpon them : they spend their daies in wealth , and suddenly they droppe down to hell . as also dauid , there are no bands in their death : they haue no knots , as it is in the originall , they are n●t troubled like other men , there be many in the world , which would faine haue a church of sugar , or of veluet , as one saith : they would feede vpon manchet , and tread vpon roses . i meane in seruing god , they would be freed from afflictions : they loue canaan , but they lothe the wildernesse : they like the crowne , but they loue not the crosse : shilo runneth sweetely , but iordan is to too turbulent : all like zebedeus his sonnes , iames and iohn , who sought to sit in the seate of honour , but not to drinke of the cup of afflictions . but the truth is , you may beleeue it , the way to heauen is not strowed with flowers , but set with thornes : and happily you shall finde it in your experience true , that whosoeuer will liue godly in christ iesus must suffer persecutiō . quater luctatus est iacob : in vtero cum esau ; in via cum eodem ; in mesopotamia cum laban ; in bethel cum angelo . iacob wrestled foure times : in the wombe with esau : in his iourney with esau : in mesopotamia with laban : and at bethel with the angell . to teach vs , that if we wil be the israel of god , we must arme our selues for all trials at all times , in all places , and with all persons , retaining no longer the name of iacob as supplanting our troubles : but the name of israel as preuailing with god , and neuer leauing him without a blessing . excellent things are spoken of thee thou church of god : a woman clothed with the sunne crowned with the starres , and treading vpon the moone ; yet trauailing in birth , pursued with the dragon , and readie to be deuoured both her selfe , and her sillie babe : but heauen sung her triumph , against the accuser of the brethren , and he was cast downe , which accused them before god day and night . to be accused before men is much ; but to be accused before our god is more . now and then to be accused is much : but night and day is more . and such are the persecutions of gods children in this world , they neuer haue an end , nor euer shall , till the world be without hatred : the diuell without enuie : and our nature without corruption . thinke it not straunge ( my deere brethren ) concerning the firie triall which did befall this gentlewoman , to prooue her at her end , as though some strange thing had come vnto her ; but reioyce rather , in as much as she hath been partaker of christs sufferings , that when his glory shall appeare , she may be glad and reioyce . let him that thinketh he standeth , take heed he fall not . there hath no temptation taken her , but such as appertaineth to man : and god was faithfull , who would not suffer her to be tempted aboue that she was able : and euen gaue the issue with the temptation , that she might be able to beare it . when the beholders thought the whale had swallowed vp ionah to kill him , hee swallowed him vp to saue him . the lord hid his face from her , & she was troubled . but ye are witnesses , who were present at her death , that his wrath indured but the twinckling of an eye , and though heauines continued for a night , yet ioy came in the morning , when you saw her fined like gold , renewed like an eagle ; soring high into the bosome of christ , with this powerfull speech , and godly ouation , at her end : heare o lord , & haue mercie vpon me : lord be thou my helper . thou hast turned my mourning into ioy : thou hast loosed my sacke , and girded me with gladnesse : therefore shall my tongue praise thee , and not cease . o lord my god , i will giue thankes vnto thee for euer-more . well she is gone , and now behold her seate is emptie , and her graue is full : and me thinkes for the present , wee feele her want on earth , whom god hath found in heauen . our prayers lesse powerfull : our preaching lesse precious : and our psalmes lesse melodious , on her behalfe . for you all know , that there she sate , and there she sung , there she read , and there she prayed , there she heard the word , there she receiued the sacraments , there lately she liued , and there now she is dead : therefore may i say with the prophet , all flesh is grasse , and all the grace thereof as the flower of the field : but comfort your selues in hope of a ioyfull resurrection ; as also in respect of her holy life , blessed end , and most happie state in glorie : and sith she is gone , let it be remembred as a sacrament of her rest , that she went vpon a day of rest , one of the chiefest of sabbaoths , and high feast of pentecost : euen then that she should ascend , when the holy ghost did descend , by which spirit , she was sealed vp to the day of redemption , worshipfully was she descended ; but most honorably ( may i now say ) is she ascended : yet behold , the husband mourneth for that hee hath lost a wife : the mother mourneth for that she hath lost a daughter : the brother mourneth for that he hath lost a sister : which is ( me thinks ) not much vnlike the mourning of hadadrimmon in the valley of megiddo . and yet this is not all ; for wee preachers may mourne most , for that wee haue lost an auditor ; who heard with reuerence , felt with passion , and followed with perseuerance . but beloued , what we haue lost , heauen hath found , and the holy angels reioyce at the gaine : in the meane time the lord of heauen , supplie the want vpon earth , and increase the number of faithfull professors . in sionis gaudium & anglo-papistarum luctum . amen , amen . finis . a brief discovrse of the christian life and death , of mistris katherin brettergh , late wife of master william brettergh of bretterghoult , in the countie of lancaster gentleman ; who departed this world the last of may. 1601. with the manner of a bitter conflict she had with satan , and blessed conquest by christ before her death , to the great glorie of god , and comfort of all beholders . micha . 7. 8. reiovce not against me , o mine enemies : though i fall , i shall rise againe : and when i sit in darkenes , the lord shall be a lig●● vnto me . psalm . 37. 37. marke the vpright man , and behold the iust : for the end of that man is peace . london imprinted by felix kyngston . 1602. to the christian reader , grace and peace in iesus christ. when achimaaz the sonne of zadoc requested that he might be the messenger to bring dauid word of absoloms death , ioab would not suffer him : thou shalt not ( saith he ) be the messenger to day , but thou shalt cary newes another time , but to day thou shalt cary none ; for the kings sonne is dead . he knew dauids affection was such , that the newes of his childs death would be most heauie to him , and the messenger himselfe not welcome for his message sake . this is all our infirmity , no tidings more grieuous to vs then when wee heare of the death of those whom wee loue . the parent bewayles his child , the husband his wife , the friend laments the death of his friend , and we thinke it the losse of another friend to depart with this our griefe . iacob mourned for ioseph his son , that he would not be comforted of a long season , but thought he would weepe for him as long as he liued when the amalekites had burned ziklag , and led away captiue the mens wiues and their children , dauid and his company wept , till they could weepe no more . when lazarus dred , his sisters martha and mary were much discomforted for him . g●egory nazianzen reports , that when basil the great died , euen the wisest men in the city stroue to exceede one another in weeping and complaining for his death : and as for my selfe ( saith he ) now i am bereaued of the fellowship of such a man , what shall i do but either dye , or liue in miserie ? which way shall i turne me ? what shall i do ? what counsell shall i take , now i haue lost him that was my comfort ? so heauy a thing we see it is to be seuered for a time from those that are deere vnto vs. one only thing there is , which is able in this case much to temper our affections ; when we see our friend to die in the lord ; that is , in comfort of conscience , & assurance of saluatiō through christ. and this his comfort he expresseth outwardly vnto vs , by performing those duties which are required of a man when he dyes , and so he makes a ioyfull and a holy end . when our friend departeth this life in this maner , we haue iust cause to take his death the more comfortably . and thus it pleaseth god many times to stirre vp some ( especiallie such as in their life time haue a care to pursue religion , and to keep themselues vndesiled of the world ) at their death to expresse wonderfull comfort of spirit , and to shew forth such fruit of religion , that we wonder at it , and acknowledge the extraordinary worke of gods spirit in them . they wrastle against temptations , they confesse their faith , feele the assurance of their saluation , condemne their sinnes , exhort the beholders , praise god , sing psalmes , wish to dye , that in their death they are better christians then euer they were in their life . this blessed departure god giues to many , for diuers good purposes . 1. that the world may know that peace is the end of the iust , and comfort in death is the portion of the righteous . 2. that his eternall truth in our holy profession may appeare to be able to comfort vs , not onely in our life , but in our death also , when all other comforts forsake vs. 3. that our enemies may see our faith is not in vaine . 4. that the weake by their example may be incouraged to a holy life , when they see it bring with it so happie a death , and that they may be strengthened against the feare of death , seeing it is alwaies comfortable to those that leade a godly life . 5. and finally , that the friends of the departed , by their heauēly departure , may be admonished not to mourne so much for their death , as to reioyce for their life , and to thanke god , that euer it was their lot , in any degree , to be ioined or matched with so blessed seruants of god. this gentlewoman , mistresse katherine brettergh was one of this number : her life , as long as god continued it , was deere to those among whom she was , as the life of a friend might be . her husband , friends , kinsfolks , brethren , sisters , and all the godly that knew her , inioyed a great blessing of god of her : and her death ( no doubt ) was grieuous to her husband , as the death of a vertuous yoke-fellow . and if worldly affection would haue holpen it , it was the same in him that dauids was to absolom his sonne , when he mourned for his death : o my sonne absolom , my sonne , my sonne absolom ; would to god i had dyed for thee , ô absolom my sonne , my sonne ! but sure her death was such , her behauiour in her sicknes so religious , her heart so possessed with comfort , her mouth so filled with the praises of god , her spirit so strengthened against the feare of death , her conquest so happy ouer her infirmities ▪ that such as loued her most haue greatest cause to reioyce in her death , and by seeing the wonderfull worke of god in her , to learne to renounce their owne affections . this is the thing i thought with profit might be presen●●d to the view of others also that knew her not : for when i had for my own priuate vse and the vse of my friends faithfully collected ( out of the fresh memories of those that were present , and eye-witnesses as wel as my selfe ) and set downe the manner of her sicknes and death : i considered that the knowledge thereof could not but be welcome to al those that desire to die the death of the righteous . and so the same causes that moued me to collect it , gaue me also occasion to publish it . i remembred the saying of one , that it is great pietie to set foorth the vertues of the departed , if they haue excelled therein ; yea it is a meanes to increase grace in our selues . i thought so great mercie of god shewed to one among vs , ought not to be forgotten , but should remaine to vs & our childre an example , to teach vs how good god is to them that loue him , and to assure vs that he will neuer forsake vs ; but , in like manner as he did her , helpe and comfort vs , when we shall by death be called vnto him . i considered the vngodly and vncharitable tongues of the papists abiding in our countrey , who , since her death , haue not ceased to giue it out that she died despairing , and by her comfortles end ▪ shewed that she professed a cōfortles religion . wherein they bewray their malice & madnes , and shew themselues of what generatiō they are , euen a people ( as the prophet ieremy saith ) which bend their tongues like bowes for lyes : and ( as dauid saith ) make readie their arrowes to shoote at them which are vpright in heart . and lastly , when i remembred the censure giuen by our sauiour christ of the woman , that poured costly ointment on his head , a little before his passion , though some of his disciples vniustly blamed her for the same , saying , what needed this wast ? yet he himselfe did not only excuse her for that fact , saying , she did it to bury him : but also commaunded that wheresoeuer the gospell should bee preached throughout the worlde , there also that which she had done should be spoken of , for a memoriall of her . euen so , seeing this vertuous gentlewoman hath bin vniustly accused , by some popish persons , i thought it sit , that she should not onely be iustly excused , and cleered from their false and slaunderous reports : but also that a true historie of her holie life , and christian death , should be annexed to those learned sermons which were preached at her funerall , by two godly preachers , and are now published in print , that where soeuer they going before as the gospell preached ; there also this briefe historie may follow after , to be seene and read for a memoriall of her . these reasons moued me both to collect and publish this treatise , the doing whereof i trust , as it will be acceptable to many , so can it bee hurtfull to none , vnlesse possible it be to the kingdome of darknes . if there be any vnsatisfied , and yet desire any other reasons , i tell them further , it is to burie her , and the last balme that euer i can powre vpon her head : it is my farewell , and the last duty which i can performe vnto her ; and therefore i hope both excusable in me , and also profitable to others , because many things here spoken of her deserue imitation . and this i assure the reader , that howsoeuer i may sometimes misse the for me of words which possibly the gentlewoman vsed in her speech ; yet haue i faithfully set downe the substance of the matter , and for the most part also faithfully related the words themselues , and reported nothing but that which is most true , and testified by persons of good and honest report , as they are named in the margent : out of whose fresh memories the substance of that which i publish was presentlie set downe . this i humbly desire thee , good christian reader , to accept . i had no other odours wherewith to imbalme her , i am but the pen-man , the thing it selfe was her owne , wrought in her by gods spirit : and therefore not costly to me , though more comfortable to me , and all that heard it , then i can now expresse : and i doubt not , but it shall yeeld thee also the same comfort , and giue thee occasion both to praise god , and imitate her wel-doing , which the lord graunt . amen . a post-script to papists . peace and truth to as many of you as pertaine to god. ) i am moued in conscience to deale with you , by this manner of writing , because of the false and slanderous reports which ( i heare ) some of your faction haue blazed and diuulged abroade , concerning the death of mistresse katherin brettergh , a christian gentlewoman , whose life indeed was holy , and death most comfortable . it is no noueltie , or new thing , to heare a lye from a papist , but rather a principle of your religion : therefore if you pleade antiquitie , as a marke infallible to know your church by , for that point tak 't you : you haue it from the diuell your father by tradition diabolicall , holding the same still in these succeeding ages so succinctly , that ( for ought i know ) you will not leaue it , till you be shut foorth of the heauenly ierusalem , and cast into tophet , which is prepared of old for liers and inchanters . yet it pities me to thinke of some of your poore sillie seduced soules , how simple they be in gods causes ( and yet malicious ) for the most of my popish neighbors ( what others be i know not ) flye but a very low pitch , being people altogether void of learning , wit , and ciuilitie . the furthest drift of their religion , is to say , the pope is a good man : to say , it is safest to doe in religion as most doe : to thump hard their breasts when they pray : to crosse them when they meete a protestant : and to spit out when they name the diuell : to gallop ouer a pater noster , or ladies psalter vpon their beades : and to say , it was a good world when masse was vp , for then all things were cheape : finallie , some of them will say , i beleeue as my father beleeued ( god baue mercie on his sweete soule ) and i hope to go to him when i die ) . this is the very length , broadth , and depth of most part of popery where i dwell : euery one can reach this marke , and few can goe beyond it . another opinion of these sottish people , is to say : if a man dye like a lambe , and passe out of the world like a bird in a shell , he is certainely saued , although neither holines were in his life , nor god in his mouth ; grace in heart , nor yet repentāce , faith , or feeling at his death . such blockish ends , a reuerend man doth count fearefull , saying , such men ( excepting their fetherbeds and pillowes ) dye liker beasts , then christians . againe , if the violence of any disease stirre vp impatience in a mū at his death , straight say our country-papists , there is a iudgement of god , seruing either to discouer an hypocrite , or plague a wicked man ( especially , if they proteste the truth of iesus christ , as this gentlewoman did ) then they cry , and shout ; see the effect of this religion , see the end of these men : where as indeede the truth is farre otherwise , as a learned writer doth notably determine . it seemeth you papists , or who els so euer doe iudge thus , are little acquainted with scripturos ▪ nor yet were euer of salomons minde ▪ who speaking of outward things happening to man , doth say , the same condition is to the iust , and to the wicked , both one to the pure and polluted . dauid saw the wicked without bands in their death , noit●er were they troubled like other men , and yet were they ropnobates , and the children of satan . but if you bapists had dauids spirit ( which the diuell would not that you had , for dauids kingdome ) you would iudge more charitably of christians deaths ( especiallie such whose liues were holy ) notwithstanding any outward accident that might happen : at the least you ought rather to mourne , and conceale it , then to laugh and deride ▪ the same : for when saul was dead in mount gilboa , who was a notorious wicked man , and his death fearefull indeede , for he killed himselfe , what did dauid ? reioyce , or lament ? though saul in his life time was alwaies his deadly enemie , yet mourned hee and wept for saul and ionathan , saying , tell it not in gath , nor publish it in the streetes of askelon , least the daughters of the philistims reioyce , and the vncircumcised triumph . this did dauid , which was a man after gods owne heart , though you ( as it should seeme ) rather delight to solace your selues with the falles and infirmities of gods children , then once to be touched as feeling members of one bodie , with an inward sighing , and sorrow for the same . but now touching the death of this gentlewoman , whereat some of your romish faction haue bragged , as though an oracle had come from heauen to proue you catholicks , and vs hereticks : blessed be god , and our lord iesus christ , the diuell and you are all deceiued , and god , euen our mightie iehouah , hath you in derision , and shall laugh you to skorne , who hath not only frustrate your fond expectations , but made your follie manifest to all men . this gentlewomans life being more holie , and her death more comfortable , then possiblie any of yours can be , so long as you continue papists . the trueth whereof , i haue compendiously set foorth in this present treatise following , as will be testified by persons of honester note and condition , then any of your generation . and thus for this time i end , praying god to forgiue you your sins , because you know not what you doe , and to open your eyes , that you may see your errors , and come out of babylon . amen . that by some taste of the truth of that which befell the vndoubted child of god mistris katherin brettergh , in the time of her sicknes neere before , and at the instant of her death , the mouth of the sclanderer ( which was soone opened ) might be some deale stopped ; the expectation of the godly in part satisfied , and preiudice in all happilie suspended ; one both an eye and eare-witnesse thereof , caused these few lines , as an epitaph , to be fixed nigh her hearse . id est . katherina , quia christi sanguine mundata , igneaque te●tationum exploratione purgata ; mundis , eodemqus modo purgandis omnibus , tum quae passa est tum etiam eorundem exitum testatissim . cupit . true it is i strone : but 't was against mine enemie . strongly i struggled ; it was my strongest aduersarie . strongly , not in my selfe , but in my euer-helper strong : strongly ; alas weake woman weakely strong : strongly , though faintly ▪ which was fleshes infirmitie : strongly , and doubtfully , through my soes lying subtiltie : strangely ( i grant ) till strēgth it selfe in weakenes was s●e●● strong . and sauiour mine did in the battailes throng , plainely display his banner-booke in open field : vvhich seene , mine aduersaries all , gan shrinke , fall , yeeld : so christ the victor searching the spoi●e , taking his pray , me found for him , tooke to him : so i past from you away . vvitnes hereof my often'pplied faith's confessions : vvitnes my prayers , plain●s , tearefull eyes , hart yearning meditatiōs : vvitnes my sweate , strong trembling , thirst , my bi●ning ●ca●e , peace , ioy , passage ; & all harts that present then with mine did beate . but be all silent : one for me the truth will tell : my witnes , now , in heauen , with whom i crowned dwell . and learne by me , with god and 's word your childhood to acquaint , then aged , finally ( though hap's at times ) you shall not saint . si non testantis side , monentis charitate moueamini . an●iphonic●s eidem . it 's not vnlike ( christ's dea●e ) such conflict you endur'de : the members must be like the head , vve are assur'de . 't vvas not amisse , you did so fi●rce hot sirie triall bide : to haue pure gold , some seauen times is tride . it were vnmeete the seruants better then their lord should finde : the captaine passe the pikes , the souldiers stay behinde : 't is meete , for vvhom christ dranke off all that bitter cup , they of the same vvith him a little dram should sup . and though your life , your birth , your vertuous education , your holy course in reading , prayer , meditation ; meekenes , patience , pitie , and religious chastitie , both in your maried state , and free virginitie , did vvorthilie import you vvere the same you did professe , and as did sound your * name : yet that your death prou'd cleerer seuen fold , you t'he christ's member , seruent , souldier , and gold . noutheticon . learne all by this and others more iust abrahams breede , borne in the church , nurst of her brests , begottē of immortal se●d . learne you that stand , haue peace , feele ioy , see light , partake god's spirit , tasting his grace and heauenly gift , the time may come that you may fall , war rise , & peace seeme strāge , you ioy vvith anguish , light for deaths shadovv may exchange ▪ satan may buffer , gods spirit driue you to the vvildernes , the booke mouth sweetning , be to your bellies bitternes . learne ye that in these heauie changing● be ; god changeth neuer , neuer doe his graces die , graces fountaine runneth euer , it floweth aboundantly : we doe not alwaies thirst , seeld called come : oft drinke we sparingly . learne you that in these blessed feelings haue no p●●t ▪ nor of the bitter changings feele the smart ▪ your wretched state , who liuing are as dead withouten sence , who dead shall euer liue tormented ▪ going hence . learne all , iudge not before the time : happie and bless'd is he , vvho of the sillie humbled poore doth iudge aduisedly . edw. aspinwall . katherina . pura : christo qu●●● purgata . vita , christo praparata . morte , christo dedicata . coelis , christo coni●gata . w. f. the holie life and christian death , of mistris katherin brettergh . this gentlewoman was borne in cheshyre , the daughter of iohn bruen of bruenstapleford esquire , well descended , and of an auncient house . her education before her marriage was such , as became the profession of the gospell , in godlinesse and puritie of life and religion , and well beseemed the house where she was brought vp . the scriptures she knew from a childe , and by reading thereof , gained such knowledge , that she was able readilie to applie them when occasion was offered , as wee may see at the time of her death , and that so fitly , and effectually , that she seemed to haue made them her daily meditation . for the things of this world she was moderate , and sober , and by her christian life and death , she might teach many gentlewomen , how vaine the pleasures and fashions of this world are , and how farre vnable to bring that peace to a distressed heart , that the embracing of true religion can . she vsed not to gad abroad with wandring dinah , to dancing greenes , markets , or publike assemblies ; but rather with hannah did chuse to tread vpon the dust of the sanctuarie , and walke in the waies of sion ; yea , with dauid rather to be a doore keeper in the house of god , then to haue societie with the wicked , or to dwell in the tents and tabernacles of the vngodlie . the sabbaoth day was alwaies deere and welcome to her , what time she would not be without the word preached , though many times she went farre for it . her delight was still to consecrate it glorious to the lord. and as it is said of iosiah , his heart melted when he heard the law ; so may it be said of her , her heart was so tender , and full of compassion , that oftentimes she was seene to heare sermons , reade , pray , and meditate with teares . she made conscience of all sinne ; yea , of the least sinne , such as worldlings count no sinne : she neuer vsed to sweare o th great nor small ; nor yet to abuse her tongue with vaine or vnseemely speeches ; no not so much as a iest-lye , or immodest word ; neither durst she name the name of god , or take his titles in her mouth , without great reuerence . in priuate speech where shee might speake with profit , she did it so well , that her speeches might haue been deliuered by a stronger vessell then her selfe : her words being so well seasoned , and proceeding from such a sanctified heart , did alwaies minister grace to the hearers . to reade , to pray , to sing , to meditate , was her daily exercise ; and her chiefest delight was in the holie societie of the saints vpon earth ( which i say not for any cause , but only to shew the fountaine frō whence her godly end flowed , and that the world may see some there be , which chuse rather to be ioyned with the people of god , then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season ; and these i doubt not haue chosen the better part . ) finally , the precepts of the lord were precious vnto her , for from her childhood she feared god and walked before him : both knowledge and sanctification did ioyne in her , the fruits & effects whereof did appeare in her life , and was seene at her death , to the glorie of god , and comfort of all beholders . she was not like the simple popish women of our daies , which are euer learning , and neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth ; but rather like the noble men and women of ber●a , which receiued the word of god with readines , and were able to discerne of paul and silas preaching . but why doe i speake of popish women , whose vnderstandings are darker then the darkenes of aegypt ? let vs come and examine many other which seeme to detest poperie , and aske them a reason of their faith ; they can tell you a tale of their ruffes , and their pride , and their vanitie ; but for religion , it is the least thing they regard , or seeke to know : which i speake not so much to solace my selfe in the sinnes and simplicitie of others , as earnestly desiring all gentlewomen , that either knew this holy saint of god , or hereafter shall heare of her , insteed of your glasses at home , wherein you prick and prune , and pin your selues , to looke into this glasse before your eyes , that so her life , and death , may be an example for you to follow . when she was about twentie yeeres old , ( by the consent of her selfe , & her friends ) shee was married to a young lancashire gentleman , master william brettergh of bretterghoult neere liuerpoole : one that likewise embraced religion sincerely , and for the same indured many grieuances at the hands of papists . two yeeres and more she liued after she was married , and had issue only one daughter : during which time , this couple liued together in such mutuall ioy and comfort , as well beseemed the children of god , which make profession of his trueth . and although this gentlewoman came from the habitations of abraham , to dwell in sodome , amidst the tents of kedar , that is to say , among inhumane bands of brutish papists , induring many temporal grieuancos from them ; yet her knowledge , patie●n●● ▪ mild inclination , and constancie for the trueth was such , as that her husband was farther builded vp in religion by her meanes , and his face daily more and more hardened against the diuell , and all his plagu●● agents ; the popish recusants , church p●pists , prophane atheists , and carnall protestants ▪ which swarmed together like hornets in those parts . it is not vnknowne to lancashire , what horses and cattell of her husbands were killed vpon his grounds in the night , most barbarously at two seuerall times by seminarie priests ( no question ) and recusants that lurked thereabouts . and what a losse and hinderance it was vnto him , being all the stocke hee had on his grounds to any purpose ▪ this fell out not long after shee was married to him ; yet this was so farre from dis●laying her , or working such passion ▪ in her , as are common to her sex , that she rather * reioyced , then sorrowed ; turning it into matter of praising god , and submitting her selfe to his good prouidence . oft she would haue 〈…〉 ▪ it is good that such things be ▪ but w●● be to them that doe them . it is good in god , there by to chasten his children , and preuent some sinne , which he sawe vs like to fall into . it is good in respect of gods church ; that the weake may be confirmed in the trueth , and that papistrie may be disgraced , when the world shall see such wickednesse flow from it . it is good in god , that so the wicked may bee without excuse at the day , of iudgement , when their consci●nc● shall tell them ▪ that howsoeuer god suffers them to doe such villani● for some iust cause knowne to himselfe ; yet they commit it onely of malice and reuenge . oftentimes also in these vexations , she would haue said ; the mercies of god are infinite ▪ who doth not only by his word ; but also by his iustice , make vs fit for his kingdome . little doe our enemies know ▪ what good by these things they doe vnto vs , and what wrack they bring to their owne kingdome , while they set foorth the wickednesse thereof . many times she would pray that god would forgiue them , which had done them this hurt , and send them repentance : and she would call vpon her husband , that he would doe the like , and blesse them that cursed him . and for feare least her husband should faile in that poynt through infirmitie and weakenes , as it is said of iob , who offered sacrifice for his sonnes , least peraduenture they should sinne , and blaspheme god in their hearts : so she neuer failed , but daily prayed vnto the lord to sanctific her husbands thoughts , and direct his heart aright , only to seeke gods glorie , without either desire of reuenge , or satisfying his owne affections . so humble was her spirit , so carefull to auoyde and preuent sinne , both in her selfe and others ; and so mild of nature , that as iacob with his mildnes softened the malicious heart of esau his brother : and dauid by his kindnes in the caue , chaunged the furie of saul , into weeping and confessing that dauid was more righteous then he●so she by her meeknesse , humilitie , and vnspotted carriage in the world , forced some of the aduersaries to religion , to speake well of her . for her life , she was well reported of all that knew her . pitifull and bountifull was she to the poore , and slacked no opportunitie to doe good wherein she could ; but constantly held her course , and kept her times of praying , reading , and meditating , ( wherein she had plentifull gifts ) and continually vsed the same at such times as were fitting for her state , sex , and calling . at the exercises of religion , as prayer and instruction in her familie , she would not be wanting : besides priuate prayer , and meditation which she omitted not but vsed daily , both in her chamber , as also abroad secretly and solitarily in the orchard , garden , or fields , as isaacs manner was . in reading the scriptures she vsed euermore to taske her selfe , eight chapters a day at the least , and for the time which she saw euill or idlely spent , without doing some good , she vsed to call the time of temptation . many times also she would reade some godly writer , or expositer of scripture , or in the booke of martyrs ; and was seene to weepe most bitterly , when either shee had read of that which touched her affections neere , or of the cruell matyrdome , which the deere children of god were put vnto , by the cruell and wicked tyrants of former dai●s . for poperie , she sa● it ●o grosse and foolish , that shee would not one name it , except it were to argue against ●● , but neuer for it : so zealous was she of gods glorie , and loued the truth so intirely , that shee would not once open her mouth to pleade for baal . sinne aboue all things was hatefull vnto her , for there at she would haue grieued , as well when shee had seene it in others , as in her selfe . o 〈…〉 or two examples i cannot omit , wherein she bewrayed a worthie spirit , sanctified by the spirit of god , and prepared for all the assaults of satan . on a time , as her husband and shee were riding toward the church , he was angry with his man : alas husband ( quoth she ) ! feare your heart is not right towards god , that can b● thus angry for a trifle : and we●ping she said further ▪ you must pray against this your affection ▪ and alwaies bee sure your anger be of god , 〈…〉 else how dare you appeare this day before his minister ? and offer vp your prayers in the publike congregation of the saints of god ? another time , a tenant of her husbands , being behinde with his rent , she desired him to beare yet with him a quarter of a yeere , which he did : and when the man brought his money , with teares she said to her husband : i feare you doe not well to take it of him , though it bee your right ▪ for i doubt he is not well able to pay it , and then you oppresse the poore . so great a compassion had she of other mens wants , that all things being duly considered , and rightly weighed , mee thinkes i may say of her , as paul said of timothie , i know none like minded . thus after she was maried , she continued in the things she had learned , and held her profession with such sinceritie , that the common enemies to our religion ( the verie papists ) had nothing to say against her , but confessed her life was vnreproouable . and as for the godly that knew her , they alwaies acknowledged that modestie , and vertuous carriage in her , ioyned with knowledge and practise of all the duties of religion , that they had iust cause to report of her , as of a sound and faithfull professor of the gospell . two yeeres , and something more she liued with her husband , till about whit●ontide , it pleased god to send her that sicknes whereof on whitsunday 1601 ▪ she died . her sicknes tooke her in the manner of a hot burning ague , which made her according to the nature of such diseases , now and then ! to talke somewhat idly , and through the tempters subtiltie , which abused the infirmitie of her bodie to that end , as he oftentimes vseth to do in many , from idle words , to descend into a heauie conflict , with the infirmitie of her owne spirit ; from the which , yet the lord presently and wonderfully deliuered her , giuing so ioyfull an issue to the temptation , that shee might well vse the words of the prophet , as afterwards shee did , for a moment o lord thou diddest hide thy face from me , for a little season , but with euerlasting mercie thou hadst compassion on me . on saturday seuenight before whitsunday , what time she sickened , she began to feele some little infirmitie and weaknes of faith , more then she had wont to shew , but shee soone ouercame it . on munday night it increased vpon her , and the assault of the enemie began to be sharp , and so continued till the next day at afternoone ; what time god deliuered her , and sent her peace , and comfort of conscience , and so increased the same in her continually till she died . the manner of her affliction was this . first , the seueritie of gods iustice , and the greatnes of her sinnes began to come into her minde , which much afflicted her , and she would often speake of it . then shee accused her selfe of pride , that she had delighted too much in her selfe , and her beautie . afterwards shee thought shee had no faith , but was full of hypocrisie , and had not imbraced religion so earnestly , nor glorified god so worthily ( especially with her tongue , which oft she repeated ) nor loued him so sincerely , as she ought to haue done . sometime she would ●ast her bible from her , and say : it was indeede the booke of life , but she had read the same vnprofitably , and therefore feared it was become to her the booke of death . sometime she would say her sinnes had made her , a pray to satan ; a spectacle to the world ; a disgrace to religion ; and a shame to her husband , kinred , and all true christians : and here shee would weep bitterly . sometime the originall corruption wherein shee was borne , troubled her , and the sinnes of her parents , and the common parents of all , the eaters of the forbidden fruite : as if that had made her vnworthie of god , and were then laid to her charge . many times she accused her selfe of impatience , bewailing the want of feeling gods spirit , and making doubt of her election , and such like infirmities . she wished , that she had neuer been borne , or that shee had beene made any other creature , rather then a woman . she cried out oftentimes , woe , woe , woe , &c. a weake , a wofull , a wretched , a forsaken woman , and such like pitifull complaints against her selfe , with teares continually trickling from her eyes . she complained of grieuous thirst , such as all the water in the sea could not quench ( and yet when drinke was giuen her , sometimes refused it , sometimes tooke a very little of it ) : sweate burst out vpon her exceedingly , and sometime her bodie burned extreamely . so it seemed the sorrowes of death hemmed her in , and the griefes of hell laid hold vpon her . sometimes she was very dull in prayer , and once when she should haue said , leade vs not into temptation , shee made a stop , saying , i may not pray ; i may not pray ( being interrupted , as she said , by satan ) & so shewed much discōfort : howbeit she was not left till she could both pray , and make confession of her faith with speciall application to her self . besides these firie darts of satan , she was once or twice troubled with vaine speeches , as of her child , the killing of her husbands cattell , that she thought shee saw a fire by her , &c. but euery one saw that these things proceeded of weakenes , emptines of her head , and want of sleepe , which her disease would not af●oord her . these fits though they were for the time griouous to her selfe , and discomfortable to her friends : yet were they neither long nor continuall , but in the very middest of thē , would she oftentimes giue testimonie of her faith , striuing and fighting against her temptations . many times when the standers by iudged her afflictions at the sharpest , would she call vpon god , lifting vp her eyes and hands to heauen , and desire him to giue her strength against her temptations . many times with a cheerefull countenance she would desire those that were by not to faint , or giue her ouer , but constantly to pray , and helpe her against the tempter . once in the middest of her temptation , being demaunded by master william fox ▪ whether she did beleeue the promises of god , nor no ? and whether she could pray ? she answered : o that i could ▪ i would willingly , but he will not let me . lord i beleeue , helpe my vnbeliefe : which shee pronounced with a still low voyce . and when he replied , that if she had a desire to pray and beleeue , shee did pray and beleeue , and that so effectually , that hell gates should not ouercome her , according to that of the apostle ; god accepteth it according to that a man hath , not according to that a man hath not : shee was much comforted thereby . once after a great conflict with satan , she said : satan reason not with me , i am but a weake woman , if thou haue any thing to say , say it to my christ ; he is my aduocate , my stre●gth , and my redeemer , and he shall pleade for mee . sometimes when she was a●●ucted with the accusation of her sinnes , and want of feeling gods mercie , she would with many a pitifull ●ob and much weeping , pray to the lord iesus christ to helpe and comfort her , a poore , wofull , distressed woman , and request others to pray for her . and when shee was moued to make confession of her ●ath , she would doe it oftentimes , saying the apostles creede , and concluding the same with words of application to her selfe : i beleeue the remission of ( my ) sinnes , the resurrectiō of ( my ) bodie , and eternall life ( to mee ) amen . and hauing done , she would pray god to confirme her in that saith , euer concluding with the lords prayer , as deuoutly and reuerently as any that were present . a christian friend , who by his daily attendance on her , discharged the dutie of a faithfull christian , standing by told her , that no temptation had befallen her , but that which appertained to the child of god , and that god is faithfull and true , and had promised to giue an issue with the temptation : whereat she expressed great comfort . maister edward aspinwall , a faithfull professor of the truth , and a true israelite , was much with her in the time of her sicknes , and ministred much heauenly instruction vnto her , and comforted her at all times with apt places of scripture , meeting with her temptations : and so put the sword of the spirit into her hand . he propounded to her the most plentiful comforts of god vnto his church , in the 40. 41. 42. and 43. chapters of isaiah , vttered in such speeches & phrases , as might most fitly answere her discomforts . also he directed her to consider the passion and prayer of our sauiour christ , for all his , iohn 17. math 26. luke 22. 23. but specially did he often inculcate that sweet inuitation of our sauiour : come vnto me all you that trauell & be heauie laden , i will ease you . but the difficulty shee had somtimes to apply these generals vnto her owne soule in particular , made the case more full of anguish to her selfe , and fearefull and lamentable to the standers by : albeit she acknowledged gods maiesty , mercy , faithfulnes , and truth ; yet still complayned she of her owne weakenes , and vnworthines , and could hardly appropriate each thing to her selfe . to helpe her somewhat herein ( for properly otherwise , it is the peculiar worke of the holy spirit of god , to perswade the heart and soule of her particular interest in these generall promises ) shee was told that the almighty , who was merciful , as she had proued , and faithfull as she confessed ; intended all these mercies to as many as he did call and make promise to . and that hee called her she must needs confesse , both because that then she not onely her selfe read , but heard others reade those blessed words of god vnto her : and also for that in former times , she had been touched with the loue of god , and that his truth : and had well profited in the detestation of sinne , and imitation of her sauiour in a holy life . and for y● proofe thereof , she was wished to remember in former times her baptisme , her frequenting of sermons , and often receiuing the most comfortable repast of the holy communion , her daily , and almost continuall exercise of reading , meditating , and praying , &c. also he assured her , that neither the present agony she was in , nor the speeches then in that distresse , tending to the signification of despaire , extorted from her , were any iust causes , why either she , or any that heard her , should iudge fearefully of her , because all might see the fault was not in her will , as appeared by her prayers , confessions , plaints , sighs , teares , and grones to god for mercie , and full assurance in the bloud of christ ; but in her iudgement , not able at that time to discerne the wayes of the almightie : and therein ( he told her ) she was made comformable , not only to many the holy saints of god , iob , ieremy , dauid , and others more , but also to her head , our lord and sauiour christ iesus , of whom we reade , that some haue cursed the day of their birth , and called for their end , and darknes to couer them : they haue been as men without hope and swallowed vp in despaire : they haue cryed how the wrath of god hath torne them , and the terrors of the almightie haue fought against them : they haue had no peace in their soules , nor comfort in their consciences , their prayers haue beene shut from god , their sinnes haue been terrible vnto them , crying that their iniquities had gone ouer their heads , and were a burden too hea●●e for them to heare : and they haue thought themselues ●●●●●●les of shame and reproch , and ●s monsterr v 〈…〉 ▪ they were grieu●d for the sinn●s of their 〈…〉 nd complained that they ●ere 〈…〉 , and most miserable and wretched ●n the world ; yet for all this were they still the d 〈…〉 ildren of god , as you ●●● this day . nay ( saith he ) i pray you co●sider , what ●orments god inflicted vpon his deare sonne on the crosse ▪ did he not cry out , my god my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? he complained , that his soule was hea●y vnto death ; yet was he heard in that which he feared , & god deliuered him . after this , he read vnto her the 22. psalme , wherein dauid complained partly of his owne , but principally of the most bitter anguith which our sauiour christ indured , and suffered in bodie and soule , putting her in minde , that her case was not so bad as dauids , nor much vnlike our sauiours , who indured all that , and more for her ; & therefore she had no cause to feare , seeing christ had obtained victory , and would vndoubtedly be with her , deliuer her , & eternally glorifie her with himselfe for euermore ; and so continually hee propounded to her such comfortable places of scripture as might meete with her infirmities . this greatly refreshed her , and gaue her occasion many times to call vpon god , for increase of grace , and deliuerance from her grieuous temptations : the which god of his accustomed goodnes vouchsafed , on tuesday , about three a clock in the afternoone , what time shee felt herselfe in very good measure deliuered from all her former feares and afflictions . but on saterday next after , which was the day before her death , she was wholy released , and filled with such inward comfort , that it greatly affected vs that saw it . this is the summe of that temptation which she had , wherein what can any man see that might giue iust occasion to report our religion comfortles , or the gentlewoman dyed despairing ? this wee are sure of , that to bee without temptation is the greatest temptation : as also , that nothing befell her , which hath not befallen the holyest of the children of god. and she that considered her owne corruption , which how great it is in the best of gods saints , i neede not say , and bethought her selfe of the punishment due thereto , if god in iustice should reward her ; no maruell if shee brake out sometime into heauie complaints . i make no question it was the worke of god in her , to suffer satan to accuse her , and afflict her for her sinnes , that so she might the better see them , and consider the haynousnes of them , and before her departure repent her of them , and betake her wholy to christ for the sauing of her soule . and if it pleased god thus to make her possesse her sinnes before she dyed , let those which neuer yet knew the waight of their sinnes , be wise in time , and remember that hee shall neuer haue his sinne forgiuen , which first or last doth not vndergo a holy despaire for it , and acknowledge nothing to remayne in himselfe , but matter of iudgement and condemnation : and comfort and eternall life to flow alone from iesus christ. and as for those , which haue learned to scoffe at the terrors of gods children , & to censure such , as a●e at somtimes cast down with feeling the anger of god against sin , let them consider the blessed ●s●ue that god gaue to the troubles of this gentlewoman , and let them acknowledge his worke in her . and if they will not do this , but proceede to traduce the dead , then let them call to minde , those of the popish crue , and persons of greater note among them , then this gentlewoman was , which haue dyed most fearefully indeede . cardinall sadelot , iacobus latomus the diuinitie reader at l●u●●ne ▪ ho●me●ler the frier , guardacus , bo●elius , crescent●●● the cardinall , stephen gardiner bishop of winchester , and diuers the bloudy persecutors in queene maries time , and some of the popes themselues , as namely , * pope sixtus quintus of late yeers : all which died most fearefully & miserably , and shewed manifest signes at their death , that their popish superstition was the condemnation of their soules . and if they will iudge of my religion by my death , let them acknowledge their religion is the doctrine of desperation , and that the truth & faith which was able to fill the heart and tongue of this blessed gentlewoman at her death , with such heauēly comforts , is the doctrine of christ , reuealed from heauen , that wee might liue and dye in it . from tuesday , till whitson-eeuen , her comfort still increased , and temptations vanished away . see would thē very cheerfully ioyne with the company in prayer , and singing psalmes , as occasion offered , and performed all such duties , as was meete for her in that estate . one day , her brother master iohn bruen of bruenstapleford , came from his house in cheshyre to visit her , and after some kind salutation passed betweene them , he said vnto her : sister , be not dismaid at your troubles , but remember what the apostle saith , that iudgement must begin at the house of god : to whom the answered , as one that was also very ready in the scriptures , with the very next words following , true it is , and if it begin at vs , & the righteous shall scarce be saued , where shall the sinners and vngodly appeare ? after that , she praied with him , & sung a psalme with him , as one that receiued great comfort by him , & acknowledged in him , a hart set to seeke the things belonging to the kingdome of christ. during this time , in the night with such as waked with her , she would pray and rehearse for her comfort many texts of scripture , and namely , the 8. to the romanes , many times cōcluding and closing vp y● she read , or repeated , with prayer , and most comfortable vses and applications thereof to her selfe , with shew of such ioy and comfort , that the hearers reioyced at it . when she receiued any meate she prayed god not only to sanctifie those creatures for her bodily sustenance , but also to fill her soule with the waters of life , often repeating that of the reuelation , to him that thirs●eth , will i giue of the waters of life freely . one true she tooke her bible in her hand , and ioyfully kissing it , and looking vp toward heauen , she sayd that of the psalme : o lord , it is good for me that i haue beene afflicted , that i may learne thy statutes : the law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of gold and siluer . another time she called her husband to her , and said ▪ o husband , beware of papistry , keepe your selfe holy before the lord. yeeld not to the abominations of the wicked , least they reioyce , and so you dishonor god , and destroy your owne soule againe she said , let my little child be brought vp among the children of god , and in the true feare and knowledge of his maiesty so shall i meete her in heauen , whom now i must leaue behinde me on earth . againe , sometime she would pray with a low voyce to her selfe , and that saying of paule , we haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare any more , but the spirit of adoption , whereby we cry abba father , was much in her mouth : and the last words abba father , shee would double oftentimes ouer . she would sing to herselfe the last verse of the 13. psalme . i will giue than ●● unto the lord , and praises to him sing : because he hath heard my request , & grāted my wishing . finally , in these and such like exercises and meditations , did she spend the whole time of her sicknes , after the lord had once enlarged her heart , from the temptations of satan . but vpon saterday about eleuen of the clocke in the morning , the lord disclosed himselfe in mercie , to her more plentifully , then euer before , and as i may say , he dealt familiarly with his hand-mayd : for from that time , to her very death , which ensued the next day , the feeling of satans temptations seemed quite to bee banished from her ; so that she made no shew of them , her thoughts were not occupied with y● world , husbād , child , or any thing els , to our thinking ; neither was her sicknes troublesome to her , as before it had beene : but as one raised from death to life , or rauished in spirit , so seemed she to vs that stood by : her countenance ioyfull : her tongue flowing with the praises of god : and her voyce as most heauenly musicke and melodie of peace , sounding praise , and honour , and glorie to god in a wonderfull manner , as followeth . about eleuen of the clocke she began to tremble and quake a little , and withall she asked her husbād if he would help her with prayer to god against the tempter , saying , will yee neither pray with me , nor bring some godly man that may put holie things into my minde , whereby i may be able to resist satan ? hauing thus said , she vttered these words : o lord god of my saluation , help my weaknes , pleade thou my cause , o god of truth , for in thee doe i trust . after this , they prayed together , and she answered amen to euery petition . then after this she required him to reade some part of the scripture : whereupon he read vnto her the 8. to the romans , the 91. psalme , and the 17. of iohn , the which as hee read , and came to the 4. verse , i haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to do , and now glorifie me : she desired him to pause a while , and thē said , blessed be thy name , o blessed sauiour , perfect the worke i humbly beseech thee which thou hast begun in me . then as he read the 9. verse , i pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast giuen me , for they are thine : she interrupted him againe saying , o lord iesu doest thou pray for me ? o blessed and sweete sauiour , how wonderfull ! how wonderfull ! how wonderfull are thy mercies ! reade on said she , the blessedst reading that euer i heard , the comfort whereof doth sweeten my soule . then reading verse the 22. and the glorie which thou gauest me , i haue giuen them , that they may be one at we are one . with marueilous ioy she vttered the words of dauid many times ouer , i confesse before the lord his louing kindnes , and his wonderfull workes before the sonnes of men : for he hath satisfied my soule , and filled my hungrie soule with goodnes . when he came to the 24. verse , father , i will that they which thou hast giuē me , be with me , euen where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast giuen me . stay , said she , and let me meditate on the goodnes of the lord , for this is the sweetest saying that euer came to my soule : for now i perceiue and feele the countenance of christ my redeemer is turned towards me , and the bright shining beames of his mercie is spread ouer me : oh happy am i , that euer i was borne , to see this blessed day ! praise , praise , ô praise the lord , for his mercies ; for he hath brought me out of darknes , and the shadow of death : he hath deliuered my soule from the snare of the hunter ▪ and hath taken me out of the den of lyons , euen from the iawes of leuiathan , that piercing & crooked serpent , and hath set me in a place of rest , and sweete refreshing : oh praise the lord , o my soule , al that is within me praiseh : holy name : my soule praise thou the lord ▪ and forget not all his benefits , which for giueth all thine iniquities , and healeth all thine infirmities : which hath redeemed thy life from the graue , and crowneth thee with mercy and compassion . this she often repeated : and then againe remembring the 21. and 22. verses of the 17. of iohn , she said : o my sweete sauiour , shall i be one with thee , as thou art one with thy father ? and wilt thou glorifie me with that glory which thou haddest with the father before the world was ? and doest thou so loue me ( which am but dust and ashes ) to make me partaker of glorie with christ ? what am i poore wretch , that thou art so mindfull of me ? oh how wonderfull ! how wonderfull ! how wonderfull is thy loue ! oh thy loue is vnspeakable , that hast dealt so graciously with me ! oh i feele thy mercies , and oh that my tongue and heart were able to sound forth thy praises as i ought , and as i willingly would doe ! oh that you all would helpe me to praise the holy one of israel , the god of all consolations ! and thus for the space of fiue houres together at the least , she continued praysing and lawding the lord , with such a gladsome and heauenly countenance , testifying such inward ioy , from a comfortable feeling of the mercies of god in her soule , and vsing such sweete sentēces , and s●gred phrases of perfect and holy eloquence , as the trueth thereof , if it could haue been taken , were admirable , continuing so many houres together ; some part whereof was this . o my lord , oh my god , blessed be thy name for euermore , which hast shewed me the path of life . thou didst o lord hide thy face from me for a little season , but with euerlasting mercie , thou hast had compassion on me : and now blessed lord thy comfortable presence is come , yea lord , thou hast had respect vnto thy handmaid , and art come with fulnes of ioy , and abundance of consolations : o blessed be thy name ô lord my god. then she repeated part of the 16. psalme , saying : the lord is the portion of mine inheritance , wherefore my heart is glad , and my tongue reioyceth : thou wilt shew me the path of life ▪ in thy presence is fulnes of ioy , and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore : oh that i could therefore praise the lord , as he is worthie to be praised ! i will sing to the lord , i will sing to the praise of the god of israel : come , come ( saith the ) and helpe me , ô helpe me to praise the lord. and with y● she began to sing the third psalme , and continued to the end of the psalme , as perfectly , and with as sweete a voyce , as euer she had before in her health ; and concluded with the 49. verse of the 106. psalme . the lord the god of israel , be blest for euermore : let all the people say amen , praise ye the lord therefore . and after this she said , o praise the lord , for hee hath filled me with ioy and gladnes of hart , and brought me from the gates of hell , and of death : repeating that of the 16. psalme , my line is fallen vnto me in a pleasant place : yea i haue a saire heritage , for the lord is the portion of mine inherita●●● : the place where i now am , is sweet and pleasant : oh how pleasant is the sweete perfume of the place where i lye ! it is sweeter then aarons composed perfume of principall spices : how comfortable is the sweetnes i feele ! it is like that odour that proceedes from the golden censor , that delights my soule . the taste is precious : do you not feele it ? oh so sweete it is ! yea sweeter then mirrh , the hony , or the hony combe . let me therefore sing againe , and againe vnto my lord , and my god. then she did sing the 19. psalme , beginning at the 7. verse , how perfect is the law of god , &c. and so on to the end of the same . and after y● spirituall reioysing , in singing of psalmes , she then prayed vnto god faithfully , and praised the lord againe ioyfully . and being still full of these , and such like heauenly consolations , she did sing againe most hartily , vnto the praise of god the 136. psalm , praise ye the lord , for he is good , for his mercy indureth for euer , &c. in which psalme , for his mercie indureth for euer , is 26. times repeated . a christian friend comming in at the same time , which was about sixe of the clock in the euening , marueiling to see her exceeding ioyes , and heauenly harmonie , wherein she continued with such words and phrases , that were so spirituall , prayed for the continuance of the same vnto the end : whereupon she then burst out , relating further of her ioyes , saying : oh the ioyes ! the ioyes ! the ioyes ! that i feele in my soule ! oh they be wonderfull ! they be wonderfull ! they be wonderfull ! and after that , she prayed for increase of faith , and that god would strengthē her against temptations , with continuall crauing of remission of sinnes , euer meditating of heauenly matters , as by her sudden and often breaking out into heauenly speeches , and praises , did appeare : for the same euening she lying still and silent for a while , one prayed her to remember the lord iesus , and that she would in her heart , pray for constancie in her ioyfull course ; whereunto she answered with a delightsome & cheerefull countenance , and comfortable voyce : oh ( said she ) so i doe , for the lord is my light , and my saluation , whom then shall i feare ? though an host pitch against me , yet my heart shall not be afraid , for the lord hath said , i will not leaue thee , nor forsake thee . indeede , i should verily haue fainted , but that i beleeued to see the goodnesse of the lord in the land of the liuing . and now my heart is readit my heart is readie and prepared ▪ yea it panteth after thee o god : as the hart brayeth after the riuers of water , so panteth my soule after thee o god : my soule thirsteth for god , euen for the liuing god. when lord , when shall i come and appeare before thy presence ? &c. saying then further , lord , sith it hath pleased thee to prepare my heart , whether to life or death , thy will be done , dispose of me to thine owne glory , i am thine lord , worke thy blessed pleasure and good will vpon me . and after this she fell into a short slumber , & awaking said , as the spouse said vnto christ in the canticles , oh come kisse me with the kisses of thy mouth , for thy loue is better then ●ine ! oh how sweet the kisses of my sauiour be ? then one said vnto her , alluding to that place of s. iohn , reuel . 3. 8. and praying that the lord would annoint her , with the eye-salue of his grace , that she might see and behold his glorie . to whom she answered , mine eyes are opened , mine eyes are opened , though for a while they were closed vp , and shut ; yet now i thank my god , mine eyes are opened , and i do feele and see the euerliuing mercies of my christ : saying then further as it is in the 27. psalme . thou saidst , seeke my face : my heart answered to thee , o lord , i will seeke thy face . o hide not therefore thy face from me , nor cast thy seruant away in displeasure , thou hast been my succour , leaue me not , nor forsake me , o god of my saluation . and being willed to commit her soule into the hands of christ , she said : o lord iesus , thou hast redeemed me , pleade thou my cause , for into thy hands alone doe i commit my spirit , o thou god of truth . and then feeling more ioy to abound , one praising god with her for his great mercies shewed toward her , she further said : i giue thee thankes o father , lord of heauen and earth , because thou hast hid these things from the wise , and men of vnderstanding , and hast opened them vnto me thy poore handmaid , which am but dust and ashes . o how mercifull and marueilous gracious ar● thou vnto me ! yea lord , i feele thy mercie , and i am assured of thy loue , and so certaine am i thereof , as thou art that god of truth , euen so sure doe i know my selfe to be thine ▪ o lord my god ; and this my soule knoweth right well , and this my soule knoweth right well ▪ which speech of her assurāce , she oftē repeated . presently after this sitting vp in her chaire , she sung the fourth psalme ; and then being laide downe againe in her bed , she confidently spake these words : i am sure that my redeemer liueth , and that i shall see him at the last day , whom i shall see , and mine eyes shall behold : and though after my skin , wormes destroy this bodie , yet shall i see god in my flesh with these eyes , and none other . then came in to see her toward euening , master william harrison the preacher , praising god for her continuance , in that her ioyfull and most happy course : and perswading her to an holie perseuerance in the same , she thanked him , and desired him to reioyce in christ with her , and to praise god for his mercies to her , and said . oh master harrison , my soule hath been compassed about with terrors of death , feare within , and feare without , the sorrowes of hell were vpon me , knots and knorres were vpon my soule , ( which twice or thrice she repeated ) and a roring wildernesse of woe was within me ; but blessed , blessed , blessed , be the lord my god , who hath not left me cofortles , but like a good shepheard , hath he brought me into a place of rest , euen to the sweete running waters of life , that flowe out of the sanctuarie of god , and he hath lead me into the greene pastures , where i am fed , and exceedingly comforted : yea , he hath restored my soule , and lead me into the plaine and easie paths of righteousnes . the way that now i goe in , is a sweete and easie way , strowed with flowers , and as a fine sandie way ; yea , it is more easie and soft then the sand , for i goe and tread vpon wheate , euen vpon the finest flower of wheate : oh blessed be the lord ; o blessed be the lord , that hath thus coforted me , & hath brought me now to a place , more sweeter vnto me , then the garden of eden . oh the ioy ! the ioy , the delight some ioy that i feele ! oh how wonderfull , how wonderfull , how wonderfull is this ioy ! o praise the lord for his mercies , and for this ioy , which my soule feeleth sulwel , praise his name for euermore . and these praises of god , she sounded forth , like dauids harmonie , being indued with dauids spirit , to the praise of the eternall and mercifull god , continuing all night in such like prayers and praises to god , except some small time , that she was silent and quiet . master harrison praied twice with her that euening , as also in the morning ( being whit sunday . ) after hee had prayed once with her , going then toward his publike charge , she sent for him , to pray once more with her before he went , which he did ; to the ioy and gladnes of heart , both of her , and all that were present ; and so he tooke leaue of her , and departed . another faithfull man or two came presently in that morning , and diuers other well affected , who were with her at the time of her death , and often prayed with her that forenoone , she still abounding in spirituall comforts and consolations : sometimes as one awaking out of sleepe , shee would say , the lord was her keeper , and deliuerer . againe , one saying vnto her , the lord blesse you : yea ( said she ) and the lord iesus blesse vs all . and so seeming to sleepe a little while , and awaking againe she said : lord i trust in thee , haue mercie vpon me , giue me strength to praise thee : defend and preserue me in the houre of temptation , and lay no more vpon me , then thou wilt enable me to beare . afterwards being asked , if she would haue them ioyne in prayer together againe with her . o yes ( said she ) for christs sake i desire it : saying thus to her selfe : heare o lord , and haue mercie vpon me : lord , be thou my helper : thou hast loosed my sacke , and garded me with gladnes : therefore will i praise thee , o lord my god : i will giue thankes to thee for euermore . with that , all that were present did ioyne in prayer with her , and in conclusion vsing the lords prayer , which she said with them , to thine is thy kingdome ; her strength then being gone , her tongue failed her , and so she lay silent for a while , euery one iudging her then to be neere death , her strength and speech failing her : yet after a while lifting vp her eyes with a sweet countenance and still voyce , said : my warrefare is accomplished , and my iniquities are pardoned . lord , whō haue i in heauen but thee ? and i haue none in earth but thee : my flesh faileth , and my heart also , but god is the strength of my heart , and my portion for euer . he that preserueth iacob , and defendeth his israel , he is my god , and will guide me vnto death : guide me o lord my god , and suffer me not to faint , but keepe my soule in safetie . and with that she presently fell a sleepe in the lord , passing away in peace , without any motion of body at all ; and so yeelded vp the ghost , a sweete sabboaths sacrifice about foure of the clocke in the afternoone , of whit sunday , being the last of may 1601. this was the death of that vertuous gentlewoman , happily dying in the lord , and reaping the benefit of a holie profession : wherein we cannot but acknowledge and reuerence the mercie of god , who in our greatest infirmitie makes his grace to shine most cleerely . a sure testimonie of the truth of our profession , seruing to incourage vs therein , and to moue vs to a godly life . it must needes be a diuine religion , and a truth comming from god , that thus can fill the heart and mouth of a weake woman , at the time of death , with such admirable comfort . and a wretched conceite , and meere antichristian is that religion , which so hateth and persecuteth this faith , which is thus able to leade the true-hearted professors thereof , with such vnspeakeable peace vnto their graues . her funerall was accomplished at childwal church on wednesday following , being the third of iune 1601. and now for conclusion , seeing this blessed gentlewoman is taken from among vs , and receiued into the holy habitations of the heauenly ierusalem , there to remaine in ioye , glorie , and blessednes for euermore ; let vs lament for our losse , but reioyce for her gaine : and let vs pray , that in heart wee could as willingly wish to bee with her , as she is now vnwilling to be with vs. salomon saith , the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed : but the name of the wicked shall rot . prou. 10. 7. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a02735-e300 a rernard . epist. 314. b euseb. eccles . hist. lib. 3 cap. 39. c habes n●scio quid latentis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viua vox : & in aures discipuli de authori● ore transfusa , fortius sonat . hier. paulin● . d quid si ipsam audissetis bestiam , sua verba resonantem . hier. ibid. philip. 3. 1. e bellarm. de not . eccles. 4 17. ex cochleo . lindan . &c. f bellarm. d● not . eccles. 4. 8. g lindan . de sug . idol . cap. 11. h ●ox . act. mon. p. 520. ex alan . cope . dial . i alan . cope . ●ia●og . & more dial . act. mon. sag 743. k more praefat . contra tindal . l harding . reioynd . against iuel . fol. 184. see act. & mon. p. 1766. iude 9. notes for div a02735-e1640 1 isal. 646. psal. 143. 2. 1. cor. 4. 4. phil. 3. 9. rom. 5. 19. sicut ille ex semesips ▪ nascentibus , licès non man ●●cauerint de ligno , factus est causa mortis : ita christus , qui ex ipso sunt , tametsi nihil ius●e egerunt , factus est pro●isor iustitiae qu● per crti●em nobis omnibus cond●na●is . august . cont . ●ulian . pelag. lib. 1. cap. 2. ex ioh. episc●p . delicta nostra , sua delicta ●ecit , vt iustitiam suam nostram iustitiam fac●res . august . in psal. 21. bernard in cant. ser. 71. lla est iustit●● ▪ per quā imp●u●erigitur , vt cadat in poenam . ●ulgent ▪ de incar . & grat chri. cap. 27. rom. 10. 3. quod lex operum mina●do inperat , lex fidei credendo impeirat . de spirit . & lit . cap. 13. rhem. test. 2. cor. 8. sect . 3. 2 1. ioh. 3. 7. iam. 2. 21. vers. 24. th. aquin. in hunc locum . ro. 3. 20 , 28. 2 pro. 30. 1● . 1 luk. 1. 6. iam. 2. 10. 2. king. 5. 18 mar. 6. 20. greg. mag . moral . 11. 19. cap ▪ 17. eccles. 10. 1. 2 matt. 5. 16. 1. cor. 10. 31 matth. 6. 3 rom. 11. 29. ezek. 18. 24 hes. 6. 4. phil. 3. 13. 4 psal. 16. 3. psal. 51. 13. luk. 22. 32. 2 1. tim. 1. 13 rom. 9 ▪ 23. prou. 28. 13 rom. 4. 6. vers. 7. prou. 11. 17. matth. 5. 7. math. 18. 33 iam. 2. 13. math. 9 ▪ 36 , 37. math. 15. 32 tho. aquin. secunda secunda qu. 32 ar● . 2. ● ▪ heb. 9. 27. iosh 23. 14. 1. king. 2. 2. eccles 7. 4. eccles. 2. 15. eccles. 3. 19. question . answere . mor● minimè quidem adhuc abesse cogitur , sed cogitur non obesse . bernard . in trans . malach. gen. 49. 7. exod. 32. 28. deut. 33. 9. iosh. 21. august . de peccat . merit . ●● remiss . lib. 2. cap. 34. eccl. 12. 7. phil. 1. 23. luk. 16. 22. reuel . 6. 9. 1. cor. 6. 15. fulgent . ad trasimund . de pas . d●m . lib. ● . damasc. de orthod . fide . lib. 3. cap. 27 chrysost. in matth. ho. 35 chrysost. in 1. thes. 4. pagnin . thesa●r . gen. 25. 8. gen. 3● . 29. iudg. 2. 10. gen. 30. 23. iere. 16. 5. matth. 6. 7. mat. 12. 36. gen. 41. 32. august ▪ in psal. 74. & psal. 71. gen. 5. 24. heb. 11. 5. deut. 34. 5. 1. cor. 15. 51 heb. 12. 22 23. gen. 45. 28 heb. 11. 38. mat. 5. 25. mat. 18. 34. mat. 22. 13. mat. 25. 30. luk. 19. 27. natiuitas mala , vit● peivr , mors pessi●a . bernard ▪ in trā sit . malach. numb . 23. 10. dunidium sacti qui bene coepit , habet . psal. 28. 5. psal. 68. 20. psal 90. 3. iob. 14. 5. mat. 10. 29. 31. psal. 116. 15. rom. 14. 7. 8. phil. 1. 20. ioh. 21. 19. eccles. 7. 4. prou. 5. 18. gen. 20. 16. act. 20. 37 , 38. ● . tim. 6. 7. luk. 12. 20. 1. tim ▪ 6. 8. matth. 19. 1. king. 13 , 24. 1. cor , 11. 30 1. cor. 6. 11. 1. cor. 11 , 32 luk. 23. 31. 1. pet. 4. 1● 1. sa. 25. 37 2. king 1. 2. gen. 4. 13. matth. 27. 5 heb. 12 ● . 2. sa. 18. 33. matth. 2. 18 2. king. 2. 12 iohn 11. g●n . ●3 . ● . ruth . 1. 20. 2. sam. 1. 26 1. king. 17. 18. eccles. 9. 2. 1. sa. 4 18. 1. sam. 31. 1. king. 13. 2. chr. 35. 23 iob. 1. corrige malè vinere , ti●e malè ●●ori : sed n●●i tim●r● ▪ non potest malè mori , qui bene vixerit . n●m mul●i iusti nau●sragio perierunt ? certè non potest malè mori , qui bene vixe●i● ▪ &c. august ▪ de d●s●●●l . christian. cap. 3. luke 13 4. 5. psal. 32. 3. luk. 4. 1. chrysost. ad pop . anti●c● . hom . 2. luk. 11. 21. terrone . reuel . 3. 20. reuel . 12. 12. dadr . loe . comm . tit . mors metuenda malis . et ioh. maria verrat . de incarnat . cap. 12. act. 20. 10. rom. 7. 17. iohn 7. 24. matth. 7. 1. verse ● . luk 9. 23. act. 14. 22. 1. pet. 4. 17 august . in psalm . 91. reue. 14. 13. reuel . 21. 4. rom. 7. 17. 19. 22. 23. rom. 7. 24. maiore & mirabiliore gratia saluatoris in vsus iustitiae poena peccati cōue●sa est , tunc enim dictum est ●omin● , ●io●ieris si peccaueris : nunc dicitur morere , ne p●●ce● , &c. august . ciuit dei . 13 4. epiphan . cont . haeres . lib. 2. sect . 1. haeres . 64. cont . orig. epiph. ibid. 2. pet. 2. 8. psal. 119. 136. psal. 120. 5. 1 cor. 5. 10. 1. king. 14. 13. 2. king. 22. 20. caluins cōment vpon this place . cyprian de mortal . sect . 5. gen. 18. 32. iob. 22. 30. mat. 13. 30. 39. gen. 19. 22. ezech. 9 , 4. reuel . 7. 3. exod. 5. gen. 18. 25. vses . wisd. 2. 12. 15. ioseph . antiquit li. 17. cap 9. de bell . iudaico lib. 1. ●1 . phil. 1. 23. eccle● . ● . 3. iob. 2. 4. iosh 9. 1. king. 2. 28 august . de ciuit dei. lib. 1. ca. 22. nullam a●●●am recipio , quae me ●●clenti separatur à corpore . yales stulta philosophia habeat martyres . hieron . ad ●ar●ell . luk. 2. 29. greg. naziar . suner . patris . luke . 23. 28 iohn . 14. 28. illa quidem anima in societa●em recepta sidelium atque ca●tarum , laudes nec cu●at , nec qu●rit humana● , ●n●tationem tantum qu erit . august . epist. 125. ad cornel. heb. 11. math. 26. 13. basil. s●rm . in ●o●d . martyr . de scripturis sanctis quotidie aliquid discere . hieron . epitaph . paule ad eystoch . 2. tim. 3 7. ps. 119. 100 * origen . in num. ho. 27 hier●n . ad e●stoch . de custod . virgin●t . auguct . de temp . serm . 85. chrysolog . serm . 79. chrys●●t ▪ ad pop . antio●h . hom . 1. & hom 30. in genes . cyprian . ep . lib. 3 epi. 1. bernard . in psal. q●● habitat . se● . 7. greg. mag . pastoral . part . ● . adm . 29. ●●ist . lib. 7. cap. 53. & lib. 10. ●●p . 38. gen ▪ 49. 19. rom. 14. 4. non moeremus qu●d talem amisimus , sed gratias agimus , quòd talem habuimus , imo habemus . deo enim viuunt omnia &c. hieron . ad eustoch . epitaph . paulae . notes for div a02735-e9720 mark. 15. 42. ioh. 19. 38. mark. 16. 1. 2. sam. 24. 24. isai. 8. 6. ier. 12. 5. gen. 5. 27. heb. 9. 27. dan. 5. 5. & 25. iob. 17. 13. 14. iosua . 6. 9. numb . 10. 25. diuision . eccles. 12. 11. iob. 19. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. &c. 1. sa. 17. 11 1. sam. 22. 9. 10. 2. sam. 15. 1. king. 1 5. 2. sam. 13. 1. psal. 6. 6. psal. 27. 13. 14. phil. 1. 21. 2. cor. 11. 23. &c. rom. 8. 18. 2. cor. 4. 16. 17. 1● . phil. 3. 13. 14. col. 3. 3. 4. 1. cor. 10. 11 heb. 12. 1. 2. 2. vvofull wants . ephes. 4. 17. 18. 19. passion ▪ of mortalitie . isai. 30. 33. 1. pet. 4. 3. 4. 5. 6. reuel . 6. 17. act. 17. 31. luke . 23. 30 isai. 66. ●4 . lam. 5. 16. zoph . 1. 12. isa. 22. 12. 13. amos. 6. 4. 5. 6. reuel . 6. 10. zech. 12. 10. hos. 4. 1. 2. gal. 1. 16. act. 26. 19. 2. impression of eternitie . 2. cor. 12. ● . math. 17. 4. luk. 2. 29. luk. 2. 25. 26. num. 27. 12 num. 20. 28 1. king. 1. 30 2. king. 20. 1. math. 17. act● . 7. 55. psal. 82. 6. 2. pet. 1. 3. m. iohn holland . heb. 11. 21. richard holland esquier . note well . * to wit ▪ either externall or internall . luke . 17 32. psal. 45. 10. 11. gen. 19. 17. ios. 3. 15. 16 17. acts. 3. 19. 20. 21. 10. 5. 28. 29 iob. 14. 14. reuel . 14. 13. no purgat●rie . 1. io. 17. acts. 4. 12 1. io. 2. 1. acts. 20. 28 heb. 13. 24 heb. 9. 14. ier. 23. 21. tuper tho●●● sanguinem , que● pro se impendit . fa●●●os christ● seddere , quò thom ●as cendi● . isa. 8. 19. 20. 1. thess. 1. 9 10. io. 19. 30. 2. cor. 5. 21. a●o 1. 3. 1. distinct. 4. cap. 51. pa●a . iob. 16. 2. iob. 21. 3. saints hear● vs not . isa. 42. 7. iob. 32. 7. 1. king. 8. 39 2 chron. 6. ●0 . august . de 〈…〉 hab . pro mort . cap. 13. against the ●●●●●●●nt●●●a●●on of the d●●d . psal. 27. 10. isai. 63. 16. ●●●● . ● . ●3 . gen. 32 ▪ 2● . 2. k●n. 22. 16 20. lam. 1. 4. turke and pope . iob. 14. 20. 21 august . li● . de spirith & anima cap. 29. mark. 5. ● . heb. 6. 9. heb. 13. 15. 16. iob. 16. 19. psal. 73. 25. hester . 14. 3. ●cclu● . 38. 21. 23. purgatory● caseth not . 1. cor. 8. ● . iudg. 15. 4. prooue these points yee papists . exod. 24. 8. numb . 12 7. exod. 25. 40. gal. 3. 13. ro. 8. 2. 3. horace . the ●●●● of france , the s●●●rg● of rome . 1. pet. 1. 3. reuel . 14 13 phil. 1. 21. 23. io. 12. 26. ruel . 7. 14. io. 17. 24. heb. 6. 18. ●o . 5. 24. psal. 147. 15. eccles. 12. 7. luk. 16. 22. luk. 23. 43. acts. 7. 59. 60. luk. 23. 46. eccles. 12. 7. 2. tim. 4. 7 reuel . 2. 10. ignatius in h●● 6. epistle . ierome in gai. 6. chrysost. in ●eb . cap. 2. hom . 4. aug. in se●mone de tēpore . ser. ● . 132. hypognosticon . li● . ● . in his 18. sermon of the words of the apostle . in ●i● 54. ep●s●le to ●acedon●us . aug. in his 80. epist. to h●●ychius . uirgil , aeneid . 6. august . de ciuit . dei lib. 21. cap. 13. pardon● reache vs no● . siluest . prierias contra luther . io. maior . senten . 4. distinct . 20. quest . 2. alphons . de castro . ●ib . 8. indulgent . bernard , in sa●a●ia . aug. lib. 50. homil. 36. mantuan . veselus . budaeus in pandectis . becket in epist to the bishop of mentz . isai. 1. 1● . aug. in 14. booke vpon 15. psalme . 1. cor. 15. 55 rom. 8. 33. &c. 2. part. 1. obserue the generalitie of gods gifts , ●et with limitation . 2. thes. 3. 2. isai. 57 21. reuel 22. 14. 15. ionah . 3 4. psal. 87. 3. 1. king. 9. 3. 4. math. 7. 7. ioh. 14. 6. heb. 7. 17. acts 3. 22. 1. tim. 6. 15. 16. ephes. 2. 10. gal. 3. 28. luk. 2. 25. luk. 1. 41. 44. mark ▪ 10. 46 luk. 19. 4. math. 27. 54 luk. 23. 40. act. 10. 28. 33. 34. 35. 2. the particularitie of our raceit . halac . 2. 4. gal. 6. 5. and 7. luk. 7. 37. eccles. 9. 10. ephes. 6. 15. rom. 13. 14. ioh. 20. 28. isa. 24. 16. psal. 63. 1. ioh. 20. 16. 1. ioh. 5. 19. 1. tim. 4. 1. 2 gen. 4. 15. exod. 5. 2. zach. 11. 13. matth. 27. 4 mark. 1. 24. 1. cor. 1. 30. 1. cor. 3. 21. 22. 23. 1. king. 10. 1. matth , 2. 1. 2 acts 4. 12. 3. the proper obiect of our faith and walking . luk. 1. ●1 . 3● . 3 ▪ gen. 49. 10. gen. 3 15. exod. 4. 13. dan. 8. 13. iere. 23. 6. isai. 7. 14. isai. 9. 6. 7. isai. 8. 3. iere. 31. 22. luk. 2. 25. 28 luk. 23. 51. prou. ●0 . 4 prou. 25. 1. ●●clu● 10. ●0 . matt 27. 51 1 ●●● . 1. ●2 . psal. 131. ● . rom. 8 34. io●● 1● . gen. ●●●● . exod. 13. 21 22. matt. 11. 27 christ a mutuall helpe . heb. 10. 19. 20 ioh. 14 6. ioh. 15. 5. ●●● . ● . ●● . c●r . ● . 5. ● . ki● . 2. 21. acts 4. 12. isai. ●3 . 3. luk. 22. 42. dan. 2. ●● , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 deut. 22. ●1 iudg. 17. 5. ioh. ● . 15. gen. 22. 5. gen. 35. 1. 2. 4 and lastly , a progresse , and increase in religion . gen. 1. 28. ezech. 1. 12. 17. 24. ezech. 47 ▪ 1 2 3. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , &c. numb . 17. 8 1. pet. 2. 9. psal. 84 7. rom. 1. 17. ioh. 4. 35. 36. rom. 1. 16. 17. ephes. 4. 13. eph. 3. 18. 19 philip. 1. 8. 9 col. 2. 6. 7. prou. 3. 7. luk. 17. 32. psal. 78. 9. 10. iam. 4. 3. philip. 3. 18 19. iere. 48. 10. 2. kin. 9. 20. lucian . 2. pharsal●a . ioh. 10. 10. ioh. 17. 17. philip. 2. 21 prou. 25. 1. gen. 24 ▪ 63. psal. 119. 5● 62. mark. ●5 . 20 21. coless . 1. 24. gal. 6. 17. psal. 45 ▪ 13. ● . cor ▪ 1● . 7. 8. ● . luk. ●2 . 31. 32. luk. 24. 25. 20. luk. 2● . 26. isal. 28. 15. iob. 21. 9. &c. iob. 20. 9. &c. psalm . 73. 4. mark. 10. 35 2. tim. 3. 12. bernard . in sentent . gen. 25. 22. gen ▪ 32. 3. gen. 31. 22. gen. 32. 24. gal. 6. 16. gen. 32. 28. reuel . 12. 1. &c. 1. pet. 4. 12. 13. 1. cor. 10. 12. 13. ionah . 1. psal. ●0 . 5. psal. 30. 10. 11. 12. isai. 40. 6. ephes. 4. 30. zach. 12. 11. notes for div a02735-e20440 2. sam 18. 19. 20. gen. 37 35. 1. sam. 30. 4. iohn . 11. 19. moned . in basil. 2. sam. 18. 33. nazianz. monod . basi● ij . iere. 9. 3. psal. 11. 2. matth. 26. 7. ● . 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. notes for div a02735-e21060 iob. 8. 44. reuel . 22. ●5 maister greenhom in his sermon of humilitie . maister perkin● in his ●● cause of ●●●ng wed . eccle. 9. 1. psal. 73. 4. 5. 1. sam. 31. 4. 5. 2. sam. 1. 17. 18. 19. 20. psal. 2. 4. notes for div a02735-e21620 iun. 3. 1601. sepult . trices . primo maij cum dormiuisset . * kathe●n . notes for div a02735-e22530 stapleford . gen. 34. 1. 1. sam. 1. 9. 12. psal. 84. 10. 2. king. 22. 19. psal. 16. 3. heb. 11. 25. 2. tim. 3. 6. 7. acts. 17. 11. 12. anna brettergh . psal. 120. 5. * iohn vvrightint●n esqu●er . richard orme . raph heaton &c. and many moe . matth. 5. 44. iob. 1. 5. gen. 33. 3. 4. ● . s●● . 24. 17. 18. gen. 24. 63. exod. 23. ●3 psal. 16. ● . ●●●es . ● . 3. iudges . 6. 3● 3● . ●●●lus 4. 25 28. phil. 2. 20. a●●● dom. 1●●1 . ●●●● . 54. 8. may. 23. may. 25. m vvilliam brettergh . m vvilliam fox . m. edward aspinwall . m. iohn brettergh . mistris maud brettergh . mistris scholastica fox . vvilliam vvoodward . elizabeth challoner . w. fox . marke . 9. 24 2. cor. 8 12. ●● . bretterg● . iohn bretterg● . ed. aspinwall . vvilliam uuoodward . isai. 40. 1. 2. 28. 29. 30 31. isai. 41. 8. 9. 10 13. 14. 17. 18. isai. 42. 1. 2. 3. 4 5. 6. 7. 8. 13. 14. 15. 16 isai. 43. 1. 2. 5 25. math. 11. 28. iob. 3. 1. &c. i●●e . 20 14. iob. 6. 4 8. 9. iob. ●● . 9. i●m●n● . 3. &c. psal. 6. 3. psal. 38. 4. &c. . matth. 27. 46. matt. 26. 38 hebr. 5. 7. ●●aij . 26. for , acts and mon. pag. 190● 61 pag. 1908. * ●ran●●● the 〈…〉 of the ●●● popish persons 〈…〉 downe certain exāples of the ●●sui●● to this purpose . 〈…〉 esq●●er . vvilliam brettergh . will foxe , iohn brettergh , vvilliam vvoodward ▪ iohn holland , ma●●d brettergh , scholastica foxe . 1. pet. 4. 17. 18. iohn holland , vvilliam brettergh ▪ vvilliam vvoodward . 〈…〉 iohn holland , vvilliam brettergh ▪ vvilliam vvoodward ▪ vv●●l . foxe . reuel . 21. 6. vvilliam brettergh . v● . foxe . psal 119. 71. 72. vvilliam brettergh . mawd brettergh . vvilliam brettergh . rom 8. 15. vvid. foxe . ma● . 30. vvilliam brettergh . maud brettergh . elizabeth challoner . psal. 107. 8. 9 isai. 27. 1. psal. 1●● . 1. 2. 3. 4. psal. 144. 3. psal. 8. 4. isai. 54. 8. psal. 16. 5. 9 11. iudges 5. 3. psal. 16. 6. exod. 30. 23 reuel . 8. 4. maister vvill. foxe . vvilliam brettergh . vv. foxe . vvilliam vvoodward . vvilliam foxe . psal. 27. 1. 3 deut ▪ 4. 3● . psal. 27. 13. psal 108. 1. psal 42. 1. ● vvilliam brettergh . c●nt . 1. 1. vv. fo●e . psal. 27. 8. 9 vvilliam breuergh . psal. 31. 5. vvilliam vvoodward . mat. 11. 25. vv 〈…〉 . ●o●e . psal. 139. 14 vvilliam brettergh . iob. 19. 25. 26. 27. m. vvilliam harrison . vvilliam brettergh . vvilliam foxe . iohn brettergh . vvilliam vvoodward . psal. 23. 2. 3 psal. 147. 14 vvilliam brettergh . vvilliam vvoodward . m. edward aspinwall . vvilliam fo●e . vvilliam brettergh . iohn brettergh . vvilliam vvoodward . mistris m●ud brettergh . mistris scholastica foxe . elizabeth challouer , and diuers moe . psal. 30. 10. 11. 12. isal. 40. 2. psal. 7● . 25. 26. the penitent death of a woefull sinner, or, the penitent death of john atherton, late bishop of waterford in ireland who was executed at dublin the 5. of december, 1640 : with some annotations upon severall passages in it : as also the sermon, with some further enlargements, preached at his burial / by nicolas barnard ... bernard, nicholas, d. 1661. 1642 approx. 245 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 95 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a27497 wing b2015 estc r3687 12083823 ocm 12083823 53687 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a27497) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53687) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 858:4) the penitent death of a woefull sinner, or, the penitent death of john atherton, late bishop of waterford in ireland who was executed at dublin the 5. of december, 1640 : with some annotations upon severall passages in it : as also the sermon, with some further enlargements, preached at his burial / by nicolas barnard ... bernard, nicholas, d. 1661. the second edition. [12], 179 p. printed by g.m. for w. bladen : and are to be sold by r. royston ..., london : 1642. reproduction of original in huntington library. "a sermon preached at the buriall of the said iohn atherton ..." has special t.p. with imprint: london, printed by g.m., 1641. errata: p. 179. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng atherton, john, 1598-1640. church of england -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2006-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-10 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-05 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-05 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion quis in seculo peccavit enormiùs paulo ? quis in religione graviùs petro ? illi tamen per poenitentiam assequuti sunt non solum ministerium , sed magisterium sanctitatis . nolite ergo ante tempus judicare , quia fortasse quos vos laudatis , deus reprehendit , & quos vos reprehenditis , ille laudabit , primi novissimi , & novissimi primi . petr. chrysolog . the penitent death of a woefvll sinner . or , the penitent death of john atherton , late bishop of waterford in ireland . who was executed at dublin the 5. of december , 1640. with some annotations upon severall passages in it . as also the sermon , with some further enlargements , preached at his buriall . the second edition . by nicolas barnard deane of ardagh in ireland . london , printed by g m. for w. bladen , and are to be sold by r. royston in ivy-lane , m.dc.xlii . to the most reverend father in god , iames lord archbishop of armagh , lord primate of all ireland . may it please your grace , these little tractates , as they derive their being from your graces command ; so ( like rivolets to the sea ) doe they returne to you againe . accept them as the first fruits of your owne industry upon the authour ; who must ever acknowledge he owes himselfe also . what a paulinus writes to st. augustine , os tuam fistulam aquae vivae , & venam fontis aeterni merito dixerim , cujus desiderio sitivit in te anima mea , & ubertate tui fluminis inebriari terra mea concupivit , was indeed the cause of my thirsting also , and the load-stone that gave mee a happy draught in your service , many yeeres agon out of my native soyle into this kingdome , which , me thinks , this yeer by your absence hath suffered a great ecclipse , and yet wee cannot grudge the church in this floting age , such a steeres man , nor so pious a prince , so pretious an eare-ring . that which is related of the fore-named father , b mensam habebat hospitibus expositam , sed frugiferis sermonibus , magis quam exquisitis edulijs opipuram , semper de re quadam frugifera commentabatur , ut non minus animi convivarum reficerentur quam corpora , is so well knowne to bee your graces daily practice , that it needes no further application , the offals of whose discourse carefully gathered up , were able to perfect a divine to every good worke . in a word , c erasmus his description of him , by what s. paul requires in a bishop , mee thought in the reading ( mutato nomine ) it was your owne picture , by which if others in this age had beene drawne , i beleeve the office had never beene so much as questioned . the very subjects of both these discourses were they wrote by whomsoever , could not but claime an interest in your grace . the conversion of sinners , by a constant preaching , who ( unlesse a stranger in israel ) but must acknowledge to bee your character . nay , this and much more , is no newes to d strangers , whose large relation from abroad may prevent any further from home , onely 't is no flattery to attest it . your continued motto of e vaemihi si non evangelizavero , both in your episcopall and archiepiscopall seals , is as worthy of memory , as imitation , where that woe may light i know not , but surely s. pauls f reposita est mihi corona , will bee your portion . how little your grace affects these kinde of expressions , i am not now to learne , and for my selfe , let this be my plea against any mis-judgings in others , g rare examples ought to bee set up like h lights , where they may be seene ; and in the words of s. paul , i wish it might bee a i meanes to provoke to emulation those which are my flesh , and might save some of them , k factu similiter , is the onely intended morall : be still the honor of your nation , the sacred first fruites of this colledge , the prime light of this our israel , where ( according to ioshua's wish ) you may like the sunne stand still in the firmament of our church , till all the enemies of it , be made its footestoole . so prayes many thousands , and among them , as having most cause , your graces most humble and affectionate servant n. barnard drogheda aprill . 28. 1641. to the reader . according to my directions in some circumstances thou hast here presented this pensive relatio● finished indeed long agone , but delayed the presse hitherto , by some unusuall miscarriage . howsoever it falls out to be as seasonable now . a scandalous ryming pamphlet lately printed in the abuse of him , divers scattered written papers full of mistakes ( some pretended to have their original from my self ) may likely have come to thy view as mine . let this vindicate him , and give thee full satisfaction in both . had i bin commanded this service sooner , thou mightest possibly have had some other usefull passages remembred . and had it not bin in so busie a time , it may be ●t might have appeared more refined . as it is , for the matter , beleeve it to be wholy true , as comming from one , whom no relation whatsoever can suspect him partiall . for the style , the plainer it is , the more fitting a narration , and i have the rather affected it , that the profit intended might b● of a further extent . reade it with shunning these two rockes , presumption and despair . the former by the difficulty and hazar● thou shalt find him labouring in a● the first , the latter , by that mercy he obtain'd at last , where thou see● gods special work , magnifie it , any blessed change in a sinner , rejoyc● at it , any thing exemplary for th● felf , be not thy own enemy so much as to slight it . let god have the glory , thou the benefit , the church clear'd of scandall , and h● hath his desire , who is thine in him , by whom are all thi●●s , n. b. a relation of the penitent death of the said iohn atherton , late bishop of waterford : executed at dublin the fifth day of december , 1640. written by nicolas barnard deane of ardagh in ireland . for his arraignement , though it held long , i heard it not , onely his carriage then is by all condemned , and it is not my intent in the least measure to excuse it . the subject of this discourse is only to declare , how afterwards hee judged , and a condemned himselfe , and so we trust is not condemned of god. how hee deepely repented and b cryed to heaven for pardon , whereof he received a rare memorable testimony , as we shall heare afterward . on saturday in the afternoone being the 28. of november , and the next day after his condemnation , i went to see him first , when having had some speech with him of the scandall of the fact , justice of the sentence , misery of his condition without repentance , ( of each of which he heard me long with silence ) at length he asked me , if i were sent by any to him , when he understood i was not , but that i came of my selfe , he tooke me by the hand , and replyed , i was very welcome to him , beleeved i had no other end but his good , that indeed he had been moved to send for me , but being thus come of my selfe , he tooke me as sent of god. he acknowledged his stupidity and senslesnesse , desired me to take a further liberty of speech unto mee , to preach the law to him , to aggravate his sinnes by the highest circumstances , that he might grow but sensible of the flames of hell : in subjects of this nature we spent neere two houres , when i left him plyable , onely with this assurance , that in c christ his sinnes were pardonable . his request then was , that i would not leave the towne , till i left him in better case , that as he had begunne , so he would continue to open himselfe unto me , and would in all things be ordered by me , and prayed me to see the end of him ; to which i yeelded . as a preparative to the maine , i advised him to lay aside all rich d cloathing , and to put on the meanest he had . to let the chamber be kept e darke : to deprive himselfe of the solace of any f company , but such as came to give him spirituall counsell , and so to commit himselfe close prisoner to his owne thoughts , that if upon necessity any meat was brought unto him , he should eate it in a solitary way alone ; and chiefly to give himselfe to fasting , g even to the afflicting of his body , which he had so pampered , as a meanes to effect the sorrow of the soule . to have his h coffin made , and brought into his chamber , which howsoever they were but small things in themselves , yet altogether were very conducible to a further end , as he acknowledged afterwards . i went to him usually three times a day . to relate what discourse we had , and what most affected him would be tedious ; in summe , he first entred into a serious and speciall consideration of all his sinnes , in thought , word and deed , of omission , or commission , against god , or man , which he drew out according to the severall commandements , of which they were breaches , and for his memory by his pen put all into one m inditement , wherein he might at once , as in a glasse , view the face of his soule . after this rough draught , that he might be the more astonished , he went over them againe with marginall aggravations , whereby they became exceeding sinfull , by the circumstances of time when , place where , and person against whom , done against the light of knowledge , often checks of conscience , many seasonable admonitions in publike and private , notwithstanding the ●pparent hand of god in severall crosses , speciall mercies , unexpected preservation . then hee considered with what presumption ●e had sinned , even before gods face , though he knew he was by him , and looked on all the while , hamans aggravation for esther , the theeves condemnation to steale before the judges eyes . what hardnesse of heart after it , though he could not but know god was angry with him , yet n continued carelesse whether he were pleased or no : ( such an answer of a servant in a small matter , would much incense his master . ) o his reproving , and sharpe censuring others for the same faults ( which must needs leave him altogether p inexcusable , and further bind him over to condemnation . ) his often relapses after vowes in sicknesse , after receiving the sacrament of the lords supper , each of which sins so often q reiterated , added to the heape , as multiplying of the same figures doe in numbers , ( a great plea against a rebell being often pardoned . ) upon this in the next place did he make a stand , in thinking what a miserable condition he must needs be in , if he should now dye in his sinnes : viz. a lost and undone man for ever . he imagined with himselfe , as if he now saw the day of judgement set , heard the trumpet sounding , the voyce crying , arise ye dead ; as if he r beheld the graves opening , the earth and sea , like gods goale , giving up the prisoners , our saviour upon the throne , in flaming fire , both judge , and witnesse , every mans life , and his among the rest , reading before men and angels , and in conclusion a finall sentence pronouncing upon his body and soule , hell accordingly with his wide mouth enlarged to receive him , those spirits of darknesse ready to seize on him , &c. these thoughts , and the like had their worke upon him in some frights and astonishments , but a spirit of contrition and compunction , he complained , was farre from him : how often did i heare him yet crying out , oh! can you give me any receipt that will worke my heart into teares and sorrow , the eye of his understanding , he confessed , was sufficiently enlightned , his conscience smitten , but still his heart , and affections were hardned . all my friends , saith he , as ashamed of me , have forsaken me , but if god withdraw his grace from me , what shall i doe ? and so desired me to speake to any in the towne , whom i thought would be compassionate of his condition , to ſ pray for him , for which he thought there was more cause than for any bodily sicknesse . and here by his owne experience ( whatsoever he had before uttered ) he utterly condemned that doctrine of free-will naturally in man to any saving good , that t though it be in his own power , thus to kill himselfe , yet it is not to make himselfe alive againe . how firmely did he now beleeve repentance to be the u gift of god , that it is he that worketh the will * and the deed ? how happy did he apprehend those that had broken hearts , though not bound up againe with comfort , and how unhappy such , whose hardened hearts could not repent , though swimming in all earthly contents ? and yet herein he had a doore of hope , that his dry soule in time should be watred with this dew of heaven , in that god did not give him over with cain unto despaire , but still hee stuck to his first principle , that mercy was attaineable , his sinnes pardonable . the thing he only wanted was gods act in x powring upon him that spirit of grace , and supplication , whereby hee might mourne , and be in bitternesse of weeping for them : that there was a y fountaine of salvation opened to him for sinne and for uncleannesse , he saw ; but his case was like the poore impotent man at the z poole of bethesda , wanted one to put him in ; his first supporter in this case was that of nehemiah , who desires a to feare thy name , that of our saviour , you b that are heavy laden , c and whosoever will , whosoever is a thirst , come ; and indeed this was some change in him , before hee was wont to fling the thoughts of griefe out of his mind , did his utmost to put them from him ; now he bewayled their absence , hee grieved that he could not grieve , to be altogether insensible , is very opposite to the state of grace , but to be sensible of an insensiblenesse proceeds from some already . the fight and sence of sinne was some d pledge of a further perfection , at least that god had not given him over unto death , as manaohs wife said to her husband , if e the lord were pleased to kill us , he would not have shewn us thus much , nor told us such things as these . in this wrestling with god for repentance , and such a measure of godly sorrow , that might be f proportionable for so great a sinner , was munday , and part of tuesday spent by him : when in the afternoone upon some further discourse , the sore of his soule being now ripened , burst forth , and his mind being g a burthen to himselfe , he unloaded his conscience to me in some particulars , but with such a flood of h teares , casting himselfe downe to the ground , taking me by the hand , and desiring me to kneele downe by him , and pray for him , that i have never seene the like , whereas before hee could swallow grosse acts without trouble , now only the thoughts of his heart , put him to a most grievous agony , that astonished me , & wrung many tears from my selfe . a good foundation to begin at the heart . i evill thoughts and affections howsoever common , yet ought to be of no small reckoning with us , the first sinne of the divell ( being a spirit ) could be no other . and here 't is observable that , as they say , a pine apple or a flint are sooner broken upon a soft bed , then on a hard floore ; so the representing unto him , the most compassionate , k mercifull nature of god , willing yet to be friends with him , so apt to forgive , and forget all injuries , i say , the opening unto him the infinite , l sweet disposition of him , whom he had offended , raysed up in him this holy indignation against himselfe , and was a means to melt him into an entrance of this happy condition : many that never could be m moved with threatnings , have been overcome with kindnesse ; it is the argument of the apostle , rom. 12.1 . as elsewhere . and after this by some interruption of other company , i was compeld to leave him till late at night , when i found him getting further ground of himselfe , and that time was the first i heard him pray , the maine subject being a sorrowfull , large confession of his vileneffe , with deepe aggravations , prevalent arguments for mercy ●●●●earty thankfulnesse for any beginnings of breakings in him , and sending a brother willing to beare the burthen with him , which with divers others were so aptly and fully exprest , and in that latitude , that as it was beyond my imagination , so it wrought much upon my affection , and this was the first time he said , he ever felt indeed what belong'd to prayer : he had said one over often as others usually do , but he found a great difference between that and the n spirit of prayer , and so we parted for that night . the next day , he desired we might keep together in the nature of a solemne fast , when no body came to him but my selfe from nine of the clock , till between three and foure in the afternoon , which he set apart for the finishing what he had begun before . such a countenance of o a perplexed soxle did i never see , as his seemed to me that morning at our first meeting , so sore had the weight of his sins pressed his feeble conscience , that night in a private audit between god and himselfe . at our entrance , he desired me again to stirr up in him a further apprehension of his wretched condition , how odious his sins had made him in his sight , with whom he had now to do , that the nearer he drew to god , the more he might , like p job , abhorre himselfe , to use his owne words , j pray ( saith he ) deale truly , freely and impartially with me . looke not upon me , as one that hath had some honour in the church ( from which j am worthily fallen ) but as upon the most abiect , base person in the world ; he was resolved to set himself as before gods tribunall , and to powre forth his heart fully unto me , the thing he only desired , was a further spirit of compunction , that his eyes , might be like jeremiahs , q a fountaine of teares , to weepe day and night : after some such instructions as he had desired , he fell upon his knees with a most affectionate prayer , in the acknowledging of gods omnipresence and omniscience , infinite wisdome and justice , &c. praying for a further sense and sorrow for those sins which he was now about to rip up without any extenuation or concealing , and so set open his heart indeed in a plenary particular confession of all his sinnes he could remember from his youth till now , [ the heads of which he had for his memory penned , ] but with such r bitter ſ teares , such sorrowfull sighes , the whole time either upon his knees , t or prostrating himself upon the ground , as cannot be expressed : which took so with me , u as i never wept more at the losse of my dearest friend : and in conclusion after he had thus unlocked [ to use his own words ] the magazin of his sinfull soule , [ for which his shame was as evident as his grief ] he intreated me if i could discern any true penitency in him , and judged him to be in the state of pardon , x to pronounce it to him in christs stead , that it would be some comfort to his conscience for me to declare so much unto him : but what tears fell on both sides , how he prayed both before and after , that god would ratifie it in heaven , and seale it inwardly to his soul , can scarce be imagined . now howsoever he found some present ease in this y emptying himselfe of himself , yet still he grew very jealous , that he was not yet come to that depth of sorrow requisite for so great a sinner . the fears and troubles of francis spira he wished for , whose life and death he had a great desire to read , but i thought it not fitting . one thing that troubled him long , was my weeping with him , gathering from thence , that if an ear-witnesse were so mooved , what should the party himself be plunged into ; he began to find already such z sweetnesse in tears for sin , as he was praying like those in the gospell , a lord evermore give us this bread , b desired there were a well of such living water in him , that might stream down his cheeks continually , c wished that he might be in them wafted over into another world , and till then not to be wiped from his eyes . after this , many conflicts and doubts assaulted him , which would be too many to relate ; perplexed he was at the consideration of some passages of humiliation in d ahab , e felix , f judas , finding that wicked men may cry earnestly for mercy and yet have little love to god , lesse to grace . a passage he read casually of francis spira disturbed him more , viz. that he begged for grace it selfe , as a bridge to get to heaven by . sometimes he doubted if the time and cause of his return , being so late , and out of necessity , would be accepted , ( according to such threatnings in prov. 1.26 , 27. and the like . ) seldome did he think of any passionate fit of mourning , such as davids for g absalom , but he thought presently it checked him for his sins , to be as nothing , which being so great , and the issue so miserable , even the losse of his soule , he judged should have exceeded them much , both in measure and continuance . when in these and divers others he was satisfied , then fears of another nature rose , viz. that if he were truly getting out of the divels snare it could not be , but he should be pursued with further horrours and terrours , tending to h despair , which he had not felt : in this he was thus satisfied , that expectation of temptations was a preparation for them , and such the divell did not usually set upon : and that if ever he did appeare it would be in some wiles , and at such times as he should least suspect he had a hand in them , which i verily believe did so fall out in some distractions afterwards . the many objections , which he not only found , but studied against himself , as it was a taske to clear ; so a schoole to learn much experience in , so cautelous was he of any rocks , which in this mist might split him , so suspitious of any sands , that might swallow him , so accurate in searching out any secret leake within himself , that might sinke him ; so fearfull and full of doubts was he , till he found himself anchored upon safe and firm ground , i a blessed feare , a happy trembling . the story of k manasses he read often , who beginning to repent in fetters , as he had now in prison , was a comfort to him . that of s. paul to the corinthians , the 1. epist . 6. chap. vers . 9 , 10 , 11. and such were some of you , but yee are washed , but yee are sanctified , but yee are justified , &c. was the like . on thursday the next morning he desired to receive the communion , when i provided my self with such matter as i conceived fit for him , by way of preparation , and so with l some others appointed to communicate with him , he received it with penitentiall expressions , and after that was somewhat comforted . he desired me to stay dinner with him , as the last set meale he intended in this world. the magnanimity of the man i did much admire , his cheerfulnesse in counting how many hours he had to live , his solid counsell to his wife , who [ upon his discourse of death and thankfulnesse to god for this punishment ] fell into a passion , his comforting of her that he was upon an advancement ; and why should she be against it ? that his sins were not the greater for the shame he was to suffer , that the only thing to be feared in death , is the guilt of sin , m the sting of it , which he hoped was now taken out , that he trusted god , who had forgiven the sin , would also in time abate the scandall and provide for her also , if she could by n faith rely upon him . that afternoon [ the storm in his conscience being somewhat allayed ] we had many o calme and comfortable discourses of the priviledges of christians , admitted to be not only p servants , friends , but q sonnes of god , heirs and co-heirs with christ , called his love , his spouse , said to be r married to him , to have a ſ fellowship with him , &c. which he desired to have largely declared unto him . then was his coffin brought into his chamber , [ though he was displeased he had it not long before ] it came seasonably , he now looked on it with little consternation of mind , as on his bed he must sleep in : and yet even then another thing troubled him , which he feared , was a stupidity , viz. that hee should be no more afraid of death , having also slept quietly the night before ; in which after he was satisfied , yet it fell so out that the next night he was disquieted , which he took as a punishment for his former desire of troubles and fears , and so gave it over . one passage he took speciall notice of , that the same friend of his , who not many daies before had bin very harsh with him , fearing the party to whom he had given up himselfe was too t milde , and would not deale roughly enough with him , &c. now visiting him again , and finding that change in him , wished his soul in his case , and applied all comforts to him , which comming from the same mouth that had used him so sharply before , drew many tears of joy from him , and confirmed him ; divers divines , with others that came to visit him , did the like , and rejoyced much at the sight of him . that night his prayers were to my admiration [ with which his desire was , we might every time we parted conclude : ] 't is known what an excellent faculty he had naturally , in a ready present expression of what he understood , either in ecclesiasticall or civill affairs . now god had given him another heart , he did as much excell in spirituall . how desirous he was still to be put upon the tryall for saving grace , by any signes or discoveries [ with which we run through many ] would be impertinent to spend time in . naturally he was not apt for tears , but now he was a man of tears ; before given to pride and vain-glory , now so v humble , so thankfull for the counsell of the meanest person , so attentive to any advise , so open in the abasing and condemning himselfe to whomsoever came at him ; his very countenance was altered . when he heard of my lord deputies death [ who had no long sicknesse ] with others who died suddenly , being in health at his condemnation , his application to me was , what cause he had to blesse god it was not so with him , who must undoubtedly then have x sunke down to hell . what thankfullnesse did he confesse , he owed to god and man for this weeks preparation . apprehended it as no small token of gods love to him , in giving him his portion of y shame in this world , as a means to shun it in the world to come , which he once expressed with such a height of affection , as i wondred at it , believing that nothing but z this , or the like , would have wrought upon his masterlesse disposition , which under any other troubles he feared should still have lingred , like a lot in sodom , [ ready to be fired ] till he was hailed out , or like cattle within a house and fire about them , yet stirre not , till they are drawn out . it was so with the israelites , isa . 42.25 . the like he judged of himself . and herein he was so farre from bearing any hatred to such as had prosecuted him , that he accounted them his best friends , applying the case of b pheraeus jason to himself , whom his enemy running through with a sword , opened an impostume , which the physitians could not cure . that howsoever his enemies , as joseph said of his brethren , might intend his hurt , yet god had turned it to his good ; by this death , they had saved his life ; and so he owed them thankes , acknowledged gods goodnesse to him in his sudden surprizall and strict imprisonment , that as no councell would come unto him , so he was not permitted to goe into the town to them , by which liberty , it may be some evasions might have bin contrived for his escape , which would have prooved his everlasting undoing . that speech of his , perijssem , si non perijssem ▪ or that of anothers [ whom a shipwrack occasioned the being a phylosopher ] tum ▪ secundis veli● navigavi , quando naufragium feci , was in substance his often application to himselfe . after the l. deputies death , when the rumour of some hope of a reprivall came to his ears [ by such who thought they did him a good office ] till another governour succeeded , it moved him not , as rather chusing a present deserved death , than the prolonging of an ignominious life , wherby the scandall [ which he was now most troubled for ] would but increase . he did so c abhorre himselfe , that once a thought rising within him to have petitioned to have been beheaded [ for which some presidents hee could have produced ] he told me he answered himself , by himself , with indignation , that a doggs death was too good for him , and so judged himself to the last ; which appeared by this particular , that he was casting with himselfe , where he might be buried , so as to be out of remembrance , wished his grave were in the bottome of the sea , where he had deserv'd to be cast with a d milstone about his necke , for that offence and scandall he had given , the church-yard he thought was too much honour for him . and in conclusion , least his friends being left to themselves , should have procured some better place , he sent for the clarke of s. johns , and the verger of christs-church [ of which he was once prebend ] to whom i was a witnesse of his charge , that they should not suffer him to be buried in that church or in any ordinary place in the church-yard , but appointed it in the furthest corner , where some rubbish was used to be cast , and where none could be remembred ever to have been buried before , when with many tears to them he condemned himselfe , as unworthy of the communion of the dead , as now of the living . after this he related unto me in severall discourses , divers observable passages in his former life , and since he came into the castle , tending to the magnifying of gods justice and mercy to him , some of which he left to my judgement , if the knowledge of them might be usefull to others . the e dis-respect and neglect of his mother since he came to ability , he acknowledged , according to the fifth commandement , to be just that his daies should be shortened . ( as his owne f father once solemnly passing such a sentence on him and fore-telling long agone , this would be his end , hath bin assured me also by one who had it from an ear-witnesse : ) his often , g wishing would he were hanged , if his , or that be so , &c. ( which ●n some protestations fell out to ●e false , ) went not in the same ●ustice unobserved . his once in anger , and by way of revenge scaring his mother , that he would go hang himself on a common gallows they rode by , with his horses bridle . this , howsoever done in his youth , and not meaning , yet he observed gods justice in bringing him to it in earnest . let these be warnings to the living in the like , his reading of naughty books , [ of which he named some , and wished they were burned ] h viewing of immodest pictures , frequenting of playes , i drunkennesse , &c. were causes and inticements to these foule facts ▪ let men by this example forbeare them . about three weeks [ as i take it ] before the complaint was put in against him in parliament , the man who had before bin the corrupter of him in his youth , whom he had not seen in twenty years before , came casually out of england into this kingdome , and visited him ; the sight of whom did so affrigh● him , as if some ghost had appeared to him , he said , his very heart mis-gave him , and his conscience apprehended him , as some presage , or messenger of a present vengeance drawing nigh him . his too much zeale and forwardnesse , both in introducing and pressing some church observations , and in dividing himself from the house of convocation , anno 1634. in opposition to the articles of ireland then voted to be received , of purpose to k please some mens persons , who had notwithstanding [ with just cause ] now forsaken him , passed not without taking notice of a just hand in it also , and from which hee gave good counsell to others . acknowledged he had at divers times many sore gripings and checks of l conscience , which somtimes held him two or three days together ; but he had [ as s. stephen said to the jewes ] m resisted alwaies the holy spirit till now . in times of sicknesse or in any frights or fears of death , his conscience would be n a very hell within him , so that once he had gone so farre , as to resolve upon amendment , had composed in latin a large prayer in the confession of his sins , which he repeated to me , and had at severall times used it [ he put it into that language , least any of his servants over-hearing him should understand ] and for a fit made some reformation , but returned again o like the dogge to his vomite , and like the hogge washed to the myre . some discourses from a p lay-man , since he came into the castle , had some worke upon him for the present , but he had still endeavoured to put farr from him all thoughts that might disquiet him , all which he took notice of , as somewhat comfortable to himselfe , that q god ever followes such as belong to him with all sorts of means , till he brings them to repentance ; when milde purges will not worke , he r prescribes stronger , when the secret voyce of the conscience within , nor the admonitions of the word without will move , then he useth louder cryes to awaken them , poverty , disgrace , nay ſ destruction of the body , that the soule may be saved in the day of the lord jesus . there were many more evident signes of a true change in him , besides what i have related . his giving satisfaction to any he had wronged even in small matters . his sending for some that were meane persons , and asking them forgivenesse . those whom he had prosecuted too bitterly in the high commission court , endeavouring to his uttermost to take off their fines . his care for the satisfying his smallest debts . his admomonishing many that came unto him , not to presume by his example to t differre repentance , who with much hazard , and difficulty had obtained it . his good and savoury counsell to my selfe , i shall not forget , according to that command given to s. peter , x when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren . for his family , his resolutions , [ if he had lived to have reformed it ] that they should have beene gods servants , or none of his : for himselfe , his intentions to have given over all law businesses , and have wholly imployed his time in preaching , and the studies of the scriptures , which he had neglected , i doubt not , but would have beene stedfast , but ( saith he ) now i hope god will give me the knowledge of these mysteries by some quicker way . his giving some almes to the poore with a charge to the party , that it might not be knowne from whence it came , were good things in him . but more especially it appeared in his pious letters to his wife and children , hereunto annexed ; the latter of which is most worthy of memory , as wrote the night before his execution ; in the difference of them somewhat will appeare of his growth in that time . it is scarce to be beleeved in this little space , how much he had read in some practicall bookes of our late divines , [ the being not acquainted with whom before , he much bewayled ] in speciall that of doctor prestons of gods all-sufficiency , and bishop downhams of the covenant of grace [ which had been call'd in ] did him much good , his conversing with m. fox his booke of martyrs , in viewing the manner of some godly mens deaths , did much animate him against his own . the night before it was a wonder to see his resolution in taking leave of his children , and giving them good counsell , and to one of them the said letter , and some houres after his taking his last farwell of his wife , who was the more passionate , his affectionate and heavenly counsell to her , comforting her , and instructing her was to my admiration , and in conclusion told her he had wrote a letter 2. or . 3. dayes agon , which she should receive about the time of his execution , which if shee observed , their next meeting would be in heaven . then late at night he sent for all the servants of the house , gave them each severall admonitions with teares , who all wept , as if they had been his owne . his speech to me , not long before his leaving the castle is not to be omitted , viz. it may be , ( saith he ) if they doe not bury me till sunday , you will be desired to preach then , but j pray , z speake no good of me , onely what may abate the scandall , and be an usefull warning to others , he was willing to . that which he chiefly then requested of me , as his last , was ; as soone as j had seene the end of him , to continue my endeavours for the good of his , in a present comforting and counselling his wife and children , whom he prayed might with contentednesse make the same sanctified use , he had done himselfe . and now we are drawing nigh the saddest part of the story for his body , but yet the most comfortable for his soule . his sowing time in teares ye have heard ; now followes his a reaping in joy , of which some sheaves he carried with him hence , which is the most memorable thing in the whole relation . after he had with great industry and watchfulnesse obtained some testimony unto himselfe of his repentance , and so hope of mercy , all his earnest desire was , that god would but give him b some token for good , in fealing it now to him , by the comforts , and love-tokens of his spirit . hee had read much of that joy c unspeakeable and glorious , of the d light of gods countenance , which david valued above all the world , heard much of the e consolations , and refreshments of the soule by the inward witnesse of the spirit , but , oh! how hee thirsted the day before his execution , to have some taste of them , which would fully arme him against the feare of death . he said , he could remember in his f youth , before his soule was stained with sinne , when he lived for a time in some conscionable way , in a certaine religious family , he had some short flashes of such sweetnesse , that was of more worth then all the joy he had since : he acknowledged he was not worthy of it , and that if god did deny it him , yet the course he would hold he had began , that he would never give over begging , till he had some degree , [ to use his own words ] were it but as imperfect a sight , as the blind mans in the gospell , who g saw men walking like trees , and he had a promise , god would not deny his holy spirit to those that h aske him . and that if he might expect the fullnesse of joy not many houres after , why might he not hope to get some first fruits or earnest for the assurance of it here , and he conceiv'd of all men living he had most need ; both considering what hee had been , and what he was to suffer ; with this his thoughts were filled wholly , and for which he desired me to pray with him often , and to help him with the prayers of others also . and after eleven of the clock that night , i was witnesse of a most affectionate prayer of his owne , which a hearer would have thought could not but arise from some apprehension already , and which made me so confident as to assure him of it . the next morning [ which was the day of his execution ] his first salutation to me was , oh! god hath heard me about foure or five of the clock this morning , for the space of an houre and a halfe , i have had that sweetnesse in my soule , those refreshments in my heart , that i am not able k to expresse , which he now beleeved might be well signified by that hidden l manna , and white stone , which no man knowes , but he that receiveth it , to use his own words , i had such a weaning from this world , might i have enjoyed all the contents of it , such a trust and relying upon god , in committing my wife and children to his care , such confidence of gods love , and assurance of pardon , such a longing to be dissolved , and to be with christ , such ioy and inward consolation , as if he had been in the suburbs of heaven already , that ( saith he ) j felt where my heart lay , that j arose out of my bed , and gave god thanks and prayse upon my knees in the place where j had begged it ; and so fell into abundance of teares , adding , whereas before j wept for sorrow , now i weepe for ioy , [ of all which divers others there were witnesses besides my selfe ] and so desired me , who had been a petitioner with him , to kneele downe with others present , and solemnely give god thanks with him for it , and pray for a continuance of it to his last ; which teares of his , comming from so m cheerefull a countenance [ when we expected the most sadnesse ] moved us more than all before . for confirmation of his said rising out of his bed , his mans testimony is evident , who comming that morning by breake of the day to the chamber doore , and before he knocked , looking through the key-hole , saw him in his shirt by his bed side upon his knees for a quarter of an houre , and as soone as he came in , with a smiling countenance brake out to him into the like fore-named expressions , what a sweet n night he had enjoy'd , &c. and adding , if i had beene in a slumber , it might have been a deceit , but i was full waking as now , he seemed to be in such a rapture , that his servant , as he told mee , was astonished at it , expecting then to have found him most disconsolate , &c. to another of his friends , [ who had told him the night before of that o knowne story in the booke of martyrs , of one who after much prayer , wanted comfort till he saw the stake , who had also desired him [ as that martyrs friend had done him ] whensoever he should finde any to declare it , were it at the place of execution it selfe . ] as soone as he saw him this morning , his first salute with great exultation was , in the said martyrs words to his friend , oh , he is come ! he is come ! telling him also what god had done for his soule . after this wee fell into many heavenly discourses concerning the state of the soule separated from the body , the translation of it out of this world , the happinesse of heaven , by what we shall be rid of , by what we shall be perfected in , the company we shall be admitted into , not only to the spirits of iust men , but to the society of glorious angels , concerning the beatificall vision in the fruition of gods presence , the sight of the blessed body of our saviour , &c. in the thought of which he was much ravished , and fell into a long continued weeping p from this ground , that he should have offended one that had prepared such inestimable things for him , which he now thirsted to enjoy . then he desired the prisoners of the castle might be called together to take his last leave of them , to whom ( as he had done formerly ) he would once more read the q morning service , which i was the more willing to , were it but to professe the faith and religion he dyed in before many witnesses , against the expected calumny of the adversaries , if any extraordinary good should appear in him at his last . the psalms he chose were such as are usually read at burials , the lesson the 15. of the first epistle to the corinthians , some prayers he selected out of the visitation of the sick , the two last prayers at the buriall , with other passages in it and els where ; which with some alterations and additions , he turned very apt for himself , and so with the like advice he had given to others , took leave of them . and now , saith he , as god hath refreshed my soule , i will a little r refresh my body , the better to enable me to speak at the place of execution , which was to be about three hours after , and so called for a little salt-butter and brown-bread , and the smallest beer , a very little of which he eat , as his last , chearfully hoping at night to be invited to the supper of the lambe in another world , when he should need none of these things . when the time drew nigh , and he heard the noyse of the people gathering ; for a quarter of an hour , he told me , his heart began to quiver , and his naturall affection ſ with teares to yern upon his children , which he was pleased still to find within him , considering that grace , though it be supernaturall , yet doth not dry up nature . st. peter , even going to martyrdome , was led whither naturally he t would not . he complained that his former comfort did abate in the strength of it , but he trusted , that god in whose custody was the u key of the spirit , whose act it is only to open and shut , had reserved it for him for that place and time , where he should have most need . yet not long after he recovered a great degree of cheerfulnesse again , repeating the x last verse in the 42. psalme ( which he had used to reade often ) and saying now the sheriffe should be a welcome messenger , and so continued . some few things he had about him , hee then disposed of , as tokens of remembrance to his friends ; his gloves , staffe , girdle , books , about seven or eight of some pious devotions , he gave and sent to divers with his name inscribed : and his last act after he was pinioned , was the giving me his seale-ring off his finger , with such affectionate expressions , as it draws tears from me in the now remembring it . more i might adde , but thus much may suffice to declare his repentance , and the fruit of it in the castle before his execution . now the sheriffe of the county [ a papist ] was come to receive him , the two sheriffs of the city with a great company of halberts to assist him . at christ-church [ according to his desire ] told his passing-bell , the whole town and castle so thronged , as was never the like seen , that if there had not bin a coach allowed him , it would have bin impossible to have gone through . and here i must not forget the hard usage of the said sheriffe of the county in some crosse passages , which after all this his preparation , might have prooved a distraction to him , though it did not ; his intentions i will not judge , yet whose instrument he was i may conceive . the night before he had desired the favour he might not be pinioned till he came to the place of execution , for which i went my self betimes that morning to the lord chiefe iustice of the kings bench , and iustice cressey , both of them upon my relation of the change found in him readily granted it , and sent that command by me to the sheriffe , but he refused and notwithstanding would have him pinioned in his lodging . again , i sent one to the innes , who presently brought a command to him under the lord chiefe justice his hand , with the consent of all the judges , then being at dinner , this also he disobeyed ; for his pretence in the security of his person , one of the sheriffes of the city offered body for body , and assured him that with such a guard , and by fitting himselfe in the coach with him , there could be no danger of an escape . for himselfe ( howsoever his friends thus stirred for him ) he was contented , and long before the sheriffe came , told me he was very sorry he had mooved me in any such businesse , using this speech , our saviour carried his crosse in the way , and why should i desire to be freed ? when he had pulled of his mourning gown , he presented a strong black ribband , which he had provided of purpose for the more decency , and in case it should not be thought strong enough , a black girdle was offered or any other , the sheriffe refused all , and had him bound with a three penny cord , as a common rogue , and would have had the hang-man , or some other base fellow come in and done it . nay he would have had one to sit in the coach behind him , to have held him by the cord also , but that the constable of the castle would not suffer him . these things being very suspitious , if not apparent , out of malice [ either in regard of his religion , profession , or some private cause ] i feared might have disturbed his charity ( as it enraged most of the standers by ) but as soon as i put him in mind of some * former discourses , that this might be the divels interrup●ion , and prosecution of him , in a way unexpected , he apprehended it fully , and so told the sheriff , that it mooved him not , and that he looked further than him in it , prayed god to forgive him , and that for his part he did it heartily , and would pray for him before he left the chamber . the sheriff with-drawing , he desired us that were there to joyn with him once more in prayer to god , for his speciall assistance against all sorts of enemies , that he expected now would beset him at once . we all kneeled down , but such a powerfull , excellent prayer did i scarce ever heare , so that all both wept and sobb'd with him . and so after some comfortable speeches to us , and hope that once more before he dyed , he should have a return of the same measure of comfort , he had enjoyed the last night . the sheriffe came in again , and received him . in the coach rode with him one of the sheriffs of the city , the sub-sheriffe of the county , his own man , and my self . at his entrance he said , this puts me in mind of eliahs a chariot , he was carried to heaven in . when he saw the throng , saith he , j am made a b spectacle to men , but j hope to angels also , who are attending to receive my soule . the time he spent there in singing some consolatory parts of psalms ( one of which was the 23 ) private ejaculations ; now and then speeches to us concerning the parting of the soul from the body , the carriage of it by the angels , the vanity of this world , that his care was neer at an end , &c. and to feed his thoughts with such things as were seasonable , i read now and then some speciall comfortable passages , which i had picked out of the psalms , which he would glosse upon to his own application . when he came upon the bridge , and through the curtains of the coach [ for it was closed ] he discerned the gallows with the people gathered , he said unto me , there is my mount calvary , from which i hope to as : cend to heaven . when he came to the place of execution , there were two things , which might have disturbed him , the one was a fellow got upon one end of the gallows , deriding him and interrupting him when he began to speak , whom he answered not , but patiently bore it , and proceeded . the other , the breaking of his foot-mans head [ whom he loved ▪ who had run by the coach side , and diligently pressed nigh to attend ] by one of the sheriffs of the city , unknown , by laying about him to make room , who when he saw him with the bloud running down his face , he bemoaned him onely , and desired me that he might be remooved out of his sight . to which i might adde a third , happening in the conclusion of all , as he was ready to go up , viz. one calling to him about some papers or leases , whom the very standers by cryed down , as very unseasonable . all which i could easily think the common enemy might have a hand in to distract him . when there was a silence made , he stood up , and made a large and an elegant speech , substantiall and sententious , and i know , it was not fram'd before , for the matter he had indeed resolved upon , but the forme he put to his present expressions there ; i had indeed advised him to pen it , least the sight of death might then distract him , but his answer was , he would put his trust in god , who , he hoped , would not faile him in that last act , and was confident , death would not disturbe him . to relate the speech it selfe , unlesse i could remember exactly his own expressions , would be but a wrong to him , for the matter , it was thus , [ which being so publikely knowne , i may be the briefer in . ] his entrance was somewhat to this purpose , gentlemen , my first salutation to you is , god blesse you , and god save you , and i desire you to pray the same for me , j am i thinke the first of my profession , that ever came hither to this shamefull end , and i pray god i may be the last : you are come hither to see a comedy turned into a tragedy , a miserable catastrophe of the life and actions of man in this world , &c. jn summe . he acknowledged the justice of the law of man , as gods in condemning him , who , as he had not deserved , so he desired not to live . he observed the speciall hand of god throughout the whole businesse , both in the witnesses , in the jurie , in the judges , and in himselfe . in the witnesses , and informers , they were such as eate of his bread , came daily as friends to his table , some of them were at dinner with him the day before the complaint was put in against him in parliament . the jury , howsoever he beleeved they were honest gentlemen , and went according to their consciences , yet the evidence was not so cleare , but they might have stucke at it , but he said it was digitus dei , [ the justice of which he fully , and solemnely acknowledged to a friend of his at that instant , he heard the jury had returned him guilty , though he denyed then [ as he did now ] the maine thing in the inditement , which the law layd hold of , and which hath beene since confirmed by the confession of his chiefe accuser at his execution also , yet in his owne conscience applauded and magnified gods justice in it , and so burnt a volume of papers , which with a great deale of paines he had wrote out of law books in his own defence . in the judges , of whom hee said , though some were hot against him , hee imputed it only to their zeale against vice , which did deserve it , yet it could not sinke into him , that in law he could have beene denied his councell , that which he had pleaded in some errors in the inditement , he conceived was reason , but gods hand was in it , and he most willingly submitted to it , all things in the end had turned to his good . in the infatuating of himselfe ; for his chiefe accuser , he said he could have sent into england , and have had him indited for a hand he had in a stealth there , easily in this time have out-law'd him , and so his testimony had beene void . for the jury , he could have excepted against 20. at least , and so howsoever have put it off till the next term , before which he might have had other thoughts : the fore-man of the jury he knew was outlaw'd also , and these things he conceived , he might have done lawfully in the pleading what he could for his life , yet omitted them ; the cause ( he said ) was both the height of his spirit in scorning to stoope to such poore shifts , and protractions , and the confidence he had there would be no neede , he had trusted ever too much to his own wit and expressions , with which till now in any thing that ever he had attempted , he had not mis-carried , and that he should be so infatuated in this businesse , that so neerly concerned him , he tooke it to be gods hand evidently , which he now not onely patiently yeelded to , but with thankfulnesse embraced . and thus much he thought fit to speake concerning those things he was justly condemned for , he confessed there were divers other hainous sinnes he had committed , the declaring of which publikely would rather increase the scandall he had given , than repaire it : and therefore he thought it not requisite ; for those , he said , he had recollected them betweene god and himselfe , and had heartily repented of them , that he had revealed them with a sorrowfull spirit to me there present , to whom he had opened his whole life , from his youth till now , as to his ghostly father , without any extenuation , or concealing , and had received comfort , and for which as god had given repentance , so he trusted forgivenesse . he acknowledged his neglect of publike preaching , and catechizing in the church , private prayers in his family , for which sinnes of omission , he was justly given over to the sinnes of commission , for the neglect of the commandements of the first table , let fall into the breach of the second . that hee had come to the sacrament , and administred it with his sinnes upon him . his roving thoughts at divine service and sermon , with divers others , &c. and here he declared a very observable passage , not many yeeres agone , he had a dangerous long sicknesse , when being sensible of the former neglect of his pastorall charge , made a solemne c vow to god , that if he should recover againe , he would be diligent both in preaching and catechizing every sunday . after his recovery , it so fell out , that the first time he went to church with an intent to have begunne , the judges of assize were at waterford , and then a thought arose within him , that if he should now enter upon that practice which he had not used before , it would be imagined , he did it for feare of them , and so deferring it that day , never did it afterwards . now d soone after this , he observed , hee grew worse than before , and so fell into those vices , which had brought him to this shamefull end , i , saith he , e broke with god , and god withdrew his grace from me , i forsooke him , and he left me to my selfe , which he applyed to others of his profession , in being warned by his example . againe , he had then also prayed , that if when he came to health , he should start backe from his vow , god would send some heavier judgement upon him , than ever he had yet felt , that might subdue his stubborne disposition : little did he then thinke of this particular , but now he verily beleeved , it was the fruit of that wish , and breach , and so gave god thanks for it , as the onely meanes to bring him home . he confessed he had been guilty of much over-reaching of men , and that if his estate might be continued to his wife , he had given charge for satisfaction to be made to a penny : tooke notice of the justice of god upon him , who had formerly so thirsted after a name and fame ; it was now given him , but a name of infamie , which he desired might rest onely upon himselfe , and not be imputed to his profession . he declared that he did heartily forgive all those that had a hand in his prosecution , and that they should heare him presently pray for them . and in conclusion , asked me , if i could remember any thing else was fit for him to declare , and he would doe it , who at that instant , not calling to mind any more , he desired the people to pray for him and with him , that god would magnifie his mercy in forgiving so great a sinner . then reading three psalmes very apt for himselfe , the 38.42.51 . he then desired them againe to joyne with him in prayer , that god would give him a further assurance of the forgivenesse of his sinnes , by the inward comforts of his spirit , and assist him still against the feare of death in this his last act . we all kneeled downe with him , but such a moving prayer did i never heare , never was i compassed about so with teares , and sobs in my life , not bare weeping , but gushing out of teares , which flowed from all that heard him : so that the very papists , and some priests i saw , who kneeled downe , and wept also ; the summe of it was a confession , and aggravation of his sinnes , a begging of mercy , that his soule might be bathed in the blood of christ , a sealing of it to his conscience by the comforts of his spirit , to forgive all that were his enemies in this businesse , and to give them repentance that had sinned with him , that his penitencie might be a meanes to abate the scandall , that he might be assisted against the assaults of satan , weaknesse of his corrupt nature , now in this last act of death , prayed for a blessing upon his majestie , and his dominions , for his wife and children , and so commended his soule to god , with a confidence of a happy change presently , &c. after this he desired me to sing the 116. psalme throughout , which for the peoples better joyning with him , i read . not long after it was begun , hee whispered one of his friends that stood by him , oh! pray for me , that god doe not withdraw his spirit at this instant , and presently the teares trickled down his cheeks , with the continuance of which , i observed him afterwards to sing the psalme throughout , the subject of which being matter of prayse and joy , it might possibly arise from such spirituall comforts , as hee had tasted the night before , and in his prayers had craved againe , which appeared in his undauntednes of spirit , now entring into the jawes of death ; when the psalm was done , he rose up and said , i think i saw the town-clark of waterford here , if he be , or any other of that town , i shall desire them to commend me to my neighbours there , that i have taken notice that none of the romish church , though differing from me in points of religion , had a hand in this complaint against me , though they had as much cause as others , for which i conceive i owe them thanks . another thing is concerning my buriall ; it is usuall indeed for them of my profession to be buried in the church , but i have given charge to the f contrary , if they will bury me in the church-yard , it is more then i have deserved , for my part i would be contented it were in the bottom of the sea , where i might never be remembred . and now ( saith he ) i have done , only give me leave to be at some private prayers with my self , wherin i shall desire you in your thoughts to joyn with me , in praying god to assist me at this instant , and so kneeled down for a little space , as did the company neare him also ; when he arose , he sayd chearfully , now i am ready , and took leave of them all that were neare him [ whom he knew ] man by man , taking them all by the hands , with such speeches as these , i dread not death , god send us a happy meeting in heaven , i am but going before you , the whole company wept aboundantly , and my self had most cause at his last most affectionate expressions . then he put off his mourning gown , hat and black cap , and called to his man for his other cap and handker-chief . when he was setting foot on the ladder , he turned with a smiling countenance towards the sheriff of the county [ who all this time of his prayers and singing of psalms had sat by on hors-back with his hat on his head , giving no reverence at all ] and said , mast . sheriff , will you not take leave of your friends , when you shall never see them again ? what ? not one word from you all this while , god forgive you , and j doe from my heart , that usage of yours , which might have distracted me , but did not , i have prayed for you even now ; and so went up the ladder , who when he saw so many weeping , said again to them , i thanke god i dread not death , and that it proceeded not from a presumption , but from a present sensible apprehension of gods-mercy , and an inward peace of conscience , and so with a chearfull countenance , looking about him , and seeing some he knew , whom he had not seen before , bowed to them and bade them farewell , desired them still to pray for him as long as he had life . i had him last by the hand , when he was upon the ladder , and to my admiration , his hand shook no more then mine . when he was gone as high , as was thought fitting , and the rope put about his neck , he pinned the handkerchief about his face with his own hands ( the cords with moving his hands being again loosed ) and said to the hang-man , honest friend , when thou art ready , tell me , and i will tell thee , when i am ready ( to whom he than gave some little mony he had about him ) prayed the sheriff he might not be turned off till he spake again , and when he had pulled the cap over his face , he said , lord now let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word , for mine eyes have seene thy salvation , which thou hast prepared for me ; commended his soule to god , with divers the like expressions , and not long after sayd , now i am ready , and from that continued crying , have mercy , have mercy , &c. till he was turned off . when he felt the ladder stirring he put down his hands and laid hold on the sides of his cassock , and so stirred them not to the last , though some of his friends catched him by the hands , least he should have lifted them up , but i believe it was needles . by this his penitentiall , christian carriage , the hearts of his enemies were mooved , such as hated him in his life , now loved him at his death , and i believe these many years there hath not bin any that left the world with so many tears and cryes of the beholders . when he had hung some 3. quarters of an hour , he was cut down and put into the same coach he came in , into which i went my self , and rode with him to the house , where he was received ; which i did both to feed my thoughts with mortality , in viewing the same body lying dead in the same place , where some two or three hours before i had seen it with a soul , in health , and full strength . as also least some lyes should have bin raised of him , by such as have us ; ed to do the like . that night about ten of the clock they buried him at s. iohns in an outward part of the church-yard , according to his charge , where i did him that last office also . about seven or eight of the clock , the verger of christs-church came to my lodging and told me there was a rumour of a sermon , and an expectation of my saying somwhat of him , so much that the church was filled already to the doors , with aboundance of papists also , upon this suddain warning i was earnestly intreated to some short declaration , which according to the time given me ( howsoever i never liked funerall commendations , as usually doing more hurt than good ) i did observe . and now in obedience to such , who may command me , have further inlarged it , as also the sermon , with some other seasonable additions , which the shortnes of the warning and latenes of the night would not then permit . many papists [ i am informed ] were much affected both at what they heard before from him , and now of him . ( one who came casually thither fell into teares in the very church , and was converted . and the next morning being sunday went to s. owens church , heard the service and sermon , and so continued . ) and thus you have heard at once , a dolefull and a joyfull relation , hard it is to iudge , which his friends have most cause of . to conclude . let not the papists obiect this scandall to our church , least wee returne them such foule stories from that holy sea , which wee have no mind to raise . 't is true , he did ill , g but doe we teach men so to doe . a church ought not to be iudged by the lives of a few professours , but by the doctrine professed . and it is a rule most advantagious to themselves . there was a judas amongst the apostles , that hanged himselfe , yet no disparagement to the apostleship , when he was excluded , h and into his office another chosen . the incestuous person was no more a scandall to the church of corinth , when he was once put away from them . nay , their zeale in his excommunication , tended much to their i honour , let his execution perfectly approve our church also , to be cleare in this matter . k and least of all , should those that are of his own communion be such hatefull birds , as to defile their owne-nests , by imputing it as an aspersion to the whole profession ; let him have his last request granted , that the dishonour may be buried with him , let not the l sinne of this one man , make you wrath with the whole congregation . m i have sinned , saith david , and done wickedly ; but these sheepe what have they done ? [ and indeed the former sort in n their generation are wiser in this usually , then the children of light ] when the sunne is ecclipsed every man's eye is upon it , but little doe they observe it in his glory . let there be one grosse offender in the ministery , he shall be ever gazed at ; but they remember not the many glorious martyrs , and unblemish'd preachers , who have shined in that firmament also . that the miscarriage of one , should like a crosse line be drawne over all the rest , i see little reason , lesse justice , and least religion at all in it . in a word . object not his life to justifie your owne , remember our saviours distinction for some . o what they bid you doe , that observe , but doe not after their works ; or that of s. paul , p be followers of me , as i am of christ . jf you remember his life , forget not his death ; ( in the former indeed the rod of aaron was turned into a serpent ; but now the serpent is turned into a rod againe ) as the one was offensive , so let the other be usefull , as the one made the breach , so let the other repaire it . 't is true , q the dignity of his person must needs sinke his offence the deeper , the scandall of both hath increased the ignominy of his death , the shame of his death hath occasioned his spirituall life : and if god hath for given , and forgotten it in heaven , why should we upbraid him with it here ? the cleerest moones have some spots . the best churches have had some such staynes . oh! let the blot of his life be washed out of your memories by the many ●eares at his death , for which , r blessed be god , even the father of our lord jesus christ , the father of mercy , and the god of all comfort , to whom be honour and glory for ever . amen . o poenitentia ! quid de te novi referam ? omnia ligata tu solvis , omnia clausa tu reseras , omnia adversa tu mitigas , omnia contrita tu sanas , omnia confusa tu lucidas , omnia desperata tu animas , cyprian de laud. poenitent . the letter to his wife . my deare wife , marke well these last wordes of him , who these twenty yeares , and upwards hath been your husband , and might have so continued much longer by the course of nature , had not his continued and crying sinnes , deservedly drawn this punishment upon him , to be cut off from the living , as unworthy of their society in this life . i suffer for my wickednesse , which i beseech god in his mercy through iesus christ to forgive me . in my suffering , you suffer both in your credit and estate , and what else soever concernes this world . this advantage you have of me , i have only left unto mee a small time of repentance , but you , by gods grace may have a large time of amendment , which i would have you improve to the full , and not lose a minute . turne unto the lord your god , with all your heart . cloath your selfe with patience & thanksgiving . i doubt not but god will have mercy on you , and prove a husband to you , and a father to my children , yea , i doubt not but you shall live with the same happinesse , and greater content , then if i were with you . serve him , he will not faile you . bring up your children in the feare of god , that houshold which you keep , let it be the servants of god. above all things be diligent in private prayer , make all your needs known unto the lord. vndertake nothing which you cannot finde in your heart to begge a blessing for . misconster not these my dying advertisements , which proceed ( as in the presence of god ) from true affection , that at length i might really give some supply to my former defaults , and put you in a right way for everlasting comfort . that though we part in this world , yet we may enjoy a more happy meeting in heaven . and after all our afflictions be there partakers of endlesse blisse . so prayes , and ever shall pray as long as he lives , your husband john atherton . decemb. 1. 1641. cast not away this paper when you have read it , but keepe it as a jewell , and peruse it often , as the legacie of him who can now give no other . the letter to his children . my deare children , it was ever my desire to have seene you well preferr'd , but god thought otherwise , and my sinnes would not suffer it , which have not onely , sentenced me to death , but bereaved me of that small worldly blessing , which i purposed unto you , as a patrimony , and evidence of my fatherly affection . and how now it will be disposed of , or what share will come to your lot , i leave to god , who , as he hath given you body and soule ; so i doubt not but will of his great goodnesse provide for your estate . what is left unto me , and cannot be taken from me , i freely impart and give unto you , not dividing it amongst you by shares and proportions , but giving each of you the whole , wherein though you communicate one with another in my blessing and last councell , yet each without wrong to the other , may take and challenge the whole to her selfe . first , the blessing of god the father , the sonne , and the holy ghost , light upon you , give you a true knowledge of his word , a true feare of his will , and a true faith in his promises . let no day passe over you , wherin you do not call your selves to a reckoning before you sleepe , and make your peace with god for the offences of that day . be constant in private prayer twice every day at the least , upon your knees , and god will be a father unto you . do nothing great or small without first craving a blessing from god and forbeare that , upon which you cannot find in your hearts to crave such a blessing . be content with whatsoever god shall afford you , poverty , or riches , take heed , repine not at his pleasure [ who in the end , though it be sometimes contrary to our sense ] works all things for the good of his children . if you marry , preferre an honest man that feares god , before all other respects in the world . be obedient to your mother ; love one another , and live in hope to enjoy againe in heaven the company of your father , now ready to dye , john atherton . decemb. 4 1640. cast not away this loose paper , but each of you take a copy of it , and preserve it by you as a jewell all the dayes of your life . a sermon preached at the buriall of the said iohn atherton , the next night after his execution , december the fifth , 1640. in st. iohns church in dublin with some other additions and enlargements , which the shortnesse of the warning , and latenesse of the night , would not then permit , throughout applicatory to divers speciall passages in the relation , wherin there are also some other added , which were before omitted . by nicolas barnard , deane of ardagh in ireland . chrysost . in laud. pauli homil. 1. paulus terram & mare circumivit , peccarorum spinas evellens granaque pietatis ubique semmans , veritatem reducens , ex hominibus angelos faciens , &c. acts 2.19 . repent ye therefore and be converted , that your sinnes may be blotted out , when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the lord. london printed by g. m. 1641. the summe of the doctrines here handled . the dignity of preachers c●●●sts messengers . whence for themselves , a necessity of ordination to it . of continuance in●●r . for the people , a necessity of entertainement of them . of audience , obedience to them . the duty of preachers in the generall ; from whence observed . that preaching of all the acts of the ministry is the most apostolicall , and if so , the most episcopall . and here in ( according to a speciall confession of a vow , made , and broken by this person ) an exhortation both to preaching and catechizing . for the latter of which foure things advised shunning diversities of catechismes . vnnecessary controversies . handling these principles briefly . often . in both condemned inconstancy , either in the doctrines delivered . time giving it over . the duties of preachers in speciall ability to preach . perspicuity in their preaching . their lives to be according . the state of a man vnconverted resembled by a blindnesse . darknesse . slave●y . the state of conversion resembled by giving sight . light. liberty . that the greatest sinner once converted is capeable of forgivenesse . the joyfull happy estate of him who hath an assurance of it , in three things , he hath peace with god. of conscience . with death . and therein of spirituall refreshings . throughout applicatory to the party . the text. act. xxvi . vers . 17. i send thee — vers . 18. to open their eyes , to turne them from darknesse to light , from the power of satan unto god , that they may receive forgivenesse of sins , &c. that there is an eminent a man this day falne in israel by a scandalous and ignominious death , ye al know , of whom this unwonted confluence of people speaks an expectation of saying somwhat ; for his life , to give the least commendation , would be a scandall to the speaker , and yet wholly to conceale his penitency at his death , would be a wrong both to him , and you the hearers . it was indeed his own desire , there might be no good spoke of him at all , but ( me thinks ) that it self ( if there were no more ) b is cause sufficient to speak somwhat , in that short expression being much included . and commendation if ever is then most seasonable , when it can neither impute flattery to the one , nor cause a pride in the other . c then may be thought d the lesse affected , when a dispraise would be the least offensive . and for that we have done with in the relation . this text fits this present occasion thus : saint paul is here sent to preach the gospell , such was the end of this our brothers ordination , but neglected . such had bin his solemne vow of latter years , but broken . the persons to whom he was sent , were such as lived in darknesse , under the power of satan , such to have bin his life formerly to the churches scandall is confessed . the effect of saint pauls message is to open their eyes , to turne them unto god , such a blessed change to have bin lately found in him , hath bin made apparant . and if with these he hath obtained the efficacy of the meanes , why should we barre him , from attaining the like happinesse in the end also , viz. forgivenesse of sinnes . 't is true he was sent , and like that e son , that said he would go into the vineyard , but went not . instead of converting others , he had corrupted them , instead of opening their eyes , he had shut his owne , instead of gayning others out of darknesse , he had lived in the works of darknesse himselfe , instead of turning men from the power of satan , he had drawn more subjects to him . notwithstanding what he was ordained to have bin an instrument of in others , was by gods grace in a great measure wrought in himselfe ; and if conversion , why should not we beleeve forgivenesse , and if forgivenesse blessednesse , for f blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven , and whose sins are covered , &c. the ocean of gods mercy is able to swallow mountaines , as well as mole-hils , great sinnes as lesse , according to the proportion of repentance . saint paul g a blasphemer yet obtained pardon . the crucifiers of the lord of life are bad to be h converted , and their sinnes should bee blotted out . 't is true hee was at first mooved to it with feare ; so was i noah to the saving himselfe by the arke . k gregorie ▪ nazianzen was at first converted to christianity in a storme . our saviour in the same breath calls his disciples friendes , l and yet bidds them feare him , for the feare of hell it selfe . m hee came late , so did they that went into the vineyard at the eleventh n houre . o manasses began in fetters . the p prodigall son staid till he was starved and forced . oh let not your eyes be evill when gods is good . where we find his hand , why should wee doubt of his seale ? if he were turned from the power of satan in repentance to god , no doubt but god hath turned to him in granting forgivenesse . in the text you may observe these three parts . 1. st. pauls mission , j send thee . 2. his commission in three branches . 1. to open their eyes . 2. to turn them from darknes to light . 3. from the power of satan unto god. 3. the happy fruit of both , that they may receive forgivenesse of sins . the first implies our dignity . the second our duty . the third our hearers benefit . by this our brother , the first at his arraignement hath hin much disgraced . the second in his life more neglected . and the third at his death , gods mercy in him infinitely magnified . from the first , he judged himselfe worthy to be degraded . for the second , he had strongly resolved if he had lived , to have repayred . and the third was in an extraordinary manner to his conscience sealed . so that the three things which are now to be handled from the words are these . 1. first , the dignity of ministers , to be christs messengers , i send thee . 2. secondly , the chief part of their message , to be preachers ( the sole end of which , is the converting of men ) to open their eyes , to turn , &c. 3. thirdly , the latitude of gods mercy even to the worst of men , who by their preaching shall be converted , though living under the power of satan , yet shall receive forgivenesse of their sins . in the handling of which ye shall find some things as seasonable as profitable , and throughout i would be understood to be equally applicatatory to bishops , as other inferiour ministers . 1. first , the dignity of preachers , sent by christ ; their mission is like q st. johns baptisme , not of men , but from heaven , they may say to their hearers as moses to the israelites , r i am hath sent me unto you . and t is observable their commission is sealed by the blessed trinity , first , severally , by the father , ( matth. 19. ult . ) pray the father that he will send labourers , &c. by the son ( ephes . 4 . 1● . ) he gave some apostles , some pastours , some teachers , &c. by the holy ghost ( act. 20.28 . ) over whom the holy ghost hath made you over-seers . secondly , ioyntly ( math. 28.18 . ) go , teach all nations , and baptize them in the name of the father , and of the sonne , and of the holy ghost ; and accordingly as saint john s begins his revelation with a salutation from them ; so saint paul t concludes his second epistle to the corinthians with a benediction . hence those honourable titles by each of which we deny not , is implyed a severall duty also , ( honos & onus ) to imply there holinesse , u men of god ; their vigilancy , x watchmen , their courage y souldiers , their painfullnesse , z harvest labourers , the care of their flock , a shepheards , their wisedome , b over-seers , their industry , c husbandmen , their patience , d fishermen , their tendernesse of affection , e nurses , their love , f fathers , nay g mothers , their faithfulnesse h stewards , their necessary use in preserving and informing of men , i salt of the earth , * light of the world , their dignity , k rulers , l embassadours , their eminency m angels , n fellow-fervants with them , o co-workers with god , christs p witnesses , q ministers , nay r * christs glory . to the ministers of the law indeed pertained ſ the glory ( viz. ) of the arke and temple , but these are termed the glory of christ himselfe , typified by them , whose presence made t the glory of the latter temple , though meaner in building , to exceed the former . the dignity done to the priests and prophets under the law was much , u jehojada the priest marries jehorams daughter the king. see the honourable termes given by x obadiah , ( the chief of ahabs courtiers ) to the prophet elijah ; and to omit what we reade from good kings . see y joash ( a bad one ) visiteth elisha in his sicknesse , calling him my father , &c. now by how much the z gospell excels the law , so ought the ministers to be preferr'd , as being of a better testament , and of a farre a more glorious ministration . embassadours are usually respected according to the princes they represent . saint paul was so received by the galatians , b as an angell of god , nay , as christ iesus , in whose stead he moved . and thinke not this to be any pride in magnifying our calling , saint paul surely was no more ambitious of honour , then he was covetous of a gift , but yet that he might have some fruit that might abound to their account , for their own sakes no doubt , he beseecheth the c d thessalonians , to know those that were over them in the lord , and to esteeme them very highly , &c. a high calling indeed , the son of god himselfe despised it not , and let not the greatest then thinke his sonne of too high a birth for it . 't is no argument , that now they should be made the e of scouring of the world , because the apostles were so , that now they should be driven to worke with their owne hands ( as some it may be would be contented with ) because f st. paul was once put to it by necessity : that now they should have no respect , because there was so little heretofore given them by infidels . no ; yee have not so learned christ , and do not ye fill up the measure of your fathers . and yet how many are there , who seem to reverence christ , but like the jews mock him in his word and servants , like cursed cham deriding their fathers , till the curse rebound upon their own heads ; if like ieremiah , a minister deale truly and impartially , presently g devices are laid for him , a conspiracy to smite him with the tongue , if he indeavour to dispossesse a man of his evill spirit , than like saul to david , a dart is throwne at him , nay , spears and arrows of reproaches , even bitter words . if a reproof , then you take too much upon you , ye sons of levi. obiect . we grant the apostles to be sent of christ , but what is that to such as are ordained in these days ? ans . the difference is only vocationis modo , christ cals paul immediately by himself , and he cals timothy , per media ordinario , as s. paul speaking to the elders of the church of ephesus , whom himself had ordained , yet ( act● 20.28 . ) he tels them , the holy ghost had made them over-seers , as his epistles may be truly cal'd his writings , as being the pen-man , and yet gods too , who was the inditer , and in them guided his hand : so the messengers of the church are also christs , who in his name ordain● no other , then testifie they find themselvs h inwardly mooved to 〈◊〉 by his spirit . see both together in that fore-named ( 2 cor. 8.23 . we are the messengers of the churches , and the glory of christ , as the man is called the glory of god ( 1 cor. 11.7 . ) and the woman the glory of the man. because as the moon from the sun , they each derive their light and authority from them ; so are these so called here , as receiving their dignity and commission from christ by the churches hand , who in this sense confirmeth the word of his servants , and is with them to the end of the world , of which there can be no i surer seale , than the assistance of gods spirit in converting their hearers . hence a two-fold instruction for the preacher and people . for the preacher . 1. a necessity of ordination . mark. 3.14 . none may k take this upon him ( be he as wise as salomon or daniel ) before he be cal'd of god as aaron . l how can they preach , i. e. de jure , unlesse they be sent . god complains of some m i have not sent them , yet they ran : i have not spoken to them , yet they prophecied . the n labourers though able and willing yet went not into the vineyard till they were bidden by the husband-man . they who clime o into this office through the window of their own pride and self-conceit , and enter not by this door , are rather theeves than shepheards . 't is an observation some have made of p origen , why he fell into such dangerous errours , though he had an excellent wit , because he so long neglected orders . 2. a necessity of continuance , if their mission be from christ , none can then give them a dismisse , but christ . have you set your hand to this plough , there is no looking back ; whatever other imployment by man is laid upon you , of this you cannot be unloaden . there may be indeed some good cause of a remoovall from a place , even for the same the colt our saviour sent for was loosened , viz. when the lord hath elswhere need of you : but i find no writ of ease in any place to dispense with the office . for the people . 1. first , then give them entertainment , the apostle argues this case largely . ( cor. 9. ) what amendment soever hath bin here of late in some places , yet still in most , the meanes of the levite is like the garments of davids servants by hanun king of ammon cut off ●y the halfs but let such con●●der the admonition of moses , deut. 12.19 . take heed to your ●●lves , they that thus r rob god , ●o but in conclusion rob them●elvs , as there are in story di●ers such observations . moses ●rayer for levi is still effectuall ● chap. 33.11 . ) blesse lord his ●●bstance , and smite through the ●ynes of them that rise against him , ●nd of them that hate him , that ●●ey rise not again . that distin●tion of three sorts of sacriledge by peter lumbard , ſ is commonly knowne , sacrum de sacro , non sacrum de sacro , sacrum de non sacro , as that of thomas t aquinas , that it may be committed against three , in personam , in locum , in rem . the last of each are alike , in a robbery upon the churches possessions ; where ( in other countries it hath bin consented to , it is now as much repented of , though too late . justinian u makes it a greater sinne than treason . howsoever thou whi●● worthily x abhorrest idols , doe not thou commit sacriledge . you that stand for christs word , doe not you cast lots for his coat . y the fish saint peter catched , it came up with mony in the mouth , and certainly such as are truly taken by the net of gods word , will not grudge to supply the minister in temporals , who communicates to him in spirituals , and what ye yeeld let it be willingly , not wrung out by suits : such as strive with the priest are accounted the worst of men by the prophet ( hosea 4 , 4. ) how able and active this our brother was in the recoveries of such dues , ye all know , but what a griefe now , his spending so much time in them was , whereby he lost himselfe , i know . the regaining of the churches rights he thought might be done , but the gaining of soules , the rights of christ purchased by his blood , by no meanes should be left undone . often did he apply to himselfe that speech of a z great man at his last . had hee been as diligent to have done god service , as he had done the king , he had kept the kings favour still . so had he been as conversant in the study of the gospell , for the instruction of men , as he had been in the law , for the setling of lands , he had not by the law so deservedly lost lands , body and estate , and all at once . we are called fishers , not hunters , fishers of men , not of money , we are prest for a spirituall warfare , and such a entangle not themselves with the affaires of this life . b s. augustines spirit is very worthy of imitation , who was hardly drawne to answer any letters , for himselfe , or others that concern'd these worldly matters , onely ready for such whose subject was spirituall . and if at any time he were necessitated to it , he thought so much loft , and returned from it , as a prisoner set at liberty . nay sometimes c gave up his right , rather than runne himselfe into a labyrinth of law contentions , according to that of our saviour , ( math. 5.40 . ) the onely way the divell is sometimes put to , for the stopping of the mouthes of able divines . if he can but get their hearts to cleave● to the world in suites , soon cleave● their tongues to the roofes of their mouthes for preaching , and so by a disuse in time , according to that threatning in the prophet to the idoll shepheard , d their armes are dried up , their right eyes utterly darkened , and their right hands with the psalmist , forgets their cunning : their abilities and gifts perish also . and 't is certain ( howsoever others have thought the contrary ) that as the interposition of the earth eclypseth the moone : so these earthly imployments instead of spirituall , hath rather clouded , than added to the glory of our function . secondly , then give them audience , obedience : i put them together , as indeed they should never be severed . first , audience , the denying of which to the embassadour of the meanest prince on earth is accompted the highest indignitie . e oh , see then ye refuse not him who speaks from heaven . say ever in this sence with samuell , f speake lord , thy servant heareth . and when ye do , let it be with attention , not to have your mind roving about some other matter , your tongues whispering in anothers eare . ( a fault this our brother publikely acknowledged in himselfe . ) and let it be also with g reverence . remember 't is the voice of god , and not of man , as one observes of that speech of john the baptist , ego sum vox in deserto . john was the voyce , but god the speaker , as holy men were the pen-men of the scripture , but god the inditer , h balaam bids balak arise . i eglon of himselfe , rose up from his throne , when ehud said he had a message from god to him . if these gave this outward reverence let us adde k an inward reverence and feare also . secondly , give them l obedience , the former is but the shell , the shaddow , this is the substance . many indeed give us the hearing , but very few in that sence 't is usually taken in the prophets , viz. m obeying , remember we are gods messengers . great mens intreaties are commands : our commands from god are but intreaties . n god doth beseech you by us , wee pray you in christs stead ; unheard of , that a king should petition to his subjects ; and yet who of you yeelds ? who obeyes ? historians say , that mens lives were never worse , than when the seven wise men lived . it would be ill newes if it should be so with us , since the long continuance of the wisdome of the word among us . however , as our saviour , so may we say unto you also , o we have not spoken of our selves , but the father which hath sent us , he gave us a commandement , what we should say , and what we should speake , and the word which wee have in gods name spoken , and not obeyed , shall rise in judgement against you at the last day . obiect not the disobedience of this particular person to palliate your owne . let his selfe condemnation , prevent yours , his exhortation to others , be yours . he was a prodigall , but returned , once lost , but now found , and if the father have remitted it , let not his bretheren be offended at it . and so much for the first part of the text , s. pauls mission — i send thee . now the second part of this text concernes s. pauls commission , in a word of information , to open their eyes , in a word of application , to turne them , &c. ( the two necessary parts of a sermon . ) before you heard our dignitie , now we will confesse out duty , and 't is this latter that must support the former . and for this , we shall consider it two wayes , as it may concerne this our brother . first , actively , as being his duty towards others . secondly , passively , as having been effectuall in himselfe . in the first , i shall but performe the will of the dead , who had intended at the place of execution to have made a large exhortative speech , to the diligent performance of his function in preaching , and catechizing : but that he thought few of his profession would be there , and the papist● ( who might be the most ) would but deride him , and so omitted it . only he declared how the neglect of it , was his greatest griefe , and for the breach of his vow , in which he was perswaded , ( as a iust punishment ) god left him to himselfe , whereby he came to this shamefull end , for this sinne of omission , he observed gods justice in giving him over to sinnes of commission , according to that of the apostle . ( rom. 1.21 , 24 , 26. ) and as this subject is seasonable in regard of his particular , so is it necessary in regard of the times neglect in generall . when preaching is so undervalued , so flighted , as if it were too meane for the dignitaries , and fathers of our church , and only left as the refuse of our office for the inferiour ministers . and let me not be misunderstood , as if in the words of s. paul , p i had ought to accuse my nation , or profession of : or with cham had a desire to discover my fathers nakednesse . no ; only let me magnifie their office , and in this our brothers stead , incite them unto that , whereby their dignity with man here , and their comfort with god hereafter may be continued . the summe of the apostles commission , you see here is preaching , which we shall according to the text ; consider , first in it selfe . and then its severall parts . first , in the generall , from the summe of the apostles message , observe this , ( viz , ) that preaching and converting the soules of men , of all the acts of the ministry is the most * apostolicall . for further proofe see ( 1 tim. 2.7 . ) both put together . i am ordained a preacher , and an apostle , ● teacher of the gentiles , &c. the very same words againe ( 2 tim. 1.11 . ) in both , see how the apostleship is supported on each side with this imployment . 't is preferr'd before the administration of sacraments ( 1 cor. 1.17 . ) christ sent mee not ( i. e. not so much ) to baptize , but to preach the gospell . nay above miracles , gifts of tongues , government , &c. see 1 cor. 12.28 , 29. god hath set in the church first apostles , secondly prophets , thirdly teachers , after that miracles , then gifts of healing , government , diversities of toungs , &c , now wherin hath it so offended , that lately it should be compelled to take the lowest roome . 't is a speech of gregory , t we account those to beare the image of the apostles , who are preachers . and if so , why heare we no more of it from him , who boasts his sea to be only apostolicall , who hath not bin known so farre to disparage himselfe these many hundred years . the more we draw back in it , the nearer we shall draw to him . there were some in the * church of ephesus that said they were apostles and were not . let this one thing be their tryall , which if admitted , the former would bee found a lyar . now if preaching be the most apostolicall , certainly this conclusion following must be undeniable , viz. then the most episcopall , u whose successours they are . for which , who knows not that ( in the 1 tim. 3. which s. hierome well cals speculum sacerdotij ) the prime quality of a bishop is to be x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. not only able and fit , but apt and ready to it . the like tit. 1.9 . y thomas aquinas could say , that preaching was the most principall and proper act of a bishop , and accordingly applies z eight titles to them that imply that labour . nay so proper to a bishop , that before s. augustine● time it was not a usuall for a presbiter to preach in the presence of a bishop ; at least it was against the custome of the africk church . we reade valerius than bishop of hippo was much censured by other neighbouring bishops , that he should permit s. austine , being then but a presbiter , to preach so often before him , and not to do it himself , and yet there was some reason for it : valerius being a graecian was not so perfect in the language , as s. austine was . and b from his example it began first that presbiters got the honour to preach the word of god in the bishops presence . which former custome howsoever s. hierome from another ground pleads much against , as inferring that the c bishop should delight to heare such of his own election to perform their office . yet he acknowledgeth it to have d been the custome then also . but to return to s. augustine ; when he was made a bishop , did he then give it over ? no ; then 't is said e he preached much more then he did before , whersoever he came , whensoever asked . the like of s. ambrose ( by whose f frequent preaching st. austin himself was converted ) the g introduction into whose first sermon after his election was the affirming this to be his proper and necessary function . st. chrysostome cals preaching , omnium bonorum summa , and according to his own practice would have a bishop preach every day , h with whom ye have often cras & heri , as if he were rather a daily preacher , than a weekly . s. hieroms speech a bishop should be for the church , as t is said of i moses and aaron for the tabernacle , they departed not from it , always either preaching or studying for it , either with k peter and andrew fishing , or with james and john amending their nets . well me thinks , when i reade of saint pauls charge for this particular to timothy , the first bishop of ephesus , and not parochiall neither , 1 tim. 4.1 . and a sickly man too , and in what high terms he gives it . j charge thee before god and the lord jesus christ , who shall iudge the quicke and the dead at his appearing , and in his kingdome , preach the word , be instant , &c. it should make many a mans eare to tingle that hath wholly neglected it , the like you have again ( tim. 6.13 . ) for excuses , if a not being bound to any particular charge be pretended , let them consider s. pauls free preaching , which he so much glories in ( 1 cor. 9.19 ) though he were free from all , yet had voluntarily made himselfe serviceable to some . 't is possible for some urgent cause , the maintenance out of one place may be imployed for the upholding gods service in another . like s. paul ( 2. cor. 11.8 . ) who saith , he had robbed other churches taking wages of them , to do the corinthians service for it . but to be wholy idle in all places is l robbery indeed . if imployment in government be alleadged for an exemption , let them again think of what s. paul saith of himself ( m vpon whom came daily the care of all the churches ) 1 corinth . 9.16 . yet necessity is laid upon me , and wee unto me if i preach not the gospell , and paul aged too . if disputing and writing , &c. be produced ( as the best ) for a dispensation , let them still remember it was s. pauls work also , as writing not a little . so n disputing daily with the jews and greeks , apollo's and barnabas did the like with the false apostles . s. peter with the false teachers . s. iohn confutes antichristian doctrine , and for convincing gain-sayers none are freed from . see but what is recorded of saint augustine , how many hereticks he had a daily contention with arrians , manichees , pelagians , donatists , ( one of which was converted onely by a digression in his sermon ) against whom , and of divers other subjects he wrote so much , that if all were extant , he that writes his life saith , o the greatest student would have his fill in reading of them only . yet notwithstanding how did he labour in a constant preaching to his last ; and the like might be related of divers others . so that no pretence whatsoever can excuse them from the performance of this function , to what dignity soever advanc'd , what burthen soever travelling under . i have often wondred at that in iothams parable , that when some of the trees were desired to rule over the rest , saith p the olive , why should i leave my fatnesse , wherwith by me they honour god and man , &c. saith the fig-tree , why should i leave my sweetnesse and my good fruit , &c. and goe to be promoted over the trees ? why should promotion over others , make men barren in themselvs ? could they not beare rule , and beare fruit together ? 't was but a parable , and let it be so still without any further application ; only let none of us having a talent , be like the unprofitable servant in hiding it . and in conclusion , let me be but your remembrancer , of what hath beene so solemnely and publikely vowed at ordination and consecration , and such a profession before many witnesses ought to be of no light esteeme . the q exhortation to preaching before the receiving the order of priest-hood , the obligatory promises upon demand for it , the r words of ordination it self , the solemn delivery of the bible with a charge to preach , this being the sum of the office , why retaine we the name without executing it ? and are not the same with other additions renewed at the consecration of a bishop ? as the epistle , so the choise of the gospell , for that occasion , viz. * s. peter charg'd three times by our saviour , if he loved him feed his sheepe , his lambs , had its meaning . the s speciall prayer at the consecration tends the same way . the redelivery of the bible as before , and opened with a charge again to be diligent in teaching , in giving heed to exhortation , and to doctrine , therby to save himselfe , and those that heare him ; to be a shepheard , and not a woolfe ; to seek the lost , &c. and in conclusion , a prayer that the spirit may descend upon him for the preaching of the word ; and being earnest in reprooving , beseeching , rebuking , &c. these surely are too serious to be thus sleighted t be not deceived , god is not mocked . now if any persons thus ordained and consecrated have beene negligent in performing , let not the scandall be cast upon our church , who you see is very carefull in enjoyning , and the bonds it takes for keeping covenant are the greatest that can be given , the forfeiture of which will not faile to be cald upon at the iudgment of the great day . and so much for the first thing , the neglect of which this our brother so much lamented , viz. the fore-noons worke in preaching . there is a second , which he had expressely vowed also and broken , and for which equally with the former he acknowledged gods justice in this punishment , and that was the neglect of publike catechizing , in a plain and familiar exposition of the credenda and agenda , conteyned in our church catechisme , enjoyned to be the afternoons work , and it were well , if every sunday had its morning and evening sacrifice ; its former and latter raine , u in the morning son thy seed ; in the evening with-hold not thy hand : of which duty give me leave to speake a word also , as being a thing of all others the most necessary , in this ignorant island ; these are the foundation of christian religion , which as it was st. pauls glory to have laid it with the corinthians , so would it be the glory of this age , to compasse the like with this people , untill which be done it must needes be in vaine , to proceed to a building of higher points . and i beleeve , without any disparagement i may say of the maior part of any of our congregations , as the apostle of that famous church of the x hebrewes , they have more need of milke , than of strong meat . in which if it were fit for me to direct others of greater experience than my selfe , i would advise of these foure things . first , to shun diversities of catechismes ; for every one to bee teaching a severall , as best likes his fancy , is but to distract and confound the people , if they shall remoove from one parish to another . what are they , but severall methods of the same thing in substance ? let us all pitch upon one , and why not that appointed by authority ? secondly , shun intricate and unnecessary controversies , which as at all times in common congregations are unprofitable : so in this exercise the most unseasonable . that clause in the apostles letter from their first generall councell is very imitable in this , z we thinke it fit to lay upon you no other burthen , than necessary matters , a vaine bablings , foolish questions , and b striving about words , and such kinde of needlesse contentions , st. paul bids c timothy and titus avoide , as being to no profit , among which may be reckoned the filling ignorant peoples cares with questions of church discipline , which doth not concerne them , and neglect the main . t is a good rule , every thing is so farre commendable as it may be profitable . thirdly , handle these things briefly , without affecting too much latitude . d s. paul had taught his hearers in the compasse of three yeares , the whole counsell of god both in publike and private , and such as shall dwell so long upon one subject , observe not the custome of the ancient church . how briefe is s. augustines symbolum , s. ieromes explanatio fidei ad damasum & cyrillum ? s. cyprians exposition of the whole lords prayer , is not neare the length of an ordinary sermon . t is true it may be said of each petition and commandement , as the philosopher saith of the soule , 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a great thing in a little compasse , like a starre , little in your eye , but in it selfe of a large magnitude : like a fountaine , narrow at the head , but mighty streams may be drawne from it , to that petition , thy kingdome come , or thy will be done may be referr'd a great part of the body of divinity ( as some de deo & de regno dei , others de fide & obedientiâ make to consist the whole , ) but would it not bee very impertinent to draw all thither ? and let me adde , that length of time , ( howsoever some glory in it ) doth not alwayes argue the better building , or the more cost . salomons temple was built in seven yeares , herods was forty six yeares in building , yet we cannot imagine it to have exceeded salomons . nay in this spirituall building , it may be want of paines that causeth a long tractate , the better things are studied and digested , the more able shall he be to prune off unnecessary discourses , and to contract his matter into the narrower roome . fourthly , handle them often . in the french and some of the germane churches , as the sunne runnes his course in the heaven once a yeare , so do they runne through those heavenly principles in the same compasse : for which our canons have well provided also . an errour in some , who think it sufficient to go through them once in their lives , or a few of them once a yeare in lent. no , people have not such strong memories for spirituall matters , but that we had need with s. peter , e to put them in remembrance of these things often , nay alwayes ; for some kinde of meates it sufficeth they are had sometimes of the yeare in thèir seasons , but for bread there must be a daily provision . 't is so for the soule , for some points it matters not if they be seldome handled , but for the principles of the catechisme they are your necessary food , without which your soules cannot be nourished unto everlasting life , therefore it is fit that some of them should be ever sounding in your eares . and for this it selfe , let it not be thought too meane , for the cbiefe of us . you see 't is the office of f a master-builder ; and among the fathers have we not many introductions to the vulgar . lactantius his institutions , cyrill his catechismes , clemens alexandrinus paed●gogus , s. augustines enchyridion , and his booke de catechizandis rudibus and the like , saint paul was all things to all , g to the weak he became as weak , that by all means he might save some . let me for conclusion of this , exhort all without exception , unto diligence in both these particulars , viz. preaching and catechizing , which by this our brother were so neglected and lamented . be not slothfull in the lords businesse and in the lords vineyard , were it no more than the sight of those of the romish clergie in every corner , who travell sea and land to make their proselites , it should me thinkes , be enough to whet our resolutions to be more industrious : ye have heard , respect is your due , but those are only h worthy of double honour who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labourers in the word and doctrine , maintenance is your due , but 't is the i labourer is worthy of his hire . high esteem is your due , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but k for your works sake . what is the cause of late , the calling hath fallen into such contempt ? is it not for not shewing your selves l work-men , rightly dividing the word of truth . why are many of the people like those * dry places in regard of any goodnesse , which the uncleane spirit walkes through , is it not because you for preaching have passed over like * clouds and wind without raine ? what is the cause so few subiect themselves to christs scepter ? is it not because the sword of his spirit ( the word ) is not thus drawne out by you ? this and the like were the sole apostolike weapons , whereby the world was at first subdued . by these armes the fathers purg'd it of heresies and schismes , afterwards , m not by pillaring , imprisoning , obtayning imperiall edicts , ( as 't is said of s. augustine ) but by preaching . and let no man neither , n despise the day of small things . s. ambrose his first sermon de grano sinapis ( as appears by the beginning ) was preached to a o thin auditory . our saviour was content with one woman at samaria . noahs eight persons in the arke were the better auditory , though the whole old world were the greater , pretend neyther the undecencie of the church , our saviour preached out of a fisher-boate , s. paul upon the sands . where you find dead carkasses thither should yee like the eagles resort . nay , there is a way whereby all this enjoyned may not seeme a burthen to us neyther . there is a labour of lov● ( the apostle speaks of ) that wil● make us love the labour . jacob because he loved rachell though● his seven yeares service nothing ▪ what pains do we see some p tak● in hunting , fowling , &c. accompte● but a sport , because they love it ▪ how do some toyle for the love o● money , things momentanie ! and shall not our love to christ constraine us rather ? the compassion to the soules that are christs , the gaine of an immortall crown with christ , much more inflame us ? and yet there is one thing more behinde , which if we will fulfi● our ministery , must not be omitted ; which we have also solemnly promised , and that is , private admonitions . s. paul had somewhat to do q from house to house , as well as in the pulpit . embassadours have not done all in delivering their embassage publikely upon the day of audience , but there is much imployment also in private treaties . the husbandman visits his ground often after it is sowne . 't is the ignorance of some people to be all for the publike , and the neglect of some ministers to make that their stent . no , you will finde it otherwise in s. pauls epistles to timothy and titus , and 't is a thing most usefull in this kingdome , where there are so many that hate the light in publike . this was s. augustines practice too , r hee had usually a chapter read at his table , upon which he would be commenting to his guests , tooke all opportunities in private to inculcate what he had delivered before , and chiefly endeavouring to instruct those , who might be able to teach others . and this part of our function , the apostle gives a speciall caveat , that it be done with ſ meekenesse of wisdome , or else he may offend as much in admonishing , as the party who is to be admonished . t a word fitly spoken , saith salomon , is like apples of gold in pictures of silver , as an earing of gold , so is a wise reprover , &c. the word in the originall is spoken upon its wheeler , which alwayes hath the best successe , when it runnes upon these foure in a right observation of the manner , time , place and person . there was another thing you shall find often lamented by thi● our brother also , which wee must not omit , and that was his inconstancy in what we have already spoken of . he had runn● well formerly , but of late yeare● had slackt his pace , upon which i was an eare witnesse of his savoury counsell to others , by hi● example , to continue constantly ● well doing , and not to measure the●● course according to the pleasure of 〈◊〉 times . let me also commend this to you from him , as the crowne of all the former , viz. constancie . u continue in the things thou hast been assured of , &c. x these things i will that thou affirme constantly , y take heed to thy selfe , and to the doctrine , and continue in them , were the admonition of s. paul to his sonnes timothy and titus . let us intend these things , and intend them z wholly . an over active spirit that admits as inmates a multitude of other offices , to have one foot in the church , another in the city , and as if he were a tripos , a third in the campe , usually miscaries in all , qui in omnibus aliquid , in toto nihil , let every one abide in that whereunto he is cal'd . a if in the ministery , let us waite on our ministry , he that teacheth , on teaching , he that exhorteth on exhortation , and then may he expect a blessing . b zacharias received that joyfull newes of a sonne by the angell , while he was executing his priestly office in the temple . the c shepheards theirs , while they were attending their flocks by night ; the d disciples were called by our saviour to be apostles , while they were in their callings . what work you are set unto , blessed is that servant , whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing . some have been inconstant in the doctrine delivered : 't was reubens blot ( who lost his dignity ) to e be unstable as water , to be like a wave of the sea , ( to which s. james compares some ) turning according to the winde and tyde , is not becomming gods messengers , who rather are compared to f rivers , which hold their course , let the wind blow which way it will , g to be double minded , or as the psalmist h double hearted is bad , but to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 double tongu'd is worse , much condemned in deacons , ( 1 tim. 3.8 . ) and in this sense , it must needs be the more , when 't is in matter of doctrine , to deliver it sometimes one way , sometimes another . no , as s. jude v. 3. that doctrine yee have once delivered to the saints contend for ; if i i build the things which i destroyed ( saith s. paul ) j make my selfe a transgressor . k our word was not yea , and nay , that with me there should be , yea , yea , and nay , nay , &c. as the lord who sends us changeth not , so his messengers must not be changlings neither . the septuagint translation howsoever highly to be esteemed , yet by this appeares that they were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but led by a private spirit , in that they changed some things of purpose to please ptolemy and his queene , like the oracle when king philip came to enquire of it , the priests made it answer according to his humour ; but it must not be so with us . the rabbins fabulize the manna had a severall taste according to every mans palat . i know people would faine have it so , in the delivery of this heavenly manna of the word . but if we shall so studie to please men , we shall not be the servants of christ . others are inconstant for the time ; have borne fruit , but now are barren ; and yet such as are of gods planting in his house l bring forth fruit in their old age . m old men must praise god as well as children , n and so accordingly was the spirit powr'd out . the two o faithfull witnesses , their lives and preaching ended together . thus was it with s. augustine . p hee preached till his last sicknesse , being then 76. yeares old . indeed there is no doubt a decrepit old age and decay of narurall faculties , must have a dispensation . god in that case hath mercy and not sacrifice , like the q levites in the law discharged from the heaviest burthen of their office at fiftie yeares . but let us not pretend more weaknesse then is . our bodies ( make the most of them we can ) must at length fall to dust . now can they be spent in a more honourable service then the ministry ? the next degree ( i hold ) to martyrdome ? the usuall plea is indisposition of body , r timothy was such a one indeed , had many infirmities ; s. paul lov'd him dearely . yet ( though he allowed him a little wine ) does not prescribe him little preaching . his charge is still the same ( 2 epist. 4.1 . ) and me thinkes strange counsell for a weak man. the oringe tree , they write , is bearing fruit all the yeare long , as some are ripe , so others are still budding . a good emble of a preacher , as he should be weekly sending forth his labours , so providing a new againe ; in this sence , like the ſ housholder , bringing out of his treasure things new and old . oh! this constancie in preaching , and in some constant method ( though it be the meaner ) doth more good , then now and then only an elaborate sermon ; like a constant diet ( though it be course fare ) nourisheth more , then now and then a feast , when they must fast a long time betweene . object not as a discouragement that thou seest no good come of it . consider t the physition gives not alwayes his patient over , because he mends not at first . the souldier doth not raise the seige , because the city is not taken the first day . 't is possible , it may be with some of us for many yeares , as it was with s. peter for one night , he had been casting in , but v taken nothing ; yet with him , at our saviours command we must cast in againe . nay ; the x kingdome of god ( saith christ ) is like one sowing , and the seed springs and grows up , but he knows not how . thou seest no fruit ; no more did elias ( though quick sighted ) the seven thousand in israell : much is lost ; 't was our saviours own case , few converted by him , yet never man spake like him . abundance of diseased people compassed y the poole of bethesda , but there was but one healed at once , and that at a certaine season too , when an angel descended . t is so in these waters of the sanctuary , 't is well if in a great congregation one may be converted by the sermon . s. paul knew he should never gaine all , and therefore was content , if he could win but some . hast thou sowne , 't is not lost neither , if another reape the fruit after thee , as our saviour to the disciples , z others have laboured , and you have entred into their labours : be thou ever with a s. paul and apollo , planting or watring , and commit the increase to god that must give it . b pray for the descent of this dew of heaven whereby it may spring , but if it be with-held , for thy selfe , remember the speech of the prophet , isa . 49.4 . j have laboured in vaine , j have spent my strength for nought , yet my judgement is with the lord , and my reward with my god ; thy reward shall be secundum laborem , non secundum proventum . if mocks and reproaches befall you , be not troubled , vipers will leape upon pauls hands . shake them off as he did , no hurt shall come unto you . c be faithfull unto death , and ye shall receive the crowne of life . and thus having supplied that which this our brother had desired to have done himself ( though much larger then i had at first intended ) concerning the commission of preaching in the generall , i am now further invited by the text to a consideration of the severall parts of it also , which are these two , an information , to open their eyes ; an exhortation , to turn them from darknesse , &c. first observe , it is our duty to open the eyes of men , ( i. e. ) their understandings for matter of knowledge , as mal. 2.7 . the priests lips should preserve knowledge . the popish priests do what they can to close the peoples eyes , 't is our profession to cleare them . how often to this purpose have ye the prayer of the apostle , that the d eyes of their understandings may be enlightned , that they may e increase in knowledge , and in all judgment . from hence then must follow these two requisites in a preacher . 1. ability in themselves to open . 2. perspicuity in a plaine open expression to the people . first , ability for matter of learning ; how can they open the eyes of others , when they are blinde themselves ? shall we in this sense expect night unto night to shew knowledge . they are called lights . now as f s. jerom , if the light which be in the minister the head be darknesse , how great must the darknesse be in the body of the people ? they are leaders , should not they then know the way themselves ? it was an ill case with the israelites , g when their watchmen were all blinde and dumbe , shepheards that did not understand , &c. and surely those who lay hands on such h are partakers of other mens sinnes , and ought to beare their iudgement . st. chrysostome i thought it just , they should be both punished alike , notwithstanding any excuse or mistake in them . the prophet speaking of such saith , k woe to the idoll shepheard . and the psalmists description agrees to them , who m have eyes and see not , neither speake they through their throate , and they that make them are like unto them . some reade it , vae pastori nihili , and an idoll is nothing in the world . ( 1 cor. 8. ) the complaint of a father in his time may be taken up for some dioceses now . curritur in ecclesiae curas passim ab omni aetate & ordine doctis pariter & indoctis , tanquam sine cura iam quisque victurus sit , quum ad curas pervenerit . the calling of the ministry is mysterious ; now if for n arts and ordinary trades , men do not take the profession on them till they have bin some years practised in them . how much more cause have we to be many years at the schooles of the prophets , to gain o the tongue of the learned , before we assume this p ministration of the spirit . that of our saviour is observable , that though he was able enough at twelve yeares , yet he preached not till he was q thirty , r by that perfect age ( saith gregory ) implying the perfection of parts requisite to that function , being as s. chrysostome , onus angelicis humeris formidandum . what presumption is it thē ( saith the same father ) ſ for men to be ambitious of being shepheards , when they are scarce sheep ? to be captaines , when they are hardly christs souldiers , to guide the sterne before they know how to handle the ore ? the apostles were first disciples before doctors , learners before leaders . and as our saviour bade them tarry at hierusalem , till they should be endowed with power from on high : so 't is good counsell for many to returne to the university , till they are better furnisht ; and like the wise virgins , to be sparing in the storing of others with oyle , least they have not enough for themselves , 't is good in this as in other matters , to be swift to hear , but slow to speake , till they be fit for it . ahimaaz that was so eager to be sent , and out-ran cushi , when he came spake little to the purpose . and so it is with some hasty spirits for the ministry , they that come in after them , like cushi doe their message more fully . t the bees in tempestious weather ( t is s. ambrose his similitude ) use to ballance themselves with little stones , least in their flight they should be overborne by it , it is good counsell for us in this kingdome , where we shall meet , with so many storming adversaries to gain-say us , we had need to be well poysed with sound and solid knowledge , least we be carryed away with every winde of doctrine . for want of this it comes to passe that some feed their people indeed , but it is with an empty spoone , little or no matter , vox & praeterea nihil , like the foolish virgins lamps , but little oyle . instead of polishing the corner stones of the temple , their doctrine is but daubing with untempered morter . a formall out-side of preaching , but if it were weiged in the ballance of the sanctuary , would be found very light , little substance in it . 2. perspicuity and plainnesse in their sermons ; what hope is there of opening mens understandings , when the matter delivered is closed up from them . t was s. pauls aime u to speake words easie to be understood , and so it should be ours also . there is little difference in speaking in an unknowne tongue , and speaking of things in an unknowne stile . these strong lines and forced eloquence in so high a language , doth little suite with gods oracles , lesse fit that word that must save the soule . ( a fault which this our brother much condemned himselfe for . ) the idolatrous calfe was of gold , but the serpent that gave life , was made of plaine brasse . the altar was to be but of earth , or unpolisht stone . types-indeede they were of the meane hue of christ himselfe . but they may resemble the plainnesse of his word too , which was usually illustrated by earthly similitudes , rather solid in the matter , then guilded in the stile . our saviour preached not as he himselfe was able , but as the people were able to heare . x saint paul professes he came not in the inticing words of mans wisdome or excellency of speech . y we are not as many ( saith hee ) who corrupt the word of god , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a metaphor from hucksters . that in the law z thou shalt not sow thy vineyards with divers kinds of seeds , is of force still in this particular : we must not blend the pure seed of the word , with the chaffe and darnell of our owne conceits . t is a good rule , that seeing we are christs messengers , we should so preach as in our consciences wee are perswaded hee would have us , or as we thinke the apostles would , if they were present themselves , whom wee doe succeed ; this were to doe it in sincerity , when with s. paul , as of god in the sight of god , so speak we in christ . i wonder with what face , some can pray before him who is the searcher of the hearts , for the conversiō of their hearers by their sermon , when res ipsa loquitur , there can be no such meaning in them , but rather their owne a applause . painted glasse is the more costly , but plainer is the more perspicuous , and so the more usefull : men may spend much time to paint and set out their sermons , but the plainer the more profitable . the childe thrives more with the meer milke of the brest , than all other sweet meats whatsoever . and t is sure the b sincere milke of the word ( as s. peter cals it ) drawne out of the two brests of the church , the old and new testament , nourisheth more to everlasting life , then all other placentia , men-pleasing oratory whatsoever . c the word in the parable is compared to a net , the world to the sea , men to fishes . if we will have the fish catched , the net must be spread and unfolded , and so must the word be explained if we will be fishers of men . and from this , let none on the other side collect , as if a rudenesse of speech were justified , the apparrelling this heavenly wisdome in some tattered stile . no eccles . 12.9 . because the preacher was wise , he gave good heed , and sought out words , and set them in order , he sought out fit words , &c. apta non alta , and certainely t is the upshot of all learning to distinguish aptly and clearly of that which is confused , and to illustrate plainely that which is obscure . some have a faculty to speake obscurely of a plain subiect , as if according to that threatning in the prophet , d they would cause , the sun to goe downe at noone . to doe gods worke negligently , ye know is cursed ; wee must doe herein , as david , ( 1 chron. 29.2 . ) who prepared with all his might for the house of god , the oyle in the lamps of the tabernacle must be beaten ( exod. 27.29 . ) to signifie we must beat our braines in the preparing for the light of the word , not in this sense , to offer ex tempore unto god that which cost us nothing : no , it ought to be with some labour and paines . yet as s. augustine saith well , there is quaedam diligens negligentia , commendable in a preacher , neither to have his phrase too curious , nor too carelesse , quae sic ornatum detrahit , ut sordes non contrahit . while the temple was in framing in mount libanus , there was doubtlesse the use of all tooles , but when it was set up , t is said e there was not then either hammer or axe or any toole of iron heard in it . it may be applyed to this spirituall building , while the sermon is in framing in the study , make use of all authours , but in the very delivery of it in the temple to the people , what needes there the noyse of so many names of fathers and other writers , which often drownes the matter it selfe , and the producing of heathen poets . me thinkes t is like the bringing of the uncircumcised into gods house , of all the most unfitting . if thou shalt lift up such tooles upon it , ( as t is said of the * altar ) thou hast polluted it . in a word , so preach , that the hearer may be convicted , his heart discovered , his tongue confesse not that learning , wit , or eloquence , but f that god is in you indeed , that your tongues are touch'd with a coale from gods altar . preaching consists not in flashes and rhetoricall descants , and such like g pleasing vanities , but in the power and demonstration of the spirit , in enlightning the mind , in wounding the conscience , and healing it againe . h the teares of the people are a preachers praise , saith st. hierome . the words of the wise saith salomon are as goades and nailes . dicuntur pungere , non palpare , saith the same father , not to stroake but to pierce , not to flatter , but to fright men out of their evill courses , and so much for the first part of the commission , to open their eyes . 2. the second part of the commission , to turn them from darknesse to light , from the power of satan unto god , no great difference betweene them : for as sinne is often set out by darkenesse , so is satan called the power and the prince of darknesse . as grace is often resembled by light , so is god also called light it selfe , the father of light , &c. howsoever if this be a preachers office to turne others , this conclusion must necessarily follow also , viz. hee must be first turned himselfe : they must not then be such as live in the works of darknesse , and under the power of satan themselves . i what effect can that embassadour expect , when his actions shall contradict his treaties ? can he hope to draw others to take the oath of allegiance when he refuseth it himselfe ? when our lives do not second our doctrine , we shall but pull downe with one hand , what we build up with the other . he that would have a sermon effectuall ( saith a father ) k must first reade it in himselfe , he can only speake as he ought , who lives as he should . what sweetnesse can there be in that speech to the hearers , when 't is contradicted within the conscience of the speaker . they can care but little for his counsell who is himselfe carelesse of his life . how shall he blesse the people , when he is in a cursed estate himselfe ? how shall he give the body of christ to others , who is not a member himselfe ? as neither the blinde nor lame sacrifice were accepted with god ( hab. 1. ) so are they as unprofitable with man , the blinde in knowledge , the halt in conversation . praedicat viv● voce , qui vitâ & voce . s. pau● bids timothy be l an example to the beleevers in his conversation . titus in all things to shew himselfe a patterne of good works gravity , &c. s. peter exhort the elders to be examples to th● flocke , 't is the same word in all three , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a metaphor from a seale or stampe , to which the people are like the waxe or paper , who accordingly receive their print . st. ambrose well cals the ministers life , the m peoples looking-glasse according to which they usually dresse themselves , as taking whatsoever hee doth to be gospell ; now if the glasse be false , n the eye be evill , how can the whole body but be disordered and full of darkenesse ? nay , hee ought to flye the very suspition * of his fame , that he be not so much as accused or ill reported . his life should be like the land of goshen o light , though all the rest of aegypt be darke . like gideons fleece wet with the dew of heaven , though all the ground about be dry . gregory well compares the preacher to the cocke , as in his message , which is to cry p with saint paul , nox praecessit , &c. the night is past , the day is at hand : so in his prepation , qui prius alis insonat , quam cantus emittat ; first , wakes himselfe before hee wakes others , q so ( saith he ) should a preacher , first shake off the dust of his owne feete , and then take care to cleane others ; first moove himselfe in good workes , and then draw and drive on others ; first repent himselfe , and then denounce a iudgement on them that doe not : and for this exemplary innocent life , both in your selves and families , hath it not beene seriously charged and solemnely vowed , both at your ordination and consecration , many prayers then made for you in it , if so be it be yet in vaine . and certainely it is a thing most necessary in this kingdome , where there are so many that will not heare our words , there our workes must be the preacher , where they shut their eyes against the light of the word , there the light of our lives must shine before them . and examples are the stronger cords of the two . what wee say proverbially of the plough , that it thrives best when the husbandman saith not , ite , but venite : soe 't is with the seede of the word , when the sower can say with saint paul , r be followers of me , as you see mee doe , doe likewise . the life and doctrine are like that signe of castor and pollux , when they are seene together , are a presage of a prosperous voyage , when asunder , they portend a dangerous storme . ſ if thou livest well ( saith saint hierome ) thou art as the spirituall man , judge of all ; if thou teachest well and livest ill , a judge only of thy selfe , and iudged of all . by thy teaching thou tels the people how to live , by thy life thou shewest god how to condemne thy selfe . there are some like nebuchadnezzars image , the head was of gold , but the feete of clay . they have golden wits , but their conversation is earthly and sensuall , whether that be true or no that is proverbially said of tusser , that he wrote excellently well of husbandry , but himselfe was the worst husband that ever water wet ; 't is true of many in this sense , who can preach very well to save others , but t cast away themselves . in a word , let us so teach and so doe , that wee may u both save our selves , and them that heare us . and thomas aquinas makes it a greater difficulty for a prelate to bee saved , than another man , for this reason , x because hee hath other mens sinnes lying upon him , besides his owne ; and for the same cause y saint chrysostome saith the like of ministers also , and that seriously , that he thought few of them would be saved , both because more is expected from them than from others , and their sinnes greater than the sinnes of others . the hazard of which z saint augustine saith was the cause hee so wept at his consecration . the like saith a saint ambrose , no office more excellent , and if they fall none more dangerous . b a great honour , saith saint hierom , but ▪ if they sinne , a great fall , the one is not such a ioy , as the other a sadnesse . the nearer wee approach to god in our service , the greater is the offence , if wee shall runne into rebellion . see the apostles argument , rom. 2.21 , 22 , 23 , 24. thou that teachest another , teachest thou not thy selfe ? thou that preachest , &c. in the law 't is observed the measures and weights of the sanctuary were double to the common , and so are the sinnes of the officers of gods sanctuary that draw nigh to him , double and treble to the same sinnes in the common-people . if the c priest annoynted did sinne , his offering for expiation , was to be as much as for the sinne of the whole congregation ; so the sinnes of such as are consecrated and set apart for gods service require a deeper measure of repentance ; a greater portion of sorrow , than might suffice for many others , by how much they are the more scandalous . and hath not this of late beene the cause of the contempt of our calling ? that the vulgar ( though erroneously ) have argued from the persons to the offices , according to that of malac. 7.8 . because yee have departed out of the way , and corrupted the covenant of levi , therefore have i made you base and contemptible before all the people , according as you have not kept my wayes . a good strict life , needs no other helpe to gaine respect . vice usually stands in awe of vertue . see but that instance in d herod who feared john , and observed him , because he was a iust man and a holy , &c. t is the prescription of saint paul to e timothy and titus for it : i speake the more of it in regard the contrary hath been pretended , as the originall of all these stirres . a present lamentable example wee have in this person , the fruit of whose life hath beene this ignominious death , both scandalous , both lamented . yet in this differing , his life a continuall spirituall death , his death a beginning , and a great progresse of a spirituall life . let him die in your thoughts for his life , but let him live in your memories by his penitent death , forget the former , and imitate the latter . and thus we have considered the second part of the text , applicatory to this our brother , as it was to have beene his employment towards others . a word of it only as it was effectually found in himselfe ; and so wee shall have done with it : yee have heere a threefold metaphoricall description of the sinfull state of nature before conversion , and the state of grace after it . the former by a 1. blindnesse . 2. darknesse . 3. slavery . the latter by a 1. sight . 2. light. 3. liberty . the division of the former is somewhat like saint johns tricotomize , &c. referring f all in the world to the eye , the flesh , and life , according to the usuall distinction of sinnes , into those of the heart , fact , and custome . the first ex ignorantiâ , the second ex infirmitate , the third ex studio . as this sinfull condition by nature is a dead estate , you may g perceive three degrees of it , according to a distinction of saint augustines . the first ( blindnesse ) is like the man dead in his bed. the second ( darknesse ) put into his coffin . the third ( vnder the power of satan ) layd in his grave . three such our saviour raysed to life . h jairus his daughter in her bed within doors . i the widdow of naims sonne in his coffin carrying out . k and lazarus putrifying in his grave ; all were miracles , but the last the greatest . such severall degrees of sinners is saint paul here sent to rayse from the death of sinne , to the life of grace , to the last degree of which ( to magnifie gods mercy the more ) was this our brother fallen , and raysed againe by repentance . 1. the first degree of our wretched estate before conversion is set out by a blindnesse ( to open their eyes , therfore blind before ) which indeed is like his , john 9.1 . from our very birth . and yet in many things , this of the soule is worse than that of the body . he that is blind in body is glad of a guide , these often scorne instruction , the former thinkes them happy that see and desires it , these despise such , and will not see though they might . the one beleeves he is blind and laments it . the other thinkes hee sees well enough , like the pharisees , ( john 9.41 . ) the corporally blind sometimes excell in parts of the minde , as memory , &c. but a man spiritually blind , hath no good thing in him at all . 2. the second by a darkenesse , as the world the first day of the creation was empty and voyde wrapt up in a confused darknesse , such is our estate , as we are borne at first , voyd of all good ( rom. 7.18 . ) darkenesse in the vnderstanding , confusion in the affections , and conscience . and there is some similitude between them . first a man in darkenesse is subject to errour , so are such to go astray , resembled in the lost * groate and sheepe . secondly , subject to * stumbling , so are these to dangerous fals and scandals in their lives , till they slip at last into that pit of darknesse . thirdly , insensible of any evill before them . so are these of hell and damnation , let them be never so often warned . fourthly , subject to mistakes , to thinke they are right when they are wrong . so are such often strongly conceited , they are in the way to heaven , and yet posting the contrary . lastly , subject to feares and frights , such is the case of those , who live in the works of darkenesse , they have many horrours and scarres within their consciences , especially if they fall into any danger of death , by sicknesse , or any other accident , the same which this our brother often acknowledged to have beene his condition before his conversion . 3. thirdly , by a slavery , and the worst of any ( omni malo & exitio peior ) under the power or thraldome of satan ( 2 tim. 2.26 . ) an emblem of it ye have in sampson , who had his eyes first pul'd out by the philistines , and then bound in fetters , and made to grinde in the prison , t is so expressed , esay 42.7 ▪ to open the blinde eyes , to bring out the prisoners from the prison-house . signified somewhat by the jsraelites miserable estate in the aegyptian bondage . they were in a strange countrey , and so the more helpelesse , hopelesse . such is this , where we are pilgrims and strangers : the taske-masters may resemble the buffetings and cruell exactions of our spirituall enemies . pharoah commands to have their children killed in the birth , and so doth satan endeavour daily to crush the very first motions and beginnings of any spirituall birth in us , like the dragon in the revelation , l when he could not murther the mother , attempted the child as soone as it was borne . sinne is in us as in the streame ; in adam as in the spring ; in the divell as in the sea , from whom as all comes , so to whom all that dye in them must return , and yet heerin as anselme observes by some circumstances the schollar exceeds the master , the sinnes of men may be greater than satans m ( saith he ) he sinnes against god reprobating him , man against god recalling him . he is hardened against the punisher of him , man against the allurer . hee against one not seeking him , man against one dying for him . for the state of grace by conversion . t is 1. set forth here by sight ( to open ) corporall miracles are ceased , but behold a spirituall , the greater remains . if any should question us , whether the word we preach be christs , we may reply as our saviour to the like from john by his disciples , * goe , tell him the blinde see , the lame walke , &c. my workes testifie of me . and indeed it is christs worke originally , though instrumentally ours . elisha may send his servant , and his staffe , but no life to the n shunamites childe till he come himselfe . the cocke may crow twice or thrice , but peter remembers not himself o till christ lookes on him . as t is not all the outward light in the sunne will make a man see if there be wanting the light in the eye within . p so all outward admonitions availe not , without the seconding of them by his spirit . the first thing made in the creation was light , and so it is in the regeneration , the lightning of the conscience , which salomon cals the q candle of the lord , searching all the inward parts of the heart , ( and this was it that gave the first token of spirituall life in this our brother . ) 2. by light , as matth. 4.16 . the people that sate in darkenesse saw great light , and by it ( to omit divers others ) is especially signified * comfort , as the contrary is usually meant by darknesse . observe hence ; that conversion puts a man into a lightsome and cheerfull condition . see psal . 97.11 . luk. 1.79 . matth. 9.2 . be of good cheere , &c. obiect . it doth not seeme so , but rather that wicked men have the merriest lives . answ . first , you must not alwayes judge of mirth by outward laughter , men sometimes laugh more at a jest than at the news of a pardon : but they are said to joy in the latter not in the former . secondly , it may be the fault of some christians like r sampsons wife to weepe all the dayes of the feast , like mary magdalen lamenting the losse of christ , and yet shee was talking with him . men may be in the estate of joy , and yet not apprehend it . like ſ hagar , though there was a fountaine of water neere her , yet till god opened her eyes to see it cryes out for thirst . thirdly , if wee shall take a survey of this carnall mirth , wee shall finde it not worth the naming . for the brevitie , job saith enough , t it lasteth but for a moment . if like jonas his gourd it come up in one night , it withers the next , usually like that creature the naturalist speakes off , which dies the same day it is brought forth . if like the marygold their hearts open in mirth at sunne-rising , they shut againe in sadnesse before it be down . if it hath any light in it , 't is like that of a candle * ( as salomon compares it to ) that gives a faire light in a roome for the present , but the least puffe of winde puts all out . in the midst of their jollitie the least frowne of a superiour , a thwart of an equall , any affront of an inferiour imbitters all . onely mordecai's stiffe knee , so turnes the edge u of hamans proud heart , that all his honour avayld him nothing . x nabal can bee merry enough at his drunken feast ore night , but a little ill newes told him in the morning makes his heart to sinke within him like a stone . while the play lasts the sensualist laughs , when t' is done hee is in his dumps againe . whil'st the gamester winnes , hee is well pleased , but when the game once turnes , and hee hath made all away , hee is ready to make away himselfe . for the fruite of it , tell mee you that give your selves to pleasure all the day , doth not a heavie heartednesse conclude it in the evening ? doth not usually such sensuall mirth goe out like a candle ? leaves the stinke of a snuffe behinde it , damps and sore griefes within your consciences . i am sure it was that which this our brother often acknowledged , and it had beene said by solamon before him , prover . 14.13 . in their laughter their heart is sorrowfull . ( see the shortnesse ) and the end of their mirth is heavinesse , ( see the issue : ) one sitly compares it to lightning , which as it is but a flash and away , so the fruit of it is but a blast upon the heart , and as after a lightning often followes a thunder . so after this flashy mirth , loud cryes and tempests in the conscience , take one with the other , and in reason 't is not worth the having . but this spirituall joy y adds no such sorrow with it , and even though z sorrowing , yet alwayes rejoycing , the poore condition of the former , see isaiah 24.7 , 8. and the magnanimitie of the latter , hab. 3.17 . of both which , having so lately tasted , how savoury have i heard this our brother thus to distinguish . 3. thirdly by a setting at libertie ( from the power of satan ) so 't is expressed ( luke 4.18 . ) to preach deliverance , and setting at libertie them that were bruised . before every lust was a commander , the divell generall , but now hee is delivered from them all , and out of the heaviest yoake of thraldome , to the most glorious libertie , even of the sonnes of god. to ransome , or rescue a christian from the slavery of the turkes was ever accompted an honourable act , but the converting of a sinner from the errour of his way , must needs exceed it . i neede not tell you , 't is gods act thus to a enlarge the heart , 't is plaine it must be so , if you consider but the strength of him under whom wee are bound , and see how especially it is given to the blessed trinitie . god the b father drawes , 't is the c sonne which makes you free indeed . where the d spirit of the lord is , there is a libertie . what little freedome of will wee have naturally to any saving good , this our brother would sufficiently testifie in himselfe , * who for a long time , ( though he wanted no apprehension of his miserie ) continued stupid and senselesse , heavily complaining for the want of a spirit of compunction . well he was once e held with the cords of his owne sinnes , f in the snare of the divell , taken captive of him at his will , but g blessed be the lord that hath not given him as a prey unto his teeth , his soule is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fouler , the snare is broken , and he is delivered . and now having seene the enlargement of him : let us in conclusion take a short view of the latitude of gods mercy to him ( which stands alwayes wide open to penitent sinners , ) in the third and last part of the text , the happy fruit of all , in his receiving forgivenesse . for the doctrine hence observeable , that wheresoever there is true repentance given , there is h forgivenesse attained . i shall not neede to enter into any further declaration , so many worthy late divines have so fully opened it , that i should but light a candle to the sunne in it . onely let mee ▪ say thus much , that if saint paul were the i first upon whom jesus christ did shew forth all long suffering and mercy for a patterne for them that should be hereafter , this our brother might be a second in whom gods mercy hath beene infinitely magnified . in his owne judgement hee censured himselfe above all former presidents whatsoever , even of manasses himselfe , who hee thought had not that knowledge , was not trusted with that function , and incurred not that scandall . and yet , for this particular , hee had it not onely by evident arguments made apparent to him , but also by a rare measure of spirituall refreshings sealed within him . a high sinner , a deepe repentance . and loe , a large dole of comfort . and let it not seeme so improbable , that so great a sinner upon so humble a contrition , should have such an enlightning . our saviour appeared first to k mary magdalene before all others , who had seven divels cast out of her . saint peter had fowly denyed his master with oathes and curses , yet after his bitter weeping our saviour appeared l to him , before hee did to the rest ; and the angels gave a more m speciall charge to tell the blessed newes of his resurrection to him than to the others . 't is true he was but an infant for his time , ( 't was his owne speech , hee reckoned himselfe but a weeke old , ) now for infants the father sometimes smile more upon them , take them oftner in their armes , then when they come to further yeares . and such is found by experience to be n gods dealing with some of his at their first conversion ; when the o israelites were newly delivered out of egypt , god was more carefull at that instant for their peaceable travell , than afterwards . ( exod. 13.17 . ) more mirth was made at the very returne of the prodigall , than had beene for the other brother , that had never so offended . more joy for the returne of one lost sheepe , than for the ninety-nine , not gone astray . and if wee can be perswaded , hee might reape a full crop of joy in heaven , afterwards ; why may it not be beleeved , he might receive some first fruits , as an earnest , some few houres before here . concerning these spirituall refreshings , some of our practicall divines observe these particulars . that eyther they follow some p deepe humiliation ( esay 66.2 . ) i will looke to him that is of a contrite spirit , &c. or as a reward after a conflict with victory . ( revel . 2.17 . ) to him that overcommeth will i give of the hidden manna , &c. sometimes it is accompanied with satans malice , like saint paul after his revelations , had the messenger satan buffeting him , ( 2 cor. 12.7 . ) the effects are some extraordinary spirit of prayer . ( romans 8.15 , 26. ) a further abasement of the party himselfe , as job after he had seene god , ( chap. 42.5 , 6. ) an undervaluing all the things of this world in respect of it , as david ( psalm . 4.7 . ) a longing to have that joy in i'ts fulnesse , like saint paul , after his ●aptures , wishing to be dissolved ( philip. 1.23 . ) and for the ●ime 't is observed usually to be against some heavy tryall , a vi●ticum against the approach of death , or the like . now all ●hese were evidently found in him : his sorrow was deepe , his conflicts many , the effects were to my admiration , and the time very seasonable , being deferred till that very morning before his execution , ( the cause i beleeve of his so undaunted a spirit at the sight of it . ) well , you see how fitly repentance may be tearmed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r the roote is bitter , but the fruite sweete , 't is a stormy voyage , but a rich returne , a sharpe medicine , but very soveraigne . at the entrance 't is like our saviours draught of gall , and vinegar , but the conclusion is like the end of jonathons rod dipped in a hony-combe , the end of that man is in peace and joy . poure out as many teares upon thy selfe offering to god , a● ſ elijah did water the second and third time upon his sacrifice at mount carmel , the fire o● gods spirit shall descend , and licke up those drops into spirituall joyes , and dry up all teares from thine eyes . the spirit of the lord may bee well said t to moove upon the face of such waters . these rivers as they have their head in paradise , their spring in heaven ; so they returne to heaven againe . this holy water drawne at this spirituall marriage , will christ turne into wine indeed , give such the u garments of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse . to conclude , how can it be , but a joyfull estate , when a man is assured his sinnes are forgiven . if wee consider it , in these three things . hee hath peace with god. peace of conscience . peace with death . the two latter , are consequences of the first . 1. first , hee hath peace with god , rom. 5.1 . they report some fires nothing will quench them but blood. 't is true of the wrath of god for sinne , nothing but the blood of christ can appease . it was rehoboams speech to the israelites , my little finger shall be heavier than my fathers ioines . 't is true in this sence , for sinne , the least degree of gods displeasure , is more than all the worlds . a man without this peace , be he deckt with jewels , is but like a faire roome richly hung , but wants a roofe , who would make choice of it for his lodging . such is the man be he never so gorgeously appareld , if hee lyes yet open to the revenge of heaven , whose iniquities are not covered . let it be the prayse of italy to be the garden of the world : it is a christians happinesse , to be the garden of god , that the tree of life is in the midst of him , that god is at peace with him . 2. hee hath peace of conscience . the earth no outward weight can moove , yet the stirring of a few unruly vapours within , will make some parts to quake : there are some men , no outward crosses can trouble , but the guilt of some secret sinnes within hath made them y tremble . the soule of a wicked man is often like a * troubled sea , or like the ship in a storme the disciples were tossed in , but as soone as christ entred , there was a calme . so as soone as the conscience is possest of christ , there is peace . some when they are disquieted in their minds , do as david wished hee could doe ( psalm . 55.7 . ) when fearefulnesse and horrour overwhelmed him , oh , that j had wings like a dove , then would j flie away and be at rest , goe travell , as if they would out-ride the cry of conscience which they carry with them . some send for musicke , as saul for a harper when his evill spirit came upon him . others deale with their consciences , that thus arrest them in gods name , as some have done with the serjeant , make him drunke , and so z escape him . these wayes and the like had this our brother tryed formerly , but found no sound peace , till he thus turned to christ , the prince of it . the marriners in that mighty tempest , rowed hard to get the ship to land , but no meanes would do , till * jonas was cast out , and then presently the sea ceased from her raging , i have beene a witnesse of strong tempests raysed within his conscience , when he first grew sensible , but after he had a disburdn'd it , and out with those pressing sinnes , in such salt and overflowing teares , in confession and repentance , he soone found the fruit of that call of our saviour . * come unto mee you that are weary and heavy laden , and j will give you rest . having like noahs dove strayed from the arke of christ , he found no rest for the feete of his soule , till he returned to christ againe . 't is a usuall division of those foure sorts of consciences , a quiet but not 〈◊〉 good , neyther good nor quiet , 〈◊〉 good , but not a quiet , both good and quiet . the two former he had experience of in his life , the two latter neere his death , the misery of the one , and the happinesse of the other ( which he had so lately exchanged ) how sensibly have i heard him expresse , apprehending in the deepest degree of his humiliation , more true content , than in the height of all his sinnefull pleasures : chrysostome cals the conscience b gods coine , wherein as the kings image is in his , so is gods instamped in this . and therefore as we give that which is cesars to cesar , so he exhorts , to give this which is gods to god : and a c good conscience before god and man , 't is the richest pearle , the most invaluable treasure under heaven , saint pauls glory and joy ( 1 corinth . 1.12 . acts 23.1 . ) 3. thirdly , he hath peace with death : d a bee without her sting is more feared then hurtfull : 't is so with this , once freed from the guilt of sinne , the d sting of it . he that knowes he owes nothing , flies not the approach of the bayliffe . he that is assured of the blotting out of the hand-writing that was against him needs not to shunne the arrest of death . be it sudden , yet 't is not untimely to him . what a measure of this christian valour was found in this our brother after this spirituall sealing , hath been * manifested before many witnesses , and needs not any repetition here . only observe what this blessed change in him , had wrought in others , of him . he once wept much by himself in private , when the tongues of men with good cause were open against him in publike ; now teares of all sorts are shed for him publikely , when he had comforts within himself secretly . he that was hated at his condemnation , is lov'd at his execution . such as were grieved at his life , are comforted at his death ▪ he began with his owne teares , he departs with the sobs of others . and i doubt not , but what he sowed in teares , he reapes in joy , what was seal'd here on earth , is ratified in heaven . from a death temporall he is passed to a life eternall : unto which god of his mercy bring us all , for the merits of his deare sonne . to whom with the father and the holy spirit , be all honour and glory new and evermore , amen . finis . errata in the relation . pag. 4. marg . l 16. r de via . p. 7. l. 19. r. their prisoners . l. 10. r. h●s throne p. 11. l 8 m. r. lenic p. 23 l. 8 m. r. admisceat p. 29. l. 28. m nam r. now. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a27497-e270 a epist . 31. b eras . in ep. ad arc. toled . an op . august & possidō . de vit . august . in ipsâ mensâ potius disputationem quam opulation●m d●lig●bat . c ibid. quasi deus voluerit in augustino tanquā in una tabulâ vividum quoddam exemplar episcopi represeatare omnibus virtutum numeru abselutum , &c. d fred. spanhemius professor of divinity in geneva ( dubiorum evangelicorum parte tertia ) in his epistle dedicatory , largely p. bertius in tabul . geograph . speaking of dublin and the colledge , addes this only , fameuse pour la presence de iacobus vsserius theologien honime de gran le crudition & piete , & sur tout celebre par ses escrits , natif . de dublin . ioan selden , marmor arundell in editionis causa , reverend ss antistes jacobus usserius archiep armachanus , vir summâ pieta●e , judicio singulari , usque , ad miraculum doctus , & literis severioribus promovendis natus , &c i● . casaubonus , abrah scultetus , cambden : with divers others . by which , it is evident , that if some so advanced have miscarried , the fault hath not bin ( as the vulgar apprehends ) in the soyle , but in the seed : et hisce commemorandis , nos vel utilitati publicae grat ulamur , vel divinae benignitati gratamur . vt est enim modestiae , non agnoscere laudes , ita gratitudinis , non tacere viros , per quos deus tanta commoda largitur humano generi . e 1 cor. 9 16. f 2 cor. 4.8 . g egregia virtutis exempla veluti lumen in edito ponenda sunt , ut omnibus praeluceāt , multosq , ad aemulationem accendant . h mat 5.15 , 16. i rom. 11.14 . k lu. 10.37 notes for div a27497-e1170 a 1 cor. 11.32 , 33. s. august . brings in god thus saying from heaven to a penitent sinner . parcamus huic homini , quia ipse sibi non pepercit , agnescamus , quia ipse agnoscit , conversus est ad puniendum se , convertar & ego ad liberandum . in psal . 84. b 2 chro. ●2 . 20 . c peccavi peccatum grande , turbata est conscientia , sed non perturbabitur , quoniam vulnera domini recordabor , non despero , quoniam ubi abundaverūt delicta , superabundavit . & gratia . aug. d jonah 3 6. exod. 33-4 . poenitentes serico & purpura in duti , christum induere sincerè non possunt . cypr. qui deo appropinquas , non vestiū quaere ornamenta , sed morum . aug. e the light is sweet , and a pleasant thing it is , for the eyes to see the sunne , eccles . 11.7 . the light of the eyes reioyeeth the heart , prov. 15.30 . f jer. 15.17 . i sate alone , &c. lam. 3.28 . he sitteth alone and keepes silence , &c. zach. 1● . 12 . every family apart , &c. peter went out of the company and wept , luk 22.62 . quamdiu quis permistus est turbis , & in multitudine fluctuantium volutatur , non vacat deo , nec potest esse sanctus . origin . hom. 8. sup . levit. iohannes in eten●o nutritur , christum expectat in solitudine . s , chrysost . compa●es penitents remaining still amongst company , to trees by the high-way side , whose fruitseldome comes to maturity , therefore ( saith he ) when thou repentest , recede de iva , & planta te in loco secreto , ut nec mundus tecum ●habeat aliquid commune , nec tu munde , &c. sup . mat. g 1 sam. 12 , 16 , &c. i●iunium purgat mentem , subiicit spiritui carnem , cor facit contritum , & humiliatum , conscientiae nebulas disperdit , aug. in serm . de jeiun . poenitentia quasi punientia , quòd poeniten do se punit . hug. de myst. eccles . h ioh. 19.41 . ioseph of aromathea had his sepulchre in his garden ; miser homo quare omni horâ te non disponis , cogita te iam mortuum , quem sis necessitate moriturum , cogita , qualiter oculi vertentutin capite , venae rumpentur , cor scindetur , &c. m in tribunal mentis ascēde contrate , & reū constitue ante te , noli te ponere pos : te , ne deus te ponat ante te . aug. de util . agend pen. n non dolere quia peccaveris magis irasci facit deum , quàm illud peccatum , quod ante perpetraveris . chrys . in mas. o simulata sanctitas est duplex iniquitas . aug. p see rom. 2.1 , 2 , 3 , 21 , 27 , 23 q see amos 1 2. for three transgressions & for foure , &c frequētet lugens & peccans vix veniam obtinet , nihil prosunt lachrymae , si replicantur peccata , nihil valet veniam poscere , & denuò iterate . aug. r poenitentis est contemplati quid ipse sit , quid intra se , quid extra , quid infra , quid supra , quid contra , quid ante , quid postea sic , chrys . de symbol . ſ plenissima peccatorum obtinctur ablutio , quando totius ecclesiae una est oratio , imò duoeum vel trium sanctorum pio consensui omnia quae poposcerint dominus praestanda promisit , praecipua est ratio utilitatis ubi vigilat cura communis . leo. t etsi datum fuisset voluntati , posse state , ne caderet , non tamen re surgere si caderet , non enim tam facile est exire de fov●â quā in eam labi , po●es à te deficere , sed teipsum reficere non potes , ille reficit , quite fecit , aug. in psal . 91. see this subject fully opened , and the ancient doctrine of the church declared in the now lord primates answers to the iesuits challenge of free-will . u act. 5.31 . 2 tim. 3.15 . a quo ho no habet ut sit , apud illum habet ut benè sit , conversio non homini , sed deo fit ascribenda . aug : * phil. 2.13 . x zach. 12.10 . y zach. 13.1 . z ioh 5.7 . a neh. 1.11 . b mat. 11.28 . c ioh. 7.37 . rev. 22.17 . d cum deus mentem ingreditur , procul dubiò mox poenitentiae gemitus sequatur . greg. e iudg. 13.23 . f necessaria est poenitentia , quae aut aequet erimina aut excedat . hie. 10. ● . g quia tui plenus non sum ideo mihi oneti sum . aug. conf. h oratio deum levit , sed lachryma cogit , oratio sicca , est bonum opus , at quādo per lachrymas irrigatur , est holocaustū pingue . greg. in psal . 20. i nolite cōtemnere peccata , quia minima , sed timete quia plura ; timenda ruina multitudinis , etsi non magnitudinis , nonne bestiae minutae , si multae , necant , guttae pluviae flumina implent , & domos deiicient . aug de decem chordis . act. 8.22 pray if the thought of thy heart may be forgiven &c. k exod. 34.6 . psal . 103. jer. 3.12 , 13. l melius est de misericordiâ dei rationem reddere quā de austerita te . chrysost . in mat. m saepe quos flamma non torruit , quos ferrum non subdidit , blādimenta flexerunt . cassicdo . in psal . 119. n ●n oratione multùm loqui non est semper multùm precari ; hoc enim est fervente cordis intentione pulsare , & plerumque plus gemitibus , quam sermonibus agitur , plus fletu , quam afflatu , aug : ad prob. o o quam dura sunt ista mihi quae loquar ; quoniā me psum loquendo ferio hugo : l●● . de animae . p iob 42.6 . q i●● . 9.1 . r petrum ter negantem amatae restitêre lachrymae , non invenio quid dixerit , sed quod flevit amarè ; tu simi it er lachrymis dilueculpâ amb. sup . luc. ſ o lachryma humilis , tua potentia , tuū regaum tribunal iudicis non vereris , inimicorum tuorum accusationibus silentium imponis , magis crucias diabolum , quam paena infernalis , vincis invincibilē , ligas omnipotentem , &c. hieron . in epist . t ier. 3.29 . he putteth his mouth in the dust , if so be there may be hope , &c. u cùm volumus afflictum quempiam ab ettore suspendere , ordo consolationis est , ut studeamus prius maerendo cius luctui concordare ; dolentem non potest consolari , qui non concordat doloti , quia eo ipso quod à moerentis afflictione discrepat , minus ab illo recipitur : emoliti debet animus , ut afflicto congruat , congruens inhaereat , inhaerens trahat : ferrum ferro non coniungitur , si non utrinque liquetur , &c. gregor . in moral . x 2 cor : 5.19 to us is committed the word of reconciliation . vbi pater-familias est largus , dispensator non debet esse avarus , si deus benignus , quid sacerdos austerus , chrys : in mat. y nisi à semetipso deficiat , ad eum qui supra se est , non appropinquat , august . z fit plerūque ut in ipsis piis fletibus gaudii claritas crumpet & mens suspiriis vegetata , ad inspectionem fulgoris intimi convaleseat , greg : in mor. a john 6.34 b psalm 80. ● the bread of tears . flotus est cibus animae , refectio mentis , cass : in psal : c frequenter mentem ita allevant fletus , refrigerant pectus & moestum consolantur , ut est piis fletibus quaedam flendi volun as , ambr. d ki● : 21 27 e acts 24.25 f matth : 27.4 g 2 sam. 18.33 . h quide peccatorum venia desperet , negat deum habero charitatem , veritatem , potestatē , charitatē adoptionis , veritatem promissionis , potestatem remissionis , ergo ex diabolo , aug. in enchyrid . cap. 20. i phil. 2.12 . k 2 chro. 33.11 , 12. l 1 coral 1.20 33. as some of the fathers call the eucharist , a publik work not a private masse ; a cōmunion . 1 cor : 10.16 m 1 cor. 15.56 n psalm 37.3 o sicut post vehementes imbres saepe aeris tranquillitas se quitur , ita & post lachrymarum pluvias mentis serenitas , chrys : supr : mat. p john 15.14 q rom : 8.17 r rom : 7 4. ſ 1 iohn 1.3 . t primordia conversorū blandis refovenda sunt modis , qui sine lenitate erudit , exasperate potius , quā corrigere novit , isidor de sum bon . cap. 8. it was s. augustines practise in reproving the worst of mē , ut semper vino severitatis admisceat oleum jenitatis . such was his counsell to an italian bishop in affrick , for reducing his drunken charge to sobriety , diligenter literis admonuit , ne id faceret acerbiùs obiurgando , sed lenibus monitis paulatim inveterato morbo mederetur , eras . in ep. ante op : aug●ad arch : toled . in the arke of the tabernacle , as there was the rod of aaron , so the pot of mannah , virga correctionis , manna dulce dinis : vpon which , as that of david psalm 23. thy word is a rod and a staffe . s. hierome gives this counsell to a minister , sit discretio virgae quae feriat , sit consolatio baculi quae sufientat : as with one hand hee must smite with the rod of the law , so with the other he must support with the staffe of the gospell . there are three sorts of voyces [ saith a father ] to be used by a pastor , alta , tenuis , dulcis , alta ad surdum , tenuis ad infirmum , dulcis ad morientem . our saviour cryes out with a loud voyce to lazarus in his grave ( john 11.43 . ) he comes with a milde , still voyce to elias , distressed in a cave , ( 1 kings 19.12 . ) he proclaimes a sweet name of mercy to moses , that lay under his hand in the clift of the rock ( exod. 33.22 . cap. 34.6 . ) v beatus cuius vita excelsa , spiritus humilis , excelsa christiani est patria , humilis via . x impossibile est ut quis hic ventrem , & in coelo mentem impleat , ut de deliciis trāseat ad delicias , gaudere cum seculo & regnate cum christo , hieron : ad iulian. y psalm 83.16 . fill their faces with shame , that they may seeke thy face , o lord ezek. 16 63. z schola crucis , schola lucis : the men of this world are often infoeliciter foelices : gods children are sometimes foeliciter infoelices ; happy in being unhappy here , august in psalm 127 a genesis 19.16 . b tull : 3. de de na● : deorum : gludio vomicam eius aperuit , quam medici sanare non poterant : multi enim etiam cum o●esse vellour , prosuerunt , & cum prodesse , obsuerunt . c esto parvus in oculis tuis , ut sis magna , in oculis dei , tanto eris apud deum pret osiot , quanto fueris apud te ▪ ipsum despectior , chrys , d mat : 18.6 . e paternitas est nobis sacramentum , & imago divinae paternitatis , ut discat cor humanum in eo principio , quod videt , quid debeat illi principio , à quo est , & quod non videt , hugo de sancto victore , l 1. de sacram cap. 1. obs : levis : 19 3 the mother is put in the first place : in matribus id conside●atur , quanta cum solitudine nos in utero geslaverint , quanto ●um dolore pepererint , quanto cum labore infantes aluerim , ●arvulos educaverint , &c. our saviour himselfe was subiect ●o his parents , luc. 2.51 . and tooke a speciall care for his mothers maintenance , john 19.26 , 27. vpon which s. hierom excellently . venerabatur matrem , cuius ipse crat pater , co●ebat nutricium , quem nutriverat . nam omnis actio christi , in●●ructio christiani . f exaudiri deum parentum benedictiones ●irca morigeros filios , & contra maledictiones , quas attrahunt ●mmorige●i , plurimum apud iustitiam divinam valere , experi●ntia comprobatum est , exempla sunt penè innumera . g in●umerabilia sunt talia iusta iudicia dei , quae omnia , si scire ●uisquam velit , quam varia sint & assidua , arenarum numerum , ●em iam desipiens , & montium pondera scrutari potetit , am●ian . maced . hist. l. 14. h saene oculas lucidissima pass corparts 〈…〉 i● to●ebras ●rahi● , fran : pe●●●e caecita●e d●a● 19● , i prov : 23.31 33. rom : 13 , 13 , &c. k see it condemned , gal : 1.10 iude verse ●6 1 thes : 2.4 . we are called the salt of the earth ( mat : 5 1● . ) one glosse●● well , s 〈…〉 ches m●r●●e found , seasoned , not with flattery sweetned : salt was accepted in every sacrifice , honey in none : nō sunt qui m●gis in exen biis esse debeant in hac re quam principes & magnates , quibus nunquam deerant parasiti , hi sunt palatini cane , fabri laudis , figuli fal●itatis , qui ut emungant munera , oleo adula●ionis inungant . alanus de complauctu naturae . l nequ●●ia ipsa est sui paena , men● mala conscientiae propriis giratur stim●li● , chrysost . m acts 7.51 n vir iniquus & afflictus conscientia , plus mali patitur , quā ille qui in corpore castigatur & flagris caeditur ; mens scelerati , habet nescio quos carnifices in ternos , beroaeldas . o 2 pet. 2.21 , 12. p vid : hist : eccles : russi● lr o. c 3. insignam quēdam phylosophum victum fuisse à christiano illiterato , in concil . nicē q acts 18. ●6 cor : 1.27 , 28. q duos filios habet pater , unus dimittitur , & non corripitur , alter colaphis caeditur , huic eaeso haereditas servatur , ille dimissus , ut faciat quod vult , exhaereditatus est , stultus ille & imprudens , si attendit quid pariatur & non attendit , quid illi servetur . aug. in psal . 93 r psal . 78. psal 105. amos 4. ſ 1 cor. 5.5 . t age poenitentiam dū sanus es , tum enim securus et , quia poenitentiam , egisti , cùm peccare potuisti ; in extremâ necessitate tuae aegritudinis , peccata te dimiserunt , non tu illa . aug serm . 36● ▪ luk. 22.33 . x mat. 6.3 . let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth , &c. i. e. as s. ambrose thy familiar frinds . eleemosina parva magnum est opus , majus si latet , qui laudem hominum intuens , dedit fibi , non pauperi dedit , an t si quid dedit , vendidit , non donavit , pretium estilli videri ; non temper tamen culpa est videri , sed velle videri . z esse humilem , est molle laudari , qui appetit , superbus esse convincitur . aug. si verè laudabili● esse cupis , laudes hominum non requiras h●oron . a psal . 26.6 . b ps . 86.17 . c 1 pet : 1.8 . rom. 15.13 . d psal . 4.6 . e est gaudiū quod non datur impiis , sed iis solū , qui te gratis colunt , quorum gaudiū tu ipse es ; & ipse est be●ta vita , gaudere de te prop●er te ▪ aug. confess . f pueritia à puritate varro . heb. bar purus . qui in adolescentia se demant , ut deo se seciant , praemium iohannis baptistae expectant , tales efferunt hostiam viventem , & deo placentem , & immaculatam , &c. hug. in lib. de claust . anim . g mar. 8.24 . h luk. 11.13 . k iubilum dicitur quado ineffabile gaudium mente concipitur , quod nec abscondi possit , nec sermonibus aperiri . greg. l rev. 2.17 . m hominis vultus magnâ hilaritate decoratur , si visceribus sanis , gravamen nullius sentiat laesionis concientiae . n psa . 42.10 . in the night season , &c. ps . 77.6 . my song in the night , &c. o m. robert glover to his friend austine . m. fox , pag. 2555. p gregory alluding to the grant of caleo to his daughter [ judg : 1 , 15 ] in giving her the upper springs and the ne●her , hath this speech : irriguum inferius accipit anima , cum inferni supplicia flendo pertime seit : irriguum superius , quum lachrymis regni coelestis deside●io affligit : istae lachrymae vinum & deliciae angelorum : in illis odor vitae , sapor gratiae , gustus indulgentiae , reconciliationis iucunditas , & serenatae conscientiae suavitas , in regist . q doctor taylor that famous martyr tooke much comfort in a dayly using the service booke all the time of his imprisonment , at his entrance he said the letany to the company there , and at his death commended the book , as the last token of his love to his deere wife , master fox page 1383. the like of bishop ridley , see his habit he walked to the stake in , pag. 1605. r poenitentia non tam in abstinentia eiborū , quā in mortificatione vitiorū consistit hieronymus . ſ lachrymae sunt testes naturae , non indices diffidentiae , metus naturae est , cura pietatis ambr. t john 21.18 u rev. 3.7 . x why art thou cast down , o my soule ● &c stil trust in god , &c. * see pa. 19. a 2 kin. 2.11 . b 1 cor 4 9. c see deut. 23.21 . numb . 30.2 eccles . 5.4 , 5 , 6. sunt qaedam quae non vovenies debemus , quaedam etiam quae nisi voverimus , non debemus , sed postquàm ea domino promisimus , necessariò reddere constringimur . tan●ò miserio : es , si deo fidem fregeris , quātò beatior si persolveris . aug. in ep. ad arment . & paulin. d qui ex balneo calent , citiùs frigescunt , aqua frigidior esse solet , quae prius caluit ; i●a s●eleratiores sunt , qui à piâ viâ ad implam trāstulerant . erasm . e malum est nobi● de nobis , quia dimisimus te , dimisi●li nos nobis . aug. de verb. dom . serm . 4● f nec aliquid nocet fidelibus negata eorum corporibus sepultura , nec si exhibeatur , aliquid infidelibus prodest , aug de cura agen : pro mortisis . quious peccata dimissa non suut , à sacris locis post mortem adjavari non possunt , aug decivit : dei , ubicunque saepeliamu●●ō magnitefert , domini est terra & plenitudo eius , &c. chrysost . g mat. 5.19 . h acts 1. i see 2 cor. 7. from vers . 8. to 13. k melius est propter bonos , malos fevere , quàm propter malos bonos contemnere , melius est malis iniusta praestare , quàm bonis subtrahere . hieron . l num. 16.22 m 1 king. 24 , 17. n luk. 16.8 . o mat. 23.3 . p 1 cor. 11.1 . q tantòc ō spectius in se , crimen , &c. honor sacerdotalis magna est sublimitas , ruina , quae de alto est , gravioti casu colliditur . ambros . de dign . sacer. r 2 cor , 1.3 . notes for div a27497-e10250 a 2 sam : 3 : 38 b laushumana non appeti à rectè faciente , sed subsequi debet rectè facientem , ut illi proficiant , qui etiam imitari possūt , aug. de serm : domini in monte . c lauda hominem , sed post mortē , post consummationem , quando nec laudantem adulatio movet , nec laudatum tentat elatio , ambr. in natali , s. euseb : d ibi est laudatio vanitate remota , ubi etiam vi tuperatio erat ab offen , si●ne secura aug. e mat. 21.30 f rom : 4.7 . g 1 tim : 1.13 h acts 3.19 . i heb : 11.7 veritus . k vide orat . de vita eius per greg. presb : & poema eius de vitâ sua scrip ad popul : cōstātinop . deplorantibus universis mortem corporis , ipse interitum animimetuebat : mors ex aqua imminens salutem ex aqua baptismi ātevertēbat . l luc : 12. ● . m apud deum non valet mensura tempori● , sed doloris , nō temporis longitudine , sed affectus sinceritate poenitudo pēsatur . latro ille in cruce non eguit prolixitate temporis , intra enim unum momentum totius vitae sceleribus absolutus , praecedit etiam ipsos apostolos ad paradisum chrys . poenitentia nō ' mensium cursu pensatur , sed profunditate luctus , & lachrymarum , qua homo mortificatur , isidor : de sum bon . n mat : 20.6 . o 2 chron : 33 11 , 12. p luc : 15.17 , 18. q mat. 21.25 . r exod. 3.14 . s rev : 1.4 , 5. t 2 cor : 13.14 u 1 tim : 6.11 2 tim : 3.17 . x heb : 13.7 . 2 tim : 4.5 . y 2 tim : 2.3 : 4 z mat : 9 . 3● a john 21.15 16. 1 pet : 2.25 b acts 20.28 c 2 tim 26. d mat : 4.19 e 1 thes : 2.7 f 1 cor : ● . 15 . g gall. 4.19 h 1 cor : 4.1 . i mat : 5.13 , ●4 k 1 cor : 4 1. 1 tim : 5.17 . l 2 cor : 5 ●0 m rev : 1.20 n rev : 22 19 o 2 cor : 6.1 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p verse before the text q ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as 2 cor. 4.1 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , often in scripture taken for such an officer , who hath authority to commit one to prison , mat 5 . ●5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. and such is our office spiritually , by excommunication , so to commit incorrigible sinners , till they repent , 2 corinth . 10.6 . wee have in a readinesse vengeance to execute , &c. r 2 corinth . 8 . 2● . to be christi vicarius is not antichristian , but to claime a title of generalis episcopus , vicarius domini est ▪ ambr comment , in epist : cor. cap. 11. * o verè sal terrae ! quo precordia nostra ne possint seculi vanescere errore condiuntur . o lucerna ! dignè sapta candelabrum ecclesiae p●fita , quae latè catholicis orbibus lucem effandens , &c. paul : ad aug : epist. 31. ſ rom : 9.4 . t hag : 7.9 . u 2 chron. 22 11. x 1 king. 18.7 . y 2 king. 13.17 . z hebr. 7.22 . see 1 cor. 3.7.8 , 9 , 10. vers . a 1 cor. 3.7 , 8 , 9 , 10. b gal : 4.13 . c 1 thes : 5.12 d nihil est in hoc saeculo excellentius sacerdotibus , sublimius episcopis , si nomen congruat actioni , & actio respondeat nomini . si non nomen inane , & crimen immane . ambide dignitate sacerdot . e 1 cor : 4 13. f asts 18.3 , g jer : 18.18 , h see the demands in the book of ordination , to deacons , priests & bishops , a serious considetion . i 1 cor : 9.2 . if i am not an apostle to others , yet doubtlesse i am to you , for the seale of my apostleship are you in the lord : k heb : 5.4 : l rom : 10 15. m jer : 23 , 21 n mat : 20.7 . o john 10.1 p chemnit . de ecclesiâ . de origine dicunt , cum sine vocatione se ingessisse in officium docendi , inde factum est , quod in ●ot errores est prolapsus . r mal : 3 , 8 , 9. ſ pet : lūbard sent : libr : 3. t secunda secundae qu. ●9 . art : 3. u proximum sacrilegio crimen est quod laesae maiestatis dicitur , leg : 1 digest : ad leg : jul. x rom : 2.22 . y mat : ●7 . 27 z card. woolser . a 2 tim. 2.4 . see what is promised at ordination , and consecration , viz. to lay aside the study of the world and such like cares , &c. b non omnium epistolis respondeba● , nisi si quid tractarent ad religionis pertinens negotium , et si rogatus à nonnullis , in temporalibu● causi , epist●las dabat , hanc suā à melioribus rebus occupatione●● , tanquam angariam deputabat , & illis dispositis , tanquā â rebus mordacibus , & molestis , animi recursum ad interiora mortis , & superiora faciebat , suavem semper habens de ijs quae dei sunt ●●ocutionem , vel collocutionem possido , de vitá august . c vbi aliquid suspicabitur exoriturum litis , saepè totam causam cesserit adversario , pro magno lucro ducens , si qui etem animi rei dispendio redemis●et . erasm in epist. ad arch. tol. aut op . august . haec non eò commemoro , quod existimem horum temporum episcopos ad hanc imaginem compellendos , sed ut , declarem quaetopere sanctissimi huius praesulis animus abhorruerit à solitis i●iba ● . ibid. d zach. 11.17 e heb. 12.25 . f 1 sam. 3.10 . g n●n est minas verbum dei , quam corpus christi , & ideo non minus reus qui verbum dei negligenter audiverit , quā ille qui corpus christi in terram negligentiâ suà cadere permisit . aug. h num. 23.18 i iudg. 2.20 k heb 12.38 . l frustra praecepta dei custodiuntur memoriâ , si non custodiuntur & vitâ . august . in psal . 11● . m quaerit anima verbum , cui cōsentit ad correctionē , cui imitetur ad virtutem , quo reformetur ad sapientiam , cui conformetur ad decorum , cui maritetur ad foecunditatem , &c. n 2 cor. 5 ▪ ●0 . o joh. 1● , 9 , 50. p act. 28.19 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , t censemus eos qui apostolorum siguram tenēt praedicare , gregor . * r●vel : ● . 2 . u apud nos apostolorū locum tenēt episcopi , hieron : epist . ad marcel : contra mon● . x vers . 2 potissima functio praesulum , erasm . y praedicatio est actus principaliffimus episcopi & proprius . z miles , vinitor , pastor , bos , triturator , arator , seminator , architectus , a augustino presbytero , potestatem dedit valerius episcopus coram se in ecclesia evangelium praedicandi , & frequentissimè tractandi , contra usum & consuetudinem africanarum ecclesiarum , unde ei ( viz. valerio ) nonnulli episcop● detra●●bant , possida : de vitâ aug. b et postea occurrente & volante huiusmodi fama & bono precedente exemplo , accepta ab episcopis potestate , presbyteri nonnulli , coram , episcopis , populis tractare coeperun● verbum dei , ib. see a differēce betweē a bishop & a presbyter . c gaudeat episcopus iudicio suo , cum tales christo elegerit sacerd●te● , hier : de vita clerient : ad nep●t . d pessimae consuetodinis est in quibusdam ecclesiis , tacere presbyteros , & praesentibus episcopis non loui , ibid. e atque episcopatu suscepto multo instantius ac ferventius , malore authoritate , non adhuc in una tantum regione , sed ubicunque rogatus , venisset , verbum falutis aeternae , alacriter , & sua●iter , pullulante atque crescente domini ecclesia , praedicabat . paratus semper reddere poscentibus rationem de fide , &c. possido : de vitâ augustin . f in qua urbe ( viz. mediolan ) tum episcopatū administrabat e●imius ambrosius , verbi dei praedicator frequentissimas , cuiusdis putationibus augustinus adstans in populo , sensim & paulatim conversus fuit , ibid. g ep●scopi proptiū munus esse docere populū ; eff●gere non possumus officium docēdi , quod nobis refugientibus imposuit necessitudo , ambros : ●fficior : lib : 1. h episcopum necesse est in singulos dies sementem sacere , ut ipsa saltem assuetudine doctrinae , sermonem auditorum animi retinere possunt , chrysost . de sacerd : lib. 6. i episcopus imitetur mosen , imitetur & aaron , quid enim dicitur de iis , quod non discedunt à tabernaculo domini . duo sunt pontificis opera , aut à deo d●scat legendo , aut populum dei docet ▪ praedicando , hier. in levit. k matth : 4. verse 18 , 21. l quomodo mercedē obsequimur , & tamē operarii nequaquā sumusfructus ecclesiae in quotidiano stipendio percipimus , & pro ecclesia in praedicatione non laboramus . pensemus quid est sine labore percipire mercodem laboris , hieronym m 2 cor. 11.28 n acts. 19.9 . cap. 9.22 , cap. 8.18 . o tanta ab illo dictata & edita sunt , tantaque in ecclesia disputata , adversus diversos haereticos , conscripta , ex canonicis libils exposita , utea omnia vix qu●squam studioforum nosse , & pertegere posset . possid : in vitd august . p jud. 9.9 , 11 q ye are the lords messengers , watchmen , pastours , stewards , to teach , to premonish , to feed , to provide for the lords family . see book of ordination , in the exhort . r be thou a faithfull dispenser of the word and sacraments . * john 21.15 s that hee may have grace to be evermore ready , to spread abroad the gospell , and as a faithfull servant to ▪ give gods family their meat in due season . see booke of consecratiō . t gal : 6.7 . u eccles : 11.6 , x heb. 5.13 . see ambr. upon this place for the necessity of catechizing z acts 15.28 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c 2 tim. 2.14 , 16. titus 3.8 . d acts 20.31 e 2 pet , 1.12 , f 1 cor. 3.10 . g 1 cor. 9.22 . h 1 tim. 5.17 i luke 10.7 k 1 thes . 5 13 l 2 tim. 2.15 . * mat. 12 43 * verbi dei praecones dicuntur nubes , qui non secus , ae per quasdam nubes , spiritualem irrigationem hominibus deus offert . chrys . in psal . 107. m non vi , nō armis , non carceribus , sed solo gladio spiritus , quod est verbum dei , tor victorias , tor triumphos paravit ecclesiae christi . possidon . n zach. 4 , 10. o libenter nos praedicare , & gratanter opus dei facere manifestum est . sed vi demus plures è fr●●ribus pig●ius ad ecclesiam convenire : inviti loquimur , & tamen tacere n●n possumus , ambros . serm 1 , de grano sinapis . p oh quam pu●end●m , si delectat labor , ut fera capiatur , & non ut ani●a capiatu● ! onerosi non sunt lab●●es amantum , nam in eo quod labor amatur , non labor atur . aug , de bon . vidui● . q act. 20 , 10. r docebat ille privatim in domo , & publicè in ecclesiâ , sacram lectionem adhibebat mensae , unde de quadam frugiserâ cōmentabatur & compertis terū opportunitatibus , divinae legis partes eis inculcabat , & ut speculator domini , admonebat , praedicans opportunè , importunè arguens , &c. et praecipuè operam dans eos instruere qui essent ico●ei alios docere . possidon . ſ 2 tim : 2.25 iam : 3.13 . t pro : 25.11.22 〈…〉 u 2 tim : ● . 14 . x titus 5. ● . y 1 tim. 4.16 . z 1 tim. 4.15 . a rom. 12.7 , 8. b luk. 1.11 . c cap. 2.8 . d mat. 4.18 . e gen. 49.4 . f isa . 41.18 . g iam. 1.8 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h ps . ●2 . 2 . heb. a heart and a heart . i gal. 2.18 . k 2 cor 1.7 , 18 , 19. vpon which s. ambrose id est non aliud agit quā scit agendū , sic praedicatores , non aliud faciant quam sciant , ut solent adulatores , ne homines of sendant . l ps . 92.14 , 15. m ps . 148.12 . n joel 2.28 . acts 2.27 . o re. 1● . 7 . p verbum dei usue ad suam ipsam extremam aegritudinem , alacriter , & sortiter , sanâ mente , sanoque consili● in ecclesià praedicavit ; & vixit annis septuaginta sex , possidon . q num : 8.26 r 1 tim : 4.23 ſ mat : 13.52 . t see chrys . in hom. 31.40 . v ioh. 21.3 , 6. x mar. 4.27 . 〈…〉 ●don y ioh. 5.4 . z ioh. 4.38 . a 1 cor : 3.6 b sit praedicator prius orator , quam doctor , magis prodesse populum pietare orationum , quà facultate oratoris . aug. de doctrin . christ . lib. 4. aperio● tuum , sed prius ut aperiatur implora , hier c rev : 2 : 10 d ephes : 1.18 e phil : 1.9 . f si pastor qui lumen sit fidei , caeteris sit occaecatior , quantae in populo essent tenebrae peccatorum , hier : in 6 : mat : g isa 56.10 , 11 h 1 tim : 5.22 i qui ordināt indignos iisdē subiacēt poenis , quibus illi qui indigni sunt ordinati , si dicunt , se eos ignorasse , ideo gravius crimen efficitur , quoniā promoverūt , quem ignorabant , ista excusatio , fiat accusatio chrysost : in 1 tim : 5. k zach : 11.17 m psal : 115.5 , 7 , 8. n pastorale magisteriū , est ars artium & regimen animarum . hier. o isa 50.4 . p 1 cor : 3.8 . q luke 3.23 cap : 2.42 . r redemptor noster , cum sit coeli conditor , angelorum doctor ante tricēnale tempus in terrâ noluit doctor fieri hominū perfectae vitae gratiam , non nisi in perfecta aetate praedicavit , gregor : super ezek : ho : 2. ſ cur te facis pastorem , cū sis ovis , cur capur esse contendis cū pes existis , cur exercitū ducere quaeris , cum inter milites adhuc censearis , ibid. t apes illa sapiens cum aeris motus suspectos habet , lapillis saepè sublatis per inania se librat nubila nè leve alarū remigium praecipitent flabra ventorum , ambr : de virg : lib : 3 u 1 cor : 14. ● x 1 cor : 2.1 . vpon which s. ambrose speaks much against that : vbi non ratio , nō virtus , sed verborū quaeritur cōpositio . y 2 cor : 2.17 z deut : 22.9 , a qui parvis loquitur sublimia , curat magis se ostēdere , quā auditoribus prodesse . greg : in moral . b 1 pet. 2.2 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . c mat : 13.47 d amos 8.9 e 1 kings 6.7 * exo : 20 , 25 f 1 cor : 14 ▪ 25 g s. august : of homer : dulcissimè vanus confes . h lachrymae auditorū laudes tuae sunt , docēte te in ecclesiâ gemitus suscitetur , ille est doctor ecclesiasticus , qui lachrymas non risum movet , hieron : ad nepot . i quomodo potest praeses ecclesiae offerre malum de medi● ejus , qui in delictum simile corruit . antiquâ libertate peccantem corripere potest , cum tacitus ille sibi respondet , eadem se admisisse , quae corripit : hier : in epist : ad tit. k qui verba deiloquitur , ex vitâ suā colligar , quid & qualiter dicat , ille loqui veraciter novit , qui prius benefacere didicit , greg : sup : evāg . sermo non habet dulcedinem , cum vita reprobare-mordet conscientiā , id : qui maledictus est , quomodo potest benedicere cū in christi corpore non sunt , quomodo popu●o postunt christi corpus tradere ▪ idē : cuius vita despicitur , eius doctrina contemnatur hier ▪ l 1 tim : 4.12 . tit : 2.7 1 pet : 5.3 . tanta debet esse conversatio pontificis , ●tomnis metus & egressus & universa eius opera sint exemplaria , & quicquid agat , quicquid loquitur , doctrina fit populorū , hieron . m episcopus ut cūctos inspicias , sic cunctorii oculi in illum respiciunt . nulli iamiā illicitum esse videatur , quod ab episcopo quasi licitum perpetratur . ergo quia ita est , cur te velut tetrum speculum universorum oculis demonstias , ut non possent obscuritate tua se comptius exornare , ambr. de degnit sacerdot . n si oculus nequam est , totum corpus tuum tenebi osum est , id est , si episcopus qui videbatur corperi subdito lucem praebere obnubilatur nequitiae caecitate , quid facient caetera membra , quibus lux adempta est ocu●orum , amb. ibid. * tit. 1.6 . 1 tim 3.7 . phil. ● . 8 . augustinus parum esse iudicaret episcopi pudicitiam esse integram , nisi & famam haberet illibatam , nec satis , si suam u●ins famam à sinist●is i●moribus praestitisset , nisi clericos etiam haberet in egri nominis , erasm : de vitâ august . o lux gregis , flamma pastoris , hieros p rom. 13.12 q sic praedicatores antequam alies movent , se pri●s in sanctis actionibus exercēt , se prius excutiant , & tunc alios sollicitos reidunt , prius sua puniri fieribus curant , & tūc quae ●iiorum sunt punieda d●nunciant . gregor . r 1 cor. 11.1 . ſ si benè docueris & benè ●ixeris , omnium iudex es : si benè docueris & malè vixeris , tui solius . priore inst●uis populum quomodo debet vivere , postetiore deum , quomodo debet te cōdemnare , hier. t 1 cor : 9 . ● ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id ●st , disap●oved , as c. 〈◊〉 . 19 , &c. opponitur probo , sicut pecun●am , prob●●● v●camu● mini . u è adulterin●m . bez● . 1● . tim : ● , 6 x quia debet rationē reddere de propriis & alienis , tho. aquin. y non temerè dico , sed ut affectus sum , & sentio , non arbitr●r inter sacerdo●es mult●s esse qui salvisiāt , sed multos esse qui per cant , g●orificemur ali quando apud homines & tamen 〈◊〉 d●mar ap●d de●m quia cul●●●que mul●●m ●atur , multum quan●●m no to , & non solum reddituri sint rationem suor●m d● 〈◊〉 , ●um , sed & aliorum , chrysostom . 3. homil●n act. apost ▪ & 〈◊〉 ●i●erdot . lib 6. z epist . 14 8. ad v●l●r . & possi●ion in v●●● august . a vt nihil episcopo excellentius , sic nihil mis●ibilius , si de sanctâ vitâ periclitetur , si facerdos in crin●●e ●peatur . de dignit . sacerd b grancis dignitas sacerdotum , ●ed & grandis ruina , si peccant , non est tanti genuii ex●elsa tennisse , quam moeroris de sublimioribas corruisse . ●ieron . c lev. 4.3 . it exceeded those of the common sort , vers . 28 the rulers , 23 equall with the whole congregation , vers , 13 d mark 6. ●0 e 1 tim. 4.12 tit. 2.15 . f 1 john 2.16 g tribus gradibus ad peccatum pe●venitur , in corde , in facto , in consuetudine , tanquamtres mortes , una quasi in dōo , altera quasi prolata extra portum , tertia quasi in sepulchro iam putresceus , quae tria gene●a mortuorum dominum suscitasse , quisquis evangelium legit , agnoscit , august : sermon : in mont. h mar. 5.41 . i lu. 7.14 . k john 11.44 * lu. 15. * john 11.10 l rev : 12.4 m satan peccat deo reprobante , ego deo revocanto , ille obduraturad punientem , ego ad blandientem , ille peccat cōtra non requirentem se , ego contra morientem● pro me , ecce cuius imaginem horrebam , horrorem in multis aspiciome horribiliorē , anselm . in lib. de casu diaboli . * mat. 11.5 . n 2 kin. 4.3 . ç o lu. 22.61 . p nisi intus sit qui doceat doctoris , lingua in vacuum laborat , hieron . q pro. 20 27. * jsa 50.20 . chap. 58 8. r iud : 4.17 . ſ gen : 21.17 . t job 15.5 . * pro. 24.20 ▪ u esther 5.13 . x 1 sam. 25 ▪ 37. y prov. 10.22 z 2 cor. 6.10 a psal . 119.22 . b ioh 6.44 . c chap. 8 36. d 2 cor. 3.17 * see the relation , pag 7. e pro. 5.22 . f 2 tim. 2.26 . g ps . 124.6 . h quid est peccatum , si cum domini misericordia conferatur , tela araneae ventus flat , & disr●mpitur . deus vult , & peccatum dissol●itur . chrys . in psal . 5. i 1 tim : 1.16 k mar. 16 9. l 1 cor. 15.5 . m mar. 16.7 . fidelior factus est petrus , postquā fidem se perdidisse deflevit , atque ideo majorem gratiam reperitquam amifit ●mb . in serm , de vincul . n in inchoatione conversionis , inveniuntur blandimenta dulcedinis , vitam uniuscuiusque conversi , inchoatio blada permulcet greg. 14 moral . o ex egypto israelitis exeuntibus à vicino bello per viam terrae philistim subtrahuntur , & tranquilitas ostenditur , ne in ipsa teneretudi● ne tu●bari , &c. sic prius suavitatem sentiunt cōversi , pacis quiete nutriuntur , &c , idem greg. p ad videndum lumen internae bonitatis , pollutâ dudum conscientiâ lachrvmis , debet baptizari , quo uberiùs culpa fletur , eo altius agnitio veritatis attingitur , gregor . in moral . r amatitudinem radicis dulcedo po●i compensa● . pericula maris spe lucri delectant , dodorem medicinae , spes salutis mitigar , hier. in mas. ſ 1 king. 18.34 : t gen. 1.2 . u isa . 61.3 . y conscientia peccati est formidinis mater . ch●yso●t . nalla paena gravior paenâ malae cōscientiae . * isa 57 . 2● . z time te ipsum , alium enim potes fugere , te autem nunquam , fal●● potun farra , conscientia nunquam . * ionas 1.15 . a conscientia est cordis scientia , est codex animi , in quo quotidiana peccata conscribuntur . * mat. 11.23 : b numisma dei conscientia , in solidis caesar videtur , in conscientia deus agnoscitur , chrys . c consciētia bona est tēpl●m salomonis , ager benedictionis , hortus deliciarum , auteum declinatorium , arca soederis , thesaurus regis , aula dei , habitaculum spiritus , gaudium angelorum . hugo de animâ . d 1 cor. 15.56 . d 1 cor. 15.56 * see the relation , p 67 , 68. a modest vindication of the doctrine of conditions in the covenant of grace, and the defenders thereof, from the aspersions of arminianism & popery, which mr. w. e. cast on them. by the late faithful and godly minister mr. john graile, minister of the gospel at tidworth in the county of wilts. published with a preface concerning the nature of the covenant of grace, wherein is a discovery of the judgment of dr. twisse in the point of justification, clearing him from antinomianism therein. by constant jessop, minister of the gospel at wimborn minister in the county of dorset. whereunto is added, a sermon, preached at the funeral of the said mr. john grail. by humphrey chambers, d.d. and pastor of the church at pewsie. graile, john. 1654 approx. 290 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 63 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a85510 wing g1477 thomason e817_1 thomason e817_2 estc r207370 99866427 99866427 167980 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a85510) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 167980) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 124:e817[1] or 124:e817[2]) a modest vindication of the doctrine of conditions in the covenant of grace, and the defenders thereof, from the aspersions of arminianism & popery, which mr. w. e. cast on them. by the late faithful and godly minister mr. john graile, minister of the gospel at tidworth in the county of wilts. published with a preface concerning the nature of the covenant of grace, wherein is a discovery of the judgment of dr. twisse in the point of justification, clearing him from antinomianism therein. by constant jessop, minister of the gospel at wimborn minister in the county of dorset. whereunto is added, a sermon, preached at the funeral of the said mr. john grail. by humphrey chambers, d.d. and pastor of the church at pewsie. graile, john. chambers, humphrey, 1598 or 9-1662. jessop, constantine, 1601 or 2-1658. pauls sad farewel to his ephesians. [2], 49, [1], 125, [1] p. printed for mat. keinton at the fountain in pauls church-yard, london, : 1655. [i.e. 1654] "the covenant of grace, not absolute, but conditional, modestly asserted", with caption title, begins new pagination and register. within this series, "pauls sad farevvel to his ephesians" has separate dated title page. "the covenant of grace, not absolute, but conditional, modestly asserted" is identified as thomason e.817[2]. annotation on thomason copy: "nou: 13"; the 5 in imprint date has been crossed out and date altered to 1654. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -doctrines -early works to 1800. covenant theology -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. 2007-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-01 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2008-01 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the covenant of grace , not absolute , but conditional , modestly asserted . whether the covenant of grace be conditional or absolute , is , saith a mr. burges , a very troublesome question . so indeede it proves in places where it is vented . it troubles the faith of some , the lives of others , and the peace of very many . new england hath felt the troubles it occasioned ; and many places in old england are now suffering . i could therefore from my heart have wished that either none at all had broached it in these parts , or if it must have beene published , some other , rather then you , my dearest friend and reverend brother , might have beene the author of that , meerly out of the great respect and entire affection i beare unto you . but seeing you have not only set it on foote , but when a modest defence was made of the contrary doctrine , without any either bitter invective against your tenent , or so much as reply unto your arguments ; you in divers sermons renewed the quarrel , replied unto the arguments of the contrary side ; not sparing to asperse them in too open a manner . i thought it my duty i owe to truth , oppugned by , notwithstanding my love unto you , to let you know , both wherein your reply appears unsatisfactory unto me , and wherein offensive . of the latter in the first place , which is as followes . first , in the whole series of your discourse , you seemed to me to rank those of our divines , who hold the covenant of grace to have conditions , in the same file , with arminians , as if both had maintained the same conditionate redemption or salvability ; wherein , whether you dealt fairly , i refer it to your conscience to consider . now , though i do not doubt , but that you know full well already how farre we differ from them : yet shall i set downe the difference in some particulars , and then endeavour to satisfie your arguments , so farre as they seeme to reflect upon our tenents . the salvability or potentiall and conditionate redemption maintained by the arminians , may ( i conceive ) be reduced to these four particulars . 1. that christ in dying , intended not the salvation of any particular persons . 2. that the end of his death was not to bring some actually to salvation , but only that god thereby might have power ( his justice being satisfied ) to give remission of sins to sinful man , on what conditions he pleased . so that christ might have had his end , though never a man had been actually saved . 3. that this is the will of god , that none should enjoy remission of sins , but on condition of faith . 4. that christ hath purchased faith and regeneration for none , but remission and reconciliation for all , which they shall actually partake of , who do believe . nor is there neede of infusing any spiritual vitall , principle into the hearts of men to enable them to believe , they may doe it of themselves . the third excepted , which of these positions is maintained by any of those our divines that hold conditions to be in the new covenant ? nay , they all maintaine that christ in dying , intended the actual salvation of particular persons , viz. of all those whom god from all eternity had chosen . that for all those christ hath obtained the actuall application of salvation to them , as well as the purchase of it for them ; which actual enjoyment of salvation , being according to gods appointment to be obtained in a way of faith , or upon condition of faith , by or through faith , as the scripture speaks . they further averre , that the lord jesus christ by his death , hath also obtaind at god the fathers hands , that the blessed spirit should in time work this faith in the hearts of his chosen , that so through faith they might come actually to partake of all the benefits which he hath purchased for them . so then , arminians maintain conditions to be performed by us of our own power : such ours disclaim , maintaining that it is god that worketh in us both to wil and to do . arminians maintain conditions so as if the efficacie of christs death were pendulous thereon ; this also ours disavow , maintaining that christ hath purchased both salvation to be given upon condition , and ability also to be given to perform that condition . b arminians maintaine conditions preceding gods very electing us to salvation . but ours maintaine conditions antecedent of actual salvation indeed , but consequent in regard of election . the difference between our divines and the arminians about conditions being thus great , as hath beene shewed , i think it would have been fair dealing in you to have severed them , & not have crowded them together into one and the same refutation , as if they had mantained one and the same thing . do you not think the friends of pemble , preston , ames , perkins , ball , &c. would take it ill to have them refuted under the title of arminians , and for maintaining arminian salvability ( a notion more abhorring to their spirits then to your owne , and which some of them have expresly written against ? ) yet do they all hold conditions in the covenant . and you refute all such , who hold so , under that head and title . i challenge you to shew me any one of ours , that in pleading for conditions in the covenant , doth in the least degree assert that conditionate redemption or arminian salvability . before you come to our arguments , you tell us , that though you are against conditions , yet you hold that god hath his order and method in conferring of his benefits . and that in regard of this order one benefit may depend upon an other , &c. and that none are saved but such as do repent and believe . i was heartily glad to heare so much from you : for this is the maine i contend for , that god gives faith , and then salvation ; and that salvation depends on faith , and therfore in order of nature followes faith . and here i would argue ex concessis . those benefits which according to that method and order of conferring that the lord hath set down to himselfe , must goe before other , and on which others do depend ; those ( i say ) are required in us , before the other which do depend on them , and follow them , can be obtained by us . but faith and repentance are benefits which according to this method of god are given before salvation , and on which salvation doth depend . and therefore faith and repentance are actually required in us , before we can actually partake of remission , reconciliation . justification , and other benefits and branches of salvation purchased by christ . it this were granted , that they are required , and that to the obtaining of salvation ( which must needs be granted , the benefit of salvation not only following them , but also depending on them as you confesse ) let them be required , as conditions , or as something else in gods method and order ; i would not strive about termes . but i feate that you had here your reserve , and that you understand this priority of one benefit before an other , and this dependance of one benefit upon an other , either in reference to the manifestation of salvation , or the perfection of that , and not in reference to the beginning and being of them ; for so much some following passages hint out unto us ; of which we shall speak more when we come unto them . not long after , you challenge malice it selfe to shew , if it can , any one of your side that maintains salvation without repentance and faith . and here sir , if i should produce some that doe assert it , should i not very prittely get me the odious name of malicious ? wel , the lord give us to hate the affect and fact as much as we doe the name . truth is truth , and must be discovered . and i would to god there were not too many expressions vented both in pulpits and presses , too much tending this way . i find in mr. saltmarsh , free grace . p. 102. do not the promises belong to sinners as sinners ? and p. 104. the promises of christ are held forth to sinners , as sinners ; not as repenting sinners , or humble sinners . p. 105. whatever promise hath a condition in it , is ours in christ , who only is the conditioned person for all promises . p. 84. so as we are to believe our repentance true in him , who hath repented for us . p. 126 all the conditions were on christs part , none on ours . so p. 153 in the new covenant god gives himself freely in christ , undertaking all both with the father and the soule , nothing being required on mans part . occasional word : that those ministers who presse repentance and faith , do overheate the wine of the gospel with conditions and qualifications , so the poore soules cannot taste it . so also in doctor crispe , i meet with many such like , or the same passages , as in his christ alone exalted . vol. 1. p. 120. christ belongs to sinners as sinners . p. 211. he receiveth sinners as sinners . p. 164. all the tie lies on gods part to do every thing that is mentioned in the covenant . p. 73. hast thou but a mind to christ , come and taste of the water of life freely ; there is nothing looked for from thee to take thy portion in this christ. and in his second volume , p. 420 we are justified without works not only without the concurrence of them to justification , but even without the being of them , and presence in the person to be justified . i might name many more , but these may suffice ; and i pray consider seriously whether from most , if not all those assertions doth not follow by natural and necessary consequence that monstrous conclusion now enquired of , viz. that wee may be saved without faith and repentance . or , that faith and repantance are not necessary to salvation . truly they speak so fully to this particular , in my apprehension , that all that i can see left you to save your selfe is , not to own these men for men of your side , which i should be heartily glad to heare . but consider one passage more frequent , as in these authors , so in your owne sermon ; this , that the covenant of free grace is as free as that with noah . now concerning that we know , that men are partakers of the benefits promised in it , though they neither know nor believe any such covenant . and if this of salvation be as free , wil it not thence follow , that men may be saved in it though they never believe it , or so much as know it ? to me it seems to follow without any constraint at all , as i shall labour to manifest by reducing it to an argument , which i forme thus . by vertue of the covenant with noah , men are sure to be saved from an universal deluge , though they neither know nor believe such a covenant . therefore if the new covenant be as free as that with noah , a man may be saved in it , though he neither know it , nor can believe it : more of this particular you may read in mr. gataker against saltmarsh , both in the former treatise pag. 25. and in the rejoynder pag. 11 , 13 , 88. where he clearly sheweth this very inference to be unconstrained , and makes good the charge now in debate against mr. saltmarsh : which reverend author , if you had any reference unto in that unsavory and noisome passage in your sermon , i challenge malice it self , i must needs tell you , you were exceedingly to blame . come wee to your arguments , whereby you labour to prove , that no conditions are annexed to the purchases of christs death in regard of application . your first was from those places of scripture , which declare the all sufficiency of christs death , and the perfection of that in regard of impetration , as heb. 10. 14 and 1 , 3 , 9 , 12 unto which may be added your second head of scriptures , viz. those which hold out unto us gods acceptation of this price and acquiesence in it : as , this is my beloved son , in whom i am well pleased , &c. now these doe prove , that the price paid by christ was perfect and sufficient ; yea , that it did fully impetrate , merit and purchase at the fathers hands , the perfect and complete redemption of his elect ; so that god lookes for nothing more to be done , or suffered towards the making up of the price , but rests fully satisfied with the sufferings of his son. but they are of no force at all to take off any requisite necessary to the application of this purchase , be it qualification , condition , instruments or agent : for instance , if i should on your ground argue , jesus christ hath by himselfe purged our sins , and perfected &c. therefore there is no neede the gospel should be preached unto men , or that the spirit of grace be sent unto them to regenerate them ; i doubt not , but you would deny my inference , as well you might . so where you reason , christ by dying hath paid a perfect price , which was also accepted of god the father . ergo , there are no conditions annexed to the purchase of his death ; you must give me leave to deny your argument . and the reason is , because they are not annexed as any part of the price , to make up it complete : but only as the way and manner in which , the means and instrument by which , the terms and condition on which , and according to which god doth give , and man receives salvation purchased : notwithstanding that , christ hath thus perfectly purchased it , yet himself doth tell me , that unlesse i repent , i shall perish , luk. 13. 3 , 5. and if i believe not , i shall be damned , mark. 16. 16. as for that maxime you cited in the prosecution of your argument , impetratio est fundamentum applicationis , it makes for us , and not at all against us . for if it be fundamentum , the foundation , then it is not ipsa applicatio , the application it self , which is the monster your side doe hug and suckle . it makes indeed against arminian salvability ; for which end it is used by our authours , viz. to shew that though impetration and application may be distinguished , yet they cannot be separate or divided in their object . but that for whomsoever christ doth impetrate , to him the benefits impetrated must be applyed ; for application ( say they ) is the end of impetration , and impetration the foundation of application . so that the arminian doctrine of conditions to be performed by mans owne power , which make the issue of christs death to be uncertaine and pendulous on mans free will , is wholly razed thereby : but our doctrine of conditions purchased for us by the death of christ , and to be wrought in us by the spirit of christ are no way shaken . the purchases of christs death may be surely applied to them for whom they are purchased , though they be applyed conditionally . nor is that other maxime of any more strength , positâ causâ totali sequitur effectus , the totall cause being put , the effect followeth ; for if you speak of mans actual salvation , or the application of salvation unto man , you cannot say that christs death is the total cause of it . the whole and sole meritorious cause it is ; but i hope gods grace is the impulsive cause , christs spirit the efficient cause , and faith the instrumental cause . and , bonum est ex integris causis , good doth arise from all causes entire . now though an instrument be the meanest of causes , yet is it necessary in the way of an instrument , nor can the effect be in act before it be used . your third head contained such scriptures as speake of christ and salvation , as of a gift , a free gift : in pursuance of which you delivered , christ is given , freely given of god. and if by grace , then not of works . and what can be laid on the creature that is not a worke . if but a rose , not free . to be freely and by condition , is an absolute and flat contradiction . for answer , the covenant with adam , in a passage before , you aver to be conditional ; and in a passage following , you seeme to intimate , that it is free , by saying that he could not have merited , had he kept the condition . it seems then that to be free , and yet to be conditional , as flat a contradiction as it is , you your selfe have admitted in the covenant with adam . did you seriously consider what you spake when you said , if but to pay a rose , the tenure is not free ? certainly my country men in glocester-shire account that a very free tenure , nor think i them therein mistaken . and if some gentlemen should bestow on you an hundred pound a year , on condition you should be more liberal to the poor to the expence , not of a rose or two , or a penny or two , but ( it may be ) ten or twenty pound a yeare , which unlesse you constantly exhibite , you were to lose the principal . if for all this condition you should not say that this were a free gift , i should account you fowly unthankful . if my memory faile not , our ancient godly divines use those similitudes of a rose or pepper corne , to set out the condition , not of faith , but of good works , which they maintaine to be required under the gospel as a consequent condition . by which expression of theirs , they do , ( as you say ) destroy the freenesse of grace . but your bare saying so doth not prove it . the truth is , the arminians and papists were more beholding to you for some passages in your sermons , then our ancient godly protestant divines . but come wee to your argument , which if not taken out of doctor crispe , is yet certainly the same with his , vol. 1. p. 64. & p. 179. by gift , and on condition , is a flat contradiction . but take heed that you and the doctor make not the scriptures to speake absolute and flat contradiction , which say , wee are saved by grace through faith . eph. 2. 8. and therefore it is of faith , that it might be by grace . rom. 4. 16. and being justified freely by his grace through faith in his blood . rom. 3. 23 , 24. and in the very place cited by you and the doctor , rom 11. 6. if by grace , then it is no more of works , otherwise grace is no more grace . but if it be by works , it is no more of grace , otherwise works are no more works ; where it followes , what then ? israel hath not obtained what he seeketh for . and if you ask , wherefore ? the apostle will tell you rom. 9 32. because they sought it not by faith , but as it were by the works of the law . so likewise , where is boasting then ? it is excluded . by what law ? of works ? nay , but by the law of faith . rom 3. 27. and to him that worketh not but believeth , rom. 4. 5. the scriptures joyn faith and free grace ; yea they tell us , that freenesse of grace is upheld by that requisite or condition of faith . but you call it a flat contradiction . the scriptures oppose faith and works . but you say , what can be laid upon the creature , that is not a work ? you would beare men in hand that we teach contradictions . but i am sure these passages of yours contradict the scripture . again , did not christ lay repentance and faith upon the creature , when he said , repent and believe the gospel ? matth 4. 17. mark 1. 15. yea , doth he not lay it on them upon paine of damnation , when he doubles it luke 13. 35. except ye repent ye shall perish ? did not the apostles lay something on the creature , when they thus answered their troubled converts , who in anguish of spirit came with these queries to them , men and brethren what shal we doe ? acts ● . 37. and sirs , what shall i do to be saved ? ch . 16. 20. i say , when they thus answered them , repent and believe on the lord jesus christ , and be converted ; did they not require something of them , and lay something on them ? and did christ or his apostles ( think you ) preach any thing contradictory to free grace , or free gift ? i hope , whatever contradictions you pinne on our sermons , you will take heed what you fasten on the sayings of christ and his apostles , whose doctrine we must take leave to believe and follow , how contradictory soever it be deemed in the world . do not say here , that christ did not require them , nor his disciples presse them , as conditions , or as a worke ( which is the doctors evasion ) for you your selfe know that we disclaime faith as a worke , as much as you . wee maintaine not any worthinesse , excellency or merit in faith . i desire you to shew me if you can , in any of ours , that faith doth justifie as a work done by us or for any worthinesse or excellency that is in it . i am sure that i can shew you the contrary , and you may also see it if you be pleased to peruse mr. gatakers rejoynder to saltmarsh . p. 51. 53. this is that we maintaine , that faith is so required of god , that if we have it , we shall have salvation ; and if we have it not , we cannot have salvation , and that not only in knowledge , but in the being of it : not only the evidence , declaration , and manifestation of that ( which is the doctors opinion . p. 168. and i feare is also yours ) but not the receipt , benefit , or being of it , and that because it is required to the very obtaining of it , not in any meritorious , but in an instrumentall way . now do not the apostles averre as much when they answer this quaerie , what shall i do to be saved ? thus , repent and believe &c. do they not in these answers lay repentance and faith on the creature as things required of god in them that would be saved , and that towards the obtaining of their salvation , not the evidencing or manifesting it only to themselves . and when the apostle saith , the jewes came short of righteousnesse which the gentiles attained unto , because they sought it not by faith as the gentiles did rom. 9. 31. doth he speak of the manifesto of righteousnesse , and not rather of righteousnesse and justification it selfe , the being of it ? certainly the jewes fel short , not only of the assurance , but of the essence and being of righteousnesse , and that because they sought it not by faith . so that faith is required of god from the creature so , and laid on the creature so , that by it the creature must seek everlasting righteousnesse , the being of it , or he shall for ever goe without it . but for the thing it selfe , that a gift may be free , and yet conditional , is no such contradictory proposition , but that both parts may be true , well stand together , and uphold rather then destroy each other ; you might have seen in our authors , if you had beene pleased to look in to them , or to have called to mind what i perswade my self you have formerly read in them . c camero would have informed you that all conditions do not destroy free grace , sed eae quae possunt habere rationem meriti , but only such as are meritorious . and doctor d prideaux , that to a meritorious worke , foure things are required , which are all of them wating in our conditions . first , it must wholly and entirely proceede from the undertaker . the person that will merit , must doe it of himselfe , out of his owne strength and power : so was the condition of works to have been performed . man had strength conveyed to him in created nature , and was to have kept the condition by this his strength . but thus it is not in the conditions of the gospel : we receive strength from grace , to performe the conditions of grace . god who requires them of us , works them in us ; he gives to repent , he gives us to believe : which i think is the crowne of free grace , that gives us a crowne upon our bare receiving it , and gives us also withall a hand to take it . secondly , it must be a mans owne , no way due or belonging to the person of whom we me merit suppose a tenant be three or foure years rent behind with his landlord , to the value ( it may be ) of one hundred pound , or two hundred pound ; and having nothing to pay , should be freely forgiven by his landlord , only on this condition , that he carefully pay his rent for time to come . shall this person say , the gift was not free because upon this condition ? why the condition is due unto the landlord , whether he forgive what is past or no , and therefore , can no way detract from the freenesse of the gift . so is our faith due , our repentance is due ( the fall , and the recovery by christ supposed ) to god from us , whether he forgive and justifie upon them or no. and therefore the frenesse of the gift of righteousnesse is no way impaired by the requirement of them . when we have done all wee are commanded , we must say we are unprofitable servants , luk. 17. 10. unprofitable saith e chamier to our selves , we have not earned so much as thanks for our selves ; and that because we have done no more then what 's our duty . f opposita sunt solvere debitum et mereri : to pay or discharge a debt , and to merit or deserve , are opposite . thirdly , it must be some way profitable or advantageous to the person of whom we merit . now this also failes : for , can a man be profitable to god , as a wise man is profitable to himselfe ? is it any gaine or pleasure to him , that thou makest thy waies perfect ? job 22. 2. & 35. 4 , 5. what profit is it to the sunne , that wee receive its light into our houses ? or to the spring , that we drinke of its water ? god is no way indamaged by our impenitency , nor advantaged by our returne in to him ; all the emolument accrues to us our selves . and therefore though he require our return unto him , and beliefe on him , if we will be saved by him , yet is his gift of salvation neverthelesse free , because he is no way the gainer by the things required nay , the conditions required by him are matter of further charge and expence unto him , he being the worker and donor of them , as was shewed in the first particular . suppose that some rich person should adopt a poore mans child to be his heire , upon condition that the child be sent home unto him , to live with him , and to be trained and bred up in learning by him . shall the young man say , it is not free ? because it is upon condition , he leaves his fathers cottage for it , he goes to school for it & c ? alas , what profit are either of these to his forster father ? nay , rather they are matter of further charge to him ; for by reason of these , he is at cost for his food , apparel , schooling , and other necessaries to his breeding and education : so when the lord who chuseth amongst his enemies those whom he adopts to be heirs of salvation , doth require of them , that they repent of their sin , beleeve on his sonne , leave off all their vaine wayes , and learne to be like himself who is their father : these heires of grace cannot say that their inheritance is not freely given , because it is given on these termes and conditions : for the things required are no way profitable to god who doth require them ; but rather matter of further cost and charge unto him , who sends his word , his messengers , his graces , his spirit for the working of them . 4. it must be some way proportionable to the reward we expect for it , which also failes in our conditions ; for what proportion is there between our repentance and remission , between our faith and justification . as the apostle , our light afflictions , which are but for a moment , work forth unto us an exceeding , and eternal weight of glory . so may we also say of our repentance and faith . if the landlord should say to his tenant ( one hundred or two hundred pound indebted to him ) these summes you owe , and i do not see where you have a penny to pay , i might use extremity towards you , cast you into prison , and there let you rot ; but i will not deale so severely with you . do but make an ingenuous acknowledgment of what you owe , and that you will be beholding to me , and i will freely remit it . shall this person say , he was not freely forgiven , because it was on this condition , his acknowledgment ? alas , what proportion is there betweene the debt and the acknowledgment ? thus god seemes to speak to us in the matter of repentance . h only acknowledg thine iniquities . the summe of all is , that a man gives freely , which he gives on condition , when withal he gives ability to perform the condition ; else salvation given for , and through christ would not be free . but such are the conditions we pleade for , as our duties , so gods gifts and graces : and therefore the gift of salvation , notwithstanding them , is free . againe , that we give on condition , the condition being the parties duty to whom we give , is free , else the portions that parents give dutiful children would not be free gift . but such are the conditions maintained by us ; such as we owe of duty to god , whether he give or no ; he giveth therefore freely , though he require them . 3. that we give on conditions , the conditions being no way beneficial to us who give , no way equivalent to the thing we give , nor any way causal of our giving , we give most freely . but such also are the conditions defended by us , as hath beene made apparent , they no way benefit the lord at all , they are infinitely disproportionable to the gift of salvation he bestowes , nor do they any way move him to bestow salvation ; but rather his will and purpose to bestow salvation , moves him to bestow them , that by receipt of them , his people might be fitted for the salvation he intends them . and therefore notwithstanding that they are required , the gift of salvation is most free . thus have we done with your argument , from the freenesse of grace ( which , that it may well stand with our conditions , i hope is well cleared ) as also with your arguments taken from scripture . we come now to those you fetch from reason the first of which was taken from the intent of christ in dying , which the scriptures hold out to be the salvation of those for whom he died . now ( say you ) if he died conditionally , it will follow that he willed not their salvation at all , but their damnation , as much or more then their salvation ; for he wills their salvation if they believe , otherwise their damnation : and it is natural to them not to believe . this and all that followes in the argument , may make against the arminians , who hold that christ hath purchased salvation for us , but not faith , and that he died for us conditionally ( i. e. ) that we should be saved if we did believe but did no way procure for us , that we should believe ; and accordingly it is used by our authors , though in other terms , to destroy the arminians conditionality ; as you may see in i owen . but conditional redemption , in which the conditions are purchased , as wel as the salvation ( which is that we maintain ) it no way oppugneth . put case an outlandish man should procure for his sonne some inheritance in our country to be enjoyed by him upon his infranchisement ; you cannot say he intended his sons non-enjoyment of it as much as enjoyment , because of the condition of his infranchisement , if that the infranchisement be procured by the father as wel as the inheritance . the purchasers intent ( i hope is ) ful and firme . notwithstanding the conditionality of the purchase , when the condition is purchased , as well as the thing . so when we maintaine that christ hath procured salvation for us , to be enjoyed conditionally , if wee doe believe . you cannot inferre thence , that he intended our damnation as much as salvation , because we have no power to believe ; for wee maintaine also , that christ hath purchased for us , that wee shall believe . sir , arminians say , that christ died for us that we might be saved if wee doe believe ; k we , that christ died for us , that we should believe , and believing , have life through his name . dare you say that christ died for any so absolutely , as that they should be saved whether they did believe or no ? i hope you will not , though your parallelling the new covenant with that with noah doth naturally yeild such an inference , as hath already beene shewed . your second argument was the same with one you used in your former sermons , where you asserted the absolutenesse of the new covenant , viz. that this conditionality infers a liberty of will. but sir , that those who plead for conditions are no way maintainers or abettors of free will , their writings sufficiently declare . l you make men believe that we preach not repentance as the grace of god by his spirit , wrought in our hearts in and for christ , which is most untrue ; and who of us denies faith to be the gift of god , or that god out of his love to us in christ , freely worketh it in us , that therby we may be enabled to receive christ . that we are not only halfe dead , but quite dead , and can do nothing that is good until the spirit quicken us ; cannot goe to christ til god the father draweth us : cannot believe on christ nor repent of sin until the lord give it unto us , and enable us thereto , is a doctrine i have long agoe learned from their sermons , and often meete with in their writings . and as for the inference , he which chargeth the patronage of free will on that kind of preaching , that holds out life and salvation upon condition of faith and repentance , let him looke to it how he will quit christ and his apostles from that charge , whose sermons are full of counsels , commands and calls , that require men to repent and believe , if ever they would be saved . sir , conditions to be performed by us of our owne strength and power , which the arminians maintaine , argue a power in mans will indeede . but conditions purchased by christ for us , and to be wrought by his spirit in us , which we maintain ; inferre no power of free wil at all . your third argument was taken from election . that from this conditional redemption would follow , that men are elected but conditionally , so that gods election should be undetermined and uneffectual , and the will of god should be made subordinate to the will of the creature . sir , god may be said to elect conditionally two wayes . 1. so as that the condition be considered as anteceding his election , moving him to will salvation to such a person . this conditionality indeed subordinates the will of the creator to the creature , and causeth election to be undetermined and ineffectual . but such kind of conditions , we oppugne as arminian . or 2. so , as that the condition preceede indeed the actual enjoyment of the benefits to which men are elected , but followes election it self . and this consideration of conditions of election we propugne , as no way evacuating either the efficacy or determinatenesse of gods election , nor yet in any wise subjecting the wil of god to the will of man therein . hear what dr. ames saith to this very thing . m it never was denied by our divines , that faith was maintained as a condition antecedent indeed to salvation , but consequent unto , or following election it self ; ( i. e. ) but hath been constantly religiously maintained . no sir , our doctrine concerning conditions , doth no way destroy the certainty of election . but on the contrary , the doctrine of election doth confirme this our tenent of conditional redemption . for so as god from all eternity purposed salvation unto us , and elected us thereto : so did christ purchase it , and so is it actually to be applied . but god n hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the spirit , and beliefe of the truth . and heretofore christ did purchase it to be obtained that way , and that way it is actually to be enjoyed . so that till we be brought over , to the beliefe of the truth and some degree of sanctification ; we cannot be said actually to partake of any part of the salvation purposed or purchased . that god elects for faith foreseene , we uterly deny ; but that he electeth through or by it , i.e. salvation to be obtained through or by it , we religiously maintain . your fourth argument runnes thus , if the purchases of christs death have any condition annexed to them in regard of application , then these conditions share with christ in the businesse of salvation . it is the same with another of your arguments used in your former lectures , and neere of kinne to that of doctor crispe , vol. 1. p. 168. then christ justifieth not alone . is faith christ himselfe ? if not , then christ must have a partner to justifie . but the sequel both in yours and the doctors argument is notoriously false ; and that because conditions are not required in the same way of causality that christs righteousness is . for that is required as a meritorious cause , purchasing and procuring mans peace ; faith is an instrument apprehending it , and christ the cause of it ; repentance as a way leading to it , or qualification fitting a person for it . now when an effect depends on divers causes of a different kind , the necessity of the one , argues not the insufficiency of the other ; but the one may be sufficient in its kind , though the other be required . the wounded person must apply the plaister to the wound , if he wil have it heale him . the diseased person must drink the potion , must travel to the bath , and bathe himselfe therein , if he will have either the potion to purge him , or the bath to cure him : yet would it be great weaknesse in either of these , to say , that the plaister , the potion , the bath were not sufficient , because they were required to goe unto the one , to take and apply the other ; for their taking , going , drinking , applying , are not required in the same sanatory and medicinal way as the bath , the plaister , or the portion are ; but only in an instrumental way , to bring these home to him , that so they might worke upon him . so , nor is my repentance and faith required in any satisfactory or meritorious way , to satisfie gods justice together with christ , or merit remission for me ; no , christ doth that alone , they are only required to fit me for christ , and bring me to christ . did we ascribe any merit or worthinesse to our conditions , then you might say indeed that we made them partners with christ ; but we abhorre this as much as you . faith , saith mr. o gataker , affords not the least mite towards the making up of that price , wherewith our debt is to be discharged . that this answer would be made unto your argument , you your selfe foresaw ; and therefore to anticipate it . you say , — but some distinguish betweene conditions , and meritorious conditions , &c. unto which you reply , that this is a most weake evasion , for papists themselves ascribe no merit to the preparations they plead for ; and cite for it conc. trid. sess . 6. c. 8. and here sir , is a second calumnie . for as before you ranked us with arminians , so here you would insinuate that we joyne hands with papists in maintaining of this conditional redemption . but as i hope i have vindicated it from the charge of arminianisme ; so i doubt not also to cleare it from this of papisme . is it enough , my good friend , to make a thing evil , to say that papists hold so ? why did you cite aestius and lessius , both papists , among the champions of your opinion ? papists agree with us , and wee with them in many things . nor call we that popish where they are sound , and agree with us , but that only wherein they being erroneous we dissent from them , and protest against them . now whether or no papists maintaine any meritoriousnesse in the preparations they defend , sure i am , that protestant authors chiefly oppose this meritoriousnesse of them , as i shall prove unto you . first then , consider that what chemnitius replie , to that very place and passage of the counsel that you cite , if i have not mist your quotation . his words are these . p if therefore this were the minde and judgment of the synod , that it would simply shew that manner and order which god doth use according to the doctrine of the scripture , when he intends to bring men to justification ; and if they would not attribute those things which the scripture teacheth do go before it , to the strength of free will , but to the grace of god , and operation of his holy spirit , nor place any merit or worth in those preparations for which wee may be justified ; we might easily be agreed concerning the word preparation , rightly understood according to the scripture . out of which of chemnitius , i observe three things . ( 1 ) that however in that session they did daube over the matter , yet they did hold a dignity , worth , and merit of congruity to be in these preparations , which the same chemnitius doth afterwards prove at large , spending three or foure leaves therein . ( 2 ) that chemnitius held something , some worke wrought by the spirit in man to precede his justification , or his reception of justification ; for in the following paragraph , thus he speaks . q it is therefore false , which in the ninth canon they attribute to us , as if we taught that not any motion of the will given by god , and excited by him , doth goe before our receiving of justification : for we doe altogether teach that repentance and contrition doe goe before . wee doe not say , that they goe before as a merit , which by its worth doth cooperate to the obtaining of justification ; but as the sense of sicknesse or griefe of a wound , is not any merit of the cure , but doth raise and stirre up to desire , seeke out and welcome the physician . for the whole hath no neede of the phsitian , but they that are sick , as christ saith . and in this sense , those things ( as the scripture saith ) do go before . 3. that he could easily have agreed with those tridentine fathers about preparations ( the word preparation being rightly understood , and according to scripture expressions ; ) if they would not have ascribed them to the strength of free wil , nor have put the worth and merit of justification upon them . by this ( i think ) it is plaine , that they were meritorious preparations that chemnitius did oppose in his writings against the papists . and truly i wonder , that you should cavil at that distinction i gave between a condition and a meritorious cause : and more , that , you should say that papists ascribe no merit to conditions , and preparations . you know the question concerning the conditional promises of the gospel is handled under that concerning the necessity of works , where our writers grant a necessity of presence , but not of efficiencie , which bellarmine contends for . now i pray , what doe they understand by that efficiency , but a meritorious efficiency ? or , what other then that can be ascribed unto works ? yea , that our authours understand merit by that efficiency , they deny . adde to chemnitius , chamier , and consider two passages in him . r but the gospel doth not promise salvation without any condition of observing the law , nor did ever any of ours teach that : so that he do not take the word condition for merit . and in ch . 5. sect. 11. for the condition of faith is not antecedent , but consequent , because there is no merit of faith considered , or faith is not the cause of salvation . to these joyne doctor ames , who saith . ſ we doe not deny that good works have any relation to salvation ; for they have the relation of an adjunct consequent , and of the effect to salvation obtained ( as they speake ; ) and of an adjunct antecedent , and disposing to salvation to be obtained ; and also of an argument confirming our assurance and hope of salvation : but we deny that any works of ours can be a meritorious cause of justification and salvation . and in the chapter before , s promises with a condition of obedience as the causes of that right which we have to the thing promised , are proper to the law ; but promises with condition of obedience , as of the adjunct or effect of the thing promised , or the donation of it , have place in the most bountifull kingdome of grace , where there is no place found for our merits . bishop davenant shall be the next , who averring repentance , faith and love to be necessary to justification , adds by way of explication , and in opposition to the popish sense of necessity , t these and the like inward works of the heart are necessary to all that are justified : not because they conteine in themselves that efficacy or merit of justification ; but because according to gods ordination either they are required as conditions precedaneous to , or concurrent with justification , as to repent , and to believe ; or else as effects necessarily flowing from justifying faith , as to love god , to love our neighbour . and in his next chapter , stating this question , whether good works may be said to be necessary to justification and salvation ? he sets downe in his first and second conclusions , that in controversies with papists , and sermons to vulgar people , wee should not use such expressions without due explication of them , and that because both papists and people wil be ready to understand them necessarily as meritorious causes of salvation . shewing by example of the ancient fathers how careful they have beene to forbeare some forms of speech , by reason of the corrupt sense of hereticks : to which purpose he alledgeth that of hierom ; that which may well be spoken , is not sometimes to be spoken by reason of the ambiguity . neverthelesse in his fifth , sixth and seventh conclusions he maintains , that they are necessary thereto , though not as meritorious causes , yet as previous and concurrent conditions . let mr. perkins be the first wee name for this particular ; who in his reformed catholick , besides the head of merit , ( which wholly makes for us , and shewes sufficiently the papists to be patrons of merit ) in that of repentance , speaking of the differences between us and papists , therein saith , the fourth abuse is touching the effect and efficacy of repentance ; for they make it a meritorious cause of remission of sin , and of life everlasting , flat against the word of god. and a little after : they ascribe to their contrition the merit of congruity , which cannot stand with the sufficient merit of christ . we for our parts hold , that god requires contrition at our hands , not to merit remission of sins , but that we may acknowledge our owne unworthinesse , be humbled in the fight of god , and distrust all our own merits ; and further , that we may make more account of the benefit of christ , wherby we are received into the favour of god , and more carefully shun sin for time to come . but we acknowledge no contrition at all to be meritorious save that of christ . i might adde to these , learned u camero , and repeate that which i cited out of him before , it being the very distinction which you call a most weake evasion ; and the defence of which , we are now upon . as also renowned v pemble , who spends a whole chapter in refuting that opinion of bellarmine , and the romanists ; viz. that faith justifies us as an efficient and meritorious cause obtaining , deserving , and in its kinde beginning justification . but i shall content my self with the recitall of two more , who handle the very question now in controversie , whether the promises of the gospel be absolute or conditional ? and determine that they are absolute , not conditionall . the first of these is broachman , who saith , w it is not controverted , whether the promises of the gospel , that they may be fruitfull and saving , do require faith : neither is it called into controversie , whether the promises of the gospel be so free and absolute , that they discharge a man from a serious sorrow for sins , and from all study of good works ? for he must be an infant in scripture , that is not acquainted with these assertions of the holy spirit . but the true state of the question is , whether the gospel for any our worth , intention , work , merit , or any disposition in us , doth promise to us grace , mercy , remission of sinnes and eternal life ; or rather for and through jesus christ apprehended by faith . and againe , in answer to bellarmines fifth objection , which was , that the promises of the gospel doe alwayes require the condition of faith : thus hee saith ; which wee grant . and further averrs , that this condition of faith will stand with his assertion of absolute promises : for saith he , we warned you in the beginning , that it is not controverted , whether the promises of the gospel doe require faith , which wee willingly grant : x but whether in the free remission of sins , the condition of faith be required as any work of ours , or certain disposition in us ; to which , as to an efficient , helping , or cooperating cause , the free remission of sins may be ascribed ; which we do roundly deny . the other is mr. y burges , who asserts the same out of broachman , as i conceive . by these citations i hope it will more then sufficiently appear to an eye not strangely possest with prejudice , 1. that the distinction between a condition and a meritorious cause , is no slender and weak evasion , but a maine and fundamental distinction in this controversie , such as on which the very hinges of the controversie doth turn . 2. that your saying . that papist ascribe not any meritoriousnesse to conditions , &c. is most false , if there be any truth in these protestants collections ; yea , that it doth asperse these reverend protestant authours fore-named , who oppose the papist in the very particular . 3. that those of our divines who maintain conditional promises in the covenant , whilst withal they exclude all claim of dignity , worth , merit , or any such causality from these conditions , do not joyne with papists , as you would make the people believe , but with protestants against papists ; and differ not one hairs breadth from those who aver the covenant to be absolute , not conditional : for by the conditions which they deny , they understand meritorious conditions . 4. that in rejecting this distinction between a condition and a meritorious cause , and asserting the covenant to be without , not only meritorious conditions , but all other also : you oppose all orthodox divines that ever i met with , not only those that hold the covenant to be conditional , but those also who in terminis aver the absoluteness of it , ( for by the conditions they reject , they understand meritorious ones , as hath been shewed ) and joyn with mr. saltmarsh , dr. crisp , and such other whom the othodox , not out of malice , but for distinction sake , and for the due desert of some of their tenents do call antinomians . but let us see what further strength you bring to the battering of this distinction : for your charge of popery will not hold . you add therefore farther ; did adams doing merit life ? none will say it . yet the grace of god is more shewed in the latter then in the first covenant . therefore in it no conditions at all . sir , the apostle saith , to him that worketh the reward is reckoned , not of grace , but of debt , rom. 4. 4. i know some hold the covenant with adam , wherein works were injoyned , to be a covenant of grace . i have heard mr. symonds of holland deliver that in a sermon at rederith , and thereupon divide the covenant of grace into the covenant of works , and the covenant of faith. certainly , had adam kept the condition of the first covenant , he had done no more then his duty ; nor had he profited god at all ; besides , there would have been small or no proportion between that his work and the reward ; all which are required to merit proper . so that in some sense that may be called a covenant of grace . neverthelesse in the latter covenant of faith , the grace of god is so far more fully , richly , and gloriously manifested , then in that of works , as that it obtaineth the title of the covenant of grace . the apostle saith , it was by faith , that it might be by grace , rom. 4. 16. and the scripture being so plain for it , i ought to believe it , though i could not make it out to others , wherein it was freer , nor yet apprehend it my self . but my good friend , the businesse is not so difficult but that it may be , and hath been already dispatch'd by some of our side , and the freenesse of the latter above the former , notwithstanding the conditionality of both , at large discovered . and that not by excluding faith , or the condition of faith from the latter ( as you would have it ) for that would interfere with that of the apostle now cited , by faith , that it might be of grace ; where faith is taken in , not left out to make out the freenesse . nor yet only because faith is given of god , and so ability to keep the latter covenant is given , which is something . for though that strength adam had to keep the first covenant was freely bestowed on him by god in his creation , yet when god was pleased to enter into a covenant with him , he had it in him , and was to work in his own strength and power . whereas in the new covenant god finds man in an impotent , weak , and dead condition , and graciously promiseth to work in him ability to do what he requireth : this ( i say ) is something that serves to shew the freenesse of divine grace in the new covenant ; for the apostle saith expresly , ephes . 2. 8. we are saved by grace through faith , and that not of our selves , it is the gift of god ; where the giving of the thing required , to wit , faith , is introduced by the apostle to shew the freeness of grace . but the superabundancy of grace in the latter covenant appears mostly in this , that in the former , the matter of mans justification had been something of his own , his own exact and perfect obedience to the law of god ; but in the latter , the matter of it is an others , the perfect righteousness of christ . in the one , man runs into himselfe for the price of his life and happiness : but in the other , faith carries him out of himself unto another , the lord jesus christ for all . in the one , the condition it self and the keeping of it , was to have been the matter of mans righteousness , the ground of his justification . in the other , it is only the instrument and mean. in the one , the condition it self ( works ) procured life , in and of themselves , without any reference to any other ; but in the other , faith is looked on , not as a work , but as an instrument ; nor doth it save for any excellency , worth , or vertue that is in it ; but only because it layes hold on christ . i cannot better expresse my self then in mr. gatakers words , rejoynder . p. 46 , 47. in the one , works are considered , as in themselves performed by the parties to be justified and live . in the other , faith is considered and required , not as a work barely done by us , but us an instrument whereby christ is apprehended , in whom is found , and by whom that is done , whereby gods justice is satisfied , and life eternal meritoriously procured for us ; so that they differ as much as these two propositions . 1. pay your debt of a thousand pounds and be free . 2. rely on such a friends satisfaction made for it , and be as free as if you had made full payment and satisfaction your self . all this and more you may find in that reverend divine , your contempt of whom , and all other not of your way , sads the hearts of your friends , and makes them fear that which they are loath to suspect concerning you . you proceed , and tell us that though it be not meritorious , yet if it be antecedent , it must be effective ; for an antecedent condition is effective . sir , by your own maintaining faith to be an instrument in the work of our salvation ( which i think is more then a condition , though no more i believe then truth ) you must of necessity grant it both a precedency and efficiency therein ; for instruments are alwayes reckoned to the efficient cause , and in order of nature precede the effect . and thus i conceive that faith is effective in the work of our salvation , as an instrument receiving christ , not as a condition . conditions are not effective , but instruments are . as for that of z chamier , that a condition ▪ antecedent is effective ; i conceive he means meritorious , the passage cited out of him already leading me to that conjecture : for ( saith he ) the a condition of faith is not antecedent , but consequent , because no merit of faith is considered , or faith is not the cause of salvation . now that conditions are meritorious , yea or so much as impulsive , is altogether denied by the assertors of conditions , who allow no causality at all to them . it rests on you to prove that the antecedency of a condition doth infer its causality : for though chamier aver it , yet i see no ground for that his assertion , especially in such conditions , as those we maintain in the new covenant . your first argument runs thus : if conditions be annexed , &c. then no man can be sure of the benefits purchased whiles he lives ; for the conditions must be performed , &c. to which we may add two arguments of your former sermons , the first the very same with this : if salvation were on condition , then none could be sure of salvation , for none can be sure to hold out in performance of the condition . the other , if any condition be required , then none can be saved , for none can perform the condition . adam could not abstain from one tree when he was in the state of innocency . much lesse . — first , sir , your instance of adam , we conceive it unsound . that he did not abstain , we finde by woful experience ; but that he could not , we deny . recepit posse si vellet , non autem velle ut posset , saith a father . adam had power to have abstained if he would , only his will was not confirmed in good ; whereupon it came to passe that he freely fell . secondly , your weapon may be turned against your self : for whereas you hold , that none are saved but such as believe , it may be objected unto you out of your own argument , then none can be saved , for none can believe ; or , then none can be sure of salvation , because none can bee sure to hold out in believing . thirdly , it seemes to me directly to crosse the apostle , who tells us , that it was of faith , that the promise might be sure to all the seed , rom. 4. 16. fourthly , whereas you say , that if conditions be required , then none can be sure , because none can bee sure to hold out ; do you not seem to intimate that salvation is sure to the elect , whether they hold out in the faith or not ? which is the monster arminians would father upon our tenents . for answer therefore to your argument , the main of it may wound an arminian , who holds falling from grace : but as for those who hold no such uncomfortable doctrine , it no way toucheth them . we say with david , 2 sam. 23. 5. although my house be not so with god , yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure . for he hath promised to circumcise our hearts , to write his lawes in our hearts , to give us a new heart , and then through grace , after our recovery , we may do that which in our sick , dead , and corrupt estate we could not do ; namely , keep the condition in an evangelical way , wherein though exact perfectnesse be required , yet is repentance admitted , and sincerity accepted . again , he hath promised to put his fear in our hearts , that we may not depart from him , jer. 32. 40. and we are confident that he who hath begun a good work in us , will perform it to the day of christ , phil. 1. 6. qui operatur ut accedamus , idem operatur ne discedamus . we answer therefore the main of your argument , even as wee answer the arminians , that though in regard of our own strength , which is weak , we may fear , yet in regard of gods manutenency we are sure . who will keep us , not without , but by and through the means he hath appointed us , even faith ; by which , as he brings us into a state of salvation , so through the same he will keep us by his almighty power unto salvation , 1 pet. 1. 5. we are as sure of perseverance in observation of the condition as of salvation ; holding both of god by like tenure of free promise . salvation , you see then , may be obteined , notwithstanding the conditions required , because god hath promised to give ability to perform them , and to persevere in the performance of them . this you foresaw would be replied , and therefore anticipate it by saying , but god hath promised to give faith . to which you rejoyne , i demand , whether that promise be absolute or conditional ? and anon , there is no reason why one promise should be more absolute then another . but 1. sir , whether absolute or conditional , a promise it is , and such as doth assure the soul of the condition on which salvation is given . so that salvation is sure , notwithstanding the conditionality of the covenant , and the sinewes of your argument are cut in two . 2. for your quaerie , whether it be conditional or absolute ? i conceive it absolute . christ procured salvation for us to be bestowed conditionally , if we do believe ; but faith it self hath he absolutely procured without prescribing of any condition ; so that it is equivalent to an absolute purchase in respect of the event and issue . owen universal redemp . l. 3. c. 1. & 2. for my part , i cannot imagine how any condition ( i mean antecedent condition , for a consequent condition they may admit of ) can be annexed to those promises , i will write my lawes in their hearts , and i will put my fear into their hearts , and i will take the stony heart out of their bodies . &c. unlesse free wil be granted . and therefore i conceive those promises to be absolute in regard of antecedent conditions . now whereas you say , there is no reason why one promise should be more absolute then another ; the will of the covenant maker to have it so , is it self a sufficient reason . is it not the will of god to give christ absolutely , & then salvation for christs sake to them that do believe in him ? shall i say here , that there is no reason why one gift should be more absolute then another ? he who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will , hath infinite reason both for his will and working . in the mean while , sir , your reason from the certainty of salvation , is ( i think ) sufficiently discovered to have nothing of force against protestant conditional redemption . your last argument was taken from the analogy or resemblance betwixt christ and adam ; as by the one , sin is conveyed ; so by the other righteousnesse : but by the one sin and death are conveyed without condition ; ergo. i doubt not sir , but that you will remember the old rules ; viz. 1. that similitudes run not on all four . 2. nor are argumentative . i might as well argue hence , that all mankind are redeemed by christ , because they were all destroyed by adam : or that all were not corrupted by adam , as peter martyr on the place tels me , ambrose and origen did hence hold , because all are not repaired by christ : or with bellarmine , that adam conveyed inherent sin to his posterity whereby they perish , and therefore the righteousnesse of christ conveyed for our recovery must be inherent . we should many wayes clip the truth of god , if we should every way make these lines run parallel . hear peter martyr to the very point , this analogy holds true only in the general : but in respect of the particular , and the kinds , there is great difference . adam conveyes sin by propagation to his posterity : but christ conveyed righteousness by faith . after this you had a passage concerning actual righteousnesse and actual reconciliation , to this purpose : vnlesse men will grant that christ purchased a salvability , the salvation purchased must be actual ; for inter actum & potentiam non datur medium . sir , i know none of ours that deny , that christ purchased actual salvation for those for whom he dyed ; i.e. that in time they should be actually saved in that way and method agreed on between the father and the son. the thing we deny is , that the salvation purchased , is actually theirs for whom its purchased before they come actually to believe . you must give us leave to distinguish between the purchase and the possession : the grant or donation of a benefit , and the actual exhibition and reception of it . the child may have an inheritance purchased for him , and bequeathed to him before he is born , but he must be born before he can enjoy it . abraham had the grant and donation of canaan , long before his had the actual possession of it . hear we dr. ames in this particular ; c all and each have grace and salvation given , though they have not the possession of the thing given before faith . now unto these arguments let us add one or two more out of your former sermons about the absoluteness of the covenant ; many of which having fallen in with those already discussed , and not above one or two remaining . the first , if any thing were required on our part , then beasting could not be excluded . this also dr. crisp vol. 10. p. 71. if any thing were done on our parts to partake of christ , we might have wherein to boast , rom. 4. 2. but i pray consider seriously how crosse this your argument is to the very text : for did not abraham , the party spoken of there , do something for his part to partake of christ , when he believed ? yet was he excluded from boasting . and doth not the law of fath , the gospel , require faith on mans part , that righteousnesse may be imputed ? why else is it called a law ? yet the apostle saith expresly , that by this law boasting is excluded , rom. 3. 27. if indeed we could do any thing in a meritorious way , we might boast , not otherwise . the begger i hope , hath little to boast of , and yet doth he both crave and receive his almes . the sinner hath lesse : for as that he doth can no way merit , no more then the beggers craving and receiving ; so nor can he do that , untill the lord inable him . god must give him both a mouth and a hand , before he can speak for christ to take him . yet both he must have , before he can receive , the lord having set down to himself ( as you your self acknowledg ) such a method and way of giving . the other which seems to be of more strength , and i think the strongest you bring , is this , if the promise of salvation were upon condition of believing , then men should believe before they be justified , contrary to rom. 4. 5. where it is said , god justifies the ungodly . now no where in scripture believers are called ungodly ; the same almost totidem verbis you may read in the doctor , vol. 1. p. 170 , 171. now for answer unto ths , i desire you to consider , what the papists say concerning this justification of the wicked . that wheresoever in scripture god is said to justifie the ungodly , it must be understood that he also makes the ungodly just and righteous ; for otherwise the judgment of god would not be according to truth , and the lord should do that himself which he forbids his creature to do , and abhors in his creature when ever he doth it , exod. 23. 7. isaiah 5. 23. deuter. 25. 1. prov. 17. 15. and lest you should think light of it , because it comes from them , though it is right to learn even from an enemy ; hear what the learned pemble saith of this very rule cited by him . we embrace this rule ( saith he ) and the reason of it , acknowledging that where ever there is justification , there must be justice some way or other in the party justified ▪ the god of truth should otherwise call darknesse light , and evil good . and therefore both that author , as also paraeus and chamier , tells us , that the righteousnesse of christ imputed to this ungodly person is the ground of this gracious sentence of god , whereby he doth absolve , acquit , and justifie him . so that the person , though he be ungodly and unrighteous in himself , and so unjustifiable , yet is he godly , just , and righteous in christ and through the righteousnesse of christ imputed to him justifiable . let this then be agreed on ; i.e. 1. that the ground of this gracious sentence of god , whereby he justifies the ungodly must be some kind of righteousnesse . and 2. that it is the righteousnesse of christ imputed to the sinner . the quaerie then will be , whether this righteousnesse of christ be imputed to the sinner before he doth believe , or not till he believeth ? now i think the scriptures are very clear for the latter , that righteousnesse is not imputed to the sinner til he doth believe : that very text it self confirmes it , to him that believeth on him that justifies the ungodly , his faith is counted for righteousnesse . it is to him that believeth that righteousnesse is imputed ; and again , his faith is counted , &c. take faith how you will , it must come into the imputation , the imputation is not without it . so again , abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousnesse , ver . 3. when was it so accounted ? certainly when he believed : it was whilest he was in uncircumcision indeed , but not whilest he was in unbelief : he received circumcision ( saith the apostle ) the seal of the righteousness of faith , which yet he had being uncircumcised . as he had righteousnesse then , so had he faith too , for it was a righteousnesse of faith . and as it was imputed unto him upon believing , so shall it be imputed unto us if we believe on him who raised up jesus , vers . 24. hence it is called the righteousness of faith , for that it comes to be ours through faith . faith takes it , receives it , puts it on . the righteousnesse of god by faith , phil. 3. 9. we answer then that place in the romans thus , 1. an ungodly person may be taken either for one who is wicked , and goes impenitently on in his wickedness , never once looking after christ ; a sinner continuing in his impenitency and unbelief . now such an ungodly person god doth not justifie ; for it is against both his truth and justice . 2. it may be taken for one that is ungodly and unjustifiable in himself ; but yet believing on christ , is through him and his satisfaction just , and so justifiable . such an ungodly person god doth justifie ; and thus ames , paraeus , bishop downam , and those other divines i have in their descriptions of justification , make not a sinner simply , but a believing sinner to be the subject of justification , or the person to be justified . now whereas you say , that no where in scripture a believer is called ungodly . i conceive it false , he is called so there : for who is the ungodly person spoken of there , but abraham ? and he was justified ( as hath been shewed ) when he did believe . besides , god the object of faith justifying , who is described there to be the justifier of the ungodly is said in ver . 26. of the foregoing chapter , to be the justifier of him that believeth in jesus . i beseech you tell me , doth not the apostle speak of one and the same justification in both places ? doth he not in both places describe one and the same person , the person that is justified ? him then whom he calls a believer on christ in one place , the same he calls an ungodly person in the other ; and whom he cals an ungodly person in this , in that he stiles the same a believing person . certainly , seeing ( as it is chap. 3. vers . 30 ) that it is one god that justifies both the circumcision by faith , and the uncircumcision through faith , i.e. all that are justified , both jew and gentile , circumcised or uncircumcised , by or through one and the same mean of faith . it must needs be that the ungodly person spoken of in the next chapter , is such an ungodly person , as hath faith , and doth believe ; or else god should justifie some without faith , to which the former place doth aver the contrary . that place in the romanes then concerning gods justifying the ungodly , will not bear the position you ground upon it ; viz. that sinners are justified before they do believe ; or that we do not believe , that we may be justified , as the doctor expresseth it , an assertion as rotten as the foundation on which it is built ; and expresly contrary to the apostle , who tells us , galat. 2. 16. that hee had believed on christ , that so he might be justified by the faith of christ . thus have i given you an account of some , and those of the main of your arguments , both wherein they have not satisfied me concerning the tenent you endeavoured to maintain , and wherein also they have offended me , whilst they wounded that i hold for truth through the sides of popery and arminianism . i shall now shew you some grounds of my belief on the contrary : first taking leave in a word to state the question , and to set downe how , and what i hold concerning it first then , i distinguish between both a condition and a meritorious cause , as also between it and an impulsive cause . by condition , i understand neither any thing meriting justification at gods hands in the least degree , nor yet any thing moving the lord to justifie or bestow salvation on us . secondly , by conditions i understand the restipulation or repromission in a covenant , the termes and articles of agreement in a covenant betweene equals , and the thing commanded or required in a covenant betweene superiors and inferiors , such as is the covenant between god and man. thirdly , whereas there are conditions , yet i assert them not in any rigid and legal , but in an evangelical way . not so , as if they were not strictly and in a rigid exactnesse perfectly kept , there were no hope of salvation ; but so , as if that they be not in some measure sincerely observed , there is sure damnation . mr. ball will tell you , that c whereas in the covenant of nature , perfect obedience is exacted , so that if there be the least failing in any jot or tittle , and that but once , a man can never be justied thereby , nor can the breach be made up by any repentance . in the covenant of grace , perfect obedience is indeed required , yet so as repentance is admitted , and sincerity accepted . conditions in this evangelical way i plead for , and conceive , that god in the new covenant doth not promise life and salvation absolutely unto his chosen , whether they believe and repent or no : but doth require from , and command them to repent and believe , if they will be partakers of the benefits purchased by his son , and promised by himself in that his covenant : which that they may do , he himself of his own grace , and for his own sons sake bestowes faith and repentance on them . nor have they a right to any actual enjoyment of these benefits untill they do actually repent and believe . the grounds of my perswasion in this particular follow . 1. that covenant , wherein is a mutual stipulation , is conditional . but such is the new covenant ; therefore that is conditional . as on gods part life and salvation are promised , so on mans repentance , and faith , and perseverance therein are required , and to be promised . mar 1. 15. chap. 6. 12. acts 2 38. chap. 3. 19. chap. 20. 21. john 6. 28 , 29. chap. 3. 15 , 16. john 8. 24. rom. 10 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 john 8. 31. chap. 15 5 , 6 , 7 , 10. heb. 3. 6. chap. 10 , 38. he cannot see wood for trees , that doth not take notice of these evangelical commands , wherein performance of gospel conditions , and perseverance in that performance are required , they every where so abundantly occur . choose we out one of the places named , and a little insist on it ; that rom. 10 9. the rather for that in your answer to mr. s. you make some reply thereto . how ( say you ) do you prove , that rom. 10 9. is set down the forme and tenure of the new covenant ? i deny it ; the apostles intent is . &c. sir , it is clear , as calvin notes , that the apostle here opposeth the righteousnesse of faith to the righteousnesse of works . it is also clear , that in describing the righteousnesse of works he setteth downe the very tenor and form of that covenant , the man that doth them shall live by them , ver . 5. and in opposition thereunto , delivers this to be the speech of the righteousnesse of faith , if thou confessest with thy mouth , and believest with thine heart , &c. if then it be granted , which cannot be denyed , that in these words , the man that doth them shal live by them , the tenor of the covenant of works is contained ; it must needs follow by the rule of opposition , that in these words , if thou confessest and believest , &c. the tenor of the covenant of grace is also contained . besides , when the apostle saith , the word is nigh thee , &c. that is the word of faith which we preach , that if thou confesse , &c. what ( i pray you ) doth he mean by the word of faith , but the gospel ? or what else did the apostle preach but the gospel ? the sum of which he saith to be this , if thou confesse , if thou believe . &c. sir , that word or gospel which the apostle preached , wherein he held out the righteousnesse of faith , and which he set in opposition against the covenant of works ; that same must needs be the covenant of grace . but such is the word here ; the tenor whereof he saith is , if thou confesse , &c. ergo , it is the covenant of grace . and whereas you say , that the apostles intent there is to shew gods order and method in fulfilling the promises of the covenant , and to describe those whom he will bring to glory : though it make nothing against us ; for if that were his intent , he might have his intent , and describe both the one and the other , in setting down the covenant . ( the conditions which lead to annexed promises , holding out gods method unto us , and the counterpane of the covenant or conditions engraven on the heart , being the best character of a person to be glorified . ) though ( i say ) this makes nothing against us ; yet if you consider the sense of the apostles discourse , both in the latter end of the the foregoing chapter , and in this ; or if you please to consult with junius parallels , where he hath a f whole parallel about this place ; you shal find that the apostles intent and scope is otherwise then you say ; namely , to prove unto the jew , even out of moses , that the end of the law was not that they might be justified thereby , but that by the impossibility of keeping it , they might be driven to seek justification from christ by faith in another covenant ; which covenant of faith moses ( though obscurely ) did intimate unto them in those expressions , say not in thy heart , &c. the word is nigh thee . by which he meant no other then that word of faith , gospel , or covenant of grace which the apostle preached ; the sum whereof was , that if thou confesse and believe , thou shalt be saved . come we to some other texts formerly alledged to prove a stipulation in the covenant of grace , and replied unto by you in your sermon . that out of gen. 17. touching the covenant with abraham was one . to which you say , if any condition were required , then that of circumcision , which ought also to be performed by all under the gospel ; so we should obtrude judaism upon christians . first , ( my good friend ) are intimations of preaching judaisme , papisme , and arminianism no calumnies ? consider ( i pray you ) how you besmear the adversaries of your opinion to bring an odium upon them . secondly , what you reply , serves only , ad faciendum populum , there being no manner of answer made unto the argument . for whether circumcision belong to us or no , it was required of abraham and his seed ; and the soul that refused to take it , is said to break the covenant , and was to be cut off , ver . 14. so that the argument remaines firme against you ; yea , not at all replyed unto ; which is this ; the covenant with abraham was the covenant of free grace : but in the covenant with abraham there was a condition required of the federates , abraham and his seed : therefore in the covenant of free grace , there is a condition required of the federates . thirdly , as for that you say , we distinguish between the external signe of the covenant , and the substance of it . the one is alterable , the other remaines stil the same . now circumcision was but the external sign of abrahams part . the things or duties god did especially require of abraham , were faith and sincere obedience , rom. 4 3. gen. 17. 1. now these belong to christians , as much as to jewes , and to presse them on christians is no judaism . g circumcision was a sign obligatory to those which were in covenant ; or a token of the restipulation of abraham , obliging him and his posterity to faith and obedience of the covenant to be performed to god. saith paraeus . fourthly , i conceive that mandate from the external signe of circumcision to reach to us christians . though not in the letter , yet in the analogy , and by vertue of it christians stand to be baptized themselves ; also to bring their seed to partake of that sacrament , which as the apostle teacheth us , is our christian circumcision ; and he that wilfully refuseth may be said to break the covenant , as well as he that formerly refused circumcision . the same covenant which gave a commandment or word of restipulation for that circumcision of abraham and his seed , giveth the same commandment or word of justification for baptism of believers and our seed , saith h mr. c●tton of new england . the next places of scripture to prove a stipulation were heb. 8. 10. heb. 2. 23. to which you reply by interrogation : is there any condition on mans part intimated here ? doth not god promise to do all ? doth he say , if you will be my people ? 1. sir , what you me an by that expression , doth not god promise to do all ? i wist not , mr. saltmarsh saith , it is enough for us to believe that christ hath repented for us , believed for us . but i hope you are not so far gone . if you by it understand gods gracious inabling of his creature to perform the conditions he himselfe requireth , i readily joyne with you . it is he gives us to repent and to believe , as hath been said already . but then i hope you will distinguish between , gods gift and mans duty ; though the ability be given of god , the exercise of it , or work is mans . it is man himself that believeth and repenteth , though he receive ability from the lord for both . 2. we answer your demand , is there any condition on mans part ? yes , that there is ; namely this , they shall be my people . can they be his people without dutiful subjection and obedience to him ? here is this then , that god requires of them , that if they would have him to be a god to them , to pardon them , defend them , save them , &c. then they should take him for their god , depend on him , submit to him , obey , worship , and serve him , and carry themselves towards him as become his people : i they shall say , thou art my god : upon which paraeus glosseth , k god saith , we are his people , making us to be his people . our faith and our obedience is our saying , the lord is our god. nor is it material that god doth not formally condition with them , saying , if you will be my people , &c. the restipulation required , is no whit the lesse firm , when in the next chapter the prophet saith , l only thou shalt abide for me many dayes ; and not , if thou wilt abide for me : it was neverthelesse a conjugal compact . the cause of this kinde of expression may be either 1. for brevities sake : or secondly , as mr. ball notes , god enters into covenant with man , not as his equall , but as his superiour or soveraign , appointing man his conditions in form of commands , which it's mans duty to accept of and obey : or 3. which i should rather chuse , to intimate thereby his gracious purpose of giving ability to perfom the conditions , i will put my lawes in their hearts . they shall be my people ; i e. i will not only require of them , that they know my lawes , and obey me as becomes my people ; but by my grace , i wil cause it to be wrought within them . whether way you take it , either for gods command injoyning them to be his people ; or for his promise to make them his people , it is not much material ; this still remaines either way , that they were to be his people . and this we have , even from the most absolute promises , those of taking the stony heart away , giving a heart of flesh , a new heart , circumcising the heart , writing the law on the heart ; which admit not , as i conceive , any antecedent condition , yet do they clearly shew that these things are required . this new heart is required , the writing the law on the heart is required , and so of the rest : god doth require them in his people , and without men have them , they cannot be the people of god , nor expect salvation from god. these things ( sir ) perswade me , notwithstanding all that you have hitherto replied , to adhere still to what i have formerly conceived and delivered concerning these texts ; viz. that they do hold out a stipulation in the covenant , and then it will be conditional . now because this work is swollen bigger by the one half already then ( when i set pen to paper ) i intended it should have been , i shall briefly add some more arguments , and draw toward a close : and because we are upon stipulations in the covenant , add we an argument or two of that nature . 1. that covenant which is mandatory as well as promissory , and contains a law as well as a promise , that covenant hath a stipulation which they must subscribe to , who will be federates and covenanters therein ; for whenever the lord annexeth a command unto a promise , the promise is not absolute but conditional : there is something required in the command of him who will enjoy the benefit of the promise . now the new covenant is of this nature ; it is not a meer promise ( as some would have it ) but a law as well as a promise , and therefore called by the apostle , the law of faith , rom. 3. 27. the law of faith is that doctrine which doth require faith to the obtaining of that righteousnesse which is freely imputed , saith paraeus . that is the law of works which teacheth that righteousnesse is to be obtained by works but the law of faith teacheth , it is to be hoped for from the mercy of god alone , saith martyr . the doctrine teaching righteousness by faith , is that which the word of the gospel doth bind us to if we will be saved , saith bernard in his thesaur . the condition which offereth and promiseth salvation , is this condition , if wee believe . wilson in his dictionary on the words . 2. that covenant which man is forbidden to break , commanded to keep , and wherein man is tyed and bound unto god ; that covenant must needs have conditions and restipulations on mans part ; for it is in regard of the things required from man , that man is said to break or keep , or be bound by the covenant . but such is the new covenant . abrahams was such , my covenant shalt thou keep , gen. 17. 9. davids was such ( though you averred the contrary in your sermon ) psal . 132. 12. if thy children will keep my covenant . such was israels , ezek. 20. 37. i will make you to passe under the rod , and bring you into the bond of the covenant : and what covenant doth he mean but that mentioned , ezek. 36. 26. and hos . 2. ? the places considered seem to me to hold out one and the same . such is also that administration of it under which we are . the romans were n free from righteousness , before they believed on christ , and entred into covenant with him ; but after they were baptized into christ they were o servants unto righteousnesse . the stile of gods people formerly was , they were covenant keepers , psal . 25. 10. psal . 103. 17. and is it not as proper to them now , as it was then ? may not the people of god under the gospel be guilty of breach of covenant , and that not only in regard of their covenants with men , nor yet in regard of those necessary engagements which occasionally they make unto the lord , but in regard of their baptism , and that solemne covenant between god and them , which baptism doth seal . i have not quite forgotten mr. perkins catechism , which i learned when i was a child , where i was taught in the fift principle expounded , to answer this question , how comes it to passe that many after their baptism for a long time feel not the effect and fruit of it , and some never ? thus answered , the fault is not in god who keeps his covenant , but the fault is in themselves , in that they do not keep the condition of the covenant , to receive christ by faith , and repent of all their sins . and a little after , how if a man never keep the condition to which he bound himself in baptism ? answer , his damnation shall be greater , because he breaks his vow made unto god. mr. perkins you see , teacheth conditions in the new covenant , in regard of which it may be kept or broken by us christians . 3 this brings to my mind another argument ; that covenant wherein a promise is required of the federates , which promise they do also seal to god in receiving of the covenant seal , that covenant hath a restipulation ; but such is the new covenant . for the confirmation of the minor , i desire you to consider how in the primitive times growne persons were required to professe their repentance and faith in christ before they were admitted unto baptism . repent ( saith peter , acts 2 ) and be baptized : whence also it is called the baptism of repentance ; mark 1. 4. acts 19. 4. and john is said to baptise men unto repentance , mat. 3. 11. so when the eunuch desired baptism of philip. acts 8. 36 , 37. saying , what doth hinder me to be baptized ? philip replyes , that if he believed with all his heart , he might ; whereupon followed both his confession of faith and baptism . the baptist also requires those whom he baptized to bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life . from which places zanchy and piscator collect , that faith and repentance and new obedience , were required of all those grownpersons who were baptized , they were to make profession of their repentance and faith , and to make promise of new obedience . take piscators note upon matth. 3. p baptism is to be administred to no person that is of years , unlesse he shall first of all make a confession of sins , and of faith in christ , and withal a promise of leading a holy life . these professions were afterward for the ease of the party to be baptized , turned into interrogations and answers : the minister demanding of the party to be baptized , dost thou believe in god ? the party was wont to answer , i do believe . the minister again inquiring . dost thou renounce the divel ? &c. he replyed , i do renounce . which answer when infants could not make of themselves , they had parents and sponsors who made it for them . thus was there a formal stipulation required of growne persons at their first admission into covenant and the administration of the seal of the covenant to him . farther , as before baptism , growne persons did thus professe and promise , so by being baptized did they seal . for this seal of baptism , as it is gods seal to us assuring us of remission and other benefits promised in the covenant : so is it also the christians seal unto god , whereby he seals the promise of repentance , faith and new obedience : hence are they said to be baptized into christ ; into his death , into the name of the father , son and holy ghost . to be baptized into any ones name is , to be consecrated to his worship ; so that he is named from him as from his lord , and that he dedicate himself wholly to his service , saith piscator . and learned zanchie having at large expressed the same in several particulars , doth briefely sum up all , r baptism is a note and mark whereby we do protest that we will observe the conditions of that covenant which in christ is established between god and us . baptism is ( saith bishop davenant ) a ſ covenant made with god of loading a more holy life , therefore we must take care that what was once sacramentally done in baptism , may be performed truly throughout our whole life . s as souldiers ( saith martyr ) swear in the name of the general , and are so bound to him , that it is not lawful for them afterwards to be conversant in the enemies tents , if they do , the offence is capital : so by baptism we are obliged unto christ , and we swear that we will not afterwards at any time revolt to the divel . so also paraeus , t it is known from the catechisme , that we are baptized in the name of the trinity , because we are bound in the name of god to faith in , to worship and obedience of god ; and we do also promise again these things unto god. we are baptized into the death of christ in a double respect ; first , in respect of god , in as much as he doth by the seal of baptism , give and seal to us the benefits of the death of christ . secondly in respect of our selves , by promising again faith to believe these so great benefits of christ , and the mortifying of sin by the power of the death of christ , that it reign not over us any more . with these forementioned doth also mr. byfield concur , who tels us , that baptism is a u bond that tyeth us to the desires and endeavours after the beginning and finishing of our death to sin and spiritual life , according to these authors sense of the places forenamed . baptisme sealeth our promise of repentance , faith , and new obedience to god , as well as his promise of remission unto us . it is our pledge , our covenantmony , and military oath , whereby we do tye and bind our selves to the service of the most high ; which i cannot possibly conceive how it should be such , if there were no restipulation , or repromission in the covenant , as you maintain . thus much at present concerning restipulation in the covenant ; passe we on to some other arguments : and because i remember you told me , that i had in my sermons a number of citations out of the old testament , you shall hear some more of the arguments i used then , for some of them i have set down already . to what hath been said add then , gods mercies are to be obtained in gods way , that way and manner which god hath from all eternity pitched on therein to bring men to the enjoyment of these mercies : but god hath from all eternity purposed to give remission , justification , adoption , &c. as through christ ( for he hath predestinated us to the adoption of children , through jesus christ , ephes . 1. 5 , 7. ) so through faith in christ ▪ and in a way of repentance , rom. 3. 25 , 28. chap. 8. 28. acts 13. 38 , 39 , 48. chap. 5 31. chap. 11. 18. therefore till men actually repent and believe , they cannot actually partake of remission , adoption , justification , and those other benefits and purchases of christs passion . againe , those mercies which the prophets and apostles propose and promise unto men , not absolutely , but on termes of repentance and faith : they are not absolutely , but upon performance of the proposed termes to be expected ; but the faithful messengers of god , both in the old and new testament , do both proffer and promise remission in this manner . look into the sermons of the prophets , and we shal find in their fullest and highest descriptions of free grace and offers of mercy , they still require repentance of men . so isai . 1. though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be as white as snow . but when ? when they should seriously set upon the practice of repentance : for so in the words foregoing , wash ye , cease to doe evil , &c. come now and let us reason . no parley at all before this to be expected so cha . 55. a place much insisted on by dr. crisp for to prove the absolute freenesse now in hand . there are many things required , as thirsting , coming , hearing , seeking , calling , forsaking of sin , and turning unto god. so the other prophets , jer. 3. 12 , 13 , 14. ezek. 18. 31 , 32. chap. 33. 11. chap. 36. 26 , 27. zach. 1. 3. now whereas you told me , that these were proofs out of the old testament , i hope you neither deny proofs thence to be authentical , nor yet the prophets then to have been preachers of free grace . the covenant ( i hope ) was for substance the same then that it is now ; not a conditional one then , and an absolute one now . the fathers of the old testament ( saith luther ) before christ appeared in the flesh , had him in the spirit , believed in him , and were saved by him as we are , according to the saying , jesus christ is one yesterday , to day , and shal be the same for ever . luther in galat. c. 4. v. 2. come to the new testament , and we shall find that salvation was held out in the same manner then . christ and his fore-runners were preachers of repentance ▪ yea , the commission for preaching of the gospel which is still on record , doth shew how it was then , and is still to be published , not without , but on terms of repentance , luke 24. 47. that repentance and remission oft sin should be preached to all nations . the rule of which their commission the apostles observed , as they themselves tell us , testifying both to jewes and gentiles repentance towards god , and faith towards our lord jesus christ , acts 20. 21. nay it would be no difficult task to pick out most conditional particles out of their , and our saviours sermons , &c. scil . mark 9. 23. acts 8. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , matth. 6. 14. rom. 10 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , si modo , coloss . 1. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , matth. 6 15. john 8. 24 matth. 18. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mark 11. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mark 5. 36. if , but if , unlesse , except only si , sin , modo , dum , dummodo , were conditional , when i learned my grammer . 3. the office of the ministry , what is it for , but to prepare people for mercy by working something in them that may fit them for the receipt of the benefits promised in the new covenant . as john was , so are they to be christs harbingers , and are to make ready a people prepared for the lord , luke 1. 17. to preach to them that they might be saved 1 thess . 2. 16. to open their eyes and to bring them from darknesse to light , and from the kingdom of satan unto god , that they may receive remission of sins , &c. acts 26 18. thou hast ascended up on high , thou hast lead captivity captive , and hast received gifts for men , even for the rebellious , that the lord god may dwell among them , psal . 68. 18 on which dr. crisp thus glosseth , vol. 2. p. 410. who is that them ? the rebellious saith the text : and p. 412. the holy ghost doth not say that the lord takes rebellious persons and fits and prepares them by sanctification , and then when they are fitted , he will come and dwell with them ; but even then , without any intermission , without any stop , even when they are rebellious the lord christ hath received gifts for them , that the lord god may dwell among them : thus the doctor . but certainly the apostle paul was more acquainted with the mind of the holy ghost then dr. crisp : now he , ephes 4. 8. alledging this of the psalmist , openeth it far otherwise , and delivereth it , so as to me it seemes full for the confirmation of that we have in hand : when ( saith he ) he ascended up on high , he led captivity captive , and gave gifts to men : i hope he gave no other then what he received for them . now what gave he ? it followes , he gave some apostles , and some prophets , and some evangelists , and some pastors and teachers : and for what end ? for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the edifying of the body of christ ; till we come , &c. he did not then receive this gift , that though they were rebellious , the lord god might dwell among them whilst they remained so , as the doctor avers . but on the contrary , he received and gave abroad these gifts of the ministerial function , that thereby people might bee taken off their rebellious principles , and broken off their rebellious practices , and fitted for the communion with the most high : the sum is , the ministers of the word are sent on this businesse to prepare people for the lord , for remission and salvation ; therefore there is something required of them , some work to be wrought in them , on them , before they can actually partake of remission or salvation from the lord , or enjoy communion with the lord. 4. that which these ministers of the gospel have directed sinners to do for the obtaining of remission , justification , and salvation , that in order of nature is to be done before remission , justification and salvation can actually be obtained : but the ministers of the gospel have directed sinners to repent and believe for the obtaining of , &c. acts 2 38. chap. 3. 19. chap. 16 30 , 31. gal. 2. 16. nor was it remission or justification in cognoscend , only , that they were directed to seek in this way of faith and repentance . can any imagine that the meaning of that query of the jaylor , sirs , what shall i do to be saved ? should be no more then this , what shall i do to be certified and assured of my salvation ? besides , that justification , that paul did himself , and directed others to seek by faith , rom. 3. 28. gal. 2. 16. was such in which works have no hand . but to justification in cognoscendo , or in foro conscentiae , to the evidencing to us , and assuring us that we are justified , works do concur , james 2. 16. 24. a man is justified ( assured of justification ) by works , and not by faith only . so that the other justification must be of another and different kinde , works being wholly excluded from having any thing to do therein . 5. they who are in an estate of wrath and death until they do believe , and then upon their believing passe out of that estate into an estate of life ; they are not actually justified till they do believe : but the elect are in such an estate of wrath and death till they do actually believe ephes . 2. children of wrath , even as others . tit. 3. 3. and then when they believe , they passe out of that estate . 1 john 3 14. we know we are passed from death to life . under the power of death we were then , otherwise we could not have passed from it . and when passed we from it ? the same apostle in his gospel tells us , john 5. 24. chap. 3. ult . in one of which places he assures us , that he that heareth and believeth , is passed : and in the other , he that believeth not , the wrath of god stil abides on him ; which terms of passing and abiding , clearly shew that all the elect are , and continue actually in that woful estate , until they do believe . i hope you will not say , they passe in their own sense and apprehension , and so are children of wrath according to their apprehensions . the apostle saith , they are children of wrath even as others : and certainly others are not only sensibly and appearingly so , nay , perhaps neither of these wayes , but really so . for my part , i conceive no difference between a vessel of election and a vessel of wrath , but only in regard of gods purpose and christs purchase , which til it be brought into act doth make no real change in the parties state and condition . 6. until men come actually to have christ , to be united unto him , and one with him , they cannot partake of justification , nor have any right thereto , 1 john 5. 12. he that hath the son hath life , he that hath not the son , hath not life . but until men have faith they have not christ , nor are united to him , for by faith they receive him , john 1. 12. go to him , john 6. 35 , 37. feed on him ; dwell in him , and he in them , john 6. 40 56. by faith they live in him , and he in them , gal. 2. 20. by faith he dwelleth in their hearts , ephes . 3. 17. ergo , until men have faith , and by faith do actually believe on him , they cannot partake of justification through him , john 3. 36. i remember that when in a private conference i pressed some of these places of scripture , in stead of answering to them , you demanded , whether the elect had no benefit by christ , nor right to christ before they did believe ? to which i replyed , 1. that though there be a purpose in god to give salvation to them , and a purchase of it by christ for them , yet had they no right thereunto until they had faith . 2 that they might have benefit by christ before they had right to christ , as in the instant of their conversion , when the spirit of christ did work faith and repentance in them . that first benefit ( they had ( i conceive ) in order of nature , though not in time , before they had right , it being the very conveyance of right over to them , and stating them therein , ) must precede their having of right , or otherwise they should have right before they had it . this you told me then was grosse nonsense ; and since you have averred in pulpit , that to say men have benefit and not right , is palpable nonsense . but 1. sir , whether nonsense or no , what is it you say to the places cited ? these texts tell me plainly that unlesse i have faith , i have not christ , and that unlesse i have christ i cannot have life , no nor right to , or interest in it ; unlesse a man may have right to , and interest in life through christ , and yet for all not live , but perish everlastingly : which i think will be worse then nonsense to aver : so that the argument remains firm and unanswered . 2 for your crimination , though you might have dealt more fairly , and produced the manner of our asserting it , as well as the assertion it self ; yet we must be content to take what you give , and as you give it , and shall cast it up into the sachel to the other legacies you have bestowed on us ; as arminianism , papism , judaisme , absolute contradictions and weak evasions , &c. 3 for the grosse and palpable nonsense it self , benefit and not right . i must professe unto you , that as grosse and palpable as it is , my dull pate doth not yet apprehend it . all the while the father lives , the child hath benefit by his fathers means , but what right he hath thereto i know not : the coats he wears , the food he eats , are not his own by right , i think , but his fathers ; yea when the father dies and gives a legacy to his child to be paid at such an age , until the child come to that age it cannot challenge the legacy or portion given him by his father , nor dispose of it , if he dye before , yet hath he benefit thereby ; if he hath jus ad rem , a right to the thing , he hath not jus in re , a right in the thing , until that period of time , notwithstanding the donation of his father . but to come yet nearer to the matter in hand . suppose that some poor woman cast in prison for debt , where she is like to perish , should haply meet with a rich friend , who pitying her sad condition , and taking an affection to her , should procure her inlargement out of prison , intending to wed and marry her : i hope here it would be no non-sense to say , that this woman had benefit by this intended husband , before she had right to him , and inteterest in him : for , till the match or contract she cannot have any right in him at all . the case is ours , we are indebted to god , and in prison too , the lord by his spirit delivering us , doth make us his heavenly bride . this first benefit , our delivering out of bonds , we must have in some measure from christ , in order of nature , before we can give our consent to the match , and by faith take the lord jesus for our husband . may we not say in this case that we have benefit ? viz. the grand benefit of regeneration by him , before we have right to him ? is it nonsense to say so ? i am sure mr. thomas goodwin writes something after this manner , v the promises of forgivenesse are not as the pardon of a prince , which meerly contein an expression of his royal word for pardoning ; so as we in seeking of it , do rest upon , and have to do only with his word and seal , which we have to shew for it : but gods promises of pardon are made in his son , and are as if a prince should offer to pardon a traitor upon mariage with his child , whom in , and with that pardon he offers in such a relation , so as all that would have pardon , must first seek out for his child : and thus it is in the matter of believing ; the reason of which is , because christ is the grand promise , in whom all the promises are yea and amen . 2 cor. 1. 20. the interest in a heiresse lands goes with her person , and with the relation of mariage to her : so all the promises hang on christ , and without him , there is no interest to be had in them . so mr. reynolds life of christ p. 466. tells me , that till there be this consent on our side , it is but a wooing , there is no marriage , no covenant made . pag. 478. that our union and communion with christ , is on our part the work of faith , whose office it is to unite to christ and gaine possession of him . yea , luther also on gal. 2 20. faith therefore must be purely taught , namely , that thou art so entirely joyned to christ , as that thou maist say , i am one with christ , his righteonsnesse and victory are mine , &c. for by faith we are joyned so together , that wee are become one flesh and one bone . so that this faith doth couple christ and me more neer together , then the husband is coupled to his wife . and dr. preston new coven . p. 458. avers the same . sir , these men know how to write sense ; now they tel us , that our right comes through our marriage with christ , and that spiritual match is not made up untill we believe , which be the two main pieces of that you call grosse non-sense for , as for the third , that we cannot believe till god for christs sake vouchsafe us that benefit , that they all maintain it , i need not tell you . in fine your nonsense bespeaks you in this argument , which perhaps may puzzle both your senses and intellectuals solidly to answer . all that be united unto christ , and quickned by him , before they have right to him , do receive special benefits from him before they have right to him : but all the elect are united unto christ and quickned by him , before they have right to him , or to salvation through him : ergo , all the elect do receive special benefits by christ , before they have right to him , or to salvation through him . or , all that have union before they have right have benefit before they have right ; but all the elect have union before they have right ; ergo , all the elect have benefit before they have right . but we have right to those benefits ( say you ) by vertue of gods largess and donation . the same i also find in w dr. ames . but this i conceive to hold true onely in absolute grants ; for if the gift or grant be conditional , then is there a right unto the benefit granted , when that condition is wrought in the legatee , and not before . swynborn in his treatise of testaments , p. 150. tels us , that if the testator give his daughter an hundred pounds , if she marry with advice and approbation of her uncle , in case the party marry without advising with her uncle about it , she loseth her right to the legacy given her ; ( which by the way , may shew the weakness of that argument that is taken from the word testament , which some use against conditions : as if conditions could not stand with a testamentary disposition ) now such is gods grant of salvation : it is made in christ , it is made in him unto believers ; it is not made to sinners , as sinners , as some aver , but to repenting and believing sinners , john 6. 38. 39 , 40. this is the will of him that sent me , that every one that seeth the son and believeth on him , have everlasting life . the grant being made unto us as believers , i conceive we have not right unto the benefit granted until we doe believe . sure i am , we cannot have right , but by and through our union to him ; which union being an inestimable benefit , we cannot have right before we have benefit . 7. because you are so ready to charge your adversaries with nonsense and contradictions , let us mind you of the old rule , he that accuseth another of dishonesty , must look well to himself : and let the inconsequences which necessarily follow from your doctrine be our last argument . i beseech you therefore to read me those riddles your tenents seem to me to contain ; and to lead me out of those mazes and meanders which i think your positions lead unto , at least to deliver your self out of them ; for perhaps my senses may not lead me to follow your clue unlesse i see better solutions then i have seene or heard from you hitherto . i beseech you tell me then , 1. how there can be many , yea or any true believers who were never humbled , when yet all men must see their righteousnesse drosse and dung , must be schooled by the law to know their need of christ , before they can or will make out unto him ? 2. how the same man may be actually reconciled to god , have wrath removed from him , and be beloved of god with the love of complacency , and yet at the same time in regard of the same evil works , be an enemy unto god , a child of wrath , and have wrath abiding on him ? 3. how the same man may be actually justified and quickned , and yet actually dead in regard of the same sins , at the same time ? 4. how the same man at the same time can be a member of christ , one in him , and united to him , as he must be who is actually justified , and a member also of the divel , as he cannot but be who still remains an ungodly , impenitent , and unbelieving person ? 5. how faith in the work of justification serves for any farther use then to assure us that we are justified , seeing it doth not concur to the essence and being of it , or to the constituting of us in a state justifiable ? and how we are said to be justified by faith and not by works , when works assure us of our being justified as well as faith. 6 how in the petition , forgive us our debts , we can pray for any thing more then assurance of pardon , when actual pardon is passed long before ? and how sins can be actually pardoned before they be committed , and the guilt removed before it is contracted ? 7 how god who promiseth pardon to believers only , and condemneth thousands for their impenitency and unbelief , can without blemish of his honour , truth , and justice , give pardon to any in his impenitency and unbelief ? 8 how a man can be said to be bound by covenant , to keep or break the covenant , when yet in the conant there are no conditions on mans part required to be performed ? 9 why it doth not follow from your tenents , that a man may be actually justified and saved without faith , when yet you maintain actual justification before faith and faith to be required not to the essence of it , or interesting of persons in it , but only to the assuring them of their interest therein ? 10. why it follows not also from them , that christians may live as they list , seeing you hold that no conditions are on their part required , so that they cannot break the covenant ? whether doctor preston dares the believer to sin if hee can , i yet finde not ; but this i find , that hee holds that the believer may both sin , and by sinning may break the covenant , as you may find in his treatise of the new covenant . p. 458 , 459 460. &c. these are some of the many ( for more might be named ) straites and intricacies , your positions lead your self and your followers into ; out of which , how you will rid your self i wot not : but sure i am , that your solutions hitherto given , do yeild no manner of real satisfaction , not only , not to my self , but not to any other of your godly and intelligent auditors , that i have yet met with . toward the close of your sermon , you ushered in your authorities with this objection , but many good divines call it a conditional covenant . but sir , you are meal mouthed in the very objection ; for not only many , but the most part of divines call it so . all that i have ever yet met with , dr. crisp , mr. saltmarsh , and your self exepted . as for those authors you bring , i shall by and by shew your fowle play in citing some of them , and your mistake of others ; and discover most , if not all of them to be on my side , and to be only against meritorious conditions . the like mincing you used in a passage in the beginning of your sermon ; viz. that some good divines say ; that faith and repentance are the way to glory . whereas if you be pleased to rub your poll , i believe you may call to mind , not only that some , but most good divines call these conditions , and say as much of good works as you here allow to faith ; namely , that they are via ad regnum , the way to the kingdom , though not causa regnandi , the cause of reigning . i am sure mr. perkins , dr. preston , bishop davenant , and most others i have read , do call them so . but you are politick in these expressions ; for thereby you would perswade your hearers , that you had many on your side ; like some travellers who passing on in solitary wayes , keep a whistling and a hooping as if they had a great deal of company , whereas alas they are either wholly alone , or at most have but one or two companions . now sir , for your reply to this objection , we shall refer it to the close of all , and at present shall look into the authours you bring , and see whether they stand for the opinion for which you cited them , or rather against it , as shall be made to appear ; and then shall add some others to them . you begin with the fathers , but there you are sparing in your citations ; you tell us the question was rarely agitated then . but you might have said , that the fathers , if they faulted in any thing about the matter in controversie ; it was in giving too much to faith , repentauce and good works , by their hyperbolical commendations of them , stiling them meritorious , and the like ; as both mr. gataker in his rejoynder to mr. saltmarsh , p. 53. and bishop davenant , de justit . actual . cap. 53. men better vers'd in the fathers then you or i , will tell you . that you bring out of augustin , makes not at all against conditions in the covenant , but against the power of free will asserted by pelagius . the same authour will tell you , x he that made thee without thee , will not save thee without thee ( as i have often heard out of pulpits when i was a scholer . ) and whomsoever he draweth , he draweth him being willing . our faith distinguisheth the just from the unjust , not by the law of works , but of faith it self . christ is not awake in him in whom faith doth sleep . the justification by the faith of jesus christ hath been given , is given , and shall be given to believers , before , under , and after the law. by faith we find that which the jewes have lost . and elsewhere answering the objection of the pelagians , from the command of faith and repentance , whereby they would prove that we had power to do them , else the command of them would be to no purpose ; he saith , by commanding , he ( god ) doth admonish us to do what we can , and to beg for that which we are not able to do . y know o man ( saith he in another place ) by the precept , what thou oughtest to have ; in the reproof , that 't is through thy owne fault that thou hast it not ; in the prayer learne from whence thou maist recieve that which thou wouldest have . he shews in another place in what respect the apostle saith , the justification of life came upon all men ; z not because all men do believe in jesus christ , but because no man is justified except he do believe in him . it is therefore said , all men , that it might not be thought that any one might be saved by any other meanes whatsoever , but by him . yea , this champion of free grace , hath so many high , yea , haply over high commendations of faith , that out of him bellarmine produceth not one or two , but many citations to prove a meritorious caue sality of faith in the work of justification , as you may sein his first book de justific . c. 17. 2. prosper i have not , yet by the allegations i have read , cited out of him , i cannot conceive that author to be against conditions , but rather for them . i shall name a sentence or two . a faith is the foundation of righteousness , which no good works go before , but from which all do proceed ; from thence ( i.e. from the doctrine of the apostles ) every one doth receive life , which faith alone doth bring forth . 3. add to prosper , jerome in psalm 5. b therefore thou shalt besprinckle me with this hysop , when thou shalt poure upon me the vertue of his blood , when christ shall dwell in me by faith . and moses distinguished in leviticus between the righteousnesse of faith and deeds , that the one is by works ; the other only by the credulity of faith . 4. so ambrose . c according to the purpose of grace it is so decreed by god , that the law ceasing , the grace of god should require faith alone to salvation . and this law ( to wit of the spirit ) doth give liberty , requiring faith alone . 5 chrysostom , as i find him cited by bishop downham . thou obtainest righteousnesse , not by sweat and labour , but receivest it by gift from above , bringing one thing only from within ; viz. to believe . nothing therefore in us doth concur to the act of justification , but only faith ; in rom. 1. 17. and again in rom. 3. 27. what is the law of faith ? to save by grace : here he sheweth the power of god , that he hath not only saved , but justified , and brought to glory , and that not requiring works , but seeking faith only . 6. theodoret , cited by the same author . our lord christ hath by his bloud procured our salvation , solam à nobis fidem exigens , requiring of us faith alone ; in rom. 3. 25. 7. theophylact , in rom. 4. 5. doth he that is to be justified bring any thing ? faith only . by these i hope it doth sufficiently appear , that the fathers held not redemption to be absolute , as if nothing were required from us in regard of application ; but on the contrary , that faith was required of us if we would be partakers of the salvation purchased ; that it was required of us before our actual justification , and did concur thereto . passe we from these to later writers , among whom , let martin luther be the first . now it is true , that in the place you cited , he saith , the promises of the law are conditional , but the promises of the new testament have no such conditions , nor require any thing of us , nor depend upon on any conditions of our worthinesse . but here i conceive he excludes meritorious conditions , partly , because he expresseth himself very cautelously , saying , no such conditions , and no conditions of our worthinesse . and also because he doth elsewhere often aver , that something is required of us . i might here mind you of what chemnicius saith in the place before cited , who being a lutheran , could not but be better acquainted with luthers tenents then you or i ; namely , that luther was not against preparations of order , but only preparations of merit ; and for proof of it , cites him on the third chapter to the galatians , where we find vers . 30. this passage , the use of the law is to terrifie and fright to christ , who is the end of the law for righteousnesse . and vers . 2. christs coming profits neither the carelesse nor the desperate , but only such who have been tormented and terrified with the law for a time , and now with sure trust come to christ . which passages do clearly shew , that he held , there ought to be a work of the law upon the heart before its close with christ , not to make it worthy of christ , but to make it long and gasp after christ . i might tell you also , how in a letter written to mr. gasper guttil , and translated by mr. rutherford , the same martin luther vehemently inveighs against those who would have the doctrine of grace to be preached in the first place , and afterwards the revelation of wrath , calling it a new method , a curious crotchet , and the broachers of it jugling gypsies ; and averreth expresly , that the apostles method , rom. 1. 2 , 3. was directly opposite thereto , which was first to denounce the wrath of god from heaven , and make all the world sinners and guilty before god ; then when they see this , to teach them farther how they may obtain grace and be justified . as also that notable place on gal. 2. 16. the true way to christianity is this , that a man do first acknowledge himself by the law to be a sinner . a little after , when a man is thus taught and instructed by the law , then he is terrified and humbled , then he seeth indeed the greatness of his sin , and cannot find in himself one spark of the law of god ; therefore he justifieth god in his word , and confesseth that he is guilty of death and eternal damnation . the first part then of christianity is the preaching of repentance , and the knowledg of our selves . and some few lines after , the law doth nothing else but utter sin , terrifie and humble , and by this meanes prepareth us to justification , and driveth us to christ . and about two leaves after , being thus terrified by the law , the man utterly despaireth of his own strength , he looks about , and sigheth for the help of a mediator and saviour . here then cometh in good time the healthful word of the gospel , and saith , son , thy sins are forgiven thee , believe in jesus christ crucified for thy sins . these sayings of luther , sir , do fully assure me that luther held a necessity of legal sorrow and humiliation in persons to be justified , and that to prepare them for justification , which is directly against the second position of your former sermons , concerning the absolutenesse of the gospel , wherein you pleaded what you could , against the necessity of such legal sorrow , and humiliation . but passe we over these , and consult we luther about that necessary mean of faith ; let the question be , whether in the gospel faith be not required to the actual enjoyment of justification , and remission , and to the obtaining of a right thereto , and interest therein ? or whether we may have a right to , and interest in , or actual enjoyment of these benefits without faith , or before faith ? we wil not go beyond his commentary on the epistle to the galatians for the discovering of his mind herein ; and begin we where we left , chap. 2. ver . 16. here is to be noted , that these three , faith , christ , and acceptation , or imputation must be joyned together ; faith taketh hold on christ , and hath him present as a ring doth a precious stone ; and whosoever shall be found having this confidence in christ apprehended in the heart , him will god account for righteous . this is the mean , and this is the merit whereby we attain the remission of sins and righteousnesse . so on vers . 20. of the same chapter , a place cited already , he teacheth that it is through faith we are united to christ , and come to call the benefits we have by him , ours , cap. 3. 13. about the middle . for as much then as christ reigns by his grace in the hearts of the faithful , there is no sin , no death , nor curse . but where christ is not knowne , there all these things do still remain ; therefore all they that believe not , do lack this inestimable benefit , and glorious victory . and on ver . 14. we are all accursed before god , before we know christ ; and there is no other way to avoid the curse but to believe . a little after , this gift of the spirit , we receive not by any other merits then by faith alone : ver. 26. faith in christ maketh us the children of god. and verse 28. comparing our believing to the looking on the brasen serpent , saith thus , this is true faith concerning christ , and in christ , whereby we are made members of his body , flesh of his flesh , and bone of his bone . in him therefore we live , move , and have our being : christ and our faith must be throughly joyned together . vers . 29. if ye be christs , then are you abrahams seed ; that is to say , if ye believe , and be baptized into christ ; if ye believe i say , &c. then are ye the children of abraham , not by nature , but by adoption . yea , in the place first cited , with which we shall conclude this testimony , cha . 2. 16. because thou believest in me ( saith the lord ) and thy faith layeth hold on christ , whom i have freely given unto thee , that he might be thy mediator and high priest , therefore be thou justified and righteous . wherefore god doth accept or account us as righteous only for our faith in christ . because we do apprehend christ by faith , all our sins now are no sins ; but where christ and faith bee not , there is no remission or covering of sins , but meer imputation of sinne and condemnation . i hope sir , in those places luther speaks plainly enough to the purpose in hand , and doth sufficiently declare his belief in this particular to be , that faith is required to our justification , and that to the obtaining of it , that it doth marry us to christ , and so state us in a right unto his benefits , that till we have this faith , we are accursed caitiffes , under death , wrath and condemnation , and that before god , or in his sight . nay sir , he doth say , that it is because of our faith , and for our faith , and that faith is the merit by which we have it ; which though i doubt not but may passe with a favourable construction , yet are higher titles of honour then any of our divines do give unto her in pleading for conditions in the covenant . your next author was peter martyr , his commentary on the epistle to the romans i have ; where i meet with that common place , de justificatione , in it the passage you cite ; viz. d we deny that the testament of god concerning the remission of sins in christ , hath a condition annnexed to it . but first , i conceive , that martyr here denies only a condition of works , or a legal condition . such legal conditions pighius did plead for . and that these are the conditions which martyr doth deny , his owne words in the very same page do clearly expresse . for having in the line next after the passage you quote out of him , alledged that of the apostle at large , gal. 5. 15 , 16 , 17. hee presently from this testimony drawes this inference , as an explication of his former negation of conditions in the testaments , haec verba clarissimè docent ; these words do most clearly teach , that the testament which god made with abraham , was pure and absolute ; et sine ulla legali conditione , and without any legal condition . but that he should deny the condition of faith , or that faith was required to justification , that common place shewes not , but rather the contrary ; for about some leaves after , speaking of that , rom. 4. it shall be imputed to us , as it was to abraham , if we believe ; he thus saith , e is it not here clearly enough said , that we must believe , that that jesus christ whom god raised againe , died and rose again , that we might be justified , and that all our sins might be forgiven us ? and a little after ; f every one that seeth the son and believeth on him , hath eternal life . thus therefore we infer , but i believe on the son of god , therefore i now have , and shall have that which he hath promised . g vnlesse faith be wanting wher by we may apprehend the things offered , we are justified by the promises . martyr in that common place reasons wholly against justification by works . and the condition there spoken of , unlesse we will do apparent injury to the author , we must understand the condition of works , or of the law , which both there , and in this eleventh argument he excludes , both from the covenant with abraham , and the work of justification . 2. let but martyr expound himself , and then it will appear what conditions he denies , and in what manner ; nor shall i lead you any further for discovery of this , then this his commentary on the epistle to the romans . look then chap. 10 on those words , for righteousnesse to every one that believeth ; and you shall find the difference betweene the law and the gospel , thus set down by him . h the law is received by doing , and most exact performing that which is commanded : but the gospel by a lively and efficacious assent of faith . moses also deut. 30. writeth concerning the law , that hee had set before the people life and death ; manifestly teaching that if the law be received and fulfilled , it will bring eternal life with it : but seeing we are shut out from this benefit , the merciful god hath provided another word , to wit of faith ; which if by assenting to it , it be received , bringeth life along with it . from this place it appeareth , that the promises of the law were given from the supposition or condition of works going before . but in the gospel , if works are annexed to the promises , they are not so to be understood , as either the merit or causes of those promises . but we must thus conclude , that these gifts of god which are promised , follow after the works , though they be not perfect and absolute as they are commanded in the law. this place , ( i hope ) will shew that peter martyr was only against the condition of works , and there too against their merit or efficiency ; for as for their presence , he allowes that they are required in the gospel . but as as for the condition of faith , he is not at all against it . turne to one place more , rom. 8. if we suffer with him , &c. where setting down the differences between the promises of the law and of the gospel , he saith , i they do not differ in this , ( as some think ) that the promises evangelical have no conditions annexed ; but the legal promises are never offered without conditions ; for as it s said , honour thy father and thy mother , that thou maist live long upon the earth . and if ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land. so we read also in the gospel , forgive , and it shall be forgiven ; give , and it shall be given , &c. wherefore seeing this is not the difference , we must seek out some other . it appeareth therefore to him that diligently considereth , that the conditions of the law might bee causes of the obtainment of the rewards promised : for if they had been perfect and absolute , as the law required them , they might be compared with the rewards themselves , and had also had esteem of merit ; but seeing these cannot be performed by men . god of his mercy gave in their stead evangelical promises , which although they have conditions added , yet are offered freely . wherefore if thou joyne these three things together , that the evangelical rewards are promised freely , that the conditions cannot be compared unto , or equalized with them , that the promises must be most firme , and take away the account of merit , you may see wherein these differ from those of the law. and thus i hope it is manifest , that they were conditions of works which peter martyr did deny ; that he did not deny them simply neither , but only as meritorious and causal of the benefits promised ; that he held faith to be the requisite or the condition of the gospel . so that you must give me leave to take martyr from you too , and put him down with the forenamed authors , for a patron of our cause . 3. next unto peter martyr , you cite olevian , but whether with any more advantage to your cause then the former , or disadvantage to us , is the businesse of our present enquiry . if you please with second thoughts ( which are most commonly the best ) to look into him , you shall find that when he denies conditions in the covenant , they are only such as , first , are performed by and proceeding from our own strength ; which we with him do acknowledg to be none , and therefore also deny the same . 2. which arise from , or carry along with them a consideration of dignity , or worthinesse in our selves . 3. are of a meritorious nature . such conditions as these , we together with him disclaim . that these are the conditions which he doth deny , is so clear and plain , that he which runs may read . if you begin with his definition of the covenant of grace , you shall find him in the close thereof expressing himself thus ; k without the condition or stipulation of any good thoughts from their own strength . having spoken concerning god , who makes the covenant , he comes afterward to consider the persons with whom this covenant is made , and shewes that the very elect themselves to whom it doth especially belong , are by nature children of wrath , dead in sins , such whose hearts are hearts of stone , unable to think a good thought of themselves , meer darknesse , enemies to god , slaves to sinne and satan : l now forasmuch as they are such , god ( saith he ) promiseth he will not make any such covenant with them , which in the least part thereof should be founded on their own strength to perform it . m wherefore lest the covenant should fail and be of none effect , men being miserable , dead in sins , having hearts of stone , such as are not subject to the law of god , neither in deed can be , rom. 8. who are not able of themselves to think any thought that is good : but that it may remain firm and everlasting , he promiseth such a covenant , the whole essence whereof doth depend on himself alone , and is founded in his son jesus christ . — he promiseth also such a manner of executing in us this his decree and purpose , the strength and efficacy whereof doth not proceed from corrupt man , but from himself alone . a little after , he sums up all that he had said concerning the nature and substance of the covenant , thus , wherefore , if you look upon god , the efficient cause , and those to whom he promiseth the covenant ; or if you consider the matter and form thereof , you shall still find it is a covenant of free grace , and that it doth not n depend on any condition of our worthinesse , merits , or our proper strength . — the most merciful god did see the promise would be vain in respect of our vanity , which should depend on the condition of our own strength . what here he doth deliver so plainly , and in such expresse termes , you may ( if you please to look into him ) find him afterwards o repeating againe and again . sir , by these passages you may see you have not gained any thing by olevian , nor your adversaries lost by what he speaks against conditions in the covenant . now that you may further see , that he speaks rather on their side whom you oppose , then for you ; i shall intreat you to consider some other passages in him . 1. he tells us that in this covenant there is , and must be a mutual consent between god and us , yea , a consent testified by both parties : for immediately after his definition of the covenant in the substance of it ( which wee mentioned before ) he comes to consider the administration of it , which he saith is dispersed by the lord , by voice and visible signes , p in testimonium mutui consensus inter deum & nos ; in testimony of this mutual consent which is between god and us . the same he doth elsewhere more largely repeat , as i shall shew you by and by . how both parties do give their consent in making the covenant , he doth afterwards declare , and withal the freenesse of the grace of god in both . q the whole substance of the covenant ( saith he ) is free : in respect of god , he properly makes the covenant with us , when he doth in our hearts by the holy spirit seal the promise of free reconciliation offered in the gospel , and beginneth our renovation to eternal life , doth daily carry it on , and at last doth perfect it . in respect of us who were dead in sins and trespasses , the covenant is received when the holy ghost is freely given to us , whereby being raised from death to life , it comes to passe that we not only have a will and power to believe the promise of free grace concerning reconciliation by christ , and the renewing of us , that we may enter into the inheritaace of the heavenly kingdome ; but also do believe or receive faith it self . so that the freenesse and absolutenesse of the covenant doth not consist in this , that there is no condition or duty required on our parts , but none that is to be performed by our own strength ; as he some few lines after doth expresse himself . r thus ( saith he ) it is certain , that this whole covenant is meerly of free grace , and doth not depend on any condition of our owne strength , but on the free mercy of god in christ , apprehended by faith , which himself doth bestow ; the offer or tender of a double promise in christ , to wit , of the remission of sins , and sanctification , and so the donation of christ himself , is , in respect of god , most free . the acceptation on our part is also free , because it is the action of god in us , whereby he doth seal the promise to our hearts ; so that being acted by him , we do act ; being by him made believers , we do believe ; and being quickned or created by christ unto good works , we do walk in them . thus far olevian in that place : and who is there sir , of these whom you oppose , that doth not say the same with him ? so that your quoting of him is at least to little purpose for your opinion : i might farther shew you , that he in another place , repeating the same thing , adds , ſ once and again , that god in giving faith to his elect and chosen ones , doth thereby give with it to them also universam substantiam foederis , the whole substance of the covenant . so that the remission of sin promised in the covenant is not antecedent but consequent to faith ; which in effect is as much for the conditionality of faith in reference to the pardon of sin , & the salvation of souls , as is contended for by those whom you oppose ; but i will not insist on that . i shal , for your and the readers better information and satisfaction touching the judgment of this learned divine in this point , entreat you to observe . 2. that as he doth plead for a mutual consent of both parties in the covenant ; so he doth withal maintaine , that when god for his part performes the federatory action ( as his phrase is ) prius assensum à nobis stipulatur : he doth first require our assent to the promises and duties or conditions of the covenant . t thus hee expresseth himself more then once , shewing withal , that this position is most agreeable to the scripture of the old and new testament ; alledging to this purpose , that voluntary and federal contract betweene god and the people expressed by moses ; thou hast avouched the lord this day to be thy god , and to walk in his wayes , and to keep his statutes , and his commandments , and his judgments , and to hearken unto his voyce . and the lord hath this day avouched thee to be his peculiar people as he hath promised thee . deu. 26. 17 , 18. setting down at large several reasons why the lord is pleased thus to proceed in the administration of his covenant , and that in reference to both the elect and reprobate ; those which are sincere , and those which are but hypocritical professors of , and parties in the covenant . so that if you lay all the passages of olevian together , you may ( at least wise the indifferent reader may ) see that you have gained nothing by him , nor have your adversaries lost him . 4. having dispatch'd olevian , in the next place i turn to zanchy , whom you alledg as being fully for you . and i confesse , at the first sight looking on him with a bare superficial glance , he doth seem wholly to be yours , especially if you pitch on one passage , and do not compare it with others in the same place . 't is true , he doth affirm that god saith , most absolutely without any condition of faith and repentance inserted , i will betroth thee to me for ever . but if you please seriously to weigh what he delivereth in his commentary on the same chapter , and compare one thing with another , you shall find , that 1. the absolutenesse which he speaks of lyeth in this , not that faith and repentance are not required on the churches part to make up the match ; but that the making or dissolving of the matrimonial federal contract between the lord and the church shall not depend on any condition to be performed by the church of her owne power and strength , for the lord doth undertake even for the church , to work in her faith , repentance and ●ll other graces requisite to the making and perpetuating of the match , that it bee not broken ▪ so he speaks , and doth declare himself in the end of that very paragraph , the beginning whereof you take hold of as serving , our turne . ſ god promiseth both a new marriage , and also all things which even on the 〈…〉 are necessary for the making and confirming of● the match . and more fully afterwards , t he promiseth , that he will cause that we shall be joyned to him in a perpetual mariage . but the mariage cannot be perpetual , unlesse as in god , so also there be in us faith and the spirit of christ continuing to the end , by which this marriage is both contracted and preserved . therefore he doth promise that faith and the spirit of christ shall continue in us . you may there at large see him assert , that there are connubi● leges , as he calls them , lawes of the marriage , or conditions thereof which are to be observed by the church for her part which god doth undertake to write in her heart , that so the marriage may be made and continued . and what doth zanchy , i pray you , here say more , then any of those whom you oppose ? or who is there of those against whom you alledge him , that doth not assert the very same ? if you look back into his commentary on the same chapter and verse , you shall find him speaking the same thing , and explicating himself , in what sense he saith 't is a promise without a condition . u it is to be noted , ( saith he , explicating those words , i will betroth thee to me ) that this is a simple and evangelical promise , without any condition ; for here god doth exact nothing ; ( to wit , to be done by their owne strength ) but doth simply promise what he himself will do to his church ; so that he doth promise faith it selfe , without which the rest of the promises can have no place in us . 2. you may observe , that when he saith , the promise is made without any condition , his meaning is , without any condition in us antecedaneous , as a moving cause , inducing or inclining the lord to enter into this covenant , and to make this matrimonial contract : all the cause thereof the lord finds in , of , and from himself ; in which regard he prevents us , not we him . thus he doth afterwards clearly expresse himself . w by that word , i wil betroth thee ; he doth give us to understand , that god is the author of our reconciliation , and consequently of our salvation . he it is that doth first come to us and betroth us to himself . wee do not prevent him , or seek him to be our husband ; but he preventeth us , that he may betroth us unto himself . 1 john 4. not that wee loved him first , but he loved us first . wo be to us , if god did not prevent us . thus zanchy , and what have you gained by him in this particular , or your opposites lost ? do they not speak the same things ? and when they assert conditions , yet deny them to be on our part antecedaneous , or any moving causes , acknowledging that all doth proceed from the meer good pleasure of god , according to the purpose which he purposed in himself , and that x he loveth his people with whom he makes the covenant , because he loveth them , as moses sometime said to israel . 3. that in denying of conditions , he doth deny conditions that are meritorious , and that the covenant it self , as also the promises are free without respect unto , or dependance on any thing that is of merit in us . thus in the very next page setting down the substantial or essential heads of the covenant , he delivereth his mind ; y the manner of making the covenant , or of promising , is , that god of his free grace , without any merits of ours , doth make this covenant with us , and it doth not depend on any merits of our own at all . and do not those whom you oppose , and think to strengthen your opposition against them by zanchies authority , produced and urged for you ; do not ( i say ) they speak the same thing with him in this particular ? hitherto i shewed , that zanchy is not so much for you , as you would make the world believe he is ; i shall now make it appear , that in the same place , however he doth not use the word condition ( which yet he doth in other places ) yet he speaks the same thing for substance which they do against whom you alledg him . and that there are such conditions required on the churches part as wee plead for , consider with me to this purpose . 1. his explication of that phrase , i will betroth thee to me . z when god doth make a new covenant with any people , he is said to betroth them to himself , because that by the bond of the covenant he will unite himself to that people , and they are likewise joyned to god , as the bridegroome is to the bride , and the bride to the bridegroom , faith of the marriage being given on both sides , or by both parties . and 2. his definition of the covenant , which he doth afterwards largely insist on , setting down the chief and essential heads thereof . a the covenant of god with man , ( saith he ) is mutua pactio , a mutual agreement between both parties ; wherein god of his meer grace , and for christs sake , doth promise two things ; 1. that he will be a god to us , or receive us into his favour , pardoning all our sins for christs sake , and impute his righteousnesse unto us . 2. that he wil bestow the kingdom of heaven on us for our inheritance ; and doth also require of man two things ; 1. faith , 2. obedience , that he order his life according to the pleasure of god : and both parties do by outward signes confirm fidem sibi invicem datam . you may find the same thing delivered by him in the first and second heads of the covenant . and in the next page , the substance of the covenant on gods part , ( saith he ) is that which god of his free grace doth offer and promise us ; on our part , that which he doth require of us , and which we promise to perform , that we do embrace this reconciliation offered and promised , that we will be his people , &c. now sir , if you will be pleased to consider these several assertions of zanchy , in this very place which you your self did quote , 1. faith is that grace which is on the churches part necessary to make up the marriage covenant between the lord and her . 2. this grace the lord doth promise absolutely to give , it being that grace without which the rest of the promises have no place in us . 3. it is also our duty ; god doth in the covenant command it , we promise to perform it . 4. it is that wherein , on our part , the substance of the covenant doth consist . lay them altogether , and you may clearly see here is an acknowledgment of the thing , faith is the condition of the covenant , though he doth not give it the name . but to give you a further taste of him , that it may be out of all question that he doth assert conditions , both name and thing ; i shall only intreat you to peruse a one place more in him ; where he doth largely handle that great blessing and benefit of the covenant , the remission of sins ; in the sixth place he comes to consider , on what condition it is offered and conferred ; and mentions three : 1. the first and chief , is the true and constant practice of repentance . 2. confession and acknowledgment of our offences to those whom we have injured and wronged . 3. a brotherly forgiving of those which have sinned against and offended us . where he doth withal maintain , that b they are conditions not for which , but without which the remission of sins is not obtained ; denying them to be conditions meritorious . therefore s. john saith , if we confess , behold the condition ; yet he doth not say , for our confession , he will forgive . justification cannot be had without faith ; but we do not say , it is obtained for the worth of our faith ; but freely , or of free-grace . moreover this is ( saith he ) to be noted , that even the very conditions which god requireth of us , are given to us by god : therefore the remission of sins is not to be ascribed in any sort to our merits , but to the grace of god alone . you have here zanchy , speaking as fully and as plainly for conditions , as any of those whose doctrine you oppose , in which regard i must intreat you either to quit your claim to this author , and leave him to stand on our side against you ; or else to change your mind and judgment , come over to us , and then zanchy is yours when you are ours . 5 the testimony of learned junius is next produced by you , as that which seemes to be most for you of all the authors ; and yet not so much as is pretended . the oration of his which you mention , i have not . in his parallels he doth indeed make mention of it , c as that wherein he had proved , that the hebrew word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , oft time , in the scriptures of the old testament ; and the latine word foedus , both according to the etymology and use thereof in classical authors , are not restrained to those federal promises wherein there is a mutual stipulation between divers parties expressed , but for such declarations and dispositions as proceed from one alone , so that the hebrew word might well be rendred by the apostle , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . now this is a thing which is not denied , but acknowledged and granted by those , which yet neverthelesse do assert a mutual stipulation , and conditions ( in that regard ) in the covenant of grace . so that if this be the scope and drift of that oration , as it seems to be by his mentioning of it for this end and purpose ; it is alledged by you to little purpose , seeing it doth neither make for you , nor against us . in prosecution of this , which is the main drift of that parallel , and as i conceive by his own citing of it , of the oration also ; he adds , d that the grace of god is manifested much more clear to men , in that he doth not give a covenant , but a testament to those that are his : for the covenant would have conditions , which if either part do not perform , the covenant is made void . but a testament is an instrument of liberality and grace , without any condition ; by which men are called and appointed heirs , without respect to any duty which might proceed from them . by this passage of junius you may take notice , who that vir maximus is whom dr. ames cites , in that place of his coronis , which is quoted by you . now as for this place of junius , we must either expound it of meritorious conditions ( which those words , without respect to any duty , seem to intimate ; ) or of conditions legal , to be performed by our own strength , such as were in the covenant of works : for conditions evangelical and not meritorious , he doth in expresse termes aver in the new covenant or testament . e the substance ( saith he ) of either testament , is one and the same , common in jesus christ ; and that consists of two parts ; as it was first manifested to abraham , gen. 17. and afterwards to his posterity ; the one containing the promise , when god saith , i will be their god ; the other the condition added , wherein god requireth , that we should in like manner obey him , when he saith , and they shall be my people . and if you please to peruse the chapter , out which the next quotation in the margent is cited at large , or the passage it selfe that is alledged , you shall finde him acknowledging , that the f covenant of the gospel hath its conditions annexed , as well as the covenant of works ; and withal such a condition , as to man in himselfe is impossible , though in regard of the lords gracious promise , who doth undertake to work in his own federates the very condition it selfe , 't is to them through power of his grace and efficacy of his spirit , made profitable and easie ; where when he had fitly shewed the agreement between moses , setting down the tenor and condition of the covenant which god did make with israel , ( besides the covenant which he made with them at horeb ) and s. paul expressing the tenor of the gospel , which is a declaration of the same covenant of grace which moses mentioneth , he doth thus paraphrase those words of the covenant , which both do expresse ; g the word is nigh thee , in thy mouth , and in thine heart ; i.e. this commandment of faith which i declare is neither hidden , nor far off from thee , seeing god doth graciously put it into thy mouth , and into thy heart , if thou by faith wilt lay hold of it . thus you have junius against junius , or rather junius expounding himself , telling you in plain termes that he holds conditions in the new covenant , which god of his free grace gives his creature to perform . so that the former place , where he excludes conditions from the covenant , must ( as i said before ) be understood of legal and meritorious conditions , which sort of conditions we shut out of the covenant as well as he . 6. leave we junius , as much , if not more on our side then on yours , and come we to the next , dr. ames , ( for as for estius and lessius , though i value one , the former of them , yet i shall not look after them at present , not for that i doubt they are against me , but for that i care not much to have them for me , being by you upbraided already with joyning with papists , though it seems you can your self accept of the patronage of papists when you can get it . ) come we , i say , to dr. ames : and i could willingly chide you for open fowle play in citing an author expresly against his own words in the very place you cite out of him . immediately before your very citation , ames hath these words , h we grant that mans duty is required , maintaining this withal , that god by vertue of this promise will cause those that are his , that they shall perform the duty , as far forth as it is necessary to be done . and immediately after your quotation ( which is verbatim the same with that junius delivereth in his parallel , where he mentions his oration that you alledge , he doth thus expresse himself ; the whole disposition is after the manner of a will and testament , as it is considered simply , either in whole , or according to the part of it ; but if the benefits that are bequeathed , be compared within themselves , then one is to the other as it were a condition . and in this respect it is sometimes propounded after the manner of a covenant : which manner of propounding is not so to be taken , as that it should in any part change the nature of a testament . our divines are wont excellently to joyn both together , when they teach that righteousnesse and life are promised upon condition of faith , and that faith it self is given to the elect , or that the condition of the covenant is also promised in the covenant . how plainly on both these places doth dr. ames expresse himselfe for that conditionality in the covenant which we maintain ; and that in the same place whence you fetch your proof against us ? was it for this , my good friend , that you took the paynes to write so much out of the doctor ? and that you shewed me your written copy , and not the book when i was with you , lest if you had brought the book , the place it self should have spoken & answered for it selfe ? whether this were the cause or no , i leave it to your conscience ; but assuredly your carriage in this and that other passage about chamien , whom you would not take notice of to hold conditions proper ( though it followed immediately your allegation out of him ) until i read it to you , and then would not look upon it , nor hardly hear it , but put it off with saying , that he did eat his owne words . i say , these carriages make me and mine , and your dear friend who was with me , fear that your opinion sticks more in your will then in your mind . your eies and ears are open and ready to entertaine any author , though a popish one , that makes for your opinion ; but if he be against your tenent , though he be never so godly , hardly have you patience to look upon him . well ( sir ) what hath now been , as also what was formerly alledged out of dr. ames , do abundantly prove him to have been for that conditionality of the covenant we defend . 7. passe we on to doctor preston , where againe you may be blamed , for when the doctor laid down a distinction betweene the covenants , or rather between the promises of the same covenant ; viz. the promise of grace , which he calleth an absolute covenant made with the elect , jer. 31. ezek. 36. and the promise of life which he cals a conditional covenant made with all , if thou believe , thou shalt be saved . you run away with a piece , and put downe dr. preston for a defender of the absolutenesse of the covenant , though both there , and in his treatise of the covenant ( of which i believe you were not ignorant ) he writes many leaves to the contrary . but i hope you will wipe this author also out of your list , after i have rehearsed some passages unto you out of him . look then either in that , or the sermon foregoing ( for i have not the book now by me ) and you shall find dr. preston asserting faith to be required , and that precedently to our being in covenant : for thus he writes , that which is required of them is only , that they take it . and there is nothing precedently required or looked for on our parts , but taking and applying of it . so page 18 the taking of christ makes christ ours . — faith is that whereby the right of christ is made ours unto salvation . pag 62 , 63 he tels us of the reconciling and justifying act of faith ; which , he saith is direct , and is that whereby we take christ ; as well as of its pacifying act , which he calls reflex , and saith it is that whereby we know we take him : yea , he tells us , that humiliation is required , not as a qualification : but as our sense of sicknesse is required to our seeking of cure , so this to our seeking of christ , without which wee will never come to christ . and would you know what this taking of christ is , which he saith is precedently required ? he tells you toward the latter end of the first sermon , that it is to know christ rightly , as prophet , priest and king. — to obey him . — to forsake all other for him . — to pitch on him with our whole deliberate and sincere will. moreover after this our receipt of him , we are ( saith he ) required to obey him , to be holy as he is holy , to forsake all ; which he calls after-clap conditions , and hard conditions . and pag. 25. those that be humble and see gods wrath what it is , that have their consciences awakened to see sin , will come in and be glad to have christ , though on these conditions : but the other will not . if you will have christ on these conditions , you may . but we preach in vain , all the world refuseth christ , because they will not leave their covetousnesse , pride , &c. and all because they be not humbled . now whereas he excludes conditions in some passages , he tells you in what sense he excludes them . pag. 15. when we exclude all conditions , we exclude such a frame and habit of mind , which we think is necessarily required to make us worthy to take him . by which it appears clearly , they were meritorious conditions he excluded . to these i may add how in his treatise of the new covenant , page 217. he gives this for his fourth reason , why uprightnesse is required ; viz. that there might be an integrity on both sides ; a covenant , as on gods part , so on ours : that as he promiseth he will be all-sufficient , so he requireth this again on our parts , that we be altogether his . and pag 357. that the condition god required of abraham was , that he should believe ; where he spends many leaves in shewing that , and why faith is the condition of the new covenant , page 389. that repentance , the condition required of us , is part of the covenant , both on gods part and on ours . the condition that is required of us , as part of the covenant , is the doing of this , the action . but the ability whereby we are able to perform these is a part of the covenant on the lords part . pag. 398. that when we do believe , at that very hour we enter into covenant , and are translated from death to life : and pag. 458. when the heart gives her full consent , and takes the lord for her god and governour , then is the contract made up between them . these passages ( sir ) abundantly satisfie me concerning that holy and reverend author , that he held faith to be the grand condition of the gospel , precedently required to , not only our knowing our selves in state of grace , but our very being therein , and right thereto . if he say , that the covenant , that is , one part of it , viz. the promise of grace , is absolute ; he saith no more then others , for i know none of our side that hold that part to be antecedently conditional . some call it a free , others an absolute promise , others a covenant with christ for us , &c. yea , in regard of the freenesse and absolutenesse of it , they grant the covenant in respect of the elect to be equivalent to an absolute promise , and the purchase equivalent to an absolute purchase ( as you may see owen vniv . redempt . lib. 3. c. 2. ) the conditions on which salvation is promised , being purchased and promised as well as the salvation . notable are the expressions of mr. rutherford in this particular , k we teach faith a condition on our part , and also a grace promised : christ brings himselfe , his righteousnesse , and the condition of faith too , which doth receive him . as if some prince should freely promise to marry some maid of low estate , on condition she wear a gold chain , with a rich jewel of the crown in it , and withal should bind himself to give her both the chain and a will to wear it . again , he is both without doors knocking , and within doors opening , yet he never cometh in , but upon condition we open , which condition is also his own work . he offers righteousness so the sinner believe , and he works belief that the sinner may have righteousnesse , pag. 109. thus you see others as well as dr. preston , assert the absolutenesse of the covenant in that part ; who yet still maintain the other part , viz. the promise of life and salvation to be conditional ; which as hath been already shewed , dr. preston doth maintain . 8. as for mr. l walker , he denies not all kinds of conditions in the place cited , but only conditions legal , and conditions for which ; meritorious ones : but conditions which are as a means by which the free gift is received , and as a qualification whereby one is made capable and fit to receive and enjoy the free gift ; such he granteth , and calleth them conditions in the place cited by you ; saying , there is no condition of the covenant propounded , but only the way and means to receive the blessing , or the quality and condition by which men are made capable and fit to enjoy the blessing : which is as much as i plead for under that title . as for mr. strong , though both what i have heard from him my self , and also what i have heard from others who have seen his sermon , induce me to believe that he is not against our conditions , yet having not his sermon , i must be altogether silent at this time concerning him . by this ( sir ) you may see , that i have looked into the most of the authors which you cited , and amongst them all i must professe unto you , that i find not one that speaketh fully for you , but more against , then for your tenent : and for that sort of conditions , whose cause i plead , i must intreat you therefore to shake hands with them , and leave them to stand on my side . to them i shall add some few more . 1 mr. perkins shall be the first , who puts down conditions in the very description of the covenant , saying , m the covenant of grace is that , whereby god freely promising christ and his benefits , exacteth again of man that he would receive christ by faith , and repent of his sins . in the covenant of grace two things ( n saith he elsewhere ) must be considered the substance thereof , and the condition . the substance of the covenant is , that righteousnesse and life everlasting is given to gods church and people by christ . the condition is , that we for our parts are by faith to receive the foresaid benefits , and this condition is by grace as well as the substance . 2. mr. reynolds shall be the next ; in his treatise of the life of christ , p. 399. he calls faith the conveyance : and p. 403. we expect justification by faith in christ . — faith unites us to christ , and makes his death , merit , life , kingdom , sonship , victory , benefits to become ours . you may see p. 451 , 452 , 453. that to marriage between christ and his church , whereby the church hath a right and propriety created , to the body , name , goods , table , possession , and purchases of christ , — is essentially required consent , which consent must be mutual ; for though christ declare his good will when he knocketh at our doors , yet if we keep at distance , stop our ears at his invitations , there is then no covenant made . it is but a wooing , and no marriage , &c. pag. 465 , 466 , 467. that the office of faith is to unite to christ , and give possession of him , till which union by faith be made , we remain poor and miserable , notwithstanding the fulness that is in christ . pag. 478 , 479. and to name no more , pag. 512. setting down the difference between the two covenants , he saith , they differ in the conditions , for in the old covenant , legal obedience ; but in the new faith only is required , and the certain consequent thereof repentance . 3. mr. ball shall be the third , who saith , o the covenant of grace doth not exclude all conditions , but such as will not stand with grace : and pag. 18. the stipulation required , is , that we take god to be our god ; that is , that wee repent of our sins , believe the promises of mercy , and embrace them with the whole heart , and yeild love , fear , reverence , worship , and obedience to him according to the prescript rule of his word : and p. 20. if then we speak of conditions , by conditions we understand whatsoever is required on our part , as precedent , concomitant , or subsequent to justification . repentance , faith and obedience , are all conditions . but if by conditions we understand what is required on our part , as the cause of that god promised , though only instrumental , faith or belief in the promises of free mercy is the only condition . 4. let learned pemble be the fourth , who speaking of the difference between the law and the gospel , saith , p the diversity is this , the law offers life unto man upon condition of perfect obedience , cursing the transgressors thereof in the least kind with eternal death . the gospel offers life unto man upon another condition , viz. repentance and faith in christ , promising remission of sin to such as repent and believe . that this is the main essential difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace , we shall endeavor to make good against the romish apostacy . and about a leaf after , hence we conclude firmly , that the difference between the law and the gospel assigned by our divines , is most certain and agreeable to the scriptures , viz. that the law gives life unto the just upon condition of perfect obedience in all things : the gospel gives life unto sinners , upon condition they repent and believe in christ jesus . where you may take notice , that he layes it down not as his own private opinion , but as the general tenent of all the orthodox divines in his time , and that in opposition to our popish adversaries . it was then no popery to hold conditions in the covenant : and as he of the divines of his time , so may i of the divines of this present age . see their consent and harmony herein , larg . cat . p. 9. 5. doctor downam shall be the fifth ; q that which is the only condition of the covenant of grace , by that alone we are justified . but faith is the only condition of the covenant of grace , which is therefore called , lex fidei . and l. 7. c. 2. sect. 6. our writers distinguishing the two covenants of god , that is , the law and the gospel , whereof the one is the covenant of works , the other is the covenant of grace , do teach that the law of works is that which to justification requireth works as the condition thereof . the law of faith , that which to justification requireth faith as the condition thereof . the former saith , do this and thou shalt live ; the latter , believe in christ and thou shalt be saved . 6. doctor davenant doth also fully expresse himselfe several times to the like purpose , and may in the sixth place be added to the former . his words are these : r in the covenant of the gospel it is otherwise ; for in this covenant , to the obtainment of reconciliation , justification , and life eternal , there is no other condition required then of true and lively faith ; god so loved the world , john 3. 16. therefore justification , and the right to eternal life doth depend on the condition of faith alone . where he doth afterward thus briefly shew the difference betweene the law and the gospel , considered as two distinct covenants ; ſ the law ( saith he ) hath the very strength and form of a covenant made in the condition of works . but the gospel placeth the very strength and form of a covenant , made in the blood of the mediator apprehended by faith . what can be said more expresly then this ? i will not trouble you with repeating what hath been already delivered out of him in his next chapter , but only mention one passage or two out of him : s the promise of eternal life according to the covenant of the gospel , and of grace , doth depend on the condition of faith . a little before , explicating in what sense we deny good works to be required as conditions of salvation , he thus speaks , if by conditions of salvation , we understand the conditions of the covenant , whereby we are received into the favor of god , and to the right of eternal life : for these depend on the only condition of faith apprehending christ the mediator . 7. with the fore mentioned divines doth the learned t cameron fully agree , who handling the agreement and differences of the covenant of nature and of grace , observes they both agree in the extrinsecal form , that to each there is annexed a restipulation , though in the thing it self required in each by way of stipulation , they differ ; for that in the covenant of nature , natural righteousnesse is required ; but in the covenant of grace faith alone is required . whereupon in the conclusion of his whole discourse concerning that subject , he gives this definition of the covenant of grace ; it is u that wherein god on the condition of faith in christ proposed , doth promise the remission of sins in his blood , and life everlasting in heaven , and that for this end , that he might shew the riches of his mercy . 8. unto these i may add paraeus , who observes that the apostle doth make mention of faith , that v he may teach us , fidem esse conditionem , that faith is the condition under which christ is given unto us , as the propitiation for sins , and that it is the instrumental cause by which alone we obtain the propitiation in christ . and elsewhere setting down the difference between the righteousness of the law , and of faith , or of the gospel . he saith , w by that no man doth obtaine life , because the condition of doing all things required by the law is not possible to any besides christ . it is easie to obtaine the fruit , and reape life by this , because the condition of confessing the lord jesus , and believing his resurrection , is nigh in the mouth , and in the heart . 9 the learned chamier , that great assertor of the truth of god against the romish corrupters of it , is the next . x he disputing with bellarmine concerning the difference between the law , and the gospel , speaks as fully and plainly as any of the rest forenamed protestant divines , that the law of works doth propose salvation upon condition of fulfilling the law. but the law of faith doth propose it upon condition only of believing in christ ; the word condition being taken in the same sense in both sides . and having distinguished conditions that are in contracts and covenants , that some are precedent , others are consequent ; the former being such as are essential to the contract or covenant ; yea , constituting the very essence and foundation of it . the other being such , the defect or want whereof doth make the contract or covenant to be void and of none effect , though they do not make the covenant and contract it self . he doth apply it to his present subject , the law of works requireth the fulfilling of the law as a condition antecedent , without which any man hath not , either the actual possession of , nor so much as a right to eternal life . the law of faith doth not admit works as such a condition antecedent , but only consequent , so that they are necessary , ex vi donatae jam propter fidem vitae , by vertue of that right to eternal life , which is already conferred on them through faith ; where you see chamier doth clearly assert faith to be the condition by which we doe receive the right to life , given us by grace ; works the condition consequent in the covenant of grace . 10. mr. bayn on the ephesians , remission of sin is communicated from christ in manner following . 1 christ sendeth his ministers , as legats , with the word of reconciliation or pardon , inviting them to believe on him , that they may receive forgivenesse of sins . 2. he doth work together by his spirit , making those who are his children , believe on him , if they may find forgivenesse in him . 3 he doth communicate to them the forgivenesse which himselfe had procured and obtained for them . and on that fourth verse , god doth not bind any directly and immediately to believe salvation but in a certain order , for he binds them first to believe on christ to salvation , and then brings them in christ to believe that hee loved them , and gave himselfe for them . 11. mr. burroughes upon hosea , upon those words , i will betroth them unto me ; how frequently hath he those words , it must be mutual , it must be mutual in every particular branch of it . he shewes it must be mutual on the churches part , as well as on gods part ; and how can it be so without stipulation . in moses his self-denial . p. 188. faith hath the greatest honour above all other graces to be the condition of the covenant . 12. last of all , it is the general tenent of our brethren in new england , as appears by mr. bulkly of the covenant . pag. 280 , 281. where he handles that very question . and also by the catalogue of errors that did arise there , and were condemned by an assembly at the church of new town , august 31. 1637. attested by mr. weldes , err. 27. it is incompatible to the covenant of grace to joyne faith thereunto . err. 28. to affirm there must be faith on mans part to receive the covenant , is to undermine christ . er. 37. we are completely united to christ , before , or without any faith wrought in us by the spirit , err. 38. there can be no true closing with christ in a promise that hath a qualification or a condition expressed , err. 82. where faith is held forth by the ministers as the condition of the covenant of grace on mans part , as justification by sanctification , and the acting of faith , in that church there is not sufficiency of bread . by condemning these opinions for errors , they declare their judgments to be for conditions in the covenant . you see ( sir ) with what a cloud of witnesses we are compassed , and how the stream of protestant and true religion hath run in this channel : certainly , it should be some more then ordinary cause that should make us run counter to so many grave , learned , and godly authors . well , let us see what moves you to dissent . first , many of them confesse it to be conditions improperly . secondly , many are driven to eat their own words . now if both these were true , would they be of moment to make you dissent from your godly brethren ? is propriety of speech such a jewel , that for the preservation of it the good names of the godly and orthodox divines , and the peace of the church must be said to stake ? but who ( my good friend ) shall be judge of this propriety ? certainly , if it shall continue for language that was in the doctors time , you will be cast ; for i am sure conditions in the covenant hath been , and is the language most in use among the orthodox . i remember when i had some conference with you in your committee house about your sermon , you told me , pemble was for you , and chamier for you , and all polemick writers were for you : and now the contrary proves true , and they are brought against you , now they speak improperly , and are sometimes forc'd to eat their words . i am sure you speak not properly when you told me that they balked the word condition . but proceed we to the other grounds . you go on and tell us , that another thing that causeth your distance was , the vigilancy of the adversary , who was ready to make use of such expressions for defence of their tenents . this i confesse is of more weight then the former , for we should be careful that we minister not the least advantage to the adversary . bishop davenant , as hath been heard already , would not have us in conference with papists , use such speeches as these , that works are necessary , and the like , because they will be apt to understand merit by them : yet neverthelesse that reverend author doth use the word condition , and very frequently : it seems he thought there was no such peril in the use of it . again , the adversaries you speak of , must be either papists or arminians . now as for papists , you have delivered us from all fear that way , by telling us they stand not for any merit in the preparations they plead for ; now if they took any advantage from the word condition , it would be to approve of merit . as for armininas , they may take as much advantage from all commands , calls , and counsels to faith and repentance to prove their free will , as from conditions : so then these also must be laid aside . besides , if there were danger in the expression , can it not be qualified , so as that neither papists nor arminians may take any ground therefrom for the spreading of their errors ? must it needs be wholly cast away ? moreover , is there not as great a care to be had of antinomians and libertines , with whom our english church begins to be pestred ? and may not these spiders increase their venome on your own gay flowers of absolute freenesse , to the poysoning of the power of godlinesse , both in their own and other mens conversations ? may they not say , seeing no conditions are required , nothing on our part is to be done , i may live as i list , for i cannot break the covenant ? sir , this is an inference not onely may be made , but hath been made by too many in these loose times . i have heard sad stories of it whilst i lived in london ; i have knowne the persons there that have cast off sabbaths , duties , ordinances , with this inference : and scoft at the followers of them ; calling them , duty-mongers , men of an old testament spirit , and the like . you cannot be ignorant that such a horrid inference is practically made from that doctrine : and however you may think you have a salve for it in your thoughts ( which how sollid it may be i much question ) yet how can you remedy it in the hearts and lives of others ? oh do not destroy by one sermon more then you can build by ten . but last of all , that that most moveth you is your compassion to vulgar hearers , who hearing of conditions , take not hold on the promise because they have not the condition . now here , in the bowels of this compassion , i do beseech you to consider what you do , and tell me seriously , dare you bid a sinner , whilst he goes on impenitently in his evil way , never repenting of it , nor turning from it , nor looking after christ ; dare you ( i say ) offer such a wretch the precious blood of our blessed saviour ? and dare you bid such a one , continuing such , to lay hold on the promise of mercy ? dare you tell him , that the gospel belongs unto him even while he is such ? dare you say , here drunkard , swearer , whore master , here is salvation for thee , here is a christ for thee , here is life for thee , though thou go on in thy swearing , drinking , whoring ; salvation is thine , take it , assure thy self of it , it is thine ? if you do , fare you well . i dare not , lest i strengthen the hands of the wicked ; old and new testament are both against it . but if your meaning be , that such a sinner should alter his mind , leave his course , repent him of his evil way , give up himself wholly to christ , and then , though never so foul , here was water to cleanse him , and bloud to purge him , mercy to pardon him , and a christ to justifie him . if your meaning ( i say ) be this , what do you but hold out mercy conditional , even as we do , and to what end have you raised all this dust and stir ? to conclude , the peace of the church , and edification of souls should be most dear unto us ; things wee should both preach and pray , study and labour for , and by all means possible endeavour to procure , preserve , and propagate . now i do beseech you ( my dear brother ) seriously and sadly to consider , whether your present tenent , and the broaching of it , doth not make a disturbance in the one , and a stop and hinderance in the other ? my heart akes to think of the late stirs in the new england churches , occasioned by master wheel-write , master hutchison , and their followers , especially when i consider , that this very tenent , no condition in the covenant , had a great influence thereon , if it were not the maine cause thereof . for here began they to look upon all those faithful ministers of christ , who maintained conditions , as no preachers of free grace , no gospel ministers , legal teachers , not yet acquainted with the gospel covenant , not able to give sufficient bread to their people , as appears by the examinations of master hutchison , and others in the book fore mentioned . thereupon they fell to a neglect of their sermons , contempt of the publick ordinances , siding and faction , till in the end , for troubling of the church her peace , they were some of the chief of them cut off and banished . may not ( my dear brother ) the like use be made of your present doctrine ? yea , is it not ( think you ) already made by divers ? are not the hearts of many taken off thereby from their faithful ministers and pastors whom before they loved , prized , hearkened to , received good from , yea haply received their conversion by ( if they be indeed converted ? ) are not ( i say ) their hearts taken off from these their spiritual fathers , so that they neglect their sermons , contemne their counsels , call them , nick-name them legal teachers , and ministers of the old testament ? when yet i hope you your selfe cannot in your conscience but acknowledg them for the true ambassadors of the lord jesus . may not this ill issue of your doctrine lye heavy on your spirits ? again , may not the writings of pemble , preston , perkins , and other our worthies now with god , for their holding of conditions , and professing the conditions of faith and repentance , as without which we cannot have life , be laid aside and neglected ? nay , are not these authors themselves contemned as men of darker times , and not acquainted with such cleare light as now shineth , though you know there is more of the power and marrow of christianity in one of their pages then in ten leaves of your new lighted meteors ? beside , are not many of the godly who love you , and were hearers of you , driven from your lectures , or at least cannot come to them without fear and jealousie ? others thereby amazed , not knowing whom to follow ? and most called away from the practice of religion , to that needlesse disquisition of a curious speculation ? when he builders clash , the building must needs be interrupted ; and when the witnesses disagree , the jurors can bring in little better then an ignoramus in their bill . i do beseech you ( sir ) to consider how by this your tenent the names and doctrine of gods faithful ministers , dead and living , are aspersed , the minds of the godly troubled , the peace of the church disquieted , the hands of the wicked strengthened , the mouthes of the adversaryes opened , and the hearts of your friends exceedingly sadded ; * and to draw back your foot before you are gone too far . by the wicket of an interpretative absolutenesse , i should hope that you might yet recover your self in safety ; however , by the door of retractation i am sure you may : and though that work be an unpleasing businesse to flesh and blood , yet is it one of the noblest offices of a christian souldier , in which spiritual warfare , as well as in temporal , as much honour may be gained by a good retreat , as by a couragious incounter , or prosperous victory . finis . pauls sad farevvel to his ephesians . opened in a sermon at the funeral of mr. john graile , minister of tidworth in the country of wilts . by humphrey chambers , d. d. and minister of the gospel at peusie in the same county . praelucendo periit . he was a burning and a shining light , john 5. 35. the righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart , and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . isai . 57. 1. london , printed for math. keinton , at the fountain in pauls church yard . 1655 a funeral sermon . concerning the very sad occasion of our present meeting , there is no need that i speak unto you , seeing it is , or may be knowne unto you all , that we have at this time accompanied , though not a very aged , yet an able , faithful , painful , and godly minister of jesus christ unto his grave , that house prepared for all the living , where , as to his body , he is to rest until that great day , when all that are in their graves , shall hear the voice of the son of god , and shall come forth , they that have done good to the resurrection of life , they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation : at what time the faithful ministers of jesus christ , how much soever contemned , clouded and cloathed with reproach in this world , who have fed the stock of god , taking the oversight thereof not by constraint , but willingly , not for filthy lucre , but of a ready mind ; neither as being lords over gods heritage , but being example : to the flock , when the chief shepherd shall appear , they also shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away . yea , they shall then , together with all other gods servants , enter in all fulnesse into the joy of their lord , and be possessed of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled , that fadeth not away , reserved in heaven for them . the holy ghost tels us in eccl. 7. 11. that a good name is better then precious ointment ; with that rich embalming is our dear brother gone unto his grave , which will make his memory sweet and precious enough to all that knew him , and love god. and of such a one , who is buryed with this sweet odour the holy ghost witnesseth in the end of that verse , that the day of death is better then the day of birth . the day of birth brings every one to an afflicted dying life , but the day of death bringeth every such one , yea every child of god to an everlasting life of never dying glory . whether you that are the inhabitants of this place were sensible of your blessing in the enjoying the ministry of this our deceased brother , or are apprehensive of your losse in his departure from you , i cannot say , ( for you are all strangers unto me ; ) but this i am sure of concerning very many , who have occasionally enjoyed the fruit of his labours , that they sadly bewail the removing of one so furnished with skil and will to declare the truth of god , and to oppose the old superstitious , and new , or rather renewed errors which on the right , and left hand do oppose the progress of a blessed reformation amongst us . and upon this account my heart greatly mourneth over this brother of ours whom god hath taken away from us , by whose death a great breach is made amongst us of the ministry in these parts at this time , wherein open profanenesse and pernicious errours do so much abound . when wee consider our brothers ministerial qualifications and graces , his ability and humility embracing and beautifying each other ; his conscionable and christian circumspection over himselfe and his doctrine , it is very doubtful whether he were more ripe for life , or fit for death : questionlesse this our brother after he had notice of deaths approach towards him , could not but be sensible of the apostle pauls strait , between a desire of living to do good to others , and dying to receive good for himselfe ; of serving the lord christ in life , and possessing the lord christ more fully in death : yet i am confident , that in this case he did prostrate himself obedientially at the feet of the will of god. and seeing the lord hath now declared his purpose to make this our dear brothers gain our losse , we must likewise submit without murmuring and repining , and say , the will of the lord be done . but though we are thus to quiet our selves in the will of god , and to part with our brother in all humble submission thereunto , yet are we not to part with him without sense of , and sorrow for ours and the churches damage in his removal from us . indeed , there is no cause why we should mourn as men without hope of , and comfort in the blessednesse of this our brother , who now sleeps in christ , and enjoyeth his presence , yet there is cause and warrant too to mourne as christians , that so precious an instrument of good in the church of god is taken from us . and that it may appear that wee have scripture warrant for such our mourning at this time , i shall speak something through gods strength , from a scripture which upon this sad occasion the lord hath guided my meditations unto , which we find in acts 20. 37 , 38. acts 20. 37 , 38. and they all wept sore , and fell on pauls neck and kissed him . sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake , that they should see his face no more , and they accompanied him unto the ship. these words are a history of the mournful parting of the apostle paul , and the elders of the church of ephesus , together with many other faithful brethren , when paul took his final farewel of them , and left them hopelesse of ever seeing his face again . i will not hold you long in the entry to my text : we may take notice that the apostle paul preached the gospel for the space of two years in ephesus , with much diligence and happy successe , till he was by the violence of furious enemies driven out thence , as we have it at large related in chap. 19. and being to depart from ephesus , he called unto him the disciples , and confirmed their hearts in the truth which they had received , and embracing them , departed from them , as appeares in ver . 1. of this twentieth chapter . after this having bin in macedonia , and made his abode in greece for three months , he resolved upon a speedy journey to jerusalem , and made haste thitherward by the way of ephesus , that if it were possible he might be there on the day of pentecost , which was then at hand , ver . 16 , in prosecution of which resolution , he came to miletus , and from thence sent to ephesus , and called the elders of the church that he might speak with them , and encourage them in that great work that god had called them unto , ver . 17. and when they were come , the apostle , not in a way of carnal ostentation , but that he might be looked upon as a leading president to other messengers of the gospel , set forth his owne diligence and fidelity in preaching the word of god , ver . 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. and ver . 22 , 23 , 24. he shewed that god had acquainted him with many afflictions which would befal him for the future in the discharge of his duty , all which he made very light of in comparison to the joyous accomplishment of his course and ministry received from the lord jesus . after this the apostle told the ephesians , that he knew that this present parting would be his final parting with them in the flesh , ver . 25. and thereupon he appealed to their consciences concerning his diligent , full , and faithful dispensing of the word and counsel of god amongst them for the effecting what in him was , the salvation of all , ver . 26 , 27. then from ver . 28. to the end of ver . 31. there is a very solemn charge given by the apostle paul to the elders of ephesus to look to themselves , and to the dear bought flock of god , over which the holy ghost had made them overseers , to feed them with the word of truth , and defend them , what they might , from those wolvish seducers , who rising up amongst them , should make purlyes , and seek to engrosse and draw away disciples after them , so disturbing , and what in them lay , destroying the peace and unity of the church of god. having finished this charge , the apostle commended them to god and the word of his grace for their farther edification to eternal life , ver . 32. and then protesting his freedom from the sin of covetousnesse , and withal his known endeavour to avoid the very appearance of it , ver . 33 , 34 , 35. he concluded all that he spake unto them with prayer , ver . 36. and when prayer was ended , the apostle and the ephesians in a most affectionate mournful manner parted each from other , as the words of my text give us a relation thereof , and they all wept sore , &c. in these words we are to consider , 1. the occasion of that sad mourning of the elders of ephesus , and other believers mentioned in the text ; scil . the apostle pauls final departing from them , according as he told them , that they should see his face no more . but these words of the apostle must be understood with a due restriction or limitation to this present world . the apostle did not at all doubt whether this should be a final parting between him and his believing converts of ephesus for ever ; he knew well there should be a happy time of meeting for them again , as we may be assured from his own words to the thessalonians . for what is our hope , or joy , or crown of rejoycing ? are not even ye in the presence of our lord jesus christ at his coming ? for ye are our glory and our joy . these words of the apostle inform us , that he knew that no earthly parting should be absolutely a final parting betwixt him and other believers , when as he looked beyond this world to the coming of the lord jesus ; but in respect of his personal presence with the ephesians , to counsel , instruct , and comfort them , as he had done in the wayes of god , so the apostle told them , that they should see his face no more , and when they were apprehensive thereof , they wept . 2. the description of the mourning of the elders of ephesus , and other believers at their parting from the apostle ; which is laid down in three particulars . 1. the greatnesse of it , they wept sore . 2. the generality of it , they were not some weak hearted ones alone who were the mourners at this parting , but this was a great universal mourning of all that were present , they all wept sore . 3. the pathetick expressions of affection which the believing ephesians used towards the apostle paul in this mourning , at their parting from him , they fell on his neck and kissed him ; and went as far as possibly they could with him , till earth and sea necessitated their parting , they accompanied him to the ship. i purpose at this time to gather up the sum of all these particulars , and give it unto you in one doctrinal observation , easily arising from the words of the text ; viz that a faithful minister of the gospel of jesus christ is enjoyed with much love , and finally parted from with much sorrow by those who truly believe the gospel . the sorrow here recorded of the elders of ephesus and other believers for the final parting of the apostle from them , was not under any other notion , but as he was a faithful minister of jesus christ unto them , so they loved him whilst they enjoyed him , so they mourned over him when he was going from them . ministerial faithfulnesse admitteth of degrees in those in whom it is in truth . amongst the ministers of the gospel in our dayes such as attain the measure of the apostle pauls faithfulnesse , are , i say not rarely , but ( as i conceive ) not at all to be found . how beit , i doubt not but that through gods grace there are some ministers of the gospel in our dayes , the desire of whose soul is , that they may be faithful , and who do actually attain to some degrees of faithfulnesse in the ministry which they have received from the lord jesus , and shall therefore be inabled to give up the account of their stewardship with comfort and approbation , to him their great lord at his appearing and kingdom . i intend through gods assistance , in order to the opening of the doctrine now before us , in the first place to discover when a man may be a faithful minister of jesus christ . a man may be said to be a faithful minister of jesus christ , 1 first , when being called , and set apart to the gospel of god , as the apostle was rom. 1. 1. he looks to , and minds the discharge of the duty of the ministry , as the great work incumbent on him , in relation to gods glory , and the good of his people . it is fit they should turne farmers , merchants , state-counsellors , any thing rather then ministers of the gospel , who make it their chief aim and work to get manors , moneys , or the advancement of this present world . whosoever they be that mind their corporal dues more , or as much as they do their spiritual duties , who look carefully after the reward , and carelesly after the work of the ministry , shall never be acknowledged by the lord in the number of the faithful ministers of the gospel . they who account their ministerial being to consist in their ministerial duties , and thē discharge of them , and accordingly presse after the same , though they trade but with one talent , and possibly bring not in visibly much advantage to their lord , may yet expect to be accepted as faithful ministers of the gospel , and to hear at last from their lord that sweet voice , well done , good and faithful servant , thou hast been faithful over a few things , i will make thee ruler over many things , enter thou into the joy of thy lord , matth. 25. 23. 2. secondly , when a man applyeth himself to the dispensing of the whole , and of the pure word of god to those among whom he laboureth in the lord. he is an unfaithful steward who with-holdeth any part of that from the houshold which was committed to him for their good , and he cannot have the esteem of a faithful minister of the gospel , who wittingly keeps back any portion of that good word and counsel of god , which hee hath received from the lord , to impart to others for the making of them wise unto salvation . the apostle appealed to the knowledge and conscience of the elders of ephesus , that he had kept back nothing which was profitable to them , ver . 20. and that he was pure from the blood of all men , in that he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole counsel of god , ver . 26 , 27. it is certain that all ministers of the gospel do not arrive at the same height of knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel , and counsels of god ; howbeit every minister of the gospel is to look and enquire diligently into the scriptures after the mysteries of the gospel and mind of god , and as he hath received , so he is to administer the good word of god to others , without imbezeling or concealing any part of it ; which whilst he makes conscience , and is careful to do according to his measure , how smal soever , his ministerial fidelity in this regard is to be acknowledged , and he shall be accepted according to what he hath , and not according to what he hath not . and as a faithful minister is careful to dispense the whole , so likewise the pure word of god , not allaying and attempering the same by carnal mixtures unto the lusts and likings of corrupt men . the lords charge in this kind is full of divine majesty . jer. 23 28 , 29. the prophet that hath a dream , let him tell a dream , and he that hath my word , let him speak my word faithfully . what is the chaff to the wheat , saith the lord ? is not my word like to a fire , saith the lord , and like a hammer that beateth the rock in pieces ? and herein the apostle with much joy testified his own , and the fideity of his fellow laborers in the gospel , professing that they were not as many which corrupt the word of god , but as of sincerity , as of god , in the sight of god , spake they in christ , 2 cor. 2. 17. 3. thirdly , a faithful minister of the gospel is one that takes care rightly to divide the word of truth , and give every one in gods family that portion of the word which belongeth unto him . at this branch of ministerial fidelity the apostle pointed in that charge , which with so much seriousnesse and solemnity he gave to timothy , i charge thee before god and the lord jesus christ , who shal judg the quick and dead at his appearing , and his kingdom : preach the word , be instant in season , out of season , reprove , rebuke , exhort with all long suffering and doctrine . gods faithful messengers are careful to dispense instruction to the ignorant , comfort to the feeble minded , terror to the obstinate : on some to have compassion , others save with fear , plucking them out of the fire . this ministerial fidelity and wisdome is very necessary , and highly accounted of by the lord in his servants , as appeareth evidently from our saviours words , who then is that faithful and wise steward , whom the lord shall make ruler over his houshold , to give them their portion of meat in due season ? blessed is that servant whom the lord when he cometh shall find so doing . this fidelity the apostle paul again and again called timothy unto : that commanding counsel cannot be overlooked in this kind , study to shew thy self approved to god , a workman that needeth not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth . and doubtless , every faithful minister hath it upon his conscience , and in his care and earnest desire , according to the degree of wisdom received from god , to dispense the word of god in such wise , that every one may have a seasonable and sutable portion of the same , as shall be necessary for the bringing him in , or building him up , to receive an inheritance amongst those that are sanctified by faith in christ jesus . 4. fourthly , as a faithful minister of the gospel is careful to preach , so likewise to pray for the people amongst whom god hath set him . a preacher that speaks not oftner to god for , then from god to his people , may partingly shake hands , but cannot partakingly joyn hands with the faithful ministers of jesus christ as belonging to their number . the prophet jeremiah witnessed his fidelity towards the people in praying to the lord for them , remember how i stood before thee to speak good for them , and to turne away thy wrath from them . this is much of the close and closet-work of the faithful ministers of jesus christ . very many there are now adayes , who think sleightly of the ministers of the gospel and their work , supposing that they have little to do , and might well be spared . but did such persons know what is done in private by the faithful ministers of christ , how they ply the lord with prayers for the people , that he would divert his judgments from them , continue and blesse his ordinances unto them , subdue their sins , increase their graces , comfort their hearts , and save their souls , they could hardly retain such thoughts , or utter such words as they do concerning the despised servants of jesus christ . but how ever they are esteemed , or dis-esteemed by men , it is knowne to the lord , and that is enough , that a faithful minister is an importunate suter unto him in the behalf of his people , as the apostle paul assured the philippians he was in respect of them . i thank my god upon every remembrance of you , alwayes in every prayer of mine for you all , making request with joy , philip. 1. 3 , 4. 5. fifthly , a faithful minister of the gospel is to exemplifie what he teacheth others in the course of his owne life . a wicked well speaking minister , shall never obtain approbation for fidelity from the lord jesus . though a mans words be celestial as of an angel of heaven , yet if his conversation be low , loathsome and corrupt , his prophecying in christs name , will not prevail with the lord christ in the day of judgment , ●o own and acknowledg him for one of his faithful servants , but he shall then bee found amongst those wretches to whom our saviour will utter that dreadful voice , i never knew you , depart from me ye that work iniquity . the apostle paul exhorted timothy , and in him all ministers of the gospel , who desire to be found faithful , to look to it that they be an example of believers in word , in conversation , in spirit , in faith , in purity . he multiplyed words , as we see , that timothy and every faithful minister of the gospel might see a necessity laid upon him , to make it his great aim and endeavour to walk exemplarily and inoffensively before gods people in all things . the proto-type of holiness is our lord christ , all his faithful ministers are to be followers of him , that they may be examples to the flock , 1 cor. 11. 1. he that faileth in this duty , and is not deeply humbled for his failing , is far from ministerial faithfulnesse , and by his evil conversation doth more effectually cry down , then by his good doctrine preach up the power of godliness . 6. sixthly , of a faithful minister of the gospel it is required that he watch over the souls of those amongst whom he liveth , both for the preventing of hurtful errors , and practical evils , both which tend to the destruction of souls . it appeareth from heb. 13. 17. that a special part of the work of the ministers of the gospel is to have an eye to the souls committed to them , that they be not unawares surprised by errors in doctrine , or evils in practice . errors against the truth or holinesse of the gospel , are of an insinuating nature , if they be not timely resisted they will make room for themselves , and bring on a shipwrack of faith and a good conscience together . ministers of the gospel are therefore in faithfulness to hold fast the faithful word as they have been taught , and by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsayers : they are with all circumspection , specially in such apostatizing times as we are fallen into , to look to the flock of god , that they be not led away by the errour of the wicked , or possibly of some good men misguided in some particulars , to fall from their own sted fastnesse , but may stand fast and grow in grace , and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour jesus christ . it may seem at first a small matter to let errour against the truth or holinesse of the gospel into the judgment ; but the judgment tainted with such errour , is apt to grant out dispensations for the practice of sin , and so a little errour many times draweth a great sluce to let in a sea of pollution upon men to the drowning of them in everlasting perdition . it therefore belongeth to the faithfulnesse of the ministers of the gospel to fortifie and establish their people , what in them lyeth , in the truth of the gospel , that they may not be as children tossed to and fro , and carried about with every wind of doctrine , by the sleight of men , and cunning craftiness , whereby they lye in wait to deceive . but may have their ears shut up against the voice of strangers , and opened only to the teaching of that good shepherd who hath the words of eternal life . and as faithful ministers are to watch over the people in respect of doctrinal errors , so also of practical evils , that they do not overspread them ; they are often to inculcate the apostle doctrine , that the grace of god which bringeth salvation , teacheth us , that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , we should live soberly , righteously and godly in this present world ; and again , that our lord jesus gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works ; and therefore that every one that nameth the name of christ should depart from iniquity . and if they see any one taken in a fault through infirmity , it belongeth to them not only in the right of charity , but special duty to restore such a one with the spirit of meeknesse ; and when they discover others hardning themselves obstinately in their evil wayes , they are boldly to reprove them , and yet with meeknesse to instruct them , yea though they oppose themselves , if god peradventure would give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth , that they may recover themselves out the snare of the divel , who are taken captive at his will. the sum of all is , when a servant of jesus christ separated to the ministry of the gospel carefully mindeth his work , and bendeth himself to deliver the word of god wholly , purely , and seasonably , labouring instantly with god by prayer to procure a blessing on his people , and his labours amongst them , and withal is careful to exemplifie his own doctrine , that the people may see in him what they hear from him ; and lastly , hath his eyes open to observe , and his mouth open to g●ve warning of such pernicious errors and practices , as he seeth breaking in upon such as are committed to his oversight , such a one , however he speed in his own judgment , and the judgment of others , shall not fail before the judgment seat of god , to stand in the rank , and passe in the account of the faithful servants and ministers of jesus christ . having thus shewed when a man may be said to bee a faithful minister of the gospel of jesus christ , i come in the next place to consider , who are they who truly believe the gospel to whom such faithful ministers are precious , who enjoy them in love , and part from them in sorrow . there is hardly any thing ( as i conceive ) in our unsettled times more pernicious , then the mistake which many are subject to about the nature of believing . much talk there is of faith and the gospel , whilst few consider what is indeed the faith of the gospel . i shal therefore indeavour in few and plain words , to clear unto you from the scriptures who are the truly faithful , the true believers of the gospel . 1. first , they truly believe the gospel , who glorifie the word of the lord , as it is testifyed of the believing gentiles , to whom paul preached the gospel at antioch . when the gentiles heard this , they were glad , and glorified the word of the lord , and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed . every true believer glorifieth the word of the gospel , by yeilding a firme assent unto it as a word of truth , setting a high price upon it as the only saving truth , holding it fast as a stable , everlasting truth , and still desiring of it , and delighting in it , as an edifying and perfecting truth , which is able to build men up , and give them an inheritance amongst those that are sanctified . if men boast never so much of believing because they are confident that christ is theirs , and that all the benefits which flow from the lord christ are theirs ; yet if they do not glorifie the word of the lord , the word of the gospel , making an high account of it as a word of truth , a saving , everlasting , edifying perfecting word ; they shall never make it out before the presence of god , that they have the true faith of the gospel in them . 2. secondly , true believers of the gospel are such as receive the word of the gospel with spiritual gladnesse , as we read of that flock of faithful converts , brought in at one sermon , then they that gladly received the word , were baptized . the word of the gospel cannot by faith enter into the soul , but it bringeth in spiritual gladness with it . temporal believing hath a sleight and suddain joy accompanying it , as our saviour testified in the interpretation of the parable of the sower , as to the stony ground , he that received the seed in stony places , the same is he that heareth the word , and anon with joy receiveth it , yet hath he not root in himself , but dureth for a while . an unrooted faith yeildeth an unsettled joy , but when the word is with a stedfast , sound , and saving faith received , it usually , out of the state of strong temptation , and spiritual disertion , filleth the soul with joy and peace in believing . now this receiving the word by faith importeth a taking of it into all the faculties of the soul , to new mould and transform them according to the holiness of the gospel . the apostle james calleth it , the receiving of the engrafted word , because the word of the gospel thus received , as the graft set into the stock , causeth all the sap of the inward faculties of the soul to bring forth such fruit as is sutable to the holy word of the gospel . it is a very unworthy and ungrounded opinion , that a man can believingly receive the word of the gospel , and not be new moulded by it unto holines . if any think that the word of the gospel shall be mighty to save them , when it is not effectual to sanctifie them , they deceive themselves , and should attend to the apostle james his doctrine for right information in this point , who sheweth that the word of the gospel is received as an ingrafted , new moulding word , in all those towards whom it is effectual to save their souls . 3 thirdly , they that believingly receive the word of the gospel , are brought off from trusting upon their own works and righteousnesse , to trust , and rest their souls upon the lord jesus christ , as the one , which in scripture dialect imports the only mediatour between god and man , for forgivenesse of sins , peace with god , righteousnesse and eternal life . the apostle paul called believing in christ , hoping , or trusting in christ , ephes . 1. 12 , 13 because all that truly believe , cast away the thought of acceptance with god unto life in the merit of their own righteousnesse , and as worthlesse sinners build their hope of righteousness to life fully and wholly upon the lord jesus as the mediator of the new testament , through whom they finally bottom their faith and hope on god , 1 pet. 1. 21. 4 fourthly , they truly believe the gospel who trusting on christ for righteousnesse and life , have their hearts brought on by believing , to the love and high prizing of the lord jesus as most precious and desirable , 1 pet. 2. 7. faith looking and resting upon christs love , inflameth the heart with the love of christ , according to the apostles words , in christ neither circumcision availeth any thing , nor uncircumcision , but faith which worketh by love . and this true love of christ , the necessary and inseparable product of gospel faith in all true believers , is obediential , causing the faithful heart to stoop to the yoak and work of the lord christ , as we learne from our saviours own mouth , if ye love me keep my commandments . and again , he that hath my commandments and keepeth them , he it is that loveth me . and yet further , if any man love me , he wil keep my words . by all this it is manifest , that they who truly believe the gospel are such as glorifie the gospel , by embracing it as a saving , everlasting , edifying , and perfecting word of truth ; who with gladnesse receive this word into all the faculties of the soul , to mould them into a frame of gospel holinesse , who rest themselves upon the lord christ for righteousnesse and life according to the gospel , and in the strength of that faith have their hearts knit to the lord christ , in high prizing obediential love of him . these two points being dispatched ; viz. who is a faithful minister , and who are the true believers of the gospel : i proceed in the next place to shew that such a minister is enjoyed with much love by such a people . this we have fully ascertained by the apostles testimony which hee bare unto the galatians , when the faith of the gospel at first prevailed amongst them , my temptation ( saith he ) which was in my flesh , ye despised not , nor rejected , but received me even as an angel of god , even as christ jesus . it is not possible to make a higher expression of enlarged love , then this is , whereby the apostle set forth the affection which the believing galatians bare towards him as a minister of the gospel ; who loved him , and welcomed him upon this account , as they would have done an angel from heaven , or the lord jesus christ himselfe , if he had personally appeared and spoken to them . the grounds of this enlarged love of true believers towards the faithful ministers of the gospel are , amongst others , which it would be too large exactly to treat of , these which follow . 1. first , believers look upon the faithful ministers of the gospel , as a special gift of christ unto his church . what thoughts soever others have of faithful ministers , yet true believers know that they are in much love , given by the lord christ , for the edifying of his body , till all the members thereof come in the unity of the faith and knowledge of the son of god unto a perfect man , to the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of christ . and therefore believers cannot but love such a guift of love proceeding from their beloved lord and saviour . 2. secondly , true believers look upon the faithful ministers of the gospel as ambassadors for christ , in whome hee negotiateth with them in much mercy for the accomplishing their reconciliation to god , and eternal happinesse . 2 corinth . 5. 19 , 20. and therefore beholding christ in them , they cannot but greatly love them in christ , and very highly esteem them in love for their works sake . 3. thirdly , true believers are experimentally assured , that the faithful ministers of the gospel are ministerial fathers to some , and nurses to all gods people who hear the gospel from their mouthes . to such as are brought out of a state of ignorance and wickednesse , unto the faith and obedience of jesus christ , by the gospel which they preach , they are ministerial fathers , as we learne from what the apostle wrote to the corinthians , though ye have ten thousand instructors in christ yet have ye not many fathers ; for in christ jesus i have begotten you through the gospel . the lord of his own will originally begetteth his children by the word of truth , dispensed in the mouthes of the preachers of the gospel ; for , how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? how shall they hear without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be sent ? as it is written , how beautiful upon the mountaines are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace , and bring glad tidings of good things ? the faithful ministers of the gospel of peace , given by our lord christ for the work of the ministry , are therefore ministerial fathers too , and so as spiritual parents acknowledged and beloved by those who through their ministry are brought to the faith of the gospel . to others who have formerly entertained the truth of the gospel in a regenerating power , the faithful ministers of the gospel are as nurses , cherishing and strengthening them by the word of god , which they preach . for the same word of the gospel which begetteth , nourisheth and buildeth up the people of god unto eternal life . and in this second cherishing work the ministers of the gospel are and are acknowledged by believers for spiritual nurses , according to the apostles expression to the thessaloniuns , we were gentle amongst you , even as a nurse cherisheth her own children . now nurses ( we know ) sometimes get away the love of children from their true parents ; and in the case before us it is often seen , that though true believers cannot forget their ministerial fathers , yet they are apt to fall much in love with their spiritual nurses , who at present feed and refresh them with the word of truth : the sum is , that as fathers , or nurses , or both , all those that truly believe the gospel , are ready to love the faithful ministers of the gospel whilst they enjoy them . now this truth being acknowledged , the last point i am to speak to in the doctrine , becometh evident of it selfe ; namely , that a faithful minister is finally parted from with much sorrow by those who truly believe the gospel ; for love is a strong bond , knitting the soul so fast to that which is beloved , that it cannot lose it , or be loosed and parted from it without much sorrow . we read , that jacob loved joseph more then all his brethren ; and when he thought that joseph was finally taken from him , he rent his cloathes , and put sackcloath upon his loynes , and mourned for his son many dayes . and all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him , and he refused to be comforted ; and he said , for i will go down into the grave unto my son mourning . and even thus it is betweene true believers and faithful ministers of the gospel , the true and great love which such believers bear unto such ministers , makes their presence sweet , and therefore necessarily their final parting very grievous unto them . to this i will briefly add two further grounds of much sorrow in those who truly believe the gospel for the final removal of faithful ministers by death from them . 1. first , when faithful ministers are taken away by death , believers are at an utter losse , as to the enjoyment of any comfort or benefit from the person or personal ministry of them that are so removed from them . if they could have the least hope of re-enjoying a faithful minister after death , there would be yet some string of comfort to hold by at their departing ; but believers know that this is a final parting from a faithful minister , they must never seek counsel , or comfort , or instruction more from his mouth ; death unavoydably putteth the servants of christ to silence , and taketh them off from being in their persons useful in the work of the ministry unto the living , for ever . the apostle paul wrote to the philippians , that his abiding in the flesh would be needful for them for their furtherance and joy of faith , philip. 1. v. 24 , 25. and thereby intimated , that when he was by death removed from them , they neither could expect , nor should receive any farther benefit from his person or personal ministry . herein our blessed saviour happily differeth from , and hath a transcendent preheminence above his servants in the ministry , that whereas their final parting from their people in the flesh maketh them personally unuseful to others for the time to come ; it was not so with our lord jesus christ . his parting from his people in the flesh , caused a greater imparting of himself unto them in spiritual benefits , as is testified by our saviour himselfe saying to his disciples , neverthelesse i tell you the truth , it is expedient for you that i go away ; for if i go not away , the comforter will not come unto you , but if i depart , i will send him unto you . our saviour went away as a mediatour and advocate between god and man , and not as a bare minister of the gospel ; and in that regard he was forward by his departure in doing good to his servants , and continueth more able to communicate himself in all celestial and spiritual blessings to those that wait upon him ; for , he is still walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks , and hath the stars in his right hand ; and is able to save to the uttermost them that come to god by him , because he ever liveth to make intercession for them . but none of these things hold in the inferiour ministers of the gospel ; when they are removed by death , their personal ministry , from the moment of their death , ceaseth for ever as to all uses and advantages in respect of others ; and that consideration layeth a heavy weight of sadnesse upon the hearts of believers , when their faithful ministers are by death taken from them . 2. secondly , true believers know that the final removal of faithful ministers from any people , carryeth in it the face of a judgement from the lord. it was a promise of great love , i will give you pastors according to my heart , which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . and on the contrary , when the lord taketh away faithful ministers from any people , he then depriveth them of one of his choicest mercyes upon earth , which cannot therefore but have the appearance of a judgement in the eyes of true believers . the prophet micah represented evil men as weary of the faithful teachers , and saying to them , prophecy ye not , and then from the lord denounced the judgement of their ceasing from amongst them , they shall not prophecy unto them . their refusal of the prophets was their great sin , and the lords removal of his prophets was his heavy judgment upon them . if it be asked concerning a faithful minister when he dyeth , of what disease he dyed ? it may be often truly answered , of the judgment of god upon an unthankful people . when men are sick again of their faithful ministers , and long to be rid of them , it is a righteous thing with god to let them dye , that such a people may dye without instruction . the contempt of the ministers of the gospel who desire to be faithful , is a spreading disease amongst us at this day . men looking divers wayes , do yet unanimously consent to render the ministers of the gospel in this nation as odious as possibly they can . without distinction they are all branded as tythe-mongers , time servers , antichristian , self-seekers , and what not ? but it is enough , that god is the supreme judge of those that are thus traduced , and of their accusers 〈◊〉 howbeit , whilst this disease so generally reigneth and rageth , it is no marvel though many of gods faithful servants dye of it , whose removal by death , though possibly some triumph in , yet the true believers of the gospel , of whom there is ( blessed be the lord ) a very considerable number throughout our land , ●annot but be , as they are , much sadded at it , as carrying the face of an ill presaging judgement in it . having thus gone through the doctrine proposed , i come now to a few words of application . 1. here is one work whereby they that truly believe the gospel may have reflexive knowledge of themselves ; namely , by their enjoying the faithful ministers of the gospel in love , and parting with them in sorrow . i know there is great difference of judgement at this day , who are to be accounted the faithful ministers of the gospel of christ ? to this an answer may be gathered from what i have before delivered ; at present i shall only say this , that they who being in the place of the ministers of the gospel , do visibly apply themselves to do the work of the ministers of the gospel , labouring in the word and doctrine , that they may ministerially translate men out of darknesse into the kingdom of gods dear son , and build them up in faith and holinesse to eternal life , are so farre ( doubtlesse ) unto others at least , the faithful ministers of the gospel , that they who take them to be such , and as such , enjoy them in love , and part from them in sorrow , may from that disposition of theirs receive some evidence in themselves that they are in the number of the true believers of the gospel , whereas they who make it a chief ingredient of their religion , to scorne and revile the ministers of the gospel whilst they live , and to insult over them when they dye , to vomit out their choler upon them both living and dying , are not likely , for ought i can learne from the scriptures , to be approved by our lord jesus christ at his appearing as true lovers , and believers of his blessed gospel . 2. secondly , this should be a strong inducement to those that are imployed in the ministry of the gospel to make it their special desire , care , and study to be found faithful in the work of the lord committed to them , that they may bee enjoyed in love , and have the true believers of the gospel their unfeigned mourners at their funeral . the apostle saith , let a man so account of us , as of the ministers of christ , and stewards of the mysteries of god. moreover it is required in stewards , that a man be found faithful . the office ( as we see ) which god hath called the ministers of the gospel unto , calleth upon them to be faithful . without faithfulnesse a nominal minister of the gospel , how much soever he boasteth and prideeth himselfe in his office , is but like unsavoury salt , good for nothing but to be trodden under foot with contempt both by god and men . but when faithfulnesse is found in a minister of the gospel , it maketh him shine as a star , very gloriously in the eyes of the lord , and all true believers . that minister of the gospel hath the best monument to perpetuate his name with honour , whose faithfulnesse in the ministry , hath procured him the love of true believers , so that his presence is pleasant to them in life , and his memory precious with them after death . 3. in the third place , the servants of god may here read their warrant for sadly bewailing and mourning over such as have been faithful in in the ministry of the gospel , when they are by death finally taken from them . heathenish mourning over the dead accompanied with murmuring and impaciency against god , becometh not the children of god in any wise . it is the lords command given of old to the jewes , ye are the children of the lord your god , you shall not cut your selves ; nor make any baldnesse betweene your eyes for the dead . because they were by covenant the children of god above other nations , therefore they were not to follow the practice of other nations in their excessive mourning for the dead , but to quiet themselves in the will of their god and father , knowing that his saints are precious in his sight both in life and death . and accordingly the apostle paul carefully provided that the thessalonians having imbraced the gospel of christ , might not sorrow over their dead as heathens , destitute of hope of a future happinesse or glorious resurrection , 1 thess . 4. 13. howbeit , with due moderation , in humility of soul , and quiet submission to the will of god , it is not onely warrantable , but laudable ; a practice which grace bringeth the people of god unto , to mourne over the faithful messengers of god , when they are by death called home out of this present world . when steven was slaine by the jewes , devout men carried him to his burial , and made great lamentation over him . this is mentioned by the holy ghost not as a groundlesse , but as a gracious practice of these believers , evidencing their christian love to stephen , that blessed martyr of the lord. in proportion to this great lamentation made by devout men at stephens funeral , and the sore weeping of the believers of ephesus , at pauls final parting from them , mentioned in my text , i doubt not but our mourning over our deceased brother at this time is lawful , and laudable in the presence of the lord. i will not multiply words in reference to this our reverend brother now taken from us , i shall leave his works to praise him in the gate , being well assured , that many who have felt and tasted the power and comfort of his ministry , will beare witnesse to him , and the working of god in him for their good . one thing there is relating to his death which i cannot omit , that the lord greatly testified his acceptation of him in his work , in that he dyed of epaphroditus his sicknesse , of whom the apostle wrote , that for the work of christ he was nigh unto death . the work of christ , of which epaphroditus was sick , was , as far as wee can judge , a special part of the disease of which this our brother dyed ; for after that some symptomes and beginnings of a bodily weaknesse had seized upon him , his turn came to supply a lecture at a place somewhat remote from his owne habitation , which therefore some , neerly related to him , earnestly perswaded him to forbear for that time ; but such was his zeal towards the work of christ , that it caused him to neglect his friends advice and his own health , and to overlook his present danger , and so undertake the work of preaching the gospel in his course , under the weight of which labour of love , his weak body did apparently sink in the time and place of that publick service ; after which returning home , he declined more and more untill the time of his death . our saviours words therefore seem plainly to reach this our brother , and pronounce him blessed , blessed is that servant whom the lord when he cometh shall find so so doing . the lord when he came to this our brother , by death , found him doing , so doing , doing his lords work faithfully , and therefore looking on him , we have cause to part with him rejoycingly , being much assured of his blessednesse ; yet looking at our selves , we have cause to part with him sadly , when we consider that we shal have his help , and see his face no more . a pillar is fallen , and by the fall thereof a great breach made in this place , this county , this land ; which that the lord may be pleased in mercy to make up , by increasing the number , strengthning the hands , and blessing the labours of his faithful servants in the ministry , we have great cause to bow our knees before him , and to beg this favor from him in the name of the lord jesus ; to whom with the father , and blessed spirit , be praise and glory for ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a85510-e30 a vind. ley lect. 26. pag. 249. b ames coron . artic . 1. c. 1. § 4 impetration is the foundation of application . c camero in ps . 68. inter arg solut. med. ult d prideaux ser● draught of the brook . and perk. ref. cath. of merit . e panstr . cathol . tom . 3. l. 14. c. 16. & 21. ad 25. f ibid. 9. 38. 12 cor. 4. 17. h jer. 3. 13. i 〈…〉 k 〈…〉 p. 112. l gataker rejoynd . p. 31. m fidem ponī ut conditionem salutem quidem antecedentem ; sed electionem ipsam consequentem nunquam à nostris negatum fuit ; summā verò cum religione constanter traeditum . cor. de elect. c. 1. §. 4. p. 7. n 2 thes . 2. 11. o rejoynder p. 47. p si igitur haec esset mens et sententia synodi , quod simpliciter vellet monstrare illum , de quo jam diximus , modum et ordinem , quo juxta scripturae traditionem deus utitur quando homines vult deducere ad justificationem ; et si illa quae scriptura tradit procedere , tribuerent non viribus liberi arbitrii , sed gratiae dei , et operationi sp. sancti , nec in illis praeparationibus constituerem meritum aut dignitatem , propter quam justificemur : facilè posset de vocabulo praeparationis , dextrè juxta scripturam intellecto , conveniri . exam. part 1 p. 172. q falsum est igitur quod in 9 canone nobis tribuunt , quasi docemus nullum plane motum voluntatis divinitus donatum et excitatum , praeced ere acceptionem justificationis : omnino enim docemus poenitentiam et contritionem praecedere . non dicimus , praecedere tanquam meritum , quod suâ dignitate cooperatur ad justificationem consequendam , sed sicut sensus morbi aut dolor vulneris non est meritum sanationis , sed urget et impellit ad desiderandum , quaerendum , et sucipiendum medicum . r at evangelium non promittit salutem absque ulla conditione legis observandae ; neque id nostrumquisquam docuit : modò ne conditio pro merito sumatur . tom . 3. l. 15. c. 2. § 9. nam et fidei conditio non est antecedens sed consequens , quia nullum fidei meritum attenditur , sive fides non est causa salutis . ſ non negamus bona opera ullam relationem habere ad salutem ; habent enim relationem adjuncti consequentis , et effecti ad salutem ( ut loquuntur ) adeptam ; et adjuncti antecedentis , ac disponentis ad salutem adipiscendam ; atque etiam argumenti confirmantis , fiduciam ac spem salutis : sed negamus ulla opera nostra causam esse posse meritoriam justificationis ac salutis . bel. ener . tom 4. lib. 6 cap 6. s promissiones cum conditione obedientiae ut causae juris quod habemus ad rem promissam , sunt propriae legis : sed promissiones cum conditione obedientiae , ut adjuncti aut effecti rei promissae , vel dona●ionis ejus , locum suum habent in benignissimae gratiae regno , ubi meritis nostris nullus habetur locus . cap. 5. §. 2. t haec et hujusmodi opera cordis interna sunt omnibus justificatis necessaria : non quod contineant in se efficaciam seu meritum justificationis , sed quod juxta ordinationem divinam vel requirentur ut conditiones praeviae seu concurrentes , sicuti poenitere et credere ; vel ut effecta à fide justificante necessariò manartia , ut amare deum , diligere proximum . de just . act . cap. 30. q. 1. argum. 1. u in psal . 68 in solut . arg . med . ult . v tract . of justif . sect. 2. c. 1. per modum causae efficientis & meritoriae , impetrando , promerendo ; & suo modo inchoando justificationem . w non controvertitur an promissiones evangelicae ut sint fructuosae & salutares , requirant fidem : nocum est illud christi , mar ult 6. johan . 1. 16. nec in controversiam vocatur , an promissiones evangelicae ita gratuitae sint & absolutae , ut absolvant hominem à dolore serio ob peccata , et ab omni studio b●norum operum ? infans enim sit oportet in scriptu●is , cui non innotuerae bae spiritus sancti assertiones : rom. 6. 1 , 2. & 8. 1. tit. 4. 10. genuinus autem quaest : onis status est , an evangelium propter ullam nostram dignitatem , intentionem , opus , me itum , ullámve in nobis dispositionem , promi●tat nobis gratiam , misericordiam , remissionem peccatorum , & vitam aeternam ; an ve ò per & propter jesum christum fide apprehensum ? syst . tom 2. art . de evang. c. 2. x an in gratuita remissione peccatorum , requiratur conditio fidei , ut aliquod opus nostrum , aut aliqua in nobis dispositio ; cui ut cau●ae efficienti , adjutanti , aut cooperanti , ascribatur gra●uita remissio peccatorum ; quod rotundè negamus y vind. leg. lect. 26. p. 249. a reward of is justic . ball. ●ov . p. 25. conditio antecedens est effectiva . z tom. 3. l. 5. c. 5. §. 2. a ibid. §. 16 quum promissiones de perseverantia obsolutas esse negant , sed conditionatas tantum , &c. ames . cor. p. 389. in cap. 5. ad rom. v 14. in illa verba qui est typus su uri . c donatam igitur & gratiam & salutem omnes & singuli habent ; quamvis rei donatae possessionem non habent ante fidem . cor. p. 126 , 127. fas est ab hosto doceri . § 1. c. 3. of justific . we grant that god doth justifie an ungodly person but in sensu diviso , not in sensu composito ; so as he makes the lame to leap , the blind to see isai . 33. 6. mat. 11. 5. by order of nature he is first a believer , and then is justified . rutherford survey of antin . p. 110 c new cov. p. 26. f lib. 2. par. 16. g circumcisio erat signum obligatorium foederatorum , seu restipulationis abrahami , obligans eum & postoros ad fidem & obedientiam foederis deo praestandam . peraeus in gen. 17. 11. who adds , that both sacraments , circumcision and baptism , do agree , as in other ends , so in this , quod utroque fit obligatio solennis ad fidem & obedientiam oederis deo praestandam . ibid. h grounds and ends of infant baptism p. 38. i hos . 2. 23. k dicere dei est efficere ; dicam ego , i. e. efficiam populum meum . dicere nostrum est fides & obedientia nostra . l chap 3. 3. lex fidei doctrina fidei . quae fidem exagit , per quam sine operibus expectatur à deo justitia . alio nomine lex evangelii . par. & mart. in loc . n rom. 6. 20. o ver. 18 , 19 , 20 see dr. preston n. coven . p. 458 459. 500. &c. p baptismus nulli adulto conferendus est , nisi priu● ediderit confessionem peccatorum & fidei in christum ; ac praterea primissionem sanctae vitae . in mat 3. obs . ex ver . 6 , 8 , 10. baptizari in nomen alicujus est illi consecrari ad cultum , ut quis ab illo tanquam suo domino denominatur ciusque servitio se totum ad●rcat . pisin marth . 28 v. 19. r est tess●●a & nota qua sicut differimus ab iis omnibus gentibus , sic etiam protestamur velle differre , & cum solo populo dei communionem 〈◊〉 bere , ac foederis quod sancitum est in christo inter deum & nos conditiones servare velle . in cap. 5 ad ephes . de bapt. cap. 3. thes . 37. ſ baptismus est pactum purioris cum deo , curandum itaque ut quod semel gestum est in baptismo sacram entaliter semper in vita peregatur veraciter , dav. in colos . 2. v. 1 2. cor. 2. s quemadmodum milites jurant in nomen imperatoris , atque ita illi obstring untur , ut postea non liceat eis versa●i in castris hostium , quod si secus fecerint sit capital : ita nos in baptismo obstring imur christo , ju●amusque nos postea nunquam defecturos ad diabolum . martyr in rom 6. 3. t notum est ex catechesis nos baptizari in nomine sacrae sanctae trinitatis tanquam unius dei , quia in fidem , cultum , obedientiam dei nomine astringimur , & nos haec ipsa deo restipulamur . baptizamur in mortem christi dupliciter : primùm respectu dei , quatenus is beneficia mortis christi baptismi signaculo nobis donat & obsignat : deinde quantum ad nos , restipulando fidem tantorum beneficiorum christi , & mortificationem peccati virture mortis christi , ne nobis dominetur . paraeus in loc . u byfield in col. ● v. 12. luth. gal 3. vers . 19. all the faithful have had al way one and the self same gospel , and by that they were saved . so also pemb. vind . fid . 138 p. treat . of justif . sect. 4 cap. 1. dr. preston n. coven . p. 398. when a man doth this , at that very hour hee is entered into covenant , he is translated from death to life . v christ set forth in his death , &c. p. 28. w jus & proprictas doni ex donantis benefica largitione resultai : acciperet aliàs non suum donatorius quum rem donatam teneret . cor. p. 127. qui alterum incusai probri ipsum se intueri oporiet . see this distinction of complacency and compassion confirmed by rutherford his survey of antinomianism . x qui creavit te sine te , non salvabit te sine te . quemcunque trahit volentem trahit . nostra fides justos ab injustis , non operum , sed ipsius fidei lege discernir . in quo dormit fides , non vigilat christus . justificatio per fidem jesu christi data est , datur , & dabitur credentibus ante legem , sub lege , & post legem eadem . credendo invenimus quod judaei amiserunt . y jubendo monet & facere quod possumus , & petere quod non possumus . o homo , in praeceptione cognosce quid debeas habere , in correptione cognosce tuo te vitio non habere ; in oratione , unde accipias quod vis habere . de cor. & gra . c. 3. z non quia omnes in eum credunt , sed quia nemo justificatur nisi in eum credat . itaque omnes dictum est , ne aliquo modo alio praeter ipsum quisquam salvus fieri posset , credatur . de nat. & grat . c 41. a fides est justitiae fundamentum quam nulla bona opera praecedunt , sed ex qua omnia procedunt . inde , i.e. ex doctrina apostolica , capit quisque vitam , quam parit una fides . b hoc ergo byssopo asperges me , quando vit tutem sanguinis ejus effundes super me , quando & fidem habitabit christus in me . moses distinxit in levitico inter utramque justitiam , fidei scilicet atque factorum , quod altera operibus , altera dola fidei credulitate accedente fiat . c secundùm propositum gratiae , sic decretum est à deo , ut cessante lege , solam fidem gratia dei posceret ad salutem , in rom. 4. haec lex ( scil . spiritus ) dat libertatem , solam fidem poscens . idem . in 2 cor. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . like to which he hath another passage : the true office of the law , which can be never enough magnified , is to shew us our sins , to humble us , kil us , bring us down to hel , that we may be justified . cha. 3 vs . 23. ad finem . d negamu : testamentum dei de remissione peccatorum in christo habere adjunctā conditionem . com. in rom. c. 11. p. 1281. e nonne hic satis perspicuè dicitur , oportere nos credere , illum jesum christum , quem deus refuscitavit , mortuum fuisse & resurrexisse , ut nos justificaremur , & nobis omnia delicta condonarentur . pag. 1292. f omnis qui videt filium & credit in eum , habet vitam aeternam . sic ergo inferimus , at ego credo in filium dei , ergo hab●● jam , et ●abebo id quod promisit . p. 1293 g nisi fides desit , qua oblata apprehendamus , per promissiones justificamur . pag. 1294. h lex recipitur faciendo & exactissimè praestando quod praecipitur ; evangelium autem per vivum & effic●cem fidei assensum . moses quoque deut. 30. de eadem lege scripsit , se prop●suisse populo vi●am & mortem ; manifeste docens , si reciperetur lex & impleretur , vitam & quidem ae●ernam secum fore allaturam . verum cum excludamur hoc commodo , misericors deus aliud verbum providit , nempe fidei ; quod si assentiendo recipiatur , vitam secum habet . ex hoc loco apparet promissiones legis datas ex hypothesi , seu conditione praecedentium operum . in evangelio autem si promissionibus annectantur opera , ea non sunt accipienda vel ut merita , vel ut causa illarum promissionum : sed ita statuendum est , ut illa dei dona quae promittuntur post opera sequantur , cametsi non perfecta fuerint & absoluta ut à lege imperantur . p. 1026 , 1027. i non in eo discrepant , ut quidam putant , quod evangelicae non habeant adjectas conditiones ; legales autem sine conditionibus nunquem offerantur . quemad modum enim dicitur , honora patrem & matrem , ut sis longaevus super terram ; & si volueritis , & audieritis me , bona terrae comdedatis . ita in evangelio etiam legimus : remittite & remittetur , date & dabitur , &c. quare cum hoc discrimen non sit , aliud quaerendum est . quamobrem apparet diligenter intuenti , conditiones leges potuisse causas esse consecutionis praemiorumquae promittebantur . nam fi●illae perfectae & absolutae fuissent , ut erant à e●e imperatae , cum ipsis praemils comparari potuissent et meriti rationem habuissent . sed cum illae prestari ab hominibus non potuissent , deus ex sua misericordia subjecit promi●siones evangelicas illorum loco : quae quamvis conditiones adjectus habent , tamen offeruntur gratis . pag. 667. quare si haec tria conjungis , praemiae evangelica promitti gratis ; conditiones illis non posse aequari , & promissiones oportere esse firmissimas ; & meriti rationem auferes , quo discrimine illa à segalibus differant , facilè cernes . pa. 668. k 〈◊〉 conditionem aut stipulationem ulli● bonae cogitationis ab ipsorum viribus . de subst-foed . grat . p. 3 edit . gen. anno 1585. l qui cum tales sint , nolle se , ait dominus , ejusmodi ●oedus cum illis percutere , cujus vel minima pars in ipsorum viribus fundata sit , pag. 12. m quamobrem , ne concidat foedus apud mileros homines , in peccatis mortuos , corda habentes lapidea , qui legi dei non subjiciuntur , & ne possunt quidem , rom 8. qui denique non idonei sunt ad cogitandum quicquam boni ex se ipsis 2 cor. 3. sed ut firmum maneat , ejusmodi foedus promittit , cujus universa essentia à se solo dependeat , & in christo suo fundata sit . — modum etiam exequendi sui decreti in nobis ejusmodi promittit , cujus vis & efficacia non à corrupto homine , sed à se solo proficiscatur . pag. 13. n nullā que conditione nostrae dignitatis , meritorum , aut propriā virium niti . pag. 14. o p. 211 , & 215 p pag. 3. q universa substantia foederis gratuita est : quoad deum , is propriè foedus nobiscum percuti● , cum promissionem reconciliationis gratuitae in evangelio oblatam per spiritum sanctum cordibus obsignat , & renovationem ad vitam aeternam inchoat , in●ies promovet , ac tandem perficit , quoad nos , qui mortui eramus in peccatis , recipitur foedus , dum gratis nobis donatur spiritus sanctus , per quem excitati è morte in vitam , fit , ut non modo velimus & possimus credere gratuitae promissioni de reconciliatione per christum , & instauratione nostri ad adeundum haereditatem regni coelestis ; sed etiam ut credamus , seu ipsam fidem accipiamus . pag. 15. r atque ita totum haec foedus merè esse gratuitum , & nullâ conditione nostrarum virum , sed gratuita dei misericordia in christo , per fidem , quam ipse donat , apprehensa , constare , certum est ; oblatio duplicis promissionis in christo , remissionis scil . peccatorum , & sanctificationis , atque ipsius christi donatio , quoad deum , est gratuita : acceptatio ex parte nostra etiam est gratuita , quia est dei actio in nobis , qua promissionem suam obsignat cordibus , ut acti agimus , &c. pag. 16. ſ pag. 211 , 212 213 , 216. t quia foedus non inter invitos , sed volentes contrabitur , testimonia visibilia instituit , quibus & assensum nostrum in gratuitum foedus in verbo oblatum stipuletur , quem ut ipsemei in elect is operatur , ita publicè ad suam gloriam apparere , vult , & fimul in verbo oblatum foedus symbolis ( solemni contestatione prius facta , velle vim , ipsos esse suum populum ) obfignat . part 2. p. 311. quia deus non aliis jurat quam credentibus , ideo cum ad actionem foederatoriam descendit , prius assensum à nobis stipulatur , mandando ejus testificationem solenni ritu , quam ad promissionis obsignationem atque impletionem ipse descendat . pag. 302. vide plura pag. 304 , 305. ad 320. sine ulla interjecta vel poeni tentiae vel fidei conditione absolutissimè ait desponsabo te mihi in perpetuum . in hos . 2. onal . in v. 21 , 22. § 1. ſ promittit & novum connubium , & omnia quae ad hoc connubium etiam ex parte exotis contrabendum , ●um confirmandum inperpetuum pertinent . t promittit se effecturum & perpetuo connubio simul ei copulati . perpe●uum autem esse non potest connubium , nisi sicut in deo , sic etiam in nobis perpetua sit fides & spiritus christi , per quem hoc connubium & contrahitur , & conservatur . ergo promittit se effectum ut perpetua in nobis e●ect●s , sit fides , & spiritus christi . ibid● §. 25. §. 26 , 27 , ad 33. u notandum , hanc esse simplicem & evangelicam sine ulla conditione promissionem . hic enim nihil exigit deus , sed simpliciter promittit quod velit ipse ecclesiae suae facere ; adeo ut promittat etiam fidem , sine qua reliquae promissiones in nobis locum habere non possunt . w innuit illa dictione , ego , deum esse authorem nostrae reconciliationis , & consequentur nostrae salutis . ipse est qui prior venit ad nos , & nos sibi ipse desponsar . nos non ipsum praeve nimus aut quaerimus in sponsum , sed ipse praevenit nos ut desponset nos sibi . ego , inquit , desponsabo te ; huc illud 1 joh. 4. non quod nos prius dilexerimus eum , sed ipse prior dilexerit nos . vae nobis si deus nos non praeveniret , § 5. desponsabo . x deut. 7. y ratio foederis faciendi seu promittendi , est , qua deus ex gratia , extra nostra merita foedus hoc nobiscum init ; foedesque hoc nullis nostris suffultum est meritis . pag. 44. §. 3. ratio . z foederis vinculo se unit cum populo , & populus vicissim unitur deo : sicut sponsus cum sponsa , & sponsa cum sponso , fide conjugii utrinque data . p. 43 §. cum autem . a ibid. 43. col. ● . ex parte nostri substantia foederis est id quod à nobis stipulatur , & nos premittimus . &c. p. 45. a in 1. epist . joha . cap. 1. loc . de rem . peccat . q. 6. quibus conditionibus remissio peccatorum offeratur & conferatur . b sunt conditiones non propter quas , sed citra quas peccatorum remissio non obtinetur . — et si citra bas conditiones obtineri remissio peccatorum non potest , non tamen propter eas tanquam propter merita . ideo johannes ait , si confiteamur , ecce conditionem ; non tamen ait , propter confessionem — nam etiam citra fidem haberi non potest justificatio , non tamen propter dignitatem fidei haberi eam dicimus , sed gratis . — deinde illud notandum est , etiam has conditiones quas requieit à nobis deus , donari nobis à deo , & esse dona dei ; non ergo meritis ullo modo , sed soli dei gratiae danda est remissio peccatorum . c vsum istius nominis in hac significatione classicis authoribus non fuisse incognitum ante in oratione quadam demonstravimus . patal . l. 3. c. 9. d dei gratiam luculentiorem hominibus explicatam esse , quòd suis non foedus , sed testamentum dederit . quiae foedus conditiones mutuas fuisset habitum , quas si altera pars non praestet , foedus est irritum . testamentum verò liberalitatis & gratiae , citra ullam conditionem instrumentum est , ex quo haeredes vocantur & instituuntur citra contemplationem ullius officii quod ab ipsis proficissi possit . e substantia utriusque restamenti una quidem atque communis est in christo jesu ; eaque partibus duabus comprehensa pro ut abrahamo primum , gen. 17. deinde vero posteris illius fuit exposita ; una , promissionis , quum deus inquit , futurus sim ipsis d●us : altera , conditionis appositae , qua deus petit ut nos viciss●m pareamus ad stipulationem ip●●● , quam ●i , & ipsi e●unt mihi populus . par. l. 3. c. 8. f hujus promissionis evangelicae antecedens sive 〈◊〉 conditio poterat multorum animos deterrere , ac potius omnium si legis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in carne nostra ( ut necesse est ) expendissent ; cujus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inde à principio sermonis hujus conditionem moses expresserat , dicens , nondum dedit vobis jehova mentem ad cognoscendum . — ne igitur impossibilem conditionem propositam sibi à deo fuisse quererentur , commoditatem istius moses his verbis explicat ; nam praeceptum hoc quod ego praecipio tibi , &c. quasi dicat , hactenus proposui tibi partem priorem foederis , ut obsequaris deo : sed quia altera quaeque pars foederis est tibi necessaria , ut deus tuus quasi novo foedere ( quod tamen reipsa unum est ) suis partibus erga te defungatur cum tu ipse non possis ; & circumcidens cor tuum inscribat ei legem suam & foedus suum ad obedientiam fidei . par. lib. 2. part 16. g hoc praeceptum fidei quod cloquor neque occultum , neque longinquum , & cum id ipsum in ore tuo , & corde tuo gratiosè deus ind● , si tantum fide potes prehendere . h concedimus , hominis officium requiri , illud insuper contendentes , deum hujus premissionis vi effecturum in suis , ut officium illud faciant , quatenus necessariò est faciendum cor. act . 5 p. 400. to●a dispositio testamentariam habet 〈◊〉 , ut simpliciter 〈…〉 conditio ; atque hac ratione , ad modum foederis aliquando proponitur : qui tamen proponendi modus non sic est accipiendus , ut testamenti naturam in ulla parte mutet . utrumque à nostris optimè conjungi solet , quum justitiam ac vitam , sub conditione fidei promitti docent , & fidem ipsam electis dari , vel conditionem foederis in ipso foedere simul promitti . pag. 40. mark 16 k survey of antinom . p. 129. l socin . disc & consut p. 225. m order of the causes of salvation . c. 31. n ref. cath. tit . of justif . diff. 2. 2. o treat . of the n. cov. p. 17. p of justif . §. 4. c. 1. q tract . 1. of justif . l. 6. c. 8. §. 10. r in fodere evangelico aliter se res habet ; nam in hoc foedere ad obtinendam reconciliationem , justificationem & vitam aeternam , non alia requiritur conditio quam verae & vivae fidei : sic deus dilexit mundum . joh. 3. 16. rom. 4. 5. gal. 3. 8. justificatio igitur & jus ad vitam aeternam ex conditione solius fidei suspenditur . de just . act . c. 30. in resp . ad ob . 3. ſ lex in conditione operum habet ipsam vim & formam icti foederis : at evangelium in mediatoris sanguine fide apprehenso collocat ipsam vim & formam foederis . ibid. s promissio vitae aeternae juxta pactum evangelicum & foedus gratiae , pendet ex conditione fidei . id. cap. 32. in sol . ad ob . 1. p. 407. si per conditiones salutis intelligamus conditiones foederis quibus recipimur in favorem dei , & ad jus vitae aeternae : haec enim pendent ex solo conditione fidei christum mediatorem apprehendentis . ibid. p. 406. t de trip . foed . thes . 8 , 9. in foedere naturae exigitur justitia naturalis , at in foedere gratiae exigitur tantum fides . u foedus gratiae est illud quo deus proposita conditione fidei in christum , remissionem peccatorum in ejus sanguine , & vitam coelestem pollicetur , idque eo fine ut ostendat divitias misericordiae suae . thes . 82. v in 3. ad rom. 23 in illa verba , per fidem . w ex illa vitam nemo consequitur , quia conditio faciendi omnia leg●s , nulli est possibiis extra christum . ex hoc fructum & vitam consequi facile est , quia conditio confitendi dominum jesum , & credendi ejus resurrectionem prope est , in ore , & in corde nostro . in cap. 10. ad rom. v. 9. x nos legis & evangelii discrimen cum quaerimus utrumque nominare contracta illa significatione , secundum quam paulus oponit legem operum , legi fidei . hoc est , legem operum proponere salutem sub conditione legis per ficiendae . at legem fidei candem preponere , sub conditione tantum credendi in christum : nimirum , ut u●rinque conditio sumatur codem sensu . tom. 3. lib. 15. cap. 3. § 26. § 27 , 28 , 29. penes quos est vis 〈◊〉 loq●di * this book was delivered unto mr. eyre in the authors life time , some years since , before his book against mr. woodbridge , mr. crauford , and mr. baxter came forth . notes for div a85510-e12940 job 30. 23. john 5. 28 , 29 1 pet. 5. 2 , 3 , 4 phil. 1. 23 1 thes . 2. 19 , 20 doctr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 tim 4. 15 2 tim. 4. 1 , 22 jude v. 22 , 23 ● luke 12. 42 , 43 2 tim. 2. 15 jer. 19. 20 matth. 7. 23 1 tim. 4. 12 tit. 1. 9 ephes . 4. 14 tit. 2 , 11 , 12 and 14 2 tim. 2. 19 gal. 6. 1 1 tim. 5. 20 2 tim. 2. 25 , 26 acts 13. 48 acts 2. 41 〈◊〉 . 13. 20 , 21 ●om . 15 13 ●ames 1 21 gal. 5. 6 joh. 14. 15. 21 , 23 gal. 4. 14. ephes . 4. 11 , 12 1 cor. 4. 15 james 1. 18 1 thess . 2. 7 gen. 37. 34 , 35 john 16. 7 revel . 1 heb. 7. 25 jer. 3. 15 micah 2. 6 1 cor. 4. 1 , 2 deut. 14. 1. acts 8. 2 phil. 2. 30 matth. 24. 4 6. the naturall mans case stated, or, an exact map of the little world man considered in both his capacities, either in the state of nature or grace / as is laid down in xvii sermons by that late truely orthodox divine, mr. christopher love ... ; whereunto is annexed the saints triumph over death, being his funeral sermon, by that painful labourer in the lords vineyard, mr. tho. manton ... love, christopher, 1618-1651. 1652 approx. 472 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 170 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49252 wing l3169 estc r35003 14923277 ocm 14923277 102944 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a49252) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 102944) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1574:13) the naturall mans case stated, or, an exact map of the little world man considered in both his capacities, either in the state of nature or grace / as is laid down in xvii sermons by that late truely orthodox divine, mr. christopher love ... ; whereunto is annexed the saints triumph over death, being his funeral sermon, by that painful labourer in the lords vineyard, mr. tho. manton ... love, christopher, 1618-1651. manton, thomas, 1620-1677. saints triumph over death. the second edition, corrected and amended. [9], 279, [3], 34, [8] p. printed by e. cotes for george eversden ..., london : 1652. engraved frontispiece portrait of love. "the saints triumph over death, or, a sermon preached at the funerall of mr. christopher love, in lawrence-church, august 25, 1651" ([3], 34 p. at end) has special t.p. and separate paging. imperfect: print show-through with some loss of print. includes index. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng man (christian theology) theology, doctrinal. funeral sermons. 2005-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the naturall mans case stated : or ; an exact map of the little world man , considered in both his capacities , either in the state of nature , or grace . as is laid down in xvii sermons , by that late truely orthodox divine mr. christopher love , pastor of lawrence jury , london . whereunto is annexed the saints triumph over death ; being his funeral sermon , by that painfull labourer in the lords vineyard , mr. tho. manton , minister of the gospell at stoak-newington near london . imprimatur edmund calamie . the second edition , corrected and amended . london , printed by e. cotes , for george eversden , at the golden ball in aldersgate street , 1652. to the reader . the exuberant spawns of illiterate books proceeding from the polluted wombs of the overloaded , and bejaded adulterate presses , which are all painted with fair titles , i can compare to nothing so fitly as a cheating lottery ; which when the greedy invader comes with hopes for a little money laid down , to carry away a great deal of wit with him , 't is nineteen at least to one when he opens it , but he finds to his shame , that he hath drawn a blank , perhaps a blasphemy ; and yet couched under the title of glorious truth , heavenly discoveries , beams of light , new jerusalem , gods minde clearly revealed , with multitudes of such paints upon their strumpets faces . the sacred bible which indeed is an alablaster-box full of sweet perfumes and precious ointments , is made ( alas ! ) like pandora's boxe ( in the humane story ) which ( epimetheus presumptuously opening ) filled the world with evils , diseases and calamities of all kindes . the sacred bible is made now the patron of prophane mens practises ; never were grosse sins at such an impudent height as now they are ; what horrid impudence is that of hel to take heaven by the hand ? sins that were wont to hide themselves in the holes and clefts of obscurity , not daring to be hold the light , but serpent-like , to creep under the low shrubs of deceitfull shifts , how do they eagle-like sit pearching on the goodly cedars ( i mean pulpits and thrones ) the cedars of god , and dare to cast up their eyes towards the sun ? who would think it ! yet what this day more common then to meet the devill with his eyes towards heaven , and a bible under his arme , cloathing all his words and actions cap a pea in scripture phrases ; murderers , traitors , rebels , blasphemers , soothsayers , adulterers , sabbath-breakers , perjurers , oppressours , and almost all notorious villains have marshalled themselves ( like the roman clergy ) into so many severall sects of religion , all impudently assuming to themselves the usurped title of eminent saints , and quoting scripture for their actions , and scot-free passe the presse into the world to make more proselytes : so that he that in this soul-frozen age shall go to gather books to warm his soul , ( as paul did sticks to warm his fingers ) will be sure , if he be not wary , to gather vipers into his bosome : and how am i stung with pain and horrour , whiles i meditate on the thousands of poor souls that are gnawed to death by these speckled vipers ! sure it cannot but sit sad one day upon the spirits of those licentious licencers , that are as the midwives of such monsters . for thy comfort therefore and incouragement ( reader ) i do assure thee this book is free from all such venomous beasts , no toad of malice , nor serpent of deceit lurks either in the matter or the phrase hereof . in plain english , it is a pleasant , heavenly , self-searching , soul-convincing , sin-condemning , heart-humbling , spirit-raising , grace-quickning , christ-exalting book . i need say no more , they are the sermons of mr. christopher love , master of arts , and minister of the gospell of christ , whose actions , life and death , will eternize his name ; i may truly say of his elegant style , and pleasant way of expressing himself , as he of gregory nazianzen , viribus eloquii valuit , linguaque diserta : mellisluos dulei protulitore sonos . the subject of these sermons is of generall use to all sorts of people , much like in that , to that text of chrysostomes in psal . 4. 2. which ( as he saith ) if hee had a voice like thunder , and a mighty mountain for his pulpit , and all the men and women in the world for his auditory , he would choose this text to preach on : o yee sons of men , how long will ye turn my glory into shame ? how long will ye love vanity , and seek after leasing ? had this been really effected , and i been there in mr. loves spirit , would chrysostome have lent me his voice , and allowed me the use of his monarchical pulpit , when he had done in the morning with his text , i would have come up in the evening with this text , eph. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , being aliens from the commonwealth of israel , and strangers from the covenant of promise , having no hope , and without god in the world : but this need not , for it is in a manner effected already : this worthy minister hath ascended that pulpit from whence hee hath thundred into the world , he is now one of those blessed ones , that dyed in and for the lord , he is at rest from all his labours , and now behold his works do follow him ; some are already gone before , and these do follow after . these sermons were preached at st. anne's aldersgate , where this holy young man was pastor : i pray god they may prove as the great trumpet of god , to cause a spirituall resurrection amongst those people before they go down to the house of rottennesse ; it cannot but much rejoyce those people to hear their pastors voice again , those sheep cannot but know their shepherds voice ; which that they may doe , the lord of heaven blesse these his worthy labours to their , and thy spirituall advantage ; so as that the distressed churches losse in his sad and unexpected absence , may be made up in the blessing of god , upon these and the rest of his pious and painfull labours . so prayeth , thine , e. c. sermon , i. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , being aliens from the common-wealth of israel , and strangers from the covenants of promise ; having no hope , and without god in the world . this chapter out of which my text is taken , is like a little map , containing in it a description of the little world man , and that in a double capacity ; considering man either in the state of grace , or in the state of nature ; if you consider man in the first capacity , in the state of grace , this chapter layes down a five fold description of bringing man into the state of grace . 1. here is laid down the efficient cause of bringing man out of the state of nature , into the state of grace , and that is god , in the 4. vers . 2. here is laid down the impulsive cause , and that is the riches of gods mercy in the same verse , but god who is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us , &c. 3. here is laid down the meritorious cause of it , which is christ in his sufferings , in the 7. verse , that in the ages to come , he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards us , through jesus christ . 4. here is laid down the finall cause of it in the same verse also , that in ages to come , he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace . and , lastly , here is the instrumentall cause of bringing man out of the state of nature into the state of grace , and that is faith , in the 8. verse : for by grace are you saved through faith , and that not of your selves , it is the gift of god. now the other part of the map describes man in the second capacity , in the state of nature , and herein it gives a twofold description of mans condition ; 1. positively , what he is . 2. privatively , what he wants . 1. it describes man in the state of nature positively what he is , and that in five particulars ; 1. men in their naturall condition , are described to bee dead in trespasses and sinnes . 2. they walk according to the course of this world , as pagans and heathens do . 3. according to the prince of the power of the air , that is , the devill ; now the devill is called the prince of the air , either because he doth reside in the air , or else , because he hath the power of the winde and of the air . 4. they are called children of disobe dience ; that is , bor n in a state of disobedience quite contrary to the commands of god. 5. that they fulfill the lusts of the flesh and of the minde , and are by nature children of wrath . thus far you have the positive description of man in the state of nature . 2. now in the second place , the apostle describes him privatively what he wants ; and that in the words of my text , in five particulars , wherein hee plainly shews that he is the poorest man in the world that wants jesus christ , and the most miserable : that at that time you were without christ ; that is the first : you were aliens from the common-wealth of israel ; that is the second : you were strangers to the covenants of promise ; that is the third : you were without hope ; that is the fourth : and you were without god in the world ; that 's the fift . now these comprehensive expressions , contain in them the whole misery of man , and that in these five particulars here named ; 2. here is described the time how long , a man is in this condition , that at that time , that is , the time during your unconverted estate ; as long as you are unconverted , so long you are without christ , and an alien from the common wealth of israel , and a stranger to the covenants of promise , without hope and without god in the world . and now what a dismall text have i here to handle , and what a doleful tragedy am i now to act ? but yet out of every one of these , there is a great deal of comfort which may flow forth ; i shall only at present make entrance into the words , and speak more fully to them afterwards ; that at that time you were without christ ; that at that time : beloved here wants something to supply the sense of the words , and therefore read the foregoing words , and you will finde what must be brought in ; the verse before runs thus , wherefore remember , that you being in times past gentiles in the flesh , &c. wherefore remember , these words must be prefixt ; wherefore remember , that at that time you were without christ , and aliens to the common-wealth of israel , &c. i shall here by the way only draw out this one doctrine from the coherence of the words , wherefore remember that at that time ; the apostle would have these converted ephesians to remember , that they were men without christ , and aliens to the common-wealth of israel , and strangers to the covenants of promise , without hope , and without god in the world : now from hence i would commend this observation to you . doct. that it is the will of god that men in a converted estate should often call to minde the sinfulnesse and misery they were guilty of before their conversion . beloved , this is a subject i could never have occasion to speak to you of before , and yet it is a point of admirable use , especially in these times , wherein people think that when once they are brought into a state of grace , they must live in divine raptures , and revelations , and spirituall joyes , above duties and ordinances , and never look back into their former sinfulnesse and wickednesse they were guilty of before their conversion : why , here the ephesians were converted men , and had extraordinary priviledges , they were brought to sit in heavenly places in christ jesus ; and yet the apostle bids them remember their former sinfulnesse and misery , remember o you ephesians that ye were once without christ , and you were aliens to the common-wealth of israel , &c. therefore you must take heed of this , to think that when you are converted , you must be only rapt up into the third heavens , and never look back into your former condition ; you see here the apostle bids you remember what you were at that time during your unconverted estate , that you were then without christ , and strangers to the covenants of promise , &c. so that you see it is the will of god , that men in a converted estate should often cal to minde the sins and miserie they were in before conversion . now before i come to give you the reasons of the point , give me leave to premise these three cautions ; when i tell you , that after your cōversion , you should call to minde your sin and misery before conversion , you must not do it 1. with complacency of spirit ; nor 2. with stupidity of heart ; nor 3. with despondency of minde . caution 1 1. you must not cal to minde your former sinfulnesse with complacency of spirit , to please your humors ; you must not do as some great men use to do , that have been guilty of great and crying sins ; as adultery , drunkennesse , swearing , and the like , in their youth ; go tell and boast of them in their age ; this is a very great wickednesse : you must call to minde your former sinfulnesse not with complacency , but with bitternesse of spirit , with grief , sorrow , and perplexity of heart : many men will tel you large stories of the wickednesse , that they have committed ; but they do it with delight , and if they had strength and abilities , they would be guilty of the same sins and wickednesses stil ; which is a most ungodly practise , and that which the scripture condemns men for , as in the 23. of ezek. 23. 19 , 21. yet she multiplyed her whoredomes , in calling to remembrance the dayes of her youth , wherein she had played the harlot in the land of egypt ; thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdnesse of thy youth : the meaning of this is , she called her sins to remembrance , but it was so as to play the whore stil , and to be unclean stil , she did it with delight and complacency , with content and joy ; now i say you should call your sins to remembrance with a great deal of grief and sorrow , and bitternesse of spirit : and therefore when young gallants wil boast of their sins , and tel how often they have been drunk , and have made others to be so ; and how often they have plaid the whoremaster , and have drawn others to do so ; this is a most diabolical remembrance . 2. you must not cal your former sins to remembrance , with stupidity of heart neither : beloved , there are many men can remember what lewd courses they have taken , and what wicked lives they have lived ; how often they have been drunk and unclean , and the like ; and yet are never troubled at the remembrance of it ; their hearts do not smite them with remorse and sorrow , but are like a rock ; the sense of sin never troubles them : this is no way of calling sin to remembrance , with a blockish and stupid heart , this is not thanks worthy ; but it must be done with a broken , and a bleeding , and a contrite heart : and , 3. take in this caution too , it must not be done with despondency of minde neither . there are many converted ones , that do cal their sins to remembrance , but it makes them discouraged and unwilling to come to christ , it makes them think that they have no interest in the covenant of grace ; but this should not be , the true effect that the consideration of your former sinfulnesse should produce , should be your laying your souls low , and making them humble , and the more sensible of that indispensable need you have of christ , of going unto him for salvation and comfort . these are the cautions necessary to be premised ; i come now to give you the reasons of the point , why it is the will of god , that people in a converted estate , should often cal to minde the sin and misery they were in before conversion , and reas 1 1. god will have it so , because by so doing , you will be provoked the more highly to magnifie and admire the greatnesse and riches of gods grace to you ; there are none in the world greater admirers of gods grace and mercy , then those that are most studious of their own sin and misery : thou wilt never solemnly and throughly magnifie gods mercy , till thou art plunged into a deep sensiblenesse of thine own misery , till the lord hath brought thee to see in what a miserable and deplorable condition thou wert in before conversion , thou wilt then admire and magnifie the riches of gods free grace , in bringing thee out of that condition , into the estate of grace , as in 1 tim. 1. 13. the apostle paul when he would magnifie the free grace of god to him , saith he , i was a blasphemer , and a persecutor , and injurious ; and yet through the abundance of gods free grace and mercy , i have obtained mercy : the consideration of his former sinfulnesse did elevate and scrue up his heart , to make him admire the free grace of god to his soul ; that man can never prize liberty as he should do , that never was in prison : but , reas 2 2. another reason why god wil have it so is , because this will be as a spur to quicken and engage men to be more eminent in grace , after their conversion : when a man doth frequently and seriously consider how bad and sinful he was before conversion , it cannot but provoke him now to be more humble and holy , after his conversion . it is very observable in paul , that all those sins and wickednesses he was guilty of before conversion , he did most of all strive against , and labour to excell in the contrary graces after conversion : as first before conversion he did labour to hale others to prison , for worshipping of christ ; but after his conversion , he did labour to draw others to christ : act. 26. 10 , 11. many of the saints did i shut up in prison , and gave my voice against them , and punished them oft in every city , and i was exceeding mad against them , and banished them into other cities : and now you shall see that after conversion , paul did labour to outvie in grace , that evil course he was in before ; as before conversion , he did imprison those that did belong to christ , so after conversion , he was shut up himself in prison , for the cause of christ ; before conversion , he gave his voice against the people of god , but after conversion , he did pray to god for them ; before conversion , he did punish them often , but afterward he did preach to them often ; before conversion , he did compell men to blaspheme christ , but after conversion , he was very earnest to perswade people to beleive in christ ; he was exceeding mad against them before conversion , but afterward hee was so exceeding zealous for the people of god , that every one thought hee had been mad : and lastly , before conversion he did persecute saints to strange cities , but afterwards he did go preaching of the gospel to strange cities : oh my beloved , let pauls pattern be your task , cal to minde your sin and wickednesse in your unconverted condition , but so that it may provoke you , that now you are converted , you may labour to abound in grace , as formerly you have abounded in sin . reas 3 3. another reason why god will have us call to minde the sin and misery we were in before conversion , is , because this will be a means to kindle a great deal of pity and compassion in our souls , towards those that remain yet unconverted : this the apostle exhorts us to in tit. 3. 2 , 3. speak evill of no man , sayes he , be no brawler , but gentle , shewing all meeknesse unto all men , for we our selves also were sometime foolish , disobedient , deceived , serving divers lusts and pleasures , living in malice and envy , hatefull , and hating one another ; as if the apostle should have said , i paul , and thou titus , we were sinful as wel as they , and did serve divers lusts as wel as they once , let us therefore be pitiful , and merciful , and compassionate towards them , this consideration wil greatly provoke us to commiserate poor sinful souls ; the great reason why we pity them no more then we do , is because we do not cal to mind our own sinfulnesse , and what we were before conversion . reas 4 4. another reason may be this , because the consideration of our former misery , will greatly abate pride in the hearts of converted men ; this will be a great means to abate and keep under pride , and advance humility in the hearts of gods people : beloved , a good man naturally is apt to be proud , we are not proud of our sins , but of our graces ; pride is apt to grow in the best mans heart , and therefore god would have us sometime look back upon what we were in our unconverted estate , that so that might abate the pride of our spirits : you have an excellent place for this in ezek. 16. 3 , 4 , 5. compared with the last verse of that chapter . sayes god there to jerusalem , thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of canaan ; thy father was an amorite , and thy mother an hittite ; and as for thy nativity , in the day that thou wast born , thy navill was not cut , neither wert thou washed in water to supple thee , no eye pitied thee to do any of these unto thee , but thou wert cast out into the open field , to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou wast born ; that thou maist remember , and be confounded , and never open thy mouth any more , because of thy shame , when i am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done , saith the lord : they must remember their guilt and their shame when god is pacified towards them , and when god is reconciled to them ; and so you have another place for the same purpose , in ezek. 20. 43. and there shall you remember your wayes , and your doings , wherein you have been defiled , and you shal loath your selves in your sight , for al the evil that you have committed . i remember what plutarch relates of one agathocles , who was advanced from a potters son , a low , mean , and contemptible condition , to be king of sicilie , this man when he might have been served every day in golden dishes , yet he would stil have his provisions brought in earthen dishes , because sayes he , i may remember what i was , and what i am , a potters son , that so i may not be too much lifted up and exalted : why , so do you remember what you were , your father a potter , and you a poor miserable sinfull creature , and this will abate the pride of your hearts . reas 5 5. and lastly , god wil have us cal to minde our former sinfulnesse , because this wil make us more watchful and circumspect , that we do not run again into those sins that we were guilty of before conversion ; god would not have us do it , to drive us into despair , or to question our evidences for heaven , but to make us humble and watchful , that we run not again into the same sins . thou maist thus think with thy self , before conversion , i spent my dayes in sin and wickednesse , and consumed my years in vanity and pleasures , in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind ; and the consideration of this , will lay an engagement upon thy soul , to walk more carefully , and prudently , and holily in time to come ; this the apostle makes use of , in ephes . 5. 8. you were sometimes darknesse ( saith he ) but now are you light in the lord , walk therefore as children of the light ; we should now hate and abhorre those sins that formerly we have delighted in . use . these are the reasons of the point ; i shal only make one short use of it ; which shal be of reprehension to those , that ( notwithstanding it is the will of god , that men after conversion should cal to minde the sin they were guilty of before conversion ) do yet crosse this doctrine either in their judgement , or practice . 1. this reproves those that do contradict this doctrine in their judgement , and think that when once they are converted , they must never look back upon their former wretchednesse , but only now live in divine raptures , and revelations , and spirituall joyes , and comforts ; for , 1. if pauls precept be warrantable , then this opinion is unwarrantable , for he tels us that we must remember what we were in our unconverted estate , that we were at that time without christ , and without hope , and without god in the world. 2. paul tels the ephesians , that were an elected people , who were elected before the beginning of the world , that they must remember that they were dead in trespasses and sinnes heretofore , though now they were quickened : and if paul bids them call to minde their former sinfulnesse , then why should not we do it ? 2. this reproves those that though they do not deny this doctrine in judgement , yet do not make it their practise , to call to minde their former sins that they were guilty of before conversion : i dare warrant , that many of you can remember what you have done , and what debts have been owing you twenty years agoe , but yet cannot cal to minde what sins you have committed 20. yeares agoe , it may be some of you have been cheaters and swearers , adulterers and prophaners , and yet now you never think of it , but imagine all is well : i doe not know how to expresse what sad , dismall and deplorable condition thy poor soul is in , thou that dost never call to mind thy former sins : but thus much shall suffice for this first doctrine . sermon , ii. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , — we come now to the body and bulk of the words , that at that time ye were without christ , from whence note , doctr. that every man during the time of his unregeneracy , is in a condition without jesus christ . my beloved , if i should tell you now that when you come home , you should have never a bit of bread to put in your mouths , that all your subsistence and livelihood should be taken away , that you should be heirs of never a foot of land , and that you should have nothing at all to live upon , you would count this a hard case , but i tel you my brethren , that to be without jesus christ is a far worse case , it is the saddest and miserablest thing in the world to be without jesus christ : when i tell you , that you are without christ , i tell you the saddest news in the world ; but before i can bring home this doctrine to you , there is one objection and one question , that i must spend a little time in answering , the objection is this : object . object . how can it be said of these ephesians here that were elected , that before their conversion they were without jesus christ , for they were chosen of god in christ before the world was made , and therefore how can the apostle say that when they were born they were without jesus christ , seeing they were chosen in christ before the beginning of the world ? answ . i answer , that the same man in a different sense may be said both to be in christ and out of christ ; it is true the apostle sayes in the first , that they were chosen in christ before the world was . 1 if you respect the eternall decree and determination of god , so they were in christ , for god did purpose to make jesus christ a mediatour between god and man , by whose bloud they should be saved . 2 though they were in christ in regard of gods decree , yet they were without christ in regard of the application of the bloud of christ to their souls : for till a man hath faith , he can make no application of the love of god to him , for he that hath not the spirit of christ , he is none of his , though they were in christ in regard of the eternall decree of god , yet they were without christ in regard of the actuall application of the love of god to them ; for they could not apply to their own souls that christ did love them and own them as his children , till they were brought into a converted estate . i come now to the question which i promised to resolve , which is this : quest . what it is to be without christ . answ . i answer it concludes in it these three things ; 1 to be without the saving knowledge of christ ; 2 to be without any actuall interest in christ ; and 3 to be without any spirituall communion with christ . now if you ask me which of these is chiefly here meant , that these ephesians were without ; i answer the two former , for they were both without the true knowledge of christ ; and also without any actuall interest in christ . 1. to be without christ is to be without the saving knowledge of jesus christ : though a man during his unconverted estate , may gather together a great deal of notionall knowledge , yet the scripture doth lay him under this condition , that he is a man without christ . now a man may be said to be without the knowledge of christ in these 5 particulars . 1 a man may have a common knowledge of christ , and yet be without a spirituall knowledge of christ , he may have a naturall knowledge by the works of god , by hearing , reading , or the like , and yet be without a spirituall knowledge , to know christ in a spirituall manner . 2 a man may have a notionall , and yet be without an experimentall knowledge of christ ; and hence it is that the scripture expresseth the difference between the knowledge of the righteous and of the wicked man ; the lord plants wisdome in the secret parts of his children , but in the outward parts , in the head and in the brain of wicked men , god makes his children to know christ in the inward parts . 3 an unregenerate man may have a contemplative , and yet be without an affective knowledge of jesus christ ; wicked men may have a speculative knowledge of christ , they may know christ as a man knowes his neighbour , but now a beleever knowes christ as a wife knowes her husband , a beleever knows christ and he loves christ too , an unregenerate man he may have much light , but he has but little heat in his knowledge , he may grow much in a contemplative , but not in an affective knowledge , he knows what he should doe , but he will not doe what he knows . a wicked mans knowledge is like the moon , it hath light with it but no heat , but a godly mans knowledge is like the sun , that hath heat as well as light , a beleever loves christ as well as he knows him . 4 an unregenerate man he is without an appropriating knowledge of christ , he doth not know christ to be his christ , there are none that do know christ to be theirs but those that do belong to christ , now in this sense , a man may be a great knowing man , and yet not know jesus christ . 5 and lastly , an unregenerate man , he is without a practicall knowledge of jesus christ ; they know much but do but little , as in tit. 1 16. in their words they professe to know him , but in their works they deny him , though they know god , yet they glorifie him not as god , they know many things , but will do nothing : now put all these together , wherein an unregenerate man is without the knowledge of christ , he is without a spiritual , and experimentall knowledg , without an affective , and apprehensive knowledg , & without an appropriating and practicall knowledge of christ . 2 to be without christ implies not only to be without a saving knowledge of christ , but also to be without an actuall interest in christ , that at that time you were without christ , that is , during the time of your unconverted estate , you were without any reall actuall interest in christ ; from whence observe , doctr. that every man during the time of his unregeneracy , is without any actuall interest in christ . in the handling of this point , i shall onely do these three things . 1 i shall shew you the propertles of a man without christ ; 2 i shall shew you the characters of a man without christ ; and 3 i shall shew you the misery of a man without christ : and then come to the uses . 1 i shall shew you the properties of a man without christ : and in treating of this subject , i wish from my soul that if i cannot allure you , yet that i might affright you , and throughly awaken you , to see the indispensable need that you have of getting an interest in jesus christ ; and here i shall discover to you eight particular properties of a man without christ . 1 every man without jesus christ he is a base man. 2 he is a bondman : 3 he is a beggerly man : 4 he is a blinde man : 5 he is a deformed man : 6 he is a disconsolate man : 7 he is a dead man ; and 8 he is a damn'd man. these are the eight properties of a man without jesus christ : 1 every man without jesus christ is a base man ; though thou art born of the bloud of nobles , and though thou art of the off-spring of princes , yet if thou hast not the royall bloud of jesus christ running in thy veins , thou art a base man. in dan. 11. 21. and in psal . 15. 4. in both those places you read of vile persons ; such is every man without christ : and he must needs be so , because it is only christ that can take off that basenesse wherein every one is by nature ; as in esa . 43. 4. sayes god , since thou wer 't precious in mine eyes , thou becamest honourable , and in 1 pet. 2. 7. unto you which believe christ is precious , it is jesus christ , that puts a diamond of honour and glory upon men , they are all base men that are out of jesus christ , and that in these three respects : 1 they come from a base originall ; 2 they commit base actions ; and 3 they aime at base ends . for the 1. every man that is out of christ he comes from a base originall , he hath not his origination from the spirit , but from the flesh , he proceeds not from god who is the father of lights , but from the devill who is the prince of darknesse . 2 he is base because he commits base actions , all the actions and services of a christlesse man , at the best are but as filthy rags , and dead works . a man in his unconverted estate , he is the slave and drudge of the devill , a worker of wickednesse , still fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the minde , being given over to vile affections . 3 he is a base man without christ , because he aims at base ends in whatsoever he does ; and that two wayes , 1 in this world he aims at base ends in his hearing , reading , praying , and profession of religion , he mindes himself and his own ends in all : and 2 all his actions tend to base ends in another world ; as the actions of a man in christ tend to salvation , so the actions of a christlesse man tend to damnation . 2 a man without christ is not only a base man , but a bondman ; this christ tels us of in john 8. 36. if the son make you free , then are you free indeed , intimating , that if you have an interest in christ to free you from the slavery of sin and satan , you are slaves indeed : this bondage and slavery likewise consists in three particulars : 1 they are slaves to sin ; 2 to the devill ; and 3 to the law. 1 every christlesse man he is a slave to sin ; in joh. 8. 34. sayes christ there , verily i say unto you , whosoever committeth sin , is the servant of sin , and in 2 pet. 2. 19. while they promise them liberty , the themselves are servants of corruption , for of whom a man is overcome , of the same he is brought in bondage . every man by nature is a slave to his lusts , and a slave to sin , and to the creatures ; god made man lord over all the creatures , but man hath made himself servant to all the creatures . 2 he is not only in bondage and slavery to sin , but to the devill too , as in 2 tim. 2. the two last verses , sayes the apostle , in meeknesse instructing those that oppose themselves , if god peradventure will give them repentance , to the acknowledging of the truth , that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devill , who are taken captive by him at his will. 3 he is in bondage to the law , that is , he does nothing in obedience to the law ; and this is the great misery of a man without christ , he is bound to keep the whole law of god : there is a very strange expression in rev. 18. 13. saint john tels there that all those that did worship the beast , shall cry woe and alas , for babylon is fallen , and shall cry for the slaves and souls of men : all wicked men are slaves to antichrist , to sin and to the law , and this is the great misery of an unregenerate man. 3 thou art not only a base and a bond man , but a beggerly man too without jesus christ ; for all the treasures of grace and mercy are hid and locked up in christ as in a common magazine or storehouse : col. 2. 3. in him are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge ; if you are out of christ you have nothing , as rev. 4. 17. thou sayest thou art rich and increast in goods , and hast need of nothing , and knowest not that thou art poor , and wretched , and miserable , and blind , and naked ; you will grant that he is a poor and beggerly man , that wants these four things , meat for his belly , cloathes for his back , money for his purse , and a house to put his head in , why in all these respects every man that is out of christ is a beggerly man. 1 a beggerly man is one that hath no meat to put in his belly , and all you that have no interest in jesus christ are beggerly , in this regard , because you do not feed upon that bread of life , nor drink of that water of life , the lord christ , whose flesh is meat indeed , and whose bloud is drink indeed , without which your soules will starve for hunger . 2 you will say he is a poor man , that hath no cloathes to put on his back : thus every man out of christ is not only poor but naked ; rev. 3. 17. thou knewest not that thou wer 't poor and miserable , and blinde and naked , that man that is not cloathed with the long robes of cerists righteousnesse , he is a naked man and exposed to the wrath and vengeance of almighty god , those men have only a cloak to cover their sinfull nakednesse and shame , that are cloathed with the robes of christs righteousnesse . it is said of jacob , that he obtained the blessing from his father by being clad in the garments of his eldest brother , and so are we only blessed by god our father , as we are cloathed with the robes of our elder brother jesus christ . 3. that man is a beggerly man that hath no money in his purse ; why so , though your purses be full of gold , yet if your hearts be not full of grace , you are very beggerly men , luk 16. 11. grace is only the true riches ; all the durable riches are bound up in christ . 4. and lastly , he is a beggerly man , that hath not a house to put his head in , that is destitute of a house to lodge in , and a bed to lie on ; why so , thou that hast no interest in christ , when thy dayes are expired and death comes , thou knowest not what to do , nor whither to go , thou canst not say with the godly man that when death takes thee hence thou shalt be received into everlasting habitations , you cannot say 〈◊〉 christ is gone before to prepare a place for thee in heaven : so that in these four particulars you see , that a christlesse man is a very beggerly man , having neither food for his body , nor cloathes for his back , nor money in his purse , nor a house to put his head in , unlesse it be in a dungeon of darknesse , with devils and damned spirits . 4. another property of a man without christ is , that he is a blinde man : rev. 3. 17. and knewest not that thou art wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blinde , and naked and hence it is , that wicked men during their unregeneracy are called darknesse , in ephes . 5. 8. you were sometime darknesse , but now are you like in the lord , walk as children of the light : so light is come into the world , and yet men love larknesse rather then light , because their deeds are evil . jesus christ is to the soul that which the son is to the earth , take away the sun from the earth , and it is nothing but a dungeon of darknesse : so take away christ from the soul and it is nothing but a dungeon of the devill ; though there be a christ in the world , yet if the heart be shut , and jesus christ be not in thee , thou art in a state of darknesse and blindenesse . 5 every man without christ , is a deformed man , as you may read in ezek. 16. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 11 , and 14. verses , thus saith the lord god , thy nativity is in the land of canaan , thy father was an amorite , &c. and in the 6. vers . when i passed by thee , and saw thee polluted in thine own blood , i said unto thee ( when thou wast in thy bloud ) live , yea i said unto thee when thou wast in thy bloud , live ; when a poor childe lies weltring it its bloud , not swadled , nor washed , nor looked after , what a sad condition is it in ? and thus were you sayes god ; but then read on in the 7. verse , i have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field , and thou hast encreased and waxen great , &c. and so again in the 14. verse , thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty ; for it was perfect through my comlinesse that i had put upon thee , saith the lord , intimating that before christ looks upon a soul , he lies weltring in his own bloud , and not able to help himself , but when he becoms comely through christs comlinesse that is cast upon him ; if you want christ , you want your best ornament : a man without christ is like a body full of sores and botches , he is like a dark house without light , and like a body without a head , and such a man must needs be a deformed man. 6. another property of a christlesse man is that he is a disconsolate man , christ is the only spring of comfort , and the fountain of all joy and consolation , take away christ from the soul , and it is all one , as if you did take away the sun from the firmament ; if a man hath all the blessings in the world , yet if he want christ , he wants that which should sweeten all the rest of his comforts . in exod. 15. 23. 25. you read there of the waters of marah , they were so bitter , that none could drink of them , but then the lord shewed moses a tree , which when he had cast into the waters , the waters were made sweet ; why jesus christ he is this tree , that sweetens the bitternesse of any outward affliction , and he can make all thy sorrowes to flee away ; there is nothing in the world that sweetens the comforts , and gives us joy , in the possession of the things of this world , more then the having an interest in jesus christ : it is not ( beloved ) the having of much of the creature in your house ; but the having of christ in your hearts , that makes you live comfortably ; all the bread you eat will be but bread of sorrow , if you do not feed upon the body of jesus christ , and all your drink will be but wine of astonishment , if you do not drink of the bloud of jesus christ ; without an interest in christ , al your comforts are but crosses , and al your mercies are but miseries , as in job 20. 22. in the fulnesse of his sufficiency he shall be in straits , though you have abundance of the things of this life , though you have more then enough , yet if you have not an interest in christ , you have nothing . 7. another property of a man out of christ is , that he is a dead man. you know that common place in 1 joh. 5. 12. he that hath the son he hath life , and he that hath not the son he hath not life , hence we read in eph. 2. 1. that unregenerate men are dead in trespasses and sins , and the reason is , because that christ is a beleevers life : col. 3. 3. our life is hid with christ in god , take away christ from a man and you take away his life , and take away life from a man and he is a dead lump of flesh ; unregenerate men are termed strangers to the life of godlinesse , and therefore must needs be dead in their sins ; though they do injoy the life of a man , yet if the life that he lives be not by the faith of the son of god , he is spiritually dead : as for example , you know a dead man he feels nothing , do what you will to him , he does not feel it ; so a man that is spiritually dead , he does not feel the weight of his sins , though they are a heavie burden pressing him down into the pit of hell , he is a stranger to the life of godlinesse , and past feeling , given over to a reprobate sense , so that he feels not the weight and burden of all his sins . 2. a dead man he hath a title to nothing here in this life , though he were never so rich , yet he loseth his title to all , and his riches goes from him to another ; why so , being spiritually dead , you can lay claim to nothing , neither to grace , nor mercy , heaven or happinesse by jesus christ . 3. a dead man is still rotting and returning to the dust from whence he came ; and so a man that is spiritually dead he fals from iniquity to iniquity , and from one sinne to another , till at last he drops down into hell fire . 8. the last property of a christlesse man is , that he is a damned man , if he live and dye without christ hee is a damned man. so joh. 3. 18. he that beleeveth not , he is condemned already , he is as surely damn'd as if he were in hell already , he that is without jesus christ , must needs goe without heaven , for heaven and glory and happinesse are entailed upon him ; heaven is given to none , but those that are heirs together with christ , and therefore you that are without christ must needs be without heaven , and consequently without happinesse and salvation , and therefore must needs be damn'd . so that you see in these eight particular properties , in what a sad and miserable condition every christlesse man is in , and oh ! that what has been now declared concerning the wretchednesse of a christlesse man , might provoke every soul of you to a holy eagernesse and earnestnesse of spirit , above all your gettings to labour to get jesus christ . sermon , iii. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , — we come now to the 2. question , which i promised you to resolve . quest . what are the characters of a man without jesus christ . this query is very necessary , because hereby we may know , whether we are the men that are without jesus christ or no ; now i shall reduce these characters of a christlesse man into these seven heads , and go over them very briefly . 1. that man that is without the spirit of christ , he is without any reall actuall interest in christ : this the apostle layes down to us in so many expresse terms in rom. 8. 9. if any man hath not the spirit of christ , he is none of his : christ and the spirit are inseparable companions ; have the one , and you enjoy the other ; want the ione , and you are without the other ; and here ( beloved ) to apply this more particularly , you are without any interest in christ , if you are without the spirit of christ in the threefold operation of it . 1. if you are without the enlightning work of the spirit , to teach your minds to know christ . 2. if you are without the inclining work of the spirit , to draw your hearts to love christ ; and 3. if you are without the constraniing work of the spirit , to impower your wils to obey christ . if you are thus without the spirit of christ , in these three particulers , you can lay no just claim , to any interest in jesus christ . with what face therefore can any of you lay claim to christs person , that are not guided by his spirit , but are led by the corrupt dictates of your own hearts , and follow the desires of the flesh and of the minde ? you that are thus , can lay no claim to jesus christ , for whosoever hath not the spirit of christ , he is none of his : this is the first character . 2. he that is without any saving power , derived from jesus christ , enabling him to mortifie his bosome lusts , that man is without jesus christ , as in gal. 5. 24. the apostle tels us there , that they that are christs , have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts , thereby intimating , that they that have not crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof , have no interest in the lord jesus christ : when christ came in the flesh , we crucified him , but if ever christ comes into thy soul , he will crucifie thee ; they that are christs , they do crucifie the flesh : christ will be avenged on thy sins , and crucifie thy lusts , and kill thy corruptions , when he comes into thy soul . but here ( beloved ) i do not mean a totall subduing of sin , as if every lust and corruption should be quite subdued ; but only thus far , to give a deadly blow to sin , that sin shall not reign nor bear sway in thy soul as it hath done formerly : sin in the heart of one that is in christ , shall be like those monarchs spoken of in dan. 7. 12. it is said their dominions shall be taken away , but their lives shall be prolonged for a little season ; just so it is with sin in the heart of a beleever , the dominion of sin is taken away , but the life and beeing of it is preserved for a little season : there shall be some remainders of sin still , in the best of gods servants , but sin shall not reign in their mortall bodies , and therefore you that never had any power to mortifie your sins , that never had any bridle of restraint to any of your lusts , lay no claim to jesus christ , for they that are his have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof . i might here make use of a story ( that i have often told you of ) in the history of scotland , there is mention made of an island , situate in the midst of the sea , between scotland , and ireland , and there was a great controversie between the two nations , to which of the kingdomes this island did belong , and a great polititian to decide the controversie , commands a great company of toads and frogs to be gathered together , and put into the island , and if those venomous and unclean beasts should live there , then the island belonged to scotland , but if they died , then it belonged to ireland , for no unclean creature does inhabit there : just so it is with us ; there is a great controversie between christ and the devill , to which thy soul does belong , why now if poisonsome lusts , & venomous sins , can live and thrive in thy soul , then you belong to the devil ; but if these lusts and sins dy in your soul , then you belong to jesus christ . 3. another character is this , that man that is without unfeigned love to the person of christ , that man is without any interest in christ ; for every one that hath christ loves him ; and every one that hath him not , loves him not : 1 cor. 16. 2. if any man loves not the lord christ , let him be accursed , he that does not love christ , hath no interest in christ , and shall be accursed when christ shall come to judgement . object . object . but some will be ready to say , if this be so , that the not loving of christ , be an argument of the not having of christ , wby then i think i am well enough , for i do love christ with all my heart . answ . answ . i will tell thee in the very words of christ , who it is that loves him : joh. 14. 24. he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings ; does not thy conscience tell thee o man , that thou dost not care for any command of jesus christ ? let him command what he will , you will do what you list ; you see here christ tels thee plainly , that he that loveth him not , keepeth not his sayings ; i beseech you therefore in the fear of god , take heed of deceiving your own souls , in thinking you love christ , when there is no such matter , but labour to love him in truth , and evidence your love to him , by keeping of his commandemants . 4. that man that is without any saving knowledge of christ , is without any actuall interest in christ , there is no man that hath christ but knows christ ; ( mistake me not ) i do not say that every man that hath christ knows he hath him , for a man may have christ , and yet not know of it , for the present ; but this i say , he that hath an interest in christ , whosoever he be , he must know christ in part , joh. 8. 54 , 55. you say that god is your god , and yet you have not known him , 't is a very strange place , you say that god and salvation by him , and all is yours , and yet you have not known him . ( oh my beloved ) you say you have christ , and yet you have not known christ , he himself will convince you at the last day , of laying a false claim to him , read joh. 1. 12. compared with the 24. and 26. verses . now when i tell you that a man without the knowledge of christ , is without any interest in christ , i do not say , that those are without christ , that have not so great a measure of knowledge as other men have ; but when you are without the knowledge of christ , accompanyed with these two circumstances , then i can safely pronounce you to be a christlesse man : 1. if you be without the knowledge of christ , and yet sit down contented in your ignorance , neither desiring , nor labouring after the knowledge of him , then i may safely say , that for the present thou art without jesus christ , if you are like those spoken of in 2 pet. 3. 5. for this they are willingly ignorant of , that by the word of god , the heavens were of old , and the earth standing out of the water , and in the water : or like those in job 2. 14. that say unto god ; depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes : if you are such as these , i can safely pronounce you to be christlesse men . 2. not only when you are contentedly ignorant , but likewise when with obscurity in your judgements , you adde obstinacy in your wils ; when thou art an ignorant , and dost not know , and wilt not know , that hast not learned , and yet will not learn , but art like those spoken of in psal . 82. 5. they know not , neither will they understand , he does not say , they know not , neither do they , but neither will they understand ; a godly man may have the former of these : although you be very ignorant , yet if you desire to know , you may have an interest in christ ; but i am bold to say ( in case you are ignorant and yet sit down contentedly and do not care to know more , and obstinately and will not learn more ) that you have no interest in christ , and therefore keep off your hands from christ , lay no claim to him , for you have nothing to do with him , he is none of yours . 5. another character is this , that man that is without a hearing ear to the voice of christ , and an obedient heart to the mands of christ , that man hath no interest in christ : i shall give you two plain texts of scripture to prove this , one is in joh. 8. 47. he that is of god heareth gods word ; you therefore hear them not , because you are not of god ; they that are of god , hear his word ; those that belong to christ , and have an interest in him , hear his word , not only with the ear , but with the heart , and so in 1 joh. 1. 6. sayes the apostle , we are of god , he that is of god , heareth us ; he that is not of god , heareth not us ; hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of errour : and therefore thou obstinate and stout hearted wretch , that canst lie like a flint under the word of god , and suffer no command to make impression upon thy spirit ; verily thou canst lay no just claim to jesus christ . 6. that man that uses greater industry , and takes greater complacency in the acting and committing of sin , then ever he did in the exercise of any grace or the performance of any duty , that man is without jesus christ . you have an excellent place for this purpose in joh. 3. 8. 10. he that committeth sin , is of the devill , he doth not say , he that does sin , is of the devill , but he that commits sin with delight , that makes a trade of sin , he is of the devill , and so on in the 10. ver . in this the children of god are manifest , and the children of the devill ; whosoever doth not righteousnesse , is not of god , he does not belong to god , he that does not righteousnesse with delight , and complacency , with joy and industry : as he that doth commit sin , that is , act it with delight , and makes a trade of it , is of the devill , so he that does not do righteousnesse , that is , with delight , and joy , and chearfulnesse , that man is not of christ : you then that can sin with delight , but perform holy duties with a flat , and dead , and dull spirit , you that never took so much delight to sanctifie the sabbath , as you have done in prophaning of it , you that never took so much delight , in the performing of duties to god , as you have done in sinning against god , lay off hands from jesus christ if your hearts be full of sin , you can have no interest in him ; in joh. 9. 16. some of the pharisees said , this man is not of god , because he keepeth not the sabbath : this had been a very good argument , had it been well applyed , had christ indeed not kept the sabbath : if it may be truly said of you , that thou dost not make conscience of keeping of the sabbath , or of performing any holy duties , i can truly say of you , that you are not of god : now then examine your selves by this argument , whether you are of god or no ; if you do prophane the sabbath day , and make no conscience of performing holy duties , nor of sinning against god ; this shews that you are not of god ; that man that acts sin with more delight then he performs holy duties , hath no interest in christ , as in 1 joh. 5. 18. hee that is born of god sinneth not , that is , he doth not commit it with that delight and complacency as wicked men do ; but he that belongs to god , he keepeth himself pure , and that wicked one toucheth him not ; that is , not so , as to make him commit sin in the former sense , but he keepeth himself , he will not give himself to commit sin with that cheerfulnesse as wicked men do ; and therefore saith the apostle , we know that we are of god , and the whole world lyeth in wickednesse . 7. the last character is this , that man is without any interest in christ that backslides from the wayes of christ , both in judgement , and in practise : ( beloved ) when a man shall backslide from the truth of christ in judgement , and from the exercises of holy duties in practise , when he backslides both these wayes , he is not in jesus christ : 2 joh. v. 9. whosoever transgresseth , and abideth not in the doctrine of christ hath not god , but he that abideth in the doctrine of christ , he hath both the father and the son ; that man that sins both in judgement and in practise , he is not of god ; but he that abides in the truth of god both in judgement and in practise , he hath both the father and the son. oh therefore i beseech you in the fear of god , look about you , to see whether you are the men that have a reall actuall interest in christ or no. are you such men as are without the spirit of christ ? or are you without a saving power derived from christ , enabling you to mortifie your bosome lusts ? are you without an unfeigned love to the person of christ , or without a true and saving knowledg of christ ? are you contentedly ignorant of christ , and care not to know more ? or are you obstinately ignorant , and wil not learn more ? are you without a hearing ear , and an obedient heart to the word of christ ? do you take greater industry , and complacency in the committing of sin , then ever you did in the performance of any holy duty ? or do you backslide from the wayes of christ both in judgement , and in practise ? if there be a concurrence of these seaven characters in you , then conclude that you have no interest at all in christ , conclude then that at this time you are without jesus christ . thus now i have done with the second question which i promised you to answer i shall now spend a little time in winding up what i have said in a practicall use , and then come to the third question . and in the application of this i shall direct my speech to two sorts of people : 1. to those that are plunged into a spirituall delusion , to say they have an interest in christ when they have not . 2. to those that say they have not an interest in christ when they have . use . 1 1. to you that say you have an interest in christ , when you have not ; give me leave to propound these 3 or 4 questions to you : first let me ask this question , were you ever without christ , yea or no ? if you answer no , then let me tell you thus much , that that man that sayes he had christ ever , i may safely say he had christ never : thou that dost say that thou hadst christ ever since thou wert born , i can safely say that thou hadst christ never since thou wert born , for every man is born a christlesse man. 2. thou that sayest thou hast an interest in christ , let me ask you this question , how came you by your interest in christ ? do you think that christ fel from heaven , into your bosome whether you would or no ? how came you by christ then ? did you ever make a powerfull prayer unto god for him ? did you ever sigh , and sob , and cry mightily unto god for him ? did you ever see your misery without him ? and beg the father earnestly for him ? for god is not prodigall of his son to give him to those that never ask him . 3. let me ask you this question , did you ever see an absolute necessity in your own souls , of getting an interest in jesus christ ? were you ever sensible of the want of christ , and of the worth of christ , of the need you have of christ , and in what a sad , and miserable , and deplorable , and damnable condition you are in without christ ? if you are not sensible of this , you are to this day without jesus christ . 4. let me ask you this question , how can you evidence that you have an interest in christ , by your walking ? what saith the apostle in 2 cor. 5. 17. if any man be in christ , he is a new creature , old things are passed away , and all things are become new ; are you new creatures ? are all your old sins passed away ? the apostle tels you , that they that are christs , have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts : why now , hast thou killed any lust in thy heart , or rather do not every lust reign in thee , with as much power as ever they did ? if it be so , then surely you have no interest in christ at all . use . 2 thus much for the first sort of people , those that are plunged into a spirituall delusion , we come now to the second sort of people , those that are doubting , and perplexed souls , that say they have not an interest in christ when they have ; those which say they are without christ , when indeed they are not , as there are many such people in the world : now to such as these i have two or three words of consolation . 1. let me speak this for your comfort , it is a very ordinary thing with the people of god , to passe very hard and uncharitable sentences upon their own souls , and to run upon very sad mistakes in reference to their own salvation . a childe of god he sees so many lusts in his own heart , and so many sins within him , that he can scarse have a charitable thought of his own soul , as david when he said , the lord had forsaken him , and cast him off for ever : godly men are very apt to passe very harsh censures upon their own souls . 2. let me tell you this for your comfort , you may have christ , and yet not know that you have him ; it may be with you as it was with mary magdalen when she was talking to christ face to face , yet sayes she , they have taken away my lord , and i know not where they have laid him ; so you may have an interest in christ , & yet not know of it ; in joh. 14. 4. christ told his disciples there , sayes he , whither i go you know , and the way you know , thomas saith unto him , lord we know not whither thou goest , therefore how can we know the way ? now the reason why they did not know , as augustine well observes , was because they did not know their own thoughts , they thought they did not know , but yet christ he knew that they did know . it is with a beleever sometimes as it was with benjamin , the cup was in his sack , and yet he did not know of it : now benjamin was the beloved of joseph , so you may be the beloved ones of christ , and yet not know of it . 3. to you that think you are without christ , when you are not , let me tell thee this for thy comfort , though the having of christ , be indispensably necessary for the bringing of our souls to heaven , yet the knowing that we have christ is not so much necessary . as it is with a man asleep in a ship , the ship may bring him home safe to the harbour , and yet he not know of it ? so christ may bring us through a sea of boisterous afflictions and temptations to heaven , our haven of rest , and yet we not know of it , till we come there . 4. let me tell you this likewise for your comfort , though you do not know that christ is yours , yet christ doth know that you are his : wil you count your child an unhappy childe because he does not know that you are his father ? 't is no matter though the childe does not know that you are his father , so long as you know that he is your childe ; so it is no great matter though you doe not know , that christ is yours , so long as christ knowes that you are his , for the foundation of the lord standeth sure , the lord knows who are his . thus now beloved i have done with this use that belongs to this examination , both for those that say they have christ , when they have not ; and also for those that say they have not christ when they have . sermon , iv. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , — i come now to the 3. query which i promised to handle , which is this ; to shew the misery and sad condition of a man without an interest in jesus christ : and oh that i could speak it , & you hear it , with a bleeding heart , to see in what a dismall , and doleful , and deplorable condition every poor soul in the world without christ is plunged into : i shall reduce all that i have to say , touching this particular , under these two heads , to shew you 1. positively , what he undergoes : and 2. privatively , what he wants : i shall run over them briefly . 1. for the positive part , the misery of a man out of christ , lies in these three particulars : there are these three great evils , that every man out of jesus christ lies under . 1. a man out of christ is surrounded and compassed about with misery , which way soever he turns himselfe , and to illustrate this the more fully , i shall heare lay you down 8. particulars , wherein a christlesse man is compassed about with miseries on all sides ; thou art surrounded with misery , oh christlesse man , if thou lookest either outward , or inward ; upward or downward ; forward , or backward ; on thy righthand , or on thy left ; nothing but miseries accompany thee . 1. if thou lookest outward , all the creatures are armed against thee ; and hence it is so often exprest in scripture , that the beast shall be at war with the wicked , but at peace with the godly : all the creatures are against thee to avenge their masters quarrell . 2. look within thee , and there you shall finde a galling , an accusing , and a condemning conscience , haling thee to the judgement seat , and witnessing against thee , thy conscience shall be like a thousand witnesses , to witnesse against thee , and to register and enroll all thy sins till the day of judgement . 3. look upwards into the heavens , and there is nothing but an angry god , a severe judge ; that hath a flame of fire , a furbished sword , and a sharp arrow , and all against thee , as in rom. 1. 18. the wrath of god is revealed from heaven , against all ungodlinesse and unrighteousnesse of men ; that hold the truth in unrighteousnesse . 4. if you look downwards , there is death ready to receive you , which is but as a back-door to let you into hell , and if you look lower , there is nothing but a dungeon of darknesse , where infernall spirits are reserved in chains of darknesse , to the judgement of the great day . which way soever a christlesse man looks there are nothing but miseries accompany him ; if he looks outward , there the creatures are against him ; if he looks inward , there is a galled , and accusing conscience ready to accuse him ; if he looke above him , there is an angry god against him ; if he look below him , there is the devill ready to receive him : a christlesse man is in a most sad and dolefull condition , as i might exemplifie by this familiar similitude ; suppose a man were falling into a great and dark dungeon , wherein there were nothing but toads and serpents , and all manner of venemous beasts , and as he were falling in , should catch hold of a twig of a tree that might grow over the mouth of the dungeon ; and then suppose a lean beast should come and begin to gnaw and bite off that twig , what a miserable case will that poor man be in ? why just so it is with thee oh christlesse man , thy life in this twig , and death is the lean beast that is biting off this twig of life , and then thou failest down into a dungeon of darknesse , there is nothing but the twig of life between thee and hell . 5. if you look before you , there is nothing but misery likewise approaching thee ; and these are the snares and temptations the devill layes in thy way to ensnare thee , and intice thee to sin ; there is not a step thou treadest , nor any company thou goest into , but the devill layes a trap to ensnare thee . 6. if you look behinde you , there is nothing but a huge heap of past sins unrepented of unsatisfied for , and unpardoned , that are able to sink thee into the bottomelesse pit of hell , how then canst thou think of thy past sins but with a sad heart ? how dreadfull is it to consider how many thousands of sins thou hast been guilty of and yet never hast been humbled for them , nor never shed one penitentiall tear for them ; the guilt of the least of them , being enough to plunge thee into hell for ever . 7. look on thy right hand , and there are all the blessings of god , all thy fullnesse and prosperity ; thy riches , and great estate , are all made a curse to thee : god gives a wicked man riches for his hurt , eccles . 5. 13. prosperity shall kill the soul of the wicked : oh christlesse man thy riches and prosperity , are all instruments and means to further thy everlasting ruin and destruction . 8. look on thy left hand , and there are all the miseries , and afflictions , and sufferings , and reproaches , and diseases , and sad accidents that you meet with , as so many forerunners of those unutterable , and untolerable , and unsupportable sufferings , which a christlesse man shall undergoe to all eternity . oh then unhappy man that thou art , that hast not an interest in jesus christ ! without thee , and within thee ; above thee , and below thee ; before thee , and behinde thee ; on thy right hand , and on thy left , there are nothing but miseries accompanie thee on every side . thus much for the first positive part , of the misery of a christlesse man ; it is a very sad point that i am now upon , and therefore i shall sweeten all in the close , with two or three words of consolation . but 2 ( beloved follow me now ) thou that art a christlesse man or woman , thy misery in the positive part of it lies in this , there wil be nothing in the world so dismal and intolerable to thy soul , as the apprehensions of a god without jesus christ : god that is an amiable , and desireable , and an universall good in christ , yet out of christ , this great god that is so good and rich in mercy , and free in grace , is cloathed with red , and scarlet ; you that are out of christ , cannot look upon god , but with dreadfull apprehensions of him : you cannot look upon god , as a god of mercy to pardon you , but as an angry judge ready to condemn you , not as a friend that seeks your welfare , but as an enemy that sets himself in battel array against you to ruin you : you cannot look upon him as the rock of ages , in the clifts whereof you may finde safety , but as a burdensome stone , the weight whereof will beat you down and grinde you to powder : you cannot look upon god as a refiners fire to purge away your drosse , but as a consuming fire and everlasting burning to consume you to ashes ; these , these are the awakening , and soul-affrightning apprehensions , which every poor soul that hath not an interest in christ , must see , the apprehensions of god will be very dreadfull to you . 3. your misery in the positive part of it , lies in this , that all the creatures and blessings you injoy in the world are acurse to you ; for all blessings are given in and through christ , there is no blessing given thee as a blessing , nor no mercy as a mercy , if christ which is the mercy of all mercies be not given to thee : and here i shall shew you your misery in this particular , under these five heads . 1. to have an estate is a blessing of god , but yet all the estate , and revenues , and substance which you have gotten , by the labour of your hands , and the sweat of your brows are all accursed to you , if you have not an interest in jesus christ , as in deut. 28. 17 , 18. cursed shalt thou be in the city and cursed shalt thou be in the field ; cursed shalt thou be in thy basket , and in thy store ; cursed shalt thou be in the fruit of thy body , and of thy land , in the encrease of thy kine , and in the flocks of thy sheep ; cursed shalt thou be when thou goest forth , and cursed when thou comest in : and so in job 20. 15. he shall swallow down riches , but he shall vomit them up again : and in eccles . 5. 13 sayes solomon , there is a sore evill which i have seen under the sun , namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt . 2. you are cursed in your house likewise , as in job 28. 15. the terrours of god shall dwell in the taberuacles of the wicked , and brimstone shall be scattered throughout his habitation : and so in that place i quoted before , deut. 28. 19. 3. he is cursed in his name , as in prov. 16. 7. the name of the wicked shall not . 4. he is cursed in his calling , as in prov. 21. 4. the ploughing , of the wicked is sin , and in deut. 28. 20. the lord shall send upon thee cursing , vexation , and rebuke , in all thou settest thy hand unto , for to doe . 5. he is cursed not only in his estate , in his house , in his land , in his calling , but in his eating and drinking too ; you have a strange expression for this in job . 20. 23. when he is about to fil his belly , god shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him , and shall rain it upon him when he is eating ; so in psal . 38. 30 , 31. while the meat was yet intheir months , the wrath of the lord came upon them . thus then you see the positive part of mans misery out of christ , what he undergoes : we come now to shew you the privative part , of his misery , what hee wants ; and here very much might be spoken in declaring the misery of a christlesse man in the privative part of it , in those things which he wants in being without an interest in christ ; but i shall run over this briefly , and comprise all that i have to say to you under these six heads , and then come to the application : first then , are you without christ ? why then you are without strength , as in joh. 25. 5. without me you can de nothing , saies christ ; nay paul goes further in 2 cor. 3. 5. we are of our selves as of our selves , sayes he , not able to think a good thought , but all our sufficiency is from god : herein lies the misery of a man out of christ , he is able to do nothing , he is like sampson without his hair , he that before could break iron bands like so many straws , now his strength was no more then another mans : ( beloved ) you are very weak indeed , if you want christ ; in esai . 45. 54. it is said there , that christ is made unto a beleever , righteousnesse and strength ; now if you want christ , you want righteousnesse by way of acceptance , and you want strength by way of assistance . but here to branch out this more particularly , i shall shew you in five particulars , wherein a man without jesus christ wants strength . 1. every man out of christ , wants strength to perform any duty , as in rom. 8. 26. we know not what to pray for , as wee ought , we are able to doe nothing that is spiritually good of our selves , all our duties and services , without the righteousnesse of christ added to them , are but like so many ciphers , now you know put 1000. ciphers together , and they make no sum , but if one figure be prefixt to them , they make an innumerable number ; why so all our duties of themselves are worth nothing , but then christ being added to them , that puts an estimate upon them , and makes them of a considerable value and worth . 2. you are without strength to exercise any grace ; a dead man is as well able to stir , as a man without christ is able to step one step heaven-ward ; if god should say , i will save thy soul and give thee heaven , couldst thou but perform one duty , or exercise one grace , thou couldst not do it , and therefore christ tels us in joh. 15. unlesse you be in me , you can bring forth no fruit . 3. without christ thou art without strength to subdue any lust ; oh how unable art thou to keep under a predominant and a turbulent lust ! every sin will prevail and domineer in thy soul : in gal. 2. 20. sayes paul , i have crucified sin , yet not i , but christ that liveth in me : the messenger of satan , that was sent to buffet paul , had prevailed over him , if christ had not helped him ; you are not able to subdue any lust without christ . 4. you are without strength to resist any temptation ; in ephes . 6. 10. paul exhorts them there , to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might , not in the power of their own might , for they were not able to stand of themselves by their own strength , but be strong in the lord , and in the power of his might ; so david when he came to fight against great goliah , had he gone out to meet him in his own strength , he had been overcome and devoured , but he went against him in the name , and in the strength of the lord of hosts . 5. a man without christ is without strength , to bear or undergoe any afflictions , every affliction that is but like a feather , to one that is in christ , will be like a lump of lead upon thee ; a godly man if he hath any way withdrawn himself from christs aid and assistance , a little affliction will sinck him , for , it is given us of god , not only to do but to suffer for his sake , phil. 2. 21. intimating , that unlesse god doth enable us to suffer , we are not able to bear up our spirits under any affliction . thus then you see , that if you want an interest in christ , you want strength in these five particulars , to perform any duty , to exercise any grace , to subdue any lust , to resist any temptation , or to bear any affliction ; but 2. if you are without christ , you are not onely without strength , but without growth likewise ; jesus christ is to the souls of men , what the warm beams of the sun are to the earth , take away the influence of the warm beams of the sun from the earth , and then all the grasse of the field and every hearb and green thing will die and wither away presently : so christ he is our sun of righteousnesse , take away christ from a man , and there wil no blossomes of grace bud forth in that mans heart : adams stock is a barren root , upon which no branch of grace will spring forth ; you can never bring forth any fruit unto god , unlesse you be graffed not upon adams stock , but upon the stock of the root of jesse ; a man during his unconverted estate , he is the devils slave , and he never brings forth fruit , till he come to be in christ ; only in and through christ , we are enabled to bring forth acceptable fruit unto god. 3. without christ , thou are likewise without worth , though thou art the son of a noble , and of the off-spring of princes , that canst lay claim to thousands and ten thousands per annum , yet without christ thou art poor , and wretched , and miserable , and blinde , and naked , rev. 3. 17. for it is christ alone that is the repository and storehouse of all wisdom and knowledge , and all the treasures of it are bound up in him . 4. without christ you are without comfort : this is a deplorable misery , a man without christ , is without comfort . as that would be an uncomfortable dwelling , where the sun should not shine by day , nor the moon by night : even so would thy soul be very disconsolate , if christ did not shine in upon thy heart , the comforts of a child of god does either ebbe or flow , as christ either comes to him , or goes from him . 5. without christ thou art without liberty . if the son make you free , then are you free indeed , joh. 8. 36. and unlesse the son make you free , you are slaves indeed , slaves to sin , slaves to your lusts , slaves to the creatures , and slaves to the devill by whom you are taken captive at his will , you are never free men and women till the son make you free . 6. if thou art without jesus christ , thou art without beauty , thou art only like a carkasse without life , or a body without a head ; it is christ only , that gives us beauty and comelinesse . ezek. 16. 14. and thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty , for it was perfect through my comelinesse that i had put upon thee , saith the lord god ; if we have not the comelinesse of christ put upon us , we are not comely ; you have a pretty passage in luk. 2. 32. christ is there called the glory of the children of israel , christ is the glory of the children of israel that doe beleive in him : there is no glory , but a body full of sores and botches , in all those that are out of christ . and thus now ( beloved ) i have done with the doctrinall part of this point , that every man , during the state of his unregeneracy , is without any actuall interest in christ : we come now to the application , and here i might say to you as a learned author was wont to say , when he had been handling any terrible subject , and treating upon doctrines of terrour , he would alwayes say in the close , oh godly man , this belongs not to thee : so may i say to you , thou godly soul , this appertains not to thee , the misery and sad condition of a man out of christ , belongs not to thee , thou doest not now hear the sentence which shall be passed upon thee , but thou dost now hear the misery , that thou art freed from , and redeemed from : use . the use that i shall make of this , shall be by way of consolation , and the lord uphold and comfort the hearts of all you that can lay a just claim to jesus christ . 1. happy , oh thrice happy are you , that ever you were born , that have an interest in jesus christ , for though god be cloathed with majesty great and terrible in himself , yet you can look upon him , under apprehensions of love and mercy , peace , goodnesse , tendernesse , and kindnesse ; you are to look upon god not as an angry judge to condemn you , but as a father of mercy to comfort you ; not as an adversary in battell array against you , but as a friend reconciled to you ; not as a burdensome stone , that may grind you to powder , but as the rock of ages , in the clifts whereof you may finde safety : you are to look upon god , not as a consuming fire to burn you , but as a refiners fire to purge away your drosse , and sin , and corruption ; it is christs bloud only that quencheth the fire of gods anger . so that now you may look upon god under all these apprehensions of love and mercy , peace , pardon , and reconciliation , &c. if you have an interest in jesus christ . 2. happy , yea thrice happy are you , in having an interest in christ , for though you have nothing here in the world , yet you have all things : you have all things in having an interest in christ that hath all things : you may say as paul said of himself , 2 cor. 6. 10. as having nothing , and yet possessing all things ; though thou wantest many things here below , yet if thou hast an interest in christ , thou hast all things . it may be thou mayest eat of the bread of affliction , and drink of the water of adversity , yet happy art thou , if withall thou canst but drink draughts of christs bloud , if christ bids thee eat of his body , and drink of his bloud , as in cant. 5. 8. eat oh friends , drink , yea drink abundantly oh my beloved . happy are you that are cloathed with the long white robes of christs righteousnesse : though you have nothing here below , yet you have all things , in having christ that hath all things , 1 cor. 3. 22. all is yours , and you are christ . object . object . but here some may object and say , how can this be , how can it be said that a beleever hath all things , when many times he hath the least of the things of this world . answ . answ . i answer , a beleever may be said to have all things , these four ways : 1. he hath all things equivalently . 2. all things conditionally . 3. all things finally : and , 4. all things inheritively . 1. a beleever hath all things equivalently , that is , in having christ , he hath as good as if he had all things , he hath that which is of more worth , then if hee had all the world ; that man is not accounted a rich man that hath much lumber and houshold-stuffe in his house , but he that hath many jewels in his cabinet : why now christ hee is the pearle of great price , the jewel of all jewels , in having christ you have all things , in regard you have that which is more worth then all things . 2. a beleever hath all things conditionally : if such a thing bee for thy good that thou desirest , thou shalt have it , bee it what it will be , as in psal . 84. 11. the lord will give grace and glory , and no good thing will hee withhold from those that live uprightly , hee hath all things conditionally . 3. a beleever hath every thing finally , that is , the lord intended that every creature that he made , might be for his use , the sun , moon , and stars , and all the other creatures were made for them , nay and all the angels in heaven were made to be ministring spirits to the heirs of salvation . 4. all things are a beleevers inheritively , by way of right and inheritance : though he may not have all things in possession , yet he hath all things by way of reversion , hee hath a right and claim to every thing , psal . 37. 11. the meek shal inherit the earth . but now it may be i speak to many a poore godly man or woman , and tell them all is theirs , when it may be they have not a penny to buy bread to put in their bellies : why yet beloved let me tell you , though you have nothing , yet you have christ that is worth all things , though you want other things , yet you doe not want christ : beloved , you may want outward blessings , and yet not want jesus christ ; you may want food to put in your mouthes , and yet not want the bread of life , the lord jesus christ to feed upon ; you may want clothes to cover your nakedness , and yet not want the long robes of christs righteousnesse to cover your sinfull nakednesse ; you may want friends to comfort , help , and relieve you , and yet not want christ to be your friend . there is some thing yet behind , by way of consolation , but i must defer that till another opportunity . sermon , v. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time yee were without christ , — we come now to lay down some other things by way of comfort , to those that have an interest in christ : and oh that you that are citizens of heaven would read over your large charter of mercies , that is sealed to you in the bloud of christ , read over those many benefits , and comforts that you have by christ , that none in the world enjoy , but you onely that have an interest in him : i shall reduce all that i have to say concerning this particular under these 7 heads ; you that lay an undoubted claim to christ , you may lay claim to this sevenfold benefit by him . 1. you that have an interest in christ , you have all things though you have nothing : this i touched upon before , you may say with the apostle , as having nothing , yet possessing all things , though you may be without wealth and riches and olive yards , yet herein lies your comfort , you are not without christ , and in having him you have al things though you have nothing , for all things are given you , in and through christ by way of entaile , as in 1 cor. 3. 22. all things are yours , and yee are christs . i shall a little explain this place to you ; sayes the apostle , whether paul or apollos , or cephas , or the world , or life , or death , or things present , or things to come , all is yours , and you are christs , and christ is gods : whether paul , or apollos , or cephas , ( that is ) all the ministers of christ , if you have an interest in christ , christ hath given gifts to his ministers for your sakes : so that you may lay claim to all the ministers of christ , paul is yours , and apollos is yours , they are yours , because they are your lights , to guide you in the way to heaven , through the darke wildernesse of this world ; they are your pastors , to feed you with knowledge and understanding , in the mysteries of salvation ; they are your shepheards , to gather you into the fold of jesus christ ; they are your builders to hew and square and make you fit for christs spirituall building ; they are your con●●ctors or the friends of the bridegroome , to make up a compleat match between christ and you ; ( i speak only in scripture phrase ) they are your vine-dressers to prune you , and make you fit to bring forth fruit unto god : thus all the gifts of all the ministers in the world are intended by christ for the good of his children ; if there were no godly men in the world , there would be no ministers in the world , and therefore these people that will heare onely one kind of ministers , such as they affect , and slight all else , they straighten their own priviledges , for all the ministers in the world are given by christ for the benefit of his children . but then again says the apostle , whether paul , or apollos , or cephas , or the world , all is yours : you have a right to all the world , not only a civil right , but a religious right , the meek shall inherit the earth . so that if you could go to the top of an exceeding high mountain , and look over all the whole world , you may say , behold , i see all this is my fathers ground , and he hath given it to christ , even the heathen for his inheritance , and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession , and i having an interest in christ , am thereby a coheire and joint heire with him . 3. life is yours likewise ; god hath given you your lives that in that little space of time , you might provide for eternity , and labour to know god and worship him aright . 4. death is yours likewise , death is but as it were a lanching of you forth into an ocean of endlesse joyes and pleasures , but as a trap-doore to let you into heaven ; if you should never dye you would bee but miserable creatures ; but god hath appointed death to be a means to let you into heaven . whether wee live , we live unto the lord , or whether we dye , we dye unto the lord , so that living or dying , we are the lords . 5. things present are yours , which includes in it , either present mercies , or present afflictions ; 1. present mercies are yours , as having a right to them , and beholding the goodnesse of god in them , and praising god for them , and as serving god with them , and as doing good to others by them . 2. present afflictions are yours likewise , to humble your hearts , to wean you from the world , to quicken your desires after heaven , to purge out your corruptions , and exercise your graces , and the like ; whatsoever present condition thou art in , that present condition bee it what it will be , shall work for thy good . 6. things to come are yours too ; if afflictions come , or temptations come , or trouble , or want , or famine , or pestilence , or imprisonments , or any thing come , they are all yours , they are ordered by christ to be for your good ; and so if mercy comes , and the blessings of another world , they are all yours , heaven and happinesse , and glory , life & salvation are all yours . here then ( beloved ) you see the first branch of a mans happinesse , that hath an interest in christ , in having christ he hath all things , though hee hath nothing , because he hath him that hath all things : this is the first . 2. that man that hath an interest in christ , his second consolation lies in this , that all that christ hath is his : and ( oh my beloved ) this is a golden mine , that will afford you many pretious comforts , i shall give them to you under these five or six particulars . 1. if you have an interest in christ , then christs father is your father . 2. christs spirit is your spirit . 3. christs righteousnesse is your righteousnesse . 4. christs graces are your graces . 5. christs peace is your peace ; and 6. chr. sufferings are your sufferings . and ( oh beloved ) see what a large field you may here walk in : 1. if you have an interest in christ , his father is your father , as in joh. 20. 17. saith christ , behold i ascend to my father and your father , to my god and your god ; christs father is a beleevers father . 2. christs spirit is your spirit ; in john 14. 8. sayes christ , i will pray to my father , and he shall give you another comforter , which shall abide with you for ever , even the spirit of truth , whom the world cannot receive , because it seeth him not , but you see him and know him , for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you . 3. christs righteousnesse is your righteousnesse . jer. 23. 6. and this is the name whereby he shall be called , the lord our righteousnesse ; so in 1 cor. 1. 30. christ is made of god unto us wisdome , righteousnesse , sanctification and redemption . 4. his graces are your graces . joh. 1. 14. christ is full of grace and truth , why ? that out of his fulnesse we might all receive grace for grace , that is , for every grace that is in jesus christ , according to our proportion and capacity we shall receive from him . 5. his peace is your peace . joh. 14. 27. my peace , sayes christ , i leave with you , my peace i give unto you , the peace that we enjoy is from christ . 6. lastly , christs sufferings are your sufferings , god looks upon his sufferings for you , as if you in your own persons had done and suffered what he did , the just hath suffered for the unjust to bring you to god ; the sufferings of christ do as effectually bring you to god , as if you in your own persons had suffered upon the crosse as he did , nay it doth it a great deal more , for our sufferings could not have done it . thus having an interest in christ , all that christ hath is yours . 3. take this for your comfort , that all that you have is christs ; i shall sum up all that i have to say , concerning this , under these three comprehensive particulars : 1. your sinnes are christs to pardon them , and satisfie gods justice for them . 2. your sufferings are christs to sanctifie them ; and 3. your bodies and soules are christs to save them . 1. you that have an interest in christ , your sins are his to pardon them , esay 53. 6. the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all , the chastisements of our peace were laid upon him , and by his stripes we are healed , hee bore our sins in his own body on the tree , and to this purpose the apostle hath an expression in 2 cor. 5. 21. he was made sin for us , that we might be the righteousnesse of god in him ; christ was no sinner , but hee was made a sinner for us , he bore our sins upon him , our sinnes are christs to pardon them . 2. our sufferings are christs sufferings to sanctifie them unto us . act. 9. christ says to saul ; saul , saul , why persecutest thou me ? hee lookes upon the injuries and wrongs , that are done to his people , as if they were done to him . 3. your bodies and soules are christs to save them ; our members are members of christs body , as in 1 cor. 6. 15. says the apostle , shall i take the members of christ , and make them members of an harlot ? god forbid : thy bodie is christs , and thy soule is christs , the apostle hath it in so many expresse tearms , in 1 cor. 6. 19 , 20. what know you not ( says the apostle ) that your bodies are the temples of the holy ghost , which is in you , which you have of god , and you are not your own ; for you are bought with a price , therefore glorifie god in your bodies and souls which are his . thus you see what a large field of mercie al you that have an interest in christ , have here to walk in , you have all things , though you have nothing , all things equivalently , all things conditionally , all things finally , and all things inheritively : all the ministers of christ are yours , the whole world is yours , life and death is yours , things present are yours , whether present afflictions , or present mercies , things to come are yours , whether afflictions , or temptations , or trouble , or want , or any things ; and mercie to come is yours , as life and salvation , heaven and happinesse , all is yours ; all that christ hath is yours , christs father is your father , his spirit is your spirit , his righteousnesse is your righteousnesse , his graces are your graces , his peace is your peace , and his sufferings are your sufferings ; and all that you have is christs , your sins are christs to pardon them , and your sufferings christs to sanctifie them , and your soules and bodies christs to save them : i might here adde one head more , that all your duties and services are christs too , he persumes them with the sweet odour of his merits , and so presents them , and makes them acceptable to god , hence it is that you read in the revelation , that christ addes his incense to the prayers of all his saints ; and this is a very great consolation . 4. all you that have an interest in christ , take this for your comfort , that the having of christ is that which will sweeten all the crosses and afflictions , and adverse conditions that you meet withall here in this world ; the having of christ will sweeten every trouble , as i told you before ; what the tree was to the waters of marah , that christ will be to every sad and dejected soul in every troublesome condition , the waters of marah were so exceeding bitter none could drink of them , but when the tree was cast into the waters then they became sweet : why so it may be thy condition here in this world is as the waters of marah , full of bitterness and sorrow , and trouble and affliction , but now doe but cast this tree of life , the lord jesus , into these waters , and then this will convert them from waters of marah , bitter and troublesome , to be rivers of joy and streams of comfort . christ will be to thy soul as the honie in the lions bellie was to samson , it became good for food to feed upon ; it may be afflictions and troubles may come in upon thee like a roaring lion , but christ is as the hony in this lion , that sweetens all thy sorrows and makes them advantagious and comfortable for thee . i might apply to this purpose what an author observes concerning the water of the sea , it is very salt in its self , but when it comes to run through the bowels of the earth , it then loseth its saltnesse and becomes pleasant ; why so though thy condition here in the world be full of sharp and sore afflictions , yet when these come to run through christ , he sweetens them all unto thee . great is your comfort in having an interest in christ , for this is that which sweetens all the crosses and troubles you meet withall here in the world : and ( beloved ) doe but seriously consider of it , and let mee a little reason the case with you , what though thou mayst feed upon the bread of sorrow , yet how canst thou be uncomfortable , when withall thou feedest upon the bread of life the lord jesus christ ? what though thou mayest drink the water of affliction and wine of astonishment , yet how canst thou be uncomfortable , so long as thou dost drink drops of christs bloud ? what though you have not a house to put your head in , yet let this be your comfort , that you have a house preserved for you , a building not made with hands , eternall in the heavens : what though you have nothing but a stone for your pillow to lay your head upon , when every night you lay your head in the bosome of jesus christ ? thus much concerning the fourth consolation . 5. all you that have a reall and well-grounded interest in christ , herein lies your comfort , that in and through christ , you may look upon god ( that in himselfe is cloathed with dread and terriblenesse ) with a great deal of joy and comfort . christ makes all the attributes of god to be delightfull and comfortable to thee , that though god be a consuming fire to burn up thy soul like stubble out of christ , yet in christ you may look upon god as fire , but yet so as that christ interposeth between you and it ; christ is as a skreen between the fire of gods wrath and you ; thou art to look upon god , not as an enemy that sets himselfe against thee , but as a friend reconciled to thee ; not as an angry judg that is desirous to condemne thee , but as a mercifull father that is willing to pardon thee , you are not to looke upon god cloathed with dread and terrour , but with mercy and compassion ; that god that will frown upon thee out of christ , yet bring but a christ in thy armes , and present him to god the father , and then hee will turn away his anger from thee , and behold thee with a smiling countenance , thou being in christ and christ in thee , and god being well pleased with his sonne , must needs bee well pleased with thee too ; great is your benefit by having an interest in christ ; i may say in this case what elisha the prophet said to king jeroboam , 2 king. 3. 14. verily , sayes hee , were it not that i regard the person of jehosaphat king of judah , i would not looke toward thee nor see thee ; just so does god say to us , were it not for my sonne jesus christ , you should never see my face , nor have a good look from me . 6. if thou hast a real interest in christ , then this is another part of thy comfort , that god the father doth as truly accept of thee in his sonne , as if thou hadst in thine own person done and suffered what christ did , this is a great benefit , god accepts of what christ hath done for us , as if we had none it our selves , as in ephes . 1. 6. hee hath made us accepted in the beloved , that is , in christ . god lookes upon thee in christ , and accepts of all thy duties and performances , as well as if thou hadst prayed as well as ever christ prayed , and done and suffered as much as ever christ did . 7. art thou now in christ ? well take this for thy comfort , thou maist be confidently assured , that thou shalt bee one day with christ . this is the last consolation , and i shall give you a pregnant text to prove it , though it be not so well understood in the common reading of it as it should bee , rom. 8. 10. ( sayes the apostle ) if christ be in you , the body is dead because of sinne , but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse . what is the meaning of this , the body is dead because of sinne ? the meaning is not , that the body does mortifie sin , but the body is dead because of sin , that is , sin shall bring your bodies to the grave , but your spirits shall live because of righteousnesse , ( that is ) the righteousnesse of jesus christ ; through the righteousnesse of christ your souls shall live for ever in glory with christ , though your bodies die , and sin bring them to the grave , yet the killing of your bodies shall but make way for the living of your spirits ; being in christ here , you shall for ever live with christ in glory hereafter , the death of your bodies shall but give you an entrance into glory , and therefore why should death be grievous to those that are in christ jesus ; for death is but as it were the marriage day wherein christ and their soules shall bee united together ; if christ bee in you , your bodies shall die because of sin , but your spirits shall live because of righteousnesse : you have another pertinent place to prove this in joh. 17. 23 , 24. sayes christ there , i in them , and thou in me , that they may be made perfect in one , and that the world may know that thou hast sent me , and hast loved them as thou hast loved me ; and father i will , that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where i am , that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me . some conceive that this prayer of christ was made onely for the apostles , that they might be where christ was in heaven ▪ but if you marke the precedent words , you shall find that it was for all beleevers , for saies christ himself , neither pray i for these alone , but for all those that shall beleeve in my name to the end of the world . great is your comfort in having an interest in christ here , you shall one day reign with him for ever in glory . thus i have done with these seven consolations to those that have a real and well grounded interest in christ , i have onely now a word or two , by way of use to apply and set home what i have said concerning this particular . use . here you see what unspeakable comforts redound to you that have an interest in christ , you have all things though you have nothing , christ is yours , and all that christ hath is yours , and all that you have is christs , christ sweetens all afflictions and crosses to you , and the having of christ represents god the father to you , not with terrour and dread , but with goodnesse , and meeknesse , and loving-kindnesse , and mercy , and long-suffering , and through christ god doth as freely accept of you , and of what you doe , as if it were done as well as ever christ did it , and being in christ here , you shall for ever live with christ in glory hereafter : oh how should all these mercies and priviledges , stir up all those that have yet no part in christ , never to give rest to their eyes , nor slumber to their eye-lids till they have gotten an interest in him ! sermon , vi. ephes. 2. 12. that at that time ye were without christ , — lest any of you that hear mee this day should lie under a spirit of delusion and think that all that i have said touching the happinesse of those that have an interest in christ belongs to them when it doth not ; i shall therefore spend this houre in shewing you some characters whereby you may know whether you have a real interest in christ or no : this is the needfullest point that ever in my life i prest upon you , and the lord give you grace to lay these characters close to your own hearts , and by them seriously to examine your own souls whether you have a reall interest in christ or no : but before i give you these characters , give me leave by the way to premise these three or four cautions or cautelary conclusions , which will the better make way to the handling the point in hand . caution 1 1. take this caution , that men may be strongly conceited and opinionated , that they have an interest in christ when they have not : i shall give you a plain text for this in 2 cor. 10. 7. doe you look on things after the outward appearance ? ( sayes the apostle ) if any man trust to himself , that hee is christs , let him of himself think this again , that as he is christs , even so are we christs : this is a very notable place ; there were some among the corinthians that were strongly conceited they did belong to christ , when they did not ; and had an ill opinion of the apostles , and thought they did not belong to christ ; and to such as these the apostle paul here speaks : men may be strongly conceited they have an interest in christ , when there is no such matter , as it was with the church of laodioea , in rev. 3. 17. thou sayest i am rich and increased in goods , and have need of nothing : and knowest not that thou art wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blinde , and naked . 2. another cautelary conclusion i would have you take notice of , is this ; that in laying down the characters of a man that hath an interest in christ , i do not so presse them , as that unlesse you have them all in you , you cannot have an interest in christ , for if you have but one of them in you , in truth and sincerity , it is an evidence that you have an interest in christ : i give you this caution for fear of casting down any poor dejected soul ; if you have but one link of this golden chain , you have as sure hold , as if you had all of it . 3. in laying down these characters of one that hath an interest in christ , i lay them down onely in the affirmative , not in the negative , that is , all those that have these characters in them , may be confidently assured , that they have an interest in christ : but i do not say , that those that have not these characters in them , have not an interest christ , for should i say so , i should cast down many a humble and dejected soul : i do not say , that if you have not these characters in you , you have no interest in christ ; but this i say , that you may confidently and indubitatively know and be assured , that you have an interest in christ , if you finde these things in you . 4. lastly , take in this caution likewise , that in giving you these characters , i shall not presse them so , as if the having of all these in exercise and feeling , and in your own apprehensions , can only evidence your having an interest in christ , but if you have them in habit , and in truth , though not in exercise and practise , it is sufficient to evidence your interest in christ . for a poor soul may have many graces of gods spirit in truth in him , though he doth not feel , and exercise , and apprehend them in himself , as i told you it was with mary magdalen ; she talked to christ face to face , and sayes she , they have taken away my lord , and i know not where they have laid him . and thus i have done with the cautions , or cautelary conclusions , wherein i have only made way for my better proceeding , in giving you the severall characters of a man that hath a reall interest in christ , and i wish to god they may be all engraven upon every one of your hearts , that you may be unquestionably assured in your own souls , of your interest in him ; i shall reduce all i have to say concerning this particular under these 12. heads . 1. that man that hath an interest in christ , he is cast out of himself ; that is , he is cast out of all conceit of his own self-sufficiency and righteousness , good works or merits : no man is in christ , but he is out of himself ; this character the apostle gives you in phil. 3. 8 , 9. yea doubtlesse , ( saith he ) i count all things but losse for the excellency of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord , for whom i have suffered the losse of all things , and do count them but dung , that i may win christ , and be found in him , not having on my own righteousnesse : here paul having won christ , would not be found , having on his own righteousnesse ; the apostle doth not mean his own righteousnesse in point of being , but in point of dependence , not having on his own righteousnesse to be justified by it ; in that regard he would not be found having it on . so in 1 cor. 4. 4. sayes the apostle there , i know nothing by my self , now one would think this man were a very holy and exact man ; for sayes he , i know nothing by my self , that is , i know no sin upon my soul , that i perform wittingly or willingly : but mark the next words , yet sayes he , am i not hereby justified ; he was quite out of conceit of all the good works that ever he did : every man that is in christ , he is out of himself ; he sees his own in sufficiency , and christs all-sufficiency ; he sees his emptinesse of grace , and christs fulnesse of grace ; he sees himself to be nothing , and christ to be all in all . luk. 16. 15. sayes christ there to the pharisees , ye are they which justifie your selves before men , but god knoweth your hearts ; as if hee should have said , you think well of your selves and of your graces , but god knoweth your hearts , that you are not such as you seem to be ; and therefore ( beloved ) consider seriously of it , if god hath wrought this grace in your hearts , that you are cast out of your selves to see your own emptinesse , and vilenesse , and insufficiency and want of christ , if there be this work of grace wrought in you , then you may know you have a reall part and portion in jesus christ . character 2 2. another distinguishing character of a man in christ is this , that he makes conscience of keeping every known command of christ . this you have in 1 joh. 2. 5. whoso keepeth his word , in him verily is the love of god perfected , hereby know we that we are in him : hereby we know that we are in christ , if we keep every known command of christ , and therefore you that can appeal to heaven , that there is no one known command of christ , but bears sway in your heart , and carries an authority over your conscience , that you can subject your selves to it , although you have many weaknesses and failings , yet this is an undoubted character that you are in christ : as in 1 joh. 3. 22. if that therefore ( sayes the apostle ) that you have heard from the beginning , shall remain in the you , you also shall continue in the son and in father . you that keep every known command of christ , have an interest in him , and he in you ; and therefore ( beloved ) all you that doe make conscience of keeping the known and revealed wil of god , that there is no known sin but you labour to avoid , and no known grace but you labour to exercise , and no known duty , but you labour to perform ; if it be thus with you , you may comfort your selves in this , that you have a reall interest in christ . character 3 3. another character or discovery is this , he that hath an interest in christ , he hath a power derived from christ , enabling him to mortifie his inward and bosome lusts : as in gal. 5. 24. they that are christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts ; when christ came in the flesh amongst us we crucified him , but if ever christ come in thy heart , he will crucifie thee ; the crucifying of the flesh with the affections and lusts that the apostle here speaks of , is not the killing and totall extirpation of sin , but the giving a deadly blow to sin , that sin shall never reign in us , nor have dominion over us any more ; if you be in christ , sin will be like those beasts spoken of in daniel , their dominion was taken away , but their lives were preserved for a little season ; so the dominion of sin wil be taken away , that sin shal not reign in you , yet the life and being of sin will remain in you for a little season : but still as the house of saul grew weaker and weaker , when the house of david grew stronger and stronger , so if christ dwell in thy heart , sin in thy soul will every day grow weaker and weaker , and grace in thy heart will grow stronger and stronger ; and therefore beloved , all you whose hearts can bear you witnesse , that you have had the power of mortifying grace upon your souls , that you can bridle your beloved lusts , and subdue your bosom sins , & curb the pride of your hearts ; you may then lay an undoubted claim to jesus christ . character 4 4. that man that hath an interest in christ , doth keep a strict watch over his own heart , that he will not wittingly or willingly give way to the least sin to the dishonour of god ; a man in christ keeps a watchfull eye over himself , that he doth not give way to the least sin to the dishonour of jesus christ . we know that whosoever is born of god sinneth not , but he that is begotten of god keepeth himself , and that wicked one toucheth him not ; he that is begotten of god keepeth himself , he doth not keep himself from all sin , but he doth as much as in him lies resist every sin , and temptation ; he keepeth himself from every known sin : so in 1 joh. 3. 6. whosoever abideth in god sinneth not : this is not spoken absolutely , but comparatively , he sinneth not in comparison of those great sins that wicked men do commit , for they are slaves to their lusts : and secondly he sinneth not , that is deliberately , neither with a delightfull complacency , nor with a totall obduracy , nor in a way of finall impenitency : in these regards a man in christ sinneth not . and now beloved , you whose hearts and consciences can bear you witnesse that you doe keep a strict watch over your own souls , and that you have a care of committing the least sin against god , whereby you might dishonor him ; if it be thus with you , you have an infallible evidence of your interest in christ : that man that keeps sin out of his heart , may be confidently assured , he hath christ in his heart . character 5 5. another character or discovery is this , that man that hath an interest in christ jesus , christ hath wrought in him a reall change , both in his life and nature ; if thou art in christ , he will be in thee , to work an effectuall and saving change in thee , both in thy heart and life : as in 2 cor. 5. 17. sayes the apostle , if any man be in christ , he is a new creature , old things are past away , and all things are become new : why now ( beloved ) take this text and lay it close to your hearts ; hath god made you new creatures , and wrought a saving change in your heart ? can you evidence it to your own souls , that ever since you were first born , you were new born ? if it be so , you may lay a confident claim to jesus christ ; if any man be in christ , he is a new creature . character 6 6. another char this is , that man that hath an interest in christ , doth grow up in christ to be fruitfull in every good work ; hence it is that you often read in the scripture , of growing up in christ , & increasing in christ with the increase of god. jesus christ is the root of jesse , in whom whosoever is rooted and ingraffed , he will bring forth fruit unto god : whosoever is ingraffed into christ , he will bring forth the fruits of righteousnesse to the praise and glory of god. joh. 15. 5. i am the vine ( saies christ ) and you are the branches , he that abideth in me and i in him , the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me you can do nothing : why now beloved , you that make it out to your own souls , that you do grow in grace , and knowledge , and understanding , and in the duties of sanctification , humiliation , and mortification , this is a sure argument that you are planted into that root of jesse , that makes you to bring forth fruit unto god. character 7 7. that man that hath an interest in christ , he is most humble , and vile in his own eyes . of all the men in the world , there is no man so debased in his own esteem , as he that hath an interest in christ ; mark pauls description of a man in christ , 2 cor. 12. 2. i knew a man in christ ( saies he ) above 14. years ago , whether in the body , or out of the body , i cannot tell , god knoweth , such a man caught up into paradise , and heard unspeakable things , which is not lawfull for a man to utter , of such a one will i glory , yet of my self i will not glory , but in my infirmities . here paul speaking of himself , would not boast of what good either he had or did , or of what glory he beheld , left men should think of him above that which is meet ; this is the badge of a man in christ , he is most humble in his own eyes as those vessels that are fullest , sound the least , whereas those that are empty , make the greatest noise ; why so , those christians that are full of grace , & have christ dwelling in them , walk the humblest , and make the least noise ; when those that are out of christ , and empty of all grace and goodnesse , keep the greatest boasting of all ; as the shallow rivers make the greatest noise , in running over the peble-stones , when the deeper streams glide away silently ; so shallow brains , that know very little or nothing as they ought to know , make the greatest shew , of what they seem to have , when others that know more and are deeper learned are silent . it is very remarkable , what one observes concerning the prophet ezekiel , a very holy man , and much conversant with visions , and revelations , yet this man that was full of so many admirable parts , and gifts , and graces , the holy ghost doth no lesse then 93. times in that prophesie , call by the name of the son of man , which was ( saith he ) to keep him humble , and abate pride in his heart , and to shew that where there is most of christ and grace in the heart , that man should be most humble and vile in his own eyes . character 8 8. another discovery of a man in christ , is this , he will take care and make conscience of walking worthy of his interest in christ ; the apostle gives a caution for this in col. 2. 6. as you have therefore received christ jesus the lord , so walk you in him , rooted and built up in him , that is , according to those beginnings you have made , and those gospel-discoveries , god hath given you , and that entertainment you have already given to christ jesus the lord , so now it becomes you to make a sutable progresse , as truly , and really , and purely , as you have received him ; so let it be your every dayes work to be making progresse in him , and to walk worthy of him , so in the 1. epistle of joh. he that saith he abideth in him , ought himself so also to walk , even as he walked : hence it is that you finde in scripture , that being in christ , and living a godly life , are both joined together ; as 2 tim. 3. 12. all that will live godly in christ jesus : that man whose person is in christ , will labour that his wayes may be in christ too ; many a one would gladly have his person in christ , though his life be not in christ , but those whose persons and wayes are both in christ , they may lay a comfortable claim to him ; the difference between a man that hath an interest in christ , and one that hath none , i shall demonstrate to you by this familiar example : you know , a man that by experience knows what it is to make clean a room , he will be carefull that he does not upon every slight occasion , dirt it again , because he knowes , what a deal of pains and labour is taking in cleansing of it ; but now a dog or a spaniell he comes in and never cares for dirting of it , because he does not know what it is to make it clean ; why so a godly man , he will be carefull of walking worthy of his interest in christ , because he knowes how much it cost him , how many tears , and sighs , and groans , and prayers , before he got an interest in christ , and an assurance of his love ; but now a wicked man , he makes no conscience of sinning against christ , and displeasing of him , because he never knew what it was to get an interest in him . in gal. 3. 21. sayes the apostle there , as many as have christ , they have put on christ ; and a very learned interpreter hath an exceeding good note upon this text ; he sayes that this speech of the apostle here , is spoken in an allusion to an ancient custome among the heathens , that when they came to the profession of the faith , they were wont alwayes between easter and whitsuntide to put off their old garments , and put on white rayments ; the end of it was to typifie and note , that when once they were in christ , they must leave off their old courses and conversations , and now labour to walk after a more holy , and blamelesse , and innocent life , in their carriages towards god : thus ( beloved ) if you have an interest in christ , you have put on christ , walking worthy of him , in a holy , pure , spotlesse , and unblameable life and conversation . 9. a man that hath an interest in christ , doth so prize him , that he would not be without him for all the world ; there is no man that is in christ , but looks upon him as the most amiablest , and desireablest good in the world , he knowes the worth of christ , and counts him as an invaluable treasure . in 1 pet. 2. 7. the apostle after he had told them , of their being built upon christ , as lively stones upon the foundation ; he concludes , to you therefore which beleeve christ is precious ; intimating , that whosoever is founded and bottomed upon christ , christ is very precious to that soul , and therefore you ( beloved ) that have a sure testimony in your own consciences , that you doe set a high price and value , and esteem upon christ , above all things in the world , and that you count all other things as drosse and dung , in comparison of an interest in christ , this is a very good and undoubted evidence that you have an interest in him . it was an excellent speech of one concerning his interest in christ ; sayes he , if all the stones in my house were diamonds , and all the dust in my house shavings of gold , and every peble stone , an orient pearl , yet would i not prize nor value these in comparison of my interest in christ . character 10 10. he that hath an interest in christ , hath the spirit of christ dwelling in his soul , as in 1 joh. 4. 13. hereby wee know that we dwell in him , and he in us , because he hath given us of his spirit , he conveyes his spirit through the golden conduit-pipes of his ordinances , into thy heart ; this is a sure evidence to thee of thy interest in christ , if thou hast the spirit of christ dwelling in thee , in this threefold operation of it : 1. if thou hast the inlightning work of the spirit to inlighten thy mind to know christ : 2. if you have the inclining work of the spirit to incline thy heart to love christ : and 3. if you have the enforcing operation of the spirit to empower your wils to obey christ ; if you enjoy the spirit of god in these 3 operations of it , then you may certainly know , that you have an interest in christ . character 11 11. he that hath an interest in christ , labours by all possible means to bring others to the knowledge of christ : paul before he was in christ , did labour to drive men from christ , but afterwards , when he was converted , then he did labour to draw men to christ more abundantly then all the rest of the apostles ; oh ( beloved ) you that can compassionate poor souls in their naturall condition ; and can heartily wish all men to be in christ , as well as your selves ; you that can bemoan the christlesse condition of your friends and neighbours , this is a very evident discovery of your interest in christ . thus i have done with these severall characters of a man that is in christ ; if thou art cast out of thy self , and out of an opinion of thy own goodnesse and righteousnesse ; if thou makest conscience of keeping every known command of christ , and hast a power derived from christ enabling thee to mortifie thy bosome and inward lusts ; if you have a care to avoid every sin whereby you might dishonour christ ; if there be a reall change wrought in you both in heart and life , from nature to grace ; if you grow up in christ to be fruitfull in every good work , and are humble and base , and vile in your own eyes ; if you labour to walk worthy of your interest in christ , prizing him , and valuing him above all the desirable things in the world ; if the spirit of christ dwels in you , inlightning your mindes to know him , inclining your hearts to love him , and empowering your wils to obey him : and lastly , if you have in you ardent desires , and earnest endeavours to win others to christ , as well as your selves ; if you can finde any one of these in truth and sincerity in your hearts , it will be a very good evidence to you of your interest in christ . i have only a word or two more , to those that upon examination doe really finde themselves to be in a condition without jesus christ ; let me leave with you these two or three discoveries of your sad condition , to quicken you the more earnestly in your pursuits after him . 1. are you without christ ? why then you are without satisfaction , and contentation in all the things you enjoy here in this world : what solomon sayes is verified in you , that your eye shall not be satisfied with seeing , nor your ear with hearing , nothing without jesus christ , can give satisfaction to the demands of an immortall soul , the world being round , and your hearts triangular , and you know 't is impossible that a round thing should fill that which is three square : so neither is it possible that the world or any thing in it should satisfie the desires of your hearts . 2. as you can have no satisfaction in the world , so neither can you have any acceptation with god , god wil say to you as joseph did to his brethren , if you bring not up you brother benjamin with you , look me not in the face : so will god say to you , if you bring not jesus christ , your elder brother with you , doe not look mee in the face ; here is the misery of a christlesse man , he can have no acceptation with god. 3. without an interest in christ , you can have no salvation by christ ; he procures salvation for all that are in him , and for no other ; joh. 17. 12. those that thou hast given me , i have kept and none of them is lost : if you are without christ , your condition is like those that were in the old world before the floud ; all that were in the arke were saved and preserved , but all that were out of the arke were drowned ; so jesus christ is the arke whereinto every soul that can procure admittance shall bee saved , but all that are not in christ , shall be drowned in a river of brimstone , which the breath of the lord shall kindle , you shall be condemned and destroyed for ever , if you are without christ , you are without satisfaction from the creature , without acceptation with god , and without salvation by christ . and thus in these six sermons i have shewed you the happinesse of a man in christ ; and the characters of a man in christ ; and the misery of a man without christ ; and so i have done with this first part of mans misery by nature , and of the first branch of the text , that at that time you were without christ . sermon , vii . ephes. 2. 12. — being aliens from the common-wealth of israel — having finished the first , i am now to proceed to the second part of mans misery , in these words , being aliens from the common-wealth of israel , but before i fal opon this second branch of the text , i shall speak something to you , concerning the order of the words , why their being without christ , is put in the first place : i answer , it is put in the first place to shew that as the having of christ is the foundation ; and inlet of all happinesse and blessednesse ; so the want of an interest in christ is the spring and fountaine from whence all the miseries and calamities that are incident to the children of men doe flow , and therefore this deservedly is put in the first place , for if you are without christ , you must needs be aliens from the commonwealth of israel , and strangers to the covenant of promise , without hope , and without god in the world. but then again why is their being aliens to the commonwealth of israel put in the second place ? answ . because he that is without christ the head , must needs be without the church the body , for by the commonwealth of israel , is meant the whole body of the church , they were aliens from the common-wealth of israel , that is , this was the misery of the ephesians , while they were in a state of gentilism , not converted to the faith of christ , by the gospell , they had no interest in the benefits and priviledges that the people of god enjoyed that were in the church of israel , they had none of those spirituall and special priviledges and blessings , which god did bestow upon all those that were in covenant with him , they were aliens to the commonwealth of israel , that is , they were aliens to the ordinances of god , that were then in use in the jewish church , they were without all the ordinances of jesus christ . all the priviledges of the people of god , did the gentiles want , before they were in christ . here then you see the complete misery of those that were in a state of gentilism , they were aliens to the commonwealth of israel , and strangers to the divine worship of god , which he did institute and appoint in his church , and to all the priviledges and prerogatives which the people of god doe enjoy . in the words there are two parts observable : 1. a description of the church of god , and that by this term the common-wealth , the church of god is called the commonwealth of israel . 2. here is laid down the alienation of the ephesians , before conversion , from this church , from this commonwealth . now ( beloved ) from hence i shall only note to you , these two observations , which i intend to finish this sermon . doctr. 1. that the church of god is a spirituall commonwealth . doctr. 2. that it is a great part of a mans misery to be a stranger to the true church of god. doct. 1 for the first doctr. that the church of god is a spirituall commonwealth : in the handling of this , i shall doe these two things : 1. i shall shew wherein the church may be compared to a commonwealth , and 2. i shall shew you wherein they differ . 1. the church may be compared to a commonwealth , in these four particulars ; 1. in a commonwealth there are people of different degrees , ranks , callings , and qualities , all are not princes , nor are all rulers , all are not merchants , nor are all rich , there are men of all degrees , callings and qualities , some are rich , some poore , some high , some low , some masters , some servants , and the like ; now in this regard , the church may be compared to a commonwealth , for in the church of god some are high , some low , some rich , some poore , some men grown up to a full stature in christ , others are but new beginners and babes in christ ; some men are rich in gifts , when others are but poore and mean ; some are strong in grace , like the oak , when others are but like a broken reed . as in a commonwealth , so in the church of god , there are men of severall ranks , degrees , callings , qualities , and conditions , as in 1 cor. 12. 8 , 9 , 10. all men have not the same manner of gifts , for to one is given the word of wisdome , to another the word of knowledge , to another faith , to another the gifts of healing , to another the works of miracles , to another prophesie , to another discerning of spirits , and to another the interpretation of tongues , but all these worketh that one and the same spirit , dividing to every man severally as he will : as it is in the naturall body , so it is in the spirituall body , that body would be a monstrous body , if the thumb were as big as the arm , and the arm as big as the body , and every part as big as the whole ; just so it is in the church , it is the beauty of it , to have a variety of condition . 2. as in a commonwealth though there be multitudes of people , yet they are all governed by one & the same laws , and are all subjects to one and the same rulers : so it is in the church of god , though there be many people in it , yet they are all subject to the same laws , and are all to walk by the same rule ; and in this regard it may be compared to a common-wealth , for there is but one rule , the word of god , that swayes the whole church . 3. in a commonwealth it is accounted high treason to subvert or overthrow any law by which that commonwealth is governed ; for if it were not so , the laws of a commonwealth would be of no force , if any man might break them : add to them or take from them at his pleasure , and therefore a commonwealth does count the breaking and violation of their laws to be the greatest injury and dishonour , that can be done to them : and so it is in the church , the word of god is very severe in this regard , that if any man shall adde or diminish any jot or tittle to or from the word , god will blot his name out of the book of life . 4. they may be compared one to another in this regard , for as one common-wealth differeth from another , they have not both the same rulers , nor the same lawes , nor the same customes , nor charters , but differ in every thing almost : so the church of god is distinguished from all other parts , and people of the world , commonwealths are different one from another in four things . 1. in laws ; 2. in habit ; 3. in language ; 4. in government ; and so is the church of god. 1. it is different from others in its lawes ; law that rules in a common-wealth , but onely the word of god rules in the church . 2. as commonwealths differ from one another in their language , so the church of god has a language different from al the world , the church of god speaks the pure language of canaan , but all the world besides speaks a broken and corrupt language . 3. as commonwealths differ one from another in regard of habits , so in this regard does the church of god differ from all the world , the church of god hath put on the new man , when all the world have on their old ragges still , the church hath put on the long robes of christs righteousnesse which cover all her nakednesse , which all the world are without . 4. the church of god is different from all other in regard of their government ; all kingdomes and commonwealths have men to be their governours , but the church of god that hath christ to be her governour . thus i have shewed you wherein the church and a commonwealth doe agree , now i come to shew you wherein they differ ; as 1. they are different in their lawes ; a commonwealth hath laws , acts , and ordinances to govern them , but the church hath onely the word of god to be their rule . 2. there is a difference in the extent of those laws ; the law of a commonwealth doth onely reach and extend to the outward man , that cannot rule the inward man , therefore we commonly say our thoughts are free , god onely can search the heart and try the reins , but now the law of the church extends its self , to the searching of the soul and spirit , every thought and imagination of the heart ; as the apostle sayes , the law is spirituall , but i am carnall . 3. there is a difference in regard of the power and efficacy of these laws ; the laws of a commonwealth doe onely restrain the outward man , if you do amiss , but the law of god in the church , that cannot onely restrain in practise , but change the heart , and alter the affections , and make thee a new man. 4. they differ in this regard , a commonwealth may alter their laws at pleasure , if they see occasion , if they find any law grievous or burdensome to the kingdome , they may alter it , or take it away , and adde a new law in the room of it , but this the church of god cannot doe , the law that the church hath now , it must have to the end of the world , god himself gave the law to his church , and he cannot give a prejudicial or burdensome law , whereas rulers of commonwealths , they are but men , and cannot look into the events of things ; and therefore are ignorant whether this or that law may be good or no , and therefore doe change them at their pleasure when they see a necessity ; but the rule of the word of god is an unerring and unalterable rule , which all must follow and practise to the end of the world. 5. they differ in their censure , the censure of a commonwealth may extend so far as to confiscation of goods , to banishment , imprisonment , or death , but the censure of the church extends only to excommunication , or throwing the offender out of their society or fellowship , they can doe no more , and must doe no more , the church of christ can inflict no censure , but onely to excommunicate , and therefore their practise that doe imprison and censure and inflict punishment upon their people , is not warrantable but does contradict the rule of the word ; and those likewise that doe cry out against church government , as tyrannicall , do very much mistake , for the church of god their censure is not corporeall but spirituall . but though the church may not censure any man that is an offender , yet she may complain to the commonwealth , and they may restrain and quell them and keep them under , and inflict punishments upon them . thus then you see both wherein a church and a commonwealth doe agree , and wherein they difler , and if this be so that the church of god is a spirituall commonwealth , then give me leave to draw these three inferences from hence . use . 1 1. i may infer from hence the necessity of church government in a church ; did you ever see a commonwealth stand and flourish without rule and laws , and order ? order is the staffe of a common-wealth , if every man might doe what he list , and what is right in his own eyes , nothing but ruine and destruction would presently follow , as in psal . 11. 3. if the foundations be destroyed , what shall the righteous doe ? if the laws and foundations of a commonwealth be subverted and destroyed , there will be nothing but ruine . if the church be a spirituall common-wealth , then there is an absolute necessity of a government in it ; & therefore those that would either rob the church of their government , and would have none at all , or else would introduce a false government upon the church , and doe as much as in them lies to overthrow the government of the church , such as these are to be reproved . government to a common-wealth is like a hedge to a garden , now suppose you had a very fair garden , and a great many curious flowers and fine slips in it , and one should come to you and tell you , sir , i see many dainty flowers and slips in your garden , but i see none to grow upon your hedge , therefore pull it down , let it grow there no longer ; you would say to such a man , no by no means , for though nothing grows upon the hedg , yet the hedge does preserve the flowers , that grow in the garden , and keep them from the violences of wild beasts : so though a government in the church does not make us holy , a man may goe to heaven without a government , yet is it exceeding necessary to preserve the church of god. 2. i may infer from the churches being a spirituall commonwealth , the necessity of union in the church . common-wealths are preserved by union , you see what four years war have brought upon our kingdome , it hath almost destroyed the face of our commonwealth : union are the sinews and ligaments of a commonwealth , if men be disunited , and disjointed , that commonwealth cannot subsist , a kingdome divided against it self cannot stand , and the church of god being a spirituall commonwealth , this argues the great necessity of unity in the church , and the great danger of division , the church of god cannot be safe without union . i must tell you ( to the griefe of our hearts be it spoken ) there were never lesse unity in the church of god , since the very first plantation of it , by the apostles in the primitive times , then there is at this day , wherein every man almost is set one against another ; truly i look upon it , as a very sad omen and prediction , that god is bringing in upon us the most dismall persecution that ever yet our eyes beheld . i have read in the book of martyrs , that the coming in of the eighth persecution , was occasioned by the division & falling out of christians one with another ; i wish it may not be so with us ( beloved ) it is ordinary amongst a great many men to cry out & exclaim against the ministers of the gospel , as if they were the great incendiaries and causers of divisions and dissensions amongst you , but i would have you know that those that preach against division , are not dividers , but those that make divisions they are dividers , as the apostle sayes , mark them that cause divisions among you , and avoid them , those men that have caused divisions , and brought in strange opinions , and sects , and schisms into the land , they are the make-bates of the nation ; the staffe of union and the staffe of beauty , when one is broken , the other is broken . i have read a story of a man that had fourscore children , and lying upon his death bed , he caused his children to come before him , and desired that a bundle of small rods might be brought to him , his children began to wonder amongst themselves , what should be his design and purpose in doing it , but when they had brought them , their father commands every one of his sons beginning from the youngest to the eldest , to take the bundle , and try which of them could break it , but none of them was found able to doe it : at last taking the bundle himself he unbound it , breaking the sticks one by one , til he had broken them all , and now my children sayes he , this i doe to teach you , that if you doe combine and keep close together in unity like a bundle of sticks , there is none will be able to break you , or doe you any harm , but if you divide and fall off one from another , you will soon be ruined , and broken in pieces : why , so now if the members of the church of god would unite together and partake of publique ordinances together , hear , pray , and performe holy duties together , and still remaine conjoined in one , wee need not feare the power or policy of any , to doe us any harm . 3. if the church be a spirituall commonwealth , then i may inferre further , the necessity of our labouring to improve the churches interest in a common-wealth . nature will teach men to labour to preserve , and advance the good and benefit of the commonwealth , every man will contribute for the good of the body politique , and therefore let us labour to promote the good of the body ecclesiastique , and to improve the churches interest . doctr. 2 thus much for the first doctrine , we come now to the second doctrine , that it is a great misery for a man to be a stranger to the true churches of god. you may be in the true church , and yet not of the true church ; as ill humours in a mans body , they are in the body , though none of the constituent parts of the body : so you may be in the church , and of the church visible too , and yet none of the members of the church invisible , of the church of the first borne , you may not partake of the speciall and spirituall priviledges of the church of god. 1. wicked men are strangers to the effectuall calling of the church , in 1 pet. 2. you ( saith the apostle ) are called with a holy calling , which wicked men are without . 2. they are strangers to the comforts of the church of god , you want those joyes and comforts which the people of god doe enjoy . 3. you are strangers to a christian communion in the church , a wicked man does not know how to manage a spiritual communion with the people of god. use . now if this be so that wicked men are strangers to the church of god in their spirituall benefits and priviledges they have by christ , then by way of use i shall onely draw from hence these two inferences . 1. that you would not lay too much dependence and confidence upon your being members of the church ; you may be under the outward and common mercies , and yet want the inward and spirituall benefits of the church of god ; there is many a man that is born and brought up in the church of england , and yet notwithstanding unable to give any ground of his salvation by christ , thou mayest have the church of england to be thy mother , and yet never have god to be thy father . i do not speak this to the disparagement of the church of england , for christ and salvation by him is to be had in england as well as elsewhere , i would not have you think that england is no true church , for it is a church of jesus christ , but i say you may be of this church and borne and bred in this church and partake of all the ordinances and outward priviledges in this church , and yet never come to heaven , for ( as the apostlt sayes ) all are not israel that are of israel . 2. if this be so , then this may be matter of reprehension to wicked men , that seeing they are in the church , yet they are not of the church of jesus christ ; you are in the church , but as a wenne , a botch , or blaine is in the body , you are a blemish to the church of god , wicked men are spots and blemishes in the church , as in 2 pet. 2. 13. though they are in the church , yet they are a burden to the church , and i wish that godly men did count it a greater burden to them then they doe , that they have so many wicked men in their church ; a wicked man in the church , is like a wooden legge to the body of a man , a naturall legge that carries the body , but if a man hath a wooden legge , the body must carry it ; so wicked men are a great burden and trouble to the church , as paul sayes ( speaking of wicked men ) i wish ( sayes he ) they were even cut off that trouble you , such men as are loose in practise , and loose in opinion , truly both these have been great burdens and troublers to the church of god ; they are to the church , as jonah was to the ship , what a storm have they raised in this kingdome ! which god knowes , whether you or i shall ever live to see it blown over . thus much for the second part of mans misery by nature , that at that time ye were aliens to the common wealth of israel . sermon , viii . ephes. 2. 12. — and strangers to the covenants of promise — wee come now in order to the third part , and strangers to the covenant of promise , but before i shall draw out any doctrines from these words , i shall resolve these five questions which are very needfull to be discussed . quest . 1 1. what is the difference between the covenants and the promise ? for many look upon them to be both one and the same thing . 2. what is meant here by the covenants of promise . 3. why it is called the covenants of promise . 4. why it is called in the plurall number , the covenants of promise . and lastly , what it is to be a stranger to the covenants of promise . quest . 1 1. quest . what is the difference between a covenant and a promise ? answ . answ . in answer to this , you must know , that though every covenant is a promise , yet every promise is not a covenant , a covenant is a more comprehensive thing then a promise , for a covenant is nothing but a bundle of promises , all the promises in the gospell bound up together in a bundle , so that herein you see the difference between a covenant and a promise . quest . 2 2. what is meant by the covenants of promise ? answ . i answer , that it is the free and gratious promise , that god made with adam after the fall , and with the patriarchs , abraham , isaac , and jacob , and all the faithfull , wherein he promised them salvation and eternall life , through christ , which was to come , this is the covenant of promise , even the promise which god made with his children , before the coming of christ , wherein he did covenant to give them life and salvation , through christ which was promised to come . quest . 3 3. why is it called the covenants of promise ? answ . answ . it is called so , because christ the matter of this covenant was not actually come , but onely promised that he should come , that is the reason of this phrase here [ the covenant of promise ] . quest . 4 4. why is it called in the plurall number the covenants of promise , seeing there was but one covenant of grace , the covevenant of works was made to adam before the fall , and the covenant of grace after the fall ? answ . answ . it is called the covenants of promise , not as if there were severall kindes of covenants , and of salvation by christ , but because there were divers exhibitions and administrations of this one covenant ; not as if this covenant were many in kinde and substance , for it is the same now that it was at the beginning , but only it was diversly administred , explained and enlarged ; sometime it is called a new covenant , that is , new in regard of the urging , & exhibition of it : the like phrase you have touching love , behold , a new command i give unto you , that you love one another , it was called new , because it was then newly enforced upon the people : the covenant of grace , the tenor of which is , that we shall have life and salvation through the bloud of christ , it is called covenants , because it was so often renewed and administred , first it was made to adam after his fall , the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head , and then it was renewed to abraham , paul explains it in heb. 3. and after him , to isaac , and then to jacob , and david , and solomon , and all the faithfull , but the covenant was still for substance the same , though it was many times renewed , and so it continues the same to this very day , thus you have a brief account of these four queries . quest . 5 5. what is it to be a stranger to the covenants of promise ? answ . answ . did you but dive and look into the bottome of it , you would finde it to be the finall upshot of the misery of an unconverted man ; to be a stranger to the covenants of promise , is to be in such a dismall and lamentable and deplorable condition , as that none of all the promises of god , for grace , and life , and salvation by christ , doth appertaine to him : and is not this a very miserable and sad condition , that the lord lookes upon a man in an unregenerate estate , as uncapable of any mercy , life or salvation by christ ? a covenant ( as i told you ) is a bundle of promises , it containes all the promises of grace , life , and salvation , now if you be without the covenant , you must needes be destitute of all the promises by christ . thus having by way of premise opened these five particulars , i shall now draw out this one observation from the words . doctr. doctr. that all men during the time of their unregenorácy , are strangers to the covenants of grace , so that they can lay no just claim to any promise of having life and salvation by christ ; you are strangers to the covenants of promise ; and ( beloved ) when i tell you , that you have no title to any one promise of life or salvation by christ , it is the saddest news that ever you can open your ears to hear ; if you are a stranger to the covenant you are without all the promises , for the covenant is a bundle of promises , all the promises of god bound up together ; in the handling of this point i shall onely shew you two things , and then apply it . 1. i shall shew you what the covenant of grace is . 2. how you may know whether you are men without the covenant of grace , yea or no , and can lay no just claim to any promise of life and salvation by christ . 3. i shall winde up all in a practicall use , both for consolation to those , that are in the covenant , and for terrour to those that have no right to the covenant . 1. for the nature of the covenant of grace , it is that free and gracious covenant which god made with adam after the fall , promising him pardon of sin and eternall life , through the righteousnesse of jesus christ . this is the summe and substance of the covenant of grace , it is the promise of god first made to adam , and then renewed to abraham , isaac , and jacob , david and solomon , and all the faithfull , it is the solemn promise that god made to the elect of their obtaining salvation through the righteousness of jesus christ : now here you must be very careful lest you run into a mistake , for there are two sorts of people that run into very dangerous errours concerning this particular : as 1. the socinians , that are of an opinion , that all the patriarchs and good men in the old testament did none of them go to heaven , till christ came in the flesh ; a very uncharitable and ungodly opinion ; and 2. there are others that hold , that living in obedience to the morall law of moses , is to tye the people to the covenant of works , to be justified by it , they hold the jews did not live under a covenant of grace till christ came , but if it were so , none of them could possibly be saved , for by the workes of law shall no flesh living be justified , no man in the world can ever goe to heaven by the covenant of works . this i doe onely mention by the way , that you may see and understand , that since the fal of adam , al men are saved by the covenant of grace , the covenant of works was no longer in force then while adam lived and continued in innocency , but as soon as ever he fell , the gospel was presently preached unto them , as well as it is to us now , only it was preached unto them more darkly , and to us more clearly ; christ was preached unto them as to come , but he is preached unto us as come already . quest . ii we come now to the second question , to stir you up and put you upon enquiry , how you may know whether you are the people that are in covenant with god yea or no , so as that you can lay a just claim to the covenant of grace , and to all the promises therein contained for salvation and life eternall by christ . i shall handle this query not in the positive but in the negative part of it , how you may know , that you are not in the covenant of grace , i shall give you three or four discoveries of it . answ . 1 1. thou oh man art not in covenant with thy god , that hast not yet broken the league and covenant , which thou hast made with thy lusts , you that doe still keep up and maintain the league and covenant with your lusts and corruptions , you are not as yet come within the covenant of grace ; that man that makes a covenant with death and hell , cannot be under the covenant of grace , and therefore you that have not broken off your sins by repentance and righteousnesse , and your iniquities by shewing mercy , you that are in a wicked course and resolve to continue so , lay no claim to the covenant of grace ; you that are engaged to your lusts , you have been bad and you will be so stil , you have no interest in the covenant of grace . 2. you that think to be saved by a covenant of works , cannot be under a covenant of grace , you that hope to be justified by works , are faln from grace , as the apostle says in gal. 5 4. you are faln from grace , that is , not that you are faln from the habit of grace , you are faln from the doctrine of grace , that holds out justification by christ , that man shall never be saved by christ that thinks he cannot be saved by christ ; and therefore a papist , living and dying in this very opinion that he must be saved by a covenant of works , cannot be saved ; if you be not cast out of your selves , so as to rely wholly and only upon christ for life and salvation , you can lay no just claime of being under the covenant of grace . 3. you are strangers to the covenant of grace , that do make no conscience of breaking the engagements & promises you have made to god , you that are careless of keeping the covenants you have made with god , this is an evident demonstration , that you are not in covenant with god , those that are in covenant with god make conscience of keeping their covenants with god if in times of affliction & trouble , you can make large promises to god of better obedience , and yet afterwards return with the dogge to his vomit , and are as bad , or worse then ever you were , this argues , that you have no interest at all in the covenant of grace . thus i have done with the second query , the discoveries of those that are not in the covenant of grace ; i have onely now the application of the point to speak to , and the use that i shall make of it shall be use . 1. for consolation to all that are in the covenant of grace , you have a bundle of promises to which you may have recourse , and lay claim to them as your own . 2. by way ofterrour , to shew the misery of those that are strangers to this covenant of grace . 1. this may be matter of great consolation to you that are under the covenant of grace , that are in covenant with god , this should provoke you to joy and comfort , in the consideration of the great happinesse you enjoy in being under the covenant of grace , from the misery you would be exposed to , did you live under a covenant of works . and now ( beloved ) lend me your thoughts a little , while i shew you in fourteen particulars , the great happinesse you are now in , being in covenant with god under a covenant of grace , from the misery you had lain under , in being only under a covenant of workes , doe this and live , i shall but only name them to you , and run over them very briefly . 1. the covenant of works was given by god to adam , as a creator , but the covenant of grace is given by god to a believer , as a father ; god had not this term of a father before the fall , but only of a god and creator , but being under a covenant of grace , you may look upon that god that was only a creator to adam , as a father to you . 2. this had been your misery under a covenant of works ; for that exacts perfect obedience , and does punish the offendour in case of disobedience : but being under a covenant of grace , the lord accepts through christ of sincere obedience , though it be not perfect . 3. the covenant of works is not contented with perfect obedience neither , unlesse it be personall ; it must not be perfect , done for thee by another , but done by thy self in thy own person ; but now the conant of grace , accepts of perfect obedience , though it be not done by thy self , but in the person of jesus christ ; god the father doth as fully accept of christ obeying and fulfilling his will in doing and suffering in our behalfe , as if we had done and suffered what he did in our own persons , and herein lies the great happinesse of a man under the covenant of grace . 4. the covenant of works was made by god to adam without a mediator , there was no third person between god and adam , but the covenant of grace was made by god with us , in the hand of a mediator jesus christ . you may conceive it thus , suppose two men should be at discord and variance one with another , and a third person a friend to both these that are falne out , should come and endeavour to decide the difference , first going to one and desiring him to be reconciled to the other ; and then going to the second , and entreating him to be pacified towards the first , till he hath united and reconciled them both together ; so it is here , christ is a friend both to god and man , he is the son of god , and he is husband of his church , and being the mediatour of the new covenant , he comes first to his father , and sayes , father i know , that all mankind hath broken that first covenant which they made with thee , and are thereby justly lyable to all that wrath & punishment due to the breach of it , and i know thy anger and displeasure against them , but i pray thee oh father , be reconciled and well pleased with thy people , give them the sanctification of their natures , while they live here , and give them heaven and happinesse when they dye ; and then christ comes to beleevers , and tels them ; sirs , i have procured peace , and pardon , and reconciliation for you , the sanctification of your natures here , and heaven when you dye , and therefore lift up your heads with joy ; christ first goes to his father , and sues to him for pardon , and then comes to us , and begs of us to be comforted . 5. adam under the covenant of works he had nothing but works to save him , and he was to keep this covenant of works only by his own strength , he had no strength but his own , to perform any duty , he had no bottome , no foundation , but himselfe to stand on ; but under the covenant of grace we are kept by the mighty power of god through faith unto salvation ; we are under a far better condition under the covenant of grace , then adam was at first , in the state of innocency , for though hee was perfectly holy , yet he was not immutably holy , but now the foundation of god standeth sure , we are kept by the mighty power of god unto salvation . 6. the covenant of workes , if a man did once break them , that did admit of no repentance ; had adam and eve after the fall , wept their eyes out , or prayed their hearts out , all would have done them no good ; repentance will no way avail the covenant of works ; as it is in the civill law , if a man hath committed murder , the law does not enquire whether the man does repent , or is sorry for what he hath done , no , but the law takes notice whether he hath done the fact , or no , if he hath , he must dye , no repentance will avail ; but in the covenant of grace it is far otherwise , for though you have done the fact , and broken gods commandemants , yet if you repent , and mourn , and grieve for the sins you have committed against god , the lord will pardon and forgive them , as if they had never been committed , so that this is another great happinesse you enjoy in being under the covenant of grace . 7. adam being under the covenant of works , god took the very first forfeiture of breaking of this covenant , and one sinne made god to disanul that covenant , whereas the covenant of grace is not made void nor disanul'd although you commit many sins : as you may see in ro. 5. 16 , 17. says the apostle there , not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift , for the judgement was by one to condemnation , but the free gift is of many offences unto justification , that is , under the covenant of works , there one sin did condemne all the world , but being under the covenant of grace there the free gift is of many offences unto justification , many sins are pardoned and many offences are passed over , the covenant of grace pardons many sins and over lookes many weaknesses and failings , though you break your covenant often , time after time , yet the covenant of grace shall not be broken , the first covenant was disanuld for one sin , but the second covenant shall not be disanuld for many sins , as you may see in psal . 89. 31 , 32 , 33. sayes god there , if they break my statutes , and keep not my commandements , then will i visit their transgressions with the rod , and their iniquity with stripes , neverthelesse my loving kindenesse will i not uttery take from him , nor suffer my faithfulnesse to fail , my covenant will i not break , nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips , and so in psal . 11. 5. the lord will ever be mindefull of his covenant : so that this is another part of your happinesse . 8. ( pray observe this ) had adam continued still under the covenant of works , and kept the covenant , performing exact and perfect obedience to it , yet he could never have come to heaven , he should have had onely an ever lasting continuance in paradise , he should never have enjoyed heaven , but being under the covenant of grace , that entitles you to everlasting salvation and happinesse in heaven , by jesus christ . 9. under the covenant of workes , though god did promise life to adam , upon the performing of the covenant , yet god did not promise pardon to adam upon the breach of the covenant ; god promised him thus , do this and thou shalt live , but god did not promise him , that though he should break his commands and sin against him , yet hee should bee saved notwithstanding : in the covenant of works , there is no promise at all of pardon , but only of life ; but under the covenant of grace you have a double promise . 1. you shall obtain life eternall , and salvation by christ : and 2. you shall have all your sins pardoned and washed away in the bloud of christ , that you doe commit against him , you shall have pardon and remission of sins by christ , so that no sin shall be charged upon you . 10. under the covenant of works god did accept the person for the worke-sake , but under the covenant of grace , he doth accept of the work for the persons sake : and herein lies our happinesse , under the covenant of works god did accept of adams person meerly because his works were altogether righteous and good , and he accepted his person no longer then his works were good , for as soon as ever he broke the command , god was displeased with him , but under the covenant of grace god doth accept of the works for the person sake ; as you see in abel , he was first accepted , and then the sacrifice , first his person was well pleasing to god , and then the sacrifice for the persons sake : so god accepts of our praying , reading , hearing , and all that we doe through jesus christ , he being well pleased with our persons in christ , he is delighted and well pleased with all our services in him . 11. the covenant of works was made to all men generally and universally without exception , but the covenant of grace was made onely to a select and chosen people : all mankinde were in adam under a covenant of workes , if adam had kept the law , all mankinde had lived by him ; but herein lies your happinesse , in being under the covenant of grace , when it is made onely to a few , to a peculiar and chosen number of men . 12. the covenant of works that entitles men to no further honor , then to be a worthy and honourable servant of god , not a child of god , but under the covenant of grace , we doe not only become servants , but adopted sons , we are the children of promise by faith in christ , the covenant of grace puts us into a state of sonship : adam was the son of god by creation , but not by grace and adoption , till the covenant of grace was made . 13. creation was the foundation of the covenant of works , but it is redemption that is the foundation of the covenant of grace , the foundation of this is , because christ hath died for us , and shed his bloud for us . 14. in the covenant of works god did onely manifest the attributes of his greatnesse , and power , and wisdome , and justice ; but in the covenant of grace hee does demonstrate the attributes of his grace and mercy , goodnesse and patience , &c. god in the covenant of works was only a just god , do this and live , so long as thou keepest my commandments thou shalt live and no longer ; but in the covenant of grace , he is a mercifull god too , the lord did make the attributes of his mercy and goodnesse to shine forth in this covenant ; should god say to us , so long as you doe well it shall be well with you , but if even you break one command or commit one sin , you shall be damned , if god should say thus to us , we were in a most miserable and undone condition , and could not escape damnation ; but we being under the covenant of grace , by his son jesus christ , he tels us that although we doe break his commands , and sin against him , yet in his son he will pardon us , and passe by all our transgressions , as if they had never beene committed . sermon , ix . ephes. 2. 12. — and strangers to the covenants of promise — having shewn you in 14. particulars , your great happiness in being under the covenant of grace , from the misery you would have lain under , had you been under the covenant of works : i come now to the second use , use . 2 which is a use of dread and terrour , to lay before you the great misery of those that are strangers to this covenant of promise ; and here i might lay before you much astonishing and perplexing matter , to all those that are not in the covenant of grace : i shall be the larger upon this particular , because the last day i spent half an hour about a use of comfort , in shewing you your happinesse in being under the covenant of grace , and therefore now i shall spend the like time in declaring the misery of all those that are strangers to the covenant , which i shall comprise under these six heads . 1. this is one part of your misery , you are bound to keep the whole law of god , and that in your persons , else you can never be saved : and oh how impossible is this for any man to do ! he that is under the covenant of grace , god the father accepts of christs keeping and fulfilling of the law for him , as if it were done by him in his own person ; but to such as are not in this covenant of grace , god sayes to them , if you doe not keep the whole law , and that personally , you shall be damned eternally , as in gal. 5. 3. sayes the apostle there , i testifie again ●o every man that is circumcised , that he is bound to keep the whole law ; if you will not accept of christ , and accept of salvation by his bloud alone , but run to circumcision ; i tell you saith the apostle , that you are debters to keep the whole law of god , and he will cast you into hell , upon the least breach of the law. oh thou unhappy man , upon how hard termes canst thou hope for salvation , even upon impossible termes ; thou canst as well keep the sea in thy fist , as keep the whole law of god in thy own person ; god sayes to thee , if thou dost break but one command , though thou should keep all the rest , yet thou shalt die and be damned eternally ; but if you be under the covenant of grace , though you break the law again , and again , yet christ doth redeem you from the curse of the law , he being made a curse for you . 2. thou that art a stranger to the covenant of grace , thou hast no strength but thy own to help thee in the discharge of all thy duties ; but now a man that is under the covenant of grace , god doth command him a duty , and does with the command give him a power to perform the duty ; god bids him act grace , and powers upon him a spirit of grace ; he bids him pray , and gives him a spirit of prayer ; god commands him a duty , and gives him a flexible , willing , and an obedient heart , and abilities to perform the duty : when in scripture god does command a duty , he does likewise promise to assist and enable us to the performance of the duty ; as for example , the lord bids us , to wash us and make us clean , and put away the evill of our doings , and a poor soul saith , oh lord i am not able to wash my heart , nor cleanse my wayes , nor to do any thing that is good of my self , and therefore sayes god again , i will wash you and make you whiter then snow ; so god bids us to get new hearts , and then again he promiseth , to create in us new hearts , and renew rights spirits within us : i might instance in sundry other particulars ; but now this is thy unhappinesse oh man that art a stranger to the covenant of grace ; god bids thee keep his commands , but he gives thee no power to fulfill his commands ; he bids thee act grace , and never gives thee a spirit of grace ; he bids thee pray , and yet never powres out upon thee a spirit of prayer ; and if adam in his innocency , when he was perfect , was not able to keep gods commands ; how much more unable art thou to doe any thing that may please god ? thou by thy own strength art as well able to make a world , as to make one prayer , or perform any duty in a holy and spirituall manner ; thou canst as well destroy the whole world with thy own hands , as subdue any lust by thy own strength ; but under the covenant of grace , god tels us , that though we cannot keep the law , yet he will accept of his sons keeping it for us ; and he hath promised to help and assist us in the performance of every thing , that he commands us . 3. you that are strangers to the covenant of grace , herein lies your misery , you have no advocate to plead for you , nor mediator to stand between god and you ; you have an angry god frowning upon you , and a galled conscience ready to accuse you , and every thing else in the world against you , but no friend either in heaven or in earth to plead or speak for you ; christ is a mediator to those only that are under a covenant of grace ; now what canst thou say for thy self oh man , why thou shouldst not be condemned , and damned in hell for ever , for thy drunkennesse , adultery , sabbath-breaking , prophanenesse , swearing , lying , and thy ungodly practises ? thou canst have nothing to plead for thy selfe , but must needs be cast out into hell fire irrecoverably ; but now a godly man that is under the covenant of grace , he can say , lord here is christ my mediatour , that pleads with thee for the pardon of all my sins , and for the obtaining of heaven , and happinesse , and glory for me , through his obedience and merits ; but thou that art under the covenant of works , thou canst not say , i have christ to plead for me , and to be an advocate with the father , to beg for pardon of sin , and life and salvation for thee , thou canst not say so , for without the covenant of grace , there is no mediator , christ is the mediator onely of the new covenant ; therefore what sad condition art thou in , seeing as verily as thou standest here now , so thou must one day stand before gods tribunall to answer and be judged for every thing thou hast done in thy body , whether it be good or evill , and then thou wilt have no body to plead for thee , but must inevitably be cast into everlasting burnings . 4. being out of the covenant of grace , this is your misery , god will in exactnesse and rigour of justice proceed against you for your sins , without any mixture of mercy at all . ( beloved ) god hath no mercy without his covenant , but in the covenant of grace , he is a god gracious and mercifull , slow to anger , and of great kindnesse , abundant in mercy and truth , pardoning iniquity , transgressions , and sins , but he is cloathed with justice and rigour to all that are without this covenant . as it is in courts of judicature in point of life and death , the judge will take no notice whether the man be a sorrowfull man or no , the law is not to shew mercy , but to punish the offence , the law does not enquire whether the man be penitent and sorry for what he hath done , but whether the fact be done or no , if it be , he must dye for it , there is no remedy : just so it is here , god doth not enquire under a covenant of works , whether you are sorrowfull for breaking of his law , but he enquires whether you have broken it , or no ; and if you have , he will condemn thee , and cast thee into hell fire , and then the poor soul cryes out , oh lord be mercifull to me this once , it shall be a warning to me , i will never sin against thee , nor displease thee more , but will from henceforth walk more humbly , and holily , and circumspectly before thee , and yet all this that thou hast promised , if thou wert able to perform it , will not avail thee , for god will hear none out of christ , and out of the covenant of grace . 5. a man out of the covenant of grace , he hath no true and speciall title to any of the blessings of god here in this world , gods blessings go along with his covenant , and therefore it is very observable , that in that chapter where god does promise the blessings of the covenant of grace , in that very chapter he promiseth the blessings of this life , as you may see in the 36. of ezek. sayes god there , i will powre clean water upon you , and you shall be clean , yea from all your filthinesses , and from all your idols , will i cleanse you : a new heart will i also give you and a new spirit will i put within you , and will take away the stony heart from you , and will give you a heart of flesh , and will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes , and you shall keep my judgements and doe them , and you shall dwell in the land that i gave to your fathers , and you shall be my people , and i will be your god ; all these are the meroies of the covenant of grace : now mark the next words ( saith god ) i will call for corn , and will incerease it , and lay no famine upon you , but i will multiply the fruit of the trees , and the increase of the field , and so in the 10 , 11 ver . of that chap. and i will multiply men upon you , and the cities shall be inhabited , and the wastes shall be builded , and i will multiply upon man and beast , and they shall increase , and bring fruit , and i will do better to you then at your beginnings , and ye shall know that i am the lord : here the lord entails earthly blessings to the covenant of grace , intimating , that all that are under the covenant of grace they have a title not only to all spirituall , but to temporal blessings likewise ; but no wicked man out of the covenant of grace , hath any true title to any outward blessings ; they that are of the faithfull , are blessed with faithfull abraham , and enjoy outward blessings , as a blessing ; but wicked men , it is true they have something allowed them , but it it as to prisoners , in a prison they have something to keep them alive untill their execution ; and so wicked men they have prison allowances till the execution day . 6. your misery , ( that are strangers to the covenant of grace ) lies in this , god will not give acceptance to any of your services , though you may doe as much , for the matter of them , as any godly man doth ; nay thou mayst hear more sermons , and say more prayers , and perform more duties , then a godly man does , and yet not be accepted , when the others shall , as you may see in gen. 4. 4 , 5. cain and abel they both of them brought sacrifices to god , one of his flock , and the other , of his grounds ; and the apostle speaking of this , sayes , that by faith abel offered a more excellent offering then cain ; it was not more excellent in regard of the matter of it , for in all probability and likelihood , cains sacrifice was of more value then abels , for his was but a few young lambs , the firstlings of his flock , but cains was of the first fruits of his ground ; and yet abels sacrifice was accepted , and the others rejected , because abel was a godly man , under the covenant of grace , by which god did accept of what he did , though it were lesse then cains : and so solomon , the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the lord , but the prayer of the upright is his delight : a sacrifice you know is a great deal more costly then a prayer , for that costs a man nothing but his breath , when the other will cost a great deal of money , and yet a costly sacrifice is hated by god coming from a wicked man , when a pennilesse prayer coming from a godly man is accepted : so that under a covenant of grace , though you do less for the matter of the duty then wicked men doe , yet yours shall be accepted , when theirs shall be rejected . thus i have done with the use of terrour in laying down to you this sixfold misery of those men that are strangers to the covenant of grace ; and here because i would not have any poor soul , that is under the covenant of grace , and partaker of all the great priviledges of it , to goe away with a sad heart , i shall onely leave with you two or three words of comfort to them ; you children of the covenant , that are under the covenant of grace , let not your hearts be troubled , at what hath been said this day , concerning the misery of those men that are strangers to this covenant , and to bear : up and support your spirits , i shall give you two or three comfortable considerations . 1. that all the outward blessings that you enjoy , comes to you in a covenant way , god hath given you these blessings as an appendix to the covenant , and by vertue of an entail to his covenant ; the lord never gives you a common blessing , but you see the love of a father , and of a husband , and of a friend , and the love of god in that blessing ; and therefore as i told you before in that very chapter , where god promiseth the blessings of the covenant of grace , he promiseth the blessings of this life too , as an intail to the covenant ; wicked men may have blessings but not by vertue of a promise , not by vertue of the covenant of grace . but now if you ask mee how you may know , whether the blessings you enjoy come unto you by vertue of the covenant of grace : i answer , you may know it by these two things : 1. in case you doe use and imploy all the blessing you receive from god , to the honour of god : thus abraham did , as you may see in gen. 17. 1 , 2 , 8 , 12. his using the blessings of god to promote the service of god , did demonstrate that those blessings came to him from god , in a covenant way , but those that are strangers to this covenant , the mercies they enjoy are given them for their hurt . 2. when blessings are as cords to draw you nearer to god , and as bands to tye you fast to god , then they come to you in a covenant way : as in jer. 31. 11 , 12. for the lord hath redeemed jacob , and ransomed him from the hand of him that is stronger then he , therefore they shall come and rejoice in the height of sion , and shall run to the bountifulnesse of the lord , even for the wheat , and for the wine , and for the oyle , and for the increase of sheep and bullocks , &c. that is , all the mercies of god , shall make them to come nearer and nearer , and cleave closer to god ; you then that do enjoy your share of the blessings of god , and they do not endeer you and draw you nearer to god , you cannot look upon them as flowing in upon you in a covenant way . 2. you that are in covenant with god , know this for your comfort , that the lord does accept of a little , that you do in his service , better then a great deal that a wicked man performs to him ; god will accept of a few turtle doves of you , when he will not accept of 1000 rams , or 10000 rivers of oyle of the wicked , he will accept of a cup of cold water given to a righteous man , in the name of a righteous man , when he will not accept of the costliest sacrifice from the wicked : oh what a happy condition art thou in , that art under the covenant of grace , wicked men may heare more sermons , and performe more duties , and say more prayers to god then you , and yet in all their duties be rejected , when thou art accepted . 3. take this for your comfort that when ever you offend god , and provoke him to anger , you have a mediator to stand between god and you ; though you are guilty , yet you have an advocate to plead your cause for you ; you that are under the covenant of grace , you may say to christ your mediator , as the israelites said to moses , when they had offended god , goe thou and speak unto god for us ; so may you say when you have nothing , but thundring and lightning and tempests in your souls , and the flashings of hell fire in your consciences , then you may say to christ , go now to god and speak for me , mediate with thy father for the pardon of all my sins ; i have offended god , o● intercede with him in my behalf , i have committed a great offence , oh plead with thy father , and beg a pardon for me ; thus thou maist say to christ , being under the covenant of grace . but here lest any one should lye under a spirituall delusion , and think himself under the covenant of grace , when he is a stranger to it , lest the dogs should snatch at the childrens meat , i shall lay down to you some distinguishing characters , whereby you may know whether you are under the covenant of grace or no ; and before i make entrance upon this , i will only premise four sad and dismall conclusions , which will make way the better for what i have to handle in the examination . 1. take in this conclusion , that a man may be within the outward and common priviledges of the covenant of grace , and yet be without the saving and spirituall priviledges of it , as pardon of sin , having god to be your god , and christ to be your saviour , &c. as in deut. 29. 10 , 11 , 12. sayes moses there , you stand this day all of you before the lord your god , your captains of tribes , your elders , and your officers , with all the men of israel , your little ones , your wives , and the stranger that is in thy camp , from the hewer of thy wood , unto the drawer of thy water , that thou shouldst enter into covenant with the lord thy god : now here you see , were all from the rich to the poor , to enter into covevenant with god , and yet it is not imaginable that all these did partake of the inward priviledges of the covenant of grace , they did all partake of circumcision , which was the seal of the covenant , of the outward priviledges of it , but not all did partake of the inward and speciall mercies of the covenant of grace , as pardon of sin , peace of conscience , joy in beleeving , god to be their god , and christ to be their saviour ; and so in rom. 9. 4 , 5. sayes the apostle , they are the israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption , and the glory , and the covenants , and the giving of the law , and the service of god , and the promises , of whom are the fathers , and of whom as concerning the flesh christ came , these were very great priviledges , and yet saies the text in vers . 8. these are not all the children of god , though they had the externall blessings of the covenant , yet they were not all the children of god ; so that you see , you may be within the church of god , and partake of the outward blessings of the covenant , and yet want the inward and spirituall blessings of it . 2. take in this sad conclusion , that the most of men in the world , are without the common and outward mercies of the covenant of grace , as all that are in the state of judaisme , turcisme , and paganism , and these being without the outward priviledges of the church , they can hope for no salvation . if you should divide the world into one and thirty parts , there is but a fift part of them are christians , there is nineteen parts of the world that are jews , and turks , and seven parts that are pagans ; so that there is but five parts that are christians ; the most of men in the world are without the outward and common blessings of the covenant of grace , and therefore can obtain no salvation by christ . 3. take this conclusion yet further , that the most of those men that are within the outward and common blessings , are yet without the saving and spirituall blessings and priviledges of the covenant of grace ; this conclusion is answerable to that phrase in mat. 2. many are called , but few are chosen , there are but a few chosen to life and happinesse , amongst those that are partakers of the externall mercies of the covenant of grace , as in zach. 13. 8 , 9. and it shall c●me to passe , that in all the land , saith the lord , two parts therein shall be cut off and die , but the third shall be left therein , and i will bring the third part through the fire , and will refine them , as silver is refined , and will try them as gold is tryed , they shall call on my name and i will hear them ; i will say it is my people , and they shall say , the lord is my god : there was but one part of three that were godly , and as it was then , so it is now ; but one part of three that can say truly , they have an interest in the covenant of grace , and therefore ( beloved ) this may be some of your lot , there are many of you that have a share in the outward blessings of the covenant , that have the ordinances and meanes of grace , and make profession of christ , and yet few of you that have any speciall and peculiar blessing from christ . as when christ was thronged in the multitude , there were a great many that touched him , but one onely that got any vertue from him , so there are a very few that enjoy the speciall and peculiar blessings of the covenant , to have sin pardoned , and their corruptions subdued and their duties and services accepted , god to be their god , and christ to be their saviour . 4. take this conclusion likewise , that such is the pride and deceitfulnesse of mans heart naturally , that from their being within the compasse of the outward blessings of the covenant , that they will conclude themselves , to have an interest in the inward and spirituall blessings of the covenant of grace , as you shall finde the jews did in joh. 8. 33 , 39 , 41. in vers . 33. say they , we are the seed of abraham : and vers . 39. we have abraham to be our father ; and from hence they conclude in vers . 41. that god was their father too , though christ told them plainly they were of their father the devill : wicked men are very apt to deceive themselves , and think they have an interest in the spirituall blessings of the covenant of grace , because they partake of the sacraments , and outward ordinances ; whereas in baptisme you may have your face sprinkled with water , and yet never have your hearts sprinkled with the bloud of christ , you may be born in the church , and yet never be of the church of the first born in heaven ; you may have the church to be your mother , and yet never have god to be your father ; there is but a remnant according to the election of grace , the main body is cast away , there is but a remnant saved , and yet the jewes did boast of themselves , that because they had the adoption , and the glory , and the covenant , and the promise , &c. therefore god was theirs too , and heaven and happinesse , and all theirs , when there was no such matter . sermon , x. ephes. 2. 12. — and strangers to the covenants of promise — having formerly premised four conclusions that you might not harbour any secret conjectures and imaginations that you do belong to the covenant of grace , when you do not ; i come now to give you some trials and discoveries whereby you may know , whether you are the persons that can lay a just claim to life and salvation from god through his son jesus christ , by vertue of his promise , and i shall comprise them under these three heads : 1. you may know whether you do belong to the covenant of grace or no , in case you doe partake of the spirituall blessings of the covenant : 2. in case you have the inseparable concomitants of the covenant : and 3. in case you doe perform the conditions of the covenant of grace , which is faith ; beleeve and be saved : if you have these three , you may lay an undoubted claim to the covenant of grace . 1. if you have the saving and spirituall blessings of the covenant of grace ; and these are four ; 1. god will be your god , and you shall be his people ; this is the tenor of the covenant of grace , as in jer. 31. 33. i will be their god , and they shall my people . i shall a little open this blessing to you , for god to be our god , it notes these three things : 1. it notes a speciall propriety in god , which none have but the elect . 2. it notes an all-sufficiency in god for their good . 3. it notes an absolute authority , that god hath over them . 1. for god to be our god , it notes that god is yours in a speciall way of propriety , which none but those that are the children of god can have , wicked men cannot lay claim to god as their god ; as pharaoh , when he desired moses to pray for him , sayes he i have sinned against the lord your god , he could not say against the lord my god , you that can upon scripture grounds , lay claim to god as your god , as having a speciall propriety in him , you have an interest in the covenant of grace . 2. for god to be your god , it notes an all-sufficiency in god , put out for your good , as in gen. 17. 1. sayes god there to abraham , i am thy god all-sufficient walk before me , and be thou perfect ; you that can look upon god as having an interest and propriety in god ; and you finde by experience , that god is exceeding good to your soules in every thing , if you see the emptinesse of all things in the world , and that they are but particular helps to thee , as food against hunger , drink against thirst , cloathes against nakednesse , &c. but you finde god to be an all-sufficient help and remedy , the chiefest good , sufficing , and satisfying , and filling thy heart , thou that canst look upon god , as thy all-sufficient good , as having thy portion and interest in him and in none else ; this is an undoubted evidence , that you doe belong to the covenant of grace . 3. for god to be your god , it notes gods soveraignty and power over you , for your benefit , the lord will reign over you , and subdue corruptions in you , and quell your pride , and humble your heart , and give you a meek and quiet spirit . if you finde that god is yours in these three particulars , you may comfort your heart in an unquestionable interest in the covenant of grace , if god be your god , and you his people , that you have given up , and devoted your selves wholly to the service of god in every thing that you doe . 2. another speciall blessing of the covenant of grace is , that god hath promised to sanctifie and renew your natures : as in ezek. 36. 26 , 27. saies god there , a new heart also will i give you , and a new spirit will i put within you , and will take away the stony hearts out of your bosomes , and will give you hearts of flesh , and i will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes , and you shall keep my judgments and do them : god will not onely give us life for our happinesse , but grace for our holinesse ; he will not only give us imputed righteousnesse for our justification , but also inherent righteousnesse for our sanctification ; now therefore examine your selves , have your natures ever been sanctified , and regenerated ? have you been ever washed with clean water , and those stains of sin and corruption wiped away from you ? hath the beasom of sanctification ever swept your inward man , and made it not a cave for every unclean bird to lie in , but a habitation fit for the holy ghost to dwell in ? if it be so , you have a reall right to , and interest in the covenant of grace , for no man can have the blessings of the covenant , but he must have a beeing in the covenant of grace . it is very observable , that god is not only , as the covenant represents him , a god gracious and mercifull , slow to anger , and full of compassion , &c. but he is a holy god as well as a mercifull god ; and therefore he will work holinesse in us and expect holinesse from us , if ever we expect to have mercy and happinesse from him ; never lay claim to god , nor expect life and happinesse from him , as he is a mercifull god , unlesse you resolve to be conformable to him as he is a holy god. object . but here some may say , this is not so great a blessing as you speak of , to be sanctified by vertue of the covenant of grace ; for there are many men that may be sanctified by the covenant of grace , and yet never be saved by it ; and this objection they ground upon that place in heb. 10. 29. and they shall count the bloud of the covenant , wherewith they were sanctified , an unholy thing . answ . i answer that the sanctification here spoken of , is not a true sanctification , but onely in profession , in the sight of men , not in the fight of god ; it is not a sanctification in very deed and in truth , but onely in shew and in the judgement of men . 3. another blessing of the covenant of grace , is the forgivenesse of our sins : as in jer. 3. 34. they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest , saith the lord , for i will forgive their iniquity , and will remember their sins no more : now ( beloved ) can you say that god hath pardoned your sins , and done away your offences , if so , then you are under the covenant of grace . object . but here some poor soul may say , alas i have been a great sinner , and have committed offences against god ; and therefore , i fear i have no reall interest in the covenant of grace . answ . be not discouraged , for it is the glory of the covenant of grace to pardon great sins ; it puts a great deal of glory upon god , to pardon great sins , and passe by great offences , as in amos 5. 12 , 15. i know ( sayes god ) your manifold transgressions , and your mighty sins : here you see are manifold and mighty sins , and yet saies god , hate evill , and love good ; it may be the lord will be gracious to you , nay the lord he will be gracious to you ; though thou hast manifold and mighty sinnes , yet it is not the greatnesse nor mightinesse of them , but thy stubbornnesse of heart , in not coming in , and closing with jesus christ , that undoes thee . 4. another blessing of the covenant of grace , is gods writing his law in our hearts , that we shall never depart from him , as in jer. 31. 33. i will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts , i will be their god , and they shall be my people ; that is , god will put into our hearts a sutable frame and disposition answerable to every command of god in his law , that we shall be able to obey , observe , and keep it , and say that it is good ; and then saies god , you shall never depart from me ; now examine your selves , hath this effect beene wrought by the spirit of god in your hearts ? hath god written the sermons you have heard , not in your books , but in your hearts ? if so , these are good evidences of your interest in the covenant of grace . 2. another discovery or character of your interest in the covenant of grace is this , if you have in you the inseparable concomitances that belong to this covenant of grace ; there are some things that doe alwayes accompany the covenant of grace , as i shall instance in 3 or 4 particulars . 1. if you be a man under the covenant of grace , in covenant with god , then you are disingaged from that league and covenant which you have made and contracted with your lusts , whosoever is in covenant with god , he hath broken his league with his lusts ; you cannot be in covenant with christ , till you fall off from your lusts , and break off from your sins , as in act. 3. 25 , 26. sayes the apostle , you are the children of the prophets , and of the covenant , which god hath made with our fathers ; saying to abraham , even in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed : first unto you hath god raised up his son jesus christ , and him hee hath sent to blesse you , in turning every one of you from your iniquities ; so that if you are children of the covenant , the lord will turn every one of you from your wicked wayes , and therefore you that are not turned from the evill of your courses , that have not broken that league you have made with death and hell , you can lay no claim to the covenant of grace , as in psal . 50. 16. sayes god there to the wicked , what hast thou to doe , to take my covenant into thy mouth , seeing thou hatest to be reformed , and castest my words behinde thee ? thou wilt not forsake thy lusts , nor leave thy sins , and therefore what hast thou to do to meddle with my covenant of grace ? you can lay no claim to the covenant , till you have cast off the old man , and subdued and overcome your sins and corruptions . 2. another concomitant of the covenant of grace , that will accompany you , is this , you will be a people wholly devoted and given up to the service of god. jer. 31. i will be your god and you shall be my people , the covenant of grace is called an holy covenant , luk. 1. 72. not so much because it was made by a holy god , as because it was made for the holy creature , it will make them holy that do enter into it , and therefore those that are in covenant with god , are called a holy people , and they must be a holy people , as in 1 cor. 6. 20. sayes the apostle , you are bought with a price , therefore glorifie god in your bodies and souls , which are gods , and in 2 cor. 7. 1. seeing therefore we have these promises , ( dearly beloved ) let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse both of flesh and spirit , perfecting holinesse in the fear of god : those that are in covenant with god , they are a holy and crucified people . 3. another concomitant is this , that man that hath a share in the blessings of the covenant , he doth make conscience to walk in the wayes of the covenant ; hee will not only close with the promise of the covenant , but also make conscience of keeping the commands of the covenant ; for the covenant of grace does not onely bestow blessings upon you , but require something of you too , as in esai . 55. sayes god , incline your ears and come unto me and hear , hearken , and your souls shall live : and i will make an everlasting covenant with you , even the sure mercies of david : the covenant of grace is a sure and everlasting covenant , but sayes god , you shall come unto me first , and then i will make with you an everlasting covenant : god will have you to obey him , if ever you think to have any share in the covenant of grace ; those that , let god command what he will , will doe what they please ; this argues , that they doe not belong to the covenant of grace ; but if the blessings of the covenant of grace are given by god to you , and the concomitants of it found with you : and lastly , the conditions of it found in you : which is faith , the only condition of the covenant of grace , beleeve and be saved ; if god hath brought thee into a believing estate , that there is not one promise in the gospell , but you do beartily assent unto , and close with : if it be thus , then you may conclude , that you do belong to the covenant of grace ; and thus i have done with these charactars by way of tryall . use . i have only now a word or two more by way of use , and so have done with this third part of mans misery ; and the use that i shall make of this , shall be for consolation , to all those whose hearts can bear them witnesse , that they doe enjoy the saving blessings of the covenant of grace , god to be their god , and they to be his people ; and that god hath sanctified and renewed your natures , and pardoned and passed by all your sins and iniquities , and hath written his law in your hearts , that you doe not depart from him ; if you have the concomitants of the covenant , that you are disingaged from the league and covenant you have made with sin , and death , and hell ; if you are wholly devoted and given up to the service of god , and doe make conscience to walk in the ways of the covenant ; and if the conditions of the covenant of faith in christ be found in you ; if you are brought into a beleeving condition ; if all these things be wrought in you , then hearken to the great happinesse and benefit you enjoy , by being under the covenant of grace . 1. thou hast that which is more worth then a kings ransome , nay then all the world , thou hast god to be thy god which is all in all , it is more then that which was promised to esther by king ahasuerus , to the half of his kingdome ; you have more then the devill promised to christ , when he carryed him to the top of the mountain , and shewed him all the kingdomes of the world and the glory of them ; thou hast more then the whole world , for thou hast god to be thy god , and thou hast an interest in the covenant of grace , which is a bundle of promises , and includes in it all the promises of the gospell , which are all yours , and you may goe and apply them to your own soules in whatsoever condition you are in . 2. you that are in covenant with god , labour to admire the great condescension of god , that he would be pleased to proceed with you by way of a covenant : i have read of some authors that have more wondred , and stood amazed at this , then at any thing else in the world , that god that is the soveraign lord of all the workes of his hands , that he should not rule us and command us by a law , but deal with us by way of a covenant , for god is not bound to give us a reward , though we should serve him all the dayes of our lives ; god might command us as we are his creatures to serve and obey him , to pray , read , hear , and walk holily and humbly before him , and when we have done all this , yet he might say to us , i will never give you heaven nor happinesse , nor any reward at all ; he might have said thus to us , but he hath condescended so far , as to make a bargain with us ; that if we will beleeve in his son jesus christ , and live holily , and walk uprightly before him , then he will be our god , and we shall be his people , he will write his law in our hearts , and sanctifie , and renew our natures , and pardon and forgive all our sins , and give us heaven and hapninesse when we dye ; oh what an infinite condescension is this in god , and what unspeakable bounty and free grace ; that when he might say to us , you are bound to serve me , and obey me , and to love and fear me , but i am not bound to make a covenant with you , and promise you my son , and life , and salvation , through him , but though i am not bound to it , yet i will give you my son , and heaven , and happinesse , and i will be your god , and you shall be my people , and i will regenerate and sanctifie your natures ; and create in you new hearts , and write my law in your inward parts , i will freely do all this for you , sayes god , oh what infinite condescension and free grace and mercy is this ! 3. another great happinesse you doe enjoy under the covenant of grace , is this , the lord will pardon all the great sinnes you commit against him , and accept of all the weak duties and services you perform to him ; though you commit great and mighty sins , yet the lord is gracious and mercifull , and will pardon them ; the covenant of grace covers great sins : as the sea can cover a mountain as wel as a mole-hill ; so the covenant of grace can pardon mountainous sins as well as small ones . and again , the covenant of grace does accept of weak and imperfect duties , nay those very duties which wicked men doe perform , though they be more for the matter of them then ours are , yet by vertue of the covenant of grace , the lord does accept of ours , and will not accept of theirs , as in prov. 15. 8. the place that i quoted before , the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the lord , but the prayer of the upright is his delight ; a sacrifice is a great deal more costly then a prayer , and yet the lord will accept of a poore pennilesse prayer coming from a godly man , when he will reject a costly sacrifice from a wicked man ; god will accept of a cup of cold water , from one in covenant with him , when he will not accept of 10000 rivers of oile from a wicked man ; he will pardon your great sins , and accept of your weak services : indeed , were you under a covenant of works , that would require perfect obedience , but being under a covenant of grace , the lord accepts of sincere , though it be imperfect obedience : and thus i have done with the third part of mans misery , being strangers to the covenant of grace . sermon , xi . ephes. 2. 12. — having no hope — wee come now to fall upon the fourth part of an unconverted mans misery , ( which you will think to be a very strange one ) that he is without hope ; while these ephesians were in a state of gentilism , unconverted to the faith of christ , they were without hope , & the reason of it was , because they were without christ , who is the way , the truth , and the life , there is no other way to heaven but onely by jesus christ , and seeing they were out of the way to heaven , they must needs be without any hopes of coming to heaven ; it was the first branch of their misery , in being without christ that exposed them , and made them lyable to all the rest , because they were without christ , therefore they were aliens to the common-wealth of israel , & therefore they were strangers to the covenant of promise , and without hope , and without god in the world. object . ob. but here some will be ready to say , how can this be that the apostle should say , they were without hope , when were it not for hope , the heart would break ; and therefore it is not possible , they should be without hope ? answ . i answer , it is true , they had a hope , but it was a vain hope , an ungrounded and a deluding hope , and this kinde of hope is no better then no hope at all , so that the apostle might well say they had no hope , that is , no good nor well grounded hope for heaven , they had onely a presumptuous hope , such a hope as would make them ashamed in the latter end , they had only the hope of the hypocrite that shall perish , and therefore when the apostle sayes , that these ephesians during their unregeneracy , were without hope , his meaning is , that they were without any wel grounded hopes for heaven , they had no scripture grounds , to bottome or build any hopes upon , that god would bring them to heaven ; this is a very sad and dreadfull point i am now upon , in shewing you this part of mans misery , without hope ; the observation i shall draw out from hence shall be this ; doctr. that all men during the state of their unregeneracy , are without any true , or well grounded hopes of heaven . in the handling of this i shall first prove it in the generall , and then improve it ; first to prove it , an unconverted mans condition , in reference to his hopes for heaven , is just like pauls , and those mariners that were with him in the ship sailing towards rome , act. 27. 20. when neither sun nor stars appeared , but the winde and waves did beat upon the ship , insomuch that all the hopes they had of being saved were quite taken away ; so it is just your case that are without jesus christ , there is neither sun nor star does shine upon you , if christ does not shine upon you , you are like paul and the other mariners in the ship , all hopes of your being saved , is quite taken away from you . i shall confirm this truth to you by three or four demonstrations , that a wicked man is without any hopes for heaven . reas . 1 1. an unregene rate man must needs be without hope , because he is without christ who is the foundation of a christians hope , wherefore remember , sayes the apostle , that at that time ye were without christ , and therefore he tels them afterward , that they were without hope , in tit. 2. 2. christ is there called our hope , christ is that person in and upon whom we are to build all our hopes for heaven , and therefore he is called our hope , and this is the meaning of that expression , christ in you the hope of glory , intimating that you cannot hope for glory , but in and through jesus christ ; that man that is a christlesse man , must needs be a hopelesse man , that is the first demonstration . reas . 2 2. a man without christ , must needes be without hope , because he is without a title to any promise of life and salvation , which is the onely support and prop of mans hope ; you would count this a very fond and vain hope , for any man to hope that such a rich man would make him heir of all he hath , though hee never promised him one foot of land ; why just so vaine are the hopes of wicked men , but now the word of promise is like a pillar of marble to bear up the hearts of gods people , as in 1 tit. 2. in hope of eternall life , which god that cannot lye , promised before the world began , the promises doe ground that man that hath interest in them , to a hope of eternall life , he that is without the lord jesus christ the foundation of hope , and without the promises which is the pillar of hope , must needs be without all true hopes of heaven . reas . 3 3. he cannot but be without hope , because he is without faith which is the ground of hope , as in heb. 11. 1. faith is the ground of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen : where no true faith is there can be no hope , for faith is the mother , and hope is the daughter , hope is begotten by faith ; an unregenerate man must needs be without hope , because he is without christ the foundation of hope , and the promises the pillar of hope , and faith the ground of hope . reas . 4 4. it appeares that he is without hope , because when hee leaves the world , his hopes leave him , whereas the hope of a godly man never leaves him till it brings him to heaven ; when a wicked man dies his hopes are gone , and leave him when he hath most need of them , had his hopes been well grounded hopes , they would never make him ashamed of them . thus you see i have onely in the generall confirmed the point to you . i come now to speak of some more particular inquiries in the prosecution of this doctrin , ( beloved ) wil you lend me your thoughts a little , in the handling of these five inquiries ? as 1. i shall shew you the nature of this hope that unconverted men are without . 2. i shall shew you what are the characters of those men that are without any well grounded hopes for heaven . 3. i shall shew you the reason , why ( seeing the scripture sayes that a wicked man hath no hope ) that of any men in the world , a wicked man does nourish in his heart the greatest hopes for heaven . 4. i shall shew wherein lies the difference between those that have onely a presumptuous hope for heaven , and those that have a true and well grounded hope for heaven ; and lastly , i shall shew you the great misery of those men that have onely presumptuous hopes for heaven . quest . i will begin with the first of these , to shew you the nature of that hope , that unconverted men are without . answ . take this plain description of it , that true hope which wicked men are without it is a well grounded and patient expectation for the accomplishment of all those spirituall and eternall good things , which god hath promised through jesus christ , and which faith beleeves . i call it a well grounded expectation to distinguish true hope , from those presumptuous hopes that wicked men have : i call it a patient hope to distinguish it from a rash hope , in wicked men : and i say it is a patient expectation and looking for the accomplishing those spirituall and eternall good things , which god hath promised in christ , because that this is the ground of hope , it is called the hope of glory and the hope of eternall life , and the like ; thus you have the nature of this hope that wicked men are without , when the apostle sayes , they were without hope , his meaning is , that they were without any hope of those spirituall and eternall good things , which god hath promised to beleevers through christ . quest . 2 quest . 2. what are the characters of those men , that have no hopes for heaven , or if they have , it is onely a deluding and a presumptuous hope , a hope no better then no hope at all ? ( nay it were a great deal better to have no hope then a presumptuous hope , but that i shall speak to afterward . ) now before i shall lay down these characters by way of discovery , i will onely premise four or five particular conclusions , which are very necessary to prevent wicked men from running into mistakes concerning their hopes for heaven . 1. take this conclusion , that this grace of hope may as well be counterfeited as any other grace , there is a lively hope in a beleever , and a dead hope in a wicked man , there is a faigned hope as well as a true hope , a counterfeit hope as well as a good hope , and therefore it is said in joh. 8. 13. the hope of the hypocrite shall perish ; and in prov. 10. 28. the hope of the wicked shall perish . 2. take this conclusion , that those men , that have least grounds to build hopes of heaven upon , doe yet nourish most confident hopes of heaven in their hearts ; i shall give you two notable places of scripture to prove this , in prov. 14. 16. it is said there that a wise man feareth and departeth from evill , a wise man is jealous over his own heart , what followes ? but sayes he , a fool , that is , a wicked man , he rageth , and yet is confident , he runs on in wicked wayes and practises without any remorse or sorrow , and yet he is a confident man , that hee shall goe to heaven as well as the best ; a wise man feareth and departeth from evill but a wicked man rageth , and yet is confident , those that have least cause to hope , doe yet harbour the greatest hopes for heaven in their hearts . a like place to this you have in psal . 36. ●2 . the transgression of the wicked sayes in his heart , that there is no fear of god before his eyes , and yet the next words are , he flatters himself in his own eyes , though his iniquities are found worthy to be hated ; wicked men are very apt to have good conceits of themselves , and you shall finde it ordinarily , that a poor soul that walks conscionably before god , and neglects no known duty , and mortifies every known lust , and walkes humbly before god , this man is full of feares and jealousies , and doubts that all things are not well between god and his soul ; and yet you shall finde another ungodly wretch that gives way to all manner of sin and uncleannesse , and fulfills the lusts of his flesh and of his minde , and this man is very confident of his going to heaven , and that all is well with him when he is running headlong to hell . here then you see the second conclusion that those men that have least grounds to build hopes of heaven upon , doe yet nourish strongest hopes for heaven in their hearts . 3. another conclusion is this , that a man may live and dye with very strong hopes that he shall goe to heaven , till he bee throwne downe into hell ; hee may have no other thoughts but that hee shall goe to heaven till hee bee cast head-long into hell . i shall give you some plain text to prove this , as job 21. 23. job speaks there of a wicked man , sayes he , one dies in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet ; a learned divine sayes upon this place , that it is the note of a wicked man , when he lies upon his death bead , if you come to him and ask him if hee hath any hopes that he shall goe to heaven , hee will answer , that hee hath very strong hopes of it ; and if you ask him , whether my sin troubles him , he will tell you no , blessed be god i have no sin troubles me now , nor ever did all my life time ; what , does nothing at all disquiet you ? no , i am wholly at ease and quiet ; he hath no sinne troubles him , nor no misgiving thoughts , but that hee shall goe to heaven : but when a wicked man dies , then his expectation shall perish , and not till then : now beloved me thinkes this conclusion should a little startle you , and make you look about you to take heed lest you run hoodwinkt to hell , that you doe not live and dye in hopes of heaven , and never think otherwise till you drop down into hell . 4. to you that doe lay claim to strong hopes for heaven , let me tell you thus much , that you are not to hope for heaven , unlesse you can render a reason or ground of your hopes . beloved it is not naturall for every man to hope for heaven and to be saved , and you ought not to hope for heaven unlesse you can give some grounds for it , as the apostle sayes , but sanctifie the lord god in your hearts , and be ready alwayes to give an answer to every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you , with meeknesse and fear ; now examine your selves , what grounds can you give for your hopes of heaven , have you a promise for it ? or one scripture ground for it ? or the witnesse of the spirit for it ? if not , then doe not nourish any hopes of heaven in your hearts . thus i have laid down these four conclusions , i come now to handle the query it self which is this . quest . quest . what are the characters whereby it may be knowne whether you are such a one that hath no hopes for heaven , or a meer deluding , an ungrounded and presumptuous hope , as good as no hope ? answ . the hearts of all the sons of men are desperately wicked and deceitfull above all things , man is a proud creature and apt to have proud and high conceits of himself , and therefore i shall give you five distinguishing characters , whereby you may know whether your hopes for heaven be true , and well grounded hopes , or no. 1. that man that nourisheth in his heart great hopes for heaven , and yet at the same time fosters and favours great lusts and sins in himself , that man hath no true hopes for heaven . i shall give you a clear place to prove this , deut. 29. 15. and it come to passe when hee heareth the words of this curse , if he shall blesse himself in his heart , saying , i shall have peace though i walk after the imaginations of my heart , to add drunkennesse to thirst , &c. the lord will not spare such a man , but the anger of the lord and his jealousie shall smoak against that man : and so in esay 57. 20. sayes the prophet there , thou art wearied in the greatnesse of thy wicked wayes , yet saidst thou not , there is no hope , it is a very strange place , as if the prophet should say to them , you walk in a great course of sin and wickednesse , and yet you flatter you selves , you will not say there is no hope for you , you that doe nourish great sins and wickednesse in your bosomes , and allow your selves in the practise of great sins , you should say , there is no hope for you to goe to heaven , for god does here charge it upon you , that notwithstanding you walk on in wayes of sin , yet you say not , there is no hope ; but are rather very confident you shall go to heaven for all that ; and so in psal . 36. 1 , 2. the transgression of the wicked saith in his heart , there is no fear of god before his eyes , and yet sayes the psalmist , he flatters himselfe , with vain hopes of heaven ; wicked men have heaven and the hopes thereof in their eyes , when they have sinne in their hearts , and this shews that their hope is onely a deluding and a vain hope . 2. that man hath no true hope but onely a presumptuous and vain hope for heaven , that is strong in his expectations of heaven as his aim and end , but slow in his actions and endeavours after holinesse as his way : he that can with baalam desire to dye the death of the righteous , but never care nor desire to live the life of the righteous , that mans hope is but a vain hope , as the psalmist hath it in psalm . 119. 155. salvation is farre from the wicked , for they seek not thy statutes , and if salvation be far , the hope of salvation is as far ; but why is salvation far from the wicked ? because they seeke not gods statutes , those men that hope that salvation is neer them , when they are far from seeking after gods statutes , and endeavouring after holinesse , as the way to happinesse , these men are far from salvation , and the hope of salvation too . 3. that man hath only deluding hopes for heaven , that is unwilling to have his hope tryed , examined , and come to the touchstone , those that will not , as the apostle , bids us , be ready to give to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you , with meeknesse and fear ; now let me ask you what ground you can give for your hopes in heaven , have you the testimony of gods spirit for it , or the testimony of a good conscience . that in simplicity and godly sincerity , you have had your conversation here in this world ? have you a promise or any ground in scripture for your hopes ? if you have no ground for your hopes , and cannot indure to come to the triall or touchstone , it is an argument that you are counterfeit metall that you have no reall hopes for salvation and happinesse in another world. 4. that man that builds his hopes for heaven more upon his own performances then upon gods promises , his hope is only a deluding hope : this is that sandy ground christ speaks of in matth. 7. ult . to build your hopes of heaven upon any services you doe , or any duties you perform , it is all one , as if you should goe about to build a house upon the sand ; ask a wicked man whereon he grounds his hopes for heaven ; he will tell you that he does the works of charity , he gives every man his due , and he lives honestly , and civilly amongst his neighbours , hee hears and reads the word , he prayes and receives the sacrament , he does such and such good duties , and this is that which they build hopes for heaven upon , they think that christ is espoused for them , because they are bidden to the wedding supper , for the ordinances of christ are his marriage supper , they are ready to say with those in luk. 13. 26. we have eaten and drunken in they presence , lord , lord open to us . i doe not deny but a man may have evidence from his graces , & from the work of god upon his heart , but the great pillar of marble , that must bear up thy hope , must be the promise of god in christ ; he that builds his hopes for heaven only upon his own performances and good duties , his hope is a vain and deluding hope ; i doe not deny but the graces of gods spirit are reall evidences of . gods love to the soul , as the apostle sayes , by this we know that we are translated from death to life , because we love the brethren , and again , by this we know that we are of god , because of his spirit which he hath given us ; but i say this is not the main pillar and ground of our hope : we should be so fervent in prayer , and diligent in the performance of holy duties , as if we did expect to be saved by our duties , but when we have done all that we can , we must lay down all at the feet of christ , and conclude that our best righteousnesse is but as filthy rags , and when wee have done all that we can do , we are unprofitable servants , and we must wholly and only depend upon the merits and mercies of christ for salvation and comfort . 5. that man that thinks , there is neither difficulty in getting this grace of hope , nor efficacy in keeping of it , that man hath no true hope . 1. thou that thinkest there is no difficulty in obtaining this grace , thou never yet hadst it , for the least grace is beyond the power , and capacity of any man to get of himself , thou that thinkest it an easie matter to hope for heaven , thou never yet hadst a true hope , for it must be god that must work this grace in us , as the apostle sayes in rom. 15. 13. now the god of hope fill you with all peace and joy in beleeving . 2. those that think there is no efficacy in keeping this grace of hope , those have no true hope , for wheresoever true hope is , it hath these properties with it . 1. it hath a purifying vertue with it , as in 1. joh. 3. 3. every man that hath this hope in him , purifieth himself even as god is pure . 2. hope hath a pacifying property with it , it is the anchor of the soul , both sure and stedfast ; though the world , and the devill trouble and disquiet you , and afflictions and temptations molest and disturbe you , yet this grace of hope will quiet and pacifie you , those that hope in god shall be secure and at rest . 3. hope it hath a painful property with it , it is never a sluggard , where there is an impossibility , there hope is cut off . but that which a man hopes for , he will labour and endeavour after : as he that ploughs does plough in hope , so the hopes of heaven will make you plough up the fallow ground of your hearts , and make you indefatigable in your labours after heaven , so that you shall take a great deal of pains and use all your endeavours for it . sermon , xii . ephes. 2. 12. — having no hope — we come now to the third queston , which is this ( que. ) what is the reason ( seeing the scripture sayes that a wicked man hath no hope ) that of all the men in the world , wicked men doe nourish greatest hopes for heaven in their hearts ? answ . in resolving this question , i shall lay you down five false pillars or props , that doe bear up and nourish the hopes of wicked men , and as i name them to you , i shall shew you the rottennesse , and deceitfulnesse , and insufficiency of them , for any man to build hopes of heaven upon . 1. the first prop that wicked men doe build hopes of heaven upon is this , because they have committed but smal sins in their life time , and because they have not run out into the commission of such grosse and scandalous sins in the world as other men have , therefore say they , surely we have some ground to hope for heaven ; it is true , we are sinners , but my sins are but ordinary small sins and frailties , they are not sinnes of a double die , just as the pharisee sayes , lord i thank thee that i am not as other men are , extortioners , unjust , adulterers , or even as this publican , because he was not as bad as other men , therefore hee thought he had a right and title to heaven , because they are not as bad as the worst , therefore they think themselves as good as the best ; now i shall shew you the weaknesse and rottennesse of this pillar for any man to build hopes of heaven upon , and that in these five particulars . 1. you that make this a ground to build hopes for heaven upon , let me tell you thus much , that there are many men in the world that have kept themselves from great and crying sins , and yet remain in an unconverted estate : for instance , you may see this in paul , in phil. 3. 6. he tels us , that according to the law he was blamelesse , there was no command of god in the let t● of it , that he was guilty of the breach of , he was no swearer , nor lyer , nor stealer , nor drunkard , nor adulterer , &c. he was guilty of no great and grosse 〈◊〉 , and yet paul he had nothing to plead for heaven for him , if he had not had the righteousnesse of jesus christ to plead for him . sayes the young man to christ , what shall i doe to inherit eternall life ? christ tels him that he should not do any murther , nor commit adultery , nor steal , nor hear false witness , honor thy father and mother , and love thy neighbour as thy self ; the young man answered and said , all these things have i kept from my youth up : and jesus looked upon him and loved him , and pitied him , that such an ingenuous and blamelesse man as he was should yet go to hell ; this man did not break the law of god in the letter of it , but yet he went away sorrowfull , when christ bad him go & sell all that he had and give to the poor , the young man went away sorrowfull , for he had great possessions ; then says christ , how hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven ! and so the proud pharisee that boasted himself over the poor publican ; yet this man went away justified and not the other . 2. you that make small sins a prop to build hopes of heaven upon , it may be though your sins are little and small , yet what they want in bulk and magnitude , they may make up in number ; and many small sins are more dangerous then one great sin , many small scars upon the heart with a penknife is as bad as a thrust with a sword : it may be with thee in this regard , as it is in arithmetick , many small figures , amount to a greater sum , then a few great figures do , four small figures make a greater sum then three great figures , so many small sins will do thee more harm then a few great sins ? if what your sins do want in bulk and magnitude , you make it up in their number and multitude , you are as liable to damnation as if you had committed great and crying sins ; though you have not committed adultery in your life time , yet it may be you have had many sinfull and unclean thoughts in your heart ; and though you have not been guilty of murder , yet it may be you have had many revengefull thoughts in you , which is as bad as murther and so of any other sins . 3. you that plead exemption and freedom from great sins , to be a prop to build hopes for heavē upon , know thus much ; that smal sins are more capable of great aggravations , then great sins are , as i shall shew you in these 3. particulars , wherin smal sins do admit of greater aggravations then great sins . 1. smal sins are committed most commonly with more complacency and lesse reluctancy , then great sins are ; unclean thoughts do please the heart and tickle the fancy , and content the minde of a man , and are committed with a great deal more complacency & delight , and lesse reluctancy ; who would strain at a gnat ? now it layes your souls upon more guilt when you commit the smallest sins with delight and contentment , and satisfaction , then if you did commit great and gross sins , if you labor to resist them , and strive against them . 2. thou committest small sinnes with more security , and lesse penitency , then great sins ; when a man commits a great and scandalous sin , he is sensible of what he hath done , and layes it to heart , and is ashamed of it and must repent of it , or else it will be a shame to him all his life long ; but he can venture upon a small sin , & never be troubled at it , nor grieved for it , he can cōmit a smal sin with a great deal of security , & impenitency , so that hereby they do the soul more wrong then great sins . 3. you are apt to run into small sinnes with more frequency then you commit great sins , for they are so open to the reproof of the word , and so obvious to the eyes of all men , that you cannot find opportunities to commit them so often , whereas small sins you commit again and again , and one day after another , and a thousand times in one day , and yet never take notice of them , and therefore this may convince you , that your exemption from great sins , can be no sufficient ground to build your hopes for heaven upon . 4. you that build your hopes for heaven upon this ground , because your sins are none of the greatest , let me tell you , that the smallest sins that ever you committed in all your life time , without repentance on thy part , and satisfaction on christs part , will forever keep thy soul out of heaven , if you repent peradventure you shall be pardoned , the smallest sins cannot be forgiven , without the bloud of christ to wash them away , for without the shedding of bloud there is no remission : and thus i have shewed the insufficiency and deceitfulnesse of the first prop that wicked men do build their hopes for heaven upon , we come now to the second . 2. but sayes a wicked man , i have heard and read of those , that have committed far greater and more crying sins then ever i have been guilty of , and yet they hoped for heaven , and are gone to heaven , and therefore why should not i hope for heaven as well as they ? i read of david that committed adultery , and of noahs drunkennesse , and pauls persecuting christ , and peters denying of him , and divers others , and yet these men are gone to heaven , and why may not i as well as they ? concerning this plea of wicked men i shall give you these three things by way of answer . 1. you that make this a ground for your hope , you do pervert the end for which god hath recorded the examples of his servants in scripture , for god did not record them there , to be a provocation to thee to goe on presumptuously in sinning against him , but meerly to be a restraint and caveat to keep thee from falling into the same sins , which they did ; if noah , and lot , and david , and peter , &c. such holy and excellent men as these , had their failings , and did commit great and grosse sins , oh then let me take heed lest i am overtaken , and fall into the same sins ; this is the use that we should make of the failings of other man , as in 1 cor. 10. 11. all things are written for our example , to admonish us upon whom the ends of the world are come , and in 1 tim. 1. 16. sayes the apostle , iobtained mercy , that i might be an example to all that should hereafter beleeve in jesus christ. 2. you that make the sins of other men , that have obtained mercy , to be a ground to build your hopes of heaven upon , let me ask you this question ; you that do fall into the same sins with noah , or david , or peter , do you repent with them too ? it is true , noah did fall once into the sin of drunkenness , but yet the scripture records this of him , that he was an upright man in his generation : and so david , though he did once defile his bed , yet afterwards he repented of it , and made his couch to swim with tears for it : so peter after he had denyed christ , he went out and wept bitterly for it ; but i say , what is all this to thee , that doest make a trade of sin , and fall into grosse sins every day , time after time , and yet never mourn and grieve for them , as david did for his sin , nor weep bitterly for them with peter , what plea can this be for thee , to encourage thee to hope for heaven ? 3. know this further , that a godly man may fall into the same sins that others fall into , for the matter of them , but not for the manner , now it is the manner of falling into sin , and not the matter of it that dams a man ; it is true , noah did fall into the sin of drunkennesse , but i shall distinguish noah from any wicked drunkard in the world , and that in these five particular considerations , as 1. noah was drunk , but it was before he did know that wine would make him drunk , and if you read the story you shall finde , that there was never any wine drunk till that time , for noah did then begin to be a husbandman , and did plant a vineyard ; but now there is never a one of you but doe very well know that wine and strong beer and the like , will intoxicate you , and yet you will not refrain from excesse in drinking ; there is a great deal of difference between you and noah . 2. noah was drunk , but he did not proclaim his drunkennesse , but the text sayes he went into his tent and slept , he was ashamed of what he had done , but now you proclaim your sin , and swear , and stare , and commit many other sins in your drunkennesse . 3. it is true , noah was drunk , but you never read that he was drunk any more then once , but you are drunk again and again , one day after another . 4. though he did once fall into this sin , yet for the ordinary course and practise of his life , he was an upright man in his generation , whereas it may be your ordinary and frequent practise is drunkennesse . 5. noah was an aged man , and in this regard his age might call for more wine and strong liquor to chear up his spirits , then young people do want ; so that all these considerations do little mitigate , and allay noahs fault , though it be not wholly excusable . an so likewise david he committed the sin of adultery , he wallowed in an unclean bed , but yet his sin likewise may admit of some extenuation and excuse , as 1. david when he came up to the house top , he little dream't to have seen a naked woman there , which was a very great temptation to him , but it may be some of you do seek occasion , and contrive and plot how you may commit such a sin . 2. david did fall into this sinne neither but once , you shall commonly finde that godly men fall into great sins but once , they take warning by the first transgression , and seldome fall into the same sinne again , but now it may be you live in unclean thoughts and actions all your life long , and therefore this can be no prop for your hopes . 3. though david did fall into this sin , yet he did not continue in it long , for it was but nine moneths between nathan the prophets coming to david , and telling and reproving him for his sin , and the time that he fell into it ; but alas some of you it may be are adulterers of nine years standing , there are many amongst us that are old adulterers , and yet never had a melting and sorrowfull heart for their sins , that never wept as david did , nor mourn as he mourned . and so peter he fell into a sin of denying his lord and master ; but , 1. he was resolved , and did verily purpose before , to have confessed and not to have denyed him , and yet when the damsell came to him , and told him , that he was one of those that were with christ , & peter conceiving it may be that they would have put him to death and crucified him , as well as christ , upon this sodaine surprise ( which was a very great temptation to him , ) he denyed christ , and 2. though he denyed him thrice , yet afterwards he did confesse him as often as he denyed him , for when christ asked him , simon peter lovest thou me , he answered christ three times , lord thou knowest that i love thee . 3. peter denyed christ , but yet afterward he went out and wept bitterly for it , and therefore his obtaining mercy can be no ground for your hopes , that never yet repented of any of the sins you have committed , and thus you see that the falling of these three godly men into great sinnes can be no prop to bear up your hopes for heaven . i shall now shew you more particularly that though the godly do fall into sinne , yea even the same sinnes for the matter of them , as you do , yet they do not fall into them in the same manner , as 1. if a godly man fall into sin it is unwittingly and unawares ; in gal. 6. 1. sayes the apostle , if any man be overtaken with a fault . a godly man he runs away with all the speed he can from a sin and temptation , but sometimes it overtakes him against his will , but now a wicked man he runs after sin , and overtaketh it , he sins with set purpose of heart , he plots mischief upon his bed , and sets himself in a way that is not good . 2. a godly man fals into sin sometimes , but it is with reluctancy and opposition , the spirit striveth against the flesh ; there is an opposing , and striving against sin , they are not like cowards , but will fight as long as they can hold their weapon in their hands , but now wicked men they commit sin with greedinesse , with delight and complacency , without any reluctancy at all . 3. every sinne that a godly man committeth , maketh him more carefull and watchfull for the time to come : thus it was with david , psal . 38. the title of it , compared with psal . 39. 1. the title of psal . 38. is called a psalm of david to bring to remembrance , the subject matter of this psalme was to bring davids sinne to his remembrance , and having spent this , in remembring his sins , in the first words of the next psalme , sayes he , i have sinned , but i will take heed to my wayes , that i offend not with my tongue , after he had called to remembrance his sins past , then he resolved with himself to strive against them in time to come . a godly man never fals into a sin once , but he fears to fall into the same sin ever after . a godly man though he fals into sin sometimes , yet he will at length get the upper hand of sin ; though for the present he be not able to grapple with sin , yet he will overcome it at last , grace will out grow sinne , and get the victory over it ; and thus i have shewed you the second prop that wicked men build their hopes for heaven upon ; we come now to a third and that is this ; if you beat them off from the two former , then they flie to the mercies of god ; oh say they , god is a very mercifull god , and i hope he that made me will save me , and that i shall goe to heaven as well as other men , and the like . now i doe not deny but the mercies of god is the chiefest prop under heaven , that a man can build his hopes for heaven upon , but here i shall shew you the rottennesse of this prop likewise in four or five regards , and that the mercies of god in generall are no sufficient ground at all , to build thy hopes for heaven upon , unlesse thou canst lay claim to the mercies of god in particular , for if you build your hopes upon the mercies of god in generall , 1. the devils and damned spirits may then hope as well as you . 2. the common and outward mercies of god can be no good prop , to build hopes for heaven upon , unlesse you can lay claime to the saving and distinguishing mercies of god ; the common outward mercies of god wicked men may have , for god is good to al , and his tender mercy is over all his workes , the devils share in the common mercies of god as well as others ; but these generall mercies of god are no prop to build hopes for heaven upon , unlesse you can build upon the saving and distinguishing mercies of god , as david prayes , shew mercy unto me o god , ( sayes he ) with the mercy which thou bearest to thy own childeen ; it must be electing , redeeming , sanctifying , and saving mercies that you must build your hopes for heaven upon . 3. the generall mercies of god can be no ground of your hopes , unlesse you have an interest in jesus christ : for god is cloathed with greatnesse , and terrour , and dread , and wrath out of christ ; there is nothing to be looked upon but anger and wrath in god without jesus christ . there were two lawes that god did make concerning the mercy-seat . 1. the high priest was not upon pain of death to come to the mercy-seat , unlesse he brought incense with him ; now what does this signifie to us ? why , it represents the intercession of christ , that as aaron was not to come to the mercy-seat without incense , so neither can we goe to the throne of grace to beg mercy from god , with any hope of audience or acceptance , unlesse we carry incense with us , which is the lord jesus christ to plead for us . 2. aaron was to sprinkle the mercy-seat with bloud ; which typifies to us , that we are not to expect mercy from god , but as we have an interest in the bloud of christ . 4. to you that build your hopes for heaven upon the mercies of god in generally , let me tell you that god is not prodigall of his speciall mercies , as to bestow them upon all the world , but only upon a select number of men : he will have mercy onely on them that fear him ; as for the wicked those that run on in their sins , the lord sayes himself , that though he hath made them yet he will have no mercy on them ; the mercies of god in generall are no sufficient props to build hopes for heaven upon . ob. but here me thinks i hear some kind of people ready to object against me , and say , what , doe you go about to beat us off from our hopes of heaven ? would you bereave us of our hopes and drive us into despair ? 1. to this i answer , that all you that have good and well grounded hopes for heaven , i would not for all the world , stagger your hopes ; but as the great windes doe commonly root up , and blow down the smaller shrubs , but doe settle and root the stronger oakes the faster into the ground ; so i would have all that i have said this day concerning the vain & deceitfull hopes of wicked men , to confirm and establish your hopes and make them grow stronger and stronger . 2. god forbid , that this should be in my heart , to drive any of you to despair ; doe not think that my aim in what hath been said is to make any of you fall into desperation , but to keep you up and prevent you from falling into presumption , which is the more dangerous errour of the two , because where the rock of desperation hath split thousands , the rock of presumption hath split its ten thousands . 3. my intention in what hath been said , is not to make you cast away all your hopes for heaven , but only your false and ill grounded hopes ; i would have you to pull down all your tottering hopes , and to build them upon a more sure foundation ; jesus christ himself being the chiefe corner stone . sermon , xiii . ephes. 2. 12. — having no hope — wee come now to enquire further , what is the reason that wicked men doe nourish in their hearts most hopes for heaven , seeing the scripture sayes they have none : the last time i answered this question , by naming three false props , that they build hopes for heaven upon ; i shall now give you three or four more . 4. another false prop that wicked men build hopes for heaven upon is this ; their frequency in the performances of religious duties ; and thus they reason with themselves ; shall i use duties , all the dayes of my life , as my way to heaven , and shall i not hope for heaven at my journeys end ? though a wicked man does notionally hope for heaven through christ , yet he layes the chiefest foundation of his hopes in his own good works ; as christ sayes , in the last day they shal come to him & cry , lord , lord , open to us , for we have prophesied in thy name , and eat and drunk in thy presence , we have heard thy word , and done many miracles , and cast out devils in thy name , and the like ; they shall boast of their hearing , and praying , and good workes , and make that a plea for heaven , when christ shal say unto them , depart from me , i know you not . now i shall shew you the rottennesse and in sufficiency of this prop to build hopes for heaven upon ; but i would not have you mistake me , as if i went about to beat down good workes , and make duties uselesse ; for i would have you so to perform duties , as if you were to be saved by duties , but when you have done all that you can doe , to lay them down at the feet of christ , and wholly depend upon him , as if we had done no duties at all ; but if you make the bare performance of duties , to be a prop for your hopes of heaven , it will be a very rotten and deceitfull prop , as i shall shew you in these four particulars : for , 1. all performance of duties not tendered to god the father by jesus christ ; will not be accepted by him ; that were it possible you should kneel so long in prayer to god , as that you should wear out your knees ; were it possible that you should cry out your eyes with weeping , and by mourning and lamenting for your sins , you should dry up all the moisture of your body ; were it possible you should spend all the dayes of your life in hearing , reading , praying , and the performance of holy duties ; yet if you doe not offer them up to god in the name and mediation of jesus christ , they are all but like cyphers that amount to no sum at all , unlesse the righteousnesse of christ be added to them : it is christs righteousnesse that makes our services acceptable to god ; christ addes his incense to the prayers of all his saints : now ( beloved ) though you make never so many prayers , yet if you have no share in christ , nor in his sufferings , and prayers , and intercessions to god for thee , all thy prayers and holy duties are worth nothing , they will never bring thee to heaven ; our persons must be in christ , before our services can be accepted of god , and therefore the bare performance of duties , can be no prop to thee for to build hopes for heaven upon . 2. these things can be no prop of thy hopes for heaven , because hypocrites , whose persons and performances god doth hate , they are frequent in duties as well as you : the pharisees they did fast twice a week , and give almes , and perform holy duties , and so those spoken of in the prophet esay , they did delight to draw near to god , and to know his wayes , as a nation that did righteousnesse , and for sook not the ordinances of god : wherefore have we fasted , say they , and thou seest not ? god did not accept of any thing they did : and so those in zac. they kept four fasting dayes in a year for seven yeares together , and yet they said he did not regard them : and so likewise god doth not regard the prayer of the wicked , as in psal . 105. 9. the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the lord ; and so is their hearing too , for they come to hear when their hearts are after their covetousnesse . 3. know thus much , that those very duties which god does accept at the hands of his children , those very duties will he reject at the hands of wicked men , and therefore the bare performance of duty can be no prop to build hopes for heaven upon ; for though thou spendest longer time in prayer , & more time in hearing reading , fasting , &c. then a godly man does , yet the lord will accept of his duties and not of thine . i shall give you three instances for this ; the first is between cain and abel : abel he offered the firstlings of his sheep , and cattle and of his flock , and cain he offered the first-fruites of his ground ; now by faith abel offered a more excellent offering then cain , though cains offering was of more value then abels was yet abels was accepted , when the others was not ; abels sacrifice was accepted not in regard of the quantity , and worth , and value of it , but because abel was a beleever , and a justified man in the fight of god , and therefore he had respect first to his person , and then to his sacrifice . another instance is in 1 king. 18. 25. between elijah the prophet , and the prophets of baal ; elijah the prophet tooke two bullocks , and bid the prophets of baal to chuse one , and you must think they would not chuse the worst of them , and he took the other , and yet the lord shewed a token of acceptance to elijah and his sacrifice , though it was the worst of the bullocks , and shewed no acceptance to the prophets of baal , and the reason of it was because elijah was a justified man in the sight of god , when the others were not . and so again in prov. 15. 8. it is said there , that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the lord , but the prayer of the wright is his delight : god doth delight in a poore pennilesse prayer coming from a godly man , when he will not accept of a costly sacrifice coming from a wicked man. 4. the bare performance of duties can be no prop to build hopes for heaven upon , because god doth not look so much upon the matter of the duty what you do perform , as to the manner how , and the end why you doe perform them , though it may be the duty which you perform be the same for the matter of them , as god requires and commands , yet if they be not done in a right manner , god lookes upon it as nothing ; god will not own those duties as done to him , that are not done in a right manner , and to a right end : as in joh. 16. 24. hitherto ( sayes christ ) you have asked nothing in my name , aske and receive that your joy may be full ; and yet they had put up many petitions in his name , but because they did it not in a right manner , christ lookt upon it as if they had asked nothing at all . 5. another false prop that wicked men build hopes of heaven upon , is a meere mistake of the promises and pillar of hope in scripture ; and this is done two wayes : either , 1. they make those promises to be props of hope which are not : or , 2. they doe misapply those promises that are true grounds of hope . 1. they make those to be props of hope which are not ; i shall name you three of them , the first is that passage in our common liturgy , at what time soever a sinner doth repent from the bottome of his heart , i will blot out all his sins out of my remembrance ( saith the lord ) . this very sentence hath been a means to delude a world of men , whereas indeed it is no ground at all to build hopes for heaven upon : for , 1. there are no such words as these to be found in the whole scripture : and , 2. the place where these words are found , it is onely in the common liturgie , which liturgie is but an abstract of the popish masse , for though all that is in the popish masse be not in the common-prayer , yet all that is in the common-prayer is in the popish masse ; it may be you will scarse beleeve this , but it is very true , as you may see , if you look into the second volume of the book of martyrs the 667. page , where there is a letter inserted of king edward the sixth , sent to the papists in cornwall , who were risen up in armes about the translating of the masse into englsh , which they would by no meanes agree to , but rose up to oppose it ; king edward to pacifie them , wrote to them on this manner , as for the service-booke , the translating of it may seem to you to be some new thing , but they are the very same words in english which were before in latine , and if the masse book which is in latine be good , then it is as good now , though it be translated into english . 3. you will say the lord himself said these words , at what time a sinner doth repent i will blot all his sins out of my remembrance , ( saith the lord ) . i answer , that it is not said so in the whole book of god , and if you look into that text of scripture which they ground these words upon , that the lord did say so , you shall finde it otherwise ; it is in ezek. 18. 21. mark the words , these are gods words indeed ; if a wicked man will turn from all the sins that he hath committed , and keep all my statutes , and doe that which is lawful and right , he shal surely live , and not dye . they say if a wicked man does repent of his sins ; now repentance is a generall work , judas did repent , but his repentance did him no good ; but here you see it is said that if a wicked man turn from all his evill wayes , and do that which is lawfull and right , then he shall surely live . 2. another scripture-prop which wicked men build their hopes for heaven upon , but is indeed no prop , is this , that the righteous man sinneth seven times a day ; this is one of the greatest props a wicked man hath , sayes he , what doe you tell me of my sins , the best men have their failings , the righteous sin seven times a day , and why may not i goe to heaven as well as they ? wicked men make this a great prop to their hopes , when indeed there is no place of scripture like this in the whole bible ; that which comes nearest to it , is in prov. 24. 16. a just man falleth seven times and riseth again , but the wicked fall into mischief : now here is no mention of falling into sin in the text , nor no mention of a day ; but only thus , a just man falleth seven times , and riseth again : st. austin gives this sense of the word ; a godly man falleth seven times , that is often times , expounding this place with that in job 5. 19. the lord will be with thee in six troubles , and in seven there shall no evill touch thee : a righteous man , sayes augustine , falleth seven times , not sinneth , seven times , he doth not fall into sin , but into affliction ; the righteous falleth seven times , that is , the godly in this world are liable to fall seven times into affliction , that is , very often into afflictions and troubles while he lives here in this world ; according to that of job , in six troubles and in seven the lord shall deliver thee , meaning oftentimes : and therefore this place carries no reference at all of falling into sin seven times a day . 2. suppose it were so , that the righteous did sin seven times a day , yet the text sayes in the next words , that as often as he falleth he riseth again ; now it may be , many of you that make this a prop for your hopes of heaven , doe fall into sin day after day , and never rise out of them again by repentance : you leave out these words , and riseth again , for many of you live your whole lives long in an evill course , you wallow and lye down in sin , and therefore this can be no prop for your hopes . 3. another sentence which they make a scripture prop , but is not , is this , that christ died for all and for every man in the world ; this comes within the arminian bounds , but this opinion is taken up by others too as well as them , that hold universall redemption ; but because i have already preached two or three sermons upon this subject , i shall therefore onely now speak so much as is needfull , to shew you the rottennesse and insufficiency of this prop ; 1. suppose christ did dye for all , yet those men that are of this opinion , that christ did dye for all , they doe not hold that all men are saved by christ , but some men may fall off from christ ; and be damned , notwithstanding christ dyed for them . 2. take this by way of answer , that it is not likely that they should have benefit by christs bloud , that have no benefit by this death . 3. to you that make this a plea for your hopes of heaven ; observe this , that where there are these generall expressions , they are very ill understood : if you say they speak of universal & generall redemption , as in 2 cor. 5. 14 , 15. because we thus judge , that if one died for all , then are all dead , and he died for all , that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves , but unto him that died for them and rose again ; why , here none can lay claim to christs death , but those that live to christ that died for them : and so in heb. 2. 9. but we see jesus that was made a little lower then the angels , for the suffering of death , cloathed with glory and honour , that hee by the grace of god should taste death for every man ; but mark the restraint in the next words ; for it became him for whom are all things , and by whom are all things , in bringing many sons unto glory ( here the apostle restrains the words ) to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings ; for both he that sanctifieth , and they that are sanctified are all one , for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren : the apostle does here again restrain the words , and therefore this can be no more prop for your hopes , that are not sanctified ; but thus much may suffice for the first branch , in shewing you how wicked men doe make those places to be scripture props for their hopes which are not . 2. if they do not make those places to be scripture props which are not , yet they doe misapply those places , which indeed are scripture promises and grounds of hope ; as that christ came into the world to save sinners ; now this is a scripture promise , for christ came to seek and save them that were lost : but now ( beloved ) men doe misapply this generall pillar of hope ; they take them in the generall notions of them , and this makes abundance of people to harbour great hopes of heaven in their hearts : but now i shall shew you , wherein they doe misapply them . 1. in not considering that a man must be first in christ , before he can lay claim to any promise of christ . they run to the promise , and never examine first whether or no they have an interest in christ . the promise is good and comfortable , but it cannot convey any comfort to thy soul , unlesse thou art in jesus christ , no more then a dry pipe can convey water to thee without the fountain : we are first made christs , and then we have a right to all the promises of christ : it is by our interest in christ , that we have a right and title to all the promises of god in christ . if you have an interest in christ , you have all the promises as it were bound up in a bundle , which you may have recourse to , and make use of when you will. 2. they object and say , that the promises doe run in free and generall termes having no conditions annext to them . answ . it is true , there are some promises that are absolute , so as to have no condition , going before them , but every promise in the gospell hath some condition or other annext to it , if it hath not a condition going before it as meritorious ; yet it hath a condition that followes after it , ●● in gen. 17. 1. i am thy god all sufficient , ( what then ? ) walk before me and be thou perfect . in 2 cor. 6. 16 , 18. i will be their god , and they shall be my people : and i will be a father unto you , and ye shall be my sons and daughters , saith the lord god almighty : what followes ? why in the 1. verse of the next chapter , saies the apostle there , having therefore these promises ( dearly beloved ) let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse both of the flesh and spirit , perfecting holinesse in the fear of god. so in heb. 5. 9. christ came into the world to save sinners , but there is a condition goes after it , he that sanctifieth , and they that are sanctified , must be all one : there is no promise in all the gospell , but that a condition is prefixt , or annext to it : in mat. 11. 28. saies christ , come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden , and i will give you rest : there is a foregoing condition , we must come unto christ : and other promises have conditions going after , as i could instance divers , but these shall suffice . there are two props more behind , they are but very short ones ; i shall goe over one of them now , because i would not be hindreed in my afternoons work , in shewing you the difference between those that have a reall and well grounded hope , and those that have only a false and deluding hope . 6. another false prop that wicked men build hopes for heaven on is this , because they live honestly and justly among their neighbours , they give every man his due , and do no body any wrong , and the like , and therefore they conclude themselves in a very good condition . ans . were this a sufficient ground for hope for heaven , there would more of the heathens goe to heaven , then of you ; for they walk very exactly , and are just and upright in all their dealings . but wicked and bad men may have very good meanings in them , as wee may see in balaam , numb . 23. 10. he desired to die the death of the righteous , and that his last end might be like his : this was a good desire and meaning in him . 2. take this for an answer , that though a bad meaning will defile and pollute a good action , yet a good meaning cannot advantage nor doe a bad action any good : as the scribes and pharisees , they performed very good actions in themselves , but they had self-ends , and bad meanings that spoiled all their duties ; good meanings cannot justifie bad actions . if thy actions be wicked , good meaning can do thee no good : rom. 8. those that say , let us doe evill that good may come of it , their damnation is just . 3. let your meaning be never so good , yet if you have an ignorant minde , it is worth nothing , as in prov. 19. 2. the minde without knowledge cannot be good ; as no man ever became rich by meaning and purposing to be rich , but by labouring and endeavouring after it , so no man ever went to heaven by good meanings without good actions accompanying them . 2. but say they , we do no body any harm , but pay every man his own . ans . 1. though you pay every man his own , yet do you give god his own ? or rather do you not wrong god , and do him infinite indignities ? 2. though you do not do man wrong , yet doe you not your own souls wrong ? as we use to say of free-hearted men , they are enemies to no man but themselves : so now do not you doe your own souls wrong by harbouring of bosome lusts and corruptions in your souls ? what benefit will it be to thee , that you do no body else wrong , when you doe your own souls wrong ? you are no better then the pharisees , for they were very exact in giving every man his due ; the proud pharisee could boast in luk. 18. 11. i am no extortioner nor unjust man : you may mean well and give every man his own , and yet be a wicked man. sermon , xiv . ephes. 2. 12. — having no hope — we come now to the last prop that wicked men doe build their hopes of heaven upon , which is this , if you beat them off from all the former props , from their small sins , from the mercies of god in generall , from their good duties , and good meanings , &c. then they run to this last plea ; say they , have not we reason to nourish hopes for heaven ; for we have been present with dying men , that have been as bad as wee in their life time , and yet they have had very strong hopes for heaven , and strong hopes in god : and you know dying men will speak the truth , and therefore why may not we nourish hopes for heaven , as well as they ? this is a very strong prop wicked men build their hopes upon : but i shall shew you the rottennesse and insufficiency of it in these three or four particulars . 1. you must know that it is one thing to die stupidly , and another thing to die hopefully and peaceably : indeed , the worst men in the world , may die stupidly , their consciences may not doe its office when they die : they may have their consciences feared as it were with a hot iron , and think they are going to heaven , and never think otherwise till they drop down into hell ; but now the godly , they die full of peace and comfort , as in psal . 37. 37. mark the upright man , and behold the just , for the end of that man is peace ; but there is no peace , saith my god , to the wicked , esai . 57. 41. there may be a fearednesse of conscience , and stupidity of heart , but they cannot die peaceably and in hope . 2. you that make this a prop for your hope , because you have seen wicked men die peaceably like lambs ; let me tell you thus much , that it is the greatest judgement in the world , for a wicked man to die peaceably , and quietly , in delusions , and conceits of going to heaven ; when they are tumbling down headlong to hell : it were better for him , that god did let the flashings of hell fire to flie in his face : it were better for him that his conscience did tell him his danger , and his doom , then thus to die in a stupid manner . in job 21. 23. it is said , that a wicked man dies in his full strength , being wholly at ease and quiet : no sin troubles him , nor no danger makes him afraid : so in psal . 73. 4 , 5. they have no bands in their death , but their strength is firm ; they are not in trouble , as other men , neither are they plagued as other men ; they have no trouble in their life time , and no bands in their death : now this is rather to be looked upon as a judgement upon them , and not as a mercy . 3. if this peace and quietnesse in a wicked mans conscience , did arise from any grounded assurance , or hope of heaven , then it might be lookt upon as a blessing ; but when it doth arise meerly from the delusions of his own heart , then it is nothing but as it were a golden dore to let him into hell : it shall be with him as in esai . 29. 8. an hungry man dreameth , and behold , he eateth : but he awaketh , and his soul is empty : so a wicked man dreams he is going to heaven , when he is falling down into hell . 4. there may be great hopes of heaven exprest in a dying mans words , when there is not so much peace and quietnesse in his heart , as in prov. 14. 23. in the midst of laughter , the heart is sorrowfull . in the midst of a wicked mans boasting , there is a fear of hel . 5. though you have seen some men that have dyed with stupidity of heart , depart quietly ; yet there are other wicked men , whose consciences are awakened , that die full of horror , and terror , and amazement . when their consciences tell them , they have dyed swearers , or lyers , or drunkards , or adulterers , &c. they are filled with horror , and terror of conscience ; that though he thought all his life time he should goe to heaven , yet he now fears he is going down into hell . and thus i have done with the third question , in shewing you the reasons why , ( seeing the scripture saies that a wicked man hath no hope ) that of all the men in the world , wicked men do nourish greatest hopes for heaven in their hearts ; there are only two queries more to handle , and then come to the fifth branch of mans misery . quest . 4 4. the fourth query in order is this ; that seeing the scripture sayes a wicked man hath no hope , and esteems of their false and presumptuous hope , to be as good as no hope ; then how shall we know the difference between those well grounded hopes a godly man hath , and those presumptuous and deluding hopes wicked men have ? answ . ans . i shall here give you six apparent differences between them . 1. the hopes of a godly and regenerate man for heaven ; it is gotten by , and grounded upon the word of god : and therefore it is called the hope of the gospell , because it is gotten by the gospell as the means , and grounded upon the gospell as the end : that we ( sayes the apostle ) through the comfort of the scriptures might have hope : a godly man hath his comforts from the scriptures . psal . 119. 49. good is the word of the lord , wherein thou hast caused thy servant to hope . but now the hopes of wicked men , as they are gotten they know not how , so neither do they know upon what they are grounded , and this is the reason why they are called presumptuous hopes ; for this is presumption , when a man does beleeve a thing , when he can have no visible nor likely means , to ground or bottome his hopes upon . 2. true and patient hope is bottomed upon the mercies of god , and the merits of jesus christ ; and hence it is , that christ is called our hope , because he is the foundation on whom beleevers do build all their hopes for heaven ; so likewise they build their hope on the mercies of god , in psal . 147. 11. the lord taketh pleasure in those that fear him , in those that hope in his mercy : and again in psal . 33. 18. the eye of the lord is upon them that fear him , upon them that trust in his mercy : and so in psal . 52. 8. saies david there , i trust in the mercies of god for ever and ever . a godly man he is cast out of himself , and out of an opinion of his own righteousnesse , and his hopes are only built upon the mercy of god , and on the merits of christ . but now the false and presumptuous hopes that wicked men have , are not built so much upon gods mercy as their own duties , and not so much upon the merits of christ , what he hath done for them , as upon their own duties what they have done for themselves . 3. true hope doth comfort and bear up the heart under all the discomforts , that it meets with in the world : as david saies , i had fainted under my afflictions , but that thy word is my hope : and hence it is that you have those two admirable expressions put together , rom. 5. 2 , 3. rejoycing in hope , and glorying in tribulation ; these are put together to shew , that when a man can rejoyce in hope , he can glory in all the tribulations , he meets with in the world . but now presumptuous hopes , are like lead , and ponderous weights , that will make you sink under every affliction . it is only a true and saving hope , that will enable you to hold up your heads under all afflictions and troubles . 4. true hope does as well act for heaven , as hope for heaven ; but a presumptuous hope , that hopes for heaven as its end , but yet never acts holinesse as its way to heaven ; true hope as it hopes for heaven , so it labours to work out its salvation with fear and trembling ; you have an admirable passage for this in psal . 119. 166. saies david there , lord i have trusted in thy salvation , and i have done thy commandements : here is both hoping and acting for heaven put both together , wicked men they hope for heaven , but they do not do gods commands , and so in psal . 37. 3. trust in the lord and do good , saies the psalmist , here is trusting and doing put together , true hope doth act for heaven as well as hope for heaven ; but false hope doth hope much and act little ; wicked men will hope for salvation , but not work out their salvation ; hope for heaven , but not labour for heaven : this is the fourth difference . 5. that man that hath true hope , he makes conscience to keep his heart pure , and free both from the love of sin , and from the dominion of sin , while he lives here in this world ; you have a plain text for this in 1 joh. 3. 3. he that hath this hope in him , purifieth himself even as god is pure ; he doth labour and endeavour to keep his heart upright , and pure , and free from sin . but now a false hope will hope for heaven , though they walk on after the imaginations of their own hearts , as in esai . 51. 10. thou hast walked in the greatnesse of thy wicked wayes , yet saidst thou not , there is no hope : though they had great sins , yet they had great hopes for heaven ; if thou art such a one as is mentioned in deut. 59. 18. that saiest , thou shalt have peace , though thou walkest after the imaginations of thy own heart , to adde drunkennesse to thirst , if thou art such a one , thy hope is only a presumptuous hope . 6. true hope flowes from a long and well grounded experience ; this is the reason of that expression in rom. 5. 4. patience worketh experience , and experience hope : true hope flowes from a long and well grounded experience in the waies of god ; and from an experience of the grace , and bounty , and love of god to his soul : and from experiences of the goodnesse , and mercy , and promises of god : and likewise from an experience of his own heart , in withstanding temptations , subduing corruption , and performing holy duties . such experiences as these are inlets to a well grounded hope for heaven ; but now the hopes of wicked men , are only the results of ignorance , they that never had any experience of themselves , nor of the waies of god ; they have most hopes , but their hopes are only deluding , and presumptuous hopes : wicked men that do so quickly get into a state of hope , without any former experiences of the wayes of god , it is a sign that their hopes are only vain and empty hopes ; they are but pithy hopes : just like your pithy trees , as elders , and withies , and such like trees , they shoot up fastest , and grow up soonest ; whereas the more firm and stronger wood , as oaks , and elme , and the like , are a great while longer in growing , before they come to maturity ; why , so it is a great while before a godly man can get a well grounded assurance of his hopes for heaven . use . and thus i have done with the doctrinall part of this fourth branch of mans misery , ( without hope ) we come now to the application , and the use that i shall make of it shall be threefold . 1. for consolation . 2. for terror : and , 3. for instruction . 1. for consolation , to the people of god , though the scripture saies a wicked man hath no hope , yet it sayes otherwise of you that are a people of god , the scripture tels you that your hope is laid up in heaven for you ; and the lord is your hope ; though wicked men have no hopes for heaven , yet you have grounded , and assured , and certain hopes for heaven : your hope is laid up for you in another world ; the wicked have only their hopes in this life , and when they die , their hopes shall perish , as in prov. 11. 7. when a wicked man dyeth , his expectation shall perish , and the hope of unjust men perisheth ; but it is not so with you , for the godly hope in their death . and this hope of a godly man , is not as the papists hold , for though they grant a beleever hath hope , yet they deny that any have assurance , they say that all a beleevers evidence for heaven is only a hope , a p●●l adventure , ( a most uncomfortable tenent ; ) whereas the scripture sayes , there is as full an assurance of hope , as of faith , in heb. 16. 11. saies the apostle , use all diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end , and so in rom. 15. 5. your hope is such as will not make you ashamed ; your hopes are not like the hopes of men that hope for dead 〈◊〉 shoes ( as the proverb is ) , for they may go on barefoot before they die , but christ , who is our hope , he hath dyed already , and risen again ; he hath made his will and testament ; and hath left us legacies , and be queathed riches to us : our hopes are well grounded hopes , not as other mens are , that will leave them , when they have most need of them . use 2 use 2. the second use shall be by way of terrour , to shew you the misery of those men , that have only presumptuous hopes for heaven . 1. you are in a state of unlikelihood to be converted , more then any other men in the world ; and this is the reason why the scripture tels us , that whores and harlots shall go to heaven , before the scribes and pharisees , and yet they were a very strict people , and did walk very outwardly holy ; and the reason is , because it is an easier matter to convince a harlot of her sins , then to convince a proud pharisee , that thinks himself as good as the best , and hath lived in peace all his life time . 2. let me tell you thus much , that your hopes will leave you , when you have most need of them . prov. 11. 7. the place before quoted ; the hope of the wicked shall be cut off , and when he dies , his expectations shall perish : he looks for heaven , but he shall be disappointed ; as in job 8. 14. his confidence shall be cut off , and his trust shall be sake a spiders web , as the spider wraps himself in his web , and dwels there securely all the week long , but at the end of the week , when the maid comes to sweep the windowes , she sweeps down the web , and the spider both ; just so the hopes of all wicked men shall come to nothing : and so in job 11. 20. the eyes of the wicked shall fail , and they shall not escape ; and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost . as a dying man , a little before his death , is pretty joyfull and merry , and entertains some hopes of a longer life , but when his eye-strings crack , and the tokens of death appear upon him , then his heart fails him , and all his hopes are dasht in pieces , and taken from him ; just so it is with wicked men , they are full of hopes for heaven , till they come to dye , but then their hopes leave them , and all their expectations perish . 3. your harbouring false and presumptuous hopes for heaven , does produce this threefold miserable and unavoidable effect upon you : 1. frustration : 2. vexation : and 3. damnation . 1. it produceth frustration and disappointment of all your hopes : when you are a dying , you hope that after death , you shall lanch forth into a sea of joy and pleasure , when on the contrary you shall lanch forth into a river of brimstone , which the breath of the lord shall kindle : you hope it may be , that after death , you shall be carryed by angels into abrahams bosome , when you may be carryed by the devils into beelzebubs bosome : you it may be hope that death shall be a dore to let you into heaven ; when it shall be only a back dore to let you fall down into hell . 2. it shall produce in you vexation . now vexation ariseth either from disappointment , or revenge : why , so wicked men shall not only have a privation of happinesse , but a vexation in the losse of happinesse . and hence it is , that some divines give the reason why it is said in mat. 8. 12. that in hell there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ; some are of an opinion , that as our fire burns hot , so the fire of hell shall burn cold , but that is but a fancy : our divines say , that there shall be gnashing of teeth in hell , in token of that vexation of minde that shall be in wicked men , because all their hopes are so frustrated and disappointed , they shall gnash their teeth for vexation of minde , when they shall see abraham , and isaac , and jacob , and all the prophets in the kingdome of god , and they themselves thrust out . 3. these false hopes will likewise produce your damnation : a wicked man that harbours false hopes for heaven in his heart , is like a man sleeping upon 〈◊〉 mast of a ship , who ( it may be ) is dreaming a very pleasant and delightfull dream , and upon a sudden comes a blast of winde and blowes him into the sea ; so a wicked man he is but in a golden dream on his death bed , and he hopes that he is going to heaven , till he be plunged down into hell : all this represents to you the dreadfull condition of those men that have onely presumptuous hopes for heaven . use 3 we come now to the third use , which shall be for instruction ; and if this be so , then this may teach us these two or three lessons . 1. let us take heed lest we run into this easie delusion , there are some in the world that doe fall into it , and therefore why may not we as well as others ? therefore take heed that you doe not fancy to your selves false hopes of heaven . 2. doe you that are godly take heed that you do not cast off all your hopes for heaven : doe not you say that hope is cut off from you ; as wicked men are apt to harbour groundlesse hopes for heaven , so good men are too apt to cast off grounded hopes for heaven ; therefore do not say there is no hope for you , for there is hope for you . 3. do not harbour in your hearts , common and ordinary conceits of this grace of hope , as if it were so easie a matter to obtain it ; it is naturall for men to think that this grace of hope is very easie to be gotten , for say they , were it not for hope the heart would break ; wicked men are ready to thinke that this grace of hope is easie to be gotten by any body , and to be had of all , therefore take heed of this , and consider that there is the same certainty , the same excellency , and the same efficacy , in this grace of hope , as there is in faith . 1. there is the same certainty in it ; heb. 6. 11. it is called the full assurance of hope . 2. there is the same excellency in it , tit. 2. 13. it is called a blessed hope : and , 3. there is the same efficacy in it , as in the grace of faith , in act. 15. 9. it is said there , that faith purifieth the heart , and so likewise does hope , 1 joh 3. 3 every man that hath this hope in him , purifieth himself , even as god is pure : and , 4. there is the same difficulty in getting hope as in getting faith : for 1. this is gotten by the word of god , rom. 10. 17. and so is hope too , col. 1. 23. it is gotten by the ●●aching of the word . 2. faith is wrought in us by the power of god : heb. 12. 2. christ is the author and finisher of our faith ; and so is hope likewise wrought in us by the power of the holy ghost , rom. 15. 13 that ye may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost . so that hereby you see that you ought not to have such low thoughts of this grace of hope , as if it were an easie matter for every man to get it ; for there is as much certainty , as much excellency , as much efficacy in this grace , and as much difficulty in getting this grace of hope , as there is in faith . and thus i have done with the 4. branch of an unconverted mans misery , that hee is without any well grounded hopes for heaven . sermon , xv. ephes. 2. 12. — and without god in the world. we come now to the fifth misery of men by nature , which is this , that they are without god in the world ; and here first i shall give you something from the order of the words , and then unfold them ; and then draw out some doctrines from them . quest. 1. for the order of the words , why is their being without christ put in the first place of the text , and their being without god put in the last place ? answ . answ . their being without christ , is put in the first place , because it was the inlet of all their misery , and their being without god is put in the last place , because it is the finall upshot of mans misery ; it is the inlet of a mans misery to bee without christ , and it is his misery to be an alien to the common-wealth of israel , and a stranger to the covenant of promise , and to be without hope , and it is the upshot of all thy misery to be without god in the world ; and here i shall shew you that there are multitudes of men and women in the world , that are without god , though they doe every day worship god , yet they may live all their dayes without god ; but before i speak to this , i must unfold two or three things in the words , as object . 1. how can it be said here that they were without god in the world , when the apostle says in another place , that the wicked cannot be without god , the lord is not farre from every one of us , for in him we live and move and have our being , here the apostle sayes that wicked men are not far from god , and that they live in god ; and therefore how can it be said in the text , that wicked men are without god in the world , whereas we are all gods off-spring , and come from god , how can this be ? answ . answ . the answer is very easie ; and that is this , that in some sense there is no man nor creature in the world without god ; and yet in another sense there are multitudes of men that are without god in the world. 1. in some sense there is no man can be said to be without god ; that is , by way of creation , preservation , sustentation , and ruling over us , every one is in god by way of creation and preservation , &c. but how in another sense there are multitudes of people without god ; this is in a way of speciall interest in him , without a reconciled god , without god as a father to you in jesus christ , without a god that you can lay claim to as yours , in this sense multitudes of people are without god in the world. 2. another thing that i shall explaine to you is this , what it is to be without god , and without god in the world. i answer , that to be without god it includes in it in scripture phrase these four things . 1. to be without the knowledge of the true god. 2. to be without the true worship of the true god. 3. to be without a true obedience to the true god ; and 4. to be without a peculiar interest and propriety in god. 1. to be without god , is to be without the knowledge of the true god ; then a man is said to be without god , when he doth not know the true god. every man in the world hath something or other to be his god , as in jonah 1. 5 , 6. when there was a great tempest upon the sea , and the ship like to be cast away that jonah was in , it is said , that every man prayed to his god , and jonah be prayed to the lord his god , and so in micah 4. 5. for all people will walk every one in the name of his god , and we wil walk in the name of our god for ever and ever . every man may have something to worship as a god , and yet be without the true god , those are said to be without god , that are without the knowledg of the true god , as you may see in 2 chr. 15. 3. it is said there , that for a long time israel was without the true god ; without god , how so ? doth not god rule and governe and preserve the world ? yes , but they are said to be without god , because they were without the knowledge of god , for if you mark the next words , it is said , they were without the teaching priest , and without the law , so that all the while they lay in ignorance of the true god , they were said to be without god. 2. men may be said to be without god , when they are without the true worship of the true god ; all the while the children of israel had the ark among them which was the signe of gods presence , all that while god was among them , but when the ark was taken god was gone too , the lord will be with you while you are with him , while you worship god sincerely and uprightly according to his wil , so long god will be with you . 3. to be without god is to live without true obedience to the true god , when men doe so live as that the commands of god bear no sway over them , it is a signe they are without god , as in psal . 81. 11. my people , saith god , would not hear my voyce , and israel would have none of me ; the not obeying of gods commands is a not having of god ; thou art without god in the world oh man , unto whose conscience the soveraignty and authority of a god cannot give a check , and a controll to thy lusts , to bring thee into obedience to him . 4. to be without god in the world , is to be without a peculiar interest and propriety in god as your god , when you cannot say that god is your father . now if you ask me in which of these four senses these ephesians here in the text , were without god , i answer , that they were without god in all of them , for while they were in a state of gentilism , they were without the knowledge of the true god , and without the worship of the true god , and without any obedience to the true god , and without any reall interest and propriety in god , but chiefly the two latter are included in this phrase ; the generall point of doctrine that i shall observe , from this last branch of mans misery shall be this , doctr. that every man during the state of his unregeneracy is without god in the world ; this only in the generall . but here some may enquire what is meant by this expression without god in the world ; the meaning is , that they were without any propriety or interest in god in this world , and if they are without god in this world , they must of necessity bee without god in another world . and thus you have the words explained to you , i shall now give you a more particular view of them ; without god in the world , the words as they are rendered in our translation , incline this way , for a man to be without any peculiar interest and propriety in god , but these words ( without god in the world ) in the greek signifies atheists in the world ; that is , they did so live as if there were no god in the world ; so then the words being thus opened , there are two things involved in this phrase without god in the world. 1. that they were atheists in the world , that is , so living , as if there were no god in the world. 2. they were living in the world without any peculiar interest or propriety in god. doctr. from the first of these , that they were atheists in the world , you may note this , doctr. that every man in the state of unregeneracy , hee is an atheist in the world ; he is a man that lives as if there were no god in the world , every man in the state of unregeneracy is a practicall atheist ; now when i tell you that every wicked man is an atheist , doe not mistake me , for there are two sorts of atheists , an atheist in judgement , and an atheist in practice ; an atheist in judgement is such a one , as pagans and heathens are , but an atheist in practice is such a one as lives , as if there were no god in the world ; so that the doctrine is , that every unregenerate man is a practicall atheist , that is , he so lives as if there were no god in the world , psal . 14. 1. the fool hath said in his heart there is no god , that is , he so lives as if there were no god that takes notice of what hee does ; thou art a practicall atheist oh man that so livest in the world , as if there were no god in the world : and here 1. i shall shew you how it comes to passe that any man is so grossely wicked to live as if there were no god in the world ; and 2. i shall give you the characters of a man that does live after this manner . 1. how it comes to passe that men should be so grossely wicked , such practicall atheists , to live as if there were no god in the world , i shall give you four grounds of it . 1. the first reason is because of gods forbearance towards them , eccles . 8. 11. because god doth not speedily execute judgement upon wicked men when they commit a finne , therefore they run into thoughts of atheism , and sinne with greedinesse , as if there were no god in the world , as in psal . 50. 21. these things , sayes god , thou hast done , and i held my tongue , therefore thou thoughtest that i was like thee , but i will reprove thee , and set thy sins in order before thee , because god held his tongue , and did not reprove them for their sins , therefore they thought him to be such a one as themselves , that he was a sinner as well as they ; because sentence against an evill work is not speedily executed , therefore the hearts of the sonnes of men are set in them to doe evill , the for bearance of god to wicked men makes them run on into practicall atheism , whereas this is no ground at all to encourage thee to run on in sin ; for 1. the forbearance of gods judgments was never intended by god to breed atheism in thy heart , but to provoke thee to repentance , as the apostle says , the bountifulnesse and long suffering of god should lead us to repentance . 2. this will aggravate thy condemnation , to make the forbearance of god , a provocation to thee to goe on in sinne ; and , 3. know this that though god doth forbeare a while from punishing of thee for thy sins , yet he does neither forgive thee nor forget thee , as in nahum . 1. 3. the lord is slow to anger , but he is great in power , and hee will not surely clear the wicked ; though god does forbear thee , yet he will not forget thee : so in eccles . 8. 12. though a sinner doth evill an hundred times , and his days be prolonged , yet it shall not bee well with him in the latter end . 2. another ground whereby wicked men do plunge themselves into atheism is this , because they see other men that are knowing men , and professing religion , men that doe pretend to know god , and love god , and worship god , when wicked men shall see such men as these fall into great and grosse sins , and live so unanswerable to their profession , this makes them conclude that there is no god in the world , as in rom. 2. 24. sayes the apostle there , the name of god is blasphemed among the gentiles through you . i have read a hrange story of a woman here in england , that called in question the deity , whether there was a god or no , and a minister coming to her to convince her , and satisfie her conscience , and to perswade her into a beleife that there was a god , asked of her this question , how she came to bee an atheist , shee answered the very first thing that caused her to entertaine thoughts of atheisme , to beleive there was no god , was the seeing of him live so wickedly and profanely ; for , sayes shee , i know you to be a learned and knowing man , and you preach good sermons , and exhort people well , and the very beholding you to live so wickedly , to be a swearer , a lyer , a drunkard , and a sabbath breaker , &c. this made me to question , whether there were a god in heaven or no , seeing he did let you run on still unpunished . 3. another thing that makes men live as if there were no god in the world , is the questioning of the authority of the scriptures . i have read of one ( a great scholar in this kingdome ) that the means whereby he came to be an atheist was this , he first began to question , whether the bible were the word of god or no , because he did not know whether moses that penned the beginning of it were a man of god or no ; then he questioned how moses could write of those things that were done before he was born , and then whether the papists might not alter it in the translating of it ; and many others questions till by degrees he came to be a very atheist , and to question whether there were a god or no : and so there are some errours now in print , that tend very much to atheism ; there are some that doe affirme , that that booke or volume of bookes called the bible is not the word of god , and such an opinion as this does very much worke upon mens hearts and perswade them , that there is no god , as in i pet. 3. 4. sayes the apostle , there shall come in the last dayes scoffers , walking after their owne lusts , ( there are the atheists , but how came they to be so ? mark the next words ) and saying , where is the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning , say they , we have heard that all men must be judged , that after death they must appeare before the judgement-seat of god , to give an account of all their actions ; now because they did not see these things accomplisht already , they cryed out , where is the promise of his coming ? they would not beleeve there was any such thing , the questioning of the truths of god was that which brought them to be very atheists . 4. another ground from whence atheism doth flow is pride of heart ; it is very well observed by one , that most commonly atheists are of the greatest men ; you shall seldome see a poore man an atheist , but rich men altogether : as pharaoh in exod. 5. 2. who is the lord ( sayes he ) that i should obey his voice ? and so nebuchadnezzar , in dan. 3. who is that god ( sayes hee ) that shall deliver you out of my hands ? so alexander said himselfe was god. atheists are ordinarily of the greatest and richest and highest people . object . but here some may object and say ; what doe you tell us here in england , that wee are without god in the world ? you may say so to pagans and heathens , but wee hope you will not say so to us . answ . for answer to this objection , i shall here shew you 13 discoveries of a practicall atheist . i shall give you three of them out of the scripture , and ten more deduced from the scripture : in psal . 14. 1. where it is said , the foole hath said in his heart there is no god , in that very psalm there are three discoveries of an atheist . 1. a man living all his dayes in a prophane and disordered course of life towards god , such an one is an atheist in the first verse of that same psalme , the foole hath said in his heart there is no god , what follows ? they are corrupt , they have done abominable workes , there is none that doth good , that man that all his life time lives in a disorderly course of life , and addes drunkennesse to thirst , and commits one sinne after another , that man is a practicall atheist , hee lives as if there were no god in the world. 2. that man that doth wholly neglect the duty of prayer in the 4. verse of the 14. psalm , they eat up my people as they eat bread , and they call not upon the lord , such a man is a practicall atheist . 3. that man that hates and carries a grudge in his heart , against those that feare the lord , that man is an atheist : in psal . 14. 6. you have shamed the counsell of the poore , because the lord is his refuge . use . now give me leave a little to press these three discoveries home upon your consciences . are they atheists that live a disorderly life , and walk in a course of wickednesse all their dayes ? are such as these atheists ? oh then how many atheists are there now in the world , that doe spend all their days in sin and vanity , and in a moment goe down into the grave ! 2. are they atheists that doe neglect the duty of prayer ? oh then with grief of heart be it spoken , how many atheists are there in the world that doe wholly omit this duty , both in their families and in their closets ? how many are there that can say , they never goe to god upon their knees in secret , to beg for grace and mercy from god ? and this neglect of secret duties , is a palpable demonstration that you doe live as if there were no god in the world , and in so doing ye are very atheists . 3. is hatred and contempt of the people of god , a badge of an atheist ? then likewise are there many atheists in the world : how many are there that can love a swearer and adulterer , a prophaner , &c. yea , love a dog and yet hate a christian ? this proceed from a root of atheisme ; that is in their hearts . sermon , xvi . ephes. 2. 12. — and without god in the world . i have delivered you in my last , three scripture discoveries of an atheist ; there are ten other characters yet behinde , that are drawn from the scriptures : as , 1. that man is an atheist that does indulge and favour himself in the practise of secret sins ; he that does continually allow and favour himself in the practise of secret sins , that man lives as if there were no god in the world : reverend mr. perkins gives us this badge of an atheist , that that very sinne which he will not dare to commit in the presence of a child , yet that sin will he venture upon when no eye sees him ; thou that canst venture upon a sin , in hope of secrefie , thinking to hide it from the all-seeing eye of god , thou art a very atheist , thou that darest do that in the sight of god , that thou art afraid to doe in the presence of a man ; this proceeds meerly from a root of atheisme that is in the heart , as in job 22. 12 , 13 , 14. when a wicked man hath done wickedly , he is ready to say . how doth god know ? can he judge through the thick clouds ? thick clouds are a covering to him , that he seeth not ; these are the expressions of an atheisticall heart . an atheist if he can but keep himself from the censure and reproach of men , he is well enough , if men cannot say black to his eye , or there goes a drunkard , a swearer , an adulterer , or the like , he is never troubled for his sins . oh therefore thou that wouldst be accounted chast , where thou dwellest , and yet keepest thy dalilah in thy lap : and oh thou debaucht liver , that canst quietly and securely walk on in wayes of sin , so that thou canst but keep them from the eyes of men ; know thus much , that this proceeds from thy atheisticall heart . when the hope of secrefie imboldens any man to the practise of any sin , that man is a very atheist : you that can fear the eye of a mortall man , and yet not be afraid of the all-seeing eye of an immortall god , you that were never troubled for your sinnes , when no body knew them but your selves ; but now this is that which troubles you , that your sins are known to others , if it be thus with thee , thou art a practicall atheist : those that are troubled , not because god sees their sins , but because man sees them , they are very atheists , as in job 24. 13. 15. 17. these are they , that abhorre the light , that know not the way thereof , nor continue in the path thereof , the eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight , and saith no eye shall see me , and disguiseth his face , for the morning to them is as the shadow of death , and if one know them , they are in the terrours of the shadew of death : such as these are very atheists , they were not troubled because god saw their sins , but because man did see their sins , this is as the terrour of death to them : they would not have men see their sins , and yet they do not care what follies they are guilty of in the sight of god ; so that men cannot say black to their eyes , they are well enough . such men as indulge themselves in the practise of secret sins , are practicall atheists . a godly man will fear to commit a secret sin , as well as a known grosse and open sinne ; as joseph , how shall i doe this great wickednesse , and so sin against god ? if the apprehensions of a god do lie near your hear , you will have a care to avoid secret , as well as open ans . 2. another discovery is this , that man is a practicall atheist , that does not make conscience of the performance of secret duties : he that never prayes in secret , harbours this atheisticall thought in him , that god doth not hear him ; it is very observable of the scribes and pharisees in scripture , you shall never read of a secret fast they kept , nor of a private prayer they made , but they had publique fasts a great many , they did fast twice a week , and pray in the corners of the streets , and give almes , &c. but you never read of any private and secret duties they did perform ; which did proceed meerly from roots of atheisme in their hearts : and so this is an evidence of the atheisticall heart , if thou dost never make conscience of going to god in secret , and beg for grace and mercy from him ; he is a very atheist that lives in the neglect of secret duties ; for those men that retain in their hearts , an apprehension of a deity , they know that there is no time so well spent , as that which is imployed in secret prayer to god. cant. 2. 14. oh my dove ( sayes christ ) that art in the clifts of the rocks , in the secret places of the stairs : let mee see thy countenance , let me hear thy voyce , for sweet is they voice , and thy countenance is comely ; oh thou poor soul ( saies christ ) that dost pray in secret , and weep in secret corners , let me see thy face , and hear thy voice . a man that hath the apprehensions of a god before him , he knowes , that the lord sees and takes notice of the breathings of his heart before him in secret : and therefore they are as much in the closet to pray in secret , and to powre out their souls before god in private , as they are in publique . it is very observable that there were very few actions of christ that were recorded by all the four evangelists , and yet this of christs praying alone , when no body was with him , is recorded by them all : whereas other things , if they be recorded by one , they are left out by another ; but this is spoken of by all of them . now the reason of it is this , because christ would be an example to us , to teach us to be frequent in the performance of this duty : and therefore it is a sign of an atheisticall heart in any one that does not make conscience of powring out his heart in secret prayer to god. 3. another character is this , that man that doth make impunity to be a provocation to impiety ; my meaning is this , he that makes the patience and for bearance and long-suffering of god towards him , to be a provocation to sinne ; that because god doth not presently punish him for his sin , therefore he will go on in sin still , such a man is a very atheist : as in psal . 50. 21. these things hast thou done ( saies god ) and i held my tongue , therefore thou thoughtst that i was such a one as thy self . ( beloved ) if any of you harbour such thoughts as those in your hearts , that because god doth not presently punish you for your sins , therefore you will go on still in sin : let me tell you , that this is the practise of a very atheist . because the drunkard is not taken away by god , while the wine is in his head ; and because the swearer is not destroyed by god , while the oath is in his mouth ; and because the lyer is not cut off by god , while the lie is upon his tongue , therefore they will run on with greedinesse , and willingnesse in the same sins , all this flowes from the very root of atheisme , that is in thy heart . 4. that man is an atheist that carries in his heart a forgetfulnesse , and a carelesnesse of the day of judgement , as in 2 pet. 3 4. and there shall come in the last dayes scoffers , walking after their own lusts , saying , where is the promise of his coming ? thou that doest not harbour in thy heart , a mindfulnesse of the day of judgement , art a very atheist , for thou that doest not beleeve god to be a judge , doest not beleeve him to be a god ; when paul spake to felix of temperance , and of the judgement to come , his heart trembled at the hearing of it . eccles . 11. 9. rejoyce oh young man in thy youth , and let thy heart chear thee in the dayes of thy youth , and walk in the wayes of thy heart , and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou that for all these things god will bring thee to judgement . thou that livest in the world , and never so much as thinkest of a day of judgement , thou art a very atheist ; and oh ( beloved ) how many atheists are there now in the world in this regard , that do put far from them the evill day ! 5. that man is a very atheist , that in the time of trouble and distresse , does mistrust the providence of god , and run unto base means for help and remedy : thus did saul discover himself to be an atheist , 1 sam. 28. 7 , 8. when he was in distresse , he went to the witch of endor for help and succour . and what does god say of such as run to witches and wizards ; is it not because there is not a god in israel , that you run to other gods to inquire of them ? it is meer atheisme for any to distrust god , and run unto others for help , or any other way to run into sinfull courses in times of danger , to finde relief , you do hereby declare , that you think there is no god in the world . 6. that man is an atheist that does place his affections upon any thing in the world more then upon god ; such a man lives without god in the world . a covetous man that placeth his love upon his money , more then upon any thing in the world , that man makes gold his god , and therefore these two are joyned together , ephes . 15. 5. the covetous person , who also is an idolater , he makes an idoll of his money : and this job frees himself from , in job 31. 24. saies he , i have not made gold my hope , nor 〈◊〉 gold my confidence , for , if i had done so , then i had denyed the god above , saies he in the 28. verse : why now ( beloved ) there are many among us that love money better then their own souls , that will sell their souls to gain a little wealth : many among us love money better then we love heaven it self , that do not care what sins they commit for it ; and had rather part with their souls , then with their riches . and so when you set your love upon your belly , you make your belly your god ; or if upon pleasures , then you make pleasures your god ; and so of any thing else . and therefore ( beloved ) i beseech you look to it , and examine your selves ; is not god undervalued sometimes , when your lusts are set in the throne ? is not god sometimes very low in your estimation , and other things set above him ? if it be so , it is meer atheisme in your hearts . 7. that man is an atheist , that makes no conscience of keeping those vowes and covenants he hath made with god. the scripture looks upon that man as an atheist , that does not make conscience of performing those covenants which he hath made with god ; in josh . 24. 25 , 26. there joshua made a covenant with the people ; and set them a statute , and an ordinance in shechem , and he wrote these words in the book of the law of god , and took a great stone , and set it up there under an oake that was by the sanctuary of the lord : and joshua said unto all the people , behold this stone shall be a witnesse unto us , for it hath heard all the words of the lord which he spake unto us , it shall be there for a witnesse unto you , lest ye deny your god : and therefore those men that do call the covenant that we have made , ( with hands lifted up to the high god ) an old almanack out of date , and do scorn and despise the oath they have taken , and make no conscience of keeping the vowes and covenants they have made with god , the scripture looks upon such men , as very atheists : and ( beloved ) in this regard , there are more atheists now in england , then ever there were since the world stood . but the lord will manifest himself to be a just god , though wicked men do despise his covenant , and count it as an unholy thing . 8. that man is a very atheist , whose conscience does never trouble him , nor check him for the commission of any sinne ; that man that can be drunk to day , and swear to morrow , and cheat the next day , and commit one sin after another , and yet his conscience never give him any controll , that man is a very atheist . those that can live in the world , and commit grosse sins every day , and their consciences never check them for their sinnes , it is a sad sign that such men are practicall atheists . if you have the fear of god in you , and the thoughts of a god upon you , it will make you reflect upon sins past , and be grieved for sinnes and miscarriages of twenty years standing : thus did josephs brethren call to minde their former sins , gen. 42. 21. and they said one to another , we have verily sinned against our brother , in that we saw the anguish of his soul , when he besought us , and we would not hear him , and therefore is this evill come upon us ; and so job , thou writest bitter things against me , and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth : and so david prays , that god would not remember the sins of his youth . but now you that can be drunk one day after another , and belch out one oath after another , and commit one sinne after another , and thy conscience never controll thee , the lord be mercifull to thee , for thou art plunged into a depth of atheisme . one compares an atheist to a duck in a pond , if a man throwes a stone into the water , where she is , she will presently dive under , but let it thunder or lighten never so much in the heavens , she takes no notice of it ; so an atheist he cannot endure , that men should take notice of him , or discover his wickednesse , to reprove him , or speak against him , but let god thunder upon him never so much , he will not be troubled at it ; did you live under the apprehensions of a deity , it is impossible your consciences should be so long and so frequently out of its office . 9. those men are very atheists , that do yeeld to a detestable indifferency in matters of religion : that man that will sleep in a whole skin , and not dare to do any thing , to the hazarding of his estate or person , for the advancement of true religion , such a man is a very atheist . i will give you a strange place for this , in 1 king. 18. 21. sayes elijah the prophet to the people , how long will you halt between two opinions ? if the lord be god , then follow him ; but if baal be god , then follow him : and the text saies , the people held their peace , and answered him not a word ; they neither said they would follow after god , neither did they say they would follow after baal : if god were too strong for baal , they would be for god ; but if baal did prevail , they would follow after him ; which did manifest their atheisme , and that god was not their god : that man that takes god to be his god , must follow him through whatsoever troubles or afflictions hee meets withall in the world ; and indifferency in matters of religion , does argue men to be very atheists . and therefore all time servers , that live according to the times , that are men of indifferent tempers , any religion rather then fail , will serve their turns , such men are practical atheists . 10. men do then shew themselves to be very atheists , when their practises shall palpably thwart , and contradict their professions , when they are such as those spoken of in tit. 2. 16. that in their words do professe to know christ , but in their works they deny him . those that do professe themselves to be christians , and yet live like heathens ; that professe themselves to have an inheritance with the saints in light , and yet walk here as children of darknesse , such men are very atheists . and thus i have done with these 10. discoveries of a practicall atheist , i have given you thirteen in all , three of them out of the scripture , and ten more deduced from the scripture . use . 1 now the use that i shall make of this , shall be by way of counsell and advice : if this be so as you have heart , that all unregenerate men are practicall atheists , they live as if there were no god in the world ; oh then that you would bewaile this practical atheism that is among you ; doest thou favour thy self in the practise of secret sinnes ? or dost thou make no conscience of the performance of secret duties ? doest thou make impunity to be a provocation to impiety ? and doest thou carry in thy minde a forgetfulnesse of the day of judgement ? or doest thou distrust the providence of god in times of trouble and distresse ? doest thou place thy affections upon any thing in the world more then upon god ? and doest thou make no conscience of performing the vowes and covenants thou hast made with god ? does thy conscience never trouble thee after the commission of sinnes ? art thou a luke warm and indifferent man in matters of religion ? doest thou professe to know god , and in thy works deny him ? doest thou any of these wayes entertain and harbour thoughts of atheisme in thy heart ? why , so farre as thou hast done so , labour to bemoan and bewaile it , and be humbled for it , and to strive against and keep under this great sinne of atheisme in time to come . use . 2 use 2. this shall be by way of consolation , to comfort and support your hearts : it may be there are some of you that hear me this day , that are the precious servants of god , and yet in some kinde or other have been tempted to this sinne of atheisme ; well , for your comfort consider these two or three things . 1. art thou tempted to atheisme ? why , yet consider that so was jesus christ himself , he was tempted to atheisme and blasphemy , when the devill tempted him to fall down and worship him : why so though thou hast been tempted to atheisme , and to forget gods al-seeing eye over thee , or the like , yet this may be for thy comfort , that christ himself was tempted as well as thee , as the apostle saies , in heb. 2. 18. in that christ suffered and was tempted , hee is able to succour those that are tempted ; christ was tempted to fall down and worship the very devill , but though christ was tempted , yet the devill could finde no corrupt matter in christ to work upon . when the devill shook christ , he shook a pure crystall-glasse of clear water , his nature was like a crystall-glasse full of clean water without any muddinesse or corruption at all , but if the devill should shake any of us , he would finde abundance of dirty and muddy water in the bottome , and corrupt matter enough in our natures to work upon . 2. consider , that though you are tempted by the devill to the sin of atheisme , yet these temptations , if you do not approve of them , nor yeeld to them , shall be charged upon the devill as his sins , and not upon you . and thus you see i have briefly dispatched this doctine , that every man by nature is a practicall atheist living in the world , as if there were no god in the world . sermon , xvii . ephes. 2. 12. — and without god in the world. besides that doctrine which i finisht , the last sabbath , there is something else in the text ; wicked men are without god in the world , that is , they are without any speciall interest or propriety in god as their god , the words doe not only imply that they live , as if there were no god in the world , but they live without any right , interest or propriety in god as their god , though they are not without wisdome or wealth , or goods and estate , or honour and esteeme in the world , yet they are without any reall interest or propriety in god as their god , they are without god in the world : from whence i would note you this doctrine , doctr. that every man by nature is without any reall interest or propriety in god as his god. now ( beloved ) before i come to handle the point . i shall onely premise three conclusions by way of explanation , to delucidate the point , and shew you what i mean by this doctrine : as 1. take this conclusion , that in some sense there is no creature in the world that is without god , though in other regards men may be truly said to be without god ; in some sense there are none without god , that is by way of creation , and preservation , so the worst devill in hell may say that god is his god : and 2. a wicked man may have god to be his god by way of profession , he may professe to know god , and professe that god is his god ; but now in another sense a wicked man cannot be said to have god for his god , ( that is ) in a way of relation and reconciliation for god to be a god in covenant with him through jesus christ . 2. take this conclusion , that though multitudes of people may lay claim to god as their god , yet there are but a few men in the world , that have god to be their god in a covenant way ; as in zach. 13. 8 9. the lord there lookes upon the jewish church under a threefold consideration . and it shall come to passe that in all the land ( saith the lord ) two parts therein shall be cut off and die , but the third shall be left therein , and i will bring the third part through the fire , and will refine them as silver is refined , and will try them as gold is tryed ; they shall call on my name , and i will hear them ; i will say , it is my people , and they shall say , the lord is my god : though you all lay claime to god , yet there may be but one part in three , that can truly say that god is their god in covenant with them . 3. take this conclusion , that such is the deceitfulnesse and delusion of mens hearts naturally , that the worst of men are ready to beleive and think that god is their god , when hee is not : as you may read in jer. 3. 4 , 5. sayes god there , they shall cry unto me , my father , thou act the guide of my youth , and yet sayes god thou hast done evill as much as thou couldst , so in psal . 14. 1. the 〈◊〉 hath said in his heart there is no god , they have corrupted and done abominable workes , there is none that doth good , those that have not god in their hearts , nor in all their ways , yet they will lay claim to god as their god , though they have committed abominable works and done evill as much as they could . thus much for the conclusion , i come now to handle a practicall question that necessarily must be spoken to in the purfuance of this doctrine , which is this . quest . quest . what are the characters of those men that are without any reall interest and propriety in god as their god , in a way of covenant and relation ? this question i do the rather resolve upon the consideration of the great delusion and mistake that mens hearts are very apt to run into , to think that god is their god when he is not , and therefore i shall lay down to you seven distinguishing characters of such men , and it may be i may come neer the bosomes of many of you , though the lord knows i would not stagger the hope of the least of you that have a reall and well grounded interest in jesus christ : those men are without any reall interest in god as their god , 1. that are without any effectual knowledge of god as their god. 2. those that live without making the word of god to be their rule . 3. those that live in the world , without making the wayes of god to be their pleasure . 4. those that live in the world without making the glory of god to be their aime . 5. those that live in the world without making the day of the lord to be their delight . 6. those that live in the world without making the people of god to be the objects of their love : and lastly , those that live in the world without making sinne to be the object of their hatred . for the first , those are without any reall interest or propriety in god as their god , that doe live in the world without a saving and effectuall knowledge of god : as in 2 chron. 15. 3. it is said there that for a long time , israel was without the true god , and without the teaching priest , and without the law , all that time ( while they were without the law , and the priest to teach them ) it is said they were without god , those that live without a saving knowledge of god , the scripture lookes upon them as having no reall interest in god. joh. 8. 54 , 55. you say ( sayes christ ) that he is your god , and yet you have not known him , intimating that god was not their god because they were utterly ignorant of him . now ( beloved ) every knowledge of god does not demonstrate your interest in god , unlesse it be , 1. a practicall knowledge of him , as in joh. 8. 55. sayes christ there , i am of god , i know him , and i keep his sayings : intimating that that man that does lay claim to god , as his god , must know him , and this knowledge of him will make him yeeld obedience to him , and keep his sayings ; and , 2. it must be an experimentall knowledge of god , as david sayes in psal . 51. 6. thou hast made me to know wisdom in my inward parts . if so bee you were persons living without a practicall and experimentall knowledge of god , you are without any interest in him as your god. but before i can leave this particular , i must answer an objection : me thinks i hear a poor perplexed soul say , if this be so that only those that know god aright have an interest in him , then the lord be mercifull unto me , for i am a poor ignorant sinfull wretch , that do know nothing of god at all as i ought to know him ; and therefore surely i have no interest in god my god. ans . now to such as you are , by way of answer , i shall leave these two or three words for your comfort . 1. take this for an answer , that in scripture account to complain of thy ignorance , is a good degree of knowledge : in prov. 30. 23. you read there of agur , who was an excellent man in vertue and knowledge , in the time of solomon , and yet you shall not read of a man that more complaines of his ignorance then this man doth : surely ( sayes hee ) i am more brutish then any man , and have not the understanding of a man : i have neither learned wisdome , nor attained to the knowledge of the holy ; and yet this man that so much complains of his ignorance , did demonstrate such fruits of grace and knowledge in his practise , as ever man did . 2. take this for an answer , that in gods account , he knowes most that doth most . he does not know most , that hath a great judgement to dive into and dispute about vain questions and niceties , but he is a knowing man in gods account , that does walk answerably to that small measure of knowledge that he hath , as in psal . 111. 10. a good understanding have all they that doe thy commandements : god does not measure your knowledge by your questions and disputes , but by your practise , as in jer. 22. 16. he judged the cause of the poore and needy , then it was well with him ; was not this to know me , saith the lord ? 3. take this for an answer , that it is not the wanting of some measures or degrees of knowledge , nor the having of much ignorance , that does demonstrate thy want of an interest in god , unlesse your ignorance hath these three properties with it : as , 1. suppose thou art ignorant of god , yet if thou are not conceitedly ignorant , if thou art not a self-conceited man , that thinkest thou knowest much when thou knowest little , thou art well enough : if you are not like those in hos. 8. 2. israel shall say unto me , my god we know thee , and yet there is no fear , nor knowledge of god in the land . 2. if thou doest not sit down contentedly in thy ignorance , but doest labour and endeavour after more knowledge , then thy condition is good enough . but if thou sayest unto god , depart from me , for i desire not the knowledge of thy wayes , like those spoken of in job : this is a sad signe , that you have no interest in god at all . 3. if thou art not obstinately ignorant , like those spoken of in psal . 82. 5. they know not , neither wil they understand when men are ignorant , and will be ignorant , this is an evidence that they have no interest in god ; in 2 pet. 3. 5. sayes the apostle , these things they are willingly ignorant of ; now if your ignorance bee accompanyed with these three circumstances , that you are conceitedly , and contentedly , and obstinately ignorant , if it be so , the lord be mercifull to you ; for these are apparent demonstrations , that you have yet no interest and propriety in god , as your god. but though you have abundance of ignorance in you , yet if you bewail your ignorance , and labour and desire after more knowledge , if you follow on to know the lord , and are not obstinately ignorant , but would doe more if you knew more , if it be thus with you , thy ignorance doth not evidence , that thou hast no interest in god. 2. another character of a man that is without an interest in god , is this , hee is such a one that lives in the world without making the word of god to bee his rule . joh. 8. 47. he that is of god , heareth gods word ; you therefore hear him not , because you are not of god : those that will not make the word of god to be their rule , and conform their practises in obedience thereunto , christ sayes the reason of it is because they are not of god : and so in 1 joh. 4. 6. hee that knoweth god , heareth us , and hee that is not of god , heareth not us ; and therefore you that walk after the vaine imaginations of your own hearts , that are swayed and ruled by your lusts , and will not make gods word a bridle to curb , and restrain your lusts and corruptions , but you will doe what you list , let god command what he will : all these are manifest arguments , that you are not of god. 3. that man is without an interest in god , that lives in the world without making the wayes of god to be his pleasure : as in joh. 3. 8. 10. in this the children of god are manifest and the children of the devill , whosoever doth not righteousnesse is not of god : righteousness is not to be taken here only for justice or civil righteousness , but for the whole bulk of godliness & the body of christianity : he that doth not righteousnesse , is not of god : this not doing of righteousnesse is answerable to the committing of sin , in 1 joh. 3. 8. the text sayes , hee that committeth sin is of the devill , now this is not to be taken simply , that he that falls into sin is of the devill , but he that commits sin , ( that is ) with complacency and delight , and without any compulsion , such a man is of the devill . and so likewise he that cloth not doe righteousnesse , is not of god , that is , he that doth not act and doe it with delight , and alacrity , and complacency , such a one is not of god : so in joh. 3. 11. sayes the apostle , ( beloved ) follow not that which is evill , but that which is good : he that doth good , he is of god ; but he that doth evill , hath not seen god ; ( that is ) he that doth evill with delight and satisfaction , and he that doth not take delight in the wayes of god , and perform holy duties with chearfulnesse and complacency , such a man is not of god ; and therefore you that take more delight in the committing of sin , then you doe in the performance of holy duties , you are but in a bad condition . 4. another character is this , that man is without god , that lives in the world without making the glory of god to bee his aim : it is very observable , that when the jews did accuse christ , saying , hee was a samaritan , and bad a devill , but did not come from god ; he did convince them , that this was a slander cast upon him , because he fought not his own honour but the glory of god , joh. 8. 49. 50. jesus answered , i have not a devill , but i honour my father , and ye doe dishonour him , and i seek not my own glory , there is one that seeketh and judgeth . 5. that man is without an interest in god , that lives in the world without making the day of god his delight , hee that takes no delight in sanctifying of the lords day , but rather takes delight in prophaning it , that man is without god in the world , as in joh. 9. 26. it was the speech of the pharisees to christ , say they , this man is not of god , because he keepeth not the sabbath-day : this had been a very good argument , had it been rightly applyed , the argument had been very strong , if the application had been good , if christ had not indeed kept the sabbath , but they were greatly mistaken , for christ did keep the sabbath . why now ( beloved ) these pharisees , were they now alive , and should see you christians prophaning the sabbath day , spending and trifling it away in sports and pleasures , in swearing and drunkennesse , and dishonouring the name of god ; never imploying one hour of it in prayer , reading , or hearing , or any holy and religious exercise , they would presently conclude that you are not of god , because you doe not keep the sabbath day . 6. that man is without god , that lives without making the people of god to be the object of his love ; as you may see in 1 joh. 3. 10. he that doth not righteousnesse is not of god neither he that loveth not his brother , and so in 1 joh. 4. 20. if any man say , i love god and hateth his brother , he is a lyer , for hee that loveth not his brother whom be hath seen , how can he love god whom he hath not seen ? he that does not love his brother , the children and people of god , he cannot love god. you that carry in your hearts a secret malice and spleen against those that are godly , and more holy and religious then your selves : you that doe tiger-like , hate the very pictures of godly men , you that hate the people of god , and the ministers of the gospell , because they are so , that hate godlinesse as godlinesse , these are evident arguments that the love of god is not in you . 7. that man is without god , that lives in the world without making sinne to bee the object of his hatred , that man hath not god , that hates not sin ; though that man may have god , that hath sin , yet that man cannot have an interest in god , that doth not hate sin . and thus i have run over briefly these seven heads , whereby you may know whether you are the men that can lay a true claim to god as your god , yea , or no : if you are men that have a true knowledge of god , and make his word your rule , and his way your pleasure , and his day your delight , and his glory your aime , and good men the object of your love , and sin the object of your hatred ; if these things be in you , you may know undoubtedly , that you have an interest in god. we come now to the application , which may serve for unspeakable comfort to all you that are the people of god , that can lay a well grounded and scripture claim to god as your god. 1. if you have god , you have all things ; and let me tell you , you that have god for your god , you may outvie all the kings , and princes , and potentates in the world. other men may say , they have wealth , and you have none ; they have riches , and honours , and pleasures , and you have none : but you may goe further , and out-vye them all , for you can say , you have an interest in god , and they have none . wicked men cannot lay claim to god as theirs ; and therefore when they speak of god , they speak of him as a god to others , and not to them , as in gen. 31. 29. when laban spake to jacob , ( sayes he ) the god of your fathers : and so pharaoh in exod. 8. 25. 28. ( sayes he ) go sacrifice to your god in the land : and from hence divines doe observe , that the scriptures doe not suffer wicked men to name god , as in a way of propriety to them , as their god : but now those that are righteous and holy , that have indeed an interest in god , god is not ashamed to be called their god. you that have an interest in god though you are a poor despicable people , yet be not afraid to own god as your god , for the lord is not ashamed , that you should call him your god ; god is not ashamed of us whose dwellings are in the dust , he will own us : and therefore let this encourage you to goe to god as your god , and apply him as your god , and trust in him as your god , and pray to him and call upon him as your god , for he is not ashamed of you . and here that i may speak a little further to this particular , i would exhort you to two things . 1. to prove your interest in god : and , 2. to improve it . 1. labour to prove your interest in god : examine and try whether or no , upon conscientious grounds and scripture evidences , your hearts can be satisfied , that you are a people in covenant with god : rest not , and trust not upon it may bees , but labour to prove it to your own souls , that god is your god ; & that i may a little help and further you in this examination , i shall here lay you down three discoveries whereby you may know , & prove unquestionably that god is your god. 1. if thou art such a one that doest labour to keep thy inward man from secret defilement by sin , as well as thy outward man , from grosser and greater enormities , as in 2 cor. 6. 18. and in the first verse of the next chapter ; i will be your god and father , and you shall be my sons and daughters , saith the lord god almighty : having therefore these promises dearly beloved ( sayes the apostle ) let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse , both of flesh and spirit : and therefore if you have a care to abstain from all secret sins , whereby the inward man is defiled , it is a signe that you have a reall interest in god ; because god will be our god , and will own and accept of us to be his people ; we must not onely wash our legs and our outward man , but our inward parts too , and if we do thus , we may be confidently assured that we are a sacrifice well pleasing , and acceptable unto god through jesus christ : but now you that make conscience of your wayes , so far only , as that men may not say black to your eye , if you doe not labour to keep your inward man from defilements as well as your outward man , you have no interest in god at all . 2. another evidence of your interest in god is this ; if you have an earnest and unwearied labour and endeavour in your spirits to come to the nearest resemblance and conformity to jesus christ , as possibly you can . doe you labour to be holy as hee was holy ? and humble , and meeke , and lowly as hee was ? in 2 cor. 7. 1. sayes the apostle there ( dearly beloved ) let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse both of flesh and spirit , perfecting holinesse in the fear of god. doe you labour still to resemble god in holinesse ? thy relation and interest in god will make thee labour to be like unto god , and to be still perfecting holinesse though you cannot be perfect in holinesse , if you have an interest in god , you will labour more and more to be holy as he is holy , and to come to the nearest resemblance to him that may be . 3. another discovery of your interest in god , is this , if god hath engraven upon thy soul those saving effects and blessings which he doth bestow upon all those that have an interest in him ; god hath promised that he will be their god , and they shall be his people : that he will give them a new heart taking away the heart of stone , and giving them a heart of flesh ; and that he will sanctifie and renew their natures , and write his law in their inward parts , and work in their hearts a sutable disposition to his law , and put his fear into their hearts that they shall never depart from him : these are the blessings of the covenant of grace . now you that can give abundant and evident testimonies in your own souls , that you have found god cleansing and purifying your hearts , and sanctifying and renewing your natures , and writing his law in your inward parts , and putting his fear into your hearts , that you doe never depart from him ; if you finde these things in you , they are undoubted evidences , that you have an interest in god. 2. as i would have you prove your interest in god , so i would exhort you to improve your interest in god too . many of you do let god lye by you , ( as i may so say ) and never make use of him for your spirituall comfort and support , and never goe to him for help , and succour , and relief in times of danger , you doe not improve your interest in god. object . but here it may be you would ask mee how you should improve your interest in god. answ . 1 i answer , 1. improve it thus , in making your interest in god , a great incentment and provocation to thee , to obey god ; thus david did in psal . 143. 10. teach me to doe thy will , ( sayes he ) for thou art the lord my god : here david did well improve his interest in god , so in psal . 119. 115. depart from me ye evill doers , ( sayes he ) for i will keep the commandements of my god. we should make our interest in god , an ingagement upon our souls , to keep the commands of god. 2. then you doe rightly improve your interest in god , when this doth stir you up , to aggravate all the sins you have committed against god , when your interest in god doth make you see , how exceeding sinfull sin is , and how greatly you have provoked the lord your god by your sins : as in jer. 3. 25. we have sinned against the lord our god , we and our fathers from our youth even to this day , and have not obeyed the voice of the lord our god : here the children of israel aggravate their sins against god as their god. and so daniel he makes his interest in god , a motive to stir him up to aggravate sin against god , in dan. 9. 5. sayes he there , we have sinned , and have committed iniquity , and done wickedly , and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts , and from thy judgements , and then in vers . 7. oh lord , ( sayes he ) righteousnesse belongeth unto thee , but unto us confusion of face as at this day : so again in vers . 8. oh lord to us belongeth confusion of face , to our kings , and to our princes , and to our fathers , because we have sinned against thee : but to the lord our god belongeth mercy and forgivenesse , though wee have rebelled against him : and so hee goes on all along , aggravating their sins against god : no lesse then ten times he mentions their interest in god , and ten times he aggravates their sinnes against god. it is the consideration of our interest in god , that does stir us up to aggravate our sins against god , when we doe consider that we have sinned against our god , against our gracious and mercifull father , who hath loved us , and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace ; who is infinite in goodness , and abundant in mercy and truth ; such considerations as these will exceedingly provoke us to aggravate our sins against him . 3. improve your interest in god by making it a prop and pillar of marble to bear up , and support your hearts under all the miseries , and afflictions , and troubles you meet withall here in the world : thus david incouraged himself in the lord his god , in psal . 3. 7. i am thine ( sayes hee ) lord save me : then you make a right improvement of your interest in god , when you go to him , and trust , and rely , and depend upon him in all times of danger and distresse , for you have an interest in that god that is both able and willing to relieve and succour you , a god that hath helped you , and doth help you , and will never leave you , nor forsake you , and therefore be incouraged to cast your care upon him . finis . the saints triumph over death : or , a sermon preached at the funerall of mr. christopher love , in lawrence-church , august . 25. 1651. by thomas manton , minister of the gospell , at stoak-newington near london . london , printed by e. cotes , for george eversden , at the golden-ball in aldersgate-street , 1652. the saints triumph over death : or , a sermon preached on a speciall occasion , on 1 cor. 15. 57. but thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ . these words are a part of paul's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or triumphant song : in the song there are two parts , and this is the last . 1. a confident challenge . 2. a solemne thanksgiving . the one is directed to the enemies , the other to the giver of victory . 1. a confident challenge , in which he outbraveth death , and all the powers of the grave , o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the words allude to ilos . 13. 14. where christ is brought in speaking , i will ransome them from the power of death , and redeem them from the grave : o death , i will be thy plagues ; o grave , i will be thy destruction ; there is christs ingagement and undertaking for a full conquest of death ; christ threatneth death , and the apostle insulteth over it : the form of the words is altered , because the enemy was now faln , and paul proclaimeth the victory : hitherto death and the grave had insulted over the misery and frailty of mankinde , all the tombes and charnels of the world were but so many monuments of deaths conquests ; golgotha the place of skuls seemed to be designed on purpose , to upbraid and discourage our redeemer ; so many skuls and rotten reliques of humane frailty , as there were in that place , so many trophies and monuments of triumph did death produce before the eyes of christ , as if it were said to him , canst thou , darest thou grapple and enter into the lists with such an enemy ? but our lord was not discouraged , when he ascended upon the crosse ; he did as it were answer these bravings of death thus , o death i will be thy plagues , o grave , i will be thy destruction ; and because he was as good as his word , and every way performed his ingagement , the apostle as one of christs followers cometh and insulteth over this proud adversary that was now faln , o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? this challenge is illustrated by a prolepsis or an anticipation of an objection : some might ask , what is this sting of death ? what is this power of the grave ? the apostle answereth , the sting of death is sin , the strength of sin is the law ; death cometh to have this power by sin , and sin to have this power by the law. [ the sting of death ] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the prick , it implyeth both the stroke of death , and the anguish of it ; as in the sting of a serpent , there is the deadly touch , and the pain and torment of the wound : and so it noteth the power of death over us , the prick or weapon by which it striketh is sin , rom. 5. 12. by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin ; and the terrours and horrours of it , which also doe arise from sin ; now by horrours i mean not onely the naturall aversation , retirement or flight of the spirits , but the bondage , torment and despair that is upon the conscience , as death is a penall evill , inflicted by the justice of god , guilt maketh death terrible , so that a sinner is all his life time subject to bondage , heb. 2. 14 , 15. and kept under an awe of judgement to come ; 't is not alwayes felt , but soon awakened , especially in sicknesse and approaches of death ; when we feel the cold hands of it ready to pluck out our hearts , conscience is whipped with a scourge of six strings , fear , horrour , distrust , grief , rage , and shame . the strength of sin is the law ] how is that to be understood ? the law giveth strength to sin , ratione , cognitionis , obligationis , & augmentationis ; they are the words of a * german divine , and will yeeld us a fit method wherein to open the matter . 1. the law discovereth sin , and maketh it appear in its owne colours , the more light and knowledge of the law , the more sense of sin , as in transparent vessels , dregs are soon discerned ; rom. 6. 9. i was alive without the law , but when the law came , sin revived , and i dyed . when by a sound conviction all disguises are taken off from the conscience , we finde sin to be sin indeed ; paul was alive before , that is , in his owne hopes , as many a stupid soul maketh full account he shall goe to heaven , till conscience be opened , and then they finde themselves in the mouth of death and hell. 2. the law giveth strength to sin , in regard of the obligation of it , it bindeth over a sinner to the curse and wrath of god ; god hath made a righteous law , which must have satisfaction , and till the law be satisfied , we hear no news but of a curse , and that maketh death to be full of horrours , * there remaineth nothing but a fearfull expectation of the fiery indignation of the lord. 3 it augmenteth and increaseth sin by forbidding it ; lusts are exasperated and rage upon a restraint , as the yoke maketh the young bullock more unrulely . now put all together and you will understand the force of the expression , the strength of sin is the law , the discovery of the law stoppeth the sinners mouth , and the curse of the law shutteth him up and holdeth him fast , unto the judgement of the great day , by which restraint , sin groweth the more raging and furious all which put together , make death terrible , not an end of misery , but a door to open into hell. now this being the case of every man , what shall we do ? and how shall we extricate our souls from such a labyrinth of endlesse horrour ? you have an answer of that , in the next verse in the apostles thanksgiving , where he acquainteth you not onely with grounds of hope , but triumph ; thanks be to god , who giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ . in this thanksgiving you may observe , 1. the author of the mercy ; god by jesus christ . 2. the manner how we come to be interested in it ; he giveth us victory . or rather you may observe , 1 the act of the father as to jesus christ , in that he appointed him to get the victory . 2 the act of the father as to us ; in that hee applyeth this victory to our souls ; christs victory and the application of it , are the two grounds of this thanksgiving . 1. christs victory over sin , death , and the law , for it must be extended to all the things mentioned in the context , they are enemies by combination , and knit together in a fast league ; the law giveth strength to sin , and sin giveth a sting to death ; as long as the law hath power , sin will be strong , and as long as sin hath strength , death will bee terrible : but christ hath overcome death , he foyled it in his own person , as i shall shew you anon fully ; and for sin , he hath taken away the guilt of it by his own merit , and will destroy it more and more by the power of the holy ghost ; when he stood before the tribunall of god he stood there , as a surety and undertaker , heb. 7. 22. a surety of a better restament , now he was a surety mutually gods and ours , to work gods work in us , and our work for us ; among other things which he undertook there , he undertook the abolition of sin on gods part , he obliged himself that it should be performed by his spirit ; on our part he obliged us to endeavours of mortification : now because christ is an able surety , the work is as good as done already , rom. 6. 6. knowing this , that our old man is crucified with him , that the body of sin might be destroyed , that henceforth we should not serve sin ; mark , 't is crucified with him , as implying his undertaking upon the crosse , that the body of death might be destroyed : as noting the work of gods spirit , which was ingaged and made sure by christs death upon the crosse , that we should not serve sin , as noting the concurrence of our endevours , to which wee are obliged by the same sponsory act of christ : thus much christ hath done for the abolition of sin : now for the law , that was an enemy that could not be overcome but must be satisfied , and so it was by christ who both performed the duty , and sustained the penalty of it , chiefly the latter , and therefore t is said , he was made a curse for us , gal. 3. 13. the sting is lost in christ , and the honey left for us . but this is matter of another respect and cognisance . 2 the next reason of the apostles thanksgiving is the application , he hath given us victory , for understanding of which you must note that 1 christs victory is imputed to us as if it were done in our own persons ; when we are actually united to him , wee are possessed of all his merit , christ fought our war , and joined battell in our stead ; we have a mysticall victory in christ , and are said to overcome , when christ overcame ; this is the reason why the acts of beleevers are complicated and folded up with christs acts in the expressions of scripture , crucified with him , quickened with him , and raised with him , and set down with him in , heavenly places , ephes . 2. &c. all which are terms proper to the judiciall vnion which is different both from the morall and mysticall , as i could easily shew you , were it not a matter of another nature : now this mysticall victory is of great use to a beleever in time of discouragements ; if the law challenge , satan and conscience say thou art a sinner under a curse , thou maist answer , i am a sinner , but i am crucified in christ , in my surety , his payment and suffering is mine : if death or the world discourage ; you may say , this is a beaten enemy , i foyled it in christ , i ascended in christ , &c. 2. the benefit of this victory is imparted and applyed to us , by which he maketh us conquerours over sin and death ; all christs worke was not done upon the crosse , there is much to be accomplished in our hearts , rom. 16. 20. the god of peace shall tread satan under your feet , &c. not onely under christs feet , but ours : as joshua called his fellowes to come and tread upon the necks of the canaanitish kings , * come put your feet upon the necks of these kings : so christ will see us conquer ; he that got a victory for us , will get a victory in us , over sin , and death , and hell ; christ hath trodden them under foot already when his own * heel was bruised , now he will doe it under your feet . doctr. having laid this foundation , the point and head of doctrine , which i shall discuss is , christs victory over death for the comfort and profit of beleevers . death is either the first , or second , temporall , or eternall , sinners are under the sentence of both , and both are in a sort put into the hands of satan , he had the power of death , heb. 2. 14. as gods executioner ; and the one maketh way for the other , death to the wicked is but a taking them away to torment , as unruly persons are committed to prison that they may molest no more ; gods patience expireth with their lives , and then his vengeance beginneth ; the curse of the first covenant was eternall death , gen. 2. 15. thou shalt dye , that is eternally , the curse must carry proportion with the blessing , the blessing was eternall life , and the curse was eternall death : i say the sorrow and pain must have bin perpetual , answerable to the life which he should have enjoyed ; therefore christ is said to have delivered us . from wrath to come , which certainly was our portion and inheritance by adam , and without christ there is no escape . but to come to particulars , i shall shew you , 1. how christ delivered us from death . 2. how far . 1. how be delivered us , the apostle answereth , that heb. 2. 14. by death he destroyed him that had the power of death , now christs death cometh under a twofold consideration , as a merit , or as a glorious act of warre and combate ; as the act of a redeemer , or the act of a conquerour : which answereth to the double evill in death , 't is a naturall evill , and a poenall evill ; 't is a naturall evill , as it is the dissolution of soul and body ; 't is a poenall evill , as 't is a curse of the covenant , or the punishment of sin : 1 there was merit in christs voluntary death , 't was * a ransome for the elect , he dyed not onely in bonum eorum , for their good and profit , but loco & vice ominium , in their room and stead ; as when the ram was taken , isaac was spared , so christs death was in stead of ours ; god will not exact the debt twice , of us , and our surety : job 33. delivered him from going down into the pit , for i have found a ransome . the sinner must dye , or the surety ; now saith the lord , i accept of the death and passion of christ for this penitent man ; if we go downe to the pit , we go not down by way of vengeance , by christs death the merit of our sin is expiated , justice satisfied , gods wrath appeased , the law fulfilled , sin pardoned , and so the jawes of death are broken : death in its self is the sentence of the law , the fruit of sin , and the recompense of angry justice , and so it hath no more to doe with us , for god hath found a ransome . 2 you may look upon it as the act of a conquerour , christ foiled death in his own person , ever since he rifled the grave , death hath lost its retentive power ; act. 2. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , loosing the pains , &c. t is an allusion to the throws of a travailing woman , the grave was in travail , till this precious burthen was egested , for he could not be holden of it , and over since the grave is a womb rather then a dungeon and pit of vengeance , * non vitam rapit sed refoomat , it doth not destroy life , but renew it ; in almost the same metaphor christ is called , col. 1. 18. the first born from the dead ; not that hee was the first that was raised from the dead , howbeit he was the first that arose , others were raised by the power of another , but christ arose by his own ; so he is called , 1 cor. 15 20. the first fruits from the dead as the offering of the first-fruits was a blessing to all the store , so christ dying and rising is a ground of conquest to all the elect ; christ before his death had beene combating with the powers of darknesse and all the subordinate instruments ; death was satans beast of prey , that was set upon him , but our lord foiled it in its own dungeon , the battail between christ and death was begun upon the crosse , he grappled with it there , and they went tugging and wrestling to the grave , christ like a prudent warriour carryed the war into his enemies countrey , and there got loose of the grasp of death , foiled it in its own territory , he arose and left death gasping behinde him , so that the quality of the grave is quite altered , before 't was a prison , satans dungeon , now 't is a chamber of repose , a bed of ease ever since christ slept there ; when the prophet speaketh of christs resurrection , he saith , isa . 53. 8. he shall be taken from prison and from judgement , by prison meaning the grave ; but speaking of the death of the faithfull , he saith , esai . 57. 2. they shall rest in their beds ; 't was for a while to christ a prison , that to us it might be a bed of ease . 2. the next question is , how far he hath delivered us from death ; we see the godly are obnoxious to the changes and decayes of nature , yea to the strokes of violence as well as others ; and how are we delivered ? i answer , 't is enough that the second death hath no power over us , rev. 20. 6. nothing to do with us . rom. 8. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not one condemnation , &c. we may dye , but we shall not be damned ; and though we go to the grave , yet we are freed from hell : but this is not all , in the first death beleevers have a priviledge , they doe not dye as others doe . 1. the habitude and nature of it is changed , that which is poenall in death is now gone , 't is not a destruction but a delivery , beleevers have wrong thoughts of death ; we are delivered from it as 't is a punishment and a curse , now 't is a blessing , one of christs legacies of the church , all things are yours , death is yours , 1 cor. 3. 18. while death was in the devils hands it was an enemy , but 't is made a friend and a blessing in christ , a passage from the vale of tears to the kingdome of glory , the end of a mortall life , and the beginning of that which is immortall ; as haman to mordecai , it intended a mischief , but it proved a priviledge : to a wicked man it is properly an execution , but to the godly a dismission of their souls into the bosome of christ , luk. 2. 28. now lettest thou thy servant to depart in peace , they quietly send away their souls , but a wicked mans soul is taken away ; t is twice so expressed , luk. 12. 20. this night shall they take away thy soul from thee , and job 27. 8. when god taketh away his soul , &c. they would fain keep it longer , but god taketh it away whether they will or no ; a godly man resigneth and sendeth away his soul in peace , his life cannot be taken away , t is only yeelded up upon the call of providence ; and he dyeth not because he must dye , but because he would dye , he may dye sooner then he thought , but not sooner then he would , for when god willeth it , he submitteth . but to return ; the blessing of death lieth in 3 things . 1. the funerals of the godly are but the funerals of their sins , and frailties , and weaknesses : peccatum moritur , miseria moritur , homo non moritur , 't is not the man dyeth , but the sin , the misery dyeth : all other means and dispensations doe but weaken sin , but death destroyeth it ; when god justifieth , the damning power is gone , when god sanctifieth , the reigning power is gone , but when by death we come to be glorified , then the very beeing of it is gone : when the house was infected with leprosie , so as scraping would not serve the turn , it was to be digged down , we are so infected with sin that all other remedies are too weak , nothing but death will serve the turn : when ivy is gotten into a wall it cannot be wholly destroyed , till the wall it self be demolished ; cut off the stump , the body , the boughes , the branches , still there are some strings that are ready to sprowt again ; so t is here , originall sin cannot be destroyed , the constant groans of the faithfull are , * who shall deliver us from this body and masse of sin ? but now death is a sudden cure , sinne brought in death , and as it were in revenge , death destroyeth sin . 2. there is a way made for a present and compleat vmon of the soul with christ . phil. 1. 23. i desire to be dissolved and be with christ , we are loosed from the body and joined to christ , t is better a soul be separated from the body then absent from christ ; we have an union here but not a presence , now judge you which is better , to be present with the body , or to be present with the lord ? to have the company of the body , or the company of christ ? here the soul is inclosed and imprisoned as it were , but there thou hast the free enjoyment of christ , without the clog of an earthly estate : the soul as soon as it departs the body , goeth immediately to christ ; as when potiphars wife laid hold on josephs coat he escaped ; so you leave your upper garment in deaths hand , but the soul flyeth to god : the body came from adam and runneth in a fleshly channell , and what we had from adam , must for a while be mouldred to dust , to purge it from the impurity of the conveyance ; but the soul by a naturall right returneth to god that gave it , and by a speciall interest to christ that redeemed and sanctified it by his own spirit . 3. the body which seemeth most to suffer , hath much advantage : a shed is taken down to raise up a better structure , 't is sown a naturall body , 't is raised a spirituall body , &c. 1 cor. 15. 44. here 't is not capable of high injoyments , 't is humbled with diseases unfit for duties ; again , it 's sown'd corruptible body , 't is raised an incorruptible body , here 't is liable to changes , there it may live forever , without change and decay ; if we love long life , there is eternall life ; 't is carnall self-love that maketh us willing to abide in the flesh ; if we did but love our selves , but love our own flesh , we would not be afraid to dye ; for to dye , is to be perfected , to have body and soul free from sin and incorruption . 2. the hurt of it is prevented : as you are chosen and sanctified in christ jesus , it cannot hurt you , i say again death may kill you , but it cannot hurt you , it hath no power over the better part , like a serpent it feedeth only upon your dust ; nay , and for your bodies , that which dyeth as a creature , is sure to live as a member of christ ; the lord jesus is our head in the grave ; your bodies have a principle of life within them ; beleevers are raised by the spirit of holinesse , the same spirit that quickneth them now to the offices of grace , shall raise their mortall bodies . so rom. 8. 11. he shall quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit , that dwelleth in you : the holy ghost can never leave his old mansion and dwelling place : how many grounds of comfort have we against the mortality of the body ! christ is united to body and soul , and he will not let his mysticall body want one sinew or joynt ; in the account that he is to make to the father , he saith he is to lose nothing , joh. 6. 39. mark , he doth not say none , but nothing : christ will not lose a leg , or a piece of an ear : again , god is in covenant with body and soul , when you go down to the chambers of death , you may challenge him upon the charter of his own grace ; god is the god of abrahams dust , of a beleevers dust , though it be mingled with the remains of wicked men , yet christ will sever it : mat. 22. 32. christ proveth the resurrection of the body , by that argument , that god is the god of abraham , the god of isaac , and the god of jacob , the ground of the argument is , that god made his covenant not only with the souls of the patriarchs , but with their whole persons : again , christ hath purchased body and soul , so much is intimated in that place 1 cor. 6. 20. ye are bought with a price , therefore glorifie god in your bodies ; christ had payed price enough to get a title to body and soul , and therefore he will not lose one bit of his purchase ; the lord will call the grave to an account , where is the body of my abraham , my isaac , my jacob ? t is said , rev. 20. 13. the sea gave up her dead , and the grave gave up her dead , and hell gave up her dead : let me note that hell is there taken for the state of the departed , or else what 's the meaning of that passage that followeth afterward , and death and hell were cast into the lake that burneth , &c. well then , all the dead shall be cast up , as the whale cast up jonah , so the grave shall cast up her dead : the grave is but a chest wherein our bodies are kept safe till the day of christ ; and the key of this chest is not in the devils hands , but christs , see rev. 1. 18. i have the keys of death and hell ; when the body is laid up in the cold pit , 't is laid up for another day ; god hath an especiall care of our dust and remains , when our friends and neighbours have left is , christ leaveth it not , but keepeth it till the great and glorious day . 3. we are eased from the terrours and horrors of death : death is terrible , as t is a poenall and a naturall evill , as i distinguished before ; 1 as it is naturall evill , death in it selfe is the greatest of all evils , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , said an * heathen , which in jobs language may be rendred , the king of terrours , job 18. 14. we gush to see a serpent , much more the grim visage of death ; morall philosophy could never finde out a remedy against it ; heathens were either desperate , rash , stupid , or else they dissembled their gripes and fears ; but christ hath provided a remedy , he hath delivered us not only from the hurt of death , but the fear of death ; heb. 2. 14. to deliver them from the fear of death , that all their life time were subject to bondage : by his spirit hee filleth the soul with the hopes of a better life ; nature may shrink , when we see the pale horse of death approaching ; but we may rejoyce , when we consider its errand , 't is to carry us home : as when old jacob saw the chariots come from egypt , how did his heart leap within him , because he should see his son joseph ! death however we figure it with the pencill of fancy , is sent to carry us to heaven , to transport us to jesus christ : now who would bee afraid to be happy ? to be in the armes of our beloved jesus ? let them fear death , that know not a better life ; a christian knoweth that when he dyeth , he shall not perish , but have everlasting life , joh. 3. 17. the world may thrust you out , but you may see heaven alluring , ready to receive you , as stephen saw heaven opened , act. 7. latter end : there is an intellectuall vision , or perswasion of faith , which is common to all the saints ; though every one hath not such an extasie and sensible representation , as stephen had , yet usually in the hours of their departure , faith is mightily strengthned and acted so , that they are exempted from all fear and sorrow . 2. as 't is a poenall evill , 't is sad when death is sent in justice , and cloathed with wrath , and cometh in the quality of a curse , you know what was said before , the sting of death is sin , they dye indeed that dye in their sins , death is a black and gloomy day to them , they drop down like rotten fruit into the lake of fire : now christ hath taken away the sting , the dolours and horrours of it ; he hath taken away death as he hath taken away sin , he hath not cast it out , but cast it down , taken away the guilt and power of it , though not the beeing of sin ; so the hurt , the sting is gone , though not death it self : 't is like a serpent disarmed and unstinged , we may put it into our bosomes without danger : there are many accusations , by which satan is apt to perplex a dying soul , these make death terrible and full of horrours ; but they overcome by the bloud of the lamb , rev. 12. 11. and get the victory of these doubts and fears ; when sins are pardoned fears vanish ; luther said , feri domine , feri , absolutus sum a peccatis meis , strike lord , strike , my sinnes are pardoned . 4. 't will be utterly abolished at the last day . we scarce know now what christs purchase meaneth , till the day of judgement ; 't is said 1 cor. 15. 26. the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death , t is weakened now , but then it shall be abolished as to the elect : rev. 20. 14. and death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire , this is the second death ; the dominion of death is reserved for hell , it must keep company with the damned , whilest you rejoyce with god : for the present t is continued out of dispensation , it doth service , to promote gods glory ; but then the wicked must share death and hell amongst them , and be kept under a dying life , or a living death : but * all tears shall be wiped from your eyes , death shall be no more , and you shall take the harps of god in your hands , and in an holy triumph say , o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? t is true we may say it , yea and sing it now in hope , as some birds sing in winter , but then we are properly said to triumph . application . to apply it now . use . 1 1. here is terrour for wicked men , you may think it strange , that i should draw terrour out of such a comfortable doctrine , but consider jesus christ hath conquered death for none but those that have an interest in him , others ( alas ! ) are under the full power of it ; for the present the case of wicked men is sad , in death 't will be worse , in hell 't will be worst of all . 1 't is sad for the present , there is a bondage upon your souls , not alwaies felt but soon awakened , you cannot think of death and hell without torment , the thought of it like belshazzers hand-writing against the wall , smiteth you with trembling , in the midst of all your cups and bravery ; a small thing will awaken a wicked mans conscience ; the fingers of a mans hand upon the wall : belshazzer seemed a jolly fellow : a brave spirit , sets light by the persian forces that were even at his door , but god soone taketh off the edge of his bravery ; and then his joints trembled , his knuckles smote one against another for fear ; if the lord will but whist to conscience , the bravest spirits are soon daunted , he needeth arm nothing against you but your own thoughts : certainly none but a childe of god can have a true and solid courage against death , you cannot suppose it without consternation , david said , psal . 23. 4. though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death , yet i will fear no evill , that 's a griesly , sad , dark place to walk in the very borders of death , side by side with terrours and destruction , yet there david would be confident : t is otherwise with wicked men , hereafter they would not live , and here they would not dye . 2. in death it will be worse , the nearer you draw to the everlasting estate , the more will conscience be opened , and scourge you with horrour and remorse , i confesse every wicked man doth not dye sensible , some are stupid and foolhardy , they may sacrifice a stout body to a stubborn minde : but at last they dye uncertain , doubtfull if not anxious , and full of horrour ; as adrian to his soul , o animula vagula , blandula , &c. oh poor soul whither doest thou now goe ? thou shall never sport it more , jest it more : or as he said , anxius vixi , dubius morior , heu quo vado ! i have lived doubtfully , and dye uncertainly , alas whither doe i go ! a man that leapeth in the dark near a deep gulfe knoweth not where his feet shall light , and this is the case of wicked men : but this is not all , usually their death is full of terrour ; things written with the juice of a lemmon , when they are brought to the fire are plain and legible ; so when wicked men are within the stench and smell of hell , they howl upon their beds , few or none are able to look death in the face with confidence . oh consider when you come to dye sin stareth in the face of conscience , and conscience remitteth you to the law , and the law bindeth you over to hell , and hell enlargeth her mouth to receive you ; what will you doe in such a case ? satan insulteth , your old tempter is become your new accuser , nay you are at oddes with your self , the body curseth the soul for an ill guide , and the soul curseth the body for a wicked instrument , 't is a sad parting when they can never expect to meet again , but in flames and torments , and therefore curse the memory of that day , when ever they were joyned together : a godly man can take fair leave of his body , farewell flesh , goe rest in hope , thou shalt one day awake out of the dust , and then i shall be satisfied with gods likenesse , i have a longing desire of thy reunion , we have lived together and glorified god together thus long , god will not suffer thee to see corruption , &c. 3 in hell t will be worst of all , envie will be a part of your torment as well as despair , luk. 16. 23. 't is said of the rich man , in hell he lifted up his eyes , and seeth . lazarus in abrahams bosome , and saith , i am tormented in this flame , 't will be an additionall torment , to compare the beleevers eternall happinesse with your own misery , they are in the presence of god , and his holy angels , you have no company but the devill , death , hell , and the damned , and are holden under the power of everlasting torments ; you would not live and cannot dye , when you have run through many thousands of years you cannot look for one minute of rest , conscience gnaweth more and more , you burn but consume not ; oh! * t is a dreadfull thing to fall into the hands of the living god , mark that attribute living god , we do not speak in the name of an idol that cannot avenge his quarrell upon you , or of a god that shall dye and suffer decay , but in the name of a living god , that liveth for ever to see vengeance executed upon his adversaries , there is no hope of release , as long as god is god , hell is hell. use . 2 2. it serveth to exhort us all to get an interest in this conquest of christ , every one is not fit to make use of christs victory over death , there are many things necessary to injoy the full comfort of it , i shall name them : 1. a care to get sinne pardoned ; all the power of the devill and death hangeth on sin , therefore see sinne buryed ere thou art buryed , or it will not be well with thee : there are two deep pits , wherein you may bury your sins , and you shall never hear of them any more , the ocean of divine mercy , and the grave of christ : see them buryed in the ocean of mercy , mich. 7. 18. thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea ; there is depth enough to bury them and drown them , that they may no more come into remembrance ; then there is the grave of christ , the merit of christ is a deep grave , deep enough wherein to bury all the sins of the world : buryed with him in baptisme , rom. 6. 3. otherwise , if this be not done , you will desire to be buryed eternally , and never to rise more : let me use one metaphor more in this matter , and it shall take its rise from that expression of the apostle , 2 cor. 5. 3. we shall be cloathed upon , saith he , if so be that we shall be not found altogether naked , t is the great fault of christians when they come to die , they are to seek of a shrowd , and are found altogether naked , 't is uncomely to see a man in his darknesse , you should bee wrapt in the winding sheet of christs righteousnesse , there is no shrowd like to that , come thus to the grave and the grave shall have no power over you : but to leave the metaphor , this must be your great work and care ( christians ) to reflect upon these things in the serious applications and discourses of faith , the infinite mercy of god , the abundant merit of christ , and the sufficiency of his righteousnesse for your acceptance with god. 2 doe not onely act faith , but strive after assurance of gods love to your souls . old simeon said , luk. 2. 29 , 30. mine eyes have seen thy salvation , now let me depart in peace ; he held the messiah not onely in his arms , but in his heart , and then he could comfortably dismisse his soul ; now let me dye , ( said jacob , when he had seen joseph ) , he can never dye too soon as for himself , his owne comfort and profit , that hath seen jesus , his death is not untimely and immature , by what stroke soever he be cut off ; whereas otherwise if you live an hundred yeares you dye too soon , if you dye before you have gotten an interest in christ , the sinner of an hundred years shall be accursed , old sinners that are left to be eaten out by their own rust , are chimneys long foul and come at last to be fired . 3 mortifie corruptions , sin must dye ere wee dye , he dyeth well whose sinnes are dead before him ; either sin must dye or the sinner , as the prophet said in another case , i say in this , thy life must goe for its life , you will find those sins mortall that are not mortified ; what should an unmortified man doe with heaven ? there are no sports nor carnall pleasures there , those blessed mansions seem to him but dark shades , and melancholy retirements : the apostle hath an expression , col 1. 12. he hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light , we are first made meet for heaven before we enter into it , we are weaned from the world before we leave it ; when men hang upon the world as long as they can , and when they can hang no longer , think then to make use of god , the lord will refuse them with disdain , * go to the gods which you have chosen , let the world now help you , and save you : in short , a mortified man is prepared and ready , he doth but wait for winde and tide , and falleth like a shock of corn in season . 4 an holy life and conversation ; men live as if they never thought to dye , and then dye as if they never thought to live ; the best way to dye well is to live well , they that are not ashamed to live , are not afraid to die ; balaam desired to dye the death of the righteous , but would not take pains to live a godly life ; every man cannot say , thanks be to god that giveth us victory through jesus christ , you can not dye in christ , unlesse you live in him , and in the power of his life advance towards heaven : oh labour to exercise your selves in these things , that you may be in a constant preparation ; you never enter into the combate of death but once , 't is impossible to mend oversights , either we are slain or saved eternally . now if you doe what i have here exhorted you to , you may wait till your change come ; and when it cometh , your last hour will prove your best . use . 3 3. it serveth to presse gods children to improve the comforts of christs victory , doe not let it goe out of your hands . 1 improve it for your friends that are departed in the lord ; our weeping puts some disparagement upon christs conquest , why should wee weep in the day of their preferment , in the day of their solemn espousals to jesus christ ? * in the primitive times at funerals they were wont to sing psalmes of thanksgiving , we should bring them as champions to the grave , as those that have passed the pikes , and finished their course , and kept the faith , and have conquered the world , and sin , and death , and danger : chrysostome in one of his homilies on the hebrews , speaketh of the ancient rites at funerals , of their hymnes , and psalmes , and praises , haec omnia sunt laetantium ( saith he ) all these signifie joy , and wilt thou weep , and sing a psalme of praise and triumph at the same time ? i confesse 't is said , act. 8. 2. that devout men carried stephen to his burial , and made great lamentation over him : 't is our losse when the church is bereaved of such excellent persons , there is cause of sorrow , but there should be a mixture , we should not mourn as those without hope , 1 thes . 4. 13. as christians must not rejoice without sorrow , so they must not be sorry without some mixture of joy ; let us declare that we hope for a resurrection , that we expect to meet our friends again in heaven , and when wee weep let it be like rain when the sun shineth , there should be somewhat of joy in our countenances as well as tears in our eyes . 2. improve it for your selves , and that , 1 in life time , that in your resolutions you may bee willing to dye ; many times we are like lot in sodome , or like the israelites in egypt , we could wish for canaan , but are loath to goe out of egypt , this argueth little faith . can we beleeve there is a heaven so excellent and glorious , and yet shun it ? can we hope for such an * incorruptible inheritance , and yet be afraid of it ? that we shall enter upon it too soon ? what prince would live uncrowned ? what heir would whine when hee is called to come and take the inheritance ? what thoughts have we of eternall life ? do we count it a priviledge , or a misery , and a burden ? and again , it argueth little love , can we pretend to love christ , and be shie of his company ! he should be unwilling to dye , * that is unwilling to goe to christ . and again , it argueth little judgement and consideration ; wherein is this life valuable ? the world is nothing else but a place of banishment , here is nothing but groaning , all the creatures join in consort with the heirs of promise , rom. 8. 23. what do you see in the world , or in the present life to make you in love with it ? are you not weary of misery and sin ? the longer thou livest , thou sinnest the more , certainly thou hast provoked god long enough already , 't is high time to breath after a better estate ; and thou hast had taste enough of the worlds misery and deceit , and of the frailties and weaknesses of the body , a longer life would be but a longer sicknesse ; what 's the matter , that we are so loath to let goe our hold of present things ? if it be not want of faith or want of love to christ , or too much love of the world , certainly it must be fear of death , & what a baseness & lowness of spirit is this ? to fear an enemy so often vanquished by christ and his saints ? if you be at this pass , i have preached al this while in vain , & the victory of christ , which i have discoursed of is to little purpose ; oh consider , generous heathens may shame you , you make all the provision of christ in the gospell , to be of lesse effect then meer morall principles . 2. especially improve this in the very season and hour of death ; the great goliah is now faln , and you may come forth and * look upon the carkasse ; death its self that startleth the creature , and seemeth to be the great check and prejudice of christian hopes , is vanquished by christ , therefore in the very season when it seemeth to prevail over you , apply the victory , and say , thanks be to god , &c. when the pangs come upon you , remember this is deaths last pull and assault , you may bear with it , it shall molest * you no more , as moses said , the egyptians which yee have seen to day , yee shall see them no more again for ever , so you shall feel these things no more , in heaven there are no groans , nor tears , nor sorrows , have but a little patience , and assoon as the last gasp is over , the soul shall be carryed by angels to christ , and by christ to god : beleevers have the same entertainment that christ had , he was carryed into heaven by angels , dan. 7. 13. they brought him to the ancient of dayes , and so we are carryed by angels into abrahams bosome , luk. 16. 22. they have a train to accompany them into heaven , as their friends accompany their bodies to the grave ; and as christ was welcomed into heaven with acclamations , and god saith , * sit down at my right hand , and * aske of me and i will give thee , &c. so are beleevers welcomed , well done good and faithfull servant , enter into thy masters joy . what remaineth then , but that we dye by faith as well as live by faith , but that we welcome death with confidence , and breath out our souls in triumph ? moses when he took up the serpent in his hand , 't was but a rod , death thus welcomed and entertained by faith will prove at most but a correction , yea rather a blessing of the covenant , a means of passage into glory . one thing i had almost forgotten , to presse you to thankfulnesse to christ : oh blesse your redeemer , that hath delivered you from the fear of death , admire his love and condescension , that he should come down from heaven and substitute himself into our room and place , and take the horrours of death into his own soul ; 't is said , mat. 20 : 28. the son of man came not to be ministred unto , but to minister and to give his life a ransome for many ; christ was a prince by birth , heir of all things , yet he came not in the pomp and equipage of a prince , if he had come in state to visit us , and to deliver comfort to us by word of mouth , it had been much ; but christ came not in this way , not in the pomp of a prince , but the form of a servant to minister to our necessities , and that in the highest way of self-deniall , he gave his life as a ransome for many ; other princes are lavish of their subjects bloud , and care not how many lay down their lives for them , many give their lives as a ransome for the prince , but here 't is quite otherwise , this prince layeth down his life to redeem the subjects , and he suffered death that it might not bee terrible and destructive to us , oh blessed be the lord jesus christ for this love for evermore . some may expect , that i should speak something concerning the servant of god , our dear brother now departed , but i need not say any more , then what i have spoken already ; all along the discourse , i have indeed spoken of him , and that in the judgement of your consciences , the duties which i pressed upon you , he performed , the comforts which i have propounded to you , he enjoyed . i shall not make any particular rehearsall of the passages of his exemplary life , i judge it not convenient ; only to you of this place i may take liberty to commend his doctrine , and intreat you to be carefull of those precious truths which he sowed among you , whilest the lord used him here as a skilfull seeds man : god looketh for some increase , and taketh speciall notice of the time , that you have enjoyed his labours , there is an exact account kept in heaven , in that parable , these three years came i seeking fruit , luk. 13. 7. probably the three years of christs ministery are intended , for then he was entring upon his last half year , god reckoneth how many yeares , how many moneths your minister hath been with you , and accordingly doth expect fruit : your pastour a little before his suffering , professed high and worthy thoughts of you , let him not be deceived ; 't will be sad for you in that great day of separation , that when he expecteth to finde you among the sheep , and to be his crown and rejoicing , he should see you among the goats ; he will know you there , memory in heaven is not abolished , but parfected . i say he will know you , though without any lessening of his own happinesse , or repining at gods rightous judgements . finis . an alphabeticall table . a. afflictions sweetned by christ , 75 , 76 atheist in practise ; and judgement , 238 grounds of atheisme , 239 discoveries of a practicall atheist , 243. 246 b. backsliders have no interest in christ , 43 baseness of a man without christ , 23 , 61 beggerlinesse of a man without christ , 26 a beleever hath all things , equivalently ; conditionally ; finally , and in heritively , 65 blessings turn curses without an interest in christ , 55 blindnesse of a man without christ , 28 c. carist ; how a man may be said to be in christ , and out of christ , 18 what it is to be without christ , 19 the properties of a man without christ , 22 characters of a man without christ , 34 the misery of a man without christ , 50. 101 christ is to the soul , as the sun to the earth , 60 the benefits derived from christ , 67 all that christ hath is a beleevers , 71 and all that a beleever hath , is christ's 73 characters of a mans interest in christ , 85 christ precious to a beleever . 97 church compared to a commonwealth , 103 wherein they differ , 107 necessity of church government , 109 necessity of church union , 110 a great misery to be a stranger to the church of god , 113 a wicked man in the church , like a wen in the body , or a woodden leg , 115 comfort . vid. joy. no comfort without christ , 61. 75 common-prayer-book , an abstract of the popish masse , 207 three sentences of scripture misinterpreted therein , 206. 208. 210 contentation only in christ , 98 covenant , and promise , how they differ , 118 divers administrations thereof , 119 covenant of grace , what , 121 how you may know whether you be within this covenant , 123 the difference in being under a covenant of works , and a covenant of grace , 126 the misery of strangers to the covenant of grace , 135 characters of a man under the covenant of grace , 152. 157 the great condescension of god to make a covenant with man , 161 d. dead ; a christlesse man is a dead man , 31 death as a marriage day . 8 deformity of a man without christ , 29. 62 duties accepted for the persons sake under the covenant of grace , 131 142. 145. 163. 204 performance of duties a sandie foundation , and a rotten prop of hopes for heaven ; 177. 202 f. for bearance of god breeds atheism , 239. 250 g. god dreadful to apprehension without christ , 55. 77 god to be our god , what it notes ; 152 and what a great happinesse it imports , 161 to be without god what , vide atheist . 234 characters of those that are without any real propriety in god , 265 , 269 our interest in god is to be proved ; 274 and improved , 277 growth in grace proceeds from christ , 60. 91 h. hope of the wicked , vain , 166 , 173 reasons why an unregenerate man is without hope ; 167 the nature of true hope , 170 characters if an ungrounded and presumptuous hope , 175 a true hope hath a purifying , pacifying , painfull property with it , 179 the false props of awicked mans hope 181. 186. 197. 201. 206. 214. 217 differences between a well-grounded , and a presumptuous hope , 221 the misery of presumptuous hopes , 227 the same certainty , excellency , efficacy , difficulty in hope , that is in faith , 230 , 231 humility how improved , 12 , 13 the badge of christianity , 91 , 92 i. ignorance , what properties it must have to demonstrate thy want of interest in god , 267 joy ; the fountain of it , christ , 29. 61 k. knowledg of christ , spirituall ; experimentall ; affective ; appropriating ; practicall . 20 , 21. 269 a man may have an interest in christ and yet not know it , 47 he knowes most that does most , 267 l. liturgie , v. common-prayer-book love of christ demonstrates interest in christ , 37 the object of love , the people of god , 272 m. mercy of god in generall , no good prop of hope , 193 misery of a christlesse man , 51. &c. mortification of lusts , a sign that we belong to christ , 36 , 37. 88 n. newnesse of life declares an interest in christ , 90 white garments a type of thereof , 95 p. prayer ; the neglect thereof atheisme , 244 presumption of the wicked , 172 how it differs from the hope of the godly , 221 presumption begets , frustration ; vexation ; and damnation ; 228 pride , a ground of atheism , 242 promise . vide covenant . covenants of promise , what , 117 the promise of god in christ , the main pillar of hope , 178 promises convey no comfort without christ , 212 every promise hath some condition annext to it , 213 r. remembrance of our sinfulnesse before conversion works in us an admiration of gods grace and mercy , 9 earnest contention to excell in grace , 10 compassion to the unconverted , 11 humility , 12 watchfulnesse over our wayes , 14 s. salvation by christ alone , 99 sanctification , a blessing of the new covenant , 154 scripture ; questioning the authority thereof makes atheists , 241 sins before conversion to be called to minde , 5 but not with complacency of spirit , 6 or stupidity of heart , 7 or despondency of minde . 8 reasons thereof , 9 the dominion of sin taken away , but not the life , 36 the dangers and aggravations of small sins , 182. 184 sins of the godly , no ground of hope to the wicked , 188 the same for the matter , but not for the manner , 188. 191 slavery of a man without christ , 24 spirit of christ , his threefold operation upon the heart , 35. 96 strength to perform any duty ; to exercise any grace ; to subdue any lust ; to resist any temptation ; to bear any affliction ; derived only from christ , 58. 59 u. unregenerate ; every unregenerate man is without christ , 17 and an atheist , 237 finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a49252-e260 p●ss●lli epigram . in vita gregor . nazianzeni . notes for div a49252-e540 ezek. 23. 19 , 21. 1 tim. 1. 13. act. 26. 10 , 11. tit. 3. 2 , 3. ezek. 16. 3 , 4 , 5. ezek. 20. 43. ephes . 5. 8. ephes . 1. 4. tit. 1. 16. eight properties of a man without christ . isa . 64. 6. joh. 8. 36. 1. joh. 8. 34. 2 pet. 2. 19. 2 tim. 2. rev. 18. 13. rev. 4. 17. joh. 6. 55. gen. 27. 4. rev. 3. 17. ephes . 5. 8. joh. 3. 19. ezek. 16. 3 , 4 , &c. job 20 22 ioh. 5. 12. ephes . 2. 1. col. 3. 3. ioh. 3. 18. seven characters of a man without christ rom 8. 9 gal. 5 24. dan. 7. 12. gal. 5. 24. ioh. 14. 24. ioh. 8. 54 , 55. 2 pet. 3. 5. iob 21. 14. psal . 82. 5. joh. 8 47. ioh. 9. 16. 1 ioh. 5. 18. 1 joh. 5. 19 2 ioh. v. 9. 2 cor. 5. 17. joh. 20. 13 joh. 14. 4. 2 tim. 2. 19. 1. joh. 25 5. 2 cor. 3. 5. 1. rom. 8. 26. gal. 2. 20. 4. ephes . 6. 10. phil. 2. 21. rev. 3. 17. ezek. 16. 14. 2 cor. 6. 10. cant. 5. 1. 1 cor. 3. 22. psal . 84. 11. seven benefits which the faithfull have by christ . 1 cor. 3. 22. psal . 2. 8. rom. 14 8. joh. 14. 8. 1 cor. 1. 30. ioh. 1. 14. ioh. 14. 27. esa . 53. 6. 2 cor. 5. 21. act. 9. 4. 1 cor 6. 19 , 20. ex. 15. 25. iudg. 14. 2 king. 3. 14. ephes . 1. 6. rom. 8. 10 ioh. 17. 23 , 24. vers . 20. 2 cor. 10. 7. rev. 3. 17. joh. 12. twelve characters of a mans interest in christ . phil. 3. 8. 9. 1 cor. 4. 4. luk. 16. 15. 1 joh. 2. 5. 2 sam. 3. 1. 1 ioh. 5. 18 , 19 , 20. 1 ioh. 3. 6 2 cor. 5. 17. joh. 15. 5. 1 ioh. 2. 6. 1 ioh. 4. 13. eccles . 1. 8. gen. 43. 5. joh. 17. 12. 1 cor. 12. 8 , 9 , 10. revel . 22. 18 , 19. rom. 7. 14 psal . 11. 3. mat. 12. 25 1 pet. 2. 2 pet. 2. 13 1 joh. gen. 3. 15. heb. 3. gal. 5. 4. the great happinesse in being under a covenant of grace . psal . 89. 31 , 32 , 33. psal . 11. 5. the misery of being strangers to the covenant of grace . isa . 1. 16. ezek. 36. 25 , 2 cor. 5. 10. exod. 34. 6 , 7. ezek. 36. v. 25 , 26. 27 , 28. ver . 29 , 30. v. 10 , 11. heb. 11. 4. prov. 15. 8. jer 31. 11 , 12. deut. 29 10 , 11 , 12. rom. 9. 4 , 5. vers . 8. zach. 13. 8 , 9. joh. 8. 33. 30. 41. three characters of a mans interest in the covenant of grace . ezek. 36. 26 , 27. ier. 31. 34. amos 5. 12 , 15. act. 3. 25 , 26. psal . 50. 16. 1 cor. 6. 20. 2 cor. 7. 1. esai . 55. 3. act. 27. 20. tit. 2. 2. 1 tit. 2. heb. 11. 1. joh 8. 13. prov. 10. 20. prov. 14. 16. psal . 36. ●2 . job 21. 23. prov 11. 7. 1 pet. 3. 15. deut. 29. 15. esa . 57. 10. psal . 36. 1 , 2. psal . 119. 155. 1 pet. 3. 15. mat. 7. ult . luk. 13. 26. 1 joh. 3. 14. rom. 15. 13. 2. heb. 16. 19. quest . 3. answ . five false props of a wicked mans hope . luk. 18. 11. phil. 3. 6. mat. 19. 18 , 19 , 20. 1 cor. 10. 11. 1. tim. 1. 16. gen. 9. psal . 36. 4. psal . 38. psal . 39. lev. 13 4. luk. 1. 50. object . answ . 1. isa . 58. 2 , 3. zach. 8. 19. psal . 105. 9 gen. 4. heb. 11. 1 king. 18. 25. prov. 15. 8. ezek. 18. prov. 24. 16. job 5. 19. 2 cor. 5. 14 , 15. mat. 18. 11. luk. 19. 10. gen. 17. 1. 2 cor. 6. 16 , 18. 2 cor. 7. 1. heb. 5. 9. mat. 11. 28. answ . 1. answ . 1. psal . 37. 37. esa . 57 41. col. 1. 23. rom. 15. 4 psal . 119. 49. 1 tim. 1. 1. psal . 147. 11. psal 33. 18. psal . 119. 81. rom. 5. 2 , 3. psal . 119. 166. psal . 37. 3. 1 joh. 3. 3. esai . 51. 10. deut. 59. 18. rom. 5. 4. col. 1. 5. jer. 17. 17. psal . 71. 5. job 8. 13. prov. 14. 32. heb. 16. 11. rom. 15. 5. luk. 13. 28. act. 15. 9. 1 joh. 3. 3. act. 17. 27. mic. 4. 5. psal . 81. 11 psal . 14. 1. foure grounds of atheism . eccles . 8. 11. psal . 50. 21 rom. 2. 4. eccles . 8. 12. rom. 2. 24 1 pet. 3. 4. exod. 5. 2. dan. 3. 15. thirteen characters of an atheist . psal . 14. 1. iob 22. 12 , 13 , 14. job 24 , 13 , 15 , 17. gen. 39. 9. cant. 2. 14 mat 26. 39. luk. 22. 41. mar. 14. 35. ioh. 17. act. 24. 25. eph. 15. 5. job 31. 24. vers . 28. iosh . 24. 25 , 26. gen. 42. 21. iob 13. 26. psal . 25. 7 1 king. 18. 21. heb. 2. 18. zach. 13. 8 , 9. jer. 3. 4 , 5. psal . 14. 1. seven characters of those men that have no reall propriety in god. 2 chr. 15. 3. ioh. 8. 54 , 55. 1. ioh. 8. 55. object . answ . prov. 30. 23. psal . 111. 10. ier. 22. 16. hos . 8. 2. iob 21. 14. ioh. 8. 47. 1 ioh. 4. 6. ioh. 8. 49. 50. 1 joh. 3. 10. use heb. 11. 16. three discoveries of our interest in god. 2 cor. 6. 18. ier. 3 25. dan. 9 5. notes for div a49252-e33730 a view of the context . * pareus in locum . * heb. 10. 33. diyision of the text. * iosh . 10. 24. * gen. 3. 15. * mat. 20. 28. 1 tim. 2. 6. iob 33. 24. * prudentius . * rom. 7. 23. * aristotle . * rev. 7. 17. * heb. 10. 33. * judg. 10. 14. * kinet cathol . orthed . ques . 40. primae ●●●is . * 1 pet. 3. 14. * illius est nolle mori , qui nolit 〈◊〉 ad christum-aug . * isai . 66. 24. * exod. 14. 13. * psa . 110. * 1. psal . 2. 8